THE

POPULAR SCIENCE
REVIEW.

A QUARTERLY MISCELLANY OF
ENTERTAINING AND INSTRUCTIVE ARTICLES ON
SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS.

EDITED BY HENRY LAWSON, M.D.

VOLUME III.

ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY;

AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

1864.

COX AND WYMAN,

LAW AND GENERAL PRINTERS,

GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS, W.C.

CONTENTS OE YOL. Ill

Photographic Printing and Engraving. With a Photograph of a
Complete Page of the Times Newspaper, printed from Stone.

By William Crookes, F.R.S < ... Page l

Fresh Air. By E. Lankester, M.D 6

Microscopic Fungi : Parasitic on Living Plants. With Seven Pages

of Coloured Illustrations. By M. C. Cooke ... 20, 178, 317, 469

On the Physical Geography oe the Ionian Islands. By Pro-
fessor D. T. Ansted, M.A., F.R.S 44

The Metropolitan Main Drainage Works. With a Map of the

Works. By S. J. Mackie, F.G.S 56

Diseased Pork, and Microscopic Worms in Man. With Tinted
Illustration. By John Gamgee, Principal of the New Veterinary

College, Edinburgh ... ... ... ... ... 141

Bodily Work and Waste. By Francis T. Bond, M.D., B.A. (Bond.)

F.C.S 149

The Railway Tunnel through the Alps. With Tinted Illustration 157
Greek Fire: its Ancient and Modern History. By B. W.

Richardson, M.A., M.D 164

Notes on Earthquakes. By the Rev. W. S. Symonds, Rector of

Pendock ... ... 204

On Printing Telegraphs. With Coloured Fac-simile Illustration.

By R. S. Gulley 293

Herrings and Herring-Fishing. By the Editor ... .. ... 304

On Proper Clothing. By E. Lankester, M.D., F.R.S 338

On the Absorption and Radiation of Heat. With Two-Page

Illustrations. By H. Debus, Ph.D., F.R.S. 351, 498

Botanical Exercises. By the Rev. G. Henslow, M.A., F.L.S. ... 358
Pre-Historic Dwellings. With Tinted Illustration. By George

E. Roberts, F.A.S.L. 362

The Aniline Dyes. With Page of Silk Illustrations. By Dr. T. L.

Phipson, F.C.S 429

IV

CONTENTS.

Page

On the Action of Manures. By Baron Liebig 438

The Old Red Sandstone Fishes of England. With Tinted Illus-
tration. By E. Ray Lankester 441

Oysters and Oyster-Oulture. With Page Illustration. By the

Editor... ... ... 448

The Pneumatic Despatch. With Page Illustration. By S. J.

Mackie, F.G.S. ... 460

Thermometry. By G. F. Chambers ... 487

New Inventions ... . ... ... ... 69, 233

i of Books

... 83,

217,

370,

501

to Summary — Agriculture

381,

514

Astronomy ... ...

... 97,

243,

382,

515

Botany and Vegetable Physiology ...

... 101,

247,

386,

518

Chemistry ... ...

... 106,

252,

389,

523

Geology and Palaeontology

... 110,

257,

394,

529

Mechanics ... ... ...

. . .

115,

262,

535

Medical Science ... ...

... 117,

265,

399,

539

Metallurgy, Mineralogy, and Mining, 123,

271, 275,

403,

408,

545

Meteorology ... ... ...

...

..

406,

547

Microscopy ... ... ... ...

... 128,

274,

409,

548

Photography ... ...

... 128,

276,

412,

551

Physics...

... 132,

280,

417,

556

Zoology and Comparative Anatomy ...

... 136,

284,

422,

561

Plate, 1.

PHOTO -LITHOGRAPHY

A Complete, Page/ oT the, Tiroes Newspaper' printed; from/ Stone/.

Vincent Brooka.Litho.

THE

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING AND ENGRAVING.

BY WILLIAM CROOKES, F.R.S.

HE uncertainty which is a necessary accompaniment of

the ordinary method of photographic printing, its great
expense, the extreme difficulty of producing a sufficient
number of presentable pictures of the same subject to satisfy
the requirements of book-illustration, and the utter impossi-
bility, in the present state of our knowledge, of producing a
photographic print which can be relied upon for permanency,
have caused men of science, from the earliest days of photo-
graphy, to turn their attention to the problem of causing the
photograph to impress itself on a metal plate or lithographic
stone in such a manner that the subsequent copies could be
struck off in printer’s ink.

A somewhat similar problem, but one of far less utility, has
been to produce photographic prints on paper prepared in
such a manner that the dark portions of the image shall be
composed of carbon, or some other body of which it can con-
fidently be asserted that no ordinary atmospheric influences
would cause it to change. This latter problem has been
followed up with some ingenuity by many experimentalists,
both in England and on the Continent ; but as they are all
open to the grave objection that the mechanical operation
of printing is as slow and uncertain as the ordinary process,
they need not be further alluded to.

Passing rapidly over the first crude attempts of Donne,
Niepce, Berres, Eizeau, Negre, and perhaps some others,
none of which met with much success, we come to the plioto-
glyphic process of Mr. Talbot, the basis of which was first
published in the early part of 1853. The principle which
he adopted was an entirely new one in that branch of
the art ; it may be briefly explained as follows : — A solution
of gelatine or isinglass, containing a little bichromate of

vol. hi. — NO. IX. B

2

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

potash, is poured on to a steel plate and allowed to dry. If
one lialf of the plate be covered with a piece of card so as to
obstruct all light from it, and the other half exposed to the
action of sunshine for a minute or two, it will be found, on
examining the plate in a dark room by the light of a candle,
that the portion which has been exposed to the sun has
become of a brown colour, whilst the shaded part of the plate
remains of the original yellow tint. This is a well-known photo-
graphic property of bichromate of potash, and was long ago
applied by Mr. Ponton to the purpose of printing photographs
on paper. But, besides a change of colour, another alteration
will be found to have taken place. When dipped into water, the
gelatine and bichromate of potash which have not been acted
upon by the light will gradually dissolve, leaving the steel
surface quite clean; but the other portion, which has been
turned brown by exposure to the smfis rays, will scarcely
dissolve at all. If, instead of a piece of card, the leaf of a fern,
a piece of lace, or the light feathery flowers of a grass, be
pressed in contact with the prepared surface of steel by means
of a thick piece of plate-glass, the finest line, even the
minutest fibre or thread, will be copied on to the steel surface,
and, after being washed with water, will show an eminently
beautiful white image impressed upon a yellowish-brown
ground. The next step in the process consists in etching this
steel plate in such a manner that an impression of the object
can be struck off in printing ink. This is a matter of more
difficulty than would at first sight be imagined ; many chemical
agents are known which are capable of attacking the exposed
surface of the steel plate, whilst they will have no action on
the parts protected by the altered gelatine ; but a plate so
etched will not give a good impression, except under very
favourable circumstances. If the negative bq a piece of
black lace, the finished and etched plate will have a perfect
representation of the lace eaten into its surface to a con-
siderable depth, by the action of the corrosive liquid, and if
this be given into the hands of a copperplate printer, he will,
in all probability, produce from it very beautiful and perfect
prints, which at a little distance could not be distinguished
from the original lace.

The perfection of this kind of subject is due to the lines
of etching formed by the threads of lace being of such a
diameter that the ink is properly held by them ; but if, instead
of a piece of lace, a photographic picture were used, a very
different result wTould be obtained. The steel plate, it is
true, would be impressed with an exquisitely beautiful image,
and upon applying the etching liquid, the picture would be
bitten in with tolerable accuracy; but when tested by the

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING AND ENGRAVING. 3

printing-press, the plate would be found sadly deficient. A
careful examination will show where the fault lies. Where
the lig’ht has acted strongly, the plate is not etched at all ;
where the light has not acted, the plate will be corroded very
deeply ; and if this portion represent fine lines, such as the
branches of a tree or a row of palisades, the ink will be held
by them, and produce a good print ; but if a surface of the
plate be etched in this manner, there will be no means of
holding the ink, and that portion will not, therefore, give an
impression. Again, a half- tint will be represented on the
plate by a uniform corrosion of the surface to a slight depth ;
but for printing purposes, half-tints of various degrees are
required to be represented by lines or dots of different dis-
tances apart.

This difficulty besets all processes for photographic engrav-
ing ; pure black and white can be given easily enough, but
the half-tints, which constitute nine-tenths of a good photo-
graph, have puzzled many experimenters to master. Talbot
partially overcomes this difficulty by producing an artificial
aquatint ground on the plate, either by impressing it with
the image of two thicknesses of black lace crossed diagonally,
or by spreading very evenly over the surface of the plate
a little finely-powdered gum copal, and then heating it. In this
manner the ink is enabled to adhere to those portions which
constitute the half-tones of a picture ; and by adopting either
of these artifices, the photoglyphic process, as Mr. Talbot
terms it, has yielded results which, in the hands of a skilled
operator, and on small plates, can scarcely be surpassed.

The photogalvanographic process of Pretsch is somewhat
similar in its commencement to the . one just described. A
plate of glass, or other smooth surface, is coated with bichro-
mate of potash and gelatine, and afterwards exposed to the
light under a photograph or an engraving ; it is then moistened
with water, but not thoroughly washed. The first action of
moisture is to cause those portions of the surface which have
not been exposed to the light to swell and rise up, more or
less, in ridges from the surface of the plate. A mould is then
taken of the plate so raised ; from that an electrotyped copper-
plate is procured, which is used as a matrix, from which other
plates may be produced suitable for printing purposes. The
gelatine in swelling is found to split up into ridges, giving to
the whole surface a granular effect, which holds the printing
ink equally well in the fine lines and the broad masses of
shadow. This process gives very effective prints when they
are large and are viewed from a distance, but for fine, delicate
work it is not so successful.

Another process has been brought to considerable per-

B 2

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

fection by Sir Henry James, in the Ordnance Office, South-
ampton, where it is used for producing copies of maps. A
mixture of gelatine and bichromate of potash is in this case
also the foundation. A surface prepared with this mixture is
exposed to the action of light behind a transparent photograph
of the map, or other object to be copied, which is tightly
pressed against it. The change which has been already
described soon takes place, and a roller charged with litho-
graphic ink is then passed over its surface. This blackens the
whole surface; but when it is soaked in warm water, the portions
of the sensitive coating which remain unchanged by the action
of the light are dissolved out, and the lithographic ink is thereby
removed from those parts of the picture. A flat prepared
surface of zinc is then placed in contact with the inked picture,
and the two are submitted to heavy pressure, when a complete
transfer of the impression will be found on the zinc. After
suitable preparation, any number of copies can be printed from
this zinc plate in ordinary lithographic ink. This process is
capable of giving very perfect results, and when applied to
the copying of manuscripts, prints, or similar matter, it is
impossible to conceive a more perfect reproduction. Indeed,
it is no easy matter, when the original and the photozinco-
grapli are placed side by side, to distinguish one from the
other; and if the copy have been reduced in size by photo-
graphic means, most persons would prefer it to the original,
both in point of delicacy and sharpness.

The last process which it is necessary to mention is the
discovery of Mr. Dallas, and called by him photo-electric
engraving. No explanatory details are given by the inventor,
but there is little doubt, from the results already exhibited,
that it is a modification of one or both of the photogly-
phic and galvanographic processes. The great difficulty has
always been to present the half-tones. Mr. Talbot’s process,
it is true, solved this almost perfectly. Before us is a
print representing a portion of the palace of the Tuileries.
I he richness of the sculpture, the number of the statues, and
i'i numerous fluted columns, render this an exceedingly
difficult subject to engrave by a chemical process, owing to
•V great variety of tints which it presents; and it affords
uuiple evidence that this kind of photographic engraving is
i-.'ipablo of rendering the most delicate gradations of tone,
and the accurate delineation of details as perfectly as the
bolder outlines of the picture. Confining the scrutiny to
certain portions of the picture, the effect is quite equal to any
photograph printed in the ordinary way, which is giving it
ible praise; but when the picture is viewed
. «ther, it appears patchy and unevenly developed. Owing

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING AND ENGRAVING. 5

to the difficulty of overcoming this defect, photoglyphy is now
but very little heard of. Mr. Dallas seems in a great measure to
have succeeded in overcoming this want of evenness, and has
produced pictures which, regarded as a whole, must be con-
sidered very satisfactory specimens. They will not bear
microscopic examination, as do many of Mr. Talbotts; but,
as pictures, they are much superior to any untouched speci-
mens produced by either of the processes above alluded to.

An art like this is still in its infancy. As soon as a method
of photographic engraving comes into general use for book-
illustration, improvements will follow one another rapidly ; the
faults above pointed out are, in a great measure, due to inex-
perience or defective manipulation, and would vanish as soon
as a demand arose amongst the public for such illustrations.
The general adoption of a process of this kind would be
invaluable : an engraving of any object or scene, however
good the artist may be, is not and cannot be an exact repre-
sentation ; at the best it is but a mere approximation to that,
and there is always a tendency for the artist to idealize the
subject and render it difficult to recognize at first glance ; and
he cannot descend to those minutiae of detail which give
such a charm to the photograph. The great value of photo-
graphy is that it produces absolute fac- similes; but this value is
lessened by the tedious rate of reproduction, and the great
probability that in twenty years’ time upwards of ninety per
cent, of the photographic prints now in existence will have
faded out. By wedding engraving to photography, and mak-
ing the same physical and chemical agencies which impress the
sensitive tablet produce the engraved plate, the mathematical
accuracy of form and detail possessed by the photograph is
secured, united to the permanence of a printed book.

For the illustration of objects of natural history, flowers,
plants, and animals, even to the most minute microscopic
object, this invention is invaluable. By its means fac-similes
of rare engravings or manuscripts are even now, as in the
case of “ Doomsday Book,” multiplied to any extent, and
circulated amongst the public at a price which formerly would
not have paid for the commonest woodcut.

The plate given with this article is perhaps as perfect an
illustration of the accuracy and delicacy of photolithography
as could well be produced. An ordinary page of the Times
has first of all been copied photographically, and then trans-
ferred to stone, the copies being subsequently printed off as
lithography.

6

FRESH AIR.

BY E. LANKESTER, M.D,

OF course, all the readers of the Popular Science Review
will feel that a chapter on fresh air is quite superfluous.
Sensible and cultivated people are insulted if you hint to them
that they are not fully acquainted with the benefits of fresh
air. Yet it is so constantly the case that sensible and culti-
vated people do not ventilate their sitting and bed rooms, do
occasionally suffocate their babies in bed, and have children
who suffer from all forms of scrofulous disease, and grown-up
sons and daughters dying of consumption, that I feel it is not
superfluous to write on this subject for them. I want them to
reconsider the grounds of their belief in fresh air, and to see
whether they have yet arrived at a due conviction of its
importance. Have they fully considered the import of the
fact, that their own life and that of the whole animal kingdom
depends on the air in which they live ; and that depriving
them of it for two or three minutes destroys this life ? In the
great world into which all are born, God has made ample
supply of this air : the waters of the sea are filled with it ; and
wonderful are the devices for securing' a due supply of fresh air
to the blood of the fish and the creeping things which abound
in all waters. If we could all live in the open air, we should
always have fresh air and secure a natural ventilation. But man
requires heat. It is economy of food and strength to him to
keep himself warm ; and in listening to his instinct for warmth
te has forgotten to provide, at the same time, fresh air. His
"‘arm clothes do him no harm ; but directly he hides his head
under a covering, whether it be in a mud hut or a palace, his
•orrows from impure air begin. Under these circumstances,
hi> own breath, which flows away from him in the open air
without injury, is retained and breathed again. All the com-
i* rt-, tli- luxuries, and necessities of his life are sources of
danger to him whilst he is in his house. His curtains, his
■ hi furniture of every kind, collect the particles of
mat :er which, rising into the air, render it impure. If the
Ale--, of cleanliness herself were installed in every room of
every bouse, she could not prevent the air from being rendered

FRESH AIR, 7

impure by the constant and unseen action of these dead and
living particles of matter.

“ But we know all this ! ” I hear my sensible friends
exclaim. Then why do you not act on it ? I am writing this
by the sea-side, and my house is one of a row that looks on to
the sea. Begularly as the sun sets, my friends all retire to
their houses, the last of the chicks is put to bed, and then all
the windows and doors are duly closed. Last night the tem-
perature was about 65° Fah. ; a gentle south-west wind was
blowing from the sea — to be sure, it made the candles flicker,
but it was delicious to the feelings. I passed along the row
of houses : it was truly a melancholy sight. Not a door, not
a window, was open ! Now, houses at the sea-side are not
built very durably, and a sea breeze will, no doubt, penetrate
the rooms, lock and bolt them as you will. Nevertheless,
there is not enough air penetrating these little rooms to take
away the close smell of food, and dress, and human exhalation,
and, above all, the gases which rush into the warmed house
from every drain and dustheap about the premises. To be
sure, the children in these houses are looking well, and the
doctor is not often down from the neighbouring village ; but
this I know, my neighbours^ children are not so well as they
might be. But “ Doctor, do you not think the night air is
injurious ? ” “No, madam, I do not ; and if it were, I do not
see how your candles and closed rooms are to improve it.-”
“Yes,” said a lady to me, a short time ago, “fresh air is so
important for poor people ; but we who live in large rooms do
not require that amount of ventilation ! ” It was evident she
thought what she said ; for on examining the sashes of the
windows of her splendid house, not one of them came down
from the top. Impure air is, no doubt, a worse thing for the
poor than the rich; for the ignorant, perhaps, than for the
learned : but it is a bad thing for all. It is no comfort, when
you are half-suffocated in Burlington House, at a soiree of the
Boyal Society, to know that the most learned and scientific,
men in Europe are suffering at the same time with yourself.
What every sanitary reformer must feel of the utmost im-
portance is, that sensible people, who talk about fresh air for
the poor, should set a good example, and value it for them-
selves.

Let us, then, go over the foundations of our belief in fresh
air, so as to be able to understand thoroughly the dangers
arising out of its impurity. The pure air of the atmosphere
contains four constituents, two of which are constant and two
are variable. The two constant constituents are oxygen and
nitrogen gases. They are in the proportion of twenty-one of the
former to seventy- nine of the latter, The nitrogen is passive,

8

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

remaining in an unchanged condition in the air; but the
oxygen is ever being consumed and renewed. By its union
with carbon, and other elements of the animal body, it main-
tains life. Just as it unites with the coals of the fire or the
carbon of the gas and gives out heat, so it unites with the
carbon of animal bodies and heats them, and they live. The
result of their life is carbonic acid, which would poison the
animal and the air in which it lives, were it not for the agency
of the vegetable kingdom. That which is death to animals is
life to plants. The carbonic acid enters the plant as a com-
pound of carbon and oxygen ; but each cell of the plant is a
chemical laboratory, where invisible forces are busily at work,
separating and depositing the carbon as future store of
food for man and beast, and the oxygen is set free. The
oxygen is thus restored to its home in the air once more,
again to be conquered by carbon, and once more to be set
free from its prison in the plant-cell, when touched by a ray
of light from the sun. But not as it enters the lungs of man
or animal does oxygen come forth from the plant. It has
acquired new powers, and, like a giant refreshed, is more
capable of action than before its repose. It has now become
ozone. It is still oxygen, but oxygen capable of oxidizing
more powerfully, of acting more vigorously than it does as it
ordinarily exists in the atmosphere. Ozone is soon lost in the
great ocean of air into which it is thrown, by its own activity.
It is found on mountain heights, it is found by the sea-shore,
and on the sea ; but it is consumed by cities, by cultivated
land, by forests, and by all agencies which call its vigorous
action into existence. But wherever it is found, it acts
favourably on the human body. The instincts of the denizens
of cities and valleys have drawn them to mountain heights
and sea-shores ; and the annual migrations of families to our
hills and sea-sides have excited the ridicule or the reflection of
those who have never attempted to solve its real cause. The
air of mountains and sea-sides is doubly fresh air : it is not
only pure, but ozonized, which accounts for its curative and
exhilarating action on the human body. It is interesting to
know that this universal instinct of benefit to be derived from
residence in these positions has been confirmed hy elaborate
physiological experiments on the human body. It is now known
as a fact, that those actions of the body which are essential to
healthy life are carried on more vigorously in an atmosphere
containing ozone. The great practical lesson taught by this
knowledge is, the importance of securing as often as possible
change from an unozonized to an ozonized atmosphere; and it
I- < ^penally important to those whose opportunities are limited,
that when they are at the sea-side, they should exclude, no

FRESH AIR. 9

more than is absolutely necessary, the action of this beneficial
agent on their system.*

Let us now consider the variable constituents of our pure
atmosphere. These are carbonic acid gas and the vapour of
water. We have seen that carbonic acid is constantly being’
thrown into the atmosphere by the breathing of animals.
There are several other natural sources of this agent. All the
putrefaction and fermentation of animal and vegetable sub-
stances is attended with the evolution of this gas. There is
another natural source, and that is volcanic action, which is
constantly supplying this gas. Of the gases which are thrown
out from volcanoes, this is most abundant. It is one of those
sources of carbon and oxygen to the surface of the earth
which will account for a phenomenon not otherwise easily
explained, and that is, the constant increase of organized
beings on the surface of the earth. When Adam and Eve
alone occupied the earth, about thirty-five pounds of carbon
sufficed to organize the whole human race ; but now we have
500,000,000 times that quantity in men and women alone.
Add to these the domestic animals by which they are sur-
rounded, it will be seen that the demands for carbon upon the
atmosphere through the vegetable kingdom has been enor-
mous, and has constantly increased. The never-failing* supply
of this carbon is volcanic action. Thus, we see that the in-
crease of man on the earth, and his hope of multiplying in
ages to come, is dependent on that action which produces
volcanoes and earthquakes. Thus it is that the very phenomena
which have sometimes been regarded as proofs of the wrath of
God in a fallen world are blessings, abounding with all possible
goodness to the human race.

These natural supplies of carbonic acid gas are supplemented
by others produced by man himself. He consumes carbon for
cooking, warming, and manufacturing purposes, and it has
been calculated that a thousand millions of men consume
yearly upwards of 2,000,000,000,000 of pounds of carbon.
This quantity is again increased by artificial fermentation, by
tobacco-smoking, by lime-burning, and other sources, to a
prodigious extent, when we calculate the real quantity con-
sumed. Yet, all this carbonic acid, were it allowed to accu-
mulate, would form but a small quantity in the great aerial
ocean by which we are surrounded. In the pure air of the
Alps and of the sea it forms but about a fortieth per cent., by

In some experiments made at Brighton, in 1862, I found in a room with
the window open, that whilst ozone test-paper was readily coloured at the
open window, it was not changed at all at the hack of the room, showing
that the impurities of the atmosphere of a room with an open window were
sufficient to destroy all the ozone that entered it.

10

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

weight, of the whole atmosphere. In the neighbourhood of
towns and districts where this gas is produced, either artifi-
cially or naturally, a larger proportion of the gas is found.

The vapour of water is constantly present in the atmosphere.
It is present in small quantities in the driest atmospheres, and
during rain the atmosphere is saturated with it. In its largest
quantities it is not an impurity. It nevertheless exercises a
most important influence. The quantity of heat that falls
upon the surface of the earth is regulated by the quantity of
moisture in the ah*. Heat is conducted much more rapidly
from the body in a moist than a dry atmosphere. It is, how-
ever, in the power that the particles of moisture possess in
taking up and retaining organic matter and various gases,
that its influence is seen in rendering the air impure. It is in
damp states of the atmosphere that poisons most readily
traverse its currents, and that all the destructive agents which
render ah* impure are most rife. It is the prevailing moisture
of the atmosphere of the British Islands which renders their
inhabitants more liable to the injurious influences of impu-
rities than in countries where the temperature of the air is
greater, but where the prevailing moisture is less. The atmo-
sphere, however, is not rendered impure by the less or greater
quantity of moisture it contains.

Having surmised thus much of pure air, we are now in
a position to judge of the nature of those impurities which
render it injurious to animal life, and are more especially
dangerous to human beings. We may divide these impurities
into those which are gaseous and those which are solid, and
speak first of gaseous impurities.

The first of these which I shall refer to, and which is by
far the most commonly injurious, is carbonic acid gas. We
have seen what are the sources of this gas, and that in small
quantities it exists naturally in the atmosphere. It cannot,
however, be greatly increased without danger to health. The
most common source of its increase is the interior of houses
and buildings where human beings are gathered together.
Human beings, when placed in rooms, are constantly con-
suming the oxygen of the atmosphere and throwing into it
carbonic acid gas ; thus, if means are not taken to get rid of
it, it accumulates and takes the place of the oxygen con-
sumed. The system is thus exposed to a diminished supply
of oxygen and an increased supply of carbonic acid. Although
carbonic acid can be imbibed with impunity in the form of
effervescing beverages, as soda-water, ginger-beer, or cham-
pagne, there is no doubt of its deleterious influence when
inhaled by the lungs. The destruction of English prisoners
in the Black Hole at Calcutta is an eminent example. Other

FRESH AIR.

11

instances of the wholesale destruction of human life by con-
finement in small spaces are well known. Within the last
few years the captain of a sailing1 packet between Ireland and
Liverpool, whilst in a storm, shut down his passengers in the
hold of a vessel, and when opened again, a large number
were found dead. The inhalation of less quantities of car-
bonic acid produces a depression of the vital powers of the
system, which lead to those diseases known as scrofula and
consumption. In the annals of French Hygiene the case is
recorded of a village in the Pyrenees remarkable as exemplify-
ing the influence of impure air on health. The village was
one built in a small valley or depression of the hill, so that
there was no ventilation or entrance from the backs of the
houses at all, and the doors all opened into a court formed by
the houses. Though situated on the mountains and inhabited
by shepherds and their families, this village was remarkable
for the prevalence of scrofula and consumption, and its great
mortality. Providentially, a fire consumed one side of the
village, and advantage was taken of this occurrence to build
the houses above, on the side of the hill. No sooner was this
done than the health of the inhabitants began to improve.
The change was so great that the authorities determined on
pulling down the other side of the old village, and rebuilding
it on the top of the hill. The consequence has been that
there is now no healthier village in the district where it is
situate.

The case is the same in all our towns and cities : where
the population is thickest, and human beings are crowded
together, there disease and death prevail most. I might
illustrate this assertion by the returns of the Registrar- Gene-
ral, and the reports of the Medical Officers of Health for
London and the Provinces. In the parish of St. James,
Westminster, there are three districts, in one of which there
are 130 persons living on an acre, in the second there are
260 on an acre, and in the third 430 persons on the same space.
In the first district there are 11 deaths only in the 1,000 every
year; in the second there are 22 deaths; in the third there are
25. The death in the whole district from consumption is one in
every 344 of the population. The death in the whole of London
is one for every 371 of the population ; but to show how
fearfully the overcrowding of the third district tells on the
life of the community, the death from consumption in the
third district is one in every 280 of the inhabitants.

Another form in which the direct effects of carbonic acid on
life is most fearfully seen is the suffocation of children in bed.
Between two and three hundred children are annually found
dead in their beds in London. This suffocation occurs in

] 2

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

various ways, but in all instances it illustrates bow terrible
a poison the breath of a sucking babe is, from the carbonic
acid it contains. The maternal instinct of the mother leads
her to care for her child ; but, alas ! in her ignorance, she too
often destroys its life. Frequently the child is found dead
on her breast ; for whilst providing for its nourishment she
falls asleep, and the fresh air being excluded from the nostrils
of the child, it dies from the carbonic acid circulating in its
frame. More frequently the child is covered over with bed-
clothes to keep it warm, thus preventing the natural escape
of the carbonic acid, and it is poisoned as surely as the men
in the Black Hole of Calcutta. Even a handkerchief thrown
over a child’s face is sufficient to prevent the escape of the
poisonous air, and children are smothered by the attention
which is intended to keep off the flies, or a draught of air.

The evils of an accumulation of carbonic acid gas are very
great from the deficient ventilation of our places of public
assemblage, and our dwelling-houses. Amongst public places,
churches, chapels, theatres, and courts of law may be named
as most exposed to the evils of an atmosphere corrupted by
carbonic acid. Our places of worship are seldom constructed
with any reference to the dangers that may arise from the
atmosphere being contaminated with carbonic acid gas.
Every available space is used for sittings, and at night they
are lighted with gas, thus adding another source of carbonic
acid to that of the breathing human congregation. Large and
ample provision should be made in such places to allow of
the escape of the noxious carbonic acid and the access of the
pure oxygen. It is not the heat of these places which renders
them so unpleasant to the large proportion of the audience,
and occasionally sends a delicate female or aged person out
fainting, or the more healthy to sleep ; it is the accumulation
of carbonic acid gas. There is, however, a limit to the expo-
sure of persons to this atmosphere in the necessary conclusion
of the religious services, and persons in ordinary health recover
the effects of the poisoning before they are again submitted
to its influence. It appears to me to be a first duty of church-
wardens, deacons, or committees to whom the comfort of
these places is committed, to see that persons engaged in
the service of religion should not be injured by such service
or prevented altogether attending a place of worship from its
notorious want of salubrity.

Our theatres are more dangerous than our places of worship.
There gas-light always adds its quantum of poison, and people
sit for five or six hours without any change of atmosphere.
Recently great improvements have been made in many of the
metropolitan theatres; but, throughout the country, theatres

FEESH AIE. 13

and other places of public amusement are terribly exposed to
atmospheric contamination.

Our courts of law have been perhaps less cared for than any
other public buildings. This is almost unaccountable, when
it is considered that they are constantly occupied by the mem-
bers of an intelligent profession, whose health and life are in
a great measure dependent on the freedom from impurity
of the atmosphere of these places. One would be inclined
to recommend, in these cases, Government interference, seeing
that justice itself may not be unlikely to miscarry when a
judge has to sum up or pronounce a sentence with his blood
poisoned with the fumes of carbonic acid.

If we turn now to our places of business, our workshops
and our factories, we shall find the same crowding and the same
lighting and injurious effects much more permanent. In many of
our factories, children and girls are crowded together, and little
or no provision is made for ventilation. It is among the workers
in these rooms that the forms of scrofula and the deadly con-
sumption of the lungs are known to spread desolation. Many
of our factories and workshops are well ventilated, but the
majority are not. No law has yet been passed that will touch
them. The workshops not only exist in our manufacturing
districts, but in London and all our great towns. Where
sedentary trades are carried on, there workmen and work-
women are collected together, almost in every case, in rooms
too small, and without provision for ventilation. An examina-
tion of the returns of the mortality of any district in which
there are sedentary workers will show how fearfully they
suffer from consumption as compared with other classes of
the community. There are, no doubt, other agencies at
work ; but eliminate these, and the great source of the deaths
from consumption will be found in the presence of carbonic acid
in the atmosphere.

Another class of rooms where ventilation is frequently
neglected, to the prejudice of the health of the temporary
occupants, are schoolrooms. The benefit found to accrue
from discharging children every hour for a few minutes does
not act more beneficially on their minds than it does on their
bodies. The few minutes out of doors gives the children an
opportunity to get fresh air, and to the judicious schoolmaster
an opportunity of thoroughly ventilating the room.

But perhaps our dangers are as great at home as anywhere.
The sitting-room of the tradesman, the common room of the
mechanic, the drawing-room of the wealthy, and the sleeping-
rooms of all, are not ventilated. Many of them are not
deficient in the means of ventilation ; but, as a rule, the home
of the Englishman is poisoned by the gas exhaled from his

14

POPULAR SCIENCE REViEW.

own lungs. Let ns take sitting-rooms first. To be sure, in
very cold days in winter, when fires are in tlie room, and in
very hot days in summer, when the windows are opened, the
air is well changed. But there are the warm days in winter,
when the fire is let out, and the cool days in summer, when
the windows are kept close, and the whole of the spring and
autumn months; and at these seasons the Englishmans sitting-
room is filled with an atmosphere injurious to his health. If
he has a drawing-room, the only set-off to this state of things
is found in its size. If he has, however, a drawing-room, he
will probably give parties or soirees ; and perhaps it is on
these occasions that his utter ignorance of the worth or value
of fresh air will be most obvious. The drawing-room is
generally lighted with gas, which is turned on to the highest
point, and then the room is crowded with visitors, even on to
the stairs. The atmosphere is cruelly oppressive, the guests
are almost fainting ; but the suggestion of an open window —
of a draught — is repudiated as something offensive to the
delicacy and amenities of genteel life, and fresh air is voted
by all as vulgar and a bore. I am quite aware of the danger
of sitting or standing in a draught, although I believe that
is much exaggerated ; but rooms are to be ventilated without
draughts; and if not, people need not get into them. The
colds you take at parties are not the result of draughts, but
the very opposite. The majority of colds arise from the want
of pure air, and not from cold or cold air.

But we pass from sitting and day-rooms to bed-rooms. It
is here that everything is done to keep in carbonic acid and to
exclude oxygen. What with the smallness of some rooms,
the destitution of fireplaces, and windows that will not open,
beds with posts and curtains, and blinds, the bed-room may
indeed be called the Englishman's Black Hole. The insane
fear of a draught, with the delusion that night air is preju-
dicial, undoes almost everything in bed-rooms at night which
may be done by open-air exercise or healthful occupations in
the day. The sleeping-rooms of the rich are frequently kept
so close that even domestic animals would suffer, were they
compelled to sleep in them, whilst those of the poor are so
odious that it is almost a wonder health is ever found amongst
their occupiers. This terrible disregard of the purity of bed-
rooms is seen everywhere : — in the hammocks of our ships,
in the cottages of our labourers, in the barracks of our
soldiers, and in the houses of the middle classes and the
opulent. The neglect of the ventilation of bed-rooms is as
common among sensible people, who flatter themselves they
know the value of fresh air, as among the helplessly poor and
ignorant of our population.

EEESH lift.

15

As for the injury done by other gases, that is so little and
so exceptional that I need hardly refer to them. Wherever
sulphuretted, phosphuretted, or carburetted hydrogens appear,
they are indicative of the presence of other matters in the air
more injurious than themselves. I shall not therefore dwell
on them, but turn to the solid particles which render the air
impure, and with which these gases are often associated.
These solid particles are so minute that they can only be
apprehended by the microscope, and many of them, even by
that instrument, are not sufficiently made out to be easily
distinguished. They are derived from organic or inorganic
sources. The organic are derived from living or dead animals
and plants. The particles thus given off are exceedingly
minute, and appear to be held in suspension by molecules or
small particles of water. The emanations of living animals
are constant. The epidermis of the skin flies off into the air,
as well as particles from the lungs in the breath, so that the
air where large numbers of animals exist becomes charged
with such exhalations. The human body is no exception to
the law. These particles are capable of decomposition, and
when taken again into the living system, may be absorbed
and lead to febrile disturbance in the system. These particles
are given off from diseased bodies in such a state that they
generate diseases in other bodies like those from which they
have come. It is in this way that zymotic diseases are pro-
pagated, and scarlet fever, small-pox, measles, hooping-cough,
and typhus, are all conveyed in this way.

Dead animal matter gives off also particles, not equally
destructive of life, but which may, nevertheless, produce the
most virulent diseases. Typhoid fever is the offspring of
decomposing animal matter. The particles • which produce it
steal up from our drains and cesspools, and make their way
into the studios of the scholar and the chambers of royalty ;
no class or condition of persons are spared the influence of
this dreadful poison.

Vegetable matter decomposing emits still more destructive
poisons. The malaria of our own marshes, and its deadly
representative in the Campagna of Rome, with the miasma
escaping from the swamps of Africa and the jungles of Asia,
are all of vegetable origin. Plants decomposing in contact
with water yield this dreadful agent, which contaminates and
renders deadly the purest of atmospheres.

Another set of particles which may come from animal,
vegetable, or mineral sources, are those which we call dust.
Dust is not only unpleasant — it is dangerous to life. The
workers in coal are liable to disease in the lungs, from the
particles of coal-dust accumulating in the lungs and producing

10

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

an arrest of their functions. The same is the case with the
knife and scythe-grinders of Sheffield, who get the dust of
iron and stone into their lungs. The workers in wool, cotton,
linen, horse-liair, or any of the materials that are taken into
the air in fine particles, are all liable to consumption, from
the accumulation of these foreign substances in the air-
passages of the lungs, and the consequent exclusion of oxygen
from the blood. Even the dust of ordinary rooms, from
carpets, furniture, clothes, curtains, and other things, becomes
a source of impurity of air in our houses, and adds to the
destruction of health which goes on from the presence of
carbonic acid.

One of the most common causes of impurity of air from
these particles is the unconsumed carbon in the atmosphere of
towns and cities. It is these particles which blacken linen
and all white furniture, and the wool of sheep’s backs. It
exists in such quantities in London, that the air may be filtered
through fine muslin, and pure carbon collected in considerable
quantities. It is possible to strain the air of a house, and get
rid of all these particles. I know one gentleman in the City
who uses a steam-engine on the premises for the purpose of
forcing the air through metallic sieves before it enters his
house. The consequence is, that directly you enter his door,
the air has all the purity of that at the sea-side or the mountain-
top ; and instead of the oppression which all London air gives,
you feel invigorated. This shows what may be done, even in
the heart of the City. The fact is, air is like water : you may
contaminate it by suspending impurities in it; but when these
are withdrawn, it remains as pure as ever.

The question then comes, if impure air is so dangerous,
how are we to render the air we breathe pure ? How can we
get fresh air ? In the first place, every one should be im-
pressed with the fact, that the open air must always be more
pure than the air of houses, or any confined space whatever.
The atmosphere in Cheapside is infinitely purer than any in-
habited drawing-room at the west end of London. As far as
fresh air is concerned, a party of ladies and gentlemen would
be more healthfully occupied in looking at the omnibuses from
the curbstones in Fleet Street than in the most elegant dining-
room in Belgravia.

The night air of Houndsditch is freer from carbonic acid
than the sleeping-rooms of Mayfair. Hence the importance
of getting as much into the open air as possible. Children,
provided they are warm, cannot be too much in the open
air. It is a most merciful act to take little children from their
close homes into the open parks ; and this has been done in
London with the greatest possible advantage. A committee

FRESH AIR.

17

of tlie Ladies* Sanitary Association has raised fnnds by which
it has been enabled all the fine summer weather to send parties
of poor children into the parks. Of the danger of keeping
children indoors I had a good illustration a few weeks ago.
I had occasion to compare the health of two streets, one a
street with well-to-do artisans and small tradesmen, the other
a tumble-down street where lodged the very poor. To my
great surprise, the children of the very poor were less sickly
and died less than those of their better-off neighbours. On
examining* the mothers of these families, I got what I think
was a satisfactory explanation. The mothers of the poor
children confessed that their children were seldom or never in-
doors ; but few of them went to school, and they consequently
spent their days in the street. The more opulent class kept
their children out of the street and sent them to school. Of
course, no rule can be laid down as to the number of hours people
ought to keep in the open air, but there can be no doubt of
the soundness of the advice — (< Get as much as yon can.** Get
it for yourselves, get it for your neighbours. Let the Govern-
ment, let corporate bodies, let munificent individuals do what
they can to tempt men and women into the parks of great
towns and neighbouringfields. Above all, let there be attrac-
tions sufficient to draw men and women from the public-house,
from the dancing- saloon, and other vicious places, where, in
addition to the poisoning* atmosphere, there is the poisonous
drink and poisonous morality. W ould that in England a taste
for light refreshments could be given to the population, so
that tea and coffee, with honest nutritious viands, could be
substituted for the present system of drinking beer and
gin — a system that annually destroys hecatombs of our hard-
working*, honest, intelligent artisans. It is especially on those
whose occupations are sedentary, and to whom fresh air is
most necessary for health, that this destructive habit entails
its greatest evils.

A more difficult thing to do is to keep the air of houses
fresh. The multitudinous things it involves, and its apparent
simplicity, are the great difficulties with which this practice
has to contend. W e call the act ventilation, and most intelli-
gent people believe their houses are ventilated. If they did
not they could not rest a moment. They would not lie down in
their beds at peace one night if they thought the evils I have
spoken of as resulting from want of fresh air were coming-
on their families. Nevertheless, I will put this question to
them, — Do you believe for one moment that with your closed
windows and doors, with your brick drains or your cesspools,
with your dustbins, and your dirty (I mean no ill compliment,
it is too true) furniture, that the air of your rooms is pure ?

VOL. in.— no. ix. c

18

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

The air of London is dirty and impure enough, but what
is it as it passes from your window crevices, the key-
holes of your doors, and the tiles of your house ? Dirtier and
more impure than ever. If you say it is not impure, you
are wrong* ; if you know it is impure and talk of the ventila-
tion of your house, it is cant.

I know of no means by which a house can be naturally
ventilated without superintendence, or machinery. The system
of pumping into public buildings warm pure air, and pumping
out the impure air is to be commended, as it secures by the
same machinery both warmth and pure air. Whether any-
thing of this kind can be done for private houses is at present
very questionable. In the meantime, houses ought to be
built so that an ordinarily intelligent person, who understands
that hot air ascends and goes out at the upper apertures of
a room, and that cold air comes in from below, can so arrange
that there is a perpetual flow of air through the room without
creating cold by draught. This can generally be done in
rooms where the window sashes come down from the top in
two sides of a room, or in one side where a door opens at
the other. But, alas ! how many houses are thus constructed ?
Not one in a hundred in town or country. When they are
so constructed, the sashes are not let down from the top.
The bed-rooms, which have been closed up all night, are in-
dulged with a small quantity of fresh air by a little opening
from below. The consequence of all this closing of doors and
windows is sickness. The children are ill in the nursery, the
servants are ill in the kitchen, and the master and mistress are
ill in the drawing-room. The source of this sickness is easily
understood, if you recollect how large a portion of time the
inhabitants of houses spend indoors, and it is precisely those
who take least exercise or go out least that suffer most.

The same arrangements in houses that secure the influx of
oxygen from without, and the efflux of the carbonic acid from
within, also secure the escape of those solid particles which
are so injurious when contained in any considerable quantity
in the air. It is a well-known fact, that you may so dilute
the poison of various fevers, as they escape from the bodies of
those attacked, that no one shall be injured by it. If you
place one patient with fever in a large ward, no other patient
gets the disease, but if you place several fever patients in the
same room, then every person that enters may catch the
fever. So it is with the poisons of drains and cesspools. If
they be well diluted in the open air nobody suffers, but let
them concentrate themselves in a room and destruction takes
place. I say safety is secured by ventilation in houses other-
wise danererous, but no wise man would allow his drains or

FRESH AIR.

19

cesspools to leak into his house. But how many men in a
thousand see to these things ? how many women ? how many
servants ? My experience tells me very few. This accounts
for the faint odours and sickening smells that so often salute
you in the houses of the rich as well as the poor ; of the
medical man, who has yet to learn how to apply the laws
of physiology to the maintaining the health of his own house-
hold, as well as the poor mechanic, who is alike ignorant of
the cause of the unhealthiness of his family, and powerless
to remove it if he did. And yet, how angry people look if
you tell them their houses are ee nuisances, injurious to health.”
They believe in fresh air, they talk of the advantages of fresh
air, but they have yet to learn how little they have of it at
home, and how much more of it they need if they would secure
the health and strength their Creator intended they should
enjoy.

But I must bring my sermon to an end. I have thrown
these few remarks together as free from technical terms as
I could, in the hope of calling the attention of the intelligent
readers of the Popular Science Be view to a subject still
greatly neglected. The more I see of the interior of our
households, especially in London, the more I am convinced
this subject is not fully understood. I have named only a
few of the diseases which arise from deficient oxygenation of
the blood, or, in other words, from want of fresh air ; and it is
only when this subject is more thoroughly comprehended by
all sections of the community that we shall find the effects
of sanitary reform really telling on the health of the com-
munity. At the same time, I am not unaware of the danger
of treating a subject like this independently of the questions
of food, exercise, warmth, and clothing. Fresh air is value-
less without food, it will fail without warmth, and from these
considerations the greatest of all practical measures for
securing health is the inculcation on the minds of youth
those laws by which God regulates the existence of the human
body. From every pulpit in the land there issues, once a
week, the voice of the preacher inculcating obedience to the
moral law of God, and it is to an equally systematic enforce-
ment of the importance of obedience to the natural law that
we must look for deliverance from those evils which follow
its violation.

20

MICROSCOPIC FUNGI.— PARASITIC ON LIVING
PLANTS.

BY M. C. COOKE.

CHAPTER I.

CLUSTER-CUPS.

IN these latter days, when every one who possesses a love
for the marvellous, or desires a knowledge of some of the
minute mysteries of nature, has, or ought to have, a micro-
scope, a want is occasionally felt which we have essayed to
supply. This want consists in a guide to some systematic
botanical study in which the microscope can be rendered
available, and in which there is ample field for discovery, and
ample opportunity for the elucidation of facts only partly
revealed. Fungi, especially the more minute epiphyllous
species, present just such an opportunity as many an ardent
student would gladly take advantage of ; one great obstacle
to the pursuit being hitherto found in the absence of any
hand-book to this section of the British flora, embracing the
emendations, improvements, and additions of the past twenty-
seven years, the period at which the fifth volume of the
“ English Flora ” made its appearance. It would be incom-
patible with the aim and objects of a quarterly journal of
popular science to introduce an entire mycological flora to its
readers in its consecutive numbers ; but we hope, in the
course of this and one or two succeeding papers, to communi-
cate such information as will serve to prepare the way still
more for such an addition to our Flora, should it ever be
produced, and render the demand still wider and more general
for such an extension of our botanical literature. It is true
that one work has of late years issued from the press on this
subject, but notwithstanding its utility to scientific men as a
record of species, it is practically useless to those we address,
from the absence of all specific descriptions of microscopic
fungi.

Let not the reader imagine, from what we have just stated,
that it is our intention to burden him with a dry series of

Plate II .

.Soverby; sc.

Wtiesi . imp

Cluster-Cups

%

CLUSTER-CUPS.

21

botanical descriptions. Useful and essential as they may be,
we hope to be enabled to furnish something more ; and
although we at once disclaim any intention of including all
the microscopic, or even the epiphytal fungi, in our observa-
tions, yet we trust, by a selection of common and typical
species for illustration, to demonstrate that the microscopist
will find an eligible field for his observations in this direction,
and the botanical student may gain some knowledge of their
generic distinctions.

It is exceedingly difficult to give a logical definition of what
constitutes a fungus. It is no less difficult to furnish a popular
description which shall include all and nothing more. If, for
example, we particularize the spots and markings on the leaves
and stems of herbaceous plants so commonly met with from
early spring till the fall of the last leaf, and even amongst the
dead and decaying remains of the vegetation of the year, we
may include also such spots and marks as result from insect
depredations or diseased tissue. It is not always easy, with
a cursory observation under the microscope, to determine
whether some appearances are produced by fungi, insects, or
organic disease : experience is the safest guide, and until we
acquire that we shall occasionally fail.

If we take a stroll away from the busy haunts of men,
though only for a short distance, — say, for example (if from
London), down to New Cross, and along the slopes of the
railway cutting, — we shall be sure to find the plant called the
goatsbeard in profusion. In May or June the leaves and
unopened involucres of this plant will present a singular
appearance, as if sprinkled with gold-dust, or rather, being
deficient in lustre, seeming as though some fairy folk had
scattered over them a shower of orange- coloured chrome or
turmeric powder. Examine this singular phenomenon more
closely, and the poetry about the pixies all vanishes ; for the
orange powder will be seen to have issued from the plant
itself. A pocket lens or a Codrington reveals the secret of
the mysterious dust. Hundreds of small orifices like little
yellow cups, with a fringe of white teeth around their margins,
will be seen thickly scattered over the under-surface of the
leaves. These cups (called peridia) will appear to have burst
through the epidermis of the leaf and elevated themselves
above its surface, with the lower portion attached to the
substratum beneath. In the interior of these cup-like ex-
crescences or peridia , a quantity of the orange- coloured,
sphoerical dust remains, whilst much of it has been shed and
dispersed over the unoccupied portions of the leaves, the
stems, and probably on the leaves of the grass or other plants
growing in its immediate vicinity. These little cups are fungi,

22

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

the yellow dust the spores,* or ultimate representatives of
seed, and the epiphytal plants we have here found we will
accept as the type of the group or order to which we wish to
direct attention (plate II. figs. 1 — 3).

Amongst the six families into which fungi are divided is one
in which the spores are the principal feature, as is the auran-
tiaceous dust in the parasite of the goatsbeard. This family
is named Goniomycetes , from two Greek words meaning “ dust-
fungi.” This group or family includes several smaller groups
termed orders, which are analogous to the natural orders of
flowering plants. Without staying to enumerate the charac-
teristics of these orders, we select one in which the spores are
enclosed in a distinct peridium, as in our typical plant they are
contained within the cups. This order is the JEcidiacei, so
called after JEcidium, the largest and most important of the
genera included within this order.

The JEcidiacei are always developed on living plants, some-
times on the flowers, fruit, petioles, or stems, but most
commonly on the leaves : occasionally on the upper surface,
but generally on the inferior. The different species are dis-
tributed over a wide area ; many are found in Europe and
North America, some occur in Asia, Africa, and Australia.
When the cryptogamic plants of the world shall have been as
widely examined and as well understood as the phanerogamic
plants have been, we shall be in a better position to determine
the geographical distribution of the different orders of fungi.
In the present incomplete state of our knowledge, all such
efforts will be unsatisfactory.

But to return to the goatsbeard, and its cluster cups. The
little fungus is called JEcidium tragopogonis, the first being
the name of the genus, and the last that of the species. Let
us warn the young student against falling into the error of
supposing because in this, and many other instances, the
specific name of the fungus is derived from the plant, or one
of the plants, upon which it is found, that therefore the species
differs with that of the plant, and that, as a rule, he may
anticipate meeting with a distinct species of fungus on every
distinct species of plant, or that the parasite which he encoun-
ters on the living leaves of any one plant is necessarily specifi-
cally distinct from those found on all other plants. One
species of JEcidium , for instance* may hitherto have been
found only on one species of plant, whereas another JEcidium
may have been found on five or six different species of plants.
The mycologist will look to the specific differences in the

* Protospores, they should be called, because in fact they germinate, and
on the threads thus produced the true spores, or fruit, arc borne;

CLUSTER-CUPS. 23

parasite without regard to the identity or distinctness of the
plant upon which it is parasitic.

Before the JEcidium breaks through the epidermis the
under-surface of the leaves of the goatsbeard will appear to be
covered with little elevations or pustules, paler at the apex ;
these soon become ruptured, and the fungus pushes its head
through the opening, at the same time bursting by radiating
fissures. The teeth thus formed resemble those of the
peristome of some mosses. All around the orifice of the
peridium the teeth become recurved, and the orange spores
are exposed, crowded together within. At first, and while
contained within the peridium, these spores are concatenate
or chained together, but when dispersed they are scattered
singly about the orifice, often mixed with the colourless
cells arising from the partial breaking up of the teeth of the
peridium.

Let us pause for a moment in our examination of the
individual cups, to ascertain their manner of distribution over
the leaves. In this instance they are scattered without any
apparent order over the under- surface, but generally thickest
towards the summit of the leaves ; occasionally a few are met
with on the upper surface. Sometimes two or three touch at
the margins, but we have never met with them truly confluent ;
generally there is a space greater than the width of the cups
around each, the stratum or subiculum from whence they
arise is scarcely thickened, and there are no spots or indica-
tions on the opposite surface. If a leaf be taken fresh and the
cuticle stripped off, which it will sometimes do very readily,
the orifices through which the M cidium has burst will appear
in irregular holes. If a section be made of one or two of the
fungi in situ, they will be seen to spring from beneath the
cuticle, the peridium to be simple, and rounded at the base,
the spores clustered at the bottom, and the fringe to be a
continuation of its cellular substance.

The spores in this species are orange, subglobose, sometimes
angular, and indeed very variable both in size and form,
though the majority are comparatively large. Each of these
bodies is, doubtless, capable of reproducing its species, and if
we compute 2,000 cluster- cups as occurring on each leaf, and
we have found half as many more on an ordinary- sized leaf,
and suppose each cup to contain 250,000 spores, which again
is below the actual number, then we shall have not less than
five hundred millions of reproductive bodies on one leaf of the
goatsbeard to furnish a crop of parasites for the plants of the
succeeding year. We must reckon by millions, and our
figures and faculties fail in appreciating the myriads of spores
which compose the orange dust produced upon one infected

24

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

cluster of plants of Tragopogon. Nor is this all, for our
number represents only the actual protospores which are con-
tained within the peridia ; each of these on germination may
produce not only one but many vegetative spores, which are
exceedingly minute, and, individually, may be regarded as
embryos of a fresh crop of cluster-cups. And this is not the
only enemy of the kind which this unfortunate plant is subject
to, for another fungus equally prolific often takes possession of
the interior of the involucre wherein the young florets are hid,
and converts the whole into a mass of purplish black spores
even more minute than those of the JEJcidium , and both these
parasites will be occasionally found flourishing on the same
plant at the same time (plate III. fig. 11).

Naturally enough, our reader will be debating within himself
how these spores, which we have seen are shed in such pro-
fusion, can enter the tissues of the plants which give subse-
quent evidence of infection ; in fact, how the yellow dust with
which the goatsbeard of to-day is covered will inoculate the
young plants of next year. If one or two of these spores are
sprinkled upon the piece of the cuticle which we have recom-
mended to be removed from the leaf for examination, it will
be seen that they are very much larger than the stomata or
breathing pores which stud the cuticle : hence it is clear that
they cannot gain admittance there. There remains but one
other portal to the interior of the plant — namely, the spon-
gioles or extremities of the roots. Here another difficulty
arises, for the spores are as large as the cells through which
they have to pass. This difficulty may be lessened when we
remember that what are termed the spores which are dis-
charged from the cups are not the true spores, but bodies
from which smaller seed-like vesicles are produced ; yet, even
then there will be much need of an active imagination to
invent hypotheses to cover the innumerable difficulties which
would encounter their passage through the vessels of the
infected plants. The Rev. M. J. Berkeley proved many years
ago that the spores of bunt, for example, may be caused to
infect all the plants the seeds of which had been placed in
contact with them ; but this affection did not necessarily
accrue from the absorption of the spores, or the ultimate
spores produced after three or four generations. It is possible
that the granular or fluid contents of the spores may be
absorbed by the plant, and as a result of this absorption,
become inoculated with the virus, which at length breaks out
in fungoid growths. Much has been done to elucidate this
mystery of inoculation, but much also remains a mystery still.
There is no doubt that the inoculation takes place at an early
age, probably in the seeds of many plants ; in others it may be

25

CLUSTER-CUPS.

conveyed with the moisture to the roots ; but the spores them-
selves have certainly not yet been traced traversing the tissues
of growing plants.

If, instead of going in search of goatsbeard and its attendant
fungus, we turn our steps northward and enter one of the
Highgate or Hampstead woods, where the pretty little wood
anemone flourishes abundantly, and turn up the radical leaves,
one by one, and examine their under- surfaces, we shall at length
be rewarded by finding one covered with similar cluster-cups
to those we have been describing as occurring on the goats-
beard, but far less commonly. Leaf after leaf will be found
covered with the brown spots of another fungus called Puccinia
anemones , with which nearly every plant will be more or less
infected in the spring of the year ; and at length, if we per-
severe, AEcidium leucospermum will be our reward (plate II.
figs. 4 — 6). The specific name will suggest one point of differ-
ence between the two fungi, as in this instance the spores are
white, and somewhat elliptic. Probably this species is not
common, as we have found it but seldom, though often in
search of it. A nearly allied species has been found on
Anemones in gardens having but few large teeth about the
orifice, though not constantly four as the name would indicate
(2E. quadrificlum) .

A walk through almost any wood, in the spring of the year,
will reward the mycologist with another JEcidium in which
the peridia are scattered over the whole surface of the leaf.
This will be found on the wood spurge, giving a sickly yellow-
ish appearance to the leaves, on the under-surface of which
it is found. By experience one may soon learn to suspect
the occurrence of parasites of this nature on leaves, from the
peculiar exhausted and unhealthy appearance which they
assume as the spores ripen, and which will spare the labour
of turning over the leaves when there, are no distinct spots on
the upper surface. JE. Euphorbia i is found on several species
of Euphorbium or spurge, but we have always found it most
abundantly on the wood spurge in the Kentish woods between
Dartford and Gravesend* The spores in this species are
orange, and externally it bears considerable resemblance to
the goatsbeard JEcidium, but the spores are rather smaller
and paler, the teeth are less distinct and persistent, the
subiculum is more thickened, and the peridia are more densely
crowded.

There is another group of species belonging to the same
genus of fungi in which the arrangement of the peridia
is different. One of the first of our native wild flowers in
making its appearance after the departure of frost and
snow, is the little yellow celandine.

26

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW,

“ Ere a leaf is on the bush,

In the time before the thrush
Has a thought about her nest,

Thou wilt come with half a call,

Spreading out thy glossy breast
Like a careless Prodigal ;

Telling tales about the sun
Where we’ve little warmth, or none.”

And one of the earliest parasitic fungi in spring is an JEcidium
which flourishes on its glossy leaves. So common is JEcidium
ranunculacearum on this species of Ranunculus , that it can
scarcely have escaped the eye of any one who has taken the
trouble to examine the plant. It appears in patches on the
under-surface of the leaves or on their petioles, in the latter
case swelling’ and distorting them. Sometimes these patches
are nearly circular, at others of very irregular form, and vary-
ing in size from less than one-twelfth of an inch to half an inch
in diameter. It is found on several species of Ranunculus , as
R. acrisj bulbosus, and repens , but most commonly on R. ficaria.
The leaf is thickened at the spot occupied by the parasite,
and generally without indication on the opposite surface.
Sometimes one spot, at Others several, occur on the same
leaf. The peridia are densely crowded together, often ar-
ranged in a circinate manner, i.e.} like a watch spring, or the
young frond of a fern. The spores are orange, but slightly
varying in tint on different species of Ranunculus . One of
the smaller clusters, when collected before the spores are
dispersed, or the teeth of the peridium discoloured, mounted
dry as an opaque object, makes a very excellent slide for an
inch or half-inch objective; and the same may be said of
many others of the same genus (plate II. figs. 7 — 9).

Less common than the foregoing is the species of JEcidium
which attacks the violet. The sweetest of flowers as well
as the earliest, in despite both of its odour and its humility,
becomes a victim to one or more of the ubiquitous race of
fungi. Thickened spots at first appear on the leaves ; the
petioles, or flower stem, or even the calyx, becomes swollen
and distorted ; and at length the JEcidium breaks through.
The spots on the leaves upon which the peridia are scattered
are yellowish, generally larger than the clusters on the pile-
wort, and seldom with more than one spot on each leaf. The
peridia, or cups, are irregularly distributed over the spots,
not crowded together as in the last species ; and the teeth
are large, white, and distinct. The spores are at first orange,
but at length become brownish. This species may be found
in spring, as late as June, most commonly on the dog-violet,
but also on other species of Viola ,

CLtJSTEE-CUPS.

27

It is not a very desirable occupation to search a bed of
nettles, and turn over the individual leaves to look for minute
fungi. A very pretty JEcidium is nevertheless far from
uncommon in such a habitat. Fortunately it occurs very
often on the petioles of the leaves and on the stem, distorting
them very much ; and in such situations flourishing, appa-
rently, more vigorously than when occupying the under-surface
of the leaves (fig. 10). In the latter situation the clusters of
peridia are small, seldom exceeding a dozen in a spot, but
several spots may be found on the same leaf. On the stem
they are clustered around for upwards of an inch in length,
and their bright orange colour in such a situation renders
them very conspicuous objects. The peridia are always
closely packed together upon a thickened base, and offer
but slight variations from the forms already enumerated, save
that they widen slightly at the mouth so as to become nearly
campanulate. The spores are orange, and very profuse.

During the present summer we noticed, for the first time, a
very pretty little species of JEcidnlm , on the wood sanicle in
Darenth wood. It was far from uncommon, and we believe it
to be specifically distinct from its nearest ally, found on the
earthnut leaves, and those of some other umbelliferous plants.
The little cups are in small clusters of four or five together,
on the under-surface and on the petioles ; they are small, but
the teeth are relatively large, white, and distinct. The spores
are of a pallid, yellowish colour, and not so profuse as in the
last species. A darker spot on the upper surface of the leaf
generally indicates their presence. This species was found
many years ago by Carmichael at Appin, and called by him
JEcidmm saniculce ; but we find no notice of its occurrence
since, though it seems to be far from uncommon at Darenth,
and probably elsewhere should the sanicle be common also*

It is unnecessary here to refer to other allied species of
JEJeidium , except one to be presently noticed, since we have
elsewhere enumerated and given descriptions of all the species
hitherto found in Britain, together with figures of some not
included here.* Suffice it to say that the one on the alder
buckthorn has been very common this year in the Highgate
and Hornsey woods. That on the honeysuckle we have found
but very rarely. On the gooseberry and red-currant leaves
commonly in some years and rarely in others ; whilst a few
of those described we have never collected. The species on
different composite plants is subject to great variation, and on
most may be found in the autumn : one variety only we have
met with in the spring.

* In a forthcoming number of “ Seemann’s Journal of Botany.”

28

POPULAR SCtEftCti REVIEW.

Very few years ago farmers generally believed that the
cluster-cups of the berberry were productive of mildew in corn
grown near them ; this opinion even received the support of
►Sir J. Banks, but no fungi can be much more distinct than
those found on corn crops and this species on the leaves of
the berberry. In this instance the cups are much elongated,
and cylindrical, the clusters vary much in size, and the spots
on the upper surface of the leaf are reddish, bright, and
distinct. The teeth are white and brittle, and the orange spores
copious (plate II. figs. 12 — 14).

There are scarcely any of the epiphyllous fungi forming
equally handsome or interesting objects for low powers of the
microscope, than the genus to which attention has been
directed in this paper ; and they possess the advantage of being
readily found, for that locality must be poor indeed which
cannot furnish six species during the year. We have found half
of the number of described species within little more than
walking distance of the metropolis, within a period of little
more than three months, and should be glad to hear of the
occurrence of any of the rest.

We have three species of fungi very similar in many respects
to the foregoing, but differing in others to such an extent as
to justify their association under a different genus and name.
The hawthorn is a bush familiar to all who love the “ merry
month of May,” but it may be that its parasite has been
unnoticed by thousands. If, for the future, our readers will bear
this subject in their minds when they stand beneath a hawthorn
hedge, they may become acquainted with clusters of singular
brown pustules on the leaves, petioles, and fruit well worthy
of more minute examination (plate II. fig. 15). They scarcely
claim the name of cups, and their lacerated and fringed mar-
gins rather resemble the pappus crowning the fruits of some
composite plants than the cups of JEcidium. The peridia
are very long, and split down throughout their length into
threadlike filaments of attached cells ; these gradually fall
away and break up into their component cells till but short
portions remain attached to the base of the peridia. These
cells are elongated and marked on the surface with waved
lines, forming in themselves pretty objects for a high power
of the microscope (fig. 19). If the teeth of JEcidium resemble
the peristome of some mosses, such as Splachnum, the threads
of this species of Rccstelia, except in not being twisted, some-
what resemble the peristomes of other mosses of the genus
Tortilla. The spores in this species are less conspicuous,
being of a light brown, and the whole plant, from its modest
hue, may be readily passed over without attracting attention
unless occurring in abundance.

CLUSTER-CUPS.

20

The leaves of pear-trees afford a second species of this
genus sufficiently distinct to commend it to our notice.
Sometimes it is very common, at others but few examples are
to be met with. The clusters occur on the under-surface,
and consist of half a dozen or less of large peridia, pointed at
the apex and swelling in the middle so as to become urn-
shaped. These vessels or thecae split into numerous threads
or laciniae, which remain united together at the apex. Like
the species already noticed, this is brown and inconspicuous
except on account of its size, for it is the largest of all that
we have had occasion to notice.

The third species occurs on the under- surface of the leaves
of the mountain-ash. The peridia are clustered on a rusty
orange-coloured spot which is visible on the upper surface.
They are long and cylindrical, with an evident tendency to
curvature, the mouth is serrated, but not split up into threads,
as in the species found on the hawthorn. The peridia are
often abortive, and nothing is to be seen but the rusty
thickened spot on the leaf. The clusters and spores are of
a brighter reddish brown than in either of the other species.
All are remarkably distinct, and perhaps the most curious
and interesting of any that we have passed in review. To
botanists the species found on the hawthorn is known as
Rcestelia lacerata, that on pear-leaves as Rcestelia cancellata,
and the one on the leaves of the mountain-ash as Rcestelia
cor nut a.

Dr. Withering observed the spore-spots on the leaves of
the mountain-ash, but was evidently puzzled to account for
them. He writes (in his Arrangement of British Plants), “ The
spots on the leaves of Sorbus aucujparia consist of minute
globules intermixed with wool-like fibres. On examining
many of them in different states, I at length found a small
maggot in some of the younger spots, so that the globules are
probably its excrement, and the fibres, the woody fibres of
the plant unfit for its food.'”

Only two species of cluster-cups are described in Withering's
Flora under the genus Lycojoerdon : one of these is now
called JEcidium comjpo sit arum , and is found on various com-
posite plants ; the other includes the species found on the
wood-anemone and that on the moschatel, and also probably
a species of Puecinia on the wood-betony.

To render our paper more complete, though of less import-
ance to the microscopist, we may allude to the other two genera
comprised within this order. Peridermium is the name of
one genus which contains two British species found on the
leaves and young shoots of coniferous trees. In this genus the
peridium bursts irregularly, and does not form cups or horns

30

POPULAR SCIENCE EE VIEW.

or fringed vessels, with no compensating feature to recommend
it to the microscopist.

In the genus Endophyllum, as its name implies, the peridium
is imbedded within the substance of the succulent leaves.
The only species we possess is found rarely upon the common
houseleek.

We have derived much pleasure in viewing the astonish-
ment and delight exhibited by friends to whom we have
personally communicated specimens of the little fungi we
have enumerated for examination under the microscope ; and
we recommend with confidence this group of parasitic plants,
unfortunately so little known, as well worthy of the attention
of all who are interested in the minute aspects of nature, and
who can recognize the hand —

“ That sets a sun amidst the firmament,

Or moulds a dew-drop, and lights up its gem.”

CHAPTEK II.

SPEEMOGONES.

IN addition to their spore-bearing spots, lichens have for
some time been known to possess other organs, termed
sperm og ones, which are probably concerned more or less in
the reproductive process. The first intimation of the existence
of similar bodies in the entophytal fungi originated with M.
Unger in 1833, but it was left to M. de Bary and the Messrs.
Tulasne, twenty years later, to examine and determine satis-
factorily the nature and value of the spermogones of the
Uredines. It was at first believed that the smaller pustules —
which sometimes precede, and sometimes accompany, the
cluster- cups and some other allied fungi — were distinct species
developed simultaneously therewith, or members of a. new
genus, which, under the name of JEddiolum exanthematum ,
found a place in the mycologic system.

Without staying to trace the stages through which the
elucidation of their true nature proceeded, it will suffice for
our purpose to tell what is now known of these secondary
organs ; to accomplish which we must stand greatly indebted
to the independent researches of Messrs. De Bary and
Tulasne. It has been demonstrated that both these bodies,
namely, the primary organs or cluster-cups, and the secondary

SPERMOGONES.

31

organs or spermogones, are developed from the same my-
celium ; but the value of the latter is still undetermined. If
they possess any fecundative power, the process has not been
traced ; or if they are in themselves reproductive,, they have
not at present been seen to germinate. Their uses, therefore,
in the economy of the parasitic plant of which they are now
known to form a part is still a mystery, and they remain
valueless in the determination of genera and species. Any
speculation which might regard them as male organs would
be premature, and without support in fact. Hitherto only
some species of the genera described in the foregoing chapter,
and others belonging to genera not hitherto named, have
been ascertained to possess spermogones. Of the former are
the Rcestelia of pear leaves, some species of Mcidium, as those
of j Euphorbia, &c., and Peridermium Pini.

These spermogones are of a very simple structure — very
delicate, indeed; so much so, that they will scarcely bear
preparation for demonstration. De Bary states that they
originate from plain, delicate, inarticulate threads, about half
the thickness of the mycelium (the root-like branching fibres
which form the fundamental stratum of fungoid growths),
which are developed in large quantities, and closely packed
together. These threads are compacted together so as to form
an outer enveloping integument or peridium, which is either
globular or hemispherical (or in some instances elongated),
more or less immersed, and at length opening at the apex by
a regularly formed minute ostiolum. The inner wall of the
peridium is covered with a thick forest of simple filaments
standing on end. From the summit of these filaments or
sterigmata, the spermatia are borne. These are either isolated
or associated together in strings or chaplets, are exceedingly
minute, of an ovoid or oblong shape, and are produced in
such numbers as to fill the cavity of the spermogone. Besides
these, a viscid fluid fis secreted, in which the spermatia are
immersed, and which is expelled with them from the orifice of
the peridium. According to the density of this fluid, or the
hygrometric state of the atmosphere, it appears sometimes in
drops, and sometimes oozing out in threads or cirrhi from the
spermogones. To compare minute things with gigantic, as a
recent author has observed, it resembles the lava issuing from
the crater of a volcano. The colour of this spermatiferous
matter is commonly orange, but in some instances brown,
though not constantly of the same colour as the spores pro-
duced from the same mycelium. This gelatinous substance is
dissolved away from the granular bodies which are immersed
in it, by adding a little water upon the slide on which the
mass is placed for examination. The granules, or spermatia,

32

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

then exhibit those peculiar movements which have been
observed in the similar bodies in lichens, and fitly described
as “ a sort of oscillating motion, as of a body attached at one
extremity.” The cause of this motion is at present uncertain,
vibratile cilise, to which similar movements are referred, being
altogether absent ; but probably, as De Bary believes, the
cause may be found in the influence of exosmose.

Fig. 1. JEcidium grossularice. c. Cluster-cups. s. Spermogones.

„ 2. Section of ripe spermogones of JEcicliu'in Euphorbice. s. Spermatia.

a. Sterigmatre bearing spermatia ( De Bary).

The largest spermatia yet examined (those of Peridermium
Pirn) have a length equal to ^Vo °f an inch, but their width
seldom exceeds yooooo of an inch, whilst in others their length
does not exceed the width of those just named.

Messrs. Tulasne affirm that all these corpuscles, as well as
the mucilaginous fluid, evolve an appreciable odour, resembling
that of the pollen of the willow. M. Leveille compares the
odour to that of orange flowers, and M. De Bary to that of
the evening primrose.

The spermogones do not always appear like pustules on the
surface of the leaves, for sometimes their presence is only
indicated by minute depressed punctures which are scarcely
visible ; generally, however, they may be recognised by an

SPERMOGONES.

33

obtuse, or otherwise a pointed, protuberance that surmounts
them. The margin of the orifice is sometimes furnished with
short hairs, but is more frequently ornamented with a pencil
of long hairs, which are stiff and erect, and of the colour of
the enclosed spermatia.

In many of the species of JEcidium the cups are disposed
in a more or less regular circle, the centre of which is occu-
pied by a group of spermogones ; at the same time, the
corresponding spot on the opposite surface of the leaf will
frequently be found also occupied by other spermogones — in
some instances in greater number than on the same surface of
the leaf on which the cups are seated. This is the case in the
JEcidium which is found upon the leaves of the coltsfoot, and
that of the honeysuckle.

Very bright orange-coloured spots may be observed in
autumn (we encountered them several times last month) upon
the leaves of pear trees, and which are covered with little
tubercles, at first of the same colour, but ultimately becoming
brown. These pustules are so many spermogones belonging
to Rcestelia cancellata , a kind of cluster-cup found in the
same localities. These spots have long since been noticed,
and regarded as connected with the Rcestelia, but in what
manner has until recently been unknown. The Eev. M. J.
Berkeley noticed them in the English Flora in 1836, or at least
the granulations on the upper surfaces of the leaves bearing
R. cancellata, R. cornuta, and R. lacerata, and called them
abortive pseudoperidia. Before this (in 1804) they had been
observed by Rebentisch. An examination of one of these
spots under a low power of the microscope, and afterwards a
section of one or more of the pustules, cut with a sharp razor,
and viewed with a higher power will give an idea of the nature
of the bodies we are attempting to describe. During the
past summer we have noticed very similar orange spots on
leaves of the berberry containing spermogones on both sur-
faces, and these appeared before any cups had been found on
that plant. In this instance no cups were produced from the
spots on the leaves examined, and which were carefully
noticed at intervals until they withered and fell.

In some instances, as in Rcestelia cornuta, which is found
on the leaves of the mountain ash, the cups are produced on
the lower, but the spermogones almost exclusively on the
upper surface.

The spermogones of Peridermium Pini are white, few in
number, and are developed, not only in the spring, but some-
times reappear in the autumn upon the same leaves that pro-
duced them at the commencement of the year.

In such instances as those of the JEcidiimi of the spurge,
VOL. HI. NO. IX. D

I

34

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

and also the goatsbeard, in which the cluster- cups^are arranged
in no appreciable order, the spermogones are scattered
amongst them, and even in some instances appear on different
leaves. The spermogones are common on the wood spurge
in spring, scattered over both surfaces of the leaves before
the cluster-cups make their appearance, and gradually these
latter are developed amongst them, commencing from the apex
of the leaves and proceeding in the order of their development
towards the base. In this instance the spermogones are bright
yellow, as are afterwards the cups and spores of the JEcidium.
In most instances the appearance of the spermogones precedes
that of the sporiferous organs, but the latter follow sufficiently
speedy for perfect development before the decadence of the
spermogones takes place.

After the expulsion of the spermatia and the fluid which
accompanies them, the whole mass dries up ; and where many
spermogones have been clustered together in the same spot a
brown homogeneous crust is formed upon the epidermis ; where
they are produced singly, a brownish incrustation is visible
about the mouth of each spermogone.

Re-agents applied to the spermogones whilst in full vitality
indicate the presence of a considerable amount of a protein
substance, which, with sugar and sulphuric acid, produces a
deep purple red colour.

From what we have already stated of the method of occur-
rence of these organs, the following is the only order,
apparently, preserved in their development, although no definite
rules can at present be affirmed. The spore-spots or cluster-
cups are generally found upon the under surfaces of the leaves
on which they are produced, and the spermogones are most
numerous on the upper. When both the cluster- cups and the
spermogones appear in the same group on the same surface,
the spermogones commonly occupy the centre, and the cups
are arranged in a circular manner about them. In other, and
fewer instances, both organs stand together indiscriminately
upon the same surface.

The spermogones are also developed centrifugally, at least
so far as at present observed, for when they are produced in a
cluster the central one first opens and discharges its contents,
and thus the development proceeds outwards from the centre
to the circumference. When the spermogones are scattered,
as in those of j Euphorbia, they are first observed at the apex
of the leaf, whence they are developed in succession towards
the base. The latter should be sought for on the young plants
of the wood-spurge in March or April, at which time we have
found them abundant at Rarenth wood, near Dartford.

It must not be concluded, from the fact that we have not

Plate IE

S muts

SMUTS AND BUNT.

35

I

yet adverted to spermogones in connection with other fungi,
that they are peculiar to the JEcidiacei. Such is by no means
the case. It would scarcely convey any information to our
readers if we were now to enumerate other genera and species
in which spermogones occur, without describing the fungi with
which they are associated. This would be out of place, inas-
much as we hope at a future time to treat, in detail, of these
unnoticed genera. Let it suffice therefore that we state that
they have been found in members of the genera, Aregma,
Trijohragmium , Puccinia, Lecythea, Trichobasis , and TJredo , but
they have been found much more generally in Bcestelia and
JEcidium than in any other genus.

As comparatively little is yet known of these bodies, a fair
field is open to the enterprising microscopist, with time at his
disposal, and a good store of perseverance, to win for himself
renown in the discovery of fresh facts, and the elucidation of
some of the mysteries which yet enshroud these interesting
organisms. From the foregoing pages he will learn the
direction in which his researches should tend, and he may be
assured that every new fact is of importance when carefully
ascertained.

CHAPTER III.

SMUTS AND BUNT.

ONE of the fungal diseases of corn long and widely known
has obtained amongst agriculturalists different appel-
lations in different localities. In some it is the “ smut,” in
others it is respectively “ dust-brand,” “ bunt-ear,” “ black-
ball,” and “ chimney-sweeper,” all referring, more or less,
to the blackish soot-like dust with which the infected and
abortive ears are covered. This fungus does not generally
excite so much concern amongst farmers as the other affec-
tions to which their corn crops are liable. Perhaps it is not
really so extensively injurious, although it entirely destroys
every ear of corn upon which it establishes itself. Wheat,
barley, oats, rye, and many grasses are subject to its attacks,
and farmers have been heard to declare that they like to see
a little of it, because its presence proves the general excellence
of the whole crop. No one who has passed through a field
of standing corn, after its greenness has passed away, but
before it is fully ripe, can have failed to. notice, here and there,
a spare, lean-looking ear, completely blackened with a coating

36

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of minute dust. If he has been guilty of brushing in amongst
the corn, it will still be remembered how his hands and cloth-
ing became dusted with this powder ; and if at the time he
should have been clad in sombre black, evidence will have
been afforded — in the rusty-looking tint of the powder when
sprinkled upon his black continuations — that, however sooty
this powder might appear whilst still adhering to the ears of
corn, it has an evident brown tint when in contact with one's
clothes. This powder, minute as it is, every granule of it
constitutes a spore or protospore capable of germination,
and ultimately, after several intermediate stages, of repro-
ducing a fungus like the parent of which it formed a part.
During the growth of the plant its virulent contents flow like
a poison through the innermost tissues, and at length attack
the peduncle or axis of the spikelets of the ear, raising np
the essential organs and reducing them to a rudimentary
state. Brongniart, who made this species the special subject
of observation, states that the fleshy mass which is occupied
by the fungus consists entirely of uniform tissue, presenting
large almost quadrilateral cavities, separated by walls, com-
posed of one or two layers of very small cells filled with a
compact homogeneous mass of very minute granules, perfectly
spherical and equal, slightly adhering to each other, and at
first green, afterwards free or simply conglomerate towards
the centre of each mass, and of a pale rufous hue ; at length
the cellular walls disappear, the globules become completely
insulated, and the whole mass is changed into a heap of
powder, consisting of very regular globules, perfectly alike,
black, and just like the reproductive bodies of other fungi. A
scientific botanist of some repute, M. Unger, published a
work in Vienna during the year 1823, in which he sought to
prove that this, and allied species of fungi, were not fungi at
all, but merely broken up cells, or disruptured and altered
conditions of certain portions of the diseased plants. The
most satisfactory refutation of this theory may be found in
the fact that the spores of the smut can be seen to germinate
under favourable conditions and produce fruit, whereas if
they were only the ordinary cells of the plant broken up by
disease, fructification would not take place.

The spores in this species are exceedingly minute. It has
been ascertained that forty-nine of them would be contained
within a space the one-hundred-and-sixty-thousandth part of a
square inch, hence one square inch of surface would contain little
less than eight millions. These myriads of spores are shed
from the ears, and nothing remains but the barren matrix in
which they were borne when the firmer proceeds to gather in
his crops. At that time he sees no more of the i( smut," all

SMUTS AND BUNT.

37

remembrance of it for the time is gone, his only thought is to
stack his corn in good condition. But the millions of spores
are dispersed, ten millions at least for every ear that has
been “ smutted,” — and will they not many of them reappear
next year, and thus year after year, with as much certainty as
the grain upon which they are parasitic ?

Like many of the parasitic fungi, so destructive in the farm
and the garden, this species belongs to the family in which
the spores are the distinctive feature. After many botanical
changes, the “ smut ” is at length regarded as a fixed resident
in the genus Ustilago with the specific name of segetum , which
latter signifies “ standing corn it is therefore the Ustilago,
or smut of the standing corn . The characters of the genus
are chiefly that the spores are simple and deeply seated,
springing from delicate threads, or in closely packed cells,
ultimately breaking up into a powdery mass. Fifteen mem-
bers of this genus have been described as British. One of
these (U. maydis) attacks the maize or Indian corn grown in
this country in a similar manner as the common smut
attacks wheat or barley ; but as maize is not an established
crop with us, a more minute description of this species is un-
necessary; the spores are figured in plate III. fig. 29. Another
species (U. hyjpodytes) makes its appearance at first beneath
the sheaths of the leaves surrounding the stems of grasses,
and ultimately appears above and around them as a purplish-
black dust. The seeds of sedges, the leaves and stems of
certain definite species of grass, the flowers of scabious, the
receptacles of the goatsbeard, the anthers of the bladder
campion, and other allied plants, and the seeds of the Bistort
family, are all liable, more or less, to the attacks of one or
other of the residue of the fifteen species of Ustilago already
referred to as indigenous to Britain.

Although we do not profess to teach practical men how to
grow good corn, or how they shall get rid of, or keep clear
from, the many foes to which their crops are exposed, yet a
suggestion may be offered, based upon the facts obtained in
our botanical researches, supported by the analogy of allied
circumstances. In this instance the extreme minuteness and
profusion of the spores would evidently render all the corn
liable to the attachment of, perhaps only two or three, spores
to the seed coat. Some ears of corn in nearer proximity to
the smutted ears may be covered with spores which yet
remain invisible to the naked eye, and when these grains are
mixed with others in the heap, the chances are not much in
favour of any handful not becoming charged with spores. If
the majority of these were not redeemed from destruction by
the many changes, shiftings, rubbings, and scrubbings to

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

which the seed corn is liable between the time of its reaping
and the period of its sowing, we might expect a very large
crop of “ smutted ” corn. Under ordinary circumstances we
can scarcely imagine that the loss arising from infected
ears would repay much special labour to prevent it, only that
to a large extent the precautions taken to cleanse the seed
corn from the spores of one fungus will also avail for another,
and while cleaning it of the spores of “smut,” those of
“ bunt ” will also be removed. The facts that we rely upon
chiefly as indicating the remedy are that the spores are only
superficially in contact with the seed corn, and that they are
of less specific gravity, causing them to float on the surface
of any fluid in which the corn may be immersed. Again, the
spores of many species of fungi will not germinate after satu-
ration with certain chemical solutions. One of the most
successful and easy of application is a strong solution of
Glauber’s salt, in which the seed corn is to be washed and
afterwards, whilst still moist, dusted over with quick-lime. The
rationale of this process consists in the setting free of caustic
soda by the sulphuric acid of the Glauber’s salt combining
with the lime, and converting it into sulphate of lime. The
caustic soda is fatal to the germination of the spores of
“ bunt,” and probably also of “ smut ; ” although, as already
intimated, except in cases where these affections of the corn
are very prevalent, we shall be informed by the agriculturist
that the cost of labour in the prevention will not be compen-
sated in the cure.

Experience has also taught us that all fungi flourish in
proportion to the wetness of the season, or dampness of the
locality. A wet year is always exceedingly prolific in fungi,
and a dry season correspondingly barren. In a field or a
wood the mycologist reaps his richest harvest of mycological
specimens in the lowest and dampest spots, in swamps,
ditches, and ill- drained nooks. This is a fact worth knowing
as much by the farmer as the amateur botanist in search of
specimens for his herbarium.

One of the most unmistakable species of “ smut ” is that
which infests the goatsbeard, on which we have already
described an JEcidium. Generally about the same time as the
cluster-cups make their appearance on the leaves, some of
the unopened flower-heads of this plant will be found con-
siderably altered in appearance by tho shortening of the
segments of the involucre, and at length by the whole inflo-
rescence being invested with a copious purplish-black dust.
If, by any means, the lobes of the involucre are any of them
separated, the enclosed dust escapes, blackening the fingers
and clothing of the collector, as if it were soot. A little of

SMUTS AND BUNT.

39

this dust submitted to the microscope will be found to consist
of myriads of small globose spores, nearly uniform in size and
shape ; and if a high power be employed, each of these will
appear to have a papillose or minutely granulated surface.
The florets, dwarfed in size and contorted, or the remains of
them, are embedded in the mass of spores, and if one or two
of these are removed and placed under a good one-inch objec-
tive, every part will be found covered with adhering spores,
to the apparent exhaustion of its substance. Of course, the
florets are never developed when subjected to the attack of
c( smut.” The whole plant assumes a faded, sickly appearance,
even before the spores are fully ripened. We would recom-
mend our readers, if they collect one of the infected flower-
heads, to put it into a box or paper by itself, for if placed in the
box with other specimens it will so sprinkle them with its
black powder as to render them nearly useless for microscopic
examination : everywhere the microscope will detect, where the
unaided eye failed to recognize a trace, the ubiquitous spores
of TJstilago receptaculorum (plate III. figs. 11 — 15).

In the fenny districts of the eastern counties a species of
“ smut ” called TJstilago typhoides attacks the stems of reeds,
forming thick swollen patches of several inches in length,
sometimes occupying the whole space between two joints or
nodes, and lying beneath the sheath of the leaves. The
spores in this species are larger than in the species which
attacks the culms of grasses in a similar manner, and which
we have figured under the name of TJstilago hypodytes (plate
III. figs. 9, 10).

There are not many features in the rest of the species of
this genus of sufficient interest to the general reader or micro -
scopist to render it advisable to furnish any detailed account of
them. We may, however, note that in a species found but
rarely on the leaves of the common cocksfoot-grass the spores
are large, obovate, and rough with minute granules. The
spores of TJstilago utriculosa , found on different species of
Polygonum , instead of being granulated are reticulated on the
surface (plate III. figs. 33 — 37). The chief interest attaching
to TJstilago antherarum consists in its habitat, for it is de-
veloped in the anthers of the flowers of the bladder campion,
and other plants of the same natural order. The anthers are
much swollen and distorted by this parasite, which is not
uncommon, though easily overlooked unless specially sought
after (plate III. figs. 16 — 18. A list of all the British species
will be found at the close of this paper. It will be noted
that as in the genus JEcidium the prevailing colour of the
spores is orange, so in the genus TJstilago it is black, with
a purplish or violaceous tinge.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Four diseases in wheat of fungal origin are known and
recognized by agriculturists ; these are called in the popular
language of the farm, “mildew,” “rust,” “smut,” and
“ bunt.” Sometimes one and sometimes another is most
prevalent, and he is an exceedingly fortunate individual who
can walk through his fields and find only one of them, especi-
ally if that one should be sparingly distributed. It has been
our good fortune to dwell much amongst cornfields, and the
terror of the word “ mildew ” to a farmer's ears is not
unfamiliar in our reminiscences of the past, ere we discarded
the much-loved country to become a dweller in town. The
subject of our present remarks inspired no such alarm in the
districts of our experience, but in some seasons and localities
it is certainly one of the “ pests of the farm.” Under the
different appellations of “ bunt,” “ pepper brand,” “ bladder
brand,” and sometimes “ smut,” this infection is very gene-
rally known. Externally there is no appearance, except to
the practised eye, that anything is wrong. There is no black
impalpable dust about the ears as in the true “ smut,” no
red withered leaves or spotted stem as in the “rust” and
“ mildew,” and no stunted growth or malformation, evident
to the casual glance, by which the insidious foe can be recog-
nized ; but stealthily and secretly the work is accomplished,
and until the “ bunted ” grains make their appearance in the
sample, the disease may, perchance, be unchallenged.

Externally the “ bunted ” grain is plumper, and whilst the
corn is still green these will be of a brighter green than the
rest. When broken, the farinaceous interior will be found
replaced by a minute black dust of a very foetid, unpleasant
odour, and greasy to the touch. This powder constitutes the
spores of the “ bunt ” mixed with myceloid threads. It may
happen that much of the corn in a field is “ bunted ” and the
discovery not made till the wheat is being ground for flour ;
then the odour and colour will speedily decide the produce
to be unfit for human food. We have not the least doubt
that “ bunted ” corn, when ground with flour, is injurious
in proportion to its extent, whilst at the same time we can
scarcely conceive an intelligent miller grinding up a sample
containing any large proportion of “ bunted ” grains in igno-
rance of the fact.

If we break open a grain of wheat infested with the “ stink-
ing rust ” or “ bunt,” and then place some of the powder
in a drop of water on a glass slide, and submit this to the
microscope, first using the half-inch power, then the quarter,
or fifth, and finally an eighth or tenth, we shall find that this
minute dust consists of myriads of globose brown bodies,
termed spores, which possess certain reproductive func-

SMUTS AND BUNT.

41

tions. These spores will be found mixed with a number of
delicate branched threads, to which they are attached by a
short stalk or pedicel, visible with the higher powers. The
surface of the spores you will also observe to be beautifully
reticulated. These features just described as visible in the
“ bunt 33 are the characteristics of the genus to which it be-
longs ( Tilletia ), and of which it is the only British species.
An allied species infests the Sorghum or durra, a grain but
little cultivated in Europe, but found extensively in Africa
and Asia, and also the Bajra of India.

The interesting experiments of the Rev. M. J. Berkeley on
the germination of “ bnnt ” spores have been already alluded
to. They were undertaken shortly after the outbreak of the
potato disease, to ascertain, if possible, the mode by which the
minute spores of fungi inoculate growing plants ; and although
at that time only a bare suspicion of the nature of the bodies
resulting from the germination of ee bunt ” spores was enter-
tained, succeeding examinations in the same direction have
brought to light extraordinary facts, and manifested the pro-
gress of the successive developments of four generations.
The spores of “ bunt 33 are larger than those of the different
species of “ smut,” and reticulated on the surface. When
these are made to germinate a kind of stem is protruded upon
which small clusters of elongated thread-like spores of the
second generation are produced (plate III. fig. 5). After a
time these spores conjugate, or become united by short
transverse processes in the same manner as has been observed
in some of the lower forms of Algae (plate III. fig. 6). The
conjugated spores in the next stage germinate and produce
a third kind of fruit different from either of the preceding,
and constituting a third generation of spores (fig. 7). These
in turn produce a fourth order of spores, so that in the process
of growth the u bunt 33 spores evidently pass through four
generations. Hence, as one result the number of germinating
bodies is greatly increased, as well as their power of inflicting
injury in a corresponding diminution in size. There are still
many points in the history of the growth and development
through successive generations of the “ bunt 33 spores, but
enough is known, on the one hand, to show that this is a true
vegetative parasite, and not merely a diseased condition of
the tissues of the wheat plant, and on the other that it is
perfectly distinct from all the phases of the other and similar
parasitic fungi which affect the wheat crop.

In the course of the preceding pages we have endeavoured
to illustrate two groups of Coniomycetal fungi. The first of
these containing four allied genera, in all of which a distinct
peridium is present, i.e. : —

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

IUestelia, in which the elongated peridium separates in
threads which are either united at their apices or free.

Peridermium, in which the elongated peridium ruptures
irregularly.

tEcidium, in which the peridium opens by reflexed teeth.

Endophyllum, in which the peridium is immersed in the
substance of the leaf.

The second group contains two allied genera, i.e. : —

Ustilago, in which the simple spores are produced as
closely packed cells, and ultimately break up into a
powdery mass.

Tilletia, in which the reticulated spores spring from
delicate branched threads.

The members of the first group are associated together in
one natural order termed jEcidiacei. Those of the second
group form a portion of another natural order called Pucciniei ,
to which we shall have occasion to return in the next number.

TILLETIA. Tulasne.

Spores sphserical, reticulated, proceeding from delicate branched threads.

Tilletia caries. Tul. (Bunt.) In wheat-grains. Autumn. Common.

Plate III. — Fig. 1. Infected grain. — 2. Section of same. — 3. Spores
magnified 320 diameters. — 4. Spores germinating, magnified 460
diameters. — 5. Ditto, producing elongated spores. — 6. Conjugating
spores. — 7. Elongating spores producing fruit of the third order. —
8. Spore of third order germinating.

TJSTILAGO. Link.

Plant deeply seated. Spores simple, springing from delicate threads, or

in closely packed cells, breaking up into a powdery mass.

Ustilago Segetum. Ditm. (Corn smut.) On ears of corn and grass.

Autumn. Very common.

Fig. 22. Ear of smutted barley. — 23. Spores magnified 460 diameters.

Ustilago urceolorum. Tul. (Sedge smut.) On the seeds of Carices.

Autumn. Not uncommon.

Fig. 19. Car ex recurva infected with smut. — 20. Smutted fruit. —
21. Spores magnified 460 diameters.

Ustilago longissima. Tul. (Elongated smut.) On leaves of Poa aquatica.

Summer. Common.

Fig. 26. Portion of infected leaf. — 27. Spore-spot magnified 60
diameters. — 28. Spores magnified 460 diameters.

Ustilago olivacea. Tul. (Olive smut). On Carex riparia. Not common.

Ustilago hypodytes. Fr. (Grass-culm smut.) On culms of grass. Sum-
mer. Sometimes not uncommon.

Fig. 9. Infected stem of grass. — 10. Spores magnified 460 diameters.

SMUTS AND BUNT.

43

Ustilago Maydis. Corda. (Maize smut.) On stems, &c., of maize.

Fig. 29. Spores magnified 460 diameters.

Ustilago Montagnei. Tul. (Beaksedge smut.) On seeds of Rhyncospora
alba. Not common.

Fig. 24. Infected plant. — 25. Spores magnified 460 diameters.

Ustilago typiioides. B. and Br. (Reed smut.) On stems of the common
reed. Autumn. Not uncommon.

Ustilago Salyeii. B. and Br. (Cocksfoot smut.) On leaves of cocksfoot
grass. Not common.

Ustilago grammica. B. and Br. (Banded smut.) On stems of Air a
aquatica. Not common. ^

Ustilago yinosa. Tul. (Oxyria smut.) On receptacles of Oxijria reni-
formis. Uncommon.

Ustilago utriculosa. Tul. (Utricle smut.) On utricles of various species
of Polygonum. Autumn. Not uncommon.

Fig. 33. Portion of infected plant of P. hydropiper. — 34. Section of
smutted utricle. — 37. Spores magnified 460 diameters. — 35. Infected
flower of P. persicaria magnified. — 36. Ditto section. ( Tulasne .)

Ustilago flosculorum. Fr. (Floret smut.) On the florets of scabious.
Not common.

Fig. 30. Infected flower-head of field scabious. — 31. Central floret
infected. — 32. Spores magnified 460 diameters.

Ustilago receptaculorum. Fr. (Goatsbeard smut.) On the receptacles
of goatsbeard. June and July. Common.

Fig. 11. Infected receptacle of goatsbeard. — 12. Distorted floret mag-
nified.— 13. Spores magnified 460 diameters. — 14, 15. Germinating
spores ( Tulasne ) magnified 460 diameters.

Ustilago antherarum. Fr. (Anther smut.) On the anthers of bladder
campion, &c.

Fig. 16. Infected flower. — 17. Swollen anther. — 18. Spores magnified
460 diameters.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE II.

Fig. 1. Goatsbeard cluster-cups (. AEcidium tragopogonis ) on portion of plant.
„ 2. Cups enlarged. — 3. Section magnified.

„ 4. White-spored cluster-cups (AE. leucospcrmum ) on leaf of wood-

anemone.

„ 5. Portion enlarged. — 6. Cups magnified.

„ 7. Ranunculus cluster-cups (AE. ranunculacearum ) on leaf of pilewort.

— 8. A cluster enlarged.

„ 9. Section of cups.

„ 10. Nettle cluster-cups {AE. Urticce ) on nettle stem. — 11. Cups enlarged.
„ 12. Berberry cluster-cups (AE. Berberidis ) on leaf of berberry. — 13.

Portion of a cluster enlarged. — 14. Cups magnified.

„ 15. Hawthorn cluster-cups (Rcestelia lacerata ) on leaf and fruit of haw-

thorn.— 16. Portion enlarged. 17. Section of cups. — 18. Cells
of peridium magnified 250 diameters.— 19. Single cell further
magnified.

Plate III. Embodied in description of species.

ON THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE IONIAN

ISLANDS.

BY PROFESSOR D. T. ANSTED, M.A., E.R.S.

•*

Part II.

IN a previous article I have spoken of the undrained valleys
of Corfu, the curious salt-water midstreams of Cephalonia,
and the remarkable weathering of detached blocks of limestone
in several of the islands of the Ionian group, as among the
many striking illustrations of their physical geography that
attract the attention of the scientific traveller. These all have
reference to the state of the limestone rock of which a large
proportion of all the islands is composed. Limestone forms
the ridges of the mountains, appears in innumerable broken
fragments on the summits and sides of the hills, and may be
found at no great depth underneath the soil of the plains. The
islands are perfect studies of limestone, and chiefly in that form
— half chalky, pure, but hard and very brittle — that is most
subject to the action of water. Water dissolves it readily and
wears it rapidly. It is full of cracks and crevices of all sizes ;
caverns and fissures are formed in it with extreme rapidity,
and when formed, their sides and roofs often fall in and admit
of a more free and rapid action of the water than before.
There is thus a perpetual change going on.

But limestone, — that is, common carbonate of lime, — is not
the only rock. Invarious places in all the islands, but especially
in the north-west of Corfu (perhaps also in the southern
extremity, which I was unable to visit), in the west of Cepha-
lonia, and the south-east of Zante, the ordinary carbonate of
lime is largely replaced by the sulphate, the rock consisting
chiefly of gypsum, capable of being used for the manufacture
of plaster, but not in fine veins of alabaster. Both in the
neighbourhood of this rock and elsewhere there are springs
yielding sulphuretted hydrogen gas. The condition of the
rock, and the probability that a considerable tract of lava
underlies the whole series of comparatively modern limestone
in this part of the Mediterranean, render it probable that these
gypsums and mineral springs are due to the action of vapourized
sulphur rising from solfataras in crevices of the lava. The

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

45

gypsums are always accompanied by a large quantity of soft
marl, which greatly influences the physical features of the
country, giving it a character often highly grotesque. This is
well seen near Lixuri in Cephalonia. There are also charac-
teristic marks of it in the hill behind Zante and at Mount
Scopos, in the same island.

The natural drainage of the islands is, of course, greatly
influenced by this peculiar condition of the rocks of which they
are formed. The islands consisting of granite, slate, or com-
pact sandstone, or even of clay, a very large proportion of the
water that falls as rain from the clouds runs down the hill sides
in brooks or rivulets, traverses the plains, collecting other
streams as it goes, and at length forms rivers proportioned to
the extent of the land and length of the course. These rivers
pour a tributary stream into the ocean. Nothing of this kind
is seen in the Ionian Islands. Notwithstanding the height and
extent of the mountains in the larger islands, and the high hills
in those of smaller size — notwithstanding the occasional heavy
rain that falls, and the large quantity of water that thus comes
upon the ground, as is indeed evident by the marks of torrents
that seam the mountain sides, there are no streams worthy the
name of rivers in any of the islands. In Corfu, whose area is
227 square miles, and whose mountains are nearly 3,000 feet
high, there are but two small streams entering the sea, and
only one of these is large enough to require a bridge. In
Cephalonia, whose area is 31 f square miles, there is no river
deserving of the name, and very few places where there is any
constant run of water into the ocean. The stream that drains
the extensive valley between the lofty and generally snow-
covered range of the Black Mountains and the lower but not
inconsiderable coast range to the west, almost disappears before
it enters the Gulf of Samos, and no other stream is worth
mentioning. Zante, with its 160 square miles of surface and
semicircle of mountain on the west coast, has no river at all.
Santa Maura, of the same area, is almost equally without
streams, although it has a central ridge and two parallel coast
ridges, offering the most favourable conditions for streams.
Ithaca has nothing that could not be stepped across. This total
absence of streams, beyond the merest indications of a moun-
tain-torrent only carrying down water immediately after heavy
rains, is a striking feature in the physical geography of the
Ionian Islands. It contrasts strongly with what is seen
generally in Europe, and it has great bearing on the fertility
of the islands, on the nature of the crops grown on them, their
sanitary condition, and on their human inhabitants. It is
difficult to overestimate the influence of these conditions of
natural drainage on the various lands subject to them.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

But if the rainfall in the Ionian Islands is, as we have reason
to suppose, rather large in proportion to that of the adjacent
countries, and the natural channels for carrying off the water
to the sea are so small and few, it becomes an interesting and
important question to consider the cause of conditions so ano-
malous. This has already been alluded to in speaking of the
highly- cavernous state of the limestone. Just as in various
parts of the Mendips there are swallow holes in which the
streams of the neighbourhood are swallowed up and made to
disappear, so in almost every valley of all the Ionian Islands
there is something of the same kind. In the Mendips, indeed,
these swallowed-up rivers reappear in springs at the foot of
the cliff in the valley below, and form streams once more,
whereas in the Ionian Islands they are altogether lost sight of,
the water being all carried away by evaporation from the
general surface of the country during the long and fierce heats
of summer. This difference, however, is one of little import-
ance, and does not diminish the value of the explanation. All
the rain sinks into the earth and is dispersed far and wide
during the wet season, and during droughts the water is brought
again to the surface by evaporation. Thus, in spite of great
dryness and no soil, there is a cultivation of the vine in some
places among the bare stones lying upon the naked limestone
rock.

The removal of forests whjch at one time seem to have
covered large tracts of country in several of the islands has
probably produced much effect on the general climate, but
especially on the rainfall, and on the distribution of the rain
after it has fallen. The trees were, for the most part, evergreen
oaks or pines, preventing, or at least greatly checking, evapo-
ration during summer, and acting, as trees always seem to do,
in increasing the rainfall in the rainy season, and increasing
the total number of days on which rain falls* It would seem
that the very large human population formerly living on the
islands existed at a time when these forests had not been
removed ; and it is very possible that a tree vegetation, of slow
growth, and of which the leaves do not fall till spring, may be
far less injurious in malarious districts than a surface generally
bare, but covered very quickly after the winter and early spring
rains with a luxurious growth which again dies away and is
burnt by the hot summer sun. Certain it is that the climate,
in many parts of all the islands, except perhaps Ithaca, is now
eminently malarious, and that the population increases very
much less rapidly than should be the case in a well-governed
country with no political drawbacks.

In all the islands there is some kind of wet season, com-
mencing in November and lasting at intervals till April. About

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

47

the time of each equinox there is the usual excess of wind and
rain. After the autumnal equinox there is generally a longish
interval of fine weather before the winter rains set in, and after
the vernal equinox there are also six weeks of fine weather.
Following the former interval towards Christmas is a season
during which heavy rains fall continually, while following the
latter interval in June there is only a very short season of rain,
and then fair weather and dry air till the end of September.
The climates are, however, less certain than in the adjacent
main lands, and long droughts occasionally take place in the
beginning of the year. These are not necessarily unfavourable
for the crops of the ensuing season.

Storms in all the islands are generally very severe, but they
are not frequent. Very heavy falls of rain sometimes take
place in a few hours. The bad weather which is usual at the
time of the equinox is always welcomed if it come before the
equinox, as it is considered a prognostic of a favourable season.
On the other hand, it is the general experience of the islands
that if it is delayed till April, the whole summer is irregular,
and the crops do not succeed. This general experience, how-
ever, appears to have been contradicted by the present season.

In all the islands it is considered that the winds, when they
once establish themselves steadily from the north or south,
remain in the same quarter for many months. Thus, when
during the early part of winter, in November and December,
there is a gradual settlement of the wind till it blows almost
always from northern quarters, the winter remains dry, clear,
cold, and fine, with little rain, till the end of February. If a
disturbance takes place, it rarely lasts forty-eight hours, and
then the same fine weather recurs. On the other hand, if the
south winds prevail, there is a warm, damp winter, with much
rain. Occasional changes will bring one or two clear, cold
days ; but on the whole, there is more cloud and less evapora-
tion than in the other event.

The islands differ from each other a good deal in climate,
and that of Santa Maura, though so near, is not the same as
that of the mainland of Greece. It is described as being
always more pleasant and insular, cooler in summer and less
cold in winter. The result is seen in the greater fertility of the
island, and its richer and more varied crops. Corfu being more
to the north, and more directly under the influence of the
Albanian snow-mountains, is very different from all the others,
and the air during winter is often cool, and even very sharp.

The quantity of water in the various channels and gulfs and
other inlets with which the islands abound, is greatly affected
by the winds. After a continuance of wind from northerly
quarters, it falls so low that hundreds of acres of land are left

48

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

dry ; but when a sirocco comes, it rises immediately within a
few hours, even above its ordinary level.

Although the small bays and gulfs of the channel of Corfu,
the Gulf of Molo in Ithaca, and the Gulf of Argostoli in Cepha-
lonia, are all greatly and rapidly affected in this way, it is
chiefly the lagoon of Santa Maura that exhibits the result of
change of wind. In this great shallow expanse of water a
single shower, accompanied by a south wind, will make a
difference of a foot in the height of the water.

This lagoon of Santa Maura cannot but have much influence
both on the climate and sanitary condition of the island ; but
as it is the only case within the Ionian group of a phenomenon
of the kind, and is remarkably interesting in reference to
another question, we shall come back to it presently. So far as
climate is concerned, it is probable that there has been rather
an improvement than a deterioration during British occupation ;
and the facts here would seem to show, that as a swamp is
more dangerous than a lagoon, so a half-dried, or even dried,
swamp is worse than one covered with water. That the dan-
gerous and perpetual malaria of the eastern Mediterranean
shores and islands is rather the result of ancient than existing
marshes, is a conclusion forced upon us by the consideration
of the facts, and is fully confirmed by everything seen in the
Ionian Islands. All the islands suffer occasionally from mala-
rious fever, and in each case the dried levels are the dangerous
grounds. The kettle-shaped valleys of Corfu and Santa Maura,
the head of the Gulfs of Samos and Argostoli in Cephalonia
and Basilike in Santa Maura, the low lands near the Bay of
Chieri in Zante, and the Salinas of Govino and Lefkimo in
Corfu, are all of the same kind, and are always most mis-
chievous after having become dry.

Cephalonia is said to have a better and more pleasant climate
than Zante, and though the two islands are so near, approaching
within eight miles at one point, I believe this may be the case.
Owing to the prevalent winds and the position of the high
mountain chain of the Black Mountains in the larger island,
Zante, which lies due south of Cephalonia, receives the chill
from the snow on these mountains much more frequently and
thoroughly than the adjacent valleys. The winds, from what-
ever quarter they may originally come, are always practically
north or south when they reach the islands. Thus, all the north
winds bring cold to Zante, but not to Cephalonia, while the
south winds are alike, or nearly so, in the two islands.

On the whole, the climates of all the islands seem pleasant,
but not healthy — or at least, they require great caution at
certain seasons. The rainfall is considerable, but never exces-
sive, and though the summer heat is great, it does not seem to

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

49

be often extended so long or begin so early as to interfere with
the crops of corn and grape. Ithaca is perhaps the most
healthy of the islands, and it is precisely that one which has
neither swamps nor kettle-shaped valleys.

Santa Maura — in ancient times Leucadia — is remarkable
for its very close proximity to the mainland of Greece,, from
which it is only separated by a water channel so shallow that
the distance can easily be crossed on foot, even by women and
children. The island is thus a peninsula connected by an
isthmus just covered with water. In this respect, and also in
the nature of the isthmus,, it offers some interesting peculiarities
of physical geography.

The whole island is mountainous. The principal range traverses
the middle, from north to south, culminating in two lofty peaks
near the southern end. On either side, to the east and west,
there is a coast range, less lofty. The eastern and central
ranges terminate abruptly towards the north ; the western
range is continued a little further with steep cliffs towards the
sea. At the foot of the furthest extremity of this cliff a low
spit of gravel, just above the sea-level, runs off towards the
east and continues between two and three miles, terminating
in a reef. Beyond this, to the north, is deep water, but towards
the island a very shallow lagoon. The narrowest and shal-
lowest part of the channel is between the extremity of this reef
and the Greek shore, not far from the foot of a tolerably high
hill. It is only about 200 yards across, and in some parts
only a few inches deep. This is the northern boundary of the
isthmus. It has been cut asunder artificially about mid- way
by an artificial channel, part of which is a harbour, and this
has been continued for some distance as a ship canal. If com-
pleted, it would greatly facilitate the navigation of the Greek
coast, and it is believed that there is no tendency to choke a
channel once formed.

The southern boundary of the isthmus is between two and
three miles to the south. The eastern coast range is here
distant from a hill on the mainland something less than a
mile, but the interval covered by water is only about 350 yards.
This channel is, however, much deeper than the northern, and
ships of considerable size can safely enter. Between the
northern and southern boundary is an extensive tract of very
shallow water, gradually filling up by the detritus which comes
in by many small streams after rain, and certainly very much
reduced in area within the last score of centuries. No ordinary
boat can be paddled across it.

What is called the lagoon of Santa Maura is, then, really a low flat
beyond the extremity of a bay, or gulf, running' up between the peninsula

VOL. Ill, — NO. I. E

50

POPULAE SCIENCE REVIEW,

of Leucadia and the mainland of Greece. Receiving the drainage of a
considerable tract of land, much of it hilly, the heavy rains that occasionally
fall carry into it a good deal of silt ; and marine currents coming in, either
from north or south, help to increase the deposit which is rapidly forming
and hardening at the head of this gulf. Unless interfered with from without,
the whole tends, ultimately, to form a wide tract of dry land. The narrow
passage near Teki Castle does not tend to become deeper ; and, indeed, the
water is already so shallow there that it can easily be waded across. The
passage at Fort Alexander is both wider and deeper, but still has no
tendency to check but rather increases the deposits within the present area
of shallow water. The completion of the ship canal, if successful, might
slightly check the filling up of the lagoon.#

The existence at present of this curious condition of a large
island so very nearly connected with the mainland by a
channel apparently tending to choke up rather than to widen,
is the more interesting because in two cases in which it is
alluded to by writers of antiquity, it is described as then
actually a peninsula. Thus, Homer describes it as “ the penin-
sula of Epirus,” while Livy, describing the seige of Lencas by
the Romans about two hundred years before the birth of
Christ, speaks of it as in his time an island, but at the time of
the siege a peninsula.

Notwithstanding this, there is the best reason for supposing
that the water way, such as it is, has always existed. Homer
might well call it a peninsula, if the intervening water could
be waded across on foot, and Livy may have misunderstood
his informants for a similar reason. Certainly, there is no
present appearance of there having been a separation, either
natural or artificial, within the historic period. That the whole
district is subject to occasional earthquake action is undoubted,
and it might be supposed that on one of these occasions some
small depression has occurred, lowering, by a few feet, a tongue
of land like that which still forms the margin of the lagoon to the
north. Such an event as a small depression might detach
Gibraltar from Spain in a similar way. But a sinking of this
kind cannot have affected only a part of the long narrow strip,
all of which is in the same state. A depression now of a few
feet would not only lay open the whole lagoon to the sea, but
cover most of the plain on which are the town of Santa Maura
and all the rich olive-groves adjacent, nearly to the foot of the
hills. A depression of five feet would leave hardly anything.
On the other hand, all these plains and the margin of the lagoon
are strictly alluvial, the plains being chiefly river alluvium, and
the margin entirely marine alluvium. Had the whole been
originally and during the historic period five feet higher, there

* An.stcd’s “ Ionian Islands,” p. 133,

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

51

would certainly have been no lagoon at all, but a plain gently
sloping to the water’s edge, and the margin need not, and
could not; have been composed of a marine alluvium cemented
together. It would, on the contrary, have presented a low
cliff to the sea, and the remains of this cliff must have existed
somewhere. There are no marks of it ; while, on the contrary,
all, without exception of the margin, is an evident drift of
pebbles, the result of occasional high winds from the north
bringing up the water and moving the shingle with it. This
margin, also, is not always narrow. In one part it bulges
inland and forms a kind of island, on which is a farm and
chapel. Another similar land-tract is occupied by the fort of
Santa Maura, built many centuries ago, and still occupied.

If, indeed, there has been any change in the level of this
part of the Mediterranean, it has more probably been that of
elevation than depression. A very slow elevation, accompanied
by atmospheric action, would better account for the phe-
nomena presented by the margin and the gradual filling up
of the lagoon.

Marks of elevation on a much larger scale are sufficiently
common along the whole eastern coast of Santa Maura, but
they belong to a pre-historic period. Marine alluvia, of com-
paratively modern date, have there been formed, of great thick-
ness, and have been brought up to the height of many hundred
feet, at an angle of 60°, the beds dipping towards the sea.
The thickness of these beds is very great, and they are
repeated in various forms in some of the other islands.

One of the peculiarities of most of the Ionian Islands is
the existence of a surface deposit of pebbles or angular stones,
in some places small and in others large, and of various thick-
nesses, cemented into a pudding-stone, and covering the surface.
These might sometimes be thought a marine formation ; but
they consist only of the stones at the surface weathered and
broken by exposure, and worked into a solid mass by the
infiltration of rain-water. It is a condition only possible to
such an extent in a limestone district where weathering goes
on rapidly. It is necessary to remind the .reader of this, as
he might easily fall into the error of supposing that these
breccias were also proofs of elevation.

Although there is no probability that the separation of Santa
Maura from the mainland of Greece is a modern event, there
are not wanting in all the islands abundant proofs of recent
volcanic disturbance. Earthquakes are exceedingly common,
and in Santa Maura, Cephalonia, and Zante, they have been
extremely injurious within the last few centuries. There are
however, some interesting peculiarities connected with them,
amongst which may be mentioned that, although all the islands

52

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

are subject to shocks, occurring about the same time, tbe same
shocks do not extend from one island to another. As an
instance, I may mention a case that came under my own
observation: — In the early morning of Saturday, the 21st
March, while sleeping at Attane on the west side of Santa
Maura, I was disturbed by a distinct shock of an earthquake,
which also woke everyone in the house. I felt my bed rock
under me ; but although attention was naturally directed to
the subject, no other shock was felt. At the same time as at
Attane, or within a few minutes, a shock threw down some
buildings in the town of Santa Maura, at a distance of more
than twelve miles to the north-east. On the same day also,
but towards noon (many hours later in the day), there were
several shocks felt at Argostoli, in Cephalonia, less than forty
miles in a direction a little to the west of south, accompanying
a frightful electric storm and a cyclone which tore up a large
number of old olive-trees by the roots, and so severely shook
the walls of some barracks that they had to be taken down
immediately. I heard of many other similar cases, in which
the interval was longer, amounting to one, two, or three days.
It is also on record, that many of the earthquakes that have
desolated the islands have been preceded by great atmos-
pheric disturbance.

Earthquakes of moderate intensity are very frequent in the
islands of Santa Maura, Cephalonia, and Zante, but have
proved most mischievous in the towns of the. first and last
named. Santa Maura was greatly injured and almost de-
stroyed in the early part of this century, and the houses and
other buildings since erected are provided, accordingly, with
very large stone posts buried six feet in the rock, and rising
about as much above ground. On the framework thus prepared
a construction is placed, chiefly of wood, which is kept low,
and supports a light roof, so that, in case of a shake, as little
damage shall be done as possible. With the same view, the
bell-towers of the churches are placed away from the building,
and scarcely any of the buildings are more than one story
above the ground.

Zante has, perhaps, suffered more than any of the islands
from severe earthquake shocks. In the year 1514 there was
a great shock that is said to have split asunder the castle hill
bcliind the town from top to bottom. The old town of that
date was then, no doubt, destroyed. A succession of dis-
turbances of a smaller kind took place at intervals till 1840,
when, once more, the whole island was affected. During the
latter part of this year (1840) the great volcanic district of the
Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor was greatly shaken,
and the disturbances extended far into Persia and the East.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE IONIAN ISLANDS. 53

In the middle and end of June the district of Mount Ararat,
in Armenia, was the scene of very numerous violent eruptions.
These were continued at intervals throughout July, accom-
panied by occasional shocks, at Naples, and in Styria, Illyria,
and Lombardy, where much damage was done. In the middle
of August there were other disturbances in Naples and its
neighbourhood, and from the 28th to 30th October, Zante was
shaken by nearly a hundred violent shocks within a week.
The first shock was felt at sea, in a steamboat, six miles from
the land. Still later in the year — in November and December
— disturbances were felt both in Calabria and Armenia, and in
the following January in Algiers. Lastly, on the 18th of
February, 1841, very severe shocks were felt in parts of Italy,
and on the 26th of the same month a most alarming shock
again affected the town of Zante, the vibration lasting more
than half a minute. This last disturbance was preceded by
three days and nights of incessant rain, with violent gales of
wind.

These earthquakes are the more interesting, as no record is
given of any shock in the other Ionian Islands within this
period, and the shocks, if there were any, must have been
very slight. It is not recorded that any damage was done in
the Morea by either of these great Zante earthquakes.

Probably connected with the origin of these local, though
sometimes severe, earthquake shocks, are the deposits of sulphur
and pitch, and the conversion of large quantities of carbonate
into sulphate of lime, besides the occasional outburst of springs
of water loaded with sulphuretted hydrogen. I have already
suggested that below the limestones which were deposited as a
floor over the Mediterranean before the upheaval of these
islands, there is probably a sheet of lava, the result of volcanic
eruptions in this district, which we know to have been, during
the late tertiary period, the seat of extreme and very widely-
spread volcanic action. Through cracks in this lava proceed,
or have proceeded, sulphurous vapours, and these have ulti-
mately made the changes.

I have alluded to the mountains of Corfu, which, to a
certain extent, is an outlying island ; but it still remains to
describe the mountain system of the other islands. Of those,
the Black Mountain of Ceplialonia forms the key and the most
strongly-marked example. It consists of a single narrow north-
north-west and south- south-east ridge, attaining the considerable
elevation of 5,300 feet. It is very nearly parallel to the chain
forming the western side of Zante (rising to about 2,300 feet),
and also to the whole range of Ithaca. There is an inter-
mediate and much lower range between the Black Mountain
and Ithaca, ‘forming the coast range on the east side of

54

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Cephalonia, and this is continued to the northern extremity of
the island, though broken asunder by the Gulf of Samos. The
ridge of Ithaca extends northward into Santa Maura, broken
by the channel between the two islands, but indicated by the
smaller island of Arkudi between them. It culminates in
Stavrota and St. Elia, the two highest points in Santa Maura.
From this the axis continues, and though again broken by a
narrow interval, is traceable into the mainland of Acaruania.
The whole of this line of mountain country may be regarded
as in a general sense parallel to the direction of high ground
in southern Greece ; but the elevations generally are much less
considerable.

The character of the mountain ranges is not precisely the
same in the different islands. Thus, the Black Mountain pre-
sents a very well-marked series of ridges all nearly of the same
height, while Stavrota and St. Elia, in Santa Maura, Santi
Deca, and St. Elia, in Corfu, and Yrachiona, in Zante, are
separate pyramidal' peaks, and San Salvador with Maviona, in
Corfu, are two culminating pyramids at the extremities of a
high east and west ridge. On the whole, it will best explain
the physical conditions to describe each island as either con-
sisting of or including a high plateau, with occasional higher
ridges, while Cephalonia, in addition, presents a sharp, central
ridge.

Of valleys, the most remarkable and exceptional forms have
been already described in the first part of this article. They
are repeated, with some variation, in all the islands. Valleys
of the ordinary kind are hardly to be seen, except in Santa
Maura and Cephalonia, though small instances also exist in
Zante. Corfu is singularly without anything of the kind,
except in the northern district, where they are very small.

On the whole, then, it will be evident that the physical
geography of the Ionian Islands, considered as a group, is
well worthy of notice. These islands are especially remarkable
as illustrating all the characteristic peculiarities of limestone
rock, referring to the forms of the land, the natural drainage,
the climate, the weathering by atmospheric exposure, and some
very singular local phenomena. There are probably very few
accessible districts in which so great and instructive a variety
of such scenery is to be met with, and nowhere in Europe is
there better opportunity for the geologist to observe the effect
of natural causes of change on calcareous rock. With the
exception of soft, friable chalk, almost all the varieties of the
mineral are met with, from hardened chalk through limestone
to marble on the one side, and through the varieties of marl to
gypsum and alabaster on the other. Limestone masses, limestone
beds, limestone conglomerates, limestone and marble veins, and

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

55

metamorphic limestones may all be found. Mineral veins,
however, in the limestone are not common, and lead and zinc
ores, common in cases where the. limestone is less pure, are
not known in the district. Sulphur is the only important
mineral hitherto discovered, and this is not in veins, but either
bedded or nodular. Caverns are common ; but no very large
ones have been described, except in Cerigo. In the other
islands they are small, and have been traced only to a short
distance, owing probably to the tenderness of the limestone,
which falls in before very large open spaces have had time to
form. What is wanted in extent is doubtless made up in
number, and it is certain that the rock is everywhere much
fissured, and freely open to the passage of water.

The islands are unquestionably more interesting in their
physical geography than in their geology, and most of the
points of geology have already been alluded to as related to
existing operations of nature. Of fossils, few have been
found, and these possess no great interest. Perhaps some day
a careful examination of the contents of the Cerigo caverns
may throw light on the great question of the existence of
human beings in Europe together with the large extinct quad-
rupeds; but there is no evidence yet. The hipperite limestone
of Cephalonia is fossiliferous, but has not produced anything
new. The tertiary limestones and marls near Argostoli, also
in Cephalonia, have been found rich in specimens, and are
worth more careful working than they have yet received.

56

THE METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.

BY S. J. MACKIE, F.G.S.

WHEN people see tlie roadways torn up, and the traffic
blocked by fencings of planks round deep well-boles
in our busy streets, they are puzzled often to conceive what
connection these isolated diggings and workings can have
with each other. Beyond the general idea that the new
drainage works are to take the sewage away from our houses
and deposit it in the river at Barking Reach, they have little
notion of what the metropolitan drainage operations are ; and
yet, in these gigantic undertakings, there is little in the
general plan that is not readily intelligible and simple. To
get rid of anything we must make use of natural or artificial
force. The refuse from our houses could be carted away, or it
might be allowed to run off. In the first case, labour and
artificial locomotion would be required ; in the latter, the
natural force of the earth's gravitation would do the work for
us. The former would be costly and troublesome ; the latter
is inexpensive and gratuitous. Eor liquids to run naturally
away, we require an inclination of the surface, so that the con-
stituent atoms may come under the influence of gravitation, in
the same way as a handful of marbles will roll down a sloping
board. But if the fluid be required to move a solid, the rate
at which it flows must be increased, or, in other words, the
inclined plane must be made the steeper, that the motion of
the fluid may approach more nearly to that of a directly
falling body. The steeper the incline, the greater the power
of a liquid to move and carry along extraneous solid bodies.
In drainage works, then, the primary object is to use gravita-
tion as the removing power, because it is enduring and ever
continuous, costs nothing, and wants no looking after ; while
the secondary object incident on the application of this prin-
ciple is to get as “ good a fall " — that is, as steep an inclina-
tion— as possible. In a small town merely crowning the crest
of a solitary hill this matter would be simple enough ; but
where a large city like London spreads over many square, miles,
and includes in its area undulating and irregular land of every
degree of elevation and depression, from 400 feet above Trinity

MAP OF THE

METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS

1863.

THE METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS. 57

high-water mark to several feet below it, the task is one
requiring the greatest skill and care ; and this difficulty is still
farther increased by the existence of previous systems and net-
works of drains , by subterranean lines of water-pipes and gas-
pipes, lines of houses, the excavation of cellars, roads, streets,
railways, bridges, and intersecting rivers ; to each of which
belong rights of property, which must be respected. If we
could cut an open trench at a given incline, the liquid sewage
would flow along it just as a river in its channel, moving along
by its momentum the solid objects in its course ; but the
offensive nature of town-refuse requires that its course should
be covered over, to prevent injury to the health of the inhabit-
ants from its noxious emanations. Once inclosed, the sewer
assumes the nature of a pipe, and becomes immediately subject
to the laws of hydraulic pressure. Filled with the sudden
influx of waters from storms, it would burst; stopped with
solid accumulations, it would require cleansing. It must be
made steep enough to induce motion in its contents, large
enough to carry off storm-waters, and sufficiently ventilated
for workmen to enter to clear out stoppages and obstructions.
Other subsidiary points, it will be seen, come in. For example,
if we observe a contour map of London, we shall see the
irregularities and undulations of its surface are not altogether
devoid of a certain method and order, and in the main resolve
themselves into the general valley of the Thames, like the
sloping sides of a double roof towards a central gutter. It is
evident that, if we allowed the sewage to flow laterally down
from the highest slopes into a central main drain, running
through the entire length and median line of the metropolis
like an under-ground river parallel with the Thames, we
should require a culvert of enormous size, to provide not only
for the (sewage, but the rain-fall of the whole district, and that
the hydraulic pressure upon the masonry of the culverts would
be of the highest tension, while the liability to accident would
be of the most risky character. The more, then, we can divide a
district, the smaller the streams of sewage the drains will have
to carry, and the less the danger from sudden floods when there
are several channels for the waters to run off by. Lienee the
principle of intercepting drainage. If we wished to stop the
run of water from our roofs into the central gully, two or
three smaller gutters placed more or less diagonally along
their sides would arrest at intervals the water flowing down
their slopes, and convey that which fell on the different areas,
thus isolated from each other, in separate streams to the head
of the “ down-pipe ” into the streets. On the like principle
the main drainage of the metropolis consists of intercepting
sewers at various levels, so that instead of one great drain for

58 POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

tlie whole region, there are no less than six chief lines of
sewers ; or, rather, there are two distinct drainage works, of
three main lines each ; one system draining all the districts on
the north side of the Thames, the other all those on the south
side of the river.

The northern system consists of a high level, a middle
level, and a low level main drain ; the southern system of a
high level, a low level, and the Effra main drain.

The Northern High Level main, consisting of a brick culvert,
varying from 4 feet in diameter to 9J feet, starts from Hamp-
stead at an elevation of 154 feet, and passes through Kentish
Town, Holloway, Stoke Newington, Clapton, Hackney, and
Homerton, with an incline of 132 feet in a length of nine miles,
to the Old Ford over the Lea at Bow, where the Northern
Outfall sewers commence that carry on the sewage of the main
drains to the exit into the Thames at Barking’ Creek. The
Northern Middle Level sewer, which is of brick, and of like
dimensions, starts from the cemetery at Kensal Green, passing
through Notting Hill along the Uxbridge Road, intercepting
the Ranelagh sewer which brings the drainage from Hamp-
stead and Kilburn at the Gloucester Road, continues along
the Uxbridge Road to Oxford Street, where it intercepts the
King's Scholars' Pond sewer at Duke Street, and thence along
Oxford Street, intercepting the Regent's Park Tunnel sewer
at Regent's Circus.' At this point there is a weir and overflow
chamber, to allow the storm- water to pass over and flow down
the old sewer-course. The Middle Level sewer then passes
along New Oxford Street, Hart Street, Theobald's Road,
Liquorpond Street, Bedford Row, to Victoria Street, Clerken-
well, where it crosses, by means of an iron culvert, over the
underground railway near the Farringdon Street terminus.
Here also it intercepts the Fleet sewer, and then goes on
through Old Street, across Shoreditch, along Bethnal Green
Road, to the junction of the High Level and Outfall sewers at
Old Ford. This sewer with its branches runs over twelve miles
and a half in length, the head from which it starts being 64
feet above the Trinity datum line. Both these sewers flow
the whole distance, from their origins to their terminations, by
gravitation.

The Northern Low Level sew*er commences at 6 inches
above Trinity datum at Hammersmith, about a mile west of
the bridge ; another branch coming from Acton, and a short
branch through Fulham from Putney Bridge. The sewage
thence will flow to a pumping- station at Pimlico, where it
will be lifted from 17 feet below the datum. After the
junction its course will lie — for this portion is not yet con-
structed— through Chelsea, close to the river, past the Hospital*

THE METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.

59

through Belgravia, joining the Victoria sewer at Pimlico ; its
course will be then along Victoria Street, through Scotland
Yard, to Hungerford; then along the line of the Thames
embankment and the new street by the river bank (the powers
for making which were obtained from Parliament last session)
to Cannon Street, whence it proceeds by Tower Hill, Back
Road, Commercial Road, Limehouse, Bow Common, to a
second pumping station at Abbey Mills, where its whole
contents will have to be lifted 15 J feet, by an engine of 600-
horse power, into an outfall sewer, through which the sewage
will then run by gravitation parallel with the High and Middle
Level Outfall sewers to Barking Creek. It will be seen that
thus the High and Middle Level sewers flow side by side from
Old Ford, 22 feet above datum, passing across the River
Lea and under the Great Eastern Railway and the Stratford
Road, to the Abbey Mills, and that thence there are three
outfall sewers for the High, Middle, and Low Level sewages
respectively, running together eastward, and carried, partly
on embankments of concrete and partly on a viaduct of brick
arches, over the low-lying marshy land of the districts of Plaistow
and Eastham, for a distance of nine miles and a half to the
Thames at Barking Creek, where there is a reservoir of ten
acres in extent, divided into four compartments as a provision
for repairs, cleansing, or accident. The sewage collected in
this reservoir will be only allowed to escape after the turn of
high water, the outward current of the river then carrying it
for twelve miles further down, and being, in fact, equivalent,
as far as the metropolis is concerned, to that additional length
of drain.

The drainage works on the south side of London are entirely
distinct from those of the north side. The Effra Main Drain
commences at an elevation of 90 feet at the Crystal Palace,
and passes through Dulwich^ East Dulwich, Peckham Rye, and
New Cross to Deptford, a distance of four miles and a half,
where it is pumped into the Southern Outfall sewer. The
Southern. High Level Main Drain commences at Clapham,. at 51
feet above Trinity datum, running through Stockwell, Brix-
ton, Camberwell, Peckham, and parallel with the Effra from
Hatcham, through New Cross to Deptford; its length being five
miles and a quarter. The Southern Low Level Main Drain
commences at Putney, with a head of only 9 feet. Thence
it passes through Wandsworth, Battersea, by Nine Elms to
Kennington Oval, continuing along the Camberwell New
Road by the side of the Surrey Canal, across the Old Kent
Road by Peckham New Town, to the Pumping Station at
Deptford Creek ; being joined near the Deptford Railway
Station by the Bermondsey branch, running through Bother-

60

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

hithe and Deptford, a length of ten miles to 18 feet
below datum. From Deptford one general outfall sewer,
11 feet 6 inches in diameter, conveys the drainage matter
through Greenwich, by the Woolwich Lower Road, by a deep
tunnel under the town of Woolwich, then along the Plum-
stead Road, and afterwards north-easterly across the marshes
to a point called Cross Ness at Half-way Reach on the Thames
— a distance of seven miles and a half — where the whole sewage
will again be lifted into a vast covered reservoir, six acres
and a half in extent, and discharged after the turn of high
water into the river.

The objects sought to be obtained by these works are
primarily to remove from the river Thames, in its course
through London, the noxious contamination of the nearly
sixty millions of gallons of sewage now daily poured into it,
by intercepting that sewage in its progress towards the river,
and diverting it in covered channels as far as possible, by
gravitation, to points some fourteen miles below London
Bridge, where it will be discharged into the bottom of the
river during the first two hours of ebb-tide only, when the
sewage, deodorized, will be further diluted by twenty times
the volume of water which now dilutes it in the London
area. In this way it is considered the ebb-tide will prac-
tically convey the sewage to an ultimate distance of twenty-
six miles from London Bridge, and surrender it there to the
s.ea.

When a plan is formed, it requires to be put in execution :
having determined the lines of drainage, we have to construct
the drains. It is evident, from the undulating nature of the
surface, that there must be differences of inclination in various
portions, and that at places the ground will sink beneath the
plane of the sewer, unless it be excavated very deep indeed,
to do which would be to diminish the power of gravitation, or
to necessitate uplifting by engine-power — a perpetual cost it
would, of course, whenever possible, be most desirable to
avoid.

The ground, therefore, is accurately surveyed, and all the
irregularities of elevation referred to a given base-line — the
ordnance datum, 12ft. Gin. below Trinity high-water mark.

In London this operation is greatly facilitated by the re-
gistered marks of the Ordnance Survey, who have accurately
levelled through the metropolis, and affixed inscribed marks
upon the houses and public buildings in every street and
highway, so that the height of these marks being exactly
known, they can be at once adopted, without recourse to a
tedious process of levelling from the datum-line itself.

Upon such a section, thus obtained and plotted down on

THE METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.

61

paper to scale, tlie future works are designed and estimated
exactly in every possible particular, so that the builders'
contracts are taken upon these designs. Everything is
preconceived and studied — the amount of rainfall upon each
area ; the quantities of sewage now flowing, or to be provided
for ; the incomings along the course of the sewer, so that its
size may be determined ; and by starting with the smallest
requisite size, and increasing its dimensions as it proceeds,
economy of labour and material is acquired without, in the

1 2 3 4 5 6

Fig. 1. A, Commencement of sewer, say 4 feet, such dimensions gradually
increase to 10 feet 6 inches at the termination B. 1 to 6 lateral incoming
j sewers along its course.

smallest degree, impairing its efficiency. The thickness of
brickwork, where iron culverts are required, their size, form,
and length ; how they are to be supported, how joined to the
masonry of the sewer ; how the drains shall be carried over
valleys, rivers, or low-lying marshes, whether by pipes,
embankments, or viaducts of arches ; where there shall be
pen-stocks, and flushing, and pumping-stations; the extent
and height of reservoirs, the power and dimensions of the
pumping- engines ; what kind of brick, or stone, or iron shall
be used for each special purpose ; — in short, everything, down
to the very mouldings and ornamentation of any sightly por-
tions, is all contemplated, drawn on the plans, and entered in
the specifications. Modifications, from unforeseen circum-
stances, or for various reasons, often take place during the
practical performance of such undertakings ; but in the present
case it is but justice to notice the extreme care and accuracy
with which all the details, even to the minutest, have been got
out and strictly adhered to. When, then, the contractor goes
to work, he has before him the exact measurements, eleva-
tions, and descriptions of everything he has to do. Suppose,
for example, he has a thousand yards of sewer to construct,
starting with an elevation of 90 feet and falling one foot in a
hundred yards, or to 80 feet elevation at its termination. If
the surface were a true level, the operation of laying the drain
would be very simple : he would merely have, at every
hundred yards apart, to sink down a foot lower in each case,
and give a general incline in laying the floor of the drain from
one spot to another. But no surface exists so level and true
that this can be done ; the exact height, therefore, of the
exact spot where the sinking is to be made to “ drive the
headings/' or the excavations of the earth-tunnel in which

62

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

the sewer is to be built, must be ascertained. If there be an
Ordnance-mark near at hand; say indicating 102 feet; the
surveyors level from this by the spirit-level to the spot for the
sinking ; they rule lines; as it were; with the telescope of their
instrument parallel with the datum-line.

Fig. 2. Method of levelling for determining the depth of the work.

Suppose two levellings are taken; the fine horizontal wire
across the lens of the telescope accurately adjusted to a perfect
level cutting the mark of ten feet on the staff the assistant
holds a convenient distance away on each occasion; it is
evident we have added 20 feet in elevation to the original
height at the spot c. One hundred and two feet plus twenty
are 122 feet — the elevation; then; of that spot; and one
hundred yards being the distance between u and c — the fall
of the sewer adds one foot additional for the depth to be sunk
at <3; making a total depth of 21 feet from the surface to the
floor or invert of the drain. When; therefore; this depth is
roughly attained by the well-sinker; the surveyor makes an
accurate measurement with the tape, and drives pegs at the
exact spots; the excavators make their tunnel; and the brick-
layers work to these pegs just as they would work to given
lines in their ordinary operation upon the surface. The form of
the sewers often varies. Sometimes it is round; sometimes
oval; rarely square ; sometimes compounded of various seg-
ments of arches struck from different centres. These modi-
fications depend on the quantity of sewage; the nature of the
ground; and the character of particular obstructions ; the flat
or square portions being; for example; adopted where the
quantity of sewage is great; but the drain lying near the
surface; or too close beneath some obstructive object to permit
of its being built of its full height. Where open gaps occur;
as at the underground railway- cutting in Victoria Street
(Farringdon Street); iron culverts are used to bridge over the
void beneath. But iron expands and contracts with variations
of temperature; and such expansion or contraction is almost;
one may say, irresistible in its force. In expanding; the iron
must either contort itself, or push down or out the brickwork
on which it presses ; in contracting; it would leave an open
space between,; and the sewage would leak out. provision,

THE METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS. 63

therefore, must be made for these well-known alterations in
iron materials.

For the illustration of engineering operations, no better
portion of the metropolitan drainage works can possibly be
taken than that between Old Ford and the Stratford Road, , at
Bow. At Old Ford the High Level and Middle Level Sewers
make a junction or rather meet at a pen-stock, by which, for
repairs, or during storms, communication can be made between
them, or with a storm overflow into the River Lea ; for the
sewers themselves run on side by side, touching, but not
actually joining.

Fig. 3. Plan of Old Ford Pen-stock. H. L. S. (High Level Sewer), a gate.
M. L. S. ^Middle Level Sewer), b Gate. / Connecting gate, e e' Storm
weir, c Storm outlet running into the river Lea at x.

The accompanying diagram, representing in a general way
the arrangement at Old Ford, will convey an idea of the nature
and use of a “ pen-stock.” The two main lines of sewers are
seen approaching each other, the arrows indicating the direc-
tion in which the sewrage is flowing. At f is a gate usually
closed, each current of sewage then passing along its own
special sewer. If an impediment take place in the High
Level Sewer in the portion at c, or further on its course
towards the outfall, the gate a being closed stops the sewage
from passing along it, and the intermediate gate f being
opened allows it to flow into the Middle Level main. Vice
versa, the gate b bars the passage of the Middle Level sewage
when the opening of the communicating gate / gives vent
from it into the High Level main. The same in the case of
storm-waters when the flow is excessive, for it is necessary to
bear in mind that ordinarily the drains are not even half full
or anything like it. But during storms the volume of fluid
passing is enormously augmented, and unless provisions were
made for such storm-waters, their hydraulic pressure in
extreme cases would burst the barrels of the drains. In
order, therefore, to provide against such emergencies,
additional communications are also made for the surplus
storm-waters to run off by “ storm-outlets ” into the rivers
or old drains. A provision of this sort is made at Old Ford,

64

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

The wall e eT at the side of the Middle Level main is built, say
three-fifths of the way up, but is left open above that height,
so as to form a weir. When the storm-waters rise above its
brim, they fall over into the storm-outlet c and run off at
x into the Liver Lea.

The accompanying diagram of the overflow at Regent Circus
gives a cross section of one of these weirs.

From Old Ford the brick
mains proceed under the North
London Railway until they
arrive at the Lea, where two
wrought-iron culverts bridge
over that river. They are 84
Pio-. 4. feet in length and 9 feet in

diameter ; and repose upon
two solid stone piers — one on each bank. In the two
tubes there are upwards of 70,000 rivets. We have spoken
before of the expansion and contraction of ironwork by the
natural variations of temperature. This is thus in this case
provided for : — We will, for simplicity's sake, take one culvert
as an illustration for both. The culvert rides quite free at both
ends on iron cradles supported on rollers, running on slabs of
planed iron fixed to the floors of the stone piers. The free
ends of the culvert project for some distance into the brick
sewer, and the junction of the expansible culvert with the
immovable brickwork is made by means of a fold of the best

milled sheet-lead. In the figure
c\c2, c3 c4 represent the won cul-
vert, the free end of which c2 c4
(having a tendency to expand
towards e ) projects into the
open end of the brick main x1
x. One edge of the folded
sheet-lead is fastened by an iron
plate to the end of the brick
main all round its mouth. The opposite edge of the lead is
attached to a flat iron ring passing round the culvert. If the
culvert expand, the fold is pressed up more acutely, or rather
out, for the lead-joint constitutes a bulging cylinder all round
the junction. If the culvert contract, the lead-fold at c is
drawn out and depressed. The action of this lead-joint, during
the expansion or contraction of the iron culvert, may be readily
understood by folding a strip of paper and holding it at each
end. If we bring our hands together the fold is pushed up ;
if we draw them apart the fold is lowered and flattened.
The cradles the culverts rest on are equally carefully con-
sidered and made. The iron culvert first rests on a broad oval

Fig. 5. Junction of iron culvert across
the Lea, with the brick sewer.

MAIN
D RAI N

THE METEOPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.

65

plate, a a', with a deep square gash in the lower part, c, its roof
resting free upon the rounded end of the vertical bearer, d d1,
of the cradle, e e', which again is supported on two evenly
turned rollers, //', which have free motion to and fro on the
flat iron plane, p pr, affixed firmly and truly level on the
masonry of the pier, m m1. These rollers do not rest on their
axles, but have arches, i ir, accurately turned for the whole
length of their peripheries, so that
the axles, g g1 , turn quite free in their
sockets, w w1. Any danger of lock-
ing is thus removed, for of course if
any jambing did take place, it would
be equivalent to making the culvert
i a fixture, and damage to the works
must equally arise when the drain-
! tube expanded or contracted as if
the works had been constructed
without any provision at all. This
consideration at once explains the
need for such exceedingly great
care, in what to the uninitiated in engineering mysteries
might seem an unnecessary fuss about a trifling matter.
As barges and vessels pass under this culvert-bridge,
its lower portion is completely ceiled over with plate-
iron to prevent damage from the striking of masts or
spars. The main brick sewers are throughout this district
carried on a concrete bedding along an embankment ; and are
also covered over with concrete. At every
220 yards are man-holes for access to
the interior, and at every intermediate 110
yards are air-gratings for ventilation. The
form of the sewers here is like that of the
Thames Tunnel, but smaller in dimen-
sions ; the arch being struck from a 4-feet
6-inch centre ; the sides and floor being Fig. 7. section of sewer
portions of circles struck from a 9 -feet giSford °ld F°rd and
centre.

Three other gaps and watercourses are bridged over
between the Lea River and the Stratford Road, the prin-
cipal one being that across the Pudding Mill Stream, the iron
culverts over which are 252 feet long, and supported on five sets
of piers. The junctions of the tubes with the brick drains in
these cases are made with compressed india-rubber inserted as
a padding at the end of the culvert.

As the sewage flows from the Stratford Road for the rest of
the distance to Barking Creek by simple gravitation into a
large reservoir or receptacle there, and is thence by gates or

VOL. III. — NO. IX. E

66

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

sluices emitted into the Thames, and as the Abbey Mills
Pumping Station is but an ordinary lifting- station, such as in
the Low-Level lines, of both systems, will be built at the
requisite intervals when the fall of the sewers becomes too low
for further continuance, and is moreover not yet in existence,
we may now, having so far explained the principal engineering
features of the Northern system, select the Southern Outfall
works for our concluding observations; for, although the
Northern Outfall reservoir and works extend over the largest
area — upwards of twelve acres and a half, whilst the Southern
occupy about eight acres and a half, — the latter are by far the
most important and complicated. In the Northern system, all
that has required lifting has been previously raised, and the
sewage simply flows like a dirty river into a great pool, the
larger dimensions of which are determined solely by the larger
amount of area drained ; and for the reservoir itself there is
no other necessity than the edict of the Board of Works, that
the sewage shall be let into the river only for the first two
hours of ebb. The drains could not be permitted to hold it
stagnant for the intervening ten hours between the tides,
and therefore a basin must be made to hold it. When the
appointed time arrives, the numerous sluice-holes will be
opened, and the pent-up sewage will rush away. This penning-
up of the sewage is also the reason for the Southern reservoir ;
and both reservoirs can of course be artificially emptied of their
contents whenever arrangements are made for the application
of the sewage to the land as manure, or for its sale for com-
mercial purposes. While, however, on the north nature^s
power — gravitation — does the required work, at the Southern
Outfall steam comes on duty. The differences of levels in this
system cause all the sewage of the Southern system to arrive
at the outfall at some feet in depth below low water. Every
ounce, every drop, has therefore to be lifted for a height of 20
feet or more before it can be discharged into the Thames.
Four large pumping- wells, each 22 feet by 33 feet, receive
the great arterial sewer, for on this side one large one,
11 feet 6 inches in diameter, brings the stream of the collec-
tive three mains from New Cross to the outfall station.
That solids and refuse — kettles, saucepans, broken pots, and
the multa alia which are committed to the capacious intestines of
the London drains — may not pass into the pump, a large iron
grating is fixed vertically in front of the pit into which the
sewage first enters before running into the pumping-well.
Against this grating such heavy and dense materials strike,
and fall into the pit, from the bottom of which buckets
affixed to a revolving strap scoop the sullage out, and
convey it to the surface, where, turning over in their

THE METROPOLITAN MAIN DRAINAGE WORKS.

67

i

revolution they empty themselves of their contents into
suitable receptacles provided for the purpose under the engine-
house. What passes through the grating, then, into the
absolute pumping-chamber is the finer and liquid sullage. This
is pumped into the reservoir, where a further settlement of the
lighter sediments still held in suspension will take place. If
the sewage be allowed to go into the Thames, no deposit in the
reservoir is wanted, and a very capacious flushing- culvert is pro-
vided at its head to sluice out any settlements that take place
during the period of rest while the sewage is pent up. If
these sediments should have any commercial value they can be
extracted by manual labour or by appropriate mechanical
means; the reservoir being divided into four distinct com-
partments, the entering sewage can be debarred by gates
from each and any portion. The engine-house now erecting
will contain four engines of 125-horse power each, and these
can be applied collectively, separately, or in any combination
that may be required ; the sewage which they will raise from
the lowest arterial drain they will pump into an upper sewer
above the level of the reservoir, into which it will flow through
numerous smaller openings in the side of the upper sewer ;
and after its periodic repose in the reservoir it will flow out
again through other numerous outlets, forming a middle line of
sewer between the two we have already mentioned. The
following little sketch, not an actual section, but conveying
the main principles and features, will render these arrange-
ments more intelligible than words : — *

Fig. 8. Plan of the Southern Outfall Pumping-Station and Reservoir at Crossness.

* It is necessary to say, to disarm the criticism by engineers, that none
of the illustrative diagrams to this paper are drawn to scale, or from actual
plans : they are either from rough sketches made during an inspection of the
works in my note-book, or have been in some cases constructed diagramatically,
to render principles intelligible rather than to give exact representations.

2 E

68

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

The sewage arrives by the lowest or main arterial sewer to
the pnmping-station. It first flows into the pit x, where is
seen the Jacob's ladder ” (J) of ascending and descending
buckets, scooping up the solid refuse at x and emptying it as
they turn over at N into the receptacles above referred to. The
grating for preventing solid substances from passing into the
pumping- chamber is shown at a; and through the grating the
liquid sewage flows on into the pump-well at C. Ascending
as the pumps (L L) are worked, the sewage is sent by them
into a chamber (K), from which it passes on through the
uppermost sewer (A) into the reservoir (R) . There it remains
until the gates of the middle line of sewer (D D1) at D are
opened, when the pent-up sewage falls over the wall (W) of
the reservoir into the penstock (P) and flows out through
the middle sewer (D D1) into the Thames. As the upper sewer
is subjected to pressure by the pumping, it is covered over
with a considerable thickness of concrete, and the coal stores
are built over it so that it may have the additional benefit of
the weight of the fuel to serve also to increase its strength
and resistance. The brick roof of the reservoir is arched
over from parallel lines of piers, and provision is made at
every second arch for ventilation. These arches are now
being turned; and the manner in which the contractor,
Mr. Webster, has executed those portions of these outfall
works which are at present completed, is deserving of the
highest credit. It is very rare indeed to see bricks laid in such
a fine and finished manner. We have now given an outline of
the plans of the great metropolitan drainage systems and some
general ideas of the works themselves. Into the question of
the utilization of sewage it is not our province to enter in this
article. For the present, the course adopted is to get rid of
the sewage into the river, as far off from the city as possible,
and for this purpose the plans of Mr. Bazalgette are most
effective and well-considered ; they possess, too, this merit,
that they can be adapted to any other system which expe-
rience may hereafter prove to be worthy of adoption.

69

NEW INTENTIONS.

Magneto-electric Telegraphs. — Mr. W. E. Newton, patentee. — The
leading object of this invention is to enable the operator, by the operation
or movement which he makes, to designate or select the character or sign
which he desires to transmit, to develope the electric current by which
such character or sign is transmitted. The invention consists in the use
of a magneto-electric engine, by the rotation of which electric impulses
are induced alternately in opposite directions. The electro-magnetic
engine is connected by conductors with electro-magnets, the polarity of
which is alternately reversed by the alternately reversed impulses induced
by the engines. An interposed vibrating permanent magnet or armature
at the end of a pendulous lever is, by the alternately reversed polarity
of the electro-magnets, when these are combined, caused to vibrate, and
by means of pallets and arms at the opposite end of the lever, will actuate
an escapement wheel, on the axle of which is an index or pointer, which
is made to traverse round and indicate on a circular series of letters, signs,
or figures, the particular sign it is desired to transmit to the distant
station. This part of the apparatus is connected with a mechanism
which, as the operator indicates or designates the characters or signs
which he desires to transmit, will set the magneto-electric engine in action,
and will thereby develope or generate the electric impulses which will
transmit such character or sign. The second part of the invention con-
sists in combining with the electro-magnetic apparatus, or the equivalent
thereof, the escapement arrangement above mentioned, whereby to indicate
or develope the character or sign transmitted.

Electric Telegraphs. — Mr. O. F. Varley, patentee. — The first part of
this invention consists in employing for electric telegraphy, the increment
and decrement of electric currents, instead of, as has hitherto been the
case, the flow of the current itself. Another part of the invention con-
sists in the use of a test circuit, formed by induction plates and resistance
coils, so adjusted to each other as to produce an artificial line possessing
the same amount of retardation as the cable itself. Another part of the
invention consists in forming a contact piece of metal in the delicate
spring contacts of telegraph instruments.

Insulating Compound. — Messrs. Hancoch & Silver, patentees. — In this
invention, the patentees combine caoutchouc with a milk or gum, the
produce of a tree called Sapota Mulieri, or bullet-tree, which is found in
British Guiana. This milk or gum possesses similar insulating properties
to caoutchouc. They combine this milk or gum with caoutchouc by
mastication, rolling, or solution, according to one of the several processes
well known among india-rubber and gutta-percha manufacturers.

70

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Surveying and Levelling Instruments. — Mr. G. H. Birkbeck ,
patentee. — This invention has for its object the arrangement and combina-
tion of parts so as to form a compound surveying instrument, called
a 44 level-graphometer square,” which is capable of executing the various
operations which each of the above-named instruments is only capable of
performing separately. This improved instrument is composed of a
cylinder of brass, or other suitable metal, divided longitudinally with its
axis into two equal parts, connected together by a central pin or axis,
thus forming two cross-staffs, to each of which 44 pinicles ” are hinged,
so as to fold down out of the way when not in use. Between the two
semi-cylindrical parts a dial or plate having divisions thereon is fixed and
used. When the instrument is employed as a 44 grapliometer,” it is
mounted, by a screw-pin or otherwise, upon a suitable stand or support.
When the instrument is employed as a level, it is suspended by a ring
attached to the upper end thereof, and is accurately adjusted perpendicu-
larly by a movable weight, actuated by an adjustable screw attached to
the lower end. Sight-holes or openings are formed through the movable
semi-cylindrical part of the instrument, through which the divisions on
the dial-plate may be seen and read off when required, a fine wire or
thread being stretched across each aperture in the direction of the line of
sight. Flat plates, connected by a central pin or axis, may be substituted
for the semi-cylindrical parts before described, by which the construction
of the instrument will be simplified, but its form will not be so elegant.
The divisions on the dial-plate are in sections of five, or other suitable
number of degrees, so that the instrument acts not only as a 44 square,”
but also admits of small angles being taken, as with the 44 graphometer.”

Barometers or Instruments for Measuring Altitudes, or the
Pressure of the Atmosphere, &c. — Mr. J. E. Blackwell , patentee. —
This invention relates to a novel mode of constructing these instruments,
so as to render them portable, and exceedingly sensitive and accurate.
These objects are effected in some of the improved instruments by a com-
bination of several separate improvements ; but, in others, some only of
the improvements are comprised. In all the improved instruments,
however, the variations in pressure are ascertained by means of elastic
vacuum chambers, as in the ordinary aneroid barometer ; and the patentee
finds it convenient to employ four or more elastic chambers arranged in
groups or sets, so that the inequalities of pressure, or inaccuracies of
action in any of the several chambers, shall be compensated by the others.
In all the instruments these vacuum chambers are directly attached to
or connected with helical or other springs, the power or elastic force of
which has been previously ascertained with great care, and which recipro-
cate the expansion or compression of the chambers accordingly as they
are acted upon by diminished or increased pressure.

Watches. — Mr. F. B. Anderson , patentee . — This invention consists in
constructing those parts of watches and other time-keepers known as
hollow fusees, and as stops to prevent the main-spring from being over-
wound, as hereafter described. The patentee forms a disc on the arbor,
by preference, in a piece with it, and sinks a recess in the outside of the
fusee brass, into which the disc is fitted and secured by soldering or other

NEW INVENTIONS.

71

attachment. He forms a square on the back of the arbor, to receive what
he terms a gatherer or stop, which works inside a steel split ring, formed
with three or more teeth, and with an abutment on the inside thereof.
As the watch is wound, the gatherer takes round a tooth at every complete
revolution, until the spring is wound up, when the gatherer comes in
contact with the abutment, and prevents overwinding. The split-ring
is encased in a box, fastened on the back of the pillar plate.

Clocks or Timepieces. — Mr. H. Jorns , patentee. — This invention is
intended to obviate the necessity for winding up clocks or timepieces
periodically. The patentee proposes to effect this object through the
agency of the variations in the temperature of the atmosphere, which are
constantly taking place both inside and outside of dwelling-houses, and to
employ the draught or current of air, caused by such changes in tempera-
ture, to set in motion certain mechanism to be connected to the ordinary
mechanism of clocks, and b}r these means to produce a power sufficient to
wind up a clock. By this invention a great part of the weight at
present necessary to keep the going parts of a clock in motion may be
dispensed with.

Pictorial Foregrounds and Backgrounds for Photographic
Portraits. — Mr. T. Bennett , patentee. — In taking photographic portraits
or pictures in which it is desired to adopt suitable backgrounds, fore-
grounds, or perspectives, it has been hitherto the practice to use a painted
canvas, descending to and terminating at the floor or standing-place of
the apartment. According to this invention, the patentee uses a canvas
(or equivalent substance) suspended or secured upon a roller or rollers,
with pulleys and cords by which the canvas can be raised or lowered.
This canvas is of sufficient length to allow it to be brought down to the
floor, then stretched along the same, and kept in position (if desired) by
catches or grippers, so that the persons or objects to be portrayed may
stand upon a part of the canvas. The background, foreground, or per-
spective, which is to remain perpendicular, or nearly so, is to be painted
or depicted in the ordinary or perspective manner, and that part of the
canvas which is to lie upon the floor is to be painted so as to have the
same convenient effect as the upright part, and so as, imperceptibly, to
“run into” the same. For this purpose he has hitherto adopted the plan
of first painting the upright part, and fitting the same to a corresponding
position to that in which the same is intended to be used, and then
stretching the horizontal part upon the floor, drawing lines or objects by
the aid of the camera.

Minute and Magnified Photographic Pictures. — Mr. A. F.Eden ,
patentee. — This invention consists, first, in adapting to the object end of
the camera a small removable box or dark chamber, in which is placed
the glass plate with the sensitive surface, when it is desired to obtain a
minute photographic picture. In order to obtain an enlarged or magnified
picture of a microscopic object, the latter is placed in the small removable
dark chamber, and light is admitted throughout a proper aperture, and
allowed to pass through the object, and also through an arrangement of
lenses which will throw the magnified image on to a sensitive surface placed
at the proper focal length behind. From this explanation it will be under-

72

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

stood that this small box or dark chamber performs a double office,
depending upon the nature of the operation to be performed. To facilitate
the operations of the photographer, this box or dark chamber is made to
work in guides or dovetailed grooves, so that it may be easily removed
from the camera and replaced when required. Another improvement
consists in placing behind the lens, and in front of the negative, a stop
with a very small aperture, in contradistinction to the large apertures of
the ordinary stops. The patentee finds by experience that, for producing
good results in making micro-photographs, the aperture of the stop should
not exceed the fiftieth part of an inch in diameter, and that, in good lights
and under favourable circumstances, a much smaller aperture may be
advantageously employed. Another improvement consists in adapting to
the object end of the camera a focussing lens, which is screwed on to the
small removable box or dark chamber, and is adjusted by means of a
sliding tube.

Photogenic Pictures. — Mr. W. ClarTc, patentee. — This invention relates
to a photogenic process, whereby a positive image may be obtained direct
from a positive by the employment of ammoniacal salts, combined with the
organic matter, and also by the precipitation of the following metallic solu-
tions, viz. : salts of silver, copper, iron, nickel, mercury, gold, palladium,
platina, lead, or tellurium, which are precipitated by means of hydro-
sulphates of ammonia, potash, or soda. The salts of silver, bismuth, or
lead, are precipitated by means of hydro-sulphuric acid, and the salts of
mercury by hydro-chlorate of tin. The salts of bismuth may also be
precipitated by means of nutgall, gallic or tannic acids, and the salts of
iron by means of the same agents last mentioned. The inventor takes,
for example, the sulphate of iron precipitated by means of tannic acids.

Stereoscopic Apparatus. — Mr. H. Swan, patentee. — According to this
invention, the patentee combines stereoscopic pictures with pieces of glass
or transparent crystal of suitable form, in such manner that the pictures,
which are in fact depicted on the exterior of the glass or crystal, or on
surfaces placed in contact with, or at a small distance from them, shall
produce an image apparently solid and imbedded in a glass or crystal.

Stereoscopes. — Mr. S. Russell, patentee. — In performing this invention,
an instrument is constructed in the form of a box, suitable for containing
when out of use a number of stereoscopic slides or pictures. The instru-
ment is closed by a sliding or other suitable cover when out of use, and
on the interior and against one side mirrors are fixed. The bottom of the
box may be made to slide also, so that when in use a stereoscope may be open
both at top and bottom. The lenses or eye-pieces are fitted in apertures in
the lower part of the opposite side of the box, this part of the side being
suitably inclined to the plane of the mirrors. The stereoscope pictures or
slides are, when about to be observed, placed in suitable grooves or holders
opposite to the mirrors, and on the side where the lenses or eye-pieces are
applied, and are held in a position inclined to the plane of the mirrors.
By this arrangement no reflector is required to throw light on the picture,
but the light falls directly on it, so as to illuminate it thoroughly.

Manufacture of Paper. — Mr. G. E. Amos, patentee. — In carrying
out this invention, the knots and other extraneous matters which accu-

NEW INVENTIONS.

73

mulate below the straining surface or knotter-plates are drawn out or
removed by a pump, or other analogous contrivance, and are conveyed into
an ordinary knotter, which is to be used for the separation of such knots
and extraneous matters from the tine pulp which may be drawn out or
removed therewith. The tine pulp will then be allowed to flow back into
the other or first knotter beneath the knotter-plates, through which it will
pass and be conducted into the paper machine, while the knots will remain
on the top of the knotter-plate of the second or ordinary knotter, and may
be readily removed therefrom by a skimmer. By this arrangement of
parts, there will be but little necessity for stopping the machinery to
cleanse the knotters, and the work may therefore proceed uninterruptedly.

Manufacture of Paper. — Mr. R. H. Collyer, patentee.— According to
this invention, the patentee subjects the materials to showers of hot water
and showers of alkaline liquor used alternately, and to superheated steam
— that is to say, he heats the materials at intervals with showers of hot
water, and at the same time acts on the materials with superheated steam,
and between the showers of water he heats the materials with showers of
alkaline solution or liquor, still continuing to inject superheated steam.
Instead of superheated steam, he sometimes uses hot air, or superheated
steam and hot air together.

Manufacture of Paper. — Mr. W. Astrop, patentee.— This invention
consists in the employment of fibrous portions of the roots of parsnips,
carrots, and turnips of all kinds, and of the roots, stems, and stalks of the
beet, mangold- wurtzel, chicory, and rhubarb plants ; also of the fibre of
the cocoa-nut and leaves of the orange plant, and flags or reeds ; also
horse and cattle manure, for the manufacture of “ half-stuff ” and pulp to
be used in the production of paper and cardboard ; the substances and
materials hereinbefore enumerated being employed either separately or in
combination with each other, or with any of the ordinary pulps now used
in the manufacture of paper and cardboard.

Manufacture of Paper. — Mr. R. H. Frith , inventor. — This invention
consists in reducing peat or turf-bog into a pulp with chloride of lime, or
by any other chemical bleaching process, and afterwards manufacturing-
such pulp into paper in the ordinary way.

Manufacture of Dyes. — Messrs. R. T. & R. Monbeith , patentees . — The
patentees claim the production of red and violet colouring matters by the
decomposition of hydrochlorate or sulphate of aniline, or its analogues,
by heat, whether those substances are used by themselves or mixed wixn
aniline or its analogues, and whether either of the above mixtures is
heated alone, or after it has been mixed with sand or any other finely-
divided substance as aforesaid. Also the use of salts of ammonia for the
purpose described. Also the admixture with the colouring substances (as
described) of sand, gelatinous silicic acid, fluoride of calcium, or any other
finely-divided substances, not liable to act otherwise than mechanically
upon the substances employed in the process described. And also the
production of brown colours by the decomposition of salts of aniline, or
its analogues, by heat, as described. Whenever hydrochlorate of aniline
or aniline is mentioned, the hydrochlorate of aniline of commerce, or
aniline of commerce, is intended.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Producing Colours. — Mr. A. P. Price , patentee. — Here the inventor
takes a compound or combination of aniline, consisting of aniline com-
bined in equivalent proportions with any of the following acids ; namely,
acetic, valerianic, lactic, benzonic, cinnamic, tartaric, and oxalic acid,
such compounds being either obtained by, or resulting from, direct combi-
nation of equivalent proportions of acid and aniline, or obtained by means
of, or resulting from, double chemical decomposition. He mixes any one
of these compounds or combinations, so resulting or obtained, or mixtures
of them, with the substance known in Germany and France as fuchsine,
and corresponding with those products obtained from aniline know in this
country as magenta and rosaniline, and he heats the same together by
preference at a temperature of from 150° to 190° centigrade, until the
desired blue colour free from violet is produced.

Green Colouring Matter.— Mr. W. GlarJc , patentee. — This inven-
tion consists in preparing a green colouring matter from aniline, which
is soluble and suitable for dyeing and printing purposes, by means of a
combination of reducing agents, such as hydrates and soluble hyposul-
phites acting on acidulated solutions of salt and rosaniline, or on the blue
or violet compounds derivable from the same.

Fixing Colours in Printing Calico. — Mr. B. Penney , patentee.' —
This invention relates to fixing those colours employed in printing calico
and other fabrics which are produced by means of catechu. The patentee
employs a solution made in the following manner, and treats the catechu
colour therewith he takes of the ordinary chloride of calcium of com-
merce (which may be made by saturating spirits of salts with quicklime
in a powdered state) three, four, five, or other number of parts, and
mixes therewith one or other required number of parts of nitrate of copper,
at 80 deg., or other required strength, or of chloride or muriate of copper,
either instead of nitrate of copper, or in combination therewith ; such
admixture is to be made whilst the calcium is in a heated state, and then
filtered for use. These parts must be^varied according to the depth,' shade,
or tone of colour to be treated.

Manufacture of Sulphate of Soda. — Mr. B. A. Brooman, patentee.
When a mixture of coal, sulphuret of iron, and chloride of sodium is
heated in the presence of air, sulphate of soda, oxide of iron, and chloride
of iron are formed; the proportion of these different bodies varies with
the quantities of the substances above named forming the mixture, as
also the state of division when used. This invention consists in manufac-
turing sulphate of soda by reducing to a powder the fuel (charcoal, coal,
coke, or other fuel), the natural or artificial sulphuret of iron, and the
salt, and in mixing these substances in certain fixed proportions.

Purifying, Bleaching, and Refining Oils. — Mr. B. White, patentee.
This invention consists in introducing the oil, or oily or fatty matters,
with a re-agent calculated to eliminate or separate the impurities contained
in them, into a vessel having small orifices or perforations in its sides,
and revolving rapidly within a larger vessel, whmh is open to the atmo-
spheric air, so that when the smaller vessel revolves, the oil, or oily or fatty
matter combined with the re-agent which is used with it, will be projected
through the orifices in the sides of the smaller vessel in thin streams,

NEW INVENTIONS.

75

which will he driven against the internal sides of the larger vessel, and
thereby be scattered and subdivided, and will thus be presented in a
partially atomic state, or in a dewy form, to contact with the light and the
atmospheric air, by which exposure of the oil, or fatty or oily matters, in
a minutely subdivided state, the light, and particularly the oxygen of the
atmosphere, produces an improved purification of such oil or fatty
matters.

Preserving Provisions. — Mr. G. Davies , inventor. — The first part of
this invention consists in causing a current of electric fluid to pass
through the cases containing the provisions after they are finally closed
up. The electric fluid being made to pass along1 a fine iron or other
metallic wire through the case, causes the wire to become red-hot, and
consume the oxygen. Another improvement consists in placing inside the
case, and in connection with the iron wire, any known chemical agent
(such as common sulphur, for instance) which, in its ordinary state, has no
particular affinity for oxygen, but which, upon becoming ignited (by means
of the electric wire above referred to), evolves any gas (sulphurous acid
gas, for instance) which will absorb, destroy, or convert into a harmless
gas the oxygen which is contained in the case, and which it is desired to
get rid of ; or the sulphur or other agent may be ignited by any other
convenient means. A further improvement in connection with the use of
electricity for this purpose is as follows : — After the case has been closed,
a sufficient quantity of hydrogen gas is to be introduced therein to form
(with the oxygen that may be in the case) an explosive mixture or gas,
and this gas is to be then ignited by passing a current of electricity along
a metallic wire through the same, and thus all traces of oxygen will be
destroyed.

Lighting Theatres, &c. — Mr. E. B. Keeling, patentee. — This inven-
tion is intended to be applied to the lighting of halls, theatres, and other
buildings, and relates to the diffusion of intense light, and to the prevent
tion of shadows. The patentee takes an electric-light, a lime-light, or
other source of intense light, and places it in some elevated spot above the
space to be lighted. Under or before, or part under and part before this
light, he suspends or fits a plain white, tinted, or coloured curtain or
screen, and again, in some instances, he places under or before, or part
under and part before, a ceiling of glass or other transparent medium. By
these means he removes the obstacles that have hitherto prevented the
successful application of the electric, lime, or other intense lights to the
lighting of the interior of large rooms and public edifices, and that have
also all but confined these sources of light to the position of mere scientific
curiosities. It is well known that the chief obstacles have been the intense
brilliancy of the lights, their unpleasant white or ghastly hue, and the
dense black shadows thrown by them. The first, however, gives so far a
margin that the medium of the curtain absolutely utilizes the objection by
the sacrifice of brilliancy, but by the complete diffusion of the rays. The
second obstacle is overcome by the tint or colour of the curtain or screen,
giving any hue most desirable to assimilate with any of the lights now
usually employed, whether it be that of gas, of any description of oil-lamp,
or that of any wax or other candles. The relative use of the curtain

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

or screen to the source of light is the same as that of the clouds to
the sun.

Manufacture of Candles. — Mr. R. A. Brooman, patentee. — The objects
of this invention are to obtain a brighter and more uniform light, and to
prevent guttering in candles. The invention consists in the employment
of a hollow or tubular wick to produce a current of air to the centre of the
flame. For candles intended to be burnt in sockets or holders which will
not allow a current of air to pass through the bottom of the candle, the
inventor forms an aperture or passage through the side of the candle above
the socket or holder, and communicating with the interior of the wick,
During the manufacture of candles, according to this invention, a spindle
or rod is passed through the wick to keep it open.

Treatment of Gas. — Mr. J. Leigh , patentee. — This invention con-
sists in the subjection of the gas that is obtained in the distillation of coal,
cannel, bituminous shale, bog-head, mineral oils, petroleum, or other
combustible substances, to the action of nitric acid, or of a mixture of
nitric and sulphuric acids, by which nitro-benzole and certain other
compounds are obtained, and in the course of which certain substances are
removed from the gas employed.

Manufacture of Gas. — Mr. E. B. Wilson , inventor. — This invention
consists in the manufacture of gas from oil, by placing in a suitable vessel
containing the oil a coil of piping, pipe, or pipes, through which the
inventor passes hot water, air, or steam at such a temperature as shall
generate gas from the oil contained therein, which vessel may be large
enough to be but partially filled with oil, leaving the remaining space for
gas ; or a separate receiver with purifier may be connected.

Lamps. — Mr. W. G. Wilkins, inventor. — To a lamp constructed with a
reservoir in its stem or base to contain the matter to be burned, and means
for forcing up such matter for consumption, the inventor applies between
such reservoir and the burner a small vessel of porcelain, glass, or other
suitable material that will not freely conduct heat up to the burner,
and he applies cork, or other suitable non-conducting material, between
the upper parts of a receiver and the burner tubes, acting as a receiver
for, or feed to, the lower part of the wick, and of the fluid being
consumed. This receiver has an overflow for surplus fluid to flow
back into the reservoir below. He also applies an internal hollow
cone, and an external tubular deflector, the upper or deflecting edge
thereof being turned inwards, and at or near the level of the wick
tubes ; which external deflector he prefers to be of glass, so as to
intercept the rays of light as little as possible ; over these he applies an
external chimney.

Signal Lanterns. — Mr. J. Price, patentee. — The' peculiarity of this
invention consists in combining the parts of a lantern so that, at one time
(that is, when a boat is at anchor), the lantern will show a white or bright
light all round, and when the boat is in motion the part of the lantern
which is glazed round with white glass may be covered interiorly or
exteriorly with a screen, consisting of three parts or divisions, one being
opaque, one red glass, and the third green glass, so that the light in the
lantern will be only thrown forward through the red and green screens,

NEW INVENTIONS. 77

whilst the light will be stopped from being seen at the third or back side of
the lantern.

Reflectors. — Mr. M. Hachforth, patentee . — This invention relates to
manufacturing shades or reflectors for lamps or lights of all kinds of
porcelain or china. These materials afford an economical reflector, which
can be cleaned by simply washing with water.

Revolving Shutters. — Mr. W. Frauds, patentee. — These improvements
consist in so constructing the laths or plates of revolving shutters, that
they may revolve in either direction round the roller to which they are
attached. The patentee forms a groove in the bottom or lower edge of each
lath or plate, and along the entire length of each lath or plate of which the
shutter is composed (except the bottom lath of each shutter), and he
constructs the upper edge of such lath or plate thinner than the lower edge
thereof, to fit into the groove in the lower edge of the lath or plate imme-
diately above it. He then unites the several laths or plates by belts, webs,
chains, cords, or wires, passed through holes or mortises in the breadth of
each lath or plate in the usual way.

Cannon and Projectiles. — Mr. B. F. Bates , patentee. — Cannon
constructed according to this invention have a hole formed through the
breech smaller than the bore, and parallel and concentric with it. Each
projectile is provided with a long rod or bar which, in loading the cannon,
is passed through the hole in its breech. At the front end of the rod there
is an enlargement or head, which, however, is smaller than the bore ; this
head may be solid or otherwise ; and behind this enlargement a loose disc
is placed, which fits the bore accurately. The periphery of this disc
may be made of soft metal, and may have lubricating material combined
with it. The rod at the rear end of the projectile is, by preference, poly-
gonal in section, with each of the sides winding spirally around the rod
from end to end of its length, as though the rod were twisted. The hole
in the breech end of the cannon is formed to fit and correspond with the
bar, so that, when the piece is fired, the projectile, in addition to being pro-
pelled forward, will, at the same time, be caused to revolve on its axis.
The loose disc behind the head of the projectile, by preference, does not
rotate with the projectile ; but the rod of a projectile turns in a hole in the
disc. As soon as the projectile leaves the gun, the resistance of the gun
will cause the disc to slip off the bar at its near end ; or the disc may be
madeto separate into two or more pieces assoonasitleaves the gun. If desired,
the hole through the breech end of the gun may be closed as soon as the
rear end of the projectile passes out of it, by means of a sliding piece
pressed forward for that purpose by a spring. The hole in the breech end
of the gun may be provided with a close-fitting plug ; the'gun can then be
used either to propel a shot, such as above described, or, when the plug is
fixed in the hole, the gun may be used as an ordinary smooth-bore gun.

Breech-loading Firearms. — Mr. A. Albini, patentee. — This invention
consists in the arrangements hereafter described for opening the breech-
end of breech-loading firearms, for the introduction of the charge and for
securely closing the discharge. For this purpose the patentee prolongs
the breech-end of the barrel beyond the discharge-chamber, to a length
somewhat greater than that of an ordinary cartridge. The upper side of

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

the prolonged part is open for a sufficient length to admit of the intro-
duction of a cartridge. Upon the prolonged part there is a cap connected
with a screw-plug, which plug screws in the said prolonged part and closes
it. A rod passes through a hole in the centre of the said screw-plug, and
terminates in the prolonged end of the barrel with a conical plug or closer,
which accurately fits the conical end of the charge- chamber. The rod
of the plug or closer is made semi-cylindrical, or of a prismatic figure,
through the greater part of its length, its outer end being cylindrical and
of small diameter. The hole in the screw-plug, through which the rod of
the closer works, is of the same figure as that part of the rod which passes
through it. The projecting end of the rod is provided with a button or
knob, by which the said rod can be pushed forward and withdrawn.
Where the rod is pushed home, and the plug or closer made to close the
end of the barrel, the screw-plug is turned by means of a handle attached
to it, and the hole in the said screw-plug is made to cross the end of the
rod, and a shoulder on the said rod is thereby supported by the screw-
plug, and the plug or closer firmly fixed to its seat. The firearm is then
ready for discharge. To recharge the firearm after firing, the screw-plug
is turned a semi-rotation, so as to bring the opening in the screw-plug
coincident with the rod of the closer. The closer can now be withdrawn
from the breech-chamber and a fresh cartridge introduced.

Powder-Flasks. — Mr. G. Hay craft, patentee. — These flasks the patentee
makes with a hollow cylindrical screw stopper, and with a screw-thread
formed upon the outer side of it. This hollow cylindrical stopper closes the
mouth of the flask, there being a corresponding female screw formed in the
neck thereof ; the stopper is closed at the other end by a head-piece ; it
serves, when the flask is open, as a measure for the powder, it being made
to contain one charge thereof.

Propelling Vessels. — Mr. A. Johnston, patentee. — This invention
relates to a method of propelling vessels by means of an improved pro-
peller, consisting of one or more pairs of submerged cylinders, fitted with
pistons of the form hereinafter described. The patentee makes use of one
or more pairs of these cylinders and their pistons, and he places them,
water-tight, below the light-load water-line in the stern or other suitable
part of the ship. The cylinders and their pistons are used in pairs, each
pair of pistons by the piston-rods being connected to each other by means
of a rocking-beam or beams placed inside the ship. By reason of being
connected to this rocking-beam the pistons are balanced and kept in their
relative positions. The propelling pistons (which he calls the water-pistons,
to distinguish them from the steam-pistons) are formed with projections
or noses, which extend from the piston-head and packing of the water-
pistons towards the mouth or open end of the water-cylinders. These
projections or noses must be made of a size sufficient to fill up the whole
area of the water-cylinders when the pistons are drawn back, leaving
just space enough to avoid friction or rubbing against the inner surfaces
of the said water-cylinders, and the ends of the projections should be
slightly dished or hollowed out, so as to enable them to take a better hold
of the water. The projections may be made of cast-iron, and should be
made hollow, but they must be made of such weight as to be equal or

NEW INVENTIONS.

79

thereabouts to the weight of water which they displace, so that when the
pistons are extended to the full length of the stroke there may be no strain
on the water-cylinders.

Sheathing- Ships.-- Mr. W. H. Muntz, patentee . — This invention
consists in attaching sheets of india-rubber, or other insulating or “ anti-
galvanic” material to the vessel’s side, and metal sheathing to the insu-
lating material, by means of marine glue, or such other cement or adhesive
substance, as will resist the action of sea-water, instead of nailing or
riveting the same.

Treating Iron Plates for Ship-building. — Mr. A. Ellissen ,
inventor. — In carrying out this invention, the inventor treats iron sheeting
or plate with cyanide of potassium or potash, or other material of equiva-
lent effect, to render the same useful for shipbuilding, and thereby pro-
tecting ships or other marine constructions against marine animals and
marine plants.

Apparatus for Tuning Pianofortes. — Mr. R. A. Brooman , patentee.
In order to tune two strings, or make two strings agree, they must
be of the same nature, and possess homogeneity of sound ; and to obtain
this result it is necessary, first, that they be made to vibrate simulta-
neously ; secondly, that the vibrations run together in the same sounding-
board ; thirdly, that they follow the same circumvolutions, and that they
be reverberated by the same surfaces. The apparatus which forms the
subject of the present invention fulfils these conditions. The inventor
arranges a sonometric string parallel to the strings of which it is the
type ; it rests on the same bridge and acts on the same sounding-
board. The longest string in the pianoforte is supported on a movable
nut, guided in a longitudinal direction by a register for indicating
externally the sound the type of which is required. The string, lengthened
or shortened according to the proportions of the sonometer, by means
of an additional pedal, gives successively the typical sound in the score
to be produced. Thus, to tune an instrument, the typical string and the
string to be tuned are simultaneously struck, one with the foot (because
the pedal moves a hammer), the other with the left hand, while the right
acts on the peg of the second string to raise or lower it in unison with the
first; the tuner proceeds with these strings as if they belonged to the
same key. This tuning apparatus may be fitted inside or outside the
pianoforte.

Thrashing Machines. — Messrs. Clayton & Shuttle worth, patentees. —
According to this invention, the grooves or channels are formed parallel to
each other longitudinally along the face of each beater ; not, however, in
straight lines, as heretofore, but in serpentine lines. It is preferred that
each beater of the drum of a thrashing machine should be formed with
three serpentine grooves. The whole of the grooves or channels, although
they are parallel to each other, and formed in a longitudinal direction
along a beater, do not (in consequence of a beater having parallel sides)
all pass from end to end of a beater, but only some of them, whilst others
only extend along a comparatively short length of a beater.

Sewing Machines. — Mr. A. Rrince, patentee. — This invention embraces
certain mechanical arrangements whereby the fabric to be operated upon

80

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

is moved along the needle-plate by the motion of the needle-bar, such
motion being obtained by screws or pins operating upon projections of
metal, glass, or other hard substance, each presenting either an inclined
plane or a curvilinear surface to the pins or screws, the projections
being attached to and projecting from the front plate of the machine head,
and set at the required angle. The invention also consists in the substitu-
tion of a needle-plate of glass, in lieu of metal, for allowing the operator
to inspect the progress of the work ; and also in an improved pressure foot.

Omnibuses. — Mr. J. P. Bath , patentee. — It is desirable that omnibuses
should be rendered equally available for travelling upon rail or tramways
or common high roads, and these improvements have that object in view.
The invention consists in suspending, by joints, to the underside of the
“ fore carriage 55 two short pendulous arms, to the lower ends of which
are attached axletrees running parallel with the main axletree on the out-
side of these arms, and carrying thereon vertical revolving face-plates, to the
front of each of which is secured a disc, annular ring, or wheel, which,
extending a short distance beyond the ordinary running wheels, acts as a
flanch for keeping the bearing wheels on the rails. The inner ends of the
axletrees on the inside of the pendulous arms, the inventor prefers, for the
sake of strength, to bend upwards, and he attaches them to the centre of
the main axletree by a suitable joint or joints. When the guides are in
use they are held in position by india-rubber or helical springs attached
on each side to the lower end of the pendulous arms, and to the ends of
cross-beams or arms extending across the main axletree. When the
carriage is required to run on an ordinary road, the guides are drawn up — ■
by preference in a backward direction — by a bridle, chain, or cord and
small windlass, or other mechanical equivalent, worked by the driver or
other person.

Securing Corks in Bottles. — Messrs.' Miller 8$ Siruthers, inventors.
In carrying this invention into practice, under one modification, two
holes are formed in the neck of the bottle or jar during the progress
of manufacture, or while the bottle or jar is in a sufficiently softened
state to admit of the material being easily pierced. These holes are
by preference in the rim which forms the mouth of the vessel, bottle,
or jar, and they are made opposite to one another, so that when the
vessel is filled, and the cork or stopper is inserted, a short length of
wire, a pin, or other retaining medium, may be easily passed through
the cork.

Damping and affixing Postage-Stamps. — Mr. T. Gordon , inventor.
This invention comprises the following arrangement of parts : — The
inventor has a reservoir for water incased in wood or metal forming the
base ; in this reservoir he inserts a cotton with sponge attached, communi-
cating by a small tube with a perpendicular square box or cylinder on the
top of the base, of which there are two — one on the left and one on the
right hand side — elevated by four small springs, so as to form openings for
the reception of the letter. The left hand box or cylinder contains the
sponge ; it has also a piston working in a sliding cylinder, which, when
pressed, — the letter being placed in the opening formed as aforesaid —
damps the corner of the letter ; the right hand box or cylinder, which is

NEW INVENTIONS.

81

portable, contains the stamps ; by passing the letter from left to right, and
pressing the piston as aforesaid, the stamp is fixed firmly and securely to
the letter.

Tobacco-Smoking Appliances. — Mr . W. A. Little , inventor. — In per-
forming this invention the inventor prepares a conical or other shaped
tube of paper, tobacco-leaf, or other suitable substance, and fills it with a
filtering material. Into one end of this tube he inserts the “ butt,” or
mouth-end of the cigar, attaching it in that position by gumming or other-
wise, securely binding it previously to its sale ; or he prepares the filtering
tube so as to be saleable and portable as a separate article attachable to
the cigar by the person about to use it. In the latter case, the inner
surface of the end of the tube intended to receive the cigar may be coated
with adhesive matter, so that by wetting the end of the cigar it may
adhere on insertion. As a filtering material he uses charcoal powder,
cotton, wool, flax, hemp, or other suitable powdered or fibrous material, or
simply a roll or strips of a suitable kind of cloth or coarse paper. These
materials may be used separately or combined, and may, if desired, be
impregnated with perfume, and with chemicals possessing affinity for the
empyreumatic impurities of the tobacco-smoke.

Tobacco-Pipes.— Mr. E. Strangman , patentee. — According to one modi-
fication for carrying out this invention, the patentee makes the pipe with
a movable thimble, with a flange at the top, and perforated at the bottom,
such thimble being placed in the bowl, and intended to contain the tobacco
to be smoked ; he fills the space between the thimble and the bowl of the
pipe with a suitable filtering and absorbent material, so that the smoke
in passing from the ignited tobacco to the mouth of the smoker is com-
pelled to pass through the filtering and absorbent material, and thus
becomes purified.

Book-Holdehs. — Mr. J. J. Lemon, patentee. — These improvements in
the construction of book- trays or holders have for their object the holding
in position of a series of books, and their conveyance from place to place.
The improvements consist in forming a series of levers, springs, and guide-
rods, by means of which the slide or slides and flaps of the tray can be
opened for the purpose of inserting or removing books. For operating on
double slides, the levers are formed somewhat in the shape of a pair of
scissors, and jointed in a similar way by a pin passing through the slide
or edge of the tray, their handles extending outside the tra}^. Attached
to the inner ends of these levers are rods working in slots at the under side
of the tray, and moving the slides accordingly. In order to bring the
slides back after the removal or replacement of a book, springs are attached
from two corners of the tray to these levers. These springs may consist of
spiral wire, flat curvilinear steel, or other known form of spring, suitable
for the purpose ; but for a single-acting slide oniy one lever will be neces-
sary with one spring attached.

Anti-Garotte Knives. — Messrs. J. S. & S. Hancock, inventors. — This
knife is made with two dagger-blades, one at each end, both acted upon
by one spring, which locks them when in the open position, the blades
being reseated, when it is required to close them, by raising the end of the
spring out of the notch in the blade. Or a catch may be used, acted on
VOL. Ill, — NO. IX. G

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

by the spring, and released by pressing on a small projection. The guards
at each end of the handle, instead of being fixed to the scales, and project-
ing at right angles thereto, as is usually the case (and which makes the
knife bulky and inconvenient to be carried), are fastened by pins to the
blades close to the ends of the scales, and as the blades are closed, the
guards close also, spontaneously turning upon the pins, and lie along the
blades parallel to the scales, and quite out of the way, but spring into their
former cruciform position as soon as the blades are opened.

Metallic Pens. — Mr. B. Knox inventor. — According to this invention,
it is proposed to form the pens either of steel, gold, silver, or other metal
or alloys suitable for the purpose ; and instead of pointing or nibbing one
end of the pen only, the inventor forms a nib at each end. Thus each end
of the pen may be made with fine points, or one end fine and the other
coarse ; or, when desired, one point may be extra coarse for engrossing.

Machinery for Preparing Dough. — Mr. E. Stevens , patentee. —
According to this invention, a mixing-vessel is employed, made by pre-
ference of sheet-metal, galvanized or enamelled, or cast-iron may be used.
The vessel is mounted on wheels, and thereby made portable. One of
these wheels is a pivot- wheel, and has a handle connected to it, by means
of which the vessel can be drawn from place to place and readily guided.
The bottom of the mixing- vessel is made semicircular interiorly, and
double, to contain in the space between the two parts warm water to
facilitate fermentation. It should be fitted with a gauge and thermometer.
Instead of using water to warm the mixing vessel, it may be warmed by
steam, hot air, &c. In addition to this mixing-vessel the patentee uses a
fixed frame, consisting of a bed-plate and two standards suitably tied
together, and at such a distance apart as to receive the mixing vessel
between them ; suitable turn-buttons or clumps are used for securing the
mixing vessel in this position. To effect the mixing of the dough, a
horizontal cranked axis or bar, with inclined toothed stirrers upon it, is
employed. The toothed stirrers may be round, or rectangular in cross
section, and can be varied in form. The cranked axis or bar is of
sufficient length to be able to be placed in the mixing- vessel, and of such
form, that when caused to revolve, it passes just clear of the sides and
bottom of the mixing- vessel.

83

BOOKS OF THE QUARTER.

THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZONS/"*

IF we are ever to arrive at a clear solution of the mystery which now
involves the subject of the origin of species, or if any satisfactory
generalization regarding the supposed development of new beings, not only
morphologically but physiologically distinct from those that have existed
before them, is ever to be framed, most assuredly the observations of those
who have given years of unremitting attention to the study of the characters
of animals, will have much to do with it. And since the framing of
exact laws may be regarded as the primary object of all philosophic
students of science, the highest meed of praise is due to the man who,
having devoted, one may say, a quarter of a life-time to the collection and
collation of facts, generously and without reserve presents us with the
fruits of his labours, — supplies us, in fact, with the very materials which
as zoological legislators we required. To this category belongs the author
of the volumes now before us. Mr. Bates, whose character as an
entomologist is familiar to all our readers, has here presented us with the
results of eleven years’ explorations in the wild and little-known regions
of tropical South America. The book is written in a terse and pleasing
style, devoid of that literary display and indulgence in scientific techni-
calities which render such works unpalatable to the general reader, and
moreover is elegantly and profusely illustrated, and is, as regards its
mere mechanical features, a credit to its publisher. The first volume
describes the author’s adventures in the country of the Lower Amazons,
from Para to Barra and Rio Negro, and his various tracks may be
traced along the valuable map which is appended to this portion of the
work. The general contour of the country, the characters of its vegeta-
tion, and the political and polemical institutions of its human inhabitants
have not escaped the notice of Mr. Bates, who, however, has given most
of his attention to the nature of the fauna, and the lines of distribution of
the animals included in it. The keenness of his powers of observation
appears to rival even that of the great Humboldt, for we can hardly con-
ceive of the existence of anything in the vast Amazon region which has
not in some manner been alluded to ; suffice it to say that no less than
14,712 distinct species of vertebrates and invertebrates were examined, of

* “ The Naturalist on the River Amazons.” A Record of Adventures,
Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of
Nature under the Equator, during Eleven Years of Travel. By Henry
Walter Bates. 2 vols. London : Murray.

g2

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which about 8,000 were entirely new to science. The habits of the animals
examined have been closely watched. It has been often asserted that
certain species of Mygale were addicted to the destruction of the smaller
birds, but the statements made, required confirmation : this has now been
given by Mr. Bates, who writes : — “ In the course of my walk I chanced
to verify a fact relating to the habits of a large hairy spider of the genus
Mygale, in a manner worth recording. The species was M . avicularia
or one very closely allied to it. The individual was nearly two inches in
length of body, but the legs expanded seven inches, and the entire body
and legs were covered with coarse grey and reddish hairs. I was attracted
by a movement of the monster on a tree trunk ; it was close beneath a
deep crevice in the tree, across which was stretched a dense white web.
The lower part of the web was broken, and two small birds, finches, were
entangled in the pieces, they were about the size of an English siskin ,
and I judged the two to be male and female. One of them was quite dead,
the other lay under the body of the spider not quite dead, and was smeared
with the filthy liquor or saliva exuded by the monster.’’ Gastronomic
science too has not been neglected by our author. On one occasion having
exhausted his supply of fowls, and being unwilling to eat the stale and
stringy salt fish of Caripi, his Servant provided him with a dish of ant-
eaters’ flesh, which he thus describes : — “ The meat was stewed and turned
out very good, something like goose in flavour. The people in Caripi
would not touch a morsel, saying that it was not considered fit to eat in
these parts ; I had read, however, that it was an article of food in other
countries of South America.” The resemblance of certain invertebrate
animals to birds, is also indicated, and is illustrated by allusion to the
humming-bird moth, which simulates so well the bird after which it is
named, that, as Mr. Bates remarks, “ the natives firmly believe that one
is transmutable into the other.” By far the most important portion of this
volume is that which relates to the localization of certain lepidopterous
species, which have been carefully investigated by the author. Treating
of Heliconins melpomene , he writes, “ This elegant form is found through-
out Guiana, Venezuela, and some parts of New Granada. It is very
common at Obydos, and reappears on the south side of the river in the
dry forests behind Santarem, at the mouth of the Tapajos. In all other

parts of the Amazons valley it is entirely absent Another and

nearly allied species, however, takes its place in the forest plains, namely,
the H. thelxiope of Hiibner.” These two species are of the same size, and
have exactly the same habits; but the H. melpomene is simply black
with a large crimson spot on its wings, whilst the other is rayed with
black and crimson, and possesses yellow spots in addition. “ There are,
as might be supposed, districts of forest intermediate in character between
the drier areas of Obydos, &c., and the moister tracks which compose the
rest of the immense river valley. At two places in these intermediate
districts, namely, Serpa, 180 miles west of Obydos, and Aveyros, on the
lower Tapajos, most of the individuals of these Heliconii which occurred
were transition forms , between the two species .” A very plausible objection
might be offered as to the real specific character of these forms, to the
effect that they were mere hybrids of the two known species ; but Mr.

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85

Bates asserts that although the two “ come in contact in several places
where these intermediate examples are unknown , I never observed them to
pair with each other. Besides which, many of them occur on the coasts
of Guiana, where H. thelxiope has never been found.” The only deduc-
tion, which the author himself draws from these facts is, that II. thelxiope
is a good and true species, which has been deduced by natural selection
from H. melpomene. We hail with pleasure both facts and conclusions,
and make no doubt that our readers will find in the pages of this work,
ample evidence in support of the Darwinian theory.

The second volume is devoted to the narration of adventures in the
Upper Amazons, Santarem, and Ega. Leprosy appears to be very preva-
lent in the former, but from the symptoms as described by Mr. Bates, we
are led to suppose it is of a nature different from the usual varieties of this
disease. The conventional supposition that every human race, no matter
how aboriginal, exhibits some conception of a Supreme Being, is not
borne out by the author’s experience. “ None of the Indian tribes on the
Upper Amazons have an idea of a supreme being, and consequently have
no word to express it in their own languages.” The chapter on the forms
and distribution of monkeys is pregnant with interest, and contains what
may be considered the grandest speculations of this zoologist.

While passing over the pages of Mr. Bates’s book, we became almost
insensible to surrounding objects, and well-nigh fancied we were wander-
ing through the mighty forests of Brazil, surrounded by the humming
insects and gaudy-plumaged birds, whose natural history the author has
so vividly portrayed. It has never been our lot to divide the pages of
a more interesting or instructive work, and we heartily recommend it to
all our readers.

FISII HATCHING."*

THE production of fish by the artificial incubation of the ova which
have been collected on the spawning beds or extracted from the
female, has engaged much attention of late years. It is, too, a subject
worthy of all the consideration it is likely to receive, and which may, we
trust, be taken up by all classes of the community. Very large sums of
money are, from year to year, expended on the cultivation of domestic
animals, which, when reared, still demand a considerable outlay, in the
shape of food, care, &c. ; whilst little or no trouble has been taken to rear
animals which, in a pecuniary point of view, are just as valuable, and
which possess the additional recommendation, that they do not require
to be fed. It is quite true that, once we have hatched our fish-eggs, and
sent their produce into our rivers, they are no longer our own property ;
but then, as Mr. Buckland very correctly observes, the country is benefited,
and materially benefited, whilst our philanthropy has not cost us a penny.
Who would not be a philanthropist under such conditions, especially when

* (i Fish Hatching.” By Frank T. Buckland, M.A., F.Z.S. London ;
Tinsley, Brothers. 1863.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

the occupation is so amusing and instructive ? The volume now under
notice is in great measure a report of a lecture delivered at the Royal
Institution on the 17th of April last, and, like the original, is couched in
the language and is full to overflowing with the sotto voce comments, which
produced such bursts of laughter in Albemarle Street. No one who
has read this little volume can be dissatisfied with the information it con-
tains. It is calculated to make many converts, and in a practical and
utilitarian point of view will doubtless effect good service. It is a book
above all others to be worshipped by the disciples of Izaak Walton.
With this admission, we proceed to investigate its character as a scientific
work, and we regret to have to take the author to task on one or two
points where he has stepped beyond his own province. He points out to
his readers that in the young fish the lower jaw is but feebly developed,
because it is not required for some time ; the little creature being nourished
by the supply of yolk in the umbilical bag. He is not, however, content
with this explanation, but proceeds to draw a most blundering conclusion
respecting the development of the human jaw. He says, u In the human
baby the first portion of the body developed is the lower jaw , because the
most material want of the baby is to obtain the mother’s milk by suction.
Now, if the lower jaw were not solid and firm, in vain would it try to
suck.” What, in the name of all laws of development does Mr. Bucldand
mean ? Can he be ignorant of the beautiful researches of Reichert and
others, showing that the jaw is formed at a much later period than other
structures, and that it results from a modification of one of the visceral
arches? No : far be it from us to suppose so. He means that it is one of
the first cartilages in which lime-matter is deposited. But what has that
to do with suction ? Surely the suctorial muscles are not so much con-
nected with the lower jaw as he implies ; and, furthermore, the cartilages
would, even in their un-calcareous form, sufficiently resist the muscular
contractions. We think also that the author’s teratology is slightly at
fault. When, however, Mr. Buckland confines himself to fish-hatching
his statements are most valuable. The appendix, containing descriptions
of the experiments conducted, to determine how long ova preserve their
vitality when buried in ice, and the report by M. Coumes on the fisheries
of France, deserve perusal. A list is given of the works already pub-
lished on the subject, thus rendering this volume a useful handbook to all
those who are not disposed to accept Dr. Johnson’s definition of an angler.

ZOOLOGY FOR SCHOOLS*

WE say it advisedly, few men have done more to encourage the
study of Zoology than Mr. Robert Patterson of Belfast. A dis-
tinguished naturalist himself, and one of whom Ireland may well feel
proud, he was the first who really gave an impetus to the study of Natural

* “ Introduction to Zoology for the Use of Schools.” By Robert
Patterson, F.It.S. Belfast : Sims & M’lntyre. New edition. 1863.

“ First Steps to Zoology.” By the same author. Third edition. 186L

BOOKS OB THE QUARTER.

87

History in that country. In the year 1846 his first edition of the above
work appeared, and met with the success it merited so well. Since that
time, however, considerable revolutions have taken place in comparative
anatomy and systematic zoology; of the classifications adopted in 1846
there are very few extant now, most of them have been seriously modified,
some of them have been entirely rejected. Creatures which then had been
looked on as fish are now ranked among reptilia. Certain reptiles of that
date are amphibia now-a-days. In fine, it became necessary for Mr.
Patterson to subject his book to a complete revision, and to make several
alterations and corrections. This he has now done, adding new matter to
the text, and adorning the pages with numerous additional illustrations.

The invertebrates are divided into four sub-kingdoms, Protozoa,
Radiata, Annulosa, and Mollusca. We congratulate' the author on the
introduction of the first and third, and the abolition of Articulata as a
type ; but we do not care to see the old term Radiata preserved, especially
as it still includes the Echinodermata. We would not elevate the latter to
the dignity of a sub-kingdom, as Professor Thompson does, but they might
be placed alongside some of the classes of the Annuloida section of
Annulosa. The author very properly employs the term Coelenterata to
include the Actinozoa and Hydrozoa ; and since in a note he suggests
the propriety of constituting the group thus formed into a distinct sub-
kingdom, we can hardly object to his preference for the old designation,
especially as the work is intended for schools, and the greater the intro-
duction of new systems the greater will be the confusion necessarily
created in the class-room. A great deal of valuable and new matter has
been added to the chapter on Protozoa, and the division of this group
into Rhizopoda, Spongiadse, Infusoria, and Gregarinidee, is one which even
the most critical must approve of. The removal, too, of Rotifera was a
step in the right direction. In dealing with the Medusae the author intro-
duces a few of Edward Forbes’s beautiful sketches of the gymnopthalmata,
and gives notes containing copious references to the works of zoologists
who have made original researches upon the subject. It is a peculiar
feature in this chapter, that the term polypite has been substituted for the
less exact expression polyp, and that the Cydippe and Beroe have been
classed with their relatives the sea-anemones. The class Echinodermata
is subdivided as in former editions, the Siponculidse being, however,
grouped with the Annuloida. In the arrangement of Mollusca and
Annulosa we observe the same indications of advancement as those
seen in that of Protozoa and Coelenterata. That portion of the book
devoted to Vertebrates has undergone less alteration than the preceding
parts. Cuvier’s classification of fish is adopted, but that of Muller is
given in a foot-note, together with much valuable information on the
bibliography of the group. The mammals, birds, and reptiles are systema-
tized in the usual manner. We are glad to perceive that the Dodo has
been placed among the Columbida, but we conceive that the true affinities
of Lepidosiren are not with fishes. In conclusion, without desiring to
draw invidious comparisons, it may be said of this treatise that in point
of scientific accuracy and clearness of description it is one of the best
that has yet been presented to the public.

88

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

OPHTHALMOSCOPIC SURGERY.*

*

THE thanks of all members of the medical profession are due to
Mr. Hogg for the production of a new edition of a work, which he
has modestly termed a “ Manual of Ophthalmoscopic Surgery.” It may
be truly said of the ophthalmoscope, that it is as valuable an agent in the
detection of ocular disease as the stethoscope is in the diagnoses of pulmonary
affections. There is no calamity which can befall a human being more
disastrous than the loss of that sense by which we become cognizant of
the existence of surrounding objects. And as we know that the little
instrument which has given its name to the new branch of surgical science,
is, in skilled hands, the most efficient means of discovering the early
stages of diseases of the eye, it behoves us as practitioners to whom a
serious responsibility attaches, to do all that we possibly can to promote
<£ a proper knowledge of the use and advantages of ” the ophthalmoscope.
It need be no longer the excuse of local surgeons, that no book exists which
is at the same time scientific, practical, and easily understood, for, in the
volume lying on our table, we have these three qualities combined, in a
manner which it is not often our good fortune to observe. The history of
the discovery of the opthalmoscope is dealt with in a very impartial spirit,
and it is with extreme satisfaction we perceive that kthe claims of our
countryman Mr. Cumming are fairly exposed. We read, “ It may be
gathered from these remarks, that the first practical suggestions for the
present mode of examining the internal eye and investigating its diseases,
were made by Cumming. In the objects stated with which he commenced
Iris experiments, in the means he used when examining eyes, and the pre-
cautions necessary to obtain the desired effect, we find all the fundamental
principles engaged in the practice, or which enter into the theory, of the
ophthalmoscope.” Some eight or ten pages are given to explanations of
the construction and varieties of the new instrument, the forms known, Lieb-
reich’s, Anagnostalci’s, Grandmont’s, Meyerstein’s, and Nachet’s binocular,
being carefully described and commented on : in alluding to the last, the author
expresses his opinion that experienced observers will “ continue to prefer the
much more portable form so generally employed, all the deficiencies of which
may be corrected by a little patience and tact.” As we should have
expected, the optical principles involved in the instrument are treated of
in the fullest and most exact fashion. The chapter on the histology of the
organs of vision is not behind the time ; and the views of Virchow,
Schlemm, His, Donders, Strube, and Kolliker are discussed at length. In
the physiological section we have been provided with lucid abstracts of the

* “ A Manual of Ophthalmoscopic Surgery.” Being a practical Treatise
on the Use of the Ophthalmoscope in Diseases of the Eye. By Jabez Hogg,
Senior Assistant Surgeon to the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital,
Fellow of the Linnean Society, &c. London : John Churchill. 1863.
3rd Edition, entirely re-written and enlarged.

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89

doctrines of the distinguished ophthalmologists Cramer, Helmholtz, Grille,
Pilz, and Mannhardt ; and it is not without a feeling of pleasure that we
find the author opposing the opinions of the two first regarding the supposed
change of form in the lens. In speaking of the power of adjustment Mr.
Hogg goes on to say, — “ For my own part, I believe*that in the accommo-
dation of the eye, the curvature of the crystalline body is unchanged.”
We cannot however agree with the concluding portion of the sentence, —
“ that its movements depend upon the special organisms provided for
this important purpose.” The experiments of Budge and Waller are
detailed, and a resume of the curious speculation of Professor Draper is
also given. The purely surgical matter must recommend itself to the
practitioner, containing as it does the results of Mr. Hogg’s vast experience,
and including the reports of several of the author’s own cases. The
arrangement of the classes of disease may be objected to by pathologists,
but will undoubtedly be approved of by the practical surgeon. Four
beautifully coloured plates, representing the appearance of the eye in
the healthy and morbid conditions, accompany the volume, to which is
appended a useful series of J ager’s “ test types,” so often alluded to by
ophthalmic surgeons. Mr. Hogg was, we believe, the first in these countries
who gave a detailed account of the new instrument, and we trust his
work may meet with all the success it merits.

THE ANGLER - NATURALIST. "

IT is indeed desirable that fishermen should become better acquainted
with the scientific bearings of their finny capture than they seem
to be at present, and therefore from this point of view the author’s under-
taking is commendable. But before commencing the arduous task of
writing for the instruction of the public, it would be as well that compilers
put to themselves these two questions : first, Is there any work in print
which is likely to fulfil the desired end ? and second, From what sources
may the information be obtained which it is necessary to convey ? If
these queries were seriously considered and conscientiously answered ere
an author Avields his pen, we conceive that publishers would be saved from
much unprofitable outlajq and readers spared a considerable amount of
trouble. The “ Angler-Naturalist ” has been written to supply a supposed
want — the scientific instruction of anglers,— and, as it were, that it should
be the constant companion of the fisherman, it is provided with a very
pretty folding cover, to prevent any injury it might be likely to sustain
while lying within the pocket of its proprietor. Even here we must enter
our protest against the habit of making pocket volumes of such an enormous
size. Why, even in a fishing-basket Mr. Pennel’s work would occupy a

“ The Angler-Naturalist.” A popular History of British Fresh-water
Fish, with a plain Explanation of the Rudiments of Ichthyology. By II.
Cholmondeley Pennel. London: Van Voorst. 1863/

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very considerable space ; and we certainly are not ourselves possessed of
any cavity within our garments, sufficiently capacious to contain his
treatise. The illustrations, which are exceedingly numerous, will he
admired by every one who reads the volume ; but since they are almost
unexceptionally thos# which long since appeared in the works of another
author, we can hardly award much praise to Mr. Pennel on that score.
As regards the typography and general finish of the volume, we need only
say that it has been sent out in that garb which characterizes all Mr. Van
Voorst’s books.

The text is divided into two portions, the earlier pages being confined to
an outline of the principles of ichthyology, whilst the remainder of the
volume is devoted to descriptions of the habits and zoological characters of
our native fresh- water fish. We do not think that the author has been
very felicitous in his endeavours to give a popular delineation of the organ-
ization of fishes, as even in the outset we detect a very decided error in his
definition of the class. In defining the group he says, “Fishes are ovipa-
rous vertebrata with a double circulation , and respiring through the medium
of water.” It is hard to believe that Mr. Pennel comprehended the
meaning of his own definition ; for a double circulation is one of the
characters which fishes have not, and which reptiles, birds, and mammals
possess in common. Again, the author is decidedly wrong when he asserts
that fishes respire atmospheric air by the gills. The habit which fish, in
impure water, exhibit of coming to the surface and taking in air by the
mouth has been often explained. It has been found that the air thus taken
in is swallowed, and instead of passing through the gills is transmitted to
the stomach. In the taxological portion of the work we are treated to the
natural history of British fresh- water fish, and this is certainly the more
correct and interesting division of Mr. Pennel’s book. For although
the materials are drawn to a great extent from the excellent standard
“History” of the late Mr. Yarrel, yet there are many new facts intro-
duced, and the descriptions abound in anecdotes of an amusing and
instructive character. The chapter on the salmon family, if we exclude
the allusion to the insect nature of the Lernea, and that on the Cyprinidse
or carps, will prove acceptable to the general reader.

THE ESCULENT FUNGUSES OF ENGLAND*

IT cannot be denied that there is a strong prejudice in this country
against everything in the shape of fungi ; and when it is considered
that our shipping, our potatoes, and even our wheat crops often fall
victims to these lowly organized growths, the prejudice appears to have a

* “ A Treatise on the Esculent Funguses of England.” Containing an
Account of their Classical History, Uses, Characters, Development, Struc-
ture, Nutritious Properties, Modes of Cooking and Preserving, &c. By
Charles D. Badham, M.D. Edited by F. Currey, M.A., F.R.Si
London: Lovell Reeve. 1863. New Edition.

BOOKS OP THE QUARTER.

91

tolerably fair foundation. To remove the very widely-spread, but incor-
rect, ideas prevalent in the minds of the people on this subject, by the
dissemination of well-ascertained facts, tending to prove that many species
of mushrooms are edible, is the task to which Dr. Badham addressed him-
self some years since. What success his efforts mbt with remains to be
shown. It is, however, to be presumed that the results were satisfactory,
else we should hardly have been presented with a new edition, which
differs in scarcely any particular from the first one. Such as it is, how-
ever, it will, no doubt, be read by those interested in the cultivation of
fungwses, and therefore we proceed to analyze it briefly. The chapters
devoted to the general history, qualities, &c., of the group are instructive,
but are evidently the produce rather of “ scissors and paste ” operations
than of any originality upon the part of the author ; and as the statements
made are frequently given on very equivocal authority, we are forced to
accept them cum grano salis. One is gratified to learn that the value-
even on an estimate considerably below the mark — of Roman fungi is
£4,000 per annum ; but when this fact is adduced as an argument in
support of the home-growth of fungi, we feel compelled to remark that
there are a few trifling differences between the climatal conditions of
Great Britain and Italy. The etymologies of the various generic and
specific titles are well exposed, and the origin of the word Toad-stool is
nicely explained as being derived from the German tod , which signifies
death. That fungi are very universally- spread organisms is demonstrated
in numerous examples, and among others allusion is made to the Geastrum
which Withering found upon the topmost pinnacle of St. Paul’s. Fan-
tastic are the forms assumed by these curious members of the vegetable
kingdom. “ Some shoot out into branches like seaweed ; some puff them-
selves into puff-balls ; some thrust their heads into mitres ; these assume

the shape of a cup ; and those of a wine-funnel these are stilted on

a high leg ; and those have not a leg to stand on ; some are shell-shaped ;
many bell-shaped ; and some hang upon their stalks like a lawyer’s wig.”
Descriptions of the odours and tastes, expansive power, motion, dimen-
sions, uses, and modes of distinguishing between poisonous and deleterious
specimens are not wanting. The origin of the so-called “ Fairy-rings ” is
indirectly attributed to one of three causes, which certainly seem adequate
to their production ; and before entering upon the classification of these
plants, an outlinear view of their development is added. This sketch is
not particularly remarkable for its accuracy, and were it not for the note
appended to the book, we should have commented more at length upon it.
The rest of the volume is occupied with descriptions of the species, and of
the method of preparing them as articles of diet ; but owing to the absence
of any simple scheme by which — after the manner adopted in a flora— a
species may be easily named, the book cannot be safely employed (with a
view to the edibility of fungi) by an unskilled person. The twelve beau-
tifully-coloured plates may offer some assistance toward identification, but
plates even of the best description are often very deceitful.

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BRITISH LAND AND FRESH- WATER MOLLUSKS*

UCIT more has been done on the other side of the Channel toward

clearing up the history of the above-named animals than has been
accomplished in the British Isles. For even though the characteristically-
speculative labours of Edward Forbes threw a good deal of light upon the
distribution of these beings, still English concliologists were far behind
their Gallic neighbours in this respect ; and we have had no work in our
language which could in any way be compared with the diffuse and able
researches of M. Moquin-Tandon as published in his “ Mollusques
Terrestres et Fluviatiles.” The gap which so long existed has now been
filled, and in filling it Mr. Lovell Reeve has brought the whole weight of
his extensive concliological researches to bear upon the subject. Need we
say, that he has produced a volume which is creditable to him in his
double capacity of naturalist and publisher? We think not. One hundred
and twenty-eight species have been described, and in every instance the
descriptions are so ample and lucid that the merest tyro in molluscan
zoology can find the identification of a specimen a matter of very little
difficulty indeed. An exquisitely-finished engraving of the typical animal
of each genus is intercalated with the text, and smaller woodcuts of the
shells or animals accompany the several descriptions of the species. The
lists of synonyms are copious and carefully prepared, and the habits of
each species have been by no means neglected. The portion of the work,
however, to which we would direct especial attention is that which refers
to the distribution of specific forms ; this is incontestably the most valuable
in a philosophic point of view, and it is to it that those endeavouring to
solve the great problem of the origin of species will look for information.
No pains have been spared by the author to render this branch of his
subject as explicit as possible, and throughout the pages will be found
admirably-drawn-out schemes explanatory of the geographical ranges of the
various species. Taking Helix nemoralis as an illustration of how Mr.
Reeve has advanced our knowledge of terrestrial mollusks, it will be
observed that a scientifically-accurate description of the shell is first given,
then that a list of fifteen synonyms, with dates, the habitat, and more than
half a page of general description follow, and finally that the distribution
is thus described : — “ II. nemoralis inhabits Europe throughout, but it is
less common in the South. It has been transported to the United States,
and keeps to the eastern parts near the sea, especially the lower extremity
of Cape Codd and Cape Ann. Mr. Binney remarks, that in the neighbour-
ing islands ‘each island is inhabited by a variety peculiar to itself, showing
that the variety which happened to be introduced there has propagated
itself without a tendency to run into other variations.’ Thus, on one island

* “The Land and Fresh-Water Mollusks indigenous to, or natu-
ralized in, the British Isles.” By Lovell Reeve, F.L.S. London :
Reeve & Co. 18G3.

BOOKS OP THE QUARTER.

93

we have a yellowish green, unicoloured variety, once described as H.
subglobosa , and on another, within a very short distance, we find a banded
variety and none others.” We have not selected this quotation specially,
and therefore we regard it as a good proof of the value of the entire work.
We are not disposed to accept the opinions expressed in the last few pages,
but think them exceedingly original and ingenious, and calculated rather
to assist than retard the view of Mr. Darwin. The Analytical Key, which
resembles that of Mr. Bentham’s Flora, is novel, and likely to be of ser-
vice in the estimation of species. A good general idea of distribution may
be derived from the study of the map. There is an appendix of eight
pages, furnishing the titles of all the works referred to by the author ; and
the frontispiece exhibits a well-executed steel engraving of the celebrated
Draparnaud, a circumstance which lends an interest to a volume that will
be purchased by every working zoologist in England.

NATURAL HISTORY AND SPORT IN MORAY.*

HERE is a book to please all lovers of sport. It consists in the
arranged notes and journals of that celebrated naturalist-sports-
man, the late Mr. Charles St. John. All Highland sportsmen and most
English ones must be familiar with his name. He was one of those men
who, though enthusiastically fond of animals as associated with sport ,
was nevertheless an acute observer of nature, and one whose greatest
pleasure was in watching the haunts and the habits of animals, and in
narrating to his friends the results of his pursuits. Mr. Innes, the
collector and editor of the materials which now constitute a most
interesting work, has discharged his office well, and the arrangement
pursued by him will doubtless meet with approbation on all sides. The
author’s observations, which of course extended over many years, have here
been grouped in accordance with the months in which they were made, so
that we have a record of animals, &c., seen, shot, and preserved in each
month of the year. Let us see what we have in the first chapter, under
the heading of January. First, the ivood-pigeons are alluded to, and
their inability to pierce the hard skin of the turnip with their beaks is
briefly touched on ; then follows a description of the titmice, those pert,
prying little birds which come hopping about our gardens in this inclement
season ; and our author, writing in his pleasing, colloquial style, remarks
of one of these (the little blue tomtit) : “ Like the greater titmouse, the
little bird is quite omnivorous, feeding on everything that comes in its
way. It is fond of carrion, and I have frequently seen it feeding on dead
mice or rats. It comes boldly to the window, and even into the room, in
search of flies. It is, however, very impatient of confinement, and difficult

* “ Natural History and Sport in Moray.” Collected from the Journals
and Letters of the late Charles St. John, Author of “ Wild Sports of the
Highlands.” Edinburgh : Edmonston & Douglas. 18G3.

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to keep alive in a cage It is a busy, meddling little bird, at

the head of all attacks on cat or owl that may stray into the gardens or
shrubberies, seeming to become quite infuriated against these enemies.’’
Next, the auk and widgeon receive the author’s attention, and the red
shank, oyster-catcher, water-rail, field-fare, whimbrel, and purple sand-
piper come in for their share of his remarks ; he has always a few words
for each of them ; and as he speaks, in every instance, from personal
experience, his statements are worthy of consideration. Relating his
observations during the month of April, he writes : 44 Riding by the
heronry on the Find-horn, I saw the Altyre keeper searching in all the
jackdaws’ nests that he could reach for the remains of the herons’ eggs.
These active little marauders live in great numbers in the rocks imme-
diately opposite the herons, and keep up a constant warfare with them
during the breeding season, stealing an immense number of their eggs,
which they carry over to the holes and crevices of the opposite rocks, and
eat them, out of reach of the herons.” All through this volume may
be found passages of a similarly interesting character to those just quoted,
and in all we may trace the ardent love of nature for which the author
was remarkable. Very little attention has been paid to invertebrates,
44 birds, beasts, and fishes ” appearing to have been his favourites. Almost
every British bird has been noticed to some extent, and numbers of
mammals and fish have been recorded and described. The book has
rather the features of a diary than of a continuous narrative ; and,
although for that reason it may be distasteful to some, we consider it to
possess more value as a work for the perusal of those who are desirous of
studying not only the habits of animals but also the periods of their
appearance. It is a volume which should be in the library of every
country gentleman.

THE REASON WHY : PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND

GEOLOGY.*

WE regard accurate compilations as among the most useful of all
forms of publication. The student who is endeavouring to
inform himself of the exact existing condition of any particular branch
of science, cannot— unless indeed his leisure be more ample than that of
students generally — afford the time which it is necessary to expend in
poring over ponderous tomes and myriads of serials, to obtain what a well-
compiled hand-book would present to him in a few hundred pages. Hence

* 44 The Reason Why : Physical Geography and Geology.” Containing
upwards of Eleven Hundred Reasons explanatory of the Physical Phe-
nomena of the Earth, its Geological History, and the Geographical Distri-
butions of Plants, Animals, and the Human Families. By the Author of
the 44 Reason Why : General Science,” &c. London : Houlston & Wright.
18G3.

BOOKS OF THE QUARTER.

95

we find, that in most instances manuals, text-books, hand-books, <c et hoc
genus omne ,” are preferred, as offering a simpler path to learning than
that we have alluded to. “ The Reason Why ” is, in our opinion, a work
by no means inferior to any of its class. It embraces two kindred
branches of knowledge : Physical Geography and Geology ; and since
these are linked together by Zoology, the latter has found a place in this
volume. The system pursued in the treatment of the subject is the cate-
chetical ; and although for the purposes of continued reading this is
somewhat objectionable, it is nevertheless a very useful method in the
hands of a teacher. The Geology is especially good, and the wood-cuts,
taken, as they have been, from the works of recognized authorities, form
valuable adjuncts to the text. The notes in smaller type show that the
compiler has given his subjects more than superficial examination, and
serve to render the work a really compendious book of reference for the
general reader.

SYNOPTICAL TABLE OF AQUEOUS ROCK-GROUPS.*

THE author of the monograph on the Permian fishes has drawn up
the tabular classification which lies before us. It is, we believe,
intended for the use of students, to whom it offers many advantages not
usually possessed by schematic tables of its class. The plan is divided
into five columns : in the first is placed the name of a class (primary, for
instance), the second embraces the various systems this class includes
(Cambrian, Silurian, Permian, &c.), in third and fourth are ranked the
different formations, one being set apart for marine, and the other for land
and fresh- water types, whilst in the fifth stand the organisms characteristic
of the entire system. We notice the introduction of two new terms em-
ployed to designate the pleistocene and post-pleistocene systems, which
Professor King styles the “ Clydian ” and i( Argyllian ” systems respect-
ively.

WILD FLOWERS AND THEIR USES.+

THE authoress expresses a perfectly just opinion when she says, li The
task of writing for children is by no means so easy as many people
imagine.’, In this brochure , however, an attempt — and we think a tolerably
effective attempt— has been made to construct a series of stories which,
though of a character adapted to the comprehension of children, have, as it
were, interwoven with them much genuine botanical instruction. The illus-

* “ Synoptical Table of Aqueous Rock-Groups.” By William King,
Professor of Geology in Queen’s College, Galway.

t “Wild Flowers and their Uses.” A Book for Children. By Caro-
line Southwood Hill. Edinburgh : W. & R, Chambers. 1863.

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trations representing’ the commoner plants met with in an ordinary ramble
are correctly executed, and the selection is judicious. If parents be
desirous of imparting to even young children a little of the science of
plants, this is decidedly the hook to invest in.

THE MANAGEMENT OF STEEL*

IF practical experience, conveyed in plain language, he a recommenda-
tion, then will Mr. Ede’s little hook be read by all whom mechanical
and metallurgical information may concern. His remarks on the methods
of hardening steel are exceedingly reasonable, and are likely to work a
reform in the ordinarily-adopted processes. While on the subject of
“ tempering,” he throws out some important hints relative to the boiling
of oil employed in the operation. The directions given in regard to the
expansion, case-hardening, shrinking, and annealing of steel are sug-
gestive, and are worthy the attention of the mechanical engineer.

HOME WALKS AND HOLIDAY RAMBLES.f

THE little book which bears this title bids fair to become a popular
favourite, not only with that class of the community which scours
the country in search of bird and moth, but also with those who are to be
found upon the sea-coasts, engaged in the collection of “ common objects.”
It is written in a very attractive manner, and illustrated by several
original sketches, which, as they delineate scenes that have occurred in
the author’s excursions, lend another interest to the volume. All our
familiar animals and some of our native plants are commented on, the
allusions proving that Mr. Johns is an experienced observer of nature,
and one capable of imparting information successfully. His hook is just
the one likely to cultivate a taste for natural science, and we hope it may
have an extensive sale.

* “The Management of Steel.” By George Ede. Second edition.
London : Tweedie. 1863.

f “ Home Walks and Holiday Rambles.” By the Rev. C. A. Johns,
B.A., F.L.S. London : Longman. 1863.

97

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

ASTRONOMY.

During the summer quarter the opportunities for planet and comet
discoveries are rather limited on account of the shortness of the nights, so
that there is but little to record for the last three months. A new variable
star has been detected at the Madras Observatory by Mr. Pogson, which
is, we believe, the only astronomical novelty of the season.

Winnecke’s Comet . — The comet of short period known as Winnecke’s
comes into sight in the winter of 1863, arriving at its shortest distance from
the sun on November 23. It wTill not be well seen in those latitudes on
this occasion. It sets about an hour after the sun during the month of
November, and from one to two hours in that of December ; and being in
the same parallel, it wTill of course be faint from the strong twilight in
that quarter. In the months of January and February it will be a little
more favourably situated, but its distance from the sun and earth will
have increased considerably. It is situated in the constellation of Libra
at the beginning of November, and passes to Capricornus at the end of the
year. On Nov. 2, its R.A. is 15h 9m ; Nov. 18, 16h 34m ; Nov. 30,
I7h 45m ; Dec. 12, 18h 59m ; and Dec. 28, 20h 33m. Its south declinations
at those times respectively are 13° 23', 19° 44', 23° 4', 24° 24', and
22° 53'. This will serve to indicate its path to those who may turn their
telescopes in that direction. It is at its shortest distance from the earth
on Dec. 8, when it will be more than 150 millions of miles distant. Its
shortest distance from the sun is 73 millions of miles.

* Distance of Sun from the Earth. — Professor Hansen has deduced from
his lunar tables a value of the solar parallax, closely agreeing with that
given by the late opposition of Mars as discussed by Mr. Stone. Mr.
Hind has drawn up a long and valuable account of the later history of
this important question, which it is to be hoped will be set at rest in less
than twenty years’ time — it cannot be done sooner in all probability.
The increase of the solar parallax from 8"*5776 to 8"*95 depends on
six entirely distinct authorities, but astronomers will probably retain the
old value until the next transit of Venus. It may be remarked, en passant,
that the value found from the passage of Venus in 1769, taking the
observations made at Otalieite, California, Hudson’s Bay, and combining
them with those of Paris and Petersburg, gives a parallax of 8"*9142,
very nearly the same as that lately suspected. The extreme results
given by the observations on that occasion are very different, being
8"*15 and 9"’25. Doubtless on the next occasion those great discrepancies
will not occur, as we may fairly expect more experienced observers and

YOL. III. — NO. IX. H

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better instruments ; but as much depends on the steadiness of the sun
and absence of tremor in the atmosphere, theyu can scarcely be entirely
avoided. Even at the same place of observation, as at Paris, Greenwich,
London, and Oxford, the difference of the times of contact of the margins
of Venus and the sun, as given by different observers at those places,
varied between sixteen and twenty-five seconds. By the proposed increase
in the solar parallax, the earth is brought closer to the sun by four millions
of miles, and the annual path of the earth is diminished by some twenty-
five millions of miles, so that it does not travel at such a rapid rate as was
formerly supposed. The distances and dimensions of all the planets are
similarly decreased (as expressed in miles), that of the moon, however,
remaining as before. These are matters of simple curiosity, but even a
slight change in the actual parallax of the sun will produce but little
effect in the most delicate investigations of practical astronomy. From
the combination of the Williamstown and Greenwich observations of
Mars, as made by Mr. Stone, the extreme values of the parallax are
9"*65 and 8"*50, the mean result of all being 8"*932, and the probable
error 0"*032.

Occultation of Kappa Cancri. — In the last summary the phenomenon of
an interruption in the light of this star at the moment of immersion
was mentioned as witnessed by Mr. Copeland. The occultation was
fortunately seen by several observers. Captain Noble writes that he
observed it with an excellent telescope by Ross, of 4^-inch aperture, but
did not perceive any diminution of its light. Mr. Vertu, who saw it at
Nottingham, says that he followed it until in contact with the moon’s
edge, when it disappeared instantaneously. This observer states, that
although the moon was nine days old on this occasion, the complete circle
of its disc could be traced, and even some features in the dark part were
discernible, and thinks that the impression of the diminution of light was
due <( to the excitement produced on the retina by an intense and protracted
gaze at the object.”

Klinkerfues’ s Comet. — This, the second comet of 1863, is still visible, but
from its great distance from the earth is exceedingly faint. Its position
on Oct. 1 is R.A. 12h 7ra, declination 57° 35' north. It has then only
one quarter of the brightness which it possessed on July 15, when it was
waning in lustre.

Mars . — Mr. Lockyer took advantage of the favourable position of
Mars at its last approach to the sun and earth to make a complete
examination of its surface, and to compare it with the map made by Beer
and Maedler in 1830, on which occasion it was nearly under the same
conditions. It is satisfactory to learn that, with the exception of a few
slight and fleeting changes, which he considers as due to the transit of
clouds over the planet, all the features noticed by the earlier observers
were reproduced in the most marvellous manner ; and although Mr.
Lockyer had the more powerful telescope, yet it only served to show the
old details more plainly. The changes noticed were principally in the
tones of the different parts of the planet, both light and dark, which he says
occur daily, if not hourly.

Companions of Sirius. — The minute points of light detected by the

ASTRONOMY.

99

patience and perseverance of M. Goldschmidt around this star (and which
he states have undesignedly been termed satellites) are considered by this
eminent observer to be real objects. In order to guard against optical
illusion or “ sickness of the eyes,” he turned his attention to other bright
stars, such as Altair and Antares , but could perceive nothing similar to
the appearances observed in Sirius. The object rediscovered by Mr.
Dawes, and which is about four seconds (in time) to the east of the star,
although the most conspicuous from its distance, is not considered by
M. Goldschmidt to be so bright as the two nearest ones, which he says
“ seem to be bodies of great importance relative to Sirius.” All those
discoveries have been made with an object-glass of only four inches in
aperture !

Observations by Reflection compared with Direct. — It is well known that
zenith distances taken with a meridian circle in the usual manner, differ
in a sort of regular discordance with those observed by reflection in a
trough of mercury. By some it has been attributed to flexure of the tele-
scope when approaching to a horizontal position, in which it is generally
greatest. Professor Airy, however, endorses the opinion of M. Faye, that
it is caused by the condition of the atmosphere and its warmer and cooler
strata in the observing-room. The latitude of an observatory, the Astro-
nomer-Royal states, may be wrong to the extent of a quarter of a second,
if direct observations only are used, and that polar distances of seventy or
eighty degrees are uncertain to half a second. The only method of
removing this source of error, he maintains, is by making use of re-
flection observations on both sides of the zenith.

Clock-driving Apparatus for Telescopes. — The utility of a uniform
motion for equatoreals, by which the star is kept in the same field of view
of the telescope, is beyond doubt ; and when micrometrical measures are
wanted it can scarcely be dispensed with. M. Foucault has been for some
time occupied with this problem, and has just completed a machine for
the purpose, which is about to be applied to the great equatoreal of the
Paris Observatory. Lieutenant-Colonel Strange speaks highly of its
time-keeping qualities, and M. Foucault affirms that for all practical
purposes uniformity of rotation under considerable changes of resistance
is absolutely obtained by it. The invention has been patented in France
and England.

Shooting Stars. — During the present autumn the fall of meteors has
been very remarkable, both in respect to their number and brightness.
The majority occurred on August 10.

Eclipses of the Sun and Moon. — At the last meeting of the Astronomical
Society various observations of the late eclipses were presented. Captain
Noble states, in reference to that of the moon on June 1, that he never
remembers to have seen such a nebulous density in any other lunar eclipse
as that presented by the shadow on this occasion. In the eclipse of the
sun, Lord Wrottesley states that the cusps and limb of the moon were
sharply defined shortly after the commencement, but that afterwards the
limb became tremulous, and viewed with the large telescope appeared
much jagged, resembling the teeth of a saw.

Solar Faculce. — A very conspicuous bright streak was noticed on the

H 2

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edge of the sun close to a spot, by Captain Noble, on May 24. It gave
the idea of a most extraordinary elevation above the general surface of the
sun, and presented a perfect stereoscopic effect. So strong was the shading
on one side of this great ridge of light that it appeared at one time
probable that it was a spot greatly foreshortened. This was, however,
afterwards found not to be the case, as the facula was quite isolated. This
is a further proof that the faculae are considerably elevated about the
surface of the sun.

Lunar Discoveries . — Dr. Lee, the late venerable President of the Astrono-
mical Society, gave an account, at the last meeting of the British Associa-
tion, of the new mountains and seas discovered in the moon. He purposes
to call them by the names of the house of Percy, and one after Professor
Smyth, &c.

Dawes 9 Solar Eye-Piece. — At the same meeting Dr. Lee also gave a
description of this instrument, which has now been in use for upwards of
ten years. The peculiarity and simplicity of its construction consist in
having a dark diaphragm, pierced with a minute aperture, before the eye-
piece of the telescope. The whole aperture of the telescope may thus be
used ; and Mr. Dawes has employed it not only on refractors of 8-inch
aperture, but even on Lassell’s 24-inch reflector, without having broken a
single dark glass.

Jupiter. — The aspect of Jupiter is always interesting from the changes
which are continually taking place on his surface, and have been more
than usually so during the past apposition. By the kindness of Mr.
Buckingham, F.R.A.S., we are enabled to give three representations of
its appearance ( see plate Y.) during the spring of the present year. The
intense blackness of the central spot, in comparison with the belts, was
very conspicuous. On the evening of April 28, the upper belt was com-
pletely divided near the black spot, and a canal ran through it towards the
east. A few detached spots on the central luminous belt were well seen.
On the evening of May 7, the upper belt was speckled by a number of
bright spots. A similar appearance was noticed by Mr. Lassel in 1850,
who compared them to the disc of a satellite seen on the planet with a
small telescope. Mr. Dawes has likewise been a witness to those luminous
beads, and compares them to the smaller craters of the moon. Mr.
Buckingham thinks that this intense black spot may be the same as that
observed by Cassini in 1G65, and which, according to that authority, was
the same as seen by him at intervals up to 1713, thus remaining on the
disc of the planet for nearly half a century. It would, however, be
difficult to verify this conjecture. Those observations were taken by Mr.
Buckingham with a telescope of 51-inch aperture, by Wray, and was one
of those which, for excellent defining power, obtained the prize medal at
the Great Exhibition of 1862.

Variable Stars. — A valuable and popular paper “ on the method of
making and reducing observations of variable stars,” by Messrs. Knott
and Baxendell, appears in the “ Astronomical Register ” of October, 1863,
which will be found very useful to those desirous of undertaking such
interesting observations.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

101

BOTANY AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

The Existence of two Forms in several Species of Linum . — The beautiful
discoveries of Mr. Darwin relative to the fertilization of Orchids and
Primulse have led him to inquire into the nature of this process in the
flax tribe, and the results of his researches are quite as remarkable and
interesting as any he has yet put forward. He finds that in the large
flowered crimson flax two distinct forms of flower exist ; in one the pistil
being twice as long as the united styles and stigmas of the other. In that
with the long pistil, the styles are erect, but in the other the five stigmas
diverge and pass between the stamens to the base of the corolla tube. He has
observed that the pollen of either form is unable to fertilize its own ovules,
the stigma producing no action upon it; but when pollen from an opposite
form is placed upon the stigma, the tubes are developed in a few hours.
In Linum per enne the same two forms, long and short-styled, are present ;
but the stamens of the long-styled flowers are only half the length of those
with the short styles ; moreover, in the first variety, the stigmas turn round
so as to face the circumference of the flower about the time it expands . What
is the object of this divergence of stigmas in L. grandiflorum ? The nectar
secreted by the flower being found at the outer base of the stamens, the
insect is oblige^ to insert its proboscis between the petals and stamens, and
thus the foreign pollen is attached to the stigmatic surface. As in Linum
perenne the stamens are of different lengths, so wrill pollen of different
kinds be attached to the insect at two distinct levels, and will thus be
brought in contact with the stigmas to which it is adapted. Mr. Darwin
remarks: — “ In plants which are fertilized by the wind, the flowers do not
secrete nectar ; their pollen is too incoherent to be easily collected by insects ; they
have not the bright-coloured corollas to serve as guides , and they are not , so
far as I have seen , visited by insects .” — “Journal of the Linn. Soc.”

Relation of Botany to Palaeontology. — At the late meeting of the British
Association in Newcastle-on-Tyne, Professor Balfour, President of the
Natural History Section, made some interesting comments on the necessity
of being thoroughly conversant with botanical science before attempting
to draw conclusions as to the relations of fossil plants to each other and to
the present vegetable kingdom. Numerous errors have been made by
palaeontologists, owing to an ignorance of botany. “ Fronds of ferns, of
different external forms, had been described as distinct fossil species, or
even genera — the geologist not knowing that very different forms of frond
were exhibited by the same species of fern in the present day. Again,
another error had arisen from the same form of frond being considered as
indicating the same species, whereas the same form did occur in different
genera in the present flora, and these could only be distinguished by the
fructification, which in fossil ferns was rarely seen.” It was also shown
that a conclusion might be drawn from the presence of palm-leaf, to the
effect that at the period when it lived there must have been a tropical
climate in its locality ; but this conclusion was liable to be incorrect, from
the circumstance that in the present day we find palms at high latitudes,

102

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

and in mountains, associated with cool growths of coniferae. The professor
terminated his address by observing that there was a mutual bearing of all
the natural sciences on each other, and that the student of nature must
take a comprehensive grasp of all.

Artificial Fertilization of Corn and consequent Increase of Crop. — Perhaps
one of the most important discoveries, in a utilitarian aspect, that has been
made for the last quarter of a century is that which has been just announced
in France. The merit of the discovery is not, however, due to a Frenchman,
but to a Dutchman, M. Hooibrenk ; and the results of his researches have
been so well marked and valuable that he has been awarded the Cross of the
Legion of Honour by the Emperor, who has directed that a scientific com-
mission be appointed to investigate and report upon the matter. M.
Hooibrenk supposes that the number of grains in an ear of corn can be
increased by bringing a larger* quantity of pollen into contact with the
stigmas than they usually receive. He conducts his experiments as
follows : — He takes a cord of from twenty-five to thirty yards long, and
fastens to it a stiff woollen fringe of about ten inches long ; he steeps it for
a short time in honey, and then drags it over the fields of corn two or
three times, after flowering. It catches the pollen from the anthers and
applies it to the stigmata (it is, in fact, Mr. Darwin’s bee-process on a
gigantic scale), and the result is a greatly increased crop. This method
has been tried in conjunction with the old one, on a farm near Epernay, in
Champagne, the property of the celebrated wine dealers, Messrs. Jaquesson.
The results beneath show the relative advantages of both systems : —

Hooibrenk’s System.

Old System.

Kilogrammes.

Kilogrammes.

Wheat

31

21

%e

25*5

16

Barley

24

16

Oats

17

... 12

It has been conjectured that the results would have been still more strik-
ing had not this season been such a favourable one. Fruit and garden
vegetables have been similarly treated, and with a like success. It has
been found also that an inclination of 112° of the branches of the vine
produces some effect upon the flow of the sap, and increases the fruit crop.
M. Hooibrenk maintains that by his process, and without any material
additional outlay, crops of fruit, vegetables, and corn can be increased in
value 50 per cent.

Presence of Sap in the Vessels of Wood. — Notwithstanding the generally-
received opinion that the sap is only to be found during certain
seasons, in the woody tissue, M. Gris asserts that it is invariably present
during the life of the plant, and that it is not mixed with air, as certain
botanists imagine. In addition, he has in most instances detected sugar by
the application of the sulphate of copper test, and he supposes this to arise
from the serial conversion of starch into dextrine and glucose.

* May it not also be due to the influence of the foreign pollen thus
rought to bear on each plant? — Ed. P. S. R.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

103

Diurnal and Nocturnal Expiration of Leaves . — The nature of the gases
exhaled by plants during the day and night is still a question for botanists
to solve. It has already engaged the attention of numerous physiologists
and, among the number, of M. Corenwinder, who states as the results of
his inquiries 1st, That leaves generally give off carbonic acid during the
night ; but that the extent of this exhalation depends on the temperature —
being reduced to nil when the thermometer approaches zero. 2ndly, In
day -light, and especially if exposed to direct rays, the young shoots
and buds give off carbonic acid — occasionally in considerable quantities, —
thus showing that young leaves have not the power of absorbing and
decomposing this gas. 8rdly, Adult leaves never expire carbonic acid when
in the open air and receiving the light perfectly. 4thly, Coloured leaves
do not differ from the ordinary green ones as regards the property of
decomposing carbonic acid. M. Corenwinder experimented on specimens
of hazel and copper beech, and found that they absorbed this gas in the
daylight and exhaled it at night.

Do Diatoms live on the Sea-Bottom at Great Depths f — In answer to
this query, a note appears from Dr. Wallich in the August number of the
“ Annals of Natural History.” He believes that these plants do not exist
at considerable depths of the ocean. “ Although the soft parts are retained
in specimens obtained from extreme depths, they differ materially both in
aspect and qualities from those of diatoms known to be living.” It is very
remarkable that diatoms brought up from extreme depths never exhibit
any movements ; and as ordinary specimens possess a very decided power
of locomotion, it seems fair to suppose that the former do not live at these
depths. The coscinodisci which constitute the greater portion of the diatoms
discovered in deep-sea deposits are essentially inhabitants of shallow water
(from one to fifty fathoms), and they do not live in mud. According to
Dr. Stimpson’s researches, the diatoms were found distributed all through
the mud, a fact which Dr. Wallich conceives to be highly indicative of the
absence of vitality. Moreover, it is exceedingly questionable whether
diatoms ever form the food of rhizopods.

The Leaf -Cells of Hymenophyllum have been subjected to microscopic
examination by Professor Gulliver, and the results arrived at appear to
support the view that II. Tunbridgense and If. Wilsoni are really distinct
species. He states that in the former the leaf-cells are round, or nearly so,
with an average diameter of s-fT of an inch, whilst in the latter they are
oval, with an average long diameter of and a short one of of an inch.
Especial stress is laid on the fact that in H. Wilsoni the cells are not only
much larger but distinctly oval, and the terms sphcerenchyma and ovenchyma
have been devised as diagnostics. Should the discovery prove to be correct
it will be an additional aid to those botanists who delight in species, and
will, we have do doubt, find its way soon into the ordinary floras.

Vegetable Muscular Tissue. — The anther tube of the cynarese is supposed
by Professor F. Cohn to have peculiar contractile povrers not unlike those
of the flesh-particles of animals. It is remarkable that, as the Professor
states, the contractions are due to simple elasticity, while the alternating
elongations of the tube are special muscular movements. This view is not
unlike that proposed by M. Claude Bernard in regard to contractile

104

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

structures in the capillaries of man. If the thistle he watched at the
period of flowering, it will be seen that the anther-tube is slightly elevated
above the corolla, and that on being touched pollen masses make their
escape, whilst the tube exhibits a curious twisting movement. However,
this discovery is not more remarkable than that of the movements of the
stamen-filaments in the Berberidacece and other orders of plants.

The Evolution of Buds. — A number of memoirs on this subject have
been presented to the French Academy by M. Ch. Fermond; but the
descriptions and generalizations are expressed in technical terms of so
entirely novel a character that we must refer the reader to the originals for
an idea of what the author intended to convey. — Comptes Rendus , July
20 and August 24.

The Artificial Development of Ascophora nigrans .■ — This plant, which is
easily developed naturally in organic matter, has been produced by M.
Raulin in artificial solutions. He finds also, that it affects certain salts
rather than others, and gives the following as the results of his investi-
gations:— The most suit able mineral substances are in order of importance —
phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, sulphur, and manganese. A liquid
holding all these substances in solution will, in a certain fixed time,
develop 20 grammes of this plant ; another, which differs from the first by
the absence of manganese, produces only 5 grammes in the same period of
time ; the suppression of sulphur reduces the supply to 2 grammes, that
of magnesium and potassium to 1 gramme, and that of phosphorus to
0*5 grammes. The quantities of these elements which must be employed
form a very fractional part of the weight of the plant which is produced,
less than two-hundredths in some cases. From several experiments which
he has made, M. Raulin is enabled to conclude that free nitrogen is not
absorbed by these plants.

Coloration of Vegetable Tissues by Acids. — The coloration which acids
impart to the tissues of plants has received the attention of botanical
chemists for some time past. Not the least distinguished of those who
have given the subject consideration is M. A. Guillard, who now makes
known the opinion he has formed. Acids, according to this investigator,
exert an action not only upon portions of the liber , but they tinge com-
pletely the woody tubules and vessels, the medullary rays and even the
central pith itself. Violet, with its various shades, is not the only colour
exhibited on addition of a drop of hydrochloric acid ; in some plants, as
Staphykea and Dianthus, a beautiful green is developed : in the liber of
Sagina and Plumbago, and in the leaves and fibres of Myrica, a yellow is
observed, whilst the Epacridese yield a splendid orange hue. This pro-
duction of hues has been observed more frequently among dicotyledons
than other groups, and the author considers it to be a fact of much
importance in connection with the examination of the microscopic struc-
ture of vegetable tissues.

On the Germination of the Organic Corpuscles which are found in the
Atmosphere. — M. Duclaux is engaged in a series of experiments on the
germination of mould spores, and publishes the results he has already
arrived at. He collects the spores on cotton by Pasteur’s apparatus, and
then steeps the cotton in a liquid containing sugar, some mineral matters,

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

105

and an acid salt of ammonia (bitartrate). A drop of the liquid containing
the corpuscles is then placed under the microscope in a small vessel so
constructed as to permit every part of it to he examined in succession.
The origin and development of the vegetation of the germs may be then
observed. So far, M. Duclaux’s researches appear to confirm the conclu-
sions formed by M. Pasteur from his admirable investigations into the
nature of spontaneous generation.

New Colouring Matter ( Xylochloeric Acid ) found in Decayed Wood. —
Decayed timber, presenting in the interior a peculiar green colour, some-
times very intense, is often found in forests. M. Fordos has succeeded in
extracting from it a fine green colouring matter, apparently very stable
and susceptible of important applications, if it could be easily procured.
It is solid and amorphous, of a deep bluish green, with a coppery lustre.
Insoluble in. water, ether, sulphide of carbon, and benzine ; insoluble or
nearly so in alcohol ; soluble in chloroform and crystallizable acetic acid.
It does not appear to be altered by mineral acids, even when concentrated.
It dissolves in sulphuric and nitric acids, giving green solutions, from
which it is precipitated by water. Alkalies combine with it, giving it a
yellowish-green tint.

Chlorine water, added in sufficient quantity to its solution in chloroform,
transforms it into a yellow substance, which the chloroform retains in
solution ; and if ammonia be shaken up with it, after the chlorine reaction,
a red compound, insoluble in water and chloroform, is produced.

Besides the green colouring matter mentioned, there exists in the wood,
in very small quantity, a red colouring matter, easily changeable, and
with the following characteristics : — It is insoluble in water, ether, sulphide
of carbon, and benzine ; soluble in chloroform and alcohol. It is by
alcohol that it can be separated from the green matter.

In order to extract these colouring matters, the wood, cut into little chips,
is treated repeatedly with chloroform until it is exhausted. The green
solutions are shaken up with acidulated water to free the colouring
matter from a little lime which accompanies it. The chloroform solution
is then separated from the acid water and distilled, after adding some
distilled water to it.

The chloroform distils over and the green colouring matter remains
suspended in the water, from which it is freed by filtration, and then
treated by alcohol to remove the red matter, which is present in very
small quantity.

M. Fordos thinks that the origin of the green matter may be ascribed
to a special transformation of the astringent substances contained in the
wood at the time of its death, or rather of the matters carried into the
dead wood by the juices of the living tree which had penetrated into it
before it became detached.

The red matter offers some analogy with a substance widely diffused
in the vegetable kingdom, called cyanine, paraearthamine, but differs
from it in some particulars.

The green matter differs in chemical properties from chlorophyl, with
which it might at first be thought identical.

106

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

CHEMISTRY.

Aniline Blue. — The conversion of red into aniline blue, discovered some
years since by MM. Girard and De Lair, two young chemists from M.
Pelouze’s laborator}^ occupies at the present time a very prominent
position in the chemistry of dyes. Indeed, a very considerable manufac-
ture, based upon this transition, is being carried on in England by Messrs.
Simpson, Maull, and Nicholson, and in France by MM. Renard, Brothers,
of Lyons. Till recently but little was known concerning the chemical
changes involved in this conversion ; but in a memoir lately communicated
to the French Academy, the whole mystery has been philosophically
unfolded by Dr. W. A. Hofmann ( Comptes Rendus , 6th July). The
author finds that the process for the transformation consists in treating
rosaniline at a high temperature by aniline in excess. The change is
readily achieved by treating salts of rosaniline in the presence of aniline,
or reciprocally by treating rosaniline with salts of aniline, ammonia being-
in both cases given off. Several analyses of the hydrochlorate which had
been supplied by Mr. Nicholson lead to the expression —

C38H33N3C1+

This formula contains the history of aniline blue ; for not only does it
point out its chemical character and the relation which it bears to rosani-
line, but it most satisfactorily explains the change which takes place in
the conversion of the red into aniline blue. The above formula may be
fairly rendered as follows : —

C38H33N3C1=C30H10(C5Hs)3N3HC1

In other words, the substance is the hydrochlorate of triphenylic rosaniline.
This being granted, the equation beneath affords us a most exact explana-
tion of the entire process, thus : —

Salt of rosaniline. Aniline. Salt of triphenylic rosaniline. Ammonia.

CjoHj 9N3,HC1-J-^C^H^N=C30H1 g(CcH5)3N3,H(3+3H^N

Dr. Hofmann has succeeded, moreover, in obtaining the free base, by
pouring a concentrated solution of the chloride in ammoniacal alcohol
into water ; this substance is then separated in clots. Hydrobromate,
hydriodate, nitrate, and sulphate have also been obtained by the action of
the acids on the free base. The action of reducing agents on the triphe-
nylic rosaniline and the methylic, ethylic, and amylic derivatives of the
base have been described in the valuable memoir to which we have
referred.

Putrefaction. — M. Pasteur, in continuing his researches on this subject,
has presented an essay to the Academy, in which he shows that this pro-
cess is, like that of fermentation, brought about by the influence of two
distinct sets of beings; — one set, including Monas crepusculum , and
Bacterium termo , lives upon oxygen, which it replaces by carbonic acid ;

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

107

the other, including six species of vibrios, does not require oxygen, and
indeed ceases to exist if exposed to this gas. The second is the true ferment
of putrefaction. He proposes two new terms by which to designate these
distinct classes of beings — Aerobia and Anacrobia, the first signifying that
the beings included by it possess the power of living when exposed to
ordinary air, the second expressive of an inability to exist under those
conditions. He suggests also that the latter be termed Zymics a

ferment), from the property they have of developing putrefaction ; and
that the former be negatively styled Azymics. — Comptes Dendus, 2 6.

Discovery of the Metal Thallium . — We find that Mr. Crookes, in a letter
to the editors of the Philosophical Magazine , has ably defended himself
from the insinuations and assertions of M. Lamy, to the effect that
thallium had not been discovered in the first instance by Mr. Crookes.
English chemists are aware that since an early period in the }^ear 1861
Mr. Crookes has devoted his attention to this subject, and that in the
month of April in that year he announced “ the existence of a new
metalloid, probably of the sulphur group ” ( Philosophical Magazine').
Now, it appears that M. Lamy has been also engaged in the study of this
metaland its compounds ; but, on his own admission, he did not commence
his researches till fifteen months subsequent to the published investigations
of Mr. Crookes : this, however, does not prove anything as to the priority
of isolation of the metal. Not so, however, the facts disclosed in the
communication to the July number of the Philosophical Magazine , in
which the whole matter is dealt with in a most impartial spirit. M. Lamy
read a paper before the Societe Imperiale, at Lille, on the 16th of May,
1862, in which he described thallium as a metal. This was his first
communication, and, by a reference to the proces-verbaux of the society,
we perceive that his discovery of the metal was made at some period
between the 2nd and the 16th of that month. We have also the evidence
of Mr. Quin* to the effect that on the 7th of June in 1862, M. Lamy,
when at the International Exhibition, showed him an ingot of the metal.
This, then, is M. Lamy’s case. On the other side we have a letter, dated
17th April, 1862, from Mr. Quin to Mr. Crookes, stating his desire that a
specimen of the metal thallium should be exhibited. If more convincing
proof of Mr. Crookes’s claims be necessary, we have the fact that a spe-
cimen of the metal was displayed at the opening of the Exhibition, on
May 1st, 1862, and that there w*as affixed to the specimen a card with the
following inscription : — (( Thallium : a new metallic element, discovered
by means of spectrum analysis. ... It appears to have the characters
of a heavy metal, forming compounds which are volatile below a red heat.
It is reduced from its acid solutions by zinc, in the form of a dense,
black powder, difficultly soluble in hydrochloric acid, readily soluble in
nitric acid,” &c. The , only conclusion deducible from these facts is
this : — Mr. Crookes had exhibited the metal at least sixteen days before
M. Lamy announced his discovery of it and exhibited it to the society
at Lille.

* Ex-superintendent of classes 2, 3, and 4, International Exhibition.

108

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Spontaneous Conversion of Gun-cotton into Pectic and Parapectic Acids. —
Under this title a very interesting paper, by Professor Divers, appears
in the journal of the Chemical Society. The discovery was, in part, the
result of accident. A quantity of pyroxylin which had been prepared
from Swedish filtering paper, and which was quite free from adhering
acid, was exposed for about two years to the influence of diffused light.
When the bottle was opened at the expiration of this period a quantity of
gas escaped with violence, and the fumes of nitrous acid were developed.
Having been left by for a considerable time, with the orifice of the bottle
partially closed, the contents deliquesced into a consistent jelly. The
gelatinous material was then submitted to repeated washings, which were
of an exceedingly acid character ; both jelly and washings were preserved,
and from their conduct with various reagents the author has arrived at the
conclusion that the former was pectic and the latter parapectic acid.

The Origin of Nitrites. — In a comparatively recent communication to
the Academy of Sciences of Munich, M. Schoenbein put forward a very
valuable explanation of the mode in which these salts are formed. “ If *
pure water be boiled in an open vessel — a porcelain capsule, for example,
and a few grammes of the vapour thus formed be condensed by holding
over the vessel a cold flask or a sheet of filtering-paper saturated with
distilled water, a liquid may be obtained which, when acidulated with
sulphuric acid, gives a feeble but appreciable stain to starch solution con-
taining iodide of potassium.” This reaction, M. Schoenbein asserts, is due
to the presence of a small quantity of nitrite of ammonia. The same
results are arrived at more decidedly when paper steeped in a solution of
potass has been employed. And this effect is also produced when the
water is evaporated at a much lower temperature, as, for example, 40° or
70° per cent. If water be evaporated at 40° or 50° during a period of twenty-
four hours, and that the condensed vapour be continually poured back
into the retort, it will be found that at the end of that time the liquid con-
tains a large quantity of nitrites. The author showed that even at the
ordinary temperature the same formation of nitrites occurred. These salts
are converted, through the action of ozone into nitrates, and hence if
potash be present ordinary saltpetre will be formed. It follows from this
discovery that soils — particularly those of warm climates — are being
constantly supplied with ammoniacal salts ; on this account M. Schoen-
bein says there is much reason to believe that Baron Liebeg is correct
when he states that it is useless to furnish plants with a large quantity of
ammoniacal manure, inasmuch as it is only necessary to supply the
purely mineral ingredients of soils. M. Schoenbein supposes that plants
must also contain nitrites in large quantities. He finds that the freshly-
pulled leaves of Leontodon taraxacum , bruised and mixed with water in the
proportion of one part by weight of leaves and a hundred of water, form a
liquid which, when acidulated with sulphuric acid, gives a deep blue with
the iodide of potassium and starch. The leaves of the following plants
possess similar properties : — Lactuca sativa , Senecio vulgaris, S. erucaefolius,
Dactylis conglomerata, Plantago major, Mentha piperita, Thymus ser-
pyllum. Spinacia oleracea, Datura stramonium, Hyoscyamus niger,
Nicotiana tabacum, Helianthus annuus, and Papaver somniferum, exhibit

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 109

a similar reaction, but only after from twelve to twenty-four hours’
maceration in water.

As bearing upon the above researches, it may be stated that Professor

IG. C. Schaeffer has contested M. Schoenbein’s right to priority in putting
forward the views we have alluded to. He states ( Silliman7s American
Journal ) that in the annual report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year
1861, a report appears on nitrification presented to the institution in 1856,
by Dr. B. F. Craig, from which the following passage is extracted : — •
“ This action takes place very commonly with those substances which are
produced from ammoniacal salts by the separation of the elements of
water, and may be effected under the influence either of acids or alkalies,

and sometimes by the action of water alone at very high temperatures

In the case of nitrogen it may be represented thus : — ■

N3-fH4 04=N04NH4”

Quantity of Carbonic Acid in the Atmosphere . — M. Mene has addressed
a note to the “ Academie des Sciences ” upon this subject. He gives the
following as the results of his analytical investigations : —

1st. That the quantity of carbonic acid contained in the atmosphere
is variable.

2nd. That there is nearly an equal quantity of carbonic acid present
during the months of December and January ; that this gas increases in
February, March, April, and May, but diminishes from June to August ;
that it again increases from September to November, attaining its
maximum for the year in October.

3rd. That there is always more carbonic acid present during the day
than during the night.

4th. There appears to be some oscillation as to the quantity of this
gas during the day ; this takes place about noon, when a slight increase
is observed.

5th. That after rain carbonic acid is always more abundant than
before it.

The Detection of Wood-spirit in Essences , Tinctures , fyc. — It is well
known that in certain cases essences and tinctures are prepared with this
spirit instead of pure alcohol, hence it becomes necessary that we devise
some means of detecting the fraud. “ Ure’s test ” is that which is usually
adopted ; it consists in adding powdered hydrate of potash to the sus-
pected liquid, when if a brown colour be produced wood-spirit is said to be
present. Mr. E. J. Reynolds ( Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science, July)
shows that this test is fallacious in some instances, owing to the circum-
stance that some of the volatile oils pass over in distillation and give
rise to a distinctly brown tint with caustic potash in powder. He pro-
poses the substitution of the following test : — “ A small quantity of the
suspected liquid is placed in a tube-retort and distilled over into a cooled
test-tube ; two or three drops of a very dilute solution of chloride of
mercury are now added to the distillate and then excess of solution of
caustic potash, and the whole well shaken. If the precipitated oxide of
mercury do not re-dissolve even on warming the liquid, wood-spirit is
not present.”

110

POPULAE SCIENCE EEVIEW.

Vanadic Acid. — In the Gomptes Rendus for July 20th a note appears
from Dr. Phipson, describing the results of several analyses of clays
made with a view to ascertain the proportion of this acid present in these
compounds. He states that whilst 44 London clay ” contains only 0*23
per cent, of vanadic acid as much as 1*90 or even 2 per cent, may be
found in a substance to which he has given the special name of
44 vanadium ochre.”

The Ethers contained in Wines. — M. Berthelot continues his researches
into the nature of the above. They are principally ether or vinic acids
which are usually fixed and do not add to the odour ; it is probable,
that the taste of wine at different ages depends in great measure on
their development. The peculiar vinous flavour, however, is not due
to them ; the principles to which this is owing may be extracted by
mixing wine with ether and evaporating at a low temperature and removed
from the contact of the air. The extract obtained by this process is
composed of different substances. The following is its composition in
Bordeaux and Burgundy wines’:- —

1. A small quantity of amylic alcohol.

2. An essential oil, insoluble in water (oenanthic ether?).

3. A small amount of acid.

4. A peculiar principle which reduces an ammoniacal solution of silver,
and turns potash brown.

This principle is almost fixed, although slightly volatile in ether vapour ;
is very soluble in water and alcohol ; ether removes it from water, heat
alters it rapidly, and its extract is soon destroyed if exposed to the air.
It is entirely distinct from ordinary aldehyde — which, according to the
author, is not found in wines; — it is probably a derivative of the polyatomic
alcohols, and belongs to a group of highly-oxygenated aldehydes.

5. A slightly volatile principle with a faint vinous odour, which resists
the action of ammoniacal oxide of silver, and which may result from
some transformation of the preceding body.

GEOLOGY AND PALAEONTOLOGY.

Human Jaw at Moulin-Quignon. — The evidence in this matter and the
conclusions arrived at during the conference of the French and English
savans, have been clearly set forth in a lengthy article in the 44 Natural
History Review.” The verdict is in support of the French opinion, that
the jaw in question was not fraudulently introduced into the deposits, but
is a hond-fide fossil of the same age as the beds in which it was found.
It is, however, creditable to the calm and philosophic mode of weighing-
evidence adopted by our English men of science that Mr. Busk and Dr.
Falconer have withheld their assent to such startling conclusions as those
terminating the procds-verbaux of the commission. The grounds upon
which these gentlemen found their belief that the jaw and 4< hdchcs ” are
spurious may be summed up thus : — I. With regard to the hdches — (a)

SCIENTIFIC SUMMAEY.

Ill

they possess a form different from all others previously found at Abbe-
ville or Amiens ; ( b ) their angles are sharper than those of any other
specimens except those of La Porte Mercade ; (c) they presented no
staining or discoloration ; ( d ) they exhibited neither dendritic markings
nor adherent matrix ; ( e ) the great sameness of character presented by
all the specimens, as though they had all been made by one or two persons ;
(/) none of the specimens were tinted with iron, although all the larger
pebbles of the couche noire were so tinged ; (y) the matrix of the St. Gilles
specimen contained “unquestionable traces of recent vegetable structure.’’
II. Of the jaw — ( a ) the black coating due to the matrix was washed off
with the greatest readiness ; ( b ) there was no infiltration of metallic

matter; (c) there was no appearance of dendrites either externally or
within ; ( d ) the outer surface was rather smooth and quite unlike the
condition in which buried bones are usually found ; (e) the substance of
the bone was firm, and when sawn gave the peculiar odour produced
when the saw cuts through fresh bone ; (/) the dentine of the tooth was
white, and the enamel quite brilliant and in every way resembling that of
a recent tooth ; ( g ) the dental canal was lined with a layer of grey sand,
which was not mixed with the black matrix, and seemed to indicate that
the bone had been at one period in a ferruginous sandy deposit ; (Ji) the mere
adhesion of the particles of the black “ gangue” to the bone did not
indicate that the bone had remained in the deposit for any considerable
time, as experiments proved that when this substance was applied in its
soft state to any surface, no matter how smooth, it adhered to it when dry
with the greatest tenacity. The above characters of the bone and tooth
are remarkable when contrasted with those of bones of an earlier date
than the beds of Moulin-Quignon. The human lower jaw from a gravel
heap of an Ipswich coprolite bed, alluded to in the discussion, although
retaining some of its gelatine, is completely infiltrated with iron ; the
Haversian canals being filled with red oxide, and a section of the fang
proving that the dentine has been penetrated by the same metal. This
demonstrates “that a human jaw, if favourably placed, is equally sus-
ceptible of impregnation with metallic matter as the bone of any other
mammal.” It is worthy of note, that the tooth which had been so care-
fully examined in London, and had been forwarded from Abbeville, was not
permitted a place in the evidence, it having been insinuated by the French
savans that it might through some error have been confounded with some
other specimen. The French men of science relied almost exclusively on
circumstantial evidence, and seemed to reject the intrinsic variety, which
was regarded by the English as of more importance. Among those who
have especially taken part in this investigation we may mention the
names of Mr. G. Busk, Dr. W. B. Carpenter, Mr. Evans, Dr. Falconer,
and Mr. Prestwich on the English side ; and of M. Delesse, M. de Perthes,
M. de Quatrefages, M. Desnoyers, and M. Milne-Edwards who presided,
on the part of French science.

Ancient Shell Mounds of Scotland. — Mr. Lubbock, who has been exam-
ining these remnants, has observed a very interesting circumstance in
connection with the distribution of Bivalves. In one heap, which was
situated at Brigzes farm, in the neighbourhood of Loch Spynie, he found

112

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

specimens of Ostrea edulis, Cardium edule, Buccinum nndatum, Mytilus
edulis, Natica, Patella vulgata, Purpura lapillus, Littorina littoralis,
Trochus, Anomia serpula, Tapes pullastra, and T. decussata. The pre-
sence of T. decussata in this locality is of great interest ; firstly, because,
according to the researches of Mr. McAndrew, it is no longer to be found
further north than Carnarvonshire ; and, secondly, because it shows
that, whilst all our other extinct littoral species are to be seen extant
upon northern shores and even towards the Arctic circle, T. decussata is
withdrawing from the north to warmer southern latitudes.

Co-existence of Man with Elephas Meridionaiis . — M. Desnoyers commu-
nicated the results of his researches upon this question to the Academy of
Sciences, at one of its recent sittings. There are three kinds of evidence
from which conclusions may be drawn : — 1st. The presence of the human
bones themselves ; 2nd. The occurrence of objects of human industry,
especially flint weapons, in the beds which contain the remains of the
large mammalia ; 3rd. The traces of man’s hand upon these mammalian
bones. Having described the character of a series of markings found on
bones which he discovered near Chartres, and which strise or markings
he attributes in great part to the action of flint weapons, the author thus
sums up the results of his observations : — 1. The fossil bones of Elephas
meridionaiis, Rhinoceros leptorhinus, Hippopotamus major, of several
species of deer, large and small, of numerous species of oxen, and of other
mammals regarded as characteristic of the Pliocene formation, and
discovered in an undisturbed deposit of that geological formation, present
numerous and unquestionable traces of strise, gashes, and incisions.
2. These notches and strise are perfectly analogous with those seen on
fossil bones of other more recent species ; viz., the extinct ones accom-
panying E. primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Hysena spelea, &c. ; and
those still living, such as the reindeer, numerous deer, and the aurochs,
found in bone caves and drift. Similar appearances have been recog-
nised on several bones of existing species, collected in Gallic, Breton, and
Germanic tombs, &c. 8. These marks upon the most ancient bones

have, for the most part, the same origin as those observed on more modern
ones, and can only be attributed to the action of human weapons.

4. Some other strise of a finer and more rectilinear character, and which
intersect each other, are also seen in great numbers upon the bones of
the Pliocene formation in the neighbourhood of Chartres and other
localities ; these seem to be analogous to those seen on blocks and pebbles
which have been scratched and polished by the action of glaciers.

5. The beds of Saint-Prest, unanimously recognised as Upper Tertiary or
Pliocene , and certainly as anterior to all the Quaternary deposits containing
Elephas primigenius, present numerous bones of Elephas meridionaiis,
and of most of the large species of mammalia characteristic of the Upper
Tertiaries, upon which both forms of notches and strise may be observed.

6. From these facts it seems possible to conclude, with a very fair
appearance of probability until other more satisfactory explanations
elucidate this double phenomenon more perfectly, that man lived upon
the French soil before the great and first glacial period (at the same time
as Elephas meridionaiis and the other Pliocene species characteristic of

SCIENTIFIC SUMMAEY.

113

the Val d’Arno in Tuscany), and that he was contemporary with these
huge animals anterior to Elephas primigenius and the other mammals
whose debris have been found associated with the remains or indications
of man in the gravels or Quaternary beds of great valleys, and in caverns.
7. Finally, the Saint-Prest beds supply as yet the most ancient European
instances in geologic times of the co-existence of man with the extinct
species of mammalia.

The Geolog?/ of New Zealand . — Professor Hochsetter has returned to
Vienna with an immense stock of fossils collected in these islands ; his
collection is without doubt the most extensive which has yet been brought
to Europe, and it is said that Dr. Zittel will be intrusted with the naming
of the Mollusca proper and Echinodermata, whilst the labour of naming
the Brachiopods, Ammonites, Belemnites, Foraminifera, and plants, will
devolve on other distinguished palseontologists. The oldest fossiliferous
rock in these islands is apparently of a grauwacke character, and con-
tains in great abundance two distinct species of Monotis, M. Richmon-
diana and M. decipiens, and also, more sparingly distributed a species of
Spirigera. The stratum next in order, as we pass upwards, contains
Belemnites and Ammonites (a new species of the latter), together with
a species of Ancella, a Placunopsis and other Jurassic fossils. The
strata which succeed the foregoing have been subdivided into two sections,
an upper and lower ; of these the latter possesses no existing species,
although many of the present genera, — as, for example, Ostrea, Pecten,
Ilemipatagus, Scliizaster, Brissus, and Nucleolites : owing to the absence
of any living forms, this group is correlated with the oldest of European
Tertiaries. The second subdivision is most fully represented on the
southern island, and is characterised by a fauna related to that of
Australia at the present day ; indeed, man}^ of the species are identical
with those now living. This section is equivalent to the more recent
European Tertiaries. — Vide <£ Proceedings of the Imperial Geologic Insti-
tute of Vienna, 1863.”

Fossil Bones from the Caverns of TouL — In the neighbourhood of the
latter locality a series of caves and fissures exist in the Oolite. M. Husson,
in examining the geology of these caverns, found the following remains,
whose relations were determined, through the assistance of M. Godron, at
the Museum de Nancy: — 1. Several jaws of a species of bear (Ursus
speloeus). 2. Femurs, humeri, ribs, vertebrae, and other remains of the
same animal — undetermined. 3. Teeth and bones of a liyeena (Hyaena
spelaea). 4. Numerous coprolites, probably of a hyaena. 5. The cannon
bone of the hind-leg of a ruminant, probably of some deer. 6. Teeth and
part of the jaw, probably of a boar. 7. Coprolites of an undetermined
insectivorous animal. 8. Several portions of jaws and various bones, not
yet determined, and belonging, some of them, to the diluvium, others to a
modern period. — e< Comptes Rendusf August 10.

The Volcano of Aconcagua. — We find, from a report to the Academy of
Sciences on the “ Memoirs of M. Pissis,” that this mountain, heretofore
regarded as volcanic, is not really so at all. It is composed from the base
to the summit of stratified rocks. The lowest are porphyries of the same
description as those met with on either side of the Andes, and those at the

YOL. III. — NO. IX. I

114

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

summit are — to judge from the features of the detached blocks — related to
the chalk formation. It is placed in the centre of a large area, situate a
little to the east of the line of the Andes, from which it is separated by a
valley in which the Rio de Mendoza rises. Some syenitic rocks are found
in the lower portion of the area which at the period of M. Pissis’s visit was
covered with snow.

Fossil Birds of the Miocenes of Central France. — M. Milne-Edwards,
having compared the bird-remains of these deposits, has presented a note
to the “Academie” upon their identification and arrangement. He thus dis-
tributes them : — Diurnal Raptores : Two species of eagles, one which has
been described by M. Gervais, and which the author terms A. Gervaisii ;
the other styled A. prisca. Nocturnal Raptores : Bubo Poirrieri, B.
arvensis, and Strix antiqua. Grallatores : Totanus Lartetianus, Phoeni-
copterus Croizeti, Palaelodus ambiguus, P. crassipes, and P. gracilipes.
Natatores : Anas Blanchardii, Larus Desnoyersii, Pelicanus gracilis, and
Graculus littoralis.

Cause of the Striae on Fossil Bones. — M. Eugene Robert, in reply to the
memoir of M. Desnoyers, states his belief that all the grooves, gashes, and
scratches which the latter attributed to the action of the flint weapons
used by an early race of men, have been produced by the implements of
the artisans employed in extracting, and afterwards preparing, the fossils.
His attention was first directed to this origin by a remark of a person
engaged in the French School of Mines, to the effect that these markings
were due to the awkwardness of those who removed the earth from the
specimens. In one instance he was able (from the character of the
injury) to infer, that the mark had been produced by a workman’s
pickaxe.

Geology of the Pyrenees. — It is not invariably the case that a palaeonto-
logical examination of a series of rocks confirms all the deductions drawn
from a stratigraphical survey. This, however, is true in the instance of
these mountains’ geology. M. A. Nogues, after making a lithological and
stratigraphical survey of the Pyrenean rocks, was enabled to divide their
primary sedimentary deposits into two groups, an upper and a lower. The
latter, essentially schistose, and more or less metamorphic, he called
Silurian ; the upper, principally calcareous, he called Devonian. The
fossiliferous portion of this latter lies chiefly in the valley of Tech between
Corneilla and Fillols. The beds are of a yellowish grey colour, and
contain impressions of Stromatopora concentrica, Fenestrella antiqua,
Favosites polymorpha, Berenicia . . . ., and Terebratula pugnus ; a
fauna which leaves little doubt as to the true character of the formation.

The Vertebrosternal Articulation of the Glyptodon. — The cause of the
development of this peculiar joint in the remarkable edentate referred to, is
being sought for by M. Serres. He asserts that the existence of the articu-
lation offers no support to the Darwinian hypothesis, and adduces the
following arguments (which to our mind are rather of the “petitio
principii” variety than otherwise) in support of his opinions : —The
repetition of the act of flexion, by which the head is drawn beneath the
carapace, would of itself be inadequate to the production of a vertebral
articulation. This is seen by reference to the common instances furnished

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

115

by human teratology. There is frequently found an incurvation of the
vertebral column of man, at the level of the second or third dorsal vertebrae,
yet in no case is there a true articulation produced. In ten cases of
lumbar incurvation which the author observed, not one presented the least
approach to a ginglymoid articulation. Again, M. Serres writes : — If we
suppose this joint of the glyptodons to have been produced artificially, it
could never have descended from one generation to another, for we find
that when in man an entirely new hip-joint is produced (as in scrofulous
affections, when the head of the femur is luxated, and develops an artificial
cotyloid cavity) the new form is wholly individual, and is never trans-
mitted to succeeding generations. The author then draws the conclusion
that the vertebro-sternal articulation in the glyptodon was created with
the animal itself.

Relation of the Aymestry Limestoneto the Lower Ludlow. — In the last number
of the Geological Society’s “ Journal” a short communication appears on this
question. Mr. R. Lightbody, who has prepared a section of the Aymestry
limestone at Mocktree, and who has evidently paid considerable attention
to the subject, proposes that the term Aymestry limestone, as a division , be
discontinued, for the following reasons : — ( a ) There is a constant intercala-
tion of calcareous beds from the top of the Aymestry limestone to the
bottom of the lower Ludlow, (b) A large proportion of the Aymestry
limestone fossils are identical with those of the lower Ludlow, (c) The
lower Ludlow star-fish are found above the whole thickness of the
Aymestry workable limestone, {d) It is impossible to say exactly where
the one formation begins and the other ends, (e) The Aymestry, or thick
limestone, does not exist through large tracks of the Ludlow rocks, but
only where certain fossils are very abundant.

MECHANICS.

The Suez Canal. — Mr. Hawkshaw, at the instance of the Egyptian
Government, has examined the works in progress for the construction of
the great intermarine ship canal at Suez ; and in an elaborate report,
favourable to the enterprise, gives reasons for reversing the verdict of
impracticability pronounced by Mr. Stephenson and other engineers, and
generally accepted in this country. The fact was ascertained, in a survey
undertaken by the advice of Mr. Stephenson, that there was no absolute
difference in the mean levels of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, and
he thence concluded that the canal would have no current, and would, in
course of time, become stagnant and silt up. He also supposed that the
entrance to the canal at Port Said could not be kept open by any reason-
able expenditure of money, in consequence of a drifting of sediment,
brought down by the Damietta branch of the Nile eastwards along the
coast. There is now no doubt that these inferences were crude and hasty.
Mr. Hawkshaw shows that the difference in the rise of the tides in the
two seas (viz., for equinoctial spring-tides, 3’67 feet at Suez, and only
0’42 feet at Port Said), would cause an alternating current which may

i 2

116

POPULAE SCIENCE EEVIEW.

reach a maximum velocity, in some cases, o£ four feet a second, and which
may he supposed capable of removing all the sediment carried or blown
in. So also the large evaporation from the surface of the Bitter Lakes
and Lake Timsah will cause an influx of water from both seas into the
canal ; and the outflow from Lake Menzaleh can, if necessary, be directed
into it, at its northern extremity. Mr. Hawkshaw has also calculated the
probable rate of deposition of sediment from water flowing in, and the
probable shallowing from air-borne sand, from which data he estimates
that the cost of maintaining the canal by dredging could not exceed
.£15,000 annually. After careful investigation, he attributes little weight
to the objection raised on the supposed eastward drift of Nile deposit.

Experiments on Armour-Plates. — We have noticed from time to time
the experiments at Shoeburyness on the resistance of iron plates to pro-
jectiles. It may now be assumed that the laws of resistance to the impact
of projectiles at high velocities are approximately determined, and the
most suitable qualities of the iron plates ascertained. There remain
various questions as to the most suitable mode of supporting the armour
casing, so as to offer the greatest resistance to shot, and at the same time
to preserve the strength and sea-going properties of the vessel unimpaired.
In July, experiments were made on a target constructed on the plans of
Mr. George Clark, in which the armour-plates are attached by dove-tailed
slots and bolt-bars to a backing of wrought-iron webs, forming a cellular
system, the spaces of which are filled by pitch pine, teak, or millboard.
This target resisted, with partial success, the blows of shot from the
68-pounder smooth bore and 110-pounder rifled Armstrong guns, but
succumbed to the 300-pounder projectiles fired with charges of 50 lb. and
35 lb. of powder. These last smashed clear through 5|-inch armour-
plate, backing, and inner skin.

The Iron Plate Committee have reported that armour-plates should
be bent, for ship-building purposes, at a bright red heat ; thus, for the
present, settling a question on which there has been wide divergence of
opinion. So treated, with precautions which they point out, the quality
of the iron will, in their opinion, be improved rather than deteriorated.

Destructive Effects of Projectiles . — Sir William Armstrong stated, in
his address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, at
Newcastle, that, in conjunction with Captain Noble, he was prosecuting
experiments to determine the waste of energy due to the disruption of
the shot, by observing the increase of temperature of the fragments after
impact. The mechanical force imparted to the shot by the ignition of the
powder is reconverted into heat when its motion is arrested by impact,
and this heat is divided between the object struck and the shot. By
calculating from its velocity the work stored in the shot on leaving the
gun, and ascertaining by Joule’s equivalent the wmrk remaining in the
fragments of the shot as heat, the proportion taking effect on the shot
instead of the armour-plate can be determined. The experiments showed
an enormous absorption of power, caused by the yielding nature of the
materials of which projectiles are usually formed. As we before pointed
out, the superior efficacy of steel over cast-iron shot is due to the less
proportion of work thus wasted.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

117

Boiler Explosions . — The Astronomer Royal communicated to the British
Association an important paper on the percussive theory of boiler explo-
sions, to which reference has previously been made in these pages. Accord-
ing to that theory, the destructive effects observed in boiler explosions
are not due to the pressure first causing rupture, but to the subsequent
sudden generation of steam in the heated mass of water, from which the
pressure has been removed. Professor Airy has obtained, from data fur-
nished by the experiments of Professor Miller of Cambridge, an accurate
numerical expression for the destructive energy of the steam. He concludes
that, in the case of a boiler working at 60 lb. pressure, each cubic foot of
water has the same destructive energy as a pound of gunpowder. Now, many
boilers in use contain 600 cubic feet of water ; hence the fearful devastation
caused by their rupture may be imagined. An important practical deduc-
tion from Professor Airy’s calculations, is that the destructive effects of a
boiler explosion are proportional to the quantity of water in the boiler.

Trial of Steam Fire-Engines. — A competitive trial of steam fire-engines
took place at the Crystal Palace. Steam was raised to 100 lb. pressure,
starting from cold water, in from 10^ to 17 minutes by different engines.
The experiments comprised : — (First Trial) — Delivery of 1,000 gallons
into a tank 67 feet distant and 27° from the horizontal, commencing with
cold water in the boiler. (Second Trial) — Like the first, but commencing
with steam at 100 lb. pressure. (Third Trial) — Delivery through 440
feet of hose into a tank, through an aperture 0 feet in diameter, placed
40 feet horizontally and 40 feet vertically from the nozzle. (Fourth
Trial) — Vertical discharge, in which two of the engines attained a height
of 180 feet. The results are given in the following table, calculated by
a correspondent of the Engineer , from the official tables : —

Makers.

Weight.

Heating

surface.

Gallons delivered
per min.

Gallons per min.
per sq. ft. of heating
surface.

Gallons per lb.
weight of Engine.

lbs.

sq. ft.

1st

Trial.

2nd :
Trial.

3rd

Trial.

1st

Trial.

2nd

Trial.

3rd

Trial.

1st

Trial.

2nd

Trial.

3rd

Trial.

Merry weather . .

6594

207

103

321

216

•49

1-55

l-oi

•0158

•0492

•033

Shand & Mason. .

6412

128

97

333

122

751

2-6

•95

•0151

•0519

*019

Easton & Amos. .

6592

210

159

•757

•0241

Bull & Co

6 052

200

147

327

254

•73

1*63

1-27

•0243

•054

•0419

Roberts

4400

141

49

91

*34

•64

•0111

•0206

Shand & Mason. .

3304

624

185

176

135

2-9

2-8

2 1

•055

•053

•041

Merryweather . .

3490

644

108

159

81

1-6

2-4

1-2

•031

•046

•023

Lee & Co

3360

106

165

172

71

1-5

1-6

0-66

•049

•051

•021

MEDICAL SCIENCES.

Absorptive Power of the Healthy Human Shin. — This is a very serious
question, especially as regards Continental practice. The absorption of
medicaments has been for a long time under the consideration of M.
Delore, who now makes known his opinions on the subject. He believes
that the healthy skin is capable of absorbing all substances soluble in

118

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

water, but that this absorption is too irregular to be depended on as a
method of introducing medicines. The absorption is favoured or retarded
by several circumstances : for example, it takes place most readily in
young persons, and is effected more completely in places where the skin
is thin, as the neck, axilla, &c., than where it is more dense, as the back
and limbs. The extent of surface and the length of time during
which friction is made have also much to do with it. The nature of
the medicine has a decided influence ; insoluble substances, with the
exception of mercury, being never absorbed. When irritant mixtures,
such as the alkalis and alcohol, are applied to the skin, the absorptive
power is increased, in great measure owing to the solution of part of the
epidermis. The absorption is also intensified by the employment of
unctuous materials — not by any special influence they possess, but because
they allow the friction to be more effectually carried on. In experimenting
on the absorptive properties of the lungs, he found these organs took in but
a small quantity of iodine, and that neither mercury nor belladonna
was absorbed by them.— “ Comptes Rendus ,” August 3.

Influence of the Nerves upon the Sphincters of the Bladder and Anus. — A
series of vivisections have been made at M. Claude Bernard’s laboratory by
Messrs. Giannuzzi and Nawrocki, in order to determine the influence of
the nerves supplying the above parts. Having injected acetate of morphia
into the jugular vein of a dog for the purpose of rendering it insensible,
they exposed the bladder by means of an incision into the abdominal walls,
and they tied the rectum, to prevent the descent of fsecal matter ; finally
they tied one ureter and introduced into the other a canula provided with a
stop-cock, which was connected by an india-rubber tube with a funnel filled
with water, at from 80° to 35° centigrade ; the funnel being fixed on a vertical
sliding stem, graduated in centimetres. In this way they were enabled to
calculate the exact pressure of the water, by knowing the height from
which it flowed. Water having been allowed to flow into the bladder,
it was found that, in order to produce a continuous flow from the urethra ,
it was necessary to have the pressure of a column of water 63 centi-
metres ; this was before the section of the nerves. The nerves supplying
the bladder were then divided, and it was found that a column of 34
centimetres produced a continuous stream from the urethra. Now, as this
column is also required to produce the flow after death, it is evident that the
power of so-called tonicity of the sphincters is due to the influence of the
nerves. An exactly similar experiment was made on the anus, and the
same result obtained, thus proving incontestably that the action of these
sphincters ceases when the nervous supply is cut off.

Marriages of Consanguinity. — The conventional ideas regarding the
results of these unions are likely to receive a severe blow from the memoir
recently laid before the French Academy by M. Seguin. The author is
fully convinced that marriages of the above kind are not followed by any
consequences other than those to which all unions are liable. In proof
of his view he gives a table in which are set forth the names of twenty
members of his own family who intermarried ; and, to judge from the
scheme, the results are not at all alarming. In one instance we find two
cousins marrying, and being blest with ten olive-branches ; whilst in

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. , 119

another instance, when an uncle and niece constituted the happy couple,
we observe that no less than six children were born.

The Shin of the Hands and Feet . — Anatomists are aware that the epider-
mis of the palmar and plantar surfaces is the only portion of the integument
which is not supplied with sebaceous glands. This absence of the oily
secretion confers certain properties on the skin which it would not other-
wise possess, for M. Parisot has shown that the epidermis of the hands
and feet is the only superficial portion of the body through which water
alone is absorbed. In proof of this, the following experiment was made.
The body of an infant, twelve days old, which had been washed with
warm water and dried, and whose anus , umbilicus , and urinary meatus had
been coated with Venice turpentine, was plunged in a bath of water at a
temperature of about 10 centigrade. The water was constantly renewed,
and the body was so placed that the head was just above the water. After
twenty-four hours it was taken from the bath. Prior to immersion it
weighed 2,050 grammes ; it now weighed (after careful drying) 2,055,
showing an increase of five grammes, the result of absorption, for on
being exposed to the atmosphere for a single day it was reduced to its
former weight by evaporation. This experiment merely proved the absorp-
tive power of some part of the shin. He next smeared the palms and
soles of an infant with Venice turpentine and placed it in the bath, but
on removing and weighing it after three hours’ immersion he found it had
undergone no change in weight ; thus proving that the absorption of
water takes place only through the skin of the hands and feet. To
demonstrate the action of the sebaceous matter, he performed another
experiment. Having covered the palms and soles with turpentine, and
removed the epidermis of the neck, he placed the infant in the bath as before,
and found that, after three hours’ immersion, a quantity of water equiva-
lent to about ten grammes had been absorbed. In order to produce absorption
of medicines by other portions of the integument, it is necessary to employ
previously some fluid capable of dissolving the sebaceous secretion, and
thus of affording a free passage to the substance. The writer observes :
“ I dipped a piece of cotton in a solution of atropia in chloroform, and
applied it to the forehead ; in three minutes there was distinct dilatation
of the pupil, and in about five minutes the enlargement was complete ;
the application was left on for about a quarter of an hour, and produced
redness and heating of the skin. In an hour after, all signs of inflam-
mation had disappeared.” When an aqueous solution of atropia was
similarly applied, no dilatation of the pupil was manifest.

Growth of Bone. — M. de Lamballe appears , in the course of his exten-
sive researches on the generation and reparation of tissues, to have
corroborated the assertions of M. Flourens. (1) That the bones increase
in thickness by external and superimposed layers. (2) That they increase
in length by the addition of terminal layers arranged in juxtaposition.
(3) That proportionally as the new layers are deposited externally, the
older ones on the inner surface are resorbed. (4) That ossification consists
in the regular and successive conversion of periosteum into cartilage, and
of cartilage into bone.

Lymphatics of the Kidneys . — At a late meeting of the Vienna Academy

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of Sciences, M. Ludwig announced that, having been assisted by M.
Za wary kin in his investigations, he had been able to trace the lymphatic
vessels to their origin, in the spaces between the tubuli uriniferi and the
bloodvessels.

Products of Respiration. — To complete the researches undertaken by Reg-
nault in 1849, M. Reiset has performed several experiments upon the ordinary
domestic animals of a farm. The apparatus employed resembled that which
was used by M. Pettenkofer, and, like the latter, M. Reiset has found that
pure hydrogen and a hydro-carbon were exhaled by the lungs. In sheep
the whole of the oxygen which disappeared was found in the carbonic
acid ; nitrogen was also given off, and a still larger quantity of a hydro-
carbon. This latter is produced, according to M. Reiset, in all ruminants,
and is dependent on certain phenomena of digestion, for he has found that
a hydro-carbon exists in large quantities in the stomachs of ruminants
that have died from meteorization (hoove). In rabbits the products of
respiration are nearly the same. Pigs present so many irregularities that
it is difficult to frame any generalization on the gases exhaled by their
lungs. In geese and turkeys, nitrogen and carbonic acid were evolved,
but neither free hydrogen nor a hydro-carbon was found as a product .

Action of Electricity on the Blood. — M. Bollet, of the University of
Vienna, asserts that on passing an electric current through blood, this
fluid from having been opaque becomes quite transparent, assuming at the
same time a brilliant lake hue. The action is of course upon the blood
corpuscles, which from the complex phenomena they exhibit when sub-
mitted to electric influence and observed beneath the microscope, the
author does not suppose to possess the structure ordinarily assigned to
them. His observations are in direct opposition to the doctrine of the cell-
nature of these bodies.

Presence of Bacteria in the Blood. - During the last six months a
great deal of controversy has taken place regarding the presence of these
beings in the blood of animals labouring under certain forms of disease.
These singular productions were first noticed by Fuchs in 1848, and were
again described in 1860 by Delafond in the “Bulletin des Seances de la
Societe des Veterinaires ; ” and have since that period commanded the
attention of French savans. M. Signol has almost decided the question in
liis late memoir. He has found Bacteria in the blood of the horse when
suffering from typhoid fever, influenza, &c. ; and in one case he
detected their presence in the blood of an animal which died from gan-
grene, the effect of a wound inflicted with a scissors. When blood con-
taining these organisms was introduced into the system of a sheep, death
followed in a very short time, and there were found in the blood of the
poisoned animal, globules of a regularly-rounded form, but larger than the
normal white globules, which they slightly resembled ; they were united in
clusters and were very abundant. They consist of an external cell of a
violet tint, in the centre of which may be seen several nuclei with a well-
marked double contour, and which in some instances have an almost hour-
glass form. The blood-globules usually disappear, and intheirplace are found
crystals of various forms, resembling those of cholesterine. The cells of
the liver are almost invisible, owing to the fatty globules by which they are

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

121

surrounded ; and the striae on the muscular fibres are imperceptible from
the same cause. The author concludes b}'- stating— 1st, That Bacteria are
not peculiar to animals affected by certain diseases (sang -de-rate, &c.).
2nd, That the blood which contains them is inoculable, and that in the
blood of animals thus inoculated, Bacteria may be found in abundance.
3rd, That the presence of fat in the tissues and liquids of the system, and
the resemblance of these Bacteria to those produced during butyric fermen-
tation, favour the presumption that fat plays a very important part in the
progress of the disease.

Catheterism of the Duodenum . — Four cases in which this operation has
been successfully performed, have been brought under the notice of the
French Academy. M. Blanchet, who recommends the operation, thinks
that it will furnish us with a means of determining the intestinal con-
tractions, and that it will materially assist in the diagnosis of organic
affections of the pylorus and intestine : intussusceptions, tumours, occlu-
sions, foreign bodies, &c. By it we shall be enabled to convey nutritious
matters, or medicines which would not be tolerated by the stomach, to
the pyloric orifice. And we can employ it to remove gases which some-
times accumulate in the intestine and produce serious results.

The Poisonous Action of Thallium. — It is well that our readers should
know that the sulphate of the new metal is a violent poison, which affects
the stomach and intestines somewhat in the same manner as the salts
of lead. M. Lamy records that five grammes of this salt (which is
very soluble) poisoned no less than eleven animals, viz. : two fowls, six
ducks, two young dogs, and a bitch. The dogs, which were more closely
observed than the others, laboured under violent lancinating pain in the
gastric region, which was relieved by pressure. The pains succeeded each
other with rapidity, and produced effects like those of electric shocks,
and then gave place to paralysis, affecting the posterior limbs. The
post-mortem examination showed no evidence of lesion, and the only
peculiarity observable was a very distended condition of the gall-bladder.
The poison was detected in almost all the tissues by means of the spectro-
scope, the peculiar green band of the spectrum being quite perceptible.
It is remarkable that the salts of this metal are almost tasteless, a circum-
stance which enhances their dangerous properties as toxic agents.

Use of Oxygen Baths in the Treatment of Senile Gangrene . — Medical
men are aware that Professor Laugier has been ever the zealous advocate
of the oxygen bath. He has now found a formidable opponent in M.
Demarquay, who states that on various occasions he has had recourse to
oxygen baths in the treatment of this form of gangrene, but invariably
without any successful result. Nevertheless, he considers that oxygen gas
may be of some service, for in cases where the gangrene has not attacked
the very muscular portions of a limb, the oxygen preserves the tissues, and
prevents the exhalation of foetid liquids, and consequently of the odours
which arise from them ; and although in many cases it increases the
pains, yet in one instance it removed them instantly .

Geranium Maculatum an Astringent. — The styptic properties of this
plant, although familiar to American physicians, are little known to
English practitioners. Its astringent powers rank very high, and from

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the absence of nauseous taste and offensive smell it is calculated to be of
service in cases where, owing to the existence of a weak stomach or
natural idiosyncrasies, other drugs cannot be administered. As a
medicine, it equals kino and catechu in its effects ; and has been found
extremely useful in cases of diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera infantum,
haemorrhages, gleet, leucorrhoea, &c. Its active principle is called
geranin ; there are also the following preparations : resinoid extract,
decoction, infusion, tincture, and powder of the rhizome, the dose of the
latter being from twenty to forty grains. The rhizome appears to have
been always employed by the Indians as an astringent agent. — Vide
“ Pharmaceutical Journal,” vol. v. No. 1.

Compounds of Iron with Albumen. — It is strange that medicines of this
description were not devised long since, inasmuch as the composition of
the blood and tissues seems to indicate that such compounds as the above
would be useful as restorative haematics. Mr. E. R. Smith has at last
supplied the want, and publishes three formulae for the preparation of
as many salts, viz. : albuminate of iron and soda, albuminate of iron
and potassa, and albuminate of iron, soda and potassa. — (“ Journal of
Pharmacy.”)

METALLURGY, MINERALOGY, AND MINING.

METALLURGY AND MINING.

Manufacture of Magnesium . — A series of improvements in the processes
for the preparation of magnesium has been patented by Mr. Edward
Sonstadt. The modifications which he proposes relate chiefly to the
method of preparing the magnesia from which the metal is to be obtained ;
to the preparation of an anhydrous compound containing magnesium,
sodium, and chlorine ; and to the employment of iron vessels for the
reduction of the metal. There is not so much originality in Mr. Son-
stadt’s “ improvements ” as his specification would lead one to suppose,
and in consequence of this, there has been some controversy upon the
subject, in the chemical journals. The method he adopts may be thus
described. Pure magnesia is first prepared by precipitating the sulphate,
with carbonate of soda, and repeatedly washing in boiling water and
drying the precipitate till the washings give no perceptible reaction with
chloride of barium. To the magnesia thus obtained hydrochloric acid
(free from sulphuric) is added till a small quantity of magnesia is left
undissolved. After boiling and filtering, chloride of sodium is added to
the solution, in the proportion of 0*55 lb. to every pound of the acid, of
sp. gr. 1T52, and the mixture is evaporated to dryness in a silver dish.
The dried residue is then placed in a platinum crucible, loosely covered,
and heated to redness. When fully fused, it is poured out on a clean cold
iron plate, and the cooled mass is then termed “material” by the
inventor. This material is next placed with sodium in an iron crucible
and heated to full redness, the cover of the vessel not being removed till
the latter is quite cold. The cooled mass is then washed with water to

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

123

remove the contained salts, and magnesium, more or less pure, remains
behind. Mr. Sonstadt directs that the metal thus produced be immediately
dried at a temperature of 212° Fahr., and purified by fusion in anhydrous
chloride of magnesium.

Preparation of Antimony.- — The sulphide of this metal is thrown upon
a furnace so arranged that the fumes proceeding therefrom are allowed
to mix with the air and are collected in condensers. The vaporised
sulphide is decomposed, the sulphur passing off as sulphurous acid,
whilst the oxide is deposited upon the surface of the condensers, The
metal is abstracted from the oxygen compound, by being mixed. with
carbonaceous and alkaline matters and smelted in a furnace constructed
for the purpose. The above process has been patented by Mr. B. Todd of
Falmouth.

State of Carbon in Cast Iron. — This is the subject of a very interesting
communication by Mr. Crossley to the Chemical News of July 25th.
The author objects to the views generally received relative to the con-
dition of carbon in cast-iron. He believes that it is always in chemical
combination and never mechanically mixed with the metal ; and selecting
grey iron as an example of what is supposed to contain graphite uncom-
bined, he adduces the following arguments in support of his views: — 1.
Grey and white iron contain the same per-centage of carbon ; when the
former is melted the graphite is admittedly in solution, yet on cooling it is
deposited. (?) Such is not the case with white iron ; why should this be,
when we know that both contain the same quantity of the carbon (4 per
cent.), and that, as Faraday has shown, iron is capable of combining
with 6’00 per cent, of this element? 2. When a little sulphide of iron is
added to melted grey iron, graphite is instantly liberated, thus implying
the existence of a chemical rather than a mechanical combination. 3.
When grey iron is acted on by acids, carbon is lost in the form of volatile
carbides of hydrogen, an oily matter being simultaneously developed. 4.
By exposing a bar of wrought iron to a high temperature and allowing a
current of coal-gas to play upon it, it is gradually converted into grey iron;
if grey iron contains solid flakes of graphite, how can they possibly enter
the bar under these circumstances ? Mr. Crossley explains the differences
in physical aspect between white and grey iron, on the supposition that
both varieties are carbides of iron mixed with the pure metal, manganese,
silicium, calcium, &c., and that the grey is a higher carbide than the
white.

Purification of Copper. — It has been found that iron is almost invariably
present in all copper, and that even cupric salts are not free from traces of
the chalybeate, whose presence accounts for the greenish tinge of certain
compounds of this metal. An excellent process which has been devised by
MM. Millon and Commaille for the complete purification of copper, is as
follows : — The metallic copper is treated with commercial sulphuric acid
which has been diluted with half its volume of water ; it is then boiled
till sulphurous acid ceases to be disengaged and till all the copper is dis-
solved. The copper which is crystallized from this solution does not
contain arsenic, although the latter may have been present in the sulphuric
acid ; but it almost always contains iron, and not unfrequently zinc also.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

The sulphate procured by this process is dissolved in acid, the platinum
electrodes of a pile are introduced into it, and the current being properly
regulated, the metal is deposited in flexible homogeneous plates. The
copper thus prepared is absolutely pure, and the most precise tests fail to
discover the slightest trace of any foreign substance.

Preservation of the Iron Plates of Ships. — Dr. Grace Calvert has contri-
buted an article to the Chemical News , for Aug. 29, which contains a
description of a most important discovery. He finds that when iron is
coated with zinc, or, in other words, galvanized, its capability of resisting
the corrosive action of both salt and distilled water is thereby intensified.
Plates of iron three inches square were attached with great care to pieces
of oak of the same surface, and similar plates of galvanized iron attached
in the same manner were submerged in both distilled and salt water, and
allowed to remain there from March, 1862, to May, 1863. When at this
period the iron plates were carefully removed, washed, dried, and weighed,
the following results were obtained : —

Loss by Corrosion,
in grammes.

Pieces of wood and iron \ P di,flle? water
j m salt water

Pieces of wood and gal- 1 in distilled water
vanized iron j in salt water

1-700

4-320

0-500

0-780

The loss occasioned by the employment of ungalvanized iron does not
depend on the corrosion alone ; the iron enters into combination with the
gallic and tannic acids of the oak, and thus the wood decays, or undergoes
eremacausis. The coating of zinc is not easily removed by friction.
“ Large bolts (galvanized) were driven into solid blocks of oak by a sledge-
hammer ; the blocks were then opened, and the bolts were found not to be
in the slightest degree uncoated.”

Cadmium Alloys. — Mr. Abel, of Chancery Lane, London, has patented a
method of forming alloys of this metal with gold, silver, and copper. Those
with the two latter are said to possess the property of ductibility in a
high degree, whilst those with gold are capable of being employed in
jewellery, owing to the beauty of their colour.

Boring Machines. — The great difficulty which was presented by the old
forms of borers, viz., that of removing with the augur the whole of the
rock which it was necessary to bore, has been got rid of by M. Leschot.
In his apparatus, the perforator is of an annular character, and only cuts
out as it were a cylinder of rock, leaving a central solid portion, which
can afterwards be removed by other means. The instrument consists in
a hollow iron tube, whose outer diameter is proportionate to the required
size of the hole, and whose calibre corresponds to the size of the central
portion of the rock. This tool is provided at its end with a perforator
carrying black diamonds ; it is given a rapid rotatory motion when em-
ployed in boring, and the powder produced by the cutting of the stone is
washed away by a stream of water forced along the central hollow portion.
This machine is at present undergoing trial at the St. Chamond mines.

Steel Rails. — The rails of steel prepared by Bessemer’s process have
been submitted to a severe test, and have realized the most sanguine expec-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

125

tations. Rails of this description were laid down last year on the London
and North-Western line, parallel with the very best iron forms, and such
was the durability of the former, that they exhibited very little appearance
of wear, whilst the latter had on several occasions to be renewed. The
result of this experiment has been to show the directors the advantage of
the steel over the iron rails ; and we find that they — having agreed with
Mr. Bessemer in connection with the royalty, &e. — have arranged for the
production, at Crewe, of 10,000 tons per annum of the new form of rail. —
Vide The Mining and Smelling Magazine , for September.

Reports of the Inspectors of Coal Mines . — These have just been published,
and it is unsatisfactory to observe that whilst the deaths in 18G1 amounted
to only 943, they rose in 1862 to the alarming number of 1,133. It seems
that nearly all the fatal and non-fatal explosion cases which occurred in
the Yorkshire mines during the past year, were attributable to the im-
proper employment of candles for lighting the mines, and of gunpowder
for blasting purposes. A strange accident befel a man in one of the Nor-
manton mines : he had a good and well-locked safety-lamp by him, but
while working in a certain locality, his pick, in meeting a brass-lump,
produced a few bright sparks, which igniting some fire-damp, he was
immediately scorched.

Exports of Iron from the British Isles.- — It is with much pleasure that
we record a very great increase in the value of iron exported during the
six months ending June last, over the corresponding six months of the
previous year. From the Board of Trade returns which have been quite
recently issued, we perceive that, even after deducting the decrease of
£4,087 in the value of “ old iron ” exported this year, there is still left the
very large surplus of £756,894 in the value of the other varieties — pig,
bar, railroad, cast, wrought, old, steel, &c.

Silver in Copper Mines. — It is not generally known that in the copper
mines of Lake Superior, silver is found in the greatest purity, forming
veins which traverse the native copper, or existing in forms which have
not inaptly been compared with the trunks of trees. “ Its varied forms,
and its extreme purity, although in conjunction with the copper, render
it a subject of the greatest curiosity, both metals having been, some think,
subjected to a heat that must have been equal to a refiner’s smelting heat ;
and yet the metals are each found in perfect purity.” — ( The Geologist ,
vol. vi. p. 69.)

MINERALOGY.

Intimate Structure of Minerals. — Dr. Zirkel has submitted numerous
thin sections of various rocks to microscopical examination ; occasionally
employing a magnifying power of 2,000. The following results have been
arrived at : — The quartz entering into the composition of granites,
porphyries, and trachytes, exhibits several minute cavities which, under
the highest powers employed, appeared as minute points. Small black
acicular crystals project from the sides of the vitreous cavities, which,
moreover, contain a vesicle. Several empty spaces may also be observed,
and owe their existence to the development of gaseous matters. The
quartz in all forms of granite includes thousands of crystals of vitreous

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

felspar, scattered in every direction. Basalts, which to the naked eye
appear perfectly structureless, are seen with the aid of the microscope to
present a series of different constituent particles ; and from an examina-
tion of this kind several interesting particulars relative to the decom-
position of these rocks may he gleaned. Even pitch-stones have been
shown to consist of clusters of beautiful needle-shaped crystals. — ( Pro-
ceedings of the Imperial Academy of Vienna, 1863.)

Amblygonite. — This mineral, which until recently had been found only
in Saxony, has been minutely described by M. des Cloizeaux. His
specimens were some of them obtained from the State of Maine, U.S.,
and had been presented to him by the distinguished mineralogist, Professor
Brush. “It possesses three unequally easy cleavages, which are parallel
to the faces of the primitive parallelipiped, and form angles of 135°, 105°,
and 88° 30'.”

Reproduction of Rutile, Sagenite , Brookite , and ArTcansite. — The artificial
formation of minerals is a subject of much interest, and one also to which
considerable attention is given nowadays. M. de Hautefeuille has been
engaged in experiments with a view to produce the above compounds in
their characteristic natural crystalline forms, and has succeeded almost
beyond expectation. Rutile may be easily obtained by passing a stream
of hydrochloric acid gas over a mixture of chloride of potassium and
titanate of potass. The mixture, contained in a platinum capsule, is placed
in a large earthen crucible, and is heated to redness, and the acid gas is
allowed to play upon the mixture by means of porcelain tubes luted to the
cover of the crucible. The titanic acid, set free and modified by the
hydrochloric acid, crystallizes in clustered and connected prisms. These
crystals are yellow and transparent, and present the same angular
characters as those prepared by M. St. Claire-Deville from amorphous
titanic acid. Their specific gravity is 4*3, a circumstance which shows
their identity with rutile.

Sagenite. — If a current of hydrochloric acid gas be passed over a mix-
ture of titanic acid, silicium and fluosilicate of potash heated to a bright
redness, an immense number of minute needle-shaped crystals are formed.
These crystals are of a yellowish grey, present angles of 90°, and have
the same chemical composition as rutile. In fact, they are quite analo-
gous with Saussure’s sagenite.

Brookite. — If the above mixture be exposed, at a dull red heat, to a
current of hydrochloric acid, the crystals then produced present trans-
parent plates of a very fragile nature. Silica is not found in these
crystals, but their density and form are exactly the same as those of the
lamellae of brookite obtained from the rocks of Saint-Gothard.

Arkansite. — If the foregoing operation be carried on in a vessel with
animal charcoal, black crystals with triangular faces and a deeply striated
rectangular face, are produced. These crystals have been shown to have
exactly the same density as those of arkansite ; hence the conclusion that
they are that mineral, produced by artificial means.

The Nature of Jade. — Dr. Sterry Hunt, in commenting on the memoir
of M. Damour, observes that the examination of this mineral and its
allies furnishes us with the materials necessary for the framing of a law

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

127

somewhat similar to that in organic chemistry relating to homologous
series. He says, “Meionite (3 : 2 : 1) is the most basic term known of
the Wernerite series, in which the proportion of silica goes on increasing
up to dipyre, the relations of whose constituents is as 6:2:1, all having
apparently the same density as meionite. We might naturally expect to
find a silicate which would hold the same relation to dipyre that zoisite
does to meionite. M. Damour has had the good luck to discover this new
silicate in a specimen of jade from China.”* The following table shows
its relations to the other members of the series : —

Density.

2-7

Meionite . . . (3:2:1).
Dipyre . . . . (6:2:1).

Density.

3-3

Zoisite . . . (3:2:1).
New Jade . . (6:2:1).

Electrical Relations of Minerals . — M. de Kobel has investigated the
conducting and isolating properties of various minerals, and has commu-
nicated the following results to the Munich Academy of Sciences : —

1st. — Group of Good Isolaters. (a) Electro-positives : Calcite, Arragonite,
Lyparite, Barytine, Gypsum, Anhydrite, Apatite, Quartz, Topaz,
Smaragdite, Grossulaire, Disthene, Orthoclasse, Albite, Tourmaline,
Axinite, Zinon, Moscowite, Spinelle, Alum, &c. — (b) Electro-nega-
tives : Talc, Sulphur, Asphalt, Grpiment, Succinium.

2nd. — Group of Good Conductors : Graphite, Gold, Silver, Platinum,
Galena, Pyrites, &c., &c.

3rd. — Group of Imperfect Conductors : Diamond, Celestine, Almandine,
Melanite, Analcine, Sphene, Antimonite, Jamesonite, Franklinite,
Pyrolinite, &c.

Discovery of Albertite in Scotland. — This peculiar mineral has recently
been detected near Mountgerald, by Mr. A. C. Mackenzie. This gentleman
has detected no less than thirty-six veins of a substance quite analogous
to the American Albertite. It is to be hoped that he will continue his
investigations in the same direction, for the mineral is an exceedingly
valuable one, yielding as it does a very considerable quantity of a hydro-
carbon oil, which, to judge from its reputed properties, bids fair to rival
the much-used paraffine oil as a medium of artificial light.

The Characters of Alunite. — M. Gautier-Lacroze finds this mineral
abundant in the rocks about Mount Dore. Its cohesive power is almost
equal to that of quartz, and its colour, which is of a greyish white, becomes
under the influence of the air, first bluish green and then reddish. It has
a slightly conchoidal fracture. It is more or less spotted with small
particles of sulphur, and has a density of 2*481. Yellow prussiate of
potass gives a fine blue colour with it. When dried it loses ten per cent,
of water. It consists of water, sulphur, potash, sulphuric acid, oxide of
iron, alumina, and silicious matter.

* For a description of this mineral, see the last number of this Review,
page 568.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

MICROSCOPY.

[In accordance with their true and recognized relations, it has been
deemed expedient to distribute those portions of the Quarterly Retrospect
embraced by the above term, among the three sections : Botany, Zoology,
and Medical Science. — Ed. Popular Science Review.]

PHOTOGRAPHY.

THE meeting of the British Association recently held at Newcastle-
upon-Tyne has been unusually attractive and successful as regards
the progress recorded in several of the grand departments of science ; but
it cannot be said that the practice and theoretical basis of photography
have been so greatly advanced as were many other branches of applied
science which came forward for discussion. The supply of papers con-
tributed under this head was scanty, and in some respects wanting in
interest ; a result attributable, we think, to the non-recognition of a
special section devoted to photography and its results. There were,
however, several matters brought under the notice of the sections devoted
to chemistry and physical science which involved the application of
photography, and wherein the resources of this art had aided in illus-
trating the subject : thus, the report of the Kevv Committee described
the arrangements employed for registering, by means of photography, the
oscillations of the magnet, and the constantly varying indications of
sundry meteorological instruments. The adaptation of the camera to the
telescope, and the use of such apparatus in astronomical research, were
likewise pointedly illustrated. The chemical properties of gun-cotton
were fully discussed in an interesting report devoted to a comparison of
its propulsive effects with those of ordinary gunpowder. The latest
results obtained by Mr. H. Fox Talbot in his experiments upon the aid of
photographic engraving were exhibited, one or two of which evidenced
very considerable improvement upon former specimens of the kind.
Professor C. Piazzi Smyth showed a series of photographs taken from the
Peak of Teneriffe, and at an altitude of about 10,000 feet ; the
distinctness with which the distant landscape was rendered appeared to
justify the assertion that the upper regions of the atmosphere favoured
the action of the chemical rays upon the collodionized surface exposed in
the camera. Mr. Glaisher’s lecture on aerial investigations was illustrated
by photographs taken by Messrs. Negretti & Zambra, of Hatton Garden.
One of this series, showing the lecturer with his instruments arranged,
and accompanied by Mr. Coxwell, in the car of the balloon, appears as
though it wrere taken during the ascent, and just before entering the
clouds ; this sketch is, however, a composition picture, the several parts
being very skilfully united, and the background painted in with good
effect. The Abbe Moigno exhibited some photo-lithographs, and described

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

129

the method employed by M. Marquier in their production. Mr. Henry
Swan described a new and very ingenious apparatus which he has devised
for optically uniting a pair of stereoscopic portraits, and so producing an
image apparently solid or in relief. The principle of its construction
may be gathered from the following extract from Mr. Swan’s account of
his instrument : —

“ The union and combination of the two flat pictures (transparencies
upon glass) so as to produce the true stereoscopic image, I manage by
taking two rectangular prisms of flint glass or crystal, ground to an angle
of about 39° or 40°. These two prisms I place together, with their widest
sides in contact, or nearly so, so as to form one solid quadrangular prism,
divided lengthwise by a thin film of air. Now, if I stick a blue wafer on
one side of this combination, and a red one at the back, I shall find that
when I look straight at this combination, the rays which reach one of my
eyes are those which are transmitted directly through the prisms, so that
with this eye I see the object which lies at the back. On the contrary,
the rays which reach the other eye are not from the back, but from the
side only, as they are reflected from the surfaces of the prisms where they
touch each other. Hence, with this eye we see by reflection the object at

the side, which, however, appears to be at the back, like the other

In fact, if we draw a line perpendicular to the surface of the prism next
the eye, all the rays which fall on one side of that line will suffer total
reflection from the inner oblique surface of this prism, while nearly all
the rays which fall on the other side of this line will be transmitted direct
through the two prisms.”

In consequence of the images of the red and blue wafers being in this
way separately presented to the eyes, it results that but one image is
apparent, as in the ordinary stereoscope, and this assumes a purple hue,
as the consequence of the red and blue images being superposed on each
other ; and if, instead of the coloured wafers, we substitute the two
slightly dissimilar pictures which constitute the stereoscopic pair, we
obtain, of course, the image apparently solid. A certain amount of skill
is requisite in mounting the transparent pictures, so as to ensure their
precise coalescence, or the eye may become distressed during their examina-
tion through the instrument.

The specimens exhibited by Mr. Swan at the meeting of the British
Association were mounted in morocco cases or in gold, to be worn as
charms. Some of them were coloured, and all were backed by opal glass,
to assist in diffusing the light. The effect on looking through them was as
pleasing as the contrivance is novel and ingenious.

Dr. T. L. Phipson, in a communication to the “ Moniteur de la Photo*
graphie,” explains the fact that photographic collodion usually becomes
reddened shortly after being iodized, by assuming tbe separation of free
iodine, from the salts of potassium or ammonium commonly used, to be
the direct consequence of the decomposing action gradually exerted by
these alkaline compounds upon the dissolved pyroxyline, the hyponitric
elements of which are said to be withdrawn much in the same way as by
the operation of a caustic alkali. Collodion which has been rendered
sensitive by the iodide of cadmium is known to be much less liable to
change ; probably in consequence of this salt being perfectly neutral, and
therefore unable to remove the acid constituents from the gun-cotton ;

VOL. IIT, — NO. IX, K

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

such collodion remains colourless and fit for photographic use for a very
long period, and is, in this respect, greatly superior to that prepared with
the iodide of ammonium. In this explanation it cannot be the author’s
intention to assert that the removal of the hyponitric elements is more
than partial, else the ultimate product, cotton itself, would in time be
precipitated from the etherial solution. No such result has yet been
observed, and if Dr. Phipson’s suggestion be limited to the reduction of the

trinitro compound, Cx 2 j Ox 0, usually employed in the manufacture

of photographic collodion, to one of the lower modifications of pyloidine,
containing two, or even a fewer number of atoms of nitrogen, and which
are still soluble in mixtures of alcohol and ether, a feasible explanation is
at once provided, and one which more nearly coincides with the facts of
the case than that formerly advanced by Mr. Hardwich, to the effect that
ozone was mainly instrumental in promoting this change by time.

We have already more than once had occasion to refer to the employ-
ment of the sulphocyanide of ammonium as a fixing agent, which may
possibly, at no distant period, supersede altogether the use of hyposulphite
of soda. The favourable report regarding its efficacy made by the com-
mittee appointed by the Marseilles Photographic Society tends to
strengthen this conviction. The paramount obstacle which has hitherto
stood in the way of its introduction, viz., its high price, seems likely to be
soon overcome ; for already M. Meynier, to whom we are indebted for the
original proposal, has succeeded in producing it with such facility, that
he is enabled to offer it for sale at the rate of three francs per kilogramme,
which in English money is nearly equivalent to one shilling and two-
pence per pound.

The efficacy of ebonite as a material for photographic baths, trays, and
other apparatus intended to be used in contact with nitrate of silver, has
been much questioned of late, and it appears, from evidence given upon
this subject by Captain Dennis Wright, Mr. J. Spiller, and others, that
there are a variety of materials met with in commerce under the name of
ebonite, Some kinds of which appear to have been manufactured from
condemned india-rubber goods, and in consequence are liable to contain
bronze powders, pigments, and other metallic impurities, which exert a
reducing action upon the nitrate of silver. There is, however, a better
class of goods to be met with to which these objections do not apply, and
it is suggested that the guarantee afforded by the name or stamp of the
maker should be the guide in selecting articles of this description for
photographic employment.

Dr. Phipson proposes to measure the chemical action of the sun’s rays
by the employment of molybdic acid, dissolved in sulphuric acid. On
exposure to light this solution becomes coloured of a bluish green tint, due
to the reduction of the molybdic acid to the state of an inferior oxide ;
whilst the oxygen, liberated from the first-named compound, is said to
unite with the elements of water, producing the binoxide of hydrogen.
During the night this “ oxygenated water ” gives back the oxygen which
has been withdrawn from its combination with molybdenum, and the
mixture thus becomes again fitted to undergo the same chemical change by

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

131

renewed exposure. The test solution may be prepared by dissolving about
10 grammes of molybdate of ammonia in an excess of diluted sulphuric
acid ; metallic zinc is then introduced until the liquid has become dark-
blue, and then a solution of permanganate of potassa is carefully added
until the colour is again bleached.

The state of dilution is not specified by the author, but in applying this
principle to the determination of the chemical and solar intensity, it is
proposed to employ measured portions (20 cubic centimetres) of the same
standard solution for a like period each day — say from eleven until twelve
o’clock. The amount, or rather degree, of discolouration is then estimated
by gradually adding a solution of bichromate or permanganate of potassa
of known strength, until the last drop restores the liquid to its primitive
colourless state.

An ingenious method of printing blue photographs, founded upon the
old Prussian-blue process of Herschel, has been devised by Mr. Carey Lea.
He floats the paper for a very short time on a solution of the double
peroxalate of iron and ammonia. It is then thoroughly dried in the dark,
and exposed under a negative for a space of time varying from two or
three minutes in the sun to twenty or thirty in the shade. On re-entering
the dark room no impression is visible on the paper, but the print is rapidly
developed when immersed in a mixture of four parts saturated solution of
oxalic acid, one part ferricyanide of potassium, and twenty-five parts of
water. After the image has acquired full intensity it only requires wash-
ing in water. The double oxalate is prepared by dissolving hydrated
peroxide of iron in binoxalate of ammonia. The chief improvement
consists in adding oxalic acid to the developing bath. This keeps the
whole parts perfectly clean, — a difficult point to manage by the old
processes.

A very pretty application of photography to the ornamenting of glass
and porcelain surfaces has just now been announced as the invention of
M. Beyrich, the well-known manufacturer of enamelled photographic
papers, of Berlin. The process cannot yet be said to have been fully
perfected, but the following details will convey a general idea of the mode
of proceeding : — Positive impressions are first obtained by printing from a
glass negative upon a particular description of photographic paper, the
copies being made rather darker than usual, and fully toned ; they
are fixed in hyposulphite of soda, and subsequently well washed in water.
In this last operation it will, however, be noticed that the sensitive film, or
rather the actual picture, gradually separates from the substratum of
ordinary paper, and ultimately becomes disengaged, floating in the water
as a perfect, though extremely delicate, photographic film, which can, by
careful management, be lifted upon a flat plate of opal glass, or received
even upon rounded surfaces, as those of a porcelain vase. Being adjusted
at once into the desired position, the photograph is then allowed to dry,
and requires merely the employment of a thin coating of some transparent
varnish to secure its perfect adhesion to the surface either of glass or
porcelain, and, at the same time, will be sufficiently protected against
injury to permit of the method being applied to a great variety of orna-
mental purposes. The special paper is supplied by its inventor, and its

K 2

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

constitution has not been made known ; it appears to have been prepared
in such a manner that, by the intervention of a layer of a material which
is soluble in water, the attenuated upper film of collodion, or other similar
substance, may be separated during immersion from the body of paper,
which itself merely aids in giving strength to the tissue whilst undergoing
the manipulation necessary to the production of the photograph.

With reference to the forthcoming Exhibition of the Photographic
Society the council have determined upon trying to make good the
deficiency of past years by charging a small rent for space to all who are
not associated as members of the Society. A sub-committee has already
been appointed for the purpose of securing a room or gallery for the
purposes of the exhibition, and for carrying out the general arrangements
connected with the undertaking. Intimation has already been given
to the effect that the council will again distribute a series of prize
medals for the best examples in the several branches of photo-
graphic art.

PHYSICS.

The Molecular Mobility of Gases. — Under this title we have a most
valuable communication by Professor Graham, in the “ Comptes Rendus ”
for July 27. The author was led to his results by a new examination of
the diffusion of gases depending on this molecular mobility. When the
air or other mixture of gases is placed on one side of a graphite plate, a
vacuum being maintained on the other, the passage of the gases may be
effected in three different ways : — 1. The gases may enter the vacuum by
passing through a single minute aperture, such as that made by a fine
needle in platinum-foil. The rapidity of the various gases then depends
on their specific gravity. In this case the gas in its entirety partakes of
the movements of effusion or efflux, whilst only the molecules are affected
in the case of diffusion. 2. If the efflux aperture be in a very thick plate,
so as really to form a sort of tube, the effusion rates of the gases are dis-
turbed. If, however, the length of the tube be 4,000 times its diameter, a
constant proportion between the effusion rates of the different gases is
observed. The gases now pass by capillary transpiration. “ The rates of
transpiration are not governed by specific gravity, and are indeed singularly
unlike the rates of effusion.” “ The transpiration ratios of gases appear to be
in constant relation with no other known property of the same gases, and
they form a class of phenomena remarkably isolated from all else at
present known concerning gases.” 3. A plate of artificial graphite, which
appears to be practically impenetrable to gas by either of the modes above
described, nevertheless admits of the passage of gases by the aid of mole-
cular or diffusive movements. The author found that the times of
passage of various gases were quite different from anything observed in
the previous instances. They bore a close relation, however, to the
square roots of the densities of the respective gases. This was more
precisely determined by causing the gases to pass into a Torricellian

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

133

vacuum, and consequently under tlie full pressure of the atmosphere.
The following results are most interesting : —

Oxygen

Atmospheric air
Carbonic acid
Hydrogen

Times of penetration
of equal volumes.

... 1
... 0*9501

... 1*1860
... 0*2505

Square root of
the density.

1

0*9507

1*1760

0*2502

This discovered property has led Professor Graham to the adoption of a
new method of gaseous analysis, to which he has applied the special term
of Atmolysis. By means of this process, gases intermingled may be easily
separated, owing to the difference between their times of penetration. His
apparatus, which he styles an atmolysing tube , is thus described : — “ It
consists of a very narrow tube of porcelain or unglazed earthenware,
fixed by means of corks in a glass tube which is shorter and wider, some-
what like a ‘ Liebig’s condenser.’ The glass tube is connected with a
pneumatic machine, so as to produce as perfect a vacuum as possible in
the space between the two.” When a detonating mixture of two volumes
of hydrogen and one of oxygen was made to traverse this apparatus, it was
found on emerging from the tube to contain only 9*3 per cent, of hydrogen,
and did not explode on having a lighted match plunged into it. If a
mixture consisting of equal volumes of oxygen and hydrogen be employed,
the proportion of the latter may be easily reduced from 50 to 5 per cent.
The benefits which these grand discoveries of Graham are likely to confer
on the analyses of gases will be readily conceived by those who have given
attention to the subject.

Liquids Adhesive to Mercury. — Mr. Gore has been making a series of
experiments on this subject. He finds that if a drop of Nordhausen
sulphuric acid be placed by means of a clean glass rod on a globule of
mercury which weighs about eighty grains, the acid spreads itself evenly
over the surface of the metal, and that the latter becomes flattened and
exhibits vortical movements on its surface. A strong aqueous solution of
ammonia did not produce these effects : the ammonial drop retained its
spherical form and remained attached to the globule, especially when the
latter was about sixty grains in weight. Mr. Gore has given a list, showing
the relative conduct of various substances in regard to globules of mercury,
by which we observe that acids and alkalis hold opposite places, and that
water and neutral solutions are intermediate ( Philosophical Magazine ,
August).

Patent Microscopic Camera. — In the Chemical News for August
8th, a compact instrument of the above kind is described. It has been
patented by Mr. Eden, and is intended to be employed for taking photo-
micrographs (magnified representations of microscopic objects), and micro-
photographs (diminished representations of objects). We do not find any-
thing, however, which we have not seen before, and are disposed to regard
it in some measure as the result of that “ patent mania ” which has of late
laid hold of our population.

Solar Rays Electric Agents. — M. Musset has communicated to the
“Academie des Sciences” an additional set of investigations into the

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electric action of the prismatic rays. He allowed the solar rays to play
upon a delicate Nobili’s galvanometer, and observed that very considerable
deflections took place, in some instances amounting to 90°. He ascertained
that these deflections of the needles were not the result of any change
of temperature, and that they were not due to currents of air ; hence, he
fairly concluded, that they were the immediate result of the action of
the rays themselves. When in the shade the needles remained quite
immovable ; but the moment that the rays were allowed to play on them,
deflections took place, which were invariably greater for the violet than for
the other colours.

The Numerical Nomenclature of Spectral Lines. — This is the subject of a
note in a late number of the Chemical News , by Mr. Emerson Reynolds, of
Dublin. There is a great want of uniformity in the modes adopted for the
subdivision of the spectrum. The results obtained in most instances are
not practically available for easy reference. This the writer attributes to
the circumstances that no two prisms have identical angular values, and
no two telescopes are of exactly the same magnifying power. He proposes
that two clearly defined lines be taken (like the zero and boiling-point of
a centigrade thermometer), and that the interval between them be divided
into a hundred equal parts ; in this way, at all events, a constant relative
measure would be arrived at. He proposes to make Alpha in the lithium
the zero, and Delta in the strontium, the hundredth division of the new
scale.

The Use of Prisms of Flint-Class and Bisulphide of Carbon for Spectral
Analysis . — From the investigations of Sigmund Merz, published in
“ Poggendorf’s Annalen,” it would seem that Professor Rood’s new bi-
sulphide of carbon prism is a much more accurate and valuable instrument
than was at first supposed, and also one which on account of its com-
parative cheapness deserves to be employed. In 1862, Professor Rood
mentioned (in a letter to Professor Silliman) the discovery of two new
lines in the interior of the line D, which, added to that before described by
Kirchhoff, made three fine lines. The instrument he used was composed
of three bisulphide of carbon prisms of 60°, with a flint-glass prism of 46°,
the sum of the refracting angles being 125°, and the telescopes employed
being the common French instruments. On the other hand, Merz states
that with a series of glass prisms, the sum of whose refracting angles was
270°, he only discovered the second line in the interior of D, and failed to
observe the third, which had been detected by Professor Rood. — Vide
“ American Journal of Science and Art,” XXXV. 856.

The Electric SparJc. — M. Daniel has been instituting a number of ex-
periments on the spectra produced by the electric spark when generated
indifferent media, liquid and gaseous. The liquids employed were : —
sulphuric ether,' absolute alcohol, sulphide of carbon, essence of turpentine,
benzine, aniline, naphtha, chloroform, protochloride of phosphorus, distilled
water, &c. The machine employed was a middle-sized one of Ruhmkorff ’s ;
balls of copper, zinc, lead, tin, cadmium, &c., were used as electrodes, and,
except in the case of liquids offering a feeble resistance, short sparks of
about two or three millimetres were experimented on. The spark is
generally more vivid than in the air, and its colour varies with the medium

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

135

and the metal employed. In the liquids, it gives three distinct spectra —
one of the metal, one of the vapour of the liquid, and, after some time,
one of solid incandescent carbon. The spectra produced in gases are
never very brilliant. The constitution of the electral spark is invariably
the same, no matter what be the condition of the medium in which it is
produced, nor whether it be liquid or gaseous. We have, generally — 1st,
volatilization of the polar metal , and incandescence of the vapour produced ;
2nd, incandescence of the elements of the medium through which the current
passes. In certain cases, the medium alone or some one of its elements
appears to become incandescent ; in other instances, the vapour of the
metal is the luminous substance. All simple bodies which have a great
affinity for the metals, whether they are free or in combinations easily
decomposed, intensify the metallic spectrum.

Electrical Conductibility of Thallium . — The conductibility of this metal
has been estimated, according to Wheatstone’s method, by M. de la Rive.
It is expressed by the formula —

n- l,D
° WE

when L = length of the wire ; D, the density ; W, the weight ; and R,
the resistance. Four wires of various lengths were used, and the mean
figure for conductibility was calculated at 5*30, as compared with mercury.

Absorption of Heat by Gases. — Professor John Tyndall delivered a lecture
some time since in the Royal Institution, in which he showed that certain
gases have the power of intercepting radiant heat to a far greater extent
than has been supposed. A very simple apparatus for the purpose of
determining this capacity on the part of gases, was exhibited. It consists
of a hollow cylinder, closed at one extremity by a plate of rock-salt, into
which was fitted a second and smaller cylinder closed in a similar manner.
As the second moved piston fashion within the first, it is evident that by
enclosing the gaseous matter between the two plates, a layer of any required
tenuity might be obtained. The lecturer performed several beautiful
experiments, which illustrated his views in the most striking manner. It
was shown that a layer of olefiant gas, of a thickness of two inches, inter-
cepts about thirty per cent, of the entire radiation. If our earth were
surrounded by such a layer, the temperature would be something fearful
to contemplate ; for, though it would offer no decided obstruction to the
passage of the sun’s rays, it would intercept and, to a great extent, return
thirty per cent, of the earth’s radiation. It was also demonstrated that
both absorption and radiation are molecular phenomena, and are not
dependent on the aggregation of the molecules. If a certain vapour be a
powerful radiator and absorber, the liquid from which it proceeded has
similarly intense properties. The order of absorption in liquids and
vapours is exactly the same.

The Specific Heat of Solid Bodies. — A memoir enunciating new views on
this subject has been presented to the French'" Academy by M. H. Kopp.
He maintains — 1st, that every element in the solid state, and at a certain
number of degrees from the fusing-point, has a single specific heat, and
consequently a single atomic heat also ; 2nd, that this specific heat is
subject to certain variations, according to the physical conditions of the

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

simple body, its density, cohesion, crystalline or amorphous state, &c., but
that these variations are never as extensive as those which certain specific
heats would offer if dll the elements followed “ Dulong and Petit’s ” law ;
3rd, that the specific heat of an element is the same, whether it be in the
free state or in combination.

Motions of Camphor on the Surface of Water. — Mr. J ohn Liglitfoot con-
tributed an article on this subject to the Chemical News of June 27th.
There was nothing very original in the communication, and still less in the
suggestion appended to it, that, owing to its peculiar properties, camphor
might be used to distinguish fabrics dyed with certain colours from others
prepared in a different manner. In the same journal (July 18) a letter
appeared from Mr. Charles Tomlinson, whose researches on this subject
are familiar to many. In this communication, several of Mr. Lightfoot’s
assertions are ably refuted, and it is satisfactorily proved that as early as
the year 1748 the motions of camphor on water had been observed by
Romeiu.

An Improved Spectroscope — Analysis of the Fixed LineD. — The following
extract of a letter from Professor Cooke has been published in a late
number of the Chemical News . The writer having described the instru-
ment, which has nine bisulphide of carbon prisms, by which the light is
bent through almost 3G0°, states that he has arrived at these three results :
— 1st. “ That the lines of the solar spectrum are as innumerable as the
stars of heaven,” he having detected with this instrument <e at least ten times
as many lines as are given by Kirchhoff in his chart, and an infinitude of
nebulous bands just on the point of being resolved.” .... 2nd. “ That
the coincidences between the bright lines of the metallic spectra and the
dark lines of the solar spectrum remain perfect even with this greatly
increased power.” .... 3rd. 66 That many of the bands of the metallic
spectra are broad coloured spaces crossed themselves by bright lines. This
is the case with the orange band of the strontium spectrum, and with the
whole of the calcium and barium spectra to a remarkable extent.”

A New Photometer. —An instrument by means of which the exact
intensity of light can be measured has just been invented by M. Place.
It is stated that it will enable the photographer to calculate the chemical
intensity of either natural or artificial light with very great accuracy,
and thus preserve him from a very common error, that of supposing that
the beauty of the results obtained are due to the perfect character of some
new process, when it is really owing to a more favourable light.

ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.

Metamorphoses of Ptcromalus. — The development of Pteromalus (a small
parasitic hymenopterous insect) was described some years since in the
“ Annales des Sciences Naturelles,” by Dr. Philippi. The eggs of this
creature are deposited singly in the transparent ova of a species of beetle,
and when the young larva appears it is like a small animalcule, an
infusorian provided with a little tail, which it whisks about rapidly ; its

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

137

form, however, and the hairs which cover it giving it the characters of a
dipterous larva. After a while it becomes quiescent, and a second larva
is developed within it, which in its turn becomes converted into a nymph.
Hence the author concluded that this was an instance of development
through the medium of nurses , as Steenstrup termed them. He now
corrects the error into which he had thus fallen, and instead of regarding
it as an instance of metagenesis, he considers that the first larva passes
into the second stage by a change of skin, and he therefore looks on the
process as a case of hypermetamorphosis.

The Embryology of Echinoderms. — A valuable compilation with this
title has been made by Professor Wyville Thomson. It includes the
researches of Sars, 0. F. and J. Muller, Koren, Danielssen, &c., together
with the compiler’s own investigations into the development of Comatula,
Synapta and Asteracanthion. The end in view appears to be the
endeavour to trace some common principle correlating the various modi-
fications which are presented in the course of the developmental processes
by the several members of the group. The writer regards the Echinoder-
mata as constituting a group which is as much entitled to the designation
of sub-kingdom as Coelenterata or Annulosa ; for although they exhibit
a decided relationship to the latter, yet “ they have maintained through
the whole series of geological periods a high degree of importance, and at
the same time a singular compactness as a natural group.5’ This group
presents some very remarkable points in the history of development.
From a single egg two distinct organisms are produced which, apparently,
have all the important characters of a true animal. These two beings are
entirely different , one appearing to be related to the Annulosa, whilst the
other, which is subsequently formed within the first, becomes the perfect
Echinoderm. In Bipinnaria we have an instance of an organism developed
from the germ-mass, and carrying on an independent life before the
appearance of the genuine Echinoderm. To a production of this kind
Professor Thomson applies the expression Pseudembryo ; and all the
appendages which relate to it, even though they possess none of the
characters of a perfect animal, he styles pseudembryonic appendages . In
all Asterid germs there is a fusion of the whole or a part of the germ-mass
into a layer of the peculiar structureless histological element — sarcode —
which possesses, as it were, an individuality of its own quite apart from the
true embryo. The writer lays especial stress upon this conclusion ; he
is not content with the supposition that this layer is merely an equivalent
of protoplasm ; for him, it possesses a peculiar vital activity , which has not
been fairly recognised. W e cannot see why it is necessary to suppose that it
is more endowed with special powers than the periplast, which in one case
can become a bone, and in another a sinew. — Vide “ Nat. Hist. Rev.’5

A New Species of Coccus. — M. Le Mulier has addressed a note to the
French Academy, announcing the discovery of a Coccus indigenous to
Algeria, whose colour when bruised is like that of the insect which is
familiarly known as cochineal (C. Opuntise), and which he thinks might
with advantage be employed as a colour. It is found chiefly on umbelli-
ferous plants, and is easily recognized on account of the beautifully white
cottony down with which its body is clothed. If it were thought desirable

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to use it as a dye, it could be obtained in large quantities, and would thus
give an occupation to many hands unfit for heavier labour.

The Real Nature of Fsorospermioe. — These beings, which are usually
parasitic on fresh-water fishes, and which were ranked by Leydig and
others among the Gregarinidse, have been placed by M. Balbiani in the
vegetable kingdom. This distinguished naturalist has observed in the
cavity of the transparent shell of these organisms, and towards one of its
extremities, two little vesicular pyriform organs. At the point of union
of these bodies the shell of the psorosperm is pierced by an aperture, which
forms a communication between its cavity and the external medium.
The walls of these vesicles are thick and granular, and within them may
be seen a filament coiled up spirally and filling the entire cavity. These
filaments are not at first easily observed, but on adding caustic potash they
are seen to project as two delicate leashes. The filament is usually four
times, but sometimes even ten times as long as the entire animal, and is
often so attenuate at its extremity as to escape detection. M. Balbiani
supposes that these filaments perform the same function in these beings as
the antherozoids of other cryptogams. Moreover, there exists also in the
general cavity of the psorosperm a glutinous mass or nucleus which dis-
engages itself in propagation, and is nothing more nor less than a vegetable
spore. [This relation of the Psorospermise to plants has been also
suggested by Dr. Spencer Cobbold, in the Intellectual Observer for April,
1862. — Ed. Popular Science Review.]

Distribution of Infusoria . — With a view to determine the species of
Infusoria prevalent in the atmosphere of various countries, Mr. J. Samuelson
examined the dust from rags which had been brought from Alexandria,
Trieste, Tunis, Peru, and Melbourne. His investigations have led him to
conclude — 1st, that the atmosphere in all parts of the globe contains cor-
puscles belonging to the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms ; 2nd,
the Infusoria present are chiefly germs of monads, vibrios, and kolpodas ;
3rd, these organisms are more abundant in a dry than in a moist atmo-
sphere ; 4th, the tenacity of life exhibited by these germs is far greater
than some observers seem to think. The author concludes with some
remarks tending to show the untenability of the spontaneous-ge neration
doctrines. — Comptes Rendus , LVII. 87.

The Air in the Swim-bladder of Fish. — M. Moreau analysed the air
contained in this organ, and found it to consist of oxygen, nitrogen,
and carbonic acid in proportions varying with the species and even with
the individual. To ascertain the cause of these variations, he caused a
certain number of the common perch (Perea fluviatilis) to be asphyxiated
by immersion in water from which air had been excluded ; and he
destroyed an equal number of active fish by dividing their spinal chords ;
lie then proceeded to analyze the gases contained in the bladders of both
series ; and he found in the first, that the quantity of oxygen present
did not exceed 3GG per cent., whilst that of the second amounted to 19'25
in a hundred parts. lie considers then : “ That the proportion of oxygen
contained in the swim-bladder of the perch diminishes to zero when the
fish is so circumstanced that it cannot abstract this element from the
surrounding medium.”

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

139

Crystals in the Intestines of Artemia Salina. — It has been asserted on
good authority, that deposits of uric acid are frequently formed in the
intestines of the larger Crustaceee ; but we are not aware that depositions
of this substance have ever before been observed in the bodies of Entomo-
straca. The discovery of their presence in these creatures is due to Mr.
H. J. Slack, who has found them in very considerable quantity in the
digestive tube of Artemia. The uric acid presented the crystalline form,
the prisms being arranged in aigrettes, which bore a decided resemblance to
the figures of uric acid in the “ Micrographic Dictionary.” He found the
acid in the form of amorphous masses also, and that the animals whose
intestines exhibited deposits of this character were much shorter lived than
the others ; and he frames the following interrogatory generalization :
“ Does the amorphous condition indicate a rapid deposition, arising from an
excess of uric acid, incompatible with the little animal’s wTell-being % ”

A New Coral. — This has been discovered by M. Grube on the Norwegian
coast, and presents several interesting peculiarities. A very hard polypary,
resembling red coral in character, but of a greyish- white colour, forms its
axis. Its polyps are eight-armed , their coenanchyma being covered with
calcareous scales, and their mouth being supplied with eight calcareous
valvules. The polypary is not composed of calcareous matter alone, layers
of true corneine of a black colour being found alternating with those of
the lime substance. En passant , M. Grube states that corneine is not
insoluble in potash, as Valenciennes and others suppose.

Breeding of Tortoises in this Country. — A female tortoise brought to
this country about fifty years ago, and allowed communication with a
male, introduced four j'ears since, laid eggs in July, 1862, which have been
somewhat artificially hatched, and from which two young reptiles have been
developed. The female, prior to depositing the eggs rand covering them
with clay, was seen to make a hole some four inches in depth and having
a perfectly flat bottom. In this receptacle the ova were laid, each egg
being about the size of a pigeon’s, and having pretty much the same
appearance. “ The young ones are kept in a wooden box in a pine-pit,
with some earth and moss, under which they nestle. They are fond of
lettuces and strawberries ; but do not eat much. They appear quite well
and lively, and are now (August) a little larger than half-crowns.”

The Acclimatization of Honey-Bees. — Dr. A. Gerstacker, in concluding
a very extensive memoir on the distribution of the honey-bee, observes,
that the most valuable form for Europe would be the Egyptian, partly on
account of their beauty, and partly because of their unwillingness to use
their stings, which appears to be common to all African bees, and is also
one of the recommendations of the Italian bee. The Syrian bee agrees so
closely with the Egyptian, that it may prove equally valuable ; and next
to these in value are the bees of the coasts of Asia-Minor. — “ Annals of
Natural History,” 3rd Section, 65.

Power of Annelids to reproduce Destroyed Parts. — <In Siiliman’s
“ American Journal ” an article appears from the pen of Mr. W.
C. Minor, in which he denies the truth of Dr. Williams’s assertion,
that “parts removed artificially are never recovered.” He has him-
self seen the head reproduced in Stylaria, Nais, and Dero ; and the anal

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

extreme has also been re-developed in Enchytrseus, Lumbricus, Fabricia,
and a Nereis, common on our coasts. In the majority of these cases he
has seen food taken again, and in all he has seen the incurrent anal stream
recommence. In one instance he found (August 21) a remnant con-
sisting of five segments of a Nais. It went through a rapid growth ; the
eyes were developed about the 22nd, and the mouth opened about the 23rd.

The Functions of the Brain and Frontal Ganglion of Insects . — At a late
meeting of the “ Societe Philomathique,” a paper -was read by M. Ernest
Faivre describing the experiments he had undertaken, to ascertain the
offices of the above structures. We learn from this communication,
which contains the details of several vivisections : 1st, that the brain is
the centre from which the direct and reflex impulses proceed ; and 2nd,
that the frontal ganglion — which is merely an enlargement of the stomato-
gastric nerve — is but the conductor of impressions. On irritating the
stomato-gastric nerve of a Dyticus behind the ganglion, decided con-
tractions of the pharynx were produced ; but when the commissural fibres
connecting the ganglion with the brain were divided, these movements were
no longer brought about by irritation. When the stomato-gastric was cut
at the level of the crop, the latter became distended with gas ; but when
this section was made in an insect whose fronto-cerebral filaments had
been divided, tympanitis was not evident. The only 'peculiar property
which the frontal ganglion appears to have, is that of producing move-
ments by direct excitation after the commissural fibres have been removed.

The Spontaneous Alteration of Eggs . — The newest and perhaps the most
forcible objection to the theory of spontaneous generation, is that embodied
in the late contribution of M. Al. Donne to the Academie des Sciences.
Having selected a number of hen eggs, M. Donne divided them into two sets:
in one, the eggs had the upper end pierced by a small aperture, in the other
they were left entire. Both were now exposed for some time to the
influence of the atmosphere at a temperature varying from 10° to 36°
centigrade, and were then examined. Those which had been opened pre-
sented all the signs of putrefaction, mould and organized beings of both
kingdoms were present in abundance. The other eggs, however, remained
unaffected, and when opened at their extremities, exhibited an empty space
(that which in all eggs contains pure atmospheric air) ; but there was
no odorous exhalation, nor was there a trace of any living being, animal
or vegetable ; but on being exposed for a few days they showed symptoms
of putrefaction, and Infusoria and vegetable organisms were detected in
them. Thus we see, that here, although a highly organized and easily decom -
posable material was exposed to air (that of the egg), and to a considerable
temperature , no development of organized beings eventuated . He has also
discovered, that if an egg be coated with collodion, so as entirely to prevent
the entrance of atmospheric air, and then shaken, so as to destroy its
internal physical structure, all the chemical phenomena of decomposition
appear ; but not the slightest trace of either animal or vegetable life can be
discerned even with the assistance of the microscope . If these observations
of M. Donne be corroborated, they will throw more light on this much
debated question than any previous experiment that we are acquainted
with, not excepting even that of Schultze.

West.Lttk*

siticWorm c>£ Muscle.

( Tricoina Sraralis.)

141

DISEASED PORK, AND MICROSCOPIC WORMS
IN MAN.

BY JOHN GAMGEE,

PRINCIPAL OF THE NEW VETERINARY COLLEGE, EDINBURGH.

DID Moses know more about pigs than we do ? Was
it a knowledge of the parasitic diseases common
to man and swine winch led the father of the Jews to
condemn pork as human food? Both questions can be
answered in the negative ; and the apparently slender
grounds on which pigs were first regarded as unclean are
stated in the following verse: “And the swine, because it
divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto
you : ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead
carcase.** The wisdom of the Mosaic law can only be justly
estimated with a knowledge of the accidents arising in warm
countries from eating pork throughout long and hot periods of
the year ; and there is no doubt that the direct evil results as
manifested by human sickness led to the exclusion of pork
from the list of Israelitish viands. The masses of measly pork
which may be seen hanging from the butchers* stalls in
Southern Europe prove that the long-legged swine which
hunt the forests for acorns, and rove about to pick up all
kinds of offal, are often unfit for human food ; and that they
were so to no less extent in the land of Israel is probable.
There are those who fancy that domesticity breeds disease —
that improving the meat-producing powers and hastening the
growth of our live stock renders it liable to disorders of a
malignant type — no greater fallacy ! The parasitic maladies
which are bred for man in the systems of the animals we
eat are most common in the quadrupeds allowed to rove
about in search of food, and which living amongst men
and animals, have every opportunity of meeting with the
germs of the worms which prey on them. The animalcules
which burrow and breed in the human frame are not, as
the ancients believed, the results of an agglomeration of un-
healthy humours becoming vitalized when perfected in form.
The advocates of the spontaneous generation theory are now
few and far between, and the development of the lower forms
of animal life in apparently inaccessible regions of the human
vol. hi. — no. x. L

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

parasite were shown to the Society on the 19th of March,
1853, by Dr. W. T. Gairdner, who, with his usual acuteness,
declared that the whole appearance of the parasite was such
as seemed strongly to bear out Oweir’s view, that the trichina
was merely the first stage of an animal destined for further
development. Dr. Gairdner thought it very probable that
the muscle was only the hot-bed of ova, which, for their
development into perfect animals, required some other habitat.
Considering it to be not unlikely that this further development
of trichina might take place in the intestinal canal of some
carnivorous animal, Dr. Gairdner sent some of the specimens
exhibited, in the fresh state, to Mr. Barlow, who administered
portions to dogs and cats;* and I learn from Dr. Mercer
Adam that the result of the experiments was as anticipated
by Dr. Gairdner. The results were not published, and we
owe to continental observers and to Mr. Turner, of the Edin-
burgh University, interesting information as to the propagation
of the parasite.

Professor OweAs first description is in many points com-
plete. In his paper communicated to the Zoological Society of
London he says : “ With a magnifying power of an inch
focus the white specks in the muscle are seen to be cysts of
an elliptical figure, with the extremities in general attenuated,
elongated, or more opaque than the body (or intermediate
part) of the cyst, which is, in general, sufficiently transparent to
show that it contains a minute coiled-up worm. On separating
the muscular fasciculi, the cysts are found to adhere to the
surrounding cellular substance by the whole of their external
surface, somewhat laxly at the middle dilated part, but more
strongly by means of their elongated extremities, so as to
render it generally a matter of some difficulty to detach them.
When placed upon the micrometer they measure inch in
their longitudinal and inch in their transverse diameter ;
a few being somewhat larger, and others diminishing in size
to about one-half of the above dimensions. They are generally
placed in single rows, parallel to the muscular fibres, at dis-
tances varying from half a line to a line apart from one
another ; but sometimes a larger and a smaller cyst are seen
attached together by one of their extremities, and they are
occasionally observed slightly overlapping each other. If a
thin portion of muscle be dried and placed in Canada balsam,
between a plate of glass and a plate of talc, the cysts become
more transparent, and allow of the contained coiling-up
worm being more plainly seen.

“ Under a lens of the focus of half an inch, the worm appears

* The Monthly Journal of Medical Science, vol. xvi., 1853.

DISEASED PORK, AND MICROSCOPIC WORMS IN MAN. 145

to be inclosed witbin a circumscribed space of a less elongated
and more regular elliptical form than the external cyst, as if
witbin a smaller cyst contained in tbe larger, like the yolk of
an egg surrounded by its albumen and shell. The worm does
not occupy more than a third part of the inner space. A few
of these cysts have been seen to contain two distinct worms ;
and Dr. A. Farre, who has paid much attention to the subject,
has shown me a drawing which he made of one of the cysts
containing three distinct worms, all of nearly equal size.

“ The cysts vary in form as well as size, being more or less
elongated, and the opaque extremities being further extended
in some than in others ; in a few instances only one of the
extremities is thus produced. Occasionally the tip of one of
the extremities is observed to be dilated and transparent, as
though a portion of the larger cyst were about to be separated
by a process of gemmation/-’

The coiled parasite is seen in its cyst in the centre figure of
the annexed plate, and the peculiarities of the worm are well
brought out from the imbibition of an ammoniacal solution of
carmine — a method of preparation which often enables us to
trace the characters of microscopic objects which are otherwise
ill-defined.* The body of the parasite is seen clothed with a
transparent skin, which does not imbibe the carmine so readily
as the softer structures within. The thickness of the skin has
been estimated by Leuckart at O'OOl millimeters. Attention
has been drawn by Henle, Luschka, Kiichenmeister, and
others, to the wrinkled appearance of this skin, which in all
perfect specimens is smooth, and not convoluted. Leuckart
says that when the parasite is injured, rings round the body
are commonly visible. The skin is structureless. Beneath
the skin is a layer of a fine granular matter with the appear-
ance of longitudinal stripes and numerous bright refrangent
corpuscles. This has been looked upon as the muscular
structure of the trichina.

From the cutaneous muscular structure there are two bands,
or water tubes, stretched from before backwards on the lateral
parts of the body. These are pale, but with well-defined outlines,
and stretched alongside of them are small round or oblong
yellow corpuscles.

The alimentary canal extends through the whole body from
the narrow end or head to the broad anal extremity. The
organs of generation do not exist in the encysted worms, and
only when they attain their full development in the alimentary

* The specimens from which the two figures of the parasite have "been
drawn were prepared by Dr. T. R. Fraser, so well known now for his
interesting discoveries concerning the action of the Ordeal Bean of
Calabar.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

canal of their host, though the females are distinguishable
from the males even in the capsule.

Without entering into further details as to the worm, it is
important to notice the capsule which surrounds it, and which
consists of the thickened sarcolemma, and a special envelope
for the parasite within this. Leuckart has demonstrated that
the trichinae lead to the removal of the muscular tissue, and
are really living in the muscular fibre itself. They are there-
fore not, as some persons have supposed, in the areolar tissue
between the muscular fibres ; and the fact of their existence
in great numbers, occupying the place of the active muscular
element, explains symptoms observed in marked cases of
trichinous disease.

From a report in a German veterinary periodical, to the
effect that trichinae could live in roots, and that the domestic
quadrupeds derived them from rotten turnips, which abound in
trichinae, I have taken some pains to ascertain if any truth
existed in such statements. I find that a species of anguillula
preys on the turnip, and is found coiled up in cells much like
the trichina ; but it is altogether a different parasite ; and having
fed two pigs on such turnips, I obtained negative results.

At one time it was supposed that trichinae, as found
in the muscles, were the larva© of a tricocephalus ; but
the experiments of Virchow, Leuckart, and others, show that
the fully developed trichina is a distinct filiform worm, occu-
pying the alimentary canal, and giving birth to young trichina©,
which pierce the walls of the intestine, and on reaching the
muscles become capsulated. The appearance of the muscle is
well shown by the specimen drawn in the annexed plate ; and
as the recognition of the disease in the lower animals is the
best means to prevent the malady spreading to man, I may
now refer to the symptoms manifested by pigs, dogs, cats,
rabbits, and other quadrupeds.

The symptoms have been ascertained in the course of expe-
riments, and they are found to vary somewhat in different
cases. Not uncommonly rabbits, which are made to swallow
thousands of trichinae, appear to suffer no indisposition for
some days, and then die suddenly. Leuckart fed nine rabbits
with half an ounce of muscle, containing about 160,000 trichinae,
and repeated the dose about three days afterwards. No
symptoms of importance resulted until the seventh day after
the first administration, when one of the rabbits died. After
death, the diaphragm and the serous coat of the intestine were
of an intensely red colour. Exudations had occurred from the
mucous membrane, on which numberless trichina© with their
embryos were found. Leuckart and Claus then traced the
embryos on the peritoneal coat, having therefore forced
through the intestine, and many were also found in the

DISEASED PORK, AND MICROSCOPIC WORMS IN MAN. 147

pleural cavities. None could be traced in the blood of the
mesenteric vessels. Leuckart also traced the parasites in the
red spots on the peritoneum, which evidently indicate the
parts where the parasites were burrowing.

In the pig, thousands of trichinae may exist without affecting
the animal’s health ; though commonly, at the period of migra-
tion from the alimentary canal to the muscular system, there is
diarrhoea, lassitude, and a general feverish state. These
symptoms may be so severe as to kill, or may pass off ; and
either the animal lives on with trichinae in its flesh, which
afterwards die and cretify, or within a fortnight or a month
there is evidence of pain, stiffness in movements, languor,
debility, and death.

What we see in the lower animals has been witnessed in
man, and cases are accumulating so as to teach physicians
how to diagnose the trichinae in the living subject.

The early reports of such cases in this country revealed such
complications, that the trichinae have been looked upon as
harmless occupants of the muscles of diseased or healthy
human beings. The cases reported by Professor Owen belong
to this class ; and whether the death of the sick people whose
histories are given was hastened or not by the trichinous disease,
we are left to conjecture. I am inclined to think that the
muscular parasite is, to say the least, a dangerous complication,
as in the following instance. Dr. Bellingham reports that
Bernard Macauley (set. 67), a labourer, was admitted into
St. VincenPs Hospital, December 20, 1851. He had for
several years suffered from cough and oppression of his
breathing. A fortnight ago, he states that he was attacked
with severe pain in the left side after exposure to cold. On
examination, signs of bronchitis and emphysema of the lungs
were evident ; in addition, there was dulness, which indicated
much fluid. The breathing was much oppressed, and the
patient much debilitated. He gradually became worse, and
died on the fifth day after his admission. On examination,
the lungs were emphysematous, the bronchial tubes loaded with
mucus, the left pleura was coated by lymph, and about a pint
and a half of very fetid pus was contained in its cavity.
The most remarkable point, however, connected with the
case, was the presence of an immense number of the cysts of
the Trichina spiralis in the voluntary muscles, particularly in
the pectoralis major and minor upon each side, in the sterno-
mastoid, sterno-thyroid, and omo-hyoid muscles upon both
sides. When these muscles were exposed, they had the
appearance of being dotted over with innumerable minute
white specks of an oval or elliptic form, the long diameter
corresponding with that of the muscular fibres ; these, on exa-
mination, proved to be cysts of the Trichina spiralis.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Fatal cases liave been reported by Continental observers.
Tlius_, Professor Zenker, of Dresden, mentions that, among 136
post-mortem examinations winch he made during eight months
of the year 1855, he found four subjects evidently affected
with trichina. He gives in detail the case of a farm girl who
died under his observation in 1860, killed by trichinae. She
had a month before been taking part with the other farm-
servants in a particular pig-sticking, and in the consequent
processes, and had probably (according to what is said to be
not a very unusual practice) taken an occasional pinch of the
sausage-meat which she had to chop. She soon fell ill, and
died in five weeks. Her bowels contained swarms of adult
trichinae, and the voluntary muscles throughout her entire
body were colonized by myriads of larvae. It appeared, on
inquiry, that other persons who took part in slaughtering the
same pig also suffered, and that, though none died, two were bed-
ridden for weeks. Microscopical examination of products which
were remaining of the slaughtered pig — ham, sausages, and
black-puddings — showed in them innumerable dead trichinae.
In July, 1863, a paper was published by Dr. C. Tiingel, of
Hamburg, giving particulars of a case in which certainly one
death was caused, and perhaps also a second death, as well as
some not fatal illness, by the consumption of trichinous pork
on board ship. Of the two deaths, one occurred on the 24th,
the other on the. 27th day after that on which the pig was
slaughtered and the consumption of its flesh begun.

In the last number of the Edinburgh Medical Journal
similar instances are recorded, and, no doubt, ere long science
will be enriched by a host of facts which prove that trichinous
animal food is a danger to be very carefully avoided.

I have gathered together the facts and observations in this
brief article to demonstrate the precise nature of the relation
between troublesome, dangerous, and even fatal parasitic
diseases of human beings and swine. There are those who
consider that we must trust to good cooking to prevent such
diseases. I consider it just as reasonable to trust to cleanli-
ness and ventilation to prevent human small-pox. There can
be no doubt that care and cleanliness have a tendency mate-
rially to diminish the chances of contagion ; but as for some
wise end, no doubt, contagious diseases present the same
determined tendency to reproduction that we notice in the
multiplication of parasites, and as our first concern in relation
to such maladies as small-pox is to destroy the poison or to com-
bat the virulence of that poison by rendering the human frame
but little susceptible to its deadly influences, should we aim
primarily at the extermination of the parasites in the animals
we eat.

149

BODILY WORK AND WASTE.

BY FRANCIS T. BOND, M.D., B. A. (Lond.), F.C.S.,

PRINCIPAL OF THE HARTLEY INSTITUTION, SOUTHAMPTON.

THERE is no truth which modern science has established
with greater certainty than that every manifestation of
physical force involves the metamorphosis of a certain quantity
of matter; or, to put it in a still simpler form, that every
exercise of power is made at the cost of a certain consumption
of material. Whether it be the steam which propels our
locomotives, or the elastic gases which project our cannon
balls, the subtle fluid by means of whose vibrations we convey
our thoughts with the rapidity of lightning from one end of
the earth to the other, or the still more useful contrivances
by which we turn night into day, and maintain the genial
warmth of summer amidst the snows of winter — all these
exhibitions of force, mechanical, electrical, or thermal, alike
involve the disintegration, or, in other words, the waste , of
some form of matter for their production. Without the com-
bustion of coal or wood there would be no steam for the
locomotive, no heat for the fireplace; without a similar, but
more rapid, combustion of gunpowder, or other explosive
substance, there would be no development of elastic gases in
the cannon to propel its ponderous missile ; and combustion
in these, as in all cases, is essentially a process of waste
in which the active part is played by that most energetic of
all wasters, the oxygen of the atmosphere. The fluid which
circulates in the telegraphic wire is developed at the expense
of the acid and the metals of which the batteries at its extre-
mities are composed ; and the light which illumines our streets
and public buildings is generated by the waste (using the term
in its chemical, not, of course, in its economical sense), in gas
works, of coal which was produced ages upon ages ago by the
submergence and partial decomposition of ancient forests.

Now all these various ways of obtaining power may at first
sight appear so very simple in their nature that it may seem
trivial to allude to them. Irrespective, however, of the con-

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

sideration that tlie simplest phenomena are often those which
exhibit in their most intelligible form the grandest and most
important laws of nature ; and obvious as the fact may seem
that the man who attempted to work a steam-engine without
supplying coal for its fire would stand but little chance of
seeing its wheels revolve, it is doing no injustice to the
majority of our readers to suppose that they have never asked
themselves what the fuel really does in such a case as this,
and why it is so essential to the production of steam ? It is
probable that the idea may never have suggested itself to them
that these, and dozens of other instances of a similar kind
which might be quoted, all go to show that without the
disintegration, or waste, of some form of matter, whether it
be coal, or metal, or tallow, or gunpowder, there is no produc-
tion of any form of force, no real acquisition of power of any
kind. And, like Columbus's egg, simple as this truth may
seem when once clearly demonstrated, and often as men have
lighted fires to warm themselves by, and long as they have
employed the explosive properties of gunpowder to carry
conviction to the minds of their intelligent fellow-creatures, it
is only quite in recent years that its reality has come to be
distinctly recognized, and that we have begun to learn that
perpetual motion, and other patent processes for extracting
something out of nothing, are ideas worthy only of the sages
of Laputa.

It may, however, be said, that all exhibitions of force do not
involve a waste of matter. We may be told, for instance, that
the stream of falling water which turns the river-side mill exerts
its power on the mill-wheel in virtue of the force of gravitation
which draws the water downwards, and that gravity is a force
which, so far as we can see, does not involve the waste of
matter as a condition of its manifestation. But this is an
exception which is probably more apparent than real, and
which is due rather to our ignorance of the nature of gravi-
tation than to any deviation from a law which so unquestion-
ably obtains in the vast majority of phenomena with which we
are acquainted. For it is by no means unlikely that gravity,
which is itself a cosmical force, acting through space upon the
most distant elements of the universe, may be the local mani-
festation in our world of disturbances in the relations of
matter going on in spheres existing at infinite distances
from it.

The propulsive force, too, of the breeze by which the ship
is driven through the resisting waves, at first sight appears to
be a case of force exerted independently of matter or its rela-
tions. But here again the exception is only apparent and not
real. For science tells us that that breeze is the offspring of

BODILY WORK AND WASTE.

151

heat acting upon the atmosphere, in which it produces cur-
rents ; and that the heat comes from the sun, whose material
relations exhibit, even to our superficial observation, a state of
disturbance which is eminently suggestive of a more profound
and incessant disorganization going on beyond our ken.

We may, therefore, take it as unquestionable, that so far as
the inorganic forces of nature are concerned, their manifesta-
tion in all cases involves the contemporary occurrence of waste,
decomposition, or decay. But what are we to say of the forces
which are given off by organized bodies ? This thinking, talk-
ing, acting machine which we call man, whose brain is con-
tinually giving off nerve-force, which is as constantly stimulating
some one or other of his muscles to give off motor or mechanical
force, and whose whole organism is incessantly maintained by
the operations of the chemical and 'physiological forces which
digest his food, convert it into the various tissues of his body,
and again reconvert those tissues into the simpler forms in
which, when they have served their part, they are eliminated
from the system — hence does he obtain all these forces, or,
more properly speaking, all these different varieties of force,
which are so indispensable to his existence ? Here, too, we
must recur for an answer to these questions to the great law of
the relations of waste and power to which allusion has before
been made. The human body is continually wearing away ; as
truly, though perhaps not so evidently, burning away as if it
were a bushel of coals in a domestic grate. And it is from this
| ceaseless process of waste which is going on everywhere within
it, that it derives the power which it expends in the various
forms of work which it continually carries on. There are pro-
bably very few of the readers of this article who have the
faintest idea of the amount of force which they are exerting
every day of their lives. Let us see if we can manage, without
! wandering into details whose due appreciation would require a
knowledge of the more profound departments of physiology, to
form an estimate of the amount of work which the body of an
ordinary man performs in the twenty-four hours, and of the
waste of bodily substance of which that work is the
equivalent.

We may roughly divide the constituents of the animal frame
into three groups. In the first we will place those substances
which are actually incorporated into its organization in the
shape of bone, muscle, nerve, &c. ; to the second we may
assign those which are destined to minister to the building
i up of the animal fabric, in the shape of the raw materials
derived from the digestion of the food in the alimentary canal,

; and, in the third, we shall place those constituents which,
i having discharged their functions in the animal economy as

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

elements of tlie various tissues, are thrown off as waste, and as
such give rise to what are commonly known as the excretions
of the body. It is obviously to this last class that we must
look for the measure of the wear and tear of the body and
of the evolution of force of which that wear and tear is the
exponent.

Now, of all the different substances which are thus thrown
off from the body as the result of the decay which is con-
tinually going on within it, there is one, urea, which is pre-
eminently important, not from its mere predominance in bulk
over all the others, but because it is the one which gives us the
most accurate gauge of the amount of waste of which it is the
product.

If we were to be told that the quantity of urea which is
daily manufactured and eliminated from the body of a healthy
man, weighing about 150 lb., varies from 400 to 630 grains,
it is probable that many of us would not be much the wiser for
the information. We must, therefore, see if we can learn what
this represents in another way.

The daily work which is performed by the body of an ordi-
nary human being may be classed under four heads. (1) There
is the vital work, or that which is required to keep the
machinery of life going and in proper order; e. g., to make the
heart beat, the stomach digest, the liver secrete bile, and so
on ; just as a certain portion of the power of a steam-engine is
expended in merely moving the machinery which it sets in action.

(2) Then there is what may be called the calorific work , or that
which is required to maintain the temperature of the body, and
which will obviously be much greater in winter than in
summer, and in cold climates than in warm ones. Although
this is intimately connected with the preceding variety of
work, still it is for many purposes sufficiently distinct and
important to justify our considering it under a separate head.

(3) Next we have the mechanical ivorh which is involved in the
physical exercise we take, such as walking, talking, eating, &c.

(4) And, lastly, there is the mental work , which we each of us
perform in the acts of thinking, seeing, hearing, and in the
exercise of our nervous functions generally. One of the great
problems which physiology has of late been endeavouring to
solve is, how much of the total daily work of the body is
absorbed by each of these four departments of bodily activity
separately; or, to put the question in another point of view,
how much of the total daily waste of the body is due to them
severally ? The recent researches* of a distinguished medical
divine — for, by a strange coincidence, though a clergyman by
profession he is also a physician by education (the Eev. Pro-

* Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medicine , 1859, 1860.

BODILY WORK AND WASTE.

153

fessor Haughton, M.D., F.B.S., of Trinity College, Dublin) —
have thrown a good deal of light upon this obscure and difficult
subject. With the view of giving our readers a general idea
of the relations of bodily work to bodily waste, we will briefly
recapitulate the nature of these researches.

We have before stated that the total amount of urea which
is formed in the body of a healthy man of 150 lb. weight, per
diem , fluctuates from 400 to 630 grains. Of this amount Dr.
Haughton calculates, from data to which it is impossible for us
here to refer, that 300 grains are the result of that division of
work to which we have above given the designation vital.
Hence it follows that each pound of man requires an amount
of daily waste which is represented by 2 grains of urea merely
to keep it alive, and prevent it from becoming subject to the
ordinary chemical laws of inert matter.

But if this 300 grains of urea represents a certain amount of
bodily waste, that bodily waste in its turn represents a certain
amount of work done, or force expended; and to estimate
what that work is, we must find out the equivalent, in some
definite and easily calculable form of work, of a definite quan-
tity, say one grain of urea. This Dr. Haughton has done.
But before stating the results at which he has arrived on this
point, it should, perhaps, be mentioned, for the benefit of those
to whom this subject may be entirely new, that it is usual to
calculate all varieties of mechanical force in terms of a single
unit, and that unit is the force which is required to raise one
ton avoirdupoise one foot from the earth. For instance, a man
who walks twenty miles a day can be shown in so doing to
perform an amount of mechanical work which, if applied in
another way, would raise a weight of 150 lb., i. e ., about the
weight of his own body, one mile in the air. Again, the ordi-
nary daily work of a street paviour, who works ten hours
a day, and whose occupation consists in lifting, at definite
intervals, a rammer weighing 5-i- stone, is equivalent, if applied
as before mentioned, to lifting a weight of one ton 352 feet in
the air. In this way the foot-ton, as it is called — i.e ., one ton
lifted one foot — becomes the unit of measurement of dynamical
; force generally.

How, let us recur to the consideration of the force which is
expended in the daily waste of 300 grains of urea. From a
series of elaborate calculations Dr. Haughton estimates that
the mechanical equivalent of this quantity of urea is one ton
lifted 769 feet, or 769 foot-tons. That is to say, this enor-
mous force — a force which is more than equal to that
expended by two street paviours during a hard day's work, is
used up in merely keeping a man of 150 lb. weight alive for
the same period. We may put the same fact in another point

154

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of view by saying that the amount of force required for this
purpose would lift the man's body a little more than two (2*18)
miles in the air during the twenty-four hours.

From similar, though perhaps somewhat more doubtful
calculations, Dr. Haughton estimates that the amount of
bodily waste which is caused by one hour's hard mental labour
involves an expenditure of force which is equal to lifting
111 tons one foot in the air.

Let us further suppose that, in addition to the mere act of
living, an average man of 150 lb. weight undergoes bodily labour
equivalent to lifting 200 tons one foot daily, and that the total
amount of his day's mental work is equivalent to two hours'
hard study, and the “ little bill"- of his daily expenditure of
force will stand as follows : —

Vital work 300 ‘00 grains of urea = 769 foot-tons

Bodily work 7 7 ’38 „ „ = 200 „

Mental work 86*00 ,, „ = 222 „

Total urea 463*38 = 1191 tons raised one foot ;

or one ton raised 1191 feet ; or the weight of the man’s body (150 lb.)
raised a little more than 3 miles.

To balance this side of his debtor and creditor account, our
average man would have to consume an amount of food suffi-
cient to furnish him with the nitrogen contained in 463 grains
of urea. Hence he will find it desirable to take a considerable
portion of animal food in his diet, because that kind of food
contains, in proportion to its bulk, a much larger quantity of
nitrogen than vegetable substances do ; for if he does not do
this, he will have to augment the amount of vegetable material
which he ingests to such an extent as seriously to embarrass
his digestive functions. It is for this reason that the labour-
ing man, who cannot procure meat for his daily meal, has
recourse to cheese, which, although difficult of digestion, con-
tains a considerable quantity of nitrogen.

But, the reader may not improbably ask, if all this enormous
quantity of force is expended by a living man during the short
space of twenty-four hours, whence does it all come ? And
this is a question which it is by no means easy to answer clearly
within the limited space which is left to us. In general terms,
however, it may be said that the force which the animal
economy expends in the discharge of its various functions, is
intimately incorporated with the food which it ingests for the
support of its material framework. Animals live at the expense
either of other animals or of vegetables — in both cases of pre-
viously organized structures. Every process of organization
involves the absorption and fixation of force in the created

BODILY WORK AND WASTE.

155

organism. Hence every organized structure is, as it were, a
reservoir of force. The force which the plant receives from
the solar heat is stored up in its cells, to be dispersed again
gradually to the atmosphere in the shape of heat when it
decays, or rapidly, when it burns as coal ; or, if consumed by
an animal as food, is incorporated, with the elements of the
plant, into the tissues of the animal which consumes it. These
animal tissues thus become storehouses of power, which, as
they waste and decay, is given off in the various forms which
their peculiar character adapts them to eliminate. Thus the
nervous tissues give it off as nerve-force ; the muscles, as motor
force ; the fatty elements of the body, as heat; and so on. One
of the most interesting branches of Dr. Haughton’s researches
is the determination of the amount of force which is stored up
in human muscles.* By a series of careful observations and
calculations, he finds that the muscles which sustain the arm
in a horizontal position — the central portion of the deltoid and
the supraspinatus — weigh 5J ounces, or 2,242J grains, and
that the work which they do in sustaining the arm until it
becomes exhausted is equivalent to lifting half a ton through
one foot. Hence it follows, that 1 lb. of such muscle con-
tains, stored up in it, sufficient force to raise 1*56 ton through
the same distance. This statement will go far to explain the
origin of a portion, at least, of the force which is expended
daily by the body of a living man. When it is remembered
that during his waking hours the voluntary muscles of man
are rarely at rest for more than a few seconds together, it will
be seen that we have, in their constant waste alone, a fertile
source for the evolution of force. But it is to the action of
the involuntary muscles that we must look for the most abun-
dant origin of the force which he is ceaselessly eliminating,
and more especially to that most important of all the invo-
luntary muscles, the heart, which, from the time he draws
his first breath till his eyelids close in death, is never at rest.
Most persons are aware that the heart is simply a muscular
bag, divided into four cavities, and that the circulation of the
blood through the blood-vessels, which is so essential to the
maintenance of life, is mainly due to the force with which the
muscular walls of the heart contract on the blood as it passes
through these cavities. Few, however, would imagine the
force which this small fleshy bag — no larger than one’s double
fist, and only weighing about nine ounces — exerts on the mass of
blood which it is called on to propel. Dr. Haughton has most
ingeniously estimated that the force which the heart expends
in the twenty-four hours is equivalent to lifting 124 tons one

* “ Outlines of a New Theory of Muscular Action,” 1863.

156

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

foot ! This estimate would be almost incredible, if it were not
obtained by two totally different methods of calculation, used
as checks upon one another. And if this amount of force is
expended by the heart in twenty-four hours, how rapid must
be its waste, and how vigorous must be the nutrition by
which that waste is repaired. Few instances could be quoted
which show more forcibly than this does the wonderful per-
fection of adaptation, and the concentration of activity which
the higher organized structures exhibit.

To those who are not familiar with the subject of physio-
logical dynamics these statements, generally, will probably
appear little short of incredible, so difficult is it for the imagi-
nation which is untrained in the teachings of science to realise
the fact, that the apparently simple and unlaborious functions
of mind or body can involve the expenditure of force at all.
The most unscientific observer cannot fail to perceive that
the arm which works the paviour’s rammer, or the legs which
bear the weight of the body over the many miles of a long
day^s walk, must, in the performance of these offices, exert a
considerable amount of force ; but he does not so readily appre-
ciate the manifestation of the same phenomenon in the silent
decay of the whole body when at rest, or in the unconscious
exercise of the mind. Those, on the other hand, who h^fve
learned with what a mighty energy nature works even in her
most simple operations — that the force which holds the ele-
ments of a single grain of water together is equal to that
which is contained in a very powerful flash of lightning, will
know that, although there are some of Dr. Haughton's calcu-
lations which, from the uncertain state of our knowledge,
must at present be received with some degree of reservation,
the general character of his results is quite in unison with the
dynamical laws which the researches of Joule, Mayer, and
other physicists have during recent years established.

Plate VII

.

RAILWAY TUNNEL THROUGH MONT CENIS FROM .BARDONNECHE TO MODANE

Longitudinal Section and Plan

The vertical Scale, of the Section, is double the Horizontal Scale.

THE RAILWAY TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS,

THERE is at present a break in the railway system of
communication between France and Italy, occasioned
by no less an obstruction than the Alps. To pierce a passage
through the Alps, and complete the line of communication
between the opposite sides, is the object of the tunnel now in
course of execution. This gigantic work, which will be, when
completed, fully seven and a half miles in length, was sanc-
tioned by the Sardinian Government in 1857, and although, in
June, 1858, and September, 1859, arrangements were made
for fixing perforating machinery, the work was not actually
commenced till November, 1860. The railway from Genoa
and Turin stops at Susa, and that from Lyons at St. Michael ;
between these two termini, Mont Cenis intervenes. The northern
entrance of the tunnel (A) is near the little hamlet of Fourneau,
and less than half a mile from the small town of Modane. The
southern end is in a deep valley at Bardonneche, on the Italian
side of the Alps.

The entrance to the tunnel on the side of France is 3,946
feet above the level of the sea, and its termination on the
Italian side 4,380 feet ; so that the actual difference of level
between the two extremities of the tunnel is about 434 feet,
the Italian end being thus much the highest. There are two
gradients in the tunnel, which divide it nearly in two equal
lengths, the ascending gradient from the side of France rising
to 445 feet, from which point it gradually falls to the opposite
end, on the side of Italy, to the amount of only about 10
English feet, in a length of nearly 3f miles ; so that for this
distance it may be considered to be practically level.

The rising gradient ascends to the middle of the tunnel at
the rate of 1 in 45. The descending one falls at the rate of
1 in 2,000 ; so that one half of the tunnel has a tolerably stiff
gradient, and the other quite easy; but for such an Alpine
country the gradient of 1 in 45 is much better than might
have been expected under the circumstances.

It was, of course, necessary to prepare accurate plans and
sections to determine the levels, fix the axis of the tunnel, and
set it out on the mountain top ; to erect observatories and
guiding signals, solid, substantial, ppd true, The mountains
VOL. in. — no. x, M

158

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

liad to be surveyed and triangulated, bases measured, and the
exact length and levels of the tunnel determined with the
greatest care and accuracy; for errors in the angles and
reduced calculations would have led to the most disastrous
consequences in a tunnel of this enormous length. The diffi-
culty of tracing the axis, and setting out a corresponding line
over the summit of an Alpine range, over rocks, ravines, and
precipices ; of continually climbing, ascending, and descending
the immense heights, from point to point and from station to
station, may be readily appreciated by those accustomed to
ramble among lofty mountain ranges.

Great as the labour and difficulty of climbing and scaling
these rugged heights may have been, they were as nothing
compared to the engineering difficulties created by the incle-
mencies of the weather. These were the greatest stumbling-
blocks of all, from the impossibility of continuous work with
levels and theodolites in such a wild and exposed place. The
engineers were exposed to all the tempests common to these
Alpine regions — rain, mist, sleet, drifting snow, and their more
troublesome and ever-constant enemy, the howling wind, ever
constant in its wild and fierce inconstancy. It was impossible
to work with delicate instruments when exposed to storms and
hurricanes at these lofty elevations ; hence, it frequently hap-
pened for days together that not a single observation or an
angle could be taken. However, after a long, laborious, and
patient work, this all-important and interesting triangulation,
with all its troublesome details, was brought to a happy issue
and triumphant conclusion ; and the final direction and exact
length of the axis of the tunnel accurately determined.

The total length of the tunnel was determined to be 12,220
metres, or about 7 miles, 4 furlongs, and 164 yards ; and,
notwithstanding all the difficulties of the various operations
and ceaseless hindrances, in spite of Alpine seasons, so accu-
rately was the triangulation executed, that the maximum
deviation from exactitude was confined within the limit of
11*417 inches in the whole distance of 7J miles, or about
inch per mile, which, of course, can have no practical
effect in a work of this magnitude.

The mountain through which the tunnel is to be pierced is
exceedingly rough and irregular in outline, and, as might have
been expected, very steep and rugged. The lowest point is at
Fourneau, close by the main route over Mont Cenis. From this
valley, which is at an elevation of about 3,600 feet above the
level of the sea, the mountain ascends rapidly 348 feet to the
northern entrance to the tunnel, which is in a picturesque gorge
in the valley. It then rises rapidly 1,140 feet more, to Los
Aysards, a cluster of chalets in the slope of the mountain,
where is placed the first signal station. The line then runs

THE EAILWAY TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS.

159

along the rugged slopes, and rises a further height of 334 feet,
immediately after which it drops down to the ravine in which
rushes the Torrente del GrauVallon. After crossing the im-
petuous stream, it rapidly ascends a height of 2,430 feet, till
it reaches the station La Riond with a further ascent of
725 feet. From this latter point it skirts the shattered slopes
of a steep precipice to the Yallonet station with a rise of
1,004 feet. The line then crosses the apex of the rocks, and
at once rises precipitously up to the observatory on the
pinnacle-like summit with a further rise of 246 feet, this sum-
mit being 9,675 feet above the level of the sea, and 5,714 feet
above the tunnel mouth at Fourneau. From this point the
mountain descends with great rapidity over exceedingly rugged
and broken ground, no less than 3,588 feet at one swoop, to
the torrent of the Merdovine, which flows down a deep valley.
It once more rises 380 feet, passing a wild and broken country,
to the apex of a precipice at the Banda station, from which it
again falls with a rapid drop of 1,500 feet to the southern
mouth of the tunnel at Bardonneche, close to the torrent of
the Rochemolles.

The heights of some of the Alpine peaks in the immediate
neighbourhood of the course of the axis of the tunnel reach the
following elevations, expressed in English feet : — •

Mont Rond 8,057 Bellcoll ... ... ... 7,886

Mont Pelonse 10,384 Chabriere 7,358

Punta di Frejns ... 9,761

So that the summit of the highest Alp, Mont Pelouse, near
the line of tunnel, is 10,393 feet above the level of the sea,
being thus considerably above the limit of perpetual snow, and
nearly twice the height of the great road over Mont Cenis.

The preparatory works were of vast magnitude, including
the construction of new and solid roads, of vaulted canals,
bridges, magazines, offices, workshops, forges, furnaces, and
machinery, driven by a turbine of 12 -horse power; extensive
reservoirs, — some underground, to shelter them from the frost,
high up on the mountain side ; residences for the men, offices
for engineers ; being, in fact, a complete and perfect estab-
lishment of great extent and variety, both at Bardonneche,
Modane, and Fourneau.

As the excavation of the tunnel was not to be effected by
manual labour, nor indeed by steam, other means had to be
adopted, and new machinery devised for the purpose. The
power of water, so plentifully supplied by the Alpine snow and
rain, was the great motive power determined upon, as being
the most economical and manageable for such a mountainous
locality ; hence, new hydraulic and pneumatic machinery had
to be invented, tested, varied and improved. Water was the

m 2

160

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

generating power, but the perforating machinery was to be
driven by the action of compressed air, the modus ojperandi of
which had to be determined and put to the test of actual work
and experiment on a grand scale before the real labour of the
excavation began.

Besides driving the perforating tools, the same air had to
ventilate the tunnel, and keep it in a fit state for respiration ;
for it will be seen that a tunnel without shafts, more than
7^ miles long, could not be ventilated by the ordinary method
usually employed for such purposes.

Passengers traversing Mont Cenis pass through the little
Alpine town of Modane, where there are numerous works con-
nected with the tunnel ; and also the hamlet of Fourneau,
where again are seen extensive establishments of an appear-
ance and character little dreamt of by travellers in a wild and
romantic pass like this. The mass of pipes and tubes for air
and water look quite bewildering, looming like the apparatus
of some Titanic distillery. It seems incredible to the passing
stranger that this pile of pipes, tubes, tanks, and reservoirs,
are employed for the purpose of boring into the bowels of an
Alpine mountain of hard and solid rock without the aid of
steam, and little help from manual labour.

A novel machine for perforating hard rock was not easily
brought to perfection ; it required a long and elaborate series
of practical working experiments, and numerous modifications
in detail, before being considered fit for the real work it had to
do. It required to be of sufficient power to do the work
with ease and precision, of such size and weight as to be easily
managed by one or two men, and so strong and simple in
form and construction as to avoid the necessity of frequent
stoppage and repair; for the work such a machine was
required to do should be continuous night and day as far as
possible.

It appears from the report of the engineers, that the time
the machines were actually at work, during the year 1861, at
Bardonneche, was only two hundred and nine clear days, with
an actual advance of the whole front of the excavation of
559 feet, which only gives a daily progress of about 2 feet
8 inches. At the same place, during 1862, there appears to
have been three hundred and twenty-five full working days,
with an actual advance of the tunnel of 1,216 feet, which gives
for the daily working progress of the complete tunnel about
4 feet 5 inches. At the northern end of the tunnel of Modane,
for the same year, 1862, the advance is stated to have been at
the rate of nearly 40 inches per diem.

Since 1,216 feet were actually advanced in three hundred and
twenty-five days at Bardonneche, this will give for the entire
year, if in full operation at the same rate, an advance of

THE RAILWAY TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS. 161

I, 515 feet, and if we add the 1,197 feet for the progress at
Modane during the same period, the total progress forward at
both ends for an entire year will be 2,712 feet; so that at this
rate of working, it will require 14f years to complete the exca-
vation : and taking all the circumstances of the case into
consideration, it is doubtful if the tunnel can be bored through
in a less period of time.

The total estimated quantity of rock to be excavated is
about 784,666 cubic yards. As the tunnel is 13,354 yards
long, this will give for the lineal yard forward, and for the
whole face of the tunnel to be removed, nearly 58 cubic yards.
At the average advance of 4 feet 5 inches per day, as above
stated, this will give a daily removal of 73^ yards cube; and
if both faces are worked at the same progressive rate, it will
yield 147 cubic yards of daily excavation for the joint work of
all the boring machines in operation. This supposes con-
tinuous working, which, however, is scarcely possible, for there
is always time required to charge the bore holes, fire the blast,
break down shattered rock, and remove the whole of the
loosened material out of the tunnel.

There will also be a sensible loss of time occasioned by pro-
longing the pipes and tubes for the compressed air to work
the machines, for the water and gas pipes ; for all these must
keep pace with and follow up the advance of the perforating
machines in the tunnel, as well as the timbers and rails for
carrying the machines, and other indispensable work of the
kind, all of which must advance simultaneously.

The rock in which the excavation is at present being made
is of a quality exceedingly difficult to work, having what the
engineers have called an “ infelicitous stratification,” with
great diversity of texture, which has proved very trying to
the perforators. The rock is a crystallised calcareous schist,
very much broken and contorted ; being interspersed in almost
every direction with large masses of pure quartz, in veins of
variable dimensions, straggling irregularly through the general
body of the rock.

It has proved difficult to work in a diversified material of
this character from the unequal resistance presented to the
perforators by the calcareous schist and quartz, it not unfre-
quently happening that the chisels have to be turned from
their proper direction, through meeting with a block of quartz,
which, of course, leads to loss of time.

The production of compressed air at Bardonneche, for the
year 1862, amounted to 152,100 cubic yards per month, with
an actual pressure of 90 lb. per square inch ; the entire year
giving the immense amount of 1,825,000 cubic yards ; which
is equivalent to a volume of ah* at its ordinary pressure of

II, 024,000 cubic yards. It was ascertained by experiment that

162

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

each perforator, working at its ordinary rate, consumed about
190 cubic inches of compressed air per second, so that the nine
machines expended nearly one cubic foot per second, or about
3,425 cubic feet, English, of air, compressed to a pressure of
six atmospheres, or, in round numbers, with a working force
of 90 lb. per square inch of surface. When the air, so com-
pressed to six atmospheres, is liberated in the tunnel, and
expands to its normal state of pressure, it is found to absorb
nearly the same quantity of heat which it gave out in the act
of compression. By this absorption of heat from the air in
the tunnel, the temperature, which has been raised by the
workmen, the lamps, and gas is considerably lowered, thus
rendering it more cool, fresh, and suitable for respiration.

. At Bardonneche, during the 325 useful working days, the
number of holes bored to a depth from 30 to 32 inches
amounted to the number of 45,751; the number of chisels
employed was 72,538 ; the gunpowder consumed weighed
40,735 1b.; and the length of match for firing the mines
amounted to 251,000 feet. In 1861 the machines advanced
the tunnel 557 feet, by boring 20,000 holes; in 1862 they
bored 46,000, besides 6,000 made during the working experi-
ments ; amounting altogether to 72,000 holes, divided amongst
80 perforators ; from this it results as a mean, that 900 holes
were drilled by each of the perforators. The eight machines
worked ten perforators, and made 80 holes in 7 hours
39 minutes, so that each machine took 7 hours 39 minutes to
bore 10 holes, or three-quarters of an hour for each mine hole.
In three-quarters of an hour each machine worked at the rate
of three blows per second, making 8,100 evolutions complete,
thus giving 8,100 blows of the chisel to execute one hole.
The 900 holes bored on an average, as above stated, gives for
each perforator 8,100 x 900 = 7,290,000 blows, worked by air.

By way of comparison of cost, it may be observed that the
Bletchingly tunnel on the South-Eastern Railway, in blue clay,
shale, and sand, cost at the rate of £71. 18s. 7d. per yard
forward; the Saltwood tunnel, on the same line, £118; the
Kilsby tunnel, on the London and Birmingham, £125; and
the Clay Cross, on the Midland Railway, £100 per yard
forward. The estimated cost of the Mont Cenis tunnel is
stated to be at about the rate £166 per lineal yard. Assuming
this to be near the mark, the entire tunnel will cost, at this
rate, upwards of two millions sterling. One item of cost in
this tunnel, which must not be overlooked, is the * heavy
amount of transport, the length from the middle of the tunnel
to either mouth being upwards of three miles and a half. The
tunnel is for a double line of rails.

The wear and tear of the perforating machinery has been
found greater than was expected ; for the hard, sharp- cutting

THE RAILWAY TUNNEL THROUGH THE ALPS. 163

particles of dust from the drilled quartz and other rocks causes
constant and considerable damage to the machines. This will
be readily imagined when the number of blows, pushes, and
revolutions made by the boring tools are enumerated. To
bore eight holes 2f feet deep in the rock, when of average
working quality, the motory cylinder completes 57,600 revolu-
tions ; the striker, or driving piston, 57,600 blows ; and the
chisels make the same number of turns or twists.

As a matter of mere curiosity, to show the magnitude and
extent of the various operations to be performed and labour
required, it may be stated that if the above rates of working
should be maintained, the number of holes necessary to be
bored to get through the whole tunnel will amount to about
1,600,000. The total depth of all these holes, when bored,
will amount to about 4,265,890 feet, which is 105 times
longer than the entire length of tunnel to be excavated.
The number of blows required to be struck by the perfo-
rators to do this work will reach nearly 13,000,000,000.

It may be explained briefly, that the tunnel, for its whole width
of face is not attacked at once, a gullet ” or heading is driven

I considerably in advance of the completed work. This small
gallery is rather more than 11 feet wide, and 7f feet high, and
square in form. A line of rails is laid nearly the whole length
of this gallery, of usual gauge, to communicate with the line
in the main tunnel ; beside this, there is a line of rails of lesser
gauge for the small trollies, used to convey the broken rocks
from the head of the gallery to the common trucks. In
general the machines which attack the front of this heading
are armed with nine or ten perforators — some acting directly
in the face, others diverging to the right and left, and thus
carry on the borings in the gullet, till all the holes are ready
for their charge of powder. Thirty-seven men and boys are
required to attend to the machines, and other matters in con-
nection with them.

The work of the main tunnel follows up the small gallery,
which is progressively widened to the extent and form
required for the full section of the complete excavation. It
has been estimated from data obtained by actual working of the
machines, that the tunnel may possibly be excavated in fifteen
years ; but it appears that twenty years is the time calculated
upon by the engineers engaged in the conduct of the work.
The limit assigned for the completion of the tunnel in the con-
vention agreed between the French and Italian Governments,
is twenty-five years. It is, however, a work requiring time,
money, and patience ; it cannot be hurried, and must look to
completion from steady and unremitting labour day and nighty
without ceasing.

GREEK FIRE : ITS ANCIENT AND MODERN
HISTORY.

BY B. W. RICHARDSON, M.A., M.D.

WHAT is Greek Fire ? The question is not one of to-day,
but of ages. Friar Bacon was asked the question, or,
at all events, he, in a sentence or two as difficult to understand
as obscurest alchemist could wish, essayed to answer it. His
friend, Friar Bungay, who was neither so imaginary a man
nor so gross a quack as Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton has
depicted him, and who, in his day, did many marvels, made a
guess at it ; the Princess Anna Comnena supplied a formula
for it ; Charles du Fresne, the Byzantine historian, cultivated
many and curious researches in respect to it; Sir William
Temple took it under his literary protection, and gave its
introduction to the world, within a century; the historical
commentators on the History of St. Louis — Ducange and
Joinville — were each particular in their inquiries and descrip-
tions ; Gibbon, as we shall see, was careful, to a nicety, to dig
out every fact ; Chambers advanced at least three speculations
on it ; the learned Beckman of course looked and looked, and
said all he could, which was not much but good ; and, in fine,
from the thirteenth century to this, the nineteenth, somebody
has always been speculating and nobody has been satisfied.

At last, when the Dryasdust fraternity were getting into
that state of obscurity as to affirm, with all profundity and
good faith, that there never was such a thing as Greek fire,
that the whole story was a myth of the middle ages, that
Greek fire ranked with flexible glass and the elixir vitas, —
General Gilmore, Federal general before Charleston, in
Southern America, startled the learned by pitching a shell of
so-called Greek fire a distance of four miles at least, and into
a town. What is Greek fire ? At once the question went up
again, and everybody asked everybody, and everybody, or
nearly so, said they did not know ; or made a guess like the
Princess Anna Comnena, or divined obscurely, like Roger
Bacon, as if they did know, but did not like to tell. And still
the question is on the tapis . Let us try to answer it.

166

Greek fire.

ANCIENT GREEK FIRE,

Regarding the ancient Greek fire, the facts that have been
collected about it are at present to be sought for, mainly, from
the various authors whose names have been given above.

Gibbon, in describing the destruction of the Saracen fleet in
the harbour of Constantinople, in his tenth volume of the
“ Rise and Fall/-’ gives a graphic account of the ancient Greek
fire. He says : —

In the two sieges, the delivery of Constantinople may be ascribed to the
novelty, the terrors, and the real efficacy of the Greek fire. The important
secret of compounding and directing this artificial flame was imparted by
Callinicus, a native of Heliopolis, in Syria, who deserted from the service of
the Caliph to that of the Emperor. The skill of a chemist and engineer was
equivalent to the succour of fleets and armies ; and this discovery or improve-
ment of the military art was fortunately reserved for the distressful period,
when the degenerate Romans of the East were incapable of contending with the
warlike enthusiasm and youthful vigour of the Saracens. The historian who
presumes to analyse this extraordinary composition should suspect his own
ignorance or that of his Byzantine guides, so prone to the marvellous, so
careless and, in this instance, so jealous of truth. From their obscure and
perhaps fallacious hints, it would seem that the principal ingredient of the
Greek fire was the naphtha or liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and inflam-
mable oil, which springs from the earth and catches fire as soon as it comes in
contact with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by what
methods, or in what proportions, with sulphur and with the pitch that is
extracted from evergreen firs. From this mixture, which produced a thick
smoke and a loud explosion, proceeded a fierce and obstinate flame, which
not only rose in perpendicular ascent, but likewise burnt with equal vehe-
mence in descent or lateral progress ; instead of being extinguished, it was
nourished and quickened by the element of water ; and sand, urine, or
vinegar were the only remedies that could damp the fury of this powerful
agent, which was justly denominated by the Greeks, the liquid or maritime
fire. For the annoyance of the enemy, it was employed with equal effect, by
sea and land, in battles and in sieges. It was either poured from the rampart
in large boilers, or launched in red-hot balls of stone and iron, or darted in
arrows and javelins, twisted round with flax and tow, which had deeply
imbibed the inflammable oil ; sometimes it was deposited in fire-ships, the
victims and instruments of a more ample revenge, and it was most commonly
blown through long tubes of copper which were planted on the prow of a
galley, and fancifully shaped into the mouths of savage monsters that seemed
to vomit a stream of liquid and consuming fire. This important art was
preserved at Constantinople as the palladium of the State : the galleys and
artillery might occasionally be lent to the allies of Rome ; but the composi-
tion of the Greek fire was concealed with the most zealous scruple, and the
terror of the enemy was increased and prolonged by their ignorance and sur-
prise. In the treatise on the Administration of the Empire, the royal author

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(Constantine) suggests the answers that might best elude the indiscreet
curiosity and importunate demands of the Barbarians. They should be told
that the mystery of the Greek fire had been revealed by an angel to the first
and greatest of the Constantines, with the sacred injunction that this gift of
Heaven, this peculiar blessing of the Romans, should never be communicated
to any foreign nation ; that the prince and subject were alike bound to
religious silence under the temporal and spiritual penalties of treason and
sacrilege ; and that the infamous attempt would provoke the sudden and
supernatural vengeance of the God of the Christians. By these precautions
the secret was confined, above four hundred years, to the Romans of the East ;
and at the end of the eleventh century, the Pisans, to whom every sea and
every art were familiar, suffered the effects without understanding the com-
position of the Greek fire. It was at length either discovered or stolen by
the Mahometans ; and in the holy wars of Syria and Egypt they retorted an
invention, contrived against themselves, on the heads of the Christians. A
knight, who despised the swords and lances of the Saracens, relates with
heartfelt sincerity his own fears and those of his companions at the sight
and sound of this mischievous engine that discharged a torrent of the Greek
fire, the “ feu Gregeois,” as it is styled by the more early of the French
writers. It came flying through the air, says Joinville (History of St. Louis),
like a winged long-tailed dragon, about the thickness of an hogshead, with
the report of thunder and the velocity of lightning ; and the darkness of the
night was dispelled by this deadly illumination. The use of the Greek, or,
as it may be called, the Saracen fire was continued to the middle of the four-
teenth century, when the scientific or casual compound of nitre, sulphur, and
charcoal effected a new revolution in the art of war and the history of
mankind.

From certain allusions as to the manner in which the Greek
fire was used — viz., that it was cast from catapults and slings
— I was inclined at one time to believe that a solid ball was
cast from the engine, and that it ignited in its course through
the air. On further inquiry I feel that this hypothesis is un-
tenable, the arguments of Beckman appearing to be conclu-
sive that the substance employed was liquid, and was even
sometimes thrown from engines constructed after the manner
of our modern fire-engines. He remarks that, in the East,
engines were employed not only to extinguish but to produce
fires : — -

The Greek fife invented by Callinicus, an architect of Heliopolis, a city
afterwards named Balbec, in the year 678, the use of which was continued in
the East till 1291, and which was certainly liquid, was employed in many
different ways, but chiefly on board ship ; being thrown by large fire-
engines on the ships of the enemy. Sometimes this fire was kindled in
particular vessels, which might be called fire-ships, and which were introduced
amongst a hostile fleet ; sometimes it was put into jars and other vessels,
which were thrown at the enemy by means of projectile machines ; and
sometimes it was squirted by the soldiers from hand engines, or, as it appears,
was blown through pipes. But the machines with which this fire was dis-

GREEK EIRE.

167

charged from the fore part of ships could not have been either hand engines
or such blow-pipes. They were constructed of copper and iron, and the
extremity of them sometimes resembled the open mouth and jaws of a lion
or other animal ; they were painted, and even gilded, and it appears that
they were capable of projecting the fire to a great distance.

In some of the ancient drawings of ships, we see as a figure-
head an animal with rays issuing from the month, as if fire
were being vomited forth — a representation, probably, of the
ancient fire-ship described above. Even in the present day
the same kind of figure-head is sometimes erected.

Continuing his narrative/ Beckman states that the machines
by which the liquid substance was thrown forth were expressly
called, by the ancient writers, spouting engines.

John Comeniata, speaking of the siege of his native city, Thessalonica,
which was taken by the Saracens in the year 904, says that the enemy
threw fire into the wooden works of the besieged, which was blown into them
by means of tubes, and thrown from other vessels. This passage which
I do not find quoted in any of the works that treat of Greek fire, proves that
the Greeks, at the beginning of the tenth century, were no longer the only
people acquainted with the art of preparing this fire, the precursor of our
gunpowder. The Emperor Leo, who about the same time wrote his u Art of
War,” recommends such engines, with a metal covering, to be constructed in
the fore part of ships ; and he twice afterwards mentions engines for throwing
out Greek fire.

Great attention bas been paid to tlie question, —“At wkat
period was the Greek fire introduced into warfare ? Sir William
Temple traced it as far back as the seventh century, but
Gibbon treats the argument as destitute of fact, and, indeed,
as false. Theophanes, however, and Cedrenus, trace it back
to the year 660, when, they say, it was discovered by the
engineer Callinicus, of Heliopolis, or Balbec, who, it is re-
ported, learned the art of chemistry from the Egyptians, the
fathers of the art. Nay, by others the discovery has been
traced back to the pure Greek and Boman period, the in-
vention being assigned, by Joseph Scaliger, to one Marcus
Gracchus, or Grsecus, and its application being declared as
connected with the wars between the Greeks and Bornans,
and as common to both sides. Bespecting this last-named
hypothesis, I have only to state, that no direct testimony for
its support is to be found. The assertion is made purely on
inferences drawn from the Greek and Boman writers. By the

I same process of reasoning I think the invention might be traced
back earlier still, even^through our own Biblical records, and
through the Vedas. There is nothing improbable, indeed, in the
hypothesis of a very early origin of Greek fire ; for there are
an immense number of minor historical details, which would lead,

168 POPULAE SCIENCE EE VIEW.

by circumstantial evidence, to the conclusion that the discovery
is traceable to what may be called the second grand historic
period of the world's history. In law a great many human
lives have been taken on evidence infinitely less reliable ; but
men of science being naturally, from their love of the demon-
strative, the antipodes of the lawyer, and having no legal
subtleties, shams, and glib inferences from nothing in their
hearts, despise so-called circumstantial evidence, as meaning
what the cleverest sophist can best present from the smallest
data, and as unworthy of all serious regard. They there-
fore will go, I doubt not, as a man, with Gibbon, in
believing nothing absolutely about Greek fire until they have
clear knowledge of the time when the invention was actually
used in warfare, which would bring it down to the ninth
century.

This much we know : that there was, under the Constan-
tines, a liquid substance which, discharged from a catapult,
bow, or sling, ignited in the air spontaneously. We know
that the fire thus produced was very terrible in its effects, and
we learn that, as the use of gunpowder came to be better
known, Greek fire became of no importance : gunpowder blew
it out of the field.

It still remains an interesting question, — What was the
nature of this Greek fire fluid ? On this point nothing posi-
tive remains. The Princess Anna Comnena says it was com-
posed of sulphur, resin, and oil. Roger Bacon is supposed to
have given two of its constituents — viz., sulphur and saltpetre
— but to have hidden the third in the absurd sentence (at
least, to us absurd), “ Luru vopo vir Can utriet !" but in the
sentence referred to, Bacon may be referring to gunpowder.
In a word, it is hopeless, in the confusion surrounding the
whole subject, to come to any decisive opinion. At the same
time it is not improbable that, in the main, the formula of the
Princess Anna Comnena is not far from the truth. Our diffi-
culty in understanding her formula lies in the construction we
put on the word “ resin." We are not departing a letter from
what is known at the present day in chemical science to sup-
pose that a so-called resin was used, which, on admixture with
oil and sulphur, formed a compound that would spontaneously
ignite on exposure to the air. In another way we sometimes
have fire produced in these days, — when saw-dust and oil are
admixed, and what is called spontaneous combustion ensues.

The remarkable feature of the old Greek liquid is, that it
must have been very safe in the mass, as safe as turpentine or
common naphtha. Had not this been the case, it could never
have been carried in wooden galleys or pumped through
engines in torrents. It must have ignited in the air from the

GREEK EIRE.

169

extreme diffusion of its oxidizable constituents, and their expo-
sure to oxygen : lighted in this way at one point, the flame
would rapidly extend, with explosion; and the fire, as Join-
ville states, would come down with the velocity of lightning.

I shall take occasion at some future day to lay before the
public some carefully elicited facts, of an experimental order, in
reference to the compound described by the Princess Anna
Comnena ; for the subject is one not of historical interest
merely, but of national importance. I do not suppose that any
fluid, such as is described by the Byzantine writers, will again
be used in shells or during bombardment ; but in these days,
when every vessel has a steam-engine, and could have a
forcing engine to be worked by steam, it might be that an
enemy, supplied with a combustible fluid such as has been
described, would prove of terrible danger in attacking wooden
ships, especially those belonging to the mercantile marine.

MODERN GREEK EIRE.

In order to understand the revival of “ liquid fire,” or, if we
must still continue to call it so, “ Greek fire,” we must descend
to the year 1680, the year in which was discovered the method
of making a compound called a “ pyrophorus.33 In that year a
chemist, named Homberg, endeavoured to extract from human
faeces a colourless and odourless oil, which should have the
power of fixing mercury. Macquer, who is the most accurate
authority on these points, tells us that Homberg, when he had
mixed the substances, upon which he was operating with
different matters, was much surprised, while taking the cctput
mortuum of one of these mixtures out of the retort, four days
after it had been operated on, to see it kindle and burn
strongly as soon as it was exposed to the air. Homberg recol-
lected that this was the residuum of a mixture of alum and human
faeces from which he had obtained all that he could by means
of a red heat. He repeated the process, and obtained the
same result. • Having published his discovery, other experi-
mentalists also repeated the proceeding, the statement was
fully confirmed and the name “ pyrophorus” — irvp (pur), fire ;
ij>spi o ( pher'd ), I bear — was soon applied to the spontaneously
ignitible substance. From the Germans it also got the name
of u luft zunder,” or air tinder.

Until the year 1713 it was believed implicitly, that in order
to make the pyrophorus, human fseces were essentially neces-
sary; then Lemeri the younger instituted a new inquiry, in which
he substituted honey for the other animal matter ; the result was
the same : afterwards he used sugar, then flour, and with like
effects. He was followed by the eminent chemist, Dr. Lejay
de Savigny, who clearly proved, that by the addition of any

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

inflammable body whatever, a pyrophorus may be made of all
such substances as contain vitriolic acid combined either with
earth, or with an alkaline salt, or with a metallic substance.
Little improvement in the composition of the pyrophorus was
introduced until the time of Gray Lussac, with whose name all
moderns are familiar. Gray Lussac modified the process by
placing lamp-black, instead of the animal matters named, in
the retort. A little further on, sulphate of magnesia was sub-
stituted by the same chemist for alum; and at last the follow-
ing’ formula was given as the best for an active pyrophorus :
lamp-black, 15 parts; sulphate of potassa, 27*3 parts. This
•compound ignites in the air with great rapidity, yielding
sulphurous acid in large quantities, and setting fire in any
open place to all combustible matter, with an energy that is
peculiarly its own.

The pyrophorus remained up to our own time a substance,
mainly, of chemical interest. It was. exhibited at lectures as a
means for showing off a startling experiment, but not more.
I can find indeed but one passage in chemical literature which
refers to the use of spontaneously inflammable substances in
war. That sentence is in the article on Gunpowder in the
chemical essays of the learned Dr. Watson, published in 1793.
He there says, in speaking of the antiquity of gunpowder : —

There are substances in nature from the combination of which it is possible
to destroy a ship, a citadel, or an army, by a shower of liquid fire sponta-
neously lighted in the air. Every person who is aware of the dreadful fiery
explosion which attends the mixture of two or three quarts of spirit of
turpentine with strong acid of nitre, must acknowledge the truth of the
assertion ; but the simple knowledge of effecting such a destruction is a very
different matter from the knowledge of its practicability, though future ages
may, perhaps, invent as many different ways of making these substances
ignite in the air, so as to fall down in drops of fire, as have been invented in
making gunpowder since the time of Bacon.

We may pass from the time of Dr. Watson to fihe year 1853.
In the latter year, the subject of “ liquid fire” began to
occupy the attention of Mr. Wentworth Scott, then a student
of chemistry at the Royal College of Chemistry in Oxford Street.
Mr. Scott commenced his work by making a pyrophorus ; and,
after various modifications he formed one which promised to
be most effective, and which, I believe, still might be used
with considerable effect. He brought a specimen of this to
mo, at Mortlake, where I then resided, and showed to me its
properties by filling a small glass shell with the substance, and
then throwing the shell against a high wall in a garden, so as
to break the glass and distribute the contents. As the solid
particles descended, they burst into flame with great force, and

GREEK FIRE.

171

descended to tlie earth in a perfect shower of flame, burning
for some time afterwards with great intensity. A few days
later, Mr. Scott came again, bringing what he called “ liquid
fire;” bringing, that is to say, a solution which on being shot
into the air burst into fire spontaneously, and which, spread
over any surface exposed to the air, also burst into flame. Mr.
Scott made some of this solution in my laboratory, and we at
once tried its effects. I tipped arrows with tow, and, saturating
the tow with the liquid, propelled the arrows from a bow ; the
tow invariably took fire spontaneously in the air, and com-
bustible articles into which the arrows were driven were fired
with wonderful rapidity and certainty.

Within a few weeks after the production of this liquid, Mr.
Scott had devised a shell in which it could be placed, so as to
make it available for purposes of war. This shell consisted of two
parts ; of an outward part and of an inner or exploding tube.
The outer part or cavity was to be charged with the fluid and
closed ; the exploding tube was to be filled with ordinary
explosive matter that could be discharged, either by a fusee or
by percussion. On the discharge, the whole shell would burst, and
the contained spontaneously igniting fluid would be distributed.

After witnessing Mr. Scott's numerous experiments, I urged
him at once to lay them before the Board of Ordnance. He
did so, and was received several times. The Russian war was
in progress at the period when Mr. Scott was being treated
with by this Board. The members were anxious to handle
the newly proposed implement of war, but were either too
much afraid of it, or were too bound down to official routine
to be actuated by the same decision and common sense that
men of business are given to cultivate. They simply played
with the question (I can use no other word), dandled it, took it
up warmly, and then pnt it down again as if they had themselves
been burnt, without fire. They asked for an experiment of Mr.
Scott. He did many successfully : they promised to give him an
experiment with a gun and a shell ; but when he went to per-
form it, he was advised that he must find shells at his own
expense. There were hundreds of shells ready made and
belonging to the country, which would have answered his
purpose, but he was refused the use of them. He must have
his own shells made. Naturally disgusted with the indecision
and narrowness of these circumlocution officials, Mr. Scott
withdrew from the inquiry and was by-and-by supplanted
by another candidate with liquid fire, who in time also was
allowed to sink into neglect ; — I refer to Captain Disney. Mr.
Scott's researches nevertheless were not lost. A very ingenious
and enthusiastic officer. Captain Norton, whose valuable inven-
tions have been but poorly appreciated, took up the subject.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

and invented a small shell for an ordinary rifle, which would
carry sufficient liquid fire to do immense mischief. The shell
burst, or rather broke, on striking, and set free the fluid. With'
one of these shells, and with his own rifle. Captain Norton, at
six hundred yards, could fire a piece of ordinary sailcloth,
stretched out like a sail, with absolute precision. I calculated
that eighty men, armed with Captain Norton*s piece, could
plant in a wooden ship, at six hundred yards* distance, one
gallon of liquid fire fluid every four minutes. Taking all
failures fully into account, it were impossible for a ship so
treated to endure long. She must soon be on fire in several
hundred points, and, what is more, she never could be safe
again : for though the fire were effectually suppressed at the
moment, the chances are that it would break out at a
subsequent period.

Foreseeing the application of liquid fire in warfare, and
being1 aware that the Russian government was actively
extending inquiries on the application of chemistry in warfare,
I communicated to the Times a letter on the whole subject,
which letter was published in 1855. I explained there what
Mr. Scott had done, and what might yet be done. The
communication, copied largely into English and continental
journals, passed to America,, and was made the subject of
considerable comment there.

With the close of the Russian war the question of liquid fire
dropped, and we hear no more of it until this year, when we
find that General Gilmore, on the second Thursday in August,
threw shells charged with Greek fire into Charleston. That
the effect, however partial, was sufficiently terrible, is proved
by the fact that the Confederate general (Beauregard) sent
back a denunciation of the missile forwarded to him by the
cannon* s mouth ; declaring it to be the most villanous com-
pound ever used in war.

Since then, Gilmore has from time to time used “ Greek
fire.** Why he has not used it more, is due to the fact
that his shells for projecting it were not perfect. Some of
them were intended to burst by percussion, but failed ; in
others, the fusee employed did not answer ; the shell either
burst at short distance, or fell without bursting, and was obtained
by the enemy, and put out before doing harm. At Springfield,
a new fusee and shell, for the special purpose of “ Greek fire
shells,** are being, I believe, prepared at this time, so that we
are sure to hear more on the subject if the war in America
continues.

From these facts we may pass to the consideration of
the composition, properties, and mode of action of modern
Greek fire. The first thing worthy of note is that the prim

GREEK EIRE.

173

ciple is the same in this as in the ancient method. In both
cases, a body greedy, under favourable conditions, for oxygen,
bursts into flame on being distributed over a wide surface in
the air, owing to the fact of the combination of its oxidable
parts with the oxygen of the air. In the old Greek fire, the
burning body was probably a hydro-carbon ; in the modern,
the body commonly used is phosphorus. There is, at the
present time, in England, a patent by a gentleman named
Macdonald, in which the composition of the fluid used is
given as phosphorus, bisulphide of carbon, and naphtha. This
composition, which has been described by its patentee in the
columns of one of the daily papers, differs somewhat in detail
from that of Mr. Scott, but it answers as well as need be for
the purpose of explaining the mode of action of the fluid.

When widely distributed and exposed to the air, one of the
ingredients of this fluid, the phosphorus, combines eagerly with
oxygen, and bursts into flame. If phosphorus be merely
pressed out over a wide surface in a thin layer, it begins to
burn, and the thinner the layer the quicker the combustion.
It would, of course, be too troublesome to carry out
extension of phosphorus by pressure for the use of the
soldier, and so another plan is adopted. It happens that
phosphorus is extremely soluble in the fluid known as bisul-
phide of carbon. In this fluid phosphorus dissolves almost as
sugar dissolves in water. Rendered soluble in the bisulphide
of carbon, the phosphorus remains as unchanged phosphorus
spread over a large surface of a fluid which prevents it from
burning so long as it is in contact with it. The solution
of phosphorus thus prepared, if put in a closed bottle, may be
kept for years without undergoing any change, and without
danger. I have some that has been in bottle for seven years,
and it is the same as ever. But now comes a new fact.
Bisulphide of carbon is a volatile body at ordinary tempera-
tures ; phosphorus is not volatile. Whenever, therefore, the
solution of bisulphide of carbon and phosphorus is poured
over any surface in the open air, the bisulphide of carbon,
being volatile, evaporates, leaving the phosphorus distributed
in a fine layer. Thus exposed, the oxygen of the air unites
with *»the phosphorus, flame is produced, and any other
combustible body is fired.

The principle once established, endless modifications may be
introduced upon it : for instance, Mr. Macdonald adds naphtha,
which, when fired by the phosphorus, burns with great fury.
Mr. Scott has a method that has not yet been published, by
which the fluid continues to burn even if it be covered with
water : and there would be no difficulty in so producing it,
that it should be absolutely nnextinguishable, until it was
itself burnt out.
vol. hi. — no. x.

N

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

The occurrence of flame — that is to say, the moment of
combustion — is not, however, always to be calculated on with
precision. The temperature of the air, the force of the wind,
and the extent of surface over which the fluid is spread, all
make great differences. Thus, in an experiment with a specimen
of Scott’s liquid fire fluid, I found that, at a temperature of
63° Fahrenheit, with a fair wind blowing, combustion took
place in four minutes and a half, the fluid being distributed
over dry wood ; but when the same fluid was distributed in
the same way, and at the same time, over moist wool, com-
bustion was delayed for half an hour. It is, at the same time,
quite unnecessary to dwell on such differences as are here
described : to the practical man they would be infinitely less
difficult to meet than many others, occurring in the manage-
ment of weapons of war. The engineer would have neces-
sarily to make his own calculations on each firing, taking into
account the temperature, the wind, and the character of the
structure on which the fluid was about to be cast.

Regarding Greek fire as we at present understand it in
England, I have only one other word to add, and that is most
important. I have many times tried to impress it, and must, by
repetition, do so again. It is a caution. It is this : that if we
were at war with any nation, and that nation were to throw a
gallon of liquid fire fluid into any one of our wooden ships, that
ship would never be absolutely safe again. The combustion
might be prevented for the moment ; it might be (assuming
always that Mr. Scott’s new compound is not in question)
suppressed after combustion ; but the fire, after all, is only
suppressed : that is the great point. So soon as the water
has evaporated or so soon as the cover is removed — though a
month, a year, a century had elapsed — the fire would break
out ; and, paradoxical as it may seem, the more effectual the
means of suppression had been, the more determinate would
be the combustion when that suppression was removed.

I can consider no disaster more terrible than the lodgment
of a few shells of Greek fire fluid on board a wooden vessel of
war. What if such a vessel should even come out of a great
fight victorious ! Whither between her beams, and floorings,
and crevices has the inflammable liquid not permeated ? How
safe is her magazine ? When her carpenters afterwards, at
any time, are taking her to pieces, in parts, for repair, what
guarantee is there they shall not remove boards that are,
on exposure, transformed into gigantic self - lighting lucifer
matches ?

It remains only for me to describe, in brief terms, such facts as
are known in relation to American Greek fire. The scientific
narrative will then be as complete as it can be rendered at the
present moment.

GREEK EIRE.

175

The American pyrophorus is stated to have been invented by
Levi Short. It is somewhat difficult to arrive at any correct
conclusions as to the precise character of the composition
employed. I believe, however, that two forms are resorted to.
In one of these a fluid is used, as in Mr. Scott's plan ; the fluid
is simply poured into a shell, and the shell, in exploding,
discharges its contents, ignition taking place on exposure to
the air ; the flame produced is described as yellowish and
dull, as not very vigorous in action, and as evolving a white
smoke. There can be no doubt that the fluid exhibiting
these characteristics, on ignition, consists simply of phosphorus
dissolved in bisulphide of carbon, and it is also probable that,
as an invention, it is an imitation of the English patent.

But there is another description of American Greek fire
which is new in its details. It is described that, in this case,
the spontaneously combustible material is of a dark colour,
and is enclosed in tin tubes about four inches long, and
lightly closed at one end. These tubes, when opened at the
end, spontaneously ignite, on exposure to the air, at the open
end, and burn for so long a time as twenty minutes with a
brisk flame, evolving a strong smell of sulphur. When
they are opened high up in the air, the combustible matter
falls in a stream or shower of fire. From the description thus
given, there can, I think, be little doubt that the substance
used is the old pyrophorus of Gay Lussac, the composition of
which has been given above. Or it may consist of common
gunpowder saturated with bisulphide of carbon containing a
very small quantity of phosphorus in solution. The tin tubes
containing the spontaneously combustible body are packed in
a shell having a tube for the charge of powder that is to produce
rupture of the shell. The isolation of the combustible matter
in separate tubes is new, and is an ingenious improvement.
It happens often, that when a globe containing the combustible
stuff is burst by discharge of powder, the ignition takes place
immediately, and the effect would be too rapid to be injurious
to an enemy. By placing the matter that is to ignite in different
chambers or cylinders, this is avoided ; the shell on bursting
distributes the tin cases like so many fragments ; these on
falling easily break, set free their contents, and become so
many centres of flame.

In practice, the results obtained from Greek fire, when it is
thrown from a shell, are wanting in precision. It seems that
General Gilmore first used percussion shells, which were to ex-
plode on striking, and to distribute the pyrophorus. The shells
did not act correctly ; many of them fell without being dis-
charged. The fact led the general to apply for a peculiar fusee,
which should fire the powder with such accuracy, that when the

176

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

shell was crossing a given spot; it should burst in the air, and
rain down fire on the place beneath. There is as yet great
expense in the manufacture of the perfect shells and fusees ; a
circumstance which fully accounts for the present limited
application of the principle, in the great American contest for
the freedom of the slave.

For my own part, I am somewhat in doubt whether a
shell, as the projectile of Greek fire, will be retained in use.
It is more probable that a catapult worked by a steam-engine
will be found the best means of throwing the combustible. If
this plan were adopted, the liquid would merely require to be
enclosed in earthenware or glass jars, that would break on
contact with solid matter, in falling. With a properly con-
structed engine, so contrived as to throw liquid fire in earthen-
ware or glass globes of six inches diameter, ten thousand
gallons of the combustible could easily be thrown, per hour,
upon any given point within range.

I have now placed before the reader the facts practically
known in respect to Greek fire, and its applications in war.
But it must not be inferred that all that has thus been done is
all that science can do. I feel it a duty to state openly and
boldly, that if science were to be allowed her full swing, if
society would really allow that “ all is fair in war,” war might
be banished at once from the earth as a game which neither
subject nor king dare play at. Globes that could distribute
liquid fire could distribute also lethal agents, within the breath
of which no man, however puissant, could stand and live.
From the summit of Primrose Hill, a few hundred engineers,
properly prepared, could render Regent's Park, in an incre-
dibly short space of time, utterly uninhabitable ; or could make
an army of men, that should even fill that space, fall with their
arms in their hands, prostrate and helpless as the host of
Sennacherib.

The question is, shall these things be ? I do not see that
humanity should revolt ; for would it not be better to destroy
a host in Regent's Park by making the men fall as in a mystical
sleep, than to let down on them another host to break their
bones, tear their limbs asunder, and gouge out their entrails
with three-cornered pikes ; — leaving a vast majority undead,
and writhing for hours in torments of the damned ? I conceive,
for one, that science would be blessed in spreading her wings
on the blast, and breathing into the face of a desperate horde
of men a prolonged sleep — for it need not necessarily be a
death — which they could not grapple with, and which would
yield them up with their implements of murder to an enemy
that in the immensity of its power could afford to be as
merciful as Heaven.

GREEK FIRE.

177

The question is, shall these things be ? I think they must
be. By what compact can they be stopped ? It were impro-
bable that any congress of nations could agree on any code
regulating means of destruction : but if it did, it were useless ;
for science becomes more powerful as she concentrates her
forces in the hands of units, so that a nation could only act, by
the absolute and individual assent of each of her representa-
tives. Assume, then, that France shall lay war to England,
and by superior force of men should place immense hosts, well
armed, on English soil. Is it probable that the units would
rest in peace and allow sheer brute force to win its way to
empire ? Or put English troops on French soil, and reverse
the question ?

To conclude. War has, at this moment, reached, in its details,
such an extravagance of horror and of cruelty, that it cannot
be made worse by any art, and can only be made more merci-
ful by being rendered more terribly energetic. Who that had
to die from a blow would not rather place his head under
Nasmyth's hammer, than submit it to a drummer-boy armed
with a ferule ?

These thoughts are submitted in order to call forth more
thought : this whole paper, in fact, is essentially dedicated to the
Peace Party, for the consideration of its members, and as indicat-
ing a way, infinitely shorter than their own, by which their great
objects may be achieved. Let them urge the Government to
entrust men of science, under proper superintendence, to pre-
pare, as they list, known, but yet unformed, engines of destruc-
tion ; and in a very short inter^l the nations may, in truth, turn
their swords into ploughshares and learn war no more.

178

MICROSCOPIC FUNGI.

MILDEW AND BRAND.

BY M. C. COOKE.

DR. WITHERING^ “ Arrangement of British Plants” in
1818 reached its sixth edition. This is less than half
a century ago, and yet the whole number of species of Fungi
described in that edition was only 564, of which three hundred
were included under the old genus Agaricus. Less than eighty
of the more minute species of Fungi, but few of which deserve
the name of microscopic, were supposed to contain all then
known of these wonderful organisms. Since that period,
microscopes have become very different instruments, and one
result has been the increase of Withering\s 564 species of
British Fungi to the 3,078 enumerated in the te Index Fungorum
Britannicorum.” By far the greater number of species thus
added depend for their specific, and often generic characters,
upon microscopical examination. The proportion which the
cryptogamic section bears to the phanerogamic in our local
Floras before 1818, now almost involuntarily causes a smile.
Even such authors as were supposed to pay the greatest
possible respect to the lower orders of plants could never
present an equal number of pages devoted to them, as to the
higher orders. Relhan, for instance, only occupies one -fifth
of his “ Flora Cantabrigiensis,” and Hudson one-fourth of
his “ Flora Anglica,” with the Cryptogamia. At the present
time, it will be seen that, with a liberal allowance for “ hair-
splitting,” the number of British species of flowering plants
scarcely exceeds two-thirds of the number of Fungi alone, not
to mention ferns, mosses, algaa, and lichens, and yet we have
no “ Flora ” which contains them, and but a minority of our
botanists know anything about them. If we need excuse for
again directing attention to some of the most interesting of
one group of these plants, let the above remarks suffice in lieu
of formal apology.

Mildew ” is just one of those loose terms which represent
no definite idea, or a very different one to different individuals.
Talk of mildew to a farmer, and instantly he scampers mentally
over his fields of standing corn in search of the brown lines

Plate VIE

W West, imp

JE Pcwrby. e:

♦

MILDEW AND BRAND.

179

or irregular spots which indicate the unwelcome presence of
Puccinia graminis, known to him, and to generations of farmers
before him, as “ mildew.-” Try to convince a Norfolk farmer
that anything else is “ mildew,” and he will consider you insane
for your pains. Speak of mildew in your own domestic ( circle,
and inquire of wives, or daughters, or servants, what it means,
and without hesitation another, and even more minute species
of fungus, which attacks damp linen, will be indicated as the
true mildew, to the exclusion of all others; and with equal
claims to antiquity. Go to Farnham, or any other hop-
growing district, and repeat there your question, — What is
mildew ? — and there is every probability that you will be told
that it is a kind of mould which attacks the hop plant, but
which differs as much from both the mildew of the farmer and
the laundry-maid as they differ from each other. The vine-
grower has his mildew, the gardener his mildewed onions, the
stationer his mildewed paper from damp cellars, the plasterer
his mildewed walls, and in almost every calling, or sphere in
life, wherever a minute fungus commits its ravages upon stock,
crop, or chattels, to that individual owner it becomes a bug-
bear under the name of mildew.” Reluctantly this vague
term has been employed as a portion of the sub-title to this
paper, but it must be limited in its application to the “ mildew
of corn,” known to botanists as Puccinia graminis , and not
to include the numerous other microscopic Fungi to which the
name of mildew is often applied.

The origin of this term and its original meaning appear to
be alike obscure. A singular proof of the ignorance which
prevails in regard to all the fungal diseases of corn, may be
found in the fact that at least one of our best etymological
dictionaries states that the mildew in corn is the same as the
ergot of the French. Had the writer ever been a farmer, he
would have known the difference ; had he ever seen the two,
he could scarcely have made such a mistake. It is barely
possible for him ever to have heard the ergot of grain called
by the name of mildew.

How long this disease has been known, is another unsolved
problem. About the middle of the last century a tract was
published on this subject in Italy, but this was probably not
even the first intimation of its fungoid character. Before such
conclusion had been arrived at, men may have struggled in
the dark, through many generations, to account for a pheno-
menon with which they were doubtless familiar in its effects.
In 1805, Sir Joseph Banks published his “ Short Account,”
illustrated by engravings from the inimitable drawings of
Bauer, whereby many in this country learnt, for the first time,
the true nature of mildew.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

With a view to the clearer understanding of these parasites
in the phases of their development, let us select one, and we
cannot do better than adhere to that of the wheat and other
graminaceous plants. A fine day in May or June dawns upon
our preparations for a stroll, far enough into the country to
find a wheat-field. Even now, with the area of the metropolis
constantly widening, and banishing farmers and wheat-fields
farther and farther from the sound of Bow-bells, a corn-field
may be reached by a good stiff walk from Charing- Cross, or
a sixpenny ride at the most, in nearly any direction. Having
reached the field, it may be promised that a walk into it of less
than twenty yards, will be sure to reward you with the fungus
we are in quest of. Look down at the green leaves, especially
the lower ones, and you will soon find one apparently grown
rusty. The surface seems to be sprinkled with powdered red
ochre, and grown sickly under the operation. Pluck it care-
fully, and examine it with a pocket lens. Already the structure
of a healthy leaf is familiar to you, but in the present instance
the cuticle is traversed with numerous longitudinal cracks or
fissures, within which, and about their margins, you discern
an orange powder, to which the rusty appearance of the leaf
is due. Further examination reveals also portions in which
the cuticle is distended into yellowish elongated pustules, not
yet ruptured, and which is an earlier stage of the same disease.
This is the “ rust ” of the agriculturist, the Trichobasis rubigo
vera of botanists, the first phase of the corn mildew.

To know more of this parasite, we must have recourse to
the microscope ; having therefore collected a few leaves for
this purpose, we return homewards to follow up the investiga-
tion. We will not stay to detail the processes of manipulation,
since these will not offer any deviations from the ordinary
modes of preparation and examination of delicate vegetable
tissues.

The vegetative system of the “ rust,” and similar fungi,
consists of a number of delicate, simple, or branched threads,
often intertwining and anastomosing, or uniting one to the
other by means of lateral branchlets. These threads, termed
the mycelium, penetrate the intercellular spaces, and insinuate
themselves in a complete network amongst the cells of which
the leaf, or other diseased portion of the plant, is composed.
High powers of the microscope, and equally high powers of
patience and perseverance, are necessary to make out this
part of the structure. We may regard the whole mycelium of
one pustule, or spore-spot, as the vegetative system of one
fungal plant. At first this mycelium might have originated
in a number of individuals, which afterwards became confluent
and combined into one for the production of fruit, that is to

MILDEW AND BRAND.

181

say, an indefinite number of points in the vicinity of the
future mycelium developed threads ; and these, in the process
of growth, interlaced each other, and ultimately, by means of
transverse processes, became united into one vegetative system,
in which the individuality of each of the elementary threads
became absorbed, and by one combined effort a spore-spot, or
cluster of fruit, is produced. In the first instance a number
of minute, transparent, colourless cellules are developed from
the mycelium : these enlarge, become filled with an orange-
coloured endochrome, and appear beneath the cuticle of the
leaf as yellowish spots. As a consequence of this increase in
bulk, the cuticle becomes distended in the form of a pustule
over the yellow cellules, and at length, unable longer to with-
stand the pressure from beneath, ruptures in an irregular more
or less elongated fissure (as in fig. 24), and the yellow bodies,
now termed spores (whether correctly so, we do not at present
inquire), break from their short pedicels and escape, to the
naked eye presenting the appearance of an orange or rust-
coloured powder. In this stage the spores are globose, or
nearly so, and consist of but one cell (resembling figs. 3, 6, and
9). It will afford much instructive amusement to examine one
of these ruptured pustules as an opaque object under a low
power, and afterwards the spores may be viewed with a higher
power as a transparent object. The difference in depth of tint,
the nearly colourless and smaller immature spores, and the
tendency in some of the fully matured ones to elongate, are all
facts worthy of notice, as will be seen hereafter.

A month or two later in the season, and we will make
another trip to the cornfield. Rusty leaves, and leaf-sheaths,
have become even more common than before. A little careful
examination, and, here and there, we shall find a leaf or two
with decidedly brown pustules intermixed with the rusty ones,
or, as we have observed several times during the past autumn,
the pustules towards the base of the leaf orange, and those
towards the apex reddish brown. If we remove from the
browner spots a little of the powder, by means of a sharp-
pointed knife, and place it in a drop of water or alcohol on a
glass slide, and after covering with a square of thin glass, sub-
mit it to examination under a quarter-inch objective, a different
series of forms will be observed. There will still be a pro-
portion of sub-globose, one-celled, yellow spores ; but the
majority will be elongated, most with pedicels or stalks, if they
have been carefully removed from the leaf, and either decidedly
two-celled, or with an evident tendency to become so. The
two cells are separated by a partition or dissepiment which
divides the original cell transversely into an upper and lower
cell, with an external constriction in the plane of the dissepi-

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

ment (Plate VII. fig. 22). These bilocular, or two-celled spores
are those of the “ corn mildew ” {Puccinia graminis) } which
may be produced in the same pustules, and from the same
mycelium, as the “ corn rust,” but which some mycologists
consider to be a distinct fungus, others only a modification or
stage of the same fungus. After an examination of the dif-
ferent forms in the allied genera to which this paper is devoted,
we shall be able with less of explanation and circumlocution
to canvass these two conflicting opinions.

Let us proceed, for the third and last time, to our cornfield,
when the corn is nearly or fully ripe, or let us look over any
bundle of straw, and we shall find blackish spots from the size
of a pin's head to an inch in length, mostly on the sheaths of
the leaves, often on the culm itself. This is the fully deve-
loped mildew , and when once seen is not likely afterwards
to be confounded with any other parasite on straw (fig. 20).
The drawings of Bauer have already been alluded to. Bauer
was botanical draughtsman to George III., and his exquisite
drawings, both of the germination of wheat and the fungi
which infest it, are marvels of artistic skill. A reduced figure
from part of one of his drawings is given in the plate (fig. 21)
exhibiting a tuft of the bilocular spores of Puccinia graminis
bursting through a piece of wheat straw. These closely-
packed tufts or masses of spores, when examined with a com-
mon lens, seem, at first, to resemble the minute sorus of some
species of fern ; but when seen with higher powers, the appa-
rent resemblance gives place to something very different.
The tufts consist of multitudes of stalked bodies, termed
spores, which are constricted in the middle and narrowed
towards either extremity. The partition, or septum, thrown
across the spore at the constriction, separates it into two
portions, each of which consists of a cell- wall enclosing an
inner vesicle filled with the endochrome (fig. 22) or granular
contents, in which a nucleus may often be made out. This
species of Puccinia is very common on all the cereals culti-
vated in this country, and on many of the grasses. A variety
found on the reed was at one time considered a distinct species,
but the difference does not seem sufficient to warrant a sepa-
ration. However near some other of the recognized species
may seem to approximate in the form of the spores, a very
embryo botanist will not fail to observe the distinctive features
in the spores of the corn mildew, and speedily recognize them
amongst a host of others ; subject as they may be to slight
deviations in form, resulting either from external pressure,
checks in development, or other accidental circumstances, or
the variations of age.

There is no doubt in the minds of agriculturists, botanists.

MILDEW AND BRAND.

183

savansj or farm-labourers, that the mildew is very injurious to
the corn crop. Different opinions may exist as to how the
plants become inoculated, or how infection may be prevented
or cured. Some have professed to believe that the spores,
such as we have seen produced in clusters on wheat straw,
enter by the stomata, or pores, of the growing plant, “ and
at the bottom of the hollows to which they lead, they ger-
minate and push their minute roots into the cellular texture.”
Such an explanation, however plausible at first sight, fails on
examination, from the fact that the spores are too large
to find ingress by such minute openings. It is impro-
bable that the spores enter the growing plant at all. The
granular contents of the spores may effect an entrance either
through the roots or by the stomata, or the globose bodies
produced upon the germination of the spores, may be the
primary cause of infection. We are not aware that this question
has been satisfactorily determined. It is worthy of remem-
brance by all persons interested in the growth of corn, that the
mildew is most common upon plants growing on the site of an
old dunghill, or on very rich soil. As the same Puccinia is
also to be found on numerous grasses, no prudent farmer will
permit these to luxuriate around the borders of his fields, lest
they should serve to introduce or increase the pest he so much
dreads.

The germination of the spores of the corn mildew is a very
interesting and instructive process, which may be observed
with a very little trouble. If the spores be scraped from the
sori of the preceding year (we are not sure that those of the
current year will succeed) and kept for a short time in a damp
atmosphere under a glass receiver, minute colourless threads
will be seen to issue both from the upper and lower divisions
of the spores. These will attain a length several times that of
the spores from whence they spring. The extremities of these
threads ultimately thicken, and two or three septae are formed
across each, dividing it into cells, in which a little orange-
coloured endochrome accumulates. From the walls of each
of these cells, or joints, a small pedicel, or spicule, is produced
outwards, the tip of which gradually swells until a spherical
head is formed, into which the orange-coloured fluid passes
from the extremities of the threads.* A quantity of such
threads, bearing at their summits from one to four of these
orange-coloured, spherical, secondary fruits, supply a beautiful
as well as interesting object for the microscope. When matured,
these globose bodies, which Tulasne has called sporidia ,
fall from the threads, and commence germinating on their own

* Similar in all essential particulars to the germination of Aregina (fig. 15).

184

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

account. It is not impossible that the sporidia, in this and
allied genera, may themselves produce a third and still more
minute fruit, capable of diffusion through the tissues of grow-
ing plants or gaining admission by their stomata. Nothing
of the kind, however, has yet been of certainty discovered.

Forty other species of Puccinia have been recorded as
occurring in Great Britain, to all of which many of the fore-
going remarks will also apply — viz., such as relate to their two-
celled spores being found associated with, and springing from,
the same mycelium as certain orange- coloured one-celled
spores ; and also the main features of the germinating
process.

A very singular and interesting species is not uncommon
on the more delicate grasses, being found chiefly confined to
the leaves, and produced in smaller and more rounded, or but
slightly elongated, patches (fig. 23). We have met with it
plentifully amongst the turf laid down in the grounds of the
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, and also on hedge-banks and in
pastures. The spores are rather smaller than those of Puc-
cinia graminis, but like them much elongated, slightly con-
stricted, and borne on persistent peduncles. The most pro-
minent distinction may be found in the apices of the spores,
which in this instance are not attenuated, but crowned with
a series of little spicules, or teeth, whence the specific name of
coronata has been derived (fig. 25).

The Labiate family of plants and its ally the Scrophulariaceee
are also subject to the attacks of several kinds of Brand, a
name, by the bye, often applied locally to the corn mildew
and other similar parasites, and which may have originated in
the scorched or burnt appearance which the infected parts
generally assume. In the former natural order the different
kind; of mint, the ground ivy, the wood-sage, and thebetony,
and in the latter, the water-figwort and several species of
veronica, or speedwell, are peculiarly susceptible ; and on
most a distinct species of Puccinia is found. To provide
against doubt which the less botanical of our readers may
possess of the meaning or value of the term Puccinia , which
has already occurred two or three times in this communication,
a brief explanation may be necessary, which more scientific
readers will excuse.

In botany, as in kindred sciences, acknowledged species
have their trivial, or specific name, generally derived from the
Latin. In the last species referred to, this was coronata , meaning
crowned , in reference to the coronated apex of the fruit. Any
indefinite number of species with some features in common,
are associated together in a group, which is termed a genus ,
and the term prefixed to the specific name of each species

MILDEW AND BRAND.

185

constituting tliat genus is its generic name, also commonly
derived from the Latin or Greek. In this instance, it is Puc -
cinia, derived from the Greek puka, meaning closely packed, sin-
gularly applicable to the manner in which the spores are packed
together in the pustules. The common features, or generic
distinctions, of this genus, are uniseptate spores borne on a
distinct peduncle.

In returning to the species found on Labiate plants, let us
suppose ourselves to have strolled towards Hampstead Heath,
and south of the road leading from Hampstead to Highgate,
near certain conspicuous and well-known arches, built for a
purpose not yet attained, are two or three muddy ponds nearly
choked up with vegetation. Some fine autumnal afternoon,
we must imagine ourselves to have reached the margin of the
most northern of these ponds, and amidst a thick growth of
reeds, sedges, and other water-loving plants, to have found
the water -mint in profusion and luxuriance, with every
leaf more or less occupied, on its under surface, with the
yellow spores of a species of rust ( TricJiobasis ) mixed with the
browner septate spores of the mint brand ( Puccinia Menthce).
This is common also on the horse-mint and corn-mint ; we
have found it on the wild basil and wild thyme, and once only
on marjoram. Having collected as many leaves as we desire,
and returned to home and the microscope, we proceed to
examine them in the same manner as we have already exa-
mined the mildew, and as a result of such proceeding arrive
at the following conclusions : — The pustules are small and
round, never elongated as in the corn mildew, and generally
confined to the under surface of the leaves (fig. 32). The
spores are sub-globose, slightly constricted, and the two cells
nearly two hemispheres with their flat surfaces turned towards
each other (fig. 33). The form delineated in figure 37 is that
of the sorus of many of the epiphytal brands, the centre being
occupied by the closely-packed spores, surrounded to a greater
or less extent by the remains of the ruptured epidermis.

Although the species of Puccinia (P. glechomatis) found on the
leaves of the ground-ivy is said to be very common, we sought
it in vain amongst every cluster of that plant met with during
last summer and autumn, until, nearly despairing of finding
it at all, we at last encountered a plot of ground-ivy covering
the ground to the width of two or three yards and in length
eight or ten, nearly every plant being attacked by the brand.
This was in the corner of a pasture, and the only time we found
infected plants. The fungus, however, may be as common as
the plant in other localities. The pustules on the leaves are
larger than those of the mints, and also confined to the
inferior surface (fig. 36). The spores are elliptic and but

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

slightly constricted ; the apex is often pointed, though not
always so much as in our figure (fig. 38).

Of other species found on allied plants we have not con-
sidered it necessary to give figures, or write much. The
betony brand (P. Betonicce , DO.) does not seem to be com-
mon enough to be readily found by any one desiring to
examine it for themselves ; and the same may be said of the
figwort brand (P. Scrophularice, Lib.), the wood-sage brand
(P. Scorodonice , Lk.), and the speedwell brand (P. Veronicarum ,
DC.); all of these are, however, characterized by a distinct
feature, or features, which have been considered of sufficient
importance to constitute a separate species.

We have had occasion to refer incidentally to the brand
found on the under surface of the leaves of the wood-anemone
(P. anemones , P.). This is one of the earliest and commonest
species. Go wherever the wood-anemone abounds, in any of
the woods lying immediately to the north of the metropolis,
or any of the woods in Kent, and from March to May it will
not be difficult to find attenuated, sickly-looking leaves, with
the under surface covered with the pustules of this brand,
looking so like the sori of some fern (fig. 28) that it has been,
and still is , sometimes considered as such. In Ray^s (( Syn-
opsis 99 (3rd edition, 1724), it is described in company with
the maidenhair and wall-rue ferns, a figure is given of it in
the same work (t. iii. fig. 1), and it is stated, — “this capillary
was gathered by the Conjuror of Chal grave/'’ When, after-
wards, it was better understood, and the spots came to be
regarded as true parasitic fungi, it still for a long time con-
tinued to bear the name, not even yet quite forgotten, of the
Conjuror of Chalgrave;s fern.

An examination of the spores, both collectively in the pus-
tules, and separately under a high power, will not fail to
convince any one who has examined only the species we have
already alluded to, that this parasite on the anemone (P. ane-
mones) is a true Puccinia, and a most interesting one. The
two cells of the spores are nearly spherical, and the constric-
tion is deeper and more positive than in any of the preceding.
Moreover, the surface of the spore is minutely and beautifully
echinulate, or covered with erect spines (fig. 29). Some few
other of the species found in Britain have echinulate spores,
but those are not common like the present. One word of
caution to the amateur in search of the Puccinia on the ane-
mone. It will be fruitless looking for it on the large foliaceous
bracts of the flower stalk, since these may be turned up care-
fully, till the back aches with stooping, ere a solitary pustule
will be found ; but the true leaves, proceeding from the rhi-
zomes, are certain soon to afford you specimens.

MILDEW AND BRAND.

187

Everybody knows the dandelion, but it is not every one who
has noticed the fungi found upon its leaves. These are most
commonly of two kinds, or probably the unilocular and bilo-
cular forms of the same species : the latter we have found in
the month of May, and the former in August and September.
The lower leaves of young seedlings have generally rewarded
us with the best specimens of the septate-fruited brand
{Puccinia variabilis, Grev.). The pustules occur on both sides
of the leaf, and are very small and scattered (fig. 39). The
spores are singularly variable in form : sometimes both divi-
sions are nearly equal in size ; sometimes the upper, and
sometimes the lower, division is the smallest; occasionally
the septum will be absent altogether; and more rarely, the
spores will contain three cells. From the very variable
character of the spores (fig. 40) the specific name has been
derived.

No species in the entire genus makes so prominent an
appearance as the one found on the radical leaves of the
spear thistle ( Garduus lanceolatus) . This latter plant is
exceedingly abundant, and so is its parasite {Puccinia syn-
genesiarum , Lk.). From the month of July till the frosts set in
we may be almost certain of finding specimens in any wood.
The leaves have a paler roundish spot, from one-twelfth to
one-fourth of an inch in diameter, on the upper surface, and
a corresponding dark brown raised spot on the under surface,
caused by an aggregation of pustules, forming a large com-
pound pustule, often partly covered with the epidermis. The
individual pustules are small, but this aggregate mode of
growth gives the clusters great prominence, and therefore
they are not easily overlooked (fig. 26). Although not con-
fined to this species of thistle, we have not yet found this
Puccinia on any other plant. The spores are elliptical, rather
elongated, constricted, and without spines (fig. 27).

Other species of Puccinia are found on Composite plants,
but with none of these is the present fungus likely to be con-
founded, if regard be had to its pecular habit. The leaves, for
instance, of the common knapweed {Centaur ea nigra) are often
sprinkled with the small pustules of the centaury brand
{Puccinia composita/rum , Sch.) ; these generally occupy the
under surface of the lower radical leaves (fig. 30) ; occasionally a
few of the pustules appear on the upper surface. We have not
often found this fungus in the neighbourhood of London on the
leaves of the knapweed, but, on the other hand, we have en-
countered it very commonly on those of the saw-wort {Serratula
tinctoria). The spores are oval, scarcely constricted, and not
attenuated in either direction (fig. 31). Other Composite plants
than those above named are liable to attacks from this parasite.

188

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

In onr school-days we remember to have spent many a
stray half-hour digging for “ earth-nuts/-’ under which name
we, as well as our elders and betters, knew the tubers of
Bunium flexuo sum. Not then, nor for many years after, did we
notice, or regard if we did notice, the distorted radical leaves
and leaf-stalks, and the blackish brown spots, which reveal the
cause in the presence of a brand, or parasitic fungus, of
this genus {Puccinia Tim bel lifer arum, DC.) which is extremely
common on this, as well as some other allied plants. If any spot
is searched where this plant grows in any profusion, before
the flowering stalks have made their appearance above the
surrounding grass, this Puccinia will be readily found by the
twisted, contorted, sickly appearance of the infested leaves
(fig. 34), the petioles of which are often swollen and gouty
in consequence. The sporidia are shortly stalked and generally
very much constricted. The species found on the stems of the
hemlock, and also that on Smyrnium Olusatrum, are distinct ;
the spores of the latter being covered with tubercles or
warts. During a botanical ramble through Darenth Wood in
April of the year just passed^ away, in some parts of which the
sanicle abounds, we found the bright, glossy leaves of this
singular and interesting plant freely sprinkled with the pus-
tules of a Puccinia (P. Saniculce, Grev.), which is not at all
uncommon on this, but has not hitherto been found on any
other plant. Dr. Grreville, of Edinburgh, was the first to
describe this, as well as many other of our indigenous minute
Fungi. For many years he has toiled earnestly and vigo-
rously at the lower cryptogams, as evidenced by his a' Scottish
Crypt ogamic Flora,” published in 1823 ; and yet his con-
tinual additions to the records of science show him to be
earnest and vigorous still.

We have by no means exhausted the catalogue of Fungi
belonging to this genus found in Britain, nor even those com-
monly to be met with ; but the fear of prolixity, and the desire
to introduce a description of other forms into the space still
remaining to us, prompt us to dismiss these two-celled brands
with but a brief allusion to such as we cannot describe. Box-
leaves are the habitat of one species, and those of the peri-
winkle of another. One vegetates freely on the leaves of
violets through the months of July and August, and another
less frequently on the enchanter’s nightshade. Several species
of willow-herb ( Bpilobium ) are attacked by one Puccinia , and
a single species by another. Plum-tree leaves, bean leaves,
primrose leaves, and the half-dead stems of asparagus, have
their separate and distinct species, and others less commonly
attack the woodruff, bedstraw, knotgrass, ragwort, and other
plants less common, more local, or, to the generality of the
non-botanical, but imperfectly known.

MILDEW AND BRAND.

189

In the spores of the species to which attention has been
more specially directed we have types of the principal forms.
In the “ corn-mildew” they are elongated, and tapering to-
wards either end ; in the “ coronated brand ” the apex is
crowned with spicular processes ; in the “ wind-flower brand”
the entire spores are echinulate ; in the “ mint brand ” they
are globose ; in the “ composite brand ” elliptic ; in the
“ earth-nut brand,” nearly cut in two at the septum ; and in
the “ dandelion brand,” so variable in form that no two are
precisely alike. On the other hand, all are characterized by a
transverse septum dividing each spore into two cells.

From this genus we pass to another, in which the
spores are usually divided into three cells, and which, from
this cause, has been named Triphragmium. Only one species
of this genus has hitherto been found in this country, and
that not very commonly, on the leaves of the meadow-sweet
Spircea ulmaria (fig. 17). Externally it much resembles, in
the size and character of the pustules, many of the above-
named brands, but when seen under the microscope this
similarity disappears. In general outline the spores are nearly
globose, and externally papillose. In one species, found on
the Continent, but not hitherto in Great Britain, the spores
are covered with curious long-hooked spines, by means of
which they adhere tenaciously to each other. In germination,
the spores of Triphragmium do not offer any noteworthy de-
viation from those of Puccinia* and the chief interest of our
indigenous species lies in the three-celled form of its spores,
to which occasionally those of Puccinia variabilis approximate,
and may be regarded as the link which unites the two
genera.

The old story of “ Eyes and no eyes ” is too often literally
true, not only with the children it was written to amuse and
instruct, but also with children of a larger growth who scorn
such baby tales, and disdain such baby morals. Out of more
than a thousand indigenous species of microscopic fungi, of
which there is generally some evidence afforded of their pre-
sence, visible to the naked eye, how few are there of the
millions that inhabit our island who can count twenty species
that they have ever seen ; still fewer that have noticed one
hundred. Amongst the twenty species known to the few will
probably be included one which appears in autumn in promi-
nent black spots, the size of a large pin's head, or half a turnip

# Mr. Currey has only seen the tips of the germinating threads swell, and
become septate, each of the joints thus formed falling off and germinating
without producing spherical sporidia ; whilst Tulasne figures globular sporidia,
as will be seen in our fig. 19, reduced from the figure by Tulasne. ( Vide
Currey, in “ Quarterly Journal qf Microscopical Science,” 1857, pp. 117, &c.)

VOL. III. — NO. X. 0

190

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

seed with, the flat surface downwards, sprinkling the under
surface of blackberry leaves, with larger reddish, purplish, or
reddish-brown spots on the upper surface to indicate the pre-
sence of the fungus beneath. Just at the time when black-
berries are ripe, these spots are in perfection on the leaves,
and their eyes must have been 'sadly at fault who could ever
have gathered their own blackberries without seeing the dis-
coloured leaves. The coloured spots on the face of the leaf
are due to the diseased state of the tissues caused by the
parasite on the opposite surface. As much of the leaf as
contains two or three of the black pustules should be removed
carefully with a knife or sharp scissors, and submitted to
microscopical examination ; each will be seen to consist of a
dense tuft of blackish, elongated, stalked bodies, clustered as
in fig. 16, but much more numerously and closely packed
together. These are the spores of the blackberry brand (Aregma
bulbosum, Fr.). A few of these spores should be removed
on the point of a sharp penknife, placed on a glass slide with
a drop of distilled water or alcohol, covered with thin glass,
and then viewed with a quarter-inch objective. 4 Each spore
has a stalk longer than itself, thickened below, and containing a
yellow granular core. The spore itself is much longer than in
any of the Puccinice , of a dark brown colour, and apparently
divided by several transverse partitions into three, or four, or
more cells, the whole surface being covered with minute warts
or prominences (fig. 13). In 1857, Mr. F. Currey investigated
the structure of these spores, and the results of his experiments
were detailed in the t( Quarterly Journal of Microscopical
Science.” One conclusion arrived at was, that “ the idea of the
fruit consisting of sporidia united together and forming a chain,
is certainly not in accordance with the true structure. The
sporidia are not united to one another in any way, but, although
closely packed for want of space, they are in fact free in the
interior of what may be called a sporangium or ascus.” To
arrive at this conclusion, careful examination was necessary,
and new modes of manipulation essential. The details of one
method employed were to the following effect : — A sufficient
number of spores were removed on the point of a lancet, and
placed on a slide in a drop of alcohol. Before the spirit was
quite evaporated, two or three drops of strong nitric acid were
added, and the whole covered with thin glass. The slide was
then warmed over a spirit-lamp, the acid not being allowed to
boil, but only gradually heated to boiling point. By this
means the fruit was found to consist of an outer membrane,
nearly transparent, and studded with tubercles; that this
membrane enclosed a number of cells which constituted the
apparent joints, and which were naturally flattened at either

MILDEW AND BRAND.

191

end by mutual pressure. When the outer membrane was
dissolved or ruptured, these cells escaped, and became detached
from each other. The cells, thus set free, exhibited a brownish
or yellow ring around a paler area, in the interior of which an
inner cell was visible, sometimes globular, often irregular
in shape. The examination of the ring was not entirely satis-
factory ; it appeared to be sometimes marked with concentric
lines having the appearance of wrinkles. The inner- cell had
granular contents and a central nucleus. When perfectly free
they were spherical in form, with a distinct membrane of their
own ; and colourless, except when acted upon by re-agents.
The means employed to determine the existence of these cells,
was to soak the spores in muriatic acid, then upon pressure of
the glass cover, the outer membrane and ringed cells were
ruptured and the inner cell escaped (fig. 14).

Germination may be induced in these spores by keeping
them in a moist atmosphere (fig. 15) ; but the mode does not
differ from that described above as occurring in the “ corn
mildew.” Mr. Currey writes : — “ I know no microscopical
object of greater beauty than a number of fruits of Phrag-
midium in active germination.” By Phragmidium he means
the Aregma of this paper, of which Phragmidium is a synonym.

Well may the reader remark on arriving thus far, “Does
all this examination and detail refer to the fruit borne in the
little blackish spots on bramble leaves, which I have hitherto
overlooked?” Ay, and to several similar spots on other
plants. Examine carefully the raspberry leaves in your garden,
and you will probably find similar, but smaller, pustules also
on the under surface. We sa y probably, because none of our
British species seem to be equally uncommon with this.
During the past year we examined hundreds of plants, and
did not find a single pustule. Such a fate will not await
you if you should proceed in the autumn to some chalky
district where the burnet is common. Go, for instance, to
Greenhithe or Northfleet, on the North Kent Bailway, in
August or September, where the burnet is plentiful, and the
leaves will present the appearance of having been peppered
beneath, from the number of minute pustules of the burnet
brand scattered over the under surface (fig. 2, upper leaflets).
Or if you prefer collecting nearer home, visit some neigh-
bouring garden, if your own does not contain many roses, and
the leaves will be found equally prolific in an allied species
(fig. 8) . Should gardens and roses be alike unattainable, any
bank or wood will furnish the barren strawberry ( Potentilla
fragariastrum) , and during the latter part of the summer, or
in autumn, another species of Aregma will not be uncommon;
also on the under surface of the leaves (fig. 5). All these

192

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

species will be found accompanied by the orange spores of
species of Lecyt/iea , which some mycologists consider to be
distinct Fungi, and others to be merely forms or conditions of
Aregma These spores are represented in figs. 3, 6, 9, and
12. From the magnified figures of the spores of the different
species of Aregma (figs. 4, 7, 10, and 13), it will be apparent
that they have all certain features in common, i.e., cylindrical
spores containing from three to seven cells. This may be
called the generic character, common to all the species of the
genus Aregma. Again, each species will be observed to
possess its own distinct features, which may be termed its
specific character. In one, the apex of the spores will be
obtuse, in another acutely pointed, in another bluntly pointed,
&c. In one species the number of cells will usually be four,
in another five or six, in another seven or eight. The stem in
one species will be slender and equal, in another thickened or
bulbous. So that in all there will be some permanent
peculiarity for each not shared by the others.

One other form of brand, presenting, it is believed by some,
generic differences from all that we have as yet noticed, remains
to be briefly alluded to. This form appears to be very uncom-
mon in this country, but, when found, is parasitic on the leaves
of the great burnet ( Sanguisorba officinalis ), a plant of local
distribution. The parasite appears to the naked eye in small
tufts or pustules resembling those of an Aregma} but, when
microscopically examined, the cells of the spores are found to
be numerous, indeed, considerably more than in the most com-
plex Aregma (fig. 1). This, however, seems to be the only
distinction, for the cells are free in the interior of the investing
membrane, and in all points of structure, in so far as it has
been examined, identical with Aregma. Whether it is logical
to consider a four-celled spore an Aregma , and a seven-celled
spore an Aregma3 and exclude a ten or twelve-celled spore
from the same genus on account of the number of its cells,
does not appear to us clearly answerable in the affirmative.

During the course of this paper we have passed rapidly
through four genera of parisitic Fungi so nearly allied, that one
is almost led to doubt the validity of the generic distinctions.
These may be presented briefly thus, —

Puccinia spores two-celled.

Triphragmium „ three-celled.

Aregma „ four to seven-celled.

Xenodochus „ many-celled.

It has been seen that the habit, mode of growth, germination,
and structure, except in the number of cells, scarcely differs ;

MOULDS. 193

but it is not our province here to enter upon the discussion of
such a subject.

The association of one-ceiled orange-coloured spores with
the brown two or more celled spores passed in review is
another feature worthy of passing notice, which opens another
field for discussion. It is generally admitted that these two
forms are the production of the self-same mycelium or vegeta-
tive system, but it is not so generally admitted that they are
but two forms or phases of the fruit of the same plant. It is
not at all uncommon in the history of mycology to find two
forms which were for a long time considered to be distinct
plants producing different forms of fruit, and which bore
different names, and were located in different genera, at length
proved to be only the self-same plant in different conditions,
and ending in one name being expunged from the list. Such
a fate probably awaits, at no distant date, the orange spores
which precede or accompany the species in the present genera.
Already Tulasne and some others accord them no place in their
system.

It may be added, for the benefit of any who wish to pursue
the study of this interesting branch of Cryptogamic Botany,
that the leaves of the plants containing the parasitic Fungi now
noticed may be collected and preserved by drying between
folds of blotting-paper, or the leaves of a book, and will
retain their character, with the exception of colour in the
orange forms, so as to be eligible for examination at any
period of the year for twenty years to come. Each species,
when dry, may be transferred to an old envelope, and labelled
outside with the name, date of collection, and locality; and one
hundred such envelopes will constitute a miniature herbarium
in a very small compass.

MOULDS.

TWENTY years since and some of these little pests were
altogether unknown, whilst others were only recognized
and partly understood by a few scientific men. During the
period to which we have alluded more than half the present
species contained in the genus Peronospora had never been
observed, and amongst these the most devastating of its tribe,
the associate and undoubted cause of the potato disease.

Parasitic fungi are far more numerous, both in individuals
and species, than most persons are aware, and cultivated

194

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

plants of all kinds are more or less subject to their ravages.
Some are more susceptible than others, of which the corn and
grass tribe, or Graminacece , as they are termed by botanists, is
an example. Not less than thirty species have been recorded
upon plants of this natural order, and of these nearly one-half
are found upon the living plants. Upon the potato plant,
again, no less than ten different kinds of Fungi have been
described ; whilst upon other and more fortunate plants only
one or two parasites of this nature establish themselves.

Potato Mould. — Towards the close of the summer of 1845,
in the course of a few weeks, every one became aware of the
fact that a new disease had appeared which threatened the
entire destruction of. the potato crop. Until then it seemed
to have been almost, although not entirely unknown. It first
appeared in the Isle of Wight about the middle of August,
and a week afterwards had become general in the South of
England, and the next week there were but few sound samples
of potatos in the London market. Early in September the
disease had commenced its ravages in Ireland, and shortly
afterwards it was discovered in Scotland. With the same
rapidity it seems to have spread throughout Europe and
North America, or at least the western portion of the former
and the northern districts of the latter. It must not be
imagined, however, that the Isle of Wight was the centre
from which this disease spread over such an extended area
and with such alarming rapidity. From this spot it doubtless
made its first appearance that year amongst our own crops,
but there is not the least doubt of its existence both on the
continent of Europe and in North America in the previous
year, and the farmers of Belgium had noted its appearance in
the province of Liege as far back as 1842 and 1843. Other
diseases had been observed affecting the potato crop before,
and one which was also associated with a parasitic fungus had
made its appearance in 1815. It is also exceedingly probable
that, in a milder form, the murrain was present with us a
year or two before it broke out to such an alarming extent. A
correspondent to the Gardener’s Chronicle, in 1844, notices it
in the Isle of Thanet, and another testifies to its occurrence
in districts of Ireland for two or three years previous to its
general outbreak. The description of the disease in Canada,
in 1844, contained in a letter addressed to Dr. Bellingham,
and quoted by the Bev. M. J. Berkeley,* leaves no doubt of
its identity : —

During the months of July and August (1844), we had repeated and heavy
showers, with oppressive heat, and an atmosphere strongly charged with

* Journal of Horticultural Society of London, vol. i. p. 11.

MOULDS.

195

electricity. Towards the close of the month of August I observed the leaves
to be marked with black spots, as if ink had been sprinkled over them.
They began to wither, emitting a peculiar, offensive odour ; and before a
fortnight the field, which had been singularly luxuriant, and almost rank,
became arid and dried up, as if by a severe frost. I had the potatoes dug
out during the month of September, when about two-thirds were either posi-
tively rotten, partially decayed and swarming with worms, or spotted with
brownish-coloured patches, resembling flesh that had been frost bitten. These
parts were soft to the touch, and upon the decayed potatoes I observed a
whitish substance like mould.

Although this disease made its first appearance, in the
middle of August, 1845, in the Isle of Wight, it had already-
appeared in Belgium in the same year, a month previously j
and although it may have been noticed in other British locali-
ties in 1844, it was known in Canada and in St. Helena in
the same year to a far greater extent, and in Liege as early
as 1842. There are, therefore, good grounds for believing
that the European centre was Belgium ; but if M. Boussin-
gault was correct in stating that “ this malady is well known
in rainy years at Bogota, where the Indians live almost
entirely on potatoes,” then it is not of European but American
origin, and is probably derived from districts not far remote
from those whence Europe first received the potato itself.

It would occupy too much space to detail the different
theories and opinions relative to the causes of this disease to
which 1845 and subsequent years gave birth. Suffice it to
say, that the lapse of years has silently proved the majority of
these to have been fallacious. All such as imputed to peculiar
electric conditions, a wet season, or other meteorological in-
fluences, the disease which has re-appeared under different
conditions and influences, and in seasons remarkable for dry-
ness, are manifestly refuted ; whilst its mycological origin has
continued to gain adherents, and the gradual accumulation of
fresh facts has almost placed it beyond dispute not only that
the potato disease is accompanied by, but results from, fungal
growths. Unfortunately, this disease has been so prevalent,
more or less during the past eighteen years, that few have been
without the opportunity of making themselves acquainted with
its external appearance. To this may be added the minute
and exact account of its development, as recorded by that ex-
cellent mycologist and careful observer the Rev.AL J. Berkeley,
in 1846, and to which, even now, nothing of importance can
be supplemented or abstracted : —

The leaves began suddenly to assume a paler, and at length a yellowish
tint, exhibiting here and there discoloured spots. More or less coinciding
with these spots, on the reverse of the leaves, appeared white mealy patches*

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

i§G

consisting of a minute mould, proceeding, either singly or in fascicles, from
the stomata, and arising from an abundant branched mycelium creeping in
every direction through the loose tissue beneath the cuticle. The upper
surface rarely, if ever, exhibits the mould, it being almost physically impos-
sible for its delicate threads to penetrate the closely-packed cells which,
being arranged side by side, leave scarcely any intercellular passages. The
mould, in a few hours from its first piercing the apertures of the stomata,
perfects its fruit, and in so doing completely exhausts the matrix, which in
consequence withers. No sooner have a number of the leaves been attached,
than the stem itself is subject to change, becoming spotted here and there
with dark brown patches, in which the cells are mostly filled with a dark
grumous mass, without exhibiting any mucedinous filaments ; though,
occasionally, I have ascertained their presence. Very rarely fructifying but
dwarfed specimens of the mould occur upon it. The stem now rapidly
putrifies, the cuticle and its subjacent tissue becoming pulpy, and separating
when touched from the woody parts beneath. The whole soon dries up, and
in many instances exhibits in the centre the black, irregular fungoid masses
which are known under the name of Sclerotium. varium , and which are be-
lieved to be the mycelium of certain moulds in a high state of condensation.

If the tubers are now examined, the greater part will often be found
smaller than usual, especially if the disease has commenced at an early stage
of growth ; but in their natural condition, while here and there a tuber, parti-
cularly if it has been partially exposed, exhibits traces of disease. The
surface is, however, soon marked with livid patches, commencing generally
about the eyes, or at the point of connection with the fructifying shoots :
these rapidly acquire a spotted appearance, the spots being rather waved,
and assuming often a more or less concentric arrangement. Sometimes, —
especially on the smoother kinds of tuber, — two or more regular systems of
concentric spots are exhibited on the same tuber. The skin now withers,
and is easily separated ; the spots become depressed and of a yellowish
tinge ; and if the tubers be laid in a moist place, in a day or two — some-
times in a few hours — the same mould which destroyed the leaves springs
from them, piercing the cuticle from within, yet not scattered, as on the
leaves, but forming a conspicuous white tuft. If a section of the diseased
tuber be made on the first symptoms of the disease, little brownish or rusty
specks are found in the cellular tissue, confined, with very rare exceptions,
to the space between the cuticle and the sac, if I may so call it, of spiral
vessels and their accompanying tissue, which springing from the subterranean
branches, pass into the tuber, making their way to the several buds
disposed on the surface. These spots consist at first of a quantity of dis-
coloured cells, mixed more or less with others in a healthy condition. The
grains of fecula are for a long time perfectly healthy ; the cells themselves,
so far from being looser, are more closely bound together than in the more
healthy portions. The rusty spots soon exhibit a darker tint, spreading in
every direction and becoming confluent ; they at length extend beyond the
barrier of vascular tissue, and attack the central mass. The tuber, mean-
while, assumes a disagreeable smell, decomposes more or less rapidly, other
Fungi establish themselves on the surface, or in the decaying mass, which
cniits a highly fetid odour, resembling that of decaying agarics, the union of

PLATE VIII.

1.— Tubwip Mould.
Peronoopora parasitica.

2. — Onion Mould.
Peronospora destructor.

5.— Pea Mould.
Peronospora vicice.

MOULDS.

6.— Sandwobt Mould.
Peronospora arenuriee.

MOULDS. 197

the cells is dissolved, animalcules or mites make their appearance, till at last
the whole becomes a loathsome mass of putrescence.

The form of the mould itself is represented (fig. 3) as
exhibited under the microscope, with the nodose swellings of
the branches and spores attached to the tips ; these spores are
filled with a granular mass, from which, as hereafter described,
zoospores are produced. These spores are in themselves
capable of reproducing the mould. The branching dendroidal
threads of this fungus proceed from a creeping mycelium or
spawn of entangled filaments which interpenetrates the matrix
upon which it establishes itself. From these threads are also
produced, though more rarely, a secondary kind of fruit, which
is spherical and larger than the bodies borne on the tips of the
threads. Under the name of Artotrogus this fructifying myce-
lium has been described as another species of fungus ; but it
is now admitted to be only a stage or condition of Peronospora.
All the species of this genus noticed in this paper are subject
to this condition, that is, under favourable circumstances, all
are liable to produce secondary fruit from the myceloid fila-
ments. This is not the only instance, even amongst the Fungi
found upon the potato, of the same parasite under different
phases having been regarded as a distinct species.

During the year 1861, Dr. de Bary published an account*
of the discovery by him of a third mode of propagation in the
potato mould, and that the most common of any. This method
is by means of zoospores. The spores produced on the tips of
the branchlets are certainly capable of germinating when
placed in favourable conditions ; but, according to M. de Bary,
important changes more frequently take place in the granular
matter with which they are filled, and bodies resembling small
Infusoria are produced, which move about actively by means of
two long filaments. These active zoospores, or insect-like
bodies, are by no means restricted to the potato mould, but
have long since been met with in many of the lower crypto-
gams. As a result of this method, and the rapidity with which
the zoospores attain perfection, the number of agents for the
propagation of the disease, produced in one season, seems
almost past belief. De Bary calculates that one square line of
the under surface of the leaves is capable of producing 3,270
spores, each of which yields at least six zoospores, sometimes
double that number; thus we have 19,620 reproductive bodies
from that small space. The mycelium from the zoospores is
capable of penetrating the cellular tissue in twelve hours, and
when established there, it bursts through the stomata of the

* Die gegenwartig herrschende Kartoffelkrankheit, ihre Ursache und ihre
Verhutung. Von Dr. A. de Bary. Leipsig, 1861.

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POPULAE SCIENCE EEVIEW.

leaves, and fruit is perfected in from fifteen to eighteen hours.
Since the zoospores are perfected and ready to germinate in
twenty-four hours from their being placed in water it becomes
almost impossible to calculate the myriads of fungi that may
be produced from a single centre. Dr. de Bary has also
demonstrated that the brown spots so characteristic of the
disease are a result of the action of the spores or zoospores.
By placing a quantity of spores in a drop of water on the
leaves, stems, and tubers under a glass sufficiently air-tight to
prevent evaporation, he produced the brown spots, and traced
their progress from the earliest stages.

There are a few practical conclusions which may be drawn
from these discoveries. In the first place, it is clearly shown
by the production of the spots that the fungus is capable of
causing the disease, a fact which has been disputed, but now
placed beyond doubt. The inference is, that not only is it
capable of producing, but is really the cause of the potato
murrain. With bodies so minute and active as the zoospores,
there can no longer be difficulty in accounting for their pene-
trating the tissues of the plant. They are most active and
productive in wet weather, especially when it is also warm.
Moisture appears to be essential, and a dry season the greatest
enemy to the spread of the disease. That bodies so minute
and subtle should have baffled all efforts to destroy or eradicate,
is not now surprising. Whether any method will be found
to contend successfully with it, is now more doubtful than
ever. A careful re-perusal of the old facts by the aid of this
new light will tend to the elucidation of much of the mystery
in which the subject has been involved. All who have
hitherto been sceptical of the mycological source of one of the
greatest pests of modern times, should study M. de Bary's
pamphlet.

It will be sufficient for our present purpose to state that one
of the six families into which Fungi are divided for scientific
purposes is called Hyphomycetes, a name compounded of two
Greek words signifying “ thread” and “mould” or “fungus,”
and is applied to this group because the thread-like filaments
of which they are largely composed is the most prominent
feature. In this family there are again a number of smaller
groups called orders, having an equal value to the natural
orders of flowering plants; and one of these orders called
Mucedmes has the fertile threads perfectly distinct* from the
mycelium or spawn. These threads are sometimes simple and
sometimes branched, they may be articulated or without
articulations or septa, short or long, erect or creeping, hyaline
or whitish, mostly free from colour, and are not coated with a
distinct membrane. The spores are generally simple, some-

MOULDS.

199

times solitary, at others in pairs or strung together like beads
for a necklace. Amongst all this variety of arrangement there
is order, for these are but features or partly the features of the
different genera of which the Mucedines are composed. One
of the genera is termed Peronosporci, and to this the parasitic
fungus of the potato, and some others to which we shall have
occasion to refer, belongs. In this genus the threads are
generally branched but without articulations. The spores, or
seed-like bodies, are of two kinds ; one kind is borne on the
tips of the branches ; and the other kind, which is larger and
globose, is borne upon the creeping mycelium or spawn. All
the members of this genus with which we are acquainted are
parasitic on living plants, inducing in them speedy decay, but
preceding that decay of which they are themselves the cause.
Hence we have deemed it the more advantageous course both
for writer and reader to associate together the different species
of this particular genus of parasitic moulds in the same paper,
rather than bring together the different kinds of Fungi, belong-
ing perhaps to widely separated genera, but all associated
with, or parasitic upon, the same plant. The botanical student
will thank us for following this plan, and the general reader
will labour under no disadvantage, in this instance at least,
from the similarity of the diseases produced in the plants
infested.

The potato mould has been judiciously named Peronospora
infestans, or, as it was at first called, Botrytis infestans ; but
on a revision of the genera Botrytis and Peronospora , it was
transferred to the latter genus, in which it remains. Three
names were given to it, within a short period of each other, by
different mycologists, in ignorance of its having already re-
ceived a name. The one we have adopted appears to have
the priority, at least of publication, and was given by Dr.
Montagne. That of Botrytis devastatrix was given by Madame
Libert, and Botrytis fcdlax by M. Desmazieres. The principal
feature in this species seems to consist in the branches be-
coming alternately thickened and constricted, so as to resemble
a moniliform string, or necklace of little bladders or vesicles.
The branches are also more erect than in the allied species,
and the spores are solitary on the tips or from the sides of the
branches, and not in pairs or clusters, and the tips are simple,
and not bifid or trifid, as in most of its allies. It need scarcely
be remarked, that a high power of the microscope is necessary
to make out the distinctive features of the different members
of this genus, and that to the naked eye they only appear as a
minute whitish mould. As already stated, this little fungus
makes its first appearance on the under surface of the leaves,
especially the lower ones, of the potato plant, and afterwards

200

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

attacks tke stem, and ultimately the tuber. For examination,
it is better to select the leaves soon after the fungus makes its
appearance.

Turnip Mould. — Since the advent of the potato murrain a
similar disease has been witnessed, though more limited in its
extent, amongst Swedish turnips, commencing in little waved
irregular lines following the course of the vessels, around
which spots are formed by the deposition of dark granules,
in the same manner as in the potato. In this instance, the
leaves apparently are first attacked in a similar manner by a
species of mould or Peronospora allied to the one already
described, but which has been long known as parasitic upon
cruciferous plants, to which the turnip belongs. This species,
termed Peronospora parasitica, is white in all stages of its
growth. It is much more branched, and the branches are
comparatively shorter than in the potato mould, and the tips
of the branches are bifid (fig. 1). The spores are very large and
globose, features also which distinguish this mould from the last.
A short time since we were called to witness a bed of splendid
cauliflowers, which had, up to that time, been the pride of
their cultivator ; but, alas ! their glory was threatened with
speedy annihilation, for in nearly every instance the lower
leaves had become more or less covered on their upper sur-
face with yellow spots, and beneath, glaucous with the mould
we have been describing. The diseased leaves were all imme-
diately removed, but we fear without success, although no
positive information has since reached us. The almost un-
natural vigorous green of the leaves, prior to the appearance
of the mould, is not at all an uncommon occurrence : this
phenomenon has been noticed in the ears of corn, in which
every grain was soon afterwards filled with spores of bunt.

Onion Mould. — Another disease, produced by Fungi of the
same genus, has made its appearance upon young onion plants
in the spring. The mould is called Peronospora destructor ,
and has many features in common with those already de-
scribed. In this instance the threads are greyish and erect,
with alternate branches, not divided by transverse septa, and
the spores are obovate, attenuated towards their base (fig. 2).
This mould, in some years, is very common and destructive, by
preventing the young plants which are attacked from coming
to perfection. It is not confined to the onion, but appears on
other allied species of Allium (to which the onion belongs).
The threads form large patches or blotches on the leaves, and
sometimes cover them entirely. It very much resembles the
turnip mould, from which the form of the spores considerably
differs. Doubtless this, as well as all the other species of mould
alluded to in this paper, are most common and destructive in

MOULDS.

201

wet seasons. When the spring or summer is unusually dry, it is
even difficult to meet with specimens for botanical purposes.

Lettuce Mould. — A very similar mould (Peronosjpora gan-
glioniformis) is sometimes very common in spring on the
under surface of the leaves of the cultivated lettuce, appearing
in definite white mouldy spots. By reference to the figure of
a portion of a thread magnified (fig. 4), it will be seen that the
peculiar form of the tips of the branchlets evidence the
distinctness of this species.

Tare Mould. — The under surface of the leaves of tares,
and sometimes also of peas, are liable to attack from an allied
species of mould ( Peronospora Vicice). In the spring of 1846
it appeared amongst vetches in some districts to such an extent,
as at one time to threaten the destruction of the crops ; but a
succession of dry weather at once abridged its power and
limited its mischief. Mouldy vetches and mouldy peas are,
especially in moist seasons, evils to which the agriculturist
knows his crops to be subject ; he may not know, however,
that this kind of mould is of so near a kin to that which has
acquired such wide-spread fame in connection with the potato
(fig. 5) . Another species of fungus attacks the garden pea in
damp seasons, forming small depressed brownish spots on the
leaves and pods ; but this is quite distinct from the mould,
though probably not less injurious.

The Parsnip Mould (Peronospora macrospora ) is found on
many umbelliferous plants ; but its attacks upon the parsnip
are most to be deplored, because it . injures and ultimately
destroys an article of human food. The plants infested with
this parasite are first attacked in the leaves, but afterwards
the roots become spotted and diseased in a similar manner to
the potatos attacked by its congener. The disease has not
hitherto been so general with the former as the latter ; but in
some districts it has been far from uncommon.

Spinach Mould. — -Spinach is likewise liable to suffer from
the establishment of a mould upon the under surface of the
leaves : unfortunately this is not unfrequent, and has been
known in England certainly for the last fifty or sixty years,
since it was figured by Sowerby in his “ British Fungi” as many
years since. We have lately seen a bed of spinach utterly
destroyed by this fungus ; whilst on another, not twenty yards
apart, not a spotted leaf could be found. This mould is of a
pale purplish-grey colour, and has large oval spores. It is the
Peronospora effusa of botanists.

Hitherto all the species of mould to which we have had
occasion to refer have been found infesting plants more or less
employed as food; but there remains one other species to
which we must make special reference, and which affects one

202

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of the most universal of favourites amongst flowers : this is
the rose mould. Attention was directed to this mould, and it
was described for the first time under the name of Peronospora
spars a, in the columns of the Gardener’ s Chronicle , in 1862.
It occurred on a quantity of potted rose plants in a conser-
vatory. Irregular pale brownish discoloured spots appeared
on the upper surface of the leaves ; these extended rapidly,
and in a short time the leaves withered and shrivelled up, and
ultimately the whole plant perished. A delicate greyish mould
was to be seen by the aid of a lens, scattered over the under
surface of the leaves. By the microscope, the branched
threads, having the tips furnished with sub-elliptic spores,
were revealed, and an ally of the potato mould found revelling
amongst the roses.

Of the remaining British species, one (P. Arenarice), is found
on the leaves of the three-veined sandwort (fig. 6), another
attacks the red corn poppy, a third is found on the common
nettle, one on the brooklime, another on the wood-anemone,
and another on the figwort.

Doubtless all the species in this genus are possessed of the
third means of reproduction, by zoospores, as discovered in
the potato mould. The fearful rapidity with which this method
enables them to multiply themselves may account for their
widely spreading and devastating power. No other genus of
Fungi can parallel this in the number of species injurious to
the field or the garden, or in which the injuries inflicted are so
great and irremediable.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Fig. 1. Beaded Brand (. Xenodochus carbonarius), from the leaf of the
burnet. Greatly magnified.

„ 2. Burnet Brand (. Aregma acuminatum ), on the three upper leaflets of

• Poterium sanguisorba , with the yellow sori of the Burnet Rust
(. Lecythea Poterii) on the lower leaflet.

„ 3. Spores of the Burnet Rust (Lecythea Poterii).

„ 4. Spore of Burnet Brand (. Aregma acuminatum).

„ 5. Strawberry Brand (. Aregma obtusatum), and Strawberry Rust

(. Lecythea Potentillarum ), intermixed on leaf of Potentilla fraga-
riastrum.

„ 6. Spores of the Strawberry Rust (. Lecythea Potentillarum).

„ 7. Spore of Strawberry Brand (. Aregma obtusatum).

„ 8. Rose Brand (Aregma mucronatum), and Rose Rust (Lecythea

Bosce ), on leaflet of cultivated rose, intermixed.

„ 9. Spore of Rose Rust (Lecythea Bosce).

„ 10. Spore of Rose Brand (Aregma mucronatum).

„ 11. Bramble Brand (Aregma bulbosum) and Bramble-rust (Lecythea
Buborum ), intermixed on leaflet of bramble.

EXPLANATION OE PLATE.

203

12. Spores of Bramble Bust (. Lecythea Ruborum).

13. Spore of Bramble-brand (. Aregma bulbosum).

14. Spore of the same "burst, with the inner cell escaping.

15. Spore of Aregma bulbosum in germination, with globular orange

sporidia produced at the extremities {after Gurrey).

16. Tuft of spores of Aregma , showing the manner in which they are

clustered together. Magnified.

17. Meadow-sweet Brand ( Triphragmium Ulmarice), on portion of

leaflet of Spircea ulmaria.

18. Trilocular spores of Triphragmium Llmarice.

19. Spore of Triphragmium TJlmarice in germination, bearing secondary

fruit ( Tulasne ).

20. Corn Mildew {Puccinia graminis ) on a piece of wheat straw.

21. Portion of a section of straw, showing a tuft of Mildew ( Puccinia

graminis ) in situ.

22. Spore of Corn Mildew {Puccinia Graminis).

23. Coronated Brand {Puccinia coronata ), on a portion of grass leaf.

24. The same enlarged, showing the sori.

25. Spore of Coronated Brand {Puccinia coronata).

26. Thistle Brand {Puccinia syngenesiarum), on portion of leaf of

spear-thistle {Ca/rduus lanceolatus) showing the compound pustules.

27. Spores of the same.

28. Anemone Brand {Puccinia Anemones ), on leaf of wood anemone

{Anemone nemorosa).

29. Echinulate spore of Anemone Brand {Puccinia Anemones).

30. Centaury Brand {Puccinia Compositarum), on leaf of knapweed

{Gentaurea nigra).

31. Spores of the same.

32. Mint Brand {Puccinia Menthce ), on leaf of corn-mint {Mentha

arvensis).

33. Spores of the same.

34. Earth-nut Brand {Puccinia Umbelliferarum), on leaf-stalks and

leaf of earth-nut {Buniumfiexuosum).

35. Spores of the same.

36. Ground-ivy Brand {Puccinia Glechomatis), on leaf of ground-ivy

{Glechoma hederacea).

37. Pustule or sorus of Puccinia , girt by the remains of the ruptured

epidermis.

38. Spores of Puccinia glechomatis.

39. Dandelion Brand {Puccinia variabilis), on portion of leaf of

dandelion {Taraxacum Dens-leonis).

40 Variable spores of the same.

%* All the spores are more or less magnified.

204

NOTES ON EARTHQUAKES.

BY REV. W. S. SYMONDS, RECTOR OF PENDOCK.

IT was very generally believed, only a few years ago, that
the earth was not more than about six thousand years
old. Astronomers and geologists have, however, ascertained,
beyond a doubt, that the planet we inhabit has not only been
rolling in space for untold ages, but has undergone numerous
physical changes. They also believed that this planet was
once in a condition of complete fluidity, and almost up to the
present time they considered the principal portion of the
interior of the earth to be composed of mineral substances
liquefied by intensity of heat. Of late, the labours of
mathematical investigators have gone far to prove that the
central nucleus of the earth is not altogether composed of
molten mineral substances, so as to form a central igneous
ocean, but that lakes or small seas of lava are distributed
throughout her mass. Whatever truth there may be in this
theory, it is to natural causes that we must look for the expla-
nation of the phenomenon of the earthquake, that agent which
has played so important a part in again and again remodelling
the surface of the earth.

From numerous observations made in deep mines, it is
found that the temperature of the earth increases as we
descend at the rate of 1° of Fahrenheit for every fifty or sixty
feet after the first hundred. The phenomena of hot springs,
and the emission of vast masses of molten mineral matter,
volcanic ashes, mud, &c., from volcanos, with calculations
founded on the known specific gravity of the earth, all tend to
convince scientific men that the earth possesses a high internal
temperature which is derived from internal sources.

It is impossible to read the description given by Sir Charles
Lyell of the phenomena of earthquakes and volcanos without
being satisfied that both of these agents have, to a certain
extent, a common origin ; but it is also certain that there are
two modes of action in earthquake forces of disturbance — viz.,
when they act with local intensity, as in volcanic action, or by
a succession of earthquakes, as in the elevation of the coast of

NOTES ON EARTHQUAKES.

205

Chili in 1822 and 1823 ; and when they act uniformly, and lift
up large tracts of land, as the coast of Sweden is now being
raised, with a slow and tranquil, upward movement ; and the
west coast of Greenland depressed, without any of those
paroxysmal effects which we behold in the volcano, and the
earthquake shock.

No less than five centres of volcanic action exist within the
Atlantic Ocean. In Europe, the centres of existing volcanic
action are Sicily, Naples, Stromboli, the Archipelago, and
Iceland; while in Auvergne, Bohemia, Saxony, and other
European localities, we have examples of volcanos which have
become extinct since the period of the older Tertiary deposits.
In the region of the Andes active and extinct volcanos alternate
for many hundreds of miles, and tremendous earthquakes fre-
quently precede the different outbursts. Five active volcanos
traverse Mexico from west to east, among which is the famed
Jorullo, which is said to have been elevated to a height of

I, 600 feet above the level of the plain of the Malpais in June,
1759. There is an active volcanic region from the Aleutian
Isles, through the Indian Archipelago, of greater extent than
even that of the Andes. In Java alone there are said to be
thirty-eight volcanos, several of which are more than 10,000
feet high; while Berapi, in Sumatra, is more than 12,000 feet
above the sea. Teneriffe is also 12,000 feet, and Etna nearly

II, 000 feet in height.

To enumerate the different volcanic regions of the globe
would be impossible in a mere sketch of the subject, and it
must suffice here to say that several hundreds of volcanos, in
different stages of activity, are known throughout the globe.

The effect of volcanic eruptions in those regions which are the
centres of volcanic action is scarcely less important as regards
human life and safety than are earthquakes. The destruction
of the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii by vast masses of
volcanic matter erupted from Vesuvius is an example ; as are
also the overwhelming of the town of Stabise in the time of
Pliny, and the destruction of the town of Torre del Greco by
torrents of burning lava in 1794. But these are not the most
striking examples of volcanic eruptions to be met with. The
volcano Coseguina, which is situated on the Gulf of Fonseca,
in Central America, poured forth, in January, 1835, such a
mass of volcanic ashes and other matter that it covered the
surrounding country for the distance of twenty-five miles
to the depth of ten feet, destroying the woods and dwellings.
Sir Charles Lyell records of this eruption, that thousands of
cattle perished, their bodies being, in many instances, one
mass of scorched flesh; that many birds and wild animals
were found suffocated in the ashes ; and that the neighbouring

VOL. iit. — no. x. p

206

POPULAE SCIENCE EEYIEW.

streams were strewed with dead fish. This great eruption of
Coseguina was accompanied by an earthquake which was felt
over more than one thousand miles, the volcano having been
dormant for twenty-six years.

“ Moya/* or volcanic mud, which is composed of ashes and
liquefied snow, descended, in 1797, from Tunguaragua, one of
the Quito volcanos, and filled valleys six hundred feet deep, a
thousand feet wide, and many miles in length, with a pulpy
material, which dammed up rivers and caused lakes.

The eruption of Skaptar Jokul, in Iceland, in 1783, destroyed
no less than twenty villages, and caused the death of no less
than nine thousand human beings out of a population which
did not exceed fifty thousand, together with an immense
number of cattle. Professor Bischoff has calculated that the
mass of lava brought up from the subterranean regions by this
single eruption surpassed in magnitude the bulk of Mont
Blanc. At all events, there were erupted two enormous
streams of lava, which flowed in nearly opposite directions, one
of which was fifty miles long, and from twelve to fifteen miles
in breadth, and the other forty miles in length by seven in
width. The elastic forces that' eject these vast masses of
volcanic materials from volcanic vents must be very great.
The crater of Cotopaxi is more than three miles and a half
above the sea, yet it has been known to eject a mass containing
more than a hundred solid yards of rock to a distance of nine
miles ; and it has been calculated that a column of lava one
foot square, raised to the height of Cotopaxi, would weigh
more than seven hundred and fifty tons.

We have also evidence that volcanic eruptions into the sea,
through fissures in the sea-bed, are by no means uncommon,
though we have little opportunity of judging of their effects.
Islands have been raised by volcanic elevation within the
historical period, such as the island in the Aleutian group,
described by Langsdorff, 3,000 feet high, and which was
elevated in 1793. In the same year an island rose in the
Azores; it was about a mile in circumference, and about
300 feet above the level of the sea. It was composed of
volcanic ashes and other light materials, and was soon washed
away by the sea. Santarino, White Island, Hew Burnt
Island, and several other islets in the Grecian Archipelago,
are all due to submarine volcanic agency, and their elevation
above the waters is recorded in authentic history. There are
also numerous instances on record where the commanders of
vessels have noted submarine eruptions, as evidenced by the
escape of gases, and the destruction of marine animals.

The intimate manner in which great earthquake shocks are
connected with volcanic phenomena, makes the subject of any

NOTES ON EAETHQUAKES.

207

direct evidence of volcanic action in the British Isles an inte-
resting question. There is geological proof that in the earlier
ages of the planet's history Great Britain possessed her active
volcanos, and must have been shaken by earthquakes of terrible
potency.

When the rocks that constitute the mass of Snowdon were
being deposited in the seas of the Lower Silurian epoch there
must have been an active volcano near at hand, for there we
have marine deposits, full of the remains of animals which
lived in the Llandeilo and Caradoc periods, inter stratified with
felspathic ashes, traps, and porphyries which no doubt were
erupted from a volcano into the air, and then fell and sank
through the waves.

Every geologist who visits Edinburgh must be struck with
the evidences of volcanic action, which must have been rife in
that district during the Carboniferous period, and volcanic
action combined with the stratifying operations of sea-waves
and currents.

Limestone of the age of the Lias has been converted by a
Plutonic rock into crystalline marble in the Isle of Skye ; and
the basaltic columns of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland, and
the Isle of Staffa, are currents of lava which are of later
date than the chalk, and probably were contemporaneous with
some of the lavas of Central France and the Bhine.

There are two curious notices, brought forward by Dr.
Thomas Wright, in the Miscellanea of the Athenceum of
November 28th, respecting instances of recent volcanic action
in the British Isles. He informs us that Adam de Marisco, a
friend of Simon de Montfort, and an English scholar of the
thirteenth century, has recorded a volcanic eruption in the
Channel Islands as occurring in his time (about the middle of
that century) ; and also that the “Annual Register" for 1773
contains a notice of the eruption of “ liquid fire " and “ vast
bodies of combustible matter " from Moel Famma, a hill on
the borders of North Wales, on the 31st of January of the
same year. These records are probably more singular than
true ; for in the case of Moel Famma no volcanic rock of any
kind is marked by the geological surveyors on the hill, or in
the district, and it is extremely unlikely that these accurate
observers would have passed by relics of the “ liquid fire."

Some geologists have argued that the phenomenon of vol-
canic action was far more developed in the early ages of the
earth's history than at present, but further investigations into
the philosophy of the subject throw more than a doubt on the
truth of this theory. This constant earthquake and volcanic
doctrine was invented to account for the earth tempests and
continual blowing up of the earth's crust, which were supposed

p 2

208

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

to be rife during the consolidation of a cooling planet. But
the evidence which was believed to support this theory of the
development of our planet breaks down on a calm investiga-
tion of facts. We ignore the volcanic forces that still exist !
What lakes or sea of lava must underlie the volcanic districts
of the Andes and Indian Archipelago at the present moment,
and what masses of molten matter, which never appears at
the surface, must be injected every year, in earthquake dis-
tricts, into rock fissures, or into the beds of the different seas.
Yolanic action, with its evidence of the earthquake, and great
outpourings of traps, lavas, and other materials, has left its
undoubted marks throughout the Cambrian, Silurian, Carboni-
ferous, and every other geological period; but the Plutonic
masses that have been erupted from the interior of the earth,
and the earthquake movements which are known to have
occurred since the commencement of the Tertiary periods, have
been enormous, and may well cause us to pause ere we assign
to any geological period in particular the peculiarity of an
“ earthquake age.”

I have made the preceding remarks upon direct volcanic
action, because intensity of earthquake action appears to be
connected with volcanos and their effects. Indeed, Mr.
Mallet, who is the highest authority upon the subject, believes
that (c an earthquake, in a non- volcanic region, may be viewed
as an uncompleted effort to establish a volcano.” Questions
have arisen as to whether all earthquakes are produced by
volcanic action, and an ingenious problem has been broached
by Mr. Mackie, the editor of “ The Geologist,” in the No-
vember number of that periodical, as to “ whether some earth-
quakes may not be due to the crystallization of rock masses
under the pressure of superincumbent strata, and that they
are fthe shocks 3 of the rupture of masses of dense strata,
or the sudden slippings of one great rock formation over
another.” This theory of Mr. Mackie' s brought forth a letter
from Mr. Scrope, which is published in the December number of
“ The Geologist,” who refers earthquakes of all kinds to the
same primary cause as the volcanic eruption ; and thinks it
quite “ unnecessary to resort to any other, such as terrestrial
electricity, magnetism, crystallization, the breaking in of the
roofs of imaginary subterranean cavities, or the condensation
of vapour evolved from submarine volcanoes.” In this sup-
position I entirely agree with Mr. Scope, and believe that it is
altogether unnecessary to resort to imaginary hypotheses to
explain those phenomena which are accounted for by so many
examples and recorded facts. I do not conceive that we
have any evidence whatever to suppose that “ snaps, and
jars,” or earthquakes of any kind, are independent of volcanic

NOTES ON EARTHQUAKES.

209

phenomena, while we have so much evidence the other
way. There is a motion of the eartlx’s crust which lifts and
depresses enormous tracts of land, and which, as far as we
know, acts equably and without paroxysmal violence; but
these movements, however equable, must always be accom-
panied by occasional snaps and jars,” and the rending of the
rocks in the interior of the earth. In short, the frequent
occurrence of earthquakes such as we have lately experienced
in England, is what, as geologists, we must expect, from our
knowledge of volcanic phenomena, and the oscillatory move-
ments of the crust of the globe which have happened
throughout all geological time.

It is not, happily, in England that we experience much of
earthquakes and their effects. It is in volcanic regions that
severe earthquakes occur, and there the imagination can pic-
ture nothing more awful than their results. Mr. Mallet and
M. Perrey, of Dijon, have catalogued systematically the differ-
ent accounts of earthquake phenomena, and it has been calcu-
lated that several millions of human beings have been destroyed
by earthquakes within the last four thousand years. Whether
they occur along the line of the Andes, in the Indian Archi-
pelago, in Sicily, or in Portugal, “ misericordia !” is the cry,
and fearful indeed are the devastations which are witnessed by
the survivors of such catastrophes.

Two hundred and fifty thousand persons were killed at the
first earthquake of Antioch in the year 526, and sixty thou-
sand during the second catastrophe, seventy- six years after-
wards. In 1797, forty thousand persons perished from earth-
quakes in Quito. Sir Charles Lyell records that one hundred
thousand people were killed by the Sicilian earthquakes of
1693, when the city of Catania and forty-nine other villages
were levelled to the ground ; and it was ascertained that sixty
thousand persons were destroyed in the course of six minutes,
during the earthquake of Lisbon in 1755.

One account of the effect of a severe earthquake which
happened as lately as 1861 will suffice as an example of the
occasional effect of such catastrophes on human life and human
welfare. The following is the record of Major Rickards of the
destruction of the city of Mendoza, in South America. He
says : —

I was absolutely struck dumb and immovable with horror at the scene
which presented itself ! I gazed along the whole length of a street ; not a
single house was there to be seen standing ; all was a confused mass of
“ adobes,” beams, and bricks ! The street was filled up on a level with what
remained of the walls of the houses on either side, which at a glance
accounted for the fearful number of victims — upwards of 12,000 out of a
population of 16,000 — entombed beneath the ruins on that fatal 20th of

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March, 1861. Nothing met my eye but desolation and ruins. For a mile
around, on every side, nothing but a chaotic mass of destruction was visible,
the debris of a large city razed to the ground in an instant. On approaching
the Church of Santo Domingo, I saw lying about its precincts human
skeletons and portions of the human form protruding from beneath the
masonry. In many parts of the city I saw the same horrible exhibition —
skulls, arms, legs, &c., lying about, some still undecayed. At last I retired
to my quarters, meditating upon the dreadful catastrophe which had in a few
seconds turned a gay and beautiful city into an enormous graveyard.

As late as June lash, more than one thousand persons were
killed, and many thousands injured, by an earthquake which
destroyed in a moment the town of Manilla. In volcanic
districts, moreover, we learn that those paroxysmal earth-
quakes occur by which whole districts of land are permanently
elevated or depressed; and these effects of earthquakes should
be especially noted. In Chili, three hundred shocks of earth-
quakes were counted between 20th of February and the 4th
of March, 1835, and the coast was permanently elevated.
Admiral Fitzroy found beds of mussels, chitons, and limpets
in a putrid state, but still adhering to the rocks, and raised
ten feet above high-water mark. Mr. Darwin found similar
shells at Valparaiso, at the height of 1,300 feet, and had no
doubt that those shell-beds were elevated to their present
position by a series of earthquake shocks which caused succes-
sive small uprisings. On the 19th of November, 1822, a
most destructive earthquake occurred on the coast of Chili,
the shock of which was felt throughout a space of 1,200 miles
from north to south, and an extent of country was elevated
which was calculated to equal half the area of France. A
similar history of upraised shells, sea-weeds, and other marine
remains, was recorded at the time by Mrs. Graham. Sir Charles
Ly ell's celebrated proofs of the elevation and subsidence of the
coast of the Bay of Baise, and that the relative level of land
and sea has there changed twice since the Christian era, are too
well known to need description. As an example of a more
recent elevation of the earth's crust, we may mention the
instance brought forward by Sir Charles Lyell, in a Lecture
delivered before the Boyal Institution in 1 856. It occurred in
the previous year (1855) in New Zealand, simultaneously with
a very severe earthquake ; and an elevation of upwards of five
feet, on the north side of Cook's Straits, affected the tide of
the river Hutt to such an extent that it was almost excluded ;
while a depression on the other side of Cook's Straits caused
the tides to flow up the river Wairua many miles higher than
before the alteration of the land level by the earthquake. A
regular “ fault ” was also exposed to view for the instruction of

NOTES ON EARTHQUAKES.

211

geologists,, for a shift in the rock surface took place, and a “step”
of rock, nine feet high, was raised for a distance of ninety miles.

With regard to the depression of land by earthquakes, we
may instance the large tract known as “ The Sunk Country,”
at New Madrid, Missouri, which was submerged by earthquakes
in 1811 and 1812. This depressed tract extends along the
course of the White Water river for a distance of between
seventy and eighty miles north and south, and for thirty miles
east and west. The earthquake of Cutch, in 1819, caused a
subsidence of land in one part of the delta of the Indus, and
an elevation in another. In Sicily, in 1790, the ground at
Maria di Niscemi, on the south coast, sank down in one place
to the depth of thirty feet; while, during the tremendous
Lisbon earthquake of 1755, the new quay, which was built
entirely of marble, sank down to the depth of six hundred
feet, carrying with it a great number of boats and small
vessels, as well as a large number of persons who had fled
there for safety. The effects of paroxysmal earthquakes in
volcanic districts are so well known, and have been so often
related, as to require no further description here.

There is, however, another motion of the earth's crust
which lifts and depresses whole continents, without any
violent earthquake movements. We know very little respect-
ing these great elevating and subsiding movements. Mr.
Darwin believes, from the intimate and complicated manner
in which the elevatory and eruptive forces are connected
with volcanic phenomena, we may confidently come to the
conclusion that the forces which at successive periods pour
forth volcanic matter are identical with those forces which,
slowly, and by little starts, uplift continents. Again, Sir
Charles Lyell, in his “ Antiquity of Man,” remarks, that from
what we do know of the state of the earth's interior, we
must expect that the gradual expansion or contraction of
different portions of the planet's crust may be the result of
changes and fluctuations in temperature, with which the exist-
ence of hundreds of active, and thousands of extinct volcanos,
is probably connected. There are large portions of the earth's
surface which have been elevated above the level of the ocean
in Africa, in the north of Europe, South America, and other
parts of the world, which bear no signs of paroxysmal upheaval,
of volcanic overflows, or of any other than extremely equable
movements. Sir Eoderick Murchison informs us, that there
are in Russia large areas, consisting of rocks of the age of the
Lower Silurian deposits, which have been but partially hardened
since they were accumulated, which have never been pene-
trated by volcanic matter, and have undergone no great
change, or disruption, during the enormous periods which

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have elapsed since their deposition in the bed of the Silurian
seas.

It has been proved beyond a doubt, that the land in Sweden
and Norway is gradually being elevated out of the sea ; and
Mr. Lamont, in his “ Seasons with the Sea-Horses,” furnishes
us with some remarkable evidence of the rapid elevation of the
land around Spitsbergen, even the sealers remarking that
“ the sea is going back.”

But we do not need to journey to Norway or Spitzbergen
for proofs of the elevation of land. Great Britain has been
elevated to an extent incredible to those who have not studied
the subject, since the period of existing shells. The study of
the drift and gravel deposits of this country will convince any
geologist that by far the larger portion of Great Britain has
emerged from the sea since the commencement of the glacial
period, and that its emergence was extremely gradual and
slow. I have myself seen numerous instances where stratified
sand banks, and loose gravel and shingle, occupy elevated
positions in Scotland, England, and Wales, and of which the
appearance at once forbids the conclusion that they were
hoisted up to their present position by any sudden paroxysmal
motion, or by any other action than a series of small successive
uprisings, and the gradual, equable motion I have alluded to.
As examples of these elevated marine gravels and drifts, I may
mention one on Moel Tryfane, near Carnarvon, which occupies
the summit of a hill platform, at a height of nearly 1,400 feet
above the sea. I had the pleasure of visiting this ancient and
remarkable raised beach last summer, in company with Sir
Charles Lyell, and of gathering some of its characteristic
shells from among the loose sand, shingle, and pebbles, which
are there elevated to this extraordinary height. There is
another instance, but not of so striking a character, between
Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth, on the Severn, where Mr. George
Maw discovered great quantities of marine shells, some of
boreal character, in drifts which are elevated a hundred, or a
hundred and fifty feet above the Severn. These are instances
in our own country which any naturalist may study for
himself.

But we have upheavals of a later date than those just
instanced, and which have no doubt occurred since the occu-
pation of England by man. Flint weapons have been found
near Bedford, and other localities, which prove that England
was inhabited by an ancient people, who lived in ages long
remote, and before the country had been upheaved to its
present position. These beds are probably correlative in age
to the celebrated drifts containing human tools in the Somme
valley. Many caves containing human remains, associated

NOTES ON EARTHQUAKES.

213

with those of extinct animals, have been greatly altered in
position, and upheaved since the deposition of the organic
remains, while ancient land surfaces have in other parts sub-
sided beneath the sea. Ancient canoes have been found near
Glasgow, in upheaved marine silts ; and we are informed by
Sir Charles Lyell, that “ at the time when these ancient vessels
were navigating the waters where the city of Glasgow now
stands, the whole of the low lands which bordered the present
estuary of the Clyde, formed the bed of a shallow sea.” This
emergence is proved to have been gradual and intermittent.

On the east and west coasts of Scotland there are raised
beaches of from twenty-five to forty feet in height above high-
water mark ; and it appears probable that the coast-line in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh, has changed since the human
epoch. At all events, it has altered considerably within a
recent geological period. * Mr. Geikie believes that an
elevation of other parts of the Scottish coast-line has occurred
since the Roman occupation of the Roman stations on the
Solway, the Forth, and the Clyde. This presumption is still
doubtful, but my own observations and inquiries induce me to
believe that Mr. Geikie is right. We have then a good deal
of evidence to prove that oscillatory movements have occurred
in England, to a very considerable extent, up to a late
period; and I believe that such movements should be attri-
buted to a succession of small earthquakes, such as the late
shock so generally experienced throughout England, or those
shocks which destroyed the cathedral of Lincoln in 1185, and
many of the largest churches in England in September, 1275.
I say, a succession of small earthquakes , for we have no evidence
of the overflow of volcanic matter, or of paroxysmal earth-
quakes, such as those which happen in volcanic countries, for
a very long period.

With regard to the late earthquake, it had every appearance
of being one of those sensible vibratory undulations of the
earth's surface, referred by Mr. Scrope (C to the snap and jar
occasioned by a sudden and violent rupture of rock masses at
a greater or less depth, and probably the instantaneous injec-
tion into the fissures so formed of intumescent molten matter
from beneath.” It certainly seems only reasonable, when we
reflect that the British Islands are on the line of the volcanic
belt which affected Portugal when Lisbon and several other
cities were nearly destroyed, and which reaches to the Canary
Islands, to refer our British earthquakes to the same cause as
volcanic eruptions, namely, pent-up subterranean heat. We

* See “Edinburgh and its Neighbourhood,” a work by the late Hugh
Miller, just published.

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know that subterranean heat exists to an enormous extent in
the interior of the earth, and in former ages has melted and
erupted masses of fluid rock, and caused subsidences and
elevations here in England, and, in all probability, will do so
again. Why seek for other and unknown causes ? The earth-
quake of October last was harmless, but it was sufficiently
violent in some localities to make us understand that the
powers are not extinct, and that volcanic agency is not dead
beneath us. A shock of only double the violence would pro-
bably have caused some serious catastrophes in the neigh-
bourhood of Ross and Abergavenny. The direction of this
earthquake appears to have been from south-west to north-
east. This is believed by Mr. Mallet to be the line of the
Lisbon earthquake; and it was certainly the line of many earth-
quake movements in former ages. During the earthquake at
Lisbon, Loch Lomond rose two or three feet; women washing
in the Tay were swept off their legs by a wave ; and a great
wave rolled into Kinsale. In Carmarthen Bay, about eight
hours after the earthquake of October, a large body of water,
of a dark-brown colour, as if charged with earthy matter, was
seen to roll forward in the shape of a cone, and coming in
contact with a boat, “ the boat was violently pitched about,
and the water thrown completely over it.”

The roaring noise which accompanied the earthquake is
supposed, by the editor of “The Geologist,” to have been
“ fancied.” And the phenomena that occurred are treated so
lightly, that it is manifest Londoners heard and felt very little
in comparison with those who reside in the western counties.
The evidence of the Rev. H. C. Key, of Stretton Rectory, near
Hereford, with respect to the noise, which he likens to that of
“a very heavy and long train rushing furiously through a
station,” is precisely the evidence that I have received from
several other persons who happened to be awake, and who
never heard or read of Mr. Key^s experiences.

As regards the undulatory motion of this earthquake, and
the boat-like rocking which has been described by some
persons, I may say that in four instances where I examined
the position of their beds, I found that their broadsides lay
east and west, or nearly so. In cases where the heads of the
beds lay north or south, the swaying motion from side to side
does not appear to have been experienced to a similar extent.
The localities where the shock was felt most appear to have
been along the line of certain rivers in the West of England
which run along the track of ancient earth movements. The
Golden Valley, in Herefordshire, along the banks of the Dore,was
much shaken, as also were the valleys of the Wye, and certain
tributaries of that river towards Monmouth and Abergavenny.

NOTES ON EARTHQUAKES.

215

At Llancilio, tlie seat of Colonel Clifford, M.P., a fissure was
caused in a wall, and some prints just pasted down were split
across. Llancilio is not far distant from an example of the
effects of ancient earthquakes ; for, at Usk, a large dome of
Upper Silurian rocks is upcast through the surrounding and
overlying Old Red Sandstone of the district. At Ashfield,
near Ross, on the Wye, the walls of two unfinished houses were
partly thrown down ; and at Bishop's Wood, below Ross, a line
of former faulting and rending of the earth's crust, a house
standing close on the river was so much heaved and rocked
that the occupant of a heavy old four-poster bed was nearly
thrown out. The noise here was as loud as in the neighbour-
hood of Hereford, for the gentleman who rested in the bed
supposed that an explosion of gunpowder had taken place in
a barge on the Wye, and he rushed to the window. The
following evidence from the Ross neighbourhood of the exter-
nal phenomena attending the shock, is rather remarkable. I
received the information from a friend, who is thoroughly to be
depended on. A man rose unusually early, and was engaged in
loading a cart with potatoes, which he had promised to deliver
before his day's work commenced ; when, on a sudden, “ he
heard a dreadful noise come roaring up," apparently from a
wood to the westward, and his cart rocked so violently that he
was nearly thrown out of it. The trees all around him rocked
violently to and fro, and the rooks arose cawing from the
wood ; the small birds also twittered, and took wing with
notes of distress. The thunder-like noise appeared to roll off
towards the east.

I might give numerous other instances of the effects of the
October earthquake in the West of England, but I think
enough has been said to prove that it was a very different
affair from the London experiences of “ three little quivers,"
and legs which were asleep and twitched." Here it was a
severe shock for Great Britain, and confirms our opinion more
and more that the volcanic doctrine is the true one, whatever
may be the truth of the existence of a Plutonic nucleus
in the interior of the planet. There is no doubt, however,
that there is a good deal in the remark, that the variety of
sensations, and the degrees of violence, in different localities
were owing to the variations of geological conditions, and the
medium of solid rock, or looser strata, which communicated the
earth- wave from place to place.

Finally, the question of principal importance is, whether we
are to expect a renewal of such phenomena from time to time,
and whether it is possible that volcanic fires and their com-
panions, paroxysmal and violent earthquakes, may again
agitate our native land. But this is a question it is impossible

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to answer. We do not know why the fire of the volcano and
the rending of the earthquake should become locally extinct
at different geological periods, or why the centres of volcanic
eruption should vary ; but we know that they have formerly
done so, and we do not doubt that they will thus vary again.

The volcano and the earthquake are some of the principal
means which the great Creator employs for the construc-
tion and the adaptation of the planet on which we live; but
when their forces are to be employed, or where, does not lie at
present within the reach of man’s philosophy.

217

REVIEWS.

THE NATURAL LAWS OF HUSBANDRY *

IT is too true that men are apt to he led away by the assertions of
others on whose judgment and intellectual capacity they rely ; and
since we very frequently find that those who are most dogmatic in their
enunciation of certain views are exactly those who have given the subject
connected with those views the least consideration, it results that they
who put their trust in them, find, at the eleventh hour, that they have
been lamentably deceived. So it is with the agriculturists of England.
Being, as a rule, men who from their education, or rather from the
entire absence of education, are incapable of conceiving an idea of any-
thing in the abstract, are totally devoid of powers of generalization,
and hence averse to all which borders on theory, they are easily carried
away by any statement which emanates from what they delight in calling
“ practical men.” This is no mere supposition. It is familiar to every
one who has attempted to explain to the commonplace farmer, that his
crops grow in obedience to certain fixed laws, and that they, like his cattle,
must be fed with such a form of food as is best suited to their require-
ments, that a theoretical illustration of even the simplest class is uncon-
genial to an agriculturist’s mind. This being the case, it follows that, if
we desire to establish a better state of things in those countries, if we
would raise the farmer (we do not allude to the country gentleman) from
his present degraded condition, and if we would regard the future welfare
of this country as of importance, then there is but one remedy — to educate
the agriculturist to a thorough knowledge of the theory of his profession.
This is what the great German baron has essayed to do ; this is what he
has toiled, during the last sixteen years, to achieve. The direct result of his
labours is now before us, in the form of a work which, while rendered in
a style of English intelligible to any person of ordinary education, is at
the same time as accurately scientific as a thorough knowledge of present-
day chemistry could accomplish, and as profoundly philosophic as any
literary production of Baron Liebig’s might be expected to be. The
volume is divided into twelve chapters, and the whole subject is treated in
a most comprehensive and, we should think, exhaustive manner. The
first chapter relates to the physiology or life-history of the plant, and in
it are discussed not only the chemical conditions of vegetable life, but also

* “ The Natural Laws of Husbandry .” By Justus von Liebig.
Edited by John Blyth, M.D., Professor of Chemistry in Queen’s
College, Cork. London : Walton & Maberly. 1863.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

those which refer to the other modifications of universal force — heat and
light. It is shown that, by the mutual co-operation of these various
influences on the one hand, and the organized germ of the plant on the
other, the latter eventually assumes its definitive form. Numerous experi-
ments are cited to prove the doctrines laid down ; and the author then
proceeds to the subject of radication , or the nature and form of roots, which
has hitherto been too much neglected, especially by our English agricultural
chemists, who have fallen into serious errors that a thorough knowledge of
botany would have enabled them to avoid. Stress is laid upon the fact that
one class of plants obtains its food from the subsoil, while another derives
it from the arable surface ; the former being represented by the turnip, and
the latter by the cereals. In Chapter II. we are treated to a history
of soils, of their varied compositions, and their relations to the roots of
plants. Here the author dwells upon the circumstance that soils possess
the power of abstracting the mineral food of plants from its solution in
either pure or carbonic acid water, and of then retaining it. It is showm,
too, that a crop may fail from the absence in the soil of some one parti-
cular form of food, although the other necessary constituents may be
present ; and the reason why wheat may flourish on the same ground
which refuses to grow rye, is given in the clearest manner. The third
chapter embraces the description of the various classes of manure, their
chemical and agricultural qualities, and the reasons why it is necessary to
have a uniform distribution of the food-elements of manures. The more
important feature of this portion of the text — indeed, we may almost say of
the entire volume — is that, here, the errors of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert are
unsparingly exposed. Clover- sickness, as it is termed by farmers — to
whom, by the way, its cause has always been an enigma — was taken in
hand some years since by the two English chemists referred to. They
made it their especial hobby, and trotted it out on every possible occasion,
as one of their triumphs in the chemico-agricultural direction. It turns
out, however, that their hypothesis is a sham, a wild speculation, unsup-
ported by the results of experience, and, as Baron Liebig convincingly
demonstrates, overthrown by the very experiments of its originators.
Clover, the author shows, is one of those plants whose roots descend to
considerably greater depths than others, and, in reality, obtains most of
its nourishment from the subsoil. But this is not all. Owing to the small
quantity of nutritious material which the seed contains, it is obliged, even
in the early stages of its growth, to abstract food from the soil, and there-
fore it robs the arable surface as well as the deeper strata ; and when its
roots reach the subsoil, those of them which still lie in the upper layer
become so suberous in character as to lose the power of removing mineral
elements from the earth ; hence in its later days it feeds upon the subsoil
exclusively. It sometimes happens that a crop of clover which during
winter looked remarkably well, becomes sickly as spring advances, and, in
course of time, perishes entirely. This is what is designated clover sick-
ness, and what Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert took upon themselves to explain ;
and this is their explanation : — Clover feeds upon organic matter of a
complex kind, whilst cereals live upon minerals chiefty. Now, it is a most
remarkable circumstance that these experimentalists, in operating upon two

REVIEWS.

219

soils under almost identical climatic conditions, found that the ground was
poisoned for clover in one case, and not in the other. They also assert, that
when land is clover-sick the only remedy is to wait some years before
repeating red clover upon it. Baron Liebig, after carefully analyzing all
their arguments, thus states the real cause of the failure of the clover on
the approach of spring : —

“ There cannot be the slightest doubt about the reason of this decay :
the exhausted subsoil had not received back any of the lost conditions of
fertility, and thus the plants were starved as soon as they had passed
through the arable surface-soil, and their roots were beginning to spread in
the subsoil.”

That the soil is not inexhaustible, is shown by reference to the condition
of certain soils once virgin, like those of parts of the American continent ;
and in regard to the ultimate result of all endeavours to enrich the soil by
bringing the subsoil to the surface, the author writes : —

“ The notion of our ignorant practical husbandmen, that the soil contains
ample store of the elements of food to enable them to pursue their system
of agriculture, is due partly to the excellent quality of the land, but also
to their skill in robbing it. The man who attempts to gain money by
filing the weight of one gold piece from a thousand, cannot plead, in
extenuation, that it is remarked by no one ; but, if discovered, he is
punished by the law : for everybody knows that the fraudulent act,
repeated a thousand times, would ultimately leave nothing of the gold
pieces. A similar law, from which, moreover, there is no escape, punishes
the agriculturist who wrould make us believe that he knows the exact
store of available food-elements of his land, and how far it will go, and
who deceives himself when he fancies he is enriching his field by
bestowing on the arable surface-soil the matter taken from the deeper
layers.”

In another chapter we are shown, by reference to the experiments of
Schoenbein ( vide Popular Science Review for October, p. 108), that
the ammonia of soils is derived from the atmosphere, and that all the
factories in the world would not supply the quantity required, were it
otherwise. To any one who reads Baron Liebig’s work, the conviction is
inevitable, that plants derive their mineral constituents from the soil, and
their organic materials from the air ; that the action of ammonia salts as
manures is merely a solvent one ; and that, in our country, we are every
day robbing the earth of a quantity of inorganic salts which is never
restored, and that, in consequence of this, serious results, painful to con-
template, must eventually occur. The utilization of sewage is dealt with
fairly, and the appendix description of Japanese methods in regard to
this will be read with much interest. It is impossible, in so small a space,
to do justice to so admirable a work as that of Baron Liebig ; and we can
only console ourselves with the hope that the reader will be led to examine
the volume for himself. The highest meed of praise is due to the able
translator, who has certainly discharged his duty with more than usual
care, and who is already so well known to the scientific world, that
further comments on our part would be superfluous. Baron Liebig’s book
recommends itself to every one interested in, not only the theory, but the
practice, of agriculture.

220

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

PHYSIOLOGICAL SCIENCE *

HYSIOLOGY is the basis of all rational medicine. It is to the

physician what mathematical science is to the astronomer ; and the
medical man who attempts to treat disease without a thorough knowledge
of the processes which are carried on in the body during health, is a mere
empiric, who is elevated above the herbalist charlatan solely through the
influence of conventionality. We are sorry to think that very many of
our practitioners display a lamentable ignorance of the laws which govern
the vital operations ; but we confess that this, in our opinion, is due to
the negligence of certain licensing bodies, who fancy that when they have
ascertained that a candidate can amputate a thigh, and make a neat dis-
section of the external carotid, they have done all that is requisite for the
advancement of educational interests. It is lamentable that such a state
of things should exist ; but that it does exist we have not the least hesita-
tion in affirming. It is the more to be regretted, as there are few countries
where so many and well-written text-books on Physiology are to be found
as in that of Great Britain. Should the physician inquire, Where is the
necessary information to be obtained ? we can safely reply, In the work
now under notice. Dr. Kirkes has been long and favourably known to
the profession, and we venture to say that there is no name in science
with which the medical student is more familiar than that of the author
of the “ Handbook of Physiology .” The fifth edition of this fine work
has just appeared, and no doubt will be welcomed to the library and
lecture theatre with the hearty greetings it deserves. The book has under-
gone an entire revision, and, so far as we can see, has received many
additions, bringing it up to the present state of scientific physiology. It
must be borne in mind that Dr. Kirkes has written upon pure, or special
physiology, as it is termed : that is to say, he has treated almost exclu-
sively of the functions which the various organs perform, merely touching
generally, upon the microscopic anatomy of the tissues. If, therefore, we
say that the latter is hardly of as modern a type as an examination of
Reichert’s, Huxley’s, and Beale’s views might have rendered it, we must
not be supposed desirous of passing any censure upon the writer. Those
portions of the text devoted to functional physiology are written in a terse
and lucid style, embrace the consideration of all recent investigations,
and are illustrated by wood and other engravings of a very superior stamp.
In the chapter on the chemical and histological character of the blood, the
reader finds, not only the results of those researches which he is already
acquainted with, but much valuable matter relating to the discoveries of
the last few years. Bernard’s discovery of scarlet blood in the veins of
active glands and in those of inactive muscles is adverted to ; and the same
observer’s statement, that the acidity of the blood when removed from
the body is owing to conversion of its sugar into lactic acid, also finds a
place. The nature of coagulation is referred to, and on this subject the

* “Handbook of Physiology.” By William S. Kirkes, M.D.,
F.R.C.P.S., etc. Fifth edition. London : Walton & Maberly. 18G3.

REVIEWS.

221

views of Richardson, Lister, Nasse, Brucke, Polli, and the more recent
ones of Schmidt, are well detailed. Dr. Kirkes does not appear to favour
any one of the opinions put forward by various authors, in respect to the
cause of the first sound of the heart ; but while he admits the plausibility
of Dr. Halford’s theory, he conceives that, —

“ The safest theory to be at present adopted, with regard to the first sound
of the heart, is that which admits the co-operation of several coincident
agencies in its production.”

Professor Savory’s recent observations on the influence of certain kinds
of food are alluded to. We cannot, however, concur in the author’s
opinion, that they disprove Liebig’s theory ; as we believe, that while it
is possible to prepare pure non-azotized food, purely nitrogenous materials
are not so easy of production. In regard to the glycogenic function of the
li er, we must say that we still look upon the matter as unsettled : Dr.
Pavy’s experiments were carried out with such precision, that we admit
being unable now' to accept either doctrine. The student will be pleased
to find that the beautiful researches of Dr. B. Sequard are described
by Dr. Kirkes, and are accompanied by an explanatory diagram, from the
treatise of the former. In cases like the present, a comparisons are

odorous ; ” but, even at the risk of being accused of partiality, w*e
contend that there is no better work for students and practitioners than
that of Dr. Kirkes. It possesses a copious index, and a list of refer-
ences to the various English and Continental books and periodicals in
which may be found the original memoirs on which the views expressed
in the “Handbook of Physiology” are supported.

A MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY.*

A SECOND edition of the English translation of M. Milne-Edwards’s
book has lately coine out. It is in part a posthumous work, for
the original translator, Dr. Knox, died before the proofs had all passed
through the press ; and the labour of editor then devolved on Mr. C.
Carter Blake. There have been so many persons engaged in bringing out
this work, that we might naturally have anticipated a valuable result. We
are sorry to say that we have been disappointed. Dr. Knox, though him-
self a first-class comparative anatomist, was but a poor zoologist ; and,
to judge from Mr. Carter Blake’s revision of the volume, we should

I not say he w7as remarkably conversant with the progress which zoology
has made during the past eight or ten years. When a new edition of a
scientific book makes its appearance, we generally dip into its pages with
the assurance that we shall find considerable alterations in the text, and
old views abandoned, and more philosophic and firmly based ones substi-
tuted for them. We cannot say this of Mr. Renshaw’s new publication.
With the exception of about half-a-dozen new sketches and a few harum-

* “A Manual of Zoology.” By M. Milne-Edwards. Translated from
the last French edition by R. Knox, M.D. Second edition. Edited by
C. Carter Blake, F.G.S., &c. London ; Renshaw. 1863.

VOL. III. — NO. X. Q

r — ■

222

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scarum notes and intercalations, we find little improvement upon the
edition of 1856. The physiological section of the work, though certainly
not of an advanced description, is nevertheless good, and, as an intro-
duction to the more special study, must be considered as of importance.
The Yertehrata, as usually occurs, are treated of at length, and there is
little fault to he found with the descriptions. It seems to us, however,
that the outline of the nervous system is unwarrantably brief, and that
the omission of all allusion to the vast amount of work done in brain-
anatomy during the past five years, is hardly justifiable. That portion of
the volume which embraces the Invertebrata is sadly deficient. We must
take exception, especially, to the system of classification adopted in the
instance of Annulosa, or Annulata , as it is therein styled. All modern
investigations group the echinoderms with the Annuloida and not with the
jelly-fishes ; moreover, the beroe is no longer placed among the Acalephee
hut in the order Actinozoa. The chapter on Geographical Distribution has
undergone some slight change, and embodies a mild attack on the late
Edward Forbes, which we think might have been omitted. We conceive
that Mr. Blake would have shown some discretion had he avoided inserting
his table of classification ; it does not redound much to his reputation as a
naturalist acquainted with the zoology of 1863.

GEOLOGY FOR SCHOOLS.*

THIS is an excellent little book ; and though the author’s modesty
induces him to state that it is 44 intended for the use of young
persons of fourteen or fifteen years of age and upwards,” we have not the
faintest doubt of its becoming the hand-book of amateur adults, and even
of junior students. Those interested in geological science are already
well acquainted with Mr. Beete Jukes’s name as a writer of former
treatises on popular science, and to the more serious student Mr. Jukes
is familiar as the contributor of many valuable memoirs to scientific
journals, and as the Director of the Irish Geological Survey. 44 The
School Manual ” is divided into three parts : in the first, the geological
operations now in action are dealt with ; in the second, some of the facts
observable in the crust of the earth are exposed ; and in the third is given
the history of the formation of this crust, deduced from facts observable
in it, as explained by reference to operations which are going on at the
present time. The language in which the book is written is characterized
by great clearness of style ; and in every case where expressions borrowed
from other sciences are employed, an explanation of their meaning is
given. This is well illustrated in the few paragraphs on the 44 elements ”
which chemists speak of. The chapter on Earthquakes is particularly
good, and in it we observe an analysis of Mr. Mallet’s great work on
Seismology. From what Professor Jukes writes respecting the move-

* 44 The School Manual of Geology.” By J. Beete Jukes, M.A.,
F.R.S., Local Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland, &c. Edin-*
burgh ; Adam & Charles Black, 1863,

EEVIEWS.

223

mentof glaciers, he does not seem to have accepted Forbes’s doctrine.
His remarks on the various forms of stratification, and on their modifica-
tion by internal and external influences, deserve perusal. We see for the
first time the late Professor Kinahan’s sketches of Oldhamia and Histio-
derina reproduced ; and from experience, can testify to their being capital
representations of these peculiar Cambrian fossils. The palaeontological
division of the volume has been handled in as masterly a manner as the
other, and both are adorned with hosts of well-executed woodcuts. We
heartily wish Mr. Jukes’s “ Manual ” every success.

LOCAL FLORAS.*

WE can never expect to get a thoroughly systematic “British Flora”
till we possess accurate lists of the plants in each county, and
properly drawn lines indicating their superficial and bathymetrical dis-
tribution. In the two volumes lying on our table a very laudable endea-
vour has been made to furnish the public with scientific catalogues of the
plants found in Surrey and Marlborough. That which relates to the
former county is the better of the two, but each is remarkably good of its
kind. The “ Flora of Surrey,” we are informed, has been prepared from the
manuscripts of the late J. D. Salmon, F.L.S., under the auspices of the
Holmesdale Natural History Club. It is exceedingly systematic ; and were
it not that its compilers have given admitted [varieties the rank of true
species, we should have little to complain of. The tendency of present
botanists- — of that school at whose head Bentham stands — is to reduce the
number of so-called species very considerably. And we do not think we
are going beyond the mark when we say, that the Surrey flora, as repre-
sented by Mr. Brewer, contains a hundred more species than the county
possesses; in other words, five score of Mr. Brewer’s species are mere
varieties. Perhaps the best portion of the work, like the essence of a lady’s
letter, is to be found in the appendix. This contains a tabular arrange-
ment of the plants, showing their geological distribution, which is further
indicated on a beautiful geological map attached to the volume, and pre-
pared expressly for it by Mr. Prestwich. It is, on the whole, a book
which must prove very acceptable to all London botanists. The “ Flora
of Marlborough,” which includes a list of local birds, is a far less preten-
tious volume, and, as its author states, was prepared for the members of
the College, in order to induce them to take an interest in botanical
science. Nevertheless, it has been well and creditably executed ; and, from
the author’s modest expression of doubt as to its accuracy in some parti-
culars, it is evident that he is a cautious and industrious botanist, and one
well adapted for the labour he has undertaken. True science is almost
always sceptical.

# “ Flora of Surrey.” From the MSS. of the late J. D. Salmon, F.L.S.,
and from other sources. Compiled for the Holmesdale Natural History
Club, Reigate, by J. A. Brewer. London : Van Voorst. 1863.

“ Flora of Marlborough ; with Notices of the Birds, and Sketch of the
Geological Features of the Neighbourhood.” London : Van Voorst.

1863.

224

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

A GUIDE TO THE WESTERN ALPS.*

THOSE who delighted to read “ Peaks, Passes, and Glaciers,” will, as
a matter of course, he pleased to learn that Mr. Ball has again come
before the public in connection with his favourite subject. This time,
however, his object is, not merely to excite a desire for Alpine travel, but
to show the amateur in what manner he can best set about his moun-
taineering excursion — how he is to conduct himself during his ascent of
the Alpine peaks — and what he has to learn and observe. With Mr. Ball’s
book (and it is a very portable volume) in his pocket, the traveller has
nothing to fear. And we believe, if the question were asked, it would be
more difficult to say what topics connected with mountaineering are left
untouched, than what are not. It has never been our lot to find a volume
which contained so much information in so small a space ; and yet the
matter does not partake of that dry character which so frequently accom-
panies condensation. Mr. Ball gives us a few hints as to the form of
money to be used, and the method of getting English coins exchanged for
foreign ones ; then he passes on to passports and custom-house regu-
lations, till he brings us to the Alps. Next he has a word on the mode of
travelling to be adopted in the Alps, speaks of chars , diligences , riding, &c.,
and supplies a list of names of the best known guides, with their addresses.
The subject of inns is treated in full, and his advice to pedestrians is, we feel
sure, excellent. Admirable essays on the zoology, geology, glaciers, and
botany of the Alps, follow, and the first portion of the volume closes with
a list of works on, and maps of, the Alps, which extends over eight or
nine pages. The great bulk of the volume is absorbed by a detailed
account of the different routes which may be pursued in travelling
over the Maritime, Cottian, Dauphine, South Savoy, Graian, and Pen-
nine Alps. This section is accompanied by several tinted maps, and is
so diffuse that we fancy the omissions have been few indeed. Large
geographical and geological maps are appended, thus rendering the entire
work a welcome companion for the mountaineering tourist.

OUR GARDEN FRIENDS AND FOES.f

TO those who have not read Mr. Wood’s other works, this one may
prove of interest. To us it savours very much of an old joint newly
cooked, with just a sufficient addition of anecdotal condiments to make
it somewhat palatable. To speak more freely, we look upon this volume
as a compound, consisting of “ The Common Objects of the Country,” and
certain other popular treatises of the same author, with a sprinkling of
“Animal Traits and Characteristics,” just sufficient to make the whole

* “A Guide to the Western Alps.” By John Ball, M.R.I.A., F.L.S.,
&c. With an Article on the “ Geology of the Alps,” by M. E. Desor.
London : Longman & Co. 1863.

t “ Our Garden Friends and Foes.” By the Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A.,
&c. London : Routledge & Co. 1864.

REVIEWS.

225

more readable. The professed object of the writer is to furnish the public
with the means of distinguishing between those animals which are useful,
and those destructive, in our ordinary gardens. Like all Mr. Wood’s
publications, it is written in a simple, easy style ; and were it not for his
frequent sneers at what he terms “ the wish to be thought scientific,” we
could read it with pleasure. However, it is worthy of note that the
author desires to be thought scientific himself, and in some few instances,
where he lays down certain opinions on subjects in comparative anatomy,
displays a very superficial knowledge indeed : for example, where, in
speaking of the eyes of the wood-louse he states that they “ are placed
directly upon the surface of the integument.” We presume he means
that they are not stalked ; but this negative conclusion does not support
the positive assertion that they are placed directly upon the integument.
Regarded as a purely popular work, abounding in amusing anecdotes,
there are few which can equal it ; but it cannot be considered calculated
in any way to assist in teaching the grand scheme of Biology. It is a
book of interesting facts in natural history — nothing more. It comprises
descriptions of our commoner garden Annulosa, Mollusca, birds, mammals,
and reptiles ; and, besides the woodcuts scattered through the text, a series
of plates is appended, containing representations of various insects, Lepi-
doptera especially. As regards type and other mechanical features, the
work deserves commendation.

DICTIONARY OF NATURAL HISTORY TERMS*

THE working naturalist occasionally finds himself posed by some
technical expression, which throws itself in his way, and which, if
lie stumble over it, leaves him in such a position that his scientific journey
must be arrested. Ere he can advance a step, this obstacle must be
removed, and its removal is sometimes a matter of no very great ease. But
if the man of science finds himself, once in a way, brought to a standstill
by a word of two or three syllables, how often must the amateur naturalist
be placed in the same predicament? We answer, frequently, and we
believe our reply will be endorsed by the majority of our readers. He
can only hope for a solution of the puzzle by an appeal to some natural
history encyclopaedia, which is both unwieldy and expensive ; and it now
and then happens that his search proves a fruitless one. The interruption
we allude to need no longer exist. The want so long experienced has been
supplied. Dr. McNicoll’s Dictionary will afford both amateurs and
workers much assistance, embracing, as it does, an explanation of more
than fifteen thousand technical terms employed in the kindred sciences,
Botany, Zoology, and Palseontology. It is not to be expected that a book
of this kind could be perfect, especially in its first edition ; but the imper-
fections are remediable, and we trust that, in a future issue, they may be

* “ Dictionary of Natural History Terms, with their Derivations ;
including the various Orders, Genera, and Species/’ By David II,
McNicoll, M.D., &c. London: Lovell Reeve & Co. 1863.

226

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

removed. The terms are arranged in alphabetical order, and the Greek or
Latin derivation, and the name of the branch of natural history to which
it belongs, follow each word. Thus : —

Antennae (Entomology), ante , before, teneo , to hold.

Coriandrum (Botany), icopiQ, a bug ; in allusion to the smell of its leaves.

May we urge upon the author the propriety of adding to every term
the name of the genus with which it is connected ? Thus, in the case of
Acinetce, instead of merely adding the very general expression “Zoology,” we
would suggest the addition of the words, “ applied to the reproduction of
Infusoria,” or some such explanation. Many other instances of a similar
character may be found ; but we merely refer to one, in order to call the
author’s attention to the matter. Viewed in its entirety, the book is a
most valuable one, and should be on the library shelves of every one inte -
rested in natural history pursuits.

AN INTRODUCTION TO ASTRONOMY.*

MR. BOHN’S popular scientific publications rank among the best, and
assuredly the work before us is in no way behind the mark. Clear
and untechnical in his descriptions, Mr. Hind has exposed the ordinary
astronomical phenomena in such a manner as to render his volume alike
acceptable to the general reader and the student. From the circumstance
that Physical Astronomy is closely associated with mathematics of the
highest order, this branch of the subject has been wisely omitted ; but as
far as Plane Astronomy is concerned, we deem the present work capable
of imparting all the information which even the most ambitious amateur
can desire. It opens with a series of definitions of a preliminary character,
and a general outlinear description of the universe, which embraces the
important and minor planets and the fixed stars. The explanation of the
production of the different seasons is remarkably lucid ; and Kepler’s
three great fundamental laws are enunciated in terms intelligible to every
one. Many good folk whose notions of astronomy are of a misty character
are disposed to think that attraction of gravitation is the cause of the
planets’ motions : the real influence of this force being merely to produce
the orbits. On this point our author is very explicit. In speaking of uni-
versal gravitation, he says : “ It is by the action of this force that the
planets are retained in their orbits round the sun, having once received
from the Divine hand the impulse that set them in motion.” The preces-
sion of the equinoxes — a great stumbling-block to beginners — is as happily
dealt with. Nutation, Eclipses, the Tides, Parallax, Comets, and Nebulae
next receive the author’s attention. The sun and planets are minutely

* “ An Introduction to Astronomy to which is added an Astronomical
Vocabulary, containing an explanation of terms in use at the present day.
By J. R. Hind, F.R.A.S., &c. London : Henry G. Bohn. Third
Edition. 1863.

REVIEWS.

227

described, and a list of the minor forms of the latter, extending to the dis-
covery of Lntlier in last March, forms part of this section. The book is
profusely and well illustrated, and contains an astronomical vocabulary
covering nearly sixty pages, thus completing a volume to which we have
much pleasure in directing the attention of all our readers.

VITAL PHENOMENA *

DOES the reader desire a work compounded of mild evangelicalism
and extremely dilute science? Does he wish to associate super*
ficial and imaginative philosophy and religion to the utter annihilation of
everything Socratic ? If so, he should peruse Mr. Grindon’s essay on
“ Life.” To us it is one of those inexplicable mysteries, only to be solved
in future ages, how publishers can be found to undertake the publication
of books like the present one. We were about to express our surprise that
persons connected, even indirectly, with science, could be found to write
them ; but our knowledge of the frailty of human nature nipped the
sentence in the bud. What shall we say of Mr. Grindon’s production ?
That it is well written? Yes: we can conscientiously award the author
our tribute of praise in this regard. The style, were it not for a few
pedantic and wildly-conceptive flights, might be termed excellent. It ha*s,
at least, the merit of being readable, but that is all we can admit in its
favour. As a popular medium for the communication of science, it is
absolutely valueless. Recognized and exploded theories are indiscrimi-
nately introduced, and, from the author’s comments, it would appear that
he occasionally is at a loss to understand either. He aims at being meta-
physical, and therein we think he errs. Thus, he entirely misinterprets
the beautiful doctrine of the correlation of forces, and in his confused
notions of the functions of the body invokes the assistance of a vital force.
Again, he speaks of the sluggish life of the Annelida, proving his ignorance
of that group, which has been specially designated Errantes. When attri*-
buting the movement of the blood in plants to the Divine cause alone, he
shows that he is unacquainted with Draper’s grand researches. The
absurd generalization of a single animal archetype should not have been
introduced, and the question of homologies is one which is even yet so
undecided that it had much better have been omitted. The more animal
forms are investigated, the more forcible becomes the conviction that there
are several types fundamentally distinct from each other. We could
adduce many other instances of Mr. Grindon’s erroneous teachings, but
space forbids. We regard his volume as a melancholy example of what
extravagances a man who combines pseudo-metaphysics, imperfect science,
and superstition, may be led into.

* “ Life : its Nature, Varieties, and Phenomena.” By Leo H. Grindon,
Lecturer on Botany at the Royal School of Medicine, Manchester, &c»
Third Edition. London : Pitman. 1863.

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POPULAR NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS.*

THE popular names of our native plants are, we fear, too much
neglected by teachers of taxological botany. We are, therefore,
glad to find that an attempt has been made to prevent their extinction,
and accordingly we welcome Dr. Prior to the field he has selected. Un-
doubtedly, the task of explaining the signification of the common names of
plants is an exceedingly difficult one ; hence, if we find some of our
author’s explanations a little conjectural and unsatisfactory, the writer
can hardly be reproached severely for what was evidently due rather to
the lack of existing information than to his endeavours to compile from
all available sources. The plan of the book is to be approved of, but the
matter is of so dry and encyclopaedic a character, that we fancy it will not
be so generally read as the more interesting descriptions which the talented
editor of “ Sowerby’s English Botany ” has already given to the public.
For all that, it is a most valuable compilation. A quotation will expose
its merits better than any remarks of ours. Let us select the Fumitory for
example : —

“ Fumitory, French fume-terre, Latin fumus terrm, earth-smoke, from
the belief that it was produced without seed from vapours rising from the
earth. See Ortus Sanitatus, Mayence, 1485, ch. 176, and the Grete Herball,
cap. clxxi., where we are told that it is 4 called Fume, or smoke of the
earth, because it is engendred of a cours fumositie rysing from the earthe,
and because it cometh out of the earth in great quantity lyke smoke ; thys
grosse or cours fumositie of the earthe, wyndeth and wyndeth out, and by
working of the ayre and sunne it tourneth into this herbe, &c.’ ”

There are other names, however, whose origin is not so well explained.
We do not think that Bedstraw is so called from having been formerly
employed for bedding ; nor do we believe that the term Alder is derived
from an awl, because it may have formed the handle of the latter instru-
ment. Viewed in its tout ensemble , Dr. Prior’s book is a useful and impor-
tant production, and in the hands of the field-botanist will constitute a
capital adjunct to the British Flora.

THE BIRDS OF EUROPE.f

THOSE who possess the preceding volumes of this splendid work will
hail the appearance of the fourth and concluding portion with
feelings of intense satisfaction. It comprises the natural history of nearly
fifty birds which, though recorded as having been found in Europe, are not
British. The technical characters, both generic and specific, are intelligible
to the zoologist, and the general features are given in so popular a style,

* “ On the Popular Names of British Plants,” &c. By R. C. A. Prior,
M.D., F.L.S. London : Williams & Norgate. 1863.

t “ A History of the Birds of Europe not observed in the British Isles.”
By C. R. Bree, M.D., F.L.S. Vol. IV. London: Groombridge & Sons,
1863.

REVIEWS.

229

that, with the assistance of the beautifully executed plates, the merest tyro
must find the identification of a species a very simple matter. If there be
any fault in the illustrations, it is that they are perhaps a little too highly
coloured, in other respects they are perfect; and as there is a sketch of
every bird which is described in the text, the book will prove interesting
even to those who have not the good fortune to possess a museum of their
own. In many cases representations of the eggs are given, a circumstance
which lends an additional importance to the work. The chapters on the
Wandering and Yellow-nosed Albatrosses are especially worthy of perusal.
The strange voracity of the former is described in vigorous language, and
its power of flight within two points of the wind is also adverted to ; the
latter species, too, is fairly noticed. The wandering albatross is most pro-
bably the bird to which Coleridge alluded in his celebrated poem ; and no
doubt Dr. Bree’s description of it will be read with gusto by all who are
familiar with the “ Ancient Mariner.” We may mention that, in treating
of the habits of the birds, the author has depended in great measure upon
the observations of others ; but his selections are good, and are always
verified by the names of the writers from whom they are borrowed. Dr.
Bree has discharged his duty faithfully and successfully ; and, whilst
wishing his treatise an extensive circulation, we hope we are only bidding
him au revoir.

CHEMICAL PHYSICS.*

I EXPERIMENTAL Physics is a subject which, in these days, everyone
Lf must be less or more conversant with. In every class of educated
society the topic of conversation is occasionally some one bordering on
physical science ; we are asked our opinions as to the progress of spectral
analysis, or as to the diffusion of gases, or some friend who has been to the
Royal Institution, inquires whether we are disposed to accept Professor
Tyndall’s views. Now, those whose professional pursuits carry them out
of the track of science may naturally inquire, Where can we obtain a
knowledge of physics ? Where shall we find accurate information
respecting the electric and such like forces, the nature of heat, the
structure of the spectroscope, &c.? Our answer is, in the volume before us.
Its third edition has now been published, and comprises the most recent
results of physical investigation. It treats of the laws of chemical com-
bination, elasticity, diffusion of liquids and gases, crystallization, light
(including an account of Bunsen’s and Kirchoff’s discoveries), heat, elec-
tricity, and magnetism. We hardly think the views of Gerliardt have
been done justice to ; but any deficiency in this respect is amply compen-
sated for by the comprehensive treatment of other questions. That the
most recent discoveries have been considered, is evidenced by the fact that

* <e Elements of Chemistry, Theoretical and Practical.” By William
Allen Miller, M.D., LL.D., Y.P.C.S., Professor of Chemistry in King’s
College, London. Part I.— Chemical Physics. London : Parker, Son, &
Bourn. 1863.

230

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Tomlinson’s curious researches on cohesive figures have been in part
introduced, and that Graham’s discovery of dialysis is described. We have
not seen any allusion to his atmolytic investigations, hut we presume they
appeared too late for insertion. The pages devoted to spectral analysis
embrace everything that has been done upon the subject, and contain even
reference to Plucker’s discovery which was not announced till last April.
Tyndall’s researches are carefully detailed, and the chapters on static and
voltaic electricity are all that could be desired. The style is clear and
forcible, and the woodcuts are numerous and well-executed. As a text-
book, Dr. Miller’s volume is unquestionably the best of its kind, and must
be read by the student of natural philosophy ; whilst, at the same time,
we think it well worthy the perusal of serious non-professional readers.

S old age steals upon man, not only is “ his natural strength ” abated,

but his powers of vision are impaired, and his eyes become dim.
This ocular obscurity may be the result of one or more of several distinct
alterations of the structure of the organs of sight. Some warn us of their
approach by reason of their effects, others are more stealthy in their pro-
gress. Some are attended almost invariably with a partial or total impair-
ment of the visual sense, others are comparatively harmless. To the second
and fourth categories belongs the class of ophthalmic disease upon which
the excellent monograph just published treats. “Arcus Senilis” is the title
of Mr. Canton’s book. What is Arcus Senilis ? Literally, it means the old
man's bow; and surgically, it is a term applied to a disorganized crescentic
structure which appears in old age at the borders of the transparent portion
of the eyeball. This phenomenon is produced by a degeneration of the
healthy tissue, which gives place to a quantity of oily matter devoid of
transparency. Hence, it is also termed “ fatty degeneration of the cornea.”
We think Mr. Canton’s quotation from Paget’s writings ill-advised ; it is
merely a thoughtless jest at. the expense of our modern school of com-
parative anatomists, and we allude to it only because he has selected it to
ornament the first page of his beautiful memoir. Waiving this, wTe do not
grudge our praise to almost every other portion of the work. The history
of the malady justifies the opinion that the author is as thoroughly
master of this branch of the subject as his great reputation proves him to
be in every other. The pathology of the cornea has been carefully studied,
and is illustrated by reference to both original and borrowed engravings
In this department due attention has been bestowed on the opinions of
the German and French schools of ophthalmologists ; and although the
objectives employed have been of comparatively low magnifying powers,
yet the structure, or absence of structure, has been tolerably well revealed.
The lithographic plates are good, but not as perfect as they might be. The
cases appended are admirably recorded, fully confirm the author’s views,

* “ On the Arcus Senilis, or Fatty Degeneration of the Cornea.” By
Edwin Canton, F.R.C.S., President of the Medical Society of London, &c.
London : Hardwicke. 1863.

DISEASES OF THE EYE.*

REVIEWS.

231

and convey even to noil-surgical readers a considerable amount of instruc-
tion. Mr. Canton’s treatise, while being accurately scientific, is devoid of
that professional pedantry which we so frequently find in surgical books ;
and it combines so much historic lore with ophthalmic fact, that one travels
over its pages with almost as pleasurable a feeling as though it had been a
romance.

MANUAL OF THE METALLOIDS.*

SCIENCE is not behind-hand on the other side of the Irish Channel.

Messrs. Galbraith and Haughton, both Fellows of the University of
Dublin, have been among the foremost in giving an impetus to Irish
science, and we on this side of the water have materially benefited by
their exertions. These gentlemen have lately been engaged in bringing-
out a new series of Manuals, uniform with those on pure and mixed
mathematics ; but this time the natural and experimental sciences have
received their attention. The book upon our table is the third of the series,
and by far the best of the three ; for whilst the two others are beset with
technicalities of a very unnecessary character, the present one is at once
philosophic and clear. This, however, is only what we might have ex-
pected from so distinguished and erudite a physicist as the Professor of
Chemistry in the University of Dublin. The introduction, which to our
mind is the most successful portion of the work, extends over about one
hundred pages. It is divided into a number of sections, of which one is
devoted to each of the following subjects : — Laws of Combination, Equi-
valent Numbers, Atomic Weights, Notation, Law of Volumes, Atomic
Volume, Isomerism, Isomorphism, Dimorphism, Reaction of Bodies on each
other, Berthollet’s Views on Decomposition, and the Unitary System. The
latter is detailed more clearly than we have found it to be in any other
treatise, and we can commend it as a most impartial exposition of both
sides of the case. The more purely chemical division of the Manual is
thoroughly good, but has little novelty, save the introduction of a far
larger proportion of experimental physics than is usual, — a feature, by the
way, which we consider is much in its favour. The subject of coal gas is
dilated on at length ; and there is a useful appendix “ On the Analysis of
Gases.” In conclusion, we may observe, that Dr. Apjohn’s Manual bids
fair to become a frequent visitant to both laboratory and lecture-room.

A MANUAL OF MINERALOGY.f

IN this book the mineralogist meets with an old friend in a somewhat
new garb. The present volume, which is one of a new edition, has
been revised and enlarged, and contains much matter unpossessed by the

* “ Manual of the Metalloids.” By James Apjohn, M.D., F.R.S.,
M.R.I.A., &c.. Professor of Chemistry in the University of Dublin.
London : Longman & Co. 1864.

t “ Manual of Mineralogy,” &c. By James D. Dana, A.M. London :
Triibner & Co. 1863.

282

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

first edition. To most folk mineralogy is an exceedingly dry and unin-
teresting pursuit ; and certainly, if one may be permitted to form the
opinion, it seems that those who calumniate the science have good reason
to do so, although they themselves are to blame and not mineralogy. How
often we meet with persons styling themselves mineralogists, who really
know just as much about the philosophy of their subject as though they
were unable to distinguish a piece of quartz from a crystal of carbonate of
lime ! Such individuals will talk about Chiastolite and Andalusite , and
yet will be unable to explain the simplest phenomenon in crystallography,
or to say what chemical relation one mineral holds to another. Is it, then,
strange, that those ignorant of the science should not be much prepossessed
in its favour, when their only conceptions as to its nature are derived from
these quasi-mineralogists? Certainly not. We trust that Mr. Dana’s
book will generate a better spirit, by developing a desire to become ac-
quainted with the principles of the science. This Manual of Mineralogy
is the most diffuse we have yet become acquainted with, and is well calcu-
lated to promulgate philosophic ideas. The subjects of crystals, and the
laws which control their formation and modification, are explicitly
enlarged upon ; and the physical properties of minerals, as given by the
author, will be found of great service to the practical mineral-hunter.
The descriptions of the various minerals are good, but the localities cited
being nearly all American, the student will occasionally find himself at a
disadvantage. The analytical key to the discovery of any mineral’s name
is based, we think, on rather unimportant characters, but to one of good
powers of manipulation must prove very valuable. We heartily recom-
mend the volume.

233

NEW INTENTIONS.

Hardening and Colouring Gypseous Limestone. — Mr. R. A.
Brooman , patentee. — In hardening gypseous limestone, the stone is first
reduced to pieces of artistic dimensions, such as are suitable for balus-
trades, friezes, columns, &c. They are then dried in a stove heated to a
certain temperature. After removal from the stove, the pieces of stone
are placed in a bath containing a mineral solution. The bath may be
composed of lime-water, sulphate of iron, cyanides, alumina, potass,
soda, or vegetable substances, perfectly combined with minerals or
substances obtained from alkaline matters. For colouring, recourse is
had to a chemical operation, whereby a transformation of colours is
obtained, by making one solution to chemically succeed another.

Treating Gases containing Sulphuretted Hydrogen, — Messrs.
Baggs & Simpson, patentees . — The objects of this invention are, firstly,
to deprive coal-gas of elements which render it injurious to the animal
and vegetable kingdom ; and, secondly, to manufacture useful products
from or with the elements of which the coal-gas has been deprived.
This is effected by causing the gas to come in contact with metallic com-
pounds, by blowing or otherwise, whereby the injurious adulterative
matters are separated by decomposition or appropriation. The metallic
compounds employed are mainly metallic oxides and salts, whether
neutral salts, super-salts, or sub-salts, having a strong affinity or attraction
for sulphur, carbonic acid, and other impurities, and which are themselves
susceptible of renovation or recovery. The oxides and salts of copper,
lead, magnesia, and other bases, may be used for these purposes.

Making Dyes from Aniline. — Messrs. R. T. R. Mont eith, patentees. —

Aniline red, which is made from aniline or one of its analogues, is mixed
with a dry salt of aniline, and heated in a vessel, either hermetically
closed or not, to a temperature of 390° Fahrenheit, and upwards, from
one to six hours. The dyes thus produced are shades of brown, called in
France “Cairs” and “ Havanne.” The brown dye maybe separated
into two brown dyes of different shades, a part being soluble in boiling-
water, and nearly all the rest in alcohol. The mass which results from
heating the aniline red, and the dry salt of aniline, must be treated with
a sufficient quantity of boiling water to dissolve out all that is soluble in
it, and then filtered, and the residue treated with alcohol, and filtered.
Both filtrates will dry brown, but of different shades. These dyes may
be used at once for dyeing textile fabrics and yarns, or they can be
purified by any of the methods in general use for purifying aniline
colours before dyeing with them.

Producing Colouring Matters. — Mr. W. E. Newton , patentee. —
This invention refers to a process for obtaining from naphthaline a yellow

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dye, which may be used either alone for dyeing yarns or threads and
piece goods, or be treated with suitable chemical reagents for varying
its hue as desired. One hundred kilogrammes of naphthaline are boiled for
a few hours in an acid solution composed of 200 kilogrammes of water and
20 kilogrammes of nitric acid at 30° Beaume. The naphthaline must
be kept well stirred while dissolving in the boiling water and acid, and
the agitation must be maintained until the mixture has become cold.
The mother liquor is next drawn off, and the naphthaline will then present
the appearance of brown crystals. These crystals are now washed in
cold water to remove the acid. In order to obtain a yellow solution of
colouring matter, the crystalline product is to be treated with boiling water,
to which is added 5 kilogrammes of liquid ammonia. The solution thus
obtained is to be filtered, and subsequently evaporated into a concentrated
state. The concentrated solution must in like manner be filtered, and
when cold it will be ready for use.

Manufacture of Blue and Violet Colouring Matters. — Messrs.
Poirrier & Chappat , patentees. — For the purposes of this invention, the
aniline reds (known in commerce under the names of fuchsine, roseine,
magenta, and under other names, and, chemically, as being different
salts of rosaniline) are treated with naphthylamine — a substance which
is derived from naphthaline, as aniline is derived from benzine.

Manufacture of Blue Colours. — Mr. A. P. Price , patentee. — The
main feature of this invention consists in the employment of acetates,
citrates, succinates, racemates, malates, valerinates, carbolates, benzoates,
cinnamates, tartrates, and oxalates of potash, soda, and ammonia, in
conjunction with aniline, roseine, and rose-aniline, in the production of
blue colours.

Rendering Cloth and Paper Transparent and Waterproof. —
Mr. E. T. Hughes , patentee. — The objects here in view are effected by
the use of a composition composed of one part by measure of linseed oil,
one part of india-rubber cement, and six parts of benzine. This, for
most purposes, constitutes the best mixture ; but for a preparation of
tracing-cloth and tracing-paper of close texture, it may be advisable to
use an additional proportion of benzine, to avoid producing a gloss on
the outside, and also to avoid filling the pores of the paper too full to
retain the ink and colours which may be applied.

Aromatic Vinegar. — Mr. H. A. Boneville , patentee. — The patentee
claims the use ©f the ethers, amyl-acetic, ethyl-acetic, and methyl-acetic,
as the base of a new aromatic and at the same time hygienic vinegar,
which may be used for removing stains from stuffs of all kinds, without
altering their shades, whether employed alone, or mixed together in equal
parts, dissolved or not in absolute alcohol, acidulated with acetic acid
for reviving certain colours, or aromatized by the addition of certain
perfumes.

Voltaic Belts. — Mr. R. A. Brooman, patentee. — In constructing belts
and bandages in accordance with these improvements, they are composed
of a bi-metallic core, consisting of plates, strips, or blades of metal, one
electro-positive to the other, such as copper and zinc, forming a voltaic
battery, juxtaposed or placed one against the other, and covered with

NEW INVENTIONS.

235

some fabric or material which will keep them in place, and to which
buckles, tapes, or other means of fastening are applied to secure them
to any desired part of the body. The plates, strips, or blades may
be of any form, according to the part to which they are to be applied.
The moisture of the body will generally suffice to excite the bandages to
action. They may, however, be excited by vinegar, or diluted acid, more
j or less strong.

Fixing Artificial Teeth. — Mr. D. W. Ransom , patentee. — These
improvements are more particularly applicable when fixing teeth in
vulcanite or like mounted bases. Artificial teeth have before been made
with metal pins, which have usually been bent in opposite directions, in
order that when the base of vulcanite, or other suitably formed base, has
been constructed and rendered hard, the teeth may be held securely to the
base. Here the patentee forms the pins, or it may be a single pin, with a
l screw thread or threads thereon, or with notches : if two or more pins be
applied to a tooth they may be arranged parallel to each other ; but it is
better that they should incline away from each other.

Producing Gas. — Mr. TV. H. BucJcland , patentee. — In producing gas
for illuminating and heating purposes according to this invention, air or
gas is carburretted by causing it to pass over the surface of, or through,
woven fabrics or fibrous or spongy substances which have the property of
sucking up and exposing the liquid hydro-carbon in a finely divided
state.

Treating Steel and Iron Prepared by the Pneumatic Process.
—Mr. J. Mushet , patentee. — The essence of this invention consists in
thoroughly mixing, without the agency and deteriorating effects of the
pneumatic blast, melted speigel eisen or other melted alloys — such as
alloys of tungsten of iron, or titanium of iron — with melted steel or
malleable iron prepared by the pneumatic process from melted pig iron or
cast iron, which mixing the patentee effects either by the use of two or
more pneumatic or decarbonizing vessels, each containing melted steel or
malleable iron made by the pneumatic process, to the steel or malleable
iron in one or both of which two vessels the melted speigel eisen or other
melted alloy has been added, the contents of one vessel being poured into
the other, so as to internally mix and make the whole of uniform com-
position.

Reproducing or Obtaining Facsimiles of the Veins, Pores,
Knots, and Figures of Wood upon Paper and other Surfaces.
— R. A. Brooman, patentee. — In carrying these improvements into practice
a smooth plank or piece of wood is covered with a coating of paint, which
is made to penetrate the pores and veins of the wood ; all the paint
remaining upon the smooth surface of the wood is removed by a scraper,
leaving only such of the paint as has penetrated the pores and veins. A
very thin plate of copper, or other metal, is coal ed on both sides with a
thin layer of wax, and this metal plate is applied upon the wood prepared
as above described. The metal plate is pressed strongly upon the wood
by a roller or otherwise, and the paint is thus forced from the pores or
veins of the wood, and adheres to the wax upon the metal plate. The
plate is then removed from the wood, and all the parts of the wax to

236

POPULAK SCIENCE REVIEW.

which the paint has adhered are scratched off with a sharp-pointed instru-
ment, so as to expose the metal beneath those parts. The plate is next
plunged into a bath containing nitric acid, or aquafortis ; the acid enters
all the parts from which the wax has been removed and bites through
them. All the pores and veins of. the wood are thus reproduced by the
spaces bitten out of the metallic plate. The plate is washed with water
to cleanse it, and the wax is removed by a bath of essence of turpentine
or other spirit. The metal plate thus prepared serves for the reproduction
of the veins, pores, knots, and figures of wood upon any surface, whether
previously prepared by oil, paint, or otherwise. For instance, the plate
is applied upon a surface painted with a ground colour, and a brush
charged with paint of the colour of natural veins and knots is passed over
the plate ; the paint passes through the spaces or openings in the plate,
and adheres to the surface beneath such spaces or openings only ; and thus
an exact copy of the veins, pores, knots, and figures of the Avood is
obtained.

Apparatus to be used in Dramatic and Similar Performances. —
Messrs. DircJcs and Pepper, 'patentees. — (Plate X.) — The object of this inven-
tion is, by a peculiar arrangement of apparatus, to associate on the same stage
a phantom or phantoms with a living actor or actors, so that the two may
act in concert ; but which is only an optical illusion as respects the one or
more phantoms so introduced. The arrangement of the theatre requires,
in addition to the ordinary stage, a , a second stage at a lower level than the
ordinary one, hidden from the audience as far as direct vision is concerned ;
this hidden stage is to be strongly illuminated by artificial light, b , c, and
capable of being rendered dark instantaneously, while the ordinary stage
and the theatre remains illuminated by ordinary lighting. A large glass
screen, f, is placed on the ordinary stage and in front of the hidden one.
The spectators will not observe the glass screen ; but will see the actors
on the ordinary stage through it, as if it were not there ; nevertheless, the
glass will serve to reflect to them an image of the actors on the hidden
stage when these are illuminated ; but this image will be made imme-
diately to disappear by darkening the hidden stage. The glass screen is
set in a frame so that it can readily be moved to the place required, and it
is to be set at an inclination, to enable the spectators, whether in the pit,
boxes, or gallery, to see the reflected image. The glass is adjustable, and
it is readily adjusted to the proper inclination by having a person in the
pit and another in the gallery to inform the party who is adjusting the
glass when they see the image correctly. The right hand portion of the
Plate (Plate X.) represents the stage arrangements. The left is an ideal
section of the pit, boxes, and gallery of a theatre.

Brewing. — Mr. J. Maxfield , patentee. — It is desirable that the
yeast arising from malt liquors should be kept separate from the
liquor as it rises during the process of fermentation ; and that the
carbonic acid gas should be retained in the malt liquor, and the
too free entrance of air be prevented. These improvements consist in
the use of a cover floating upon the surface of the malt liquor, and
furnished at the edges with india-rubber, to form an air and water tight
joint between the edge of the cover and the inside of the vat. This floating

Plate X

-

Ghost Apparatu

NEW INVENTIONS.

237

cover is provided with a tube extending upwards, through which the
yeast passes and falls on the outside of the cover. Valves are also
employed in the cover, opening inwards, and connected with tubing by
which any liquor the yeast may contain passes again into the vat.
The patentee also uses within the vat coils of piping supplied with hot
or cold liquid to regulate the temperature of the liquor, as usual, and
taps for drawing off the malt liquor from beneath the cover when the
barm is separated. By the use of this floating air-tight cover, the height
of the liquor in the vat becomes immaterial, and the free escape of the
carbonic acid gas is prevented.

Preventing Fermentation in Liquids while Drawing them
from Vessels. — Mr. W . Clark, patentee. — These improvements comprise
an apparatus to be applied to the barrel or receiver, communicating on
the one hand with the receiver, and on the other with the external air.
The apparatus contains a disoxygenating solution, so arranged that the
atmospheric air cannot enter the barrel without passing through the
solution, and giving up its oxygen. In this manner, in place of the
liquid drawn off at each time, there will be introduced an equal volume of
azote ; and although the azote may be in contact with a fermentable
liquid, it will be incapable of fermentation when free from oxygen. The
disox3^genating solutions the patentee ordinarily employs consist of
sulphate of lime and sulphite of protoxide of iron, either together or
separately, and dissolved.

Refrigerators. — Messrs. Morris 8$ Newton , patentees. — The top of
this improved refrigerator is divided into three compartments ; that in
the centre being intended for the ice-well, and those at the sides to
contain wine, water, and other liquid to be cooled, to which cooler taps
are applied. The wTaste water from the ice-well is conveyed to a cistern
beneath another ice-well at the bottom of the refrigerator by means of
wide, flat, or other suitably shaped channels formed in the back and sides.
The top, sides, and back are packed with a packing consisting of burnt
cork, charcoal dust, or other suitable material. The rim of the lid
when closed falls into a small channel filled with water, which keeps the
ice- well air-tight. A lower ice- well extends over the whole bottom of the
refrigerator, from which the waste water is conveyed to the cistern
immediately beneath, from which it is withdrawn by means of a tap.
By forming the channels for conveying the wraste water from the upper
ice-well in the back and sides, and having an ice-well at the bottom,
the usual central division is entirely dispensed with, thereby obtaining
increased space in the interior thereof, and effecting a saving of at least
100 per cent, in the consumption of ice. The patentees make the ice-
chests, refrigerators, and other like articles, portable, and of any size or
shape, and entirely of zinc, galvanized iron, or other suitable metals,
thereby dispensing with the wooden casing as at present used.

Sheathing Iron Ships. — Messrs. Palmer 8? McIntyre , patentees. —
These improvements consist in fixing to the iron plates of the ship or
vessel, or to iron for other similar uses, strips of metal which the paten-
tees prefer to be of galvanized iron, in which strips are inserted rivets of
copper or other suitable soft metal ; these rivets protrude from the strips

VOL. III. — NO. X. R

238

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

in such a manner as to admit of strips of copper, “ Muntz metal,”
zinc, or other sheathing previously punched, being applied thereto, and
held thereby. By this arrangement, the strips fixed to the vessel form
carriers for the sheathing, and obviate the necessity of perforating through
the ship’s side. The strips are double, that is to say, there is an outer
and an inner strip, and they are applied to the plates of the vessel by
means of screws or rivets passing through both strips and into the plates,
the copper rivets having been previously inserted in an opposite direction
in the outer strip. The sheets of copper, “ Muntz metal,” zinc, or other
sheathing, are put on to the projecting copper rivets, with their edges
overlapping, so that the ends of two sheets are held by one row of rivets,
and tarred felt, hair, or other similar non-conducting material is inserted
between the iron plates of the vessel and the copper or other metal
sheathing. The projecting portions of copper are then hammered so as
to securely rivet them.

Sheathing Iron Ships. — Mr. W. R. Mulley , patentee.— In attaching
metal sheathing to iron ships’ bottoms, caissons, and other like structures,
according to these improvements, the patentee takes two pieces of angle
iron with X on one edge. He prefers the iron to be inch thick, angle flange
j inch wide, and two y flanges together 1 inch, so as to leave about § inch
in projection on each side. He places them vertically and parallel to
each other about 18 inches apart on the ship’s side. He then introduces
a length of say inches wood sheathing between or immediately behind
the frames, using a portion of their rivets to fasten them on, the grooves
in the end of which correspond with the projections of the T flange
formed to receive them. He fastens one of the irons by tapscrews, or
rivets. He then lays on the ship’s skin, hair and tar, or any other
suitable composition, puts one end of the wood in its place, then brings
the other iron against the other end, always with the flange outwards, and
so on throughout. The ends of the separate pieces of sheathing meet on
the tops of the irons, and the whole presents a surface as upon a wooden
ship. He then caulks it and covers it with pitch and felt, so as to render
it perfectly impervious to water.

Steering and Manoeuvring Ships. — Messrs. Dunbar & Woodford ,
patentees. — Here the patentees employ an upright shaft or axis at or about
the centre of a ship or vessel, the lower end of which passes through the
bottom, and has affixed to it radial blades or vanes which come just below
the bottom of the ship or vessel, or within a recess formed in the bottom.
The upright shaft or axis passes within a tubular passage fixed within the
ship, which rises to a height sufficiently above the water line ; or a suit-
able stuffing-box or other provision is to be made, in order that no water
may get into the ship or vessel ; and when desired, the shaft or axis may
be raised, in order that the vanes or blades may be replaced. The shaft
or axis is acted on by steam or other power, to give rotary motion thereto,
in order that the axis or shaft, and the blades or vanes thereon, may be
caused to rotate towards the right hand or to the left, according to the
direction in which it is desired that the vessels should be steered.

Armour Plates. — Messrs. Clapp & Coats , patentees. — In carrying out
these improvements, the patentees employ plates of iron, or other suitable

NEW INVENTIONS.

239

metal, with curved and with flat portions, and through the flat portions
they pass bolts ox rivets to secure the same to the framing of the vessel,
turret, target, fort, or structure, in such manner that other curved plates
may be placed over the flat portions of the first-mentioned plates, and over
the joints thereof, to cover and protect the bolts or rivets first mentioned,
the last- mentioned curved plates being bolted or rivetted through the first
mentioned curved plates, or otherwise, or secured in any equivalent
manner. By these means additional strength is obtained, and the prin-
cipal, and, if desired, the major part of the joints and bolts, or rivet-heads,
is protected, so that a single plate shall not receive all the force of any
projectile or striking body, but such force be distributed over the whole
of the plates.

Mariners’ Compasses. — Mr. R. Alexander , patentee. — These improve-
ments have reference to the use of compensating or adjusting media, or
both in combination, to render the magnetic needle independent of the
local attraction of iron or other metals, metallic ores, or compounds, in the
ship, vessel, or other place where the compass or needle is fixed. The
means by which the patentee proposes to effect these improvements are —
1. By appliances of counteracting and adjusting magnets, or magnetic
poles, upon the compass needle-card or cards, or otherwise placed ; 2.
By the use, if necessary, of a moveable magnetic ring or rings, attached to
the needle-card by springs or otherwise, so as to be easily removed when
it is required ; 3. By the use of a series of magnets, placed on or in a flat
or curved surface, with or without rims or bands of soft iron, stationary
or revolving, above, below, or horizontal with the middle card or cards,
or both above and below them ; 4. By the application of electricity or
galvanism in conjunction with a part or the whole of the aforesaid appli-
ances ; 5. By the use of one or more magnetic needle cards, and one or
more of the appliances explained above, placed one above the other,
revolving in union with or independent of each other on the same (or on
distinct) pivots, or one or more of them stationary and another or others
revolving, or any one or more of them used in conjunction with a simple
magnetic compass card, as commonly used, only revolving on distinct
pivots, whilst a part may be stationary ; 6. By the use of aluminium
metal for the needle-cards, or india-rubber composition, commonly called
ebonite, for the cards, rims, bowls, hoods, boxes, binnacles, and gimbals,
and other parts of the compasses and appliances, or an admixture of steel
filings or cuttings in the india-rubber composition for some of these, or
the whole of the said parts above referred to ; 7. By the use of hollow iron
spheres or spheroids to encompass a part or the whole of the apparatus ;
8. By the application of a spring pivot or point on which the magnetic
compass-card revolves, and springs to an outward or second gimbal to
the bowl ; 9. By the application of the invention to electro-magnetic
instruments.

Anchors. — Mr. W. Rodger , patentee. — These improvements in anchors
have reference to those parts which are usually termed the crown, the
arms, and the palms, and the object in view is, to obtain a greater
amount of strength and holding power with a given weight of iron than
is possessed by anchors of the ordinary construction. The additional

E 2

240

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

strength is obtained by partly making the arms shorter than usual, in
proportion to the length of the shank — that is to say, about one-fourth
part instead of about one-third, — and partly by their sectional form. The
sectional form of the shank is rectangular at its junction with the arms,
and square at the shank, close to the collar, for the stock. The sectional
form of the arms is different from that of any other anchor now in use,
being of a wedge form, varying in sharpness from the throat to the head
of the palms. The back part of the arms is made parallel from palm to
palm, and is much thicker than the front part, vdiich is tapered in the
direction of the point. The arms from the crown to the head of the
palms being much broader in the direction of the strain than is usual,
gives them a great increase of strength.

Mooring Buoys. — Mr. G. F. Lj/ster, 'patentee. — These mooring-buoys
are constructed in such a manner that, instead of being attached to the
mooring-chain, and serving as the point of attachment for the vessels,
they act simply as a float or carrier for keeping the end of the mooring-
chain above water, the latter being in no way attached to the buoy,
beyond passing through an aperture formed in the same, and, when not
atttached to a ship’s cable, being prevented from falling through the
aperture by the larger dimensions of the mooring-ring.

Submarine Lantern. — Mr. G. W . Fuller , patentee. — This improved
submarine lantern is so constructed, that when in use, at whatever depth
below the surface of the sea, it will have a pressure of air within it equal,
or about equal, to the pressure of the water on its external surface ;
whereby the lantern may be of little strength and weight, comparatively,
and easily handled while below the surface of the water.

Powder Chargers. — Messrs. HawTcsley & Bissell, patentees. — These im-
provements consist in a new method of constructing the chargers of
powder-flasks — that is, the appliances fixed on powder-flasks for mea-
suring and pouring the charge of powder into guns and rifles. Hitherto
there have been two chief parts in such articles, a fixed tube or cylinder,
and a moveable tube with a contracted mouth. The moveable tube has
had notches cut in it, and an inclined or straight slit, into which the
notches upon the moveable tube have been set for use by a pin or stud
inserted in the fixed tube, entering one or other of the notches in the
moveable tube ; there have been no means, however, of regulating the
capacity of the charger to any point intermediate between any two
notches. Now, this invention consists in fitting an upright parallel with
the fixed tube, in connecting the moveable tube to a bar having an
aperture through it, into which the upright enters, and on which it is free
to slide up and down, taking the moveable tube with it. A set-screw
attached to the bar on the moveable tube fixes it at any desired height on
the upright. Graduated scales of grains and drams are marked on the
fixed tube, and apertures are made in the lower part of the moveable tube
to read the scales. In some cases the patentees dispense with the upright,
and apply a set-screw to the moveable tube, to fix it at any height on the
fixed tube. Another part of the invention consists in fitting a spring lid,
which moves horizontally to close or open the mouth of the moveable

NEW INVENTIONS. 241

tube. This horizontal spring lid is also applicable to powder-flask
chargers, however otherwise constructed.

Projectiles. — Mr. J. Norton , patentee.— This invention has reference
to projectiles or ignition missiles suitable for igniting any inflammable
body with which they may be brought into contact. Under one modifica-
tion, the shell — which is made of any suitable figure externally — is
charged with liquid phosphorus. This solution is prepared by dissolving
phosphorus in a suitable quantity of the bisulphide of carbon, and to
this solution may be added a proportion of benzole, for increasing the
inflammability of the solution. The front end of the shell is made so
that it may be pierced in its passage from the gun. This may be done by
jdacing a plug in the muzzle of the gun, the inner end of this plug being
pointed or made with a piercer that will perforate the shell. On the gun
being fired, the shell is impelled against the pointed part of the plug,
which is driven out by the force of the blow, and does not further impede
the flight of the shell. In the passage of the shell the liquid phosphorus
slowly escapes from the apertures, and ignites on coming in contact with
the atmosphere, and continues burning until the whole of the liquid is
consumed.

Inlaying Gold and other Metals in Glass and Composition. —
Messrs. Wild 8$ Randel , patentees. — When the patentees desire to inlay
gold or any other metal in glass, they place the metal to be so inlaid
within a mould, which mould is then placed at one end of a pair of
pinching pliers ; having melted sufficient glass to fill the mould, they
compress the pliers, and the metal remains imbedded within the glass,
which is then annealed, and is afterwards ready for cutting and polishing.
The glass most suitable for the purpose is the kind known as Bohemian
glass, as this melts at a lower heat, and takes a better polish, than any
other description of glass ; but when this is not to be obtained, or when
they desire to produce a cheaper article, they use the common kind of
English glass. When they desire to inlay gold or any other metal in the
composition before mentioned, they prepare the composition by taking
about four parts of glass and two parts of enamel, which, after being v'ell
pounded and mixed in a mortar, are placed in a copper mould with the
metal to be inlaid at the bottom of the mould. They then place the
mould on a copper plate (on which is placed a thin layer of plaster of
Paris), and the plate with the mould on it is then placed in an enamelling
stove, over a coke fire, until the whole is wTell fused ; it is then annealed,
and when taken out of the mould is ready for cutting and polishing.

Cricket-bats. — Mr. J. Cavanah , patentee. — These cricket-bats are
manufactured with a loose handle, which handle is joined to the blade
in conjunction with a spring. The loose handle is secured to the upper
part or mouth of the blade of the bat by a hinge or knee-joint ; attached
is a spiral or flat spring, made of steel, india-rubber, or any other suitable
elastic substance, fixed with metal plates and sockets to the blade and
handle. The spring may be applied or attached to such portion of
the blade or handle as may be found most desirable, its employment
preventing the concussion of the ball stinging or jarring the hand.

242

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Weighing Apparatus. — Mr. N. R. Hall , 'patentee. — These improve-
ments in weighing apparatus are based on the principle of the common
steelyard, inasmuch as the article to be weighed is suspended at the
short arm of the lever, but differs otherwise ; for instead of ascertaining
the weight of an article by shifting or sliding a given weight upon the
long arm until it is perfectly horizontal, the patentee allows this weighing
apparatus to come to rest in any position, according as the weight of the
article may draw it more or less from the horizontal line, and he then
discovers the weight of the article sought by means of a hand which
points to various figures representing weights, which figures are marked
upon a circle. This circle is at the extremity of one end of the weighing
apparatus, and at the centre of this circle or dial the hand moves or plays
freely upon a stationary pin ; the hand having a heavy tail end it will
always maintain a perpendicular position when in use, and will there-
fore be directed to that number which is brought to a vertical position
with the centre of the circle or dial. At the proper end for attaching the
articles to be weighed there is a suitable clip with hooks for attaching the
articles. When this weighing apparatus is hung or held up for use with
the article properly suspended, the circle or dial will rise more or less,
and one of the numbers marked upon it will be brought to a vertical
position, to which number the hand will be directed, and thereby indicate
the weight of the article.

Organs, Harmoniums, and Pianofortes. — Messrs. Roberts 4* Naylor ,
patentees. — According to these improvements, the inventors place the
key-boards, keys, or manuals of organs, harmoniums, pianofortes, German
pedals, and pedal claviers on springs at the front part, or they suspend
the same from springs, so that when more pressure is used on the keys
than is required for playing, the keys yield, and the swell-shutters or
Venetians open, thereby increasing and regulating the sound. Or, as a
modification of the same principle, they place a spring of india-rubber
or other suitable material under each key, and thus obtain the same
result.

243

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

ASTRONOMY.

Atmosphere of Sun , Planets , fyc. — Professor Challis accounts for the
bright band bordering the edge of the moon during solar eclipses
(which was noticed by Professor Alexander in 1831 and 1860, and which
is likewise depicted in Mr. de la Rue’s photographs) to the refraction
caused by the atmosphere of the moon. At the November meeting of the
Astronomical Society, the Astronomer Royal read a paper, in which his
object was to prove that no refraction could cause a change in the appa-
rent brightness of the surface of the sun bordering on the moon’s edge.
He is of opinion that this luminous band arises from a mere effect of con-
trast, and that it is an ocular nervous phenomenon. As an instance of
this, he states that if a piece of black cloth is swung between the eye and
a moderately-illuminated whitish wall, that the edge of the cloth will be
preceded by a broad luminous band. From the decay of the irritability of
the retina, it is not so well seen by him now as formerly, when, on favour-
able occasions, its angular breadth was not less than two degrees. In
regard to the eye-view of the photographs of the eclipse, it is stated that
the explanation of the Astronomer Royal has been confirmed by some
experiments made by Mr. de la Rue.

Depressions on the Lunar Surface. — On September 20, at 6 p.m., the
Rev. IT. C. Key, on looking at the moon with a 12-inch glass speculum,
noticed that its edge did not present the usual circular form, but that it
was quite out of shape ; in fact, irregularly polygonal. Four sides, or
plains, were distinctly seen on the illuminated limb. They could not be
seen with the same telescope on September 25, but were observed by the
Rev. T. W. Webb on September 30. Mr. Key is of opinion that they are
not visible for more than forty-eight hours at a time, and that the best
time for viewing them is from three to four da}^s after the greatest south-
east libration. The largest of the plains stretched over more than thirty-
five degrees of latitude, and its deepest depression below the general level
was estimated at twenty-five miles at the least. These observations were
made by the glass speculum in an unsilvered state, and Mr. Key strongly
recommends its use in this condition, not only in regard to the sun, but
with the planets, especially Venus. The delicate pencilling on the surface
of Jupiter was brought out with marvellous effect, and Saturn appeared
as if seen in relief, the body of the planet seeming to be isolated and
suspended within the rings. From the total absence of irradiation he
likewise recommends this plan for observing occultations by the moon, as
well as the moon itself. When at the time of new moon the whole peri-
phery is seen, the effect of this irradiation is very apparent, the illuminated
edge appearing to be a portion of a much larger circle than the rest.

244

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Occultation of Kappa Cancri. — This star, it will be remembered, was
observed by Mr. Copeland on the occasion of its occultation by the moon
on April 26, to disappear in two successive jerks. Other observers, how-
ever, did not perceive anything unusual. In a communication, dated
October 17, it appears, however, that Mr. Prince noticed the phenomenon
described by Mr. Copeland, and states that it was not instantaneous by
fully half a second. Mr. Creswick, of the Greenwich Observatory, like-
wise confirms Mr. Copeland’s observation, but is certain that no great loss
of light occurred half a second before disappearance. If such were the
case, the duplicity of the star would still be extremely difficult, if not
impossible, to detect, as the components would be little more than two-
tenths of a second of space apart.

Gamma Andromeda. — The close double star of this beautiful triple was
measured by Mr. Dawes on November 12, with an 84-inch refractor by
Alvan Clark. It has also been separated during the winter by Mr. Wray
with a telescope of his own construction, and of the same dimensions. It
is considered the most difficult test-object in the heavens; and as a proof of
the extreme closeness of the components of Kappa Cancri, alluded to in
the last paragraph, it may be stated that the distance of this close pair of
Gamma Andromedse is six-tenths of a second.

New Comets. — The fourth comet of 1863 was discovered on October 9,
by Mr. Backer at Nauen. It arrived at its greatest brilliancy on Decem-
ber 8, being nearly four times as bright as when first seen. It does not
appear, however, to have been visible to the naked eye. On December 16,
its R.A. was 16h 23m, and increasing, and its declination 43 degrees north.
The fifth comet of the year was detected by M. Tempel, at Marseilles, on
November 4, and was visible to the naked eye. Its nucleus, according to
Mr. Hind, was nearly stellar. Neither of those objects appear to have
been previously observed. The fourth comet arrives at perihelion on
December 27. The sixth comet of 1863 was discovered by M. Schmidt, at
Athens, in December ; but an ephemeris has not yet appeared. The comet
supposed to have been detected at Cheltenham, on October 15, seems to be
the great meteor observed by Mr. Lowe on that evening.

New Planet. — The seventy-ninth planet of the group between Mars and
Jupiter was discovered by Mr. Watson at Ann Arbor (U.S.) on Septem-
ber 14. It is described as of the tenth magnitude. The discovery of the
eightieth planet, announced b}" M. Schmidt, at Athens, has been found to
be a mistake ; one of the asteroids already known having been reobserved.

Observations of the Minor Planets. — An agreement has been made
between the directors of the observatories of Greenwich and Paris, that at
the former establishment the planets are to be observed from new moon to
full moon, and at the latter, from full moon to new moon. The
Astronomer Royal requests to be informed of any error which may be
detected in the ephemerides of the asteroids, which will be immediately
published in the daily bulletin of the Paris observatory.

Eai'thquaJce on October 6. — This rare occurrence (in those islands) was
noticed in a remarkable manner by Mr. Ellis, at the Greenwich Observa-
tory, whilst observing the collimation of the altazimuth instrument — the
mark fixed to the wall moving as if the latter was in motion. Mr. Hough,
observing at Lord Wrottesley’s observatory at Wolverhampton, felt %

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

245

rocky motion in his chair. It does not appear to have permanently
affected the position of any astronomical instrument, or to have had any
effect upon the time-keepers, although such displacements could he
detected with the greatest accuracy. It seems that the earthquake was
felt at Antigua at the same moment of time as in the British Islands.

Venus at Inferior Conjunction.*— -At the time of inferior conjunction of
Venus on September 28, numerous observers perceived not only the faint
crescent of the planet, but likewise the whole of the disc. This curious
appearance, resembling that of the new moon when illumined by the
earth-light, appears to have been most favourably seen by Mr. Prince, at
Uckfield, between September 23 and 28. On September 30 “a phos-
phorescent flitting of light around the edge of the disc” was remarked.
Capt. Noble, however, appears to have seen it as late as October 9, and
Mr. Barber and the editor of the Astronomical Register , respectively, on
October 22 and October 25. Both these observations were confirmed
at the time by independent witnesses, who immediately perceived the
phenomenon, without having been previously told of it. On October 6
Mr. Banks likewise observed it. It has doubtless been seen by other
observers. It is very difficult to account for this phenomenon, which
seems to be particular to this planet (not having been noticed in Mercury),
and would tend to show that either its surface or atmosphere was self-
luminous. The usual irregularities in the cusps of the planet were likewise
seen on this occasion.

Small Stars in the Nebula of Orion. — Dr. Winnecke thinks it probable
that some of the small stars in the immediate neighbourhood of the
trapezium are variable ; as he recently detected five stars which are not
given in Struve’s Catalogue. It has since been found that they had
previously been seen by Lassell, and are marked in his map.

Eta Argus. — This remarkable variable star, which in 1843 was nearly
equal to Sirius in brightness, is at the present time seen with difficulty
without a telescope. Mr. Abbott, of Hobart Town, has carefully observed
it since 1856, when it was still a star of the first magnitude, to the present
time. In April last, on a fine clear night, with the star in the zenith, it
was scarcely recognized with the naked eye. It does not appear to be at
all regular in its changes. Not only is the star itself subject to change,
but also, according to Mr. Abbott’s observations, all the objects surrounding
it. In Sir John Herschel’s drawing (1838) of the nebula, in his Cape
observations, the star is situated in the most dense part of the nebula. At
the present time it is completely out of the nebula. Mr. Abbott likewise
speaks of a great number of isolated stars, which he can see with a five-
feet achromatic telescope, but which are not given in Sir J. Herschel’s
map. Various changes in the shape of the nebula appear likewise to have
taken place.

Change of Colour in Stars. — It is suspected by Admiral Smyth, that a
case of sidereal colour-changing is now going on in the star 95 Herculis.
Mr. Higgins has observed the same variability, which, he says, is suffi-
ciently palpable after intervals so short as three or four nights. In the
autumn of 1862 he records their colours as apple-green and cherry-red.
In April last they were respectively greenish white and pinkish white ;

246

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

in May, both of a dull white ; on August 1, greenish white and
yellowish ; whilst on August 12 they were apple-green and cherry-red.
The first star showed signs of deepening colour, and the latter changing
from yellow to red more rapidly.

Distance of Sun from the Earth. — Professor Hansen has given a more
accurate statement of his calculation of the sun’s parallax from the lunar
theory. M. Hansen was the first who (in 1854) showed the necessity of
increasing the solar parallax as deduced by this means, and from his new *
calculations finds the value of 8",9159, which agrees closely with the late
determinations of Le Yerrier, Stone, &c.

Lunar Nomenclature. — Mr. Birt continues to meet with several craters
in the moon, which have been passed over or unnamed by Beer and
Maedler. He follows the principle of those astronomers in naming them
after distinguished savans , mostly those of the present day.

Observations of Sun at Rising. — Sir Andrew Lang gives some measure-
ments taken at St. Croix, West Indies, to determine the refraction. From
the mean of eighteen observations he determines the refraction and parallax
at the horizon as 82' 14". In I860 he determined the number of spots as
274 ; in 1861, as 226 ; and in 1862, as 148. From September 12 to 22 of
the present year there was not a spot on the disc. The same happened
from August 24 to September 9, which he states is an extraordinary
occurrence.

Meteors. — During the past quarter many magnificent meteors have been
observed ; one, in particular, was seen over a vast extent of country, and
the observations may be numerous and accurate enough to determine its
height and course.

Variable Star. — A variable star, whose position is 20h 5m of R.A. and
15° 13' of north declination, was discovered in the autumn at Mr. Worth-
ington’s observatory. It appears to change rapidly in brightness, having
a period of about four months, according to Mr. Baxendell. He states
that it was at its minimum on August 24, 1863, when it was of the 11*3
magnitude ; and at its maximum on October 25, 1863, when it had in-
creased to the 8*9 magnitude.

Brightness of the Sun. — Making use of a method somewhat similar to
that of Huyghens for determining the brightness of Sirius, but with more
delicate apparatus, Mr. Alvan Clark has compared the light of the sun
and Alpha Lyrae. He concludes, that if the sun were removed to 103224,
its actual distance, it would still be as bright as the star in question.

Nebulae. — Mr. Lassell continues his researches on the forms of nebulae
with his splendid reflector at Malta. His latest discovery in this respect
is on a planetary nebula situated at R.A, 20h 56ra, and 11° 56' of south
declination. In the interior there is a brilliant elliptic ring, extremely
well defined, which does not appear to have any connection with the sur-
rounding gaseous or gauze-like envelope. As this object is favourably
visible in those latitudes, it will doubtless be looked at.

Catalogue of Stars , &c. — A continuation of Weisse’s valuable work — the
reduction of Bessel’s “Zone Observations” — has appeared. The present
publication contains the stars included between 15 and 45 degrees of north
latitude. A new edition of Sir J. Herschel’s “ Outlines of Astronomy” is

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

247

announced. Mr. Hind has published his “ Introduction to Astronomy .”
A German astronotaiical society has been inaugurated : the first meeting
was held at Heidelberg on August 28.

BOTANY AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY.

Two Forms of Plants growing under the same Conditions. — Dr. John
Edward Gray, F.R.S., of the British Museum, has lately recorded the fact
that occasionally upon the same tuft, flowers of quite opposite colours may
be found. This year, at Watfield, he found tufts of the Anemone nemorosa ,
on which were flowers some of which were purple and others of the
normal white colour ; and although both were in the same tuft, the
purple variety was characterised not only by the colour of its flower but
by its darker foliage and narrower petals. The plants of Primula vulgaris
exhibit similar variations, being sometimes found differing in colour,
although residing in the same locality, and apparently without being
influenced externally in any way sufficient to account for the difference.
The colour of the primroses found near Broadhaven in Pembrokeshire is
usually a pale lilac, so that, as Dr. Gray observes, “ to ask for a yellow
ribbon as primrose-coloured would be a misnomer.” In the case of the
wood-sorrels, too, pink flowers are sometimes seen among the natural
white ones. This has been recorded by Dillenius. Dr. Gray has observed
this phenomenon of variation, also, in Lamium album and in Anthriscus
sylvestris , one of the Umbelliferae. — The Journal of Botany , British ana
Foreign , October.

Inflammable Gases developed by Plants. — It was first observed by
Linnseus’ daughter, that when she approached the flowers of Dictamnus
albus with a lighted taper, a flame was kindled round the petals, without,
however, affecting their structure. The observation, however, was not
confirmed, and so it remained till recently, when Dr. Hahn conducted
some experiments with a view to ascertain the truth or falsity of the state-
ment. At first he supposed it was necessary to make the attempt to kindle
this lambent flame in warm weather ; but he has since discovered that
external temperature has nothing whatever to do with the phenomenon.
On applying the flame of a candle to some freshly opened flowers, there
was no ignition of gases, but the moment it was brought near a faded
blossom there was produced “ a reddish, crackling, strongly sooting flame,
which left a powerfully aromatic smell and did not injure the peduncle.”
When the faded and fresh flowers were comparatively examined, it was
discovered that there was a series of small glands in both, but these were
much more fully developed in the former than in the latter. These
glands secrete a peculiar ethereal oil, to which, no doubt, the flame and
the perfume of incense are due.

Goethe's Essay on the Metamorphosis of Plants. — This most philosophic
achievement of the great German poet is really the foundation of all our
modern ideas of the homologies of the various organs of plants. It has
been admirably translated by E. M. Cox, and appeared in its English
garb in the November number of the “ Journal of Botany,” to which we
beg to refer our readers for further particulars.

248

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Distribution of Trichomanes radicans. — The Killarney fern, as it is
termed in this country, is far more generally distributed than is usually
imagined. In some of our popular works it is stated that the only sta-
tions for it in the British Islands are Yorkshire and Kerry. This idea is
incorrect. The late Professor Kinahan discovered it growing in profusion
in the counties of Wicklow and Waterford, in Ireland, and now we have
Mr. W. Gast’s authority for stating that it has been found in the northern
half of the Scotch island of Arran. It may be remarked, that owing to
the hyper-enthusiasm of botanists, this plant is no longer to be found
growing in Killarney.

Leaf-Cells of Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes . — Professor Gulliver
states that there is hardly any distinction to be drawn between the leaf-
cells of Trichomanes and those of Hymenophyllum Wilsoni , although the
differences between H. Tunbridgense and each of the others are very well
marked.

Relation between the Colour of Leaves and Decomposition of Carbonic
Acid . — In opposition to the views of M. Corenwinder ( vide Popular
Science Review for October, p. 103), M. Cloez states that, although the
leaves of certain plants appear to be of a reddish or brownish tint, if they
be examined carefully, it will be seen that they always contain, inter-
mingled with the ordinary colouring matter, but in an isolated state, a
quantity of green substance. His experiments tend to prove that it is in
virtue of this material that these leaves decompose carbonic acid, as
demonstrated by M. Corenwinder. The apparent exception to the rule is
that of Atriplex hortensis) which, according to Saussure’s experiment,
produced seven or eight times its volume of oxygen in four or six hours,
although ail its leaves are red or purple. That this plant does decompose
carbonic acid, M. Cloez admits, having seen it do so himself. He
asserts that in the tissue of even its leaves there exists a certain quantity
of green matter ; but this is masked by the presence of a violet-red prin-
ciple, which may be isolated by chemical means. He took a common
garden species of Amaranthus , and cut the leaves, which are green, red,
and yellow, in such a manner as to separate the different coloured parts
from each other. These were now placed in water whose gases had been
expelled, but which was charged with carbonic acid, and then submitted
to the action of light. It was found that the green parts alone produced
oxygen , whilst the other portions (red and yellow) did not furnish the
slightest trace of the gas, even after twelve hours’ exposure to the sun.
The following were the conditions and results of the experiment : — Twelve
grammes of the leaves were taken and were placed in a flask of about
two litres capacity, previously filled with water containing a small
quantity of carbonic acid. The flask was provided with an exit tube,
and after twelve hours’ exposure, 245 cubic centimetres of gas were
developed, whose composition, in 100 volumes, was that beneath : —

Oxygen 85*64

Carbonic Acid ... ... ... ... ... 1*24

Nitrogen 13*12.

100*00

— Comptes Rendus , Nov. 16th.)

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

249

Anatomy of the Cytinece. — The results of M. Chatin’s investigations
into the anatomy of these plants maybe thus epitomized : — 1. Tuberous
tissue is found in the rhizome ( Hydnora ). 2. The cellular tissue is

disposed in three very distinct concentric zones (rhizome of Hydnora ).
3. The cortical fibres are absent, and the fibro-woody tissue is exceedingly
delicate. 4. The vascular bundles are scattered, in the flat stem of
Hydnora, as in the orobanchs and in monocotyledons. 5. The vessels
are of two kinds, and are not marked by constrictions, as asserted by
Meyer. 6. The two forms of direction of the cells in the anther tissue
are represented here, in Hydnora and Cytinus.

Chemical Composition of the Brazil Banana . — M. Corenwinder has just
published an analysis of this fruit, which almost of itself alone consti-
tutes the food of whole populations in the neighbourhood of the equator.
Boussingault had already given its qualitative constitution, but here we
have the quantitative : —

Water

Vegetable albumen

Cellulose
Fatty matters ...

Cane and other sugars, organic acids, pectose, \
and traces of starch ... ... ... J

Phosphoric acid, lime, alkalies, iron, chlorine, &c.

73-900

4-820

0-200

0-632

19-657

0-791

100-000

The nut had, of course, been previously removed from its husk, which
was specially analyzed, when its ash was found to contain nearly 48 per
cent, of carbonate of potash and 25*18 of chloride of potassium.

Disease of the Colza Plant. — A very formidable malady has of late years
attacked, the cultivated rape plants of Caen, and threatens to diminish
the commercial supply of oil. The disease has been very carefully studied
by M. Isidore Pierre. He selected fifteen plants of both kinds, healthy and
unhealthy, and taking two leaves from each specimen, he compared the
normal with the pathologic forms ; from this he was enabled to conclude :
(1) That the malady prevents the development of organic matter in the
leaves which have been attacked. (2) That a comparison of equal weights
(dry or green) of both forms shows an excess of about 20 per cent, of
nitrogen in the unhealthy leaves. (3) The latter are also richer in mineral
matters, and especially in phosphoric acid and lime, of which there are about
80 per cent, more than in the healthy leaves. (4) The tainted leaves also
possess more soda than the normal ones. (5) In equal weights the two
varieties contain about the same proportion of salts of potash. In esti-
mating the total weight of the substances contained by each leaf, his
results are more interesting. Thus he proved : (1) That the quantity of
nitrogen in the tainted leaves is one-fifth less than that of the healthy
leaves. (2) That the total weight of organic matter is about 50 per cent,
less in the unhealthy leaves than in the same number of healthy ones.

(3) That the total weight of mineral matters in the unhealthy leaves is
about one-sixth less than that in the same number of healthy leaves.

(4) That the unhealthy leaves contain about one-sixth more phosphoric

250

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

acid than the same number of healthy ones. (5) That the diseased leaves
contain about one-eighth more of lime than the same number of healthy
leaves. (6) The unhealthy leaves contain only six-tenths of the quan-
tity of potash contained by the same number of normal specimens. The
most important result of all these investigations is evidently the discovery
that the diseased leaves have a far greater supply of lime and phos-
phoric acid than the healthy ones, and are also richer in nitrogenous
principles.

Salt as a Remedy for the Vine Fungus. — It has been stated by M.
Druelle, in a note to the French Academy, that the development of the
oi'dium or fungus, which is so destructive to the vine-crop, may be pre-
vented by the following process: about the month of November or
December a deep hole is dug close to the root of each vine, and about half
a kilogramme of unrefined sea-salt is placed in it. The result of this
simple measure is, that the vine is preserved from the ravages of this
destructive fungus. — (Jomptes Rendus , vol. lvii. No. 14.

A new Acid found in the Baric of Larch. — In a paper in the “ Philoso-
phical Transactions,” Dr. JohnStenhouse,F.It.S., describes, at some length,
the nature, properties, and mode of isolation of this new acid, which
he proposes to term Larixinic acid. After it has been purified by subli-
mation, larixinic- acid forms beautifully white crystals, often more than
an inch in length. It seems to be peculiar to the larch ( Pinus larix), for
Dr. Stenhouse has been unable to obtain a trace in it of the bark of the spruce
fir {Abies excelsa ), or in that of the Scotch fir {Pinus sylvestris). Its acid
properties are exceedingly feeble, if not doubtful, on which account its
discoverer suggests that it might be termed larixin.

Formation of Oil in Olives. — M. de Luca’s observations lead us to believe
that the growth of the fruit in this plant takes place during the whole
period of vegetation, but that the pulp and heart do not continue to
increase up to the same period. For example, the latter, which is the
first part to be developed, is completed about the end of August ; but
the pulp goes on growing till the fruit is quite mature. The quantity of
water varies with the period of time ; thus, wThilst in the early stages of
growth it is as much as 70 per cent., we find when the fruit is ripe that it
lias been reduced to about 25 per cent. On the contrary, the fatty matter,
which is small in quantity at first, becomes extensively developed as
the fruit approaches maturity. It is worthy of notice that in propor-
tion as the heart ceases to grow the fatty matter is formed. — Memoir
read before the French Academy , Sept. 14.

Vascular System in Plants. — The presence of the vessels included in this
system is denied by M. Lestiboudois in a late memoir read before the
Academie des Sciences. He contends that plants do not possess a vascular
system like that of animals, the office of which is to transport and dis-
tribute the nutritious juices. The spiral vessels, even, are devoid of this
quality ; and although they do occasionally constitute capillary tubes, yet
this property is not a permanent one. The spiral vessels are closed at
their extremities, and any communication which takes place from one to
the other is purely accidental. From their length they fill the office of
channels, but they only diffuse fluids in so far as the permeability of their

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

251

walls permit. The cortical fibres and tubes are similar, or rather they are
modifications of the same structure. They also are closed at their ends,
and pass insensibly into cells ; liquids alone can traverse their walls. The
liquid they enclose cannot properly be termed latex, for the latter term
has been applied to liquids of quite a different character. Neither, on the
other hand, can the tubes themselves be termed laticiferous vessels, for this
expression is also applied to another class of canals. It seems advisable
to reject the expressions altogether, as they are calculated to lead to much
confusion. In plants, each individual portion performs its own functions ;
in each cell the phenomena of cyclosis, arid the formation of nutritive
compounds take place, each allows the elaborated fluids to pass through
it for its own purpose, and then transmits them to its neighbour ; and in
this manner the necessity for a vascular system is removed. — Comptes
Rendus , lvii. No. 1.

Observations on Raphides is the title of a short article by Professor
Gulliver, in the November number of the “ Annals of Natural History.”
The writer conceives that the description of a natural order cannot be
considered complete till it embraces a notice of the presence or absence of
these peculiar structures. He proposes that the term raphidiferous be in
future employed to designate a natural order including species which
possess raphides. In the Onograceoe , these crystals are so well marked,
that they may be detected even in the seed-leaves. Even in the ovules
and their coats, and in the placentae, these crystals may be found abun-
dantly, whilst they are not present in any of those parts in plants of a
kindred group. The evening primrose order may be regarded as the type
of raphidiferous vegetables, as the crystals may be found in every portion
of the plant, embryonic and adult. In the sketch which accompanies
Professor Gulliver’s paper, the raphides of the fuchsia’s ovule are very well
represented. In the natural orders Dioscoreacese, Aracese, and Asparagaceoe,
raphidic crystals are well seen also.

Literature of Raphides . — Dr. Lankester has contributed a valuable paper
on the above to the October number of the Quarterly Journal of Micro-
scopical Science . It is really a history of what has been done toward
explaining the use and distribution of these crystals. We find that so
early as Malpighi’s time, raphides had been observed in plants, and that
at later periods they engaged the attention of Quekett, Lindley, Rainey,
Gulliver, Schultz, Schleiden, and Dr. Lankester himself. Almost all
plants contain acetate and malate of lime, dissolved in the sap ; also citrate,
tartrate, and oxalate of lime, either in the solid form or in solution. The
writer suggests that even the soluble salts of vegetable juices might easily
be identified by the slow evaporation of the latter and microscopic exami-
nation of the deposit. It is strange that notwithstanding the intense
acidity of the oxalics, no crystals of oxalate of lime can be detected in this
plant. “ The acicular crystals to which the name raphides has been more
particularly applied, have been often described as having the same compo-
sition as the larger single and compound crystals. They are prismatic in
shape, and lie together in bundles of from twenty to thirty in a single cell.
They are sometimes enveloped in a gummy matter, which on being
moistened distends and bursts the cell in which they are contained, and

252

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

the crystals escape at both ends ; such cells have been called biforines
Twenty-three orders of Dicotyledons and nine of Endogense are enume-
rated as being among those possessing raphides. Dr. Lankester’s paper
should be consulted by all who are about to undertake the study of these
crystalline formations.

CHEMISTRY.

A new Oxide of Copper has been discovered by H. Rose and described
by him in “ Poggendorff’s Annalen,” No. 9. His communication, which
the reader will find given at some length in the Chemical News of Nov. 23,
shows that, when the protochloride of copper (which is procured by
adding to the sulphate a solution of protochloride of tin to which hydro-
chloric acid has been added) is placed while moist in a dilute solution of
protochloride of tin in hydrate of potassa, the white chloride is changed
into a green bod}’', which however is reduced to metallic copper if a
less dilute alkaline tin solution be employed. This green body is a new
oxide, lower in the series than the familiar sub-oxide, into which latter it
is converted on access of even a limited quantity of air, and eventually
into the bluish protoxide. It is exceedingly difficult to obtain the new
compound, because on the one hand it is very oxidisable, and on the other
equally reducible to metallic copper. This compound of the metal with
oxygen has been styled by its discoverer, Quadrantoxide of copper.

Another Test for Nitric Acid. — At a late meeting of the Chemical
Society (Nov. 5th) a paper was read by Dr. Herman Sprengel detailing
the results of his experiments on this subject. He does not consider that
the ordinary tests, and especially the starch and iodide of potassium, ever
can be much relied on. His method depends on the formation of
coloured bodies, which takes place whenever nitric acid is brought in
contact with certain phenyl compounds. The test-solution consists of
phenyl one part, water two parts, and sulphuric acid four parts. The
phenyl is first dissolved in the acid and then the water is added as a
diluent. The suspected solution is first evaporated to dryness in a water
bath, and then a portion of the dried residue is moistened with the test-
solution, -when if nitric acid is present the liquid will assume a brownish
tint, which becomes yellow on the addition of ammonia. This test is so
delicate that the one-six-millionth part of a grain of nitric acid may be
detected by it. The discovery is in part due to Laurent, but the appli-
cation is wholly Dr. Sprengel’s. The author’s statements were confirmed
by Dr. Odling’s observations.

The History of Thallium. — Mr. Crookes continues his investigations in
this direction, and with what success is showui by his numerous additions
to the chemistry of this new metal. Among the salts which have been
recently under observation we may mention those of the chromates , sul-
phates, carbonates, phosphates , nitrates, and perchlorates , all of which we
may almost say have been exhaustively treated of.

Siliciuretted Hydrogen. — This novel and important compound of
hydrogen and silicon is produced when another new substance, silicide

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

253

of calcium, is acted on with dilute and cooled hydrochloric acid, and the
scales resulting from this process are heated in a tube. These scales,
which are of a nacreous colour, and which are separated from the mixture
of silicide and hydrochloric acid by means of filtration, and then washed
and dried in a vacuum over sulphuric acid, burn spontaneously on
coming into contact with air, and leave a deposit of brown silica. The
action of the hydrochloric acid on the silicide is much modified by the
influence of sulphurous acid, although the latter has of itself no effect
on either the silicide or silicon. When a large excess of aqueous sul-
phurous acid plus a small quantity of dilute hydrochloric acid is poured
on powdered silicide, the latter is quickly changed, without any evolution
of gas, into a reddish-brown substance, which is composed of copper-
coloured scales. This new substance, when prepared, dried, and heated in
the air, burns like gunpowder, and when enclosed in a tube and heated,
it explodes, giving off an odour of sulphuretted hydrogen. When heated
gradually it gives off sulphuretted hydrogen without exploding ; and
when placed in water, sulphuretted hydrogen is also formed, owing pos-
sibly to the formation of sulphide of silicium. These novel compounds
have been discovered and investigated by M. F. Wohler, who details his
observations in the Annalen der Chimie und Pharmacie for September,
1863.

The New Notation. — The modification of Berzelius’s views proposed by
Gerhardt, and introduced into this country by Williamson, Odling, and
others, has been rather severely analysed in a communication of Mr.
Waterston’s to the Philosophical Magazine (October). The writer consi-
ders that now fashionable scheme in great measure an empirical one,
and that so-called rational formula merely temporary, inasmuch as
there may be several for an individual body ; that they are, in fact,
possibilities ; chemical evidence to determine the correct one being as
yet insufficient. He considers that the decomposition of water by potas-
sium does not indicate that the aqueous molecule is composed of two
atoms of hydrogen, as he believes that in the experiment referred to, two
molecules are really affected. The dynamical theory of heat and gases
has not been brought to bear in an adequate manner upon the theory of
chemical combinations. In conclusion, the writer observes : “ Such con-
siderations must enter into any system of classification of chemical
compounds that is not quite artificial and arbitrary. To include under
the same type a liquid of which the elements are in a burnt condition,
with another the major part of which is in an unburnt condition, is
simply to ignore the dynamical theory of heat, to reject as a guide a
principle that has never failed to yield rich returns to those wTlio have
resigned themselves entirely to its guidance in the study of Nature.”

Explosive Gases of Gunpowder. — These are not, as some suppose, related
to the mode in which combustion takes place, but are directly dependent
on the composition of the powder. In such powder as Bunsen’s, which
contains nitrate of potash in large quantities, as much as four per cent, of
this substance is found in the residue. As a rule, it may be stated that
ordnance powder develops a greater volume of explosive gases than that
emph>yed for sporting purposes. Hence, it is easy to understand that it is
YOL. Ill, — NO. X. S

254

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

far more readily ignited than the latter. In the first form, the carbonic
oxide amounts to ten per cent., but in the second it does not extend beyond
three in the hundred. The prevailing belief that the results of the explo-
sion of gunpowder are carbonic acid, nitrogen, and sulphuret of potassium,
is quite erroneous, and unsupported by the conclusions to be drawn from
accurate analysis. The following compounds have all been detected as
products of combustion : — Sulphate , nitrate , hyposulphite , and carbonate of
potash; sulphide and sulphocyanide of potassium, oxygen , hydrogen , nitrogen ,
charcoal , and sulphur ; sesquicarbonate of ammonia , carbonic acid , and
oxide; marsh gas, and sulphuretted hydrogen. — L. von Karolzi, in Poggen -
dorff’s Annalen.

Mauveine is a term which has been proposed for a new base, by Mr.
W. H. Perkin, in a paper lately read before the Royal Society. It is pre-
pared by adding a solution of hydrate of potassium to a boiling solution
of commercial crystallized mauve. The latter immediately assumes a
purple colour on the addition of acids, and on standing deposits a crystalline
body, which, after being washed with alcohol and then with water, appears
as a nearly black glistening substance ; this is the base for which the new
term has been devised. It is soluble in alcohol, forming a violet solution, but
nearly insoluble in ether and benzine. It decomposes ammonia salts with
facility. Its analysis gives it the formula —

(C-lS)of Ca7 h34n4

The following salts of this base have already been obtained and investi-
gated : — Acetate, carbonate, hydrochlorate, hydrobromate, hydriodate, and
double salts, with gold and platinum. Mr. Perkin is now engaged in expe-
riments with a view to ascertain the replaceability of the hydrogen, in order
to throw some light on the constitution of this base.

Common alcohol and alcohol of olefiant gas, though very generally believed
to be substances which, though analogous, are still very distinct in regard
to characters and reactions, have been shown by M. Berthelot to be identical
bodies. There is no distinction physical or chemical between either these
alcohols or their ethers. The ethyl-sulphate of barytes obtained from
ordinary alcohol is exactly the same as that derived from the alcohol of
olefiant gas ; but this is not all. When the olefiant alcohol is treated with
chromic acid, it gives rise to ether and acetic acid, which are in no way
distinguishable from those produced in a similar manner from ordinary
alcohol. — Comptes Rendus, Nov. 9th, 1863.

Action of Nascent Hydrogen on Arsenic. — All our readers are familiar
with the fact that acids disengage hydrogen from water in the presence of
zinc or iron, and that when this gas comes in contact with solid arsenic, a
new compound is generated which contains both substances [As H3[|.
There is, however, a decided exception to this rule in the case of nitric
acid and its derivatives, which, in giving rise to ammonia, cause a solid
and not a gaseous hydruret of arsenic to be formed, whose formula is,
As2 Hj, and which is either deposited on the zinc, or floats in flocculi
through the liquid. This is the case not only when nitric acid is present,
but when the solution contains any quantity of a nitrous compound.
There are two obstacles to the formation of the solid body : the presence
of such metals, as lead, which coat the zinc, and of organic matter. It

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

255

follows from the foregoing, that in judicial inquiries Marsh’s test cannot
he relied on, inasmuch as it is liable to a twofold error. Thus, if either
from the sulphuric acid employed, or even from the suspected organic
liquid, the smallest quantity of nitrous compound is developed, the solid
and not the gaseous hydruret will be formed. Or again, if the sulphuric
acid itself contains arsenic, an error of a common kind must be fallen into.
The latter, however, has been known for some time. — See Blondlot’s Memoire
in Comptes Rendus, lvii., p, 596.

Non-existence of Wasium as a Simple Body. — Wasium was thought by
M. Bahr to be constantly present in Norwegian orlhite ; this idea has been
refuted in a note to the Academy of Sciences (Nov. 2nd), by M. J. Nicies.
The latter chemist asserts that wasium is not a simple body, and that
its supposed oxide is nothing more than that of Yttrium, coloured most
probably by a little oxide of Terbium. This assertion is fully borne out
by reference to the following reactions which take place in the two
instances : —

Reagent. Wasium. Yttrium.

Oxalic acid white precipitate white precipitate.

Ammonia an imperfect precipitate ...an imperfect precipitate.

f white precipitateinsoluble \ white precipitate inso-
in excess J

Caustic potash . . . -^

Sulphate ofpotash{^st^ne white ^ preci- 1 crystal^

luble in excess.

white

preci-

In the oxidising

n

and reducing ^-transparent globule transparent globule.

flame -J- borax. J

Volumetric Relations of Ozone. — It is satisfactory to find that the
researches of our countrymen Tait and Andrews, though not universally
accepted, have been fully corroborated by some recent researches of
M. J. L. Loret. The latter, in a memoir presented to the Academie des
Sciences, on the 5th of October last, details the results of a series of
investigations upon this subject, and confirms, on all points, the conclu-
sions of the English chemists. In order to test the alteration of volume in
ozone under different conditions, he experimented on it with oxidisable
substances, such as iodide of potassium and arsenite of soda, by means of
heat and with caustic potash, whose action he finds to be distinct from that
of oxidisable bodies. Caustic potash affects ozone somewhat in the same
way as heat, and produces an unquestionable increase of volume. He
explains the results obtained, by supposing that each molecule of ozone
contains more than one atom of oxygen. Many chemists suppose that the
ordinary molecule of oxygen in the gaseous state is formed by the union of
two atoms, and is consequently an oxide of oxygen — 0 0. If this view be
adopted, and it be supposed that ozone is an allotropic form of oxygen, then
it follows that the molecule of ozone has a different arrangement of its
parts. Experiment goes to show that this molecule is not composed of a
single atom of oxygen, but that it consists of more than two atoms. It is
possible that one molecule of ozone is composed of three atoms of oxygen ;
so that, in fact, ozone is a binoxide of oxygen. The oxidising power of
ozone, its constant volume when treated with oxidisable bodies, its expan-

s 2

256

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

sion under the influence of heat, and its contraction when acted on by
electricity, are all readily explicable on this hypothesis. As there are no
facts to prove that the number of its atoms is three rather than four or five,
its density must be known before any certain conclusion can be drawn on
this point.

Characters of Rain- Water. — M. Robinet finds that his experiments,
conducted through a period of eighteen months — from March, 1862, to
September, 1863, — enable him to draw the following conclusions: — (1.)
Disturbance of the atmosphere does not seem to influence the quantity of
fixed matter dissolved in rain-water. (2.) The proportion of fixed matter
is not influenced by day or night. (3.) Frequently, after prolonged
droughts, there is found a large quantity of fixed matter, but this is not
constant. (4.) If successive portions of water from the same shower, or even
the water of successive showers, be examined, it will be found that there is
less fixed matter in the later than in the earlier collected portions. (5.) Paris
rain-water contains chiefly sulphate of lime and an imperfectly known
form of organic matter ; the proportion of sulphate of lime being about
20 grammes to the cubic metre. (6.) Rain-water is more liable to froth
when shaken than any other form known. (7.) When nitrate of silver is
mixed with Paris rain-water it is found to produce a reddish colour of
various hues, and a deposit of a garnet-tint which contains the silver.
(8.) The nature of the substance which produces this phenomenon is
unknown. — Comptes Rendus , lvii. No. 10.

Chemical Composition of Corn found in Pompeii. — The corn which was
discovered among the ruins of the buried city has been analysed by M. S.
de Luca, who has presented his second memoir to the French Academy.
After eighteen centuries of exposure to external influence it would not be
surprising if the grains had been completely destroyed. Such, however,
is not the case, and although there is an absence of the proper organic
elements still the mineral constituents are present, the original form is
preserved, and each grain is of a blackish-brown colour, and weighs about
18 milligrammes. In resuming his remarks, M. de Luca observes, “ The
corn of Pompeii, although preserving its primitive form, has lost all trace
of organic materials, and contains neither gluten, starch, sugar, nor fatty
matter. The result of decomposition is such, that there is still found all
the nitrogen and nearly all the carbon of ordinary corn ; but the mineral
matters, which I detected in large proportion, were probably due to water,
which, holding them in suspension, deposited them in the carbonized,
permeable and amorphous portion of the grains.,,

Action of re- Agents on Minerals. — M. Kuhlmann, following up his
researches on “ the preservation of materials employed in building and
ornamentation,” has delivered a lecture before the Academy on the above
subject. Oxygen , he says, gives a brown or bright red colour to green or
yellow jaspers ; it renders transparent, smoked quartz, amethysts, and
topazes ; it gives a paler hue to the emerald and sapphire. It deprives red
and yellow cornelian of their colour, but their silica becomes whitish from
losing its water of crystallization. Binoxide of nitrogen produces nearly
the same effect as oxygen. Chlorine is like the preceding gases. The
diamond, ruby, and sapphire alone resisted its action. By chlorine and

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

257

hydrochloric acid gas, agates and jaspers, coloured green and yellow,
were converted into brownish stones. The action of dry hydrochloric
acid is to convert the calcareous veins which traverse minerals, into
chloride of calcium ; which, being soluble in water, we are thus enabled to
make, as it were, an anatomical examination of certain compound mine-
rals, and in this way to simplify their formulae. Hydrogen , by reducing
the oxide of iron in certain red marbles and agates, causes these latter to
assume a blackish colour. It reduces malachite to the metal state, and
blackens lapis-lazuli. Ammonia gives red granite a blackish colour, the
same as bloodstone. It reduces malachite, as above, and converts pyro-
lucite into protoxide of manganese, with the production of nitric acid, the
protoxide still preserving the crystalline form of pyrolucite. Cyanogen :
this gas acts as an energetic de-oxydiser ; it removes the colour of
amethyst, and yellow and red cornelian, leaving a deposit of carbon in the
fissures of these stones. It also blackens red agates by reducing the oxide
of iron. Hydro-sulphuric acid does not affect the smoked or yellow
diamond, nor the sapphire. It gives the ruby a violet tint. Red quartz
and amethyst are discoloured by it. Red cornelian is discoloured and
loses its transparency on account of the formation of hydrates ; the tur-
quoise is blackened, and marbles, granites, and agates, whose colour is due
to oxide of iron, are similarly affected. M. Kuhlmann obtained the fore-
going results by enclosing portions of the minerals in a porcelain tube,
heating this to a temperature which, though elevated, was not sufficient to
produce decomposition of the minerals, and then causing a stream of the
gas in question to play upon the latter. — Yide L’lnstitut , November
11, 1863.

GEOLOGY AND PALAEONTOLOGY.

Air Breathers of the Coal Period in Nova Scotia. — In a late number of
the “ Canadian Naturalist and Geologist” we find a very valuable paper
with the above title. It is from the pen of J. W. Dawson, F.R.S., a man
well known for his many additions to the science of Geology : he describes
four species of Hylonomus, one of Hylerpeton, two of Dendrerpeton, one
of Baphetes, and one of Eosaurus, all of which belong to the class reptilia ;
and he also describes two invertebrata, one a mollusk, Pupa vetusta) and
the other a centipede, Xylobius Sigillance. The coal measures of Nova
Scotia like those elsewhere, present ample evidence of brackish and fresh-
water conditions. But in this respect they are not exceptional. “ It is
true that, in Great Britain, evidences of marine life do occur in the coal
measures ; but not, so far as I am aware, in circumstances which justify
the inference that coal is of marine origin.” The writer mentions that at
Fort Lawrence we meet with a forest, growing in upland soil, forty feet
below high-water mark and covered with mud, containing living Myas
and Tellinasi but we are not justfied in supposing that this forest grew in
the sea. Dr. Dawson is not content with mere descriptions of the air-
breathers, but endeavours to strike a blow at the advocates of the doctrine
of “origin of species by natural selection.” For example, he supposes

258

POPULAE SCIENCE EEYIEW.

that the air-breathers of the coal period are really the first species of their
several families and then goes on to say, — “ Looking at them from this
point of view, we shall first be struck by the fact, that they belong to all
of the then great leading types of animals, which include our modern
air-breathers — the Vertebrates, Articulates, and Mollusks. This at once
excludes the supposition that they can all have been derived from each
other, within the limits of the coal period.” * * * * * “ Again,

our reptiles of the coal do not constitute a continuous series, nor is
it possible that they can all, except at widely different times, have
originated from the same source.” The peculiarity of Dr. Dawson’s
reasoning is, that it commences with a petitio principii, and that apparently
the Doctor is unaware that negative evidence of the kind produced neither
supports his own doctrine nor militates against that of Mr. Darwin.

The Earth’s Temperature in Baloeozoic Times . — Avery beautiful hypothesis
has been framed by Mr. Sterry Hunt, F.R.S., to account for the increased
temperature of the earth’s surface in former Geologic times. Adopting Pro-
fessor Tyndall’s views on the subject of absorption of heat, he shows that
during Palaeozoic times the presence of large quantities of carbonic acid
in the atmosphere was sufficient to prevent the radiation from the earth of
the heat derived from the sun, and thus to increase the temperature of our
planet. Dr. Tyndall has shown that, heat from whatever source, passes
through oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen gases, or through dry air with
nearly the same facility as through a vacuum. Like rock-salt they allow
of the transmission of heat ; glass, however, and certain other substances,
although allowing heat to travel through them from luminous bodies,
prevent its radiation from non-luminous ones. There are some gases
which also possess this property ; thus the absorption of heat from a body
at a temperature of 212 Fahr. is by vacuum 0, that by dry air 1, that by
carbonic acid gas 90, that by marsh gas 403, that by olefiant gas 970, and
that by ammonia 1195. So long as the earth is surrounded by a stratum
of vapour, so long will radiation from it be retarded ; but during long nights
the radiation into space causes the precipitation of a large quantity of this
watery vapour, and so the protective shield is lost. However, we have
every reason to believe that, during the earlier geological periods, all that
carbonic acid which we now have in our various limestones, and as carbon
in our coal formations, was distributed through the atmosphere. This
having been the case, it is evident that the quantity of heat radiated from
the earth during these epochs must have been vastly less than that
which passes away in our times ; hence the temperature must also have
been considerably higher, thus explaining why a vegetation like that of the
tropics once existed within the frigid zones. In fact, the carbonic acid
surrounded the earth like a huge protecting dome of glass. — Vide Canadian
Naturalist and Geologist , August, 1863.

Brachiopods new to the Lower Greensand of the Isle of Wight. — Mr. E.
Ray Lankester records the presence of two Terebratuloe in the lower green-
sand beds of the Isle of Wight, which have never before been found in
these strata. He identifies them with T. Moutoniana of D’Orbigny, and
T. depressa of Lamarck. “ The first is somewhat oval in shape, depressed
and elongated ; surface entirely smooth.” The second has lenticular valves

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

259

“beak much produced, foramen very large and circular, deltidium large,’’
and only one specimen was obtained by the discoverer. In addition to the
| foregoing, a very curious, deformed specimen of Morris’s T. Celtica was
found, it has a produced and incurved beak, with a deep groove running
along the middle of the perforated valve, the smaller valve being marked by
a corresponding elevation. Mr. Lankester, in contrasting the number of
forms found in our British lower greensand strata with that of the
continental beds, observes, “ There is no reason why such forms as
T. diphyoides , T. hippopus , and others associated with a common British
species, T \ sella , in the Upper Neocomian or Urgonian beds of France,
should not be met with in this country.” We agree with him in thinking
that, geologists should not be content with such negative evidence, but
should hope to fill the empty spaces in our lists, in course of time.

Anatomy of Plesiosaurus Cramptoni. — A splendid fossil which lay in one
of the houses of the Zoological Society of Ireland, from the year 1852 till
very recently, has at length fallen into the hands of the Royal Dublin
Society, and has been made the subject of an admirable memoir by Messrs.
Carte and Bailey. The fossil was originally obtained from the liassic
beds, near Whitby, in Yorkshire, on the property of the Marquis of
Normanby, by whom it was presented to the late Sir Philip Crampton, of
Dublin. A rough section of the beds in which the specimen was found is
attached to the memoir, and from it we perceive that the fossil lay at a
depth of 110 feet from the surface, in a stratum of aluminous shale, which
itself was covered, from below upwards, with a layer of cement nodules,
one of inferior oolitic ironstone, one of marl, and one of sandstone. The
skeleton measures, in the line of its vertebrae, twenty-two feet two inches,
and in width fully thirteen feet. It lies in the prone position, resting on
the central surface, and has the head and neck slightly inclined to the
right side. The skull has been almost entirely cleared of matrix, and,
with the exception of the zygomatic bones, is quite perfect. The vertebral
column has in part fallen over to the right side, so that the lateral surfaces
of the conical vertebrae are distinctly seen with their large neurapophyses,
and occasionally with their peculiar hatchet-shaped ribs. The bodies of
the dorsal vertebrae are almost entirely concealed, but the massive processes
project above the surface. The caudal portion of the spine has suffered
dislocation, especially that portion of it which joins the sacrum. The ribs
are remarkably well seen, spreading out nearly in their natural position.
The pectoral extremities pass out at right angles with the column, and one
of the ventral extremities is placed likewise, the other being more parallel
with the spine. The total number of vertebrae is ninety-one , those of P.
Zetlandicus and P. Macrocephalus being respectively ninety-six and ninety-
five. The teeth are like those of a crocodile, irregularly arranged, and
embedded in sockets. There are about 120 teeth in P. Cramptnoi , the
largest of them measuring an inch in diameter at its base. The fossil has
been named in compliment to the distinguished Irish surgeon who
presented it to the Society, P. Cramptoni . The communication of Messrs.
Carte and Bailey has appended to it a series of well-executed lithographs,
which certainly in point of style equal anything we have hitherto seen
in this way.-— Vide Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science , October, 1863.

260

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Slickensides in the Granite near Dublin. — In a paper read during the
summer before the Geological Society of Dublin, it was pointed out by the
Rev. Maxwell Close, that our notions of the phenomena productive of
these striations are exceedingly unsatisfactory. In Dublin granite, a
great number of surfaces (which, in the author’s opinion, are always joint
surfaces), and which present more or less marked striations, may be ob-
served. Some of them are indicated in the maps of the Geological Survey,
and all of them are like the peculiar groovings known as galena sliclcen-
sides. Indeed, the resemblance to the latter is so great, that Mr. Close
concludes that a cast of one could not be distinguished from a cast of the
other. After enumerating the existing theories, none of which sufficiently
account for the phenomena referred to, the author advances a new hypo-
thesis— that of crystallization. Several facts are brought forward in
support of this view, and the paper concludes with the following remarks :
“ The striated coatings are later than the joints which carry them : they
were formed after the consolidation of the granite, but also they were
formed before certain other joints which cut through them, or before the
granite had attained its final structural condition ; that is to say, after the
cooling of the granite had begun, and before it was completed. Perhaps
we may have in thermo-electric currents the polarizing force we seek.
We know that light is able to influence crystallization, as also the action
of a powerful magnet. It seems easier to explain by thermo-electric
agency than by the more widely acting currents of terrestrial magnetism,
the variation in direction of the striations which we have noticed, and also
the fact that near the boundary of the granite (when the cooling of the
intruded mass must have been comparatively rapid and irregular), the
slickenside phenomena are either absent or confused .”

The Earth's Crust. — A paper of a peculiarly speculative type was
recently read on this subject before the Natural History Society of Mon-
treal. The writer endeavoured to work out the theory supported by Sir
H. de la Beche, of the incandescent character of the globe, prior to the
development of organic beings. The paper is one of considerable length,
and bears evidence of the author’s having given the question serious
consideration. As prefatory to his argument, the writer (Mr. Macfarlane)
states : — 6i It is, I believe, possible to maintain, with every appearance of
reason, that the primitive gneiss formation constitutes the first solidified
crust of the originally fused globe, and that the crystalline and sub-
crystalline rocks of the primitive slate formation are the products of a
peculiar transition period, during which aqueous fluids gradually accu-
mulated on the surface, and the latter attained a temperature approaching
somewhat to that of the present day.”

The Sternum of a Fossil Tortoise from the Gypsum Hills of Sannois is
described by M. Valenciennes, in a memoir presented to the French
Academy on the 23rd of November last. The peculiarity of the observa-
tions is that the latter are made upon an animal which has not been
found complete, but which has been reconstructed. “ Birds,” says the
distinguished naturalist who contributed the memoir, e< have the sternum
composed of five pieces ; tortoises invariably possess nine sternal portions.
This number once determined, led me to believe that this was a case in

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

261

which I could reconstruct the animal. It had been crushed, so that there
remained only the inferior portion of the carapace, which gave passage to
the humerus. The great groove which is seen here is the right humeral
groove of the animal. Posteriorly we find the portions the sternum, viz.,
the episternal, the space covered by fragments of the hyosternal and hypo-
sternal, and finally the xiphosternal.” In this manner M. Valenciennes
proceeded, step by step, to prove to his audience that the bones before
them were those of a huge fresh-water Emys, which, in compliment to its
discoverer, M. Hebert, he proposes to term, Testudo Heberti .

The Stone Age in the Pyrenees. — Messrs. Garrigon and Filhol have just
laid before the French Academy the results of their explorations of the
caverns in some of the mountain passes of the Pyrenean chain. They
discovered in several caves large quantities of bones, belonging principally
to the following animals : — Gervus elaplius, a large species of ox, and
a much smaller one, a sheep, an antelope, a chamois, Sus scrofa and a
smaller domesticated species, the horse, the wolf, the dog, the badger, the
hare, and two birds whose species were undetermined. Besides these
there were found weapons of stone, and some which had been prepared
from the bones of animals ; twenty millstones formed of leptinite, granite,
and syenite, and of various sizes ; and numerous fragments of a rude sort
of pottery containing fragments of quarts and mica. From these facts
these two geologists draw the conclusion beneath

“ In the Ariege section of the Pyrenees (and doubtless also throughout
the entire chain) there has been a pre-historic population, whose habits and
state of civilization were like those of the race of the Stone age in Switzer-
land. This race inhabited large and airy caverns, fed upon the flesh of
animals in which the country abounded, and j manufactured weapons of
the harder portions of the bones and of stone. They probably cultivated
wheat like their Swiss brethren, and doubtless the mill-stones found were
employed to grind it. They were unacquainted with the metals.” — Comptes
Rendas , vol. lvii. No. 20.

Cause of Earthquake Shocks. — This has been attributed by Mr. Mackie,
the well-known editor of The Geologist , not to the outpouring of molten
matter from the bowels of the earth, but to the cooling down and crystal-
lization of the fluid lava. It is well-known to chemists that during the
crystallization of certain compounds, in one stage of the process, a
perceptible series of sounds may be distinguished. Manufacturers of
crystalline bodies on a large scale are even more familiar with this
phenomenon ; and we have been informed that in the preparation of some
mineral compounds very loud sounds, like those resulting from explosions,
are heard as soon as the solid deposit begins to separate from the liquid
mass in which it was dissolved.

Composition of the Water of the Dead Sea. — The water of the Lacus
Asphaltites of the ancients contains, according to the recent researches of
M. Roux, so large a quantity of bromides and bromine compounds, that it
is worthy of consideration by all photographic and other chemists who
desire to render these substances commercially cheaper and purer than
they are at present. In one hundred parts of Dead Sea water there are
9*466 parts of chloride of magnesium ; 6*126 of chloride of sodium ; 3*152

262

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of chloride of calcium ; 1*388 of chloride of potassium ; 0*364 of bromide
of magnesium ; 0*058 of sulphate of lime ; 0*004 of chloride of ammo-
nium ; 0*032 of carbonate of lime, oxide of iron, and alumina ; 0*010 loss;
and 79*400 of water. A litre of Dead Sea water taken on the 24th of
February, 1862, contained 206 grammes of saline matter. There is no
mineral water so highly charged with salts, or which possesses so much
bromine. — Comptes Rendiis, Oct. 5, 1863.

Fossil Fresh-water Sharks . — At a recent meeting of the Belgian Aca-
demy of Sciences, M. Dewalque, in treating of the diluvial deposits of
the Meuse, brought one or two remarkable facts (?) under the notice of
the members. A few years ago, whilst some public works were being
carried on, a large shark’s tooth was found in the gravel of the Meuse.
He himself examined it ; it was nine centimetres long, and belonged to
the genus Carcharodon, bearing a decided resemblance to the teeth of
C. megalodon , which is so frequently found at Anvers that his colleagues
thought that he was deceiving them. Now this tooth had been obtained
by its possessor from a person who found it on the works whilst engaged
with his pickaxe ; this, it must be remembered, occurred at a period anterior
to the operations at Anvers. Again, M.Folie, of our School of Mines, sent
the author some teeth which were found by his brother in the excavations
made in connection with the citadel at Namur. They came from a
deposit near the port of Salzinne, on a portion of flat country which
is annually inundated, and were taken from a depth of fifty centimetres.
One belonged, undoubtedly, to Carcharodon megalodon; four were those
of Oxyrrhina trigonodon ; and a sixth, which probably belonged to the
latter also, was distinguished from the rest by having its cutting edge
slightly re-curved towards the apex. Although the sharks are marine
species, still there are some which ascend rivers to considerable distances
— the Lamna, for example. These facts may not be readily accepted,
but they are worthy of the consideration of geologists. — Vide L' Institut,
Oct. 28, 1863.

MECHANICAL SCIENCE.

The Steam Engine. — Considerable attention has been drawn lately to the
question of the speed attainable in land and marine engines. Hitherto a
velocity of piston averaging 250 feet per minute has been almost uni-
versally adopted, and there appear to be sound objections to any great
increase of this speed in the old form of beam engine, in consequence of
the enormous weight of the reciprocating parts. In America, however,
much higher speeds appear to have been attained even with beam engines,
in cases where they had a stroke of 12 feet in length. Thus, the engines
of the Pacific mail steamship Golden City are reported to work at a velocity
of 420 feet per minute ; those of the Buffalo City at 468 feet ; the C. Van-
derbilt at 540 feet ; and the Stockton at 640 feet. The objections to a
high speed of piston which are urged with force in the case of engines
with heavy reciprocating parts, the motion of which has to be reversed in
direction twice in every stroke, do not apply to the class of vertical and

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

263

horizontal direct-acting engines now so largely introduced. Hence there
is no reason why the old-fashioned speed of 250 feet should be adhered to,
and in the case of locomotives where necessity has compelled the change,
speeds of 500 to 1,000 feet per minute are attained without difficulty.
The little horizontal engine of Mr. Allen, in the Exhibition, worked
regularly and with great steadiness at a piston speed of 600 feet per
minute, doing twice the amount of work which it could have accomplished
at the speed usual in this country. There is now no doubt that the
direction of improvement which will be taken will be the adoption of a
high speed and higher pressure than hitherto, with an enormous saving in
the weight of the engines necessary for any given amount of work.

Steel Vessels. — Two ocean vessels of large size have been launched
at Liverpool, built entirely of steel, which had indeed been used before,
but tentatively, and in smaller ships. In the case of the Formby , of
1,276 tons burden, 300 tons of dead weight were saved out of 800 tons
(which would have been necessary had she been built of iron), in conse-
quence of the greater tenacity of the new material.

Glass Bearings. — Glass bushes or steps are being used for bearings for
shafts, by Mr. Burton, the glass being protected at the ends by metal
flanges attached to the pedestal, with papier-mache or india-rubber
interposed.

Forging by Pressure. — Attempts are being made by Mr. Haswell, the
Manager of the Austrian State Railways, and by Messrs. Shanks, E. B.
Wilson, and Bessemer, to substitute hydraulic pressure for the blows of
hammers, in forging masses of wrought iron and steel. The first-named
has a press at work capable of exerting a pressure of 600 tons, by means
of -which he has been enabled to forge a piston and rod in one piece at a
single stroke.

Clifton Suspension Bridge. — Our readers will be awrare that the old
Hungerford Suspension Bridge, having been taken down and replaced by
Mr. Hawkshaw’s fine lattice railway bridge, is being re-erected at Clifton,
near Bristol. For this purpose an ingenious temporary scaffolding has
been contrived, on wffiich the links of the chain are to be put together.
In the position to be occupied by one of the chains, six wires have been
stretched across from pier to pier, and above these two other wires from
which a light cradle is suspended. In this cradle the men were enabled to
attach to the lower wires a platform of boards joined to the upper wires
by hoop iron forming a railing. Fourteen feet above the platform another
wire is stretched across, on which runs a traverser, furnished with blocks,
by which the links of the chain are carried out to the men at work on the
platform. In this way the great natural difficulties of the situation will
be successfully overcome. The bridge will be 702 feet span, and 280 feet
above lowr water.

Bhore Ghaut Incline. —The incline up the Bhore Ghaut range, recently
completed, is one of the most remarkable achievements of Indian
railway engineering. It is nearly 16 miles long, with a total rise of 1,831
feet, the steepest gradients being- 1 in 37 and 1 in 40. It includes 25 tunnels
and 8 viaducts, with 1,250,000 cubic yards of cutting, chiefly through
rock, and 2,000,000 cubic yards of embankment. It has occupied seven
years in construction.

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Resistance of Armour Plates. — From a paper read by Mr. Fairbairn at
the Institute of Naval Architects, in March, but only recently printed, we
extract the following table to show the close accordance of a formula for
the penetration of plates, by steel flat-ended shot, deduced more than two
years ago, from experiments with a rifle, and the more recent experiments
of Mr. Whitworth ; the table is also interesting as an exact and reliable
record of the best artillery practice against plates by the English
Government : — ■

Description of
Gun.

Weight
of Shot in
pounds.

Charge of
powder in
pounds.

Velocity
of shot in
feet per
sec.

Semi-dia-
meter of
shot in
inches.

Maximum
thickness of
penetration
by formula
in inches.

Thickness
actually
penetrated
in inches.

Wall pie

ce Rifle .

0-34

1141

0-435

0-81

0-81

Whitworth 12 Pr.

12-06

1-875

1202

1-5

2-72

2-50

99

12 Pr.

12-16

1-750

1157

1-5

2-63

2-005

99

70 Pr.

68-50

12-00

1276

2-75

5-09

4-00c

99

120 Pr.

129-00

23-00

1278

3-5

6-20

4-50 d

99

120 Pr.

130-00

25-00

1268

3-5

6T7

4‘50e

99

120 Pr.

130-00

25-00

3-5

6-17

5-50

b. The shell penetrated 12 inches of wood backing and buried itself

in a sandbank.

c. Penetrated 13 inches of Wood backing and cracked a 2-inch plate

in the rear.

d. Penetrated 20 inches of wood backing and fractured iron skin.

e. Shell burst whilst penetrating wood backing.

The same formula with a variation of a single constant applies equally
well to the penetration of plates by cast-iron shot.

Corrosion of Armour Plates. — The Royal Gale having been docked at
Key ham, has revealed a new and insidious danger besetting our iron-
cased fleet. The lowest tier of her armour plates is all more or less
honeycombed, and partially destroyed by galvanic action arising from
contact with the copper sheathing below. The holes vary in depth from
4 to f inch. She has not been more than five months in the water.
Plates of vitreous sheathing are to be applied to prevent further injury.

Centrifugal Pumps. — Careful experiments on one of Appold’s centrifugal
pumps have been made by Mr. Anderson, at Wexford. These were on a
scale and under circumstances which render the results more reliable than
in most previous experiments. With from 44 to 60 indicated horse-
power, 1,600 to 2,200 cubic feet of water were lifted from 6 to 10 feet
high per minute. Averaging the results and deducting one-sixth of the
power expended as engine friction, the efficiency of the pumps appears to
be 67 per cent.

The Armstrong Cun. — A new gun of Sir William Armstrong’s, "weighing
22 tons, and 13*3 inches calibre, has been successfully tested at Shoebury-
ness. The thickness of the walls at the breech is 20 inches, the outside
diameter being 55 inches. The total length is 15 feet. The rifling is on

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

265

the “shunt” principle, this gun having 10 grooves, turning once in 65
calibres. It carries a conical cast-iron shot weighing 510 lb., or a shell of
600 lb. with a bursting charge of 40 lb. of powder. The charge for the
gun was 70 lb. with the shot, and 60 lb. with the shell. With shot the
range attained was 1,160 yards with 2° elevation ; 2,300 yards with 5° ;
4,100 yards with 10°, The mean initial velocity of the shot was 1,260
feet per second. The lateral deviation varied from 0 to 4 yards only. A
shot from this gun perforated a target representing a section of the
W armor’s side, making a clean hole 2 feet long by 20 inches broad.

The Lynall Thomas Gun. — Experiments of a less satisfactory character
have been made with a Lynall Thomas 300-pounder rifled gun, the riding
being formed of ridges instead of grooves. Charge of powder 40 lb. ;
initial velocity of projectiles, 1,075 to 1,217 feet. Range at 5°, 1,883 to
2,161 yards ; at 10° elevation, 3,600 to 4,000 yards. The inequality of
velocity and range is the most objectionable feature developed by the
trials.

Mr. Reed’s Target. — Mr. Reed has constructed a target with a facing
of 6-inch armour plates, and a backing of 10 inches of teak and two
thicknesses of f-inch plates. As might be expected, it has resisted all the
ordinary projectiles and even the steel shell fired from Mr. Whitworth’s
150 pounder, with a charge of 23 lb. of powder. These last penetrated
the armour plate, but did no injury to the backing. It remains to be seen
how far it can resist the blows of the 300-pounder and 600-pounder
projectiles with charges of 40 lb. and 60 lb. of powder.

MEDICAL SCIENCE.

The Structure of Cartilage. — Our medical readers are of course familiar
with the circumstance that the structure of cartilage is a subject which,
since the appearance of Schwann’s celebrated work enunciating the “ cell
theory,” lias been of much interest to histologists. It is customary in
most works on human microscopic anatomy to lay it down as certain and
established that cartilage is composed of a clear homogeneous basis, through
which are scattered myriads of cells containing nuclei, and that the carti-
lage grows by the development of new cells. Professor Lionel Beale, of
King’s College, who may fairly be regarded as one of the first, if not the
first, microscopic anatomist in Great Britain, has recently advanced some
original views as to the structure and growth of cartilage. We presume
they are promulgated with the object of supporting his theory of the
development of all tissues from germinal matter (endoplasts of Professor
Huxley). Be that as it may, his paper is a most valuable one, and may
be found in “ The Transactions of the Microscopical Society,” vol. xi.
The beautiful plates accompanying the memoir convey a clearer descrip-
tion of the structure of the tissue in question than any verbal explanation,
and must be referred to by all interested in this subject. The conclusions
at which the author has arrived are the following : — (1) That the so-called
intercellular substance of cartilage and other tissues is never formed inde-
pendently of cells , or, more correctly, masses of living or germinal matter ;

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

(2) that the intercellular substance does not possess formative power, and
that physical and chemical changes alone take place in it ; (3) that in all
cases the masses of germinal matter are continuous with the so-called
intercellular substance, and that the latter was once in the state of ger-
minal matter ; (4) that in the development and growth of these tissues,
the pabulum becomes germinal matter, the germinal matter becomes the
formed material (intercellular substance), which accumulates and gradu-
ally undergoes condensation. En passant, we may observe that, in
regard to conclusion 2, the opinions of Dr. Beale and Professor Huxley
are diametrically opposed to each other ; the former placing the formative
power in the endoplasts (nuclei), whilst the latter, in common with Wolff,
places it in the intercellular substance, or periplast , as he has termed it.

Structure of the Kidney. — Professor Henle has discovered that our present
notions of the anatomy of this organ are in part erroneous. The tubules
of the kidney, even of man, branch and subdivide in quite as arborescent
a manner as they do in the horse. The conical form of the medullary
substance is not due to any increase by division of the open tubules, but
rather to an internal diminution of the intervening smaller tubules. In
the cortical substance of the human kidney, there are two forms of tubules ;
one whose epithelium is clearly cellular, and the other whose epithelium is
rather of the granular type. The author concludes that the open tubules
separate the essential elements of the urine, the less important being formed
in the closed or looped ones. This view he supports by the fact that the
uric acid of children is found in the first, whilst fatty and chalky deposits
occur in the second. — Zeitschrift fur rationelle Medicin, vol. xix.

Accidents resulting from Swallowing Leeches . — It appears from an article
in the Archives Generales de Medecine , that the soldiers in Algeria are
particularly liable to accidents of this description. At the time when the
leeches are swallowed, they are so small as readily to escape detection ;
they are filiform, and rather resemble a blade of grass than anything else.
They usually become attached to the isthmus faucium, or to the pharynx,
and are sometimes found in the nostrils. When once they have become
fixed, they generally remain for a considerable period, and undergo their
development rapidly. Dr. Baizeau records a case in which they remained
for more than six months within the pharynx. They very seldom come
away of their own accord, and must usually be extracted forcibly. If
they are too deeply seated to be caught by a forceps, then the patient must
gargle his throat with a mixture of vinegar, water, and common salt, and
must continue the process for several days. But even this sometimes
proves unavailing. The symptoms are those of irritation in the part,
together with occasional hsemorrhage. The latter is often mistaken for a
symptom of disease of the lungs, stomach, &c. The only preventive appears
to be a caution to the soldiers not to drink water from streams, &c., when
they are on the march. It is a remarkable circumstance that a leech can
live for so long a period under conditions so opposite to those it previously
enjoyed, and bears out in some measure the views of those who class the
Hirundinei with the Trematoda and Planaria.

Cause of “ Angina pectoris .” — Following up Claude Bernard’s views.
Dr. Cahen, in a memoir recently published, supposes that this painful

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

267

affection is due to a peculiar condition of the smaller blood-vessels of the
chest. He says that there is, firstly , a sort of neuralgia of a rachidian
nerve (brachial plexus, or intercostal nerve) ; secondly , an extension of this
neuralgia to the corresponding portion of the great sympathetic ; and,
thirdly , congestion of those organs whose vessels receive branches from
this portion of the sympathetic system. — Archives Generales, for Novem-
ber, 1863.

Why Fibrin coagulates.— Schmidt’s researches show that the coagulable
material of fibrin is contained chiefly in the cells. In fact, neither lymph
nor chyle possesses this property till it has mingled with the cells in the
lymphatic and mesenteric glands. The various forms of coagulated fibrin
are not due to varieties of the fibrin itself, but rather to the nature of
the cells which develop it. The operation of the active principle, whatever
it may be, is not analogous to that of a ferment, for the principle itself is
used up in the process. The presence of carbonic acid always retards the
coagulation of fibrin, but this influence is very slightly exerted in the case
of fresh blood. The difference of time required for the coagulation of
venous and arterial blood may be attributed to the relative quantities of
carbonic acid which they contain. Neither oxygen nor atmospheric air
affects the coagulation of blood, at least directly ; but when oxygen is
employed, it occasionally displaces the carbonic acid, and thus brings
about coagulation more rapidly. — American Journal of the Medical
Sciences , October, 1863.

Proto-iodide of Iron and Manna. — M. Foucher recommends the employ-
ment of pills containing these substances in combination ; he uses purified
manna in tears, proto-iodide of iron, liquorice in powder, and mallow.
When these are united, a mass is produced in which the protoiodide is
completely preserved from alteration by the action of the manna, and
which is easily softened by the mere heat of the hand. Hence this drug
has two advantages, the preservation of the iron, and the extreme solu-
bility of the mass in the digestive fluids. Moreover, the manna being
laxative, prevents the constipation which might otherwise ensue from the
administration of iron in other forms. — U Union Medicale.

Organic nitrogenized Principles of the Body. — Very little dependence,
in a physiological inquiry, can be placed upon the chemical analysis
of the animal fluids. There has not been heretofore a sufficient
amount of attention given to the study of the complex juices of the
human body. We are glad, therefore, to perceive that this subject has
been taken in hand by Professor Flint of New York, who has made an
extensive series of analyses of human blood and other fluids. His
conclusions are somewhat different from those of previous investigators,
but his method of analysis is so simple that we conceive the liability to
error was not so great as might otherwise have been. In a study such
as that he has undertaken, the author remarks that we must recognize the
following important facts: — 1st. Organised nitrogenous substances are
the only elements of the body in which reside the properties of rege-
neration and destruction, during life. 2nd. They are of indefinite
chemical composition, and no physiological importance is to be attached to
ultimate analyses. They are unstable ; in a state of continual change

268

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

during life, and soon alter after death, or after being removed from the
body. 3rd. They assume the consistence of the tissue or fluid in which
they exist. They are solid in the solids, like bone ; semi-solid in the
semi-solids, like muscle ; fluid in the fluids, like the blood. They are not
dissolved in water ; but water is an ingredient, and its quantity determines
their consistence. 4th. In the body they never exist alone, but always
combined with inorganic substances, which accompany them in the
changes they undergo in the processes of nutrition and destructive assimi-
lation. 5th. As all the proximate analyses of the organised fluids, parti-
cularly of the blood, have been made with the idea that the organic
ingredients were solids in solution in water, their quantitative analyses
give, not the proportion of fibrine or albumen, but of dried fibrine and
albumen, the original substance having been subjected to a process which
drives off its most important constituent, and which alters its properties.
Such analyses as representing real quantities are erroneous. We cannot
quite coincide with the concluding remarks of Professor Smith, but place
them before our readers, as, at all events, suggestive. — American Journal
of the Medical Sciences, XCIL, 1863.

Action of Alcohol in Acute Diseases . — Much as the good folk who delight
in Maine liquor law speculations may be surprised at it, it is nevertheless
quite true that alcohol is a most valuable remedy in certain diseases of an
acute form, and especially in low pneumonia. Dr. Beale has recently
published a little pamphlet on this question, and does not hesitate to
advocate the employment of alcohol in such cases as those referred to.
He explains the difference in results produced by alcohol in the healthy
and morbid systems, by the supposition that it is capable only of affecting
the production of cells which have been hastily formed and whose walls
are, therefore, not sufficiently protected from its influence. Thus alcohol,
when administered in cases where cells are being rapidly generated,
checks the development of their structures, whilst when administered in
health it is incapable of acting on the normal cells by reason of the dense
character of their coats. After carefully watching more than one hundred
cases of acute disease which had been treated with large quantities of
stimulants, the author concludes : — (1.) That intoxication is not produced.
(2.) That delirium, if it have occurred, ceases or is prevented from
occurring at all in the course of the case. (3.) That headache is not occa-
sioned. (4.) That the action of the skin, kidneys, and bowels goes on
freely. (5.) That the tongue remains moist, or, if dry and brown, often
becomes moist. (6.) That the pulse falls in frequency and increases in
power. (7.) That respiration is not impeded, but that where even one
entire lung hepatised, the distress of breathing is not increased. (8.) The
respiratory changes go on as well as if no alcohol had been given. In what
appeared hopeless cases, as much brandy as the patient could be made to
swallow (an ounce and a half to two ounces in an hour) has been given
for several hours in succession, and then as much as thirty ounces a day
for several days, not only without producing the slightest intoxication,
vomiting, or headache, but the treatment has been followed by recovery. —
See “ On the Deficiency of Vital Power in Disease,” &c. Lionel S.
Beale, M.B., F.R.S. London ; Richards.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

269

The Preparation of Flesh as Food. — It is now very generally believed
that the present method of killing cattle, and of preparing their bodies for
food, is one which requires alteration. For example, under our present
system, when sheep, oxen, &c., are killed, a very large quantity of valu-
able and nutritious material is wasted by the escape of blood. Hence it
becomes necessary to inquire how a new process can be substituted, by
which the circulating fluid may be utilised. With this object in view, Dr
Mapother communicated a paper to the Royal Dublin Society, in which
he thinks he has divided the Gordian knot. He certainly has not untied
it. His only proposal is that the animal be killed in such a manner as
to prevent the loss of blood, and he trustfully supposes that, having
informed the public that flesh prepared in this fashion is wholesome, they
will at once proceed to adopt his suggestions, regardless of long-existing
prejudices. It is not many years since a distinguished experimenter on
other people’s stomachs proposed that the starving Irish should be fed upon
curry-powder and water mingled in proper proportions ; we are not, how-
ever, acquainted with any record of the results of the trial. Now, it
certainly seems to us that this gentleman’s proposal made for people who
are not at all familiar with flesh meat of any kind, was just, a priori , as
likely to be adopted as that of Dr. Mapother, which can, of course, only
refer — in Ireland at least— to those who stand somewhat higher than the
great unwashed . We hope that the Doctor will, on a future occasion, devise
some method of employing abstracted blood as food, for we certainly do
not approve of his present proposition. We presume he is able to support
physiological assertions by logical proof. But we cannot see how the sun-
dried strips of flesh which the American Indians use as food “ confer on
them a degree of health and muscular vigour, scarcely ever attained by
any European race.” In our innocence of the abstruse physiological
reasoning which no doubt supports Dr. Mapother’s assertion, we prefer to
suppose that the rare health and vigour to which he refers may be due to
the essentially natural mode of life of these hardy tribes.

Characters , Action , and Uses of the Calabar Bean is the subject for which
the gold medal was awarded to Dr. T. R. Fraser on his graduating M.D.
in the University of Edinburgh. His thesis has now appeared in pam-
phlet form, and deserves the consideration and attention of members of his
profession. He treats in an exhaustive manner of the history of this pecu-
liar drug, and gives also the results of an immense number of experiments
made upon the lower animals for the purpose of investigating its action.
The bean was first noticed, scientifically, about the year 1840, by Dr.
Daniell, and was alluded to in a paper which he read before the Ethno-
logical Society in 1846. The bean, as its name implies, is brought from
the west coast of Africa, where it is employed by the natives in the trial
by ordeal. It is used by them as a test to distinguish between the inno-
cent and guilty. Dr. Fraser writes : “ The priest, as administrator, offers
up a prayer that the gods may continue to the bean its power to kill the
guilty. The accused is then permitted to receive the ordeal bean, either in
the form of infusion, or of the dry kernel. Sometimes a portion of one
bean only is taken, at others as many as twenty-five, according to the dis-
cretion of the priest, or until innocence is held to be declared by the pro-
YOL. III. — NO. X. T

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duction of vomiting, or the guilt of the accused proved by his death. The
medicine men are by no means scrupulous in the accomplishment of their
object, and if, from any cause, they desire the death of their victim, a club
is employed to compensate for the slowness or failure of the action of the
poison.” The bean belongs to the order Leguminosse, and its technical
name is Physostigma venenosum. The action of the kernel when adminis-
tered internally is to be referred entirely to the spinal cord. The contrac-
tion of the pupils, which is one of the results, may be produced in three
ways : positively by cerebral irritation ; negatively by spinal depression ;
and complexly by a combination of the two. The symptoms prove that
the first never occurs, therefore the second must be the only cause. In
fact, the balance between the dilators and contractors of the iris being
destroyed by the depression of the nervous centres affecting the first, the
contractors operate, and so close the iris. Death takes place either by
asphyxia or by syncope, but possibly the heart’s action may be interfered
with primarily owing to the special action of this medicine on the cardiac
muscle. Dr. Fraser, who experimented very extensively upon himself,
describes minutely the strange sensation felt in the epigastrium after a dose
of six grains of the finely-powdered kernel had been taken ; and has also
recorded the alternations in point of frequency of the pulse.

Treatment of Asthma by Static Electricity.— In the Comptes Rendus for
November 23, we find a note from M. Poggioli, stating that he has produced
some extraordinary cures of this unpleasant ailment by means of electricity.
He says that four cases of asthma, which were incurable by ordinary
remedies, were treated by electricity with an amount of success as surpris-
ing to the physician as the patient. He was quite certain that the cases
were those of genuine asthma. He would not approve of employing
electricity in cases of symptomatic asthma combined with either disease of
the heart or pulmonary emphysema.

Bacteria in the Blood of Persons labouring under Typhoid Fever. — M.
Velpeau recently presented a note from the Italian Professor, Tigri,
recording the presence of these beings in the blood of a man who died of
typhoid fever. This statement is of exceeding interest, as it tends to con-
firm an opinion for some time prevalent among scientific physicians, that
zymotic diseases originate in the development of certain vegetable spores.—
Comptes Rendus , No. 20.

Palmidactylism Reappearing during several Generations. — M. Berigny
described some interesting cases of this phenomenon at a recent meeting of
the French Academy. He said, starting with the first generation, the
mother had the third and fourth toes of the right foot webbed throughout
their entire length, her husband’s hands and feet being normal. The
second generation, which consisted of seven children — three boys and four
girls — did not exhibit this peculiarity. In the third generation, one of the
daughters gave birth to a girl (the eldest), whose middle and ring
fingers of the right hand were webbed like her grandmother’s toes.
Another sister also gave birth to a boy and girl, both of whom had the
middle and ring fingers of the right hand webbed. Of three boys, brothers
to the preceding, one had five children, of which the eldest, a boy, came
into the world with the same anomalous condition of the extremities. In

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

271

the fourth generation, one of the great-grandchildren was father to twins
one of which exhibited the webbed condition of the right foot which was
presented by her great-grandmother, and also to a boy, whose right hand
was webbed like that of his father. There are three strange facts brought
forward here. (1) The entire absence of the peculiarity in the first gene-
ration ; (2) the infirmity was confined to the eldest children ; and (3)
it only affected the right side of the body.

METALLURGY AND MINING.

Asphalt Oil a Substitute for Coal. — This idea has been suggested in an
important memoir reproduced in the Trinidad Colonist by a Mr. Stoll-
meyer. There is in one portion of the island of Trinidad, and not above a
mile from the shore, a basin of asphalt, which extends over an area
of nearly a hundred acres. Besides this, there are numerous springs of a
similar nature in the neighbourhood. Now it has been calculated that the
lake is capable of supplying several hundred millions of gallons of oil,
there being about seventy gallons of pure oil obtained from every ton of
asphalt. As about forty-five gallons of the oil are equivalent to a ton of
coals, it follows that the time required in loading a ship with oil would not
be at all as great as in the case of coals, and moreover the necessary quan-
tity of oil for consumption would not occupy nearly so large a space. It

is, however, questionable whether the method he suggests the employment
of, in order to obtain combustion, is a satisfactory one.

Waste of Coal is the subject of a very interesting article from Professor
Ansted’s pen, in the November number of the Mining and Smelting
Magazine. He looks upon the eventual exhaustion of our coal-beds as
likely to arise from other causes than those alluded to by Sir William
Armstrong in his late address. There is the justifiable and the unjustifiable
expenditure of this important mineral. It is to the latter especially that
Professor Ansted draws his readers’ attention. Waste of coal takes place
in three different ways. First : Waste of whole beds of coal. It is by no
means unusual in certain mining districts to sacrifice an overlying seam of
tolerable coal if that beneath it is of more value, and pays better ; the
result of which is that as soon as the lower seam has been exhausted, the
upper one becomes valueless, because, being unsupported, it cannot be
worked. Even wheffthere is a solid roof, the coal becomes cracked through,
and admitting both water and gas, is no longer workable in a pecuniary
point of view. Second : Waste of seams a foot thick above, and others of
the same depth below, which are employed to support the roof and floor,
which might have been done by artificial means. Again, large pillars of
coal are often allowed to be crushed to powder in order to avoid the expense
of the heavy timbering and stone walls which would be necessary to prevent

it. “ In some cases, nearly or quite one half of a valuable seam is thus
sacrificed.” Third : Waste, as small-coal or dust, which is regarded as
valueless, and is either left within the pit or at its mouth. This might be
easily utilized, and is employed in other countries ; and the waste of this
kind occurring in “tender” coal is hardly conceivable. It is sometimes

* T 2

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burnt merely in order to be got rid of. It certainly seems as if, according
to Professor Ansted’s suggestion, some legislation were necessary to prevent
this wanton destruction of an element so essential to the well-being of our
manufactures. We trust Government will soon take the matter in hand.

Explosions of Steam Boilers . — That the influence of the association for
the prevention of these fearful accidents is a beneficial one is shown b}'
Mr. Fletcher’s report to a late meeting of the society. During the previous
month there had been no less than three hundred and thirteen engines and
four hundred and seventy-one boilers examined, of which five were frac-
tured, fourteen were in a state of corrosion, and seven with safety-valves out
of order. There were nine explosions during the month, by which five
men were killed. It is satisfactory to know that none of these boilers were
under the inspection of the society, and that in one of them the injuries
were so well marked that they could not have escaped the detection of a
skilled inspector.

Utilization of the Cinders from Puddling and Reheating Furnaces. — A
process has recently been proposed for the extraction of iron and steel
from the refuse of the above-named furnaces. The cinders — which
are usually rejected from the circumstance that they contain large quan-
tities of sulphur, silica, &c., inseparable from the iron— are extremely
valuable, and contain from twenty-five to fifty per cent, of the latter metal.
The following is the method adopted : — A quantity of unslaked lime is mixed
with fine-ground cinder, and then wetted and exposed to the air, when
during the process of slacking, the lime and silica unite. The mass is now
removed to a puddling furnace and heated. The result is, that about fifty
per cent, of wrought iron is obtained. It is, however, tainted by sulphur,
to remove which it becomes necessary to dissolve chlorine salts in the
water used in slacking the lime. The pecuniary expenditure is not
considerable, and a great saving of material is achieved.— United States

Proposed New Form of Siemens Furnaces. —It is proposed to apply
Siemen’s furnace in a novel way. M. Desmarest thinks it of advantage,
in certain processes in which there are two consecutive stages in the opera-
tion requiring different temperatures, to employ double furnaces, so that
the; two connected processes may be carried on in the same apparatus by
reversing the currents of heat. For the details of the apparatus, we must
refer the reader to the Mining and Smelting Magazine for October.

Ventilation of Collieries. — A successful instrument for this purpose has
been recently tested at one of the mines near Tenby. It consists of a large
circular fan of about eighteen feet in diameter by four feet, breast, and is
arranged in such a manner on the surface, over the upcast shaft, that it
absorbs without leakage all the gas and foul air of the colliery. From this
it is thought that it may supersede the furnace at the bottom of the shaft,
and which is frequently dangerously close to the large subterranean reser-
voirs. The fan is driven by an engine at the rate of about one hundred
and twenty revolutions per minute. — The Artizan for November.

Extraction of Thallium from the Flue Dust of Pyrites Burners. — The manu-
facture of this metal on a large scale is minutely described by Mr.
Crookes, The process is as follows : — -The dust is first placed in wooden

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

273

tubs, with an equal weight of boiling water, and well stirred, a good deal
of nitrous acid being given off ; it is then left standing for twenty-four hours.
The residue is then washed, etc., and treated afresh with boiling water.
The first decanted liquid is, when cool, precipitated by hydrochloric acid
in excess, and the subsiding precipitate is impure chloride of thallium.
This is washed and dried, and is obtained in the proportion of 68 pounds
to every three tons of dust. In the next step of the process, the impure
chloride is converted into a sulphate, and this is then, by hydrochloric
acid, thrown down as pure chloride. This is now reconverted into the
sulphate, which is obtained as a white crystalline mass, that evolves much
heat on being placed in water. Even now it is not sufficiently pure, and
must be re-crystallized, a little hydrosulphuric acid having been first added,
in order to throw down any arsenic, mercury, &c., which may be present.
The best method of obtaining the metallic substance is by precipitation
with zinc plates. “ Plates of pure zinc (which must leave no residue what-
ever when dissolved in sulphuric acid) are arranged vertically round the
sides of a deep porcelain dish, holding a gallon. About seven pounds of
crystallized sulphate of thallium are then placed in the dish, and water
poured over to cover the salt. Heat is applied, and in the course of a few
hours the whole of the thallium will be reduced to the state of a metallic
sponge, which readily separates from the plates of zinc on the slightest
agitation. The liquid is poured off, the zinc removed, and the spongy
thallium washed two or three times. It is then strongly compressed
between the fingers, and preserved under water until it is ready for fusion.”
The latter is effected by placing the metal in lumps in an iron crucible,
fixed over a gas-burner, and which is so arranged that a constant stream
of coal-gas blows into its upper portion. The molten metal is then stirred
up with an iron rod, and may be obtained in either the granulated or ingot
form.— See the Chemical News , October 3rd.

Forms of Pyrites used on the Tyne in the Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid.—
Such is substantially the title of a paper read by Mr. J. Pattinson, before
the British Association, at its Newcastle meeting. Up to 1856, the only
supplies of this mineral were derived from local sources, from Cornwall
and from Ireland; but since that period supplies have been obtained from
Norway, Sweden, Tuscany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Westphalia.
The quantity of pyrites consumed in this single locality is enormous,
amounting as it does to seventy thousand tons per annum, or, in a monetary
aspect, to an expenditure of £105,000. The subjoined table indicates the
respective value in sulphur of each form : —

Form of Pyrites. Per-centage of Sulphur*

1. From Huelva in Spain, and Algarve in Portugal 49*30

2. From the Rocheux mine, Theux, near Spa 45*0l

3. Westphalian * 45*60

4. Norwegian, from the Island of Hitteren 46*50

5. Irish, from the Wicklow mines 44*20

6. Coal brasses, from the Walker colliery 38*10

Minerals and Salts of Coal Pits * — According to the researches of Messrs*
Clapham and Daglisb, the minerals found in coalpits are not given in

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analyses, generally. They found the following substances in the localities
referred to, but they admit that some of them were found in isolated
masses : — Carbonate of iron, carbonate of lime, sulphide of lead, sulphide
of copper, sulphide of iron, and sulphide of nickel embedded in carbonate
of lime ; also arsenic, sulphate of baryta, and hatchetine.

Chemical Composition of Cast Iron . — Herr Rammelsberg has communicated
his views on this question to the Academy of Sciences in Berlin. After
alluding to the observations of Karsten, he goes on to say : “I have recently
analysed the iron of Miisen, and found it to contain 5*8 per cent, of com-
bined carbon ; and also graphite, which presented itself in lumps. Having
dissolved some in hydrochloric acid, I found a marked residue, which,
after being heated frequently in fresh acid, and washed, was treated
with potash in a platinum dish. There was a rapid evolution of hydrogen,
whilst the silicon was converted into silica. This disengagement of
hydrogen was accompanied by the characteristic odour of the oily
carbide compounds. The alkaline liquid having been separated by fil-
tration, the filtrates seemed disturbed, as I suppose from the presence of
titanic acid. The residuary graphite was washed in ether and alcohol,
and afterwards carefully dried, and presented the aspect of pure graphite.”
. . . . “ It is quite correct to say that specular iron is a combination

of iron and carbon. But Karsten’s idea, that it was the form which
contained the largest proportion of carbon, is without foundation. Specular
iron may contain very variable quantities of carbon, without having its
external characters altered. It might be presupposed that other electro-
negative bodies might take the place of carbon in specular iron, and
especially silicium, but analysis goes to prove the contrary. Those which
contain most carbon, contain also most silicium.” Herr Rammelsberg
endeavoured to determine the chemical formula of the crystals of grey
cast iron but evidently, in such a case, much must be hypothetical. — See
L’lnstitut , November 4th, 1863.

MICROSCOPY.

[In accordance with their true and recognised relations, it has been
deemed expedient to distribute those portions of the Quarterly Retrospect
embraced by the above term, among the three sections : Botany, Zoology,
and Medical Science. For the convenience of readers, however, the titles
of those papers which relate to the so-called Microscopic Science are here
subjoined : — ]

Zoological Section —

Reproductive Phenomena of Amoebae.

Two Species of Entomostraca new to Britain.

Nervous System of Mollusks.

Development of Bothriocephalus latus.

Influence of Infusoria over the Process of Germination.

Botanical Section —

Leaf-cells of Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes.

Anatomy of the Cytinese.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

275

Vascular System in Plants.

Observations on Rapliides.

Literature of Rapliides.

Medical Sciences —

Bacteria in the Blood of Persons labouring under Typhoid Fever.

The Structure of Cartilage.

Structure of the Kidney.

A new compressiorium of the reversible kind has been devised by Mr.
Slack and Messrs Smith and Beck, and manufactured by the latter. It
is, in principle, simply an aquatic box, which by means of a screw can
have the two surfaces of glass approximated without their undergoing any
rotation. One of its advantages, and certainly no mean one, is that the
glasses can be removed, so that the observer can employ either thick
pieces for compressing large objects under a low power, or conversely thin
plates for higher objectives. It is a decided improvement on the instrument
suggested by Professor De Quatrefages.

MINERALOGY.

Presence of Titanium in Pig Iron. — The small red cubical crystals
which are found in the hearths of old blast-furnaces were supposed by
Wollaston to be titanium, but were afterwards shown by Wohler to be a
compound of nitride and cyanide of titanium. The subject has been
taken up for investigation by Mr. Edward Riley, F.CbS., who finds that
titanium is abundant in iron, and that as it is, according to' his researches,
also found in clay, its presence in the former is most probably due to the
employment of the clay-iron ore. Hitherto titanium held a very low
place in the published analyses of iron, and it was supposed that its most
abundant sources were rutile, anatasse, iserine, ilmenite, and some other
minerals. In two analyses of Norwegian ore, Mr. Riley found 36‘88 and
40-80 per cent, of titanic acid present. In Belfast iron ore dried at 280°
Fahr. he found as much as three per cent of this mineral. He believes
that titanium exercises some beneficial influence in the manufacture
of iron and steel, and that in this respect it is analogous to manganese, the
exact nature of whose action is unknown. He supposes that titanium,
from its affinity for carbon and nitrogen, acts as a carrier of cyanogen
to the steel.

Glucinum and its Compounds. — Perhaps the most exhaustive memoir that
has appeared for a considerable period of time, is that by Professor Joy, in
the American Journal of Science and Art (xxxvi.). The history of the
discovery of this mineral is first given, and then follows a list of all the
minerals in which it has been found, together with the names of the
chemists who recorded its discovery, and those of the journals in which
these observations were published. Glucinum is found in the following
minerals : — Alexandrite, alvite, aqua-marine, beryl, chrysoberyl, cymo-
phane, Davidsonite, emerald, enclasse, gadolinite, goshenite, helvine,
leucophane, melinophane, plienacite, smaragd, and tyrite. There are
twelve different methods by which glucina may be separated. (1) By

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passing chlorine gas over a calcined mixture of beryl, oil, and lampblack.
(2) By treating beryl with concentrated hydrofluoric acid and sulphuric
acid. (3) By digesting seven parts of beryl and thirteen parts of fluor-
spar in eighteen parts of concentrated sulphuric acid. (4) By fusing
beryl with three parts of fluoride of potassium, and digesting in sulphuric
acid. (5) By fusing beryl with fluoride of ammonia and digesting
in sulphuric acid. (6) By digesting fifty parts of beryl in thirty parts of
sulphuric acid, and fusing with one hundred parts of ferrocyanide of
potassium, and seventy parts of chloride of sodium. (7) By fusing beryl
with fluor-spar. (8) By fusing beryl with binoxide of manganese.
(9) By fusing beryl with three parts of carbonate of potassa and two of
carbonate of soda. (10) By fusing beryl with half its weight of caustic
lime. (11) By fusing beryl with litharge. (12) By fusing beryl with
two parts of carbonate of potash.

NicJcel and Cobalt in Ironstone . — As an instance of the very general
distribution of rare minerals, Mr. Pattinson’s remarks on this matter are
interesting. In a series of analyses of the Cleveland ironstone and ores, he
found that both nickel and cobalt are present in the following pro-
portions : — In a pound of ironstone there are 0*72 grains of nickel,
and 042 of a grain of cobalt. Pig-iron contains 0*027 of nickel, and
0*004 of cobalt, per cent. In malleable iron there are 0*022 of nickel and
0*003 of cobalt. Although the admixture of nickel with iron is said to
improve the quality of the latter, the proportions here present are evidently
too small to influence the nature of the metal.

Characters of Schreibersite. — In a memoir read before the French
Academy, on the 16th of November, M. Faye described the character
of this mineral, and showed how he produced an artificial compound
having most of its properties. Schreibersite is a mineral found in meteoric
stones, and presents itself in the form of small scales or yellow fragments,
with a metallic lustre like magnetic pyrites, with which it is often
confounded. It does not present the slightest trace of crystallization.
It is attracted powerfully by the magnet, and then acquires a per-
manent polarity; it is unaffected by hydrochloric acid. According to
Professor Smith, of the United States, its atomic formula is Nia Fe4 P.
It is to it alone that the phosphorus of meteorites is due. The method
adopted for its reproduction artificially by Mr. Faye wras as follows : —
Fixed quantities of oxide of nickel and sesquioxide of iron were mixed
with silica, phosphate of soda, and carbon reduced. The mixture, con-
tained in a charcoal crucible enclosed in an earthen one, was brought to a
white heat. In a portion of the resulting mass was found a quantity of
yellow particles, with a bright metallic lustre, strongly attracted by the
magnet, and quite unaffected by either hot or cold hydrochloric acid ; in
fact, the resulting substance possessed all the characters of Schreibersite.

PHOTOGRAPHY.

“ The Watt Photographs .” — For some months past a mysterious
story has been afoot that certain pictures — in one case resembling

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

277

in every respect ordinary Daguerreotypes, and in another paper photo-
graphs, or positive prints — had been discovered in the library of
the late Matthew Boulton, at Soho, Birmingham, a room that had
not been opened for fifty years consequently leading to the startling
conclusion, that the discovery of producing and fixing pictures by
photographic agency must date from a much earlier period than is
ordinarily assigned to it in the history of photography, and that priority
of that discovery is attributable to Englishmen instead of French savans.
In the month of November, 1862, Mr. Smith, of the Patent Museum,
South Kensington, having occasion to visit Birmingham, discovered in the
counting-house of Boulton’s factory the paper and metal pictures ; and as
these were alleged, by persons on the spot, to have been produced by
James Watt, he collected the following particulars regarding these inte-
resting and mysterious relics : — The paper pictures, from ample docu-
mentary evidence connected with them, prove to be the result of a process
discovered by a Mr. Francis Egerton, who was in the employ of Boulton.
These are of large size, and on paper bearing the name of “ Whatman,”
proved by the water-mark to be about one hundred years old. The
pictures are numerous, and, without exception, copies of paintings, mostly
from the works of Angelica Kauffman and Benjamin West, but reversed ,
some of the figures being left-handed ; -were apparently produced in mono-
chrome, and afterwards coloured by a person named Barney, of Wolver-
hampton, who coloured for the Boulton firm before Watt became a partner ;
were sold at a very low price, considering their size — viz., about 7s. 6d.
per copy, as proved by existing invoices ; and while there is nothing to
prove that they have been produced by photographic agency, there is
nothing, on the other hand, to militate against such a conclusion, with
the exception that an analytical chemist can discover no trace of silver in
the sample first assayed ; but then, other salts are subject to the influence
of light. But one thing is certain : they could not have been produced by
aid of a camera, as no lens of that day could have rendered subjects of
their size with such freedom from distortion. These paper pictures were
produced in 1780, and each subject is evidently from the same cliche.
With regard to the pictures on the metal plates, they were found packed
between two pieces of Quebec yellow pine ; and by a label attached to one,
its subject is stated to be that of Matthew Boulton’s house at Soho, before
the alterations in 1791 ; and an old man of the name of Townshend, who
died some years since at the age of ninety-two, is stated to have declared
to Mr. Price, the agent of the Boulton family, that he had actually seen
the picture taken, at the same time giving the names of persons who were
present on the occasion. Mr. Shadbolt has examined these microscopically,
and he states his conviction that the images in each have been formed by
means of a lens, probably a quartz spectacle lens, and sensitive chemicals,
and that they are, in the strictest sense of the term, photographs of the
original object portrayed, and not reproductions from drawings, as in the

* This part of the statement, we are informed, has been contradicted by
One of the Boulton family*

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previous instance ; and from this gentleman’s experience in matters
photographic and microscopic, we may regard it as authoritative. Then
we have the statement of Mr. Price, that at the time of the removal
from the old house a camera was discovered, which was afterwards lent
by him to a local schoolmaster who gave his attention to the modern
branches of photography, and this person produced some good pictures
by its aid, and expressed great satisfaction with the lens of the instru-
ment. This camera, however, is not now forthcoming.

Next we have accounts of a society — “ The Lunar Society,” that met
at Boulton’s house (i every full-moon night ” — that included as members
such men as Samuel Galton, of Birmingham ; Matthew Boulton, of Soho ;
James Watt, of Soho ; Captain Keir, Mr. Edgeworth, Dr. Withering, Dr.
Rooke, Dr. Priestley, Dr. Parr, Dr. Davison, Mr. Day, Sir W. Herschel,
Sir Joseph Banks, Dr. Solander, Dr. Aveling, Dr. Small, Benjamin Frank-
lin, Dr. Black, Mr. Roebuck, Dr. Johnson of Lichfield, Mr. Wedgwood;
—who gave great attention to these pictures, stayed very late at night,
and, according to old Townshend’s version, were in the habit of “ putting
their heads in a hag,” an operation not unknown to peripatetic photo-
graphers of the present day who give themselves to dry-plate processes,
but more probably pointing to the cloth cloak that descended from the
ceiling in old-fashioned camera-obscura rooms wherein the lens was fitted
above the roof, used for the purpose of excluding extraneous light, and
probably used by the society for the purpose of making drawings of the
moon or other astronomical diagrams or observations. As the elder
Wedgwood was a member of this society, it is quite natural that he
should have given his sons information as to their proceedings, which led
to the investigations of Davy and Wedgwood at a later period, hut with
the curious result that they could not “ fix ” the images they produced by
means of silver salts, while the subjects of the present investigation show
that if they were photographically produced, a fixing method^ had been
discovered at an earlier date : if so, why was this important discovery
lost to the world when old members of the Lunar Society were in
existence ?

That the process, whatever its nature, was one of great importance, may
be gleaned from the fact, vouched for by an existing document, that Sir W.
Beechy, an artist of considerable standing, petitioned the members of the
Lunar Society to discontinue their researches and not to divulge the secret
of the process by which these paper pictures were produced, as he feared
that if it became generally known the artists would be ruined. Could
mere facsimiles, hand-produced by aid of a camera-obscura, give cause
for alarm to such a sensible man as Sir W. Beechy? At any rate,
Government is supposed to have exerted its influence to suspend this
branch of Messrs. Boulton and Watts’s trade, as in a letter addressed by
Boulton to Lord Dartmouth (then Lord Chamberlain), he declines the
offer of a pension for the person that held the secret, and states that the
scheme would probably die out more quickly from the memory of Egerton
if the idea of a pension was not broached to him.

This is the position of affairs of <c the Watt photographs” mystery; and
at the next meeting of the London Photographic Society an attempt will

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

279

be made to settle the question as to whether the discovery of photography
is to date from 1780 or 1791, with an exchange of laurels from the head of
France to that of Britannia ; or whether the discovery is only “ a mare’s
nest;” — we incline to the latter opinion.

The Question as to the Invention of the Triplet Lens. — Mr. Sutton has
on several occasions since the appearance of the Jury Report on
the Photographic Department of the late Exhibition, questioned Mr.
Dallmeyer’s claim as the inventor of the unsymmetrical triplet lens,
stating that the idea had been taken from hi3 own “ symmetrical ” de-
scribed some years since ; but lately he has gone a step further, and proves,
by a photo-lithographic copy of a letter addressed to the late Andrew Ross,
bearing date November 13th, 1858, that he likewise suggested the proper
construction of an unsymmetrical triplet, that Mr. Dallmeyer had access
to this communication, adopted his idea, but has modified his suggestions
“ for the worst.” Mr. Dallmeyer retorts that he is no way indebted
to Mr. Sutton, but that they are mutually indebted to Mr. Roth well
for the idea of a triplet ; and that he (Mr. Dallmeyer) was the first to
produce a lens of this construction, a lens admitted by practical photogra-
phers to be a valuable addition to their apparatus — a claim that cannot be
denied ; while it remains for Mr. Sutton to prove that the triplet lens, as
arranged by him, is superior to the one already before the public ; for, in
all these cases, “ the proof of the pudding lies in the eating,” and atrial of
the two modifications under parallel conditions will be the only way in
which it can be satisfactorily determined.

Photography in its application to the Microscope again seems to be
claiming the attention it deserves after a lull of some ten years. In the
last number of this Review a description was given of a “ Patent ” micro-
graphic camera, invented by a Mr. Eden ; but a letter appeared in the
Chemical News and the British Journal of Photography, from Mr. Highley
the optician, pointing out the practical shortcomings of this “ patent ”
arrangement, and describing the construction of the apparatus he employs

for securing negatives of microscopic objects for his educational photo-
graphs for the magic-lantern. He points out the necessity of using a
camera with a free range of adjustment from 12 to 30 inches, instead

280

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of a rigid body, as in Eden’s; and employing a “mount” for the
lens, stage, mirror, &c., that allows of the following adjustment : namely,
the lens being brought nearer to or further from the stage, according
as it may be of long or short focus ; fine adjustment for the object,
with the means of registering the difference between the chemical and
visual foci for each lens, or object , according to the medium in which it may
be mounted ; gymbal adjustments on the stage, in case the object should
lie obliquely instead of parallel to the objective ; a secondary stage for the
condenser and polarizer, and a plane mirror or achromatic prism with
universal motions for the illumination of the object, as shown in the
annexed diagram. With high powers, the allowance for the difference of
the two foci is best effected by means of the micrometer head adjustment ;
with low powers, the object-glasses themselves should be corrected. By
reversing the arrangement of parts, micro-photographs may be taken
by the same instrument.

In connection wth the question of a National Portrait Gallery, it has
been suggested that M. Joubert’s “ burnt-in ” photographs on glass might
be made available ; or positive transparencies on glass, sealed up between
two plates of glass, should be employed, as being the most indestructible
form of photograph, the negatives from which they would be produced
being likewise sealed up between glass and kept in a place of special
safety. Photographers are not yet agreed as to the best material for the
substratum for the collodion film for dry plates. Mr. Glover advocates a
weak solution of india-rubber in benzole, while Mr. Taylor declares for a
very dilute solution of albumen, which is the medium recommended by
Mr. Barnes in one of the earliest works on the dry processes.

Professor Emerson Reynolds calls attention to the value of the arnmo-
niacal dichloride of copper for the precipitation of silver salts from waste
solution.

Several physicists are again giving attention to the construction of actino-
meters that can be made practically available ; the most promising of the
arrangements being that suggested by Professor Roscoe of Manchester.

The British Journal of Photography , one of the oldest of the periodicals
devoted to the science, which has hitherto appeared fortnightly, announces
that in future it will be published weekly, and that its publishing depart-
ment will be removed from Liverpool to London.

PHYSICS.

Defective Spectroscopes. — In a communication to the American Journal
of Sciences (XXXIV.), Mr. Rutherford describes the spectroscopes now
employed by Donati, Secchi, and Professor Airey, in their observations
of stellar spectra, and points out objections to each form. Donati uses a
large burning-glass, fifteen inches aperture, with a focal distance of sixty-
two inches, not achromatised, and mounted equatorially. The cone of light
passes through a fine slit before reaching the focal point ; after crossing
at the focus, it traverses a cylindrical lens ; thence, after being rendered
parallel by an achromatic lens, it falls upon a flint-glass prism of 61°;
emerging from this, it is received by a small achromatic objective, and is

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

281

observed with an eye-piece magnifying twelve times, in whose focus is
placed a bar moveable by a micrometer screw. Mr. Rutherford believes
that the following defects exist in this apparatus : — 1st. Absence of achro-
matism in the great condenser, on account of which only a small portion
of the spectrum can be examined at a time. 2nd. Too much power in the
observing telescope. 3rd. The uncertainty of bringing the micrometer
bar and lines into contact, there being no illumination. 4th. The want
of a flame-line in the field of view, to insure the detection of slight dis-
placements of the spectrum. Professor Airey’s instrument is objected to,
on the score that the lines are only rendered visible by the existence of
aberrations, which prevent fine definition. Secchi’s spectroscope is a far
more perfect one than either of the two former. The light of the great
Roman equatorial passes through a slit at the focal point, then traverses a
cylindrical lens, is next rendered parallel by another lens, and finally falls
upon the prism, the latter is composed of four flint-glass prisms of 90°,
cemented to five crown-glass ones of the same angle. The only objection
to this form is the great thickness of the glass in the prisms, the con-
sequent absorption of light, and the increased danger of heterogeneity of
material. The author terminates his interesting paper by attributing the
shortening of the spectrum, seen by Mr. Glaisher at a height of four and a
half miles, to the absence of light, and also to the monochromatic nature
of the blue sky, which at that altitude held but little vapour capable of
reflecting white light.

Sound produced by Electricity.— Professor Thomson has recently observed
a very interesting and peculiar phenomenon in connection with the dis-
charge of a condenser through a galvanometer coil. In experimenting on
the electrostatic capacities of some specimens of insulated wire intended
for submarine telegraphic cables, he had occasion to discharge through a
galvanometer coil a condenser consisting of two parallel plates of metal,
separated by a space of air] of about *007 inch across, and charged to a
difference of potentials equal to that of about 800 Daniell’s elements. At
the moment of each discharge a sharp and slightly prolonged sound was
observed, which seemed to come from the interior of the case containing
the condenser. It was at first thought that it resulted from the passage
of a spark across the air-space of the condenser ; but this wTas found not
to be the case. Several other experiments were conducted with a view to
ascertain whether a spark had been produced within the condenser,
but all showed that no such development occurred. Hence the observer
concludes that a plate of air emits a sound on being suddenly subjected to
electric force , or on experiencing a sudden discharge of electric force through it.
— Chemical News , October 24th.

Necessary Conditions of Molecular Motion. — The conditions under which
the phenomena of molecular movements manifest themselves are various,
and may be thus classified : — 1st. In the solution of substances for crystal-
lization or dialysis. 2nd. When the substance is melted, as in the pro-
cess for purifying lead and antimony. 3rd. When the substance is subject
to mechanical violence, as in the conversion of fibrous malleable iron into
the brittle and crystalline variety by means of concussions. 4th. During
chemical action. But few instances of this class have been yet recorded.

282

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

One of them is the concentration of copper, by burning the poor copper
pyrites, in which process, after partial roasting, the outer rind of the ore
is almost free from copper, whilst the centre of the lump contains a kernel
composed of sulphur, which contains all the copper lost by the roasted
envelope, often to the extent of 42 per cent. Another instance is that seen
in the manufacture of white lead by the Dutch process. In the latter,
during the formation of the several successive strata, it is found that ( a ) the
impurities present themselves more abundantly in certain layers than in
others ; and (b) also that the remaining uncorroded lead is far inferior in
quality to that first employed. From this it has been concluded that the
molecules have changed places during the process of manufacture. — See
a Paper read by D. Zenner before the British Association at its late Meeting .

Carbon as a Musical Sound-producer . — That bodies whose densities are
similar vibrate similarly appears to be shown in some recent experiments
of Dr. Phipson’s. He found that when a piece of homogeneous wood
charcoal, about a foot long and an inch thick, is suspended by a string
and struck with a hammer, it emits a beautiful musical sound, resembling
that produced by glass under like circumstances. An experiment upon a
bar of aluminium gave the same results. The densities of the three

materials are : —

Glass 2#49

Amorphous carbon 2*50

Aluminium 2*62

The resonance of glass lasts, according to Dr. Phipson, for about five
seconds ; that of aluminium about four seconds ; and that of charcoal from
one and a half to two seconds.

New Method of Measuring the Chemical Action of the Sun’s Rays. — This
has been discovered and recorded by Dr. Phipson. The discovery appears
to have been accidental, and to have resulted from the effect of light upon
a solution of molybdic acid. A bottle containing the latter in an excess of
sulphuric acid was exposed to the sun for about three hours every day, and
became bluish-green during the daytime, and again colourless at night.
The experiment was several times repeated with the same result. There
was no evolution of gas. It appears that during daytime a certain amount
of molybdic acid loses one atom of oxygen, which combines with the water,
and during the night this binoxide of hydrogen gives back its borrowed
atom. Now, a weak solution of permanganate of potash destroys the
greenish colour produced by the action of the sun’s rays ; and hence
nothing can be simpler than the estimation of the actinic power by the
quantity of permanganate required to remove the colour. The variation
of the actinism is represented by curves similar to those of the barometer,
which may possibly be related to them. Dr. Phipson thinks he may be able
to employ the oxalate of peroxide of iron to obtain more rapidly the same
results as those achieved with molybdic acid. — . Vide a Paper read before
the British Association at Newcastle-on-Tyne.

The Absorption of Gases by Charcoal. — The following is a summary of
the observations of Dr. Angus Smith, F.R.S.,upon this subject : — 1. Char-
coal absorbs oxygen so as to separate it from common air, or from its
mixtures with hydrogen and nitrogen. 2. It continues the absorption of

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

283

oxygen for about a month. 3. It does not absorb hydrogen, nitrogen, or
carbonic acid for the same period. 4. The quantity absorbed does not
entirely depend on the condensibility of the gases by pressure. 5. At the
temperature of 212° Fahrenheit, the oxygen leaves the carbon as carbonic
acid. 6. Animal charcoal is a more powerful absorbent than wood char-
coal. 7. When nitrogen and hydrogen are absorbed by charcoal, they
diffuse into the atmosphere another gas, with a force sufficient to
depress the mercury three-quarters of an inch. 8. The action of porous
bodies is not indiscriminate, but elective. — Philosophical Magazine, No. 17 5.

A Substitute for Bisulphide of Carbon Prisms. — In a late number of the
Chemical News , a correspondent, alluding to the newly-discovered mer-
curic-methyl which Dr. Frankland exhibited at one of the meetings of the
Chemical Society, suggests its employment, instead of bisulphide of carbon,
in the preparation of fluid prisms. We think the idea most valuable and
original, and hope, if the thing is possible, to see the suggestion carried out.
Mercuric-methyl has a high refracting index, a density so great that flint
glass will float upon its surface, and withal it is not, like the bisulphide of
carbon, exceedingly volatile.

Spectrum Analysis of Casium. — In the course of the controversy which is
now being carried on between Professor Bunsen on the one hand, and
Messrs. Johnson and Allen on the other, the former states that the method
of separation of csesium from lepidolite employed by the latter, though
successful, could not be used when the percentage of the metal was small.
There is a close correspondence between the results of the analyses of both
German and English chemists ; and although there were some apparent
discrepancies in regard to the lines seen in the spectrum, these have been
now disposed of. Bunsen admits that in one of his plates a few lines were
introduced which were never seen during experiment, and whose existence
was owing to a mistake of the printer. In other respects, there is a close
accordance between the spectra of both chemists, as will be seen by the
subjacent table : —

The relation thus expressed between the two series is maintained down to
the number 1G0 of the American scale, which corresponds to 110 of
Bunsen’s. Professor Bunsen also states that he and Kirchoff have observed
the greater number of the supposed new lines of Messrs. Allen and Johnson,
but owing to the difficulty of reproducing them they were omitted. It is
not easy to distribute the shades of many of the weaker colours in chromo-
lithographic printing. See the Philosophical Magazine for October ; and the
American Journal of Science and Art , vol. xxxv. p. 94.

Properties of Electro-deposited Antimony. — Mr. George Gore still
continues his experiments on this subject. In a valuable contribution
to the Chemical News for November 28, he states that when a
current of electricity is passed from two or three elements of Smee’s

Readings on scale of lines seen
by Johnson and Allen.

Same as seen by Bunsen,

75

80

82*5

... 25
... 30
... 32*5

284

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

or Grove’s battery through a solution of terchloride of antimony,
by means of an anode of antimony and a cathode of platinum, a bright
black amorphous metallic coating is deposited on the cathode ; and if
this deposit be scratched by a needle, it rises several hundred degrees
(Fahrenheit) in temperature, sometimes with an explosion, and gives off a
small quantity of acid fumes. The same phenomenon, but in a lesser
degree, occurs when either the teriodide or terbromide is employed. But
if the fluoride be used, the metallic coating is devoid of the heating pro-
perty. The inner and outer strata of the deposit are in unequal degrees of
cohesion. The cause of this very peculiar phenomenon still requires some
explanation.

Laplace's Correction for the Velocity of Sound . — The accuracy of
Laplace’s discovery is supposed by Professor Tyndall to have been rather
the result of accident than of proper and legitimate calculation. It
depends upon a peculiarity of air unproved in his day, but which distin-
guishes it from most other elastic fluids. From Professor Tyndall’s own
researches he is led to conclude that air possesses no sensible power of
absorption or radiation. But though air is neutral, other gases, as
ammonia and olefiant gas, are capable of absorbing from eighty to ninety
per cent, of the entire radiation from an obscure source, and they possess
a proportionate absorptive power. From this and other conditions it
follows that, “ from the moment any molecule receives by the act of con-
densation an accession to its calorific motion, that motion is in part
wasted upon the aether in which the molecule swings.” Hence the con-
clusion, that the correction of Laplace is no longer applicable under such
circumstances. The writer remarks, “ Apart from other important
consequences, it would certainly be an interesting and beautiful result, if,
from a thing apparently so remote as the velocity of sound, we could deduce,
d priori , the fact which has been now illustrated by nearly five years’
experiments — that the elementary gases have no sensible radiative power,
while the compound gases are endowed with this power in very different
degrees.” — philosophical Magazine ,” November.

Change of Form in heated Wrought Iron when cooled in Water. — In a
paper read before the Royal Society, by Lieut.-Colonel Clerk, some very
interesting results are recorded. It is found that when an iron cylinder heated
red-hot is plunged to half its depth in cold water, a peculiar contraction or
constriction takes place, according to the thickness of the metal, either at
the water level, or at a point about an inch above it. The constriction is sup-
posed to result from the opposite motions of two portions of the cylinder,
the under part tending to pull in the upper, and the upper to pull out the
under. The under, contracting more powerfully, has the advantage, and
so, pulling in a part of the upper, produces the peculiar contraction.

ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.

Reproductive Phenomena of Amoebae. — In reply to Mr. Carter’s last
communication on this subject we have another paper from Dr. Wallich.
He expresses his opinion that the so-called reproductive bodies described

SCIENTIFIC SUMMAKY.

285

by the former naturalist are most probably the same structure as those
which he himself has termed sarcoblasts. There is no true circulation of
vital fluid in the Amoebae ; the appearance of one is deceptive, and results
from mechanical causes entirely. The current of particles tends toward
the more prominent pseudopods, and is caused by the rush of protoplasm
in that direction ; the backward stream is only apparent, the deception
being produced by the rushing of the outward particles past others which
are at rest ; thus producing the same phenomena as that seen when a rail-
way carriage is moving at a great speed. “ One series of young individuals
seems to be derived from the conversion of each free sarcoblast into a
polymorphous body, devoid of cilia or flagelliform organ, but provided
from the first with a nucleus or contractile vesicle and a rudimentary
villous organ.” Dr. Wallich supposes that another set of new beings
may “ result from a similar conversion of each encapsuled nucleus into a
polymorphous body, in which, besides the organs just enumerated, may
frequently be seen two or three spherical masses undistinguishable from
the sarcoblasts.” A third and more abundant brood may be “ derived
from each separate granule of -the naked mulberry-like nuclear masses.”
He thinks it would be idle to attempt an explanation of these various
processes in the present condition of our knowledge, as the information
required for their solution is far greater than any we now possess.
He records having himself observed the transition from the naked to the
testaceous condition in specimens of free Amoebae preserved in glass cells.
And, on the authority of Mr. Tomkins, he states that the animal of
Arcella vulgaris has been seen to evacuate its shell and move away in the
nude condition. — Annals of Natural History , No. LXXI.

Habits of the Caddis-Worm. — Dr. J. E. Gray communicated to the
Zoological Society some time since, a letter which he received from Miss
E. M. Smee in regard to the habits of these peculiar larvae. The observa-
tions of this lady are of exceeding interest. Having been surprised that
such creatures as water-maggots could build houses for their own recep-
tion, she determined to discover the extent of their capabilities in this
direction. In order to do so, she removed some specimens from their cases,
and supplied them with materials other than those found in their habitats ;
and the result of her experiment was, that with some materials the caddis-
worms had made very perfect cases, but with others they were unsuccessful.
When they were supplied with particles of an irregular outline, such as
glass, amethyst, cairngorm, onyx, agate, coral, coralline, marble, shells,
jet, brass-shavings, gold-leaf, silver-leaf, &c., they formed perfect cases.
But when rounded substances, such as glass beads, were the only ones
they could obtain, the larvae were unable to proceed with their architec-
tural pursuits. She tried them with pine-wood, but the oily substance it
contained stupefied the worms and suspended their operations. They also
failed when varnished or painted particles were used. They do not affect
all metals indiscriminately ; seeming to have a distaste for lead, copper,
and tin. The greatest number of cases which any larva would make was
five ; the last always being brittle and badly cemented. A material which
was rejected by one was distasteful to all. The more rapid the current of
water in which they live, the greater the density of the particles employed

VOL. III. NO. X. U

286

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

in constructing the case, as though the little beings understood the neces-
sity for resisting the force of the water. They are somewhat fastidious,
and prefer uncooked meat. When turned out of their cases, air-bubbles
appear on the surface of their bodies, which in a rapid current cause them
to float to the surface, when they die from exhaustion. “ The caddises
are so excessively pugnacious, that I am always obliged to keep each in a
separate vessel. If that precaution were not taken, instead of peaceably
constructing their houses, a fierce warfare would be carried on between
them which would result in the death of the weakest party.”

The Emigration of the Lemming . — The cause of the emigration of this
animal ( Lemmus norvegicus ) has for a long while engaged the attention of
naturalists. M. Guy on, in a note in the Comptes Rendus for the 7th of
September, examines the following reasons of the periodic departures of
the lemming : — ■

1 . A severe winter , which the animal has a presentiment of. — If this were
the case, the emigration would always take place on the approach of winter,
but this year it took place in spring.

2. The want or scarcity of food in the localities where it lives. — The
lemming feeds on lichens and mosses, and these were as abundant this year
as on former occasions.

3. The increased multiplication of the animal in certain years. — This
appears to be the most plausible reason, and may be adopted, till some
better explanation turns up. The lemming always pursues a right line in
its migrations, and neither rivers nor mountains oppose its progress. It
swims across the rivers, and either ascends or goes around the mountains.
But, doubtless, on this point there has been a good deal of the marvellous
mixed up with the accurate. Most probably the direction depends upon
the fall of the ground, so that the lemmings descend like water, from the
mountains. In their descent, they meet at the base, and travel in serried
columns through the country, their lines diminishing as they march
onwards, owring to the influence of disease, and to the fact that various
animals prey upon them. M. Guyon succeeded in bringing two (for the
first time) to France.

Two Species of Entomostracce new to Britain. — The Rev. A. M. Norman
has lately added two new species of the genus Acantholeberis to our fauna.
These animals have been already described by Leydig, Fischer, Muller,
&c., but were never before observed in this country. A. curvirostris is
remarkable for the peculiar uprightness of its head, and A. sordida for its
deep blood-red colour. Both have been minutely described and figured
in an important paper in the Proceedings of the Tyneside Naturalists ’ Club,
vol. vi. part i.

Fleas Inhabiting the Sea-shore. — These insects have been observed in
large numbers at the sea-side by Mr. T. J. Bold. It is surprising that
animals which are so peculiarly suctorial and parasitic should be discovered
in such localities, but Mr. Bold assures us that he has seen them “ dancing
about quite merrily between Hartley and Whitly, and at other times
they have been noticed quite frequently from South Shields to Marsden.”
— Ibid.

The Ailanthus Silk-moth. — The Ailanthus glandulosa , or false varnish-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

287

tree, was originally introduced into Canada in 1771, and now grows there
successfully, being a hardy plant, and being indifferent as to the soil upon
which it grows. Its present feature of interest is in respect to its being
the food of the silkworm, which is called after it. This moth was intro-
duced into Europe in 1856, and has been extensively cultivated in France,
where it has been even more remunerative than the Bombyx Mori , to which
it is related. The Bombyx Cyrthia , for such is its name, is the subject of
a long memoir, written by Dr. Robert Patterson of the Botanical Society
of Canada. In the spring of 1862 he received about fifty eggs from Europe,
and these hatched out so perfectly that there were at least thirty-five
worms developed, which produced as many large and fine cocoons. Having
watched the processes of transformation and development, Dr. Patterson
thus describes them : — The eggs are about the size of a large pin’s head, of
a yellow colour, large at both ends, and depressed in the middle, and give
rise to caterpillars in from ten to fifteen days. When the worm first comes
from the egg it is very small, and of a blackish colour. After casting its
first skin it becomes more of a yellow colour, and during the third period it
becomes white, owing to a peculiar mealy secretion. After the fourth
moult the body assumes a greenish tint, the feet and last joint being of a
golden yellow. In the fifth stage the emerald green becomes more intense,
and the ends of the tubercles are of a marine blue. It now eats greedily,
and grows rapidly till it reaches a length of from 2f to 3 inches ; it then
becomes torpid, and, attaching a few leaves together at the extremity of a
branch, it begins its cocoon. The silk is of a yellowish-brown colour, and
is not unlike the appearance of a decayed leaf. The perfect insect has
been long familiar to naturalists, in collections of Chinese butterflies. The
expansion of its wings is about five inches ; head and antennae greyish-
brown ; thorax and abdomen, lighter grey ; wings, ash colour and grey,
with a broad transverse band of lighter colour intervening. The males
seek the females only under the influence of sunshine. — Canadian Natu-
ralist, August, 1863.

The Habits of Pagurus and Adamsia — Whilst dredging last July,
Lieutenant-Colonel Wortley obtained two associated specimens of these
animals, P. Prideauxii and A. palliata , and having brought them to
London, and imprisoned them in a glass jar, proceeded to watch their
habits. His results are very curious. After about three weeks the
Pagurus lost its shyness, and commenced to eat. First it eat one piece
of meat, which was dropped into the aquarium ; then “ it ate a second
piece ; but on my giving it a third, I was agreeably surprised to see.it
seize the piece with its large claw, and insert it into the expectant mouth

of the Adamsia.” “ Whenever I feed him, I see him feed

the Adamsia as soon as he has had enough himself.” “ On two occasions
of my dropping meat into the vase, at a time when the Pagurus was not
hungry, he inserted his claw within the tentacles of the Adamsia, and
jerked it backwards and forwards ; but the tentacles not closing, he
appeared to decide that Adamsia, also, was not hungry, and rejected
the meat altogether.” We certainly think that Colonel Wortley has
established the fact that a strong affection exists between the two animals,
although we can hardly coincide with tlie following supposition. “ He

U 2

288

POPULAE SCIENCE EEYIEW.

(Pagurus) may be luxurious enough to appreciate the soft cushion which
Adamsia makes for his back and chest, or he may find that the white
worm-like tentacles of Adamsia act as a sort of bait to small creatures,
who thus bring themselves incautiously within the reach of Pagurus’
sharp claws.”— Annals of Natural History for November.

Beetles new to Science. — Of Coleoptera, with long antennae, found in the
Amazons, Mr. Bates establishes two genera : Lepturges, of which he
describes twenty-three new species ; and Paraecus, whose species are not
yet all described.

The Skeleton of the Sirenia. — From a comparative examination of the
skeletons of these animals, and those of Pachydermata and Cetacea,
Professor Brandt concludes that the Sirenia are not to be regarded as
Cetacea, but rather as Pachydermata whose habitat is a purely aquatic one.
The Halitheria, which are now fossil, may be considered, from the fact
that they present traces of hind limbs, as the highest forms of Sirenia ;
whilst the Rhy tinee, from the absence of teeth in the adult, must be looked
on as the lowest. Hence the Dugongs, from the possession of intermediate
characters, form a connecting link between the Halitherige and Rhytinae ;
the Manatees being collateral types related to such existing pachyderms
as the tapirs. — Memoir read before the French Academy , September
7th, 1863.

Gases in the Swim-bladder of Fish . — In concluding his memoir on this
question, M. Moreau observes : — The air in the swim-bladder of fishes
presents a composition which in regard to the quantity of oxygen maj^ vary
under the following conditions : — (1) The oxygen is diminished or entirely
disappears during asphyxia and other morbid states. (2) In the fish
whose swim-bladder is open, as in that in which the organ is closed, the
air is renewed without being borrowed from the atmosphere, and the
rapidity of this renewal is in proportion to the activity of the fish.
(3) The air newly formed presents a far greater proportion of oxygen than
the ordinary air of the swimming fish, and a greater proportion of oxygen
than is dissolved in the surrounding water. The experiments were
performed in Paris on the fresh-water fish, and the others in Bretagne,
Concarneau, in M. Coste’s aquaria, which were placed at M. Moreau’s
disposal. — Comptes Rendus , November 16th, 1863.

The Classification of Gastropodous Mollusks receives the consideration of
M. Gouriet who is dissatisfied with all existing schemes. In his opinion
it is unjust to base any system of arrangement upon characters of the
generative organs, as by doing so animals otherwise closely related are
entirely separated. He seems to think characters of the respiratory apparatus
afford a better clue to the true affinities of these beings. Nevertheless he
objects to such expressions, now in use, as tubulibranchy which seems to
imply that the gills are tubular and to those of cyclobranch and
infer obranch , which he considers confusing. He says, the gills can only
occupy three positions. Either (1) they are external ; or (2) enclosed in a
special cavity, and generally covered by a shell ; or (3) they are simply
protected by an incomplete covering. He suggests the adoption of the
following terms to designate the three natural groups : — Exobranchia,
Stegibrancliia, and Endobranchia. The animals included under the first

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

289

may be farther classified according as the gills are seated on one or
other point of the surface, thus : — Epibranchia, when these organs are on
the back (Doris, etc.) ; Peribranchia, when they are placed round the mantle
(Glaucus, etc.); Hypobranehia (same as the old Inferobranchia) ; and
Pleurobranchia, when they are placed upon the side, as in Pleurobranchus,
etc. The order Stegibranchia is also divided into four sections : first the
Stegibranchia proper (corresponding to Cuvier’s Tectobranchia minus , the
Pleurobranchs, and to the Scutibranchs of the same author) ; second, the
Cyclobranchia, which are the same as Cuvier’s ; third, the Heteropod
Stegibranchia, which, like Carinaria, have the heart and branchiae beneath a
minute shell ; and finally the Ianthinae, which have the gills semi-detached.
The order Endobranchia corresponds pretty closely to the Pectinibranchs
and Tubulibranchs, and is subdivided into two groups, the Turbinge and
Tubulae. Each of the preceding orders is so related to the other, that in a
schematic arrangement it would be impossible to group them in one line,
or even in two or three parallel lines ; they should be placed one at each
angle of a triangular figure. Were it not for Blainville’s suggestion that
some gastropods should rank among the Acephala, the term Cephalidia
might advantageously be substituted for that of Gastropoda. — Comptes
Rendus , vol. lvii. No. xx.

Vitality of Rotifers. — It has been frequently stated in works on physio-
logy and comparative anatomy that wheel animalcules may be completely
desiccated and allowed to remain in that condition for an immense period
of time, at the end of which, if a few drops of water be thrown upon
them, they are immediately resuscitated. M. Pouchet says, that if this be
true, then the school of physiologists which believes that life is the result
of the operation of the physico-chemical forces will have much to support
it. He, however, denies that such vitality is preserved by rotifers, and
supports his denial by the following experiments : — A series of tubes, two
decimetres long and eight millimetres in diameter, and capable of containing
ten cubic decimetres of air, wrere taken. After being dried, there were intro-
duced into each tube two decigrammes of earth which had been taken from
a dry spot and exposed for ten days to the sun, and for ten other days to
the vacuum of a receiver. Each tube contained about fifty rotifers and
eight tardigrades which were alive at the period of commencing the experi-
ment. The tubes were now closed with the blow-pipe, and in some of
them there had been placed small particles of lime, which were separated
from the earth by a fold of cotton. One series of tubes, which had been
exposed during the six hottest months of the year to the noonday sun, was
when broken found to contain not a single living animalcule ; and, to judge
from the shrivelled condition, the creatures must have been dead for some
considerable time. A second series, containing lime, gave the same results
in four months’ time. Finally, when the animalcules were dried by more
powerful physico-chemical agencies, the same result followed. M. Pouchet
observes : “ Observation and experiment unite in proving that the hypo-
thesis of resurrections which wras equally the wonder and amusement
of the physiologists of the last century, should not find serious advocates
in ours : like the doctrine of enclosure of germs, it has had its day.” —
Comptes Rendus , November 20.

290

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Spontaneous Generation . — The controversy between Messrs. Pasteur and
Pouchet on this question is not yet extinct, for we find a communication
from the former in the Comptes Rendus for the 2nd of November, in reply
to a statement of the latter made before the Academy in September. M.
Pasteur clearly shows that Pouchet’s experiments are only his own on a
very much smaller, and less precise scale ; and that in reality they bear
out M. Pasteur’s views, that there is no such thing as spontaneous
generation.

Homologies of the Facial Bones of Fishes. — M. H. Holland makes the
following statements in regard to these homologies, to which he has been
led by a study of the embryogeny of fish: — (1) The five facial pieces,
comprised in the temporo-maxillary wing, tympanic wing, the mandibular
arch, form two distinct groups, which correspond to two primordial elements
of the cartilaginous skeleton, visible during the entire period of embryonic
life. (2) The group proceeding from the anterior cartilage is composed
of the tympanic and jugal bones of Cuvier, and constitutes the true arch of
the inferior maxilla, to which it is articulated by its lower portion. The
posterior group is composed of the three bones called by Cuvier the tem-
poral\ symplectic , and pre-opercular bones, and constitutes the hyoidean arch.
(3) The mandibular arch, despite its division, constitutes a whole, which is
homologous with the tympanic wing, and consequently with the os quadra-
turn of birds. (4) Similarly the hyoidean arch, notwithstanding its being
compound, represents a single osteologic element, which corresponds to the
styloid bone of mammalia. Its great development being due to the com-
plex part it has to play in connection with the function of respiration ;
it supports a hyoidean cornu of a compound character, and is connected
with the opercular wing, and assists in the breathing movements. (5) The
true temporal of fishes does not belong, as Cuvier supposed, to the hyoidean
arch ; — the portion which he termed mastoidean is really the squamosal por-
tion of the temporal.

TheNervous System of MollusJcs. — M. Salvatore Trinchese lately presented
a memoir to the French Academy upon the Anatomy of the Nervous Centres
in Gastropods. We hardly think his assertions will be confirmed by future
observations. He states (1) that the nervous system of mollusks is com-
posed of the same elements as that of vertebrate animals. (2) That the
medullary nuclei found in the sesophagean collar differ from one another
in structure. (3) That in those types in which the centralisation of the
medullary nuclei is most marked, the fusion only occurs in half the pedal
ganglion, those in the upper and lower regions being quite distinct. (4)
That the nervous element penetrates the substance of the smooth muscular
fibres of these animals, and terminates in points.

The Anatomy of the Brain of Lepidosiren annectens. — There are few
points in the range of comparative anatomy of more interest, or which have
given rise to more controversy, than the anatomy of the Lepidosiren, of which
two species have been carefully examined, L. annectens and L. paradoxa.
Among those who have heretofore devoted themselves to this subject, we
may mention the names of Owen, Bischoff, and Hyrlt. It is by some
naturalists regarded as a fish, by others as a reptile, and certainly its cha-
racters partake so much of those of both classes that it is difficult to say on

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

291

which side it should be ranked. M. Serres is now completing a splendid
memoir on the anatomy of L. annectens , and in that portion of it relating
to the brain, he writes : “ Like L.paradoxa , L . annectens has only four
pair of cerebral nerves, which are from before backwards, — the olfactory,
optic, trigeminal, and vagus. The common motores ocali) like those of the
fourth and sixth pairs, are entirely absent.” . . . “The brain is more like
that of reptiles than that of fishes, especially of perennibranchiate reptiles,
as Professor Owen very properly remarks. It approaches reptiles in the
slenderness of its cerebellum, although the size of the restiform bodies, con-
trasted with the smallness of this organ, reminds one of these bodies in the
cartilaginous fishes, of the Ray family in particular. It is related to
reptiles by the depression of the optic lobe, and by the unity of this organ,
which is always double and well developed in the osseous and cartilaginous
fishes ; by the large size of its pineal gland, which is so small in fishes,
that in many families it is impossible to prove its existence at all ; and.
finally, by the form of the cerebral lobes, which are entirely reptilian.
Secondly, the brain of L. annectens , as to its base and sides, presents a cord
more piscine than reptilian. The ichthyologic character is partly produced
by the anterior pyramidal bodies which intersect each other below and
divide above, so as to constitute a rudimentary trapezoid body like that of
mammalia ; it is also produced by the size of the olivary bodies, which is
almost that of those in rays and electric fishes. Thirdly, the size of the
hypophysis of L. annectens is like that of one of the rays ; and even the
isolation of the optic tubercles is another fact of the same kind. As
regards the fusion and isolation of the optic masses, and as regards the
grey pedicle which attaches them to the cerebral lobes, these are exceptional
facts which remain to be confirmed by the examination of the adult brain
of this animal. — Comptes Rendus , September 28th, 1863.

The Roman Imperial and the Crested Eagle. - Mr. J. Hogg, M.A., F.R.S.,
&c., read a very interesting paper, detailing the character of both forms,
before the British Association at Newcastle-on-Tyne. The eagle of the
“ king of gods and men ” is not crested ; but Mr. Hogg’s investigations
into the ruins of Baalbec and Palmyra have led him to think that the
eagle represented on many of the sculptures of these cities was copied
from the Aquila Desmursii .— Vide Hogg’s work on Baalbec, and Trans-
actions of Zoological Society , Vol. iv. part lxxvii.

The Development of Bothriocephalus latus. — Early in 1862, and also in
July last, an opportunity of studying the development of this parasite
presented itself to M. Bertolus, who since communicated his observations
to the French Academy. The ovum of the Bothriocephalus which attacks
man, requires a six or eight months’ stay in running water before being
developed into a larva. When it bursts from the ovisac, this egg consists
of an ovoid, tough shell, of a dark brown colour, and filled with a
granular amorphous material. At the end of a month or so, this vitellus
is divided into cells. Then a germinal spot appears, and eventually the
vitellus separates from the shell, leaving a space between the two. After
about six months, the germinal area has involved the whole yolk ; now
the booklets make their appearance in the embryo, which begins to show
contractile movements. Finally, at the end of seven or eight months, a

292

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

small operculum is detached from the lesser end of the shell, and the embryo
makes its escape. It is composed of concentric spheres. The external
envelope is made up of large prismatic cells, arranged side by side, and
covered with myriads of beautiful delicate cilia. By the aid of this
apparatus the embryo swims rapidly in the water, but its movements
soon slacken, and after a time they cease, and the coating of cilia disap-
pears. Within this external envelope the second sphere moves freely, and
armed at one of its poles with three pairs of hooklets just like those which
are seen in the embryo of tsenia. The outer membrane is formed of very
pale nucleated cells. The strong resemblance of this embryo, on the one
hand to tHe digenetic Trematrodes, and on the other to the Cysticerci, leads
M. Bertolus to believe that, in order to complete its development, this young
larva must encyst itself in the parenchyma of some aquatic animal. He is
inclined to think that there is a decided relationship between the Ligula
nodosa of Rudolphi, which lives in the conjunctiva of the salmon, and
the Bothriocephalus latus , whose development he has described. — Comptes
Rendus, September 21, 1863.

Influence of Infusoria (?) over the Process of Germination in Plants. —
M. Lemaire has discovered, that if a few beans be placed on a moist sponge,
numerous Bacteria make their appearance before germination begins,
and are followed in about forty-eight hours by monads and vibriones. The
same occurs if a soil be employed which has been previously brought to
a red heat. If a small quantity of phenic acid, which prevents the de-
velopment of Infusoria, be used, then germination will not take place.

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293

ON PRINTING TELEGRAPHS.

BY R. S. CULLEY.

MUCH misconception prevails as to tlie progress tele-
graphy has made in England. It is very generally
imagined that we are very much behind the age, and that the
needle instrument introduced by Mr. Cooke is the only tele-
graph used in this country, because it is the only one the
public has an opportunity of seeing. There cannot be a
greater mistake. The needle telegraph has kept its place at
our railway stations, and will keep it, perhaps, for many years,
because of its simplicity, freedom from derangement, and the
ease with which it can be repaired when out of order ; but it
is not used on any one important “ commercial” circuit, even
of the company which purchased the patent right.

The signals of the needle instrument, as is well known, are
transient, and must be read off one by one as they appear,
without a moment's hesitation. Though at the completion of
each word the reader has the opportunity of saying that it is
not understood, and obtaining a repetition, it may easily be
imagined that if he give many “ not understands," as they
are called, the sender, who considers, naturally enough, nothing
but stupidity prevents his signals being read, loses patience,
and either reports the receiver as incompetent, or quarrels
with him. Hence a tendency to guessing. These electrical
quarrels are, in fact, one of the greatest sources of delay to
messages, and damage to the apparatus, upon which the com-
batants vent their wrath as they cannot reach one another.
Again, when an error arises, as it cannot be proved which
clerk is to blame, it being impossible to determine whether
the word has been wrongly signalled or read off inaccurately,
neither the sender nor the receiver considers himself respon-
sible. The feeling of responsibility is, however, amply secured
by the printing system, for the signals are permanently
recorded on the paper ribbon, or slip," as it is technically
called, and it is only necessary to refer to it to decide where
the blame lies. The tendency to quarrel and talk is kept
under control, for the slip, containing the whole conversation
or quarrel, can be brought forward as evidence if required.
And as the printed signals, if not perfectly legible at the first
glance, can be studied, fewer errors occur in reading off. A
VOL. III. — NO. XI. X

294

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

far greater amount of accuracy is therefore attained by the
recording apparatus than by any system of transient signals.

The simplest printing telegraph is that of Professor Morse,
of America. The alphabet consists of dots and dashes, and
though purely conventional, is easily learned. It has been
altered from time to time, in order that accidental irregu-
larities in the distance between the dots and dashes shall not
transform one important word into another; and although
England at one time possessed an alphabet better suited to
our own language, it was found necessary, on the establish-
ment of direct communication with continental cities, to fall
in with the system in use abroad, and the same characters are
now adopted throughout the whole of the old world.

THE MORSE ALPHABET.

The Morse apparatus has been adopted almost univer-
sally. It is sufficiently simple to be worked by any lad of
ordinary capacity, does not readily get out of order, and if
deranged, can be set right with perfect ease. The dots and
dashes, or e( marks,- ” as they are called, are embossed by a
steel tracer or pencil upon a ribbon of paper, drawn forward
at a uniform speed by clock-work ; or written in colour upon
the paper, by its being raised into contact with a small thin
disk, covered with a peculiar ink. The latter arrangement
produces more legible characters and requires less mechanical
force than the embossing process, but needs a little more
care.

The arrangement by which the electric current causes the
pencil to touch and recede from the paper, so as to mark it,
is this : —

In the upper roller of the pair by which the paper ribbon
is carried forward is a groove; under the rollers is a lever,
pivoted at its centre, carrying at one end the pencil or style,
and at the other end a piece of iron, which forms the armature
of an electro-magnet or horseshoe-shaped bar of iron, covered

ON PRINTING TELEGRAPHS.

295

with insulated wire. This armature lies close to the electro-
magnet, but does not touch it, being held back by a spring.

When a current is caused to pass through the wire, the
horseshoe becomes a magnet, attracts the armature over-
coming the resistance of the spring, and presses the pencil
upon the paper ; but as soon as the current ceases, the iron
loses its magnetism and the pencil is withdrawn by the
spring. We give a diagram showing the principle : —

The duration of the current and length of the mark depend
upon the s ending- Zsey. This key, in its simplest form, is
merely a lever attached to the line-wire, or wire fixed from
one station to the other, which, when at rest connects the
wire with the earth, but when pressed places a battery
between it and the earth, so as to send a current to the distant
station.

The clerk taps out his message by means of his key, pro-
ducing a succession of currents which act on the electro-magnet
at the distant station, attracting its armature, and embossing
or printing corresponding dashes and dots upon the paper
band as it passes forward between the rollers, recording every
movement of the sending-key.

On the conclusion of the message, if it is legible, the
number of words is counted ; and if correct, the receiver
acknowledges it by sending back certain signals serving to

identify it, followed by — RT right ” (in America,

OK, “ all correct”). This acknowledgment appears on the
slip of the sending station; and in case the message should
not reach the person for whom it was intended, can be pro-
duced as a proof that it was duly transmitted.

The paper ribbon is cut in long lengths, and each roll is
kept entire and unbroken, so that every signal may be regis-
tered in its proper place. If this were not done, the record

x 2

296

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

would be useless as a check, for dishonest clerks would be
tempted to manufacture acknowledgments, and to destroy
messages which they had neglected to deliver. The unbroken
record prevents any such alterations and erasures.

Much has been said of the superiority of the American
telegraphists, because they are able to read the Morse signals
by the sound made by the electro magnet ; and of the great
saving in expense effected by dispensing with the paper slip.
By this plan the advantage of the record is at once lost, and
the Morse apparatus used as an acoustic instrument is not, in
our opinion, either as rapid, or as accurate as the bell telegraph
of the Messrs. Bright. It is not from a want of ability to
read by sound that the system does not prevail here, for the
English staff converse among themselves by almost inaudible
taps upon the table, which has the merit of being a much
more correct and rapid method than that adopted by the
spiritual intelligences who favour us with their conversation,
but who do not seem to have made much progress in this
particular department of knowledge. Our clerks also talk by
a slight movement of the forefinger or thumb, imperceptible
to the uninitiated, which would be a wonderful assistance
to clairvoyants and conjurers. Indeed, Robert Houdin em-
ployed some such means in his celebrated second sight ”
experiments.

The Americans, however, because of a peculiarity in their
system, can beat us in one particular. When in the open
country, they can read what is passing on a wire by cutting
it and putting its two ends into the mouth, and can
reply by tapping them together, without any apparatus
whatsoever.

In the earlier days of telegraphy, it was impossible to
obtain legible signals at distances over two hundred miles,
even in dry weather, and during fog or rain it was necessary
to transmit messages by reading them off at an intermediate
station, and forwarding them on afresh ; so that a message
from London to Glasgow would be repeated twice or even four
times. Owing to the great improvements in insulation, dis-
tances of four hundred miles now offer no obstacle to direct
communication in all weathers.

The Morse instrument lias the great advantage of being
capable of acting as an automaton clerk; and transmitting its
own signals. The movement of the lever which carries the
armature and style is limited by two screws, between which it
oscillates with considerable force. It can, therefore, be easily
made to perform the function of a key, so as to forward the
message a second stage, where the same process may be again
repeated.

ON PRINTING TELEGRAPHS.

297

By means of a series of sucli relays, direct communication is
effected between London, Berlin, and St. Petersburg, or even
more distant cities.

We have described the Morse apparatus in its simplest
form, for the limits of our paper do not permit enlarging upon
the contrivances for neutralizing the effects of induction in
submarine cables, for cutting off the leakage from neigh-
bouring wires, and for increasing the sensibility of the appa-
ratus. It is, however, necessary to mention one point. As
it is not possible to transmit to a great distance a current
sufficiently strong to produce a powerful mechanical action,
the current received from the sending* station is made to act
on a relay connected with as powerful a battery as may be
required to set in motion the Morse apparatus.

The speed attained by the Morse system varies with the
nature of the despatch. Intelligence or news can be worked
off much faster than private messages. A first-rate clerk has
been known to send between sixty and seventy Stock Exchange
messages per hour, but thirty to thirty-four words per minute is
excellent work, the receiver, of course, writing for himself.

Owing to the facility afforded by the system of transmission
by relay, or as it is called, translation, despatches can be sent
to stations, on separate and distinct wires, at the same time
by a single clerk. The debates in Parliament, Re uteris tele-
grams, and the other items of telegraphic news which appear
in the country papers, are now frequently manifolded in this
manner — to six, seven, or even more stations at the same time,
and it would be quite possible, if it were desirable to do it,
that a single clerk in London should supply every large town
in the kingdom, at one and the same moment.

The printing telegraph first used here, and still partially
employed, is, however, not that of Professor Morse, but an
invention of Bain, of Edinburgh, founded on the chemical effects
of electricity. When a current is caused to pass through the solu-
tion of a chemical compound, it decomposes it, or separates its
component parts, in many cases producing an alteration in
colour, either by causing the wire which conveys the current to
be dissolved, or by separating a coloured solid substance from a
solution previously colourless. Thus if a current be made to
pass through paper soaked in iodide of potassium, iodine, a
solid substance, will be separated at the wire connected to the
copper of the battery, and a brown stain will be produced.
Soak a sheet of printing-paper in a mixture of equal parts of
saturated solutions of the ferrocyanide of potassium and nitrate
of ammonia, diluted with an equal volume of water ; blot it off
and lay it smoothly on a plate of zinc or sheet of tinfoil, con-
nected with the ?inc of a Daniell battery of twenty cells. By

298

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

means of a flexible copper wire, connect a steel pen fixed in a
wooden bolder with tbe copper of the battery. The pen will
now be found capable of writing in blue upon the prepared
paper ; but if either wire be disconnected from the battery so
as to cause the current to cease, the pen will cease to mark,
the power to do so being entirely dependent upon the passage
of the current.

In Bain's telegraph the ribbon of moistened paper is carried
forward by clockwork over a metallic roller, thus : —

A pencil of iron wire rests upon the paper, and is so connected
that the positive current flows from the iron to the paper,
producing signs similar to those of Morse.

The apparatus we have described is so simple and so easy to
manage, that it will always be extensively used; nor is the
peculiar alphabet as great a disadvantage as it may seem, for
there is no real difficulty in acquiring’ a knowledge of it.

The instruments which print in ordinary letters by the pres-
sure of inked type are extremely complex, and though, from the
fact that each letter is formed by the simple pressure of a key
like that of a pianoforte, it might seem they are easily worked,
the fact is, so much skill is required to manage them and
to print at a sufficiently high speed, that they are at present
practically unremunerative. The most important instrument
of this class is that of Professor Hughes, of New York. The
apparatus at all the stations is precisely alike, and consists of
a keyboard like that of a pianoforte, containing as many keys
as there are letters, figures, and marks of punctuation to be
printed. Connected with the keys is a set of movable pins
arranged vertically in a circular frame, through the centre of
which passes an upright shaft, kept constantly revolving by
clockwork. Hinged upon this shaft is an horizontal arm,
which sweeps round continually a little above the circle of

ON PEINTING TELEGEAPIIS.

299

pins. If one of these pins he raised by pressing the key with
which it is connected, the arm will touch it and slide oyer it in
passing*, establishing contact with a battery. A wheel on the
edge of which the letters are engraved, is driven by the clock-
work which keeps the horizontal arm in motion, and is so
arranged that whenever the arm passes over the pin corre-
sponding to a given letter on the keyboard, the letter itself
on the type-wheel is opposite the paper. If the speed of the
distant instrument can be so regulated that its type-wheel
shall move in perfect accord with that of the sending station
and if the paper ribbon at both stations be pressed upon the
type at the same instant, the same letter will be printed at
each. The pressure necessary for printing is produced by the
current sent by the contact of the horizontal arm with the
raised pin, which acts upon an electro-magnet and removes a
catch or detent, permitting the wheelwork to raise the paper
so as to touch the type. In order to obtain sufficient speed, it
is necessary that the type-wheel should revolve at least 120
times per minute ; and it will easily be understood that there
is great difficulty in so regulating* the receiving machine that
at this high velocity it shall neither lose nor gain upon the
sender. The adjustment is obtained by means of a vibrating
spring which acts as a pendulum, and small differences in speed
are adjusted before the printing of every letter by the machine
itself.

M. Dujardin is engaged in perfecting a type machine on a
different principle. Want of space compels us to omit the
description of this and other methods of type-printing* equally

Methods of automatic transmission have been invented by
Bain, Allan, Wheatstone, and others.

In Bain's system the characters are punched out from a strip
of paper. The perforated strip passes over a metallic roller
connected to the line-wire, and a spring or brush of wires
fixed to the battery presses on its upper surface, so that as
the paper moves forward the wire touches the roller through
the perforations, sending a succession of currents which re-
produce the characters at the distant station. A variation in
the speed of the two machines simply alters the lengths of the
signs, without in any way confusing the message. This system
was worked some ten years since between Liverpool and Man-
chester, at a speed of about seventy words per minute ; but
owing to the defective insulation of the wires at that period,
and the difficulty of punching the paper by the imperfect appa-
ratus employed, it was discontinued.

Professor Wheatstone has now perfected an automatic tele-
graph founded upon the same principle, which bids fail* to

300

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

be very successful, and admits of a vastly increased speed.
In Professor Wheatstone's system the dashes of the Morse
alphabet are represented by dots placed on the right hand of
the paper ribbon, and the dots by similar marks on its left.
Another line in the centre of the ribbon serves to form the
spaces between the letters and words. This arrangement
permits the perforating apparatus to be very much simplified,
and to be manipulated with comparative ease. The apparatus
by means of which the punched slip transmits the message
is on the principle of the Jacquard loom. In it three wires
are placed in a position precisely similar to that of the punches
in the perforating apparatus. They he on the edge of an
eccentric wheel, which at each revolution presses them against
the paper ribbon. If a hole be opposite the punch, it passes
through it, touching the metal wheel and putting the battery
in action. One wire sends positive, the other negative cur-
rents, which act upon separate electro-magnets in the receiving-
instrument, so as to reproduce the signs in ink.

It is obvious that a similar effect can be obtained by etching
the Morse characters upon a plate of metal covered with
varnish, or by writing them in insulating ink upon a piece of
metallic foil or silvered paper ; and by chemical decomposition,
Roman letters, or even a sufficiently bold handwriting-, may
be copied from the foil upon a sheet of prepared paper, by
ruling a series of lines across the two with metallic pencils,
connected with each other and with a battery.

When the sending pencil is drawn across that part of the
foil on which nothing is written, and which therefore conducts
uniformly, the receiving pencil will produce a straight line
upon the moistened paper ; but when the sending- pencil moves
across the writing , the current will be cut off by the insulating
ink, producing corresponding breaks in the line formed by the
other pencil ; if the two pencils are so connected as to be
capable of being moved uniformly over their respective sheets,
and if a series of parallel lines be drawn closely together by
them, they will form a copy of the original in a species of line
engraving or etching.

Many years since, Mr. Bakewell invented a copying appa-
ratus founded upon this principle, by which fac- similes of
handwriting were transmitted from London to Brighton as
early as 1848.

The so-called Pantelegraph of the Abbe Caselli is really
worthy the name it bears, for it transmits Chinese or Persian
characters as readily as our ordinary letters, and reproduces a
correspondent's autograph, or even his portrait if required.
The despatch is written in ordinary ink upon silvered paper,
and by a peculiar arrangement of batteries the copy is pro-
duced in blue upon a white ground.

ON HUNTING TELEGRAPHS.

•301

The practical difficulties of the system, simple as it may
have seemed from the foregoing* description, are very great.
It is of course necessary that the markers at the two stations
shall move with perfect uniformity, as if connected firmly
together. The slightest difference in the speed of the two
would be fatal. The colour is apt to run on the damp paper,
and as the current on a long wire does not cease at the moment
at which battery contact is broken, the marks as received are
apt to be rather longer than those of the original, so as to
merge one into the other.

The apparatus at all the stations is precisely similar. A
massive iron frame carries a pendulum about six feet long
having a very heavy iron bob, whose movements are controlled
by electro-magnets, which attract it at each oscillation and
hold it fast until the current which magnetizes them is cut off
by a regulator clock, the going of which can be controlled with
the greatest nicety without stopping it. The large pendulum,
whose beats exactly correspond with those of the regulator,
gives motion to two curved tables, one on each side, on which
the prepared paper or original despatch is laid. The metal
tracers or pencils are fixed above these tables in such a manner
that they pass over the paper as it moves, ruling a line at each
vibration of the pendulum. The pencils are connected with
screws which move them the ninetieth of an inch between each
vibration, so as to rule a series of lines a ninetieth of an inch
apart. They cannot be arranged so as to pass over the paper
in both directions without tearing it, and are therefore lifted
alternately. To avoid loss of time from this arrangement,
two despatches are transmitted at the same time, one while
the pendulum swings to the right, the other while it moves to
the left. The clocks at the two stations are kept in perfect
accord by altering their rate during the progress of the trans-
mission, in such a manner that a straight line which is ruled
at the edge of the original despatch shall be reproduced on
the receiving-paper. In the plate we give fac-simdes of mes-
sages in Persian and in English, which were transmitted from
Liverpool to London.

In CasehTs system the synchronism of the two sets of
apparatus in correspondence must be perfect ; and as only the
ninetieth of an inch of the despatch is traced by one move-
ment of the pencil, its transmission is not very rapid. Only
one line-wire is required.

In the telegraph now working between Liverpool and Man-
chester, Bonelli uses a sufficient number of pencils, arranged
in form of a comb, to copy the whole despatch by a single
movement, and thus not only saves time, but, as perfect
synchronism is unnecessary, avoids the necessity for elaborate
arrangements for regulating the speed of the apparatus.

302

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

On the other hand, each separate pencil must have a distinct
wire, perfectly insulated from the rest, so as to reproduce only
that part of the drawing, or message, over which it passes.
Thus, originally, when it was proposed to produce elaborate
copies like those of Caselli, an enormous number of wires were
needed. This idea was subsequently abandoned, and the
number of wires reduced to eleven, and lastly, to five. The
message is set up in ordinary type, and is placed upon a truck
moving upon a miniature railway. The chemically-prepared
paper is laid upon a metal plate, carried on a similar truck.
Over the truck carrying the type ( t ) is fixed a species of comb
the width of the letters, having five teeth, arranged in such a
manner that when the carriage moves, the comb shall pass
over the face of the type so as to touch their raised surfaces ;
and over the truck at the distant station is a similar comb,
with the same number of teeth, resting lightly on the prepared
paper (iv) . Each tooth of the combs is connected by a separate
and insulated line- wire, so that when any one of the teeth of
the sending-comb touches a part of the type, a current is
transmitted, which produces a corresponding mark upon the
prepared paper, as is shown by the diagram.

The trucks are started at the same moment by the release
of detents connected with electro-magnets, and are drawn
forward by weights.

When all the five line-wires are in good order the system
admits of marvellous rapidity, and the fac-simile given in the
plate will show that legible despatches may be forwarded even
when they are partially deranged.

As the blue mark of Bain and Caselli is produced by the •
dissolving away of the iron pencil, the ferrocyanide solution is
not applicable to Bonellfis system, for it is necessary the teeth
of the comb should wear equally; the teeth are therefore
formed of platinum, and the solution is nitrate of manganese,
which does not act upon the platinum.

The inventors of the automatic systems consider that
messages may be prepared by the sender himself, at his own
office, and handed to the Telegraph Company simply for

ON PRINTING TELEGRAPHS.

303

transmission. It may, perhaps, be doubted whether merchants
or their clerks will give sufficient attention to the preparation
of the punched ribbon, or write so distinctly on the Caselli
tablets as to produce a good working copy ; so that it may
always be necessary that the staff of the telegraph should
prepare the messages for transmission. Still the advantages
of the system are obvious. The capacity of each wire is
vastly increased; and as there need be no limit to the
number of clerks employed in the preparation of and the
translation of the despatches, the rapidity of transmission
may be urged to the furthest. Machinery preserves its supe-
riority to hand labour even in telegraphing.

There is a limit to this rapidity. Induction lengthens the
duration of each current, tending to connect the separate
signals into a continuous line; and a contact of very short
duration, unless aided by a powerful battery, is insufficient to
charge the wire. These effects are not very apparent in short
distances, but increase rapidly with the length of the line.
It seems to us that, although greater accuracy may be
attained, the telegraph service will not be as regular even
as at present, if fast automatic systems come into use.
The wires will always be subject to derangement ; and sup-
posing the work done by each wire is doubled, the stoppage
of a single wire will delay double the number of messages.

For the public, the safest apparatus is that which employs
one wire only, and which works at a low speed. The
cheapening of rates, however, will not permit the profitable
use of such a system, and certainty must be sacrificed to price.

The value of a particular system must be estimated, not
by the beauty or the singularity of its effects, but by pounds,
shillings, and pence ; that is, its cost, the expense of working
and maintenance, its speed, correctness, and freedom from
derangement. Every system has its own special causes of
error and its own special faults, which are not always those
which unprofessional persons would suspect, although, per-
haps, on no subject do the ignorant give opinions more freely
or with more confidence.

So much attention is now given to telegraphy, and so much
talent is devoted to its improvement, that it is difficult to
imagine what the next ten years may produce. The appre-
hension of Tawell was in its day a wonder ; but how inefficient
the power of giving a verbal description of the murderer,
compared with that of forwarding his very portrait !

.304

HERRINGS AND HERRING-FISHING.

BY THE EDITOR.

“ In 1861 there were in Scotland, and that part of England over which the
Fishery Board have jurisdiction, 42,571 fishermen and boys engaged in the
herring fishery. The total take of the year would give about 20,000 herrings
for each of these persons, or near upon 900,000,000 for the whole.”*

THIS is our text, and we trust it is one calculated to impress
tlie reader witli some idea of the vast importance of the
subject upon which we write. The mere fact that in these
countries alone, there are nearly as many hands employed in
({ shooting ” nets, as the king of Denmark pays for the some-
what less profitable labour of shooting men, is in this century
of civilization, of more than ordinary significance. Assuredly,
it speaks well for British industry, and bears out fully the
remark of Lacepede, that <c le hareng est une de ces productions
dont Pemploi decide de la destinee des empires.” In one
year, and on the shores of one nation, there was a multitude
of these finny representatives of ocean life destroyed exceeding
numerically the entire population of the globe. It is not,
however, by a consideration of the quantity of these beings
captured, that a true estimate of the commercial bearings of
the circumstance can be arrived at. This can alone be reached
by calculating the value in money of the fish thus caught
during a single year. Let us suppose that, as an average, 800
herrings are equivalent to a barrel. Now, this number divided
into 900,000,000 gives us the enormous quotient 1,125,000,
as the total quantity of barrels produced ; but, since a barrel of
herrings may be said to be worth about twenty shillings,
we have here the annual pecuniary produce of a single fishery
amounting to above a million sterling ! This is the fact to
which we would especially direct attention, and which we
apprehend deserves the grave consideration of those statesmen
who are anxious to better the condition of our neighbours on
the other side of the Irish Channel. When “antient writers”
moralized upon the fable of the u Lion and the Mouse,” they
did not believe that so very improbable a contingency as that
alluded to in the story was ever likely to occur. For us, the

* “ Report of the Royal Commission on the operation of the Acts relating
to trawling for Herring on the Coasts of Scotland ” 1863.

305

HERRINGS AND HERRING-FISHING.

herring is the mouse, and the English nation the lion. The
herring fisheries have manned our navies, extended our com-
merce, and prevented the emigration of a population which,
without them, could not have existed. The mouse has played
its part; let not the lion forget the debt of gratitude which he
unquestionably owes.

“ Revenons a nos moutons ; ” we may say of the herring
that its early history is involved in obscurity, a fate which it
shares with many another benefactor to humanity. Mr.
Mitchell,* relying on the authority of Anderson, supposes that
herring* fishing was in existence among the inhabitants of
Scotland as early as the year 836. But inasmuch, as in the
quotation from Anderson the term fish alone is employed, we
are not warranted in assuming that herrings were the class of
fish alluded to. Indeed, the earliest definite record which we
find, warrants us in supposing that Yarmouth was the locality
which historically had the precedence as a herring-station.
Swinden,f in quoting from “ Jeake's Charters of the Cinque
Ports,” observes : —

“ And now by pregnant probabilities, it is my opinion very clear, that
from the landing of Cerdick in anno 495 — now 1124 years past — this sand,
by defluxion of tides, did by little and little lift its head above the waters ;
and so in short time after, sundry fishermen, as well of this kingdom, viz.,
of the Five Ports (being then the principal fishermen of England), as also of
France, Flanders, and the Low Countries, yearly about the feast of S. Michael
the Archangel, resorted thither, where they continued in tents made for the
purpose, by the space of forty days, about the killing, trimming, salting, and
selling of herrings,” &c.

Hence, we perceive that Yarmouth's reputation as a fishing-
station is one which has existed for centuries, although we
cannot with any approach to accuracy say when the world
first became acquainted with the “ Yarmouth bloater.” About
the periods of the eleventh and twelfth centuries we find
frequent mention made of herrings, and Dr, Badhamj informs
us, that, “in 1290, part of the dried fish shipped at Yarmouth,
in the victualling of a vessel to bring the infant Queen of
Scotland from her Norwegian sire, were herrings, and these
of course were cured.” For a further history of the progress
made by, and the obtacles opposed to, the herring-fishery,
from the thirteenth century downwards, we must refer the

* “ The Herring : its Natural History.” By John Mitchell, F.K.S.S.A.,
Ac. 1864. Pp. 130-31.

t “The History and Antiquities of the Ancient Burgh of Great Yar-
mouth.” By Henry Swinden. 1772. P. 15.

I “ Ancient and Modern Fish Tattle.” By the Kev. C. D. Badham, M.D.
1854. Pp. 319-20.

306

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

reader to Mr. Mitchell* s essay, in which much will be found
to interest both fishermen and antiquaries.

The origin of the word herring , like the animal which is so
named, is to some extent a mystery. McNicoll* gives us
the two derivations, heer and hairang ; the former being an
old Saxon word, signifying a host, the latter an obsolete
French word, of a similar meaning. Both derivations are
most probably conjectural, but are nevertheless apt enough,
as they refer to the enormous shoals in which these fish almost
invariably appear.

Zoologically, the herring belongs to the great family Clupidse,
which embraces the kindred species pilchard, sprat, and
whitebait. Of these, the pilchard is the only one, from its size,
liable to be mistaken for the herring ; it is, however, a much
thicker fish, and its scales are fewer and of a larger size
than those of the latter. In a natural history point of view,
the herring has not been fairly treated. Till within recent
years, when naturalists began to abandon romance-writing, and
betook themselves to well-ascertained facts, the descriptions
of the herring* s habits were simply a combination resulting
from the operation of imaginative minds on erroneously
recorded evidence. Pennant, j* and — strange to say— a later
writer, J inform us, that the herring is a migratory animal,
which at certain seasons comes in shoals from the Northern
Ocean. Furthermore, that these armies are well organized
and disciplined, and are not only controlled by properly
appointed governors, but are led on by a vanguard selected
from among the more dauntless members of the corps. That
in this fashion the host traverses thousands of miles of ocean,
till it meets its first check in the Shetland isles, “ which
divide it into two parts ; one wing takes to the east, the other
to the west of Great Britain, and fill every bay and creek with
their numbers ; others pass on towards Yarmouth, the great
and ancient mart of herrings; they then pass through the
British Channel, and after that, in a manner disappear.** It is
at first a little difficult to conceive how men can put forward
such wild speculations in the absolute garb of matters of fact.
Indeed, in reading Pennant*s graphic description one is hardly
led to doubt the veracity of the writer, so positive is the
character of the statements made ; yet nothing could be further
from the real condition of things than Pennant* s narrative,

* “ Dictionary of Natural History Terms, with their Derivations,” &c. By
D. M‘Nicoll, M.D. 1863. P. 211. — Consult also, “Encyclopaedia Metro-
politana,” vol. xx.

t “ British Zoology.” 1776. Yol. iii.

X “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” article Ichthyology.

HERRINGS AND HERRING-FISHING.

307

which, in point of fact, is from beginning to end unsupported
by the faintest tittle of genuine evidence. The herring can
hardly be said to be a nomadic animal, and though we may
find the species abundantly distributed over a very wide area,
it does not follow that the individual which is to-day observed
upon the coast of Norway is that which at a later date is
captured in the neighbourhood of the Shannon. We find
Scotchmen in Van Diemen’s Land and Canada; but that
circumstance would not justify the conclusion that the indi-
vidual discovered in either locality had proceeded to it from
the other. Similarly with the herring, which, as a clever
writer* states, “is a native fish, born and bred along our
shores, which it never leaves for any length of time or space,
although it has its periods of retirement and repose like
other considerate creatures, and is in the habit of sinking for
security, especially after spawning, into the deeper and more
tranquil places of the sea.”

The herring resides for a season in the deep sea, not far
from the coast, and when about to spawn, it approaches the
nearest shore for the deposition of its ova.f The following
are some of the facts in support of this view.

1. Herrings of a certain size constantly frequent the same
locality.

2. Herrings are often captured off the southern coasts long
before they make their appearance on the northern shores.
If they travelled in huge shoals from the arctic circle towards
the equator, the reverse would occur. We should find them
first appearing in the neighbourhood of the Hebrides, whilst
the French coasts would present the latest specimens.

3. Particular fishing-stations are characterized by the quality
of the herrings they produce. The fish caught in these
localities are usually of the same description. Thus, the
herrings got on the east coast of Scotland are of a quality
inferior to those captured on the west. Did the herrings
proceed in a body from the Northern oceans, we should (inas-
much as the more mature they are the better is their flavour)

* “ Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine,” vol. lxxix. p. 522.

I This is the opinion of Mitchell (Joe. cit.) ; Yarrell (u British Fishes,”
vol. ii.) ; and also of Wilson, who in his “ Coasting Voyage round Scotland,”
remarks : “ Another conclusion to which we have come, is that the herring is
not a migratory fish in the proper acceptation of the term, but is merely
subject, like most other species, to its periods of approach and recession to
and from our shores, in accordance with certain natural instincts, connected
•mainly with the important process of spawning and the search for food.
There is no season of the year in which these fish may not be captured along
many portions of our Scottish shores.”— Pp. 201-2.

;

308

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

expect to find those on the southern coast of a finer and
richer quality than those taken further north. This, however,
is not the case, for “ the Yarmouth herrings are inferior in
some respects to those of the north of Scotland.” * * * § It seems
far more reasonable to suppose, that the quality of the herring
is dependent in some measure upon the character of the sea
or ocean in which it resides during the intervals between the
spawning seasons. We are disposed to coincide in the view
expressed by Wilson, t that there must be something in
connection with the form and physical features of the pro-
tecting shores and sea-bed of an ocean, which influences the
quality of these fish. The operation also of currents, of peculiar
forms of vegetation, and of the geographical distribution of
Annulosa and Mollusca, deserves the attention of those who
are desirous of explaining the reason of the superiority which
the fish of one locality possess over those of another. That
it is not to be accounted for by evoking* Pennant's theory is
evident.

4. We have no evidence to prove that shoals of herrings
have been observed in the extreme Northern Ocean. Prom an
examination of the stomachs of the whales of Boreal seas,
it has been found that herrings do not constitute the food
of these monsters of the deep, which, on the contrary, devour
only the molluscan, annulose, and coelenterate creatures, which
exist abundantly in mid- water. It is true that Crantz J has
described a small species of herring, found even north of
Greenland ; but this is a very different animal from our Glujoea
liar eng us. §

5. There have been no reliable statements made to the
effect that the herring shoals have been seen approaching the
Southern from the Northern Ocean.

6. It is a remarkable fact, that those species of whales
whose food consists chiefly of herrings, are found in greatest
numbers upon our own coasts. Now, if these fish were to
be captured in higher latitudes, it is very improbable that

* Mitchell — “ The Herring,” &c.

t “ Coasting Voyage,” p. 199, et scq.

+ Yarrell, vol. ii. p. 184. — “ On the southern coast of Greenland the
herring is a rare fish ; and only a small variety of it, according to Crantz, is
found on the northern shore. This small variety or species was found by Sir
John Franklin on the shore of the Polar basin, on his second journey.”

§ Badham, loc. cit. p. 321. — “ The common herring seems unknown in
Greenland. The Greenlanders’ most common food is the augmarset, or small
herring, near half a foot long, a kind of lodden, called by the Newfound-
landmen capelin : the back is dark-green, the belly silver-white ; like herrings,
they swim into the bays in such quantities, to lodge their spawn upon the
rocks, that the sea looks black, and is ruffled or curled.”

HERRINGS AND HERRING- FISHING. 809

sucli cetaceous species as Balcena musculus would be seen upon
our coasts.

7. In order to bear out Pennant’s hypothesis, it would
be necessary to show that the herrings travelled at certain
seasons towards the North Pole also. For, those which we
find in shoals spawn upon our shores, and not upon the coasts
of Greenland. This being the case, how are the herrings
transported to northern seas ?

8. The authority of the celebrated Valenciennes* is in
opposition to the migration theory.

The foregoing evidence is, in our opinion, sufficiently
conclusive. The herring is not, then, a migratory fish, at least
in Pennant’s acceptation of the term. It is, nevertheless, of
a capricious turn, and occasionally it leaves fishing-grounds
where it has appeared before with the utmost regularity. The
why and wherefore of its departure are not, as yet, understood,
though many conjectures are afloat. The inhabitants of the
Hebrides believed at one time that the fires employed in the
manufacture of kelp drove the herrings away from Long
Island. Others have attributed their disappearance to the
effect produced by the report of fire-arms. Thus it has been
gravely asserted that the cannon-firing at the battle of
Copenhagen drove the herrings from the Baltic. The
ancient Highlanders fancied f that they deserted a coast where
blood had been shed. An amusing anecdote is told by
Badham, J which would seem to show that the Irish herrings
are not devoid of the Celtic character for sensitiveness ; it is
to this effect : — A new clergyman on taking possession of his
living, had been heard openly to declare an intention of tithing
the produce of the sea, at which imprudent notice the herrings
took huff, and never again showed their scales there during
his incumbency. It is the complaint of many of the fishermen
of the present day, that the paddles and screws of steam-
boats cause the herrings to leave their resorts; but this
is clearly disproved by the fact, that in localities where (as on
the Firth of Clyde) hundreds of steamboats ply daily, the
herrings have not abandoned their old grounds. We can only
suppose, in the absence of any more plausible explanation,
that the reason of the herrings’ departure is to be sought in
the absence of certain forms of animal or vegetable life,
necessary to their existence. The herring approaches the
coast only for the purpose of delivering itself of spawn, and
this function is performed twice in every year : first, in spring,
and again in autumn. We do not imply by this that any

* “ Histoire naturelle des Poissons,” Cuvier & Valenciennes, vol. xx.

t Yarrell, loc. cit. p. 180. X “Fish Tattle,” p. 022.

VOL. Ill, — NO. XI.

Y

310

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

individual herring spawns twice in the course of a single year.
It is much more probable that the shoals of spring and
autumn spawners are the produce of two distinct batches,
and that the individuals of each series have reached the age
of twelve months. There is much to lead us to believe
that this period is all that is required by the herring in order
to reach maturity. Hence, those hatched in autumn will
spawn in autumn, and those hatched in spring will select the
early months of the following year for the deposition of their
ova. In approaching the coasts, especially if the weather be
fine, the herrings come almost to the surface of the water,
which is much disturbed and ruffled, and covered by hundreds
of sea-birds, which scream and flutter and dive, as only sea-
birds can, and thus afford to the fisherman a tolerably accurate
indication of the appearance and whereabouts of the shoals.
If, however, the water be rough, the fish subside to a lower
level ; this also occurs at night, save when the moon is shining,
for then the herring comes to the surface. This is why, as
Mr. Mitchell tells us, the fishermen glory in a moonlight night.
Some are inclined to think that the result is due to the effect
of light, and with this object have kept brands and torches
burning at the surface of the water ; but, as the last-named
naturalist observes, “ with no material advantage in so doing.-”
The direction of the wind appears to have considerable
influence over the rapidity of the herring’s journey. When
strong westerly gales prevail, the fishing season commenc'es
first on the west coast, and when the wind is easterly the east
coast has the advantage; a circumstance intelligible enough
when we conceive of the influence of powerful storms over
the ocean currents.

Much has been said in regard to the food of the herring.
One authority contends that it lives on sea caterpillars;
another, that flies constitute its staple article of diet. Ac-
cording to the opinions of the recent Commissioners,* the
herring lives upon small Crustacea of sizes varying from that of
a miscroscopic entomostracan to that of a common shrimp, and
on fish, especially sand-eels. There can be little doubt that the
herring is a far more omnivorous fish than the Commissioners
imagine, and far less fastidious in his tastes. Yarrellf mentions
an instance in which a young bass three inches long was taken
from the stomach of a herring ; and from the statements of
others we are warranted in concluding that the herring will
devour not only its own species and sprats, but also mollusks,
medusae, flies, and the ova and young of other fishes.

Besides the fry or young herring, this fish is found in three

* “Commissioners’ Report,” 1863, p. 28.

f Vol. ii. p. 190.

HERRINGS AND HERRING-FISHING.

311

other conditions. 1. Maties, or fat herring; 2. Fall herring ;
and 3. lean or Shotten herring. The Maties vary in length
from six to ten inches, and are known by the small size of the
milt and roe , and the great quantity of fat which presents itself
in the neighbourhood of the digestive canal. The Fall herring
has the milt and roe completely developed, and occupying
nearly the entire cavity of. the abdomen, the fatty matter
having been absorbed during the development of the repro-
ductive system. Finally, the Lean or Shotten herring’ is that
which has deposited its ova or shed the fluid of the milt, and
which is thus reduced to a state of exhaustion. In this state,
the herring has hardly a particle of fat entering into the con-
stitution of its tissues, which on this account are devoid of
their normal flavour. It may at once be distinguished from
the Maties by inflating the roe, which then assumes the size of
those of the adult or full individual.

The spawning of the herring occurs at the periods before
mentioned. The phenomenon does not differ in any essential
particular from that observed in other fish. The female ap-
proaches the suitable ground, and expels the ova, which are sur-
rounded by an exceedingly glutinous material, by means of
which they become firmly attached to the surrounding objects,
— rocks, stones, &c. Next, the milt fluid is shed upon the mass,
and so fertilization is effected. The ova being, by virtue of
their attachment to the stony sea-bed, preserved from the un-
favourable influence of storms and such-like, gradually undergo
their development into genuine fish. This process is generally
completed in about a fortnight subsequent to the deposition,
and it seems likely that in about ten weeks from the latter
period, they reach a length of three inches.* At the end of
the year they are perfect herrings. Few animals are more
prolific than the herring ; and were it not for the number of
destructive agencies at work, it would be impossible to conceive
of the strange consequences which would follow the reproduction
of this creature. A single specimen weighing half a pound
was found by Mr. Bucklandf to contain 19,840 ova. Dr.
HarmerJ sets the number down as 36,000; but even on the
supposition that the actual quantity is the mean of these two
sets of figures, what an enormous number it gives as the off-
spring in one year of a single individual ! Truly the strata
being now deposited adjacent to our coasts will afford a rich
treat in ichthyologic palaeontology to future geologists. If

* Report of “ Royal Commission,” 1863, p. 27.

f “ Fish-Hatching.” 1863, p. 13.

X “ Philosophical Transactions,” lvii. p. 280.

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

312

Macaulay's New Zealander be at all of a scientific turn of mind,
these herring-bone beds will supply him with an ample field
for speculation !

It has been much debated whether the herring deposits its
spawn upon sandy or stony bottoms. Some say in the latter;
others (and especially those who object to trawling as injurious
to the interests of herring-fisheries) assert that the former
variety of sea-bottom is the one selected. On this point we
have some very valuable evidence. Professor Allman's investi-
gations into the character of the spawning-beds show us that
the sandy bottoms (the only ones accessible to trawlers) never
contain a particle of spawn, and that on the rocky and stony
grounds the ova are deposited in the greatest abundance. He
observes : * “It will be borne in mind that the only locality
where any trace of spawn was met with, was in the neighbour-
hood of the May — on ground, in fact, which, in consequence of
its rockiness, is never frequented by trawlers." Another
naturalist f writing on the subject of the B allant r as spawning-
beds, which are some of the most important in the kingdom,
states : “ We went over it very carefully with an oyster-dredge
during the better part of several days, ever and anon bringing
up to the surface a portion of the natural bed or shingle of
which it was composed, for minute examination. Over large
tracts there was scarcely a stone or a pebble, from the size of
a cracked nut to a cherry-stone, that was not covered and in-
crusted at least over all its upper or exposed surface, with a
coating of eggs, forming a widely- diffused, but by no means
thickened mass of ova, as the sands by the sea-shore innumer-
able." A good deal has been said about the vitality of the
spawn being destroyed by the detachment of the ova. The
vitality is much greater than has been imagined ; for Professor
Allman* states that specimens of ova underwent development
in his aquaria after their removal from the sea-bed ; nay, even
though they had been kept for many hours in a scanty supply
of water before he received them. Few facts in the natural
history of the herring are so pregnant with interest as this one.
We know now, that this valuable fish can be introduced into
waters to which it has been up to the present a comparative
stranger. Is not this a lesson for those who would develop the
Irish herring-fisheries ?

The enemies of the herring are legion, and embrace members
of thethreegreat vertebrate classes, — mammals, birds, and fishes.

* “Report” to the Board of Fisheries, upon the examination of the
spawning-beds of the Firth of Forth.

f “Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine,” 1856, p. 524.

HERRINGS AND HERRING-FISHING.

313

Of the first we have man at the top of the list, no mean
destroyer; and next to him come the porpoises and whales.
The gulls and gannets are the most destructive of the bird
tribe which prey upon these creatures. But of all its foes, its
own relatives are the most formidable. The cod, ling, hake,
coal-fish, conger, and dog-fish devour the adult herrings, whilst
the sea-trout devote themselves to the fry, and various species
of plaice and soles prey upon the ova. It would be impossible
to compute the numbers that are annihilated by these several
voracious members of the piscine class ; and while we wonder
at the wholesale destruction of life which it involves, we cannot
but look with reverence, on the surprising means adopted by
the Great First Cause, to maintain a proper balance between
the numerous and complex organisms that people the aquatic
world.

A word or two on the capture of herrings. The means
used for this purpose in Great Britain are of two kinds. Both
may be looked on as modifications of a common method, —
netting* ; one variety is called the drift net, the other is termed
the seine. The former is simply a plain flat piece of netting,
whose area is to some extent a matter of choice, but whose
meshes should not exceed the square of an inch. To this
weights are attached at one border and buoys or floats at the
opposite one, the latter being connected by ropes, so that the
net (opposing a flat surface to the water and standing in it
vertically) may be submerged to the required depth. This
net is carried out to sea and sunk in the locality in which the
shoals are supposed to exist. After having been in the water
for a certain length of time, the buoys are observed to sink, as
though unable to sustain the net ; this is then hauled in, and
is found full of herrings, which, in endeavouring to force their
way through it, have become entangled in the meshes. The
seine net is of a somewhat similar form, but is employed
differently. It has drag-ropes attached to it, and instead of
being used in the open sea, it is more generally worked along
shore in the following* manner : — One end of the drag-rope
being held on shore, the net is placed in a boat which is
“ pulled” out to some distance, the net being* payed out from
the boat, which, having* described a semicircle, again touches
land ; the second drag-rope being now brought to shore, the
men haul in both ropes (thus converting the net into a sort of
bag which incloses everything between it and the land), till
eventually vast quantities of fish of all kinds are captured.*

* Herrings have also been taken with an artificial fly and with bait
(limpets). Two other methods of capture on the large scale still exist, though
seldom employed, — the cruive and the inclosing net. The former is an appa-

POPULAR SCIENCE! REVIEW.

314

The seining method seems to have created a good deal of
jealousy among the drift-net fishers., and numerous have been
the memorials and petitions presented to Parliament with a
view to the suppression of this trawling system, as it has been
improperly designated. We have carefully examined the evi-
dence on this matter, laid before the late Royal Commission, and
we can see no possibility of arriving at any conclusion other
than that come to by Commissioners Huxley, Playfair, and
Maxwell; viz., that the seining system is a fair and uninjurious
one, and that it should by no means be trammelled by repres-
sive legislation. We are sorry to see that a very eminent
authority holds an opposite opinion; for, in this country at
least, the “ What's in a name ? ” doctrine has very little
weight, and we do not desire to see an honest form of fishing
suppressed, a contingency which might arise were others to set
their faces against it. Let us also say we have a hope, that the
late report will do much to remove the stigma which has so long
been imprinted upon this important branch of our fisheries.

Viewed as an article of food, herrings may be said to be of
four kinds. We have the fresh herring, the salt herring, the
red or smoked herring, and the bloater. These, with the ex-
ception of the first, which is simply the herring in its unpre-
pared state, are produced by various modes of “ curing.” In
the preparation of salt herrings for the market, a good deal of
routine has necessarily to be gone through before the crown-
brand is affixed to the barrels; but in the main the process is
as follows : — The fish having been conveyed to a convenient
spot, they are in the first instance gutted ; that is to say, the
gills and digestive canal are removed by means of a sharp-
bladed knife. They are then sprinkled with salt, and are
ready for the barrel. In the bottom of the latter is placed a
stratum of salt, and upon this is laid a stratum of herrings
closely packed with their sides upwards ; then follow alternate
layers of salt and herrings till the barrel is full. Having been
allowed to remain in this condition for some few days, the
barrel on examination is found to contain a quantity of pickle
in which the herrings are seen floating. The supernatant
liquor is now poured off, an additional number of herrings,
and a superficial stratum of salt are placed in the barrel, which
is then closed and is ready for branding. The branding process

ratus composed of basket-work and is used on some of the Scotch rivers.
The latter is adopted in Norway ; the herrings are “inclosed in the bays or
creeks, by means of the net being stretched across from side to side ; thus
inclosing th'e fish so as to prevent its egress. They are then caught by means
of smaller drag-nets.” See the “ Report on the Herring Fishery of Norway,”
by Mr. Crowe, Her Majesty’s Consul-general at Christiania.

HERRINGS AND HERRING-FISHING.

315

consists in affixing to each barrel a series of letters, indicat-
ing the month and day in which the herrings were caught and
cured, the name and address of the curer, and also the presence
or absence of the gills and alimentary canal. Red herrings, or
rather herrings which are about to be made red, are placed in
barrels, with salt, and left for three or four days, just as in the
case of the salt-fish. They are then removed and hung upon
spits which contain about twenty herrings apiece. These spits
are now plunged frequently in vessels of cold water, until the
herrings have undergone the requisite amount of washing.
Next, they are removed to the open air and dried, and are then
ready for the “ smoking-house.” In this house they are sus-
pended from the roof and are subjected to the influence of the
smoke arising from wood fires made upon the floor of the
chamber. Those red herrings which we ourselves purchase
are exposed to the operation of the peculiar principles of the
smoke for about ten days, but those intended for exportation
often remain as long as three weeks in the smoking -liouse
before being packed in barrels for the market. In the curing
of bloaters a far more speedy process than either of those
described is chosen. The freshly-caught fish are placed for a
few hours in a very strong solution of salt and water ; next
they are put upon spits and plunged in cold water ; and finally
they are removed to the smoking-house, and submitted to the
action of the smoke of small fires, which, having been kindled
some time previously, emit but a slight quantity of fumes. This
process extends over a period of about eight hours, and the
herrings are then taken down and packed in the usual manner.
Kippered herrings are merely modified bloaters.

Who first pickled herrings and who was the discoverer of the
red herring, are questions which in the midst of the obscurity
that herring enthusiasts have given rise to by their many con-
troversies, will probably never receive satisfactory replies.
The French claim the latter discovery, whilst the former has
been yielded to the Dutch. Indeed, an English writer goes so
far as to say that the word pickle itself originated in the name
of the individual who first salted herrings. We are told that
“ Flanders had the honour of inventing the art of pickling
herrings. One William Beukelen, of Biervlet, near Sluys, hit
upon this useful expedient : from him was derived the name
pickle, which we borrow from the Dutch aud German.” *

Ere we conclude this brief sketch of “ Herrings and Her-
ring-Fishing,” we would commend to the perusal of the reader
interested in the subject, the valuable and lucid report pre-
sented by Her Majesty's Commissioners to the Houses of

Pennant, vol. iii. Consult also Badhain, loc> cit note to p. 319,

316

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Parliament in 1863. There will be found therein a careful
analysis of an immense mass of evidence, and the cautiously
expressed opinion of men who have investigated the ques-
tion of the herring fishery, in all its aspects. Let us add also,
that those of our readers who thoroughly understand the nature
of Mr. Darwin's theory of “ Natural Selection ” will detect in
the evidence given before the Commissioners some facts which
are powerfully corroborative of Darwinian doctrines.

Concerning the possible influence of certain modes of legis-
lating on the subject of the herring-fisheries, we cannot do
better in conclusion than quote some of the final passages of
the document alluded to : * —

Consider the destruction of large herring by cod and ling alone. It is a
very common thing to find a cod-fish with six or seven large herrings, of
which not one has remained long enough to be digested, in his stomach. If,
in order to be safe, we allow a cod-fish only two herrings per diem , and let
him feed on herrings for only seven months the year, then 2 X 210 = 420
herring as his allowance during that time ; and fifty cod-fish will equal one
fisherman in destructive power. But the quantity of cod and ling taken in
1861, and registered by the Fishery Board, was over 80,000 cwt. On an
average, 30 cod-fish go to 1 cwt. of the dried fish. Hence, at least, 2,400,000
cod-fish were caught in 1861. But if 50 cod-fish equal 1 fisherman, 2,400,000
will equal 48,000 fishermen. In other words, the cod and ling caught on the
Scotch coasts in 1861, if they had been left in the water, would have caught
as many herring as a number of fishermen equal to all those in Scotland , and
six thousand more, in the same year ; and as the cod and ling caught were
certainly not one tithe part of those left behind, we may fairly estimate the
destruction of herring, by these voracious fish alone, as at least ten times as
great as that effected by all the fishermen put together.

When it is further considered, that the conger and the dog-fish probably
do as much mischief as the cod and ling, that the gulls and the gannets slay
their millions, and that the porpoises and grampuses destroy additional
untold multitudes, it will probably be thought no exaggerated under-estimate
if we assume that our fishery operations, extensive as they are, do not effect
5 per cent, of the total destruction of maties and full herring that takes place
every year. .... If legislation could regulate the appetites of cod, conger,
and porpoise, it might be useful to pass laws regarding them ; but to prevent
fishermen from catching their poor one or two per cent, of herring in any
way they please, when the other ninety-eight per cent., subject to destructive
agencies, are poached in all sorts of unrecognized piscine methods, seems
a wasteful employment of the force of law.

* “ Report of the Royal Commission,” 1863, pp. 29 and 31.

Plate XU

J £ S'awerby.sc

Rusts

317

MICROSCOPIC FUNGI.

RUSTS.

BY M. C. COOKE.

BEFORE entering more especially upon the subject of this
paper, it may be advisable to attempt an explanation
of a phenomenon of no uncommon occurrence in many groups
of Fungi, and which is termed Di-morphism.

In the Uredines, or uredo-like fungi, as well as other of the
Goniomycetes (in which the spores are the principal feature),
the same fungus appears under two distinct forms, not neces-
sarily mere differences of age, but so distinct that they have
been regarded (and some are so still) as different species
belonging to different genera, often far removed from each
other, and bearing different names. One plant, for instance,
sprinkled over the under surface of a rose-leaf, like turmeric-
powder, has its mycelium, or root-like threads, penetrating
the tissue, whilst bearing above its spherical golden- coloured
spores. Its vegetative system is complete, and, apparently,
its reproductive also ; hence it seems to claim recognition as a
perfect plant, and under the name of TJredo Rosce was so recog-
nized, until microscopical investigation determined otherwise.
Thus it has been discovered that certain dark brown spots
which appear later in the season are produced upon the same
mycelium, and are indeed aggregations of more perfect and
complex fruits of the same plant. Before this point was
satisfactorily decided, the brown spores, which are borne on
long stalks, and are themselves septate or divided (apparently
or really) by transverse partitions into a complex fruit, received
the name of Puccinia Rosce. At this period, TJredo Rosce and
Puccinia Rosce , or the yellow fungus and the dark brown
fungus, were believed to be distinct and different plants ;
now, on the contrary, they are believed to be different forms
of fruit produced by the same plant ; i.e., an instance of
di-morphism. Arcgma mucronatum , Fr., is the present scien-
tific name of what is regarded as the perfect fungus, whilst
the uredo form either bears the name of Lecythea Rosce, Lev.,
or by some mycologists is rejected altogether as a spurious
species.

318

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

During the summer it is not uncommon to find the leaves
of some grasses, of the hop, of roses, and many other plants,
covered with a kind of white mould, which appears under the
microscope as a multitude of small transparent colourless cel-
lules, generally attached to each other in a moniliform or
beaded manner. These moulds were long known under the
generic name of Oidium , to which genus the vine disease was
also referred. More minute investigation, and more careful
examination proved that these moulds were not in themselves
perfect plants, but merely conditions of other fungi of a higher
order, little differing it is true in external appearance to the
naked eye, but offering material differences in structure under
the microscope. Upon the white mould-like threads, spherical
bodies are produced in the autumn, containing little sacs or
asci filled with spores ; and in this condition the plants are
arranged under the genus Hrysiphe, whilst the species of
Oidium which represented their imperfect condition, are ex-
cluded from the system. Here, again, we have examples of
di-morphism.

In the Journal of the Microscopical Society, Mr. F. Currey
has detailed several instances of di-morphism which have
fallen within his experience. In one instance he has shown
that a small simple spored fungus, termed Oryptosporium
Neesii, Ca., is only a state or condition of a fungus with com-
pound fruit, belonging to the Sphceria section of ascigerous
fungi, called Vais a sujfusa , Fr. Both plants are exactly alike
externally, but the perithecium, or flask -like receptacle con-
taining the fructification, in one instance only holds naked
spores, and in the other the spores are contained in little
elongated vesicular bags or asci, which are packed within the
perithecium.

Whilst writing this, one of the most wonderful books in a
book-producing age lies beside me ; it is the second volume of
a work on fungi, by the brothers Tulasne ; and this, as well as
its predecessor, is devoted to this very subject of a multiplicity
of form in the fructification of these plants. Illustrated by
the most exquisite of engravings which art has ever produced,
it also unfolds many a page in the history of these organisms,
for which mycologists were not altogether unprepared. In
noticing this work, one of our most eminent authors on myco-
logical subjects quotes as an example Dothidea ribis, Fr.,
one of our most common fungi, which occurs in the form of
little black shields on dead twigs of currants and gooseberries.
Here we have, he says, naked spores ( conidia ) growing on the
external cells of the stroma ; we have naked spores of a
second kind (stylospores) produced in distinct cysts ( pycnides ) ;
we have minute bodies of a third kind ( spermatid ) produced

RUSTS.

319

again in distinct cysts, resembling very closely similar bodies
in lichens ; and we have a third kind of cysts, containing the
usual sporidia in sausage-shaped hyaline sacs ( asci ). Even
here, however, we have not done with marvels ; for if the
sty losp ores are placed in water, they produce in the course of
twenty-four hours conidia of a second order, exactly analogous
to those which arise on the germination of the spores of the
rusts and mildews which affect our cereals and other plants.

Further reference is also made to three species of moulds,
which M. Tulasne has shown to be only varied forms of the
mycelium of a species of SjAiceria common to various plants ;
these moulds having been hitherto regarded as fungi perfect
in themselves.

It is unnecessary to adduce other instances to prove
that di-morpliism is far from uncommon. In the Uredines,
to which this paper is devoted, the genera known as
Lecythea and Tricliobasis are by some mycologists excluded
altogether, as containing only species which are mere forms
of more highly developed uredines, such as Piiccinia, Aregmci ,
and others. On the other hand, they are retained by those
who possess a lingering doubt whether both forms may not be
distinct, though developed from the same pustule. As the
two forms are distinct in appearance, it will better answer my
present purpose to treat them separately, notwithstanding my
belief that, in a scientific point of view, the evidence is all in
favour of their union.

Unfortunately, the first group of fungi to which I wish
to direct our readers* attention, contains species but too well
known for their ravages amongst graminaceous plants,
especially the cereals. Rust/* as it is generally called, has
a reputation little better than mildew, and it really deserves
no better, for it is only another form of that pest of the farm,
from the mycelium of which the corn-mildew is at length
developed. There are two species very closely allied (doubtless
only forms of the same species with different spores) which
attack the leaves and culms of growing corn, and, bursting
through the cuticle in the manner represented in Plate XII.
fig. 9 (magnified), give a peculiar rusty appearance to the
plant, as represented in fig. 8. One of these corn-rusts is
botanically named Tricliobasis rubigo-verci , Lev., or the true
rust Tricliobasis ;** the latter, which is the generic name, being
a compound of two Greek words ( thrix , a hair, and basis, a
foundation), on account of the spores being at first furnished
at their base with a short thread-like peduncle, which at
length falls away (Plate XII. fig. 10). The other corn -rust
is Tricliobasis linearis, or “line-like Tricliobasis,’’ because the
sori or pustules are linear, or lengthened out like a line ; the

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

spores more elongated than those of the other corn-rust (fig.
12), and not so bright in colour. By intermediate forms these
two rusts pass insensibly the one into the other, so that it is
sometimes difficult to distinguish them. Both have the spores
clustered together in the pustules, at first (fig. 11) attached by
their peduncles, but they soon become free, and are scattered
like rust-powder over the plant. Adverting to the attack of
rust upon the wheat crops to an unusual extent a few years
since, the Bev. M. J. Berkeley wrote as follows : —

We have seen rust more prevalent in white wheats, especially in the variety
called Russian white, which has red smooth chaff, than we ever remember it.
It is, however, confined to particular spots ; and while in one field not a
single leaf is free, insomuch that a person walking through the wheat is
completely painted with the spores, of a fine rust-red ; an adjoining field,
separated only by a hedge, has not a rusty leaf. So long, however, as the
rust is confined to the leaf, it is, we believe, perfectly harmless. The grain
swells in spite of it, and the only effect is that the flag dies a little earlier,
which is not undesirable when it is too luxuriant. If, however, it gets to any
extent upon the chaff, much more if it attacks the seed itself, as is some-
times the case, it is very mischievous.

There is, indeed, a notion that rust is merely a form of mildew, and this
may be true ; but if so, it is a harmless form. The true rust (T. rubigo
vera ) if a form of mildew preserves its own characters to the end, and merely
presents a second form of fruit, a circumstance which is exceedingly common
amongst the lower fungi. It may exist in company with the mildew, but it
also more frequently is developed without a trace of mildew intermixed.
As far, then, as its immediate effects upon the plant go, it may be treated as
a distinct parasite, though advanced botanists may look upon it as offering
a case of what they call dualism, which may be easily understood on a com-
parison with such plants as marigold and orache, which produce seeds of
two different forms. Its ultimate effects may, indeed, be injurious, as, if it
be really a second form of mildew, it is capable of propagating that pest.
The case is quite different with Trichobasis linearis, which is in fact merely
the young state of the mildew. When once that supposed species makes its
appearance, it is quite certain that there will be mildew to a greater or less
extent. While the spores of the one remain unaltered, though intermixed
with the true bipartite spores of the mildew, the other exhibits every inter-
mediate state of form and colour.

M. Tulasne, to whom I have already alluded as a high
authority on this subject, is of opinion that all the species
enumerated in this group or genus, are mere conditions of
other species, and therefore excludes it altogether. Another
genus (Lecythea) , for the same reason, has shared the same fate;

It must not be forgotten that twenty-five species of rust
belonging to this genus have been recorded as occurring in
Great Britain. Some of these have yellow or yellowish spores ;

RUSTS.

321

the rest have the spores of a decidedly Thrown colour. One
of the most attractive of the yellow-spored species is that
which appears on the groundsel [T. Senecionis) , and a good
notion of its external appearance may be gained from our
figure (fig. 13). It is not always to be found without searching
closely, for in some localities I have found it very sparingly,
whilst elsewhere — as, for instance, on Wandsworth Common —
I have met with it as soon or as late as there were groundsel
leaves for it to grow upon. No spot or change in the appear-
ance of the upper surface of the leaves indicates the presence
of the parasite beneath ; this is, however, often betrayed by
the golden-yellow streaks which appear on the stem. Many
a time and oft the boys in the semi-rural districts about town
have marvelled and questioned each other concerning the
reason why, in gathering “ groundsel” for the little bird at
home, I should be so particular, and pass so many promising
plants, plucking here and there a leaf, and seldom collecting
one which they consider eligible for the purpose. Collectors
of minute fungi must expect to overhear occasionally even
hints touching their sanity from those who, without the
remotest idea of their mission, think they must be slightly
“ wrong in the head ” to gaze so narrowly and intently,
amongst nettles, groundsel, grass, or dry leaves, and only
take an occasional fragment of a rotten stick, or two or three
sickly leaves, carefully deposit them in their wallet, hat, or
pocket, and then “ move on.”

It will be unnecessary to repeat what has been stated in a
former paper on spennogones. It will be remembered that
these organs are found developed in connection with some of
the species of the present genus, as well as with the cluster-
cups, or CEcidiacei . They consist externally of small conical
elevations, pierced at the apex, which contain minute, cellular,
linear bodies called spermatia, invested with a kind of mucous
substance, that overflows with them from the orifice of the
spermogone, like lava from the crater of a miniature volcano.
The rust in company with which they have been found most
plentifully, is that which covers the under surface of the
leaves of the commonest of all thistles (Gnicus arvensis). The
external form of one of these spennogones is figured (PI. XII.
fig. 16). The rust possesses, when fresh, a peculiar odour,
which is said to resemble that of orange-flowers ; whence was
derived its name of “ sweet - smelling rust” (Trichobasis
suaveolens , Lev.). M. Tulasne writes : — “ With respect to this
species, it is, in my opinion, but the first form of a Puccinia,
analogous to P. compositarmn, D.C. : the spennogones with
which it is mixed being very abundant, it ought to be placed

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

with that Puccinia. I should, perhaps, retain some doubts
upon the legitimacy of this relationship, if it had not been my
fortune to meet on another species of the same kind [Puccinia
anemones , P.) spermogones perfectly characterized, and in
which the colour, habit, and position would not allow me to
hesitate an instant in attributing them to the Puccinia.” In
this species of rust the whole under surface of the leaf is
covered with a purplish-brown dusty coating of the spores,
from the numerous pustules which are produced (Plate XII.
fig. 15). The plants, when attacked, have a paler and more
sickly appearance ; the leaves have a tendency to fold back-
wards at their margins, and thenceforth their growth seems
to be determined. Sowerby, in his “ British Fungi,” says : —
“ Two or three sorts of flies are occasionally found dead on
this plant at the time of the fungus being upon it, which is
after wet weather in the summer, or early in autumn ; being
apparently tempted by its flavour, they over-eat themselves,
or else are destroyed by some poison.” This rust has spores
resembling, in general characters, those of the yellow-spored
series (Plate XII. fig. 17).

I have not thought it necessary to give figures of any other
species, partly on account of the uncertainty existing in many
minds whether they ought to be regarded as species, and
whether they will long claim a place in the British Flora;
and partly on account of the similarity which exists between
them, at least so far as they are of interest to the microscopist
only. There remain, however, two or three other species, to
which I desire briefly to allude.

During the autumn of last year, whilst on a botanical
excursion through a portion of Epping Forest, the “ great
bog” became a centre of some interest. Bogs are generally
attractive spots to those who are in search of microscopic
organisms. On this occasion the chief object of interest were
the small brown pustules with which the upper surface of a
large number of the leaves of the pennywort ( Hydrocotyle
vulgaris) was sprinkled. These pustules were brown, orbicular,
regular, and in habit seemed to resemble rather those of most
of the Puccinice than of a Trichobasis. The large, vigorous,
and healthy leaves were not affected. Microscopical exami-
nation, at first incomplete, led me to the conclusion that it
was a species of JJredo , which had been met with in France
[TJredo hydrocotyles , Mont.) ; but a re-examination, to which I
was prompted by Mr. Currey, led me to the conclusion that
it belonged rather to the present genus ; but I do not think
that it can be associated with any species already described,
notwithstanding its apparent affinity with the brown rust

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found on umbelliferous plants, in wliicb the pustules are inva-
riably developed on the under surface. Under these circum-
stances, I have called it the Pennywort rust ( Trichobasis
hydrocotyles) , whilst still doubtful whether it is not the same
fungus as that described by Montagne, with whose description
it agrees in everything, except what is implied by the generic
name. It should not be forgotten, that the work in which
Montagne first described this species was published when the
genus TJredo embraced the present genus, which was sepa-
rated from it by Leveille twelve years later ; and it is possible
that this species was included in a more recent work by the
same author, in error and without re-examination, under
the old name. An examination of authentic specimens of
Montagne^s plant would settle the point ; but I know of no
published collection which contains it. The characteristic
difference between the two genera lies in the presence of a
peduncle in the early stage of Trichobasis , and its absence
in all stages of Uredo . Without wandering further into a
subject which has not the merit of being very popular, let us
away to some green lane in search of violets, and having
found them, take a little of the brown dust from one of the
small pustules on the leaves, upon the point of a penknife.
Place this, with a drop of water, upon a glass slide, and make
a record of what we observe.

The field is covered with the myriad spores of a rust of a
nearly spherical shape, brownish in colour, and here and there
one with a short transparent colourless stalk or pedicel. This
is the violet rust ( Trichobasis Violarum , B.), very common
all through the summer and autumn, generally on the under
surface of the leaves of violets, in woods and hedgerows.
Should it so happen that the spores when placed under the
microscope are found to be two-celled, it will prove that instead
of a rust, or Trichobasis , being under examination, a brand, or
Puccinia , has been found, which is almost equally common,
and which may, without such a test, be easily mistaken for a
rust. According to the theory of di-morphism, this is the
higher form or complete fruit of the same fungus, which in its
simple-celled state is called Trichobasis Violarum.

A similar circumstance may befall the student in examining
the rust of labiate plants ( Trichobasis Labi'itarum , Lev.),
which occurs on different species of mint, especially the water-
mint, about the month of August. I have found a few of the
two-celled spores of the Puccinia imbedded in the pustules of
this rust almost constantly, whilst the one-celled spores are
not uncommon in the pustules of what is regarded as the true
mint brand ( Puccinia Month ce, P.).

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The garden and field bean is liable in some seasons to
become quite rust-coloured in consequence of the profusion of
spores with which the leaves and stems are covered, from the
bean rust ( Trichobasis Fabce, Lev.), which in like manner is
considered as the simple stage or form of the bean brand
(Puccinia Fabce, Lk.). If the legumes are also examined, a
few pustules will sometimes be found also on them. Beans
thoroughly infected with this rust or brand are seldom of much
service in either field or garden.

Beet-root, or mangold wurzel, is another example of garden
and field produce which is subject to a similar visitation. This
rust often has very red spores when produced on red varieties
of beet. During last September it ( Trichobasis Betce, Lev.)
was sent me on the leaves of the wild beet (Beta maritima).

All the species of Polygonum are exceedingly subject to the
attacks of the Persicaria rust ( Trichobasis Polygonorum , B.),
which nearly covers the leaves, till the entire plants seem to
be smothered in Scotch snuff. If it were allowable to affirm of
any plants that they are martyrs to parasitism, such might be
said of the Persicarias and their allies.

Amongst the remaining species of Trichobasis (the reader
must pardon my using the generic name, as we have no
equivalent), that found on the leaves of various composite
plants is the most common (Trichobasis G ichor acearum} Lev.).
It occurs on some thistles, on the saw-wort, dandelion, several
species of hawkweed, and similar plants. The pustules are
small and more diffused than in the species found on Gnicus
arvensisj and they as often appear on the upper as on the
lower surfaces of the leaves.

On umbelliferous plants three species are recorded ; one
with yellow spores (Trichobasis Petroselini, B.), another with a
blistered habit, and brown, ovate, or oblong spores (T. TJmbella-
tarum , Lev.), and a third with brown, obovate, or egg-shaped
spores (T. Hercoclei , B.), which is found solely on the cow-
parsnip. The corresponding species of Puccinia to some of
these species of Trichobasis are known, but in other cases,
probability, or speculation if you please, occupies the place of
knowledge.

Although the evidence against the retention of the species
of Lecythea (as the genus is named) amongst Fungi as true
species, on the ground of di-morphism, is even stronger than
against the group just illustrated, I cannot pass them altogether
in silence, especially in a popular treatise. Those who are
residents in town, and yet possess their little plot of garden-
ground, with only two or three pet roses, may have had the
misfortune of seeing them smothered with a yellow blight.

v/V/-

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325

This golden visitation, unwelcome as it is, may afford a sub-
ject for the microscope, and for a small space in my paper.
At first there will not appear to be any important difference
between the spores of the yellow series of the last genus and
those of the present ; but a closer examination will reveal one
important distinction ; viz., the presence of colourless elon-
gated, abortive spores. The species are not so numerous by
half as those of Trichobasis , even when three anomalous forms
are included, which species are included by some mycologists
in two other genera. One very common rust of this group
has already been alluded to (Plate VIII. fig. 9), and which is
known botanically as Lecythea Rosce. A similar one is found
on the bramble, and another on the burnet. All these three
species are produced at first on spots which are afterwards
more or less occupied by the long, many-celled spores of the
dark brown brands called Aregma or Phragmidium, between
which and the simple yellow spores of the rust almost every
intermediate form may often be found in the same pustule.
Thus, from the same mycelium as that of the rose rust, the
rose brand is afterwards developed ; whilst from the nidus of
the bramble rust (Plate VIII. fig. 11) the bramble brand is
also at length produced ; and the successor to the burnet rust
(Plate VIII. fig. 4) is the burnet brand. Besides these, a rust
belonging to the same genus may be found on the leaves of
the poplar, the spurge, and the common valerian, and two or
three species on willows. It can scarcely have escaped notice,
that the goat-willow is almost constantly afflicted with a rust
on the under surface of the leaves (Plate XIII. fig. 1). This
species will again come under notice in a later portion of
this paper, as the summer spores of a truly di-morphous
species.

One of the rusts separated by some botanists from this
genus, is found (possibly most commonly) on the leaves of the
raspberry ; but during” the past autumn I have met with it
plentifully on the upper surface of the leaves of one or two
species of bramble, ' and have never seen it growing on the
raspberry, although in all descriptions of the species that is
stated to be its habitat. Even to the naked eye this is so
distinct, that no one could well confound it with any other. It
appears very late in the autumn, and the spots are scattered
at some distance apart from each other (Plate XIII. fig. 3) ;
each spot or pustule forming a ring (fig. 4 enlarged) encircling
a cluster of spermogones which occupy the centre.

Another rejected species (. Lecytliea Lini, Lev.) occurs on the
little purging flax ( Linum catharticum) , forming small pustules
on the leaves (Plate XIII. fig. 6) ; these burst irregularly, and
remain surrounded by the remains of the ruptured epidermis

vol. hi. — NO. xi. z

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(fig. 7). The yellowish spores are subglobose (fig. 8), and in
the first instance concatenate, or chained together like a neck-
lace, which circumstance has been taken advantage of to place
it, with one or two other species, in a separate genus.

The desire to include illustrations of all the genera of uredo-
like fungi within these papers, so as to render them useful to
any desirous of commencing the study botanically as well as
microscopically, necessitates brevity in description, and selec-
tion in numbers, especially in this, the last to be devoted to
them. Hence species may be met with in the fields and
hedges not to be found in these pages, which are not intended
as a flora, but rather as an introduction to one. The old
genus Uredo , under which all the species alluded to in this
contribution would then have been included, is now much less
formidable in its dimensions ; nevertheless, we must rest con-
tent with a reference to two or three species. Let the first
bright day in May witness the student beside a cluster of
plants of Mercurialis perennis} which it will not be difficult to
find in many localities, and, on turning up the lower leaves he
will meet with our first illustration of a genuine Uredo , in the
form of yellow confluent patches, with a powdery surface
(Plate XII. fig. 1). This will be Uredo confluens. By the way,
the generic name is in itself suggestive, which it always should
be in all instances, but unfortunately is not ; it is derived from
the Latin word uro, “ I burn/* and is peculiarly applicable in
instances where the leaves acquire a blistered, burnt, or
scorched appearance, occasioned by the presence of the
fungus. The microscopical features of the spores of this
genus are, briefly, a more or less spherical form, without any
pedicel or footstalk. These spores are at first produced each
in a separate cell, but when ripe become free, and are at times
with difficulty distinguished from such forms as Trichobasis ,
unless the pedicels in the early stage of the latter genus are
regarded.

A rare species in Britain is the oak-leaf rust ( Uredo Quercus ),
in which the sori or pustules are minute, and at first yellow,
but afterwards orange. It occurs on the under surface of the
leaves, and was, I believe, first found in this country by Mr.
D. Stock, in the neighbourhood of Bungay, nearly five-and-
twenty years since. That gentleman informs me that it was
not at all uncommon, but always appeared on the young shoots
which had sprung up from the trunks or roots of trees that
had been cut down. I am uncertain whether it has been found
by any one since that time in this country, although it is not
uncommon in France.

The leaves of the common sorrel are often sparely sprinkled
with the pustules of a rust ( Uredo bifrons , Grev.), which derives

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327

its specific name from tlie fact that the pustules, which appear
on both surfaces of the leaves, are often opposite to each
other (Plate XII. fig. 5) . These pustules are generally seated on
a discoloured spot (fig. 6 enlarged), and are surrounded by the
remains of the ruptured epidermis. The spores are globose
and brown (fig. 7). I have not met with any other Uredine on
the sorrel leaves, though one having a similar appearance to
the naked eye, is not uncommon on several species of dock.

The fern rust ( Uredo filicum), which occurs on the under
surface of the fronds of two or three species of ferns, I have
never met with, and do not think that it can be considered
common. It has been found in the west of England, on
Gystopteris, and Sowerby collected it, probably not very far
from London.

One of the most common is the rust found on the leaves of
the enchanter's nightshade ( Gircoea lutetiana), sometimes
nearly covering the under surface with its tawny snuff-
coloured spores. The plant on which it is found is rather
local, but the rust ( Uredo Girccece ) seems to abound wherever
the plant on which it is parasitic flourishes. Another fungus
of a very similar external appearance may be collected, more
rarely, from the leaves of the same plant, but in this the spores
are two-celled, or divided by a transverse partition. This fact
is mentioned to guard against disappointment, should the
spores be found to differ from the characters of this section,
and to show that the microscope is essential to the study of
fungi. The spores of the true Uredo are globose and without
any partition (Plate XII. figs. 3, 4) .

I may also observe that a very interesting species may be
found on several species of St. John's wort ( Hypericum ).
Another occurs on the leaves of some of the wild garlics
(Allium) ; one is not uncommon on some of the stitchworts ;
another on saxifrages ; another on willow-herbs (Epilobium),
and one on the leaves of the cowberry. All of these have
yellowish spores. A species with brown spores occurs on sea
lavender ( Statice ). Space to write on my own part, and
patience to read on the part of others, induce me to dismiss
all these species with the bare allusion to them and the plants
on which they may be found. Some of them may occur in one
locality and some in another, and enough has perhaps been
said to enable any one to place any that he may find in the
proper genus, if not with the scientific name.

Prom the numerous instances I have met with of persons
wholly disinterested in the subject, collecting, and making
inquiries concerning the bright orange patches next to be
referred to, I am led to conclude that most persons have, at
least, seen them. These patches of orange-coloured powder

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burst through the cuticle, and appear on the young branches
of wild roses, extending sometimes for two or three inches in
length (Plate XII. fig. 1 8), and form one of the most beautiful
and obtrusive of the dust-like fungi. It is not confined to
roses ; but the meadow-sweet, on which it is also found, does
not grow in localities where its parasite is so liable to meet the
gaze of the ordinary wayfarer. The habit of this rust is more
or less that of those which are associated with it. The pustules
are not small and orbicular as in most instances in other
groups (except Polycystis ), but are large and irregular, and
generally but few together or single. The spores are variously
coloured, and have peduncles, or footstalks, of a greater or
less length. In the rose rust these spores are profuse, but the
peduncle is short (Plate XII. fig. 19).

Plants of the pea and bean tribe are liable to be attacked by
one of these rusts, and in this instance the spores are so cha-
racteristic that no one could well confound them with any
other. Externally it appears as an irregular brownish pustule,
breaking through the epidermis as an impalpable powder, not
unlike a pinch of “brown rappee” snuff. The spores are
ovoid, with a very long peduncle, whence its name ( Uromyces
apjoendiculata) . It appears on a great variety of plants, but
from the peculiarity of the spores (Plate XII. fig. 21), is easily
recognized. Our figure represents it on the leaf of a vetch
(Plate XII. fig. 20).

An allied species, and a beautiful one, is to be found on the
stinking iris (Iris foetidissima) , and another on the under
surface of the leaves of primroses.

The pilewort ( Ranunculus ficaria) we have already seen
attacked by one species of microscopic fungi, and I have now
to record the occurrence of another. Some plants appear to
be destined both alive and dead to become the prey of others.
The common nettle, for instance, as if in retribution for the
annoyance it often occasions on account of its stinging pro-
pensities, has not less than twenty different species of minute
fungi, to say nothing of coleopterous and lepidopterous insects,
which make a home, sometimes upon its green leaves, and
sometimes on its dead stems. We might almost state that it
has a flora and fauna of its own. The pilewort too has many
foes ; but these are fewer in number, and mostly attack the
living plant. The cluster-cups I have noticed already ; some
do not fall within the limits of this paper ; but one, which is
found in May and June, belongs to this genus. It appears like
a purplish-brown powder bursting through blistered spots on
the leaves and footstalks (Plate XII. fig. 22). The spores are
small, and are, of course, provided with pedicels (Plate XII.
tig. 23).

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329

Tlie under surface of the leaves of the white Dutch clover
are often sprinkled with black spots, which are nearly round
and very numerous. These are so many clusters of fungi
belonging to a different section, in which the threads are the
important feature. But another parasite is also found on
leaves of the same plant, in which the pustules are far less
numerous and regular, and are often found on the petiole as
well as the leaf, distorting them and twisting them in various
directions (Plate XII. fig. 31 ) . This is the clover rust ( Uromyces
opiculata , Lev.), which is a parasite on numerous plants, being
found also on the great water-dock and other kinds of dock.
The spores are ovoid and brown, with a short peduncle (fig.
32). A very beautiful species occurs on the leaves of the
ladies-mantle (Alchemilla) , but hitherto I have not been for-
tunate enough to collect it.

A very interesting, though small group of allied fungi are
included botanically under the genus called Polycystis, in
allusion to the many cells of which the spores are composed.
In the most recent work on British Fungi, approximating to a
Flora, viz. “ Berkeley's Outlines," only three species are
recorded, whilst the most common, at least around London, is
omitted in error; for it could scarcely have been unknown
as indigenous to this country. This last is the crowfoot smut
( Polycystis pompholygodes , Lev.), found on the leaves and
petioles of the common creeping buttercup (. Ranunculus repens),
distorting them very much. The leaves and their footstalks
when attacked, become swollen, as if blistered at first, and
ultimately burst in an irregular manner, exposing a mass
of blackish soot-like dust (Plate XIII. fig. 9), which on
examination will be found to consist of the many-celled spores
alluded to (fig. 10). Each of these spores appears to have a
transparent outer membrane, either inclosing an unequal
number, from two or three to five or six, distinct cells, com-
pressed together into a spherical form by the outer integument,
or the interior is divided by septa into as many cells. Each of
these divisions contains a dark brownish endochrome, or cell-
contents. As may be anticipated, the spores in all the
species associated in this genus are interesting objects for the
microscope. The species on the buttercup may be found
through the summer and autumn on j Ranunculus repens , espe-
cially whenever that plant is met with in very damp situations.
We have seldom found the plant in any profusion without
its attendant fungus. Another species of these many-celled
smuts is not uncommon in gardens, on the sweet violet,
attacking the footstalks of the leaves more commonly than
the leaves themselves, and swelling and contorting them
(Plate XIII. fig. 11). In general structure, the spores are very

330

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

similar to those of the last species, save that the cells are
smaller, and a larger number are collected together. So far
as I have yet examined the spores of this and the preceding
species, they appear to consist of separate and distinct vesicles
(probably spores), contained within a hyaline sac or outer
membrane, and not to be a single spore divided into cells by
numerous septa.

A species of equal interest ( Polycystis Colchici, Tul.) is
found^on the autumnal crocus, or meadow-saffron ( Golchicum
autumnale). The spores approach nearer to those of the last
than of the prior species.

A fourth species occurs on the leaves of rye, forming elon-
gated parallel blackish lines (. Polycystis jparallela , B. & Br.).
It has also been found on the leaves of some grasses, but
does not appear to be very common.

Small as this genus is, — for I have named all the British
representatives, its compound spores are beautiful objects for
the microscope. It may not be altogether out of place to
state, that I have found glycerine a very good medium in
which to mount them for preservation, although I have usually
employed balsam, for an idle reason which microscopists will
appreciate. Deane’s gelatine is more difficult of manipulation,
or I may have been in fault, as well as my friends who have
endeavoured to use it.

I well remember, in my younger days, before I had devoted
myself to Fungi, and when I knew or recognized but little
more than two or three kinds, how one or two little things
puzzled me, as perhaps they may have puzzled others. I
never could comprehend the mystery of smutted corn, nor
understand what could cause the white rust. In a retired
agricultural district, with no one to enlighten me, I continued
to study such of the flowering plants as the locality yielded,
and amused myself by making sketches of diseased leaves,
and other like phenomena, which interested and puzzled me,
and in fact, sometimes haunted me in dreams. One of these
mysteries was the white, elevated, concentric spots on the
leaves of cauliflowers and cabbages. In some years this
singular appearance is very common. The leaves become
depressed on the opposite surface to that on which white,
elevated, irregular spots are seated, having a circular outline,
but disposed in the manner represented in the plate (Plate XIII.
fig. 15). These spots look like white paint or whitewash, not
thrown on carelessly, but arranged and traced by an artist’s
hand. Sometimes one and sometimes twenty of these groups
occur on the same leaf, and I now know that these spots are
by no means confined to plants of the cabbage kind, but
appear on numerous other plants belonging to very different

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331

natural orders. For instance, some of the composite plants,
spurges, spinach family, convolvuli, and allies of the garden
pink, as well as others, suffer from this parasite. It is also so
widely spread that it extends to the North American States
in one direction, and the Falkland Islands in another. That
it is a fungus, will be supposed from its mention here ; but it
belongs intimately to none that we have described, and is in
itself, so far as Great Britain is concerned, genus and species
in itself. The name bestowed upon it is Cystopus candidus ,
Lev., the relevancy of which will be seen as I proceed. This
white rust is composed of a receptacle of thick branched
threads, inclosing spores arranged in a beaded or monihform
manner, with a short connecting process between them
(Plate XIII. fig. 17). The Rev. M. J. B. observes that the best
way to observe the structure, is to make a thin vertical
section, which will exhibit not only the necklaces of spores,
but the ob ovate cysts from which they spring, and the curious,
irregularly branched, often thick and nodose greenish mycelium.
Besides this, there are also fine mucedinous threads which
penetrate deeper into and amongst the tissues of the matrix,
and resemble the more usual form of mycelium in the Uredines.
If the ordinary method of taking off a portion from the
pustule and placing it in a drop of water on a slide, be all the
process of examination adopted, nothing more will be seen
than myriads of disconnected, nearly globose, translucent,
colourless spores, with no indication of the true structure.

This parasite appears also in patches (not orbicular or
concentric, but dispersed) on the leaves, stems, and fruit, of
the common shepherdVpurse (Plate XIII. fig. 16), and on the
leaves of the goats-beard, scorzonera, and salsify, as well as on
various other plants. Altogether it is a most interesting
species, and has of late occupied again the attention of
scientific men ; but I cannot advisedly enter further into the
subject here, although the whole paper might have been
devoted with advantage to the history and mystery of its
existence, and yet been by no means exhaustive.

Any one may make himself acquainted with the genus
Coleosporium with but little trouble, which the acquisition will
more than compensate. A summer stroll into any locality in
which the common coltsfoot can be found, will be certain to
prove sufficient. Let the spot selected be any station on the
North Kent Railway, for those who reside in town, or even a
trip to the Crystal Palace and a stroll in the grounds, and
when the well-known leaves of the coltsfoot are descried, the
under surface of the first leaf will doubtless give proof of the
presence of the fungus in question, by the orange spores
amongst its dense woolly hairs. Sometimes the leaf is almost

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

covered beneath with the bright orange- coloured dust. This
is the coltsfoot rust (Goleosjperium Tussilaginis , Lev., Plate XII.
fig. 28), which may serve as a type of the rest. It may be
observed that a species of cluster-cup, or CEcidium , with
spores of nearly the same colour, is also to be found on the
leaves of the same plant ; but in this case the upper surface of
the leaf has also corresponding purplish spots, and, what is of
still more importance, the spores are seated in small fringed
cups. The rust is common till the wintry frosts have set in,
and is far more conspicuous than the cluster-cups. A kind of
di-morphism prevails in all the species of this genus. Some
of the pustules resolve themselves into a kind of powder,
whilst others remain entire and solid. Generally there is the
largest proportion of globose, dust-like, free spores, produced
in the earliest developed fungi, whilst they become more rare
towards the close of the season. The permanent spore-spots
consist of obovate cellules placed side by side, each of which
is divided transversely by three or four septa, and is filled
with an orange-red endochrome (Plate XII. fig. 29) ; the
exterior being enveloped in a kind of mucous layer. The
arrangement of spores when packed together in the pustule
is shown in Plate XII. fig. 30, from an allied species. When
these spores germinate, which they do with great readiness,
each division emits a long tube, which generally remains
simple and undivided, and from its extremity is produced
a reproductive body of an obovate or nearly kidney-shape.
These filaments are about -rioth of an inch in length, of a
colourless transparent membrane, along which the orange-red
contents of the spores pass into the newly-formed sporidia, or
reproductive bodies by which they are terminated. Most of
these reniform sporidia disengage themselves from the fila-
ments on which they are produced, and either elongate
themselves into a simple and uniform filament, or swell at the
extremity as if to reproduce a second spore. If the newly-
formed sporidia do not become free, they increase the length
of their primitive filament, which by a frequent repetition of
the process becomes a tube swelling out at unequal distances.

The summer spores, or pulverulent spores of the first gene-
ration, which are analogous to the Uredo-spores of Aregma,
are also capable of germination, for, if placed in favourable
circumstances, they will develop very long filiform processes,
which either remain simple or become more or less branched,
but always nearly uniform in their diameter. M. Tulasne
states that he has observed this germination many times,
though we have been less fortunate.

Of the six species of this genus known to occur in Great
Britain, the majority may be commonly met with. That very

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333

widely- diffused plant, tlie wood cow-wheat [Melampyrum
pratense), known well to all amateur botanists for its per-
tinacity in drying black, and presenting anything but an
inviting appearance to claim for it a place in the herbarium —
also becomes the matrix for the development of a member of
this genus ; i. e. the cow-wheat rust ( Goleosporium Rhinan-
thacearum , Lev.), and which is found on other allied plants,
as the little eyebright [Euphrasia officinalis ), &c. (Plate XII.
fig. 24). In colour and habit it resembles the last-named
species, and its free, echinulate spores (Plate XII. fig. 25)
form a pretty object for the microscope.

Another equally common species is found inhabiting the
leaves of the sow-thistles ( Sonchus arvensis and S. oleraceus),
and in the autumn may generally be found on either of those
plants, presenting the appearance delineated in our plate
(Plate XIII. fig. 26). The permanent spores resemble in many
points those of the first species, as will be seen from the figure
from De Bary’s treatise on this subject (Plate XII. fig. 27).
This is certainly one of the. most showy of uredinous fungi,
and could not be well overlooked.

The butter-bur rust [Goleosporium petasites , Lev.) and the
Campanula rust [Goleosporium Campanulas, Lev.) are found,
the former on the leaves of the butter-bur, and the latter on
those of the harebell and other Campanulas, less frequently.
We have, however, indicated sufficient, since their great
similarity in unprofessional eyes will furnish, in one or two
species, all that is desirable for the microscopist.

Unless a similar plan be adopted for examining the species
of this genus to that recommended for the white rust, it may
result in disappointment; for the slight attachment of the
joints to each other will otherwise present only a mass of
simple echinulate cellules, if a portion be only removed from
the leaf on the point of a lancet. Any person possessed of
the cardinal virtues of microscopy — patience and perseverance
— will be rewarded in this instance; whilst those who are
deficient will lose an object worthy of the virtues they dare
not boast. But few instances have occurred in this and the
preceding papers in which the exercise of any great ingenuity
or application has been called for ; the most juvenile or truest
tyro at the microscope may see for themselves much of what
has been indicated, whilst a few opportunities have occurred
for more practised manipulists to prove that they are neither
juveniles nor tyros.

It can scarcely be too great an assumption to suppose that
every one is acquainted with the goat- willow [Salix caprcea),
or that every schoolboy knows the birch [Betula alba). It
may be proceeding a step too far to affirm that all who know

334

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

these trees well enough to distinguish the one from the other,
will have observed the under surfaces of the leaves of both
sprinkled with a golden dust, during the summer months,
and which are the spores of a parasitic fungus. So common
is this orange-coloured powder on leaves of the trees above-
named, that we can hardly believe any one to have had a
branch of either in his hand and not observed it, provided
any leaves adorned the branch in question. What this para-
site is, and what its associates, it is our province to endeavour
to explain. Our figure (Plate XIII. fig. 1) represents a leaf of
the sallow or goat-willow, with the under surface exhibiting
yellow patches, consisting of spores, which are magnified in
the next figure (Plate XIII. fig. 2). This exceedingly common
rust is termed Lecythea cajorearum , Lev., when in the con-
dition figured ; but in reality this is only the summer stage,
bearing the summer fruit of Melamjpsora salicina , which latter
attains its mature development on the same leaves in the
succeeding winter or early spring. Of course this latter
remark applies to the fallen leaves, for at this period all the
willows and other deciduous trees are bare. But the leaves,
before they fall, give evidence of the parasite at work ; and if
the collected decaying mass of rubbish at the base of sallow
bushes be examined about March, these leaves will be found
bearing upon them mature heaps of elongated, wedge-shaped
spores, closely packed side by side, and which, whilst still
adherent, may often be found in active germination, as repre-
sented in an allied species at the bottom of our plate (Plate XIII.
fig. 24). This phenomenon consists in the production of
cylindrical tubes, more or less elongated, from the upper
extremity (rarely from the base) of the prismatic spores.
These tubes are straight or twisted, simple or forked, and
each of them becomes divided by transverse septa into four
unequal cells towards their apex, from each of which is pro-
duced a spicule bearing a sporidium, or spherical secondary
fruit, in the same manner as in the genera Puccinia and
Aregma. It should be observed, that the winter spores of
this rust are borne on the opposite surface of the leaves to
the summer spores : for whilst the latter are developed from
the under surface, the former are found on the upper. This
being also an instance of di-morphism, the summer condition,
when spherical spores are produced, should not be regarded
as a distinct plant, and the name of Lecythea ca'prearum does
not merit retention in the list of fungi.

There are five species of this interesting group, or genus,
found in Great Britain, to the residue of which we may only
briefly allude. It has already been stated that, in summer,
the yellow spores of a rust are found on the under surface of

RUSTS.

335

birch-leaves. These must be sought on the young twigs or
suckers, proceeding from the stumps of trees which have been
cut down ; pale discoloured spots on the upper surface of the
leaves indicate the presence of the rust beneath. This is the
JJreclo betulina of old authors (begging their pardons, for some
of them still live), the Lecythea longicajosula of more recent
times, and the summer spores of Melampsora betulina , according
to M. Tulasne and his disciples. When fresh, it is reputed to
exhale a faint odour, as of the primrose. During the winter
and spring months the wedge-like spores of the second crop
are matured on the fallen leaves (Plate XIII. figs. 20, 21), and
these are capable of a speedy germination, and the production
of secondary reproductive bodies, as in the willow rust above
alluded to (Plate XIII. fig. 24).

Probably, also, the similar rust on the poplar (Plate XIII.
figs. 18, 19), or on the aspen, may be met with under like
conditions ; i. e., the summer spores, which are yellow and
spherical, on the living leaves, and the brown permanent
masses of winter spores on the fallen and decaying leaves.
The sole remaining British species is not uncommon on leaves
of the common spurge in gardens ; and whilst the yellow pul-
verulent spores occur on the upper, it will not be improbable
that black permanent spots will be found on the lower leaves
(Plate XIII. figs. 22,23), inclosing closely-packed, rudimentary,
elongated or wedge-shaped cellules of the winter spores.

In conclusion, I will offer a brief guide to the distinctive
features of each of the several groups which have been noticed
in the foregoing pages, for the assistance of those who may
wish to pursue the study further than we have been permitted
to carry them.

Spores of one order —

Simple and free.

Without appendages.

Inclosed in separate cells TIredo.

Not inclosed Lecythea.

With appendages.

Deciduous Trichobasis.

Permanent Uromyces.

Concatenate.

Afterwards free Cystopus.

Compound Polycystis.

Spores of two orders —

Cylindrical, septate Coleosporium.

Wedge-shaped, compact Melamysora.

336

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII.

Fig. 1. Mercury Rust (U redo confluens), on leaf of Mercurialis perennis.

„ 2. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 3. Nightshade Rust ( Uredo Circcece ), on leaf of the enchanter’s night-

shade ( Circcea lutetiana).

„ 4. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 5. Twin-spot Rust ( Uredo bifrons), on leaf of Sorrel ( Unimex acetosa).

„ 6. Pustule of the same, enlarged.

„ 7. Spores, magnified.

„ 8. Corn Rust ( Trichobasis rubigo-verd ), on leaf of wheat.

„ 9. Portion enlarged, showing the pustules.

,, 10. Spores further magnified.

„ 11. Cluster of spores of Trichobasis linearis.

„ 12. Spores of the same, further magnified.

„ 13. Ragwort Rust ( Trichobasis Senecionis), on leaf of Senecio vulgaris.

„ 14. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 15. Thistle Rust ( Trichobasis suaveolens), on leaf of Cnicus arvensis.

„ 16. Spermogone of Thistle Rust, magnified (De Bary).

,, 17. Spores of Thistle Rust, magnified.

„ 18. Rose Rust ( Uromyces ulmarice ), on branchlets of dog-rose ( Rosa
canina).

„ 19. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 20. Vetch Rust ( TJromyces appendiculata ), on leaf of Vida Cracca.

„ 21. Appendiculate spores of the same, magnified.

„ 22. Pilewort Rust ( Uromyces ficarue), on leaf of pilewort ( Ranunculus
ficaria ).

„ 23. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 24. Cow-wheat Rust (Coleosporium Rhin an th acearum), on leaves of
wood cow- wheat (Melampyrum pratense).

„ 25. Free spores from the same, magnified.

„ 26. Sow-thistle Rust ( Coleosporium sonchi-arvensis), on portion of leaf

of Sonchus oleraceus.

„ 27. Group of spores from the same, magnified (De Bary).

„ 28. Coltsfoot Rust ( Coleosporium Tussilaginis), on portion of leaf of

coltsfoot ( Tussilago Farfara).

„ 29. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 30. Group of spores, in situ, of Coleosporium Rhinanthacearum (Tulasne).
„ 31. Trefoil Rust ( TJromyces apiculosa), on leaf of clover ( Trifolium
repens).

„ 32. Spores of the same, magnified.

PLATE XIII.

Fig. 1. Willow Rust (Lecythea caprearum), on leaf of sallow (Salix caprea ;).
„ 2. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 3. Ringlet Rust (. Lecythea gyrosa ), on portion of leaflet of raspberry

( Rubus vitis-idcea).

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

337

Fig. 4. Pustule of the same, enlarged.

„ 5. Spores,' further magnified.

„ 6. Flax Rust (. Lecythea Lint), on leaves of purging flax (. Linum

catharticum).

„ 7. Pustule of the same, enlarged.

„ 8. Spores, further magnified.

„ 9. Buttercup Smut (. Polycystis pompholygodes), on leaf and petiole of

creeping buttercup (. Ranunculus repens).

„ 10. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 11. Violet Smut {Polycystis Violte), on leaf and petiole of sweet violet

{Viola odorata).

„ 12. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 13. Rye-leaf Smut {Polycystis parallela), on leaf of rye {Secale cereale).

„ 14. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 15. White Rust {Gystopus candidus ), on fragment of cabbage-leaf.

„ 16. White Rust {Gystopus candidus ), on fruit of shepherd’s-purse
{Gapsella bursa-pastoris).

„ 17. Spores of white rust, magnified.

„ 18. Poplar Rust {Melampsora populina), on portion of poplar leaf

{Populus nigra).

„ 19. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 20. Birch Rust {Melampsora betulina ), on decaying leaf of the common

birch {Betula alba).

„ 21. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 22. Spurge Rust {Melampsora Euphorbias ), on leaves of common spurge
(. Euphorbia peplus).

„ 23. Spores of the same, magnified.

„ 24. Group of spores of the Birch Rust {Melampsora betulina), in active

germination {Tulasne).

838

ON PROPER CLOTHING.

BY EDWIN LANKESTER, M.D., E.R.S,

WHILST fresh air is essential to health, there can be no
doubt that one of the disadvantages that follows its
possession is exposure to cold. Prom the earliest periods of
his history, man has had recourse to various expedients for
the purpose of maintaining the warmth of his body. His
house and his clothes are arrangements which he makes for
protecting himself from cold. It follows, then, in a natural
sequence, that when we have spoken of the importance of
fresh air, we should proceed to speak of the necessity of
maintaining the warmth of the body ; and as clothing is one
of the most natural ways of protecting the body from cold,
we will now put together a few remarks on the matter of
clothes. We shall take up here, the whole subject of Dress,
and speak of its use and abuses.

Clothing is not only employed by man for warmth, but also
for coolness — contradictory as that may be — for protection,
and for ornament.

As, however, in this climate, dress is mostly worn for the
sake of its warmth, we shall speak first of the reasons for
this, and the kinds of dress which are most adapted for the
purpose.

If we take a Fahrenheit's thermometer and place it in con-
tact with any internal part of a human body, we shall find
that it rises to the temperature of 98°. This temperature,
which is called on the thermometer “ blood-heat," is found to be
constantly the same, whether the human being is living in
temperate climes like our own, dwelling in the Arctic or Ant-
arctic zones, or under the torrid sun of the tropics. Every
animal with a perfect heart, as birds and mammals, has its
own peculiar temperature, and each species maintains its own
temperature, to whatever external temperature it may be
exposed. Slow-moving animals, as the elephant, hippopo-
tamus, and rhinoceros, have a lower temperature, whilst
quick-moving animals, such as birds of rapid flight, have a
much higher temperature than man.

The constancy of this temperature of animals shows clearly

ON PROPER CLOTHING.

339

that it originates independently of external circumstances. It
is, in fact, produced by the combustion of food in the blood and
tissues, in contact with the oxygen of the air which is taken in
during respiration. If a sufficiency of food is taken, and there is
due exposure to atmospheric air, the temperature of the human
body is maintained at 98°. It may then be asked, where is
the necessity of clothing to keep us warm ? If man were a
mere animal — if, like the beasts of the field, the only objects
of his existence were a sufficiency of food and the propaga-
tion of his race, he could live without clothing. There are
savage races of men all over the world, in both cold and
temperate regions, who live but with little or no clothing.
The moment, however, that man rests from the chase, that he
begins to till the ground, and forms tastes connected with
comfort and indulgence, then he discovers the necessity of
protecting himself from that external cold which rapidly
diminishes the temperature of his body, and which requires
large supplies of food, as fuel to this internal fire, and active
exercise, to enable the digestive organs to fit the fuel for
burning. Just as man is active in his habits, and can digest
abundance of food, is he independent of the necessity of
clothing.

In proportion, however, as we find him devoting himself to
commerce, and engaged in manufactures, do we find him
building warm houses and putting on warm clothing. Clothes,
in fact, act in two ways : they diminish the necessity of con-
suming large quantities of food, and prevent the tax upon the
digestive organs which such large quantities of food would
imply. Just in accordance to the external temperature is the
demand made upon the system to keep up its temperature by
supplies of food. Even with our artificial habits of clothing,
the men who live in the coldest climates consume the largest
quantity of food, and in this country we eat more in the
winter than the summer. ISTay more, we consume our own
substance more in the winter than the summer, and weigh
least in winter, and most in summer.

It is one of the great objects of civilized man to adapt
himself to all external temperatures, so as to maintain his
temperature at 98°. This he does by consulting his instincts
and using his reason, and adapts his diet, his house, and his
clothing, to this necessity of his life. He does it by his
instincts vaguely and uncertainly, falling into errors which
are constantly destructive of his health and life. One of the
most universal of instincts of civilized man is to shut out the
cold. He huddles himself with his fellows in cots and cabins,
and the dens of civilized towns, to maintain his warmth and
spare his food ; but in doing this he contaminates the air

340

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

he breathes, and shuts out that oxygen which is more necessary
to his life than even the warmth of his body. So terrible is
the effect of atmospheric poison on his body, that when the
cold comes, it finds more victims among the overcrowded
homes of the poor than among any other class. Thus one
week^s continuous cold — the thermometer ranging from ten
to twenty degrees below the freezing-point during the second
week of January in this year — added nearly 2,000 victims
above the average deaths of the season of the year to the
mortality of London. This (C wave of cold 33 was felt more
acutely in that class of our metropolitan population whose
systems are rendered less able to resist the influence of cold
in attempts to secure warmth by the exclusion of fresh air.

The materials of clothing used by man are obtained from
both the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Types of the
substances obtained for clothing purposes from the vegetable
kingdom are afforded in cotton and linen. Cotton is the hair
of a plant, obtained from the inside of the fruit. By the
accident of a twist during its growth it is possible to spin it
into a thread, and it thus becomes the basis of our great cotton
and muslin manufactures. The fibres of linen are the vascular
tissue of the common flax, which, when prepared, are formed
into threads, which are woven into the textile fabrics known
as linen. These materials are bad conductors of heat. It is
on this account that they are used for clothing purposes.
Where the object of dress is to keep in warmth, those sub-
stances form the best articles of dress which conduct heat
least. Another . class of substances used for dress are the
hairs and fibres of animals. The wool of the sheep, and the
silk produced by the silkworm, are the substances most con-
stantly woven into the articles of dress. Both wool and silk
are worse conductors than cotton or linen. Hence we find
that animal substances are preferred to vegetable substances,
when the object is to keep in warmth.

It is, in fact, practically known that cotton and linen are
cooler than cloth or silk : and whilst in this country we
prefer the latter in winter, we have recourse to the former in
summer. Men clothe themselves in winter with great coats of
cloth, but they wear cotton and linen jackets in summer.
In the winter, women clothe themselves with cloth mantles,
but in the summer they put on their muslin, calico, and other
light dresses. This is quite correct, and it should be recollected
as a rule that cotton and linen garments are coolest, the
linen being cooler than the cotton, and that woollen and silken
garments are warmest.

The colour of our clothes is not altogether a matter of
indifference. White and light-coloured clothes reflect the

ON PROPER CLOTHING.

341

heat, wliilst black and dark-coloured clothes absorb the heat.
Hence, in the summer it is clearly policy to wear white and
light-coloured clothes, because they reflect the heat of the sun,
and prevent its heating the body through the clothes. But
what then with regard to winter clothing? It might be
supposed that black is the right colour; but if we consider
that this colour radiates heat, we shall see that a man in
black loses his heat faster than if he were dressed in white.
The fact is, white is the best colour both in summer and in
winter ; for it keeps off the heat in the summer, and retains
the heat in the winter. This undoubtedly looks like blowing
hot and cold, but it is nevertheless true. The coachman will
tell you that his white duffel coat is warmer in winter and
cooler in summer than any other kind of coat. The brewer’s
drayman will wear his white stockings all the year round,
and tells you that any colour would be less agreeable to his
feelings.

It will now be better understood how clothing can become
a source of coolness. A black man exposed to the tropical
sun will find that a white dress acts by protecting his body
from the rays of the sun, whilst the white man will feel
the advantage of a covering to reflect the same rays, rather
than that his own skin should be used for the purpose.
Hence in hot climates, clothes are worn to keep the body
cool.

In many parts of the world, man is exposed to the attacks
of the animal creation, especially insects, the bites of which
are prevented by covering the body with some sort of textile
fabric. The skin is also protected from the accumulation of
dirt by the covering of the clothes. In our own climate,
those parts of the body which are exposed to the air need
constant washing, from the tendency of the dirty particles of
the air to adhere to the skin. Certain parts of the body are
also exposed to pressure, which it is found exceedingly
desirable to prevent. This is especially the case with the
soles of the feet, and man, at a very early period of his
civilization, puts his feet into sandals, or clothes his foot with
boots or shoes.

Whilst clothes are thus worn for utility, no one can look
upon clothed man without seeing that he has not put his
clothes upon his back merely with a utilitarian object in view.
Look at that Indian squaw ; see how she has ornamented the
single garment which she wears. Look at her husband
with a simple dress, and yet he has stuck peacocks’ feathers
into his head-dress, and glass beads in rows on his neck
to ornament his form. Pass on, step by step, through the
various grades of civilization, and you see that both in form

VOL. nr. — NO. xi. 2 A

342

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

and colour, dress is made subservient to the great idea
of decorating and beautifying the person.

This decoration is principally seen in colour and form. Nor
let any one for a moment condemn this natural tendency
to adornment. Deep in the instincts of our nature is laid the
admiration of colour, and to meet this feeling, the Creator
adorns his creation with all the tints of the rainbow.
In the dark unfathomed caves of ocean, a thousand forms
of coloured beauties meet the eye, unnumbered insects expand
their wings, coloured with varied tints, whilst birds and flowers
vie with each other in presenting the primitive colours of the
rainbow in all their possible tints to meet the eye of man.
Surely then, if God has adorned so brilliantly His lower crea-
tures, it is left for those who have the power of imitating
their Creator, to deck themselves in a similar manner. This
subject should have much further study and development than
it has hitherto received. There is a harmony of colours as of
sounds, and there is a discord of colours as of sounds. It
is this discord of colours that often makes dress so offensive,
and which disguises the form and grace which naturally belong
to man.

It is by this natural taste for ornamentation in dress
that the arts of the dyer and calico-printer have been called
into existence, and to which we owe the more extensive use of
bright colours, now so often seen in red petticoats, stockings,
and other brightly- coloured articles of dress. The desire for
rich and varied colours in clothing has given an impetus to
those chemical researches which have resulted in the discovery
of the glowing tints of Magenta, Mauve, and Solferino. The
taste for ornamental dress has given many branches to our
industry, and is an example of those pure and simple tastes
of the human mind, by which it is led on to cultivate an ad-
miration for the beautiful colours of nature, and in its
highest tendencies to admire and imitate the work of the
landscape-painter.

The form of dress has also been a worthy object of study.
Not that modern men or women either have succeeded in this
respect. But certainly to the other sex must be given a
greater appreciation of beauty in the form of dress. Even
the utmost departure from the ordinary conventional rules of
dress which female attire has recently taken, in the diminutive
size of the bonnet and the inordinate extension of the skirts,
can be defended on the ground of their having some shade of
artistic merit. Even the chisel of a Phidias might not have
despised the graceful folds of the flowing skirts of a modern
belle. But when we turn to male attire — whether as a
soldier, a sailor, an aristocrat, or a plebeian, there is scarcely

OK PROPER CLOTHING.

0(0

O'iO

a curve or a line that can be said to be beautiful. An ancient
sculptor would have avoided it with horror ; and if the angels
are allowed to look down upon the earth, and have their
feelings kindled by its beauty, there must be one object amidst
its charms that must excite in their minds mingled feelings of
disgust and pity at its ugliness, and that is the clothed civi-
lized man of the nineteenth century.

Having said thus much of the use of dress, let us proceed
to speak of its abuses. First, then, as all articles of -dress
must be attached to the body in some way or other, we
will speak of the dangers of their attachment under the
head of undue compression. We begin at the head, and this
leads us to speak of hats, caps, and bonnets. Why wear
them at all ? Of all parts of the body, the head seems least
to need clothing. A most beautiful, warm, and natural covering
has been created upon the head, and why it should be covered
by hats, caps, and bonnets nobody lias any yery definite
notion. It seems, however, in hot countries that head-
coverings prevent the too powerful rays of the sun striking
upon the head, and thus producing a coup de soleil or some minor
inconvenience. In wet climates, too, like our own, it is un-
comfortable to have wet hair. So for one cause or another
modern man and woman have got into the habit of wearing
some kind of head-gear. That modern man may discover one
day that it is unnecessary is not at all improbable. Some thirty
years ago, he invariably placed a heavy cap upon his new-born
babes, but recently he has found that his innocents do better
without them. It is not then I say altogether beyond the
bounds of probability that he may see fit to get rid of his own
head-dress. In fact, the women a few years ago did nearly
get rid of this article of dress, and I never heard that they
suffered from it. But I am now to speak of the danger of
compressing the head from the weight or fitting on of this
article of dress. Children and women seem to be in little
danger in this respect. The caps of children are fight and fit
loosely on their heads ; so of womens bonnets. This cannot be
said of the hats of men. The hat is a melancholy instance
of the utter inability of man to throw off the shackles of
custom. The modern chimney-pot hat, with its small brim, is
about as ridiculous and unsuitable an article of dress as could
possibly be devised. Who could for a moment see it on the
head of a Greek Apollo, Mercury, Cupid, or Hercules, without
roaring with laughter? Who that wears it does not feel
its inconvenience? Its weight necessarily compresses the
head ; and in order that it may resist the currents of
our atmosphere, it is always pushed down upon the head
in such a way as to produce a dangerous compression of the

2 A 2

344

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

blood-vessels of the scalp, and may lead to headaches, giddiness,
and even more serious results. The head-dress of our soldiers
is even more objectionable still. The shako frequently weighs
from ten to fifteen ounces, whilst the bear- skin hat reaches a
weight of between two and three pounds. Such head-gear can
perhaps be borne by courageous men, even under the influence
of a July sun in this climate, but it becomes insupportable
in hot climates, especially when long marches have to be
made.

A recent physiological writer attributes the more frequent
baldness among men as compared with women, to the heat
and compression of the hats that are usually worn. If no
other form can be devised, and they must be made of the
unyielding materials employed for their manufacture, they
should at least be made as light as possible, and instead of
black they should be white. In hats, as well as in body-
clothes, white has the advantage of keeping off the heat in
summer, and keeping in the heat in winter.

From the head I pass to the neck. If any one will
attentively consider the structure of the human body, he
will see that the great veins which carry the blood from the
interior of the head are placed not very low down in the neck,
and are easily compressed from the outside. Such compres-
sion congests the brain, and may produce even effusion on
the brain. The necks of children are not often compressed
by collars or other articles of dress, and women generally dress
their necks with great freedom from constraint. It is amongst
men that the ridiculous and entirely unnecessary custom of
clothing the neck has come to be, through fashion, a source of
serious mischief by compressing the great veins of the neck.
The habit of fastening the collar tight round the throat, and of
covering this with a neckcloth or stock, is almost universal
amongst European and Anglo-American men. It has been
adopted by the armies of Europe, and has nowhere been
carried to greater excess than in the English army. One
object of this arrangement is undoubtedly to keep the head
up, and this has the advantage of throwing up the chest so as
to keep the whole body upright over the great centre of sup-
port, the pelvis. It is however quite worthy of consideration
as to whether this object could not be much better obtained by
proper drill, than by an arrangement which endangers the cir-
culation in the brain, and may be productive of dangerous
disease. With whatever impunity such strangulation may be
borne by the young and the vigorous, there can be no question
as to its disastrous results amongst the feeble and the aged, in
whom the walls of the blood-vessels of the brain are neces-
sarily weakened, and which at any time may give way from

ON PEOPLE CLOTHING. 315

any obstruction to the free return of their contents to the
heart.

From the head and neck we may pass to the body. One of
the great objects of clothing is to keep the body, independent
of the head and extremities, warm. Hence the great bulk of
all kinds of garments are attached to the body by belts, braces,
stays, bandages, and other devices. We need hardly refer
here to the now exploded practice of swaddling children in
innumerable folds of bandages. This practice is now pursued
amongst barbarous races, but the evils attendant upon it are
generally perceived amongst intelligent communities. It still,
however, occasionally happens that the clothes of an infant aro
so tightly placed round its body, as seriously to interfere with
the proper functions of the lungs, and lead to diseases which
end in death.

The active occupations of men have led them very generally
to dispense with body- clothing that seriously interferes with
the muscles of respiration, and the functions of the abdominal
viscera. Those men who are not beyond the reach of the
caprices of fashion, have sometimes adopted a dress which has
involved a very grave departure from that freedom of move-
ment of the muscles of the body which is essential to health.

It is, however, in the other sex that a style of dress has been
adopted which is open to the strongest possible condemnation,
from its dangerous compression of the body. The loose robes
of the women of antiquity have been exchanged for the ban-
dages and corsets of modern dress. This system has resulted
in the adoption of articles of dress, which not only compress
the blood-vessels of the body, producing congestion, but
restrain the action of those muscles which are essential to the
proper movement of the whole body, and the due performance
of the functions of respiration. A further evil has been demon-
strated, in the fact that these articles of dress being worn by
growing girls, the skeleton of the body has been actually dis-
torted by the artificial pressure, and personal deformity has
been the result. This has not been an exceptional result ;
whole classes of our countrywomen have laboured under this
deformity, and the only class amongst them in which the
thorax has been allowed free development is that which, perform-
ing the labour of men, have found out that an artificial method of
dressing is incompatible with their work. The reign of fashion
lias perhaps recently relaxed in some measure in this respect ;
but the idea of woman as to what should constitute the central
portion of her dress, must be revolutionized before we can
expect this dangerous and deforming system of dress to be
abolished. There ought to be no tampering with it, and a
new idea of comeliness in female dress must be substituted, if

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

we would get rid of the evils which result from the present
fashion of compressing the bust with stays or corsets.

Every writer on Hygiene has unequivocally condemned this
absurd custom, and there is no practitioner of medicine but
has witnessed the destructive influence that the corset has on
health. The compression produced by it diminishes the action
of the lungs, and leads to those deposits which fatally
destroy life in consumption, whilst the diminished activity and
action of the body engendered, lays the foundation of those
dyspeptic and nervous diseases to which the great mass
of our middle and upper class females are liable.

What is true of the head, neck, and body, is also true
of the extremities. Any article of dress so fastened as
to prevent a free return of the blood to the heart, congests the
vessels below the part compressed. Bracelets, armlets,
wristbands, and garters, may all be so worn as to produce
painful affections of the limbs compressed.

There is no member of the extremities which has been
more disgracefully used than the foot. This wonderful organ,
by the perfection of which God has “ made man upright-,”
and whose structure so pre-eminently distinguishes him from
his recently so called “ great-grandfather,” the Gorilla, has
been made to suffer from compression more generally than
any other organ. The thought at once suggests the cruel
practice of the Chinese, who prevent the growth of the female
foot, by placing it in infancy in an unyielding shoe. This
fact has had the universal testimony of travellers, in China,
and if anything more was wanted to prove it, a collection
of the feet of Chinese women is at present to be seen in the
Museum of the College of Surgeons of England, in which, by
the careful dissections of Mr. Flower, the Curator, the sad
havoc to natural growth produced by this heartless custom is
scientifically demonstrated.

The great object of the shoe is to protect the sole of
the foot from the injury it is likely to sustain by the weight of
the body pressing it against the irregularity of the surface of
the earth. The sole of the shoe is therefore its chief use. It
is, however, necessary to use some kind of strap or bandage
to keep the sole upon the foot. The simplest form of foot
dress in which this object is secured is the sandal, worn by the
less-civilized nations of the earth, as well as the more ancient.
It is found, however, that other objects may be accomplished
by aid of the pressure necessary for keeping the sole on the
foot, and coverings for the foot and leg have been attached to
the sole; hence the modern boot and shoe. Hence also the
suffering of the modern foot. The form of the boot and shoe
has proved no exception to that love of the grotesque, which

ON PEOPLE CLOTHING.

347

lias compelled mankind in all ages to submit to tbe suf-
ferings inflicted by fashion. Boots and shoes have been made
of every form almost, save that of the human foot, and the
consequence has been the production of painful diseases on
the surface of the foot, and a distortion of its bones and
muscles. This is not a mere assertion. Let any one take a
model of the feet of the beautiful Grecian statues, and compare
it with the model of a living foot- — the foot of the Medicean
Venus for instance, with that of a modern belle, or the foot of
Hercules with that of one of our labourers or soldiers. It will
at once be seen how terribly our unthinking and unnatural
way of dressing the foot has worked against its primitive
beauty and strength. That a shoe made of leather should fit
the foot, would seem a proposition to which every one would
assent, yet the assertion may be safely made, that not one
shoe out of ten thousand made by modern shoemakers fits the
foot at all. By dint of custom, like the Chinese women, we
manage to submit, without complaining, to the vulgar
caricatures of the form of the foot, which characterize our
modern boots and shoes.

Nor is this compression, which produces corns and bunions,
chilblains, ulcerations between the toes, and loss of the nails,
the only fault to be found with modern shoes. The Creator
has made this part of the human sole flat, but the shoemaker
has discovered that the foot of the gorilla and chimpanzee,
which compels them to walk on their toes, is more elegant.
They accordingly exalt the heel by an extra piece of leather on
the sole, and thus give to the human figure a monkey-like
gait. If our young women knew how they are distorting their
appearance by this practice, surely they would give up wearing
high-heeled boots.*

But we must leave the subject of compression to say a few
words on other abuses of dress. Fashion and indolence have
brought on an evil which ought to be avoided, and this is the
insufficient clothing of young females and children. The
fashion of exposing the neck and shoulders in women has
undoubtedly led to serious evils. The cooling down of the
whole body thus produced is more than the circulating system
can bear, and congestion of the lungs and the great vascular
organs in the interior of the body is the result. It is too often
the case that this system of dressing engenders a susceptibility
to slight draughts, which, being prevented, more serious

* Those who do not consider the health and comfort of their bodies as too
insignificant for attention, will do well to consult on this subject, Mr.
Humphreys’ book on the “ Structure of the Foot and Hand,” and Mr.
Dowie’s book on the “Foot and its Coverings.”

348

POPULAR science review.

mischiefs than any which lead to the access of fresh air are
produced. It is in such cases as this that we see the folly of
attempting to remedy one set of evils without knowing what
may follow from another. Fresh air, however necessary to
life, is death to those who are clothed insufficiently. This
should he especially recollected with regard to little children,
whose tender frames are far less able to endure cold than
those of grown-up persons. Yet they are excluded from fresh
air, and the greatest carelessness is displayed in dressing
them. Directly a 'baby leaves off its long clothes it is in
danger of being underclothed. This danger is increased when
it can run alone, and it is exposed to the outside air, with
an amount of destitution of garments for its lower extremities,
which, if it occurred in grown-up persons, would at once
suggest the necessity of further clothing for the sake of
warmth. If the idea, then, can once be comprehended that
children of tender years are more susceptible of cold than
grown-up persons, a very different kind of dressing would take
place, and a holocaust of victims at the shrine of inflammation
of the lungs would be saved.

I need hardly enter here upon the importance of changing
and cleaning clothes. At the same time, this is a subject that
demands more attention than it has yet received. The habit
of wearing dark-coloured clothes instead of light-coloured
ones, has its origin in economical considerations, and it would
be well to consider whether an amount of dirt is not thus
tolerated, which may go far to the spread and production of
disease. Dark-coloured clothes after they are worn a little
time become dirty, and are as objectionable as light-coloured
clothes under the same circumstances, although the dirt
cannot be seen.

But I must leave all other abuses of dress, to consider
evils of a wider extent. To heap more clothes on the back
than is necessary, is a great evil in both sexes. One of the
dangers of too much dress is that, unless it is adjusted so as
to press equally and bear directly upon the pelvis — the chief
centre of support of the body — it is likely to produce defor-
mity. Heavy coats, shirts, or body dresses of any kind, may
have their weight thrown too much before or behind, or on
one side, and produce deformity. The evil is one to which
man is much less exposed than woman. To obtain an ample
surface on which to display the beautiful fabrics of cotton and
of silk, which have been expressly manufactured for her in
patterns of the most wonderful variety and in colours of sur-
passing beauty and harmony, she has submitted to an enlarge-
ment of the skirts of her dress, which, by its weight, endangers
the symmetry of her frame ; and by its extending beyond the
reach of her control, runs the risk of perils which exposes her

ON PROPER CLOTHING.

349

to tlie most horrible of deaths. This fashion of extended
skirts has come in and gone out, from mere caprice. Our
grandmothers wore hoops, and our mothers laughed at their
folly ; but our sisters, wives, and daughters have revived the
folly, with results more melancholy than any connected with
the previous exhibitions of this fashion.

I have not alluded in this paper to the inconveniences of
dress, and I shall not, therefore, consider the present fashion
of female dress on this ground. That our rooms have grown
less — that our freedom of intercourse in the drawing-room is
interrupted — that our vehicles are encumbered — that our
places of worship will hold fewer — that our sick-rooms are
unnecessarily swept, and our shins injured by steel hoops,- —
are grievances that no one would think of referring to ; but
when the question is one of life and death, then it seems
necessary that the subject should be discussed. Are we
justified in submitting to any fashion, which can be proved
annually to sacrifice several hundreds of victims in our own
country alone ?

I will state a few facts. In one year — from the 1st of
August, 1862, to the 31st of July, 1863 — forty-eight inquests
were held on persons burned to death, in the central district
of Middlesex, comprising nearly a million of people. Of these,
thirteen were males, and thirty-five were females. Of the
males, eight were under five years of age ; and of the females,
nine were under that age. Of the whole, thirty- one were
above five years of age. Now mark the influence of dress.
Of the thirty-one who were burned over five years of age,
there were three boys and two men; but there were eight
girls and eighteen women. Above a third of the whole were
women above twenty years of age. But the deaths from burning
in this district of London are actually below the average deaths
from this cause in the whole community ; and the Registrar -
general's returns present us with the frightful fact, that eight
persons are burned to death every day in England and Wales,
and of these, above one-eighth are grown-up women.

I cannot here give any facts to show whether the health
of women has been improved by the introduction of the recent
fashion of wearing extended dresses, but it is a most noto-
rious fact that the more extended the dress the more likely
it is to catch fire. Not only do I think it worthy the con-
sideration of women how far they can divest themselves of the
extent of skirt which endangers their lives, but I think it a
question deserving their utmost consideration as to whether
their dress is not altogether unfitted for a climate, where fires,
and gas-lamps, and candles, are the necessary adjuncts of our
civilization. It is all very well to talk sentiment about what
is becoming to women, or to make fun of those who wish to

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

reform their dress ; but it is a question in morals, as to whether
we ought to support, on the ground of fashion, a mode of
dressing which, in this country alone, immolates, every five
years as large a number of women as perished in the heart-
rending catastrophe of Santiago.

It should, however, be remembered that extent of dress
alone is not the only cause of these accidents. The nature
of the materials of which women's dresses are composed is
greatly conducive to the production of accidents by fire.
Cotton and linen are eminently combustible materials, and as
long as the boy is dressed in his Holland pinafore and his
calico frock he is as much in danger of being burnt as his
little sister. But directly he gets into breeches his chances of
being burned diminish, as much on account of the form as the
nature of the material he wears.

If it must be denied to our girls and women to wear either
the form or the material of the dress of boys, there is one thing
left that we can do. Chemistry has put into our possession
a variety of compounds, soluble in water, which if applied to
linen and cotton will render them flame-proof, if not un-
inflammable. Such compounds are, tungstate of soda, sulphate
of ammonia, sulphate of zinc, sal-ammoniac, alum, and com-
mon salt. Any of these substances may be put into the starch
with which cotton and linen goods are got up after they are
manufactured and washed. Starches have been patented with
these substances in them, and druggists sell the salts, with
directions for use ; but up to the present moment little or no
effect has been produced. Every now and then the news-
papers startle the community with the fact that another
mother of a family has been burned by crinoline. Society
duly observes, regrets, and forgets the circum stance. Some
effect might perhaps be made if each daily newspaper could
record, as it occurred, the deaths of the women that die every
day victims to burning. If the children and men were added
to this portion of the eight who die, it might increase the
anxiety of society on the point. But it should be recollected
that there must be added to this the sufferings of those who do
not die. Where one burned person dies, ten get well, amid
the greatest suffering and the most acute of agonies. Are not
these sufferings, and this death, worthy of an effort to save ?

I must now, however, leave the whole subject of dress to
the consideration of thoughtful persons. I have been prompted
to make these remarks in the hope that I may assist any who
may seriously think it worth their while to make an effort to
rescue the art of dressing from the domain of Fashion, and
place it under the laws and direction of Reason.

Plate/XLV.

Absorption/ auAy lindjiuJuion/of IleaJ/ by- Golovs and/ Vapours.
fProm/JPouisastions of thrUoyaL SocwJy.J

*»n

351

ON THE ABSORPTION AND RADIATION OF
HEAT.

BY H. DEBUS, Fh.D., F.R.S.

OUR knowledge of heat has received during the last few
years considerable additions through the researches of
Professor Tyndall, of the Royal Institution. The results of
his investigations not only explain some of the grand opera-
tions of nature, but also allow the philosopher a more correct
estimation of molecular actions. The following contains a
short account of Mr. Tyndall’s researches and results, and of
the theoretical views by means of which the latter may be
explained. Till very lately the majority of philosophers
supposed heat to be an invisible substance, without weight,
endowed with great elastic force, and corresponding tendency
to expand. It was thought to surround the atoms of bodies
like an atmosphere, and to fill the spaces between their
molecules. On account of the simple explanations which this
theory afforded of most of the phenomena of heat, it was able
to maintain its position in the domain of science, even after
the discovery of facts for which it was not able to account.
Such facts are the production of heat by friction and per-
cussion, and the conversion of heat into mechanical force.

Count Rumford was struck by the great amount of heat
developed by the boring of cannon, in one case sufficient
to boil 18f lb. of water, and Davy transformed ice into water
by rubbing two pieces of ice together. In each case a very
great quantity of heat was developed, and the question may
be asked, (\ [ whence did the heat come ?”

Locke says, Heat is a very brisk agitation of the insensible
parts of the object, which produce in us that sensation from
whence we denominate the object hot : so what in our

sensation is heat, in the object is nothing but motion A
Bacon and Davy held similar views. The theory of heat now
adopted by the most distinguished scientific authorities,
considers heat to be a mode of motion of the infinitely small
particles, called atoms or molecules, of which bodies are com-
posed, the conduction of heat being the propagation of this
motion from one part of the body to another. If we feel the

352

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

sensation of heat, the motions of the particles of the hot body
are imparted to our nerves, and by friction the particles
of bodies are caused to assume that peculiar motion which
announces itself to our senses as heat.

It is, however, well known that heat may pass through
a vacuum, and that the sun’s rays pass, on their way to
our globe, through immense spaces considered void of matter.
How is heat, according to the dynamical theory, transmitted
through a vacuum? In order to account for such trans-
mission, the whole of the universe and the pores of all bodies
are supposed to be filled with a medium of extreme tenuity and
almost infinite elasticity, called ether. A sounding bell causes
the elastic air to vibrate, and when the vibrations reach our
ears we obtain the sensation of sound. In an analogous
manner, a hot substance induces vibrations in the ether, which
spread in all directions with immense velocity along straight
lines, until their progress is stopped or their direction changed
by some obstacle in their path. This sort of motion, called
radiant heat, may take place in a vacuum, because the ether is
supposed to be everywhere present. If the heat-waves strike
against a substance placed in their way, their motion is
imparted to the atoms of the body, and thus the temperature of
the substance is raised, or they are reflected, or they are allowed
to pass through the substance. The reflection, absorption, and
transmission of radiant heat in solid and liquid bodies has
been examined by the illustrious Melloni ; he also attempted
to ascertain by experiment if gases do absorb sensible
quantities of radiant heat. Kays, allowed to pass through
a column of air 18 feet long, did not exhibit any diminution
in their intensity. On the other hand. Dr. Franz, of Berlin,
found that air contained in a tube three feet long absorbed
about 3*5 per cent, of the heat radiated from an Argand
lamp. Both results are incorrect; Melloni’ s apparatus was not
sensitive enough, and Franz’s arrangement gave results which
were not at all due to absorption.

Except one experiment, by Sir H. Davy, these are, we
believe, the only attempts made to measure directly the
transmission and absorption of heat by gases. If gases
absorb heat at all, more decided and valuable results may be
expected from their examination than either from solids or
liquids. In gases we have not to contend with disturbing
influences, such as the force of cohesion, and therefore the
laws which govern radiation and absorption will reveal them-
selves in more simple forms. Also the influence of our
atmosphere on solar and terrestrial radiation would become
known in such an inquiry.

The most obvious way to determine experimentally the

ON THE ABSORPTION AND RADIATION OP HEAT. 353

transmission of radiant heat through gases, would be to pass
heat from a constant source through an exhausted vessel, and
to determine the amount transmitted ; to fill then the vessel,
with the gas or vapour to be examined, and determine, whilst
the vessel is still exposed to the same source of heat, the
transmitted heat again. The difference between both results
would express the heat absorbed by the gas. This method is
not sufficiently sensitive in the case of air and some other
gases. Mr. Tyndall therefore had recourse to a most ingenious
process, which will be best understood from the following
description.

The instrument used for measuring the heat was the well-
known thermo-pile of Seebeck and Melloni. It consists of a
bundle of bars of bismuth and antimony, the single bars
separated from each other by gypsum or some other non-con-
ductor of electricity, but soldered together alternately at their
ends. The two end-pieces of this so-called pile are connected
with the copper wire of a galvanometer. Rays of heat impinging
on one of the faces of the thermo-pile, develop in the latter
an electric current, which during its passage through the
copper wire deflects the magnetic needle of the galvanometer.
An increase of the heat would augment the deflection of the
needle. If we suppose our source of heat and its distance
from the pile so chosen, that the radiant heat after passing
through an exhausted tube would cause a deflection of 1 0° of
the needle, then admission of an absorbing gas would cut
off some of the rays of heat, and the needle would recede to a
proportionate extent. W e will assume the needle to point to
9x9o° after admission of air. A difference of TV° could scarcely
be appreciated, and would therefore be a very doubtful result.
The absolute amount of heat to cause the needle to move
through an arc of 10° is very small. A moro powerful flux of
heat would increase the deflection and also the absorption. If
we suppose the needle to have been deflected 81° bv radiant
heat passing through an exhausted tube, an absorption of
1 per cent, of this amount could scarcely be detected by a
retrograde movement of the needle, for it requires much more
heat to move the needle from 80° to 81°, than from 9° to 10°;
the galvanometer is more sensitive when the needle is near
zero. Hence, if the instrument could be kept in this sensitive
condition, whilst the substances to be examined are exposed
to a very powerful flux of heat, the attending’ absorption might
be detected.

If the needle of the galvanometer is in its normal position,
heat, which falls on one side of the thermo-pile, will always cause
a deflection in the same direction ; but if the heat is allowed to
meet the opposite face of the pile, a deflection opposite in

354

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

direction to the former will result. Therefore, if equal quan-
tities of heat fall simultaneously on both sides of the pile, the
effect produced by the one source will be counterbalanced by
the equal effect of the other source, and the needle will remain
at zero.

Let SS1 represent a glass tube 2' 9" long and 2*4 inches
in diameter; the ends of this glass tube closed air-tight by
plates of rock salt, in order that the tube may be used empty
or filled with the gas to be examined. By means of air-pump
A A, through the opened stop-cock S, SS' can be exhausted,
and the gas to be examined admitted into experimental tube
S S' through the flexible tube j) n. JSTN is the galvanometer,
P the thermo-pile, and C a cube filled with hot water. Moving
carefully screen H by means of a screw, such an amount of
heat may be allowed to impinge from cube C' against the pile
P, as to counterbalance the effect produced by the heat passing
through the exhausted experimental tube SS' and striking
against the opposite face of the thermo-pile. Now, if a gas
be admitted through n p, a portion of the heat passing through
S S' will be absorbed, unequal amounts of heat will fall on
the two sides of the pile, and the source C will preponderate.
Accordingly, a deflection in this sense takes place, and the
degree of deflection indicates the amount of absorption by the
gas in SS'. The heat is supplied to SS' in the following
manner. G is a cube with boiling water, or as in most ex-
periments, a copper hood kept at the constant temperature of
about 270° C and united by bracing with tube P, eight inches
long, which in its turn is joined ah- tight to S S'. During the
experiments, chamber F is kept exhausted, and in order to
prevent conduction of heat from G to SS', F is surrounded
by a chamber through which a continual current of cold water
is passing. 0 0, which is graduated and filled with mercury,
communicates through cl cl with tube S S' ; it serves to deter-
mine the tension of the gas to be examined in S S'. Y, B, Z,
are tubes used in purifying and drying the gases. Pure air,
oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, admitted respectively into S S',
caused a deflection of the needle of 1°. The total amount of
heat, passed through the exhausted experimental tube, deflected
the needle of the galvanometer 71° 5 ; if the amount of heat
necessary to move the needle from zero to 1° be taken as a
unit, the above 71° 5 deflection corresponds to 308 units.
Hence, the absorption exercised by the gases mentioned
amounts to 0‘33 per cent, of the entire heat presented to them.
Very striking results were obtained with olefiant gas. Of 360
units of heat transmitted through the exhausted experimental
tube, 290, or more than seven- ninths, were absorbed after the
admission of olefiant gas. This result entirely removes the

ON THE ABSORPTION AND RADIATION OF HEAT. 355

notion hitherto held, that gases are almost perfectly diather-
manous (transparent for heat).

We find ammonia even a more powerful absorber than
olefiant gas, indeed, it is almost black to rays of heat emanating
from a source of low temperature. When the gas was in the
tube, the interposition of a double metallic screen between the
pile and source augmented the deflection very slightly.

In all experiments hitherto mentioned, gas at the tension of
one atmosphere was employed. At lower tensions, the absorp-
tion becomes less, but the results obtained with different gases
are still more striking than those arrived at under ordinary
pressure. One, two, or more measures of olefiant gas were
allowed to diffuse through the experimental tube S S', and the
consequent deflections of the needle observed.

By this means we arrive at the result that at low tensions the
absorptions are proportional to the quantity of gas admitted
into the experimental tube. One measure of olefiant gas
absorbs a quantity of heat expressed by the number 2*2 and
10 measures of gas 2'2 x 10 = 22 of heat. The same rule
holds good for other gases; but this proportion does not
obtain when large quantities are employed.

Hence, the absorptions are only proportional to the quantity
of the gas when small quantities are employed.

If we assume oxygen, nitrogen, air, and hydrogen to absorb
at one-inch tension one-thirtieth of the quantity of radiant
heat which they do absorb at 30-inch tension, an assumption
which cannot be far from the truth, and take the amount
of heat absorbed by air at one-inch tension as unity, we obtain
the extraordinary result, that for tensions of one inch of
mercury the absorption of ammonia is over seven thousand
times, the absorption of olefiant gas seven thousand nine
hundred and fifty times, whilst the action of sulphurous acid
is eight thousand eight hundred times that of air.

Melloni found in the case of solids and liquids, that trans-
parency for light and transmission of heat are independent of
each other. Dark brown chloride of sulphur transmitted 63
per cent., and colourless transparent water only 11 per cent,
of radiant heat from the same source. Professor Tyndall
observed analogous comportment in gases. Hydrobromic
acid is transparent and colourless like air, bromine vapour
of a dark brown colour, yet the former absorbs nearly eight
times as much heat as the latter.

The elements are all bad absorbers, whereas the superior
absorbers are all compound bodies. In general, it may be
said that, everything else remaining the same, the absorbing
energy of a molecule increases when its structure becomes
more complicated. Thus carbonic acid is a better absorber

356

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

than carbonic oxide, nitrous oxide (N2 0) a better absorber
than nitric oxide {NO), and ammonia (NHS) superior to
either. This circumstance may be beautifully observed in
the case of nitric oxide. The gas is quite colourless and
transparent like air, but, as soon as it comes in contact with
oxygen, both combine, and form pernitric oxide, a gas of
a deep brown colour.

Nitric oxide. Oxygen. Pem'.tric oxide.

Pure nitric oxide caused an absorption expressed by the
number 1590, but as soon as air or oxygen was admitted to
it, the effect or radiant heat was increased more than twenty-
fold. Pernitric oxide is nearly of the colour of bromine
vapour; but, notwithstanding this, the nitrogen compound
possesses perhaps more than a hundred times the absorbing
energy of bromine for radiant heat.

Results similar to the above were obtained with ozone.
Pure oxygen, made in the ordinary way, deflects, as will
be remembered, the needle one degree. Electrolytic oxygen
(obtained by decomposing water with a galvanic current) gave
Mr. Tyndall deflections ranging from 20° to 136°, according to
the conditions observed in the preparation of the oxygen gas.
If the plates which conducted the current into the water
were of small size, an oxygen was obtained which gave greater
deflections than was the case when larger plates were used ;
also a more energetic oxygen was developed when the
temperature of the decomposing liquid was kept near the
freezing-point. Oxygen which escaped from a decomposing
cell, surrounded by salt and ice, gave an absorption of 136.
Now, it is known that electrolytic oxygen contains variable
quantities of ozone — in all cases, probably, much less than
one per cent. Those specimens, which, according to the
mode of their preparation, ought to have been rich in ozone,
also proved the best absorbers of radiant heat. If, on the
other hand, the ozone was removed from the oxygen, then the
latter lost most of its absorbing energy, and sunk down to the
level of pure oxygen.

It has been remarked that compound bodies are far superior
to the elements as absorbers of radiant heat : hence Pro-
fessor Tyndall concludes, if ozone be a modified oxygen, two
or more atoms of ordinary oxygen must have collapsed and
formed a compound group or molecule. If so, ozone ought
to occupy less space than oxygen. These conclusions of Pro-
fessor Tyndall are in harmony with the investigations of
Andrews and Tait, and of the more recent ones of Yon Babo.
Oxygen may be converted, under the influence of electricity

ON THE ABSORPTION AND RADIATION OF HEAT, 357

of great tension, into ozone ; and the latter, at a red heat,
may be reconverted into oxygen. Yon Babo showed that
oxygen contracts when partially transformed into ozone, and
assumes its original volume as soon as the ozone is recon-
verted into oxygen.

In order to get a clearer insight into the action of different
bodies on radiant heat, we must for a moment consider the
heat vibrations of the ether. If radiant heat is absorbed by
a substance, the vibratory motion of the ether is transferred
to the molecules of the body, ceases to exist as radiant heat,
and the absorbing substance becomes heated. Vibrations of
the ether which are transmitted through a substance pass
the atoms or molecules of the latter without opposition. A
good absorber, therefore, has a special aptitude to receive
motion from the vibrating ether, which aptitude depends on
the chemical and physical nature of the absorbing body.

Elements like oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and bromine are
not so good absorbers as their compounds. If we imagine
elements to consist of single atoms, compound bodies would
be formed by the union of two or more atoms into one group
or molecule, — hydrochloric acid of an atom of chlorine and
hydrogen, water of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen,
ammonia of three atoms of hydrogen and one of nitrogen. A
compound like ammonia, composed of four atoms, would pre-
sent to the vibrating ether a greater surface, and therewith
more resistance, than a single atom like chlorine ; hence, the
latter would receive less motion from the vibrating ether, or,
in other words, would be a worse absorber of radiant heat
than the compound ammonia. Similar considerations would
apply to other elements and compounds. Another influence,
of a physical nature, must be coupled with this explanation of
the difference in absorbing energy exhibited by various bodies.
Vibrations are periodical motions, like the swinging to and
fro of a pendulum. The time of one vibration is the time
consumed whilst one movement to and fro takes place.. The
periods of a pendulum may vary according to the length of
the pendulum ; also the vibrations of the ether are of different
periods, longer or shorter, according to the nature of the
body which is their cause. The atoms of substances, be
they solids, liquids, or gases, cannot under given conditions
vibrate in all possible periods, but each substance has a pre-
ference for certain periods, and will be the best absorber
of such radiant heat which consists of vibrations of those
periods. The rays of one source of heat would be most
abundantly absorbed by a substance, the molecules of which
vibrate in periods coincident with those of the source of heat.

(To be concluded in No. XII.)

VOL. III. — NO. XI. 2

BOTANICAL EXERCISES.

BY THE REV. G. HENSLOW, M.A., E.L.S.

UNDER the impression that whatever may tend to popu-
larize the various branches of Natural Science will not
be unacceptable to our readers, we venture to offer, for the
benefit of beginners, a series of floral exercises, as an assistance
to self-instruction in the study of structural botany. And if
any be already botanists, and are desirous of extending a love
of this science amongst their friends or pupils, the following
description of the use of the “ Floral Schedule/'* we doubt not,
will be found advantageous.

Just as a knowledge of arithmetic can only be acquired by
working out numerous examples ; of geometry or logic, by the
study of problems ; so it will be found, by adopting the method
here proposed, that a knowledge of structural botany will be
gained far more rapidly, and, we can assure our readers, with
far more amusement than any prolonged study of books or
flowers alone is capable of affording.

We will now at once proceed to describe and explain how to
use the Floral Schedule.*

It consists of a blank form, containing
seven columns divided into spaces, and
having the names of the floral “ whorls”
arranged in the first, on the left-hand side,
as shown in the accompanying diagram.

The second column is headed No., and
in the spaces beneath are to be inserted
the actual number of parts in each whorl,
ascertained by inspection and analogy
jointly. For example, suppose we take
a Wall-flower. Removing each sepal of
the calyx, the number will be observed
to be four, so that 4 must be written opposite the words

The Floral Schedule was invented by tke late Professor Henslow, and
extensively used by him, with the most satisfactory results, both in his lecture-
room at Cambridge and in his own village-school at Hitcham, Suffolk.
Already many teachers have adopted it, and all testify to the great utility of
its introduction, wherever a knowledge of structural and systematic botany is
desired. A more elaborate paper on School Botany will be found in the
“ Museum,” vol. iii. p. 43. Also a brief description of the Professor’s method
of teaching botany in his village-school, in the “ Leisure Hour,” No, 565,

Flower.

No.

Pistil, carpels

Stamen

Filament

Anther

Corolla, petals
Calyx, sepals

Perianth, leaves

BOTANICAL EXERCISES.

359

“ calyx, sepals,33 Similarly for the petals. The stamens will
be found six in number, and the carpels two, so that these
numbers must be inserted accordingly, and the first column
of the Schedule will now stand thus : —

The third column is headed u Cohe-
sion. ^ This word refers to the condition
which is sometimes presented by the parts
of the whorls being united; as e. g. in the
Primrose, where the five sepals are com-
bined into one piece (cohere), as also are
the petals of the corolla. The words used
to express this condition are gamosepalous
and gamopetalous respectively ; whereas
when the sepals and petals are perfectly
distinct, as in the wall-flower, the words
polysepalous and polypetalous are employed.

In certain cases, the calyx and corolla are undistinguishable,
as in the tulip. Such two whorls are then called a perianth,
while its parts are called leaves, and take the place of both
calyx and corolla. The terms employed to express the cohe-
sion or separability of its parts or leaves are gamophy lions
and polypliyllous respectively.*

For the number of stamens, a word is formed by the union
of the termination androus with a Greek numeral prefix.
For the benefit of readers unacquainted with that language,
we subjoin the numerals as far as they are required : — 0, an ;
1, mon ; 2, di ; 3, tri ; 4, tetr ; 5, pent ; 6, hex ; 7, hept ; 8, oct ;
9, enne; 10, dec; more than 10, i.e. infinite; 00, poly.

There are three other words occasionally required in the
space appropriated to the description of the stamens ; viz.,
dynamous , adelphous, and syngenesious. The first two are to
be inserted opposite the word “ filament,” the last opposite
“ anther.” Dynamous is used only in conjunction with the pre-
fixes di and tetr a, and the latter ( tetr a ) exclusively with reference
to plants of the order Cruciferae, to indicate the fact, that of the
six stamens, four are longer than two. Didynamous is likewise
used for certain plants of the orders Labiatae and Scrophu-
lariaceae, to show that of the four stamens, two are longer than
two. The word adelphous requires the prefixes mon, di, tri,
pent, and poly, and expresses the fact, that in these cases the
filaments cohere into one, two, three, five, or many bundles or

# Professor Henslow adopted the word perianth exclusively for the peta-
loid division of Monocotyledons ; for all dicotyledonous plants which exhi-
bited no true distinction between the calyx and corolla, the outermost whorl
was called calyx. Some botanists, however, employ the word perianth for
the 4th section, Incomplete, of Dicotyledons as well.

Flower.

No.

Pistil, carpels

2

Stamen )

Filament >

6

Anther )

Corolla, petals

4

Calyx, sepals

4

2 B 2

360

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

sets respectively. As examples of tlie first four kinds, may be
mentioned tbe mallow, pea,, common bypericum, and the tutsan
liypericum.

The word syngenesious is to be used with all Composite,
Lobeliaceae, &c., where the anthers cohere but not the filaments.

In the last (uppermost) space devoted to “ pistil, carpels,”
the words apocarpous and syncarpous are to be inserted,
according as the pistil consists of one, or more than one, free
carpel; or, when there are two or more cohering carpels. The
pea, ranunculus, and rose, are instances of the first ; the
wall-flower, mallow, and tulip, examples of the second case.

Returning to our Wall-flower, the first two columns will now
stand thus : —

The fourth column is
headed “ Adhesion,” in
reference to the fact that
different whorls are fre-
quently combined, or “ad-
here” together. Thus,
in all species of the Ro-
sacese, the stamens and
petals will be found ad-
hering to the calyx, and
in the Compositse, Umbelliferae, &c., the calyx, corolla, and
stamens are all adherent to the ovary.

We subjoin a brief description of the terms to be employed
in this column : —

/If the calyx, or Monochlamydeous * perianth do not adhere
\ to the ovary, the calyx is Inferior and the ovary Superior.
\ If they adhere, the ovary is considered to he Inferior and
I the calyx Superior, the free portions of which, when
v present, appear as if inserted upon the ovary.

\ Not adhering to the calyx or ovary, but inserted '

) immediately on the floral receptacle.

/ Adhering partially to the calyx, or to a Mono-
chlamydeous perianth, the free portions
( appearing as if inserted upon it.

j Adhering partially to the ovary, the free por-
) tions appearing as if inserted upon it.

j Stamens adhering partly to the corolla, their free portions
l appearing as if inserted upon it.

/ Stamens adhering to both ovaiy and style, so that a central
) column is formed by them, upon which both anthers and
( stigmas are seated. As e. g. in the order Orchidacese.

* The word “ Monochlamydeous ” signifies having only one floral envelope.

restricted
to the
) corolla
and

stamens.

Superior

and

Inferior

Hypogynous

Perigynous

Epigynous

Epipetalous

Gynandrous

Flower.

No.

Cohesion. j

Pistil, carpels

2

Syncarpous

Stamen )

Hexandrous

Filament >

6

Tetradynamous

Anther )

Corolla, petals'

4

Polypetalous

Calyx, sepals

4

Polysepalous

BOTANICAL EXERCISES.

361

We will now resume our examination of the Wall-flower. The
sepals being easily removable, in consequence of no adhesion
existing between them and the ovary, we insert the word
“ inferior” opposite to “ calyx sepals ;” and, for the same
reason, we may at once write “superior” opposite to “pistil
carpels.” The corolla and stamens will be found “hypo-
gynous,” so that the fourth column is now complete; the
fifth column being reserved for the classification. The
Schedule will now stand as follows : —

Fiower.

No.

Cohesion.

Adhesion.

Classification.

Pis. car.

2

Syncarpous

Superior.

Class. — Dicotyledon.
Division. — Angiospermous.
Section. — Thalamifloral.
Order. — Crucif era.

Genus. — W all-flower.

1 Species. — Common.

Sto. )
Fil. }
Anth. )

6

Hexandrous

Tetradynamous

Hypogynous.

Cor. pet.
| Cal. sep.

4

4

Polypetalous

Polysepalous

Hypogynous.

Inferior.

The sixth and seventh spaces are devoted to the Leaf and In-
florescence ; for the former, the description is given under the
following heads : — Composition (simple or compound) ; Insertion
(petiolate, sessile, amplexicaul, &c.) ; Position (radical or cau-
line) ; Stipulation (stipulate or exstipulate) ; Form (ovate,
lanceolate, &c.) ; Margin (entire, toothed, &c.).

For the inflorescence, there are two heads, viz. : — Character
(spike, raceme, head, &c.) ; and Bracteation (bracteate, ebrac-
teate, or spathed).

Such is as brief a description of the Floral Schedule as our
space will permit. And we can but repeat, that if learners will
only practise these exercises, they will be astonished to find
what rapid progress they will make in the study of botany,
and how greatly these schedules will increase their interest, and
enhance that progress.*

* We cannot refrain from taking this opportunity of calling our readers’
attention to an admirable little work on Structural and Systematic Botany
(the systematic portion based upon material left in MS. by the late Professor
Henslow), by Professor D. Oliver, who has long been accustomed to employ the
“ Schedule ” in his lecture-room, and has embodied it in his new work. It is
published by Messrs. Macmillan & Co.

362

PRE-H IS TOE I C DWELLINGS.

BY GEORGE E. ROBERTS, F.A.S.L.

UNIVERSAL Histories, in twenty or more folio volumes,
which adorned the libraries of the last century, taught
that the first habitation of man was a hut, an erection of
wood somewhat resembling a Canadian log-cabin. The variety
of this dwelling represented in the pictorial editions of these
chronicles as the domicile of our first parents is the neatest
of rose-entwined cottages ; while in a picture of ancient
British domestic life, exhibited by another of these encyclo-
paedias of history, the family sit at the door of a house which,
save that the windows are unglazed, more nearly resembles a
cottage ornee in St. John's Wood than any home of a modern
English peasant. But recent discoveries have dispelled these
roseate views of the past. The earliest inhabitants of these
isles of whom we have yet any evidences appear to have
approached as nearly as any existing savage tribes to that
perfectly primitive state of mankind for which ethnologists
have as yet sought in vain. The domestic relics left by
Celtic tribes in Britain are rude enough to dissipate the
pleasing* imaginings of the olden antiquaries; and as the
existence of two pre- Celtic peoples has now been ascertained,
it is scarcely matter of wonder that the remains of their
dwelling- spots exhibit the simplest form of habitation con-
ceivable. It would be beyond the limits of this article to
trace the progress of these two pre- Celtic — Allophyllian as
Dr. Wilson styles them — waves of the human race, or to show
by the numerous examples afforded from their traces in Italy,
Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, France, and the British
Isles, that although, in a certain broad sense, their ages
coincide with the three periods into which archaeologists have
portioned out pre-historic time — viz., the stone age, bronze age,
and iron age — no sharp line of sunderance marks them, for
one age not only graduates into another, but in many in*
stances two sets of evidences are co-existent. I propose,
therefore, to confine my remarks to an examination of the
dwellings of these two pre- Celtic peoples according to the
evidences which archaeologists have obtained from a careful
examination of their remains. The Cyclopean erections attri-
buted to the first of these early races, cromlechs, megalithic

I

RRE-HISTORIC DWELLINGS.

363

circles, and cairns, we need not touch upon, our business
being with the homes of the cromlech-rearers and cairn-
builders. In this country very little has been done in in-
vestigating the very many hut-circles and other evidences of
dwelling-spots which exist, chiefly in the North of England
and Scotland. Had a tenth part of the labour been bestowed
upon them which Continental archgeologists have given to the
examination of the Swiss and German lake -dwellings, some of
which habitations are probably contemporaneous with them in
time, a remarkable series of evidences might have been obtained.
Enough, however, has been done to indicate the relationship
between the pre-Celtic dwellers in North Britain and those of
the Continent, and to exhibit the identity of their modes of
life. The buildings which we refer to tribes of this age
throughout Europe, are of three several, though closely
related, kinds — viz,, hut- circles, crannoges, and pfahlbauten,
or lake- dwellings. Remains of the first class are to be sought
for on dry moorlands. They have been met with on Clava
Heath near Culloden, in Helmsdale in Sutherlandshire, on
Yevering Bell in the Beamish Yalley, and other localities near
the Cheviots, by Mr. George Tate, and at Keilder (Northum-
berland) by the Rev. G. R. Hall ; but in all these examples
from the Border country, the hut-circles were grouped closely
together, and surrounded with a defensive line of earthworks.
It is also probable that they were of younger age than the
Helmsdale circles ; indeed, although their existing remains
resemble those of the elder time, they have been described by
Mr. Hall as being comparable in their inhabited condition
with the wattle- work, huts of the Britons of the seventh
century. These were all undoubtedly land- dwellings. Perhaps
the Hottentot kraal is their nearest modern analogue. The
examples which I figure as typical of the class are from Helms-
dale, and to them I shall hereafter refer.

The present appearance of these and other hut-circles
which may be attributed to a pre- Celtic people is simple
enough. A ring of stones gathered from the moor marks out
the limits of the primitive house, and a broad flat slab in the
centre points to the hearthstone of the family circle. It can
scarcely be supposed that this simple home was entirely naked
of covering, but as yet we have but the slightest reason
for believing that a circle of erected logs supported a rude
roof of wattle or timber, or entwined heather. Sufficient
time, however, has passed since the circles were tenanted to
account for the absence of every fragment of a sheltering roof,
and the conservating element of water is absent, into which
the erection, when it fell, might have sunk, as did the timbers
of the lake- dwelling, and been preserved. The “ kitchen

364 POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

middens," which have of late been met with in various parts
of Northern England and in Scotland, have a natural connec-
tion in time with, and domestic relationship to, these hut-
circles. Among the most interesting of these, are the groups
occurring on the Bennet Hills near Burghead, those upon the
Tarbotness Promontory, the shores of the Dornoch Birth, and
upon the sand-dunes near Cromarty. Perhaps the most

curious example met with as yet in England is that of
Normanby, in Cleveland, which possesses the remarkable
geological fact of now being covered with eighteen feet of
ochreous clay. I need not here remark upon the great number
of similar accumulations met with in Denmark and elsewhere
upon the Continent, remains which have been lately seen to
have their exact parallels in Northern America, as in the States
of Maine and Connecticut.

The existence of many curious stone-encircled dwelling-
spots in Ross-shire and Sutherlandshire, analogous in cha-
racter to the hut-circles in the Cheviots, has long been known,
but no archaeologist has yet taken them in hand, nor has
any anthropologist endeavoured to connect them with a par-
ticular ancient people. In form these “ lodges," as we may
almost call them, are flat spaces chosen out of the moorland,
generally along a line of terraces, or upon a rising elevation,
and marked out as a habitation by being girt about with a
single line of whatever large stones or rock-fragments the
neighbourhood furnished. Generally their diameter is from
six to eight yards. In the centre we occasionally find the
hearthstone, a smooth flat slab, usually of red or grey sand-
stone. Around and about this, bones of the animals eaten
have, in some examples, been found, beaten and trampled into
the ground, and mixed with some few sea- shells and with
many fragments of charred wood; the appearance of this
compost being much the same as that of the great slabs of
stalagmite (lately exhibited at the learned societies in London)
which formed the floor of the bone-cave of Les Eyzies in the
Dordogne, except that no stalagmite is present. Two very
typical “ circles ” referable to this group I visited last year.
These were situated upon a heather-clad moor about two miles
west of Edderton (Ross-shire). My stay, however, in the dis-
trict was too short to permit a close observation either of these
or of other circles of like kind existing in the neighbouring
valleys. Since my return the investigations have been carried
on by my friend the Rev. Mr. Joass of Edderton, whose dis-
coveries go far to prove that the ground- surface of these hut-
circles was the dwelling-place of the primitive family during
summer only, a subterranean apartment, rudely walled with
slabs, housing them during the winter months.

PRE-HISTORIC DWELLINGS.

365

The character of these remarkable dwellings will be best
seen by referring to the sketches on Plate XV., figs. 1, 2, 3, 4.
In explanation of these Mr. Joass writes as follows : —

“ Our principal explorations of late have been in a glen running from
Helmsdale ; about four miles from the entrance to which the sketch (fig. 1)
was taken. Here we observed a circle (A), 48 feet in diameter, formed of
rude boulders and smaller stones, with an entrance to the S.E. Wishing to
press on to the examination of another circle beneath which a subterranean
passage had been discovered, we made no digging here. From A was visible
B and C, which I had previously explored, and a heap of stones well up on
the hill at D, which looked extremely tempting. B is a cairn, 142 feet long
and 10 feet high, composed of small river-rolled stones. At its higher end
is a small opening, into which I entered and penetrated to a distance of
12 feet along a passage 3 feet high and 2 feet wide, formed by rude upright
stones roofed by similar slabs. Further ingress was prevented by the falling-
in of the roof. Near the end I found a portion of a human skull, uncom-
monly thick, and a periwinkle shell. 0 (fig. 1) is a kiln-shaped structure,
though there is no evidence that it was ever used as such, no scrap of lime-
stone or ironstone being near. Moreover, it is in a granite district. D (fig. 1)
is a ruined tower, situated on the shoulder of a hill .commanding a most
extensive view to the N., S., and W. This may be of Pictish age and origin.
About a quarter of a mile from it, on a small shelf or terrace, there is a circle
(fig. 3) similar to that marked A in fig. 1. In its inner circumference was a
small opening, creeping backwards into which with a lighted candle I found
myself in a subterranean passage, following the line of the circle for about
30 feet, and being at its termination 6 feet below the surface (fig. 4). Three feet
from the end of this passage a square opening in the roof, closed from above
by irregularly-shaped stones, appeared to have given communication with the
surface. The height of the passage was 5 feet, and its width 3| feet. Was
this the sleeping-apartment, or the winter residence of those who occupied
the upper circle in summer time i Other similar excavations are said to
have been so used by the pre-historic people. One solitary shell, a peri-
winkle, was all wre found in it.”

Here, then, we have a new group of arcliteological studies
opened to us, one wbicli promises an excellent fruitage of pre-
historic evidences, and which will be of the greatest value in
our determination of the ethnic position of this ancient High-
land people. Whatever light is to be thrown upon their lives
must be from modern investigation ; nothing in past writings
is likely to aid us ; although Bayle, in his “ Dictionary,”
supports the opinion that Abaris was a Highland Scot ! Nor
as yet can we say anything as to their positive age, or their
relations in time with other pre-historic dwellings of different
character. Possibly these hut-circles, with their subterranean
winter retreats, were dwelt in contemporaneously with the
lake-lodges of Switzerland and the crannoges of the Irish
loughs ; for even with a larger measure of knowledge con-

366

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

oerning them, it may not be possible to regard tbe age of the
one as older or yonnger tlian that of the other.

Before passing on to the secondgroupof pre-historic dwellings,
I am inclined to remark upon one possible class of evidences to
be obtained in certain parts of our island, as to the existence
of another variety of dwelling- spot. Many rocky cliffs in the
Dordogne have been observed by Mr. Christy and M. Lartet
to be pierced with holes, arranged in lines, and having* un-
doubted marks of design in their formation. These holes are
always met with beneath an overhanging part of the cliff, at
places where such a beetled brow would form a roof-tree for a
dwelling, fixed by means of inserted poles against the face of
the rock. Ascending lines, of holes have also been noticed,
into which it was probable that “ rounds ” of a rude ladder
were inserted to enable the dwellers in these “ arbres ” to
reach their homes. Not the slightest remains of any such
dwellings have yet been found, but the undoubted artificial
character of the holes renders their existence probable. Similar
holes, in precisely identical natural situations, have been often
noticed by myself on the face of the soft red sandstone cliffs
which form escarpments to the diluvially-scooped valley of the
Severn, and in many lateral valleys in its near neighbourhood.
And I would here suggest that a careful examination should be
made in those districts, more especially along the cliffs at Kinver
and Cookley, in Staffordshire; Kidderminster and Wolverley,
in Worcestershire; and Bridgenorth, in Shropshire. The age
of these dwellings is considered by the French archaeologists
to be intermediate between the cave-dwellers (whose “ homes ”
do not come into our list of erections) and the hut- circle men.

One second form, or rather group, of dwellings we find typed
by the crannoges of the Irish bogs. These, though diversely
constructed, by being raised upon an artificial foundation of
piles surrounding and supporting* a floor of beaten clay and
twigs, appear to be nearly allied in character to the hut-
circles ; and if we regard this variation in design as depen-
dent upon the natural features of the country, they may be
referred to the work of the same pre-Celtic people. Indeed,
Professor Harkness, from an examination of a remarkable
example at Drumkeerey Lough, near Bailieborough, county
Cavan, considers that the crannoge was not originally formed
upon an artificial island, but on land, either island or promon-
tory, but little raised above the level of the lake ; and that its
foundation had to be changed from a natural to an artificial one
by reason of the peat invading the shores, filling* up the creeks,
and so lessening the area of the lake and deepening the
water. “The gradual rise of the water compelled the cran-
noge-dwellers to raise their floors, and so give them the

PRE-HISTOMC DWELLINGS.

367

artificial base, winch has been regarded by some archaeologists
as the first process in the building of these structures.”
An excellent memoir upon this Drumkeerey crannoge has
been lately read before the Society of Antiquaries, by Pro-
fessor Harkness. He describes the basement of the structure
as consisting of several thousands of birch-poles, covered with
the original bark, having a wedge-shaped end driven into the
ground in close proximity to each other. Later in the history
of the dwelling this foundation was repaired by a number of
oak slabs pointed at the lower end. The shape of the cran-
noge was pyriform. Inside the piling appears evidence of a
floor laid with stones and earth brought from the mainland
to the island. Hear the centre of the crannoge are the
remains of fireplaces formed of immense blocks of stone, sur-
rounded with large quantities of charred wood and fragments
of bones. Remains of coarse pottery were also found, also
beads of amber and glass, stone rings, and a corn-crusher
of ruder form than a quern. The entrance was strengthened by
two rows of piles, from the outer end of which a stockade seems
to have run. Many crannoges of similar design have been
met with in Ireland, and described by the local archaeologists ;
but as the Drumkeerey one illustrates that principle of forma-
tion which I believe to the true one, I have chosen it as a
type of the class. Lacustrine human habitations have lately
(1863) been discovered in Dowalton Loch, Wigtonshire; upon
these Lord Lovaine read a paper at the Newcastle meeting of
the British Association. This loch having been drained, arti-
ficial islets were found in it, staked out by piles strengthened
with stones, the foundations of dwellings formerly above the
water- surface, but afterwards, by the growth of peat, and pro-
bably also physical changes in the district, sunk below it.
There is every probability of lake- settlements existing in
many of our shallow English lakes, if observation was directed
to their discovery.

We now pass on the lake habitations of Switzerland, more
than 160 of which have already been found. So much has
been written about them within the last few years, and
so generally are their characteristics known, not only to
the scientific world, but also to the reading public, that a
resume of the investigations of Morlot, Keller, Lyell, Lubbock,
Desor, Schwab, Forel, Ullmann, Colonel Suter, Gillieron,
Troyon, and Bo chat appears to me scarcely necessary. Sir
C. Lyell has exhibited, as the frontispiece to his (t Antiquity
of Man,” a restoration of a group of these dwellings, after a
design by Rutimeyer, showing their probable near affinity in
character to the beehive-shaped huts, elevated upon piles,
slightly above the shallow waters of the Papuan archipelago.

368

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Such dwellings are now tenanted by the Kouaoui people of
Doree (New Guinea) and by those of Masmapi, though perhaps
the simplest form of lake-habitation now dwelt in is that erected
by the Pilotis tribe, in the near-lying island of Rawak.

The lake-habitations of Switzerland have been divided by
Mr. Lubbock and other archaeologists into three classes : —
“ Firstly, those in which all the instruments are made of stone
and bone, and which may therefore be said to belong to
the stone age — about fifty of these lake-villages have been de-
scribed; secondly, those in which objects of bronze also occur
— establishments of this class are even more numerous ; and,
thirdly, those in which implements of iron have been dis-
covered— only a very few of these are as yet known.” It must,
however, be borne in mind that archaeologists are united in
their opinion that the three ages of stone, bronze, and iron
“ represent states of civilization rather than actual chrono-
logical horizons.”

Dr. KelleFs investigations have, perhaps, been the most
constant ; and he has, from time to time, embodied the dis-
coveries, as they have been made, in reports with which he has
enriched the “ Transactions ” of the Archaeological Society of
Zurich. Without, therefore, alluding farther to these dis-
coveries which have been made known and commented upon
throughout Europe, it may suffice to call attention to the last
(5th) Report of the series. A convenient resume of this has
just been circulated by M. Morlot.

The lake-dwellings therein described are those in the Duchy
of Parma, met with in accumulations of fresh- water mud
near the present river margin. In this fluviatile material,
Professor Strobe and Signor Pigorini of Parma had met with
the sites of several dwellings, from which they had obtained
fragments of wood and cinders, and the bones of animals,
together with a curious assemblage of art-objects in bone,
stone, and bronze ; in the latter material were axes, sickles,
arrow-heads, sword-blades, hair-pins, a small comb, scissors,
and an awl. The pottery was of coarse clay, mixed with sand,
resembling in its character the rude kind still made by hand in
the villages among the Apennines. The pots found had
small handles, and were sometimes ornamented with stripes.
Among the bone objects were combs, exhibiting a like orna-
ment to those of bronze. A basket made of osier was also met
with. The animal bones found belonged to wolf, wild-boar,
roebuck, stag, dog, pig, horse, bull, goat, and sheep; bird
bones were also met with. Remains of fruits also came to
light from out the mud — which were so well preserved as to
be easily referred to pears and plums. Flax-seeds were also
found. On the site of a similar lake-dwelling at Peschiera,

PEE-HISTORIC DWELLINGS.

369

M. de Silber found objects of like kind, together with some in
copper. A lake- dwelling of probably earlier date is one met
with beneath five feet of peat, near to Zug, from which articles
of stone have alone been obtained. At Untersee, south of the
village of Constance, and on the borders of that lake, M.
DehofT found no trace of a bronze age or of metal at all. At
Xieder-Wyl, an establishment of very early type was met with,
though an important one by reason of the excellency of its
preservation. Passing northwards, M. Escher contributes an
account of a hill- dwelling, near PEbersberg, of character very
similar to those lake- dwellings of the bronze age which occur
in the Lake of Brienne. The lake-dwellings of Bobenhausen
are worthy of note, those first discovered being of the bronze
age; but on removing their relics, a lower foundation was seen,
belonging to an older encampment.

It is tolerably certain that some of these lake- dwellings
were tenanted up to — it may be after — the commencement of
the Christian era. Evidences of the influence of an exterior
civilization greater than their own are clearly to be seen in
the character and ornamentation of some of their bronze and
iron implements ; and the discovery of substances such as tin,
nephrite, Mediterranean coral, and Baltic amber, among the
relics of their homes, prove that the people who clung so
tenaciously to the dwelling- spots of their ancestors were not
insensible to the advantages of communication with European
nations.

And this contemporaneity of a low class with a cultivated
people has still its counterpart in the world. The hill-tribes
of India, the Veddahs of Ceylon, and the various "men of the
soil ” who live in the mountain fastnesses of the Malayan
peninsula, are so many stagnant patches of human life, hud-
dling together in the midst of active races, and holding fast by
a few degrading traditions. By laws of human progress — and
who shall say that “ natural selection ” is not the greatest of
these ? — the nations in the midst of whose social lives they lie
hidden have advanced to higher stations, while they have
remained stationary, or as laggards in the scheme. And yet
another law they may be regarded as exemplifying, — that
which, though at present it is shadowed rather than laid down,
teaches the chronology of natural phenomena to be a series of
overlaps, the evening of one condition of terrestrial things
having been, and still being*, co-existent with the morning of
the succeeding era ; a most reasonable and philosophic element
in our comprehension of geological phenomena, and one for
which we may claim an equal value among the laws of human
progress.

370

REVIEWS.

ANTIQUITY OF MAN.*

IS the Mosaic chronology to he relied on in forming an estimate of the
immense period which has elapsed since man made his first appear-
ance on the globe? Are we to believe that the human race was first
created six thousand years ago ? Both questions must be answered in the
negative. The mass of evidence — geological, archaeological, and zoological
— which supports the conclusion that man has been upon the earth for a
period of more than a thousand centuries, is almost overwhelming. This
evidence is the result of the laborious and persevering researches of such
men as Schinerling, Boucher de Perthes, Falconer, and Lyell, who have
devoted themselves to the advancement of palaeontological science. The
last-named savant , who is as remarkable for his great powers of observation
as for his clear reasoning faculties and his lucid style as a writer, has
given us, in the work now under notice, a grand survey of what has been
done in the branch of science on which he treats. There are few subjects
upon which so many memoirs have lately been written as that of the
antiquity of man. Man’s age having been in part ascertained by an
inquiry into his co-existence or non-co-existence with certain fossil mam-
mals, and the latter being discoverable in the deposits found in caverns,
the subject of bone-caves is one now attracting considerable attention.
This portion of Sir Charles Lyell’s work appears to be most exhaustive.
We observe detailed accounts of the characters presented by the caverns
of Belgium, France, Sicily, England, and especially of those known as the
Engis and Neanderthal , famous as having contained the skulls bearing
their names, and which some time ago produced such a commotion in the
scientific world. The chapter on the peat-mosses of Denmark is of decided
interest, inasmuch as it furnishes a species of evidence which, from being
untrammelled by collateral geologic speculation, can be easily appreciated
by an ordinary reader. It helps, at the very outset, to show that the age
of man, as a race, has been under-estimated. Sir Charles having alluded
to the extent and depth of the Danish peat, observes, “ Around the borders
of the bogs, and at various depths in them, lie trunks of trees, especially of
the Scotch fir (Pinus sj/lvestris ), often three feet in diameter, which must
have grown on the margin of the peat-mosses, and frequently fallen into

* “The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man, with Remarks
on Theories of the Origin of Species by Variation.” By Sir Charles
Lyell, F.R.S. Third Edition. 1863. London : Murray.

REVIEWS.

371

them. This tree is not now, nor has ever been in historical times, a native
of the Danish islands, and when introduced there, has not thriven ; yet it
was evidently indigenous in the human period, for Steenstrup lias taken
out with his own hands a flint instrument from below a buried trunk of
one of these pines. It appears clear that the same Scotch fir was after-
wards supplanted by the sessile variety of the common oak, of which
many prostrate trunks occur in the peat, at higher levels than the pines ;
and still higher, the pedunculated variety of the same oak ( Quercus Robur)
occurs, with the alder, birch, and hazel. The oak has now, in its turn,
been almost superseded in Denmark by the common beech.” The trace
of the first race of men — that of the stone age — having been found beneath
the peat deposit containing the pines, which have never been known to
live in Denmark, and which must have taken of themselves centuries to
acquire the bulk described above, affords us some idea of the enormous
lapse of time which must have intervened between the period of the for-
mation of that single flint weapon and the present day. The testimony
supplied by the shell mounds of various countries, and the ancient Swiss
dwellings, is given at length ; and on the subject of upraised strata in
Sweden and Norway, the information is most copious. In calculating the
time required in elevating those deposits of Norway, some of which, con-
taining recent shells, reach a height of 600 feet, Sir Charles writes, — “ A
mean rate of continuous vertical elevation of two and a half feet in a
century would, I conceive, be a high average ; yet, even if this be assumed,
it would require 24,000 years for parts of the seacoast of Norway, where
the post-tertiary marine strata occur, to attain the height of 600 feet.”
The Neanderthal and Engis skulls have their respective merits well dis-
cussed, and on this matter we are treated to an admirable extract from
Professor Huxley’s recent work. In regard to the fossil man of Natchez,
the author does not concur in the opinion of some geologists that the
human race and the mastodon were contemporaries. The chapters on the
glacial period are most important, and embrace a series of maps illustrating
the successive revolutions in physical geography during the post-pliocene
period. In these we are shown what portions of the British isles would
remain above water if the whole area subsided to a depth of 600 feet ; and
also what portion of our present sea would become land if there was a
general rise of the area of north-west Europe to the extent of 600 feet.

Not the least interesting portion of the volume before us is that which
relates to the various theories framed from time to time to explain the
origin of species. The author, who, be it known, is an advocate of
Mr. Darwin’s doctrine, gives a brief sketch of the hypothesis first framed
by Lamarck. The latter, who may be said to have been the first who openly
denied the truth of the theory of the creation of species, came to the con-
clusion that none of the plants and animals which now exist upon the
globe were primordially created, but had descended from pre-existing-
types. This variation he believed to be due to various external causes,
such as soil, climate, temperature, &c., and he explained the continuance
of the original forms from which the new ones were derived, on the suppo-
sition that the germs of living things were constantly making their appear-
ance upon the globe. He accounted for modifications of form by saying.

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that just as some organs become strong and others weak, so may certain
portions of the body become obsolete and others attain a superior development.
Lamarck did not stop here, but, as our author remarks, “ not satisfied
with such legitimate speculations, the French philosopher conceived that,
by repeated acts of volition, animals might acquire new organs and attri-
butes ; and that in plants, which could not exert a will of their own,
certain subtle fluids or organizing forces might operate so as to work out
analogous effects.” Herein we see that Lamarck went a step too far, and
herein lies the great line of distinction between his hypothesis and that
originated by Mr. Darwin. There has been an outcry raised against
the theory of the latter, on the ground that it was the same as Lamarck’s ;
but this imputation was cast by good folk, who never tried, or were too
dull to understand, either one hypothesis or the other. Mr. Darwin
never supported the theory of spontaneous generation, which wras employed
by Lamarck, nor did he ever suppose that the variation of a species
depended upon the volition of the individual. He simply maintained that
new forms rose from pre-existing ones, from the circumstance that, in the
ordinary struggle which every animal has for life, those of any brood
which had the greatest physical powers (no matter in what direction those
powers lay) had the advantage ; and that, whilst the weaker members
were unable to obtain the conditions necessary to their existence, the
stronger were enabled to live, and hence to perpetuate, in intensified form,
the peculiar qualities they possessed. Sir Charles Lyell gives the following
clear distinction between the two theories : — “ Lamarck, when speculating
on the origin of the long neck of the giraffe, imagined that quadruped to
have stretched himself up, in order to reach the boughs of lofty trees,
until by continued efforts and longing to reach higher, he obiained an
elongated neck. Mr. Darwin and Mr. Wallace simply suppose that, in a
season of scarcity, a longer-necked variety, having the advantage in this
respect over most of the herd, as being able to browse on foliage out of
their reach, survived them, and transmitted its peculiarity of cervical con-
formation to its successors.” The author supports the theory of progression
on a geological basis, and agrees with Huxley, Marshall, llolleston, and
Flower in believing that the brain of man does not differ from that of
apes in having the cerebellum covered by the cerebrum. The appendix
will be found extremely useful, dealing as it does with the subject of
several very recent discoveries, including, among others, that of the Moulin
Quignon jaw-bone.

We think our readers (even those ignorant of geology) can with advan-
tage peruse Sir Charles Lyell’s splendid treatise, which is certainly one
of the least technical and most philosophic works we have ever met with.
Every geologist must possess it, and every one who desires to know what
palaeontology is doing, should be familiar with its pages.

REVIEWS.

373

THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.*

IT may be said, as a rule, that books of travel do not contain matter in
proportion to tlieir bulk. The work which Captain Speke has presented
to the public cannot be regarded as an exception to this general statement.
It is a very large book, so large that its price alone would prevent its ever
attaining a place in the libraries of ordinary readers of this class of litera-
ture. The text extends over nearly six hundred pages, and we are cer-
tainly of opinion that the author might have given us all the information it
contains in at least one-third of the space. In regard, however, to its
mere mechanical qualities, too much praise cannot be bestowed on the
publishers, who have sent out a volume exquisitely and profusely illus-
trated, and which in point of type is one of the best executed examples we
have seen for some time.

The author’s object has evidently been to produce a popular work, and
this object we think he has achieved with tolerable success. We fancy,
nevertheless, that had science been introduced in certain portions, this
“ Journal” would have lost none of its merits as a readable production,
while it would have gained, as a book of reference, some considerable repu-
tation. No doubt there are many who will think that the various appen-
dices, containing lists of plants, &c., are sufficient to fill the gap we have
alluded to, but it must be borne in mind that these are the work of Captain
Grant, and not of the author of the present volume, and that however
valuable “ cut-and-dry” lists may be to the specialist, they are absolutely
worthless to the amateur. We do not wish to be considered hyper-
critical, but when we find a voluminous essay upon the character of a
newly explored country devoid of accurate information concerning the
geology, botany, and zoology of the regions investigated (?), we should
not be acting conscientiously were we to make no comment upon such omis-
sions. It cannot be denied that the work is of an interesting character,
and that the information conveyed by it is both instructive and novel. On
the other hand, the style is far from being what it ought to be. Captain
Speke’s observations appear in many instances to have been very hastily
made, and his conclusions are in some cases far from being logical. Let
us justify these assertions. The passage we select as an example of the
peculiar phraseology adopted in several cases by the author, alludes to a
rather animated discussion between one of his domestics and himself.
“ Foaming and roaring with rage, Bombay said he would not stand being
thus insulted. I then gave him a dig on the head with mg fist. He squared
up and pouted like an enraged chameleon, looking savagely at me. I gave
him another dig , which sent him staggering. He squared again ; I gave
him another ; till at last, as the claret was flowing, he sulked off.” * * *
“ But Bombay showing his nozzle rather flatter than usual,” &c. We must
confess that, apart from these little friendly communications between master

* “Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile.” By John
Hanning Speke, Captain H.M. Indian Army, &c. London : Blackwood
& Sons. 1863.

VOL. III. — NO. XI. 2 C

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and man, we deem the language better suited to the columns of BelVs Life
than to those of the hook lying on our table. We certainly are at a loss to
understand the anatomical impossibility of standing observed by Captain
Speke in the female monster of obesity which he describes. Passing over
his description, which we will not say is more prurient than it need have
been, we come to examine the measurements of this monster. What are
they ? Certes nothing to surprise us. The following are the dimensions
as given by the author : — “ Round arm, 1 foot 11 inches ; chest, 4 feet 4
inches ; thigh, 2 feet 7 inches ; calf, 1 foot 8 inches ; height, 5 foot 8 inches.”
It is just possible that Captain Speke has given the above figures as indi-
cating two different estimates : for example, he may mean that the first
represent circumference, and the others diameter. If this be the case, he
has pursued a very blundering method of communicating the results.
Then, indeed, the woman may be regarded as a curiosity, and we are at
fault in supposing that the writer’s powers of imagination were over-
exerted. Here again, however, we fancy we detect a flaw in the evidence.
Why should the arm of a quadruped-moving woman be only 1 foot
11 inches in circumference, when the chest attained the enormous girth of
nearly 14 feet ?

There are many other portions of this “ Journal” which are equally
suggestive, but lack of space obliges us to draw our comments to a con-
clusion. Notwithstanding the failings we have referred to, Captain Speke’s
book contains a great deal that is both amusing and instructive, and doubt-
less many will consider it a work which deserves a high position in its own
department of semi-scientific literature.

NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HERRING*

THIS is a beautiful book, well conceived, and stored with the ex-
periences of one who has made a world-renown in connection with
the Scotch herring fisheries. The volume which lies upon our table is in
part the reproduction of an original memoir published in the Reports of
the British Association, but the great bulk of the letter-press is quite new.
It may be said to be divided into three distinct sections : in the first, the
natural history of the fish is given most diffusely ; the second relates to the
modes of fishing and curing ; and the third, which constitutes the major
portion of the entire text, is devoted to the chronological history of the
herring. The author’s original observations and researches are chiefly
confined to the first subdivision. They are the most valuable portion of
the entire book. Mr. Mitchell does not agree with Pennant and others,
who imagine that the herring is a migratory fish, and he gives us a series
of objections to the view formerly held, while at the same time he adverts
to the fact that the author of the article “ Icthyology” in the last edition

* <c The Herring ; its Natural History,” &c. By John M. Mitchell,
F.R.S.S.A., &c., &c. Edinburgh : Edmonston & Douglas. 1864.

REVIEWS.

375

of the “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” admits the accuracy of the old and ex-
ploded doctrine. McCulloch is also taken to task on the same score. M.
Valenciennes and the writer are at issue on several points, and Mr.
Mitchell clearly indicates a few of the French naturalist’s errors, especially
those concerning the supposed want of discrimination shown by the herring-
in selecting its spawning-bed. We are treated to an extensive list of the
enemies of the herring, and of the creatures on which it feeds ; a few pages
being also devoted to the zoological and anatomical characters of the fish.
We think this latter is the least important portion of the volume, for the
descriptions are of an exceedingly general character, and the comparative
anatomy of the animal is by no means fairly dealt with. Section 2 is
very interesting, and gives an amount of instruction upon the methods of
fishing and curing herrings in different countries which cannot he found
elsewhere. The concluding portion of the essay is the most voluminous of
all ; it embodies a history of everything connected with herrings and
fisheries from the year 495 down to that of 1862. We have only to ask
Mr. Mitchell one question. Why did he not (as his book was published in
1864) examine the Commissioners’ Report to Parliament in 1863, and
give us his opinion on it ? In publishing the present volume he has con-
ferred a signal benefit on science, and has supplied the public with a most
readable and instructive treatise. It is, we believe, the most copious
monograph that has ever been written on the natural and chronological
history of a single animal.

THE SECOND STEP IN CHEMISTRY .*

WE here thank Mr. Galloway for compiling the volume bearing the
above title. It is a book which was much wanted, and will be a
great boon both to lecturers and students. It is intended for a higher class
of readers than those who sit upon the theatre-benches in the capacity of
“ first-year’s-men.” The author has spared himself no amount of labour
in bringing out this “second step and it may with safety be averred
that the result reflects equal credit on him as a thoroughly well-read
chemist and an able exponent of the subject which he professes to teach.
This textbook may be said to embody everything that is at present known
regarding philosophic chemistry ; and while it contains all that concerns
the theoretical branches of the science, it is also adapted for employment
as a book of reference by those pursuing a series of practical organic
investigations. The views of all the modern English and Continental
chemists find a place in Mr. Galloway’s manual, so that the student is not
treated to an author’s hobby, but has the option of selecting those opinions
which appear to be supported by the greatest weight of evidence. The

* “ The Second Step in Chemistry, or the Student’s Guide to the Higher
Branches of the Science.” By Robert Galloway, F.C.S., Professor of
Practical Chemistry in the Museum of Irish Industry. London : John
Churchill. 1864.

2 C 2

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

laws regulating tlie constitution of bodies are concisely stated ; their history
and progressive development being described at some length, the writer
beginning with the discoveries of Clarke and Griffin, and terminating with
those of Gerhardt, Laurent, Williamson, Frankland, Kolbe, and others.
Exercises to be worked out by the reader are scattered through the text,
and the appendix contains a useful list of questions given by various
examining boards. We trust Mr. Galloway’s handbook may meet with
the encouragement it deserves; it commends itself to every serious
student of chemistry.

F the three volumes which we are about to notice, the first is

unquestionably the most important. It treats of mechanics, hydro-
statics, pneumatics, hydraulics, acoustics, and animal mechanics. The style
is vigorous and clear, and the language is so characterized by an absence
of technicality, that the book may be read with as much advantage by an
ordinary reader as by a student. The author does not confine himself to
mere descriptions of machinery and explanations of their mode of action,
but allows a wholesome and philosophic tone to pervade his remarks, by
which the reader’s mind cannot fail to be improved. That stumbling-block
of amateur mechanics, the centre of gravity, is explained in the simplest
manner; and the chapter on the science of music furnishes more details
than are usually to be found in works like the present one. The different
laws of natural philosophy are tersely and popularly expressed, and the
diagrams, which are numerous, are simple and explicit. The least accurate
portion of Dr. Arnott’s production is that which relates to pure physiology.
The statement that, till two hundred and fifty years ago, man was “ igno-
rant of the fact that the blood in his own body is constantly travelling from
the heart to all other parts and back again,” is not exactly correct. On
consulting M. Flouren’s essay, “ Histoire de la Decouverte de la Circula-
tion du Sang,” Dr. Arnott will perceive that even in the time of Csesalpinus,
the expression “ circulation of the blood ” had been employed.

Mr. Lynn’s little volume, though of modest size, is very well executed,
and as a student’s manual takes a higher rank than the work just noticed.
Its object is to supply in a small compass an account of the fundamental
principles of the sciences of mechanics, hydrostatics, hydraulics, pneu-
matics, and optics. It is clearly written, and, without pretending to be a
popular treatise, may be read by those familiar with the early books of

* “ Elements of Physics, or Natural Philosophy.” By Neil Arnott,
M.D., F.R.S. London : Longman & Co. Sixth edition. Part I.
1864.

“ First Principles of Natural Philosophy.” By W. T. Lynn, B.A., &c.
London : Van Voorst. 1863.

“The Ghost as produced in the Spectre Drama,” &c. By Henry
Dircks, C.E. London : E. & F. Spon. 1863.

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.*

REVIEWS.

Euclid and elementary algebra. The method of estimating the velocity
of falling bodies (a puzzling subject to the beginner) is more lucidly
explained in this little work than in any we have yet seen.

“ The Ghost,” in one sense, explains by its title the nature of its contents ;
that is to say, on looking at the title-page one fancies he has caught the
meaning or intention of the author, but he has not done so in reality. The
work is apparently a popular treatise on optics ; in point of fact, it is
nothing of the sort. It is true that there are a few paragraphs to be found
which relate to the so-called spectre drama ; but the greater portion of the
volume is engrossed by a diatribe which the author launches against
Mr. J. H. Pepper, of the Polytechnic. His censures are couched in the
most bitter terms, and are far from interesting to the general reader. How-
ever satisfactory it may be to Mr. Dircks to indulge in invective against
one by whom he feels himself injured, it is decidedly unjust to make the
public unwilling purchasers of his printed censures. This he has done by
giving to his work a title which does not adequately express the nature
of its contents.

PRACTICAL TELEGRAPHY.*

IN these days, when telegraphic communication has reached almost the
acme of perfection, and messages are transmitted from town to town
with a velocity approaching that of lightning, all who are professionally
connected with the telegraph service are supposed to be acquainted not only
with the practical but also with the theoretical bearings of the electric
forces. We are sorry to think that till the publication of Mr. Culley’s
excellent handbook, there was no proper means by which the telegraph
official could make himself acquainted with the information we allude to.
This was a great fault. An ignorance of the principles of an art
deprives us of the advantages which would accrue to the country, were
many minds given the opportunity of framing new ideas tending to the
improvement of our machinery and apparatus. It is therefore with
great pleasure that we welcome Mr. Culley as an instructor. In the first
portion of his work, the author treats us to an able account of the sources
of electricity and magnetism, and winds up by showing the connection
between, or, as Mr. Grove would express it, the correlation of the two
forces. The fundamental principle of the telegraph is clearly explained ;
in a series of well-executed diagrams we are shown how a current of elec-
tricity, when passing over a magnetic needle, causes the latter to assume
a position at right angles to the course of the current, and how the deflec-
tion of the needle to the right or left depends on the direction of the
current as regards the poles of the needle. In the more technical section
of the volume, the subjects of faults , derived circuits , testing for insulation
or resistance , and testing for faults receive the author’s attention. A

* “ A Handbook of Practical Telegraphy.” By R. S. Culley, Tele-
graphic Engineer and Superintendent. London : Longman & Co. 1863.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

separate chapter is devoted to descriptions of the various forms of printing
telegraphs, including those of Morse and Bain, and here also we find an
explanation of the nature and action of relays. Mr. Culley does not
appear to approve of the “ Cooke and Wheatstone ” needle telegraph. The
remainder of the volume is devoted to the question of telegraphic engineering,
the construction of a line, &c., and will be found exceeding useful by those
whom it concerns. The “ Handbook of Practical Telegraphy ” is espe-
cially addressed to telegraph officials, and we can confidently recommend
it to all who are interested in telegraphic technology.

PARASITIC FUNGI.*

WHEN specialists in any branch of knowledge leave for a while their
pursuit of original investigations, and give us in printed form the
results of their experiences, these productions are usually valued. The
author of the present volume is well known to English physicians, as a
skilled original observer in the department of parasitic skin diseases, and
he has lately published the work before us. Let us then admit at the
outset that we have not been disappointed. Dr. Tilbury Fox’s volume is one
calling for the immediate attention of the dermatologist , and is furthermore
one from which the student of microscopic fungi may acquire a great deal
of useful instruction. We cordially approve of the classification of Tineas ,
which the writer has adopted, and we have little doubt that even if further
pushed, his scheme would prove advantageous to the science of the pro-
fession. As an instance of how Mr. Fox treats his subject, we may take
the example of Tinea polonica , that curious and unpleasant disease of the
hair which occurs so frequently in Poland, Russia, &c. The history of
the affection is given at length, the views of all the physicians of dis-
tinction who have studied it are tersely expressed, and finally the treat-
ment is given in the second portion of the volume, which embodies the
clinical observations of the author. The comments on the “ Fungus foot”
of India are of deep interest. When Dr. Fox speaks of the physiology
and pathology of these parasitic maladies he is evidently in his element,
and admits us to enlarged views of the subject, which it is to be regretted
are absent from too many medical treatises in this age of book manufac-
ture. The chapter on the variation of fungi is of the greatest importance,
and throws an entirely new light on the diagnosis of skin diseases ; more-
over it lends, though in an indirect manner, a helping hand to Darwin’s
theory. There are three stages of treatment which follow in physiological
sequence from the study of the disease. 1st. To remove the soil or
pabulum which assists the growth of the fungus. 2nd. To destroy the
remnants of fungous growths ; and 3rd. To promote the re-growth of the
hair and other injured tissues. Four plates executed in part by wood

* “ Skin Diseases of Parasitic Origin, their Nature and Treatment.” By
W. Tilbury Fox, M.D. London : Robert Hardwicke. 1863.

REVIEWS.

379

engravings, and in part by kerograpliy , accompany the volume ; the first of
these, which illustrates the action of Tinea on hair, is very well done
indeed, and had the magnifying power employed been higher would have
been of much interest to the histologist, as showing the pathological con-
dition of the parts. In our opinion the profession is greatly indebted to
Dr. Fox for his admirable essay.

LIFE AND DEATH *

SOME time since Mr. Savory delivered four lectures on the above sub-
ject, at the Royal Institution. It is these which are now printed.
They are an interesting and sketchy account of the relation which exists
between the two conditions. We admire Mr. Savory’s style as a writer
and lecturer, it is both elegant and exact. We think too that his lectures
are calculated if not to explain the nature of life, at all events to awaken
in the minds of most persons a desire to become more conversant with phy-
siological laws. Viewed from this aspect, the tendency of the little volume
is a good one. The pages of Mr. Savory’s lectures abound in generaliza-
tion, and it must be confessed that he has left nothing undone to induce in
his audience a keen appreciation of the beauty of natural laws, and of
those sublime speculations which first emanated from the great Von Baer.
The importance of studying comparative anatomy, in order to arrive at a
true conception of the complexities of the human organism, is adverted to
in impressive terms, and the distinction between the generalization and
specialization of organs is briefly stated. Still, with the exception of
reference to the general phenomena of life and death, our author leaves the
subject as it was before. True, he admits that life involves two essential
conditions, destruction and renewal ; and he does not attribute it, as some
do, to a vital principle ; but something more is to be expected from one in
Mr. Savory’s position. Nevertheless, those who are anxious to know some-
thing of the grand fundamental laws of physiology cannot do better than
read these lectures.

THE STORY OF THE GUNS.+

WHAT is the condition of our national defences F This is the ques-
tion which almost everybody puts to everybody, but which very
few indeed are able to answer. Now, when we are almost on the eve of a
general European war, it behoves us to inquire into the matter of arma-
ments, to see in what way our homes and hearths are protected. This we
can only do by making ourselves acquainted with guns and gunnery, and
by thus being enabled to compare the merits of different varieties of the
latter. The author of the present volume has spared us an infinite amount
of labour, for he has compiled all the information which lay scattered here

* “On Life and Death.” By William Savory, F.R.S., &c. London :
Smith & Elder. 1863.

t “ The Story of the Guns.” By Sir J. Emerson Tennent, K.C.S.,
LL.D., F.R.S. London : Longman & Co. 1864.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW,

and there through newspapers, journals, reviews, blue-books, and such-
like, on the subject of guns, and has formed a book which is as interesting
as a novel, and as instructive as it need be. Sir Emerson Tennent has
exhausted the entire history of guns, and by the mass of evidence which he
has adduced, has taught us a great and serious lesson ; one too which we
trust may leave some permanent impression on the Government of this
country. He has been accused of partiality. It has been asserted that
the book before us is little better than an advocacy of Mr. Whitworth’s
views. We candidly confess we do not see that it is anything of the sort.
It seems to us that the author has done ample justice to Sir William Arm-
strong, even while placing in their true light the discoveries of Mr. Whit-
worth. There can be very little doubt that the claims of the latter have
been grossly neglected by those in power, and we congratulate Sir E.
Tennent upon his able exposition of the case. It does not seem likely that
in this century anything in the shape of a perfect gun will be discovered,
and therefore the authorities are unwarranted in supporting the system of
a single individual, and excluding all idea of competition. This is what
our author teaches, and it is this open and independent expression of
opinion which has given rise to the adverse criticism of some of our con-
temporaries. For our part we consider that the book will effect good
service, and we cordially commend it to the consideration of everyone pos-
sessed of patriotism and independence. It is beautifully illustrated, and
reflects much credit on its publishers.

HANDBOOK TO THE COTTON CULTIVATION IN MADRAS *
HOSE anxious to know how cotton is cultivated in India, will find in

this book a useful and well-selected compilation of the various modes
of culture, and the conditions under which they occur, in Madras. The
author does not profess to have had any experience in the matter, but
admits that he has drawn on many different sources for materials. He has
not produced a very light volume, though the latter from the arrangement
of the letter-press will be found invaluable as a book of reference, a cha-
racter which most probably it was intended to possess. The text is divided
into a multitude of sections, each of which has its own special heading ; and
as the matter has been taken from various writings, side-notes are given,
which contain the title and date of the works referred to. Mr. Wheeler
has evidently been at considerable pains to produce a useful work, and we
think the result has realized his anticipations. His conclusions as to the
growth of cotton in India are as follows (1.) American cotton can be
grown, but the profit is questionable. (2.) Indian cotton may be im-
proved, but only to a degree. (3.) American cotton must always com-
mand a higher price than Indian. (4.) The demand for Indian cotton
must always depend on the supply of American.

* ({ Handbook to the Cotton Cultivation in the Madras Presidency,” &c.
By J. Talboys Wheeler. London : Virtue Brothers. 1863.

381

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

AGRICULTURE.

Effect of Phosphate and Potass Manure on the Cultivation of the Potato.
• — Baron Liebig recently delivered a discourse before the Munich Academy
of Sciences, on the subject of the cultivation of the potato crop. He
alluded more especially to the experiments relative to the laws of the
nutrition of plants 'which have been made under the auspices of the Insti-
tute of Physiology, by Professor Noegeli and Dr. Zoeller. These experi-
ments were thus carried out : Three fields were selected ; in the first the
soil consisted of plain powdered turf of Kolb ; in the second, formed of the
same soil, the ground was manured with ammoniacal salts, while the third
whose soil was the same as that of the other two, was manured with the
fixed elements, which constituted the ash of the tuber. An equal number
of tubers was planted in each of the three fields. The field manured with
ammoniacal salts produced more than the first, but the third, which had
received phosphate of lime and potash, was the most fertile of the three.
The results being represented by figures stood thus : —

1st Field 100

2nd do 120

3rd do 285

From these results it follows that the farmer may avoid the carriage of
large masses of animal manure to his potato fields, by supplying a judicious
mixture of phosphate of lime, gypsum, and wood-ashes. The different
results of the three experiments can alone be attributed to the different
compositions of the three soils, all other conditions having been identical.
In the two first cases, there were absent those conditions necessary to pro-
duce in the subterraneous parts as many organic substances (tubers) as in
the third ; or in other words, to draw them from the atmosphere. Baron
Liebig observes that these indications are not the most important results of
the experiments alluded to. It was also found that all the potatoes drawn
from those fields which did not possess the mineral ingredients in sufficient
quantity, were attacked by the disease ; and, after a few weeks, the decom-
position had extended to the interior of the tubers. On the other hand,
the tubers grown in the third field which had been manured with the
mineral elements of the plant remained perfectly healthy, and none of
them exhibited the slightest trace of the attacks of oidium. It is therefore
unquestionable that the conditions favourable to the normal development
of plants are also those which tend to prevent disease, and that the first
cause of the disastrous epidemic should be sought in the soil. If the latter

382

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

possesses in sufficient proportions the elements essential to the discharge of
the proper functions of the plant, this in its turn will be enabled to resist
and paralyze the injurious influences which tend to affect it externally.
See report of Baron Liebig’s discourse, in a pamphlet entitled — Lettres
adressees d la Gazette de Lausanne , January, 1864.

Population and size of Inhabitants of a Country dependent upon the Cha-
racter of the Soil , is in effect the title of a curious essay by the late Feu
Jobard, of Brussels. As it bears closely upon the subject of land culture,
we give a notice of it here. The author first shows that a very large quan-
tity of phosphates is required in building up the skeletal portions of the
animal fabric, and then maintains that in the event of a deficiency in the
supply of this material, the animal (man) will not attain his full size.
He writes, “ Phosphoric acid is so essential to the well-being of plants,
that lands which possess nitrogenous materials in abundance remain un-
fertile without phosphates. This is why Asia Minor, Sicily, Palestine,
Arabia Felix, Rome, and the plains of Babylon are barren, because of the
enormous quantity of phosphate drawn from them by their vast popula-
tions. This has occurred to all countries inhabited for a long period, with
the exception of Egypt, but in the latter case, the numerous inundations
bring down vast supplies of the phosphatic material from the regions of
Upper Nubia. The reason why the size and number of inhabitants in
Spain diminishes is, because of the want of phosphoric acid to give to the
skeleton that development which was found among the ancient Gauls.”—
Presse Scientifique des deux Mondes , Yol. II., Nov. 22.

ASTRONOMY.

Exterior Envelope of the Sun. — Mr. Dawes considers that some of the
so-called new discoveries on the sun’s envelope are merely those which he
himself described many years since. The large apertures and high
powers now generally made use of give to the sun, when scrutinised under
favourable atmospheric circumstances, an appearance so different from
that presented by telescopes formerly in use, that it is not surprising that
observers imagine they have made new discoveries. Mr. Dawes states
that the mottled aspect of the sun can be seen with a good refractor of 2J
inches aperture, and a power of 60. Examined with an aperture of 6 or
8 inches, he finds that the surface is made up of luminous masses im-
perfectly separated from each other by rows of minute dark dots, which
are exceedingly close together, the intervals between them being less
luminous than the general surface of the sun. The masses thus incom-
pletely separated are of every variety of irregular form, those which are
described by Mr. Nasmyth as “ willow leaves,” viz. — long, narrow, and
pointed, being the rarest of all. These last are generally situated in the
immediate vicinity of large spots, and even on the penumbrse. They
sometimes project towards the spot itself, the edges of which appear
ragged, “ looking much like a piece of coarse thatching with straw, the
edge of which has been left untrimmed.” Mr. Dawes does not agree with
Sir John Herschel that these minute dark dots or pores are in a constant

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

383

state of change. Having examined minutely very small portions of the
sun’s surface with very high powers of his solar eyepiece, he has been able
to keep the same luminous masses and their intervening pores in sight for
an hour or two together, and has rarely seen any decided change in either,
though he has noticed that very slight atmospheric tremours will give such
an appearance. In the immediate neighbourhood of spots which are
rapidly enlarging or closing, this tranquillity, however, is no longer
observed, and the luminous masses become more elongated. This change
is the more remarkable in those cases where the spot is divided by a bridge
which passes out from the penumbra, when the luminous masses take the
appearance of bits of straw, and seem to be “ preparing for a rush across
the chasm.” These bridges, he finds, are always formed by the bright
streaks of the outer stratum. Mr. Dawes calls attention to the very dark
spot frequently seen in the umbra, the former being the true nucleus, whilst
the latter is improperly termed so. He finds that the pores are not quite
round, but appear like fissures — not black, but of a dark grey. He has no
doubt but that the bright faculee are ridges, as he has seen them actually
project beyond the limb of the sun, like the mountains at the edge of the
moon. He is, however, of opinion that the less luminous masses do not
mingle with the brighter ones, although they are on the whole at the same
level. The umbra he considers to be a cloudy and imperfectly transparent
cloudy stratum, the penumbra as self-luminous, making the second
envelope, and the third envelope is the photosphere. The very deep spots,
he thinks, are formed by an immense volume of non-inflammable gas
from the surface of the sun, which latter he imagines to be the nucleus or
darkest points of the umbra. The superficial spots are considered by him
as convulsions in the photosphere itself.

With the large Greenwich refractor, Mr. Stone observes the sun’s photo-
sphere to have an appearance similar to that as if it were covered with
grains of rice. It has been remarked that it is probable that the willow
leaves of Mr. Nasmyth, the particles of straw of Mr. Dawes, and the above
description of Mr. Stone, are one and the same phenomenon.

Comet of December 28, 1863. — This comet came very near the earth in
the month of January ; but it was not visible to the naked eye, although
expected to be so. It is interesting, however, to know that it appears to
be one of the periodical class ; and it has been concluded to be identical
with those of 1490 and 1810. If its suspected period of fifty-three years
be correct, it should of course have appeared about the years 1543, 1596,
1649, 1703, and 1757 ; but its faintness on the present occasion, when it
required a good telescope to perceive it, may account for its invisibility at
those times. In 1490 it is described as having a very long and white tail,
which was turned towards the east, and followed the sun after setting. It
is described as having been visible from the feast of the Epiphany to the
middle of February. The comet of 1810 was discovered on August 22 of
that year by M. Pons, and was seen by him to October 8 of that year.
It does not appear to have been visible to the naked eye on that occasion,
and it is described as being round, with a faint nebulosity. The observa-
tions, both in 1490 and 1810, were rough and uncertain ; but the identity
of the two comets, as deduced from their similar paths and motions in space,

384

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

was even suspected in 1810, which its re-appearance on the present occasion
strongly confirms. It was discovered in America on January 8 (indepen-
dently), and the astronomers of that country are also of opinion that the
three comets are identical.

Distance of the Moon. — Closely following on the improved knowledge
of the distance of the sun comes that of the moon. The mean distance of
our satellite was determined by Professor Adams as 238,793 miles, and this
result has been generally adopted. From a laborious discussion of the
lunar observations made contemporaneously at the Cape of Good Hope
and various European observatories, Mr. Hugh Breen has determined that
the above distance must be diminished by 26 miles. Mr. Breen’s result
has been adopted in the “ Nautical Almanac ” of 1867, and will doubtless
be generally made use of by astronomers. It has thus been found that
we are nearer both to the sun and moon than was formerly suspected ;
but the correction to the distance of the latter body is small in com-
parison with the four millions of miles by which we are found to be
nearer to the former.

Variable Nebula in Taurus.— On a beautiful observing night on December
12, Mr. Hind looked for this curious object with the same telescope which
he used on the night of its discovery (October 11, 1852). Not the least
trace of it could be seen ; but the star which almost touched it was
equally perceptible as in 1852. Strange to say, this latter object is also
variable. On the same night his assistant, Mr. Talmage, who could dis-
tinguish eleven stars in the Pleiades, was equally unsuccessful in detecting
any nebulosity.

Nebula of Orion. — Mr. Stone examined this nebula with the Greenwich
refractor on January 11, and is of opinion that the drawing by Sir J.
Herschel is more accurate than that of Professor Bond, particularly about
the so-called jaws. The drawing of Professor Bond gives a squareness of
outline, and an almost total absence of light within the jaws, which is not
seen by the Greenwich observers.

Supposed Lunar Atmosphere. — Professor Challis controverts the Astro-
nomer Royal’s argument in opposition to his theory explaining the pre-
sence of a bright band bordering the edge of the moon, as seen during a
solar eclipse. The Astronomer- Royal, he states, takes the case of a mean
atmosphere, whereas his explanation supposes the existence of one whose •
density decreases with its height.

Light of the Moon at Total Eclipse of June 1. — The Astronomer- Royal
compared the light of several stars with that of the moon on the above
occasion. Being short-sighted, the stars appear to him as large luminous
discs, similar to the moon. He thus found that the moon’s light exceeded
that of Antares and Spica, somewhat exceeded that of Alpha Ophiuchi,
and was a very little less than that of Alpha Aquilse.

Star Maps. — The magnificent catalogue and star maps of Professor
Argelander are now completed — the number of stars registered amounting
to 324,198 altogether, which are visible in the northern hemisphere with a
telescope of 4% foot focus. The preparation of this great work has taken
upwards of seven years, in which there were 625 clear nights, and the
number of observations amounted to more than a million. The month of

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 385

October was found to be best adapted for observations in the climate of
Bonn.

Motion of Solar System in Space. — Mr. Stone, from a long discussion of
the proper motions of stars, concludes that when those are large, there is
numerical evidence that the solar system moves in space, but that this
evidence is slight.

New Telescope. — Mr. Wray, of Upper Holloway, has constructed a
telescope of eight inches aperture, and having only eight feet focal length.
We had an opportunity of testing its powers on the night of March 12,
and although the sky was not favourable, the separation of a double star
of Struve, of 0",67 distance was easily seen, and that of the double star
following Procyon was very apparent. Its action on the moon was equally
favourable, and its achromatism is perfect.

Parallax of Stars. — From Dr. Auwers* researches it appears that the
star 61 Cygni is much nearer to the sun than at first supposed. Bessel
found its parallax to be about \ of a second ; M. Otto Struve upwards of
half a second, whilst Dr. Auwers makes it 0",56. He also finds that a
star in Lalande’s catalogue (No. 21,258) has a parallax of 0",27, being at
a distance of 761,000 times that of the sun, and the light of which would
require some twelve years to reach the earth.

Nasmyth’s Solar Discoveries. — Mr. Nasmyth claims to have been the
first “ to discover, delineate, and accurately describe ” the structure and
structural details of the sun’s luminous surface, and those curious forms
which he has termed the “ willow leaves,” with which this luminary is
completely covered. He states that they are scattered in every direction
over its surface — no symmetrical arrangement being perceived. He esti-
mates their length at 1,000 miles, and their width about 100. The thick-
ness of the layer of those luminous spots does not appear to be considerable,
as the semi-luminous atmosphere on which they float can be perceived
through the interstices, and which give to the sun its peculiar and well-
known mottled appearance. The actual form of those singular bodies is
best seen when they drift across a spot and form those “ bridges ” which
occur when the spot is collapsing.

Recorded DarJcness of the Sun. — Mr. Carrington quotes a passage from
Bale’s “Pageant of Popes” (1574) which states that in the time of Leo
the Third (796-816), the sun was darkened and lost his light for eighteen
days. This is not recorded by Humboldt.

Comets in 1863. — In all, six comets were discovered during the past year.
Mr. Romberg states that the fourth comet, in December, appeared as an
oblong nebula not brighter than a star of the eighth magnitude. The
fifth, which was visible to the naked eye in November, when it shone as a
fifth-magnitude star, was not more than of the seventh magnitude in
December. A tail was seen on both occasions, at the latter time very
faint.

Catalogue of Nebulae. — A valuable work, containing all of Sir W. Her-
schel’s nebulje (2,500 in number), with other catalogues, and comparisons
between them, has been published by M. Auwers. The want of such a
work has long been felt by such observers as were engaged in searching
for comets, as no complete catalogue existed previously.

386

POPULAE SCIENCE EEVIEW.

Ancient Chinese Eclipses. — Mr. Williams has drawn up an interesting
account of thirty-six ancient eclipses, recorded in the Chinese annals,
commencing with one 720 b.c. and ending wTith that 495 b.c. He is of
opinion that they were possibly observed in the state of Loo. They will
serve, as Mr. Williams hopes, to test the accuracy of Chinese history.

Photographs of the Moon. — Mr. De la Rue is now engaged in amplifying
his original and small photographs of the moon to the size of Maedler’s
great map of thirty-eight inches in diameter, and the results obtained are
extremely satisfactory.

BOTANY.

A Species of St. Johnswort new to Britain. — This has been discovered by
Mr. T. R. Archer Briggs, and a notice of the plant appears in “The
Journal of Botany” for February. It has been identified with Hypericum
undulatum , which though widely distributed over Southern Europe,
Northern Africa, Madeira, and the Azores, has not before been observed
in England. Mr. Briggs first collected the plant in August, 1861. It
grows in great quantities upon a small stream which flows into the Plym,
and in two or three other localities within a radius of about six miles.
The stem is more or less quadrangular, and reaches a height of from two
to three feet ; the leaves which are oblong and embracing, are covered with
transparent dots and a network of pellucid vessels. The inflorescence is a
corymbose pannicle ; the sepals are always erect, and the petals which are
of an obovate form are tinged with red on the outside. Like its kindred it
affects a boggy soil.

The Common Ling , an American Plant. — That Calluna vulgaris is really
as much a native of the New World as of the Old would appear from Mr.
Hewett C. Watson’s examination of plants purchased by him at the Lin-
nean Society’s sale in November last. The occurrence of this plant in
Massachusetts, U.S., was recorded in 1861, by Professor Asa Gray. Since,
however, the latter botanist expressed his opinion that it might have been
introduced, the matter remained for some time in an unsatisfactory state
of uncertainty. It is now a settled fact that the Common Ling, or some
plant identical with it, is really an American species. Amongst Mr.
Watson’s purchases was a parcel bearing the label “A collection of dried
plants made by — McCormack, Esq., and presented to Mr. David Don,”
and within this bundle were specimens of Calluna vulgaris , which unfor-
tunately were devoid of flowers, but which bore a label stating that they
were found at the “ Head of St. Mary’s Bay, Trepassey Bay also very
abundant, S.E. of Newfoundland, considerable tracts of it.” The plants
thus labelled exactly resembled the Common Ling, and although Mr.
Durand suggests that the American plant is a larger flowered species than
ours, there seems good reason for believing that such is not the case. Yide
Natural History Review for January, and Journal of Botany ion February.

Arrangement of the Salix Species. — This complex and puzzling group of
plants, which has produced so many controversies among our most dis-
tinguished botanists, has at last been systematized scientifically. The task
was undertaken by Dr. Andersson, of Stockholm, who was certainly well

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

387

adapted to such a laborious undertaking. He bases his classification upon
certain characters of the male and female floral organs ; thus we find the
groups Monandrce , Diandrae , and Polyandroe. The Diandrse are further
divided into sub-groups characterized by peculiarities of the female por-
tions of the flower. Dr. Andersson’s memoir has, we believe, been pre-
sented to the Royal Academy of Stockholm.

“ Struggle for Life” among Plants . — That Mr. Darwin’s views in regard
to the mode in which one type of animals replaces another are now gene-
rally accepted, is, we believe, well known to all our readers. That his
opinions on this subject are equally applicable to plants has been shown
by Dr. Hooker, in a late memoir. In treating of the mode in which this
substitution occurs, the author alludes more particularly to the spread of
European plants in New Zealand, and gives the following most interesting
quotation from the writings of a correspondent : — <{ You would be sur-
prised at the rapid spread of European and other plants in this country.
All along the sides of the main lines of road through the plains, a poly-
gonum called Cow-grass, grows most luxuriantly, the roots sometimes two
feet in depth, and the plants spreading over an area from four to five feet
in diameter. The Dock is to be found in every river-bed * * * * *

The Sow thistle is spread all over the country, growing luxuriantly nearly
up to 6,000 feet. The water-cress increases in our still rivers to such an
extent as to threaten to choke them altogether. * * * * I have

measured stems twelve feet long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter.
In some of the mountain districts where the soil is loose, the white clover
is completely displacing the native grasses, forming a close sward. * * *

In fact, the young native vegetation seems to shrink from competition with
these more vigorous intruders.” It appears to be a saying among the
native population of New Zealand that, as the white man’s rat has driven
away the native rat, so the European fly drives away our own , and the clover
kills our fern , so will the Maoris disappear before the white man himself. —
Natural History Review , No. xiii. p. 123.

Peculiar Form of Asplenium Ruta-mur aria. — In May last, Mr. F. J. Foot
communicated to the Natural History Society of Dublin a short paper,
descriptive of a new variety of this handsome fern. The specimen laid
before the society was unquestionably the A. ruta-muraria , but consi-
derably modified, the upper pinnules resembling both in form and texture
those of A. germanicum. The variation is more remarkable, from the
circumstance that there appeared to be no external influence adequate to
explain the alteration of specific characters.

What is Palmogloea macrococca ? — An attempt to solve this very difficult
query has been made by that indefatigable microscopist, Mr. Wm. Archer.
The paper in which the solution of the difficulty is essayed is accompanied
by a beautifully-executed plate, delineating the characters and develop-
ment of Mesotosnium chlamydosporum , which Mr. Archer believes the
above-named plant to be identical with. The original memoir, which is
of considerable length, and may be almost regarded as a resume of what is
known upon the subject, should be consulted by those interested in micro-
scopic botany. — Vide Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science, Jan. 1864.

Growth of Peruvian Cotton in India. — • Mr. Clements Markham has

388

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

conducted an extensive series of experiments with cotton plants, intro-
duced into Madras from the valleys of the Peruvian coast. He believes that
if this form is cultivated on the sand-flats and drifts forming the sea-board
to the north of Madras, the result will be commercially satisfactory. In
his opinion the cotton should be grown with cereals, in order to enable
the grower to pay the existing land-tax. The results adduced in support
of his views would not, however, appear to us to warrant the conclu-
sion at which Mr. Markham has arrived. — See Journal of Botany , No.
xiii. p. 9.

Influence of Smoke on Vegetation . — In a paper read before the Royal
Society, partly on the above subject, Professor Voelcker states that he has had
many opportunities of becoming practically conversant with the injurious
effects which a smoky atmosphere produces on cereal crops, and that he
regards a strong deposition of soot on wheat and other corn crops quite a
sufficient evidence of the more or less complete injury which the crops
must have suffered from the sulphurous acid always present in the air
when such sooty deposits are seen on plants. The disadvantages of carrying
on agricultural pursuits in the Potteries, or in districts where volumes of
black smoke discharge enormous quantities of sulphurous acid into the air,
are well known amongst the more intelligent and enterprising farmers.
The injury done to vegetation by the smoke from copper works has been
traced beyond a distance of four miles. Of course it might be asserted
that the mischief was caused by the arsenical vapours ; but the latter are
present in almost inappreciably small quantities, whilst as small an
atmospheric per-centage of sulphurous acid as the is injurious to

vegetation in wet weather. The fumes arising from brick kilns may be
said to be equally destructive of growing plants.

Distribution of Raphides. — Professor Gulliver appears to be almost inde-
fatigable in the pursuit of this subject. He seems even now, more than
hitherto, to regard the presence of raphides as a sufficient character on
which to depend in the identification of certain plants, and refutes the
objections of his opponents by stating that the existence or non-existence
of crystals in the soil does not appear to influence the plant, to any great
extent, in regard to its possession of raphides. In speaking of the liliacese,
some of which do, and others of which do not, present raphides, he observes:
“ Such an irregular distribution of raphides in the members of one order
might lead us to suppose that the fact must be connected either with
seasons, climate, or soil, which I believe is not entirely the case ; because in
some (though not all) of the species mentioned, the constancy of the
results was verified under many such conditions. Several of the plants
were examined more than once from various localities, and during different
seasons and years ; while Allium ursinum and Ornithogalum umbellatum
were particularly made the subjects of repeated and protracted observa-
tions, and always with the same results of no raphides in the former, and
an abundance of them in the latter species.” In support of Professor
Gulliver’s view, it may also be mentioned, that such plants as the willow-
herbs, which are essentially raphidiferous, may always be found with an
abundance of raphides. The onion has formerly been given as an illus-
tration of a raphidiferous plant, but Professor Gulliver has shown that

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 389

the crystals which it contains are not true rapliides. — Vide Magazine of
Natural History , January.

The Kilkee Fucus. — It would appear that this is no longer to he styled
F. distichus. The following is sufficient reason for this statement
“ Notwithstanding all that has been said pro and con. I have now to inform
you that the Kilkee fucus is neither F. distichus , nor yet F. fuscatus , nor
yet any species known to Professor Agardli, from whom I have just
received a specimen of the true F. distichus of the elder Agardh ; and so
being constrained to give it a name, I propose to call it Fucus anceps , Ward
and Harvey ; and I request you to make known this alias to all to whom
you have (on my authority) given the wrong name. This Fucus seems
to combine the characters of the ribbed and ribless species, and therefore
it may with propriety be named F. anceps ” (Letter from Professor J. H.
Harvey to Dr. J. E. Gray). — See Annals of Natural History for February,
1864.

Respiration of Plants. — M. Felix de Faucoupret follows in the suite of
M. Corenwinder and others, and gives us the annexed conclusions as the
only ones to be drawn from the investigations which he has made : —

(1) The quantity of carbonic acid absorbed or exhaled b}^ the same plant
varies with the temperature, the mode of respiration remaining the same.

(2) At the same temperature, the quantity of carbonic acid absorbed or
exhaled varies according to the nature of the plant. (3) The law
explaining the relation of the quantities to the different temperatures
is expressed by a parabolic formula, no matter what be the mode of respi-
ration, or the family to which the plant belongs. (4) The coefficient of
the square of the temperature is constant for all plants whose temperature
is the same. (5) This coefficient varies for the same plant according to
the mode of respiration. It will, no doubt, be interesting to our readers
to see that even so essentially inductive a science as botany may be found
possessing mathematical laws, such as those above stated.— Vide Comptes
Rendus , February 15th.

Spontaneous Generation.— We have much pleasure in stating that there
is at last a prospect of the question of equivocal generation being settled.
We learn, from the Comptes Rendus , that the Academy has appointed a
commission to inquire into the evidence on both sides, and that M. Pasteur
and Messrs. Pouchet, J oly, and Musset have been invited to repeat their
experiments in the presence of the commissioners. The invitation has
been accepted by both parties, the advocates of spontaneous generation
appearing to be quite sanguine of success, and reposing the most perfect
confidence in the impartiality of the commission. — See Comptes Rendus ,
January 25th.

CHEMISTRY.

Spectral Ray of Thallium Paralysed by that of Sodium. — It appears that
if thallium be present in small proportions in a compound containing
chloride of sodium, the action of the ray characteristic of the latter is so
powerful that the tliallic ray remains unperceived. Hence, although the
thallic ray be not observed in the solar spectrum, it by no means follows
VOL. III.— -NO. XI. 2 D

390

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

that the metal itself does not exist in the sun. This is a fact of great
importance, not only in regard to ordinary chemistry, hut as it bears on
toxicology. For in an analysis (spectral) of the animal tissues or liquids,
•one is certain to find chloride of sodium in abundance, and therefore,
were thallium present in small proportions, it would escape detection by
this method. If it be required to examine mineral waters and such-like
for thallium, it will be necessary to separate the metal in the first instance
from the excess of soda ; this may be done by one of the methods pointed
out by M. Lamy ; viz., either by depositing it on zinc, or reducing it by
galvanic means, or by precipitating it with sulphide of ammonium or
iodide of potassium. — See a memoir by M. Nickles in the Comptes Rendas
for January, 1864.

Soap for very Dirty Hands. — The following is a novel German receipt for
the manufacture of a soap whose cleansing properties are said to be of a high
order : — Two pounds of finely rubbed carbonate of magnesia are to be
mixed in a porcelain dish, with eight pounds of waterglass and eight
pounds of water. To these, four pounds of oleic acid are added, and
the whole is gently warmed and stirred as long as carbonic acid is evolved.
Lastly, a pound of crystallized carbonate of soda dissolved in some warm
water is added, and the mass is dried, and made into shapes. — Vide Chemical
News , January 3rd, 1864, and Chemisches Centralblatt , No. liv., 1863.

Non-existence of Tyro and Meta-Arseniates. — The currently received
opinion that the phosphates and arseniates are analogous compounds has
been refuted by M. Maumene. In a memoir laid before the French
Academy in the beginning of February last, he asserts most positively that
neither of the compounds above referred to has any real existence. It
was thought by Pelouze that the arseniates, like the phosphates, were
modified by heat and converted into salts having other proportions of
base and acid. M. Maumene states that “ it is nothing of the kind ;
arseniate of soda never gives either pyso-arseniate or meta-arseniate.
Submitted to an intense heat violently or carefully, or for a lengthened
period, it does not undergo the slightest alteration of the sort imagined.
Dissolved in water, and then mixed with a silver solution it invariably
gives the brick-red arseniate As, 05, 3, Ag, O. Arseniate of soda was kept
at a red heat for several days, and its properties remained unaltered, and
when added to solution of nitrate of silver the brick-red arseniate was
produced ; a similar result was obtained by employing the acetate instead
of the nitrate of silver. Arseniate of potash was obtained from acid pre-
pared by Gay-Lussac’s method, and heated to redness with the same
results as when the soda salt was experimented on. Finally, M. Maumene
treated the arseniates of baryta and lead in a similar manner, and pro-
duced a silver-precipitate like that which the soda salt gave rise to, thus
affording conclusive proof of his assertion that the modified arseniates do
not really exist.

The Decomposition of Iodide of Mercury. — This may readily be effected
by employing the cyanide of potassium. In order to estimate the pro-
portion of mercury in the iodide the following method may be employed.
The evanide of potassium is first rubbed down in a mortar, with twice its
weight of quicklime. Then a tube, closed at one end, is taken, and a small

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

391

quantity of carbonate of magnesia is placed in it. The iodide is now
mixed with eight times its weight of cyanide of potassium, and introduced
into the tube ; next, a layer of the mixture of cyanide and lime is added ; and,
finally, the upper part is covered with carbonate of magnesia. The tube
is drawn out in the usual manner, and made to dip into water, when,
heat being applied, the mercury distils over. Of the other means which
may be employed in the decomposition of iodide of mercury, we may
mention those of metallic zinc and protochloride of tin ; the former com-
pletely decomposes the iodide, the iodine combining with the zinc ; the
latter also reduces the metal, but rather incompletely. — Poggendorf’s
Annaleil , chap, xviii., and Chemical News , February 27th.

A New Form of Gunpowder has been devised by Messrs. Hall and
Wells, of Worcester. It consists of 47 parts of chlorate of potash, 38
parts of ferro-cyanide of potassum, and 5 parts of sulphur. The ingre-
dients are first separately reduced to powder by grinding upon suitable
slabs, then they are mixed together, water being used till they form a
sort of paste. When the mixture has become dry, about ten parts of
caoutchouc are added. The compound is then complete. One of its advan-
tages is, that it may be so moulded that the entire charge shall con-
stitute a solid mass, 'thus affording great facilities to the manufacture of
cartridges.

The Proportion of Ether in Brandy and Vinegar. — Mr. Berthelot, who
has already estimated the percentage of ether in wine, now gives his
attention to the substances which are derived from wines, or their principles ;
to brandy, which is obtained by distillation ; and vinegar, which is a pro-
duct of oxydation. Brandy contains the following materials

1. Water.

2. Ordinary alcohol, and some traces of Amylic, and other alcohols.

3. Some of the volatile acids of wine (acetic, Butyric succinic ? &c.),
traces of which only present themselves in ordinary wine, and most
which remain in the case of brandy, in the undistilled residue.
Besides these, there are empyreumatic acids in small proportions.

4. The more volatile ether of wine (Acetic, Formic?). The pro-
portion of these in wines is small, and distillation is too rapid to
alter them to any great extent.

5. Various volatile principles proceeding from the wine, or from the
fermented liquor ; such, for example, as the essential oils, aldehydes,
&c., empyreumatic products, and certain substances abstracted from
the casks.

In the preparation of vinegar, a large quantity of the alcohol is con-
verted into acetic acid, and another portion is completely oxydised. If
all the alcohol disappears no ethers will be found ; generally speaking,
however, there remain slight traces of alcohol, and consequently of ethers
also, whether these ethers pre-existed in the wine, or were developed at
the moment of oxydation by the influence of nascent acetic acid, or at a
later period by reason of the liquid being kept by for a long while.
These ethers consist chiefly of the acetic form, because the acid of this
series predominates. There can be no doubt that ethers give much of their

2 D 2

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

392

bouquet to wine vinegars, whatever be their origin.— Vide Comptes Reiidas ,

lviii., No. 1.

Is Oxygen a Tetra-atomic Element ? — This question would appear to be
answered in the affirmative by M. Naquet, who conceives that he has
established the tetra-atomic character of sulphur and selenium. In his
opinion, the tetra-atomicity of the latter bodies being established, if we
consider the many analogies which exist between sulphur and oxygen,
and also the fact that the atomicity of a body may vary with the radical
which it enters into combination with, as in the case of lead which is
tetra-atomic with ethyl, and bi-atomic with chlorine, we are justified in
supposing that oxygen belongs to the sulphur, selenium, and tellurium
family. — Comptes Rendus , February 22nd, 1864.

Action of Fungi on Solutions of Cane Sugar. — Under this heading, a
valuable memoir was some time ago communicated to the French Academy
by M. Bechamp. He points out a curious fact presented by a sugary
solution which had been mixed with oxalate of potass, and which con-
tained some fungous growths. The liquid was alkaline, but when treated
with an acid it gave off carbonic acid. Hence it may be concluded, that
under the influence of these plants the oxygen had decomposed the oxalic
acid, and the sugar was transformed into glucose in an alkaline solution. —
Comptes Rendus , Feb. 15th.

Valerylene , a new Homologue of Acetylene, is the name given to a compound
discovered by M. Reboul. It is obtained by heating for some hours to
140° (centigrade), and in closed tubes brome-amylene, with a saturated
alcoholic solution of potass. When water is added to the product, a sub-
stance is separated, which consists of a mixture of valerylene alcohol and
brome-amylene. The new compound may be separated from the alcohol
by agitation with cold water, and from the amylene compound by distilla-
tion at a low temperature. It is very volatile, and is not absorbed by the
ammoniacal solution of sulphate of copper, although allowed to remain in
contact with it for several days ; it is a colourless liquid less dense than
water, in which it is almost insoluble, and has a peculiarly garlicky odour.
It distils over at from 44 to 46° centigrade. Its formula is C10 IIS.
Analysis gives it a composition of 87*31 of carbon, and 12*04 of hydrogen.
It combines most energetically with bromine ; so much so that in allowing
the combination to take place every precaution must be observed to keep
the fluid at a temperature close on 32° Fahrenheit.— Comptes Rendus ,
January 25.

Purification of Oxalic Acid. — The ordinary method consists in the suc-
cessive crystallization of the commercial acid in distilled water. M.
Maumene finds this process to be rather a means of rendering impure than
of purifying the acid. He discovers a greater proportion of alkali in the
crystals last obtained, than in those of the first series. He therefore re-
commends the following process as the one best adapted to the object in
view : — Dissolve the ordinary acid in sufficient water to give from ten or
twenty to a hundred crystals, according to the degree of impurity. Let
these crystals be laid aside. Next, evaporate the mother liquor, and sub-
mit the crystals resulting from it to two or three successive crystallizations,

SCIEKTIPIC SUMMARY. 393

and an acid free from alkaline oxalates will be produced. — Memoir pre-
sented to the French Academy, January, 1864.

Chemistry of the Oil of Nutmeg. — The nutmeg owes its peculiar aromatic
properties and flavour to a volatile oil which is present in large quantities,
but up to this it has not been submitted to a chemical examination. This oil
may be extracted by boiling the kernel in an ordinary retort, but in this
process only a portion of the essence is obtained. A preferable method
appears to be the treatment of the finely-powdered nutmeg with bisulphide
of carbon or sulphuric acid. The mixture is then filtered, and a stream of
vapour is caused to play upon the residue, which then loses all the essence
it contained. The composition of the essence obtained in this manner is
the same as that of volatile oil of turpentine. When exposed to the action
of the air, it absorbs oxygen slowly and loses its fluidity. It is rapidly
attacked by chlorine, giving off at the same time fumes of hydrochloric
acid, and is transformed into a chlorinous compound of a viscid, non-
crystallizable nature. Bromine affects it in a similar manner. It is
slightly soluble in water, and perfectly so in absolute alcohol. A mixture
of this essence, alcohol and nitric acid, when kept for some months, gave
rise to no hydrate ; this is the first chemical character which distinguishes
this substance from volatile oil of turpentine. Nitric acid reacts upon it
powerfully, causing fumes to be given off, and producing oxalate of am-
monia and several other compounds. It is soluble in concentrated sul-
phuric acid, to which it gives a brown colour, sulphurous acid being dis-
engaged. The action of hydrochloric acid on this compound differs from
that on volatile oil of turpentine, in the production of a liquid and not a
solid hydrochlorate. Its formula may be represented as CJ0 Hj 6.— See a
paper by M. Cloez, in Comptes Rendus , lviii. No. 2.

Composition of the Thermal Waters of Wildbad-Gastein . — Herr Ullick
has informed the Vienna Academy of Sciences that he has determined the
proportion of lithium contained in the waters of the above-named locality,
and that he has also found in them traces of titanic acid, rubidium, and a
comparatively large proportion of caesium. — V Institute No. 1,565.

Isomeric Forms of Titanic Acid . — In a paper read before a recent meet-
ing of the Academy of Sciences, in Berlin, Ilerr Rudolph Weber stated
that the difference which existed between the hydrated titanic acid obtained
by precipitating with alkalis and acid solution of this substance, and that
obtained by the ebullition of a dilute solution of titanic acid, led him
to believe that there existed two analogous and isomeric forms of titanic
acid ; to the first he gave the term of titanic, and to the second that of
meta-titanic acid. These two compounds may be distinguished by the
circumstance that the first is very soluble, and the second sparingly soluble
in acids. Besides, the meta-titanic acid is precipitated from its solution in
sulphuric acid by hydrochloric, whilst the titanic is not thrown down under
similar conditions.

Blowpipe Reaction of Copper. — Dr. Gerland mentions in an article in the
Chemical News of February 13th, that the appearance of the bead pro-
duced by the influence of the blowpipe flame on copper has not been
accurately described. After long practice he has so far succeeded in the
management of the blowpipe flame produced by a gas jet, as to have it

394

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

sufficiently under his control to use it for all purposes of qualitative and
quantitative blowpipe analysis ; but he has been unable to obtain the red
opaque copper bead on the eye of a platinum wire in the deoxidising flame.
The bead thus produced shows the characteristics of glass, coloured by
protoxide of copper. When removed out of the inner flame, the bead is
perfectly colourless and transparent, and remains so after cooling ; but
when again gently heated by holding it close to the flame, a beautiful
ruby red diffuses itself through the glass without disturbing its trans-
parency. This colour is not affected by cooling, but disappears by ex-
posure to a stronger heat, and does not return on cooling. It can, how-
ever, be reproduced by a low heat as in the first instance. The changes
are best observed when the end of the platinum wire is made rather wide,
and not too much borax used, so that the head becomes elongated. If a
little copper is dissolved in the flux, the glass is rendered colourless in the
deoxydising flame, and if now one end of the bead is brought near the
flame, this half turns ruby red, whilst the other half is left too cold to take
the colour ; but the first half when left for a moment in the exterior flame,
becomes colourless by over-heating, and at the same time the other end is
heated sufficiently to redden in its turn. The reader should consult the
article itself for much that is interesting in regard to the subject it treats on.

GEOLOGY AND PALAEONTOLOGY.

Newly-discovered Bone Gave.-— In making certain excavations in the rock
of Gibraltar, the engineers have come upon a very extensive cavern
containing the bones of numerous extinct mammalia and of man. From
what we have already heard, this grotto bids fair to throw more light upon
the question of the age of pre-hist oric man than any hitherto examined .
As yet we have had no minute description of the fossils discovered in this
locality, but we have been informed that a very great number of specimens
has been forwarded to this country by one of the Gibraltar authorities
particularly interested in the geology of the excavation.

Experimental Researches upon the Granites of Ireland is the subject of a
paper lately presented to the Geological Society by the Rev. Samuel
Haughton, F.R.S. The mineral constitution of the fifteen classes of
granitic rocks was discussed in detail. Professor Haughton concludes from
his investigations that nearly half of these granites are not composed
altogether of the four minerals— quartz, ortho-classe, oligo-classe, and black
mica— which are found in them in distinct crystals ; and that the remain-
ing varieties, even if they be composed of these minerals, must have a
paste composed of the same minerals, but with a slightly different compo-
sition. The writer then treated of the composition of the syenites of
Donegal, and instituted a comparison between the granites of that district
and those of Scotland and Sweden, remarking that those of the. last-named
country have the same stratified structure as the granites of Donegal. —
Vide the Geologist for February.

Band stone Hammer in a Diluvial Deposit . — In a letter to the editor of

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

395

the Geologist , Mr. J. D. Sainter gives a description of an instrument of
this kind which was found near Seddington, in a boggy soil, at a depth
of about two yards from the surface. Its length was 71 inches, and the
hole for the handle measured about l-§- of an inch. One end was rounded,
the other vertically wedge-shaped ; and it is of superior workmanship,
having been probably made at the close of the stone period. The specimen
is of some local interest, but of course adds nothing in the shape of
evidence to the support of the conclusions formed by geologists.

Fragments of Human Jaws found in the Cave of Bruniquel, — In this
cavern M. Garrigou states (see his memoir in the Comptes Rendus , t. lvii.
No. 25), that he has found not only the bones alluded to above, but also
those of a reindeer, an antelope, a chamois, a large species of ox, a wolf, a
dog, a fox, a smaller species of carnivore than the latter, two rasorial birds,
a bird of huge size, and two species of fishes. Perhaps the most interesting
feature in these researches was the discovery of “the humerus of an
immense bird, upon which was rudely sculptured various portions of a
fish’s body.” On one part wras seen an engraving of a forked tail, and
beside it two representations of a fish’s head, and on another was sculp-
tured three paddles or fins. M. Garrigou asks, “ What conclusion are we
to arrive at with regard to such a specimen, unless we look upon it as an
amulet or some ornament of distinction?” The two jaw-bones were
discovered in the presence of ten witnesses, at a depth of about two metres,
in a bed of shale, containing particles of charcoal in large quantities, flint
weapons, and ruminant bones. This bed supported a second of the same
kind, but without charcoal, both being covered in by the osseous brecchia
and stalagmite. The blow of the pick which turned up the first jaw
smashed the condyle , and drove out a number of teeth , which could not be found
afterwards (!) the first permanent molar, however, remains. The bone
was that of an adult. If true, this discovery is even stranger than that
made at Moulin- Quignon.

Pachyderms of the Paris Basin, — M. Watelet has discovered a stratum
of the Paris basin, which contains fossil bones of an enormous size. The
bones have been found at J ouy, near Aisne, and belong to the genus Lop-
liiodon or Tapirotherium, of which M. Watelet believes that he has found
remnants of the following species : — L, occita?iicum} L, isselense , L. tapir-
oides , L. Buxomllanum , L . giganteum , L. aurelianense) and some others.

Mammalian Bones and Flint Implements at Audley-end , Essex . — In
making certain cuttings in the neighbourhood of the liver Cam, in order
to divert the stream into another bed, a portion of meadow land, cut
through to a depth of twenty feet by sixty, yielded two cart-loads of bones*
which were employed by the barbarians of the neighbourhood in the
manufacture of manure. So Mr. G. E. Roberts informed his audience at
a late meeting of the Anthropological Society. Some of Mr. Roberts*
descriptions of the conditions of these bones are of much interest. He
describes many of the markings which appear upon them as being pro-
duced by sawing ; others seem to have been produced by the action of
some rude ■wedge or chisel. He supposes that all the markings exhibited
were produced by flint implements, and observes, — “ I am supported in
my belief that these incised markings and scrapings were made by an edge

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of flint, by Mr. Christy, who has studied these bones long and carefully.
He detects, in the delicate ribs left upon the surfacing of the scoring by a
flint edge, the peculiar curve in the direction which corresponds with the
curved outline of the edge, and which he has found existing in all cuts and
sawings made upon bone by implements of flint.”

Marine Fossils of the Coal Measures . — It would appear, from a commu-
nication not long since made by Professor Roemer to the Rhenish Natural
History Society, that the marine shell strata found in the coal beds present
a constant level. He has been investigating those of the coal mines of
Upper Silesia, and he has found species of the genera Bellerophon , OrtliiSy
Products, OrthoceraSy GoniatiteSy &c., associated with iron nodules. These
fossils lay in shaly seams, at a height of about 100 feet above the valuable
coal-beds. This relation may be said to be true for all coal formations.

Flint Weapons in the Grotto ofLaroque. — The cavern of Laroque, situate
on the route of Montpellier, between the former locality and Saint-Bauzille,
has been explored by M. Boutin, who, in a note to the French Academy,
describes the results of his investigations. He found in this cavern, bones,
charcoal cinders, and prepared flints. The latter were of different sizes :
some of them wTere not more than two centimetres long and two or three
millimetres wide ; they were pointed at each end. Others, of a larger
size, were sharpened at one extremity only. Besides these, there wTere
found rounded or lenticular pieces of flint, whose use it wrould be impos-
sible to conjecture, M. Boutin concludes by observing, — “ There is no
doubt that many of our neighbouring caverns contain similar indications
of the passage of man. And as in some of them I have already discovered
considerable quantities of the remains of Ursus spelceus, I do not despair
of one day finding both remnants associated.” — Comptes Rendus, Jan. 4.

The Alluvials in the Neighbourhood of Toni . — In a memoir presented to
the Academy by M. Husson the following general conclusions are drawn,
relative to the geological bearing of the deposits] above-named : — The
country round Toul is of a character to throw a great deal of light upon
the subject of the antiquity of man. The valley of the Ingressin possesses
(1) an entire and undisturbed bed of Scandinavian diluvial nature, and
a local alluvial one of the same date ; (2) a very extensive deposit of Alpine
diluvium, rich in fossils, and which has been worked for twenty years, to
an extent of about eight kilometres. The valley of the Moselle exhibits
(1) the same Alpine diluvium covering the plain of La Treiclie ; and (2)
all the other elements for the study of the question alluded to ; viz.,
peculiar caverns, human osseous brecchia, specimens of pottery and primi-
tive human ornaments, groved bones of the same period, and very large
flint weapons, like those of the Somme valley. An examination of all
these deposits demonstrates, — 1st, That all these remnants of primitive
industry and of man, from whom they came, are of post diluvian date.
2nd, In regard to the state of these alluvians and more recent strata, there
are many sources of error, which are with difficulty perceived. — Comptes
Rendus , Feb. 8.

Foramenifera of the Tertiary Basin of Vienna . — At a comparatively
recent meeting of the Vienna Academy of Sciences, Herr Karrer commu-
nicated the results of his investigations into the character of the forameni-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

397

fera, which had been deposited in the brackish-water shales of the locality
referred to above. The foramenifera of these deposits constitute a special
fauna, and are by no means of secondary origin, that is to say, elevated
from marine beds, and then re-deposited by means of secondary currents of
water. Although less abundant (specifically?) and striking than their
kindred of the salt-water fofmations, they are nevertheless remarkable for
the number of individuals presented. The same genera, and nearly the
same species, which compose the true marine fauna, are found in the beds
in question, but they are reduced to their minimum size, although the
characteristic genera ( Nonionina , Polystomclla , Rosalina ), belong to fami-
lies the structure of whose shell is most complex. On the whole, this
fauna is analogous in many respects with that of the Nullipore-marls. It
is parallel with that of the Molluscan fauna of the same origin, and hence
it may elucidate the nature of certain deposits in which the latter should
be present, but owing to peculiar circumstances is absent. — Vide I? Institute
No. 1,565.

How Granite was formed,— In delivering one of the lectures of the
Swiney course at the Royal School of Mines, Dr. Percy objected to the
assertion of geologists, that granitic rocks must have been formed by
plutonic agencies, for, said he, there are certain difficulties which have
always been in the way of accepting this view of the subject — difficulties,
known at all events to those who have been accustomed to make experi-
ments on the fusion of mineral substances at high temperatures. This is
especially seen by examining the condition of quartz in granite ; it is
always found in the crystalline condition, and has invariably a specific
gravity of 2*6. There is not a single instance known to the contrary.
Hence there is reason to believe that the quartz could never have been
fused, for the moment silica is fused, no matter in what condition it w*as
previously, a peculiar glass-like colloidal mass is produced, having a
specific gravity which never exceeds 2*3. Therefore there is good reason
to conclude that granite could never have been found under the condition
of a high temperature.

Help to the Identification of Fossil Bivalve Shells.— Under this title we
find an article in the February number of the Geologist , but we really are at
a loss to see in what way the writer (Mr. H. Seely) has done anything to
lessen the difficulties which the student encounters. He proposes the
adoption of a series of formulae as he terms them. These are really hiero-
glypics significant of the relations of the teeth, cartilage pits, sinuses, &c.
We do not think it likely that his scheme will be approved of, and must
refer the reader for further information to the contribution itself.

Geological Views of Local Savans.— It is much to be regretted that local
scientific societies do not exercise sufficient precaution in regard to the
previous examination of papers read before their members. A lamentable
instance of what pseudo-scientific study may reduce a certain class of
mind to* was exhibited at a late meeting of the Manchester Geological
Society. A Mr. Dickinson, whose geological conceptions appear to rival
even those of the celebrated Mr. Scattergood in regard to the laws of
optics, communicated his opinions on the subject of “Modern and Scrip-
tural Geology.” The learned author, after annihilating the more leading

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doctrines of geologic science, proceeded to observe, 44 Again, if the theory of
sedimentary rocks were admitted, deposits would all be mixed ; limestone,
chalk, salt, and other such deposits, would never have been found in
immense beds. There were no remains of surfaces like that which now
covered the earth ; no beds of rivers ; and as to the so-called denudation,
rocks thousands of feet — nay, even miles in* depth, would be wanting to
account for the present surface formations. Immense blocks of the
denuded rocks would have remained. The pebbles and boulders were in-
sufficient to account for what had disappeared. These pebbles were not
drifted by glaciers, but wTere formed on the spot. Scripture told us that
every plant of the field and herb of the earth was in the earth before it
grew, and this would account for fossil remains in whatever part of the struc-
ture of the earth they might he found . The fossil remains of shells were
numerous, because 4 the waters brought forth abundantly ;’ but tlie4 winged
fowls which were created on the fifth day seemed to have escaped, because
they were made so that they might fly.’’ It would be idle to quote any
further. We may well say to our readers, Verbum sapientihus.

Coal Measures in Brazil.— At a late meeting of a local society, it was
stated that a coal field had been recently discovered in the south of Brazil,
which in some parts measured sixty-five feet in thickness. Two smaller
ones lie to the north of it — one, said to be very valuable, in the province of
Rio Grande do Sul, and the other in San Catherina. The field runs from
south to north in one line of deposit, and appears to be oolitic. Coal had
never before been found in this country, and of course the discovery will
prove of immense value to the Government, which has hitherto been
obliged to import this mineral at a great expense. — See The Mining and
Smelting Magazine for January.

Scriptural Mention of Flint Weapons. — The Rev. G. N. Smith mentions
in a letter to Mr. Mackie, that there occurs in the Septuagint a passage in
Joshua which relates to the burial of certain flint implements. He indi-
cates the possibility of explaining the presence of these weapons in tumuli,
by reference to the Old Testament evidence, which is as follows (Joshua
xxiv. 30) — 44 And they buried Joshua in the border of his inheritance,
and they placed with him, in his tomb, the flint knives with which he had
circumcised the children of Israel ; and there they are unto this day.” —
Vide The Geologist , No. 74.

New Species of Hyaena from the Suffolk Crag. — The credit of discovering
the remnant of a new being of Hytenoid type is due to Mr. E. Ray Lan-
kester, who publishes his description of the fossil in a late number of the
44 Annals of Natural History.” The only portion of the creature found
was a tooth ; this -was discovered in the red crag at Felixstowe, in Suffolk,
and from it alone Mr. Lankester has been enabled to establish an entirely
new species. Dr. Falconer, to whom the specimen was submitted for ex-
amination, expresses, with some reserve, his opinion that the tooth be-
longed to an animal related to both Hyaena spelea and H. crocuta. From
a comparison of the tooth (a third pre-molar) with the corresponding-
teeth of the other species, Mr. Lankester supposes that it is that of a new
species, and remarks, 44 There appears to be no description of any species of
Hyaena corresponding with the characters of this tooth, the specimens from

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

399

the older continental beds being, as far as I am able to judge, very
different, if M. de Blainville’s memoir may be relied on. I, therefore, for
the sake of perspicuity and convenience, propose to call this species Hyaena
antiqua provisionally. If at any time, further material should identify it
with any known species, my name must be rescinded.” — Yide Annals of
Natural History , No. 73.

Elevation of the Coast of Chili. — That the latter coast is being gradually
elevated, would appear from the fact that for half a century the harbours
of the country have been diminishing in depth. This change, however,
might be accounted for by supposing the existence of currents bringing in
debris. M. Pissis gives other proofs. On examining the coast between
Concepcion and Rio Maule, the various escarpments of schistose rocks will
be found to present several cavities formed in other times by stone-boring
mollusks ; these markings succeed each other without interruption from
high-water level to a height of from 8 to 10 metres (about 30 feet). The
upper ones are much more crowded than those below, thus proving that
the elevation has been gradual ; for had it taken place at various intervals,
there would be a series of interruptions in the series, which do not exist.--
See Comptes Re?idus, January 1 1th, 1864.

MEDICAL SCIENCE.

Nature of the Red Blood Corpuscle.— Dr. Lionel Beale, continuing his
interesting inquiries into the distinction between the nature of formed and
germinal matter, has communicated a paper on the above subject to the
Microscopical Society of London. He arrives at two conclusions : first,
that the blood corpuscle is not a cell, and possesses no trace of a cell wall ;
and, second, that the red substance is formed matter, and as such does not
possess vitality, any more than cuticle, or the hard portion of horn or nail.
That there is no distinct envelope is proved by the following facts : —
1st. The corpuscles may be seen to alter their form under the microscope.
This change is not due to pressure, because other globules having the
normal form may be observed beneath those which are altering their
shape. 2nd. If frogs or other large blood corpuscles are carefully sub-
jected to sudden pressure under very thin glass, — as, for example, by
drawing a needle point quickly and firmly across the thin glass, — several
corpuscles will be divided into smaller ones. 3rd. Portions of the nucleus
of a frog’s blood corpuscle may be seen to pass completely through the
coloured material, which of course would be impossible were this of a
membranous character. This observation of Dr. Beale’s is borne out by
the statement of Dr. Roberts, who says, a I have on several occasions
witnessed, after adding magenta, the total extrusion of the nucleus both
in the frog and the newt, without the least collapse of the corpuscles .”
4th. The corpuscles of guinea-pigs’ blood shoot out into tetra-hedral
crystals a few hours after being removed from the animal’s body. Of
this phenomenon, Professor Beale writes : “ After a few minutes, these
small particles were seen to change their form, and become angular, and
gradually, very minute, but most distinct tetra-hedral crystals were

400

POPULAR. SCIENCE REVIEW.

produced. Thus the coloured material of which a single blood globule was
composed, gave rise to several distinct tetra-hedral crystals. The crystals
did not seem to have been precipitated from any fluid contents of the
corpuscle, nor was there any indication whatever of a cell-wall remaining.”
The whole of the red material became converted into crystals, thus satis-
factorily proving the absence of an external envelope. — Yide Quarterly
Journal of Microscopical Science , January.

Cause of Yellow Colour of Skin in Yellow Fever . — This has been attributed
by Dr. S. Fleet Speir to the presence of Haematoidine. Having made a
post-mortem examination of the body of a man who died of yellow fever,
he found the following microscopic appearances. The contents of the
stomach and intestines, which were acid, contained altered blood corpuscles,
and abundant granules of hsematoidine. The liver exhibited some large
and fatty cells, but the majority of the latter elements seemed to have
undergone the waxy degeneration : there was an abundance of lisema-
toidine, and a few blood crystals were also to be seen. In the heart were
found granules of hsematoidine, the muscular substance having undergone
fatty degeneration. The spleen, which was softened, contained abundant
granules of hsematoidine, so did the pancreas and supra-renal capsules, as
also the skin and conjunctiva. The blood corpuscles were found altered
and broken down. — Yide American Medical Times, November, 1863.

Action of Oil of Male Fern in Tape-worm Affections. — It having been
deemed desirable by the British Medical Association, that a report on the
therapeutic action of the oil of male fern should be made, the Society
appointed a gentleman connected with Birmingham (Dr. Fleming) to
compile the required information. This he has done. The report was
published in the British Medical Journal (January 16th), and has, we
believe, been reprinted in pamphlet form. The number of cases recorded
is by no means as large as we should have expected, but is nevertheless
sufficient to enable Dr. Fleming to draw a few conclusions, to one of which
w^e would direct attention. It is stated, that the “ measle ” (we presume
the cystic stage is the one alluded to) has “ a higher chance of escaping
death in a weak stomach , and subsequently making a home for itself in the
bowels .” This is a fact of much interest, inasmuch as, if correct , it tends
to show that in what the reporter would doubtless term “ strong stomachs,”
par excellence , the so-called cysticercus ought to be destroyed !

Use of Alcohol in Phthisis. — M. Tripier read a paper at a late meeting
of the French Academy, in which he expressed his opinion, that the
employment of alcohol in cases of Phthisis was attended with beneficial
results. He did not for a moment suppose that it was possible to cure the
disease by the use of this remedy, but he believed that alcohol operated so
as to check the paroxysmal cough and vomiting which are so frequent an
occurrence in this dreadful malady. The rationale of the action is this : —
there is produced a certain amount of local anasthesia, which prevents the
reflex action necessary in order to produce secretion of the gastric juice.
This follows from Bernard’s experiments on dogs, in which digestion was
always arrested by the introduction of alcohol into the stomach. — Yide
R6vue de Therapeutique , February, 1864.

Last Blow to Teetotalism Triumph of triumphs to the common expe-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMAKY.

401

rience of all races of mankind, from the time of Noah downwards. It
has at last been proved that all forms of alcohol are useful as articles of
food. This was demonstrated beyond all question by the recent researches
of M. Baudot, who draws the following conclusions from the results of his
investigations : — (1.) Alcohol, when taken in moderate quantity, in the
form of wine, brandy, rum, is not eliminated by the urine. (2.) In
certain cases, scarcely appreciable traces of it may be found in this fluid.
(3.) In some exceptional cases an appreciable quantity is detected, but it
is always found in very small proportion to the amount swallowed. (4.)
The Alkalimetry system may be employed to detect the alcohol, when this
latter is present in small quantities, (5.) The solution of bi- chromate of
potash in sulphuric acid is a much more sensitive test than is required in
these operations. (6.) It may then be concluded that alcohol is destroyed
in the economy, and that it fulfils the part of an element, as has been said
by Liebig. — V Union Medicale , 135, 140, 141, and 142.

The new Pharmacopoeia. — This long-expected work has at last appeared,
and like most things of which a great deal has been anticipated, has
given rise to much disappointment and dissatisfaction. It would be
impossible in our limited space to undertake an analysis of this work,
but we can conscientiously affirm that there never has been a work upon
which so much money was expended with so inadequate a result. The
compilation and arrangement of the new Pharmacopoeia cost several
thousand pounds, and might have been turned out better if placed in the
hands of a single individual, and at a cost of a few hundreds. The
omissions it exhibits are numerous. We think that in regard to this
production, the expression employed by Lord Derby to designate the
foreign policy of the present Government, may be fairly applied to the
Medical Council. Their proceedings maybe truly styled “ meddle and
muddle ! ”

Is Carbonic Acid formed exclusively in the Tissues ? — -This question is
answered in the negative by Herr J. Sachs, who, from the results of his
investigations, avers that carbonic acid is being constantly generated in
the blood at the expense of the oxygen which it contains. He draws the
following general conclusions 1. The gases contained in the blood after
its removal from the body, at ordinary temperature, undergo marked
changes in their relative proportions : the oxygen gradually disappearing,
and the carbonic acid taking its place ; the quantity of the latter being
always greater than that of the oxygen which has disappeared. 2. The
quantity of carbonic acid that is chemically combined increases with the
interval at which it is examined after removal from the body. There is
always a greater quantity of chemically combined carbonic acid in venous
than in arterial blood. 3. It seems probable that after forty-eight hours,
the quantity of oxygen remaining in the blood is reduced to a mere trace.
4. It is difficult to draw accurate conclusions regarding the proportion of
nitrogen. 5. It is absolutely necessary that fibrine be present, in order
that carbonic acid may be formed ; but it is impossible to say in what
manner the fibrine acts in assisting the formation of the gas. — Vide
Medico- Chirurgical Review , No. 65 ; and Reicherts & Dubois- Reymond's
Archives .

402 POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Dilatation of Pupil simultaneous with general Muscular Exertion.—
It would appear from the researches of M. It. VigouroUx that, whenever
any energetic muscular movement, either of the body, or of inspiration or
expiration, takes places, the pupil is dilated ; the dilatation varying from
one-third to one-fifth of its previous diameter. This peculiar fact he thus
explains : — Whenever a nervous centrifugal current traverses the spinal
chord at the level of the origin of the first two pairs of dorsal nerves,
a portion of the current is derived [diverted?] towards the pupillary
filaments, which separate from their nervous centre, and effect the con-
traction of the radiate fibres of the iris.— Ibid., and Gazette Medicale , 1863,
p. 664.

The Mechanical Power of Muscles. — A valuable paper on this subject
was recently contributed to the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal
(vol. xviii.) by Mr. H. F. Baxter. His experiments- were carried out in
the gastrocnemius muscle of a living frog, and his generalizations are thus
expressed : — (1) One grain of muscle is capable of lifting a weight of 608
grains through a space of T*T of an inch. (2) Sex has an important
influence over the results ; males being, as a rule, more powerful than
females. (3) The weight of the animal before the experiment gave no
reliable indication as to the real muscular power. (4) During experiment
there was a loss of weight of the animal, but an increase of weight in the
muscle experimented on. (5) An increased nutrition of the muscle was
indicated by its weight, its vascularity, increase in the activity of its elec-
trical condition, and by the maintenance of its muscular power. (6) Cir-
cumstances influencing the health of the animal, such as absence of food,
temperature, and confinement, have an important influence over the
results. (7) The maintenance of the circulation of the blood is of the
utmost importance in these experiments. — Medico- Chirurgical Revievj ,
January, 1864.

A New Remedy for Asthma has been described by Dr. McVeagh, in a
late number of the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science. Whilst
visiting an Irish nobleman who was attacked with asthma, lie learned
from him that the seeds and plant of Datura tatula when smoked, invari-
ably gave him relief, and that he first employed this remedy when at
Malta. In the garden of the Governor of Malta large quantities of this
thorn-apple are to be found, and the plant is used by the inhabitants as a
cure for asthma. It has some advantages over D. stramonium , being more
powerful as an antispasmodic and less so as a narcotic. It may be smoked
like tobacco, or may be employed as tincture or extract ; the dose of the
latter is from half a grain to a grain and a half, and of the former from
20 to 60 minims.

Are Vaccine Virus and Variolus Virus distinct? — We find that this
question has recently been ably discussed in the French Academy of
Medicine. M. Dupaul contended for the accuracy of the several conclu-
sions, of which the following are a few : — (1) The vaccine, as a thing per
se , has no existence'; it is nothing more nor less than the variolus virus.
(2) That cows and sheep are, like man, subject to small-pox. (3) (The
general and local phenomena seen in sUch cases in these animals are
similar to those^observed irfman. (4) We may inoculate man from the

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

403

horse, and conversely. (5) In both animals variola may appear, sporadi-
cally and epidemically. (6) When small-pox occurs among men, it often
extends itself to other animals, or conversely, it may first appear among
the latter and be communicated to the former. (7) The dangers of inocu-
lation of variola in man have been greatly exaggerated, as any one who
impartially considers the evidence on the subject will admit.— Vide Gazette
Medicate , November and December, 1863.

Cause of the Production of Scapho -cephalic Shulls. — Dr. Turner, of the
University of Edinburgh, has written an exhaustive essay on cranial
deformities, in which the above is well explained. It is a remarkable fact
that in all scaplio-cephalic skulls the sagittal suture becomes obliterated
in early life ; an entire conversion of the bone-forming blastema into bone
occurs, and hence the cranium cannot be enlarged to any great extent in
the transverse direction. Now, as the brain increases in size, it becomes
necessary that the skull’s capacity shall also increase pari passu ; this
increase cannot take place laterally, and hence the bone-developing plasma
lying in the occipital and coronal sutures is obliged to undertake the
labour of enlarging the brain- case, which thus becomes prolonged in the
antero-posterior direction. — Vide Natural History Review , January.

The Use of Nitrous Oxide in Dental Operations . — Under this title will be
found a most interesting contribution to the Dental Review (Hardwicke),
from the pen of Mr. Samuel Lee Rymer. The history of the employment
of protoxide of nitrogen as an anasthetic is easily given, but the -writer
does not at once concur in the opinions of his American brethren as to the
efficacy of laughing-gas in dental cases. With a cautious reserve which
does him much credit, he observes, “ I have not much doubt that transient
anasthesia may, in almost all cases, be produced safely by the proper
inhalation of the gas ; by which I mean not only the exhibition of pure
nitrous oxide quickly, but the exercise of some discrimination in allowing

its exhibition at all To arrive at a definite conclusion upon the

safety of the nitrous oxide, perhaps the best mode of procedure would be
to subject a number of animals to its influence, before experimenting
largely upon the human subject.”— Vide The Dental Review , January,
1864.'

METALLURGY AND MINING.

Direct Production of Wrought Iron and Steel in the Blast Furnace . —
A very interesting method for obtaining the above result has recently
been patented by Mr. Johnson, of Lincoln’s Inn Fields. The process
consists essentially in the introduction of finely divided oxide of iron into
the blast, which, of course, conveys it to the metal in the furnace. The
result of this introduction of oxide is that the cast iron becomes decarbon-
ated in the blast-furnace itself, without being placed in puddling or other
furnaces. Any other oxide which acts in a similar manner may be
employed with equal advantage, and other substances may also be em-
ployed for the purpose of purifying the metal. The crucibles which are
usually employed must undergo some modification in order to admit of
the patefited system being carried into execution. It is thought advisable

404

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

to heat the oxide to dull redness before allowing it to enter the blast pipe.
— Vide Mining and Smelting Magazine , February.

Coating Iron with Aluminium. — Mr. Wm. Clark has invented a peculiar
process for covering the surface of iron with a layer of the latter metal.
The surface of the iron is first cleansed ; a mixture is then made of porce-
lain-clay, feldspar, and white lead, properly ground and incorporated ;
then about ten parts of this combination are added to about five pounds of
calcined and powdered alum-clay. This last mixture having been made
into a thin paste, and poured over the surface of the metal, the latter is
dried and placed in a reverberatory furnace until it presents a glazed
appearance. When the iron is removed it will be found to have received
a tough, adhesive, and elastic coating, which is so closely attached to the
metal that, when this is bent even at right angles, no symptoms of cracking
appear. This coating is also unacted on by acids and alkalis. It is
supposed that during the baking-process the aluminium is separated from
its oxide and forms a thin metallic stratum, intermediate between the iron
and the glazed surface. — Ibid .

New Method for the Extraction of Silver. — This has been adopted by
Ziervogel, in order to remove the silver from copper regulus. There are
three stages in the process : — 1st, the roasting of the ground ore. This is
effected in a reverberatory furnace, and in itself is a double process ; viz.,
the conversion of the sulphides into the sulphates, and the decomposition
of them, so that, while the sulphate of silver remains unaltered, the other
sulphates are deoxidized ; 2nd, the lixiviation and precipitation of the
silver by means of copper ; and, 3rd, the drying and refining of the silver
itself. It is stated that this method has superseded that of Augustin, which
was formerly employed at the Mansfeld Copper Works.

An Improved Form of Davy -lamp has lately been patented by Mr. P.
Bourne. Its peculiarity consists in a means of extinguishing the flame in
the act of opening the lamp, and before the wire gauze can be removed.
There is attached to the lamp, near the neck-holder, an apparatus, com-
posed of one or more levers mounted on a suitable fulcrum, and which
apparatus is capable of being depressed on the wick by the act of removing
the wire-gauze covering. The apparatus is, by the application of a suitable
spring or springs, kept out of the way of the ignited wick, so long as the
gauze covering remains on, or when it is being placed on the lamp ; but
as soon as an attempt is made to elevate the covering, the series of levers
comes into play, and the wick being pressed on, the flame is consequently
extinguished. — Vide The Artizan> February.

Our Iron Exports to France have fallen off sadly of late, whilst the
exportation of pig iron has remained nearly as it was in 1862. The value
in money of the iron exported to France in the first ten months of 1863
was only £174,238; the value of that exported during the corresponding
period in 1862 being £824,774. It is difficult to account for the dimi-
nution, but some attribute it to the fact that the prices in France have not
risen proportionately to the rise established in England and Belgium.

Novel Electric Fuse for Blasting Purposes. — This, which is a French
invention, differs from all those previously employed, and appears to be
highly spoken of. It admits of being rapidly manufactured, whilst the

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

405

chances of fracture are reduced to the smallest number. It consists of an
insulated wire, to which the usual fuse-tube is attached, and has a second
wire, uninsulated, coiled round it, so that its extremity is about a centi-
metre from that of the first. Finally, there is a bag attached to its
extremity, containing the explosive compound. When an induced current
is passed through the wires, the spark traverses the powder contained in
the pouch: it melts the tin thread employed to complete the circuit, and
passes through both wires. By adopting this process a great number of
blasts can be exploded simultaneously, as there may be branch wires from
the main stem to various other localities.

Action of Manganese in the Smelting of Iron. — In concluding a memoir,
presented to the Royal Academy, on this subject, M. II. Caron observes
that, in mixing with their ordinary ores those which contain large quan-
tities of manganese, with a view to the improvement of the products,
iron-masters may with advantage gradually increase the proportion of
flux, without rendering their slag less liquid to any injurious extent.
He recommends the employment of sea-salt, or chloride of calcium,
when the flux becomes difficult to manage. He also suggests the use
of fiuor spar or cryolite, but states his objection to these substances, on
the ground of their containing considerable quantities of phosphoric acid,
which is exceedingly destructive of cast-iron.

Manufacture of Copper. — A patent for the separation of copper from
regulus has been granted to Mr. Fleitmann, a Prussian. His process is as
follows: — Having obtained an ore which contains, as impurities, only
arsenic, antimony, and phosphorus, he grinds it to powder, and roasts it;
and the crude oxide which he obtains in this way is moistened with a
solution of caustic alkali, dried and again heated, avoiding a temperature
sufficiently high to fuse the oxide of copper, but at the same time employ-
ing one adequate to fuse the alkali. By this process metallic impurities
are got rid of ; and when the mass is mixed with water and washed, the
pure metal may be obtained from the oxide, either by carbon, or by carbon
and hydrogen conjointly. — See Chemical News, January 23.

Oil-lamp Furnace for Melting Metals at a White Heat. — It may seem
almost surprising that a sufficient temperature can be produced from the
combifstion of oil to fuse metals, yet such is really the case. In the Chemical
News for January 2nd a description will be found of a furnace of this
kind, which has been contrived by Mr. Charles Griffin. It is most inge-
niously constructed, sold at a moderate price, and must prove invaluable
to those engaged in the pursuit of metallurgical studies, in localities where
coal-gas cannot be had. The oil used is of the mineral or rock kind, and
the combustion of a quart of this (which costs only ninepence) gives a
heat sufficient to fuse five pounds of cast iron. The furnace being cold
when an operation is commenced, it will melt a pound of cast-iron in
twenty-five minutes, lb. in thirty minutes, 4 lb. in forty-five minutes,
and 5 lb. in the course of a single hour. This furnace possesses one
peculiar advantage over the coal-gas forms ; viz., platinum crucibles
remain uninjured, as the rock oil in combustion gives off no sulphureous
vapours.

VOL. Ill, — NO. XI.

2

406

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

METEOROLOGY.

Isothermals of the British Isles for July and January. — This is a subject
upon which all feel interested. It has been well treated by Mr. A. Buchan,
in the Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society for January, 1864.
ITis paper is accompanied by a map, upon which are seen two series of
lines, one in blue, the other in red, which represent respectively the equal
heats of various localities in January and July. The data upon which
the conclusions drawn have been founded are taken from the reports of
the various Meteorological Societies existing throughout the country.
The numbers given stand for the temperatures at the sea level ; and hence,
in order to calculate the exact heat, it will be necessary to subtract one
degree of Fahrenheit for every 300 feet elevation. With regard to the
lines of equal summer heat, there are some points which deserve special
attention. The general slope of the lines is from north-east to south-west,
which indicates that the eastern portion of the British Isles enjoys a higher
summer temperature than that which lies to the west. This is due to the
fact, that the prevalent wind in July is westerly, and, coming over the
Atlantic, renders the west coast cooler than the east ; and also to the
circumstance, that the clouds in the west are greater in volume and lower
than those in the east. The curving northward of the lines in the central
portion is due to the width of the land, which allows the middle portions
to have more of a continental temperature than the borders. The high
winter temperature of the west coast is due to three causes : — (1) The
warm south-west wind, which loses some of its heat before reaching the
east coast. (2) The larger amount of vapour deposited in rain on the
west coast (nearly double that in the east), which thus liberates a very
large quantity of latent heat. (3) The larger amount of vapour in the
west, which obstructs radiation, not only when in a visible state in the
form of clouds, but also when dissolved through the atmosphere in an
invisible state, in which condition, as shown by Professor Tyndall, it
prevents the radiation from the earth of the heat which has been absorbed
from the sun.

Non-Cy clonic Character of the Storm of October 29, 1863. — The Rev.
Samuel Haughton addressed a letter to the Royal Irish Academy, at its
sitting in November 30, in which he shows that this storm was not a true
cyclone. He says, the wind in Dublin blew steadily from the south-west
during, and long after, the gale ; while in Armagh it seems to have shifted
through 132 degrees from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The gale in Dublin was at its
height at 11 a.m., when the wind travelled at the rate of sixteen miles per
hour. Perpendiculars drawn to the directions of the wind at this hour,
from Dublin, Armagh, and Ballinasloe, nearly intersect in Lough Melvin,
in the county of Fermanagh (a circumstance which at first sight would
seem to prove that the storm was a cyclone). But if a line be drawn
parallel to the bisector of the angle produced by the direction of the wind
at Armagh, at the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., it is well known that the
gale should have travelled along this line. If this had been the case, the

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

407

centre of the storm should have passed near Ballinasloe, when the wind
should have changed through 180 degrees. But as this occurrence did not
take place, this storm could not have been a cyclone. — Vide Dublin Quar-
terly Journal of Science, January, 18G4.

How the Storm of the 2nd and 3rd of December originated . — M. Vaillant
has presented a memoir to the French Academy on this subject. He con-
ceives that storms such as the above are produced by the collision which
takes place between two currents of air, one of which is warm, the other
cold, the latter being produced by heavy falls of snow in certain localities.
He ascribes the storm of the 2nd of December to the meeting of the moist
and warm wind, which at that time overspread Europe, with the cold wind
which blew in every direction ; but in France from the north-west, and
which was produced by the cold effected by a heavy fall of snow in Scot-
land. What supports this view is the fact, that the storm of the 3rd was
like that of the 2nd. The wind was due south at eight in the morning,
then it became south-west, then west, and finally north-west, when the
storm abated, because the collision between the two winds had occurred. —
Comptes Rendus , lvii. No. 25.

The Aerial Currents of the Globe.— Under the title of terrestrial physics,
we notice an interesting resume of what is already known upon the sub-
ject of atmospheric currents. This has been sketched out by M. Martin
Saint-Leon, and is as follows : — The general circulation of the atmosphere
is produced by the difference in temperature of different localities, and
hence is modified by the seasons. At the equator, between the warmest
and coldest periods of the year, the variation is slight, and, with a few
exceptions of local origin, this variation increases with latitude. From this
it follows that towards the end of the northern climatologic summer, the
north-east inferior current is slackened, and towards the end of the winter
is accelerated. This is doubtless the reason that, between the tropic of
Cancer and the Equator, the autumn is invariably the hottest season, and
the spring the coldest. The periodic colds of April in our climates may be
attributed to the activity of the inferior north-east current. At Paris, the
absorption of heat by the earth commences about the loth of January, but
as we approach the poles this process is later. About the end of winter the
inferior north-east current has increased in power, and constitutes a wave
which passes over France towards the middle of April. The influences of
lands and other local causes modify the direction of the inferior currents ;
wind currents also in the neighbourhood of continental surfaces are often
opposite in direction to the general movement. The subject of surface
currents is one for the consideration of the navigator. The general inferior
current is nearly 8,000 metres high, and its movements may be detected
by watching the small white clouds called cirrhi, which travel with it. It
is easy to conceive of the numerous advantages arising from this constant
circulation of the atmosphere. The heated air is elevated ; it abandons its
moisture on cooling, and gives it in the form of rain to the parched-up soil.
At the same time the heat is distributed over other latitudes, instead of
being allowed to accumulate at the Equator. — Vide Presse Scicntifique des
deux Mondesf vol. 2, No. 22.

2 E 2

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

MINERALOGY.

Presence of Chabasite in Granite. — The existence of this mineral in
granite rocks has been pointed out, in a communication from Herr Ulrich,
to the Natural and Physical Society of Bonn. The chabasite was dis-
covered in certain cavities of the rocks in which the author had formerly
discovered calc spar. The discovery is of considerable interest, inasmuch
as this mineral was never before found in granite. Simultaneously with
the above discovery, we have to record the discovery of this mineral by
Rose in the granitic deposits of Connecticut.

Vanadium in Pig Iron. — In the samples of pig iron from various parts
of Wiltshire, this mineral has been detected by Mr. Edward Riley. In
making his analyses of certain specimens, the residue from the silica was
regarded as titanic acid ; but it was very soon found that this supposition
was erroneous, for the so-called titanic acid was in reality Vanadium.
The most effective process for its extraction is the following : — The borings
are placed in dilute hydrochloric acid, and after the pig is nearly all dis-
solved, strong acid is added, and the solution is boiled. The chloride of
iron is then filtered off from the graphite and silica, and the filter is well
washed from chloride of iron, and treated with a dilute solution of potash
to dissolve the silica ; the potash is then thoroughly washed out, the filter
is treated with hydrochloric acid, washed to remove acid, dried, and
ignited. The residue left is a semi-fused mass, apparently consisting of a
mixture of a fusible and infusible oxide, which stains a porcelain crucible
yellow, and adheres strongly to it ; some portions of the mass being of a
purply blue colour, similar to the bloom on a plum. That this residue is
vanadium, is proved by the reaction of its solution with various com-
pounds, and more especially with ferro-cyanide of potassium. — See
Journal of the Chemical Society , January, 1864.

Characters of Carphosidcrite. — The characters of this rare mineral have
been given by M. Pisani, in a memoir presented to the French Academy.
Carpliosiderite (which was first foun din Greenland, by Herr Breithaupt)
consists of a sub-sulphate of hydrated peroxide of iron. Mineralogist
readers, no doubt, remember that when this substance was analysed by
Harkort, it was stated to have been a phosphate. In its natural condition
carpliosiderite presents itself in uniform masses of a straw yellow hue, it
has a

hardness = 4

density =* 2’728

When heated it gives off sulphurous acid, and becomes red. It is insoluble
in water, but soluble (leaving a residue) in hydrochloric acid ; the solution
is yellow, and contains iron in large proportion. This mineral contains a
mixture of gypsum perceptible to the naked eye, and which may be
washed out with water. The following is the result of an analysis : —

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

409

Sulphuric acid

Peroxide of iron

Oxide of manganese ...
Gypsum and other substances
Water

25-52
40-00
a trace
23-81
14-G7

From the above table it will be inferred that this mineral is no longer to
be regarded as being (what even the last edition of Dana’s Mineralogy
states) a phosphate. It has a formula analogous to that of Apatelite. —
Comptes Rendus , February 1st.

Densities of the various Forms of Zircon. — M. A. Damour read a valuable
paper on this subject, before a late meeting of the Academy. From a
series of analyses he is led to infer that the differences in densities are not
due to differences in chemical composition, but are rather the results of
special molecular conditions. The variation in density extends from 4-04
to 4-67, and is well illustrated in the interesting tables which accompany
his paper. He concluded by stating that the question was one of geologic
interest, for it is remarkable that the Zircons of syenitic and basaltic rocks
have always a high density. This mineral has been artificially formed by
acting on Zirconia with fluo-silicic acid. — See Comptes Rendus , January

A New Stand for a simple Microscope has been devised by Mr. Richard
Beck. The stage supports a revolving disk on which the object is placed,
and the arrangement is such that, while the magnifier remains in one
position, the object car. be turned so that it may be viewed in every aspect,
losing nothing in point of illumination, although its position is altered.
It is accompanied by a concave mirror and a condenser, and moreover is so
contrived that the case which contains it leaves, room for the enclosure of
a good sized box, for dissecting instruments and apparatus. By means of a
very simple prismatic arrangement this instrument may be made binocular.
— See a Paper read before the Microscopical Society, and printed in the
Microscopical Journal for January, 1863.

New Microscope for the Use of Families. — An instrument which is
intended for family use has been constructed by Mr. Samuel Highley, of
Green-street, Leicester-square. It is certainly of its kind, and considering
the price at which it is sold, the best of all the cheap microscopes which
we have seen. The annexed cut gives a better idea of the general form of
the instrument than any words of ours could convey. It is so contrived,
that when ready for use it is inclined at a fixed but convenient angle, and
by reason of its attachment to the case which carries it, combines simpli-
city of structure (no mean advantage to the amateur) and portability. It
is not provided with a rack movement, but, like Messrs. Smith & Beck’s
“ Educational,” the body slides with extreme ease and uniform telescopic
motion, which allows the object to be readily brought into view; the
accurate focus is then obtained by Dr. Beale’s method of draw-tube fine

18 th, 1864.

MICROSCOPY.

410

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

adjustment. It is supplied with a medium eye-piece, and an inch and
half inch objectives; and carries a concave mirror, and wheel of
diaphragms.

MR. HTGHLEY’S NEW FAMILY MICROSCOPE.

New Binocular Microscrope. — There are very few instruments of the
binocular type which can be said to surpass in cheapness, workmanship,
or clear powers of definition, the instrument which Mr. Collins exhibited
at the late conversazione in University College. This microscope, which,
by the way, is constructed upon a plan of Professor Harley’s, seems to
appeal above all to the working naturalist and anatomist ; for it is so con-
trived, that a great saving of time is effected in the alteration of apparatus.
We would call especial attention to the arrangement of parts at the lower
end of the body of the microscope. Here we find a sort of oblong box
moving to the right and left of the observer ; in this are placed a
Wenham’s binocular prism and the analysing portion of the polariscope;
so that by simply moving this box in the lateral direction, we convert the
microscope from a binocular into a uniocular, and, if we desire it, can bring
the polariscope into action also. Those who are familiar with the working
of our ordinary microscopes, will at once appreciate the advantage of
Mr. Collins’s arrangement. The eye-pieces are provided with shades,
which afford considerable relief to the eyes during prolonged investigations.
This microscope is supplied with the usual accessory apparatus, and also
with two excellent objectives, 1-inch or 2-inch, and i-inch, and when packed
in its newly contrived mahogany case, is sold by the maker at the moderate
price of .£12. There is but one thing in connection with this microscope
which does not appear to us to be of advantage, and that is, the magnetic

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

411

stage ; this, however, is a trifling objection when compared with the many
good qualities of the instrument, which certainly commends itself to those
who desire “ a binocular.”

mr. collins’s new binocular microscope.

In regard to the progress of the so-called “Microscopic Science,” we beg
to refer our readers to the pages devoted to those branches of science in
the study of which the microscope is employed. If a science is to be desig-
nated by a term compounded in part of the name of the instruments
employed in its pursuit, then we shall have to coin new expressions of
Greek and Latin derivation, to show that geology is the science of
hammers, zoology of dredges, &c. Beneath are appended the titles of the
notices which some of our readers may be in search of
Botanical Section—

What is Palmogloea Macroeocca ?

Distribution of Raphides.

Spontaneous Generation.

Geological Section —

Foramenifera of the Tertiary Basin of Vienna,

Medical Section —

Nature of the Red Blood Corpuscles.

Yellow Colour of the Skin in Yellow Fever.

Zoological Section —

Variation of Species among Rhiz pods.

Structure of the Animal Substa of Difflugia.

412

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

PHOTOGRAPHY.

Photographic Engraving. — A cheap and efficient method of engraving,
direct from an artist’s drawing or photograph, was one of the earliest
suggestions arising out of the introduction of photography, although it is
one of the latest to be fairly carried out. Some of the art’s most able
and daring experimentalists have devoted their attention to the idea, and
almost every mode by which a surface for printing can be obtained, has
been duly tested for this purpose. Thus, we have had photo-gal vano-
graphy, photoglyph y, photo-lithography, photo-zincography, and photo-
block-printing. Each of these has been found more or less unsatisfactory,
one requiring too much assistance from the graver, another failing in the
registration of the more subtle gradations of tone, &c. Early, however, in
the present year there was presented to the readers of one of our con-
temporaries— the Photographic News — a specimen of an engraving process,
called the “photo-electric,” introduced by Mr. Duncan C. Dallas, which
was certainly far in advance of anything of the kind we have yet seen.
This specimen, unassisted by the engraver’s hand, was a reproduced
photograph, having not only all the beauties of the original, but also all
its faults. It had the same want of relief in the relative parts of fore-
ground objects, and the same imperfect expression of light and space,
while the tasteless substitution of white paper for a softly retiring sky
destroyed everything like tone and brilliancy in the other portions of the
picture. But even this process has its failing, and this will be found in the
heavy opacity of the deepest shadows, which is due, we are informed, to a
defect in the ink-holding capacity of the surface in such parts of the plate.
The number of impressions which a plate engraved by this process will
produce — if the method of steel-facing be adopted — is unlimited ; and its
inventor informs us, that its cost is about half that of a plate engraved in
the ordinary way. The process is at present a secret one.

Carbon Printing. — A very generally admitted need of permanency in
photographs long since originated a desire for producing them in some
such reliable material as the ordinary printing ink-carbon. At a meeting
of the North London Photographic Association, which took place early
in January, Mr. G. W. Simpson called attention to some very marked
improvements made by Mr. Pouncy in his carbon-printing process. The
early experiments of this gentleman, although frequently pressed upon
the attention of the photographic world, as productive of perfect results,
were really very unsatisfactory, but the specimens introduced on this
occasion were remarkably promising and attractive. The process by
which these were produced is thus described. A thin oiled paper is coated
with a mixture of printer’s ink and asphaltum, thinned with a saturated
solution of bichromate of potash dissolved in turpentine. After being
exposed to light under a negative, with the side not prepared in contact
with the glass, it is submitted to the action of turpentine, which dissolving
out more or less such portions of the prepared coating as have been par-
tially or entirely secluded from the light, thus forms the image. This

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

413

photograph is then transferred from the oiled paper to card-board, by
simply pasting the former face downward on the latter, and when dry
using moisture for removing the oiled paper. By the same process, closely
resembling that of the earliest French photographic experimentalist — it
will be easily seen that the image may be transferred to stone for litho-
graphic purposes.

The objections to this method are, the exactness required in regulating
the exposure to light, and the imperfect transparency of the oiled paper
through which the image is printed. The prints we have seen by the
process, although very soft, were poor and tame, wanting in clearness of
definition and vigour of effect.

Since then, a process of printing in carbon, giving the very finest results,
and divested, we are informed, of all such objections, has been announced
at a meeting of the South London Photographic Society, and by the same
gentleman, Mr. G. W. Simpson. The specimens exhibited on this occasion
were quite equal to the best silver prints we have seen, and were produced
by Mr. Swan, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, an amateur photographer of no
mean skill. It is uncertain at present whether this valuable process will
be preserved as a secret for the benefit of the inventor, or given up to the
whole photographic world for the benefit of the art and the advantage of
the public. We have been informed that Mr. Swan leans to the more
generous idea ; if so, he is indeed an amateur in the loftiest sense of the
word.

The reported Watt Photographs . — Fresh light has been thrown upon the
alleged early photographs, and their claims appear thereby more doubtful
than ever. Mr. Sutton has pointed out that, if the paper pictures were
produced by the aid of a lens, internal evidence would show that such a
lens must have been a more perfect optical instrument than any modern
photographers can obtain. Some of the evidence first advanced has been
completely set aside, and evidence in support of fresh claims takes its
place. At the January meeting of the London Photographic Society, the
subject was again discussed at some length. With regard to the photo-
graph of a breakfast-table, described as the work of Thomas Wedgwood,
in 1792, Dr. Diamond and Mr. Malone brought forward photographs of
the same subject taken twenty years since by Fox Talbot. A letter from
Mr. Robert Hunt gave reasons for denying that the paper pictures were
produced by light, although he believed there was no doubt that those on
metal were photographs, taken probably by a resin process, similar to
that used by Wiepce, in 1814. Doubts were also thrown upon the veracity
of Mr. Price, in a letter, and part of a pamphlet, by a grandson of
Matthew Boulton, who, while admitting that light was the agent most pro-
bably used in the production of the Soho reproductions, adds, <! accuracy
was not Mr. Price’s forte.” A manufacturer of copper plates thought
those on which the pictures in question were taken could not be more
than twenty-four years old. On the other hand, a letter from Mr. Fair-
holt, who had been consulted as an expert in matters of this kind,
expressed a conviction that the pictures were really photographs. Mr.
Boulton, in the pamphlet above mentioned, also affirms that the library
which was said to have been cleared out twenty years since, was really

414

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

cleared out at a date not earlier than 1847 ; and that, instead of Miss
Wilkinson disposing of the old camera in ignorance of its use, she had
herself frequently used it. A lady, it is also stated, remembered Miss
Wilkinson taking what she called “ sun -pictures” somewhere about
twenty-eight years ago. And other evidence has been obtained by Mr.
Smith, which it is said will prove that this lady produced photographs at
a still earlier period. Moreover, the said long “hermetically” closed
library appears to have been always in daily use. At the same meeting,
another early photograph appeared, said to have been taken in Edinburgh
in 1834. After the publication of these facts, several suggestions and
statements were advanced in the pages of our various contemporaries.
A correspondent of the Journal of the Society of Arts , in whom we
recognize a gentleman well acquainted with the subjects of etching and
engraving, affirmed that the pictures were really aqua-tint engravings,
and pointed out as evidence the mark of the plate in the proofs examined,
&c., accounting for the impressions being removable with rubbing, by
supposing they were obtained on a surface of gelatine, and that this
gelatine having perished the impressions were no longer adhesive. Dr.
Henry Lee, in a letter published in the Illustrated London News said : —
“ In confirmation of the statement made by the old man formerly in the
employ of Matthew Boulton, Esq., I very well remember having heard
from my mother many of the particulars, which leave me no doubt of the
truth of his statement.” The matter will again be brought before the
Photographic Society, when it is hoped some more important evidence
than mere hearsay or assertion will set this matter fairly at rest.

Exhibition of the London Photographic Society. — It has been definitely
settled that the next exhibition of the London Photographic Society will
be held in that very small room in which the pictures of the “ Society of
Female Artists ” now are, and that it is to remain open during the months
of May, June, and July. In consequence of the small space which will be
at the disposal of the Hanging Committee, touched and painted photographs
are to be excluded. We question the policy of this arrangement. In the
first place, photographic exhibitions are largely supported by photographers
whose leisure hours are certainly not found during the bright weather and
the London season ; and in the next, the most popularly attractive feature
of photographic exhibitions is the painted portraits of public characters
and noble personages. The conversation of the visitors at such exhibitions
has demonstrated this to us veiy clearly upon several occasions, when
friends, relatives, and admirers sought little beyond the latter productions,
while the critical remarks upon the untouched photographs were as evi-
dently those of the art’s amateur or professional practitioners. For the
months selected outdoor attractions have certainly the better chance of
success.

New Process of Photographic Printing. — In Le Moniteur de la Photo-
graphicM. Liesegang has recently called attention to a process of printing,
by which that costly material, nitrate of silver, may be abandoned in
favour of less expensive metals. M. Obernetter, of Munich, is the inventor
of this process, which is thus described. The plain positive paper is
floated for two minutes on a bath prepared as follows : —

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

415

Water

. 35 lj ounces

. 200 grains

. 1,543 „

. 185 „

Solution of sesquichloride of iron, sp. g. 1*53 to 1*6
Chloride of copper, crystallized ....

Pure hydrocloride acid, concentrated . •

The paper is now sensitive, and after being- exposed underj the negative
requires development by immersion in the following solution: —

Water 35£ ounces

Sulphocyanide of potassium 120 to 180 grains

Concentrated sulphuric acid 15 grains

The solution employed for preparing- the paper . 150 to 300 grains

After floating the print on this bath for three or four minutes, it is im-
mersed therein and remains for from five to thirty minutes, according to
the mode of toning intended to be adopted. Fresh solution may replace
that absorbed by the paper, and the bath will be found to improve by use.
When developed, the proof is thoroughly washed in pure water from fifteen
minutes to one hour, the latter being always sufficient, and then may
either be toned at once or dried and toned at any future time. Proofs
thus obtained may be brought to almost any required colour, either by im-
mersion in a solution of from 0 to 12 per cent, of red prussiate of potassa,
or in the following : —

Water

Protosulphate of iron
Perchloride of iron .
Hydrochloric acid .

200 to 300 cubic centimetres
100 grammes
40 „

80 „

In using this bath, the water in which the print is afterwards washed
must be acidulated. Photographers who use large sheets of paper for
printing life-size portraits and large landscape pictures will doubtless
rejoice in the publication of a process so economical.

Adulteration of Chloride of Gold. — A discussion has arisen in the photo-
graphic journals on the subject of the adulterations so commonly made in
chloride of gold, which, started by Mr. J. T. Taylor, sub-editor of the
British Journal of Photography , has been continued by the editor of the
Photographic News and promptly taken up by some correspondents in both
these serials. The evidence advanced seems to show that before the photo-
grapher can get his fifteen grains of gold half its value is generally
demanded for profit, and that in each such quantity there is frequently not
more than six and three-quarter grains of pure gold. The subject has
been before referred to, and Mr. R. Reynolds even went so far as to call
the attention of the British Pharmaceutical Conference to the common
nature of this fraud. As it is very desirous that operators should know the
exact strength of the solution they have in use, several tests have been sug-
gested, one of the most reliable of which, if not wholly reliable, is suggested
in the facts that the most common element of adulteration is the chloride
of sodium, cadmium, or strontian, either of which is not soluble in alcohol,
while chloride of gold is. Mr. Taylor however denies that alcohol forms
a sufficiently reliable test, and as the test by analysis is a very delicate ope-
ration, which has the further disadvantage of rendering the gold useless for

416

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

photographic purposes until reconverted, and the making of chloride of
gold is a very simple operation, this gentleman wisely recommends the
latter process to his brother photographers as the best means of self-defence
with which he is acquainted.

Action of Hot Water on Photographs. — A correspondent of the Photo-
graphic News, complaining of the ill effects produced upon certain of his
photographs by the use of hot water, as a means of more readily and effi-
ciently freeing the prints from the decomposing agent, some interesting-
correspondence is the result, which tends to prove that it is only when a
photograph is improperly fixed that the heat of the water exercises any
deteriorating influence upon it.

Strong v. Weak Printing Baths has been one of the subjects with
which the photographic societies have been busy during the past three
months, but the evidence advanced is so conflicting, and the arguments
made use of so contradictory, that few reliable conclusions seem to have
arisen therefrom.

A New View Camera , the novelty of which is that it has a moveable
front contrived to do away with the necessity for a “ swing-back,” was in-
troduced to the members of the Photographic Society of Scotland, by Thomas
Sutton, B.A., editor of Photographic Notes. This method may be, perhaps,
more convenient than that of a “ swing-back,” but we do not perceive that
it possesses any other special advantage, and rather suspect that in practice
it may be found to have certain disadvantages which the older form of
camera escapes. A similar opinion was expressed, we believe, by Sir David
Brewster, at the meeting before which it was exhibited.

New Method of Restoring Faded Photographs. — At the January meeting
of the North London Photographic Association, Mr. H. J. Godbold
described a method of restoring faded photographs, which consists in im-
mersing the faded specimen in a solution of bichloride of mercury (1 grain
to the ounce of water) and letting it remain therein until the colour has
grown warmer, and the yellowness has disappeared.

New Portrait Lens.— Mr. Sutton’s craving for improvement and novelty
in the photographic appliances is continually originating some fresh sug-
gestions, some of which die in their very birth-throes, while others are
mere scientific curiosities, and others again are turned to very useful and
profitable account. The more recent of this gentleman’s introductions is a
new view lens, in the form of a very hollow meniscus, with the stop placed
much nearer than usual to the lens. This is said to give images having
much less spherical aberration than the common plano-convex view lens.
Another new portrait lens for moving objects requiring to be taken with
extraordinary rapidity under unfavourable circumstances of light, or in a
glass-room,. has also been introduced by Mr. Henry Squires. It being de-
sirable that our new infant Prince should be photographed, His Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales was naturally curious about this newly-
announced extra-rapid lens, and consequently Mr. Squires had the honour
of submitting the lens and specimens produced thereby to his Royal High-
ness, and the pleasure of hearing the Prince express his unqualified
approbation. This is of course a short focus lens, requiring, we are in-
formed, only twelve to fourteen feet between it and the subject to be

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

417

depicted ; but we are unacquainted with the peculiarities of its construction,
although so far as its form is concerned we presume there is little that
is new.

PHYSICS.

New Lantern Polariscope. — A polariscope which is of such a character
that it can be adapted to any ordinary magic lantern without involving
the expense of sending the instrument to the optician, has just been intro-
duced by Mr. Samuel Highley, of Green Street, Leicester Square. The
instrument is figured below. The constituent parts are mounted on a
“ gout-board support.” The upright is fitted with an adjustable panel that
carries a bundle of glass plates on one side and the stage and power on the
other. When adjusted, the panel is clamped by means of a milled head
screw. The bundle consists of such a number of thin glass plates as will
give a bright reflected beam of polarised light, and is attached to the panel
at the proper angle for producing such a beam. The spring stage for carry-
ing selenite designs, unannealed glasses, pressure, and heating clamps, and
the larger objects, is formed within a large tube attached to the front side
of the panel ; and to the front of this is screwed a spring jacket, within
which slides the power and stage for the smaller crystals employed. To
the front part of the face-board an adjustable rod is fixed that carries the
analyzer, which consists of a large prism made expressly for the purpose
of giving a large and pure field of colour, the absolute field attainable being
of course dependent on the intensity of the source of light employed. We
believe this was the instrument used by Mr. Highley at the late conver-
sazione at University College, and from what we have seen we can speak
in the highest terms of its powers of work.

highley’s new lantern polariscope.

The Spheroidal Conditions of Liquids at Common Temperatures is now
receiving considerable attention, both in this country and on the Continent.
Among those foremost in the list of investigators we may mention the
names of Meunier and Tomlinson. The latter has written several able

418

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

papers upon the question, and appears inclined to adopt the supposition
that the spheroidal condition under ordinary circumstances is due to the
existence of a layer of vapour which prevents contact between the globule
and the surface beneath. This opinion is borne out by the fact that, in
damp or wet weather, the duration of the globules is much diminished.
There is certainly no contact between the globule and film. This may be
proved in several ways : — (1) There is a slight depression in the film, just
below the globule, and this depression accompanies the globule when it
rolls about as it sometimes does. (2) The drop may fall with some force
from the end of the glass rod, as from the height of an inch, and roll about
without being absorbed. (3) The glass rod, with the drop hanging from
it, may be lowered upon the film several times, so as to flatten the drop,
without its being absorbed. In some cases, however, there is contact
between the spheroid and the surface beneath at a single point ; for in
rolling about the spheroid will sometimes leave a trail of liquid, and so
diminish in size until it suddenly vanishes by being absorbed. Whether
it be rolling about or stationary, the spheroid displays by the rapid motions
of its particles the struggle that is going on between gravity and cohesion.
If a minute portion of lycopodium powder be shaken over the globule, and
this rude treatment does not cause it to break up, the powder will be seen
streaming rapidly down the outer surface of the spheroid, and ascending
by the central vertical axis to separate again at the top, and stream over
the surface again to the bottom — presenting, in fact, a figure something like
that given in books to illustrate the boiling of water. — Vide Philosophical
Magazine , December.

Characters of Drops of Liquid. — From Mr. Tate’s article in the Philo-
sophical Magazine the following conclusions relative to the magnitude and
other characters of drops of liquid may be drawn: — 1st, That other things
being the same, the weight of a drop of liquid is proportional to the
diameter of the tube in which it is formed. 2nd, The weight of a drop is
in proportion to the weight of water which would be raised in that tube by
capillary action. 3rd, When a drop is formed on a circular surface at a
temperature of 50°, the augmentation of weight is in proportion to the
diameter of the surface on which the drop is formed. 4th, The weight of a
drop of liquid, other things being the same, is diminished by an augmenta-
tion of temperature. 5th, Independently of density, the chemical com-
position of a liquid affects the weight of its drop in a remarkable manner.
6th, When the molecular force of cohesion is greatest, cceteris paribus , the
weight of the drop is least, and conversely. 7th, In different solutions of
chloride of sodium, the augmentation in the weight of the drop is in pro-
portion to the weight of the dry salt in solution. — See Philosophical Maga-
zine for March.

Peculiar Properties of Ice. — Professor Tyndall publishes a letter received
by him from Professor Reusch, of Tubingen, in which some of the characters
of ice not hitherto observed are pointed out. In speaking of the division
of particles of ice he writes : — “ In dividing these precious plates of ice, I
soon found that it was necessary to handle them like glass. If the convex
blade of a knife be passed over a piece of ice with a certain pressure, a
sharp crack will result, and the plate may be broken in the direction of

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

419

this crack, provided that the temperature of the ice and of the air he below
0° centigrade. Obviously the knife acts in this instance like a diamond,
which depresses minute particles of glass, and through the wedge-action of
which a progressive linear cracking is produced, which renders fracture
possible. A mere scratch suffices for neither glass nor ice. It is worthy
of notice that these clear sharp cracks are possible in ice which is in con-
tact with water in a warm room — a proof that ice preserves its brittle
character at temperatures lying close to its melting point. The breaking
off at the crack is on the other hand no longer possible, on account of the
regelation in the upper part of the crack. — Ibid.

Spectral Characters of Indium. — Messrs. Reich and Richter, the dis-
coverers of this new metal, state that its presence is indicated in the spec-
troscope by two blue lines, one of which, the brighter, corresponds to
division 98 of the scale, and the other to 135. In some cases this mode of
analysis becomes unnecessary, as the instant the indium salt is placed in
the flame of the Bunsen lamp, it communicates to it a bright violet tinge
which they consider to be sufficiently characteristic.

The Beal Nature of the “ Electric Fly?'— The piece of apparatus which
bears the latter name has had its history well worked out by Mr. Charles
Tomlinson, who has compiled for the benefit of natural philosophers, an
account of the various theories held regarding the character of this instru-
ment. Mr. Tomlinson has been led from his numerous experiments to
conclude that the theory requires a different expression for an aerial as
compared with a liquid di-electric. It seems to have a different action in
airs of different densities, and also according as it is wholly or partially
enclosed. Its action, when the points are covered, is also distinct, and is
equally peculiar in the presence of flame. Hence it may be said that
“ there is no one expression that fairly represents the electric fly. It
modifies its behaviour according to circumstances ; and, like a good sub-
ject, has no law of its own, but conforms to the laws of the community of
which it is a member.” — See Philosophical Magazine , No. 181.

How to test for Ozone. — Mr. Lowe read a paper some time since before
the Royal Society on the above subject. He thinks that the ordinary
paper slips are apt to be fallacious, and that they do not indicate the
intensity of the action of the ozone. He recommends the employment of
the powder tests in preference to the paper slips. By inquiring into the
action of various reagents on these powder masses, he has been enabled
to draw the conclusion that a new method of investigating ozone is
necessary.

Gore's New Furnace. — In our Number for July, 1803, we gave a short
notice of a new Patent Gas Furnace by Mr. G. Gore, of Birmingham.
The principle of this furnace has since been applied upon a much larger
magnitude, and furnaces, on a commercial scale, are now in use at the
electro-plate manufactory of Messrs. Elkington, Birmingham, and else-
wliere. These larger furnaces, as at present constructed, are capable of
melting about 400 ounces of silver, copper, gold, or, if desirable, even cast-
iron. The amount of coal-gas consumed in one of these furnaces varies
from 300 to 400 cubic feet per hour. With a consumption of 360 cubic feet
per hour, the following results have been obtained : — 266 ounces of sterling

420

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

silver were perfectly melted within twenty-five minutes from the period
of lighting the gas in the cold furnace, and the metal was sufficiently hot
to cast for rolling in twenty more minutes. A second quantity of 266
ounces of the same metal was then introduced, and was perfectly melted
in eleven minutes, with a consumption of 66 cubic feet of gas, value
twopence — the price of gas being two shillings and eightpence per 1,000
feet : in a further period of fifteen minutes the metal was sufficiently hot
to cast for rolling. A quantity (116 ounces) of German silver was then
introduced, and melted in fifteen minutes ; and after twenty-eight minutes’
longer heating, various highly-figured articles were cast in it, in a most
perfect manner. The use of this furnace is extending rapidly, the smaller
sizes being much used by dentists, jewellers, analytical chemists, assayers,
enamellers, and others, in consequence of their readily fusing silver, gold,
copper, glass, and even cast-iron, without the aid of a bellows or lofty
chimney, by simply lighting the gas, and the crucible and its contents
being at all times protected from the air, and yet perfectly accessible to
examination, stirring, removal, &c. The burners of the larger-sized
furnaces are formed of a series of plates of cast-iron, and may be readily
removed from the furnaces and placed to heat a retort, muffle, reverbe-
ratory chamber, or other apparatus where intense heat is required. It is
intended to apply them to heating of steam-boilers and welding articles of
wrought- iron. The safety of these furnaces, their regularity and self-
supplying action, and perfect freedom from dust and smoke, render them
advantageous in certain processes, such as enamelling, annealing, &c.,
where cleanliness and uniformity of heat are required. Their high degree
of heat, without the aid of a blast, results from the very rapid and perfect
mixture of the air and gas, and the combustion being consequently effected
and concentrated in a very small space.

Galileo's Weather-glass. — In the course of the year 1862 a letter appeared
in the Athenaeum describing a very simple form of barometer, which was
made by filling a pickle-bottle with water, and plunging into it a Florence-
flask with the neck downwards. It was said that, before rain, the water
rose two or three inches in the flask, and on the approach of fine weather
it fell proportionately. These statements were then contradicted by other
correspondents, who asserted that on the approach of fair weather the
water rose, and as wet weather neared, it fell. Mr. George Rod well,
F.C.S., now explains the origin of these contradictions. In experimenting
upon the influence of the atmosphere on a water barometer of the kind
described, he employed a tube with a diameter of of an inch, and a
length of 2 feet 11 inches ; the bulb was 2 inches in diameter, and
contained 68 cubic centimetres of air at 48° Fahrenheit. The open end
being placed in a vessel of water, the latter fluid rose in the stem to a
height of 12 inches. It was found that increased pressure of atmosphere
and simultaneous diminution of temperature caused the water to ascend
in the tube. This result took place for the following reasons: — (1) The
tension of the outer air was greater than that of the air in the bulb.

(2) The air in bulb was contracted by diminution of temperature.

(3) The tension of the aqueous vapour in the bulb was diminished. It
was found also that, for reasons of a converse nature, the water descended

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

421

in the tube when the temperature rose and the atmospheric pressure was
reduced. It seemed, therefore, that increased pressure caused the water
to ascend, whilst increased temperature caused its descent ; so that, when-
ever both these agencies were at work, the alteration in the height of the
water depended upon which of the two was superior. Herein, then, lay
the cause of the discrepancies. If the temperature was constant, the
weather-glass of Galileo would be a faithful instrument ; but as the tem-
perature does not always correspond to the pressure of the atmosphere,
the elevation of the water in the stem could not be constantly propor-
tionate to the density of the external air. — See a most interesting article
in the Chemical News , February 6, 1864.

The Boiling Points of Mixed Liquids are regarded by M. Alluard as being
by no means tests of their purity. When ether is mixed with one-tenth
of its weight of sulphide of carbon, it boils at the same temperature as
pure ether. In order to discover the purity of a liquid, the static and
dynamic methods of Regnault’s process must be employed. By the
adoption of this means, the presence of the -njVffth of a substance, added
to alcohol or sulphide of carbon, may be detected. — Vide Comptes Rendus ,
lviii. No. 1.

Optical Properties of Azulene. — The latter term is applied to designate
the principle contained in two peculiar blue oils, obtained from Achillea
and Matricaria , two genera of the natural order Compositse. This prin-
ciple has been submitted to spectrum analysis by Sir David Brewster,
who states that the two oils differ from all the various bodies which he
has yet examined. Between the two lines A and B of Fraunhofer’s
map of the spectrum, the two ottoes absorb the light in these portions
more powerfully than in the portions adjacent to them. No other fluid or
solid upon which he has experimented acts in a similar manner ; but
what is exceedingly remarkable is the fact, that the earth’s atmosphere
exerts a similar action when the sun-light passes through its greatest
thickness, as at sunrise and sunset.

Temperatures at which Metals boil . — These have been hitherto determined
by means of an air pyrometer, but M. Becquerel has adopted another
method for their determination. The instrument he employs is a thermo-
electric pile, and with it he found that the following metals boil at the
following degrees centigrade : — cadmium 720°; zinc 920°; silver 916°;
gold 1,037° ; palladium 1,360° ; platinum 1 ,480°. It is of some importance
to state that certain of these figures are lower than those obtained by
M. Becquerel, when using the air pyrometer. — Vide Comptes Rendus ,
lvii. No. 21.

Iron at a high Temperature penetrated by Gases. — M. Cailletet recently
laid before the French Academy a resume of his experiments on the per-
meability of heated metals by gases. He points out that the bullae or
cavities, found in iron, originate in this manner. The gases proceeding
from the fire permeate the iron, and occupy the cavities. In order then to
prevent the formation of these cavities, it will be necessary to have the
fires and metal so related that no vacuum may be formed in the latter.

Luminosity and Temperature of Bodies. — From an extensive series of
physical and mathematical researches, M. Provostaj'e draws the following
VOL. III. NO. XI. 2 F

422

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

conclusions : — (1) All bodies, whether dark, or having a power of reflect-
ing, emit the same calorific or luminous ray, at the same temperature.

(2) The quantities emitted, at a given temperature, by various bodies, are
proportional to their emissive or absorbent powers for this particular ray.

(3) It by no means follows that these rays are sensible to either the eye
or the thermoscope, at the temperatures at which they are given off*. (4)
Nor is it the case that rays of the same kind emitted by two bodies of
different absorbent or emissive powers are appreciable at the same tempera-
ture—See Comptes Rendus , lvii. No. 25.

Magnetic Storms. — Professor Airy read a paper before the Royal Society,
at one of its late meetings, upon this subject. In this communication he
proposes a rather peculiar theory in order to explain the nature of these
magnetic vibrations. He supposes the phenomena presented by these
so-called storms to represent the movements of a magnetic ether, which he
thinks is diffused over the entire surface of the globe, so as to constitute
an imponderable fluid covering, of several feet in thickness. If then it
be supposed that this magnetic ether is subject to occasional currents
produced by some action, or cessation of action, of the sun, which
currents are liable to interruptions or perversions, of the same kind as
those in air and water, we have a theory which is quite adequate to the
explanation of all the singular phenomena which those who have devoted
themselves to the study of magnetic force are familiar with.

ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.

Development of the Cranium. — The translation of Professor Rathke’s
essay upon the Development of the Skull is concluded in the January
number of the Natural History Review. The learned author gives a
series of results as those deducible from his own observations, of which
the following are a few : — (1) At the earliest period of foetal life, the
notochord extends posteriorly to the end of the body, and anteriorly to
the space between the auditory capsules. (2) The gelatinous mass, which
at first lies on the sides of the notochord, eventually embraces it, forming
a sheath, which ends in a point behind, but sends out two processes in
front. (3) This investing mass is converted into the vertebral column,
and a great portion, but not all , of the skull. (4) The essential part of a
vertebra is the body. (5) From the anterior portion of the investing mass
of the cephalic portion of the notochord are developed the basi-occipital,
basi-sphenoid, and ethmoid. (6) The basi-occipital constitutes originally,
like the body of a vertebra, a sheath round a part of the notochord. (7)
The two sphenoids do not agree perfectly with vertebrae in their develop-
ment, the anterior diverging more widely from the vertebral type than
the posterior. (8) Though both sphenoids possess certain characters in
common with true vertebrae, the ethmoid is differently circumstanced ; it
never embraces a segment of the nervous tube. It no longer offers any
special resemblance to a typically-formed vertebra. (9) Thus in regard

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

423

to their mode of development, the four basal bones present four gradations ;
the occipital being most, and the ethmoid least like a vertebra. (10) Of
the facial bones, the lower premaxillae and nasal bones are developed
altogether independently of the investing mass of the notochord. (11)
Neither the auditory capsules nor the petrosal bones can be regarded as
parts of vertebrae, their development proving that they are essentially
intercalary.

The Morphology of the Tunicata has been well investigated by that
industrious and distinguished anatomist, Dr. John Denis McDonald. He
considers that the fixed tunicates belong to two principal types, and the
floating ones may be grouped into four typical divisions ; and, further-
more, he is of opinion that a decided relationship exists between the fixed
and pelagic groups. In his paper, read before the Ho}ral Society of
Edinburgh, he states that, while he admits that habits of life cannot
always be taken as a character on which to base a system of classification,
yet, that, in the case of Tunicata, mode of life affords a simple and natural
scheme for the division and classification of the beings included in this
group. It is, for example, a strange fact, that in Flustra, the zoids lie
face downwards, and in Botryllus, with the face upwards. This con-
stitutes one of the chief points of difference between the compound
tunicates and the polyzoa, and it shows that the latter are related in the
same manner to the Brachiopoda, as the compound to the simple tunicata ;
in other words, as a Gorgonia is related to an Actinia.

Meaning of the Term Anthropology . — Immediately the Anthropological
Society was founded, an outcry was raised against its members for intro-
ducing a new word into the English language, which, said their opponents,
had its meaning already expressed in the well-known word 44 ethnology.”
This feeling still exists, and therefore, we are glad to perceive that the
learned president of the Anthropological Society has taken the subject of
the controversy in hand. At a late meeting (January 5th), Dr. Hunt, in
delivering the annual address, observed : “If ethnology means the science
of races, then it is assuming what has yet to be proved. Personally, I
believe in the existence of races, and, consequently, that there is a science
of ‘ethnology;’ but how objectionable the word must be to those who do
not believe in races can be easily conceived. In the word 4 anthropology ’
there is none of these gratuitous assumptions. It assumes nothing, and
merely means, the science of man, or mankind. Some men in this country
have expressed themselves adverse to the introduction of what they please
to call a new word in the language, and also that 4 anthropology ’ means
exactly the same thing as 4 ethnology.’ Both statements are equally
erroneous. ‘Anthropology’ is not a new word, nor does it mean at all the
same thing as 4 ethnology.’ In Germany, France, and even in America,
the word 4 anthropology ’ has long been introduced, and with exactly the
same meaning which we attach to it. Indeed, I think I may affirm, that
there is not a scientific man of any eminence in Germany, France, or
America, who now ever confuses the meaning of the two words — 4 anthro-
pology ’ and 4 ethnology.’ ”

The j Sea Louse of the Baltic. — A remarkably fine specimen of this

424 POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

crustacean was not long since exhibited by Professor Haughton, to the
members of the Dublin Natural History Society. The creature was
dredged by the Professor, when yachting off Helsingfors. It was found on
a bottom composed principally of decayed fir (its favourite habitat). It
certainly seems strange, as Dr. Haughton observed, that with the exception
of this animal ( Oniscus entomon ), and a few dwarfed Tellinae, the Baltic
should be so barren a field for the naturalist’s dredge. Linnaeus observed
that the sea-louse frequented particularly those parts of the Baltic which
were visited hy the shoals of herrings.

Entozoa in the Stomach of the Alligator. — Dr. A. Wynne Foot gives the
following interesting account of the condition of an alligator’s stomach
which had been attacked by nematoid worms. The animal was reported
to have been in the habit of vomiting its food before death. The stomach
of a globular shape was the size of an orange and distended with air ; it
contained 115 worms of the genus Ascaris, averaging in length from three
to four inches ; about one-lialf of them had spirally convoluted tails ; it
also contained ten small pebbles and sharp-pointed flints (one of which
was seven lines long) ; three pieces of charcoal (one of which was thirteen
lines in length), and a soft pale coagulum with some yellowish viscid
mucus which had an acid reaction. The surface of the stomach was
covered with a series of irregular deposits of a fine yellowish matter,
which were slightly raised and varied in extent from the size of a pea
to that of a sixpence. These gave a sensation to the finger such as that
produced by rubbing it against firm sand-paper, and even so adherent that
they could not be removed without tearing away the subjacent stratum of
tissue. The nature of these incrustations is not mentioned by Dr. Foot,
so we presume the material composing them was not submitted to chemi-
cal analysis. The facts are, however, of some interest. — Vide Dublin
Quarterly Journal of Science , January, 1864.

Characters of the Male Salmon after it has shed the Milk-fluid. — The dis-
tinguished vice-president of the Zoological Society of Ireland, Mr. W.
Andrews, has recently given a very admirable description of the male fish
after the spawning season, and before it has reached the sea. The
specimen, which weighed about 15 lbs. had evidently been detained for
some time in the river, having been unable to get a free run to the lake on
its course to the sea. It had become exceedingly dark in appearance, of
a reddish brown hue, its back and sides being marked and studded with
large black and red blotches. The gill covers and head were of an
olive brown colour streaked with red, and with large black spots. The
remarkable characters were the large and unsightly proportions of the
head, in comparison with the size of the body, which although in better
condition than would have been supposed, still was much attenuated. On
dissection its flesh was found to be sodden and soft, and of a pale or faded
pink colour, denoting an extremely unhealthy state. The gills were
infested by parasites (the gisler or Branchiella salmonia). The still more
remarkable character that presented itself was the large size and almost
horny consistency that the cartilaginous extension of the lower jaw had
assumed, and in such state had it become that the point had forced a

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

425

complete passage through the upper jaw throughfwhich it passed, probably,
at every attempt of the fish to feed. — Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science ,

xiii. p. 50.

Variation of Species among Rhozopods. — Our best authority upon the
anatomy and distribution of the animals embraced by the group Rhozo-
pods is Dr. G. C. Wallich. This observer has contributed several valu-
able papers to the Annals of Natural History for the past year, which
should be carefully studied by all protozoan-loving naturalists. His last
memoir appears in the March number of the Journal alluded to, and in it
he enters into a description of the forms and relations of the so-called species
of the genus Difflugia. The great bulk of the species are mere varieties
of a few definite forms. It seems that in certain species the sarcode matter
which constitutes the animal has the power, under different conditions, of
building up different tests or shells. Thus, when in the locality in which
they are found, one set of minerals is abundant, they select this, and so
on. They seem in this particular rather to resemble the caddis worm,
whose habits have been so faithfully pourtrayed by one of our lady
naturalists, Miss E. M. Smee. The general conclusion which Dr. Wallich
draws is thus expressed. The animal does not vary ; but it modifies the
architecture of its habitation , and the mineral material of which that habitation
is in a great measure constructed in obedience to local conditions , and in the
manner best fitted to meet its requirements. — Vide Annals of Natural History
for March, 1864.

The Habits of the Australian Tree-Frogs are thus described by Dr.
Albert Gunther, in an article in the 44 Annals of Natural History.” They
sleep during the day, squatting in a corner, generally selecting a place in
which they are hidden from view, but easily aroused on the approach of
some insect, which they seize with their tongue. When the prey is large,
or when they have accidentally seized a small piece of wood, &c., toge-
ther with the insect, they use their fore-foot to push the insect into the
mouth or to remove the object which is unfit for food. They never enter
the water during the summer months, and tried to escape from a tank
when put into it. They leave their hiding-places towards dusk, becoming
very lively, apparently less with the object of obtaining food (which they
can only procure by quietly remaining in wait for it) than with that of
enjoying themselves. The Australian tree-frog, which is endowed with a
voice, indulges every evening in a musical performance. They become
more quiet after midnight, and at sunrise they settle down in some resting-
place, sometimes one individual selecting the same place for several con-
secutive days. They prefer bluebottle-flies to every other insect, and
never touch ants or black-beetles. They feed freely on meal-worms when
other food is scarce ; but as they are frequently vomited, it is doubtful
whether they could be kept in good health if restricted to this particular
form of food. There is now in the gardens of the Zoological Society a
collection of eight specimens of these Batrachia, which have been referred
by Dr. Gunther to the genera Hyla and Telodryas, the latter being the
best known form. The species are P. cceruleus (the Australian tree-frog),
II. peronii, H. Jcrefftii , and H. phyllochroa. — Ibid. No. 75.

426

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Sub-cutaneous Orifices in the Head of the Eel and Conger. —JAnny com-
parative anatomists have been puzzled to know the relations of the sense
capsules in fishes, and perhaps there are none of more interest than those
of Dr. McDonnel, of Dublin, on the lateral line in these animals. A recent
investigator, the Rev. W. Houghton, adds his quota to the mass of evi-
dence already existing on this subject. While engaged in the dissection
of eels and congers he observed the constant presence of two sub -triangular
openings in the fleshy portion of the head, at the point of union of cranium
and spinal column. These he at first supposed to be special auditory
organs, but he now leaves the question for the decision of other anatomists.
He denies the assertion contained in Mr. PenneTs treatise, that these fish
have an external auditory aperture in the head ; and then goes on to
describe the orifices which he observed. Upon placing a bristle in each of
these openings, it was found to traverse a closed-in duct in the cranium,
and to make its exit just above the orbital bone. These tubes have no
connection with either the vestibular sacs or the auditory nerves. He
believes these canals to be connected with the so-called mucous system, but
in what manner he is not aware. — Vide Pamphlet , reprinted from Quarterly
Journal of Microscopical Science , January, 1864.

Homologies of Insects and Crustaceoe. — Mr. Dana has constructed a very-
simple diagram showing the nature of the homological relationship be-
tween decapods and insects. By glancing at the sketch accompanying
his memoir, it will be apparent that the following conclusions, at which
the author has arrived, are correct : — ( 1 ) The insect wants the three pos-
terior segments of the crustacean. (2) The head and thorax of the insect
embrace the same number of segments as the head alone of the decapod.
(3) The head and thorax of the insect contain half of its entire number of
segments (eighteen) ; the head and thorax of the decapod contain two-
thirds of the whole (entire number twenty-one). (4) The head of an
insect contains six segments, which is one-third of the whole number ;
that of a decapod nine segments or three- sevenths of the whole. (5) The
segments connected with the organs of digestion are the tenth, eleventh,
twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth in both insect and decapod. But in the
insect the tenth is the first behind the thorax ; and in the crustacean it is
the first behind the head. It is very questionable whether Mr. Dana is
correct in assuming the presence of the three anterior segments in the
insect as distinct parts. If we suppose them to be present, the difficulty
of showing the homologies is much diminished. — See the Annals of Natural
History for January.

Structure of the Animal Substance of Dijfiugia. — In Mr. Carter’s memoir
on the fresh-water rhizopods of England and India, which appeared in a
late number of the Annals of Natural History , the author describes the
appearances seen with the microscope when the test and animal of Difflugia
compressa were crushed under a glass cover. The animal-matter consists
of protoplasm embedding, small brown cells, oil globules, starch granules,
and reproductive cells. The first are globular in form, about the -b-oVtt °f
an inch in diameter, and appear to give the creature its light brown
colour. The second are more alundant, vary in size, and under the

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

427

influence of iodine they lose their colour and become more brilliant and
refractive. The third forms always carry a nucleus, which in its turn
possesses a nucleolus, the latter being disk-like in shape, while the former
is a spherical cell. The fourth series of morphological elements, the
reproductive cells, are of an oval or circular shape, filled with homogeneous
contents, colourless, more or less refractive, about of an inch in dia-
meter, but occasionally twice as large. Their number is not constant, but
varies from ten to twenty, or more, and they have been frequently observed
both with and without the nucleus in its spheruliferous state. When
iodine is added to them, they become tinged with an amber hue, and
occasionally present granular contents ; a claret hue is sometimes produced
by this re-agent, but this is never of so deep a colour as to render the
bodies liable to be mistaken for starch granules. Mr. Carter also alludes
to the presence of chlorophyll cells, and seems to imply that these latter are
identical with th z granules of Amoeba, and the amoebous cell of Spongilla.

The Law of the Production of the Sexes in Animals. — Professor Thury’s
memoir has been partly translated by Mr. W. S. Dallas, F.L.S. It is
already known to most of our readers that the former naturalist lately
advanced some very peculiar views as to the question, How are the different
sexes produced. He believes that the earlier ova formed in the ovaries of
all animals are in an imperfect condition, and if in this state they be fer-
tilized, the result will be the production of a number of females ; if,
however, the act of fecundation be delayed, males only will be developed.
Hence he assumes that, among mammals, if the fertilization of the ovum
occur at the commencement of the rutting season, females will be pro-
duced ; if at the termination of this period, males only. It would appear
that his doctrine has been corroborated by the results of several experi-
ments. For our own parts, we are extremely sceptical as to the truth
the discovery ; nevertheless, as they may be of interest, we give the fol-
lowing series of “practical observations,” which constitute the second
portion of Professor Thury’s memoir : — (1) Sex depends on the degree of
maturation of the ovum at the moment of its fecundation. (2) The ovum
which has not attained a certain degree of maturation, if it be fecundated,
produces a female ; when this degree of maturation is passed, the ovum, if
fecundated, produces a male. (3) When, at the rutting season, a single
ovum separates from the ovary to descend slowly through the genital
canal (as in uniparous animals), it is sufficient that the fecundation takes
place at the commencement of the rutting season to produce females, and
at the end to produce males — the turning point of the ovum occurring
normally during its passage through the genital canal. (4) When several
ova separate successively from the ovary during a single generative period,
the first ova are generally the least developed, and produce females ; the
last are more mature, and furnish males. But if it happens that a second
generative period succeeds the first one, or if the external or organic con-
ditions change considerably, the last ova may not attain to the superior
degree of maturation, and may again furnish females. Hence it happens
that the application'of the principle to animals which are multiparous is
far from easy. (5) In carrying out experiments it will be necessary to be

428

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

perfectly certain as to the period at which the rutting function commences.
(6) As animals living in a state of confinement do not exhibit this pheno-
menon in a very regular or normal manner, they should not be selected for
experimentation ; and animals which live in a state of freedom should be
employed. (7) From the mode in which the law ruling the production
of the sexes has been deduced, it results that this law must be general,
and apply to all organized beings — that is to say, to plants, animals, and
man. — Vide Annals of Natural History , January, 1864.

Ll1/>

Aniline Blue, called “Opal Blue.’5 (See p. 437-)

Chrysaniline, or “Phosphine.” A residual product.

Scibnce Hkvibw, No. XII.

l'OPlLAK

429

THE ANILINE DYES.

BY DR T. L. PHIPSON, F.O.S.,

LxVTE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BRUSSELS, MEMBER OF THE CHEMICAL
SOCIETY OF PARIS, &C. &C.

IT has been whispered to me that a popular history of the
new Aniline Dyes would fill a gap that has hitherto re-
mained wide open in the scientific literature of the present
day. In taking up my pen to compose such a history, I would
be allowed to remark, by way of preface, that the following
lines are not intended for the philosophical transactions and
the aristocrats of science, but for the Popular Science Review
and the Garibaldians of philosophy. In all matters connected
with chemistry it is best to be as brief as is consistent with
explicitness, and to avoid anything approaching to grand
phrases or “ sensationism therefore I shall offer no apologies
for roughness of style or for attacking the subject in a straight-
forward manner.

As the only thing I happen to have done myself in con-
nection with aniline was the discovery of this curious com-
pound in the vegetable world, I shall take Dr. Hofmann in my
right hand and Messrs. Simpson, Maule, & Nicholson in my
left, combining theory and practice, whilst travelling over one
or two of the most beautiful and luxuriant pages of modern
chemistry.

It may seem wonderful that, to arrive at the brilliant colours
which serve to illustrate this paper, we must start from coal ;
for it is among the products of the distillation of coal that
we find the substances capable of yielding these magnificent
dyes. In ordinary language the word distillation applies to
liquids only, but in chemistry it is equally applicable to any
substance which, being placed in a close vessel and heated,
gives off vapours which distil. Now, if instead of water or
spirit we put a solid piece of coal into a retort and apply heat,
the following phenomena invariably occur : a considerable
amount of combustible gas is evolved ; this is no other than the
gas which lights our streets, and whilst it is produced a large
amount of tar and watery vapour distils and passes out of the
retort. When the operation is finished, that is, when no more
VOL. in. — NO. XII. 2 G

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

gas or oily products (tar) are produced, there remains in the
retort a fragment of coke.

All the products of this splitting up of coal by the action of
heat have been largely utilized ; they have given rise to ex-
tensive and most important branches of industry and promise
to yield still further benefits to mankind. In former years
coal was looked upon as a species of carbon ; but it was soon
discovered to be a substance rather more complex in its nature
than had been imagined: — 1001b. of coal contain on an
average 80 1b. of carbon, 5 or 61b. of hydrogen, 21b. of
nitrogen, 5 to 12 lb. of oxygen, \ to 1 lb. of sulphur, and 5
to 10 lb. of mineral substances which constitute the ash ;
it leaves in a retort after distillation about 60 per cent, of
coke.

Any person who has devoted a little attention to organic
chemistry will see at once what a vast number of products may
be formed by the grouping* together of these elements in
various ways. Now, when coal is distilled no less than fifty-
one distinct substances are obtained from it ; that is, fifty- one
distinct substances have hitherto been discovered in the pro-
ducts of the distillation of coal, maybe others will shortly
turn up. Practically speaking, these substances are not of
equal importance. Among those which demand our more
particular attention here are : 1st., the gas which serves to
light our streets. This is chiefly marsh-gas, the gas which
bubbles up from the mud of stagnant ponds, otherwise called
protocarburetted hydrogen, C2H4; containing also some bi-
carburetted hydrogen, C4H4 ; and carbonic oxide, CO; a little
free hydrogen, H ; sulphuretted hydrogen, S H ; carbonic acid
C O2 ; acetylen, C4H2 ; &c. 2nd, the oily products or tar from
which we obtain a variety of hydrocarbons, boiling and dis-
tilling at different temperatures, such as benzol C12H6, toluol
C14H8, which are liquid ; naphthaline C20H8, and paraffine (the
composition of which is uncertain) which are solid; besides
creosote or phenol, aniline, ammonia, and several other similar
substances. 3rd, The coke which remains in the retort. The
latter we will dispose of at once by stating that it is exten-
sively used as a combustible, and also as a powerful element in
certain forms of electric batteries. Not many years ago the
oily products or tar were likewise burnt under the retorts of
gasworks in order to economise the coal. Yery different are
the uses to which they are applied at the present day !

This is not the place to examine the best methods of pro-
ducing and purifying gas for illumination, nor to allude to the
enormous amount of sulphate of ammonia annually produced
for agricultural purposes by causing this gas to pass through
sulphuric acid on its way to the gasometers. We must fix our

THE ANILINE DYES.

431

attention here upon the oily and tarry products which condense
in the hydraulic main and other condensers through which the
gas must pass on its way from the retorts to the gasometers.
This coal-tar , as it is called, on being put into a retort and
distilled again yields different products at different tempera-
tures, so that by a kind of fractional distillation we obtain two
varieties of “ coal-oils ; ;; the heavy -oils which are heavier than
water, and the light-oils which float upon water. The former
are black and have a powerful odour ; they are extensively used
to prevent the decay of railway sleepers, piles of bridges,
palings, and other similar wooden constructions, on account of
their powerfully antiseptic properties. In the hospitals of
Paris I have seen them recently employed in the treatment of
ulcerated wounds, for which purpose they are mixed with
gypsum to solidify them a little, and to modify the intensity of
their action.

The light-oils constitute a thin combustible liquid known as
coal-naphtha, which is distilled again to obtain Benzol.
Lately, however, it has been attempted to distil the heavy-oils
also, in iron or earthenware retorts, so as to decompose them
into gas for illumination, and volatile oils rich in benzol.

Analyses of several specimens of these heavy-oils which I
made last year for the English Government show that they
contain on an average : —

Creosote and phenol 1*37

Naphthaline 1976

Brown oil 48*62

Pitch 30*25

100*00

On being distilled they yield a large amount of naphthaline
by decomposition , as well as other products, and if run into
hot retorts they yield much carburetted hydrogen gas and
Benzol »

This Benzol, then, is the starting-point in the manufacture
of the aniline dyes; for, the aniline that exists already
formed in the coal-oils is in too small a quantity to admit of
its being extracted with economy ; whereas benzol is easily pro-
duced, is manufactured on a very extensive scale, and furnished
to commerce at a low price. Without benzol we should have
no aniline dyes, no beautiful mauve and magenta or rosaniline ;
but as benzol can be produced wherever there is coal, there is
no fear of our being deprived of these vivid colours for many
centuries to come.

It has been believed that the famous Tyrian purple of the
ancients is extinct, — like the Dodo, &c. Such is not a fact.

2 g 2

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

We are at liberty to produce as much Tyrian purple as we like ;
but we should probably not obtain it as the ancients did from
the whelks and other sea snails whose history, in this respect,
I have sketched in my recent work, <( The Utilization of
Minute Life , fyc.f but from guano. For, if the purple of the
ancients was not derived from murexide — a substance we can
obtain by means of the uric acid contained in Peruvian guano
— murexide will produce the purple derived from the whelks.
But this purple is far inferior in brilliancy to the aniline purples
of the present day, for the art of producing colours, like every-
thing else in nature, is subject to the law of progress !

To return to benzol, the history of this substance is by no
means devoid of interest. It was first obtained in 1825, by
Professor Faraday — who little dreamt of the future uses to which
it would be applied — whilst studying the products derived from
the distillation of vegetable oils, and described by him as a
liquid hydrocarbon. In 1834 the celebrated chemist Mitscher-
lich of Berlin obtained the same substance by distilling
benzoic acid in presence of excess of lime or baryta, and called
it benzol. Some French chemists afterwards called it Benzine .
It is not difficult, on comparing Faraday’s paper with that of
Mitscherlich, to perceive that they had both produced the same
substance. Some time afterwards it was found that benzol
exists in considerable quantity in coal-tar naphtha, i.e., in the
light oils from the distillation of coal, which float on water,
boil below 100° centigrade, and congeal to a solid mass at zero.
The way of obtaining benzol by distilling this coal-tar naphtha
appears to have been first pointed out by an English chemist,
Charles Mansfeld, who died at an early age soon after publish-
ing an ingenious pamphlet upon benzol and its economic
applications. The idea, like so many others, was soon exploitee
on the Continent, where, about 1850, impure benzol was sold
about 2 francs per pint under the name of benzine- collas for
cleaning gloves, tissues, &c., as it has the power of easily dis-
solving grease.

The properties of benzol are soon told. It is a hydrocarbon
C12Hfi, liquid at ordinary temperatures and colourless, solidifying
into a crystalline mass at zero, boiling at 80° centigrade,
having a specific gravity = O' 85, therefore floating upon
water, in which it is quite insoluble, but dissolves in alcohol
and ether. It has generally a strong odour of naphthaline
or coal gas, but when quite pure its odour is more aromatic
and less powerful. Pure benzol is not discoloured by strong
sulphuric acid. But the most remarkable property of benzol
resides in its action upon nitric acid. Other acids do not
attack it readily ; but with concentrated nitric acid, aided at
the commencement of the action by a slight heat, a new sub-

THE ANILINE DYES.

433

stance is formed called nitrobenzol. Nitrobenzol only differs
from benzol by tbe latter having one of its equivalents of hydro-
gen replaced by one equivalent of hyponitric acid, thus : —

C12 H6 C12 H5, NO4

Benzol. Nitrobenzol.

If benzol be added to warm nitric acid by degrees, and as
long as it dissolves in the acid, a dark red liquid is obtained,
and when water is added, nitrobenzol falls to the bottom of
the liquid as a heavy, yellow, oily substance, insoluble in
water, capable of crystallising in long needles when exposed
to a cold of 4* 3° centigr., and having a very pleasant odour
of essence of almonds. This odour has caused it to be some-
what largely employed in place of the more expensive essence
for scenting* soaps, &c., .for which purpose it has been sold for
some years under the name of “ essence of mirbane.”

Nitrobenzol brings us another step nearer to the aniline
dyes ; for it is from nitrobenzol that all the aniline of
commerce is prepared. This transformation of benzol into
nitrobenzol was also discovered by Mitscherlich, but the
formation of aniline from nitrobenzol was first effected by
Zinin, of St. Petersburg. This curious change is brought
about by the substitution of 1 equivalent of amide N H2 for
the equivalent of hyponitric acid N O4, in nitrobenzol, thus : —

C13 H5, N O4 C12 H5, N H2 or C12 H7 N

Nitrobenzol. Aniline.

Such a change is effected when nitrobenzol is acted upon by
nascent hydrogen, when all its oxygen unites with this
hydrogen to form water, and aniline is the result. This
occurs best when nitrobenzol is mixed with acetic acid and
iron-filings ; the three substances being mixed in a retort,
and a gentle heat applied, aniline distils, and can be collected
in a cooled recipient. It is a liquid of an oily appearance,
falling to the bottom of a glass of water, and producing a
vivid but evanescent purple blue colour when mixed with
a little chloride of lime on bleaching powder.

It should be remarked here, that aniline has been dis-
covered by Fritsche, of St. Petersburg, in the products
derived from indigo, when this colouring matter is acted
upon by potash. It was met with in the products of the
distillation of organic bodies, by Unverdorben, who described
it under the name of crystalline ; it has also been described
by Runge, Hofmann, and others under a host of names. We
will not stay here to mute its biography, which would lead us
too far. It will be sufficient to note that aniline is an organic
base, an alkaloid, closely allied to the liquid alkaloids nicotine

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

(from tobacco) and conine (from bemlock). Like these, it
unites with acids and forms salts of aniline, which are soluble
in water, whilst aniline itself is very slightly soluble in this
liquid. For the rest, it is colourless, has a strong and peculiar
odour, mixes easily with alcohol and ether, and decomposes
slowly in contact with the air.

We have seen that one of the characteristics of aniline is
to produce with bleaching powder, or, in fact, with any
other oxydising agent — a magnificent purple blue colour,
which, however, soon disappears again. It was in endea-
vouring to produce this purple blue in a permanent form that
Mr. W. Perkin first obtained, in 1856, the well-known mauve
dye. The discovery of the aniline dyes was thus made in
England. Mr. Perkin took the sulphate of aniline, more or
less pure, and (to oxydise it) mixed it with a solution of bi-
chromate of potash acidulated with sulphuric acid. In ten or
twelve hours a blackish looking powder was deposited ; this
was collected upon a filter, washed with water, and afterwards
digested with coal-naphtha, to purify it. It was then dissolved
in wood- spirit (methylic alcohol), and when this solution was
evaporated it yielded the new dye in a pure state. So great is
its colouring power, and so rich the tint produced, that TV of a
grain of mauve dye will colour substantially a whole gallon of
alcohol ! Until lately it was, weight for weight, as valuable as
gold. Mr. Perkin has recently communicated to the Pro-
ceedings of the Royal Society an elaborate paper upon the
composition of this mauve dye. It appears to consist es-
sentially of mauveine, C54 H24 N4, a powerful organic base,
uniting with acids like rosaniline, whose composition we shall
see presently. Dr. Hofmann has also published, in the same
journal, a numerous series of papers upon the nature and
composition of the aniline dyes in general.

Dr. Hofmann appears to have been the first to produce
aniline red (magenta, rosaniline, fuchsine) as a scientific
curiosity. He obtained it by acting upon aniline with strong
nitric acid, and although this process has since been adopted
in some manufactories. Professor Hofmann did not make any
use of his discovery. The first patent taken out for the pro-
duction of rosaniline was that of Messrs. Yerguin & Penard,
of Lyons, who obtained the colour by the action of bichloride
of tin upon aniline. Since then many patents have been
granted for obtaining different shades of aniline dyes by
different processes, and great success in the production of
these marvellous colouring matters has attended, in this
country, the energetic efforts of Messrs. Simpson, Maule, &
Nicholson. We must here pause for an instant to refer to
some curious results lately obtained by Dr. Hofmann, which

THE ANILINE DYES*

435

appear to clear up a mystery that has hung over the produc-
tion of aniline dyes in general. It will be seen from what
precedes, that the colours in question are produced whenever
aniline is submitted to the action of oxydising agents (chloride
of lime, nitric acid, bichloride of tin, bichromate of potash,
ozone, &c.), and according to the particular oxydiser we make
use of, we obtain one shade or another : hence a considerable
number of patents ; hence also several severe law cases, &c.
It passed, then, as a fact, that when aniline was oxydised it
gave magenta. One morning, however, not many months
ago, Dr. Hofmann took some pure aniline and found that it
gave no magenta whatever ! It is known that commercial
aniline always contains toluidine — another base Very similar
to aniline, and produced exactly in the same manner. In coal
naphtha along with benzol C12 IF we find toluol C14 H8, so
along with nitrobenzol C12 H5, N O4, we obtain nitrotoluol
C14 H7, N 04, and along with aniline C12 H7 N we get tolui-
dine C14 H9 1ST. In fact, the benzol, nitrobenzol, and aniline
of commerce are mixtures of the bodies just named, in various
proportions, and whose boiling points differ almost in every
sample ; for whereas benzol boils at 80°, toluol only boils at
108° ; aniline (pure) at 182°, toluidine (pure) at 198°.

It was natural, then, that Dr. Hofmann should take pure
toluidine in making his next experiment ; but still he obtained
no rosaniline ! As a last resource, he mixed the two sub-
stances aniline and toluidine together, when, upon submitting
the mixture to the action of an oxydiser, he immediately
obtained the dye. What appears to happen is this : 2 equiva-
lents of toluidine and 1 equivalent of aniline are acted upon
together by the oxydiser, lose by its action 7 equivalents of
hydrogen, and give rosaniline —

2 C14 H9 N + C12 H7 N = C40 H25 N3
Toluidine. Aniline.

and —

C40 H25 N3 — 7 H = C40 H19 N3
minus Hydrogen. Rosaniline.

So we see that it is not the purest samples of commercial
aniline which furnish the aniline dyes. Pure aniline, as already
noticed, boils at 182°; but the manufacturers of dyes prefer
anilines which boil from 185° to 210°. It is more than pro-
bable that in commercial aniline we have several other sub-
stances present besides toluidine, and whether these affect the
colours in any way remains to be determined.

We have seen how mauve or aniline purple is produced, let
us now turn to the production magenta, rosaniline, or aniline
crimson. If we heat a little aniline in a test tube with

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

bichloride of tin, bichloride of mercury, for instance, we get
immediately the splendid aniline crimson known by so many
fancy names. Its colouring power is as intense as that of
mauve noticed above. Mr. Nicholson has obtained this colour
in its pure state, and it has been submitted to analysis by Dr.
Hofmann and others. Like mauveine, it is a powerful base,
having for formula C40 H19 N3, generally containing, more-
over, 2 equivalents of water, and then slightly coloured ; but
in its absolutely pure state} it is colourless . It is called rosani-
line in chemistry, and on uniting with acids forms well-charac-
terised salts, crystallising perfectly, and possessed of the vivid
crimson colour which constitutes the dye.* Thus the magenta
dye is always a salt of rosaniline, pure rosaniline itself being
devoid of colour, or nearly so. The hydrochlorate of rosani-
line is C40 H19 N3, H Cl ; the acetate of rosaniline was
exhibited in the shape of a crown of beautiful crystals in
the Exhibition of 1862, by Mr. Nicholson : this mass of
crystals valued about £100 sterling.

If we inquire how it happens that so expensive a substance
can have become so soon the object of an important manufac-
ture, we find it is simply because a very small quantity of
rosaniline goes a very long way as a dye. Moreover, nothing
is simpler than the operation of dying with this substance.
Silk or wool thoroughly cleaned has only to be plunged into a
solution of mauve or magenta, taken out and washed. The
dye is fixed in an instant, no previous preparation nor mor-
dants are required. Not so, however, with linen, cotton,
paper, or vegetable substances ; upon these the dye has no hold
unless they have been previously coated with gluten or some
other nitrogenous or animal substance : it is upon animal
fibres, such as silk and wool, that the aniline dyes adhere so
easily ; hence they readily stain the fingers of the operator.

Hosaniline is produced when commercial aniline is acted
upon by bichloride of tin, bichloride of mercury, arsenic acid,
nitric acid, per chloride of iron, &c. Most of these different
processes for obtaining modifications of the same substance
have been made the objects of numerous patents. MM. Lau-
rent & Casthelez have recently succeeded in converting
nitrobenzol directly into aniline red by heating it with a
mixture of iron and hydrochloric acid, or with protochloride of
iron. In this process aniline is produced during the operation,
and also perchloride of iron. When the mixture is heated,
this perchloride reacts on the aniline to form the crimson dye.

It will be remembered that Preisser, in an ingenious paper published
some years ago, showed that most colouring matters are, in the pure state, as
colourless as white sugar.

THE ANILINE DYES.

437

W e have a yellow aniline dye called chrysaniline, the com-
position of which is represented by C40 H17 N3. It is obtained
from the residue which remains after the extraction of rosani-
line. This residue is submitted to a current of steam, which
carries off the yellow dye. When nitric acid is added to the
condensed liquid, the chrysaniline is precipitated as nitrate of
chrysaniline. This salt is so insoluble in water, that nitric
acid may be precipitated from a weak solution, by adding a
little hydrochlorate of chrysaniline, a more soluble salt.

The beautiful blue aniline dye is obtained by heating for
some time a salt of rosaniline with an excess of aniline, at a
temperature ranging from 150° to 160° C. The rough colour
thus produced is purified by washing with boiling water, &c.
It is soluble in spirit, and may be obtained in crystals of a
copper-metallic appearance. We have also a green aniline
dye, called emeraldine, yet little known and not very fine;
also various shades of red and purple, and a black aniline dye,
which we have not space to notice here.

Specimens of the principal aniline colours at present pro-
duced, and in use, have been kindly furnished to me by
Messrs. Simpson, Maule, & Nicholson, to illustrate this
paper. Their superior brilliancy over all other dyes will be
easily seen by approaching near to them a similar piece of
silk dyed with any other colouring matter. Almost all dyes
are more or less affected by sunlight : some are more brilliant
when prepared in the sunshine than when prepared at night ;
others quickly fade by the action of the sun's rays. The ani-
line dyes are not exempt from this actinic action (so useful to
the photographer, so prejudicial to the dyer) ; some specimens
fade quicker than others, demonstrating the necessity of pro-
ducing these dyes as pure as possible. The composition of
the beautiful aniline blue has been established by Messrs.
Nicholson and Hofmann : it is very remarkable. Its formula
is C7<3 H31 N3; it is rosaniline in which 3 equivalents of
hydrogen are simply replaced by 3 equivalents of phenyle,
C12 H5. It has since been found that the other radicals —
ethyle, methyle, amyle — may be substituted for phenyle, and
give the same splendid blue colour. This is effected by acting
upon rosaniline by the iodides of these radicals ; and as a
demand has suddenly arisen for iodine for this purpose, the
price of that metalloid has risen considerably of late.

I think enough has now been said to show, in a general
manner, how the aniline dyes were discovered, how they are
produced, what is their chemical composition, and how a con-
siderable commercial value may, sooner or later, attach to
what was, in the origin, a purely scientific curiosity .

438

0 N THE ACTION OF MANURES.

BY BAKON LIEBIG.

NO one will maintain that it is a matter of indifference to
tlie husbandman, whether the ideas or principles which
guide him in his operations are true or false. The success of his
practice is evidently based on two things — that he knows what
he is doing, and that he does the right thing in the right way ;
so that, as every scientific view in agricultural matters becomes
in its application a money question, it may perhaps be of
interest to him to learn the exact state of our knowledge
respecting the principles and theory of manuring.

Science has taught us that plants require for their normal
growth a number of elements (carbon, phosphorus, silica,
ammonia, potash, lime, magnesia, &o.), most of which are
furnished by the soil ; and it has been established by the direct
experiments of Stohman and Knap that these various nutritive
substances possess an equal nutritive value — that is to say, that
all must exist together and work together in the building up of
the vegetable fabric in its normal condition. Taking the case of
those plants which supply food for man or beast, it is found
that in the process of their nutrition none of these different
substances can replace or discharge the functions of another ;
so that, if one be wanting, although there may be an abundance
of the rest in the soil, the plant cannot grow ; if one of them
be insufficiently represented in the soil, the harvest will suffer in
a certain proportion to the element that is wanting ; ammonia
therefore possessing no higher nourishing or manure-value than
lime, phosphoric acid no higher value than potash, &c.

This doctrine, based on natural laws, is not generally ad-
mitted by English farmers, and has even been stated to be
inapplicable to English soils. Starting from the result of a
number of experiments made on a small piece of ground,, a
manufacturer of manure in London maintains, that there are
degrees in the value of each of the nutritious elements in a
manure, which could be easily determined, or estimated by the
amount of cropsproduced on anyfield after being manuredwith it.

If the produce were increased by one element and not by
another, he concluded that the first possessed a preponderating
value over the second.

In his trial fields, for instance, phosphoric acid had little or

ON THE ACTION OF MANURES.

439

no effect in increasing the corn crop ; whilst, on the other hand,
by manuring with the same phosphates a turnip field, a much
larger crop of roots was produced than on a field unmanured.

In manuring with salts of ammonia the result was reversed ;
the corn crop being increased by them, but no perceptible
effect being produced on turnips.

A so-called practical doctrine was derived from these facts ;
they proved, it was said, that nitrogen (ammonia, nitric acid)
was an especially efficacious ingredient in manure for corn, and
phosphoric acid equally so for turnips.

The specific efficacy of ammoniacal salts on corn was further
shown by the fact, that a field manured for several years with
them alone produced equally large crops of corn during that
time, and likewise, in a very striking manner, ceased on the
third year to yield a crop of turnips. The great efficacy of
super-phosphate of lime on turnips was shown by the other
fact, that a field which, unmanured, gave no more turnips on
the third year, produced nine crops, one after another, when
this manure only was applied.

Now, a very slight reflection is sufficient, I think, to show
us that this mode of testing the efficacy of the several nutri-
tious elements of plants is idle and useless ; for if it be once
proved, as an empirical lav/, that ammonia, phosphoric acid,
potash, lime, &c., are nutritious elements, and as such indis-
pensable for all plants, there can be no further doubt of their
efficacy in any single case, and no additional proof of their
utility or value will therefore be needed. If, by manuring a
corn field with salts of ammonia, or a turnip field with super-
phosphate, the crops of corn or of turnip-roots be increased,
the fact is not in the least wanted to prove the efficacy of those
manures, which is already known and undisputed ; nor if, by
manuring a field with potash or lime, &c., no increase of crop
be observed, does it therefore follow that these substances are
not in themselves efficacious.

It is easy to understand that phosphoric acid, or ammonia,
may not, either alone or together, exert the slightest influence
on the growth of a plant. Supposing phosphoric acid, potash,
lime, magnesia, silicic acid, &c., to be indispensable conditions
for the efficacy of ammonia, and supposing ammonia, potash,
lime, silicic acid, to be indispensable conditions for the efficacy
of phosphoric acid, it follows that if a wheat field manured with
ammonia alone gives a higher return than it does without it,
all that is proved is that this field contained an excess of
phosphoric acid, potash, lime, &c., inefficacious because a
certain proportion of ammonia was wanting’, but rendered
efficacious by increasing the quantity of ammonia in the soil ;
while without this excess of available but not efficacious

440

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

elements, tlie largest manuring with ammonia would have had
no effect. In like manner it is perfectly plain, that if a field be
deficient in potash, of which turnip roots want ten times as much
as they do of phosphates, supposing the available quantity of
potash be only sufficient for the formation of three crops, then
only three would have been obtained, and the largest dressing
with superphosphate could not produce nine.

Experiments of this kind indicate only what elements of
food are abundant or wanting in the soil, and it is impos-
sible to prove by them anything about the efficacy of a manure
element. The increase or non-increase establishes only the
quality or nature of a field, the knowledge of which is un-
doubtedly very useful to the owner of the land, but to him
alone ; for it is of no avail to his next neighbour, if the
quality of this neighbour's land happens to be different.

Numberless experiments of the same character have been
repeatedly made in Germany at the instance of several agricul-
tural societies. On many corn fields manuring with ammonia
salts had not the slightest effect, while super-phosphate of
lime alone produced much larger corn crops than any other
manure had afforded. It is really astonishing that farmers,
who call themselves men of experience, can be made to believe
that because a manure has produced on a field in a certain
country a high return of corn or roots, it should produce an
equal effect, and possess an equal value, on all the fields in
Great Britain ; for, if the efficacy of a manure, A, be believed
to depend on the presence and quantity of the manure B, C,
D, &c., it must be assumed that all the fields in a country
or land contain the same quantity of B, C, D, &c. Now, it is
an indisputable fact, that there are scarcely two fields of the
same country, often not two fields on the same farm, which
possess the same identical geological, chemical, or mechanical
character ; so that the quantity of the manures B, C, D, &c.,
varies in each instance. It must be plain, therefore, that the
same quantity of manure. A, be it ammonia, phosphoric acid,
or potash,' must necessarily have quite a different operation
in proportion as the fields are differently constituted. Even
stable-dung, which contains all the nutritive elements in con-
junction, produces different effects when applied in the same
quantity to different fields.

With reference to practical farming, it is important to
remark, that it follows as a corollary from the law of equality
of nutritive value belonging to the constituents of food, that
the element or elements, which are either wanting in the
soil, or are contained in it in insufficient quantity, are the ones
which will prove of preponderating value in the manures
applied.

441

THE OLD RED SANDSTONE FISHES OF ENGLAND.

BY E. EAY LANKESTEE.

THE majority of our readers, no doubt, are acquainted with
the charming works of the late Flugh Miller, in which
he described with the pen of a poet and, at the same time,
with the mind of a philosopher, the curious fossil remains which
were found among his native hills. In fact, the Old Red Sand-
stone fishes of Scotland were described and illustrated by him
in such a way that they have a world-wide fame, and every
museum has its fish from Cromarty, its Ptericthys and Coc-
costeus. It is undoubtedly true that these two last-named
fish were remarkable creatures, and their discovery alone was
sufficient to attract the universal attention of the geological
world. But meanwhile we should not forget that the old Red
Sandstone system occurs in other localities besides Scotland,
and that fish are found in our English rocks of that period as
well as in the Scottish localities. We propose in the following
pages to give a very brief account of the English fishes of the
Old Red Sandstone ; and they certainly have as much interest
attached to them as their northern neighbours. The beds
which furnish the fish nodules in Scotland belong to a newer
period than the English rocks of which we are about to speak,
although included by geologists under one and the same
denomination as Old Red Sandstone. Over a large part of
Herefordshire, and some part of Worcestershire, a very dense
and compact sandstone is worked, which is called by the
quarrymen and countryfolk Cornstone. ” This Cornstone is
the lowest member of the Old Red Sandstone series : if we
pass below it we come upon the “ passage beds 93 between the
Old Red and the Silurian systems; and in some parts of
Herefordshire, in railway cuttings and such-like places, where
the strata have been tilted, we can pass from one to the other
in a few steps. The equivalents of the Scotch beds are some-
times to be found overlying the highest portions of this
t( Cornstone ” series; but, curious to say, they contain no fish.
At one locality, Farlow, by great perseverance in search, a
miniature species of Ptericthys was detected in these beds ; but
in England it appears that we are destitute of that great variety
of species which characterises the same beds in Scotland. On
the other hand, in those rocks which correspond to our Corn-

442

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

stones in Scotland, and underlie tlie fishbearing strata, a few
specimens are obtained of one species of the three genera we
are about to describe ; but they are far from being so abundant
as they are in the Corns tones 33 of Herefordshire. So much

for the strata of England and Scotland — the fish which belong
to the Lower Old Red Sandstone of England in which we may
include the “ passage beds 33 spoken of above, are of three
genera, the species being not yet satisfactorily determined.
These are Cephalaspis, Anchenaspis, Pteraspis. It must be
understood that no species of these genera have yet been
found in the higher beds of Scotland, nor have any of the
species of the higher Scotch beds been found in the lower
English beds — the upper and lower groups are quite distinct.
The three genera, Cephalaspis, Anchenaspis, and Pteraspis,
together form a family called the Cephalaspida3, since they all
bear some resemblance in external form to one another. The
Cephalaspis is the best known amongst these fish, and was
the first discovered. Agassiz gave it this name on account of
the peculiar form of the head, which he compared to a shield
or buckler (fce^aAr}, head ; shield) ; whilst at the same

time he associated with the true Cephalaspis another fish which
has since been shown to be quite distinct, and has been placed
in another genus, Pteraspis. The original type of the genus
was the Cephalaspis Lyellii, which is by far the commonest
species ; and at the time it was described, many specimens of
the head were known from Herefordshire, and some beauti-
fully preserved examples in which the body was attached;
one of these last was from Scotland. In our plate (fig. 1) the
head of the G. Lyellii is drawn ; the various details have been
taken from two or three specimens, since no single specimen
can be obtained perfect enough to present all that is known of
its form. At first sight one would be inclined to regard this
queer shovel-like body as anything but the head of a fish ;
and, indeed, for some time it was quite excusably considered
to be the head-plate of some crustacean allied to the Trilobites
or King-crab. The resemblance it bears to the cephalic
shield of the Limulus is very remarkable. It is a semi-
circular raised disc, the angles of which on either side are
terminated by two long processes or horns which are very
finely serrated ; paleontologists call these the “ lateral cornua.
In the median line the disc is produced backwards, and rather
upwards, into a sharp spine which is called the “ posterior
cornu.” The orbits are placed close together, very nearly in
the centre of the disc. There are other irregularities on the
surface, which correspond probably to the disposition of the
soft parts which were placed beneath this shell. No lower
jaw, teeth, mouth, or any organ of the sort have yet been

THE OLD RED SANDSTONE FISHES OF ENGLAND. 443

detected in any specimens, and palaeontologists therefore con-
clude that the month was soft and probably used as a sucker,
being placed on the under surface of the head, like that of the
sturgeon. The remarkable position in which the eyes are
placed, would, however, seem to render them useless as regards
the detection of food if this were the case. The body which
was attached to this head has almost as remarkable an appear-
ance as the head itself ; that is to say, it is remarkable when
viewed by the side of those soft-bodied, degenerate fish which
now inhabit our waters. A great variety of species of fossil
fish possessed bony scales, and the Cephalaspis was one of
these. The body was rather small compared to the size
of the head, and tapering towards the tail (fig. 3). The
scales were arranged in three sets on each side, those on
the flank being long plates ; they were all so arranged that
the fish had the appearance of being enclosed in a suit of
mail, “ cuirassee," as the great icthyologist Agassiz termed
it when describing the first known specimen. The markings
on the surface of the scales are not well known, since the stone
is so hard that they are destroyed in fracturing the rock. Of
the fins of the Cephalaspis we only know two. These are
the caudal fin or tail, and the dorsal. The caudal fin is
supported by several rays, which spring from the lower side
of the tapering, pointed termination of the body. It is of that
kind known as heterocercal, such as the sharks and dog-fish
possess now-a-days ; whilst most recent fish have a homocercal
tail, in which the fin rays instead of springing from the lower
side of the vertebral column, arise from it equally above and
below. All very young fish at first have a heterocercal tail,
which afterwards in most recent forms becomes homocercal ;
and it is somewhat interesting to find this peculiarity of
the early stage of a fish's life, characterizing the earliest
fish which are known to us. The dorsal fin was placed
near the tail, and was rather long. In two specimens
which we have seen, there are traces of a membrane con-
necting the two lateral horns of the head-disc with the
body. These may have represented pectoral fins, but better
specimens will one day, it is to be hoped, show us more of
them. The microscopical structure of the shield of Cephal-
aspis is interesting, since it affords one great reason for
separating this fish from Pteraspis. The bone of which the
head is composed was covered by a membrane or skin of some
description which was very full of blood-vessels, since we can
see the canals in which they ramified on the surface of the
shield. In some specimens we find an appearance like a
number of hexagonal plates, or minute starlike bodies (fig. 8)
on the specimens of the Cephalaspid's head. These were at

444

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

one time thought to be scales, but Professor Huxley has shown
that their appearance is owing to the bloodvessels which
ramify through the bony disc. By making a horizontal
section of a portion of the head of the Cephalaspis, and
placing it under a powerful microscope, we can detect the
bone- cells or lacunae ; and this of course would have proved
that these curious heads belonged to vertebrate animals even
had we never found the bodies (fig. 7). What were the
food and habits of the Cephalaspis it is hard to say. Some
persons are inclined to think that the waters which deposited
the sandstone in which they are found was a great fresh-
water lake, and that these creatures and those we have yet to
describe, went creeping about the bottom with their great flat
heads and staring eyes, sucking in the minute worms and
animalcules which swarmed there ; for as yet no molluscous
animals or any remains which would lead us to believe in the
marine origin of these rocks have been met with in them.
There are four or five species of Cephalaspis known; the
commonest is the Cephalaspis Lyelli , which we have just
described. In the passage beds and uppermost Silurian rocks
there are the Cephalaspis Murchisoni, C. ornatus, and C.
Salweyi , which differ but little from the commoner species.
In Russia, M. Pander has found two species of Cephalaspis,
which have a beautiful series of symmetrically arranged
tubercles on the surface of the disc. Although these
Cephalaspidian fishes appear very quaint in their form and
proportions when compared with the commoner fish which now
swim the seas and rivers of Britain, yet if we go to more
distant regions, we find fish which present many of the
remarkable characters of the Cephalaspidae. Thus the bony
pike, or Leyidosteus , of North America, has thick bony scales
instead of those thin membranous flakes which cover our
English pike, and the scales of another — the Callidhys —
resemble still more those of Cephalaspis; whilst in the Canges
there are several fish the form of whose head is strangely like
that of the ancient buckler-head.

But we should now pass on to the next genus of Cephal-
aspidian fishes — the Auchenaspis. There is only one species
of Auchenaspis known, the A. Salteri , whose head we have
represented in fig. 6. It is very much like that of Cephal-
aspis in shape, but is not nearly so big, being scarcely larger
than a shilling; whilst, as we should have mentioned before,
the largest diameter of the cephalic disc of Cephalaspis is
frequently as much as six or seven inches. The Auchenaspis
has been separated from the Cephalaspis on account of the
posterior enlargement of the disc into a sort of neck-plate and
the absence of a spine. Many palaeontologists are inclined to

Plate XVII

. R. L anke star, del .

Pisli.es of the Old Red Sandstone

'

THE OLD RED SANDSTONE EISHES OE ENGLAND. 445

regard it as merely a species of Cephalaspis ; but since so
eminent an authority as Sir Philip de M. Grey Egerton was the
founder of the genus, we cannot dispute the propriety of the
separation. We know nothing of the body of this little fish,
although we may be pretty certain that it was similar to that
of Cephalaspis. Its remains are rather plentiful in the passage
beds which connect the Old Bed Sandstones with the Silurian
rocks ; from Ledbury in Herefordshire we have seen a specimen
of rock with as many as a dozen heads upon it.

The last genus which we have to describe is the Pteraspis,
and of the three it is, perhaps, the most interesting ; for many
mistakes have been committed in assigning the fossil remains
of this fish to various classes of creatures, and it is only quite
recently that we have had undeniable proof of their piscine
nature. Many years since, Agassiz received fragmentary
specimens of the cephalic shield of the Pteraspis, and he at
once concluded that they belonged to a fish which he placed
in his genus Cephalaspis. Since then Dr. Kner of Vienna
obtained some imperfect specimens^ and remarked that their
elongated oval form was very similar to that of the cuttle-bone ;
and on making a perpendicular section through the shell or
test he found a structure which he considered to be very
similar to that shown by the “ pen ” from the interior of the
Sepia officinalis , or common cuttle-fish. Dr. Kner therefore
placed these remains in a new genus, Pteraspis (7rr£pov, a
wing — acnr'iQ, a shield), and classed them among the mollusca.
The matter, however, was not allowed to rest thus ; the truth
was still to be discovered. Professor Huxley made a careful
examination of the microscopical structure of the cephalic discs
of both Cephalaspis and Pteraspis, and having better specimens
than Dr. Kner had at his command, came to the conclusion that
Pteraspis was a fish, but generically distinct from Cephalaspis.
In fig. 10 we have drawn a highly magnified view of a perpen-
dicular section through the cephalic disc of Pteraspis, and in
fig. 11 a less highly magnified view of the surface is given.
The test consists of three layers of bony matter deposited in
layers ; the outermost one is striated, or delicately grooved,
like the human skin on the palm of the hand. The middle
layer is composed of polygonal cavities, and the internal
layer, which is the thickest, is made up of a nacreous la-
minated substance. These layers may be seen in the figures.
Canals ramify through these layers, and end in an arborescent
form in the external layer. There are no lacunas, or bone
cells, as in Cephalaspis, and this affords an important dis-
tinction between the two fish. But the general contour of
the cephalic disc of Pteraspis differs considerably from that of
Cephalaspis, although the type of construction is the same
vol. hi. — NO. XII. 2 II

446

POPULAE SCIENCE EEYIEW.

(fig. 2). The lateral horns are shorter, and are placed so as
to expose a lateral angle on each side ; the whole disc is more
lengthened than in Cephalaspis, and is produced forwards into
a snout or “ rostrum ; ” at the sides of this the orbits are
placed, instead of being situated in the centre of the disc.
The striations on the surface are arranged in a very beautiful
and symmetrical manner, running parallel with the edges of
the shield. The posterior spine is inserted into the disc as a
distinct piece.

Most of the specimens which are found are very imperfect,
leaving their outer shell in the matrix from which they are
extracted; the rostrum, too, and the lateral and posterior
cornua are generally so concealed in the rock, as to render it
impossible to work out the whole disc in a perfect condition.
The specimens usually seen are in the condition represented in
fig. 9, and hence Dr. KnePs difficulty in believing that the
pteraspis could be a fish. If the body had come to fight we
should have had no difficulty about the matter ; but it is only
just lately that any signs of even the scales of Pteraspis have
been seen. The writer went last summer to one of the
quarries in Herefordshire in search of the remains of Cepha-
laspis and Pteraspis. Having obtained some few specimens,
he visited the house of one of the workmen, there to increase
his collection of remains. “ How, sir, what do ye think that
may be ? 33 said the quarryman, handing the specimen drawn
in fig. 5. “ My opinion is that it is a fir-cone.” The speci-

men was examined, and found to be nothing more nor less than
the long-looked-for scales of Pteraspis. There could be no
doubt of it, for a portion of the remarkably characteristic
shell of the cephalic disc, with its three layers, was adhering
to the scales. An exchange was soon made with the quarry-
man for his stone, by means of the “ current coin of the
realm,” and the disentombed scales of that ancient Pteraspis
were comfortably packed in wool and paper. The markings
on the scales are shown in fig. 12, where they are slightly
magnified.* Of course no one now can doubt that Pteraspis
was a fish, the only thing that we have to regret is that we
know nothing of the form of its body. The cephalic disc was
probably placed as is shown in the sketch fig. 4. Besides the
Cephalaspis^s and Pteraspis* s heads and scales to be found in the
cornstones of Herefordshire, there are numerous spines — such
as is represented in fig. 14. These generally go by the name
of “ Onchus,” but what “Onchus” is or was beyond a spine, no
one knows. The probabilities are that these bodies belonged
to the Pteraspis or perhaps Cephalaspis, and served to support

* See Journal of Geological Society. 1864.

THE OLD RED SANDSTONE FISHES OF ENGLAND.

447

some of the fins. But there is still much to he found out
with regard to these curious fishes. There are several
species of Pteraspis : one from the cornstones of Hereford-
shire, the Pteraspis rostratus, which is somewhat abundant,
retains the name given by Agassiz. There are two or three
other species met with in the Devonian strata, one being
from Germany obtained in the neighbourhood of the Laache
See. In the upper Silurian beds three species occur —
Pteraspis truncatus , Banksii , and Ludensis — the latter being
obtained in the lower Ludlow strata, and as yet the oldest
fish that is known. In the vast thickness of rocks which
underlie the upper Silurian strata, no one can tell what remark-
able fish yet wait to be discovered. At present the members
of the little group which we have just described, are the most
ancient vertebrated denizens of the globe which geological
science has brought to light. It can hardly be that no
nearer approach to the lower forms of animal life existed in
still earlier times, to connect these somewhat highly organised
fish with the invertebrate class. Ere long we may have to
describe still older and still more remarkable fish, which we
trust will fill up some of those gaps, or represent some of
those missing links which it is the geologist's duty patiently
and perseveringly to seek.

448

OYSTERS AND OYSTER- CULTURE.

BY THE EDITOR.

0 eat oysters in July would be unpardonable ; to write

about them should be at all events excusable. If, there-
fore, there be any of our readers whose fastidiousness extends
to that degree that even the mention of the “ breedy creatures 33
in this season is objectionable to them, to such we offer our
sincere apologies. Some may ask, why, knowing that, the pro-

tionable, have you not chosen some other subject? We shall
explain. We are fully aware that these shellfish should not
be eaten during la periode des mois sans r, and that is the very
reason why we have chosen them now as the subject of our
remarks. The delicacy which characterizes our selection must
be obvious to every one possessed of powers of reflection.
We are influenced by two desires — one absolute, the other
negative. We wish to preserve the infinitesimal proportion

oysters, of their appetite. For example, how destructive
of the better feelings of our readers, to inform them that a
“ native 33 had a heart and nerves, and the faculty of sensation !
Eat the succulent creature they must, but at the same time their
more kindly sympathies would undergo a species of suffocation.
Then suppose they be members of the Royal Humane Society.
How terrible ! Again, conceive of the disgust which must
inevitably be created by the idea, that whilst devouring the
delicious bivalve one is really swallowing a semi-living stomach
with its contained undigested mass, a heart which has hardly
ceased to throb, and a brain which perhaps at the very
moment was unconsciously dreaming of its security ! No, no,
our reader s* comfort is a matter of moment to us. While
they read the following pages they can as it were examine the
oyster from an abstract stand-point, and by the time the
season again approaches, the gastronomic tendencies will be in
the ascendant, and all that concerns this article will most
probably be consigned to oblivion. The foregoing are, then, the
reasons why we have chosen the present as a fitting oppor-
tunity to say a few words about the oyster.

priety of treating folk to oysters in midsummer is at least ques-

of humane feelings which even gourmets may be said to
possess, and also to avoid depriving those who delight in eating

Pizvin

Oyster Culture.

OYSTERS AND OYSTER-CULTURE.

449

Oysters appear to have been known to the ancient as well
as the modern populations of the globe, for we find that they
were not only held in esteem by the Athenians, but were eaten
extensively by the Romans, who in all probability knew quite
as much about their cultivation as we do at the present day.
To give the history of the oyster as it was bred, cooked, and
eaten in the days of Horace, Cicero, Seneca, &c., would re-
quire a volume of monstrous size, and would be quite beyond
the space at our disposal ; so we shall dismiss the subject in
observing that the wealthy Roman, Sergius Orata, was the
originator of artificial oyster breeding.* He it was who
formed the enormous beds of oysters at Baia, and who carried
his culture of these shell-fish to such an extent both here and
in Lake Lucrinus, that he was prosecuted for “ trespass,” by
the celebrated orator Considius. It must also be stated, to
the credit of the English “ natives,” that the Romans who first
became acquainted with them in the time of Agricola, pre-
ferred them to their own, and gave to them the name of
“ Rutupians,” from that of the locality — Richborough
(Rutupium) — in which they were found.

In zoological parlance the oyster is termed Ostrcea edulis ;
most probably our term oyster is a corruption of the generic
title, which was also the Latin name.t The Greeks called it
oorpEov, and used the shells as we use the balls of a ballot-
box, the shell being termed oarpaKOv ; the expression ostracise
was thus originated. Being possessed of a double conch which
opens and closes by means of muscles and a hinge, it is said
to belong to the class of bivalves, and from having its gills
arranged in folds it is designated a Lamellibranch. The
oyster must have existed for many centuries before a trace of
civilization appeared in Europe, — nay, before even man himself
came upon the scene. From the writings of the late Edward
Forbes, we learn that “the discoveries of geologists open
scenes of regret to the enthusiastic oyster-eater, who can
hardly gaze upon the abundantly entombed remains of the
apparently well-fed and elegantly- shaped oysters of our Eocene
formation, without chasing fa pearly tear away/ whilst he
calls to mind how all these delicate beings came into the
world and vanished to so little purpose.” Hear Reading, in
Berkshire, there exists a fossil bed of oysters, the specimens
from which possess all the features of our best modern ones.
This bed extends over more than six acres of ground and
averages two feet in thickness ; but, large as it is, it bears no
comparison to those which volcanic action sometimes tilts up

* See the ninth book of Pliny’s Natural History.

t McNicoll’s Dictionary of Natural Histoiy Terms. 1863.

450

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

along the shores of the South American continent, beds which
in some instances are nearly thirty yards deep, and cover an
area of seventy square miles * * * § So much for the distribution
of the oyster in time. As regards its present geographical
range, we may say that it extends from Iceland to Naples and
the Adriatic.! It is not found in Greenland, but exists abun-
dantly on the North American coasts : Me Andrew has found
it in Yigo Bay and off Gibraltar ; and in his valuable report J
we find it stated that 0. edulis is found from Britain to the
Mediterranean, at depths varying from four to forty fathoms.
The oyster does not belong to the eastern hemisphere,
and judging from the huge quantities contained in the
Danish kjokkenmoddings, § it must have had a wider
European range during the (e stone 33 period than it has at
present. ||

It is hardly necessary in dealing with the anatomical
characters of the oyster to say anything of its form ; its
weight, however, may be said to be no indication of the
amount of flesh within its shell. Mr. Thompson, of Belfast,
once found an oyster which, though some two pounds and
a half in weight, did not contain two ounces of animal
matter within its valves ; and Mr. Buckland possesses
specimens of North Sea oysters which consist of “ an immense
quantity of shell and but little flesh.” It may be stated as a
general rule that, beyond a certain limit, the larger the oyster
the smaller in proportion is the quantity of flesh which it
contains.

Anatomically, the oyster is not the highest member of his
sub -kingdom (Mollusca or shell-fish), for though highly organ-
ized in other particulars, he is deprived of a head. The
various parts which constitute his body are wrapped in a
sort of membranous fold (the mantle), which not only encloses
them within it, but forms the shell externally, by abstracting
the mineral constituents from the surrounding water. The
organs which our ostroea possesses are the following : —
Stomach and digestive canal, liver, heart, and blood-vessels,

* Yide “ The Oyster ; when, how, and where to find, breed, cook, and
eat it,” p. 35.

+ Jeffrey’s “ British Conchology,” vol. ii., p. 40.

% Reports of the British Association for 1856, p. 114.

§ Lyefl’s “ Antiquity of Man,” p. 12.

|| In keeping with the subject of “ kitchen middens ” which we have just
alluded to, we may mention the fact that in Corsica there exists a perfect
island of oyster-shells, which are supposed to have been the refuse heaps
formed by the Romans after salting the oyster for exportation. See the
Intellectual Observer , No. VI., p. 483.

OYSTERS AND OYSTER-CULTURE.

451

gills to breathe by, muscles to close his valves, reproductive
glands and nerves. First, of his digestive system : there can
hardly be said to be a gullet ; the mouth which is placed at the
bottom of the mantle cavity, and which is provided with a
pair of fleshy lips, opens almost directly into a large stomach
which is perforated by the canals, bringing bile from the liver.
To the other end of the stomachal sac is attached the intes-
tine ; this is longer in the oyster than in most bivalves, and is
very much twisted and coiled, in its passage to the anus, which
lies upon the back of the muscle that closes the valve, and is
placed upon a projection which points towards the smaller
shell. The liver is a large and important gland, buried in the
substance of the animal, and of a deep brown colour. It
consists of numerous lobes or folds, which in their turn
contain smaller cavities, within which the true hepatic cells
may be seen.* * * § The process of digestion is carried on as much
in the intestine as in the stomach, and consists in the solution
and absorption of the green vegetable matter ( Navicula ) upon
which the animal feeds. The heart — unlike that of most of
the oyster’s kindred — is not perforated by the intestine ; so that,
as an amusing writer observes, “ the way to his heart is not
through his stomach.” It is situate at the hinder extremity
of the creature’s back, and is composed of three cavities, two
of which receive the blood which has been purified in the gills,
and the third of which pumps the vital fluid through the
arteries. The circulation, however, is not a perfect one, for
there are no vessels between the arteries and the veins, and
the blood which escapes from the former traverses the different
spaces ( lacunae ) of the body before it enters the latter. The
nutritious fluid itself is colourless, but contains several of
those ee coarse granules ” which were first pointed out by
Mr. Wharton Jones, f These spaces form a beautiful network,
which, however, must not be confounded with another series
of cavities, supposed by some to be connected with what
is called an “ aquiferous system.” J The gills or branchiae
have been observed by every one : they are those delicate
fringes which are seen within the beard when the oyster is
opened. These, which are four in number, are composed of
folds of the membranous mantle containing blood vessels
abundantly, and covered on their outer surface with thousands
of delicate vibratile microscopic filaments called cilia. Accord-
ing to Williams’s researches, § these gill-plates are chiefly

* See Meckel’s memoir in Miiller’s “ Archives fair Anatomie.” 1846, p. 9.

t “ Philosophical Transactions,” 1846.

X Consult Milne Edwards’s Memoir in Comptes Bendus, XX., p. 271.

§ “Reports of British Association” for 1851, p. 82

452

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

composed of blood-vessels bent upon themselves, and arranged
in parallel series ; moreover, the cilia are so disposed as to
create currents which set in the direction in which the blood
itself flows. The gills being constantly exposed to the freshly
oxygenated water, allow the blood to be purified by exposure,
and then returned to the heart, to be propelled to the various
organs which require it. The oyster has one good muscle,
and only one ; it is that which closes the two valves, and
which is so ruthlessly severed by the knife in opening the
shell. It is a solid mass of fibres, firmly attached to the inner
surface of both valves, and situated at about the centre
of each, which during contraction it approximates to its
fellow. The nervous system is by no means so unsymmetrical
as some anatomists would lead us to suppose. There are three
pairs of nervous centres which are connected by true nerves,
and the latter send branches over the body. The first pair is
placed near the mouth, one lying on each side of this organ,
and being united to its fellow by nervous chords of extreme
tenuity ; the second is situate behind, close to the gills ; and
the third, which is feebly developed in our bivalve, is placed
near the labial mass.* * * § That portion of the nervous apparatus
which is located near the animal’s mouth, may fairly be re-
garded as constituting a species of brain.

A great deal of controversy has taken place regarding the
connection of the two reproductive organs in this animal, f
Some naturalists contend that the oyster is hermaphrodite,
others, that in it the sexes are distinct. J We are inclined to
adopt the latter opinion, of which we shall have more to say
further on. Can the oyster see? This question has been
answered in the affirmative by Will,§ who states that there
are as many as thirty distinct eyes projecting from the border
of the mantle ; but Siebold denies that such is the case, and
regards the so-called eyes as simple excrescences, devoid of
optical powers. So the question rests. There can, how-
ever, be little doubt that these molluscs are sensitive to light.

Having said so much about anatomical characters, we may
now turn to other matters. The average age of the oyster,

* Brandt’s “ Medical Zoology,” vol. ii., and Garner, in the “ Linnseaii
Transactions ” for 1837, p. 485.

t Ooste, “Voyage d’exploration sur le Littoral de la France.” 1861,
p. 104. Kemmerer, “ Oyster Cultivation in the Island of Ke,” translated by
Mr. T. Ashworth, 1864. Lowe, “Journal of Society of Arts,” May 20,
1864.

X Quatrefages, Comptes Renclus, t. 28, p. 292. Von Siebold, “ Ver-
gleichenden Anatomie,” article “ Acephala”

§ In “ Frorieps Neue Notizen ” fur 1844, No. 622.

OYSTERS AND OYSTER-CULTIJRE.

453

what is it ? This question has not been satisfactorily an-
swered ; but there can be little doubt that the animal attains to
a great age in some cases. From an examination of the shells
of certain fossil oysters, it would seem that their years must
have numbered at least one hundred; but evidently these
were exceptional instances : Billingsgate had no existence in
those days. There is not much to be said about the habits of
the oyster. It has no power of locomotion, except when in
the embryo condition : consequently, Lister's tales about the
change of position with that of the tide, may be considered
purely fabulous. Vegetable food is the kind it loves, and
when this is abundant, the oyster fattens. It affects a warm
temperature, and does not reach perfection in cold climates.
Hence it is, as Mr. Buckland states,* that the oysters on the
west of France, which are warmed by the Gulf Stream, have
the advantage over our “ natives." A sandy or muddy bottom,
and comparatively shallow water, are most congenial to the
adult oyster's tastes. It is as yet a question, whether it will
live in fresh water as well as in salt ; but, from the evidence
of Dr. Kemmerer, it would appear that fresh water only
influences it as to flavour, and has no effect upon its growth,
fattening, or yirility.

Next we have to consider the enemies of the oyster.
First come the mussels, which accumulate mud, and thus
suffocate the young; then the star-fish, which grasps the
oyster with its rays, and with its everted stomach eats the
entire animal ; a species of sponge which makes its way into
the interior of the shell, and does considerable damage ; the
oyster- catcher, which kills its thousands ; the sea-urchin,
which devours the embryos ; and last, though not least, the
cold, which arrests development, if it does not kill the animal
at once.

With so many different beings and circumstances hostile to
its multiplication, it is surprising that such numbers of the
oyster should still exist. The great fertility and prolificness
of the mollusc explain why it is not already extinct. Whether
oysters be, or be not, hermaphrodite, we shall not now discuss.
The subject is one which, from its purely technical nature, and
from the extent of space its discussion would occupy, cannot
be dealt with here. It may (taking either view) be stated,
that each egg-producing individual gives birth to from one to
two millions of young a/t each period of spawning. The eggs
are developed and extruded during the months of May, June,
July, and August ; and this is why the oyster is unfit to be
eaten during the summer. The ova are not, as certain writers

* Letter to the Times , May, 1864.

454

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

suppose, ejected in squirt-fashion, from the parent : their
development and growth proceed gradually, and as they —
series by series — leave the ovary, they pass to the outer
gill-folds, which play the part of a uterus. Here they are
retained in the various compartments, and, by the action of
the cilia, the zoosperms are introduced, and thus the ova
become fertilized, and are afterwards slowly extruded.*
Let us trace the further development of the embryo. Just as
the yolk is about to undergo segmentation, we observe two
portions of it set apart : these do not suffer division, but are
soon changed into as many three-sided valves, whilst the
remainder of the mass is converted into a small roundish body,
recovered with vibratile cilia, by means of which it is caused
to move slowly round and round. As soon as it leaves the
parent and can be examined, it is then seen that the cilia are
not indiscriminately disposed, but are arranged upon a sort of
pad or fleshy cushion, which projects from between the valves.
This peculiar apparatus, which was discovered about ten years
ago by M. Davaine,f is provided with several muscles, by
which it can be extended or retracted, at the will of the animal.
Its construction and position are well shown in the accompany-
ing delineations (PI. XVIII., figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6). What is the
use of this strange mechanism ? It is to admit of the distri-
bution of the species which, were it absent, would be for ever
confined to one locality, and the result of this would be star-
vation of the colony. The young oyster swims away when it
leaves the parent ; but it soon tires of its adventures, and
after a couple of days it settles down into respectable oyster-
hood, and commences life on its own account. Its “ swim-
ming belt ” now becomes atrophied, and disappears, and our
protege attaches itself to some solid body, where it remains
for the rest of its days. When it is fifteen days old, it is
about the size of a small pin's head, and has the form
represented in the engraving (PI. XVIII., fig. 11), which
also shows its gradual increase of size, till it is twelve
months of age. Ere concluding our remarks on this branch
of the subject, we may mention that, in the opinion of Mr.
Eaton, who has carefully studied the development of the
oyster, the production of ova — which in some cases extends

* Vide Siebold, loc. cit., and Kemmerer, loc. cit., p. 17.

f “ Recherches sur la Reproduction des Huitres,” Comptes Bendus, 1855.
M. Coste, in his fine memoir, gives a brief description of the process de-
scribed by M. Davaine ; but we fancy Mr. Ashworth has mistaken the
author’s meaning in the following passage, where, speaking of the ciliated
pad, he writes, — “ d Vaide desquels V animal pent , d volonte, le faire sortir hors
des valves ou Vy faire rentrer”

OYSTERS AND OYSTER-CULTURE.

455

to 3,000,000 — is favoured by heat, and retarded by cold, and
it is very probable that the oysters in certain beds never
spawn, because of the great depth of the water, and conse-
quent diminution of temperature.*

All sea-side readers, but very few inland ones, are familiar
with the way in which oysters are obtained, and the sources
from which they are derived ; it behoves us, therefore, to say
a word or two about oyster-beds and dredges. The former
are vast accumulations of these molluscs, generally found in
the open sea or on the coast-line, and more rarely in estuaries.
They exist at depths varying from six to thirty fathoms, and
are usually discovered lying on sandy or muddy bottoms.
The dredge is a kind of net made of coarse rope, and attached
at its mouth to an iron framework of a rectangular shape, and
about four times as long as it is wide. The upper and lower
edges of this framework present tolerably sharp edges, and
from its sides proceed two iron bars which are united in front
by a ring of. metal. When this instrument is about to be
employed, a rope is fastened to the ring, and the apparatus
is thrown from a boat which floats over the beds. The boat
is then urged forward either by wind or oars, and the dredge
scrapes the sea-bottom till it has filled its net with oysters,
when it is drawn up and emptied of its contents. This is the
way in which our oysters are obtained at present. Very ex-
tensive beds exist all round our coasts, but the most important
are those of Kent and Essex, and the Milton, Queenborough,
Rochester, and Eaversham beds are too well known to need
any description from us. Suffice it to say that such is the
importance of this branch of commerce, that 700,000,000 ! of
oysters are annually consumed in London alone, and quite as
many if not more in the provinces. Now, supposing we value
them at sixpence a dozen, which is certainly below the ordi-
nary selling price, we shall then have an annual expen-
diture in England of about three millions sterling in
oysters alone ! Could any fact more powerfully attest the
value of this branch of commerce ? We fancy not. Let us
then examine whether we are doing anything to increase and
improve this important portion of our industrial resources,
and what shall we find ? Why, that the demand for the com-
modity increases and the supply diminishes, and that this
diminution is not merely relative — it is definite. When Mr.
Lowe, one of the secretaries of the Acclimatisation Society,
asked concerning the past and present produce of certain
French oyster-beds, he was informed “that the number of

* Abstract of Report on Oyster-beds in “ Reports of British Association ”
for 1856, p. 368.

456

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

oysters dredged from the deep-sea beds in the neighbourhood
for use at Cancale, during the current season, had mounted
up to little more than three million seven hundred thousand ;
whereas twelve years ago, at the same period of the season,
the total would be sixty millions ! " * The same authority states
that Captain de Saumarez, of her Majesty's steamer Dasher, told
him “that, a few years ago, when surveying between Jersey,
Alderney, and the coast of France, he came upon a large bed
of natural oysters lying in the bottom of the Channel, more
than three miles in length, and of considerable breadth. The
news soon spread, and in a very short time (such was the
rapacity of the oyster dredgers) not an oyster was left to tell
the tale." t Upon a question of this kind it is necessary to
have evidence not only from ordinary observers, but from'
those whose position enables their observations to be accurate.
Hence, the following statement from so high an authority as
Mr. Ffennel, the Government inspector of fisheries, is highly
valuable. Mr. Ffennel asserts that “there was one place in
Ireland, which some years ago gave employment to some two
thousand people in the culture and collection of oysters. The
beds there were worked to such an extent, that the mere
freight in one week often amounted to £1,000 ; but so reck-
lessly were the beds worked, that their entire produce at the
present time did not amount to £300 per annum."

In the presence of such facts, it cannot be denied that our
oyster trade is declining. It is equally true that if something
be not done, all our resources will be exhausted, and the oyster
in a few years must be regarded as a thing of the past. Shall
such things be ? Shall no steps be taken to ameliorate the
condition of our oyster beds ? These are the questions which
are now, almost for the first time, put before the English
public. It must be confessed that in many particulars we are
behind other nations, and certainly in nothing more than
in pisciculture. Look, for instance, at what our Gallic neigh-
bours have been doing with hand and brain to increase the
supply of oysters, while we with mouth and stomach have
been exerting ourselves to diminish it ! We are waking up
to a sense of our position now, but the French mooted the
question as early as 1845. M. Carbonel { was the vigilant
sentry who first detected the approach of the enemy. In
October, 1845, when reading his memoir before the Academy,
he said : “ It is unquestionable that the oyster will disappear

* “ Journal of the Society of Arts,” vol. XII., No. 600. t Ibid.

X “ Sur l’Huitre des Cotes de France,” reprinted from the “ Magazin de
Zoologie.” Paris, 1845.

OYSTERS AND OYSTER-CULTURE.

457

from the French coasts, unless means be adopted to preserve
and reproduce this important shell-fish/'’ Again, in 1849,
Professor De Quatrefages * addressed the Academy in almost
similar terms, upon the very same subject. Their object was
soon attained. The Government appointed M. Coste to inves-
tigate the matter, and report the results of his inquiries.

M. Costers “report” was sent in in 1855, and a second
edition of it was published in 1861 ; from this we learn what the
French are doing to increase the oyster supply, and with what
success their efforts have been attended. The great aim was
to obtain the young oysters in as large quantities as possible
in order to preserve them from the various destructive
agencies we have already mentioned. How was this to be
effected ? It was known that the young attach themselves to
solid bodies, after enjoying their freedom of isolation for a day
or so. It seemed probable therefore, that, if different materials
were artificially submerged in the vicinity of the oyster
beds, the embryos would become adherent to them. This
anticipation proved correct. After several experiments had
been made, two methods were adopted for collecting the
young : one was employed when the oyster beds were far out
at sea, the other when they were adjacent to the shore. In
the first process, fascines were used ; in the second, tiles. The
fascines consisted of bundles of branches of trees with the
bark on, fastened together with galvanised wire, and sunk in
those localities where the oyster-beds presented themselves
(see Plate XVIII., fig. 10). These fascines were allowed to
remain submerged during the spawning season, and were then
removed, when it was found that each branch was covered
with young oysters as exhibited in the sketch (Plate XVIII.,
fig. 9). When the oyster-beds existed close to the coasts,
tiles were then employed. The tiles used were those with
which they cover the ridges of house-roofs, and were either
completely covered with a sort of Roman cement, then called
fixed cement, or were coated with the material in such a
manner, that the latter could be removed at pleasure, in
which case the term moveable cement was applied to it.
When the tiles thus prepared were removed from the sea
where they had lain during the spawning season, they, like
the fascines, were found to have been coated with young
oysters. In both the cases of tiles and fascines, it was neces-
sary to remove the shell-fish from their temporary abode.
This was done in the latter instance by breaking the branches,
and in the second by two methods — by removing them with
a gouge from the fixed cement, and by breaking up the

* Comptes Rcnclus for February, 1849.

458

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

stratum of material which had lain without much adhesion
on the tile with moveable cement.*

Both of the above methods are still adopted, but that in
which tiles are the medium is the most general. The tiles are
usually mounted on posts driven into the sea-bottom, the
object of this arrangement being to prevent the accumulation
of mud and silt. The simplest form of tile collector is that
which consists of a number of tiles placed upon horizontal bars
and retained in situ by means of heavy stones. (PI. XVIII.,
fig. 1.) Figure 8 shows a variety of the first form, resulting
from a combination of two. Fig. 7 illustrates another
variety where the tiles are arranged obliquely, and in an
overlapping manner, whilst in fig. 2 we have represented
a collector in which the tiles are placed against each other
like the rafters of a house. The cement in each case lines the
concavity of the tile, and the numerous currents drag the
embryo oysters along, and allow them to become attached
to it.

The end to be gained by all these different apparatus is the
same — the collection of the young. This, however, is not the
only thing to be effected : after the oyster has been detached
from its temporary resting-place, it must be fed and fattened.
How are these processes carried out ? Along the foreshores
there are constructed reservoirs of a certain depth, and with a
firm bottom. These are provided with sluice-gates, and
are so arranged that when the tide retires, the water is
retained. In these reservoirs the young detached oysters are
carefully laid, convex side downwards, and there they are
allowed to remain, feeding upon the abundant vegetable
matter, and luxuriating in the increased temperature, till they
have grown large enough for the market. These processes
are fundamentally what the French have carried out, though
of course, in many instances, with considerable modifications,
whose description would be out of place here. The results
have been incontestably successful. The increased supply of
oysters in the once exhausted beds of Rochelle, Marennes,
Rochefort, and the Bay of St. Brieuc, is a fact sufficiently
corroborative of the truth of this statement. But the most
convincing evidence of all is that afforded by the Island of Re.
Five years since , the shores of this island were barren and un-
cultivated ; noiVj they give employment to 3,000 men , and the
crop which was produced in 1861 ivas valued at £320,000
sterling. Nothing could be more satisfactory than this achieve-

* The moveable differs from the fixed cement in being attached to the
edges only of the tiles, though spread over their surface. Both forms are the
same chemically.

OYSTERS AND OYSTER-CULTURE.

459

ment which practical science has arrived at. Well may the
two zealous labourers congratulate themselves upon the vast
benefits they have conferred upon mankind. MM. Coste and
Kemmerer deserve the substantial gratitude of their fellow-
countrymen, and merit the high esteem of all who are
interested in practical pisciculture. The French Government
has done all that could be expected of it. Why, then, is the
Government of this country so remiss? A great national
benefit is offered, and are no steps to be taken in order to
accept it ? We may conclude in the language of one who
has, even in this country, done much to forward the good
work : —

* To cultivate the sea ; to till and sow the shore like a cornfield ; to cover
the salt sand with rich and nutritious crops : this will be an achievement
indeed ! And that it is not an impossible one, the example of what has
been done upon the French coast gives us a sure and certain proof. Let us
set about it.

460

THE PNEUMATIC DESPATCH.

BY S. J. MACKIE, E.G.S.

UNDERGROUND London ill the course of a few years
will be quite as wonderful as London above ground.
The great arteries of the main- drainage, now the most
wonderful of our present subterranean labours, will perhaps
twenty years hence have to cede their supremacy and give
place to something even more marvellous. Passing over the
intricate net-works of gas and water pipes and electric wires,
we have already the first instalment of underground passenger
locomotion in the Metropolitan Railway, and the first instal-
ment of a more extraordinary means of transit for goods and
merchandise, in the short length of pneumatic pipe between
the Euston Square terminus of the North-Western line and
the North-Western district post-office. What the science of
hydrostatics is for water, pneumatics is for air, and the
Pneumatic Despatch Company is a commercial company with
large capital, formed for the simple purpose of blowing or
sucking gigantic pellets of merchandise through long iron
tubes. We say simple, for everything is simple now-a-days
to the increased intelligence of the nation ; and there is not
an educated person who would not at the first description
understand the main nature of the pneumatic despatch. The
pneumatic tube has been compared by a popular writer to a
boy's pea-shooter. The comparison is scarcely right. The
pneumatic apparatus is more nearly comparable to the wheel-
bellows our housemaids use in blowing up their fires. Still,
the common pea-blower, or the longer South American Indian's
blow-pipe, affords a good expression of the nature of the
operation. The pea is put into the blower, or the dart into the
blow-pipe, and a puff of the breath sends them through and
projects them sharply from the other end. But it would be
rather awkward to have the pellet- carriage ejected violently
from the orifice of the pneumatic tube, like a cylindrical
cannon-shot from a cannon's mouth. The carriages must
come out gently, or damage would be done. It is easy to
explain the manner in which the pneumatic despatch is prac-
tically worked. In the common domestic wheel-bellows, by
the turning of a handle at the side of the bellows, a fan-

THE PNEUMATIC DESPATCH.

461

wheel inside is made to rotate rapidly, and in its revolutions
throws off by centrifugal force a continuous stream of air
which issues from the nozzle. If a pea or a pellet were
inserted in this nozzle it would be blown out, just as the pea is
ejected from the pea-blower, or the dart from the blow-pipe.
If the nozzle were extended for a mile, the same ejectment of
any pellet within it would equally take place. Suppose it so
extended and you have the rudiment of the Pneumatic Despatch.
We shall make this clearer by describing briefly the apparatus
which for tsvo years has been in work at Euston Square.
At the side of the railway station we enter a very unattractive
engine-house. Within, on one side, is the end of an iron tube
two feet six inches in diameter, closed by a flat iron valve.
Beyond this is a short line of rails — some fifteen or twenty
feet in length — upon which are some low iron carriages, like
round mummy-cases with the middle part of their lids cut out,
and running on four wheels closely indented into their sides.
The bottoms of these carriages are flat, almost on a level with
the lower periphery of the wheels, and close to touching the
ground ; the section of the carriages being indeed coincident
in form with, and only about three quarters of an inch less
in dimensions than the section of the tube itself. A padding of
leather or india-rubber round each carriage nearly fills up the
interval between it and the internal 1 sides of the tube. On
the opposite side of the house is the steam-engine, and
in the centre is a great iron box or semicircular case, within
which a large fan-wheel twenty-two feet in diameter rapidly
revolves, like the fan-wheel of the fire-bellows. On either side
of this case there is a tube opening into the interspaces of the
fans round the axle of the fan-wheel. As the wheel revolves,
the particles of air in these interspaces between the fans have
the wheel’s motion communicated to them, and then like water
drops from a twirled mop have a stronger and stronger
tendency, in proportion to their velocity, to fly off. As they
stream away at the periphery of the rapidly whirling wheel,
the air is sucked in as fast at its centre, from the air-feeding
pipes at the side, to supply the vacuum created by their loss.
Thus a violent stream of air is thrown off from the outer
margin of the wheel, while a suction is established in the feed-
pipes. We have thus a supply of wind at increased atmo-
spheric pressure to blow, or propel from behind, the carriages
through the pneumatic tube from its near end, and oppositely
an exhaust through the feed-pipes to suck them through from
the far end, as one would suck up water through a straw. It
is a very small engine that does duty. And there is a curious
fact connected with the work it does. It can do what steam-
engines very seldom can — take its work easily. If we close
vol. hi. — NO. XII. 2 i

462

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

the valves of the feed-pipes no air can fly off at the periphery
of the fan-wheel, because no air can get in to fill up the
vacuum which would arise, and the natural pressure of the
atmosphere has thus the power to keep the air within the
interspaces of the fans. Consequently, if with closed feed-
valves the fan-wheel be set in motion, no matter how rapidly
it may be twirled, the enthralled particles of air will acquire
exactly the same amount of motion as the fan-wheel itself,
and both will revolve together as if the whole were one
solid circular plate of rigid iron. When the rotation of the
fan-wheel is made to take place within the inclosing case of
the fan-wheel thus the result is identical with working in a
vacuum. A very little power of the steam-engine will start
the wheel and put it in slow action. As the wheel acquires
motion the steam is released of resistance in its work, and the
engine will acquire greater and greater speed, until the wheel
be driven round with such velocity as to equal the rate of
generation of steam — the only practical limit to this accumu-
lation of force. The utmost speed of rotation is thus gradually
acquired, power is accumulated in the wheel — -just as it is in
the child's humming-top — and if the feed-pipes be now opened
the air will instantly rush off from the periphery of the fan-
wheel, at the rate of forty or more miles an hour. Indeed, so
great is the accumulated power in the wheel that its rotation
alone, unassisted by the steam-engine, would be sufficient to
blow or suck the usual train of carriages through the whole
length of the despatch tube — something more than a quarter
of a mile.

There is great economy in thus accumulating power, and it
is consequently adopted in practice. The engine is started
with a scanty supply of steam shortly before a train is sent,
and the wheel put in motion and driven in this practical
vacuum until extreme rapidity of whirl is acquired, when the
train is despatched; but, as the surest means of avoiding
dilemmas, the engine is continued to be worked at full speed
during the transit. The carriages do not, however, shoot out
of the despatch-tube like darts from a blow-pipe, or peas
from the blower. They do not crash up against the end of
the station, or knock over porters waiting to receive them. No
such thing. A little before their arrival, the sound of their
rumbling alters, the tube draws in a long breath, or blows a
deep sigh, there is a click and a clatter of rods, the flat- valve
at the orifice of the despatch opens of its own accord, and the
pellet- carriage comes forth from the dark interior of its under-
ground passage, runs itself clear a few feet on the rails, and
stops without either break or touching. A toddling baby
might pull it up as it comes forth to the day. How this is
done is very simple — very simple, indeed ; but marvellously

THE PNEUMATIC DESPATCH. 463

ingenious for all that. We have run gossiping on so far;
we must now have recourse to our diagrams and drawings.
And it will be well to say, none of these — saving the carriage
- — are portraits, or drawn to scale. They are sketch-diagrams,
designed expressly to convey, in the most intelligible manner,
correct explanations of principles. Fig. 1 is the despatch-
tube — short in our drawing, but almost as long as you please,
practically. The usual rate of propulsion through it for
lengths under five miles would be some twenty-five or thirty
miles an hour ; forty miles have been got, perhaps very
much more might be; but such power has not as yet been
ordinarily applied. In longer distances the speed would ne-
cessarily be diminished, and indeed will diminish propor-
tionately with length, until ultimately it would practically all
but cease, unless the exhaustion of the tube were permanently
and most powerfully maintained. Both ends of the despatch-
tube in our diagram will be seen to be closed by valves y v'.
This may rather astonish our readers, who may naturally ask
how air is to be blown through or drawn out of an hermeti-
cally closed pipe. Well, it is only seemingly closed. There
is a grating at G, and another grating at H. “ But why shut
up the pipe at both ends with valves, and open it again with
gratings ? ” The why 33 will presently be clearly enough
perceived. Fig. 2 shows the fan-wheel (fig. 3) inclosed in its
case. Fig. 4 is the same in section. When the fan- wheel (w)
is whirled round, the air in the interspaces ( a c a) between
the fans (a a) will fly outwards from the periphery at what-
ever rate of motion that air has acquired, the instant an
indraught from the exhaustion-tunnel E is let in between the
fans at the centre of the fan- wheel (c c c), and an ex-current
is permitted through the air-vent (Q Q'). Now let us set the
fan-wheel at work. We have closed the valves T, S, Q, as also
the valve of the air-chamber R, and the wheel is accumulating
power in vacuo. We open the near terminal valve of the
despatch-tube V, and run in the carriage D. We permit an
out- draught from the fan- wheel case through the open air-
chamber X, by turning the valve T (to t t). We allow an in-
draught into the fan-wheel through the exhaust-pipe E, by
turning the valve S (to s s ). Instantly the exhaustion of the
despatch-tube begins. The atmosphere is sucked in at its
open end F, and at the distant grating H, and with it the
carriage D is drawn along towards G, until, as it passes the
grating G, it moves a trigger, which closes the valves V, T,
and S, and opens the valves R (to r r) and Q (to q q) . An
in-draught of air now sets in through the feed-pipe E from
the open air-chamber X, and acquiring rapid motion in the
interspaces of the fan-wheel, is thrown oft* in a perfect gale

2 i 2

POPULAR SCIENCE .REVIEW.

464

through the out-draught pipe Q Q', and the grating G behind
the carriage D", which is thus blown rapidly on, driving out
the air in the despatch-tube before it through the distant
grating H. We shall now see the necessity for closing the
tube at both ends. As soon as the carriage (D") has passed
the distant grating at H, the wind behind it ceases to propel
it, for it at once escapes by the grating H. So, as the car-
riage has no means of maintaining its motion beyond the
impetus it has received, its speed will slacken. But this is not
all. There still remains in front of it, in the closed extremity
of the tube (H V') a cushion or buffer of air. This the close-
fitting carriage compresses more and more, meeting with more
and more resistance the more the cushion of air is compressed,
until when its motion is nearly arrested, it passes over the
trigger n} when the far- terminal valve V' opens, and the carriage
trundles quietly out and brings up on the short railway out-
side. Directly the train has passed the grating at H, the
engineer shuts off steam from the stationary engine (fig. 2) . How
he knows it has arrived there is very simple too. With the
despatch-tube is connected a pressure-gauge in the engine-
room, and while the train is in transit, the atmospheric
pressure is increased, and the gauge shows four or five ounces
to the square foot — that is all. It is the rate of exhaustion
of the despatch-tube, or the rate of the propulsion of air into
it, that gives the velocity to the trains, not the pressure per
square foot. The pressure per square foot gives momentum
to the inert weight of the train, not speed of transit. The
moment, then, the carriage has passed the grating H, the
atmospheric pressure in the despatch-tube is released by the
free vent given to the air, and the mercury or water in the
pressure-gauge falls to zero. The engineer instantly knows
that his duties are over.

Having now blown our carriage through, we want to get
it back, or, otherwise, the other station wants to send a train.
They have no engine and fan-wheel there, so we must suck
it through for them. They telegraph to us that they have
a train to send, and our engineer turns on steam. The fan-
wheel revolves, we close the out-draught valve at Q, and the
in-draught valve at It, at the same time opening the valves
S and T. The exhaustion of the despatch- tube now com-
mences, and the free atmosphere rushes in through the open
end of the tube at V', and through the grating H, and
pressing on the superficial area of the end of the pellet-
carriage D'", forces it along through the tube as fast as the
exhaustion proceeds, until the carriage has run over the
grating G, when the exhaustion of course ceases, and the
engine, if kept at work, merely sucks air through the then

THE PNEUMATIC DESPATCH.

465

perfectly open despatch-tube. This waste of steam-power is
prevented by a trigger at m, which shuts off the steam and
closes the open valves. Our carriage has now before it, at
this end of the despatch-tube, a similar cushion of air to that
which resisted its progress at the other end. As the effect of
the exhaust upon it ceased at the open grating G, it has only
its own momentum against the increasing resistance of the
more and more compressed “ buffer ” of air in the extremity
of the tube (G V), and as its speed becomes nearly entirely
slackened, it passes the trigger x} the valve Y opens, and it
quietly finishes its journey on the open rails.

It will certainly occur to those who are acquainted with the
resistive properties of air, that the effects of these terminal
cushions of air will be directly proportional to the weight of
the train received by them ; and that while a cushion of one
extent would bring up a single carriage, it would not arrest
a light train, and be still less efficacious against a heavy one.
This, too, is very simply provided for. Everything about the
Pneumatic Despatch is supremely simple. A length of air-
cushion is taken, sufficient to stop the heaviest train. A
special atmospheric pressure-gauge is connected with this
portion of the tube containing it, as is also a cylinder and piston
(P). Take the near end F, for example. While the exhaust
is going on, the piston (p) is drawn towards the tube (t), and
the valve it works closed. As soon, however, as the pellet-
carriage has passed the grating, and the compression of air
in the residual length of the despatch-tube commences, the
increased pressure of air will lift higher and higher the piston-
valve, and find escape. The engineer, therefore, screws down
this piston-valve to a certain pressure of his pressure-gauge,
and until this pressure is exceeded by the compression of the
cushion or buffer of air, no escape will take place ; but as
soon as the compression of air does exceed the amount of
air-pressure thus fixed by the judgment and experience of the
engineer as necessary to properly stop his train, the surplus
air above that blows freely off* through the piston-valve. The
skill attained by the engineer at the Euston Pneumatic station
is very remarkable ; and he not only knows accurately what
pressure is wanted for a train of one, two, three, or more car-
riages, but he can judge exactly the differences between even
individual carriages. Such niceties would never be necessary
in working the pneumatic system on a grand scale. The time
will come, we sincerely believe, when the projectors of this
pneumatic method will be almost as highly regarded as
those of our locomotives ; and while we properly acknowledge
their higher merits of design, we may well spare a line to
record the deserved praise of the humbler individual who has

466

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW*

first practically manipulated tlie machinery entrusted to his
charge. For more than two years the tube at his station has
been at work, and more than a hundred mail-trains are daily
blown or sucked through it.

If the form of the fan-wheel as seen in section may appear
singular to observers, there is again a very simple reason for
it — a reason apparent on the face of the plan. The inter-
spaces of the fans being triangular, the air coming in at the
centre would have room to spread as it passed outwards, and
therefore would pass out in a broad, gentle current. What
is wanted is high velocity of the wind thrown off, and equal
distribution of it along the whole margin of the wheel. This
is got by gradually diminishing the width of the wheel from
centre to periphery, so that the broad central mass of air
becomes more and more narrowed as it attains velocity and
occupies the wider parts of the interspaces. Every particle is
thus ejected with the highest possible momentum.

Nor is this mail- line the only example of the practical working
of the system. It has been even still longer employed at the
Central Telegraph Office in Moorgate Street, for the trans-
mission of messages from and to the outer city stations, thus
avoiding the delivery by messengers, and being more facile
for such short distances than manipulating by the electric
wires. Moreover, it possesses this by no means unimportant
advantage, — the actual message, as written by the sender , is
itself transmitted. The pipes at the Central Telegraph Office
are all small — 2f inches in internal diameter — and double,
being worked entirely by exhaustion. The pellets are cylin-
ders made of felt or flannel, and about six inches long. The
object of the double pipe is, that one pipe being always ex-
hausted, the station at either end of the other pipe can, by
turning on the connection, despatch a message. When one
has to be sent, the electric telegraph bell is rung, calling the
station at which it is to be received. The pellet containing
the actual written message is then inserted into a slit in the
despatch-pipe, and the covering-valve of the slit pressed to.
The connection with the exhaust is then made, and the pellet
sucked through. As it arrives at its destination, the exhaust
is stopped, and the air in the terminal extremity of the pipe
compressed by the motion of the pellet, opens the valve which
the pressure of the atmosphere had held closed during the
exhaust, and the pellet-parcel falls out.

But the latest phase of the utility of the Pneumatic Despatch
has yet to be witnessed by the public, and will possibly have
been seen by hundreds before these lines are perused by our
readers. A large tunnel, 9 feet high by 8 feet wide — capable
of containing the largest carriages of the Great Western

THE PNEUMATIC DESPATCH.

467

Railway — and a quarter of a mile long, has been built in the
Crystal Palace grounds, for passenger traffic. The tunnel,
which is of fine brickwork, with its closing valves, is already
completed. The fan- wheel, 2 1 feet in diameter, — which will
be temporarily worked by a fixed locomotive — is erected and
enclosed in its plate-iron case; a model station has been
formed, and the model carriage, built at Manchester, is at
this moment, in the grounds. It will be travelling in dark-
ness, no doubt, or rather by lamp-light; but as the front
head of the front carriage is sucked along by the ex-
haustion of the tunnel, the air will follow it instantly, and
afford a plentiful supply of the life-supporting gas to the
inmates of the carriages, while, just as the balloon, travelling
at the same velocity as the currents of air which waft it, pre-
sents a perpetual calm to the aeronaut, no matter how rapidly
it may progress, so the passengers by the Pneumatic Despatch
will perceive not the least gusty effects from the gale which
follows their passage closely up, or that torrent of air which, in
the reverse method of propulsion, will blow them through in
the opposite direction.

One cannot contemplate either the despatch of goods or
passengers by this means, without perceiving the invaluable
advantages which this method possesses for the underground
traffic of our vast metropolis. Passengers will have as rapid
transit as the locomotive affords, while they will experience
nothing of the choking sulphurous vapours which the locomo-
tives leave in our present underground railways. Moreover,
one line of railway would be sufficient, and no collisions of
trains could take place. Out of London, the locomotive would
still be the engine for traffic of all sorts over large tracts of
country. Again, for goods. To have our over- crowded streets
relieved of much — perhaps of most — of their heavy traffic,
and to have the thousands of tons now conveyed by weary
horses, quietly and silently transmitted unseen beneath our
roads and houses, will be indeed no slight boon. Still more,
we may hope to see a network of smaller pipes traversing
London and its suburbs, for the transmission of parcels. A
parcel-post thus established will be almost as great a benefit
as the Penny Postage.

It seems to ine, also, that great advantage might be taken
of the system, for effecting communications with or between
military fortifications. Goods and men might be sucked
through a tunnel of very great length ; and if such tunnel
were constructed at some considerable depth, it would be
unassailable by an enemy. Gunpowder and stores so sent,
could not be fired, captured, or destroyed ; and although it
would be a costly thing to make such a means of ingress and

468

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

egress for a distance of five, ten, or twenty miles, even such
an expense might be worth its cost in actual warfare, while
certainly in shorter lengths, within the region of a fortifica-
tion, or between contiguous forts, it would undoubtedly have
the highest claims to consideration. This, however, may be
the last and least profitable of the many uses we shall see this
system turned to.

We mentioned incidentally, in our opening pages, the
“ sighing ” and “ breathing ” of the despatch-tube after
its work. This is very curious. As soon as the carriages
have passed the gratings of the Euston tube, a deep
sighing begins, occasioned by the wind rushing in and out.
If, for example, it be after an “ exhaust,” the air rushes vio-
lently into the tube, and, by its own impetus, crowds itself
up and condenses itself within the tube, until its inherent
elasticity reverses the current, and then an out-thrust of air
takes place at such velocity that the tenacity and cohesion
of the air within the tube is on the opposite hand pulled
upon, and the new vacuum thus created again causes another
sighing indraught of air. And so these waves of air sway to
and fro, and in and out, for many seconds or even several
minutes after the work of the tube is done, before quiescence
is restored in its interior recesses.

Does not this incident hint how much more we have yet to
learn of oven the mechanical properties of air ?

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Fig. 1. The Pneumatic Despatch Tube, with valves, VV', at both ends.

Fig. 2. The fan-wheel and stationary engine.

Fig. 3. The fan-wheel, showing its central orifice at c, c, c, and the bearing-
ring cl, cl, cl, which works against the in-draught pipe, E.

Fig. 4. Section of fan- wheel in its inclosing case, showing its diminishing
breadth from centre to periphery ; the stationary engine, C, by
which it is worked by the crank, c, and the shaft, s s ; at K K and
L L, the air enters from the in-draught chambers, E E' ; and is
thrown off at the periphery, a, a, a.

Fig. 5. One of the Euston pneumatic mail carriages.

Fig. 6. Section of Euston pneumatic pipe, with rails and carriage within it.

Fig. 7. End of Pneumatic Tube, showing by the increasing darkening of the
tint the increasing pressure of air as the travelling carriage
approaches the closed valve, V, and the effect of the piston, P, in
allowing escape of air above the fixed pressure.

Fig. 8. The double exhausted Pneumatic Despatch Tube in use at the Central
Telegraph Station in Moorgate-street ; the exhaustion being
continuous by a stationary engine at c ; the parcels delivering
themselves at the valves a or c.

469

THE WHITE RUST AND OTHER MICROSCOPIC

FUNGI.

BY M. C. COOKE.

O ECENT investigations, conducted by Dr. A. de Bary,
It on this and some other allied Fungi, have produced
such, important results, that it becomes necessary, in further-
ance of our design to render familiar the structure and
vegetation of these minute organisms, to devote ourselves
to an explanation of what this eminent mycologist has done
in extending knowledge in this direction. What is the ex-
ternal appearance presented by the “ white rust " of cabbages,
and allied cruciferous plants, is soon told. At the present
season, and for two months past, it has, and continues to
occupy the surface of the leaves and stems of the shepherds
purse ( Gapsella bursct-pastdris) , with elongated narrow white
spots like streaks of whitewash, and now the leaves of the
goat's beard have commenced to be similarly infected. This
has been called the “ white rust and later in the season the
leaves of cauliflowers and cabbages will become ornamented
with similar patches, arranged in a circular manner, forming
spots as large as a sixpence. Wherever these spots appear
the plant is more or less deformed, swollen, or blistered, even
before the parasite makes its appearance at the surface. These
white pustules have a vegetative system of ramifying threads
which traverse the internal portion of the plants on which they
are found ; these threads constitute what is termed the mycelium.
Not only when the plant is deformed and swollen with its
undeveloped parasite do we meet with the threads of mycelium
in its internal structure, but also in apparently healthy portions
of the plant, far removed from the evidently infected spots.
These threads are unequal in thickness, much branched, and
often with thick gelatinous walls filled with a colourless fluid.
They creep insidiously along the intercellular passages, and are
provided with certain appendages in the form of straight
thread-like tubes, swollen at their tips into globular vesicles.
These threads do not exceed in length the diameter of the
mycelium which bears them. The appendages communicate
in their interior with the mycelium and contain within them
the same fluid, which at length becomes more watery, and the

470

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

terminal vesicles have their walls thickened, so as to resemble,
on a casual observation, granules of starch. Dr. de Bary
conceives that these appendages serve a similar purpose to the
tendrils or suckers of climbing phanerogamic plants ; i. e ., to
fix the mycelium to the cells which are to supply the parasite
with nourishment. As these appendages are always present,
it is easy to discover the mycelium wherever it exists amongst
the tissues of an affected plant.

The white pustules, already alluded to, contain the fruit of
the parasite. Bundles of clavate, or club-shaped tubes, are
produced upon the mycelium beneath the epidermis of the
infested plant, forming a little tuft or cushion, each tube en-
gendering at its apex reproductive cells, designated “ conidia.”
These conidia appear to result in the following manner : — The
tips of the clavate tubes generate them in succession. At
first a septum, or partition, divides from the lower portion of
the tube a conidium-cell j this becomes constricted at the
septum and assumes a spherical shape, at length only attached
by a short, narrow neck. Beneath this again the same process
is repeated to form another and another conidium in succes-
sion, until a bead-like string of conidia surmount each of the
tubes from which they are produced. At length the distended
epidermis above is no longer able to bear the pressure of the
mass of engendered conidia within, and is ruptured irregularly,
so that the conidia easily separating from each other at the
narrow neck make their escape.

As long since as 1807, M. Prevost described the zoospores,
or moving spores, of these conidia, and his observations were
confirmed by Dr. de Bary three years since, and now adverted
to by him again in further confirmation. If the conidia
(white spherical bodies ejected from the pustules of the “ white
rust ”) are sown in a drop of water on a glass slide, being
careful to immerse them entirely, they will rapidly absorb the
water and swell ; soon afterwards a large and obtuse papilla,
resembling the neck of a bottle, is produced at one of the
extremities. At first vacuoles are formed in the contents of
each conidium ; as these disappear the whole protoplasm (gra-
nular substance within the conidium) becomes separated by
very fine lines of demarcation, into from five to eight polyhe-
dric portions, each with a faintly coloured vacuole in the centre.
These portions are so many zoospores. Some minutes after
the internal division, the papilla swells and makes itself an
opening, through which the zoospores are expelled one by one,
without giving any signs of movement of their own. They
take a flat disk-like or lenticular form, and group themselves
about the opening, whence they have been expelled, in a
globular mass. Soon, however, they begin to move, vibratile

THE WHITE RUST, ETC.

471

cilige show themselves, and by means of these appendages the
entire globule oscillates, the zoospores disengage themselves
from each other, the mass is broken up, and each zoospore
swims off on its own account.

The free zoospores are of the form of a plano-convex lens,
obtuse at the edge. Beneath the plane face, out of the centre,
and towards that point of the margin which during the move-
ment of the zoospore is foremost, is a disc-shaped vacuole, with
two cilia3 of unequal length attached to its margin, the shorter
cilia is directed forwards, and the longer in the opposite direc-
tion during the evolutions of the zoospores.

The zoospores are produced within from an hour and a half
to three hours after the sowing of the conidia in water. They
are never absent if the conidia are fresh, or even a month old,
but beyond this period their artificial generation is very un-
certain. This little experiment is a very simple and interesting
one, and may be performed by any one who will take the
trouble to follow out the above instructions.

From this simple experiment, let us turn for a moment to
the plant in its natural condition when affected by the white
rust. If, after rain or dew, when the little drops of moisture
hang like pearls about the sickly pallid leaves of the shepherds
purse, bespattered with the white pustules of the rust, we
collect and examine a drop of water from the immediate neigh-
bourhood of one of the pustules, we shall commonly find empty
conidia and zoospores in different stages of development.

Water alone seems to be essential to them, and for this the
conidia may remain unchanged for a month, and literally burst
into activity at the first gentle shower, till the whole surface of
the plant is swarming with zoospores. We may no longer
doubt that a true vegetable produces from itself bodies endowed
with active motion, resembling low forms of animal life, and
yet in themselves not animalcules, as some would suggest, but
essentially vegetable, as we shall hereafter demonstrate. To
scientific men this is not new, except as regards fungi, for in
algse such bodies have long been recognized.

A second kind of reproductive organs are described by
Dr. de Bary; and if future examinations confirm his obser-
vations, as they doubtless will, this feature is an important
one. It is true that M. Caspary long since detected similar
bodies in moulds (allied to that which produces the potato
disease), but he only knew them in a limited sense compared
with what De Bary has revealed. These fruits are hidden
amid the tissues of the plant on which the “ white rust ” is
parasitic, and only betray their presence by the coloration of
those tissues. To these bodies it is proposed to give the
name of “ oogonia ” and “ antlieridia,” on account of their

472

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

presumed sexuality, tlie u oogonia 99 representing the female,
and the u antheridia 33 the male organs.

The oogonia are large sphaerical or ovoid cells, with a
thickish membrane containing a granular protoplasm, or
formative fluid. They are produced either terminally or late-
rally upon the threads of the mycelium, from which they are
separated by septa or partitions.

The antheridia are somewhat club-shaped or obovate cellules,
considerably smaller than the oogonia, with slightly thickened
walls and containing a finely granular protoplasm. These are
produced upon branches of the mycelium which do not bear
oogonia. The obtuse extremities of these branches, which are
to be developed as antheridia, are applied to the surface of the
growing oogonia, to which they adhere, become distended,
assume their obovate form, and by the formation of a septum
at their base, their contents are isolated from those of the
threads of the mycelium, and thus the antheridia are perfected.

When these bodies have attained their full dimensions, the
large granules which are contained in the oogonium accumu-
late at its centre, and form an irregular, somewhat spherical
mass, which is called by De Bary a gonosphere. This gono-
sphere having been formed, a straight tube shoots out from
the antheridium which perforates the wall of the oogonium,
passes through the fluid which surrounds the gonosphere,
elongating itself until it touches that body. From this period
a membrane begins to be formed about the gonosphere, which
thenceforth maintains a regular spheroidal form. It may be
observed that the extremity of the tube which proceeds from
the antheridium does not open, and the fecundation, if such it
be, is produced solely by contact. After this contact of the
two bodies the gonosphere acquires a new name, and is called
an “ oospore.” The membrane which at first invests this
organ is very thin, but by deposits from the surrounding fluid
it attains to a greater thickness, and is at length of a yellowish
brown colour, having its surface studded with large, obtuse
warts. One of these warts, larger than the rest, forms a kind
of thick sheath around the fecundating tube.

The oospores do not give evidence of any appreciable change
for some months. For instance those collected by De Bary
in June did not attain their ulterior development until the
commencement of December. The method adopted was as
follows : — Parts of the plants containing ripe oospores were
preserved in the dried state. When examination was consi-
dered desirable, the portion to be employed was immersed in
water for a day or two ; it was then placed on a humid soil,
or mould, covered with blotting-paper. The tissues enclosing
the oospores were decomposed, and at the end of from four

THE WHITE RUST, ETC. 473

to eight days their germination might be observed when
placed in a drop of water. This method again corresponds
with the ordinary processes by which the plant naturally
decays on exposure to the influences of the atmosphere, and the
oospores germinate under the favour of a shower of rain.

If the oospore, after the decay of the tissues, is isolated and
placed in a drop of water, the brown investing membrane will
be seen to rupture irregularly, and its contents (enclosed in a
transparent inner membrane) issuing from the orifice. As in the
case of the conidia, this body at first contains vacuoles, and is
afterwards divided into polyhedric portions ; these pass into
zoospores which congregate at the centre into a globular mass.
They afterwards separate, and for some minutes float about
in the vesicle in which they were generated. Ultimately the
membrane ruptures, and the zoospores swim about in the
water just as those produced from the conidia had done. The
number contained in each oospore is considerable, and may
be estimated at not less than one hundred.

The zoospores, whether produced from conidia or from
oospores, appear to be the same. The movements of both in
the water last from two to three hours ; then they cease, the
cilise disappear, and the zoospores remain at rest, taking
meanwhile a globular form. Afterwards these spores (for
having ceased all motion they are no longer zoospores) emit
a thin tube from some portion of their surface, such tube
attaining a length of from two to ten times that of the spore
whence it proceeds. The extremity of this tubes swells and
forms a kind of cell into which the contents of the spore pass
through the medium of the tube.

Thus far, and thus far only, has Dr. de Bary been enabled
to trace the development of the zoospores in a drop of water.
Another series of experiments was instituted by this mycolo-
gist having especial reference to the parasitism of the “white
rust.” He made numerous observations to ascertain whether
the spores of the germinating tubes entered by the roots of
growing plants, and satisfied himself that they did not.
Plants of g’arden-cress, mustard, and shepherd's-purse had their
roots immersed in water impregnated with zoospores. After
one or two days, though the surfaces of the roots were covered
with zoospores that had emitted their germinating tubes in all
directions, none had penetrated or showed the least tendency
to penetrate the epidermis. Other plants were planted in
flowerpots and watered at the roots with water charged with
zoospores, and for two days the pots were left standing in the
water similarly charged, then the plants were removed, culti-
vated in the ordinary manner, grew up healthy, and gave no
signs of the white rust. Care had been taken that neither

474 POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

stems nor leaves should come in contact with water containing
zoospores.

If a drop of water thus charged is placed on the surface of a
living leaf of the shepherd's-purse, for instance, and left at
rest for a few hours and examined minutely at the end of that
period they will he found to have germinated. Let the
epidermis he removed carefully and placed on a glass slide and
submitted to the microscope. Many zoospores will he found
to have produced from that point of their surface which is
nearest to one of the stomata, or pores of the leaf, its slender
tube, and to have thrust it through those openings, with the
swollen extremity resting in the air-cavity situated beneath
the pore. If many days, or even weeks, are allowed to pass,
and the leaf is examined again, or another leaf similarly
treated, and kept in a living and vigorous condition by
remaining attached to the parent plant, still no further change
or advance will be observed, the germs will appear fresh, and
still in the same condition. Hence it is concluded that plants
are not infected through the medium of their leaves.

If the cotyledons, or seed-leaves, are watered with similarly
impregnated water, a different result has been observed to
take place. The germination of the tubes till their entrance
at the stomata is the same, but, having entered, the swollen
extremity elongates, becomes branched, and takes all the
appearance of mycelium such as we at first described. If
the infected plant endures through the winter the mycelium
endures with it, to recommence vegetating in the spring.

The experiments which Dr. de Bary performed were all
upon plants of the common garden-cress. If will be unneces-
sary to repeat the details of these, as given in the memoir
recently published on the subject, but it will suffice to give a
summary of results. In two series of plants cultivated at dif-
ferent periods from good seed, one hundred and five plants
which had not received the water impregnated with zoospores
upon their cotyledons vegetated without any indications of
the parasite. Amongst the eighteen plants which were
inoculated by watering the cotyledons, four only were not
attacked by the parasite, fourteen bore the e< white rust,” In
six of these it did not extend beyond the cotyledons, in the
others it also appeared on the stems and leaves.

From these experiments it may be deduced that plants are
not infected by spores of the parasite entering at the roots, or
by their leaves, but that inoculation takes place through the
medium of the cotyledons or seed-leaves ; that the agents in
this inoculation are the zoospores produced either from
the conidia or the oospores ; that they do not enter the stomata
or pores themselves, but thrust out a germinating tube into
the extremity of which the contents of the zoospores pass;

475

THE WHITE RUST, ETC.

that when these tubes have entered the stomata of the coty-
ledons they branch and ramify, becoming a true mycelium,
from which fruitful parasites are developed ; that if a plant
so infested lives through the winter the parasite lives with it
to vegetate again in the spring.

The immense number of zoospores capable of being pro-
duced from a single infested plant is almost beyond cal-
culation. It is easy for a million of conidia to be developed
from such a plant, each producing from five to eight zoospores,
besides a large number of oospores each containing a hundred
zoospores. It can scarcely be considered marvellous that the
white rust should be so common on plants favourable to their de-
velopment, the marvel being rather that any plant should escape.

Until recently it was doubtful whether more than one or
two species of Gystopus (white rust) were known. It is now
certain that we have two in Great Britain, and five or six
others are found elsewhere. Of the British species one is
found on many cruciferous plants, as the shepherds purse,
garden-cress, mustard, radish, and plants of the cabbage kind.
This is the Gystopus candidus. Another occurs on the goaffs-
beard, salsify, and scorzonera, which is called Cyst-opus cubicus.
Both have great external resemblances, but both possess
specific internal differences. In the goaffs-beard rust the
terminal conidia in the bunches or fascicles of conidia which
are produced within the pustules are spheroidal, large, and of
a yellow-brown tint, whilst the residue are cylindrical, smaller,
and more or less compressed. In the crucifer rust the conidia
are ail equal in the pustules and globose. The oospores in
the former of these are subglobose, and the warts on their
surface are solid ; whilst in the latter the oospores are truly
globose, and the warts on the surface are hollow. Of the
other species it is not improbable that one or two, perhaps
three, may yet be found in this country. Without attempt-
ing to indicate their microscopic differences, it may be
serviceable to name the species of phanerogamic plants on
which they are likely to be found. The purslane white rust
(' Cystojpus Portidacce , D. C.) should be sought on the purslane,
which, though of limited cultivation, is exceedingly liable to
attack from this parasite. The sandspurry white rust {Gy st opus
Lepigoni , D. By.) may perhaps be found on the common
sandspurry * (Spergularia rubra) ; and the thistle white rust
{Gystopus spinulosus, D. By.) may probably be met with on
the leaves of the common thistle {Gnicus arvensis ) or some of
its allies.

Considerable interest is now attached to these parasites,

'* Whilst this paper was passing through the press, I saw British specimens
of this species also collected as a variety of Cyst opus candidus last autumn.

476

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

which, as far as we at present know, differ materially in their
reproduction from the other dust-like or uredinous fungi with
which they have long been associated. Dr. de Bary proposes
the union of these with the mould-like fungi of the genus
Peronospora (to which the mould infesting the potato belongs),
so as to constitute by themselves a group apart from the
genera with which both have heretofore been associated.
Whether his views will be accepted by mycologists time will
speedily prove. Under any circumstances microscopical and
botanical science will reap considerable benefit from his
researches.

WHITE MILDEWS OR BLIGHTS.

Notwithstanding the inconvenience to ourselves of calling
very different fungi by the same common name of u mildew,”
the popular mind does not recognize the inconvenience, since
it scarcely troubles itself to inquire whether they are not all
the same thing. In obedience to this custom we again write
of “ mildew,” or “ blight,” as it is called in some districts, but
of a very different kind to that which is so detrimental to
growing crops of corn. In the present instance it is our
intention to illustrate a group of fungi which are exceedingly
common, and which: differ greatly in appearance and structure
from any to which we have had occasion to allude. To obtain
a general knowledge of these forms let our reader proceed at
once to a clump of rank grass : if it be his fortune to dwell in
the country, the walk of a few yards will suffice. Let him
examine this clump more carefully, perhaps, than he has been
accustomed to do, and we venture to predict that he will find
some of the leaves covered with what appears to be a dirty
white mould, or mildew. One of these leaves should be col-
lected as carefully and conveyed to the microscope as speedily
as possible, taking care not to touch or brush it against any
other object so as to disturb the arrangement of the delicate
little threads upon its surface. If a small portion, say about
an inch, be cut from this leaf with a sharp pair of scissors, and
laid upon a slide, or pinned down upon a strip of sheet cork so
as to keep it flat and then submitted to examination under the
microscope, with an inch power, a beautiful forest of crystal-
line vegetation will be observed. If the examiner on this
occasion should not possess a binocular microscope we are
sorry for him, because in that case he will not see all that is
to be seen under the greatest advantages. If we ever truly
enjoy looking through such an instrument it is on an occasion
like this, when a low po^ver is all that is needed and the object
is required to be seen in relief. It is scarcely possible to
convey an adequate idea of the beauty of such a scene as the

Plate 27'

THE WHITE RUST, ETC.

477

microscope reveals upon this fragment of grass-leaf. Little
bundles of delicate threads, clear and crystalline, arc seated
upon a branching slender mycelium. These threads, some-
times erect, sometimes drooping, flexuous, or prostrate, are
composed of numerous roundish or spherical cells attached to
each other in a moniliform or bead-like manner (fig. 21).
These easily separate from each other. Let a portion of the
threads be removed from the leaf on the point of a lancet and
laid upon a glass slide, with a thin cover over them. Submit
this object to a quarter- inch power as a drop of water is let
fall at the edge of the cover and insinuates itself, by capillary
attraction, between the two plates of glass. So soon as it
touches the moniliform threads the disunion commences, and
almost before they are enveloped in the fluid Wo spherules
will scarcely remain attached to each other. This delicate little
mould on the grass leaf at one time bore the name of Oidium
monilioides. It is now regarded only as a condition of another
minute fungus, to which attention will shortly be directed.

The vine disease so fearfully destructive on the Continent,
and not altogether unknown in this country, is another of
these incomplete fungi. From the individual who first dis-
covered it in the South of England, it was called Oidium Tuclceri,
which name it continued to bear, both here and abroad, until
with many others, probably nearly all, of the same genus it was
found to be only a barren state of, what is called by mycologists,
an Erysiphe . If, towards the autumn, we should again collect
some whitened, mouldy, or mildewed grass-leaves, similar in
appearance to those mentioned above, and carefully look at
them with a pocket lens, little black points, almost as small as
a pin's point, or more resembling the full stop with which this
sentence closes, will be found scattered over the white threads.
The aid of the microscope must be again sought to make out
the structure of the little black dots. Closely nestling upon
the mycelium, the little points will prove to be spherical,
brownish conceptacles, surrounded with transparent floccose
appendages. Many other species are far more beautiful than
that of the grass leaf, as will be seen by reference to our plate.
The variation consists chiefly in the form of the appendages
which spring from the conceptacle and surround it in a radiating
(as in figs. 4, 7, 10, and 15), or in a more or less confused and
entangled manner (as in figs. 1, 23, and 25). The surface of the
conceptacle is minutely reticulated, and its base is attached to
the mycelium. When first formed, these globose conceptacles
are almost colourless ; they afterwards acquire a yellow colour,
and are ultimately of a deep brown. The appendages are seldom
at all coloured. Within the conceptacle are contained from one to
several transparent obovoid sacs, or spore-cases called sporangia,

VOL. in. — no. xti. 2 K

478

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

enclosing a definite number of spores (figs. 3, 5, 9, 13, &c.),
which vary in different species. In the hazel mildew, for
instance, there are two spores in each sporangium ; in the willow
mildew, four; in the maple mildew, eight; in the grass mildew,
and some others, numerous. The tips of the appendages are
variable, and often elegant (figs. 8, 11, 12, 16, 18, and 19),
sometimes simple and at others symmetrically branched. All
the species occur on the still living and green parts of plants,
especially the leaves, and are therefore truly parasitic. A
pocket lens will show whether any conceptacles are present on
any suspicious leaf which may be collected, but high powers of
the microscope are essential for their complete examination.
It is during autumn when vegetation begins to languish, that
we shall be most successful in searching for specimens. They
will then be found almost everywhere, and the white mycelium
forms an object too conspicuous for them to be readily over-
looked. Botanically, nearly all the species were at one period
included in one genus, under the name of JErysiphe, a name
derived from the Greek, and signifying “ mildew ; ” at the
present time they are distributed through several genera, the
chief distinctions of which are based upon the form of the
appendages. Though personally disposed to question the
generic value of such distinctions, it would be imprudent to
adopt any other names here than those to be found in recent
English works on fungi.

The first species in our enumeration is found on cultivated
roses. What a deplorable picture does a favourite rose-bush
present when attacked by this mildew ? The leaves blistered,
puckered, and contorted; their petioles and the peduncles
and calyces of the flowers swollen, distorted, and grey with
mould ; the whole plant looking so diseased and leprous,
that it needs no mycologist to tell that the rose is mildewed.
The conceptacle in this species is minute and contains but one
sporangium, which is one of the characters of the genus in
which it is now included, and a more justifiable distinction
than the ramifications of the appendages. The mycelium is
rather profuse, and the threads or appendages which spring
from the conceptacle are simple and floccose (fig. 2). The spo-
rangium contains eight ovate spores. This species [Splicer otheca
pannosa ), in its oidioid or conidiiferous form was for some time
known under the name of Oidium leucoconium.

An allied species constitutes the hop-mildew, a visitation
with which some of our Kentish friends are too familiar. This
is not a prejudiced species in the choice of its habitation, since
it is found on many other plants, where it flourishes with equal
vigour. The meadow-sweet, burnet, scabious, teasle, dandelion,
and other composite plants, plantain, and plants of the cucumber

479

THE WHITE RUST, ETC.

family, all suffer more or less from its roving disposition. The
mycelium of whitish threads is even more conspicuous than in
the last species, but the conceptacles are often not to be found
at all. These are also very minute and most common on the
under surface of the leaves. The appendages, or fulcra, are
simple, floccose (fig. 1), and coloured. The sporangia are found
singly in each conceptacle, and each sporangium contains eight
spores.

An autumnal stroll amongst hazel-bushes, when the nuts
are ripe, will lead, if the nuts are not a greater attraction, to
the discovery of whitish patches on the under surface of the
leaves, caused by the mycelium of the hazel mildew (Phyllactinia
guttata, Lev.) These patches are less distinct and conspicuous
than in many other species, but the little blackish dots of the
conceptacles may be distinguished by sharp eyes without the
use of the lens. Though possessing a decided preference for
the hazel this species is also found on the green leaves of the
hawthorn, ash, elm, birch, sallow, beech, oak, and hornbeam.
The conceptacles are larger than in the two preceding species,
and somewhat depressed above. The appendages are few
(fig. 4), radiating, rigid, and acicular, or like needles. Each
conceptacle contains eight or more sporangia, and each spo-
rangium has from two to four spores (fig. 5). This species
being very common, its conceptacles large, and produced
copiously, and its appendages distinct, it will prove a good
type with which the student of these fungi may commence his
examinations. This is the only representative which we possess
of the genus established by M. Leveille for such of the Erysipliei
as have the conceptacle depressed, and the appendages rigid
and simple, by which features it is distinguished from genuine
species of Erysiphe.

Two species, also common, having many features agreeing
with each other, are found on the leaves of the maple and the
willow. The willow blight ( Uncimda adunca , Lev.) is found
irrespectively on various species of poplar and willow (fig. 6).
In size and external appearances, to the unaided eye, it seems
scarcely to differ from the preceding, but more minute examina-
tion will show that in the appendages there is an appreciable
difference. Still rigid, but no longer aciculate, the tips bent
or curved like a little hook, or curled upon themselves (fig. 8),
radiating and numerous (fig. 7), and at length tending upwards.
Many sporangia are contained within each conceptacle, each of
which is furnished with four spores. The amateur must not
be disappointed, if, on examining mature conceptacles with a
view to the discovery of the sporangia, he finds only free spores.
The membrane of the sporangia is very delicate, and disappears
generally as the spores are matured.

480

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

The “blight” or “mildew” which occurs on the common hedge-
maple, as well as on the sycamore leaves, is exceedingly con-
spicuous when occurring on the former plant. The whole
hush often presents a hoary appearance as if sprinkled with
powdered chalk. In the spring, the under surface of the
leaves of the same plant are liable to become hoary from
another cause. The whiteness occurs in patches, has often a
pinkish or violaceous tint, and glistens like hoar frost. This
affection of the leaves was, at one time, believed to be pro-
duced by a fungus which was called Erineum acerinum , but
now it is regarded as a diseased state of the tissues. In the
maple mildew, both surfaces of the leaves are alike affected,
and the little, dark, point-like conceptacles will be found
studded over both. It is not uncommon to meet with very
white leaves, caused by the mycelium, but which bear no fruit.
The appendages in this species are shorter than in the last (fig.
10), and the tips are bifid (fig. 11), or divided into two short
branches, each of which is bifid, and uncinate or hook-shaped
(fig. 12). The conceptacles contain not less than eight spo-
rangia, each of which encloses eight spores.

Amongst the parasites that prey upon the much-abused
berberry (which has been charged in turn with producing the
mildew in corn), is one which causes the green leaves to assume
a chalky appearance (fig. 14), though less conspicuously than
in the maple blight. This parasite is the berberry mildew
( Micro spliceria berberidis , Lev.). In such localities as the
writer has met with the berberry suffering from mildew, he
has invariably found a larger proportion of leaves with the
barren mycelium than of those on which the conceptacles
were developed. Perhaps in other localities this may not be
the case. The appendages, as will be seen on reference to our
plate, differ materially from any of those to which we have
referred ; indeed, this genus (or sub-genus) has the most ela-
borate and beautiful forms in these appendages of any of the
Erysiphei. A figure is given of the tip of a fulcrum from a
continental species (M. Ehrenbergii, Lev.), not yet found in
this country (fig. 18). In the berberry blight the appendages
are straight at the base, but afterwards become forked, each
fork being again forked, and these yet again branched in a
similar manner (fig. 16) ; so that a complex dichotomous tip is
formed to each of the appendages (fig. 15). Each conceptacle
contains about six sporangia, and each sporangium contains
from six to eight spores (fig. 17).

The common gooseberry is also liable to a visitation from an
allied species, in many respects closely similar, but differing in
having the tips of the appendages more branched, and the
extremities of the ultimate branclilets are not entire and at-

THE WHITE 11UST, ETC.

481

tenuated, as in the berberry mildew; but divided into two tootli-
like processes. The conceptacles in this species contain from
four to eight sporangia, each of which has four or five spores.

In England, the leaves of the guelder-rose, and in France
(perhaps also in this country) those of the alder, nourish a
parasite belonging to this division. This “ blight ” possesses
so much in common with others to which allusion has been
made, that it will scarcely be necessary to describe it in detail.
A figure of the tip of one of the appendages of the variety
found on the alder (fig. 19), is given in the plate.

Since the illustrations to this paper were engraved, we have
found another species which had not been before noticed in this
country (M. Hedivigii, Lev.), on the leaves of the mealy guelder-
rose in the vicinity of Darenth wood, near Dartford, in Kent.
The mealy character of the leaves of this plant, and the minute
size of the conceptacles of the parasite, render it difficult to
find ; indeed, it could not be noticed unless it were sought for,
as we sought it, lens in hand. It only occurs on the under
surface of the leaves : the mycelium is very web-like and fuga-
cious, the conceptacles minute, globose, and scattered. Four
sporangia, each containing but four spores, are enclosed in each
conceptacle, which is surrounded by a few appendages (about
six) thrice dichotomous, and thickened at the tips of the
ultimate branches, which are incurved.

The species of true Erysiphe are distinguished botanically
from the foregoing by the floccose character of the appendages,
in which feature they accord with the species found on the
rose and the hop, but from which they differ in the concep-
tacles containing numerous sporangia instead of only one as
in those species.

One of the most common and conspicuous of these is found
on the leaves, and leaf-like stipules, of the garden pea. Every
leaf in a crop will sometimes suffer, and the gardener, to his
great mortification, finds that the mildew is more prolific than
his peas. The leaves become sickly and yellow as the myce-
lium of the fungus spreads over them, when they present a
peculiar appearance, as if growing beside a chalky road in dry
dusty weather and had become covered with comminuted
chalk. Soon the conceptacles appear, profusely scattered over
the white threads, like grains of gunpowder (fig. 22), and after
a brief struggle for existence the pea and its parasite die to-
gether. In this species ( Erysiphe Martii , Lev.), the appen-
dages are nearly transparent, short, and much interwoven with
the mycelium (fig. 23), the sporangia globose containing from
four to eight spores (fig. 24). It is not confined to peas,
although that habitat has been here given for it, because it is
so common upon them. Beans, melilot, St. John's Wort, some

482

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

umbelliferous plants,, and the meadow-sweet bave all been found
affected.

The species found on grasses, especially the cocksfoot, has
been already alluded to. The conceptacles contain from twenty
to twenty-four ovate sporangia, each enclosing eight spores.
The appendages and mycelium are much interwoven.

Another of these “ white mildews/'’ not only on account of
its frequency of occurrence on certain plants, but also from
the numerous species of phanerogamous plants on which it is
found (fig. 25), maybe truly designated “common” (Erysiphe
communis , Lk.) ; many kinds of crowfoot, especially Ranun-
culus acrisj are subject to its parasitism. It is found also on
other plants of the same natural order, on the rest-harrow,
trefoils, enchanters nightshade, bindweed, and knotgrass.
There are from four to eight sporangia in each conceptacle con-
taining from four to eight spores (fig. 26). In this species,
more especially, M. Tulasne found curious sucker-like pro-
cesses developed on the threads of the mycelium (fig. 27) ; their
office may probably be only that of attachment.

Of the other species found in Britain an enumeration will
suffice, since they contain no feature of interest to the micro-
scopist ; and all the members of this section are far less beau-
tiful than those in other genera (especially Micro sphceria) .

The leaves of the dogwood or cornel are the home of one
species ( E . tortilis , Lk.), and the burdock of another (E.
Montagnei , Lev.) ; both of these in addition to the above have
sporangia which contain more than two spores. There are
also two species in which only two spores are contained in
each sporangium. One of these (E. Linkii , Lev.) is found on
both surfaces of the leaves of the mugwort ; the other ( E . lam -
procarpa , Lev.) occurs on salsify, scorzonera, weasel-snout,
and plantain.

These complete the Erysiphei , but there are allied species of
too much interest not to be noticed in connection with them.
Before doing this we will, for the benefit of the botanical
microscopist, append a brief view of the characters of the
groups already reviewed.

Conceptacle with one Sporangium —

Appendages floccose ... ... ... Spluerothcca.

Conceptacle with many Sporangia —
Appendages needle-shaped
Appendages hooked
Appendages dichotomous
Appendages floccose

Phylladinia.
Uncinula .
Microsphceria.
Erysiphe.

Three very singular fungi are found on damp straw and
paper, two on the former and one on the latter. Of the

THE WHITE RUST, ETC.

488

species occurring on straw, the most common one is figured,
natural size, in our plate (fig. 28), but from this no idea can
be formed of its structure, which in some points resembles an
JErysiphe. The conceptacles are thin and brittle, and are
clothed externally with long dark- coloured branched hairs
(figs. 29, 30), which are curiously scabrous with rough minute
points, arranged in transverse lines. The conceptacle contains
long*, narrow sporangia, each enclosing dark, almost black,
lemon-shaped sporidia. For low powers this is a very interesting
object. The minute structure affords no feature of popular
interest. This fungus (which bears the name of Chcetomium
datum) is common on old straw thatch, matting, &c., resem-
bling small brown tufts of hair, visible to the naked eye.

Paper much exposed to damp will occasionally develope a
similar “ bristle -mould,” surrounded by a yellowish spot
( Glicetomium chart arum, Ehrb.) ; but it is not so common
as the last. In habit and structure it is very similar
(figs. 81, 32).

In 1838, the Rev. M. J. Berkeley announced the discovery
by him of a singular production, for which he was unable to
find a fitting location in any genus then established, and for
which he accordingly characterized a new one, under the
name of Ascotricha. This new species of paper mildew was
found by him on some printed paper in a box. It somewhat
resembles the other species above alluded to at a casual
glance, but more minute examination will reveal its differences.
The author to whom we are indebted for this species thus
describes its development. At first it appears as a minute
branched mould interspersed with globose brownish conidia. As
it advances in growth, globose black conceptacles become visible
amongst the threads, clothed with and supported by alter-
nately branched obscurely-jointed filaments, the branches of
which generally form an acute angle with the stem (fig. 33).
The ramification of these is very peculiar, the stem and main
shaft of each subdivision being almost constantly shortened
and surmounted by the branches given off near its apex ; this,
again, is often abbreviated and another branchlet given off,
which again surpasses it, and occasionally the same circum-
stance takes place a third time. The apices are clavate and
colourless ; the rest of the filaments, when viewed by trans-
mitted light, brown, even, and pellucid ; a few globose conidia
are usually attached to them (fig. 34). The conceptacle is
thin, black to the naked eye, of an olive-brown under the
microscope, filled with a mass of linear extremely transparent
asci (fig. 35), each containing a single row of broadly elliptic
chocolate sporidia. These have a paler border ; sometimes
the colour entirely vanishes, either from age or abortion, and

484

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

there is only a minute globose nucleus or more probably a
vesicle of air, in the centre; occasionally they become so
transparent that the globular bodies alone are visible. After
the conceptacles burst several are frequently collected together
into an irregular linear body, which consists principally of the
conglomerated sporidia.

One other very common and troublesome little fungus will
for the present close our examples. This is found creeping
over dried plants preserved in herbaria, on decaying fruit,
preserves, and various other substances, sometimes animal as
well as vegetable, but chiefly the latter. To the naked eye it
appears as a myriad of little yellow spherical bodies, of the
size of very small pins* heads, resting upon fine cobweb-like
threads (fig. 36). When magnified the surface of the con-
ceptacles is seen to be reticulated (fig. 37). In the interior
the sporidia are borne, contained also, as in the former instance,
in asci. It has been considered probable} but, as yet, not
fully proved, that this mildew is a compound fruited (asci-
gerous) condition of an equally common mould (Aspergillus) .

All the leaves containing the above-named species of fungi
may be dried and preserved for future examination, either
between folds of blotting-paper or the leaves of an old book.
They will generally be examined to the greatest advantage in
the fresh state, but if too much pressure be not employed in
the drying, it will not be difficult, even in that condition, to
make out their characteristic features. Care must be taken,
by changing their position, that moulds of other kinds do not
establish themselves upon the specimens in drying, or that
when dried they do not fall a prey to Eurotium herbariorum.

For the present, at least, we are about to bring these papers
on Microscopic Fungi to a close. Already we fear that some
subscribers will have thought our story of rust, brand, and
mildew interminable, and looked anxiously for the announce-
ment just made. On the other hand, we would flatter our-
selves into the belief that others have made a new acquaint-
ance with these minute and mysterious forms, and would fain
know more. The groups of fungi which we have endeavoured
to illustrate have, with but few exceptions, one feature in
common, i.e ., that they are parasitic on living plants. These
constitute but a small portion of the microscopical species
found in this country. To the elegant forms of mould which
inhabit decaying vegetable substances no allusion has been
made. These constitute a fairy flora of forests and gardens
with features as varied and fruits as multiform as those of the
trees and flowers of the earth. The numerous, and often mar-
vellous, phases of low life developed upon dead leaves and
rotten sticks, would in description occupy a far greater space

THE WHITE RUST, ETC.

485

than we have devoted to our subject. Yet for all these we
have not spared so much as a passing word. The treasures
still left unopened are far richer than even those we have re-
vealed. The gates of another world have been thrown open,
but we have scarcely passed the threshold. A minutely and
elaborately illuminated page of the book of Nature has been
turned, and we have only perused a single line. We might
traverse the primeval forests of the new world and explore the
unknown regions of the old, and not encounter so much to
excite our admiration or cause our wonder as lies about our
feet at home ; marvels which we tread beneath our feet, or
kick from our path, because they appear to be only rotten
sticks, withered grass, and decaying leaves. All this may
appear as the dream of an enthusiast, or the ravings of one
on whom the moon has shone too often. When Columbus
spoke of a new world beyond the seas, which he longed to
seek and explore, some believed him duped and others called
him mad. We write of no chimerical El Dorado, we speak of
no undiscovered world, and yet we seem to allude to wonders
still unknown, because so few have had the courage to venture
upon the journey for themselves.

In sober earnestness, however, let us commend this pursuit
to all who possess a microscope and leisure to use it. It may
be for a time the “ pursuit of knowledge under difficulties,”
on account of the condition of our literature on this special
subject ; but many workers will produce more readers, and
good books will come when there are more to purchase and
appreciate. It is not improbable that in more cases than have
come under our own observation, microscopists, wearied of
diatoms and allied forms, or deeming themselves in possession
of all that is novel or interesting in this direction, are seeking
for a new field of labour, and a new subject to kindle up a new
enthusiasm. To these we have advised, and to any more such
we continue to advise, that fungi should have a fair trial. If
variety be desired, here they will have at least 2,000 species for
a knowledge of which the microscope is essential. If they
thirst for discovery, let them be assured that here also the
earnest wrorker is sure to meet with such a reward. Or if they
would acquaint themselves with the manifestations of Divine
power as developed in the most minute of created things, let
them follow such observers as Tulasne and De Bary, and seek
the “ why and wherefore ” of the phenomena of mycetal life.

If there should still be any hesitation whether there is in
this pursuit sufficient of the element of variety for those who
do not desire to pursue the subject into its deepest scientific
recesses, to render it available for them, let them go to a good
public library, such as that of the British Museum, and inquire

486

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

for the large illustrated work by Corda, entitled “ leones Fun-
gorum/-’ or the more recent volumes by Tulasne (Selecta
Fungorum Carpologia), and examine the figures of micro-
scopic fungi in either of those works,, and decide for them-
selves.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE.

Fig. 1. Conceptacle of Hop mildew ( Sphcerotheca Gastagnei ), magnified.

„ 2. Conceptacle of Rose mildew {Sphcerotheca pannosa).

„ 3. Sporangium of the same.

„ 4. Conceptacle of Hazel mildew {Phyllactinia guttata).

„ 5. Sporangium of the same.

„ 6. Leaf of white willow infected with the Willow mildew ( Vncinula
aclunca ).

„ 7. Conceptacle of Willow mildew ( XJncinula aclunca).

„ 8. Extremity of one of the appendages, further magnified.

„ 9. Sporangium of the same.

„ 10. Conceptacle of Maple mildew {XJncinula bicornis).

„ 11 & 12. Extremities of two of its appendages, further magnified.

„ 13. Sporangium of the same.

„ 14. Leaf of Berberry affected with the Berberry mildew ( Microsphcera
berberidis).

„ 15. Conceptacle of Berberry mildew.

„ 16. Tip of one of the appendages.

„ 17. Sporangium of same.

„ 18. Tip of appendage of a Continental species (Microsphccria Ehrenbergii).
„ 19. Tip of appendage of Alder blight {Microsplmria penicillata var.
Alni).

„ 20. Piece of grass-leaf mildewed with Oiclium monilioides.

„ 21. Tuft of conidia of Oidium monilioides.

„ 22. Leaf of garden Pea, with Pea-mildew {Erysiphe Martii , Lev.).

„ 23. Conceptacle of Pea-mildew.

„ 24. Sporangium of the same.

„ 25. Conceptacle of common mildew {Erysiplie communis) from leaf of
Buttercup.

„ 26. Sporangium of the same.

' „ 27. Sucker on the mycelium of Erysiphe communis.

„ 28. Piece of straw with bristle-mould {Chcdomium datum), natural size.
„ 29. Conceptacle slightly magnified.

„ 30. Section of same, further magnified.

„ 31. Conceptacle of paper bristle-mould {Chcetomium chartarum) mag-
nified.

„ 32. Sporidiuin of the same.

„ 33. Conceptacle of paper mildew {Ascotricha chartarum), magnified.

„ 34. Portion of thread of same, with conidia.

„ 35. Ascus, or sporangium, and sporidia. „

„ 36. Dead leaf overrun with the herbarium mildew {Eurotium herba-
riorum).

„ 37. Conceptacles of the same, seated on their mycelium.

487

THERMOMETRY.

*Ot

OF the various philosophical instruments which are met
with in the hands of that remarkable body e< the general
public," it may certainly be said that none is so widely known
as the Thermometer ; perhaps widely disseminated would be
a preferable expression, for it may be doubted whether one
in ten of those who use these instruments know anything about
their theory or practical nature.

Meteorology as a science has made great strides during the
last few years ; that it has substantial claims on our attention
for sanitary reasons is now pretty generally conceded, and
that the weather has much to do with the public health few
will now be found bold enough to deny. Under these cir-
cumstances it does not seem unappropriate to call the attention
of the readers of the Popular Science Review to it ; and of
its practical branches few are more interesting than that
relating to the measurement of temperatures, which will form
the subject of the present paper.

Any discussion as to the physical character of heat, as to its
general relations, would be not only beside the object we
have now in view, but would require a whole volume for
its due consideration. We must be content to take heat
as we find it, and see how it can be approached so as
to deduce facts calculated to be of a useful character.
We can obtain crude ideas in reference to it in a variety
of ways. For philosophical purposes, the expansion it uni-
versally causes in all natural substances affords an easy and
convenient method of estimating it in a relative sense. Every-
body knows by experience that a pair of boots which are a
perfect fit in the month of January, if get-on-able in July,
can only be worn with greater or less inconvenience and
discomfort. Why ? The reason simply is, that the natural
heat of the summer season causes an increase in the
bulk of the foot, and this can only be accommodated by
an enlarged boot, except the wearer make up his mind to
endure torture for fashion's sake, as many in fact do.
Another familiar effect of heat is well known to the laundress.
Her “ box-iron " has its heater made much smaller than the
case, in order that the former, when made red-hot to subserve

488

POPULAR SCIENCE EE VIEW.

the purposes of' her callings may yet be able to enter the latter.
We might multiply illustrations of this kind to an indefinite
extent, but the above are sufficient as an introduction to the
general proposition which we would here lay down ; viz., That
•whereas all bodies whatsoever expand by heat and contract by
cold , thermometry is the art of applying the known expansion
and contraction of one body , in such a way that it may serve as
a standard of reference with which to compare the expansion and
contraction of other bodies.

A subtle physicist might find fault with this enunciation;
a lawyer might say, You rush headlong into an assumption
without adequate proof. We should reply to the latter, that
our object is to apply facts, and not to argue; and we should
hope to disarm the former by saying that it was our desire
to divest the matter of rigid and dry technicalities.

The same body always has the same volume at the same
temperature, and always suffers the same change of volume
with the same change of temperature. Since volume and
change of volume admit of the most exact measurement, they
become a very convenient means for determining the change
which takes place in the temperature of any body. Although all
bodies are susceptible of dilatation and contraction by changes
of temperature, yet all are not equally fitted for thermometrical
purposes : for many reasons, some of which will presently be
adverted to, mercury is found to be best adapted for the
purpose. We shall therefore commence with a description
of the simple mercurial thermometer.

This instrument consists in its ordinary, or, as we may call
it, its typical form, of a capillary glass tube from eight to
fifteen inches long ; to one extremity of which (which, when
mounted, becomes the lower extremity) a glass bulb is blown,
the bulb and part of the tube being filled with mercury.
When such a tube is exposed to an increase of temperature,
the glass and the mercury contained in it will both expand. If
these expanded in the same proportion, the capacity of the bulb
and tube would be enlarged in the same proportion as
the mercury in them, and consequently the level of the
mercury in the tube would remain unaltered. If, however,
the expansion of the bulb and tube be different from that
of the liquid metal contained in them, the level of the
column in the tube will, after expansion, stand higher
or lower than before, according as the expansion of the
mercury is greater or less than the expansion of the bulb
and tube.

It is found by experiment that the dilatability or expansive
power of mercury is greater than that of glass in the proportion
of nearly 20 to 1 ; and, consequently, the capacity of the bulb

THERMOMETRY.

489

and tube will be less enlarged than the volume of the mercury
contained in them in the proportion of nearly 1 to 20 ; there--
fore, for the reason above stated, every elevation of tem-
perature by which the tube and the mercury would be affected,
will cause the column of mercury to rise in the tube, and
every diminution of temperature will cause it to fall.

The space through which the mercury will rise in the tube,
by a given increase of temperature, will be greater or less
according to the proportion which the diameter of the tube
bears to the capacity of the bulb. The smaller the proportion
of the one to the other, the greater will be the elevation of the
column produced by a given increase of temperature ; for a
given increment of temperature will produce a definite increase
in volume in the mercury, and this increase of volume will fill
a greater space in the tube, in proportion to the smallness
of the bore of the tube compared with the capacity of the
bulb.

Such an instrument, without anything additional attached
to it, would merely indicate, if a change of temperature took
place, the simple fact of there being an alteration. To render
it useful for the purposes of science, it is necessary that the
tube should be provided with some contrivance from which
exact numerical indications of the amount of the changes
might be derived. A graduated scale is therefore attached
to the thermoscopic tube previously described, and we
then possess a thermometer of the simplest form in use.
Of course, in the actual construction of thermometers there are
precautions to be attended to, which need not be adverted to
here.

In making a thermometer, it is not indispensable that mer-
cury should be used ; air will, in many cases, answer the pur-
pose. From the delicacy of its indications, and the regularity
of its expansion, air would seem to be the material best fitted
for measuring changes of temperature, and, indeed, it was the
substance first used. The early air-thermometer consisted of a
simple glass tube, having attached to it at one end a bulb, the
other dipping into some liquid contained in a vessel below ; as
the bulb became heated, the included air expanded and forced
down the liquid in the tube ; as it cooled, the air contracted,
and the liquid rose ; a scale attached gave the amount of the
corresponding variation in temperature. But the inconvenient
size of the instrument, and the extreme delicacy of its indica-
tions, together with its limited range, impaired its utility. It
was also found that differences of atmospheric pressure, entirely
independent of temperature, caused an alteration in the bulk
of the air: these, and other circumstances combined, ultimately
led to its falling into disuse.

490

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

The first great improvement in the thermometer was made
by the Florentine Academicians ; they substituted the expan-
sion of a liquid for that of air, employing spirits of wine for
the purpose, and they divided the tube of the instrument
arbitrarily as before, by means of small dots of enamel placed
at equal distances on it ; but inasmuch as the scales of the
different instruments were not formed upon any fixed principle,
the results which they furnished did not admit of direct com-
parison. To obviate this evil, Newton, taking advantage of
Hooke's observation, that ice always melted at a fixed tem-
perature, and that, under certain standard circumstances, the
boiling-point of water was invariable, proposed the adoption
of these as starting-points, between which, and on either side
of which, a scale of equal parts should be graduated as required.
Though these two points were unanimously agreed upon as
the points of reference to be employed, it unfortunately happens
that the interval has been subdivided differently in different
countries. In Great Britain, Holland, certain of the States of
Germany, and North America, the interval between the freezing
and the boiling points is divided into 180 equal parts or ther-
mometric degrees. The scale is prolonged by additional equal
parts above the boiling and below the freezing points. The
zero is placed at the thirty-second division below the latter, so
that on this scale the freezing-point is 32° and the boiling-point
212° (32 + 180 = 212). This method of graduation, known as
Fahrenheit's, was adopted about 1724. It may be remarked
in passing that the reason why the zero was placed at 32°
below the freezing-point, was because that point indicated the
lowest temperature then known to exist, namely, the most
intense cold which had been observed at Iceland. Tempera-
tures very much lower than this, both natural and artificial,
have been observed in more recent times.

In France, Sweden, and other parts of Europe, the centigrade
division introduced by Celsius prevails. In this scale, the
interval between the two reference-points is divided into
100°, and the zero is placed at the freezing; temperatures
below this being indicated by the prefix of the negative
sign.

A system known as Reaumur's is used in Russia and parts
of Germany ; the interval between the reference-points is
divided into 80°. In another scale, formerly used in Russia,
and known as De L'Isle's, from its having been invented by
that physicist in 1733, the before-mentioned interval was
divided into 150° reckoned backwards from the boiling-point.
Since the number of degrees into which the interval between
the freezing and the boiling points in the four systems is
divided, are respectively 180, 150, 100, and 80, it follows that

THERMOMETRY.

491

9° Fahrenheit, 7J° De ITIsle, 5° Centigrade, and 4° Reaumur,
are severally equal. The conversion of degrees upon one scale
into those of another is easily effected by the aid of certain
simple formulae or tables, which will be found in most books
treating of the subject. Practically, the conversions which
most frequently occur are between Fahrenheit and the centi-
grade ; the former may be regarded as the established scale ;
the latter the innovating one, pushed forward by the decimal
gentlemen, now seeking to indoctrinate the English mind with
their hobbies.

It has been found by experiment that mercury when raised
from 32° to 212° increases in volume by TfTths of its value at
32°. Thus 111 cubic inches of mercury at 32° will, if raised
to a temperature of 212°, become 113 cubic inches. From
this may be deduced the increment of volume which mercury
receives for each degree of temperature. For since the increase
of volume corresponding to an elevation of 180° is TfTths of
its volume at 32°, we shall find the increment of volume cor-
responding to 1D by dividing TfTths by 180, which is
It follows, therefore, that for each degree of temperature by
which the mercury is raised it will receive an increment of
volume amounting to g-^oth its volume at 32°. It follows
also that the weight of the mercury which fills that portion of
a thermometer tube representing 1° of temperature will be the
g-Jgo-th of the total weight contained in the tube. We here
assume that equal increments of heat produce equal dilata-
tions of the mercury in the tube, and it has been found by
careful experiments that such is actually the case between the
freezing and boiling points, but that at extreme temperatures
the mercury does not uniformly expand and contract. Since,
however, the meteorologist is never called upon to consider
extreme temperatures, we may pass over further allusion to
this matter.

It may be well here to mention in a summary form the
reasons why mercury is so generally adopted for thermometric
purposes. It is highly sensitive to changes of temperature,
contracting and dilating quickly under the influence of varying*
temperatures ; it freezes at a low and boils at a high tempera-
ture, and at temperatures which are not near these extremes,
its expansive and contractive powers are very uniform. It does
not vapourize and become broken up into small particles in so
confined a space, nor does it change its bulk by adhering to
the sides of the glass. These are the reasons which have led
to its so extensive use. The freezing-point of mercury being
—40° and its boiling + 600°, a mercurial thermometer will
afford correct indications through a very long range of tem-
peratures.

492

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

It is not known wken and by whom the thermometer
was first invented; but in 1590, Sanctorius, of Padua, con-
structed an air-thermometer. About the middle of the
seventeenth century a great improvement was effected by
Italian artists, who, under the direction of the members of the
Academia del Cimento, made spirit-thermometers, as before
mentioned.

The idea of using mercury is said to be due to Halley ; but,
according to Boerhaave, it was Olaiis Bomer — known to
astronomers as the inventor of the transit instrument, and the
discoverer of the motion of light — who first constructed a
mercurial thermometer, in 1709. It was, however, Fahrenheit,
of Amsterdam, who perfected Bonier’ s invention, by devising
the thermometer which now bears his name. M. Breguet, of
Paris, has constructed a thermometer founded upon the unecpial
dilatation of different metals. It is, however, more curious
than useful.

The differential thermometer consists of a horizontal glass
tube, furnished with bulbs at each end, of the same size, bent
twice upwards at right angles. In the horizontal part of the
tube a small quantity of coloured liquid is placed. Atmospheric
air is contained in the bulbs and tube, but separated into two
parts by the column of liquid. The instrument is so adjusted
that when the drop of liquid is at the middle of the tube the air
in the bulbs has the same pressure ; and having equal volumes,
the quantities on each side of the liquid are necessarily equal.
If the bulbs be affected by different temperatures, the liquid
will be forced towards that side on which the temperature is
least, and the amount of the departure from the zero or middle
of the scale may be ascertained by inspection. The sensitive-
ness of this instrument is very great, and it is this feature
which renders it of great value in delicate physical observations.
It being desirable that the liquid should be one which does not
give off* vapour at ordinary temperatures, diluted sulphuric acid
coloured with litmus is usually employed. The differential
thermometer was invented by Sturmius, of Altdorf, towards
the close of the seventeenth century. Its use was revived by
Sir J ohn Leslie and Count Bumford, in 1 804. Leslie's con-
struction varies from Bumford's (to which the preceding de-
scription specially applies), in having the vertical arms longer
than the horizontal one, and in having two scales, one attached
to each vertical arm.

It is of great importance in meteorology that the observer
should be able to ascertain the highest or lowest point of the
thermometric scale, which the column of mercury may have
reached during his absence, and several contrivances are in
use to obtain a record of this kind.

THERMOMETRY.

493

Notwithstanding that the principles of its construction are
not of the most exact kind, the instrument invented
by Sixe in 1782, and thence known as Sixers self-
registering thermometer, may be pronounced an
exceedingly useful one, perhaps on the whole the
best for purely popular purposes, in which portability
is- not an object. It depends for its action on the un-
equal expansions of mercury and alcohol, and consists
of a long glass tube, with bulbs at each end, bent
twice in the same direction, and to such an extent
that the three sections resulting from the double
bending are parallel to each other. Mercury occupies
the central portions of the tube, and alcohol the two
ends. The tube is mounted vertically, and the mercury
is so arranged that it fills those portions of the tube
adjacent to the lower bend. From the engraving
a general idea of the instrument will be obtained ;
it is well known, and further description is not
requisite. Steel indices slide on each end of the

mercurial column.

Another self - registering instrument in general use is
Rutherford's. This consists really of two thermometers
placed side by side in a horizontal position, one mercurial
and the other of spirit. In the former, which registers
maximum temperatures, is placed a steel index, which is
pushed forward by the mercury when the temperature rises,
and remains in that position when the column recedes on the
temperature falling. In the latter, which registers minimum
temperatures, there is an index of ivory or glass with a flattened
end, which recedes with the spirit as it retires in the tube,
but which, in consequence of its shape, does not return with
the fluid on an increase of temperature taking place, the spirit
easily passing by it. It is adjusted to its position at the end
of the column of spirit by gently shaking the tube with the
bulb end upwards. The chief drawback in this instrument is
that occasionally the steel index is found to get clogged by the
mercury.

We have now to speak of some single self-registering
thermometers.

Professor Phillipses for maximum temperatures, is an im-
provement on Rutherford's. Here a portion of the mercurial
column is cut off from the main body by a bubble of air.
When the temperature rises, the whole column moves
forward; but on falling, that portion beyond the air-bubble
remains stationary. The observer can thus at once see the
extent of the rise. The instrument is set by a gentle tap.

Negretti and Zambra's maximum self-registering therm o-

vol. in. — NO. XII. 2 L

494

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

meter also resembles Rutherford's. During the process of
construction, a small piece of glass is passed into the tube,
which nearly fills the bore : this piece of glass is pushed
down nearly to the bulb, and then the tube is bent at that
part. When the temperature rises, the mercury is forced past
the obstruction ; but when the temperature falls, it cannot
return, the contraction in the mercury occurring below the
bend.* Thus the further end of the detached column shows
the limit ’of maximum rise. When a reading has been taken,
the instrument is reset by inclining it, bulb downwards, and
giving it a gentle shake.

A good mercurial minimum self-registering thermometer was
long a meteorological desideratum ; for it is obvious that com-
parisons of temperatures determined with two such opposite
substances as mercury and alcohol could not possibly be en-
tirely satisfactory.

In various experiments conducted by Mr. L. M. Casella for
this purpose, it occurred to him that the adhesiveness of
mercury for glass in vacuo— together with the fact that
where two tubes are united to one bulb, this fluid will rise by
expansion in the larger and recede by contraction in the
smaller tube — might enable him to obtain the object in view.

The general form and arrange-
ment is shown in the annexed figure.
b is a tube with a large bore, at the
end of which a flat glass diaphragm
is formed by the abrupt junction of
the small chamber, a b, the inlet to
which at b is larger than the bore of the main tube. The
result of this is, that on setting the instrument, the contract-
ing force of the mercury in cooling withdraws the fluid from the
main tube only, whilst on its expanding by heat, the long
column does not move, the increased bulk of mercury finding
an easier passage ; namely, into the small pear-shaped chamber
attached.

e

f

To set the instrument, place it in a horizontal position,
with the plate e suspended on a nail, and the lower part

* The contraction in the portion cut off is too insignificant to require to be
taken into consideration.

THERMOMETRY.

495

supported on a hook, /. The bulb end may now be gently
raised or lowered, causing the mercury to flow slowly,
until the bent part, b, is quite full and the chamber,
a b} quite empty. At this point the flow of mercury in the
main tube is arrested, and indicates the exact temperature
of the bulb or air at the time. On an increase of tempera-
ture, the mercury will expand, as above explained, into
the small chamber, a b ; and a return of cold will cause its
recession from this chamber only until it reaches the dia-
phragm, b. Any further diminution of heat withdraws the
mercury from the main tube to whatever degree the cold
may attain, where it remains until farther withdrawn by
increased cold or till reset for future observation. By this
means present temperature may be known, and cold registered
to any fraction of a degree, observable on the most sensitive
standard thermometer.

There is no separation of the mercury in any of its indica-
tions, and no vicissitudes of climate or transit can disarrange
the instrument. When out of use, or after a journey, it may
be that raising the bulb may not at first cause the mercury to
flow from the small chamber as above ; in such case, however,
a slight tap with the hand on the opposite end with the bulb
upwards will readily cause it to do so.

This invention is well spoken of, and promises to be of
great value.

Other self-registering thermometers, both for heat and cold,
have been invented, but they are not in general use.

The Solar-Radiation Thermometer is a thermometer with a
blackened bulb, with a scale divided on the stem, and protected
by a glass tube acting as a casing. It is mounted horizontally
on two forks resting on the grass, exposed to the full rays
of the sun, but sheltered from currents of air.

The Vacuum Solar-Radiation Thermometer differs from the
preceding in being entirely enveloped in a glass tube and
globe, from which the air has been exhausted. The object
of this instrument is to obtain a measure of the amount
of the solar radiation freed from the casual effects of
passing currents of air. Observations in different localities,
or in the same locality under different circumstances, are thus
comparable with each other, which is not the case when they
are made with exposed instruments.

The Terrestrial Radiation Thermometer resembles the solar
instrument, except that the bulb is not blackened.

So much for thermometers as regards their general con-
structions and different forms. Much more might be said in
reference to them, but the space at our disposal necessitates a
limitation.

496

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Dr. Miller, of King's College, than whom no one is better
entitled to be heard on matters of this kind, gives the following
as tests which a good thermometer should answer : — “ When
immersed in melting ice, the column of mercury should indicate
exactly 32° F. ; when suspended with its scale immersed in
the steam of water boiling in a metal vessel (the barometer
standing at thirty inches), the mercury should remain stationary
at 212°. When the instrument is inverted, the mercury should
fill the tube and fall with a metallic click, thus showing the
perfect exclusion of air. The value of the degrees throughout
the tube should be uniform. To ascertain this, a little cylinder
of mercury may be detached from the column by a slight jerk,
and on inclining the tube, it may be made to pass from one
portion of the bore to another. If the scale be properly
graduated, the column will occupy an equal number of degrees
in all parts of the tube."

Not one thermometer in fifty of those commonly sold in the
shops will stand these simple and (if accuracy is really to be
thought of) indispensable tests. In numerous shop -windows
stacks of thermometers may be seen, which though all in close
proximity, indicate the most discordant results instead of
perfect harmony or even respectable uniformity. Dr. Miller
adds the following cautionary remarks : — “ If a thermometer
be graduated immediately after it has been sealed, it is liable
to undergo a slight alteration in the fixed points of the scale,
owing to the gradual contraction of the bulb, which does not
attain its permanent dimensions until after the lapse of several
months. This contraction is probably due to the pressure of the
atmosphere. From this circumstance the freezing-point may
become elevated from J to a degree ; and thus the graduations
throughout the scale indicate a temperature which is higher
than the true one by the amount of the error. In some ther-
mometers the bulb, as Pierre has shown, does not at once
contract to its proper dimensions ; and thus a temporary dis-
placement of the graduation is caused every time such instru-
ments are heated to 212°." Kegnault has found that some
mercurial thermometers which agree in this indication at the
freezing and boiling points, differ at intermediate positions ;
and that these differences frequently amount to several degrees,
a circumstance which the observer in question thinks may be
due to the unequal expansion of different kinds of glass.
Enough has been said to show the delicacy of these instru-
ments, and it must be quite obvious that at such a price as
one, two, or three shillings, it is impossible to manufacture an
instrument with any solid claims to reliability. Instruments of
this character will indicate relative changes, but absolute values
of value can only be obtained from carefully made (i. e. expen-

THERMOMETRY.

497

sive) ones ; and thus it is infinitely better for an intending
meteorological observer of limited means to concentrate his
funds on the acquisition of one or two really good instruments,
than seek to obtain an imposing show of worthless ones,
always supposing that he desires to work for the benefit of
science ; — but we are digressing.

Pyrometer is the name applied to certain forms of heat-
measurers designed to register extreme temperatures, rising
to hundreds or thousands of degrees, heat which, as the name
imports, is only met with in fires and furnaces. A good pyro-
meter is still a desideratum ; and as, besides this, they are only
required for use in factories and for processes in the arts, no
good purpose would be served by entering into any remarks
on them in a popular article like the present.

498

ON THE ABSORPTION AND RADIATION
OF HEAT.

BY H. DEBUS, Ph.D., F.R.S.

On the absorbing energy of aqueous vapour, and its in-
fluence on terrestrial radiation, we quote Professor TyndalPs
own words : —

When we speak of radiation through the atmosphere, we ought to be able
to affix definite physical ideas, both to the term atmosphere and the term
radiation. It is well known that our atmosphere is mainly composed of the
two elements, oxygen and nitrogen. These elementary atoms may be figured
as small spheres scattered thickly in the space which immediately surrounds
the earth. They constitute about 99| per cent, of the atmosphere. Mixed
with these atoms, we have others of a totally different character ; we have
the molecules, or atomic groups, of carbonic acid, of ammonia, and of
aqueous vapour. In these substances divers atoms have coalesced to form
little systems of atoms. The molecule of aqueous vapour, for example, con-
sists of two atoms of hydrogen united to one of oxygen ; and they mingle
as little triads among the monads of oxygen and nitrogen, which constitute
the great mass of the atmosphere. These atoms and molecules are separate ;
but in what sense ? They are separate from each other in the sense in which
the individual fishes of a shoal are separate. The shoal of fish is embraced
by a common medium, which connects the different members of the shoal,
and renders intercommunication between them possible. A medium also
embraces our atoms ; within our atmosphere exists a second and a finer
atmosphere, in which the atoms of oxygen and nitrogen hang like suspended
grains. This finer atmosphere unites not only atom with atom, but star with
star ; and the light of all suns and of all stars is, in reality, a kind of music
propagated through this interstellar air. This image must be clearly seized,
and then we have to advance a step. We must not only figure our atoms
suspended in this medium, but we must figure them vibrating in it. In this
motion of the atoms consists what we call their heat. “ What is heat in us,”
as Locke has perfectly expressed it, “ is in the body heating nothing but
motion.” Well, we must figure this motion communicated to the medium in
Avhich the atoms swing, and sent in ripples through it with inconceivable
velocity through space. Motion in this form, unconnected with ordinary
matter, but speeding through the interstellar medium, receives the name
of radiant heat, and, if competent to excite the nerves of vision, we call it
light.

Tbe waves of beat speed from our earth through our atmo-
sphere towards space. These waves dash in their passage
against the atoms of oxygen and nitrogen, and against the

ON THE ABSORPTION AND RADIATION OP HEAT.

499

molecules of aqueous vapour. Thinly scattered as these latter
are, we might naturally think meanly of them as barriers to
the waves of heat. We might imagine that the wide spaces
between the vapour molecules would be an open door for the
passage of the undulations, and that, if those waves were at
all intercepted, it would be by the substances which form 99J
per cent, of the whole atmosphere. Three or four years ago,
however, it was found that this small modicum of aqueous
vapour intercepted fifteen times the quantity of heat stopped
by the whole of the air in which it was diffused. It was after-
wards found that the dry air then experimented with was not
perfectly pure, and that the purer the air became, the more it
approached the character of a vacuum, and the greater, by
comparison, became the action of the aqueous vapour. The
vapour was found to act with 80, 40, 50, 60, 70 times the
energy of the air in which it was diffused, and no doubt was
entertained that the aqueous vapour of the air which filled
the Royal Institution theatre absorbed 90 or 100 times the
quantity of radiant heat which was absorbed by the main
body of the air of the room.

Looking at the single atoms, for every 200 of oxygen and
nitrogen there is about 1 of aqueous vapour. This 1, then, is
80 times more powerful than the 200 ; and hence, comparing
a single atom of oxygen or nitrogen with a single molecule of
aqueous vapour, we may infer that the action of the latter is
16,000 times that of the former. It is perfectly certain that
more than 10 per cent, of the terrestrial radiation from the
soil of England is stopped within ten feet of the surface of
the soil. This one fact is sufficient to show the immense
influence which this newly- discovered property of aqueous
vapour must exert on the phenomena of meteorology.

This aqueous vapour is a blanket more necessary to the
vegetable life of England than clothing is to men. Remove
for a single summer night the aqueous vapour from the air
which overspreads this country, and you would assuredly
destroy every plant capable of being destroyed by a freezing
temperature. The warmth of our fields and gardens would
pour itself unrequited into space, and the sun would rise upon
an island held fast in the iron grip of frost. The aqueous
vapour constitutes a local dam, by which the temperature of
the earth's surface is deepened; the dam, however, finally
overflows, and we give to space all that we receive from
the sun.

The sun raises the vapours of the equatorial ocean; they
rise, but for a time a vapour-screen spreads above and around
them. But the higher they rise the more they come into the
presence of pure space, and when, by their levity, they have

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

penetrated the vapour-screen, which lies close to the earth's
surface, what must occur ?

It has been said that, compared atom for atom, the
absorption of an atom of aqueous vapour is 16,000 times that
of air. Now, the power to absorb and the power to radiate
are perfectly reciprocal and proportional. The atoms of
aqueous vapour will therefore radiate with 16,000 times the
energy of an atom of air. Imagine, then, this powerful radiant
in the presence of space, and with no screen above it to check
its radiation. Into space it pours its heat, chills itself, con-
denses, and the tropical torrents are the consequence. The
expansion of the air, no doubt, also refrigerates it ; but, in
accounting for those deluges, the chilling of the vapour by
its own radiation must play a most important part. The rain
quits the ocean as vapour, it returns to it as water. How
are the fast stores of heat, set free by the change from the
vaporous to the liquid condition, disposed of ? Doubtless, in
great part, they are wasted by radiation into space. Similar
remarks apply to the cumuli of our latitudes. The warmed
air, charged with vapour, rises in columns, so as to penetrate
the vapour-screen which hugs the earth ; in the presence of
space, the head of each pillar wastes its heat by radiation,
condenses to a cumulus, which constitutes the visible capital
of an invisible column of saturated air.

Numberless other meteorological phenomena receive their
solution by reference to the radiant and absorbent properties
of aqueous vapours. It is the absence of this screen, and the
consequent copious waste of heat, that causes mountains to be
so much chilled when the sun is withdrawn. Its absence in
Central Asia renders the winter there almost unendurable.
In Sahara, the dryness of the air is sometimes such, that
though, during the day, “the soil is fire, and the wind is
flame/'’ the chill at night is painful to bear. In Australia,
also, the thermometric range is enormous, on account of the
absence of this qualifying agent. A clear day and a dry day,
moreover, are very different things. The atmosphere may
possess great visual clearness whilst it is charged with aqueous
vapour, and on such occasions great chilling cannot occur by
terrestrial radiation. Sir John Leslie and others have been
perplexed by the varying indications of their instruments on
days equally bright, but all these anomalies are completely
accounted for by reference to this newly-discovered property
of transparent aqueous vapour. Its presence would check the
earth's loss ; its absence, without sensibly altering the trans-
parency of the air, would open wide a door for the escape of
the earth's heat into infinitude.

501

REVIEWS.

ANTI-DARWINIANISM*

IT very seldom happens in any controversy, that, when a partisan of
either side comes to speak, he states something which is satisfactory
to both parties. We should not have expected such a result in the case of
the debate — not yet extinguished — between the supporters of Mr. Darwin’s
doctrines and those who oppose them. Yet such has actually occurred.
M. Flourens, one of the oldest and most renowned of French physiologists,
has written a work which he calls an “ Examination ” of that treatise,
which is now classic, — “ The Origin of Species ; ” and in it we observe a
production which will be hailed with pleasure by both ‘‘Creationists” and
“ Selectionists.” Such, however, is far from what the author intended. The
book is written in the most bitter spirit, and is totally devoid of that dis-
passionate consideration of evidence which should ever be the aim of the
philosopher. M. Flourens has damaged his own case very seriously, and
while his party may rejoice that a volume of abuse has been hurled
against Darwinian speculations, the opposite side may congratulate itself
that so little has been done to impugn its views, and so much has been
effected to deteriorate its opponents’ case.

Of the hundred and seventy pages winch M. Flourens’ book contains,
but seventy are devoted to a critique of Mr. Darwin’s essay, the remainder
being absorbed by a loose collection of irrelevant matters ; thus we find
the following among the headings of the succeeding chapters : — Decaisne’s
Experiments on the Variability of Species ; Swammerdam, Reaumur, and
others on the Generation of Insects; Van Beneden on Parasitic Worms ;
and Pasteur on Spontaneous Generation. The author harps on the old
string, the non-fecundity of genera, and omits to notice the grander portion
of the Darwinian theory. He speaks of species as things defined, and yet
the only definition he gives is that which relates to fecundity. Forgetting
that species is a purely abstract term, he confounds it with animal form,
and thus he shows at the very outset an utter inability to appreciate even
the fundamental principle of the doctrine of “ natural selection.” M.
Flourens’ argument is this : a new species cannot originate by natural selec-
tion, because certain animals are not fertile when brought together. Jf new
species were merely variations of one which had pre-existed, then they should
be fertile among each other. We reply, we know not what a species is, unless

* Examen du Livre de M. Darwin sur “ l’Origine des Especes.” Par
P. Flourens, Professeur au Museum d’Histoire Naturelle, &c. &c.
Paris : Gamier freres. 1864.

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

it be one of those terms which have in every age trammelled the progress
of philosophy ; therefore we request that a species be defined by our
opponent. We have shown that new animal forms , differing as much from
each other as recognized [species rdo, have been called into existence by
natural and artificial selection, and that is a great step towards the solution
of the mystery. It is true that these forms are capable of combining
genetically, but may we not suppose that the varieties, most unlike, may,
in course of ages, and after subjection to different external conditions, be
so altered, physiologically as well as morphologically, that their capability
of fertile inter-communication shall diminish or cease? A chemical
element is to a certain extent analogous to a species ; it possesses its own
intrinsic properties, yet if it be submitted to new conditions, it will be so
materially altered that it will possess several new properties, and will have
lost some of its former ones. Take phosphorus for example ; what can be
more remarkable than the power which the red allotropic variety possesses
of forming compounds with sulphur, which the other kind is devoid of ? We
might give similar illustrations ad infinitum. One thing is significant ;
species can have originated in but one of two ways — creation and natural
selection. A few traditions are evoked in support of the former method ;
a thousand arguments from analogy support the latter. We do not say
Mr. Darwin’s doctrine is unquestionably the right one, but we do maintain
that it is the one most in accordance with recognized facts, and that also
which appeals above all to our reasoning faculties.

M. Flourens’ book will afford a certain amount of satisfaction to the
disciples of the old school, but it will be read by Darwinians with intense
amusement.

FORCE AND MATTER.*

IF the reader were to take up this volume in expectation of finding a
disquisition upon those beautiful laws enunciated by Grove, Tyndall,
and others, he would be sadly disappointed. The title does not express
correctly the nature of the work. Dr. Biichner’s treatise, though dealing
indirectly with the results of modern scientific research, is incontestably a
work on Atheism. In every page we find a slashing attack on the Deistic
creed, and though in many instances the author has conducted his side of
the controversy with becoming impartiality, in others he has set no bound
to his opinions, and the expression of his views is characterized by a low
style of language, which certainly borders on the grossest form of blasphemy.
Considered apart from these features, the work is an interesting one, and
may be read with advantage by those who are not easily led away by a
subtle sophistry. The first object of the writer is to show that matter is
indestructible, and this he achieves with tolerable success ; but when he

* i( Force and Matter ; Empirico-Philosophical Studies intelligibly
rendered.” By Dr. Louts Buchner. Edited from the last edition of
“ Kraft und Stoff.” By J. F. Collingwood, F.R.S.L., &c. London :
Tiubner & Co. 1864. *

REVIEWS.

503

approaches his second aim, we think he loses himself in a muddle of
metaphysics. In trying to puove that force has always existed, we find he
has placed the reader in the same position with regard to himself, as that
alluded to in the Scotchman’s definition of the science of mind, — for assuredly
“ he dinna ken exactly what he means,” and his reader “doesn’t under-
stand him.” In this respect we think Dr. Buchner has gone a step too far.
So long as he exerts his reasoning powers, we shall be anxious to listen to
him, but when he travels beyond his proper sphere, and asserts that because
“ all the planets of our system are not so formed as to be inhabited by man,”
there is therefore no God, wo shall most unquestionably refuse to argue
with him. In making such an assertion he passes from what he can com-
prehend to what he cannot, and thus his whole argument is founded on a
petitio principii .

BRITISH CONCHOLOGY.*

WHEN noticing the first volume of Mr. Jeffreys’ work, we had
occasion to speak in very complimentary terms of its character
as a text-book for the student and a readable companion for the amateur.
The second volume is now before us, and we observe nothing in it calculated
to alter the opinion we before expressed. That portion of the “ British
Conchology ” which deals with marine shells, is as well executed as the
rest, and contains, besides a most interesting “ introduction,” the Zoology
of the Brachiopoda, and of the Lamelli branchiata from the family of the
Anomias to that of the Mactras. The author’s style is peculiarly felicitous,
and is attractive even to those who know nothing whatever of natural
science. It must not be supposed, on that account, that accuracy has been
made subservient to popularity ; far from it ; we observe, on the contrary,
that the most recent researches find a notice, and that on certain points
where doubt is justifiable, a fair proportion of scepticism is exhibited.
Selecting the genus Ostreea as a type of what Mr. Jeffreys has done for
our British shells, we perceive, first, a description of the genus, then a list
of the specific synonyms and description of the species, which is of con-
siderable length ; next follow the several varieties, and finally we arrive
at the natural history of the mollusk. This is the pleasantest reading of
all ; there are nine pages of letter-press devoted to the habits, distribution,
structure, commercial bearings, culture, and history of the oyster, and these
our readers should certainly make themselves familiar with. If we were
to be exceedingly critical, we should say that the geographical distribution
is not as amply given as it might have been, but in other respects the book
is a most valuable one, and possesses in combination a greater number of
good qualities than we usually find united in treatises of its class.

* “ British Conchology ; or, an Account of the Mollusca which now
inhabit the British Isles and the surrounding Seas.” Yol. II. Marine
Shells. By J. Gwin Jeffreys, F.R.S., F.G.S., &c. London : Van Voorst.
1863.

504

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

COMPANIONS TO THE MICROSCOPE.*

EVERY working microscopist knows the Micrographic Dictionary, and
is therefore familiar with Dr. Griffith’s name. It will consequently
delight him to learn — especially if he belongs to the amateur rather than
the professional class — that a treatise on the use of the microscope has been
written by the joint author of our most valuable encyclopaedia of histology.
The student must not expect to find in this essay, information regarding the
preparation of objects ; hut though in this respect the production is im-
perfect, it is in other respects extremely well executed. The author treats
lather of the structure of vegetable and animal tissues (especially the
former), when seen under the microscope. This he has done, we think,
with great success. Intercalated with the text are twelve page plates,
on which are grouped nearly 400 coloured illustrations, which, if too
highly tinted in some cases, are at least tolerably faithful representations,
and have their natural dimensions indicated by affixed numbers showing
the magnifying power employed. The latter we regard as a decidedly
commendable feature of Dr. Griffith’s text-hook, and one which we hope to
see more extensively adopted in popular works. The descriptions in the
text are remarkably lucid, and cannot fail to convey accurate notions of
the form and relations of minute parts. We entirely approve of the
author’s plan for teaching the reader the correct pronunciation of technical
terms. Long Latin names which have hitherto puzzled many a beginner,
will under Dr. Griffith’s system be read as easily as English ones. The
last chapter is devoted to the consideration of the optical principles involved
in the construction and use of the microscope ; and here the subject is
handled in such a clear and yet masterly manner, that few can read it
without much profitable instruction.

Forming a marked contrast to the text-book we have just noticed, is the
little manual of Mr. Davies. The former is a work upon the structure of
the tissues, the latter is almost exclusively devoted to the methods to be
employed in preparing various objects for microscopic inspection. Students,
amateurs, and men of science alike, are frequently ignorant as to the best
mode of mounting an object in order to exhibit its structure to advantage.
Do they require to prepare a slide, “put up” an insect, inject vessels, or make
a section, this is the only work where they can obtain every information
as to the means they should adopt. Most copious are the details given by
the author of the little volume which lies upon our table. It is the book of
books for microscopists. Every chapter is complete in itself, and is an ex-
haustive essay on the subjects it deals with. The descriptions of the several
forms of cement are given at length, and the respective merits of Canada
balsam, asphaltum, marine glue, gold size, liquid glue, black japan, gum-
water, and black and sealing-wax varnish, are described in such a manner

* “ An Elementary Text-Book of the Microscope,” &c. By J. W.
Griffith, M.D., F.L.S., &c. London : Van Voorst. 1864.

“ The Preparation and Mounting of Microscopic Objects.” By Thomas
Davies. London : Robert Hardwicke. 1864.

REVIEWS.

505

as to show that the writer is not merely a compiler, but honestly states the
results of his experience. The paragraphs devoted to the mammalian
tissues are rather imperfect ; but this is a defect which, though disappointing
to the human anatomist, will he readily forgiven by most of our readers.
In the chapter on injections nothing has been left undone to aid the student
in canying out his operations successfully, and the claims of all our pro-
fessional microscopists have been candidly acknowledged. We wish we
had space enough at our command to give a series of extracts from Mr.
Davies’s book, which certainly cannot be adequately reviewed within our
limits. It is one of those works which can be read unsystematically, for
every page abounds in profitable information complete in itself. It is a
treatise which should be on the table of every microscopist, and we can
conscientiously say it is the best vade-mecum we have ever seen.

THE STREAM OF LIFE."

A LARGE book and withal a well- written one. Such is Mr. Milton’s
production. To say that the title hardly expresses the nature of the
matter found within the covers, would be only to repeat what we have to
express in regard to hundreds of similar effusions. The author opens the
flood-gate at about the middle of the Cambrian period, allows the vital
current to flow gently on through pre-Mosaic and historic times, and then
by a singular application of the laws of hydro-dynamics supposes it to wend
its way to worlds beyond our ken, where he modestly leaves it. The book
may be said to be really a series of popular essays on different branches of
science. Thus we find that geology, archaeology, philology, natural history,
physiology, and astronomy, have successively engaged Mr. Milton’s atten-
tion. To criticise a work like the present would hardly be fair ; u Crichtons ”
are rare in this century, and we do not think that our author is one of them.
He has written a volume of popularized science, which will be read with
interest by most people, not only because of the curious information it
contains, but for the simple reason that the style is characterized by a
graceful, easy diction, and by an absence of those inelegances which too often
deface the pages of scientific treatises. The attack on Mr. Darwin’s
doctrines has been very clumsily made, and on that account, and from the
fact that Mr. Milton evidently neither understands the subject nor has given
it consideration, we will not be severe upon him. His physiology, likewise,
is occasionally at fault. On the wdiole, the book is as free from errors as any
other compilation of a similar class, and though some believe that works
which convey a little inaccurate with a great deal of accurate information
are nevertheless pernicious, we do not subscribe to the dogma. Hoping
to meet Mr. Milton again, we commend him to Professor Huxley’s care for
the present, and we beg to assure our friends that they will travel over the
pages of his volume both profitably and agreeably.

* “ The Stream of Life on our Globe : its Archives, Traditions, and
Laws, as revealed by Modern Discoveries in Geology and Palaeontology,’*
&c. By J. L. Mtlton, M.R.C.S. London : Hardwicke. 18G4.

506

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

ELEMENTARY BOTANY."'

FEW if any of our savans possessed the power of imparting knowledge
in such a simple yet lucid manner as the late Professor Henslow.
Those of his pupils who were educated at the parish school of Hitcham,
can hear ample testimony to the accuracy of this assertion. It is, therefore,
with considerable pleasure that we find so distinguished a botanist as
Professor Olliver has written an elementary manual, based in part upon
the manuscript material left by the late professor. The physiological
portion of this little book has been written by Mr. Olliver, and fully realizes
all our anticipations. It is rigidly accurate, and yet the style has a charm
about it not often met with in botanical works. The manner is most fascinat-
ing, and if it does not succeed in making this division of science interesting
to every one, we do not think anything can. The arrangement of the several
organs which enter into the composition of a flower is nicely given, and
the explanation of the distinction between Thalamifloree and Calyciflorae,
as illustrated by the buttercup and bramble, is tersely stated. In the
chapter on stems we do not find the terms endogenous and exogenous, and
we are glad of it ; they never definitely expressed the relation of the vascular
bundles to the other parts. The fibro-vascular bundles of a dicotyledon
and monocotyledon are compared side by side, and the reader is taught as
much about the structure of stems in this way, as if a far more lengthy
description than that accompanying them had been given. The chapter
on the classification of plants is philosophic without being heavy, and that
on cells and fibres is equally good. In the systematic portion, the more
typical natural orders are described at some length, and the application of
Professor Henslow’ s scheme (described in the last number of Popular
Science Review) is explained. Nearly two-hundred well-executed wood-
cuts are scattered through the text, and a valuable and copious index
completes a volume which we cannot praise too highly, and which we trust
all our botanical readers, young and old, will possess themselves of.

THE FLORA OF ULSTER.f

ABOUT thirty years ago, when the British Association met in Cork,
several communications were made regarding the distribution of
plants in the neighbourhood. The matter thus supplied was afterwards put
forward in the form of a volume on the Flora of the country. This was, as
far as we can recollect, the only local Flora compiled in Ireland till the
appearance of the present one, which has been issued under the superin-

* “ Lessons in Elementary Botany. The part on Systematic Botany
based upon Materials left in Manuscript by the late Professor Henslow.”
By Daniel Olliver, F.R.S., F.L.S., Professor of Botany in University
College. London and Cambridge : Macmillan. 1864.

t “The Flora of Ulster, and Botanist’s Guide to the North of Ireland.”
By G. Dickie, M.A., M.D., F.L.S. Belfast: Aitcliison. London: Lovell
Reeve. 1864.

REVIEWS.

507

tendence of the Professor of Botany in the University of Aberdeen. Dr.
Dickie resided for many years in the north of Ireland during his tenure of
the chair of Natural History in the Belfast Queen’s College. Hence he is
no mean authority upon the subject of the Ulster Flora. This book is
quite a model of its sort, and as it is in a great measure founded in
principle on Watson’s “ Cybele Britannica,” our readers can fancy for
themselves the character of the information it contains. Not only is the
geographical distribution of each plant given, but where it has been possible,
the vertical (bathymetrical) range has also been stated. Special attention
is called to the nature of the soil, and in some instances we find that
even a thermometrical examination has been made. The index of
genera is a good one, and the supplementary list of plants “ possibly intro-
duced ” shows that the writer is above those vulgar prejudices which lead
local botanists into the cataloguing of species, which their reason should
tell them are by no means indigenous. In the Introduction we are treated
to a general sketch of the geological features of the province, and also to
some considerations concerning the meteorologic conditions under which
plants exist. Special notices have been given of the vegetation of some of
the mountains, and altogether the “ Flora of Ulster” may be said to reflect
credit on its compiler.

HE author of the book which bears the above title has given us a

pleasant production, though it is one in some measure of the fricassee
stamp. He writes nicely, and being in addition possessed of some consi-
derable general geological knowledge and literary culture, he has pro-
duced an agreeably popularized medley of local strata and fossils, non-
original speculations, and a large proportion of Pope, Shakespeare, Ten-
nyson, Addison, &c. We find no fault with works of this kind, and
we are certain that publishers are like unto us in this regard, so long
as the volume is printed — as we have no doubt the present one was —
at the author’s expense. We cordially agree with Mr. Taylor when he
asserts that during the long period occupied by the processes of denudation,
even “ the wisest of us cannot tell ” what took place, and that conse-
quently many of our connecting links may have been lost during that
epoch. And although we perceive that he has drawn rather extensively,
upon the works of living writers, we do not think him highly reprehen -
’ sible for that. There is no crime nowadays in literary larceny. We con-
ceive, however, that Mr. Taylor need not have brought in Scripture to
his aid so frequently ; it seems to us that the frequent introduction of
passages from the Bible looks very like affectation, and however good the
writer’s intentions may have been, it would have been better and wiser to

* “Geological Essays and Sketch of the Geology of Manchester and
the Neighbourhood.” By John Taylor, Member of the Council of the
Manchester Geological Society. London : Simpkin & Marshall. 18(14.

GEOLOGICAL ESSAYS,

508

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

have exhibited a little more restraint. Ill-natured folk are still to be found
in the world, and there are many who would be quite malicious enough
to insinuate that the peculiarity we allude to was merely cant. If divested
of this feature, Mr. Taylor’s work can be read with both pleasure and
profit, and we wish it all the success it is entitled to.

SAXBY’S WEATHER SYSTEM.*

VIEWING the question from a purely meteorological aspect, we think
Mr. Saxby’s opinions are deserving of some consideration. He
advances a doctrine which is “ as old as the hills,” and supports it to a
certain extent by scientific evidence. The lunar theory is Mr. Saxby’s
favourite. We believe it to be a hypothesis to which few meteorologists
pin their faith ; but there can be little doubt that it is one much affected
by that weather-wise portion of the community — the oldest inhabitants.
That the moon does influence the weather, we think there are many who
will agree with Mr. Saxby in admitting ; and though we have not been con-
vinced by the weight of his arguments or the subtlety of logic, we think,
as we have said already, that his ideas merit an examination. It is not
at all unlikely that any opposition which this gentleman has experienced
at the hands of men of science has been due to the somewhat “ sledge-
hammer ” mode he has of conveying his views. Moreover, there is an
exquisitely delicate tinge of self-conceit about the style in which he trum-
pets his own discoveries (?) that is not in our opinion at all calculated to
forward his aims. Nothing is more repulsive to the rational mind than
the constant adoption of the “ Ego et Rex meus ” principle. It is one
thing to employ a method of this kind with friends, who, in seeing other good
qualities, forgive the egotism ; but an author should remember that he is
only known to the public through his writing. Readers will not care to learn
that Mr. Saxby touches “ the subject with clean hands ” and is “ indebted
to no mortal for the observations which have led to his discovery of a lunar
influence on the weather .” Should the author profit by our advice, we shall
be very happy to say a good word for him on some future occasion.

SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE.!

PROFESSOR JOHNSTON’S treatise has been long and favourably
known to the agricultural students of this country, and we do not
think we err in supposing that the present edition will meet with the same
success as the former ones. It is just the book which may be employed

* “ Saxby’s Weather System, or Lunar Influence on the Weather.”
By S. M. Saxby, Esq., R.N., &c. &c. Second Edition. London: Long-
man & Co. 1864.

t “ Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology.” By James F.
W. Johnston, M.A., &c. Eighth Edition. London : Blackwood & Sons.

1863. _ ' '

“ Scientific Farming made Easy; or, the Science of Agriculture reduced
to Practice.” By Thomas C. Fle tcher. London : Routledge & Co.

1864.

REVIEWS.

509

by the student, while in attendance on a course'of agricultural lectures.
The subjects of chemistry, geology, and botany, of which agricultural
science may be said to be compounded, find a place in this volume. More-
over, the explanations are not couched in over-technical language, an
advantage which most persons will gladly avail themselves of. The book
professes to be an expose of the elements of the science, and it fulfils its
title fairly ; there is, however, one serious objection to it, and that is,
Liebig’s views are not represented. Mr. Johnston speaks of the operation
of manures containing ammonia in large quantities as being beneficial to
the soil. This is not correct ; the opposite is the truth. The only action
of ammonia as a manure is to dissolve the more purely mineral consti-
tuents of the soil, and by thus supplying them in larger proportion to the
plant, to rob the former of its most valuable properties. Again, as the
researches of Schoenbein have recently proved, the mere evaporat’on of the
water from the surface of the earth gives rise to enormous quantities of
nitrites, and consequently to nitrates of ammonia. Farmers need only
supply the inorganic ingredients of plants, — the rest will be furnished by
the atmosphere. This is the sheet-anchor maxim of Saxon and scientific
agriculturists.

We certainly cannot speak in any but terms of disapprobation of
Mr. Fletcher’s brochure , which we regard as one of those mischievous
productions calculated to suppress scientific inquiry, by wholesale asser-
tions unsupported by the faintest shadow of evidence. Mr. Fletcher may
be an analytical chemist, but he is certainly a bad reasoner, and a much
worse physiologist. We should advise him to peruse Liebig’s last work,
“ The JNatural Laws of Husbandry,” and also M. Blanchet’s letters to the
Gazette de Lausanne of last December. Trusting that their influence may
engender in him a more philosophic frame of mind, we bid him addio.

AUSTRALASIAN CLIMATES AND PULMONARY
CONSU MPTION."*

HE consumptive patient is frequently advised to travel. The doctor

advises a tour to Algeria, or the Pyrenees, or some such locality.
It is not often, however, that we find Australia is the place selected.
There appears, notwithstanding, to be much reason in support of the
opinion, that the climates of our antipodes are calculated to arrest the
progress of scrofulous diseases ; this, at least, appears to be the result of
the experience of Dr. Bird, the author of the above-named treatise.
Dr. Bird himself is one who, having been attacked by phthisis, left England
for Melbourne, and after a comparatively short residence in the latter city,
observed the gradual disappearance of his consumptive symptoms. Hence
his essay will be read with anxious interest by all invalids who fancy
themselves labouring under the scrofulous diathesis. En passant ■, we may

* “ On Australasian Climates and their Influence in the Prevention
and Arrest of Pulmonary Consumption.” By S. Dougan Bird, M.D., &c.
London : Longman & Co. 1863.

VOL. III. — NO, XII. 2 M

510 POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

remark that the work before us appeals to the general reader rather than
to the medical man. It is not on this account inaccurate ; on the con-
trary, apart from any considerations as to the correctness of the writer’s
notions concerning the climatic influence of Australia, those parts regard-
ing the pathology of the disease and the mode of treatment are quite in
accordance with the most advanced views of the present day. Dr. Bird
does not suppose (as most non-professional folk do) that consumption is a
disease of the lungs ; he admits that it is a generally diseased condition
of the blood (arising possibly from primary derangements of the digestive
system), which may exhibit itself in any portion of the frame, but appears
most commonly in the lungs. In addition to the method of treatment
ordinarily adopted, he strongly urges the employment of the seton, as a
means of counter-irritation, having found in many cases that, when used
in the neighbourhood of a cavity, it produced a considerable improvement
of that portion of the lung. Time alone can decide whether Dr. Bird’s
views as to the influence of the Australian climate are correct, but in the
meantime his book will afford satisfaction to thousands.

THE BIRDS OE INDIA.*

OUR ornithological readers, who are doubtless familiar with the first
volume of this work, will be glad to learn that the second has
appeared. It is Somewhat disappointing to find that the present volume is
not complete, having been, unlike the former one, published in two parts,
of which the first has alone reached us. The author apologizes for this
peculiarity, by stating that the time required in compiling a careful index
induced him to publish the portion that was ready for press, rather than
wait till the volume was complete. He also remarks that, by thus bringing
out the book in two issues, he will be put to considerable expense. We
accept his statements, though we do not exactly see why the index need
require such careful compilation as he seems to imply. The text of the
present portion of Yol. II. embraces a continuation of the natural history
of the Insessores, including the families Merulidce , Brachypodidce , Sylviadce,
and Ampelidce, and also of the conirostral families, the crows , starlings , and
finches. The generic and specific descriptions are, with a few exceptions,
clearly stated ; but we do not think the lists of synonyms are as copious
as they ought to be, for the purposes of comparison and identification of
species. Another drawback is the entire absence of illustrations, which
renders it necessary that the text should be as explicit as possible. We
cannot say much in favour of the printers : the book is, in a mechanical
point of view, got up rather roughly.

* “ The Birds of India ; being a Natural History of all the Birds known
to Inhabit Continental India, writh Descriptions of the Species, &c.” By
T. C. Jerdon, Surgeon-Major Madras Army. Calcutta: printed by the
Military Orphan Press. 1863.

REVIEWS.

511

NATURE AND THE GENETIC RECORD.*

IT often happens that when men of shallow minds have pursued some
special branch of study for a great, number of years they become
veritable monomaniacs, and so far from having expanded their mental
faculties, they have so contracted them that what they understood in the
beginning they find a perfect mystery toward the close of their careers.
Our novelists have not been remiss in pointing out this tendency to mental
degeneration, and we have Mr. Scattergood and the venerable parent of Mr.
Midshipman Easy as memorable instances of this cerebral derangement.
We have been led to express the above opinion from a careful perusal of
the work before us. Imprimis , be it understood we do not for a moment
desire it to be supposed that we think the author non compos mentis. Of
him personally we are as ignorant as of that individual supposed to take
lip his abode in our nearest planet. But we must frankly declare that after
reading his book through from cover to cover, we consider it to be the
wildest specimen of sane composition ever yet produced. What the aim
of the book is we know not. The drift of it we find a similar difficulty
in discovering. That we may not be accused of prejudice, we now submit
a few quotations to the notice of our readers »

“ Sono-magneto-electricity shows us the how mid why of absorbent or non -
cohesive static relations attaining to the undulant requirements of sound, and
to the reflectant repulsive energy of rigidly constricted silence .” . . . “ In the
vegetable , spiral power or heat is the predominant ; therefore there is ever a
oneness of crystalline axis or tendency thereto .” . . . “ Superior to all the work
which man can do, is the simple act of belief in so far as it relates to himself
in particular, because it appears to be a free will, act and offering, because it
evades the selfish mono-central force of death-rigidity, whilst it harmonizes a
composite aggregation capable of sentient exercise throughout all eternity .”

It surprises us to see Messrs. Longman’s names upon the title-page of
this extraordinary effusion.

HOMES WITHOUT HANDS.f

MR. WOOD is clearly not tired of compiling popular natural history
works. Here we have a new one coming out in monthly parts.
The subject is more original than those usually selected by this popular
writer, and from the style in which the work is being executed by the
publisher, we have little doubt of its success. Parts I. and II. include a
description of the habits of the various burrowing mammalia, such for
example as the mole, Arctic fox , weasel, white bear, porcupine ant-eater.

* “ Natural Phenomena i The Genetic Record and the Sciences
harmoniously arranged and compared.’* By Alexander McDonald.
London : Longman & Co. 1 863.

t “ Homes without Hands.” By the Rev. J. G. Wood, M.A., F.L.S.
London : Longman & Co. 1864. Parts I. and II.

2 M 2

512

POPULAK SCIENCE REVIEW.

ornithorynclius , &c. ; and also touch on the burrowing birds — as the sand -
martin , kingfisher , and puffin. These descriptions are given in Mr.
Wood’s familiar and seductive manner, and contain a species of informa-
tion absent from most of our popular treatises. We must, however,
caution the author against confounding two such birds as Fratercula arctica
and Puffinus brevicaudus. Parts III., IV., and V. conclude the account
of the homes of birds, and narrate how the land- crabs, shrimps, pholades,
sliipworms, scorpions, spiders, ants, bees, wasps, beetles, and crickets
construct their domiciles ; and in most instances the natural history is
faultless. The numbers before us are profusely illustrated, and the
illustrations are exquisitely done and very attractive. We hope the future
numbers will not be found wanting in these important features, and
heartily wish the new work every success.

THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S ANNUAL."'

THIS little publication is full of matter interesting to all insect
hunters. The opening article on “ Travel,” by Mr. Stainton, the
well-known Secretary to the Ray Society, is cleverly written, and is Suc-
ceeded by a translation from the Entomological Journal of Stettin,
describing a journey made to Finmark by Dr. Wocke. This is not
confined to descriptions of insects, but contains a pleasing sketch of the
contour of the country travelled over, the character of the inhabitants,
&c. The third article is a long one, “ On the new Species of Coleoptera
discovered during the past year ; ” then comes an extract from Bates’s
“ Naturalist on the Amazons.” The remaining papers are on “ Hymen-
optera,” and “ On new and rare Species of Lepidoptera.”

Evening Thoughts , by a Physician (Van Voorst, 1864), is a book
which is certainly calculated to do good by developing the metaphysical
powers in connection with the nobler emotions of the mind. To the
person who reflects, this volume will be of service ; to the unthinking,
even, it can do no harm. While we admit that in many instances, the
writer’s conclusions are assumed, we cannot help admiring the tendency of
his opinions.

The Study of the Physical Sciences. By George Wood. (Calder,
1864). The author of this little brochure is evidently a man of some culture.
He advocates the study of Physical Science, and does so with considerable
force. We dissent from some of his opinions, but think his essay will
be read with advantage by those connected with our large educational
institutions.

* “ The Entomologist’s Annual for 1864.” London : Van Voorst.

REVIEWS.

The Dictionary of Medical and Surgical Knowledge (Iloulston & Wright,
1864), is not, as its name would indicate, a ponderous tome under which
“professional” shelves would groan. It is an unpretending-looking work,
intended for the use of households, emigrants, et hoc genus omne. We have
seen only the first volume, but from what we have observed we think it
by no means a bad book of its kind, though its information is of a very
general and elementary character.

The Classification of the Sciences (London: Williams & Norgate, 1864).
The author of this pamphlet is doing battle with M. Compte, and for many
reasons we sympathize with him to the fullest extent. Compte can hardly
be right in deprecating an inquiry as to how organic beings originated,
and all scientific men will side with Mr. Spencer in opposing such an
opinion.

An Inquiry into the Nature of Heat , by Zerah Colburn (Spon,
1863), contains some very serious reasons for doubting the presently
accepted doctrine that heat is a motory force. To say that the author’s
views are sound, would in the present condition of science be asserting too
much, but they may fairly be said to be both instructive and intelligibly
rendered.

Atmospheric Electricity , by Reuben Phillips (Hardwicke, 1863),
contains a number of papers, some of which were, and others of which
were not, read before the Royal Society. Its matter is not exceedingly
original, but it will interest those who are pursuing the study of physics.

514

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

AGRICULTURE.

A New Method of Producing an Artificial Manure has been suggested
to the Academy of Sciences by M. Duponchet. It is in part an applica-
tion of the ordinary method pursued by Nature. All natural soils result
from the breaking down of rocks by means of the united action of air and
water. He proposes to take the lands of Gascoyne, which are now
almost barren, and to render them fertile in the following manner :
streams of water containing mud are to be allowed to flow for years over
the plains (which must he enclosed), and in this way after a certain period
a stratum of silt will be deposited upon the surface of the land, which,
when mixed with ordinary manures, will render this part of the country
productive. The scheme is decidedly ingenious ; but is, we should think,
of a character not well adapted to its success in a pecuniary aspect.

The Functions of the Roots of Plants . — M. Henrici has made some in-
genious and interesting observations on the functions of roots in supplying
water to the plant, and in the development, under certain conditions, of
special roots destined for this purpose. It is a matter of not unfrequent
occurrence, that plants send roots into wells, cisterns, drain-pipes, &c.,
where they exist in continual contact with a body of water. In drain-
pipes, the roots of plants usually considered to be free from aquatic
tendencies, such as rape, sometimes accumulate to a surprising extent.
M. Henrici surmised that the roots which most cultivated plants send
down deep into the soil, even when the latter is by no means porous or
inviting, are designed especially to bring up water from the subsoil for the
use of the plant. The following experiment wa3 devised for the purpose
of establishing the truth of this view. On the 13th of May, 1802, a young
raspberry plant, having but two leaves, was transplanted into a large
glass funnel filled with garden soil, the throat of the funnel being closed
with a paper filter. The funnel was supported in the mouth of a large
glass jar, and its neck reached nearly to the bottom of the latter, where it
just dipped into a quantity of water. The soil in the funnel was at first
kept moderately moist by occasional waterings. The plant remained
fresh, and grew slowly, putting forth new leaves. After the lapse of
several weeks, four strong roots penetrated the filter, and extended down
the empty funnel neck, through which they emerged on the 21st of June,
and thenceforward spread rapidly in the water of the jar. From
this time the soil was not watered any more, but care was taken
to maintain the supply in the jar. The plant continued to develope
slowly ; its leaves, however, did not acquire a vivid green colour,
but remained pale and yellowish ; they did not wither until the usual
time late in autumn. The roots continued to grow, and filled the

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

515

water more and more. Near the end of December the plant had seven
or eight leaves, and was about eight inches high. The water roots were
vigorous, very long, and beset with numerous fibres and buds. In the
funnel tube the roots made a perfect tissue of fibres. In the dry earth of
the funnel the roots were less extensively developed, yet exhibited some
juicy buds. The stem and the young auxiliary leaf buds were also full of
sap. The water roots being cut away, the plant was put into garden soil,
and placed in a conservatory, where it grew vigorously, and in May pro-
duced two offshoots.

This experiment demonstrates in the most incontestable manner that
certain plants extend a portion of their roots into the subsoil chiefly for
the purpose of gathering supplies of water. It is, therefore, an additional
argument in support of Baron Liebig’s explanation of the cause of what
is known to practical farmers as clover sickness. — Vide Henneberg’s
“ Journal fur Land-wirthschaftf 1863, p. 280 ; and the “ American Journal
of Science and Artf vol. xxxvii. p. 136.

ASTRONOMY.

The New . Planet . — The planet stated to have been discovered by Mr.
Pogson in February last, which was supposed to be the eightieth of the
group, and which had already received the name of Sappho , turns out to
be the same as that detected in October, 1862, at Copenhagen, known as
the seventy-sixth, or Freici. Such mistakes must be unavoidable at
present, from the great number of those little objects, whilst the ephe-
merides are not always exact. Another case of the same kind occurs in
the observations of the asteroid observed by Mr. Pogson for Concordia ,
but which it has also been found by M. Oppolzer are those made of the
planet Freia.

Satellite of Sirius . — Numerous observations of this interesting object,
supposed to be the almost obscure body which disturbs the larger star,
have been made during the last spring months by MM. Lassell (at Malta),
Struve, Dawes, &c. By Struve’s observations it would appear, however,
that the two stars are only placed in accidental juxtaposition. That
observer, however, thinks that this conclusion is doubtful, as in that case
the small companion could scarcely have escaped the attention of Sir W.
Herschel at the close of the last century, when, if not physically con-
nected with Sirius, it would be one minute distant to the south-west. As
Sirius was frequently observed by Sir W. Herschel as a test object,
M. Struve thinks that the companion could not be overlooked, unless there
is a great variability in its light. According to M. Struve, it is not much
below the eighth magnitude, as it could be seen quite distinctly a few
minutes after sunset, at a low altitude, whilst stars of the ninth magnitude
at high elevations were seen with difficulty. Mr. Lassell states that the
small star did not appear to him as a very small point, but was deficient
in brilliancy, and like the fifth star in the trapezium of Orion, which has
a dull reddish hue. Mr. Dawes was also surprised to find in what a strong

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twilight it was visible, but thinks that the very best atmospheric condi-
tions are necessary to detect it.

New Nebulae. — MM. Lassell and Marth have detected nearly 200 new
nebulse with the great reflecting telescope now mounted at Malta. The
last winter in that island was, however, unprecedentedly unfavourable for
astronomical observations.

Solar Envelope. — The discussion on the “ willow leaves,” or luminous
isolated flakes which cover the sun’s surface, still continues. It would
seem that the same appearances have been discovered by different ob-
servers ; but having been examined with various magnifying powers and
appliances, they have been described in independent terms by each, and
only differ in language. Mr. Dawes considers the term “ willow-leaves ”
as totally inapplicable to the shapes seen by him. A far less objectionable
term he holds to be that of rice grains applied by Mr. Stone ; but even
this conveys an idea of uniformity in shape and size, which they do not
possess. He proposes that of granules , which expresses nothing in regard
to their exact form or precise character. Recent observations have shown
that their forms and sizes are so various as to defy any attempt to describe
them by any comparison. The rarest of all forms Mr. Dawes found to be
that of the long and narrow, and he could not find a single one which
could be compared to a willow-leaf. One might be four or five times as
large as another near it; one resembled a blunt and ill-shaped arrow-
head, whilst another within 6" of it was an irregular trapezium with
rounded corners. Mr. Dawes met with none of the interlacing seen in
Mr. Nasmyth’s drawings, nor with the objects which he has depicted as
the “exact form of those remarkable structural details.” It appears,
however, that Mr. Nasmyth does not now regard them as of exact and
uniform figure. Mr. Dawes is of opinion that the granules are larger as
well as brighter on the bright portions of the sun ; and that in a mass of
granules they are very nearly all of equal brilliance, faint and bright ones
not being intermixed. The bright portions of the sun immediately sur-
rounding the larger spots were found to be destitute of granulations, as
also the faculse, which would seem to Mr. Dawes to prove that the com-
motion which had produced those spots had heaped up in large masses the
ordinary luminous photosphere of the sun. Mr. De la Rue maintains
that Mr. Nasmyth has made a substantial discovery. Mr. Talmage was
never able to see any of the appearances described by MM. Dawes and
Nasmyth. Mr. Dunkin estimated that about three hundred of those
granules lay in a space of 56” by 48". Mr. Dawes states that the ap-
pearances recently discovered by the Greenwich observers are exactly the
same as found by himself sixteen years ago, and after four years’ attentive
observation, he came to the conclusion that these brilliant objects “were
merely different conditions of the surface of the comparatively large
luminous clouds themselves,” in respect to form, brilliancy, and elevation.
An objection has been made that the small aperture of the solar eye-pieces
used by Mr. Dawes probably interferes with the distinctness of the object
viewed ; but it has been ascertained that at the centre of the field of view
such is not the case.

Photograph of Sun . — Although the progress of solar photography has

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

517

been hitherto very satisfactory — the mottled and luminous streaks in the
neighbourhood of the spots being shown by those of M. De la Rue — yet it
would appear that the time of exposure must be carefully attended to, or
the difference between the photographs and the eye-pictures becomes very
apparent. In those taken at Ely by Professor Selwyn, the small exposure
adds to the clearness of the fainter features of the sun, whilst with those
taken at Kew, a long exposure blots out all the minute details. This
latter is, however, purposely done, as it is only to obtain sharp definition
of the margins and spots that observations are carried on at Kew. Mr.
De la Rue attributes the better definition of the details of the facuhe
to the fact of the Kew instrument being in really better chemical
focus. In all the very minute features, however, the eye must be de-
pended on.

Comet of December 28 th} 1860. — Dr. Micliez, of the Observatory of
Padua, has calculated an elliptic orbit of this comet, which, it will be
remembered, was considered as identical with those of 1490 and 1810. It
would seem, however, that its identity with the last comet is doubtful, as
a period of about 108 years satisfies the observations of the present year.
This period represents also very imperfectly the comet of 1490, although
the other elements are not far wrong. As this, however, is the principal
one, the identity must be considered as yet doubtful.

Relation of Periodic Times . — Mr. Finlayson, of Dover, points out the
following singular proportion :-—The period of rotation of the earth on
its axis is in the same proportion to the periodic time of moon round the
earth as that of the period of rotation of the sun on its axis is to the
periodic time of Mars round the sun.

Nebula of Eta Argils and Southern Double Stars. — Mr. Powell observing
at Madras, confirms his own and Mr. Abbot’s previous suspicions of the
changes in the nebula surrounding Eta Argus. He states that since 1860,
the whole nebula has faded away very considerably, and has also altered
its form ; the star now being left quite isolated, and out of the nebulous
matter altogether. It is to be remembered that the star is one of the most
remarkable variable ones, and the phenomenon of the star and nebula
varying in brightness at the same time resembles that of the disappear-
ance of the small star and telescopic nebula of Taurus a few years since.
Mr. Powell has also made some good observations on the remarkable
star, Alpha Centauri, which is now at an interesting part of its orbit, as
the distance is now decreasing. Gamma Coronee Australis he finds has
described 20 degrees during the last four years.

Early Observations of Uranus. — Two early observations of Uranus have
been discovered by Mr. Hugh Breen in Dr. Bradley’s unpublished Green-
wich Observations. The dates are 1748, Oct. 21, and 1750, Sept. 13. At
the latter time it was near Alpha Capricorni. On both occasions it is
noted as being of the sixth magnitude.

Chinese Record of Eclipses. — Out of the thirty- six solar eclipses which
Mr. Williams has extracted from the Chinese records, the Astronomer
Royal has found thirty-two to agree with those in the Art de Verifier les
Dates. Two appear impossible ; but Mr. Williams has found that one of
those is an erroneous repetition. Two are not real eclipses, being probably

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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

set down as memoranda of dates when eclipses were to be looked for,
being the times of new moon.

BOTANY.

Respiration of Fruits. — In a paper lately read before the French
Academy, M. Fremy gives some interesting details concerning the ripening
process in fruits. In the development of the latter there are three stages,
which are distinguished not only by physical -but by chemical features.
The first period is that of development par excellence. The fruit during
this stage is generally of a green colour, and acts on the atmosphere in the
same manner as the leaves ; that is to say, it causes the decomposition of
carbonic acid and the liberation of oxygen under the influence of light.
In the second period, which is that of maturation, the green colour of the
fruit is replaced by yellow, red, or brown ; the vegetable matter no longer
decomposes carbonic acid, but absolutely developes it by the combination
of its carbon with the oxygen of the air. Slow processes of combustion
take place in the cells of the pericarp, which cause the disappearance of
the soluble matters usually found there ; the tannin is first destroyed and
the acids follow. At this stage the fruit is eaten. The third period is that
of decomposition ; its final object is the destruction of the pericarp and
liberation of the seed. At this time the air enters the cellules, and, acting
in the first instance upon the sugar, it gives rise to alcoholic fermentation,
marked by the disengagement of alcohol, which in operating upon the
acids of the fruit gives rise to ethers, thus producing the peculiar aroma.
This action when continued, destroys the structure of the fruit, and ter-
minates in complete destruction of the tissues.— Yide ComptesRendusf . Iviii.
No. 15.

Raphides as Useful Characters of Plants. — Professor Gulliver continues
his valuable researches concerning the absence from or presence in plants of
these crystalline bundles. He now asserts, that by means of the raphidic
features alone, the Epilobium and Lythrmn may be distinguished from
each other at any period of their growth.

Per-centage of Quinine in Jamaica Cinchonas. — The experiments which
Dr. Daniell conducted to determine the proportion of quinine contained
in the “ barks ” grown in Jamaica, demonstrate that the leaves of C. sue -
cirubra produce as much as 1*00 per cent, of this valuable drug. The
characteristic white acicular crystals deposited upon the evaporating
glass, in the course of experimentation, could be plainly discerned by the
naked eye, and presented a contrast to the larger, flat, four-faced oblique
prisms of cinchonine obtained from the residual liquor. The plant em-
ployed is that known to druggists as the red bark, and is not only the
most valuable commercially, but, according to Mr. Wilson’s experience,
the most easily propagated of all the species. — Yide Journal of Botany ,
No. xvi.

The Flora of the Scilly Isles is, according to Mr. F. Townsend’s views,
derived from the same source as that of the mainland, both having been
produced by migration and not by transport. All the species hitherto met
with in these islands occur also on the nearest mainland, with the excep-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

519

tion of Arthrolobium ebracteatum ,a native of the Channel isles and of France.
If the law of migration from specific centres be granted, the plants of
French type must have spread into these islands and the mainland from
the south or south-east, and in both cases the spreading must have taken
place during the existence of a vast continent, now partly occupied by the
sea, which flowed in as a barrier before the Arthrolobium spread further
than the Scilly isles. — Vide Journal of Botany, April, 1864.

Action of Light on Blunts. — The veteran chemical botanist, Boussingault,
has been inquiring into the difference between the chemical products arising
from plants exposed to light and darkness. He finds that plants when
germinating, — in other words, when living under ground, — tend to develope
carbonic acid by allowing their carbon to combine with oxygen, and give
rise to water by allowing the latter element to unite with their hydrogen.
Hence, while in this condition they are rapidly losing weight. When,
however, the young leaves appear above the surface and the plant is ex-
posed to light, the weight increases, the carbonic acid of the atmosphere is
decomposed, its carbon being retained. These normal results may be
artificially produced in the case of mature plants, by exposing them to
the influences of light and darkness. When submitted to light they in-
crease in weight ; but when in darkness they gradually lose their bulk,
and decompose. — Vide Comptes Rendus, May 16, 1864.

Identity of the Vine-fungus and that producing Epidemics. — That the
fungi which produce such distinct results as grape failure and diphtheria
are one and the same species is certainly startling. MM. Vitray and
Desmartis are of opinion that there is no distinction between the two
species — O'idium albicans and O. Tuclceri. This conclusion has been formed
from the circumstance that there is a sort of connection between the ap-
pearance of the vine disease and that of various forms of epidemic laryn-
geal maladies. The spread of the first has been followed by that of the
second. It might, of course, be objected that botanists do not regard the
two forms as belonging to the same species ; but then they are of the
same family and genus, and there is no reason to suppose that pro-
teism does not occur here as in other instances. — See a Memoire read before
the French Academy, May 9, 1864.

A New Substitute for Coffee has been proposed by M. Prevet, who sug-
gests the employment of the seeds of the carob-tree instead of the fruit we
use at present. It possesses a very agreeable flavour even without being
sweetened with sugar ; and, apart from an economical view, it might be
taken with benefit by those who find coffee too stimulating.

Persistence of the Fertilizing Power of Pollen Grains. — M. Belhomme
has published his investigations upon this subject. He has discovered that
the pollen of monocotyledons preserves its properties for a much longer
period of time than that of the dicotyledons. He experimented upon the
following natural orders : Leguminosce , Rosacece, Myrtaceoe , Umbelliferce ,
Cactece , Crucifer ce, Malvaceae, Solanaceae, and Boraginacece of the latter
group, and he found the pollen as fertile at the end of three years as it
was at first. His experiments on monocotyledons were made upon the
Liliacem and Amarylidaceoe, the pollen grains of which retained their
fertility for a period of six years. Fertile and barren pollen may be

520

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

contra- distinguished at a glance : if the grains have lost their fecundating
property they feel like dry powder when placed upon the palm of the
hand ; if, however, they still possess it, they adhere to the hand and seem
as though they had been slightly moistened. In the latter case, it is
evident that they exhibit the same physical qualities as the fresh pollen.

The Male Flower of Gymnosperms is supposed by Dr. Eichler to be
composed as follows : — Each anther-bearing scale of the amentum is a
single leaf altered by metamorphosis, that is to sa#y, a single stamen. This
is proved in many ways. These leaves frequently assume forms passing
into true leaves, this transition having been observed in the cypress and
other kindred plants. In the hermaphrodite aments of the pine tribe,
stamens are found in place of the outer scales which are true bractiform
leaves. Moreover, the development of the anther-bearing scale shows that
it springs from the axis, exactly like a true leaf, and is in no way formed
by the union of several distinct parts. — Vide Natural History Review ,
No. XIV.

Geographical Distribution of the Byblus-Rush. — Mr. Hogg in commenting
upon the discovery of this plant in the upper Nile regions, observes : —
The Byblus-Rush was once so common on the banks of the Nile that Ovid
assigned the epithet Papyrifer to that holy river. Nor was the plant itself
esteemed less holy, inasmuch as it was used by the Egyptian priests, for
the ornamentation of their statues and temples, and for a frequent model
of columns, and as a representation in the ancient hieroglyphics. But of
late years travellers have not found any of it in the Lower Nile and its
adjacent waters ; and thus have been confirmed these words of Isaiah
(c. xix. v. 7), “ The paper-reeds by the brooks .... shall wither, be
driven away, and be no more.”— Vide Annals of Natural History , April,
1864.

Openings in Legumes . — Mr. A. H. Church has lately pointed out a very
interesting peculiarity in the structure of the pods of leguminosse. Having
observed that in the process of drying, a considerable quantity of water is
evaporated, he was anxious to discover whether any channel existed,
through which the watery matter could escape. At first he sup-
posed that the liquid permeated the membranous walls of the legume,
but a careful examination resulted in the discovery of a small oval
foramen close to the proximal end of the ventral suture. This was
detached in several specimens of Faba vulgaris. It was also observed in
other species. The object of the arrangement is to prevent the dehiscence
of the valves of the legume, and consequent shedding of the immature
seeds. Mr. Church proposes to apply the expression a'eropyle to this
aperture.

Range of Woodsia Glabella. — The distribution of this species is far wider
than is usually supposed. It was found by Mr. Backhouse, in Norway, at
an elevation of a thousand feet above the level of the sea, in fact just below
a permanent snow patch : Gystopterus alpina and Asplenium viride were
growing near it. The station discovered by Mr. Backhouse was in latitude
sixty-nine and a half, and since the fern has also been observed in the
Tyrol, we may now expect to find it distributed over the intervening
country.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

521

Vegetation of the Kilkce Cliffs. — In a paper read before tlie Botanical
Society of Edinburgh some time ago, Mr. James Robertson gave a sketch
of the botanical features of the Kilkee sea-cliffs. This part of the Irish
coast-line is exposed to the full violence of the Atlantic winds and waves,
and thus a rock two hundred feet above high water is so copiously supplied
with saline spray, as to afford sustenance to a colony of periwinkles which
fringe its summit. Notwithstanding this, the marine plants which are
found at heights varying from 150 to 400 feet, and which grow in a very
stunted manner, illustrate in a striking way the physiological law that if
plants can do nothing else, they must produce their flowers and fruit.
The flora approaches the alpine type in character, doubtlessfliecause of the
peculiar external conditions.

Perennial Character of Spitsbergen Plants.- —We learn from the valuable
papers of Mr. Malmgren in the May and June numbers of the Journal of
Botany, that the plants of Spitzbergen are all perennial, and have a
tendency to grow in small tufts. It is well known that organic substances
decay very slowly in the Arctic regions. A wooden grave-cross, raised
half a century ago, looks as though it were of yesterday ; and the dry
remains of the previous year’s growth of plants stand almost unchanged
beside the new shoots of the perennial root. One may, indeed, almost say
that stones and minerals decay more speedily in these regions than organic
substances. But why are the plants all perennial? The reason is obvious.
It entirely depends, so to speak, on wind and weather, whether a plant can
produce ripe seed during the short summer. No doubt they generally do
so, but if in any year they failed, plants having an annual root must of
necessity be lost, while the continued existence of the species with peren-
nial roots would be secured.

Caproic Acid in the Flowers of Satyrium ffircinum has recently been
detected by M. Chautard. He distilled the flowers with water, and neu-
tralized the acid distillate with potash. The salt thus formed was dried,
acted on by sulphuric acid, and again distilled, when caproic acid passed
over, and was easily recognized by its peculiar odour. M. Chautard
believes that this compound is also present in the flowers of Orchis
coriophora.

Smut in Wheat. — A memoir on this subject lias been presented to the
French Academy by M. Lavalle, who makes the following statements as
the conclusions at which he has arrived : —

1st. The development of this fungus brings about results, often de-
structive of entire crops of wheat and other cereals,

2nd. When once it has occurred in any locality, it is likely to become
endemic there.

3rd. It invariably appears at a fixed period — summer, — and at the
very time when the seed has been fecundated and has begun to
undergo development.

4th. It may attack not only wheat, but other cereals, whilst all plants,
wild or cultivated, of a different order are unattacked, even though
growing among the corn.

5th. The various fungoid maladies of cereals are all due to the same
parasite, more or less developed.

522

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Growth of Cryptogams in Eggs . — It is stated by M. Milne Edwards,
that the presence of vegetable organisms in the interior of eggs is not a
fact in support of spontaneous generation doctrines. Signor Panceri has
discovered, that when certain cryptogamic plants are allowed to develop
themselves on the outer surface of the shell they extend to the interior.
The passage is effected through minute channels, which though imper-
ceptible to the naked eye, are recognized when magnifying powers are
employed. — Vide Comptes Rendns , May 23, 1864.

Function and Circulation of the Latex in Ficus Elastica. — M. Faivre
asserts that the latex in the latter species is a sap elaborated by the leaves,
and indispensable to the development of the various organs of the plant ;
that, whilst it descends both by the centre and periphery of the stem, it
passes to the extremities and nourishes them ; and that it travels also
toward the superior portions of the axis and contributes material for their
growth.

Chinese Diatomacew.—A very interesting article on this subject appeared
in the last number of the Microscopical Journal. It was written by Mr.
Lauder, M.R.C.S., who informs us that the diatoms are generally very
abundant in Hong-Kong harbour ; so much so, indeed, that in a few minutes,
by means of a small muslin towing net, a jelly-like mass about the size
of a wall-nut is obtained, consisting of about equal parts of diatoms and
entomostraca. It is remarkable, too, that in different months, different
forms are prevalent, giving distinct characters to the gatherings. In
January very few diatoms can be obtained. In February the Coscino-
discese are most plentiful. In March and April, numerous species of
Rhezosolenia and Chsetoceros make their appearance, and about the
end of the latter month almost all these organisms have disappeared.
Of the genus Chaetoceros, Mr. Lauder discovered no less than eleven
new species.

National American Herbarium . — We find it stated in the Natural History
Review , that two years ago Professor Asa Gray made the munificent offer
to the University of Cambridge, Massachusets, of his valuable herbarium
and library, upon the condition that a suitable fire-proof building should be
erected for their reception, and a fund invested for their adequate main-
tenance. The subject has been in abeyance till recently, when a banker of
Boston liberally offered to defray the cost of the required building, pro-
vided others raised a fund to meet the current expenses of the establish-
ment. It is to be hoped that so liberal an offer will be at once accepted.
Then Professor Gray will be enabled to complete his projected work, the
“ Flora of the North American Continent,” a work for which he has
already accumulated much material, and which few, if any, are so well
qualified to complete successfully.

Is the Radicle the first Internode of the Stem ? — This question is answered
in the negative by Professor Olliver. He regards the cotyledons as marking
the. first node in the stem, and consequently as indicating the zero of the
scale : hence he considers that the radicle is not to be looked on as part of
the stem or ascending axis in the same sense as the other internodes of the
plant may be so regarded. — Vide Natural History Review , April, 1864.

Seeds of Bonapar tea juncea, — The seeds of this plant have been obtained

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

523

from a specimen in the Botanic Gardens of Rochester, New York. ' Near
the upper part of the stem seeds were found, which on being planted, ger-
minated, and in a short time produced three young and healthy individuals
of this species. The head of the old plant slowly decayed, a part of the
leaves fell off, and by another summer it will have ceased to exist. It
is now known, therefore, that the seeds of this plant will ripen in a
warmed conservatory. — Vide SillimarCs American Journal of Science, 2nd
series, 109.

Spiral-growing Fucoid Fossils. — Professor Hall, of New York, contributes
to the last “ Report of the Regents of the U niversity ” a paper on the
above subject. He has found a series of these organisms in the palaeozoic
rocks of New York, and he proposes uniting the different genera under
one, which he terms Spirophyton. From the fact that these forms have
occurred solely in Devonian rocks, he thinks they may henceforth be
regarded as indicating strata of that period.

The Fossil Flora of the Bohemian Rothliegenden is given in a most
instructive tabular scheme which appeared in the Geologist for June,
and to it we must refer those of our readers who are interested in the
subject.

Plants producing Double Flowers have received the attention of Dr.
Seemann, the well-known editor of the Journal of Botany. He considers that
the bulk of plants producing double flowers is undoubtedly indigenous to the
northern hemisphere. In Polynesia and the whole of Australasia not a single
species with double flowers has turned up ; but there are in South Africa
and South America at least a few plants, the stamens of which are con-
verted into petals. It is impossible to say whether the absence of double
flowers from Polynesia and Australia, is owing to the fact that there are
no observers in those parts who at once seize and transplant them into a
garden, or whether they really never occur. Civilized men having taken
a peculiar fancy to double flowers ; they are safely lodged in garden and
greenhouse 'whenever they spring up ; and hence all countries, longest or
most highly-civilized, have, as the case now stands, supplied the greatest
number of these products, China and Japan boasting of the most perfect of
all, the camellias. Dr. Seemann’s list embraces the names of 279 species,
of which 234 are exogens, and the remainder belong to the Monocotyledon
division. Two of the plants are apetalous.

CHEMISTRY.

A new Mode of producing Aldehyde has been described by M. Carstanjin.
It is known to chemists that very many methods of preparing these com-
pounds are already employed ; for example, they may be obtained by
the oxidation of either albumen or alcohol, in the distillation of salts from
fatty acids, and of albuminoid substances, and by dehydrating glycols.
The modus operandi adopted by the chemist wTe allude to is as follows : —
Ethylamine is poured on crystallized permanganate of potash, and the
liquid, which is at first violet, turns green, and on being shaken becomes

524

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

brown, effervesces, and gives off acetic aldehyde, which is at once per-
ceived on account of its odour. — Vide Journal de Pharmacie , xlv. 100.

The Constitution of Wood-spirit is the subject of a paper lately read before
the Chemical Society and communicated by Mr. Dancer, of Manchester.
The author’s experiments led him to believe that there were four distinct
compounds present in the crude spirit. By means of fractional distillation
and other processes he was enabled to demonstrate, that besides the bulk
of wood naphtha, which was true methylic alcohol, there were contained in
this spirit acetate of methyl, acetone, and bimethyl-acetal. The sub-
stance formerly described under the name of xylyl was not found present.

The Action of Bed Phosphorus on Sulphur. — M. Lemoine finds that
when red phosphorus and sulphur are allowed to react on each other they
produce a new compound having the formula P2 S3. This substance is
always produced in whatever proportions the two elements employed may
be. It is of a very stable character, not oxidising in the air, belonging
to the “ right rhombic prism ” system, and boiling at a temperature of
about 350° centigrade. It is very soluble in sulphide of carbon and
chloride of phosphorus, and may be separated from the latter solution by
means of water. It is also soluble, but with decomposition, in ether and
alcohol. The method of producing it consists essentially in heating-
together the two elements, then adding sulphide of carbon, which dissolves
the new body, and thus admits of its separation from the others. — Vide
Comptes Rendus , lviii. 20.

Production of gummic Acid from Glucose. — When a solution of acetate
of copper is supersaturated by a slight excess of alkali, the copper reduced
by means of glucose, and the liquid neutralised by acetic acid, an acid
compound may be obtained by precipitation with acetate of lead. This
compound, which is really a gummate of lead, must now be decomposed
by sulphuretted hydrogen, and the resulting liquor evaporated at a gentle
heat. By this means an acid will be obtained which crystallizes in rhom-
boid prisms, and has a taste resembling that of citric acid. Gummic acid
loses no water at 100° centigrade, it browns at 130°, and is decomposed
by a heat of 150°. It has the formula Cc Hs 010, is soluble in water
and alcohol, and forms salts with baryta, lead, and silver. — Vide Bulletin
de la Societe Chimique , iii. 197.

A new silica Compound. — M. Marignac states that when a gelatinous
solution of silica is boiled with an acid solution of tungstate of potash or
soda it is dissolved. This solution now becomes alkaline, and contains a
new acid compound, in which one equivalent of silicic is combined with
twelve of tungstic acid. This new combination is termed silico-tungstic acid.
It is a strong acid, very stable, which forms two hydrates, obtainable in
magnificent crystals. Acid tungstate of ammonia under similar circum-
stances gives an acid, in which the equivalent of silica is united with ten
of tungstic acid, and which is therefore designated silico decitungstic
acid. This acid is more difficult to separate, the hydrate does not crys-
tallize, and on drying it easily parts with some of its silica, and forms
a third acid — tungsto-silicic , in which the constituents are present in the
same proportions as in silico-tungstic. All these acids are quadribasic ;
they are as soluble in water as alcohol ; and anhydrous ether forms with

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

525

them a sort of syrupy liquid. The salts of these acids form solutions
in water of very great density ; a solution of neutral silico-tungstate of
soda, for example, may be made so dense that it will allow glass and
quartz to float upon its surface. Hence, as Mr. Crookes suggests, this
solution may possibly form an excellent material for prisms. — Vide The
Chemical News , No. 232, p. 238.

How to prepare Sub-oxide of Copper. — The following process for
the preparation of sub-oxide of copper is given by Herr Boettger : —
Dissolve, in two parts of hot distilled water, one part of crystallised
sulphate of copper, one and a half of tartrate of potass and soda, and
two parts of cane-sugar. When the solution is complete and tartrate
of copper formed, add one and a half part of caustic soda. By boiling
the mixture, the sub-oxide of copper is gradually precipitated, losing its
odour completely, as in saccharometric experiments. The product is of a
beautiful red colour, and, after it is washed and dried, will keep without
alteration. — Vide Chemical News, May 7th, and Jour, fur prakt. Chemie ,
xc. 163.

The Composition of Rain-water. — M. Bobierre, who lately presented a
memoir to the French Academy, concludes from his experiments on and
examination of rain-water : —

1st. That the composition of specimens collected in large towns is
extremely variable.

2nd. These variations refer more especially to the proportions of am-
monia, nitric acid, and organic matters.

3rd. The examination of specimens collected at different heights showTs
that there is a relation between the composition of the wTater and the alti-
tude at which it is received from the atmosphere.

4th. In rain-water collected at Nantes in 1863, at a height of 47 metres,
the proportion of ammonia was 1*907 gramme per cubic metre, whilst
that collected at a height of seven metres in a low and unhealthy neigh-
bourhood contained 5*939 grammes per cubic metre of the same substance.

5th. The proportion of nitric acid increases as that of ammonia
diminishes.

6th. The evaporation of 372*50 litres of Nantes rain-water proved that
the variation of alkaline chlorides and organic matter is much more
marked than that of other substances. — Vide Comptes Rendas, lviii. 17.

Chemical Preservation of Statues. — This may be achieved by following the
processes lately described at the French Academy. One of these methods
is that of M. Dalemagne, who thinks that coating such objects with silica
is quite sufficient to ensure their preservation. In proof of this he
calls attention to the circumstance that certain busts which were sub-
mitted to the process of silicatization ten years ago are now in a state of
perfect preservation, whilst others of the same age placed under the ordi-
nary conditions of the atmosphere, and even to which considerable atten-
tion had been paid, are now in a state of more or less marked decay.

A crystallized Hydrate of Soda. — Herr Harms has obtained a well-
crystallized and definite hydrate of soda, by exposing a solution of caustic
soda of density 1*385 to a temperature of 0° centigrade. The crystals are
often very large, have a glassy lustre, and are perfectly transparent and

YOL. HI. — NO. XII. 2 N

526

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

colourless. As the author states that the crystals may he obtained very
pure, even from solutions containing sulphate and chloride of sodium, it
seems probable that they will afford a ready means of obtaining pure soda
for laboratory purposes. The formula of the crystallized hydrate is Na 0,
-f 8 H O ; by long standing over sulphuric acid the compound loses four
equivalents of water. Rose, who examined the crystals, found them to be
oblique rhombic. — Vide Poggendorff’s Annalen , cxix., and Sillimarfs Ameri-
can Journal , 1864, No. 109.

A non-arsenical green Colouring Matter has been discovered by Dr.
Eisner in a very accidental way. He was requested to analyse a quantity
of green powder, which was termed green cinnabar, and during the opera-
tions to which he submitted it he observed that the compound was hot
arsenical, but was composed of various proportions of prussian-blue and
chromium green. He found that it possessed every possible degree of
shade between the two tints. This colouring matter is well adapted to the
manufacture of paper hangings, but cannot be used for walls on account of
the prussian-blue, which would undergo change ; neither can it be used
in colouring bon-bons, because of its injurious qualities. The following
is the recipe for its preparation : Make a solution of yellow chromate
of potash, and another of yellow prussiate of potash, and then mix the two.
Dissolve separately, in water, some acetate of lead and iron, and add this
solution to the others. In this way a precipitate will be obtained, whose
tint will depend on the proportions of the ingredients employed ; of course
the larger the quantity of acetate of lead and chromate of potash, the
lighter will the colour produced be. The precipitate should be carefully
washed, and dried at a gentle heat. — Vide Moniteur Scientifiquei v., 882.

Composition of the Harrogate Waters. — It appears from a communica-
tion of Dr. S. Muspratt’s that the springs of Harrogate, which have been
lately so much resorted to by persons suffering from cutaneous diseases,
have the following composition : In an imperial gallon there are 41*626
grains of mineral matter, which is thus composed : Carbonate of lime,
10*498 grains, carbonate of magnesia, 1*002, carbonate of soda, 15*093,
sulphide of sodium, 2*852, sulphate of magnesia, 4*593, chloride of
magnesium, 5*741, chloride of sodium, 1*006, silica, 0*841, traces of car-
bonates of iron, potass, and manganese, and also of ammonia and chloride
of potassium. Dr. Muspratt thinks that Dr. Hoffmann’s assertion, that
part of the sulphuretted hydrogen of these waters is in the free state, is
open to considerable doubt. — Vide The Chemical News , No. 228.

Chemical Professorships. — In accordance with the suggestions of the
Commissioners, the Royal Academy of Arts has determined to found a
chair of Chemistry. We learn also upon excellent authority that the
chair in Berlin, held by the late Professor Rose, has been offered to and
accepted by Professor II. Kopp, of Giessen, who will soon enter upon the
duties of his new office. Dr. Hoffmann’s refusal of Rose’s chair resulted
from his having been offered a very large sum by the Bonn authorities
for the construction of a new institute of Chemistry, over which he is
expected to preside.

Chloi'o-carbonic Acid is said by Dr. Schiel to be formed when a
perfectly dry mixture of chlorine and carbonic acid is passed through a

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 527

porcelain tube filled with pieces of charcoal and heated to redness. —
Zeitschrift fur Chemie , etc., vii., p. 220.

A new Acid isomeric with sulpho-vinic Acid was obtained by Mr.
Northcote, by adding sulphuric acid to an alcoholic solution of potash
which had been kept for some years. Heat is not required for its produc-
tion, thus proving its distinctness from the sulpho-vinic compound. — Vide
The Chemical News , 227.

Decomposition of Water by Phosphorus, Arsenic, and Antimony, and Evolu-
tion of Ammonia. — The solution of phosphorus in nitric acid, concentrated
or diluted with one or two volumes of water, is, as is well known, effected
with disengagement of nitrous vapour, abundant if the acid is concentrated,
and diminishing in proportion as it is more diluted. In any case if,
when the solution is effected, excess of potash is added to the hot solution,
sufficient ammonia is disengaged to become evident, both by its odour
and by reagents. Whether normal or amorphous phosphorus is used
in this operation, the phenomena and the products are identical. It was,
then, interesting to ascertain whether the fact of the production of
ammonia was observable with the bodies forming part of the phosphorus
group, as arsenic and antimony. In order to determine this, M. Personne
operated with arsenic and with antimony purified three times by fusion
with nitre. These two bodies, pulverised and heated, were attacked by
nitric acid, diluted with its volume of water. Under these circumstances,
arsenic is easily attacked, giving arsenious and a little arsenic acid.
Antimony, on the contrary, is attacked with more difficulty. However that
may be, if ammonia is looked for in the liquids obtained, it will be found
that these two bodies have behaved like phosphorus, with this difference,
that phosphorus gives more ammonia than arsenic, and arsenic more than
antimony. The phenomenon of the formation of ammonia by the decom-
position of water under the influence of nitric acid has hitherto been
observed only with metals of the third and fourth sections, as iron, tin,
zinc, &c. We now see that this phenomenon is not limited to these
metals, but belongs equally to the metalloids of the phosphorus group.

The Preparation of Iodide of Ammonium . — This haloid salt is thus pre-
pared by Dr. Jacobsen : he dissolves equivalent weights of pure iodide of
potassium and pure sulphate of ammonia in the smallest possible quantity
of boiling distilled water. One part of sulphate of ammonia will require
about one and one-third of its weight, and iodide of potassium about half
its weight of boiling water for solution. The two solutions are then mixed
and well stirred. After the mixture has cooled, water containing fifteen
per cent, of alcohol is added, and the whole is allowed to stand for twelve
hours. In very cold weather less alcohol will suffice to separate the
sulphate of potash formed. According to Schiff, 100 parts of water and
10 of alcohol, at 15° centigrade, only dissolve 8*9 parts of sulphate of
potash. The iodide of ammonium, in consequence of its greater solubility,
remains in the solution, which is now withdrawn from the precipitated
sulphate of potash, filtered and evaporated until a pellicle forms. As the
solution is very concentrated, the evaporation is quickly effected. After
the crystals of iodide of ammonium are formed, they are drained from the
mother-liquor, which, together with the residue of sulphate of potash, is

528

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

again treated with dilute alcohol, and the liquor evaporated for a further
yield of sufficiently pure iodide. Care must be taken to exclude all acid
vapours from the chamber when the evaporation is carried on ; and it is
well to add, from time to time, to the solution, a few drops of ammoniated
alcohol. — Vide Artisan, May, 1864.

The Combustion of Gun-cotton. — Some curious facts in connection with
the causes of the slow and rapid combustion of gun-cotton have quite
lately been pointed out by Professor Abel. He finds that if, even for the
briefest space of time, the gases resulting from the first action of heat on
gun-cotton are impeded from completely enveloping the burning extremity
of the twist, their ignition is prevented. And as it is the comparatively
high temperature produced by their combustion that effects the rapid and
more complete combustion of the gun-cotton, the momentary extinction
of the gases and continuous abstraction of heat by them as they escape
from the point of combustion, render it impossible for the gun-cotton to
continue to burn otherwise than in a slow and imperfect manner, under-
going a transformation similar in character to destructive distillation.
These facts can be illustrated experimentally, by inflaming in the ordinary
manner a piece of the compactly twisted gun-cotton, laid upon the table?
and throwing a jet of air against the flame in a line with the piece of
cotton, but in a direction opposite to that in which the flame is travelling.
In the course of this experiment it will be observed that the combustion
changes to the slow form, because the flame is prevented from enveloping
the burning cotton and thus becomes extinguished. When, however, the
current of air is so employed as to throw the escaping gases back on the
burning cotton, then the combustion passes from the slow to the rapid
form. — Vide Report of paper read before “ Royal Society by Professor
Abel, in The Electrician , May, 1864.

Decomposition of Uric Acid by Bromine . — In a memoir presented to
the Academy of Sciences, M. Hardy alleges that though bromine gives no
substitution products with uric acid, yet in the presence of water it splits
it up into alloxan and urea, forming at the same time hydrobromic acid.
If the temperature be high, more complex changes take place, and para-
baric and oxalic acids are formed, with some hydrobromate of ammonia.
Chlorine and iodine give results similar to those of bromine. When
alloxan is heated to 160° C’., it loses two atoms of water; if the heat be
carried to 250°, it loses no more water, but acquires the property of giving-
coloured solutions. When treated with a base, this modified alloxan fixes
two atoms of water, and forms an acid identical in composition with
alloxanic acid, but which gives coloured salts. For this M. Hardy suggests
the term Iso-alloxanic acid. From these researches, he is also led to infer
that the purple compound produced in the “ nitric acid and ammonia ”
test for uric acid is not murexide, but simply iso-alloxanate of ammonia.
— Vide Comptes Rendus , lviii., 20.

Peculiar Properties of Hydrocyanic Acid. — The following may be
given as the general conclusions at which MM. Bussy and Buignet have
arrived : —

1st, When this acid is mixed with water, the temperature is very
decidedly diminished, and the volume of the mixture contracted.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

529

These two effects proceed directly, the one being associated with
the other, and the maximum for both being attained by a com-
bination of three equivalents of water and one of hydrocyanic
acid.

2nd. That hydrocyanic acid possesses a powerful affinity for corrosive
sublimate, which it retains without forming any definite com-
pound. When the two are mixed together, the temperature
becomes elevated, and the affinity is so powerful that it causes
the conversion of the protochloride into the perchloride, and pro-
duces metallic mercury ; this effect, however, only takes place in
the presence of water.

3rd. Other salts act on the acid in the same way, but to a far less
extent ; but the greater number act by increasing the tension of
the vapour.

4th. In certain cases, the result of the action of the process of so-
lution is to separate the hydrocyanic acid under the form of a
subnatant stratum, although the quantity separated in this way
has no relation to the affinity of the salt which was placed in the
water.— Vide Comptes Rendus , lviii., 19.

GEOLOGY AND PALAEONTOLOGY.

Fossil Insects of the Carboniferous Formation in Illinois. — In Silliman’s
American Journal , No. 109, we find a valuable paper by Mr. Dana, upon
the insects of the latter formation. The species he describes and figures
in the contribution referred to, is evidently one of the Neuroptera. In
general form and the nervation of the wings, one of the species approaches
the Semblids. From this fact, and also from the circumstance that the
outer wings are so thin as to admit of the abdominal segments, and even
the inferior wings being seen through, there is every reason to
believe that the insect could not have been one of the Orthoptera. The
anterior legs are peculiar in having a large and broad femur, armed above
with very slender spines as long as the joint, three of which, though
mutilated, are seen in the specimen. Mr. Dana supposes that these limbs
were prehensile, as in the Mantis, and this idea is borne out by the fact
that the tibia and tarsus are not in sight. Only the left leg in the specimen
has the large joint tolerably perfect ; in the right, however, it is sufficiently
distinct to show that it had the same large size, and was also spine-bearing.
This fossil was discovered by Mr. J. Bronson, of the Miami University,
and at his request it has received the generic title of Miamia , the specific
one of Bronsoni having been appended by Mr. Dana.

Exogenous Wood in Arenaceous Limestone. — Professor Haughton describes
a curious specimen which he found in some of the beds of the yellow
sandstone series of the north coast of Mayo, in Ireland. When a section of
it was examined under the microscope (X 500 diameter), it presented the
appearance of “ a bundle of rushes deprived of epidermis, containing
elevated disk-like markings.” The rush-like appearance represented
longitudinal tubes with areolse or warts on the interior surfaces of their

530

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

walls, while the concentric lines of growth (numbering in this specimen
sixteen, and marking the age of the plant) being crossed by medullary
rays, left iio doubt that the plant referred to was a coniferous exogen.
This discovery of Dr. Haughton’s is another argument against Mr. Jukes’
view, that there is a true Devonian system in Ireland. The sandstones
of Ireland are essentially strata of the carboniferous system, and are per-
fectly conformable with the limestone beds which overlie them. — Vide
Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science, , April, 1864.

The Fossils of the Bruniquel Gave . — It is very satisfactory to know that
the human and other remains from this grotto have been purchased by the
authorities of the British Museum. In January last Professor Owen
proceeded to the cavern, and having examined it and observed the splendid
collection of human and other bones which it contained, proceeded to
bargain with the proprietors for the contents. The news of the professor’s
visit having reached the ears of the French authorities, MM. Milne
Edwards and Lartet were despatched on a commission of inspection. They
also recognized the value of the discovery, and presently an offer was
made from the French Government slightly outbidding that which was
made by Professor Owen, under the necessary reserve of approval by the
trustees. The proprietor, however, honourably adhered to his verbal
treaty with the Professor, who telegraphed the assent of the trustees. This
magnificent collection of fossils — some fifteen hundred, many still em-
bedded in the calcified mould of mud in which they were found, beneath
the stalagmite — is now deposited in the British Museum. It would ap-
pear, from the communication which Professor Owen made to the Royal
Society upon the subject, that some of the human remains stand high in
the scale of organization. The skull cap which he found did not present
the large frontal sinuses so remarkable in that from Neanderthal, nor did
it exhibit any features of an inferior or transitional type. We hope that
geologists generally may investigate this matter, and throw as much light
upon it as has been already thrown upon the discovery of the Moulin-
quignon jawbone.

The Discovery of the Scales of Pteraspis is due to Mr. E. Ray Lankester,
who lately read a paper on the tegumentary organs of this fish, before
the Geological Society. In this communication, the author, after having
pointed out the successive steps by which the genus Pteraspis came to be
established, and the grounds on which the opinion as to its fish-nature
rests,* proceeded to describe the scales in detail. These organs were found
by Mr. Lankester at Cradley, near Malvern, and they alone were required
to remove all doubt as to the affinities of the genus. The paper concluded
with a description of the cephalic shield of Pteraspis rostralis. For
further information on this subject we beg to refer our readers to Mr.
Lankester’s article in the present number. See also The Geologist ,
June, 1864.

Probable Fossils of Borneo. — In writing upon this subject, Mr. A. R.
Wallace states his opinion that an exploration of the Borneo caves would
be attended with results most profitable to geologic science. This island
offers a field for exploration unequalled, perhaps, in the globe. Limestone
caverns abound in it. There are several very extensive ones in the Sara-
wak territory itself, and Mr. St. John mentions others in the Bruni coun-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

531

try. The character of the existing fauna, as well as the extent of the
land and the height of the mountains, all prove it to be of some geological
antiquity. Now, in every other country which has been explored, the
animals which have recently become extinct are always allied to those
now living in the same region, and are often of gigantic size or remarkable
forms. Europe gives us elks, bears, and hysenas ; Australia extinct kan-
garoos and wombats ; South America giant sloths and armadillos ;
according to all analogy, therefore, it may be expected that the caves of
Borneo would reward a persevering explorer, not only with fossil tapirs,
Malay bears, and scaly ant-eaters, but also with the precursors of the
extraordinary lemuroid forms now inhabiting the country — Galeopithecus ,
Nycticebus , and Tarsius — and with fossil proboscis-monkeys, gibbons and
orangs more or less resembling those which now abound in its vast and
luxuriant forests. It is not improbable that some human remains may
also be found to throw light upon the question of the origin of the Malayan
races, and to prove whether a negrito or some still lower race was formerly
spread over the whole Archipelago. Mr. Wallace informs the naturalists
of this country that a gentleman (Mr. Coulson) is now on his way to
Singapore, who would gladly undertake to explore the island of Borneo,
should the scientific world defray the necessary expenses. — Vide Natural
History Review , No. xiv.

The Liassic Strata of Belfast. — Mr. Tate, in a paper read before the
Geological Society, has given an outline sketch of the distribution of cer-
tain beds of the Lias in the neighbourhood of Belfast. The zones of
Ammonites BucJclandi, of Avicula contorta," and the white lias, occur in the
locality referred to. The characters of these subdivisions were described,
and sections were exhibited showing the beds as exposed in Colin Glen and
at Cave Hill, where the three zones are developed. Sections of the Avicula
contorta zone, at Woodbarn, were also shown. It is a remarkable feature of
these deposits, that in the zone of Ammonites BucJclandi that ammonite
is replaced by A. intermedins.

Origin of the American LaJces. — Professor Hind, of Toronto, who has
given considerable attention to this question, has arrived at the conclusion
that the great lakes of the St. Lawrence and Winnipeg basins were produced
by the action of glacial masses, like those now covering Greenland. It
appears that Sir William Logan and most of the American geologists
are in favour of this view.

The White Limestone of Jamaica is described by Mr. A. Lennox as includ-
ing a basement series of sandstones and shells, a hard white limestone, a yel-
lowish limestone, and an uppermost member consisting of dark-red marl ; it
is estimated to be at least 2,500 feet thick. At the junction of the calcareous
rocks with the granite the former is often more or less altered, and thus affords
good proof that the latter is of Tertiary age. Mr. Lennox considers that the
diagrammatic section of the rocks of Jamaica, prepared by the late Mr.
Barret, is erroneous, for the following reasons : 1st, There is no section in
Jamaica in which the relation of the white limestone to the Hippurite
limestone is seen. 2nd. The white limestone is, in his opinion, of Miocene
age ; and 3rd, the shelly and sandy beds represented in the section as
overlying the white limestone are, he believes, in quite the opposite posi-
tion. On physical and palaeontological grounds, Mr. Lennox states his

532

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

belief that the white limestone is of Miocene date, and was probably
deposited slowly in a tranquil sea. — Vide The Geologist , June, 1864.

The Fossilization of West Indian Corals. — A most valuable paper upon
the process of fossilization of corals was presented by Dr. Duncan to the
Geological Society at one of its late meetings (April 27). The results of
this process, as seen in the West Indian fossil corals, being very remark-
able, and having much obscured their specific characters, thus rendering
their determination extremely difficult, Dr. Duncan found it necessary to
thoroughly examine their different varieties of mineralization, and to
compare their present condition with the different stages in the decay and
fossilization of recent fossils as seen now in progress. By this means he
was enabled to show the connection between the destruction of the
minuter structures by decomposing membranes, and certain forms of fossi-
lization in which those structures are imperfectly preserved. It appears
from his researches that the filling up of the interspaces by granular car-
bonate of lime and other substances, as well as the induration of certain
species, during a pre-fossil and post-mortem period, gives rise to certain
varieties of fossilization, and that the results of these operations are per-
petuated in a fossil state. Dr. Duncan describes no less than eight dis-
tinct forms of mineralization, viz., calcareous, siliceous, siliceous and
crystalline, siliceous and destructive, siliceous casts, calcareo-siliceous
and destructive, and calcareo-siliceous casts. In describing these forms,
especial reference was made to those in which the structures were more or
less destroyed during the replacement (by silica) of the carbonate of lime
which filled the interspaces, and during that of the ordinary hard parts
of the coral.

In explaining the nature and mode of formation of the large casts of
calices from Antigua, the author drew attention to the fact that the sili-
fication is more intense on the surface and in the centre of the coral than
in the intermediate region ; and when examined microscopically it could
be seen that the replacement of the carbonate of lime began by the
silica appearing as minute points in the centre of the interspaces and of
the schlerenchyma and not on their surface. — The Geologist , No. 78.

Fossil Reindeer of Ireland . — Dr. Carte, the well-known curator of the
Dublin Society’s Museum, has described the head and antlers of a splendid
specimen lately found in the east of Ireland. It was discovered at a depth
of about five feet from the surface, covered with turf and clay, and lay on
marl and blue clay. Some other bones (ribs, &c.) were found associated
with it, but unfortunately were not preserved. On comparing the speci-
men described with the description of the dentition of existing reindeer,
Dr. Carte found a perfect agreement in all respects.

The so-called Devonian Formation in Ireland, — Another proof of the ac-
curacy of the view, that the Irish sandstone is really carboniferous, has
been afforded by Mr. Robert Scott. In a paper read some time since before
the Geological Society of Dublin, this gentleman described some peculiar
plants akin to the Lepidodendron, which he discovered in the sandstone-
beds of the county Donegal. When about leaving the locality, he went
into a quarry which had been recently opened, and found a large number
of well-known carboniferous mollusca, such as Ortliis crenestria , Eaom-
phalus calyx , &c., associated with the plants, and with other markings of

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

organic origin. With these he also observed several isolated markings
which appeared to be more regular in shape than the fragments of the
vegetable remains usually are, and to bear some resemblance to fish-scales.
From this quarry he afterwards obtained some fish remains, and amongst
them the palatal tooth of a species of Psammodus , probably P. porosus.

The following fossils were identified : Sagenaria Weltheimiana, Cucullcea
Grijfithice, Avicula Damnoniensis , and Orthis crenistria. — Vide Dublin
Quarterly Journal , April, 1864.

The Irish Crannoges. — Mr. G. Henry Kinahan has minutely explored
these forms of prehistoric dwellings, and given a great deal of minute
detail as to their form and mode of construction. After having described
various implements, &c. discovered in the vicinity of the crannoges, Mr.
Kinahan concludes — 1st. That iron was in use in the early age of the
crannoges. This is proved by the presence of knives, but the sharp points
on the stakes would lead to the same conclusion ; also the number of
bones which must have been used for the sharpening of metal instruments.
The cuts which were observed on pieces of deer’s horn must have been
made with a very fine saw, as there are no marks of graining on the
surface. 2nd. That when the crannoges were first built, the surface of
the lake (Lough Rea) must have been at least seven feet lower than at
present, as is proved by several sections, and by the old turf-banks at the
south-east end of the lake, over which there are five or six feet of water.
3rd. That at a subsequent period the western part of the lake must have
been twelve feet deeper than at present ; this being proved by the fact that
there are at least six feet of shell-marl beneath the artificial works. The
change in the level of the lake must, in the author’s opinion, have been
caused by the silting-up of its outlet. The ancient stream from the lake
seems to have been at the west end of the town, as in that place there is
an alluvial deposit, while at its present outlet there is a strong corn-gravel ;
and a little below its present bed there seems to be rock. It is well
known that the silting-up of a lake is a very tedious process. First, the
weeds grow during the summer, and catch the heavy particles that
are coming out with the water ; but in the winter-floods all the weeds are
broken down, and most of the accumulated matter is carried away ; so
that in a century it would hardly raise the bottom of the stream more than
six inches, which would make the crannoges to have been built about
1,400 years before the lake reached its present level. But it must be
remembered, that since the town of Loughrea was built the lake could
scarcely have changed its level ; for the eastern outlet ran at the foot of
the town- wall, and the inhabitants would have kept it open, being part of
the defences of their town. Loughrea is more than 400 years old, and
hence the conclusion is arrived at, that the crannoges are of pre-Christian
origin. — Vide Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy for 1863.

Minute Geologic Evidence. — Mr. Edward Blytli has recently pointed out
the existence of two very distinct forms of deposit, which are occasionally
found on the teeth of fossil herbivora. By an examination of these the
geologist is, to some extent, enabled to determine whether an animal lias
been in the wild or domesticated condition. “There is a small particular
or character which generally distinguishes a wild herbivorous animal from
a tame one ; and this is, a certain incrustation of brown tartar upon the

534

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

teeth.” This deposit he did not find upon the porcine relics at the Wrekin,
but he fancied, at first, that he detected it upon the teeth of the fossil bovine
remains in Ireland. However, after examining the latter more carefully,
he noticed a ferruginous deposit from the peat, which might easily be mis-
taken for the incrustation of brown tartar. “ In the one case there would be
traces of parasitic life under the microscope — not so in the other case.
The incrustation from the peat covered the whole tooth, at least as much
of it as was not of the bony alveolus ; whereas the tartar incrustation was
only upon that portion of the tooth that had not been imbedded in the
gum. The latter was conspicuously present in sundry teeth of Megaceros
hibernicus and of Germs elaphus .” We presume that for this reason Mr.
Blyth regards these species as belonging to the category of domesticated
animals, but we wish the evidence was a little more convincing. — Vide
Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science, No. xiv., p. 150.

Revival of the Neanderthal Skull Controversy . — We had almost thought
that everything that could be said upon the subject of the Neanderthal
skull had been said in extenso already ; but we were wrong. Mr. Carter
Blake has opened the case again. In the last number of the Anthropological
Review we find an article from his pen, in which he treats in a remarkably
hazy manner of the views of other writers, and concludes by the expression
of an opinion, the exact nature of which is by no means clear, but which
seems to be a jumbled commixture of his own idea and the very peculiar
speculations of Mr. William King.

Contemporaneity of Man and Ursus spelceus. — MM. Garrigou and Filhol
consider that their recent inquiries have proved that man and the cave bear
were contemporaries. This they believe is established by the discovery
of bones which have been split along their length for the purpose of ex-
tracting the marrow : this habit was much in vogue among the first
races of man, and is even still practised by such tribes as the Lap-
landers and Esquimaux. The aspect and form of the incisions are
peculiar. When the section of the bone is of ancient date it presents
the same coloration as the rest of the surface, and is frequently covered
with the same matrix. When it has been produced in removing the bone
from its place of deposit, the section has a far whiter and fresher colour
than the general surface. The sections themselves have a wonderful
uniformity in regard to the direction in which they have been made —
they are almost invariably continued in a single right line. The heads
of the long bones are always entire, the diaphysis being opened longitu-
dinally, and attached in longer or shorter fragments to the heads. The
short bones (vertebrae and phalanges) are usually found divided into two
nearly equal parts. — Vide Comptes Rendus , May 16th.

Fossil Shells from Thibet. — A number of these have been sent over to
Paris by M. T. Desmazures. They were discovered at a place called Kou-
Chow, about twenty leagues south-west of Patang. They were observed
in the pebbles forming the bed of the river, and which are employed by
the natives in the cure of stomach diseases. M. Guyerdet, to whom
they were sent for identification, has pronounced them to belong to the
species of Terebratula , T. cuboides , T. reticularis , and T. pugnus . — Vide
Comptes Rendus , May 9th.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

535

MECHANICAL SCIENCE.

Elastic Railway Wheels. — A valuable paper on this subject was read by
Mr. Vaughan Pendred at the Society of Engineers. After pointing out that
repairs of way average in cost in Great Britain fifteen per cent, of -the
working expenses of railways, being in England 220/., in Scotland 142/.,
and in Ireland 84 Z. per mile, per annum, he stated that this enormous
destruction was due to the percussive action
of the wheels striking the rails on an ex-
tremely small base. To combat this wear and
tear the tendency hitherto has been to render
the permanent way as elastic as possible, the
rails deflecting between the chairs, and the
ballast giving way -under the sleepers : hence
the necessity for stirring the ballast as often
as it is pounded into rigidity. On the other
hand, Mr. Pendred contends that in making
the permanent way the elastic member of the
system, we throw on it a function for which it
has no fitness, and that the wheel and wheel-
tyre should be the true yielding parts. This he would secure by making
the tyre independent of any rigid connection with the wheel. For this
purpose steel hoop springs, made in segments, should be introduced between
the wheel and tyre. This system, first introduced by Mr. Adams, has proved
eminently successful in several trials ; Staffordshire iron tyres elastically
seated out- wearing steel tyres rigidly connected with the wheel on the ordi-
nary plan. Now, the disintegration of rail and tyre proceeds pari passu, and
the increased durability of the tyre is the measure of the lessened wear of
the rail.

Radial Axle Boxes . — Mr. Adams has also invented peculiarly-formed
axle boxes, which allow a small amount of lateral play to the wheels of
locomotive engines ; so that in passing round curves the line of the wheel
base adjusts itself to that of the rails, instead of being as heretofore rigidly
straight. An engine so fitted has been running on the North London
Railway, passing easily and steadily round curves of 132 feet radius.

/S 'team Coals for the Navy. — Further official trials have been made at
Keyham of the relative evaporative power of Welsh and North Country
coals, which afford data valuable beyond the special question at issue. They
show the economic value, , or pounds of water evaporated per pound of fuel,
to be for Welsh coal, taken from store, 9*34 lbs. ; Welsh coal sent as
sample, 9*90 lbs., and with specially shortened furnaces, 10T3 lbs. ; for
North Country coal from store, 8*26 lbs.; sent as sample, 8*41 lbs. When
the furnace was improved by the addition of a perforated fire-door the eva-
porative power was 9*73 lbs. with the sample of Welsh coal, and 10*44 lbs*
with the shortened furnace ; 8*61 lbs. for North Country sample coal, and
10*23 with the shortened furnace. For mixtures of equal parts of Welsh
and North Country coal obtained from store, 8*79 lbs. ; of Welsh and North
Country samples, 9*42 lbs. ; and with shortened furnaces, 9*91 and 9*54 lbs.
respectively. With perforated fire-doors the combination of Welsh and

Section of Elastically Sealed
Tyre.

536

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

North Country samples evaporated 9’45 lbs. It is remarkable that whilst
alone the North Country still appears inferior to the Welsh, the mixture
of the two has nearly as high an economic value as the pure Welsh, with
greater rapidity of evaporation, and on the average less smoke.

Testing of Chain Cables. — An interesting paper on this subject was read
by Mr. F. A. Paget, C.E., at the Society of Arts. The average tenacity of
the bars of which the links are made is stated to be 24 tons per square inch ;
of this 28#75 per cent, is lost in the finished link, in consequence of (1) the
geometrical form of the link, (2) the crushing stress undergone by the
inside of the crowns, (8) the deterioration of the iron in bending, and (4)
the loss of strength at the welds. As to the proper tests of the cable, Mr.
Paget suggests the breaking of a portion by hydraulic pressure as affording
the surest guide to the quality of the iron employed, testing the entire
cable to a fixed proof strain, and finally, by blows or impacts, as specially
adapted for the discovery of false welds. The apparent increase of strength
of bars repeatedly broken, first exhibited in the experiments of Mr. Lloyd,
is shown to be due to increase of hardness, or of the difficulty of the gliding
to and fro of the particles, so that whilst the resistance to purely passive
loads is increased, the resistance to impulsive forces is enormously
diminished at each fracture. The value of the Government hydraulic test
of 11 ’46 tons per square inch is discussed, and the permanent set under
this strain is stated to be to TlT of the length. While believing that a
single application of this test does not materially injure the cable if good,
Mr. Paget deprecates any attempt to make the test more severe.

Adheated Steam.— Mr. Waterman has patented a plan for making the
sides of the cylinders of steam engines of extremely thin metal, and sur-
rounding them by a jacket of steam of higher temperature than that
working the engine. In this way, the losses from the condensation of
steam in the cylinder during expansion and its re- evaporation into the
condenser are avoided. The plan is a thorough carrying out of the
principle of the ordinary steam jacket, right theoretically, but of doubtful
practical advantage.

High pressure Boilers . — Mr. Zerah Colburn has described to the Institute

of Mechanical Engineers an entirely
new steam boiler, adapted for very
high pressures. It is the invention of
Mr. Joseph Harrison, of Philadelphia,
and consists of cast-iron spheres con-
nected by hollow necks and secured by
bolts. These spheres are 8 in. in ex-
ternal diam., in. thick and connected
by necks of 3-in. opening, faced to a
true surface to secure steam-tight joints.
Experiments with this boiler in Bel-
gium, at the request of the Minister of
Public Works, proved that the boiler
would not burst with a pressure of
1,440 lbs. per square inch. Similar ex-
periments in this country showed that
the spheres would successfully resist a pressure of 1,200 lbs. Ulti-

Small portion of a Harrison Boiler.
Scale ^th.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

537

mately some spheres were burst at 1,650 lbs. per square inch, the
safe working pressure of the boiler being therefore nearly 300 lbs.
per square inch. One remarkable feature of this boiler is an entire free-
dom from corrosion and incrustation. As to its evaporative efficiency,
experiments show an evaporation of 442*7 cubic feet of water by 38 cwt.
of coal, or 6£ cubic feet of water per pound of fuel. Making allowance
for the loss in heating the water, boiler, and brickwork at starting, Mr.
Colburn estimates the average evaporation at 8 cubic feet of water per
pound of fuel.

The “ Great Eastern .” — Dr. W. Fairbairn has made a report to some
gentlemen interested in the great ship favourable to the removal of the
paddle-engines as an expedient for reducing the cost of working. He
estimates the money saved on three voyages per annum to Calcutta at
£20,000, the speed being reduced from 14 to 10| knots per hour. It is to
be hoped, however, that means will be found to make this noble vessel
answer commercially without the sacrifice of such distinctive features as the
combination of paddles and screw and the resulting high speed at sea.

Armstrong and Whitworth Guns. — Nothing official has yet been made
known as to the results of these trials, which have been prosecuted
vigorously. It is reported, however, that whilst the Whitworth 12 Pr. gun
exhibited great lateral accuracy, the deviation of 10 shots at 1,600 yards
being only 5 inches, the vertical deviation was considerable, a wall 8|- feet
high being hit directly only seven times out of fifteen. The Armstrong is
said to have done better in this respect. Each 12 Pr. gun has now fired
2,500 rounds, or three times the number required to destroy the old brass
field-piece. At 4,000 yards Mr. Whitworth has the advantage in range by
400 yards.

Institute of Naval Architects. — This association has held its session under
the presidency of Sir J. Pakington with great success, iron-plated vessels
of war affording the chief subject of discussion. Mr. E. J. Reed narrated
a series of experiments confirming previous theoretical calculations, and
proving that the centre of gravity of armour-plated ships is lower
than that of the old wooden sliips-of-the-line ; and consequently, so far
from being unsteady from top-weight, as has been alleged, they are more
stable than the ships they replace. Mr. Cunningham described a mode of
working heavy guns on shipboard by shafting connected with a steam-
engine. The shafting has drums, round which a turn or two is taken by
the slack rope of each of the ordinary gun tackles. When the slack of
any rope is hauled on, it bites on the drum which accordingly works the gun,
but when the end of the rope is let loose it slips. Captain Scott advocated
wooden facing to armour-plates instead of backing, a plan which has been
found to be successful when opposed to solid shot alone, but which is
apparently open to the insuperable objection that the facing may be blown
off in sheets by shell, leaving the iron exposed. Mr. J. Scott Russell read
a paper on the present state of the questions at issue between modern
guns and armour-plated vessels. The resistance of plates to shot he
stated as follows : 4^-inch plates cannot be penetrated by cast-iron
spherical shot from service guns ; nor 5^-inch plates by 68 lbs. steel shot ;
nor 6-inch plates by 9-inch steel shot. No plate has been found to resist the
projectile of the 300-pounder. Mr. Barnes demonstrated a mode of ascer-

538

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

taining the longitudinal metacentre of a vessel, a problem which enables
us to determine the effect of shifting the weights fore and aft on a vessel’s
trim. Mr. G. B. Airey, the Astronomer Royal, described a mode of
steering or slewing a vessel by means of a screw-propeller, placed in the
dead wood near the stern-post with its axis athwartships. Several papers
wTere read on rudders and steering, amongst which may be mentioned that
of Mr. Barnes, proving that for a given amount of power at the helm a
small rudder, brought over to the full rudder angle, is more efficient than
a larger rudder at a less angle. Also an account of some trials favourable
to the use of a partially-balanced rudder, by Commander Shuldham, R.N.
Admiral Sartorius advanced the claims of the steam-ram, whilst Sir E.
Belcher, who sets a low value on the ram, from the difficulty of striking
a ship in motion, proposed that war-vessels should be defended by an
outer iron casing resting on longitudinal stringers, with an interior iron-
cased cell of oval section containing the boilers and engines, the space
between the outer and inner casing forming air-tight cells to be used as
coal-bunkers. Mr. Norman Scott Russell discussed the relative advantages
of turret and broadside arrangements of guns, arriving at the conclusion
that the turret should only be used in moderate sized vessels, carrying
one or at most two cupolas ; in other cases, the broadside arrangement
had a decided superiority. Mr. McLaine advocated a system in which
the guns fire only in the line of the keel, the vessel having twin screws,
so that the lateral training of the guns is effected solely by steering,
the ship always fighting bow on. Capt. Symonds introduced the subject of
twin-screw vessels. Mr. E. A. Cowper read a paper on uniform power
expansive marine engines, in which the use of the steam jacket is
extended, and a reservoir provided to receive the steam from the high-
pressure cylinder until, the cranks having passed round 90, the low-
pressure cylinder is ready to receive it. Among several remarkable
papers by Dr. Rankine, the most practically interesting was one on the
computation of the resistance of proposed ships, from which the speed
with a given engine power and the engine power necessary for a given
speed may be ascertained.

Experiments on Armour Plates . — Further experiments at Shoeburyness
confirm the high opinion already formed of the Chalmers system of
armour-plating. The target consisted of a facing of 3f-inch plates, backed
by 10 inches of teak and an inner casing of 1^-inch plates connected with
the facing by f-inch iron webs between each balk of interposed timber.
The inner plating rests on five inches of teak, and this again on the skin
of the vessel f-inch thick. It proved entirely invulnerable to all service
projectiles, but wTas pierced by the 300-pounder.

Palliser's Bolts. — Captain Palliser has introduced a singularly scientific
improvement of the bolts for armour-plates, which overcomes the grave diffi-
culties in their attachment to the ship hitherto existing. He causes the bolt
to be turned down throughout its length to the diameter of the metal at the
bottom of the screw-threads. Hence the strain on the impact of a shot,
being equally intense throughout its entire length, the bolt elongates, acting
as a perfect cushion or spring, instead of chipping off immediately below
the nut.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

539

MEDICAL SCIENCE.

Structure of the Nerve-cells in the Frog. — Perhaps one of the most in-
teresting and exquisitely illustrated memoirs that has ever been presented
to the Royal Society is that of Dr. Lionel Beale on the above subject.
In order to thoroughly grasp the difficulties of this branch of microscopic
anatomy, the reader must refer to the monograph itself, which has been
published separately; but by reference to the accompanying plate (PI.
XXI.), the following conclusions which the author has reached will be
rendered explicit : —

(1) In all cases nerve-cells are connected with nerve-fibres, and the cell
probably influences only the fibres with which it is structurally con-
tinuous. (2) Apolar and unipolar cells have no existence, all nerve-cells
having two fibres in connection with them. (3) In certain ganglia of the
frog there are large pear-shaped cells, from which two fibres proceed — a, a
straight fibre continuous with the central part of the body of the cell ;
and 5, a fibre or fibres connected with the circumferential part, and coiled
spirally round the straight fibres. (4) These two fibres, after lying very
near to, and in some cases, when the spiral is very lax, nearly parallel with
each other, at length pass toward the periphery in opposite directions. (5)
Ganglion cells exhibit different characters, according to their age. In the
youngest cells, neither of the fibres exhibits the spiral arrangement ; in
fully-formed cells there is a considerable extent of spiral fibre ; but in old
cells the number of coils is much greater. (6) These ganglion cells may
be formed in one of three ways : a , from a granular mass like that which
forms the early condition of all structures ; h , by the division or splitting
up of a mass, like a single ganglion-cell, but before the mass has assumed
the perfect form ; c, by changes occurring in what appears to be the nu-
cleus of a nerve-fibre. (7) During the development of a ganglion cell,
there is reason to believe that the entire cell moves away from the point
where its formation commenced, so that the fibres connected with it will
become elongated. (8) There are nuclei in the body of the cell ; and
there are nuclei connected with the spiral and also with the straight fibre,
the nuclei of the cell being found both on its surface and in its substance.
(9) The matter of which the nucleus is composed has been termed (by Dr.
Beale) germinal matter. From it alone growth takes place, and in all
cases the matter of which the nerve fibre consists was once in the state of
germinal matter. (10) The nucleolus also consists of germinal or de-
veloping material. (11) The ganglion cells are connected with both dark-
bordered fibres and fine ones. (12) Contrary to Kolliker’s statement,
there are neither apolar nor unipolar cells in the ganglia of the heart.

(13) The muscular coat of the arteries is supplied with nerve-fibres.

(14) The connective-tissue-corpuscles are quite distinct from the nerve-
fibres. (15) The so-called nucleated capsule of the ganglion-cells in the
ganglia of mammalia usually consists of nerve-fibres. (16) As nerve-
fibres grow old, the soluble matters are absorbed, leaving a fibrous
material which is known as connective-tissue.

No one can help admiring the beauty of Dr. Beale’s drawings, and
admitting the accuracy of most of his conclusions. In some cases, how-

540

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

ever, we think his theories are hardly as well supported as they ought to
be. For example, we do not see why — admitting the connective-tissue
corpuscle to be a non-nervous tissue — it is necessary to assume that the
insoluble material left represents connective-tissue. Such a conclusion
would imply, either that connective-tissue was formed nervous matter, or
that it had the power of being developed in two distinct ways.

The Development of Fibrine. — The production of the material known
as fibrine is due to that gradual death of minute particles of the living
matter, of the white and small colourless corpuscles, which takes place
under ordinary circumstances when blood escapes from the vessels of the
living body. The blood does not die the very instant it leaves the
vessels, and, as is well known, it may be caused to retain its vitality much
longer under some conditions than others. It is even probable that these
particles of living matter may absorb nutrient matter, and increase for
some time after the blood has left the vessel, so that it is possible, not only
that some of the fibrine, but that the living matter from which it resulted,
may have been produced after the blood was removed from the organism.
A white corpuscle will live and move for hours after the blood has been
drawn from the body. Such is the ingenious theory which Dr. Beale
advances to explain the origin of fibrine, and certes it must be said that
it is a most rational one. — Vide The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical
Science , April, 1864.

Epilepsy accompanied by Diabetes. — In the last number of the Archives
of Medicine will be found a report of a very instructive and singular
case of this kind which occurred in the practice of Dr. B. Sequard.
Mr. Lockhart Clarke, who examined the condition of the spinal and
cerebral organs, reports that the “point of the calamus scriptorius was
composed entirely of a column of densely-crowded oil globules ; and
a similar degeneration, though in a less degree, extended to the corre-
sponding parts, a little below as well as a little above, where it partly
affected the nuclei of the pneumogastric nerves.”

Nature of Skin Parasites.— A little pamphlet has recently been pub-
lished in which Dr. Tilbury Fox comments severely upon the hypotheses
of Mr. Erasmus Wilson. The latter gentleman has broached the idea
that the so-called plant parasites of the human skin are not vegetable
growths at all, but are merely the ordinary epidermoid tissue which has
undergone some species of metamorphosis. This doctrine is opposed, and
we think justly, by the former, who advances many arguments in favour
of the vegetal character of the organisms in question, and shows — 1st. That
we are able to distinguish the presence of cellulose externally, and inter-
nally the primordial utricle coloured by iodine ; also that the tubed
mycelial form and fructification are present, and thus exhibit truly vegetal
features. 2nd. That ether, chloroform, and spirit of wine, which render
epithelial tissues transparent (?) and dissolve fatty substances, do not
affect the parasitic structures. 3rd. When the parasitic structure is
removed from the skin, “ put up,” and kept in a warm place, it will
be observed to grow. The nuclear will develop into the sporular form,
and the sporules will join together and increase in size, bud, or produce
mycelium. These phenomena have been observed by Dr. Fox in a specimen
of tricophyton which had been removed from diseased hair. Dr. Fox’s

PLATE XXI.

Ganglion Cell, showing Straight and
Spiral Fibres.

Ganglion Cell undergoing division.

Drawings illustrating the conversion of Nerve -nucleus into
Ganglion Cell , with Straight and Spiral Fibres.

Three Cells of different, ages from the same Ganglion.

STRUCTURE OF NERVE-ENDS.

u>tjlak Science Review, No. XII.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

541

conclusions are very valuable, and, as they bear upon the entire pathology
and treatment of this class of diseases, they should be known to all
physicians.

Development of the Maxillary Bones. — Mr. Hulme has compiled a useful
essay upon this subject, in which to his own inquiries he unites those of
Rathke, Reichert, Coste, Leidy, Robin, and others. He thinks that it is evi-
dent that each superior maxillary bone in man is derived from two distinct
centres of development. One of these produces that portion of the bone
which corresponds to the superior maxillary bone of the lower mammalia,
and the other to that portion of the jaw which contains the incisor teeth and
corresponds to the intermaxillary bone of the same animals. The develop-
ment of the lower jaw proceeds more rapidly than that of the upper,
for, while it is not until the thirtieth or thirty-fifth day that we find
indications of the four buds or processes from which the superior jaw-
bones are developed, the buds which constitute the lower jaw have grown
out and united in the median line as early as the twenty-fifth or twenty-
eighth day. — Vide Dental Review , April, 1864.

Bony Tumour in the Eyelid. — In that excellent periodical the Ophthalmic
Review , we find the following case reported from Yon Grafe’s Journal.
A patient presented an enlargement of the upper lid, and on everting
this a circumscribed tumour of somewhat oval form and as large as half
a hazel-nut emerged from the palpebral sinus, not far from the outer angle.
It was hard and covered with smooth conjunctiva. It was drawn forward
with the forceps, and excised and examined by Dr. Schweigger, who found
under the normal conjunctiva a very dense cellular tissue, and then a
nucleus of true bone, somewhat resembling in form an incisor tooth, and
measuring almost three lines in its longest diameter.

Fatty Degeneration of the Blood . — Under this title a new disease has
been described by Signor Tigri, who finds that the circulating fluid occa-
sionally undergoes a peculiar alteration, which results from the accumu-
lation of a fatty substance in the red corpuscles. This phenomenon, which
was at first observed only in extravasated blood, has now been detected in
the fluid traversing the vessels. Signor Tigri is of opinion that this dis-
covery will help to explain the nature of certain cases of death in which
no apparent alteration of the organs indispensable to life has been observed.
— Vide Comptes Rendus , April 18th.

Micro-photographs. — M. Duchenne, of Boulogne, has succeeded in
obtaining some very beautiful photographs of the microscopic appearances
of various portions of the spinal-cord of man. The specimens represent
transverse sections of the marrow in the normal and pathologic conditions,
and indicate magnifying powers of from 200 to 1,000 diameters. If these
representations are sufficiently distinct to admit of their being trans-
ferred to stone and then printed, the benefit to science wTill be very
great. By such means, if generally adopted, a good deal of unpleasant
controversy would be avoided.

Cause of the Falsetto Voice. — According to the researches of M. Fournie
the falsetto voice is produced by the following alterations of the vocal
cords : the two posterior thirds are kept in close contact by the action of
the inferior and middle constrictors of the pharynx and by the contraction

VOL. III. — NO. XII. 1 2 O

542

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

of the lateral fasciculi of the thyro-arytenoi’d muscle. That this condition is
the true one was proved by the production of falsetto notes by an artificial
larynx which had been arranged in the manner indicated above .“-“Vide
Comptes Rendus, April 11th.

Influence of the Spinal Nerves over the Action of the Heart. Several
interesting though cruel experiments have lately been carried out on
dogs, by M. Schiff, with the object of determining the extent of this
influence. The animal is placed upon its back and kept in that position,
and then two long and sharp needles are taken by the operator and
plunged into the body : one of them, is driven in beside the sternum till
it reaches the point of the heart, without wounding it ; the other is forced
into the diaphragm. These two needles by their separate vibrations
indicate respectively the movements of the circulatory and respiratory
organs. When, under these conditions, the experimenter irritates any of
the sensitive nerves of the head, as the anterior auricular or suborbital
nerves, the movements of the heart slacken, often to as few as four pul-
sations in the minute. If now the operator ceases to irritate the sensitive
nerves, the action of the heart commences again. M. Schiff details the
results of no less than eight different experiments made in this way, and
terminates his memoir with this conclusion : in the spinal nerves the
roots which operate upon the heart and larynx are by no means the same,
for their filaments arise from distinct portions of the medulla, those
presiding over movement arising more posteriorly than the others.
The influence of the medulla oblongata upon the heart is not due to fila-
ments which spring from the bulb properly so called, but to those which,
in the interior of the medullary substance, descend towards the Spinal
marrow of the neck, and leave this centre with the cervical roots of the
spinal nerves.

Condition of the Blood in Inflammation. — M M . Estor and Saint-Pierre
affirm that the red colour of an inflamed part is due to the following
circumstances (1) That the venous blood of the part contains a larger
quantity of colouring matter than usual ; (2) that it contains a greater
proportion of oxygen than that of the healthy part, for whilst that of the
latter is represented by 1, that of the former rises to 1*50, and even to.
2*50 ; (3) that the venous blood, during inflammation, contains a greater
quantity of carbonic acid ; and (4) an increase of red colour is alwa}'S
consequent on an increase of oxygen. — Vide Comptes Rendus, April 4th.

Expulsion of Carbonic Acid from the Blood.— In one of the late numbers
of the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of Vienna, a most inter-
esting communication from Dr. Ludwig appears. In this paper the author
demonstrates, by reference to the results of numerous experiments, that
the removal of the carbonic acid is not due to any action of the tissue
of the lungs, but simply results from the action of the oxygen.
When blood was agitated with oxygen it was found to have lost its
carbonic acid, and to have become to all intents and purposes arterial
blood. To determine whether the evolution of carbonic acid is effected
directly by the oxygen, or only by the intervention of the blood-cor-
puscles, the purest possible serum which, as is well known, contains
much carbonic acid, was employed, and, for the sake of comparison, both
unaltered serum and such as had been agitated with oxygen. In these experi-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

543

ments the same quantity of combined carbonic acid was found in every case,
and consequently only that portion of the oxygen which has passed into
the corpuscles acts in the evolution of carbonic acid. Another series of
experiments proved that, though arterial blood could be easily prepared by
artificial means from venous, the latter could not he prepared from the
former. Hence it would appear that carbonic acid is furnished in the
combined form by the tissues.

The Movements of the Heart. — An active controversy took place not long-
ago in the Imperial Academy of Medicine upon the subject of the move-
ments of the various portions of the heart. MM. Chauveau and Marey
represented one side, and the other was taken by M. Beau. The former
physiologists assert

1st. As held by Harvey and Haller, the impulse of the heart against
the thorax is essentially a systolic movement, and is due to the
contraction of the ventricles.

2nd. Immediately after the ventricular systole, the walls of the
ventricles widen and relax, and the blood wThich was contained
till then in the auricles, falls by gravity alone into the ventri-
cular cavity ; in this wTay the ventricular diastole begins, it is
only completed by the after contraction of the auricles.

Old. The instant the auricular systole is over, the walls of the auricles
relax, yield to the pressure of the blood contained in the great
veins, and the auricular diastole commences just as the ventri-
cular systole is occurring.

To these assertions M, Beau makes the following replies : —

1st. The impulse of the heart is a diastolic phenomenon, and is due to
the diastole of the ventricles.

2nd. The diastole of the ventricles takes place during, and is caused
by, the contraction of the auricles. Until the auricles contract,
not a drop of blood passes from the auricular into the corres-
ponding ventricular cavity.

3rd. The diastole of the auricles does not commence till after the
systole of the ventricles.

It seems to us there is a great deal more of allegation than true
evidence in M. Beau’s remarks, and we certainly do not feel inclined to
accept his statements in opposition to the conclusions (drawn from experi-
ment) arrived at by Professor Dalton, of the United States, who has already
done so much to elucidate this department of human physiology. — Yide
Tj Union Medicate , May 17th.

Medical Prize Essays. — The “ Society of Medicine,” of Gand, announces
the following as some of the subjects on which essays are to be presented
in 1865 : — (1) A description of the diseases which may result from employ-
ment in linen and cotton factories. (2) Rheumatism and the rheumatic
diathesis. (3) Diseases which result from parasites, and parasites which
result from diseases, (4) The influence of the syphilitic diathesis on the
production of internal diseases. (5) The value of studying the anatomical
lessons presented by post-mortem examinations of the insane. (6) The
therapeutic effects produced by the compression of aneurisms. (7) The
action of alkalies in the treatment of diseases. The essays must be

2 o 2

5i4

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

written legibly in French, Flemish, or Latin, and addressed, post-paid, to
Dr. E. Lesseliers, rue Basse, 23, a Gand.

Statistics of Suicide. — M. Legoyt, who has written a very extensive
work on this subject, is of opinion (1) that suicides increase more rapidly
than either the population or general mortality in all the following coun-
tries : — Bavaria, Hanover, France, Mecklenburg, Prussia, the kingdom of
Saxony, and Sweden. (2) Contrary to the usual opinion, England ranks
lowest in the scale , as regards frequency of suicides. Denmark and North
Germany stand highest, and France occupies a middle position. (3)
There are generally about thirty suicides of women to a hundred of male
suicides. (4) The number increases with age up to about sixty or seventy
years. (5) The number is smallest in January and greatest in July.

(6) Women are more influenced by moral agencies, men. by material ones.

(7) Among married persons the number of suicides is smallest; it is
larger among the unmarried, and attains its greatest limit among those
who have been separated or divorced. (8) In Prussia it has been calcu-
lated, that of every million of inhabitants the Protestants give 153 suicides,
the Jews 51, and the Catholics only 47. (9) Suicides are far more frequent
in large towns than in other portions of the country. Of all the conclu-
sions deducible from the foregoing statistical account, the most astounding
one is, that suicide is generally and rapidly increasing ; and this the
author supposes to be due to the natural consequences of the intensely
civilized (?) condition into which we are passing. — Vide V Union Medicale ,
May 12th.

New Instrument for Teaching Students the Sounds of the Heart. — This
peculiar machine, invented by Dr. Collongues, has been described by
M. Velpeau. It consists of a hollow bust of plaster of Paris, on whose
anterior surface are placed ten openings, and whose posterior surface pos-
sesses two apertures — each opening having attached to it a label bearing
the name of a “ bruit.” To these foramina several india-rubber tubes pass.
Air is made to travel along the tubes, and according to the pressure exerted
and the calibre of the tube the special sound is developed. We doubt very
much that Dr. Collongues’ invention will be found of great practical
utility. — Vide Comptes Rendus, April 25th.

The Heart's Recoil. — Mr. Hiffelsheim would have us believe that at each
moment when the ventricles contract and drive the blood into the
arteries, the double jet of liquid thus produced necessarily determines a
movement of the heart itself in the opposite direction to that assumed by
the currents. The return of the organ to its proper position prior to
each pulsation, is simply the result of the reaction of the adjacent elastic
structures. lie has been unable to ascertain how this recoil influences
the other movements of the heart, but hopes to do so on some future
occasion. — Vide Comptes Rendus , May 9th.

Increased Secretion of Urea in Bright's Disease , brought about by the Action
of Electricity. — There can be little doubt that electricity is now becoming an
extremely important therapeutic agent in the hands of those who understand
how to use it. M. Namias tried its effects in a case of Bright’s disease of the
kidney, and as he states, with the most beneficial results. He applied the
electricity for about half an hour each day, directing the current through
the loins, and he found after forty-eight hours that not only was the

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

545

quantity of urine secreted greater than before, but the per centage of urea
was also larger, having been increased from 2-29 per cent, to 2 80. We
confess we have not been startled by M. Namias’ achievement, and from
the circumstance that the increased secretion of the urea was accompanied
by an increased proportion of albumen, we question the expediency of
employing electrical agents as means of cure in such cases. If the gland
be really disorganized, all the batteries in the world would be unavailing. —
Vide Comptes Rendus, lviii. No. 19.

METALLURGY AND MINING.

A New Form of Amalgamator has been proposed by Mr. Farrand, of
San Francisco. It consists of a trough-shaped machine of wood or iron,
with dies to fit upon its inner surface. The mullers are attached to a
rocking shaft, and are moved backwards and forwards instead of in a
circular direction. The dies are a parallelogram in shape, with grooves or
recesses for the quicksilver, in which it is gently agitated with stirrers.
The machine is reported to act very well, and is expected to give rise to
important results. — Vide Mining and Smelting Magazine , May, 1864.

Chrome Pig Iron. — Some specimens of this compound were exhibited at
the last meeting of the Austrian Engineers’ Association, by Herr Friese,
who had obtained them from some experimental charges of chrome clay
iron-stone, at the St. Stephan iron works. The iron has a white, almost
lustrous fracture, and is very brittle, for which reasons the ores, notwith-
standing their high per centage, have been hitherto considered to be
useless. Accurate analyses of the ore and iron have not yet been made,
but it may not be impossible, with proper treatment, to obtain useful pig
iron from them. At the same meeting Herr Friese exhibited some
samples of blasting powder, which, besides being cheaper, is consider-
ably more effective than the ordinary blasting powder. The inventor
calls it “ non-explosive blasting powder,” or alcaloxide. So far as was
observed it seemed to burn very slowly, but its properties have not yet
been fully investigated.

A New Mining Journal.— W e understand that a new periodical to be
devoted to mining interests is about to be started at New York. It is
to be called The American Coal Trade Review. It will be published weekly,
and besides reliable statistics regarding the mining and shipping of coal
throughout the United States, it will contain occasional historical and
scientific articles upon the subject of coal, and its bearings* on the com-
mercial and manufacturing prosperity of that country. A new monthly
has also been issued, bearing the title of the American Mining Gazette and
Geological Magazine.

Petroleum as a Substitute for Coal. — The commission appointed by the
American Government to inquire into the relative evaporative powers of
petroleum oil as compared with anthracite coal, the practicability of its
use, if unattended with danger, and its advantages, if any, have issued
their report. The commission was composed of three chief engineers, and
their experiments extended over a period of five months. As regards
evaporation the reply was, that it is 105° higher in power than anthracite
coal, while the time required for generating steam to 20 lbs. pressure was
28 minutes as compared with GO. The commissioners accordingly reeom-

546

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

mended the Secretary of the Navy to introduce the oil on board one of the
Government steamers to determine accurately its economical efficiency.
As the rapidity of evaporation does not always correspond proportionally
with the quantity of water evaporated by each pound of coal, it would be
interesting to know the number of pounds or gallons of water evaporated
by each gallon of petroleum, and the additional danger, compared with
coal, attending its use, because many of the great steam-boat accidents
on the American rivers have been traceable to the careless use of tur-
pentine (a less explosive material) for the same purpose. The advocates
for the introduction of petroleum as a substitute for coal contend that, in
a vessel like the Cunard steamer Persia , the saving, taking into account
the smaller space required, and all other advantages, would amount to
<£2,400 for each trip. Experiments on a larger scale will, it is said, speedily
be made in an ocean steamer, by a company, to whom the present trustees
are about to transfer their rights. In addition to the discovery of con-
siderable deposits of the oil in Southern Russia, large quantities are
alleged to have been found on the Pacific in California. The calculations
as to economy, however, seem to have been based upon the assumption
that the price would remain as now, after the increase of demand, and
also upon the cost of coal in America and not in England. It is alleged
that its use will be a great saving not only for merchant steamers, but
that a naval steamer using it can keep the sea under steam three times
as long, and with less labour and greater economy as compared with an
equal weight of coal. — Vide Mining and Smelting Magazine , Vol. v. No. 29.

A New Coal Mine has recently been discovered near La Pa z, in
California. This discovery must necessarily be of great value to the
Colerado copper mines, which have been rather imperfectly worked of late,
owing to the great scarcity of fuel.

Imports of the Metals. — From the reports of the Board of Trade for the
two months, ended on the 29tli of February last, we perceive that with
the exception of brimstone, copper-regulus, tin, and pyrites, there has been
a decided increase in the quantity of mineral matter imported this year
over that of last year.

Improved Cast-Iron . — It has recently been demonstrated that cast-iron
composed of old and new metals in certain proportions, calculated to give
it a great power of resistance, acquires a new degree of strength by an
addition of 2 per cent, of wolfram or tungsten. In one of the combinations
thus made, the increase of the power of resistance to fracture per square
centimetre, was 44 kilogrammes with French wrolfram. In another, formed
of one-third of old English cast-iron, and two-thirds of old ordnance, the
.increase, with German wolfram, was 67 kilogrammes per square centi-
metre. M, Leguen has just shown that, when subjected to a second
fusion, cast-iron containing wolfram is still superior to other cast-iron
similarly treated. After this operation, the difference of resistance in
favour of the former was 26 kilogrammes per square centimetre ; and
German wolfram is superior to French, even after a second fusion. A
third fusion of the same cast-iron having been directly effected in a
Wilkinson’s furnace, instead of being done in a crucible as in the preceding-
cases, the tenacity of wolframed cast-iron was again greater than that of
the common sort treated in the same manner. Hence it may be concluded

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

547

that the action of wolfram subsists even when the fusion is effected
directly in a furnace, and remains after several successive fusions. The
wolframed cast-iron mentioned above, containing fragments of old
ordnance, seemed to become stronger at every successive fusion. Another
proof of the superiority of wolframed cast-iron over the common sort, is
that bars made out of the former do not bend so much as the others,
under the action of equal weights, whence it may be inferred that the
wolframed sort is more elastic and more capable of resistance. In all
cases, therefore, in which it is required to have cast-iron offering great
resistance to fracture, the addition of a small quantity of wolfram offers
an easy means of obtaining it. — Vide The Artizan , June, 1864.

Crystallized Iron. — This peculiar form of the metal is the production of a
mine belonging to the New Jersey Zinc Company. There is but one mine
of this ore in the world. The zinc having been just extracted from the
ore, the residue is the brilliant and singular metal termed crystallized iron •
For many years no use was made of this mineral, and it was simply
exhibited in cabinets as a curiosity. However, a use has at last been
found for it, and since it has proved so superior in this instance, many
other avenues for its introduction are now opening ; and it bids fair to
prove not only one of the most remarkable but one of the most useful and
valuable metals the world has ever known. As a preventative against
drilling, when combined with wrought iron and steel, it is the only real
protection against the burglar. Owing to the late improvements in hard-
ening drills, chilled iron can be easily bored. Hardened steel is not only
so brittle as to be almost useless, but its temper can be drawn by a blow-pipe,
and then it is at the mercy of the burglar’s tools. With the crystallized
iron the case is different ; it can be furnished of any thickness, is not so
brittle as any other hard metal, cannot be affected by a blow-pipe, and is
the hardest material to bore through ever yet produced.

Faulkner's Electric Pit Signals are so contrived as to render them in-
valuable as a means of safety to miners. For example, if a ventilating
door, which ought to be shut, is by neglect left open, the signal is so
constructed, that it will ring with a tremendous noise till the door is closed.
On the other hand, if a door is closed which ought to be open, the bell will
ring also. If the door be open only the sixteenth of an inch, it will set
the bell ringing as loudly as if it were wide open. In order to show from
what part of the mine a signal proceeds, a box or partition may be fixed
in some conspicuous place, with a number-plate and number for each part
of the pit which it may be thought desirable to indicate. These number-
plates are fixed by hinges, so as to move in or out, and the electric wire is
fixed to each number-plate corresponding with that part of the mine which
it represents. Thus, when a signal is rung, the number of the part from
which it comes is projected outwards. This invention, in fact, may be
used for any purpose of warning, calling, or signalling in the pit, and it is
to be observed that when any signal is touched, it can be distinctly heard
all over the mine. — Vide The Artizan, May, 1864.

METEOROLOGY.

Rotation of the Upper Currents of the Atmosphere. — M. Elie de Beau-
mont has published a letter on the above subject. The communication

548

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

was from M. Poey, the well-known meteorologist. He considers that
many years’ experience has enabled him to prove the accuracy of Herr
Dove’s laws. His observations have been especially made upon clouds, and
from their peculiar movements he concludes •

1st. That when in the northern hemisphere the currents of air proceed-
ing from the equator alternate with the polar ones, the wind appears to
come from every point of the compass, and usually in the following order :
south, west, north, east, and south.

2nd, Upon the southern hemisphere the opposite is the case, the order
of occurrence being: south, east, north, west, and south.

3rd. The influence of the wind on meteorological phenomena combined
with the law of its change may be said to represent two distinct sections
of the compass — east and west.

Peculiar Form of Hailstones. — At the sitting of the French Academy on
the 4th of April last, M. J. A. Barral reported some interesting meteoro-
logical facts observed in Paris on the 29th of March last. There had been
snow and rain from eight in the morning till ten, and then from that till
noon it rained and hailed, there was thunder at one, and at three p.m. a
very singular form of hail fell in heavy showers, different from what has
heretofore been described by natural philosophers. Ordinary hail-stones
are generally flattened or round, and frequently more or less angular, and
present concentric layers surrounding a nucleus. That which fell on the
29th of March was of a very different character. The stones were quite co-
nical in form, being slightly concave at the base ; the surfaces were covered
over with little projecting six-sided pyramids of a transparent character,
and a few of a similar form were observed in the concave portion of the
base. They were about eight or ten millimetres wide, and from ten to
thirteen millimetres in length. They weighed, in various instances, from
1 80 to 250 milligrammes, and seemed to be formed by the adhesion of
several minute pyramids, leaving a cavity in the centre. They fell point
downwards. — Vide Comptes Rendus , April 4th.

MICROSCOPY.

With the exception of an improved form of mounting-table, which has
been described by Mr. Goddard in the last number of the Microscopical Jour-
nal, very little has been done in the way of manufacture of new varieties
of instruments. This is most probably due to the circumstance that the
Council of the Microscopical Society of London propose to give medals
for the best forms of instruments submitted to them. They offer a medal
for the best specimen presented in each of the following classes : —

1. An educational microscope, to be sold for ... 3 guineas.

2. A student’s microscope ,, „ ... 5 „

3. A student’s binocular microscope „ ... 10 „

Also a certificate of excellence for a hand microscope, to be sold for one
guinea.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 549

Notices of papers on subjects of interest to microscopists will be found
under the following heads : —

Botanical Section —

Raphides as Characters of Plants.

Cryptogams in Eggs.

Chinese Diatom acese.

Geological Section —

Exogenous Wood in arenaceous Limestone.

Minute Geologic Evidence.

Medical Section —

Structure of Nerve Cells in the Frog.

The Development of Fibrine.

Epilepsy accompanied by Diabetes.

Nature of Skin Parasites.

Fatty Degeneration of the Blood.

Micro-photographs.

Zoological Section —

Tubularia not Parthenogenous.

British Polyzoa.

Zoosperms in the Ovary of the Snail (?)

Sphaerularia Bombi.

MINERALOGY.

Characters of Tephroite. — The characters of this mineral have hitherto
been but questionably known, for no effort has been made to distinguish the
substance from its congeners. Professor G. J. Brush, of Yale College,
U.S., has therefore done good service in publishing the results of his
observations. According to this mineralogist, the optical and crystallo-
graphic characters of tephroite are now clear enough, being similar to
those of chrysolite ; this isomorphism being further sustained by the
chemical composition of the two minerals. Before the blowpipe tephroite
fuses easily to a black mass, fusibility equal 3-5 on Yon Kobell’s scale.
With the fluxes it gives reaction for silica, manganese, and iron. On char-
coal, most specimens give traces of zinc due to the mechanical mixture
with zincite. Heated in the closed tube it gives traces of moisture.
Hydrochloric acid dissolves it, without an evolution of chlorine, and on
heating the solution a perfect jelly is formed. It is composed of silica,
oxides of iron, zinc, and manganese, with small proportions of lime and
magnesia. Its analyses show that it is to be regarded as a mangancsian
chrysolite. — Silliman's American Journal , vol. xxxvii. p. 68.

A new Zeolitic Mineral has been found by Professor How in the trap
rocks of Nova Scotia, and has been designated Mordenite by its discoverer.
It occurs in rather small masses, in the form of somewhat cylindrical,
reniform, or flattened geodes and solid concretions, rather smooth exter-
nally, sometimes covered with a thin yellowish crust, blotched with a
green mineral (probably a silicate of iron), and at others, exposing its
own yellowish white or pinkish-coloured surface. Its interior frequently
presents hardly any trace of crystallization, but on close examination a

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

550

fibrous structure is seen, which in some cases is so distinct that the
mineral has probably been considered to be a compact variety of Thom -
sonite. It has a highly silky lustre, weathering dull • it cleaves readily in
the direction of its fibres, and is translucent on the edges. Its hardness
is represented by 5 ; it is rather brittle, and has a specific gravity of 2*08.
It has the following chemical composition

Soda

2*35

Lime

3*46

Alumina ...

12-77

Silica

• . a

« . •

68-40

Water ...

„ ® j

13-02

100-00

On comparing it with minerals containing the same elements, it is found
to be nearest to heulandite in chemical composition ; and Professor How
considers it to be the most highly silicated of the aluminous non-magnesian
hydrous silicates yet described.— -Vide Mining and Smelting Magazine ,
No. 28.

A new Steatitic Mineral. — A peculiar mineral of a green colour, and
having a sort of prismatic structure, was found some time since in the
lead-mining district of the County Dublin. Mr. Ormsby, to whom is due
the merit of the discovery, gives the following description of it : — Its
specific gravity is 2*738 ; it scratches gypsum slightly, and is deeply cut
by calcite, so that its hardness is a little above 2°. It is unctuous to the
touch, although the analysis gives but a very slight percentage of mag-
nesia. When held in the forceps before the blowpipe, it glows brightly,
becomes white, and slightly fuses on the edge ; it dissolves in borax, and
leaves a siliceous skeleton ; the bead is colourless when cold but greenish
when hot, showing the presence of iron ; no manganese could be detected
even with the nitre test. The substances entering into its composition are
silica, alumina, iron, potass, soda, lime, magnesia, lithia, and water. — .
Vide Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science, April, 1864.

Presence of Thallium in Lepidolite. — It has been announced by Professor
Schrotter, in a communication to the Vienna Academy of Sciences, that
thallium has been found by him in both lepidolite and mica. It is not
necessary to use a large quantity of the material in order to detect the
presence of this metal. His method of procedure is this : — Taking the
mixture of the double chlorides of platinum with the potassium caesium,
rubidium, and thallium, obtained from the above sources, he removes the
potassium, and then reduces the other chlorides in a stream of hydrogen
at a low temperature. Next he treats the well-washed, spongy mass of
platinum with sulphuric acid, and by the repeated washing-out of this,
obtains a solution which shows the characteristic reactions of thallium.
Mr. Crookes, however, is inclined to doubt the accuracy of Professor
Sclnotter’s process, and appears inclined to attribute the results obtained
by the latter chemist to the circumstance that in sulphuric acid—- the
liquid employed — thallium is frequently found. — Vide Journal fur
PraJct Chem., I., 1864, and Chemical News , No. 227.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

551

PHOTOGRAPHY.

The supposed early Photographs. — The startling claims advanced in
support of these photographs have melted into thin air. Based as they
were on mere rumours and conjectures, little else indeed could have been
expected ; and yet how many were the uplifted hands and wondering eyes,
and how loud the exclamations with which such claims were at first re-
ceived ! The impressions on metal appear to be comparatively modern
productions by the process of Daguerre, and it is more than suspected that
the paper pictures were produced by some clumsy, half-mechanical, half-
secret process called in its day the Polygraphic, which merely printed
outlines previously made by an artist to be afterwards filled in by hand.
The Mr. Price, too, whose statements originated all this fuss, has been
proved quite unworthy of belief ; and has, moreover, absconded to escape
the unpleasant results of an imperfect appreciation of “ meum et tuum ”
and the search of the detective police ; while in consequence of the ab-
stracted papers containing certain family secrets, the angry representative
of Matthew Boulton — to whose statements we owe our last piece of infor-
mation concerning Mr. Price — heaps unsparing abuse on the head of
Mr. Smith for his undue enthusiasm in the cause of scientific discovery.
Sic transit gloria mundi !

A New Carbon Process. — As it was, so it is. The fond dream of photo-
graphers has been for many years the obtaining of a perfected carbon
process ; and yet when in 1860 M. Fargier patented a process in France
by which the most exquisitely beautiful carbon prints are obtainable, it
was suffered to rest in cold obscurity, reminding us of the old alchemists,
who were always seeking new scientific facts, yet when they discovered the
grand first principle of photographic art, could find no better use for it
than that of printing photographic labels for bottles ! But our modern
photographers are, after all, not quite so blind ; for within the last month
or two the photographic world has been in a ferment of excitement con-
cerning a new carbon process, the invention of Mr. Joseph Swan, an
amateur photographer residing in Newcastle*on-Tyne, whose process was
first described in a paper read before the Photographic Society at King’s
College on the 5th of April last.

Mr. Swan’s process is somewhat easier in practice than that of M.
Fargier, and produces results equally beautiful and perfect ; but we think
he will have some difficulty in establishing his claim to the patents which
he has already secured in Great Britain and Ireland, France, Belgium,
Spain, Prussia, Austria, and America, should any one be bold enough to
infringe the same. The process may be thus briefly described : — A mix-
ture is made containing one part of a solution of bichromate of ammonia
in three parts of water, and to this is added another mixture consisting
of two parts of gelatine, one part of sugar, and eight parts of water. With
this solution the pigment giving the desired colour is next mixed, which
may be Indian ink, either alone or mixed with lake and indigo, or any
other suitable pigments. A glass plate having been coated with plain
collodion is allowed to dry, and again coated with the above mixture.

552

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

You can then remove the tissue from the glass, and will find it very
flexible, tough, and elastic, folding without creasing or breaking, and
bearing general rough treatment without injury. On this the image is
printed in the usual pressure-frame, with the collodion surface in contact
with the negative, the image being printed not upon , but through the film.
When removed from the pressure or printing-frame, after an exposure
which it is difficult to regulate without experience, the tissue is again
mounted, with a solution of India-rubber and damar in benzole, on paper
or any similar surface (collodion, and also what is called <c india-rubber
varnish,” thinned with benzole, answer the same purpose), and the process
of development is merely that of immersing it in hot water, about 100°
Falir., when portions of the gelatine dissolve out in proportion to the
degree in which they have been acted upon by the light, and in the course
of two or three hours the image is perfect, when a camel-hair brush is
passed over them ; they are subjected to the action of a stream of hot
water, dried, mounted, and rolled in the usual way. The image being
printed through from the back is of course reversed, but -should this prove
objectionable, either the original negative may be itself taken through
instead of on the glass ; or, as is more commonly done, the print may be
mounted face downward, and the paper attached prior to the process of
development readily removed by the aid of a little benzole.

Let us now glance at M. Fargier’s process. A plate of glass is coated
with a mixture of carbon gelatine, and the bichromate is exposed in the
pressure frame, and coated with collodion previous to development. The
water then plays its part in detaching the film and developing the image
by dissolving out the soluble portions at one and the same time, and last,
though not least, you have to dodge that curling and diving film until you
can capture and mount it in the usual way.

Thus we see, how by a process very similar to that of Mr. Swan, results
as perfect were attainable about four years ago ; but in addition to this
fact, as affecting the safety and powers of Mr. Swan’s patent, we must
remember that Pouncy of Dorchester, Davies of Edinburgh, Beattie of
Dublin, M. C. Lea of America, and many others, exhibited specimens by
processes closely resembling Mr. Swan’s, long before that gentleman’s
patents were secured, and that, moreover, Mr. Burnet first pointed out, in
the British Journal of Photography— if we remember rightly— the ad-
vantage in carbon experiments of printing through the paper, although
Mr. Swan says he is indebted for this to Mr. Blair. Again, the use of
bichromates of potash and ammonia were originally suggested by Ponton.
Fox Talbot first made a similar use of gelatine, and the idea of mixing a
pigment therewith is the property of Poitevin ; while in America a patent
was taken out some years ago for the application of sugar to effect a very
similar purpose. All these things it seems to us may affect the working of
Mr. Swan’s patent, and should therefore receive his attention.

As most photographers are now engaged in testing Mr. Swan’s process,
a few hints relative thereto may prove acceptable to such of our readers as
are adepts in what is called “ the black art.”

Different kinds of gelatine have been used, and, considering how variously
this article is prepared, it will not surprise when we add, with various

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

553

degrees of success or failure ; some specimens being too soluble and some
insoluble. If an unnecessarily thick film of gelatine be used, the drying
is retarded, and the tissue becomes less manageable in mounting ; if too thin
there is a loss of power and half-tone. A loss of its setting properties will
result from boiling the gelatine too long in its first preparation. It is
desirable to ascertain the minimum quantity of bichromate that can be
added without running the risk of insensitiveness arising from the use of
too little. When the tissue is dry it should be excluded from the air,
which hastens its spontaneous insolubility, especially if a large quantity of
the bichromate be used, through excess of which the gelatine may become
insoluble even before it is exposed to light. Mr. Cooper, at the meeting of
the South London Photographic Society, referred to above, recommended
three instead of four parts of water to one of gelatine, or, where the latter is
of the softest kind, even two parts of water ; but said the quantity will have
to be varied according to the hardness of the gelatine. He pointed out as
one of the results attending the use of too thin a solution of gelatine, the
fact of the pigment being apt to separate itself and run into eccentric
forms upon the surface of the collodion, instead of giving a film of uniform
colour. For mounting, previously to development, Mr. Cooper prepared two
solutions — No. 1 containing six grains of pure india-rubber to the ounce
of benzole, and No. 2 consisting of the same quantity of india-rubber with
ten grains of damar, in one ounce of the same solvent. The paper was
immersed in No. 1, and the tissue floated on No. 2, and when both were dry
and placed in contact, pressure and gentle rubbing sufficed to produce
perfect adherence. For the re-mounting, gelatine has been strongly re-
commended. The collodion used should give a very transparent, but at
the same time, thick strong film. It is advisable before applying the
gelatine to the surface of the collodion to gently warm the plate, the flow
of the solution may be aided with a glass rod, and care should be taken
to get an even surface of uniform thickness ; the time required for the
drying of this will be about twelve hours, but will of course vary with the
temperature and the thickness of the film. The sensitiveness of the film
is said to be increased within certain limits by keeping. It is dangerous to
hurry the development by increasing the temperature of the water, although
when one is anxiously waiting to see the results of early experiments there
is great temptation to do so.

Photo- Sculpture. — We no longer wonder at seeing our portraits painted
to perfection in a few seconds by the operations of mere sun-light, because
the fact is a familiar one, and although the idea of sculpture executed by
the same agency is rather startling at first, it is in sober reality a far more
simple and less wonderful thing. A process which will give any number
of outlines of any number of surfaces at one and the same time, must,
when all these outlines are re-combined, give again the relief from which
they had their origin. Acting on this idea, M. Willeme invented the
process of Photo-Sculpture, which has recently been carried out in Paris,
and is now being introduced in London by Mr. Claudet.

The studio in which the four-and-twenty photographs necessary for the
process of Photo-Sculpture are obtained in Paris, is a circular one, having
a large dome of glass. From the exact centre of this dome, immediately

554

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

above the exact centre of a circular platform, hangs a plumb line, and
around are four-and-twenty circular windows ranged at regular distances,
which are four-and-twenty lenses pointing in a line, with four-and-twenty
numerals painted at equal distances apart round the side of the smaller of
the two circular platforms. When the subject to be operated on is placed
on this platform so that the plumb-line indicates an imaginary line piercing
the model’s head, and passing through the centre of the platform, four-
and-twenty photographs are instantly taken by invisible operators (see cut),
and so far as regards the sitter the process is complete.

Not so, however, with regard to the result. In a dark room a magic
lantern is placed opposite a large sheet of ground-glass. Beside this
ground-glass stands a bench, and upon this bench a disc divided into four-
and twenty spaces, each one numbered. Upon this disc is a roughly
shaped-out mass of modelling clay, through which passes a rod of iron in
the direction assumed by the imaginary line above noticed. The operators
having taken their places, one attends to the lantern, and one so arranges
a pantograph, that when its tracing-point touches the ground glass, a
cutting-point at its other end touches the modelling clay. And now the
work begins. The four-and-twenty photographs on glass previously taken
have been fitted in numerical order around the edge of a disc, which turns
like the wheel of a rudder, and is made to throw each of its four-and-
twenty images slowly, and one after the other, on the sheet of ground-
glass behind which stands the man with the pantograph. This operator
carefully traces the outlines of each photograph with the fine tracing-
point of his instrument, and as he does so, the cutting-point as slowly
cuts away the modelling clay, until when he has traced the outlines of one
photograph, there is its profile cut in the clay. The disc of the photo-
graphs makes one turn, the disc on which the modelling clay stands does

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

555

the same, another photograph is traced, another profile cut, and so on until
the whole four-and-twenty photographs are profiled out, and a rough but
even now strikingly truthful statuette in clay stands before us. (See cut.)

But in this stage of its progress it must obviously be very far from
perfect. So far, the process only gives us the exact proportions of the
relative parts, the broad and general masses as it were, leaving the finer
details and more refined and subtle contours for the artist’s finishing hand,
without which it would be simply useless. It is not, as some of our con-

temporaries would lead their readers to suppose, immediately ready for
being converted into a mould from which any number of copies may be
taken ; on the contrary, it must then pass into the sculptor’s hands, and
receive no small share of artistic labour before it can be so used. Four-
and-twenty such outlines as can be traced with a fine point if placed in
close contact, would cover a very small part of the surface which the
statuette, bust, or whatever it may be, represents ; and consequently there
must be a very large quantity of surface really although not apparently
unrepresented by the four-and-twenty photographs, and consequently by
the four-and-twenty profiles cut in the soft clay. M. Claudet, we believe,

556

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

uses as few as six photographs for his specimens of photo-sculpture, and
these works must therefore owe a great deal more to the sculptor than to
the photographer.

The Chementi Pictures.— The controversy started by Sir David Brewster
concerning these pictures, and which he advanced and argued from as
having been executed in the middle of the seventeenth century for stereo-
scopic purposes, has been recently revived in the pages of the British
Journal of Photography by Professor E. Emerson, in reply to a letter from
Sir David published in the Philosophical Magazine for January last, which
letter was itself a reply to remarks contained in an article in the aforesaid
British Journal on “The Perception of Relief,” written by Professor
Emerson. Mr. Emerson states that copies made for him by hand from
the photographs of these drawings convey an amount of relief neither
greater nor less than that obtained from the photographs themselves, and
gives, as illustrative of the ease with which even our much-talked of
“own eyes” will deceive us, the fact that he has frequently mounted
“ two identical or right-eye views of the same scene side by side, and
never failed to get a verdict, even from very skilful observers, that they
exhibited stereoscopic effect, which was impossible.” The Professor says,
if Chementi had executed works which must have been such startling
novelties, it is neither likely that his discovery would have become lost,
nor that only one specimen of it would have been now in existence,
although we think both these circumstances might be shown, by historical
evidence, to be by no means improbable. The supposed stereoscope,
bearing date 1670, advanced in evidence by Sir David Brewster, is asserted
to be no stereoscope, and the size of the Chementi drawings, viz., “about
twelve inches high, by eight and a half broad,” is certainly evidence on
the side of the Professor. After giving very imperfect woodcuts of the
drawings, and advancing the publicly expressed opinions of various
gentlemen in support of his views, Mr. Emerson w*inds up with a long
series of measurements, which, taken in conjunction with the principles
governing the perception of solidity, at least show that if these drawings
were intentionally stereoscopic, their execution could not have been based
on such scientific calculations. Our own opinion of this controversy is
simply that it is a very useless one, because the evidence on either side is
insufficient for the formation of any specially useful or important conclu-
sions.

PHYSICS.

Spectroscope for Stellar Investigation.— Professor Miller and Mr. Huggins
recently presented (May 26) a valuable paper to the Royal Society upon
the spectra of some of the fixed stars, and employed in these researches an
instrument of the following description : — In the construction of the spec-
troscope a plano-convex cylindrical lens, of fourteen inches focal length,
was employed to convert the image of the star into a narrow line of light,
which was made to fall upon a very fine slit, behind which -was placed an
achromatic collimating lens. The dispersing portion of the arrangement
consisted of two dense flint-glass prisms, and the spectrum was viewed

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

557

through a small achromatic telescope, with a magnifying power of between
five and six diameters. Angular measures of the different parts of the
spectrum were obtained by means of a micrometric screw, by which the
position of the small telescope was regulated. A reflecting prism was
placed over one half of the slit of the spectroscope, and by means of a
mirror suitably adjusted, the spectra of comparison were viewed simulta-
neously with the stellar spectra. — Vide Chemical News , June 11th.

Action of Heat on Minerals. — Dr. Phipson draws two conclusions from
his experiments on this subject. (1) That mineral bodies can absorb a
certain amount of heat (not indicated by the thermometer), which becomes
latent, and this is effected without the bodies undergoing any change of
state. (2) That they slowly part with this heat again, until they have
acquired their original densities which had been diminished. (3) This
property having been found to be possessed by very many substances, it
will probably be observed, ere long, in all bodies without exception. — Vide
a paper read before the Royal Society, May 26, 1864.

Hicks ’ Standard Barometer . — This instrument, which was described to
one of our scientific societies as an entirely new instrument, is apparently
an invention of ancient date. In a letter to the editor of the Chemical
News (May 28), Mr. W. Symons alleges that the apparatus in question has
been described, in principle, in the seventh edition of the “ Encyclopaedia
Britannica,” which appeared in 1842, and remarks that the circumstance
does not reflect credit upon those connected with the institution to which
he refers.

New Electro-magnetic Induction Machine . — Mr. J. B. Thompson has
invented a machine of this kind, the proposed objects being (1) To obtain
by means of magnetic induction, from a few voltaic pairs, a continuous
stream of electricity in one direction, and of any required tension. (2)
The induced stream of electricity to be as manageable as that from the small
exciting battery. (3) The machine to be entirely self-acting. These ends
have been attained : 1st, By associating two or more induction coils in such
a manner that when the magnetism in one coil or set of coils ceases, it
shall be excited in the other, the resulting induced alternate current or
sets of currents being caused to flow in one and the same direction. 2nd,
These induced currents are brought under control by means of a four-port
reversing commutator, whose diagonal parts are connected so that by simple
oscillation its contacts are reversed, just before the reversal of the cur-
rents. 3rd, The small exciting battery used in this machine not only
excites the electro-magnets in the coils, but at the same time drives a
rotatory break and oscillating commutator. By means of these several
contrivances the machine becomes a perfectly self-acting one. The size of
the battery being diminished, as also the consumption of material and the
labour, it must effect a considerable pecuniary saving, and on this account
commends itself to the notice of physicists. — Vide Electrician , May, 1864.

Improved Form of Telegraph Insulator. — At a recent meeting of the
Franklin Institute, Mr. Thayer exhibited his new form of insulator. The
body is composed of a block of glass protected by a well-shaped casing of
cast-iron, through an opening in the top of which the glass projects, the
casing being strongly cemented to the glass. To that portion of the glass
VOL. ITT. NO. XTT. 2 P

558

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

projecting from the top of the casing is cemented a metal cap, from which
project three prongs, so arranged that the wire must be slightly bent in
passing between them, it being thus prevented from slipping. The insu-
lator is secured in its place by a pin which projects from the pole into an
opening in the under side of the glass. Both the cup and casing are
thus so completely insulated, that there can be no communication between
the wire and the pole. This apparatus appears from its simplicity to be
an economical and cheap one.

Different Spectra produced by the same Element . — From the experiments
of MM. Pliicker and Hittorf, it has been proved that certain bodies, such
as nitrogen and sulphur, do not give a unique spectrum, but, according to
the temperature to which the incandescent vapour is submitted, two very
distinct spectra. To ascertain this, they passed through the tubes, con-
taining gas or vapour at a pressure of a few centimetres, first the ordinary
current of Ruhmkorff’s induction coil, then the same current with its
calorific action increased by the interposition of a Leyden jar. By varying
the surface of the jar and thus gradually raising the temperature of the
gaseous body, they found that the transition from one spectrum to another
was rapidly accomplished. Hence it would seem that a considerable
molecular alteration of the body had taken place. When the temperature
was lowered the distinction disappeared. The first spectrum was com-
posed of large bands, more or less regular, but oftener presenting the
appearances of channelled spaces cut by black rays. The second exhibited
brilliant rays on a more or less luminous ground. For a more detailed
account of these researches we must refer our readers to the Chemical News ,
No. 229, p. 195.

Theory of the Candle Flame. — M. Morren, who has been one of the latest
writers upon this subject, thus sums up his opinion. The theory of the
candle flame now admitted must be somewhat modified. The base of the
flame being blue, is the vapour of carbon preserved from combustion,
but kept at a very high temperature by the envelope of hydrogen,
the more combustible element of the gaseous carbides from the decom-
position of wax ; the hydrogen alone uniting with the oxygen of
the air. Above the blue part comes the luminous part, produced by the
passage of the carbon from the gaseous to the solid state, giving out in the
passage a considerable amount of heat. The black cone which surrounds
the wick of the candle is formed of gaseous carbides of hydrogen, which
only burn in the upper part of the flame when they come into contact with
oxygen. Hydrogen, besides being not only very combustible, but very
subtle, diffusive, and penetrating, its combustion takes place under con-
ditions in which it would be impossible for other gaseous bodies to burn.
If a candle be gently moved so that the flame may be inclined, and the
air allowed to come in contact with the vapour of hydrocarbons which
surround the wick, we see the hydrogen take fire, and above the flame
appears the blue vapour of carbon. — Vide Chemical News , No. 224.

Electric Properties of Gun-cotton. — The late experiments of Professor
Johnston on the subject of the electro-developing power of gun-cotton,
have been carried out by Professor Silliman, with similar results in both
cases. The latter savan states that gun-cotton produces the same excite-

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

559

ment of positive electricity as pyroxiline paper does. The most energetic
effects are produced when vulcanised india-rubber is the electric. The
opposite effects produced in this substance by flannel and gun cotton, or
pyroxiline paper, are very striking, and will form a good lecture-room
illustration. These substances also produce powerful positive excitement
in glass. It is difficult from the use of pith balls alone to determine which
produces the most powerful positive excitement, glass or hard rubber, when
excited by gun cotton or pyroxiline paper. This seeming anomaly, con-
founding our ordinary means of discrimination in cases of electrical
excitement, demands further investigation. It would appear that, of nega-
tive electrics yet observed, these azotised species of cellulose are the most
remarkable, in comparison with which the most highly negative electrics
hitherto known become positive.

The new Atlantic Cable. — One of the improvements in this cable is the
mode in which the gutta-percha coating is applied. Some time ago
Mr. Chatterton discovered and patented a compound that is said to have
the property of causing the coatings of gutta-percha to adhere firmly,
without the injurious use of naphtha, so as to form a completely solid core.
The wires having been formed into a strand, and six wires twisted round
a central one, they are passed through a vessel containing Chatterton’s
compound, and are then covered with their first coat of gutta-percha to a
depth of about an eighth of an inch. After having been examined by
hydraulic pressure and by hand, the core receives another coating of
Chatterton’s compound, and then another layer of gutta-percha, and
so on till it has attained a diameter of a little more than half an inch. It
is then covered with the solid wires drawn from Webster’s and Hors-
fall’s homogeneous iron, each capable of sustaining a strain of 1,000 lb.,
at which strain it only stretches one per cent. These homogeneous
iron wires are surrounded separately with five strands of Manilla yarn,
saturated with a preservative compound, the poisonous qualities of which
have been found by experiment to prevent its destruction by animals ; and
the whole are laid spirally round the core, which latter is padded with
ordinary hemp, saturated with preservative mixture. The weight of the
cable when completed is 25 cwt. per mile, when weighed in air, but its
specific gravity is said to be so little, that it is capable of bearing eleven
miles of its length when in water, a strain it is quite impossible it should
ever be put to, the deepest water encountered, in laying the old cable,
being less than 2^ nautical miles. The company have made arrangements
by which they can pay out fifty miles per week of the new cable. — Vide
The Artizan , June, 1864.

Improved Diffraction-showing Apparatus. — At the conversazione held in
University College last June Messrs. Horne & Thornth waite exhibited
a very beautiful instrument of the above kind. It consisted of a telescope
mounted horizontally, and having at some distance from it, but exactly
in its longitudinal axis, a small aperture, through which passed a beam
of oxy-calcium light. Immediately in front of the object-glass was
placed a disk of glass, on which were photographed some hundred figures
of different forms, and all so minute as just to be seen by the naked eye.
This plate, or disk, was so arranged that, by means of a cogged wheel,

560

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

which formed its periphery, and a screw, the figures could be brought into
view successively, the movement being a spiral one, inasmuch as there
was no fixed axis, — a spring in front keeping the disk in situ . Nothing
could exceed the beauty of the various images produced in this instrument
by the diffraction of the light as it traversed the minute figures. We
learn that this enterprising firm is about to introduce a new polariscope
also, by which even the angular difficulties presented by crystals of
sulphate of copper will be overcome.

Machine for ascertaining Ocean Depths. — M. Gouezel has invented a new
form of this apparatus. The great objection to the variety now employed
is, that currents in the water cause the line of suspension to be bent, and
so the apparent depth, judged of by the length of line employed, is much
greater than the real depth. The purpose to which the new “ sounder ”
is intended to be applied is for the construction of a chart of the bottom
of the ocean, which would be of service in the laying of telegraph cables ;
and apart from such uses, the possession of such a map would be of great
scientific interest. In M. Goiiezel’s apparatus the suspension line is
altogether dispensed with ; a rod of iron, furnished with nippers at its
extremity, supports a cylindrical weight capable of being detached from
the rod, and above the weight is fixed a float of hollow metal. On striking
the bottom of the water the weight is detached and the remainder floats
to the surface ; a small clock, inclosed in the apparatus, is so arranged
as to close at the moment of concussion, so that the time of descent can be
estimated ; a bell is also attached ; an easily visible object is placed above
the whole, so that there is no difficulty in finding the apparatus after its
arrival at the surface.

Analysis of Solar Light. — There are few researches of more interest than
those of M. Janssen, referring to the modifications presented by the solar
spectrum according to the different hours of the day. This savan has
discovered that the obscure bands which present themselves under certain
circumstances may be resolved into numerous and very distinct rays.
Moreover, these rays are perceptible, not only during the morning and
evening, when the sun is near the horizon, but even — though less clearly —
at midday, when the sun is at its highest point. Finally, these same rays
have been observed in light from both the moon and stars, hence they cannot
result from any peculiar influence of our atmosphere. This disco sTery
was achieved with a small spectroscope with direct vision, somewhat like
Amici’s, but with modifications in adaptation to the objects held in view. —
Vide Comptes Rendus , May 2, 1864.

Advantages of Fixed Conductors. — M.Volpicelli, who has given great con-
sideration to the relative examination of various forms of electric conduc-
tors, has been at last impressed with the conviction that the fixed variety
is the most useful and effective. The following are some of the reasons
which he gives in support of his choice : —

1st. It cannot be logically denied that the fixed conductor, combined
with the condenser, has the power of manifesting atmospheric
electricity very well.

2nd. M. Peltier has demonstrated, by a series of experiments, that

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

561

the electrical effects of a moveable conductor are due rather to
the negative electricity of the earth than to the electricity of the
atmosphere.

3rd. It is not true, that in calms the electricity of the atmosphere is
invariably positive, as the moveable conductor would lead us to
think. — Vide Gomptes Rendus , lviii., 14.

Production of Ozone by the Mechanical Action of Ventilating Machines . —
In a paper which appeared not long ago in the Gomptes Rendus , M.
Saintpierre records some remarkable facts in connection with the produc-
tion of ozone by the mechanical propulsion of air. In the exit-tube of
the blowing-machine of a foundry furnace he placed several bands of
iodide of starch paper, and he exposed as many to the ordinary influence
of the atmosphere ; and he found that whilst the latter underwent no
change, even after five hours’ exposure, the former presented the charac-
teristic violet tint in the course of about ten minutes. The staining cor-
responded only to about 3° of the ozonometric scale. This was attributed
to the fact that, as fast as the tint was developed, it was destroyed by the
currents of air, an action which was afterwards found to produce such an
effect by M. Saintpierre. May it not be possible to account for the results
arrived at by supposing that the friction of the air against the surface of the
tube developed electricity, and that this, in its turn, produced the ozone ?
We fancy the action must be an indirect one, and do not see so much of
the marvellous in it as M. Saintpierre would have us observe. — Yide
Gomptes Rendus , lviii., No. 9.

ZOOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.

Tubularia not Parthenogenous. — Professor H. J. Clark, of Harvard
University, U.S., announces the discovery of the eggs of Tubularia. He
has traced the development of the ovum in three distinct species, from its
inception to the time of its escape, as a hydroid form, from the medusoid
genital. He is not surprised that the egg has hitherto eluded the obser-
vation of naturalists ; for its outlines are so faint that it might be put
down as one of the tests of a first-class objective. Although he had
obtained a glimpse of it with a Tolies’ ^-inch power, it was not till lie
employed a ^-inch objective of the same maker, that he gained a clear
and immutable view of it. He believes that in order thoroughly to under-
stand the various steps in the development, it is necessary to admit the
existence of a muscular layer in all these hvdrozoa. This layer consists
of a thin longitudinally fibrillated tissue which intervenes between the
outer and inner walls of the stem, disc, tentacles, and branching stems of
the genitalia ; and whenever the latter pullulate to form a genital sac — a
medusoid — all the cellular and muscular elements enter into the operation,
and thus there arises at first a highly contracted triple-walled hernia, the
outer wall of which consists of a single stratum of broad cells, each
containing a large nucleus ; the middle wall or stratum forms the mus-
cular layer ; and the innermost wall is made up of a single layer of very
large prismatic cells. This is the first stage of medusoid development.
Hardly, however, has the bud declared itself, before the ovigerous layer

562

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

begins to develop. This is done in a very simple manner. At the end of
the bud the inner wall, and with it the muscular layer, recede from the
outer wall, and leave between them a space which is occupied by a dis-
tinct, peculiarly coloured substance, which is no less than the incipient
ovigerous layer. Contemporary with the origin of this layer, the eggs
appear : in fact they may be said to form nine-tenths of the bulk of this
stratum, the remainder constituting the intercellular blastema. The eggs,
although eventually very numerous, are at first few in number, perhaps
five or six, and compare in size with the cells of the outer wall of the
bud. The germinal vesicle, which is very distinct, occupies about one-
third of the entire diameter of the ovum. As the space between the walls
of the bud increases, it gradually assumes a spheroidal form ; and as it is
constantly filled by the ovigerous layer, the latter also becomes globular.
Surrounding this space we have, on one side the outer wall at the end of
the bud, and on the other side the inner wall lined by the muscular
layer, and forming a sort of cup-shaped cavity. Gradually, and during
the process of growth, the edge of the cup becomes narrowed, and by de-
grees closes over the intervening space occupied b}^ the ovigerous layer,
and shuts the latter off from the outer wall. Thus we have a medusoid
whose structure from without is,— an outer wall and outer muscular layer,
an inner cellular layer and inner muscular layer, and an ovigerous
stratum in the centre. In this central matrix the eggs undergo their
development, move freely within the genital, and eventually make their
escape into the open sea. — Yide Silliman’s American Journal , vol.
xxxvii., No. 109.

'Pedantic Terminology. — A memoir appeared some time ago upon a
system of classification of insects based upon characters of the head ; but
it is so full of barbarous and unpronounceable expressions, as to be quite
beyond the comprehension of most naturalists. Every fourth word in the
paper we refer to is one of the author’s own invention, and as no explana-
tion of its meaning is appended, the drift of the text is quite unintelligible.
Whether the employment of new terms results from self-conceit or a
desire to advance science, we cannot with certainty aver ; but it appears to
us to have far more of its origin in the former than in the latter. How
can a writer expect his opinions to be accepted when his descriptions are
trammelled by such expressions as the following : “ Megasthenes ,” “ micro -
sthenes” “ amplificate” (i perfunctionate” il pteroprosthenics” &c.

Exeter Hall Science. — Most of our readers are aware of the difficulties
raised by the Christian Young Men’s Association relative to the publica-
tion of Professor Owen’s lecture. We believe that the lecture as pub-
lished by that body was not exactly the one which Professor Owen de-
livered ; it is therefore satisfactory to find that the original lecture has
been published by Messrs. Longman under the superintendence of the
Professor himself. To this pamphlet are appended several notes, in which
the objections urged by certain divines are ably met. The Christian spirit
in which Professor Owen advances his opinions must appeal to all who
are desirous of examining the question of Scriptural science in an im-
partial manner. His analogies are admirably drawn, and must convince
even the most unintelligent readers.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

563

British Polyzoa . — Notwithstanding the valuable researches of Busk,
Saars, and others, a good deal remained to be done in the way of describing
our native polyzoa. That veteran naturalist, Mr. Joshua Alder, has now,
however, taken the matter up, and, as the fruits of his present inquiries,
gives us descriptions of a new genus ( Palmicellaria) and two new species
(P. elegans and Eschara lorea). He gives the following description of the
new genus : polyzoary erect, calcareous, inarticulate, cylindrical, smooth,
branching dichotomously ; cells disposed in four longitudinal alternate
series, those in the two opposite series being on the same level ; apertures
circular, opening vertically within a slight concavity, with a broad, pro-
jecting palmate expansion in front, bearing an avicularium. This genus,
in which as yet no ovi-cells have been observed, evidently occupies a
position between Cellepora and Quadricellaria. — Vide Quarterly Journal
of Microscopical Science, April, 1864.

Are Zoosperms secreted in the Ovary of the Snail ? — This question is
answered in the affirmative by Mr. Sanders. The only evidence, however,
which he adduces is, that he observed the zoosperms within the egg-form-
ing sac. It is well known to comparative anatomists that they are fre-
quently found in that locality ; but that is no argument in support of the
assertion that the mollusk in question is hermaphrodite. As well might
Mr. Sanders assume that because zoosperms are found in the ovaria of
vertebrates, these animals are also androgynous. Their presence merely
indicates that the ova are about to undergo fertilization. The zoosperms
in the ovary are invariably found in the isolated state ; but when taken
from the sperm-sac they are found in clusters. This fact is quite suffi-
cient to demonstrate to all reflecting persons, that the sperm, wherever it
be first secreted, is not formed in the ovary. — Vide Quarterly Journal of
Microscopical Science, April, 1864, and October, 1861.

Zoology and Music . — Our contemporary, the Microscopical Journal, is
not exclusively devoted to mere scientific objects. For example, we learn
from a report of the proceedings of the Hull Microscopical Society that
“ to add to the pleasures of the evening a miscellaneous selection of music
was performed at intervals, several accomplished local amateurs being
assisted by Fraiilein Eyserbeck and Fraiilein Reichmann. The first
mentioned of these ladies sang exquisitely, and the latter also displayed
great skill as a pianist, and the applause which followed their perforamnce
was appreciated by, we should say, as critical an audience as it would
be possible to bring together in Hull ! ”

The Upper Jaw of the Greenlander. — Dr. C. Carus contributed a paper
to the last number of the Anthropological Review, in which he describes
some peculiar features observable in the upper jaw of a Greenlander’s skull.
In the first part of his Atlas on Cranioscopy, which was published in 1843,
he mentioned that in the skull of a Greenlander figured therein, he had
found a decided separation between the upper jawbone and the inter-
maxillary. This separation resembled that seen in the foetal skull, and in
quadrupeds, and hence indicated an approach to the lower animals. Since
that, he was fortunate enough to obtain another Greenland skull, and in
it he perceived exactly the same conformation of parts seen in the first.
If this character should prove common to all Greenlander skulls, it would

564

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

argue a lower position for this race than it is thought to hold now, and the
extreme voracity of the Esquimaux races in the north of North America
could then be associated with this peculiarity.

Natural Selection. — In a paper read before the Anthropological Society
by Mr. A. R. Wallace, the following statements occur, which as they help
to account for the variation and transmutation of species, we here tran-
scribe : — (1) Peculiarities of every kind are more or less hereditary.
(2) The offspring of every animal vary more or less in all parts of their
organization. (3) The universe in which these animals live is not abso-
lutely invariable. (4) The animals in any country (those at least which
are not dying out) must at each successive period be brought into harmony
with the surrounding conditions. These are all the elements required for
change of form and structure in animals, keeping exact pace with changes
of whatever nature in the surrounding universe. Such changes must be
slow, for the changes in the universe must be very slow ; but just as these
sIoav changes become important, when we look at results, after long periods
of action, as we do when we perceive the alterations of the earth’s surface
during geological epochs ; so the parallel changes in animal form become
more and more striking, according as the time they have been going on is
great, as we see when we compare our living animals with those which
we disentomb from each successively older geological formation. — Vide
the Anthropological Review , May.

Poison Organs in a Fish . — Dr. Gunther has discovered in a new species
of fish ( Thalassophryne reticulata) a peculiar organ for the infliction of
poisonous wounds. It consists of four hollow spines, two of them being
dorsal, and the others formed by the acute termination of the operculum
posteriorly. The canal in the interior of the spine terminates in each case
in a sac, in which the poisonous fluid is collected — the sac in question
being connected by a small tube with the mucus-forming system of the
cutis. In the specimen examined by Dr. Gunther, which had been in
spirits nine months, the slightest pressure on the sac, seated on the oper-
culum, caused a whitish fluid contained in it to flow freely from the
hollow extremity of the opercular spine. The discoverer is of opinion
that this organisation cannot be construed otherwise than as a poisonous
organ, though it still remains to be proved — by actual experiment upon
the living fish — that this is really the case. — Vide Natural History Review,
April.

The Egg of jEpyornis Maximus lias had a pamphlet devoted to it by Mr.
G. D. Rowley, who is the possessor of the only specimen ever brought to
this country. The colossal bird which deposited this ovum was formerly
a native of the island of Madagascar. In shape it is an ellipse ; its
greater axis is about 12^ inches, and its lesser one 9f inches ; its great
circumference is estimated at 34-^ inches, and its lesser at 29-g- inches,
while it weighs no less than 3 lb. 11 oz. avoirdupois. Of course, such
weight is no indication whatever of the weight of the egg in its natural'
state. M. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, who has examined both eggs and bones of
this bird, supposes the creature, when living, to have been about 12 feet
high. The contents of the eggs would be about 7 quarts 1 pint, or a
volume equal to the contents of about 148 hen-eggs.

SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY.

565

Salt Water Entomostraca found in Fresh Water. — The younger Saars
has been dredging in the Norwegian lakes, and has made some very inter-
esting discoveries. In the deepest portion of the lake he drew up some of
the mud, and found it to his astonishment full of a small red copepode, in
which he at once recognized the salt-water species, Harpacticus chelifer ,
described by Lilljeborg. The presence of this crustacean was so unex-
pected, that in spite of the fresh- water forms which he had also found, he
was obliged to satisfy himself by tasting, that the water was not brackish.
This affords, though on a different scale, an interesting analogy to what
has been recently observed in some of the great inland lakes of Sweden ;
viz., that the true inhabitants of the sea can in certain circumstances
gradually accustom themselves to live in thoroughly fresh water. Here,
however, the agency of change has not been great, alterations of physical
conditions operating throughout thousands of years. The time in this
instance has been much shorter. Apparently some very high flood or
furious storm from the west has driven the sea up on some occasion
into the loch, which lies close to the coast. Other salt-water species
may probably have been carried into the loch at the same time, and
perished by degrees as the water lost its saltness, while this little
copepode was able to survive after every trace of salt had disappeared.
— Vide Annals of Natural History , vol. xiii., No. 77.

New Forms of MollusJcs. — The well-known conchologist, Mr. Lovell Reeve,
deprecates the practice, at present too common, of giving mere varieties
of shells new names, and describing them as specific forms. He illustrates
his objections by alluding to the way in which Dr. P. P. Carpenter
has given a name to a mere variety, while he at the same time
expressed his belief that it was probably only a variety of one already
named. Mr. Reeve predicts, that should ever the soft parts of the shells
described by Dr. P. P. Carpenter be examined, it will be found that they
are by no means (< new forms.” — Ibid.

Classification of the Hydroida. — A great deal of confusion of zoids with
animals has resulted from the habit, heretofore much in vogue among
zoologists, of giving distinct specific and generic titles to medusae. It
would be almost as justifiable to give separate names to the flower of a
plant and the stem which supports it. Professor Allman has come to the
rescue, and were it not for the adoption of a very cumbrous nomenclature,
we think his efforts would be attended with success. The basis of his views
may be thus expressed : every hydro'id whose life-history has come fully
before us, consists (with only a single positively proved exception) of two
sets of zoiids. One of them is destined for the nutrition of the colony,
and has nothing to do with true generation ; while the other is, on the
contrary, destined for true generation, and has nothing to do with the
nutrition of the colony. For the whole assemblage of the former the
term trophosome has been proposed ; and for that of the latter, the expres-
sion gonosome. Whether the gonosome remains attached to the tropho-
some permanently, or becomes in whole or in part free, thereby attaining
an independent existence, it is equally necessary that it should take its
place in our diagnosis of genera and species. An adequate conception of
the hy droid can thus only be obtained, by regarding it as the product of

566

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

two factors, one of them finding its expression in the trophosome, and the
other in the gonosome.

Sphcerularia Bombi. — This curious entozoon, which is found in the
abdomen of the common humble bee, has been submitted to a minute
examination by Mr. John Lubbock. These worms are so like the
normal tissues of the insect’s body that it is exceedingly difficult to
distinguish them ; and from the fact that they will live for a con-
siderable period of time in water, it seems probable that they effect
entrance into the body of the bee when the latter is “ferreting about,
as it were, among moss and long grass.” The sexes have been clearly
pointed out, though as yet the male is known rather by negative than by
absolute characters. The ova are never actually laid until the middle of
April, and the young are not hatched out till a month later. The ovary
consists of a mass of elongated lozenge-shaped cells, each with a distinct
nucleus and nucleolus. No eggs appear to be produced in the lower
portioffof the ovary, which may be called the uterus, but they seem to arise
in the upper part of the long single tube which constitutes the female
generative organ, and to be pushed gradually forward by the pressure from
behind. — Vide Natural History Review , April.

The Brain of the Chimpanzee. — When some time ago Professor Huxley
asserted that man is not the only animal which possesses a cerebrum that
overlaps the cerebellum, grave comparative anatomists assured him that
he must have been mistaken. Since that date, his statement has been
verified .by hoots of observers, and now Dr. Embleton, of the University
of Durham, gives the following evidence, as deduced from an examination
of a young ape’s brain : — The vault of the cranium having been removed,
a correct cast of the whole cerebral^surface was secured. Before the brain
was in any way disturbed from its natural position, the relation of the
posterior lobes of the cerebrum to the cerebellum was carefully observed,
and the persons present, anatomists and naturalists, were unanimous in
declaring that the former projected backwards over the latter a quarter of an
inch. In the removal of the brain the disposition of the membranes and
nerves was observed to be strikingly similar to the corresponding human
part. The arterial circle of Willis was quite human.

Alternation of Generations in the Annelida. — Professor Agassiz has
found lately in the Boston harbour a species of annelid, Autolytus cor nut us,
which exhibits this phenomenon : the males are very unlike the females,
and there also exists a third form — the asexual, which produces the
other by gemmation at * its posterior extremity. The females at the
moment of their detachment from the agamic individuals possess no
ovigerous sac ; but this is soon formed and the ova are produced in its
interior. The embryos are rapidly developed, and their escape from the
sac appears to cause the death of the female ; at least, Professor Agassiz
has never met with females after their embryos have escaped. The
embryos at the moment of issuing from the sac have a triangular outline,
their body diminishing rapidly towards the posterior extremity. — Vide
Journal of the Boston Society of Natural History , viii., p. 392.

567

\

INDEX.

Acid, Vanadic 110

Aconcagua, Volcano of 113

HSpyorius Maximus, Egg of .... 564
Agriculture, Summary of. . . . 381, 514

Ailanthus, the 286

Air Breathers in Nova Scotia. . . . 257
Air in Swim-bladder of Eish .... 138
Albertite in Scotland, Discovery. . 127

Alcohol and Olefiant Gas 254

,, in Diseases, Action of . . 268
Aldehyde, Method of Producing. . 523
Alligator, Entozoa in Stomach of . 424
Alps, Railway Tunnel through the,

Plate YII 157

Aluminium, Coating Iron with . . 404

Alunite, Characters of the 127

Amoebae, Reproductive Phenomena 284
Amalgamator, New Form of ... . 545

Amblygonite 126

American Lakes, Origin of 531

Angler-Naturalist, the 89

Angina pectoris, Cause of 266

Aniline Dyes. By Dr. Phipson,

Plate XVI 429

Animals, Production of Sexes in. . 427
Annelida, Alternation of Genera-
tions in 566

Ansted, Professor, Physical Geo-
graphy of the Ionian Islands . . 44

Anthropology, Meaning of 423

Anti-Darwinianism 501

Antimony, Preparation of 123

Apjohn, M.D., J., Manual of the

Metalloids 231

Aqueous Rock Groups, Synoptical

Table of 95

Arkansite, Reproduction of 126

Armour Plates 116, 238, 538

Arnott, Dr., Natural Philosophy 376
Ascophora nigrans, Artificial De-
velopment of 104

Asphalte Oil, Substitute for Coal 271

Asthma, New Remedy for 402

Astronomy, Summary of, 97, 243, 382,

515

Atlantic Cable, New 559

Atmosphere, Carbonic Acid in . . 109
,, Organic Corpuscles in 104
,, Rotation of Upper

Currents 547

Aymestry Limestone, Relation of

to Lower Ludlow 115

Azulene, Optical Properties of . . 421

Bactekia, in Typhoid Fever .... 270
,, Present * of in Blood . . 120

Ball, J., Guide to th 3 Alps 224

Banana, Chemical Composition of

Brazil 249

Barometers for Measuring Alti-
tudes 70

Barometer, Hicks’ Standard .... 557

Beetles new to Science 288

Belts, Voltaic 234

Bird’s Australian Climates 509

Bisulphate of Carbon, Substitute 283

Blasting, Electric Fuse for ,404

Blast-Furnace, Iron and Steel in 4 03
Blood, Action of Electricity on . . 12 9
„ Condition of, in Inflamma-
tion 542.

,, Corpuscle, Nature of .... 399
,, Expulsion of Carbonic Acid

from 542

,, Fatty Degeneration of ... . 541
Bodily Work and Waste, by F. T.

Bond, M.D 149

Body, Organic Principles of 267

Boilers, Explosions of Steam. .117, 272
Bond, F. J., Bodily Work and

Waste 149

Bone Cave newly discovered .... 394

,, Growth of 119

Bones and Flint Implements at

Audley-end 395

Boring Machine 124

Botanical Exercises, by Rev. G.

Henslow 358

Botany and Vegetable Physiology 101
„ Summary of 247, 386,518

,, to Palaeontology, Relation of 101
Bothriocephalus latus, Develop-

ment of 291

Bottles, Securing Corks in, Patent 80
Brachiopods in Isle of Wight .... 258
Brain of Insects, Functions of. . . . 140
Brand and Mildew, Plate VIII. 178

Brazil, Coal Measures in 398

Bree, M.D., C. R., Birds of

Europe 228

Brookite, Reproduction of 126

Buds, the Evolution of 104

Byblus Rush, Distribution of ... . 520

Caddis Wokm, Habits of 285

Cadmium Alloys 124

Calabar Bean, Uses of 269

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

568

Camera, New*. 416

,, Patent Microscopic .... 133
Camphor on Surface of Water,

Motions of 136

Candle Flame, Theory of . 558

Cane, Sugar, Action of F> ingi on 392
Canton, E., Diseases of t,he Eye . . 230

Carbon in Cast Iron, St, ate of 123

Carbonic Acid in Tissues 401

Carbon Process, Nevy 551

Carphosiderite, Cha; -acters of 408

Cartilage, Structure of. ... 265

Cast Iron, Chem ical Composition 274

„ Improved 546

Cave of Brunic^uel, Human Jaws 395
Charcoal, Absorption of Gases by 282

Chementi Pictures, the 556

Chemical P reservation of Statues 525

>> ^ Professorships 526

Chemis^cvy^ Summary of 106, 252, 389,

523

Chirmpanzee, Brain of 566

Chinese Diatomacese 522

Chinese Record of Eclipses 517

* .Chrome, Pig Iron 545

Cinders, Utilization of 272

f Classification of the Sciences .... 513

Clothing, by Dr. Lankester 338

Cluster-cups 20

Coal, Petroleum a Substitute of . . 545

„ Pits, Mineral Salts of 273

,, Marine Fossils of 396

,, Mine, New 546

,, Mines, Reports of Inspec-
tors of 125

„ Waste of 271

Coccus, New Species of 137

Colburn’s Inquiry into the Nature

of Heat 513

Collieries, Ventilation of 272

Colouring Matter in Decayed Wood 105

Colza Plant, Disease of 549

Comets 98, 244, 383, 385, 517

Conductors, Fixed 560

Cooke, M. C., Microscopic Fungi

20, 178, 317, 469
Copper, Blowpipe Reaction of. . . . 393

,, Manufacture of 123, 405

Coral, A new 139

Corn in Pompeii, Chemical Com-
positions of 256

Cotton, Growth of Peruvian .... 387

Cranium, Development of 422

Crookes, W., Photographic Print-
ing 1

Cryptogams in Eggs 522

Crystals in Intestines of Artemia

Salina 139

Culley, R. S., Printing Telegraphs,

Plate XI 293

,, Handbook of Prac-
tical Telegraphy 377

Cytinese, Anatomy of the 249

Dana’s Manual of Mineralogy . . 231
Davy Lamp, Improved Form of. . 404
Dead Sea, Composition of Water 261
Debus, Dr., Absorption and Radi-
ation of Heat, Plate XIV. 351, 498

Diatoms 103, 522

Dickie’s Flora of Ulster 506

Difflugia, Structure of 426

Diffraction showing Apparatus . . 559
Diluvial Deposit, Sandstone Ham-
mer in 394

Dough, Machinery for Preparing. . 82

Dwellings, Pre-Historic, by G. E.
Roberts, Plate XV 362

Eagle, Imperial and Crested .... 291
Earth, Distance of Sun from the. . 97

Earthquake 244, 261

,, Notes on by Rev. W.

S. Symonds 204

Echinoderms, Embryology of ... . 137
Eclipses, Chinese Records of, 386, 517
„ of the Sun and Moon . . 99

Eel and Conger, Orifices in Head of 426
Eggs, Spontaneous Alteration of . . 140
“ Electric Fly,” Real Nature of . . 419

Electric Spark, The 134

Electricity, Sound produced by . . 281
Electro - Magnetic Induction

Machine 557

Elephas Meridionalis, Co-existence

of Man with 116

Engine, The Steam, Speed of ... . 262

Engraving, Photographic 412

Entomologist’s Annual for 1864 . . 512
Entomostracse, Two Species of new 286
Entozoa in Stomach of Alligator. . 424
Epilepsy accompanied by Diabetes 540

Ethers 110, 391

Eta Argus 245

Evening Thoughts by a Physician 512
Exogenous Wood in Arenaceous

Limestone 529

Eyelid, Bon Tumour in 541

Eye-Piece, Dawes’ Solar 100

Fekmentation in Liquids, Pre-
venting 237

Fertilization of Corn, Artificial . . 102
Fibrine, Development of. . . . 267, 540

Firearms, Breech-loading 77

Fishes of Old Red Sandstone, by
E. Ray Lankester, Plate XVII. 441

Fishes, Facial Bones of 290

Fish, Gases in Swim Bladder of 138, 288

Fish-hatching 85

Fish, Poison Organs in 564

Fixing Colours in Printing Calico 74

Fleas, On Sea Shore 286

Flesh as Food, Preparation of. , . . 269

INDEX.

Fletcher’s Scientific Farming .... 509

Flint Weapons, Scriptural Men-
tion of 398

Flourens’s Examen du Livre de

M. Darwin 501

Force and Matter, by Dr. Buch-
ner 502

Fossil Birds of Central France . . 114
Fossil Bivalve Shells, Identifi-
cation of. . 397

Fossil Bones, Striae on 114

,, from Caverns of Toul 113
Fossil Insects of Carboniferous For-
mation in Illinois 529

Fossilization of West India Corals 532

Fossil Reindeer of Ireland 532

Fox, Dr., Parasitic Fungi 378

Fresh Air, by Dr. Lankester .... 6

Frogs, Habits of Australian Tree- 425

Fucus, the Kilkee 389

Funguses of England, the Escu-
lent 90

Fungus, Salt, Remedy for Vine . . 250

Furnace, Gore’s New 419

Furnaces, New Form of Siemen’s 272
Furnace, Oil-lamp, for Melting
Metals 405

Galileo’s Weather-glass 420

Galloway, R., Second Step in

Chemisti*y 375

Gamgee, J., Diseased Pork 141

Gamma Andromeda; 244

Gases 76, 132, 233, 247

Generation, Spontaneous 389

Geology and Palaeontology, Sum-
mary of 110, 257, 394, 529

,, of New Zealand 113

,, of the Pyrenees 114

Geranium Maculatum an Astrin-
gent 121

Ghost Apparatus, Plate X 236

Glass, Ornamenting of, by Photo-
graphy 131

Globe, Aerial Currents of 407

Glucinum and its Compounds .... 275
Glyptodon, Vertebro-sternal .... 114
Gold, Adulteration of Chloride of 415

„ Inlaying in Glass 241

Gore, G., New Furnace 419

Granite, Chabasite in 408

Grauite, How formed 397

Granites of Ireland, Researches

upon 394

Granite, Slickensides in 260

Greek Fire, by Dr. Richardson . . 164
Greenlander, Upper Jaw of .... 563
Griffith’s Text-book of Microscope 504
Grotto of Laroque, Flint Weapons

in 396

Gummic Acid from Glucose .... 524
Gunpowder 253, 391

569

Gun-Cotton 108, 528, 558

Hailstones, Peculiar Form of . . 548
Harrogate Water, Composition of 526

Heat, Absorption and Radiation of,
by Prof. Debus, Plate XIV. 351, 498
Henslow, Rev. G., Botanical Exer-
cises 358

Herrings and Herring-Fishing, by

the Editor 304

High-pressure Boilers 536

Hind, J. R., Introduction to As-
tronomy 226

Honey-Bees, Acclimatization of . . 139
Home Walks and Holiday Ram-
bles 96

Human Skin, Absorptive Power of 117
Hydrocyanic Acid, Properties of. . 528

Hydrogen, Siliciuretted 252

Hydro'ida, Classification of 565

Hyaena, New Species of 398

Hymenophyllurn andTrichomanes,

Leaf Cells of 103, 248

Ice, Peculiar Properties of 418

Indium, Spectral Characters of . . 419

Infusoria, Distribution of 138

Insects and Crustacea, Homologies

of 426

Insulator, Improved Form of ... . 557

Iodide of Ammonium 527

Iodide of Mercury, Decomposition

of 390

Ionian Islands, Physical Geography

of the 44

Irish Crannoges 533

Iron .... 122, 125, 404, 405, 421, 547
Iron and Manna, Proto-iodide of 267
Ironstone, Nickel and Cobalt in. . 276
Iron Plates of Ships, Preservation

of 124

Isothermals of British Isle 406

Jade, Nature of 126

Jeffrey’s British Conchology .... 503
Johnston’s Elements of Agricul-
tural Chemistry, and Geology 5 OS

Journal, New Mining 545

Jerdon’s Birds of India 510

Jupiter 100

Jukes, J. B., Geology for Schools 222

Kappa Cancri, Occultation of 9S, 244

Kidney, Structure of 119, 266

Kilkee Cliffs, Vegetation of .... 521
Kirke’s Physiological Science .... 220

Lankester, Dr., Fresh Air .... 6

„ on Proper Clothing 338

,, E. Ray, Fishes of Old
Red Sandstone, Plate XVTI. . . 441

570

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW,

Lanterns, Submarine 240

Larch, New Acid in Bark of ... . 250
Lawson, Dr., Herrings and Her-
ring Fishing. . . . 304
,, Oysters and Oyster

Culture, Plate XVIII 448

Leaves, Expiration of 103

Leaves, Colour of, Relation between

and Carbonic Acid 248

Leeches, Swallowing 266

Lemming, Emigration of 286

Lens, New Portrait 416

Lens, Triplet 279

Lepidolite, Presence of Thallium 550
Lepidosiren annectens, Anatomy

of Brain of. 290

Liebig, Baron, on Manures 438

Life, Struggle for among Plants. . 387

Lighting Theatres 75

Light, action of, on Plants 519

Limestone, to Harden and Colour 233

Ling, the Common 386

Liquids, Spheroidal Conditions of 417

Local Floras 223

Lunar Discoveries 243, 384

Lunar Nomenclature 246

Lyell, Sir C., Antiquity of Man 370
Lynn, W. T., First Principles of
Natural Philosophy 376

Macdonald’s Natural Phenomena 511
Mackie, S. J., Metropolitan Main

Drainage Works. . 56

„ Pneumatic Despatch,

Plate XIX 460

McNicoll, D. H., M.D., Dictionary
of Natural History 'Terms .... 225
Magnesium, Manufacture of ... . 22

Manures, the Action of, by Baron

Liebig 438

,, New Method of 514

Maps, Star 384

Marriages of Consanguinity .... 118

Mars 98

Mauveine 254

Mechanical Science .... 115, 262, 535
Medical Science .. 117, 265, 399, 538
Mercury, Liquids Adhesive to .. 133
Metallurgy and Mining, 122, 271,

403, 545

Metals, Imports of 546

Meteorology 246, 406, 547

Metropolitan Main Drainage Works

by S. J. Mackie, F.G.S 56

Micro-photographs of Spinal-cord 541

Microscopic Camera, Patent .... 133

,, Fungi, by M. C. Cooke

20, 178, 317, 469
,, Objects, on Mounting

and Preparing, by Davies .... 505
Microscopy 128, 274, 409, 548

Mitchell, J. M., Natural History

of the Herring 374

Mildew and Brand, Plate VIII. 178, 476

Miller’s Chemical Physics 229

Milne-Edwards, M., Manual of

Zoology 221

Milton’s Stream of Life 505

Mineralogy 125, 275, 408, 549

Minerals, Action of Heat on ... . 557
„ Action of Re-agents on 256
„ Electrical Relations of. . 127
„ Intimate Structure of . . 125

Mineral, New Steatitic 550

,, New Zeolitic 549

Molecular Motion, Conditions of 281

Mollusks 92, 288, 290, 565

Moon 384, 386

Moulds, Plate IX 193

Moulin-Quignon, Human Jaw at 110
Muscles, Mechanical Power of . . 402
Muscular Tissue, Vegetable 103

Nascent-Hydrogen on Arsenic,

Action of 254

Natural History and Sport in

Moray 93

Naturalist on the River Amazon 83
Natural Laws of Husbandry, by

Justus Von Liebig .. 217

,, Selection 564

Naval Architects’ Institute 537

Nebulse, Catalogue of 385

„ New 246, 516, 517

Nerve Cells of Frog, Structure of,

Plate XXI 538

Nerves, Influence of, upon Sphinc-
ters of Bladder 118

New Inventions 69, 233

Nitric Acid, Another Test for. . . . 252

Nitrites, Origin of. 108

Nitrous Oxide in Dental Opera-
tions 403

Notation, the New 253

Nutmeg, Oil of 393

Ocean Depths, Machine for as-
certaining 560

Oliver’s Elementary Botany .... 507

Olives, Formation of Oil in 250

Omnibuses, Patent 80

Ophthalmoscopic Surgery 88

Orion, Nebula of 245, 384

,, Small Stars in Nebula of . . 245

Oxalic Acid, Purification of. 392

Oxide of Copper, aNew 252

Oxygen Baths, Use of 121

,, a Tetra-atomic Element. . 392
Oyster and Oyster Culture, by the

Editor, Plate XVIII 448

Ozone 255, 419, 561

Pachyderms of Paris Basin 395

INDEX.

Pagurus and Adamsia, Habits of . . 287
Palaeontology, Relation of Botany 101

Palliser Bolts 538

Palmidactylism in several Gene-
rations 270

Palmogloea macrococca, What is 387

Pharmacopoeia, New 401

Phillips’s Atmospheric Electricity 513

Phipson, Dr., Aniline Dyes 429

Photogenic Pictures 72

Photographic Pictures, Minute and

Magnified 71

,, Printing and En-
graving 1

,, Society, the London 414

Photograph of the Sun 516

Photographs, Action of Hot Water

on 416

,, Method of Restoring 416

,, reputed Watt 276,

413, 551

Photography 128, 276, 412, 551

,, British Journal of .. 280

,, in application to Mi-
croscope 279

Photometer, New 136

Photo-Sculpture 553

Phthisis, Use of Alcohol in .... 400

Physics 132, 280, 417, 556

Physical Geography and Geology 94
Pianofortes, Appai'atus for Tuning 79

Pig-Iron, Titanium in 275

„ Vanadium in 408

Planet, New 515

Planets, Observations of Minor . . 244

Plants, Respiration of 389

,, Vascular System in 250

Plesiosaurus Cramptoni, Anatomy 259
Pneumatic Despatch, by S. J.

Mackie, Plate XIX 460

Polariscope, New Lantern 417

Pollen Grains, Persistance of Fer-
tilising Power in 519

Polyzoa, British 563

Pork, Diseased, by J. Gamgee . . 141

Postage Stamps, Damping 80

Potato, Effects of Phosphate and

Potash on 381

Preserving Provisions 75

Pressure, Forging by 263

Prior, R. C. A., Popular Names

of British Plants 228

Prize Essays, Medical 543

Projectiles, Destructive Effects of 116
Psorospermiae, Real Nature of .. 138
Pteromalus, Metamorphoses of .. 136

Pumps, Centrifugal 264

Pupil, Dilatation of 402

Pyrenees Stone, Age in 261

Pyrites Burners, Thallium from . . 272
Pyro and Meta Arseniates, Non-
existence of 390

571

Quinine in Jamaica Cinchonas 518

Radial Axle Boxes 535

Railway Wheels, Elastic 535

,, Tunnel through the Alps,

Plate VII 157

Rainwater, Composition of . . 256, 525

Raphides 251, 388, 518

Reason Why, The. 94

Refrigerators 237

Respiration of Fruits 518

„ Products of 120

Reviews of Books .. 83, 217, 370, 501
Rhizopods, Variation of Species. . 425
Richardson, Dr. B. W., Greek Fire 164
Roberts, G. E., Pre - Historic

Dwellings, Plate XV 362

Roots of Plants, Functions of . . . . 514

Rotifers, Vitality of 289

Rusts, Plates XII., XIII.-XX.

317, 469

Ruta-muraria, Peculiar Form of. . 387
Rutile, Reproduction of 126

Sagenite, Reproduction of 126

Salmon Characters of Male .... 424
Salt Water Entomostraca in Fresh

Water 565

Satellites of Sirius 515

Savory, W., on Life and Death . . 379

Saxby, Weather System 508

Scapho-cephalic Skulls, Cause of 403

Schreibersite, Characters of 276

Scientific Summary. . 97, 243, 381, 514
Scotland, Ancient Shell Mounds 111

Sea Louse of the Baltic 423

Sewing Machines, Patent 79

Sharks, Fossil Fresh-water 262

Signal Lanterns 76

Signals, Faulkner’s Electric Pit . . 547

Silica Compound, New 524

Silver in Copper Mines 125

,, Method for Extraction of. . 404

Sirenia, Skeleton of 288

Sirius, Companions of 98

Skin of Hands and Feet 119

Skin Parasites, Nature of 540

Smuts and Bunts 35

Smuts in Wheat, M. Lavalle’s

Conclusions 521

Soap for Dirty Hands 390

Soil, Character of, Population De-
pendent upon 382

Solid Bodies, Specific Heat of. . . . 135
Solar Discoveries, Nasmyth’s .... 3S5

„ Envelope 516

„ Faculse 99

,, Light, Analysis of 560

,, Rays Electric Agents 133

Sound, Laplace’s Correction for

Velocity of 284

Space, Motion of Solar System in 385

572

POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW.

Spectra, Different, produced by

same Element 558

Spectral Analysis, Use of Prisms 134
Spectral Lines, Numerical Nomen-
clature of 134

Spectroscopes 136, 280, 556

Speke, J. H., Source of Nile .... 373

Spermogones 30

Sphaerularia Bombi 566

Spitzbergen Plants, Perennial .... 521

Spontaneous Generation 290

Stars, Catalogue of 246

,, Parallax of 385

., Shooting 99

„ Variable 100, 245, 246

Static Electricity, Treatment of

Asthma by 270

Steam Adheated 536

Steam Coals for Navy 535

Steam Fire-Engines, Trial of ... . 117
Steel and Iron Prepared by Pneu-
matic Process 235

Steel, the Management of 96

Steel Rails 124

Stereoscopes 72

Storms, Magnetic 422

Stream of Life, by J. L. Milton 505

Striae on Fossil Bones 114

Suboxide of Copper, to Prepare. . 525

Suez Canal 115

Suicide, Statistics of 543

Sulphate of Soda, Manufacture of 74
Sulphuric Acid, Pyrites used in . . 273

Sun, the 97, 243, 246, 382, 385

Surveying and Levelling Instru-
ments 70

Symonds, Rev. S. W., Notes on
Earthquakes 204

Tape-worm Affections, Oil of

Fern in 400

Target, Mr. Reed’s 265

Taurus, Variable Nebula in .... 384

Taylor’s Geological Essays 507

Teetotalism, Last Blow to 400

Telegraphs, Printing, by R. S.

Culley, Plate XI... 293
„ Magneto-Electric . . 69

Telescope, New 385

Telescopes, Clock Apparatus for. . 99

Temperature in Palaeozoic Times,

Earth’s 258

Temperatures at which Metals
Boil 421

Tennent’s Story of the Guns .... 379

Tephroite, Characters of 549

Terminology, Pedantic 562

Testing of Chain Cables 536

Thallium 107, 121, 135, 389

Thermometry, by G-. F. Chambers 487
Titanic Acid, Isomeric Forms of. . 393
Tortoises, Breeding of in this

Country 139

Tortoise, Sternum of Fossil 260

Trichomanes radicans, Distribution 248

Tunicata, Morphology of 423

Tubularia not Parthenogenous . . 561

j Uranus, Early Observations of . . 517
Urea, Increased by Electricity . . 544

Uric Acid, Decomposition of by
Bromine 528

Vaccine and Variolus Virus .... 402

Valery lene 392

VanadicAcid 110

Vegetation, Influence of Smoke on 388
Vegetable Tissues, Coloration of

by Acid^ 104

Venus at Inferior Conjunction. . . . 245

Vessels, Steel 263

Vine and Epidemic Fungus, Iden-
tity of 519

Vital Phenomena, by Grindon. ... 227

Voice, Cause of Falsetto 541

Volcano of Aconcagua 113

Water, Decomposition of 527

Weather-glass, Galileo’s 420

Wheeler, J. T., Handbook to Culti-
vation of Cotton 380

Wildbad-Gastein, Thermal Waters 393
Wild Flowers and their Uses .... 95

Winneck’s Comet 97

Wood’s, Rev. J. G-., Homes with-
out Hands 511
„ ,, Our Garden

Friends and Foes 224

,, Study of the Physical

Sciences 512

Woodsia Glabella, Range of .... 520

Yellow Skin in Fever, Cause 400

Zircon, Forms of 409

Zoology for Schools 86

and Comparative Ana-
tomy .. ..136, 284, 422, 561

:ten