mm

libeaey

S. PATENT OFFICE,

Class

V O' o o. V V v o • j vj ^

sec

c<

c

3c<<x ct

JQ

I fWC:<8L

see

<!

©

Cr

^cSCC

o®ac

^teccc..

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

OF

MANCHESTER

I f li d

VOL. IV, V

SESSION 1804-05.

MANCHESTER :

PRINTED BY THOS. SOWLER AND SONS, ST. ANN’S SQUARE.
LONDON : H. BAILLIERE, 219, REGENT" STREET,

1865,

NOTE.

The object which the Society have in view in publishing their Proceedings,
is to give an immediate and succinct account of the scientific and other
business transacted at their Meetings, to the members and the general
public. The various communications are supplied by the Authors them-
selves, who are alone responsible for the facts and reasonings contained
therein.

INDEX.

Airy Gr. B., M.A., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal. — On Auroral Arches, p. 170.

Alcock Thomas, M.D. — On Specimens of Foraminifera from Eoundstone,
Connemara, p. 52. Remains of an Ichthyosaurus, p. 99. Notes on a
Visit to Walton Hall, p. 100. On Marine Entomostraca, p. 174.
Southport Natural History, p. 188. Notes on Natural History Speci-
mens from Connemara, p. 192.

Bates Rev. J. Chadwick, M.A., F.R.A.S., F.G-.S.— Raingauge and Anemo-
meter Observations, 1864, p. 143.

Banendell J., F.R.A.S., Hon. Sec. — Earthquake of September 25, 1864, p. 1.
New Star, p. 22. Period and Changes of the Greenwich Variable Star
in Vulpecula, p. 54. Observation of an Auroral Arch, p. 133. On a
Thermometer constructed by Dr. Dalton, p. 133. Note on Mr. Bates’s
Raingauge and Anemometer Observations, p. 145.

Binney E. W., F.R.S., F.G-.S., V.P. — Strokes of Lightning, p. 25. Remarks
on Marine Shells found at Macclesfield, p. 43. Spores of Plants in
Splint Coal, p. 45. Remains of the Elephant found in Derbyshire
and Cheshire, p. 49. Internal Structure of Stigmaria, p. 87. Further
Observations on the Permian and Triassic Strata of Lancashire, p. 134.

Breg-UET M. — Construction of Dumas’s Lamp, p. 101.

Brierly Henry. — Spinning Machines, p. 2.

Brockbank W. — Discovery of the Mammoth (Elephas Primigenius) at
Waterhouses, near Leek, p. 46.

Brothers A., F.R.A.S. — Photograph of the Moon, p. 13. Portraits by the
Magnesium Light, p. 65. Picture of the Blue John Mine taken by the
Magnesium Light, p. 112. Was Daguerre a Discoverer ? p. 113,

Buxton E. C., Junr. — Photographic Experience in India, p. 120.

Calvert F. Crace, F.R.S., F.C.S. — Action of Sea Water upon certain
Metals and Alloys, p. 115.

Caro Heinrich. — Injurious Action of Alkalies on Cotton Fibre, p. 149.

Carrington Benjamin, M.D. — On an Annelidan Larva, and On the
Embryology of Annelids, p. 100. On the Chsetopod Annelides of the
Southport Sands, p. 176.

VI

Clifton Prof. R. B., M.A., F.R.A.S. — On an Acoustical Electric Telegraph,
p. 53.

Cockle Chief Justice, M.A., F.R.A.S., F.C.P.S. — On Differential Equations,
p. 38.

Dancer J. B., F.R.A.S. — Contrivance for Regulating the Amount of Light
in Using the Microscope, p. 34. Exhibition, Stereoscopically, of
Photography on a Large Scale, p. 111. The Opaque Microscope not
New, p. 120. Microscopical Appearances of Cotton Hair during
Dissolution in the Ammoniacal Solution of Copper, p. 152. On
Pseudoscopic Vision through Prisms, p. 157. On Viewing Photo-
graphic Pictures taken with Lenses of different Foci, p. 190.

Dancer William. — Injurious Action of Alkalies on Cotton Fibre, p. 149.

Darbishire R. D., F.G.S. — Notes on Marine Shells found in Stratified Drift
at Macclesfield, p. 41.

Dyer J. C., V.P. — Spinning Machines, p. 12.

Heap John. — Note on the Rainfall of the last Twenty-nine Years at Royton,
Oldham, p. 147.

Heelis Thomas, F.R.A.S! — Account of a Fireball, p. 84.

Herschel Alexander S., B.A. — On the Auroral Arch of March 20, 1865,
p. 171.

Heyes W. H. — Markings on Leaves of the Vegetable Marrow, p. 36. Struc-
ture of Cotton Fibre, p. 63. Preparation of Canada Balsam for
Mounting Microscopic Objects, p. 173.

Hunt G. E. — Discovery of Potamogeton Nitens in Loch Ascog, Rothsay,
p. 52. Notes on Mosses, p. 141.

Johnson J. R. — Pantascopic Camera, p. 111.

Johnson R., F.C.S. — Action of Sea Water upon certain Metals and Alloys
p. 115.

JoijLE J. P., LL.D., F.R.S., V.P. — Hardening Steel Wires for Magnetic
Needles, p. 28. New Magnetic Needle for showing Rapid and Minute
Changes of Declination, p. 37. Testing Boilers by Hydraulic Press-
ure, p. 89. New Camera, p. 113. Instrument for showing Rapid
Changes in Magnetic Declination, p. 131. Improvements in a Camera,
p. 192.

Kirkman Rev. T. P., M.A., F.R.S. — Relation of Force to Matter and Mind,
p. 14. Corrigenda, p. 28. Theory of Groups, Corrigenda and Ad-
denda, p. 171.

Knott George, F.R.A.S. — Observations of the Greenwich Variable in Vul-
pecula and its Companion Stars, p. 55.

Vll

Latham Arthur G-. — Examination of a Shell of Helix Nemoralis, p. 62.

Linton James. — Stigmas of Poterium Sanguisorba ; Calyx of G-um Cistus,
p. 36.

Lund Edward, F.R.C.S. JEx. — On the Points of Resemblance and Difference
between the Skeletons of the Glorilla and Man, p. 57.

Mitchell John, Captain. — Experiments on Cotton Fibre, p. 51.

Mudd James. — A Photographer’s Dream, p. 191.

Mylitts A. — Action of Caustic Soda on Ethylic and Methylic Alcohol, p. 106.

Nasmyth James, C.E. — Antiquity of the Features and Details of the Lunar
Surface, p. 29. On a Large Glroup of Solar Spots, p. 78.

Nevill T. H.— Foraminifera from Grorteen Bay, Connemara ; and a New
Method of Mounting Specimens, p. 63. New Sensitive Paper, p. 67.

Parry John. — Section of a Shell of Helix Aspersa, p. 62. On Mr. Side-
botham’s Camera, p. 67. Pressure Apparatus for Mounting Micro-
scopic Objects, p. 174.

Robinson John. — Alloy to resist the Action of Sea Water, p. 119.

Roscoe Prof. H. E., F.R.S., Hon. Sec. — Mr. Rutherford’s Photographs of
the Fixed Lines in the Solar Spectrum, and of the Moon, p. 69. Pre-
paration of Bulbs for exhibiting the Chemical Combination of Chlorine
and Hydrogen Gtases, p. 101.

Schunck E., F.R.S., Y.P. — On some Products derived from Indigo Blue, p.
70.

Sidebotham J. — Trees damaged by Lightning, p. 25. Address to Micro-
scopical Section, p. 33. Seed of Sanicula Europea, p. 36. Printing
Transparencies for the Stereoscope and Magic Lantern, p. 65. On
the Wothlytype Process, p. 68. Notes on the Development of the
Wings of Lepidopterous Insects, p. 98. Proper Focus of Lens to be
used in taking Photographic Landscapes, and on some Modes of
Measuring the Size of Objects therein depicted, pp. 113 and 190.

Smith R. Angus, F.R.S., P. — Dancer’s Aspirator, p. 26. Composition of
the Atmosphere, p. 30. On some Physiological Effects of Carbonic
Acid and Ventilation, p. 79. On the Meteorological Instruments
invented by Dr. Joule, p. 132. Minimetric Method of Analysis, p,
159.

Sonstadt Edward. — New Reagent for the Separation of Calcium from Mag-
nesium, p. 90.

Taylor James.— Rainfall at Oldham, Strinesdale, and Brushes Clough,
p. 19.

Thom John. — New Form of Roof for Dyehouses. p. 103.

Vlll

Vernon Gf. V., F.R.A.S. — Note on the Rainfall of 1864, p. 85.

Wardley George. — On Glass Transparencies, p. 192.

Watson John. — On the Plumules or Battledore Scales of the Lycsenidse,
p. 98.

Williamson Prof, W. 0., F.R.S. — Address to the Photographical Section,
p. 64. Difficulties in Determining Specific Distinctions in the Lower
Forms of Animal Life, p. 140.

Worthington S. B., C.E. — Bridge with Girders made of Bessemer Steel
Plates, p. 77.

Meetings of the Physical and Mathematical Section. — Annual, p. 143.
Ordinary, pp. 19, 53, 84.

Meetings of the Microscopical Section. — Annual, p. 189. Ordinary, pp. 33,
51, 52, 62, 97, 99, 140, 141, 173, 174, 188.

Meetings of the Photographical Section. — Annual, p. 191. Ordinary, pp. 64,
67, 111, 112, 120, 190.

Report of the Council. — April 25, 1865, p. 163.

PROCEEDINGS

THE LITERACY AND PHILOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY.

Ordinary Meeting, October 4th, 1864.

Edward Schunck, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., Vice-President, in

the Chair.

Amongst the donations announced was a bust of Dr.
Dalton, presented by Mrs. Samuel Fletcher.

On the motion of Dr. Roscoe, seconded by Dr. Joule,
the best thanks of the Society were unanimously voted to
Mrs. Fletcher, for her very valuable present.

The Chairman, in announcing the severe loss which the
Society had sustained by the death of their late lamented
Honorary Librarian, adverted to the very important services
he had rendered. By Mr. Ekman’s able management and
indefatigable industry the library had become one of the most
valuable in the country.

Thomas Windsor, Esq., M.R.C.S., was unanimously
elected Honorary Librarian of the Society.

Several members stated their experience of the earthquake
which occurred on the £6th ult. Mr. Baxendell described a
remarkable derangement of the sidereal clock belonging to
the corporation, which he had mounted at his house, which
has suggested a new method of registering the occurrence of
earthquake shocks.

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society— Yol. IY — No. 1— Session, 1864-5.

2

A Paper was read entitled “ Remarks on Mr. Dyer’s Paper
entitled * Notes on Spinning Machines/ by Mr. Henry
Brierly” ; communicated by E. "YV. Binney, F.R.S.

Mr. Dyer, in the abstract of bis paper (. Proceedings , vol. iii.
p. 265), commences by saying that “ two distinct principles
were embraced in the inventions of James Hargreaves and
Richard Arkwright, which were afterwards combined by
Samuel Crompton, to form the beautiful power-driven machine
called the mule. Arkwright employed the throstle, or throated
'spindle, with arms or f flyers ’ to conduct the threads on bob-
bins arranged in stationary frames ; Hargreaves employed
naked spindles arranged on a traversing frame or carriage,
by which the threads were drawn out (about five feet) in
horizontal lines, whilst being twisted, and were then taken
up, or wound, on the spindles, to form e cops/ whilst the
carriage returned to the roller beam for another f stretch.’ ”

As I understand Mr. Dyer, he attributes to Arkwright
the invention of the spindle and flyer , and seems to consider
that as the leading Cf principle ” of Arkwright’s invention, as
distinguished from Hargreaves’s invention, the main “prin-
ciple” of which he mentions as consisting in the employment
of naked spindles mounted on a traversing frame or carriage .
Mr. Dyer is in error on both these points; and it is only
fair to a very ingenious inventor who preceded both Har-
greaves and Arkwright that these matters should be properly
understood.

As to Hargreaves’s “ Jenny,” there is no doubt of the
originality of the invention, and that Hargreaves is entitled
to the sole merit of whatever was valuable in that invention ;
but I shall show that as regards the inventions commonly
attributed to Arkwright the case is far different. Before
doing so, however, I must point out the mistake committed
by Mr. Dyer as regards the nature of Hargreaves’s inven-

3

tion. Hargreaves did not employ spindles mounted upon
a moving carriage, nor was there any “roller beam ” in
his machine at all. Mr. Dyer seems to he here confounding
the invention of Hargreaves with the subsequent invention of
Crompton. An inspection of the specification of the patent
taken out by Hargreaves in 1770 (No. 962) will show that in
his “ Jenny5’ the spindles revolve in stationary bearings,
while instead of rollers for drawing out the material to the
requisite fineness a “ clasp ” was used, which was arranged
to move backwards and forwards in suitable framing. Thus,
before beginning to spin a “ stretch,” the spinner had the
“ clasp ” near to the spindles, with, a certain length of roving
between the clasp and each spindle. He then with one hand
drew the clasp gently away from the spindles, thus elongating
the portions of roving between them, while with the other
hand he turned round certain apparatus by means of which
the spindles were caused to revolve and twist the threads, and
having thus drawn away the clasp for about five feet from
the spindles he then returned it back towards them, at the
same time guiding the threads by means of a “presser,” or
faller, and turning the spindles round so as to wind the spun
threads upon bobbins placed upon them, and not upon the
spindles themselves . This is a very different operation from
that of the mule, in which rollers moving at different veloci-
ties draw the material to the required fineness, while the
spindles recede from them in a moving carriage, at the same
time revolving so as to twist the threads, which are afterwards
wound upon the spindles themselves so as to form “cops.”
It is necessary to bear these distinctions in mind in following
the progress of development which resulted in the production
of the highly effective spinning machinery in use at the pre-
sent day.

In coming to the consideration of the inventions usually
attributed to Arkwright, it is only proper that due notice

4

should be bestowed upon those of a very ingenious man who
preceded him, viz., Lewis Paul. The invention of ec spinning
by rollers,” as it is familiarly termed, and for which Ark-
wright usually obtains the credit, most undoubtedly origin-
ated with Paul. It is only necessary to read the specification
of the patent granted to Paul on the 24th June, 1738, to be
satisfied on this point. It is true that there has been some
dispute as to whether Paul himself really originated the
invention described in that specification, a person of the name
of Wyatt being mentioned by some as having communicated
the invention to Paul, and another person of the name of
Highs having laid some sort of claim to the invention. The
claims of these parties, however, only rest upon some very
vague assertions made by themselves or persons connected
with them, such, for instance, as that contained in a letter
written by W yatt to Sir Leicester Holt, and quoted at page
124 of Baines’s History of the Cotton Manufacture , in which
Wyatt says, referring to the machine known as Paul’s — “ I am
the person that was the principal agent in compileing the
spinning engine,” &c. Such assertions as these, however,
cannot be taken as satisfactory proofs of the claims of these
parties, and when in opposition to them we have the specifica-
tion of a patent granted to Paul for this application, in which
specification the name of Wyatt actually appears as that of a
witness to the signature, &c., of the document by Paul, it is
difficult for an unprejudiced person to come to any other con-
clusion than that Paul was really the inventor of the contri-
vance for which the patent was granted. However that may
be, it is quite clear that this invention does not belong to
Arkwright, whose first patent relating to spinning machinery
was taken out in 1769, or above thirty years after the patent
granted to Paul. And that Arkwright was aware of the
existence of Paul’s patent is beyond all doubt, and is proved
by documents which are quoted in the work to which I have

5

already referred, viz., Baines’s History of the Cotton Manu-
facture, as well as by other documents to which I need not
now particularly allude.

In speaking of the “ peculiar soft property ” possessed by
the yarn spun upon the mule, as distinguishing it from the
yarn spun by the machine called the “ throstle,” Mr. Dyer is
quite correct. I believe it is not so generally known as it
should be that the “ throstle,” as the term is now generally
understood, consists mainly of a combination of the leading
features of Paul’s invention of 1738, which I have already
mentioned, with those of a later invention, for which he
obtained a patent in 1758. Mr. Dyer mentions the
spindle and flyer as Arkwright's invention , but they had
been in use upwards of one hundred and sixty years
before the date of Arkwright’s inventions. This is proved
by several of the works now in the library of the Patent
Office, especially an Italian work, entitled “Novo Teatro
di Machine et Edificii,” &c., and a pamphlet published
in 1681, entitled “Some Proposals for the Employment
of the Poor.” In Paul’s specification of 1738 we have
the application of rollers moving at different velocities for
drawing the material, and in that of 1758 the combination of
rollers (of which only one pair are shown in the specification
of the latter patent) with the spindle and flyer , by means of
which the thread was twisted and wound upon a bobbin. So
far as I have been able to ascertain, this is the first instance
in which we have the material passing through rollers in its
way to a spindle and flyer by which it is twisted and wound
upon a bobbin, and we have here, clearly, the origin of the
“ throstle.” Paul’s specification of 1758 describes these
operations very minutely, but spinners acquainted with this
class of machinery will at once perceive that the machine
described in Paul’s specification, though displaying great
ingenuity, was defective in one important particular, which

6

was, that there was no arrangement by which the “ traverse”
of the bobbin, as it is now termed, could be performed. The
manner in which the yarn was distributed over the bobbin
was peculiar. The flyer was tubular , and only reached
downwards to just within the head of the bobbin, and the
latter was of conical form, the lower end being the smallest.
The yarn was thus wound constantly at the top of the bobbin
by the flyer, but as it accumulated there, the conical form of
the bobbin caused the coils of yarn to slip downwards , and
thus a kind of distribution of yarn over the bobbin was
effected. This part of the arrangement was evidently very
defective, and it is highly probable that the want of some more
eflicient method of distributing the yam over the bobbin was
one if not the sole cause of the want of success which
undoubtedly attended the efforts of Paul to bring his machine
into general use. The addition to the machine of the
" traverse motion,” as it is called, or the arrangement by
which the bobbin is made to ascend and descend on the
spindle, was unquestionably a vast improvement, and of this
Arkwright may fairly have the credit. But even here Ark-
wright had been partly anticipated,* for in the specification of
a patent granted to Comah Wood, in 1772, No. 1018, there is
the description of a mode of causing the bobbin to be moved
on the spindle for the purpose of winding the thread upon all
parts of it in succession, this being done by a movable rail,
capable of being shifted from time to time by hand. This,
however, was only a slight approximation to what was
required, and Arkwright, in applying the “ heart motion,”f
as it is now termed, may be said to have brought the throstle
well nigh to the condition in which it is used at the present
day.

* Arkwright’s specification of 1769 does not describe any arrangement for
this purpose.

f The date of this application appears to be uncertain.

7

Crompton’s invention, in which he combined the drawing
rollers of Paul with the use of spindles mounted in a movable
carriage, and which was thence called the “ mule,” as par-
taking to some extent of the principles of both the jenny and
the throstle, formed an immense improvement on all previous
inventions. Of course the mule has been greatly improved
since Crompton’s time ; but in speaking of Mr. Kennedy and
Mr. Peter Ewart as being among the most eminent of those
who have improved that machine, Mr. Dyer gives no reason
for his opinion. I pass from this, however, to Mr. Dyer’s
observations on the self-acting mule.

Mr. Dyer says the “ real difficulty” connected with the
construction of a self-acting mule was chiefly confined to the
winding of the threads on the cops ; but, as I can testify
from some twenty years’ actual experience, this is by no
means the greatest difficulty, especially as regards the con-
struction of large mules . The backing off, or unwinding of
the loose coils of yarn from the spindles, which are above the
cops, so as to allow the depression of the faller,” or guiding
wire, is connected with mechanical difficulties of a most
formidable nature, and the reaction produced by the sudden
stoppage and reversal of the motion of the spindles of a large
mule, with their attendant pulleys and geering, &c., has been
a source of trouble and annoyance which none but those who
have experienced it can understand. Mr. Dyer mentions a
Mr. Snodgrass as having made the first “ notable ” attempt to
construct a self-acting mule ; but beyond the attempt being a
notable failure , I know of nothing to entitle it to that dis-
tinction. Mr. Eaton’s invention of 1819, which Mr. Dyer
mentions as next in succession to that of Mr. Snodgrass, was
undoubtedly a very ingenious invention, and was used by
himself for some little time. Mr. Eaton’s specification shows
that his knowledge of the subject was very accurate, but the
details of the invention, practically considered , were in many

8

respects very defective. I will not here go into all these
details* but will point out two defects* either of which were
sufficient to prevent the successful application of the inven-
tion. One of these was the arrangement of the apparatus
for effecting the “ backing-off/ ’ (the difficulties attending
which movement I have already noticed*) and the manner in
which the “ sector used by Mr. Eaton for this purpose was
made to pass into seer with the wheel upon the ” run shaft/’
or shaft which turned the spindles, was most objectionable*
as creating a constant tendency to derangement and breakage
of both the sector and wheel ; and that this was the result of
the arrangement I have been informed by a most respectable
engineer now living in Manchester* and who saw Mr. Eaton’s
machines during the short time they were in existence.

Another defect lay in the arrangement for effecting the
winding of the yarn upon the spindles. For this purpose
Mr. Eaton employed two conical pulleys, one of which gave
motion to the other by means of a strap, the latter being
traversed along the pulleys at intervals so as to vary the
rapidity of motion of the spindles according to the varying
size of the cops. It is obvious that in this case the liability
of the strap to slip upon the pulleys must have led to great
irregularity in the working of the machine, and in fact I do
not believe that a large machine could be worked at all on
such a system. These defects* along with others which
might be mentioned, led to such trouble and annoyance in
connection with the attempt to work these machines, that
they were abandoned after a trial extending over a few
months. In fact the attempts of Mr. Eaton to construct a
self-acting mule* as well as those of Mr. De Jongh and of
Mr. Ewart* to which Mr. Dyer also alludes, can only be
looked upon as so many experiments * none of which were
attended with any reasonable amount of practical success ;
all being abandoned after a fruitless struggle, exhausting the

9

patience both of the inventors and of those connected with
them.

In speaking of Roberts’s invention of 1825, Mr. Dyer
seems either not to understand of what that invention con-
sisted, or to greatly undervalue it. Although it is quite true
that this invention has been greatly improved upon since the
date of the patent granted for it, those who are practically
conversant with these matters know well that it contained
the germs of what was afterwards developed into one of the
most successful and extensively used machines ever produced.
In fact it may truly be said that although great improvements
in the construction of the self-acting mule have been made
since the date of Roberts’s invention, and especially during
the last few years, still, in all or nearly all the self-acting
mules now used there are embodied some of those excellent
mechanical arrangements of which he was undoubtedly the
originator, and which must always be looked upon as
imperishable monuments of that splendid mechanical genius
with which Roberts was beyond all question endowed. For
example, the arrangement of the “ cam-shaft” for producing
the changes of motion of the machine ; the arrangement of
the double fallers ; the method of causing the faller to be
depressed by the reverse movement of the apparatus which
turns the spindles in backing-off; and the system of regu-
lating the tfc winding-on” by the gradual approximation or
otherwise of the faller and counter faller, are all contrivances
displaying the highest mechanical skill and ingenuity, and
have all been most extensively brought into use, and so con-
tinue to the present day, while on turning to the patent
obtained by Roberts in 1830, for the employment of the well
known radial arm and drum as a means of effecting the
“ winding-on,” we find that scarcely a self-acting mule is
now constructed which does not contain in some form or
other a modification of this famous invention.

10

In speaking thus of Roberts’s inventions, I consider that I
am only doing justice to a highly meritorious engineer, whose
ingenious contrivances, although undoubtedly attended with
some defects, which have led to certain of his arrangements
being superseded by others of a more perfect character, must
yet be admitted as having furnished some of the brightest
examples of the mechanical genius of the present age. Mr.
Roberts was the inventor of the first practical self-acting mule.

Mr. Dyer is correct in attributing to the inventions of Mr.
Smith, of Deanstone, “ much novelty and some good proper-
ties,” and in stating that Mr. Smith’s and Mr. Roberts’s mules
were the chief competing mules for many years. I really,
however, cannot understand Mr. Dyer when he comes to speak
of Mr. Potter's inventions. The patent of 1836, to which
Mr. Dyer evidently refers, was not taken out by Messrs. John
and James Potter, but by Mr. James Potter only ; that
gentleman being, as I know personally, an extremely in-
genious mechanic. Mr. Potter’s mules have had no incon-
siderable amount of success. Mules to the amount of many
thousands of spindles have been made and sold under Mr.
Potter’s patents, as I know personally. A large firm of
cotton spinners, with whom I was formerly connected, pur-
chased and used a number of them, and I have no hesitation
in saying that they possessed qualities which rendered them
for some purposes preferable, on the whole , to either Roberts’s
or Smith’s mules. Such, indeed, wTas the admitted merit of
Mr. Potter’s invention, that on the approach of the termina-
tion of the fourteen years for which his patent w&s originally
granted, the Lords of the Privy Council granted a prolonga-
tion of the patent for five years.

I am much surprised at what Mr. Dyer says in the
latter part of h*is paper, in which he states that it was
not until after the expiration of the second patent of Mr.
Roberts and that of Mr. Smith that a really good working

11

mule was constructed, u and which,” says he, “ appears to
have been realised in the patent obtained, in 1847, by Mr.
Matthew Curtis and Mr. Robert Lakin. Thus thirty years
had elapsed from the time when Mr. Eaton gave the true
principles for constructing a self-acting mule to that of their
being carried into practical effect as above stated.” Now, I
am acquainted with the specification of the patent taken out
by Mr. Curtis and Mr. Lakin, in 1847. The invention
described therein consists almost wholly, so far as it relates to
the mule, of improvements, or alleged improvements, in some
of the details of Smith’s and Roberts’s machines, and there
is no reason to give it the character of the first really good
working mule ever constructed. I have the pleasure of
knowing Mr. Curtis and others connected with his firm,
and I should think if they were inclined to claim such a
character for any of their inventions, it would certainly not
be for the one Mr. Dyer mentions.

Nor is there any better foundation for the assertion that
Mr. Eaton fC gave the true principles for constructing a self-
acting mule,” &c. As I have already mentioned, Mr.. Eaton’s
invention only survived a few months, and there is no single
particular of Mr. Eaton’s invention to he found in the self-
acting mules now used, while, on the other hand, Roberts’s
inventions form the basis of the great bulk of the self-acting
mules now made, not excepting even those made by Messrs.
Curtis and Co. themselves. It was Mr. Roberts, and not
Mr. Eaton, who “ gave the true principles for constructing a
self-acting mule.”

The highest test of the efficiency of a self-acting mule is its
capability of spinning the finer numbers of yarn, as, from the
delicacy and accuracy of manipulation required in producing
the very fine threads, it has been found very difficult to adapt
the self-acting mule to that class of spinning. Mr. Roberts
himself failed in this, as I have heard him admit in the wit-?

12

ness box of a court of justice ; but if this test were applied to
the invention of Messrs. Curtis and Lakin, of 1847, it would be
found lower down in the scale than even Roberts's. Many
persons have, indeed, until a comparatively recent period,
entertained the opinion that the spinning of fine yarns would
never be successfully accomplished by the self-acting mule ;
and had I not already extended these observations to a much
greater length than I at first intended, I could mention some
interesting circumstances connected with the progress of this
branch of invention. That would carry me, however, into a
discussion with reference to inventors and inventions not
mentioned in Mr. Dyer’s paper, and I will therefore reserve
what I have to say upon that part of the subject for some
future occasion.

Mr. Dyer, in reply, said that he had supported his state-
ments about the patented inventions noticed in his paper
(the abstract of which only was commented upon by Mr.
Brierly), by literal citations from the printed specifications.
His Notes were entitled “ Part the First, on the Mule Jenny,”
and that therefore he had only to make the distinction of
this class of spinning machines from those of the throstle
class, and his description of the latter went no further than
to show how much of it Crompton took to make up his
composite mules.

13

Ordinary Meeting, October 18th, 1864.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.E.S., &c., Vice-President, in the

Chair.

Mr. Brothers, F.R.A.S., exhibited a photograph of the
moon, which he had made from a negative by Warren De la
Rue, F.R.S. The original negative is one inch in diameter,
and from this a positive two inches in diameter was first
made. This was placed within the rays of a nine-inch con-
denser of the solar camera, and an enlarged negative on a
plate 3 Gin. by 24in. was produced. The print exhibited was
on a single sheet of paper, and thus the disadvantage of join-
ing several sheets together as in other large prints of the
moon was avoided. Various effects from the same negative
could be produced by providing either for the finer details of
the strongly illuminated side of the moon, or for the more
rugged parts at the side near and at the termination of parts
in shade. During the conversation which followed, Mr.
Brothers stated that the negatives were . the property of
Messrs. Smith and Beck. It was suggested by Mr. Baxendell
that more accurate micrometrical measurements could be
made from such a photograph than direct from the moon’s
surface in the telescope — in the one case the object being
still, and in the other in constant motion ; and Dr. Roscoe
remarked that if a series of the several phazes of the moon
on the same scale as the one shown were published, he
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society — Vol. IV.— .Ko. 2 — Session, 1864-5.

1,4

believed they would be of great value for educational and
scientific purposes.

A Paper was read, entitled “ On the Relation of Force
to Matter and Mind.” Part I. By the Rev. Thomas P.
Kirkman, M.A., F.R.S., Hon. Member.

There are at least three schools of thinkers, among us,
about the relation of force to matter. The first and most
popular one conceives of matter as leally existing and occupy-
ing space, whether it be or be not the seat or subject of force,
so that if all force were withdrawn, matter would remain,
quiescent and unexciting. The second school, not, it is to
be hoped, a numerous one, affirms that matter exists of neces-
sity, and is of necessity endued with force; that no power
can divorce matter and force ; that every form of chaos or
order is but one of the combinations that eternal matter must
assume by the eternal play and collision of eternal force ;
and that the notion of an Author and Preserver of the
Universe is but the dream of ignorance. This is the school
of the Materialists. A third and I think a growing school
denies the • existence of matter as distinct from force ; this
may be called the school of the Immaterialists. The Xmma-
terialists are not the idealists of Berkeley’s type, for the
former affirm space, and an external world of force having
a real existence* in space, which the latter are far from
affirming.

If any leading philosopher will boldly preach this Iinma-
terialist gospel, and proclaim a crusade against matter, I am
prepared to promise him one humble follower.

Of force no man is required to give either a demonstration
or a definition. We cannot converse without agreeing in
affirming ourselves in space, which is simply the affirmation

15

of existence or force in this external world, which is not our-
selves. But I have a right to demand from a disputant both
a definition of matter and a proof of its existence. It appears
to me that this existence is either an unproved inference from
the experience of resistance, or is a delusion attached to a
word of our infancy. Why cannot I close my hand upon a
brick ? The answer of a child is, because the brick is there,
inactive and inert there, a piece of stuff which is doing
nothing but just lying there : this is the notion of sluggish
quiescent matter. The thinker perceives that he is prevented
from closing his hand by force perpetually in action there,
and that the brick is what it is by virtue of intense cohesion,
and other resistances that defeat his pressure and the force of
his will. Thus he gets the compound notion of matter
having its seat in space, and of force having its seat in the
matter.

But what need is there of the matter ? Why may not the
forces have their seats in space ? How can you construct a
demonstration of the presence of this matter ?

You appeal first to the evidence of our senses. But we
are all agreed that our sight and hearing can teach us nothing
about forces, resistances, and motions, except through the
interpreter touch ; that the telegrams which reach the mind
by sight and hearing are rapidly translated into nothing but
the memory of touch. Now touch teaches us absolutely
nothing but resistances , except lessons of pleasure and pain
that may be here left out of consideration. Thus the evi-
dence of our senses comes to nothing more than the con-
sciousness and the memory of forces which resist our own
force of volition.

You say that this table is a geometrical locus of material

16

points in space, and at the same time a locus of forces having
their seats in those material points. Let us suppose that
the Author of the Universe, or some lower power competent
to do it, were to remove all the matter from this locus,
and leave a system of force exactly filling the locus of the
removed matter, each force having its seat not in a point of
matter but in a point of space : suppose that these pure force-
points in pure space should present the same resistance to
my hand or my tools, should receive the same vibrations from,
and communicate the same vibrations to, all that surrounds
the locus, as the force did before the matter was removed.
How could our senses detect the absence of the vanished
matter? The table would feel and look the same, sound,
smell, cut, burn the same, as before. Then it appears that
our senses help us to no evidence either of the presence or
the absence of this mysterious matter.

Do you appeal next to the mathematician ? You refer to
his moments, moving forces, living forces, &c., in all which
the mass is before us in his formulae. It is true that the
letter m is there ; but to the mathematician it is in all cases
simply a number, a constant obtained by experiment only,
experiment which is independent of all hypothesis about the
existence or non-existence of matter. Newton, in the opening
of his Principia , says, Virium caasas vel sedes non expendo.
He neither troubled himself about the cause, nor about the
seat of force. It was sufficient for him to have the exact
positions in space of the centre and points of departure of
his forces with their directions and the numerical constant,
given by experiment, which determine their intensities.
No mathematician cares anything about material seats for his
forces : he throws the matter invariably away, he contents

17

himself with forces given in position in space, with the
requisite numerical multiples, and he investigates simply
the relations and mutual actions of pure force-points , such as
centres of gravity and the like : then he contracts and pre-
dicts the facts of the universe.

The Materialist gains nothing by the evidence of the
mathematician. But he returns to the charge, thus you have
been talking nonsense about that table, in pretending that
the matter can be removed while all the forces remain ; for
matter exists in ultimate atoms, each constituted by an
indefinite force of cohesion of its parts. Wherefore, if the
atoms are supposed to be removed, their internal forces are
removed from the locus along with them.

So here are the dear little atoms — their fairy troops are
brought into the field. There is some poetry in the super-
stitions of the credulous Materialist ; but poetry is not quite
science. I deny the existence of atoms, and demand proof
of it. Experimental proof will be difficult in the case of
such small commodities ; can we expect it from analysis ?
Will there ever be a proof of an indivisible absolute minimum
of matter? Do you expect a set of formulae to force up,
demonstrating the impossibility of the existence in the
universe of a bit of matter of less than a certain definite
weight and diameter? That may do for the Materialists,
but not for the mathematicians.

If I must believe in matter, I must also believe, not that
it is infinitely divisible — for that is absurd ; but that it is,
like the space which it occupies at this moment infinitely
divided ; so that every mathematical point, or mere volume
of space, is occupied in a material locus by a mathematical
point, or zero mass, of matter. The difficulty of affirming an

18

actual infinite division is no greater in the case of matter
than in the case of space ; and we are compelled to affirm
this in space. Wherefore I did not talk nonsense about the
table. If there is matter, its ultimate atoms can be nothing
but zero masses, each occupying a zero vacuum of space,
which masses, having no parts, can be constituted by no
internal forces of cohesion.

In conclusion, I venture to defy the Materialist to deduce
any experimental or logical demonstration of the existence of
his matter the seat of force, or bring proof of it beyond his
own unsupported assertion. In these notions there is
nothing new ; nor am I aware that their adoption can make
any change in the habits or symbols of our scientific thought,
except only with reference to the greatest topic in philosophy,
the cause of the Universe. I think that I have cleared
abundant room for this observation : that, while it is con-
fessedly difficult for the Theist to prove, by a merely intellec-
tual process, the existence of his God, — it is not a whit less
difficult for the Materialist to prove, by any process whatever,
the existence of his matter.

19

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

October 13th, 1864.

Joseph Baxendell, E.R.A.S., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. Vernon, F.R.A.S., read a letter from Mr. James Tay-
lor, Secretary of the Oldham Corporation Gas and Water
Works, enclosing the following returns of Rainfall at Oldham,
Strines Dale, and Brushes Clough. Mr. Taylor states that
ccthe gauge at Oldham is fixed at the Gas Works, about four
hundred yards from the centre of the town. Strines Dale is
one of our reservoirs about two miles north-east of Oldham.
Brushes Clough is the site of another of our reservoirs about
three miles north of Oldham.”

EAINEALL AT OLDHAM.

Grange — 6 feet above ground, and 600 feet above tbe sea.

1860.

1861.

No. of

Maximum

No. of !

Maximum

Rain

Bays’

Daily Rain Rail

Rain

Bays’

Baily Rain Rail

Rail.

Rain.

in each Month.

Rail.

Rain.

in each Month.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

January ......

2-55

25

21st— 0-38

0-27

8

24th— 0-06

February

0*89

16

8th— 0-21

1-99

17

8th— 0-57

March

3*77

25

28th— 0-50

4*46

28

2nd— 0-70

April

1.37

11

8th— 0-32

0-87

6

1st — 0*36

May

3T8

18

26th— 0-50

1-02

8

25th— 0-28

June

6-30

25

2nd — 0'92

2-14

16

21st— 0-36

July

2-71

13

29th— 0-50

3-95

27

11th— 0-53

August ......

4-48

28

10th— 0-53

2-63

20

22nd— 0-55

September ...

2-52

20

16th— 0-66

4-33

17

8th— 0-72

October ......

4-47

24

10th— 0-72

1-16

15

24th— 0-23

November . . .

2-51

17

21st— 0-53

4-28

24

25th— 1-04

December . . .

1-63

16

6th— 0-86

1-56

15

6th— 0-51

36-38

238

28-66

201

20

1862.

1863.

Rain

No. of
Days’

Maximum
Daily Rain Fall

Rain

No. of
Days’
Rain.

Maximum
Daily Rain Fall

Fall.

Rain.

in each Month.

Fall.

in each Month.

January

Inches.

252

20

Inches.

31st— 0-49

Inches.

5*81

21

Inches.
1st— 1-81

February

0-73

10

1st — 0'38

1-46

16

4th— 0-31

March

3*95

18

24th— 1-13

1-01

16

7th— 0-32

April

353

15

2nd— 0-40

1-57

17

5th— 0-35

May ............

5*70

22

7th— 1-08

1-94

16

11th— 0-62

June

3-49

25

13th— 0-44

4-41

22

10th— 1-46

July

4-43

21

31st— 0-94

1-76

8

21st — O' 83

August

3*22

16

8th— 0-94

4-96

24

31st— 089

September ...

5-17

17

3rd— 122

6-41

26

21st— 1-03

October

5-78

20

12th— 0*82

605

26

30th— 1-17

November ...

1-68

15

9th— 0*31

3-43

21

3rd— 0-73

December . . .

3-36

23

9fch— 0*78

322

21

2nd— 0-72

43'56

222

42*03

234

RAINFALL AT STRINES DALE.

Grange — 6 feet above ground, and 800 feet above the sea.

1859.

1860.

Rain

No. of
Days’

Maximum
1 Daily Rain Fall

Rain

No. of
Days’

Maximum
Daily Rain Fall

FaU.

Rain.

j in each Month.

FaU.

Rain.

in each Month.

January ......

Inches.

1-53

14

Inches.

17th— 0-52

Inches.

2-81

26

Inches.
19th— 0-28

February ......

2-06

19

26th— 0-34

0-55

10

8th— 0-16

March

3-45

22

14th— 1-12

2-80

23

28th— 0-49

April .........

2-79

18

25th— 0-42

0-75

14

1st— 0-21

May ............

0-48

3

7th— 0-27

3-09

18

12th— 0-47

June

2-44

16

5th— 0-52

7*73

27

2nd— 1-38

July............

2-56

13

22nd— 0*65

2-63

16

29th— 0-48

August

6-91

17

7th— 2-26

5T0

28

5th— 0-72

September

5-62

26

30th— 0-94

3-10

21

29th— 0-48

October

3-48

19

25th— 0.91

4-47

24

15th— 0-94

November

2-31

16

1st— 0*51

3-35

22

21st— 0-75

December......

3-05

17

4th— 1-02

214

20

6th— 1-07

36-68

200

38-52

249

21

1861.

1862.

No. of

Maximum

No. of

Maximum

Rain

Days’

Daily Rain Fall

Rain

Days’

Daily Rain Fall

Pall.

Rain.

in each Month.

1 Fall.

Rain.

in each Month.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

January

0-84

16

16th— 0-28

2-39

22

31st— 0-38

February

2-11

17

8th— 0-59

0-78

13

1st— 0-17

March.

4-84

28

2nd— 0-96

3-80

16

24th— 1-13

April

1-08

9

1st— 0-39

! 2-81

18

6th— 0-47

May

1-14

11

24th— 0-29

; 5-41

23

7th— 1-24

June

2-55

16

23rd— 0-47

! 3-29

24

13th— 0-47

July

3-93

27

21st— 0-59

! 4-53

20

15th— 0-44

August .

2-16

21

22nd — 0-45

j 2-81

18

7th— 0-88

September ...

4-13

20

8th— 0-75

! 4-74

16

3rd— 1-26

October

1-70

17

11th— 044

| 4-59

23

15th— 0-58

November ...

4-32

23

25th — 0'85

1-27

18

14th— 0-23

December . . .

1-81

17

6th— 0-67

! 2-65

25

9th— 0-76

30-61

222

39-07

236

1863.

Rain

Fall.

No. of
Days’
Rain.

Maximum
Daily Rain Fall
in each Month.

January

Inches.

5-02

25

Inches.

1st— 1-54

February... ...

0-99

15

4th— 0-18

March

1-16

18

7th— 0-28

April

1-47

19

5th— 0-36

May

1-87

15

14th— 0-33

June

4-32

22

10th— 1-46

July

1-87

13

21st— 0-95

August

5-27

24

31st— 0-86

September ...

5-78

24

21st— 0-90

October

5-99

24

30th— 1-08

November ...

2-60

22

3rd— 0-40

December . . .

2-53

22

8th— 0-46

38-87

243

22

RAINFALL AT BRUSHES CLOUGH,

Gauge— 6 feet above the ground, and 950 feet above the sea.

1862.

1863.

Rain

No. of
Days’

Maximum
Daily Rain Fall

Rain

No. of
Days’

Maximum
Daily Rain Fall

Fall.

Rain.

in each Month.

Fall.

Rain.

in each Month.

J anuarj

Inches.

3-19

19

Inches.
31st— 0-53

Inches.

6-41

25

Inches.

1st— 1-56

February

1*01

16

1st— 0-19

2-12

19

1st — 0'34

March .

4-29

21

24th— 1-12

1-43

19

7th— 0-29

April

4-04

18

5th— 0-75

1-93

19

5th— 0-54

May

6-49

22

7th— 1*41

2-80

18

11th— 1-01

June

4-31

27

12th— 0-50

4-40

17

11th— 1-02

July

5-69

23

31st— 1-05

1-97

9

21st— 0-95

August

3-33

17

7th— 0-95

5-23

22

27th— 0-58

September ...

5-45

19

3rd— 1-39

7-31

27

21st— 1-33

October

6-56

23

12th— 0-83

7.40

25

30th— 1-38

November . . .

1-85

17

9th— 0-42

3-39

22

3rd— 0-75

December . . .

4-66

26

9th— 0-96

3-80

21

2nd— 0-85

50-87

248

48.19

243

Mr. Baxendell read the following “Note on a New
Star near the Greenwich Variable., No. 1773 of the 12-year
Catalogue.”

On the 13th of June, 1861, I made a diagram of the
Variable Star No. 1773 of the Greenwich 12-year Catalogue,
and three small companion stars as seen with Mr. Worthing-
ton’s 13-inch Newtonian Keflector, and estimated the mag-
nitudes of the companions to be a— 13*2, 5=13*2, and
c=13*7. No other stars were visible at that time within an
area round 1773 having a radius equal to the distance of
the companion a , the limit of visibility being the 14 '5 mag-
nitude; and the accuracy of the diagram was verified on
several subsequent nights.

23

On the night of the 2nd of October instant, while on a
visit with my friend Mr. B. D. Naylor, F.R.A.S., at Bowdon,
Cheshire, I turned his newly-mounted achromatic equatorial
of 6*2 inches aperture, by Cooke and Sons, of York, on 1773,
and observed three small stars near it which I took to he the
objects I had laid down in my diagram of June 13, 1861; but
it afterwards occurred to me that the star c was not in the
position shown in the diagram, and therefore on the night of
the 6th instant, I directed Mr. Worthington’s 13-inch re-
flector upon 1773, when I at once saw that the star I had
taken to be c was in reality a new object, all the three stars
seen on the 13th June, 1861, being in the positions shown
in the diagram, though, strangely enough, c was about half
a mag. less bright than I had estimated it to be at the time
the diagram was made. The magnitude of the new star d
was estimated to be 13*3. Using the 13-inch reflector again
on the night of the 7th instant, careful estimations gave the
magnitude of the four small stars a~ 13'2, h— 13*1, c— 14*1,
d- 13*3.

The sky, for a short time before midnight on the 9th
instant, was unusually clear to the west, and the three com-
panions a , h , and d, were seen with the 5-inch achromatic,
and their magnitudes, determined photometrically, were found
to be, a=13T, 5=12*8, d=- 13*2.

The relative positions of 1773 and its companion stars are
shown in the annexed diagram. The distance of the new
star d from 1773 is about 48," and its angle of position
about 315°.

24

The place of 1773 for 1865 is

H. M. S.

R.A. 19 42 51 -6
Dec. 26° 57 8*6" N.

From some observations made with the 5 -inch achromatic
in September, 1863, it appears that b was at that time at
least three-tentlis of a magnitude less bright than a , which
was then estimated to be of the same magnitude as at pre-
sent. The variability of 1773 was discovered at the Royal
Observatory, Greenwich, in 1837, by Messrs. Rogerson and
Glaisher ; and as d was certainly invisible, or at least below
the 14*5 magnitude in June, 1861, and c is now about half a
magnitude less bright than it was at that time, while b on
the other hand is a full half magnitude brighter than it was
in September, 1863, we have here four variable stars within
an area of little over one square minute, and it is to be
remarked that the place of Anthelme’s new star of 1670 pre-
cedes this singular and interesting group with a difference of
right ascension of only about 48 seconds.

25

Ordinary Meeting, November 1st, 1864

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.. President, in the

Chair.

The following gentlemen were elected Ordinary Members
of the Society: — Mr. William Cort Wright, F.C.S. ; Mr.
George Heppel, M.A. ; and Mr. William Mather.

Mr. Sidebotham said that he had noticed the common
statement that Beech Trees were never damaged by lightning.
He had been induced to collect facts on the subject, and
had found that out of 28 instances, the trees struck were —
Oak, 9 ; Poplar, 7 ; Ash, 4 ; Willow, S ; Horse Chestnut, 1 ;
Chestnut, 1 ; Walnut, 1 ; Thorn, 1 ; Elm, 1, respectively.

Mr. Binney remarked that strokes of lightning were
generally determined by the nature of the subsoil, and that
in certain localities thunderstorms were very destructive,
while in others they were comparatively harmless, and damage
by lightning hardly ever occurred. The Beech, it was well
known, was generally found growing upon dry, sandy soils,
which were bad conductors of electricity, and which therefore
acted as protectors against destructive lightning discharges.
Peoceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society— Vol. IV.— No. 3— Session, 1864-5.

26

The President gave an account of an aspirator which had
been contrived for him by Mr. J. B. Dancer, of Cross-
street, to be used in the analysis of mixed gases, &c. A
drawing accompanies this description. Two jars graduated
into parts of a cubic foot or according to pleasure, are mounted
in brass, and placed mouth to mouth on an axis g, h9 or the
white portion enclosed by c , d, e,f. The upper jar is filled
with water and the taps opened ; then the water flows from
a to b , the air or gas entering by h, and passing previously
through any solution that may be used, as at i. The gas
enters a by the tube k9 the air in b goes out by c. When a
is emptied, it is simply turned round by the hand, and b the
filled bottle stands uppermost. The shaded part of c, ds e9f9
revolves with the jars, and the openings are so made as to form
continuations of the openings in the axis g} h. The same
co nditions exist, no matter which jar is uppermost. This
apparatus is very convenient in a laboratory, and has an
advantage over other aspirators in measuring the gas. The
measurements on the jars are made at a definite pressure of
water, and this ought of course to be maintained when the
numbers are read off. The apparatus is certainly very elegant,
and is an ornamental as well as useful addition to a chemist’s
work table. It may be called Dancer’s Aspirator, or the
Swivel Aspirator.

Dr. Boswell Beid describes one somewhat resembling this,
but instead of having the swivel movement, it was necessary
to lift the whole apparatus and to invert it. It was in reality
two aspirators ; one emptied itself into the other.

27

28

Dr. Joule described the process he employed to harden
steel wires for magnetic needles. The wire was held stretched
between the ends of two iron rods bent into a semicircular
shape. The free ends of the iron rods could be placed in
connexion with a voltaic battery by means of mercury cups.
Underneath the steel wire a trough of mercury was placed.
When the ends of the iron rods dip into the cups the current
passes through the wire3 heating it to any required extent.
When these ends are lifted the current is cut off, while at the
same instant the heated wire is immersed in the trough of
mercury.

CORRIGENDA.

Mr. Kirkman begs the reader to make the following corrections
in the last No. of these Proceedings : —

Page 14, line 11, for ‘ unexciting,’ read unresisting.

„ 15, line 1, for ' existence,’ read resistance.

„ „ line 22, for e forces,’ read forms.

„ 16, line 27, for c centre,’ read centres.

„ 17, line 2, for ' multiples,’ read multipliers.

„ „ line 4, for ' then he contracts,’ read thus he constructs.

„ „ line 21, for 'force,’ read turn.

„ „ line 3 from bottom, for ' mere,’ read zero.

,, 18, line 5, for ' vacuum,’ read volume.

. „ ,, line 8, for ' deduce,’ read adduce.

„ „ line 10, for ' bring,’ read any.

29

Ordinary Meeting, November 15, 1864.

R, Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the

Chair.

The following letter from Mr. James Nasmyth, C.E.,
addressed to Mr. Joseph Sidebotham, and dated November
8th, was read : —

I had intended to have sent the Manchester Literary and
Philosophical Society “ a Paper,” embodying some ideas I
entertain in regard to the vast antiquity of the features and
details of the lunar surface, but in attempting to put my
views on this subject into the formal shape of “ a Paper,55
somehow or other my pen won’t say what I want it to
express, so I am fain to get out of the difficulty by sending
you an abstract of my views on this subject in the form of
a letter.

The views I entertain on the subject in question are these,
namely, that as a direct consequence of the small mass of
the moon, and its comparatively large surface, it must have
parted with its original cosmical heat with much greater
rapidity than in the case of the earth, and consequently the
moon must have assumed a final condition of surface struc-
ture ages before the earth had ceased from its original molten
condition. And as the moon had in all reasonable proba-
bility never possessed an atmosphere or wrater envelope (it
certainly has none such now), while the earth has both, the
action of the earth’s atmosphere, and especially that of its
ocean when it existed in the first instance as a vast vapour
envelope, ere the earth had cooled down so as to permit the
Peqceeeings— Lit. & Phil, Society— Yol. IY.- No, 4— Session, 1864-5,

30

ocean taking up its final position as an ocean , this mighty
vapour envelope must have retarded the escape into space of
the cosmical heat of the earth millions of ages after the moon
had assumed its final condition as to temperature.

Therefore it is from such considerations I am led to the
conclusion that the surface features and details of the moon
present to us a sight of objects the antiquity of which is so
vast as to be utterly beyond the power of language to express,
and scarcely less so for the mind to conceive.

But yet at the same time such considerations appear to me
to enhance so vastly the deep interest which ever attends
the examination and contemplation of the moon’s wonderful
surface, that I would earnestly urge those who agree with
the soundness of these views to bear them in mind next time
they have an opportunity to behold the marvellous details of
the lunar surface, as I am fain to think that in doing so the
interest of what is there revealed to them will be rendered
vastly more impressive.

The President read a paper “ On the Composition of the
Atmosphere.” He believed that his inquiry proved that the
oxygen test was a very valuable one, as indicating the con-
dition of the atmosphere. The oxygen was diminished in
many cases, and indeed in all cases where the air was known
to be inferior. He said the objection to such air may
perhaps be found not so much in the absence of oxygen as in
the gases which take its place. That place was not wholly
supplied by carbonic acid. He believed it needful to examine
the composition to the second decimal place in the case of
oxygen, and to the third or even fourth in the case of carbonic
acid, as extremely small amounts of some gases affect us.

31

Hitherto we have had the composition of the air given in
numbers varying a tenth per cent — specimens have generally
been taken from rooms on streets or open places indiscrimi-
nately. It is the author’s wish to show that variations are
dependent on the conditions of soil, situation, wind, &c., and
that the. oxygen and carbonic acid together may with very
minute analysis guide us in our sanitary inquiries. The
paper cannot easily be given in abstract, further than by
adding a table of the analyses showing the average numbers
obtained in various places : —

Analyses op Atmospheres varying in Oxygen.

t Oxygen per
cent.

Avge. Nos.

N.E. sea shore and open heath (Scotland) 20*999

Tops of hills (Scotland) 20*98

In a suburb of Manchester in wet weather 20*98

Ditto ditto ditto 20*96

Front of street fths of mile from Exchange, Manchester... 20*945

At the back part of the house 20*936

Low parts of Perth 20*935

Swampy places (favourable weather) 20*922 to 20*95

In fog and frost in Manchester 20*91

In sitting room which felt close, but not excessively so... 20*89

In a small room with petroleum lamp, well ventilated ... 20*84

Ditto after six hours 20*83

Pit of Theatre, 11 30 p.m T. 20*74

Gallery, 10 30 p.m 20*36

In large cavities in mines 20*77

In currents * 20*65

Under shafts 20 *424

In sumps ...* 20*14

When candles go out about 18*5

Uhe worst specimen yet examined in the mine 18*27

Very difficult to remain in for many minutes . ...» » , * ...... . 1 7 *2

32

Analyses of Atmospheres varying in Carbonic Acid.

Avge. of Car-
bonic Acid
per cent.

Manchester streets, usual 0*0403

During fogs 0*0679

About middens 0*0774

Average 0*0442

Fogs excepted 0*0424

Fogs and middens excepted 0*0403

Where the fields begin 0*0369

In close buildings ' 0*1604

Minimum of suburbs 0*0291

Over North Scotland (towns excepted) 0*0336

Candle goes out 1*8 to 2*5000

Lowest found in mines 2*5000

Lowest entered 4*0000

The greater part of this is given in Dr. Angus Smith’s

Report cf On the Air of Mines” — Appendix to Report of the
Royal Mines Commission, 1864.

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.

First Ordinary Meeting, Session 1864-5.

17th October, 1864.

Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section, in
the Chair.

The President stated that he regretted to have to inform
the members of the total failure of the efforts made during
the last summer to provide them with fresh cotton pods for
the purpose of investigating into the structure of the cotton
fibre. This was partly owing to ravages of the common
greenhouse pest, the red spider, and partly unaccounted for
as the plants had flowered but not fruited. He called the
attention of the meeting to the compact form of microscope
made by Mr. Dancer to facilitate seaside and other investiga-
tions, where portability, combined with means of using the
higher powers, was the chief desideratum. A specimen was
on the table, and he and other members could bear testimony
to its advantages.

He also called the attention of the members to the many
beautiful forms of insects and vegetable life which were
frequently neglected as being too small to be examined by
the unaided eye, and yet too large for the ordinary powers of
the microscope. He assured the members the use of the
present three or two inch object glasses would reveal to them
many objects of surpassing beauty, which had hitherto only
been studied in detail.

With regard to the use of such powers as the -reth or

th, he thought they seemed to have reached the limits of

34

the available power of microscopic object glasses, as it appears
impossible to separate or define lines more numerous than
ninety thousand in an inch, on account either of the decom-
position of light or some other cause. It therefore seems
beyond our power ever to discover more of the ultimate
composition of matter by aid of the microscope, even were we
not prevented by the material composition of our lenses and
organs of vision.

We have, however, penetrated to the very confines of
organic life, if not beyond, inasmuch as no organisms appear
to exist smaller than those we can already see.

It is, moreover, a curious fact that the smaller creatures
are composed of fewer elements than the larger ones, and
that the number of elementary bodies composing them de-
crease in number as the organisms themselves decrease in
size. It becomes therefore a matter for speculation whether
the reason of this may not be, that the ultimate atoms of
some elementary bodies are larger than others, and that
these, from their size, cannot be used in the composition of
the more minute forms of organic bodies, and that smaller
organisms than those about TToiroth of an inch do not exist,
because the ultimate atoms of all solid bodies are too large
to be economically used in their foimation. The telescope
appeared to have infinite fields of distance to explore, but it
would seem the microscope had nearly reached the limits of
its possible power.

Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., then read a paper "On a
contrivance for regulating the amount of light transmitted
from the source of illumination to the mirror of the micro-
scope.5'

35

When viewing certain objects by transmitted light, and
particularly with oblique illumination, a very slight altera-
tion in the quantity and direction of the light produces a
marked difference in the appearance of the object, especially
in Diatomacese, where a proper management of the light
shows lines or markings invisible under ordinary direct illu-
mination.

The apparatus now exhibited is one easily made at a
trifling cost, and consists of a circular disc of blackened tin
or cardboard ten or twelve inches in diameter, with a number
of perforations of various shapes and sizes — circular, cross-
shaped, wedge-shaped, &c. — the centres of which are about

inches from the centre on which the disc, placed perpen-
dicularly, rotates. The form of perforations found generally
most useful are parallel slits— slits at right angles to each
other— ^wedge-shaped and circular openings.

The object under view must be well illuminated in the
direction required, and then the disc, supported by a pillar,
is placed between the source of light and the concave mirror,
when a few trials will determine the best form of aperture.

The markings of Pleurosigma fasciola, angulatum, &c., may
be seen by its aid under powers which would not show them
with any arrangement of achromatic condensers, and it also
has the good property of shading all but the amount of light
required from the lower portion of the microscopic stage and
stand.

The disc might be attached to the lamp, but it appears to
work better on a stand, and is susceptible of various modifi-
cations which will readily suggest themselves to the micro-
scopist.

86

*

Mr. W. H. Keys exhibited specimens of leaves of the
vegetable marrow, showing reticulated markings somewhat
similar to those of Symphytum, and presented a slide to the
cabinet.

Mr. Side botham stated that in sweeping over herbage for
Coleoptera and other insects, he had found some very curious
seeds, to one of which, that of Sanicula Europea, he thought
attention had not hitherto been drawn, though well deserving
of it. Those of Henbane and Baucus were also most
singular.

Mr. Linton exhibited the elegant tufted stigmas of Pote-
rium sanguisorba, and the very singular calyx of the gum
Cistus, which might almost be mistaken for the skin and
scales of a hsh.

Ordinary Meeting, November 29th, 1864.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.. President, in
the Chair.

Mr. E. C. Buxton was elected an Ordinary Member of the
Society.

Dr. Joule exhibited a magnetic needle for showing rapid
and minute alterations of declination. It consisted of a piece
of hardened and polished watch spring, an inch long and
one-tenth of an inch broad, suspended vertically by a filament
of silk. The steel was magnetised in the direction of its
breadth. He remarked that Professor Thomson had long
insisted upon the advantages which would attend the use of
very small bars in most magnetical investigations, and had
employed excessively minute needles in bis galvanometers
with great success. Dr. Joule stated his intention to fit up
his needle so as to be observed by light reflected from its
polished surface, or otherwise by viewing a glass pointer,
attached to the bottom of the steel, through a microscope.
He believed that by the latter plan he should be able to
observe deflections as small as 1" of arc.

Pbqceedinos— Lit. & Phil. Society— Vol, IY—No, 6— Session 1864-5.

38

A paper was read “ On Differential Equations,*’ by His
Honour Chief Justice Cockle, M.A. F.R.A.S., F.C.P.S., &c..
President of the Philosophical Society of Queensland ; com-
municated by the Rev. Robert Harley, F.R.S., &c.

Importing an arbitrary constant C into a result which Mr.
Robert Rawson, an Honorary Member of the Manchester
Literary and Philosophical Society, in a letter dated Ports-
mouth, June 14 th, 186£, communicated to me, we may say
that the differential resolvent of a (trinomial) cubic, whereof
the coefficient of the second term vanishes and that of the
third is constant, is of the form

Put

d‘y f"(x) dy pfyvMlVo

/'(*)=¥ =x> c=K’>

(i)

then, (1) divided by X2 becomes

_1_ dy_

X2’ da* X3 ’ dx

K2y = 0

(2)

Now, if

L = ±K, M=:qFK,

then

(t4+l)(t4 + m>=0 <3>

is the symbolical decomposition of (1) or (£). When L and
M are any constants whatever, (3), when developed, gives
rise to a linear differential equation of the second order
reducible to an equation with constant coefficients by changing
the independent variable from x to t , where

39

In deducing from (3) its development, the order of the
symbolical factors is indifferent, but the two particular inte-
grals of the development are, I think, obtainable by reversing
in (3) the order of the symbolical factors. The differential
resolvent of every such trinomial cubic as that discussed by
Mr. Hawson is soluble by a change of the independent vari-
able, and belongs moreover to a comparatively simple form of
equation soluble by such change.

The theory of Transcendental Solution has led me to the
following proposition (theorem) : —

If an irreducible algebraical equation of the degree n have a
homogeneous linear differential coresolvent of the order m, then
any root whatever of the algebraical equation can be expressed
as a linear and homogeneous function of any other m of its
root .

The general demonstration would not be much more diffi-
cult than or very different from the particular demonstration
of the case m- 2. The converse of this theorem, I believe,
is true.

In such case let a and b be the particular integrals of the
differential resolvent which (since m~ 2) is by hypothesis„of the
second order only. Let a, |3, and y be any three of the roots
of the algebraical equation. Then, since among the values
that can be assigned, by means of the arbitrary constants, to
the general integral, the roots of the algebraical equation are
included, we have three such relations as
Aa + D5 = a*

B a + E 6-/3,

Ca + F6 = y,

40

wherein A, B, ,F are constants. Multiplying the first,
second, and last of these equations into the arbitrary multi-
pliers X, ju, and v, and adding the results, we have

(XA + /jlB + vC)a + (XD + /xE + vE)6 — Xa + gf 3 + vy (4)

Hence if the ratios of any two of the quantities X, /x, v to the
third be so assigned as to satisfy the equations

\A + fiB + vC - 0,

\J) + gE + v¥ = 0,

then the sinister of (4) will vanish independently of a and 1,
and the homogeneous linear relation

Xa 4- yu/3 4- vy -• 0 (5)

will subsist among the roots a, j3, and y of the algebraical
equation. When n~ 3 we (since the differential resolvent is
homogeneous) have without reference to, but consistently
with, the theorem,

a + /3 + y — 0 (6)

Combining the above theorem with one given by Abel and
Galois, we conclude that : —

If qn algebraical equation ham a differential resolvent
of the second order , the algebraical equation is resoluble
algebraically .

Before closing I would add that, as it seems to me, it
would be more consonant with the notation and practice of
the rule of three, and, therefore, with convenience and the
analogies of arithmetic, if by the ratio p : q there were univer-
sally understood (not the fraction p-^q, but) the fraction

q-p.

41

Mr. R. D. D^rbishiee, F.G.S., read a paper entitled
“ Notes on Marine Shells found in Stratified Drift at Maccles-
field,” and exhibited a series of specimens.

The specimens were chiefly collected by Mr. W. J. Sainter
and Mr. Lowe, of Macclesfield, from sand and gravel exposed
in the formation of the new Cemetery on the north side of
the town, at an elevation of between 500 and 600 feet above
the level of the sea. Unfortunately the buying of specimens
had caused the intrusion of many spurious fragments, casting
suspicion on several that might after all prove to be
genuine.

The beds in question were exposed on a south-easterly
face, but are now defaced by ballast tips ; consist of fine
(running) sand, fine and coarse shingle, and very coarse gravel
with large pebbles unscratched ; and, while stratified, in
general horizontally, exhibit in their great irregularities of
extension, level and false bedding, characteristically marine
aspect, as of a sea bottom under the influence of tidal and
other varying currents.

Below appears the “lower boulder clay” of the Ordnance
geologists.

The shells are nowhere numerous. Mr. Lowe speaks of
finding some in layers. Unfortunately the shells from parti-
cular beds have not been distinguished.

In the list specimens obviously spurious have not been
noticed. The following species had been identified : —

42

Pholas crispata.

Pholas Candida.

Mya truncata.

Mya arenaria.
Psammobia ferroensis.
Donax anatinus.
Tellina solidula.
Mactra solida.

Lutraria elliptica.
Cytherea chione.
Venus striatula.
Artemis lincta.
Cyprina islandica.
Astarte elliptica.
Astarte arctica.
Cardium echinatum.
Cardium aculeatum (?)
Cardium rusticum.
Cardium edule.
Cardium Norvegicum.
Mytilus edulis.
Modiola modiolus.
Nucula sp.

Area lactea.
Pectunculus sp.

Pecten opercularis.
Ostrea edulis.

Patella vulgata.
Dentalium entale.
Dentalium Tarentinum.
Trochus cinerarius.
Littorina littorea.
Littorina rudis.
Littorina littoralis.
Turritella communis.
Aporrhais pes pelicani.
Natica nitida.

Natica monilifera.
Murex erinaceus.
Purpura lapillus.

Nassa reticulata.

Nassa incrassata.
Buccinum undatum.
Fusus gracilis.

Fusus antiquus.
Trophon clatliratum.
Mangelia turricula.
Mangelia rufa.

Mangelia nebula.
Cyprsea Europsea.

Total, 50 species.

Mr. Darbishire compared this list with those of the Moel
Tryfaen drift (Caernarvon), and the Kelsey Hill (Hull)
fossils, and with several lists of recent faunas of the British

43

Eastern and Western seas, and of seas North and South of
the British Isles.

The present list was specially remarkable for including
Cytherea chione, Cardium rusticum, Cardium aculeatum (?),
and Area lactea ; all of them shells reaching their highest
northern range in the extreme south or west of England
and Ireland, a circumstance believed to be new to the history
of the so-called <f Drift.”

The Macclesfield list rendered probable the deposit of those
beds from the westward, after the period had commenced
during which the physical conditions of the Western Sea have
differed as they now do from those of the Eastern.

A depression of 600 feet would leave only a few islands
where Ireland is, would allow of a great extension of the tidal
current now narrowed in St. George’s Channel, and would
probably carry the warmer influences which are now checked
on the West of Ireland to the shores of the Derbyshire hills.
Are there any traces of the sea bottom or shores on which
the shells of the drift seas lived ?

Mr. Darbishire further mentioned his identification in a
bed of gravel discovered by Mr. Prestwich, F.G.S., at about
1,200 feet above the sea, on the east side of Macclesfield, of
nine species of shells, including Cytherea chione.

Mr. Binney, E.G.S., remarked on the extent of the list,
the great distance eastward from the present shores of the
deposit, the elevation of Mr. Prestwich’s patch, and the
peculiarly temperate aspect of the group of shells. This drift
could not be called “ arctic.” He also referred to the diffi-
culty of recognising distinct “ upper” and “ lower” boulder

44

clays ; and illustrated tlie partial removal of the drift gravels
and the underlying till over a large tract of western country
during its elevation, and the re-distribution of portions of the
same beds as eroded by water courses after the land had
risen above the sea.

Dr. Alcock had examined the fossils produced, and
especially the southern forms, and confirmed the identification
of species.

1*

/

45

Ordinary Meeting, December 13th, 1864.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Mr. Edward Sonstadt was elected an Ordinary Member of
the Society.

Mr. Binney, F.R.S., exhibited some spores of plants
found in the splint coal of Methill, Fifeshire. He said that
many years ago he read a paper on some similar fossils before
the Geological Society of London, and it was printed in the
Journal of the Society for May, 1849. Those specimens were
from a nodule found in the King Coal seam at Wigan.
They also were met with in the Wigan Four Feet Coal in
greater abundance. Since that time Professor Balfour, F.R.S.
of Edinburgh, had described, in a paper printed in vol. xx of
the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, some
similar fossils from the Fordel splint coal. The specimens
exhibited were small lenticular bodies of a chestnut colour,
about a line in diameter. They occurred in countless num-
bers, indeed forming a very considerable portion of the seam
of coal itself. He stated that he had found them in equal
abundance in the Eight Feet, Main, Wood, and Pirnie Well
seams, but always in the splint or bone part of the coal. Dr.
Hooker had proved that similar spores belonged to the
Lepidodendron. The thick coating of the spore has doubtless
afforded some protection to it as well as the peculiar process
of bituminisation to which splint coal has been subjected,
and different from that which soft or cherry coal has under-
gone. He said that when w^e considered the great abundance
of these small fossils in all splint coals, and the immense
Pkoceedings Lit. & Phil. Society.— Vol. IV.— No. 6.— SESSION 1864-5.

46

number of the roots of Sigillaria found in the floors of such
seams of cOal, it was almost certain that they had some con-
nection with that plant. This tended to confirm M. Adolphe
Brongniart’s opinion, expressed many years ago, that Sigil-
laria and Lepidodendron were plants very nearly allied to each
other. Mr. Binney ‘also exhibited some larger spores in a
nodule of clay ironstone given to him by Mr. Ward, of Long-
ton, and found in the Derbyshire coal field. These were in a
most beautiful state of preservation, and exhibited the tesse-
lated character of the outside of the spore.

A paper was read by Mr. William Brockbank, “On the
Discovery of the Bones of the Mammoth (Elephas primi-
genius) in a Fissure of the Carboniferous Limestone at
Waterhouses, near Leek.”

A considerable number of bones were found at Water-
houses some weeks since, but through ignorance of their real
character they became dispersed without attracting attention,
a good many having been used to manure the land by a
neighbouring farmer.

A few of these bones reached the author through Mr.
Smith, of Cheddleton Mills, and were at once identified as
belonging to the skeleton of an elephant. A further search
was determined upon, and the author, accompanied by Messrs.
Thomas Wardle of Leek, and J. Walsh and W. Smith of
Manchester, visited Waterhouses on the 9th instant, and
succeeded in finding a large number of bones.

Mr. Wardle, and Mr. Green of the Geological Survey,
again visited the place on the 12th instant, and found very
decided fragments of teeth. A further search is being made
at the present time.

A large number of bones were submitted to the Society, all
of which were considered to be those of the Elephas primi-
genius, amongst which were one humerus nearly complete,
and part of the second ; parts of the pelvis and scapula ; one

47

ulna ; several carpal and metacarpal bones ; the head of the
tibia ; several fragments of tusks and two fine fragments of
teeth, showing very clearly the peculiar narrow transverse
plates and ridges of the dentine and enamel, by which the
teeth of this elephant are distinguished.

The fissure in which these bones were found occurs in the
upper beds of the carboniferous limestone, and has been ex-
posed by the workings of a quarry. The limestone strata at
Waterhouses are much dislocated, and fissures frequent, the

OSSEOUS FISSURE AT WATERHOUSES.

river Hamps disappearing in dry weather through fissures
very near to the above quarry, and other streams in the
immediate neighbourhood were described as sinking in the
same manner. The face of the limestone in the quarry is
nearly parallel to the general direction of the valley, or nearly
east and west, and the fissure follows the dip and direction of

48

the strata, being nearly vertical, or inclining about 10° to the
north. It is about six feet in width from face to face of the
solid rock, and is filled up with angular blocks of limestone,
cemented together at the sides of the fissure into a solid
breccia, the stones being coated with stalagmite, whilst the
centre is filled in with angular rubble and damp ochreous
clay. The whole had evidently been filled in from above.

The bones were recovered in good condition from the
breccia on the dryer side of the fissure, but those occurring
amongst the damp clay and rubble were so friable that it was
quite impossible to save them. Large numbers af ivory
flakes were found, which proved to be the remains of the
teeth, and one large fragment of tooth was obtained which
was decomposing into these flakes.

At the furthest point reached, a very interesting group of
bones was discovered, viz., a humerus in the socket of the
scapula, with the head of another humerus resting upon it at
the other end, and two cervical vertebrae were found near the
scapula. These were the only bones found in their relative
positions.

It was conjectured that the mammoth had fallen into the
narrow fissure before it was filled in, its huge bulk preventing
its reaching the bottom, so that it remained jammed in until
by natural decay it fell to the bottom, bit by bit. By this
supposition the absence of the head was accounted for, as it
would probably fall off first, and would roll lower down the
chasm. This surmise is confirmed by the fact that Mr.
Wardle found several fragments of the teeth on his second
visit, fifteen or twenty feet below the point where the bones
occurred.

The author had not been able to find any record of the
occurrence of the remains of the mammoth in any work on
the geology of Derbyshire or Staffordshire; and Mr. Wardle,
who has recently published an interesting account of the geology
of the neighbourhood of Leek, believed it to be an entirely

49

new discovery. A considerable part of the fissure remains to
be explored, and a further search is being prosecuted by Mr.
Wardle and the author.

Dr. White considered it probable that among the bones
exhibited there were the remains of more than one animal.

Mr. Binney said that Mr. Brockbank was mistaken in
supposing that no remains of the elephant had hitherto been
found in Derbyshire. They had been met with in two locali-
ties in the county of Derby and one in the county of Chester.
The late Mr. White Watson, at page 58 of his Delineation
of the Strata of Derbyshire,” says: — “ About the year 1663
a large cavern was discovered in sinking for lead ore upon a
hill at Balleye, within two miles of Wirksworth ; in which a
large skeleton was found, which in the original account of its
discovery is said to be ‘ that of a man, that his brain pan
would have held two bushels of corn, and that it was so big
they could not get it out of the mine without breaking it.’
Several of its teeth were distributed in the neighbourhood,
one of which, with the author’s account of the discovery, is in
the writer’s possession. The tooth is ivory, and when com-
pared with the dentes molar es of an elephant, no difference
can be found ; from this circumstance it is evident that the
skeleton found could not have been that of a man or giant, so
called by the miners, who are ever prone to the marvellous,
but must be indisputably that of an elephant, and its capa-
cious brain pan a corresponding proof ; for after the miners
had conferred on it the appellation of the giant’s tooth, the
brain pan must naturally follow the proportions of its bulky
owner. The fangs, though perfect at the time of the disco-
very, are now broken, and no change appears to have taken
place from its original substance. Several of these teeth were
brought out, but the skeleton left behind, which, it is to be
lamented, cannot now be viewed, that part of the mine
having run in, rendering it impracticable without much
trouble and expense.” About twenty-five years since the late

50

Mr. James Meadows, of the Ashton Canal Company, pre-
sented to the Manchester Geological Society a portion of the
tusk of an elephant which he had found in a limestone fissure
at Doveholes, near Chapel-en-le-Frith. This specimen is
now in the museum of the Society in Peter-street. The late
Mr. F. Looney, F.G.S., in his List of Organic Remains, pub-
lished with Mr. Elias Hall’s Geological Map, in 1836, in
alluding to the fossils found in the “ superficial gravel,” says :
“ Part of a molar tooth of the Asiatic elephant was found at
Adlington, near Macclesfield, and is now in the possession of
William Clayton, Esq.” With these three exceptions he
had never heard of the remains of the elephant having been
met with in the counties of Derby and Chester, and he felt
much obliged to Mr. Brockbank for taking the trouble to col-
lect the fine series of remains on the table, and exhibit them
to the members of the Society.

51

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.

November 21st, 1864.

Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section, in
the Chair.

Mr. Watson exhibited and presented to the Section a
dozen slides showing the battledore scales of several species of
Polyommatus or Lycaena ; he also illustrated the subject by
drawings of the scales made by Mr. Sidebotham. He showed
that the scale of Baeticus has manifestly no relation to the
others, though this insect is placed at the head of the list
of the genus Polyommatus by Boisdudal, H. Schaeffer, Dr.
O. Standinger, and W. F. Kirby. Many lepidopterists have
thought that it is a Thecla, and he proposed to examine
various species of the genus Thecla and to report the result.

A letter from Captain Mitchell, of Madras, was read.
He stated that he had examined fresh but full grown cotton
treated with Mr. O’Neill’s strong and weak solutions of cop-
per,, and had failed to detect any spiral fibres. He communi-
cated some observations on a Lepidopterous larva, probably
that described by Mr. Saunders in vol. iii. of the Transactions
of the Entomological Society, which attacks the cotton pod.
Wherever it was found, the cotton was entirely destroyed.

The Secretary read Mr. Edwards’s directions for collect-
ing Diatomacese.

52

November 28th, 1864.

Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Specimens Exhibited.

Physcomitrium sphoericmn, by Mr. G. E. Hunt, found
sparingly in three places on the borders of Mere Mere, this
being only the second occasion on which it has been gathered
in Britain. The first was thirty years ago, when it was
detected in the same place by Mr. Wilson in the autumn of
1834.

Four species of Curculionidse, new to Britain, by the
President, as exhibited and examined at the Entomological
Society, London ; Lixus filiformis and Sibynes canus,
Devizes ; Ceutliorhynchidius poweri, Silverdale ; and Peri-
telus griseus, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. Three of the species
were captured by himself. [See Zoologist , December, 1864.]

A martin, entirely white, from Urmstone, by Mr. Linton.

Communications.

Mr. G. E. Hunt announced his discovery of Potamogeton
nitens in Loch Ascog, Rothsay. This plant was first ob-
served as British by Mr. David Moore, Dublin, in a lake near
the sea, at Castle Gregory, county of Kerry, in July last,
[See Seemarfs Journal of Botany, November, 1864.]

Thomas Alcock, M.D., read a paper on specimens from
Roundstone, Connemara. He exhibited many specimens,
including forty-three species of Foraminifera, two of which
were forms of Entosolenia, hitherto undescribed ; also, young
shells of Patella vulgata and P. pellucida, with the larval
shells still attached and distinctly spiral, evidence not before
recorded.

53

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

November 10th, 1864.

Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Professor Clifton exhibited an acoustical electric telegraph,
by which a note, sounded at one end of the line, is reproduced
at the other end.

He also pointed out the principles involved in the con-
struction of this telegraph, viz.

1st, The production of a sound whenever a current of suffi-
cient strength commences to circulate round an electro magnet,
or ceases so to circulate.

2nd, The vibration of a stretched membrane in accordance
with a note sounded near it.

With respect to the second principle. Professor Clifton drew
attention to the fact, that the researches of MM. Bourget and
Bernard, in agreement with the mathematical investigations
of Poisson and M. Lam£, show that a given square membrane
will not vibrate in accord with any note , as stated by Savart.
As the same is probably true of circular membranes, such as
that used in this telegraph, it follows that only certain notes
are capable of being transmitted by one instrument.

54

December 8 th.

Robert Worthington, F.R.A.S., Vice-President of the
Section, in the Chair.

Mr. Baxendell read a “ Note on the Period and Changes
of the Greenwich Variable in Vulpecula, No. 1773 of the
Twelve-Year Catalogue.”

In No. 1500 of the Astronomisclie Nachrichten , Dr. Schon-
feld, Director of the Observatory at Mannheim, expresses a
doubt as to the variability of several of the stars in Mr. Cham-
bers’s Catalogue of Variable Stars. One of the objects which
he thus points out as doubtful is Np. 1773 of the Greenwich
Twelve-Year Catalogue, which was entered in Mr. Chambers’s
list on my authority, as I had satisfied myself from occasional
observations made since 1861, that its light was subject to
periodical changes, though not to the extent indicated by the
observations of Messrs. Rogerson and Glaisher, made in 1837.
I have since reduced my observations, and have obtained
from them the following times of maximum and minimum
brightness : —

Maxima.

1862, Oct. 20.

1863, Sep. 12.
„ Nov 19.

1864, June 15.
„ Aug. 21.
„ Nov. 8.

Minima.

1862, Nov. 24.

1863, Oct. 25.
„ Dec. 25.

1864, May 13.
„ July 21.
„ Oct. 7.

Treating the equations formed from these data by the
method of least squares, we have, from the observed maxima,
Period=67’97 days.

Epoch=1864, Feb. 1*37.

And from the observed minima, —

Period =67 ‘88 days.

Epochs 1864, January l*59s

55

The mean of the two values of the period is 67*92 days. The
interval, from minimum to maximum brightnesses 30*8 days,
and from maximum to minimum 37T days. This variable,
therefore, like many others, increases in brightness more
rapidly than it diminishes. Its magnitude at maximum is
8*8 and at minimum 9*8, the range of variation being, there-
fore, one magnitude. It is one of the highly-coloured stars,
both Mr. Hind and myself having always noted it as being
very red .

Mr. Baxendell also communicated the following u Obser-
vations of the Greenwich Yariable in Vulpecula and its
Companion Stars. By George Knott, Esq., F.R.A.S.. of
Woodcroft Observatory, Cuckfield, Sussex.5’

1864, Nov. 5. — I have this evening examined the Green-
wich Variable in Vulpecula and its neighbours. The state of
the atmosphere was not by any means favourable, and I could
not make out c; but a , 5 , and d were well in view, and b
decidedly the greatest of the three. I inclined to estimate b
about 12 \ magnitude ; and by the method of reduced aper-
tures I found

a=12*8 mag. *£=13*0 mag.

5=12*6 „ 1773= 9*1 „

The star 1773 is the Greenwich variable ; and d is the new
star] announced by Mr. Baxendell in his communication in
the Society’s Proceedings, No. 2, Session 1864-5.

Nov. 22. — I secured a hasty, and therefore comparatively
valueless observation. After a hasty glance clouds came up,
and I could not gauge the magnitudes as I was preparing to
do. My rough results were —

a— 13*0 mag. c , invisible.

5—12*9 mag. J=13*2 mag.

Nov. 26. — On this evening I entered in my journal —
“ 5, 12*9 ; a , 13*0 ; 13*2. Is there a minute speck at e?”

56

Dec. 1 . — This evening it is very clear, and I not only see
most clearly a small star in the place indi-
cated, but also that the star b has a small
and pretty close comes ! In the annexed
diagram e and f are the new stars. I am
not sure of their exact position, but have
no doubt of their existence. The follow-
ing are my rough estimations of magni-
tude : — a, 12*9; b , 12*8; c, 14± ; d, 13*1; e, 13*7 (?) ;.
f, about — e.

The above observations were made with an equatorially
mounted achromatic of 7J inches aperture, constructed by
Mr. Alvan Clarke, of Boston, U.S.

57

Ordinary Meeting, December 27th, 1864.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., Vice-President, in the
Chair.

Mr. John Robinson and Mr. Joseph Spencer were elected
Ordinary Members of the Society.

The bones of an adult gorilla from the Museum of the
Natural History Society were exhibited, and some remarks
on them were made by Edward Lund, Esq., F.R.C.S. Ex.,
his object being to point out the characteristics of the gorilla
skeleton by a direct comparison with the bones in man.

He said that when the bones of this gorilla were shown to
him at the Museum, the first he took up happened to be the
highest bone of the neck, the atlas, and he was much struck
by its close resemblance to the same bone in man ; it was
however larger, while the hole in the transverse process for
the passage of the vertebral artery was very much smaller,
indicating a less supply of blood to the brain. With regard
to the age of the specimen, he had no doubt that the skeleton
was that of an adult, for all the bones were thoroughly ossi-
fied and the teeth were much worn down and filled by a
secondary deposit of cementum. As to sex, he could not
speak positively, for he did not know how far the differences
in the pelvis observable in the human subject would hold
good in the gorilla, but he pointed out the angular shape of
the pelvic arch* which would lead to the supposition that the
animal was a male.

He said he would now take the bones in detail, grouping
them as the head, the trunk, and the limbs, and would indi-
cate their peculiarities by showing how they differ from the
Proceedings Lit. & Phil. Society.— Yol. IY.— No. 7. — Session 1864-5.

58

same human bones whether by deficiency or excess of parts.
The skull would attract attention at once by its very peculiar
shape, which all seemed to agree in calling helmet-shaped ;
if however the prominent ridges which give it this appear-
ance were left out of consideration, it would be found to be
well formed and fitted to receive a well-developed brain.
The front was indeed singular; for the orbits, instead of
being excavated as it were out of the regular dome of the
skull as in man, were outstanding, and that to such a degree
that a perpendicular section which would remove them
entire would scarcely lay open the cavity of the skull. It
would be seen however 'that they formed perfect chambers,
.well walled in on all sides, showing that great care had
been taken to protect the organs of sight. He pointed out
the great depth and extent of the temporal fossae, and
remarked that they had something of the character observable
in the Felinse, the temporal muscles were very large and
were so much expanded over the sides of the skull that they
went completely up to the middle line. These large tem-
poral muscles, which close the jaws with a powerful snapping
action, had to do, he said, with the very strong and large
canine teeth, which would be capable of exerting great force
in tearing anything on which the animal might feed. The
number of teeth was the same as in man, and they were of
the same kinds, namely, in each jaw four incisors, two
canines, four premolars, and six molars. The characters of
the nasal fossae indicated a moderate, not an acute sense of
smell. In the foramen magnum he observed this difference,
that while in man it is oval, in the gorilla it was almost
circular or squarish. The base of the skull was convex as
in man, corresponding with a concave internal surface upon
which the brain would rest. The mastoid processes, which
phrenologists considered to indicate destructiveness, but
which are really a part of the organ of hearing, w'ere not
quite so well developed as in man. In the present case one

59

of them happened to be broken so as to expose the interior,
and, if we might form the same conclusions from it as we
should in the human subject, its condition would strengthen
the opinion that the animal was of mature age, for in early
life these processes consist of solid bone, but as age advances
are gradually excavated into larger and larger cells, and in
the specimen exhibited these cells were very large. The
lower jaw was remarkably large and strong, and the ramus
formed a right angle with the body of the bone as it does in
middle life in man. There was one peculiarity which he
had observed in the condyle, namely, .that the smooth articu-
lating surface extended very far round the back of it, indi-
cating that the mouth could be opened to a great extent,
and this, together with the formidable teeth, would no doubt
give the animal, to say the least of it, an alarming appearance
if suddenly encountered in its native wilds.

The bones of the neck were, as usual in the mammalia, seven
in number ; they were very well joined together, the upper
surface of their bodies being concave from side to side to
receive the convex lower surface of each one above. They
had well marked additional processes or rudimentary ribs,
but the most remarkable feature was the great length and
strength of the spinous processes, which would give advanta-
geous attachment to very powerful muscles capable of exert-
ing immense force in twisting the head from side to side as in
the action of tearing anything with the teeth. The general
appearance of the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae agreed with
the human bones ; the ribs were twenty-six in number
instead of twenty-four, and as several of them remained in
their natural position, connecting the sternum with the
spine, it could be seen that the sternum, instead of having a
nearly vertical position as in man, was very oblique, the
lower part projecting forward and showing a great capacity
of chest. The sacrum was unlike the human sacrum, being
much longer and narrower. The haunch bones were also

60

long in the direction of the length of the body, and were
but slightly roughened for muscular attachment, a proof that
the gluteal muscles were not much developed. The tuberosi-
ties of the ischia, however, were very strongly marked, indi-
cating that the animal is well qualified for the sitting
posture.

The upper extremities were very largely developed in pro-
portion to the lower ; in this specimen the length between
the tips of the fingers of the outstretched arms is said to have
measured eight feet. The shoulder blade had a peculiarity
which anatomists formerly thought characteristic of man,
namely, that the vertebral border was the longest. The
arm bone looked immensely large when placed beside that of
man ; the roughnesses near the upper part, for the attach-
ment of muscles going to the chest and back, indicated that
these muscles were of extraordinary power, and when acting
together would enable the creature to hug an enemy with
terrible effect. The articulating surface at the lower end of
this bone was oblique as in man, so that the bending of the
elbow carried the hand not to the shoulder, as it would if the
hinge-joint was directly transverse, but inwards to the mouth,
furnishing a curious little illustration of the prehensile
character of the upper extremity, and its essential use as an
organ for obtaining food. The deep hollows at the front
and back of the bone for the reception of projections of the
ulna when the elbow is completely flexed or extended, were
in the gorilla joined so as to become a hole, and thus gave
even a greater extent of motion to this joint than in man.
The bones of the forearm were very large, and a peculiarity
in them worth noticing was that they were curved, giving
them great power of resisting fracture by allowing a slight
spring of the bones when subjected to a direct shock, and
also adding immensely to the strength of the wrist in prona-
tion and supinatiou, by increasing the distance between the
bones and therefore allowing of a greater length of muscle

61

and better leverage. (The bones of the hands and feet were
not shown, being at present with the skin.) The femur was
shorter than the humerus, the reverse of what we find in
man. The leg bones were also short, and the lower ex-
tremities had altogether the appearance of being less fully-
developed than the upper. The fibula was considerably
shorter than the tibia, while in man the two bones are
as nearly as possible the same length. The lower end of
these bones formed a very imperfect socket for the ankle joint
compared with the same parts in man, where it is most per-
fectly adapted for sustaining the erect position.

As to the habitual attitude of the gorilla deduced from an
examination of the bones, the characters of the ankle joint
just alluded to show that though the creature might stand
erect it could have but little stability in that position, and
progression on the hind legs alone would be difficult and
could not be long sustained. Important evidence on the
same point was also furnished by the character of the lower
part of the vertebral column and the position of the pelvic
bones with regard to it, for, as might be seen, there was no
deep hollow behind, as in man, for the attachment of the
erector spinee muscles, the sacrum in this case being even
placed further back than the iliac bones; the form of the pelvis
too, and its direction with regard to that of the backbone,
showed that it was fitted for the support of the contained
viscera in the horizontal rather than in the erect position ; and
all these points led to the same conclusion, namely, that the
gorilla habitually uses the front as well as the hind legs in
progression.

62

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION,

December 19th, 1864.

J. Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.

Exhibitions.

The skeleton of an adult gorilla, by Thomas Alcock, M.D.
The more striking peculiarities of the gorilla skeleton were
explained by comparison with the human bones, by Edward
Lund, Esq., F.R.C.S. Ex.

Specimens of comatula rosacea, from the Cove of Cork.—
Thomas Alcock.

A jay, with the beaks crossed and very much overgrown.—
A. G. Latham, Esq.

Mounted foraminifera, from Dogs Bay, coast of Galway. — •
Thomas Alcock.

Communications.

Mr. Latham gave the result of his examination of a shell
of Helix nemoralis brought by Mr. Glover, from the shore
of Gorteen Bay, Connemara. The weight of the shell was
56 grains, while that of an ordinary specimen was found to
be only 16 grains. By drying it lost a grain of weight, and
by calcination, two grains. It was then powdered and
washed with a loss of one grain of soluble salts, the whole
loss of weight being 4 grains. The residue was perfectly
soluble in muriatic acid. Mr. Parry showed a section of a
shell of Helix aspersa, brought by Mr. Glover from the same
locality ; before cutting, it weighed 1 26 grains, and the
section exhibited very clearly its unusual thickness and
solidity.

63

Mr. W. H. Heys read a communication on the structure
of cotton. He said the twisted appearance so often alluded
to is caused simply by the collapse of the cell-walls in
drying, and is not an actual twisting. Captain Mitchell’s
experiment with the ammoniacal oxide of copper was not
conducted in the manner necessary for showing the spiral
threads which have been observed within the outer cell- walls,
for in his letter read at the last meeting, he speaks of having
put cotton into the solution four months ago, examining it
at intervals, frequently at first, and then daily for some time,
whereas the action of this solvent is so rapid that the
microscope requires to be prepared beforehand, as in obser-
vations on crystallization, and it is sometimes difficult even
then to follow the changes which take place. Mr. Heys
exhibited the action of the solvent under the microscope,
and also showed many drawings of cotton which had been
similarly treated. He said that if a single fibre of the cotton
be selected and watched it will be seen first to become
inflated, not uniformly, but with many constrictions, giving
it the appearance of an irregular string of beads. After a
time the external envelope will entirely disappear, leaving
only fragments of the spiral thread, of which the portions
corresponding with the constrictions will be seen to have the
form of rings. Having exhibited these appearances, he said
he would leave the members to form their own opinion upon
the structure of cotton, but repeated the conclusion he had
arrived at, that it is composed of an external envelope or
tube, within this a spiral thread, preventing its collapse,
and a pith-like substance in the centre.

Mr. Nevill showed mounted specimens, and handed in a
list of 43 forms of Foraminifera, found in sand from the shore
of Gorteen Bay, Connemara. Some of the kinds, he said, were
not figured in Professor Williamson’s Becent Foraminifera,
and among these he particularly mentioned a form of Miliolina,

64

with an appendage like a tail at the end opposite the septal
orifice. He specially called attention to his mode of mounting
the specimens in many small cells upon a single glass slip,
by which much room is saved, and other advantages are
gained ; in those shown, ten small cells were punched out of
an oblong piece of card, in two rows of five each, and the
whole covered with a single glass He remarked on the
extraordinary assemblage of species found in this Connemara
sand, which, Mr. Dancer suggested, might be due to the
influence of the Gulf Stream.

PHOT OORAPHI CAL SECTION.

Ordinary Meeting, Nov. 3, 1864.

Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., &c. &c., Vice-
President of the Section, in the Chair.

The following gentlemen were elected associates, viz.—
Messrs. William Pegg, T. D. Thorpe, George Wardley, E. G.
Hughes, William Lockett, Thos. Heywood, G. W. Mosley,
F. C. Tobler, A. Lees, and W. G. Coote.

In the absence of the President, the Lord Bishop of Man-
chester, the Chairman delivered an inaugural address, in
the course of which he referred to the three aspects in which
photography naturally presents itself to our notice — as an
amusement, as a science, and as an art.

65

Mr. A. Brothers exhibited some portraits which he had
taken by means of the magnesium light. He had discarded
the use of all reflectors ; the experiments made were generally
with three strands of wire, two flat ones bound together with
a round one. Mr. Brothers also submitted a panoramic
picture taken in the new revolving camera, and which was
perfectly sharp and distinct in every part.

Mr. Wardley presented to the Album twelve very beautiful
photographs of scenery in Cumberland, Westmorland, &c.,
taken by the Taupenot process.

Some photographs printed by the W othly type process were
exhibited and much admired.

Mr. Joseph Sidebotham then read his Paper “ On
Printing Transparencies for the Stereoscope and Magic
Lantern,” in the course of which he called attention to the
fact that we were indebted to Mr. Dancer for inventing the
binocular camera, without which the stereoscope and its
attendant pictures would not have been, as at present, found
in almost every home. Mr. Dancer’s idea, that the pictures
should be taken only at a distance of three inches apart, was
at flrst ridiculed; now, however, that distance is almost
universally adopted.

Early in the history of the stereoscope the French transparent
views, on albumen, were eagerly purchased, although the
price was very high, and was still so.

Mr. Sidebotham hoped to prove that glass transparencies
might be produced at a cost little over that of paper prints.
He then described the various processes at present in use for
producing them, pointing out the several disadvantages under
which each process laboured. Copying in the camera has
been used, and is still used by many with various combinations
of lenses— some with one, some with a pair of lenses ; but.

66

as far as Mr. Sidebotham has noticed, none of the cameras
for the purpose are satisfactory or suited for the wants of
amateurs.

Mr. Sidebotham then described the little camera which he
had made for the purpose, and which seemed to answer in
every way. The principal is to have the negative in front,
in an adapting frame to slide right and left ; the distance is
adjustable by two screws ; the frame which holds the plate
also slides right and left, and stops in two places with a drop
catch, the lens (a short focussed double steresocopic one)
being in the middle. The camera is adjustable with screws
for focussing or for enlarging or reducing the image. The
camera is then tilted towards the sky, the image is focussed,
and the picture taken on wet collodion, moving the negative
plate for each half of the picture, developing with iron, and, if
requisite, deepening or toning with proto-iodide of mercury.
One focussing and adjustment of the screws will be sufficient,
and any number of negatives can be copied, if taken with the
same camera, without any alteration. The negatives require
no varnishing, so that all their original beauty is there to be
copied, and it is copied faithfully. Prints by this plan may
be produced as fast as the plates can be prepared — much
faster than on paper if a single negative be used, as the
exposure varies trom five to thirty seconds for each side.

Mr. Sidebotham stated that much of the beauty of the
pictures he exhibited were doubtless due to the quality of the
negatives, and which had been taken by Mr. Buxton, when
in India last year. Mr. Sidebotham trusted that the plan
here described would induce amateurs to print their stereo-
scopic pictures on glass instead of paper, and professionals to
lower the price of those they place in the market for sale.

67

PHOTOGRAPHICAL SECTION.

Ordinary Meeting, December 1st, 1864.

Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S., in the Chair.

Mr. Samuel Cottam was elected an Ordinary Member.

Mr. Mudd presented four large and very beautiful photo-
graphs to the society’s portfolio, — two taken in Dunham
Park, and two in North Wales, by the colodio-albumen
process. These landscapes were remarkable for their peculiar
softness and delicacy.

Mr. Parry called attention to a letter in “The British
*

Journal of Photography,” by Mr. Hislop, claiming the in-
vention of the camera exhibited and explained by Mr.
Sidebotham at the last meeting. He also produced the
Journal in which was the drawing and description on which
Mr. Hislop founded his claim. After an examination of
these it was unanimously decided by the members present
that there was no similarity whatever between the two
cameras, and that a drawing ought to be published of Mr.
Sidebotham’s camera.

Mr. Nevill exhibited some good prints produced by
making paper sensitive with a solution of salts of nitrate of
uranium and nitrate of silver, and when the image began to
appear, developing with sulphate of iron ; the prints were
only exposed fifteen seconds.

68

Mr. Sidebotham exhibited several specimens taken by
himself, by the Wothlytype process, on different kinds of
paper. He had experienced considerable difficulty in finding
paper to which the collodion would adhere in the washing
process. Silver prints from the same negatives were ex-
hibited, and considered superior to those by the Wothlytype
process.

Mr. Dancer exhibited on the screen, by the aid of the
oxy-hydrogen light, a series of photographic pictures by
members and others. The series consisted of transparencies,
taken by various processes, and was a trial of their relative
merits for exhibition in this manner.

Many beautiful pictures were exhibited printed on
albumen, collodio-albumen, Fothergill, tannin, oxymel, and
syrup processes, and also taken on collodion in the camera.
The two latter processes were decided to be the most suit-
able ; the photographs taken in India by Mr. Buxton were
much admired. Several photographs of the moon were
exhibited by Mr. Brothers, one of which was ^taken by
himself.

69

Ordinary Meeting, January 10 th, 1865.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., Vice-President, in the
Chair,

Dr. Roscoe exhibited some very interesting photographs
of the fixed lines in the solar spectrum made by Mr. Ruther-
ford of New York. These photographs exhibit groups of
thousands of lines extending from near the line b in the
green to beyond H in the violet, and serve as a most valuable
confirmation of the accuracy of KirchhofTs maps. Each line
in these maps can be easily and distinctly traced in the
photograph, whilst many bands drawn as single ones by
KirchhofF are seen in the magnified photograph to consist of
bundles of fine lines. These photographs were prepared
with three 60° bisulphide of carbon prisms.

Dr. Roscoe also exhibited two fine photographic prints of
the moon, enlarged by Mr. Rutherford from negatives taken
by him in New York with an 11 Jin. object glass of 14ft.
focal length, which he had ground with special reference to
the highly refrangible rays, and which is therefore unfit for
ordinary telescopic purposes.

Mr. Baxendell, and Mr. Wilkinson, F.R.A.S., expressed
their opinion that Mr. Rutherford’s prints were decidedly
sharper than any photographs of the moon they had seen.
PROCEEDING'S LlT. & PHIL. SOCIETY. — VOL, IY.~ No. 8. — SESSION 1864-5.

70

A Paper was read “ On Some Products Derived from
Indigo Blue/5 by Dr. E. Schunck, F.R.S., Vice-President.

By his experiments on the formation of indigo blue, an
account of which was laid before the Society several years
ago,* the author was led to make some inquiries regarding the
processes employed in tropical countries for the production of
indigo from plants. All authorities, it appears, agree that
the process of fermentation, which is the one usually adopted
for the purpose of extracting the colour, requires to be
conducted with the greatest care in order to lead to a successful
result. Unless certain precautions are adopted the colouring
matter may be entirely lost. This phenomenon may be easily
accounted for. Though indigo blue, when once formed is a
very stable body, the substance existing in the cells of the
plant from which it originates and which the author terms
Indican , is decomposed with the greatest facility, indigo
blue being only one of its products of decomposition, which
may be formed or not, according to the nature of the process
employed.

There are, however, other facts connected with this subject
which cannot so easily be explained. It is well known to
those dyers who employ the so-called woad vai , in which the
reduction of the indigo blue is effected by means of various
organic matters, such as woad, madder, and bran, together
with lime, that if the process be not carefully managed it
may change its character entirely — a change which results in
the total destruction or disappearance of the colouring matter.
This phenomenon cannot be explained in accordance with
what is at present known regarding indigo blue, which is
considered by chemists to be a body of such a stable character

* See Memoirs, Yol. XXV., p. 181.

71

as not to be decomposed by any except very potent agents,
such as cfdorine, bromine, or nitric acid. It has not hitherto
been supposed possible to effect its decomposition by means
of fermentation or putrefaction.

Then, again, the author found that when very small
quantities of indigo blue are reduced according to Fritzsche’s
method, which consists in acting on it with alcohol, grape
sugar, and caustic soda, the colouring matter does not make
its appearance again when the solution is exposed to the
atmosphere. The liquid yields no deposit and remains
yellow and transparent. This fact is also difficult to account
for, since it is usually supposed that by the combined action
of reducing agents and alkalies indigo blue merely takes up
an atom of hydrogen and then dissolves, and by the action of
oxygen is again precipitated unchanged and undiminished in
quantity. By the continued action of a large excess of
alcohol and grape sugar, together with caustic soda, the author
succeeded in causing several grammes of indigo blue to dis-
appear entirely. That the effect was due to the combined
action of alcohol and grape sugar, not to that of one or
the other only, was proved by subjecting a small quantity
of indigo blue to the action of grape sugar and caustic
alkali in watery solution, and another portion to the action
of alcohol, protoxide of tin, and alkali. Reduction of course
took place in both cases ; but, though the solutions were
boiled for some time, the colouring matter was in each case
precipitated again on exposure to the air, apparently
undiminished in quantity. Since, by the action of caustic
alkalies on grape sugar, acetic and formic acids are formed,
it occurred to the author that the effect produced by the sugar

72

in this process might in reality be due to the presence of one
or both of these acids rather than to the sugar itself. This
supposition was completely verified by experiment. The
colouring matter disappeared quite as rapidly when acetate
or formiate of soda was employed in the place of grape sugar.
The use of the latter was therefore abandoned in the subse-
quent experiments. In the present communication the
author confines himself to an account of the combined action
of alcohol, acetate of soda, and caustic soda on indigo blue.

The process adopted was quite simple. Pure indigo blue
was introduced into a large quantity of ordinary spirits of
wine, and, after being well agitated, the mixture was raised
to the boiling point. A quantity of pure acetate of soda,
previously deprived of its water of crystallization, and a
little caustic soda were then added, and the boiling was
continued for several hours, A reduction of the indigo blue
took place in the first instance, as was evident from the deep
red colour of the liquid. On agitating with air this red
colour disappeared for a moment, the indigo blue being pre-
cipitated in powder, but after some time the liquid acquired
a dark brown colour and deposited nothing on exposure or
agitation. The process was then completed. In order to
obtain the products formed, the brown liquid was evaporated,
and, when the evaporation was nearly completed, water and
an excess of sulphuric acid were added, which threw down a
brown insoluble mass, consisting partly of resinous, partly of
pulverulent substances. From the liquid, which was of a
light brown colour, a crystallized acid was obtained, which
after being purified was found to consist of anthranilic

73

acid. From the mass, insoluble in water, the author
obtained five distinct substances, which were separated from
one another by means of various solvents, such as alcohol,
ether, ammonia, and carbonate of ammonia. These sub-
stances were all brown and amorphous. Some of them
resembled resins, others were powders. In general they
were found to possess very few characteristic properties, and
as they presented very little that could be of interest to
the chemist, if their origin and their mode of formation be
excepted, the author refrained from bestowing names on
them and thus adding to the already unwieldy mass of terms
with which chemical science has to deal, but preferred to
distinguish them by the letters of the alphabet, as A, B, C,
D, and E. The body A is easily soluble in cold alcohol and
ether, but quite insoluble in alkalies. B is easily soluble in
alcohol and ether, as well as in alkalies, both caustic and
carbonated. These two have the appearance of resins of a
rich brownish-yellow colour. C is very little soluble in
alcohol and ether, and insoluble in alkalies. D closely
resembles C, but is distinguishd by its solubility in alkalies.
E is remarkable for being soluble in a boiling solution of
acetate of soda. These three are brown powders. That
portion of the mass soluble in alcohol and alkalies, but
insoluble in ether, was not examined, as it was sure to contain
some of the peculiar resinous product of decomposition,
which is always formed by the action of caustic alkalies on
alcohol, and which is supposed to be identical with the
so-called “ aldehyde resin.”

74

The author’s analyses of these five bodies led to the
following formulae -

A C62H39N08

B C52H35N08

C C2sHuN04

B C56H24]Sr 2O10

E C28HnN06

The author attaches no importance to these formulae except
in so far as they furnish a means of explaining the mode in
which these bodies are formed. It will be seen that they all
contain the elements of indigo blue, alcohol and acetic acid
in various proportions. Taking as an instance the body C,
which is the simplest in constitution, it is apparent that it
has been formed by the union of 1 atom of indigo blue,
1 atom of alcohol, and 2 atoms of acetic acid, 8 atoms of
water being at the same time eliminated, since

C28HnN04 + 8HO - C1SH5N02 + C4H 602 + 2C4H404.

In like manner E originates from the combination of 2 atoms
of indigo blue, 1 atom of alcohol, and 5 atoms of alcohol, for
2(C28HuN06) + 14HO - 2(C16H5N02) + C4H602 + 5C4H404.

The formation of B will be easily understood by a glance at
the following equation :

C52H35N08 + 18HO = C16H,N02 + 6{C4HA) + 3(C4H404).

In the case of A, which is the most complex of all, it is
necessary to assume that carbonic acid comes into play, since
C62H39N08 -1- 26HO = C16H5N02 + 8(C4H602) + 3(C4H404) + 2CO*

It is difficult to say whence this carbonic acid is derived,

75

but the author supposes it may originate in the decomposition
of that portion of the indigo blue which yields anthranilic
acid.

Hence it appears that all these products, except anthranilic
acid, are formed by a very simple process which consists
merely in indigo blue taking up alcohol and acetic acid in
various proportions and forming compound bodies in which
none of the constituents, as such, can be detected. It is,
therefore, not a process of decomposition, but a synthetical
process, a building up of complex bodies from others of a
simpler constitution. This is proved by the fact of water
being given up during the process, whereas in all cases in
which complex organic substances are decomposed into
simpler ones, water is absorbed. Regarding the real con-
stitution of these bodies, the author hazards no speculations.
It might be supposed that they belonged to the class of
conjugated compounds, of which organic chemistry furnishes
us with so many examples, and that by decomposition we
should be able to obtain from them some of the simpler
bodies which are known to have entered into their composition,
but the author’s experiments, as far as they have gone, do
not countenance this view. He was unable to obtain from
any one of them, either indigo blue, alcohol, or acetic acid.

The occasional disappearance of the indigo blue in the
woad vat in consequence of mismanagement now admits, the
author thinks, of any easy explanation. By the fermentation
of the sugar contained in the madder employed, alcohol is
formed, which in its turn may yield some acetic acid and

76

alcohol, acetic acid and a base (lime) being present, nothing
further is required for the development of the process
described by the author.

Professor Roscoe suggested that some of the bodies
described by the author might possibly be represented as
substitution products, one or more of the atoms of hydrogen
of the indigo blue being replaced by one or more organic
radicles.

A Paper was also read “ On Some Physiological Effects of
Carbonic Acid and Ventilation,” Part I., by Dr. R. Angus
Smith, F.R.S., President.

77

Ordinary Meeting, January 24th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in
the Chair.

Mr. William B. Johnson was elected an Ordinary Member
of the Society.

Mr. S. B. Worthington, C.E., stated that it might be of
some interest to the engineering members of the society to
know, that he had lately constructed a swing bridge for
carrying a railway over the Sankey canal, in which the girders
are made of Bessemer steel plates. The object of using steel
instead of wrought iron, was to reduce the weight of the
girders. The girders are four in number, about fifty-six feet
long, with bearings varying from thirty to forty feet, and two
feet deep. They were manufactured by Messrs. Benjamin
Hick and Sons, of Bolton, from steel plates made by the
Bolton Steel and Iron Company ; and were tested with loads
of a ton to the foot, or more than double the weight which
they could possibly be called upon to bear. The deflection
varied from ^-inch to an inch, according to the length of the
girder, and there was no permanent set on removal of the
testing load.

The plates used varied from 5 -inch to iV-inch in thickness;
and the average tensile strength of a considerable number of
plates tested, was upwards of thirty-six tons to a square inch.

The weight of the girders was about f tbs of the weight
which they would have been if wrought iron had been used.

PB0CEEDING8 LlT. & PHIL, SOCIETY,—' VOL. IY.— No. 9, — SESSION 1864-5,

7 8

The contract for this bridge was made in November, 1863,
and the bridge was erected during the past Summer.

Mr. Worthington also exhibited a piece of cast iron lately
taken out of the Sankey canal. Its exterior, from one-eighth
to a quarter of an inch in depth, was so soft as to be easily
cut with a dull knife From the form of the casting he
thought it very probable that it had not been in the canal
more than five or six years. He stated that the water of
the canal was strongly impregnated with liquids discharged
from the alkali works in the neighbourhood of St. Helens.

Mr. Sidebotham read the following communication from
Mr. James Nasmyth, C.E., Corresponding Member of the
Society, and exhibited the large and beautiful drawing to
which it refers —

On the 5th of June, 1864, between the hours of 11 a.m.
and 2 p.m., I had the good fortune to observe under unusually
favourable circumstances, a large and remarkable group of
solar spots.

The willow-leaf shaped objects forming the structural
element of the entire photosphere, as also forming the details
of the penumbral portions and bright margins of the photo-
sphere overhanging the spots, were occasionally revealed with
perfect distinctness; but the favorable moments for pure
definition had to be watched for, by keeping the eye steady
at the eye piece and the hand on the focal adjustment, so as
to be ready to make those minute focal adjustments that I
find are requisite to meet the constantly varying condition of
the atmosphere, which, especially during bright sunshine, is
so fertile a source of defective definition, as is well known to
practical observers.

Some of the willow-leaf shaped objects were very favourably
situated in an insulated position over the dark centres of the
spots, and in that situation yielded me excellent opportunity
for carefully noting their exact form and proportions. In

79

this respect I can with the utmost confidence pledge myself
to the correctness of what I have represented in the drawing
which accompanies this communication.

I continue to employ the term “ willow-leaf” shaped ob-
jects, as sufficiently exact to convey to any one a general idea
of their form, and so to identify them. I might perhaps have
hit upon some other term that would have been more exact
and descriptive, and in that respect I was much pleased with
that which was employed by Mr. Stone, of the Royal Obser-
vatory, Greenwich, when he first beheld these remarkable
objects by the aid of the great equatorial refracting telescope
of the Royal Observatory, on which occasion Mr. Stone
described them as “ bright rice-like particles.” Perhaps the

more general term “ lenticular shaped objects55 would be
better than either, as admitting of a certain latitude in respect
to proportions, that may admit of a classification of any
variety in these respects that future observations may supply.

Any observer, who with due means at his command is
fortunate to obtain a satisfactory view of these truly-remarkable
structural details of the solar photosphere, can, of course,
please himself as to the term that appears to him best to
convey a correct idea of them. But the grand fact of their
existence is now proved beyond all doubt ; and they, as Ci a
great fact,55 will ever remain so long as the sun exists.

Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., read a paper On some
Physiological Effects of Carbonic Acid and Ventilation,55 of
which the following is the substance.

That bad ventilation produces effects which are unplea-
sant, unwholesome, dangerous, or deadly, according to cir-
cumstances, has been long known ; it has also been well
known that the effects of breathing carbonic acid are of a
similar kind. We have not, however, been able to say
distinctly that the evil effects of bad ventilation are due
entirely to carbonic acid. We have had, and not without

80

good reason, a strong belief that the organic matter was a
grave offender.

The author had endeavoured to show elsewhere that the
organic matter is in early stages of ventilation the most
observable ; but that in later stages the effect of the carbonic
acid is unmistakeable.

When enquiring into the state of the air in mines he found it
needful to make experiments in close places, and had a leaden
airtight room built, containing about 170 cubic feet of air.
On examining the effect of carbonic acid on the burning of
candles, he remained in the chamber until that gas was
poured in to the extent of 3'9 per cent. He theii found that
the pulse fell so low that it was difficult to count the beats,
whilst they diminished in number. This effect was rapid, as
he was not long in the room. Since there was no time for the
accumulation of organic matter, nearly the whole effect must
have been due to carbonic acid. Similar results were observed
frequently : a few may be given. The first here adduced will
show the fall of the pulse and the increase of the respiration
more clearly than the others as the details are appended.
The carbonic acid increased by means of respiration only.
The number of beats diminishes with a regularity equal to
the increase of the carbonic acid, whilst the breathing
quickens with equal steadiness.

81

One Peeson in the Lead Chambee.

Respiration and beats of the pulse taTcen every ten minutes.

Time.

Pulse.

Respira-

tion.

Tempera-

ture,

Celsius.

Carbonic acid
in the same
periods.

h. m.
10 55

73

15-5

18°*2

0-04

After

min.

10

73

16

18-2

0*114

20

72

16

18-2

0*187

55

30

71

17

18-4

0*261

55

40

71

16

18*4

0*335

50

70

16

18-5

0*408

99

60

68

16

18-6

0*482

99

70

67

16-5

18-7

0*556

99

80

67

17

18-8

0*629

59

90

66

17

18-9

0*703

99

100

65

18-

19-0

0*777

99

110

65

18-5

19-0

0*850

120

64

19

19-0

0*924

95

130

63

19

19-2

0*997

99

140

62

19-5

19-1

1*071

99

150

62

20

19-1

1*145

99

160

62

20

19-1

1*218

59

170

61

20

19-1

1*292

95

180

60

21

191

1*366

59

190

60

22

192

1*439

95

200

59

23

19-2

1*513

99

210

58

24

19-4

1*587

•9

220

57

24

19-4

1*661

99

230

57

24

19-4

1*734

Five persons sat for 80 minutes in the room. In all cases
there was great irregularity of breathing. They were all
conversing with each other, which occupation, as was found,
somewhat modified the effect. In two cases the rise of the
pulse was considerable, viz., from 60 to 79, and from 84 to 91 ;
but the numbers soon fell down to the natural amount, and
would apparently have fallen much lower if one of the two
persons had not felt too unwell to remain. The pulses in all
cases were difficult to count, being excessively feeble, and the
most delicate of the fingers was sought for the operation.
No deficiency of strength was found in any of the trials, and
the amount of carbonic acid rose equally from first to last.

As the pulse fell and rose according to the individuality, the

82

author fixed on one young man on whom the effect was most
regular for further experiment. It must be remembered, how-
ever, that on no person was the effect small or uncertain.

The objects of the farther experiments were these, 1st, to
inquire if the influence could be observed when the amount
of carbonic acid was small ; and 2nd, to separate the effects
of the carbonic acid entirely from those of organic matter.

With 3 per cent of carbonic acid evolved in the chamber
itself, the pulse fell in 27 minutes from 67 to 62, the breath-
ing rose from 17 to 28 ; the pulse so low that it was barely
perceptible. The exposure was not full 27 minutes, as the
gas took some time to evolve.

With 2 per cent the pulse fell in 70 minutes 4, the
breathing rose from 18 to 28 J. On coming out the pulse
rose 8 in five minutes.

With 1 per cent the pulse fell 4 in the hour.

The following results were obtained by breathing air with
carbonic acid entirely free from organic matter, the inspirations
being taken from a prepared reservoir, and the expirations
not being allowed to mix with them:—

With 1 per cent C02 a rise of 2, then a fall of 5 beats of the
pulse in 26 minutes.

„ 0*5 pulse fell 5 in 40 minutes, respiration

rose 7.

„ 0*25 carbonic acid pulse rose 3, and fell 4 in

30 minutes, respiration rose 4.

„ 0T carbonic acid rose 1 and fell 1, in 45
minutes, breathing rose 1.

Ordinary air was breathed in the same way, so as to
eliminate the effect of the apparatus. Pulse rose 1 and
fell 1, but no greater change occurred during a whole hour.
Breathing continued unchanged except at one interval, when
it fell 1 and then resumed its usual number. In no experi-
ment during the whole period did the breathing of the same
experimenter ever fall 1 when there was as much as one tenth
per cent of carbonic acid present.

83

In one person, a youth, the pulse rose on every trial. On
entering into air with 3 per cent of carbonic acid and no
organic matter, his pulse rose 6 in two minutes and his
breathing fell 4. The pulse was so feeble that he could not
count it; some one helped in the process. He found the air
very unpleasant. Another young man in two minutes in the
same air, found that his pulse rose 6 and his respirations 4.

The action of carbonic acid seems, therefore, in all cases to
enfeeble the pulse ; at first sometimes to cause a rise, but
finally to lower the number of the beats.

This effect is instantaneous or nearly so with air having
3 per cent of carbonic acid, but diminishes with the amount
of impurity. It is, however, perceptible with an amount of
carbonic acid as low as O’ 1 per cent, and probably by taking
long periods the effect would be found even with smaller
quantities. This amount is often exceeded in private houses
and public meetings, where it rises to 0'2 or even 0*3.

The second effect of carbonic acid is in the breathing,
which it hastens rapidly, although in some cases it causes a
diminution of the inspirations. The effect approaches either
a gasping or a panting.

The author added that he must leave to physiologists to
speak of the ultimate effect of such a condition of things, and
would only observe, that in Dr. Peacock’s inquiries into the
state of health of the Cornish miners, he found that a feeble
pulse was one of the peculiarities, a proof that the temporary
results found in these experiments may be rendered per-
manent.

On coming into fresh air the pulse and breathing recovered
in a few minutes, showing the value of ventilation.

84

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

January 12th, 1865.

Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. Heelis, F.R.A.S., communicated the following account
of a fire ball which he had observed:—

Tuesday, 13th December, 1864, 0 hour V a.m. Fire ball
with sensible disc, and brilliant train from middle of seat of
Cassiopeia’s chair, to a point half-way between a Andromedse
and a Cygni. Disappeared at an altitude a little greater than
that of the latter star (in other words about 10° above
horizon); duration about 2". Train extended from point of
appearance to that of disappearance, but disappeared almost
immediately after the meteor itself. Color, bluish white,
with sparks from head, especially when near the point of
disappearance. Did not see it burst. Light intense, and
well defined disc. It was nearly calm on the earth at the
time, but heavy scud was going rapidly over the moon from
the S.E.; and to the best of my judgment the meteor fell
directly before the scud. Laying off the course, &c., on a
celestial globe, the results are— altitude of point of first
observation or origin about 50°; altitude of disappearance 10°;
length of track 40°; direction N.W.

There was so much scud that the meteor must have passed
behind several clouds, and so much moonlight that the time
by watch could be read. Hence the disc could hardly have
been the effect of irradiation.

9 a.m. 'Wind S.E.; light, clear weather.

85

The only point upon which I have any doubt is the time,
which might have been a little later. I took the time by my
watch, hut it had been wrong for a day or two, and I could
not get to any good clock to test it for some days after.

Mr. Vernon, F.R A.S., communicated the following
“Note on the Rainfall of 1864*”

The fall of rain for the past year has been 4*758 inches
below the average of the last 71 years. The fall was also
7*700 inches below that of 1863, and fell upon 44 less days
than in that year.

The principal deficiency occurred during the last six
months of the year, especially in July and October. The
only month havjng a fall in excess out of the last six months
of the year was September, and rain fell upon more days that
month than any month during the year.

The falling off in July and October was no doubt owing to
the excessive amount of easterly winds. In July easterly
winds occurred upon 11 days, whereas the average of 13 years
gives only 5*9. In October easterly winds prevailed on no
less than 18 days, the average being only 9*5.

On examining the monthly means for the 71 years, there
appears to be evidence of periodicity in the distribution of the
rainfall : a minimum occurring in April just after the vernal
equinox, and a maximum in October just after the autumnal
equinox. In September, however, there appears to be an
exception to the gradually increasing values from April to
October.

If this law really exists as it appears to do, the rainfall will
evidently bear a close relation to the sun’s course in the
ecliptic, the minimum rainfall occurring at a time when the
gradually increasing temperature of the air enables it to
absorb a larger amount of moisture, and consequently tending
to prevent precipitation. The maximum rainfall also occur-
ing at the time, the temperature begins to fall rapidly, and

86

consequently tending to precipitate the large amount of
moisture absorbed during the heat of summer.

RAINFALL, 1864.

Old Trafford, Manchester.
By G. V. Vernon, F.R.A.S., M.B.M.S.

Rain gauge 3 feet above tbe level of the ground, and 106 feet above the sea.

Quarterly

Periods.

1861

Fall

in

Inches.

Average

of

71 Years.
Inches.

Difference.

Number
of days
Rain fell
in 1864.

QuarterlyPeriods.

1863.

Days.

1861

Days.

1864.

Inches.

1863.

Inches.

- c

January

1-684

2-460

— 0-776

) 12

45

38 3

February ...

4-027

2-379

+ 1-648

[ 13

7-722

6-170

t

March

1 2-011

2-310

— 0-299

3 13

c

April

1-602

2-038

— 0-436

) 9

53

39}

May

! 3175

2-351

+ 0-824

c 10

7-722

7-746

t

June

j 2-945

2-913

+ 0-032

) 20

(

July

1-687

3-569

— 1-882

) 9

56

45}

August

2-367

3-592

— 1-225

8*063

12-216

(

September..

4-009

3-235

+ 0-774

3 21

c

October

1-9081

3-818

— 1-9101

) 13

61

49}

November ..

3-255

3-473

— 0-218

i 19

7-133

12-208

(

December...

1-970

3-260

— 1-290

3 17

'215

171

1

30-640

, 35-398

— 4-7581

1 171

30-640

38-340

87

Ordinary Meeting, February 7th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in
the Chair.

Among the donations announced was a framed photo-
graphic portrait of the late Thomas Hopkins, Esq ,
formerly a Vice-President of the Society, presented by James
Mooney, JEsq.

On the motion of Dr. Joule, seconded by Mr. Robert
Worthington, the thanks of the Society were unanimously
voted to Mr. Mooney for his valuable donation.

Mr. Binney, F.R.S. : After the researches of Lindley,
Geoppert, Brongniart, Prestwich, Hooker, and others, it
really seemed that we had obtained almost a complete
knowledge of the internal structure of Stigmaria. It is true
that only Geoppert had seen the isolated bundles in the
pith, all the specimens of the other observers having been
imperfect in that portion of the plant, and giving no indica-
tion of structure there. In my own researches I have rarely
met with a Stigmaria shewing any structure in the central
axis, even where the small stems of Sigillaria vascularis
displaying all the structure in that part are found in great
abundance.

Many years since, after the examination of a great number
of specimens of Stigmaria in my collection, it occurred to me
that an outer as well as an inner radiating cylinder would be
discovered. In my remarks on Sigillaria , published in
Peooeedincs Lit. & Phil. Society.—' Yol. IY.— No. 10,— Session 1864-5.

88

Yol. IV., part 1, p. 20, of the Quarterly Journal of Geology ,
is the following passage : “ That part of Stigmaria which
intervened between the vascular axis and the bark, appears
to have consisted of two kinds of tissue. These have, in most
cases, been unfortunately destroyed, so that we cannot posi-
tively know their true nature ; but they appear to have been
of different characters, for there generally appears to he a
well marked division. This is often shown in specimens
composed of clay ironstone which have not been flattened, and
the boundary line is about quarter an inch from the outside
of the specimen. Most probably the outer zone has been
composed of stronger tissue than the inner one5 as is the case
with well preserved specimens of Lepidodendron ” It is
singular that such acute observers as those above named had
not noticed this line of division, but it was no doubt owing to
the imperfect specimens which they had examined. After
the discovery of the outer radiating cylinder in Lepidodendron
by Witham, and the same arrangement in Sigillari elegans
by Brongniart, it was to be expected that such outer radiating
cylinder would he found to exist in Stigmaria , if it were the
root of Sigillaria. After an examination of a great number
of specimens, the cabinet of Mr. James Bussell, of Chapel
Hall, Airdrie, has afforded me four or five different Stigmaria ,
which give clear evidence of the existence of this outer
radiating cylinder. They are all in clay ironstone, and have
not been much compressed. He has kindly allowed me to
slice two of the specimens, which afford decisive evidence of
the existence of both an inner and an outer radiating cylinder.
The space on the outside of the inner cylinder does not shew
distinctly the bundles of vessels communicating with the
rootlets, although there is some evidence of their former
occurrence. The bell shaped orifices from which the rootlets
sprang are well displayed, and the space between them is
occupied by wedge shaped masses of elongated tubes of
utricles arranged in radiating series, not to he distinguished

89

in any way from those which I have shewn occur in Sigil-
laria vascularis ( Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
for May, 1862, Plate 1, fig. 6). . Indeed, the transverse
section of the specimen there figured would almost do for a
representation of Stigmaria , if the latter had the central axis
preserved, which it unfortunately has not. There is the
same internal radiating cylinder and the same space formerly
occupied by lax cellular tissue, which gradually passes into
the elongated tubes or utricles arranged in radiating series,
and parted by large bundles of vessels next to the bark ; thus
clearly proving from structure alone that Stigmaria is the
root of Sigillaria , each of them having an inner radiating
cylinder composed of barred vessels, a space occupied by lax
cellular tissue, and an outer radiating cylinder composed of
elongated tubes or utricles.

Mr. Binney also exhibited some of the specimens to the
meeting, and said that he was in possession of clear evidence
both from structure and branching to prove that Sigillaria ,
which was the chief plant from which our beds of coal had
been formed, was a tree which branched like the Lepidoden-
dron , and was not the strange stunted-topped plant which
some authors had represented it to be.

The President drew attention to the late fatal explosion
at Peterborough, and asked whether the easy method of
testing steam boilers, described some years ago by Dr. Joule,
was forgotten or found to be impracticable?

Dr. Joule said that he had taken pains to give his method,
by which the testing by hydraulic pressure could be applied
with the utmost facility by simply filling the boiler with
water and then raising its temperature a few degrees, a very
extended publication. He believed that the objection raised
by some to its use, was the absurd one that hydraulic pressure
injured the boiler. The very object of a test was to detect
weak boilers for the purpose of strengthening or rejecting

90

them. He was at a loss for terms strong enough to express
his opinion of the reckless disregard of life, or the ignorance
which resulted in the deplorable catastrophes which were
constantly occurring ; and he believed that the only method
of cure would be that proposed by Mr. Binney in the case of
the explosion of firedamp in mines, namely, that the parties
to blame should be compelled to support the widows and
orphans of their victims.

Mr. Alderman Pochin stated that he had made use of
Dr. Joule’s plan, and found it quite practicable and easy of
application.

A paper was read “On a New Re-agent for the Separation
of Calcium from Magnesium,” by Edward Sonstadt, Esq,

When, in the ordinary course of qualitative analysis,
carbonate of ammonium is used to separate calcium from
magnesium, unless the former is present in notable proportion
to the latter, a very insoluble double carbonate of magnesium
and ammonium always accompanies the carbonate of calcium, if
this is allowed sufficient time to form. If much magnesium
and no calcium is present, the magnesium precipitate still falls
after a while. Both metals are precipitated by this re-agent,
the only difference being that the calcium precipitate forms
somewhat earlier than the magnesium precipitate. This
fact is cursorily mentioned by Fresenius, more fully by
Gmelin, and has recently been made the subject of special
notice by Dr. Dyer. Calcium, therefore, can only be separated
from magnesium by this re-agent, by fractional precipitation,
which necessarily involves loss of substance ; and, in quali-
tative examination, the method is sure to mislead when the
proportion of calcium present is small, unless it is controlled
by other methods. The same remarks apply in substance to
the two other methods of precipitation by sulphuric acid and
alcohol, and by oxalate of ammonium. When a moderately
strong solution of Epsom salts is treated with sulphuric acid

91

and alcohol, the solution is mostly converted into a crystalline
magma; and if it is desired to separate a small proportion of
calcium, which we will suppose to be present, the magma
must be filtered, dissolved, and subjected to the treatment
again and again to separate the sulphate of calcium, when, if
the quantity of that salt present be very minute, it must be
wholly lost. Of course these remarks do not apply to solu-
tions of calcium and magnesium salts containing much of the
former, except in a modified degree. What is true of the
sulphuric acid and alcohol process, is true in a more extended
sense of the oxalate of ammonium process. I have precipitated
within a trace the whole of the magnesium present in a
considerable quantity of solution of chloride of magnesium,
simply by successive additions of oxalate of ammonium, — the
solution being concentrated to its original bulk after the last
addition of the re-agent. Yet, in working with this re-agent
the rule is, that enough of it must always be added to trans-
form all the magnesium salt into oxalate, since oxalate of
calcium is soluble in solution of chloride of magnesium. That
some magnesium salt must precipitate with the lime salt
under such conditions is obvious ; and that it does so is well
known, and is, though incompletely, provided for by the
process being directed to be repeated upon the precipitate first
obtained. This process, therefore, is also one of fractional
precipitation, and for it to approach success, the operator
must know pretty nearly beforehand how much calcium, in
proportion to the magnesium present, he has to deal with.
Nevertheless, it is unquestionable that in skilled hands,
either of the two last processes is capable of giving close
approximations to the truth, when the quantity of calcium
present amounts to a few per cent of the mixed salts. When
the quantity of calcium is less than 1 per cent, I do not think
it is possible to estimate it accurately by any of these pro-
cesses ; and when the proportion is larger, the processes are
at least more troublesome, have a wider limit of experimental

92

error, ancl are more apt to fail in less experienced hands,
than the analytical processes in use for estimating most of
the other commonly occurring elements.

In common tungstate of sodium we possess a test for calcium
which is probably equal in delicacy and in certainty to that
of chlorine for silver, or of sulphuric acid for barium.

The action of this test, in a preliminary examination, re-
quires to he ascertained —

(1.) With calcium solutions alone.

(2.) The presence of magnesium.

(3.) The presence of magnesium and ammonium salts, and
of these with free ammonia.

(1.) The behaviour of tungstate of sodium with solutions of
calcium salts . A saturated solution of sulphate of calcium,
taken at 13° C, remains perfectly clear on addition of an
equal volume of a saturated solution of tungstate of soda for
a short time. On warming, when the solution attains the
temperature of 42° C, it becomes turbid, deposits a film upon
the containing glass vessel, and soon after a dense precipitate
falls. To ascertain the limit of the action of the test, the solu-
tion of sulphate of calcium was successively diluted to various
degrees, and precipitates obtained, until the solution was so
dilute that it contained but one part of sulphate of calcium in
114,000 parts water, A few drops of solution of tungstate of
sodium were added, the solution warmed, and at 56° C, the
solution became distinctly opalescent. An experiment was then
made oh the distilled water used for the dilution, but it gave
no reaction. It was evident that it was possible to push the
attenuation much further, and yet get indications of calcium.
But this proportion (ttAouto) is near the limit at which sulphate
of calcium may be rendered distinctly visible. A solution of
chloride of calcium behaves similarly. Sulphate of magnesium
is not precipitated by tungstate of sodium, unless the solutions
of the two salts are strong. The experiments were made with
a solution of pure sulphate of magnesium, of specific gravity

93

1-114, and containing 11*283 per cent of the anhydrous
salt. The solution of tungstate of sodium was saturated
(at common temperature), and contained about one-third
its weight of dry salt. A mixture of equal parts of these
solutions gave no precipitate in the cold, hut quickly crystal-
lized when warmed, the crystals being difficultly soluble, and
leaving a very slight residue of an insoluble variety of tungstic
acid, or of some compound of that acid. But when the
mixed solutions above described were very little diluted, the
solution remained perfectly clear at any temperature, until
the fluid was concentrated by evaporation, when no precipi-
tate, but clear crystals appeared. It is only, therefore, in
very concentrated solutions that tungstate of sodium gives —
not then a precipitate — but crystals, with sulphate of
magnesium. The chloride of magnesium solution behaves
similarly, though it was not so closely examined.

(2.) The behaviour of tungstate of sodium with solutions
containing calcium and magnesium. The earlier experiments
seemed to indicate that the presence of magnesium did not
at all interfere with the precipitation of the calcium. But on
continually diminishing the quantity of the calcium salt
while that of the magnesium salt was kept constant, it was
found that the latter exercised a very appreciable solvent
power. The limiting experiment was as follows : — -To 5 cc. of
a solution containing 7 parts in 100,000 of sulphate of calcium,
were added 8 cc. solution of sulphate of magnesium, contain-
ing 1T£88 per cent anhydrous salt, 12 cc. water, and a few
drops of tungstate of sodium. There were thus, in £,000,000
parts of fluid, 35 parts sulphate of calcium, and 33,849 parts
sulphate of magnesium — the remainder being water, except the
small quantity of tungstate of sodium. The reaction was not
visible till the fluid reached the temperature of 70° C, when
it became apparent, and, on putting it aside to cool, a per-
fectly distinct film formed on the glass. A similarly attenu-
ated solution of the lime salt, but containing no magnesium.

94

was exposed to the same conditions with the re-agent, and the
reaction in the latter case occurred earlier, at a lower tem-
perature, and was more distinct. Nevertheless, the fact
remains that, in a mixed solution of the sulphates of calcium
and magnesium, the presence of the former may be clearly
detected up to the proportion of about 1 part in 56,000 of
fluid containing about 1,000 parts of magnesium salt.
Rougher experiments made with the corresponding chlorides
led to similar results.

(3.) The influence of ammonium salts in obstructing the
precipitation of calcium in presence of magnesium is very
marked. A calcium salt, in presence of a very large proportion
of both magnesium and ammonium salts, cannot be certainly
recognised except somewhere near ToVoth of the calcium
salt be present in solution. The influence of free ammonia
with sulphate of ammonium and sulphate of magnesium, in
like large proportions, is so great as to only just admit of the
recognition of the calcium when from e-Toth to ToVoth is
present. Nevertheless, enough, and rather more than enough,
ammoniacal salt may be present to prevent any precipitation
of magnesium by excess of ammonia, and a moderate excess
of ammonia may also be present, without sensibly affecting
the estimation of the lime in a quantitative experiment.
Chloride of ammonium does not dissolve the precipitate
when it is once formed.

The analytical experiments on weighed mixtures of calcium
and magnesium salts, imperatively necessary in introducing
a new re-agent, are not yet completed, most of the experi-
ments of this kind made till now, having been vitiated
through ignorance of the conditions necessary to ensure
success. I give, however, the results of one experiment, the
conditions of which approached more nearly to those I now
know of as being necessary than the others, reserving the
series, together with the methods adopted for obtaining pure
materials to work wuth, for a second Paper.

95

Taken, Found.

Magnesia 0-3097 grms. 0-3120

Carbonate of calcium... 0-0043 0-0042

The weighed quantities of carbonate of calcium and of mag-
nesium were dissolved in a slight excess of hydrochloric acid ;
neutralised carefully by ammonia, precipitated by tungstate
of sodium, and then the filtrate, with the usual precautions,
by common phosphate of sodium. The excess in the weight of
pyro-phosphate of magnesium, led to the suspicion that some
tungstic acid had been carried down ; a suspicion amply
confirmed by the colouration obtained from the solution of
the ignited precipitate in dilute hydrochloric acid when
treated with tin.

A little in anticipation of my intended future paper upon
the subject, I now add such details respecting the manipula-
tion required in separating lime from magnesia by tungstate
of sodium as my experience has shown to be necessary. It is
convenient to have the solution of the magnesium and
calcium salts made somewhat alkaline by ammonia, but a
very large quantity of this, as well as of ammoniacal salt, is,
as we have seen, to be avoided. The beaker in which the
precipitation is to be effected should, while perfectly dry and
warm, be rubbed within by chamois leather on which a drop
or two of fine oil (such as is used for oiling balances) has
been put. If this precaution be not taken, it will be found im-
possible to detach the precipitate of tungstate of calcium from
the sides and bottom of the vessel. A considerable excess of
the re-agent is not necessary ; but, if it occur, is not material.
If, on addition of the re-agent, a white, floculent precipitate
forms immediately, it is well to add a few (drops of ammonia,
when the floculent precipitate will re-dissolve, but if it does
not re-dissolve, after warming, there is some other element
present, which, if ordinary Epsom salts are used will probably
be manganese. The tungstate of calcium precipitate is very
dense ; it forms slowly in very dilute solutions, and, in all

96

cases* several hours should be allowed for it to form. The
solution should be warmed meanwhile, but must not be
allowed to boil. The precipitate must be washed till the
filtrate shows no cloudiness on standing, with nitrate of silver
when the salts are chlorides ; or, if they are sulphates, till
chloride of barium gives no cloudiness. The precipitate must
then be further washed with dilute solution of ammonia, but
these washings need not be saved. The filter should be
burnt separately, after the precipitate is cleared from it as
nearly as possible. After the ignited precipitate is weighed,
a little strong solution of ammonia should be poured upon it,
and allowed to stand for awhile, when the ammonia is
decanted, and supersaturated with acid. If a precipitate
falls after a time, the tungstate of calcium precipitate should
(without being removed from the crucible) be allowed to
stand for some hours with more ammonia — it is then washed
by decantation, again ignited, and weighed. The ignited
precipitate should be perfectly white.

The filtrate, containing the magnesium salt and tungstate
of sodium, may be at once precipitated by phosphate of sodium
in the usual way, but if this is done, much washing is required
to get rid of the little tungstic acid that adheres obstinately
to the precipitate. It is better, especially when a great excess
of the re-agent has been used, to first precipitate the tungstic
acid, by a considerable excess of hydrochloric acid, and boil
until the precipitate becomes dense and intensely yellow.
The solution is then filtered, supersaturated with ammonia,
and the magnesia precipitated in the usual way ; but, even
in this case, it is better to wash lastly with stronger ammonia
solution than ordinary.

97

MXCKOSCOPICAL SECTION.
January 16th, 1865.

J. Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Exhibitions and Presentations .

A box of two dozen slides of botanical specimens, beauti-
fully mounted, presented to the Section by Mr. J. E. Whalley.

Specimens of carbonate of magnesia from Greece ; the
surfaces showing very delicate dendritic markings of oxide
of manganese, well seen under the microscope.— Mr* A.
Brothers.

A fine specimen of Polyporus versicolor.— Mr. Grindon.

A set of mounted specimens of leaves from the south of
Europe and the Rocky Mountains, showing curious and
novel markings. — Mr. W. H. Heys.

Communications .

The following note from Mr. Dancer, addressed to the
President of the Section, was read : — ■

“ Sir,— I beg to state that, since our last meeting, I have
carefully examined, with various powers of the microscope,
the cotton hairs whilst undergoing dissolution in Schweizer’s

98

Ammoniacal Solution of Copper. I am inclined to the belief
that cotton hairs do not contain spiral vessels properly so-
called. I think that the spiral apparatus, which has been
described by Mr. C. O’Neill and Mr. Keys as spiral vessels,
can be clearly traced to a mechanical action which the
solvent exerts on the vegetable cell. At some future time I
hope to illustrate this to the Section.— Yours truly,

“ J. B. Dancer.”

Mr. Heys explained that he had not intended to describe
the cotton hairs as containing spiral vessels, in the botanical
sense of that term, but had spoken of the appearance within
them as that of a spiral thread.

Mr. Watson read a communication “On the Plumules or
Battledore Scales of the Lycsenidse,” in which he showed that
they will serve the purposes of identification by exhibiting
generic and specific alliances, and differences similar to those
found in the plumules of the Pieridse, described by him in a
previous paper. Fifty-three figures of the plumules, drawn
by Mr. Sidebotham, were shown as illustrations of the sub-
ject. He said the points he desired to insist upon as likely
to Jbe useful in this investigation were — That the plumules
are always identical in individuals of the same species, and
mere varieties can therefore be detected by this test ; and
that, in very closely-allied species which are difficult of
distinction by the more ordinary characters, these scales will
often be found to be different.

Mr. Sidebotham read “Notes on the Development of the
Wings of Lepidopterous Insects.” He said that their great
and rapid increase of size soon after the insect emerges from
the chrysalis is caused by air, taken in through the spiracles,
being sent into the vessels of the wings ; the membrane is
expanded in consequence, and the scales, which were before

packed under each other as closely as possible, are made to
slide out until they remain in the fully developed wing like
the tiles of a roof. He exhibited preserved specimens of the
Currant moth and the Tiger moth, with the wings both in
their small and in their expanded state, also a coloured
sketch of one of them, and it was seen that in the unexpanded
state the wings lie flat without any folding, and all their
markings are a correct representation in miniature of what
they ultimately become.

January 30th, 1865.

J. Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

j Exhibitions and Presentations.

Two powers for the Microscope (Jin. and Jin.), made by
Mr. Dancer, presented to the Section by the Right Rev. the
Lord Bishop of Manchester.

Remains of an Ichthyosaurus.— T. Alcock. The points
noticed were the bones situated in the triangular space
enclosed by the lower jaw, which were well shown as the
creature lay on its back ; a broken rib reunited during life ;
the numerous small bands of bone, three or four correspond-
ing with each rib, encircling the body in front ; remains of
skin in various parts ; and, in the situation of the stomach, a
layer of minute teeth and fragments of scales, the remains of
food taken during life.

100

Mountain Limestone fossils from Clitheroe. A new
Rhynchonella not yet specifically named ; many beautiful
specimens of Crania ; and a set of extreme varieties of Orthis
resupinata. — Mr. Parker.

Double feathers from pheasant.— Mr. Latham.

A set of the photographs of Dinornis in the York Museum.
Dried specimens of the male flowers of Aucuba.— Mr. Grindon.

Communications .

Dr. Alcock read “ Notes on a Visit to Walton Hall3”
with remarks on Mr. Waterton’s method of preserving
animals.

Dr. Carrington read communications C( On an Annelidan
Larva/’ and “ On the Embryology of Annelids.”

101

Ordinary Meeting, February 21st, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in
the Chair.

Mr. Thomas Worthington was elected an Ordinary Member
of the Society.

M. Breguet, of Paris, exhibited and explained the con-
struction of Dumas’ lamp for use in coal mines, the principle
of which consists in the employment of the light from a
Geissler’s vacuum tube, excited by a small RuhmkorfFs
induction coil.

Professor Roscoe stated that he had very frequently been
asked for information respecting the mode of preparing the
sealed bulbs, containing exactly equal volumes of chlorine
and hydrogen gases, which he employed for exhibiting the
chemical combination of these gases effected by the action of
light, and as the successful preparation of these bulbs depends
upon exactly observing certain minute conditions, he ventured
to submit the following particulars to the Society. The
apparatus needed, consists of a stout tube or narrow bottle of
about 120 cubic centimetres capacity, fitted with a caoutchouc
stopper with three holes bored through it. Into one of
these holes a vent gas delivery tube passes, on to which three
small wash bulbs are blown ; into the other two holes are
inserted the rounded ends of two lengths of the gas carbon,
Proceedings Lit. & Phil. Society— Yol. IY.— No. 11.— Session 1861-5.

102

commonly used as terminals for the electric lamp; these
poles are of such a length that they pass to the bottom of the
glass bottle. This is then filled with strong aqueous hydro-
chloric acid containing about 30 per cent of the anhydrous
acid ; the stopper in the poles and wash bulbs containing
a few drops of water is then fixed into its position, and the
evolution vessel placed in a beaker of cold water whilst con-
tact is made with the terminals of four ordinary sized Bunsen’s
cells, the whole apparatus being placed in a dark room. The
mixed gases at once begin to be given off, and ought to pass
through the wash bulbs at the rate of about two bubbles per
second. It is absolutely necessary that the gas be allowed to
come off at this rate for three hours* before it is collected, as
up to this time it does not attain a sufficient degree of purity
and sensitiveness, whilst after the lapse of this time it is
generally found to be fit for use. In order to absorb the
excess of chlorine, the waste gas may be led into a condenser
containing slacked lime and charcoal in alternate layers.
When the evolution has gone on for the above mentioned
time a bulb tube, connected by caoutchouc joinings, is placed
between the evolution vessel and the condenser, and the gas
allowed to pass through. The bulbs, which are made of
fusible glass tubing, are blown about the size of a hen’s egg,
and so thin that they easily break when pressed with the
finger. At each side of the bulb the tube is drawn out so as
to be very thin in the glass, and to leave the internal diameter
not less than 1mm., whilst at the extremities the tube is
wider so as to fit ordinary joinings. When the gas has
passed through the tube for about ten minutes, the joinings
are loosened and each end stopped with a piece of glass rod.
The bulb tube thus closed is then removed from the evoluting
vessel, and the thinnest part of the tube brought some little
distance above a very small Bunsen’s flame ; the glass then
softens below a red-heat, and the ends may be drawn out and

# See Bunsen and Eoscoe, Photochemical Eesearches, 1857, p. 355.

103

sealed with safety. It is advisable to number the bulbs, and
to test the first and last by exposing them to a strong light.
Frequently, in spite of every precaution, the gas explodes
during the act of sealing, so that in this operation it is advi-
sable to hold the bulb with a cloth rather than in the open
hand. As soon as one bulb tube is removed another is
placed in connection with the evolution flask, and after ten
minutes sealed as described. The above quantity of acid
will serve for the production of sixty bulbs. Thus prepared
the sealed bulbs may be bept in the dark for any length of
time without injury; some, which were known to have been
made more than a year, were found to be perfectly good. To
explode these bulbs it is only necessary to expose them to
diffuse daylight or sunlight, when the combination occurs
instantly. Of artificial lights the bright flash produced by
the combustion of the vapour of bisulphide of carbon in nitric
oxide is most effective ; but the light of burning magnesium
wire, of phosphorous in oxygen, or the electric light, answers
perfectly well Professor Koscoe stated that Mr. Dancer, of
Cross Street, had undertaken to supply the bulbs to persons
unable to prepare them.

A paper “On a new form of roof for Dyehouses,” by Mr.
John Thom, was read, communicated by the President.

The object of the present communication is to describe the
construction of a roof for buildings in which there is a good
deal of vapour, so as to produce the minimum amount of con-
densation of such vapour inside the buildings, and thus avoid
the production of drops, as well as the minor evil of an
obscure atmosphere. Any one practically acquainted with
dyeing processes knows well the loss which arises from these
two evils. In all cases that I have seen, except where the
dyehouse was the lower flat of a series, and where, of course,
the covering of the dyehouse was the floor of the room above,
the roof of a dyehouse is made about the usual angle or

104

pitch of an ordinary building supplemented with openings,
and these openings on different plans, for allowing the steam
or vapour to escape. The usual one being made thus : —

This form seems to send out a large amount of steam or
vapour from the quantity of cold air which is mixed with the
vapour inside and escapes with it. If one watches the action
of the cold air and vapour in this form of roof, it will he
observed, that the cold air comes in by all the windward
openings, strikes the hot moist air or vapour, drives part out
and forces a great part down into the building. I found by
taking off the side lifts, and leaving only the top ones, that
an improvement was effected. Still, however, the same evils
were produced by the top louvre boards, although in a less
degree, owing to a less quantity of cold air being admitted.

I also tried removing the top cover, hood, or louvre boards,
and contracting the opening, leaving three feet all along the
top of the roof without any cover whatever ; and this, in
spite of the admission of rain, I found to be the best of the
old form. Even with this, however, we had always drops
and an obscure atmosphere, except in bright dry days. But
with this form the number of drops were less and the building
clearer than with so many openings.

With the old form of roof the most successful plan of keep-
ing the building free from vapour or drops, is to cover over
every vessel from which vapour arises, and to have a tube
passing from each cover quite through the roof. But this
plan has several objections to it ; the chief being, that owing
to the boxing in of the winces, &c., one does not see how the
goods are going on, and whether the processes are being con-
ducted successfully or not. The workmen also aggravate

105

this evil, by avoiding as much as possible the opening of the
covers or boxes to see the goods, on account of the blast of
steam which issues out when an opening is made. I have
twice fitted up such covers and tubes to all our dyebecks, and
both times have been obliged to remove them. The last
time I fitted them up I made for the front a light frame with
canvass, and this could be raised by a cord and pulley, so as
to allow the man to avoid the steam when he opened the
box.

Being dissatisfied with all the plans I had tried of getting
rid of the vapour, I determined to try a new roof.

Now, if all idea of the old form of roof is laid aside, and
it is asked what it is that is really wanted, the conclusion
will be that condensation of the vapour must be avoided ; that
the less air admitted the better, and that the air be admitted
under the vapour and pass with it in the same direction, out
of the building, mixing as little as possible with it. The
admission of air must be at the command of the foreman of
the building, and the roof should be at such a pitch that if
drops be condensed on it they should not fall ; but trickle
along the spar or glass into the gutter made to receive them.

Adjoined is a sketch of the plan which I have ultimately
adopted to effect these objects.

A A becks along the sides. B louvre boards which can be
opened or shut to admit air. C C openings for escape of hot
vapour, having the same number of feet of opening as surface

106

of hot water. D D boards which catch rain drops from un-
protected part of roof. E part for assorting goods, &c. All
the roof is timber and glass ; there are no slates.

By this plan the opening for emission of steam is as small
as can be allowed, and all the air necessary is admitted at
the proper place, and in such quantity as may be desired.
This roof has now been at work in summer and winter, and
a drop has never been seen to fall from it except sometimes
from gutter E E, and this being invariably in one place it is
of no consequence. Except in unusually close weather, the
whole place is quite free from condensed vapour. The men
are all dry and comfortable, instead of being stifled with the
hot vapour and drenched with drops as they formerly were
before this new form of roof was tried. There are many
details which I cannot describe here, but which I show on
the model and drawings. Modifications would be required
for different arrangement of becks ; but the same principle
could always be carried out.

A paper was also read u On the Action of Caustic Soda on
Ethylic and Methjlic Alcohol,” by Mr. A. Mylius, commu-
nicated by Dr. E. Schunck, F.ft.S.

Schunck’s experiments concerning the action on indigo
blue of acetate of soda, caustic soda, and alcohol, first led me
to examine in his laboratory the influence of caustic soda on
alcohol and methylic alcohol in sealed tubes.

I obtained in each case a resin, differing considerably from
the resinous body which is obtained by boiling an alcoholic
solution of caustic soda for some time at the ordinary pressure
and then precipitating by an acid. This so-called aldehyde-
resin has a different composition according to the proportion
of acid employed in its preparation, so that I think it not
improbable that it may be composed of two resins. Its colour
is dark brown, and it is soluble in alkali.

On heating the same solution for some time in sealed tubes,

107

so as to obtain increased pressure, there is formed by the
influence of the alkali a resin which is insoluble in alkali. In
a short time the liquid becomes red, and on the addition of
water the resin is precipitated, the liquid becoming colourless.
This takes place also when methylic alcohol is employed.

The resins thus formed are of a red colour.

After filtration and washing with water the resin was dis-
solved in alcohol, and the residue, after evaporation, dried at
100° C. When cold these resins are hard and brittle, but
they have no crystalline structure. They are soluble in
alcohol and ether. The resin formed from methylic alcohol
melts at 59° C., the other at 65° C. The odour of the
former is like that of cedar wood, while that of the latter
more resembles the smell of oranges. In general there is a
great resemblance between these resins and the natural
resins, such as copal, &c. In employing methylic alcohol
the formation of the resin takes place much more easily,
and a greater quantity of product is obtained. I tried in
various ways to decolorise the resins, but did not succeed.

Through the alkaline liquid filtered from the resin a cur-
rent of carbonic acid was passed, then it was evaporated, and
the saline residue having been treated with sulphuric acid in
excess, the liquid was distilled. The distillate was acid;
silver solution was reduced by it in an instant, so that there
was little doubt of the presence of formic acid (but the pecu-
liar smell of propionic acid could not be perceived).

From the analysis it must be inferred that the twro resins
have the same composition ; but still, as their properties are
not identical, I think they are only isomeric.

The analysis afforded the following results :

I. 0T860 grm. (methylic ale.) gave 0*5080 grm. carbonic
acid and QT550 grm. water.

II. 0*2465 grm. (methylic ale.) gave 0*6795 grm. carbonic
acid and 0T965 grm. water.

III. 0*2090 grm. (ethylic ale.) gave 0*5745 grm. carbonic
acid and 0*1590 grm. water.

108

IV. 0*1805 grm. (ethylic ale.) gave 0*4960 grm, carbonic
acid and 0*1330 grm. water.

These numbers lead to the following composition :

I.

ii.

III.

IV.

c...

... 74*50 ..

.... 75-10 ...

.... 74*97 ..,

.... 74-95

H...

... 8*90 ..

.... 8*85 ..,

.... 8*95 ...

.... 8*26

O...

... 16*60

.... 16*05

.... 16*08 ...

... 16*79

100*00

100*00

100*00

100*00

The formula C12 H8 02 with which they correspond requires
in 100 parts

C 75*00

H 8*40

0 16*60

100*00

The formation of the resins from the alcohols might per-
haps be explained by assuming that aldehyde is formed by
the oxidation of alcohol, and then by simple loss of water the
aldehyde would be converted into resin, since

3(C4 H4 02) - 4HO = C12 H8 02.

But the formic acid in this case would not stand in any
relation to the resin, and even the formation of the resin from
methylic alcohol could not easily be explained.

If we adopt the formula C24 H18 04, which requires 74*28
per cent carbon and 9*10 per cent hydrogen, we must assume
that carbonic and formic acid are taken up by the alcohol,
though it is very doubtful whether these acids could separate
from a strong base like soda in order to form a neutral resin.
The following equations will show what m&y be imagined to
take place in this case :

5(C4 He 02) + C2 04 + C2 H2 04 = C24 H18 04 + 14 HO.

10(C3 H4 02) + C2 04 + C2 H2 04 = C21 H18 04 + 24 HO.

109

Taking two atoms of water from Ci2 H8 02, the formula of
benzole, C12 H6, remains. I tried to form this carbo-hydrogen
by distilling the resin ; the distillate bad a strong smell of
carbolic acid ; I acted on it with nitric acid ; oxidation took
place immediately after the addition of the acid. I now added
water, which gave a yellow deposit. I dissolved the latter
in alcohol, but on evaporating the alcohol I obtained a resin
of the same appearance as the original one. Nitrobenzole
had not been formed.

The two resins are of a constant composition, which is
proved by the accordance between the third and the fourth
analyses, which were made with specimens prepared at
different times.

In order to ascertain whether formic or acetic acid takes
part in the formation of the resins, I made two other experi-
ments. In one case I added acetate of soda to the caustic
soda aud alcohol, and in the second case formiate of soda. I
analysed the products, and arrived at the following results :

I, 0*2050 grm. (acetate of soda) gave 0*6190 gnu. carbonic
acid and 0*1625 grm. water.

II. 0*2255 grm. (acetate of soda) gave 0*6800 grm. car-
bonic acid and 0*1745 grm. water.

These numbers lead to the following composition :

I.

II.

c

82*37

82-24

H

8-80

8-58

O

8-83

9-18

100-00

100-00

The formula C28 H18

02 requires

C

82-90

H....

8-91

O,...

8-19

no

Assuming that acetic acid is necessary for the formation of
this resin, which differs from the products obtained without
the addition of the acetate, the following equation will show
the way in which the resin has been formed :

4(C4 H6 02) + 3(C4 H4 04) = C28 H18 02 + 18 HO.

In employing formiate of soda I obtained a resin of the
same composition as that produced when no formiate was
present.

0*2100 grm. gave 0*5795 grm. carbonic acid and 0*1610
grm. water = 75*25 per cent carbon and 8*57 per cent
hydrogen.

The investigation has therefore led to the discovery of the
following facts :

(1) The resins which are obtained by the action of caustic
soda on ethylic and methylic alcohol in sealed tubes differ
from the resin that is formed by the same substances at the
ordinary pressure in open vessels.

(2) Methylic and ethylic alcohol produce resins of the
same composition.

(3) Formic acid is formed.

(4) When acetate of soda is added the resulting resin
differs in its composition.

Ill

PHOTOGRAPHIC SECTION.

January 5 th, 1865.

Joseph Sidebotham, Esq., in the Chair.
Mr. E. C. Buxton was elected an Ordinary Member,

Some enlarged photographs by Dr. Yan Monkhoven were
exhibited. The original negatives were four inches square,
and some of the enlargements upwards of forty-four inches.

Some specimens of panoramic pictures taken by Mr. J. It.
Johnson with his pantascopic camera were exhibited. In
this camera the lens turns on its optical centre, depicting
the objects composing the view on the screen or collodionised
film, which moves tangentially in a contrary direction to the
motion of the lens, and thus successive portions of the view
are received by successive portions of the moving plate.

Mr. Dancer, F.B.A.S., read a paper “ On the exhibition,
stereoscopically, of Photography on a large scale.” Diagrams
were exhibited of the single image prism stereoscope, the
double reflecting stereoscope, and the opera glass stereoscope
instruments devised by Sir David Brewster for uniting bin-

112

ocular pictures for the use of lectures, &c. Some beautiful
stereoscopic transparencies were cut in two, and each half
placed in its position in oxhydrogen lanterns mounted with
achromatic object glasses. The half stereographs were then
projected in juxtaposition on a long screen, and to realize
the proper stereoscopic effect, the members were supplied
\fdth achromatised prismatic stereoscopes which had been
prepared expressly for the purpose. Mr. Dancer made some
remarks on the perfection which the lenticular stereoscope
had attained by the employment of achromatic lenses, and
urged the necessity of photographers and opticians agreeing
to uniform foci for the lenses of stereoscopic cameras and
stereoscopes, as it was only by viewing the pictures with
lenses of equivalent foci to those with which they were taken
that they got a truthful representation. If that rule were
observed, the objects would have the same apparent magni-
tude as they would have to the eyes of a person standing on
the spot from whence the view was photographed ; that well
known rule was too frequently forgotten.

February 2nd, 1865.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., Vice-President of the
Section, in the Chair.

Mr. A. Brothers, F.R.A.S., exhibited a stereoscopic picture
of the Blue John Mine in Derbyshire, which he had taken by
aid of the magnesium light, giving an exposure of five minutes.
The negative was slightly fogged, owing to the lenses not
having been wiped when descending from the cold atmos-
phere of the surface into the mine, which is some 3 to 400
feet below it. The dense fumes of magnesia caused by so
long an exposure prevented another trial.

113

Dr. Joule exhibited a camera, which was an improvement
on the one described' in the Photographic Notes, September,
1856. The body of the camera consists of a mahogany box
holding a wide glass bottle, which is made use of to hold the
silver solution. The plate is sensitised by turning the
camera on its back, which causes the nitrate of silver to flow
over it.

Mr. Montefiore described some experiments which he
had made for enlarging negatives by aid of the magic lantern,
using magnesium wire for the illuminating power. The
wire had been found to burn very steadily in a jet of ordinary
gas.

Mr. A. Brothers, F.R.A.S., read a paper entitled (t Was
Daguerre a Discoverer?”

Mr. Sidebotham read a paper On the proper focus of
lens to be used in taking photographic landscapes, also on
some modes of measuring the size of objects therein depicted.”
The object of the paper was to show that neither lenses of
very long or very short focus give correct perspective, the
former making distant objects appear too near, and the latter
just the contrary. Lenses of less focus than 7 inches, and
greater than 14, make this defect painfully visible.

4 he latter portion of the paper advocated the placing a
rod or mark of such a length, and in such a position in the
picture, that it could be used as a scale of measurement for
the principal objects. Also that a correct scale be made for
each focus of lens, by placing poles of measurement at the
distance of 100 yards apart, and marking each 10 yards
distance from the camera, so that when once the scale was
formed, all photographs taken by that focus of lens (the

114

distance of objects being known) their size could be measured ;
or their size being known their distance.

The author, also explained the mode of obtaining the
exact measurement of objects, by laying divided scales
lengthways and across, so that any person could verify the
measurement from the photograph without risk of error.
This had been suggested to the Astronomer Royal for Scot*
land, Professor Smyth, who was at present in Egypt, taking
measurements of certain portions of the interior of the great
Pyramid, and extracts from some of his letters were read,
approving the same; the illumination of the objects being
accomplished by the use of Magnesium.

0

115

Ordinary Meeting, March 7th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., E.R.S., &c., President, in
the Chair.

The following paper “ On the Action of Sea water upon
certain Metals and Alloys,” was read by F. Grace Calvert,
Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S., &c., and R. Johnson, F.C.S.

We were induced to examine the action exerted by sea
water, in consequence of the rapid changes which have
taken place of late years in naval architecture, and especially
in the substitution of metals and alloys for wood.

To carry out the above views, we took 20 square centimetres
of each metal, which we cleaned with great care and attention,
in order that the action of the sea water might have its full
effect ; then two plates of each metal were placed in
separate glass vessels, and immersed in equal volumes
of sea water. After one month the plates were taken
out, and any compounds that had adhered to the surface
carefully removed; the plates were then dried and re-
weighed, and the loss estimated. To render our results of
more practical value, we have calculated the action of 100
litres of sea water upon one square metre of each metal,
and the following are the amounts of metals dissolved

Grammes.

Steel 29T6

Iron 27*37

Copper (best selected) 12*96

Proceedings Lit. & Phil. Society— Yol. IY. — No. 12.— Session 1864-5.

116

Grammes.

Copper (rough cake) 13*85

Zinc 5*66

Galvanised Iron 1*12

Block Tin 1*45

Stream Tin 1*45

Lead (virgin) Trace.

„ (common) Trace.

These results appear to us to lead to the following con-
clusions : —

1. That the metal now most in vogue for shipbuilding,
namely, iron, is that which is most readily attacked.

2. That this metal is most materially preserved from the
action of sea water when coated with zinc, and therefore, in
our opinion, it would amply repay shipbuilders to use gal-
vanised iron as a substitute for that metal itself.

The above facts perfectly confirm those which we have
already published in our paper “ On Galvanised Iron for
Armour Plated Ships,” in which it was shown, that when
iron was in contact with oak they mutually acted upon each
other, producing a rapid destruction of the two materials,
whilst little or no action took place between galvanised iron
and the wood.

3. The extraordinary resistance which lead offers to the
action of sea water, naturally suggests its use as a preservative
to iron vessels against the destructive action of that element ;
and although we are aware that pure lead is too soft to
withstand the wear and tear which ship bottoms are subjected
to, still we feel that an alloy of lead could be devised which
would meet the requirements of shipbuilders.

Feeling that experiments made with a limited amount of
sea water might not be a fair criterion of the action of the
ocean upon metals, we repeated our experiments upon plates
of 40 centimetres square, which were immersed for one month
in the sea on the western coast (Fleetwood), taking the
precaution that they should be constantly beneath the surface

117

of the water, and suspended by flax rope attached a
wooden structure, to prevent any galvanic action taking
place between the plates and the structure to which they
were attached.

The following are the amounts of metals dissolved

Grammes.

Steel 105-31

Iron 99*30

Copper (best selected) 29*72

Zinc 34*31

Galvanised Iron 14*42

Lead (virgin) 25*69

„ (common) - 25*85

The above figures suggest the following remarks

That the action has been much more intense, in this
instance, than when the metals were placed in a limited
amount of water at the laboratory. These results are due
probably to several causes acting at the same time, viz. : —
that the metal was exposed to the constantly renewing sur-
face of an active agent ; and that there was also a considerable
friction exerted on the surface of the plate by the constant
motion of the water, there being at Fleetwood a powerful
tide and rough seas. What substantiates this opinion is,
that the lead plates undoubtedly lost the greater part of the
weight, not by the solvent action of the sea water, but froip
particles of lead detached from them, in consequence qf their
coming in contact with sand and the wooden supports to
which they were attached ; but this cause of destruction
having been observed with lead plates, it was afterwards
carefully guarded against in the case of all the other metal
plates.

We also deemed it desirable to examine the action of sea
water on various brasses. We therefore immersed for one
month, plates of various alloys in that fluid, and proceeded to
record our results

118

Action of 200 Litres of Sea Water upon 1 Square Metre
Surface of the following Brasses :

Composition of the Brasses.

Pure Copper ... 50
Pure Zinc 50

100

Quantity of Metals Dissolved.

IRON. COPPER. ZINC. TOTAL.

1*110 10*537 11*647

Commercial Brass :

Copper 66*

Zinc 32*5

Iron and Lead 1 *5

■ 0*579 3*667 3*324 7*570

100

Muntz Metal (Sheet) :

Copper 70*

Zinc... 29*2

Iron and Lead 0 *8

— 0*438 4*226 2*721 7*385

100*0

Muntz Metal (Bars) :

Copper 62

Zinc 37

Lead and Iron 1

0*501 2*697 3*493 6*691

100*0

Prepared Brass :

Copper 50

Zinc 48

Tin 2 tin.

— 0*365 7*04 3*477 10*882

100

119

The above table shows how very differently sea water acts
upon divers brasses and the influence exercised upon the
copper and the zinc composing them, by the existence in
them of a very small proportion of another metal; thus,
in pure brass the zinc is most rapidly dissolved (which,
en passant , is the contrary to what takes place in galvanised
iron), whilst it acts as a preservative to the copper.

Tin, on the other hand, appears to preserve the zinc, hut
to assist the action of sea water upon the copper.

The great difference between the action of sea water upon
pure copper and upon Muntz metal seems to us to he due
not only to the fact that copper is alloyed to zinc, but to
the small proportion of lead and iron which that alloy
contains ; and there can be no doubt that shipbuilders derive
great benefit by using it for the keel of their vessels.

We were so surprised at the inaction of sea water upon
lead that we were induced to compare its action with that of
several distinct varieties of water, viz., Manchester Corpora-
tion water — well water — distilled water in contact with air—
the same deprived of air — and the following are the amounts
of metals dissolved by 200 litres of these waters upon 1 square
metre of surface during eight weeks.

Grammes.

Manchester Corporation Water 2 ’09 4

Well Water *» T477

Distilled Water (with air) 110*003

„ „ (without air) 1*829

SeaWater 0*038

These figures require no comment, as they confirm our
previous result that sea water has no action on lead.

Mr. John Robinson exhibited specimens of iron and brass
which had been acted upon by the water of the river Medlock,
and stated he had found that an alloy of lead, tin, and
antimony, resisted the action of sea water better than any
other metal or alloy he had tried.

120

PHOTOGRAPHIC SECTION.

March 2nd, 1865.

Mr. John Parry in the Chair.

Mr. Dancer read a paper entitled, “ The Opaque Micro-
scope not New,” in which he proved that the so-called new
instrument was of very old date, and was described and used
previous to the year 1780 ; and that an improved form of it
was exhibited nightly at the Manchester Mechanics’ Institu-
tion in the winter of 1840-1841.

Mr. Side botham exhibited some prints taken by the
Wothlytype process, and described the mode of their produc-
tion. Others printed by the ordinary silver process from the
same negatives were also exhibited, and pronounced to be
superior in every way.

Mr. Brothers exhibited two photographic prints taken
by Mr. Pouncy, of Dorchester, one of them obtained direct from
the negative in printers’ ink, the other printed from stone.
Mr. Brothers also exhibited, with a copying camera, the
mode of obtaining photographs of microscopic objects by
burning magnesium ; also a negative and a print from it of
an insect dissection so enlarged.

Mr. E. C. Buxton, jun., read a paper entitled “ Photo-
graphic Experience in India,” and illustrated it by a number
of large and beautiful views he had taken in 1868 and 1864.

The difficulties of photography in hot climates such as
India are usually believed to be very great, and until quite
recently Indian photographs — -or, at least, such as I had the
chance of seeing — were little more than patches of black and
white. No doubt there were many exceptions, but I think
that was the general character of Indian photography. The
hardness and want of half-tone was attributed to the intense
light of the sun, the heat, and the difficulty of preserving
chemicals in good working order.

121

I remember reading a letter in one of the journals from a
photographer in India, in which he said that the plates could
not be kept moist more than a few seconds after leaving the
bath, and that to prevent the surface of the film from drying
so rapidly he was obliged to fasten a pad of wet blotting-paper
inside the shutter of the dark slide. How he contrived to
draw out the shutter I cannot understand. My own opinion
is, that a photographer who can take good negatives in this
country will succeed equally well, if not better, in India, or
other hot climates.

A few days before leaving Calcutta, at the beginning of
last April, I gave a friend some lessons in the art of coating
and developing a plate. In July I received prints from his
negatives superior to the ordinary productions of amateurs in
this country of two year’s practice.

The Exhibition of the Bengal Photographic Society closed
just after my arrival in Calcutta. I could only pay one short
visit ; but my impression was that the number of good pictures
was larger than in the annual Exhibition of the London
Photographic Society. Probably this improvement in the
art is owing to the general use of bromo-iodised collodion, and
the greater purity of the nitrate of silver and other chemicals.

About four years since I spent the winter in Algeria and
Egypt, taking photographs both with the wet and dry process.
Neither country is very warm at that time of year; but the
excessive dryness of Egypt gave me some little insight into
what was wanted in the photographic line when I started foi
Singapore in September, 1863. I. had previously asked advice
from photographers who had worked in India, mentioning
the little difficulty I experienced in Egypt. They shook
their heads, evidently pitying my ignorance. “ Only wait,”
said one, “ till you find your nitrate bath as black as ink
some fine morning !” I humbly ventured to hope that such
a sad fate was not in store for my bath. Another positively
declared that no man except Ottewill could make a camera
warranted not to warp or crack. I was also advised to make

122

my own collodion on arriving out, or at least to mix the
iodisers myself. My knowledge of chemistry being very
limited, the prospect of turning collodion manufacturer was
anything but agreeable. Nevertheless, I laid in a stock of
ether and alcohol, and all sorts of iodides and bromides. Gun
cotton I did not trouble my head about, though where I ex-
pected to find any in Singapore is more than I can now
remember. Fortunately my skill was never put to the test.

In this country Thomas’s collodion with magnesium iodiser
had always been my favourite, but after a few weeks of hot
weather the loss of sensitiveness is very great ; therefore, in
addition to several pounds of Thomas's collodion packed in
tin cases with sawdust, I took a quantity of Mawson’s. This
was ordered specially for India. Nothing could possibly
work better than it did : it was perfection. All the other
chemicals required — such as nitrate of silver, pyrogallic and
acetic acids. &c. — should be taken from this country. They
are to be had in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the principal
towns in India ; but the prices usually charged are ruinous,
and no purchaser can tell how long the article he requires
may have been in stock.

The most important matter, after all, is the choice of
cameras, lenses, and a good dark tent. The tent I used was
Smartt’s, made by Murray and Heath. The time required
for setting it up and arranging the bath and developing
bottles in their proper places is about five minutes. Murray
and Heath also supplied me with a square bellows camera
for il x 9 plates, fitted with Dallmeyer’s No. 3 triplet and
Grubb’s C lens, together with a field box for chemicals and
glass plates. Mr. Kogerson made all the rest of my apparatus,
viz., a rigid stereoscopic camera, with rack-and-pinion, fitted
with Dallmeyer’s single and combination lenses, plate boxes,
and draining boxes for holding negatives in the field. These
draining boxes are also most useful for carrying negatives on
a long journey, such as the overland route, and will stand
almost any amount of knocking about without injury to the

123

contents. I need only say that a box similar to the one you
now see, when full of negatives, fell to the ground from an
elephant’s back : the box was a little worse, and that was
all. A nest of three ebonite funnels will be found very
useful: glass funnels are certain to be broken. The developing
cups may also be of ebonite, but I must say I prefer glass.

On arriving at Singapore the keys of my boxes could
nowhere be found. A couple of Chinamen kindly undertook
to pick the locks and make new keys. Their “ little bill”
amounted to three dollars — about thirteen shillings ! During
my stay in the island there was scarcely a morning when the
foliage was absolutely still. At sunrise a breeze nearly
always sprung up, and continued more or less till sunset ;
then it became perfectly calm, and during the night there
was frequently heavy rain, with thunder and lightning.

My first attempt at photography was rather disagreeable.
I had placed the camera under the shade of a large bamboo,
and was focussing carefully. I ought to mention that the
morning dress in Singapore is made as light and cool as
possible. Loose trousers of silk or calico, grass slippers, and
a flannel shirt. In this costume I was suddenly attacked by
a swarm of great red ants. They had dropped down from
the branches overhead, and were all over me before I noticed
them, biting ferociously. At first I thought a snake had
bitten me. As soon as I got clear of the focussing cloth and
saw the ants, I had nothing for it but to run indoors and
plunge into a bath of cold water. After this I carefully
avoided bamboo trees. These red ants make nests by gum-
ming the leaves together, in the same way as caterpillars in
this country.

The scenery in Singapore is more suitable for the stereo-
scope than for large pictures. Knowing nothing of the
language, and having to do everything myself, small plates
were quite as much as I could manage. At first the tre-
mendous heat inside the tent made me feel very sick and
giddy, but it soon ceased to be an inconvenience.

124

Though I used a glass bath with glass top, and silver wire
dipper, a kind of scum always formed after a day’s work.
This had to be cleaned off, and the solution filtered before
use. Once, after taking three successful instantaneous
negatives, the bath solution became suddenly turbid, and the
surface covered with a thick black scum. After filtration it
worked as well as ever. With this exception, which I can in
no way account for, the bath was never out of order.

The tent was always pitched in a shady spot, if possible,
the ground well watered, and the inside of the tent rubbed
with a wet sponge to prevent dust. For a few minutes the
atmosphere was bearable enough, but after a couple of nega-
tives had been developed it was quite another matter. The
stopper of the collodion bottle used to blow out, and the
smell of ether, mixed with cyanide, in such a temperature,
was anything but agreeable.

After a little experience, however, I found less difficulty
in taking good negatives than in this country. Mawson’s
collodion worked splendidly. The developer I first tried
was eight grains of iron and twenty drops of acetic acid to
the ounce of water. This did not answer, so I tried fifteen
grains of iron and fifteen drops of acetic acid ; and, finally,
thirty grains of iron, thirty drops of acid, thirty drops of
alcohol, and two drops of ammonia to one ounce of water.
Nothing could be better than the last formula. I used it
afterwards in India both for large and small plates.

Going up from Hong Kong to Shanghae, most unfortunately
my bath was left behind. There were plenty of interesting
objects near Shanghae, and some very fine bridges over the
canal at a town called Wong-dow, which had been burnt by
the Taepings. Here I saw a man catching fish with cormo-
rants, and would have given anything for my camera. There
was no help for it, so I shot pheasants instead.

The iS Alabama” was coaling in the New Harbour, Singa-
pore, when I arrived there on my way to Calcutta. Of course
my only thought was how to take a picture of her. All my ap-

125

paratus had been laid up for a month, and it was raining hard.
At night when I was going to bed a report got about that she
was to sail early next morning. I had to come on board,
and, spite of heat and swarms of the most bloodthirsty mos-
quitoes, to clean plates and filter bath solution. At four
o’clock in the morning everything was ready j but, mean-
while, one of Captain Sherrard Osborne’s fleet had come in,
and totally spoilt the point of view I had chosen. At day-
light I crossed the straits in a boat, and set up the tent under
a bank, hoping to avoid the direct rays of the sun. I was
slightly mistaken. Before long the sun shone directly on the
tent, and the woodwork inside soon became unpleasantly hot
to the touch.* I got two pretty good views of the Cr Alabama”
at anchor, and another in which she appeared steaming out
of the harbour.

The steamer left Singapore on December 24th, and the
same evening a ship was reported on fire. At nine o’clock
we were close to the burning vessel, which proved to be the
“ Martaban,” set on fire by the “ Alabama.” The water-
being perfectly smooth, the effect was magnificent.

On the 26th I arrived at Penang early in the morning.
Nothing can exceed the beauty of this island. The heat on
the low grounds near the sea is very great ; but on the hills,
which are often hidden by great fleecy clouds, the atmosphere
is deliciously cool and healthy. The steamer only stopped a
few hours, but I secured some beautiful negatives. A crowd
of Chinese and Malays favoured me with their company.
The water running out of the waste pipe caused great asto-
nishment. I was told they called my tent “ ruma Setan”
(the “ Devil’s house”), which name is also applied to the
Freemason’s lodge at Singapore.

On New Year’s Eve we anchored at Diamond harbour, on
the Hooghly, and landed at Calcutta next morning. As soon
as possible I got my baggage on shore and prepared a silver
bath of thirty grains of silver to the ounce of water. Finding
the light far quicker than at Singapore, I thought it well to

126

make the solution tolerably acid, and added one drachm of
acetic acid to ninety ounces of bath solution. With this acid
bath I took a great many instantaneous stereoscopic views, and
several negatives 11x9 with the triplet, in less than a second.

Within a mile or two of Calcutta there was at that time a
most beautiful jungle of palms, cocoa-nuts, bamboos, &c. — a
perfect paradise for photography. All this, or the greater
part of it, together with the splendid trees in the Botanical
Gardens, have since been destroyed by the great cyclone.

Here I used Thomas’s collodion, newly iodised with mag-
nesium, with great success. After being iodised a few days,
however, the film invariably split at the lower edge of the
plate when immersed in the nitrate bath. The crack was
about two inches long and one-eighth broad, extending up-
wards. I should be glad if any one could explain how this was
caused. After this I used Mawson’s collodion almost entirely.
Once I mixed the two together, and found them work well.

The chief drawback to wet photography in India is the
enormous weight of apparatus required. It was bad enough
by railway, but when I had to transport three heavy boxes
by horse dak , as the miserable public carriages are called, it
became simply ruinous.

My visit to the ruins of Gaur, in the Maldah district,
some 200 miles above Calcutta, gave me more pleasure than
anything I saw in India. From Calcutta to Rajmahal there
is a railway. There I put my baggage into bullock carts to
cross the Ganges, and proceed to Gaur, a distance of thirty
or forty miles. I myself rode to the ferry, and was delighted
to see a couple of elephants waiting on the opposite bank to
convey me to Mootrapore, the residence of an indigo planter —
the most hospitable man in the world, and the slayer of at
least 200 tigers. Next day I went on with the elephants,
and the day following arrived at Gaur, found a tent pitched,
and. the carts unloaded.

Gaur was the ancient capital of Bengal, and the ruins of
the city, surrounded by dense jungle, are magnificent. My

127

first act was to drink a bottle of beer, the second to light a
cheroot, and the third to filter the everlasting bath, and clean
half-a-dozen plates. Having performed all these interesting
operations satisfactorily I went to sleep, and started early
next morning for the ruins — my servant on one elephant,
with tent, camera, and field box, while the bath accompanied
me on the other elephant. I may as well tell you that I
never trusted the bath out of sight longer than I could help,
knowing that if any accident occurred there was no chance
of getting another between Calcutta and Agra.

The first subject I tried was a fine old minaret, standing
by itself, near a large tank swarming with alligators. The
attempt was a total failure— nothing but fog, I could not
account for it then, nor can I now. Out of fifty-six large
plates, however, exposed in India, this was the only failure.

I made matters worse directly afterwards, by stamping on
the focussing-screen : luckily half the glass escaped being
broken. I would advise any photographer going to out-of-
the-way places always to carry a spare focussing-screen. A
collodionised plate will answer the purpose at a pinch, but
with a badly-lighted subject it is difficult to focus accurately
without ground glass.

The next plate was all right, so I moved on to a grove of
date palms, every tree of which was full of monkeys, and it
was plain that unless they were driven away I might as well
attempt to photograph the palm trees in a gale of wind. At
last they all took their departure— or at least I thought so.
A dark gateway at the end of the grove became beautifully
lighted, and not a leaf stirred. I lit a cheroot, placed the
dark slide in position, and uncovered the lens, intending to
give an exposure of one minute and a-half. Twenty seconds
were wanting to complete the time, and already I saw a
perfect negative developed, when suddenly an old grey
monkey dropped from the top of a tree, and swung on a
bough which, with infinite pains, I had brought into focus
by an unlimited use of the swing-back. Of course I covered

128

the lens immediately ; but the mischief was done. The
father of monkeys grinned and made horrible faces, then
dropped to the ground and disappeared. Presently after-
wards, while looking about for another view, a whole tribe of
monkeys came and sat close to the camera, huddled together
like a swarm of bees. The light coming through the
branches of trees was very feeble, and having only a long-
focus lens, it was useless to attempt taking their portraits.

The last day I spent in Gaur was one of downright hard
work. The ruins were a long distance apart, and the tent
had to be pitched and taken down five times. As it was
getting dusk we passed through a magnificent gateway in the
old wall. I was quite tired out and half asleep ; but the
mahout, or elephant driver, called my attention to it, where-
upon I woke up and told my servant to pitch the tent for the
fifth time. While he was doing so I looked out for the best
point of view. There was no difficulty in finding it. The
difficulty consisted in the clouds of dust raised by a long line
of pilgrims incessantly passing. A troop of monkeys chattered
in the branches overhead. For the monkeys there was no
remedy; for the pilgrims there was. Coming out of the
tent I was surprised to find a perfectly clear atmosphere. At
a little distance the elephants were standing right across the
narrow road, and behind them at least 200 pilgrims, partly
held in awe by the elephants and partly by a berkendars ,
which, I think, means a “ fighting man,” who had accom-
panied me.

After leaving Gaur I went by train to Benares. Stayed
three days, and took a few negatives. There are some very
very fine mosques in Benares, but so built round as to
prevent photographing with ordinary lenses. A globe lens
would be of immense service in such places, and it is sur-
prising that they are not in more general use.

The railway is now open from Calcutta to Delhi ; but at
the beginning of last year there were two breaks in the
journey from Benares to Allahabad, and from Agra to Delhi.

129

I was obliged to travel by dak from Benares to Allahabad,
thence by rail to Cawnpore, and again by dak to Lucknow.
At the latter place the weather was miserably cold, and the
wind too high for photography. The Kaiser Bagh reminded
me of the Palais Royal at Paris. It would make an excellent
picture in a pantoscopic camera.

I was much disappointed at not being able to do more at
Lucknow : once I did set up my camera near the Presidency,
but a sudden squall of wind upset it, diminishing the size of
my unfortunate small focussing screen.

Leaving Lucknow at midnight, I had time to photograph
the memorial over the well at Cawnpore : it stands at the
end of a large garden. No natives are allowed to enter
unless by special permission ; and Europeans driving through
the garden do so at foot’s pace.

No words can describe the magnificence of the Taj Mehal,
at Agra — a mausoleum of white marble, built by the Sultan
Akbar over the tomb of his wife. The marble is inlaid in the
most exquisite manner with precious stones, in the form of
leaves and flowers. In front of the building is an avenue of
dark cypress trees, and a long line of fountains, at the end of
which stands the Taj flashing like the sun itself. It would
be hard to conceive a more difficult subject for a photograph ;
yet by using a weak developer, the black cypress trees, the
shining white marble, and the fleecy clouds were all perfectly
rendered.

From Agra to Delhi is one hundred and thirty miles by
dak — a most wearisome journey through sandy plains, dotted
here and there with low jungle. The Delhi water is full of
salt ; at least I found it so, though a professional photo-
grapher living on the spot told me “ it was good enough in
his hands, and answered perfectly.” I acquiesced humbly, but
took a pint of distilled water he was kind enough to give me.

The splendid monument called the Kutub, on the site of
ancient Delhi, is about eleven miles from the present city.
The height of the pillar is even now, I believe, 340 feet, and

130

is supposed formerly to have reached 400 feet. The water
was quite fit to use, so I brought back several bottles full,
intending to take views of the Cashmere gate, &c. ; but a
letter from the great tiger-slayer, before mentioned, warned
me to return at once if I intended to join his tiger party on
the 9th of March.

Photography is great, but tiger hunting is greater ; so I
left Delhi one Monday morning, and, travelling incessantly,
reached Calcutta on the Saturday. Here I left all my
apparatus, except a plate or two for the benefit of a dead
tiger. This I accomplished, but after seven or eight hours*
shooting on the top of an elephant even photography becomes
a burden.

Having been in at the death of seven tigers, I left Calcutta
the first week in April, and I, with all my negatives — namely,
fifty-five 11x9 inches, and six dozen stereoscopic — arrived
in England towards the end of May.

I cannot conceive anything more delightful than a photo-
graphic tour in India — arriving out at the end of October,
and returning in April. If a man’s health be good there is
no difficulty in obtaining good pictures. In fact, one great
source of failure in this country — dirty plates — scarcely exist
in India. If a plate be washed with clean water, and rubbed
dry, it is as clean as man can make it. According to my
experience collodion cannot be too much shaken before use.
I think it a great mistake to use a bottle which has been
standing quiet for any length of time ; but I know plenty of
learned photographers who hold the very opposite opinion.

In conclusion, I venture to hope that photographers in-
tending to pursue the art in India or other hot countries may
find the foregoing remarks of service in the selection of appa-
ratus and chemicals.

131

Ordinary Meeting, March £lst, 1865.

E. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., President,
in the Chair.

Dr. Joule described an instrument he had constructed for
showing rapidly minute changes of magnetic declination.

The adjoining sketch represents a sec-
tion half the real size, a is a column
of small magnetic needles suspended by
a filament of silk. Attached to its

Proceedings Lit. & Phil. Society — Vol. IV.— No. 13.— Session 1861-5.

132

suspended by a single filament of silk ; its shorter arm being
connected with the first lever by means of a small hook
attached to the fibre d. The whole is enclosed in a stout
copper box, into which light is admitted through a lens e ,
cemented into an orifice immediately under the object glass
of the microscope f.

The microscope magnifies about 300 linear, and has a
micrometer in its eyepiece, with divisions corresponding to
2cfW of an inch. One division corresponds to a deflection of
the needle of 4J", and as a tenth of a division can be very
readily observed, the instrument measures deflections to
within half a second. So rapid is the action, that on apply-
ing a small magnetic force the index takes up its new position
steadily in two seconds of time. Besides being a damper to
the motion of the needle, the copper box, by its conducting
power, equalizes the temperature rapidly, so that the indica-
tions are not to any considerable extent disturbed by currents
of air. The success of the present instrument encourages
the hope that very much greater delicacy may be obtained
by a further multiplication of the motion and the use of a
more powerful microscope. Dr. Joule stated that he had
observed an extensive magnetic disturbance the preceding
evening, the index being driven entirely out of the field of
view.

The President said that three meteorological instruments
of true originality and of unprecedented delicacy had been
described to this Society by the inventor Dr. Joule. For
common observation the instruments were too refined, but in
some fields of enquiry they seemed the only hopeful guides.
Manchester has not yet a Meteorological Observatory,
although the proposal has often been made to establish one.
Private spirit, as in the instance of Mr. Vernon and others,
has made the necessity less felt than before. But there is now
an opportunity of beginning one with entirely new apparatus
of Manchester origin, which would probably very much alter

133

the quality of the enquiries made in meteorological establish-
ments.

Mr. Baxendell stated in reference to Dr. Joule’s observa-
tion, that on the same evening he had observed a very fine
auroral arch, which at 8h. 20m., G. M. T., passed over e
Bootis, a Ursse majoris, Capella, and a point midway
between the Pleiades and e Tauri. There was at the same
time a considerable segment of bright auroral light in the
northern part of the heavens. No streamers were visible.
About twenty minutes later it was noticed that the position
of the arch had changed, the western portion having moved
very sensibly in a southerly and the eastern portion in a
northerly direction. This change of position was probably
connected with the remarkable disturbance of the magnetic
needle noticed by. Dr. Joule. The western portion of the
arch was brighter than the eastern, and was estimated to be
from ten to twelve times brighter than the milky way in
Cepheus and Cassiopeia.

Mr. Baxendell also stated that the Society had in its
possession a thermometer constructed by the late Dr. Dalton,
and which, it is believed, was used by him in many of his
meteorological observations. The scale has the initials J.D.
and the year 1823 engraved upon it ; and the freezing and
boiling points of water are indicated on the stem by fine file
marks. As it is known that the zero points of thermometers
sometimes change to the extent of one or even two degrees in
the course of several years, it occurred to Mr. Baxendell
that it would be interesting to ascertain whether any change
had taken place in this thermometer, and he had therefore
lately tested very carefully the position of the freezing point,
but found that no sensible alteration had taken place ; and
he believed therefore that great confidence might be placed
in the observations which Dalton had made with this instru-
ment.

134

Mr. Dyer communicated a letter from Mr. Joseph Barratt,
of Southport, in which the writer endeavoured to account for
storms on principles which appear to be almost identical with
those advanced many years ago by the late Professor Espy
and Mr. Thomas Hopkins.

A Paper was read entitled “ Further Observations on the
Permian andTriassic Strata of Lancashire,” by E.W.Binney,
F.R.S., &c.

In previous memoirs published in the Transactions of the
Society, the author had given what information he possessed
in a fragmentary state, just as he obtained it, of the permian
strata of Lancashire and the north-western counties of West-
moreland, Cumberland, and Dumfries, as well as the north-
western corner of Yorkshire, and he took sections where he
was fortunate enough to obtain them, but he made no
attempt to lay the strata down continuously on a map, his
materials being far from sufficient for such a purpose.

By looking at a map of the county of Lancaster, the
observer will find a great gap between the permian beds of
Grimshaw Delph, Bradley Brook, and Skillaw Clough, to the
north-west of Wigan, and the sections described by the
author at Rougham Point near Cartmel, and Stank near
Ulverston. The lower coal measures from Harrock Hill can
be traced pretty well towards Chorley, and thence to near
Withnell, and then the millstone grit runs to Hoghton, and
across the country not very well seen to Griesdale, Scorton,
Cleveley, Ellel, Ashton, near Abbey Lighthouse on the Lune,
over the mouth of that river to Robshaw Point, and on to
Heysham. The country forming the western boundary of
the above line is a low district, a good deal covered up with
drift, and affording few natural sections to show clearly the
relation of the carboniferous to the permian strata. The
district probably may afford some sections if carefully inves-
tigated, but up to this time it has been quietly dismissed by
colouring it red for trias.

135

In this communication the author gave a little more infor-
mation which he had lately obtained in a line from Hoghton
Tower to Fleetwood ; also at Cockersand Abbey, south of
the mouth of the Lune, and Robshaw Point and Heysham
to the north of the same river ; and made a few remarks on
some singular red sandstones hitherto classed as trias in the
neighbourhood of Whiston, Huyton, Knowsley, Croxteth
Park, and Rainford, and laid down as such on the maps of
the Geological Survey.

No doubt it is a very difficult matter to determine with
absolute certainty where the trias strata end and the permian
begin, when there are no organic remains to guide us and
we have to trust to a bed of red marl or a deposit of red sand-
stone. In the author’s several memoirs published on this
subject, so far as South Lancashire was concerned, the red
marls and limestones of Newtown and Bedford are assumed
to be the uppermost permian deposits found. It is quite true,
as stated in his third memoir — “ Some of the sections near
Manchester, especially that seen in the valley of the Irk in
Cheetham and Newtown, would apparently show that the red
marls containing limestones and fossils of the genera Bakevellia ,
Schizodus , &c., passed into the overlying trias ; ” but as a whole
it was assumed from other facts that the red sandstone of the
trias was unconformable to the underlying permian beds. In
a paper published by Sir R. I. Murchison and Professor
Harkness, printed in the Quarterly Journal of the Geolo-
gical Society for May, 1864, as well as in the author’s last
memoir, the thick red sandstones of St. Bees are described as
permian and not as trias, and were traced down, as Professor
Sedgwick had previously followed them, into Furness near
Howcote and Barrow. Anyone who sees the red sandstones
much used for building purposes at Shawk, Maryport, and
St. Bees, and compares them with that at Howcote, will not
be able to distinguish the one from the others. It is only from
their physical characters that we can compare these sand-

136

stones ; for up to this time, so far as his knowledge extends,
no organic remains have been met with in them. Now this
is bringing a permian red sandstone above the Newtown and
Bedford red marls and limestones, and introduces for the first
time an upper permian sandstone into Lancashire ; and this
rock runs into the trias so regularly that it will be very diffi-
cult to separate it by any well marked boundary from the
lower soft sandstone or pebble beds of the trias as laid down
and described in the maps and memoirs of the Geological
Survey.

It is pretty clear if some of these permian and triassic
sandstones are to be classed by their physical characters
alone, that certain of the latter rocks, as laid down by the
Geological Survey in the Huyton, Croxteth, and Knowsley
districts, will probably have to be put into the permian, for
no one can tell the red fiaggy sandstone of Knowsley quarry
from the Howcote and St. Bees sandstones, and it must be
taken as permian just as the Howcote rock is identified with
that at St. Bees.

As it is desirable to attempt to connect the permian deposits
of the South and West of Lancashire with those in the north
of the county, as seen at Kougham Point near Flookborough,
and Stank near Furness Abbey, he gave what information he
was possessed of. The only section hitherto seen near Preston,
is one in the Kibble below that town, and appears to be a
portion of the pebble beds of the trias. How far it extends
up the valley of the Kibble and to Koach Bridge in Samles-
bury, where the soft red and variegated sandstones and
conglomerate, (permian beds) rest unconformably on what
appears to be limestone shale, has not been yet determined.
Near Cockersand Abbey on the south side of the mouth of
the Lune, west of the town of Lancaster, below high water
mark, is a small patch of what appears to be permian sand-
stone.

To the north of the last named place across the Lune at

137

Robshaw Point, the same soft red sandstone is seen on the
beach covered by the tide, and appears to be a continuation
of that rock seen to the south, but much better exposed.
With these exceptions no further evidence has yet been
obtained of any permian beds until we reach Rougham
Point.

The triassic beds in South Lancashire, as seen near Liver-
pool, according to Mr. Hull, are as follows* : —

Formation.

New Red
Sandstone.

Division.

Keuper.

j

Bunter.

Subdivision.

1. Red marl, with beds of upper keuper

sandstone.

2. Lower. keuper sandstone or waterstone,
with a base of breccia or conglomerate.

1. Upper red and mottled sandstone.

2. Pebble beds.

3. Lower red and mottled sandstone.

Next, as seen near Manchester, where the same author
classes the bunter as composed of

1. Upper red and mottled sandstone.

2. Pebble beds.

It will be seen from the above divisions that the lower
soft red and mottled sandstone of Liverpool is left out at
Manchester altogether, the lowest member of the trias there
being the pebble bed. There certainly is the Yauxhall sand-
stone, which would pass very well for the lower soft red ;
but the Newtown fossils found above it, clearly cut off that
rock from the trias, and establish it with the permian beyond
all question.

The author had not made many divisions of the bunter
portions of the trias. No doubt they are useful in different
places, and have sometimes to be varied with the districts to
which they are applied. In the north, about Carlisle, up to
this time, only one bed of soft red sandstone without pebbles
has come under his notice. But at Sutton, as previously
alluded to, there is a soft red sandstone without pebbles

Manchester (geological Society’s Transactions, Yol. II. p. 23.

138

resting on permian red marls. Similar sandstones, in the
same position, are seen near the canal at Bedford ; below
Messrs. Hampson and Co.’s Printworks, at Clayton Bridge,
Manchester ; and near Messrs. Brocklehurst’s Lime Works,
at Ardwick, near Manchester. There is also a soft red sand-
stone, apparently dipping, under the pebble beds of Heaton
Mersey, near Stockport, well seen on the banks of the Mersey
from Stockport to Fogg Brook, which would pass for the
lower soft sandstone of the trias ; but for some reason with
which the author is unacquainted, the gentlemen connected
with the survey prefer (he is informed) to class this sandstone
underlying the pebble beds with the permian rather than the
trias.

It appears that through the western part of Cheshire and
the adjoining county of Flint, as well as in West Lancashire,
where there are few, if any, permian strata exposed, the
Geological Survey has always had a lower soft red and mottled
sandstone ; but when the east part of Lancashire is reached
and undoubted permian beds are found, this supposed lowest
member of the trias disappears.

The soft yellow and variegated sandstones of Whiston,
Croxteth Park, and Rainford, all resting unconformably on
coal measures, described by Mr. Hull, are evidently of the
same age as the Rainford and Grimshaw delph beds. Un-
fortunately in no instance have any red marls been yet found
lying either above or below them. He had described the
latter as permian, whilst Mr. Hull thinks they are the lower
red and mottled sandstone of the trias. But with respect to
the Knowsley quarry, it so much resembles the St. Bees and
Howcote upper permian sandstones, that if they were found
in Furness, Sir R. J. Murchison and Professor Harkness
would, without doubt, claim them as permian.

It is many years since the author first saw the Knowsley
quarry, and he then in his note book remarked that those
sandstones, especially that belonging to Mr. Littler, could

139

not be distinguished from the upper permian sandstones of
the neighbourhood of Dumfries, which he had just returned
from examining. Now, if they can be proved to overlie
immediately the coarse grained, false bedded, soft red and
mottled sandstones of Whiston and Croxteth Park, both the
latter as well as the former, will have to be classed as permian
rocks according to the present Geological nomenclature of the
North West of England ; and he thinks that the new sections
he now describes at Roach Bridge, Cockersand Abbey, and
Robshaw Point, tend to confirm this view.

In all the quarries of Lancashire where the trias sandstones
have been wrought, the author has never seen so hard and
thin bedded a stone as that found at Knowsley. It was
formerly used for paving sets in Liverpool, and large quanti-
ties of it were broken for road metal purposes, for which he
never knew a trias rock used. Some of its beds also afforded
fined grained flags, with faces as smooth as any permian
sandstone he had even seen in the neighbourhood of Dum-
fries. A good example of pebble beds is seen at Kirkby
Rough ; but this rock bears no resemblance to the stone at
Knowsley quarry, and the two stones cannot well be classed
as the same from their characters.

140

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.

February 20th, 1865.

Dr. W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., in the Chair.

Dr. Alcock showed mounted specimens of the Carapaces
of Entomostraca, picked from shore sand from the coast of
Galway. They included Cythere albo-maculata, angustata,
variabilis, flavida, convexa, impressa, pellucida, and quadri-
dentata ; besides about thirty other species of Cythere and
Cythereis which are not described in Dr. Baird’s Monograph.

Professor Williamson said that the further we extend
our observations of the lower forms of animal life, the greater
become our difficulties in determining specific distinctions ;
and in the present case it must be remembered that we have
only the shell or carapace for examination, and this outer
skin is of less value for distinctive characters than the internal
parts. Then again it is known that some of the entomostraca
undergo several metamorphoses similar to those passed
through by the higher Crustacea before they become adult,
so that he should not be at all surprised if some ten or
twenty of these different forms turned out to belong to one
and the same species. There still remained a third difficulty,
the greatest of all, namely, the doubtfulness of what a species
is ; and in the lower forms of life the variability is so great that
he doubted if specific distinctions could be made with any
certainty. The same remark is applicable to the lowest
forms of the higher divisions of animals, and the entomostraca
standing low in the articulate class are probably subject to
similar variability.

141

Specimens of Hydra with Paramoecium aurelia and Tricho-
dina pediculus parasitic upon them were shown by Mr. A.
Brothers.

February 27th, 1865.

J. Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.

Exhibitions.

The shell of an oyster with a thick layer of soft chalk-like
deposit lining its inner surface. — Mr. Nevill.

A hall composed apparently of fragments of some vegetable
fibre felted, from the shore of the Mediterranean at Cannes. — *
Mr. Sidebotham.

Flowers of a species of Euphorbia, and a leaf of Cycas. — -
Mr. Grindon.

Mounted specimens of the larval shells of Saxicava rugosa,
Area tetragona, and Ostrea edulis ; also of Lima, Pecten,
Cardium, and others not yet specifically distinguished, from
Connemara shore sand. — Thomas Alcock, M.D.

A series of shells of Helix nemoralis, Helix hortensis, and
Helix hybrida were shown by Mr. Sidebotham, who stated
his belief that the two former are good species, and the third
a true hybrid.

Communication.

Mr. G. E. Hunt read the following “ Notes on Mosses/’

Campylopus setifolius, Wils.-— This species was described
by Wilson in his Bryologia Britannica, from specimens
collected by the late Dr. Taylor on Carrig Mountain, Ireland.
Since then it has been observed by Dr. Moore, of Dublin, in
County Wicklow and on Cromaglaun ; by myself, in great
abundance at Cromaglaun and Gap of Dunloe, Killarney.
In these stations it is the female plant that we find. In

142

August, 1863, however, I met the male plant on the moors
of the Isle of Skye, this being the only recorded occurrence
of the male plant, and the only occasion of the species being
found out of Ireland. It is at once distinguished from every
other Campy lopus by the large auricles of the base of the leaf,
which are composed of perfectly colourless, diaphanous cells,
and by the large red quadrate cells above this base.

In Dicranodontium longirostre, which presents some
characters similar to this species, the large quadrate cells
above the base are green. Specimens were exhibited of both
the above species ; also Scotch ones of Dicranodontium
aristatum.

At Southport, in November last, I observed a new species
of Brachythecium, intermediate between campestre and ruta-
bulum, differing from the former in its less plicate leaves
and very rough setse, and from the latter in its slightly
plicate leaves, lanceolate, gradually tapering from a wide
base to a very acute point, not at all accuminate, shining ;
inflorescence, as in these species, monoicous. If a variety, it
must be united with Brachythecium campestre, which has
not yet been certainly identified in Britain. Specimens were
exhibited.

143

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

Annual Meeting, March 16th, 1865.

Robert Worthington, F.R.A.S., Vice-President of the
Section, in the Chair.

The following gentlemen were elected Officers of the
Section for the ensuing year:—

'prmtent.

E. W. BINNEY, F.R.S., F.G.S.

Uuc=ljSr£3tttcnts.

ROBERT WORTHINGTON, F.R.A.S.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

treasurer.

THOMAS CARRIOK.

Secretary.

PROFESSOR R. B. CLIFTON, M.A., F.R.A.S.

Mr. Baxendell communicated a series of Raingauge and
Anemometer Observations made at St. Martin’s Parsonage,
Castleton Moor, during the year 1864, by the Rev. J. Chad-
wick Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S., F.G.S.

The geographical position of St. Martin’s Parsonage is
lat. 53° 35' £0" N. ; long. 2° 10' 31" W. ; and the site of the
raingauges is 475 feet above mean sea level. The gauges
employed comprise three of five inches diameter, constructed
on Howard’s principle, and made by Casella, of 23, Hatton
Garden ; and three of eight inches diameter, on Mr. Glaisher’s
plan, made by Negretti and Zambra. One gauge of each set
is placed at an elevation of one foot, another at five feet, and
the third at twenty feet above the ground; and they have all
been leveled and tested by Mr. Symons.

144

The anemometer is by Casella, and is a Robinson’s, as
improved by Col. Sir Henry James.

To ensure correctness as far as possible, every instrument
has been carefully tested both before being placed and also
afterwards ; and they are all read by Mr. Bates every morning
at nine o’clock, and in his absence by his schoolmaster ; and
that their readings may be as much as possible alike, they
often read them together for the purpose of comparison.

The monthly amounts of rain received by the different
gauges and the movement of the wind are shown in the

following table : —

5-INCH GrAUGES.

8-inch Gauges.

Total
Move-
ment of
Wind.

20 feet
eleva-
tion.

5 feet
eleva-
tion.

1 foot
eleva-
tion.

20 feet
eleva-
tion.

5 feet
eleva-
tion.

lfoot

eleva-

tion.

January

2-087

4-185

2-219

2-350

2-060

2-244

2-320

6422

6663

9016

5927

5997

6799

6170'

5142

February

4-248

4-312

4-385

4-607

4-564

March

1-999

2-108

2-268

1-915

2*210

2-273

1-406

April

1-205

1-285

1-396

1-119

1-309

May

3-185

3-250

3-349

3-245

3-293

3-348

June

3-414

3-566

3-719

3-529

3-643

3-725

July

2-042

2-141

2-269

2-124

2-196

2-304

August

2-205

2-326

2-504

2-277

2-378

2-452

September

3-624

3-803

4-104

3-776

3-923

4-091

6230

7556

6302

October

2-615

2-738

2-849

2-690

2-704

2*785

November

3-548

3776

4-077

3-699

3-947

4-068

December'

2-287

2-456

2-672

2-344

2-543

2-718

6089

32-346

33-916

35-869

33-163

34-997

36-054

78313

From these results it appears that in every month of the
year, and with both sets of gauges, the highest gauge received
the least amount of rain ; and that the 8 inch Glaisher
gauges received slightly greater amounts than the corre-
sponding 5 inch Howard’s. The movement of the wind was
greatest in March and least in August. No relation appears
to exist between the monthly amounts of rainfall and the
monthly movement of the wind.

NOTE BY MR. BAXENDELL.

The differences between the amounts of rain received, by
gauges placed at different elevations at the same station, are

145

attributed by some meteorologists to the influence of the
wind. In order to test the soundness of this view, Mr. Batesrs
observations were arranged in three groups ; the first group,
comprising all the rainy days on which the movement of the
wind did not exceed 200 miles ; the second, those on which
it was greater than 200 miles, but did not exceed 800; and
the third, those on which it exceeded 800 miles per day. The
number of days in each group, the mean daily movement of
the wind, and the amounts of rain received by the different
gauges were as follows : —

Group.

Number

of

Days

in

Group.

Mean

Daily

Move-

ment

of

Wind.

5 Inch Gauges,

8 Inch Gauges.

Elevation.

Elevation.

20ft.

5ft.

1ft.

20ft.

5ft.

1ft.

In.

In.

In.

In.

In.

In.

1

61

183

8329

8-635

9-071

8-517

8-786

9-007

2

59

249

12-713

13-388

14-171

13-117

13-875

14-390

3

55

385

11-304

11-893

12-629

11-526

12-342

12-660

Representing by unity the quantity of rain received by
•the lowest gauge in each set, we have the ratios given in the
following table : —

Group.

Mean

Daily

Movement

of

Wind.

5 Inch Gauges.

8 Inch Gauges.

Ratios c
at

20ft.

>f quantities
> Elevations

5ft.

i of Rain
of

1ft.

Ratios c
at

20ft.

>f quantities
Elevations <

5ft.

of Rain
Df

1ft.

1

2

3

133

249

385

In.

0-918

0-897

0-895

In.

0-951

9-944

0-941

In.

1-000

1-000

1-000'

In.

0-945

0-911

0-910

In.

0-975

0-964

0-974

In.

1-000

1-000

1-000

Comparing the results for group l with those for group 2,
it would appear that an increase in the velocity of the wind
from 133 to 249 miles per day, has a very sensible effect in
diminishing the ratios for the higher gauges ; but on com-
paring groups 2 and 3, it appears that the effect of a still
further increase in the velocity of the wind from 249 to 385
miles per day, is hardly appreciable. The differences between

146

the ratios in groups 1 and 2 must therefore be due, to a great
extent, to some other cause than the influence of the wind.
Determining for each group the mean daily rainfall; we have

5 in. Gauge at
1 foot elevation.

Group. In.

1 Mean daily Rainfall = 0'148

2 - 0-240

3 = 0-229

8 in. Gauge at
1 foot elevation.
In.

0-147

0-243

0-230

The mean daily rainfall is therefore much less in group 1
than in either of the other groups, thus indicating a less
abundance of rain-forming moisture in the atmosphere, owing
to which the rain drops in falling could not increase in size
so rapidly as under the more favourable conditions which
existed on the days included in groups 2 and 3.

Separating the rainy days from those on which no rain fell,
we have for each month the following results : —

No.

Total

Mean Daily
Movement

Total

Mean Daily

’of Days

Movement

of Wind

No. of

Movement

Movement

' of

of the

on Days

Fair

of the

of Wind

Rain.

'Wind.

of

Rain.

Days.

Wind.

on Fair
Days.

January

13

3234

249

18

3188

177

February

12

3583

• 298

17

3080

181

March

17

6039

355

14

2977

213

April

11

1900

172

19

4027

212

May

12

2153

179

19

3844

202

June

19

4669

245

11

2130

193

July

10

2451

245

21

3719

177

August

16

3153

197

15

1989

132

September

22

5184

235

8

1046

131

October

12 .

3911

326

19

3645

192

November

17

4532

266

13

1770

136

December

14

3224

230

17

2865

168

175

44033

251-6

191

34280

179-4

From this table we see that in every month, except April
and May, the mean daily movement of the wind was greater
on rainy than on fair days ; and that the mean daily move-
ment on rainy days for the entire year was 25T6 miles, and
on days on which no rain fell only 1794 miles.

147

The mean results for the meteorological quarters, and their
ratios, are —

Mean Daily Movement Mean Daily Movement

of the Wind of the Wind Ratios,

on Rainy Days. on Fair Days.

Winter 257 ... 175 ... 0’68

Spring 252 ... 208 ... 0-82

Summer 228 ... 166 ... 0*72

Autumn 267 ... 161 ... 0*60

From the numbers in the last column it appears that the
mean velocity of the wind on days when no rain fell, as com-
pared with that on rainy days, was greatest in spring and
least in autumn ; and that the relative velocities in winter
and summer were very nearly equal. It will be interesting
to ascertain whether this remarkable relation holds good
through a series of years.

Arranging the rainy days in four groups, the first contain-
ing the days on which the rainfall did not exceed 0*2 inch ;
the second those on which it was above 0*2 inch, but did not
exceed 0*4 inch ; the third those on which it was above 0*4
inch, but did not exceed 0*6 inch ; and the fourth those on
which it exceeded 0 6 inch; and determining for each group
the mean daily movement of the wind, we have the following

results : —

Group.

No. of Days
in the

Daily Rainfall.

Mean Daily
Movement

1

Group.

108

in. in.

o-o to 0-2

of the Wind.

236

2

40

0-2 — 0*4

270

3

17

0-4 — 0-6

300

4

10

.. above 0*6

263

It appears, therefore, that the maximum mean daily move-
ment of the wind occurs when the daily rainfall is about
half an inch, and that during excessive falls of rain the
velocity of the wind is very sensibly diminished.

Mr. G. Y. Vernon, F.R.A.S., communicated the following
“ Note on the Rainfall of the last Twenty-nine Years at
Roy ton, Oldham,” by John Heap, Esq.

Seeing in the proceedings of the Manchester Literary and

148

Philosophical Society a few days since, a statement of rainfall
in the past year and comparisons with the average fall for 71
years, I was led to examine the mean monthly values from
my observations during the last 29 years, in order to ascertain
how far they would bear out the theory of a maximum value
in October and minimum in April, and find they agree with
the theory in every particular, even with the exception in
September. And moreover I find that the sum1 of the monthly
mean values of any two months, six months apart, as January
and July, February and August, &c., is very nearly the same
value, being about one-sixth of the yearly average.

Below are the results, and also Mr. Vernon’s mean

values : —

Fall in

Average of

Difference from

1864.

Days.

Inches.

29 Years.

29 Years Average.

January

.... 11

... 1-479 ...

2-369 ...

-0-890

February . .

.... 12

... 3-585 ...

2-201 ...

+ 1-384

March

17

... 2-275 ...

2-133 ...

+ 0-142

April

.... 10

... 1-260 ...

2-093 ...

-0-833

May

.... 11

... 2-833 ...

2-388 ...

+ 0-445

June

.... 18

... 3-450 ...

3-117 ...

+ 0-333

July

.... 9

... 2-035 ...

3-294 ...

-1-259

August

.... 13

... 2-832 ...

3-595 ...

-0-763

September . .

.... 21

... 4-130 ...

3-071 ...

+ 1-059

October

.... 13

... 2-800 ...

3-680 ...

- 0*880

November ..

.... 18

... 3-885 ...

3-026 ...

+ 0-859

December ..

.... 17

... 2-860 ...

2-656 ...

+ 0-204

170

33-424

33-623

-0-199

Monthly means of 1864.

Ins. Monthly means of, for 71 years. Ins.

January and July . . .

5'663 January and July

... 6-029

February „

August

5-796 February „ August 5 -9 71

March „

Sep. ...

5-204 March

l „ Sep.

.. 5-545

April „

Oct. ...

5-773 April

Oct.

... 5-856

May „

Nov....

5*414 May

»

... 5-824

June „

Dec

5-773 June

„ Dec.

... 6-173

33-623

35-398

149

Ordinary Meeting, April 4th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D,, F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

Messrs. H. M. Ormerod and W. Brockbank were appointed
Auditors of the Society’s Accounts for the present Session.

A communication was read entitled “ An Instance of the
Injurious Action of Alkalies on Cotton Fibre,” by Messrs.
Heinrich Caro and William Dancer.

A remarkable instance of the deleterious action of alkali
on cotton fibre has lately come under our notice, when
examining some indigo prints, which had been stiffened or
finished with silicate of soda, and kept in bales during about
two years. The strength of the fibre of the greater part of
these goods had decreased to about one-third of the strength
of some pieces which had been packed in the same bales, and
which differed in no other respect from the others except
in their having been finished with starch. We therefore
surmised that silicate of soda had been the primary cause of
the deterioration of the goods. Further observations con-
vinced us, however, that the injury was due to the long con-
tinued action of free or carbonated alkali upon the cotton
fibre.

Some of the sound pieces (which, as before mentioned, had
been finished with starch) had been packed between the
silicated goods, and had abstracted soda from them which
had penetrated from the places of contact into the interior of
the pieces to a considerable depth. In the same ratio in
Pboobedings Lit. & Phil. Society— Vol, IY.— No. 14.— Session 1864-0.

150

which the pieces had taken up soda it was found that they
had diminished in strength. On the other hand it was found
that in such places of contact the silicate of soda of the sili-
cated goods had suffered a partial decomposition, extending
to the depth of four or five layers of the pieces. The silicate
of soda in the middle of the pieces contained from 70 to 74
per cent of silicic acid, combined with from 30 to 26 per cent
of soda ; whilst the analysis of the silicate of soda contained
in the contact layers showed that from one-third to two-
thirds of its soda had been abstracted This loss of soda
was accompanied by a change of strength of the cloth which
appeared to bear some proportion to it ; the layers or folds
of the cloth decreasing in strength as they were removed
from contact with the starched goods until the silicate of soda
attained the same composition as that found in the most
rotten parts of the piece, this generally taking place about
the fourth or fifth layer or fold of the piece, as before
stated.

The following table shows the changes in strength produced
by this decomposition of the silicate of soda.

Finished with Staech.

Finished with Silicate oe Soda.

Middle,

Contact Layer.

, Contact Layer.

2nd.

3rd.

4th.

5th.

Middle.

Strength ...

100

81

89

68

62

54

48

35

The silicate of soda had evidently been decomposed with
the formation of free alkali and an acid silicate which appears
to have very little action on the cotton fibre.

In some places the decomposition had gone further, and
free silicic acid had separated out in the form of a white
powder upon the surface of the cloth. The same decomposi-
tion, accompanied by the same changes in the strength of the
cloth, was observed upon all pieces which had been in con-
tact with the paper used for wrapping the bales. In this

151

instance the paper had absorbed the liberated soda, and the
cloth in contact with it had almost entirely retained its
original strength.

The white portions of the patterns were in a further
advanced state of decay than the blue ones, in most instances
retaining only 10 per cent of their original strength. In the
goods finished with starch only, the whites were equally as
strong as the blues. In the goods finished with silicate of
soda the whites were almost as strong as the blues in all
places where the before-mentioned decomposition of the
silicate of soda had been accompanied by an abstraction
of soda ; but in the interior of the goods, where the silicate of
soda had retained its original composition, the strength of the
whites had decreased to about one-third of that of the blues.
It was therefore evident that this excessive decay of the
whites was due to some cause which had assisted the action
of the alkali upon them, and we believe to have found an
explanation of this in the action of the silicate of soda upon
the sulphate of lead contained in them to the amount of
about 10 per cent of the mineral ash.

Sulphate of lead has been an ingredient of the resist paste
printed upon the places intended to remain white, and by
the subsequent action of lime and sulphuric acid it has
become fixed in the fibre. We have noticed that sulphate of
lead decomposes solutions of silicate of soda very rapidly, with
formation of sulphate of soda, free silicic acid, and silicate
of lead.

These changes give rise to the production of a crystallisable
and strongly efflorescent salt, and to an increase in bulk;
and we think that the mechanical effect produced by the
crystallisation of the sulphate of soda formed may have caused
a further and final disintegration of the fibre already weakened
by the action of the alkali. Under the microscope the
fibre of the white portions of the pattern presented the
appearance of cylindrical tubes, partially covered with

152

minute crystals (soluble in water) ; in some places these
tubes appeared to be split longitudinally.

A paper on the same subject was lately read before the
Chemical Society of London by Dr. F. Crace Calvert,

F.R.S.

A paper, entitled “ Remarks on the Microscopical
Appearances of Cotton Hair during Dissolution in the
Ammoniacal Solution of Copper,” was read by J. B. Dancer,
F.R.A.S.

The structure of cotton hairs has occasionally furnished an
interesting topic for conversation at the meetings of our
Microscopical Section.

Two of our members, Mr, Chas. O’Neill and Mr. Heys,
have given considerable time and attention to this subject.
Mr. Walter Crum, F.R.S. , communicated to the Chemical
Society a memoir u On the Cotton Fibre,” and the manner
in which it unites with colouring matter. His paper is
illustrated with some beautifully executed drawings of the
microscopical appearances of cotton in the natural state, and
when mordanted, mercerised, and treated with various dyes ;
this paper is well worthy the attention of those interested in
this branch of inquiry. Mr. Crum has presented a copy of
his memoir to this society. His description of the ordinary
appearance of the cotton fibre agrees so nearly with what I
believe it to be, that I will take the liberty of referring to his
printed paper at page 5. To Mr. Crum’s description I may
add, that many specimens of cotton, especially on the cylin-
drical portion of the hairs, shew transverse markings. At
times these appear at tolerably regular intervals, they have
been claimed as evidences of spiral structure; when, however,
they are examined with magnifying powers of 1,000 to 1,200
diameters they proved to be cracks in the external membrane.
Other portions of cotton exhibit longitudinal furrows, irregular

153

in length and direction — having a shrivelled appearance some-
thing like the bark of an aged tree. In gun cotton, the
transverse cracks are very numerous. From an examination
of transverse sections of cotton, I incline to the opinion that
there is an external membrane distinct from the true cell
wall or cellulose matter;* inside the cellulose there is an
irregular cavity, this, in some specimens (when viewed
longitudinally), appears to contain granules, probably the
remains of the organising fluid contents of the cell, the
mucous matter which is seen in growing cotton as mentioned
by Captain Mitchell, in his letter to Mr. Hurst, read at this
society, March 22nd, 1864.

On the 21st of April, 1863, Mr. Chas. O'Neill made a
communication to this section, “ On the Appearance of
Cotton Fibre during Solution and Disintegration these
experiments referred to the application of Schweizer’s solu-
tion of copper and ammonia.

Under the action of this solvent, Mr. O’Neill considers
that cotton exhibits spiral vessels situated either inside or
outside the external membrane. In a paper, read by the
same gentleman, on the 18th of May, 1863, it is stated that
spiral vessels are seen during the solution of gun cotton in
ether and alcohol. On the 21st of December, 1863, Mr. Heys
read a paper before this section, in which he refers to spiral
vessels in cotton hairs which seem to prevent the collapse of
the tubes. The announcement of the discovery of spiral
vessels excited my curiosity. Having often examined
varieties of cotton under the microscope, without suspecting
any such structure, I was naturally desirous of witnessing its
appearance during dissolution.

A careful examination of cotton in the copper solvent,
with powers varying from 50 to 1,200 diameters, showed me
the appearances described by Mr. O’Neill. I could not, how-
ever, endorse his interpretations of them. On the 16th
* See Mr. O’Neill’s Paper, April 25th, 1868.

154

of January, 1865, I sent a letter to the chairman of the
microscopical section, stating my belief that the spiral
appearances could be clearly traced to a mechanical action
which the solvent exerted on the vegetable cell, and that at
some future time I hoped to illustrate this to the members of
the section.

Since December last, I have subjected cotton during
microscopical examination to a variety of influences in acids,
alkalies, metallic solutions, iodine, and also gun cotton in
varied proportions of ether and alcohol. Repeated experi-
ments tend to confirm my disbelief in the existence of spiral
vessels, properly so-called, either inside or outside cotton
hairs.

It would be difficult to explain, by means of drawings,
how these pseudo spirals are created, and have, therefore,
supplied a number of microscopes for the purpose of showing
at the close of the meeting the actual appearances.

Some of the gentlemen present have witnessed these
experiments, but, for the benefit of those who have not, I
shall attempt a brief explanation to enable them to compre-
hend more readily what they will see under the microscopes.

In order to observe the action of the copper solvent on
cotton, place a few hairs about a quarter of an inch in length
on a glass plate, and cover them with thin glass ; it is useful
to rub a little beeswax on the glass plate, in such a manner,
as will just support the covering glass to prevent too great a
pressure on the cotton ; then arrange the cotton under the
microscope with a power of not less than SOO diameters.
The solvent should be applied by a glass pipette to the
edge of the covering glass whilst the observer is looking-
through the microscope (this is important). If the solvent
is very strong, the action is too rapid for the eye to follow,
if of moderate strength it will be seen that as soon as
the solvent comes into contact with the cotton in the field
of view, a rapid rotation or twisting of the hairs takes place.

155

In my opinion, it is this rotating action which brings about
the appearances which have been mistaken for spiral vessels.

The explanation which I have to offer for the phenomenon
is this : first, we have the external membrane of the cotton,
then the cellulose and primordial utricle, and finally, the
dried contents in the cell, which I take to be the remains of
the organising fluid.

Observation shows that the external membrane is not
elastic and only partially soluble.

The cellulose is exceedingly elastic and soluble, and ex-
pands to a remarkable degree in the act of dissolution. The
contents of the cell behave in a similar manner to that of the
external membrane; it is neither elastic nor very soluble.
The most successful experiment is made by allowing the
copper solvent to come at once into contact with some length
of the cotton hair. The solvent permeates some parts of the
external membrane more easily than others, and causes a
rapid expansion of the cellulose, which bursts the external
membrane, and as this action is taking place at various por-
tions of the same hair, a tangential force is exerted which
twists and contorts the cotton in the direction of its length,
and thus a spiral appearance is given to the whole structure
of the cell.

The non-elastic external covering is twisted round the
expanded cellulose, sometimes as a single band, at others
like a bundle of fibres.

In those parts where the external covering has given way
all round the hair, the cellulose expands into a bulb, pushing
back the external membrane into a series of folds which form
a ligature, and resists the expansive force of the cellulose. A
number of these ligatures cause the expanded cellulose to
assume the appearance of a string of beads. The lateral
expansion of the cellulose contracts the length of the hair,
and this causes the contents in the cavity of the cell to
assume a corrugated appearance ; this corrugation has also

156

been subjected to the twisting power along with the other
parts of the cell, and thus its spiral appearance is pro-
duced.

What becomes of the primordial utricle, I cannot state
with certainty. After the disappearance of the cellulose
there is an envelope left, which surrounds the contents of
the cavity, this may be the primordial utricle, or the film
left by the drying up of the protoplasmic or organising
fluid.

If the solvent is made to come into contact with the ends
of recently-cut cotton a beautiful trumpet mouth is pro-
duced— the exposed surface of cellulose has expanded and
pushed back the external covering into folds — the contents of
the cell may, in this case, be seen projecting from the mouth
of the trumpet form.

Long after the complete dissolution of the cellulose has
taken place, the external membrane remains just as the
rotation or twistings had left it, some portions in the form of
rings, which had been the ligatures between the bulbous
expansions, other portions as irregular spirals.

The cell contents also remain as twisted corrugations.
From the observed difference in solubility between the cellu-
lose and the external and internal matter, I should imagine
a difference in constitution.

A few experiments have led me to suspect that some of the
spiral appearances observed in hemp and flax fibres during
dissolution may possibly be caused by the mechanical action
of the solvent employed.

P.S.— In making the cupric oxide with ammonia, the
oxide of copper requires a thorough washing before dissolving
in the ammonia. The presence of any salt of ammonia, even
in very small quantities, interferes with its power in dissolving
cotton.

157

Mr. Dancer also read a paper “ On Pseudoscopic Yision
through Prisms.”

If we look with both eyes at an object, such as the flat
top of a table for example, and then interpose a prism
between one eye and the object, we discover, after a short
time, that the portion of the surface to which the sight is
particularly directed has apparently changed its distance.
If, in trying the experiment, the thin edge of the prism is
turned inwards to the nose, the flat surface will appear concave,
if, on the contrary, the base or thick edge is turned towards
the nose, the surface will appear convex. The full effect of
this alteration in the appearance of the object is not realized
immediately, some persons see it perfectly in a few seconds,
others require some moments of steady gazing before it
becomes evident to them.

The character of the surface to which the vision is
directed exercises some influence in producing the effect.
A circular table covered with a cloth of a bright pattern,
having a few articles disposed towards the edges, exhibits
this fallacious vision in a marked degree.

The angle of the prisms for shewing these experiments
should be about 15 degrees, if less than this, the elevation or
depression of surface is not sufficient to produce a good
effect ; if the angle is much greater than 15 degrees, many
persons are unable to unite the refracted image of the prism
with the real image seen by the other eye.

Achromatic prisms are much to be preferred in these
experiments to Hhose which are uncorrected for colour.
Experiments with these prisms have shewn that the power
of converging the optic axes, differ very considerably in
individuals.

158

Oculists occasionally recommend prismatic lenses mounted
in spectacles to assist persons who suffer from insufficiency
of the recti interni muscles ; it would he interesting to know
if those so assisted, have noticed the fallacious appearances
which the healthy eye can appreciate. The pseudoscopic
effects are exaggerated by using a prism to each eye, but in
most persons this produces a painful sensation.

The explanation of these phenomena, which I offer with
some hesitation, is based upon the supposition that in
binocular vision we estimate the distance of an object by
the degree of convergence of the optic axes. In these
experiments, when a flat surface appears concave by the
interposition of the prism : the optic axes are made to
converge on a point situated behind the real surface, and the
imagination gradually removes the object to this apparent
distance.

When the base of the prism is towards the nose, then the
flat surface becomes convex, in this case the optic axes cross
in front of the real surface, and the imagination raises the
object to that point. A diagram of the convergence of the
optic axes on an object, before and after the interposition of
the prism, will show that when the thin edge of the prism is
turned towards the nose, the effort made to unite the real
and the refracted image is the same as if the vision was
directed to a point more distant than the real object. The
opposite to this takes place when the base of the prism is
turned towards the nose. It is very possible that the pseudo-
scopic vision through prisms may have been noticed by others,
but I have not been able to discover any description of such
in the w’orks to which I have access.

159

Dr. Angus Smith explained a mode of analysis which he
has called minimetric. The idea, he said, may perhaps not be
quite new, hut it is well to give the method a name. It is based
mainly on the fact that we can retain in the memory with
great exactness the character of a precipitate of a given
degree of translucency. For carbonic acid the author finds
a precipitate of carbonate of baryta caused in baryta by
*2515 cub. c. of carbonic acid, or nearly three times that
amount in lime water. If the carbonic acid in air is sought,
the air is made to act on the baryta until the precipitate is
obtained. In other words we use the smallest measure of
air which will produce the precipitate. For this reason
the name minimetric is adopted. The plan may be used for
hydrochloric acid, sulphuric and sulphurous acid, sul-
phuretted hydrogen, &c., and probably has been used
frequently without bringing it forward as a method for
accurate use.

Two modes of using this mode of analysis were described.
The first was by the use of a finger pump, an elastic ball
with two valves. When pressed the air was driven out, and
when expanding the air was drawn through the liquid. The
air and liquid were then shaken together. This was repeated
until the precipitate was attained.

One easy method of finding the precipitate for comparison
was by shaking half an ounce avoirdupois (14T7 cub. c.)
with 23 ounces of air in Manchester, or nearly 30 in London,
or elsewhere, according to residence.

Experiments made with this apparatus shew it to be
extremely delicate. The carbonic acid in the air of a room
can be estimated in a few minutes.

A table is made of the following kind, but it must be

160

adapted to the size of the bulb. A cut showing the bottle
and finger pump is given.

For very bad air smaller bulbs were shewn, such as were
recommended for workshops, mines, &c. ; a convenient size
for common life is here given : —

No. of Strokes of
the Finger Pump,
or No. of BaUfulls
of Air.

Per cent, of Carbonic
Acid indicated in
the Air.

Actual Amount of i
Carbonic Acid in the 1
Air of the Ball.

1

6-0

Grammes.

0-2515

2

30

01257

3

20

0-0838

4

1-5

0-0629

5

1-2

0.0503

6

10

0-0419

7

0.8

00359

8

0-75

0-0316

9

0*66

00279

10

0056

00251

11

0054

00229

12

0-0499

0-0209

13

0-0460

00193 |

14

0-0428

0-0180

15

00399

00167

|

161

In all cases only half an ounce of baryta solution was
used.

Minimetric House and Workshop Method.

A.

This method is partly described in the report on the air
of mines, and long tables given. There were shown two
modes of using it, first, with baryta water ; second, with
lime water.

Suppose we desire to know if the air contains more
than O’ 04 per cent of carbonic acid, we fill a bottle con-
taining 5*482 ounces with air by pumping as elsewhere
described, with a little finger pump, and shake, in it
half an ounce of baryta water. If there is any precipitate
at all, the amount of carbonic acid in the air is above 0*04
per cent. This would indicate that the air is less pure than
outside.

If we allow 0*06 p.c. of carbonic acid in a room, we take
a bottle of the size of 3' 6+1 ounce=4T ounces, or 116*83
c.c., and if, after a trial as before, we find a precipitate,
however small, or a decided, although slight milkiness, the
air is deteriorated beyond 0*06. This relates to dwelling
houses. If for workshops \ p.c. (0*85) is allowed, a
bottle of 0*867+0*5 ounces T367 ounces or 38*744 c.c. is
sufficient. This could go into the waistcoat pocket.

If 0*5 or \ per cent, is permitted, a bottle of 0*433+0*5
ounce is enoughz=0*933 ounces or 86*475 c.c. This amounts
to nothing more than shaking an ounce bottle. The addition
of half an ounce is for the baryta water.

162

B.

The lime water method will probably be adopted more
usually, as lime is so common. The experiment is exactly
the same as with baryta water, but larger bottles are required.

0*06 carbonic acid in the air gives no precipitate or
milkiness when \ ounce of lime water is added to a bottle

of the air, containing....

(=309 cub. cent.)

0*25 ditto

ditto

2*997 ounces.
(=84*958 cub. c.)

0*5 ditto

ditto

1*748 ounces.
(=49*564 cub. c.)

The author said that by this

simple method the greatest

refinement could be attained.

V

163

Annual Meeting, April 25th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair.

On the motion of Mr. Brockbank, seconded by Mr.
Carrick, it was resolved unanimously— “That the election
of Sectional Associates be continued during the next
session.”

The following report of the Council was read by one of the
Secretaries : —

In presenting their annual report the Council have again
to congratulate the Society on the satisfactory position of its
finances. Although several payments of a somewhat excep-
tional character have been made during the past year, the
balance in the Treasurer’s hands has only been reduced from
£371. 8s. id. on the 31st of March, 1864, to £360. 4s. 3d.
on the 31st of March, 1865.

The number of ordinary members on the 1st of April, 1864,
was 193, and ten new members have since been elected.
The loss by resignations has been three , by defaulters four,
and by deaths the unusually large number of nine. The
number of ordinary members on the roll of the Society on
the 1st of April instant was 187.

The deceased members are,— Messrs. John Atkinson, C. F.
Ekman, John Gould, John Hetherington, Thomas Hopkins
John Jesse, F.R.S., William Nield, John Shuttleworth, and
Robert Walker, M.D.

In the death of their late Honorary Librarian, Mr. C. F.
Ekman, the Society have lost an officer whose intelligence,
zeal, and devotion to his duties and to the interests of the

Proceedings Lit. & Phil. Society — Yol, IY. — No. 15. — Session 1864-5,
a

164

Society, have rarely been equalled. In his hands the Society’s
library has become one of the most valuable libraries of
reference in the kingdom ; and before his death he had suc-
ceeded in establishing a system of exchange of publications
with nearly all the leading home and foreign literary and
scientific societies. He took a very prominent part in the
framing of the new code of rules passed by the Society on
the 22nd of January, 1861 ; and his unwearied exertions and
influence, and the valuable assistance he was ever ready to
render to members or others engaged in original researches,
contributed materially to raise the Society to its present high
position.

Mr. John Atkinson, F.G.S., had been a member of the
Society for many years, and was a constant attendant at its
meetings, to which he made frequent communications.
During late years he supplied the Society with his meteoro-
logical observations made at Thelwall, and which were
printed in our proceedings. He was for several years the
active Secretary of the Manchester Geological Society, to
which he contributed several papers published in its memoirs.

Mr. Thomas Hopkins was one of the oldest members of the
Society, having been elected on the 18th of April, 1823. He
was for many years a very active and efficient member of the
Council, and was for some time one of the Society’s Vice-
Presidents. He contributed several valuable papers on
meteorological subjects to the Society’s memoirs, and was
the author of a work on 44 Atmospherical Changes. ’’

In accordance with the resolution passed at a meeting of
the Society held on 12th January, 1864, the Council procured
dies for a medal, and six copies of the medal in bronze ; and
appointed a committee to consider and report upon a scheme
for regulating the selection of subjects and services for which
a medal should be awarded. Owing, however, to the import-
ance of the questions which have been brought under their
notice, and the necessity of giving them careful and mature

165

consideration, the Committee have not yet been able to pre-
sent their report, but hope to he able to do so* at an early
meeting in the ensuing session.

Since the last annual meeting the proceedings of the Sec-
tions have been marked by the same activity and interest
which have characterised them from their establishment. In
connexion with the Sections the Council refer with satisfac-
tion to the success .which has attended the scheme for
admitting Sectional Associates. Twenty gentlemen have
availed themselves of the advantages which it offers ; and
by the communications some of them have made, and the
part they have taken in the discussions of the various sub-
jects that have been brought under notice, they have added
much to the interest and usefulness of the meetings.

The following is a list of the communications made to the
Society at its ordinary and sectional meetings during the
past session :

October ith, 1864. — “ Remarks on Mr. Dyer’s Paper, entitled
‘Notes on Spinning Machines,’” by H. Brierly, Esq., communi-
cated by E. W. Binney, Esq., F.R.S., &c.

October 18 th, 1864. — “On the Relation of Force to Matter and
Mind. Part I.,” by the Rev. Thomas P. Kirkman, M.A., F.R.S.,
Hon. Mem.

October 13 th, 1864. — “Note on a New Star near the Greenwich
Variable, No. 1773, of the Twelve-Year Catalogue,” by Joseph
Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

October 17 th, 1864. — “On a Contrivance for regulating the
amount of light transmitted from the Source of Illumination to
the Mirror of the Microscope,” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

November ,15th, 1864.— “On the Composition of the. Atmos-
phere,” by R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., President of the Society.

November 29th, 1864. — “On Differential Equations,” by His
Honour Chief Justice Cockle, M.A., F.R.A.S., &c., communicated
by the Rev. Robert Harley, F.R.S., &c.

November 29 th, 1864. — “Notes on Marine Shells found in
Stratified Drift at Macclesfield,” by R. D. Darbishire, B.A., F.G.S.

166

November 28th, 1864. — “On Specimens of Foraminifera from
Roundstone, -Connemara,” by Thomas Alcock, M.D.

December 8th, 1864. — “Note on the Period and Changes of the
Greenwich Variable in Vulpectda, No. 1773 of the Twelve-year
Catalogue/’ by Josh. Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

December 8th, 1864. — “Observations of the Greenwich Variable
in Vulpecula and its Companion Stars/’ by George Knott, F.R.A.S.,
communicated by Josh. Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

December 12>th, 1864. — “On the Discovery of the Bones of the
Mammoth (Elephas Primigenius) in a Fissure of the Carboniferous
Limestone at Waterhouses, near Leek/’ by William Brockbank,
Esq.

November Zrd, 1864. — “On Printing Transparencies for the
Stereoscope and Magic Lantern,” by Joseph Sidebotham, Esq.

December 19 th, 1864. — “On the Structure of Cotton,” by W. H.
Pleys, Esq.

January 1( )th, 1865. — “ On some Products derived from Indigo
Blue,” by Dr. E. Schunck, F.R.S., &c.

January 1( )ih and 2ith, 1865. — “On some Physiological Effects
of Carbonic Acid/’ by Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., President.

January 24 th, 1865. — “Observations of a large group of Solar
Spots,” by Jas. Nasmyth, Esq., C.E., Corresponding Member of
the Society.

January 12 th, 1865. — “Account of a Fire-ball seen December
13th. 1864,” by Thomas Heelis, F.R.A.S.

January 12 th, 1865. — “Note on the Rainfall of 1864,” by
G. V. Vernon, F.R.A.S.

February 7th, 1865. — “On a New Re-agent for the Separation
of Calcium from Magnesium,” by Edward Sonstadt, Esq.

January 18th, 1865. — “On the Plumules or Battledore Scales
of the Lycsenidse,” by John Watson, Esq.

January 1 8th, 1865. — “Notes on the Development of the
Wings of Lepidopterous Insects,” by Josh. Sidebotham, Esq.

February 21st, 1865. — “On a new form of Roof for Dyehouses,”
by John Thom, Esq.

February 21st, 1865. — “On the Action of Caustic Soda on
Ethylic and Methylic Alcohol,” by Mr. A. Mylius, communicated
by Dr. E. Schunck, F.R.S.

167

January §th, 1865. — “ On the Exhibition Stereoscopically of
Photographs on a large scale.” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

February 2nd, 1865. — “On the proper focus of Lens to be used
in taking Photographic Landscapes ; also on some modes of
measuring the size of objects therein depicted,” by Joseph
Sidebotham, Esq.

March 1th , 1865. — -“On the Action of Sea Water upon certain
Metals and Alloys,” by F. Grace Calvert, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., and
R. Johnson, F.C.S.

March 2nd, 1865. — “The Opaque Microscope not New,” by
J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

March 2nd, 1865. — “Photographic Experience in India,” by

E. C. Buxton, Jun., Esq.

March 21st, 1865.--“ On an Instrument for showing rapidly
Minute -Changes of Magnetic Declination,” by J. P. Joule, LL.D.,

F. R.S., &c.

March 21st, 1865. — “Further Observations on the Permian
and Triassic Strata of Lancashire,” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., &c.

^ February 21th, 1865.- — “Notes on Mosses,” by G. E. Hunt, Esq.

March l(Hh, 1865. — “Results of Raingauge and Anemometer
Observations made at St. Martin’s Parsonage, Castleton Moor,
during the year 1864,” by the Rev. J. C. Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S.,
and Note on the same, by Josh. Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

April ith, 1865. — “An Instance of the Injurious Action of

Alkalies on Cotton Fibre,” by Messrs. Heinrich Caro and William
Dancer.

April ith, 1865. — “Remarks on the Microscopical Appearances
of Cotton Hair during Dissolution in the Ammoniacal Solution of
Copper,” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

April ith, 1865. — “On Pseudoscopic Vision through Prisms,”
by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

April ith, 1865. — “ On the Minimetric Method of Analysis,” by
Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., &e., President of the Society.

The printing of volume second of series third of the
Society’s Memoirs, comprising the papers read before the
Society during the Sessions 1861-2, 1862-3, 1863-4, has been

168

completed, and bound copies are now ready for distribution
at 5s. to members of the Society and 10s. to the public.

A new volume Iras already been commenced, containing
papers read during the past session ; and arrangements have
been made by which papers intended for the Memoirs will he
printed immediately after they have been passed by the
Council.

The Librarian reports that when he took office he did it
with the idea of preparing a Catalogue which had for some
years been much required. On further examination he found
it necessary both to rearrange the books, and to prepare a
Stock-book ; some delay was thus entailed. He is now,
however, glad to inform the members that an alphabetical
catalogue is in process of printing.

On the motion of Professor Clifton, seconded by Mr.
Darbishire, the Annual Report was unanimously adopted.

The following gentlemen were elected officers of the
Society for the ensuing year : —

^resttrent.

E. ANGUS SMITH, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.

'Ftce=1Prcsttients.

JAMES PEESCOTT JOULE, LL.D., F.E.S., &c.

EDWARD WILLIAM BINNEY, F.E.S., F.G.S.

JOSEPH CHESBOEOUGH DYER.

EDWAED SCHUNCK, Ph.D., F.E.S., F.C.S.

Secretaries.

HENRY ENFIELD EOSCOE, B.A., Ph.D., F.E.S., F.O.S.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.E.A.S.

treasurer.

EOBEET WORTHINGTON, F.E.A.S.

Hitbrartatt.

THOMAS WINDSOE, M.E.C.S.

©tfjer JEtembers of tf;e Committee.

EEY. WILLIAM GASKELL, M.A.

PETEE SPENCE, F.S.A., F.C.S.

GEORGE YENABLES YERNON, F.E.A.S., M.B.M.S.

EOBEET BELLAMY CLIFTON, M.A., F.R.A^S.

JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

HENRY MERE OEMEROD.

H «o

EH

s ^

S P3

O TO

o M

o g

<j o
2 «
s *

pf

w

P3

0

m

m

i-H COlO iH C

© CO t>*

HCOHSC
cq © t Or

O © © rJH
»0©©Cq
CO © CO 00

©©©

©iO©

©©

-CHCO

CO

©

T*

os

10

8

^3

• co

co

©

$

1-
X <v
O W

Is!

©©©©

OOIOO

<±>

' 1 M

3 c3

8 s i^1

O <B P >,

id *>Ph S'S

S s» p oj 5<

.as! s

ggOfrpH

1m

«8

-H to.® <D

02 HH CD -P VH
.®>,® CSS
o 03 -g
s d Pjd -g P

) . o^s a>

: 0

* o“So

60 £ ^rH

d P

sglafs

►»

P?

uliii

|M.SiS|

e h'®1, ^
6 Sg
® ° J

•1 a -1 1|

•|tl N I

f|5S5

^mn

§

’4! “

™ a. a

|Sg

III

3 sj

hPhoq

.a

- '^3

60 : p

.3 :8

• 2

CO • **

a :*

a -t3

H.aS

60 d m

.a

•ill

•I § 60*0

alls-

|SEl

• : § »
: >.02 g
-g,d §>

* *rH m R

*J! 1

.fi c| ce c3

HdtfOPH

.a o

*d

02 O

^*-3

- o ft

11®

£ S'd
QPh£

J? 3^

M3-
£>■££
^ o> a:

1!

1®-S

III

aa-S

O «w 2

Eh ° d

*S

is

MEh

d r

c3

23

M

Wg

3»

a Ip,
* pH

S|13 §

« : g

2 ©

1! - =1<SI 3

S3

' M -4

i co © g

I cq^Q.O

S -p<
o .©
o ^
CD O

PJ§

i.e

a «

23 ^

E2 d

(B .?,
pP 4^

a 3§

<D 3

s I

oo nH

d

o ®

p :

O

•J3

il|®l

i'afti®

o go o

s&gca

O c p ft

Sc»g

wig1

gBHd

3

•2 *S^

yS 33IS

*rl

d*s »

ISO M

vagas
^ a § a£

^ -<D 2 © g

o

Eh

H

HQ

H

02 O

!>

|)MO

o-43 d

a

SIS

'I-l -

§0 ~
tQZQ

<! W

= 60d

rd ©-*5

3S|

d d
(H M

5 9 ci
rs 0 ©
hlOO

O

Eh

t

§

wt4

•• ^=3

s

a °|

<

tq

• sS

^ § .

cq

^ Hg
8
a
§

03

d.

1

©

©

0 i

t>.

CO00

CO

©

00

©

rH

CO

cq

CO I

lO

§

co

S3

H3

©O©

0© ©o 1

0©©© |

© ©O

««

OOCO j

ICO

50

©©(M
B— 1 T-H

© © rHCO I

t-H rH |

rH ^ cq cq j

rH ©

t-©t>. 1

■t*!

««

o©c*

t-H

b«© t-H 00

inn pH 1

co

rH © © rH J

Jh Wh

1

*« ^ 1

s

©

©

•©©

©©©©©

t : :

lO©o

©

©

• cq rH

cqcqcq ©10

d

O

10

CO

* cq th

cq cq cq hh 10

<§ : :

nd

©

T±j

*R

1— T • •

170

Dr. Joule communicated the following extracts of letters
referring to the auroral arch of the 20th of March last : —

The Astronomer Royal to Alexander S. Hersehel , Esq.,
Royal Observatory, Greenwich,

1865, March 31.

c: I have referred to our Magnetic Photograms on the 20 th
inst. The magnets were considerably disturbed for many
hours before and after the appearance of the arch ; but the
great disturbances of declination and hor. force were from Th,
to 8h. 45m., and those of vert, force nearly 45m. later. Of
these you shall have copies when the time-scales are properly
attached. There is scarcely a more important inquiry at the
present time than that of the connexion between the indi-
vidual phases of auroras, and the corresponding individual
phases of magnetic disturbance. The first requisite is accu-
rate clock time. By all means establish a reference to my
Time Signals.

I have seen many auroras, probably more than 20, fewer
than 50. I am quite familiar with the ordinary appearances :
low arch, grey or red streamers rising to or beyond the
magnetic zenith, great red clouds, light flashing over limited
spaces (the successive portions of space taking the light in
successive portions of time) and others ; but I think I have
seen the lofty well defined pale arch only twice. In seme
accounts of arches which I have read, two or three arches
have followed in succession, all based in the magnetic E and
W, and rising like a skipping-rope. As they approach
very near the magnetic zenith, they exhibit a radiated
structure i§JfHi|§; And, finally, it appears that an arch really
is a very long slender parallelepiped, its length in magnetic
E and W consisting of beams in the direction of magnetic dip .
If you have not been possessed of this idea before, the
possession of itf may sharpen you in future observations or
future inquiries.”

171

Alexander S. Herschel, Esq., to II. P. Greg , Esq.

Collingwood, Hawkhurst, Kent,

1865, April 11.

“ I was much obliged by the receipt of an observation of
the auroral arch of March 20 (from the Liverpool Mercury),
as seen at Windermere. Compared with another letter from
the same writer (Mr. Hall) in the Standard , it gave a good
place by the stars. In the f Proceedings of the Manchester
Literary and Philosophical Society’ is another description by
Mr. Baxendell. The arch was well observed here, almost
stationary, varying its altitude from 18° to 20°, and at last to
22° or 23° in the course of half an hour. The first observa-
tions correspond with those of Windermere, at the time when
the arch was nearly vertical over Windermere; and the last
with those at Manchester when the arch, as seen by Mr.
Baxendell, was nearly overhead at Manchester. Both give
the height of the arch 102 miles above the earth, and I
doubt if a better double observation of an arch of the aurora
of the skipping-rope’ form has ever been obtained. The
result can hardly be more than five miles, certainly not so
much as ten miles in error either way. Mr. Airy says that
among twenty to fifty auroras that he has witnessed he has
only twice seen the auroral arch, 4 rising like a skipping-rope.’
Perhaps you would have the goodness to communicate Mr.
Airy’s letter to Dr. Joule, as it will interest him in his
observations of the magnetic variations ; and at the same time
to Mr. Baxendell.”

The Rev. T. P. Kirkman, F.R.S., made the following
communication : —

As the printing of my completion of the Theory of Groups is
delayed longer than I expected, I desire to insert the following
table of corrections to be made in the list of titles at page 142 of
the Proceedings of this Society, July, 1863.
b

172

Corrigenda, p. 142, &c.

In the group of order 6-4-2, for 1823 read ^ + ^41 >
in that of the order 5*2, erase 10^ ;

in the second title, page 144, for rea^ ^422^

in the eighth title of that page , for 12^2 + 8g read 4^2 + I3g;

in the ninth title, p. 142, for 4g4 read

in the title 8*6*4 *2, for 52^2 + 24^2 read 2 823^2 + 36^2 + ^414’

Addenda.

4 = 1 + 322, Q ~ 1-

6*2 = 1 + ^22^2 + Sg2, Q = 1^«

6*4 = 1 + 6^2 + ^22l2 "** ^32 ■*" ^23’ Q = ^*

8*4 = 1 + ®22!4 ^24 "** ^42’ Q ~ 210.

8*4 = 1 + ^22^4 + 4^2 + 524 + 16^22, Q = 315.

8*4 = 1 + ^22^4 + 4^2 + 524 + 16g, Q = 315.

8*4 = 1 + 8^2 + ^24 "** ^2214 ®23la ®8* Q ~ 330.

8*8 = 1 + 1022p + ^42l2 ^ ^42 + ^24 + ^3g + Q = 315.

8*8 = 1 + 4^4 + §23^2 + ^22p + £>24 + 20^2 + 20^2, Q = 315.

8-6*4 — 1 + 3^2 j4 *+* 12^2 + 1324 + 32g2^2 + 32^ *** ^^2312

12^14 + 488 + 12422 Q = 105.

The omission of the above-given groups of 6-2 and 6*4 in my first
processes was the main cause of the above errors and defects.

173

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION
March 20th, 1865.

J. Sidebotham, Esq., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

Mr. Dancer read a Paper, “ On the Microscopical
Appearances of Cotton Hair during dissolution in the
Ammoniacal Solution of Copper.”

Mr. Heys, in proposing a vote of thanks, said that he
was gratified to find that the important subject of the
structure of cotton, in which he had himself for some time
felt an interest, was now being taken up in a manner likely
to clear away all doubts.

Mr. Heys said he had been asked by Mr. Dale to
introduce to the notice of members a preparation of Canada
Balsam for mounting, which has the property of hardening
in a very short time. It consisted of Balsam first made
perfectly solid by evaporation, and then dissolved in Bisul-
phide of Carbon. He found the smell a strong objection to
its use, but the results were very satisfactory, the balsam on
a slide becoming perfectly hard in a few hours. He thought
however the dry balsam might prove to be the more important
element in the preparation, and that its solution in Chlo-
roform would probably be found to answer all practical pur-
poses.

Mr. Dancer exhibited many beautiful photographs of
microscopic objects by Dr. Maddox.

174

March 27th, 1865.

John Parry, Esq., in the Chair.

Exhibitions .

Sections of various Shells*. — Mr. Parry.

An apparatus for applying pressure to the cover-glasses of
objects freshly mounted in Canada Balsam. It consisted of
a dozen small upright pistons placed in a frame, and each
furnished with a spiral spring coiled around the rod and
pressing against the upper horizontal bar of the frame.

Communications .

Dr. Alcock exhibited a second time his specimens of
shells of Marine Entomostraca, from the coast of Galway.
He said that renewed examination of them and the collection
of many more specimens had strengthened his belief that,
however numerous, their forms, they are entitled to be con-
sidered as so many distinct species, and he did not think that
the general arguments used by Prof. Williamson in support
of an opposite opinion at the meeting of February 20th, had
any application to their particular case. In the first place it
was stated that the outer skin or shells of these creatures is
of less value for distinction than the internal parts ; but Dr.
Baird had described nine out of his fifteen species from living
specimens, and yet in these his specific distinctions are
mainly derived from the shells. Again, we were reminded
that some of the Entomostraca are known to undergo meta-
morphoses, and that this might probably be the case with the
genera Cythere and Cythereis ; but Cypris, which approaches
very nearly in character to Cythere, does not undergo these
changes, and might furnish some ground for the supposition
that these Marine Entomostraca also do not ; but it would
be sufficient for the present purpose to state that there is no

175

support for the supposition that they do, on the general
ground that some kinds of Entomostraca are known to
undergo these changes, because it is also well known that
other kinds do not.

But a further objection was that low forms of animal life
are liable to extreme variability, and that the same remark
is applicable to the lower groups in the higher divisions of
animals, the argument being that in these cases the
variability may be so great as to render specific distinctions
of little or no value. He felt compelled to state that he
did not admit this excessive variability as a certain fact, even
in the lowest forms of animal life, until it could be actually
proved to be true by most careful observation, and even then
he would apply it no further than to the particular cases in
which it had been proved ; but as to making it a general rule
with the lowest groups of the higher divisions of animals, he
saw not the slightest reason for doing so, and here, more than
in the former case, the diversity of character in the different
groups would render it extremely unlikely that what might
apply to one would also be found to apply to another. Even
among low forms of animal life such as the Foraminifera, he
had searched in vain for examples of that extreme variability
which must necessarily confound specific distinctions, and he
was sure that every young working naturalist, at all events,
would agree with him that a conclusion so discouraging to
exact observations as that suggested by Prof. Williamson,
ought to be accepted by no one unless he became convinced
of its truth by his own painful experience. With regard to
the Foraminifera he had no hesitation in saying that, with
only a few exceptions, the extraordinary uniformity of
character in individuals of the same type was a fact that
must strike every observer. In the cases of Miliolina and
Polymorphina he would admit there is difficulty, but an
examination of many of their numerous forms did not suggest
to his mind that a great tendency to variation, in the ordinary

176

sense of the term, would explain their diversity. Knowing,
however, from his own observations what is meant by the
statement that the Foraminifera are liable to great variation,
he was prepared to say that the shells of the Marine Entomo-
straca do not at all show this liability ; the forms are clearly
defined, and distinct from one another, and intermediate
forms blending the characters of two others rarely if ever
occur.

Then as to the last objection which was brought forward,
namely the difficulty of defining what a species is, he believed
that practically it might be put aside altogether ; for the
fact was that any creature whatever which could be shown to
be clearly distinct from all others that had been described
must be admitted as a species, and must remain a species
until it could be proved to be unworthy of this distinction.
In conclusion he would say that he had no strong opinion as
to whether this question of what a species is could or could
not be answered, but he felt sure that to take Prof. William-
son’s suggestion, and merge some ten or twenty of these
forms of Marine Entomostraca into one species would be to
make it impossible to form even a conjecture of what is
meant by that term.

A Paper was read “ On the Chsetopod Annelides of the
Southport Sands,” by Benj. Carrington, M.D.

Amphinomad^e.

Aphrodite aculeata , L. Found sparingly near low-water
mark ; more frequent after storms.

Pholoe inornata , Johns. Very rare.

Polynoa squamata , Sav. Found occasionally within old
shells; frequent among oysters, and the refuse from the
fishing boats.

There are two well-marked varieties :

a. with a dark-brown crescentic mark on each of the
elytra.

177

j3. ochracea, uniform pale orange or stone colour.

Polynoa cirrata, Johns. Very rare.

P. asterince, sp. nov. Linear-oblong, scales twenty pairs
or more, smooth, with a black entire border, seated on each
third ring ; intermediate feet cirriferous, hearing at the base
a ciliated crest. Upper antennae three, the central one
longest.*

Not uncommon, occupying the groove between the suckers,
of Asterias aurantiaca. I was first led to suspect the presence
of some foreign species, by observing a blue phosphorescent
light, given off from defined points of the rays, when the star-
fish was placed in fresh water. It seems a very sluggish
worm, and how it contrives to escape the surrounding suckers,
and whether it shares the food captured by the star-fish, are
points yet to be determined.

Body one to two inches long, by a line in breadth,
posterior segments narrowed, ending in two filiform styles.
Peach-blossom, or flesh coloured ; very fragile, so that it is
almost impossible to obtain an entire specimen. Scales white,
chartaceous, with a narrow black border ; first six pairs
placed on alternate feet, the remainder on each third foot,
not broader than the body, so that the feet are exposed,
easily detached. In a line with the pedicels of the scales, on
the intermediate rings, we find on each side a crest-shaped
process, ending towards the mesian line in a short papilla.
These are ciliated, as are the upper margins of the feet, so

* In describing a species, I have thought it best to follow the nomencla-
ture now in use, although I agree with Professor Huxley that a change is
desirable. He proposes, after Milne Edwards, that the rings shall .be called
somites , the head prestomium, central antenna prestomial tentacle , upper and
lower lateral antennae superior and inferior prestomial cirri , foot tubercle
parapodium, its upper and lower rami notopodium and neuropodium, &c.

I think it right also to state, that as my acquaintance with Marine
Zoology is very recent, and I have been unable to consult several foreign
works on the subject, I introduce the following species with great diffidence.
To the best of my belief they are new to the British fauna, nor have I been
able to identify them with species described by Aud. and Edwards, Oersted,
Qrube, Elder s, &c.

178

that horizontal currents are produced, as well as a central
one from before backward. The dorsal papillae seem to
perform the functions of branchiae. They also contain ova,
which the ciliary currents serve to distribute.

Feet simple, with seven to ten strong spear-shaped golden
setae, apex toothed on one side. Near the dorsum of the foot is
a small fascicle, containing four to six short curved toothed
bristles.

Head concealed, roundish, emarginate. Upper antennae
three, the lateral ones very short, two jointed, central one
much longer, equal to the two lower antennae. Eyes four,
distant. Tentacular cirri two pairs.

Readily distinguished by the long, flesh-coloured body,
and marginate, smooth scales In some young specimens,
the black border is absent or ill-defined.

P. maculosa , sp. nov. Scales kidney-shaped, smooth,
entire, membranous, having a dark curved spot round the 1
centre, seated on alternate feet, intermediate feet bearing |
cirri ; superior antennae three equal ; ventral surface of pos-*
terior rings, marked with four black dots.

Very rare; only one specimen found in company with
P. aster ince.

The specimen before me, which unfortunately has lost the
anal segment, is oblong-obtuse, slightly narrowed from the
middle, breadth two lines, by f inch long. Scales twelve
pairs, covering the head and feet, firmly attached, hyalitie,
especially near the border, which is slightly undulated,
crossed from the inner margin by a retort-shaped black mark.
Feet obtuse, obscurely biramous ; upper branch much
shorter, the setae short, falcate, and serrate ; lower branch
bearing a tuft of twenty to thirty slender, half spear-shaped,
oblique, pale setae, toothed on one side, and ending in one or
two larger teeth ; shaft long, smooth, terete.

Head concealed, round, notched in front ; eyes four, placed
on the occipital portion ; upper antennae three equal, two

179

jointed, the central one stout apiculate ; two lower antennae
much longer, and exceeding the tentacular cirri. When
viewed from the ventral surface, the basal portion of the
antennae is nearly black, the three central ones converging
like the rays of a tripod, of which the dark-coloured oblong
oral opening forms the handle. Posterior segments after the
fifteenth marked with four rows of stellate spots.

Distinguished from P. asterince by the larger thin trans-
lucent scales, which are firmly attached and not bordered,
by the more numerous and slender setae, the equal upper
antennae, and the absence of the ciliated processes on the
dorsal surface.

There is no other British species with smooth scales with
which it is likely to be confounded. From P. spinifera ,
Ehlers, (which seems to me identical with Johnston’s P.
scabra,) and from P. peiluoida, Ehlers (Annelid. Chaetop.,
t. iii. f. 1 — 13), it may be known by the scabrous cirri and
antennae of those species. P. maculata , Grube, seems to be
a form of P. cirrata, having the scales garnished with a few
large papillae.

Sigalion Carringtonii , nov. sp. Body vermiform, obtuse
at both ends. Scales very ^numerous, attached to each ring,
pellucid, outer border friftged with pectinate glands; feet
exposed, bifid, densely setiguous. Attached to the pedicel
at the base of each foot is a curved ciliated cirrus.

I Met with occasionally, near low water mark, on the Birk-
dale shore, buried in the moist sand, where it lies coiled in a
spiral manner. First discovered in July, 1864, when ex-
ploring the sands with my friend Mr. C. H. Brown , who
named it as above.

Body linear, obtuse in front, tapering very gradually to-
wards the anal segment, which terminates abruptly in two long
styles. Length two to three inches by two lines in breadth.
Colour greyish-white, opalescent, reflecting prismatic tints.
Feet very numerous, slender at the base, biram ous, upper

e

180

branch gibbous at the apex, from which depends a short
cirrus, furnished with a dense tuft of long silky setae, fine as
spun glass, which arch backward towards the scales, and a
lower tuft of jointed ones ; inferior ramus, bearing two kinds
of setae, the lower very long and flexible, and the intermediate
ones jointed, the blade filiform, rough, articulate like the
hair of a mole.

Scales smooth, hyaline, persistent, convex, closely imbri-
cated, not covering the feet, fringed at the outer margin with
a few pectinate-pinnate processes. Some of the anterior
scales are seated on alternate feet, but the majority arise from
a large ovate tubercle, which is found at the base of each foot.
These tubercles are filled with ova, and appear like a white
opaque spot through the scales, and from their outer border a
stout curved cirrus originates, clothed with vibratile cilia on
the lower side, and extending a little beyond the scales.

Head small, concealed, hemispherical ; eyes four, minute,
the pairs approximate. Upper antennae minute, two on
each side, placed at the angles of a broad basal portion, which,
like the feet, bears a tuft of silky setse ; lower antennae much
longer. The anterior feet exceed the head in length, and
project beneath it almost to the median line, so that it is
difficult to make out the exact details.

Proboscis as broad as long, compressed ; the lips clothed
with a row of simple fimbriae ; jaws four, alternate, pointed.

The worm is sluggish in confinement, generally remaining
coiled spirally like a serpent. Under the lens it is a beautiful
object, the long silky setae spreading like the feathers of a
bird of paradise — the daintily fringed, translucent scales,
through which the ciliated tentacles are seen in constant
motion — and the play of prismatic colours on the surface-
are sure to excite wonder and admiration.

Nereids.

Phyllod'oce lamelligera , Johns. Rare ; at low water mark

181

buried beneath the sand. It is a beautiful species, swimming
freely in sea-water.

P. Vittata , Ehlers, Annelid. Chcetopod ., 1864, t.vi.f. 7 — 14.
New to Britain. Two specimens appeared in water contain-
ing a mass of Sahellaria alveolata from New Brighton, May,
1864 f C. H. Broivn J , and I have since met with one or two
others at Southport.

Distinguished from P. lamelligera by its smaller size,
never more than a line in breadth by two to three inches
long, filiform, very active, generally assuming serpentine or
spiral curves ; pale olive, convex above, each ring crossed by
a narrow, stippled , steel-grey band , about a third of its breadth.
Head short, broadly ovate, obtuse ; antennae four apical,
spindle-shaped; tentacular cirri four pairs, the two lowest
very long (equal to five or six rings). Eyes large, black,
crossed behind by the narrow first segment. Branchial leaf-
lets ovate, reticulate, parallel with the body ; lower branchiae
short obtuse, attached to the base of the feet. Anal segment
bearing two leaf-like processes, resembling the branchiae.

This active little worm resembles one figured by Sir G.
Dalyell, but wants the central antenna.

P. attenuata , sp. nov.? Body very slender, from half a line
to a line broad, four to six inches long ; anterior rings as
broad as long ; branchial leaflet broadly ovate, seated on a
pedicle as long as the feet, olive-brown veined ; lower leaflet
ovate acute ; middle and posterior rings attenuated, twice as
long as broad ; branchiae as wide as the segments over -which
they arch; feet small simple; bristles cultrate, curved, jointed,
finely toothed at the base of the blade.

In the shape and relative size of the feet and branchial
leaflets it agrees with P. lamelligera , but the disproportionally
slender body, and oblong segments, distinguish it at a glance
from any form of that species with which I am acquainted.

A solitary specimen and a portion of another are all that
remain of this curious worm. Unfortunately, both head and

182

anal segment have been rendered indistinguishable by the
action of the spirit.

P. Clava , sp. nov. Worm minute, one to two inches long
by 12-in. to -rein, broad ; rings narrow, depressed, pale
drab or greenish ; feet simple, bearing on the upper side
ovate tumid branchiae, lying parallel to the body ; near
the base on the ventral side of the feet short obtuse lower
branchial papillae are attached. Rings gradually tapering,
and ending in an obtuse anal segment, which bears two
clavate solid styles, larger than the branchiae. Head broad
at the base, terminating in a thin ornithorhynchus-like snout,
apex obtuse ; antennae four, short, divergent. First and
second rings half as broad as the rest, giving attachment to
four pairs of short tentacular cirri. I am doubtful about the
the identity of this Annelid, as I have seen no figure of
P. clavigera , Aud. and Ed.

Rare, occupying vertical burrows in the sand, about half
tide mark.

Goniada Alcockiana , sp. nov. Body tapering at both ends,
anterior third terete terminating in a conical horn-like snout,
posterior segments depressed, broader, channelled above,
ending in two long jointed styles. Eyes, and tentacular
cirri 0. Proboscis very long, clavate curved, on each side of
the base are eight A-shaped dentacles, mouth armed with
seven jaws.

Body filiform, 1 \ inch long by a line wide, colour reddish
brown ; heteromorphous, anterior rings to the 45th, very
convex, narrow ; feet minute papillseform. Lower two-thirds
of the worm depressed, rather broader ; feet longer, oblique,
from a dilated base, composed of four acute segments, the two
outer shorter and divergent (branchial) ; each foot bears two
fasciculi of bristles, the upper short curved, arising from the
basal portion ; lower composed of long, white, falcate jointed
bristles. Apex of the conical snout bearing four minute
antennae, when the proboscis is exerted it stands up like a

183

small horn. Proboscis nearly as long as the terete portion of
the body, curved, fluted above, armed with seven minute
black jaws, five in the upper and two in the lower half;
middle jaws larger tridentate. At each side of the basal
portion there is also a row of minute inversely Y-shaped
black dentacles, eight in number.

Very rare, only one specimen collected. I have great
pleasure in associating the name of Dr. Alcock, who has done
so much for the spread of natural science in Manchester,
with this curious species.

G, maculata , Johns ; the only other British species is
distinguished' t>y its greater length, 4 to 6 inches, or, accord-
ing to Oersted, 18 to 20 inches ; whilst its extreme breadth
is only a line and a half! This species, according to
Johnson, is destitute of jaws, and Dr. Baird informs me from
Oersted’s figure there appear to be no anal cirri. It is
distinguished also by having three brown maculae on each
segment. In G. Norvegica, Oers., there are eighteen den-
tacles on each side of the proboscis.

Glycera alba , Lam.

A single specimen only obtained among tufts of Anten-
naria antennina.

Pollicita peripatus, Johns.

Several specimens found at the base of Aleyonium digitatum
brought from deep water after storms.

Scyllis prolifer a, Mull.

Probably abundant in wet places, covered with a stratum
of mud, but from its minute size easily overlooked.

Nereis pelagica, L.

N. viridis, L. {N. cerulia , Penn.) Both these species
are abundant in wet hollows, about half-tide mark, occupying
a deep burrow in the sand. They vary much in colour, from
a deep velvetty green to orange. There is another form,
with longer feet, bright orange or flesh-coloured, shaded with
olive, which is frequent near high-water mark, where the
tide is absent for months together, which may be distinct.

184

N. brevimana , Johns.

N. margaritacea, Leach.

N. Dumarillii , Aud. and Edw.

These species are found occasionally among oysters
dredged from deep water, or the refuse from fishing boats.

Nereis bilineata , Johns.

Not uncommon. Always found occupying the terminal
coils of old whelk shells, and generally those which have
been taken possession of by Pagurus Barnhardus.

It is one of the handsomest of the Nereids.

Nepthys margaritacea , Sars.

N. Hombergii , Sav. Common in wet places, buried
among the sand. Some specimens are six to eight inches
long, and as thick as the little finger. Besides the above
species there are several small ones, which I have not
yet examined minutely, but which are probably new to
Britain.

Nerine vulgaris , Johns.

I am doubtful whether my specimens belong to this species.
N coniocephala , Johns.

Common in damp hollows about mid-tide, along with
Arenicola. It occupies a friable tube, descending a foot or
more below the surface.

Spio seticornis, Bast. )

S. crenaticornis , (Leucodore ciliatus, Johns.) These

seem to me to he forms of one species, sometimes excavating
a burrow between the laminae of old shells, at others con-
structing a sandy tube.

S. quadricornis , Lam. Very common below high-water
mark, forming a slender cylindrical sand tube ; it has four
tentacles, the two lower shorter, and the anal segment
terminates in four ovate styles. Branchiarius quadrangu-
laris , Mont., seems identical with this worm, but, as

Aricije.

185

frequently happens, the specimen had lost the anterior
segment's.

Ophelia coarctata, M. Edwards.

One specimen only met with. New to Britain.

Mcea mirabilis , Johns.

Frequent near low-water mark, in wet places where the
sand is intermingled with mud. It bears a close superficial
resemblance to the smaller Nemertoid worms, Astemma, <&c.,
and has the same white colour and elastic texture. Dr. Baird
informs me there is one specimen in the British Museum,
from the coast of Fife. Like myself, he failed to identify it
with any known form, and I had named it provisionally
ffliynophylla bitentaculata ; but, since this paper was in type,
he advises me that it is probably identical with the worm
described in Dr. Johnston’s Catalogue, at p. 278, as Mcea
mirabilis.

As I have not been able to compare it with the description,
and it may prove distinct, I append the notes I had drawn
up from the examination of living specimens.

Prestomial segment leaf-like, ovate, broader than the body,
strengthened in the centre by five ribs, ciliated below, margin
mobile undulated reticulate. Proboscis cordate, retractile,
tumid, shorter than the upper lip, from the lower margin of
which spring two long flexible trigonous tentaculse, clothed
throughout the inner surface by four to six rowrs of conical
papillse, resembling the suckers of Asterinse. Eyes and an-
tennae 0.

Its hold on the sand is so firm that specimens are seldom
obtained entire. When creeping through the sand the thin
mobile upper lip acts as a wedge, and the turbinate soft pro-
bosis is rapidly protruded like a bladder, enlarging the
opening. When the surface is reached the head is partially
withdrawn, and the two papillose tentacular cirri are
directed upwards.

Body three to six inches in length, white, opalescent, as

186

thick as a crow quill; segments very numerous, quadrangular,
slightly winged, as broad as long, the upper eight a little nar-
rower, especially at the base, where it joins the lower portion.
In addition to the small transparent branchial laminae on the
ventral surface of each of the upper segments, there is an oval
appressed scale. Intestine simple, containing sand and mud.
Numerous ova are found at the lateral margins of each ring
after the eighth. The setae of the eighth segment are very
numerous and delicate, resembling in form the pendulum of
a clock, while those of the lower rings are stronger, shaped
like golf sticks.

This worm shows no disposition to swim in water, but
remains in one place, with the leaf-like snout curved upwards.
The blood is colourless or nearly so, and I could make out
no circulation as in many worms, but the margin of the
snout is covered with a delicate net- work of vessels, and
the tentacular papillae are each supplied with a vascular loop.
These papillae are depressed at the apex, and supplied with
muscular fibres like true suckers, but I have never seen
them used to seize any object, or aid in progression.

Arenicola piscatorum, Lam. Very abundant.

Lumbricin^.

Lumbricus lineatus, Mull.

Very rare, among surface mud.

L. capitatus, Johns.

Only one specimen, constricted below the snout.

L. pellucidus, Temp. (Clitelis minutus, Temp.)

Found within putrid specimens of the heart urchin, and
among other rejectamenta of the tide.

Capitibranchiata.

Pectinaria belgica . Lam.

Empty tubes common, living worms occasionally found near
low-water mark.

187

Sabettaria Anglica , Grube, ( S. alveolata , Sav.^

Very common within shells, especially the whelk.

S. Crassissima , Lam. Rare.

Terebella conchilega, Pall.

Frequent near low water.

T. chrysodon Mont. \

T. nehulosa , Mont. V Attached to shells, Sec. — not rare.

T. constrictor , Mont. '

I have found two specimens of a minute species with only
eight tentacles, among tubes of sabellaria, perhaps the young
of some larger form, they resemble T. ostreata , Dalyell.

Ops, gen. nov. f One of the names of Cybele.J

Tube slender, strong but flexible when moist, coated with
minute, closely imbricated fragments of shell, attached
edgewise.

Worm terete, of equal breadth throughout (Vo inch).
Branchial fans two, terminal, very short, composed of soft,
thick, pectinated processes, the apices bifid, obtuse, incurved,
surrounding the mouth like a star, not ciliated. Between
the fans is a small scoop-like lip.

Bings distant, the upper one contracted at the apex, with
lateral tufts of setae, much shorter than the succeeding seg-
ments, which are six to eight times longer than broad.

Ventral surface channelled, on each side of it are pencils
of slender setae: and surrounding all but the ventral aspect
of each ring, a narroio rough band like a rasp , the surface
studded with conical papillae. No lateral hooks.

Anal rings narrower, ending in an obtuse point.

O. digitaia , sp. nov. Frequent opposite the Whitworth
guns, near low tide mark, accompanying species of Terebella.

Tube three to four inches long, tapering a little at each
end, which is open, as thick as a crow-quill. It has a very
neat appearance from the uniform size of the shell fragments.
Intestine simple, undulating, filled with mud and sand.
Peristome not longer than broad, when closed conical, the

188

flat, obtuse, fleshy segments curling inwards over the mouth.
Colour pinkish. There is a blood vessel on each side of the
intestine, but I could trace no circulation in the pectinated
fans, which seemed to be used by the worm to collect the
grains of sand, &c. The rasp-like collars, surrounding each
ring, are very curious.

There is an animal figured by Dalyell, Powers of the
Creator , &c., Vol. II., PI. xxxv. f. 4, 5, under the name of
clymene borealis , which may be identical with our species, but
the peristome is said to consist of 16 to 24 teeth, which are
figured as simple and recurved, te forming a shallow funnel.5’

This Annelid is simple in structure and very sluggish, and
it bears more resemblance to the Sipunculidce than to the
higher worms. In the peristome it reminds us of Chirodota
digitata , Esch. From Orthonia it differs in the rasp-like
band which surrounds each segment.

Sabella ventilabrum. Rare, cast up from deep water after
storms.

Captain Mitchell of Madras, three slides of Indian Diatom-
acese, and contents of seers fishes’ stomachs almost entirely
consisting of Diatomacese.

Dr. Alcock read a communication on i( Southport Natural

Serpula triguetra , L.

S. contortuplicata , L.
Spinorbis communis , Flem.
S. lucidus, Mont.

S. minuta, Mont.

uncommon on shells.

Attached to sea-weed, some-
times abundant.

Eooles, April 2, 1865.

April 24th, 1865.

Thomas Alcock, M.D., in the Chair.
Donations .

189

History.” He showed specimens of Tellina donacina, Modiola
tulipa and Fissurella reticulata found on the shore, also of
the large variety of the Solen ensis, some distorted shells of
Mactra stultorum and Syndosmya alba. Fissurella reticulata
had not hitherto been recorded as a Southport shell. He
made some observations on the Natterjack Toads, which were
spawning in marshy places among the sand hills, (April 1 8th
to 22nd,) exhibiting males and females living, and spawn
preserved in glycerine.

Mr. R. D. Darbxshire mentioned the occurrence of the Old
English or black rat in Messrs. Whitbread and Go’s brewery
in Chigwell street, London, and exhibited stuffed specimens
of male, female, and young.

Mr. G. E. Hunt exhibited specimens of a Campylopus
allied to C. setifolius, or possibly a new species.

Annual Meeting. May 15th, 1865.

Mr. J. Sidebotham, President, in the Chair.

The following officers for the ensuing session were duly
elected : —

^restoent

ARTHUR a. LATHAM.

Utre=3j8restttems.

JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

R. D. DARBXSHIRE, B.A., F.O.S.,

JOHN D. DANCER, F.R.A.S.

treasurer.

THOMAS H. NEVILL.

Secretaries.

H. A. HURST.

THOMAS ALCOCK, M.D.

190

@f ti)t Council.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

JOHN PARRY.

W. H. HEYS.

W. C. WILLIAMSON, F.R.S., Ac.

J. a. LYNDE.

J. WATSON.

O. H. GrRINDON.

THOMAS COWARD.

Donation,

Dr. Alcock presented to the Section 24 slides of mounted
Foraminifera from shore sand, coast of Galway.

A fine stuffed specimen of Osprey, shot at Rostherne Mere,
was exhibited by Mr. Harrison.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SECTION.

April 6th, 1865.

H. E. Roscoe, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S., Vice-Presi-
dent of the Section, in the Chair.

Mr. J. Sidebotham said that two of the chief points in his
paper, read on the 2nd February, were, that lenses either
very short or very long in focus did not give true transcripts
of nature ; in the long focus the objects in the distance look-
ing too near, and in the short focus too distant ; and that
lenses of from seven to ten inches focus gave correct per-
spective If large pictures were wanted they should be
enlarged from negatives taken with a short focus lens. The
second point was, that in all photographs there should be
introduced some standard of measure, so that the focus of the
lens being known, objects could be approximately measured.

Mr. J. B. Dancer remarked that in comparing pictures
taken by short and long focal lenses for the purpose of show-

191

ing the errors of perspective, it would be desirable to take
into account the angle included in the field of view, the
diameter of the stop, and the errors arising from the aberration
in the lenses employed. In order to obtain a view of photo-
graphic pictures which should approach as nearly as possible
to the view seen by the eye, they should be looked at through
lenses of corresponding foci to the lenses with which they
were taken.

Mr. James Mudd read a paper entitled “A Photo-
grapher’s Dream,” in which he pointed out that a good
picture is not due solely to the process or the apparatus used,
but that more was dependent on the careful study of the
laws of art, without which it was impossible, except by
accident, to produce an artistic picture.

Annual Meeting, May 18th, 1865.

Joseph Baxendell, F.K.A.S,, in the Chair.

The Secretary read the annual report, congratulating
the members on the success of their first session. The various
Papers read at the different meetings were referred to ; the
funds were also stated to be in a satisfactory condition.

The report was unanimously adopted.

The following gentlemen were elected to hold office during
the ensuing year -

^resttent.

THE RIGHT REV. THE LORD BISHOP OF MANCHESTER.

Pke=I]3rest&£nts.

J. P. JOULE, LL.D., F.R.S., &c.

H. E. ROSCOE, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

treasurer.

THOMAS H. NEYILL.

192

Secretary.

LESLIE J. MONTEFIORE.

Council.

J. B. DANCER, F.R.A.S.

E. C. BUXTON.

JOHN PARRY.

JOHN ROGrERSON.

JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

W* C. WILLIAMSON, F.R.S., &e.

Mr. George Wardley read a paper on “ Glass Trans-
parencies,” in the course of which he detailed the various
processes generally in use for printing glass transparencies,
dwelling especially on the modification of the taupenot, in
which, after coating the plate with collodion, instead of
immersing it in the sensitive bath, it is thoroughly washed
with water to get rid of the ether and alcohol, and is then
coated with iodised albumen ; the remainder of the process is
then exactly as the taupenot. The tannin process answered
well, but many prints were spoiled in consequence of halation.
The best preservatives for printing transparencies were a mix-
ture of tannin and honey, or tannin and raspberry syrup,
the former giving brown and the latter black tones. The
addition of the raspberry syrup to the tannin yielded pictures
entirely free from halation.

Dr. J. P. Joule, F.P.S., described some further im-
provements in his camera, by means of which glass only
came in contact with the silver solution.

The following paper was read at a meeting of the Micro-
scopical Section, held November 28th, 1864 — see page 52: —

“ Notes on Natural History Specimens lately received from
Connemara,” by Thomas Alcock, M.D.

The series of specimens which I have now to lay before
you is so extensive, and I believe so interesting, that parts of
it might properly form the material for several distinct com-
munications ; but at present I propose to show them as a

193

whole, and, with the specimens, to hand in as complete lists
as I can of the species in each class.

The richness of the coast of Galway is well known to every
student of British Marine Zoology ; for to whatever branch
of the subject he devotes himself he finds alike that here
some of his rarest treasures are to be obtained. It is not
with the hope of making known to you much that is new
that I am led to introduce this subject to your notice, but
chiefly because I am convinced that natural history work
amongst ourselves is best promoted by the formation of exact
lists of the species which we actually know to have been
found at some particular localities ; and such lists of Conne-
mara specimens, imperfect as they must necessarily be at
first, I have now to lay before you. It is however no more
than might be expected that in the course of careful examina-
tions of so many objects some points have occurred to me
which I think worthy of notice, and these I shall mention as
I come to them in their natural order.

In the first place I have to show specimens of three species
of Nulli pore— namely, N. polymorpha, N. calcarea, and N.
fasciculata ; also N. calcarea var. depressa.

The list of Foraminifera is an extensive one, especially
considering that all my specimens are from shore sand and
from one locality. This sand is from Dogs Bay, Roundstone,
and consists of many kinds of small shells of Mollusca,
among which Rissorn and Lacunae are most noticeable at
first sight, fragments of Lepraliae and other Zoophytes,
spines of Amphidotus, and sponge spicula, while the finer
parts are made up entirely of Foraminifera. Of these I
have found 58 species and named varieties, and also six
very distinct forms which are not mentioned in Professor
Williamson’s Monograph on Recent British Foraminifera.
Specimens of these, and of all the other forms contained in
the list are mounted for inspection.

In the course of my frequent examinations of these objects

194

1 have made a few observations on several of them, which
may perhaps be interesting.

I find Orbulina universa common in the Dogs Bay sand ;
that is, I have picked out some hundreds of specimens.
They vary greatly in size, the largest being four or five
times the diameter of the smallest. They have the surface
frosted with larger and smaller tubercles, arranged with a
certain kind of regularity, but, though thus rough externally,
the texture of the shell does not appear to be arenaceous as
stated by Professor Williamson, — at least, if by that term is
meant that it is formed of agglutinated grains of sand as is
the case with some other species. When examined with a
high power and transmitted light, the larger and smaller
tubercles show black from their density and the spaces
between them are partly occupied by objects like very trans-
parent thin plates, of a uniform size and an imperfectly
squared figure, the impression these convey being that they
have been produced by a kind of crystallization of the
material of the shell at the time of its original formation.
I conclude that the colourless condition of my specimens
depends on the perfect manner in which all animal matter
has disappeared, and I think for an examination of the mere
structure of the outer case this must be an advantage. It
may be interesting to note that among the specimens are a
few with one or more protuberances of parts of their surface,
destroying the regular spherical figure, and indicating an in-
cipient budding before the shell hardened ; there is also one
large and very handsome double specimen.

Besides the Orbulinas I have an example of another kind
of spherical object, which for convenience I will mention here,
though I do not suppose it to belong to the Foraminifera at
all. It looks like a sphere of the most transparent glass, and
is without colour or markings of any kind.

I have found all the forms of Lagena, excepting L. vulgaris
typica and L. gracilis. Lagena striata and interrupta are

195

abundant ; and these, with very few exceptions, have the
costae passing forward to the extremity of the neck, in which
case it is only one half of the whole number which do so, each
alternate one stopping short at the base. Specimens where
the costae wind spirally around the neck are equally common
with those in which they take a straight course. These
Lagenae have the appearance of old coarse shells, but they do
not seem to have suffered from attrition ; they are scarcely
ever found with the neck broken short, though it may perhaps
be almost equally rare to meet with one absolutely perfect.
The varieties — clavata, perlucida,-semistriata, and substriata,
are comparatively rare, and all of them have forms and charac-
ters very distinct from striata and interrupta, while the two
latter agree perfectly excepting in the matter of the costse,
which are found in different specimens to be interrupted in a
great variety of ways, those with the costse perfectly con-
tinuous being the least common ; so that the conclusion I am
inclined to come to is, that they need not be separated even
as varieties, and that, whatever doubts may remain as to some
of the other named varieties, the great abundance of these two
and the constancy of their general characters make it certain
that together they will form a good species under the name
of Lagena striata. A few specimens of this species have a
macro at the base, and deformed ones are not uncommon ;
these, besides having the body variously mis-shapen, often
have the neck bent, sometimes even so much as to give the
specimen the form of a retort.

The Dogs Bay sand contains many forms of Entosolenia,
some of them agreeing with those described by Professor
Williamson, but others distinct; and of these latter I have
ventured to name two, which may be described as follows ~
1. Entosolenia Williamsoni , a very abundant form, might
pass at first sight for Lagena striata with the neck broken
away, but a close examination shows it is a perfect shell, the
body like L, striata but rather less full in proportion to its
©

196

length than is usual in Connemara specimens, and the tex-
ture a little more glassy ; its chief peculiarity however is in
the neck, w hich is short and formed of two distinct portions,
the first directly continuous with the body and having an
outline similar to that of the lower part of the neck of Lagena
abruptly cut short, and the second a cylindrical tube of com-
paratively small diameter continued from the middle of it.
The first portion is ornamented with three circles of hexa-
gonal reticulations, which are continuous below by their
inferior angles with the longitudinal costae of the body, and
present an interesting combination of the superficial charac-
ters of E. costata and E. squamosa.— 2. Entosolenia Montagui
is a squamous form, but differs from the named varieties of
E. squamosa in having its surface really covered with a pat-
tern like scales instead of with raised reticulations. Well
developed specimens are not at all flattened, though many
are found as if crushed, and they then present an appearance
resembling a dried fig. ; the true shape however is a perfect
oval, full and well rounded at the smaller end, and from the
middle of this projects a short smooth cylindrical tube. With
a low power of the microscope, the whole surface of the body
appears to be made up of small almost square facets arranged
in distinct longitudinal rows, but when these are more highly
magnified each flattened surface is seen to rise a little ante-
riorly, and to have the front border rounded so as to give
exactly the appearance of a covering of scales.

So far as I have yet seen the forms of Dentalina and
Cristellaria are very rare in this sand, Nonionina JefFreysii
and elegans are also scarce, but Patellina corrugata, which
is described as a rare species, is not very uncommon, and
some remarkably fine specimens have been met with. All
the forms of Rotalina occur excepting two, and there are
several undescribed ones in addition ; at present I have seen
only one specimen of the rare species, R. inflata. There
are two distinct varieties of Globigerina, one with the

197 .

chambers globular, the other having them considerably flat-
tened, which gives quite a different character to the shell.
Truncatulina lobata is by far the most abundant species, and
with Miliolina seminulum, constitutes the chief bulk of the
the sand. The two forms of Cassidulina are equally common,
and specimens have not been met with presenting inter-
mediate links. Polymorphina lactea occurs in profusion, and,
though the forms which are distinguished as typica, oblonga,
and communis are well marked, a considerable proportion of
the whole number of specimens collected seem to indicate an
absence of any definite plan in the arrangement of the seg-
ments, the chambers being evidently thrown together without
order, and in some cases producing an irregular nodulated
mass, with two, three, or more distinct and perfectly formed
open mouths on different parts of the surface. I find also
specimens consisting of nothing more than the primordial
segment, and these might be mistaken for a form of
Entosolenia globosa but for the peculiar texture of the shell
and the radiating grooves around the mouth ; they are
worthy, I think, of particular notice, as possibly capable of
furnishing some more reliable marks of distinction than are
found in adult shells, though at present all I have seen are of
one character.

The forms of Textularia are numerous, and among them
are four which can readily be separated, but may still pass
for varieties of T. cuneiformis ; one of them however differs
considerably in having the texture of the shell much finer,
and the chambers full and rounded. Textularia conica is
abundant, and its character, in these Connemara specimens,
is so distinct from T. cuneiformis that it seems impossible to
admit it as only a variety of that species. In many of the
specimens the apex of the cone is broken, exposing always
three chambers, which are arranged like a trefoil and are
placed almost on the same plane.

An examination of the specimens before you of the two

198

forms of Biloculina, named respectively in Professor William-
son’s Work,-— B. ringens, typica and B. ringens, var. carinata,
will suggest, I think, a doubt as to whether it is correct to
throw them together as one species, the texture of the shells as
well as the form of their mouths being very different.

All the named varieties of Miliolina occur in abundance,
and among them are great numbers of evidently distorted
and misshapen specimens which appear to me to give no
help whatever in the way of supplying inosculating forms,
but may prove useful by indicating facts bearing on the
general development of the animals. Specimens with the
last chamber, not broken but clearly left incomplete, are by
no means uncommon.

Lepralice. — The specimens of many species of Lepralise
which I have to show are from dead shells picked up from
the shore of Dogs Bay, and from others dredged at the mouth
of Birterbuy Bay. These promise a very rich harvest,- and
indications of a great number of species are further given by
the specimens of detached cells and fragments picked out
from the shell-sand, though the latter are generally too
broken to serve for exact examination or description. At
present I have done very little with the specimens, but can-
not altogether omit mentioning them. Lepralia figularis is
common, and the specimens are very beautiful ones. There
are also many examples of a species nearly agreeing, but not
quite identical, with Johnston’s Lepralia ovalis ; and Lepralia
ciliata var.jS of Johnston, Mr. Hassall’s Lepralia insignis, is
plentiful. There are many other striking forms which I
have not yet had the means to identify, besides common ones
about which there is no doubt ; but at present I must pass
over the subject without attempting to give a list.

Echinodermata. — The present list includes ten species,
and on the table are very handsome specimens of four of
these, namely, TTraster glacialis and U. violacea, Luidia
fragillissima and Echinus lividus. The acquisition of the two

199

species of U raster just mentioned, which were not before in
the Museum collection, led me to compare them with XJraster
rubens, and see if some more reliable distinctions might not
be found than the slight differences of proportion and form
on which Forbes lays the most stress. The result of this
examination is that the strong spines with which the bodies
of all three are beset offer at once a clear and simple means
of distinction, their character in each species being decidedly
different.

The spine of XJraster rubens is club-shaped, the base
spreading, and irregularly nodulated, the short shaft cylin-
drical and smooth, and the head barrel-shaped and beset
with longitudinal rows of thin triangular projecting points.
That of U. violacea has the basal part rising in the form of a
short wide cylinder, crowned with an irregular circle of short
spinules, from the midst of which the spine is continued in a
conical shape, and near its summit is armed with rows of
triangular projecting points like those of U. rubens. While
that of U. glaeialis has the form of a large strong cone with
a very wide base rising from a dense circular bed of small
blunt spinules. The apex of the cone appears truncated,
and its sides near the top are marked with a few slight serra-
tions.

Entomostraca.—lxi the shell-sand from which the Fora-
minifera were obtained great numbers of the cases of ento-
mostraca occur. Specimens have been picked out of Cy there
albo-maculata, angustata, variabilis, davida, convexa, im-
pressa, pellucida,and quadridentata, the last mentioned species
being rather common ; and besides these X have to show
mounted specimens of about thirty forms perfectly distinct
from one another and from those above mentioned. At pre-
sent however, from want of knowledge of what has been
recently done in this subject, X am obliged to pass them
over.

Crustacea. The collection of Crustacea before you forms

200

in itself a very handsome result of Mr. R. D. Darbishire’s one
day’s dredging in Birterbuy Bay, and among the specimens
are some choice species, as Eurynome aspera, Ebalia Bryeri
and Cranchii and Atelecyclus heterodon. These and indeed all
the other specimens, form valuable additions to the Museum
collection, which promises soon to become really useful for
study and reference. The plan adopted of showing the speci-
mens dried, mounted on glass and enclosed in glass-lidded
boxes, has been found quite satisfactory, preserving them
both from dust and damage by handling, while by properly
displaying several specimens of a species in different positions
every part may be clearly seen.

Mollusca . — The list of Mollusca which I have next to
present contains 138 species, including those dredged in
Birterbuy Bay ; the others are ali beach specimens, collected
by Mr. Glover and Mr. Darbishire, or picked out since from
the shell sand.

The fact that 16 species of small land shells have been
found in considerable numbers in the sand, along with the sea
shells and foraminifera, may be worth notice; more or less
of such an admixture is, I believe, not uncommon, but in the
present case the proportions appear to be unusual, and the very
great abundance of Helix pulchella is certainly remarkable.
It should be mentioned, too, that Mr. Glover has collected
from the sandy strip of ground separating Dogs Bay from
Gorteen Bay many dead bleached specimens of Helix
nemoralis and a few of H. aspersa remarkable for the great
thickness and weight of the shells, in consequence of a very
excessive deposition of calcareous matter in their substance ;
no similar shells in the living state have been found in the
neighbourhood, though carefully looked for.

As to the sea shells, I shall mention only a few that have
particularly attracted my notice. Otina otis was found on a
mass of small living mussels brought by Mr. Glover. Csecum
glabrum is very abundant in the sand, and I have picked out

201

some scores of specimens of this shell in the young state with
the spiral nucleus attached, besides great numbers of separate
spirals; the intermediate length of tube between the young
and the adult state increases rapidly in size, and has a decidedly
conical shape, so that the whole length of the shell, if it were
to remain entire, would not be so great as might be supposed
from seeing only the young and the mature portions. Skenea
rota occurs sparingly ; I have seen about half-a-dozen speci-
mens. The minute shells which have proved perhaps the most
interesting are those of the fry of different species of limpet,
four forms of which have been met with ; they are exceedingly
abundant in the shell sand, and three of the species have a
distinct spiral cap surmounting the apex of the conical part.
The series of mounted specimens shows very clearly the
several stages of growth to the adult form, and it will be seen
that an internal partition is formed by degrees until at last it
completely divides the interior of the cone from that the larval
cap, which then drops off, leaving a depressed oval scar near
the apex. Patella pellucida is at once distinguished by its
brilliant greenish-blue marks ; it is smooth and has a semi-
transparent horn colour, much like that of the adult, though
it gives little promise of the elegant shape it afterwards grows
to ; the larval cap is large and its spiral character distinct.
A second form has so much the appearance of Patella vulgata
that I shall venture to call it so. The cap is smaller than in
P. pellucida, and the conical shell is opaque and strong, and
has radiating ribs and markings of colour resembling the adult
P. vulgata ; in this shell the scar left when the cap has fallen
is much deeper and coarser than in P. pellucida. A third
form, which i$ much the most abundant in the sand, has a
smooth, delicate, colourless shell, sometimes quite transparent,
but often partly or wholly opaque ; the cap is always white
and has the appearance of a drop of wax on the apex of the
cone. In this species the conical shell from its first com-

202

mencement appears to grow uniformly and regularly around
the margin of the larval shell, and thus at once becomes a
complete cone, while in P. pellucida the growth is at first
entirely on one side, forming as it were a very large and
expanded outer lip. I refer the present shell, though without
positive proof, to Acmcea virginea. The fourth limpet-like
shell is quite different from those already mentioned, it forms
a more depressed cone, and is strong, with a translucent flinty
texture, and the surface is marked with numerous fine, equal,
radiating ribs. There is no deciduous cap, but the apex of
the cone is a little flattened and presents a circular area,
which is smooth and glassy, and appears as though a small
transparent button were sunk into the substance of the
shell.

The occurrence of the shells of fry of great numbers of
species both of univalve and bivalve mollusca in the sample of
sand from Dogs Bay which I am examining, has led me to
attempt their identification with the view of obtaining inform-
ation as to the characters of some of the larval, or more
properly speaking foetal, forms, which have not hitherto been
observed. In this inquiry it is necessary to give a more
definite meaning to the term u Fry” than has generally been
done, for it appears to have been used indifferently for the
foetal shell as it comes from the egg, and for the young which
has grown considerably beyond that condition. Shells of the
latter kind still show the foetal shell perfectly, and at the same
time display characters in the aftergrowth by which at all
events the genus, and in some cases the species may be
determined, and it is specimens with these double characters
that I shall distinguish as fry. At present I will leave
the microscopic univalve shells without further notice, except-
ing to remark that, while as a rule all foetal shells are smooth
and glassy, there are among the univalves some striking
exceptions, where the shell is beautifully sculptured, as in

203

some exquisite little specimens apparently the fry of Murex
erinaceus. The whole shell (fig.
1) is of a transparent horn brown
colour, and is covered with raised
reticulations most gracefully dis-
posed ; those on the nucleus are
longitudinal and transverse, en-
closing minute square depressions ;
while on the succeeding whorls they
are diagonal in opposite directions,
and form diamond-shaped areolae.

The bivalves have at present en-
gaged most of my attention, and
several of them will deserve a short
notice. One of the most remarkable
2) which I refer to Anomia. It is trans-
parent, and talclike in texture,
and is very thin and delicate, so
as to be almost always found
more or less broken at the edges.
Its substance is excavated by
numerous tubes similar to those
described by Dr. W. Carpenter
in Anomia, and these tubes ra-
j diate from the edge of the nucleus
in all directions to the margin of
the sheik The nucleus itself is
very glassy and transparent, and
full and rounded in shape,
though still indistinctly triangular.
But the singular feature in these specimens is that the growing
shell, which completely surrounds the nucleus in the same
way that it does in Ostrea, here leaves a small round hole on
each side of the beak.— The fry of Ostrea edulis is common ;
the foetal shell also occurs separate, and is readily distin-

f

204

guished by having a notch about the middle of the ventral
margin and by one of the valves being flatter than the other. —
Shells having the form of Pecten are found in abundance,
and about half a dozen kinds have been made out, though at
present these cannot be referred to their species, the characters
which distinguish them being of a different nature from those
found in the adult shells ; for, contrary to what is usually the
case, the Pectens grow to a considerable microscopic size before
the proper sculpture begins to be formed, and this intermediate
growth resembles neither the foetal shell nor the adult in
structure. All the young Pectens which have been observed
have a rounded shape like P. opercularis, and in all of them
the nucleus is smooth, glassy, and transparent, with the valves
ventricose and obscurely triangular, like those of Anomia.
One form differs from all the others in having the intermediate
growth entirely composed of cellular structure, which might
lead to a suspicion that it is Avicula, but the general character
is strictly that of Pecten. As might be expected from the
conditions under which the specimens are found, none are
double, and it may be worth mentioning that those with a
cellular structure are flat, and, as far as has yet been observed,
are all the same valve. The other forms are convex, and
have the external surface pitted over with more or less numer-
ous deeply excavated depressions of various forms, differently
arranged so as to make so many distinct patterns. — Lima sub ~
auriculata is not uncommonly found of microscopic size, and
it agrees with the characters given of the adult, excepting
that the strong middle line is externally a furrow and inter-
nally a ridge, instead of the reverse. In this shell no dis-
tinct line of demarcation is seen between the foetal shell and

the aftergrowth Crenella presents an unusual case, as

shown by the series of mounted specimens, in which the
growth is seen to be continued to a considerable size on the
plan of the original foetal shell, and then suddenly changes
to a totally different character, as has been already observed

205

by Mr. Jeffreys {Brit. Conch , vol. ii. p. 132.) — Area tetra-
gona shows a remarkable nucleus, which differs from almost
all others I have seen in being amber-coloured or light brown,
and it has, scattered over its surface, a few marks which
appear like short deeply-implanted hairs. Two species of
Cardium have been distinguished, namely C. edule and
C. echinatum ; both have the foetal shell smooth, transparent,
and globular, but that of C. echinatum is considerably the
larger. Several species of Venus have been observed, and in
all of them the foetal shell is small, globular, and glassy. The
fry of Tapes is characteristic, and the form of it which I have
found appears to agree with T. virginea. 1 must pass over
many other shells about which there is more or less doubt,
and will at present mention only one more, namely Saxicava
rugosa , which is the most abundant of all the species in the
Dogs Bay sand. The nucleus is very large, glassy, and
transparent, and resembles a Cyclas in shape. The fry of
this species shows very well how completely the characters of
the adult shell are dormant in the foetal state, and how im-
mediately they are sometimes assumed with the first growth
beyond that condition.

In conclusion I have only to say that I trust the results of
further examinations of this very rich shore deposit will justify
me in having introduced it to your notice, although at present
my observations are so slight and imperfect ; and I will further
venture to express the hope that the large collection of speci-
mens before you may tempt other members of the Section to
visit the coast of Galway and make additions to the subjoined
lists.

LIST OF SPECIES FROM ROUNDSTONE.
1864.

Foraminifera.

Orbulina universa. Globigerina bulloides.

Lagena vulgaris var. clavata. Planorbulina vulgaris.

,, var. perlucida. Truncatulina lobata.

206

Lagena vulgaris var. semistriata.

„ var. striata,

„ var. interrupta.

j, var. substriata.

Entosolenia globosa var. lineata.

„ costata.

„ marginata.

„ „ var. lucida.

„ Williamsoni (N.S.)

„ squamosa, typica.

„ „ var. scalariformis.

„ „ var. catenulata.

,, „ hexagona.

„ Montagui (N.S.)

Nodosaria radicula.

„ Pyrula.

Nonionina Barleeana.

„ Jeffreysii.

„ elegans.

Polystomella crispa.

„ umbilicatula.

Patellina corrugata.

Rotalina Beccarii.

,, inflata.

„ oblonga.

Bulimiua pupoides, typica.

„ „ var. marginata.

Uvigerina angulosa.

Cassidulina laevigata,

„ obtusa.

Polymorphina lactea, typica.

„ „ oblonga.

„ „ communis.

„ myristiformis.

Textularia cuneiformis, typica.

„ „ var. conica-

,, variabilis.

„ „ var. spathulata.

„ „ var. difformis.

Biloculina ringens, typica.

„ „ var. carinata-

Spiroloculina depressa, typica.

„ „ var. rotundata-

„ „ var. cymbium.

Miliolina trigonula.

„ semmulum.

,, „ var. oblonga.

„ ,, var. disciformis.

„ bicornis, typica.

„ „ var. angulata.

„ concamerata.
„ mamilla.

„ nitida.

Ophiura texturata.
Ophiocoma rosula.
Uraster glacialis.

„ violacea.

„ rubens
Asterina gibbosa.

Spirilina foliacea.

* „ perforata.

Echinodermata.

Luidia fragillissima.

Echinus lividus.

Echinocyamus pusillus (in shell
sand)

Amphidotus (spines in shell sand)

Crustacea.

Stenorhynchus phalangium.
Inachus Dorsettensis.

Hyas coarctatus.

Eurynome aspera.

Zantho florida.

Ebalia Pennantii.

„ Bryeri.

„ Cranchii.
Atelecyclus heterodon.
Pagurus Bernhardus.

207

Zantho rivulosa.

Cancer pagurus.

Carcinus maenas.

Portunus puber.

„ corrugatus.

„ depurator.

,, pusillus.

Gonoplax angulata.

Vitrina pellucida.

Zonites cellarius.

„ crystallinus.

Helix ericetorum.

„ lamellata.

„ fulva.

„ pulchella.

,, rotundata.

Pupa umbilicata.

„ muscorum.

„ Yenetzii.

Clausilia nigricans.

Zua lubrica.

Limnaeus truncatulus.

Conovulus bidentatus.

Carychium minimum.

Murex erinaceus.

Nassa reticulata.

„ incrassata.

,, pygmaea.

Purpura lapillus.

Mangelia nebula.

^ costata.

„ rufa.

„ linearis.

„ attenuata.

„ turricula.

Cypraea Europaea.

Lamellaria perspicua.

Otina otis.

Cerithiopsis tubercularis.

Pagurus Prideauxii.

„ Cuanensis.

«

,, laevis.

Porcellana platycheles.

„ longicornis.
Galathea squamifera.
Crangon vulgaris.
Palaemon serratus.

Ligia oceanica.

Mollusca.

Trochus cinerarius.

„ magus.

„ Montagui.

„ umbilicatus.

„ zizyphinus.

Phasianella pullus.
Ianthina exigua.

,, communis.
Puncturella Noachina.
Fissurella reticulata.
Acmaea virginea.

Patella vulgata.

,, athletica.

„ pellucida.

Dentalium entale.
Cylichna cylindracea.

„ truncata.
Pleurobranchus plumula.
Spirialis Flemingii.
Anomia aculeata.

ephippium.
Pecten maximus.

„ opercularis.

„ varius.

Lima Loscombii.

- „ subauriculata.
Mytilus edulis
Area tetragona.
Pectunculus glycimeris.
Nucula nucleus.

Cardium echinatum.

Chemnitzia elegantissima.

Eulima distorta.

Cerithium reticulatum.

„ adversum.

Turritella communis.

Ccecum giabrum.

Seal aria communis.

Skenea planorbis.

,, rota.

Rissoa cingillus.

„ labiosa.

„ inconspicua.

„ parva.

„ punctura.

„ rubra.

,, striata.

„ ulvse.

Lacuna vincta.

„ puteolus.

„ pallidula.

Litorina litoralis.

„ litorea.

„ neritoides.

„ rudis.

„ saxatilis.

ADDITIONAL LIST

Gastrochoena modiolina.

Thracia convexa (valve.)

„ distorta (living.)

Solen siliqua.

Solecurtus candidus.

Psammobia vespertina.

„ ferroensis.

Tellina crassa.

„ tenuis.

„ solidula.

Mactra solida.

Tapes decussata.

Circe minima (living.)

Lucina flexuosa.

Cardium fasciatum.

„ Norvegicum.

„ pygmseum.

Lucina borealis.

Kellia suborbicularis.

Turtonia minuta.

Montacuta ferruginosa.

Venus casina.

„ fasciata.

„ ovata.

„ striatula.

„ verrucosa.

Artemis exoleta.

„ lincta.

Tapes aurea.

„ virginea.

Lutraria elliptica.

Tellina donacina.

Syndosmya alba.

Saxicava rugosa.

„ „ var. arctica.

Lyonsia Norvegica.

OF DREDGED SHELLS.
Modiola modiolus.
Crenella marmorata.
Area tetragona (living.)
Anomia patelliformis.
Chiton discrepans.

„ asellus.

„ cinerarius.

„ cancellatus.
Emarginula reticulata.
Trochus lineatus.

Rissoa Beanii.

Buccinum undatum.
Philine aperta.

„ catena.

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

OF

MANCHESTER,

VOL. V.

Session 1865-66.

MANCHESTEE s

PRINTED BY THOS. SOWLER AND SONS, ST. ANN’S SQUARE.
LONDON : H. BAILLIERE, 219, REGENT STREET.

1866.

NOTE.

The object which the Society have in view in publishing their Proceed-
ings, is to give an immediate and succinct account of the scientific and
other business transacted at their meetings, to the members and the general
public. The various communications are supplied by the authors them-
selves, who are alone responsible for the facts and reasonings contained
therein.

INDEX.

Ainsworth Thomas. — On a Predisposing Cause of Cattle Disease, p. 21.

Alcock Thomas, M.D. — Questions regarding the Life History of the Fora-
minifera, suggested by Examinations of their Dead Shells, p. 15.
Foraminifera from Dogs Bay, p. 99. On Foraminifera from a Shell of
Halia Priamus, p. 123. Embryonic Shells of Mollusca, p. 166.

Bates Rev. J. C., M.A., F.R.A.S. — Results of Rain Q-augeand Anemometer
Observations made during the year 1865, at St. Martin’s Parsonage,
Castleton Moor, p. 168.

Baxendell J., F.R.A.S., Hon. Sec.— Auroral Phenomena, October 19 and 26,
1865, p. 15. On a Probable Cause of the Cattle Disease, p. 21. Note
on the Variable Star S Delphini, p. 28. On Meteors, p. 59. Note on
the Variable Star T Aquilse, p. 88. Cattle Plague, p. 91. Storm
Warnings in India, p. 101. Note on the Variable Star S Corona), p.
109. On the Determination of the Mean Form of the Light-Curve
of a Variable Star, p. 112. On the Fall of Rain during the Different
Hours of the Day, as deduced from a series of Observations made by
the Rev. J. C. Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S., at St. Martin’s Parsonage,
Castleton Moor, p. 129. New Variable Star R Crateris, p. 191.

Binney E. W., F.R.S., F.G-.S., V.P.— On the Difficulties of Working Deep
Coal Mines, p. 12. On Fossil Wood found in calcareous nodules in
the lower coal seams of Lancashire and Yorkshire, p. 61. On Fossil
Wood in calcareous nodules found in the Upper Foot Coal, near Old-
ham, p. 113. On a singular Mineral found in a nodule of clay iron-
stone from the North Staffordshire coal field, p. 147. On the
Humming-bird Hawk Moth, p. 161.

Bottomley J. — On the Probable Effect of the Exhaustion of the Coal Fields
upon the Condition of the Atmosphere, p. 45.

Brockbank W. — Notes on a Section of Chat Moss, near Astley Station, p. 91.
On the Liassic and Oolitic Iron Ores of Yorkshire and the East Midland
Counties, p. 119.

VI

Brothers A., F.R.A.S. — Photographs of the Eclipse of the Moon, Oct. 4,
1865, p. 3. On Celestial Photography, p. 68. On Mr. Rogerson’s
Method of Cleaning Glass Plates, p. 134. On an Experiment Illus-
trating the Appearances of Sun Spots, p. 171. On a Meteoric Body
Crossing the Moon’s Disc, p. 172. Note on the First Use of Hypo-
sulphite of Soda in Photography, p. 181.

Clifton Prof. R. B., M.A., F.R.A.S. — An Attempt to Refer Some Pheno-
mena Attending the Emission of Light to Mechanical Principles, p. 24.

Cockle Chief Justice, M.A., F.R.A.S., F.C.P.S. — On Coresolvents, p. 13.

Dancer J. B., F.R.A.S. — On the Eclipse of the Moon, Oct. 4, 1865, p. 9.
Illumination of Opaque Objects under the High Powers of the Micro-
scope, pp. 31, 42, and 55. On the Boulton and Watt Pictures,
p. 134, 157.

Dickinson W. L. — Eclipse of the Sun, Oct. 19, 1865, p. 2. Eclipse of the
Sun, Oct. 8, 1866, and Occultations of Aldebaran, Sept. 28 and Nov.
22, 1866, p. 170.

Dyer J. C., Y.P. — Breaking of the Atlantic Cable, p. 1. Notes on the Origin
of Several Mechanical Inventions, and their Subsequent Application
to Different Purposes, Part I., p. 5 ; Part II., p. 48; Part III., p. 102.
Notes on Cotton Spinning Machinery, Part II., Roving Frames, p. 148.

Greaves George, M.R.C.S. — On the Internal Heat of the Earth as a
Source of Motive Power, p. 1.

Hardy Mr. — On a Large Cetacean Vertebra found in the Valley of the Don,
p. 32.

Heelis Thomas, F.R.A.S. — On a Coal Basin between Mount Olympus and
the Bay of Oraniska, p. 13. On Meteors, p. 58.

Herschel Sir J. F. W., Bart., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., &c. — On a Method of
Cooling the Workings of Deep Coal Mines, p. 11.

Hull E., F.G.S. — The Raised Beach on the Coast of Cantyre, p. 13. On
the Liassic and Oolitic Iron Ores of Yorkshire and the East Midland
Counties, p. 119.

Hurst H. A. — On late Improvements in Illuminating Opaque Objects under
the Higher Powers of the Microscope, p. 64.

Jevons W. S., M.A. — On a Logical Abacus, p. 161.

Johnson J. R. — On the Pantascopic Camera, p. 135.

vn

Joule J. P., LL.D., F.R.S., V.P. — Camera for Outdoor Work without a
Tent, p. 4. Effect of the Aurora of Oct. 19, 1865, on his Magnetic
Needle, p. 15. Photographs of the Sun, p. 85. On a New Balance,
pp. 145, 165.

Knott George, F.R.A.S. — On the November Meteors, as observed at Wood-
croft, Cuckfield, Sussex, Nov. 12-18, 1865, p. 56. Light-curve of
R Vulpeculse, p. 59. Results of Observations of T Aquilse, p. 90. On
the Variable Star R Vulpeculse, p. 124. Results of a Comparison of
the Magnitudes of the Bedford Catalogue with those of the Mensurse
Micrometricse- and the Bonner Sternverzeichniss, p. 187.

Latham Arthur G. — On Two Beetles nearly Allied to Rhynchophorus
Palmarum, p. 193.

Linton James. — On the Humming-bird Hawk Moth, p. 105.

Mackereth T., P.R.A.S. — Rainfall at Eccles for 1864, p. 10. Results of
Rain Gauge and Anemometer Observations at Eccles during the year
1865, p. 107.

Nasmyth James, C.E. — On the Casting, Grinding, and Polishing of Specula
for Reflecting Telescopes, Part. I., p. 181.

Parry John. — On Collecting Foraminifera on the West Coast of Ireland,
p. 42.

Roberts W., M.D. — Injurious Effects produced by burning Pharaoh’s Ser-
pents in Close Rooms, p. 33.

Roscoe Prof. H. E., F.R.S., Hon. Sec. — Enlarged Photograph of the Moon
by Mr. Rutherford, p. 1. Injurious Effects of inhaling Mercury
Vapour, p. 33. Meteorological Registration of the Chemical Action
of Daylight, p. 96. On the Didymium Spectrum, p. 147.

Sidebotham J. — Notes on Atlantic Soundings, p. 18. Notes on Acherontia
atropos, p. 19. Discovery of Apion ononis, a species of Curculio, in
the Isle of Anglesey, p. 20. On the Application of Measuring Rods to
Photographic Pictures, p. 67. Cement for Use in Mounting Fluid
Preparations of Objects for the Microscope, p. 98. On the Boulton
and Watt Pictures, p. 134, 150.

Smith R. Angus, F.R.S., P. — Effect of Dews and Fogs in producing Epi-
demics, p. 22. Abrasion of Iron Rails on Railways, p. 23. On Air
from off the Atlantic, and from some London Law Courts* p. 115.

vm

SonStadt E. — Note on the Purification of Platinum, p. 117.

Thorpe T. E. — On the Amount of Carbonic Acid contained in the Air above
the Irish Sea, p. 33.

Vernon Gk V., F.R.A.S., M.B.M.S.—Remarks on the Barometric Disturb-
ances during the Months of October, November, and December, 1865,
p. 85. Rainfall for 1865, p. 87.

Meetings of the Physical and Mathematical Section. — Annual, p. 124. Ordi-
nary, pp. 9, 28, 56, 85, 107, 168, 187.

Meetings of the Microscopical and Natural History Sections. — Annual, p. 193.
Ordinary, pp. 18, 42, 64, 98, 105, 122, 166.

Meetings of the Photographical Section. — Annual, p. 192. Ordinary, pp. 3,
67, 96, 134, 181.

Report of the Council. — April 17, 1866, p. 173.

PROCEEDINGS

OP

THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY.

Ordinary Meeting, October 3rd, 1865,

Edward Schunck, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., Vice-President, in

the Chair.

Dr. Roscoe exhibited an enlarged photograph of the
moon, 21 inches in diameter, taken by Mr. L. M. Ruther-
ford, of New York, on the 6th of March last. Mr. Brothers,
Mr. Vernon, and other members, pronounced it to be the
best lunar photograph they had seen, and decidedly superior
to any yet produced in this country.

Mr. Dyer, referring to the breaking of the Atlantic Cable,
expressed his surprise that no apparatus had been provided
to seize and secure the end of the cable when the rupture
took place, as contrivances for a similar purpose were in use
in almost every cotton mill.

A paper was read “ On the Internal Heat of the Earth as
a Source of Motive Power,” by Mr. George Greaves,

M.R.C.S.

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vql. V. — No. 1. — Session 1865-6.

2

It has been very generally admitted that coal will not
cease to be furnished because of the exhaustion of the stores
of the mineral now existing in the coal measures ; and fur-
ther, that the obstacles to the continued working of the
mines will not be engineering difficulties. The increased
depth from which the coal will have to be brought may add
to the cost, but at that increased cost it will still be for a long
time obtainable. The author considered the real insur-
mountable obstacle to be the high temperature of the lower
portions of the carboniferous strata. That temperature had
been shown to be at a depth of 4,000 feet at least 120° Fahr.,
a degree of heat in which human beings cannot exist for any
length of time, much less use any exertion. It had occurred
to the author to inquire whether the very agency which will
prevent the continued supply of fossil fuel might not be made
the means of rendering that supply unnecessary — whether,
in short, the internal heat of the earth might not to some
extent be utilised. One or two modes of doing this had pre-
sented themselves to his mind. One of these might, he con-
ceived, be the direct production of steam power by bringing
a supply of water from the surface in contact with the heated
strata by means of artesian borings or otherwise.

Mr. W. L. Dickinson read the following note on the
eclipse of the sun which will take place on the 19th instant :

Calculation for Manchester (Royal Infirmary), Lat. N.
53° 29', Long. W. 2° 14'.

At Manchester a partial eclipse is partly visible, and

h. m. s.

Begins October 19th — 4 8 12

Greatest phase ...October 19th — 5 4 2

Greenwich mean time.

At Manchester the sun will set at 5h. 2m. Greenwich
mean time.

3

Magnitude of the eclipse (sun’s diameter = 1) 0*293, on
the sun’s southern limb.

Angle, from north pole, of first contact 120°) towards the

Angle, from vertex, of first contact 153°) west
for direct image.

The situation of the point of first contact may be familiarly
illustrated in the following manner. If we suppose a Victoria
shilling to represent the sun, the moon will appear first to
touch it on the right side near the bottom, at the letter D.

PHOTOGRAPHICAL SECTION.

October 5th, 1865.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., Vice-President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Messrs. Coote and Rogerson exhibited a series of very
fine pantascopic photographs of scenes in Switzerland, taken
by M. Adolphe Braun, of Dornach. Each picture was about
twenty-one inches in length, and the angle of view was
stated to be one hundred and twenty degrees.

Mr. A. Brothers, F.R. A.S., exhibited an interesting series
of photographs, taken during the eclipse of the moon, on
the evening of Wednesday, October 4th. Commencing
at 8.45, when the moon was nearly full, the negatives, twenty
in number, were taken at intervals of about 12 minutes
until 12.45, and they show the progress of the eclipse
throughout. The effect of the penumbral shadow of the
earth is distinctly visible on the negative taken at 9.15, and also
on the one taken at 12.32. An attempt was made during the
middle of the eclipse to obtain the photographic image of the
entire surface of the moon ; but it was found that the portion

4

covered by the earth’s shadow had no effect on the plate after
an exposure of 1 5 seconds, although distinctly visible in the
telescope. It was noticed that the southern limb of the
moon showed the copper-coloured tint often seen during
total lunar eclipses, and to this cause may be attributed the
non-actinic effect on the sensitized plate. An exposure of
about one or two tenths of a second gave the fully illuminated
surface of the moon perfectly, but the parts covered by the
penumbra were not defined, while an exposure of three
seconds gave the outline of the earth's shadow with great
distinctness, and an exposure of two seconds brought out
some of the detail within the penumbra. Some of the
negatives were obtained almost instantaneously.

The telescope with which these pictures of the moon were
taken is an equatorial of 5 inches aperture and 6 feet focal
length, driven by clockwork. This telescope gives the image
of the moon about xiths of an inch in diameter, but by
using a Barlow’s lens this size is increased to 1 J inch, and
with this addition the eighteenth negative of the series was
obtained in two seconds.

Dr. Joule, F.R.S., exhibited and explained the construc-
tion of a camera which he had contrived for outdoor work
without a tent.

In this camera the operation was carried on by the succes-
sive introduction of the sensitizing and developing baths, the
mode of the application of the baths being similar to that
already described by the author. By a special arrangement
the holders of the plate are preserved from contact with the
developing solution.

5

Ordinary Meeting, October 17th, 1865.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S,, F.G.S., &c., Vice-President, in
the Chair.

Mr. Forrest stated that he had in his possession a very
extensive collection of Shakespeare memorials, which he
would gladly allow any member of the Society to inspect.

A paper was read entitled Notes on the Origin of several
Mechanical Inventions, and their subsequent application to
different purposes,” by J. C. Dyer, V.P.

1st. — Lace Making Machine.

The bobbin net trade at Nottingham had been carried on
by women working on cushions or lace frames until about
the beginning of this century, when the process was super-
seded by the lace making machine, invented by the late Mr.
John Heathcoat, M.P. Mr. Heathcoat commenced his ex-
periments by stretching common packing threads across his
room for the warp , and then passing, by common plyers, the
weft threads between the cords, delivering them into other
plyers on the opposite side, and then, after giving them a
sideways motion, repassing the threads back between the
next adjoining cords, and thus effecting the intersecting or
tying of the meshes in the same way as they were formed on
the cushions worked by hand. His next step was to provide
thin metallic discs to be used as bobbins ” for conducting
the thread back and forth through the warp. These discs
being arranged in carrier frames, placed on each side of the

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. V. — No. 2. — Session 1865-6.

6

warps, were moved by suitable machinery so as to conduct
the threads from side to side to form the lace. The limits
of this abstract do not allow any detailed description of Mr.
Heathcoat’s beautiful invention ; its effect, however, in super-
seding the hand work appears to have led to the Nottingham
riots and the lace frame breaking, which took place about
fifty years ago, when Mr. Heathcoat removed to Tiverton in
Devonshire, where the patent lace making was re-established,
and has been since carried on upon a large scale, and has
thus proved an eminently successful invention.

The new principle of action conceived by Mr. Heathcoat
was that of passing the threads of the weft through those of
the warp and delivering them into conductors on the other
side, to be repassed and delivered into the former conductors
under mechanical control in place of hand working. He suc-
ceeded in working out this principle with marvellous perse-
verance and success, and this original conception of Mr.
Heathcoat opened a new vista to other eminent mechanics,
which led to the invention of many other valuable machines
for widely different purposes, among which may be named
that for passing back and forth the threads through fabrics
for embroidering, as now exhibited in the beautiful machines
for embroidering or ornamenting fabrics in the works of
Messrs. Houldsworth. On the same principle is also based
the cotton combing process now employed for separating
the short and coarse from the long staples in fine cotton
carding.

2nd. — Wire Card Making Machine .

About the beginning of this century Mr. Amos Whitimore,
of Boston, commenced his experiments for making cards by
machinery. His first step was to examine the movements
required to form and set card teeth for hand carding. He
was for a long time engaged with trial machines, and
ultimately succeeded in performing the operations for making

7

and setting the card teeth by movements effected by eccen-
trics on a driving shaft, viz, (1) feeding the wire, (2) hold-
ing it, (3) cutting off and (4) bending the wires into staples,
(5) piercing holes in the leather, (6) passing the staples
through it, (7) pressing their crowns to the sheet, (8) crook-
ing the teeth, to the knee bend, and (9) advancing the leather
to receive the next row of teeth. These complex and curious
motions were effected by a series of cams or eccentric pieces
fixed on the shaft and turned by a winch ; therefore the
invention of making wire cards by machinery was accom-
plished by Amos Whitimore, but it was many years thereafter
before his machine could be made profitable in competing
with the hand card makers.

The final development of this invention is explained at
large in the paper, but cannot be given in this abstract. In
this machine, as in that of Mr. Heathcoat’s, a new principle
of action was adopted to produce and govern the movements
for making wire cards, viz., that of eccentric curves revolving
on a driving shaft and guiding the motions of the traversing
parts of the machines in their due order of succession for
making and setting the card teeth as before stated. This
application of curvilinear projections or cam pieces has since
been extensively employed for giving intricate motions in
many other machines invented during the last fifty years.
Whence it appears that both Mr. Heathcoat and Mr. Whiti-
more became pioneers and guides to other able mechanicians
in their several labours for the advance of mechanical science.

Among the inventions based upon that of the carding
machine may be mentioned the machine for making the eyes
or shanks of metal buttons, the machine for making wire
reeds for weaving, and that for making pins. But without
dwelling on other instances, it will suffice to say that the
success of the lace machine and that of the wire card
machine serve to spread the seeds of knowledge in prac-
tical mechanics, the germs of which, half a century ago, were

8

widely cast forth from the fertile geniuses of John Heathcoat
and Amos Whitimore.

3rd. — Cutting Furs from Pelt.

In the year 1810 a model fur cutting machine was sent to
me in London by a company in Boston, to be patented in
England. It was stated to be the invention of a Mr. Bellows,
who was unknown to me. The machine was adapted for
shearing fibres from surfaces by the action of spiral cutters
revolving and acting against a fixed straight cutter, so as to
shear or cut fibres from the surfaces to which they are
attached. I had a machine made and put into operation at
a hat manufactory in the Borough ; hut the workpeople
opposed its being used, which discouraged further attempts
to bring it into use in that trade. The principle of it, how-
ever, was soon after patented for chopping straw, roots, & c.,
for which it was found valuable. Two or three patents were
afterwards taken out for shearing the nap from cloth by the
same action of spiral cutters revolving against a straight
fixed edge, and many others have since appeared on the
same principle, among which is that for mowing lawns.

9

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

October 12th, 1865.

Robert Worthington, F.R.A.S., Vice-President of the
Section, in the Chair.

Mr. Dancer, F.R.A.S., exhibited a small and cheap, but
very effective induction coil, and a set of four Geissler’s tubes,
in which the stratification of the electrical light was very dis-
tinctly shown when a small battery of only one pair of
elements was employed to produce the primary current.

Mr. Brothers, F.R.A.S., exhibited a beautiful series of
enlarged photographs of the moon from negatives taken
during the progress of the lunar eclipse on the night of the
4th instant (see ante^ page 3).

Mr. Dancer stated, with reference to the eclipse, that he
and his son, Mr. James Dancer, had noticed some irregu-
larities on the border of the earth’s shadow which, as they
maintained their forms and relative positions whilst the
shadow passed over the moon’s disc, could not, he thought,
be due to differences in the reflective power of different por-
tions of the moon’s surface.

Mr. Baxendell suggested that these irregularities might
be owing to the prevalence of extended masses of clouds in
certain portions of the earth’s atmosphere and their absence
in others.

The following table of rainfall at Eccles for 1864, was
communicated to the Section by G. V. Vernon, F.R.A.S.,
at a meeting held April 13th, 1865 ; —

10

RAINFALL AT ECCLES, NEAR MANCHESTER, FOR 1864.

By Thomas Mackereth, F.R.A.S., M.B.M.S.

Rain gauge 3 feet above the ground, 112 feet above tbe sea.

Days

of

Rain

Fall,

1861

Fall of
Rain in
inches
for
1864,

Average
Fall of Rain
for 4 years
at Eccles.

Average
Fall of Rain
for 71 years
at

Manchester

Difference

from

4 years’ fall
at Eccles.

Difference

from

71 years’ fall
at

Manchester

15

1-725

2-196

2-460

— -471

— -735

January.

13

3160

1-887

2-379

-fl-273

+ -781

February.

15

2-375

3-144

2-310

— -769

4- *065

March.

12

1-722

1-977

2-038

— -255

— -316

April.

11

2-982

2-325

2-351

1+ '657

+ -631

May.

20

2-878

3-390

2-913

— -512

— -035

June.

10

2-280

2-917

3-569

— -637

—1-289

July.

15

2-462

2-959

3-592

— -497

—1-130

August.

21

4-075

5-311

3-235

—1-236

+ -840

September.

13

1-910

3-382

3-818

—1-472

—1-908

October.

18

3-299

3104

3-473

-1- -195

— -174

November.

17

2006

2-815

3-260

— -809

—1-254

December.

180

30-874

35-407

35-398

—4-533

—4-524

Total.

Jan.

Feb.

f 7-260

7-227

7-149

+ -033

+ -111

Mar.

5

April

)

May

[ 7-582

7-692

7*302

— -no

+ -280

June

July

Aug.

3

**v

f 8-817

11-187

10-396

—2-370

—1-579

Sept.

Oct.

3

)

Nov.

> 7-215

9-301

10.551

—2-086

—3-336

Dec.

3

1

The above table shows that the rainfall of 1864 was 4
inches below the average fall at Manchester for 71 years,
and the average fall at Eccles for four years. Both averages
appear to show that the largest rainfall, in this district, takes
place from July to December, which is also, to some extent,
confirmed by the rainfall of last year, though there was so
great a deficiency in the summer and autumn months.

\

11

Ordinary Meeting, October 31st, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the

Chair.

The following communication from Sir J. F. W. Herschel,
Bart., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., &c., Honorary Member of the
Society, was read by Mr. Baxendell : —

Colling wood, October 18, 1865.

In the printed proceedings of the ordinary meeting of the
society on the 3rd inst., I observe a notice of a paper by
Mr. Greaves, “ On the Internal Heat of the Earth as a Mo-
tive Power,” in which the high temperature of the carboni-
ferous strata, at the depth of 4,000 feet (120° Fahr.) is spoken
of as likely to oppose an insuperable obstacle to the extraction
of coal from that depth. On reading this it occurred tome
that by employing condensed air, conveyed through conduct-
ing pipes, as a mode of working machinery at that depth- —
provided the air immediately on its condensation, and before
its introduction into the pit, were drained of the heat developed
in the act of condensation by leading it, in pipes exposing a
large external surface, through a sufficiently large supply of
cold water (or in winter time of snow) — the workings below
might be sufficiently reduced in temperature by the re-expan-
sion of the air on its escape, when given out below in the act
of working the machinery, to admit of workmen remaining
there in comfort ; at the same time that ventilation would be
supplied.

If you think that this suggestion would be worthy the notice
of the author of the paper referred to, or of those members of
the society who may have been present at its reading, or in
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol. Y. — No. 3 — Session 1865-6.

12

any other way available, it is quite at your service for that
purpose.

P.S. — Water at 120° Fahr., or even much higher, would,
I fear, afford but an inefficient moving power unless some
means could be devised (without the expense of more power
than the gain expected) of concentrating the heat of a large
quantity of warm water into a smaller. This might perhaps
be done through the intervention of air alternately rarefied
and condensed.

Mr. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., said that at the present time
little is known as to the difficulties we should experience in
working coal mines at a depth of 4,000 feet from the surface.
The exact increase of temperature in deep mines is not by any
means well ascertained. All we can say is that no great diffi-
culties have been found in working at a depth of 2,100 feet.
It must always be borne in mind that the deeper a mine is the
greater will be the natural ventilation, that is the current
caused by the air of the mine, at say a temperature of
80° Fahr., ascending the upcast shaft, while the air at the
surface, of 40°, descends by the downcast shaft. No doubt a
mine might be cooled by the expansion of compressed air,
but it could not, so far as at present known, be done econo-
mically. In most deep mines a considerable cooling of the
air takes place by the expansion of the compressed gas (light
carburetted hydrogen) as it escapes from the coal, where it
has been long imprisoned under great pressure ; and this has
not always been allowed for by observers of temperature in
such places. In newly-opened mines this pent-up gas forces
off large pieces from the face of the coal, and it sometimes
makes a noise like water rushing over a weir. In sinking a
deep shaft at Wigan some years since the compressed gas
in the coal forced up about four yards of strong bind and
made its way through it into the shaft. The rising of the
roof of the coal as the shaft approaches it is well known to
sinkers in deep and newly-opened coal fields.

13

Mr. Edward Hull, F.G.S., exhibited some etchings of
caves, fissures, and isolated rocks on the coast of Cantyre,
intended to illustrate three classes of phenomena belonging
to the raised beach and coast, known as “ the 30-feet beach,”
from the fact that its mean elevation is about 30 feet above
the present tides. This raised beach has been described by
several authors, from Mr. Smith, of Jordan Hill (1836),
downwards, and is part of the same beach which has been
traced all along the western coast of Scotland, and the
vestiges of which remain in a state of remarkable freshness
to the present day.

Mr. T. Heelis, F.R. A. S., called attention to the proceedings
of a scientific commission recently issued by his Highness the
Viceroy of Egypt, who had succeeded in finding a tertiary
coal basin in the valleys between Mount Olympus and the
Bay of Oraniska, in the Gulf of Salonica, and also on the
mainland of Asia Minor, near the Island of Samos ; and
mentioned some particulars of the coal there found, such as
its specific gravity, in which it slightly exceeds the ordinary
coal of the coal measures, and the results of experiments upon
its combustion, which give twenty per cent of ash.

A paper On Coresolvents.” by the Honourable Chief
Justice Cockle, M.A., &c., President of the Queensland
Philosophical Society, was communicated by the Rev.
Robert Harley, F.R.S., &c.

Whatever function X may be of x equation (3) of my last
paper ( Proceedings , vol. IV., pp. 37 — 40), is reducible to an
equation with constant coefficients by changing the inde-
pendent variable as indicated at p. 38 ( ibid .), and the order
of the symbolical factors of (3) is always indifferent.

Mr. Harley gives

+ + . . . (i)

14

as the differential resolvent of

y% — 3y2 + 2x = 0 (ii)

The sinister of this resolvent is of the form of the sinister of
(3) of my last paper, and the symbolical decomposition of (i)
of this paper is (i denoting as usual ± J - 1)

(3 -<>-l <“)

and the resolvent of this form of cubic, like that of the other,
is soluble by change of the independent variable.

The evanescence of the dexter of a resolvent does not
necessarily indicate that all its algebraic coresolvents are
wanting in their second term. Thus, for instance,

y(l-^_^| + y=0 (iv)

is the differential resolvent not only of

y*-3y + 2x = 0 (v)

but of every algebraical equation whose roots are homoge-
neous linear functions of the roots of (v), that is to say of
any two of them, for any root of (v) is such a function of the
other two. Let a, j3, and y be roots of an equation whereof
any one root is a linear and homogeneous function of any
two other roots. Then we may put

y = ma + nf3 (vi)

and, from the identities

( da d& \ ( ( dQ nda \

+ ) ~ [ma + w/3 )di = T _ )

\ (jLJU WW / \ / tlt/s \ tit// l It// J

and

(ma + »/3)f - (mg. + »g)/3 = m(«g- - /3-|)

we infer that

and

15

and if m=n=. - l , we have

d(3 ada _ Qdy d/3 _ da dy

adx ~ Jdx ~ clx ydx ydx adx>

relations which must be satisfied by the roots of (v) or of any
cubic whereof the coefficient of the second term vanishes.
(Compare art. 73 of my “Notes,” &c.,' in the Messenger of
Mathematics for November, 1864 ) We have, indeed, gene-
rally

G"° + + q f ) - (m % + nt)f + s/5) = (m? - np)

f d(3 nda\

VTx-Pdx)

a relation which of course holds when we replace a and (3
respectively by a and b, two independent particular integrals
of the differential resolvent.

“ Oakwal,” near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia,

August 1, 1865.

Mr. Baxendell drew attention to the auroral phenomena
which occurred on the 19th and 26th instant, and showed
sketches of the arches, &c., taken by Mr. R. P. Greg, F.G.S.,
at Frestwich.

Dr. Joule, F.R.S., said he had observed the effect of the
aurora on the former date, on his sensitive magnetic needle.
The needle was violently agitated, as many as 36 changes of
deflection, varying from 10" to V 40// occurring per minute.
The cause of the movements seemed to he instantaneous in
its action. It was remarked that when the beams prepon-
derated on the west of the magnetic north the needle took an
easterly direction.

A paper was read entitled “ Questions regarding the Life
History of the Foraminifera, suggested by Examinations of
their Dead Shells,” by Thomas Alcock, M.D.

16

The author said that though shore sand did not generally
yield specimens in sufficient abundance or perfection to be
worth examination, yet here and there very rich shore deposits
are met with, and these ought to be specially noted when
observed, both because of the exhaustless supply of specimens
they afford for investigation, and the peculiarity of circum-
stances which must exist at these places to cause their accu-
mulation. One such spot is at Dogs Bay, Koundstone, on
the coast of Galway, where a great part of the shore is
entirely composed of the remains of various microscopic
creatures, by far the largest proportion consisting of shells of
Foraminifera? Among other samples of sand from this place
a very interesting one had been supplied by Mr. Parry, who
had skimmed the material from the surface of pools left by
the tide ; it consisted entirely of fine and perfect specimens
of the lighter kinds of Foraminifera, broken shells and the
heavier sorts having sunk to the bottom. This naturally
selected sample had furnished some very interesting results
by supplying abundance of certain varieties comparatively
rare in the rough sand, and examinations of some of these
had led to the suggestions which he would now offer as
to the formation of the shell in some kinds of Monothala-
mous Foraminifera. He considered in the first place that
the soft body of the Foraminifer must act as a mould upon
which the shell is formed, and that it must remain still and
without change of shape while the process goes on ; therefore
that this, so far as the foundation layer of shell is con-
cerned, will be a single act, and probably one requiring
no great length of time. But if the shell be moulded on the
surface of the animal, it will from the first be only just large
enough to hold it, and consequently whatever growth after-
wards takes place must he continued outside the shell, and
must constantly increase the quantity of external sarcode
which has been observed coating the shells of living Fora-
minifera, and which according to this view must be looked

17

upon as more than the mere result of a coalescence of the
bases of the Pseudopodia. Orbulina uni versa and Globi-
gerina bulloides are two forms found in great abundance
in this Dogs Bay sand ; they are interesting as being the
prevailing shells in deep-sea dredgings and also as always
occurring together, a fact which has been noticed by Pro-
fessor Williamson, who has long entertained the belief that
there is some very close relationship between them. The
Orbulinee are found of very different sizes, the largest
being as much as six times the diameter of the smallest,
with every possible intermediate gradation ; and considering
that the shell can only be made of the exact size of the body
on which it is moulded, while that body will continue to
grow, he could not avoid the conclusion that in this case
at least, as often as a larger shell is required, the animal
must withdraw itself entirely from the old one and cast it off.
But a consequence of this view that the single-chambered
Foraminifera cast their shells at intervals to form new ones
is that they will occasionally be freed for certain periods from
the restraint of the shell, and be in a condition to effect that
spontaneous division which is so striking a feature in the
Rhizopoda.

There are other specimens of Orbulina found occasion-
ally in the Dogs Bay sand which have a very special
interest, since they appear to show most clearly that Globi-
gerina is merely a younger state of this species, — a fact
which was first announced by Mr. L. F. Pourtales, (Ann.
and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1858), illustrated by specimens ob-
tained from dredgings in the Gulf Stream. Dr. Carpenter
mentions the observations but expresses doubt as to their
correctness. The Dogs Bay specimens however seem to
corroborate them most fully, for they show the perfect
Globigerina inside the sphere of the Orbulina.

18

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.

October 16th, 1865.

A. G. Latham, Esq., President of the Section,
in the .Chair.

This being the first Meeting of the Session, the President
delivered an address reviewing the past proceedings of the
Section, and referring with satisfaction to the proposal to
extend its objects to subjects of Natural History generally.

Mr. Sidebotham read “ Notes on Atlantic Soundings.”

He said that in the unsuccessful attempt made to raise th«
Atlantic Cable after it had unfortunately parted, the ropes
and grapnels brought up from the bottom small portions of
ooze or mud, some of which was scraped off and preserved,
as stated at the time in the newspapers. Believing that a
careful examination of this deposit might prove of con-
siderable interest, he wrote on the subject to Ur. Fairbairn,
who, after considerable trouble, obtained for him a fine
sample, mounted specimens of which he now presented
for the cabinet and to each member of the Section. In
appearance the deposit resembles dirty chalk, and under
the microscope reminds one much of the chalk from Dover,
indeed it has all the appearance of being a bed of chalk in
process of formation. It is composed entirely of organisms,
chiefly in fragments. In the short examination he had *
made, he observed several forms which give promise of
interesting results, and he thought it would be desirable to
frame a complete list of the species found, which would be
best accomplished by two or three members taking temporary

19

possession of all the slides, and preparing a report on their
united observations. The sample now distributed was ob-
tained at Dr. Fairbairn’s request by Mr. Saward from
Mr. Temple one of the Engineering Staff, who states that
it was got in grappling for the Cable, August 11th, 1865,
Lat. 51° 25' 15" N. Long. 38° 59' W.

Mr. Sidebotham also read the following “ Notes on
Acherontia atropos” •

The Death’s -Head Moth, which was in former times
an object of such dread that the appearance of a speci-
men of it was, like a comet, considered the precursor of
some dreadful event, appears to be gradually becoming
more common. If I remember rightly, it was Stothard the
Artist who was so fortunate as to capture a specimen for
his collection when a genuine British specimen was ex-
ceedingly rare. Even in my recollection a guinea or two
was not considered too much to pay for a fine example.
This season the insect has been unusually abundant, at least
a score of larvae having been found about my own neighbour-
hood. It has also been found at Bowdon, Middleton, Old-
ham, S trines, and other places round Manchester ; in Middle-
ton about 170 have occurred. Between Lytham and Black-
pool it has been remarkably common ; among those I obtained
at Lytham was a very remarkable specimen, of which I made
a rough drawing ; it was so unlike the usual form that many
who saw it fancied it must be some other species, but the
same has been noticed by Stanton as occurring now and
then, and Mr. Harrison obtained another somewhat similar
at Bowdon. My specimen is still in the pupa state, and I
shall carefully note whether or not the moth produced varies
from the usual form.

Dr. Alcock read a paper entitled <tf Questions regarding

20

the Life History of the Foraminifera, suggested by Exam-
inations of their Dead Shells/’

This paper was afterwards read at the Ordinary Meeting
of the Society, held on the 31st October. See page 15.

Dr. Alcock also exhibited specimens of Eozoon Canadense,
from Canada, and also from Ireland, lent by Mr. H. B. Brady.

Mr. Symonds Clark, of Adelaide, South Australia, ex-
hibited a series of skulls, of small Marsupial animals,
beautifully prepared by him; also the skins of several species.

Mr. Sidebotham recorded the discovery of Apion ononis,
in the Isle of Anglesey, a species of Curculio, which he
stated to be new to Britain.

&

21

Ordinary Meeting, November 14th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith. Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the

Chair.

Mr. Charles Bailey, and Mr. Thomas Barker, M.A., Pro-
fessor of Mathematics, Owens College, were elected Ordinary
Members of the Society.

The following extract of a letter from Thomas Ainsworth,
Esq., of Cleator, near Whitehaven, Corresponding Member
of the Societj', accompanying a copy of his meteorological
observations for October, was read by Mr. Baxendell :

The great peculiarity of the season has been the very heavy
dews we have had — great luxuriance of pasture nourished by
dews and not by rain. I have drawn Professor Simmond’s
attention to this as being a predisposing cause of the present
cattle disease. Not that it really engenders the malady, but
predisposes the animal to take this peculiar type of disease—
my own experience from the readings of my instruments
some twelve or fourteen years ago having shown that disease
of the same type attacked my cattle and destroyed them, and
each time when the high temperature of the day and the low
temperature of night gave us such heavy dews as to render
the herbage quite indigestible.

Mr. Baxendell considered it very probable that cattle
would be injuriously affected by feeding on herbage which
had not been well washed by occasional showers of rain.
Dew had little or no washing effect, and it could not remove
Pbqoeedinos— Lit. & Phil. SociETy.—YoL. V.— No. 4— Session 1865-6,

22

the impurities which were deposited upon the leaves of plants
during long periods of dry weather. The cattle plague is
said to have had its origin in Central Asia, and in this region
there is very little rain, and the daily range of temperature
is very great. The herbage is therefore seldom well washed,
and moreover, the cattle that feed upon it are exposed to
frequent and violent changes of temperature. We have no
report of any cattle plague breaking out among the herds
on the pampas of South America, where rain falls more
abundantly and the changes of temperature are much less
violent.

The President said that the idea of deriving the cattle
plague or any similar epidemic from the organic matter
brought down by dew was at least in harmony with much
that we had learnt. The dews and fogs of evening over
certain lands were known to produce colds, agues, or fevers
which could be avoided by rising to a certain height from the
ground. There seems little doubt that the moisture in such
cases is not the cause of disease, but only the means of con-
veyance. These diseases were produced by breathing the
impure air. We know less of the effect when the matter is
condensed and conveyed into the stomach, but the effect of
impure water made this use of it also suspicious. He was
not aware that it could' be shown that in aggravated cases
another class of disease might not be produced. In Man-
chester we can see the accumulation of matter taking place
in the fog to such an extent that it lies like a cap over the
whole town, and so increases that every sense is affected,
whilst the lungs and eyes suffer severely. The matter in
solution in this case is not putrefactive, although injurious,
or it would probably sweep us off instantly. Probably no
accumulation of putrefactive matter equal in amount ever
occurred in the natural atmosphere. It illustrates, however,
the mode by which the emanations of the soil are collected
in the atmosphere and presented in a concentrated form for

23

us to breathe. He had for many weeks collected dew on a
grass lawn in a garden, and from it had obtained organic
matters unquestionably collected from surrounding objects, as
it was known on one occasion to smell of flowers. If this
entered into putrefaction it would of course be unwholesome,
but what kind of disturbance of health it would cause it must
be for others to find. The evening air of a rainy country
like this is less dangerous than that of some other climates
where there is more both evaporated and condensed, and
neither wind nor rainJo remove it. Notwithstanding this, he
believed that more than the dew was required, especially in
northern climes.

The President also said, that when sitting in a railway
carriage with his friend, Mr. James Young, of Bathgate, that
gentleman observed that the particles of dust which floated
in the air seemed to shine with a metallic lustre. Dr. S.
immediately collected some, and found that the larger class
were in reality rolled plates of iron which seemed to have
been heavily pressed and torn up from the surface. Another
and smaller class were less brilliant, and when looked at with
a considerable power shewed many inequalities of surface
which would be interesting to study. Probably these were
the particles which were not torn up but rubbed off. The
dust enters the mouth and lungs, and has to be taken
as one of the evils of railway travelling, although we do
not know that these small particles are worse than those
of sand. At any rate, it is clear that some kind of iron will
wear down more readily than others, and we ought to have
that which will wear down least. By observing what takes
place in the carriages on a dusty day, every man may to some
extent compare the iron of different railways. Those which
give off the largest pieces in greatest quantities, are to that
extent the worst, as regards health.

24

A paper was read entitled “ An Attempt to refer some
Phenomena attending the Emission of Light to Mechanical
Principles/’ by R. B. Clifton, M.A., Professor of Natural
Philosophy in Owens College.

The author attempted to show, by analogical arguments,
that it is possible to give some account of certain phenomena
attending the Emission of Light, by assuming principles closely
resembling, if not identical with, those adopted by Professor
Clausius in his well known paper on “ The Nature of the
Motion which we call Heat.”*

Matter is assumed in all cases to have its atoms grouped
together into molecules , an assumption which seems necessary
when the different allotropic states of certain substances are
considered.

These molecules are assumed to be in motion, and also the
atoms to be vibrating in the molecules ; for, whatever may
be the laws of the forces which bind together the atoms in
the molecules, it is impossible to imagine the molecules to be
in motion, and to be subject to mutual actions, without
causing motion of the component atoms.

In solids and liquids the molecules are supposed to remain
continually within the spheres of action of neighbouring
molecules, so that the internal motion in a molecule is never
due to the undisturbed action of the interatomic forces — the
only difference between solids and liquids being that in the
former the same molecules are constantly neighbours, while
in the latter a molecule may completely change its place in
the liquid, and also that in, liquids a molecule may perform
complete rotations round axes through its centre of gravity,
while in solids this is not generally possible.

In a perfect gas a molecule is supposed to be under the
action of other molecules, only for a portion of time in-
definitely small with respect to the whole time of motion,
and its centre of gravity describes a polygonal path, only
# Phil. Mag., vol. xiv., for 1857.

25

changing its direction of motion upon the near approach of
the molecule to another molecule, or to a containing vessel,
which may he considered as equivalent to an impact.

In an imperfect gas a molecule is supposed to be under the
action of other molecules during a finite portion of the
whole time of motion, this portion increasing as the gas
approaches its state of saturation.

Between the molecules of a body, and the atoms of a
molecule, the luminiferous ether is supposed to exist.

The vibrations in the ether which constitute radiant heat
and light, are considered due to the vibrations of the atoms
in the molecule, and not to the motion of the molecule as a
whole ; the latter bearing some such relation to the ether,
as a bell or a stretched string does to the air, the internal
vibrations only in the two cases causing the vibrations in the
surrounding media, which give rise respectively to light and
sound.

It appears obvious that as the motion of a molecule of a
body as a whole increases, that is, as the temperature rises,
the internal motion in the molecule also increases, considering
that the action of one molecule upon another must be due to
the mutual action of atoms, or to the interatomic forces, it
seems probable that the internal vis viva in a molecule, to
which the light is due, is proportional to the vis viva of the
molecule as a whole, to which heat is to be referred. Thus,
as the temperature of a body rises, the internal vis viva in
the molecules increases, and the vis viva communicated to the
ether also increases ; hence the intensity of the vibration in
the ether increases, and at the same time the period of
vibration diminishes, or waves of shorter length are con-
tinually produced with increasing intensity.

Hence as the temperature of a body rises radiant heat is
given off, the intensity corresponding to a given wave length
constantly increasing, at last then vibrations in the ether,
with wave lengths corresponding to the extreme red of the

26

spectrum, will be caused with sufficient intensity to be
visible, and thus the body will begin at first to glow with
red light ; as the temperature still rises, and vibrations of
shorter and shorter wave lengths become of visible intensity,
the light emitted will gradually change from red to white.

From Draper’s Law, that all bodies become incandescent
simultaneously, as well as from other considerations, it seems
probable that in all bodies the internal vis viva in the mole-
cules bears the same ratio to the vis viva of the molecule as a
whole.

In solid and liquid bodies, the molecules being constantly
under their mutual actions, and these actions being subject
to constant change from the varying relative positions of the
molecules, the atoms cannot assume any definite periods of
vibration, but are constantly changing the time of vibration ;
hence the vibrations in the ether will be constantly, and with
extreme rapidity, changing their periods. This change
having apparently no limit, and the effect upon the eye con-
tinuing for a finite time, light of all wave lengths will appear
to be given off simultaneously by such bodies when the tem-
perature is sufficiently high ; in other words, incandescent
solids and liquids will appear to give off white light, which
when analysed by a prism will yield a continuous spectrum.

In the case of an incandescent Gas or Vapour sufficiently
removed from a state of saturation to be considered per-
fect, the atoms will be left to vibrate under the action
of the interatomic, forces only, and will thus assume periods
of vibration all included in a certain set ; these vibra-
tions will consequently cause vibrations in the ether corre-
sponding only to certain definite wave lengths. Hence the
spectra of such incandescent vapours will be broken, and
consist only of a series of fine lines.

With imperfect gases, or vapours not far removed from
their points of saturation, the intermediate phenomenon
of spectra broken, but consisting of bands, is to be expected :

27

when however the temperature of such vapours is sufficiently
increased, a change from spectra consisting of bands to spec-
tra consisting of fine lines is to be looked for. This change
has been observed in many cases.

When a solid body is incandescent, the light emitted so
as nearly to graze the surface may be considered due mainly
to the surface molecules, but these being free on the side of
the surface, but affected by other molecules on all other
sides, the internal vibrations in these surface molecules will
have a bias in a direction perpendicular to the surface.
Thus the vibrations caused in the ether, which are propagated
nearly grazing the surface, will preponderate in a direction
perpendicular to the surface, or considering the vibrations in
plane polarised light to be perpendicular to the plane of
polarisation, the light emitted by such a body, so as to pass
close to its surface, will be partially plane polarised, the
plane of polarisation being parallel to the tangent plane to
the surface of the body at the point of emission.

In the case of an incandescent gas, the surface molecules
are continually changed, and as a molecule may arrive at the
surface in any position and is equally free on all sides, all
trace of polarisation in this light will be destroyed.

The fact that incandescent metallic plates do emit partially
plane polarised light in directions nearly grazing the surface,
the plane of polarisation being parallel to the surface, and
that incandescent gases emit unpolarised light, has been
observed by Arago.

As the molecules at or near the surface of solids or liquids
can cause vibrations in the ether, giving rise to emitted light,
it is to be expected that, in some cases at least, it will be
possible for light, if of sufficient intensity, when incident upon
a body, to cause vibrations in the atoms constituting the
molecules near the surface, but considering the difference of
mass of the atoms of the body and of those of the ether,
that the atoms of the body will vibrate slower than those of

28

the ether, the actual times of vibration depending however
upon the molecular forces in the body. As these atomic
vibrations will again affect the ether, such bodies will or may
become luminous, the wave lengths of the emitted light being
however longer than those of the incident light which causes
the disturbance in the body.

This emitted light will necessarily last some time after the
incident light is removed, for the vibrations in the body will
not cease as soon as the cause of disturbance is removed, but
in general it is to be expected that this emitted light will
speedily disappear, though cases may occur in which it will
continue for a considerable time.

These probable deductions from the assumed principles
coincide exactly with the phenomena of Fluorescence and
Phosphorescence (not including in this term cases in which
light is emitted by bodies undergoing slow combustion), all
Fluorescent bodies being Phosphorescent for times of different,
though in all cases at present observed, of very short duration.

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

November 9th, 1865.

E. W. Binney, F.B.S., F.G.S., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. Baxendell, F.R.A.S., read the following " Note on
the Variable Star S Delphini.”

Since the discovery of this variable in October, 1863, it
has gone through two complete periods of change, and my
observations have enabled me to fix with tolerable exactness
the dates of three maxima, and to determine the form of the
light-curve for that portion of the period during which the

29

star is visible with telescopes of moderate power. Comparing
the light-curves for 1864 and 1865 with the curve laid down
from the observations made in 1863 after the discovery of the
variable, I conclude that a maximum occurred about the
14th of October, 1863, the magnitude being 8*5. The next
maximum occurred on the 12th of September, 1864 — mag-
nitude, 8*3 ; and the third on the 9th of August, 1865 —
magnitude, 8*9. The interval between the first and second
maxima is 334 days, and that between the second and third,
331 days. The mean period is therefore about 332 days.
In the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 1523, Dr. Schonfeld
states that this star was observed on the 8th of September,
1855, in zone 724 of the Bonn “ Durchmusterung,” and
estimated to be of the ninth magnitude, but was invisible
to Professor Argelander with the telescope of the Bonn
meridian circle on the 9 th, and with the heliometer on the
20th of November following, and was therefore not inserted
in the “ Bonner Sternverzeichniss,” its existence evidently
being considered doubtful. Guided by the course of the
star’s light-curve, I conclude from the Bonn observations that
a maximum occurred about the 12th of August, 1855. The
interval between this date and that of the last maximum,
August 9th, 1865, is 3,650 days, during which time the star
passed through eleven complete periods of change. We find
therefore that the value of the mean period is 331 *8 days, a
result agreeing very closely with that derived from my own
observations alone.

An inspection of the diagrams which accompany this com-
munication will show that S Delphini increases in bright-
ness much more rapidly than it diminishes, and that the
course of its light-curve is more irregular after than before a
maximum. During the last apparition it rose from the
thirteenth magnitude to a maximum in 48 days, but was 89
days in descending again to the same magnitude. When at
minimum it is below the 13 J magnitude, and it remains

30

invisible with telescopes of ordinary power for more than the
half of its entire period.

Mr. G. Knott, F.K.A.S., of the Woodcroft Observatory,
Cuckfield, Sussex, has kindly favoured me with a copy of his
observations of S Delphini, made during the present year,
and of the light-curve laid down from them. He has obtained
for the date of maximum August 1 i, 1805 — magnitude, 8*8.
Considering the nature of the observations, and the form of
the light-curve at its maximum, this result agrees very fairly
with that derived from my own observations. It will how-
ever be seen that there is a slight difference in our modes
of drawing a curve through the points laid down ; Mr. Knott
evidently regarding apparent irregularities as being principally
owing to errors of observation, while, on the other hand, I
have regarded them as being mainly due to actual changes in
the brightness of the star. Treating his observations pre-
cisely as I have treated my own, I do in fact, obtain the
same date of maximum, August 9, 1865.

The colour of S Delphini is decidedly <f reddish,” and my
observations seem to indicate that this colour becomes sensibly
more intense as the star approaches its minimum. The
difference of O’ 1 between my own and Mr. Knott’s estimations
of magnitude at the last maximum is doubtless due to the
colour of the star, and to the fact that while my observations
have been made with a telescope of five inches aperture, Mr.
Knott’s have been made with one having an aperture of
seven and one-third inches.

Erratum. — Page 20, last paragraph, for ajpion ononis , read apion ononidis.

31

Ordinary Meeting, November 28th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.s President, in
the Chair.

Mr. Francis Hampson, Solicitor, was elected an Ordi-
nary Member of the Society.

Mr. Dancer, F.R.A.S., said that in a paper “ On the
Illumination of Opaque Objects under the high powers of the
Microscope,5’ read before the Microscopical Section of this
Society, November 20th, he had described a method of employ-
ing the oblique body of the binocular microscope with
Wenham’s prism, for illumination of opaque objects, and he
had also exhibited an instrument fitted up for this purpose,
giving the members present a practical demonstration of the
advantages which this mode of illumination afforded under
certain circumstances. He wished now to describe another
method of illuminating opaque objects, and as it is equally
applicable to monocular and binocular microscopes, it appears
worthy of some consideration.

In the method of Mr H. L. Smith, of Kenyon College,
(which was briefly described in the paper before mentioned),
and also in the use of the Wenham’s prism there is a con-
siderable loss of angular aperture, (which is a very important
consideration) : it occurred to the author that by modifying
Mr. Smith's contrivance this loss might be diminished in
some degree ; this has been attempted in the following
manner.

Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society,— Vol. y.— No, 5— Session 1865-6,

32

Instead of placing the mirror immediately over the opening
at the back of the object glass, a small speculum J of an
inch in diameter is introduced into the front of the body of
the microscope, 2^ inches above the top of the objective.
A lateral opening is made in the body at right angles to the
speculum, for the admission of light to be reflected down
through the objective to the object below.

The interposition of the small speculum does not produce
any disagreeable effect in the field of view, and in the exami-
nation of objects it is easy to use that portion of the field which
is between the centre and the edge. With proper manipulation
very good definition can be obtained by this method, when
the speculum is of the proper curvature. This contrivance
can always remain attached to the microscope without inter-
fering with the general appearance of the instrument, and
when the use of the speculum is not required, it can be with-
drawn or turned aside out of the field of view, and the aper-
ture at the side of the body may be closed by a small shutter.*
It is obvious that the use of the binocular body is not inter-
fered with by this arrangement.

A binocular and a monocular microscope with this arrange-
ment were exhibited to the members at the close of the
meeting.

*

Mr. Hardy (on behalf of Edward Ross, Esq.) exhibited a
large cetacean vertebra which had been found in the valley
of the Don, about two miles from Tinsley and four from
Rotherham, in Yorkshire, on a line of railway now in course
of construction. The bone was met with in excavating, at
a depth of 14 feet below the surface of the ground, in a bed of
gravel overlaid by the alluvium of the valley. In answer to
questions put by Messrs. Binney and Hull, Mr. Hardy
described the bone as one of the lumhar vertebrae of a species
of whale, probably identical in genus with* the balaena of the
present seas. The bone measured on its largest diameter a

33

little over ten inches, in thickness seven inches, and in cir-
cumference about three feet. It presented every appearance
of having lain in the earth for a very considerable length of
time ; but as it only reached Manchester on the day previous,
the geological character of the gravel in which it was found
had not been ascertained.

Dr. Roberts drew attention to the injurious effects pro-
duced by burning Pharaoh’s serpents in close rooms, and gave
the particulars of a case which had lately come under his
notice.

Dr. Roscoe stated that in his opinion persons could not be
too careful respecting the inhaling of even small quantities of
mercury vapour, and he alluded in support of this opinion to
the fact that two German gentlemen who were engaged in a
London laboratory, in the preparation, for a scientific purpose,
of volatile organic mercury compounds, had recently been
poisoned by the accidental absorption through the lungs or
skin of very small quantities of the vapours of these sub-
stances. The symptoms characteristic of this form of mercu-
rial poisoning are of the most painful and distressing kind,
the first patient dying in a state of mania shortly after his
admission into the hospital, and the second, on whom the
effect became first perceptible three months after he had
ceased to work with the substance, now lying in a hopeless
state of idiocy.

A paper was read “ On the Amount of Carbonic Acid con-
tained in the Air above the Irish Sea,” by Mr. T. E. Thorpe,
Assistant in the Private Laboratory, Owens College, com-
municated by Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S.

The determination of the amount of carbonic acid contained
in the atmosphere over the land has been made the subject
of investigation by many experimenters, and from the results
obtained by Theodore de Saussure, Brunner, Boussingault,
Angus Smith, and others, we are acquainted with the exact

34

proportion of this gas contained in the atmosphere under
varying circumstances of situation and weather.

But hitherto, the influence which, a priori, must necessarily
be exercised by large bodies of water on the proportion of
carbonic acid in the atmosphere has scarcely been sufficiently
studied. The fact that a considerable influence is exercised
has certainly been noticed, but beyond the incomplete results
of one or two observers, we have no numerical data from
which to judge of the extent of this influence, and we there-
fore know but little of the changes in the comparative
amount of the atmospheric carbonic acid as effected by the
waters of the ocean.

Dr. Roscoe therefore suggested that I should undertake
some experiments on this subject, and kindly placed the
necessary time and apparatus at my disposal. I may here be
allowed to express my thanks for this kindness, and for the
advice I have received from him during the prosecution of
these experiments.

It appeared from the observations of Yogel on the air of
the Baltic and of the Channel that the sea abstracts to a very
considerable extent the carbonic acid from the atmosphere ;
and this conclusion was apparently confirmed by the experi-
ments of Emmet on the air over the Atlantic and at Bermuda,
and by the determinations of Watson at Bolton, made on air
blowing from the seaward.

These experiments were however, for the most part, merely
qualitative, and the circumstances under which they were
made, together . with the inaccurate nature of the methods
employed, render such a conclusion premature. In fact, the
experiments of Lewy and Morren on the nature of the gases
which sea water holds in solution at different periods of the
day and during various seasons of the year would appear to
show that the sea may possibly act in quite the opposite
direction, and cause a sensible increase in the comparative
amount of atmospheric carbonic acid.

35

The air contained in sea water consists of variable quanti-
ties of free carbonic acid, oxygen, and nitrogen, and Morren
and Lewy have shown that the changes in the relative pro-
portion of these gases depend: — (1) upon alteration of tem-
perature affecting the relative amounts of the dissolved gases
in accordance with the laws of gaseous absorption ; and (2)
upon the variations in intensity of direct and diffused solar
light, producing a corresponding effect upon the vitality of
sea plants and animals, and hence altering the composition
of the dissolved gases.

Some further experiments by Lewy, on the composition of
the atmosphere above the Atlantic ocean in the tropics, tend
to confirm the above supposition of the possible increase in
carbonic acid in the atmosphere above the sea. In fact, if it
is possible that the composition of the air above the sea in
our latitudes can be sensibly altered by this phenomenon of
the variation in the nature of the gases in solution in sea
water, as Lewy and Morren assert, we might expect that the
atmosphere above the tropical oceans would manifest to a
much larger extent variations in the relative amounts of
carbonic acid and oxygen, since infusoria exist, as is well
known, in enormous quantities in these oceans, and the
composition of the air in their waters must necessarily
undergo rapid variation, and a considerable evolution of the
dissolved gases must consequently occur. At the instance
of the French Academy Lewy collected air at different
times during a voyage from Havre to Santa Marta, and
on subsequent analysis not only did it appear that the
mean quantity of carbonic acid was sensibly greater in the
air of the Atlantic ocean in the tropics than in the air of the
land, but also that the air of the day was appreciably richer
in carbonic acid and oxygen than air collected in the night.

On comparing the means of each series we have, in 10,000
volumes of air, for the

36

Day (mean of 7 expts.) Night (mean of 4 expts.)

Carbonic acid 5*299 3*459

Oxygen 2105*801 2097*412

and this variation appeared to increase in proportion as the
middle of the ocean was approached.

This remarkable phenomenon, of the variation in composi-
tion of the air above the tropical oceans, may doubtless be
accounted for, without any reference to the direct action of
infusoria, by the heating effect of the sun on the sea water
and the consequent disengagement during the day of gas pro-
portionately rich in carbonic acid and oxygen. During the
night, on the other hand, as this source of action is removed,
the disengagement may be assumed not to occur ; and, follow-
ing Lewy, one may perceive that this difference would be-
come more appreciable and easier to trace in air at great
distances from any continent than in air collected nearer the
coasts, and consequently, liable to be mixed with the air of
the land.

Although the precision of these results is certainly remark-
able, they still require confirmation. The air was collected
in glass tubes of about 100 cbc., and analysed eighteen or
twenty months after in the eudiometric apparatus of Reg-
nault and Reiset. The fact pointed out by Regnault that
air which has remained for any great length of time in glass
tubes invariably exhibits notable diminutions in the amount
of carbonic acid, since the glass absorbs a portion of this gas ;
and the difficulty generally experienced in accurately noting
contractions so minute as the absorption of the carbonic acid
from a small volume of atmospheric air, are circumstances
which may possibly influence the reliability of tho results.

The kind permission of the Honorable Board of Trinity
House has enabled me during the vacation of last summer to
make some additional experiments in this direction on board
the “ Bahama Bank” Light-vessel, situated in the Irish sea,
latitude 54° 21' and longitude 4° IT, seven miles W.N.W. of

37

Ramsey, Isle of Man, and consequently nearly equidistant
from the nearest shores of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
The ship is placed to mark the proximity of a dangerous bank,
by which, for the greater part of the day, a strong current,
setting in from the southward, flows through the North Chan-
nel and thence into the Atlantic.

These experiments were made in the early part of August,
at the same periods of the twenty-four hours, namely about
4 a.m. and 4 p.m , or nearly the times of minimum and
maximum temperature.

Pettenkofer’s method of analysis was adopted, with the
improvements in the practical details suggested by Angus
Smith. This method is in principle similar to the one
adopted by Watson and Emmet, but admits of far more deli-
cacy and precision in practice. Baryta is substituted for
lime water, and oxalic for sulphuric acid. The solution of
oxalic acid for these experiments was made so that one cubic
centimetre of it corresponded to one milligramme of carbonic
acid ; it thus contained £'864 grms. of pure crystallised oxalic
acid per litre. Twenty-five cubic centimetres of the baryta
solution were originally made to correspond to about twenty-
eight of oxalic acid, but of course the exact strength of the
baryta water was ascertained previous to each experiment.
The bottles were generally filled with the air by means of the
bellows, but sometimes when the wind was strong it sufficed
to hold them up for a minute or two in such a manner that
the air could circulate freely within. The baryta water
remained in contact with the enclosed air for three quarters of
an hour to one hour, during which time the bottles were fre-
quently agitated. Although even this is longer perhaps than
is actually required for the complete absorption of the car-
bonic acid, still, for the sake of conclusiveness, in experiment
4 the bottles were allowed to stand for three hours, and in
experiment 13 for six hours, before the solutions were tested.
The capacities of the two bottles which served for all the ex-

38

periments were 4815 cbc. and 4960 cbc. The burette was
Mohr’s modification, for which a table of calibration had
been constructed b^ weighing and interpolating in the ordi-
nary way.

The fact that the various meteorological changes influence
to such a remarkable extent the nature and amount of the gases
dissolved in sea-water renders it necessary, in any investiga-
tion on the constitution of the atmosphere over the sea, to
take particular account of these changes. Accordingly the
temperature, pressure, and degree of humidity of the air;
direction and force (estimated — Beaufort’s system) of wind ;
amount (estimated — overcast=10) and nature of clouds, and
general appearance of the day, together with the temperature
of the sea water and amount of sea disturbance ( l to 9), were
noted at the time of each experiment.

The following table shows the results of these observations,
together with the amount, in volumes, of the carbonic acid
in 10,000 volumes of air. All the experiments which were
made are here given. The hours of observation, as before
stated, were 4 a.m. and 4 p.m.

TABLE OF RESULTS.

39

A

33 33
O -I-3

A

c6

co

a

CD

'Ij

rO-

05

rO

a^

Op

05

tS

so

O

H

'p £

CO

o

o 6

b

Ph

05

o3

a h> .

bn

c$

a

£

S3 rd

M

u

a

05

eg

a

a

00

05

■s

43

ea

fr

I

.a

cO

Ph

>> a co

05

pH

05

p

&

05

t>

1

g

Cj

£

c3

05

t>

t>»

T3

§

hT

05

•S'H ®

fk

^ c3 O

la

c3

43

'I*

a

a

05

D

.a t?

o3

s3

rH

c3 05

t>

c3

P

P

02

s

P ^

P

2

►4

kO

rH

cq

kO

05

cq

o

CO rH

O kO

3

P

O

o

cq

cq

rH

rH

o

rH

cq rH

rH 05

05

H

■-a

00

CO

CO

CO

00

00

CO

CO

00 00

co cq

cq

_o

Cq

b

1

M

CD

Cq

00

o

o

CD

cq

CO

05 rH

05 CO

cq

P

CD

05

o

CO

cq

o

00

05

O rH

O 05

rH

«3

43

CM

cq

CO

CO

00

00

oo

cq

00 00

oo cq

00

O

rH

«+H

o

pH

05

05

05

CD

00

rH

x>

q> 05

1> X

05

2

a

o

rl

rH

§

.11

"s

P

3

'p

'p

H qo

V a

m

^ a

43

0Q

a

a

a

a

rrj

m

rj tt>

H s

2 cj

t§

c3

2

fj

O

0

O

p

o

a

05

0

o

i

J

1 1
2 c

.2 -H

*3 ^

Ph

43

CQ

a

2

*3

6

o

o

6

Ph

2

• 9

O

3

2

2

§

o

.s

pH

Ph

Ph

.a

Ph w

rO .a

.a

a

o

C5

'3

'3

o

‘3

g °

05

a

es "S

oT

o

g

rH

rH

rH

rH

00

rH

rH

rH ^

ko cq

m.a

p

-4-^

rH

c3

O

05

2

o

p .

a «s

.

-4-2

rP

.a°

>

£

Ph

rO

+3

rP

be

33

m

r-D

HH>

A

bC

33

02

§

£

<D

43

Ph

<D

nd

o

a

05

N

05

05

pH

-D

'to

Ph

rO

S

05

-IHS

cO

.§ .a
o S

a *

bO ,

a 9

2 r§JD
-H ID
<n 1 1

^ t

rb

1

2

43 o

£

&

£

A

CJj

£

r^

£ £

is

CD

£

£

* £

I-Q rO

* N

m

P

ft

m

m

02

*

02

02 02

02 r^i

&

d

sb

o

a'g

ctj

O

©

o

O

CD

o

o

9

O kp

ko o

9

§ °

02

CD

»b

kb

kb

kb

kb

cb

kb

kb rfl

rp kb

kb

H

r— 1

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH rH

rH rH

rH

£

d

o

ph

P

rH

05

-<p

CO

rH

cq

rH

cq

1 9s

05 X

X

rH

cq

00

kb

cfq

00

cq

' co

rH cq

cq

«+H

o

is

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH rH

rH

Ph

rQ

d

1

p

%<

05

rH

cq

cq

CD

CO

CO

o o

X>

05

H

CD

cb

cb

4p

q>

00

00

CO

kb kb

00 -Jp

OO

p

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH

rH rH

rH rH

tH

kD

o

cq

-jp

kO

cq

o

q>

-<? CO

kD CO

rH

§ j

cq

cq

i— i

CO

i>-

o

rH

00

<b 05

d cq

CO

jj

CD

CD

CD

kO

kO

CD

CD

kO

kO hh

kO kD

kO

X>

Jh

i>

ir t>

q> q>

x>

43

.

d1 b

>->

.sp §

S3

p

P

ft

P

Sz?

p

P

P P

S25 P

a

rg

rd

rg

rj

r0

rg

■5 ^

£ £

^b

d %

■tP

^p

' k£0

cS

00

0D

05 O

rH CO

CD

rH

rH

rH rH

6

rH

cq

CO

•-«P

kO

CD

X

o> o

rH

CO

rH

rH rH

rH

Day Mean of 14 Determinations 3'086

Night „ 12 „ 3*085

40

In comparing these results with the following determinations
of the carbonic acid contained in land air, it is seen that the
air of the Irish Sea contains a much smaller proportion of
carbonic acid than the air of the neighbouring land. The
most extensive observations on the land air have given as
means : —

Observer.

Locality.

No. of Expts.

Vols. in
10,000 qfi

Th. de Saussure,

Chambeisy,

104

4-15

Boussingault,

Paris,

142

3*97

Verver,

Groningen,

90

4*20

Roscoe, 1st series, London & Manchester, 108

3-97

„ 2nd series,

Manchester,

53

3-92

Smith,

ditto.

200

4*03

General

mean of land air

4*04

Mean of 26 expts. on sea air

3-086

It would also appear that no difference is discernible in the
amount of carbonic acid in the air of day and night over the
Irish Sea. On the other hand, from Saussure’s observations
a decided difference may be traced between day and night air
on the land — a conclusion subsequently confirmed by several
experimenters.

In noting the above mean 3*08, and the apparent identity
in the amount of carbonic acid in the air of day and night-
over the sea, it should be borne in mind that July and August
are, in general, the hottest periods of the year, (these months
were unusually hot this year, 1 865) and that, consequently,
all the influences may be supposed at work which would tend
to increase the relative amount of carbonic acid, and render
appreciable any difference in the air of night and day.

The conclusions therefore to be drawn from these experi-
ments are

1 . That the influence of the sea in our latitudes in abstract-
ing the carbonic acid from the atmosphere is not so great as
the old experiments of Vogel and others would lead us to
suppose.

41

2. That the sea in our latitudes does not act in increasing
the amount of carbonic acid in the air above the ocean, as
found by Lewy over the Atlantic near the equator.

3. That the differences observed in the air of night and day
by Lewy on the Atlantic, are not perceptible in the air above
the Irish Sea.

4. That in the month of August 1865, the mean quantity
of carbonic acid in the atmosphere of the Irish Sea was 3*08
in 10,000 volumes of air.

In conclusion, I beg to acknowledge the kind attention
which I received from Captain Temple, and from his crew
during my stay on board his ship.

42

MICROSCOPICAL SECTION.

November 20th, 1865.

A. G. Latham, Esq., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. Parry read a paper on “ Collecting Foraminifera on
the west coast of Ireland.” He said that in June last he
visited the coast of Connemara, for the purpose of collecting
Foraminifera, more especially at Dogs Bay ; he was accom-
panied by Mr. Burns, of Doohulla Lodge, who gave him much
assistance. After he had procured a considerable quantity of
the shell-sand in the usual way, he noticed some white
floating material on the surface of the advancing tide ; he
collected a quantity of it by means of a muslin net, and on
examination found it nearly all composed of perfect dead
shells of Foraminifera. On a second visit to the bay Mr.
Burns discovered a pool near high waiter mark, covered with
the floating shells, and of these Mr. Parry collected a large
quantity, portions of which he had since distributed to mem-
bers of the Section. He observed that the underside of the
rocks forming the pool were covered with foraminifera, and
he therefore concluded that these minute creatures live there,
and from what he saw he was led to believe that Dogs Bay
is a breeding ground for them, and that they may also be
found living in “ Burns’ Pool.”

Mr. Dancer, F.R.A.S., read a paper “ On the Illumination
of Opaque Objects under the high powers of the Microscope.”

43

The Author’s attention was drawn to a paper on this subject,
which appeared in the Scientific American, and was copied
into the Mechanics’ Magazine of October 20th, 1865.

Mr. H. L. Smith of Kenyon College, had contrived a plan
for the illumination of opaque objects, by placing a small
mirror in a rectangular box, which could be attached to any
ordinary microscope, this mirror was made adjustable imme-
diately over the opening of the back of the objective, a light
was placed at the side of the box and reflected down through
the objective on to the object. In this manner the object
could be illuminated when the high powers were used.

Mr. Hurst suggested that a discussion on this subject would
be of interest to the members of the Microscopical Section.
The Author not having time to make one of Mr. Smith’s
apparatus, thought it possible to arrive at similar results by
the employment of the binocular microscope, an instrument
which is now more common than a monocular instrument.
The trial quite answered his expectations. The simplest
method and one which gave good results, is to remove the eye
piece from the oblique body and fix a reflector on the top of the
body in such a manner as to throw the rays of light down to
the Wenham’s prism, and thence through the object glass on
to the object.

If a plane mirror is employed, a lens of suitable focal length
should be placed in the body in order to get the field of view
entirely illuminated.

A concave mirror or lenticular prism can also be used for
the same purpose, providing the focal length is adapted to
the length of the body and object glasses.

Various modifications can be adapted so as to vary the
character of the illumination to suit the particular object
to be viewed. In some cases the Wenham’s prism may be
withdrawn a little, to produce the proper effect.

44

Uncovered objects only can be seen to advantage, owing to
the light reflected from the surface of the covering glass.
The surface on which the objects are mounted should reflect as
little as possible, and be a marked contrast in colour to the
object.

45

Ordinary Meeting, December l£th, 1865.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President,
in the Chair.

Mr. J. Bottomley said that a recent paper upon the
employment of the internal heat of the earth led him to con-
sider what might be the condition of the atmosphere when
coal, lignite, anthracite, and all other forms of vegetable fuel
should be so exhausted that the human race would be com-
pelled to resort to this source of heat. The numbers obtained
led him to the conclusion that the exhaustion of the coal
fields implied more than the depriving of the human race of
a ready source of warmth, namely, the alteration of the
atmosphere to an extent that would ultimately prove fatal.
As the latter assumption seemed to him to be repugnant to
reason, he would infer that long before the exhaustion of the
coal fields, the carbonic acid in the atmosphere beyond the
limits of safety to life, would have been decomposed by
vegetation ; moreover, as plants decomposed water, there
would always be some combustible compound of carbon and
hydrogen ; in other words, there will and must be abundance
of fuel in the world in all ages, if not of so dense a character
as anthracite and coal, yet of some nature intermediate
between those fuels and vegetable tissue, the origin of all
varieties. The effect of vegetation in maintaining the purity
of the atmosphere has long been known. The assumption
that this agency is sufficient to furnish an abundant and per-
petual supply of fuel to mankind involves no new principle, but
it tends to establish a new inference upon principles already
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society— Yol. Y.— No. 6 —Session 1865-66.

46

acknowledged. Liebig states, in his “ Chemistry in its
Application to Agriculture and Physiology,” (3rd edition),
that the quantity of carbon existing in the atmosphere
amounts to more than the weight of all the plants and
of all the strata of mineral and brown coal existing on
the earth. This would seem to favour the notion that
the mineral and brown coal available for combustion
would not affect the atmosphere to any serious extent
if consumed. He has assumed more carbonic gas to
exist in the atmosphere (toVo by weight) than many
authorities would allow. Moreover, since the book was
written enormous deposits of fuel have been discovered. In
another passage Baron Liebig seems to favour an opposite
view, for he states — “ In former ages, therefore, the atmo-
sphere must have contained less oxygen, but a much larger
proportion of carbonic acid, than it does at the present time,
a circumstance which accounts for the richness and luxuriance
of the earlier vegetation.” Dumas and Boussingault say, in
their book on the chemical and physiological balance of
organic nature, “ If we suppose, then, that the whole of the
carbon was diffused through the atmosphere in the shape of
carbonic acid prior to the creation of organised beings we
shall see that the atmosphere, instead of containing less than
the one-thousand part of its bulk of carbonic acid as at
present, must have contained a quantity which it is not easy
to estimate, but which was perhaps in the proportion of
3, 4, 5, 6, and even 8 per cent.” Mr. Hull, in his “ Coal
Fields of Great Britain,” taking 4,000 feet as the depth
capable of being worked, estimates the supply from the
English and Welsh coal fields at 60,000,000 tons for 1,000
years. In the same book it is stated that the American
coal fields are 72 times greater than the English and Welsh.

In the reports furnished to the Admiralty some years back,
by Dr. L. Playfair and Sir H. De la Beche, there is given a
table showing the average composition of Welsh, Newcastle,

47

Lancashire, Scotch, and Derbyshire coal. The mean of these
numbers is as follows: — Carbon, 80*40 ; oxygen, 7*16 ; hydro-
gen, 5*19. Subtracting from the amount of hydrogen the
quantity corresponding to 7*16 of oxygen there remain as
combustible material in one part of coal — carbon, 0*8040 ;
hydrogen, 0*0421. For combustion it requires 2*4828 parts
of oxygen, and produces 2*9480 parts of carbonic acid. Sir
J. Herschel, in his <f Meteorology,” takes as the approximate
weight of the atmosphere 11 x 1018 pounds. If we take as
the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere 23*04 per cent by
weight, and as the amount of carbonic acid *05 per cent by
weight, the following numbers are obtained (assuming
lXlO14 pounds as the unit of measurement): — Weight of
atmosphere 110000; oxygen contained *25344, carbonic acid
contained 55; weight of coal, 98*112; oxygen required for
combustion, 243*59 ; carbonic acid from combustion of coal,
289*23 ; total carbonic acid, 344*23 ; ratio of oxygen to
carbonic acid at present, 4 60 '8 to 1 ; ratio after combustion
of assumed quantity of fuel, 72*9 to 1.

The last ratio can of course only be regarded as an approxi-
mation, but when we take into account all the available fuel
in the world — wood, peat, lignite, coal, anthracite, also the
quantity of carbonic acid evolved from volcanic districts — and
remembering the opinion of a member of this society, that we
know little about the difficulties likely to be encountered in
mining operations at a depth of 4,009 feet — there seems little
reason to doubt that the ratio of the oxygen to carbonic acid
would be reduced considerably below the number above
stated, and that the quantity of carbonic acid in the atmo-
sphere would reach a point much beyond that at which it
becomes deleterious to human life. It seems then more
reasonable to take the alternative and maintain that the
carbonic acid will be de-oxidized, and that there will always
be an abundance of fuel.

48

A paper was read entitled <c Notes on the Origin of several
Mechanical Inventions, and their subsequent application to
different purposes.” Part II. By J. C. Dyer, V.P.

The Employment of Steel for . Transferring Engravings .

At the beginning of this century, upon the death of
Washington, medals to commemorate that event being called
for, Mr. Jacob Perkins (then a silversmith at Newbury Port,
near Boston) undertook to supply them, and, as they were
required in large numbers speedily, he devised a summary
process of transferring the engraved design, from prepared
steel dies or stamps, by which he obtained several from one
original die, and thus a vast number of medals were
rapidly produced. Shortly after Mr. Perkins applied the
same principle of transferring engravings for bank notes, on
which very elaborate designs were printed to prevent or
render their being forged very difficult by the hand of the
engraver. To effect this he procured cast steel plates, and
decarbonated their surfaces to the depth of about one-
sixteenth of an inch, which were thus converted into very
soft and pure iron ; the letters and designs for the notes
being then engraved upon them they were case hardened
and tempered for use , but in lieu of printing from these
plates they were used as dies for making others to print
with. His next process was to prepare a cast steel cylinder,
which in like manner was decarbonated at the surface, and
then under a strong traversing pressure it was rolled over the
letters and figures engraved on the hardened plate, and these
engravings were taken up in relief on the surface of the soft
cylinder. This cylinder being then hardened and tempered,
was used to transfer, by means of the same traversing pressure,
the entire work upon its surface, to any number of copper or
soft steel plates for printing with.

The adoption of this plan by several banks, for having very
elaborate engravings on their notes, turned the counterfeiters

49

upon other banks whose notes would be so much more
readily forged, which led to an extended demand by the other
banks.

In the year 1809 Mr. Perkins communicated to me the
details of his process of transferring engravings, with a view
to having the invention patented in England for our joint
account. From the success of his plan in America its
adoption here was anticipated, and still further development
of it looked for from the higher state of the graphic arts in
London. With this view I took out patents, and minutely
specified “ the method of carrying the invention into effect.”
A very beautiful design was then obtained from the classic
pencil of the late Sir R. Smirk, R.A., which was engraved
by Reimback, on prepared steel, for printing bank notes.
But I could not succeed at that time to induce the Bank of
England or any other bank to adopt the plan, nor could the
booksellers then be made to perceive the importance of the
transferring system for illustrating books, for which it has
since been so extensively used. The time had not arrived
when public attention could be drawn to the bank note
forgeries as a national evil and the disgrace of hanging men
for a feat so readily performed as that of forging the one
pound notes then in general circulation. If any excuse can
be offered for this apathy, it may be said that the passions
and interests connected with the war, together with those
yet more embarrassing that arose from the transitions from
war to peace, caused such disturbances in the circulating
medium and in the general interests of commerce and
industry, that it became very difficult to awaken public
attention to the great scandal of relying solely upon the
gallows for preventing forgeries.

It has been above shown that Perkins’ invention was not
for engraving on steel plates for printing, nor for engraving
upon steel at all, but rather for engraving on soft iron of
homogeneous structure. It was found that all wrought iron

50

is more or less fibrous and unfit to receive delicate engra-
vings, and that by decarbonating the surface of cast steel a
pure iron surface was obtained, and this being engraved on,
was case hardened and used for transferring and printing
as before stated. This should be kept in view, because
many persons have supposed that the invention of Perkins
was merely the substitution of steel in the place of copper for
engraving upon ; such a substitution of the one metal for the
other would not be an invention in any fair sense of the
word. But his method of obtaining soft iron surfaces to
receive the work, converting these surfaces back into
steel, and then transferring the engravings to other plates for
printing, comprised together a series of novel processes which
confer lasting honour upon the inventor.

After the transition period, having better hopes of success,

I recommended Mr. Perkins to come over himself to explain
his system and aid the artists here in putting it into opera-
tion. Accordingly in the year 1820 Mr. Perkins came to
England, and being over sanguine, brought a large staff of
able artists, mechanics, &c., but he could not bring any
money to aid in establishing his intended works in London.
He had assumed that capital could always be obtained in
England for conducting any safe and profitable schemes.
Now the matter of proving his to be such was not easy to
establish with the monied class ; so to me alone, not of that
class, he had to look for the entire expenses of his mission,
and this I could only bear for a few months. After some
time the late Mr. Charles Heath, the eminent engraver, was
induced to join Mr. Perkins and become a partner in the
engraving works which were then commenced in Fleet-street,
and are still continued by their successors.

Besides the printing on paper, Mr. Perkins’ system of
transferring has been since very extensively employed for
calico printing, and in later years we have also seen his pro-
cess employed to a vast extent in many other departments of

51

the graphic art, such as post office and receipt stamps, and
other prints that are required in greater numbers than could
he produced by other than steel plates or stamps. His
system of engraving on steel has at length become a great
artistic power, the wide-spread increase of which has given
employment to labour and capital to a vast extent in the
several branches of art before stated, and from which I
believe many large fortunes have been made, but little other
than tf toil and trouble” ever accrued to the inventor of them.

When any important discoveries in physical science are
made they never die, whatever may chance to their authors.
The new facts brought before the public go forth like seeds
cast upon a fertile soil, yielding the fruits of continual pro-
gress among the families of men who seek improvement. It
seems only just then that each generation should transmit to.
the next some record of the names of those contemporaries to
whose genius and talents all nations are indebted for such
discoveries. Wherefore, in addition to the four distinguished
inventors brought to the notice of this Society in my former
papers, I have in the present one aimed to place that of
Jacob Perkins as a worthy contributor to the advance of
those branches of art to which his inventions have been
applied.

Appendix I.

On the Compression of Water.

In tracing the progress of steel engraving I had no thought
of giving a general account of Mr. Perkins’ researches in
physical science, yet it may not be out of place to notice one
or two other of his discoveries.

(1) His experiments on the compressibility of water (made
some time before he left America) were to test the correctness
of the doctrine founded on the Florentine experiments, that
water was a non-elastic body, which was then generally
taught in the schools and elementary works. At that time

52

Mr. Perkins had never heard of the experiments of Canton,
(made some fifty years before) which had established the com-
pressibility of water. Although by Mr. Perkins’ experiments
its discovery was not strictly new yet they were of high
scientific value, because of the widely different compressing
forces employed by him and by Canton, the latter having
applied the pressure from half an atmosphere to two atmo-
spheres, say from seven and a half to thkty pounds a square
inch, whilst that employed by Perkins was from fifty to four
hundred atmospheres, or from 750 lbs. to 6,000 lbs. per inch.
The same rate of compression appeared in all his experiments,
which corresponded with that shown by Canton’s experi-
ments, and in all of which the water was compressed in
volume directly as the compressing forces.

The apparatus employed by Perkins was first a cast iron
cylinder, about three inches thick, with a movable top of
equal strength ; this, filled with water, had a force pump (as
in the hydraulic press) to measure the pressure within by the
leverage and size of the induction pipe. 2nd. A small
brass cylinder, with a piston to slide in it, water tight,
about three quarters of an inch diameter, and to have a
column of water ten inches long under the piston. The
piston rod, graduated to divisions of a hundred to the inch,
had a sliding ring on it, to be pressed upon the rod as it was
forced down upon the enclosed water, thus marking in the
hundreths of an inch the descent of the rod ; the brass cylinder,
being under the same pressure inside and out, was not sub-
ject to any strain to alter its capacity. 3rd. When the
external pressure was removed, the water in the brass cylinder
expanding to its original length and raising the piston rod,
would of course mark the greatest compression effected. In
each experiment the diminished bulk of water was directly
as the pressure applied, and under the pressure of 100 atmo-
spheres the bulk of the water was reduced one part in a
hundred, and, as before mentioned, this rate proved to be the

53

same as that shown by the experiments of Canton. Some
time after Professor Oersted made similar experiments by-
employing a stout glass vessel and using a column of mercury
to give the pressure, having the like inside cylinder as that
of Perkins to mark the result, which confirmed the same rate
as that shown by Perkins and Canton.

Appendix II.

On Perkins ’ Steam Gun.

Mr. Perkins conceived the idea of employing steam at a
very high pressure for discharging projectiles with greater
rapidity and effect than could be done by the common use of
gunpowder. To effect this object he devised a plan for
heating water more intensely than could be done by any
boilers then known, viz. — that of employing a great number
of iron or copper tubes, with their ends fastened into plates,
with chambers or cavities for receiving the water at one end
and emitting the steam at the other.

This apparatus was placed in the midst of a furnace for the
heat to act directly on the water in the tubes, and thus, as
Mr. Perkins phrased it, the water could be madejed hot and
flash into steam with a force exceeding that of gunpowder.
Then a gun barrel, with its breech opposite the valve opening
from the steam chamber, and an apparatus for conducting the
balls into the space between the breech of the barrel and the
outlet of the steam, and, the valve opening at the same time,
the steam issued and propelled the balls through the gun in
rapid succession with a force about equal to common powder,
which could be continued as long as the heat of the furnace
could keep up the pressure. He found that from fifty to a
hundred balls per minute were shot forth to a target, about
one hundred yards, with a force nearly equal to that of a
common musket, and of course by having ten such guns fixed
to the same furnace, from 500 to 1,000 balls might be dis-
charged per minute. His experiments were witnessed by the

54

Duke of Wellington and many other eminent men, who took
much interest in them.

The non-adoption of his system arose from several radical
defects in it — first, the danger from fire of having such a
cumbrous furnace on a ship ; second, the time required to
get up the steam in case of sudden encounter with an enemy,
which might lead to a surrender before a shot could be thrown
from the steam battery ; third, by unequal heating the tubes
sometimes gave way, allowing the water to escape, and
though the quantity being small would not cause explosions,
leaks would deaden the fire and stop the action of the guns,
and any suspension in the midst of action must be fatal to the
ship using such a weapon. Still the after interest attached
to the plan of the tubular boilers came from reversing the
scheme used by Perkins, viz. — employing the tubes as flues
for the fire, to convey the heat through the tubes to the water
surrounding, then, in an outer boiler, by this method, without
damaging the tubes, it is found that high pressure steam can
be employed with safety and advantage, so that Mr. Perkins’
invention was not barren to the outer world, since his tubular
boilers led to their extended employment in railway and steam-
boat engines* and were, I believe, first employed by Stephenson
a few years after the steam gun experiments had been put
“ hors de combat.”

NOTE.

Although it is needless to describe the process of case hardening, so
generally known, it may be well to explain that of decarbonising the steel
plates for engraving. This process is as follows : — The prepared steel plates
are placed in a cast-iron box, and covered about an inch deep with an oxide
of iron, prepared by subjecting iron filings to alternate wetting and drying
until they are mostly converted into red oxide. Over this covering a clay
luting is placed so as to exclude the air, and the box is then placed in a
furnace and kept at a red heat for about sixty hours, when the oxide in
contact with the steel will have taken up the carbon from its surface to the
depth of about a sixteenth of an inch, and thus convert the surface into
pure iron, as mentioned in the text.

55

Engraving of Mr. J. B. Dancer’s method of illuminating
opaque objects under the high powers of the microscope.

At A is shown a concave mirror, having a vertical and
horizontal movement, mounted over the oblique body of a
binocular microscope. By this mirror the light is reflected
down to the Wenham’s prism, and thence through the
objective to the object.

Another method .

B is a representation of a small speculum fixed at the
end of a brass wire. This is inserted into the vertical body
just over the fine motion tube at C. The speculum receives
light at the side of the microscope at D, and reflects it down
through the objective to the object. If there is any obstacle
in the way of attaching the small speculum in the vertical
body as shown at C, it could be fitted to an adapting ring
between the body and the objective.

56

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.
December 7th, 1865.

E. W. Binned, F.R.S., F.G.S., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

A paper was read “ On the November Meteors, as observed
at Woodcroft, Cuckfield, Sussex, November 12-13, 1865,”
by George Knott, Esq., F.R.A.S., communicated by Joseph
Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

The night of November 12th being fine, Mrs. Knott and
myself were enabled to watch under favourable circumstances
for the meteor-shower, of which warning had been given at
the last meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society.

An occasional examination of the sky during the earlier
part of the night did not reveal a single meteor, but as a
systematic watch was not commenced before midnight, too
much weight must not be attached to this circumstance.
Our station commanded a clear view of the southern half of
the horizon, but towards the north the view was obstructed
by the house. Between l£h. and Ih. a.m. we counted 39
meteors, giving an average of rather more than 0*6 per
minute ; the next 55m. added 6 1 to the number, giving an
average of 1*1 per minute. After half an hour’s interval we
resumed our watch at 2h. 25m. a.m., and between that hour
and 3h. 5m., when we ceased observing, we noted 55 meteors,
showing that the average had risen to 1*4 per minute. The
observations of the last 40 minutes showed clearly that the
radiant point was in the immediate vicinity of the star Z, Leonis,

57

or, perhaps, between that star and c and p of the same constel-
lation, the neighbourhood in fact of what the Rev. C.
Pritchard happily terms the “ apex of the earth’s way.”
The paths of a few meteors seemed to suggest a second
radiant point in the neighbourhood of (3 Tauri, but the
observed flights were too few to afford satisfactory evidence
on the point.

We remarked a strong tendency of the meteors to occur
in groups , four or five, and in some cases more, appearing
one after the other in quick succession, followed by a lull,
during which none were seen. We did not notice any of
very remarkable brilliancy , they ranged for the most part
from that of stars of the first magnitude downwards, in the
majority of instances leaving a train behind them, which in
several cases remained visible for some little time after the
main body of the meteor had disappeared.

Among such numbers it would hardly be possible, in all
likelihood, to identify individuals ; I may just notice, how-
ever, that at 2h. 42m. 30s. a bright meteor passed precisely
over a Orionis, leaving a train which remained visible for a
few seconds, on which the star had the curious appearance of
being threaded. The meteor passed in the direction of y
Orionis, its time of flight being about one second, and the
length of its path, of which a Orionis was about the middle
point, 10° or 12°. Of course, in the case of an unpractised
observer, these data must of necessity be very rough, and I
much regret that I was not at the time acquainted with Mr.
Herschel’s ingenious alphabetic chronometer.

In the last number of the Abbe Moigno’s serial “ Les Mondes,”
I find the following observations by M. Coulvier-Gravier
“ Night of the 12-13 November. First hours of the night
up to 4 a.m., 237 meteors observed, or about 29*7 per
hour ; from 4h. to 5h., 96 meteors, or on the average 1*6 per
minute ; from 5h. to 6h., 43 meteors, or 0*7 per minute.99
A comparison of these results with those of our own obser-

58

vations, would seem to indicate not only that there was no
very material increase in the average number of meteors per
minute as the morning advanced, but also that the display
was already on the decline before daylight put an end to
observation. At the same time it is to be noticed that,
according to the observations of M. Coulvier-Gravier, meteors
in more than average numbers, indeed very considerably so,
were to be seen on the night of the 13-14 November; he
observed, “ although the sky was almost constantly clouded,
72 meteors, of which 36 appeared between the hours of 4
and 6 a.m., when only 0*2 of the sky was clear,” But in any
case, so far as present accounts are concerned, it would
appear that the display this year was by no means a very
extraordinary one.

The position of Mr. Knott’s Observatory is Lat. 51° O' 41"
N., Long. 0°. O'. 34". W.

In the discussion which ensued Mr. Thomas Heelis,
F.B.A.S., pointed out the advantage first suggested by
Quetelet, in 1841, of recording not only the position of the
radiant point but also the mean distance from such point at
which the meteors became visible ; and Mr. Baxendell con-
curred in this, stating that he had himself, in the display of
1833, noted that the meteors had apparently lain in at least
two strata, each stratum having its peculiar mean distance
of apparition from the radiant point.

Mr. Heelis also called attention to the danger which
appeared to him to exist of forming a theory of meteors from
observations taken from a one-sided point of view, and urged
that as the observations of M. Coulvier-Gravier, in France,
had led him to the conclusion that all meteors were atmo-
spheric, whilst the form adopted by the British Association
had been framed by a committee the members of which
regarded all meteors as cosmical, each form should in the
interests of truth be so far altered as to inclose, when

59

practicable, not only the particulars already noted, but also
some of the atmospheric conditions, both at the time of
observation and also at a given time afterwards, which Mr.
Baxendell suggested should not be less than 24 hours.

Exception was likewise taken to the exclusion, by the
members of the committee, of small meteors from their
catalogue.

Mr. Baxendell added that to his mind one of the greatest
objections to the cosmical theory was that the constant deposit
during thousands of years of the remains of meteors upon the
surface of the earth, had not altered the time of diurnal
rotation.

The general opinion of the section appeared to be that no
one origin ought to be exclusively assigned to meteors, and
that both the cosmical and atmospheric theories, if pushed to
the exclusion of each other, were wrong.

Mr. Baxendell referring to his paper “ On the Variable
Star S Delphini” (see page 28) read the following extract of
a letter he had received from Mr. Knott : —

66 1 was much interested in your remarks on our different
modes of drawing the light-curves of variable stars. You
were quite correct in your statement that I have been in
the habit of regarding deviations from an even curve as due
mainly to errors of observation. I have, however, recently
felt that this hypothesis was not quite ia satisfactory one,
and have been on the point of broaching the question to
you once or twice ; and the recent projection of observations
of R Vulpeculse has strongly confirmed my suspicions. I
enclose a projection of my observations of this star for the
last maximum and minimum. You will at once see the
marked dislocation in the ascending curve. An even curve
would give an apparent error of observation on August 24
amounting to about half a magnitude ; yet my light estimates
on that day were R Vulpeculge=e-p2=y=:<7 — 3, the magni-
tudes of the comparison stars being 9 ‘5, 9*7, and 10*0, and

60

the resulting values of the magnitude of R for the night
being therefore 9*7, 9*7, 9*7. It is difficult to imagine I
could have made an error of half a magnitude here ! The
descending curve is, you will see, very regular. It seems
to me that this is rather an interesting point in variable star
observations, and worthy of some study.”

The projection of the observations of R Vulpeculse
referred to in this extract was exhibited to the meeting,
and the general impression of the members present seemed
to be that the irregularity in the ascending part of the curve
could not fairly be attributed to errors of observation.

61

Ordinary Meeting* December 26th* 1865.

E. Angus Smith* Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.* President*
in the Chair.

Mr. Henry Simpson* M.D., was elected an Ordinary
Member of the Society.

Mr. Binney F.R.S., F.G.S., exhibited some singular cal-
careous nodules found in the lower coal seams of Lancashire
and Yorkshire* full of beautiful specimens of fossil wood,
showing structure even to the smallest striae of the tubes.
These nodules were found in several seams of coal, but were
always associated, so far as yet known, with beds of fossil
shells lying immediately above them.

In one instance the beds occurred in the following
descending order* namely : —

Ffc. In.

1. Black shale full of shells of the genera Aviculo-
pecten, Goniatites, Posidonia , &c., and con-

taining calcareous concretions enclosing

similar shells 1 6

1. Seam of caking coal with the nodules contain-
ing the fossil plants 2 0

3. Floor of fire clay and gannister, full of Stig-

maria ficoides 2 6

The fossil wood is found in nodules dispersed throughout
the coal, some being spherical, and others elongated and flat-
tened ovals, varying in size from the bulk of a common pea
to eight and ten inches in diameter. In some portions of the
seam of coal the nodules are so numerous as to render it

Peoceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society— Yol. V.— No. 7.— Session 1865-66.

62

utterly useless, and they will occur over a space of several
acres, and then for the most part disappear and again occur
as numerous as ever. For a distance of twenty-five to thirty
miles the nodules occur in this seam of coal in more or less
abundance, but always, so far as yet known, containing the
same plants. Fossil shells are rarely met with in the nodules
found in the coal, but they occur abundantly in the large
calcareous concretions found in the roof of the mine, and are
there associated with Dadoxylon containing Stembergia piths,
which plant had not been noticed in the coal, and Lepido -
strobus. So far as his experience extended, the nodules in
the coal were always found associated with the occurrence of
fossil shells in the roof, and were probably owing to the pre-
sence of mineral matter held in solution in water and preci-
pitated upon or aggregated around certain centres in the
mass of the vegetable matter now forming coal before the
bituminization of such vegetables took place. No doubt such
nodules contain a fair sample of the plants of which the seams
of coal in which they are found were formed, and their calci-
fication was most probably in a great measure due to the
abundance of shells afterwards accumulated in the soft mud
now forming the shale overlying the coal. These shells, on
their decomposition, would yield most of the minerals now
found in the fossil wood, whilst the surrounding salt water
and vegetables would supply the remainder.

The specimen of Sigillaria vascularis exhibited was of an
irregular oval shape, one foot three inches in circumference,
had the ribs and furrows well shown on the outside of the
decorticated stem, and afforded evidence of the structure of
the original plant from the centre to the circumference. In
the middle was a light coloured cylinder of about an inch in
diameter, which appeared to be composed of carbonate of lime
and carbonate of magnesia. The remainder of the specimen
was of a much darker colour. By the kindness of our Presi-
dent an analysis was made in his laboratory, by Mr. Browning,

63

of a fair sample of the bulk of the dark part of the specimen.

This gave

Sulphates of potash and soda, 1*62

Carbonate of lime 45*61

Carbonate of magnesia 26*91

Bisulphide of iron 1 T65

Oxides of iron : 13*578

Silica 0*23

Moisture 0.402

The minutest vessels of the central axis and the internal
radiating cylinder of the plant, with their finely striated sides,
were preserved nearly as perfectly as in the living plant,
without affording evidence of disarrangement from pressure
or chemical change.

From the position where the calcareous nodules occur,
namely in the middle of the seam of coal, they must have
have been formed when the coal was in a soft and pulpy
state and in the same shape and condition in which they are
now found, something similar to such nodules in a peat bog
of the present day. Instances have been known of hazel nuts
placed in a damp calcareous deposit having had all their
kernels removed and replaced by carbonate of lime while the
woody portion of the nutshell remained little altered, hut in
this case the form of the starchy granules and original cellular
tissue had not been preserved.

From the analysis previously given it is evident that the
waters in which the nodules were formed contained a consi-
derable amount of sulphuric acid, probably as much as would
act on the cellular tissue and woody fibre of the vegetables so
as to convert them into colloids. If this be assumed to be
the case, then we might by the laws of liquid diffusion given
by Mr. Thomas Graham, F.R.S., Master of the Mint, in his
valuable paper printed in the Philosophical Transactions for
1861, suppose that the crystalloids now forming the light
coloured cylinder in the middle of the specimen could have a

64

free passage from the circumference to the centre, and replace
molecule by molecule the particles of the original vegetable,
and all its beautiful and delicate structure just as we now see
it preserved in the stone. However, before dialysis could be
held to account satisfactorily for the phenomena above stated,
a good many experiments on recent woods would have to be
made, and more attention devoted to the subject than he
(Mr. Binney) would be able to give.

The specimens exhibited were a portion of those described
in a paper in the Philosophical Transactions of this year.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTIONS.

December 18th, 1865.

J, B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., in the Chair.

Mr. Parry exhibited some sections of fossil wood and
Echinus spines, most beautifully cut by Mr. John Butter-
worth, of Oldham, and presented some of the slides to the
Section.

Mr. Parry also presented to the meeting, for distribution
among the members, mounted slides of the contents of a
shark’s stomach, from the Madras coast, consisting almost
entirely of Diatomacese.

Mr. Hurst then made a few remarks on late improve-
ments in illuminating opaque objects under the higher
powers of the microscope. He said they consisted of three
different methods. Firstly, that of H. E. Smith, of Kenyon
College, America, described in the e( English” Mechanics ’
Magazine of the 20th October, 1865, in an extract from the
American Journal of Science and Arts , This gentleman

employed a box, or adaptor, between the object glass and the

65

Wenham’s Prism of the binocular, with a side perforation
opposite to which was a small silver reflector or a common
thin glass cover, acting as a mirror and capable of adjustment
to any angle — thus enabling it to throw the rays of light
admitted by the side aperture through the object glass
down on to the object itself.

The disadvantage of this method is that all adaptors
cause unsteadiness, and however skilfully constructed
injure the accurate centering of the object glass, and while
on the one hand the thin glass cover appears to produce some
distortion of the image, the reflector so near the object
necessarily casts off a number of the rays proceeding from
it. This plan also seems to require lamp light and the use
of a condenser. Messrs. Smith and Beck appear to have
patented the use of the thin glass cover.

Secondly, a modification of the foregoing by Mr. Dancer,
of this Section, who places the thin glass or reflector between
the eyepiece and the Wenham prism, cutting an aperture in
the body of the microscope to admit the light. This dis-
penses with the objection inherent to adaptors, and theoreti-
cally seems the most perfect of these new methods ; but Mr.
Hurst’s experience in its use was as yet too limited to form
an opinion. He hoped however to report on the subject at
the next meeting.

Thirdly, that invented by Mr. Dancer, who places a
circular mirror over the oblique tube of the microscope,
previously removing the eye piece: the light is thrown
down to the Wenham’s prism, and thence through the
objective on to the object. The only disadvantage of this
method was that of not admitting of binocular vision ;
otherwise its simplicity, cheapness, and great facility of
adjustment render it far 'preferable to the others, while its
effects are fully equal to theirs. It answers moreover equally
well by day or lamp light, and does not require a condenser,
to be used. Mr. Hurst thought every binocular microscope

66

would be fitted with it when their owners had seen its
working.

Mr. Hurst wished meanwhile to draw the particular atten-
tion of the members to the extraordinary beauty and clear-
ness with which opaque objects— hitherto the despair of
microscopists — were displayed by these methods of illumina-
tion, some being shown as clearly as if enlarged into a rela-
tively gigantic model and viewed by the naked eye. Another
peculiarity connected with them is, that as the object glass
itself acts as a condenser, the amount of light is increased
with the magnifying power of the object glass, contrary to
the effect of other modes of illumination.

Mr. Hurst thought the subject was in its infancy and that
great improvements would yet be made, but that the idea of
Mr. H. E. Smith, of making the object glass its own illumi-
nator, would prove to be one of the greatest steps in modern
microscopic science, and, as improved upon by Mr. Dancer, it
was one so costless in price and rapid in its adjustment that
every microscopist, however economical either of time or
money, could readily avail of its assistance.

Mr. Coward then exhibited some interesting plants from
India, illustrating abnormal forms of different natural fami-
lies, especially of Leguminosese.

67

Ordinary Meeting, January 9th, 1866.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President,
in the Chair.

Mr. Eddowes Bowman, M.A., gave an extended series of
striking illustrations of the principal phenomena of polarised
light.

PHOTOGRAPHICAL SECTION.

December 14th, 1865.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., Vice-President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. Joseph Sidebotham read a paper “ On the Applica-
tion of Measuring Rods to Photographic Pictures.”

The author referred to a paper on this subject read last
Session ( Proceedings , vol. iv , p. 113), in which he advocated
the use of graduated rods being placed in certain positions in
buildings or landscapes of which photographs were to be
taken, whereby correct measurements might be afterwards
made on the finished picture. He now briefly alluded to
certain corrections which would be necessary before these
measurements could be considered perfectly accurate.
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society— Yol. V.— No. 8,— Session 1865-66.

68

Professor C. Piazzi Smyth had made great use of this plan
during his investigations at the great pyramid last winter,
and had kindly allowed a selection of forty of his pictures to
be exhibited to the members as illustrations. The pictures
were exhibited by the oxyhydrogen light on the screen, and
were admirable photographs. They consisted of a series of
views of the exterior and interior of the tomb of King Shafra,
recently excavated near the great sphynx. A series of four
of these, taken to show the correct orientation of one of the
passages, are very remarkable, having been taken two minutes
before twelve, twelve o’clock, and two minutes past, true
astronomical time. Views were also exhibited of the entrance
to the great pyramid, the socket in which the corner stone
had rested, also views of the niche in Queen’s Chamber, and
the mysterious coffer in the so-called King’s Chamber, the
object of so much interest and speculation. These interior
views were taken by the aid of the magnesium light, and,
considering the many difficulties to be overcome, are very
good photographs. The divisions on the measuring rods
surrounding the coffer are exceedingly plain, and by the
application of a pair of compasses a tolerably correct measure-
ment may he obtained.

A paper was then read “ On Celestial Photography,” by
A. Brothers, F.R.A.S.

The credit of having produced the first photograph of a
celestial object is generally given to the late Mr. Bond, of
Cambridge, U.S. ; but it appears from a paper by Professor
H. Draper, of New York, published in April, 1864, that in
the year 1840 his father, Dr. J. W. Draper, was the first
who succeeded in photographing the moon. Dr. Draper
states that at the time named (1840), “it was generally
supposed the moon’s light contained no actinic rays, and was
entirely without effect on the sensitive silver compounds
Tised in Daguerreotyping.” With a telescope of five inches

69

aperture Dr. Draper obtained pictures on silver plates, and
presented them to the Lyceum of Natural History of New
York. Daguerre is stated to have made an unsuccessful
attempt to photograph the moon, but I have been unable to
ascertain when this experiment was made.

Mr. Bond’s photographs of the moon were made in 1850.
The telescope used by him was the Cambridge (U.S.) refrac-
tor of fifteen inches aperture, which gave an image of the
moon at the focus of the object glass two inches in diameter.
Daguerreotypes and pictures on glass mounted for the stereo-
scope were thus obtained, and some of them were shown at
the Great Exhibition of 1851, in London. Mr. Bond also
proved the advantage to be derived from photographs of
double stars, and found that their distances could be measured
on the plate with results agreeing well with those obtained
by direct measurement with the micrometer.

Between the years 1850 and 1857 we find the names of
Father Secchi in Rome, and MM. Berch and Arnauld in
France ; and in England, Professor Phillips, Mr. Hartnup,
Mr. Crookes, Mr. De la Rue, Mr. Fry, and Mr. Huggins.
To these may be added the name of Mr. Dancer, of Man-
chester, who, in February, 185£, made some negatives of the
moon with a four and a-quarter inch object glass. They
were small, but of such excellence that they would bear
examination under the microscope with a three-inch objective,
and they are believed to be the first ever taken in this country.
Mr. Baxendell and Mr. Williamson, also of Manchester, were
engaged about the same time in producing photographs of
the moon.

The first detailed account of experiments in celestial
photography which I have met with is by Professor Phillips,
who read a paper on the subject at the meeting of the British
Association at Hull in 1853. Professor Phillips says : — “If
photography can ever succeed in portraying as much of the
moon as the eye can see and discriminate, we shall be able to

70

leave to future times monuments by which the secular changes
of the moon’s physical aspect may be determined. And if this
be impracticable— if the utmost success of the photographer
should only produce a picture of the larger features of the
moon, this will be a gift of the highest value, since it will be
a basis, an accurate and practical foundation of the minuter
details, which, with such aid, the artist may confidently sketch.”
The pictures of the moon taken by Professor Phillips were
made with a six and a-quarter inch refractor by Cooke. It
is of eleven feet focus, and produces a negative of one and a-
quarter inches diameter, in thirty seconds. Professor Phillips
does not enter very minutely into the photographic part of
the subject, but he gives some very useful details of calcula-
tions as to what may be expected to be seen in photographs
taken with such a splendid instrument as that of Lord Rosse.
It is assumed that an image of the moon may be obtained
direct of twelve inches diameter, and this when again magni-
fied sufficiently would show “ black bands twelve yards
across.” What may be done remains to be seen, but up to
the present time the Professor’s anticipations have not been
realised.

We have next, from the pen of Mr. Crookes, a paper com-
municated to the Royal Society of London, in December,
1856, but which was not read before that society until
February in the following year. Mr. Crookes appears to have
obtained good results as early as 1855, and, .assisted by a
grant from the Donation Fund of the Royal Society, he was
enabled to give attention to the subject during the greater
part of the year following. The details of the process em-
ployed are given in the paper with much minuteness. The
telescope used was the equatorial refractor at the Liverpool
Observatory, of eight inches aperture, and twelve and a-half
feet focal length, producing an image of the moon 1*35 inch
diameter. The body of a small camera was fixed in the place
of the eyepiece, so that the image of the moon was received

71

in the usual way on the ground glass. The chemical focus
of the object glass was found to be eight-tenths of an inch
beyond the optical focus, being over-corrected for the actinic
rays. Although a good clock movement driven by water
power is applied to the telescope, it was found necessary to
follow the moon’s motions by means of the slow-motion
handles attached to the right ascension and declination
circles, and this was effected by using an eyepiece, with a
power of 200 on the finder, keeping the cross-wires steadily
on one spot. With this instrument Mr. Hartnup had taken
a large number of negatives, but owing to the long exposure
required he was not successful ; but with more suitable col-
lodion and chemical solutions, and although the temperature
of the observatory was below the freezing point, Mr. Crookes
obtained dense negatives in about four seconds. Mr. Crookes
afterwards enlarged his negatives twenty diameters, and he
expresses his opinion that the magnifying should be con-
ducted simultaneously with the photography by having a
proper arrangement of lenses, so as to throw an enlarged
image of the moon at once on the collodion plate ; and he
states that the want of light could be no objection, as an ex-
posure of from two to ten minutes would not be “ too severe
a tax upon a steady and skilful hand and eye.”

In an appendix to his paper Mr. Crookes gives some par-
ticulars as to the time required to obtain negatives of the
moon with different telescopes, from which it appears that
the time varied from six minutes to six seconds. The different
results named must, I conclude, have been caused not so
much by the differences in the instruments as in the various
processes employed, and in the manipulation. I must ob-
serve, also, that it is not stated whether all the experiments
were tried upon the full moon, a point' materially affecting
the time.

Mr. Grubb read a paper on this subject before the Dublin
Photographic Society on May 6th, 1857. After referring to

72

the fact that he found the actinic focus of his object glass to
be longer than the visual (thus agreeing with Mr. Crookes)
he states it to be generally understood that in a compound
object-glass made as nearly achromatic as possible, the actinic
focus is shorter than the visual. The most valuable portion
of Mr. Grubb’s paper is the suggestion for a piece of appa-
ratus to be attached to the part connected with the telescope
for holding the dark frame, which he proposes may be so
arranged as to follow the moon’s motion in declination ; and
he gives the following description of a contrivance used by
Lord Rosse, and which is suitable for telescopes not equa-
tonally mounted : — “ On a flat surface attached to the teles-
cope, and parallel to the plane of the image is attached a
sliding plate, the slide being capable of adjustment to the
direction of the moon’s path at the time of operating. The
slide is actuated by a screw moved by clockwork, and having
a governor or regulator of peculiar construction, which acts
equally well in all positions. The clockwork being once
adjusted requires no change; but the inclination of the slide
must be effected by trial for the moon’s path at the time of
taking the photograph.” This idea originated with Mr.
De la Rue, Lord Rosse’s share in it arose from his having
applied a clock motion to the apparatus.

The telescope used by Mr. Grubb is l&iV inches aperture
and twenty feet focus, giving an image 2tLe- inches diameter
in from ten to forty seconds.

The next contribution on this subject is by Mr. Fry, who,
in 1857, commenced his experiments on the moon with an
equatorial telescope, the property of Mr. Howell, of Brighton.
The object glass of this instrument is eight and a-half inches
diameter and eleven feet focus, and gave an image of the full
moon in about three seconds, but under very favourable
circumstances a negative was made in a single second. The
size of the image is not stated, but it must have been about
one and a-quarter inches diameter. Mr. Fry appears to have

73

removed the eyepiece of the telescope, and in its place a
board was fixed having a screw adjustment, so that a plate-
holder could be moved backwards and forwards on the board
(graduated to tenths of an inch) for the purpose of finding
the actinic focus, which was three quarters of an inch beyond
the visual. He found that this position of the chemical focus
was variable, owing, as he thought, to the varying distance
of the moon from the earth, but, as suggested by Mr. De la
Rue, it might arise from the length of the telescope tube
having altered through change of temperature.

In 1858 Mr. De la Rue read an important paper before the
Royal Astronomical Society, from which it appears that the
light of the moon is from two to three times brighter than
Jupiter, while its actinic power is only as six to five, or six
to four. On December 7th, 1857, Jupiter was photographed
in five seconds and Saturn in one minute, and on another
occasion the moon and Saturn were photographed just after
an occultation of the planet in fifteen seconds.

The report of the council of the Royal Astronomical Society
for 1858 contains the following remarks : —

“ A very curious result, since to some extent confirmed by
Professor Secchi, has been pointed out by Mr. De la Rue,
namely, that those portions of the moon’s surface which are
illuminated by a very oblique ray from the sun possesses so
little photogenic power, that, although to the eye they appear
as bright as other portions of the moon illuminated by a more
direct ray, the latter will produce the effect called by photo-
graphers, solarisation, before the former (the obliquely-illu-
minated portions) can produce the faintest image.”

And the report also suggests that the moon may have a
comparatively dense atmosphere, and that there may be vege-
tation on those parts called seas.

At the meeting of the British Association at Aberdeen, in
1859, Mr. De la Rue read a very valuable paper on celestial
photography. An abstract of this paper was published at the

74

time in The British Journal of Photography, and in
August and September of the following year further details
of Mr. De la Rue’s method of working were given in the
same Journal. The processes and machinery employed are
so minutely described that it is unnecessary here to say more
than that Mr. De la Rue commenced his experiments about
the end of 1852, and that he used a reflecting telescope of
his own manufacture of thirteen inches aperture and ten feet
focal length, which gives a negative of the moon averaging
about liVth of an inch in diameter. The photographs were
at first taken at the side of the tube after the image had been
twice reflected. This was afterwards altered so as to allow
the image to pass direct to the collodion plate, but the ad-
vantage gained by this method was not so satisfactory as was
expected. In taking pictures at the side of the tube, a small
camera box was fixed in the place of the eyepiece, and at the
back a small compound microscope was attached, so that the
edge of a broad wire was always kept in contact with one of
the craters on the moon’s surface, the image being seen
through the collodion film at the same time with the wire in
the focus of the microscope. This ingenious contrivance in
the absence of a driving clock was found to be very effectual,
and some very sharp and beautiful negatives were thus ob-
tained. Mr. De la Rue afterwards applied a clockwork
motion to the telescope, and his negatives taken with the
same instrument are as yet the best ever obtained in this
country.

The advantage of the reflecting over the refracting telescope
is very great, owing to the coincidence of the visual and actinic
foci, but it will presently appear that the refractor can be
made to equal if not excel the work of the reflector.

Mr. De la Rue's paper (as published in the report of the
British Association,) contains some extremely interesting
particulars as to the mode of obtaining stereoscopic pictures
of the moon, and diagrams are given showing the effects of

75

the moon’s libration. The most beautiful stereoscopic prints
of the moon are those by Mr. De la Hue. Mr. Fry also was
very successful in this branch of celestial photography.

In this brief history of the subject of celestial photography,
I have not referred to anything which has been done in
making photographs of the solar spots, but the matter must
not be altogether passed over. The first step in this
direction appears to have been taken in France, in 1845, by
MM. Fizeau and Foucault, but it is chiefly due to the efforts
of Mr. De la Hue that so much useful work has been done in
heliography. In 1860 Mr. De la Hue and his staff of assist-
ants performed one of the greatest feats yet recorded in this
branch of the art of photography, having succeeded in
obtaining several beautiful negatives of the various phenomena
seen only during total eclipses of the sun, and two negatives
were obtained during the totality. One question of much
interest to astronomers was determined by this great experi-
ment. The red prominences or flames generally seen as
issuing from the edge of the moon were proved to belong to
the sun. Photographs of the sun are taken daily when the
weather is favourable at the Kew Observatory, and also by
Professor Selwyn, at Ely. With the Kew photoheliograph
pictures of the sun spots have been made on the scale of
three feet to the sun’s diameter. Much, however, remains to
be done. The light of thesun is much in excess of what is
required to obtain a collodion picture, so that the loss of light
consequent on the necessary interposition of lenses and the
distance of the plate from the instrument can be no objection ;
and for these reasons I have very little doubt that with
apparatus suitably arranged photographs of spots and groups
of spots will be obtained of very much larger diameter than
any yet taken.

The Quarterly Journal of Science for April, 1864, contains
the next important paper on celestial photography. It is by
Dr. Henry Draper, one of the Professors at the New York

76

University. On his return to America, after paying a visit to
Parsonstown, where he had the advantage not only of making
some observations with Lord Rosse’s large reflector, but also
of seeing the method there pursued in grinding and polishing
mirrors, stimulated by what he had seen, it was determined
to build an observatory, and to construct an instrument to be
devoted solely to celestial photography. The speculum used
by Dr. Draper is fifteen and a-half inches in diameter, and
twelve and a-half feet focal length ; but this was afterwards
superseded by one of glass on Foucault’s principle. The great
labour involved in a work of this character may be judged of
by the fact that Dr. Draper ground and polished more than
100 mirrors, varying in diameter from nineteen inches to a
quarter of an inch ; but he appears at last to have secured a
good instrument. The chief points to be noticed in this
article are, that instead of driving the telescope in the usual
way by means of a clock, the frame carrying the glass plate
was made to move on the plan previously referred to. Instead
of clockwork to effect this motion, an instrument called a
“ clepsydra” was used. It has a weight and a piston rod,
which fits into the cylinder filled with water, which is allowed
to escape by means of a stopcock, and can he regulated with
great exactness, so as to follow the object. The large number
of 1,500 negatives are stated to have been taken at this
observatory, some of which would bear magnifying twenty-
five diameters (the paper says times , but I assume this to be
an error, as a negative must be very bad if it will not bear
more than five diameters, or twenty-five times.) As the
average size of the negatives was liV inch, an increase of
twenty-five diameters would give an image of the moon nearly
three feet in diameter. I have not seen the prints from these
negatives, and have never heard anything of the quality of
the work produced by this telescope ; but it may he stated
that Dr. Draper writes as if the negatives were of the best
quality, and encourages others to follow his example.

77

Nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed since the moon
was first photographed in America, and our friends on that
side of the Atlantic have not been idle in the interval. To an
American gentleman we are indebted for the best pictures of
our satellite yet produced, and it is difficult to conceive that
anything superior can ever be obtained ; and yet with the
fact before us that Mr. De la Rue’s are better than any others
taken in this country, so it may prove that even the marvel-
lous pictures by Mr. Rutherford may be surpassed.

Mr. Rutherford appears, from a paper in the American
Journal of Science for May of the present year, to have begun
his work in lunar photography in 1858 with an equatorial of
eleven-and-a-quarter inches aperture, and fourteen feet focal
length, and corrected in the usual way for the visual focus
only. The actinic focus was found to be seven-tenths of an
inch longer than the visual. The instrument gave pictures
of the moon, and of the stars down to the fifth magnitude,
satisfactory when compared with what had previously been
done, but did not satisfy Mr. Rutherford, who, after trying to
correct for the photographic ray by working with combina-
tions of lenses inserted in the tube between the object glass
and sensitive plate, commenced some experiments in 1861
with a silvered mirror of thirteen inches diameter, which was
mounted in a frame and strapped to the tube of the refractor.
Mr. Rutherford enumerates several objections to the reflector
for this kind of work, but admits the advantage of the coinci-
dence of foci. The reflector was abandoned and a refractor
specially constructed of the same size as the first one, and
nearly of the same focal length, but corrected only for the
chemical ray. This glass was completed in December last,
but it was not until March 6th of the present year that a
sufficiently clear atmosphere occurred, and on that night the
negative was taken from which the prints were made, and
through the kindness of Dr. Roscoe I now have the pleasure
of showing them to you.

78

I have entered somewhat minutely into particulars of what
has been done in this branch of our favourite art, in order
that we may have before us a kind of summary or index of
the work done up to the present time, so that those who
desire further information may at once refer to the authori-
ties quoted. It may be asked why it was thought necessary
to draw up this paper, as Mr. De la Hue and others have
said almost all that is necessary to enable anyone to take up
the subject and to pursue it sucessfully.

It is true there are very elaborate papers, and from their
perusal I have derived much useful information, but at the
same time it must be confessed their very elaborateness de-
terred me, for a long time after I possessed the necessary
apparatus, from commencing the experiments which have
since afforded me so much enjoyment.

Every writer on this subject speaks of the difficulties
encountered from optical, instrumental, and atmospheric
causes ; and to this may be attributed the fact that we have
so few of our amateur astronomers giving their attention to
the subject. Another reason may be that comparatively few
of those who possess telescopes may have the necessary pho-
tographic knowledge ; hut surely some friend having this
knowledge might be found who would he willing to spare a
few hours occasionally to assist in taking negatives of the
stars, planets, or of the moon. The reason, then, why this
subject is brought before your notice this evening is, that it
is believed that the apparatus I use is, in some particulars,
more simple than any heretofore described, and as it can be
used with any kind of telescope, a greater number of ama-
teurs than are now engaged in it may be induced to follow
this fascinating branch of photography.

It will have been noticed that when particulars of the
apparatus have been given the writer has spoken of a small
camera , which has been fixed at the eye piece end of the tele-
scope. As to how this was effected I have seen no description,

CELESTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY,

BAR LOW’S LENS . DIAPHRAGMS.

79

and as no camera box is required I need not enter into any
supposition as to the mode in which it may be done. Before
deciding what was necessary to be done, it occurred to me
that the telescope tube itself is the camera, and all that was
required was the means of fixing the dark frame or plate
holder. If the telescope be pointed to the moon, the eye
piece removed, and a piece of ground glass held between the
eye and the aperture, the image will be seen on the glass, and
we require then the means of holding the sensitive plate
steadily near the same place. All that is needed is a brass
tube about four or five inches long, of the size exactly fitting
the tube of the telescope in the place of the eyepiece. In
some cases the sliding tube of the eyepiece may be unscrewed
and used for this purpose. At one end of this tube a thread
is cut and is made to screw into a piece of metal plate (in the
centre of which is a circular aperture of the same size as the
tube), of the same dimensions as the dark frame. Attached
to the plate holder are clips accurately fitting the brass plate,
but so that the frame will easly slide ofi* and on without dis-
turbing the telescope. This is all the additional apparatus
required to enable photographs of the moon or any other
celestial object to be made. A separate frame for the ground
glass is not necessary : it must be cut to fit the dark frame,
and while in use can be held by slight springs fixed inside
the frame at the sides.

The accompanying photo-lithographed copy of a drawing
shows the arrangement of the apparatus when in its place for
taking a negative, and renders further description unneces-
sary. '1 he method for ascertaining the actinic focus may be
stated in a few words. With the rack motion adjust the
focus for distinct vision on the ground glass, and then mark
the tube E, and also the sliding part of the telescope. Al-
though very unlikely to be of the slightest use, unless taken
with a reflecting telescope, a picture may now be taken ; it
will at least serve to give some idea of the proper exposure.

80

If the chemical and visual foci are not coincident the image
will have a blurred appearance. Before exposing the next
plate, turn the adjusting screw so as to lengthen the tube
about the 16th of an inch, and so proceed until, by the
greater distinctness of the image, it is seen that the chemical
focus is found. At every change of the focus a slight mark
should be made on the tube, and when the true focus is satis-
factorily determined the marks should be made distinctly
visible ; and in ail future experiments with the same instru-
ment the focus will be always at or very near the same place.
Should it be found that the indistinctness increases, it will of
course be necessary to try in the other direction.

The appearances arising from atmospheric disturbances are
very much the same as when the object is out of focus : expe-
rience alone will enable the operator to determine from which
cause the defect proceeds.

It is assumed that the telescope is provided with a driving
clock ; when such is the case every care should be taken that
all the parts are clean, and when necessary oiled or greased,
so that the motions may be as smooth as possible.

In photographs of the moon in the phases, prior to and after
the full, the side opposite to the sun is always too light, or
“ burnt up,” while those parts near the terminator are often
so dark that only the tops of the craters and peaks are visible,
although in the telescope a clear and bright image can be
seen. The cause of this must be that the exposure, if con-
tinued long enough to bring out all the eye can see on the
darker side, would entirely obliterate the details on the
brightly illuminated portions of the moon’s surface. Mr.
De la Rue’s suggestion as to why the dark side of the moon
has so little actinic effect, has been already referred to. I
would suggest that, as the light of the full moon is 100,000
times weaker than that of the sun, the twilight * on the moon’s

* In the absence of an atmosphere on the moon there can be no twilight
such as we hare on the earth. The meaning, therefore, of this sentence may

81

surface must be very much less, and consequently the actinic
effect of the light is lessened in the same way as at a corre-
sponding time on the earth.

The question, then, of photographing the terminator is only
one of time, and in order to remedy the defect spoken of to
some extent, I have used diaphragms such as are shown in
the drawing. In the tube E openings are made on opposite
sides, and wide enough to admit the diaphragms to be used
without touching the tube. The diaphragm must be of the
proper length and width to shut off the moon’s light until the
plate is ready for exposure. The shape of the diaphragm will
suggest which form should be used according to the moon’s
age. The exposure should be made with the full aperture
for as many seconds as previous experiments have proved to
be necessary for the bright side, and the diaphragm then
gently moved and kept in motion, gradually approaching the
darkened side. By this means the exposure may be regulated,
and the great differences in the light and dark sides of the
moon may be modified.

As to the processes employed, each experimenter must
adopt the one he finds in his hands gives the best result. It
seldom happens that two operators can produce the same
effects with, apparently , the same chemicals. Experience has
shown me that the ordinary patent plate glass (carefully
selected, so as to be free from scratches and other defects,) is
preferable to the white patent plate, having found that after
a time the surface becomes covered with a kind of dew or
u sweat,” as it is termed, owing to the decomposition of some
of the salts used in the manufacture. The collodion used was
made for me by Messrs. Huggon and Co. of Leeds ; it is very
quick, free from structure, and suitable for iron development.

be misunderstood. It was intended to say that on those parts of the moon,
enlightened only by the oblique rays of the sun, the light is so diminished
that the actinic effect is lessened as it is on the earth shortly before sunset
and during twilight, when it is well known that a much longer time is
required to obtain a photograph.

82

I prefer to develope with an iron solution, using only suffi-
cient to cover the plate ; and with this developer and collodion,
when the plate has been properly exposed, a negative can be
obtained which will not require intensifying afterwards. Not
having had sufficient experience with pyrogallic acid I cannot
speak with confidence as to any advantage it may possess in
giving fine texture to the negative. With the bath and
collodion exactly in the proper state, there is no doubt that
with this acid negatives may be had as quickly as with iron ;
but it is extremely difficult to have everything constantly in
the best working order. Unless the greatest attention be
given to this matter, the time of exposure is so much increased
that iron, for this reason, must have the preference.

Upon the character of the image after development entirely
depends the value of the enlargement to be made from it, and
in this direction there is much room for improvement. Even
in the best negatives }et made defects from this cause are very
apparent. The microscopic photographs by Mr. Dancer have
the finest texture, and will consequently bear greater magnify-
ing than any other photographs I have ever seen, hut the
process by which they are made is not published.

The weather in this conn try is so very uncert'ain, and suc-
cess in this branch of photography is so entirely dependent
on the state of the atmosphere, that it is necessary to be
always prepared to take advantage of a favourable night. I
have a small cupboard placed in a convenient part of my
house where there is a supply of water, and the temperature
is always much above the air outside. This cupboard is just
large enough to hold a small glass bath fixed at the proper
angle ready for use, also the bottles for collodion, bath,
developing and fixing solutions, and other little requisites.
This arrangement is so convenient that when there is a pros-
pect of getting a negative I can set the telescope, prepare the
plate, and take a negative in less than ten minutes. But
when there is a chance of two or three hours’ work an
assistant is desirable, as the best results can only be obtained

83

when one’s attention is chiefly devoted to the careful adjust-
ment of the apparatus connected with the telescope.

The convenience of the plan adopted may be judged of by
the fact that on the evening of the partial eclipse of the moon,
the 4th October last, in four hours I succeeded with the help
of two assistants in taking no less than twenty negatives,
and the telescope was several times disturbed to oblige friends
who desired to see the progress of the eclipse through the in-
strument, but the apparatus was quickly re-adjusted, although
possibly in some cases with slight loss of definition in the
negative, through haste. At a previous meeting, I described
how these negatives were made, but it may be interesting to
refer to the fact that while the fifteenth of the series was
taken the telescope was at rest. The clock had been discon-
nected for re-adjustment and it was forgotten when the plate
was ready for exposure, consequently the moon had moved
partly off the plate, and the negative shows a portion only ;
but the exposure was so short that the eye fails to detect any
difference in the sharpness of this and the others, which were
all taken when the clock had been watched and carefully
regulated for the moon’s motion. This fact is, I thinh, of
some interest, as it shows that about the time of full moon
when the light is of the greatest intensity, pictures may he
made with telescopes not equatorially mounted.

My telescope is a refractor of five inches aperture and six
feet focal length, giving an image of the moon averaging
about eleven sixteenths of an inch in diameter. The actinic
focus is one tenth of an inch longer than the visual. The
object glass is of Munich manufacture, and is mounted by
Mr. Dancer on the Sisson’s or English plan with double
polar axis. The hour circle is twenty-six inches in diameter,
and is used also as the driving wheel, having teeth cut in the
edge, in which a screw works connected with the driving
clock by a rod, and which can be instantly disconnected
by means of a cam. The object glass is an excellent
one, and the mounting is everything that can be desired.

84

The negative taken direct in the telescope is but one step
towards what we require, that is, the enlarged copy on paper.
From the small negative a positive on glass must be made,
say of twice or three times the diameter of the original. It
will be quite unnecessary here to explain how the enlarge-
ment is to be made ; but I may remark that the negative
should be placed with the film side towards the copying lens,
and the resulting positive copy must also be placed in the
same way. The enlarged copy or negative will then give
the true telescopic appearance of the moon. In the print of
the full moon by Mr. Rutherford a mistake has been made,
arising from the negative or positive copy having been placed
the wrong way, and consequently the moon looks as if it had
been photographed from the opposite side. The print is a
very beautiful one in other particulars, but entirely worthless
as a picture of the moon, as the eye can never see it as there
represented.

I have sometimes taken two negatives on the same plate.
It will be seen in the drawing that the dark slide is not quite
central with the telescope, so that by reversing the plate after
one exposure a second picture can be taken. In photograph-
ing the planets Mr. De la Rue has allowed the object to move
on for a few seconds, the telescope meanwhile being at rest,
and thus four or five negatives can be taken in a very short time
on the same plate. It has occurred to me that by having a
frame made “ landscape way” instead of upright, and in place
of having four clips such as K, there might be a kind of
groove at top and bottom, so that after taking the first
negative, and the light shut off, by moving the plate about an
inch, at least three negatives might be taken on the same
plate — or a “ shifting back” might be adapted. The advan-
tages of this plan are that different exposures might be tried,
and the development continued for the one or two which
promised the best results. This method would effect a great
saving of time, which on a fine night is of much importance.

With the Barlow lens I have made some negatives which

85

have shown that when the same care has been taken to find
the actinic focus negatives of a much larger size may be made,
and in a very short time. The image is increased from eleven-
sixteenths to one and a quarter inch, and the time of exposure
at full moon was two seconds. The fittings of the lens are so
arranged that three different sized negatives may be taken.

There are several other matters which it might have been
desirable to refer to had time permitted, but they must stand
over to a future occasion.

Mr. Baxendell said that some years ago Dr. Joule had
obtained several beautiful negatives of the sun. The time of
exposure was about too- of a second, and the apparatus for
admitting and cutting off the light was not attached to the
telescope, as in the Kew heliograph, but was mounted on a
separate stand.

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

January 4th, 1866.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. G. Y. Vernon, F.R.A.S., M.B.M.S., was elected
Honorary Secretary of the Section.

Mr. Vernon communicated the following “ Remarks on
the Barometric Disturbances during the Months of October,
November, and December, 1865.”

At the last meeting of the Physical Section attention was
called to the great barometric disturbances in October and
November of this year ; and in order that their character may
be seen at a glance I have drawn out my observations made
twice daily in the subjoined curves.

86

The amount of oscillation in October was not remarkable
for its excessive amount, but for the very sudden changes
which took place towards the end of the month, say from the
23rd to the 31st.

For November the reading was high until the 15th, when
a sudden change commenced, the great depression of the 22nd
showing the extremely low reading of 28*240 inches. The
amount of oscillation during the first half of the month only
amounted to about half an inch per week, leaving more than
six inches for the amount of oscillation during the last half
of the month, against an average of 5*851 inches for the last
seventeen years for the entire month.

The amount of oscillation for the two months of October
and November for the last five years, in continuation of the
values given in my paper in vol. i., 3rd series, of the Memoirs
of the Society, are as follows : —

OCTOBER.

NOVEMBER.

Year.

Number

of

Oscillations

Amount

of

Oscillation.

Rainfall.

Number

of

Oscillations

Amount

of

Oscillation.

Rainfall.

1861

13

Inches. 1

5-087 1

Inches.

1-230

15

Inches.

7-491

Inches.

3-878

1862

18

6-569

5035

13

5-323

1-685

1863

12

4-648 !

6-242

14

7-496

2-904

1861

14

5-110 !

1-898

20

8-504

3-255

1865

14

6-361

5-005

15

7'390

2-770

Means of
17 Years..

| 155

5-851

13-8

5-804

In the paper last alluded to I pointed out at page 3 that
an excessive amount of rainfall was accompanied also by a
large excess of barometric oscillation in every month but
October, stating also that perhaps a longer period of observa-
tion might remove this apparent anomaly. The last five
years, however, give exactly the same abnormal values for
October, as reference to the small table annexed will show.
October, 1863, with the least barometric oscillation, had the
largest rainfall out of the five years. November conforms to

87

the law, which applies to all the months but October, the
table showing' that generally the rainfall increased with the
amount of oscillation. Of course leaving 1863 out of the
question would make October conform to the rule also ; but
it is these very abnormal months which are so difficult to
account for, and which seem to bear out Mr. Baxendell’s
suggestion of some secondary disturbing cause operating
during the month of October especially. (Vide Mr. Baxen-
dell’s paper on “■ Periodic Disturbances of Atmospheric
Pressure,5’ Memoirs, 3rd series, vol. i. p. 263.)

The amount of oscillation in December was 5*468 inches,
the oscillations being thirteen in number. This is somewhat
below the average, although the month was marked by such
wide barometric readings as shown by the diagram.

The following Table of Rainfall for 1865 was also com-
municated by Mr. Vernon.

Old Trafford, Manchester.

Rain gauge 3 feet above the ground, and 106 feet above the sea.

Quarterly

Periods.

1865.

Pall in

Average
1 of

Differ-

ences;

No. of
Days’
Rain-
fall

in 1865.

Quarterly

Periods.

Quar-

terly

Periods

for

72 Years.

1864.

1865.

Inches.

72 Years.

1865.

1864.

Days.

Days.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

C Jan. ...

3112

2-469

4-0-643

18)

38

48

] Feb. . . .

2357

2-379

—0-022

| 17 £

7143

7-722

7-149

(.March.

1-674

2-301

—0-627

13)

( April...

1-082

2-025

—0-943

8)

39

36

< May . . .

3-187

2-368

4-0-819

21 [

5-226

7-722

7-279

(.June .,.

0-957

2-886

—1-829

7)

(July...

2-996

3 561

—0-565

15 )

45

36

] Aug....

3--840

3-596

4-0-244

18 t

7-502

8-063

10-357

( Sept . . .

0-666

3-200

—2-534

3 )

( Oct. . . .

5-005

3-834

4-1-171

20)

49

44

< Nov....

2-770

3-464

—0-694

16 C

8-518

7-133

10-523.

(Dec....

0-743

3-225

—2-482

8)

171

164

28-389

35-308

—6-919

153

28-389

30-640

35-308

The rainfall for 1865 has been 6*919 inches below the
average of the last seventy-two years, and 2*251 inches

88

below the fall for 1864, which was also comparatively a dry
year. Although the first three months had about an average
fall, the second three months had a fall greatly below the
average. The same remark applies to the third and fourth
quarters of the year. The fall of rain was remarkably small
in June, September, and December; and it will also be seen
that with the exception of the four months of January, May,
August, and October, every month had a rainfall below the
average. As compared with any other month, the rainfall in
October was excessive. The number of days upon which
rain fell was also greatly below that of many previous years.

Mr. Baxendell, F.R.A.S., read the following “Note on
the Variable Star T Aquilse.”

In the communication made to this Section on the 12th of
November, 1863 ( Proceedings . vol, iii. p. 195), announcing
the discovery, at Mr. Worthington’s observatory, of the vari-
ability of T Aquilse, I gave the times of one minimum and
one maximum, but was unable to give a trustworthy value of
the length of the mean period. The observations which I
have since made have however enabled me to determine with
tolerable exactness the times of three more maxima and two
minima, thus affording the means of ascertaining the value
of the mean period within very moderate limits of error.

The observed times of maximum and minimum and the
corresponding magnitudes are : —

Maxima .

1863 — Oct. 25 8 -9 magnitude.

1864— Aug. 23 8-4 ditto

1865— June 30 10*1 ditto

1865— Nov. 22 9*4 ditto

Minima.

1863 — Aug. 24 1T3 magnitude.

1864— June 24 11*2 ditto

1865— Aug. 31 11*5 ditto

89

The times of minima appear to be more irregular than
those of maxima ; but the magnitudes at maximum vary
more than those at minimum. As the times of maxima are
evidently better suited for the determination of the mean
period than those of minima, I have treated them in the
usual way, and have obtained the following elements : —

Period =152*4 days.

Epoch = 1865, January 24*1.

Calculating the times of maxima from these elements, and
comparing them with the observed times, we have the follow-
ing differences : —

0.— 0.
days
-0*1
+ 1*7
-4*5
+ 2*9

The greatest difference is only 4*5 days, or about one
thirty-fourth of the entire period, and the mean difference is
2*3 days, or one sixty-sixth of the whole period. T Aquilse
therefore belongs to the class of variables whose periods are
moderately regular.

The diagram which accompanies this communication
shows the mean form of the light-curve of T Aquilse as
derived from all the observations I have yet made. An
examination of this curve has yielded the following results : — ■

Mean magnitude at maximum = 9*20

Mean magnitude at minimum —11 *20

Mean range of variation =•• 2*00 magnitudes

Mean magnitude = 10*40

Interval from minimum to maximum = 64*0 days

Interval from maximum to minimum =88*4 days

Interval from minimum to mean magnitude... = 43*0 days
Interval from mean magnitude to maximum... = 21*0 days

90

Interval from maximum to mean magnitude... = 40*4 days
Interval from mean magnitude to minimum... =48-0 days
Interval from mean magnitude before to mean

magnitude after maximum - 61*4 days

Interval from mean magnitude before to mean

magnitude after minimum -91-0 days

A faint secondary maximum is indicated at 63 days after
the principal maximum.-

Mr. Knott, F.R.A.S., has kindly favoured me with the
results of his observations of T Aquilse for the past year, and
from the following comparison it will be seen that, with the
exception of the time of the August minimum, they are very
closely accordant with my own : —

Maxima.

Baxendell. Knott.

June 30 — 10*1 mag. July 2 — 10*1 mag.

Nov. 22 — 9 '4 mag. Nov. 20— 9-4 mag.

Minimum.

Aug. 31 — 11*5 mag. Aug. 22 — 11*4 mag.

The place of T Aquike for 1865 is 20h 5m25-4s+l 5° 13*4',
and the calculated times of its maxima for 1866 are April
26*3 and September 25*7.

MEAN LIGHT-CURVE OF T AQUIL^,

AS DERIVED EROM ALL THE OBSERVATIONS MADE AT Mr. WORTHINGTON’S

Observatorv during the years 1863-5.

Mag.

91

January £3rd, 1866.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in
the Chair.

M. le Marquis Anatole de Caligny, of Versailles, Civil
Engineer, was elected a Corresponding Member of the
Society.

Thomas Graham, F.R.S., &c., Master of the Mint ; A. W.
Hofmann, F.R.S., &c. ; Joseph Prestwich, F.R.S , &c. ; and
Andrew Crombie Ramsay, F.R.S. , &c., were elected Hono-
rary Members of the Society.

A conversation took place respecting the cattle plague, in
the course of which Mr. Baxendell stated that the results
of inquiries he had made had led him to believe that the total
mortality among cattle from plague and all other diseases,
during the past year, had been very little, if at all, above the
average rate of the last ten years ; thus indicating that the
plague had, to a great extent, displaced pleuro-pneumonia
and other dangerous diseases, and that therefore no just cause
at present existed for the feeling of alarm which prevailed
throughout the country.

A paper was read entitled “ Notes on a Section of Chat
Moss, near Astley Station,” by W. Brockbank, Esq.

By the kindness of my friend Henry Mere Ormerod, Esq.,
I have had the opportunity of examining a section of the
strata at Chat Moss, exposed in the excavations at present
being made to obtain marl for the reclamation of the moss.
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol. Y. — No. 9— Session 1865-6.

92

A. large area has been excavated to a depth of 45 feet from
the surface, down to the red rock, giving the following thick-

nesses of the beds, viz. —

a. Peat Moss 17ft. Oin.

b. Sandy Clay or Loam 1ft. 6in.

c. Boulder Clay or Till 26ft. 6in.

d. Soft Red Rock

Commencing with the red rock, the following particulars
appeared worth recording : —

d. The soft red rock forming the base of the section is the
lower member of the trias. The surface of the rock was
covered with water, which prevented an examination of it,
but a large detached fragment was found lying upon it, which
was not at all worn.

c. The boulder clay or till had a thickness of 26ft. 6in.,
and contained boulders in abundance. It had no parting of
sand or gravel, but small patches of red sand occurred about
the middle, and of small gravel near the base. Small cubical
fragments of coal were very plentiful, and many pieces of
black shale. The following list of boulders was made from
those found in the excavations, viz.—

Greenstone. One very large boulder, much striated, and
many smaller ones. The largest boulders were of this rock.

Granites. Four varieties, all much water worn ; the grey
and green granites decomposed and very friable.

Limestones. Dark limestone boulders plentiful, one con-
taining a good specimen of “Productus Gigantens” on the
unworn surface, the other side being deeply striated and
much worn.

Light grey limestones, much worn.

Reddish limestones (permian), very little worn, and pro-
nounced by the workmen to be “ Bedford limestone,” because
worked at Bedford, in the neighbourhood. One fragment of
this limestone occurred within four feet of the surface, and
was very little worn, the corners quite sharp.

93

Red Marlstone Rock (permian), little worn.

Hcematite Iron Ores (probably permian), worn into round
lumps. These are eagerly sought by the workmen for “ red
raddle.” They resemble the richest specimens of iron ore as
found at the Patricroft workings, but are apparently much
purer, and more like the hoematites of North Lancashire.

Coal and Coal Shales. Abundant. The coal in small
cubical fragments, but in great quantity. One line specimen
of coal shale with “ Anthracosia robusta,” well preserved,
and one line frond of “ Neuropleris.” Oval nodule of pyrites
or Brass lump” from the coal measures.

Sandstones. White sandstone boulders very frequent,
containing fossils, probably calamites and sigillarise, and
chiefly resembling the white sandstones of the middle coal
measures.

Ironstone. Nodules of claybound ironstones frequent ; one
very good example with line septaria in centre.

The above list of boulders possesses some features of con-
siderable interest. The granites and greenstones are very
much the same as those found in the clays around Manches-
ter, and which are generally supposed to have come from
Cumberland and Westmoreland. These are much worn and
have deep strise.

' The limestones are such as occur in the Pendle district,
and their presence confirms the author in his belief that the
current which denuded the coal of the high-lying seams of
Lancashire and as far north as Ingleborough, and scattered
the boulders which we find in this clay, came from the north-
wards, and probably from the neighbourhood of Ingle-
borough. The quantity of coal in small fragments was very
remarkable, and evidences very considerable denudation of
the coal measures, as also the presence of so many boulders
of coal measure sandstones and shales, such as occur through-
out the district lying to the north of Chat Moss. The unworn
fragments of the permian limestones and marlstones is an

94

additional evidence, their outcrop being in the neighbour-
hood immediately to the northwards.

Mr. Ormerod informs me that the surface of the boulder
clay is in ridges or long undulations, and that it frequently
sinks into deep hollows, making the thickness of its moss
covering very variable.

b. The clay is capped by a seam 1ft. 6in. thick of loamy
sand, which contains the roots and stumps of oak trees,
birches, and hazels, the stumps being broken off about a foot
from the surface, and the trees lying near, embedded in the
moss. Leaves, branches, and hazel nuts are found in abund-
ance in this thin stratum, upon which rests the moss.

In an area of about a quarter of an acre laid bare by Mr.
Ormerod’s excavations were found at least 200 cubic feet of
oak timber, which was carted away for fuel, forming six cart
loads. Some of the trees were two feet in diameter, the roots
in situ in the loam.

On one of the trees was found a fine specimen of a fungus
attached to the stem at a foot or two above the root. It is a
fungus now found growing on oak trees, “ Polyporus igni-
arius,” and is in beautiful preservation, the pores being quite
visible to the naked eye.

It would appear as if the level valley plain on which Chat
Moss now lies was formerly covered over with a forest of
oaks with a dense undergrowth of birch, hazel, and other
brushwood. How these trees were thrown down, and the
forest became covered up by moss, is subject for speculation.
It was probably a gradual decay, owing to the lowlying,
undrained soil, which favoured the growth of sphagnum and
of such fungi as we have seen attached to the oaks now found
lying in the moss.

The occurrence of this thin stratum of loam containing the
roots of trees in situ, underlying the moss, is strikingly like
the underclays containing roots of the stigmaria in the coal

measures.

95

a . Peat Moss. The general thickness of the moss, as ex-
posed in the excavations and drains made by Mr, Ormerod,
is from 1 7 to 25 feet. In some parts of Chat Moss the thick-
ness is much greater, owing to the irregularities in the sur-
face of the boulder clay or other stratum forming the base of
the moss. In one place a depth of at least 180 feet has been
reached with boring rods, which would place it below sea
level, and would point to the existence of water — possibly an
inland arm of the sea — since filled up by moss.

When the water is drained off, the moss is very consider-
ably reduced in thickness. We measured it at two places
where drains had beefi cut through to the loam, and where
the moss had originally been 17 feet thick. It is now reduced
to 8 feet, having sunk above one half. Mr. Ormerod believes
he has thus lowered an area of 300 acres more than 3 feet on
an average. It is quite evident from this circumstance that
the bulk of the moss is very greatly influenced by the water
contained in it, and it is probably from this cause that mosses
are usually highest at the centres. The water can get away
from the margins, but it remains in the centres and swells
up the bulk.

The existence of the boulder clay under Chat Moss affords
a ready means for the reclamation of the surface for agricul-
tural purposes. Mr. Ormerod proceeds in the first place by
carrying forward deep drains down to the loam, having con-
nection with the lowest outfall. These, are connected by
cross drains, which gradually draw off the water and leave a
firm surface. The moss is then turned over by spade labour,
after which it is covered with clay brought up from below at
the extensive excavation which forms the subject of this
paper. The land is next manured with town manure, and,
being sown with clover and oats, is found to bear an excel-
lent crop of oats the first year, and clover and grass crops the
two years following. In this way it is expected the whole of
Chat Moss will shortly be reclaimed.

96

PHOTO GRAPHI CAL SECTION.
January 11th, 1866.

Dr. J. P. Joule, F.R.S., & c., Vice-President of the Section,
in the Chair.

A note from Mr. Joseph Sideboth^m was read, regretting
his inability to attend the meeting, and giving particulars
respecting some photographs which he had recently taken
with Dallmeyer’s new wide-angle lenses of five and seven
inches focus. These prints were exhibited, and also one
taken with an ordinary lens from the same spot, a compari-
son of the two showing the great advantage of the new over
the old form of lens. The time of exposure was stated to be
from two minutes to thirty seconds for collodio-albumen
plates at this season of the year.

Professor Roscoe explained the method of meteorological
registration of the chemical action of light, as described in
his paper in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal
Society, which has been chosen as the Bakerian lecture for
1865. Dr. Roscoe exhibited the apparatus needed, and
showed the method of manipulation adopted in order to
obtain curves of daily chemical intensity. He also detailed
the results which have been obtained by the employment of
his method at the British Association’s observatory at Kew,
during nine months of the year 1865, under the superintend-
ence of the Director, Mr. Balfour Stewart, F.R.S.

Dr. Joule observed that he considered Dr. Roscoe’s inves-
tigations on this subject to be equal in importance to the

97

systematic registration of the variations of temperature, as
the growth of corn, &c., depended as much on the chemical
effect of light as on the temperature of the air.

Mr. Baxendell regarded the subject as a new department
in meteorology, and one likely to yield results of considerable
interest and importance.

Mr. Parry suggested that it was desirable to have obser-
vations made at more than one station, and at a distance
from Kew.

Dr. Roscoe stated that he hoped in a short time to perfect
apparatus for effecting the registration of the chemical
changes in the light by means of self-acting apparatus, so as
to lessen the labour of making the observations.

It was suggested that a simple photometer would he useful
to photographers working with dry plates, and Dr. Roscoe
said he would endeavour to carry out the idea.

98

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTIONS.

January 17th, 1866.

A. G. Latham, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.

The following donations were announced : —

Roper’s Catalogue of Microscopic Works, by the Author.

Kolliker’s Manual of Human Microscopic Anatomy, by the
Executors of the late George Mosley, Esq.

Beck on the Microscope, by the Secretary.

Six slides of seeds and fungi, by the Secretary.

Several slides of sections of a Cidaris from the Indian Ocean,
by Mr. Parry.

The Secretary reported that he had made a catalogue of
the collection of microscopical objects belonging to the
Section.

Mr. Sidebotham remarked on the best cement to use in
forming cells for fluid preparations, and stated that gold size
appeared to prevent the entrance of air bubbles better than
Japan varnish or Brunswick black, which latter in time
became porous, and also, from the evaporation of its turpen-
tine, brittle. He said he and Mr. Thwaite were perhaps the
first to use this method of mounting objects, and that he
possessed slides of gold size cells made in 1844, which were
still quite perfect, while those he mounted with Japan black
in 1850 were most .of them spoiled, and that he had again
reverted to the use of gold size for the formation of the cell,
using Japan varnish for its final closing only.

99

The Secrete ry said gold size remained viscid for a long
time, and that if the cells formed of it were not well dried for
a considerable period, or even baked in an oven, the size was
very liable to “ run in ” and spoil the preparation. He had
re-varnished the Section’s collection with a mixture of Japan
varnish and gold size, and thought the gold size would pre-
vent the Japan varnish from becoming brittle or porous,
while the latter would prevent the gold size from running
in ; but he strongly recommended that all collections should
be re-varnished every five years, and deprecated the use of
covering papers on slides of fluid, preparations, as it prevented
this.

Mr. Latham recommended the addition of a solution of
india-rubber, and Mr. Parry of wax, to Japan varnish, to
obviate its tendency to become porous and brittle.

Mr. Heys showed a well mounted specimen of the exuvium
of the larva of a Dragon Fly, and stated he found these
insects were easily brought to cast off their skins by changing
the water in which they were kept — if soft, to hard, and vice
versa, or if muddy, to fresh.

Mr. Parry exhibited mounted specimens of an Ammonite.

Dr. Alcock said that among Foraminifera from Dogs Bay
which he had lately mounted, he thought there were some
slides likely to interest the members. Many of the deformed
specimens of Lagena striata (Williamson) wTere very curious,
and a double one, having the neck as well as the body double,
deserved particular notice. He said that he was quite con-
vinced the striated Lagena with a mucro at the base is not a
mere sub-variety of Lagena striata, but is very distinct from
it ; there were many specimens of it, all agreeing in their
peculiar characters, and he proposed for it the varietal name
of L. mucronata. The Lagena with a collar at the base of the

100

neck; described by him in a previous paper, was undoubtedly
distinct from any of the named forms, and he proposed to call
it Lagena antiqua. In his examinations of the Dogs Bay
sand one specimen only of Lagena vulgaris typica (William-
son) had occurred, though L. clavata was comparatively
common. Perhaps the most interesting find was a perfect
and characteristic specimen of Lagena crenata, a form lately
described and figured by Parker and Jones, from Australia,
but he believed not hitherto observed as British in the recent
state. The very magnificent specimens of Entosolenia Melo
also deserved notice, and the curious specimens of Truncatu-
lina lobata with the later chambers “run wide,” and various
monstrous forms of Miliolina, would be examined with
interest.

Ordinary Meeting, February 6th, 1866.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., Vice-President, in the

Chair.

The Chairman adverted to the loss the Society had expe-
rienced by the unexpected death of Mr. Parry, who from
the period of his election in 1833 had constantly promoted
the success of the meetings by his intelligence and kindly
intercourse with the members.

Mr. Baxendell said that it might interest some of the
members of the Society, especially those who had commercial
relations with India, to hear that the system of forecasting
the weather, and particularly the occurrence of cyclone
storms, had been introduced into that country by Mr. Pogson,
the government astronomer at the Royal Observatory,
Madras. The first trial was made on the 25th November
last, when the indications of a distant but approaching
cyclone induced Mr. Pogson to send a notice to the Governor,
Sir William Dennison, who promptly despatched a number
of mounted -sepoys to convey the information to various
officials and direct them to prepare for the coming storm.
Next day, uprooted trees on shore and disabled ships in the
roadstead showed that the indications had been rightly inter-
preted. On the 4th December the weather had again a very
Proc e kdik os — Lit . & Phil. Society.— Vol. V.— No. 10— Session 1865-6.

102

threatening appearance, and the officials of the Marine depart-
ment ordered all the vessels in the roadstead to put to sea ;
but Mr. Pogson, guided by the principles which had served
him so well on the 25th November, concluded that a cyclone
was passing far to the south, but would not approach suffi-
ciently near to cause a severe gale at Madras, and he there-
fore ventured to send the message, “ No need, the storm
will not come here,” and the result fully justified the confi-
dence he had placed in his conclusions, as the storm passed
without the wind at Madras attaining a dangerous force, and
unusual precautions proved therefore to be unnecessary.

A paper was read entitled “ Notes on the Origin of several
Mechanical Inventions, and their subsequent application to
different purposes.” Part III. By J. C. Dyer, Esq., V.P.

On Nail Making by Machinery .

About the beginning of this century the great consumption
of nails in America, in wood buildings, and the high rate
of skilled labour, had led to many attempts to make nails
by a more summary process than that of the hammer and
anvil, used for making those imported from England. Those
called “ cut nails,” were made by cutting angular slips from
iron plates by the common shears, and the heads were made
by a separate process of the die and hammer, worked by
hand ; and to unite these two operations in one machine was
the object sought. For this purpose a machine was invented
and patented by Mr. J. Odiorne, and another machine by
Mr. Jacob Perkins, about the year 1806. These two patents,
though for the same object, differed so far in construction

103

that they were held to be distinct inventions. A third
machine was invented by a Mr. Reed, which, however, was
a combination of the former two, and I believe was not held
valid as a patent. In 1810, Messrs. Wells and Co., of the
Charles River Iron Works, near Boston, having arranged
with the patentees, sent out models of the nail machine to
me in London, to be patented for our joint account. The
operations of the machines were as follow

1st. Feeding-plates, of the width and thickness to form
the nails, are pushed endwise over a fixed cutter, against a
stop under the traversing cutter, and at such angle with the
line of the cutters as to give the severed nail the head and
point ends, and the plates turned over between each suc-
cessive cut.

2nd. A fixed gripping die is placed just under the fixed
cutter, the face of it and the cutter being in the same line,
and the counter die moves forward to bring both together, so
as to hold the nails firmly, a portion of the large end standing
out beyond the dies to form the heads of the nails.

3rd. The heading die then advances and presses the end
into the “rose,55 “ clasp,55 or “ clout55 heads.

Success or failure often depends upon slight changes in
power-driven machines. These nail machines answered very
well for large nails, but failed as applied to very small ones,
but as a means of saving the labour applied to making tacks
and very small nails, it became important to adapt the
machines to them also. This object, after some time, I suc-
ceeded in accomplishing, and thereby rendered the patent
nail manufactory, established under the patents for the
original invention and the improvements on it, a success.

104

For a full description of these inventions I must refer to the
specifications of the patents, and to the paper in extenso , as
they could not be made intelligible within the limits of this
abstract. The average rate of working was about 100 per
minute for nails and 120 per minute for tacks. In after
practise the tack machines averaged about 80,000 a day,
whilst the best hand-workers made about 1,200 to 1,400 a
day. Each machine was tended by a youth, much like those
employed in hand-making, so that one hand with the machine
turned out as many tacks per day as would require about
sixty hands working with hammer and anvil. I have been
informed that the speed of these machines has been greatly
increased of late years. Some of the movements in these
nail machines have since been adopted and found very
efficient in rivetting machines and others of recent invention.

105

/

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTIONS.

January 29th, 1866.

J. Sidebotham, Esq., in the Chair.

The following specimens were exhibited : —

Two figures of the gills of fungi on glass, made by the
dropping of their spores, by Sir J. Herschel, exhibited
by Mr. Sidebotham; also similar ones prepared by Mr.
Sidebotham.

Small cyclophorus-like shells, with a considerable
part of the later growth free and strangely contorted,
from Borneo, Mr. Sidebotham.

Leaves of some Indian plants, mounted for the micro-
scope, Mr. Hurst.

Mounted Foraminifera, from shore sand. Port Ade-
laide, South Australia, Dr. Alcock.

Mr. Linton said that the abundant appearance last year
of the humming bird hawk moth had afforded many
collectors and admirers of nature excellent opportunities
of watching this interesting and amusing insect in pursuit
of its food, and of observing its remarkable agility, darting
from flower to flower, and then poising itself, apparently
stationary, while its long proboscis is put out with almost
instantaneous velocity. It is very shy, and when disturbed
darts away to a great height in the air, but it returns after
a time and often to the same spot. He had observed one in
his garden, at Old Trafford, about a clump of sweetwilliams,

106

and, after two unsuccessful attempts in one day, he succeeded
on the following day in taking it. During the time when the
insect was abundant, many letters referring to it appeared in the
Times newspaper, and in these it was constantly stated that
the insect visits only scarlet or bright-coloured flowers, such as
the scarlet geranium and verbena ; but if closely watched it
will be found not to confine itself to any particular flower,
and in the case just mentioned it chose the sweet williams,
though these were at the time quite on the decline, and there
was abundance both of geraniums and verbenas in the garden.
While staying at Pensarn he observed one of these moths
on two successive days resting during the hottest part of the
day on a newly whitewashed wall. It might be supposed
that the most likely place to find the moth would be hover-
ing over the plants on which the larvae feed, which are
Galium verum and G. molluga ; hut, while in Wales in
August, he visited a spot daily, for a fortnight, where these
plants were growing in great luxuriance, and never once saw
the moth at that place, though he found the larva and suc-
ceeded in rearing it. The pupa cannot be said to bury itself
in the earth, for it is found with only a few leaves drawn
together over it.

Mr. Linton also announced having bred the butterfly,
Grapta C. album, from the larva taken by himself at Aber-
gele.

107

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

■9

February 1st, 1866.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., President of the Section,
in the Chair.

The following <c Results of Rain-gauge and Anemometer
Observations made at Eccles, near Manchester, during
the year 1865,” were communicated by Mr. Thomas
Mackereth, F.R.A.S., M.B.M.S.:— -

During the past year I have been able to register the rain-
fall at Eccles, from four different gauges ; two I have placed
three feet above the ground, thirty-four feet from any dwelling-
house, and fourteen feet from my astronomical observatory,
which stands ten feet higher than the receivers of these
gauges. This ten feet measures to the apex of the revolving
roof of the equatorial room. The receivers of the rain gauges
on the ground are of different shapes, one being round, lOin.
diameter, the other 5in. square. The other two gauges are
placed four feet above the ridge of my house, quite above the
chimneys and free from the influence of any erections what-
ever. One of the gauges is 5in. square, like the 5in.
one that is three feet above the ground, on Glaisher’s plan,
with an edge inclined inwards, as is usual with rain gauges.
The other is also 5in. square, but with an edge inclined
outwards. These gauges are thirty-two feet from the ground.
The water falls into glass vessels, into which the receivers
are made to fit, exactly like the 5in. gauge three feet from
the ground, so that there is no tube required for it to flow
through and thus to cause loss by evaporation. Below I

108

present the monthly amounts of rain that fell into each
gauge, and the number of miles of horizontal movement of
the air.

1865.

Rainfall in
5in. square
gauge
■with edge
inclined
outwards,
32ft. from
ground.

Rainfall in
5in. square
gauge
with edge
inclined
inwards,
32ft. from
ground.

Rainfall in
5in. square
gauge
with edge
inclined
inwards,
3ft. from
ground.

Rainfall in
lOin. round
gauge
with edge
inclined
inwards,
3ft. from
ground.

Amount

of

horizontal
movement
of air
in miles.

J anuary

2-238

2-486

2-956

2-952

5,250

4,309

4,480

4,724 ;

3,499 |

3,215

3,784

3,615

3,089 !

4,286

February

1-872

2137

2-582

2-489

March

1-320

1-730

1-700

1-721

April

0-993

1-025

1083

1102

May

2-585

2-605

2-840

2-884

June

0-830

0-840

0-943

0-943

July

1-883

1-992

2-043

2-085

August

4-808

4-832

4-967

4-977

September

0-481

0-548

0-563

0-571

October

4-353

4-621

4-491

4-550

November

2-596

2-830

2-744

2-818

4,237
4,263 S

December

0-569

0-589

0-673

0-717

Totals 1

24-528

26-235

27-585

27-809

48-751 |

The next table shows the fall of rain in each gauge under
the same general direction of the wind, and the corresponding
daily amount of horizontal movement of the air.

General direction of tbe
wind

N.

N.E.

E.

S.E.

S.

S.W.

W.

N.W.

Average daily horizontal
movement of the air
in miles

79

124

143

156

178

162

183

149

Fall of rain in inches in
5in. gauge with edge
inclined outwards 32ft.
from ground

1-414

2-011

0-259

4-060

5-246

6-738

2-099

2-701

In gauge with edge in-
clined inwards 32ft.
from ground

1-468

2-054

0-271

4-285

5-866

7168

2-280

2-840

In 5in. gauge with edge
inclined inwards 3ft.
from ground

1-472

2-425

0-317

4-550

6-000

7-258

2-515

2-949

In ordinary lOin. gauge
3ft. feet from ground..

1-501

2-415

0-327

4-610

6-069

7-363

2-516

3 006

Number of days

6

27

6

35

22

43

15

23

From the above table it appears that the least amount of
rain falls with an east wind, and the greatest with a south-

109

westerly wind. The strongest wind with rain is the west
wind, and it is known that the strongest gales are from winds
a little north of west. This shows, though the above table
is framed from the observations of one year only, that the
strongest winds are from nearly the same quarter, even when
rain falls with them.

The following table shows the average daily rainfall in
each kind of gauge when the velocity of the wind has ranged
between the number of miles indicated in the first column.

Daily

Movement of
Wind.

32 feet from ground.

3 feet from ground.

5in. square gauge
with

edge inclined
outwards.

5in. square gauge
with

edge inclined
inwards.

5in. square gauge
with

edge inclined
inwards.

10in, ordinary
round gauge.

0 to 50 miles

•029

•030

•042

•045

50 to 100

5?

•103

•105

•110

•114

100 to 150

•220

•232

•231

•233

150 to 200

•108

•118

•122

•124

200 to 250

•151

•160

•174

•175

250 to 300

•127

•138

•154

•158

Above 300

•174

•204

•197

•211

The President remarked with reference to the difference
between the two elevated gauges that a Glaisher’s gauge,
with the rim inclined inwards, would register more than the
true amount, as the spray from drops striking the rim on
the windward side would be carried over into the gauge ;
while, on the other hand, a gauge with a rim inclining out-
wards would give less than the true amount, because the
spray from drops falling on the rim on the lee side would be
blown away and lost.

Mr. Baxendell, F.R.A.S., read the following “ Note on
the Variable Star S Coronse.”

This variable was discovered on the 5th of August, 1860,
by Dr. Hencke, of Driesen, and a notice of it inserted in the
Astronomische Nachrichten , No. 1281. So far, however, as
I am aware, no account of any observations made since, has

110

yet been published, and I have therefore thought it might be
desirable to communicate to the Section the results of two
series of observations which I have made at Mr. Worthington’s
observatory, and which have enabled me to determine its
approximate mean period and epoch of maximum. The first
series commenced on the 26th of May, and ended on the 31st
of October, 1864. A projection of the observations shows
that a maximum occurred on the 12th of August, 1864, the
magnitude being 6*7. The second series began on the 2nd
of April and was continued till the 12th of November, 1865,
the star during this time rising from the l T9 magnitude on
April 2nd to a maximum, 6*6 magnitude, on July 17th, and
afterwards declining to the 8'6 magnitude on November 12th.
An inspection of the light-curves which accompany this note
will show that only one period could have elapsed between
the dates of these two maxima ; and as Dr. Hencke’s obser-
vations in 1860 indicate that a maximum occurred about the
1st of September in that year, we have the following data for
the determination of the star’s elements : —

OBSERVED INTERVAL NUMBER OF

MAXIMA. IN DAYS. PERIODS.

1860. September 1 1441 4

1864. August 12 339 1

1865. July 17

Equating, and treating by the method of least squares, we
have

Mean Period = 357*2 days.

Epoch of Maximum = 1863, August 10*6.

The times of maxima calculated from these elements,
compared with the observed times, give the following differ-
ences : —

C-0

4- 2*0
-10*2
+ 8*0

Ill

I have not observed S Coronse when at its minimum
brightness, and cannot therefore give the lower limit of its
range of variation, nor the interval from minimum to maxi-
mum. My observations show, however, that it belongs to
the list of variables which increase in brightness more rapidly
than they diminish. Thus in 1864 it rose through 4*5
magnitudes in 78 days, but fell through only 1*5 magnitudes
in 80 days ; and in 1865 it increased 5*3 magnitudes in 106
days, but diminished only 2 0 magnitudes in 118 days.

The place of S Coronse for 1865*0 is 15 h. 15 m. 546 s.
4-31° 51*2'. The calculated time of its next maximum is 1866,
July 17 ; and for the convenience of observers who may be
disposed to watch its changes and record their observations,
I append to this communication a small chart, and a list of
comparison stars with their magnitudes.

XV. hours.

14 m. 16 m. 18 m.

| + 31° 20'

4- 31° 40-
4- 32° 0^

4- 32° 20'

14 m. 16 m. 18 m.

MAGNITUDES OF COMPAKISON STABS.
a = 6-8 d= 8-6 0 = 11*3

6 = 7-9 e = 8-8 A= 11-9

c = 8-2 /= 10-2 *= 12-6

112

Mr. Baxendell also read the following communication
“On the Determination of the Mean Form of the Light-curve
of a Variable Star.”

Since the publication in the last number of the Society’s
Proceedings of my “ Note on T Aquilae,” I have been
requested to give an explanation of the method I employ to
obtain the mean light-curve of a variable star. Many years
ago I adopted a method which I afterwards found was very
similar to, if not identical with, the one used by Professor
Argelander for the same purpose ; but I have recently em-
ployed another plan which appears to be decidedly preferable,
as it saves time, renders unnecessary a great deal of tedious
computation, and gives results of greater weight and value
than those obtained by the former method. It is simply this :
Having determined the elements of a variable star, calculate
the times of all the maxima — or minima, as the case may be—
that have occurred during the period over which the observa-
tions extend ; then, taking the original light-curve, read off
the values of the ordinates for each day, and arrange them
in a table having as many columns as there are days in the
star’s mean period, or, in many cases, it will be sufficient to
take every second, or even third day, always reckoning, of
course, from the last preceding maximum or minimum, and
then adding together the values in each column, and taking
the means, we have the numbers from which to lay down the
star’s mean light-curve.

. 113

Ordinary Meeting, February £0th, 1866.

R, Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in
the Chair.

Mr. E. W. Binney, F.R.S., said that in the calcareous
nodules found in the Upper Foot coal, a mine lying about
fifteen yards above the Gannister coal at Moorside and other
places near Oldham, he had met with a small stem of fossil
wood showing structure in a very perfect state. It evidently
belonged to the genus Pinites of Witham, since changed by
Endlicher and Brongniart into Dadoxylon ; but after com-
paring it with the species figured and described by those
authors, and more lately by Professor Schimper of Stras-
bourg, he was of opinion that it was a new one. The speci-
men was also more complete than any other with which he
was acquainted, although it was but of diminutive size.

It has generally been supposed that the coniferous woods
found in the coal measures were only to be met with in sand-
stone rocks, and not in seams of coal or beds of shale, and
had been drifted from high and dry lands into the waters in
which such deposits had been formed, and had not grown on
the places where they were discovered like Sigillaria and its
root Stigmaria. The specimen of Dadoxylon now described,
however, had equal claim to be supposed to have grown on
the spot where it was found as any Sigillaria met with in the
same seam of coal.

The stem is nearly cylindrical and enveloped in a matrix
of limestone, so that we cannot see its external characters.
Its diameter is about one half of an inch.

On examination of a transverse section of the stem we find
a medullary axis composed of irregular polygonal cells full of
dark carbonaceous matter separated by intervening spaces
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. V. — No. 11 — Session 1865-6,

114

vertically, and thus forming a kind of discoid pith somewhat
similar to that noticed by the late Professor Corda, and after-
wards by Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., in a paper pub-
lished in vol. ix., second series, of the Society’s memoirs* This
pith in the present specimen appears to be separated from cer-
tain lunette-shaped bundles of hexagonal tubes of large size,
arranged in a convex form towards the pith inwards, and
lessening in size as they pass outwards into wedge-shaped
masses of four-sided subhexagonal cellules arranged in radia-
ting series and divided by large medullary rays or bundles
which appear to originate in the lunette-shaped masses. On
the outside of this internal radiating cylinder are other
lunette-shaped bundles similar to those in the inside pre-
viously described and also with a convex outside. Then
comes a narrow zone of lax tissue which has been a good
deal disarranged. Outside this are some thin wedge-shaped
bundles of cellules full of dark carbonaceous matter, and
arranged in radiating series of varying sizes separated by lax
tissue probably representing the bark of the tree.

In the longitudinal sections the cellules are seen to be
greatly elongated and divided with oblique and transverse
dissepiments placed at great distances. Two of the walls,
namely those facing the medullary rays, are regularly reti-
culated with six, seven, and eight series of hexagonal areolae
arranged contiguously but not in a line.

In the tangential section the walls of the cellules also show
a reticulated appearance something like that previously
noticed, but not in so marked and distinct a manner, and the
medullary rays or bundles in their section show numerous
irregular series of small cellules of one to four, and more
rarely much larger cellules.

The arrangement of the lunette-shaped bundles next the
pith reminds us of similar masses described by Brongniart as
occurring in his Sigillaria elegans , but the cellules in my
specimen are much more irregular in size than those of

115

Sigillaria, and there are no traces of striae upon their sides.
The same may be said of somewhat similar lunette- shaped
masses appearing on the outside of the internal radiating
cylinder.

The areolae on the walls of the cellules are more numerous
than in any species of Pinites or Dadoxylon which have
hitherto come under my notice, the P. medullaris of Witham
having the walls of its elongated cellules reticulated with
two, three, and four series of contiguous areolae, and those
only on the walls parallel to the medullary rays, while in
my specimen they are reticulated with six, seven, and eight,
and not only on such walls, but also on the walls at right
angles to the medullary rays. The lunette-shaped bundles
of cellules both in the inside and outside of the internal
radiating cylinder are different from those seen by me in any
other specimens of Dadoxylon . For the purpose of distin-
guishing it the name D. Oldhamium has been given to it.

A paper was read “ On Air from off the Atlantic, and from
some London Law Courts,” by R. Angus Smith, Ph.D.,
F.R.S., &c., President.

The specimens of air collected by Mr. Fryer when on his
way to West Indies, and those collected in Antigua, are
worth remarking, as the first agrees with the figures obtained
previously when examining air on the sea shore and open
heaths of Scotland, where the highest average was obtained,
and the second agrees with the numbers obtained in more
inhabited but not closely inhabited places.

Those from a law court are interesting ; they are the most
deficient in oxygen of any specimens found by me during the
day in inhabited places above ground. The first is almost
exactly the same as the average found in the currents of
galleries in metaliferous mines ; that from the lantern is
nearly the same as the specimens found close to the shafts of
the same mines, meaning of course the average of many

116

specimens. I have not known any mills or workshops so
deficient in air. I consider a room bad when it loses 1,000,
and workshops very bad when they lose 2,000 of oxygen out
of a million parts ; here the loss is actually 5,000 less than
the parks of London. The circumstance is strange, and I
hope unusual. A scientific friend happened to call my
attention to it and wished me to examine the air. The
moisture from the window was collected and there were seve-
ral ounces obtained, and more might have been easily found.
It was perspiration in great part, the smell of it was distinct.
It is putrefying, and decolorises more permanganate now than
it did at first. Mere change of air will not purify a room
like this — a current must pass through it for a long time
until complete oxidation takes place.

Oxygen per cent in some Specimens op Am.

18ft. above water. Fine day.
2 30 p.m.

Lat. 43-05, W. 17-12.
21-0100

April 11th, 1865. 9 a.m.

Showery morning.

St. John’s, Antigua.

20*9600

20-9100

21-0000

20-9700

21-0000

Mean 20-9900*

Mean 20*9500

Law Court, Feb. 2nd, 1866.

Law Court, from the lantern,

4 30 p.m. just as the court was
closing.

20-6400

20-6700

20-5000

20-4800

Mean 20*6500

Mean 20*4900

* May be read 209,900 in a million, and so with the others.

117

Ordinary Meeting, March 6th, 1866.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the
the Chair.

Mr. E. Sonstadt communicated the following 44 Note on
the Purification of Platinum :” —

The tendency of platinum to alloy with other metals,
at a temperature far below its fusing point, is sufficiently
well known to every user of platinum crucibles. It is equally
well known that iron, &c., which has been absorbed by
platinum cannot be removed, except superficially, by the
action of hydrochloric acid for instance, nor even by heating
in acid sulphate of potassium. Stas, in his memoir on
the atomic weight of silver, &c., states that he purified his
platinum vessels from iron, by causing them to come in
contact, at a red heat, with the vapour of chloride of
ammonium. The process had to be repeated as often as any
yellow sublimate was formed. This process is less effectual,
or less conveniently and speedily effectual, than the modifica-
tion of it that I have to propose ; because, if the vapour of
the sal ammoniac is generated from the solid salt in the vessel
to be purified, the heat absorbed in the vaporization of the
salt tends to keep the vessel at a temperature below that at
which volatile metal chlorides are most readily formed.
Instead of chloride of ammonium, I put dry double chloride
of ammonium and magnesium in the platinum vessel intended
for purification. The vessel is then heated to about the
fusing point of cast iron for about an hour. I find a Gore’s
furnace convenient for this purpose. In this process, not
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol. V. — No. 12 — Session 1865-6.

118

only is chloride of ammonium vapour given off for a long
while with the double salt, at a temperature much above that
at which chloride of ammonium alone volatilizes, but when
that salt is completely expelled, the chloride of magnesium
remaining is perpetually being decomposed with evolution of
free chlorine, and, frequently, the formation of a crystalline
crust of periclase lining the crucible. Platinum thus purified
is softer and whiter than ordinary commercial platinum.
The method is not available solely for the removal of iron,
but retrieves crucibles that have become dark coloured and
brittle from exposure to gas flame, as well as crucibles that
have been attacked by silicates during fusion of these with
carbonate of sodium, I cannot conclude this note without
remarking on the extreme facility with which platinum
becomes impure by heating in contact with matters containing
only a very small proportion of substance capable of attacking
the metal. Thus, a platinum crucible becomes sensibly
impure after prolonged ignition at a high temperature, bedded
in commercial magnesia. On the other hand, I have kept a
platinum crucible at a constant weight, to the tenth of a
milligramme, over a series of intense ignitions, when the
precaution has been taken to bed it in chemically pure
magnesia.

A conversation took place on the cattle plague, in the
course of which the President and Mr. Spence stated that
the use of carbolic acid as a disinfectant had been quite
successful as a preventive in the limited number of cases
tried, none of the cattle on the farms where it had been
regularly and properly used having yet been attacked by the
rinderpest. People rarely used enough.

An opinion was strongly expressed by some members that
the means which had been adopted to arrest the progress of
the disease had, in fact, served to propagate it and extend its
ravages, as numerous instances could be cited in which the

119

infection had been carried by the official inspectors from
unhealthy to healthy districts, and it was suggested that the
inspectors ought to be compelled to cleanse themselves and
undergo a disinfecting process before they were allowed to
visit and inspect cattle not known for certain to be diseased.
It was characterised as a most unwise proceeding to send
forth an army of inspectors to invade every farmstead in
the kingdom, and not to adopt and enforce stringent regu-
lations to prevent the possibility of these men being the
means of carrying the dreaded infection into healthy localities.
It was remarked that official interference had virtually taken
the management of the cattle plague out of the hands of
those who, from their practical experience and the deep interest
they had in the matter, might be held best qualified to deal
with it, and there were grounds for thinking that if the farmers
had been left to act for themselves without official interference,
as they did some years ago when pleuro-pneumonia carried
off large numbers of cattle, the rinderpest might never have
assumed its present formidable aspect.

A paper was read £< On the Liassic and Oolitic Iron Ores
of Yorkshire and the East Midland Counties,” by Messrs.
Edward Hull, F.G.S., and William Brockbank*

In this paper the authors gave the results of their observa-
tions on the nature, geological position, and qualities of the
iron ores which are now being worked at intervals from the
banks of the Tees to that of the Evenlode in Oxfordshire,
extending through the counties of York, Lincoln, Rutland,
Leicester, Northampton, Warwick, Oxford, &c. ; at the same
time embodying the opinions of previous observers.

Remarking that just at the time when some of the older
iron-producing districts were giving evidence of approaching
exhaustion, the enormous stores of iron ore in the newer form-
ations were discovered; the authors commenced by a descrip-
tion of the geological position of the strata from which the

120

ores are extracted, referring them to the middle lias or marl-
stone and the base of the great oolite ; and it was shown that
the ores of Cleveland in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Oxford-
shire, are derived principally from the lias, while those of
Northamptonshire are extracted from the basement beds of
the great oolite, called by the government geological sur-
veyors “ the Northampton sands.”

The first district described was that of the East Riding of
Yorkshire and the Cleveland hills, which, within the space of
about sixteen years, has given birth to the iron trade of the
Tees-side, of which Middlesborough may be considered the
centre. The ore is here quarried in open and tunnel-works,
and brought down by rail from the hills to the furnaces, which
are erected along both sides of the river, and which are
supplied with fuel from the Durham coal-field. The
production of this district in 1865 was stated to be nearly one
million of tons of pig-iron annually, drawn from 105 fur-
naces in blast. The ores in the valley of the Esk, near
Whitby, and those of Guisborough were then described, and
particularly the Rosedale ore, which is the richest in the
district, and is magnetic. A branch railway is opened to the
quarries, which in 1864 yielded nearly 300,000 tons of ore,
having a per centage of 35*94 to 49*17 of metallic iron. The
iron-stone was then traced to the banks of the Humber,
near Hull, by Stokesley, Swainby, Northallerton, Easing-
wold, and Market Weighton.

The ores of North Lincolnshire were stated to be spread
over a wide expanse of country — an area of not less than 100
square miles — having been proved to be quite close to the
surface, and their local and geographical position in reference
to the sea-ports on the one hand, and the South Yorkshire
coal-field, together with the excellent quality of the iron they
produced, satisfied the authors that this district was destined
to rise in importance as a centre of iron manufacture. The
pig-iron from North Lincolnshire is highly tenacious and

121

fusible, and commands a higher price in the market than
the Cleveland brands. This superiority appears to arise
from the spathic nature of the iron-stone, and from the
presence of manganese in considerable quantities inter-
stratified with the ores, and which is mixed in the furnaces.
The ore, with its accompanying strata, is very finely shown
along the line of railway at Frodingham ; its thickness in
different parts of the district varies from twelve to thirty
feet. It is being smelted at three works in North Lincoln-
shire, and it is also carried largely by rail to the Park Gate
Iron Company’s furnaces near Rotherham, and other works
in the Yorkshire and Derbyshire coal-fields.

From North Lincolnshire the ironstone may be traced
southwards along an indented line running parallel to the
western margin of the great oolite into Northamptonshire.
At the base of the oolite a series of yellowish sands occur —
and, in these there are at intervals, beds of iron ore — sometimes
extending for miles with considerable regularity, at other
times thinning away rapidly. From these beds, the North-
amptonshire iron is smelted. The furnaces and quarries are
situated at Gayton and Blisworth, Blakesley, Maidford, and
Litchborough, at which place they are more than usually
ferruginous. At Duston, where it is extensively worked and
smelted, it is more consolidated and is coarsely oolitic. The
metal produced is similar to that of the Cleveland district in
quality. Large quantities of this ironstone are sent by rail
and canal into South Staffordshire, and even South Wales,
where it is valued for mixing with the argillaceous carbonates
of the coal measures.

The Oxfordshire district is as yet almost unopened, but
promises one day to be productive of iron on a large scale,
similar in character to the Lincolnshire brand. In the neigh-
bourhood of Banbury and Chipping Norton, the ore occupies
considerable areas— sometimes in the form of tabulated hills,
intersected by valleys of no great depth. It occurs here (as

122

already stated) in the middle lias, precisely the same forma-
tion as that to which the ores of Cleveland and Lincolnshire
belong. The ironstone, however, is generally more calcareous
than in the former district, and its richest portions are limited
to a tract, of which the village of Bloxham may be considered
the centre. As yet the ore has only been worked at Fawler,
near Charlbury, and at Steeple Aston, to a very limited
extent; but the railways, now in course of construction, will
probably have the effect of bringing it within easier reach of
the coalfields of South Wales and Staffordshire.

The authors remark, in conclusion, that every day’s
experience enlarges our acquaintance with the great mineral
resources of our country, and that, in the case of coal and
iron, it becomes a question which is more largely distributed
and likely to outlast the other.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTIONS.

February 26th, 1866.

A. Brothers, F.R.A.S., in the Chair.

The following objects were exhibited : —

Mounted specimens of twenty-four species of Ostracoda,
from Dog’s bay shore-sand, collected by Dr. Alcock, and
named by Dr. G. S. Brady.

Mounted specimens of many forms of Foraminifera, from
a deposit discovered while sinking a well at Boston,
Lincolnshire — Mr. Sidebotbam.

The skull and skin of a male Otter shot in Rostherne
Mere, Feb. 16.— Mr. Harrison.

123

Dr. Alcock read a paper on Foraminifera from mud washed
out from a shell of Halia Priamus in Mr. Darbishire’s
collection. He said that part of the interest of these
specimens depended on the information they may give as to
the nature of the sea-bed where this rare mollusk is found,
the exact locality from which it is obtained by the Cadiz
fishermen being still doubtful. He exhibited mounted
specimens of about forty forms of Foraminifera, twenty-five of
them agreeing with British ones as described by Professor
Williamson, the others, so far as he knew, not British, and
at present unknown to him. He said that the great abundance
of Globigerina with fragments of large Orbulinae, appeared
to indicate a deep-sea deposit, but the most remarkable feature
was the extraordinary profusion of Textularia variabilis, a
very considerable proportion of the whole mass consisting of
these shells. Bulimina pupoides was perhaps next in
abundance, and next to it, in about equal proportions,
Cassidulina laevigata, C. obtusa, and Nonionina elegans.
Rotalina Beccarii was plentiful but small, as were all the
forms of Rotalina which occurred Lagenae were scarce and
were very small hyaline varieties. Nodosaria radicula was
rather common, and three very distinct varieties of it were met
with, one of them remarkable for its large size and the raised
rings upon its neck. Polymorphina was entirely absent ; and
Polystomella, Spiroloculina, and Miliolina were represented
by only a very few extremely small individuals.

124

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

Annual Meeting, March 1st, 1866.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S , President of the Section,
in the Chair.

The following gentlemen were elected officers of the Section
for the ensuing year : —

'prcstontf.

E. W. BINNEY, F.R.S., F.G.S.

■Ftce^lPrcsttrcms.

ROBERT WORTHINGTON, F.R.A.S.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

treasurer.

Me. THOMAS CARRICK.

Scmtarp.

G. Y. YERNON, F.R.A.S, M.B.M.S.

A paper was read cc On the Variable Star R Vulpeculss.
a - 20 11 58m 22*9S. %= + 23° 17-2'. Ep. 1865-0.” By

George Knott, F.R.A.S., communicated by Joseph Bax-
endell, F.R.A.S.

This star, which is No. 457, hour xx, in the Palermo
catalogue, was first recognised as variable, so far as 1 am
aware, at the observatory of Bonn. It appears to have been
observed with some care by Dr. Winnecke at the Pulkowa
observatory, and in a letter to the Rev. R. Main, printed in
vol. xxii. of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society, p. 285, that able astronomer assigns the following

125

elements, “ which represent seven maxima observed in the
course of three years, with reference to Piazzi’s estimations of
magnitude in August, 1803,” viz. —

Period— 138*6 days.

Epochs 1860, Nov. 6.

Having observed this star with more or less regularity
during the past four years, it occurred to me that it would not
be uninteresting to compare the elements resulting from a
discussion of my own observations with those which had been
deduced by Dr. Winnecke. The results of this discussion I
have now the honour of presenting to the Manchester Literary
and Philosophical Society.

Projecting my observations in the usual way, I obtain the
following dates of maxima and minima, with the correspond-
ing magnitudes —

Maxima.

1861. Dec. 30*0 — 8*4 mag.

1862. Oct. 5*0— 7*8 „
*1863. Nov. 19*4—7*6 „

1864. Aug. 16*3—7*5 „

1865. Jan. 7*3— 7*7 „
May 25*5—7*8 „
Oct. 5*5— 7*5 „

Minima.

1861. Oct. 26*3 — 13*6 mag.

1863. Sep. 18*0—13*2 „

1864. June 19*5—13*2 „

Nov. 4*0—13*1 „

1865. Aug. 6*3—12*8 „
Dec. 14*3—13*7 „

Treating the seven observed maxima according to Mr.
Baxendell’s method, we obtain the following elements : —

Period = 137*59 days.

Epoch - 1864, April 4*95.

Comparing the observed times of maximum with those
calculated from these elements, and also from those of Dr.
Winnecke, we obtain the following differences between calcu-
lation and observation : — .

* The projection of a series of his own observations of this maximum
obligingly communicated to me by Mr. Baxendell, yields the following results,
in gratifying accordance with my own : — Date of maximum, 1863, Nov. 18*9,
mag. 7*5.

126

Knott’s Elements.
Calc. — Obs.

Wxnnecke’s Elements.
Calc.— Obs.

Days.

+ 1*41
-2*41
-0-01
+ 4*24
“2*23
-2*78
+ 1-81

Days.
-3*2
-5*0
+ 0*4
+ 7*1
+ 1-3
+ 1-7
+ 7*3

the sums of the squares of these numbers being 43*75 and
143*78 respectively. But while it thus appears that my own
observations accord moderately well with Dr. Winnecke’s
elements, it must be confessed that these latter represent more
satisfactorily than my own (as indeed might be expected) the
magnitude estimates of Piazzi in the years 1807 and 1810, as
given by Dr. Winnecke in No. 1224 of the Astronomische
Nachrichten . At the same time it must be remembered that
my own elements were deduced solely from my own observa-
tions, without reference to any of earlier date.

Treating the six observed minima in the same manner, we
obtain the following elements, the period presenting a striking
accordance with that deduced from the observed maxima : —

Period = 137*55 days.

Epoch = 1864, June 17*50.

The differences between the calculated and observed times of
minima being : —

Calc. — Obs.
Days.

+ 2*35
— 1*60
- 2*00
— 1*95
-2*15
+ 5-40

127

An examination of the mean light-curve (a copy of which
accompanies this communication) which was laid down from
the co-ordinates resulting from a discussion of all the observa-
tions I have obtained, yields the following results : —

Mean magnitude at maximum 7 ‘77

Mean magnitude at minimum ............... 13T4

Mean range of variation 5 *37 magnitudes.

Mean magnitude 10’32

Interval from minimum to maximum ...... 66 *0 days.

Interval from maximum to minimum 71*6 days.

Interval from min. to mean mag 25*8 days.

Interval from mean mag. to max. 40*2 days.

Internal from max. to mean mag. 37*3 days.

Interval from mean mag. to min 34*3 days.

Interval from mean mag. before to mean

mag. after maximum ............ 77*5 days.

Interval from mean mag. before to mean

mag. after minimum 59*1 days.

An examination of the various results of observation and
calculation given in the former part of this paper suggests the

following general remarks. Like many other variable stars
R Vulpeculse increases more rapidly than it decreases. The
intervals between successive maxima and minima are subject
to some little irregularity. And the observed magnitudes at
maximum and minimum vary to the extent of some nine
tenths of a magnitude. Still, as compared with some other
stars, the movements of this variable must be regarded as
tolerably regular. Although by no means so highly coloured
as some variables, I have frequently noted the star in my
observation book as 44 ruddy,” or 44 decidedly ruddy.” The
maxima observable during the present year will fall, according
to my own elements, on the following days: — July 17*0 and
December 2*6. The observable minima will occur on May
6*3 and September 20 8.

128

The stars which I have used for comparison with R Vulpe-
culse are shown in the small chart which accompanies this
paper, and their magnitudes are as follow, the numbers in the
cases of a, b, c, d} g , m, n being the means between my
own values and those assigned by Mr. Baxendell : —

a = 7*1
b = 7-3±
c = 8*3
d= 9-1
e = 9'5
f= 9*7

<J— 10'0
h = 10-5
k = 10-9
1=11-4:
m — 11 -9
«*12-6

45'

0'

15'

30'

45'

58m.

4-23°

56m.

20hrs.

21hrs.

Om.

211irs.

20hrs.

+22°

23°

The star b is variable to the extent of some few tenths of a
magnitude, and may therefore with advantage be rejected as
a comparison star ; g is a double star, the magnitude assigned
above being that of the two components seen as one star .

I cannot close this communication without gratefully
acknowledging the courtesy and kindness of Mr. Baxendell in
freely communicating to me his own methods, and in affording
me all necessary explanations in cases of doubt or difficulty.
It is to be hoped that the time is not far distant when the
best methods of procedure in this branch of the science will
find a place in our textbooks of practical astronomy.

129

Mean Light-Curve op R Yulpecuiue,

As derived from the Observations at the Woodcroft Observatory in the
years 1861 — 1865.

MAG

A paper was also read, “ On the Fall of Rain during the
Different Hours of the Day, as deduced from a Series of
Observations made by the Rev. J. C. Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S.,
at St. Martin’s Parsonage, Castleton Moor,” by Joseph
Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

In the spring of last year, the Rev. J. C. Bates, M.A.,
F.R.A.S., of Castleton Moor, contrived a rain-gauge by
which he is enabled to determine the amount of rain which
falls during every quarter of an hour of the entire day. Ob-
servations with this instrument were commenced on the 24th
of May last, but were interrupted for two days in October,
owing to damage done by the violent gale of the 25th of that
month, and again in December, while the driving clock was
under repair. All the observations made up to the end of January
have been kindly forwarded to me by Mr. Bates for examina-
tion and discussion, and although the series extends over a
period of only a little more than eight months, and caution is,
therefore, required in basing general conclusions upon it,
yet the results I have obtained appear to me to be sufficiently
remarkable and interesting to be worthy of being brought at
once under the notice of meteorologists, in order that the law

130

of daily variation of rainfall which they indicate may be tested
by the results of similar series of observations made in other
localities.

The number of days in each month on which the rainfall
was registered by the new instrument was — May, 5 ; June,
4; July, 19; August, 20; September, 3; October, 14;
November, 9; December, 5; January, 21: total, TOO days.
The total amount of rain registered during the 100 days was
2T854 inches.

Arranging the amounts of rainfall in 24 groups correspond-
ing to the 24 hours of the day, and, taking the sums of the
amounts in each group, we have the following results : —

Hour.

1 ..

Number of Times
Rain fell during tlie Hour.

21

Total Amount of Rain.
Inches.

0-536

2 ..

27

0-619

3 ..

28

0-774

4 ..

29

1-124

5 ..

26

....... 1-042

6 ..

33

0-650

7 ..

35

0-728

8 ..

33

1-263

9 ..

32

1-132

30 ..

34

0'909

11 ..

38

0-854

12 ..

41

0-879

13 ..

34

0-734

14 ..

37

0-921

15 ..

35

0-907

16 ..

35

1-068

17 ..

30

0-884

18 .

34

0-964

19 ..

32

1-162

20 ..

36

1-033

21 ..

32

1-350

22 ..

23

0-658

23 ..

25

0-828

24 ..

24

0-835

21-854

131

Dividing the 24 hours into day and night periods of 12
hours each, we have —

Inches. Frequency,

Total rainfall from 6h. a.m. to 6h. p.m. = 10-925 ... 337
„ „ 6h. p.m. to 6h. a.m. = 10-929 ... 417

It appears, therefore, that the average fall of rain during
the night was sensibly the same as that during the day ; but
the frequency of rain was much greater during the night than
the day.

Dividing the day into four periods of 6 hours each, we
have —

Inches. Frequency.

Noon to 6h. p.m 4*930 155

6h. p.m. to midnight 5*536 205

Midnight to 6h. a.m. 5 -39 3 212

6h. a.m. to noon 5*995 182

#

These results show that the greatest amount of rain fell in
the fourth quarter of the day, reckoning from noon ; and the
least in the first quarter ; and that the amount which fell in
the second quarter was slightly in excess of that which fell in
the third. The frequency of rain was least in the first quarter
and greatest in the third.

The six consecutive hours in which the largest quantity of
rain fell were from 4h. a.m. to lOh. a.m., the amount being
6*461 inches, and the amounts in the three following six-
hourly periods were

lOh. a.m. to 4h. p.m 4-250 inches.

4h. p.m. to 10b. p.m 5*939 „

lOh. p.m. to 4h. a.m 5*204 „

If now, the numbers in the last column of the above table
are arranged in eight groups, and the sums of the numbers in
each group taken, we have the following remarkable results

132

Hours.

Total Amount of
Eainfall.

Frequency.

1, 2,

3, ...

1-929

76

4, 5,

6, ...

2-816

88

7, 8,
10, 11,
13, 14,
16, 17,
19, 20,

9, ...

3*123

100

12, ...

2*642 ....

113

15, ....

2-562

106

18, ...

2-916

99

21, ...

3-545

..... 100

22, 23,

24, ....

2-321

72

Projecting these numbers on ruled paper, and drawing a
curved line through the points thus laid down, we obtain a
well-marked curve, having two maxima and two minima,
which occur at the following hours -

Principal maximum at 8|h. a.m.

Secondary „ „ 8h. p.m.

Principal minimum „ 2h. „

Secondary „ „ IJh. a.m.

This curve has no similarity to that of daily temperature,
but has a strong resemblance to the curve of diurnal variation
of the barometer, with a difference of about two hours in the
times of occurrence of the maxima and minima. The regular
diurnal variations of the barometer in this latitude are, how-
ever, so small that it is hardly conceivable they can produce
the great differences in the amounts of rain falling at different
periods of the day as indicated by Mr. Bates’s observations. The
curve of daily variation of the intensity of atmospheric electricity
has also strong points of resemblance to the rain-curve, but its
night minimum is the principal one, and most meteorologists
will probably regard variations of intensity of atmospheric
electricity as consequences rather than causes of the changes
in the amount of condensed vapour precipitated in the form
of rain. No other meteorological phenomenon is at present
known having diurnal variations similar to those of the rain-
fall 5 but if we turn to the phenomena of terrestrial magnetism,

133

we shall find that the curve representing the daily variations
of declination of the magnetic needle has well marked points
of similarity to that of the daily rainfall. Taking for data
the mean results of ten years’ observations of magnetic
declination made at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,

( Greenwich Observations for 1859.J we have the following
comparison of the times of maxima and minima of the two
phenomena, the westerly deviations of the magnetic needle
from the mean position, being taken with a negative sign.

Daily Rainfall. Daily Oscillations of

Magnetic Needle.

Principal maximum at 8jh. a.m lOh. a.m.

Secondary „ „ 8h. p.m. 7|h. p.m.

Principal minimum „ 2h. „ lh. „

Secondary „ „ ljh. a.m 3h. a.m.

Owing to the shortness of the period over which Mr.
Bates’ observations extend, it is probable that the results
derived from them may be open to considerable correction,
when a more extended series becomes available. I find,
however, that when this short series is divided into two or
even three groups, the main features of the daily variation
are still preserved in the results of each group, and I do not,
therefore, anticipate that any corrections which may hereafter
be found to be necessary, will be of such a character as to
affect materially the probability of a close connection between
the daily variations of rainfall, and the diurnal oscillations of
the magnetic needle, and I hope to be able in a future
communication to bring forward other facts and results
bearing upon this interesting and important question.

Whatever views may be taken as to the cause of the unequal
distribution of the rainfall in the different hours of the day, it
could, at all events, hardly have been expected that the
greatest amount of rain would fall at that period of the day
when the rate of increase of the difference between the tem-
perature of the dew point and that of the air, is greatest ; and

134

when, therefore, according to generally received meteorological
principles, there would appear to be little probability of a con-
densation of vapour into the form of rain.

I cannot conclude this communication without gratefully
acknowledging the kindness of Mr. Bates, in affording me an
opportunity of examining his valuable observations which
form, I believe, the only series of the kind ever yet made.

PHOTOGRAPHICAL SECTION.

February . 8th, 1866.

Dr. J. P. Joule, F. R.S., Vice-President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. Sidebotham brought before the section a number of
pictures, by Boulton and Watt, which had been supposed to
be photographs. The examination he had made of them
convinced him that they had been produced by a different
process.

Mr. Dancer coincided in this opinion. He thought that
the camera had been employed, but solely for the purpose of
enabling the artist to trace the outline, and to enlarge or
reduce the image to any required scale. The shading would
be an after process, the crayon employed being made of some
resinous or fatty substance mixed with the colour.

March 8th, 1866.

Dr. J. P. Joule, F.R.S., Vice-President of the Section,
in the Chair.

Mr. Brothers, F.R.A.S., stated that since the last meeting
he had tried the use of wax dissolved in ether, as recommended

135

by Mr. Rogerson, for the purpose of cleaning glass plates,
and was quite satisfied it was an excellent method of cleaning
glass.

A paper was read “ On the Pantascopic Camera,” by
J. R. Johnson, Esq. Communicated by E. C. Buxton,
Esq.

But a few years had elapsed since the introduction of the
Daguerreotype, and photography had not yet passed beyond
what may be termed “ The Daguerreotypic Era,” when the
unsatisfactory nature of the bits” of landscape produced by
the lenses then in use became fully recognized. What could
be more annoying to an artist desirous of producing pictures
of some of the splendid architectural monuments of Paris
than to find that from no possible point of view could the
whole of many of the finest of these be embraced ?

The desirability of not only effecting this, but of repro-
ducing as pictures some of those striking “ coups d’ceil”
which abound on the banks of the Seine, struck an eminent
artist-engraver, Mr. Martens, so forcibly that he immediately
set about finding a remedy, and he was not long before he
had attained his object.

He found that if a lens be moved horizontally upon a pivot
placed beneath its optical centre, the image is stationary
notwithstanding the motion of the lens.

Now as all subsequent rotating cameras are based upon
this principle it is desirable that we should clearly understand
it, and the instrument I am about to describe, and which is
intended to be used for viewing panoramically views produced
by a rotating camera, will enable us to do so.

Fig. 1.

136

In fig. I we have a lens mounted in a socket so as to turn
horizontally, and behind it we have a piece of cardboard
bent to form part of a cylinder, of which the focal length of
the lens is the radius.

Now, if in front of this we place a taper, an image of the
taper is formed upon the cardboard screen. We may turn
the lens backwards and forwards through a short arc, and yet
you will see the image remains stationary. If we move the
taper sideways keeping it at the same distance from the lens
and turn the lens towards it, an image is produced on a
different part of the screen. If a sufficient number of candles
had been placed before the instrument and we had limited the
action of the lens upon the screen to a narrow vertical band
of light, the screen would have received consecutively the
images of all the candles laid side by side, and perfectly
distinct from each other.

Now if for the cardboard we substitute a bent Daguerreotype
plate, and if for the ordinary reading glass we put a good
photographic lens, and for the series of tapers any landscapes
or series of lighted objects, we shall have an exact reproduction
of Martens’ camera. He took a number of beautiful views of
Paris, from the bridges of the Seine, but the instrument
failed in other hands than his. The difficulty of polishing
and preparing large silver plates was of itself a serious
obstacle, and a still greater want of success arose from the
fact that Mr. Martens not being familiar with the practice of
mechanics, did not attempt, or failed to produce the motion
of the lens by self-acting means, and it requires the greatest
skill and care to maintain a uniform motion for the length of
time necessary for due exposure by means of the hand alone.

Even in the hands of Mr. Mayall, so successful in large
Daguerreotype plates, and so careful and intelligent an
operator, the instrument failed completely. He worked for a
long time at Niagara, unsuccessfully, before obtaining the
few views he brought away with him.

137

After the Daguerreotype give place to albumen and col-
lodion on glass, Martens’ camera was laid aside, but in 1854
he and a nephew made an effort to replace the bent plate at
the back of the camera by a flat plate ; and he contrived an
apparatus for giving such a motion to the plate and lens
respectively, that he succeeded in getting pictures upon such
a plate more or less successfully.

To show what these motions are, we will go back to the
instrument which has served to illustrate Martens’ first
camera. We will remove the bent cardboard, and making it
straight, we will place it against the circular edge which pre-
viously held it bent.

If the taper be placed directly opposite the centre of the
instrument, the flat paper must be at right angles to the ray
of light, at a tangent to the curve on which the circular
plate was bent, and the centre of the plate must be opposite
the taper.

Fig. 2.

If the light be shifted to b fig. 3 the lens must be turned,
and the plate must also be turned so that it is still at right-
angles to the ray, and tangential to the curve as before, but
the image must be received away from the centre. This will
bring us to the position fig. 3 and if the one taper be
moved in the opposite direction the lens and plate will be as
shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 3.

138

Fig. 4.

If the rotation of the lens and the change of position of the
plate be made with due regularity perfect definition is obtained,
but the greatest accuracy is necessary to obtain this.

To return to the history of this instrument. Mr. Martens
by a note to the Academy registered the fact of having pro-
duced views in this manner, and his instrument was laid aside
until it was disinterred for the first time we believe last sum-
mer. As far as we are informed, although Mr. Martens has
yearly produced splendid views of Swiss scenery and has
regularly published them, yet no product of the machine has
been shown by him since 1854, the elaborately engraved
panoramas of the Swiss alps having been produced by laying
views taken by the ordinary camera side by side, and copying
them juxtaposed.

Various other gentlemen subsequently undertook to solve
the problem. Among others may be mentioned M. Garella,
an engineer officer employed in Algeria; Mr. Sutton, so well
known for his high attainments and inventive talent; Mr.
Hosmer, &c.

The plans of these gentlemen have been published. Other
plans have been heard of, as those of Mr. Rawlinson, of Kes-
wick ; Mr. Stuart, an Indian officer — but those plans have
not been made known.

It would be an interesting subject to examine all these
projects in detail, but to understand them would require
numerous diagrams and perhaps models.

In general terms it may be stated that all of those known,
including that of Martens, possessed two features which render

139

them quite distinct from the instrument we are about to
describe, and which will, we believe, serve to account for the
fact of these projects remaining as such, or never at least pass-
ing from the first to a more perfect stage of development.

These features are,

1. The instrument was placed upon a large table upon
which the pivot was fixed and upon which the plateholders
rolled, the motion of the supporting rollers describing com-
plicated curves upon the table, which curves Mr. Sutton
recognised as being evolutes of the circle of rotation.

2. No direct mechanical means were employed for effecting
the relative motion of the plate and lens, guide curves formed
by trial or less efficient means being alone used.

I believe I may state without fear of contradiction that up
to the year 1862 no views produced by any of the inventions
alluded to had been publicly shown, nor views by any similar
instrument purporting to produce pictures on true panoramic
projection by continuous motion. Several tolerably success-
ful attempts had been made to place two or more views side
by side upon the same plate by means of a shifting back.
But these compound pictures are merely views in plane per-
spective placed side by side upon the sides of a polygonal
prism, and have no pretensions to be considered views in
panoramic or any other correct projection.

It was not until the year 1862 that I succeeded in taking
panoramic views with any degree of success. I had been
employed in devising plans for effecting this object since 1860,
aided by a working mechanic, Mr. Harrison.

After passing over the same ground as some of the gentle-
men above referred to without being aware of their labours, I
succeeded in 1862 in perceiving that the complicated motion
of the plate and lens might be really resolved into two simple
movements, a circular motion of the whole apparatus, and a
rectilinear motion of the plate ; and that if the motion of the

140

camera revolving be made to carry with it a strait rail at the
back, the plateholder has only to traverse this in a right line
to give the due motion required.

By forming a groove upon the edge of the circular base
plate upon which the camera rotates, and turning this to the
proper depth, the due rectilinear motion of the plate behind
the lens may be given by means of two strings or wires, one
end of each of which is attached to the disc or base plate
and the other to the carriage containing the plateholder, so
that if we remove the clockwork by releasing the spring which
holds it up to the inner edge of the circular base, wTe can
obtain all the necessary motions for working the camera with-
out either wheel or pinion or any mechanism whatever unless
the wires and disc and the five friction rollers upon which the
apparatus moves can be called such. Views may be taken
with the instrument in this state, but the accuracy necessary
to produce an equal tint, particularly in the skies, is unattain-
able except by clockwork. The latter is extremely simple.
It is a small clock movement moved by a spring, chain, and
fusee, and is regulated by a fly or series of flys, the blades of
which may be set at any angle from the horizontal to the
vertical. It drives the instrument by means of a small steel
pulley gearing into the milled edge of the circular base by a
process which may be called a compromise between frictional
and toothed gearing, and which has advantages that neither
of these possesses singly.

In my rude attempts to illustrate the principle of the rotating
camera I said that the ray of light passing through the lens
must be limited. The reason of this is obvious. The true
surface for receiving the image is a cylinder, but that substi-
tuted in the flat plate camera is a plane surface.

Now, the smaller the angular aperture of the narrow strip
of light employed, the nearer the tangent approaches the
curve.

141

Fig. 5.

a fr ■ c d

There is great discrepancy between the curve and straight
line, when the width of the strip is equal to a d , fig. 5, but
the difference is inappreciable when limited to b c.

The width of the active rays thus employed, is determined
by a diaphragm, with shifting sides, placed at the back of the
camera, near the surface of the plate, and advantage has been
taken of this in order to produce clouds, and generally atmos-
pheric effects not attainable in the ordinary camera.

By making the aperture taper thus

Fig. 6.

b 6

l\

ot

U.U

J.

i

the narrow portion being opposite the sky, it is obvious that
a totally different exposure will be given according to the
width of the opening, and directly proportionate to the extent
of that opening.

If the part ( a ) be fifty times the width of the part (5), then
the time of the exposure of the first plane of the picture and
that portion of the sky which approaches the zenith will be
as 50 to 1.

Now we know that we can get the most delicate cloud by
a sufficiently short exposure, and that we can also get parts

142

in deep shadow by an exposure sufficiently long, but hitherto
we have not been able to obtain these simultaneously.

Several hundred views upon the table will show to what
extent of perfection this principle of unequal exposure has
been carried.

As all of these views were obtained during last season,
many of them at elevations of from eight to ten thousand feet
above the sea ; and as the parts of the larger instruments had to
be detached and carried separately and then mounted together
on arrival at the elevated station, it may be safely alleged, we
think, that the pantascopic camera is efficient in producing
what it professes to do, and that it is a practical instrument
bearing the necessary amount of rough usage inseparable from
a campaign like that undertaken by the photographer who
produced these views.

Having already occupied so large a portion of your time, I
will only add a few words as to the nature of the perspective
in which these views are produced.

It is a very common error to suppose that there is only one
sort of perspective, and I was surprised to see that when the
pantascopic camera was first explained to the Photographic
Society of London, the vulgar view was entertained by at
least two members of the council of that learned body.

On that occasion, two gentlemen entered their protest
against the assumption that the views shown or taken by the
camera were true.

The inventor very pertinently asked, What is truth — what
is your standard ? Do you mean that the views are not in
plane perspective? But I have already said they are
panoramic views. How can they be in plane perspective if
they are panoramas? It was evident that to them there was
but one perspective; but it has been said by competent
authority that there are as many kinds of perspective, as there
are imaginable surfaces upon which to receive the visual rays
passing from objects to the observer. At least three such

143

systems of perspective are acknowledged and acted upon by
artists. We may call these spherical , cylindrical , and plane
perspective.

A painting upon the interior of a spherical dome, or a view
taken by Sutton’s beautiful spherical lens, is an illustration of
the first system; Burford’s or Selon’s views on the walls of a
circular apartment, or the pantascopic views, illustrate the
second system ; and an ordinary perspective drawing, or a
view taken with a triplet or new doublet lens, furnishes us
with an illustration of the third system, or that which is
usually employed by artists.

Now all these are really true, but to be absolutely so, the
pictures must be viewed upon surfaces similar to those upon
which they have been projected, and from the same station
point.

Mr. Sutton’s pictures must be taken and viewed upon
bowls of glass, the eye being in the position of the lens when
the view was taken. With Burford’s panorama we must
place ourselves in the centre of the room and turn round so
as to view the picture as we should view the landscape it
represents.

This is equally true of a picture in plane perspective, so
that if we really insist upon absolute truth in viewing a
picture taken by a lens of four-inch focus, the picture must be
brought within that distance from the eye, or the extreme
lateral objects will not fall upon the retina at that angle which
they would do in viewing the landscape itself.

As our object is usually to produce pleasing pictures,
rather than an absolutely truthful representation of the scene,
the discrepancy between the pantascopic pictures viewed flat
is rarely objectionable, indeed, if we examine the numerous
views before us, we shall see that in many of them the
widening of the base line is advantageous, and often adds to
the value of the picture, by giving better arrangement or
composition. Perfect truth may at all times be obtained by

144

curving the picture, or by mounting- it in an instrument I
have devised for the purpose, and which I propose to call a
Pantascope or Orthoscope. In that instrument the curved
picture and lens have a definite relation to the lens and camera
employed, so that the images are seen exactly in situ , and if
for the lens we substituted a theodilite or similar instrument,
the horizontal bearings of each object could be taken as in
nature. As only a narrow strip of the field is employed, the
view is free from the distortion which we should have had
with the same lens covering a large field.

It will be seen, on examining pictures in this instrument,
that from the fact of the lens being thus truly placed we have
on looking through it such admirable light and shade, and
such perfect modelling of the objects, that the effect is artistic
relief in the highest degree, almost in fact competing with the
solidity due to binocular vision. As the lens magnifies the
objects considerably, beautiful detail is obtained, the geologi-
cal character of the distant locks and the peculiar character of
the ice of the glaciers being represented with most striking
effect.

These views have been shown to the Alpine Club and to
Professor Forbes of Edinburgh, w7hose labours on the glaciers
are so well known. All concur in considering them the most
perfect representations of the subject which have been yet
produced.

Mr. Buxton said that he could add his testimony as to
the amount of rough usage which a Pantascopic Camera
would bear without ; being rendered unfit for work. The
camera he had used last summer was terribly knocked about
on its way from London, and afterwards in Scotland, but the
machinery always worked as smoothly as he could desire.

145

Ordinary Meeting, March 20th, 1866.

E. Schunck, Ph.D., F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair.

Mr. John Patterson was elected an Ordinary Member of
the Society.

Dr. J. P. Joule, F.R.S., exhibited a balance which he
had constructed on the principle which had been introduced
by Professor Thomson, and employed by him in weighings
for a long time. The adjoining figure will fully explain the
instrument. The beam has a leaden weight let into its
extremity h. It is supported by a wire a a stretched between
the sides of the box containing the balance. This wire is
led round so as to form the suspender a! a of the scale. Silk
threads c c} c c, hanging from the cross pieces, form a gimbal
system by which the scale is supported in such a manner
that any variation in the position of the weights does not
alter the torsion of the suspender. A counterpoise of known
weight is placed on the stage d. When an article is to be
weighed it is placed in the lower part of the scale s , and then,
the counterpoise being removed, weights are placed on the
stage to effect the counterpoise in the new condition. The
difference between the first and second counterpoises of
course gives the weight required. The upper edge of the
beam is furnished with an index for showing minute effects ;
and attached to this is a small bottle e for holding shot or
sand, by the addition of which the stability of the beam may
be decreased to any required extent. The instrument exhi-
bited was able to weigh articles of upwards of 3,000 grains
to one hundredth of a grain. Dr. Joule stated that he had
also employed Professor Thomson’s principle in the construc-
Proceedinos— Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. V. — No. 13— Session 1865-6,

146

tion of a galvanometer for the absolute measure of electrical
currents. In this instrument a flat coil is suspended between
two fixed flat coils, one of which attracts while the other
repels the suspended coil, to which last the current is con-
ducted by means of the suspending copper wires. This
electrical balance is sensitive to one part in two millions.

147

Mr. Binney, F.R.S., exhibited a singular mineral which
Mr. Ward of Longton had found in a nodule of clay iron-
stone from the North Staffordshire coalfield. At first sight
it looked like a fossil coral of the genus Cyathophyllum , but
on more careful examination it appears to be a mineral mass
in a semicrystalline state. The form of the mineral appears
to have been spheroidal with crystals radiating from the
centre. By the kindness of Dr. Crace Calvert he had ascer-
tained the specimen to consist chiefly of carbonate of lime,
carbonate of iron, and phosphate of lime, with traces of
magnesia, alumina, and organic matter, and ten per cent of
silica.

He also exhibited a beautiful white specimen of carbonate
of strontia obtained from a vein of carbonate of lime. It
occurred among the lime in radiated masses similar to those
of carbonate of barytes as sometimes found jn veins of
sulphate of barytes. This mineral has been found in con-
siderable abundance, but up to this time it is believed that
no use has been found for it on a large scale.

Messrs. Hull and Brockbank exhibited specimens of the
iron ores referred to in their paper “ On the Liassic and
Oolitic Iron Ores of Yorkshire and the East Midland Coun-
ties,5’ read at the last meeting of the Society.

Professor Roscoe stated that he had just received a letter
from Professor Bunsen, announcing the discovery of a most
interesting and important fact, namely, that the well known
black absorption lines of the Didymium spectrum, when
examined with polarised light, vary according to the direc-
tion in which the light is allowed to pass through the crystal.
This shows that the position of the black absorption lines is
in some degree dependent upon the physical structure of the
body through which the light passes, and is not merely
determined by its chemical constitution.

148

A paper was read entitled “ Notes on Cotton Spinning
Machinery. Part II. — Roving Frames.” By J. C. Dyer,
Esq., Vice-President.

Having in Part I. of these Notes given an account of the
inventions and improvements that had been applied to the
mule jenny, and for converting it into the self-acting mule,
the present paper in like manner traces the origin and pro-
gress of the machines known as roving frames, which come
next in the order of scientific interest, as having engaged the
labours of many eminent mechanics, through a long course
of years, to bring them into their present accurate form of
working. The rovings are equalised by doubling and draw-
ing before coming to the roving frame, in which they are
again drawn and slightly twisted to fit them for spinning ;
but the twist is not enough to give them strength to be
taken up by the drag of the bobbin, as is the case in throstle
spinning, so that the bobbins must be driven separately from
the fliers and their speed must vary according to their dif-
ferent diameters, so as to make the surface motion of winding
on to correspond with that of the delivering rollers, and
when the latter motion is changed the former must be made
to agree with such change, which is called the differential
motion ; and to make these agree with the frequent changes
required was attended with much trouble and difficulty in
working, which ultimately led to the introduction of the
machine called the 66 tube roving frame,” in which the said
differential motion was wholly dispensed with. In this
frame the bobbins are mounted on cylinders and turned by
the friction of their surfaces. Being geared with the deliver-
ing rollers, their motions were thus made to agree at all
speeds. But another property of importance in the tube
frame was the twisting and untwisting of the rovings and the
pressing of them hard upon the surface of the bobbins, so that
the surface motion could be made accurate. This tube frame to
a large extent was substituted for the bobbin and fly frame for

149

low numbers, but it could not be made applicable to rovings for
fine spinning ; but the pressing of the rovings hard upon the
bobbins in the tube frame rendered the application of the
presser to the fly frame of great importance. After many
experiments this object was effected, and the application of
the presser to the bobbin and fly frame was carried into effect
by means of springs, or the centrifugal action of revolving
weights attached to the arms of the fliers, and both of these
methods were set forth in the patent for those improvements.
Nevertheless several competing parties afterwards obtained
patents for very trivial changes, called 44 inventions, ” for
applying the said spring and centrifugal actions to press the
rovings upon bobbins.

The differential motion of the bobbin and fly frame con-
tinued very imperfect until Mr. Henry Houldsworth’s import-
ant invention of a self-adjusting apparatus for giving the
differential motions required. This discovery of a very
simple train of movements for securing the required rotations
of the delivering rollers of the bobbins and of the fliers
t will at once be recognised as an invention of a high order
in mechanical science. From the limits of this abstract
the main features only of these delicate movements can be
given,, and for the details the paper must be consulted
in extenso. I may here add that about sixty years ago
Mr. John Kennedy employed rotating tin cans for giving
twist to rovings ; but as they could not be driven with suffi-
cient speed, the old throstle spindle, enlarged to suit rovings,
was adopted for the frames called the 44 slubber” and the
44 bobbin and fly,” and these frames, with many improve-
ments by the same gentleman and others, were in extensive
use until partially superseded in the year 1828 by the tube
frame as before mentioned; and the suggestive nature of
new inventions and discoveries as leading to the production
of others is strikingly shown in the successive applicationof
those in the tube frame to the bobbin and fly, as before said.

150

Again, Mr. Houldsworth’s beautiful differential motion, then
called “Jack in the box,” being governed by bands and
pulleys, their chance of slippage rendered it desirable to sub-
stitute toothed wheels, on which occasion Mr. John Kennedy
and Mr. Peter Ewart each discovered the three-wheel motions
since adopted — those of Mr. Ewart were mitre wheels, Mr.
Kennedy’s, spur gearing — the latter being mostly preferred.
And it is worthy of note that the three mitre wheels for
giving the differential motion in the slide lathe, required for
turning cones, had been long in use and publicly seen with-
out any one having dreamed of the application of them to
other objects ; nor was Mr. Houlds worth at all aware of these
slide lathe differentials until pointed out to him by Mr.
Ewart.

The paper concludes by an earnest appeal to Mr. Houlds-
worth and other eminent mechanicians personally connected
with the progress of modern inventions and improvements of
the machinery employed in our manufacturing establish-
ments, to record their own experience and observations upon
the several branches with which they have been more espe-
cially conversant, as has been done by Dr. Fairbairn in his
published works, and as the author of these Notes has aimed
to do.

The following papers were read at the Photographical
Section Meeting, February 8th, 1866.

“On the Supposed Photographs by Boulton and Watt.”
By Joseph Sidebotham, Esq.

About three years ago the scientific world was startled by
the announcement of the discovery of sun pictures, on paper
and on silver plates, said to have been produced at the close

151

of the last century, by Matthew Boulton and Janies Watt ;
shortly afterwards, Mr. Smith, of the Patent Museum, read
a paper on the subject, and exhibited the pictures in question
at a meeting of the London Photographic Society, and
also produced copies of many documents connected with the
subject. The whole was published in the Journal of the
Photographic Society , together with the discussions, and a
large amount of correspondence appeared in the journals.
No conclusion, however, appeared to be arrived at, nor any
suggestions made of the process by which the pictures on
paper could have been produced.

During the last winter, in company with Mr. James Nas-
myth, I paid a visit to the Patent Museum. Through the
kindness of Mr. Smith, we had an opportunity of examining
these pictures carefully, hearing what he had to say on the
subject, and seeing some of the original letters and papers.
Mr. Smith also gave me a small portion from one of the torn
pictures, and has since sent me another, for the purpose of
careful examination. Through his kindness, also, I am
enabled to exhibit to you this evening a number of the per-
fect pictures, in the hope that, by your seeing and examining
them, some light may be thrown on the secret of their
production.

It will be, perhaps, well to give you a short historical
sketch of the pictures. Those who wish to refer at length
to the published accounts, will find them in vol. viii. of the
Journal of the Photographic Society.

The pictures in question Consist of a number on paper —
some large (so large, indeed, that it requires two sheets to
form one subject), others small. They vary in shade of
colour from black to dull red — many being of a sepia tone.
Some are plain, others coloured. These pictures came from
Boulton’s old house at Soho, and many of them are evidently
experiments, being marked with large figures in pencil.
The plates are two silvered copperplates, also found in the

152

old library at Soho. These we will, however, leave for the
present, and proceed with the pictures on paper.

According to the evidence of letters and other documents
produced by Mr. Smith, Matthew Boulton was in possession
of a secret plan for producing what he called “ mechanical
pictures ” — the inventor, or partial inventor, of the process
being a person of the name of Eginton, who appeared to
superintend this department of the Soho establishment.
These pictures (all apparently copies of paintings) were pro-
duced rapidly, and at very low prices — from seven shillings
and sixpence upwards, according to the size. They appear
to have all the touches of a painting. Sometimes they were
transferred to canvas and painted in oil colours, sometimes „
tinted on the paper itself, sometimes transferred to copper
plates. Orders appear to have been given to artists for the
sole purpose of having the paintings to copy or reproduce.
They were sold in considerable numbers, and could, it
appears, be produced of various sizes according to order.
The pictures 911 paper were all reversed, the figures left-
handed. When more than one sheet of paper was required
for a subject, the picture was not joined in a straight line,
but curved, so that the junction fell in the shadow, as in the
leading of painted windows. Eginton was a glass painter,
and perhaps took his idea from that source.

There is much interesting matter published concerning a
proposed government pension to Eginton, and a letter to the
Earl of Dartmouth on the subject from Matthew Boulton ;
also letters from Mr. M. P. W. Boulton and others ; but, as
they have no direct bearing on the mode of producing the
pictures, I merely allude to them here.

Although it is well known that Watt, Boulton, Davy,
Wedgwood, and other members of the Lunar Society ex-
perimented in photography, and tried to fix the images
formed in the camera, we have the direct statement that, up
to the year 1802, Wedgwood had been unsuccessful — that no

153

amount of exposure appeared to produce an image. It is
not likely, therefore, that, for years before (the mechanical
production of pictures was in full operation in 1790), his
intimate friend Matthew Boulton should not only have been
in possession of a secret mode of fixing images of pictures
but actually producing and selling large numbers of them.
For this and other reasons we must, I think, decide that these
pictures could not in any way have been produced in the
camera; besides the great size and the perfect definition
would be beyond the power of any instruments that could
then be made. There is another argument, too — that if the
camera could have been used, paintings would have not been
the only subjects reproduced — views from nature, or, at any
rate, works of art, would have been experimented upon.

On some of the pictures are seen curious small spots, each
casting a shadow in the same direction — a very familiar
appearance to those who have copied oil paintings in a raking
light, when each raised spot of colour does actually cast its
shadow. This has been considered an evidence of the pic-
tures having been produced by the camera ; but I shall
further on be able to account for this appearance in another
way.

Although we cannot call these pictures photographs, seeing
that they have been produced by some different process from
any we are acquainted with, we have the distinct evidence of
Dr. Lee and Mr. Hodgson, clear and unmistakeaUe , that
pictures produced by this mechanical process were pointed
out by Matthew Boulton as having been produced in some
way by sunlight.

Perhaps we shall do well to narrow the field of inquiry, by
considering some of the suggestions that have been made,
and showing how they could not have been produced.

We may decide that they could not be copies by hand : —
1st. Because they are distinctly called tf< mechanical pictures,”
produced by a secret process. 2nd. Because in two copies of

154

the same subject such minute lines and marks are found to
exist in both — lines not visible without the microscope, quite
impossible to be copied by hand. Besides, we have the tes-
timony of those whose lives have been spent in engraving and
making facsimile productions that the thing is impossible.
They could not, I think, be impressions from metal or blocks.
The peculiar surface of the paper, and the colouring matters
used, would be quite unsuited to printing purposes. The
great cost of engraving these large surfaces for but a limited
number of copies ; the different sizes in which the pictures
could be made ; the non -necessity, in such case, for the
reversing of the pictures — are all good arguments against any
system of engraving being used.

It has been said that the plate mark on some of the pic-
tures suggests the employment of plate printing ; but, on
examination, as you will see, the supposed plate mark is
merely an embossed line on the paper, either intended as a
finish or, more probably, to mislead as to the mode of
production.

The specimens for your examination consist —

1st. Of two similar pictures — one plain, the other coloured.
A careful examination of these will show that spots and lines
only visible with a lens exist exactly the same in each, such
as no artist could possibly copy ; yet, strange to say, there are
considerable differences — some of them striking ; but these
are of precisely the same nature as you would have in an
under-exposed and an over-exposed print, both from the same
negative.

2nd. We have a coloured mechanical picture — subject,
The Graces Awakening Cupid. This may be compared with
an engraving of the same subject, evidently both taken from
the original painting. In this you will notice the mechanical
picture is reversed.

3rd. We have a red mechanical picture — Flora Bedecking
Pan . This may also be compared with an engraving of the

155

same subject, or rather one somewhat similar. In the en-
graving another figure is added ; and there are other dif-
ferences. In this case the original picture had probably
been reproduced with additions, and the engraving taken
from the later one.

4th. A large picture in two parts, from a painting by
Benjamin West. You will notice, as peculiar, the mode in
which the two portions of the picture are intended to be
joined together ; also that the two halves are not of the same
tint, either in shade of colour or depth.

I will now give you the result of my examination of the
pictures and the fragments given to me by Mr. Smith for the
purpose of analysis. The surface of the paper appears, first,
to have been prepared with gum and sugar. On that is the
image impressed, consisting of finely divided particles,
apparently laid on either in the form of vapour or very fine
powder. Over the picture is a coating of albumen. This
has been applied, most likely, by floating the picture on the
surface of a vessel containing albumen. The picture has
then, probably, been taken up carefully and allowed to drain
for a short time, and then laid flat to dry. Small air bub-
bles, or particles of dust, on the surface would just produce
the curious appearance of projections and shadows before-
mentioned— the powdery surface being slightly carried away
and deposited, just as we see it. Those who have made
experiments in photography — such as in the old carbon pro-
cess, &c. — will at once fully understand my remarks. The
albumen, in drying, has run into the hollows of the paper, as
we see in the specimens. It is easy now to see how the
images could be transferred to canvass, or painted upon on
the paper.

How the images were formed I cannot even venture a
suggestion. The process, if re-discovered, would be still
valuable, even with our other and various modes of reproduc-
tion. For effect and beauty the specimens now shown are

156

not to be despised ; and, for permanency, have had the test
of nearly eighty years.

Many of these pictures must be in existence in old houses
and country inns ; and, if more specimens were obtained,
some clue to the secret might be found. I feel confident 1
have more than once seen specimens. Once, in particular,
when on a photographic trip, in 1853, with our old member,
Mr. Barton, either at Ludlow or Hereford, we saw several of
them, and puzzled ourselves to make out what they were,
with their striking photographic appearance. At length we
decided that they must be sepia drawings.

The pictures on silver plates are two, and, on certain
evidence, thought to be views of Soho House before the
alteration. As this took place at the end of last century,
these pictures, according to that idea, must have been taken
at least sixty-six years ago. All we have to judge upon is
this evidence, which is rather weak. The pictures are
evidently taken in the camera, and are genuine photographs.
From the evidence published in a pamphlet by Mr. M. P.
W. Boulton, it appears highly probable that these pictures
were taken about twenty-eight to thirty years ago by his
aunt. Miss Wilkinson.

Independently, however, of this, I fear we must give them
up as modern productions. Their appearance is that of
daguerreotypes of the early period, made sensitive -with iodine
alone ; and the image, as may be seen through the micros-
cope, is composed of mercury vapour. But another piece of
evidence appears to me more conclusive still, and that is the
size of the plates. I have here a daguerreotype view of
Rome, taken in the early days of the art — one of a number
taken at that time in Rome and Paris. If we now compare
the size of the plate with the Soho pictures, we shall find
them identical. Such could scarcely be an accidental coinci-
dence. These plates were not made or used for any other
purpose ; and it is not within the bounds of probability that

157

the standard size of pictures, taken by Daguerre in 1835,
should have been precisely the same as those used by J ames
Watt in 1799. However, from the stamp on the corner of
my plate, the peculiar form of the figure four (4) points it
out as a French production ; whilst the Soho plates are
apparently English, rendering the possibility of their exact
coincidence in size still more improbable.

“ Speculations on the Process employed by Messrs. Boulton
and Watt in the Production of the Pictures called by them
* Mechanical Pictures.5 55 By J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

My remarks at present are confined to the two pictures on
the table, of human figures, numbered 7 and 8. They
measure 17xl3§ inches, and are identical in size and sub-
ject. By the kindness of Mr. Sidebotham I have had an
opportunity of making a minute examination of them. The
only apparent difference between them is, that No. 7 is in
plain ink, and in No. 8 the garments of the figures are
coloured — one red and the other blue.

I am informed that these pictures are similar to those
which were supplied by the firm of Boulton and Watt, and
copies from originals sent to them. They were issued, it is
said, with tolerable rapidity, and at a very moderate price ;
but the process by which they were multiplied was kept a
profound secret.

At the first glance the pictures look as if they were pro-
duced by hand ; but, on comparing them carefully, the close
resemblance in the drawing in each is found to be so remark-
able that no artist, however clever, could produce such exact
duplicates without great expenditure of time. A more
minute examination by means of a lens shows scratches and
lines (evidently accidental) which correspond accurately in
each picture, affording a convincing proof that these copies
could only be produced by some mechanical or chemical
agency.

158

It has been stated on good authority, I believe, that a
darkened room or tent was used, also that the presence of
sunlight was required in the process. Now this at once sug-
gests the use of the camera obscura — an instrument which
was perfectly well known at that period. A common method
of exhibiting this instrument was to darken a room and fix
a lens in a hole made in the window-shutter, and view the
images produced on a screen of paper placed opposite to the
lens. By this method a reversed and inverted picture would
be seen by the spectator.

Another form of camera in use at that time consisted of an
upright box with a sliding tube through the top, in which
was fixed a lens, and above this a mirror placed at the
angle of 45°. This form is still in use for the purpose of tracing
images thrown on to paper placed at the bottom of the box.
These primitive forms of the camera must be well known to
all present. I name them only as affording some explanation
for the use of the darkened room or tent.

The next question which suggests itself is this : — Did they
employ the camera in producing images on chemically pre-
pared surfaces ? In fact, did they practice what we now
name photography ?

It is stated that in 1802 Wedgwood and Davy experi-
mented with salts of silver on leather, and produced impres-
sions of various objects. Now if we may be allowed to
imagine that Mr. Boulton and his colleagues were acquainted
with this effect of light on such substances, they might have
reasoned on the phenomena, and prepared paper with these
constituents — tannic acid, gelatine, and some salt of silver.
Had they done so they might have produced a picture by
sufficient exposure in the camera. One thing is certain, the
pictures 7 and 8 have a plentiful coating of gelatine, albu-
men, or some other substance on their surface *

* Mj son William Dancer tested this substance and pronounced it to be
gum.

159

At this stage of the inquiry I should like to ask a question
of those who have inspected a large number of these pictures.
Do any of them show unmistakeable marks of the originals,
such as we are all familiar with in photographic copies ? If
this could be favourably answered, then photography of the
present day would be benefited by the discovery of the means
adopted in fixing these pictures. I much doubt if one of our
best photographs on paper would contrast favourably with
these pictures in the whites after a lapse of seventy years.
But in my humhle opinion photography has not been the
agent employed in producing these pictures.

Mr. Sidebotham had a portion of one picture presented to
him, and he kindly shared this with me. In my experiments
I found that the colouring matter forming the picture could
be washed off like ordinary ink, without leaving a trace of
any chemical action on the paper. Now if this portion of
the picture be a genuine sample, it does not exhibit the ordi-
nary characteristics of a photograph.

On further consideration there are many reasons which
would lead me to conclude that these pictures have been
produced by some modification of mezzotint engraving, in
which the camera had enabled the engraver to trace his out-
line from the original to any scale required, giving him the
correct outline drawing, the shading being an after process ;
but the rapidity of production, and the low price charged,
unfortunately excludes this process from the list of probabili-
ties. Although mezzotint is said to be the most rapid method
of engraving, I am compelled to abandon it or its modifica-
tions, and pass on to some other process.

Now if we do not believe in the photographic portion of
the secret, and are not permitted to employ engraving on
metal on account of the expense and labour, we find the field
of speculation becoming somewhat limited.

Now comes a very important question : — Did Mr. Boulton
anticipate Senefelder in some process similar to lithography,
employing metallic plates or metallic alloys ? I can almost

160

imagine that such was the case. Even prepared paper
surfaces, such as are named in Senefelder’s patent specifica-
tion, dated 1801, might have been used at Soho. When we
look at the rough hand-made paper on which these impres-
sions are placed, and see the thick coating of gum or gelatine
on the surface, the question then arises — Is this prepared
surface necessary for taking up the ink or whatever was used ?
or is it merely to smooth over the coarse wire lines in the
paper ? We do know that the want of smooth paper inter-
fered with the practice of lithography for a long period.
Machine-made paper was a great improvement, but now
paper is made especially for the purpose.

After glancing over these processes, I am led to imagine
that the following mode may in some degree serve to produce
pictures similar to those before us Admitting that the
impressions were touched up by hand, I think the camera
was employed only for tracing the outline and reducing or
enlarging the image to any required scale. The pictures
Nos. 7 and 8 give good evidence of tracing. The shading
would be an after process, having the original for a copy, the
crayon employed being made of some resinous or fatty matter
mixed with the colour — this production then to be used as a
transfer on the prepared surface.

In such pictures intended for painting, the ink would be
light in colour — in others red or black, as the taste of the
artist dictated. In this manner, as Senefelder states in his
specification, the various styles of etching, stroke engraving,
drawings in black and red chalk and aquatinta, &c., &c., could
be imitated, and at small cost compared with any other known
process.

I shall now leave this very interesting inquiry in your
hands. As an excuse for the brief and imperfect handling of
the subject, I may state that it is only two days since I first
saw the pictures, and I have not had sufficient time to work
up the subject in a proper manner; but if my speculations serve
to provoke a discussion amongst the members of the Section,
its purpose will have been answered.

161

Ordinary Meeting, April 3rd, 1866.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

Messrs. Wm. Brockbank and G. C. Lowe were appointed
Auditors of the Treasurer’s accounts.

Mr. BiNNEY,F.R.S.,said that he had observed the humming
bird hawkmoth ( Macroglossa Stellatarum ) during the past
summer in far greater abundance than he ever remembered
having seen it before. In the month of August, he saw
upwards of a hundred of them in a garden near Grimsby,
were they appeared to prefer the common lavender flower for
food to any other in the place. Again in the first week of
October, he observed upwards of twenty in a garden at
Douglas, in the Isle of Man. Here they preferred to feed
on heliotrope before other flowers. It was very interesting
to watch these moths hovering over the flowers, and whilst
on the wing extracting their food. They appeared very
wary and shy after any attempt being made to capture them,
but if you merely observed without making any attempt to
molest them they would continue their feeding in confidence,
and you could watch them at your leisure. So a great deal
of the shyness and caution for which the little creature has
got the credit of, is probably more due to the persevering
efforts of its enemies to capture it than any natural fear of
man.

A paper was read “ On a Logical Abacus,” by W. S.
Jevons, Esq., M.A.

The author believed that this was the first attempt, or at
all events, the first successful attempt, to reduce the pro-
cesses of logical inference to a mechanical form. The purpose
of this contrivance is to show tbe simple truth, and the perfect
Prooeedin os — Lit, & Phid. Society. —Vol. V. — No. 14 — Session 1865-6,

162

generality of a new system of pure Qualitative Logic closely
analagous to, and suggested by, the mathematical system of
logic of the late Professor Boole, but strongly distinguished
from the latter by the rejection of all considerations of
quantity.

This logical abacus leads naturally to the construction
of a simple machine which shall be capable of giving
with absolute certainty all possible logical conclusions from
any sets of propositions or premises read off upon the keys
of the instrument. The possibility of such a contrivance is
practically ascertained ; when completed it will furnish a
more signal proof of the truth of the system of logic embodied
in it. Still the more rudimentary contrivance called the
abacus will remain the most convenient for explaining the
nature and working of formal inference, and may be usefully
employed in the lecture room, for exhibiting the complete
analysis of arguments and logical conditions, and the expo-
sure of fallacies.

The abacus consists of —

1. An inclined black board, furnished with four ledges,
3ft. long, placed 9in. apart.

2. Series of flat slips of wood, the smallest set four in
number, and other sets, 8, 16, and 32 in number, marked
with combinations of letters, as follows ■

First Set.

A

A

a

a

B

6

B

b

Second Set.

A

A

A

A

a

a

a

a

B

B

b

b

B

B

b

b

C

c

C

c

C

c

C

c

The third and fourth sets exhibit the corresponding com-
binations of the letters A, B, C, D, a , b9 c , d , and A, B, C,
D, E, a, b9 c, d , e.

163

The slips are furnished with little pins, so that when
placed upon the ledges of the board, those marked by any
given letter may be readily picked out by means of a
straight-edged ruler, and removed to another ledge.

The use of the abacus will be best shown by an example.
Take the syllogism in Barbara ; —

Man is mortal.

Socrates is man.

Therefore Socrates is mortal.

Let

A = Socrates.

B = Man.

C ~ Mortal.

The corresponding small italic letters then indicate the
negatives.

a = not-Socrates,
b — not-Man,
c = not-Mortal,
and the premises may be stated as
A is B,

B is G.

Now take the second set of slips containing all the possible
combinations of A, B, C, a9 b, c , and ascertain which of
the combinations are possible under the conditions of the
premises.

Select all the slips marked A, and as all these ought to be
B’s, select again those which are not B, or b, and reject them.
Unite the remainder, and selecting the B’s, reject those which
are not C or c. There will now remain only four slips or com-
binations :

A

a

a

a

B

B

b

b

C

C

C

c

If we require the description of Socrates, or A, we take
the only combination containing A, and observe that it is

164

joined with C, hence the Aristotelian conclusion Socrates is
mortal. We may also get any other possible conclusion.
For instance the class of things not- Man or b is seen from
the two last combinations to be always a or not- Socrates,
but either mortal or not-mortal as the case may be.

Precisely the same obvious system of analysis is applicable
to arguments however complicated. As an example take the
premises treated in Boole’s Laws of Thought, p. 1^5.

(1.) Similar figures consist of all whose corresponding
angles are equal, and whose corresponding sides are propor-
tional.

(2.) Triangles whose corresponding angles are equal have
their corresponding sides proportional, and vice versa .

Let

A = similar.

B = triangle.

C — having corresponding angles equal.

D = having corresponding sides proportional.

The premises may then be expressed in Qualitative
Logic,* as follows : —

A = CD.

BC = BD.

Take the set of 16 slips ; out of the A’s reject those which
are not CD ; out of the CD’s reject those which are not A ;
out of the BO’s reject those which are not BD ; and out
of the BD’s reject those which are not BC. There will
remain only six slips, as follows : —

A

A

a

a 1

a

a

B

b

B

b

b

b

C

C

c

C

c

c

D

D

d

d

1

D

d

From these we may at once read off all the conclusions
laboriously deduced by Boole in his obscure processes. We

* See Pure Logic, or the Quality of Logic, apart from Quantity, by
W. Stanley Jevons, M.A., London (Stanford), 1864.

165

at once see, for instance, that the class a , or “dissimilar
figures, consist of all triangles (B) which have not their
corresponding angles equal (c) and sides proportional (d)?
and of all figures not being triangles (5) which have either
their angles equal (C) and sides not proportional ( d ), or their
corresponding sides proportional (D) and angles not equal,
or neither their corresponding angles equal nor corresponding
sides proportional.” (Boole, p. 126.)

The selections as made upon the abacus are of course
subject to mistake, but only one easy step is required to a
logical machine, in which the selections shall be made
mechanically and faultlessly by the mere reading down of
the premises upon a set of keys, or handles, representing the
several positive and negative terms, the copula, conjunctions*
and stops of a proposition.

Mr. Jevons stated his opinion distinctly that these contri-
vances possessed a theoretical rather than a practical
importance. Like the analogous Calculating Machine of
Babbage or Scheutz, the logical machine would hardly find
practical employment for the present at least. But its value
consisted in showing the true nature of logic as a system of
analysis of the possible combinations of things, in short as
the highest and simplest form of the doctrine of combinations.
Not only would the deductive, and especially the inductive
processes of logic be thus presented in a new and clearer light,
but the relation of logic, the qualitative doctrine of combina-
tions, to mathematics the quantitative doctrine of combinations,
would be defined, and the abstract sciences thus brought into
harmony and due subordination.

In the description of his balance given in the last No. of
the Proceedings, Dr. Joule omitted to mention a fixed
support against which the scale rests when the counterbalance
is removed. By this means the wires are kept constantly in
the same state of tension, and are thus preserved from the
derangement which might otherwise ensue.

166

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTIONS.

March 26th, 1866.

A. G. Latham, Esq., President of the Sections,
in the Chair.

The following objects were exhibited : —

Eight mounted specimens of hair of Australian animals for
the cabinet ; one of them, a species of Phascogale, very
remarkable. — Mr. Latham.

A large collection of rare beetles from Ceylon, recently

presented to the Natural History Society by Braybrooke,

Esq. — Mr. Latham. *

Many specimens of remarkable foraminifera from Dogs
Bay. — Mr. Linton.

A sample of the Guano lately imported from Malden
Island in the Pacific, for distribution among the members. —
Mr. Latham.

Dr. Alcock showed mounted specimens of Embryonic shells
of Mollusca, including fifty species collected by him from
Dogs Bay sand, and named by J. Gwyn Jeffreys, Esq. —
He said he had in a former communication described the
peculiar characters of Anomia in the young state, and shells
of this kind are abundant in the sand. Pectens are also
common, and six different forms which he had sorted out are
referred by Mr. Jeffreys to the following species : — P. varius,
opercularis, tigrinus, testae, similis, and maximus. Lima
subauriculata and L. Loscombii are both rather scarce.
Modiolaria discors in the young state is very common. Area
tetragona, abundant ; Kellia suborbicularis, common ; Car-
dium echinatum, rare ; Cardium fasciatum, very common ;
several species of Yenus, frequent; and Saxicava rugosa,
very abundant. Patella vulgata, Helcion pellucidum, and
Tectura virginea with spiral caps are all common, the last

167

being very abundant. Another limpet-like shell without
spiral cap, referred to in a former paper, is identified by Mr.
Jeffreys as Ancylus fluviatilis. Emarginula fissura is rare,
and of Fissurella Graeca, one specimen only has been found.
Caecum glabrum with spiral attached is common, and sepa-
rate spirals are abundant ; only one specimen of Aclis unica
has been met with ; Eulimella nitidissima is common ;
Homatogyra rota, rare ; Cerithiopsis ad versa, common. A
few of the embryonic and partly grown shells of Aplysia
depilans have been found, but they are very scarce. In
addition to the named specimens, a considerable number of
other species not yet identified were exhibited.

List of Embryonic Shells of Mollusca

Anomia ephippium.

Pecten varius.

„ opercularis.

„ tigrinus.

„ testae.

„ similis.

„ maximus.

Lima subauriculata.

„ Loscombii.

Mytilus phaseolinus.

Modiolaria discors.

Area tetragona.

Montacuta bidentata.

„ ferruginosa.

Kellia suborbicularis.

Sphaerium corneum.

Cardium echinatum.

„ fasciatum.

Venus lincta.

Venus.

Tellina tenuis.

Scrobicularia alba.

Lyonsia Norvegica.

Thracia papyracea.

Saxicava rugosa.

Patella vulgata.

Helcion pellucidum.
Tectura virginea.
Emarginula fissura.
Fissurella Graeca.
Homatogyra rota.

Caecum glabrum.
Cerithium reticulatum.
Cerithiopsis adversa.
Scalaria communis.

Aclis unica.

Eulima distorta.
Chemnitzia elegantissima.
Odostomia unidentata.
Eulimella nitidissima.

„ acicula.

Velutina laevigata.
Lamellaria perspicua.
Purpura lapillus ?
Mangelia linearis.
Cylichna cylindracea.

„ truncata.

Aplysia depilans.

Spirialis Flemingii.
Ancylus fluviatilis.

168

PHYSICAL AND

MATHEMATICAL

SECTION.

March 29th, 1866.

Robert Worthington, F.R. A. S., Vice-President of the
Section, in the Chair.

Mr. Baxendell, F.R.A.S., communicated the following:—

Results oe Rain G-auge and Anemometer Observations made during
the Year 1865,

At St. Martin’s Parsonage, Castleton Moor, by the Rev. J. Chadwick
Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S.

Table I.

5-inch Gauges.

8-inch Gauges.

|

Total
Movement
of Wind.

20 feet
eleva-
tion.

5 feet
eleva-
tion.

lfoot

eleva-

tion.

20 feet
eleva-
tion.

5 feet
eleva-
tion.

1 foot
i eleva-
| tion.

January

3-m

3-492

3-874

3 292

3-631

! 4-050

7156

February

2-344

2-493 |

2-934

2-572

2-775

3033

5875

[ March

1-055

1-161

1-359

1111

1-246

1-396

7275

April

1-337

1-377

1-444

1-377

1-410

1-474

7074

May

2-297

2-622

2-863

2-278

2-647

2-784

6934

June

0-656

0-668

0-659

0-670

0-666

0-669

5213

July

3*224

3-407

3-546

3-260

3-347

3-412

5751

August

4-645

4-892

5-099

4-733

4-862

4-941

5591

I September

0-548

0-614

0-657

0-580

0-628

0-652

4551

I October

5-777

5-010

6-251

5-858

6-030

6-230

6621

November

3-303

3-508

3-829

3-384

3-608

3-774

6097

December

1-092

1-234

1-313

1-158

1-207

1-299

6121

29-455

31-478

33-830

30-273

32-057

33-714

74259

169

Table II.

i

1

No. of
Days

Rain.

Total
Movement
of the
Wind.

Mean Daily
Movement
of Wind
on Days of
Rain.

No. of
Fan-
Days.

Total
Movement
of the
Wind.

|

Mean Daily j
Movement
of Wind ,
on Fan-
Days.

January ;

13

4394

338

18

2762

153 !

February |

15

3622

241

13

2253

173

March

11

2873

261

20

4402

220

April

8

2103

263

22

4971

226

May

18

! 4501

250

13

2433

187

! June

4

! 1155

288

! 26

4058

156

July

14

2822

201

17

2929

172

j August

16

3284

205

15

2307

153

j September

2

530

265

28

4021

143

i October

18

3847

213

13

2774

213

j November

14

3958

282

16

2139

133

! December

8

2709

338

23

3412

148

141

35798

253-8

224

38461

1 171-7.

From Table I. it will be seen that the total movement of
the wind was greatest in the month of March, and least in
September. In the year 1864 it was also greatest in March,
but least in August. The total amounts in the quarterly
periods of the two years were : —

1865. 1864.

Winter 19152 miles. 19174 miles.

Spring 21283 „ 20940 „

Summer 16555 „ 18111 „

Autumn 17269 „ 20088 „

Table II. shows that the mean daily movement of the wind
on days of rain in 1865 was 253*8 miles; and on days without
rain, 171*7. The numbers in 1864 were 251*6, and 179*4
respectively.

The mean

results for the

quarterly periods, and their

ratios, were :•

Mean Daily Movement Mean DailyMovement

of the Wind

of the Wind

Ratios.

Winter

on Rainy Days.

298

on Fair Days.

156

0*52

Spring

256

214

0-83

Summer

213

160

0-75

Autumn

245

156

0-63

The ratios in 1864 were. Winter, 0*68; Spring, 0*82-
Summer, 0*72 ; Autumn, 0*60. It appears therefore from

170

the observations of the two years that the ratio of the mean
velocity of the wind on days when no rain falls, as compared
with that on rainy days, varies least iu the spring, and most
in the winter quarter.

Mr. W. L. Dickinson read a Paper containing the results
of calculations relative to the Eclipse of the Sun, and to two
Occupations of the star Aldebaran by the Moon, visible here
this year. The calculations have been made for the Obser-
vatory of Robert Worthington, Esq., F.R.A.S., Crumpsall,,
near Manchester, Lat. 53° 30' 50//#0 N., Long. 0h 8m563T6 W.
The Elements used in the computations have been obtained
from the Nautical Almanac.

The Partial Eclipse of the Sun, October 8, 1866, is partly
visible at the Observatory, and

h. m. s.

Begins 4 19 39 ) Mean Time at

Greatest Phase 5 21 35 j Greenwich.

At Crumpsall the Sun will set at 5h. 27m.

Magnitude of the Eclipse (Sun’s diameter = 1 ) 0*480.

Angle, from North Pole, of first *\

contact, 43° I towards the West for

Angle, from Vertex, of first con- f direct image,
tact, 76° J

The Occupations of the star a Tauri (Aldebaran) by the
Moon.

1866.

September 28tb...
November 22nd. . .

Disappearance.

Sidereal
Time at
Observatory.

Mean
Time at
Observatory.

Mean
Time at
Greenwich.

Angle from
North! Yer-
Point. j tex.

h. m. s.
3 41 36
1 53 44

h. m. s.
15 10 56
9 47 6

h. m. s.
15 19 52'
9 56 2

o ! o

84 | 75

73 44 .

Reappearance.

Sidereal

Mean

Mean

Angle from

Time at

Time at

Time at j

North 1 Ver-

Observatory.

Observatory.

Greenwich, j

Point. j tex.

1866.

h. m. s.

h. m. s.

h. m. s.

o j o

September 28th...

4 51 41

16 20 49

16 29 45

295 303

N ovemher 22nd...

2 51 55

10 45 8

10 54 4

310 | 290

171

The Angles are reckoned towards the right hand round
the circumference of the Moon’s image as seen in an invert-
ing telescope.

Mr. Brothers, F.R.A.S., stated that when a solution of
nitrate of silver, which, from long use, has become con-
taminated with organic matter from collodion plates, is
neutralized, or made alkaline with carbonate of soda, exposed
to strong day-light in an evaporating dish, and heat applied,
a scum is quickly formed on its surface. This scum, when
broken by a puff of air exhibits, in a remarkable manner,
all the appearances of solar spots as seen in good telescopes.
So long as the current of air is continued the scum remains
open at the spot, but immediately closes partially on the
cessation of the cause, and streams of the film stretch across
the opening, illustrating the bridges over the sun spots. At
the same time a secondary scum commences to form at the
edges of the opening, and may he called the penumbra , and
in time closes the opening. The centre is occupied by the
umbra formed by the carbonate of silver (white when first
formed) which has in the course of the experiments turned
black. It was found that when a current of the solution was
forced upwards these effects could not be produced, and the
film was not affected when a small body was dropped into it.
When the solution has been exposed to the heat for a few
hours the film becomes too thick to exhibit the experiment,
and when cold the appearances described could not be pro-
duced. This experiment was referred to merely as illus-
trating the appearances of sun spots, and in no way as
explaining their cause. At the same time it suggested the
idea that if the luminous photosphere of the sun is formed
of bodies, named by various observers, “ willow leaves”
(Nasmyth), “rice grains” (Stone), “bits of straw” (Dawes),
and of the existence of distinct bodies of some kind on the visi-
ble surface of the sun there can now be very little doubt, they

172

may be floating in a fluid sufficiently dense to sustain them,
but at the same time easily thrust aside by some disturbing
cause below the surface. The existence of an external cause
at the surface of the sun being improbable, may not the cause
of the sun spots arise from a current or force, such as the
“ red flames ,” which are supposed to be connected with the
formation of spots? This force acting on the “ willow leaves”
would raise them from the level at which they may be sup-
posed to float, they would slide under and over each other,
and thus leave an opening ; and, upon the gradual cessation
of the disturbing cause, the tendency of the “ willow leaves ”
would be to gradually assume their former positions and close
up the spots in a way similar to the closing of the film in the
simple experiment referred to.

Mr. Brothers also stated that, while observing the moon
with his five-inch achromatic telescope at about eight o’clock
on the evening of March 25th, he observed a small dark body
cross the disc diagonally, from left to right, a little below the
spot Copernicus. The motion was very rapid and similar to
the passage of a luminous meteor across the field of view.
He conceived it might be a meteoric body passing through
space at a distance considerably beyond the limits of the
earth’s atmosphere.

173

Annual Meeting, April 17th, 1866.

R. Angus Smith, Ph. D., F.R.S., &c., President, in
the Chair.

The following report of the Council was read by one of the
Secretaries : —

The Council have again the satisfaction to report that
although the balance of the Treasurer’s account has been
reduced from £360. 4s. 3d. on the 1st of April, 1865, to
£269. 4s. 3d. on the 1st of April, 1866, the finances of the
Society are nevertheless in a healthy state. Extra expendi-
ture has been incurred during the past year for printing and
publishing vol. 2, series 3, of the Society’s Memoirs ; binding
books in the library ; printing a catalogue of the Society’s
library; and purchasing new hooks, and also volumes to
complete imperfect sets.

The number of ordinary members on the roll of the Society
on the 1st of April, 1865, was 187. Five new members have
been elected during the year ; and the losses have been by
deaths, six ; resignations, one ; and defaulters, two. The
number of members on the roll on the 1st of April, 1866, was
therefore 183. The deceased members are — Rev. Thos.
Buckley, M.A., Mr. James Joseph Dean, Mr. John Parry,
Sir Benjamin Heywood, Bart., F.R.S., Mr. John Whalley,
and Mr. Richard H amps on.

Sir Benjamin Heywood, Bart., F.R.S., was one of the
oldest members of the Society, having been elected on the
27th of January, 1815. He held the office of Treasurer for
many years, and was one of the Trustees of the Society’s
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society.— Yol. V. — No. 15— Session 1865-6,

174

property. He took an active interest in local literary and
scientific institutions, and was one of the founders of the
Manchester Royal, and Mechanics', Institutions. He held
the presidency of the latter institution from 1824 to 1841.
In 1831-32 he represented the county in parliament, and
whilst in London became an intimate associate of the pro-
minent literary and scientific men of the time.

Mr. John Parry had been a member of the Society for 32
years, having been elected on the 26th of April, 1833. He
was a constant attendant at the ordinary and sectional meet-
ings of the Society, and took an active part in the formation
of the Microscopical, Natural History, and Photographical
Sections. He was the inventor of coloured signal lamps for
railways, the first lamps of this kind having been made by
the late Mr. Ford, of Cateaton-street, under his directions,
and used on the Manchester and Leeds Railway. He had
been forty-three years in the confidential employment of
Messrs. Lockett and Co., the well known engravers to calico
printers, and was one of the first to employ photography in
connection with that business, in which he also introduced
the electrotype process in 1839. His mechanical skill and
ingenuity were displayed in the construction of a large solar
microscope on a principle similar to that of the one exhibited
at the Adelaide Gallery, London, about 1839 or 1840 ; in
making a panoramic camera, camera bellows, apparatus for
waxing paper, and for drying albumen plates ; and in cutting
and polishing sections of fossils for microscopic slides. He
was an enthusiastic photographer, and had been very success-
ful in producing enlarged photographs of microscopic objects.
In the summer of last year he visited the coast of Galway,
where he succeeded in finding a rich deposit of Foraminifera
containing many new species, descriptions and lists of which
have been given by Dr. Alcock in the Society’s Proceedings.

The several Sections of the Society have continued to ex-
hibit their usual activity, and have furnished many important

175

communications to the Proceedings, and to the Memoirs of
the Society. The admission of Sectional Associates has
again been found to work satisfactorily, and the Council have
therefore resolved that the system shall remain in force during
another year.

The following papers and communications have been read
at the ordinary and sectional meetings of the Society during
the past session : —

October 3rd, 1865. — “On the Internal Heat of the Earth as a
Source of Motive Power,” by Mr. George Greaves, M.R.C.S.

“Note on the Eclipse of the Sun, October 19th, 1865,” by
Mr. W. L. Dickinson.

October 6th, 1865. — “On Photographs of the Eclipse of the
Moon, October 4th, 1865,” by Mr. A. Brothers, F.R.A.S.

“ On a Camera for outdoor work without a Tent,” by Dr. J. P,
Joule, F.R.S., &c.

October 1 2th, 1865. — “Rainfall at Eccles for 1864,” by Mr.
Thomas Mackereth, F.R.A.S.

October IQth, 1865. — “Notes on. Atlantic Soundings,” by Mr,
Joseph Sidebotham.

“ Notes on Acherontia atropos,” by Mr. Joseph Sidebotham.

“ Questions regarding the Life-History of the Foraminifera, sug-
gested by Examinations of their Dead Shells,” by Mr. Thomas
Alcock, M.D.

October 17th, 1865.— “Notes on the Origin of several Me-
chanical Inventions, and their subsequent application to different
purposes, Part I.,” by Mr. J. C. Dyer, V.P.

October 31$£, 1865. — “On Cooling and Ventilating the Workings
of deep Coal Mines,” by Sir J. F. W. Herschel, Bart., M.A., D.C.L.,
F.R.S., &c.

“On Coresolvents,” by the Hon. Chief Justice Cockle, M.A.,
&c., President of the Queensland Philosophical Society. Com-
municated by the Rev. Robert Harley, F.R.S., &c.

November §th, 1865.— “Note on the Variable Star, S Delphini,”
by Mr. J. Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

176

November 14 th, 1865. — “On a Predisposing Cause of the Cattle
Disease,” by Mr. Thomas Ainsworth.

“ An Attempt to refer some Phenomena attending the Emission
of Light to Mechanical Principles,” by Mr. R. B. Clifton, M.A.,
Professor of Natural Philosophy in Owens College.

November 20th, 1865. — “On Collecting Foraminifera on the
West Coast of Ireland,” by Mr. John Parry.

“ On the Illumination of Opaque Objects under the high powers
of the Microscope,” by Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

November 28 th, 1865. — “ On the Amount of Carbonic Acid
contained in the Air above the Irish Sea,” by Mr. T. E. Thorpe,
Assistant in the Private Laboratory, Owens College.” Com-
municated by Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S.

j December 7th, 1865. — “On the November Meteors, as observed
at Woodcroft, Cuckfield, Sussex, November 12-13, 1865,” by Mr.
George Knott, F.R.A.S. Communicated by Mr. Baxendell,
F.R.A.S.

December 1 2th, 1865. — “Notes on the Origin of several Me-
chanical Inventions, and their subsequent application to different
purposes, Part II.,” by Mr. J. C. Dyer, Y.P.

December lith, 1865. — “ On the Application of Measuring Rods
to Photographic Pictures,” by Mr. Joseph Sidebotham.

“On Celestial Photography,” by Mr. A. Brothers, F.R.A.S.

December 18 th, 1865. — On late Improvements in Illuminating
Opaque Objects under the higher Powers of the Microscope,”
by Mr. H. A. Hurst.

December 20th, 1865. — “On Fossil Wood found in Calcareous
Nodules in the lower Coal Seams of Lancashire and Yorkshire,” by
Mr. E. W. Binney, F.R.S., &c.

January kth, 1866. — Remarks on the Barometric Disturbances
during the Months of October, November, and December, 1865,”
by Mr. G. Y. Yernon, F.R.A.S.

“Rainfall for 1865 at Old Trafford,” by Mr. G. Y. Yernon,
F.R.A.S.

“Note on the Variable Star, T Aquilse,” by Mr. J. Baxendell,
F.R.A.S.

177

January 23rd, 1866. — “ Notes on Section of Chat Moss, near
Astley Station,” by Mr. W. Brockbank.

January 22th, 1866. — “On the Humming-bird Hawk-moth,”
by Mr. Linton.

February 1st, 1866. — “ Results of Bain-guage and Anemometer
Observations made at Eccles, near Manchester, during the year
1865,” by Mr. Thomas Mackareth, F.R.A.S.

“ Note on the Variable Star, S Coronee,” by Mr. J. Baxendell,
F.R.A.S.

“ On the Determination of the Mean Form of the Light-curve
of a Variable Star,” by Mr. J. Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

February 3th, 1866. — “Notes on the Origin of several Me-
chanical Inventions, and their subsequent application to different
purposes, Part III.,” by Mr. J. C. Dyer, V.P.

February 8th 1866. — “On the Supposed Photographs by Boul-
ton and Watt,” by Mr. Joseph Sidebotham.

“ Speculations on the Process employed by Messrs. Boulton and
Watt in the Production of the Pictures called by them Mechanical
Pictures,” by Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

February 23th, 1866. — On a New Species of Dadoxylon, found
in the Upper Foot Coal, near Oldham,” by Mr. E. W. Binney,
F.R.S., F.G.S.

“On Air from off the Atlantic, and from some London Law
Courts,” by Dr. R. Angus Smith, F.R.S., &c., President.

March 1$£, 1866. — “On the Variable Star, R Vulpeculse,” by
Mr. G. Knott, F.R.A.S. Communicated by Mr. J. Baxendell,
F.R.A.S.

“ On the Fall of Rain during the Different Hours of the Day,
as deduced from a Series of Observations made by the Rev. J. C.
Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S., at St. Martin’s Parsonage, Castleton Moor,”
by Mr. J. Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

March 3th, 1866. — “Note on the Purification of Platinum,” by
Mr. E. Sonstadt.

“ On the Liassic and Oolitic Iron Ores of Yorkshire and the
East Midland Counties,” by Messrs. E. Hull, F.G.S., and William
Brockbank.

178

March Sth, 1866. — “On the Pantascopic Camera.” by Mr. J.

R. Johnson. Communicated by Mr. E. C. Buxton.

March 20th, 1866. — “On a New Balance,” by Dr. J. P. Joule,
F.R.S., &c.

“Notes on Cotton Spinning Machinery, Part II., Roving
Frames,” by Mr. J. C. Dyer, V.P.

March 20th, 1866. — “On Embryonic Shells of Mollusca, col-
lected from Dogs Bay Sand,” by Dr. Thomas Alcock.

March 20th, 1866. — “Results of Rain-gauge and Anemometer
Observations made during the year 1865, at St. Martin’s Par-
sonage, Castleton Moor,” by the Rev. J. C. Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S.
Communicated by Mr. J. Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

“On the Eclipse of the Sun, October 8th, 1866; and on the
Occultations of Aldebaran by the Moon, September 28th, and
November 22nd, 1866,” by Mr. W. L. Dickinson.

“ On a Method of Imitating the Appearances of Sun Spots,” by
Mr. A. Brothers, F.R.A.S.

April 3rd, 1866. — “On the Humming-bird Hawk-moth,” by
Mr. E. W. Binney, F.R.S., &c.

“On a Logical Abacus,” by Mr. W. S. Jevons, M.A.

The Council desire to express their sense of the value of
the services rendered to the Society by the Honorary Libra-
rian, Thomas Windsor, Esq., M.R.C.S., in arranging the
Society’s library, and making out and printing a catalogue of
the books ; and they regret that he is unable to continue his
services. At his request Mr. Charles Bailey has, for some
months past, ably discharged the duties of Librarian.

The Committee appointed to discuss the question of the
medal have agreed upon certain resolutions concerning the
mode of award of the Society’s medal ; but no award has yet
been made.

The Librarian reports that since the last annual meeting
a catalogue of the books in the library has been printed, and
that arrangements are in progress for printing a supplement-
ary catalogue of the books received since that time. Vol. 2,

179

series 3, of the Society’s Memoirs, and vols. 3 and 4 of the
Proceedings, have been bound, and are now being forwarded
to the Societies and Institutions wTith which this Society
exchanges publications. Many volumes have been bound
during the year, and several purchases of books to complete
sets have been made. The general condition of the books is
satisfactory.

On the motion of Mr. Trapp, seconded by Mr. B. St. J. B.
Joule, the Annual Report was unanimously adopted.

The following gentlemen were elected officers of the So-
ciety for the ensuing year : —

Jmifojetti

EDWARD SCHUNCK, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.

ROBERT ANGUS SMITH, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S., &c.

JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE, LL.D., F.R.S., &c.

EDWARD WILLIAM BINNEY, F.R.S., F.G.S.

JOSEPH CHESBOROUGH DYER.

HENRY ENFIELD ROSCOE, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

%xmmxzx.

ROBERT WORTHINGTON, F.R.A.S.

CHARLES BAILEY.

ftfrer xrf tfrje dLmml

REY. WILLIAM GASKELL, M.A.

PETER SPENCE, F.C.S., M.S.A.

GEORGE YENABLES YERNON, F.R.A.S., M.B.M.S.

JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

JOHN BENJAMIN DANCER, F.R.A.S.

MURRAY GLADSTONE, F.R.A.S.

ROBERT WORTHINGTON, TREASURER, IN ACCOUNT WITH THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF MANCHESTER.

FROM 31st MARCH, 1865, TO 31st MARCH, 1866.

'd

c

«

>

c

5 O

en en

1°

05

00

rH

A

O 00

in n

A

j C5>

<M

oo

lO

00

197

126

1

i i

CO

ip

q5

>d’

0.000

M0®0

00050

ooo

HHOOO

T— 1

.coo

to

CO (MO

OIMJfOO

cqooooo

rH I— 1

b-^j°

^NOHH

Icq cm

C5 m IM

cntMioo.
(M 1-1 i-H

^jOOOO

103

43

50

l>.COrH

It>*cq

.CO

.cq

<3

o a5

e3 M d

oo

NO

(H.S g
8 fc'S 9

> 0) P

S* p 0>_g c3

I3SI

|S If§|6

.ssaJl It-Is'S

* s?;|.§ g ~

3°

Im1

Isll

yli

Jo-g

6gj

111

«W«3

Si1

j *.a
:o

2” &o

d a

give

|Sg

rt fk

0 ‘rrt

H * d

-MeS

hp.s M

■goo

.a g a

Ph Eg

is a*

S£:j§ ml

SgJ Ij-ss

•^Phm sSPhH

:a

se •§■

. fi:S. 2 O
tijo” 8

.aH § ta

■a^ |«ph

.9 . ^ o
pqH]fg

_c+H "S P

42 °r3 2

CS SnW‘-g

. o o be p4

mn z

si all

^PhHPhm

M §

•g a

Z a

3 H

p, p w

I •§»

M SI

a is 53

p -§g

'd

d

n

9

-I

4?

T6

li

?*=§

-Sa

IS

Co

& o

1

(0

r3 to
Od
O p|

ys

S?

W-2

o

3 3

S CD

w£

.a

o

o

§ s

§

◄

, if

i

im

eU°3

jz a Og

g g OF

gs
w 1

eh a

g 8

► 1

§ |
ga 'd

> | 9

i 2 ■d
- Ph 2

^ S

co

d«o |

t^OxH

o

PQ

•d

li

ooo

OOpHIM
CO rHM

O «>

li

o <X>

£eh

.a .a

05 COCO £3 I CO

cq I cm . Cq

8

in ;S

"8^

JKa

43 ®<J

a1,? - «

1 :| §11

alalsM«

Is g * -

If

S3 ~ "SS

0

1

£ o

=

.a

■d

3

o

d ^
75 c3

s|

Id

a )*h

»1

&•§

gft

oo <
om c
m m <

:«l

r^jO d

-S’S

2

tga

§•2.3

‘43 o-S

OOOOfflM
rH in m (M in

HfflOOHO

oo cq
oo jh

■al’g

.2 5 3
o g'S

o

a®

Ofl

n ° ©

S to to d

.2 ,2_£-e

to 73 -*s ra

S3 .3 .s ‘3 -

a “oo®

P O o m •

5 4|3S

O <D M

EH EhehO

tScncncfcq

I § § § § -g

SccMooce&H

ll

¥1 = = =il

'll gj

PhS

H

ooo

TH<MCtI

rH(N<N

j-aa

^.2-d
.2^ d

PlftoJ

O

2Sf

o o >»

Sf

!a

II

s

44

§

PQ

»d

. I

is ju

oen

2^

1
r3 8

§1

•43 pq

a ■a

ta

o d
OO

181

A paper was read “ On the Casting, Grinding, and Polish-
ing of Specula for Reflecting Telescopes, Part I/5 by James
Nasmyth, C.E., Corresponding Member of the Society.

In this, the first part of his paper, the author describes in
considerable detail the methods and processes by which he
produces speculum metal of the best quality, and casts,
anneals, and rough-grinds a speculum of ten inches in
diameter, his descriptions being illustrated by drawings of
the apparatus he employs. In the second part of the paper
he will describe the processes of fine-grinding, polishing, and
figuring ; and will give directions for the general manage-
ment and use of reflecting telescopes. His instructions are
based upon the results of thirty years’ experience in the art
of working specula, and will, he believes, enable any zealous
amateur to make for himself, at a moderate cost, a really
good and useful reflector.

PHOTO G-EAP HI CAL SECTION.

April 12th, 1866.

Dr. J. P. Joule, F.R.S., &c., yice-President of the Section,
in the Chair.

A paper was read entitled “Note on the First Use of
Hyposulphite of Soda in Photography,” by A. Brothers,
F.R.A.S.

182

During an investigation into the early history of photo-
graphy, I met with the statement that Daguerre used
hyposulphite of soda in his process for fixing the pictures,
and also that in Mr. Talbot’s patent the use of that substance
was included. I was under the impression that Sir John
Herschel had pointed out that hyposulphite of soda would
fix the photographic image, but was unable to ascertain
where or when the discovery jvas first published. In order
to determine this point I wrote to Sir John Herschel,
requesting him to inform me whether the discovery was his,
and the date when it was published. To these questions I
received the following reply : —

Colingwood, October 29, 1864.

Sir,

I think I may very fairly claim the discovery of the
hyposulphites as fixing agents, as I believe I was the first to call
the attention of chemists to that class of salts and their peculiar
habitudes, especially in relation to the insoluble salts of silver.

In my paper “On the Hyposulphurous Acid and its Com-
pounds,” which bears date Jan. 8, 1819, and which appeared in
Brewster and Jamieson’s Edinb. Phil. Journal , 1819, occur these
words : —

“ One of the most singular characters of the hyposulphites is
the property their solutions possess of dissolving muriate of silver
and retaining it in considerable quantities in permanent solution.”
(page 11.)

“ Hyposulphite of potash. — It dissolves muriate of silver even
when very dilute, with great readiness.” (p. 19.)

“ Hyposulphite of soda. ...... Muriate of silver newly precipi-
tated dissolves in this salt when in a somewhat concentrated
solution in large quantity and almost as readily as sugar in water.”
(p. 19.)

“ Hyposulphite of strontia Like the rest of the hypo-

sulphites it readily dissolves muriate of silver, and alcohol preci-
pitates it as a sweet syrup.” (p. 21.)

183

‘ Hyposulphite of silver. — Muriate of silver newly precipitated
is soluble in all liquid hyposulphites, and, as before observed, in
that of soda with great ease and in large quantities. This solution
is not accomplished without mutual decomposition, as its intense
sweetness proves — a sweetness surpassing that of honey, and dif-
fusing itself over the whole mouth and fauces, without any
disagreeable or metallic flavour. ” (p. 27.)

In a second paper on the same subject, which appeared in the
same jonrnal, vol. 1, p. 396 et seq., it is shown ( inter alia) that the
affinity of this acid for silver is such that oxide of silver readily
decomposes hyposulphite of soda and likewise the soda in a caustic
state, “ the only instance, I believe, yet known of the direct dis-
placement of a fixed alkali vid humidd by a metallic oxide.”
(p. 397.)

“ Hyposulphite of ammonia and silver. — Its sweetness is unmixed
with any other flavour, and so intense as to cause pain in the

throat one grain communicates a perceptible sweetness to

30,000 grs. of water.” (p. 399.)

In a third communication, dated November, 1819 — “The habi-
tudes of this acid with the oxide of mercury are not less singular
than its relation to that of silver.” — “ The red oxide is readily
dissolved by .... , hyposulphite of soda, while the alkali is set at
liberty in a caustic state,” &c. &c.

The very remarkable facts above described I have reason to
believe attracted a good deal of attention at the time, and thence-
forward the ready solubility of silver salts, usually regarded as
insoluble, by the hyposulphites was familiar to every chemist.
It would not therefore be surprising if Daguerre tried it to fix
his plates ( i.e . to wash off the iodide coating); but I have been
informed, though I cannot cite a printed authority for it, that at
first he fixed with ammonia, or with a strong solution of common
salt.

For my own part the use of the hyposulphites was to myself the
readiest and most obvious means of procedure, and presented itself
at once. My earliest experiments were made in January, 1839,
and in my notebook I find : —

“Exp. 1012. — -1839, Jan. 29. Experiments tried within the

184

last few days, since hearing of Daguerre’s secret, and also that Fox

Talbot has got something of the same kind.” [Here follow

some trials of the relative sensitiveness of the nitrate, carbonate,
acetate, and muriate of silver. I should observe that at that time
I did not even know what kind of pictures Daguerre had pro-
duced. This process was not revealed till August, 1839.]

“Exp. 1013. — Daguerre’s process — attempt to imitate. Requi-
sites— 1st very susceptible paper — 2nd very perfect camera — 3rd
means of arresting further action. Tried hyposulphite of soda to
arrest the action of light by washing away all the chloride of silver
or other silvering salt — succeeds perfectly. Papers half acted on,
half guarded from the light by covering with pasteboard, were
withdrawn from sunshine, sponged over with hyposulphite, then
washed in pure water, dried, and again exposed. The darkened
half remained dark, the white half white, after any exposure, as if
they had been painted with sepia.”

“Jan, 30, 1839. — Formed image of telescope with the aplanatic
lens .... and placed in focus paper with carbonate of silver. An
image was formed in white on a sepia colored ground .... which
bore washing with hyposulphite of soda, and was then no longer
alterable by light. Thus Daguerre’s problem is so far solved,”
&c. &c.

“Exp. 1014. — Jan. 30. Tried transfer of print and copper
plate engraved letters,” &c. &c.

The publication of Daguerre’s process (according to Dr. Monck-
hoven, for I cannot refer at present to the original document)
took place on the 19th August, 1839. My early experiments
printed in the notices of the proceedings of the Royal Society of
March 14, 1839, in which occurs this passage in the abstract of a
paper read to the Society : —

“ Confining his attention in the present notice to the employ-
ment of chloride of silver, the author enquires into the method by
which the blackened traces can be preserved, which may be
effected, he observes, by the application of any liquid capable of
dissolving and washing off the unchanged chloride, but leaving
the reduced oxide of silver untouched. These conditions are best
fulfilled by the liquid hyposulphites.”

185

“ Twenty-three specimens of photographs made by Sir J. Her-
schel accompany his paper — one a sketch of his telescope at
Slough, fixed from its image in a lens.”

This is the image above mentioned as having been taken on
Jan. 30, 1839 — and was, I believe, the first picture ever fixed
from an optical image ever taken in this country — at least I have
heard of none earlier.

At the time of making these experiments, as already mentioned,
I had no knowledge of M. Daguerre’s process further than the
mention of the existence of a process (a secret one) in a note
from Admiral (then Captain) Beaufort some time about Jan. 23,
1839. Of course I used paper, not silver — and it was not a
suggestion , but a regular and uniform practice to use the hypo-
sulphite— I never used anything else.

I am, Sir, your obt. servt.,

J. F. W. HERSCHEL.

In reference to the subject of fixing the photographic
image I find the following passage in a paper read before the
Royal Society on January 31, 1839, by Mr. Talbot. After
referring to the improvements of Wedgwood and Davy in
180£, and the difficulties they found in making the paper
sufficiently sensible to receive the impression in a camera
obscura, and their inability to fix the pictures, the author
states that Cf his experiments were begun without his being
aware of this prior attempt ; and that in the course of them
he discovered methods of overcoming the two difficulties
above related. With respect to the latter he says that he
has found it possible by a subsequent process so to fix the
images or shadows formed by the solar rays that they become

insensible to light and states that he has exposed

some of his pictures to the sunshine for the space of an hour
without injury.”

In the abstract of the paper given in the Proceedings the
method adopted for fixing the image is not stated; but in a
paper read before the same Society on February 21 of the

186

same year, it is stated that the prints were fixed in a weak,
solution of iodide of potassium. Ammonia had been tried,
but not very successfully, but the method preferred was a
strong solution of common salt. It will he seen, therefore,
that up to the date of the publication of Sir John Herschel’s
paper hyposulphite of soda had not been used in photography
excepting by himself.

187

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

April 26 th, 1866.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., President of the Section, in

the Chair.

A paper entitled “ Results of a Comparison of the Magni-
tudes of the Bedford Catalogue with those of the Mensurse
Micrometricse and the Bonner Sternverzeichniss,” by George
Knott, Esq., F.R.A.S., was communicated by Mr. Baxen-
dell.

The question of the relation between the magnitude scales
of different observers is one of considerable interest and im-
portance, and has engaged the attention of several able
astronomers. It is not my intention in this paper to go into
the subject generally, but simply to submit the results of a
comparison of the magnitudes of the late Admiral Smyth’s
Bedford Catalogue with those assigned to the same stars by
the late Prof. Struve in the Mensurce Micrometricce , and by
Dr. Argelander in the Bonner Sternverzeichniss, I may
remark that I was induced to undertake the comparison by
the perusal of an interesting paper by Mr. Pogson, the pre-
sent Director of the Royal Observatory at Madras, in vol. xvii.
of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
in which he has given a short table of corresponding magni-
tudes of Struve, Bond, Herschel, and Smyth, as referred to
Peoceedin g-s — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. V. — No. 16— Session 1865-6.

188

what he terms the standard scale , or Argelander’s extended
to the lower magnitudes by the adopted light-ratio of 2*512.
The comparison was facilitated by the simplicity of the nota-
tion in the Bedford Catalogue (whole and half magnitudes
only being employed), and in the annexed table will be found
the corresponding magnitudes of the three observers, together
with the number of comparisons on which each result
depends.

Table I.

Mag.

Sm.

Mag.

2.

No. of
Obs.

Mag.

A.

No. of
Obs.

1

1*3

5

1*3

7

1*5

1*5

1

1*4

3

2

2-0

3

2-1

13

2*5

2*6

2

2*3

12

3

2*9

12

3-0

36

3*5

3*3

14

3*4

22

4

3*8

27

3*9

28

4*5

4*3

19

4*4

16

5

4-8

40

4*9

35

5*5

5*1

41

5*3

33

6

5*8

87

5*9

59

6*5

! 6*2

45

6*3

27

7

6*5

81

6*9

37

7*5

6*9

79

7*3

23

8

: 7-4

101

8*1

47

8*5

7*8

85

8*5

20

9

8-4

75

9*0

34 ;

9*5

8*8

21

9*2

6

10

9*4

25

9*4

6

10*5

9*7

5

11

10*0

24

12

10*2

13

13

10*7

20

14

10*3

6

15

11*0

8

16

10*9

3

Treating the numbers in the preceding table in accordance
with Sir John Herschel’s formula (Mem. R.A.S., vol. iii.,
p. 179),

189

^ ( mxnx m n mlnx ) S

M + -cT— + -cn- \ T

( Sx S S1 j ?^1 + n + n

where Sx S S1 represent any three consecutive numbers in
column \, rrii m m 1 the corresponding numbers in columns
2 or 4, and nx n nl the corresponding number of observations
in each case, we obtain the following table of equalised
results.

Table II.

Mag.

Srn.

Mag.

2J.

No. of
Obs.

Mag.

A.

No. of
Obs.

1

1-30

5

1-30

7

1-5

1-76

9

1-67

23

2

2-03

6

1-96

28

2*5

2*45

17

2-49

61

3

2-89

28

2-94

70

3-5

3-33

53

3-44

86

4

3-79

60

3-98

66

4-5

4-29

86

4-40

79

5

4-73

100 .

4-87

84

5-5

5*25

168

5-38

127

6

5-72

173

5-85

119

6*5

6-27

213

6-37

123

7

6-52

205

6-84

87

7*5

6-94

261

7-48

107

8

7-39

265

8-00

90

8*5

7-86

261

8-55

101

9

8*33

181

8-97

60

9*5

8-86

121

9-39

46

10

9-33

51

9-40

6

10*5

9*74

54

11

10-00

42

12

10-39

57

13

10-66

39

14

10-85

34

15

10-88 j

17

16

10-90 |

3

An examination of the tables suggests the following re-
marks. The scale of the Bedford Catalogue — (it should he
borne in mind that the mag. of the principal star in each

190

case was adopted from Piazzi) — and that of the Bonner
Sternverzeichniss may be regarded as practically identical
down to the 9th magnitude.* Assuming with Mr. Pogson
that the 13th mag. of Argelander’s scale corresponds with
the 16th mag. of that of Admiral Smyth, we may tabulate
the mags, below the 9th thus : —

Mag. Sm.

Mag. A.

10

9*6

11

10*1

12

10*7

13

11*3

14

11*9

15

12*4

16

13*0

I have not been able fully to verify these results ; but the
examination of eight stars marked by Sm. as of the 13th
mag. on three different occasions gave 11*2 mag. as the cor-
responding mean mag. on Argelander’s scale, presenting a
satisfactory accordance with the tabulated magnitude.

The coincidence between the scale of the Bedford Cata-
logue and that of the Mensurce Micrometricce ceases practi-
cally with the naked eye magnitudes. At the 6th mag. the
scales diverge, and the 11th mag. of the one corresponds with
the 10th mag. of the other. It will be observed that the five
magnitudes of Admiral Smyth's scale below the 11th are
represented by only one magnitude in the scale of Professor
Struve.

In conclusion 1 may just notice that by a slight oversight
Mr. Pogson has, in the table to which I have already referred,
assumed the 12th mag. of Struve’s scale as the limit of vision
for the Poulkowa refractor of 14*93 inches aperture ; that
mag. was however assigned by Prof. Struve as the limit for

# Mr. Pogson has assumed the 8th mag. as the point of divergence of the
two scales.

191

the Dorpat telescope of 9 '6 inches aperture, the calculated
limit for the larger telescope, as given in the Poulkowa Cata-
logue of 1843, being 12*89 mag.

Mr. Baxendell drew attention to Sir John Herschel’s
“ scarlet, almost blood- coloured star,” immediately following
a Crateris, and stated that, from observations made during
the spring of last year, and again during the present month,
he had found that this remarkable object belongs to the list
of variable stars. Its present brightness is fully three-fourths
of a magnitude less than that observed last spring ; but this
probably does not represent the extreme range of variation to
which it is subject. In conformity with Prof. Argelander’s
system of nomenclature this new variable will be designated
R, Crateris. Its mean place for 1865*0 is R.A. 10h 53m-
55*4S- ; Dec. 17° 36' 3" S.

192

PHOTOGRAPHICAL SECTION.

Annual Meeting, May 15th, 1866.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., in the Chair.

A note, by Mr. J. W. Dancer, on the use of Lager Beer
in Photography, was read by the Secretary.

The Annual Report and Treasurer’s Account were sub-
mitted to the meeting and unanimously passed ; and the
following Officers were elected for the ensuing year

IjSrmtfcnt.

THE RIGHT REVEREND THE LORD BISHOP OF
MANCHESTER.

'Fue='Prcs tents.

J. P. JOULE, LL.D., F.R.S., &c.

H. E. ROSCOE, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

Secretary.

ALFRED BROTHERS, F.R.A.S.

treasurer.

THOMAS H. NEVILL.

©f tfye <£ounctt.

JOHN B. DANCER, F.R.A.S.

E. C. BUXTON.

JOHN ROGERSON.

JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

SAMUEL COTTAM.

LESLIE J. MONTEFIORE.

193

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTIONS.

Annual Meeting, June 4th, 1866.

A. G. Latham, Esq., President of the Section, in the
Chair.

The Annual Report of the Council was read and unani-
mously adopted.

The following Gentlemen were elected Officers of the
Section for the ensuing year

ARTHUR O. LATHAM.

JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

JOHN B. DANCER, F.R.A.S.

WILLIAM HENRY HEYS.

treasurer.

THOMAS H. NEVILL.

Stmtarfes.

HENRY ALEXANDER HURST.

THOMAS ADCOCK, M.D.

©f tfjc €DounctL

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, E.R.A.S.

PROF. W. C. WILLIAMSON, F.R.S., &c.

JOHN WATSON.

THOMAS COWARD.

R. D. DARBISHIRE, F.G-.S.

ROBERT WORTHINGTON, F.R.A.S.

JOHN LEIG-H.

SAMUEL COTTAM.

The President exhibited two beetles, male and female,
nearly allied to Rhynchophorus Palm arum ; also specimens

194

of the very curious case formed by the larva from vegetable
fibres, in which the change to the perfect insect takes place.
He said that “ both the larva and the insect itself are con-
sidered great delicacies by the Indians of South America,
where it is found. The gizzard of the beetle, shown with
the microscope and illustrated by a drawing, is divided into
eight oval sections each surrounded by a strong rib strength-
ened by a central longitudinal rib, which is connected with
the margin by powerful muscles, and from the marginal rib
projects a fringe of scimitar-shaped cilia, the whole forming
a most beautiful and powerful apparatus for the preparation
of the food for digestion. A large number of parasites exist
on the insect, and these are found congregated in groups of
four or five with their tails entwined.” Specimens and a
drawing were shown.

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION LIBRARIES

3 9088 01771 7604