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PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

OB'

MA NCHESTER.

VOL. VIII.

J

Session 186S-9.

MANCHESTER :

PRINTED BY THOS. SOWLER AND SONS, RED LION STREET, ST. ANN’S SQUARE.
LONDON : H. BA.ILLIERE, 219, REGENT STREET.

1369.

NOTE.

The object which the Society haye 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
themselves, who are alone Responsible for the facts and reasonings con-
tained therein.

1 N D E X.

Alcock Thomas, M.D, — On Gonoplax angulata, p.77.

Bailey Chaeles, Hon. Lib, — On tlie Vegetable Remains found in the
Crevices of the Mountain Limestone at Aldby, Cleator Moor, p. 55,
On Scirpus parvulus, from Wicklow, p. 103. On a Deposit in Dog’s
Bay, Connemara, destitute of Foraminifera, p. 199.

Baxexdell J., F.R.A.S, Hon. Sec.- — On Observations of Atmospheric Ozone,
p. 21. On the Lunar Spot IV Aa 17, IVA£ 39, p. 46. Observations
of the Transit of Mercury, Nov. 5th, 1868, p. 47. The Bleaching
Action of the Atmosphere on Ozone Test Papers, on the day of the
Colliery Explosion at Hindley Green, p. 58. On a Diurnal Inequality
in the Direction and Velocity of the Wind, apparently connected with
the Daily Changes of Magnetic Declination, p. 95. On the Fall of
Rain at Different Periods of the Day, in connection with the Diurnal
Changes of Magnetic Declination, p. 111. On the Aurora of April
15th, 1869, p. 186.

Bickham Spenceb H., Junr. — Remarks on the Flora of Cheshire, p. 165.

Binney E. W., F.R.S., F.G.S.— Note on Professor Williamson’s Paper “On
an Undescribed Type of Calamodenclron from the Upper Coal
Measures of Lancashire,” p. 49. On Explosions of Fire Damp in
Collieries, p. 57. Note on the Organs of Fructification of Calamo-
dendron, p. 82. On a Specimen of Lepidoscrobus, p. 92. On the
Rise and Progress of the Trade in Petroleum, p. 135. The Earth-
quake of March 15th, 1869, p. 161.

Beockbank W., F.G.S. — The Hematite Iron Ore Deposits of Whitehaven ;
Notes on the Aldby Limestone, Cleator Moor, p. 51.

Beothee A., F.R.A.S. — Observations of the Occupation of 119Tauri, p. 107.

Cockle Chief Justice, M. A., F.R.S., F.C.P.S. — On Convertent Functions, p. 2.

Ckompton S., M.D. — On the Deformities in the Legs of Young Children,

p. 186.

Daxcek J. B., F.R.A.S. — Observation of the Transit of Mercury, Nov. 5th,
1868, p. 48. Remarks on War Rockets, p. 89. On Microscopical
Examination of Dust, p. 105. On the Markings on the Pleurosigma
Angulatum and on the Lepisma Saccharina, p. 156. On Specimens of
Euplectella aspergillum, p. 199.

VI

Darbishire R. D., F.G.S. — On a Collection of Land Shells and Sluggs made
at Gibraltar in March, 1883, p. 78.

Darling W. H. — Researches on Di-Methyl, p. 59.

Dyer J. C., Y.P. — Remarks on the term Commerce, and on the Sources of
Wealth, p. 121. Remarks on the Nature of Wealth, and on its Uses,
p. 139. On the Principles of Free Trade, p. 164.

Felt Charles Wilson. — On the Use of Logotypes, p. 150.

Forrest H. R. — Has the Human Mind Progressed or Retrograded since the
time of Augustus, p. 94.

Gladstone T. S. — Results of Observations of Temperature and Rainfall
made at Drumlanrig and Capenoch, in the year 1868, p. 193.

Gladstone Murray, F.R.A.S. — Observation of the Transit of Mercury,
Nov. 5th, 1868, p. 48.

Harley Rev. Robert, M.A., F.R.S. — On the Rev. T. P. Kirkman’s Method
of Resolving Algebraic Equations, p. 4.

Hart Peter. — On a Method of Making Rapid Determinations of Free
Oxygen, p. 188.

Hereord Rev. Brooke. — The Earthquake of March 15th, 1869, p. 176.

Heys Richard. — Observations on Anguillula tritici, obtained from Wheat of
various Harvests, p. 158.

Hunt G. E. — Notes of the Rarer Mosses of Perthshire and Braemar, p. 130.

Hurst H. A. — Notes on Plants Occurring Spontaneously on Newly-turned
Land in Tatton Park, p. 200.

Jack Professor W., M.A. — On Professor Tait’s Work “ On Thermody-
namics,” p. 39.

Jevons Professor W. Stanley, M.A. — Remarks on Mr. Baxendell’s “ Laws
of Atmospheric Ozone,” p. 33. Remarks on Mr. Dyer’s paper “ On
the Nature of Wealth,” p. 149.

Joule J.P., L.L.D., F.R.S., P. — On Objectionable Covenants in Conveyances
of Land near Large Towns, p. 148. On a New Magnetic Dip Circle,
p. 171 and p. 190.

Kipping J. S. — The Earthquake of March 15th, 1869, p. 176.

Mackereth Thomas, F.R.A.S. — On the Mode of Registering the Direction
and Force of the Wind, p. 109. Results of Rain-Gauge and Ane-
mometer Observations made at Eccles, near Manchester, during the
Year 1888, p. 117, On Atmospheric Ozone, p. 194.

Morris Walter. — On Pediculie pubis, p. 158. On a Pair of Kangaroo
Eats from Australia, p. 191.

Nasmyth James, C.E. — On War Pockets, p. 84.

Oxley William On a New Anemometer, p. 107.

Roscoe Professor H. E., F.E.S., Hon. Sec. — On Janseen’s and Lockyer’s
discovery of tlie Visibility of the Spectral-Lines of the Red Solar
Prominences, under ordinary circumstances, p. 35. On Measurements
of the Chemical Intensity of Total Daylight made during the recent
Total Eclipse of the Sun, by Capt. J. Herschel, R.E., p. 42. On MM.
Graebe and Liebermann’s Discovery of the Artificial Preparation of
Alizarin, p. 163.

Schunck Edward, Ph.D., F.R.S., V.P. — On the Chemical Formula of Aliza-
rine, p. 173.

Sidebotham J. — On Cynips Lignicola, and the Comparative Value of English
and Aleppo Galls, p. 71. Further Notes on some of the Rarer Plants
found near Llandudno, p. 72. On the Moth Anaphe reticulata, p. 155.
On the Nest of the Mason Spider, p. 156.

Simpson Henry, M.D. — On Acanthocinus sedilis, p. 76.

Spence Peter, F.C.S. — On Sulphurous Acid in the Air of Manchester,
p. 137. The Earthquake of March 15, 1869, p. 162. On the Aurora
of April 15th, 1869, p. 186.

Vernon G. V., F.R.A.S. — On the Rainfall of 1868, at Old Trafford, Man-
chester, p. 159.

Vize Rev. J. E., M.A. — On the Kangaroos of Beeston Castle, p, 190.

Watson John. — On the Plumules of Lepidoptera, p. 132.

Wilde Henry. — On a Property of the Electric Current to Control and
render Synchronous the Rotations of the Armatures of a number of
Electro-Magnetic Induction Machines, p. 62. On the Controlling
Power of the Magneto-Electric Current over the Rotation of a number
Armatures, and that of the Voltaic Current over the Oscillations
number of Pendulums, p. 81.

Wilkinson T. T., F.R.A.S.— The Earthquake of March 15th, 1869, p. 162.

Williamson Professor W. C., F.R.S. — On the Structure of an Undescribed
Type of Calamodendron from the Upper Coal Measures of Lan-
cashire, p. 36. Additional Notes on the Structure of Calamites,
p. 153. On the Structure of the Gizzards and Teeth of the Rotifera,
p. 176.

Wood Wm. Rayner.— On the Earthquake of March 15th, 1869, p. 175.

viii

Meetings of the Physical and Mathematical Section. — Annual, p. 193. Ordi-
nary, pp. 45, 46, 95, 107, 159.

Meetings of the Microscopical and Natural History Section. — Annual, 200.
Ordinary, pp. 69, 70, 72, 102, 130, 155, 165, 190, 198.

Report of the Council. — April 20th, 1869, p. 179.

PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL

SOCIETY.

Ordinary Meeting, October 6th, 1868.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

The President, in announcing the loss which the Society
had sustained in the lamented death of its late Treasurer,
Mr. Robert Worthington, F.R.A.S., referred to his long con-
nexion with other Literary and Scientific Societies and
Institutions, and to the active and encouraging interest he
always took in scientific subjects, especially those relating
to astronomy, and stated that his observatory at Crumpsall
Hall had attained a high position among the private obser-
vatories of Europe. The work done comprised many valu-
able observations of planetary, cometary, solar, and lunar
phenomena; some thousands of observations of variable
stars ; the discovery of ten new variables ; the determination
of the places, and mapping down, of most of the stars in
several of the more interesting of the large clusters ; and
occasional observations of some of the nebulse. In conse-
quence of the effects of an injury to his right eye, Mr. Wor-
thington had not been able for several years to take an active
part in the work of the observatory, and the observations
have been made by his friend Mr. Baxendell, who has pub-
lished some of the results in the Society's Memoirs and
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. VIII. — No. 1. — Session 1868-9.

2

Proceedings, in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astrono-
mical Society, and in the Astronomische Nachrichten.

Mr. Thomas Garrick was elected Treasurer of the Society
in place of the late Mr. Worthington, F.R.A.S.

A long conversation took place on the high rate of mor-
tality which has prevailed in Manchester and Salford for
some time past, and an opinion was generally expressed that
its true causes had not yet been clearly indicated. In spite
of their excellent systems of street paving and sewering,
their plentiful supply of pure water, and wholesale but pro-
bably not well considered interference with private petties,
ashpits, and water closets, the death rate of these towns
continued to show a steady increase, and still stood above
that of any other town in the United Kingdom.

“On Convertent Functions.” By Chief Justice Cockle
F.R.S., &c., President of the Queensland Philosophical
Society. Communicated by the Rev. Robert Harley,

F.R.S.

The theory of the conversion of integrals, of which I have
given outlines (see supra vol. vii., p. 67; Phil. Mag. for
July and December, 1867) will, I believe, be found to give
an additional means of finitely solving differential equations.
It is not necessarily restricted to the case in which tfie in-
tegral to be converted is a single integral. Thus suppose
that we have given the double integral

J'dv fdu ' (f) ( x , v, u)

or, more shortly,

fdv Jdu ’ (f) ,

we first treat

M'

u

by forming the convertent equation

df

du

SFW)s“S=*"'(2>

where the coefficients F (a, b) are functions of x and v only
(excluding u) and the a’s and the b’s are zeros or any posi-

3

tive integers and either equal or unequal, and wherein, if
the differential equation in which x is the independent
variable is to be linear, we may give b the value unity in
one term and zero in all the rest. If we so deal with b then
(2) may be replaced by

dti ^ . . dnd> df

i + aF(«)«^2 = ^-(8)

any number of values being assigned to a. Taking the in-
tegration with respect to u as definite we shall thus obtain,
in the practicable cases,

f<pdu

as the difference of two functions each of the form

^(x,v)ff(x,v) dx-

consequently, if y (x,v) be free from x,

jdv fdu'(f)

will be given as the difference of two functions each of the
form

fdx fdv'r

and if \p (x,v) be a perfect differential coefficient with respect
to x then

fdv fdu'ty

will be obtained as the difference of two functions each of
the form

fdv'r or Jrdv

In either case, that is to say, if

fdv fdu‘(\) — fdx fdv(r2 — rf

or if

fdv fdu'(f> — fiji — rfdv

we may repeat the process of conversion which, tentative to
a certain extent though it be, may enable us to express by
indefinite integrals the roots of trinomial algebraic equations.
My paper — “On Certain Rational Fractions,” in the Mes-
senger of Mathematics, No. 15, 1868, contains results which
may be useful in the application of this theory of conversion.
In the last two equations above given the repetition of the
process of course takes place on the functions which con-
stitute the dexters of those equations.

4

“ On the Rev. T. P. Kirkman’s Method of Resolving Alge-
braic Equations.” By the Rev. Robert Harley, F.R.S.,
Corresponding Member of the Society.

In two papers published last March in the Proceedings of
this Society (vol. vii, pp. 183-7, 141-8), the Rev. T. P. Kirkman
proposed a method of resolving algebraic equations of all
degrees. A few weeks ago I pointed out to Mr. Kirkman in
a private communication that his method, when applied to
the higher equations, fails. I objected in particular that in
dealing with the general quintic he assumes that certain
functions which are only symmetrical in four of the roots,
are symmetrical in all five, and that this false assumption
vitiates his solution. Mr. Kirkman has since acknowledged
(vol. vii, p. 222) in the most full and sufficient manner the
validity of my objections.

I find by a letter received yesterday that my distin-
guished friend the Chief Justice of Queensland has taken
substantially the same view of Mr. Kirkman’s method as
myself. His remarks are so interesting and instructive
that I venture to lay them before the Society, I take the
liberty also to append thereto some remarks of my own :

The Chief J ustice of Queensland to the Rev. R. Harley.

“ Brisbane, Queensland, Australia,

“July 30, 1868.

“I am not disposed to assent to Mr. Kirkman’s views
on the quintic, i. e., not to the validity of his alleged
solution. His assumed form, at p. 134 of the Manch. Proc.,
vol. vii., is not the same as Lagrange’s. Compare Serret
Gouts, 2nd ed., p. 567. Let us put

— Xq + ClX^ + Cl -r Cl X 3 -f- Clb/4,

then the Lagrangian theory gives

xh = | 'ZiX 4- a~k(a,x) + a~ 2k(ci2,x) + a~2k{cd,x) + a~4A’(ci4,#) |

which seems to be different from Mr. Kirkman’s formula.
As I understand it, the theory of the resolvent is this, —

5

the four expressions (a,x), (a2,x), (a3,x), (a4,#) constitute a

group of four, viz., the group

1234

2413

3142

4321

wherein the numbers have reference to the suffices ol the
xs. This group has a further peculiarity. Effect a cyclical
permutation to the cycle 01234 in the group. This is
effected by changing the four expressions into

a(a,x ) j a2(a2,x ) \ a3(a3,x) ; a4(a4,x )

respectively. Let 7 r be the product of the first four expres-
sions, (ci,x), (a2,x), &c. Then 'the product of the latter four,
viz., a(a,,x), a2(a2,x), &c.} IS equal to a.a2.a3.a4.7r = a107r = 7r. Ill
other words, n is unchanged by the cyclical substitution,

and is at once a group of four and of five, and has — —

or six values. Similarly the four expressions,
j (a2#)}5, &c., are severally equal to the four, {a (a,#)}5
{a2(a 2x)}5, &c., and any symmetric function, say,

(a,x)5 + ( a2,X )5 + (a3,#)5 + (a4,#)5,

is also a group of five and of four. Let (a >) = Q,., and for
a moment put

This is a very different system from the system given by
Mr. Kirkman, at p. 134 (op. cit.), which is

x0 = *2® + I(pf y + &c. = is* + i(s + H, j * + (fee.

Mr. Kirkman says (ib.) that Hj is unaltered by the cyclical
permutation of XqX^x^. But what of H2 and H3 and H4 ?
And if H2 and H3 and H4 are not also unaltered by the
same cyclical permutation, all connection with the theory
of Lagrange or the method of symmetric products seems to
be lost. I think that in our correspondence some ten
years ago I said a great deal (or something, at all events)
about the disruption of cycles. It might be worth while

6

for you to see, and also for you to compare Mr. Kirkman’s
system of permutations, at p. 141 (ib.), with that in my
“ Notes on the Higher Algebra,” Q. J., vol. iv., p. 53, and to
turn to my “ Supplementary Researches,” &c., in the
Manch. Memoirs. In forming the system

Hf+ &c. =(A % . . . H2\+ &c. =(F )i (ib., p. 142),

Mr. Kirkman has only taken account of permutations of
%i,x2,x3, and x±. He takes no account whatever of the
permutations of x0, further than observing (ib., p. 142) Hx
is invariable for the cyclical permutation of x0,xx,x§x3,xg He
neither asserts nor denies that H2, H3 and H4 are invariable
under that permutation. I suspect that it will ultimately
appear that Mr. Kirkman has only succeeded in expressing
Hx, &c., as functions of x0, and not in terms of symmetric
functions of all the roots. And functions of x0 are useless
for the purpose of solving the quintic. You speak of Mr.
Kirkman’s presenting a solution of the general equation of
the 7th degree. I think you are right in believing that he
is quite wrong. Probably the same error runs through it as
in his paper on quintics and sextics. Even if Mr. Kirkman
has not solved the quintic, still if he has made the solution
of a sextic depend upon that of a quintic, that will be an
advance in the theory of equations. Rut I am as little able
to assent to Mr. Kirkman’s theory of sextics as to his theory
of quintics — in which latter, I may add, there is an internal
variance ; for at p. 134 he seems to derive H1,H2,H3,H4
from the group

01234 (H,)

02341 (H2)

03412 (H3)

04123 (H4)

while at p. 141 he seems (compare p. 142) to derive those
four H's from the group

1234

2143

3412

4321

7

which is the group over A on p. 141, and to each member
of which we may, I presume, prefix a 0. By the way,
ought not the group over C to be written

1423

4132, not 4123, which occurs over F?

2314

3241

But to proceed to his theory ol sextics. He appears to
desire to construct his expression for x0 at p. 144 on the
groups’ of p. 145. If so, there is an inaccuracy, which may
be corrected by writing

0Co=l^+l

X0 X3-\- &c. | 6

)s

+

6

„ « i
6 \ 6

}•)*

+

+

X0 #4+ &c.

X() X5-\- &C.

x0 — xl-\-a (x,l — x3) + a2(x5 — x3)
x0 — x2-\-a (x5 — x3) + a2(^! — #4)

6 \ 6

1

6 \ 6

there are errors (I think) in the lines corresponding to the
last two at p. 144. Now Mr. Kirkman says, that Hb H2, &c.,
after involution are invariable by the cyclical permutations of
x0x1x2x3x^x5. But I think that is not the case. If Hj is
so cyclical, then S-f is so (see p. 144, for meaning of S
and H). But
1,

S+H1=

^ | xo — xz + a (xi — xi ) + cl2(x2- — x5) | °y ;

x

6 \ 6

now make the cyclical permutation and

= k | — (*o— x3)+a(x!— x4)+a2(x2— x5)

for a is an unreal cube root of unity, and a3=a6=l. Now
S + Hj and (S 4- ^1)51234^ differ, for the quantity (x0 — x3) has

8

changed its sign, and the difference is not obliterated by in-
volution. Hence is not cyclical, and I think the method
fails. Again, I do not assent to the principle contained in
the words at p. 146, “that the involutions cannot destroy
the symmetry in the roots.” For instance, the expression
(x0 -j- xx) + (x2 + x3) = Sx is symmetric, but (x0 + aq)2 + (x2 + x2)2
= 2x2 -j- 2(x0x1 4- x2x3), and is not symmetric but has three
values.

Next as to Hargreave’s Posthumous Essay. The British
Association have paid a tribute to departed worth, and
also to you in naming you to report on it. You will,
of course, examine it carefully. I read it some time ago
and made a brief communication to you about it. You as
well as I seemed disposed to think that Hargreave recog-
nised -J- and — as radical signs, where he excluded others.
But it is necessary to be careful in criticising him, as he
cannot now explain his meaning, and very likely where he
uses + and — it is on the express understanding that the
radical is capable of extraction. I looked at the Essay be-
fore the last mail left on the chance of being able to render
you some assistance, but in vain. Since then I have looked
at it more narrowly. Many observations will have occurred
to you in perusing it, and I can now only give you my pre-
sent opinion respecting it, which after all is but a mere
opinion, and subject to correction or modification. I can-
not give assent to all his views. On arts. 9 and 10, pp. 12-
14, every one must form his own opinion. I propose to go
rather into special points. I cannot feel so strongly as that
able man seems to have done, the necessity for uniqueness
of expression (see pp. 45, 48, 51-2, &c., 77 and, probably,
other places). There seems to me to be a capacity for re-
storing the uniqueness, even when the quantic is conditioned.
Thus, by way of illustration (the illustration being capable
probably of any requisite extension). Suppose that we have
given the fact that, a certain quadratic wanting its middle

9

term, and whereof the roots are x1 and x2 has both its roots
expressed by the formula

2 ^ 4xxx2 >

now we know that this formula may be cleared from
radicality. There is a way, and it seems to me a unique
and perfectly definite way, of doing so. Since the quad-
ratic is imperfect

x1-\-x2 — 0 ^

and since we may introduce a zero (additively) under the
radical sign, we may put the radical formula under the form
JO — 4xxx2— J(cc i+#2)2 — 4xxx2= J(x1—x2)2=±(x 1 — x2),
and then 0±.(xx — xi)=xx<\-x.1±.{x x — x2)=2xx, or 2x2,

and thus - J—4xxx2 may be made to yield the roots. More-
over, there seems no other way of obtaining the roots, and
the result and process are each unique. We may always
supply zero functions whether simple as a = 0, or complex
as a? — 6 = 0, and the conditions which they are to satisfy
are such as to enable us to extract the roots of the radical
expressions in a^, x2, &c., for Hargreave (see p. 121) does
not dispute Abels principle, but rather regards his theorem
as a truism (ibid). Again, I cannot concur with Hargreave
in supposing that there is an impassable gulf between the
trinomial quartic or quintic, and the perfect forms (see, for
instance, pp. 90, 100-1). Surely from

Zn+AZ+B=0

we can, by assuming

C— «0Z”— 1 a1Z,i~2-f- . . •

pass to the n- ic

&c.=0

whose n co-efficients will involve n arbitraries a0, ah . . a,^.
and, therefore, be arbitrary, and the equation consequently
general. With regard to Hargreave’s theory of the cubic,
the formulse at p. 24 seem to show that, interesting though
his theory be, it ultimately coincides with Lagrange’s, for

10

Lagrange determines the ratios of Ah A2, . . . Bb &c. a priori.
With respect to quartics, Hargreave seems to have thought
that he had obtained new results, indeed a new solution.
He sees an objection (pp. 100-101), and seeks to obviate by
saying that there has been a change in the framework of the
root. Far be it from me to contradict him dogmatically,
but one cannot refrain from the observation that if we have

xi-\- &c.=0,
y—p-\-qx-^r . . +sx%

and, consequently, by division and reduction

<»=P+QH- • • 4- Sy3,

we must not be surprised to find in the last expression
for x any radicals that we may have introduced into p, q,
&c., and which will reappear I suppose in P, Q, & c. and the
accompanying y°, y, &c., but (as I take it) in such a manner
as that when development takes place all those radicals will
disappear from the final expression for x leaving only the
usual radicals. Hargreave however relies (p. 100) on the
“ special or singular forms of \p (x) which,” &c., (and see p.
101). He does not miss or ignore the objection, but seeks
to obviate it. I am only expressing a mere opinion of what
the final expression would contain, and am unable to give
you (what would really assist you if not too late) the actual
calculation of the final expression. If n be the discrimi-
nant of the quartic in x so that n = (x0 — x^\x0 — x2)2 . . .
then the discriminant of the quartic in 0 or (p (x) is (conform-
ing more closely to Hargreave’s notation, p. 63)

| k(xl^-x2) + 1 | (xx — x2) | h(xx-\ -x3)+l | (#!— #3)

rz:7r | k(xx-\-X^)-\-l j ^(Xy—'X^)— -7T "I 7c(X] -p Xo) j Q

7T denoting the product of the various values of the expres-
sion which follows it (compare pp. 63-64). And we see
that so far as the discriminant of the equation in 0 is concerned
the new radicals multiply the old radical, and probably or
certainly the old radicals will appear (considering for a

11

moment only the term Q y of x) both in Q and in y. But,
this is what I suppose might in any circumstances be ex-
pected (compare Serret, 2nd ed., p. 562, equation (1) and
lines which follow). If it should turn out that Hargreave’s
second solution of the quartic does not essentially differ
from the old one, will not the validity of his solution of the
quintic be disprobabilized ? In the instance given at p. 4
can we not extract the roots of the algebraic formula so as
to obtain 2, and 3+ J — 1 (see Gamier, Analyse, 2nd ed.,
ch. 15, p. 321)? As to linearity of results, Hargreave uses
the principle of articles 9 and 10 (p. 12 to p. 14) to account
for the linearity. But the fact of the principle accounting
for certain results in the case of cubics and quartics or per-
haps of quadratics, scarcely proves the universality of the
principle. Hymers (Equations, 1837, p. 54) speaking of the
equation xn — qx+r— 0, says, it ‘which has necessarily n — 2
imaginary roots, will have two real roots or none, according

as

(l) 7 or ^Gr~l) (e^ v^e ibid. p. 52 and pp. 99-100,

and compare Hargreave, p. 115). But the existence of a
cubical function of this kind does not appear to have sug-
gested an algebraic solution of the equation — though per-
haps we might (probably enough) conjecture that such
functions would enter into the expression for the root even
were such expression transcendental. Moreover, I am at
present unable to attach the same importance as Hargreave
does to the system of 3 cubics, (p. 28), of 2 quartics (p. 41),
(p. 53), (p. 99 ?), and of the 5 quintics (p. 72). Hargreave
does not overlook objections (see p. 32, foot note, to which
references I would add one to Waring’s Misc. An., pp. 38-9,
to my paper on Approximation, &c., in Diary, arts. 56 and
57, and elsewhere). Supposing that we adopted a system
of 5 congeneric quintics, should we account for all the va-
lues of the root ? Suppose, for example, that the root of an
imperfect quintic is a sum of 4 quintic surds, Waring ob-

12

serves (see my paper on Equations of the 5th degree in
Diary, art. 32) that stich a sfim would be the root of an
equation of 625 dimensions [not of 25 only]. Let (sc) be an
algebraic root (assumed for a moment to exist) of a trino-
mial quintic. We know that a (sc), a2(x), &c. ( a being an
unreal fifth root of 1), will be the roots of the correlated
quintics. But this is no more than the very form of the
quintics shows (p. 86). The multiplication of (sc) by a
makes no alteration in the internal distribution of the radi-
cals in (sc), and it seems to me that all that can be said is
that if (sc) be a root of sc5+ A4sc-f- A5, then a(sc) is a root or
the root of sc5 + aA4sc-f- A5. Using A to denote the discrimi-
nant of the quintic (p. 68), we may of course put A, and
hence get h — +^A S2 = — Is = + y/~l y/

— \/>— 1v4/A. Hence, for instance, — £2=2^ A, and if v

denote the discriminant of the quartic in £ we see that
when A=0 then v— 0 (compare pp. 63, 89, 90). But as
Hargreave probably (or rather certainly, see p. 70) was
aware, there is nothing in this. What Hargreave relies
on is — and now I fall in with his notation — that when
%, — y — (51) we then have the system of p. 85 and the result
mentioned at the top of p. 86. In estimating Hargreave’s
argument we ought now not to forget the argument of Mr.
Cayley as given at p. 100 of Mr. Salmon’s Higher Algebra
(1859), art. 130. But how far can such an argument
be carried ? Turning to p. 91 and taking y7r=B1-f- we
have by involution

;y==:Ri+10R^R2+5R1R2+(5R4+10R2R2+R2) ^

and therefore (see p. 91),

R1(R;+10R12R2+5R^)=S5 ..... (a),

(5R1+10R^R2-1-R^2R2=R10 (b).

Ro being of two dimensions only, cannot have so few as
six values. How is the sinister of (a) symmetric ? Now,
though I think that perhaps (b) furnishes the stronger
ground for conjecture that Hargreave’s conjecture (I so call it

13

not to undervalue his research, but because at p. 87 he says
that the fact that the Y’s are perfect fifth powers ‘ probably
cannot be proved otherwise’ than from, I suppose, a priori
argument as opposed to calculation — his conjecture may
nevertheless be a justifiable one) is not borne out by fact
than (a), yet the latter affords some ground for remark.
Rx must be unsymmetric (as indeed Hargreave seems to
imply), for if we consider Ri as symmetric and solve (a) for
R2 we shall find R2 = a two valued function, which cannot
be, for R2 is of two dimensions only in the roots, and cannot
therefore be two valued for a quintic. Again, solving (a)
with respect to Rx we see that the number of values of Ri is
a multiple of 5, and therefore that Rx is not cyclical. And
we know it is linear. If therefore, since S5 is symmetrical,
we are to regard the bracketed quantity on the sinister of
(a), viz. RH-10R?R2+ 5R| as the product of the remaining
values of the Rx outside the bracket we must regard Rx as
of the form A-j- Bzr, z being some one root, and the bracketed
quantity Rf as equal to

(A+B<)(A+B0,) . . .=7r(A+B?)-(A+B?r),

2S zt, &c., being the remaining roots. Hence (a) would be-
come 7t(A+B^)=S5. But how is such a form consistent
with the fact of R2 being unsymmetric ? It must not be
said that R2 may be symmetric, for if that were so, then
Rx being a five-valued function, the sinister of (b) would be
a five-valued function, and therefore R10 would be five-
valued. But that is not so ; for

^,/Rl0= A— £/ tt{xx — #o)2

Therefore Rxo=tt(#i — x2) = a two-valued function, But
apart from this argument, which may however (as it stands
or with more elaboration) be conclusive, let us turn to (b).
What ground is there for saying that R10, or what is the
same thing, tt(xi — x2) or, the same,

{X 1 Xi) (Xl X:i) (xi x:>)

is of the form P2Q as indicated by (b) ? (b) is equivalent to

14

iv( (5R? + R2)2— 20R* | =^(*I— Xt) (c)

and

R l='2ar%r and R2= -'2larxl-\-'2bxrxs

But does the square root of the discriminant of a quintic
admit of being put under such a form ? At present I can-
not assent to the proposition that Hargreave’s process suc-
ceeds in solving the quintic.”

Mr. Kirkman’s method does not differ essentially from
that employed by Vandermonde in his Essay on the Resolu-
tion of Equations in the Memoirs of the French Academy
for 1771. Both start from the same identical equation,
and both, proceeding by involution, seek to express one root
of the given equation by means of a finite combination of
radicals and rational symmetric functions of the roots. Such
functions, it is well known, can be expressed rationally in
terms of the coefficients.* The following illustrations of the
method may not, perhaps, be altogether devoid of interest.

The Quadratic. Let OCfy t )C\ be the roots of the equation.

x2 + bx + c = 0 ;

then

2x0 = %x + (xQ - xx)

2_

= 2x + (x0 — Xi) 2
= 2# + (XV - 2x0x1)i
= - b + (b2 - 4 cf ;

# Vandermonde, in the Memoir above referred to, gives tables of such
functions up to ten dimensions in the roots of an equation of any degree, ex-
hibiting their values in terms of the simple symmetric functions 2A, HiX0X^
&C. The last-named functions are respectively equal to — 6, c,
—d, (fee. in the equation

xn + bxn~l + cxn~2 4- dxn~z 4- &c. = 0 ;
so that the tables at the end of Meyer Hirsch’s Algebra which give the sym-
metric functions of the roots in terms of the coefficients, may be immediately
deduced from Vandermonde’s, by simply changing the signs of the numerical
coefficients in the tables if odd dimensioned functions. I may here mention
also that Professor Cayley, in a Memoir on the Symmetric Functions of the
Roots of an Equation, {Phil. Trcms. for 1857), has joined to Hirsch’s tables
another set, giving reciprocally the expressions of the powers and products of
the coefficients in terms of the symmetric functions of the roots.

15

1 7 1

. . xx~ - _ o + _

2 2

and since

2#! = 2a: — (#0 — x^) ;

'b2~4cy.

The Cubic. Let x0, xh x2 be the roots of the equation.

xz + bx* + cx + d = 0,

and let a be an unreal cube root of unity ; then

3^0 — "SiX 4~ (Xq 4" ClXj_ 4" Cl x%) + (Xq + cl'“Xi H- ctX^)

3 3.

— ^jX + (oCq + o.x^ + cCx^j 4" (xq + cdx-^ + cix^j
= %x 4- (Sr3 + 6x^X0, 4- Scl'Si'XqXi + 3a2S/^o072)i
4- (2<r3 4- 6x0xvx.> + 3a2S/^Q.r1 4- SaS'fl?2^)**
where, for shortness, I have introduced my cyclical symbol
S'. (See Society’s Memoirs, second series, vol. xv., p. 185.
See also Phil. Trans, for 1861, p. 333.)

Now

S'4ci+21a9»* ~ = — (be — 3c?),

and

( /y& /y I I _ ry-Q /y> \

aj (A/Qf/t/g — ^(ri\w(r2 I ^i^o 1 /

— /yi^/y* /y* /y>2 y»2/y,2\

— 1 tA/Qcv ^2 1 | - tA'QiAs'j^ ^ tft/Qbft/jxft/g /

/v»4/y» /y> | V /yi^ /y>^ I. ^ /V^ svQ /y:2

= ^_6M+c3+9^

Whence it appears that S 'x\xi and S'afe are the roots of
the quadratic equation

S/2+(6c — 3^)2' -p&3d — 66cc?-|-c3-|-9<i2 = 0 :

so that,

2' = — 1 (6c— 3d)± |(— 463^-p62c2+ 18 W— 4c3— 27d2)h
Substituting one of these values for '2lx%x1, and the other for
S'afe, in the above expression for Sx0, replacing the sym-
metric functions of the roots by their values in terms of the
coefficients, and reducing by aid of the known properties of
a, we find

3 & + g7f|. [ - 2&3 + 9 be - 27 d + 3^3(4 b3d-bV - I8bcd

2)H]i

X0— — n b 4-

+

+ 4c3 + 27 d

7=[- 2&3 + 96c - 27<7-3 j 3(4 b3d- bV-Ubcd
+ 4c3 + 27 d1) j *]*

16

It will be observed that

x0-\-axx + a?%2 — £ - 263 + 96c - 2 7d + 3 j (463d

i- 1 X.

3

y 2

-imd+icz + n<p I*]

-(S + Hf, say.

6V

and

x0 + a2<q + a #2 = (S - H)3 ;

so that, since

3<Tj — ■ 2<r “f* ci“(^0Cq -f- axx -f- cdx^) -t- ci(^Xq + ct x j + clx

= - 6 + a2(S4-H)3 +a(S-H)%

and

3^c2 - 2# + a(x0 + aXi + ct2x2) + a2(x0 + a2Xx + ax2)

= - 6 + a(S + Hf + a2(S-H)%

all the roots of the given cubic are included in the formula

_ h + !«"'Y s + hV + L2”'/ s + hV,

where

3 V / 3 V

a — 3, 2, or 1.

The Biquadratic. Let x0, xh x2) x3 be the roots of the bi-
quadratic (or quartic) equation

x4 -}- bx3 cx2 + dx e~ 0 .

Then

2#+ (xq-\-xx — r2 — x3)% + (x0 — xx-\-x, — xfi -J- (x0 — xx — x^-\-x^fi

~^x-\- { (2<r)2 — 4 2ir0a?1 4 ( xQxx -f- x2xz ) } *

— j- 1 (2#?)2 — 4:]£jX(jXx -j— i(xQx2-\-xxxi) ~\z

+ {(Sic)2 — 42av*?1 4-4(^0^3+<ri^2)}^

= — 6+ (62 — 4c-f- 4q) -4- (62 — 4c4- 4£2)*-f- (62 — 4c+4^)4,

in which,

/ ■' ■ ■ V) ry> L. /y» sv> / ■ — /%• ry> I _ y> ry\ / — — => /yi /y» ( /y* /W
tq — ■■■ ■ <A/Quvj^ | tAy 2^3 5 (/2 ^0^2 I ^ 1^3 5 fc/g ■ ' ■ ' - cA/Qcvg |

Now

'2it—'ZxQXx=zc,

^txt.2—^xlxxx2—bd — 4c,

txt2t3—^xlxxx2x3-\- hxlx\x

2

2 —

b2e — 4cc-f d

)

17

so that the three values of t are given by the solution of the
cubic equation

?—c?+ (bd+-±e)t—-(b2e—±ce+d2).=:0,
and are all therefore included in the formula

— ic+ia’"(S+H)* + |

where a = 3, 2 or 1, and is an unreal cube root of unity,
and

S=l(27b2e—%cd+2<?—72ce+21d?y

H— 3 V 3 /276Vj — 1 86 3cde + 463rf3+46V« — bVcP

— 1 4Ab2ce2 + 6 V2d2e +80 bc2de — 1 8 6cd3+ 192 bde 2
—1 6cie+4cW+ 1 28cV— 144«22e+27<24— 256e3V

We have then

**=- i^+i { 6-Tc+KS+H)5+KS-H)i }*

+1 { *»-V6«+3-(s+H)^.(8-H)*j*

+2 { 6~TC+Sa(s+H)* +5“2 4

and if, for shortness, we write

x0=i(_6+T5+Tsi+T^,

the remaining roots of the quartic will be given by the for-
mulae

= i(-6+T*— T,*— 1
x*=\{-b- T,4 T2J— T,4),

- i(— 6— T,4— TZ+Ts*).

Here however it is important to notice that since

T/T22To (x0-\-xx — x2 — xz) (x0 — xx-j-x2 — x3) (x0 — xx — x2+x3)

63+4 bc—8d,

the above solution only applies when — 63+46c — 8 d is posi-

18

tive ; and that when this quantity is negative, the expres-
sions for the roots are

x0=i(-b- Ts*),

ai=i(— 6— T*+T,*+ Ts*),

A— i( — M-T/+ T2'+ T3“),
x3=i(-i+.T,i+ Ta* — T/).

By the aid of the above results we can readily write out the
explicit form of any one of the roots in terms of the coeffi-
cients of the given qnartic equation.

The success of the method is due to the circumstance
that we can form, in the case of the quartic, a function of
four letters which has only three values, and in the case of
a cubic, a function of three letters which has only two
values. But the method fails in the case of the quintic
because we cannot form a function of five letters which has
either only four, or only three values. If we employ
Jacobis notation* adopted by Chief Justice Cockle, and
write (a, as) for

Xq-\-clXx-\- .... -\-an i,

a being a given root of the equation

a p-i+ap-*+ .... +1—0.

in which is a prime factor of n, then in the case of the
cubic (n= 3, p— 3) though (a, as) is six- valued, yet (a, as)3 is
only two-valued, and in the case of the quartic (n = 4i,p = 2),
though (a, as) is twelve-valued, yet (a, as)2 is only three-valued.
But in the case of the quintic (n= 5, p=5), (a, as) is 120-
valued, and (cc,as)5 is 24- valued. And although when this
latter function is developed, and reduced by means of the
equation a5=l, to the form

(w — u0-\- au x -j— aht2 -j— ct — j— cthq , "

it is found that u0 has only six values, or is a root of a sex-

* The explicit forms of u are given in an Addendum to my Paper on the
Method of Symmetric Products. ( Society's Memoirs , Series II., Vol. XV.,
p. 217.)

19

tic equation of which the coefficients are rational functions
of the coefficients of the given quintic equation

#5 4~ bx* + cxz + dx? + ex-\ -f— 0,

while Ui, u2, u3, are the roots of a quartic equation of
which the coefficients can he expressed rationally in terms
of u0 and of the coefficients b, c, d, e, f of the quintic, yet we
are really no nearer the solution of the quintic ; for how are
we to solve the reducing sextic ?

Lagrange has shown generally that the function ( a,x )

has only

\n

n

V

different values, and that if the development

of ( a,x)p he reduced hy the help of the equation ap=l (and
not av~l ap~2 . . . +1=0), to the form

^zn,Wf)+ nU] -\-ci~Uo • • • +ct^ ^Up

I n

then this power ( a,x)p has only — k — _ values, and the term

Pi

u0 has only

\n

n(n — 1)/

n\d

P J

values, or is the root of an equation

of the degree

\n

n (n — 1)(

of which equation the coefficients are rational functions of
the given coefficients b, c, d, &c. ; while uv u2,...u,p_ 1 are the
roots of an equation of the degree p — 1, of which the coeffi-
cients can he expressed rationally in terms of u0 and of the
same original coefficients b, c, d, &c., of the given equation
in x.

Although the method fails when applied to the quintic
and higher equations, yet it is interesting on account of
its simplicity, directness, and uniformity. “It is of great

20

advantage/' remarks Murphy, “ in all branches of analysis
to bind together isolated methods of solving problems,
which are at bottom of the same nature; the advance-
ment of analysis has been principally thus achieved; classi-
fication to the chemist and the naturalist generate science;
comprehensive processes are the perfection of analysis.”
Methods of solving equations of the first four degrees in
finite terms have long been known; but all attempts to solve
the higher equations have, except in particular cases, failed.
Many distinguished analysts, both in the last and present
century, have attacked the problem, but although their
labours have resulted in throwing much light on the theory
of equations, and in advancing the knowledge of algebraical
science in general, yet not one of them has succeeded in ob-
taining the coveted solution. Towards the close of the last
century both Lagrange and Vandermonde attacked it with
all the advantages of an improved analysis, but they found
the theoretical difficulties encircling it altogether insuperable.
Since then this celebrated problem has been generally re-
garded as incapable of solution; and indeed, analysts of the
highest eminence have put forward what most mathemati-
cians accept as demonstrations of its absolute impossibility.

21

Ordinary Meeting, October 20tli, 1868.

J» P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

“ On Observations of Atmospheric Ozone,” by Joseph
Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

The remarkable nature of the conclusions arrived at by
Mr. Mackereth, F.R A.S., in his paper “ On Ozone and its
Probable Connexion with Solar Radiation,” read at the
meeting of the Physical and Mathematical Section held on
the 21st of April last, has led me to examine and discuss
the series of ozone observations made at the Radcliffe Ob-
servatory, Oxford, during the years 1856-65, as well as
several other series which have fallen under my notice. It
will be seen from the results which I now proceed to give
that Mr. Mackereth’s conclusions are not borne out, but that
nevertheless the subject of atmospheric ozone is one of much
interest, and merits more attention on the part of meteorolo-
gists and physicists than it has yet received.

Observations at the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford .

At the end of the volume of “ Radcliffe Observations”
for 1864 a table is given showing the “Mean Monthly
Quantities of Ozone, as determined by Schonbeins Ozono-
meter in a period of Ten Years, commencing with 1856.”
The observations had been made twice daily, at lOh. p.m.
and lOh. a.m., and the mean monthly values are as
follows : — -

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. VIIL-^No.2. — Session 1868-9.

22

Mean
lOh. p.m.

Mean
lOh. a.m.

Mean

lOh. p.m. and
lOh. a.m.

January. .....

... 2-5 ..

.... 2-8 ..

.... 2*65

February ...

... 2-9 ..

.... 3-7 .

..... 3-30

March ......

... 3-6 ..

.... 3-9 .

375

April

... 4-3 ..

.... 4-5 .

..... 4-40

May

.. 5-3 ..

.... 5-8 .

..... 5-55

June

... 4-4 ..

.... 4-8 .

..... 4-60

July

... 3-6 ..

.... 4*1 .

..... 3-85

August

... 4-0 ..

.... 4-5 .

..... 4-25

September . . .

... 3-6 ..

..... 3*9 .

3-75

October

... 2-8 ..

.... 3*2 .

..... 3-00

November ...

... 1-9 .

..... 2-0 .

..... 1-95

December ...

... 2*1 ..

2-5 .

..... 2-30

The curve No. 2 in the annexed
diagram is a projection of the
numbers in the last column, while
curve No. I is a projection of Mr.
Mackereth’s results.

It will be seen that the prin-
cipal maximum and principal
minimum both occur one month later at Oxford than at
Eccles ; and that a secondary maximum occurs at both
stations in the month of August.

It is stated at the foot of the table in the “ Radcliffe
Observations” that the following facts are deducible from
the above numbers :

1. That the greatest quantity of ozone generally occurs

in the spring, and the least quantity in October and Novem-
ber. •

2. That the absolutely greatest quantity occurs in May.

than in the morning.

During the whole period of ten years there is only one

23

instance in the month of May of a complete absence of
ozone during 24 hours, and this instance occurred in 1859.

Taking the means of the monthly values given in the
table for each year, we have the following annual values :

Annual
Means
at lOh. p.m.

Annual
Means
at lOh. a.m.

General

Annual

Means.

1856....

..... 4*92 ...

... 3*50 ....

.. 4*21

1857

3-19 ...

... 2*46 ....

.. ' 2-82

1858....

..... 2-58 ...

... 3-61 ....

.. 3 ’09

1859

..... 2-06 ...

... 2*91 ....

.. 2*48

1860

1-78 ...

... 2*65 ....

.. 2-21

1861....

2-44 ...

... 3-71 ....

... 3-07

1862....

3-77 ...

... 4-98 ....

... 4-37

1863

4-62 ...

... 5-50 ....

.. 5-06

1864....

4-22 ...

... 4-23 ....

.. 4*22

1865....

4-25 ...

... 4-36 ....

... 4-30

According to Mr. Mackereth’s results the annual amounts
of ozone are greatest when the intensity of solar radiation is
greatest, or when solar spots are most numerous; but a
glance at the last of the above columns of numbers shows
that at Oxford this relation does not hold good : on the con-
trary, the annual amounts of ozone are least when solar
spots are most frequent or the intensity of solar radiation
greatest ; and this is especially the case with the amounts
of ozone observed during the day. Thus the mean annual
amount of ozone for both day and night during the years
1858-62, when the number of solar spots was above the
average for the ten years, was 3 ’04, and for the remain-
ing five years 4T2 ; whilst the mean annual values of the
day amounts alone for these periods were respectively 2*52
and 4’24. The corresponding mean annual values of the
night amounts were 357 and 401.

Gomparing the mean day and night amounts for the years

24

1858-62 with those for the years 1856-7 and 1868-5, we
have the following results :

Mean Annual
Value of

Mean Annual
Value of

Ratio of

Day Amounts

Night Amounts

Day to Night

of Ozone.

of Ozone.

Amount.

Years 1858-62..

2*52 ...

... 3-57 ...

... 0-70

Years 1856-7 i

V

4-24

4 ’01

1-05

and 1863-5 j

Differences

1-72

.... 0-24

It appears therefore that in years of maximum solar radi-
ation and sun-spot frequency the day amount of ozone is only
seven-tenths that of the night, while in years of minimum
it is slightly in excess of that for the night ; and also that
while the difference between the night amounts of the two
periods is only 044, that between the day amounts is 1*72,
or nearly four times greater. The effect therefore of an
increase in the frequency of solar spots appears to be to re-
duce the amount of atmospheric ozone to a much greater
extent during the day than during the night.

Admitting that a connexion exists between the frequency
of solar spots and the amount of ozone in the earth's atmo-
sphere, it will be seen that the amount of ozone was excep-
tionally low in 1857 and exceptionally high in 1868. The
anomalous action which produced the unusually high rate
for 1868 would no doubt extend its influence to Eccles and
produce an exceptionally high amount o*f ozone at that
station, which, as Mr. Mackereth’s series commenced in 1863,
has evidently misled him as to the true nature of the con-
nexion between solar spot frequency and the amount of
atmospheric ozone.

Grouping the Eccles and Oxford monthly means according
to the seasons, we have the following results :

Eccles.

Oxford.

Winter

.... 1*28 ...

... 2-75

Spring

.... 2-13 ...

... 4*56

Summer

.... 1*37 ...

... 4-23

Autumn

.... 0-89 ...

... 2-90

25

Both at Eccles and Oxford the maximum occurs in the
spring, hut the minimum occurs at Eccles in the autumn
and at Oxford in the early part of winter.

The Rev. Robert Main, F.R.S., Director of the Radcliffe
Observatory, Oxford, has kindly favoured me with a copy
of the unpublished results of his ozone observations for the
years 1866 and 1867, and although he believes that
the results lor 1866 cannot be relied on owing to test
papers of an unsatisfactory quality having been used during a
considerable portion of that year, yet the means for the two
years, which are 4*57 for 1866 and 412 for 1867, bear out
very fairly the conclusions I have drawn from the results of
the previous ten years’ observations, the amounts being
above the average of the entire series, and corresponding to
a sun spot frequency considerably below the average.

Observations at the Lisbon Observatory.

The first volume of the Annals of the Lisbon Observatory
contains a table of the monthly and annual results of a
series of ozone observations made during the years 1856-63.
The mean monthly amounts of ozone were as follows :

Night.

Day.

Mean.

January

.... 5*8 ...

... 5-1 ...

... 5-4

February ..

.... 5-8 ...

... 5-2 ...

... 5-5

March

.... 5*8 ...

... 5-0 ...

... 5-4

April

.... 5-8 ...

... 4-8 ...

... 5*3

May

.... 5-3 ...

... 4*3 ...

... 4-8

June

.... 4-7 ...

... 3*8 ...

... 4-3

July

.... 3-8 ...

... 3-0 ...

... 3-4

August

.... 4*4 ...

... 3*3 ...

... 3-8

September . .

.... 4-7 ...

... 3-8 ...

... 4*3

October

... 5-3 ....

... 4-5 ...

... 4*9

November ..

.... 6-0 ....

... 5*3 ...

... 5-6

December ..

.... 5*7 ....

... 5-0 ...

... 5-3

Year

.... 5-3 ....

... 4-4 ...

... 4-8

26

A projection of the numbers in the last column is shown
in curve No. 3, and it will at once be seen that this curve
differs altogether in character from the curves for Eccles
and Oxford, the maximum occurring in November and the
minimum in July, thus showing clearly that the monthly
amounts of ozone have no dependence upon the monthly
amounts of solar radiation.

t

The mean amounts of ozone at Lisbon in the different

seasons are :

Winter 5 ’40

Spring 5*16

Summer 3’83

Autumn 4 '9 3

The maximum therefore is in the winter, and the mini-
mum in the summer quarter. I may also remark that
while at Eccles and Oxford the maximum rises higher above
the mean of the year than the minimum falls below it, at
Lisbon the reverse of this takes place, the difference between
the maximum and mean values being less than between the
minimum and mean.

Taking now the annual amounts, we have :

1856 ...

... 4*4

1860 ...

... 5-4

1857 ...

... 5-2

1861 ...

... 4-7

1858 ...

... 4-7

1862 ...

... 4*6

1859 ...

... 5-1

1863 ...

... 4*6

Dividing these numbers into two groups according to solar

spot frequency, and taking the means, we have :

Mean annual amount of the four years 1858-61,
when the number of solar spots was above the

average . 4-97

Mean annual amount of the years 1856-7 and
1862-3, when the number of solar spots was
below the average . 4-70

0-27

27

The slight difference between these two numbers shows
that the amount of ozone at Lisbon is but slightly affected
by the frequency of solar spots. The mean value, however,
for years of maximum solar spot frequency is slightly greater
than that for minimum years; but we have seen that at
Oxford the value in the former case was considerably less
than in the latter. This circumstance, taken in connexion
with the difference in the epochs of maximum and minimum
of the annual curves of the two stations, has suggested to my
mind, the idea of a belt of ozonized air in the middle lati-
tudes of our hemisphere, which has a motion to the north-
ward during the spring months of the year, and a return
movement to the southward during the autumn months, and
that its mean position for the year varies with the increase
or decrease of solar spot frequency; or with the increase
or decrease of the disturbances in the earth’s magnetic
elements.

Observations at Hobart Town , Tasmania,

A valuable series of ozone observations was made at
Hobart Town, Tasmania, by Mr. Francis Abbott, F.R A. S.,
during the years 1858-65, and part of the year 1857, from
which he deduced the following mean monthly values of
the amount of atmospheric ozone at that station, the numbers
being the sums instead of the means of the day and night
values : —

January

... 6-89

July

... 7-09

February

... 7 01

August

... 7-52

March

... 7-01

September . . .

... 7-96

April

... 6*99

October

... 7-92

May

... 6-80

November

.. 7-56

June

... 6-50

December . . .

... 7-19

7*18

28

Grouped according to the seasons we have

Winter 7 ‘02

Spring 7 *80

Summer 7'02

Autumn 6*92

The maximum occurs therefore in the spring, and the
minimum in the autumn quarter, thus agreeing very fairly
with the Eccles and Oxford results in the northern hemis-
phere.

The annual amounts derived from Mr. Abbott’s observa-
tions are

1858 ...

... 7'04

1862 ...

... 6-96

1859 ...

... 6-70

1863 ...

... 7-77

1860 ...

... 6-85

1864 ...

... 7-67

1861 ...

... 6-82

1865 ..

... 8-17

6-85

7-64

During the first four years the frequency of solar spots
was above the average, and the mean amount of ozone was
6*85 ; and during the last four years sun spot frequency
was below the average, and the mean amount of ozone
was 7 ‘6 4, or 0‘79 greater than in the first period, thus
agreeing precisely with what we have found for Oxford,
where the amount of ozone is least in years of greatest solar
spot frequency.

Observations at the Melbourne Observatory.

During the years 1858-1860, and again during 1863-5,
ozone observations were made at the Melbourne Observa-
tory by Mr. Robert J. Ellery, the Government Astronomer.
Grouping the monthly means according to the seasons we

have

Winter 5 -25

Spring 4T6

Summer 3-60

Autumn 4T4

29

Here the maximum occurs in the winter and the mini-
mum in the summer quarter, the character of the changes
thus agreeing almost exactly with that shown by the Lisbon
observations.

The annual values are

1858 ...

... 3-6

1863 ...

... 4-5

1859 ...

... 4-4

1864 ...

... 4-6

1860 ...

... 4-5

1865K ...

... 5-1

4-17

4-73

The mean for the three years of maximum solar spot
frequency is 4T7, and that for the three years of minimum
is 4 '73, the difference being 0*56, thus showing an action
precisely similar to that shown at Hobart Town and at
Oxford.

Ozone observations were made at the Sydney Observatory
during the four years 1860-63, but I have not yet been
able to meet with the details. The annual amounts, how-
ever, were,

1860

6-15

1861

5-20

1862

4-23

1863

4-00

Here we have a gradual diminution of the amount of ozone
corresponding to a gradual decrease in the frequency of
solar spots, thus exhibiting a character similar to that
presented by the Lisbon observations, and tending to show
that there exists in the southern hemisphere a belt or zone
of ozonised air similar to that which I have supposed to
exist in the northern hemisphere, and subject to similar
movements.

The published “ Greenwich Observations ” afford a series
of only three years of daily observations of ozone, and the
results differ widely from those obtained at Oxford and

30

Eccles, owing, I presume to a less sensitive kind of test
paper having been used, and probably also to a difference
in the method of exposure of the papers. The annual
curve shows a maximum in September, and another at the

end of April and beginning

of May, and a principal

minimum in November. The

means for the seasons are,

Winter

....... 0-91

Spring

....... 0-94

Summer

........ 0*94

Autumn

0-88

The numbers for winter, spring, and summer, are much
less than those obtained at Eccles, where I believe the
observations were made with Moffat’s test papers; and
very strikingly less than those obtained at Oxford, where
Schonbein’s papers were used.

From the results of observations which I have made
during the last few months with the new papers prepared
by Mr. Mackereth, it seems probable that the amount of
ozone near the earth’s surface is dependent upon the height
at which clouds are formed in the atmosphere. In order to
test this view I have examined the results of Mr. Crosth-
waite’s valuable series of observations of the heights of the
clouds at Keswick, as given at page 40 of Dr. Dalton’s
Meteorological Observations and Essays, 2nd edition, the
only reliable series of the kind of which I have at present
any knowledge, and I find that out of every 1 00 observations
the number of times that the elevation of the clouds ex-
ceeded 1,000 yards was for each month as follows : —

January

... 34-6

July

48*5

February

... 30-4

August

52-0

March

... 51-8

September

46-6

April

... 52-8

October

42*6

May

... 63*1

November ......

38-3

June

... 58-5

December

31-1

31

A projection of these numbers is shown in curve No. 4.
The means for the seasons are

Winter 32*0

Spring 55*9

Summer 53 -0

Autumn 42*5

It appears therefore that the elevation of the clouds is
greatest in the spring quarter when the amount of ozone,
according to the Oxford observations, is also greatest, and
least in winter when the amount of ozone is also least. I
am not at present aware of the existence of any observa-
tions by which it can be ascertained whether this relation
holds good in other latitudes.

It may be objected that the conclusions I have drawn
from the few series of observations to which I have referred
rest on an insufficient basis of facts : and knowing, from
long experience in meteorological inquiries, the danger of
relying too much on deductions from a limited number of
observations, I regard it as very probable that further
investigations may render some modifications of my con-
clusions necessary. The subject is one in which the
meteorologist requires the aid of the chemist. The method
now employed of detecting the presence of ozone in the
atmosphere, and measuring its result, is very imperfect;
and the causes of its frequent sudden development and
almost equally rapid disappearance are, at present, involved
in mystery ; they are, however, as I have shown, evidently
connected with other meteorological phenomena upon which
they may throw much light; and their importance in a
sanitary point of view cannot be doubted. Although,
therefore, my investigation has failed to establish the
validity of Mr. Mackereth’s conclusions, it will, I trust,
serve to show the desirability of giving increased attention
to observations of atmospheric ozone, and of attempting to

32

determine with greater certainty and exactness than has
yet been done, the nature of the changes to which this
important constituent of the earth’s atmosphere is subject,
and of their relation to other atmospherical phenomena.

Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S., exhibited and explained
the method of producing ozone artificially, and showed how
it had been proved by Dr. Andrews and M. Soret that
ozone was an alio tropic condition of oxygen, and that three
volumes of oxygen formed two volumes of ozone.

33

Ordinary Meeting, November 3rd, 1868.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

“Remarks on Mr. Baxendell’s Laws of Atmospheric Ozone,”
by Professor W. Stanley Jevons, M.A.

In reading the remarks of Mr. Baxendell on atmospheric
ozone, it occurs to me that a very simple explanation can be
given of the connexion he detects between the height of the
clouds and the amount of ozone at the surface, two facts
which seem at first sight entirely unrelated The quantity
of ozone which reaches the surface will depend on three
circumstances :

1. The thickness of the current of air touching the surface.

2. The proportion of ozone existing therein.

3. The degree in which this current is rendered uniform
by constant mixture.

The balloon observations of Mr. Glaisher proved what
was previously inferred by meteorologists, that the atmo-
sphere usually consists of several strata of air which are
separated by distinct boundaries, and do not freely mix.
Hence it is only the ozone in the lowest stratum which is
usually available at the surface, and its quantity will he
proportioned, ceteris paribus, to the thickness of that
stratum. It is the height of the first layer of clouds which
usually defines the upper limit of this stratum. For during
my own observations both in Australia and England I have
often noticed that smoke from a great town or from exten-
sive bush fires rises only to a definite height, and seems to

Pboobedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol. VIII. — No. 3.— Session 1868-9.

34

form the basis, as it were, of the cumulous clouds, which are
the upward terminations of ascending currents. Now, as in
May the height of this stratum is, according to Mr. Cros-
thwaite’s observations, greater than in any other month,
there will be a larger mass of air which can successively
come in contact with the surface and furnish ozone. But
we shall only have the full benefit of this ozone when an
active process of mixture is going on. At night the air in
contact with the earth is cooler than that above, and there-
fore tends to lie in a stagnant layer which can often he
detected by the mist or smoke which it contains. This
layer will be rapidly exhausted of ozone, and will be filled
with the organic exhalations from the earth. Hence arises
the comparatively unhealthy character, and in some climates
the poisonous nature, of night air, and it may constantly be
observed that a moderate wind may be blowing above our
heads, as shown by the motions of the clouds or the wind
felt on a mountain top, without breaking up the stagnant
layer on the surface. This is one reason why the air is
calmer at night than in the day. But during high winds
the gusts penetrate to the surface and prevent any stagna-
tion, so that, as I apprehend, during stormy weather the
deficiency of ozone in the evening would not be observed.

In the day time, on the contrary, the sun’s heat occasions
a perpetual circulation or convection in the lowest mass of
air up to the level of the cumuli. Every portion of the air
is thus successively brought to the surface and organic sub-
stances are carried off and oxidated.

During my own observations on ozone I felt strongly
the imperfections of the method of measurement alluded to
by Mr. Baxendell, and I thoroughly agree with him that the
mysterious variations of ozone will not be understood until
not only the quantity of air brought into contact with the
paper be measured or regulated, but the varying source and
magnitude of supply be considered.

35

Mr. E. Bowman, M.A., exhibited and explained Mr. Bar-
rett’s modification of Professor Wheatstone's Kaleidophone.

Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S., drew attention to the
important discovery, made independently by M. Janssen at
Guntour in India, and by Mr. Norman Lockyer in London,
of the visibility of the spectral-lines of the red solar pro-
minences under ordinary circumstances. Hitherto these
protuberances or red flames have only been seen during
total eclipses of the sun; but by the application of the
spectroscope in conjunction with the telescope, the peculiar
bright lines which these prominences exhibit, indicative of
the presence of glowing gas, can now be observed whenever
the sun is visible. Although the priority of this interesting
discovery is due to M. J anssen, who first observed the pro-
tuberances the day after the eclipse, the method having
occurred to him whilst observing during the eclipse, yet
Mr. Lockyer had suggested this particular method of exami-
nation no less than two years ago, and had succeeded in his
endeavour before he became aware of M. Janssen’s prior
observations. From the accounts as far as they are yet
published, we learn that the bright lines appear to be iden-
tical with those of hydrogen.

Mr. Baxendell stated that this discovery would give a
great impetus to the progress of our knowledge of solar
phenomena, and that the importance of observations on this
plan could not be over-estimated.

Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S., exhibited and explained
Carre’s apparatus for freezing water by its own evaporation,
and by means of which a pint of water was frozen in a
few minutes,

36

“ On the Structure of an undescribed type of Calamo-
dendron from the upper Coal-Measures of Lancashire/’ by
Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.

The Author called the attention of the Society to the
structure of the Calamite from the Upper Coal-measures
represented in Fig. 478 of the 5th edition of Lyell’s Manual
of Geology. He pointed out the existence of one Calamite
within another, the former representing the pith and the
latter the exterior of the bark, the pith and bark being
separated by a well defined woody zone. This woody zone
consists of a series of tissues radiating, as in the recent
conifera, from the pith to the bark ; but instead of being all
alike, they consist of two structures which are arranged in
alternating wedges. One of these is entirely composed of
elongated cells, but which, being arranged in linear rows
radiating from pith to bark, and being separated from the
former by a defined line, this tissue is to be regarded as a
modified form of pleurenchyma rather than of parenchyma.
The intermediate radiating laminae or wedges resemble slices
cut out of a coniferous Dadoxylon, having the same reticu-
lated fibres and muriform medullary rays, the latter con-
sisting of a single vertical row of cells. These structures
replace corresponding wedges in the Catamites recently de-
scribed by E. W. Binney, Esq., but in which latter the wedges
consist wholly of masses of scalariform tissue unfurnished
with medullary rays. Immediately below each node Prof.
Williamson pointed out the existence of a verticil of pro-
longations of the pith, penetrating the cellular wedges of
the woody layer like the spokes of a wheel. These he
terms “ verticillate medullary radii,” to distinguish them
from the ordinary medullary rays of the fibrous wedges.
These fibrous and cellular . wedges run uninterruptedly
in a longitudinal direction along each joint or inter-
node of the calamite, but at each node their arrange-

37

ment is altered. If prolonged, the cellular wedges of one
joint would run into the fibrous wedges of those above and
below it. But as the fibres of the fibrous wedges are conti-
nued from one internode to the other, they break up as they
approach each node, their fibrous laminae being twisted in
an extraordinary manner as they cross the node, in order to
redistribute themselves right and left to the fibrous wedges
of the joint above. In this part of the plant the fibrous
laminae, the medullary rays, and the cells of the cellular
layers become intermingled in a remarkable way. At the
base of each cellular lamina especially the fibres radiate
from a common centre in an almost inexplicable manner.

Agreeing with Mr. Carruthers and others in regarding
Mr. Binney’s Calamite as Equisetaceous, Prof. Williamson
pointed out that his specimens exhibited much stronger
affinities with the true Conifera, though in their broad
features, and in the general arrangement of their alternating
series of tissues, they are essentially Calamites. Since Mr
Binney’s specimens exhibit all the characteristics of M. Brong-
niart’s genus Calamodendron, it is desirable that the name
should be applied to them, whilst the coniferous affinities of
the new type would be indicated by the institution of a new
genus Calamopitus for its reception. The range in time
of the two types is yet undetermined, but Calamodendron
appears to be the prevalent form amongst the lower coal-
measures of Lancashire, and Calamopitus is more common
in the upper series.

Professor Williamson called attention to the unsatis-
factory state of our knowledge respecting the structure of
the stems of Calamites prior to the investigation of Cala-
mitea by M. Cotta, although M. Brongniart had long before
possessed undescribed siliceous stems from Antim, but of
which he never published the history. Subsequently, Dr.
Dawson, of Canada, described certain Calamites in which

the pith-cylinder was a calamite-like structure, but in
which the woody cylinder was “ composed in part of scalari-
form or reticulated vessels, and in part of wood cells with
one row of large pores on each side/’ the whole being sur-
rounded by a bark ribbed longitudinally like a sigillaria.
Some English phytologists have doubted the accuracy of
these observations made by Dr. Dawson; but the specimens
described by Prof. Williamson strangely confirmed their
probable accuracy in all points, demonstrating the existence
of a coniferous type of Calamites containing true medullary
rays of the mural form.

Erratum. — Page 31, line 11 from the bottom, for result
read amount.

\

39

Ordinary Meeting, November 17th, 1868.

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

Chair.

Mr. John Isaac Mawson, C.E. ; and the Rev. Brooke
Herford, were elected Ordinary Members of the Society.

Professor William Jack, M.A., laid on the table Professor
Tait’s new work on Thermodynamics, presented to the
Society, (of which he is an honorary member) by the author.

He called attention to the estimation in which Professor
Tait held the work of Hr. Joule in laying the foundations of
the science. It was well known that the claims of Mayer
to the first place in connection with the subject were
strenuously advocated by some authors. Professor Tait
considered those of Hr. J oule incomparably superior.

The equivalence of a definite quantity of work to a defi-
nite quantity of heat had been indicated as extremely
probable by the experiments of Rumford ; and Havy’s cele-
brated experiment, in which he melted ice by friction, con-
firmed the view that work was really so convertible,
Modifications of Rumford’s experiments would have enabled
him to present the heated body in nearly the same state
after as before heating, except as regarded the increment of
temperature. These, however, had not been made, and the
experiments appear to have been neglected.

In all heating there are three mechanical results of work
possible :

1. That the particles of the body may be set into more
rapid vibration.

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. YIII. — No. 4. — Session 1868-9.

40

2. That their distances may he changed by dilatation or
contraction, work being used up in accomplishing this
change, just as when weights are raised against gravity, i.e.,
when their distance from the centre of the earth is altered.

3. That any outside forces acting on the body — e.g., pres-
sures in the case of a gas — might have their points of
application altered.

The two first are internal effects — the last external.

Mayer and Joule both of them applied the principle of
the transference of heat into work to air compressed by
work. With this substance Joule showed experimentally
that the first two effects might be disregarded altogether in
comparison with the third. Mayer assumed this without
any proof, or apparently without an idea that he was
making any assumption. The argument of Mayer was there-
fore only an ingenious speculation — Joule’s was a complete
proof.

Joule, however, went much farther than Mayer. He
showed by frictional and electromagnetic experiments of the
most varied kind that the supposed equivalence was an
absolute law of nature, and he found means in all these
cases to disengage the result from the complications to
which we have referred, and to determine the definite
amounts of work and heat which are equivalent to each
other. He perceived and stated the principal applications
of his discovery to the laws of chemical combination and
vital action, and Professor Tait says — “In all the scientifi-
cally legitimate steps which the early history of the principle
records, Joule had the priority. The reader should clearly
recognise the fact that the experimental foundation of the
principle in its generality, and the earliest suggestions of
many of its most important applications, belong unquestion-
ably to Joule. Trained to accurate experiment and pro-
found reflection in the school of Dalton, the pupil has not
only immortalised himself, but has added to the fame of the
master.”

41

On the other hand it appears to Professor Tait just to
quote a passage in which Helmholtz, no doubt in view of

Mayer’s later work as well as that at the time of the found-
ation of the science of mechanical effect, thus expresses
himself :

“ Mayer was not in a position to make experiments ; he was
repulsed by the physicists with whom he was acquainted
(several years later I was similarly treated), and could
scarcely procure room for the publication of his first com-
pressed exposition. You must know that in consequence of
these repulses his mind at last became affected. It is diffi-
cult now to transport oneself back into the circle of thought
of that time and to perceive clearly how absolutely new the
matter then appeared (25 years ago). It seems to me that
even Joule had to struggle long for the recognition of his
discovery.

“ Thus although no one will deny that Joule has done far
more than Mayer, and that in the early writings of the latter
many points are not clear, I believe that Mayer must be
considered as a man who independently and for himself dis-
covered this thought which has produced the grandest
recent advance of natural science, and his deserts are by no
means diminished by the fact that simultaneously another,
in another country and sphere of action, made the same dis-
covery, and indeed has since developed it better than he.”

Mayer has many titles to the gratitude of scientific men,
and one of the chief of them will no doubt always be his
anticipation of the true doctrine of the equivalence of heat
and work. But as it was founded on an experiment which
was only sound by chance, in interpreting which he had not
seen that his conclusion depended on one precise answer to
a question that had not suggested itself to his mind, it was
anticipation and not discovery. Dr. Joule remains the true
founder of the modern science of Heat.

42

The Secretaries communicated a paper by Professor Gus-
tavus Hinrichs, of Iowa City, United States, entitled, “ On
the Boiling Point of the Isomers C4H140.” Professor Roscoe
stated that from the speculative character of the communi-
cation and the nature of the symbols employed by the
author, it was impossible to give an intelligible abstract.

“On Measurements of the Chemical Intensity of Total
Daylight made during the recent Total Eclipse of the Sun,
by Captain J. Herschel, R.E.,” by Professor H. E. Roscoe,
F.R.S.

The following communication contains the results of
observations upon the varying intensity of the chemical
action of total daylight during the total eclipse of the sun
on August 18th last, made at Jamkhandi (75° 20' E.; 16° 80'
N.), in India, by Lieut. John Herschel, R.E. The method
employed was that described by me in the Bakerian Lecture
for 1865 {Phil. Trans., 1865, p. 605), and consists of the com-
parison of tints effected by the total daylight acting for a
given time upon uniformly sensitive chloride of silver paper.
The weather at Jamkhandi during the eclipse was most
unfavourable for such observations. Lieut. Herschel writes
that “ in truth nothing could have been more disturbing
than the constant and rapid hurrying over of cloud of all
decrees of darkness at low altitudes combined with lioht
fleecy ones, nearly stationary, at a greater height.” At no
time during the eclipse did the estimated amount of cloud
fall below 4, the average being about 7, and frequently the
sun was obscured by heavy cloud, though at intervals it
shone clear and bright.

By arranging the 42 different observations of the inten-
sity of total daylight into 9 groups, we eliminate the varia-
tions among the separate consecutive observations arising
from the unfortunately variable state of the weather, and
obtain the following series of regularly diminishing and

43

increasing numbers, giving the chemical intensity (I.) of
total daylight occurring during the eclipse for the apparent
solar times indicated :

Time.

i.

Time.

i.

7h. 57m....

...0-590

9h. 0m. . . .

...0-005

8h. 8m. . . .

...0-320

9h. 15m....

...0-102

8h. 16m

...0-270

9h. 25m....

...0-140

8h. 28m....

...0-110

9h. 31m

...0-125

8h. 45m....

...0-090

In order to determine how far these values of chemical
intensity correspond to the numbers giving the relative areas
of the solar disc remaining uneclipsed, it is necesary in the
first place to allow for the variation in chemical intensity
caused by alteration in the sun’s altitude from the time of
first contact at 7h. 44m, 6s. until the point of last contact at
lOh. 21m. 7s. On a former occasion (Phil. Trans. 1867, p.
559) I have shown that the relation between the sun’s alti-
tude and the chemical intensity, is represented by the
equation

CIa = CI0 + Const, x a.

Where CIa signifies the chemical intensity at any altitude
(a) in circular measure, CI0 the chemical intensity at the
altitude 0°, and Const, is a number to be calculated from the
observations. In default of any special series of experiments
made at J amkhandi for the purpose of ascertaining the value
of the constant at that place, I take the determinations
made at Para (loc. sit.) (in lat. 1° 25’ S.) as probably giving
a fair approximation to the truth, for I have shown in the
paper above referred to that even for places so differently
situated as Heidelberg and Para no very great difference
exists in the value of the constant.

In the following table the relation of the chemical in-
tensity to the sun’s altitude is seen in column IV. when the
intensity at the highest altitude, 53° 1 o', is taken as the unit.
Column V. contains the values of I. corrected for variation
of altitude, and column VI. contains the relative areas of
the sun’s disc remaining uncovered at the corresponding
apparent solar time found in column I., the area of the solar

44

disc before the commencement of the eclipse being taken as
the unit.

Apparent Solar Time. (I.) Altitude.

I. II. Ill, IV. V. VI.

7h. 57m. ... 0-590 ... 30° 30' ... 0-622 ... 0-948 ... 0-94

8h. 8m. ... 0-320 ... 33° 30' .. 6*671 ... 0-476 ... 0-71

8h. 16m. ... 0-270 ... 35° 0' ... 0-705 ... 0-383 ... 0-62

8h. 28m. ... 0-110 ... 38° 30' ... 0-753 ... 0-146 ... 0-43

8h. 45m. ... 0-090 ... 42^30' ... 0-820 ... 0-100 ... 0-17
9h. 0m. ... 0-005 ... 46° O' ... 0-885 ... 0-005 ... 0-00

9h. 15m. ... 0-102 ... 49° 45' ... 0-933 ... 0-109 ... 0-21

9h. 25m. ... 0-140 ... 52°, O' ... 0-966 ... 0-145 ... 0-37

9h. 31m. ... 0-125 ... 53° 15' ... 1-000 ... 0-125 ... 0-49

The curve A repre-
sents the variation of
chemical intensity cor-
rected for altitude, and
the curve B shows the
increase and diminu-
tion of obscuration of
the sun’s disc, the ab-
scissse representing the time and the ordinates, the corres-
ponding chemical intensity and area of exposed disc. The
observations unfortunately could not be carried on, owing
to cloud, beyond 9h. 23m., at which time the sun’s disc was
still more than half eclipsed, so that the rise of the curve
beyond this point cannot be given.

If we compare the curve of chemical intensity which is
nearly symmetrical on both sides of the totality, with the
curve of solar obscuration, it will be seen that the rate of
diminution of the chemical intensity of total daylight during
the first portion of the eclipse up to the point at which the
disc is half obscured is greater than corresponds to the area
of darkened solar disc, whilst from this point up to totality
the rate of diminution of chemical action is much less than
that of the exposed portion of the disc.

Determinations were also made from time to time with
the arrangement for shading off' all the direct sunlight from
the sensitive paper, and these combined with alternate

45

observations of the intensity of total daylight, give the
separate intensities of diffused and direct sunlight. Owing
to the very rapid changes which occurred constantly in the
condition of the solar disc from passing clouds, only a few
isolated sets of these double observations, made when the
disc was free from cloud, are of value.

These observatious are, however, sufficient to indicate
that the rate of diminution and increase of intensity of the
chemically active rays in the direct sunlight is proportional
to the changes of area in the exposed portion of the sun’s
surface.

Apparent
Solar Time.

Chemical Intensities.
Total. Diffuse. Direct.

Fraction of
Disc visible.

7h. 57m

.0-948...

...0-788..

....0-160..

0-94

8h. 29m..

,0-183...

...0-146..

....0-037..

....0-43

8h. 45m

.0-113...

.. 0-090..

....0-023..

....0-17

9h. 0m

.0-000...

...o-ooo..

....o-ooo..

,...0-00

9h. 16m

.0-152...

...0-124..

....0-028..

....0-21

From these numbers it

appears

that the differences ob-

served between the

curves

of total

chemical intensity and

area of solar disc must be due to variations in the intensity
of the diffused light; and the rapid diminution observed
during the first part of the eclipse may be explained by the
dark body of the moon cutting off the light from the highly
luminous portion of sky lying on one side of the sun’s disc.

I have to thank Mr. Baxendell for his kindness in fur-
nishing me with the astronomical data required in the above
calculation.

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

October 13th, 1868.

Mr. Thomas Carrick in the Chair.

“ On Observations of Atmospheric Ozone,” by J. Baxen-
dell, F.B.A.S. [This paper was afterwards read at the
Ordinary Meeting of the Society held on the 20th October,
1868. See page 21.]

46

November 10th, 1868.

A. Brothers, F.R.A.S., in the Chair.

Mr. E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., was elected President of
the Section in place of Mr. Robert Worthington, F.R.A.S.,
deceased.

“On the Lunar Spot IYAa 17, IYA£ 39,” by Joseph
Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

Since January last, when Mr. W. R. Birt, F.R.A.S., com-
municated to this Society the observations made by the Rev.
W. O. Williams, of Pwllheli, which had led him to regard
the spot numbered 17 and 39 on the British Association Lunar
Maps of areas IYAa and IYA£ as variable, I have occasionally
examined this spot, but up to the present time I have
observed no indications of change. On the night of the
2nd of April, however, I noticed near to it, on the following
or eastern side, a small crater which is not marked on the
maps of the British Association, nor on any other published
maps or drawings that I have yet seen. This crater was
observed again on the nights of the 2nd and the 30th of
May, when it was by no means a difficult object. I was
therefore much surprised on looking over the series of
observations given by Mr. Birt in his communication printed
in the June number of the Monthly Notices, to find that
none of the observers had noticed this crater. On the 27th
of July I again observed it from 9h. 45m. to lOh. 15m.,
when it appeared as a small black spot, the interior being
almost, if not quite, filled up with shadow, and I noted that
it was on the outer slope of the boundary ridge of Hipparchus,
while IYAa 17, XYA Z, 39 was on the inner slope. On this
occasion I also observed that the outline of the shadow of
the west wall of the crater, which Mr. Williams suspects to
be variable, was very irregular in form, indicating conside-
rable differences of elevation in different portions of the
wall. My last observation of the small crater under morn-
ing illumination was on August 27th. The only opportunity
I have had of observing it under evening illumination was

47

on the 5th instant, when it appeared as a small bright spot,
and I then noticed a minute white spot near it to the south-
east which I had never seen before, and which in the
moments of best definition appeared to be a very minute
crater.

Although IV Aa 17, IV A£ 39, and the neighbouring
objects have been for some time closely observed by Mr.
Williams, Mr. Birt, and others, yet it appears that none of
these gentlemen had noticed the companion crater till I drew
Mr. Birt’s attention to it three or four months after I had
first seen it. This circumstance shows strikingly how
necessary it is to be cautious in receiving any evidence that
may be advanced in favour of the view that changes have
recently, and are still, taking place on the moon’s surface.

In concluding this short notice I trust I may be permitted
to remark that my experience of the purely artificial system
of nomenclature of lunar objects which has been adopted by
the Lunar Committee of the British Association, has led
me to desire strongly that selenographers would endeavour
to devise, and agree to adopt, a more natural and less
cumbrous system, since there can be no doubt that much of
the future progress of selenography will depend upon the
facility, convenience, and accuracy with which lunar obser-
vations can be recorded, and references made to the
numerous objects which come under the observer’s notice.

Observations of the Transit of Mercury, Nov. 5th, 1868.

1. — By J. Baxendell, F.R.A.S., at the late Mr. Wor-
thington’s Observatory, Crumpsall.

The morning of the 5th instant opened unfavourably for
observation, and the sun was not seen from Mr. Worthing-
ton’s Observatory before 8h. 35m. a.m. It was then evident
that frequent interruptions from passing clouds would ren-
der it impossible to obtain trustworthy measures of the
position of Mercury on the sun’s disc, and I decided to con-
fine my attention to the determination of the times of con-
tact of the planet with the sun’s limb. Fortunately the
sun’s disc was free from cloud during the whole of the

48

planet’s egress, and although the limbs of both the sun and
the planet were rather tremulous, yet satisfactory observa-
tions of the times of internal and external contact were made-
The telescope used was the equatorially mounted achromatic
of five inches aperture, with a positive eyepiece having a mag-
nifying power of 126. The times of internal and external
contact were :

d. h. m. s.

Internal contact at Egress... Nov. 4 — 21 0 7'3 G.M.T.

External contact at Egress. .. ,, — 21 2 38-8 „

At the time of internal contact the disruption of the
thread of light between the planet and the sun’s limb
occurred instantaneously through a considerable portion of
its length, thus producing a momentary impression that the
limb of the planet had suddenly altered its form. Beyond
this no phenomenon of an unusual or abnormal character
was observed.

2. — By J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., at Old Manor House,
Ardwick.

The morning was very unfavourable for continuous
observation, clouds obscuring the sun until 8h. 20m. when
it became visible for a few minutes only. It then remained
covered with dense clouds accompanied by rain until 8h. 55m.
when it suddenly re-appeared, and continued moderately
free from clouds until after Mercury passed off the disc.
The large equatorial was dismounted, and I was therefore
obliged to observe with a three-inch object glass with a
power of 60. Mercury was very black and well defined,
but owing to the small diameter of the telescope I do not
attach much value to the time of external contact with the
sun’s limb, which appeared to take place at 21h, 2m. 19s.
G.M.T. No elongation was noticed.

3. — -By Murray Gladstone, F.R.A.S., at his Observatory ?
Higher Broughton.

Mercury exceedingly black and well defined.

h. m. s.

External contact at Egress 21 2 20 G.M.T.

Equatorial refractor 7'4in. diameter, with a power of 60.

49

Ordinary Meeting, December 1st, 1868.

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

Chair.

“Note on Professor Williamson’s paper 'On an Unde-
scribed Type of Calamodendron from the Upper Coal
Measures of Lancashire,’ ” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

I had not the pleasure of hearing Professor Williamson’s
paper on Calamopitus read, but from the abstract printed
in the Society’s Proceedings it is quite evident that the
Professor’s plant is very different from the Calamodendron
commune described by me in the last volume of the Trans-
actions of the Palseontographical Society. I have found
casts of the pith of the Sigillaria vascularis which ordinary
collectors would call a Calamites , and in two specimens of
Dadoxylon I have met with Calamites cannceformis as the
pith of one, and C. approximatus as the pith of the other.
Sternbergia has long been known to be the pith of Dadoxy-
lon, so now the genus Calamites in all probability will have
to be very considerably modified and some of its species
classed with other genera.

Some years since that profound botanist the late Dr.
Robert Brown, in a memoir printed in the Transactions of
the Linnaean Society, vol. xx. p. 3, 1851, gives some account
of Triplosporites, an undescribed fruit which had lately
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society.— Vol. VIII. No. 5— Session 1868-9.

50

come into his possession. This fossil was the upper por-
tion of a cone which showed sporangia full of minute spores
in a beautiful state of preservation. The author, after the
examination of a similar specimen in M. A. Brongniart’ s
cabinet, was inclined to refer the plant to the genus Lepido-
strobus. Mr. Carruthers, of the British Museum, after ex-
amining Dr. Brown’s specimen, in a paper printed in the
Geological Magazine for October., 1865, on an undescribed
cone from the coal measures near Airdrie, Lanarkshire,
came to the conclusion that it was a Lepidcstrobus, and
named it L. Brownii. Another specimen exactly resem-
bling Dr. Brown’s is in the museum at Strasbourg. In the
Comptes Bendus of 7th August last, Professor Adolphe
Brongniart describes a wonderfully perfect cone identical
with Dr. Brown’s specimen in the upper portion of the cone,
with sporangia full of microspores, but in its lower part
having sporangia full of macrospores. This cone, then, as
in Lycopodiacese of the genera Selaginella and Isoetes, has
two kinds of sporangia, those near the summit containing
the microspores, that is to say the fertilizing spores, and
others near the base of the cone containing the macrospores
or germinating spores. M. Brongniart is inclined to class
the fossil plant as distinct from Lepidostrobus, under the
name of Triplosporites Brownii. He says that it presents
a singular combination of characters, having sporangia
analogous to those of Isoetes , united to a cone or spike
resembling that of the Lycopods. He states that nothing
was known of the age of the deposits from which the three
specimens above named came except the last, and of course

X

this gave little evidence of the true age of the fossil, which
was found in drift. Now this information I am able to

51

supply, having obtained some years since a beautiful speci-
men in all respects exactly similar to Dr. Brown’s, from the
Roof mine lying immediately over the Gannister seam in
the lower part of the Lancashire coal field ; so there is no
doubt whatever that the fossil cone is of carboniferous age.

Mr. E. Bcwman, M.A., exhibited Helmholtzs Double
Siren, and explained its action and peculiarities.

“ The Hematite Iron Ore Deposits of Whitehaven: Notes
on the Aldby Limestone, Gleator Moor,” by W. Brockbank,
F.G.S.

The mountain limestone of the Cleator district forms an
escarpment to the valley of the river Ehen, from Egremont
round the base of Dent Fell, towards Cockermouth. It rests
upon the old clay slate of Skiddaw and Dent, and is the
outcrop of the Whitehaven coal field. It contains most ex-
tensive and valuable deposits of hematite iron ore, and is
therefore an interesting subject for study in any aspect which
will throw light upon the question of the origin and deposi-
tion of that valuable mineral. The general character of the
hematite deposits in this limestone was briefly sketched by
the writer in his remarks to this Society, Dec. 10th, 1867,
and which were printed in the Proceedings — p. 59-61. The
object of the present communication is briefly to describe
the section of mountain limestone exposed in the quarries
of the Whitehaven Hematite Iron Co., at Aldby, on Cleator
moor, and its surface as affected by diluvial and glacial ac-
tion— believing that both these points have a considerable
bearing upon the subject of the occurrence of hematite iron

ores.

52

About an acre of the surface of the limestone is at' present
exposed, having been cleared of from 6 to 8 feet of the till
or boulder clay which covered it. This clay is of the cha-
racter well known to us in the neighbourhood of Manchester,
having boulders of porphyry, granite, greenstone, clay slate,
and the other well known characteristics of the drift, and is
believed by the writer to have had the same or a similar
origin, viz., from the mountains above Favenglass, near
Wastwater and Devoke Water.

The easterly side of this large limestone surface bears a
striking resemblance to the tops of some of the Yorkshire
hills — such as the Moughton Fell, the flanks of Ingle-
borough, or the mountain limestone summits near Grange
in Cartmel — being deeply fissured in every direction. On
these fissures being emptied of the till by which they have
been filled, they are found to contain the roots of ferns or
other mountain plants still attached to the crevices of the
rocks, just as we see similar clefts abounding in plants on
our mountain tops in this day.

About half the area is thus fissured, and when the cre-
vices are not filled with till they are found to contain
hematite ore. Most of them have, however, been much
waterworn, being undercut and hollowed out into basins
and arches of every form. Passing westwards across the
cleared surface, we come to a most marked illustration of
glacial action. The projecting masses have all been cut
away, and the surface, for some half acre in extent, planed
smooth by ice, the floor being evenly cut into long undula-
tions, deeply scratched in long clearly marked striations.
The markings run nearly S. to N., and as the boulders are
of greenstone, porphyry, granite, syenite, and clay slate, of

53

similar nature to the rocks now existing in the granitic and
syenitic district of Birker Moor, about Devoke Water and
Wastwater, there is little doubt that they came from that
locality, lying, as it does, nearly south, in the direction
indicated by the striations. Several veins of hematite ore
are exposed upon this polished surface, as shown in the
sketch.

Sketch of Limestone Surface at Aldby Quarry.

A. Fissured Limestone after removing the Till.

B. Eroded Surface.

C. Yein of Ore.

D. Boulders of G-ranite, Syenite, &c.

The quarry presents a very fine section of limestone rock
from its eastern escarpments towards the Ehen valley to
its junction with the lower coal measures, at the westerly
corner of the quarry, and from 50 to 70 feet in height.
The limestone beds are much contorted and intersected by
faults, showing a very disturbed and irregular stratification.

The easterly escarpment, sloping towards the river Ehen,

54

is made up of a breccia of hematite ore and limestone, in
large irregular blocks, cemented together into a compact
mass. It was so rich with ore at the surface, as to be
worth working, and an open quarry was commenced, and a
large quantity removed, but the impurity of the product
soon led to its abandonment. It is very evident that this
face of limestone was at one period covered with a large
deposit of hematite ore, since denuded.

Wherever a fault or fissure occurs in the face of the
quarry it is filled with ore, evidently from above. Many of
these veins of ore have appeared so rich as to induce the
miners to follow them by shafts ; but no large pockets re-
warded the search, the main limestone being too regular
and compact to admit of any large masses. It is, however,
quite evident that if any large cavities had occurred, they
would have been filled in from above with iron ore, as is
the case at the neighbouring mines of Gutterby, Bigrigg,
Parkside, &c.

We have, therefore, evidence in this quarry — First, of a
deposition of hematite iron ore by water, after the lime-
stone had been uplifted into its present position, or nearly
so ; and secondly, the denuding action of running water,
and afterwards of the erosion by drift ice, probably coeval
with our own boulder drift, and from the same centre of
glacial action. Under more favourable circumstances these
powerful agents might have been instrumental in deposit-
ing large masses of hematite ore as there is abundant evi-
dence that this has been the case within a very short dis-
tance from Aldby — large masses of iron ore having been
worked by open quarry, lying in exactly similar positions
as the small crevice-filled cavities first described. It is

55

also very evident that these denuding agents have like-
wise been instrumental in removing large quantities of ore
previously deposited, and the outliers of limestone capping
isolated prominences in this neighbourhood, testify to the
great extent of denudation which we may reasonably
suppose took place at the period indicated by the eroded
surface of the Aldby limestone.

Mr. C. Bailey, in a letter addressed to Mr. Brockbank,
states that the chief portion of the vegetation referred to in
the preceding paper consists of dark-coloured fragments of
the stems of a dicotyledonous plant which seem to have
been broken sharply off while growing in situ. They have
the general appearance of rotten sticks, and in their fresh
condition are very soft and friable, yielding readily to the
knife, but with exposure to the air they dry and become
much harder. They appear to have belonged to a shrubby
plant of no great size, the stems of which would range be-
tween half and three quarters of an inch in diameter. The
internal portion of the stems has almost entirely disappeared,
and in the few fragments examined, there are no traces of
any woody layers, medullary rays, or central pith. The
portions preserved consist of true bark, which is made up
of two layers : — an exterior layer, or periderm, which is in
a good state of preservation ; and an interior fibrous portion,
or liber, made up of short rectangular cells, which form
layers of considerable thickness.

All the woody fragments examined belonged to aerial
portions of the plant, but there are no remains of the
leaves borne by these stems, and it would be very desirable
that they should be sought for in the lower portion of the

56

overlying clay, as they would be very helpful towards
determining the species. If a conjecture might be hazarded
from the nature of the fragments examined as to the parti-
cular plant of which they formed a part, I should refer
them to some species of Betula (birch).

There was a single piece of woody matter looking like
the rhizome of a fern, but the presence of scalariform tissue
failed to be detected in it, and the fragment was too small
to draw a definite conclusion from.

Intermixed with the stems referred to above are the
leaves of some cryptogamous plant, like those of a Hypnum,
and formed of square-shaped transparent cells; and em-
bedded in the earthy portions which make up the remainder
of the mass are a few well preserved thread-like roots,
which are white in colour, cylindrical in shape, only slightly
branched, and containing well defined vessels.

57

Ordinary Meeting, December 15th, 1868.

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

Chair.

Mr. Spencer H. Bickham, Jun., was elected an Ordinary
Member of the Society.

Mr. W. Brockbank, F.G.S., exhibited some fine specimens
of kidney-shaped nodules of ironstone from the hematite
deposits at Cleator Moor.

The Chairman said that fatalities in collieries caused by
the explosion of fire damp have for the last thirty years
been supposed to be more frequent with a falling barometer
and a rising thermometer, the wind blowing from the
south-east or south. Besides, they have been more
common in thick, heavy, and foggy weather, and from
October to March, both inclusive. At the inquiry now
taking place on the terrible catastrophe near Hindley, a
practical colliery manager is reported to have said, “ I am
surprised to see so much in the newspapers about the
barometer. Philosophers appear to think that the manage-
ment of a mine and the taking of precautions might be
worked as it were by a thumb screw.” Of course, the
writer of a letter in a newspaper by no means makes a man
a philospher. One thing however is pretty certain, that
the so-called practical men, and even philosophers, have a
great deal to learn about explosions of fire damp, and there
is little doubt but that sometimes collieries are managed on
the “rule of thumb” principle. For some reason or other
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol. YIII. No, 6 — Session 1868-9.

58

explosions by fire damp have been more frequent in the
neighbourhood of Wigan than in the valley of the Irwell
between Manchester and Bolton. All explosions of fire
damp are caused by there being too much light carburetted
hydrogen and too little air in the mine at the time. No
one acquainted with the subject will question that the
barometer and thermometer are of great use to the coal
miner, but there may be, and apparently are, other causes
which influence the ventilation of a mine besides the pres-
sure of the atmosphere. The thick, heavy, and foggy
weather often prevailing during the earlier and later
months of the year appears to have something to do in
fouling a coal mine, in addition to causing the air to be
more sluggish in the workings. Now, in the ordinary state
of the atmosphere, every one who has been in the dead parts
of a coal mine — that is, in those parts where the air is not
conveyed by artificial means — must have observed how
slow the fire damp, and even the choke damp, are to diffuse
themselves according to the law of {he diffusion of gases.
You will find a stratum of fire damp at the top, one of air
in the middle, and another of choke damp at the bottom.
At present we are ignorant in what state water occurs in
the atmosphere in thick, heavy, and foggy weather. It may
be in a vesicular or some other condition between water
and vapour which allows of the diffusion of gases in a mine
far more speedily than in the ordinary state of the atmos-
phere. To my knowledge, no experiments have yet been
made to ascertain this fact, but it is very desirable that they
should be tried, for both science and practice ought to do
everything possible to prevent the terrible catastrophes
which hurry into eternity so many of our most valuable
workmen, and thus cause a national loss.

Mr. Baxendell said it frequently happened when the
atmosphere was in the state referred to by the Chairman
that it had the power of rapidly bleaching test papers which

59

had been coloured by the action of ozone. On the 26th of
November, the day of the colliery explosion at Hindley*
Green, this bleaching power was unusually active, and was
made the subject of experiments both at his residence in
Cheetham Hill, and at Mr. Worthington’s observatory
The next day, on hearing of the explosion, he could not
avoid regarding it as remarkable that it had occurred at a time
when the bleaching power of the atmosphere was so excep-
tionally active, and he appended a note of it to his observa-
tions, though he was unable at the time to conceive how
the two phenomena could be connected. The valuable
suggestion, however, just thrown out by the Chairman
showed how such a connection might exist. If, as some
chemists suppose, the discolouration of the ozone paper is
simply due to the vaporisation of the iodine which had been
in combination with the starch, it is evident that when the
state of the atmosphere was unusually favourable to the
rapid diffusion of vapours and gases through it, the car-
buretted hydrogen in a mine would diffuse itself through
the air in the workings, and the iodine of a coloured ozone
paper would evaporate much more rapidly than under
ordinary circumstances.

“Researches on Di-Methyl,” Part II., by William H.
Darling, Dalton Scholar in the Laboratory of Owens Col-
lege. Communicated by Prof. H. E. Roscoe, Ph.D., F.R.S.

In a communication made to the Society in April last I
showed that ethyl chloride was obtained by treating with
chlorine, the gas di-methyl obtained by electrolysis and
that from this substance ethyl alcohol was prepared.

In continuation ot that paper I beg to lay before the
Society the results of the examination of the properties of
the di-methyl obtained by two other processes; first by
that of Schiitzenberger, and finally by that proposed by
Frankland,

60

The former process consists in treating acetic anhydride
with peroxide of barium, when the two gases di-methyl and
carbonic acid are said to be given off ; in the latter process
the action of zinc on methyl iodide in sealed tubes heated
to about 150° C. yields di-methyl.

These two methods were tried for the preparation of
di-methyl, but were abandoned for the electrolysis method
for reasons which will be noticed further on.

I. Preparation of Di- Methyl by Schiitzenberger’s

Process.

When peroxide of barium acts on acetic anhydride, a gas
stated to be di-methyl is given off.

If the peroxide is heated with the anhydride, as Schutzen-
berger directs, violent explosions occur. This can be avoided
by mixing the peroxide with dry sand provided the flask
containing the mixture is not cooled; if it is cooled, the
reaction after a time becomes so violent, probably owing to
the formation of peroxide of acetyl, that explosions occur.

20 grms. of peroxide of barium mixed with 40 grms. of
dry sand were poured into a flask containing 20 grms. of
acetic anhydride and mixed by shaking ; the gas evolved
was collected in a Pepy’s gas holder,. and afterwards dis-
placed by pressure ; purified by passing through a solution
of caustic potash and afterwards through concentrated sul-
phuric acid. The treatment with chlorine, exposure to the
sun’s light, and final displacement, was effected in the
method described in the previous paper.

The total volume of liquid obtained from acetic anhydride
prepared from one pound of phosphorus did not exceed
25 cc., and began to boil at 40° C., the temperature rising
up to 80° C. This quantity proved too small to admit of
being fractionated, in order to separate any more highly
chlorinated products.

In order to ascertain the cause of so small a yield of

61

chloride, the gas was analysed, according to Bunsen’s
method, and proved to be a mixture of carbonic oxide,
marsh gas, di-methyl, with a small amount of olefines, the
following being the result : —

Carbonic Oxide 4 -29

Olefines 0-63

C2H6 18*57

CH4 76*51

100*00

This analysis clearly shows that Schiitzenberger’s descrip-
tion of the decomposition is incorrect, the greater part of
the gas consisting of hydride of methyl or marsh gas.

II. Preparation of Di-methyl by Frankland’s Method.

Schiitzenberger’s method not giving the required gas, this
process was tried. I took advantage of the directions given
by Schoyen for the preparation of pure di-ethyl.

Into stout glass tubes closed at one end, metallic zinc,
made rough on its surface, was introduced; the open end
was then softened before the blowpipe, thickened, and drawn
out into a strong capillary, which was bent twice at right
angles, as described by Frankland. Through this the methyl
iodide was introduced, and afterwards the ether, equal in
volume to that of the iodide. The air was expelled by
boiling the ether and closing the capillary.

Tubes thus prepared were heated to 130° C. until all the
zinc was dissolved, then opened before the blowpipe when
cold, to allow any marsh gas to escape which had been
formed by the presence of moisture, again closed and heated
to 150° C. for several hours. The tubes when cold were
then immersed in a mixture of salt and ice; the end
of a narrow tube of thick caoutchouc drawn over the
capillary, the other end being attached to a gas-holder con-
taining a saturated solution of common salt, and the end of
the capillary was then broken off. The gas rushed into the

62

holder, the internal pressure frequently projecting some of
the liquid contents of the tube into the gas-holder, where in
contact with the water ; decomposition took place with the
formation of marsh gas, it being impossible to decompose all
the zinc-methyl.

The di-methyl thus obtained on treatment with chlorine,
&c., yielded a small quantity of a liquid which began to boil
at 11° C., and rose above 80° C. The quantity was, how-
ever, but small, in consequence, no doubt, of the presence of
marsh gas derived from the zinc-methyl, which was carried
over by the pressure of the gas in the tubes ; and, as it
became apparent that considerable difficulty would be en-
countered in preparing large quantities of the pure gas by
this method, it was abandoned.

An analysis of this gas, according to Bunsen’s method,
shows that pure di-methyl is to be obtained by this method;

Found.

Calculated for
Di-methyl.

Gas employed

16-71

Contraction

42-30

41-77

Carbonic acid

33-50 ....

33-42

I cannot conclude this communication without expressing
my thanks to Professor Roscoe and Mr. Schorlemmer for
the very able assistance rendered to me throughout this
research.

“ On a Property of the Electric Current to Control and
Render Synchronous the Rotations of the Armatures of a
number of Electro-magnetic Induction Machines;” Illus-
trated by Working Models; by Henry Wilde, Esq.

The discovery of the property which the author describes
arose out of the efforts which have been made, during the
last two years, to reduce the internal heat generated in
large electro-magnetic machines by the rapid magnetization
and demagnetization of the armatures. By constructing the
machines of smaller dimensions this heating was consider-

63

ably diminished; but an inconvenient residuum of heat
still remained when the machines were worked continuously
for a long time, such as to render it desirable to adopt some
means for abstracting the heat more rapidly.

By means of a current of water, circulating in the hollow
brass segments which form part of the magnet-cylinder,
Mr. Chas. E. Ryder, the skilful manager at the works of
Messrs. Elkington & Co., has happily succeeded in so far
reducing this heating as to permit of the machines being
worked, for days and nights together, without intermission,
and without any sensible diminution of the power of the
current.

The author has already shown, elsewhere, that the current
from a small magneto-electric, or electro-magnetic machine
is sufficient to excite the electro-magnet of a very large
machine : and it has been further found, by Mr. G. C.
Lowe, that the current from one small machine is sufficient
to excite, simultaneously, the electro-magnets of several
small machines. In a number of 3J-inch machines which
have been constructed, under the author’s direction, for
Messrs Elkington and Co., for the electro-deposition of
copper on a large scale, the currents from two 3 J -inch
electro-magnetic machines are made to excite the electro-
magnets of twenty similar-sized machines to a degree suffi-
cient to bring out the maximum dynamic effect of each
machine.

The electro-magnets of the two 3 J-inch exciting machines
are charged by the current from a small magneto-electric
machine ; but the author has found that nearly as good a
result maybe obtained from the 20 machines, by dispensing
with the small magneto-electric machine, and employing the
residual magnetism of the two 3J-inch exciting machines,
in a manner similar to that described almost simultaneously
by Mr. Farmer, Messrs. Yarley, Mr. Siemens, and Sir
Charles Wheatstone.

64

While the subdivision of the materials of one large
machine into a number of small ones was attended by
several important advantages, yet it was found necessary to
adopt some means to secure the synchronous rotation of
the armatures, when the combined direct current from
several machines was required.

As the high speed at which the armatures were driven
precluded the employment of toothed gearing, the only
method which seemed at all feasible for producing the
requisite synchronism was, to place several machines in a
straight line, and connect them together by means of a
clutch fixed on the end of each armature spindle. It was
while experimenting with a pair of machines so geared
together that the author first observed the phenomenon
which forms the subject of his communication.

The armatures of these machines were 4 inches in dia-
meter, and each of them was coiled with a copper wire
conductor, 280 feet long and one-eighth of an inch in
diameter. The currents were taken from the armatures by
means of copper brushes rubbing against metal rings con-
nected respectively with the ends of the armature coils,
and were therefore in alternate directions for producing the
electric light.

The clutch bv which the armatures were connected con-

•j

sisted of two iron discs, about four inches in diameter,
having in the face of one, two iron pins which could be guided
into two corresponding holes in the face of the other.
These discs could be engaged, or disengaged, either when the
machines were at rest or in motion. The relative positions
of the pins and holes in the discs were such that the
armatures might be engaged in reversed positions of half a
revolution, when required.

Each of the machines, when making about 2000 revolu-
tions per minute, was, of itself, capable of producing a very
efficient electric light ; and when the two armatures were

65

clutched together in such a position that the united positive
currents from both machines should proceed from one polar
terminal, simultaneously with the united negative currents
from the other polar terminal, the sum of the currents from
the two machines was obtained. On the other hand, when
the armatures were clutched together in the reversed posi-
tion, without any change being made in the armature con-
nections, no current was produced outside the two ma-
chines.

These experiments, besides exhibting the necessity of syn-
chronous rotation, further showed that the armatures must
also occupy the same relative position in the magnet cylin-
ders, in order that the combined currents from the two
machines might be obtained. It now occurred to the author
to see to what extent the want of synchronism in the arma-
tures would affect the magnitude of the current. The
armatures were therefore unclutclied, and allowed to revolve
independently of each other, in the same manner as when
the attempt was made to take the combined direct current
from the commutators. After the alternating current had
been transmitted through the electric lamp for some time, it
was found that there was no perceptible diminution in the
amount of light produced from the carbon points, and that
the current would melt, very nearly, the same quantity of
iron wire as when the armatures were clutched together
On examining into the circumstances attending this unex-
pected phenomenon, it was first observed that whenever the
machines were stopped, the pins and holes in the respec-
tive discs were exactly opposite each other ; and that,
while the armatures were revolving, the two discs could at
all times be engaged and disengaged with the greatest
facility. Moreover, even when the discs were set (before
starting the machine) a quarter, or half a revolution, out of
the position in which the maximum amount of current was
obtained, it was found that, after the armatures had been

66

revolving for a few moments, the discs resumed their nor-
mal positions with respect to each other (as indicated by
the action of the clutch) ; thereby exhibiting, not only the
synchronous rotation of the armatures, but also, that the
machines contained a principle of self-adjustment to the
position in which the maximum effect of the combined cur-
rent was obtained. It was therefore evident that this
property of the current, to maintain the synchronism of the
armatures, rendered it unnecessary to employ mechanical
gearing of any kind for that purpose.

The author then proceeds to enter into a detailed explana-
tion of the causes which produce the synchronism of the
armatures, a summary of which is as follows : — When the
armatures happen to be in that position during their revo-
lution in which they are producing the maximum and
minimum amount of current respectively (as must often be
the case when there is no synchronism), that current which
is at the maximum rushes through the coil which is pro-
ducing the minimum amount of current, — the effect of this
passage of the current from one coil to the other being to
accelerate or retard the rotation of the armature (according
to the direction of the current) until synchronism, is
established. On the other hand, the absence of synchronism
observed when the direct current was taken from the
machines, by means of commutators, is caused by the direc-
tion of the currents being coincident with that which they
would receive by induction from the electro-magnets, and,
consequently, opposite to that which tends to impart an
accelerating or retarding impulse to the armatures.

The synchronous rotation of the armatures having been
secured in the case of the combined alternating currents, it
yet remained to obtain the combined direct currents from
the two machines. A pair of rings and a commutator were
therefore fitted upon one of the armature spindles, which
was made sufficiently long for the purpose ; and metallic

67

connection was established between the rings of each ma-
chine and the commutator on the prolongation of the arma-
ture axis. As the commutator necessarily revolved syn-
chronously with the two armatures, it was found that the
combined alternating currents were rectified, just as if they
had proceeded from only one machine ; and were, conse-
quently, available for electro-deposition, or for any other
purpose for which a direct current might be required.

Although this property of synchronous rotation has, as
yet, been observed only in the case of several pairs, and a
triple combination, of machines, yet the author sees no reason
for supposing that it may not be extended to any number
of machines that may be conveniently worked together from
the same prime mover. It is necessary, however, to observe
that, as the controlling power of the current is only calcu-
lated to correct such minute deviations from synchronism
as it is beyond the power of mechanical skill to prevent, the
driving and driven pulleys should be, respectively, as nearly
as possible of the same diameters ; as the correction of any
considerable difference in the number of the revolutions of
of the armatures, caused by differences in the diameters of
the pulleys, must necessarily, be attended by a corresponding
diminution of the useful effect of the current outside the
machines.

The author concludes his communication by directing
attention to an important property of the magneto-electric
circuit, which renders the commonly accepted theory by
which the generation and propagation of the electric
influence in voltaic circuits is explained, inapplicable to
those circuits which are entirely metallic. Reference to this
property is all the more called for at the present time, as the
author finds that a want of acquaintance with it has given
rise to no small amount of misconception on the part of
several eminent mathematicians and electricians, who have
examined his experiments on the electric condition of the

68

earth, and the method by which he has thought proper to
estimate the magnitude of powerful induction currents.*

The intensity of a voltaic current, as represented by the
mathematical theory of Ohm, is equal to the electro-motive
force, divided by the internal resistance of the battery ; and
from this theory it is inferred that an electro-motor, in order
to overcome a great external resistance, must itself possess
a correspondingly great internal resistance. A further conse-
quence deduced from this theory is, that the maximum
useful effect of a given electro-motor is obtained when the
external and internal resistances are equal.

Now, this mode of estimating the magnitude of an electric
current does not apply to the circuits on the armatures of
the machines invented by the author. Taking, for example,
the results obtained from the quantity armature of a
10-inch machine. The dimensions of the coil of this arma-
ture may be represented by a bar of pure copper 67 feet
long, and having a sectional area of 1*6 square inches; so
that the resistance which this circuit presents to the passage
of a current, when compared with that of the liquids in a
voltaic battery, is practically null. When the coil is in full
action it will melt 15 inches of thin iron wire *035 of an
inch in diameter, or the same length of \ inch iron rod with
equal certainty ; and will electrolize acidulated water in at
least 16 voltameters in series : so that the resistance outside
the circuit, whether estimated by the 15 inches of thin wire
melted, or by the number of electrolizing cells in series is
more than a hundred times greater than that of the coil in
which the current is generated.

Moreover, the author has found that whenever a voltaic
battery and a magneto-electric machine will melt an equal
length of wire, the power which these electro-motors have
to overcome external resistance, as measured by the number
of voltameters in series, is also equal. And generally the
power of an electro-motor (whether voltaic or magneto-
* Philosophical Magazine , August, 1868.

69

electric) to overcome external resistance, is directly propor-
tionate to the length of wire which it will melt.

From a consideration of these results it will be seen that
one of the fundamental elements which enters into the
theory of Ohm is found wanting when that theory is applied
to the estimation of the magnitude of currents generated in
circuits entirely metallic.

MM. Jamin and Roger, in a recent number of the Gomptes
Rendus of the Academy of Sciences, have also pointed out
the discrepancy here referred to in the application of Ohm’s
theory to magneto-electric circuits. The author is, however,
by no means prepared to admit the correctness of the views
advanced by these physicists in their endeavours to recon-
cile the facts observed, with established theory; besides
which, other anomalies present themselves when the cus-
tomary formulae are applied to magneto-electric circuits, a
consideration of which must, as the author affirms, lead
ultimately to the enunciation of laws much more general in
their application than those with which we are at present
familiar.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

October 12 th, 1868.

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

Mr. Henry Brogden forwarded three deposits of Diatom-
acese for distribution amongst the members, viz., from the
Galtee Mountains, Ireland, collected in 1868; from Levers
Water, Coniston Old Man, collected in 1856 ; and from a
stream near Half-Moon Bay, near Carrick-a-Rede, Antrim,
July, 1861.

70

Dr. Alcock exhibited a number of living mollusca brought
from J erusalem and its neighbourhood.

A letter was read from the Rev. J. E. Vize, M.A., dated
Calvely, Tarporley, 10th October, in which he mentioned
having observed a very young currant-tree bearing a second
crop of fruit this year. He also referred to the abundance
of the second crop of mushrooms this season, and to the
occurrence of a bramble with variegated leaves being culti-
vated in Lord Grosvenor’s grounds.

Professor Williamson, F.R.S., then read a paper “ On the
Structure of an XJndescribed Type of Calamodendron from
the Upper Coal-measures of Lancashire.” This paper was
afterwards read at the ordinary meeting of the Society held
on the 3rd November, and an abstract of the same has
already appeared at pp. 36—38.

November 9th, 1868.

J. R Dancer, F.RA.S., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

Mr. Sidebotham presented a number of leaves of the
Deutzia insignis, and Deutzia scabra for distribution amongst
the members.

A paper, entitled “A Resume of the More Important
Papers bearing upon Microscopical Research which have
appeared during the Past Year,” was then read by the
President, J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

71

Mr. Sidebotham exhibited specimens of the gall fly,
Cynips Lignicola, and a number of the galls formed by this
species. He stated that these galls are very common,
apparently much more so than a few years ago ; he had
tried an experiment to ascertain their commercial value, and
exhibited the comparative strength of colour from them and
from the blue Aleppo galls. The English galls are much
lighter, and in the experiment equal weights of each were
used. The result of the experiments showed that the
English galls were about two-thirds the value of the foreign
ones, or, according to the present market value, they would
be worth about 66s. a hundred weight. In the plantations
where these galls abound, he thought a man might collect
easily half a hundred weight in a day, and, on the principle
that nothing valuable should be wasted, he thought that it
was very desirable that these galls should be collected and
made use of. The galls even when in great numbers do not
appear to injure the trees. The proper time to collect them
would be the middle of September, when the flies have all
eaten their way out and laid their eggs for another year’s
supply.

A paper on “The Vegetation of Gibraltar during the
Month of May ” was then read by H. A. Hurst, Esq.,
Treasurer to the Section,

72

December 7th, 1868.

J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

“ Further Notes on Some of the Rarer Plants found near
Llandudno,” by Joseph Sidebotham, Esq.

As the specimens I exhibited here at the beginning of
last year, and the notes thereon, appeared to interest the
members, I have prepared the following supplement, and
exhibit specimens of all the plants named, which were col-
lected in the neighbourhood of Llandudno during last May
and the early part of June. Owing to the dry weather and
great heat, many of the plants were in flower a fortnight
before their usual time.

Ranunculus perviflorus. This interesting plant I met
with in abundance on the dry clay banks near Gloddaeth.
Mr. Spencer Bickham, jun., had previously told me he met
with it about a mile from the same spot, but I searched in
vain in the place where he had found it.

Aquilegia vulgaris. This handsome plant is extremely
abundant on the slopes and in the thickets on the Llan-
dudno side of Gloddaeth woods. I think there can be little
doubt of its being ' there truly indigenous. The blue, pink,
and lilac varieties are all equally common.

Papaver hybridum is one of the commonest poppies in
cultivated fields in the spring. In a corn field near
Gloddaeth, and also one near Conway beach, I found the
local P. somniferum also.

Malcomia maritima was this year very common, not
only on the Great Ormes Head, but also in corn fields in
different places. Owing to the extreme drought, most of it

73

had flowered and shed its seed before the end of May.
There can be no doubt that this species is naturalised here,
but most likely originally escaped from the gardens.

Lavcdera arborect. This beautiful plant is now found on
rocks on the south side of the Great Ormes Head, and in
other places, but I think it probable it has escaped from
cultivation, as it is a very common plant in all the cottage
gardens, and it is so conspicuous that had it been found in
its present localities formerly, it would not fail to have been
noticed and recorded.

Geranium pyrenaicum was perhaps the best addition
made to the list of Llandudno plants, as it is undoubtedly
wild in Gloddaeth woods, on rocks, and in several other
places about Llandudno and Conway. It is a most beautful
plant, and would be a great addition if cultivated as a rock
plant in gardens, as it flowers earlier than most of the
other handsome species.

Geranium lucidum is common about Llandudno, but at
Llanrwst I met with a form the whole of the leaves of
which were intense crimson; an old wall was entirely
covered with this variety, and in contrast with the bright
green of the mosses looked exceedingly beautiful.

Trifolium striatum is very common on waste lands and
the sides of roads about Llandudno. This year it was
remarkably early, and, owing to the dry weather, the plants
growing in dry situations were only about two or three
inches in length, and one mass of seeds, whilst those in
moister places grew to the length of two feet, as seen in the
specimens exhibited.

Trifolium incamatum. Mr. Spencer Bickham and I
met with this species in abundance on the railway sides
beyond Bodorgan, Anglesey. It was far removed from any
house or farm, and there appeared to be no cultivated land
near, so that we fairly considered it, if not indigenous, at
any rate, truly naturalised and established.

74

Trifolium minus. In waste places near the sea' I met
with a very pretty variety, with all the leaves crimson; it
was not uncommon.

Medicccgo maculata is not uncommon about Gloddaeth,
and grows very large near the ruins of Gogarth Abbey.

Cotoneaster vulgaris I met with in two new localities,
one of them on the flat top of one of the hills on the Great
Orme, growing in the fissures of the rock, the other, to which
I was conducted by a little boy, is on the precipitous rocks
above some cottages. The name given to this plant by the
W elsh children is “ the little apple of the rock,” a very
pretty and characteristic name, the fruit being just like a
minature apple. I have now seen this plant in seven dis-
tinct localities, in all of them tolerably abundant.

Pyrus Aria is found here and there on the precipitous
rocks on the Great Orme.

Lonicera Xylosteum. Not uncommon in hedges and
thickets about Llanrwst ; no doubt introduced, but still
deserving notice as being here as truly wild as in any part
of Great Britain.

Potentilla verna. I am indebted to Mr. Spencer Bickham
for pointing out this uncommon species. He found it on
the slopes overlooking Llandudno on the Great Ormes
Head, rather sparingly, and I afterwards found it abun-
dantly on the tops of the rocks, very near to the locality of
Ghrysocoma.

Rubia 'peregrina ; wild madder. This is abundant on
the rocks of the Great Ormes Head, and is found remarkably
fine near Gloddaeth.

Centranthus ruber. This is but a naturalised species,
although in our lists of British plants ; it is very abundant
on the walls and ruins about Conway, and sparingly on the
rocks of the Great Ormes Head ; it is largely grown in the

75

gardens about Llandudno, and will, no doubt, soon rapidly
spread over the rocks and form a very beautiful addition to
the wild flowers.

Hieracium ccesium (Fries). I feel rather diffident in
saying much about the genus Hieracium, it is now split up
into such a number of species that it requires a botanist to
remodel all his ideas if they were formed some years ago
The species I now exhibit, and which agrees the nearest
with the figure and description in “ English Botany,” grows
on the highest rocks on the south of the Great Ormes Head;
the leaves are, however, maculate, and beneath of a rich
purple, when growing on its native rocks ; when trans-
planted to my garden, in Cheshire, in two years the macu-
lated leaf becomes plain and the underside green, and then
agrees with caesium, showing how variable it is and how
dependent on the limestone and sea breezes for its rich
colours.

Hypochceris maculata. This handsome species was in
full bloom this year the first week in June, and, owing to
the dry season, the specimens were more manageable and
easy to get into ordinary sized papers.

Hyoscyamus niger. This is always to be found near
Llandudno, on waste ground and near the sea, but this year
it was in profusion in many places. I noticed some stray
pigs eating the young shoots, but whether or not the plant
agreed with them I cannot say; it was very common near
several farm yards.

Orabanche major, now called rapum , and 0. hederoe.
The former of these I met with in abundance on the slopes
leading to Conway Bay, near Began wy Castle ; the latter is
about Conway Castle, on the ivy, but in the greatest
luxuriance near the natural arch on the back of the Little
Ormes Head.

76

The only fern I noticed of interest is Lastrea Fcenisecii
(Babb). This is common in the higher woods near Llanrwst;
it is very distinct in habit from its near allies, and no one
I think, who has seen it growing in its native places, could
doubt its being quite distinct.

Before closing these notes I would call your attention to
the curious variegated bramble leaves. These, and many
others, were gathered in a lane between Llandudno and
Gloddaeth, and I have noticed for many years that in this
lane for about twenty yards all, or nearly all, the brambles
are variegated ; and not only they, but the spirea and one
or two other plants. Our member, Mr. Bailey, accompanied
me to this place, and was much pleased with the extreme
beauty of these variegated leaves. What rendered it more
striking was that just in that place the leaves of the docks and
some other plants were spotted with a species or two of
uredo. In this part of the lane the soil was composed
partly of a very red clay, which no doubt was the cause of
these variegated leaves. On again visiting the place in
October, I found the leaves still more beautiful as some of
them were gaining the autumnal tints, and besides their
rich variegation had borders of the intensest orange and
crimson.

Mr. H. A. Hurst exhibited specimens of four very rare
European plants, collected by himself during the spring of
the present year in the neighbourhood of Gibraltar :

Orchis cordata.

Drosophyllum lusitamcum.

Scilla monophylla.

Narcissus viridiflorus.

Dr. Henry Simpson exhibited a male specimen of the

77

Acanthocinus aedilis. The larva of this beetle is a wood-
borer, making, according to Rye, “ wide galleries and per-
forations in pine stumps.” The perfect insect is remarkable
for the great length of the antennse, which in males are
often, as in this instance, four inches long, i.e. four times the
length of the body. It is said to have been found near
Accrington, but is rare in England, its head quarters being
apparently at Rannoch in Scotland. One was found by a
servant when going down the cellar steps of a house at
Runcorn, and unfortunately killed by her in her alarm at
such an insect alighting on her neck. Another — The one
sent to me — was found almost immediately afterwards by
some one else going into the cellar, and secured alive. It is
curious for them to occur in such a situation. A possible
hypothesis may be that they had lain concealed in the tim-
ber in the pupa condition, and had just made their exit. This
is rendered less unlikely by the fact of the house being new,
especially if the timber were “ green.”

Dr. Alcock exhibited a full-grown male Gonoplax
angulata. He found this crab about two months ago at
Southport, on the sandbank known by the name of the
“Seldom Seen.” A specimen of it is understood to have
been found many years ago, by the late Mr. Greaves, on the
shore at Southport, but no second example has been
recorded until the present one. Mr. Arnold Millson, who
being a resident has had constant opportunities of visiting
the shore at all seasons, states that he has seen several of
these crabs at different times, but had not preserved them.

Dr. Alcock also mentioned that all the jelly-fishes seen

78

on this sandbank, on the occasion above mentioned, were
swarming with parasitic Crustacea remarkable for their very
large and brilliant green eyes ; lie brought away and pre-
served a number of specimens.

He also showed a preparation preserved by corrosive
sublimate in a manner which he recommended for fine
dissections. The preparation had been kept in an open cup
for twelve months, simply water being added occasionally to
supply what was lost by evaporation. The advantages of
the plan were, very perfect preservation, no necessity for
closing up so that the specimen could not be got at, no fear
of losing a valuable dissection from accidental evaporation,
as where spirit is used, and cheapness. The method adopted
was to prepare a saturated solution of corrosive sublimate
in alcohol, and when a dissection in water is in progress, a
small quantity, as half a teaspoonful, of the solution is to be
added from day to day if the slightest appearance of putre-
faction is observed, but no more of it is used than is

absolutely necessary, and by the time the dissection is
completed, the specimen has become imperishable, from the

union of the corrosive sublimate with the tissues, and it
may then be kept in pure water, either open or mounted in
the usual way.

Mr. R. I). Darbishire exhibited a small collection of land
shells and slugs, made by him at Gibraltar in March, 1863,
during and after an extremely dry season. The following
is the list :

Arion empiricorum. Fer. In gardens on the North,

Limax gagates. Drap. The like localities.

Parmacella Valenciennii (?). Webb. Common,

79

Helix marmorata. Fer. Rossm. 243. Especially
amongst Palmito scrub, in crevices near Catalan
Bay, on the east side of the rock.

,, balearica. Ziegl. Rossm. 796.

,, Carthaginiensis. Rossm. 791. Frequent in the
weather-worn, superficial cells on the rocks on
the west side, below the Signal Station ; also
large, semifossil, in crevices.

„ lactea. Muller. Of this species varieties were
exhibited corresponding with Rossm. 800, 805,
807, 808, besides others more common.

„ ? Dupotetiana. Terver. Rossm. 553.

„ aspersa. Muller.

Also var. Mazzullii. Rossm. 295.

„ apicina. Muller. Rossm. 352.

„ virgata. Mont.

„ pi sana. Muller.

Bulimus decollatus. Lam.

„ acutus. Miiller.

,, ventricosus. Drap. In myriads on the neutral

ground on the turf, and in an open cutting
which exposed raised sea bottom of Melobesia.

Besides the foregoing, all of which had been taken living,
the following shells occurred, with the bones of small mam-
mals, in reddish clay in deep crevices of the rock, in various
places east and north.

Helix lens. Fer.

„ cellaria. Muller.

Achatina folliculus. Gronov.

,, acicula. Muller.

The shells of the last-named species were remarkably large.

80

Helix lactea and aspersa and pisana were commonly picked
by children for food.

At San Roque, within Spain, a slight search had detected
the following in addition :

Helix lactea. A lovely milk white variety, with a pale
pink lip.

Helix caperata. Mont.

Limnaeus pereger.

Physa fontinalis.

Succinea putris. Pfeiffer.

Melanopsis Dufourei. Fer. Very abundant in sluggish
ditches.

] Pisidium

81

Ordinary Meeting, December 29th, 1868.

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

Augustus S. Wilkins, M.A., and William Makshall
Watts, D.Sc., were elected Ordinary Members of the Society.

Mr. Wilde said it had occurred to him since the last
meeting of the Society that a comparison might be at-
tempted to be drawn between the controlling power of the
magneto-electric current over the rotation of a number of
armatures, and that of the voltaic current over the oscilla-
tions of a number of pendulums. Beyond the fact that
synchronism is produced in both cases through the agency
of an electric current, there is no resemblance between the
two actions. In the case of the armatures, the synchronism
is produced by the mutual action of several rotating bodies
upon one another, or by the dominant influence of several
bodies upon one; whereas, in the case of the pendulums,
the synchronism of the system is produced by the influence
of one body alone upon several. Again, the synchronism of
a number of pendulums is only accomplished by the skilful
adaptation of means to an end, while the synchronous
rotation of a number of armatures is a phenomenon which
exhibits itself without the exercise of any ingenuity what-
ever; and so far as he had studied this peculiar electro-
mechanical action, no amount of ingenuity can produce the
synchronous rotation of the armatures by means of the
voltaic current, as magneto-electric currents, and circuits,
seem absolutely essential to the manifestation of this result.
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. Till. No. 7 — Session 1868-9.

82

“ Note on the Organs of Fructification of Calamodendron,”
by E. W. Binney, F.R.S.

In my paper on Calamodendron, published in Yol. XXI.
of the “ Transactions of the Palseontographical Society,”
p. 27, is figured and described a plant with organs of fruc-
tification attached to it from the lower Brooksbottom seam
of coal near Ewood Bridge, in the county of Lancaster.
The plant consists of a stout stem, having traces of ribs and
furrows, and seven joints at which knots appear. From
these last-named parts, on each side of the stem, are seen
to proceed seven cones, all about half an inch in length,
springing outwards in nearly a horizontal direction in the
specimen. These cones do not show any trace of a central
axis ; but are composed of crown-shaped masses, most pro-
bably of sporangia, contained in receptacles, arranged around
an axis. Eight or nine of these can be seen in one cone.
Unfortunately, the specimen being in soft shale, no evidence
can be obtained of its internal structure, so as to ascertain
if the sporangia contained any spores. If this is not the
same plant as Geoppert’s Aphyllostachys Jugleriana it is
very closely allied to that plant.

Mr. John Aitken, of Bacup, furnished me with the speci-
men. At the time the Monograph was published my opinion
was that the only point in which the specimen differed from
that figured and described by Ludwig of the fruit of Catamites
in Bunker and von Meyer’s Palseontographica, Yol. X.,
1861 to 1863, was that it only possesses 8 to 9 recep-
tacles or cells against his 15 to 16.

Since that time Captain Aitken, of Irwell Yale, and Mr.
John Aitken, have been so good as to conduct me to the
place where the specimens were found, and I have collected
myself far more perfect and complete specimens than those
which had previously come under my observation.

In both Ludwig’s and Geoppert’s specimens the cones or
organs of fructification, like the leaves, were arranged in

83

whorls at each node of the stem. The same arrangement
was observed by me in the first specimens from Ewood
Bridge which came under my observation. Now, although
that appears to have been the more common form of attach-
ment of the cones to the stem, there is undoubted evidence
that some of these organs occurred at the extremity of the
branches ornamented with whorls of leaves at their nodes,
as is seen in the fructification of the common Equisetum.

The number of receptacles or cells containing sporangia
in the first specimens I met with were 8 to 9 in nnmber,
but I have since found individuals with 15 to 17, shewing
therefore that the Ewood Bridge specimens have a greater
resemblance to Ludwig and Geoppert’s than could be then
proved.

The cones, whether proceeding from the nodes of the stem
in whorls, or at the end of the branches, have at their bases
delicate leaves ( Aster ophy Hites). The stem of the branch
to which the cone is attached in the last named specimen
is remarkably slight for the size of the cone, a character
which appears very common with regard to the organs of
fructification of coal plants at the end of branches. Of
course, the axis of the cone is only a prolongation of the
stem of the plant. In the Ewood Bridge specimens as yet
no evidence has been obtained as to the spores contained
in their sporangia to identify them with the cones of Cala-
modendron commune ; but as to their external characters,
the one very much resembles the other, and although found
in different localities, the fossils occupy about the same
geological position in the Lancashire Coal Field. One thing
appears pretty certain, namely, that these small cones are
the organs of fructification of Catamites of some kind, and
at present my observations lead me to the conclusion that
they are the organs of fructification of the Calamodendron
commune , or a plant very nearly allied to it, and having a
similar structure. They do not afford us any information

84

of the anatomy of the plant like my coal specimens ; hut
they show us the characters of the leaves, and the connec-
tion of the organs of fructification with the stem of the
plant.

“On War Rockets,” by James Nasmyth, C.E., Corre-
sponding Member of the Society.

Under the impression that the improvement suggested in
the following remarks on the above-named subject may
lead to important results when carried into effect, I have
ventured to solicit the favour of the attention of the mem-
bers of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
to the subject, in the hope that it may interest them, and
by their kind favour be recorded in their transactions, and
so place the suggested improvements in question at the ser-
vice of the public.

The valuable properties possessed by rockets as imple-
ments of warfare are so great, that could precision of flight
be added they would rise to a position of the highest
importance as destructive agents.

The comparative lightness and portability of rockets,
and the fact of their combining gun, charge, shot or shell,
all in one and the same projectile, together with their
alarm-producing and highly destructive properties, has (not-
withstanding their wildness or uncertainty of flight) caused
them to be employed in warfare, in many instances with
most effective and important results.

It is with the object of giving to such rockets all the
advantages of rifle action, and so securing precision in their
flight, that I desire to suggest means for effecting that

85

important object by an agency that appears to me to be at
once simple and effective.

Before proceeding to describe the means whereby I pro-
pose to effect the object in question, I would premise that
what constitutes the true rifle principle in a projectile is
not only the condition of axial rotation in the line of flight,
but, above all, is the condition that the projectile possess the
highest degree of axial rotation from the first instant of its
forward course.

Unless this latter condition be present, no subsequent
axial rotation, be it ever so great, can correct a bias or
unprecise flight after the flight has commenced.

The grand desideratum to be sought for is, that at the
instant the rocket commences its flight it shall possess the
highest degree of axial rotation. With such conditions pre-
sent, we shall confer on our rocket all the properties (as
regards precision of flight) of the most perfect rifle projec-
tile.

It is difficult by words alone to convey a perfectly clear
idea of the mechanical arrangement by which I propose to
effect this desirable object. I have therefore accompanied
these remarks with an illustrative diagram of the mechan-
ism by means of which I propose to confer on the rocket
the requisite degree of high axial rotation so that, like a true
rifle projectile, it shall possess that indispensable condition
of precision of flight from and at the very instant it sets out
on its course.

Before proceeding to describe the distinctive features of
my contrivance for effecting the object in question, it may
be as well to allude to the means that have been employed
in the endeavour to secure to war rockets rifle s^tion or

86

precision of flight. These consist in placing the rocket in a
V-shaped trough, by which the direction and inclination of
the rocket is suitably secured previous to commencing its
flight, and so far holding the rocket fair in the direction of
the object aimed at.

Besides this an endeavour is made to give the rocket
axial rotation during its flight by causing the propulsive
gases, while issuing at the rear of the rocket, to rush through
skew holes. This latter arrangement does, to a certain
extent, give to the rocket axial rotation. But, as axial
rotation given by such means does not come into effective
operation until the rocket has proceeded a long way on its
course, it comes into action too late to have any influence in
securing precision of flight.

In order, then, to effect our object I place the rocket
inside a tube (into which it slides freely); to this tube,
which serves to secure the aim of the rocket, I give, by
mechanical means, an axial rotation of some thousands of
revolutions per minute, which is transmitted to the rocket
then resting within it.

The rocket, while thus revolving on its axis at the high
velocity above named, is then fired, and so rushes forth
from its guide-tube impressed with all the conditions of a
perfect rifle projectile, and, as such, with every condition
present that can secure its reaching the object aimed at.

Reference to the diagram which accompanies this paper
will enable the reader to obtain, as I trust, a clear idea of
the mechanical means and arrangements by which I propose
to effect the object in question.

It consists of a suitable iron stand, supporting the rocket
and its guide tube A, the guide tube resting on loose

87

friction wheels, which, while preserving with the utmost
exactness the direction of the axis of the guide tube and
rocket, permits the guide tube and rocket to revolve on its
axis with all due facility.

The requisite amount of axial rotation is conveyed to the
guide tube and thence to the rocket resting within it, by
means of a powerful clock spring S, transmitting its rotation
to the rocket through the train of wheels C', C", C'".

Previous to firing the rocket the wheel C" is locked by
the catch or trigger D ; the spring S is then wound up and
the aim and elevation of the rocket adjusted. The match

88

of the rocket is then lighted, and in order to secure ener-
getic combustion of the rocket ere it is allowed to rush forth
on its course, the rocket is held in check by three slight
springs within the guide tube at the rear of the rocket, by
means of which it is not permitted to rush forth until the
proper energy of discharge of propulsive gases has been
acquired. As soon as this is the case the rocket frees itself
and then rushes forth impressed with and possessing every
condition of a true rifle projectile combined with all those
important properties which rockets possess as implements
of warfare.

Ordinary Meeting, January 12th, 1869.

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

Mr. William Huggins, F.R.S., &c., was elected an Hono-
rary Member of the Society.

M. Barre' de Saint Venant, Member of the Imperial
Institute of France, was elected a Corresponding Member
of the Society.

“Remarks on War Rockets/’ by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

At the last meeting of the Society a communication from
Mr. J. Nasmyth was read “ On War Rockets.” I was not
present at the meeting, but have read the paper as printed
in our Proceedings. I propose to make a few remarks on the
subject of his paper, and to suggest some other method for
obtaining similar results.

Rockets have been employed in warfare from a very early
period. They were used by the Chinese in their wars with
the Tartars in the 13th century ; by the Venetians in 1380;
and by the French in 1449. They were also employed
against our troops by Tippoo Saib at the siege of Seringa-
patam. The merit of the introduction of this missile
amongst our engines of war is due to Sir William
Congreve, who in 1804 very materially improved the
rocket for purposes of war, by making them of large size
and giving them a greatly extended range, averaging
3,000 yards. Since that time Congreve’s name has
generally been connected with the war rocket. He had
a very high opinion of the importance of these projectiles,
and thought that rockets from half a ton to a ton in weight
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society.-— Vol. YIII. No. 8 — Session 1868-9.

90

might he employed in reducing fortresses. Their efficiency
in our hands has been very recently shown against King
Theodore’s troops at Magdala. It does appear strange that
a weapon which combines so many desirable qualifications
should be so long neglected, whilst guns, which are so much
more cumbrous and expensive, should receive so much
attention.

The want of precision in the flight of the rocket has
doubtless been one reason which has prevented it from
being employed more extensively. This deficiency has been
in some degree removed by the improvements introduced
by Mr. Hale, who suggested that a number of oblique per-
forations. should be made near the neck of the rocket,
through which the ignited composition could escape, and
thus impart a rotatory motion to the tube of the rocket.

Mr. Nasmyth’s ingenious contrivance for effecting the
rotation of the rocket from the commencement of its flight
would doubtless be a very great improvement, but there are
certain considerations connected with the efficient employ-
ment of rockets which render it very undesirable that that
branch of the service should be encumbered with any appa-
ratus, especially mechanism, which could be easily rendered
useless by accident or design; and to protect the wheel-
work from rifle bullets by iron casings would render the
apparatus too weighty for active warfare. At present
rockets are a light and simple artillery which can be rapidly
manoeuvred, they are not liable to derangement of parts,
and they afford a small target for the enemy’s riflemen.

The question which occurred to me whilst reading Mr.
Nasmyth’s communication was this — Is there any mode of
imparting precision of flight to a rocket without adding any
machinery liable to derangement or materially increasing
the weight of the present apparatus ?

The first scheme which suggested itself was to replace the
present Y-rest with a long rifled tube, and to enable this

91

tube to impart the rotatory motion to the rocket case, it
would be necessary to rifle the outside of the rocket
case to correspond. This could be added in several
ways to the present cases. One method, which would
be inexpensive in degree, would be to force the rocket
case into a rifled sheet iron tube — these tubes could
be easily made of thin sheet metal in a draw bench,
on a rifled mandril, by means well known to mechan-
icians. In this way we should have a rifled rocket
case which would receive a rotatory motion at the com-
mencement of its flight from the rest. If the friction
caused by the rifling proved objectionable, possibly by clos-
ing the end of the tube rest an additional impetus at the
commencement of the flight of the rocket would be obtained.
A small charge of gunpowder, or preferably one of gun
cotton, placed at the end of the rocket composition during
the manufacture, might be the best method of overcoming
the friction. A new form of rocket stand would unfortun-
ately be required under these new conditions. If rifled
rockets proved a success, it would be easy to give the cases
the proper rifling to commence with. As I have before
stated, iron tubes of the desired strength according to size
of rocket, could be drawn on rifled mandrils. I should
prefer that the rifling of the outside and inside of the cases
should correspond, and should expect that the issue of the
ignited composition through the rifled interior, would mater-
ially assist in continuing the rotation after the rocket had
left the rest, acting in the same manner as Mr. Hale’s
oblique orifices. Considerable accuracy of aim might be
obtained without rifling the rocket case. If we wish to give
an arrow precision of flight, we affix feathers to one end of
the shaft to act as rudders, and if these feathers are placed
exactly in a line with the shaft, we have directive power
without rotation. I would therefore propose experiments
to be made by attaching thin metal feathers to the rocket

92

case ; these could be attached to the rockets now in use by
crimping up, or corrugating thin sheet metal into feathers,
or rudders, and forming them into a tube, which could be
forced on to the rocket cases ; for those rockets intended to
ricochet or for low angles, perhaps, three guides would be
quite sufficient, having none at the under side of the case,
because they might be knocked off at the first graze, and
only tend to deflect the rocket from its intended destination;
those for great elevations and long range, might be sur-
rounded with a considerable number of feathers, each of
small superficial area, to reduce the deflecting power of the
wind at great elevations to a minimum.

Rocket cases of sheet metal could be so formed that the
feathers would have the appearance of star-like radiations,
the inside corresponding to the outside. In rockets thus
formed the issue of the gases would be in a straight line,
and would assist the directive power of the external feathers.
Of course, the oblique orifices used by Mr. Hale would not
be required in these rockets. The rammers for the compo-
sition would have to be adapted to this new form, and the
usual V rest, would require one or more parallel guides for
the feathers. I should expect feathered rockets to obtain a
longer range than rifled ones, and the apparatus would not
of necessity require to be more cumbrous than those in
present use. I do not profess to have made a study of the
subject, and, therefore, feel it necessary to apologize for
taking up your time with suggestions in which I may have
been anticipated; but up to the present moment they
appear to me to be novel ; how far they may be practically
useful, I must leave to experimental artillerists to decide.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., said that at the meeting of
the Society, on the 1st December last, he brought before
the members the valuable discovery of Professor Adolphe
Brongniart of a fossil cone, containing both microspores and

93

macrospores, and showed that it belonged to a plant o^
the carboniferous epoch. It has long been supposed that
Lepidostrobus was the fructification of Lepidodendron, but
no further evidence of the fact had been adduced than that
which Dr. J. D. Hooker, F.R.S., had given by finding the
cones in the insides of Lepidodendron Harcourtii and
elegans, which could only be considered of a very unsatis-
factory nature. In a cone in the author’s possession in
every respect similar to the late Dr. Robert Brown’s cele-
brated specimen of Triplosporite, but having the column
in a more complete state of preservation, there is most
conclusive evidence from internal structure that the Trip-
losporite is the fruit of Lepidodendron Harcourtii, the pith
vascular cylinder, vascular bundles communicating with the
leaves or scales, and the outer cylinder being the same in
the cone as in the stem, thus justifying Mr. Carruther’s
opinion, that the cone was a Lepidostrobus. The large
spores found in a Lepidostrobus described by Dr. Hooker
in the 2nd volume of the Memoirs of the Geological Sur-
vey, as well as similar specimens found by the author in
coal at Wigan, and described in the Quarterly Journal of
the Geological Society for May, 1849, are most probably
both macrospores of the fructification of Lepidodendron,
and having come from the lower portion of a cone, whilst
Dr. Brown’s were from the upper part. The same may be
said of Professor Morris’ specimen belonging to Mr. Prestwich
from Colebrook Dale, described and figured in vol. v. of the
Transactions of the Geological Society, published in 1840,
which clearly came from the lower portion of a cone of
Lepidodendron.

In the new genus Flemingites, described and figured by
Mr. Carruthers in vol. ii. of the Geological Magazine for
October, 1865, there are two kinds of sporangia, those in
the upper part of this long and slender cone being some-
thing like the sporangia of the Lepidodendron, but ar-

94

ranged in whorls and probably filled with microspores,
whilst the lowest scales supported sporangia containing
macrospores. This the author gathered from much more
perfect specimens than those which Mr. Carruthers had to
work upon. Most certainly the little flattened discs which
he described as sporangia are found on scales at the base of
the cone, and not in the middle or upper portions of it, as
many of the author’s specimens clearly prove. When Pro-
fessor Brongniart’s paper is published and drawings of his
specimen are given we shall be better able to understand
the relation of the genus Flemingites to Lepidodendron.

“ Has the Human Mind Progressed or Retrograded since
the time of Augustus V by H. It. Forrest, Esq.

In the introduction of this paper a rapid review of the
state of the Roman Empire under Augustus was taken, as
also of the effects produced by the mighty thinkers of the
Grecian republics and by the great intellects of the Augustan
period on all subsequent times. Stress was laid on the
Roman mode of conciliating and amalgamating all those
who came under the sway of the City of the Seven Hills,
whereby the mighty empire of Augustus was created. The
civil and religious liberty of the Romans was then brought
under consideration and contrasted with the state of Europe
regarding these subjects during many centuries, even up to
the present day. The dark ages were also reviewed, and
the essayist endeavoured to show that the human mind was
still suffering from the prostration it then underwent. The
state of our present civilization called forth some remarks,
and it was endeavoured to be demonstrated that the present
times have not improved in this regard upon the ancients,
when it is remembered the amount of brute force requisite
to keep order in civilized Europe. The gigantic frauds and
the enormous mercantile delinquencies, engendered by the
ruthless desire after wealth, periodically appearing, and each

95

time of greater and intenser magnitude and virulence, tend
to prove, the essayist opined, that the moral and intellectual
powers of the human mind were being gradually under-
mined ; and as luxury and its Sybarite associates were the
forerunners of “ the Dark Ages,” so are we now gradually
entering on the same path, leading to a similar result.

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

January 5th, 1869.

E. W. Binney, F.RS., F.G.S., President of the Section,

in the Chair.

“On a Diurnal Inequality in the Direction and Velocity
of the Wind, apparently Connected with the Daily Changes
of Magnetic Declination,” by Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

While engaged lately in a discussion of the observations
of rainfall made at the stations belonging to the Manchester
Corporation Water Works, a question arose which rendered
it desirable to ascertain, if possible, whether any law of
periodicity existed in the daily changes of direction and
force of the wind. It has long been known that the force
or velocity of the wind is generally greater during the day
than the night ; but I am not aware that this diurnal varia-
tion of force has been discussed in connection with the direction
of the wind, or with other meteorological phenomena. On
proceeding to collect materials for such a discussion, I found
that the only published results of observations of the wind
that were available for this purpose were those given in the

96

annual volumes of the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, which
are derived frombi-hourly observations with aself-registering
anemograph. This instrument was first mounted in July,
1856, at a height of 22 feet from the ground; but was
removed in August, 1858, to a station at the top of the tower
of the Observatory, at an elevation of 110 feet, where it has
since remained. The results derived from its indications
are given in the annual volumes of the “ Radcliffe Observa-
tions,” in three tables, numbered XII., XIII., and XIV.
Table XII. shows the “Mean Monthly Directions of the
Wind every Two Hours;” Table XIII. the “Mean Bi-horary
Velocities of the Wind for each Month, estimated in the
Directions given in Table XII.;” and Table XIV. the
“Actual Mean Monthly Bi-horary Velocities.” Up to the
end of 1858 the mean monthly directions were determined
without regarding the velocities ; but in reducing the obser-
vations of 1859, the present director, the Rev. Robt. Main,
F.R.S., took account of the velocities in determining the
mean directions, and this method has been used through the
succeeding years ; and, as it is undoubtedly more correct than
that employed by the late Mr. J ohnson, I have omitted from
my discussion the results obtained in the years 1856-58.
The following Table I. contains the mean bi-horary direc-
tions of the wind extracted from Table XII. of the annual
volumes of the “Radcliffe Observations;” and Table II.
contains the corresponding mean velocities in miles taken
from Table XIII.

Table I.

Oh.

2h.

4h.

6h.

8h.

lOh.

12h.

14h.

1

16h.

18h.

20h.

22h.

1859

241°

244°

237°

231°

231°

226°

230° 231°

225°

232°

232°

235°

1860

249

254

252

253

249

250

252

247

247

250

245

257

1861

234

230

227

233

224

228

232

'232

232

230

231

240

1862

234

235

234

232

227

231

228

229

229

235

229

233

1863

225

226

229

222

226

218

218

217

213

214

219

219

11864

206

211

208

200

189

187

189

196

202

198

206

201

1865

198

204

195

193

187

188

190

i

196

194

200

i

202

198

97

Table II.

rd

1

A

o

4

l

A

<M

eg

I

rd

4

l

4

rd

o

r— 1
1

x>

rd

<M

rH

1

A

o

rH

rd

rH

1

rH

rS

CD

rH

1

rH

rH

00

rH

1

eg

rH

A

1

A

oo

rH

rd

<N

1

rd

o

CO

rd

o

1.

4

<m

1859

11*4

10-4

9-4

8-4

9-1

8-5

8-2

7-5

7-8

7-4

7-5

9-0

1860

18-3

18-6

17-6

17-7

15-9

17*1

15-8

14-9

14-8

15-1

176

19*2

16-8

1861

161

17-3

14-9

11-2

11-7

91

11-4

11*0

11-9

12-3

12-8

16-6

13-0

1862

187

17-2

16-5

14*1

13-9

14-2

14*1

14-2

14-2

14-1

16-2

17-7

15-4

1863

21-2

20-2

18-5

16-8

175

16-9

17-6

170

163

16-3

18-5

20-9

18-1

1864

139

14-3

12-9

10-8

11-0

11*7

11-2

10-5

9-5

96

11-3

12-6

11-6

1865

14*1

13-7

11-4

10-6

10-7

11-0

10'5

9*9

100

10-8

12-9

139

11-6

Resolving the directions in each of the columns of Table I
into their rectangular co-ordinates A and B, in the direction
of the meridian and at right angles to it, by using the corre-
sponding velocities in Table II., and taking the means of
the values of A and B, we obtain the mean direction 6 for
the hour indicated at the head of the column, from the
equation

Tan 0

A

and the corresponding mean velocity v from the equation

A

COS0

The mean directions and velocities thus obtained are
shown in Table III.

Table III.

h.

Mean

Direction.

... 227 41 ...

Mean

Bi-horary

Velocity.

h.

Mean

Direction.

... 221 43 ...

Mean

Bi-horary

Velocity.

0 ...

... 15*58

12 ...

... 11-84

2 ...

... 229 46 ...

... 15-35

• 14 ...

... 222 29 ...

... 11-58

4 ...

... 227 52 ...

... 13-83

16 ...

... 221 57 ...

... 11-55

6 ...

... 226 0 ...

... 12-08

18 ...

... 224 10 ...

... 11-64

8 ...

... 221 33 ...

... 12-02

20 ...

... 224 5 ...

... 13-32

10 ...

... 220 27 ...

... 11-74

22 ...

... 227 43 ...

... 14-78

In Table XII. of the results of the “ Radcliffe Observa-
tions” the mean directions are given for the hours Oh., 2h.,
4h., &c.; but in Table XIII. the velocities are given for the
bi-horary intervals Oh. — 2h., 2h. — 4h., 4h. — 6h., &c., or for

98

the hours lh., 3h., 5h., &c. It is evident, therefore, that the
velocities in Table III. do not strictly correspond to the
hours and directions opposite to which they are placed;
but, although the errors which would arise from this cause
might not materially affect the ultimate results, I have
thought it desirable to reduce the velocities to the times for
which the directions are given. This I have done by simply
taking for each hour the mean of the velocities for the two
preceding and two following hours. The corrected results
are given in Table IV.

Table IV.

h.

Mean

Direction.

... 227 41 ...

Mean

Bi-horary

Velocity.

h.

Mean

Direction.

... 221 43 ...

Mean

Bi-horary

Velocity.

0 ...

... 15*18

12 ...

... 11-79

2 ...

... 229 46 ...

... 15*47

14 ...

... 222 29 ...

... 11*71

4 ...

... 227 52 ...

... 14*59

16 ...

... 221 57 ...

... 11*56

6 ...

... 226 0 ...

... 12*95

18 ...

... 224 10 ..

... 11*60

8 ...

... 221 33 ...

... 12*05

20 ...

... 224 5 ..

... 12*48

10 ...

... 220 27 ...

... 11*88

22 ...

... 227 43 ..

... 14*05

On looking over the numbers in this table it will be seen
that from about 9h. to 19h., or from 9 p.m. to 7a.m., the velocity
of the wind is nearly constant; it afterwards rapidly
increases, attains a maximum a little before two o’clock, and
then returns rapidly to the night’s rate. The variations in
the direction of the wind also follow those of the velocity
pretty closely. The total movement of the air between
9 p.m. and 7 a.m. is 58*52 miles in a mean direction from
S. 42° 8' W. ; and between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. the total move-
ment is 96*67 miles from S. 46° 36' W. It appears, therefore*
that at about 7 a.m. a force which has been almost, if not
quite, inoperative during the previous ten hours begins to
act on the wind from a westerfy direction, and gradually,
but rapidly, increasing in intensity, produces its maximum
effect between 1 and 2 p.m ; it then gradually diminishes,
and finally ceases to act about 9 p.m. The intensity of this
force as measured by the changes which it produces in the
direction and velocity of the wind is at its mean value

99

during its increase at about 9-32 a.m., and during its decrease
at about 5-12 p.m. Now, these times correspond very nearly
with those at which the magnetic declination is at the mean
for the day as determined from the Greenwich magnetic
observations, and the idea is therefore at once suggested
that the daily variations in the direction and velocity of the
wind are probably connected in some way with the diurnal
changes of magnetic declination. It will be seen that the
following comparison of the two classes of phenomena
strongly supports this view.

The force which acts upon

the wind during the day

Mag. Dec. at its principal

begins to operate about..

7-0 a.m.

Max. East about .........

7-48 a.m

Is at its mean value

9-32 „

Mean position

9-42 „

„ max. „

1-26 p.m.

Max. West

1-0 p. m

„ mean „

5-12 „

Mean position ...............

5-27 „

Ceases to operate or be-

comes almost inappreci-

able

9-0 „

Secondary Max. East

9-54 „

With one exception the epochs of the wind force occur
somewhat earlier than those of the magnetic variations;
but, considering the nature of the wind observations, and
that they only extend over a period of seven years, and have
not been reduced with special reference to this inquiry,
these differences may probably be in great measure due to
uncompensated errors in the results derived from the indi-
cations of the anemograph.

We have seen that the movement of the wind from 7 a.m.
to 9 p.m. was 96'67 miles in a direction from S. 46° 36' W.
to N. 46° 36' E. ; but if the direction and velocity which
prevailed from 9 p.m to 7 a.m. had continued unchanged
from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. the movement during the latter
interval would have been 81 ’93 miles in a direction from
S. 42° 8' W. From these distances and the difference of the
angles of direction we find that the effect of the additional
force which acts upon the wind from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. was
to impel the air through a distance of 16 ‘3 miles in a direc-

100

tion from S. 69° 36' W. to N. 69° 36' E. Now, this direction
is almost exactly that of a perpendicular to the magnetic
meridian. Referring to the Greenwich Magnetical Observa-
tions, we find that the magnetic declination in the years

1859-1865

was as follows

1859 ..

21 23-5 W.

1863 ....

.... 20 46*0 W.

1860 ..

21 14*3 „

1864 ....

.... 20 38*0 „

1861 ..

21 5-4 „

1865 ....

.... 20 35-0 „

1862 ..

20 52*0 „

The mean for the seven years is 20° 56*3' W., a perpen-
dicular to which is S. 69° 3*7' W. to N. 69° 3*7' E., thus
differing only 32*3' from the above determination. This
close relation to the direction of the magnetic meridian,
taken in connection with the points of agreement between
the phases of the two classes of phenomena already adverted
to, seems to establish beyond doubt the fact that the force
which produces the diurnal inequality in the direction and
velocity of the wind, and the earth’s magnetic force, are in
some way intimately connected with and dependent upon
each other.

It has, I believe, been generally supposed that the mean
position of the magnetic needle for the 24 hours of each day
indicates the direction of the true magnetic meridian, or is
that in which the needle is subject to the least amount of
disturbing force; and that its diurnal oscillations are due to
two forces acting alternately in opposite directions, or to
one force, the acting centre of which changes its position so
that during part of the 24 hours it is on one side of the
magnetic meridian, and during the other part on the oppo-
site side; but the results of this discussion of the Oxford
Anemograph Observations seem to show that the greatest
easterly deflection of the needle should be taken as the
direction of the true magnetic meridian; and that the daily
oscillations are due to one disturbing force only which,
when in operation, acts always in the same direction.

101

Table V.

h. h.

h. h.

h. h. !

h. li.

h. h.

h. h.

h. h.

h. h.

h. h.

h. h.

h, h.

h. h.

Means.

0-2

2-4

4-6

6-8

8-10

10-12

12-14

14-16

16-18

18-20

20-22

22-0

1859

2518

24-52

2193

19-88

18-83

18-23

18-23

1819

17-81

1913

21-68

2619

20-82

1860

25-53

25-02

23-04

2118

20 03

19-32

1856

18-49

18-31

19-68

22 ‘64

26-24

21-50

1861

23 76

23 10

21-18

18-58

1800

17 39

17-55

1713

17-51

18-06

20-02

23-34

19-63

1862

24-83

23-88

21-60

1975

18-93

1871

18-32

18-21

18-28

19-48

22-70

24-79

20-80

1863

25 01

24-75

22-63

20-04

18.99

18-54

19-06

18-33

18-45

19-26

2177

25-02

20 '99

1864

2319

23-89

21-58

19-15

18-03

17-70

17-21

16-65

16-39

17-18

20-32

22-88

19-54

1865

22-54

21-99

20-07

1777

1674

16-31

16 48

16 ‘26

16-39

1716

19-92

22-12

18-65

Means.

24-33

23-88

2172

19-48

18-50

18-03

17-91

17-61

17-59

18-56

21-29

2436

20-27

Differences 0

45 2

•16 2-24 0-98 0

•47 0

•12 0

•30 O'

02 0

■97 2

73 3

■07 0

•03

Table V. shows the actual mean annual bi-horary velo-
cities of the wind for the seven years 1859-65; and it will
be seen from the differences between the mean values at the
foot of the table that the maximum velocity occurs at about
Oh. 45m., the minimum at about 17h. 0m.; and that during
the increase of velocity the rate of change was greatest at
about 21h. 80m., and during the decrease at about 5h. 30m.
Here we have the maximum occurring somewhat earlier
than when the direction of the wind is taken into ac-
count, thus bringing all the phases of the wind changes
somewhat in advance, in point of time, of those of the
magnetic variations, and indicating therefore that the
magnetic disturbances are due to electrical currents gene-
rated or modified by changes and disturbances of the
atmosphere.

Since writing the above I have been kindly favoured by
Mr. Main, with a copy of the unpublished results of the
Anemograph observations for 1866. These I have com-
bined with the results of the previous seven years, and
have obtained the following mean bi-horary values of the
direction and movement of the wind, for the entire period
of eight years : —

h.

0 ...

Mean

Direction.

... 224 11 ...

Mean

Bi-horary

Velocity.

... 15-43

h.

12 ...

Mean

Direction.

... 216 2 ...

Mean

Bi-horary

Velocity.

... 12-12

2 ...

... 225 19 ...

... 15-73

14 ...

... 216 47 ...

... 11-96

4 ...

... 223 10 ...

... 14-89

16 ...

... 216 13 ...

... 11-82

6 ...

... 220 20 ...

... 13-32

18 ...

... 218 56 ...

... 11-87

8 ...

... 216 36 ...

... 12-41

20 ...

... 218 53 ...

... 12 71

10 ...

... 214 42 ...

... 12-24

22 ...

... 222 26 ...

... 14-25

102

The mean direction was S. 40° W., and mean daily move-
ment 159 miles. The direction of the disturbing force was
from S. 69° 3' W., and it had the effect of giving to the air
a mean daily movement in that direction of 16 ‘86 miles.
The mean magnetic declination for 1866 was 20° 28' W.,
and the mean for the eight years 1859-66 was 20° 5 2' *8 W.
A line perpendicular to this is S. 69° 7,,2 W. to N. 69° 7/*2 E.
Thus the mean direction in which the disturbing force acted
during the eight years, differed only 4' *2 from that of a
perpendicular to the magnetic meridian. The observations
for 1866, therefore, fully bear out the conclusions to which
I had been led from the discussion of those of the preceding
seven years.

It will be evident that a force which moves the atmos-
phere daily, through an average distance of 16 to 17 miles,
in a direction differing considerably from the mean direction
of the wind, is an important element to be taken into
account in framing a scientific system of forecasting the
state of the weather.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.
January 4th, 1869.

J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

Mr. Spencer H. Bickham, Jun., and Mr. James Higgin
were elected members of the Section.

Mr. A. G. Latham exhibited a beautiful set of microscopic
slides, and read a short paper in illustration of the various

103

organs and orders of Fungi. The paper was accompanied
by Tulasne’s fine work entitled “Selecta Fungorum Carpo-
logia,” and was further illustrated by a set of Cooke’s
“ Fungi Brittanici exsiccata,”

Mr. Thomas Coward exhibited specimens of the following
Willows from the Tyrol, considered to be hybrids, and of
the supposed parent species.

Salix macrophylla, Kerner, between S. grandifolia, Sering, and
S. Caprea, L.

Salix calliantha, Kerner, between S. purpurea, L., and S.
daphnoides, L.

Salix spuria, Schleich, between S. arbuscula, L., and S. helve-
tica, ScliL

Salix Huteri, Kerner, between S. helvetica, Schl., and S.
hastata, L.

Also three very distinct forms of S. nigricans. Sm.

A selection of Proteacese, principally from Drummond’s
Australian Collections, referred to by Meisner in De Can-
dolle’s Prodromus, was also exhibited as illustrating the
combination of great variety of form, especially in foliage
and fruit, with a well defined ordinal character.

It was suggested that the varieties of our common indi-
genous plants were still worthy of the careful examination of
botanists, especially in relation to those physiological aspects
to which attention has been directed by Mr. Darwin’s
inquiries and reasonings respecting the propagation and
permanence of aberrant organic forms.

Mr. Charles Bailey distributed specimens of Scirpus
parvulus R. and S., collected by himself, in August last, at
its newly discovered station in Wicklow. The plant grows
in abundance near the harbour of Arklow, at the mouth of
the river Ovoca, on large sandy flats, which are covered by

104

each tide. Very few plants were met with in flower and
not a single specimen in fruit, and the plant is propagated
by minute pear-shaped underground buds, whose tapering
ends are somewhat recurved. Mr. Bailey pointed out the
specific characters of the plant, and mentioned that it could
be most readily identified by the porcelain-like appearance
of the lower part of the culms.

A paper by Mr. E. Heelis, Dimbula, was communicated
by Mr. H. A. Hurst, entitled “ Ceylon : its Climate, Natural
History, &c.” The paper included many interesting facts
having reference to the zoology, botany, and geology of the
central portion of the island.

Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., exhibited a series of micro-
scopical slides, consisting chiefly of the leaves of tropical
plants.

105

Ordinary Meeting, January 26th, 1869.

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

Chair.

“ On Microscopical Examination of Dust,” by J. B. Dan-
cer, F.R.A.S.

The author stated that he had made some microscopical
examinations of dust collected in June, July, and August
last, and also of the particles contained in the rain water
after the long drought. He had intended to bring these
observations before the Society in a complete form, but
has not hitherto found time to do so. He proposed
to carry on observations during every month in the
year, for the purpose of recording the average amount
of solid matter deposited on a given area, and also as
far as possible to ascertain the character of the deposits.
The observations so far have shown, as might have been
expected, that the dust in various localities, at different
altitudes, and under other varying conditions, contained par-
ticles differing in magnitude, appearance, and quantity for
the same superficial area. In every instance molecular
activity was abundant, but the animal life was very variable
in amount, the largest number of moving organisms being
in the dust collected at the lowest points — this was about
five feet above the surface of the earth. This dust also
contained the largest proportion in magnitude and quantity
of vegetable matter. These observations also show that in
thoroughfares where there are many animals engaged in the
traffic, the majority of the light dust which when disturbed
reaches the average height of five feet, or about the level of
Proceedings — Lit. &Phil. Society. — Vol. YIII. No. 9 — Session 1868-9,

106

a foot passenger s mouth, consists of a large proportion of
vegetable matter which has passed through the stomachs of
animals, or which has suffered partial decomposition in some
way or other. This is not an agreeable piece of information,
but it is a fact. It shows the necessity, in a sanitary point
of view, of the streets being well watered before the scaven-
gers are allowed to commence operations; otherwise the
light dust is only made to change its locality, and is not
properly removed. It is not pleasant to contemplate the
possibility of germs of disease being wafted along with this
decaying matter and inhaled by those whose condition
might be favourable for its development. The author hopes
to bring the details of these observations before the Society
at some future time.

H. A. Hurst, Esq., read a paper on the “ Flora of Gibral-
tar,” in which he remarked on its great richness, com-
prising as it does, in an area of about 1J square miles, 500
plants, being one half of those contained in the Cybele
Hibernica, and one third of the whole number enumerated
as growing in the British Islands in the last London Cata-
logue.

X

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

February 2nd, 1869.

E. W. Binney, F.RS., F.G.S., President of the Section,

in the Chair.

Mr. Brothers, F.RA.S., communicated the following
observation of the occupation of 119 Tauri by the moon,
January 24, 1869, made at his observatory, Wilmslow :

Disappearance 4h. 25m. 21 -7s. L. S. Time.

Reappearance 5h. 10m. 29 ‘7s. ,,

The disappearance and reappearance were both instanta-
neous.

“ On a New Anemometer,” by Wm. Oxley, Esq.

The anemometer which I am about to describe has been
constructed with the object of supplying, at a low cost, an
accurate, durable, and effective instrument for measuring
the direction and force of the wind. So far as I know there
is no other anemometer that gives so many advantages at
anything near the same moderate money value.

The apparatus is composed of two parts— the one the
anemometer proper, the other a contrivance for receiving
the papers, on which the registrations are recorded.

As to the anemometer itself it is a circular box 11 inches
diameter, and 2J inches deep, which moves freely on its
centre on a pivot at the top of a rod fixed firmly into a foot
plate, so as to prevent oscillation. The box is horizontal,
provided with a space on one side, in which is placed a well
tempered steel spring, which gives a range of 2f inches
from zero to what represents 40 lbs. pressure on the square
foot. To this spring is attached a brass rod or rack which

108

works the pinion, on the axle of which are placed two
fingers, one live and the other dead. These fingers move
according to the pressure given (or movement of the pinion),
and thus the force is shown by looking at the dial plate, and
the figure to which the live finger points shows the present
force of the wind, whilst the dead finger is opposite the
figure, showing the maximum pressure that the wind has
attained during a given period. This is effected by a small
pivot or pin at the point of the dead finger projecting above
the live one, so that as the live finger is forced by the pres-
sure it carries the other with it, and leaves it at that point
if the wind decreases. In front of the spring in the space
already referred to is a small disc attached to a rod, on
which is placed a wind plate of six inches square. This
plate is kept to the wind by a vane on the opposite side of
the circular box, and as its area is just one fourth of a
square foot, the graduated dial figures being multiplied by
four gives the same result as though the plate were a foot
square. This size of plate gives lightness, and reduces the
friction to a minimum. The working parts of the instru-
ment are protected from the weather by a glass lid or cover.

Having thus described the anemometer proper, which
shows the force of the wind, I will describe how it makes
self-records in a permanent form, and shows the range and
direction of the wind at the same time. A pencil is at-
tached to the movable rod holding the pressure plate, and
moves backward and forward with the plate. The point
of the pencil, which is vertical, rests on the paper, and
whilst it has the lateral motion referred to it moves in a
circular form, as the anemometer moves with the wind.

The papers, which are 10 inches in diameter, fit into a
horizontal recess, placed below the rod about two inches
under the anemometer. These papers can be changed daily,
and measured by a prepared scale, and thus are permanent
records of the force, range, and direction of the wind. If

109

the maximum finger registered the force of a storm to be,
say 30 lbs. on the square foot, the pencilling on the paper
would show, when applied to the scale, the exact point of
the compass from which the blast came.

“On the Mode of Registering the Force and Direction of
the Wind,” by Thos. Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

I have for a long time been wishful to obtain a simple
instrument by which I could record, in a satisfactory
manner, the exact force and direction of the wind. I am
aware that records are made by Osier’s Anemometer, but
I have many objections to them. The first is, that its mode
of recording the exact degree of the compass whence each
pressure of the wind has come is so cramped, that it is
impossible to determine such a degree from the record.
The second objection is, that it is impossible from its record
to determine the mean direction of the wind for any given
time. The third is, that its system of machinery appears so
complicated as, in my opinion, to leave doubt whether its
records are reliable. The immense pressures it is said to
have recorded at Liverpool, for instance, are, in my esti-
mation, very questionable. Then the great cost of the
instrument, and its requiring an ordinary building to be
adapted for its use, must preclude its employment by the
many meteorological observers we have in the country.

Up to the time of the great storms which occurred on
February 22nd, and March 8th, last year, I had a pressure
anemometer which was made and kindly given to me by
my friend Wm. Oxley, Esq. That this instrument recorded
the exact pressures of the wind, I have abundant testimony.
The greatest pressures of the storms I have mentioned was
321bs. on the square foot. That was the highest pressure
the instrument was capable of recording, and I believe,
from other pressures which I witnessed during the same
storms, that if the instrument could have recorded a higher

110

pressure, especially on February 22nd, it would not have
reached above 40lbs. on the square foot. But it is reported
that during the storm of February 22nd, a pressure was
at Liverpool of more than 70lbs. on the square foot; and on
December 27th, 801bs. on the square foot was recorded.
I confess it is with difficulty that I receive such a report.
Probably the height at which the Liverpool instrument is
placed may give some value to the record.

Whilst I was arranging with Mr. W. Oxley for an instru-
ment that would record higher pressures, I met with a
description of an anemometer in the Proceedings of the
Meteorological Society, vol. 4, page 161. My first objection
was to the following statement respecting the pressure of
the wind in this country : “ The greatest pressure here
provided for is 201bs. on the square foot, which is sufficient
for the winds that occur in this country, as proved by
careful experiment.” Certainly such a statement is very
far at variance with the records that are said to have been
made at Liverpool, or even at Greenwich. However, I and
Mr. Oxley gave the instrument a careful consideration, and
at length abandoned it as a means of recording such high
pressures as we were sure had been recorded. Besides this,
its mode of recording the directions whence the high
pressures come is far too complicated and confusing. I at
length suggested that Mr. Oxley’s own anemometer could
be made to accomplish all that this instrument professes to
do, and in a much more effectual manner. But no sooner
were my ideas thrown out, than my friend’s mechanical
skill accomplished what was wanted in the simple manner
in which it now exists.

This instrument does not profess to record the time when
the pressures occur, though an arrangement could easily be
adapted for this purpose. In this respect alone is it inferior
to Osier’s anemometer. But as every observer of the wind
is furnished with Mr. Robinsons anemometer, the hourly

Ill

records of this instrument would afford the means of a ready
estimate of the time when the heaviest pressures occur.
By means of Mr. Oxley’s anemometer, I am able to record
the variations of the wind for 24 hours, the exact degree of
the compass whence each pressure comes, and from the daily
curve, to deduce in a most satisfactory manner, the mean
direction and range of the wind, as well as the mean direc-
tion of the heaviest pressures. I consider it of the greatest
importance to trace out the exact point of the compass
whence every great pressure comes. If this were done at
all our stations in this country, it would tend to a better
understanding of the course storms take, and of the con-
nection between the fall of rain, and the direction of the
wind.

“On the Fall of Rain at different periods of the day, in
connection with the Diurnal Changes of Magnetic Declina-
tion,” by Joseph Baxendell, ERAS.

In a paper “ On the Fall of Rain during the different
hours of the day, as deduced from a Series of Observations
by the Rev. J. C. Bates, M.A., F.R.A.S., at St. Martin’s Par-
sonage, Castleton Moor,” read at a meeting of this Section,
held on the 1st March, 1866, I showed that the curve which
represented the daily variations of rainfall as deduced from
Mr. Bates’s short series of observations had well-marked
points of similarity to that of the daily variations of
magnetic declination. I remarked, however, that, “ owing
to the shortness of the period over which Mr. Bates’s obser-
vations extend, it is probable that the results derived from
them may be open to considerable correction when a more
extended series becomes available but, as I had found that
when the series was divided into two, or even three, groups
the main features of the daily variation were still preserved
in the results of each group, I added that “ I did not antici-
pate that any corrections which may hereafter be found to

112

be necessary would 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.” At a meeting of the Meteorological
Society, held Nov. 20, 1867, the president, Mr. Glaisher,
F.R.S., communicated a valuable and elaborate paper “ On
the Hourly Frequency and Fall of Rain in connection with
the Diurnal Changes of Magnetic Declination.” in which,
after referring to the results of my discussion of Mr. Bates’s
observations, he gives the results of a valuable series of hourly
observations of rainfall made at the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich during the six years 1861-66. The paper is
printed in No. 83 of the “ Proceedings of the Meteorological
Society,” and is accompanied by diagrams showing the fre-
quency and amounts of rain for every hour in each year,
and the mean frequency and mean amounts for all the years.
There is also a curve showing the daily variations of mag-
netic declination ; and, in comparing it with the curves of
mean frequency and mean amount of rainfall, Mr. Glaisher
remarks that “ there is a kind of agreement between the
curve of frequency and that of the magnetic variation; but, in
comparing it with that of the amount of rain, there is nothing
similar in the two curves, and therefore there does not seem
to be any connection between the diurnal movements of the
declination magnet and the diurnal fall of rain.” In two
papers since read to the Meteorological Society, one in
January and the other in March of last year, Mr. Glaisher
continues his discussion of the six years’ hourly observations
of rainfall at Greenwich ; but he makes no further reference
to the conclusion I had drawn from my discussion of Mr.
Bates’s observations, and it would therefore appear that he
still regards the results of the Greenwich observations as not
affording any support to the view I had taken. Under
these circumstances, I have thought it desirable to delay no
longer in pointing out that, although the results of the

%

113

Greenwich observations differ somewhat from those which
I had derived from Mr. Bates’s short series, yet, nevertheless,
when carefully examined and discussed, they also lead to
the same general conclusion, that a connection exists
between the daily variations of the rainfall and the daily
movements of the declination magnet. Regarded in this
relation, it will be apparent that the Greenwich series of
observations possess a value much beyond that which is
indicated by the results of Mr. Glaisher’s elaborate discussion.

The mean hourly amounts of rainfall at 50 feet above the
ground, as deduced by Mr. Glaisher from the Greenwich

observations for the

six years

1861-

-6

are

as follows : —

h.

h.

in.

h.

h.

in.

0

to

1

.. 0*552

12

to

13

0-649

1

??

2

.. 0-638

13

55

14

.............. 0-622

2

??

3

.. 0-722

14

55

15

0-585

3

??

4

.. 0-698

15

55

16

0-780

4

5

.. 0-821

16

55

17

0-689

5

>>

6

.. 0-519

17

55

18

.............. 0-685

6

??

7

.. 0-439

18

55

19

0-592

7

V

8

.. 0-505

19

55

20

.............. 0-657

8

9

.. 0-490

20

55

21

0-527

9

10

.. 0-605

21

55

22

0-560

10

11

.. 0-549

22

55

23

0-339

11

55

12

.. 0-569

23

55

24

0-456

On looking over these numbers it will be seen that the
least amount, ’339, occurs between 22h. and 23h., or in the
hour immediately succeeding the moment when the mag-
netic needle passes its mean position in the morning; and
that the next amount in magnitude, ‘439, is between 6h.
and 7h. or in the hour immediately following the needle’s
passage through its mean position in the evening. Taking
the two hours from 22h. to 24h. and the two from 6h. to
8h., the sum of the amounts is T739, which is less than that
of any four of the remaining 20 hours. Taking now the
four hours from 21h. to lh. and the four hours from 5h. to
9h., the sum of the amounts is 3‘860, which is less than that
of any eight of the remaining sixteen hours. Next, taking
the five hours from 20h. to lh. and the four from 5h. to 9h.,

114

the sum of the amounts is 4*387, which is less than that of

any nine ot the remaining fifteen hours ; and in fact eight

out of the nine amounts are the lowest eight in the whole

twenty-four. It appears therefore from the means of all

the years that the amount of rainfall is least at those times

when the declination magnet is at and near its mean posi-
£

tion for the twenty hours, and it will he seen from the
following table that this relation also holds good for each
separate year.

Sums of Hourly Amounts of Rainfall.

-- ..

1861

1862

1863

1864

1865

1866

h. h.
20 to 1
5 to 9

in.

2-904

1-727

in.

2-938

2-471

in.

1-806

1-750

in.

1-821

1164

in.

2171

2-930

in.

2-962

1-677

Sums

4-631

5*409

3-556

2-985

5-101

4-639

Hourly means .

•514

•601

•395

•331

•566

■515

Sums of remain-
ing 15 hours. . .

8-316

11-444

8-547

6-906

11-769

12-201

Hourly means..

"554

•762

•569

•460

•784

•813

In every year, then, notwithstanding the great irregu-
larities presented by Mr. Glashier s curves, the mean hourly
amount of rainfall was less during those periods of the day
when the declination magnet was in and near its mean
position than during the periods when it was at and near
the extremes of its daily oscillations.

A valuable series of bi-horary observations of rainfall
was made at the Lisbon Observatory during the nine years
1856-64, the results of which are given in the first and
second volumes of the Annals of the Observatory. The
mean annual bi-horary amounts of rainfall were as follows •

h.

h.

mm.

h.

h.

mm.

0

to 2

55-9

12

to

14

65-9

2

„ 4

68-1

14

16

81-5

4

„ 6

57*3

16

18

75-3

6

„ 8

62*4

18

20

77*5

8

„ 10

61*3

20

>>

22

68-4

10

,,12

62*8

22

24

52*3

115

The mean hourly rainfall is 32*86mm. A principal
mininum takes place during the two hours immediately
following the passage of the magnetic needle through its
mean position in the forenoon, namely from 22h. to 24h. ;
and a secondary minimum during the two hours imme-
diately preceding the afternoon passage, namely from 4h.
to 6h. The mean amount per hour during these fnur hours
is 27’40, or 5* 46 below the general mean.

Taking the two hours before and the four hours after
each passage the mean hourly amount for these twelve hours
is 29 ‘80, while the mean hourly amount for the remaining
twelve hours is 35*92.

It appears, therefore, that at Lisbon, as well as at Green-
wich, the curve of daily rainfall has two maxima and two
minima, the times of minima corresponding with or very
closely following those when the declination magnet is in
its mean position. The six consecutive hours of greatest
rainfall, both at Greenwich and Lisbon, are from 14h. to 20h.
The twelve consecutive hours of greatest fall are from 9h.
to 21h. at Greenwich, and from lOh, to 22h. at Lisbon.
During this period the north end of the declination magnet
is to the east of its mean position, and the wind passes
through its phase of minimum velocity.

Comparing the amounts of rain which fall at both Green-
wich and Lisbon during the two maximum and the two
minimum periods of the day we have the following results :

s

Amount

at

Green-

wich.

Mean

Hourly

Amount

Ratio

to

Mean
Hourly
Amount
for the
Entire
Day.

Amount

at

Lisbon.

Mean

Hourly

Amount

Ratio |
to

Mean
Hourly
Amount
for the
Entire
Day.

h. h.

in.

in.

mm.

mm.

1

1

1st max

1 to 5

2-879

•719

1-19

124-7

31-17

0-94

1st min

5— 9

1-953

•488

0-82

121-7

30-42

0-92

2nd max

9 — 20

6-982

•634

1-06

393-65

35-78

1-08

2nd min

20—1

2-434

•483

0-82

148*65

29-73

0-90

From the numbers in columns 5 and 8 it will be seen

116

that the difference between the relative amounts in the
different periods at the two stations is greatest in the first
period and is almost inappreciable in the third; while in
the second period it is very nearly the same as in the fourth.
During the eleven hours of the third period the fall of rain
at both stations is almost exactly half the amount for the
entire day, the exact proportions being for Greenwich *490,
and for Lisbon, *499.

At some of the Russian meteorological observatories
measures of rainfall have been taken twice daily — generally
at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ; and at several of these stations the
same law of distribution prevails as at Greenwich and
Lisbon, namely, the fall of rain during the night exceeds
that of the day ; but at others the day amount exceeds that
of the night. Thus at St. Petersburg and Sitka the
amounts are

8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 8 p.m. to 8a.m.

Inches. Inches.

St. Petersburg 6 '090 * 7*945

Sitka 36*618 43*976

while at Bogoslovsk, Lougan and Tiflis they are as
follows : —

8 a.m. to 8p.m. 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Inches. Inches.

Bogoslovsk 8*071 6*962

Lougan 8*368 5*388

Tiflis 10*833 7*601

It seems probable, from the results of the above discussion
of the Greenwich and Lisbon observations, that in the cases
in which the amount of rainfall during the day period
exceeds that of the night, the excess will be found to be
due not so much to a diminution in the maximum of the
night as to an increase in the maximum of the day. It is,
however, very desirable that this point should be deter-
mined by observations made at suitable hours for a period
of not less than a year ; and that the atmospheric conditions
upon which the difference between the day and night
amounts is dependent should be ascertained.

U7

“ Result of Rain-Gauge and Anemometer Observations
made at Eccles, near Manchester, during the Year 1868,” by
Thomas Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

The following amounts of rainfall are obtained from two
gauges 8 feet from the ground and 145 above mean sea
level, and one gauge 84 feet from the ground. One of the
lower gauges has a round receiver lOin. in diameter, the
other has a 5in. square receiver ; the edges of both are turned
inward. These two gauges stand close to each other, 75 feet
from my house or any building, and free from every obstruc-
tion. The higher gauge has a 5in. square receiver, like the
one near the ground. It is 4 feet above the ridge of my
house and free from every obstruction. First I represent
the rainfall for 1868, as measured by the lOin. gauge. This
I have compared with the average fall for 8 years at Eccles.

Quarterly Periods.

1868.

Fall in
Inches.

Average

of

8 Years.

Differ-

ences.

I

Quarterly Periods.

Average

of

8 Years.

1868.

Average

of

8 Years.

1868.

Days

Days

in.

in.

\

J anuary

2-995

2-650

+0-345

7

51

63 ]

February

2-228

2-247

—0-019

[ 7-614

8-936

l

March

3-713

2-717

+0-996

3

c

April

1-472

1-918

—0-446

7

43

36 <

May

0-980

2-081

—1-101

$ 6-598

3-122

l

J une

0-670

2-599

—1-929

3

c

July

0-441

2-951

—2-510

7

50

36 <

August

3129

3-269

—0-140

£ 10138

5-423

(

September

1-853

3-918

—2-065

3

r

October

4-998

3-723

+1-275

7

56

73 j

TVovember

2-719

3-302

— 0583

V 10-366

15-441

December

7-724

3-341

+4-383

200

208

Totals

32-922

34-716

—1-794

This table shows that though the Spring and Summer
months were so exceedingly dry, yet the rainfall for the year
was only about 1 Jin. below the average fall of 8 years. The
wettest months, as is usual, were at the beginning and end
of the year. In this respect the rule of rainfall for this dis-
trict was not departed from. The departure from rule is to
be found in the rainfall of the Summer and Winter months
especially. The one in its deficiency, the other in its excess.

118

The next table shows the monthly amounts that fell in
each gauge, and the number of miles of horizontal move-
ment of the air.

1868.

Rainfall in
lOin. round ,
gauge, 3 feet
from ground.

Rainfall in
5in. square
gauge, 3 feet
from ground.

Rainfall in
5in. square
gauge, 34 feet
from ground.

Amount of
horizontal
movement of
the air in
miles.

J anuary

2-995

2-987

1-941

5,942

February.

2-228

2-149

1-717

6,359

March

3-713

3628

3-007

4,754

April

1-472

1-402

1-142

2,749

May

0-980

0-919

0-758

2,626

June

0-670

0-625

0-506

1,671

July

0-441

0-398

0-400

4,157

August

3-129

3-036

2-693

5,038

September

1-853

1-824

1-603

4,130

October

4-998

4-965

4162

4,335

November

2-719

2-762

2137

4,356

December

7-724

7-813

6-460

6,148

32-922

32-508

26-526

52,265

This table, like the one I read to this Section of the Society
last year, shows that the greatest horizontal movement of
the air happens in the Winter months, or from about Sep-
tember to March. It likewise shows, what I pointed out
last year, that an excess of windy weather in any month is
nearly always attended with an excess of rainfall.

In the next table I have given the average daily fall of rain
in each kind of gauge, and the ratio of the amounts, when
the velocity of the wind has ranged between the number of
miles indicated in the first column.

Daily
movement
of wind.

No. of days
on which
rain fell.

3 feet from
the ground.

34 feet from
the ground.

Difference
between
A and b.

Ratio

of

b to A.

5 inch

square gauge.

A

5 inch

square gauge.

B

Miles.

In.

In.

In.

0 to 50

14

'114

•106

•008

•929

50 to 100

36

•117

•105

•012

•897

100 to 150

44

•126

•105

•021

•833

150 to 200

39

•159

•142

•017

•893

200 to 250

36

•184

•147

•037

•798

250 to 300

19

•181

•139

•042

•767

300 to 350

9

•212

•161

•051

•759

350 to 400

5

•155

•094

•061

•606

Above 400

6

•332

•196

136

•590

Mean

200 to 250

23

•175

132

043

•785

119

This table shows what a similar one did last year, that
rainy days are most numerous when the horizontal move-
ment of the air 34 feet above the ground is about five miles
per hour, though the heaviest falls of rain happen as the
movement of the air increases. Last year I lound the mean
difference of the rainfall 84 feet from the ground, and three
feet from the ground to be -032 inch per day. This year
the mean difference is *043 inch. But like last year this
difference increases as the horizontal movement of the air
increases.

Below I represent the rainfall during the day time of
each month, or from 8 a.m, till 8 p.m. ; and the rainfall
during the night of each month, or from 8 p.m. till 8 a.m.

1868.

Rainfall,

from

8a.m. to 8p.m.

Rainfall,

from

8 p.m. to 8a.m.

Difference
between Night and
Day Fall.

Inches.

Inches.

Inches.

January

1-629

1-358

— 0271

February

0-659

1-490

+ 0-831

March

1-427

2-201

+ 0-774

April

0-622

0-780

+ 0-158

May

0-785

0-134

— 0*651

June

0-532

0-093

— 0-439

July

0-162

0-236

+ 0-074

August

1-773

1-263

— 0-510

September

0-540

1-284

-J“ 0'744

October

2-833

2132

— 0-701

November

1-085

1-677

+ 0-592

December

3-570

4-243

+ 0-673

Sums ............

15-617

16-891

+ 1-274

The a/bove table is the first for a whole year that I have
had the means to prepare. No special rule appears to be
manifest from it as to the excess of the night rainfall over
the day fall. The greatest part of the excess, however,
appears to fall in the colder months of the year.

In the following table I represent the rainfall for 1868 at
the Salford Town Hall. The gauge is a 5in. square one, 7ft.
from the ground and 105ft. above the sea.

120

Quarterly

Period.

-

1868.

Fall

in Inches.

Fall at
Eccles.
5in. Square
Gauge.

Difference

from

Eccles.

Days.

Days

at

Eccles.

January

2-928

2-987

— -059

62

63

.February ......

2-148

2149

— -001

March

3-786

3-628

+ -158

April ............

1-370

1-402

— 032

43

36

May

0-768

0-919

— -151

June ............

0176

0-625

— -449

July

0-499

0-398

+ -101

34

36

August

2-359

3-036

— -677

September

1-906

1-824

+ -082

October

4-770

4-965

— -195

72

73

November

2-631

2-762

— -131

December

7-707

7813

— -106

211

208

Totals .........

31-048

32-508

— 1-460

121

Ordinary Meeting, February 9th, 1869.

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

in the Chair.

Mr. Walter Whitehead, M.R.C.S., was elected an Ordinary

Member of the Society.

“ Remarks on the term Commerce , and on the Sources of
Wealth/’ by J. C. Dyer, Esq., V.P.

It may be useful to offer a few words on the common
acceptation of the term Commerce , as taken to signify in
itself a source of wealth, but which, if rightly interpreted,
will be found to convey no such meaning ; because we find
that all transactions of a commercial or trading nature are
distinct from the creation or origination of material wealth
of any sort, notwithstanding which it is continually asserted
as an admitted fact, that the vast accumulations of wealth
in these Islands, is due to the enormous expansions of our
National “ Trade and Commerce.” Now what are the opera-
tions of the merchants and traders, except those concerned
in aiding and carrying into effect the transfers of the com-
modities dealt in from one ownership to another, or from
one place to another ? But these transits create nothing de
novo. They may, and generally do, add to their market
value, which becomes wealth to the owner, or new owner
of them ; but this merely proves the excessive production of
the goods in one place beyond the local consumption to such
extent as to oblige the producer to pay for their transit to
the place of their scarcity, and to obtain from thence some

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society.— Vol. Till — No, 10. — Session, 1868-9,

122

of the productions found to be in excess of the local wants
there, and which return goods can be used or disposed of in
the sender’s t)wn country or vicinity. In such cases, the
merchant and his ships, or the travellers for orders and local
carriers, are thus employed from necessity , for such produc-
tions could not go on without those expensive and circuitous
means of sales and exchanges of merchandise. The like
necessity creates the small traders or shopkeepers, being the
general medium through whom consumable goods find their
way from the producers to those who require them for use.
This medium, though costly, is indispensable, to the continu-
ous production of the wares distributed by retail dealers,
but they create nothing de novo.

It is true that the profits of the merchants and traders are.
often such as to leave wealth in their hands, in return for
their talents and labour, beyond the expenses incurred by
them as carriers, and thus clear gain or wealth is obtained
and may be accumulated ; but those gains for their services
in helping forward the needful exchanges of production are
no more creatives of wealth than are the fees received by
the doctor or the lawyer ; the one for preserving our health,
the other for protecting our property. In one sense it may
seem too trivial thus to draw these nice distinctions between
the actual producers of wealth and its necessary distributors;
that is, between the tool and machine maker, manufacturer
and farmer on the one hand, and the merchant ship owner
and carrier on the other ; still it must be of use in reasoning
upon such questions, as the causes that lead to the growth
or decay of wealth in a state, to have them, if possible, clearly
set forth. Hence the terms employed in treating of them
should be free from ambiguity or looseness of construction.
I would by no means call in question the value or real im-
portance of trade and commerce to a state, still it seems
expedient to guard against the too common fallacy of citing
them as the source , in place of being merely effects of the

123

redundant creations of wealth by the entire community.
Whenever wealth does accumulate in a nation, the annual
production of it must, to that extent, be in excess of the
entire consumption by its people ; and this after defraying
all costs of its distribution or trading costs. It is not the
sum of wealth produced, but its surplus over consumption,
which decides the question as to whether a nation gains or
loses in respect to its national wealth. For example, the
aggregate products from the land and labour of India , with
her 150 millions of people, must be enormous, and yet India
is a poor country, because the productions of her people are
barely sufficient to feed, clothe, and lodge them in a sta-
tionary condition. In fact her wealth has been declining for
ages past, by natural decay, because of the near balance
between the production and consumption of her people. I
here pass by the causes of limited production, as also those
of their high cast appropriation, so destructive to all
classes. Whilst on the other hand the produce of a small
state or community may far exceed its consumption, and
thus become a rich state, by reason of the continually ac-
cumulating surplus which becomes, in some way, fixed
National Wealth. Whether it be placed in a useful form or
not, will of course depend on the wisdom or folly of the
rulers or guides of public opinion. With respect to Com-
merce, it is evident that if the foreign consumers of our
surplus — say of cotton goods, woollens, hardwares, potteries,
and the like, would bring to our doors the produce of their
land and labour, and take back, in exchange, the same goods
that they now accept from us, when sent at our ex-
pense to their doors, we should, in such cases, be gainers to
the extent of the merchant’s charges and profits over and
above the present trade profits in our dealings with foreign
customers: In all cases the articles purchased by us — such

as food and raw materials — whether brought to our doors
or sent for from the places of production, would always be

124

such only as we require for use or sale ; and our sales, as
now, would consist of such things as are wanted abroad.
Therefore our boasted “ commercial profits” are actual draw-
backs from those profits on our productions which they
would yield in the above supposed case. In fact, an expense
which nobody would incur but as the means of selling his
goods in the best market. Thus we may freely admit the
necessity of this expense, and submit to it as an evil, but
only to avoid the greater evil of not selling our goods at
home except by greater reductions in price of them than
the cost of the exports.

The cases above put are so self-evident that it may seem
impertinent to offer them in the way of causes and effects
in relation to the sources of wealth, yet they will not be
found irrelevant upon a careful enquiry into the actual
fountains from whence our vast accumulations of national
wealth have, in recent times, so rapidly sprung. The
wealth and the population of Great Britain remained almost
stationary during nearly all of the 18th century, but
towards the close of that and in the first quarter of the
present century the spirit of industrial enterprise began to
spread its influence over the whole face of society. This
spirit had its rise in and was mainly fostered by the great
inventions and discoveries — mechanical and chemical — -then
gradually beginning to unfold their mighty powers, destined
to be so widely subjected to man’s will, and to become sub-
stitutes for his feeble handicrafts, through so many branches
of labour, for supplying the wants of society, which we have
since witnessed. To duly appreciate the vast importance of
employing these new powers, we must look back to the
difficulties that were to be met with and overcome by the
chief leaders, in rendering them subservient to man’s uses,
namely, to James Watt, to Richard Arkwright and Jede-
diah Strutt, to Robert Fulton, and a few years later to the
elder Stephenson. These men were truly the pioneers in

125

those movements that have since changed the face and
structure, as it were, of society throughout all of the civi-
lised nations.

I shall not here enter into any of the details of the succes-
sive inventions and discoveries that followed in rapid
succession those above referred to, but merely notice some
of the marvellous effects resulting from them, on wlmt
we call trade and commerce. It would indeed be a very
important work, for anyone competent to the task, to give a
succinct account of the many great inventions and improve-
ments that have come into use since those above mentioned.
It would however require far more time and space than in
a casual paper like this. I venture then to invite my
friend Dr. Fairbairn to undertake such a work. I consider
him to be more able and likely to do justice to the subject
than any other now left among us in this district or else-
where that I knew of. The labour of giving even a brief
account of them forbids the thought of engaging in it by
one of my age, or to attempt making my further contribu-
tions towards “A History of Modern Inventions,” than those
already made in the several papers read before the society
in past years. Nearly all of the tools and implements used
in aid of labour remained for many ages in their simple
primitive forms, down to nearly the end of last century;
when, as before said, the new system of using “power driven
machinery'' ’ took its rise, and attracted the enterprise of
capitalists. Before that remarkable epoch Great Britain and
all the nations of Europe had made but little real progress,
either in the increase of her wealth or of population. This
progress, too, was greatly hindered by the many wars, im-
peding all steps towards advancing civilization. Wherefore
the fixed capital of the nation fell far short of the surplus
productions over the consumption of the people, the balance
being thus squandered in foreign wars. If this continuous
waste of wealth had not taken place the entire surplus pro-

126

ductions might have become realised wealth, in some of its
useful forms — such as the building of houses, improving
lands, highways, and harbours, erecting mills, manufactories,
and other industrial establishments, building ships, engines,
and the like. In place, however, of any great extensions of
such national wealth, a huge public debt was contracted,
wherein was absorbed most of the savings of the wealthy
classes of the nation, thus not only spending all the
surplus creations of wealth of the passing generations but
bequeathing a heavy burden to be borne as a drag upon the
productive labour of the present and future generations.
Let us be thankful that we are not crushed by this weight,
and try to avoid the vices and follies of the past, and make
better use of our surplus productions in future. It would
seem worth while to enquire how it happens that the nation
can now sustain such heavy drawbacks from the proceeds of
its industry, and yet be able to accumulate wealth so
rapidly and in .such abundance as we have seen in these
later years.

On this question a short retrospect will be useful. The
great work of Jacob Leopold — “Theatrum Machinarum ,”
published at Amsterdam about 200 years ago (I forget the
exact date), contains a full description, with engravings, of
all the tools and machines then used or known in Europe.
It is curious to observe how few of either kind had been in
any essential degree changed , either in their forms or prin-
ciples of action before the beginning of the present century;
as also how few of them had been superseded by new in-
ventions for the same mechanical processes. Then com-
menced the new era for employing the power driven
machines in place of manual labour, for so many important
purposes.

We may thus see why a nation, however largely favored
by its natural sources of wealth, may continue in nearly a
stationary condition for long ages, until some awakening

127

stimulus may call forth its dormant energies, such as were
witnessed “in the days of my youth.” In recalling these
changes we should keep in view the pervading influence of
the new powers of production so rapidly extending of late
years, nor fail to look forward to their future effects upon
the history of nations.

By reason of the countless numbers of engines, machines,
and new processes employed, along with our highly skilled
labour, this latter being created by the former, the surplus
productions of the nation have become so vast as to freight
our “ merchant fleets ” to all parts of the world, supplying
the nations with our wares in exchange for the productions
of their lands and labours. By these mutually beneficial
exchanges we may continue to expand our productive
powers, and augment our fixed wealth by a wise frugality,
for our surplus production of wealth is sure to increase itself \
if not diverted to idle or vicious purposes. A poor nation
may abound in natural productions and yet remain poor ; but
when surplus wealth aids the arts and skilled labour of its
people, they will find means, by the same acts, for its distri-
bution by trade and commerce ; neither of which could exist
without such surplus productions.

We do not build steam engines and ships for consumption,
but to enable us to produce and distribute the wealth created
by our machinery and skilled labour ; the employment of
costly machinery implies the spread of intelligence and skill
among all of the wealth creating classes, including alike
both head and hand work. No one can fail to perceive the
great advances of late years, made in moral restraint and
mental culture among the great body of “ operatives ” in this
country ; wherefore instead of calling them the “ working
classes,” and ranking them as “ mere mechanicals,” we may
soon discover that they constitute the thinking classes or
portions of society. In great engineering and machine
making works, the mental and physical powers exerted are

128

so far blended, often largely combined in the same person,
that no line of separation can be made applicable to them,
as a whole, the working classes are thus all “ operatives,”
and as such they may be taken to constitute a distinct
“ order,” and I venture to suggest the propriety of calling
this the “ wealth producing order,” and if we are then to
rank as of “ the lower orders ” be it so, but I know of no
higher order of citizens than those whose productive labours
sustain the wealth and power of the nation. In the business
of farming, mining, and several kinds of simple mechanical
labour, the products are but slightly increased in proportion
to the numbers employed, by improvements in such bran-
ches of industry, whilst over the wide field of “ power
driven machinery ” the products of labour have been in-
creased to a vast extent— -say to double, quadruple, ten to
twenty, and in some cases even a hundred fold — compared
with what the same number of hands could produce if de-
prived of the new machines and powers now in general use.

In statistical tables besides giving the rates of increase of
the population, exports, imports, and the kinds of goods com-
posing our foreign trade, &c., with the growing wealth and
revenues of the nation, it would be highly instructive to
have tables, showing the increasing productive powers of
labour realised in our times. Manufacturers and others
employing labour would readily afford the data for such
tables as to the leading articles of export — -say the money
cost of labour for each class of goods. This information
would enable us to form sound opinions as to the chances of
our continued prosperity in competing with foreign nations
in the like branches of industry. We have taken the lead
in making and using superior engines and machinery, and
with wisdom and prudence in our councils, may hope to
keep ahead of other nations for many ages to come, especially
as we have now a well trained army of workers, as well as
builders of complex mechanisms in sufficient numbers for

129

home service, and to spare many to go abroad and instruct
others to follow in our footsteps, without shrinking from a
free competition with other peoples. This proves “the ex-
pansive force of freedom” thus to protect itself and diffuse
its spirit among others without impairing its native force.

Besides, we have many natural advantages tending to pro-
long our fair ascendancy in many branches of national
industry which I would not here attempt to point out.
Wherefore we may safely conclude that the onward progress
of the wealth and power and the stability of England’s true
greatness, along with the freedom and happiness of the
British People of all classes , will depend upon the wisdom
and firmness of her rulers, in justly appreciating and firmly
protecting the wealth* producing classes.

The reading of Mr. Dyer’s paper was followed by an
interesting and animated discussion, in which Mr. Pochin,
M.P., Mr. Hunt, Mr. Binney, F.R.S., the Bev. Brooke Her-
ford, Mr. Nelson, Dr. Smith, F.B.S., Mr. Spence, &c., took
part.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

February 1st, 1869.

J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

Dr. Alcock exhibited some objects from Australia, lent
to him for the purpose by the Lower Mosley Street Natural
History Society. They were presented to that Society by
Mr. Albert Me. Donald, of Pioneer’s Rest, on the River
Mary, Queensland, and consisted of the skull of a native
Australian, and a stone tomahawk which had been found
in the ground by a neighbour of his, and at Mr. Me. Donald’s
request it had been furnished with a proper native handle
by one of the blacks. It was a very interesting specimen,
as genuine implements of this kind are now very rare in
the country, the use of iron having quite superseded them.
He also exhibited some of the ordinary weapons of the
natives, a shield made of very light wood and painted by a
native artist, two war clubs or nulla-nullas (aboriginal name
koo thaar), and some boomerangs. He read a few interest-
ing particulars relating to the objects from Mr. Me. Donald’s
letters.

Mr. G-. E. Hunt read a paper entitled “ Notes of the Rarer
Mosses of Perthshire and Braemar,” of which the following
is an abstract.

Three alpine regions in Scotland stand pre-eminent for
the variety of their cryptogamic flora; 1st, Ben Lawers in

131

Perthshire, with the adjoining peaks ; 2nd, the Clova dis-
trict in Forfar ; 3rd, Braemar. All these were long since
searched by able botanists, as Hooker, Gardiner, Drummond,
Wilson, Arnott, Greville, and others, but such is their rich-
ness that a year hardly ever passes without some discovery.
There are several causes for this richness, viz., elevation,
moisture of climate, and nature of soil.

Ben Lawers is the highest mountain in Perthshire, and
attains an elevation of 3,984 feet above the level of the sea :
its lower slopes consist of extensive moors, interspersed with
peat bogs, which are the favorite abodes of various species
of Sphagnum, Splachnum, Dissodon, Bryum, Mnium, and
Hypnum. Its upper portion is composed of micaceous
schist ; there it is that most of the great treasures of the
mountain lie concealed — some of the species grow on preci-
pitous ledges of rock, others in deep crevices, and others
again on grassy turf, The additions of the last four years
to the British flora from this ground are sufficient to attest
its richness, viz :

Tortula fragilis, Leskia nervosa,

Mnium spinosum, Hypnum sulcatum,

Timmia megapolitana, „ Bambergeri.

Neither the preceding species nor the following, viz., Hyp-
num plicatum, H. cirrhosum, H. Oakessii, discovered at
dates varying from 1823 to 1850, have yet been found in
Britain elsewhere than on Ben Lawers.

Altogether about 180 species of mosses have been recorded
from this mountain ; and when those of the woods, rocks, and
walls round its base are added, the total of species for the
district will amount to about 300.

In Braemar the character of the soil completely changes,
and with it the vegetation. The valleys and lower ridges
are principally composed of slaty rocks; the higher moun-
tains of the Cairngorm range of granite. In the valley
Dr. Dickie has been fortunate enough to discover, on the

132

decayed wood of dead fir trees, the very rare Buxbaumia
indusiata, and he gathers the other species, B. aphylla, at a
somewhat higher level, on debris. The moors, streams, and
rocks of Glen Callater and Loch Kandor are notable for their
rarities, conspicuous among which stand

Audreoea falcata Hypnum dilatatum

Grimmia at rata „ arcticum

Tetraplodon augustatus Mielichoferia nitida

The latter species is specially interesting from the fact
of its having been re-discovered, in 1868, by Messrs. Fer-
gusson and Boy, in the same station when, in 1830, a single
tuft had been found by Dr. Greville. The only other British
locality is above Ingleby Greenhow, in Yorkshire, where
Mr. Mudd (now of the Botanic Gardens, Cambridge) col-
lected it in 1862. Ba-mac-dhui, the loftiest of the Cairn-
gorm range, produces several very rare species abundantly,
viz. : —

Polytrichum sexangulare Dicranum arcticum Sch. (D.

Audreoea nivalis Starkii /3 molle Wils)

,, grimsulana Hypnum molle Dicks.

The last-named species was, until very recently, almost
unknown to botanists generally, and is still, as regards its
synonomy, enveloped in considerable doubt.

Short as the preceding sketch is, it will suffice to show
the great difference between the micaceous mountains of
Perthshire and the slaty and granitic ones of Braemar.
Either region will richly repay the naturalist who may
devote his time to its exploration, whilst the scenery around
him must excite his intensest admiration, and of itself will
amply repay him for a visit.

Mr. John Watson exhibited upwards of 200 drawings
from slides sent by him to Mr. Tuffen West, hereafter to be
lithographed with others for his intended treatise on the

133

plumules (so called) of the Lepidoptera ; they were princi-
pally of the Pieridse family, all being drawn by the camera
to one magnifying scale of 350 times linear measurement.

He also showed a number of these insects which yield
the plumules, and drew attention to their similarities and
differences ; noticing that some butterflies, closely allied in
all other respects, display corresponding but distinctive
resemblances in this also, while others as nearly allied
possess very different forms of plumule ; and that the size
of the insect does not govern the size of the plumule, some
large species having small plumules, and some small species
having large plumules; some striking examples of these
facts were exhibited. About 30 species of the insects them-
selves, with drawings of their own plumules placed by their
side, afforded an easy mode of observation of the marvel-
lously varied types of form displayed in these curious scales.

Besides the drawings of the Pieridse family were a few of
the Danaidse (Genus Euploea) and Nymphalidse, and Mr.
Watson expects to exhibit shortly a large number of
drawings from these families, and from the Heliconidse,
Satyridm, and Lycsenidse. He drew attention to some hair-
like scales tufted at their apex, which occur on some species
of the Genus Argynnis (to one of which he had previously
alluded in his last paper), and showed drawings of them
side by side, with the true plumules and specimens of the
insects themselves, from which both were taken. Whether
or not these hair-like scales possess value for the determina-
tion of species is at present uncertain, but there can be no
doubt of the plumules wherever found in all genera serving
for that purpose.

The feathery tip of the plumules is very fragile, more so
in some species than in others : slides are often covered
with the debris : the drawings cannot represent their natural
luxuriance in life.

134

Mr. John Barrow read the following note "On a Com-
parative Analysis of English and Aleppo Galls.”

When Mr. Sidebotham brought before the notice of this
Section the subject of the large increase in the production of
galls upon the oaks of this country, he expressed a' wish
that some member would make an analysis of them so as
to confirm his experiments as to their value.

I requested Mr. Watson Smith, F.C.S., who is at present
engaged in my laboratory, to undertake this task, and have
pleasure in submitting to the Section his results. In order
to make the analysis of practical value I suggested to him
that he should examine both the English and Aleppo galls,
and he has therefore experimented on the best sample of
Aleppo galls I could procure, and English galls obtained
fresh from Cheshire.

The process used in both cases was that of Pelouze, viz.
by crushing with ether; and although this process is not
absolutely accurate, it is the best one that Mr. Smith or
myself could discover.

The results are

Aleppo Galls.

English Galls.

Gallo-Tannic acid

..... 61-65 ..

.... 26-71

Gallic acid

.... 1-60 ..

Woody fibre

..... 15-68 ..

.... 47-88

Water

..... 12-32 ..

.... 20-61

Colouring matter and loss.

..... 8-75 ..

100-00

ft—*

o

O

o ob

o o

Probably more gallic acid would be found if the galls had
been gathered a longer time.

This analysis confirms Mr. Sidebotham’s opinion of the
value of the English galls, but does not make them quite as
valuable as he puts them.

185

Ordinary Meeting, February 23rd, 1869.

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

the Chair.

Mr. Robert B. Smart, Surgeon, was elected an Ordinary
Member of the Society.

The Rev. William Gaskell, M.A., was elected a Vice-
President of the Society.

Mr. E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., said the most remark-
able rise and progress of a trade in modern times was that
of petroleum. Twelve years ago the article was almost
unknown as an article of commerce. In 1861, according to
the trade circulars, the export of it from the United States
was 1,194,682 gallons, while in 1869 it reached 99,148,947
gallons. The daily produce of the wells of crude oil for the
last year has varied, at times falling to 9,000 barrels, and at
other times rising to 13,000. The average daily production
for the year may be put at 10,200 barrels. The home con-
sumption in America must be immense, but it is not given.

In 1843, when he read a paper before this Society, show-
ing that petroleum could be produced from the decomposi-
tion or rather distillation of peat at a low temperature, little
was known of the origin or utility of this product. This .
paper, was not printed in the Transactions of the Society.

In the minutes of the meeting of 3 1st October, 1843, is the
following entry, “ Read a paper by Mr. E. W. Binney,
entitled ‘An Account of the Petroleum found in Down-
holland Moss.’ ” This paper having the name of Mr. W. H.
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol.YIII— No. 11. — Session, 1868-9,

136

Talbot, who had assisted him in making the bores and ob-
taining considerable information respecting the moss, asso-
ciated with it, was printed with the Annual Report of the
Manchester Geological Society for 1843. After describing at
length the beds of peat and the deposits of silt dividing
them, the authors conclude, <c The only remarkable feature
connected with the upper bed of peat, is the western por-
tion of it being covered up with a bed of sand, and being
probably sometimes subject to an infiltration of sea water,
according to Mr. Harkness's information. These circum-
stances, added to the fact of petroleum being found most
plentifully at the edge of the sand, lead the authors to the
conclusion that it is produced by the decomposition of the
upper bed of peat under the sand.

“ The chemical process by which such singular effects
have been produced, is a subject more fitted for the consi-
deration of the chemist than the geologist, but the authors
suppose that the petroleum is the result of slow combustion
in the peat, and has been produced by a process partly
analogous to that which takes place in the destructive dis-
tillation of wood in close vessels, where, owing to a total
absence of oxygen, the combination of hydrogen and car-
bon, in the form of hydrocarbons, is effected.”

On the 26th November, 1848, he went to Downholland
and showed this deposit to Mr. James Young, and explained
to him how the petroleum was there formed. This was
before he accompanied that gentleman to Riddings, at
Easter, 1849, and went down Mr. Oakes’ pit where the deep
coal was wrought, and petroleum flowed from the roof. At
both those places the supply of petroleum was not sufficient
for commercial purposes on an extensive scale. The Bath-
gate works were the cause of the petroleum trade in
America. There (in Scotland) paraffine oil was first made
on a large scale and introduced as an article of commerce.

In the suit of Young v. White and others, tried at West-

137

minster in 1854, the circumstances under which Mr. Young
first became acquainted with the petroleum at Biddings were
given to the public. Of course when the Americans saw
the report of that trial they ceased to import high priced Bog-
head coal from Scotland, upon which they had to pay a patent
right for the manufacture of paraffine oil, and immediately
resorted to petroleum, which had been running to waste for
ages — the only use previously made of it having been by
the red Indians for rubbing their bodies as a cure for rheu-
matism. The trade had been started in Europe by the
introduction of paraffine oil and paraffine lamps, and it only
remained for the Americans to be told that petroleum was
as good as paraffine oil to cause the wonderful increase
which has taken place.

“ On Sulphurous Acid in the Air of Manchester/’ by Peter
Spence, Esq., F.C.S.

Believing, as I do, that the evils of our town smoke are
in a much larger degree due to the gases which result from
our coal consumption than to the black smoke which is the
one thing generally complained of and legislated against—
it occurred to me that one of these gases, which has a most
pernicious influence upon vegetation, and which can hardly
be favourable as a constant breathing medium to animal
life, could be made visible in its effects to the eye. This is
Sulphurous Acid Gas, a very considerable product of the
combustion of coal containing 2 per cent. Sulphur on an
average.

The experiments I have made have been repeated some
15 to 20 times, and in two localities; the results are evident,
and are now before the Society. I used litmus papers,
exposing one series of slips in the middle of the lawn at my
house at Smedley, about 2 miles nearly due north from the
centre of the town, so that any wind between west, south-
west, and east-south-east covers us with the smoke of a

138

large section of Manchester, and as these winds blow four-
fifths of the year, Smedley has the lion’s share of the town’s
smoke.

The slips were changed at 8 morning and at 6 evening, so
that they represent alternately day and night, and I may
say that the results almost completely ignore the effects of
large chimneys, the night slips being as decidedly acted
upon as the day’s, and none of them more so than the night
between Saturday and Sunday morning. The effects are in
remarkable connection with the state of the wind or set of
the atmosphere, so much so that if shewn a slip exposed
there for 12 hours I could almost tell from it in what direc-
tion the wind had been. During most of the days and nights
of exposure the wind was south, coming over the broadest
section of Manchester ; on Sunday it changed to east, coming
over Harpurhey and Moston, although the apparent
smokiness was not much less the colouring was slighter.

Gilda Brook, near Eccles, where the other slips were
exposed, is west of Manchester, and fully 3 miles from the

centre of the town, and there, even with an east wind, the

*

diffusion of the gas is seen in the more slight colouring.

I am still continuing the exposures, and shall, probably,
in addition to this, attempt to measure the actual quantity
of S02 on some day when Smedley has the benefit of the
fullest sweep of the Manchester atmosphere.

As to the effects of these gases upon vegetable life I have
full proof at Smedley, vegetable life on the whole of that
side of town is a mere struggle for existence.

As an instance, as I am leaving it for the opposite side,
where only a due north wind, which almost never blows,
will bring me the smoke, I have been able to try its effects
upon about 20 plants of camilias: these I had at Smedley, most
of them for eight years, and the blooms had dwindled down
year by year till, in the Spring of 1868, 1 had only 3 or 4 miser-
able specimens. Early last May I moved them to the south

13d

side of town, nothing else was done to them; they made their
growth as usual, only more vigourously, and showed
abundance of flower buds, — this they had frequently done
at Smedley, but there they generally nearly all dropped off ;
this season they dropped none : they are now and have for
the last three weeks been covered with beautiful blooms,
and I have no hesitation in saying they have brought to
maturity more in number than they did in all the eight
years at Smedley.

The Chairman stated that he had made experiments many
years ago on the air of Manchester, and had found a large
quantity of sulphurous acid, which was frequently converted
into sulphuric acid. There was also a large quantity of mu-
riatic acid. These gases were brought down by every drop of
rain, in sufficient quantity to redden litmus paper. He
considered that smoke, as well as the gases, was very
detrimental to both animal and vegetable life.

“ Remarks on the Nature of Wealth , and on its uses,” by
J. C. Dyer, Esq.

It has been said that the term “ Wealth ” is too vague to
admit of having its sources defined, as attempted in my
Paper, read at the last meeting of the Society. It may then
be worth while to explain the sense in which the term is
therein used, viz. — by the term Wealth I mean to express
that it consists of and is assumed to include all kinds of
tangible things that can be sold at a price in the market,
or for which a certain amount of coin can be had in exchange
— coin being in itself both wealth and the measure of
wealth, for when exchanges are by barter they are measured
by the money value of the things transferred. Wealth is
composed of things both evanescent and durable, of thosg
“ fading away ” with the fleeting hours, or lasting for ages ;
but whilst ministering to real or imaginary wants, to vir-
tuous or vicious propensities, so long as, and no longer than,

tfo

they will command a price, are they to be held as consti-
tuting wealth.

Air and water are indispensable for living beings, but they
are not wealth, unless, from some cause, a price can be had
for their possession.

None of the rich gifts of nature can be held as forming
any portion of men’s wealth until they have been appro-
priated to some special uses, and thus made to command a
price for their transference from one party to another.

Rich lands and minerals, useful animals and vegetables,
whilst in their wild or natural state are not wealth, and
become such only by appropriation and culture, whereby
they will command prices for transfer.

These last-named things form a great portion of the
wealth of all civilised nations, but solely so from their
appropriation and culture. The aggregate of things
possessed by individuals constitute the entire wealth of a
nation — for wealth implies ownership and the possession of
material things.

Whilst it is proper enough to call men wealthy who have
large incomes from the public funds, from shares in compa-
nies, from interest on loans, and other investments — yet, in
strictness, instead of their possessing great wealth, it is only
that of the power to draw wealth from its sources and have
it transferred to them. To have a clear conception of the
nature of wealth we must distinguish the difference between
the power to obtain wealth from others and the actual
possession of it by some person or party.

We have a large number of persons belonging to the
upper or wealthy classes having incomes from ten to twenty
thousand pounds a year, a goodly lot with one thousand
pounds per week, and some six or eight whose incomes
reach the enormous amount of one thousand pounds per
day ! — yet these vast sums afford no evidence as to the
amount of the nation’s wealth beyond the fact that a few

141

men possess the power to draw from the productions of
labour to the extent of those sums in money. These facts
may seem of slight import to the producers of wealth, yet
they involve principles of deep interest to the whole body
of society; for if the incomes in question were subdivided
and spread over such numbers of receivers that no one
should have more than from five hundred to a thousand
pounds income beyond what might come from the exercise
of his talents and labour, the sum drawn from productive
labour would remain as at present, but, in the supposed
case, the wider division of the surplus wealth would stimu
late and strengthen the powers of productive labour, [ant
the creation of wealth would be extended greatly beyond
what it can be now. In the case of landlords the possession
of an estate is of a duplex nature ; the landlord is a posses-
sor, because he can sell and convey the land to another,
whilst the tenant has possession for the time, on condition
of transferring part of the produce of his labour on the
land to pay the rent. It is clear that rents can only be paid
out of the products of the farmers’ labour, — when they are
fixed in money the farmer must buy the money with his pro-
duce before he can pay the rent. The actual share of the
produce thus transferred for the use of land will always be
inversely , as prices rise and fall. When corn is at 60s. per
quarter, four bushels will pay a rent of 30s. per acre, but when
the price falls to 40s. it will take six bushels to pay that same
rent, and in like proportion for other kinds of produce. Thus
fixed rents are against the farmers, and in favour of the
landlords, just as prices are high or low, and in the case of
corn above cited, to the extent of 50 per cent, extra paid by
the farmer, at the same time, too, when he gets the least for
the other portion of his produce.

The rents of mills, machinery, warehouses, and shops for
producing and distributing wealth have the same bearing
on productive labour as in the case of farm rents, for when

142

the goods and wares fall in price it takes more of them to
pay the rents. Thus fixed incomes, from fixed estates, place
the non-producing at an advantage over the producing
classes. Still, however, several of the non-producing classes
are quite distinct from the above-named, and constitute the
most important elements of society, viz., those who devote
their time, talents, and influence to the teaching of true and
useful knowledge; to sustaining our health and physical
powers ; to protecting our lives, property, civil and religious
freedom ; to making and administering laws for securing
peace, order, and the reign of justice through all classes in
society ; in short, all persons engaged in any kind of useful
vocation must be ranked among those conducing, direct^ or
indirectly, to the welfare of the nation at large. On the other
hand, those forming no part of the above-named classes, and
yet possessing large incomes derived from the labour of others,
can hardly be held contributors to the general good of society,
whilst they often exert power and influence to its serious de-
triment, and sometimes even gain applause for the evils they
engender — shielded by the dazzle of wealth and the license
conceded to “ fashionable life.”

In treating of wealth , we must keep in view that there
are two distinct classes, each with many varieties ; viz., that
which fructifies, and, wisely guided, will reproduce and
multiply itself ; and that which supplies imaginary and idle
wants, ministers to tastes and passions hurtful to the pos-
sessors, and requires external support to escape extinction.
Nothing is more common than to hear people speak “ with
loud applause ” of the wealth and splendour displayed in
the numerous mansions and parks spread over “ these
beautiful islands,” not only as highly ornamental, but as
being eminently useful to the body of the nation. A
greater fallacy could hardly be imagined. For it were easy
to prove that the nation would be none the worse off if

i

such seats of grandeur had no existence in the land.

143

The heads of those establishments must have large in-
comes to support them; but they commonly come from
rents and interests paid for the uses of their realised pro-
perty, not from their own talents or labour ; therefore the
incomes so spent in mere ostentation are so much of the
nation’s wealth wasted and cast to the winds.

To keep a great many horses and dogs merely for sports or
gambling, a large retinue of servants and followers for
parade and show in compliance with the rules of “ fashionable
life,” all being useless appendages to greatness, the costs are
“wanton wastes of wealth,” and often much worse than
waste, as they tend to pervert the taste, corrupt the morals,
and mystify the minds of the parties themselves — -upheld by
the higher orders, they must be right.

We have certainly many gentlemen of great wealth who
spend their incomes for laudable purposes — to improve their
farming lands, to foster industry, to instruct and help the
needy — in short, to promote the wellbeing of society. To
such all honour be given. But it will be seen that these
come under the useful section of society already mentioned.

We must trace all the channels through which wealth
flows to see its nature and uses.

It is common to consider the holders of bank notes, bills
of exchange, and engagements to pay money , as persons
possessing so much wealth. They however are not thereby
holders of wealth at all, but merely its signs and the power
to obtain it, in money or what they deem its equivalent, at
the appointed times. We must now look to the proper
functions of these holders of the signs of wealth. Bankers,
brokers, commission agents, and the like, are useful and
necessary assistants in trading and industrial pursuits, and
they must possess and deal in bank notes and commercial
paper to facilitate the exchanges among the producers and
distributors of wealth. Thus far then the holders of these
signs of wealth belong to the useful classes of society. Let

us look again, and we see a vast body of men who possess
and command these signs of wealth, to enormous amounts
that are not employed for useful purposes of any kind, but,
on the contrary, become the means of inflicting serious
injury upon those engaged in productive labours and honest
enterprise.

“ Capitalists ” can and do speculate in concert, — in the
stocks and public securities — in foreign exchanges and the
rates of interest, to the extent of many millions, quite apart
from any legitimate requirements of commerce and industry,
and by which means immense fortunes are suddenly gained,
at the cost of those outside of the “ cliques ” concerned in such
operations on the “ Stock and Money Markets.5’ By such
gamblings, too, the streams of commerce are disturbed and
obstructed in their due course, and often turned into dangerous
and even ruinous channels, — whilst the gigantic gamblers
themselves, keeping their own counsels, are quite beyond
the reach of either moral or legal restraint. Many of the
parties working these mischiefs are well known to the
public at large, and they are even honoured for allowing
some outsiders (in return for penning a few good words for
them) to join in the “swag.” These well-known facts show
the pernicious tendencies of the concentration of wealth in
a few hands. They prove, also, that floating or circulating
wealth can be more readily combined in working mischief
than fixed wealth can be; that the power of “money lords”
can be used for helping themselves, at the expense of others,
far more readily than that of the landlords can ever be ; and,
at the same time, the former are more certain to escape the
censures of law and of public opinion than are the lords of
great estates. It is more easy to expose than to find a
remedy for such social evils. We must trust to the “teeming
future ” to bring forth some remedies or mitigations of the
obstructions to the progress of productive industry and
honest enterprise by such misuses of wealth as are above
pointed out.

145

No rapid disturbance of our present social system, how-
ever faulty in its working, seems likely to lead to any
permanent good — nor can any such come from touching the
rights of property or of men, as both are now secured by
the laws. And yet we may work wonders by a radical
change of our fiscal system, whereby the moral and intel-
lectual status of the people, of all classes, would be raised
to a standard far above what can be hoped for under our
present faulty and unjust system.

The wealth and power of the nation would also be greatly
enhanced by the change I would humbly suggest. It
would be, indeed, to carry out our own principles of free
trade to their legitimate end. We formerly suffered so
much from the impediments to industry and employment of
capital by heavy imposts on so many articles of consump-
tion, and have since witnessed the benefits that followed
the removal of a large portion of such hindrances to the
public welfare, and opened such wide fields for native
industry and commercial enterprise, that we might take
courage to march onward in the same beneficent paths, and
remove, at once , all remaining imposts upon all articles of
consumption in the shape of Import and Excise Duties.

Free trade principles , so widely proclaimed as both
politic and just, are ignored in practice by the heavy
imposts on some half-a-dozen of the most general and
important articles of consumption, and on which is raised
five-sixths of the public revenue. To allow these articles
to reach the consumer untaxed, on free trade principles,
would be in accord with the avowal of their justice and
sound policy, but this would leave a wide blank in the
Exchequer ; still, as the removal of these clogs on labour
and enterprise would greatly promote the welfare of all
classes, that view might elicit firmness of purpose enough —
in men known to possess both moral and mental courage — •
to face the question, and propose the only fair and efficient
substitute for those mischievous imposts.

146

Without any special call to point out the course thus
suggested, I will do so to spare the nerves of more timid
seekers. It is simply to enact that all kinds of realised
wealth shall he subject to the payment of one per cent, on
its value per annum ; the value to be fairly estimated and
made applicable alike to all movable and fixed property and
effects. The sum that would accrue from this one per cent,
would amply suffice for all public expenditures. The figures
being open to all need not be here stated, and as the esti-
mates would be made by the paying classes, “ economy and
retrenchment ” might reasonably be looked for. The bond
fide adoption of this plan might cause some commotion in a
few of the higher circles, now in complacent calm, yet they
should take heart, since they too, in the end, would find
their own good secured by the change, as well as that of
their neighbours.

Let us now glance at the matter prospectively. The one
per cent, on the actual value of parks and ornamental
grounds, producing but little now, would tend to their being
converted into good farms, yielding abundant supplies, and
thus increase the real wealth of the owners and the general
welfare of the public. These interests would harmonise
themselves, ere long, to the benefit of all classes. As to the
“ money lords” the case is somewhat different. Their
disgust at the one per cent, on capital might lead many of
them to threaten to take leave of the land and seek shores
more suited to their functions. In such case we should say
like Hamlet to Polonius, “you cannot, sirs, take from us
anything that we will more willingly part withal,” for they
could not take away the sources of their incomes, and we
could keep fast hold of the one per cent, on those sources
One cannot treat of the uses of wealth without exposing
some of its abuses and the ills thereby engendered, and
among such ills none can exceed the monster gambling
before named, — so “ let the galled jades wince.”

147

However, it cannot be unfair to any class, thus to set
forth the equity and the policy of drawing the public
revenue direct from realised wealth rather than from
incomes, obtained by the labours of men’s brains and
muscles, or from taxes on the articles consumed by those
labourers.

It is neither possible nor desirable to bring about an
equal division of wealth : the diversity of genius, of talents,
and of fortune, will determine the production and and dis-
tribution of wealth, for the most part, in accordance with
the merits of the several classes in society, except when
thwarted by such extreme disparities, as have unhappily
grown up, under very defective fiscal systems.

It has been placed beyond all question that such extreme
disparity of wealth has already vitiated, to a deplorable
extent, the foundations of moral feelings and of political
justice, — thereby endangering the common welfare, and
showing it to be the duty of wise and prudent statesmen to
adopt such measures as will effectually guard the nation
from a crisis that seems to be lowering in the distance ; and
this too before we. are quite blinded by the lurid and
dazzling lights around us. We should try to discern the
future by looking to the past. From having followed this
rule during the last seventy years, I am led to fear the
continually growing powers of wealth, concentrated and
working as already set forth ; and therefore I desire to let
my humble voice be heard on what appears the most
momentous question of the present age, in the hope that
some check at least may be devised for the mischievous
abuses of wealth, and the consequent impediments to its
creation by the productive classes. These warnings come
from strong convictions of their being called for by the acts
stated, and not as the ghosts of a teeming imagination ; so
let them be dealt with in earnest by those bound to guard
the public weal.

148

Dr. Joule, F.R.S., in reference to Mr. Dyer’s allusion to the
occasional misapplication of the resources of large landed
estates in the country, drew attention to a far greater evil
which existed in the localities of our large towns. In these
localities covenants existed for the express purpose of ex-
cluding all who were not rich, and of tying all who were
not disqualified by poverty to a prescribed form of igno-
rance. These covenants had in his own experience been
made use of at Old Trafford for the purpose of obstructing
the advancement of science; but appeared to be powerless to
prevent those degrading kinds of sport which are a reproach
to the present age. The remarks of Dr. Smith in his paper
on “Absolute and Relative Law,” in the 2nd vol. of the
Proceedings, p. 148, showing that the power of individuals
should be confined within the limits demanded by the
necessities of society, were very important in connexion
with this subject.

149

Ordinary Meeting, March 9th, 1869.

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

Chair.

Joseph Chesborough Dyer, Esq., was elected an Honorary
Member of the Society.

Professor W. C. Williamson, F.RS., exhibited female
cones of Araucaria imbricata and fruits of Magnolias, ripened
last summer in the vicinity of London. He also called
attention to a communication Irom Mr. Moore of Liverpool,
to the last number of the “ Magazine of Natural History/'
pointing out that the beautiful Eupleetella Aspergillum o f
the Phillipine Islands does not grow attached to the side of
of a rock, as had often been supposed, but that its silky
lower extremity is found plunged in soft sand or mud in
deep water, whence it is obtained by dredging.

Professor W. S. Jevons, M.A., expressed his pleasure at
observing that two very interesting papers on economical
subjects had been communicated to the Society by Mr. Dyer.
It seemed desirable that the attention of the Society should
not be devoted exclusively to physical science. He concurred
generally with most of Mr. Dyer’s remarks, and pointed out
the importance of his suggestion that manufacturers and
others possessing technical knowledge of the powers of
machinery, the quantity of capital required and employed,
and innumerable other facts concerning our industry, should
not be adverse to making them known for the public good.

In reviewing the second of Mr. Dyer’s papers, Mr. J evons
protested against the notion widely entertained that our
Pboceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society.™ Yol. YIII — No. 12. — Session, 1868-9.

150

present tariff is opposed to Free-trade principles. The
minute duty on corn was the only relic of Protection, and
this it was hoped mig'ht be abolished within a year or two.
But, considering that the customs and excise duties on some
twelve articles raised nearly two-thirds of the revenue, it
was exceedingly unlikely that any other mode of raising a
like sum could be devised which would not more severely
oppress trade and create fraud and injustice. There was no
reason why we should look with special favour upon foreign
and neglect home trade, and he thought we were in danger
of overlooking the fact that not a few license and stamp
duties interfered with trade far more in comparison with the
revenue raised, than did equalised excise and customs duties
on a few articles of large consumption.

“On the Use of Logotypes/’ by Mr. Charles Wilson
Felt, of Salem, Massachusetts. Communicated by Pro-
fessor Jevons, M.A.

I have recently brought to England for the purpose of
practical introduction, a series of inventions for the more
rapid composition of printers’ type. These inventions have
been gradually perfected during many years spent in expe-
rimenting ; but as my present purpose is to notice only one
of the auxiliary improvements, I pass over the mechanical
inventions with the remark that the difficult operation
known as “justification,” and supposed by printers to be
beyond the possibilities of mechanism, has been successfully
accomplished.

The work of the printer is of course largely controlled by
the nature of language, and yet typographers seem to have
entered the domain of literature only so far as to make a
somewhat rude estimate of the number of the various letters
and characters employed. It has been many times sug-
gested that two or more letters might be cast together, or
even whole words cast in one piece, and many times too

151

have these suggestions proved unsuccessful in practice. One
of the earliest attempts was made by Earl Stanhope, who
laboured most earnestly to improve the low condition of the
printer’s art in his time, and though the Stanhope press
succeeded, the logotypes were a failure.

A more successful scheme was conceived some twenty
years ago by Mr. John H. Tobitt, son of a London school-
master, who emigrated to America when a boy, and after-
wards established himself as the “ Combination Type
Printer.” His success was acknowledged by the grant of
silver medals at the World’s Fair in 1851.

No previous systems, however, were based upon a careful
attempt to discover a law of language, so that but very few
logotypes have been adopted in common by different expe-
rimenters, and each has launched off into a series of his own,
strangely varying from those of others. A little reflection
must convince us that few things are more amenable to the
rule of averages than the frequency of combinations of
letters, provided that we be willing to undertake the labour
requisite to ascertain the most frequent combinations in a
thorough manner.

It is a curious instance of the rarity of original investiga-
tion that we have been willing to spend great amounts of
time and money without making the proper inquiry into
the comparative frequency of words and combinations of
letters. Mr. Babbage, while engaged upon his calculating
engine, had occasion to examine tables of logarithms, and
discovered that the same errors were to be found in various
tables which were supposed to be founded on original cal-
culations. Certain Chinese tables were even found to be
copies of the same defective originals, and it is wonderful
how ready men are to copy the imperfect labours of others
rather than to undertake the task thoroughly themselves.

Ten years ago I took this matter in hand, and gradually
reduced it to a system which is applicable to other lan-

152

guages as well as the English. My aim was to discover a
number of the most frequently occurring combinations,
large enough to make a considerable gain in composition
and yet not so large as to render the printer’s case incon-
venient or to overtax his memory. After some preliminary
trials, twenty-five samples of English composition were
ultimately selected from the following classes of literature :
current literature, newspapers, standard authors, scientific
works, legal works, modern poetry, old English prose, old
English and burlesque poetry. Three of each class except
the last were fairly selected, and 10,000 characters (or 250,000
in all) were taken from each for the sake of easy compari-
son. The samples were then subjected to an “exhaustive
analysis,” a table being made of 26 lines and 26 columns,
one for each letter of the alphabet, and in each space were
placed the number of times the letter at the left of the line
immediately preceded the letter at the top of the column.
Thus the word column would give the combinations co, ol,
In, um, and mn. The first and last letters of a word indeed
can appear but once, while the others appear twice, but the
table gives a correct idea how many times two letters are
found in conjunction in a sample of 10,000 characters.

The next step was to select the best, and then recur to
the text and carefully trace out how far those combinations
which appear the best are injured by other combinations.
For instance, in the word are, shall we take ar or re ? Both
are valuable, and it is a question for another investigation
whether the whole word should not be taken.

To complete this investigation certain tables called “ glos-
saries” have been formed which show how many times each
word is repeated in the whole of the samples and in each
thousand characters. These' glossaries have been printed in
an octavo volume of 511 pages, and it is surprising to find
how many words occur but once in samples which average
about 2,000 words, and contain from 500 to 900 different

4

153

words. Another table is made up and also printed showing
the words and their number that occur more than once in
the nine samples of matter in most frequent use, and of
these there are 1,103 different words. These tables, besides
revealing many interesting facts, prove conclusively that
any attempt to cast whole words must be limited, and that
the greatest care should be taken to select the best.

The work of comparing the various combinations to
ascertain how far they would interfere with each other, was
of a most tedious nature, and required the close application
of many young men and women for a number of months.
It was once or twice accomplished approximately and put
to the test, and a final series of fifty combinations, including
some whole word, was at last adopted as being demon-
strably the best.

These 50 combinations give a gain of 85 per cent, but 23
have been again selected out of them, which give a gain of
25 per cent and have met with the approval of practical
men. These combinations have been cast, and young men
and women have been trained to use them upon newspaper
and other work. Practice has thus been founded upon
theory, and it need only be further pointed out that, the
combinations once determined, are applicable not only to
printing, but to telegraphy and phonography.

“ Additional Notes on the Structure of Calamites, ” by
Professor W. C. W illiamson, F.P.S.

The author stated that, since the reading of his first paper
on the subject, he had studied numerous beautiful sections
of specimens collected and prepared by Mr. J. Butterworth,
of High Crompton, near Oldham. In general these speci-
mens had confirmed all the author’s views on the subject,
with some slight modifications. One specimen had occurred
in which remarkable variations presented themselves in the
form of the cells of the cellular tracts dividing the woody

154

tissue into radiating wedges; and in another there were
traces of a transition from the barred or scalariform struc-
ture of the vessels seen in Mr. Bmney’s Catamites, to the
reticulated one of the author’s specimens. All Mr. Butter-
worth’s sections afforded distinct evidence of the existence of
medullary rays, even when the vascular tissue consisted of
barred vessels ; but the latter examples do not exhibit the
large verticils of medullary radii characterising the author’s
genus Calamopitus. Mr. Butterworth’s cabinet had further
furnished the author with the cone of Calamopitus, which
proves to be much larger than Mr. Binney’s cones of Cala-
modendron, as well as to exhibit numerous other distinctive
features. The author proposes to make this cone the sub-
ject of another memoir. It is a true Cryptogamic spore-
bearing organ, the spores of which resemble the tetra-spores
of the Bliodospermous Fucoids in being lodged each in a
separate cell. They exhibit no traces of Equisetiform
elaters.

The additional evidence thus obtained convinces the
author that in its structure and growth the stem of the
Calamite has been exogenous, but the structure of the cone
proves that the plant lias not been, as Mr. Adolphe Brong-
mart supposes, a Gymnospermous exogen. It has combined
the woody cylinder of an Exogen with the fructification of
an Acrogen, a combination that has no existence amongst
living plants, thus establishing a transition, through the
modified Coniferee of the coal measures known as Dadoxylons,
from the Cryptogamic to the Phanerogamic forms of vege-
tation, meriting the attention of Mr. Darwin. The author
pointed out that the Dadoxylons themselves were not true
Coniferee of the modem type, since none of their stems
exhibited the true glandular pleurenchyma characteristic of
that type. He also reviewed the attempts made to “restore”
the Calamite, objecting to them as premature and, conse-
quently,, unsuccessful ; and, further, gave reasons for

155

believing that the fluted stems of Calamites bore verticils of
slender branches and not merely of leaves. In conclusion
he called attention to the wonderful penetrating power of
the cylindrical rootlets of Stigmaria, revealed by Mr. Butter-
worth’s fine sections. They seem to have found their way
into everything that presented the slightest trace of a pene-
trable opening or a cavity, and in one instance, one rootlet
had forced its way into the interior of another in every
respect, but size, like itself.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

March 1st, 1869.

J, B. Dancer, F.RA.S., President of the Section, in the

Chair,

Mr. Sidebotham exhibited moths he had bred from some
of the cocoons from Natal, which had been sent to the
Manchester Chamber of Commerce, to ascertain whether the
silk of which they were composed was of any commercial
value ; these were exhibited to our Section, and reported
upon last year by Mr. Latham. Mr. F. Smith, of the British
Museum had kindly given the name of the moth Anaphe
reticulata ; it is described by Mr. Walker as a new genus
and species; the specimens in the British Museum were
obtained from Mr. Gueinzins, who resides at Port Natal.
The following are the generic characters : Male — body
cylindrical, moderately stout ; proboscis very short ; palpi
short, hairy, second joint longer than the first, third very
minute; antennae moderately pectinated, abdomen extending
a little beyond the hind wings, legs stout, hind tibiae with
apical spurs, wings broad ; fore-wings with three inferior
veins, first and second near together at the base, third
remote. This genus is placed between the British genera
Liparis and Orgyia, of which examples were also exhibited.

156

A nest of one of the mason spiders from St. Thomas was
exhibited by Mr. Sidebotham. Its form was that of an
irregular tube, composed of clay and bits of stone, rather
more than 3 inches long and 1 J inch in diameter ; this is
lined with line silk. The cover is formed of similar clay
and bits of stone, and has a very beautiful and durable
hinge of silk fibres. When this nest is built in a hollow on
the ground and the lid closed it would be next to impossible
to detect it, and the lid fits so beautifully that no rain can
penetrate, nor could an enemy without great difficulty open
the lid from the outside.

Mr. Sidebotham also brought under the attention of the
Section a specimen of rosewood from Brazil, showing the
curious chambers made by one of the carpenter bees. These
are on a much larger scale and more highly finished than
those made by our English species.

Mr. Dancer exhibited an emperor moth, which had been
found alive, by Mr. W. Mellor, of the Ardwick Lime Works,
in his house, on the 17th February last.

“ On the Markings on the Pleurosigma Angulatum and
on the Lepisma Saccharina,” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

The Author stated that, whilst engaged in testing an
object glass on some injured valves of the Pleurosigma
Angulatum, he noticed a set of faint transverse lines on those
portions of a valve from which the ordinary diagonal
markings had been removed by abrasion. These transverse
lines occupied the same positions on the valves as the ordi-
nary ones, which are visible in perfect valves when oblique
illumination is thrown in the direction of the length of the
valve. The covering glass of the slide had been cracked by
rough usage, causing the partial destruction of the diatoms.
At first it appeared probable that these were spurious lines,
caused by moisture, which might have gained access to the
valves through the crack in the covering glass (such as had
been noticed by Mr. Hunt, of Birmingham, and described by
him in the “ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science/'

157

Vol. 3, 1835). The slide was carefully dried by heat, and
the lines were as visible as before. Repeated observations
appeared to prove that these faint lines really exist on the
valves. There is little doubt but that the ordinary diagonal
markings are on the outside, or convex surface of the diatoms
and in the specimens under examination, the broken-up
portions of the markings were scattered over the surface of
the object. To account for the perfect preservation of the
faint lines the author suggests that they are on the under,
or concave, surface of the valve. The lines are visible by
oblique illumination, or with the achromatic condensor and
central stop. Microscopists are sometimes forgetful that
thin and diaphanous objects have two sides, the author is
reminded of a case in point : some thirty years back the
scales of the Lepisma Saccharina were favourite test objects.
The scales are very various in form, according to the position
they occupy on the body of the insect ; some of the scales
have a series of parallel lines running the whole length
which are frequently crossed by lines radiating from the
point where the scale is attached to the insect. At the
period named the author was in the habit of frequently
mounting Lepisma scales as objects for the microscope ; if
too much pressure was applied in transferring the scales
from the body of the insect to the glass slide, one set of these
lines was rubbed off. It thus became clear that the parallel
lines were on one surface and the radiating ones on the other.
About the year 1844 the author exhibited the scales of the
Lepisma in this condition, and gave this explanation to the
late Sir David Brewster, who was on a visit to this town.
Since then the late Mr. R. Beck corroborated this view of
the Lepisma scale by means of the binocular microscope.
It is quite possible that the markings seen on other diatoms
than the Angulatum may not all be on one surface. The
markings on diatoms, and especially those on the P. Angu-
latum have been the subjects of much discussion amongst
microscopists. At the present time differences of opinion
exist on this point.

158

Mr. Walter Morris exhibited two slides of Pediculis
pubis (Linn.), a parasite; one showing the adult female, with
the large ovum, one-third the size of the abdomen, in situ ;
the system of tracheae, with eight spiracles on each side ;
four broad flaps or suckers projecting from each side of the
abdomen, for adhering to a flat surface ; and the two hinder
pair of legs, each terminating in a formidable toothed claw,
folding upon a socket, for grasping. By polarized light the
bands of muscles, which were too transparent to be clearly
shown by ordinary illumination, were very distinctly brought
out, especially the flexors and extensors in the legs. The
other slide was a specimen in the pupa, or intermediate
state, and showed the perfect insect, complete with claws,
antennae, &c., within the outer skin of the pupa, ready for
the latter to be thrown off.

Mr. Bichard Heys communicated some “ Observations on
Anguillula tritici, obtained from wheat of various harvests.”
They related to some successful experiments which had been
made on vibriones contained in grains of wheat belonging to
the harvests of 1859 and 1860, grown in Gloucestershire and
Northumberland. In most of the experiments the vibriones
were revived by moistening the grains in tepid water, soon
after which the vibriones were seen moving about freely, or
massed together in entangled clusters. The vibriones failed
to make their appearance in some grains of Egyptian wheat
which were grown in Gloucestershire in 1849. In the
“ Micrographic Dictionary” it is stated that these organisms
will revive after having been kept in a dry state for more
than five years, but the observations now recorded prove
that they may be revived after being kept for more than
twice that length of time.

A paper, entitled “Bemarks on the Flora of Cheshire;
with Notices of the New and Barer Plants of the County,”
was read by Mr. Spencer Bickham, Jun. An extract will
appear in the next number of the “ Proceedings.”

159

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

March 2nd, 1869.

J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., Vice-President of the Section,

in the Chair.

On the Rainfall of 1868, at Old Trafford, Manchester,” by
G. V. Vernon, F.RA.S., F.M.S.

The rainfall of 1868 was 3T78in. below the average of the
last seventy-five years, and 0’824in. below the fall of 1867.

Rain fell upon 188 days in 1868, exactly the same num-
ber of days as in 1867, but somewhat differently distributed.

During the first and last quarters of 1868 rain fell upon
more days than in 1867 ; 34 days in excess in 1868. In
the two middle quarters of the year rain fell upon 34 less
days than in 1867 — a rather curious coincidence.

Up to and including April there was no marked de-
ficiency of rainfall ; but during the months of May, June,
July, August, and September, the fall was always below the
average ; the month of October was in excess, November
slightly below the average, and December a most excessive
fall, and one not reached here since 1792, when the fall for
the month given by Mr. Walker seems to have reached
9*5Q0in. With the exception just named I have been
unable to find any December with so large a fall. The rain-
fall in 1826, often referred to as a dry year, was as follows :

1826.

Fall in inches.

January

0*755

February

3-190

March

............. 1-280

April

2-095

May

0-385

June

0-200

July

3-000

August

2-460

September

2-795

October

3-960

November

1-630

December

3-160

24*910

160

With the exception of February, April, and October, every
month had a rainfall below the average. The five months
May to September had a fall in 1826 of 8’840in., whilst in
1868 the same five months had a fall of only 5’954in., show-
ing how much drier the summer season of 1868 was than
that of 1826.

Taking the quarterly periods of 1868, we have an ex-
tremely irregular distribution of rainfall as compared with
the average ; the first quarter had a rainfall below the ave-
rage considerably, but one month, March, was greatly in
excess ; the second quarter and also the third had a rain-
fall greatly below the average, the second quarter particu-
larly ; the fourth quarter was some 50 per cent above the
average nearly.

There appears to have been no year during the last
seventy-five years possessing the extremely dry period ex-
perienced from May to September inclusive, of the year
1868.

Old Trafford, Manchester.

Rain Grauge 3 feet above the ground and 106 feet above the sea.

Quarterly Periods.

1868.

Fall in
Inches.

Average

of

75 Years

Differ-

ence.

No. of
Days
Rain
fell in
1868.

Quarterly Periods.

Differ-

ence.

1867,

Days.

1868.

Days

75 Years.
Inches.

1868.

Inches.

S

i

Jan. ...

2-746

2-494

4-0-252

21)

42

57 <

Feb....

2114

2-390

—0-176

18 £

7-194

8-859

4-1-665

l

March

3-999

2-310

4-1-689

18 )

c

April..

1-676

2-028

—0-352

16)

47

33 1

May ..

0-872

2-332

—1-460

9 f

7-209

2-916

—4-293

l

June ..

0368

2-849

—2-481

8 )

r

July...

0-454

3-583

—3-129

6)

50

30 )

Aug, ..

2-500

3-572

—1-072

14 >

10-385

4-714

—5-671

(

Sept. ..

1-760

3-230

—1-470

io 3

c

Oct ...

4-505

3-827

-j-O-678

24)

49

68 <

Nov...

3-108

3-475

—0367

15 c

10-615

15-736

4-5-121

l

Dec . . .

8123

3-313

4-4-810

29 )

188

188

32-225

35-403

—3-178188

35-403

32-225

—3-178

161

Ordinary Meeting, March 23rd, 1869.

The Rev. William Gaskell, M.A., Vice-President, in

the Chair.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., said that he was sitting in
his dining room, Spring Bank, Crumpsall, reading at the time
he felt the earthquake on the loth instant. The height of
his house above the sea would be about two hundred and
forty feet, and the drift deposits underlying it consist of
fifty feet of sand and about the same thickness of till or brick
clay resting on the pebble beds of the trias. His sensation
of the shock was as if the bed in the room over him had been
drawn from east to west, and immediately afterwards the
chair in which he was sitting on the west side of the room
moved as if the foundations of the house were giving way.
The shock did not last more than a second. The windows
in the house rattled, but no one in it besides himself noticed
the occurrence, which took place about nine minutes past
six p.m. The feeling he experienced at the last, of the foun-
dations of the house appearing to give way was extraordinary,
but the other sensations felt would not have attracted his
attention, and he is of opinion, that very few people in the
neighbourhood of Crumpsall would have known it to have
been the shock of an earthquake had they not been told, or
seen it described in the newspapers of the following morning.

He is convinced that the shock would be felt much
stronger in those houses which were built upon the pebble
beds at Cliff Point, in Lower Broughton, as was the case at
the residence of our president, Hr. Joule; the vibrations of
the bare rock being very different there from what they
Peoceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — V ol. YIII — No. 13. — Session, 1868-9.

162

would be where it was covered with one hundred feet of
plastic clay and soft sand, at Crumpsall.

As far as he has been able to learn, the shock appears to
have been felt in an east and west direction between Hudders-
field and Manchester, and from Stockport to Burnley along
the line of the pennine chain, which forms the high land of
Lancashire and Yorkshire.

The tract of land lying betwixt the two great dislocations
of the earth’s crust in the neighbourhood of Manchester,
running nearly parallel to the pennine fault, namely, those
of Smedley and Clayton, and the Great Irwell faults, dis-
placements of the strata to the extent of between three and
four thousand feet, would lead us to expect that any dis-
turbance of the earth’s surface would be felt with greater
intensity between those two great lines of fracture. Now
Smedley Hall and our President’s residence at Cliff Point
both lie in this tract, and being placed on or near the solid
rock, the vibrations would be much more jarring and severe
as was he believed the case at both places, than where he

r

(Mr. B.) felt them at Crumpsall, on a thick cushion of clay
and sand.

Mr. Spence stated that he and several members of his
family also felt the shock on the 15th instant, at his resi-
dence, Smedley New Hall, and that it was accompanied by
a loud noise as if a heavy package had fallen on one of the
chamber floors.

The following communication from Mr. T. T. Wilkinson,
F.R.A.S., was read : —

A very smart shock of an earthquake was felt at Burnley
on the 15th March, 1869, at about 6h. 8m. p.m. I was
standing in my room at the time with my face to the S.E.,
and was startled by a rumbling sound behind me. It ap-
peared to pass from about N.W. towards the S.E., or almost
exactly in the plane of the magnetic meridian. At first I
imagined a wall was falling down in the next apartment ;

163

but in an instant I was thrown forwards — then came a vio-
lent tremor — and lastly a settling back into my original posi-
tion. The duration of the shock was not more than four or
five seconds. On making inquiry I found that many others
had experienced similar sensations, and that much alarm
had been created by the shock. In some of the mills the
looms appeared to be heaved up — doors were displaced —
and the more delicate machinery thrown out of gear. House
bells were set ringing, and the crockery rattled as if about
to fall from the cupboards. The dogs howled as if in
alarm — the canary-birds fluttered about in their cages — and
several horses refused to move on for some time after the
shock. In the higher parts of the town the walls of the
houses swayed to and fro, and now exhibit cracks ; and the
twist split a strong supporting beam in one of the shops in
Manchester Road. The stalls in the open market were
much shaken ; and one of the hucksters ran round his can-
vas with the intention of catching the youngster who was
playing him a trick. So far as I can judge, the magnitude
and duration of the shock were very similar to those in the
earthquake which passed through this district in July,
1839.

Professor Roscoe, F.R.S., reported to the meeting the
important discovery made by MM. Graebe and Liebermann,
of the artificial preparation of alizarin, the colouring matter
of madder, from anthracene or hydrocarbon found in coal
tar. It appears that the formula given for alizarin many
years ago by Dr. Schunck, viz. C14H10O4, corresponds closely
to the composition which the substance is now found to
possess, viz., C14H804 We are as yet unaware how alizarin
is obtained from anthracene C14H10. The artificial colouring
matter appears to possess all the properties of the madder
alizarin, and the ordinary mordants yield the well known
colours in every respect identical with those obtained in the
well known processes of madder dyeing. The importance
of this discovery can hardly be over estimated.

164

The following communication from Mr. J. C. Dyer,
Honorary Member of the Society, was read : — •

The extensive knowledge of the economical sciences, and
the eminent talents, of Professor Jevons, give to his opinions
the highest authority on the several questions treated in
my two papers, to which the Professor referred, at the last
meeting of the Society, as given in the proceedings of the
9th. I am very glad to perceive that Professor Jevons
“ concurred generally with most of the remarks ” in those
papers, whilst protesting against some of them concerning
Free Trade.

In tendering my thanks for the concurrence of his views
as therein expressed, I trust he will not take it amiss that I
now submit a few words, in explanation of my application
of the terms — “ Free Trade, viz., that the principles of
Free Trade “were not consistent with the existing imposts
referred to.” Those principles, if adopted in practice, would
apply alike to our domestic trade and manufactures, as to
the importations from other countries; “taking the case,
stated by Professor Jevons, that the Customs and Excise
Duties — on some twelve articles — raise nearly two-thirds of
the Revenue the present Revenue, as given for the year
1868, is over seventy- two millions, and two-thirds of this
sum, say £48,000,000, would leave the sum of four millions
per month as taken mostly from the producing classes, and
applied to the public expenditure. Such a constant with-
drawal from the surplus wealth of the country must greatly
impede our wealth- creating powers ; and thus far at least
those taxes are in violation of Free Trade principles. In
fact, those principles are set aside just as much in the cases
of taxing Tea, Coffee, Sugar, Molasses, Malt, Tobacco, and
Snuff, as they are by “ the small remaining duty on corn.”

It would be a great benefit to the middle and working
classes if the taxes were remitted, and free production
and consumption allowed, as to the articles above-named.

165

The policy of Free Trade in those articles is quite a
different question, and one far too large to he here treated.
The substitute suggested in my last paper, may or may not
he the hest to he adopted ? It is sound in principle, and
may yet he deemed expedient in practice some thirty or
forty years hence.

I have lived to witness even greater changes in the
national mind, and in the policy of the Government, than
that anticipated from raising the public revenue mainly
by a direct tax on realised wealth.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

March 1st, 1869.

[Continued from page 155.]

“Remarks on the Flora of Cheshire; with Notices of the
New and Rarer Plants of the County,5’ by Mr. Spencer
Bickham, Jun.

The following list of Cheshire plants includes such species
as have not hitherto to my knowledge been recorded as
occurring in the county, or, if noticed, the station has not
been verified for some years ; as well as new localities for
some of the rarer species.

Teesdalia nudicaulis. This species formerly grew at
Bowdon, 15 years ago, and is recorded in the Manchester
Flora as existing on Knutsford racecourse, but I have not
noticed it for some years in either situation. It grows in
the greatest profusion on banks about Delamere.

Draba verna, var. brachycarpa, grows on banks at the
east end of Oakmere. The normal form of this species is
far from common in this district, and I am not aware of the
var. brachycarpa having been before recorded.

166

Camelina sativa has been very rarely met with in this
neighbourhood. It is often imported with flax seed and has
no claims to be considered even naturalised in any part of
our island. I found it in July last, in considerable quantity,
in a field at Bowdon.

Saponaria officinalis grows on the road side just under
Delamere church.

Cerastium aquaticum occurs near Rostherne. It covers
the bramble bushes with its angular, long and straggling
stems which are dichotomously branched, and on the upper
portion of the plant very viscid.

Cerastium arvense. This is a rare plant in the county; I
discovered it in several places round Oakmere, on the sandy
hedge banks, in the lanes leading to the lake.

Hypericum elodes, Fish pool, Delamere Forest.

Geranium lucidum I have seen in several places about
Bowdon. This species has doubtless escaped from the
gardens, having probably been brought with the limestone
so commonly used for rock work.

Ononis arvensis, occurs in abundance near the edges of
a pond, on Dukinfield Hall Farm, Mobberley.

Melilotus arvensis , from Timperley, must be looked upon
much in the same light as Camelina sativa.

Trifolium striatum is marked in the supplement to the
“ Cybele Britannica ” as absent from subprovince Mersey.
Mr. Watson however informs me that it has since been
discovered. I have the pleasure to record its existence on
Eddisbury Hill, near the remains of the Saxon camp; it
grows among the grass and would not readily be noticed ; it
is however plentiful, and has no appearance of being a mere
waif.

Cicuta virosa. For many years I have looked for this
plant in the localities mentioned by Buxton, namely, Buck-
low Hill and Knutsford Moor, but have never been able in
either station to discover its hiding place. It was only last

. .. ... " V

season, after repeated visits to the neighbourhood of Mob-
berley, that I found it in considerable quantity in the pits or
pitsteads near the boundary of Tattoii Park.

Pimpinella magna may be again added to our local flora.
Owinof to the alteration in the road, it has ceased to exist in
Long Lane, Bowden, the only locality given by Mr. Grindon,
but I find it in great abundance in the fields by the railway
between Knutsford and Plumbley.

Galium verum occurs on a sandy bank by the road side
between North wich and Delamere; for probably a hundred
yards the bank was covered with its golden flowers, for its
growth was as luxuriant as I ever saw it, while on the other
side of the road, and in the lanes and hedges about, not
a leaf of it was to be seen. The nearest station in this
district that I know of is Whaley Bridge.

Tragopogon porrifolius grows on the railway banks near
Chester. It has certainly no claim to be looked upon as a
Cheshire plant.

Campanula rapunculoides is now quite naturalised in
the fields and hedge banks about Bowdon. Doubtless,
originally an escape from the refuse of the gardens, its
straggling, creeping roots have enabled it to get secure
hold on the light sandy soil, and it is year by year becoming
more plentiful. In one field alone last season several
hundred specimens might have been gathered.

Mentha piperita, near Hale, probably possesses more claim
to be considered a Cheshire plant, but, although I found it
some distance from any house, I look with great suspicion
upon it.

Scutellaria minor was found on the edge of a small
piece of water called the “ Fish Pool,” which lies a little to
the south of Oakmere. This plant used to be plentiful on
Hale Moss and Lindon Common, but from both of these
localities it has disappeared. It is interesting to find that
the locality where the specimens came from is mentioned

168

in “Lyson’s Magna Britannia” as being the station for it
sixty years ago.

Utricularia minor was flowering most freely at Oak-
mere in the small ponds made by digging out the peat for
fires. It seldom blooms, although found in several places
in this district. I have seen it for many years on Hale Moss,
but was never able to gather a single flower.

By the side of a rivulet near Rostherne the ground was
carpeted with

Lysimachia nummularia , whose bright-yellow flowers
were in great profusion. On stiff soil this species, when
once introduced, grows readily, and would probably be
much commoner were it not that, like many other creeping
plants, it seldom produces seeds.

In the higher parts of Cotterill Clough there are some
fine shrubs of

Daphne Laureola , which was supposed to have been
nearly destroyed by the herbalists.

I expected to be able to record an addition to our local
flora, in

Orchis conopsea. I have known of it for some years on
Knutsford Moor, where it blooms so freely, that I was first
attracted by the scent. I find, however, that it is recorded
as growing in the same situation in the work I have
referred to. It is singular that neither Buxton nor Grindon
have noticed it in this locality. I may state that in the
same book the following stations are given for species, which
are well worth the attention of botanists.

Villarsia nymphceoides , Delamere Forest. This species is
not now known to exist in the county.

Alisma ranunculoides. Kelsail.

Limosella aquatica. Frodsham.

Pilularia globulifera. Congleton Moss.

Saxifraga aizoides. Beeston Castle.

Lathyrus Nissolia. Blaconpoint.

169

Statice reticulata. Hiltree Island.

Listera cordata. Stayley Moors.

Trollius europceus, in great plenty, in a wood between
Stayley Hall and Scout Mill.

Galamagrostis stricta. Oakmere is now the only known
British locality for this grass ; for although it was formerly
found by Mr. Hon in two places near Forfar, it has long
since been extirpated by drainage. The plant grows very
abundantly on the boggy shore at the north-west end of
the lake. I see no probability of its extinction in this
locality. Thousands of specimens could have been gathered
last June without exhausting the supply.

Air a caryophillea and prcecox. Both of these species are
found in every county in Britain, and yet neither are
common in Cheshire. A. caryophyllea may be considered a
rare plant with us ; it is therefore .somewhat remarkable to
find such extremely luxuriant examples as those I exhibit.
On May 1st, last year, the side of the road near the Abbey
Arms Inn, Helamere, was covered for upwards of half a
mile with its beautiful silvery panicles ; in less than a month
afterwards there was not a vestige of the grass to be seen.
Possibly the fact that they fade so soon is one reason they
are not more frequently noticed.

Festuca pseudo-myurus attracted my attention near the
farm entrance to Dunham Park. It differs from the typical
form (which I exhibit from Oakmere) in being more slender,
and having a very long, attenuated, and drooping panicle.

In Cotterill Clough I had the pleasure of seeing

Hordeum sylvaticum, for which this has long been
named as the only station in our local flora, and of late it
was by most supposed to have ceased to exist even here ;
it was not abundant, but was flowering very freely.

Lycopodium inundatum grows at the edge of the Fish-
pool, Delamere, and I also found it on Lindon Common.
The last station again adds the species to our Manchester

flora, it having ceased for some time to exist at Baguley
the place given by Buxton and Grindon.

But the most interesting discovery at the Fish Pool was
Pilularia globulifera, which was in far greater perfection
than usual. It covered many yards of a partly dried-up
pond, the edges of which were fringed with equally luxu-
riant specimens of Hypericum elodes.

Claytonia perfoliata, Anchusa sempervirens (Mons. R.
Du Parquet), Saponaria Vaccaria (Mr. Joseph Sidebotham)
have all been found in the neighbourhood of Bowdon, but
must be looked upon as mere waifs of cultivation.

171

Ordinary Meeting, April 6th, 1869.

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

Mr. A. Brothers and Mr. J. S. Kipping were appointed
Auditors of the Treasurer’s Accounts.

Thomas Alcock, M.D., was elected a Member of the
Council, in place of the Rev, William Gaskell, M.A., elected
a Vice-President.

Professor Edward Frankland, Ph.D., F.R.S., fee., was
elected an Honorary Member of the Society.

Dr. Joule, F.R.S., gave an account of his endeavours to
improve the instrument known as the dip circle , which,
notwithstanding what had been done by Lloyd and others,
was not comparable in delicacy to the declinometer. The
ordinary mode of causing the axis of the needle to roll on
agate planes first claimed attention. He found it possible to
obtain a steel cylinder of beautiful accuracy as follows : —
A steel wire, stretched by a weight hanging from one
extremity, being heated to redness, draws out a certain
length, and in so doing becomes perfectly straight. The
wire is then divided into pieces each about two inches
long, which are ground true and then polished by rolling
them against one another. If the operation has been care-
fully conducted, one wire laid across two others will roll

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society.— Vol. VIII — Ho. 14.— Session, 1868-9.

172

noiselessly down an almost imperceptible gradient. The
plan of suspension thus indicated appeared better than the
use of agate planes, inasmuch as dust and moisture were
less likely to interfere with the delicacy of the indications.
Nevertheless it was impossible altogether to avoid the
effects of these impediments to free rotaton, and the more
so as the obstruction to rotation is proportional to the square
root of the height of any small particle between the rolling
surfaces. In fact, on narrowly watching the periods of
oscillation they were invariably found to become sensibly
quicker when the arc was very small, showing that the
needle was rocking on two points.

The suspension by inclined silk threads was then tried,
but soon abandoned, as it was found that the violent torsion
at the points of attachment could not be certainly allowed
for, owing to the viscosity of the threads.

The system brought now before the Society was free
from the above-named evils. In it each end of the axis
of the needle is suspended by a fibre of silk, on which it
rolls. Small washers on the axis serve to keep the fibres in
a definite position. The ends of the fibres are supported by
the extremities of a delicate balance beam, placed at the top
of the instrument. Small pins, &c., are used for adjusting
the length of the fibres and to regulate the centre of gravity
of the beam. The needle itself is a piece of softened watch
main spring, sufficiently long to extend completely across
the graduated circle. It is seven inches long and weighs
18 grains. A glass plate fastens before the instrument by a
notch. By the reflection of the eye of the observer from
this glass parallax is avoided, #hile the position of each

edge of the needle is read off by an eye-glass to a minute of
arc. There is no difficulty in adapting the reflecting system
for the purpose of registering minute magnetic disturbances.
A sketch of the instrument is appended.

“On the Chemical Formula of Alizarine/’ by Edward
Schunck, Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.

The discovery of a mode of preparing alizarine arti-
ficially, lately made by MM. Graebe and Liebermann, and
brought before the notice of the Society at its last meeting
by Professor Roscoe, is not only of the highest importance

174

from a practical point of view, but is also of great interest
as being the first recorded instance of the artificial formation
of a natural colouring matter. The formula to which I was
led in my examination of the colouring matters of madder,
viz., C14H10O4, approaches very closely, as Professor Roscoe
observed, to the one now adopted by Graebe and Lieber-
mann, C14H804. My formula was not founded on theoretical
views, but simply expressed the composition to which my
numerous analyses of alizarine and its compounds conducted.
I have until now seen no reason whatever to adopt any
other, notwithstanding that Strecker’s formula, C10H6O3 has
been preferred by most chemists, and was even pronounced
by Laurent to be the only one possible. That my analyses
do not in the least correspond with the latter formula, but
are not inconsistent with that of Graebe and Liebermann,
will be seen by a glance at the following numerical results
of some analyses of alizarine from various sources :

I. II. III. IV. V. Mean.

C 69*15 69-37 69-59 69-66 69-73 69-50

H 4-04 4-07 4-26 4-00 3*71 4-01

0 26-81 26-56 26-15 26-34 26-56 26*49

Of these analyses I. was made with material obtained
directly from madder, II. and III. with specimens derived
from rubian by decomposition with acid and with ferment,
IV. with alizarine from rubianic acid (its glucoside),
and V. with sublimed alizarine. The three formulse,
C14H804, C14H10O4, and C10H6O3, require the following per-
centages of C, H, and O :

C14H804. c14h10o4. C10H6O3.

0 70-00 69-42 68-96

H 3-33 4-13 3-45

O.. 26-67 26-45 27-59

175

!

It will be seen that my results are not reconcilable with
the last formula, whereas in some cases, especially in that
of sublimed alizarine, the composition found agrees tolerably
well with the new formula C14H804. The great excess of
hydrogen found even in the case of well crystallised and
apparently quite pure alizarine remains to be explained,
and though unwilling to throw any doubt on the complete
identity of the natural and artificial product, I confess I
look forward with great interest to the full confirmation of
this remarkable discovery.

The following extract of a letter from Mr. Wm. Rayner
Wood, to the Chairman, dated April 3, 1869, was read : —

“ Having read the notices of the earthquake of the 15th
March in the Society’s proceedings, I think that a state-
ment of my own experience may be interesting in connection
with them.

“In consequence of indisposition, I had gone to bed
about half-past five, and was asleep. I was awakened
a few minutes past six by a noise which I at first thought
was thunder, but which seemed much beyond thunder
or any noise I ever heard. My next thought was that
a stack of chimneys must have fallen upon and through the
roof and successive floors below. I mention these successive
thoughts as indications of the violence of the sound and the
length of time that it continued. The noise ceased with a
great rattle of the window shutters, such as I have never
heard in any wind, however high, though I have occupied
the same room for five and twenty years. I felt no shock,
probably from my being in bed. My servants who were in

176

the house did so. They do not seem to have been much
alarmed, but two wives of married servants, who were alone
in their own houses with young children, were so much
frightened that they had not recovered themselves an hour
afterwards. This seems more in accordance with what is
stated in regard to Burnley than with your own observa-
tion at Crumpsall. My house, as you know, stands three
miles north of Manchester, on the old road to Bury. It is
situated just at the junction of a bed of clay with a large
extent of sand, and in fact the house stands partly upon
clay and partly upon sand. There is red rock near the
surface about 200 yards north-east of the house/'

The earthquake shock was also felt by Mr. Lowe, at his
offices in Lever-street ; by Dr. Crompton, at his house, near
Fern Acre, Cheetham Hill Road; and by Dr. Schunck, F.R.S.,
in his laboratory, at Oaklands, Kersal.

Mr. Kipping stated that no unusual noise was heard, nor
shock or vibration felt, at his house in Kersal Clough.

The Rev. Brooke Herford said that some friends of his
who were waiting for a train, at the Handforth Railway
Station, rushed out of the waiting room, under the impres-
sion that the noise and vibration proceeded from a train
coming into the station. This he regarded as good evidence
that the shock of earthquake was really accompanied by a
considerable noise.

Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S., gave an account of
the present state of knowledge in reference to the structure
of the gizzards and teeth of the Rotifera. After pointing
out the discrepant accounts given by various writers on the

177

subject, including his own examination of the teeth of
Melicerta, he showed how all appeared to have failed in
decyphering their anomalous appearances with perfect
accuracy. He then directed attention to the very successful
investigations made by the Rev. the Lord Sidney Godolphin
Osborne, respecting the teeth of Rotifer vulgaris, and having
not only studied with care his Lordship’s preparations, but
also compared them with his own examinations into the
same animal, he was prepared to endorse the chief conclu-
sions at which his Lordship had arrived. This dental organ
consists primarily of two slightly arcuate jaws, broad at
their upper extremities and narrow and pointed at their
lower ones. Elastic ligaments bind these together at each
end. The front or convex margin of each jaw is crenulated,
the projections corresponding with the transverse parallel
ridges usually regarded as the teeth of the animal. These
jaws form the two lips of a sac, the lateral parts of which
consist of a separate tissue, which overlaps each jaw at its
anterior margin, hooked on, as it were, to the crenulations
and thrown by them into permanent parallel corrugations.
Each of these corrugated organs passes first outwards and
then downwards and backwards, where they are bound
together by another broad membrane, which completes the
sac posteriorly. The food enters this sac by a passage from
the oesophagus, at its superior extremity, is crushed between
the two jaws, and then passes out again by a similar orifice
at its opposite or lower end to enter the stomach. Of these
tissues the jaws are the hardest and are capable of being
dissected out, as Lord S. G. Osborne has succeeded in doing.
The lateral corrugated organs, have a concavo-convex form,

178

which they appear capable of retaining after dissection;
they appear less dense than the jaws, but more so than the
membranous tissues of the gizzard, to which they are united.
The central corrugations are always the largest.

Professor Williamson also called attention to the fact,
originally noticed by Leeuwenhok and afterwards confirmed
by Spallanzani and others, of the possibility of reviving
these animals after protracted desiccation. He exhibited
some small glass tanks or Rotiferous aquaria, some of which
had been prepared by Lord S. G. Osborne, which had been
dried up again and again. One of these, in a dry state as
it had been for five months, was moistened by the addition
of a little water, and in five minutes the animals were in
full activity, looking thin and hungry, but perfectly vigorous.
The experiments of Lord S. G. Osborne confirm the state-
ments of Spallanzani, that these Rotifers may be dried up for
years without vitality being destroyed. Tanks for the
preservation and examination of these objects are readily
made by joining two ordinary microscopic glasses on three
sides by means of electric cement, and then stocked by the
introduction of a little Rotiferous dust. In such tanks they
multiply rapidly, the occasional addition of a few drops of
water to counteract evaporation being all that is needed
for their preservation. The above communication was
further illustrated by some beautiful models constructed by
Lord S. G. Osborne, and kindly lent for the occasion.

179

Annual Meeting, April 20th, 1869.

R. Angus Smith, Ph.D., FRS., Vice-President, in the Chair.

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

The Council have again to report that the Society’s
finances continue in a satisfactory state; the general
balance of the Treasurer’s account on the 31st of March
last being £252. 16s. 9d., against £267. 19s. 2d. on the 31st
March, 1868, and £250. 2s. Id. on the 31st March, 1867.

The number of ordinary members on the roll of the
Society on the 1st of April, 1868, was 174, and 7 new
members have since been elected. The losses during the
year have been— deaths, 3 ; resignations, 7 ; defaulters, 4 ;
and one ordinary member elected an honorary member.
The number on the roll on the 1st of April instant was
therefore 166. The deceased members are Mr. Robert
Worthington, F.R.A.S. ; Mr. J. Macfarlane; and Mr, J. S.
Perring, C.E.

Mr. Worthington for several years filled the office of
Treasurer, and discharged its various duties with unfailing
care and regularity. He had long taken an active and useful
part in other societies besides this for the promotion of
literature and science, and the lively interest which he felt
in astronomical studies was shown by the erection of his
excellent observatory at Crumpsall Hall, which attained a
high position among the private observatories of Europe,
and has been the means of making not a few important
contributions to the branch of science on which his attention
was more especially fixed.

The Library of the Society continues to receive numerous
and very valuable contributions of Memoirs, Proceedings,
and other publications of the many learned and scientific
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society.-Yol.YIII— No, 15.— Session, 1868-9.

180

societies and public bodies with which the Society is in
communication ; and the Council believe that it will soon
become necessary to provide additional library accommoda-
tion, and to print a supplementary catalogue.

The increase in the number of Photographic Societies
having outstripped the progress of photographical invention
and discovery, it has become very difficult to procure
original papers and communications for discussion, and only
two meetings, therefore, of the Photographical Section have
been held during the session. The Microscopical and
Natural History, and the Physical and Mathematical Sec-
tions have, however, maintained their usual activity and
interest, and their meetings have been well attended.
Some of the papers brought before them during the session
have been passed by the council for printing in the Society’s
Memoirs.

The system of admitting Sectional Associates continues
to work satisfactorily, and the Council therefore recommend
that it be continued during the ensuing year.

The following papers and communications have been read
at the ordinary and sectional meetings of the Society during
the session now ending : —

October 6th , 1868.— On Convertent Functions,” by Chief Jus-
tice Cockle, F.R.S., &c. Communicated by the Rev. Professor
Harley, F.R.S.

“On the Rev. T. P. Kirkman’s Method of Resolving Algebraic
Equations,” by the Rev. Robert Harley, F.R.S., &c.

October 20i th, 1868. — “On Observations of Atmospheric Ozone,”
by Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

November Srd, 1868. — “Remarks on Mr. Baxendell’s Laws of
Atmospheric Ozone,” by Professor W. Stanley Jevons, M.A.

“ On the Structure of an Undescribed Type of Calamodendron
from the Upper Coal Measures of Lancashire,” by Professor W. C.
Williamson, F.R.S.

November 9 th, 1868. — “ A Resume of the More Important
Papers bearing upon Microscopical Research which have appeared

181

during the Past Year,” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., President of
the Microscopical and Natural History Section.

November 10th, 1868. — “On the Lunar Spot IVA« 17, IVA£
39,” by Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

“ Observations of the Transit of Mercury, Nov. 5th, 1868,” by
J. Baxendell, F.R.A.S., J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S, and Murray Glad-
stone, F.R.A.S.

November 17 th , 1868. — -“On the Boiling Point of the Isomers
C4H140,” by Professor Gustavus Hinrichs, of Iowa City, United
States. Communicated by Professor Roscoe, F.R.S.

“ On Measurements of the Chemical Intensity of Total Daylight
made daring the recent Total Eclipse of the Sun, by Lieut. J.
Herschel, R.E.,” by Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S.

December 1st, 1868. — “ Note on Professor Williamson’s Paper
c On am Undescribed Type of Calamodendron, from the Upper Coal.
Measures of Lancashire,’ ” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

“ The Hematite Iron Ore Deposits .of Whitehaven : Notes on
the Aldby Limestone, Cleator Moor,” by W. Brockbank, F.G.S.

December 7th, 1868. — -“Further Notes on Some of the Rarer
Plants found near Llandudno,” by Mr. J. Sidebotham.

December 15 th, 1868.-— “On Explosions of Fire Damp in Coal
Mines,” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

“Researches on Di-Methyl, Part II.,” by William H. Darling,
Dalton Scholar in the Laboratory of Owens College. Communi-
cated by Professor H. E. Roscoe, Ph.D., F.R.S.

“On a Property of the Electric Current to Control and render
Synchronous the Rotations of the Armatures of a Number of
Electro-magnetic Induction Machines;” Illustrated by Working-
Models, by Mr. Henry Wilde.

December ^th, 1868.— “Note on the Organs of Fructification of
Calamodendron,” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

“On War Rockets,” by James Nasmyth, C.E., Corresponding-
Member of the Society.

January 4 th, 1869.— “ Ceylon : its Climate, Natural History,
&c.,” by Mr. C. Heelis of Dimbala. Communicated by Mr. H. A.
Hurst.

January 5th, 1869. — “On a Diurnal Inequality in the Direction
and Velocity of the Wind, apparently Connected with the Daily
Changes of Magnetic Declination,” by Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

182

January 12^, 1869.—' “ Remarks on War Rockets,” by J. B.
Dancer, F.R.A.S.

“ Has the Human Mind Progressed or Retrograded since the
the Time of Augustus 1” by Mr. H. R. Forrest.

January 26th, 1869.— “ On the Microscopical Examination of
Dust,” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

“ On the Flora of Gibraltar,” by Mr. H. A. Hurst.

February 1$£, 1869. — -“Notes of the Rarer Mosses of Perthshire
and Braemar,” by Mr. G. E. Hunt.

“ On a Comparative Analysis of English and Aleppo Galls,” by
Mr. John Barrow.

February 2nd, 1869. — “ Observation of the Occultation of 119
Tauri by the Moon, January 24, 1869,” by A. Brothers, F.R.A.S.

“ On a New Anemometer,” by Mr. William Oxley.

“ On the Mode of Registering the Force and Direction of the
Wind,” by Thomas Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

“ On the Fall of Rain at Different Periods of the Day, in con-
nection with the Diurnal Changes of Magnetic Declination,” by
Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

“ Results of Rain-gauge and Anemometer Observations made at
Eccles, near Manchester, during the year 1868,” by Thomas
Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

February 9i th, 1869. — “ Remarks on the term Commerce, and
on the Sources of Wealth,” by J. C. Dyer, V.P.

February 23 rd, 1869.— “On the Rise and Progress of the Trade
in Petroleum,” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

“On Sulphurous Acid in the Air of Manchester,” by Peter
Spence, F.C.S.

“ Remarks on the Nature of Wealth, and on its Uses,” by Mr.
J. C. Dyer.

March 1st, 1869.— “ Remarks on the Flora of Cheshire; with
Notices of the New and Rarer Plants of the County,” by Mr.
Spencer H. Bickham, Jun.

“ On the Markings on the Pleurosigma Angulatum and on the
Lepisma Saccharina,” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

“Observations on Anguillula tritici, obtained from Wheat of
various Harvests,” by Mr. Richard Heys.

March 2nd , 1869. — “ On the Rainfall of 1868, at Old Trafford,
Manchester,” by G. V. Vernon, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

183

March 9th, 1869. — “ On the Use of Logotypes,” by Mr. Charles
Wilson Felt, of Salem, Massachusetts. Communicated by Pro-
fessor Jevons, M.A.

“ Additional Notes on the Structure of Calamites,” by Professor
W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.

March 23rd, 1869. — “ On the Earthquake of March 15th, 1869,”
by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., Peter Spence, F.C.S., and T. T.
Wilkinson, F.R.A.S.

“On the Artificial Preparation of Alizarine,” by Professor H. E.
Roscoe, F.R.S.

“On Free Trade Principles,” by Mr. J. C. Dyer,

March 39th, 1869. — “On Atmospheric Ozone,” by Thomas
Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

April 9th, 1869.— On a New Dip Circle,” byJ. P. Joule, LL.D,,
F.R.S., &c., President.

“On the Chemical Formula of Alizarine,” by E. Schunck, Ph.D.,
F.R.S., Y.P.

“On the Earthquake of March 15th, 1869,” by Mr. William
Rayner Wood, Mr. Lowe, Dr. Crompton, Dr. Schunck, F.R.S.,
Mr. Kipping, and the Rev. Brooke Herford.

“On the Structure of the Gizzards and Teeth of the Rotifera,”
by Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.

The third volume of the third series of the Society’s
Memoirs has been published, and a considerable portion of
a new volume has already been printed. Some of the papers
in the above list will appear in this volume.

The Librarian reports that the binding of the works in
the Library has progressed during the past year, 338 volumes
having been newly bound. This matter becomes of increasing
importance, not only from the protection thus given to the
Society’s valuable Library, but from the necessity of econo-
mising space in the already overcrowded shelves, and the
Council purpose proceeding with this work as far as* the
funds permit.

The third volume of the Society’s third series of “ Me-
moirs,” just completed, as well as Yols. Y., VI., and YU. of
the “ Proceedings,” are about to be distributed to the various

184

learned bodies with whom the Society is in correspondence ;
these now number 282, 203 of which are foreign, and 79
British.

The various works named in the last annual report con-
tinue to be purchased for the Library.

On the motion of Mr. W. B. Johnson, seconded by Mr.
S. C. Trapp, the Annual Report was unanimously adopted.

On the motion of Mr. J. Francis, seconded by Mr. P.
Hart, it was resolved unanimously, “ That the system of
electing Sectional Associates be continued during the en-
suing Session.”

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

JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE, LL.D., P.R.S., F.C.S., &c.

fice-ftmktdA

EDWARD SCHUNCK, Ph.D., E.R.S., E.C.S.

ROBERT ANG-US SMITH, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.

EDWARD WILLIAM BINNEY, F.R.S., F.G-.S.

Rev. WILLIAM HASKELL, M.A.

HENRY ENFIELD ROSCOE, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

THOMAS CARRICK.

Ihtotmtt.

CHARLES BAILEY.

pjemtaf oi ifre totuih

PETER SPENCE, F.C.S., M.S.A.

GEORGE YENABLES YERNON, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

JOHN BENJAMIN DANCER, F.R.A.S.

WILLIAM JACK, M.A.

WILLIAM LEESON DICKINSON.

THOMAS ALCOCK, M.D.

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186

Mr. Spence described a fine display of the Aurora Borea-
lis which he had observed on the 15th instant from lOh.
30m. to about lOh. 45m. p.m. The columns and masses of
light extended over the whole of the northern heavens, and
far to the south of west.

Mr. Baxendell observed the display during a partial
clearing of the clouds from llh. 50m. to 12h. 7m. The
frequent and rapid flashings upwards of sheets of light from
the auroral segment which rested on the northern horizon
constituted at that time the most striking feature of the
phenomenon. About llh. 57m. a broad bright arch of light
formed across the heavens from about E.N.E. to W.S.W.,
passing a little to the north of the zenith ; it immediately
began to move in a southerly direction, and at 12h. 7m.,
when a sudden formation of clouds put an end to the obser-
vations, it had just passed over the star Arcturus. The
colour of the auroral light on this occasion was, for the most
part, a clear pale white, but one broad patch in the N.E.
occasionally exhibited a ruddy hue.

Dr. Crompton wished to direct the attention of the
members and of those skilled observers, especially medical
men, scattered through the world, in correspondence with
this Society, to a subject of considerable interest to
humanity, namely, the frequent deformities in the legs of
young children. He believed that he had made observa-
tions which would throw an entirely new light on these
affections. Before proceeding to point out what they were,
he observed that the treatment of these deformities was a
branch of the profession with which he had nothing to do— -
that as far as he remembered he had never received a fee
for such cases; in fact, that the deformities were allowed
first to take place (instead of being stopped by the simple
means to be pointed out), and then, if a medical was
consulted at all, it was simply to hand over the case to

187

a mechanical instrument maker, and to a needless use of
expensive contrivances of little or no value. Therefore the
Society would see that he simply wished to point out what he
had observed, to challenge further enquiry, and if the truth
of what he alleged was established, such cases would be
prevented from becoming subject to professional treatment.

He spoke first of the bowed legs of young children,
where the bowing is outwards above the outer ankle, giving
the child great facility in placing the soles of its feet
together. Hr. Crompton believed that this deformity does
not arise, as is commonly supposed, from the child having
been placed on its feet too early, when the legs were too
weak to support the body ; for he has seen the deformity
existing to a considerable extent in carefully watched
children before they had been put to the ground to walk.
Whilst looking at the legs of a child thus bowed, and
whilst it was sitting on its mother’s knee, he saw it, as soon
as ever its stockings were removed, begin to rub the sole of
one foot against that of the other with evident delight.
It immediately occurred to him that this habit might
explain this common deformity. He had this child watched,
as well as others similarly deformed, in succeeding years,
and found not only that the children did this on every op-
portunity when their feet were naked, but that some of them
actually slept with the sole of one foot against that of the
other. Hr. Crompton believed that in this habit carried to

JL

excess was to be found the explanation of this common
deformity, and that the deformity would never happen if
the legs were examined from time to time during the first
year of life ; and if observed to be becoming bowed, the
child were prevented from indulging the habit by making
it wear either a sock or light shoes in bed till the habit
was broken ; or better still, to wrap one leg from the knee
to the foot in a stoutish padding, so that the soles could not
be brought into apposition.

188

With respect to in-knee, Dr. Crompton had been a long
time unable to give any explanation that was satisfactory
to himself. He at length arrived at the conclusion that the
deformity depended upon the subject of it having slept in
such a position, habitually, as that the knees in sleep were
nearly crossed : that is to say that the front of one knee
was placed in the hollow (or nearly so) behind the opposite
knee. What he wanted to confirm his opinion that position
chiefly is the cause of this deformity, were cases in which
from some cause or other the patient always slept on one
side. T wo remarkable cases at length presented themselves
in which one knee was very much more bent inwards than
the other; and in both of these the affected persons slept
on the other side than that on which the deformity was
greatest. In in-knee he believed that no other mechanical
contrivance was necessary for preventing it, when in its
early stage, than to wear through the night a pad on the
inside of each knee, strapped below or above the knee to
keep the pad in situ and the knees apart; and that no
better mechanical contrivance could be found for use later
on than the wearing of such pads : avoiding as much as
possible crossing the knees by night or by day. [A cushion
placed between the knees in diseased hip or knee joint
often, he added, gives very great comfort.]

Dr. Crompton said he had for some years directed the
attention of his medical brethren, in conversation, to these
deformities; and he hoped that other observers as well
would now look into the matter for themselves, and com-
municate any observations, whether confirmatory or the
opposite, so that the question might be set at rest for ever,
and these serious deformities hindered by the simple exer-
cise of a mother’s vigilance.

Mr. Peter Hart described his method of making rapid
determinations of free oxygen.

189

The apparatus required consists, in addition to an ordinary
pneumatic trough, of two tubes each half-inch diameter and
16 inches long, closed at one end. One of the tubes is gra-
duated into 50ths of a cubic inch, and the other is coated
internally with phosphorus. This is effected by dropping
into the tube a few pieces oi phosphorus, it is then to be
closed by a sound cork, and the phosphorus (melted by
immersing the tube in hot water) may be spread in a thin
coating over the interior by turning it round as it cools.
On cooling, the cork is to be withdrawn, the tube filled with
water, and a piece of indiarubber tube tied securely over the
mouth. This completes the apparatus.

Modus Operandi : — Both tubes are filled with water and
allowed to remain in the trough, a portion of the air to be
examined is passed into the measuring tube, which is now
allowed to remain for five minutes in the trough to allow
it to attain the same temperature as the water. It is lifted
until the water is at the same level within and without, and
may then be closed by the finger, and withdrawn from
the trough. The volume is easily noted. This done, it is
connected by the indiarubber joint with the phosphorus
tube, into which the air is allowed to flow. The whole
may now be placed for half an hour in the trough, when
the gas may be poured back into the measuring tube, the
level once more taken, and the volume read off in the same
way as before. The loss is oxygen.

a Measuring tube.
b Indiarubber junction.
c Phosphorus tube.

No claim is made for strict scientific accuracy in con-
nection with this apparatus ; its sole merit consists in its
offering an easy and rapid means of approximately deter-

190

mining the free oxygen in an atmosphere. In the working
of sulphuric acid chambers it has been found extremely
valuable, and possibly may be found so for other technical
enquiries. It is with this view that it has been offered to
the notice of the Society.

The following postscript to Dr. Joule’s communication
on the Dip Circle, printed in the last number of the Pro-
ceedings, page 171, was read: —

“ It ought to have been mentioned in the description of
my dip circle that the supporting balance beam should be
bent so that the filaments of silk should form right angles
with the arms. The equilibrium of the beam is effected by
an adjustible weight above the knife-edge,”

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

March 29th, 1869.

J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

Mr. Robert B. Smart, M.R.C.S., was elected a member of
the Section.

The Rev. J. E. Vize, M.A., of Calveley, communicated
some notes respecting the kangaroos of Beeston Castle.
These animals have been kept in an enclosure in the Castle
grounds for about twenty years, and are now fully accli-
matized, our severe winters never having had an injurious
effect upon them. They find plenty of food in their enclo-

191

sure, and it has only been in times of scarcity that they
have been supplied with a little hay. In number they have
not varied much, although they have frequently had young,
which have matured. On one occasion one of the kangaroos
escaped into the grounds of the Castle, where he was after-
wards allowed to roam at will ; he was harmless to every
creature except to one of the bucks belonging to the Castle
herd, and with this animal he had many encounters, in the
last of which he was killed. On another occasion the
Cheshire foxhounds sprang into the enclosure where the
kangaroos are kept, and would have exterminated them
but for the energy of the whippers-in. In size the kangaroos
are not quite as large as they are represented in pictures of
Australian life, being scarcely three feet high when seated.

Mr. Walter Morris gave an account of a [pair of Kan-
garoo Rats from Australia, kept by him some years ago .
These were in shape precisely like the large kangaroos, but
were only about 6 inches high when resting on their hind
legs— -their characteristic posture. Their mode of progres-
sion was by leaping, in which they were very active ; often
through the air a distance of 6 or 8 feet if they had a very
slight advantage of height. Their fore-paws were very
small and soft and rarely touched the ground, being chiefly
used for taking food and holding it to their maw while
gnawing, their claws being long and sharp. They were
perfectly domesticated and much attached to their owner,
coming readily at his call. They often accompanied some
members of the family in a country walk, clinging to, and
racing about, the dress of those who carried them. In their
habits they were extremely cleanly, their fur, which was
black and white in patches like that of a rabbit, being kept
perfectly pure. They were truly omnivorous, and required
considerable training to teach them not to gnaw everything
that came in their way; their usual food, however, was

192

grain or nuts (from both of which they would cleverly strip
the husk whilst eating), with a little meat, of which they
were very fond. Water was their only drink, and of this
they took very little. The female was very prolific, having
several litters of young in the year and from 4 to 6 at a
birth : the male, however, had to be kept from the young
for the first 2 or 3 weeks of their existence to prevent his
eating them, for which he had a great propensity.

Mr. Sidebotham exhibited some very fine spikes of Oelsia
Cretica, but, instead of the bright yellow flowers, they were
apetalous. He had grown a number of plants from seed
produced from the ordinary form of plant ; they threw up
fine spikes of flower buds, and, as they appeared a long time
in coming into flower, he had examined them and found all
without petals, some of the spikes being in seed.

Rev. J. E. Vize, M.A., forwarded a spike of the common
Plantain (Plantago major L.), which had bifurcated from the
middle of the inflorescence, each portion producing perfect
fruits.

Amongst other vegetable monstrosities mentioned was
that of a dandelion, which Mr. Hunt had collected some
time ago, having several scapes united so as to form a single
flat ribbon-like stalk, crowned by the various involucras,
more or less blended together.

193

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

Annual Meeting, March 30th, 1869.

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 : —

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

Utce^resfaents.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S. J. B. DANCER, F.R.A.S.
treasurer. Secretary.

MR. THOMAS GARRICK. G. Y. VERNON, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

“Results of Observations of Temperature and Rainfall
made at Drumlanrig and Capenoch in the Year 1868,” by
T. S. Gladstone, Esq. Communicated by Murray Glad-
stone, Esq., F.R.A.S.

TEMPERATURE.

RAIN

Drumlanrig.

FALL.

Capenoch.

Mea

Lowest.

n of
Highest.

Mean

of

Mnth.

No.

of

Days.

Amount

in

Inches.

No.

of

Days.

Amount

in

Inches.

Jan., 1868. Drumlanrig......

31*8

42-2

370

11

6-20

„ ...Capenoch ......

32-2

40-0

36T

. . .

• • «

11

5-57

February. . .Drumlanrig

356

47-4

41-5

13

8-00

,, ...Capenoch ......

360

44-2

40-5

* * .

i6

7-58

March. ...... Drumlanrig

36-0

49-0

42-5

10

7-70

,, ...... Capenoch

357

49-0

423

...

13

7-57

April Drumlanrig

366

53-7

45-2

7

4-00

„ Capenoch

38-0

54-5

46-2

8

329

May Drumlanrig

42-0

59-7

50-8

11

3-40

,, Capenoch

47-0

70-0

58-5

• • •

8

5-66

J une Drumlanrig

45-2

64'4

54-8

5

1-00

,, ...... Capenoch

48-0

69-0

58*5

4

1T2

July ...... Drumlanrig. .....

47-8

71T

59-4

3

•70

„ Capenoch ......

49-9

74-3

62-1

3

0-70

August . . . Drumlanrig

49-3

67-2

58-2

8

4-10

,, ...Capenoch ......

50-0

68-0

59-0

12

4-99

S ep t ember . .D rumlanrig

45-4

61-5

53-4

7

2-50

,, ...Capenoch

45-2

61-5

53T

7

2-56

October . . . Drumlanrig ......

33-8

51-8

42 ‘8

9

5-30

,, ...Capenoch

34-5

505

42-5

« . •

14

5-27

November ..Drumlanrig, . ....

355

45-0

40'2

9

1T0

,

,, ...Capenoch

335

42-0

37-7

. . .

10

3-84

December... Drumlanrig. . ....

—

—

—

—

6-00

„ ... Capenoch ......

37*0

45-0

41-0

16

...

22

11-44

Total ............

50-30

...

59-59

Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society.— Yol, VIII,— No. 16.— Session 1868-9.

194

‘‘On Atmospheric Ozone,” by T. Mackereth, F.R.A.S.,
F.M.S.

At an ordinary meeting of this Society (October 20th)
last year, I took considerable interest in a paper read by
Mr. Baxendell, F.R.A.S., on this subject. At the conclusion
of that paper Mr. Baxendell says that “ we ought to deter-
mine with greater certainty and exactness than has yet
been done the nature of the changes to which this important
constituent of the earth’s atmosphere is subject, and of their
relation to other atmospherical phenomena.”

These remarks led me to an investigation of the influence
of the movement and direction of the wind, and the amount
of rainfall, on the development of ozone in the atmosphere.
I have taken from my Meteorological Register the days on
which ozone was found and on which it was not found at
Eccles during the last two years. With each of these days
respectively I have taken the amount of the horizontal
movement of the air in miles, the fall of rain in inches, and
the general direction of the wind. I have taken the last
two years only, because my present station, which I have
occupied a little over that time, is better adapted than my
previous one was for the detection of ozone. In the two first
tables given below I have reduced the elements to mean
amounts by dividing each kind by the number of the days
of each month, and in the third table I have given the
means of the same elements for the two years taken together.

1867.

Mean of
Horizontal
■ Movement of
Air in Miles
when Ozone
was found.

Mean Amount
of Rain-fall
in Inches
when Ozone
was found.

Mean Amount
of Ozone
found.

Mean of
Horizontal
Movement of
Air 'In Miles
when no Ozone
was found.

Mean Amount
of Rain-fall
in Inches
when no
Ozone was
found.

January

130

•105

2-74

43

•001

February

159

•088

3-40

30

•003

March

200

•038

3-57

22

•012

April

222

•147

5-60

7

•006

May

135

•041

2-29

31

•016

June

87

•037

1-86

40

•007

July

73

•118

1-48

45

•052

August ......

30

•038

1-42

26

•014

September...

75

•046

1-96

37

•067

October

65

•078

1-48

43

*054

November . . .

50

•012

1-00

50

•058

December ...

97

•072

2-70

35

•048

Means ......

110

•068

2*45

34

•028

1868.

January... ...

132

•064

3*12

53

•031

February ...

198

•069

4-67

23

•009

March ......

139

•116

5-61 *

14

•004

April

79

•045

8-66

12

•003

May

79

•023

3-87

• 6

•008

June

39

•022

3-73

16

•002

July .........

82

•013

3-06

48

•001

August ......

148

•103

5-43

12

*000

September...

104

•060

2-30

33

•001

October

89

•105

2-87

50

•055

November ...

91

•054

2-73

54

039

December ...

153

•139

4-00

45

•101

Means

111

•067

3-75

30

•021

Averages oe the above Two Yeaes.

January

131

•084

2-93

48

•016

February ...

178

•078

4-03

26

•006

March

169

•077

4-59

18

•008

April

150

•096

4-63

9

•004

May .........

107

•032

3*08

18

•012

June

63

•029

2-79

28

•004

July

77

•065

2-27

46

•052

August

89

•070

3-42

19

•007

September...

89

•053

2-13

35

•034

October ......

77

•091

2-17

46

•055

November ...

70

•033

1-86

52

•048

December ...

125

•105

335

40

•078

Means

110

•067

3-10

32

•027

.C it

It will be observed from the first of these tables that the
maximum of ozone development is coincident with the

196

maximum of the horizontal movement of the air and of the
fall of rain, and that the minimum of ozone occurred at the
time of the minimum of the wind and rain-fall; and that in
the summer months, when the horizontal movement of the
air was at its minimum, ozone development was at its mini-
mum too.

The same rule will be seen to hold good on an examina-
tion of the second table, particularly in the months of
January, February, March, August, and December. In the
months from May to December of 1868 more ozone was
found than in the same months of 1867. But where this
excess is not connected with high winds and heavy rain-fall,
as in May, June, and July, 1868, heavy dews occurred
during the nights, which will account for the excess of ozone
in those months.

The third table shows again that the excess of wind or
rain-fall is attended with an excess of ozone development;
though excess of wind seems to tend more to its develop-
ment than the excess of rain-fall, which may be accounted
for, as Professor J evons points out, by the convection of the
lowest mass of the air during the day.

The next tables, prepared from the elements of the same
two years and from the number of days on which each
amount of ozone was found, give the mean amounts of the
horizontal movement of the air in miles, the fall of rain in
inches, and the percentages of the general direction of the
wind, reduced to the four cardinal points. Both these
means and percentages are placed opposite to the amount of
ozone to which they relate; and as these amounts are
reckoned from a scale of estimation from 0 to 10 + , the
amounts of ozone are indicated in the first column of the
table.

197

1867.

Amounts

of

Ozone

found.

Mean
Horizontal
Movement of
the Air
in Miles.

Mean Amount
of Rain-fall
in Inches.

Percentages of the General Direction of
the Wind.

N.

E.

s.

w.

0

80

•067

31

21

13

35

1

117

•072

39

24

9

28

2

142

•141

37

21

11

31

3

155

•066

29

29

13

29

4

220

•072

25

19

17

39

5

201

"144

22

15

24

39

6

207

•255

27

9

27

37

7

243

•154

29

8

9

54

8

214

•082

16

11

12

61

9

312

•142

20

—

20

60

10+

340

•252

16

10

30

44

1868.

0

91

•068

28

21

19

32

1

115

•047

22

28

22

28

2

105

•080

24

20

28

28

3

106

•076

23

10

26

41

4

143

•066

19

21

21

39

5

166

•074

16

11

25

48

6

173

•085

19

13

24

44

7

163

•123

29

13 .

29

29

8

207

•168

8

8

34

50

9

230

•102

9

9

36

46

10+

304

•254

13

6

24

57

Aveeages or the above

Two Yeaes.

N. & E.

s. & w.

0

85

•067

26

24

1

116

•059

28

22

2

123

•110

25

25

3

130

•071

22

28

4

181

•069

21

29

5

183

•109

16

34

6

190

•170

17

33

7

203

•138

19

31

8

210

•125

10

40

9

271

•122

9

41

10+

304

•254

10

40

The first two tables show most conclusively that the
amount of ozone development generally increased as the
amount of wind and rain-fall increased.

In the last of these tables I have given the mean of the
horizontal movement of the air and rain-fall for the two
years, and in that table the same rule holds good. In the
same table I have reduced the percentages of the winds to

198

two columns, one embodying the N. and E., the other the
S and W.; and beyond all question it appears that as the S.
and W. winds increase, so also does the amount of ozone.
My opinion for the decrease of ozone with the N. and E.
winds in the west part of this country is that there is less
sea on the east coasts than on the west, and consequently
less means for ozone development; though I have no doubt
that much more ozone will be developed on the east coasts
of the country by the east winds than we in the west
obtain from them. The ground and animal and vegetable
organisations which are situated towards the east, will
absorb most of the ozone developed in and by the east winds
before it reaches the west of the island.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

April 26th, 1869.

J. JB. Dancer, Esq., F.R.A.S., President of the Section,

in the Chair.

Mr. Thomas H. Nevill and Mr. Spencer Bickham, jun.,
were appointed to audit the Treasurer's Account for the
past year.

Mr. Dancer stated that he had received from Mr. Richard
Dale, Cornbrook, some Hsematoxylin — the source of the
colouring properties of logwood. From the appearance of
the crystals Mr. Dale expected they would form a polarising
object, and Mr. Dancer found that opinion to be correct.
Mounted slides of the crystals from an alcoholic solution

199

were exhibited to the meeting by polarised light, they
are quite equal to Salicin in intensity of colour, and do
not require the aid of a selenite stage. I hey foiin a wel-

come addition to the list of polarising objects.

Mr. Danger also exhibited specimens ol the “ V enus s
Flower-basket,” the Euplectella aspergillum ol Owen. The
skeleton of this animal is composed of silex, and, being trans-
parent, forms a beautiful object under the microscope, having
the appearance of spun glass; the delicate hairs at the base are
also siliceous, and many of them are barbed. These singu-
lar marine productions have been obtained in some quantity
from Cebu, one of the Phillipine Islands; they are dredged
up from the depth of 130 to 135 fathoms. An interesting
account of the method employed by the natives in collect-
ing the Euplectelhe will be found in 'the Magazine of
Natural History for March, 1869.

“ On a Deposit in Dog’s Bay, Connemara, destitute of
Foraminifera,” by Mr. Charles Bailey.

In distributing some foramiriiferous sand collected in
Dog’s Bay in August last, Mr. Charles Bailey drew atten-
tion to a small creek in the southern shore of the bay, which,
from its being well protected by its rocky sides, he expected
would yield a rich deposit of foraminifera. On a minute
examination, however, of the materials composing its beach,
there was a singular absence of foraminifera, scarcely a single
example of these creatures being discoverable. The beach was
uniform in character from low water to high water mark, and
was for the most part made up of fragments of molluscous
shells mixed with coarse grains of sand. This deposit is the
more remarkable from the contrast it presents to the rest of
the beaches in the neighbourhood, those of Dog’s Bay and
Gorteen Bay being made up of considerably finer materials
and abounding in foraminifera; further, the most perfect

200

specimens of foraminifera are found round the next head-
land, not many yards from the creek in question.

Mr. H. A. Hurst communicated some further notes
respecting the plants which occurred spontaneously on some
newly turned land in Tatton Park. Another year’s obser-
vations had confirmed the results of his previous papers on
the plants which acquire, successively, the largest possession
of exposed soil in Cheshire. These are : 1st year, Polygo-
num convolvulus; 2nd year, Rumex Acetosella; 3rd and
4th years, Holcus lanatus and H. mollis. Against the two
last named plants Rumex Acetosella struggles hard during
the third year, and is not destroyed by them until the
fourth.

Mr. Hurst also communicated a list of sea-weeds found
by himself in the Bay of Gibraltar.

Mr. Linton exhibited fresh specimens of Epimedium alpi-
num in flower, from Corda Castle.

Mr. Hurst exhibited specimens of plants recently col-
lected in Egypt.

Annual Meeting, May 10th, 1869.

J. B. Dancer, Esq., F.R. A.S., President of the Section,

in the Chair.

The following Report of the Council and the Treasurer’s
Account for the past year were read and passed :

Your Council have to report that the Session which
closes to-night has been of more than average interest.

201

The attendance at each meeting has considerably increased
and the subjects brought under the notice of the section
have been unusually numerous.

In the following list of the papers which have been
read during the Session it will be noticed, that subjects
bearing upon the Microscope and apparatus connected
therewith, have been comparatively few, the majority of
the papers being upon Natural History matters. The
Council refer to this here in the hope that somewhat more
prominence may be given to the Microscope in the next
Session.

The following are the titles of the Papers read : —

1868.

Oct . 12. — “On the structure of an undescribed type of Cala-

madendron from the upper Coal-Measures of
Lancashire.” — Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.
Nov. 9. — “A Resume of the more important papers bearing

upon Microscopical Research which have appeared
during the past year.” — Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

„ “ The Galls produced by Cynips lignicola.”-— Mr.

Joseph Sidebotham.

,, “ The Vegetation of Gibraltar during the month of

May.” — Mr. H. A. Hurst.

Dec. 7. — “ Further notes on some of the rarer plants found near

Llandudno.” —Mr. Joseph Sidebotham.

„ “ On the occurrence of Acanthocinus sedilis at Run-

corn.”-—Dr. Henry Simpson.

„ “ On the occurrence of Gonoplax angulata at South -

port.” — Dr. Thomas Alcock.

„ “On a method of preserving fine dissections by
corrosive sublimate.” — Dr. Thomas Alcock.

„ “ On land and freshwater Molluscs collected at Gibraltar

in March, 1863.” — Mr. R. D. Darbishire, B.A.

1869.

Jan. L — “ Notes on the various organs and orders of Microscopic

Fungi.” — Mr. A. G. Latham.

„ “On the Natural Order Proteaceoe ; and on some
Tyrolese Willows supposed to be hybrids.” — Mr.
Thomas Coward.

202

Jan. 4.-

33

Feb . 1.-

33

33

March 1.-

33

33

33

i

33

March 29.

93

33

26.

33

33

33

■“ The discovery of Scirpus parvulus R. and S. at the
mouth of the river Ovoca, County Wicklow.” —
Mr. Charles Bailey.

“ Ceylon : its Climate, Natural History, &c.”— - Mr.
E. Heelis.

•“Notes of the rarer Mosses of Perthshire and
Brsemar.” — Mr. G. E. Hunt.

“ Illustrations of the plumules of the Lepidoptera.” —
Mr. John Watson.

“ On a comparative Analysis of English and Aleppo
Galls.” — Mr. John Barrow.

-u On the silk-producing moth of Natal, and the mason-
spider of St. Thomas.” — Mr. Joseph Sidebotham.

“ On the Markings on the Pleurosigma angulatum,
and on the Lepisma saccharina.” — Mr. J. B.
Dancer, F.R.A.S.

“A description of the parasitic Pediculis pubis, L.”—
Mr. Walter Morris.

“ Remarks on the Flora of Cheshire ; with Notices
of the New and Rarer Plants of the County.” —
Mr. Spencer Bickham, Jun.

“ Observations on Anguillula tritici, obtained from
wheat of various harvests.” — Mr. Richard Heys.

-“The Kangaroos of Beeston Castle.” — Rev. J. E.
Vize, M.A.

“ The habits of the Kangaroo Rat in captivity.” —
Mr. Walter Morris.

“The characteristic plants of Connemara.”— Mr.
Charles Bailey.

-“On Hsematoxylin as a good polarising object.” — -
Mr. J. B. Dancer.

“ Notes on Venus’s Flower-basket.” — Mr. J. B. Dancer.

“ On a Deposit in Dog’s Bay, Connemara, destitute of
Foraminifera.” — Mr. Charles Bailey.

“ Notes in continuation of previous observations on
the plants occurring spontaneously on some newly-
turned land at Knutsford.”— Mr. H. A. Hurst.

203

The number of ordinary members at the present time
is 38, corresponding member 1, and of associates 8 ; against
39, and 8 respectively, at the corresponding period last
year, three new members having been elected, while three
members have withdrawn or died.

The funds of the Section are in a prosperous condition as
will be seen from the Treasurer’s Balance Sheet, the balance
in hand amounting to £23 Is. 2d., against £24 16s. Id. last
year.

The Council have purchased several valuable works
during the year ; such as “ Boot’s Illustrations of the
genus Carex,” and some early volumes of the Microscopical
Journal and Transactions.

The set in the Library of the latter work is now complete
with the exception of one number, viz., No. XIX, for April,
1857, and your Council would be very glad to acquire this
number of the Journal by donation or purchase.

The expenditure for the above works has somewhat
reduced the balance in the Treasurer’s hands; but as all
the works so purchased become the property of the parent
Society, your Council have concluded an arrangement with
the Council of the Society, by which one half the cost is
borne by each, provided the works proposed to be bought
are approved by the Librarian.

204

3Ctst of JifUmfjers.

Alcock, Thomas, M.D.

Bailey, Chaeles.

Baeeow, John.

Baxendell, Joseph, F.R.A.S.
Bickham, Spences, Jun.

Binney, Edwaed Wm., F.R.S.,
F.G.S.

Beockbank, W., F.G.S. ,
Beogden, Heney.

Beothees, Alfeed, F.R.A.S.
Cottam, Samuel.

Cowaed, Edwaed.

Cowaed, Thomas.

Dale, John, E.C.S.

Dancee, John Benj., F.R.A.S.
Daebishiee, R. D., B.A.

Deane, William K.

Gladstone, Mceeay, F.R.A.S.
Heys, William Heney.

Higgin, James, F.C.S.

Huest, Heney Alexandee.
Latham, Aethue G-eoege.
Lynde, James Gascoigne, Mem.

Inst. C.E., F.G.S., F.R.M.S.
Maclueb, John Wm., F.R.G.S.

Manchestee, The Right Rey.
the Loed Bishop of, D.D.,
F.R.S., F.G.S., F.C.P.S., Corr.
Mem. Arch. Inst. Rome.

Mitchell, Captain, Madras,

Corr. Mem.

Moegan, Edwaed, M.D.

Nevill, Thomas Heney.

Rideout, William J.

Robeets, William, M.D.

SlDEBOTHAM, JOSEPH.

Simpson, Heney, M.D.

Slagg, John, Jun.

Smaet, Robeet Bath, M.R.C.S.

Smith, Robeet Angus, Ph.D.,
F.R.S., F.C.S.

Tait, Moetimee L.

Veenon, Geoege Venables,

F.R.A.S.

Watson, John.

Williamson, Wm. Ceawfoed,
F.R.S., Prof. Hat. Hist. Owens
College.

Weight, William Coet.

ICtst of ^tasoaatfs.

Habeison, Hugh.

Hunt, Geoege Edwaed.
Hunt, John.

L ABBEY, B. B.

Linton, James.

Moeeis, Waltee.
Wateehouse, J. Ceewdson.
Wh ALLEY, J. E.

THE MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION OF THE MANCHESTER LITERARY AND
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, IN ACCOUNT CURRENT WITH H. A. HURST, TREASURER.

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206

The election of Officers for the session 1869-70 was then
proceeded with, and the following gentlemen were declared
elected :

IPresi&ent.

MR. JOHN WATSON.

Uicc^restttents.

MR. J. B. DANCER, F.R.A.S.

MR. JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

MR. JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

treasurer.

MR. H. A. HURST.

Secretaries.

DR. ADCOCK.

MR. SPENCER BICKHAM, JUN.

Council.

PROF. W. C. WILLIAMSON, F.R.S.

MR. SAMUEL COTTAM.

MR. THOMAS COWARD.

DR. SIMPSON.

MR. J. BARROW.

MR. A. O. LATHAM.

MR. CHARLES BAILEY.

MR. THOMAS H. NEYILL.

Mr. William J. Rideout sent for exhibition one of J. D.
Moller’s “ Diatomaceen-Typen-Platte,” the beauty of which
was greatly admired. Mr. Rideout promised to present one
of these slides to the Section as soon as he could procure
one.

Mr. Joseph Sidebotham exhibited some fresh specimens
of Scilla verna, Myosotis collina, Orchis Morio, and Gera-
nium pusillum, collected by himself at Llandudno.

l;i & L-i ' ' t I !: .

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

OF

MANCHESTER.

VOL. IX.

Session 1869-70.

MANCHESTER :

PRINTED BY THOS. SOWLER AND SONS, RED DION STREET, ST. ANN'S SQUARE.
LONDON : H. BAILLIERE, 219, REGENT STREET.

1870.

/

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
themselves, who are alone responsible for the facts and reasonings con-
tained therein.

INDEX.

Bailey Charles, Hon. Lib. — On Pollen : considered as an Aid in tlie Dif-
ferentiation of Species, p. 51. On the Natural Ropes used in Packing
Cotton Bales in the Brazils, p. 88.

Baxendell J., F.R.A.S ., Hon. Sec.— On the Influence of Changes in the
Character of the Seasons upon the Bate of Mortality, p. 159. On
Infant Mortality in Manchester, p. 177. On the Mortality Returns
of Scotland for the ten years 1859-68, p. 179.

Binney E. W., E.R.S., E.G-.S., Y.P. — On Saxicava rugosa, p. 4. On the
Permian Strata of East Cheshire, p. 21 and p. 60. On the Aurora of
January 3rd, 1870, p. 55. On Stray Boulders on the Slopes of the
Pennine Chain, p. 75. On the High Death-rate of Manchester and
Salford, p. 112. Extracts from MS. Journal of Mr. George Walker,
p. 151.

Calyebt E. Ceace, E.R.S. — On Artificial Alizarine, p. 101.

Cockle Sir James, E.R.S. — On Convertent Functions, p. 86.

Coward Thomas. — On Podostemacese, p. 36.

Cueey J. — On the Hades, Throws, Shifts, &c., of the Metalliferous Veins of
the North of England, p. 44.

Dancer J. B., F.R.A.S. — On the Microscopical Examination of Milk under
Certain Conditions, p. 37. On the Molecular Movements of Micro-
scopic Particles, p. 82. On Spores in the Air, p. 111.

Dawkins W. Boyd, E.R.S., — On some Old Mining Tools from the Tur-
quoise Mines of Sinai, p. 4. Settle Cave Exploration, p. 154. On
the Exploration of the Hyaena Den at Wookey Hole, p. 181.

Dickinson W. L. — On Three Occultations of Saturn by the Moon, p. 149.
On the Eclipse of the Sun, December 21-22, 1870, p. 158.

Geeland Dr. B. W. — On Combinations of Phosphate of Lime and Sul-
phurous Acid, p, 25.

Geeen, A. H., M.A., E.G.S.— On the Nature of the Boundary between the
Carboniferous and the Triassic or Permian Rocks of Cheshire, p. 55.

Green Beenaed Haetley. — Presents to the Society the MS. Journal of
Air. George Walker, one of the original Members, p. 151.

Hart Petee.- - Description of a New Anemometer, p. 152.

VI

Hull Edward, F.B.S. — On the Nature of the Boundary between the Carbon-
iferous and the Triassic or Permian Bocks of Cheshire, p. 58.

Hurst H. A. — On the Use of the Ordinary Circular Bail way Beading Lamp
for Illuminating Microscopical Objects, p. 194.

Joule J. P., LL.D., F.B.S. , P. — On an Appearance of the Setting Sun, p. 1.
On Disturbances pf Magnetic Dip, p. 55. Determination of the
Horizontal Magnetic Intensity, p. 61. On the Progressive Bise of
the Freezing Point of a Thermometer, p. 101.

Jevons Professor W. Stanley, M.A. — On the so-called Molecular Move-
ments of 'Microscopic Particles, p. 78. On a General System of
Numerically Definite Beasoning, p. 84.

Lund Edward, F.B.C.S. — On the Sources of the High Death-rate of
Manchester, p. 114.

Mackereth Thomas, F.B.A.S. — Besults of Bain-gauge and Anemometer
Observations made at Eccles, near Manchester, during the year 1869,
p. 124.

Morton E. H. — On the Composition of the Water of the Irish Sea, p. 146.

Bansome Arthur, M.D., M.A. — On the Organic Matter of Human Breath
in Health and Disease, p. 106. On the Germination and Early
Growth of Plants, p. 184.

Reynolds Professor Osborne, M.A. — On the Suspension of a Ball by a
Jet of Water, p. 115 and p. 133.

Roberts William, M.D. — On Cystine Calculi, p. 61.

Routledge B. — On the Suspension of a Ball by a Jet of Water, p. 133.

Schunck Edward, Ph.D. F.B.S., Y.P. — On Vogelsang and Geissler’s
Experiments on the Nature of the Liquids enclosed in certain
Minerals, p. 4. On Artificial Alizarine, p. 106.

Sidebotham J. — On Varieties in Lepidoptera, p. 112. On Besinous Vapour
in Cabinets made of Pencil Cedar, p. 34. Notes on the Pupa and
Imago of Acherontia atropos, p. 62. On Pholas-bored Bocks, p. 110.
On some Shell Deposits at Llandudno, p. 121.

Smith B. Angus, F.B.S., V.P. — On Organic Matter in the Air, p. 65.

Spence Peter, F.C.S. — Heating Saturated Saline Solutions to their Boiling
Points by Steam at 212°, p. 87.

Thomson Sir William, F.B.S, — On the Size of Molecules, p. 136.

Thorpe T, E., Ph.D. — On Nontronite, p. 1. On a New Chromium
Oxychloride, p. 15. On the Composition of the Water of the Irish
Sea, p. 146.

Yll

Yeenon Gf. V., F.R.A.S. — On the Mean Monthly Temperature at Old
Trafford, Manchester* 1861 to 1868, and also the Mean for the
Twenty Years 1849 to 1868, p. 46. On the Rainfall of 1869, at Old
Trafford, Manchester, p. 123.

Watson John. — Address to the Microscopical and Natural History Section,
p. 9.

Wilde H. — On the Suspension of a Ball by a Jet of Water, p. 133.

Williams W. Caeleton. — On the Determination of Phosphoric Acid,
p. 141.

Williamson Professor W. C., F.R.S. — On a New Form of Calamitean
Strobilus, p. 7. On the Structure of Calamites, p. 76.

Meetings of the Physical and Mathematical Section. — Ordinary, 46, 123, 124.

Meetings of the Microscopical and Natural History Section. — Annual, p. 189.
Ordinary, 9, 34, 54, 61, 110, 121, 181.

Report of the Council — April 19th, 1870, p. 169.

PROCEEDINGS

OF

THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL

SOCIETY.

Ordinary Meeting, October 5th, 1869.

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

The following extract of a letter from Dr. J OULE,

F. R.S., dated Southport, October 5th, 1869, and addressed
to the Chairman, was read :

I enclose a rough drawing of the appearance of the
setting sun. Mr. Baxendell noticed the fact that at the
moment of the departure of the sun below the horizon, the
last glimpse is coloured bluish green. On two or three
occasions I have noticed this, and also . near sunset an
appearance like what I have rudely depicted. Just at the
upper edge, where bands of the sun’s disk are separated one
after the other by refraction, each band becomes coloured
blue just before it vanishes.

| On Nontronite,” by T. E. Thorpe, Ph.D., communicated
by Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S., <fee.

There exists some doubt among mineralogists as to
whether Nontronite is to be regarded as a distinct mineral
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society.— Yol. IX.— No. 1.— Session 1869-70.

9

species. Owing to the difficulty of obtaining it in a fit
state for investigation the few analyses hitherto published
by Berthier. Dufrenoy, Jacquelin and others have taught
us but little concerning its real nature. The following
analysis made on a comparatively pure specimen may throw
additional light on the constitution of this compound. The
sample analysed was discovered unclassified in the mineral-
ogical cabinet at Heidelberg, and was stated by Professor
Blum, who was disposed to regard it as Pinguite, to have
been found in the neighbourhood of Heppenheim in the
Bergstrasse.

1*4155 grm. of the substance was heated with fuming
hydrochloric acid until the mineral appeared to be com-
pletely decomposed ; the solution was evaporated to com-
plete dryness, and the separation of the silica effected in
the usual manner.

Silica obtained 0*5680 grm.

The weighed silica was then dissolved in caustic potash
and proved to be entirely free from sand or quartz.

To the filtrate from the silica were added a few drops of
nitric acid, the solution boiled and the iron precipitated by
ammonia.

Ferric oxide 0*5757 grm.

The weighed precipitate was next dissolved in strong
hydrochloric acid, water added and the solution filtered
from a minute quantity of silica which had escaped separa-
tion by the previous evaporation.

Silica (not completely separated) 0*0030 grm.

Caustic soda was then added in slight excess to the
filtrate, and the ferric oxide again precipitated, washed,
ignited, and weighed. The re-precipitated ferric oxide
weighed 0*5740 grm. Hence the substance was free from
any appreciable quantity of alumina.

To the ammoniacal filtrate a few drops of ammonium
oxalate were added, and the precipitate ignited and deter-
mined as caustic lime,

3

Lime 0*0380 grm.

On adding sodium phosphate to the filtrate a mere trace
of magnesia, appearing only after the lapse of some hours,
was found.

The remaining constituent, namely water, was deter-
mined by igniting the mineral in a stream of dry carbonic
acid carefully freed from air, until the loss of weight
appeared constant.

1*1205 grm. substance lost 0*2311 grm. water.

Calculated from the foregoing analysis, the composition
of the mineral is as follows : —

Lime 2*68

Magnesia Traces

Ferric Oxide 36*44

Silica 40*30

Water 20*98

.100*40

On subtracting the lime, which evidently may be
regarded as an unessential constituent, the percentage com-
position agrees very well with that required by the formula

Fe2 03 3 Si 02 + 5H20.

Found.

Calculated.

Ferric Oxide

37*24 .,

37*20

Silica

41*29 ..

41*86

Water

21-47 ..

..... 20*94

100*00

100*00

Nontronite is evidently a product of the decomposition
by weathering of some siliceous mineral rich in iron. It
possesses a light green colour, which on the expulsion of
water changes to a dark chesnut brown. It is perfectly
opaque, and shows no evidence of crystallisation. Its frac-
ture is uneven, and the lustre of its streak resinous. It is
unctuous to the touch, and yields easily to the nail, and is
somewhat harder than talc.

4

The following analysis by Biewend, made upon a specimen
found at Andreasberg, agrees remarkably well with the

foregoing determinations : —

Ferric Oxide 37 ‘30

Silica 41-10

Water 21-56

99-96

Dr. Schunck, F.R.S., called attention to a paper by
Vogelsang and Geissler, on the nature of the liquids en-
closed in certain minerals, such as rock crystal, topaz, and
quartz, which appeared in the number of PoggendorfFs Anna-
len for last May. The Authors find that these liquids, sup-
posed by some observers to be hydro-carbons, always consist
of liquid carbonic acid, mixed in some cases with a little
water. The experiments by which they were led to this
conclusion are fully described in the paper.

Mr. Binney, Y.P., stated that during the last year or two,
attention had been directed to the hollows which appear on
the surface of limestone rocks, especially those belonging to
the carboniferous series. Some 25 years ago Mr. Jopling*
in his description of the Hundred of Furness, and more
recently, Mr. Darbishire and myself have brought the sub-
ject before this Society, and Mr. Pengelly, Mr. A. Tylor
and Mr. Mackintosh, have made communications to the
Geological Society of London. At the reading of the last-
named gentleman’s paper, on the 12th day of May, last
session, he stated that the holes he described were made
by a Photas. This was doubted by Mr. Gwyn JefFerys,
who stated “that the borings of the Pholas, Saxicava, and
Gastrochcena , were not parallel but enlarged towards
the base into a pear-shaped form. They were also com-
paratively straight, and not curved or bifurcated as in

5

the limestones exhibited. The range in height was also
against their being the work of marine molluscs. He
thought the perforations were more probably due to atmos-
pheric agency.”

According to Dr. Baird, in his Dictionary of Natural
History/’ the Saxicava is a genus of conchiferous Mollusca,
nearly related to the Myaclce, or, according to some arrange-
ments, forming the type of a small family by itself
Saxicavidce. There is only one species of the genus known,
but its protean form has camsed conchologists to make, at
least, two genera of it. When young the shell is symme-
trical, with two small teeth in each valve. In this state it
is the Hiatella of authors. When it is full grown it is
rugose and toothless, forming the true Saxicava . S. rugosa
is found in almost all parts of the world, and it is found in
various situations living in the crevices of rocks or corals
or amongst the roots of seaweed, in which places it is
attached by a byssus, or boring into limestone and other
rocks and other shells It assumes so many forms that no
fewer than 15 species have been manufactured out of its
varieties and conditions. It ranges from low water to 140
fathoms, and appears to attain its largest growth in the
Arctic seas. Unlike the rough rasping shell of the Pholas,
this little mollusc has its shell smooth and covered
with an epidermis, and its toot is so small and finger like
that it possesses none of the power enjoyed by the foot of
Teredo. It has, accordingly, been supposed by some con-
chologists that it dissolves the rock by chemical means,
softening it by some peculiar acid it has the power of
secreting, so as to be able to wash the debris away by means
of a current of water passing through the branchiae. By
others it is asserted that the anterior margins of the mouth,
which are united and much thickened, are covered with
siliceous particles, and form a rasping surface sufficiently
powerful to wear the rock away.

6

My experience of the habits of the Pkolas in boring into
rocks or other bodies is very limited, in fact the only in-
stance which has come under my observation, is that of the
Pholas Candida in the stiff clay, at low water mark, on
the beach of Blackpool. During the last summer, my
attention was directed to the black limestone, forming the
lowest portion of the carboniferious strata, a little north of
Scarlet, and Port St. Mary, both near Castletown, in the Isle
of Man. At the former place at low water mark, the lime-
stone on its surface is pitted with countless holes, made by
marine worms and a small bivalve, the Saxicava rugosa,
specimens of which are now exhibited; but no trace of
a Pholas could be met with in the rocks after diligent search
on this, and other parts of the shores of the Island;
and the holes made by the Saxicava and worms, were, so
far as I could observe, only to be met with in a limestone
rock, and not in the trap ash or clay slates adjoining it.

The holes made by the bivalves were various, some being
at right angles to the surface of the rock whilst others were
at different angles. The depth of the holes observed was
one and a half inches, aud their diameter half an inch, their
form at the base being pear-shaped, and not cylindrical.
The largest shell found in the holes measured one inch
by three eighths of an inch. Looking at these holes and
the shape of the shells found in them, it is difficult to deter-
mine whether they are the result of boring by the inhabi-
tant of the shell, or the dissolving or softening of the rock
by an acid acting on the carbonate of lime, or by a com-
bination of the two. Certainly in the localities observed by *
me the holes were found only in calcareous rocks, but the
shape of the holes always at the base agreed with the form
of the shell.

as

7

Ordinary Meeting, October 19th, 1869.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c.. President, in the Chair.

“ On a new form of Calamitean Strobilus,” by Professor
W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.

The author referred to the labours of Mr. Binney and Mr.
Carruthers in elucidating the structure of the ordinary type
of Calamitean Strobili as affording a standard of comparison,
and then proceeded to describe his specimen, which was
from the cabinet of Mr. J. Butterworth of High Crompton.
It had been a strobilus approaching nearer to Aphyllostachys
than to Volkmannia, only the three lowermost verticils or
joints were preserved. Externally the central axis had
been fluted longitudinally like the stems of Calamites. It
consisted of a medullary cavity surrounded by a cylinder
consisting largely of cellular and prosenchymatous tissues,
but also containing, in the prominent external ridges, bundles
of reticulated vessels. Where these vessels crossed the
nodes they described a series of arches of which the con-
cavities were directed towards the medulla, as the author
had, in a previous memoir, pointed out to be the case
in Calamopitus. Immediately above and below each node
the ten external ridges of the axis gradually became more
prominent until, at the node, they coalesced, converting
the external grooves of the axis into short canals, of
which the transverse section was pyriform, and forming
a continuous foliar disk, chiefly of cellular tissue, in
which were an outer series of twenty smaller pyriform
apertures diverging obliquely in pairs from each of the
ten larger ones. At the outer angle of each smaller
aperture a sporangiophore ascended almost vertically into
the cavity of the strobilus, being nearly parallel with the
central axis. This sporangiophore supported three or four
sporangia grouped around it in a horizontal verticil, the
Pkoceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society,— Yol, IX.— No. 2 —Session 1869-70.

8

horizontal section of the entire strobilus consisting' of a
circle of these smaller sporangia! verticils which were so
densely packed together as to disturb and mask the regu-
larity of their arrangement. Having given off these spo-
rangiophores with the reproductive organs which they
supported, the verticillate foliar disk dipped suddenly down-
wards and, describing a circular curve, as suddenly outwards
and upwards, where it terminated in a verticil of numerous
ovato-lanceolate bracts, which enclosed the exterior of the
segment to which they belonged and protected the con-
tained sporangia. The author pointed out where the strobilus
differed from those described by Binney and Carruthers.
In the former each node gave off a horizontal verticil of
coalesced bracts, from the centre of which a series of sporan-
giophores ascended as vertical divergent branches, whilst
in the latter there was an alternating arrangement, one node
giving off the disk of coalesced bracts, and the next a verticil
of sporangiophores springing at right angles from the central
axis, and having their respective sporangiophores clustered
round them in perpendicular verticils. In the author’s
example the sporangiophores were densely filled with spores,
each consisting of an outer cell-wall, an inner cell-mem-
brane or primordial utricle, and cell contents wdiich were
often aggregated into a distinctly defined mass in the centre
of the cell. There were no traces of elaters connected with
the spores.

The author pointed out that in its general aspect and in
the type of its structure the strobilus was unmistakably
Calamitean — the peculiarity in the position of its sporangio-
phores being merely generic. Its Calamitean character was
further established by the peculiar arched arrangement of
the vascular bundles where they cross the nodes — an ar-
rangement which the author has never seen except in Cala-
mites. All the detailed features of the strobilus distinguish
it from those described by Binney and Carruthers, and

9

especially the fact that, whilst in all the latter the vascular
structures are scalariform, as in the stems to which they are
supposed to belong, in this example the vessels are reticu-
lated. But the only Calamitean example hitherto discovered
containing such vessels is that described by the author
under the name of Calamopitus, to which, or to some near
ally of it, he believes the strobilus to have belonged. If
this be a correct conclusion, the plant furnishes an instance
derived from the carboniferous vegetation of a highly or-
ganised axis, exogenous in its growth and furnished with
medullary rays, but which nevertheless sustained a crypto -
gamic strobilus. Such a combination, however, is but a
primaeval illustration of a combination still existing amongst
the living Marsileaceae, with which Calamites present some
affinities. The specimen described was found by Mr. But-
terworth in one of the lower beds of the Lancashire coal
measures.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

October 11th, 1869.

John Watson, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.

The President delivered an address, from which the fol-
lowing are extracts: —

Some of our botanical members occasionally meet together
for excursions in pursuit of their favourite study, and it
might be of advantage if the microscopical members would
do the same. There are many districts which would yield
reward in working, and I may mention that I have been very
fortunate during the past summer in obtaining a large num-
ber of infusoria, many of them scarce and some new to me:
these were found in the succession of ponds lying in the
fields between Castle Mill and Mobberly, nearly every pool

10

possessing its own genera and species, differing from the
others. The finest kinds were in the ponds containing
water lilies, and particularly in two where Utricularia vul-
garis was abundant. On the stems of this latter plant I
found that finest of all the infusoria, Stephanoceros Eich-
hornii in great beauty : a species I had never previously met
with in this district; there were also Floscularia ornata and
cornuta, and in addition to abundance of the more common
kinds I obtained Megalotrocha albo-ilavicans, Searidium
longicaudum, Noteus quadricornis, Brachionus Polyacantlius,
Limnias ceratophylli, &c., whilst among the decayed sedge
leaves there were abundance of Qscillatoriae.

It will interest all naturalists, and especially entomologists
and lepidopterists, to hear that there has very lately been
received in this country a fine specimen of the magnificent
butterfly Papilio Antimachus, of which only one specimen
was ever before brought to Europe : this Drury received in
1775 from Sierra Leone, and it was figured by him and
afterwards by Donovan, from the drawings of Jones, now at
Oxford. The insect at the sale of Drury’s collection passed
into the hands of Mr. Me Leay, at whose death it went with
his collection to the Me Leay Museum at Sydney, where it
is believed to be now. No other specimen has been seen in
Europe until a few weeks ago, one came into the possession
of my friend Mr. Christopher Ward, of Halifax, from a col-
lection in the Cameroons district. The late Mr. Aspinall
Turner, anxious to possess this fine and scarce insect, sent
out some years since a good many drawings of it, with offers
of five to ten pounds for every one captured, according to
condition, and the same course has been equally pursued, in
vain, by Mr. Hewitson and others, with. various collectors.
It is very gratifying to learn that the species is not extinct,
and as one specimen has reached Europe after the lapse of
nearly a century, we may hope more will be forthcoming.
Mr. Ward writes to me that it measures exactly 7J inches

11

in the expanse of the upper wings, and 3-J inches in the
lower wings, and he mentions that the peculiar narrowing
of the upper wings towards their apices is very singular.

The Darwinian theory appears to he making progress
among a certain class of naturalists, hut its upholders dis-
play a disposition to avoid precision of terms, and to enlarge
and confuse the meaning of the words they employ rather
than scientifically to limit and define them; they use varia-
bility and mutability as having one and the same meaning^
instead of distinguishing one as referring to subdivision into
varieties, and the other as change of specific forms. Just
now, as a development of the tlieoiy of natural selection, we
hear a great deal from some distinguished entomologists
about imitation and mimicry, where resemblance would be
the more correct word; and these terms cannot be said to
be used figuratively because it is argued that some species
and genera of butterflies mimic the colourings and markings
of others for the sake of protection from enemies, and for
other aims and ends. Certainly the words imitation and
mimicry imply foregone intention. Now it is probable that
no butterfly ever saw its parent or ancestor, its offspring or
posterity, and it is an absurd stretch of imagination that its
own observation could induce and enable it to change the
colouring and appearance of its successors; and if it had such
ability and reasoning power it would effect the change for
protection from enemies in the larva and not in the imago.
We know that Nature loves to repeat her works, and it is
common to find resemblances and repetitions through various
and distantly allied families of animals, and they are truly
connecting links in the chain of creation.

The controversy is still going on between those who affirm
and deny the existence of a vital principle of energy or force,
and Professor Huxley stands foremost among the latter;
very interesting microscopic observations have been made,
and ingenious arguments have been deduced from them, but

12

the grand step from the lifeless to the living protoplasm
has not been diminished. Physiologists may perhaps here-
after discover and explain the difference between organic
forms living and dead, but at present it is not proved that
the phenomena of life can be reconciled with the mere
functions of matter.

“ On a new form of Calamitean Strobilus,” by Professor
Williamson, F.RS. [This paper was afterwards read at an
Ordinary Meeting of the Society, held October 19th, 1869.
See page 7.]

Dr. Henry Simpson exhibited specimens of Statice spa-
thulata, gathered by himself this autumn on Hilbree Island;
Cheshire. He remarked that the locality is the one given
in Ly son’s “Magna Britannia,” but that the plant had not,
he believed, been noticed there for many years.

Mr. Tait sent a portion of the beach from near Alexan-
dria, Egypt, consisting almost entirely of shells. He stated
that for miles along the coast the shore was of a similar
character.

Mr. Joseph Sidebotham read a paper on “Varieties
in Lepidoptera.”

The questions as to what constitutes a species ? where
does a species end, and a variety begin ? and whether a
species be a natural or merely an artificial division ? are
amongst the most difficult of solution in the whole range
of natural history, and just at this time are very promi-
nently before the scientific world.

With a view to determine the influence which difference
of food and light might have in modifying species, the
author gives the following as the result of some experiments
which he had made.

I procured about 2,500 larvse of the tiger moth, in a
young state. I divided them into six lots, keeping each in

13

a separate cage, and feeding them differently. One lot was
fed on willow', another on butter bur, (Petasites vulgaris,)
another on hawthorn, another on plum, one on dock, and
one on nettle, grass, bramble, and various other kinds of
food. A considerable proportion of each became perfect
insects, and I could detect no difference whatever in the
colours, from the food they had lived upon. That is to say,
the variations in colour and marking, were not to be traced
in any case to the food. I kept several batches of eggs,
and reared the larvae carefully through the winter, and
then again divided them, giving each lot a different kind of
food. Again the same result. I found that one year the
larvae I had brought from the coast had usually the inferior
wings more or less of a yellow shade, instead of the bright
scarlet of the Cheshire specimens.

Having for many years continued these experiments
without obtaining any marked results, I this year tried
another of a different nature. 1 selected the tortoiseshell
butterfly, as one of the least variable species we have, and I
procured several broods of young larvae just emerged from
the egg. These I kept in a dark box until I had all ready,
and then I divided each brood into three lots, putting one-
third into a box in my photographic room which is lighted
with orange colored glass, one-third into a box lighted with
blue glass, and the ventilators carefully shaded so that only
light of a blue colour could reach the larvae, the remainder
were put into an ordinary cage, in the natural light.

The latter fed up and came out into butterflies in the
usual time.

Those in the blue light were not healthy, and though
every care ■ was taken, at least fifty or sixty died before
changing, and a considerable number changed into chrysa-
lides, and then died, those that came out into perfect insects
were very much smaller than usual.

Those lighted by orange-coloured glass fed up very well,
but many of the two first lots had come out before one
of them changed into chrysalis; scarcely one of them died,
and I examined each one before I allowed it to fly, to see

14

what effect had been produced. I retained a few speci-
mens of each lot to exhibit this evening, and now proceed
to describe the difference.

Those reared in the blue light differ from the ordinary form
in being on an average much smaller ; the orange brown is
lighter in shade, and the yellow and orange run into each
other, instead of being distinct and separate.

Those reared in the non-actinic, or yellow light, are also
smaller, the orange brown is replaced by a salmon colour,
the venation more strongly marked, and the blue dashes at the
edge of the wings in the usual form, are in these of a dull
slatey colour. A series of specimens of these side by side,
with those reared in ordinary light, are here for exhibition.

One evening I found about 60 butterflies out of chrysalis,
of those in the photographic room, and taking each one care-
fully I examined them all and allowed them to fly; shortly
afterwards I found the whole of them had settled against
the wall of the house, and presented a most remarkable
appearance, they remained there more than half-an-hour,
the western sun was shining against the wall, and it is not
unlikely when being suddenly brought from the red light,
where they had spent all their lives, to the bright daylight,
they have been so dazzled as to act in this peculiar manner.

The results of this experiment do not show any very
startling change in colour, such as one would have expected
from the known effects of light on plants and from the occa-
sional occurrence of very much more strange varieties, one
now and then meets with, which cannot have been subject
to such severe treatment; still, when we consider that
even this difference is caused in one generation, and in the
course of a month, it is a very suggestive fact, and leads one
to think that light has certainly as much or more effect on
the colours of Lepidoptera, than the difference of food, and
might in a long series of generations lead to very material
changes in both form and colour, and perhaps considerably
modify our ideas of what constitutes a species.

15

Ordinary Meeting, November 2nd, 1869.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

William Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., and Thomas Ed-
ward Thorpe, Ph.D., were elected Ordinary Members of the
Society.

“ On a New Chromium Oxychloride,” by T. E. Thorpe,
Ph.D., Assistant in the Laboratory of Owens College. Com-
municated by Professor H. E. Roscoe, Ph.D., F.R.S.

( Cl

When chromyl dichloride Cr02 < q' prepared by heating

a mixture of potassium dichromate, sodium chloride, and sul-
phuric acid, is maintained at a temperature of 180° C.-1900 C.
in a sealed tube for three or four hours, it is almost completely
converted into a black solid substance, and on opening the
tube when cold a considerable quantity of free chlorine es-
capes. By exhausting the tubes containing the liquid
chloride before subjecting them to heat, I have ascertained
that chlorine is the only gaseous product of this decomposi-
tion. The black compound invariably contains more or less
of the liquid chloride which has escaped decomposition : the
greater part of this is easily expelled on gently heating the
mass after opening the tube. In order to free it completely
from the latter body the black substance was transferred to
Pboceeding-s— Lit, & Phil. Society. — Yol. IX. — No. S. — Session 1869-70.

16

a clean tube and heated to 120° C. (i.e, about 2° above the
boiling point of chromyl dichloride) in a current of dry car-
bonic acid gas until its weight appeared constant. The fol-
lowing determination of the amount of chlorine contained in
the volatile portion shows that it is simply chromyl dichlo-
ride which has remained undecomposed.

0*8741 gram liquid chloride gave T6458 grams silver chloride.

Calculated for Cr02 Cl2 Found.

45-7% 46-5%

The solid substance dried in the manner above described
appears as a black uncrystalline powder, which when ex-
posed to the air rapidly deliquesces to a dark reddish brown
syrupy liquid which smells of free chlorine. When thrown
into water it quickly dissolves, forming a dark brown solu-
tion which on standing also evolves chlorine. In nitric
acid solution hypochlorous acid appears to be produced. In
strong hydrochloric acid the substance dissolves with a dark
brown colouration, and on boiling the solution chlorine is
evolved, the liquid becomes greenish yellow, and ultimately
changes to the dark green colour peculiar to a solution of
chromium sesquioxide in hydrochloric acid. When thrown
into dilute ammonia chromic acid is dissolved, together with
all the chlorine, and a precipitate is formed possessing the pro-
perties of the chromate of chrome sesquioxide (Cr203Cr03)
described by Storer and Eliot. Upon this decomposition is
based the method which I have employed for the estimation
of the amount of chlorine contained in this body. The
weighed quantity of the substance was treated with very
dilute ammonia, the solution boiled for a few minutes, fil-
tered, the precipitate well washed by hot water, an excess of
nitric acid added to the filtrate, and the chlorine precipitated
by the addition of silver nitrate. Two determinations of
chlorine carried out in this manner on preparations made at
different times gave the following results.

17

Preparation I.

0-5900 gram substance gave 0-4870 gram silver chloride and

0-0069 gram metallic silver.

Preparation II.

0-493 gram substance gave 0-4250 gram silver chloride.

Prep. 1 20-80 % Cl.

Prep. II 21-32 %

Mean 21-06.

In order to determine the amount of chromium it con-
tains a weighed portion of the substance was repeatedly-
heated with strong hydrochloric acid on a water-bath until
the evolution of chlorine entirely ceased : the soluti on was
then diluted with water, heated to boiling, ammonia added
in slight excess, and again boiled until the supernatant
liquid appeared perfectly colourless. The precipitated
chrome sesquioxide was then filtered, dried, and weighed.

Preparation I.

0-3442 grm. substance gave 0-2470 grm. chrome sesquioxide.
0-5900 „ „ „ 0-4235 „

Preparation II.

0-5082 grm. substance gave 0-3590 grm. chrome sesquioxide.

0-5942

0-4210

>»

Prep. I. 49-30% Cr.

49-25 %

Prep. II. 48-45%

48-62 %

Mean 48-91 %

Hence the percentage composition of the substance is as
follows : —

Chlorine

Found.

... 21-06 .

Ratios.
2 ...

Calculated.
... 21-86

Chromium ...

... 48-91 ..

. . . , , 3 . . .

... 48-54

Oxygen

... 30 03 .

..... 6 ...

... 29-60

100-00

10-000

18

I have attempted to control the above empirical formula
(Cr306Cl2) by heating a weighed portion of the substance in
hydrogen. The action of hydrogen upon the new chloride
when heated is extremely energetic. At a comparatively
low temperature it takes fire, combustion proceeds rapidly
throughout the mass, and ultimately the substance is con-
verted into chrome sesquioxide, hydrochloric acid, and
water. Care must be taken to regulate the current of the
hydrogen, since, if too rapid, particles of the finely divided
sesquioxide are apt to be mechanically carried away, From
an experiment, in which the gas was carefully purified from
oxygen by passing it through strongly alkaline pyrogallate
solution and over heated metallic copper, and then dried by
transmitting it through tubes containing pumice moistened
with strong sulphuric acid, the following numbers were
obtained -

0*8715 grm. substance gave 0*6150 grm. chrome sesquioxide.

Found 70*58 °/o Cr203.

Cr306Cl2 gives by calculation 70*72 °/Q

I had an additional object in thus studying the action of
hydrogen upon the new chloride. I considered that this
action might possibly throw some light on the constitution
of this compound. The new oxichloride may in conformity
with the analytical results be regarded as a compound of
chromous chloride with two equivalents of chromium
trioxide. Now, chromous chloride, according to Moberg,
may be heated in hydrogen to the softening point of glass
without suffering decomposition, and if it were found that
water was the only volatile product of the reaction, we
should possess a certain amount of evidence for supposing
that the formula CrCl2, 2Cr03 represents the constitution
of this substance. Experiment showed, however, that the
chlorine was not so firmly united in this compound as in
the chromous chloride : on gently heating the substance in
hydrogen, hydrochloric acid was immediately evolved.

19

Pdligot has described a series of salts to which are assigned
the general formulae M Cl, Cr03 and M"C12, 2Cr03, where M
represents a monovalent metal and M" a divalent metal.
The following are the names and formulae of the salts pre-
pared by Peligot :

K Cl, Cr03 Potassium chlorochromate.

Na Cl, Cr03 Sodium chlorochromate.

NH4C1, Cr03 Ammonium chlorochromate.

Mg Cl2, 2CrOs Magnesium chlorochromate.

Ca Cl2, 2Cr03 Calcium chlorochromate.

Now the new oxychloride stands in a very evident rela-
tion to these compounds. Supposing fora moment that the
formulae given to these substances correctly represent their
constitution, then the new oxychloride may be regarded as
the chromium term of the series— -divalent chromium re-
placing magnesium or calcium,

Cr"Cl2, 2Cr03,

a formula identical with that of which I have just attempted
to show the impropriety. But there is still another reason
for supposing that a compound thus constituted could not
exist. Chromous chloride is one of the most energetic
deoxidising agents known, and we can hardly conceive it to
be united in a stable compound with a substance which so
readily parts with its oxygen as chromium trioxide. Hence
I am disposed to regard the constitution of th e salts of Peli-
got as very different from that implied by the above method
of representation : indeed to the best of my knowledge the
general formula assigned to these salts expresses not a single
experimental fact, unless it be the mode of their decomposi-
tion by water ; probably it had reference to the views of
Rose and Berzelius respecting the constitution of the so-
called chlorochromic acid. The following structural formulae
better represent in my opinion the constitution of these
compounds and their relation to chromyl dichloride*

Magnesium Chlorochromate.
Cl.

20

Chromium Chlorochromate.
Cl.

Cr09

CrO.

i

0

1

0

i

j

Mg

1

Cr."

1

0

i

1

0

Cr02

i

j

Cr02

i

1

Cl.

1

Cl.

These substances may also be thus represented :

Oro/jS1

I

Cr"

I

Cr02 | C1

The relation of the new oxychloride to chromyl dichlo-
ride is thus very apparent. Three molecules of chromyl
dichloride when heated are resolved into one molecule of
chromium chlorochromate and four atoms of chlorine.

Cr02 | o

I

Mg
f I

Cr02 \ 0
( Cl

21

Ordinary Meeting, November 16th, 1869.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair,

Professor Osborne Reynolds, B.A., of Owens College, was
elected an Ordinary Member of the Society.

“ On the Permian Strata of East Cheshire,” by E. W.
Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

In communications to this Society, and printed in its
Memoirs, most of the sections of permian strata in the
counties of Lancashire and Cheshire were given. These
had been found by amateur geologists, who rambled over
the country at their leisure, but when the Geological
Survey came into the district, and went over every parish,
it was to be expected they would make some discoveries.
Accordingly we find in the Memoir explaining the map of
the district lying between Macclesfield and Stockport, Mr.
E. Hull, F.R.S., describes what he terms a patch of permian
strata at Torkington, in the following words: “ Torkington. —
A curious little patch of permian beds occurs at Torkington,
near Hazel Grove. The beds are only to be seen in the two
brook courses, and as far as it is possible to make out their
relationship to the coal measures they appear to lie in a
trough formed in the lowest beds of the middle series, in
fact over the Redacre coal,

“The patch appears to be about one-fourth of a mile in
breadth from east to west, and is bounded on both sides by
carboniferous grits and shales. If we follow the brook
eastward from Torkington we find the following series in
descending order, all the beds dipping westward.

Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society.— Yol. IX.— No. 4.— Session 1869-70.

22

Permian Beds. —1. Red marls.

2. Soft red breccia, a sandy matrix containing
angular fragments of coal measure grits,
shales, and pieces of earthy haematite.
Coal Measures. — 3. Soft purple grits, red shales, with bands of

earthy haematite.

Owing to the amount of drift over this part of the country
it is impossible to determine the exact northern and south-
ern limits of this little outlier of permian beds.”

As it is desirable to collect all the sections showing the
relation of the permian strata to the underlying coal mea-
sures, probably one may be excused in bringing this portion
of Mi-. Hull’s labours before the Society. The section is
exposed in a small brook course called Ockley Brook, flow-
ing between the Green Clough and Blackwood farms on the
estate of Mr. Legh of Lyme, less than a mile to the north-
east of the High Lane Station of the Manchester and Bux-
ton Railway. When I lately examined it only about one
hundred yards of the strata were exposed. They occurred
in the following descending order :

Permian Beds. — 1. Red marls.

2. Red breccia, chiefly composed of coal mea-
sure sandstones, some of them two inches
in diameter, for the most part quite
angular, with small pieces of haematite, in
a paste of sandy clay, about ten yards in
thickness.

Permian ? — 3. Variegated shale and bright red sandstone.

4. Middle coal measures.

The dip of the strata was to the N.N.W. The permian beds
at about an angle of 10°. and the coal measures at about 20°.
No. 3 appeared more like permian than carboniferous strata,
from its characters, but there was no decisive evidence to
class it with certainty. Such a bed of breccia has not, to
my knowledge, been exposed in Cheshire. In the section
described by me many years ago at Norbury Mill, a little to
the south-west, the breccia there (more of a conglomerate

23

character) was only 5ft. Sin. in thickness, and separated from
the underlying middle coal measures by 12ft. of red clays.
In the Ocldey Brook, as well as the Norbury section, there
appeared to be no evidence of a fault, but only the covering
up of the inferior by the superior strata.

As a great portion of the future supply of coal must, most
probably, be looked for under the penman and triassic for-
mations in Great Britain, it is very essential that all the
circumstances under which the carboniferous strata disappear
under those deposits should be carefully ascertained and
correctly described. When permian or triassic beds are
found on the rise of the strata they indicate a fault where
the coal measures have been thrown down, but when they
are met with on the dip of the strata they may indicate
a down-thrown fault similar to the one last mentioned,
or else an overlap of the permian or triassic strata simply
resting unconformably on the carboniferous strata. Some
authors have described both these as faults. In the
beginning of this century certain, geologists and practical
miners often supposed that when the coal measures disap-
peared under the permian and triassic strata, generally then
known as “red ground," they were cut off by a fault, and it
was useless trying to follow them. “ Bed rock faults ” were
then used in the same sense whether found on the rise or
dip of the strata. Now it is of the utmost importance that
these two classes of phenomena should be carefully dis-
tinguished, and accordingly most geologists have done so,
and termed the former a fault because the strata are there
displaced, and the latter an overlap because the underlying
strata are not displaced, but simply covered up by the
superior strata.

Of course when coal measures disappear on their dip
under superior beds, they can generally be followed, pro-
vided there are no faults, and if there are faults the beds
can be found at some depth or other. Owing to these cir-

24

cumstances permian and triassic strata have been often
supposed to indicate tlie presence of coal under them. No
doubt they do where profitable seams of coal disappear
under them, but when millstone grit or mountain limestone
in Lancashire and Cheshire disappear on their dip under
permian or triassic strata, such strata do not give any evi-
dence of the existence of profitable coal seams under them,
but only of beds of mountain limestone or millstone grit
seen near them. This holds good only for the southern or
midland districts of England, so far as profitable coal is con-
cerned, for it is well known that in Scotland both these
deposits contain valuable seams of coal.

Mr. Hull in his map of the district lays down the country
from Macclesfield to Stockport so far as it relates to the coal
measures, by supposing the latter strata on their dip as being
bounded by what he terms the “ red rock fault,” whereas I
have in all my papers described the coal measures in that
district as only overlaid by permian or triassic strata, there
being in my opinion no evidence of “ a fissure along which
relative displacement of the adjoining rock masses has taken
place”; such not having been given, it can only be put for-
ward as hypothetical and without any evidence of facts to
sanction it. When my papers were published there was
plenty of evidence in support of my views in other districts,
but not so much near Stockport. However, this has lately
been supplied on the line of the so-called Red Rock Fault,
in a shaft and. bore hole at Brinnington, where, under a. soft
red sandstone without pebbles, most probably trias (lower
soft red), the coal measures containing seams of coal were
met with, thus clearly showing that such strata there
were not dislocated by a fault, but simply overlaid by trias.

In works of such authority as the geological maps and
memoirs of the Survey, every care should be taken to ascer-
tain the boundaries of the workable coal fields in a manu-
facturing district, where a supply of coal is of such vital

25

importance. A mistake under an official survey can hardly
be rectified by an amateur geologist like myself, but it is
desirable that the exact nature of this so-called “ Red Rock
Fault” should be more carefully investigated, and where
necessary rectified in the Government maps. So far as my
knowledge extends there is no more evidence of a fault
between Macclesfield and Stockport, where the trias and
permian beds cover the coal measures, than is to be found
on the eastern side of the Pennine chain between Sandyacre
and Sunderland, where carboniferous strata disappear under
permian.

“ On the Combinations of Phosphate of Lime and Sul-
phurous Acid,” by Dr. B. W. Gerland, Macclesfield.
Communicated by Professor Roscoe, Ph.D., F.R.S.

Phosphate of Lime, in whatever state it may be, readily
dissolves in an aqueous solution of Sulphurous acid. The
solution can be obtained of great strength ; thus, from
freshly precipitated Tribasie Phosphate ol Lime a liquor
was prepared of 1*3 specific gravity, and from Bone Ash
one of 1*1708 specific gravity. The former contained in

1000 cc.

Sulphurous Acid .........

......... 218*38

grm

Sulphuric Acid

......... 0*70

Lime

101-79

v>

Phosphoric Acid .....

......... 82*89

403-76

55

These figures agree tolerably with the formula SCaO,
P05+6 S02 as the comparison with the calculated table
shows :

3CaO ... 84 ... 98*20

P05 ... 71*4 ... 82*89

6S02 ... 192 ... 224*45

405*54

26

The solution of Bone Ash in Sulphurous Acid of IT 708
specific gravity was found to contain in 1000 CC.

Sulphurous Acid
Sulphuric Acid .
Phosphoric Acid

Magnesia

Lime

141 '82 grm.
trace

47-42

2-79

59-69

•n

251-72 „

The formula 3CaO, P05, 6 S02 requires for 47'42 P05 :

Lime 55-78 grm.

Phosphoric Acid .... 47*42 „

Sulphurous Acid .. . 127*50 ,,

— 230-70

The excess of Lime in the Analysis is 3-91

and Magnesia 2-79

These two would require Sulphurous Acid. . . 8*73

Excess of Sulphurous Acid 5-58

251-71

The Bone Ash which was left undissolved by the
Sulphurous Acid, had lost all its Magnesia, a circumstance
which accounts for the large amount of Magnesia in the
liquor.

The proportion of 3CaO P05 and S02 varies according
to the strength, of the liquor: if the latter is for instance
1-060 specific gravity, 5eq S02 dissolve 3CaO, P05, and in
still weaker solutions we find only 4eq S02 for 3CaO, P05

These solutions possess very interesting reactions, some
of which are the following :

A neutral solution of Ferric Chloride precipitates straw-
colored Phosphate of Iron, and if added in proper quantity
the liquor is free from both Iron and Phosphoric Acid.
The precipitate, after washing and drying over Sulphuric
Acid is free from Lime and Sulphurous Acid. Its analysis
agrees well with the formula Fe2 03, P05-f 5HO.

Acetate of Copper colours the Sulphurous Acid solution,
when added in small quantity, intensely green, a further

27

addition produces a thick yellow precipitate, which rapidly
changes in contact with air and thereby becomes green.
Acetate of Lead also produces a thick precipitate of white
colour. These precipitates contain, besides the metallic
oxide, Lime, Phosphoric and Sulphurous Acids. Chloride
of Barium precipitates the solution directly, and Chloride
of Magnesium after some standing.

The solution of Phosphate of Lime in Sulphurous Acid
possesses the taste and smell of the acid, but to a much
smaller extent than an aqueous solution of the acid contain-
ing the same amount of Sulphurous Acid.

Under the influence of boiling heat the Phosphate solution
is decomposed slowly, Sulphurous Acid escapes, and a heavy
white crystalline precipitate is formed. Under the micro-
scope it appears as composed of crystals of the hexagonal
system, like those of rock-crystal. Washed and dried over
Sulphuric Acid, it contained :

Sulphurous Acid 15*61

Sulphuric Acid 0 °2 3

Lime 39*89

Phosphoric Acid 34*48

Water 9*08

99*29

These numbers agree with the formula 3CaO, P05, S02, 2HO,
the calculated numbers of which are

SQ2 ... 32 ... 15*58

3CaO ... 84 ... 40*89

P05 ... 71*4 ... 34*76

2HO ... 18 ... 8*77

205*4 100*00

This Sulphited Phosphate of Lime has no smell or taste, and
is distinguished from all sulphites by its stability. Heated
in an air bath for three hours to 130 C it lost 0*64 per cent of
water, but the amount of Sulphurous Acid remained un-
changed, neither had a humid atmosphere the slightest

28

effect upon it. The water is held in intimate combination,
and is only expelled at a higher temperature when it is
accompanied by fumes of Sulphur, Sulphuric and Sul-
phurous -Acids. The residue contains, besides Lime and
Phosphoric Acid, Sulphate and Sulphide of Calcium.

Cold water has no effect upon the Sulphited Phosphate
ol Lime. After long continued boiling, the air being ex-
cluded, a partial decomposition takes place, which is shown
by the following analysis. 1000 CC of the water contained:

502 Q’268 grm.

503 0*047 „

P05 0-1181 „

CaO 0-2045 „

and an undetermined quantity of the undissolved residue
contained :

S02 0-03464

P05 0-12393

CaO 0-13916

The constituents are therefore in the following proportions*
In the solution:

leq P05 ; 4*35eq CaO ; 5‘07eq S02 ; 0’71eq S03
and in the residue:

leq P0.5 ; 2-85eq CaO ; 0-623eq S02.

The Sulphite, which withstands the action of the atmos-
phere indefinitely, is rapidly oxidized when incorporated with
soil. A quantity was buried in a heavy clay soil (which, as
was ascertained previously, contained no Lime and Phos-
phoric Acid soluble in dilute Hydrochloric Acid), and was
exhumed after two months, when it was found to be free from
Sulphurous Acid. The sample was selected for analysis
with the least possible quantity of soil. It contained

so3 .........

P05 .........

24-58

CaO .........

......... 33-66 „

29

The oxidizing process which has taken place in this in-
stance may be expressed by the formula:

3CaO, P05, S02, 2 HO + 0 = 2CaO, HO, P05 + CaO, S03 + HO.

The original substance contained 34'5 per cent. P05 and
15-8 per cent. Sulphurous Acid, equal to 19 '75 per cent. S03.
The sample for the last analysis ought therefore to contain
for 24*58 per cent. P05, 14 per cent. S03, but according to
the analysis it contains 18*59 per cent., that is 4J per cent,
more. This excess of Sulphuric Acid proves that it is dis-
solved at a slower rate than the Phosphoric Acid. Calcu-
lating the amount of Lime which the acids of the analysis
require, we find for

18*59 S03 as CaO, S03 13 '01 per cent. CaO

and for

24*58 per cent. P05as 2CaO, P05 ... 19*28 „ ,,

Total 32 '29- per cent.

This number is less than the quantity of CaO found, by 1*37
per cent., which excess is to be accounted for by the ten-
dencies of the Dibasic Phosphate to undergo a partial de-
composition under the action of water, in consequence of
which a compound of higher basicity is left undissolved.

It is therefore evident that the new compound will, in
the soil, act as a soluble Phosphate of Lime. It has in
fact for several seasons been used as Manure, and has given
great satisfaction.

Strong mineral acids dissolve the Sulphited Phosphate of
Lime under effervescence of Sulphurous Acid. Acetic Acid
has no effect in the cold, and dissolves it only after long con-
tinued boiling, but much easier when the air has access.
Oxalic Acid decomposes it a little quicker. Chlorine gas is
readily absorbed by the new Phosphate. After the action
is completed it contains no more Sulphurous Acid, but only
traces of Sulphuric Acid. Of the Phosphoric Acid only a
small portion has become soluble (about 1-X2th). This de-
composition still occupies my attention.

so

A weak solution of Iodine, such as Mohr’s standard solu-
tion, acts readily upon the Sulphited Phosphate of Lime, as
represented by the formula

3CaO, P05, S02, 2HO + I - CaO, 2HG, P05 + CaO, S03 + Cal.

The colour of the Iodine disappears as long as there is sub-
stance left undissolved. This is a convenient method for
estimating the Sulphurous Acid of the compound, but as
the last portions are only slowly acted upon by the Iodine,
it is advisable, in order to save time, to add a drop of Hydro-
chloric Acid when the Iodine begins to disappear slowly.
It does not interfere with the accuracy of the experiment.

The Sulphited Phosphate of Lime, exposed to an atmos-
phere containing Ammonia, rapidly absorbs the latter; but
at the same time an equivalent quantity of Sulphurous
Acid seems to be oxidised. A sample of the substance was
placed under a glass shade, with pieces of Carbonate of Am-
monia and water for four weeks, and subsequently over Sul-
phuric Acid for two days, and yielded by analysis the fol-
lowing results:

Lime 39-08 per cent.

Sulphurous Acid ... 2-50 „

Ammonia 5 “60 ,,

The new Sulphite possesses remarkable antiseptic and
disinfecting powers, and on this account will command a
general interest. The efficacy of Sulphurous Acid as a dis-
infectant is well known; it would be more appreciated if it
could be conveniently applied. The aqueous solution is
expensive by transport, it is very changeable, and in many
cases it is unavailable on account of its pungent smell;
whilst for medical purposes it can only be used in excep-
tional cases, in consequence of its irritating action. The
Sulphites are still more changeable. Exposed to the air they
are acted upon by Carbonic Acid and b}^ Oxygen, and when
mixed with decaying organic matter for disinfecting pur-
poses they very often increase the mischief, and sometimes

31

cause an abundant escape of Sulphuretted Hydrogen. The
compound of Phosphate of Lime with Sulphurous Acid has
none of these disadvantages. Acids, as well as Ammonia, are
neutralized by it. From a sanitary point of view Ammonia
is particularly objectionable; being a product of putridity,
it helps to accelerate it, and also serves as a vehicle for dis-
seminating other products, which, without it, would not be
volatile, or only so to a less degree.

The Sulphited Phosphate, when applied to putrid matter,
will probably do its first service by neutralizing the Ammonia
present (including compound Ammonias), and also prevent
its further formation, as the test paper will show. The
smell will soon cease, or at least be greatly diminished and
altered, and the mass will be safe for a long time, so that it
may be removed or dried without danger or inconvenience.
I must here remark that large quantities of putrid matter
in open spaces are more completely and speedily disinfected
by small portions of the Phosphate, than samples in glass
bottles. The compound recommends itself as a disinfectant
by its physical properties. It is a clean white powder,
which stains and soils nothing, dusts off garments or carpets,
leaving no mark ; it is free from smell and taste, and
harmless to animal life.

It proves itself invaluable in stables and shippons. The
air of these localities is generally highly charged with
Ammonia, yet the tenants are expected to live and thrive.
A regular application of a small quantity of the Phosphate
will prevent the loss of Ammonia, it will sweeten the air,
and enrich the manure with Phosphoric Acid, thus being of
threefold advantage. The loss of Ammonia from the dung
is not inconsiderable, it is also the most valuable constituent
of it, being worth more than 9d. per lb. to the farmer.

The solution of Phosphate of Lime in Sulphurous Acid
also possesses disinfecting powers, and acts in many cases
even with greater energy than the powder. It might be

32

used with advantage as being applicable to places which
could not be reached by the other.

The neutrality, regularity of composition, utter harmless-
ness, and freedom from smell and taste, recommend the
Sulphited Phosphate of Lime for trial in Therapeutics. It
would be of interest to investigate it in relation to putrid
puerperal fevers, Pyaemia, &c.

It appeared to me not unlikely that a compound of
Phosphate of Lime with 2eq Sulphurous Acid might exist.
Numerous experiments, made with a view of preparing the
same, have entirely failed, but some of the results are
interesting as showing unexpected reactions of these com-
pounds.

The Sulphite of Phosphate of Lime is not acted upon by
the solution of Phosphate of Lime in Sulphurous Acid.
Sulphurous Acid Gas is only absorbed in very small pro-
portion by either dry or wet Bone Ash. This Phosphate of
Lime is not even converted into the Sulphurous Acid com-
pound by digestion with the Sulphurous Acid solution.
If Sulphurous Gas is passed through water holding an
excess of Phosphate of Lime in suspension, the latter
remains unchanged.

Under the receiver of an air pump the Sulphurous Acid
solution forms good-sized crystals, probably belonging to
the hexagonal system. Analyses of crystals of different
preparations gave varying results, which however agreed
tolerably with the formula

x( 3CaO, P05, S0252H0) + y(CaO, S03, 2HO) + z(CaO, S02 + 5HO)

The more crystals separate from the solution, the more the
Phosphoric Acid accumulates in the latter. In one instance.
Lime, Phosphoric Acid, and Sulphurous Acid were almost
in proportion of their equivalents.

Alcohol precipitates the solution of Phosphate of Lime in
Sulphurous Acid. The analysis of the precipitate gave

33

2 4 '8 per cent of water, and no more Sulphurous Acid in
proportion to Lime than the above described powder.

The solution is also precipitated by a current of an
indifferent gas like Hydrogen. The analysis of the precipi-
tate gave figures from which no simple formula can be
calculated. The amount of Phosphoric Acid in proportion to
the Lime is greater than that corresponding to Tribasic
Phosphate, and the amount of Sulphurous Acid is much
less than that of the precipitate obtained by boiling. In
accordance with the foregoing, the solution after treatment
with Hydrogen Gas, was found to contain less Phosphoric
Acid in proportion to the Lime than before.

Under reduced pressure the Phosphate solution boils
easier and the separation of the precipitate takes place more
readily. This precipitate contains less Sulphurous Acid and
more water than corresponds to the formula 3CaO, P05, S02,
2HO.

I experienced so much difficulty in preparing pure Tri-
basic Phosphate of Lime, that I was obliged to use for most
of my experiments the Phosphate offered by nature in Bones
and Bone Ash.

The Compounds of Phosphate of Lime with Sulphurous
Acid undoubtedly possess great scientific interest. This
consideration, as well as the importance they are likely to
attain for agricultural and sanitary purposes, as they have
now become articles of commerce, -has induced me to lay
before you the results obtained so far in my investigation,
with the prosecution of which I am still occupied.

34

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

November 8th, 1869.

Joseph Baxendell, F.RA.S, Vice-President of the Section,

in the Chair.

Mr. W. J. Hideout presented the Section with one of the
“ Diotamaceen Typenplatte/’ prepared by J. D. Moller, of
Holstein, and containing 408 separate types of Diatoms,
beautifully arranged within an area of an eighth of an inch.
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Hideout for his valuable
and acceptable present, the Section at the same time offer-
ing him its congratulations upon his escape from shipwreck
by the loss of his yacht “ Creusa,” off Cherbourg.

Mr. J. B. Dancer sent for the inspection of the members
a young cuckoo, which had been caught by a cat in his
garden, Old Manor House, Tipping-street, on the 19th
August. Some fifty years since cuckoos might have been
common objects there, but now that the place is surrounded
by factory chimneys and the atmosphere so changed that
vegetation has to struggle for existence, such visitors were
not to be expected. The Taxidermist imagined that the
bird had been wounded, which had possibly induced it to
take refuge in one of the poplars, and being seen by the
cat, had become easy prey.

The following note was read from Mr. Joseph Side-

BOTHAM : —

About fifteen years ago, I had a large cabinet made of
forty-five drawers, to contain shells and carpological
specimens, the drawers being made of pencil cedar. Very
soon I found that the resinous vapour from the wood
became deposited on some of the fruits and shells, making
them appear as if they had been dipped in varnish.
Chloroform appeared to be the only solvent, and the
specimens were obliged to be washed with it. This became

35

so bad that I had the whole of the drawers removed, and
replaced with drawers of baywood. Sometime afterwards,
Mr. Carter advised me to have the cedar drawers sized and
papered inside, and a new cabinet made to contain them ;
accordingly he made me one to contain thirty drawers.
These drawers were exposed to the air for twelve months,
and very well sized inside, and papered, but the resinous
vapour is still deposited on the objects in the drawers as
before, and so far is a warning to every one never to use
pencil cedar for such a purpose. I should not, however,
have thought this matter worthy of mention before the
Section, had it not been for the very curious and capricious
way in which some objects are coated with this resin, while
others are left entirely free, and for which I am totally
unable to account. In shells the genera Conus and Oliva
are never touched by it, nor are Cyprea or Mitra, whilst
Helix , Bulimus, and Pecten, are coated- over; this is the
case when there are specimens of these and other genera in
the same drawer. As this deposit is on the genera I have
named, and never on the others, it would seem to indicate
that the texture of some shells would attract the vapour
and not others. But in the case of birds’ eggs, the very
strange manner in which some species are picked out as it
were and others left, is most remarkable. In the owl’s
eggs, for instance, the barn owl is always free, while the
tawny owl is covered with the varnish, although side by
side. The song thrush is never attacked, and the missel
thrush always.

Trays exhibiting these peculiarities were passed round
for inspection.

Mr. Sidebotham also sent a living Death’s Head Moth,
bred from a pupa, which he had obtained at Lytham, and
exhibited that the members might hear its curious cry or
squeak when touched.

Mr. H. A. Hurst deposited in the Library a copy of a
rare botanical work by a Jesuit Priest, the Rev. J. Barrelier,

86

which contained upwards of thirteen hundred carefully
engraved plates of plants, which he had collected in France^
Spain, and Italy. The work was edited by Antonio de
Jussieu, and published in Paris in 1714.

Mr. Hurst also exhibited some dried plants, recently
collected by Mr. Wanklyn in the Southern States of
America.

Mr. Coward exhibited the following species of Podos-
temacem, collected by Gardner, in India and Ceylon.—
London: Jour. Bot ., vi., 60.

Podostemon griseum

TV alii r>T» i i

Gardn.

R Br

,rl i r>Ti Unm n m

Gardn

rigidum

Gardn.

— — -- — - sabulatum

.... Gardn.

Dalzellia ceylandica

Wight.

Hydrobryum olivaceum

Tul.

Dicrsea elongata

.... .Tul.

The Podostemaceae, a little known order of Tropical Aqua-
tics, closely resemble the Liverworts in habit and general
appearance, but possess phanerogamous flowers and
dicotyledonous seeds. The order was placed by Yon
Martins amongst Endogens, in the near neighbourhood of
the Naidacese, and by Lindley in his Rutal Alliance of
Exogens. Gardner considers it to be nearly allied to the
pitcher plants — Nepenthacese. The difficulties attending

the position of the order were well illustrated in the
specimens exhibited, which presented a singular resemblance
in foliation to Jungermannia and Riccia, and in the first
view of the pedicillated ribbed capsule to the fructification
of a moss, but in essential characters the true place appeared
to be amongst the aquatic Endogens, with the anomaly of
possessing a dicotyledonous seed.

i

37

Ordinary Meeting, November 30th, 1869.

Rev. William Gaskell, M.A., Vice-President, in the

Chair,

“ On the Microscopical Examination of Milk under cer-
tain Conditions/’ by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

In August and September last an account appeared in one
of the newspapers (and also in other periodicals), which had
been copied from the “Journal des Connaissances Medi-
cales,” of some microscopical observations made by M. V.
Essling on Milk, in which the author stated that “ if the
surface of fresh cream be examined under the lens, one per-
ceives, amid myriads of milky and fatty globules, a number
of either round or oblong corpuscles, sometimes accompanied
with finely dotted matter, being neither more nor less than
germinative masses of vibrios — -just what is seen in most sub-
stances in a state of putrefaction. In summer these corpuscles
make their appearance within 15 or 24 hours after milking;
in winter they will be perceptible after the lapse of two or
three days. If the observation be continued until the moment
of coagulation we see these corpuscles increase in number,
bud, form ramified chains, and at length be transformed into
regular mushrooms or filaments composed of cells placed
end to end in simple series, and supporting at their extremi-
ties a spherical knob filled with granulous matter. M. V.
Essling thinks that they may be classified among the
Ascophora. But the important point is, that the first ap-
pearance of these spores occurs before the milk gets sour ,
and as this substance is almost the exclusive aliment of
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. IX. — No. 5. — Session 1869-70.

88

children, there is reason to suppose that many of the gastric
affections to which they are subject are owing to this state
of the milk. To prevent these evil consequences, M. Y.
Essling recommends the milk to be drunk as soon as possible
after extraction, and at all events to keep it closely bottled
during the interval, so as to keep out the smallest particle
of air. Moreover, the temperature should be kept as nearly
as possible the same as that which the milk had in the
teats/’

Having for many years been familiar with the microsco-
pical appearance presented by milk and cream, and not
having seen the changes as described by M. Y. Essling, I
was desirous of satisfying myself on this point, more espe-
cially as it affected a very important article of food. The
composition of ordinary milk, as stated by Fownes, is as

follows : —

Water 873-00

Butter 30*00

Casein 48*20

Milk Sugar 43-90

Phosphate of Lime 2-31

Phosphate of Magnesia 0-42

Phosphate of Iron 0-07

Chloride of Potassium 1 -44

Chloride of Sodium 0’24

Soda in combination with Casein 0-42

1000-00

Composition of Casein in 100 parts :

Carbon

Hydrogen

Nitrogen ...

Oxygen j
Sulphur j

53-83

7-15

15-64

23-37

100-00

39

Composition of Albumen in 100 parts : —

Carbon 53*5

Hydrogen 7’0

Nitrogen 15*5

Oxygen . . 22-0

Phosphorus 0*4

Sulphur 1*6

100-00

Casein and animal albumen are remarkably similar in
composition ; casein differs in not being coagulated by heat,
and is precipitated by acetic acid. Certain animal sub-
stances cause its coagulation, such as the dried stomach of
the calf, known as rennet, used in the manufacture of
cheese.

When a thin film of milk is examined with the microscope,
it is found to be a transparent fluid, in which are floating
numerous transparent globules of fat ; these are surrounded
by a thin pellicle, and when this pellicle is broken mechani-
cally, as by churning, the fat is liberated and forms butter.
The fluid part consists of casein, saccharine matter, and
salts in solution. The proportion of these organic principles
varies in different animals, and also in the same animal
when fed under different conditions. Human milk usually
contains a larger proportion of sugar than cow milk, and is
coagulated with greater difficulty. It is well known that
the secretion and quality of milk is influenced by the men-
tal emotions. Milk as obtained in towns is frequently adul-
terated, and as foreign matter would alter its microscopical
characteristics, it was necessary to procure pure milk. One
of our members, Mr. Kipping, kindly supplied me with a
bottle of fresh drawn milk. The cow had calved about
three months previously, and had been fed on grass, bran,
and bean flour. This milk was examined soon after I re-
ceived it, and was found to be very rich in oleaginous

40

globules, forming a plentiful supply of cream. There was
no appearance of dotted matter or any fungoid growth when
examined by powers varying from 200 to 1500. The small-
est oil globules exhibited (as usual) great molecular activity.
A bottle was filled with some of this milk and securely
corked, other portions of the milk were placed in open cups,
one cup was kept in a cabinet which was closed during the
day, the milk of the second cup was placed in a closet the
atmosphere of which I knew to be favourable to the growth
of fungi, the Mucor Mucedo being the most abundant and of
the same family as that mentioned as having been found in
cream by M. V. Essling. The milk in the bottle and that
in the cups was examined daily, precautions being taken to
close the bottle speedily after a portion was removed. On
the third day the milk in the open cups was sour to the
smell, but no change appeared visible under the microscope ;
the upper portion of the milk in the bottle had become very
rich in oil globules by the formation of cream. On the
fourth day the casein had coagulated in the milk in the
open cups, and the flaky precipitate was visible under the
microscope ; the pellicle surrounding the oil globules now
appeared to be very easily ruptured, and with the slightest
pressure some of the globules could be joined together—
sometimes a number of globules which had been ranged in
line by a current would coalesce by a slight movement of
the fluid, and form an elongated mass. Fifth day, no appre-
ciable alteration. Sixth day, the milk which had been
placed in the closet had patches of mould visible on its
surface; a microscopical examination of this mould showed
it to be the Mucor Mucedo, such as I had frequently found
on fruit which had been left in this closet. The fungi
appeared on the surface only, no trace of it could be found
in the milk taken from various depths. The milk in the
cup kept in the cabinet exhibited no appearance of the
Mucor Mucedo or any other vegetable or animal organism ;

41

it had become thickened into a pasty mass with an intensely
sour odour. These observations were continued for eleven
days, and the only difference observable was in the oil glo-
bules - — they began to lose their spherical form, as if the
investing pellicle had been weakened in parts and had
become expanded.

These experiments were repeated with a second supply
of milk which Mr. Kipping kindly supplied, and the results
were alike in both cases. The range of temperature during
the experiments was from 45° to 63° F. These experiments
would lead me to believe that vegetable organisms do not as
a rule make their appearance in pure unadulterated milk
unless it is exposed for some time to atmospheric influences ;
most probably the spores are supplied by the atmosphere.
Further experiments are wanting to decide the question.
The microscopical examinations should be continued in hot
weather. I hope to be able to resume the enquiry next
summer under different conditions, which have suggested
themselves during the examinations 1 have detailed. In
any case M. Y. Essling’s suggestion to bottle the milk is
very good, and in my opinion cream pans with covers would
be a very great improvement on the open ones as at present
employed, at the same time having due regard to the clean-
liness of the apartment and vessels in which the milk is
kept.

In a microscopical examination such as I have recorded
it is quite necessary to have pure materials. The milk as
supplied by vendors we know to be very frequently adul-
terated, and the most simple and easy method is by the
addition of water. We know also that in towns where the
water has a high character for purity, it sometimes happens
in dry hot weather the reservoirs are charged with vege-
table and animal organisms. Milk may not always have
town’s water added to it ; in this case there may be an extra
quantity of vitalised matter introduced. What a surprising

42

account a microscopist might furnish from the examination
of milk containing such an importation ! In the cold wea-
ther, such as we have at present, animal organisms are not
so abundant, and this may account for their absence from a
sample of milk obtained in this town, in which I found
algse, but not belonging to the pure milk. One curious
circumstance was noticed in this milk, no Mucor Mucedo
appeared in or on it, although exposed in the closet for the
same length of time as Mr. Kipping’s milk, which showed
signs of this growth on the sixth day, and on the twelfth
day the town milk had none visible. I may mention that
pure milk in a bottle securely corked remained fresh twelve
days; possibly the low temperature favoured its preser-
vation.

43

Ordinary Meeting, December 14th, 1809.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

Sir Charles Lyell, Bart., LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., &c., and
Henry Clifton Sorby, F.R.S., F.G.S., were elected Honorary
Members of the Society.

Mr. Robert Routledge was elected an Ordinary Member.

Mr. William Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., exhibited some old
mining tools, brought over by Mr. Bauerman from the tur-
quoise mines of the promontory of Sinai, consisting of a
stone-hammer and rude splinters of flint. The turquoises
occur in a bed of a quartzose mottled sandstone in Wady
Sidreh and Wady Maghara, in joints running for the most
part north and south. They were worked, according to the
evidence of the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the rock, by the
Egyptians from the third to the thirteenth* of the dynasties
mentioned by Manetho. In and around the workings there
are still the tools with which they were carried on.
Innumerable splinters of flint, with their points blunted and
rounded by use ; stone-hammers, some of which are broken;
and rounded pebbles with a concavity on either side caused
by the friction of the thumb and finger charged with
particles of sand, and segments of small wooden cylinders,
lie together. The flint flakes exactly coincide with the
grooves in the rock made in the excavation, and evidently
have been blunted by such use. The fragments of wooden
cylinders are believed by Mr. Bauerman to have been por-
tions of the sockets into which the flakes were fitted. The
round pebbles were probably used for driving the rude
chisel formed by the flint inserted into the wooden socket,
while the large stone-hammers were used for breaking up
the rock. There was no evidence that metal of any kind
was used in the work, Mr. Bauerman also satisfied himself
that the hieroglyphs were cut with implements similar to
those used in the mining. This discovery is very important,
because it opens up the question as to what tools the
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. IX. — No. 6. — Session 1869-70.

44

Egyptians used in working tlieir wonderful monuments of
granite and syenite. If it were worth their while to con-
duct turquoise mining with flint flakes in the Sinaiitic pro-
montory, and if they used the same tools in the hieroglyphs
that fix the date of these mines — -and of this there can he
no reasonable doubt — it is very probable that they employed
the same means for the same end elsewhere, and that, to
say the least, a part of their marvellously minute sculpture
in Egypt has also been wrought with flint. There is no
evidence that they were acquainted with the use of steel.
Iron and bronze are not hard enough for the purpose. The
minute and delicate sculpture left behind by the Mexicans,
which can be proved to have been worked with stone tools,
adds to the probability of this view.

“ On the Hades, Throws, Shifts, &c., of the Metalliferous
Veins of the North of England,” by Mr. J. Curry, of Bolts-
burn, Eastgate, County of Durham. Communicated by
E. W. Binney, F.RS., F.G.S.

That part of the lead mining district of the North of
England, to which the author’s observations on vein
phenomena more particularly apply, is situated on the
eastern slope of the Pennine chain, and includes Alston
Moor, East and West Allendales, Derwent, Weardale, and
Teesdale. Millstone grit caps most of the ridges in this
area, but the principal strata are of the carboniferous
limestone formation, and consist of alternating limestones,
sandstones, and shales, with an intercalated bed of basalt.
(Whin Sill.) The chief ore bearing series of strata is stated
as overlying this basaltic bed.

After making a few remarks on the prevalence of veins
in this area, and on their bearings and widths, he describes
and illustrates the characteristics of hades, throws, shifts,
and bent positions of strata, in connection with veins.
Hades are greatest in shales, or argillaceous strata. It is
found, especially in the Alston Moor district, that the throws
and shifts are greatest at, and near the surface, and that they
diminish in descending into the earth. This is probably the
case with the bent forms of strata.

45

The new views, contained in this paper, are embraced
under the consideration that the hades, throws, shifts, &c.,
may have been chiefly accomplished by peculiar modes of
depositing of the sediments, during the contemporaneous
building of the veins and strata. Such modes are minutely
described and illustrated by diagrams, which are * requisite
to convey a clear conception of the processes.

The contemporaneous building of the veins and strata is
assumed as commencing from straight fissures on the
granitic floor, at the bottom of the ocean. Such fissures
are viewed either as occasioned by real breaches of the
solidified granite, or as effected partly by interchanges
between the internal heat and that on the bed of the ocean.
The heat eliminated from these fissures, and from the fis-
sure-like vein structures, gives rise to a series of marine
currents, that control the sedimentary deposits, in such a
manner, on the sides and on the tops of the building veins,
as to produce the varied phenomena connected with veins,
namely, hades, throws, shifts, and bent positions of the
strata.

In a brief abstract, like the present, the author’s ideas
respecting the causes productive of the vein phenomena,
under question, cannot be satisfactorily shown without the
aid of diagrams, but the following may suffice. Veins, in
general, most probably take the directive tendency of their
hades from, and in agreement with the original fissures from
which they build. Thus, one building from a fissure, which
has a north and south course, and which hades over to the
east at the top, may, in all likelihood, continue hading over
to the east during its upward construction. While building,
during the deposition of a shale stratum, the eliminating
heat will, at the top of the underlying cheek, show much
force, by driving the loose light particles back, and, conse-
quently, cause the aggregating mass to form and face back
from the perpendicular. Should the next be an arenaceous
deposit, then the sedimentary particles would be heavier,
so that the power of escaping heat, at the top of the under-
lying cheek, would not be so effective in forcing them back,
therefore, the face of the aggregating arenaceous mass would

46

form nearer the perpendicular. Thus the different hades in
the varied deposits may he accounted for.

Throws are described as being due to a thicker deposit
taking place on one side of a vein than that on the opposite
side. The north and south vein, just cited, will answer to
show the mode of explaining the throws. The rising of
heated water, from the top of the fissure, would not only
oppose the falling of the sediments, but would collect and
carry them upwards and away from the perpendicular to
the east. The sediments, thus gathered and lifted, would
fall on the underlying side of the fissure. Under such con-
ditions, the underlying side would build up faster than the
overhanging one, and would, after a period of continued
deposition, attain a higher level. This higher level of the
underlying side is in agreement with a very general law
respecting metalliferous veins and faults. Thus throws may
begin at nothing, in deep lying rocks, and continue to aug-
ment upwards until they ultimately become very con-
siderable.

Shifts and bent positions of the strata, like the throws,
are considered as beginning from nothing, and as being
mostly accomplished during the contemporaneous building
of the veins and strata. Without the aid of diagrams,
justice can scarcely be done to an explanation of the mode
of operation; but the most noteworthy characteristic con-
ditions are, the powers of evolving heat along the courses
of the several veins, and the agencies of numerous complex
marine currents.

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.
December 7th, 1869.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., President of the Section,

in the Chair.

“On the Mean Monthly Temperature at Old Trafford,
Manchester, 1861 to 1868, and also the Mean for the Twenty
Years 1849 to 1868/’ by G. Y. Vernon, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

47

In vol. 1, 3rd series, of the Memoirs of the Society, in a
paper “ On the Irregular Oscillations of the Barometer at
Manchester,” I gave reductions of the mean monthly
temperatures observed by myself from 1849 to 1860, and
in the present communication I give the values for the
succeeding years down to the end of 1868, completing a
period of 20 years. It is scarcely necessary to remark that
these values have all been carefully reduced to the Green-
wich standard, and corrected by means of the tables of
diurnal range computed and published by Mr. Glaisher.

As will be seen by the notes appended to Table I., I have
been indebted for a few months' results to Mr. Mackereth’s
observations made at Eccles, and which closely represent
those made at Old Trafford.

Table II. contains the differences of the mean tempera-
ture of each month from that of the whole period 1849 to
1868, but unfortunately the month of August is almost
entirely deficient in the earlier series, and this is a gap I see
no chance of filling with observations made at any station
which would be at all fairly comparable with the remainder
of the series.

The mean temperature of the months of the various
periods have been as follows :

1849 to 1860.

1861 to 1868.

1849 to 1868.

O

O

O

January

38-3

37-2

37-8

F ebruary

37-8

38-9

38-2

March . .

41-3

40-1

40-8

April

46-6

46-8

46'6

May

51-8

517

51-7

June

575

56-4

57-0

July

60-5

58-3

59-6

August

—

57-6

58-7*

September

55-2

55-1

55-1

October

48-5

49-0

48-7

November

41-2

41 1

41-2

December

389

40-4

40-4

Mean

47-3

47-9

* From 9 years only.

The mean of the period 1861 to 1868 appears to have
been on the whole rather colder than the average of the last

48

twenty years, and apparently chiefly owing to the lower
mean temperature of the month of July: July only exceed-
ing 60° in two years, 1865 and 1868, whilst in the earlier
period July in six years exceed 60J,0, viz., in 1850, 1852
(67°'9), 1854, 1855, 1857, 1859.

On examination of the mean variations of temperature
for each month (Table II.), we find that the greatest amount
of variation of the mean monthly temperature may be ex-
pected in February, and the least in October, or, arranging
the months in their order of amount, we have — ■

o o

October . . . .

.. 1-50

March

... 2-17

April

.. 1-67

J My

... 2-35

September .

.. D89

November ...

... 2-37

May

.. 1-91

August

... 2-61

January ....

.. 2-02

December . . .

... 3-01

June

.. 2-06

February ...

... 3-26

One point in this seems somewhat curious, and that is,
that the wettest and driest months should be liable to about
the same changes of temperature. The distribution seems
very irregular, months widely apart coining next one another
as regards this element of temperature.

At the bottom of Table 2, 1 have given the values of the
Probable Yariation of Mean Temperature for each month,
computed from my own observations for the twenty years,
and, as the late Manuel J. Johnson gave similar values com-
puted from Dalton’s Observations, 1794 to 1818 (Radcliffe
Observations, vol. xv., 1854), I annex them for comparison

25 Years. 20 Years.

Dalton, Old Trafford,

1794 to 1818. 1849 to 1868.

January ±27 ± D8Q

February T8 3 ‘50

March P6 1*93

April 2*1 T49

May T9 1*70

June T6 T84

July 1-8 2-09

August 1‘2 2 ’48

September 1'6 P68

October 1-7 D33

November 2*0 2'11

December ±1*8 ± 2-68

49

There are evidently great discrepancies between the two
series of values, which it is quite out of my power to
explain, but reference to the monthly means for Old Trafford
show that the probable variations during the period 1849-
1868, must have been much greater for some of the months
than those given from Dalton's earlier period, especially in
the month of February ; in 15 years of the Old Trafford
observations the variation of the mean temperature of
February, from the mean of the period, exceeded 1Q,8 the
amount from Dalton’s observations, very considerably. The
same may be said of other months, but not to the same
extent.

Table I.

&

Mean Monthly Temperature at Old Trafford, Manchester,

1861-1868.

Year.

Jan.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

May.

June.

July.

Aug.

Sep.

Oct,

Xov.

Dec.

o

o

o

o

o

o

O

o

O

O

o

o

1861

35-0

40-0

43-0

44 ’4

49-3

56-6

59-3

—

55-2

52-8

38-0

39-5

1862

38-1

41-0

42-0

41'2

47-8

48-0

56-7

58-0

54-7

49-1

36-8

43-0

1863

42-4

41-8

43-8

47 6

50-9

57-0

51-5

52-4

47-7

48-9

45-0

42-9

1864

35-6

35-2

38-8

48-3

5A2

56'0

58'3

55-6

54-7

49-0

43-0

48-5

1865

35-0

35-5

365

50-5

53-9

59-8

61-6

58-1

60-9

49-0

43 1

41-9

1866

39'7

34-7

35-5

.47-3

48-9

59'6

57-0

57-5

53-8

490

43-7

416

3 867

33-2

39-9

37-2

48-7

53-3

56-6

5.8-4

60-5

56-2

47-7

38-7

38-4

1868

38-9

42-8

43-8

462

553

57-5

63-3

61-3

57-6

46-6

40-8

44-1

Means,

1861tol868

37-2

38-9

40-1

46-8

51-7

56-4

58-3

57-6

55-1

49.0

41-1

40-4

-

August, 1862. Determined by reduction from the Ob-
servations made at Eccles, by Thomas Mackereth, Esq.,
F.R.A.S. I may remark here that our observations are
nearly identical, or where different seem to be so almost by
a constant difference.

January, 1863. From Mr. Mackereth’s Observations.
April, May, June, July, August, September, 1868, taken
from Mr. Mackereth’s Observations.

50

Table II.

Difference between the Mea.n Temperature of each Month, and
the Average of the same Month for Twenty Years.

Year.

Jan.

Feb.

March

April.

May.

June.

July.

Aug.

Sept.

Oct.

Nov.

Dec.

O

o

o

o

O

o

o

o

o

O

o

o

1849

4-2-0

00

—1-9

4-1-6

—1-2

—0-7

4-0-2

-j-0"8

4-i-o

—1-2

—0-6

4-2-7

4-3-7

—1-8

1850

—3-4

4-5-9

4-2-1

4-1-6

—3-1

—0-9

1851

•4-3-6

-j-1-2

-f-i-7

—1-0

—1-4

—1-5

4-2-8

—5-6

4-0-3

1852

4-2-2

4-1-8

4-0-3

4-1-4

4-i-o

4-1-6

4-8-3

—0-8

—4-1

4-3-8

4-4-8

1853

4-2-8

— 5-4

— 2-6

—l-o

— 01

4~T6

—TO

—1-0

4-0-5

-5-2

1854

—0-1

+0-8

4-3-2

4-2-8

4-0-6

4-o-i

4-0-7

4-2-1

—1-7

—0-9

—0-6

1855

—IT

— 9-6

—2-6

—0-5

—3-2

-1-0-1

4-2-2

—0-2

—0-2

4-0-3

—4-8

1856

—0-1

4-2-9

4-0-3

4"0"6

—1-5

—1-3

—0-9

—0-9

4-3-1

—2-0

—1-9

1857

—1-3

4-i-i

4-i-o

—02

4-io

4“4"2

4-i-o

4-4-2

4 — 2"6

4-3-3

— | — 2*6

4-4-8

1858

4-o-i

-2-9

—0-2

—0-2

-1-8

4-6-3

—1-7

4-3-0

-j-4'1

—0-5

—2-0

-j-0-4

1859

_i_3-3

4-2-9

4-4-0

—1-4

4-2-6

4-3-2

4-4-7

4-o-i

—0-2

—1-6

—6-3

1860

lo-i

—3-7

—TO

—2-2

4-2-8

_l-8

—2.0

—3-4

—01

— 1-2

—5-9

1861

_2-8

4-1-8

— | — 2*2

—2-2

—2-4

—0-4

—0-3

4-o-i

4-4*1

—3-2

—0-9

1862

4-0-3

4-2-8

4-1-2

—5-4

—3-9

—9-0

—2-9

—0-7

—0-4

4-0-4

— 4*4

4-2-6

1863

4-4"6

4-3-6

4-3-0

4-1-0

—0-8

o-o

-81

-6-3

—7-4

4-0-2

4~3"8

4-2-5

1864

—2-2

—3-0

—2-0

+T7

4-2-5

—1-0

-1-3

—3-1

—0-44-0-3

4-1-8

4-8-1

1865

—2-8

—2-7

—4-3

4-3-9

4-2-2

4-2-8;4-2-o

— 0"6

4 — 5*8 -j-0’3

4-1-9

4-1-5

1866

4-1-9

—3-5

—5-3

4-0-7

—2-8

4-2-6

—2-6

—1-2

_ 1-3I4-0-3

4-2-5

4-1-2

1867

—46

4-1-7

—3-6

4-2T

4-l'6

—0-4

—1-2

4-1-8

4-1-1

— TO

—25

—2-0

1868

4-1-1

4-4-6

4-3-0

—0-4

-j-3-6

4-0-5

4-3-7

-1-2-6

4-2-5

—2-1

—0-4

4-3-7

Means.
_2 a -\

2-02

3-26

217

1-67

1-91

2-06

2-35

2-61

1-89

1-50

2-37

301

’■J3 -2 /

03 -t-3 (

rb 03 y
O -g (
£ s3 \

P8 > J

1-80

3-05

1-93

1-49

1-70

1-84

2-09

2-48

1-68

1-33

2-11

2-68

51

Ordinary Meeting, December 28th, 1869.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

“ On Pollen ; considered as an Aid in the Differentiation
of Species,” by Charles Bailey, Esq.

Having recently examined the pollen of several thousand
species of plants, I am led to think that the characters pre-
sented by these grains might prove useful as a means of
differentiation in allied species; my researches, however,
have not been sufficiently extensive to form any positive
conclusions, but as leisure permits I hope to prosecute the
subject further. In the meanwhile the following notes are
thrown out as indications of some of the more noticeable
distinctions to be drawn from a careful comparison of these
organs, and they may serve to draw the 'attention of others
to the matter.

There are four points, in one or other of which pollen
grains of plants belonging to the same genus may be found
to differ from each other, viz., form, markings, dimensions,
and colour.

1. Form. It has long been noticed that certain types of
pollen are characteristic of the natural order to which the
plants which produce them belong, as for instance, the
peculiar pitted polyhedral pollen of the Caryophyl'acece , the
spherical spiny pollen of the Malvacece , the large triangular
pollen of the Onagracece, the peculiar pollen of the
Coniferoe, or the elliptical pollen of the Liliciceoc and
other monocotyledonous orders; in fact, most orders
possess a type sufficiently marked to be character-
istic of each. This statement, however, must be accepted
with limitations ; the Compositce, for instance, have three or
more well-marked types, represented by the beautifully
sculptured pollen of the Chicory, the minute oval spiny
pollen of the Asters, Calendulas, Cacalias, &c., and another
form wholly destitute of spines as in the Centaurea Scar
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol. IX. — No. 7. — Session 1869-70.

52

biosa. There are, besides, other natural orders where similar
variety occurs.

But differences of form are met with in plants of the
same genus, by which the one species or the other is readily
marked off by its pollen ; thus the pollen grain of Anemone
sulphured is roundish, but that of Anemone montana is
elliptic ; the pollen of Aronicum Doronicum is much more
elongate than that of A. scorpioides; and while the grains
of Ranunculus philonotis are round and yellow, those of
R. platanifolius are elliptic, white and smaller.

2. Markings. Here again there is endless diversity, and
a boundless field lies open for the researches of tired-out dot
and line hunters of diatom- valves. A few instances only of
the more striking differences can be given here.

The pollen of the Geraniacece and Gampanulacece is for
the most part globular, but while some of the grains are
quite smooth others are covered with spines ; thus the pollen
of Campanula Media has a number of short spines sparsely
scattered over the surface of the grain, but C. rapuneuloides
is wholly destitute of them. In other plants these spines
are replaced by tubercles, and both spines and tubercles
vary greatly in length and number ; for example, in Vale-
riana tuber osa the spines are only half the length of those
on the pollen of F. montana, the grains being also slightly
smaller. The pollen of the Liliaceoe is often covered with a
more or less prominent reticulation, which is subject to
much variation ; compare, for example, the coarse network
which invests the pollen of Lilium croceum with the finer
reticulation of L. eanadense, the grains of the latter species
being much more globose and smaller.

3. Dimensions. Some instances of the differences obser-
vable in the size of pollen grains have already been pub-
lished by Professor Gulliver, whose measurements of the
pollen of various species of Ranunculus show the help that
may be derived from this character ; R. arvensis is nearly

53

twice the size of R. hirsutus, their dimensions being respec-
tively o and ah of an inch.

I have not had the time to make similar careful measure-
ments with the micrometer, but I have seen sufficient to be
satisfied that while there is considerable variation in dimen-
sions between the pollen of one species and that of another,
they are tolerably constant in size in the same species.

For some noticeable differences compare the smaller pollen
of Epilobium brachycavpum with the larger pollen of E.
Fleischeri or that of Senecio gallicus with S. incanus, the
spines on the latter species being also much coarser. Again,
the pollen of Silene acaulis is but half the size of that of
8. alpina, the latter having some beautiful markings in
addition; the pollen grains of this genus differ from the
usual caryophyllaceous type in not having the pits or
depressions common in the order, so that the grains become
spherical rather than polyhedral.

4. Colour. This is not so reliable a character for differ-
entiation as the others noticed, since species differ amongst
each other according to the soil, &c., of the place where they
have grown. I remember gathering some years ago, near
Ashbourne, Derbyshire, a variety of Stellar la Holostea
having a dark purple pollen instead of the ordinary pale
yellow. An example or two under this head will suffice.

The pollen of Ajuga genevensis is yellow, but that of
A. pyramidalis is usually white ; again, while the grains
of Ornithogalum umbellatum are large and yellow, those
of 0. nutans are small and white.

Some objection may be raised to any reliance being
placed upon the dry shrivelled-up grains of herbaria speci-
mens— such specimens being in most cases the only ones
obtainable for purposes of investigation ; but the structure
of pollen is such as to bring into greater prominence the
pores, folds, valves, and other markings which are met with
on their surface after the grains have collapsed by the dis-
charge of their contents.

54

In regard to the mounting of these objects for the micro-
scope, they show to the best advantage when put up per-
fectfy dry; the cells should be sufficiently shallow to
admit of no more than a single layer, and at the same time
deep enough to permit the grains to move about. If
pollen is mounted soon after it has been discharged from
the fresh anthers the fo villa is apt to condense on the cover-
ing glass, and the slide soon becomes useless. The stamens
taken from an unopened flower-bud furnish the best and
cleanest pollen, and these should be selected in preference
to those taken from the fully developed flower.

Canada balsam, glycerine, and other media are occasion-
ally helpful in making out structure ; thus the pores of
Campanula rotundifolia, Phyteuma Halleri, and other
allied species are made much more distinct when mounted
in balsam.

A large series of slides illustrative of the above remarks

O

was exhibited at the meeting.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

December 6th, 1869.

John Watson, Esq., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

Mr. W Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S., was elected a member
of the Section.

Mr. Charles Bailey read a paper “ On Pollen, consi-
dered as an Aid in the Differentiation of Species.” [This
paper was afterwards read at the Ordinary Meeting of the
Society, held December 28th, 1869. See page 51.]

Mr. J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S., read a short paper on some of
the new Hydro-Carbon compounds from which he had ob-
tained very beautiful polarising objects for the microscope.
These were exhibited to the members, and a more detailed
account promised when the experiments are complete.

55

Ordinary Meeting, January 11th, 1870.

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

The Chairman said that he had observed at Cheetham
Hill on the evening of Monday the 3rd inst. at 7-30 p.m.,
a singular display of the Aurora Borealis. It consisted of
an arch of white light, four to five degrees in breadth, a
little south of the zenith extending from east to west, and
passing through the Pleiades ; and a column of a deep crim-
son colour, nearly due north, extending from the horizon
to about 40° altitude, having slightly the character of
streamers. The white arch also moved slowly to the south.
The intensity of the red colour in the pillar was greater
than any he had previously observed.

Dr. Joule, F.B.S., said he had not seen the aurora of the
3rd instant, referred to by the Chairman, but having been
engaged on the same day in making observations with his
new dip circle, he had noticed some remarkable disturbances
of the magnetic dip which no doubt were connected with
the auroral display. He had also noticed similar disturb-
ances of the dipping needle during the gale on Saturday,
the 8th instant.

The following letters addressed to the President were
read by one of the Secretaries : —

Belmont, Monk Bretton, Barnsley,
December 31st, 1869.

Sir, — I have just seen in “Nature,” No. 7, a notice of a
paper read by Mr. Binney, on November 17th, 1869, before
Pkoceidings— Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. IX.— No. 8.— Session 1869-70.

56

the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, on
the nature of the boundary between the Carboniferous and
the Triassic or Permian rocks of Cheshire.

The subject is of the highest importance from both a
scientific arid economical point of view, and though Mr.
Binney does not exactly agree with the results arrived at
by my colleagues on the Geological Survey and myself
I am very well pleased that he has called attention to the
matter. Though Mr. Binney has spoken very modestly of
the value of his labours, I need hardly say that the
criticisms of a gentleman of such large local experience are
always welcomed by us. Remarks coming from such a
quarter demand an answer, and so give us a favourable
opportunity of bringing before the public the results of our
labours, and restating more fully our views.

I venture to think however that Mr. Binney has scarcely
acted in a manner worthy of his great and well deserved
reputation, when he attempts to settle the geology of an
obscure tract of ground by the evidence afforded in that
tract alone, and neglects the light thrown upon its structure
by an examination of adjoining districts.

I shall try and avoid this error, and begin my examination
of the evidence at a point south of Congleton. Between this
point and Macclesfield a number of sections were obtained
along the boundary, the most important of which are figured
by myself in Figs. 1 — 4 of the Geological Survey Memoir on
the country round Stockport, Macclesfield, Congleton and
Leek. These sections are faithful representations of ivhat
was actually seen , and in no case has any attempt been
made to fill up hypothetically gaps where the rocks were
hidden from view. In one case, Fig. 2, I actually saw the

57

fault : and 1 do not think that the lie of the rocks in the
other sections can be explained except on the supposition
that the boundary is faulted. The accounts of the colliers
at Macclesfield also led me to the same conclusion. As far
north then as Macclesfield I think the evidence is conclusive
for the boundary being a fault : northwards from this town
the fault decreases in throw and at last dies out, and the
boundary becomes an overlap. The point in dispute is —
Where does the change happen ?

The following considerations led us to conclude that the
boundary continues to be a fault for some distance to the
north of Macclesfield.

1st. Though we have not data for estimating the exact
amount of the throw at that time, a boring into the new
red sandstone shows that it could not he less than sixty
yards. A fault of this size will require some distance for
its gradual decrease and final disappearance.

2nd. The boundary north of Macclesfield is remarkably
straight, and is a direct continuation of the line, known to
be a fault, which parts the two formations south of that
town. Both these facts are in favour of the view taken by
the Survey.

I must deny altogether that there is any ground for the
parallel drawn by Mr. Binney between the boundary we
are now considering and the junction of the Carboniferous
and Permian Rocks on the east of the Pennine Chain. The
radical difference between the two is clear at a glance to
any one who has learned to seize upon the geological
meaning of physical features. In the latter case, the Per-
mian beds rise, all along the junction, from the Carboniferous
plain in a low hut well-marked escarpment, which winds

58

back down each valley, and throws out a projecting spur
along each plot of rising ground. This configuration alone
shows that the one formation rests on the other, without
the intervention of a fault, and would be conclusive inde-
pendently of the evidence given by natural sections and
coal wakings. In the other case, the boundary line is
straight and shows a marked disregard to hill or valley;
and this, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary,
would justify us in looking upon it as probably a fault.

That Mr. Binney has brought forward any evidence to
shew that it is not a fault, I cannot see. The boring at
Brinnington seems to shew no more than this : that if there
be a fault its throw is there probably small ; and this is
just the view taken by the Geological Survey (see Memoir,
already quoted, p. 11).

You will, I am sure, be glad to give the Society the
opportunity of hearing both sides of the question, and I
therefore venture to request that this letter may be read
before the next meeting. Possibly you may think it worth
while printing it in your Transactions, as a note to Mr.
Binney’s paper. — I am, yours, &c.,

A. IT. G&een.

Geological Survey of Ireland,

51, Stephen’s Green, 4th January, 1870.

Dear Sir, — From a copy of the “Manchester Guardian” of
1st December, 1869, forwarded to me by a friend, I find that
Mr. Binney has called in question the correctness of the
Geological Survey maps in representing the boundary
between the Carboniferous and Permian and Triassic rocks,
east of Stockport, as a fault, or dislocation of the beds.

As far as I can understand, Mr. Binney’s argument rests
upon the fact which he states, that coal has been reached
below the red sandstone (which he calls new red sandstone,
but which I believe to be permian sandstone) at Brinning-

59

ton. I wish to point out that this fact in no way invalidates
the view which the Geological Surveyors have adopted ; but
that the occurrence of coal at Brinnington under the sand-
stone is quite compatible with the existence of a fault along
the line of boundary to the eastward.

A fault may produce a displacement of the beds of any
indefinite amount, from one foot up to 5,000 — and the only
effect of such a fault at the junction of the Carboniferous and
Permian rocks at Brinnington, supposing the dip constant,
would be to produce a greater or less vertical displacement
of the beds, and to deepen the base of the red sandstone by
that amount. On reference to the map of the Geological
Survey it will be seen that at Harden Hall, and under the
valley of the Tame to the northward, the boundary of the
red sandstone is represented as a natural overlap, and not as
a fault. That the red rock fault continues northward
through the sandstone itself was, I think, proved at the col-
liery worked some years since by Mr. Peten Higson, and I
should be glad if this gentleman would give his views on
the subject. From his statement I gathered that there was
a fault to the westward of the pit, along which the beds
were thrown into a vertical position.

Further south, opposite Boynton Colliery, a tunnel was
driven westward from one of the pits, which crossed a large
fault, along which the measures were dislocated and oxidised.
In the Appendix to the Memoir alluded to by Mr. Binney
(“ On the Geology of the Country around Stockport, Maccles-
field, &c.”) will be found an account of this fault as given
me by Mr. Greenwell, F.G.S. There is every reason for
supposing that this was “the red rock fault,” or one in
proximity to it ; for a great fracture such as that I here
refer to is often accompanied by minor dislocations. South
of Macclesfield the fault was actually seen by Mr. Green, of
the Geological Survey, who has represented the section by
a figure in the Memoir (Fig. 2). From this spot the amount

■o 60

of “ throw,” or displacement, probably decreases northwards,
and becomes of comparatively small amount east of Brin-
nington.

How far Mr. Binney’s strictures upon the character of the
work executed by myself or my colleagues of the Geological
Survey are deserved, I am quite willing to leave to the
judgment of the public, but I cannot admit that he has
shown any grounds for stating that there has been any
want of care in the work. — I remain yours, &c.

Edward Hull.

The Chairman said he had a great respect for the opinion
of Mr. Green, but neither he nor Mr. Hull, had produced
any evidence of a “red rock fault” between Stockport and
Macclesfield. The evidence afforded by the sections at Beat
Bank Bridge, Brinnington, Fogbrook and Norbury, shewed
that Permian or Triassic strata covered up previously elevated
coal measures, but there were no signs of a fracture in the
last named strata. Twenty years ago he had shewn this
in memoirs published in the quarterly journal of the Geo-
logical Society of London, and in the transactions of this
Society. The natural sections are there to speak for them-
selves and any one who felt an interest could go and judge
for himself. Messrs. Hull and Green had impugned his
published views, and he in return had denied the correctness
of their map and sections so far as the “ red rock fault ”
was concerned. Of course if is well known to all persons con-
versant with the subject that the numerous faults which
intersect the coal measures extend equally, when those
strata disappear under Permian and Triassic beds, and that
the latter frequently lie in great dislocations of the former,
but these are very different things from the straight north
and south “ red rock fault ” laid down on the Survey Map
between Macclesfield and Stockport.

He did not wish to follow Mr. Green further south than
Macclesfield, but he strongly suspected that Triassic strata

61

covered up Carboniferous beds between Leek and Rocester
much in the same way as Permian strata overlapped
Carboniferous between Knaresborough and Bramham Park,
Yorkshire. He had given his views to the public, and
there was no further occasion to occupy the time of the
Society, but he might state that, he was prepared to main-
tain his position on the ground where the sections were
exposed between Stockport and Macclesfield.

Dr. Joule, F.R.S., exhibited his current meter, and with
it, in connexion with a galvanometer, made an experiment to
determine the horizontal intensity of the earth’s magnetism
in absolute measure; the result gave 3'83 as the value of this
element in the hall of the Society. The current employed
was produced by a single cell of a Bunsen’s battery.

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

January 3rd, 1870.

R. D. Darbishire, B.A., F.G.S., in the Chair.

Dr. Wm. Roberts exhibited some specimens of urinary
calculi, composed of cystine ; also some crystals of the same,
obtained by evaporation in the open air of the ammoniacal
solution. Six-sided plates of mother-of-pearl lustre were
obtained in this way, which formed brilliant objects for the
microscope.

62

Dr. Roberts remarked on the great rarity of cystine
calculi, many large museums not possessing a single specimen.
He had in his own collection three specimens, and in the
museum of the Manchester School of Medicine there were
portions of two very fine calculi. A certain historical
interest attached to one of the latter, a piece of which was
presented by the late Mr. Ransome, to Baron Leibig, during
one of his visits to Manchester. The analysis of this piece
led to the rectification of a curious error in the original
formula for cystine, published by Front and Lassaigne ; these
eminent chemists had deduced the formula C6H6N08, but
the Giessen analysis discovered 20 per cent of sulphur,
which brought the true formula to C6H6NS204, the two
atoms of sulphur having been before erroneously reckoned
as four atoms of oxygen.

Mr. J. Sidebotham read the following paper : — “ Notes on
the pupa and imago of Acherontia atropos.”

The peculiar cry or squeak of the death’s head moth is
very well known, and in conjunction with the mark of a
human skull on its thorax, has no doubt contributed to pro-
duce the aversion and terror with which the insect is regarded
by the ignorant and superstitious.

No other Lepidoptera are known to utter any cry whatever,
and although many scientific men have engaged in the
inquiry, it is still uncertain how the moth produces the
sound. This may seem strange, but as the only observations
which can be made on the living creature are confined to the
outer organs, it can only be proved that the sound is not
produced by the wings, proboscis, palpi, legs or antennae.
These can be separately or together confined, and still the
sound is produced, and as to dissection of the insect when
dead, the only results to be arrived at, are that the sound
may be produced by certain organs, not that it is. It has
been by some observers thought this sound is produced by

63

the friction of the joints of the pro thorax and mesothorax;
this conclusion is, I think, much strengthened by the follow-
ing circumstance : —

A few weeks ago, when I was replacing some damp moss
on some pupge, I heard the peculiar cry of the moth, but
much weaker. On examining the pupse I soon selected the
one from which the cry proceeded and placed it in the palm
of my hand ; when at rest there was no sound, but the
pupa at once produced it on being touched or pressed gently;
on taking hold of it between the finger and thumb, if the
head alone were confined, there was no sound, but if the
tail, the motion of the joints was more energetic and the
sound louder.

In five days afterwards a very fine female moth emerged
from the pupa, apparently none the worse for my experi-
ments.

Nothing beyond the bare fact of the pupa of Atropos
sometimes uttering the sound has, I believe, been previously
recorded, and it must be very rarely that it does so, as
although I have reared scores of the moths I have never
observed it before, nor do I know anyone who has done so.

The fact of the pupa ever producing this cry must, I
think, disprove all the ideas as to its being produced
by expelling air through cavities, against a membrane,
since in the pupa state all the muscles are as it were bound
up in a horny case, and only those able to move which
work the joints of the thorax and body, and besides this
the amount of air which could be taken through the spiracles
of the pupa would be obviously insufficient to produce such
a volume of sound.

It may be of interest to some of the members to know
the plan I adopt in rearing Atropos from pupae. I take a
large flower pot and fill it about one-third with light soil,
on this I place the pupae, and cover them with damp moss ;
on this pot I invert another of the same size, wrap these

64

round with several folds of flannel, and place them near
the hot water pipes in the hothouse, damping the moss
three or four times a week with warm water. By this plan
I have been very successful, and have only had one specimen
this year otherwise than quite perfect.

Mr. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., sent for exhibition some
very interesting microscopic sections of Eozoon Canadense,
which are the more valuable as being those which have
passed through the hands of Sir W. E. Logan and Dr.
Carpenter.

Mr. J. B. Dancek, F.R.A.S., presented the Section with a
box containing twelve new polarizing objects. These partly
consisted of some of the hard fatty acids which form very
effective objects, and partly of crystalizations of some of the
hydro-carbon compounds which compete with the best
specimens of polarizing objects of the present day.

Ordinary Meeting, January 25th, 1870.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair,

“ On Organic Matter in the Air/’ by Dr. R. Angus Smith,
F.R.S. &c.

I have worked and written so constantly on impurities in
air and water, that last year I was told by a periodical of
high position that I was quite regardless of the impression
made on timid persons, and I began to compare myself to a
collector of “ varieties,” who is often obliged to bring up his
curiosities every five years. When I read of the new experi-
ment by Professor Tyndall, showing to the naked eye the
numberless bodies in the air, I was abundantly gratified, as I
obtain them only by a laborious although simple process. When
however Dr. Tyndall began to show the character of these
bodies it “ smote the chord of self,” as I imagined that I
had long ago proved that not only organic and inorganic,
but organised forms exist in the atmosphere. Neither do I
claim this as my original idea, looking rather to the fulness
of proof and quantitative results as mine. I think therefore
I may remind my friends of some of my work, as I find
that they forget, and even I forget the exact words used by
myself, and must read up.

Proceedings — Lit. &Phil. Sooiety.— Vol. IX.— No. 9.— Session 1869=70,

66

But as people don’t read much on a subject, I will begin
at the end. I have been for two years attempting to
measure the amount of putrescible matter in the air ol
the towns and country places, and I have succeeded to a
considerable extent. I also measure the amount that has
putrefied and left its remains in the air— -the sewage of the
atmosphere. Some of my results are published; I have
promised some very soon, and some have been ready for
printing, under the head of Chemical Climatology. The
proof of organic matter is old. I seek the quantity in
various towns and parts of towns.

I shall not here give a history of the enquiries. So many
people claim to have something to say in the matter, that I
might amuse myself, if not the public, by a long account.
At present I profess to keep almost entirely to my own
work. The knowledge of organic matter in the air has
never been absent entirely from men’s minds in historic
times ; but the words of Bishop Berkeley are so clear that I
prefer to quote them. Besides he is far enough back for
the purpose. He says in Siris (par. 140) : —

“Nothing ferments, vegetates, or putrefies without air,
which operates with all the virtues of the bodies included
in it, that is, of all nature. * * * The air, therefore, is

an active mass of numberless different principles, the general
sources of corruption and generation; on the one hand,
dividing, abrading, and carrying off the particles of bodies,
that is, corrupting or dissolving them ; on the other, pro-
ducing new ones into being, destroying and bestowing
forms without intermission.”

And in paragraph 141 he says : —

“ The seeds of things seem to be latent in the air, ready
to pair, and produce their kind whenever they light on a
proper matrix. The extremely small seeds of ferns, mosses,
mushrooms, and some other plants, are concealed and wafted

\ '

67

about in the air, every part whereof seems replete with
seeds of one kind or other The whole atmosphere seems
alive. There is everywhere acid to corrode and seed to
engender. Iron will rust and mould will grow in all
places.”

No man has before or after him expressed this truth
more completely and beautifully. It is hard to improve it
by one word. Still, this age demands more detailed know-
ledge and exact theory ; besides, the work of every few years
requires to be done again to suit modern methods, although
it must be confessed that there is room for the cynic to say
that Bishop Berkeley and all the ancients and moderns
might be classed with Topsy who think they have explained
all by saying “ It grows.”

I began to examine the air in 1846, and I brought a
short notice before the Chemical Society : ‘ a simple mode
of obtaining organic matter in the condensed breath on
windows is recorded in their transactions. On account
of this commencement, which promised favourably, the
British Association requested me to report on the subject.
My report, published in 1848, was considered to have
made advance, and was marked out for special mention
by the President of the succeeding year, so that the words
were not hidden. I quote a part, “ That animals constantly
give out a quantity of solid organic matter from the lungs,
may readily be proved by breathing through a tube into a
bottle, when the liquid or condensed breath will be collected
at the bottom of the bottle ; or by breathing through a tube
into water, when a solution of the same substance will be
found in the water. This would scarcely require proof if
we consider that breath so frequently has an organic smell.”

“ If this condensed breath be put on a piece of platinum,
or on a piece of white porcelain and burnt, the charcoal
which remains and the smell of organic matter will be con-

68

elusive. If it be allowed to stand for a few days (about a
week is enough), it will then show itself more decidedly
by becoming the abode of small animals. These are rather
to be styled animalcules, and very small ones certainly,
unless a considerable quantity of liquid be obtained : they
may be seen with a good microscope. Animalcules are now
generally believed to come from the atmosphere and to
deposit themselves on convenient feeding places ; that is,
they only appear where there is food or materials for their
growth, and they prove of course the existence of that con-
tinuation of elements necessary for organic life. At the
same time their presence is a proof of decomposing matter,
as their production is one of the various ways in which
organized structure may be broken up.”

“I mentioned some time ago that I had got a quantity of
organic matter from the windows of a crowded room, and
I have since frequently repeated the experiment. This
matter condenses on the glass and walls in cold weather,
and may be taken up by means of a pipette. If allowed to
stand some time it forms a thick, apparently glutinous mass;
but when this is examined by a microscope, it is seen to be
a closely matted confervoid growth, or in other words, the
organic matter is converted into confervse, as it probably
would have been converted into any kind of vegetation that
happened to take root. Between the stalks of these confervse
are to be seen a number of greenish globules constantly
moving about, various species of Volvox, accompanied also
by monads many times smaller. When this happens the
scene is certainly lively and the sight beautiful, but before
this occurs the odour of perspiration may be distinctly per-
ceived, especially if the vessel containing the liquid be
placed in boiling water.

“If air be passed through water a certain amount of this
material is obtained, but I have found it difficult to pass a

69

sufficient quantity through. If it is made to pass rapidly,
absorption does not take place , and evaporation of the
water is the consequence; if it passes slowly, it requires
several weeks to pass a hundred cubic feet through a small
quantity of water. I continued the experiment for three
months, but although I obtained sulphuric acid, chlorine,
and a substance resembling impure albumen, I did not get
enough to make a complete examination; and indeed this
could not be expected, as I found that in that time less than
a thousand gallons of air had passed through.

“When this exhalation from animals is condensed on a
cold body, it in course of time dries up, and leaves a some-
what gelatinous organic plaster; we often see a substance
of this nature on the furniture of dirty houses, and in this
case there is always a disagreeable smell perceptible.” —
Mems.: Brit . Association , Meeting held in August , 18 AS.

I quote the words used by the President of the Associa-
tion simply to show that the paper was well known :

“ F or instance, the causes which in our great cities hasten
the death and debase and embitter the life of so many, have
at last been forced by chemists and physiologists on the
notice of the public. Look at Dr. Smith’s report on the air
and water of towns, in this volume ; and when we think
that the victims of the deadly influences which are there
revealed are chiefly found among the people whose industry
is the foundation of our greatness, — that every year cut off
from the life of each of these is so much subtracted from
national wealth, — even were all moral sense and religious
feeling dead in us, we must confess that the knowledge
which is capable of averting them ‘ is of use.’ ”

Looking over these words at this distance of time it
seems to me scarcely possible to write more clearly,
although some of the words I should prefer to see changed.
Still the subject was a continued study, and it was my
strong desire to measure exactly the amount of organic matter.

70

Not to detail all the attempts, I may come to the report to
the Cattle Plague Commission in 1866, in which I give
some general views and allude to the works of others.
The following may he quoted : —

“ It has often been asked — Will a sewer produce cholera,
or plague, or cattle disease ? We cannot say so, or that
every kind of disease may be produced from such accumu-
lations of organic matter. The great epidemics that have
passed over Europe seem always to have come from some
extraneous source, to act as if planted by some seed , and
not to have risen up spontaneously here. Without attempt-
ing to examine this matter carefully, the result would seem
to be, that whilst the decomposition of organized beings
after death produces gases and vapours that are opposed to
health, these gases or vapours are incapable of originating,
although they may be capable of feeding, some of those
diseases, such as cholera or plague, which have been
observed at all times to come from a warmer climate.
There must, however, be some first origin of these diseases,
and we cannot prove that the first origin might not take
place in our climate, although it seems probable that it
requires a warmer sun and a richer vegetation than is to
be found in the north. This, however, is sufficiently made
out — that, when these diseases do come amongst us, they
take root with most effect in those places where decomposing
matter is found. If we were to suppose a seed of disease
planted in a rich, fertile soil of decomposing matter, we
should give a pretty fair description of the fostering effect
of impurity on disease. It would in fact appear as if the
putrid matter itself took the disease, and transferred it to
the living. There seems to be nothing entirely opposed to
this view of the case. The question, however, is and has
always been — What is the nature of that substance which
may be said to form the seed or germ of the disease ?
Chemists have been inclined to consider it a substance in

71

process of decay, as the quotation from Liebig already given
shows. Physiologists and microscopists have been more
inclined to consider it as an organised substance. When
Gay Lussac passed a bubble of air into the juice of grapes,
and found that fermentation began at once, it was believed
that the oxygen was the prime mover, and that, when once
begun, the action did not cease. When, however, Dusch
and Schroeder found that flesh did not decompose if the
air was previously passed through a good filter of cotton
wool, some difficulty was thrown on the subject. It would
appear as if oxygen were not the only agent in the
atmosphere causing decomposition. The investigations of
M. Pasteur, who found the subject in this uncertain con-
dition, have advanced it so far that we may now with
certainty reason in the belief that organized substances are
really found in great abundance in the atmosphere (in all
places), and that they are the cause of some hitherto entirely
mysterious phenomena, putrefaction included. His object
was first to inquire into the possibility of spontaneous genera-
tion, and he found that carefully filtered air allowed no
organisms to appear in vegetable solutions, He found that
near the usual surface of the ground these organisms were
so numerous that whenever a vessel containing vegetable
matter fit for their growth was opened for a very short
time they were found to enter, that in cellars and damp and
quiet places, where there was no air or dust floating about,
these organisms were fewer, and that, as he ascended the
sides of the Alps and the Jura, they diminished in number.
A commission of the French Academy confirmed his results.
If *we examine previous enquiries into the compounds
resulting from the decomposition of organic substances,
we shall find nothing which is at all calculated to bring out
such an intelligible rational view of the origin of many
diseases, and also of some phases of putrefaction. Chemists,
when they have examined products of the latter action

72

have found sulphuretted hydrogen, carburetted hydrogen,
hydrogen, carbonic acid, nitrogen, hydrogen, ammonia,
acetic acid, lactic acid, butyric acid, and numerous uncertain
bodies having no activity, and utterly incapable of produc-
ing those prodigious results that are found when that force
begins to work which produces plague, small-pox, or black
death.”

I did not enter on Pasteur’s ground, — the action of organ-
isms in producing fermentation.

After these opinions and the detail of many facts one is
mentioned which was the culminating point of the enquiry,
and has led to a mode of collecting the organic particles of
air, which I may call established. This word established is
used because the experiment has been done by others. It
is given in these few but plain words : “ The air of cow-
houses and stables is to be recognised as containing more
particles than the air of the street in which my laboratory
is, and of the room in which I sit, and that it contains
minute bodies, which sometimes move, if not at first, yet
after a time, even if the bottle has not been opened in the
interval. There is found in reality a considerable mass of
debris with hairs or fine fibres, which even the eye, or at
least a good pocket lens, can detect. After making about
two dozen trials, we have not been able to obtain it other-
wise. Even in the quiet office at the laboratory there
seemed some indications.”

“ I found similar indications in a cowhouse with healthy
cows ; so I do not pretend to have distinguished the poison
of Cattle Plague in these forms ; but it is clear that where
these exist there may be room for any ferment or fomites
of disease; and I do not doubt that one class is the poison
itself in its earliest stage. It would be interesting to de-
velope it farther.”

I do not detail the examination made of the condensed
air brought from a cowhouse by Mr. Crookes, nor do I detail

73

ilie examination of the cotton through which Mr. Crookes
had passed the air, nor the glycerine surfaces exposed to
the air of cowhouses, which also was done by Mr. Crookes.
My object at present is not to give a history, but a few of
the prominent points so far as relates solely to my own
part.

These experiments were repeated on air in Manchester.
A paper was read on the 30th March, 1868, to the Lit.
and Phil. Society, Manchester. Dr. Scliunck in the Chair.
To quote a part —

“ Lately I tried the same plan on a larger scale. A bottle
of the capacity of 4'990e.c. was filled with air and shaken
with water. The bottle was again filled and shaken with
the same water, and this was repeated 500 times, nearly
equal to 2J millions cb.c., or 2*495 litres. As this could not
be done in a short time, there was considerable variety of
weather, but chiefly dry with a westerly wind. The ope-
ration was conducted behind my laboratory, in the neigh-
bourhood of places not very clear, it is true, but from
which the wind was blowing to ?J1 parts of the town. I
did not observe any dust blowing, but if there were dust, it
was such as we may be called on to breathe. The liquid
was clouded, and the unaided eye could perceive that par-
ticles very light were floating. When examined by a
microscope the scene was varied in a very high degree —
there was evidently organic life. I thought it better to
carry the whole to Mr. Dancer, and to leave him to do the
rest, as my knowledge of microscopic forms is so trifling
compared to his.”

Having for years therefore convinced myself of these
results, I took the air washings to Mr. Dancer, of Manches-
ter, whose experience in microscopic objects is so great that
I was certain to be corrected if I erred, and if I did not
err I should be taught more. His examination is very
beautiful, and it shews not only organic substances, but very

74

many in quality and inconceivably many as to quantity.
The whole cannot be quoted, but the following will suffice.

“The water was first examined with a power of 50
diameters only, for the purpose of getting a general know-
ledge of its contents. Afterwards magnifying powers
varying from 120 to 1,600 diameters were employed.

“ During the first observations, few living organisms were
noticed ; but, as it afterwards proved, the germs of plant
and animal life (probably in a dormant condition) were
present.

“1st. Fungoid Matter. — Spores or sporidise appeared in
numbers, and, to ascertain as nearly as possible the numerical
proportion of these minute bodies in a single drop of the
fluid, the contents of the bottle were well shaken, and then
one drop was taken up with a pipette ; this was spread out
by compression to a circle half an inch in diameter. A
magnifying power was then employed which gave a field of
view of an area exactly 100th of an inch in diameter, and
it was found that more than 100 spores were contained
in this space ; consequently, the average number of spores
in a single drop would be 250,000.

“ On the third day a number of ciliated zoospores were
observed moving freely among the sporidise.

“Some of this formed a very interesting object, with a
high power, and the greater portion exhibited what is called
pitted structure. The larger particles of this had evidently
been partially burnt and quite brown in colour, and were
from coniferous plants, showing with great distinctness the
broad marginal bands surrounding the pits; others had
reticulations small in diameter. They reminded me of
perforated particles so abundant in some kinds of coal.

“Along with these reticulated objects were fragments of
vegetation, resembling in structure hay and straw and hay
seeds, and some extremely thin and transparent tissue
showing no structure.

“ A few hairs of leaves of plants and fibres, similar in ap-.
pearance to flax, were seen, and as might have been expected
in this city, cotton filaments, some white, others coloured,
were numerous ; red and blue being the predominant
colours. A few granules of starch, seen by the aid of the
poloriscope, and several long elliptical bodies, similar to the
pollen of the lily, were noticed. After this dust from the
atmosphere had been kept quiet for three or four days, ani-
malculse made their appearance in considerable numbers,
the monads being the most numerous. Amongst these were
noticed some comparatively large specimens of paramecium
aurelia, in company with some very active rotiferse; but
after a few days the animal life rapidly decreased, and in
twelve days no animalculse could be detected.

“For the purpose of obtaining a rough approximation of
the number of spores or germs of organic matter contained
in the fluid received from Dr. Smith, I measured a quan-
tity by the pipette, and found it contained 150 drops of the
size used in each examination. Now I have previously
stated that in each drop there were about 250,000 of these
spores, and as there were 150 drops the sum total reaches
the startling number of 37 J millions.”

After these examples, the first being twenty-four years
earlier than the last, I need not add that my certain know-
ledge is that particles both organic and inorganic are found
in air.

Further, that some of the organic particles are organized.

Lime, soda, sulphates, and chlorides have been mentioned
in another paper as being found, coal ash and of course car-
bon, and to some extent the amount measured. In railway
carriages we even breathe rolled plates of metallic iron
which are large enough to be seen by the naked eye.

Some of the most difficult particles to remove are those
of coal smoke, they are oily or tarry or both. These are in-
stances of organic and not organised particles.

For two years I have been endeavouring to measure with
certainty the amount of nitrogen in the organic matter,
separating it from the inorganic. Some of the results are
in the last “ Report of the Proceedings under the Alkali Act/’
and have been pretty extensively published. Other results
are soon to be published.

I have not yet spoken of my work, “ On the Air of
Mines,” where drawings of the particles of solid matter are
given (in a long report published by the Mines Commission
in 1864), because the air was from exceptional places.
Still similar results are got above ground. In the small
tubes containing air from the mines and solids I was able
to detect very distinctly organic matter and to measure
the ammonia.

Still the best proofs are in the sight of actual forms and
the moving objects. In finding these with many accessories
I consider their existence in the air of such places as were
tried proved beyond all doubt, also long ago proved. We
now require good microscopists to examine the individual
forms and to find if every disease has one peculiar to itself,
as Mr. Bailey finds every class of plants has its own peculiar
pollen. That is probably the next most prolific field for
those who desire something move on the subject.

We must not be panic-stricken because of these forms.
Some are hurtful, but it may be that others are required for
the maintenance of healthy animal life of the highest order,
exactly as in vegetable fermentation. We must purify the
air within the limits of natural intention, and be careful
that we do not overstep its boundaries.

Professor Williamson, F.R.S., exhibited some specimens
affording additional information in reference to the organi-
sation of Catamites. Through the perseverance of his
fellow-labourer Mr. Butterworth, he had now obtained, what
he had some time ago expected to do, examples whose struc-

77

ture was intermediate between that of Calamodendron and
Calamopitus. In the general arrangement of their separate
parts these new specimens corresponded most closely with
the well known type figured by Mr. Binney ; but they differ
in two important particulars. All their fibrovascular tis-
sues are of the reticulate type seen in Calamopitus and
Dictyoxylon. with here and there a few scalariform vessels
interspersed. The cellular laminae separating the vascular
wedges again exhibit remarkable variations even in the same
specimen; their cells being sometimes elongated into vertical
forms of prosenchyma — at others they are extended trans-
versely, parallel to a tangential section — whilst still more fre-
quently they consist of ordinary parenchyma. In another
feature also the specimens exhibit considerable variations
In some the fibro-vascular tissues of the vascular wedges are
separated by masses of cellular tissue, not only at the nodes
but also at the internodes. These tissues which, viewed physio-
logically, can only be regarded as modified medullary rays,
are so numerous in one example that more than two vertical
vessels can rarely be found in contact without the interven-
tion of one of these vertical rows of mural cellular tissue. In
some other examples these medullary rays are much more
scanty, as if connecting the type under consideration with
that figured by Mr. Binney. The verticillate medullary
radii of Calamopitus are wholly wanting in these new ex-
amples. Additional proof is thus afforded that all the three
types referred to may be but variations, possibly having no
more than specific value, and perhaps not always even that,
of the common type of Calamodendron : and it thus becomes
increasingly demonstrable that in the Lancashire coalfield,
whatever may be the case elsewhere, we have no evidence
of the existence of an Equisetiform type of Calamite distinct
from the Calamodendroid one.

Professor Williamson further announced the discovery by
Mr. Butterworth of a young Calamite in which the cortical

78

layer is well preserved. This important fact has long been
a desideratum in connection with English Palseo-phytology.
This investing layer proves to be, as Professor Williamson
in his previous memoir on Calamopitus had suggested was
probably the case, a pareuchyma of somewhat remarkable
structure, and of a thickness equal to that of the ligneous
zone which it invests. But as the investigation of this new
tissue is not yet completed, all further description of it must
be reserved for some future occasion.

“On the so-called Molecular Movements of Microscopic
Particles,” by Professor Wm. Stanley Jevgns, M.A.

Robert Brown, the celebrated botanist, first pointed out,
in the year 1827, that minute particles of unorganized
matter suspended in water exhibit movements which may
easily be mistaken, and were formerly mistaken, for the
movements of living animalcules. This motion is exhibited
more or less by all substances which are reduced to a
sufficiently fine state of division (5oVo inch in linear mag-
nitude to 50000), and the phenomenon is familiar to all
occupied in microscopic observation. Vague suggestions
have been often put forth that the motion is due to heat,
to electricity, or to chemical affinity, but I have been able
to find few published experiments on the subject, and
those not of a conclusive kind.

In investigating this phenomenon, I did not learn much
by varying the solid suspended substance. The silicates,
indeed, appeared to be generally the most active substances,
and the purest quartz crystal when reduced to fine powder
oscillated rapidly ; but such different substances as charcoal,
red phosphorus, antimony, and sulphur were also very active.
I cannot affirm that any substance is free from movement,
but the metallic oxides, and the earthy salts such as car-

79

bonate of lime, appeared to me somewhat less active in
comparison.

In varying the liquid, however, by dissolving different
salts therein, I was soon struck by the fact that the purest
distilled water alone gave the movement in the highest
perfection. With a few exceptions, soon to be noticed, all
acids, alkalis, or salts tended to diminish the movement in
a manner wholly independent of their peculiar chemical-
qualities.

The inquiry was much facilitated by discovering that
the microscopic movement is closely connected with the
suspension of fine powder in water.* Clay and pounded
glass which are most active in the microscope are also
capable of remaining long in suspension. All acids, alkalis,
or salts which checked the motion under the microscope
were found also to have a power which has not been
sufficiently noticed, of precipitating suspended matter. At
the same time gum arabic, which possesses a most extra-
ordinary power of exciting the molecular movement, is also
capable of maintaining powder in suspension, and has long
been used for this purpose in the manufacture of ink. The
molecular motion does not directly affect the gravity of the
particles, but it prevents the particles from aggregating
together into larger bodies and thus overcoming the resist-
ance of the liquid.

That the motion is due to electricity I was soon con-
vinced, by the close analogy with the circumstances in
which electricity is produced by the hydro-electric machine.
Armstrong and Faraday found that pure water in this
machine alone produced much electricity, and that almost
any salt, acid, or alkali prevented the action by rendering
the water a conductor. Ammonia, however, is a remarkable

* I have since found that the microscopist Dujardin noticed this connec-
tion. See “ Manuel Complet de l’observateur au Microscope.” Paris, 1843,

p. 60.

80

exception, because it does not render water a good con-
ductor, and does not prevent the hydro-electric machine
from giving off electricity. In trying ammonia as an
experimentum crucis, I found that it did not stop the mi-
croscopic movement, and had almost an inappreciable effect
in precipitating suspended matter. A solution of 10 per
cent, of ammonia would have less effect than too per cent,
of sulphuric acid. The proof is rendered practically certain
by the fact that boracic acid which was also ascertained to
be a non-conductor by Faraday, does not precipitate matter
from suspension.

It is right to add, however, that in the case of acetic acid
there is a discrepancy; Faraday stated that it does not
render water a conductor ; but I find that in common with
the other vegetable acids which I have tried it occasions
precipitation. The conducting qualities of the substance
have not been determined with sufficient accuracy to render
a mistake impossible.

It is probable that silicic acid does not render water a

conductor, as I find that silicate of soda tends to increase

*

rather than diminish microscopic movement, and is another
remarkable exception to the general precipitating power of
soluble substances.

I entertain no doubt that microscopic movement is closely
connected with the phenomena of osmose so fully investi-
gated by the late Mr. Graham. The connection is that of
action and reaction ; for if a liquid is capable of impelling a
particle in a given direction, the particle if fixed is capable
of impelling the liquid in an opposite direction by an equal
force. The earthenware jars used by Graham in many of

81

his experiments are composed of a substance highly active
under the microscope, and the fact that osmose is most
shown by very dilute solutions (1 p.c. or less) is entirely in
accordance with the electric origin of the phenomenon.

I consider it to be established experimentally that the
microscopic movement is due to electric action, and if I may
venture to suggest a somewhat speculative explanation of
the action I would point to the experiments of M. Wiede-
mann on electric osmose. It was first observed by Mr.
Porret that when the poles of a battery are placed in two
portions of water separated by a porous division, not only is
some of the water decomposed, but another and far larger
portion is impelled towards the negative pole. M. Wiedemann
having exactly investigated the phenomenon found that for
one part of water decomposed 5,000 parts were transported
through the porous septum. This impulsion is greater as
the resistance of the liquid is greater, and ceases altogether
when sufficient acid or salt is added to render it a good
conductor. Every particle which is thrown into a polar
condition by the action of water must be capable in a
minute degree of exerting a similar force. In ordinary
osmose the particles being fixed cause a transportation of
the fluid ; in microscopic movement, on the other hand, the
particle is free to move, and the reaction of the liquid
probably produces those movements which are visible in
the microscope.

Although I have chiefly confined my attention to in-
organic substances, I have also found that all organic solid
particles which are sufficiently small exhibit the movements
in a high degree. Albumen, dextrin, grape or cane sugar,

82

starch solution, alcohol, &c., seem to have little or no power
of destroying the motion ; and the extraordinaiy properties
of gum arabic have been noticed. I think it not unlikely
that when these phenomena are fully investigated they
will give strong support to a theory lately put forward by
M. Becquerel, that the movements of fluids in animals and
plants, which have often been attributed by Graham and
others to osmose, are really due to minute electric currents.

Mr. Dancer, F.R.A.S., stated, that the subject which Pro-
fessor Jevons brought before the meeting, was one to which
he had paid attention at intervals for the last thirty years.
He had repeated Dr. Robert Brown’s experiments with the
majority of the substances named in his paper, and had also
experimented with a great number of other substances and
different solutions.

The particles approaching a spherical form gave evidence
of the greatest activity, with some few exceptions. The
activity and duration of the movements vary according to
their magnitude and also the solution in which they are
suspended. For instance some of the metallic oxides would
exhibit the movement for some time, and then gradually get
aground on the glass plate, and cease to move. There was
some difficulty in reducing metals to particles sufficiently
small and regular in form, for the exhibition of the
molecular movement ; even hardened steel, when rubbed on
a very fine hone, appears fibrous, and soft metals such as
platinum and copper, like shavings, under a high magnifying
power. Those siliceous particles of the hone which have
their lines of cleavage favourably situated are frequently
detached in thin plates during the act of grinding and form

83

brilliant objects when viewed by polarised light. Metals
reduced in this manner require re-grinding several times
before they lose their fibrous character, and become suffi-
ciently minute for successful experiments.

Metallic oxides vary considerably in their form and
magnitude, according to the solutions from which they are
precipitated. By practice it would be possible in many
cases, by their microscopical appearance, to name the solu-
tions from which they had been precipitated. The activity
of these, when of favourable size, say from the s-o&ooth to
Toovoth of an inch, is very different, being great in water,
solution of gum, sugar, &c., but quite inactive in oil.

Mercury and sulphur when sublimed assume a spherical
form, and although these spheres could be obtained from
ToVoth to 5 o o o oth of an inch in diameter, they do not exhibit
any movement in water. He has sublimed them on to a
drop of water, but they refused to sink. Possibly their
polished surfaces retained a film of air which floated them.
So transparent and perfect in form are the sulphur spheres that
they distinctly exhibited the image of a lamp flame at their
focal point. Triturated or precipitated sulphur will exhibit
active movement in various solutions. As regards the cause
of this so-called molecular movement, Mr. Dancer thinks that
chemical action will not account for it. Diamond dust,
graphite, and other refractory substances, are found to be
active in water and solutions of gum. Nor is electricity a
satisfactory explanation to him. He has found that parti-
cles did not show a marked alteration in their movements,
when exposed to electrical influence. The results of many
experiments point to heat as a probable cause, and although

84

the peculiar movements of these particles appear like elec-
trical attraction and repulsion, similar movements might
be caused by the changes of temperature of the particles,
transmitted through the solutions.

“ On a General System of Numerically Definite Reason-
ing,” by Professor William Stanley Jevons, M.A.

The system of numerical reasoning described in this paper
arises from the combination of arithmetical or algebraical
calculation with logical reasoning. Its purpose is to deter-
mine as far as possible the numbers of individual objects
which may compose classes or groups of objects under any
given logical conditions, the data consisting in those logical
conditions and the numbers of individuals in certain other
related classes.

85

Ordinary Meeting, February 8th, 1870.

J. P. Joule, LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the Chair.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., said that in Vol. III., page
14, of the Society’s Proceedings, he had noticed the occur-
rence of stray boulders without traces of clay, high up the
western slopes of the Pennine chain, and he described one at
the extreme end of the valley of the Tame near New Year’s
Bridge, above Denshaw, in Saddleworth. Many years since
he had observed large blocks of greenstone without any clay
or sand on Pikelow, to the east of Macclesfield. Both these
places were about 1,000 feet above the level of the sea. Mr.
A. H. Green, M.A., F.G.S., and his colleagues/ in their
valuable memoir on the Carboniferous Limestone, Yoredale
Rocks, and Millstone Grit of North Derbyshire and the
adjoining parts of Yorkshire, just published by the Geo-
logical Survey, after describing some stray boulders found
by himself and Mr. Sorby, F.R.S., near Rotherham and Shef-
field, at p. 133 says, “ Our knowledge of the portion of the
eastern plain from Sheffield through Chesterfield down to
Belper is meagre ; we believe we are right in representing
as in the main free from drift, but whether any isolated
patches or erratics are to be found in it we cannot say.”
During a residence of five or six years he (Mr. B.) had often
searched for these boulders in the neighbourhood of Chester-
field. The only foreign rock which he met with in that district
was a large block of greenstone several hundred pounds in
weight. This he found above the valley of the Hipper near
Spring Bank and below the Waterworks station, Chester-
field. The stone was well rounded and polished. He men-
tioned the fact to direct the attention of observers to this
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society,— Yol. IX.— No. 10. — Session 1869-70.

86

subject on both the eastern and western slopes of the Pen-
nine chain. Probably they have only to be more diligently
sought for in order to be found in greater abundance.

“On Convertent Functions/’ by Sir James Cockle,
F.R.S., President of the Queensland Philosophical Society.
Communicated by the Rev. Robert Harley, F.R.S.

The present paper is a supplement to my paper “ On Con-
vertent Functions,” printed in the Proceedings [supra, vol.
VIII., pp. 2 — 3). The convertent equation (3) contains in
substance only one disposable arbitrary, and the sign of
summation S does not increase, and may be expunged from
it without diminishing, its generality. Consequently the
process would fail to convert the Boolian integral for the
cubic and lead only to illusory results. But a recognition
of this failure has led me to another form of convertent
equation. And, first, if to the several dexters of (2) and (3)
we add a term h, then the conversion will be possible, even
though h be not a perfect differential coefficient, provided
only that fhdu be assignable within the limits of the inte-
gration. But the following is the mode in which I wish to
present the process with reference to a class of integrals
wherein all the Boolians are included. Suppose that we
seek to convert

fym v)dv

where

<p(x, v) = XU \h[x, V) (4)

wherein X is a function of x only, and U and V are func-
tions of v only. Then the convertent equation is

yT? da<P dfb

(5)

where

/r = G'W# (6)

therein F and G are functions of x only, and the factors W

dr\p

87

are functions of V only. Then (5) may be put under the
form

SF.

dy

-SG.

(7)

adx dv dxh ^JXJ'b'/y hdvdxh

and when, as for the Boolians, we can so determine the
functions F and G as to render the sinister of (7) a perfect
differential coefficient with respect to v we have a result of

the form

dv

dY 7

= sg6w6o hTv + h

(8)

whence

/hdv = Z-/s,Gt\Vl,Q,lla\ (9)

Now v only enters O through Y, and the whole expression
under the last sign of integration is a function of x and Y.
Hence if W and £2 can each be developed in a series of
ascending powers of Y we shall have for integration a series
whereof each term will be integrable. And if the series of
integrated terms have, between and for the limits of the
integration, a value or sum finitely assignable the conver-
sion will be effected.

There is a defect of generality, similar to that adverted
to at the commencement of this paper, in art. 12 pp. 36 — 37
of my paper “ On a Certain Boolian Trinomial,” published
in the Messenger of Mathematics , No. XYII. (vol. Y). The
process above given will supply the defect.

“Oakwal,” near Brisbane,

Queensland, Australia,

November 26, 1869,

Mr. Spence repeated the experiment he had made at the
Exeter meeting of the British Association, showing that the
temperature of saturated saline solutions could be raised to
their boiling points by merely passing through them ordi-
nary steam at a temperature of 212°. Thus, a solution of
chloride of sodium was raised to a temperature of 221°, and

88

one of chloride of calcium to 248°. Chloride of sodium
would have risen to 2240,3 and chloride of calcium to 286°
had the experiment been continued, but the point was suffi-
ciently demonstrated that by steam of 212° much higher
temperatures can be obtained.

“On the Natural Ropes used in packing Cotton Bales in
the Brazils,” by Charles Bailey, Esq.

Most of the cotton bales which reach this country from
the Brazils are corded with the long stems of climbing
plants, which grow in the greatest profusion in the forests
bordering on the cotton districts. In their fresh state these
stems are exceedingly pliant and of remarkable strength, so
that they serve admirably for cordage purposes, but by the
time that the cotton reaches the mills of Lancashire they
become dry and rigid, and as no further use can be made of
them, they are burned for firewood. Being very long, they
are very troublesome to put on the boiler fires, and most
mill owners are glad to get rid of them.

These objects are invested with singular interest when
examined in regard to their structure, for although the
external form of many of them is extremely curious, their
chief interest centres in their remarkable internal organiza-
tion. Although they reach this country in immense quan-
tities, they are not often to be met with in our museums
or colleges ; it may be questioned whether any one of our
public institutions possesses a complete collection of these
stems ; certainly the names of the plants which produce
them are for the most part unknown.

My attention was first directed to them by Mr. Robert
Holland of Mobberley, in a paper which he read on the 7th
December last, to the “ Manchester Scientific Students’ Asso-
ciation,” on “ Some peculiar forms of Exogenous Stems,” and
to this gentleman, to Mr. Randall Alcock of Bury, to Mr.
Alderman Thompson of Blackburn, to Mr. Richard Thomp-

89

son of Padiham, to Mr. Spencer of Manchester, and to
Mr. Griffiths of Liverpool, I am indebted for an abundant
supply of these ropes.

It is not so much my object on this occasion to give a
detailed account of the many forms met with, as to give
some general description of them, classifying them for the
most part under the natural orders to which they probably
belong ; but I may preface these notes with a short summary
of the little which has already been written concerning them.

One of the earliest to minutely study this class of plants
was Charles Gaudichaud, a botanist who visited Chili, Peru,
and the Brazil in 1830, and who subsequently published a
memoir entitled, “ Becherches generales sur 1’organographie,
la physiologie, et 1’organogenie des Vegetaux,” (Mem. Savans
Etrangers, t. VIII, Paris, 1835,) in which will be found a
large number of engravings of many lianas, but very little
descriptive matter ; the memoir was written to support the
views of du Petit-Thouars in regard to the growth of wood,
and in opposition to the views of other leading botanists, but
little is said about the climbing plants. The most complete
general account of their structure which I have met with
is that by Adrien de Jussieu — “ Sur les tiges de diverses
Lianes, et particulierement sur cedes de la famille des
Malpighiacees,” (Annales Sciences Naturelles, t. XV., Paris,
1841) ; this was afterwards reprinted, with additions, and
incorporated in the same author’s “ Monographic de la
famille des Malpighiacees,” (Arch, du Mus., t. III., Paris,
1843). Another account of their organisation is included
in the eighth volume of the “Botanische Zeitung,” by
Hermann Criiger, entitled “ Einige Beitrage zur Kenntniss
von sogenanntnen anomalen Holzbildungen des Dikoty-
lenstammes,” and published in 1850. Notices of the
structure of other lianas are also to be met with in isolated
memoirs, some of which will be referred to, and in most bo-
tanical text books, particularly in those of Bindley, Schleiden,

90

Richard, and Duehartre. Much important information may
also be anticipated from some recent memoirs by a Brazilian
botantist — Dr. Ladislaii Netto, who has presented memoirs
on the subject to the French Academy, extracts from which
have only so far been published in the “ Comptes Rendus ”
and “ Annales des Sciences ” for 1866, 1867, &c.

Bignoniacece .

Travellers in the Brazils tell us that by far the larger
number of climbing plants in the South American tropics
belong to the natural order Malpighiacese, and we should
therefore expect that this would be the family which furnishes
the majority of natural ropes. But this does not appear to
he the case; the Bignoniacem stands preeminent as the
natural order most largely used for supplying lianas for
packing purposes, both as regards the quantity of ropes, and
the largest number of species.

Most of them are readily identified by the remarkable and
symmetrical outlines presented by the cortical and woody
systems of their stems when seen in a horizontal section,
the bark being projected into the woody tissue, towards the
centre, in the form of rays. These cortical rays are wholly
formed of liberian fibres, and they vary in colour according
to the species. In the majority of stems such prolongations
of the bark are four in number disposed after the manner of
a Maltese cross. In a few species each of the four cortical
portions is very thick and perfectly square in contour, but
in the larger number they are long and slender, frequently
reaching the pith itself.

The yearly additions to these rays do not proceed after a
uniform method, and I shall notice two or three of the
principal arrangements. The more common is that where
the four primitive rays are deeply projected into the
woody portion, the additions taking place each season in the
form of plates deposited on each side of the primitive cor-

91

tical ray. It is difficult without the aid of a diagram to
convey a clear idea of the sequence in which the various
portions of bark and wood are formed; suffice it to say
that each successive addition of bark is projected into the
wood a shorter distance than its predecessor, and as the
innermost extremity of every plate is truncate or rectan-
gular, it follows that the outline presented by each cortical
mass is that of a pyramid, whose sides are formed of a
series of rectangular steps like an ordinary stone staircase.
It is difficult to account for this singular appearance, but the
more probable explanation seems to be that a layer of wood
is deposited for every layer of bark, so that by the time a
new deposition of the bark is about to take place the wood
has already surrounded the extremity of the previous plate,
in consequence of which the progress . of the new plate
inward is barred by the previous season’s layer of wood.
If this explanation be sound the number of cortical plates
on one side of, and including the primitive cortical ray, in-
dicates the age of the stem under examination. Each
annular layer of wood is thus broken up into four distinct
portions by the projecting bark, each portion filling up one
of the spaces enclosed by two of the arms of the cross. The
number of plates formed on each side of the four primitive
cortical rays rarely exceeds six. The peculiarity of ar-
rangement, to which I here draw attention, is so striking,
that it is a matter of surprise to see this feature so badly
represented in Gaudichaud’s plates; it is fairly drawn by
Schleiden, in his Principles of Botany (pp. 251-252 of the
English translation,) but a better figure is given by Du-
chartre, in his Elements de Botanique, p. 167.

Another arrangement of the cortical portion is also
common. It commences, as in the last method, with the
projection of four slender rays into the midst of the woody
fibres, reaching about half way to the pith ; but the
next additions which take place are not found by the side

92

of the four primitive rays, as in the first-noticed arrange-
ment, hut occur as four new projections placed exactly
midway between the first four, so that the stem now
exhibits eight of these rays arranged like the spokes of a
cart-wheel At first, the four secondary rays are very
much shorter in length than the four primitive rays, but as
the stem increases in age all the eight rays become of equal
length. Even in this type some species exhibit an approach
to the first type, by some of the primitive rays in the older
stems having one or two lateral plates lying alongside
them.

Perhaps the most striking form of all the Bignoniacese
which I have hitherto examined is one which unites the
peculiarities of both the preceding arrangements, but carried
to such an excess as that the cortical portion at
last forms one half the bulk of the stem. Originally, the
woody portion is arranged in the form of a cross, the bark
filling up the whole space enclosed by the four arms of the
cross. According as the stem increases in diameter, new
cortical rays are projected into the four extremities of the
woody mass, so that the arms appear to be bifid; these
bifurcations also in their turn become bifid, and so the
woody mass has its primary, secondary, tertiary, and qua-
ternary divisions according to its age. Further, as the
innermost cortical deposit — that surrounding the woody
tissue — is very dark in colour, it throws into high relief the
stellate outline of the woody portion. I have met with only
one or two species of Bignonia which furnish this elaborate
arrangement, and the specimens exhibited will show its
striking character.

The woody system of the stems belonging to this natural
order is by no means uniform, but it requires careful study
before a detailed description can be given. Nearly all the
species, however, have numerous vessels of large diameter
imbedded in the woody tissue, so that the stems are for the

98

most part very light and porous. Such an arrangement
might have been expected in plants whose stems are only
as thick as a finger, and whose sap has to travel a long di-
stance before it can reach the leaves, which are for the most
part met with only in the uppermost portions of the stems.
In most of the species, this woody tissue is traversed by a
large number of fine medullary rays, which give a beautiful
figure to many of the sections. Their internal arrangement
does not manifest itself in any marked way on their exterior ;
their form is generally cylindrical, but some of them exhibit
four slight projections in the form of narrow raised bands
arranged lengthwise, which correspond with the outermost
portions of the four cortical rays. Some species have a
square stem during their early growth, and even the older
stems do not altogether lose their four-sided character.

The constancy of the figure four as the radical number
is very noticeable in the structure of the different
parts of these stems, and there can be little doubt that it
originates in the decussate arrangement of the leaves. The
stems of the Mints, Sages, and many other British plants
furnish us with ready examples of a quadruple arrangement
of parts.

Mcdpighiacece.

If the lianas which belong to the Bignoniacese are re-
markable for the symmetry of their parts, the lianas of this
family may be said to be characterized by an absence of
symmetry. In general, their stems are singularly rugged
in outline, a section presenting deep sinuosities or irregular
projections, while at other times they appear to be made up
of a number of separate branches which have become con-
solidated in the progress of growth, so as to form a rough
looking rope of many strands.

Jussieu gives a> full and interesting account of the struc-
ture of one of these stems, the Stigmaphyllon emarginatum

94

(“Mdmoire,” &c., pp. 103, &c.,) and Gaudichaud (“Recher-
ches,” &c., pi. xviii., fig. 11, p. 129,) figures an allied species,
but I have not, as yet, identified either amongst those
coining with cotton. I exhibit however a stem which ap-
pears to be the Tetrapterys Guilleminiana , referred to by
Jussieu, and figured by him in his monograph, plate iii., fig,
5, p. 106; but this species does not exhibit the sinuosities
so characteristic of most of the lianas of this family.

As a general rule, the woody matter is developed un-
equally round the central pith in the form of irregular
lobes, the bark closely following all the sinuosities of the
stem. If the lobes increase on one side of the stem only,
the pith soon becomes eccentric ; but, on the other hand, in
many species, while the pith retains its central position, the
irregular growth of the woody lobes — each of which is
closely invested by the bark— causes some to grow beyond
their neighbours, and these latter, in the progress of growth,
become imbedded, with their bark, in the midst of the
woody matter produced by the more vigorous lobes. A
stem in this adult state therefore presents the greatest
irregularity of form particularly in the genera Banisteria
and Heteropierys.

Sapindacece.

In this natural order we meet with some wonderful
aberrant forms of dicotyledonous stems, but I shall here notice
only two which are met with on cotton bales.

One of these is most probably the Serjania cuspidata
figured by Duchartre (“Elements,” &c., fig. 82, p. 170) and
Schleiden (“Principles,” fig. 168, p. 253), and easily recog-
nized by its triangular form and compound character. It
consists of a primitive stem not specially noticeable for any
divergence from the usual type of a dicotyledonous stem ;
but round this stem are arranged three other lateral stems,
each of which has its own bark separate from the rest, but

95

united to the bark of the primitive central stem. These
lateral portions are circular in outline, save that they are
flat on the side by which they are attached to the central
stem, which latter is in consequence hexagonal. The attach-
ment of the lateral portions to the central mass is not very
firm, as most of the ropes of this species reach this country
with their strands separated, but this is due to the rough
usage to which they have been subject in packing; but
Gaudichaud points out that in certain parts of the stem —
most likely at the nodes, for he is not very clear upon the
point — the lateral strands have an organic attachment to
each other, since some of the woody fibres of the central mass
are continued in one of the lateral strands, and vice versa .
(“ Recherches,” pi. xiii. figs. 2 and 3, p. 110.)

A still more remarkable example supplied by this family
in the form of a natural rope, is one which might have served
our telegraph engineers as the model of a submarine cable.
Like the Serjania, there is a central woody mass possessing
a medullary sheath and pith, woody layers, and a cortical
system; but surrounding this central core and arranged
parallel with it is a series of eight lateral strands each sur-
rounded by its own bark, the whole being consolidated so
as to form a rigid cylindrical axis, which presents no exter-
nal manifestation of its peculiar internal organization. It is
represented in the last figure of Gaudiehaud’s “ Recherch.es”
(pi. xviii, fig. 21, p. 130) and has been copied into most of
our text books, in some cases incorrectly described as a
Malpighiaceous plant, as by Professor Balfour in his “ Class
Book,” figs. 186 and 1429.

On examining such stems of this order as I have been
able, the pith and medullary sheath with its characteristic
tracheal vessels appear to be met with in the central mass
only, and some botanists, contrary to the opinion expressed
by Jussieu (“Memoire,” pp. 116 — 117,) doubt the existence
of these organs in the lateral strands. Nevertheless, one of

96

the most recent observers of these stems, Herr Nageli, has
recently demonstrated their presence in each of the sur-
rounding woody masses (Dickenwachsthum des Stengels...
bei den Sapindaceen. Munich, 1864).

A short summary of their mode of growth, communicated
to the French Academy by Monsieur Netto, will be found
in “Comptes Rendus,” t. 57, pp. 554 — 55 7, 21 Sep., 1863,
from which it would appear that a young stem, two to
three weeks old, exhibits a number of fibro-vascular bundles
in the midst of an outer zone of cellular tissue, one bundle
being formed opposite the innermost portion of each of the
external groves of the stem ; so that from its very earliest
stage the stem exhibits all the rudiments of the lateral
strands which surround the core. Around each of the
fibro-vascular bundles a mass of liber is formed, at first
crescent shaped, but afterwards annular ; and by the growth
and union of these several parts the stem soon assumes its
peculiar composite character.

Leguminosoe.

Another group of lianas, presenting some external resem-
blance to the sinuous Malpighiads, is met with in plants
which belong to this natural order of the genera Bauhinia
and Schnella. In the Brazils they bear the name of Oipo
cl’Escada , from their resemblance to a ladder, but Jussieu
restricts this name to the Schnella macrostachys (“Memoire,”

p. 118.)

They are chiefly remarkable for depositing their woody
fibres on two sides only of the central pith, so that their
stems have a singular flat tape-like appearance, presenting
in section the outline of an elongate ©©, the position of the
pith being at the intersection of the two loops. The pith
however by no means maintains its central position, for
according to the researches of M. Netto, the growth of
branches brings about a lateral deposit of woody matter,

97

sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, so that
the pith soon becomes eccentric. The pith is generally in
the form of a small Maltese cross, formed of two unequal
arms, the longest of which lies in the direction of the largest
diameter of the stem.

There are many other forms of Bauhinia, many of which
will be found figured in the standard works of Bindley,
Schleiden, Richard, Duchartre, &c.

Aristolochiacece.

It is very likely that this natural order has representa-
tives amongst these ropes; at least to it I refer for the
present two species remarkable for their very striking
medullary rays.

In both species these rays proceed from the pith to the
bark, increasing in breadth and volume as they recede from
the pith, so that by the time they reach the bark they
become of considerable thickness.

In one species, whose wood has a reddish tinge, there
are about nineteen or twenty of these magnificent rays in a
stem exceeding half an inch in diameter ; the intermediate
spaces are filled up with woody fibres in which occur large
vessels. In this species secondary medullary rays rarely
make their appearance. But in the other species, which
has a beautiful cream-coloured wood of the shade of our
common holly, secondary and tertiary medullary rays make
their appearance, so that in a stem three quarters of an
inch in diameter there will be as many as thirty primary
rays, and as many more secondary rays. In this, the
commoner species of the two, the cortical system is much
thicker than in the first-mentioned species. Both bear
much resemblance to a wood-section in my cabinet which is
called “ New Zealand Pepper,” a plant of which I am quite
ignorant,

98

Ampelidece.

Gaudichaud in his memoir (“ Recherches,” plate xiii, fig. 5,
p. 109) gives a figure of the Cissus hydrophora as one of the
common lianas of the Brazil, but I am not sure whether it
occurs amongst the ropes which reach this country. It is
described by M. Netto (Annales des Sciences, 5th ser. Bot.
t. vi., p. 320 ; Comptes Rendus, tom. 62, p. 1076,) and a
short summary is worth transcribing, as he had the advan-
tage of studying the living plant. v

In the section of a young stem, beginning with the bark,
we have first a suberous layer, then a thick cellular layer
containing very little chlorophyll ; and having at the side
nearest the bark a mass of dotted cells whose walls become
very thick. On the inner edge of this cellular layer we
meet with a number of liberian bundles in front of some
woody bundles ; the latter are strikingly subdivided by the
adjacent parenchyma into separate groups so as to cause it
to look more like the arrangement generally seen in a
monocotyledonous plant.

M. Netto mentions that the structure of the woody mass
is even more remarkable, since in the place of the ordinary
medullary rays, cellular bands are projected from the bark
towards the pith which form cortical rays. Another pecu-
liarity of the woody part is that, notwithstanding it may
be two years old, the woody fibres are so loosely held to-
gether that they readily detach themselves from the cellular
tissue in which they are imbedded. The stem must be at
least three years old before it attains anything like con-
sistency; this weakness, as contrasted with other lianas,
probably leads to its not being so frequently used for pack-
ing purposes.

There is one histological character however presented by
this liana which will lead to its identification, and that is
the abundant quantity of raphidian crystals contained in all
parts of the stem. M. Netto describes the form of these

99

crystals as needle-shaped, hut bifurcate at one extremity—
which is peculiar.

However abnormal many of the stems belonging to these
various orders may become, and however difficult it may be
to trace their divergency from the normal structure, there
can be no doubt that the characteristic elements of the di-
cotyledonous stem are all present during some portion of
their lives. Their unequal development may be brought
about either by the vital energy of the growing tissue of the
bark being in excess of that of the wood, or vice versa, from
which circumstance will arise the curious outlines presented
by the relative distribution of each; or else it may be pro-
duced by a much more copious deposition of woody tissue
at some points of the circumference than at others, from
which will result the curious forms presented by the Bau-
hinias and many of the Malpighiacese.

The monocotyledonous division of the vegetable kingdom
has also its representatives amongst these ropes. There are
two species, perhaps belonging to the grasses, which I have
met with ; but in neither case is the entire stem used. One
species is much larger than the other, their diameters being
about two inches and four inches respectively; both are
hollow and are divided into strips for use.

There are many other species found amongst these ropes
which belong to other natural orders, such as the Menis-
permacese, Gnetacese, Asclepiadacese, &c., but our knowledge
of them is too limited to assign them to their respective
orders. Most of my specimens have come from bales of
Santos Cotton, and it would be as well to keep a record
of the localities from whence they are derived. I am very
anxious to get some from the Pacific coast, where many
species differing from Brazilian species must be found.
Gaudichaud mentions the neighbourhood of Guayaquil, in
Ecuador, as being particularly prolific in these lianas.

100

I will conclude with a notice of another species which
was sent me from the Liverpool docks by Mr. Griffiths,
whose structure is so puzzling that I know not whether to
call it dicotyledonous or monocotyledonous. It consists of
a central spongy mass of woody tissue apparently without
medullary sheath, pith, or medullary rays, and arranged in
the form of a pentagon formed of semicircular lobes, the
whole being surrounded with what appears to be liber which
has shrunk away from the very thick and hard external
bark, so as to leave the woody core isolated within it. The
core consists of woody fibres, but half its area is taken up
with wide-mouthed vessels.

I may add that the whole of these lianas furnish beautiful
objects for the microscope.

Mr. F orrest suggested that useful dyes might be obtained
from the plants described by Mr. Bailey.

In reply to a question from the Rev. Brooke Herford, Mr.
Bailey stated that owing to a difference in the structure
and general appearance of some of the stems in his posses-
sion he had been led to suspect that they were aerial roots
of some of the plants he had exhibited and described.

101

Ordinary Meeting, February 22nd, 1870.

J. P. Joule, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the

Chair.

The President referred to the observations he had made
in former years on the progressive rise of the freezing point
of one of his thermometers, published in the Proceedings
for April 16, 1867. He had made a further observation on
the 12th February instant, and found that a rise, which
though very small was unmistakable, was still taking place
after a lapse of time of 26 years since the bulb was blown.
The results are as follow in indications of the thermometer,
calling the first observation in April, 1844, zero. 12 ‘9
divisions of the thermometer correspond to one degree

Fahrenheit.

April, 1844 0

Feb., 1846 5-5

Jan., 1848 6*6

Feb., 1853 8-8

April, 1856 9-5

Dec., 1860 Ill

March, 1867 IDS

Jan., 1868 11 -92

Feb., 1870 12*02

Dr. F. Grace Calvert, F.R.S., stated that he did not
intend to read a paper on artificial alizarine , some
of the facts he was going to bring before the notice of the

o o o

meeting, being well known to his colleagues the chemists of
this district, but he hoped it might be interesting to the gene-
ral members of the Society to have an idea of the progress
that had been made during the last few months in the produc-
tion of this substance. They were aware that alizarine
was the essential colour- giving principle of the madder root.
Peooeedin&s — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol. IX. — No. 11. — Session 1869-70.

102

Every cultivated mind in Lancashire ought to be acquainted
with each step made in the artificial production of this dye,
owing to the immense capital involved in the cultivation of
the madder plant in the working of it up in this country,
as well as the revolution it will effect in our commercial
relations and the important new branches of manufacture
it will create.

It was well known to the members of this Society that
about 12 months ago Messrs. Graebe and Liebermann had
discovered a method of producing alizarine from a coal-tar
product which up to that time had attracted very little
attention, even in the scientific world, viz., anthracene CuHl0
and that by oxidation they transformed it into anthraquinone
C14H802i which in turn was changed into bibrom-anthra-
quinone C14HGB202, this being converted into alizarine C14H304
by the addition of 2 equivalents of oxygen and the formation
of 2 equivalents of Hydrobromic Acid.

It was felt by all chemists that this discovery was one of
great importance, though it was too complicated to be com-
mercially useful, but the Gordian knot, being now cut the
commercial production of artificial alizarine was merely a
question of time, and what he would now relate showed the
marked progress which had been made toward this end.

There were already three patents published, and one
process, the details of which are kept secret, is being
worked by Messrs. Meister, Lucius & Co., of Hoechst, near
Frankfort. The patents are those of Messrs. Brsennan and of
Gutzkow, of Messrs. Caro, Graebe, and Liebermann, and Mr.
W. H. Perkin. It was curious to notice that the patent of
Messrs. Caro was dated the 25th of June last, and Mr. Perkin's
the 26th of the same month ; and that all these patents effect
the same purpose by simply employing different oxidizing
agents. Messrs. Braennan and Gutzkow oxidize the anthracene
into anthraquinone by means of the nitrate of protoxide of
mercury, Messrs. Caro by peroxide of manganese,' and Mr.
Perkin, I believe, by bichromate of potash, and then all
by further processes converting this substance into alizarine.

] 03

As it might be interesting to many of the members to
have an outline of one of the methods employed, he would
therefore describe a process detailed in the specification of
Messrs. Caro, Graebe, and Liebermann. One part of anthra-
cene is heated with four of sulphuric acid, of specific gravity
1-845, for three or four hours, to a temperature of 212° F.,
and then for about an hour at 300°. The mixture is
allowed to cool, and to it is added water equal to three times
the weight of the anthracene employed, and manganese equal
to four times that weight. The whole is boiled for three
hours and milk of lime added, which gives rise to a deposit
consisting of the excess of lime and manganese used and
protoxide of manganese, while there remains in solution a
double sulphate of anthraquinone and lime. This solution
is now acted on by carbonate of soda in . slight excess, car-
bonate of lime separates, and the salt of soda thus produced
is evaporated to dryness. This solid mass is then mixed
with tAvo to three parts of caustic potash or soda and a
small quantity of water, and the whole heated under pres-
sure in suitable vessels at a temperature of 350° to 500° F.
for one hour, Avhen the anthraquinone is further oxi-
dized and converted into alizarine. The alkaline mass on
cooling is dissolved in water and sulphuric or acetic acid
added in slight excess, Avhen an orange-yellow fiocculent
substance precipitates, which, when properly washed and
dried, is artificial alizarine.

If this process can be carried out on a practical scale (and
there is no doubt that it will be under the direction of such
clever chemists as Messrs. Perkin, Caro, and others), Ave may
then fairly consider the production of artificial alizarine aS
having reached the sphere of commercial application; though
I may add from personal experience that some time must
elapse before it can be manufactured in quantities suffi-
cient to affect the present applications of madder, garancine,
Schunckts artificial alizarine, &c., &c.

104

There is another great difficulty yet to be overcome be-
fore the artificial alizarine can become a commercial article,
that is, the obtaining of anthracene in larger quantities, and
this question is of some importance to us: England being
the great tar producing country. Anthracene does not appear
to exist in greater proportion than one in a thousand of tar,
and is only liberated or produced during the latter part of
the distillation of the tar. In fact if the distillation be
stopped so as to leave a very soft pitch, the oils obtained give
little or no anthracene. If on the other hand it is carried on
so as to get 10 or 15 per cent, more oil off, there remains a
hard pitch which has little or no value at the present day,
the quantity of anthracene obtained varying very much
according to the nature of the coals employed in the pro-
duction of the tar, ranging from 1 J to 8 per cent, of the
heaviest oils separated; it will scarcely be worth the while
of the tar distiller to depreciate the value of one of the
staple articles of his trade to produce it, and even when the
heavy oil is obtained the separation of the small quantity
of anthracene it contains, and its purification for use accor-
ding to the above patents will yet require much time and
research. It is well known to all who have worked
on the coal-tar products that each well defined compound
is mixed with homologues which renders its separation and
purification a work of extreme difficulty, thus aniline is
mixed with picoline and several other alkaloids, benzol with
toluol and other hydrocarbons, carbolic acid with cresylic
and other acids, and anthracene is also mixed in a similar
manner with homologous compounds.

The mere distillation and filtration of the solids obtained
and their hot or cold pressing or even their sublimation,
do not effect the complete purification of the substance. The
purest product I have been able to obtain on a moderate
commercial scale has contained, when cold pressed about
40 per cent, and when hot pressed about 70 per cent of

105

anthracene. One of the chief difficulties in its prepara-
tion is the fact of its great solubility in its liquid homo-
iogues at a moderate temperature, thus an oil, at 40°
or 45° F. will yield a comparatively large quantity of
anthracene by filtration, but if its temperature be raised to
70 or 80 degrees, the anthracene will be completely dis-
solved.

I am aware that it has been proposed to distil soft pitch
so as to obtain the volatile products that are given off in
coaking it, but the expense, difficulty, and danger of such
an operation are such that I doubt if they can be overcome
so as to produce anthracene of comparative purity on a com-
mercial scale.

Papers have been published respecting the identity of the
alizarine produced by the process of Messrs. Meister, Lucius,
and Co., with natural alizarine, by Dr. Schuncb, Professor
Bolley, and Messieurs Emile Kopp, Camille Koechlin, La
Fraisse, G. Wallace Young, and J. Christie. The opinions
of these chemists vary. Dr. Schunck and Professor Bolley
consider it identical, the other gentlemen considering it not
identical, some of them maintaining it to be a mixture of
purpurine and alizarine.

The product made according to the patents mentioned I
have not had an opportunity of examining, nor have I seen
any papers on the subject in any of the Scientific Journals
which have reached my hands; but as doubtless it will
shortly be before the public, I shall take an early oppor-
tunity of laying before the Society the results of my own
experience as well as those of others.

In conclusion, I think many years must elapse before
artificial alizarine can replace madder and its preparations
in all their varied applications in calico printing, but ere
long the purity of the substance, artificially obtained, may
prove of great service to the calico printer, by enabling him
to produce at a cheaper rate than now certain styles of
prints as well as new styles and effects.

106

Specimens of Anthracene, Artificial Alizarine, and Dye
Fabrics were exhibited.

Dr. Schunck, F.R.S., remarked that the practical success
of the new process would in a great measure depend on the
price of the raw material, anthracene, and on the amount
of colouring matter to be obtained from it. The process
itself was, however, as far as the few experiments he had
made allowed him to judge, a very simple and easy one, re-
quiring the use of no costly materials. He was convinced
himself that the artificial product was identical with the
natural alizarine of madder, the only difference being that
the former was generally contaminated with some impurity
which prevented its crystallising easily. Purpurine was not
formed along with alizarine, as had been supposed. He also
exhibited to the meeting some specimens of Turkey-red dyed
with artificial alizarine, which had been sent to him by Mr.
Perkin, and stated that the latter had already manufactured
several tons of the new product.

In connection with this subject Dr. Schunck referred to a
notice contained in the last number of the Chemical News,
giving an account of a process for preparing pure alizarine
from Turkey-red dyed cotton. The author, M. Schiitzenber-
ger, does not state that the process is new, though he seems
to claim it as his own. Almost the same process was
however described many years ago by Dr. Schunck, who
claims indeed to have been the first to point out that Turkey
red, madder pink, and all the finer madder colours are simply
compounds of alizarine and fatty acids with bases. The
experiments on which this conclusion was founded were
described in the edition of Ures Dictionary of Arts, pub-
lished in 1859, under the heads of “Madder'-'’ and “ Turkey
Red,” but the experiments themselves were made at a much
earlier date.

“ On the Organic Matter of Human Breath in Health
and Disease,” by Dr. Arthur Ransome, M.A.

The vapour of the breath was condensed in a large glass

107

flask surrounded by ice and salt, by which a temperature

of several degrees below zero was obtained. The fluid
collected was then analysed for free ammonia, urea and
kindred substances ; and for organic ammonia — the method
employed being that invented by Messrs. Franklyn and
Chapman foi; water analysis.

The breath of 11 healthy persons and of 17 affected by
different disorders was thus examined, and the results were
given in two tables.

The persons examined were of different sexes and ages,
and the time of the day at which the breath was condensed
varied.

In both health and disease the free ammonia varied
considerably, and the variation could not be connected with
the time of the day, the fasting or full condition. Urea
was sought for in 15 instances — three healthy persons and
12 cases of disease — but it was only found in two cases of
kidney disease, in one case of diphtheria, and a faint indica-
tion of its presence occurred in a female suffering from
catarrh.

The quantity of ammonia, arising from the destruction of
organic matter, also varied, possibly from the oxidation of
albumenous particles by the process of respiration ; but in
Wealthy persons there was a remarkable uniformity in
the total quantity of ammonia obtained by the process.
Amongst adults the maximum quantity per 100 minims of
fluid was 0'45 of a millogramrne, and the minimum was 0*35.

A rough calculation was given of the total quantity of
organic matter passing from the lungs in 24 hours — in adults
about 3grs. in lOoz. of aqueous vapour, a quantity small in
itself, but sufficient to make this fluid highly decomposible,
and ready to foster the growth of the germs of disease.

In disease there was much greater variation in the
amount and kind of organic matter given off.

In 3 cases of Catarrh, 1 of Measles, and 1 of Diphtheria,
the total ammonia obtained was much less than in health —
less than 0*2 of a millogramrne — a result probably due to the

108

abundance of mucus in those complaints, by which the fine
solid particles of the breath were entangled.

In two cases of Whooping Cough it was also deficient, but
as they were both children, the lack of organic matter may
have been due to their age.

In cases of Consumption also the total ammonia was less
than in health ; but in one case of this disease associated
with Bright’s disease a large amount of organic matter was
given off, a portion of it due to urea.

In Kidney Diseases the largest amount of organic matter
of all kinds was found in the breath. The ammonia in one case
of Bright’s Disease was 1*8 millogrammes in 100 minims
of fluid, and urea was largely present. Perhaps this fact
might be taken as an indication of the need of measures
directed to increase the activity of other excretory organs.

In one case of Ozona or Offensive Breath the total quan-
tity of ammonia obtained was greater than in any healthy
subject, but the excess was chiefly due to organic matter.

One convalescent case of Fever was examined, and the
total ammonia was found to be deficient.

The air of a crowded Railway Carriage, after 15 minutes’

occupation, was also tested b y this method and in about 2

cubic feet 03 millogrammes of ammonia and 3 millogrammes

of organic matter were found.

©

With reference to the presence of organic matter in the
atmosphere, it was pointed out that the subject was in no
way a novel one, and that it had, during the last 30 years?
been very fully investigated by many observers, more es-
pecially by Schwann, Dusch, Schroeder, Helmholtz, Yan den
Broeck, Pasteur and Pouchet, but it was shown that it is to
Dr. Angus Smith that we owe the discovery of the readiness
with which living organisms are formed in the condensed
breath of crowded meetings, and the determination of the
actual quantity of organic matter in the air of different
localities.

Mr. Dancer’s calculation of the number of spores contained
in the air was noticed, but a source of error was pointed out
in the readiness with which organisms are developed in

suitable fluids, even in the course of a few hours. Observa-
tions upon the organic particles of respired air had at
different times been made by the author.

1. In 1857 glass plates covered with glycerine had been
exposed in different places and examined microscopically.
Amongst others in the dome of the Borough Gaol, to which
all the respired air in the building is conducted, organized par-
ticles from the lungs and various fibres were found in this air.

2. During a crowded meeting at the Free Trade Hall air
from one of the boxes was drawn for two hours through
distilled water, and the sediment examined after 86 hours.
The following objects were noted : — fibres, separate cellules,
nucleated cells, surrounded by granular matter, numerous
epithetial scales from the lungs and skin.

3. The dust from the top of one of the pillars was also
examined, and in addition to other objects, the same epithe-
tial scales were detected.

4. Several of the specimens of fluid from the lungs were
also searched with the microscope. In all of them epithe-
tium in different stages of deterioration was abundantly
present, but very few spores were found in any fresh speci-
men. On the other hand after the fluid had been kept for
a few hours myriads of vibriones and many spores were found-

In a case of Diphtheria,, confervoid filaments were noticed,
and in two other cases, 1 of Measles and 1 of Whooping
Cough, abundant specimens of a small celled torula were
found, and these were seen to increase in numbers for two
days, after winch they ceased to develope.

These differences in the nature of the bodies met with
probably show some difference in the nature of the fluid
given off ; but it wTas pointed out that they afford no proof
as yet of the germ theory of disease. They simply show^
the readiness with which the aqueous vapour of the breath
supports fermentation, and the dangers of bad ventilation,
especially in Hospitals.

Dr. E. Lund and Dr. H. Browne stated that they had
also made experiments, the results of which were, in
general, confirmatory of those obtained by Dr. Hansom e.

110

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

January 31st, 1870.

John Watson, Esq., President of the Section, in the

Chair.

Mr. Charles Bailey read a paper “ On the Natural Ropes
used in Packing Cotton Bales in Brazil.”

[This paper was afterwards read at the Ordinary Meeting
oi the Society, held February 8th, 1870. See page 88.]

Mr. J. Sxdebotham exhibited some photographs of Pholas-
bored Rocks, and made the following remarks thereon.

In October, 1857, Mr. R. D. Darbishire read a paper here
on some rocks bored by Pholas which he had discovered on
the Little Ormes Head, and exhibited specimens.

Last Spring I examined the rocks on both the Great and
Little Ormes, and found many rocks so bored, of several of
which I took photographs, some of which I now exhibit
from both places.

The holes are most abundant near the tops of the moun-
tains, and I met with none whatever very low down.

At first sight one is rather confused, the holes on the
surface of the rocks having been weather-worn, and some-
times connected by channels with the natural fissures in the
rock, so as to render it difficult to say which or whether any
of the holes have been caused by boring shells.

When these holes occur, however, in overhanging rocks,
or rocks protected from the weather, there is no doubt as
to their origin ; but to obtain photographs of them is very
difficult, as the camera has to be supported with stones, and
the operator has to lie on his back on the ground to obtain
the focus.

An interesting collection of Australian Plants from Dr.
Mueller, of Melbourne, was exhibited by Mr. H. A. HURST.

Ill

Ordinary Meeting, March 8th, 1870.

J. P» Joule, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the

Chair.

Sir James Cockle, M.A., F.R.S., President of the Queens-
land Philosophical Society, was elected a Corresponding
Member of the Society.

The following letter from Mr. Dancer, F.R.A.S., dated
March 5, 1870, was read : — -

I was not present at the last ordinary meeting on Feby.
22nd, but seeing my name mentioned in the printed report
of Dr. A. Ransome’s paper “On the Organic Matter of
Human Breath,” in which it is stated “ that Mr. Dancer’s
calculation of the number of spores in the air was noticed,
but a source of error was pointed out in the readiness with
which organisms are developed in suitable fluids even in
the course of a few hours,” in reply I have to state that this
very obvious source of multiplication did not escape atten-
tion, which a few extracts from the printed paper in the
Proceedings of March 31st, 1868, will suffice to show. It is
stated that “ during the first observations, few living organ-
isms were noticed, but as it afterwards proved, the germs of
plant and animal life (probably in a dormant condition)
were present.” Again, at the bottom of the same page- —
“ When the bottle had remained for 36 hours in a room at
a temperature of 60° the quantity of fungi had visibly
increased, and the delicate mycelial thread-like roots had
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Society. — Yol. IX. — No. 12. — Session 1869-70.

112

completely entangled the fibrous objects contained in the
bottle and formed them into a mass,” I may add that the
contents of the bottle were very frequently subjected to
critical examination for any change in their appearance from
the time I received it from Dr. R. A. Smith until all appear-
ance of vitality had ceased. The amount of solid matter
suspended in the atmosphere is exceeding variable — after
continued rain the air is comparatively free, whereas in very
dry weather with high wind, in localities where dust and
decomposing matter are abundant, it will be found at a con-
siderable altitude.

E. W. Binney, F.RS., called the attention of the meeting
to the frightfully high death-rate of Manchester and Sal-
ford, which continued to increase, notwithstanding the
appointment of officers of health, and the doings of the
councils of the two towns. He noticed the lamentable
state of the poor as to habits of cleanliness and their igno-
rance of the nourishing properties of the food they con-
sumed, the adulteration of their food and drinks, and the
overcrowding of dwellings; but these evils were common to
most large towns. Manchester was not now to such an
extent as it once was a cotton spinning town, so the neglect
of infants by the absence of mothers at work was not so
great as it had been here, and now is in some other places;
but the sudden change of light-clad females from the high
temperature of a fine spinning mill to the cold of the open
air must have a very injurious effect on their health. The
city authorities complained of the owners of property not
improving the dwellings of the poor and looking after their
tenants, whilst the owners retorted on the authorities by
saying that many of their tenants would not pay for decent
habitations and would certainly not keep their houses clean
if they could get their landlords to do it for them, and they
wished the sanitary reformers of the Council to become
owners of cottage property and try their hands practically

113

with managing dirty and improvident tenants. No doubt
Manchester and Salford landlords were pretty much the
same as those in other large towns, and the sanitary state of
the poor must always in a great measure depend on them-
selves, for it is impossible for other people to be continually
looking after and protecting their poorer neighbours. The
ministers of religion may do some good in preaching provi-
dence and cleanliness to their congregations, but the mis-
chief is that the great bulk of our dissolute and improvident
poor is connected with no religious body whatever.

Manchester and Salford, when compared with other large
towns, had two great disadvantages, namely, the subsoils on
which they were built, and the filthy open sewers which
flow or should flow past them. The chief parts of both
towns stand on a thick bed of cold brick clay quite imper-
vious to water, and valley gravel at the lower boundary of
such clay and betwixt it and the adjoining streams. The
only exceptions are the higher portions of Harpurhey,
Cheetham Hill, Higher Broughton, and Pendleton, which
are for the most on dry sand.

Nearly thirty years ago he had first called attention to
the evils of polluting the streams near Manchester, and then
damming them up as if it were desirable to stop the filth
from flowing away. The following is an extract from his
report, published in the Health of Towns Report, for 1845 : — -
“ The river Irwell, after having, by its tributaries, afforded
drainage and sewerage to the towns of Bolton, Bury, Roch-
dale, and numerous other places, and pent up in countless
reservoirs and dams for manufacturing purposes, approaches
Salford by the Adelphi in a pretty tolerable condition as to
purity, inasmuch as small fish live in its waters— -a very
rare circumstance in any other of the streams, except the
upper part of the Medlock. At the Adelphi is a high weir,
built across the river ; after passing this impediment, it is
polluted by the numerous works upon its banks in the

114

eastern and south-eastern parts of Salford, and it receives
the waters of the Irk at Hunt’s Bank, in a condition much
worse than its own— in fact, as filthy as waters can well be ;
thence the river flows sluggishly along the western part of
Manchester to Hulme, where it receives a portion of the
waters of the Medlock and Shooter’s Brook, charged with
the contents of the sewers of the eastern and southern parts
of Manchester, and is then stopped at Throstle Nest by a
dam across its stream. For many miles in its course
towards Runcorn it emits offensive smells and bubbles of
light carburetted gas, which rise to its surface.” As the
weirs then were so they now are simply traps set for the
purpose of catching the filth in the streams. Of late years,
many fine schemes have been proposed for preventing the
floods, but why not first try the taking away the weirs and
giving the streams fair play. Instead of removing the
obstructions to the streams, our authorities have ever since
been pouring fresh sewage into them, and all the towns
above us have followed our bad example; so the Irwell,
in place of approaching us in a state fit for fish to live in,
as it formerly did, is in as foul a condition as the dirty Irk.
Of course, it is for the most part out of the power of the
municipal authorities altogether to remedy the disadvan-
tages of the subsoil, but surely they ought to do something
towards improving the sewerage and drainage of our city
and town.

In reply to a question from the President, Mr. Lund,
F.R.C.S., stated he was of opinion that if it were possible
to obtain, for drinking purposes, chemically pure water, it
would not be so wholesome for constant use as water con-
taining a small admixture of calcareous matter to give it
some degree of hardness. Potable water ought to be
absolutely free from organic matter, or any of the products
of decomposition, and, especially 'from sewage contamination.

The sources of the constantly high death-rate in a large
city like Manchester, were not to be discovered by tracing

115

out any one set of influences exclusively. We must take
into account the habits of the people and their peculiar
occupations ; the ages at which the greater number of the
deaths occur, and the probable exciting causes; such as
insufficient clothing, sudden changes of temperature, from
the heated atmosphere of the mill to the cold external air ;
adulterated, badly-selected food; intemperance; small ill-
ventilated dwellings; inefficient nursing of the sick, and
inattention, if not positive neglect, of the young and the
delicate ; all these agents contribute their portion, in varying
degree, to the aggregate result. It would help greatly to
direct attention to the importance of some of these, as
elements in the enquiry, if, in the public returns of the
death-rate, or the number of deaths in a given time, the
deaths at each period of life were separately stated ; and, it
would not be inappropriate for general readers if the classifi-
cation took in the “seven ages of man,” in septennial ranges’
each having its own peculiar risks and dangers. In this
way, more intelligible and suggestive lessons would be
taught by such returns, than the mere crude records now
given of the proportion to each thousand or ten thousand
of the population, irrespective of all attending circumstances
and possible causes.

“On the Suspension of a Ball by a Jet of Water,” by
Osborne Reynolds, M.A., Professor of Engineering, Owens
College.

Some years ago I was led to consider this somewhat
common though striking phenomenon, and at the time I
arrived at what seemed to be a perfectly satisfactory ex-
planation of it. I did not then suppose this explanation
was new, but as I cannot find that anything like it has been
published, I have presumed to take this opportunity of
bringing it before the Society.

Although everyone will have watched with interest the
performance of the ball as it is acted on by the jet, and be

116

more or less familiar with it, I shall recount the principal
things I noticed whilst observing it critically.

The ball was very light and had a wet surface.

The jet, when free from the ball, would rise about three
feet.

The ball was not kept in one position, but oscillated up
and down.

The centre was not necessarily over the jet, it often re-
mained for a long time on one side of it. In fact it appeared
to be in equilibrium when struck about 45° from its middle.

In this way, for some seconds at a time, the ball appeared
as though it were hanging to the jet, and then it would
oscillate about this position so far, that at times it would be
struck underneath, and at other times almost on the hori-
zontal circle; indeed sometimes it would be forced so much
to one side that the jet missed it altogether. In this case it
would immediately drop down, but such was its determina-
tion not to be thrust aside, that it generally came back into
the jet almost instantly. Occasionally, however, it would
fall down into the basin.

Being a light ball the friction of the water caused it to
spin, and as it moved about the jet it would spin sometimes
in one direction and sometimes in another, always about a
horizontal axis.

Of the water which strikes the ball, part is immediately
splashed off in all directions, part is deflected off at a tan-
gent, and part adheres to the ball, and is carried round with
it until it is thrown off by centrifugal force.

There are many other things that attract attention, but
I think I have noticed those which bear on the explanation.

The vertical force caused by the action of the jet is no
doubt amply sufficient to support the weight of the ball,
and did the centre of the ball remain vertically over the
jet there would be no difficulty. 'The only explanations I
have ever heard have been based on the same supposition :

117

the jet is supposed to strike the ball underneath, and form
a cup in which the ball rests.

A few seconds’ observation, however, will show that the
above is not satisfactory : before any explanation can be

complete, it must show how it is that the ball will remain in
equilibrium on one side of the jet ; nay, that it will fly back
into the jet, when driven out of it. I will first point out the
nature of the forces which act on the ball. Its weight acts
at its centre in a vertical line, and is the only force which
is not due to the water. If the water strikes the ball
directly underneath its centre, it will produce a force acting
upwards in a vertical line, the magnitude of which will
depend on the height, and may therefore be made to
balance the weight of the ball. In this position the ball
would by the action of those two forces be in equilibrium
in the same way as if it were balanced on a point ; the
slightest deviation would upset it, and then the jet would
strike it on one side. If so struck there would be two forces
at the point of contact, the one normal or through the centre
of the ball, due to the impulsive action of the water, which
I shall call P ; and another in the tangent due to the
friction of the water, which I call R

If W be the weight of the ball, then P, R and W are the
only forces which at first sight appear to exist, and the
question is, can P, It and W be in equilibrium ? This is
easily answered ; for, these three forces are necessarily in the
same plane, but they do not all pass through the same point
and therefore they are not in equilibrium. Hence there
must be some other force acting on the ball which does not
pass through its centre, or the point in which it is struck.
Since this force cannot arise from the action of the water
as it strikes the ball, or the weight of the ball, it must be
due to the action of the water as it leaves, and since that
water which is splashed off or deflected at the point of
contact does not touch the ball again, the force must be due

118

to the water which adheres to the hall, and is subsequently
thrown off.

Now whenever a drop leaves the ball there will be a
tangential reaction in a direction opposite to that in which
it leaves, and if many drops are leaving the ball at the same
time, there will be a force equal to the sum of all their
reactions opposing the rotation of the ball, and a force equal
to the resultant of all their reactions acting on the centre of
the ball. If the water be thrown off equally all round, this
latter force will be zero ; but if more drops leave in one
direction than in another, the resultant force will be opposite
to this direction. As this force is essential to the equilibrium
of the ball, the question arises, is there any reason why
most of the water should leave the ball in one direction ?
and if so, in which direction will that be ? Now the water
comes on the ball at p, and as it passes over the top of the
ball, the action of gravity or the weight of the water will
be to keep it on the ball, but after it has passed the top, the
conditions for its leaving become more and more favourable —
so that it appears as though the water would begin to leave
as soon as it had passed over the top of the ball and go on
until it was all thrown off In this way most of the water
would leave between the top of the ball and that side which
is opposite the jet, which on examination I find to be
the case.

It was the discovery of this fact which has enabled me
to explain the phenomenon, for this water causes a resultant
reaction which is the additional force necessary to maintain
the equilibrium of the ball.

Let this resultant reaction be called Q, it will act upwards
and towards the jet, and its effect will be, first, to force the ball
into the jet and so will help to counteract the obliquity of P ;
secondly, it will assist in supporting the ball ; and thirdly,
since it opposes the rotation, it will balance the tangential
force R caused by the friction at p, and provided it have

119

the proper magnitude, together with the forces P, It and W,
it is all that is requisite to explain the equilibrium.

Position of Equilibrium.

With regard to the position of the ball when in equili-
brium I cannot establish anything definite, as there are
no known laws of adhesion, but I can show by general
reasoning that there are limits between which the point in
which the ball is struck must lie, so that there may be
equilibrium.

Let the point p be at a fixed height, and let P' equal the
full force of the jet at this height when acting on the
bottom of the ball or on a perpendicular plane. Then if a
be the angle which the normal at p makes with the vertical

P = P'cosa

and the horizontal component

p/ p/

Psina — — 2sina COSa = ^ sin2a ;

2 2 *

therefore

and

Psina = - and is a maximum when a — 45°
2

Psina = 0 when a - 0 or a - 90°

So that the tendency of the jet to force the ball to one side

P'

increases from nothing to as p moves from the bottom to

a point at which the normal makes an angle of 45° with the
vertical and then decreases to nothing as p moves to the
middle of the ball.

The force Q may be fairly assumed to increase as the
speed of rotation increases, and this will be as the point of
contact moves from the bottom to the middle of the ball.
In the same way the force F, which will necessarily increase
as Q increases, will increase as p moves from the bottom to
the middle of the ball, and its horizontal component will
follow nearly the same law as that of P.

Considering then the horizontal forces only, there must be
some position for p in which the horizontal component of

120

Q and F will be equal to that of P, and if a horizontal circle
be drawn through this point it will limit the part of the
ball in which equilibrium is possible.

For any deviation without this circle the equilibrium will
be stable, i.e. if the centre of the ball gets so far from the
jet that the ball is struck in some point without this circle,
it will come back again. As to the nature of the equili-
brium for any deviation within this circle, I cannot speak
positively, but it is probably nearly neutral all over the
enclosed area.

This seems to agree very well with the appearances I
have described, namely, that the ball appeared to be in equi-
librium when struck at a point about 45° from its middle,
about which point it oscillates. When the oscillations
become so big that the ball leaves the jet, I have said that
the ball instantly jumps back again. To account for this
we have only to consider that the force P ceases as soon
as the contact ceases, but not so with Q, for there will
still be some water to be thrown off, so that perhaps for
half of a revolution after the contact has ceased, the force
Q will continue undiminished and so bring the ball back
into the jet.

121

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

February 28th, 1870.

John Watson, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.

The following extract from a letter to Mr. H. A. Hurst
from Dr. Mueller was read : —

“ I should be obliged if you would procure for me seeds
(or roots) of Sagittaria, Hottonia, Butomus , Lysimachia
vulgaris and thrysiflora, Menyanthes, Villarsia, Lychnis,
Flos-cuculi, Caltha palustris, all of which I should much
like to naturalize in a lake of this garden. I will gladly
send a good collection of Australian seeds in exchange.”

The Secretary will be glad to receive seeds of any of the
above-named plants which members may be able to collect
during the ensuing season.

“On some Shell Deposits at Llandudno,” by Mr. Joseph

SlDEBOTHAM.

The author referred to a paper by Mr. Darbishire, published
in the Society’s Memoirs in 1867, where these deposits are
mentioned and considered to be the refuse -heaps of former
inhabitants.

The object of the present paper was to enter more into
detail as to the composition of these refuse heaps and to fix a
probable date as to their being formed ; the deposit specially
examined is situated at the foot of the Great Ormes Head, on
Conway Bay, and has been partially washed away by the
sea, a section of it is best seen from the beach; photo-
graphs of it were exhibited. This deposit consists chiefly of
shells of patella, purpura, and littorina, and bones of animals,
with pieces of charcoal. Mr. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., had

122

identified the bones as belonging to the ancient homed sheep,
the Keltic short-horn, the horse, and the dog. Many of the
bones were split up, apparently for the purpose of extracting
the marrow, and some bore the marks of the teeth of dogs.
Some of the bones of the horse had been exposed to the

action of fire ; the charcoal appeared chiefly to consist of
burned stems of Ulex Europeus.

No traces of weapons, or implements of stone or metal
were met with, but Mr. Darbishire found a single fragment
of bright red pottery, apparently of Roman manufacture,
and from its shape probably being a portion of a small drink-
ing cup. The absence of all bones of wild animals, birds,
and fish, seemed to indicate a very low state of civilization.

The author then proceeded to show from historical and
legendary evidence, that the place where the shell deposit
now exists was within historical times far removed from
the shore, and quoted from Mr. Hall's paper before the
Liverpool Geological Society, in 1864, as to the supposed
ancient coast line, and submergence of the plain which once
existed between the Great Ormes Head and Bangor, which
is said to have taken place in the fourth century, when the
lands and castle of Helig - ab - Glanawg were destroyed*
The author also described Mr. Hall’s visit to the supposed
ruins of this castle, marked “ Llys Helig ” on the ordnance
map, only to be seen at very low tides, and submitted a
diagram, copied from the plan of the walls and tower then
taken ; he also gave the legend of the destruction of this
castle, which is still told by the old Welsh people living
near. The author concluded that when the refuse heap of'
shells and bones was deposited, the coast line must have
been somewhat the same as it is now, as patella, purpura,
&c., being rock shells, could not have been found on a flat
sandy coast; if, therefore, the plain was submerged in the
fourth century, these shells must have been deposited
subsequently; as besides the absence of rocks, the coast

123

would, before that time, have been too distant to render it
likely the inhabitants should bring their food so far from
where it was found. The very large size of many of the
shells of patella, would seem to prove that the coast had
been some considerable time in its present rocky condition,
when the shells were gathered, whereas the absence of all
traces of bones and teeth of the hog, which are found in
such abundance in later deposits, seems to point to the
seventh and eighth century as the probable date of the
formation of this shell deposit.

PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SECTION.

January 4th, 1870.'

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S, President of the Section,

in the Ohair.

“ On the Rainfall of 1869, at Old Trafford, Manchester,”
by G. Y. Vernon, F.R.A.S, F.M.S.

The rainfall of 1869 exceeded the average of the last
seventy-six years by 0'043 inches, so that the fall was
almost exactly the average amount for that period. Rain
fell upon 197 days in 1869, or upon nine more days than
in 1868.

During the first and last quarters of 1869 the rainfall
exceeded the average of the corresponding periods for the
last seventy-six years, and during the second and third
quarters the rainfall of 1869 was below that average.

As compared with 1868, there was 3'221 inches more rain
in 1869.

January, February, April, May, September, November,
and December, 1869, had a rainfall in excess of the average,
especially F ebruary and September, the latter month having
nearly double the average rainfall.

124

The remaining months of 1869 had a deficient rainfall,
especially March, June, and July, the latter month not
having one third the average fall.

The months in which rain fell upon the largest number
of days were January, February, September, November,
and December; September reaching the large number of
twenty-six days.

OLD TRAFFORD, MANCHESTER.

Rain Gauge 3 feet above the ground, and 106 feet above the sea.

Quarterly

Periods.

1869.

Fall

in

Inches.

Average
of 76
Years.

Difference.

No. of
Days
Rain-
fall
in
1869.

Quarterly

Periods.

Differ-

ence.

1868.

1869.

76 Years.
Inches.

1869.

Inches.

Days.

Days.

c

Jan. ...

2-686

2-498

■4-0-190

21

)

57

52 3

Feb —

4*436

2-418

4-2-018

21

[ 7-210

8-392

4-1-182

l

March.

1-270

2-296

—1-026

10

)

c

April...

2-096

2-028

4-0-068

14

)

33

40 3

May . . .

2-726

2-336

4-0-390

17

[ 7-191

5-944

—1-247

l

June ..

1-122

2-827

—1-705

9

)

c

July...

1-131

3-550

—2-419

8

■)

30

44 <

August

2633

3-560

—0-927

10

[ 10-381

10-084

—0-297

l

Sep

6-320

3-271

4-3.049

26

)

c

Oct

3119

3-818

—0-699

19

)

68

6!

Nov....

4-284

3-846

4-0-798

22

> 10-621

11*026

-j-0-405

(

Dec. . . .

3623

3-317

4-0-306

20

)

188

197

35-446

35-403

4-0-043

197

35-403

35-446

4-0-043

March 1st, 1870.

E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S., President of the Section,

in the Chair.

“Results of Rain-gauge and Anemometer Observations
made at Eccles, near Manchester, during Jhe year 1869,” by
Thomas Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

The following amounts of rainfall are obtained from two
gauges 3 feet from the ground and 145 feet above mean

125

sea-level, and one gauge 34 feet from the ground. One of
the lower gauges has a round receiver lOin. in diameter, the
other has a 5in. square receiver; the edges of both are
turned inward. These two gauges stand close to each
other, and 75 feet from any building, and free from every
obstruction. The higher gauge has a 5in. square receiver,
like the one near the ground. It is four feet above the
ridge of my house, and free from every obstruction. First, I
represent the rainfall for 1869, as measured by the lOin.
gauge. This I have compared with the average fall for
nine years at Eccles.

Quarterly Periods.

1869.

Fall

in

Inches.

Average

of

9 Years.

Differences.

Quarterly Periods.

Average

of

9 Years.

1869.

Average

of

9 Years.

1869.

Days

Days

«

( January

2-491

2-632

—0-141 )

53

56

j February

3-997

2-441

-f-1-556 [

7-644

7-888

(, March

1-400

2-571

—1171 )

( April

2-292

1-959

4-0-333 \

41

44

} May

2-974

2-180

4-0-794 [

6-589

6-524

f June

1-258

2-450

—1-192 )

(July

1-122

3192

—2-070 )

50

48

< August

3-115

3-363

—0-248 [

10-726

10-432

(. September

6-195

4-171

4-2-024 )

( October

3-129

3-657

—0-528 )

56

62

< November

4-285

3-411

4-0-874 [

10-420

10-857

December

3-443

3-352

4-0-091 )

200

210

35701

35-379

4-0-322

This table shows that the rainfall for the year was very
nearly the average amount for nine years. The fall in each
month has been somewhat irregular, but a glance at the
quarterly periods for the year, and the average fall, will
show that the rainfall for 1869 was seasonably regular.
September was an unusually wet month, and from the
average fall it appears to be the wettest month of the year.
Nearly two thirds of the rainfall of last year fell from
August to December. The least amount of rain and the
fewest number of wet days happen in the spring months, at

126

least from the beginning of April till the end of June. The
wettest season sets in in September.

The next table shows the monthly amounts that fell in
each gauge, together with the number of miles of horizontal
movement of the air.

1869.

Rainfall in
lOin.

Round Gauge,
3 feet from
Ground.

Rainfall in
5in.

Square Gauge,
3 feet from
Ground.

Rainfall in
; 5in.

Square Gauge,
34 feet from
Ground.

Amount of the
Horizontal
Movement
of the Air in
Miles.

January

2-491

2-538

1-762

4-996

February

3-997

3-971

2-884

5-920

March.

1-400

1-365

1-035

4-735

April

2-292

2-257

1-842

2-861

May

2-974

2-920

2-888

2-848

June

1-258

1-222

1-045

1-410

July

1-122

1-086

0-838

1-355

An crust

3-115

3-106

2533

2-021

September

6-195

6-218

5-039

3-516

October

3-129

3-073

2-610

3-644

November .. ...

4-285

4-209

3-389

3145

December

3-443

3-441

2-755

3156

Totals

35-701

35-406

28-620

39-607

This table, like previous ones I have read to this Section,
shows that the greatest horizontal movement of the air
happens in the winter months, or from about September to
March. And as may be expected, the maxima occur at or
about the time of the equinoxes. It likewise shows that an
excess of windy weather is attended with an excess of rain-
fall. I would also draw attention to the close similarity of
amount of rainfall measured by the lOin. round, and the
5in. square gauge. The small difference is almost identical
with those of previous years.

In the next table I have given the average daily fall of
rain in each kind of gauge, and the ratio of amounts,
when the velocity of the wind has ranged between the
number of miles indicated in the first column.

127

Daily

Movement of
Wind,

3 feet from
the Ground.

34 feet from
the Ground.

5in.

Square Gauge.
A.

5in.

Square Gauge.
B.

Ratio of
B to A.

Miles.

In.

In.

0 to 50

•123

•114

•926

50 to 100

•175

•144

•822

100 to 150

•138

112

•811

150 to 200

•201

•165

•820

200 to 250

•246

•206

•837

250 to 300

*162

•106

•654

300 to 350

•310

•217

•700

350 to 400

•172

•109

*634

Above 400

•090

•090

1-000

MEAN

200 to 250

179

•140

•782

This table shows, as previous ones have done, that the
heaviest falls of rain happen as the movement of the air
increases. Though on carefully examining this and other
tables I have produced, there is a limit to' this law. The
maximum of fall with high wind appears to be attained
when the wind moves at an average rate of about 12 miles
per hour. The ratio column shows, what my other tables
have done, that about three quarters of the amount of rain
for the year falls at the height of 34 feet above the ground.

The next table represents the rainfall during the day
time of each month, or from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m,; and during
the night, or from 8 p.m. till 8 a.m.

1869.

Rainfall

from

8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Rainfall

from

8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Difference
between Night ,
and Day Fall,

January.

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

In.

1137

1-609

0- 898

1- 021
1-957
0-307
0-730

0- 833
3-198

1- 093
1-858
1-360

In.

1-401

2362

0- 467

1- 236
0-963

0- 915
0356
2273
3-020

1- 980

2- 351
2-081

Inches.

-J-0‘264

+0-753

—0-431

+0-215

—0-994

+0-608

—0-374

+1-440

—0-178

+0-887

+0-493

+0-721

Sums

16001

19-405

+3-404

128

This table, like the one I communicated to the Section
last year, seems to show that the night fall is mostly in
excess in the coldest months of the year.

I now submit a new set of tables relating to wind and
rainfall. The elements from which the tables respecting
the wind are deduced have been obtained from a self-
registering pressure anemometer made by Mr. Oxley, and
Dr. Kobinson’s anemometer. Very curious though not
unexpected results are found on an examination of these
tables. The first table represents the mean daily direction
of the wind grouped under eight points of the compass.
The amounts of horizontal movement of the air in miles for
each day are grouped under the months of the year, and
placed under the mean direction whence the movement
came, and so arranged as to indicate whether the mean
direction has been against or with the sun’s course. The
direction of the wind is said to be against the sun’s course
on the west side of the compass when the mean direction of
one day is nearer the south point than it was on a previous
day ; and with the sun’s course on the same side of the
compass when the mean direction is nearer the north point
than on the previous day. The reverse of these directions
happens on the east side of the compass. The results of
these directions appear at the foot of the respective columns,
and they show that when the wind is blowing on the west
side of the compass with the sun’s course, the horizontal
movement of the air is greater than when it is blowing
against the sun’s course. But when the wind is blowing on
the east side of the compass with the sun’s course, the hori-
zontal movement of the air is less than when it is blowing
against the sun’s course. But the monthly results show
that in every month of the year, excepting May, there has
been an excess of horizontal movement of the air with the
sun’s course ; hence that the westerty winds greatly prevail
over the easterly ones.

| Ratios!

1-150

1-879

1-056

1-410

0- 767

1- 061
1-247
1-446
1-858
1-375
1-579
1-098

m

a

m

•ung 9in
tiiiav pniAl

Movement in
Miles.

2.673
3,864
2,433

1.674
1,237

726

752

1,195

2,286

2,110

1,926

1,652

22,528

0*

rH

CO

rH

■ung oqq.
Isure.oL1 puiAV

2,323

2,056

2,302

1,187

1,611

684

603

826

1,230

1,534

1,219

1,504

17,079

F3

•ung 9ii;
puiAv

Movement in
Miles.

314

25

207

18

15

85

21

324

1,009

N

•ung aqi
■jsurexft? puiAV

76

38

608

172

662

12

142

52

1,762

to

•ung eq*
qpAi puiAv

Movement in
Miles.

N 05 CD 05 CD © N

: : ^ oo i— i n • o • <m co

. rH r-l CD • t-H :

1,138

05

•ung eift
^suinSn paiAY

222

78

363

237

577

186

97

69

75

-

1-904

to

'

m

•ung eqq.
tftpw puiAl

Movement in
Miles.

269

254

13

61

11

162

164

31

965

00

i>

•ung 9qi
^SUI'B.g'B PUIAV

1,025

202’

1

4

194

1,425

cp

QQ

•ung eq^
PnTAY

Movement in
Miles.

1,216

382

201

9

!

174

358

31

547

00

,H

CD

of

N

•ung eq*
^suingn putAY

772

926

192

5

273

17

590

126

638

3,539

' 00

U1

•ung eq;
qqA puiAY

Movement in
Miles.

694

846

94

236

387

45

616

115

54

235

3,322

0

rH

•ung eqq.
IsureSn puiAY

228

568

206

163

215

35

407

129

320

85

CD

ID

CO

cq

rH

Is

•ung sq^
q^iAv putay

Movement in
Miles.

427

2,082

135

213

9

219

219

548

1,021

678

369

135

6,055

0

•ung 9qY
^sureg'B puiAY

244

471

205

139

408

34

262

122

737

666

191

3,479

i>,

rH

fc

f5

•ung eqq.
q^m puiAY

Movement in
Miles.

67

554

855

528

S9

454

116

584

177

429

1,229

162

5,244

CO

ID

co

00

•ung 9qi
^suroSu puiAY

471

173

106

69

165

302

50

228

1,564

£

1

•ung aqi
q^uv putAY

Movement in
Miles.

637

276

252

9

1

18

15

281

171

217

*>•
X>
00
T— 1

i>

00

•ung 9q;»
'^sui'bS'b puiAY

389

171

60

2

19

14

103

57

235

0

ID

O

rH

x>-

pH

1869.

Jan.. .
Feb...
Mar. .
April
May..
June .
J uly. .
Aug. •
Sep. ..
Oct.. .
Nov...
Dec. ..

Sums.

Ratios

130

The next table represents the rainfall in inches in a simi-
lar manner to that in which the horizontal movement of the
air is represented in miles. The results of this table bear a
most striking analogy to the previous one respecting the
wind. More rain falls when the wind is blowing on the west
side of the compass with the sun’s course than when it is blow-
ing against it; and the reverse happens, as with the horizontal
movement of the air, when the wind is blowing on the east
side of the compass. And the monthly results are very
similar to those respecting the wind, June and July being
the only exceptions to the rule ; hence more rain falls during
westerly than easterly winds. The ratios of the two tables
are almost identical in kind though differing in amount.

00

O

M

PS

1-802

3- 880
1-243
1-980

4- 199
0792

0- 895
8-215

1- 661
1-063

1- 373

2- 980

Sums.

•uns OTft

qqAt pmAl

Rainfall
in Inches.

1-602

3178

•776

1- 523

2- 402
"556
•530

2- 777

3- 867

1- 613

2- 480
2-578

<M

00

00

cb

CM

o

cq

•nns eqt*
'JSUtcSb puT^v

•889

•819

•624

•769

•572

•702

•592

•338

2328

1-516

1-805

•865

11-819

o

<M

m

•utig

t^pvv puiAV

Rainfall
in Inches.

•093

•090

•020

•012

•039

•254

o

00

•uns eq*
IsuinSu puiAV

•037

•568

•250

•010

•040

•905

<M

s

•uns exp*
q^AV puiAV

Rainfall
in Inches.

•135

•579

•136

•347

•007

i

1-204

CO

— 1>

•uns etu
^smugu putAV

•214

•322

•010

•811

•200

1-557

OQ

•uns ©q*

if«* PUFAV

Rainfall
in Inches.

[ -199

•089

•027

•089

•153

•033

•047

CO

cp

CO

00

•uns eq^
^sureS'B putAi

•262

•035

•242

L •

I -

•539

pH

GO

•uns sip*
q«AV puiAi

Rainfall
in Inches.

•717

•187

•176

•562

•392

•047

•546

CM

CO

<M

i>

CO

•uns ®qi

ijsurrSu puiAi

■217

•512

•064

•267

•122

1*086

•106

•428

<M

O

00

05

is

TJ1

•uns sqi
qqAv putAV

Rainfall
in Inches.

•557

•802

•024

•515

•492

*272

•939

•099

•364

CO

o

o

TP

•uns eqi
^eureS'B puiAi

•159

•255

•522

•231

•325

•122

•403

•222

•583

•211

3-033

" CO

rH

£

•uns ®qi
q^m puiAi

Rainfall
in Inches.

117

1-765

•074

•462

•160

•015

•034

1-849

1-960

•717

•507

•454

8-114

o

to

•uns ®qi
IsuiuSu puiAi

•017

•029

183

•412

•067

•028

•832

1-097

•182

2-847

“00

<M

tS

&

•nns eq*
q«M puiAV

Rainfall
in Inches.

•012

•424

•456

073

•532

•522

■004

•656

•117

•360

1*278

1-138

5-572

©
CO
_ lO

•uns eqi
qsureSu puiAi

•021

•059

•007

•020

•019

•002

•128

CO

•uns eqi

IftUV puiAV

Rainfall
in Inches.

... 1
•040
045
1-022
•019

•254

•030

1-410

o

to

_cq

•uns eq?
qeUTBS’B puiAi

CO ©5

: : o ©

*

00

o

o

cb

Jt>

rH

1869.

Jan ...
Feb...
Mar ..
April.
May..
June .
July..
Aug..
Sep...
Oct. ..
Nov...
Dec...

Sums.

Ratios

132

In the next table I represent the rainfall at the Salford
Town Hall for 1869. The difference between this amount
of rainfall and that at Eccles is about the same as last year,
which is doubtless due to the different heights at which the
two gauges are placed. The Salford gauge is about 8 feet
above the ground.

Quarterly Periods.

1869.

. .

Fall in
Inches
at Salford.

Fall in
Inches
at Eccles.

Difference

from

Eccles.

1 Days of
! Rainfall
at Salford.

Days of
Rainfall
at Eccles.

( January

2611

2-538

■f0-073

53

56

< February

4-181

3-971

-j-0-210

( March

0-985

1-365

—0-380

C April

2-245

2-257

—0012

43

44

< May

1-484

2-920

—1-436

(.June

1-313

1-222

+0-091

(July

1181

1-086

4-0-095

46

48

■< August

2-794

3-106

—0-312

(.September

6-181

6-218

-0-037

C October .

3-061

3073

—0012

61

62

< November

4-223

4-209

+0-014

(. December

3-508

3-441

4-0-067

203

210

33-767

35-406

—1-639

Ordinary Meeting, March 22nd, 1870.

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

Mr. James Teale, of Springfield, Sale, was elected an
Ordinary Member of the Society.

A letter from Mr. H. Wilde was read, stating that since
the last meeting he had made a few experiments “ On the
Suspension of a Ball by means of a Jet of Water,” and had
found that the behaviour of the ball was the same in vacuo
as it is in air.

Mr. R Routledge stated that he had also made a few
simple experiments, and had found that when a string was
attached to the ball in such a manner as to prevent or
impede its rotation about a horizontal axis, it was no longer
continuously sustained by the jet. Also when the jet
(directed horizontally to avoid the interference of the falling
drops) was brought very near to the light ball suspended by
a thread, the ball showed no tendency to move towards the
jet. This invalidates the surmise that the jet is accom-
panied by a current of air which tends to carry the ball into
the jet.

Professor Osborne Reynolds, B.A., said : After the

discussion which followed my paper on this subject at the
last meeting of this Society, I thought it would be well to
substantiate as far as I could the truth of my hypothesis by
experiments ; and the following is a description of what I
have done in this way. Before describing the experiments,
I will mention the immediate objects for which they were
severally undertaken. First, I wished to show that the air
was not the medium by which the water acted on the ball,
Peoceedings — Lit. & Phie. Society. — Vol. IX. — No. 13. — Session 1869-70.

184

and this I have done by showing that the jet would pro-
duce no effect on the ball unless actually touching it.
Secondly, I wished to show that the horizontal equilibrium
of the ball was due to its rotation; and thirdly, to find the
limiting positions of that point on the ball in which it might
be struck and remain in equilibrium, and moreover the
nature of the equilibrium.

The apparatus employed in these experiments consisted
of a wheel three inches in diameter and half an inch broad
at the rim, made of painted wood, capable
of turning very freely about its axis, and
suspended by two wires with its axis
horizontal, so that it could swing like a
pendulum. A vertical jet of water was
so arranged that it could be made to
strike the reel at any point from below,
or to miss it altogether. This was done
by bringing the jet out of a horizontal
pipe which would slide backwards and
forwards in the same direction as the wheel could swing.
This pipe was furnished with a cock, so that the force of
the jet might be altered.

In experiment No. 1, the pipe from which the jet issues
was pushed so forward that the jet missed the reel by about
an inch, and the jet was turned on to rise about six feet
above the reel ; the pipe was then brought back until the
water passed as near as possible to the reel without touching
it — but there was no apparent effect produced on the reel.
The tap was turned so as to increase and then diminish the
height to which the jet rose — still, without any effect.

Experiment No. 2 was made with the same apparatus as
No. 1. The reel was then changed for one six inches in
diameter and the same experiment repeated.

The jet was placed so that it missed the reel (when hang-
ing freely) by about two inches, and the water was turned

135

on to rise about six feet. The reel was then pushed forward
until it touched the jet and then let go; it immediately
began to turn about its axis, but left the jet swinging back-
wards and forwards, touching the jet each time, and each
time gaining in speed of rotation. This went on for several
oscillations, but as it got to turn faster it appeared to stick
to the jet for an instant before letting go, and having done
this once or twice, it stuck to the jet altogether and
remained in contact with it, spinning rapidly. The experi-
ment was then repeated with the jet at different distances
and with the larger wheel : the result was the same in
all cases. I found it possible however either to increase or
to diminish the force of the jet enough to prevent the reel
from remaining in contact with it. The limits were about
2 and 8 feet.

In experiment No. 8, the position of the reel when free
was carefully marked, so that the least alteration could be
noticed, and the jet was placed directly under its centre.
In this position the jet did not cause the reel to move to
either side in particular, but to oscillate backwards and for-
wards. The jet was then pushed slowly forwards, and the
motion of the ball watched. At first it moved away from
the jet slightly, and remained away until it was struck
about 60° from its lowest point, after which it gradually
came back to its initial position, which it reached when
struck about 65° from its lowest point.

The forward motion of the jet being continued, the ball
began to follow the jet ; the point in which it was struck
moving upwards very slowly. When the reel finally fell
from the jet and came back into its initial position, the jet
missed it by about 2J inches.

This clearly shows that the position of equilibrium is
about 25° from the middle of the ball, and for any deviation
below this point the equilibrium is much more nearly
neutral than for any deviation above it.

136

During the experiment the force of the jet was altered,
hut within moderate limits this did not affect the position
of equilibrium.

The following extract of a letter, dated March 21st, 1870,
from Sir Wm. Thomson, D.C.L., F.R.S., Hon. Member of the
Society, to the President, was read : —

I have now at last got into good working order measure-
ments of electrostatic capacity (which, perhaps, you may
remember I was working on the first time you ever came
to see me, and more or less almost ever since.) I have two
students of last year, junior assistants in my laboratory,
measuring electrostatic capacities of condensers, and varia-
tions of specific inductive capacities of resistance, with
sensibility of to per cent, and with constancy in spite of
accidental variations, generally within \ or J per cent.

My occupation on the Kinetic Theory of gases has led me
at last to come to definite terms as to the size of molecules.
Ever since about the first year of my professorship I have
taught my students that Cauchy’s theory of Dispersion
proves heterogeneousness, or molecular structure, to become
sensible in contiguous portions of glass or water, of dimen-
sions moderately small in comparison with the wave lengths
of ordinary light. I have spoken to you also, I think, of
the argument deducible from the contact electricity of
metals. This, I now find, proves a limit to the dimensions
of the molecules in metals quite corresponding to that
established for transparent solids and liquids by the
dynamics of dispersion. In experiments made about ten
years ago, of which a slight sketch is published in the Pro-
ceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of
Manchester, I found that a plate of zinc and a plate of copper
kept in metallic connection with one another (by a fine wire
or otherwise) act electrically upon electrified bodies in their
neighbourhood, and upon one another, as they would if they

137

were of the same metal and kept at a difference of potentials
equal to about three-quarters of that produced by a single
cell of Daniell’s. Hence, and from my measurement of the
electrostatic effects of a Baniell’s battery, published in the
Proceedings of the Royal Society, for February and April,
1860, I find that plates of zinc and copper held parallel to
one another at any distance, D, apart which is a small
fraction of the linear dimensions of their opposed surfaces,
and kept in metallic communication with one another,
exercise a mutual attraction equal to

A

2 x 10-10 x jy2 grammes weight.

Hence if they were allowed to approach from any greater
distance, I)', to the distance D, the work done by their
mutual attraction is

2 x 10-10 x

A(D' — D)
D'D

centimetre grammes ;

which, if D is very small in comparison with D', is very
approximately equal to

2 x 10-10 x ~

Now suppose a pile to be made of a great number (N + l)
of very thin plates alternately of zinc and copper, kept in
metallic connection while they are brought towards one an-
other. Let their positions in the pile be parallel, with
narrow spaces intervening. For simplicity let the thick-
ness of each metal plate and intervening space be D. The
whole work done will be

2 x 10-10 x Ng-

The whole mass of the pile (if we neglect that of one of the
end plates) is

NAD P,

where p denotes the mean of the densities of zinc and cop-
per. Hence, if h be the height to which the whole mass
must be raised against a constant force equal to its weight

138

at the earth’s surface, to do the same amount of work, we
have

NADp/i. = 2 x 10_l° x Ng>

which gives

7 2 x 10-10

h~ pD2 ’

or, as o=8, nearly enough for the present rough estimate,

h - 1 .

(200000D)2

Hence if

D = 2 o-oVoo- centimetre,
h— 1 centimetre.

The amount of energy thus calculated is not so great as to
afford any argument against the conclusion which general
knowledge of divisibility, electric conductivity, and other
properties of matter indicates as probable : that, down to
thicknesses of tooVoo of a centimetre for the metal plates
and intervening spaces, the contact electrification, and the
attraction due to it, follow with but little if any sensible
deviation the laws proved by experiment for plates of mea-
surable thickness with measurable intervals between them.
But let D be a two-hundred-millionth of a centimetre. If
the preceding formulae were applicable to plates and spaces
of this degree of thinness we should have

h = 1,000,000 centimetres or 10 kilometres.

The thermal equivalent of the work thus represented is
about 248 times the quantity of heat required to warm the
whole mass (composed of equal masses of zinc and copper)
by 1° cent. This is probably much more than the whole
heat of combination of equal masses of zinc and copper
melted together. For it is not probable that the compound
metal when dissolved in an acid would show anything ap-
proaching to so great a deficiency in the heat evolved below
that evolved when the metallic constituents are separately
dissolved,* and their solutions mixed ; but the experiment
* Will you try this experiment ? You would easily make a good thing of it.

139

should be made. Without any such experiment however
we may safely say that the fourfold amount of energy indi-
cated by the preceding formula, for a value of D yet twice
as small, is very much greater than any estimate which our
present knowledge allows us to accept for the heat of com-
bination of zinc and copper. For something much less than
the thermal equivalent of that amount of energy would melt
the zinc and copper; and therefore if in combining they
generated by their mutual attraction any such amount of
energy, a mixture of zinc and copper filings would rush into
combination (as the ingredients of gunpowder do) on being
heated enough in any small part of the whole mass to melt
together there. Hence we may infer that the electric
attraction between metallically-connected plates of zinc and
copper of only 40070- 0075-00 of a centimetre thickness, at a
distance of only ro-07000700-0 of a centimetre asunder must
be greatly less than that calculated from the magnitude of
the force and the law of its variation observed for plates of
measurable thickness, at measurable distances asunder.
In other words, plates of zinc and copper so thin as a four-
hundred millionth of a centimetre, and placed at as short a
distance as a four-hundred-millionth of a centimetre from
one another, form a mixture closely approaching to a mole-
cular combination, if indeed plates so thin could be made
without splitting atoms.

Wishing to avoid complication, I have avoided hitherto
noticing one important question as to the energy concerned
in the electric attraction of metallically connected plates of
zinc and copper. Is there not a change of temperature in
molecularly thin strata of the two metals adjoining to the
opposed surfaces, when they are allowed to approach one
another, analogous to the heat produced by the condensation
of a gas, the changes of temperature produced by the appli-
cation of stresses to elastic solids which you have investi-
gated experimentally, and the cooling effect I have proved

140

to be produced by drawing out a liquid film which I shall
have to notice particularly below ? Easy enough experi-
ments on the contact electricity of metals will answer this
question. If the contact-difference diminishes as the tem-
perature is raised, it will follow from the Second Law of
Thermodynamics, by reasoning precisely corresponding with
that which I applied to the liquid film in my letters to you
of February 2 and February 3, 1858,* that plates of the two
metals kept in metallic communication and allowed to ap-
proach one another will experience an elevation of tempera-
ture. But if the contact difference increases with tempera-
ture, the effect of mutual approach will be a lowering of
temperature. On the former supposition, the diminution of
intrinsic energy in quantities of zinc and copper, consequent
on mutual approach with temperature kept constant, will
be greater, and on the latter supposition less, than I have
estimated above. Till the requisite experiments are made,
farther speculation on this subject is profitless : but what-
ever be the result, it cannot invalidate the conclusion that a
stratum of 2-5-07000^-0-0 of a centimetre thick cannot contain
in its thickness many, if so much as one, molecular con-
stituent of the mass.

Besides the two reasons for limiting the smallness of
atoms or molecules which I have now stated, two others
are afforded by the theory of capillary attraction, and
Clausius’s and Maxwell’s magnificent working out of the
Kinetic theory of gases.

In my letters to you already referred to, I showed that
the dynamic value of the heat required to prevent a bubble
from cooling when stretched is rather more than half the
work spent in stretching it. Hence if we calculate the
work required to stretch it to any stated extent, and multi-
ply the result by f, we have an estimate, near enough for my
present purpose, of the augmentation of energy experienced
Proceedings of the Koyal Society for April, 1858.

141

by a liquid film when stretched and kept at a constant tem-
perature. Taking ’08 of a gramme weight per centimetre of
breadth as the capillary tension of a surface of water, and
therefore T6 as that of a water bubble, I calculate (as you
may verify easily) that a quantity of water extended to a
thinness of 2to-o5o;dto of a centimetre would, if its tension
remained constant, have more energy than the same mass
of water in ordinary condition by about 1,100 times as much
as suffices to warm it by 1° cent. This is more than enough
(as Maxwell suggested to me) to drive the liquid into va-
pour. Hence if a film of ro-o^b 070-00 of a centimetre thick
can exist as liquid at all, it is 'perfectly certain that there
cannot be many molecules in its thickness.

The argument from the Kinetic theory of gases leads me
to quite a similar conclusion.

I need not trouble you with it at present, as I am writing
a short sketch of those of the results of Maxwell and
Clausius which I use in it, to form part of an article on the
Size of Atoms for “Nature.”

Mr. R. D. Darbishire, F.G.S., exhibited a number of
beautiful specimens of electroplate reproductions of some
of the Roman plate lately found at Hildesheim, and gave a
summary of Mr. Wieseler s very interesting discussion upon
this find.

“ On the Determination of Phosphoric Acid,” by William
Carleton Williams, Student in the Laboratory of Owens
College. Communicated by Prof. Roscoe, Ph.D., F.R.S.

Of the many methods proposed for the separation of
phosphoric acid from the alkaline earths, few are better
than the one devised by W. Reissig, founded upon a process
originally described by Reynoso. This method, although used
in many German laboratories, has, strange to say, found but
little favour among English chemists. This is probably

142

owing to the somewhat complicated and tedious nature of
the operations required. The modifications described in the
following communication considerably simplify the process,
and may possibly lead to its more general adoption.

Reissig’s method depends upon the fact that, when
metallic tin is added in excess to a solution of the phos-
phate of the alkaline earths in nitric acid, the stannic acid
formed by the oxidation of the metal combines with the
phosphoric acid and completely removes it from solution.
On filtering, therefore, we at once separate the alkaline
earths which remain in solution from the insoluble combi-
nation of stannic and phosphoric acids. In order to deter-
mine the amount of phosphoric acid contained in the tin
oxide, the compound is dissolved in a small quantity of
concentrated potash solution, when the two acids dissolve
as meta-stannate and phosphate of potassium : the fluid is
now saturated with hydrogen sulphide, a small quantity of
ammonium pentasulphide added, and, lastly, a slight excess
of acetic acid. The tin sulphide is then separated by fil-
tration : all the phosphoric acid is contained in the filtrate,
and its amount may be determined by the ordinary method
as magnesium ammonium phosphate.

The chief disadvantage of this method arises from the
necessity of employing a large excess of metallic tin, in
order to completely remove the phosphoric acid from solution.
The bulk of tin sulphide obtained is therefore very large, and
its filtration and washing is an exceedingly long and tedious
operation. In order to shorten the process, Reissig recom-
mends that the alkaline solution of the phosphate and
stannate be transferred to a weighed flask of 1000 cubic
capacity, and then diluted with water until the fluid
measures about 900 cubic; the solution is next saturated
with hydrogen sulphide, then ammonium sulphide and
acetic acid in slight excess added, and the tincture diluted
until the whole weighs 1000 grams. After standing for a

143

few hours the clear supernatant liquid is carefully poured
through a niter, taking care not to disturb the precipitate.
In the filtrate the phosphoric acid is estimated as magnesium
pyrophosphate. The amount of the fluid employed in the
determination is ascertained by again weighing the flask.
On substracting the weight of the tin sulphide calculated
from the quantity of the metal originally employed, we
have all the data required to determine the amount of
phosporic acid in the entire solution.

This method of proceeding is not altogether faultless in
principle. (1) It presupposes that from a known weight of
tin-foil we are able to calculate the amount of tin-sulphide
it will yield. Now the tin-foil of commerce is seldom or
never pure, it almost invariably contains a considerable
proportion of lead, often amounting to ‘ one-third of its
weight,* and this of course passes into the nitric acid
solution of the alkaline earths. (2) Since only a por-
tion of the phosphoric acid present is actually weighed,
the remainder being deduced by calculation, the chances of
ultimate error are considerably increased.

These sources of error are removed by simply filtering
and washing the tin sulphide by means of the Bunsen
“ water-pump,” an operation of comparative short duration.
We thus obtain the whole quantity of phosphoric acid in
solution, and entirely obviate the numerous weighings,
involving, too, the very uncertain correction for the amount
of tin sulphide present.

In order to test the trustworthiness of the method thus
modified, the following experiments were undertaken. A
quantity of pure calcium phosphate was prepared by adding
calcium chloride to an excess of sodium phosphate, and the
precipitate washed, dried and ignited. About 0-5 gram, of
this compound was weighed out into a porcelain basin, and
dissolved in a small quantity of nitric acid; the solution
* The tin-foil employed in my experiments contained 31*35 per cent lead.

144

was then concentrated, and the strongest nitric acid (boiling
at 86° C) added until the calcium nitrate commenced to
separate out. This was immediately redissolved by the
addition of a few drops of dilute nitric acid. The nitric
acid solution is now in the highest possible state of concen-
tration : on throwing a small quantity of tin into this
solution, the metal is rapidly oxidized to stannic acid, and
the supernatant liquid remains perfectly clear. The pre-
liminary heating of the solution is indispensable, since in
the cold the metal is apt to become passive, when it com-
pletely resists the action of the acid. The precipitate is
now dissolved in a small quantity of caustic potash, and
saturated with hydrogen sulphide : on adding acetic acid in
slight excess the tin sulphide is precipitated. The preci-
pitate is then separated by means of the Bunsen '■‘filter-
pump,” and the whole of the phosphoric acid is contained in
the filtrate. After concentrating the solution, and again
filtering from a minute precipitate of tin sulphide, which
invariably separates out (tin sulphide being slightly soluble
in solutions containing hydrogen sulphide), the phosphoric
acid may be precipitated as the magnesium ammonium
salt, and weighed as pyrophosphate.

I. Katio of tin to phosphoric acid, 4 to 1.

1. 0*5135 grm. cal. phos. gave 0*405 Mg2 P207 = 50*4 5°/0 P205

II. 0*447 „ „ 0*358 „ 50*78 „

Mean 50*61% P205

The lime was determined as caustic lime after removal of
the lead by means of hydrogen sulphide. The mean of two
concordant analyses gave 49*65% lime.

Hence the composition of the calcium phosphate is

Phosphoric Acid 50*61

Lime 49*65

100-26

\

145

It is therefore evident that the amount of pure tin re-
quired need not exceed 4 times the weight of phosphoric
acid present.

The following experiments show that this is moreover
the minimum quantity that can be used.

II. Ratio of tin to phosphoric acid = 3*0 to 1.

0-477 grm. cal. phos. gave 0*307 M g2 P207 = 4T53°/o P206

III. Ratio of tin to phosphoric acid = 3*5 to 1.

0-598 grm. cal. phos. gave 0*388 Mg2P207 = 41'570P205
0-434 „ „ „ 0-304 „ 44-82 „

In order to confirm the above results I have determined
the proportion of lime and phosphoric acid contained in the
calcium phosphate employed in the analyses, by dissolving
the compound in hydrochloric acid, and adding sufficient
sulphuric acid to precipitate the base. To each volume of
the liquid two volumes of alcohol were added, and the mix-
ture allowed to stand about 12 hours, when it was filtered
and the precipitate thoroughly washed with alcohol. The
filtrate containing the phosphoric acid is evaporated to dry-
ness, the residue dissolved in water, and the acid precipi-
tated as the magnesium ammonium salt. The lime was
weighed as sulphate.

I. 0*525 grm. gave 0*411 Mg. P207 = 50-08 °/Q P2Ch
II. 0-507 „ 0-396 „ „ -49*96 °/o PA

The lime amounted to 50 per cent. Hence the composition
of the calcium phosphate is

P205 50-02

CaO 50-00

100-02

exactly agreeing with the determinations made by the tin
method.

146

“ On the Composition of the Water of the Irish Sea/’ by
T. E. Thorpe, Ph.D., and Mr. E. H. Morton.

Thanks to the investigations of Forchhammer, Yon Bibra,
Bischof, and others, our knowledge concerning the nature
and distribution of the saline constituents of sea water and
of the causes of the variations in its composition as observed
in various parts of the world, is tolerably extensive and pre-
cise. English chemists however have contributed next to
nothing to the general stock of our information on this sub-
ject. This is not a little remarkable, especially when we
consider the peculiarly favourable condition in which this
country is placed for researches of this kind, by reason of
its insular position. A few observations by John Davy
made in the course of his long voyages, two memoirs by
Marcet in the Philosophical Transactions for 1819 and 1822
on the temperature and saltness of various seas, and an
elaborate analysis by Schweitzer of the water of the English
Channel made in 1838, constitute by far the chief portion of
the work done in this direction by English chemists. The
chemical history of the sea is mainly to be derived from the
researches and observations of chemists principally French
and German, the majority of whom were located at consider-
able distances from the sea-board, and who laboured therefore
under all the disadvantages which this circumstance neces-
sarily entails. So far as we can learn the water of the Irish
Channel has never been analysed. We have been induced
therefore to undertake its analysis in the hope of supplying
information respecting the nature and extent of the modifica-
tions effected in the composition of the sea by its proximity to
our coasts. Accordingly Captain Temple of the “ Bahama
Bank” Light Ship kindly collected for us a quantity of the
water in the immediate neighbourhood of his vessel. The
vessel is situated in lat. 54° 21' N. and long. 4° 11/ W., seven
miles W.N.W. of Ramsey, Isle of Man, and is placed nearly
equi-distant from the shores of England, Scotland, and Ireland,

147

During the greater part of the day a strong current setting
in from the south, probably from the Atlantic, flows past
the ship into the North Channel, and thence again into the
Ocean. The water therefore taken for analysis was origin-
ally that of the deep ocean, which had traversed almost the
entire length of the Irish Channel, and had consequently
been exposed to all the influences due to the neighbouring
sea-board, and to the influx of the numerous rivers along
the coasts.

The water was obtained in the early part of January,
1870; the meteorological conditions at the time of collec-
tion, and for some time previously, were in no wise remark-
able. The analysis was commenced immediately on receipt
of the water. Its specific gravity compared with distilled
water, free from air, and possessing the same temperature,
was found to be

At 0° C 1-02721.

At 15° C 1-02484.

These numbers differ but slightly from that usually accepted
as representing the mean specific gravity of the water of the
ocean. The water of the Atlantic, according to Yon
Horner, possesses the specific gravity 1-02875 at 0° C : that
of the English Channel at 15°-5 was found by Schweitzer to
be 1-0271 : on nearing the land the specific gravity fell to
1-0268.

Full details of the methods of analysis employed are given
in the original paper. The following synopsis shows the
mean results of the determinations : the numbers express
the amount of the various ingredients in 1000 grams of the

sea-water.

1 Chlorine 18-62650

2 Bromine ‘06133

3 Sulphuric Acid (S04) 2-59280

4 Lime (total) -57512

5 Calcium Carbonate -04754

148

6 Magnesia 2*03233

7 Mixed Alkaline Chlorides .. . 27*18363

8 Potassium *39131

9 Sodium 10*40200

10 Ferric Oxide -00465

11 Ammonia *00011

12 Nitric Acid -00156

13 Fixed Constituents 33*83855

These substances arranged on the assumption that the
strongest acid is united with the strongest base, yield the

following numbers : —

Sodium Chloride 26*43918

Potassium Chloride *74619

Magnesium Chloride 3*15083

Magnesium Bromide -07052

Magnesium Sulphate 2-06608

Magnesium Carbonate traces.

Calcium Sulphate T33158

Calcium Carbonate *04754

Lithium Chloride traces.

Ammonium Chloride *00044

Magnesium Nitrate *00207

Silicic Acid traces

Ferrous Carbonate *00503

33-85946

Amount directly determined 33*83855

The water employed in the foregoing analysis was
collected in midwinter. It becomes interesting to know if
its composition is uniform during the various seasons of the
year. Fortunately we can offer some evidence on this point.
In August, 1865, after a continuance of exceptionally fine
weather, one of us collected some sea water in the neighbour-
hood of the “ Bahama Bank” Light Ship, and determined
the total quantity of its saline constituents, together with
the amount of chlorine and sulphuric acid. The proportion

149

of solid matter contained in the water of the Irish Sea is
somewhat greater in summer than in winter — the variation
amounting to (H)144yo — hut the relative amount of solid
matter present in the water of the Irish Channel is invari-
ably less than is contained in the water of the Atlantic
Ocean lying between the same parallels.

According to Forchhammer, the mean proportion of the
leading constituents of the water of the Atlantic far away
from the shores is as follows : —

Cl.

so3.

CaO.

MgO.

Total

Salts.

Absolute amount in )
1,000 grams 3

19-885

2-362

0-588

2-199

35-976

Relative amount

100

11-89

2-96

. 1107

181-10

Arranged in this manner, our determinations on the water
of the Irish Sea give the following proportions : —

|

Cl.

S03.

CaO.

MgO.

Total

Salts.

Absolute /
Amount '

l Summer ...

18-735

2-187

34-082

per 1,000
grams. <

Winter ...

18-627

2-161

0-575

2-032

33-838

Relative j

Summer . . .

100

11-67

181-91

Amount J

„ Winter

100

11-83

3-09

10-93

18209

Mr. W. L. Dickinson communicated a paper containing
the results of calculations relative to the three Occupations
of the Planet Saturn by the Moon, April 19, July 10, and
September 30, visible in England during the present year.
The calculations have been made for the Observatory of the
late Pobert Worthington, Esq., F.P.A.S., Crumpsall, near
Manchester, Lat. 53° 30' 50r/*0 N., Long. 0h 8m 56s T6 W. The

150

Elements used in the computations have been obtained from
the Nautical Almanac.

1870.

Sidereal Time
at

Observatory.

Mean Time
at

Observatory.

Mean Time
at

Greenwich.

Angle
N. Point

from

Vertex

April 19.

h.

m.

s.

h.

m.

s.

h.

m.

s.

o

First contact

16

36

31

14

44

32

14

53

28

106

95

Disappearan ce. . .

16

37

12

14

45

13

14

54

9

Reappearance . . .

17

44

0

15

51

50

16

0

46

Last contact ....

17

44

42

15

52

32

16

1

28

237

235

July 10.

First contact

20

15

58

13

0

58

13

9

54

57

81

Disappearance ...

20

16

38

13

1

38

13

10

34

Reappearance . . .

21

14

15

13

59

6

14

8

2

Last contact ....

21

14

53

13

59

44

14

8

40

295

325

Sept. 30.

First contact

18

27

3

5

49

57

5

58

53

88

97

Disappearance ...

18

27

37

5

50

31

5

59

27

Reappearance . . .

19

40

36

7

3

18

7

12

14

Last contact ....

19

41

9

7

3

51

7

12

47

258

277

The Angles are reckoned towards the right hand round the circum
ference of the Moon’s image as seen in an inverting telescope.

151

Ordinary Meeting, April 5th, 1870.

J. P. Joule, D.C.L., LL.D., F.RS., &c., President, in the

Chair.

Mr. J. S. Kipping and Mr. W. Mellor were appointed
Auditors of the Treasurers Accounts.

Mr. Binney, on behalf of Mr. Bernard Hartley Green, of
Hopwood Avenue, presented to the Society the MS. Journal
of Mr. George Walker, one of the original members. This
contained many useful and interesting meteorological and
other observations, with lists of prices of cotton, and notices
of the first steam engines in Manchester. As to cotton is
the following : —

Sep. 8th, 1779 — This day expresses arrived at Manchester with
the news of the Grenadas being taken by the French : this raised
the price of cotton as follows —

Grenada from l4§d. to 16Jd. Manchester.

Tobago 15 17

St. Domingo 16 18

Oct. 14, 1779 — Prices of cotton at London, Smyrna 15J-d.,
Grenada 18d., Tobago 19d., Domingo 21d.

Octr. 23. Smyrna 15fd., Grenada 19d., Tobago 20d.

Deer. 16. Smyrna 16d., Grenada 20d., Tobago 2 Id.

This extract shows the limited supplies of cotton at that
early period.

With respect to steam engines is the following : —

Sep. 26th, 1788 — -Fire engine or steam engine, Shade hill, to
raise water on the old construction. Examined this day in com-
pany with the eldest son of Sir John Stanley. Cylinder in dia-
meter 64 inches. Two pumps of cast iron each 31 inches. Makes
11 strokes in one minute, and each stroke is 7 ft. 9 inches depth

PuociEDiNas— Lit. & Phil. Society.— Vol.IX.— No. 14.— Session 1869-70.

152

in the pumps. Mr. Barton told us the quantity of water raised
by each stroke was about 64 gallons. He reckoned the power Of
pressure on the piston equal to 81b. per inch square. Two boilers

14 ft. 6 inches and 14 ft. 4 inches in diameter. Depth of water in
these boilers about 3 feet. About five tons of coal consumed every

15 hours, or one day’s work.

64 x 64x '7854-3217 square inches the piston

8

lbs. 25736 power to work the engine.

But the water raised at each stroke is only 512 lbs. average, for
31 x 31 x 7 "75 = 7 447*7 5 + 7447 '75 = 14895'5 inches or 64 gallons.

On the motion of Mr. Binney, seconded by Mr. Dickin-
son, it was resolved unanimously — That the thanks of the
Society be given to Mr. Green for his interesting and valu-
able donation.

“Description of a New Anemometer,1 ” by Mr. Peter
Hart.

On the appearance of Mr. Fletcher’s admirable paper “ On
the Speed of Air in Flues,” it appeared to me that an anemo-
meter more easily read and less costly than his was desirable.
With this view I devised the present one, which may be
broadly described as a common U tube gauge laid in a
sloping position so as to form the hypotenuse of a right-
angled triangle, the perpendicular of which is the true
reading.

The following description will explain its construction : —

It consists first of a base board furnished with levels and
levelling screws ; to this is hinged the board carrying the
U tube, which may be called the sloping base ; on this sloping
base is secured the U tube furnished with a scale and ver-
nier capable of being read to the rwotli inch. By means
of a screw passing through the sloping base, and resting on
the lower base board, the former can be made to assume
any angle with the latter, the angle being determined by a
quadrant fixed to the lower base board.

153

By this arrangement a very great degree of accuracy in
reading is obtainable. Thus in the present instrument the
quadrant is set 5 inches distant from the hinge, and when
set at 0-5 inches on the quadrant it gives a rise of 1 in 10 ;
consequently the ether in the U tube has to move 10 inches
for 1 inch of vertical rise. The rule for getting the result
may be stated thus : —

Divide the space between the hinge and the quadrant by
the quadrant elevation, now divide the movement of the
ether by the quotient, and the product is the true vertical
movement nearly.

Thus, suppose, as before, the quadrant elevation to be
05 inch, the distance from hinge to quadrant 5- 0 inches,
and the ether’s movement 1 inch : then

J5_

0-5

TO

= 10 and — - = 0T
10

inch.

Or again, the quadrant elevation being 0*2 inch, the other
quantities the same : then

5 TO

A O = 0*25 and — = 0'04 inch.
0-2 1-25

These results, though not absolutely correct, will in most
cases be sufficiently so ; but where rigid accuracy must be
had, the following table will supply the means : —

Quadrant
Elevation in

Quadrant
Elevation in

10 inches.

Hypotenuse.

10 inches.

Hypotenuse.

'1 inch ...

... 10*00049

IT inch ...

... 10-06035

•2 „ ...

... 10-00199

1-2 „ ...

... 10-07174

•3 „ ...

... 10-00449

1-3 „ ...

... 10-08414

■i „ ...

... 10-00799

1-4 „ ...

... 10-09752

•5 „ ...

... 10-01248

1-5 „ ...

... 10-11187

•6 „ ...

... 10-01799

1-6 „ ....

... 10-12714

•7 „ ...

... 10-02447

1-7 „ ...

... 10-14347

•8 „

... 10-03199

1-8 ....

... 10-16061

•9 „ ...

... 10-04049

1-9 „ ...

... 10-17888

1-0 „ ...

... 10-04987

2-0 „ ...

... 10-19803

hirst find what aliquot part of 10 the quadrant elevation
was ; find this in the quadrant column. Opposite this will

154

be found a number which is the hypotenuse. Then, as this
number is to 10, so is the number obtained by the first
method to the true number.

Thus, to take the first illustration, of 0'5 in 5 inches : this
is equal to 1 in 10. The hypotenuse of 1 in 10 (see table)
= 10'04987. Now, 01 inch was the result obtained. Then,
as 1004987 ; 10 : ; 01 ; 0 09955, which is the true vertical
rise.

I had no little difficulty in my first efforts to restrain the
excessive oscillations of the ether column, owing to the
almost constant fluctuations of draught in flues. To obviate
this the tube was choked to a narrower bore at the bend.
This proving insufficient, I overcame the defect by the very
simple means of inserting a piece of sponge at this part.

It is perhaps needless to add that it is necessary to
employ Mr. Fletcher’s tubes for insertion into the flue, and
also his tables.

Settle Cave Exploration.

Mr. W. Boyd Dawkins, F.R.S., described the results of the
preliminary investigation undertaken by the Settle Cave
Exploration Committee. The cliffs of mountain limestone
in the neighbourhood of Settle are penetrated by numerous
caves, some of which are empty, some traversed by water
which is silting up their lower chambers, while others have
been filled in some places up to the very roof with debris of
various kinds. All these caves have been at some time or
other subterranean watercourses, and have been formed
partly by the friction of the substances brought down by
the stream, but principally by the chemical action of the
carbonic acid in the rain water by which the insoluble
carbonate of lime of the rock is converted into the soluble
bicarbonate. Some have been inhabited at various time®,
by man and wild beasts, and therefore may be expected
to furnish valuable evidence of a condition of things

155

that has now passed away. The last recorded case of
their being used by man as a place of refuge was in the
rebellion of 1745, when the eldest son of one of the gentle-
men in the neighbourhood was hidden in a large cave, in
the fear that the Scotch would pass southwards in that
direction, instead of by the Preston route.

The first cave chosen by the committee for exploration is
that found by Mr. Jackson on the coronation day of our
Queen, and which is therefore known as the Victoria cave.
It consists of a series of large chambers and passages, which
are nearly filled to the roof with reddish grey clay and stones.
It must at one time have been of wonderful beauty, for
there are the remains of massive stalactites and of thick
pavements of stalagmites ; but now they are so decomposed
by the carbonic acid that they are reduced to the condition
of very soft mortar. Curiosity hunters have also been doing
their usual ruthless mischief. Mr. J ackson obtained, when
it was first opened, a remarkably large series of ornaments
and implements of bronze, iron, and bone, along with pot-
tery and the remains of animals, from the chamber at the
original entrance. They were all derived from a superficial
deposit, and could not be assigned to any earlier date than
that of the Roman occupation. The pottery was of the
same kind as that so commonly found in the refuse heaps
round Roman villas, and some of it was Samian. There
were also Roman coins. The broken and in some cases
burnt bones belonged to the Celtic short-horn ( bos longi-
frons), the sheep or goat, the horse, dog, red deer, and
roe-buck. The two former animals were by far the most
abundant. The exploration committee resolved to follow
up this discovery by a thorough examination of the cave,
which they are able to undertake by the courteous per-
mission of the owner, Mr. Stackhouse.

Outside the entrance of the cave, and at lower level is a
small plateau, composed of debris, which lies at the exact

156

point where daylight could be seen through chinks from the
inside of one of the large chambers. As both the plateau
and the chamber were undisturbed, the committee deter-
mined to begin work by removing the debris, and making
a new entrance into the cave. While this was being done,
the following section was exposed. On the surface there
was a stratum of fragments of limestone that had fallen from
the cliff above, in thickness about two feet. This rests on a
layer of dark earth 18 inches thick, that furnished large
quantities of bones, nearly all of which had been used for
food, and several articles of bronze, iron, and bone of the
same kind and age as those described above. The pottery
is also of the same Roman character. Fragments of char-
coal also were abundant, and some stones bore the marks
of fire. There can be no doubt that this was the place
where the dwellers in the cave during Roman or imme-
diately post-Roman times in Britain kindled their fires and
cooked their food. Underneath is an accumulation of lime-
stone fragments, that had dropped from the action of the
atmosphere on the cliff above, from six to seven feet in
thickness. In some places they were coated with decom-
posed stalagmite. It rested on a layer of grey clay. On
the junction line between them and close to the entrance
that is now being made into the chamber, two rude flint
flakes, a remarkably large jawbone of bear, the broken
bones of (Bos longifrons) the Celtic shorthorn, and of the
red deer were found.

On 4th April a most remarkable bone harpoon was dug
out from the same horizon. It is between 4in. and 5in. in
length, and is furnished with two barbs arranged on each
side opposite each other, that compose the head of the
implement. The base presents a form making its attach-
ment to the handle secure, which, so far as my knowledge
goes, is new to Britain. Instead of having a mere projec-
tion to catch the ligatures there is a well-cut barb on either

157

side, that points in a contrary direction to those on the
head. Were the bases of a barbed arrow head and of a
harpoon joined together, the resultant would be a form
analogous to this in question. There can be no doubt that
man occupied the spot before the accumulation of the over-
lying of stones. Ample use for his harpoon he would find
in the mere, now drained and turned into green fields,
which lie but a short distance away. So far as the work
has proceeded there is no trace of metal at this horizon in
the section.

The value of the evidence hitherto obtained lies in
the fact that the Roman stratum is separated from the
lower bed from which the flints, harpoon, and bear
were found by the talus of angular stones. And this in a
rough way will enable a computation to be made of the
lapse of time between them. If we allow that for a con-
siderable time past the disintegration of the cliff has been
equal in equal times, the accumulation of stones above the
Roman stratum is an index to the date of the lower horizon.
This amounts to a maximum of two feet. If then in 1,200
years — to put it at the lowest — only a thickness of two feet
has been accumulated, it would take 3,600 years for a
deposit of six feet to be formed. And thus the harpoon and
flint stratum would be about 4,000 years old allowing about
400 years for the accumulation of that which contained
Roman remains. The accuracy of this calculation is
indeed injured by the possibility that the winter cold
was more intense, and the splitting action of the frost
greater then, than during the last 1,200 years. Never-
theless, the change from the Arctic severity of the post-
glacial winter to the climate which we now enjoy in
Britain, has been so gradual, and spread over such a length
of time, that it may be assumed to have been very small
in so short a period as 4,000 or 5,000 years.

158

Mr. W. L. Dickinson read a paper “ On the Eclipse of the
Sun. December 21-22, 1870.” This eclipse begins in the
North Atlantic Ocean ; the line of central and total eclipse
moving in a south-easterly direction, crosses Portugal a
little to the south of Lisbon ; passing over part of Spain and
the Mediterranean Sea, it enters Africa near Oran, and soon
afterwards attains its extreme southern limit ; the shadow
of the moon, now moving in a north-easterly direction
leaves Africa, and crossing the island of Sicily, the south of
Turkey, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azof, disappears ; the
penumbra of the moon, decreasing rapidly, leaves the earth
with the setting sun in Arabia, The sun will be centrally
and totally eclipsed at noon, in Lat. 36° 28' N., Long. 5° 1'
W., a little to the north-east of Gibraltar.

The Eclipse as seen in England will be partial ; and as
the sun will be at its greatest southern declination, it has
not been considered requisite to perform the labour of
computing from the Elements of the Eclipse. The subjoined
particulars are the results of a calculation made for the
Observatory of the late Robert Worthington, Esq., F.R.A.S.,
Crumpsall, near Manchester, from the following numerical
equations given in the Nautical Almanac. The geogra-
phical position of the Observatory is Lat. 53° 30' 50//o0 N.,
Long. 0h 8m 56ST6 W.

For any place not far distant from Liverpool, whose
Geocentric North latitude is l and East longitude X, the Mean
Greenwich time t of beginning may be computed by

the formulae,

cosw = 1 -4612 — [0*2241 2] sin £ + [9*88272'

£=lh3m438— [3*65845] sin ^ — [312314
cos (A + 73° 15'-9)

Contact on sun’s limb, to — 9° 52' 3 from the North towards
the West.

cos£cos(A + 142° 33;*9)
sin l — [3*91792] cos l

Also the Mean Greenwich time t of ending by the formulae,
cosw- 1*5480— [0*22908]smT+ [9*85616]cos£cos(A + 193° 32/*0)
t = 0h lm 38s + [3*66027] sin w— [2*72415] sin l— [3*92440] cos l
cos (A + 111° 58N>)

Contact on sun’s limb, to + 3° 54L6 from the North towards
the East.

Eclipse begins Dec. 21, 23h 5m 22s ]
Greatest Phase „ 22, 0 21 3 r

Eclipse ends „ 22, 1 36 57 )

Mean Time at
Greenwich.

159

Magnitude of the Eclipse (suns diameter - 1) 0-803.

f first contact, 94° towards the West.
Angle, ii om North Pole, of | jag^. contact?1073 towards the East.

( first contact, 85° towards the W est
Angle, fiom Yeitex, of ^ contact, 95° towards the East
for direct image.

“ On the Influence of Changes in the Character of the
Seasons upon the Rate of Mortality,” by J oseph Baxendell,
F.R.A.S.

In the summer of last year, I undertook a discussion of
the Rainfall Observations made at the stations of the Man-
chester Corporation Water Works during the 14 years
1855-1868, and among the results obtained, I found that
although the total amount of rainfall in different years
appeared to be governed by no regular law, yet that the
proportional amounts in the different seasons during the
eight years 1855-62, exhibited a marked contrast to those
in the six years 1863-68, — the amounts in the spring and
summer months exceeding those in the autumn and winter
months during the former period, while in the latter, the
autumn and winter amounts exceeded those of spring and
summer. The results for the central station, Arnfield,

are as follows

Total Fall of
Rain during
the Spring
and Summer
Months.
INS.

Total Fall of
Rain during
the Autumn
and Winter
Mouths.
INS.

Difference.

1855

.... 17-36 ....

13-27

1856..., ....

.... 21-OS ....

21-53

0-45

1857..

.... 22-37 ....

..... 14-22

1858

.... 19-66 ....

..... 16-48

-f- 3*18

1859

.... 20-46 ....

..... 19-74

.... 0-72

1860

.... 24-02 ....

..... 15-56 .....

.... -j- 8-46

1861

.... 17-71 ....

14-72

.... + 2-99

1862

.... 21-31 ....

17-68 .....

-J- 3 63

1863

.... 15-37 ....

22-82 ....

— 7-45

1864

.... 14-54 ....

..... 16-80

— 2-26

1865

.... 13-48 ....

..... 15-89 . .

— 2-41

1866

.... 20-71 ...

26-79

. — 6-08

1867

18-71 ....

20-75

.... — 2-04

1868

.... 12-61 ....

22-86

.... —10-25

It will at once be seen that during the first eight years
the differences, with one unimportant exception, have all

160

the sign plus; while during the remaining six years they
have all the sign minus. The average value of the differ-
ences in the first eight years was + 3 ‘8 4 ; and the last six
years — 5’ 08 inches. The returns from the other stations
of the Manchester Corporation Water Works exhibit similar
results. It is evident, therefore, that at the end of 1862, a
marked change took place in the character of the climate
of this locality ; the spring and summer seasons becoming
much drier, and the autumn and winter months wetter than
they had been during the previous eight years. I may add
that this altered character of the seasons was continued
through the last year, 1869, the total rainfall at Arnfield
during the spring and summer months having been only
12-48 inches against 27'57 inches in the autumn and winter
months — thus showing a difference of — 15 09 inches.

In considering the differences in the temperature, humi-
dity, and pressure of the atmosphere, and in the direction
and force of the wind in the two periods, as indicated by
this marked difference in the distribution of rainfall, it
seemed to me highly probable that corresponding differences
would exist in the state of the public health, and that the
mean rate of mortality during one period would be sensibly
different from that during the other. I therefore extracted
from the annual reports of the Registrar General the rates
of mortality in Lancashire, Cheshire, and the West Riding
of Yorkshire during the years included in the two periods,
omitting the last year of the series,- 1868, as the report for
that year has not yet been published. These rates are as

follows r — - Annual Rate of Mortality per cent, in

Lancashire.

Cheshire.

West Riding.

1855......

2-680 .....

2-197 ...

2-223

1856

2-464

2-048 ...

2-212

1857

2-628

2-269 ...

2-368

1858......

2-719

.... 2-267 ...

2-491

1859

2-454

2-169 ...

2-396

1860

2-371

2-173 ...

2-360

1861

. 2-592

.... 2-164 ...

2-321

1862

2-560

2-246 ...

2-364

1863

2-629

.... 2-396 ...

2-573

1864

2-718

2-300 ...

2-656

1865

. .. 2-832

..... 2-328 ...

2-667

1866 .

.. 3-016

2-538 ...

: 2-684

1867

2-688

..... 2-252 ...

2-443

161

Taking the means for the eight years 1855-62, and the
live years 1863-67, we have

Average Annual Rate of Mortality per cent, in
Lancashire. Cheshire. West Riding.

1855-62 2-558 2-191 2*342

1863-67 2-775 2-363 2-605

Differences... 0'2l7 0-172 0’263

These numbers show that the average rate of mortality
in Lancashire, Cheshire, and the West Riding was decidedly
greater during the live years of dry springs and summers
with wet autumns and winters, than during the eight years
when the seasons were of an opposite character. The differ-
ences are equivalent to an increase of 8 '4 per cent in the
number of deaths in Lancashire, 7*8 per cent in Cheshire,
and 11*2 in the West Riding; the mean amount of increase
being 9T per cent, which, in Lancashire alone, represents an
increase of more than seven thousand in the total number
of deaths in one year.

Observations of rainfall were commenced at the Gorton
station of the Manchester Water Works in 1847, and Mr.
Wilson having kindly furnished me with copies of the
monthly amounts for the eight years 1847-54, I have
grouped them in six-monthly periods as I had done the
returns for 1855-68, and have obtained the following
results : —

Total Fall of

Total Fall of

Rain during

Rain during

the Spring

the Autumn

Difference.

and Summer

and Winter

Months.

Months.

INS.

INS.

1847......

...... 17-22 ....

24-72

.... — 7-50

1848......

19-25 ....

21-71

.... — 2-46

1849

...... 13-59 ....

..... 19-82

— 6‘23

1850

14-59 ....

..... 15-18 ...

— 0-59

1851......

17-14 ....

13-20 .....

.... -f 3-94

1852

13-38 ....

23-96 . .

— 10-58

1853

15-72 ....

14-10 .....

.... -f 1-62

1854

13-94 ....

20-03

.... — 6-09

In six years out of the eight the fall of rain during spring
and summer was less than during autumn and winter,
while in two only was it in excess. The mean difference

162

for the entire period was — 3 '48. It is evident therefore
that the general character of the climate during this period
was similar to that of the period 1863-68, and therefore I
inferred that the mean rate of mortality would be found to
be correspondingly high. The following figures for Lanca-
shire will show that this inference was correct : — -

Annual Rate of Mortality
per cent in Lancashire.

1847 3-582

1848 2-765

1849 3-037

1850.. .... 2-464

1851.. . 2-647

1852 2-889

1853. 2-818

1854.. . 2-766

Mean Rate = 2-871

The mean rate 2-871 is slightly above that of the five
years 1863-67 which was 2-77 5, and is 0-313 above that of
the favourable years 1855-62. This difference of 0*313 is
equivalent to an excess of 12*2 per cent per annum in the
number of deaths. It thus appears that during a period of
eight years, 1847-54, in which the spring and summer rain-
fall was considerably below that of autumn and winter, the
average rate of mortality in Lancashire was 2-871; and that
in the next following eight years, 1855-62, in which the
rainfall of spring and summer was considerably above that
of autumn and winter, the rate of mortality fell to 2‘558 ;
but that during the five following years 1863-67 when the
spring and summer rainfall again fell decidedly below that
of autumn and winter, the mean rate of mortality rose to
2*775 in spite of all the sanitary improvements that had been
made in almost every town and district in the county.
Looking to the enormous sums of money that have been
expended of late years by boards of health, and town coun-
cils, in making sanitary improvements, these results show
clearly that the effects of meteorological changes upon the
public health far exceed those arising from defective drain-
age, ill-contrived privies and water closets, crowded dwell-

163

ings, and an insufficient supply of good water ; and that no
material and permanent reduction in the rate of mortality
can reasonably be hoped for until a close and careful study of
the influence of changes in the state of the atmosphere upon
the production and development of disease, has led to the
discovery of the best means of guarding against and coun-
teracting the effects of unfavourable changes of the weather •

O O j

and the people have been induced to avail themselves of
such means to ward off or mitigate attacks of disease.

In the reports of the Registrar General the causes of
death are divided into five classes.

I. Zymotic.

II. Constitutional.

III. Local.

IY. Developmental.

Y. Violent Deaths.

The following table shows the number of deaths of males
in Lancashire, in each class, during the years 1855-67 : —

YEAR.

I.

II.

CLASS

III.

IV.

! V.

Total Deaths
from

ascertained

Causes.

1855

6,909

5,548

12,194

3,968

1,589

30,208

1856

6,814

5,444

11,049

3,598

1,495

28,400

1857

7,628

5,476

11,901

3,859

1,648

30,512

1858

9,559

5,296

11,603

3,899

1,513

31,870

1859

6,964

4,862

11,976

3,769

1,574

29,145

1860

5,500

5,049

12,876

3,988

1,609

29,013

1861

7,166

5,394

13,553

4,477

1,600

32,190

1862

7,958

5,304

13,460

4,157

1,487

32,366

1863

9,606

5,319

13,045

4,071

1,642

33,683

1864

9,738

5,506

14,119

4,284

1,792

35,439

1865

11,068

5,958

13,849

4,700

1,926

37,501

1886

11,899

6,207

15,720

4,868

1,987

40,681

1867

9,039

6,162

15,050

4,968

1,809

37,028

Tlie mean annual numbers for the eight years 1855-62, and the
five years 1863-67 are : —

1855-62

7,312

5,297

12,325

3,964

1,564

30,463

1863-67

10,270

5,830

14,356

4,578

1,831

36,866

The ratios of the numbers in each
deaths are as follows

class to the total number of

1855-62

•240

T73

•404

T30

•051

1863-67

•278

T58

•389

•124

•049

"

164

A glance at these numbers shows that the greater mor-
tality in unfavourable years arises from an undue increase in
the number of deaths from zymotic diseases, or those which
are commonly regarded as preventible.

An impression prevails very generally that when the rate
of mortality is above the average the excess is due to a dis-
proportional increase of deaths among infants and young
children ; but if the increased mortality is due to meteoro-
logical causes we should expect that the increase would be
relatively less among the very young and the very old, who
are least exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather, than .
among the more actively employed and exposed classes of
the community. To test this point, however, I have col-
lected in the two following tables the number of deaths at
different ages which occurred in Lancashire during the years
1855-67. The first table shows the number of deaths of
males and the second that of females : —

Deaths at different Ages.— Males.— Lancashire.

Year.

Total

Deaths.

Under 5
Years.

i

5 to 15.

i

15 to 25.

i

25 to 35.

i

35 to 45.

1

45 to 55.

55 to 65.

65 to 75.

i

75 to 85.

85 to 95.

TO

.^3
a £

lO g*
Oi 2

1855.. .

1856.. .

1857.. .

1858.. .

1859.. .

1860.. .
1861...
1862...

1863.. .

1864.. .

1865.. .

1866.. .
1867...

30,525

28.693

30,770

32,447

29,686

29,639

32,789

32,933

34,295

36,099

38,275

41,530

37,786

15,049

14,496

15,684

16,437

14,522

13,773

16,345

16,364

17,161

16,614

18,032

19,216

18,067

2,072

1,935

2,015

2,628

1,799

1,544

1,761

2,159

2,497

2,540

2,451

2,809

2,390

1,892
1,857
1,895
1,949
1,724
1,753
1,923
1,940
1.852
2 083
2,189
2,553
2,091

1,836

1,727

1,815

1,833

1,755

1,875

1,929

1,895

1,931

2,241

2,506

2,785

2,363

1,999

1,887

1,942

2,039

2,005

2,207

2,239

2,168

2,355

2,782

2,782

3,114

2,642

2,089

1,971

2,091

2,169

2,241

2,334

2,342

2,371

2,415

2.839

3,072

3,336

2,808

2,103

1,868

2,035

2,115

2,285

2,401

2,441

2,407

2,479

3,002

3,114

3,326

3,012

2,012
1.690
1,827
1 ,871
1,959
2,167
2,174
2,106
2,132
2,371
2,467
2,651
2,697

1,212

1,064

1,223

1,171

1,177

1,357

1,387

1,292

1,219

1,359

1,383

1,435

1,449

247

189

233

222

210

218

239

221

241

258

271

289

258

14

9

10

13

9

10

9

10

13

10

8

16

9

165

Deaths at different Ages.— Females.— Lancashire.

Year.

Total

Deaths.

Under
5 Years.

5 to 15.

i

15 to 25.

I

25 to 35.

35 to 45.

45 to 55.

55 to 65.

65 to 75.

id

00

O

-4-3

85 to 95.

m

73 2
d

pt

lO

a d

1855.. .

1856.. .

1857.. .

1858.. .

1859.. .

1860.. .
1861...
1862...

1863.. .

1864.. .

1865.. .

1866.. .
1867...

29,363

27,356

30,041

31,560

29,084

28,093

31,375

31,482

32,907

34,485

36;418

39.254

35,157

13,222

12,638

13,818

14,744

12,750

11,704

14,461

14,139

15,247

14,693

15,879

17,148

15,529

1,925

1,764

1,830

2,528

1,787

1,542

1,705

1,889

2,282

2,435

2,288

2,503

2,177

2,048

2,017

2,109

2,102

2,024

1,898

2,170

2,019

2,033

2.186

2,409

2,469

2,169

2,206

2,047

2,225

2,116

2,179

2,224

2,279

2,246

2,306

2,580

2,745

3,160

2,544

2,058

1,915

2,100

2,186

2,229

2,221

2,273

2,295

2,341

2,568

2,816

3,023

2,644

1,916

1,781

1,941

1,953

2,054

2,134

2,119

2,286

2,197

2,598

2,783

2,967

2,499

2,086

1,803

2,093

2,026

2,151

2,297

2,273

2,496

2,405

2,765

2,879

3,065

2,846

2,083
1,880
2,052
2,099
2,138
2., 237
2,291
2,330
2,258
2,667
2,616
2,819
2,641

1,453

1,222

1.490
1,382
1,432
1,481
1,511
1,465

1.490
1,619
1,605
1,703
1,702

346

268

346

342

323

337

259

300

323

348

379

378

383

20

21

27

22

17

18
34
17

25

26
19
19
23

The mean annual values for the two periods, 1855-62, and
1868-67, and their ratios to the mean annual number of
deaths at all ages, are as follows : —

MALES.

Yeai

i i

g g d .

w §

S d ®

« flrSA CS

02

u H

03 C3

73 ®
dfx

^ to

IO

rH

o

■43>

in

id

O

■+»

in

rH

in

CO

O

in

CM

in

xH

O

IO

CO

id

in

o

o

in

co

o

in

in

in

o

-4-3

in

CO

in

GO

O

-4->

in

u-

id

O

o

-4-3

m

00

m
. 73
73 fH

d g

IO

os d

1855

to

1862

30,935

15,333

1,989

1,867

1,833

2,061

2,201

2,207

1,976

1,235

222

10-5

1863

to

1867

37,597

17,818

2,538

2,153

2,365

2,735

2,894

2,986

2,463

1,369

263

11-2

Eatios 1855-62

•495

•064

•060

•059

•066

•071

•071

•063

•039

•007

•0003

Eatios 1863-67

•473

•067

•057

•062

•072

•077

•079

•065

•036

•006

•0003

FEMALES.

1855

to

1862

29,794

13,434

1,871

2,056

2,190

2,159

2023

2,153

2,140

1,429

315

22-0

1863

to

1867

35,644

15,699

2,336

2,253

2,667

2,678

2,609

2,792

2,600

1,624

362

22-4

Eatios 1855-62

•451

•062

•069

073

•072

•067

•072

•072

•048

•010

•0007

Eatios 1863-67

•440

•065

•063

•074

•075

•073

•078

•073

•045

•010

•0006

166

From these numbers it is evident that in unhealthy years
the increase of mortality is relatively greater between the
ages of 25 and 76 than at any other age, and that very
young and very old lives are relatively much less affected
than in years when the general rate of mortality is below
the average ; thus confirming the view I have taken that
the excess of deaths in unfavourable years is principally due
to meteorological causes.

It has long been admitted that the state of the public
health is affected by changes in the state of the weather ;
and for many years the Registrar General has regularly
included in his reports statements of the weekly, quarterly,
and annual mean and extreme values of the various
meteorological elements as observed at Greenwich; but
these statements as usually given are of little value to sani-
tary science. To be of use, the results of meteorological
observations ought to be regularly grouped and discussed
with reference to the various questions which arise in connec-
tion with the origin and development of diseases ; but this
obvious and very important course of proceeding appears to
be entirely neglected by boards of health, health committees,
and officers of health, and as a natural consequence, their
misdirected efforts, made without a due regard to the true
principles of sanitary science, have hitherto failed entirely to
effect any improvement in the state of the public health, or
any reduction in the general rate of mortality, as is clearly
shown in the mortality returns. Thus during the 15 years,
1838-52, the average annual rate of mortality for the whole
of England was 22*35 to 1,000 persons living ; and during
the succeeding 15 years, 1853-67, it was 22*47. It is there-
fore evident that notwithstanding the so-called sanitary
improvements, made, at great cost, in almost every town and
district irs the kingdom during the latter period, the public
health remained in the same unsatisfactory state in which it
had been during the previous 1 5 years ; and the death rate
still showed a tendency to increase.

From a table at page xlii of the 30 th Annual Report of
the Registrar General, it appears that during the six years?

167

1857-1862; the average annual rate of mortality in 142 dis-
tricts and 56 sub-districts, comprising the chief towns in
England, was 23‘70 per 1000 living, while in the following
five years, 1863-1867, it was 2 5 -3 5 ; and in the remaining
districts and sub-districts of England and Wales, comprising
small towns and country parishes, it was 19 '74 in the former
period, and 20‘41 in the latter. Now, as the character of
the weather is rarely, if ever, the same over the whole of
England and Wales as that which may happen to prevail in
the Manchester Water Works district, but will often be
widely different in some localities, it is evident that the
whole of the differences between these numbers cannot
fairly be attributed to meteorological causes alone, and that
therefore during this period of 11 years the general rate of
mortality was slowly increasing both in town and country
districts ; but in a much higher ratio in the former than in
the latter; and yet it is in the large towns that what are
supposed to be sanitary improvements have been carried out
to the greatest extent, and where, therefore, had the schemes
adopted been based on sound principles, their effect in
checking the increase in the rate of mortality would have
been most apparent.

It will, no doubt, excite surprise in the public mind to find
that after so many years’ trial, and the expenditure of so
much public money, the schemes carried out by our sanitary
authorities have produced absolutely no improvement what-
ever in the general sanitary condition of the people, nor
even prevented an increase taking place in the average rate
of mortality; but, as I have indicated above, our sanitary
authorities seem never to have made any serious and
systematic attempt to discover the true causes of the fluc-
tuations which take place in the rate of mortality, and
trace out the modes of operation by which their effects are
produced. Almost all that has been done in this direction
has been accomplished by private individuals, and I may
refer, as a noteworthy instance, to a valuable paper in vol. I,
series HI, of the Society’s Memoirs, by Dr. A. Ransome,
and Mr. G. Y. Yernon, F.R.A.S., “On the Influence of
Atmospheric Changes upon Disease.” Sanitary officials,
however, seem, for the most part, to act as if they were

168

strangely ignorant of the value and importance of applying
modern methods of scientific research to questions relating
to health and disease ; and were content to aim at no higher
object than that of discharging the duties which properly
belong to nuisance inspectors and scavengers. Until these
gentlemen form a much higher estimate than they have
hitherto done, of the dignity and importance of their pro-
fession, and of the difficulties they have to overcome, we
cannot reasonably hope to see any real and permanent im-
provement in the general state of the public health.*

The general results of the above investigation may be
briefly recapitulated as follows : —

1. — That the influence of meteorological causes in pro-
ducing fluctuations in the rate of mortality is much greater
than that of any other recognised influence.

2. — That the class of diseases which is most affected by
meteorological changes is class I., Zymotic diseases.

3. — That the relative increase in the number of fatal
cases of disease at different ages, in unfavourable seasons, is
greatest between the ages of 25 and 75 years, or amongst
those classes of the community who are most exposed to
vicissitudes of weather.

4. — That the sanitary measures which have been carried
out during the last 15 to 20 years by boards of health,
health committees, and officers of health, have produced no
perceptible improvement in the state of the public health,
nor checked the growing increase in the rate of mortality,
notwithstanding the enormous outlay they have involved ;
and that, therefore, a thorough reform of our existing
sanitary system is urgently required.

* In justice to the corporation of Salford I must state that at the suggestion
of the Mayor, Thomas Davies, Esq., a meteorological station was established
within the borough at the front of the Town Hall at the beginning of the year
1868 ; and that observations have since been regularly made under the super-
intendence of Thomas Mackereth, Esq., F.R.A.S., for systematic comparison
with the weekly returns relating to the sanitary condition of the borough.
Mr. Mackereth informs me that these comparisons have already yielded deci-
sive evidence of a close connection between meteorological changes and the
development of certain diseases which are unfortunately too prevalent in
Salford — thus confirming the results arrived at by Dr. Kansome and Mr.
Vernon, and proving the soundness of the view taken by the Mayor when he
urged the desirability of establishing a meteorological station in or near the
centre of the borough. I believe this is the only instance of the establishment,
by a public body, of a meteorological station in the centre of a large town.

169

Annual Meeting, April 19th, 1870,

J. P. Joule, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., &c., President, in the

Chair.

Mr. Charles Lowe was elected an Ordinary Member of
the Society.

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

The Council have again the satisfaction to report that the
Society’s finances continue in a healthy condition. From
the copies of the Treasurer’s account already in the hands of
the members, it will be seen that the income of the past
year has exceeded the expenditure, and that the general
balance on the 31st of March last was £268 Is. 2d. against
£252 16s. 9d. on the 31st of March, 1869.

The number of ordinary members on the roll of the So-
ciety on the 1st of April, 1869, was 166, and 5 new members
have since been elected. The losses during the year have
been — deaths, 3 ; resignations, 5 ; and defaulters, 2. The
number on the roll on the 1st of April instant was, therefore,
161. The deceased members are Dr. James Prince Lee,
F.R.S., Lord Bishop of Manchester; Mr. Eddowes Bowman,
M.A.; and Mr. George Parr, jun.

James Prince Lee, F.R.S., Bishop of Manchester, was
elected a member of the Society in the year 1849.
Although, from his failing health, he has been unable for
the last few years to take any active part in the institutions
for its promotion, he had from the time of his residence
here shown a deep interest in all that concerns the
advancement of science amongst us. He was a ripe
scholar, and few men were better acquainted with Greek
literature, and the early history of the Church. He was
Proceedings — Lit. & Phil. Society. — Vol.IX. — No. 15. — Session 1869-70.

170

one of the founders of the Manchester Photographic Society,
and filled the office of president from its commencement up
to the time of its division, and manifested his interest in its
publications by throwing open his valuable collection of
works of art for the use of some of its members. He was
also one of the early members of the Microscopic Section of
the Literary and Philosophical Society, to which he pre-
sented a set of valuable objectives for its instruments.
He was likewise himself an assiduous worker with the
microscope, his investigations being directed chiefly to
the structure of insects and annelides. Within ten days of
his death his interest in the various scientific societies of the
city was evinced in a long conversation which he held on
the possible union of these, and on the desirableness of
forming some plan by which the naturalists among the
working men, so numerous in Manchester, yet so little
known to each other, might be brought together.

Mr. Eddowes Bowman, who was born on 12th November,
1810, at Nantwich, after a thorough school education under
Mr. T. Wright Hill of Birmingham, entered the profession
of a Mechanical Engineer, and for five years held the office
of submanager of the Yarteg Iron Works at Pontypool.
Here he distinguished himself by the philanthropic interest
which he took in raising the social condition of the work-
men. The Yarteg works being given up in 1840, Mr.
Bowman resolved to resume his pursuit of classical litera-
ture, and entered the University of Glasgow, where he
graduated as Master of Arts. He afterwards attended at
Berlin for several years the lectures of the most distin-
guished German Professors, and his studies were marked by
great earnestness and thoroughness. Thus qualified, he was
appointed, in 1846, to the Chair of Greek and Latin Classics
and of Grecian and Roman History, in Manchester New
College, on the resignation of Mr. F. W. Newman, to whom
he was acknowledged to be a not unworthy successor, in a

171

post which had also been filled by our Corresponding mem-
ber the Rev. John Kenrick. This chair he continued to
hold until the removal of the College to London in 1853.
Though his professional labours thus ceased, he did not
abandon the occupation of teacher, which had always had
great attractions for him, and he now devoted much time
to giving private instruction not only in classics but in
physical science, especially in astronomy, optics, acoustics,
and mechanics. His instruction in these branches, though
it did not pretend to be more than elementary, was charac-
terised by accuracy and clearness. For illustrating his
lessons he possessed a valuable cabinet of physical apparatus,
as well as many home-made contrivances ; he also purchased
a Cooke’s 7i inch refractor, which was fitted up in an
observatory at the top of his own house. It should likewise
be recorded how cheerfully Mr. Bowman responded, often
at much sacrifice of time and labour, to invitations to
lecture at mechanics’ and other institutions which could not
pretend to offer any remuneration. He was elected a member
of the Society January 23, 1855, and died July 10, 1869.

The Library of the Society continues to increase rapidly,
and it vail be necessary to provide additional accommoda-
tion during the ensuing year; and also to devote a con-
siderable sum to bookbinding.

The following papers and. communications read at the
ordinary and sectional meetings during the Session now
closing will show that there is no falling off in the activity
and usefulness of the Society : —

October 5th, 1869. — “On Nontronite,” by T. E. Thorpe, Ph.D.,
communicated by Professor PI. E. Roscoe, F.R.S.

“On Pholas Borings,” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

October \lth, 1869. — “On Varieties of Lepidoptera,” by Mr.
Joseph Sidebotham.

October 19 th, 1869. — “On a new form of Calamitean Strobilus,”
by Professor W. C. Williamson, F.R.S.

172

November 2nd , 1869. — “On a New Chromium Oxychloride,” by
T. E. Thorpe, Ph.D., communicated by Professor H. E. Roscoe,
F.R.S.

November 1 6th, 1869. — “On the Permian Strata of East
Cheshire,” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

“ On the Combinations of Phosphate of Lime and Sulphurous
Acid,” by Dr. B. W. Gerland, communicated by Professor H. E.
Roscoe, F.R.S.

November 36th, 1869. — “On the Microscopical Examination of
Milk under certain conditions,” by J. B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

December 7 th, 1869. — “On the Mean Monthly Temperature at
Old Trafford, Manchester, 1861 to 1868, and also the Mean for
the twenty years 1849 to 1868,” by G. V. Vernon, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

December 14 th, 1869. — “On the Hades, Throws, Shifts, &c.; of
the Metalliferous Veins of the North of England,” by Mr. John
Currey, communicated by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

December 28th, 1869. — “On Pollen; considered as an Aid in
the Differentiation of Species,” by Mr. Charles Bailey.

January 3rd, 1870. — “Notes on the pupa and imago of
Acherontia atropus ,” by Mr. Joseph Sidebotham.

January 4 th, 1870. — “ On the Rainfall of 1869, at Old Trafford,
Manchester,” by G. V. Vernon, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

January 2 5th, 1870. — “ On Organic Matter in the Air,” by Dr.
R. Angus Smith, F.R.S.

“ On the so-called Molecular Movements of Microscopic Par-
ticles,” by Professor Wm. Stanley Jevons, M.A.

“ On a General System of Numerically Definite Reasoning,” by
Professor Wm. Stanley Jevons, M.A.

February 8 th, 1870. — “On Convertant Functions,” by Sir James
Cockle, F.R.S., communicated by the Rev. Professor R. Harley,
F.R.S.

“ On the Natural Ropes used in packing Cotton Bales in the
Brazils,” by Mr. Charles Bailey.

February 22nd, 1870. — “On Artificial Alizarine,” by Dr. F.
Grace Calvert, F.R.S.

“ On the Organic Matter of Human Breath in Health and
Disease,” by Dr. Arthur Ransome, M.A.

173

February 28 th, 1870. — “On some Shell Deposits at Llandudno,”
by Mr. Joseph Sidebotham.

March 1st, 1870. — “Results of Rain Gauge and Anemometer
Observations made at Eccles, near Manchester, during the year
1869,” by Thomas Mackereth, F.R.A.S., F.M.S.

March 8th, 1870. — “ On the high Death-Rate of Manchester and
Salford,” by E. W. Binney, F.R.S., F.G.S.

“ On the Sources of the high Death-Rate of Manchester,” by
Edward Lund, F.R.C.S.

“On the Suspension of a Ball by a Jet of Water,” by Professor
Osborne Reynolds, M.A.

March 2 2nd, 1870. — “On the Size of Molecules,” by Sir W.
Thomson, F.R.S.

“ On the Determination of Phosphoric Acid,” by Mr. W. C.
Williams, communicated by Professor H. E. Roscoe, F.R.S.

“On the Composition of the Water of the Irish Sea,” by T. E.
Thorpe, Ph.D., and Mr. E. H. Morton.

“ On the Occultations of the Planet Saturn by the Moon,
April 19, July 10, and September 30, visible in England during
the present year,” by Mr. W. L. Dickinson.

March 28th, 1870. — “On the Exploration of the Hysena-den at
Wookey Hole,” by Wm. Boyd Dawkins, M.A., F.R.S.

“ On the Germination and Early Growth of Plants,” by Dr.
Arthur Ransome, M.A.

April 5th, 1870. — “ Description of a New Anemometer,” by Mr.
Peter Hart.

“On the Settle Cave Exploration,” by Wm. Boyd Dawkins,
M.A., F.R.S.

“On the Eclipse of the Sun, December 21-22, 1870,” by Mr.
W. L. Dickinson.

“ On the Influence of Changes in the Character of the Seasons
upon the Rate of Mortality,” by Joseph Baxendell, F.R.A.S.

Some of these papers have already been printed in the
current volume of the Society’s Memoirs, and others have
been passed for printing, and will complete the volume.

The system of electing sectional associates still works
satisfactorily, and in recommending that it be continued

174

during the ensuing year the Council venture to express a
hope that its advantages will become more generally known
and appreciated among the class of students and lovers of
science for whose convenience and benefit it was intended.

The Librarian reports that the third volume of the So-
ciety’s third series of Memoirs, as well as the fifth, sixth,
and seventh volumes of the “ Proceedings,” have been
forwarded during the past year to the Honorary and
Corresponding Members of the Society, and to the various
learned societies who send their publications in exchange.
The list of these latter is yearly increasing, and the total
number now in relation with the Society is 311, viz. —

Societies in Great Britain 79

Societies abroad 2 32

311

The binding of the works in the Library has not been
carried on to the same extent as last year, 78 volumes only
having passed through the binder’s hands. The number of
new works received during the year has been so great as to
entirely exhaust the shelf-accommodation, and one of the
first matters requiring the attention of the new Council will
be to make adequate provision for the various publications
coming to hand daily.

The serials subscribed for by the Society continue to be
purchased by the Librarian, and in addition several very
valuable works have been added to the Library at the joint
expense of the Society and of the Microscopical and Natural
History Section.

On the motion of Mr. J. Barrow, seconded by Mr. H.
Wilde, the Annual Report was unanimously adopted.

On the motion of Mr. J. S. Kipping, seconded by Mr.
J. Francis, it was resolved unanimously — “ That the system
of electing Sectional Associates be continued during the
ensuing session.”

175

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

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

Witje-fmifojent#.

JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., F.C.S., &c.
EDWARD SCHUNCK, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.

ROBERT ANGUS SMITH, Ph.D., F.R.S., F.C.S.

Ret. WILLIAM GASKELL, M.A.

HENRY ENFIELD ROSCOE, B.A., Ph.D., F.R.S., &c.
JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

%xmmx.

THOMAS CARRICK.

Iptomtu

CHARLES BAILEY.

tfrje tonal

PETER SPENCE, F.C.S., M.S.A.

GEORGE VENABLES VERNON, F.R.A.S., F.M.S,

JOHN BENJAMIN DANCER, F.R.A.S.

WILLIAM LEESON DICKINSON.

HENRY WILDE.

ROBERT DUKINFIELD DARBISHIRE, B.A., F.G.S.

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177

Mr. Binney, F.R.S., on behalf of Mr. Mortimer L. Tait,
exhibited some specimens of Coprolites from a quarry at
Ashwell, near Baldock, Herts.

“On Infant Mortality in Manchester/’ by Joseph Baxen-
dell, F.B.A.S.

It has been repeatedly and very confidently stated that
the high death-rate of Manchester and other towns in the
cotton manufacturing districts is due to the mortality
among infants and young children being relatively much
greater than in large towns in other parts of the country ;
and writers in newspapers and serials have, at various
times, taken up the statement and commented, in very
severe terms, upon the negligent and unfeeling conduct of
Lancashire, and especially Manchester, mothers in being
tempted by the higher wages they can earn in the cotton
mills to leave their children during working hours to the
tender mercies of careless nurses, and thus deprive them
of the natural sustenance and motherly care which they
so much require. A few months ago this serious charge
against Manchester mothers was repeated in a lecture
delivered by a gentleman holding an official position, who
moreover added that it was the principal reason why the
efforts of health committees and sanitary officials in Man-
chester and other cotton manufacturing towns had been
attended with so little success, and had failed to make
any reduction in the death-rate. As however no facts were
adduced by the lecturer in support of the statement it
occurred to me that it had probably originated in a hasty
and imperfect examination of the mortality returns, and
that it might be useful and instructive to ascertain the

178

exact amount of infant mortality, and the effect it had on
the general death-rate of Manchester and several other
large towns where little or no cotton manufacturing is
carried on. From the form in which the mortality returns
are given in the Registrar General’s Reports this could
readily be done, and selecting the towns of Birmingham,
Bradford, Dudley, Sheffield, Wolverhampton, Leeds, New-
castle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Stourbridge,
and Leicester for comparison with Manchester ; and taking
the returns for the seven years 1861-87, I was surprised to
find that the portion of the total death-rate which was due
to infant mortality was relatively less in Manchester than
in any of the other towns. Thus out of every 1,000 deaths
of males at all ages the number due to infants under 1 year
of age was : —

Dudley

347

Stourbridge .........

298

Leicester

341

Sheffield

296

Bradford

322

Leeds

285

Stoke-on-Trent

309

Birmingham

277

Nottingham

307

Newcastle-upon-Tyne 274

Wolverhampton. . . . . .

304

Manchester

253

And including young
numbers are : —

children up to 5 years of

age

Dudley

531

Bradford

507

Wolverhampton ...

526

Sheffield

505

Stourbridge

518

Leeds

485

Leicester

517

Nottingham .........

475

Stoke-on-Trent ......

516

Newcastle-upon-Tyne 471

Birmingham

508

Manchester

465

I have also compared Manchester with the five large
cotton manufacturing towns of Ashton, Bolton, Blackburn,
Oldham and Preston. The results are -

179

Under

Under

1 Year of Age.

5 Years of Age,

Preston ......

...... 312 ....

503

Ashton 297 485

Oldham ......... 287 499

Bolton

KJ g • . . . c

276

493

Blackburn

272

487

Manchester . . . . ,

. 253 .....

465

In all the lists the numbers for Manchester are much less
than those for any of the other towns, and in some cases
the differences are very striking. It is clear therefore that
the stigma which has been cast upon the mothers belonging
to the working classes of Manchester is most undeserved ;
and that, in fact, infants and young children are better
cared for, and attended to, in Manchester than in any other
leading manufacturing town in England. It is also evident
that excessive infant mortality is not the cause of the
alarmingly high death-rate of Manchester, since a much,
larger proportional number of deaths of infants and young
children takes place in other towns where the general
death-rate is decidedly lower. Some other cause must
therefore be sought out to account for the failure of the
attempts made by the sanitary authorities to reduce the
death-rate of Manchester.

Mr. Baxendell, referring to the paper he had read at
the last meeting, said that as considerable surprise had been
expressed at the facts he had given showing that the carry-
ing out of the schemes of the sanitary authorities through-
out England had produced no diminution in the general
rate of mortality, he had since examined the mortality
returns for Scotland for the ten years 1859-68, and found

180

that the average annual death-rate during the first five
years 1859-63 was 21*5 per 1000 persons living, and during
the last five years 1864-68 it had risen to 22’5. It appeared,
therefore, that so far as ten years’ experience extended, our
present sanitary system had failed quite as signally in
Scotland as in England to produce any improvement in
the state of the public health.

\

181

MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION.

March 28th, 1870.

John Watson, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair.

A paper “ On the Exploration of the Hysena Den at
Wookey Hole,” was read by Mr. W. B. Dawkins, M.A.,
F.R.S., F.G.S.

The author gave an account of his exploration of the ossi-
ferous cavern at Wookey Hole, a village on the southern
flanks of the Mendips, about two miles to the north-west of
the city of Wells, begun in 1859, and carried on from time
to time till 1866. The ravine, in which the cave is situated,
runs horizontally into the mountain side until it is closed
abruptly to the north by an ivy-covered perpendicular cliff,
at least a hundred and fifty feet high ; at the bottom of this
is a cave, in which Dr. Buckland discovered pottery and
human teeth, and from which rises the river Axe in con-
siderable power and volume. In cutting a passage in the
ravine side to convey the water to a large paper mill close
by, the mouth of the hyaena den was intersected about 1851
or 1852. When the exploration began in 1859, about
twelve feet of the entrance had been cut away, and large
quantities of the earth, stones, and remains had been used
in the formation of an embankment for the canal that now
runs past its present entrance. The workmen state that at
the time it was discovered the ravine side presented no con-
cavity that would indicate its position, so completely was it
filled with debris up to the very roof. Resting on the floor
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Soc.— Vol. IX.— No. 16.— Session 1869-70.

182

there was a layer of bones and teeth about twelve inches
thick, while in the overlying mass of stones and red earth
they were somewhat rare.

When the systematic exploration began, the contents of
the cave were undisturbed except a very small area close to
the entrance, where curiosity hunters had been looking for
teeth and some of the workpeople had been setting traps
for badgers. Mr. Boyd Dawkins gradually dug his way into
the cave, and then proceeded to clear out all the deposits in
the great chamber or antrum close to the entrance. It
proved to be about thirty feet in width and eight feet in
height, and about forty feet in length. It was filled with
red earth conveyed in by water, stones that had fallen from
the roof, and large quantities of bones and teeth of animals.
These, for the most part, formed two or three bands gradu-
ally coming together that evidently indicated the position
of the old floors on which they were dropped. The frag-
mentary and gnawed condition of the remains pointed to
the fact that the animals to which they belonged had fallen
a prey to the hy senas. The large quantities of coprolites

also that occurred in the layers of bone, indicated that
these animals dwelt in the cave. Underneath these layers
there were flint flakes and well fashioned implements of
flint and chert, which showed that man had been in the
cave, to say the least, during the time that the hyaenas
were living in the country. Numerous fragments of burnt
bone showed that he had been kindling his fires close to
the entrance. One fragment, which belonged to the woolly
rhinoceros, was carbonised in such a way as to indicate that
the bone had been burnt while it contained its gelatine.
These traces of man were found in the undisturbed earth,
and by no possibility could have been placed into the cave
after it had been filled.

As the workmen cut their way inwards the chamber
gradually narrowed into a passage about eight feet wide,

183

which eventually bifurcated until at last it ended in
branches which were too small to be explored. In these
passages there were three masses of bones and of teeth
compacted and matted together, the largest of which was
about nine feet long, six feet wide, and about four inches
thick. The following list will give an idea of the animals
that were found in the cave, and the numbers appended to
each representing the specimens taken to Oxford by Mr.
Boyd Dawkins in 1862, after one season’s digging, show

their relative abundance,

Paleolithic Man

The Cave or Spotted Hysena 467

The Cave-lion -. 15

The Cave-bear 27

The Brown Bear 11

The Grizzly Bear 11

The Wolf 10

The Fox 8

The Mammoth 40

The Woolly Rhinoceros 433

Rhinoceros hemiioeclms 2

The Horse 411

The Urns 36

The Bison...... 35

The Irish Elk 56

The Reindeer 50

The Red deer 4

The Rabbit

The Norway Lemming

The Water Rat

The flint and chert implements were of precisely the
same type as those found in the Reindeer caves of The
Dordogne, and those of Kent’s Hole, and Brixham. This
discovery proves that man was living in Somerset at the
time when the above animals occupied the South of

184

England, during the post-glacial epoch. How long ago it
is impossible to guess, because the geological past cannot
be measured by the historical unit of years. A detailed
account of the exploration of the first three years is to be
found in Quart. Geolg. Journ., London, Yols. xviii. p. 115,
and xix. p. 260.

“ On the Germination and Early Growth of Plants,” by
Arthur Ransgme, M.D., M.A.

The following statement with reference to the conditions
of growth was quoted from Prof. Draper’s works : — “ If
growth be conducted in darkness, heat, air, and water can-
not cause the young plant to add anything to its substance.
It is feeding on the seed. Indeed, when the experiment is
carefully made, it is found that there is an actual loss of
substance, the resulting plant, if dried, weighing less than

the dry seed from which it came Growth in

darkness leads to one result, and growth in the sunshine
to another.” — Human Physiology, 1856, p. 458.

The truth of this observation was tested as follows
Given weights of fresh mustard seed were taken, each
portion was divided into two equal parts ; one part of each
was crushed and moistened, to set free any volatile oil, and
then carefully dried in a water-bath, or in Dr. Calvert’s
silk conditioning apparatus which he kindly allowed to be
used ; the other portions were sowed upon well- washed old
flannel, placed upon inverted saucers, and watered with
distilled or town’s water. The experiments were carried on
through the months of June, July, and August of 1858. In
four instances, the seeds were left to the full influence of
diffused daylight. In two others the saucers were placed
in a perfectly dark cupboard, and watered at night by
artificial light ; and in one case the seeds were placed in a
dark wine cellar. After growth the plants were carefully
dried and weighed.

185

The following table gives the results of all the experi-
ments : —

TABLE I. — Gteowth of Mustard.

No.

Conditions

of

growth.

Number

of

days of
growth.

l

Loss or gam
per cent.,
after drying.

Remarks.

1

2

None

In Light, town’s

None . .

— 12

The seed was crushed and
moistened, before drying.

water and air only

8

— 22-5

Plants £in. long, green leaves,
just emerging.

3

4

Ditto

In Light, distilled

10

— 29 ‘8

Plants l£in. long, strong and
healthy.

water used ......

14

— 26-7

Small amount of growth,
about Hin.

5

6

Ditto

In Darkness, town’s

17

— 37'9

Stalk and leaves about 2in.
long, strong and healthy

water and air only

10

— 27‘8

Etiolated but strong plants,
about 2in. in length.

7

Ditto

13

— 40

Plants very weak, about 2£in.
to 3in. in length.

8

Ditto

17

—

Length of plant about 4in.,
dead and decomposed.

These results show that during the germination and early
growth of mustard, Professor Draper’s statement does not
hold good : —

1. In every case, whether in light or darkness, the plants
(root, seed, stem and leaves) when dried had lost a certain
amount of solid matter.

2. Up to the period of cultivation observed, the amount
of loss was in close relation to the degree of growth.

3. Up to a certain stage of growth, there is but little
difference in the extent of loss in the light or in the dark.

These experiments were afterwards repeated with the
bulbs of hyacinth, crocus, and snowdrops ; and at different
periods kidney-beans and peas were grown in garden mould,
carefully washed and dried after growth, and tested in the
same way. It was found that peas and beans began to
gain in weight when the plants were from Sin. to 12in. in
height.

The results with the bulbs are given in tables II.. III.,
and IV.

186

TABLE II. — Growth of Hyacinths.

No.

Weight of
Bulb.

Bate.

Weight of
dried bulb
plant, &c.

Loss

per-

cent.

Date.

No, of
Days’
Growth.

Conditions

of

Growth.

Remarks.

1

grains

888

1865.
Oct. 27.

grains

330

62-7

1865.
Oct. 29.

None

None

Just germinating.

2

960

380

60-4

93 33

3

609

1865.
Oct, 27.

160

73-8

Mar. 5,
1866.

129

In dark cellar —
water and air
only.

Leaves 6in. long —
flower stalk lOin.
long — buds about
to burst — whole
plant light yellow.

4

5

835

671

1865.
Oct. 27.

269

177

67-8

621

Jan. 31,
1866.

Feb. 26,

96

122

In light — water
and air only.

Ditto

Plants 5in. long —
strong and healthy
—flower buds ap-
pearing.

Leaves lOin. long —
flowers withered
and dried.

Two large spikes of
flowers, lOin. to
12in. long — strong
healthy flowers &
leaves.

Green leaves 3in.
long.

Green leaves 5in.
long — buds well
formed.

Healthy plant — had
completed flower-
ing.

6

794

187

76-5

1866. '
Mar. 12,

136

Ditto

7

960

not

410

57-4

1866. '
not

noted

Ditto

8

890

noted

320

64-2

Ditto

9

1020

240

76-5

Ditto ..........

TABLE III.— Growth of Crocus.

No.

Weight of
the Fresh
Bulb.

Date.

| Weight of
Dried Bulb,
| Plant, &c.

Loss

per

Cent.

Date.

No. of
Days’
growth.

Conditions of
growth.

Remarks,

grains

grains

1

150

Oct. 20,

88

42-4

Oct. 20,

None.

None,

Just sprouting.

1865.

1865.

2

116

33

70

39-7

33

33

33

33 93

In Darkness.

3

148

Oct. 20,

82

44-6

Jan. 22,

94

Earth and cocoa

4 inches long — plant

1865.

1866.

fibre.

yellow — otherwise

healthy.

In Light.

4

116

Oct. 20,

57-5

50-5

Dec. 20,

61

Earth and cocoa

4in. long — slightly

1865.

1865.

fibre.

singed in drying.

5

HI

46

58‘6

Jan. 17,

89

Ditto.

4in. long — flowers

1866.

just formed in

sheath.

6

126

62-5

50-4

Jan. 26,

98

Ditto.

Diseased.

1866.

7

115

53

54-7

Mar. 3,

134

In diffused light,

7in. long.

1866.

in cellar, earth

and cocoa fibre.

187

TABLE IV. — Growth of Snowdrops.

No.

Weight cf
Fresh
Bulb.

Date.

Weight of
Dried Bulb,
Plant, &c.

Loss

per

Cent.

Date.

No. of
Days’
growth.

Conditions of
growth.

Remarks.

grains

1885.

grains

1

48

Oct. 24.

22-5

53*2

None.

None.

No growth.

2

48

33

21

56-3

33

33

33

3 3 3 3

3

37

Oct. 20.

17

60

Dec. 29

70

In Light.

In sand, in cel-
lar.

About 2|in. long —
burnt in drying.

4

42-5

33

14-5

65-5

Jan. 5,
1866.

77

Ditto.

About Sin. long— ■
slightly burnt in
drying.

5

42

3)

17

59.6

Jan. 8,
1866.

80

Ditto.

Ditto.

It was found that in every case the result was the same —
in darkness and in light, whether water, sand, earth-mould,
or cocoa-fibre were used — the loss of substance up to the
period of cultivation observed was constant, and to some
extent increased with the growth of the plant. In the
darkness, in some instances, the loss of weight was less than
in the light, in others there was little or no difference. In
the case of bulbs it seems probable that it is only when
the plant has ceased flowering, and when the secondary
bulbs are being formed, that there is any material gain in
weight.

Mons. Boussingault’s experiments ( Gomptes Rendus , vi,
p. 102) on the absorption of nitrogen by plants were quoted,
and it was shown that they were in general accordance
with the results obtained by the author, and they indicate
moreover in which of the elements the chief loss takes place.
Tables were shown giving the results of these analyses.

In the early stages of growth there was little variation in
the quantity of nitrogen contained in the plant, but that
little was on the side of increase ; the hydrogen also was
only slightly altered by diminution, but the carbon and the
oxygen both disappear for some time in proportion to the
extent of growth. In the later stages of cultivation of both

188

wheat and clover, the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen again
increase ; in the clover the amount of nitrogen also increases,
but in the absence of all manure the nitrogen of the wheat
remains stationary.

The bearing of these facts upon the subjects of nutrition
and development was pointed out, and the analogy between
the physiology of plants and animals in these functions was
indicated. As in the animal ovum, so in the seed, the
genesis of life receives its first impulse from the constituents
of the seed, and most plants continue for some time to draw
from this source a portion at least of their powers of growth.

The experiments might perhaps lead to more definite views
regarding the distinctions between growth, development,
and nutrition.

The source from which the power of growth appears to
spring was pointed out by an appeal to M. Boussingault’s
experiments.

The elements which are used up during early growth are
the carbon and oxygen and to a certain extent the hydrogen
of the seed. During germination the starchy portions of
the seed, by a species of fermentation, under the influence of
warmth and moisture, and also probably by the molecular
action of the nitrogenous germ, become changed into sugar
and other soluble substances, and these are slowfy disinte-
grated and burnt by a kind of respiration, and heat or other
energy is developed. The most important agents in assist-
ing the processes of growth are hydrocarbonaceous particles
in their course of transformation, and there is little doubt
that the heat-energy of these compounds bears some import-
ant relation to active life.

This fact was placed in apposition with the recent inves-
tigations of Messrs. Fisk and Wislieenus, Frankland and
Haughton, upon the sources of mechanical power in animals.
It seems probable that the oxydation of carbonaceous com-
pounds in animals has something to do, not merely with the

189

phenomena of muscular contraction, but also with many-
other vital processes. In like manner plants perhaps owe
not a little to the same sources.

It was shown by the observations detailed in the tables
that the plants lost weight during growth almost equally in
the light and in the dark. It was thought possible there-
fore that the processes of development and growth might
receive their stimulus not only from the direct heat and
light of the sun, but also from the energy lying hid in the
carbonaceous compounds already stored up within the seed
or bulb. It was remarked that it would be interesting to
compare the conditions of early growth of plants with the
constituents of their seeds.

Light is probably essential to the proper nutrition of a
plant, but it may not be necessary to some kinds of develop-
ment and growth ; and in this sense the words quoted from
Professor Draper at the commencement would be literally
true that — “ Growth in darkness leads to one result and
growth in sunshine to another.”

Annual Meeting, May 9th, 1870,

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

/

Mr. Adolph Meyee was duly elected an Associate of
the Section.

The following report of the Council and Treasurer’s
Account for the past year were read and passed : —

Your Council have to report that the subjects brought
under the notice of the Section during the past Session
have been of as interesting and valuable a character as in
any previous year, and that the attendance at the meetings
has on the whole been satisfactory.

190

The following papers have been read : —

1869.

Oct. 11. — “On a new form of Calamitean Strobilus.” — Prof. W.
C. Williamson, F.R.S.

“ On Varieties in Lepidoptera.” — Mr. J. Sidebotham.

“ On the occurrence of Statice spathulata on Hilbree
Island.” — Dr. Henry Simpson.

Nov. 8. — “On the Resinous Vapour exuding from Pencil Cedar.”
Mr. J. Sidebotham.

“Notes on the Natural order Podostemaceoe.” — Mr.
Thomas Coward.

Dec. 6.—“ On Pollen considered as an aid in the Differentiation
of Species.” — Mr. Charles Bailey.

“ On some Australian species of Drosera — Mr. H. A.
Hurst.

“ On an Abnormal Form of Primula sinensis.”— Mr.

A. G. Latham.

“ On some Polarising Objects obtained from the new
Hydro-carbon Compounds.” — Mr. J. B. Dancer,
F.R.A.S.

“ On the Microscopic Examination of Milk.” — Mr. J.

B. Dancer, F.R.A.S.

1870.

Jan. 3. — “On Urinary Calculi composed of Cystine.” — Dr.
William Roberts.

“ Observations on the Pupa and Imago of Acherontia
Atropos .” — Mr. J. Sidebotham.

“ On Eozoon Canadense.” — Mr. W. B. Dawkins, F.R.S.
31. — “On Natural Ropes used in Packing Cotton Bales in
the Brazils.” — Mr. Charles Bailey.

“ Remarks on some Pholas-bored Rocks on the Great
Ormes Head.” — Mr. J. Sidebotham.

Feb. 28. — “ On some Shell Deposits in the neighbourhood of
Llandudno.” — Mr. J. Sidebotham.

Mar. 28.' — “ On the Exploration of the Hyaena Den at Wookey
Hole.” — Mr. W. B. Dawkins, F.R.S.

“ On the Germination and Early Growth of Plants.”—
Dr. Arthur Ransome,

191

April 25. — u On the repens group of the genus Trifolium” — Mr.

H. A. Hurst.

Notwithstanding the hope expressed by your Council in
their last report, that purely microscopical subjects would
receive greater attention, it will be seen from the list of
papers that but few can be thus classed ; this your Council
regrets, as it believes that greater interest would attach to
the meetings, if members engaged in microscopical research
would bring the result of their investigations before the
notice of the Section.

The Section has to lament the death of one of its mem-
bers, the late Lord Bishop of Manchester, to whom it is
indebted for several contributions to the microscopical
cabinet, and who showed an invariable wish to promote its
best interests.

The Section is now composed of 37 ordinary and one
corresponding members, and nine associates.

During the Session several valuable additions have been
made to the cabinet and library ; amongst others, the thanks
of the Section are more especially due to Mr. W. J. Rideout,
who has presented one of J. D. Moller’s Diatomaceen Typen
Platte, and to Mr. EL A. Hurst, for his gift of a rare botanical
work, by Rev. J. Barrelier.

Acting on the arrangement entered into with the Parent
Society, to which reference was made in last year’s report,
your Council have purchased several desirable works, the
most noticeable of these being 58 vols. of Annales des Sciences
Botaniques, and the following Colonial and Tropical Floras :
Bentham’s Flora Hongkongensis ; Giesbach’s Flora of West
India Islands; Hooker’s New Zealand Flora; Bentham’s
Flora Australiensis ; Oliver’s Flora of Tropical Africa.

As will be seen from the accompanying statement the
Treasurer’s report is satisfactory, there being a balance in
hand of £20 4s. 9d.

192

The election of Officers for the Session 1870-71 was then
proceeded with, and the following gentlemen were elected :

^rcstlreM.

JOSEPH BAXENDELL, F.R.A.S.

Ftcc=lprcstU£nts.

JOHN B. DANCER, F.R.A.S.

JOHN WATSON.

R. D. DARBISHIRE, B.A., F.GKS.

^rfasurcr.

HENRY ALEXANDER HURST.

Secretary.

SPENCER H. BICKHAM, JUN.

©f tlje ©ounctl.

W. C. WILLIAMSON, F.R.S.

THOMAS COWARD.

JOHN BARROW.

CHARLES BAILEY.

JOSEPH SIDEBOTHAM.

HENRY SIMPSON, M.D.

JAMES HIGGIN, F.C.S.

THE MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION OF THE MANCHESTER LITERARY AND
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, IN ACCOUNT WITH H. A. HURST, TREASURER.

193

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Examined and found correct,

(Signed) Thos. H. Nevill, 1869.

John Babeow. May 4. By Balance at Messrs. Heywood Bros. & Co... £20

194

Mr. Hurst made a few remarks on the practical difficul-
- ties still attending the obtaining of good illumination for
microscopical purposes, especially where time was an object
and the illuminator not constantly used, as is generally the
case. He observed that the light of gas as modified by
variously coloured glasses was perhaps the most perfect
light at our disposal ; but against its use might be urged
the amount of heat given out, and the loss of time attending
the arrangement of the gutta percha tube necessary for
conveying it if moveability be an object, its disagreeable
smell being also an objection.

The use of Belmontine, Paraffin, and other lamps of a
similar nature, was rendered undesirable by the difficulty
of keeping them in order, the fact being that if laid aside
for three months, these lamps were generally rendered
useless. These Hydro-carbons were also offensive in smell
and very disagreeable to handle.

Mr. Hurst recommended under these circumstances the
use of the ordinary circular railway reading lamp, which
gives a good light, is perfectly clean, can be laid aside for an
indefinite period, and yet be ready for use at any moment,
while its portability is no slight advantage for sea-side trips,
or even domestic use.

195

ICtst of J^tcmbcrs.

Alcock, Thomas, M.D.

Bailey, Charles.

Babeow, John.

Baxendell, Joseph, E.R.A.S.
Bickham, Spencer, Jun.
Binney, Edward Wi., F.R.S.,

e.g.s.

Brockbank, W.5 E.G.S.
Brogden, Henry.

Brothers, Alpred, E.R.A.S.
Cottam, Samuel.

Coward, Edward.

Coward, Thomas.

Dale, John, E.C.S.

Dancer, John Benj., E.R.A.S.
Darbishire, R. D., B.A.
Dawkins, W. Boyd, E.R.S.
Deane, William K.
GrLADSTONE, MURRAY, E.R.A.S.
Heys, William Henry.
Higgin, James, E.C.S.

Hurst, Henry Alexander,
Latham, Arthur George.

Harrison, Hugh.

Hunt, George Edward.
Hunt, John.

Labrey, B. B.

Linton, James.

Lynde, James Gascoigne, Mem.

Inst. C.E., F.G.S., F.R.M.S.
Maclure, John Wm., F.R.G.S.
Mitchell, Captain, Madras,
Oorr. Mem.

Morgan, Edward, M.D.

Nevill, Thomas Henry.
Rideout, William J.

Roberts, William, M.D.
Sidebotham, Joseph.

Simpson, Henry, M.D.

Smart, Robert Bath, M.R.C.S.
Smith, Robert Angus, Ph.D.,
E.R.S., E.C.S.

Tait, Mortimer L.

Vernon, George Venables,

E.R.A.S.

Watson, John.

Williamson, Wm. Crawford,
E.R.S., Prof. Nat. Hist., Owens
College.

Wright, William Oort.

of Associates.

Meyer, Adolph.

'Morris, Walter.

Waterhouse, J. Crewdson.
Whalley, J. E.

4

I

3 9088 01771 7620