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THE QUARTERLY

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE.

CONDUCTED BY

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OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW,

EDITOR.

VOLUME VII.
dHith Allustrations ow Copper, Stone, and ddlood.

LONDON:
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THE QUARTERLY

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE.

JANUARY, 1870.

I. LIGHT AND SOUND:

AN EXAMINATION OF THEIR REPUTED ANALOGY.

By W. F. Barrerr, I.C.8., Natural Science Master at the
London International College, &c.

Lone before we knew anything of the origin either of sound or
light, the existence of an analogy between these forces had been
the subject of speculation by some philosophers. But the idea of
such an analogy did not originate in philosophy; it was not con-
fined to a few; it resulted in more than speculation. From the
earliest times we find among all nations a crude perception of a simi-
larity between sound and colour. This perception became rooted
in their languages. The same words, in many cases, were employed
to denote either light, or sound. A vivid impression received by
the eye was equivalent to a forcible shock received by the ear : thus,
the English “loud,” the French “ criard,” the German “ schreiend,”
are identical expressions, relating to sound, also applied to glaring
colours. FF aintness of vision and feebleness of voice were spoken of
as one. Our own words dim and dumb were probably cognate
terms in Anglo-Saxon.

It is easy to trace this correspondence in language much farther,
but that is not our present business. Let us inquire if this wide-
spread mental analogy between sound and colour rests upon a
physical basis. Is it true that light and sound are alike, and if so
in what way are they alike? How can the swift flash from a gun
be said to resemble the sluggish report that follows? Except
esthetically, where is the likeness between a painting by Raphael
and a theme by Beethoven ?

At the outset let us remark that no attempt will be made to
show the identity of light and sound: it is their resemblance, their
parallelism, and not, of course, their oneness we wish to establish.
A parallelism that probably is metaphysical as well as physical ; so
that the estimation of beauty of colouring and harmony of sound
may, hereafter, be found to resolve themselves into mental actions

VoL. VIL. B

2 Light and Sound. [Jan.,

essentially the same. Here, however, we have solely to deal with
the physical aspect of the question. In pursuit of our object it will
be necessary to compare the principal phenomena of light and
sound, and for this purpose it will be convenient to break up the
subject into sections. If the analogy be just, it will assuredly gather
strength as the comparison proceeds ; if it be false, then each section
cannot fail to force this fact upon the mind. In either case the
result ought to be profitable, if we simply seek the truth.

§ 1. Ortein oF Ligut anp Sounp.

Light and sound are both the products of vibratory motion.
But to evolve light the motion must be enormously swift, whilst to
produce sound the motion must be comparatively slow. In the
former case only impalpable molecules can be made to attain the
requisite swiftness—light is therefore a molecular motion of vibra-
tion. In the latter case visible masses of matter can be moved to
and fro with the necessary speed: sound is therefore usually the
product of a molar motion of vibration. Further, to continue the
light, or to sustain the sound, the to-and-fro motion must be per-
formed in equal times ; it must be zsochronous. If not isochronous
the light will be either intermittent or varying in colour, and the
sound will be either a noise or musical notes of varying pitch.

Now comes a remarkable point. Sound and even music are
usually produced by a disturbance very different from a vibratory
motion. If we hit a tuning-fork on our knee, strike the strings of
a piano, or pluck the strings of a harp, we produce music by rough
mechanical means ; so the noise of hammering, the roar of cataracts,
the whistling of the wind, or “the scream of a maddened beach,”
are all sounds, that is motions of vibration, produced by a rude
motion of translation. Light, also, can be evolved by similar
agency. ‘The rubbing of two pieces of quartz or sugar, the sparks
from a flint or steel, and the incandescence produced by the friction
of meteors against the air are familiar examples of light generated
by mechanical means.

How can we account for the transition from molar to molecular
motion, from an impulse, such as a blow, to a regular pendulum-like
swing? <A well-established law of mechanics is no doubt the true
explanation. This law may be stated as follows :*—“ That if a body
receive a shock and sufficient time be allowed to elapse so that the
initial disturbance is destroyed by friction, imperfect elasticity and
other causes, the final resultant motion will be vibratory and isochro- —

* This appears to be a fundamental law of the universe; namely, that an
original impulse of any kind finally resolves itself into periodic or rythmic motion.
Does not this throw light upon the periodic motion of planets as well as the
vibratory motion of atoms? Possibly, in some such way, we may hereafter learn
to understand the musical ré/e of nature.

1870. ] Light and Sound. 3

nous.” Here, then, we have at once the explanation, and the ana-
logy of the mechanical origin of luminous and sonorous vibrations.

It is possible, however, to produce sound as well as light by a
molecular motion of vibration. This is the case when a wire or
rod is rubbed longitudinally ; and, as might be predicted, the sound
thus obtained is far more shrill than when the same body vibrates
transversely. ‘Here, indeed, in longitudinal vibration, there are some
striking points of contact between light and sound. For if a beam
of polarized light be transmitted through a strip of glass, as soon
as the glass, by rubbing it longitudinally, is caused to emit a sound,
the light is powerfully affected.

Light and sound have, further, a common origin in molecular
change when they are generated by chemical action ; thus light and
more or less of sound attends combustion ; and, directly or indirectly,
sound and more or less of light attend the explosion of fulminat-
ing powders. Again, light is produced by electricity, as in lightning
or the electric spark and electric light, and sound simultaneously
accompanies each of these phenomena. Light attends the quick
evolution of heat, and sudden heat is productive of the loudest
sounds, as in the explosion of mixed oxygen and hydrogen gases.

Now, as light and sound are both the products of motion, the
law of the conservation of force teaches us that neither one nor the
other can have been produced without the loss of an equivalent
amount of motion, that is force, elsewhere; and, moreover, that
neither can have disappeared without the production of an equiva-
lent motion or force of another kind. ‘This being so, the doctrine
of the correlation, or mutual convertibility, of the physical forces
comes in and shows us the possibility, not at once perhaps but
through intermediate steps, of exchanging light for sound and sound
for light. As it is, already we know that the quenching of both
light and sound, by absorbing media, results in the production of the
same mode of motion, namely, that which we designate heat.

§ 2. Tur Propacation or Ligut AND SouND.

Originating in vibratory motion, let us now inquire in what
manner the forces of light and sound reach the eye and ear respec-
tively. When a stick is allowed to swing to and fro in still water,
the motion is communicated to the medium around, and a series of
waves travel outward from the centre of disturbance. The motion,
or vis viva, of the stick, though retarded and finally brought to rest
by the friction of the water, is not lost. The movement has been
delivered to the water, and part of it has reappeared in the form of
the waves we noticed. The same considerations apply to light and
sound. When a bell is struck its vibrations are delivered to the
air around; a system of aerial pulses or waves is thus oF ieee

B

4 Light and Sound. [Jan.,

which reaching the ear give rise to the sensation of sound. When
a substance is made incandescent, the luminous vibrations do not
throw the air into undulation ; a finer and more elastic medium is
requisite to accept and carry on molecular motion. We have
abundant reason to believe that such a medium exists; we term it
the luminiferous ether. ‘To this ether, then, the luminous body
communicates its motion. Here, also, a system of waves is produced
which, striking the eye, finally give birth to the sensation of light.
There is, however, this difference between the sound-waves of the
air and the light-waves of the ether, that whereas the former
move to and fro longitudinally, the latter vibrate transversely. A
cornfield ruffled with gusts of wind exhibits waves like those of
sound ; the water of a lake thrown into ripples by a disturbance ex-
hibits waves like those of light. The upper figure, 1, in the accom-
pany drawing (Fig. 1) shows a single plane-wave of light: the

Fic. 1.

lower, 8, a single wave of sound. Hach has at w its node, or place
of rest, and at v its vibrating segment, or place of greatest motion.
Lhe sizes of the two waves are vastly disproportionate. The average
length of a sonorous wave, say that of the middle o in the piano, is
about 50 inches from nto Nn’. The average length of a luminous
wave, say that of green light, is only the +52%ooth part of an inch
from Ntow’. This great difference must not stagger usin tracing
out our analogy. ‘The element of size does not enter into the
region of law. The truth of this statement will become evident as
we see laws obeyed in like manner by light and sound; by undula-
tions, one. set of which are millions of times the size of the other.

*Another strong point in this analogy is presented by the phe-
nomena of Interference. From an inspection of Fig. 1, it will
readily be seen how this is produced. Let L be a series of waves ;
suppose a second series, of exactly the same length as L, to start
just half an undulation later; it will be clear that the crest of
one set will coincide with the hollow of the other. ‘They will thus
mutually destroy each other, and darkness will be the product of

1870. ] Light and Sound. 5

two luminous undulations thus related. In the same way one
sound-pulse may obliterate another, and two sounds thus result in
silence. If, for example, a vibrating tuning-fork, placed near the
ear, be slowly turned on its axis, four times in each revolution, a
position will be reached where no sound is heard. This occurs
when the prongs are oblique in reference to the ear, and the waves
generated by each prong exactly interfere. If the interference be only
partial, beats, or intervals of sound and silence, will be produced.

Returning now to the sounding-bell: its motion chiefly spends
itself on the air. Hence, when we remove the air from around
a sounding body, the vibration continues far longer than other-
wise it would. In such a case no sound is heard: internal friction
finally brings the sonorous body to rest as a whole, and molecular
motion or heat is the result. But in removing the air we do not,
and we cannot in any way as yet known, remove the luminiferous
ether; by which ether heat is propagated as well as light. Hence the
heat-motion resulting from what originally was a sounding body at
last escapes from the enclosure in the form of ethereal undulations.

Now when heat spreads by the ether in this way, we denominate
it radiant heat ; and, as we might expect, all the laws common to
light are also common to radiant heat, for both are undulatory
motions of the selfsame ether.* But whilst the propagation of
light only takes place (so far aS we yet know) by means of this
ether, heat, on the contrary, spreads itself in two ways. It may
be.propagated from particle to particle by tangible matter, and the
phenomenon is then termed conduction ; or in waves by the ether,
and the phenomenon is then, as we have seen, termed radiant heat.
Now sound, like heat, may also be propagated by gross matter, and
this likewise is called conduction; it may further, as already men-
tioned, spread itself in waves by the air, and in this form we may
conveniently call it radiant sound. Light being only known in the
radiant form, obviously it will only be in the phenomena of radiant
sound that we shall be justified in further seeking the analogy to
light. This we shall do in a succeeding section.

Here, however, it is important to note that we might expect
an analogy between the phenomena of sound-conduction and heat-
conduction. This is the case: taken in connection with the foot-
note below, considerable support is thus given to the analogy of
‘sound and light. Broadly viewed, the best conductors of sound
are the best conductors of heat, and wee versa. Conduction in
both cases is best through solids and worst through gases. Metals
are the best conductors of sound and also of heat. In one very

* The selective absorption of radiant heat by various media (thermocrosis),
the phenomena of calorescence—or the conversion of radiant heat into light—
and the warming of a black surface by purely luminous rays, demonstrate the fact
that radiant heat is only another phase of light.

6 —— Light and Sound. ~ [Jan.,

curious and well-established instance (though probably by no means
the only one), the analogy runs very close. It has been observed
that in wood sound is conducted with different facility in three
directions. Lengthways, or along the grain, the conduction is best ;
across the rings or grain it is much worse; and tangential to the
rings it is worst of all. Exactly the same facts, and in the same
order, have been found to hold good as regards the conduction of
heat in wood. But what is true of the conduction of heat is in
every case, even in this last, equally true of the conduction of
another force, namely, electricity. Now the conduction of electricity
strongly resembles the conduction of sound ; inasmuch that while the
rate of propagation of sound through liquids is increased by increase
of temperature, it is decreased in solids by the same cause. So like-
wise it is found that the same causes produce the same effects on
similar substances in the rate of propagation of electricity. Thus,
in the first place, we link light on to heat, and then heat on to
sound ; after that, heat on to electricity, and here, at last, electricity
on to sound, whilst the connection between sound and light it is our
object to set forth in this article. How this incidental fact opens up
for a moment the oneness of the diverse forces which play around the
world! We are encircled with wonder and with mystery, but every
now and then facts such as these arise, which lead us to believe that
perfect unity and simplicity lie somewhere in the back-ground.

§ 3. Tae Perception oF Ligut AND SouND.

At first it would appear hopeless to seek for any analogy
between organs so essentially different as the eye and ear. It
must, however, be borne in mind that the functions of those organs
- are not only to receive the impressions of light and sound, but also
to gather up and suitably present the wave-motion which impinges
upon them. Owing to the vast difference in tenuity and elasticity
of the media which convey light and sound, we should expect to
find the very difference we observe in the apparatus contrived for
hearing and seeing. Nevertheless it is possible to trace some cor-
respondence of parts in the eye and the ear; and there have not
been wanting physiologists who have pushed this view to a detailed
and fanciful extreme. ‘The reader who wishes for further informa-
tion on this presumed resemblance of the two organs will find it
given in a recent work by Dr. Macdonald,* to which we may have
occasion again to refer.

But there is a remarkable analogy, very much overlooked,

which appears to hold good between the perception of the respec-

tive impressions of light and sound. When we consider the

multitude and complexity of the sounds we hear in a concert, and

when we remember the extent, the diversity of colour and appear-
* ‘Sound and Colour, by Dr. Macdonald, F.R.S. Longmans, 1869.

1870,] Light and Sound. 7

ance of a landscape, it would appear almost inconceivable how such
varied impressions could be individually conveyed to the mind.
This intricate problem is solved in the most exquisite manner ;
moreover, in a manner that appears to be essentially the same in
the case of the eye and the ear. ,

Let us approach this analogy with an illustration. When a
piano is opened an attentive listener will readily discover that every
time a note is sung in the room, that string of the piano which
would have yielded the same note is thrown into sympathetic
vibration. If the note be changed, another and corresponding
string responds. Imagine now that a deaf man has his fingers
lightly touching the strings of the piano; he will perceive when
they vibrate and which vibrates. He will thus become conscious
what note has been sung. A similar arrangement to the foregoing
is fitted within each of our ears. In the inner ear there is a con-
trivance known as UCorti’s organ, which consists of no less than
3000 differently strained fibres. These fibres constitute the out-
ward extremity of the auditory nerve: a vibration of any one of
them immediately travels to the brain. According to one of the
greatest living investigators, Helmholtz, it is believed that one or
more of the fibres enters into sympathetic vibration whenever a
sound reaches the ear. Corti’s organ is to us, therefore, merely
a refinement and extension of what the piano was to the deaf man.
M. Hensen’s experiments upon the means of hearing in the crustacea
confirm this view.

As, however, it would be impossible for the strings of a piano
to vibrate if the note were beyond the range of the instrument in
either direction, so also there is a limit to the perception of sound
by the ear. If the aerial waves recur more quickly than 38,000
times a second, no sound at all is heard, however intense the vibra-
tion. If the waves recur slower than sixteen times a second, they
are inaudible as a continuous sound. Hence the eatreme range
of our hearing embraces about eleven octaves. This limit varies
slightly in different persons, as first shown by Dr. Wollaston.* For
example, some persons whose hearing is otherwise good cannot hear
the chirp of a cricket or the squeak of a bat. Moreover, one ear
is often more sensitive than the other,t and some ears are more
sensitive to one class of sounds than to others.

Now, with regard to vision, a similar arrangement to that in the
ear appears to exist at the back of the eye. ‘The optic nerve there

* «Phil. Trans.” 1820, p. 306.

t+ When travelling in Norway last year the writer observed that on one occa-
sion the sounds from myriads of grasshoppers were heard, but on closing the
left ear there was perfect silence: opening the left ear and closing the right ear,
the sound was heard as loud as ever. The difference, where it exists, may readily

be noticed by listening to the ticking of a watch. The cause, probably, ariscs
from habitually sleeping on the right side.

8 Tight and Sound. [Jan.,

spreads out to form the retina, upon the terminal filaments of which
are scattered minute bodies, the so-called “rods and cones.” Upon
these bodies the luminous waves impinge, and it is considered pro-
bable that each accepts only that vibration which synchronizes with
its own: in other words, that the perception of light arises from
sympathetic vibration.* If this be the case, we should expect that
the range of vision would, like hearing, fall within certain limits of
pitch. This is well known to be the fact. Albeit the limit of
vision is much more restricted than the limit of hearing; for with
the utmost care we are unable to perceive vibrations of the ether
beyond the range of an octave; that is, from the solar line 4 to L
of the spectrum (see Plate). This extent needs, indeed, a practised
eye; ordinarily the range corresponds to the interval termed a
sixth in music, that is from the red to the violet extremity of the
spectrum. ‘The lower limit of vision, the extreme red, is produced
by ethereal waves recurring 458 millions of millions of times each
second; if the undulations be slower than this, they are invisible.
The higher limit of vision, the extreme violet, is produced by lumini-
ferous waves recurring 727 millions of millions of times each second ;
if faster, they do not excite the sense of sight. Inconceivable as
is this rapidity, these figures are not hypothetical, nor merely
probable; they express absolute facts incontestably established.

Like the limits of hearing, so these limits of vision vary slightly
with different individuals ; some people are capable of seeing farther
beyond the red and not so far into the violet, whilst the converse is
true with others. Hence, beyond the shadow of a doubt, certain
sounds and certain lights perceived by some persons are totally
unperceived by others. And when we pass from human beings to
the larger animalson the one hand, and to insects on the other, we
doubtless have the range both of hearing and of vision considerably
extended. We are not aware that the limits of vision in animals
have ever been studied; but analogy and experience lead us to
suppose that it differs from our own in many cases. Assuming that
the perception of light is due to a sympathetic vibration of the
filaments of the retina, it merely needs that these filaments should
be capable of vibrating only the one hundred millionth of a millionth
per second slower, and what we call black heat would be perceived
as light: and if these filaments could vibrate the same amount
faster, what we call the actinic or invisible chemical rays beyond
the violet would become directly visible. Now it is highly im-
probable that the retina of every animal in creation should be, as it
were, tuned to the same pitch as ours; and if this be so, then forces
unrecognized by our senses are perceptible elsewhere.

The structure of the ear in a calf points to the conclusion

* This suggestion was first made, we believe, by Melloni, in his ‘La Ther-
mochrose.’

a

1870. | Light and Sound. 9

that only the lowest sounds can be audible to that animal, but
that its lower limit of hearing is beneath ours.* This is consistent
with the doleful sounds made by that creature. Happily therefore
for themselves, the lowing of cattle obviously produces a totally
different impression upon their kindred to that which it produces
upon us. Moreover, movements unheard by us are probably per-
ceived as sound by them. Ifthis be so at the lower limit of hearing,
may not similar instances occur at the higher limit? It is perfectly
conceivable, nay likely, that many insects produce and hear sounds
far beyond our cognizance. And it would be most interesting to
ascertain whether the organs of hearing in a bat, for example, or a
grasshopper, correspond to the shrill sounds they produce.

Returning for one moment to the illustration of the sympathetic
sounding of a piano, we find that when its strings are thrown into
vibration the motion takes time to subside. Hence we should
expect to find a lingering in our perception of both light and
sound, after the exciting cause had ceased. ‘This is exactly what
occurs. The retention of ight upon the retina amounts to 75th
of a second. ‘This retention causes a luminous point in rapid
motion to appear as a line; the successive impressions blend into
one. We cannot perceive as distinct from each other flashes of
light that succeed each other at shorter intervals than the ~>th of a
second apart. Similarly our ear cannot distinguish between a suc-
cession of similar sounds that follow each other at shorter intervals
than the ~;th of a second. Like the blending into one of the
colours on a spinning-top, the separate sounds link themselves
together and constitute a musical note.

Radiant sound and light being both wave-motions, many laws
are found common to both. When light falls upon a body it is
either transmitted, absorbed, reflected, refracted, or inflected. The
same phenomena can be observed when we substitute sound for light.
Let us briefly examine this remarkable series of analogies.

§ 4. Transmission or Light anp Sounp.

Through transparent bodies light is transmitted freely. But
if a series of transparent substances, each alternately differing in
density, be placed together, the progress of light is obstructed, and
may even be altogether stopped. Thus a perfectly transparent
block of glass, if reduced to powder, is perfectly opaque. Air, a
medium of different density, now intervenes between the particles
of glass, and the light echoed, as it were, from particle to particle
is so weakened that it cannot struggle through.

In the same way sound in its passage is enfeebled, or even
obliterated, if it pass through several media of alternately varying

* Savart: ‘ Annales de Chimie et de Physique.’

10 Light and Sound. | Jan.,

density. Wood transmits sound perfectly well, so does air, but
if the wood be reduced to sawdust, sound is no longer transmitted.
Thus cotton-wool deadens sound. Solid glass, salt, and ice, and
all transparent solids. transmit ight and sound; reduced to powder,
they are opaque both to sound and light. A glass of water trans-
mits both light and sound, so does carbonic acid gas; but if the
two be mixed, as in soda-water, a mixture nearly opaque to both
light and sound is the result. By tapping a glass of soda-water
during and after the effervescence the sound effect can readily be
heard. The bubbles of gas break up the continuity of the water
and render the sound emitted by the glass dull; when the bubbles
have escaped, the ringing note of the glass returns. The same
effect occurs in gaseous media. Humboldt, when journeying upon
the plains of the Orinoco, noticed that columns of alternately hot
and cold air enfeebled the passage of sound just as they lessened
the passage of light. In the same way through fog, sound, like
light, is propagated with extreme difficulty. The cause of this
arises from the particles of water that are then suspended in the
atmosphere, and by their presence produce variations of density.

It has too been generally noticed that a good hearing day pre-
cedes wet weather, and before a wet day we generally notice the
atmosphere becomes remarkably clear. This clearness has by an
eminent physicist * been attributed to the fact that on ordinary
days our atmosphere contains innumerable spores or germs floating
in the air. At the approach of wet weather the little germs absorb
the moisture, they become heavier and sink to the ground; thus
the atmosphere is cleared from these solid particles which at the
same time obstructed the free transmission of light, and interfered
with the free transmission of sound.

§ 5. Apsorption oF Licut anp Sounp.

A. black glass, or a black surface like velvet, absorbs the light
that falls upon it. The light, as already observed, becomes trans-
lated into heat in the absorbing body. Woollen textures, curtains,
and the like, are to sound what a dark glass is to light. Such
obstacles stop the progress of the sonorous pulses, and also convert
what was sound into heat. In the case of light there is further a
selective absorption of certain rays; this gives rise to the colour of
a body. Such selective absorption is a molecular act, probably due
to the synchronism between certain luminous waves and the oscilla-
tions of the particles in their path. Hence selective absorption can
only exist when there is a mixture of waves from which to select.
Transferring these ideas from particles to a body as a whole, a
corresponding selective absorption exists when there is a complex

* De La Rive.

1870. | Light and Sound. ii

source of sound. If a bundle of different tuning-forks be struck,
sonorous pulses of varying length will be emitted. Allowing this
composite pulsation to fall on a single quiescent fork, only that
pulse, which corresponds to the rate of vibration of the fork, will be
absorbed, and by this means the hitherto silent fork will be thrown
into vibration.

§ 6. Reriection or Lignt anp Sounp.

This is one of the best known, and at the same time one of the
closest analogies between light and radiant sound.

When a beam of light, 1, falls wpon a polished surface, m m, it
rebounds in the same plane, and at an equal angle on the other
side of an imaginary perpendicu- Re
lar, p, drawn from the surface of Ee,
the mirror. This is expressed by ; . i
saying the angle of reflexion is
equal to the angle of incidence. oe |
The same law is rigorously true .
for sound. It is easy to observe
this reflexion from the sides of a
cliff, a blank wall, or the roofs of ~
churches. Echo is due to this reflexion of sound. Standing be-
tween two parallel mirrors, successive and gradually fainter reflexions
of the body will be seen. The same is true with regard to sound, as
can be observed when speaking between two perpendicular walls,
sufficiently distant from each other.

Under certain conditions light is “internally or totally reflected,”
as it is termed ; that is, at a considerable obliquity of incidence light
cannot emerge from a dense medium into a rarer one: this may be
well observed when a glass rod is made red hot at one end, the
distant extremity glows by internal reflexion. In the same manner
sound can be internally reflected. When a sound made under
water strikes the surface of the water very obliquely, the greater
part of the sound is unable to escape into the air, owing to the total
reflexion occurring at the upper surface of the water.*

With curved reflectors sound is affected in the same way as
light. A sound-focus or a sound-image may be obtained by a con-
cave reflector. ‘The following lecture illustration of this fact was
shown by the writer two years ago at the Royal Society of Dublin.
Two parabolic mirrors ss were placed as in Fig. 3. At c, in the
focus of, s,a watch is suspended; in the conjugate focus c’ of
the other mirror, s, a sensitive flame was caused to burn. ‘The
flame moves at the slightest sound. The light rays rr from

y
ae A

N\
/
“YZ

TA

* This fact has been established by the experiments of Colladon and Sturm on
the Lake of Geneva.

12 Light and Sound. [Jan,

the flame are rendered parallel by s and converged upon the watch
by s, where a brilliant spot of ight is seen. Similarly the sound-
waves from the ticking of the watch follow the opposite course,

Fig. 3.

—,--§-----------------------—-----— —-—~---——- --——- —-- — — --— —- - ~~ -- - -- ----

SS en ee Se

and an acoustic focus is cast upon the flame. The flame throbs
in exact time with the beats of the watch. Moving the watch
or the flame nearer together places them out of the focus, and the
flame by its stillness announces the fact.

It is easy for any one to repeat this experiment with very
homely apparatus. Circular dish-covers of earthenware or metal
may be used as mirrors, and for the flame may be substituted a
little funnel with a short tube leading to the ear.

§ 7. Rerraction oF Ligor AnD Sounp.

Light on passing from a dense medium to a rare one, or vice
versa, 18 bent out of its original course. So also is sound. Light
may by refraction be converged and focussed by lenses. Sound-
lenses may also be made.* Filling a thin india-rubber balloon with
a dense gas, like carbonic acid, a double convex acoustic lens is
produced. By means of such an arrangement divergent sound
rays, from, for example, the ticking of a watch, can be converged
and focussed. Placing a sensitive flame in the focus, this refrac-
tion of sound may be rendered apparent to a large audience.

§ 8. Iyriection oF LigHt anp Sounp.

This is an effect produced upon divergent waves merely by the
presence of an obstacle in their path. When a sea-wave meets an
isolated rock it breaks, spreads itself around the rock, and clasps
itself again at a short distance behind. Thus only comparative rest
is found behind such a breakwater. Similarly a sonorous wave
meeting an obstacle, say a large pillar, girdles the pillar and thus

* As first demonstrated by Sondhauss.

1870. | Light and Sound. 13

partially destroys the sound-shadow which such a pillar would other-
wise throw. In former time it was urged that if light be a wave-
motion, there ought also to be inflection and only partial shade behind
an opaque object. The inflection of light has since been discovered ;
light does slightly encroach, in the form of fringes, upon the shadow
cast by an object. Nevertheless, owing to the rectilinear propaga-
tion of hight, shadow is a characteristic feature of light. Is there
an analogous sound-shadow? ‘There is, notwithstanding inflection.
If we pass close beside a church, the bells of which are ringing, we
shall notice that on coming beneath the tower we enter a region,
nearer the source of sound, yet where the sound is very perceptibly
less audible; and as we gradually emerge from this acoustic shadow
the sound grows louder. So also when listening to an approaching
train, as it is occasionally hidden from view, accompanying sound-
shadows flit across the ear. And in a more elastic medium than
air, such as water, sound-shadows would, necessarily, be more
intense and sharply defined.

§ 9. Harmony or Coztour anp Music.

It is in this division of our subject that we find a wide-spread
and tacit acceptance of the analogy of light and sound. We instinc-
tively criticize in like terms the works of a painter and a musician.
We speak of the harmonious blending cf colours in a picture, as we
do of the chords in a musical composition. We compare, apparently
without reason, the order of colours in a rainbow to the notes of the
gamut. Like Locke’s blind man who said scarlet was to him as
the deep sound of a trumpet, we think of red as a low note, of blue
as ahigh one. We find, as a rule, that good taste in art goes hand-
in-hand with good taste in music; hence a large number of eminent .
painters have been excellent musicians.* All this points to the
fact that pleasure given to the eye or ear evokes similar mental
impressions,

Now the question arises, Has all this esthetic oneness of colour
and music any physical foundation, over and above that general
analogy we have so far traced between light and sound? We believe
the following considerations will show not only that it has some
foundation, but that the analogy is far more wonderful than has
hitherto been suspected.

Let us take as our standard of colours the series given by the
disintegration of white light, the so-called spectrum. As our stand-
ard of musical notes let us take the natural or diatonic scale. We
may justly compare the two: for the former embraces all possible
gradations of simple colours, and the latter a similar gradation of
notes of varying pitch.

* Omitting many living painters, of whom this is true, it is sufficient to name

Tintorretto, Caracci, Salvator Rosa, Dominichino, Guido Reni, Leonardo da Vinci;
and Rubens also is said to have been passionately fond of music.

s

14 | Light and Sound. | Jan.,

Further, the succession of colours in the spectrum is perfectly
harmonious to the eye. Their invariable order is red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo, violet. Any other arrangement of these colours
is less enjoyable. Likewise the succession of notes in the scale is
the most agreeable that can be found. The order is C, D, HK, F,
G, A, B.* Any attempt to ascend or descend the entire scale by
another order is disagreeable. The order of colours given in the
spectrum is exactly the order of luminous wave-lengths, decreasing
from red to violet. The order of notes in the scale is also exactly
the order of sonorous wave-lengths, decreasing from C to B.

The interval of wave-lengths embraced between the extreme
colours of the visible spectrum is ordinarily as the ratio of 1:0-57,
corresponding to the interval known as a seventh in music. But
the writer is well informed that by proper means further limits can
be seen, 222. from what is known as the solar line A to the solar
line L.t (See upper figure in Plate: L is not shown.) The wave-
length of A is 76, and of Lis 38 hundred-thousandths of a milli-
métre, or as the ratio of 1:0°50, corresponding to the interval of
an octave in music, or just the range of the scale.

Arbitrarily placing C under the colour at the solar line A, wiz.
a deep brownish red, then the octave higher of C would fall under
whatever colour is found at the solar line L, viz. a lavender grey.
Now comes this important question, Are the intermediate colowrs
of the spectrum produced by vibrations that bear a definite ratio to
the vibrations giving rise to the intermediate notes of the scale?
According to our knowledge up to this time, apparently not.

In an ingenious little work by Dr. Macdonald, before alluded to,
an attempt has been made to establish this analogy indirectly ; {
but if direct comparison fails, it is useless to push the matter
farther. Newton himself sought for this analogy between note
and colours, but he only found the relative spaces occupied by each
colour in the spectrum to be similar to the relative intervals of
musical notes. This is, obviously, a false analogy. We must
compare wave-lengths of light with wave-lengths of sound; not,
of course, their actual lengths, but the ratzo of one to the other.

Until very recently it has been impossible to do this accurately.
New maps of wave-lengths of the different parts of the spectrum
have, however, of late appeared.§ Let us reduce the newest and
best determinations of wave-lengths to a common ratio, and com-

* The fact that Newton saw seven colours in the spectrum, and there are seven
notes in the scale, is only an accident; the number of colours, or tints, entirely
depends on the judgment of the observer.

+ This is on the authority of Mr. Crookes, who has on favourable occasions seen
the spectrum extending this length, where a quartz train of lenses and prisms was
aie ie a pity this brochure of Dr. Macdonald’s is so disfigured by its typo-
graphy, it is also too speculative and dogmatic.

The most recent by Thalen. ‘Transactions of Royal Society of Upsala, 3rd
Series, vol. vi.; also ‘ Annales de Chimie et de Physique,’ Oct., 1869.

1870.] Light and Sound. 15

pare the result with the wave-lengths of the notes of the scale
reduced to the same ratio. Here are the limits of wave-lengths of
the different colours of the spectrum as most carefully determined by
Prof. Listing.* In the third column the writer has added the mean
wave-length of each colour, and in the fourth column the ratio of one
colour to another, taking the mean wave-length of red as 100.

TABLE OF WAVE-LENGTHS OF COLOURS IN THE SPECTRUM.
WAVE-LENGTHS: IN MILLIONTHS OF A MILLIMETRE.

ESE -

Name. Limit. Mean. Ratio.
FRG seh xe, hee 728. to G47. ae 685 fe 100
Orange .. .. 647 to 586 oe 616 aa 89
Vellow? "i209" so S66 to dad ae 560 zs 81
Green Yi 4s deo to 492 ie ala an 79
Bless oon 220 492) to 455 sis 473 sf 69
Indigo... .. 455 to 424 wn 439 “G 64
Violet 424 to 397 410 60

Here next is a table giving the middle notes of the scale, their
wave-lengths, and their reduction to a common ratio, taking C as 100.

TABLE OF WAVE-LENGTHS OF NOTES OF SCALE,
Wave-length

Name. in inches. Ratio.
Ops e 52 100
iD ue 461 89
Hi, 42 80
Beeps 39 79
Ge. 35 67
2s tal 31 60
Bis: 272 53
Cl: 26 50

Putting together the two ratios, the following remarkable cor-
respondence at once comes out :—

RATIO OF WAVE-LENGTHS OF NoTES COMPARED TO RATIO OF WAVE-LENGTHS

OF COLOURS.

Notes. Ratio. Colours, Ratio.
CH. . 100 bd sae UCI Skt eg ee LOO
Dis. 89 Baek icais Orange Sap ears.
io gargs 80 cae, ae Vellowis ae 9.2 SL
ig: 75 BaD cy Greene. Td
G.... 67 Beth pete Blue and mae 67

(mean) :
fee ee 60 LAacane Wiolete ke) a. se) GO
Lier 53 on Ae [Ultra violet .. 53]
GAs 50 EN (POpscnre.. wee. <> BO]

Assuming the note © to correspond to the colour red, then we
find D exactly corresponds to orange, E to yellow, and F to green.
Blue and indigo, being difficult to localize, or even distinguish in
the spectrum, they are put together: their mean exactly corre-
sponds to the note G. Violet would then exactly correspond to

* Poggendorff’s * Annalen,’ vol], cxxxi., p. 564.

16 Light and Sound. [Jan.,

the ratio given by the note A. The colours having now ceased,
the ideal position of B and the upper C in the spectrum are calculated
from the musical ratios. This coincidence, as unexpected as it is
perfect, is represented in the two upper figures on the Plate.*

Had space permitted, we should have ventured to trace out to
some extent this common harmony of colour and sound. All we
can do is to point out a few suggestions that occur at once.

Every one knows that the juxtaposition of two colours nearly
alike is bad, and it is well known that two adjacent notes of the
scale sounded together produce discord. Selecting and sounding
together two different notes we may produce either discord or
harmony; so with the juxtaposition of certain colours, either
pleasurable or painful effects are produced. Thus—the notes D and
E, together, are bad; so are orange and yellow when contrasted.
C and G harmonize perfectly, so do red and blue. C and F is an
excellent interval, so is the combination of red and green. Now,
on referring to the Plate, it will be seen that the foregoing notes
exactly underlie those very colours that we have named with them.

But, further, it is possible to obtain a real optical expression of
the musical intervals.t| By refiecting a beam of light from one
vibrating tuning fork to another placed at right angles, curves of
light are obtained, which vary according to the combination of forks
we select.: The most perfect harmony, viz. two notes in unison,
gives the simplest curve—a circle. The next most harmonious
interval, an octave and its fundamental note, gives the figure of 8;
the next, the interval of a fifth, gives a more complete figure, and
soon. The complexity augmenting as the ie lessens. Some
of these curves are shown on the lower figure in the Plate. By
the side of each curve is put the musical notes from which it was
derived, and for the sake of comparison the colours which would
correspond to each interval are also brought down. It will be
seen that harmony runs throughout.

A musical chord thus becomes both a representative picture,
and an acoustic painting, whilst the musical scale is literally a
rainbow of sound. It is hardly too much to say that we might
possibly translate into a musical melody a sunset, a flower, or a
painting by a Rubens or a Raphael.t

But here let us check our imagination. We have throughout
the foregoing article endeavoured to avoid overstating the analogy.
Let us now be careful lest we become victims of the “ zdola tribus,”
lest we strive to impose on nature a greater degree of simplicity
than her facts will justify.

* There will be noticed over the spectrum on the Plate ascale of actual wave-
lengths, by which the remarkable but natural crowding together of the colours at
the red end is well seen.

+ First accomplished by M. Lissajous.

+ On this subject an able article by Mr. C. Seth Smith, recently appeared in
the ‘ Builder.’

be wien

1870. | Ny ae

II. ON THE PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF
SEWAGE IRRIGATION,

=A KWAGE utilization is perhaps one of
the most hotly-debated subjects of the
day, and frequent references to it have
from time to time appeared in the
pages of this Journal. These will be
found repeatedly in the Chronicles of
Science (Agriculture), and in two ar-
ticles, entitled respectively “Sewage
and Sewerage,”* and “On the appli-
cation of Sewage to the Soil,”} wherein
\| the progress made in the development
| of works for sewage irrigation purposes
has been recorded. Our present object
is to give a brief account of the best
means for carrying out irrigation works
| for the disposal of town sewage, and
of the laying out of lands preparatory
to the application of sewage, so far as they can be deduced from the
results of past experiments, and from works hitherto constructed
and brought into operation in different parts of the United King-
dom. We shall, however, preface our remarks on the above-named
subjects by a reference to one or two points in connection with
them, with the view to show that the present movement in favour
of utilizing our town sewage is but the revival of a practice of great
antiquity, which, owing to numerous causes, has, for many cen-
turies, been abandoned and perhaps forgotten.

The recognized power of earth to act as a disinfectant may first
be traced to the Mosaic lawgiver, but it is not improbable that it
was applied to that purpose before the departure of the Israelites
from Egypt, and that the injunction for it to be so used whilst they
were on their wanderings was but a law for the observance of a
then well-known sanitary precaution. The filth of Jerusalem was,
it is recorded, at one time burnt in an oven in the valley of Hinnom,
which also served for human sacrifices, and was called “tophet, :
from “toph,” a drum, used on such occasions to drown the cries of
the victims. Ata later period, however, when the Mosaic religion
was restored, the Temple purified and rebuilt, and the country began
to prosper under the protectorate of powerful neighbouring nations,
large sewers and aqueducts were constructed, which still exist,
owing to the fact of their being cut in the solid rock upon which
the city was built. Eusebius, who was a native of that country,

* * Quarterly Journal of Science,’ 1866, p. 180. + Ibid., 1867, p. 357.
VOL. VII. C

18 ; On the Principles and Methods | Jan.,

and died about the year 340, mentions Timocrates, the surveyor of
Syria, by whom the city was throughout provided with water. The
water used for flooding the court of the Temple, to wash away the
offal and blood of the sacrifices, drained into a pit, now called “ The
Fountain of the Virgin;” from whence, after mingling with the town
sewage, it was conducted to a second one, now called the Pool of
Siloam—but which, it is thought, is not the one formerly known by
that name— and thence to the king’s garden, for purposes of irriga-
tion. These pits served, no doubt, as settling-tanks to collect the
solid matter; and thus, in their general arrangement, we can per-
haps trace the earliest recorded attempts at utilizing sewage, and
one which, so far as our information goes, does not appear to have
differed materially from the most approved practice of the present
day.

"The difficulty in getting rid of night-soil and refuse im large
towns by any other method has necessitated the adoption of
sewers and water-carriage for that purpose, and with our present
knowledge on the subject it does not appear probable that sewers
will ever be superseded. “It matters not,” remarked Mr. Bailey
Denton in a recent letter to ‘The Times’* newspaper, “ whether the
earth-closet system of excretal sewerage gains ground in places
where advantageous circumstances suggest its adoption, sewers
must exist in every place where habitations are congregated toge-
ther, whether it be a city or a village, for the discharge of liquid
refuse from the chamber, the bath, and the kitchen, independently
of the excrements of the closet, which form in reality but a small
proportion of the entire refuse of the dwelling.” The introduction
of sewers in places has, as might naturally be expected, led to their
being used also as drains, and the result appears to have been satis-
factory, although the reports by the Medical Officer of the Privy
Council tend to show “that where a system of separating the sew-
age of dwellings from the water of the soil on which they stand has
been adopted, and the sewerage and drainage can be discharged by
different channels, the maximum of success may be achieved.” On
the other hand, Mr. Denton states that “wherever sewerage and
drainage—which have different sanitary effects, and ought to be
distinct operations—have not been carried out together, intention-
ally or accidentally, the operations have failed, more or less, in the
purposes for which they were designed.”

The mixture of water with sewage is looked upon by some
agriculturists as a great drawback to its application. Apart, how-
ever, from water-carriage being the cheapest, as well as the most
convenient form of removing the sewage of towns, it is of value in
distributing it, and enables the operation of spreading solid manure
over the face of the earth, which must otherwise take place, to be

* «Times, October 28, 1869.

1870. | of Sewage Irrigation. 19

dispensed with. By the process of irrigation, too, fertilizing matter
is distributed over the land with uniformity, and it is presented to
the plant in such a state that it is at once ready to be assimilated,
that is, it is at once food for the plant; the plant grows more ra-
pidly, the period of growth is greatly shortened, and, consequently,
we get a greater number of crops in a given period, under the
irrigation system, than could possibly be obtained under any pro-
cess of dry manuring. The quantity of water mixed with the solid
matters in the ordinary sewage of towns is very great, and it has
been estimated that, including rainfall, 350 parts of water are em-
ployed in removing one part of excrement; thus the sewage is
delivered to the land in a very diluted state, but, as has been
proved by results, by no means too weak for useful application.
The strength of pure sewage would be far too much for vegetation,
and, instead of improving it, would tend utterly to destroy it; but
thus diluted it is reduced to a state in which it appears to be most
readily absorbed by the earth, and thence taken up by plants as it
is required for their nourishment.

In order to meet the requirements of local circumstances, where
land is not available for purposes of irrigation, attempts have from
time to time been made to separate the solid particles from the
fluid, the former bemg made into a species of artificial manure,
whilst the latter is allowed to pass away into the most convenient
channel for its escape. The value of the manurial ingredients held
in solution, being to that contained in the solid portions as six to
one, the great fertilizer ammonia also being afloat in the liquid
portion, it is not to be wondered at that these experiments have
invariably failed, and the works erected for carrying out the
different processes have, almost without exception, been abandoned.
After filtration, the general plan has been to mix the solid residuum
with dry rubbish, town ashes, charcoal, or other bases for forming
a solid substance; the unwillingness, however, of farmers to pur-
chase this manure at a remunerative price to the manufacturers,.
and often their refusal to pay for it at all, necessarily led to the
early closing of all works constructed for the purpose of its manu-
facture. .

In order to counteract the loss of valuable manurial ingredients
which, under the above processes, passed off with the liquid por-
tions of the sewage, recourse was next had to the use of chemical
reagents with the view of causing a precipitation of those fertilizing
ingredients which are held in solution, and for this purpose use
has been made of lime, sulphate of alumina, soluble phosphate of
magnesia, perchloride of iron, &c.; but as none of these have been
successful in causing a precipitation of ammonia, or any other
manuring substance, it is needless to enter here into any further
details regarding these experiments. Suffice it to ei no

C

20 On the Principles and Methods | Jan.,

attempt hitherto made to extract a useful manure from sewage
which could be applied in a solid form has proved anything but a
failure.

The Commission appointed by the British Association to report
“On the Treatment and Utilization of Sewage,” states, with refer-
ence to the treatment of liquid sewage, that at fifteen of the places
which are sewered, wholly or partially, the liquid sewage is sub-
jected to treatment either by allowing it to remain for a time in
settling-tanks, from which the deposit is occasionally removed, as
at Burton-on-Trent, Birmingham, Epsom, Farnham, and Andover,
or by filtermg, as at Uxbridge and Ealing. In eight stances
deodorizing materials are added, such as lime and carbolic acid, as
at Carlisle and Harrow. Lime alone is used at Leicester; lime
and chloride of lime at Luton ; perchloride of iron at Cheltenham ;
perchloride of iron and lime at N orthampton ; ferruginous clay
wetted with sulphuric acid at Stroud ; and at Leamington the lime
treatment has lately been superseded by the A, B, Cc, method pro-
posed by Messrs. Sillar and Wigner. By this treatment the
sewage is clarified, and a deposit is separated which is sold as
manure.

In regard to the effects thus produced, it is stated that at
Leicester the sewage runs off as pure as ordinary rain-water; at
Ealing it is said to be free from smell, colourless, and harmless to
vegetable or animal life; at Stroud and Luton the effect is stated
to be satisfactory ; at Harrow the nuisance is said to be somewhat
mitigated ; and at Abergavenny the stench is said to be abated by
the treatment of the sewage; at Bury St. Edmunds upward filtra-
tion through charcoal and gypsum has been abandoned in fayour of
costly irrigation; at Banbury treatment of the sewage has failed ;
at Hereford, where it was proposed to be adopted, it has not been
tried on the score of expense; at Tunbridge it is about to be tried ;
and at Hastings and Cambridge experiments are being made. ;

With regard to the relative advantages of solid and liquid
manure, supposing even that all the fertilizing properties of sewage
could be retained in a solid form, we cannot perhaps do better than
to quote the following extract from the ‘ Minutes of the General
Board of Health relating to Drainage and Sewerage of Towns, &c.,
1852, by whom the question seems to have been satisfactorily set
at rest :—“ It is established by wide general experience that drained
land does not deteriorate, but increases in fertility, and maintains
its increased fertility from year to year, though washed through
and through by all heavy falls of rain carried away by the drains.
The rationale of this fact was displayed in the experiments prose-
cuted by Professor Way, which show that upon the application of
manures in the liquid form the fertilizmg elements do not escape
through the soil, but are retained by it chemically. On the other

1870. ] of Sewage Irrigation. 21

hand, where manures are applied as top-dressings in the solid form,
it is proved by experience that after heavy showers of rain the solid
manure is washed away, bodily as it were, into the ditches and
watercourses; so that whilst the outfalls from land top-dressed
and undrained are turbid with the matter carried away, and com-
plained of as a nuisance, the outfalls from drained land, richly
manured with the liquid, discharge pellucid streams.”

Liquid sewage has a special value distinct from the fertilizing
matter it contains, and also from the water that transports it; and
this is its temperature. The value of this peculiar property cannot
be over-estimated in a country similar to this, in which extreme
changes of atmospheric temperature often take place suddenly, and
injuriously affect both plants and animals, and this is more particu-
larly demonstrated in the depth of winter and during long and con-
tinuous frosts. “It is a rather remarkable circumstance,” observes
Mr. Baldwin Latham, “that when the greatest degree of tempera-
ture is required the sewage possesses it, that is, the temperature of
sewage has been found by the author to increase with the period
of duration of frost. This is probably owing to the stagnation of
surface-water, and also to the habits of the people, as much less
cold water is used in the depth of winter than at other times. So
great is the value of temperature, that a crop under sewage irriga-
tion may be seen growing eyen at the time of a severe frost.”

It does not appear that there exist any soils to which sewage
irrigation may not be beneficially applied. That portion of the
Craigentinny Meadows at Edinburgh known as Figgate Whinns,
consists of absolutely pure sand, whilst the soil of other parts is a
good loam passing into a strong clay; the former, which was
originally worthless, now produces grass crops which sell at
from 20/. to 287. per acre per annum, thus showing that no land
can be too poor for profitable cultivation where liquid sewage is
obtainable in sufficient quantity. A larger amount of sewage
is required for light than for heavy soils, particularly during the
first year of its application; and clay appears of all others to possess
the peculiar property of separating the manurial ingredients more
completely, and of retaining them better, than any other soil, and
it is consequently found that the crops grown are much heavier,
and that altogether clay soils produce a far better result than those
of a light, sandy nature. Gravelly soils require a certain time to
become thoroughly saturated with the sewage, and absorb it
greedily while the operation is in progress.

The value of a good system of drainage in all agricultural land
is sufficiently understood at the present day; but if it be beneficial
under ordinary circumstances, it is absolutely necessary where irri-
gation is adopted, especially in heavy soils. “I have no doubt,”
says Mr. Denton, in the letter above referred to, “that in cases of

22 On the Principles and Methods | Jan.,

sewage applied by way of irrigation to the surface of undrained
clay land, or to water-logged free soil lacking natural drainage, the
earth will become sodden, and liable to create a malaria; but with
a perfect system of under-drainage (designed with relation to surface
irrigation) at the first description of soil, and natural drainage in
the second, sewage-irrigated land may be rendered perfectly harm-
less.” From time to time complaints have been raised that land
irrigated with sewage-water was offensive to the surrounding
neighbourhood ; the observations of the British Association Com-
mission, however, tend to prove that in most cases the application
of the sewage for irrigation has not been attended with any apparent
change in the sanitary condition of the district, whilst in several —
instances there has been a marked improvement. Generally speak-
ing, too, no objection appears to have been made to the application
of sewage in this manner, and where such objections have been
made, on the ground that the application was offensive and in-
jurious, they do not appear to have been supported by medical
authorities, and in several instances they have ceased. .

The quantity of sewage that may be applied with advantage to
an irrigated area in the course of the year has been closely investi-
gated by Mr. Latham, and as the results of his calculations agree
entirely with the experience obtained at Croydon, and with the
experiments made by the Sewage Commission, we give them here
as being probably the closest approximation to exactness yet ob-
tained. Where it is considered desirable to apply as much sewage
as will be sufficient for the growth of a grass crop, without drawing
on the resources of the soil, 3645 tons of sewage per acre per
annum will be required to grow 30 tons of grass, 4860 tons of
sewage for a crop of 40 tons of grass, and 6075 tons for one of 50
_ tons of grass. If, however, the soil will provide half the potash
required, then, to grow 30 tons of grass per acre, there will be
required 1837 tons of sewage; to grow 40 tons of grass per acre,
2450 tons of sewage; and to grow 50 tons of grass per acre, 3062
tons of sewage. As 40 tons of grass per acre may be considered as
easy of production on a properly-regulated irrigated area, and as it
would not be desirable to exhaust the soil of any of its constituents,
Mr. Latham considers that 4860 tons per acre may be said to be
the right amount of sewage, and this closely assimilates with the
conclusions arrived at by the Sewage Commission, who reported
that 5000 tons of sewage per acre per annum was the right amount
to apply im order to get the greatest results.

The actual value of town sewage yet remains, to a certain
extent, an open question, but it may be accepted as a universal
rule, that only under the most exceptionally favourable circum-
stances can the sale of it afford any adequate return upon the cost
of constructing sewage works; so that, however profitable its use

1870. | of Sewage Irrigation. 23

may be to the farmer, it cannot be relied upon as a source of much
income to the town whence it is obtained. The theoretical value
of sewage has been calculated by some of our most eminent
chemists and others, and the results arrived at vary from ld. to
upwards of 2d. per ton. Practically, however, it has been found
that this is too high, and that its real value—that is to say, the
price which a farmer could afford to pay for it—does not exceed
from $d. to 1d. per ton, and in estimating the probable returns from
the sale of sewage it will always be safer to adopt the lower figure.
| The cost of the application of sewage for irrigating land appears

to be dependent on a number of local conditions, and, consequently,
to vary considerably. It would seem, from the data collected by
-the Commission appointed by the British Association, that in many
instances the outlay requisite for this purpose would exceed what a
farmer could be expected to incur, and that in such cases, at least,
it would be proper to regard this outlay as coming under two
distinct heads, wz. that which a town may reasonably be expected
to bear for the mere object of getting rid of its refuse, and that
which a landowner or farmer may be able to incur for the improve-
ment of his land. It is probable that when viewed in this light
the application of liquid sewage to land would become a source of
revenue to towns only under special favourable circumstances, but
that, in opposition to the opmions which have been somewhat
hastily formed in certain cases, it will more frequently entail some
amount of expenditure on the towns themselves. At the same
time the benefit to land and the improvement in the condition of
rivers to be realized by this mode of dealing with liquid sewage
can scarcely be matter of doubt or uncertainty any longer.

For carrying out a system of irrigation it is necessary, of
course, that the sewage should, in the first place, be brought by
channels or drains to the neighbourhood of the fields to be irrigated,
where the more solid parts are separated from the liquid by allow-
ing it to settle for a time, or, as is more generally the case, by a
coarse system of filtration. For the distribution of the liquid, four
different methods have been applied, wiz.: 1. That known as the
hose and jet system. 2. Sub-irrigation, or the distribution of
the fiuid below the surface of the ground. 3. By means of surface
channels. And, 4. By total submersion. In deciding, however,
which is the best system for distributing sewage, two things should
be kept in view: the first is that all arrangements for its distribu-
tion should be as simple and inexpensive as possible; and the
second, that owing to the constant quantity of sewage to be dealt
with, the arrangements must be capable of being worked at all
times and seasons. With these preliminary remarks we proceed
now to describe briefly the principles upon which the different
methods of distribution, above referred to, are carried out.

24 On the Principles and Methods | Jan.,

1. The Hose and Je& System.—The fatal objection to this
system is that it is not capable of application at all seasons. In
laying out works for the purpose, the sewage must, in the first
instance, be brought into the field by means of underground pipes,
which must also be laid in a sort of network over the whole grounds
to be manured, to which pipes with couplings or hydrants for
attaching a hose are fixed at certain points (see Vignette). In all cases
where the hose and jet system is applied, the sewage must be deli-
vered under pressure to enable it to be distributed over the field at a
considerable altitude above its surface, as well as to overcome the
friction in the pipes, and a head of from 10 to 12 feet is necessary
where the sewage is delivered by the force of gravitation. Where
a natural fall cannot be obtamed, pumping becomes necessary, and
this adds considerably to the cost. One great objection to the hose
and jet system is that sewage cannot be applied to crops by it
except at the earliest stages of their growth, owing to the necessity
for dragging long lengths of hose over the land; it is therefore
quite inadmissible when the crop has grown to any considerable
height. Besides, by this mode of application the sewage is sprinkled
over the crops, falling upon them as a shower, instead of being
applied to the roots, which, though it would be unimportant and ©
harmless were pure water only used, becomes actually injurious to
vegetation in the case of sewage irrigation, by leaving certain de-
posits upon the leaves and stems of plants, which clog their pores
and check growth. The system has enjoyed a partial success on
the farms of Mr. Alderman Mechi and Mr. Nelson, but at Rugby,
and other places, it has totally failed, and been abandoned. Mr.
Rawlinson has stated that it would cost more to distribute 500 tons
of sewage per acre by the hose and jet than it would to apply
5000 tons by surface channels.

2. Sub-Irrigation—Under this system porous pipes, or tubes
perforated with small holes, are laid under the ground at such a
depth as to be beyond the reach of the plough, through which the
sewage-water is forced. In some instances the pipes that are used
for drainage may be made use of for this purpose by merely stop-
ping up their outlets during the time that they may be required
for irrigation, by which means the water will be dammed back
until it reaches the upper stratum of the earth and the roots of
the plants. This system has been practised in Switzerland to a
limited extent; it is, however, expensive, and is open to the objec-
tion that it tends to raise the water in the land to the level of the
soil, and the earth thus becomes water-logged, in addition to which
it is attended with a great waste of fertilizing matter owing to the
depth at which the sewage is delivered below the surface, a part
of it gravitating still lower into the earth, and only a portion
reaching the roots of the plants.

1870. | of Sewage Irrigation. 25

3. Surface Channels.—For the purpose of distributing sewage
by means of open carriers, or surface channels, it may, if desirable,
be brought to the head of every field in a covered channel, or it
may be permitted to flow through open ditches, as may be most
convenient. This system, which is the simplest and most effectual,
may be carried out in various ways, according to the configuration
of the land. By it sewage can be at all times applied to the plant,
as it merely runs in a thin film over the surface of the ground at
its root ; but in all cases it is necessary that the land be specially
prepared for the sewage by careful levelling, and otherwise accord-
ing to its natural contour. This may be done in three ways, which
are respectively known as the pane and gutter system, the catch-
work system, and the bed system. The pane and gutter system is
the best, and is admissible in all fields having a gentle rate of
inclination. The land under this system is laid out, transversely
between the open carriers that distribute the sewage, quite level ;
the sewage is brought to the head of the field in an open or covered
main carrier running transversely across it, or in the direction of
its least fall; the carriers for distributing the sewage branch out
from the main carriers and run down the field in the direction of
its greatest fall; the sewage is distributed over the intervening
space between the distributing carriers by means of stops or sluices
(see Fig. 1) being placed in the carriers, which dam back the

@o
sewage and make it flow right and left over the ground in a

|
ve the ia passes from the main carriers into the secondary

Fia. 2.

Pane and Gutter.

carriers at a (Fig. 2), which being dammed up at certain points
are caused to overflow, the surplus water being carried away by the

26 : On the Principles and Methods : [ Jan.,

discharging drains B. A fair slope for this plan is from 1 in 100 to
1 in 120, or thereabouts.

The catchwork system is suitable in all cases where the ground
has a rapid rate of inclination, as, for instance, on the side of a hill.
lt consists of a series of carriers one above another, as illustrated in
Fig. 3. The sewage, flowing into the first and highest carrier, falls
over the intervening land between it and the next lower carrier,
which then takes up the water to distribute it in the same way on
the land below it, and so in turn the process goes on till the bottom
of the field is reached.

Fic. 3.

Catchwork.

The sewage is first received at a, and flows over the ground to
B, thence to c, and it is finally conveyed away by the trough or
cafrier D. ‘The carriers in this case may be cut at a distance from
each other of from 35 to 40 feet. As to the slope itself, 1 in 12
would be found a good limit, although 1 in 4 or 5 has not been
considered too steep.

The bed system is well adapted for level lands, or where there
is but a slight fall. On this plan the land is laid out im a series of
ridges and furrows ; the sewage is admitted into carriers which run
along the summit of each ridge, and falls over the incline into the
furrow below. This will be readily understood from the annexed
plan and description, Fig. 4.

A represents the ridge carriers which receive the sewage from
the main carriers, running at right angles to them at the head of

Fic. 4.
A

Ridge and Furrow.

the field, and B shows the carriers in the furrows which are con-
nected with the discharging drains. The sides of the slopes are
carefully levelled to an inclination of about 1 in 120, and the ridges
may be placed at an average distance of from 30 to 80 feet apart,
according to the crop put into the ground.

1870. | of Sewage Irrigation. 27

4, Total Submersion.—The method of carrying out this system
is by raising a bank round the field to be irrigated, and then turn-
ing the water into it, where it is left until absorbed or evaporated,
being from time to time replenished as may be necessary. It is
extensively carried out in Piedmont and Lombardy in the cultiva-
tion of rice, and, unlike any other, it 1s the only system of irrigation
that is considered likely to affect the health of the imhabitants in
the immediate neighbourhood of its operation, its special drawback
being that it converts every field where it is practised into a swamp
of the worst possible description.

In conclusion, we may give the following short particulars re-
garding the selection of crops to be cultivated by sewage; on this
point, however, more experience is required, as, owing to the greater
facility by which it can be applied to grass, but few experiments
have been made for its use with other crops. Fast growing, succu-
lent grasses appear to be the favourite crops, and especially Italian
rye-grass, of which crops varying from 30 to 50 tons to the acre
may be obtained annually ; and on one occasion as much as 61 tons
were obtained in the year at the Lodge Farm, Barking. At Rugby
some experiments have been made in the growth of oats, and the
results reported to be of a most satisfactory nature. At Barking
a couple of roods of land were ploughed up, irrigated with sewage,
and sown with wheat; whilst a similar quantity of land, not
irrigated, was also sown. ‘The yield of the sewaged land was
exactly 14 time that of the land which was not so treated. Mangold
wurzel has been grown with excellent results at Chelmsford, and at
Barking the average return has been 50 tons per acre, just double
that grown upon unsewaged soil. Winter greens, lucerne, beet,
flax, celery, and cabbages have all been grown upon the farm at
Barking, and have produced returns beyond all expectation, the
onion being the only plant that evinced any repugnance at being
treated with sewage. |

Experience has now shown us that town sewage is not a
refuse, and that allowimg it to fall into the nearest rivers, or into
the sea, is nothing more nor less than wilful waste, to such an
extent as to amount to a national loss, to say nothing of the con-
sequent diminution of food which ensues by the destruction of fish.
Few towns are so situated as not to be able to dispose of a portion,
at least, if not the whole of their sewage upon adjoining lands, and
where this is the case no more economical plan for getting rid of
it has yet been devised. Where such accommodation is wanting
it may be found necessary to have recourse to some one or other of
the artificial means of deodorization to which we have already
referred ; for although attempts to extract, by this means, a really
valuable solid manure have hitherto proved unsuccessful, it would
be unreasonable to draw the conclusion that means will not, sooner

28 The Solar Eclipse of August last. | Jan.,

or later, be discovered whereby all the fertilizing properties of town
sewage may be separated from the water, and made available for
disposal in the shape of solid manure.

The following is a list of the works referred to in the foregoing
article :—

1. Reports of the Commission appointed to inquire into the best
mode of distributing the Sewage of Towns, and applying tt
to beneficial and profitable uses, dated March, 1858, August,
1861, and March, 1865. Printed by Parliament.

2. Reports of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the best
means of preventing the Pollution of Rivers, dated March,
1866, May and August, 1867. Printed by Parliament.

3. Lectures on Drainage, Sewage Irrigation, Water-supply, and
Water-works, delivered at the Royal Engineer Establishment,
Chatham, during the Autumn Session of 1867. By Baldwin
Latham, C.E.

4. The Sewage Question. By Frederick-Charles Krepp. London :
Longmans, Green, & Co., 1867.

. The Purification and Utilization of Sewage. By Baldwin
Latham, C.E. London: E. and F. N. Spon, 48, Charing
Cross, 1867.

6. Sewage, and its general Application to Grass, Cereal, and Root
Crops. By Thomas Cargill, C.E., &c. Robertson, Brooman,
and Co., 166, Fleet Street, London, 1869.

. A Short Account of the Modes of Sewage Disposal in some of
the Chief Towns in England. By Capt. T. I’. Dowden, R.E.,
1869.

8. Report on the Treatment and Utilization of Sewage by Com-

mission appointed by the British Association, 1869.

or

~]

Ill. THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF AUGUST LAST.
By Wiiu1am Crooxss, F.B.S., &e.

Tur important observations which were made last year with the
spectroscope, polariscope, and photographic camera caused the total
solar eclipse which took place on the 7th of August, and was visible
over the greater part of North America, to be regarded with more
than ordinary interest, as it was anticipated that the few minutes’
opportunity then afforded would enable several points left. doubtful
last year to be satisfactorily cleared up.

SPECTRUM OF THE PROTUBERANCES.

will a
We §

Yi EMS 2 &
SPECTRUM OF THE CORONA.

PROF® . YOUNG.

SPECTRUM OF THE AURORA BOREALIS

MR WINLOCK.

/
;>
17

!

THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF 1869.

1870.] The Solar Eclipse of August last. 29

Commencing at noon in Alaska, the line of totality ran through
British America, passing through the south-west corner of
Minnesota diagonally through lowa, crossing the Mississippi
near Burlington, thence through Illinois, West Virginia, and
North Carolina, and entering the Atlantic Ocean on the North
Carolina coast, near Beaufort. The path of the eclipse through
the more inhabited parts of the continent literally bristled with
telescopes ; the whole line being converted into one vast observatory.
Although the duration of totality was less than in India last year,
the circumstances were more favourable for observation, the heat
being less and the position of the sun more convenient for observa-
tion, instead of bemg almost vertical. The principal points which
had to be observed were the nature of the protuberances, examined
with the spectroscope and recorded photographically ; the nature
of the corona; and the detection, if possible, of any intra-Mercurial
planet. As might be expected from the easy accessibility of the
entire line of totality, this eclipse has been most thoroughly observed
by numerous parties, the report of whose work will in due time be
presented to the scientific world.

The most important observations were those recorded by the
Iowa expedition, towards the expenses of which 5000 dollars had
been voted by Congress. ‘The writer has to thank his friend, Dr.
Henry Morton, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Penn-
sylvania, who had the superintendence of this expedition, for full
details of the results obtained, together with some exquisite photo-
graphs of the phenomena of totality, &c. These pictures show, in
the first place, very fine definition in the telescope employed, as the
roughness or mountainous character of the moon’s edge is clearly
given in the pictures of partial phase, as well as the sun-spots and
surrounding facule.

The telescopes which were available for the purpose were two
fine Munich Equatorials, of 6 inches aperture, with clockwork, and
also an excellent Dolland, of 4 inches aperture, equatorially mounted,
but without clockwork. It was concluded that on account of the
risk of local clouds it would be desirable to take all these instru-
ments, and distribute them over some distance on or near the
central line, and it was also considered that at least five skilled
operators would be necessary to each instrument. The next
important point was the choice of the party, and it was soon
found that an excellent selection might be had from among those
whose position or engagements would allow them to volunteer
without other compensation than the moral one contingent on
success; and after a few changes, rendered necessary by sickness
or other inevitable cause, the party as finally constituted consisted,
besides Professor Morton, of Professor A. M. Mayer, Ph.D. ;
Professor C. F. Himes, Ph.D.; Messrs. J. Zentmayer, O. H. Willard,

4

30 The Solar Eclipse of August last. | Jan.,

EK. L. Wilson, H. C. Phillips, E. Moelling, J. C. Browne, W. J.
Baker, James Cremer, H. W. Clifford, O. H. Kendall, J. Mahoney,
and W. VY. Ranger.

It was a question of some moment to decide whether, for
obtaining the photographic records, they should follow the plan
adopted by the French and German expeditions of last year, and
take the photograph in the principal focus of the object-glass, thus
securing great intensity of light in a small image, or follow the
method employed by Dr. De la Rue in 1860, when he used an
ordinary Huygenian eye-piece so placed as to produce an enlarged
image of the first image from the object-glass. It was found by
experiment that with a clear sun it was necessary to reduce the
aperture of the telescope (which was 4 inches, and 50 inches focus)
to 14 inch, and to use a diaphragm slide of oth inch aperture,
in order to get a proper exposure when the solar image was
enlarged from °6 inch (its diameter at the principal focus of the
objective) to 24 inches on the ground glass. The same size of
aperture was adopted for the larger instruments during the partial
phases, the entire aperture, in all cases, of course being used
during totality.

The work of designing and constructing these lenses, and also
the different attachments to the cameras for securing exposures of
various degrees of rapidity, from a very small fraction of a second
to any desired length, was placed in the hands of Mr. Joseph
Zentmayer, whose extended scientific attainments, combined with
unrivalled skill in the construction of optical instruments, peculiarly
fitted him for such a task.

As the operation of the eye-piece, when employed to produce an
image on the screen or ground glass of a camera, is essentially
different from that which it performs in its usual office, it was
judged best by Mr. Zentmayer to make some alterations in its
form. Thus, in the first place, since in the present case the “ eye-
lens” of the eye-piece undoubtedly makes a secondary image of the
primary image formed within the eye-piece by the combined action
of the objective and the field-lens of the eye-piece, it is clearly
desirable to make this lens of a longer focus than usual, so that its
errors may be of less account. It was also essential to give the
new eye-plece a wide angle, so as to secure a sufficient field not only
for the solar disc, but also for the corona.

While therefore the ratio of focal lengths in the two lenses of
the ordinary eye-piece is usually 1:3, it was in this case as 1:2.
While the distance between the lenses is usually the sum of their
focal lengths divided by 2, it was here made equal to the sum of
the focal lengths divided by 2, plus *24 inch. This was to give
space for the introduction of the reticule of spider lines, which
would otherwise have been brought too near the field-lens, and also

=

1870. ] The Solar Eclipse of August last. a

to keep this lens beyond the conjugate focus of the eye-lens, as
otherwise particles of dust on the former would have been too
- faithfully portrayed by the latter.

The elements actually adopted were as follows :-—

Ft. In

Focal length of objective .. i a, 36
Radius of field-lens 0 1°375

eye-lens 0 0°687
Focus of field-lens Ke 0 2°6
Diameter of field-Iens (= R) 0 1°375
Focus of eye-lens . : Oris
Diameter of eye- -lens Ss R) 0 0:°687
Distance between lenses, 1° see 0° 5 Os) 22
Equivalent .. Or I" 7a
Distance of reticule from eye e-lens for 5- in. distance 0 1°62

of ground glass..

When the instruments were boxed and packed, it was found
that, with the various photographic appliances, they made no less
than five farniture-car loads of material.

In arranging the division of the party into three sections, with
the three telescopes, so that they might be distributed along the
line of totality, and thus diminish the chance of universal extinction
by local clouds, Professor Morton was chiefly guided by the desire
of securing in each section such a diversity of special ability as might
make each self-dependent and complete; also, to leave nothing
undone to secure content and harmony of feeling. He assigned to
himself the University telescope, which being of smaller size and
without clockwork movement, could not be expected to do as good
work as the others: though should they by chance be overclouded,
ats result would be invaluable.

The High School telescope, 6-inch aperture, 9 feet focal length,
was under the charge of Professor A. M. Mayer, Ph.D., and Mr.
O. H. Kendall. It was stationed at Burlington, 40° 48! Li Di;
Oh. 56m. 13s. West of Washington. By, ‘measurements of the
photographs taken by this party, Professor Mayer has shown a
change of shape in one of the larger spots during the eclipse,
amounting to a motion of 2000 miles, in its edges.

The Gettysburg telescope, 6- inch aperture, 84 feet focal length,
was in charge of Professor C. I’. Himes, Mr. a Zentmayer, and
Mr. E. Moelling. ‘This was stationed at Ottumwa, about 75 miles
nearly west of Burlington.

With the University telescopes were Mr. E. L. Wilson and
Professor Morton. ‘This section was placed at Mount Pleasant,
between the other stations.

It is almost needless to say that all officials connected with the
railways acted with the greatest liberality in transporting the appa-
ratus and observers to the selected sites.

The various parties having reached their destinations, arrange-
ments were at once made to get the instruments into position. In

32 The Solar Eclipse of August last. [Jan.,

the case of the Burlington party, all went smoothly, and the dark
weather alone prevented final adjustment until the night of the 6th,
or morning of the 7th, when this was secured by Professor Mayer,
who sat up all night for the purpose.

With the Ottumwa instrument it was, however, found that the
clockwork had become seriously deranged in carriage, so that Mr.
Zentmayer was obliged to take it entirely apart and refit it. The
final adjustment was only given to this instrument during the
morning of the 7th by Mr. Zentmayer, who had watched all night,
vainly, for a star.

The telescope at Mount Pleasant having no clockwork, and being
otherwise unfit for any fine adjustment, required no arrangement
except what could be given during the morning of the 7th.

The weather on the eventful day of the eclipse was at all sta-
tions perfect, thus rendering needless the policy of distribution, and
no less than 116 negatives were taken, including 13 during totality,
showing a large number of prominences, some massive and others
delicate as well as radiant brushes of a softer light, such as have
been before seen, but never as yet photographed. By another of
the sections of this large party, beside similar pictures to the above,
one was obtained showing the curious phenomena known as Baily’s
beads, being simply the last glimpse of the sun’s edge cut by the
peaks of lunar mountains into irregular spots. The time of expo-
sure determined by Professor Mayer for the partial-phase pictures
was the ;1,th of a second. Those taken during totality were
exposed from five to sixteen seconds.

The general character of the prominences will be seen by the
coloured illustration, which has been excellently copied from the
original photographs and micrometric measurements forwarded to
us by Professor Morton. The dotted circle inside the circumfe-
rence of the moon, shows the relative diameter and position of the
sun at the middle of the total eclipse. The accompanying woodcut
may be regarded as a key to the coloured picture, and will serve to
facilitate the following description of the phenomena :—

The line 4 B represents the direction of a parallel of declination.
cpa declination circle. FE is the moon’s path from first contact
at ¥. The prominences are here all shown at once; although, of
course, those on the sun’s eastern limb alone were seen at first, those
on the west side only at the end of the totality. Proceeding from
the north to the east, we first meet with a small prominence having
the position angle of about 56° 30’; it 1s of the shape of a rice
grain, with its base but slightly below the circumference of the
moon. In breadth it is 2°50', and im height 22”; ag 1' on the cir-
cumference of the sun equals 124 miles, and 1" of arc of the sun’s
distance on August 7th subtends 449 miles, it follows that its
actual dimensions are 21,000 miles long and 9900 miles high.

1870.] The Solar Eclipse of August last. 33

The next protuberance lies imbedded in the moon’s border, and has
in form the appearance of a short, deeply-articulated worm; its
mean position is 69° 17’; its length 46,700 miles, and its ereatest
height 9900; between that protuberance and the point oc on the
woodeut, are two flames in the midst of the glow previously de-
scribed. Midway the diffused light rises to an elevation of 60,500
miles. We now come to a curiously-formed protuberance. Some
have compared it to an ear of corn, but in the photographs it appears
like an eagle with outspread wings resting on the trunk of a tree
which leans towards the north. On one plate where the tree-stump
is cut off by the advancing moon, the resemblance to an eagle on
the wing is perfect. The form of this object indicates instability,

Fig: 1.

and impresses one with the idea that it is a great travelling whirl
of flame, the direction of whose rotation—as indicated by the posi-
tion of the wings and the projection of one on the other—is retro-
grade, or in the same direction as the motion of the hands of a
watch. Dr. Mayer, chief of the Burlington Section of the Phila-
delphia Photographic Expedition, has examined, with care, the
successive photographs of it, and he says that although at first he
thought that the last impression differed from those preceding in
that the wings had become longer and more in a line with each
other, yet on subsequent examination he could not really decide
that a perceptible motion had taken place during the time of totality.
The height of this object is 36,700 miles, and the spread of the
VOL. VII. D

34 The Solar Eclipse of August last. [Jan.,

wings 70,800 miles. The next protuberance extends to between E
and 1 on the woodcut; it is of very irregular outline, and shows
portions of its substance detached from the general mass and floating
freely above it. The most elevated and bright of these detached
flames floats at a height of at least 20,000 miles above the surface
of the sun. Beyond1a white nebulous cloud rises to the elevation
of 60,500 miles. Next follow two protuberances at x.

We now pass to the western limb of the sun, and meet with the
remarkably large and massive protuberance at @ on the woodcut.
It is shaped like a bird’s head, with the beak and under-side of the
head resting on the limb of the moon. Ona photograph taken at
Ottumwa, lowa, just before the sun came out, this protuberance had
the exact appearance of an albatross head with the beak open,
holding a rounded mass between the extremity of the jaws. ‘The
protuberance at F bears the most striking resemblance to a cater-
pillar. It extends through an angle of 11°, or 81,800 miles; its
maximum elevation, which is at the head of the caterpillar, is 23,000
miles. Out of the head issued two horns ; the one nearest the front
being the higher of the two, and terminated with a knob or ball
from which curves a broken line of light to the border of the moon.
The next prominence at has the shape of a grain of rice slightly
constricted in the middle. Between u and is another protuberance.

Professor Young, who examined these prominences during the
totality, has continued his spectroscopic notes of the prominences
since the eclipse, and on September the 13th he obtained a
view from which the accompanying woodcut is taken. He

describes it as a long, straggling range of protuberances—the sketch
giving a very fair idea of the number, form, and arrangement of
the immense cloudy mass. The points a and b were very bright.
On September 18th he noticed a remarkable phenomenon,
which, although not bearing directly on the eclipse phenomena, is
sufficiently rare to make it deserve recording in these pages.
Whilst examining the spectrum of a large group of spots near the
sun’s western limb, his attention was drawn to a peculiar knobbi-
ness of the F line (on the sun’s disc, not at the edge), represented
by the following cut a, at the point e. In a very few moments
a brilliant spot replaced the knobs; not merely interrupting and

1870.] The Solar Eclipse of August last. 35

reversing the dark line, but blazing like a star near the horizon,
only with blue instead of red light. It remained for about two
minutes, disappearing, unfortunately, whilst *
the observer was examining the sun’s image oti
upon the graduated sereen of the slit, in order ” & ¢ ¢ 1
to fix its position. It is not known, there-
fore, whether it disappeared instantaneously or
gradually. 6 gives an idea of this appearance.
On returning to the eye-piece, Professor Young
saw what is represented at ce. On the upper e
(more refrangible) edge of F there seemed to
hang a little black moat, making a barb, whose
point reached nearly to the faint iron line just
above F. As given on Angstrém’s atlas, the
wave-length of F is 486:07, while that of
the iron line referred to is 485-92 (the units being millionths of a
millimetre). This*shows an absolute change of 0:15 in the wave-
length, or a fraction of its whole amount, represented by the decimal
"00030, and would indicate an advancing velocity of about 55°5
miles per second in the mass of hydrogen whose absorption pro-
duced this barbed displacement. The barb continued visible for
about five minutes, gradually resolving itself into three small
lumps, one on the upper and two on the lower line, Fig. 1,d. In
about ten minutes more the F line resumed its usual appearance.

Whilst on the subject of the solar prominences it may not be
out of place to refer to some observations by Professor F. Zéllner,
who has succeeded in observing them without an eclipse with
great sharpness and clearness. From the nature ofthe method the
same protuberance was simultaneously observed in three different
colours corresponding to the three homogeneous lines of its spec-
trum. ‘There is, however, a material difference between the red
and blue image on the one hand, and the yellow on the other.
The latter is very intense only in close proximity to the edge of
the sun’s disc, and in this respect corresponds to the other images ;
while the more delicate details disappear at a greater distance.
This difference does not seem to be caused by the greater bright-
ness of the spectrum in that region, but appears to depend on one
of the two following hypotheses for an explanation :—either that the
rays which give rise to the yellow image emanate from a gas
having a greater specific gravity than hydrogen, and therefore
existing at a lower level, or that the greater intensities of tempera-
ture and pressure nearer the surface of the sun cause hydrogen to
emit these rays. 3

Professor Zéllner’s paper, which will appear in the next number
of the journal of the Franklin Institute (for early proofs of which
the writer has to thank Professor Morton, the editor), is ae

D

WIZ
/1\\N

36 The Solar Eclipse of August last. [ Jan.,

with beautifully coloured drawings showing the rapid changes
which sometimes occur in the forms of these prominences even in
the course of a few hours. Observing one of the most remarkable
formations, the Professor says, “I hardly believed my eyes when I
noticed in it the tongue-like motion of a flame. This motion was
slower, however, compared with the size of the flame than that of
high towering flames at great conflagrations. The time required
by such a wave in passing from the base to the apex was about
two or three seconds.”

In comparing the general impression of the protuberances with
terrestrial phenomena, the author states that the great majority
remind him of the different forms of our clouds and fog. The
cumulus type is completely developed in the cases here referred to.
Other formations remind us of masses of clouds and fogs floating
closely over lowlands and seas, whose upper parts are driven and
torn by currents of air, and which present the well-known, ever-
varying forms when viewed from the tops of high mountains.

Professor Zodllner hopes, by using larger prisms and a circular
sl't in the spectroscope, to be enabled to observe simultaneously all
the protuberances on the edge of the sun, in the different parts of
the spectrum, just as in a total solar eclipse of long duration.

Returning to the August eclipse, one of the most beautiful
observations was on the first contact by means of the spectroscope.
Professor Young has been giving much attention to this subject, and
had fitted up a very efficient instrument for the purpose. The instru-
ment consisted of a spectroscope with five prisms of 45° each, having
faces 24 by 3} inches ; the collimator and telescope had apertures of
24 inches, with a focal length of 17. These were connected with a
ecmet-seeker of 4 inches aperture and 30 inches focus, used with an
eye-piece, and giving an image of the sun 23 inches in diameter on
the slit of the spectroscope. A graduated screen at the slit determined
positions of points on the sun’s limb, and a wire micrometer measured
the positions of spectrum lines. The whole was mounted equatorially
with slow-motion screws. During the eclipse he was stationed at
Burlington, Iowa, and shortly before the first contact was due, he
found that there was a solar prominence located at the spot where
first contact must occur (see F in cut on page 33). He therefore
fixed his spectroscope with the slit radial to the solar edge at the
point, so getting a prominent spectrum whose width was determined
by the height of the prominence. Closely watching this, he pre-
sently found that it began to narrow steadily, and at the instant
that 1t became a mere line and disappeared he recorded first contact.
The moon’s approach was perceived full 30” before its actual ap-
pulse ; the observation was perfectly easy, and the time determined
is certainly to be relied on within half a second, and probably much
less. The presence of a prominence at the point of contact is not

1870. | The Solar Eclipse of August last. 37

essential to the success of the method, as there is everywhere on the
sun's limb sufficient depth of chromosphere to answer the purpose.
From the first photograph showing contact made by the Philadel-
phia party at the same place, Professor A. M. Mayer, who had
charge of that division, calculated the time of actual first contact,
and found that it came within two-tenths of a second of the record
made by Professor Young.

Professor Young proposes to apply the spectroscope in this
manner to observations both of the external and internal contacts at
the next transit of Venus.

The partial-phase pictures show the various sun-spots visible at
the time (about six in number) with admirable definition, the larger
ones being surrounded by a marked fringe of faculee. They all show
a beautiful gradation of shade from the border of the sun inwards.
This shading of the source of light is due to the absorption of the
peripheral rays which necessarily pass through a greater thickness
of the dense solar atmosphere than those which emanate from the
central portion of the disc; on a more searching examination of
the relative intensities of light of different portions of the solar
disc, there may be observed on all of these photographs, close to
the limb of the advancing or retreating moon, a bright glow like
that of early dawn, which extends from the moon to a distance of
about 15”. Unless this glow can be accounted for in node and in
measure by diffraction, it would appear as if it were due to a lunar
atmosphere, although Dr. Mayer, in suggesting this explanation,
confesses that he cannot understand how an atmosphere capable of
producing such marked effects when projected against the intensely
lighted dise of the sun, should have no appreciable refractive effect
on small stars when occulted by the moon. We should be more
inclined to account for this glow as being the effect of specular
reflexion from the surface of the moon grazed by the sun’s rays.

A party under Professor Pierce devoted themselves exclusively
to the recording of that strange phenomenon, the corona. ‘To
secure any impression from this object, which, notwithstanding its
apparent brightness, is remarkably deficient in photographic power,
it was necessary to make a very small image and to give a very
long exposure.

The telescope was therefore arranged to produce an image in
its principal focus simply, and during the totality an exposure of
forty seconds was given. By this means a picture was obtained
of which the cut on the next page is a very careful copy. From the
long exposure, the motion of the moon, and probably also of the ight
im the corona, there is little sharpness of definition, and the promi-
nences only appear as bright spots. The general shape of the
corona is, however, very well given, and the curious appearance of
curvature, in some parts, is very manifest. Professor Himes, who

38 The Solar Eclipse of August last. | Jan.,

was at Ottumwa, describes the corona as approaching much more
nearly in regularity the four-rayed form generally given, and which
eda had always seemed idealized or con-
fo ventional. The 8. W. ray was, however,
unequally subdivided with the smaller
part towards the north. The whole
seemed of a fibrous, slightly curled
or twisted character, somewhat like a
cirrus cloud, and of silvery whiteness.
The prominences, especially the large
one a little to the left of south, seemed
at the first instant of a dazzling
white, but after his attention had been
diverted for a few moments, it ap-
peared of a brilliant decided rose colour
bordering on crimson, and remained
~ of this colour to the close. To Mr.
Zentmayer, who was engaged at the camera and had used neither
telescope nor screen, it appeared white, with a slightly roseate hue.
To Mr. Moelling, under similar conditions, it appeared white
throughout. Messrs. Brown and Baker, who had a short glimpse
of it from the door of the dark room, rather incline to the opinion
that it was white. Professor Pickering, who was at Mount
Pleasant, Iowa, describes the corona as an irregular four-pointed
star with, of course, a black centre. ‘Two of the rays were nearly
vertical and two horizontal, the left-hand one pointing somewhat
downward, while between it and the iower ray was a fifth smaller
point. The colour was pure white, very different from the full
moon, but resembling a cumulus cloud. Its texture resembled
the ragged edge of a thundercloud, or the crest of a wave torn
by the wind. The striz were not radial but spiral, as if the sun
had been turned in such a way that the upper edge moved towards
the east.

During the totality Professor Young gave special attention to
observation of the corona with the spectroscope. He found that,
in place of a subdued solar spectrum, which would have been anti-
cipated from the reports of former observations, it yielded a spec-
trum of bright lines. These are represented in the coloured illus-
tration, and below the spectrum of the corona is given a copy of
the spectrum of an aurora borealis as observed by Professor Win-
lock on the evening of April 15th. From the close accordance
between the coronal lines and three of the auroral lines, Professor
Young considers it almost certain that the corona is simply ar
electric discharge, no doubt varying with great rapidity, as we see
in the case of the aurora; in fact, that the solar corona is a perma-
nent aurora. It is, however, right to state that in an article by

1870. ] The Solar Eclipse of August last. 39

Mr. J. N. Lockyer in ‘ Nature,’ for November 4th, he throws some
doubt on this conclusion, and hesitates tofregard the question as
settled, were the new hypothesis less startling than it is.

The most complete series of spectroscopic observations were
those taken of the prominences. During totality nine bright lines
were observed by Professor Young in the spectrum of one of the
protuberances, wz. c dazzling in brilliancy; 1017°5 (near p, the
numbers refer to Kirchhoff’s scale) very bright, but not equal to c;
1250 + 20, very faint, position only estimated; 1350 + 20, like
preceding ; 1474 (a little below E), conspicuous, but not more than
half as bright as 1017°5; F next to cin brightness; 2602 + 2, a
little famter than 1474, position determined by micrometrical refer-
ence to the next; 2796, a little below a; the well-known H y line
in brightness between 1017°5 and 1474; and finally h, or H6é,
somewhat brighter than 1474. 6 it is supposed was not seen; on
account of a mistake in carrying that portion of the spectrum
through the field, there was no prominence on the slit. The lines
marked # in the coloured illustration are hydrogen lines.

The opportunity which was afforded by the total obscuration
of the sun’s light was taken advantage of to search for planetary
bodies between Mercury and the sun, but without success, although
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Regulus, and Arcturus were plainly
visible. The horizon all around was lighted up by a sort of dim
twilight for four or five degrees in breadth, and above this rim of
light hung a leaden canopy, increasing in depth towards the zenith.

At the Ottumwa station a curious appearance was noticed by
Mr. Zentmayer. During the time that the pictures of the partial
phase were being taken at long intervals, the ground-glass plate
was put in the camera to note any irregularities in the clock move-
ment, should they occur. About twenty-five minutes before the
totality, Mr. Zentmayer observed some bright objects on the ground-
glass, crossing from one cusp to the other of the solar crescent.
Each object occupied about two seconds in passing, and they all
moved in right lines, nearly parallel, and in the same direction.
These points were well defined, and conveyed to the mind of Mr.
Zentmayer, who is accustomed to the use of the camera for photo-
graphic purposes, the strong impression of being images of objects,
and not points of light merely. It is, moreover, certain that the
objects, whatever they might be, must (in order to have produced
such sharply-defined images on the ground-glass) have been several
miles distant from the telescope, as even a point of light at a less
see would have produced an enlarged image, with a hazy

order.

The most complete account of the photographic operations is
recorded in the report to Professor Morton by Dr. Mayer, who was
the chief of the Burlington party. They arrived at their destination

40 The Solar Eclipse of August last. [Jan.,

on August 4th, and up to the morning of the 7th they were occupied
in putting together the base and frame of the telescope, mounting the
bed-plate, the polar and declination axis and circles, the cradle
holding the telescope, fitting-in the tube and optical part, adjusting
the verniers and bringing the instrument into altitude and azimuth
adjustment. The whole of Friday, August 6th, there was a driving
rain, an east wind, and a dull murky atmosphere, foreboding the
worst results on the morrow—after haying spent previous weeks in
preparation, and having travelled over a thousand miles, in the hope
of carrying back with them permanent photographic records of the
long-thought-of eclipse.

As they retired to rest there appeared signs of the clouds
breaking. They had barely fallen asleep when the clerk, according
to previous arrangement, woke them with the agreeable news that
there were plenty of stars. ‘They were soon dressed, and were
charmed by the sight of a cloudless sky ; and Professor Coffin, Drs.
Gould and Mayer were up all night putting their own special
instruments in adjustment. When all was finished, the sun was
rising, and the air as pure and serene as one could wish. On
Saturday morning the chronograph was mounted, and electric
wires were led to the camera, to Professor Young’s spectroscope,
and to the station of Dr. Gould outside the building. The two
threads of the reticule of the camera were placed one parallel and
the other at right angles to the celestial equator, and experiments
were now begun by Mr. Willard to ascertain the chemical focus.
This was obtained after the tube had been following the sun for an
hour or more, and after the focus was fixed the clockwork was kept
going, so that no change in focus should supervene from a change
in temperature in the lenses and tube. The clockwork adjustment
had been regulated with such accuracy that it drove the telescope so
that a star would remain closely bisected for twenty minutes. By
3 p.m. all was in readiness, and each one at his allotted post of duty,
ready for work.

The image of the sun was 2°04 inches in diameter, and was
taken on a 44 x 54 inch plate. Mr. Zentmayer had so constructed
the camera eye-piece, that the image of a reticule of two spider-
threads at right angles to each other was formed on the plate with
the image of the sun, and these threads were so mounted that they
could be adjusted respectively parallel and at right angles to the
celestial equator, and thus fix on the photographs the positions of
the sun and moon, and give the position angles of points on the
surface and periphery of the sun.

The tube carrying the camera lenses screwed into a plate in
which, immediately in front of the anterior lens, was a guide, in
which a thin plate having a horizontal slot of ‘0224 inch in width
was caused to descend by the action of a spring. This was used

1870. | The Solar Eclipse of August last. 41

for the partial phases. During totality the full aperture of the
object-glass was employed, and a slide plate was used, having a
circular opening which allowed the full beam to pass. This plate
had two falls instead of one. On setting the plate free by the top
trigger it fell, and the collodion plate was exposed to the entire
beam ; after the desired exposure a lower trigger was relieved, and
the plate made a second fall, and the lens being covered by the top
of the plate, the exposure ceased. ‘These triggers were connected
with a Morse register having a paper fillet running through it; at
every second the clock for an instant opened the electric circuit,
and there was a very short break made in the line marked by the
pen on the fillet; thus the seconds of t¢me were stepped off in space
on the paper ribbon. The triggers were so connected with this
chronograph that an additional break was made during the time
the photographic plate was being exposed. By measuring this
break on the paper ribbon and comparing its length with the
length of the second in which it occurs, the exact fraction of the
second during which the plate was exposed will be given.

Dr. Mayer arranged for his own duty to keep the telescope
in adjustment, and to manipulate the apparatus of exposure and
chronographic registration, while Mr. Willard placed the plate in
the camera and gave the several times of exposure he desired during
totality. Mr. Phillips coated the plates and handed them to Mr.
Montford, who carried them to Mr. Willard, and thence, after
exposure, to Mr. Mahoney, who developed them, assisted by Mr.
Leisenring.

The wall of the dark room adjoining where the telescope stood
was fitted with two dark valves, or dumb waiters, by which the
plate-holders could be passed in and out without the admission of
light or the necessity of any of the operators moving from their
places. Seven negative baths were used, standing in a trough of
water to keep them cool, four plate-holders, and a large wooden
trough with grooved sides, similar to a negative-rack; this was
filled with a weak solution of hyposulphite of soda. In the dark
room the first operator’s duty was to coat plates and- put them into
the baths ; the second took them out, put them into the plate-holders,
and passed them out of the room by means of one of the dumb
waiters. After exposure, the holders were returned to the dark
room by the second dumb waiter, when the third operator took the
plate from the holder, developed, washed, and then dropped it into
one of the grooves in the large fixing trough. There the plates
remained slowly fixing till after the eclipse was over, when they
were taken out in the same order in which they were put in,
washed, and numbered with a diamond.

At the telescope Mr. Rock was detailed to attend to the very
important duty of calling out the seconds of the chronograph-fillet ;

42 The Solar Eclipse of August last. [Jan.,

Mr. Kendall called out the minutes at each 60-seconds call of Mr.
Rock, and wrote it on the fillet. He also had charge of the chrono-
graph, and started it when Dr. Mayer called “clock,” while, at the
same signal, Mr. Rock began the registration of seconds.

Dr. Mayer had laid out the following programme of work :—First
to take in rapid succession, beginning 10 seconds before the computed
time of first contact, a series of five photographs. Secondly, one just

before second contact, one just after second contact, as many as pos-.

sible during totality, one just before the end of totality, and another
just after the sun reappeared. Thirdly, to take again a series in
rapid succession about the end of the eclipse. Fourthly, during
partial phase, to take a picture every four or five minutes.

When the chronometer marked 12 h. 48 m., Mr. Rock began to
count and register the times on the fillet. Every one was at his
post, the lanterns lighted, and nothing could be heard but the count
and tap of the chronograph. At 12h. 49m. 45s, the first photograph
was taken, and following at intervals of from 10 to 12 seconds five
perfect pictures were secured. The contact is first visible on the
third. Photographs were now leisurely taken at intervals of about
four minutes, until twelve plates in all were taken.

About five minutes before totality, Mr. Willard removed the
diaphragm of two inches aperture, which was used during partial
phase, and exposed the full aperture of the object-glass, whilst Dr.
Mayer changed the slide with -0224-inch slot for the one which
admitted the whole beam at once on the plate in the camera.

The order was given to prepare the plates. ‘The first plate was
taken at 13 h. 51m. 39°15 s., or 7 seconds before the time of second
contact as observed by Professor Coffin. ‘The slide was soon reset
for another exposure, and as Mr. Willard desired the first plate of
totality to be exposed five seconds, Dr. Mayer kept on counting
zero, zero, zero, with the taps of the chronograph, until striking the
upper trigger at zero, he counted one, two, three, four, five, when
the lower trigger was struck and the plate removed.

Counting the first plate, taken seven seconds before second con-
tact, six photographs were taken in 2m. 3s. After the sixth was
removed there still remained 50 s. of total phase. There was a delay
in the plate. The observer grew impatient; he called plate! plate!!
but, alas, it was found impossible to manipulate more than six
plates in two minutes and three seconds. The store had been used
up too rapidly, and so they did not succeed in getting an impression
just before the sun came forth. The next plate was taken 29-2
seconds after third contact, and is a valuable photograph of a thin
crescent, with the cusps sharply cut.

Dr. Mayer describes the appearances during totality i in the fol-
lowing words :—“ About 15 minutes before totality it became so
cool that I was obliged to put on my coat. A minute or two before

— 7!

1870.| Instruction in Science for Women. 43

totality, the sky grew ashen, or rather leaden in hue, and as, with
face turned towards the sun, I kept the count from the chronometer
for the first exposure, Venus and Mercury came out shining beau-
tifully on a ground of bluish grey. I thought I saw a flashing,
twirling motion in the corona, or in the last rays of the sun; but of
this I will not be positive, for my attention was not, at the time,
specially directed to minute observation. Moths and insects in
profusion passed between me and the sun, while a flock of birds
with troubled irregular flight seemed seeking cover from the un-
natural gloom which surrounded them. <A low moaning wind now
sprang up, and the whole atmosphere seemed filled with a lead-
coloured vapour, and I experienced an indescribable feeling of op-
pression when I tapped the trigger, and, from that instant until
the sun appeared, I had nothing but an ¢nstrumental consciousness,
for I was nothing but part of the telescope, and all my being. was in
the work which I had to perform. I reset the slide, made circuit,
exposed, and so on over again, until the six photographs were taken,
when I had the mortification to find 50 seconds of totality, and that
no plate could possibly be obtained; we were too quick.”
Photographs were now taken leisurely at intervals of about four
minutes until 14h. 47 m. 48°4.s., when the first of the series for the
end of the eclipse was secured ; this was followed by four others at
intervals of about a quarter of a minute. The work was finished in
a few seconds, the eclipse of August 7th, 1869, was of the past,
but its history had been faithfully recorded in forty-one perfect
photographs.

IV. INSTRUCTION IN SCIENCE FOR WOMEN.

Ir would seem hardly necessary, in this day of awakening common
sense, to put the questions, Is it necessary to impart scientific in-
struction to the female sex? and what kind of information should —
be conveyed to women ?

As to the first inquiry, there are, no doubt, still a great many
old women of both sexes who consider that if a girl be taught to
read, write, and know sufficient of arithmetic to enable her to
detect errors in her butcher’s or washerwoman’s book, any further
intellectual instruction is superfluous, and unfits her for household
duties. But it beg once admitted that such a proposition could
only emanate from old womanhood, in the disrespectful sense of
the term, and that scientific instruction would be of the greatest
benefit to those whom we shall still delight to call the fair sex—
not the less fair because more intellectual—we need have no diffi-
culty in determining what should be taught to them, and in what
manner the instruction should be imparted.

44 Instruction in Science for Women. [Jan.,

As a mere education of the intellect, there is no reason for
making any difference between the method of conveying scientific
information to male and female students. It may be said that
some branches of physiology are not fit subjects for young girls—
neither are they for young boys ;—and with more propriety it may
be urged that the refinement of woman’s nature would be shocked
or deteriorated by the receipt of certain information from men,
even when the pupils have arrived at the age of maturity. But
this is only another argument in favour of every effort being made,
without loss of time, to train women to be the teachers of their own
sex in the mysteries of human anatomy and physiology.

To deny the necessity of imparting this particular kind of
instruction at all is simply absurd; for whilst women may make
good wives and mothers, without possessing any knowledge of
Botany, Electricity, Astronomy, or Chemistry, they cannot possibly
be fitted to fill their accustomed sphere without a fair amount of
information concerning the laws which govern their own corporeal
frame in health and disease, and somewhat at least of the constitu-
tion of the other sex.

That assertion will no doubt be met by the stock argument,
“How have our fathers and mothers and our ancestors managed
without such knowledge?” or, “ What are doctors for?” They
have managed to lose one, or two, or three children in succession
from the effects of disease; or perhaps it would be more correct to
say, from ignorance of the meaning of directions left by their medi-
cal adviser, when by a little intelligent care all would have survived.
It is not the doctor who saves the patient’s life; it is he who
directs how it is to be saved; and however able the physician may
be, the fate of the patient, in five cases out of six, depends mainly
upon the intelligent construction and fulfilment of his wishes by
the nurse. Of what use, at a critical period of disease, is any
amount of information concerning the latest novel or opera? Will
the most artistic display of chignon, or the widest acquaintance
with the mysteries of fashion, avail to protract the hours of a
beloved husband, or the moments of a child’s life, whilst it sinks
under an exhausting disease ?

It would be a waste of time to discuss here the best system of
imparting general scientific instruction to women, as distinguished
from men; but it may be interesting to dwell for a few moments
upon the method which is being adopted at South Kensington—
not because it appears to be efficient in the case of women only,
but because, being advantageous in their case, it would be bene-
ficial wherever minds untutored in science are to be appealed to,
and the effort made to convey scientific information. And haying
briefly considered that phase of the subject, we will cursorily refer
to the special instruction in those branches of science which would

1870.] Instruction in Science for Women. 45

seem the best adapted to favour, materially and mentally, the pro-
egress of females as working women.

The series of lectures at South Kensington, which, it should be
premised, is by no means the initiation of the movement, consists
of three courses—one by Professor Huxley, on what he calls Phy-
slography ; a second by Professor Guthrie, of Jermyn Street, on
Elementary Physics and Chemistry; and a third by Professor
Oliver, of Kew, on Biology. The last named is, however, chiefly,
if not entirely, confined to Botany and Vegetable Physiology. Of
Professor Huxley’s lectures we will speak first, and to illustrate
his method of imparting tuition, we will endeavour to describe his
introductory lecture.

“ Physiography” is explained to mean “a description and rudi-
mentary analysis of those obvious natural facts and events which
are commonly treated of under the head of elementary physical
geography ;” and in his introductory lecture Professor Huxley
described the changes which are taking ‘place in a river basin, as
illustrated by the ebb and flow of the tide in the Thames, the sup-
ply which it receives from its tributaries, from the condensation of
watery vapour in the atmosphere, and from other sources.

The information which he desires to convey seems of the most
commonplace character, consisting of an account of the form of the
Thames Basin; the appearance of the river as seen from a balloon ;
the relative extent of the fresh and salt water currents ; the bulk of
fresh water which flows down to the sea, and never returns; and
so forth. But it is more than probable that not six of the ladies
present (for they were all ladies in the conventional sense of the
term who constituted his audience) possessed even a superficial
acquaintance with the phenomena in question, and perhaps not
one would have been able to answer correctly the questions which
might have been put from his programme. Nor is this anything
to their discredit. How many of our readers are there who could
tell us what number of cubic feet “more water runs down than
runs up beneath London Bridge every day?” or where “'Thames
Head is?” or “ How far it is from London Bridge, and how high
it is above the Thames at that bridge ?”

The lecturer managed, however, not only to instil this informa-
tion into his hearers’ minds, with the aid of a chart and black-board ;
but with his bottle of cold water, which served at the same time to
refresh his body and illustrate his subject, he explained with great
clearness the laws and phenomena of radiation, heat, congelation,
&c., and some of the leading principles of meteorology. His address
may be said to have been an ideal picture of the cycle of changes
which are constantly going on between earth, sea, and air, in so
far as the transfer of water is concerned. In his subsequent lec-
tures he described (or intended to describe—for this article was

46 Instruction in Science for Women. [Jan.,

written shortly after his opening lecture) similar phases in the
circulation of solid matter (earth), and the transformations of living
matter (plants and animals).

Turning for a moment to the lectures of Prefessor Guthrie, on
Physics and Chemistry, it may be asked of what use struction in
chemistry can be without laboratory practice; and although it is
probable that the ladies will see none of that at South Kensington,
and indeed that only the most rudimentary instruction in chemistry
can be imparted in a course such as Professor Guthrie will give;
yet when we look at what is being done elsewhere, we shall find
not only a supply, but an active demand for laboratory instruc-
tion.

Mr. Mylne, the Honorary Secretary of the Ladies’ Educational
Association, which carries on its operations in connection with
University College, has sent us a programme of the scientific
lectures in course of delivery at the College in Gower Street, and
he informs us that Professor Williamson not only gives instruction
in theoretical chemistry, which we find from the prospectus to
embrace the organic as well as the inorganic section, but that he
has instituted laboratory practice, several ladies having expressed a
wish for this mode of instruction. In connection with this series
of lectures it may be further added that Professor G. C. Foster is
delivering a course on Dynamics and Heat; and Professor Hirst
one on Geometry. There are lectures on the living and dead
languages and literature, but with those we.have no concern here.

Professor Oliver, at South Kensington, proposes to illustrate the
laws of biology, as we have already stated, chiefly by a reference to
the realm of plants; indeed, so far as we can ascertain his views at
the time of writing this notice, he intends to follow the admirable
plan of making his lectures as much as possible a series of demon-
strations with living plants.

Many gentlemen, either amateurs or professional men, are
devoting their time to further this kind of instruction to ladies.
At South Kensington, the Hon. and Rey. Francis Byng, and Mr.
Owen, of the Museum, are taking an active part in the movement.

Professor Sedgwick, of Trinity College, Cambridge, and his
brother, of Merton, have delivered courses of lectures, we believe,
at Preston, Manchester, &c.

Most of the Professors of Natural Science at Oxford have given
lectures to ladies at one time or another, Mr. Harcourt having
delivered a course to “ women and children ;” and Dr. Child a series
on Physiology last year at Clifton.

Mr. James Stuart, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, is now
delivering a course of lectures to ladies, in Liverpool, on Natural
Philosophy, embracing the subjects of Light, Heat, Magnetism, and
the most recent discoveries made by spectrum analysis. Papers are

1870. | Instruction in Science for Women. 47

written by the class, and certificates of the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd class
are given at the end of the course. The class numbers 165 students.
In Leeds and Bradford, Mr. T. Aldis, of Cambridge, is delivering
courses of lectures to women on the History of Physical Science.
These gentlemen are lecturing under the auspices of the North of
England Council, of which we believe Mrs. Josephine E., Butler,
of Liverpool, is the President. Scientific lectures are also being
delivered in Dublin and Edinburgh; in the former city at the
Alexandra College for the Education of Ladies, by Dr. Macalister ;
and in Edinburgh by Professor Fraser on Natural Philosophy ; and
by Professor Tait on Mathematics. In addition to these it may
also be mentioned that at Sir Patrick Dun’s Hospital in Dublin
instruction is given to soldiers’ wives to prepare them for the voca-
tion of army nurses. They are taught the laws of health, and the
conditions of climate in relation thereto, of the principal stations of
the British army ; as well as the theory and practice of midwifery ;
and on passing a satisfactory examination they receive certificates
of merit and pecuniary prizes. It is, of course, hardly necessary to
state that at every Science School or Class in the United Kingdom
connected with the Science and Art Department, women are not
only admitted on an equality with men, but are treated with courtesy
and consideration ; but whatever may be said concerning the edu-
cational association of the sexes, we have found from personal obser-
vation, that, for the present at oie and chiefly so far as women are .
concerned, they prefer being taught apart.

Having given this imperfect outline of what is being done in
the way of general instruction in science to women, let us now
inquire for a moment how and what it would be desirable to teach
them with a view to their advancement in particular trades or
professions. In this matter we may obtain some useful hints from
what is doing abroad and at home for the education of artisans.
For example, in some of the German towns special books and
classes exist for instructing workmen in the theory of their trade,
and in Liverpool lectures are about to be commenced with the same
object. One course, which may serve as a type of this class of
instruction, is about to be given by Mr. Norman Tate, on Chemistry
applied to the practical arts. The first lecture is general, being on
the relations of chemistry to industrial pursuits ; then there are to
follow two which will interest engineers, as they relate to Air, Water,
Heat, Fuel in its application to the production of Heat, and the prac-
tical working of fuel for steam in furnaces, &c. Two follow on the
Metallurgy and the Chemistry of Metals. After these there are
lectures on building materials, stones, slates, bricks, mortar, cements,
&c., for builders; earthenware and glass, for glaziers; pens, ink,
and paper, for printers, &c.; paints, varnishes, and colours, for
painters and decorators ; horns, bones, leather, feathers, &c., and

48 Instruction in Science for Women. | Jan.,

woods, for persons engaged as upholsterers and cabinet-makers—and
one lecture on oil, fats, soap, &c.

Now, if we substitute the employments of women for those of
men, and consider what branches of science are the most serviceable
in those employments, we at once arrive at the solution of the
problem. First, there are certain subjects on which all women
should be tolerably well instructed, such as, for example, sanitary
science ; the broad principles to be borne in mind in coping with
disease, or for the maintenance of health; and so. much knowledge
of anatomy as will enable a woman to bind a wound, or palliate the
effects of an accident until medical aid arrives. Such knowledge
is obviously indispensable to all women, whether married or single,
and its diffusion would save many valuable lives in the lower ranks
of society. But now we come to trades and handicrafts. Of course,
each town has its special industries, and the professional men, or
employers of female labour in Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester,
and other large towns need not be told whether classes in chemistry,
or metallurgy, or physics, would the best subserve educational pur-
poses amongst their workpeople. But what is more obvious than
that a number of girls employed in working the electric telegraph
would be the gainers by having a sound knowledge of electricity ;
or that young showwomen or saleswomen in any trade whatever
might with advantage be taught certain branches of physical
-science? A girl who is constantly asked by customers whether she
has goods of this or that colour or texture, would surely be the
better for knowing something of the laws of colour, or the history
of textile fabrics; and it would certamly do her no harm if she
were acquainted with the chemical processes whereby the beautiful
dyes and pigments with which she is familiar are obtained, some-
times from waste products.

What we suggest, then, is that the promoters of this excellent
movement should not content themselves with imparting science
instruction to young ladies, and such females as can afford to pay
two guineas for a course or half-a-crown for a single lecture, and
who can devote the forenoon to the acquisition of such knowledge.
They should open evening classes, in which instruction should be
given to women of the industrial classes (in which are included
shopwomen), and to female teachers in national and other schools.
To these the charge for admission should be nominal, whilst* the
character of the instruction to be imparted should completely accord
with the trade or vocation of the recipients.

-

1870.| Cre.)

¥., ON. IDIOCY.
By P. Martin Dunoan, M.B. Lond., F.BS., &e.

Wuat became of the idiots in the days of antiquity ? Were there
any amongst the early races of mankind? Howis it that they are
hardly mentioned by classical authors, and not noticed at all in
Holy Writ? These are questions upon which those who are aware
of the multitudes of idiots in the most highly civilized modern com-
munities may speculate freely, but not very satisfactorily. ‘The
term idiot is of course Aristotelian. The existence of peculiar
members of the human family who were “solitary” was known to
the founder of that philosophy, and he clearly recognized the
absence of the we de relation amongst those he so well and aptly
termed “sd:05” in kind. Children and adults who could not be
communicated with, and who could not place themselves en rapport
with others, were considered to be “solitaries ;” they were beyond
the sympathies, and were heedless of the love of the human race,
and they were incapable of expressing the desire for or of seeking
companionship. Probably Grecian idiots were very much akin to
those of modern date in their deficiencies and peculiarities. ‘They
stared open-eyed by the hour, or they waved their hands about,
beslavered their bodies, and wearied the beholder with automatic
movements. They were as heedless of the weather as of the voice
of authority, and they had neither reverence for the priest nor
admiration for the goddesses or their living representatives. Alone
amongst the multitudes, thoughtiess amongst the philosophers,
unlovying when embraced, caring for no one, having neither friends
nor foes, the “solitaries” of old were not unsurrounded by a faint
atmosphere of sanctity even amongst the Greeks. They were
unlike all other children when young, and could not be associated
with in mental communion when old. They had no greed of gold;
food they did not live for; luxury they were careless about ; and of
ambition they had none. The Helot might look upon the heedless
solitary with slight respect, and call him a fool like a practical
Anglo-Saxon; but his philosophic master, with his yearnings after
the abstract and unknown, and with his dim misgivings concerning
his own origin and future state, evidently associated the condition
of his fellow-mortal with a mysterious and personal relation to the
gods. He gilded the gingerbread humanity with a halo of sanctity,
but the slave doomed to work did nothing of the sort. The men
who recognized something more than a fiction in the myth of
Prometheus gazed into the fixed eyes of the “solitaries” and
speculated upon the possibility of the existence of an inward life of
thought behind those dull orbs, and of a close affinity with the hidden
intelligence of Zeus. Was there an Elysium within and a Tartarus
VOL. VIL. E

50 On Idiocy. , [ Jan.,

clouding the without? Was there a curse which still could not
extinguish the celestial fire? Bound with iron on the rock, torn
by the everlasting bird, ever living, never dymg. Thus with the
type of organic life, was it thus in degree with the living example
of a mindless body? ‘There was no aberration evident to the
thinkers of old in the “ :20s;” he was not chased by the Furies,
but he was bound with invisible chains. Psyche was hidden, but
the Satyr was free. The priesthood could but recognize some of
the psychical conditions of the solitary in the exhausted and
mentally collapsed state of the oracular virgins after prolonged
religious excitement, and after the influence of the ritualistic thera-
peutics of the day had ceased to stimulate. These thoughts were
probably common enough in a land where nature was luxuriant
and where incessant toil was not requisite for existence. Farther
to the east, where the struggle for life has never been great, there
has been no hesitation in asserting that the idiot and the insane
are under the especial care of the Deity ; and amongst the followers
of Mahomet the first of these has ever been looked upon with awe
from the apparently willing self-exposure to the noonday sun, to
the bitterest cold, and from the total disregard of consequences.

There is nothing in the cuneiform writing of the Babylonians
nor in the hieroglyphs of the Egyptians to denote the existence of
idiots during the time when those empires flourished; and it is
very remarkable that there should not have been any notice of the
idiotic state mentioned in the Book of Leviticus in the catalogue
of those physical defects which were to prevent the priest from
taking an active part in the ceremonial of the Tabernacle.

If misery, social degradation, and the free indulgence of the
animal passions involve idiocy, there ought to have been plenty of
it during the whole of the Roman Republic and Empire wherever
the eagles rested. But there is much silence on the subject
throughout the Latin authors. There were idiots in those days,
and the practical Roman looked upon them as useless entities.
They had no sanctity in his eyes, and hence their probable rarity.
Doubtless the unfortunate children were neglected, and there is
much reason for believing that they were “ exposed.” A congenital
idiot soon begins to give trouble and to excite unusual attention ;
moreover, unless extra care is given to it, death is sure to ensue in
early childhood. There are some very curious passages in the
Latin classics that refer to the burial without cremation of very
young children, and it is evident that although the laws against
intramural sepulture were very stringent, there were instances where
it took place surreptitiously. There is some reason for believing
that many of the babies whose skeletons are now and then found
close to Roman villas in this country and on the Continent had
been buried there before teething had commenced, and that they

. ail

1870. | On Idiocy. 51

had died from a peculiar incapacity for receiving nourishment in
the usual way. ‘This defect is common enough in profound idiots.
Under the most favourable circumstances the Roman infant had
a sharp struggle for existence, and the amount of the mortality of
the young may be estimated, if we leave the question of idiocy out,
by the number of skeletons discovered in the “suggrundaria ”—
under the eaves and close to the walls of houses. At Chesterford *
no less than fifteen skeletons of infants were found close to the walls
of a Roman villa discovered in 1852. ‘The bodies were associated
with a corresponding number of small vessels of Roman manu-
facture. It would seem that their parents had done all in their
power by providing them with nourishment to soothe them and stop
the crying, which Virgil, in the narrative of the descent of Adneas
to Hades, in the 6th book of the Aineid, mentions thus :—

“Vagitus et ingens,
Infantumque anime flentes in limine primo.”

The shades of the children were crying, and on the first
threshold, that is just without the doors—an allusion no doubt to
the place of their sepulture. The laws against intramural burial
extended to the case of children who were subject to be buried in
the cemeteries but not to be burned. Pliny tells us that children
eut their teeth in the seventh month!!! and proceeds to inform us
that it was not customary to burn their bodies before that time.
Juvenal also describes the funeral of a child without fire—

“Terra clauditur infans, et minor igne rogi.”

Fulgentius says that baby bodies were not burned until they
were forty days old. ‘There is, then, some reason for believing that
the interment laws were broken in the case of such children as were
idiotic and still-born. These were buried quietly in the “suggrun-
daria.”

Those idiots whom we call simpletons, and who are not
really solitaries, but approach the lowest types of the perfect in
mind, were doubtless common in those Roman families where there
was wealth and freedom from the usual active competition with the
world. Doubtless there was many a big Roman, solemn and staid-
looking, who was studiously silent and dressed in the quietest toga,
just as there are magnificent-looking men, but, oh, how simple, who
now-a-days follow the wise precept of holding the tongue and
wearing black. The range of mental deficiency, from the true
solitary through those who are mimics and mischievous incapables,
to the solemn and sometimes witty fool who just verges on the

* An admirable description of this discovery, from which I have quoted largely,
is in the ‘ Trans. Essex Arch. Soc.,’ 1858, by the late Lord iia eae:
E

52 On Idiocy. | [Jan.,

most stupid of perfect mankind, was not noticed by the Roman _

alienist physicians.

There are no notices of idiots in the time of Arabian learning,
when Europe was linked on to civilization by its clergy; and the
affliction is never seen, so it is said, amongst the pure Arabs of
the present day, who continue generation after generation to marry
their uncles’ daughters as a matter of course. This intermarriage
occurs in many nations, living in what we call a very absurdly
savage state, and yet idiots are either rare or absent amongst
them.

The history of idiocy is then to be written in a very small space,
yet the condition is one of the greatest curses of modern times.

There are at least 10,000 pauper idiots in England and Wales,
and there are 1760 idiots confined in workhouses and lunatic
asylums in Iveland, but how many there are out of doors is un-
known. In France there are 2°5 idiots born in every 1000 births.
There are no statistics that can decide how many idiots there are
in private families in Great Britain, but every alienist physician
knows their number is legion. They are kept out of the way, shut
up, being looked upon as a disgrace to the family, for people
do not discriminate between the causes that give idiots to the
drunken and reprobate, and those that induce idiocy in the families
of the purest in mind and who lead the gentlest of lives. There is
no greater trial in a family than the presence of an idiot child, for
it not only attracts too much maternal care, but it affords, as it
grows, a bad example to the other children. Supposing that there
are two idiots born for every thousand of healthy children, what a
mass of hidden suffermg there must be around us for which there
is hardly any relief.

The percentage of idiots increased im Ireland as the general
population diminished after the famine and during the subsequent
emigration ; it is very large in France, whose population is at a
standstill; it is great i North America, where the population ig
most mixed; and it is greater in those English counties where there
is an agricultural population, earning poor wages and looking to the
Union as their haven of rest, than in the others. In Herefordshire
there were, a year or two since, 111 idiots (pauper) in 106,796 in-
habitants, or 1 im 962; in Wiltshire, 237 pauper idiots in 236,027
inhabitants, or 1 in 995; in Berkshire, 200 pauper idiots in 205,625
inhabiants, or 1 in 1028; and in North Wales, there is a pauper
idiot for every 906 souls. With these figures before us it is of no
use hiding our national skeleton; the closet-door is opened every
year during the census of pauperdom, and the grim fact constantly
increases. Possessing what we call the highest civilization, we
European and North American nations produce more useless
children than those savages who have little or no civilization.

“
ee:

1870. | On Idiocy. 53

We present, as peoples, indications of defective vital force, which
are not witnessed amongst those human beings that live in a
state of nature. There must then be something rotten in some
parts of our boasted civilization; and not only a something
which has to do with our psychology, but a great deal more
with our power of physical persistence. It is a fact that the type
of the perfect minded just above the highest idiots or the simpletons
is more distinguishable amongst the most civilized of the civilized,
than amongst those who are the so-called children of nature. Dolts,
boobies, and stupids, e¢ hoe genus omne, abound in young Saxondom,
but their representatives are rare amongst the tribes that are slowly
disappearing before the white man. We notice a wild flower, and
observe that it flourishes in the woods, on the hill side, and down
in the valley; its growth is magnificent and the reproduction is
invariable. We transplant the flower into our gardens and care for
it, and year after year its beauties remain in perfection; but if,
in order to improve upon nature and to attempt to excite some
hidden powers of growth, the plant is removed to the green-
house and “ cultivated,” one system of vital phenomena invariably
extends to the detriment of another. The vegetative and the re-
productive systems are constantly antagonistic under the artificial
treatment. You select splendid flowerers and strain every function
to perpetuate the unusual inflorescence; but what occurs in the
majority of cases? The outside is splendid, but everything else is
sacrificed. You have outraged nature and have obtained the
homologue of an idiot in a highly civilized community. It is the
same with animals, and there is not much difficulty in “cultivating”
any of our domestic pets until the progeny becomes stupid and very
difficult to keep alive. Nature only cares for those organisms that
possess all their functions in perfection, and the struggle for
existence soon militates against those whose nutrition is defective
or hard to influence. It is clear that there are some vices and
defects in our civilization that are positively antagonistic to the
production of a population perfect in mind and body, and nega-
tively so also by evolving evil out of what is hardly otherwise than
normal in so-called savage nations. The marriage of close relations,
over-indulgence in food and spirituous liquors, continuous misery’
and moral degradation, hopeless poverty, over-work, agricultural
drudgery, everlasting hebetude from the general sameness of sur-
roundings, are amongst the proximate causes of congenital idiocy,
and of that kind which develops itself in healthy children some time
after birth, and which has similar phenomena.

The production of insanity and the development of idiocy are
two different things, and it is one of the signs of the times that
idiots are being separated from lunatics. The public mind still
associates the two conditions, and the public purse is certainly well

54 | On Idiocy. [ Jan.,

opened for both. Some pathologists deny congenital idiocy, and
assert that the healthy baby develops the disease by thumb-sucking,
but experience proves to the contrary, and a long lst of material
cerebral defects and deformities indicates that although the laws of
teratology are often beside the question, there are structural pecu-
liarities sufficient to explain the mental condition. The following
selected cases will. give an idea of the vast amount of difference in
the so-called idiotic. The first is the history of a profound idiot ;
the second refers to a case which had locomotive powers; and the
third relates to a child that enjoyed slight communication with
others.

A boy, six years of age, is a well-formed idiot of the lowest
class. The head is not badly formed. The face is pale and is
without expression. A slight smile is now and then seen when he
is much pleased, but there is no evidence of intelligence to be
derived from the action of any of the facial muscles. He stares
fixedly, and will not follow the hand with his eyes when it is waved
to and fro. His power of vision is very slight, and at times the
eyes wander from one object to another in an unmeaning manner ;
or they remain fixed upon space while the head is slowly moved
from side to side. The ears are well formed externally, and he
hears, but will not listen when required to do so. The nose is well
formed, and the sense of smell exists. His taste is defective, and he
can barely distinguish between nice and nasty things. The saliva
runs slightly from the mouth, which is usually open. The upper
lip is large, the teeth are irregular and bad, and the arch of the
palate is high. He has no voice, and cannot hum a tune, and he
rarely shrieks or cries. The body is well made, but very weak in its
muscular development. The lungs are healthy. The heart is very
feeble in its impulse, and its pulsations are slow. The erect posture
soon induces faintness. The arms are thin and well formed, and
so are the hands. He can move the hands at will, but he cannot
orasp in an easy and perfect manner; they are generally in motion,
being waved in the air before the face. The legs are thin. He
cannot stand nor sit upright. He can kick about and roll over,
but the usual posture is on the back with the legs drawn up.
He does not recognize his mother, there is no intelligence; the
emotions barely exist, and even passion is rare. The habits are
those of the earliest infancy. He has to be treated like an infant
of a few days’ old. He does not suck, but takes food from a spoon
or with his fingers, but he cannot swallow unless the morsel is
placed far back on the tongue. He sleeps well and drinks with
difficulty.

The intelligence is at the lowest ebb, the power of muscular
co-ordination is very defective, and the inability to walk or to use
any of the limbs satisfactorily characterizes the case. The child

1870. | On Idiocy. 59

had not the spontaneousness of an infant a week old; and six years
of care only produced the ability to sit up and to notice a very
little. ‘That the idiocy was congenital there can be no doubt. It
was evidently so in the next case.

A. female child, aged.six years. The child is small, with a thin
long body, high shoulders and extremities. The shape and size of
the head may be gathered from the following measurements :—

Inches.

Circumference .. pes paren EES
Nasal spine to occipital protuberance be Mev
Mastoid process to mastoid process a ae ca ay a
Grea OiamIehers ave tes ae ce ik oe GS OTR
Sinai diameter es io as aves Ga ee? a

The forehead ig very small. The face is small and pale. When
quiet, there is nothing idiotic about the expression, but when, as is
- usually the case, she is restless, the mouth is noticed to be widely
open, and the entire hand is often stuffed into it, the aspect being
very silly. Considering her age, the expression of the face is very
vacant. ‘he eyes are large, and vision is imperfect. She looks
about in a vacant listless manner, stares fixedly for a long time,
and possesses barely any power of fixing the eyes to examine an
ebject. The ears are large. She hears, but does not listen. The
nose is well formed, and its sense is perverted. ‘The mouth is very
large, and the lips also; the teeth are irregular and the tongue is
swollen. ‘he saliva runs in quantity from the mouth, and there
is much discharge from the nose. She makes unmeaning sounds,
screams, and cries, but rarely laughs. She can sit up of her own
accord, lie down, turn round, and stand in a curious stooping
posture. She cannot walk slowly in a straight direction, but sets
off one shoulder first, and, like a tipsy man, takes a staggering run
to the left, then to the right, and soon. She usually brings her
elbow close to the side, elevates the wrists, and allows the back of
the hands to drop forward in running. The whole proceeding
gives her the appearance of a_rat. She cannot employ her hands
im any useful manner. Automatic movements of the body, see-saw
of the head from side to side, and of the hands before the eyes, are
frequent. Constantly in motion, when not erect she twists her
body and agitates her arms. She does not recognize those who are
kind to her, does not care about her food. She cannot be made to
attend, to listen, or to do anything. Her emotions are easily
excited, and she will scream, open-mouthed, by the hour. LHvery-
thing placed i in the hand goes to the mouth without discrimination.
The “scalp is tender to the touch. She is quite infantile in her
habits. She sleeps badly, and has great thirst. She can move
about, and thus has more nervous force than the first case, but she
has not the intelligence of a child a month old.

56 On Idiocy. | Jan.,

The third case is a male, aged eleven years. He is a slim,
long-limbed boy, with a long and narrow head. The following are
the head measurements :—

Circamperenes) 004 Ao i ee Se ee
Nasal spine to occipetal protuberance .. .. 12°5
Mastoid to mastoid Sal Pata alee haere ee ea

Great didmeters 30 Lav ee fa ae ee 6°5
Binal diameter 2; 35) ase weweitse sues ee oe a5

The face is hideous, and is peculiarized by its constant contortions.
The mouth being opened, shut, and twisted, the brow knit, and
the whole head turned in the oddest manner. The skin is sallow,
and is usually moist from the quantity of saliva flowing from
the mouth. There is an expression of happiness when he is spoken
to and noticed. He squints and suffers from fixity of vision,
and also from restless movement of the eyes. He has a little
power of directing his vision, but he looks at things out of the
corners of the eyes, and lifts his chin obliquely in doing so. ‘The
ears, nose, and mouth are well formed. He hears, and can be made
to listen slightly ; moreover he notices music. He cannot speak,
but howls, cries, and laughs. The muscles of the body and limbs
are flabby. His arms are long, and the right wrist is bent upon
the fore-arm. He is club-footed, can balance himself on his toes if
held, and has much power over his limbs. He cannot walk nor
stand alone. He balances himself when sitting, thrusts out his
legs and arms, and presents a very singular appearance. He has
but slight power of attention ; he can discriminate between persons
and different things, and he has therefore slight evidences of intel-
lectual perception and memory. The emotions are easily excited.
He knows his mother, his attendants, and those who often notice |
him. His habits are those of a child a few months old. He cannot
do anything for himself. His meat has to be cut up small, and
placed on the back of the tongue. The chin is then oddly rotated
upwards, and the morsel is swallowed with difficulty. He knows
his food. He rolls his head a good deal. In six years he learned
to stand alone, and gained a little more intelligence, but he is still
silent and a solitary.

These cases are those of congenital idiots, and the first is evi-
dently lower than the last in the mental and physical scale. The
gradation towards the more highly developed amongst the feeble-
minded is pretty well exemplified in the following cases :—

A girl, aged fifteen years, is high-shouldered, has a large body,
short limbs, and a small head. She sits with her head on one side,
looking over one shoulder. The eyes are fixed upwards on vacancy,
and the chin is poked forward and upward. When she moves from
this position the chin is not lowered, and the attitude assumed is
terribly simian. She walks badly, and she steps short, being lame.

1870. | On Idiocy. 57

She can run a little, and sits up; moreover, she can get in and out
of bed herself. The features are irregular, the eyes are deep-set,
and the nose is small and flat. The lower jaw is large and pro-
minent at the chin. There is some power of expression in the
muscles of the face. She squints with one eye, but sees well, being
incapable, however, of having her visual attention directed. The
eyes wander much, and are also often fixed with an unmeaning
“brown study” stare. The earsare large, and their sense is acute.
She is fond of music, and will listen sometimes. The senses of
smell and taste are natural, and there is no excess of saliva. The
hands are clumsy, and she can spoon her food, but she cannot
dress herself. She makes herself useful by holding things. She
has slight memory, which is restricted to persons and things with
which she is in constant contact. She remembers a few names.
She has a few ideas and fancies, and is very sensitive to external
impressions, although the result is transitory. She has ideas of self-
preservation, and is occasionally very passionate, but usually is
placid, good, affectionate, and obedient. She is incapable of being
taught anything, except a few household matters.

A girl, aged eleven years. She is tall and thin, and has a
narrow and flat forehead. ‘The face is large, and the mouth also.
It is generally open, showing the ragged teeth, and permitting
some slavering. ‘The face is expressionless, the eyes are not often
fixed, but the head is constantly turned about, looking for new
objects. She has slight powers of speech. The body and limbs
are well formed; the walking is very badly performed ; the mus-
cular co-ordination is defective, and she is much given to jerking
movements. She is gay, very full of fun, and affectionate, and
occasionally passionate. ‘The memory is very weak, and the
_ powers of comparing, of perceiving intellectually, and of ‘attending,
barely exist, but the ‘attention can be attracted.

A girl, aged twelve years, has a small head with a ah sugar-
loaf shape, Chinese-looking eyes, and a long, projecting lower lip.
The face is very placid, without expression when she is quiet, but
there is much capacity for expression. ‘The eyes are weak, and she
stares long and fixedly ; the nose is flat. She is lop- eared, but
hears fairly well; she listens indifferently, and sucks her large
tongue. ‘The teeth are deficient and bad. The body is well formed,
the ‘legs are long and straight, but the arms are bowed. She walks
and runs badly. She speaks a few words. The memory, percep-
aS and attention are at avery lowebb. She is listless and seden-
tary, bashful, good-tempered, gay, and knows those about her. She
is obedient, and knows what is expected of her.

A stout and well-made boy, aged eight years, has a well-formed
body and limbs. ‘The shape of the head is good, and the face is
large. Its expression varies. The eyes are well formed, but he

58 On Idiocy. | Jan.,

suffers from wandering vision. The senses of hearing and smelling
appear perfect. The mouth is large, and he slayers. He can
hardly enunciate a syllable, but can sing slightly. His muscular
co-ordination is defective, and he waddles in his gait. He is much
below the standard of intelligence amongst perfect children of his
age, yet he is high amongst the idiots of his class. He under-
stands a great many words, and attends tolerably. His memory is
very weak, but he remembers many things he is told todo, He
knows his own things, he can compare, and he has a slight idea of
consequences, but foresight and imagination do not appear to exist
in his mental constitution. The intellectual perception is very
slight. His attention is easily obtamed. The emotions are readily
excited. He is bashful, good-tempered, obedient, affectionate, and
gay. He is restless and mischievous. He knows very little. He
feeds himself with a spoon, but cannot dress himself. The dulness
of comprehension is very great.

The following case illustrates the highest amongst the upper
class of idiocy, but the man had been many years under supervision
and training :—

A tall, powerful man, aged forty-four years. The face is ex-
pressionless and dull, but good-tempered. The special senses are
perfect, and the speech is rather hesitating, but otherwise distinct.
The body and limbs are well made and are on a gigantic scale: he is
6 feet 35 inches high. The gait is slouching, but the general co-
ordination is unusually perfect. His intellectual powers classify him
high amongst the feeble-minded. In spite of careful training, his
stupidity, obtuseness, slowness of comprehension, and defective power
of perception are constantly noticed. Any trivial ailment diminishes
the mental powers in a marked degree. He reads slowly and well ;
writing is moderately performed ; he has slight arithmetical powers,
and a good slow memory. He is very good-tempered and amiable,
is obedient and placid as a rule, but easily roused, and religious. He
is a very good son and a careful labourer. He requires looking
after as regards his personal cleanliness. There is no relation in
his work between the labour used and the degree of force required.
He is generally incompetent when out of supervision. He works
in the garden and takes messages. The want of spontaneity, the
general dulness and slowness of comprehension, the slightly defec-
tive speech and the slouching gait, are very distinctive.

Most of the so-called idiots may be arrayed side by side with one
or more of these cases, and the necessary restriction of the term to
the most debased becomes very evident after considering the posi-
tive mental peculiarities of the latter examples. They all have some
peculiarities in common. Thus a defective state of muscular co-
ordination is invariable. The muscles may act well separately, but
they do not combine their action properly toa commonend. This is

1870. | On Idiocy. 59

in consequence of a grave nervous defect, and we owe the diagnostic
to Seguin. It is very remarkable how writers who scribble about
idiocy, without ever having had an opportunity of spending days
and weeks with the unfortunates, and who display such arrogant
ignorance of their subject when they review the labours of practical
observers, invariably neglect to notice this great physiological de-
fect. The idiot hears, but as a rule cannot enunciate a syllable
correctly, and there is always a defect in the voice. Yet he may
open and shut his mouth well, move his tongue properly, expand
his chest, and cause some vibration of his vocal cords. But the
complex association of movements to the common end of the pro-
duction of voice is impossible from defective co-ordination. Again,
no idiot walks or runs perfectly. The defective combination of the
great number of muscles employed to produce graceful locomotion
is evident. The greater the idiot, the more defective is the co-
ordination of his muscles.

Automatic movements are also common to all the cases, and
they bear a direct relation to the profundity of the idiocy. Such are
balancing the body and waving the hands to and fro, moving the
head from side to side, see-sawing with the body, moving like a pair
of open compasses, first on one foot, then on the other, and going
through all these unintentional gymnastics, one after the other,
with fidgety regularity. The movements will go on hour after
hour, and even for days. Fixity and wandering of the eyes and
of vision are common. The child stares, in the first instance, upon
vacancy, and the attention is not to be attracted ; but in the last,
the child moves its eyes listlessly hour after hour. The mental
defects, want of regard of consequences, and want of foresight, are
as evident as the absence of imagination and of all notion about
abstract ideas. In idiocy there is not a weakened condition of a
perfect mind, but many of the mental phenomena are not possible.
The children have ears, and hear, but they do not listen. The
memory of things is slight, but the recollection of events, and of
time in respect to events, is rarely observed.

Sometimes one faculty is brighter than the others, and, dim as
it is, it strikes the superficial thinker; but really the most brillant
eift of an idiot is far below the corresponding average of the perfect
man of the same age.

‘The phenomena of idiocy are occasionally developed, in conse-
quence of disease of the brain, in children and adolescents who were
born in perfect possession of their faculties; but an amount of in-
anity is usually superadded, and of wild, odd wit also.

( 60 ) [Jan.,

VI. THE FRENCH IMPERIAL SCHOOL OF FORESTRY.
By Atrrep Peneetiy, B.A. Cambridge.

At a time when we see fully recognized the importance of tlie
maintenance of forests, both for commercial purposes and also for
the great influence which they exert on climate, especially in
tropical countries, it may not be uninteresting to the public to
have set before them the steps which have been taken by the
British Government for placing our Indian forests under careful
and efficient management.

We learn from the Report of the British Association for 1868,*
that at the meeting of this body in Edinburgh m 1850 a com-
mittee was appointed to consider “the probable effects, in an econo-
mical and physical poimt of view, of the destruction of tropical
forests.” Their Report was presented in 1851 at Ipswich, and 1s
printed in the volume for that year. “ Attention was thus directed
in India to the importance of preserving every influence which
tends to maintain an equilibrium of temperature and humidity, of
preventing the waste of valuable material, and the special apph-
cation to their various uses of the indigenous timbers of the coun-
try. A few years later forest establishments were sanctioned in
British Burmah (1855), and in the Madras Presidency (1856) ;
and in 1864 Government laid the foundation of an improved gene-
ral system of forest administration for the whole Indian empire,
having for its object the conservation of state forests, and the
development of this source of national wealth. The appoimtment
of Inspector-General of Forests was made, and it is now held by
Dr. D. Brandis, formerly the able conservator in British Burmah.”

It is through the combined exertions of Dr. Brandis and
Dr. Cleghorn, the latter the author of the paper just quoted, that
the plan of sending young men to France and Germany to undergo
a special training in forestry has been adopted.

About the year 1866 Dr. Brandis visited the forests of Eng-
land, Germany, and France, and the Forest Schools of the latter
two countries, and, as the result of his observations, advised the
Government to pursue the course just mentioned. In conjunction
with the French and German authorities, he drew up regulations
respecting the studies of the English pupils whilst at the Forest
Schools.

At the end of 1866 our Government announced their intention
of sending out five young men, duly qualified, for the Forest
Department of India.

* On the Distribution of the Principal Timber Trees of India, and the Pro-
gress of Forest Conservancy,’ by Dr. Hugh Cleghorn’: ‘ Brit. Assoc. Rep.,’ p. 91.
1868.

1870. | The French Imperial School of Forestry. 61

Candidates for these appointments were to undergo a prelimi-
nary examination in London in Arithmetic, Algebra, Trigonome-
try, English Dictation and Composition, the Natural Sciences, and
Drawing. A knowledge of French or German was also required,
and all the candidates had to pass a strict medical examination.
Those who were successful were then sent either to France or
Germany to study the science of Forestry, as taught in the old
established schools there. It is to the course of instruction in the
Ecole Impériale Forestiere, established at Nancy, in the depart-
ment of the Meurthe, that the present article will be devoted.

This establishment is an offspring of the German schools, having
been founded in 1824, when M. Lorentz, who had studied Forestry
in Germany, was made Director. It is not to be supposed, how-
ever, that the French and German systems are identical. Any
one, reflecting on the characters of the two nations, would be pre-
pared to find that the German system was more artificial, and
entered much more into minutize than that pursued in France.
At all events such is the fact.

Before the establishment of the Forest School in France the
administration of the forests was carried on by officers of the army,
detached for the purpose, but who had received no special training
for the service. This is pretty much the state of things that has
obtained in India up to the present time, such officers, however,
being selected as were specially fitted for the service by their
botanical or scientific knowledge.

Those candidates who were sent to France had to spend eight
months at Haguenau, near Strasbourg, before entering the school
at Nancy, partly to ensure such a knowledge of French as would
enable them to follow, with facility, the lectures of the French
professors, and to take copious notes of them; and partly to give
them a practical knowledge of the operations which are carried
on in a large forest, such as that of Haguenau. In November—
the commencement of the scholastic year—they proceeded to the
Ecole Impériale Forestiere at Nancy, where, with the single ex-
ception of lodging in the town instead of at the school, they were
submitted to the same regulations as the pupils of the French
Government.

We shall now proceed to give a brief account of the course of
study during the two years over which it extends. In each, the
winter season is devoted entirely to lectures and study connected
with them: a portion of each day is also devoted to drawing,
either for the purposes of surveying, or the construction of bridges,
saw-mills, &e. After Easter commences what may be called the
practical or out-door part of the course, when the whole School
goes out to see the forests, and generally to apply what has been
taught in the lectures. During this time, in order to prevent

62 The French Imperial School of Forestry. [Jan.,

confusion, the School is divided into sections, each consisting of six
or seven pupils, who work together, and are responsible only for that
part of the task allotted to them. In some cases, as for instance in
the Triangulation to be hereafter mentioned, the results obtained
by the six or seven sections are combined on the return to Nancy,
so as to form one whole.

The subjects treated of in the lectures may be classed under
four heads :—Sylviculture, Applied Mathematics, Natural History,
and Law. ‘These lectures are carried on simultaneously, two sub-
jects being taken on each alternate day. ‘The Sylviculture treats
first of climates, soils, and the different kinds of trees, giving their
requirements, their natures, and the qualities of their timber.
Then follow a description and discussion of the different methods
which have been, or are still applied to the treatment of forests ;
in fact, a kind of introduction to the whole subject, giving a good
general view, without entering into details. It must be remem-
bered that many of the students have never seen a forest, and that
therefore it is of importance to give at the outset a correct general
idea of what a forest ought to be.

Under the head Mathematics is included all that is necessary
for land-surveying, levelling, &c., the construction of houses for
forest guards, and road-making.

The Natural History is confined to a course on Botany and
Vegetable Physiology.

The Law treated of is an introduction to general principles,
with a short course on the code respecting the chase.

For each of the four kinds of subjects there is a professor and an
assistant-professor.

The following table shows the distribution of the work for the
students of one year :—

Monday, Wednesday, and Tuesday, Thursday, and

Friday. Saturday.
8—9.30. .. Natural History Boule se Study.
9.30—11. .. study sie agate Sylviculture.
11—12.10. .. Breakfast Bahl we Breakfast.
12.10—1.30. ... Drawing ie Ree Drawing.
1.30—2.0. .. Recreation pauls Recreation.
2.0—3.30. .. Law Adie Drawing.
3.30—5.0. .. Study Sey Mathematics.

For those of the other year the arrangement is exactly the same,
except that the days are interchanged.

In order to ensure attention to the lectures, any student is liable
to be examined during the afternoon study time on any subject
treated of in the last ten lectures. The list of those to be examined
is posted up every day at 12.10, so that a short time is granted for
revision. These examinations occur irregularly ; hence there is
nothing to warn a student when he is likely to be examined. All

1870. | The French Imperial School of Forestry. 63

that he knows is, that, come when it may, it will be on one of the
subjects to which the lectures for the day are devoted.

At the end of the lecture session, generally before Kaster, there
are examinations on the whole of each course. ‘These, as well as
those already spoken of, are viva voce, and in order to prevent par-
tiality the questions are chosen in the following manner :—A_ book
is published before the examinations commence, giving for each
subject thirty sets of four or five questions, numbered from one
upwards.

The student on arriving draws one of thirty numbers placed in
a bag, and he is then examined on the set of questions indicated by
the number drawn. The professors, however, reserve the right to
ask a question not indicated in the set drawn. These examinations
last from half to three quarters of an hour. For each there are
three professors ; one acting as president and the others as assistants.
Each gives marks, and the average of the three estimates determines
the final mark for each examinee. very student has three clear
days to prepare for each examination.

Marks are given also for all the drawings executed during the
year. These, like those for the smaller examinations, count only
for a proportion of their value, and are added to those given for the
final examination in order to the determination of the class list.

The studies after Easter form the most enjoyable portion of the
whole course. In the first year a month is spent at some place,
such, for instance, as Gérardmer in the Vosges, where there are
forests, portions of which are surveyed by the students, who are
divided into sections, as already intimated. Immediately on the
completion of the observation of angles and of the chaining, rough
plans are made in order to detect and correct any grave error
before leaving that part of the country, and more finished plans,
combining the results of all the sections, are executed on returning
to Nancy.

In this district, too, a road is planned out, each section taking a
part of the work.

These practical operations are of very great importance, as they
serve to elucidate what has been said in the lectures, and to impress
each point more firmly on the mind.

After this comes the very best of the whole year,—the time
spent in making a tour to see some of the principal forests of
France. The parts visited are the Vosges and the Jura, and, of
course, in this manner the school passes through some of the finest
scenery of the country.

The object is twofold: first, to see the forests themselves ; and
secondly, to study general natural history, and to make a collection
of plants for an herbarium.

The Professors of Sylviculture, who accompany the school,

64 The French Imperial School of Forestry. [Jan.,

describe the soil, climate, and position of each forest, the treatment
to which it has been subjected, and the effects of the operations
performed therein, praising the good and condemning the bad. The
students take notes, which are to aid them in writing a memoir on
returning to Nancy.

For the second object, the Professor of Natural History accom-
panies the school, and gives notes on all the geological formations
which present themselves, and also on the different plants which he
directs the students to collect. These are such as are found in
forests generally, or which denote the presence of some particular
soil. The effects of the ravages of different insects, with their
modes of life, &c., are also pointed out.

On returning to the Forest School, a general memoir of this
tour is made, and each student arranges his herbarium, labels being

affixed to the specimens, denoting the place and date of finding,

together with the class, family, genus, and species.

After all this has been finished, come the examinations for the
end of the year. In these, questions can be put on any part of the
course of lectures as well as of the practical course; or the student
may be required to give a description of any forest visited, or to
state where he has seen any particular fact illustrated. Marks are
given for the examination itself. ‘To these are added a proportion
of those gained in the examination at the close of the lecture session,
as well as of those for the exercises done in the practical course, and
thus the place in the class-list for the year is determined.

The examinations are finished by the middle or end of August,
when the vacation, which lasts until the commencement of November,
begins.

In the second year, lectures are delivered on the same four
classes of subjects.

Those on Sylviculture commence with a revision of the first

year’s course, and go on to describe the “ Aménagement” of a
forest. The “Aménagement” forms the basis of the management
of each forest, giving, in fact, the plan on which it is worked,
regulating the thinnings and clearings to be applied to it, the age
at which the wood should be cut, and the amount that can be cut
yearly without endangering the existence of the forest.

Perhaps the best idea of the meaning of the word “aménage-
ment,” of which there is probably no exact equivalent in English,
will be gathered from the following definition given in the course at
the Forest School :-—

“T’aménagement d’une forét est une opération qui consiste a
régler le mode de traitement et les exploitations de cette forét en
vue des besoins du propriétaire et de la consommation,” which may
be anglicised thus :—The aménagement of a forest is an operation
which consists in regulating the mode of treatment and the cuttings

1870.] The French Imperial School of Forestry. 65

in this forest, in view of the necessities of the owner and of the
general consumption.

The Mathematical lectures consist of a course on Mechanics, with
special reference to the different kinds of saw-mills, and a short
course on Triangulation and the use of the Theodblite.

Those on Natural History embrace three courses: one on
Mineralogy, one on Geology, and one on Zoology. Of the last,
perhaps the most important part regarding the forests is that which
treats of insects and their ravages, and the higher animals by which
they are kept in check.

The legal studies are restricted to forest law, treating specially
of the French Code Forestiere.

As in the former year, examinations are held constantly on the
last ten lectures, as well as at the end of the lecture session and at
the end of the year. They are conducted in the manner already
described. .

After Easter the school commences its travels, but there is now
no real tour. The students go to some locality where the different
kinds of saw-mills can be seen in action. Drawings of the machinery
are made from actual measurements, and are coloured so as to indi-
cate the material of which each part is composed. General direc-
tions are given to the students, and each is at liberty to take what
sections he thinks most necessary. They are also to obtain all the
information needful to determine the efficiency of each machine and
the probable cost of construction; so as to be able to deduce its
value as a commercial speculation.

The School is also required to make a triangulation of a tract
of country, and for this purpose they adopt as a “base” some
line which has been calculated by the Ordnance Survey of France,
which would, of course, be more exact than one measured by the
aid of ordinary instruments. In this triangulation the method of
sections is again adopted, each having a certain number of signals
assigned to it, and being responsible for the exactitude of the results
obtained.

The practical application of the course on the “Aménagement of
Forests” is generally made in the forest of Haguenau, which in one
part consists of “hard wood,” oak, hornbeam, and beech, the first
being often remarkably fine; whilst the other part is almost exclu-
sively composed of Scotch fir. The students have to form a plan
for the “aménagement ” of the portion of forest which is allotted to
them,—generally from 1500 to 2000 acres. Of course, before
proposing any scheme, it is necessary to know the contents and
condition of the forest. In order to this, it is divided into parcels,
homogeneous as to climate, soil, aspect, and also as to the kinds
and ages of the trees found in them, Each of these is described,
and they are then grouped so as to form masses which may as

VoL. VII. F

66 The French Imperial School of Forestry. [Jan.,

much as possible be cut at the same period, and in such a manner
as to satisfy the rules laid down for the good management of
forests. Two of these “‘aménagements” are executed here; one
in the “ hard wood ” and the other in the Scotch fir. Another had
before been effected in the forest of Haye, near Nancy, which has
hitherto been treated as coppice, but is now gradually bemg changed
into a real timber forest, in which the reproduction is to be effected
by natural seeding. This ‘‘aménagement” had for its object to
show how the change might be completely effected with as little
loss and as much regularity as possible. These “aménagements ”
include the principal cases likely to occur in France.

In the principal Examinations of the second year the pro-
fessors give specimens of rocks, plants, and wood to be determined.
Respecting the plants the student is required to state the class,
family, genus, and species to which each belongs.

For the final class-list a proportion of the marks gained in the
first year counts with those of the final examination, which itself
forms about half of the total, the other half being supplied by the
marks of the first year, the marks at Haster of the second year, and
those for the different exercises during that year.

These examinations brmg the course at the Ecole Forestiere
to a close; and those who have satisfied the examiners have inva-
tiably been found perfectly competent for all their professional
duties. Whether the system inculcated at the Heole Impériale
Forestiere, with the modifications necessitated by the differences of
climate, can be successfully applied to the forests of India, is the
problem now awaiting solution.

The students who enter under the auspices of the French
Government, must be between the ages of eighteen and twenty-
two, thus resembling the majority of the undergraduates at our
English universities. The contrast as to the discipline main-
tained in the two cases is very striking. From the table given
above it will be seen that the whole day, from eight in the morning
until five in the evening, is necessarily spent at the Forest School,
for the students are not allowed to leave the premises, except
during the hour devoted to breakfast. From five o’clock until ten
in the evening they are at liberty to employ their time as they
think fit, provided they do not infringe any regulation of the
School.

The police of the establishment is carried on by three “ Adju-
tants,” one of whom is always in the room allotted to the men of
each year during the study time; acting, in fact, as an usher, and
reporting to one of the professors who holds the post of “ Inspector
of the School.” The third has nothing to do in the School, but
parades the town in plain clothes durmg the evening when the
students are allowed to be out. The latter are obliged to return

1870. | The French Imperial School of Forestry. 67

to the School at or before ten o'clock, and to sign their names on
entering. If the signature is not in the customary handwriting of
the student, he ig hable to be put under arrest, that is to say, he is
not allowed to leave the School during a certain number of days.

Arrived on the premises, they are allowed to be in each other’s
rooms until eleven o’clock, but after that hour each must go to his
own room and remain there. To ensure this, and for the main-
tenance of order generally, an adjutant makes his rounds on the
staircases, and has the power to enter any room, after having
knocked. At midnight he retires to his room at the foot of the
staircase. The other adjutants do not lodge at the School. New
buildings have, however, been recently erected ; and in future they
will all be lodged on the premises. The supervision is thus very
complete ; in fact, seen from an English point of view, the students
are treated rather as boys, than as men responsible for their own
conduct.

In order to represent the School on any public occasion, to
maintain internal good order, and to decide differences which may
arise among the students, a “Commission” of seven members is
elected. It consists of a “ President” chosen from and by the students
of the Second Year, together with a “ Papa” and two “ Commis-
sioners”” chosen by the men of each year from their own number.
The President has only a casting vote. The commission is recognized
by the authorities, and through it hints are sometimes given to the
students in a semi-official manner, which to some extent mitigates
the pressure of the School regulations.

An hour on alternate days is devoted to regular instruction in
horsemanship, but beyond this there is no athletic exercise, a fact
which contrasts strongly, and perhaps disadvantageously, with
English public schools and universities.

The English students speak most highly of the uniformly
kind manner in which they have been received by the French with
whom they have come in contact, whether professors or pupils;
and it is to be hoped that the kindly feeling thus commenced will
be constantly maintained.

(0879 | Tanke

VII. THE FULLER’S-EARTH IN THE SOUTH-WEST
OF ENGLAND.

By Rates Tarts, Assoc. Lin. Soc., F.G.S., &e.

In the early part of this year my honoured correspondent, M.
Terquem, of Metz, applied to me for information respecting our
Fuller’s-Earth, as he was desirous to know the relations subsisting
between the formation as developed in the province of the Moselle
and in England. The account given of the Fuller’s-Earth in our
geological manuals is very meagre, and could serve very little my
friend’s purpose; but fully aware that such description did not
embrace all that is known respecting the formation in this country,
I had compiled the summary that here follows: and in addition
supplemented our knowledge of the fossiliferous contents of the
terrain by the determination of a large suite of fossils in the collec-
tion of the Geological Society. These new materials render no
longer tenable the inferences that have been drawn on the affinity of
the fossils.

The geological reader is aware of the great lithological and in
part paleontological differences which exist in the Lower Oolitic
strata at the opposite extremities of their range in England. In
the belief that the present communication, brief though it be, is the
fullest exposition of the history of the Fuller’s-Earth in the south-
west of England, I trust it will prove of service in future attempts
to correlate satisfactorily some one of the members of the Lower
Oolite of Yorkshire with that of the typical Fuller’s-Earth.

I may state in passing that the Fuller’s-Earth in the department
of the Moselle has yielded more than 300 species of fossils, not in-
cluding microscopic forms, which number nearly one hundred; M.
Terquem* has divided the formation into three zones of life—the
inferior characterized by Ammonites Niortensis; the median, by
Ammonites Parkinsoni ; and the superior, by Ammonites Backerie.
No such divisions have been made out in the English beds.

Extent and Thickness of the Fuller’s-Harth in the South-west of
Eingland.— With the other members of the Lower Oolite, the Fuller’s-
Earth has more or less of uniformity as regards its constitution and
fossil contents from Dorsetshire to the borders of Oxfordshire.
Throughout this tract, it presents an argillaceous character with thin
beds of limestone and calcareous nodules. The underlying formation is,
in every instance, the Inferior Oolite ; but from the Dorsetshire coast
to near Hinton, on the borders of Somersetshire and Wiltshire, it is
overlain by the uppermost members of the Lower Oolitic series, and
to the north of that locality the Great Oolite appears, and throughout
the further extension of the Fuller’s-Earth is the overlying formation.

* In litteris.

* ba
—_—a

*1870.] Fuller's-Earth. 69

At Bridport, on the coast of Dorsetshire, the Fuller’s-Earth attains a
thickness of 150 feet ;-and near Bath, where it forms a conspicuous
band, it is 140 feet thick; at Wotton-under-Edge, 128 feet; near
Stroud, 70 feet ; and in the north of Gloucestershire, as near Chelten-
ham, it is further reduced to a general thickness of from thirty to
forty feet. It appears at Sherborne, near Burford, to the north-
east of Cheltenham, and does not extend as far east as Oxfordshire,
beyond which the Stonesfield slate rests. on the Inferior Oolite.
The horizontal extension of the typical Fuller’s-Harth in the south-
west of England, which is about 180 miles, is very much the same
as that of the Upper Lias Sands—preserving a maximum thickness
from Bridport to Bath, but attenuating rapidly to the north and east,
and finally thinning out a little to the north-east of Cheltenham.

Lnthology.—The peculiar mimeral from which the formation
derived its appellation, is confined to particular districts, as around
Bath and Stroud, and where it does occur, constitutes but a very
small portion of the thickness of the formation. This Fuller’s-Earth
is used in fulling cloth. ‘The lithological characters of the formation
may be gathered from the following sections :—

1. Cliff at Watton Hill, west of Bridport Harbour, “ composed
principally of blue clay, grey marl, and marlstone, with subordinate
beds of imperfect stone ; thickness of 150 feet; the base reposes on
the Inferior Oolite, and the formation is covered by the Forest-
Marble.”*

2. Bath, in descending order :—

A. Blue and yellow clay, with nodules of indurated marl 30 — 40

B. Bad Fuller’s-Earth .. 3). SS

- Good Fuller’s-Earth om Ne ae es
D. Clay, containing beds of bad Fuller’s-Earth and layers

of nodular iniestene and indurated marl nh 100

135:5—148

Bed D encloses one or two strata of a tough, rubbly limestone,
which is commonly called Fuller’s-Earth rock, and bears considerable
resemblance to Cornbrash. This rock is always accompanied by an
immense number of Terebratule, and Mya angulifera and Isocardia
concentrica are almost invariably found in it.

3. Slaughterford, Hast Gloucestershire : t—

White marls, with occasional stonybands_.. ss 20

White and grey limestone, and Fuller’s-Earth rock .. 10

White and blue calcareous clays with Terebratule .. 30
65 t

4. Near Cheltenham.—The deposit consists of regularly bedded
blue and yellow shales, clays and marls, with occasional courses of
* De la Beche and Buckland, ‘ Trans. Geol. Soc.,’ 2nd series, vol. iii. (1830).

+ Lonsdale, Geol. of Bath, ‘ Trans. Geol. Sov.’
} Hull, Mem. Geol. Surv., sheet 34,

70 Fuller’s-Earth in the [Jan., *

rubbly limestone or calcareous sandstone. Most of the limestones
are a lumachelle, some of them being entirely composed of Ostrea
acuminata cemented together.* |

Palzontological Features of the Typical Fuller’s-EHarth.—The
Fuller’s-Earth does not possess a special fauna, and though regarded
usually sterile as to the number of species, yet it is characterized by
the profusion of Ostrea acuminata, Terebratula ornithocephala, and
Ehynchonella varians. Professor Ramsay + summarizes the species
of the Fuller’s-Earth as follows :—Echinodermata 1, Conchifera 17,
Brachiopoda 4. Total species 22, and remarks thereon :—‘ The
majority of the forms that passed upwards from the Inferior Oolite
limestone seem to have fled the muddy bottom of the Fuller’s-Harth
sea, and to have returned to the same area when the later period of
the great oolite began .The Fuller’s-Harth may be considered only
as a comparatively unfossiliferous and inconstant lower zone of the
Great Oolite.” The inference stated in the first sentence of the
quotation is not consonant with facts; for in the first place that
portion of the Inferior Oolite which has furnished the larger pro-
portion of Great Oolite species, and indicates similar conditions of
deposition, is that of lower freestone beds and pea grit of Chelten-
ham, which occupy the base of the Inferior Oolite,t and in the second
place, of the species common to the Inferior Oolite and Great Oolite,
those which appear in the later stages of the former formation,
occur also in the Fuller’s-Harth. The second sentence of the above
quotation is no longer applicable, inasmuch as though the fauna of
the Fuller’s-EKarth is not exceedingly rich, yet far exceeds in number
the then catalogued species, and, as I shall endeavour to show, has
a greater affinity to the Inferior Oolite than to the Great Oolite.

The number of species catalogued by me from the Fuller’s-Harth
is 93, distributed in the following classes :—

LOeMtbeTIs we sh Gastéropoda:;...)..4 2.2) - 4
Annes =p 2.c5ce ke 6 8 Cephalopoda.. .. .. 10
Echinodermata .. .. 10 =
iBrachiopoda :2 °° %. yz. * 10 Total darted te
Gonéhifera © 2.44.5 (82 SS

So that the Fuller’s-Earth is not so barren in species as is
generally supposed. Of the 93 recorded species, two, Montlivaltia
tenuilamellosa and Belemnites parallelus, have not been found in
any other formation ; and respecting the range of Myacites Ter-
quemus, Buy, and Pholadomya truncata, Buckman, I have no
information ; 6 forms are at present undetermined, whilst the bulk
of the species, 81, occur in either the Inferior Oolite or Great Oolite,
or in both formations.

* Hull, Mem. Geol. Surv., sheet 34, p. 11.
+ Anniversary Address Geol. Soc., 1864.

t See Lycett Cotteswold Club, vol. i. p. 71 et seq.; and Wright, Q. J.G.S.,
vol. xvi., p. 11.

1870.] South-west of England. 71

The range of the 84 determined species is as follows :—

Peculiar to the formation Lada ale 2
Common to the inferior oolite and Fuller’ 3- ‘Rarth Mae ad Fo
% » great oolite s » peek ee
= shi, ys CR TORMOLMIBINOMAS a0) eh ee hoa: sak oes LOG

Accordingly, 69 species, or 83 per cent., occur in the Inferior
Oolite, and 49 only, or 60 per cent., are found in the Great Oolite or
superior formations. These results lead us to the inevitable con-
clusion, that the Fuller’s-Earth is a subordinate member to the
Inferior Oolite rather than to the Great Oolite, as hitherto con-
sidered.

The Inferior Oolite presents in its organic remains at least a
twofold aspect, and whilst the older fauna is to some extent re-
peated in the Great Oolite, the newer fauna lived on during the
deposition of the Fuller’s-Earth, but did not extend into the Great
Oolite. Indeed, the majority of the species common to the Fuller’s-
Earth and the Inferior Oolite made their appearance in time in the
ae zones of the Inferior Oolite; such are :—Serpula tetragona,

olectypus depressus, Hyboclypus gibberulus, Clypeus Plotti, C.
Hugti, Echinobrissus clunicularis, Waldheimia ‘ornithocephala,
Terebratula perovalis, T. globata, Rhynchonella varians, i. spinosa,
Cypricardia Bathonica, Ceromya Bajociana, C. striata, Goniomya
angulifera, Isocardia nitida, Mytilus Sowerbyanus, Ostrea acu-
minata, Pleuromya xquata, Pholadomya Heraultt, Ammonites
Parkinsoni, A. discus, &c., &e.

And so close is the affinity subsisting between the fauna of the
zone of Ammonites Parkinsons and the Fuller’s-Earth, that massing
the species of these two horizons, the contrast in their numerical
relations to those of the lower zones of the Inferior Oolite is as great
as that which they present to those of the Great Oolite.

= 1n conclusion, the Fuller’s-Earth is not a formation, but only
the uppermost, or a fourth, zone of the Inferior Oolite. Here, there
is a marked decadence of Inferior Oolite species, yet at the same
time the facies is decidedly after that fauna.

twee) [Jan.,

NOTICES OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS.

WROUGHT-IRON BRIDGES AND ROOFS*

Or all materials used in construction in these days of progress,
there is none which plays so important a part in engineering and
architectural art as iron. This material has become the only
resource of the engineer for carrying out those large designs and
projects which thirty years ago would have been considered chime-
rical. The attempt to cross the Menai and Conway Straits with
bridges formed of wrought-iron plates was treated by mathematicians
and engineers as they would have regarded a chapter in the ‘ Arabian
Nights ;’ and more than one eminent mathematician pronounced
the attempt—however i ingenious the combinations might be in the
shape of iron plates—as a wild and fabulous scheme. It was only
those connected with the preliminary experiments—which led to
the form and principle of construction—who could form a correct
idea of the project and establish with certainty the principle on
which those important structures were founded.

It must be admitted that the position of the load and the form
of its distribution were not attended to with the same mathematical
accuracy as at the present day; but the general dimensions, extent
of span, and weight of load were carefully considered, in order to
resist every possible strain and to render the structures secure. All
this was done 1 in the face of detractors, and the doubts and fears of _
men of science, and the results are the ‘completion of the Britannia
and Conway Tubular Bridges, as they now exist, as firm and secure
as the first day they were opened for public traffic. It is true
that tubular bridges, such as the Britannia and Conway, are of
a more expensive type than those subsequently introduced; but
although extended practice and the progress of science may have
suggested improvements, it cannot be disputed that all subsequent
constructions of this kind are founded on the same principles as
those to which we may safely refer as the pioneers of all their
successors. We have a much greater variety in the forms of
wrought-iron bridges now than when first introduced; but the
principle, so clearly exemplified in the Britannia and Conway
Tubular Bridges, is identical with more recent constructions in
the balance of the two resisting forces of tension and compression,
as exhibited in the upper and lower sides or flanges of those
important structures.

* ¢ Wrought-iron Bridges and Roofs:’ Lectures delivered at the Royal Engineer
Establishment, Chatham. By W. Cawthorne Unwin, B.Sc. Associate Inst. C.E.
E. & F. N. Spon.

1870.] Notices of Scientific Works, 73

Wrought-iron girders, whether tubular, plate, or lattice, are
therefore simply modifications of what has already been done in the
same direction, and provided careful attention is given to the quality
of the material and soundness of the workmanship, we may rest
assured of the security and permanence of every similar structure.

Many distinguished men of science have written treatises to
elucidate the principles involved in the tubular and girder con-
structions, and among them may be mentioned Mr. Unwin, who
has just published a report of his lectures on this subject, including
a short treatise on the construction of iron roofs, delivered to the
members of the Ordnance Corps at Chatham. As a lecturer on
practical science a more efficient person could probably not have
been selected, for—to a competent knowledge of mathematics ap-
plied to constructions—Mr. Unwin has had the advantage of five
years’ practical experience with Sir Wiliam Fairbairn of Man-
chester, and he therefore enters upon the discussion with a full
knowledge of the subject on which he treats.

In the first lecture Mr. Unwin fully proves the advantages
he has gained, by the competency with which he enters upon the
investigation of stress and strain, bringing to his aid many apt
illustrations, and by the graphic way in which he treats the’
principles of load and molecular resistances, greatly for the benefit
of the student and those interested in the accuracy of iron
constructions. ‘To show the distinction between stress and strain,
which means the force of the former applied to a material body,
and the alteration or the resistance of the latter as a result,
Mr. Unwin states, that the “strain is sensibly proportional to
the stress for a range of about only one-third of the whole stress
which may be applied before rupture ensues, if the bar has not
previously been strained, and for a range of, perhaps, two-thirds of
the breaking-stress, if the bar has not previously been loaded with
nearly the whole breaking-weight. But in either case, with loads
near the breaking-weight, the strain is not proportional to the
stress, and the condition of perfect elasticity is not fulfilled. Hence
laws derived from the consideration of a perfectly elastic material
will not give accurately the ultimate resistance of structures of
wrought iron.”

The second lecture is devoted to the intensity of stress on
bridges, and the methods of estimating the load and its limits of
safety. It also relates to the weight of the structure and its load,
or the dead weight and its live or rolling load. In this, as in the
former lecture, Mr. Unwin gives some useful examples and illustra-
tions of highly practical value to the student and engineer.

The third lecture treats of tubular, tubular-girder, and plate-
girder bridges, showing the ratio of the top and bottom flanges to
span, the depth of girder to span, and the method of designing, &.

74 Notices of Scientifie Works. — [Jan.,

Lectures IV. and V. contain comparative examples of the Warren,
lattice, and other kinds of bridges; showing also the direction of the
strains of the lattice as compared with the solid web connecting the
upper and lower flanges of the plate bridge. In this part of the
investigation the author seems to demonstrate the theoretical advan-
tages of the lattice or open web over that of the solid plate-girder,
since in that system the bars may be inclined to the direction of the
strains of tension and compression, which is not the case in the
plate-web. ‘There are, however, compensating advantages in the
solid plate-web which appear to have escaped the author’s notice
im the increased degree of stiffness which is obtained in both the
plate and the box girders. Many examples of this kind may be
shown in bridges of long and short spans, and probably one of the
best and most substantial of this sort is that over the Lune at Lan-
easter. The advocates for the open-web system have intimated the
saving of weight at 50 per cent., but that statement is out of all
question, as the only saving is in the difference between the open
bars connecting the upper and the lower flanges in the lattice-girder,
and the middle web connecting the flanges in the plate-girder, and
which in the very best iron construction of that description is much
nearer 6 or 7 per cent., and in some cases the difference is inap-
preciable.

The question of joints has been fully discussed by many writers ;
but the author brings under the notice of engineers the different
modes of rivetting, and, without entering upon the merits of punched
and drilled holes, he gives a mathematical analysis of the different
processes which enter into the maximum strengths and forms of
rivetted joints.

On Roofs.—Lecture VI.—Mr. Unwin states that “in the sup-
porting framework of roofs precisely the same mechanical problem
is presented as when a railway or roadway is to be carried over a
ravine or river. Hence it is that the successive combinations adopted
for bridges reappear, in essentially the same forms, as roof princi-
pals. The stone-vaulted inner roofs of some of the older churches
are structurally identical with masonry bridges. Timber roof-
trusses are simply awkward-shaped girders, or, like the great roofs
at King’s Cross and over the transept of the first International
Exhibition, they are timber arches analogous to those frequently
erected as bridges in the earlier history of railways. Nor is the
case otherwise with iron. All iron roois may be classed as girders
or as arches, with certain transitional forms which embody the fea-
tures of both classes. And to pursue the analogy farther, even the
suspension principle, which at first sight, from the nature of the
supports required, would seem inapplicable to the purpose, is, ac-
cording to a proposal of MM. Lehaitre and De Montdesir, to be
pressed into the service of the roof-builder. ”

1870.) Notices of Scientifie Works. 75

Of re construction of roofs many examples are given, and the
strains on the parts of different forms are carefully worked out in
spans varying from 15 to 240 feet. The methods of determining
the strains for differently formed roofs are exceedingly well adapted
for obtaining perfect security, and the clear and distinct manner
in which the subject is treated must be highly edifying to the
student and practical engineer.

We might enlarge on this, but it could not be expected that a
subject of such importance as Iron Roofs and Bridges could be suc-
cessfully treated within the limits of a few lectures. There is,
however, sufficient matter contained in the work before us to recom-
mend its perusal to the consideration of the practical architect and
engineer ; and looking at the clear and graphic style in which it
is written, we feel indebted to the author for this addition to our
knowledge of practical science:

Habit and Intelligence, in their connection with the Laws of Matter
and Force: a Series of Scientific Essays. By Josupn Joun
Murenuy. 2 yols. London: Macmillan & Co., 1869.

THE intricate problems of the genesis of animal and vegetable life,
and of the connection between the human mind and its material
abode, will ever be among those which engage and fascinate our
intellects of the highest order. The doctrine of a gradual evolution
of life, as opposed to that of distinct specific creations, with which
the great name of Darwin is associated, and which has been elabo-
rated by Spencer, Wallace, and Hooker, has of late years received
an extraordinary impulse ; ‘while the parallel theory of a “ physical
basis of life” has obtained the sanction of some of the highest
names in natural science. While these theories are doubtless
founded on a substratum of truth unknown to our older naturalists,
they are probably mixed up with a considerable amount of error
and over-statement, which further investigations will remove. We
therefore cordially welcome a work in which the problems of organic
life are treated with so free and independent a hand, and with such
close reasoning applied to a wide knowledge of facts, as we find in
the volumes before us. While adopting the view of the evolution
of all living organisms by descent, with modifications, from a few, if
not from a single germ, Mr. Murphy holds that the Darwinian
theory of Natural Selection from spontaneous variations is inadequate
to account for the major part of these modifications, and altogether
rejects the Huxleyan principle that the phenomena of life can be
accounted for and explained on purely physical principles.

The first volume of this series of Essays is occupied with

76 Notices of Scientifie Works. [ Jan.,

a consideration of the laws which govern the material world, and a
comparison of them with what we know of those which prevail in
the domain of organic life. With great acuteness and force of illus-
tration, Mr. Murphy points out that while it is a feasible hypothesis
that many of the structures which we see in the animal and yvege-

table worlds are attributable to Natural Selection, or “ the Survival.

of the Fittest,” acting through a long course of generations, there
are others which it is impossible to conceive can have become
developed through the operation of this law, or of that promulgated
by Herbert Spencer, depending on the mechanical adaptation of
structure to function by the force of external agency. To this cate-
gory belong such organisms in the vegetable kingdom as the hard,
woody shell that protects the nut, but still more conspicuously all

the most complex organs of the higher orders of animals. We will

give the argument in Mr. Murphy’s own words :—

“There are structures for the origin of which it is, I believe,
utterly impossible to account by any merely physical theory. I
refer to such organs as the eye and the ear. [If it is certain, as I
think it is, that the flow of the nutritive fluids through cellular
tissue, for successive generations, must have a tendency to form a
rudimentary circulating apparatus, it is at least equally obvious that
the action of light fallmg on the eye for any number of genera-
tions, can have no similar tendency to produce the optical apparatus
of the eye. Nor can the constant exercise of the eye in the act of
seeing have any such effect. The exercise of the eye, within the

limits of what is healthful, does, no doubt, tend to increase the sen- —

sitiveness of the retina ; and I do not say it is impossible, though I
do not admit it as probable, that the muscular arrangements to
which the mobility of the eyeballs and eyelids is due, may have been
produced by the effort to move them, continued through successive
generations ; and that the expansion of nerves over the retina may
have been produced by the constant stimulation of the nerves them-
selves. But no such merely physical theory will account for the
origin of the special complexities of the visual apparatus. Neither
the action of ight on the eye, nor the actions of the eye itself, can
have the slightest tendency to produce the wondrously complex his-
_tological structure of the retina; nor to form the transparent
humours of the eye into lenses; nor to produce the deposit of black
pigment that absorbs the stray rays which would otherwise hinder
clear vision ; nor to produce the iris, and endow it with the power
- of partly closing under a strong light so as to protect the retina,
and expanding again when the light is withdrawn ; nor to give the
iris its two nervous convexions, of which one has its root in the
sympathetic ganglia, and causes expansion, while the other has its
root in the brain, and causes contraction.” |
Admitting, then, as Mr. Murphy does, the premiss of the

1870. Notices of Scientifie Works. at

common ancestry of all organisms, by what process is it possible
to account for the gradual evolution of a being with so complex
an organ as an eye from the primordial homogeneous and amor-
phous Ameba or Gromia? He sees the explanation in the
co-existence with the vital principle of an Organizing Intelli-
gence, consciously present in the mind of man, unconsciously in
all organized structure. He believes that “‘the wondrous fact of
organic adaptation cannot have been produced by any natural
selection, or by any unintelligent agency whatever ;” that “ wherever
there is life there is intelligence, and that intelligence is at work in
every vital process whatever, but most discernibly in the highest.”
The recognition of this Organizing Intelligence running throughout
organic nature, is the keystone of Mr. Murphy’s system. The uncon-
scious intelligence by which the bee stores up food for the sustenance
of the larvee, and builds cells for its reception on mathematical prin-
ciples, is the same principle as the unconscious intelligence which
has given it the organs necessary to collect the honey ; the conscious
intelligence in the mind of man which has manufactured the micro-
scope is the same principle as the unconscious intelligence which in
his body has manufactured, or, to coin a word, has “ mentefactured ”
the lenses of the eye. The reasoning that the eye cannot have been
produced by the action of mere natural selection is strengthened by
the forcible argument that this latter view presupposes that the same
selection from a long series of spontaneous variations has taken place
in three separate lines of descent, in the Annulosa, the Mollusca, and
the Vertebrata, the higher forms of which can, on no plausible hypo-
thesis, have descended directly from one another, or from a common
eye-possessing ancestor. Spencer’s theory that all structures have
been produced by adaptation to function in the individual aided by
natural selection in the generation, is combated by the equally
powerful argument that “as we ascend in the scale of nature to
higher and higher vital functions, and higher and higher organic
forms, we find the relation of cause and effect becoming less traceable
by our faculties (though no doubt it exists all through nature) ;
while at the same time the relation of means and purpose becomes
at once more traceable and more definite. Nowhere in the universe,
as known to us, is the relation of means to purpose more clearly
traceable and more perfectly definite than in the organs of special
sense in the higher animals, especially in the eye and the ear ; and
nowhere is it more difficult (I would say, utterly impossible) to assign
any physical cause for the facts, than when we inquire by what
cause, or by what agency, such wonderful organs have been formed.
This truth, that purpose is most clearly discoverable where cause is
least so, has not received the attention it deserves.”

In his second volume Mr. Murphy enters upon the recondite
subjects of Psychology, and especially of the relation of the mind to

78 Notices of Scientifie Works. [Jan.,

the physical system and to the vital organization. The same mode
of reasoning is applied as to the facts of organic life, and an analogous
conclusion is the result. As the phenomena of animal and vegetable
life cannot be referred to the operation of Natural Selection, or of any
unintelligent agency whatever, so Mr. Murphy maintains that in all
mental intelligence there is an element not derived from habit, and
not resolvable into any unintelligent force ; and is hence at issue with
the psychological school represented in this country by Mill, Bain,
and H. Spencer. In other words, “ life, intelligence, and the moral
sense is each incapable of being resolved into anything lower than
itself.’ We cannot follow Mr. Murphy over the oft-trodden ground
_ of the existence or non-existence of Innate Ideas—which he believes
to be the inherited experience of the race, the reality of our belief
in an external world, the origin of our conceptions of time and space,
and other cognate speculations, on some of which he contrives to
throw new light ; but we wish rather to comment on one portion of
his scheme which we take to be erroneous. Mr. Murphy points out
clearly the difference between conscious and unconscious Sensation,
and between conscious and unconscious Thought, the greater part of
our thought being unattended by consciousness ; but he often con-
founds, as we think, between conscious and unconscious Volition.
Now we would maintain that nothing in our mental constitution is
clearer than that the Will is often, and indeed generally, exercised
without any consciousness of its action. The movements of the
limbs in walking we presume Mr. Murphy would call, and we think
erroneously, consensual action, the result of habit. The motion of
the heart, of the eyelids, of the chest in breathing, we hold to be
truly either consensual or reflex; and the test we would apply is
that they cannot be arrested, or only to a very inconsiderable extent,
by the action of the Will. In walking, on the contrary, we can stop
at any moment we please ; and whatever can be arrested by the Will
must have been set inmotion by the Will. The view has been held
that in the motion of the limbs in walking, a certain storage, as it
were, of voluntary action, is set at work at the commencement, which
is continually flowing forth at every step without any fresh volition.
But this idea, we think, will not bear a careful scrutiny. Take the
instance of the slight inclination of the body to one side necessary
in turning a corner; this cannot be done without the exercise of the
Will, and yet we are perfectly unconscious that any such motion is
performed. Or we may illustrate our argument by the familiar
example of a flight of steps, say twenty, which we are accustomed
daily to descend, and which has been shortened by one step at the
bottom of the flight. We all know the unpleasant jerk given to
the body by the foot coming into contact with the ground with
greater force than was expected. We cannot suppose that an amount
of voluntary energy was stored up when we commenced the descent

een ee —

1870. ] Notices of Scientifie Works. 79

sufficient to carry us down exactly the twenty steps; it is evident
that the Will was set in motion to descend the imaginary twentieth
step with as much force as it was at the first step. But the best
illustration of unconscious voluntary action is perhaps afforded by
the motion of the fingers in writing, where the warmest advocate of
the theory of habit can hardly maintain that the action is entirely
consensual ; and the storage of the Will hypothesis is evidently in-
adequate to account for each separate motion of the fingers, which
must require a distinct action of the Will, exercised perfectly uncon-
sciously to ourselves. The lateral motion of the eye-balls, again,
which takes place in reading, is one evidently entirely under the
control of the Will, and is yet performed with the most perfect
unconsciousness.

We appear to have dwelt rather on those points in which we
differ from Mr. Murphy than on those in which we agree with him.
There is, however, much in these two volumes that will interest
every student of Biology and of Psychology, and not a little that
must commend itself to the attention of every man of science.
Whatever acceptance his views may meet with in the scientific
world, it is impossible not to acknowledge the fairness and modera-
tion with which he has brought them forward, and the ability with
which he has supported them by logical argument and by a large
array of facts.

JEFFREYS’ BRITISH CONCHOLOGY.*

From the various reports which have from time to time appeared
in these pages, of the dredging expeditions of the author of this
work, as well as from the notice of the second volume of a por-
tion of the work itself, which is to be found as far back ag in our
first volume, our readers will have become well acquainted with
the active labours of Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys. The publication of the
work has extended over seven years, and all we can attempt to do
here is to give a brief outline of its contents.

The first volume deals with “land and fresh-water shells,”
the remaining four with “marine shells;” but from this it must
not be inferred that the author’s labours have been confined to the
description of shells alone. The book is an excellent and complete
treatise on the Natural History of British Mollusca, containing
not only accurate descriptions of the various genera and species in
their zoological order, but accounts of their British habitat, as well

* ‘ British Conchology ; or, an Account of the Mollusca which now inhabit the
British Isles and the Surrounding Seas.’ In 5 volumes (commencing 1862 and
ending 1869). Illustrated with coloured and plain plates. By John Gwyn
Jeffreys, F.R.S., F.G.S., &. Van Voorst.

80 Notices of Scientific Works. [Jan.,

as of their geographical distribution. In addition to these details,
the work is rendered interesting by such anecdotes and con-
siderations as are calculated to relieve the tedium of study, and
we have here and there incidents concerning the different kinds of
molluscs, which form an agreeable diversion from the consideration
of their anatomy, the form and colour of their shells, and the
divergences of species.

In speaking of Helix aspersa, the author tells us* “they make
great havoc in kitchen gardens, and spoil the best wall-fruit.
There is, however, some compensation for this mischief: a kind
of broth is made from them, and used as a remedy for pulmonary
complaints. This kind of snail-1s occasionally eaten by the French ;
but it is not held by them in the same estimation as the Apple-
Snail. Dr. Gray says that the glassmen at Newcastle, once a-year,
have a snail-feast, and that they generally collect the snails them-
selves in the fields and hedges the Sunday before foast-day.”

Nor are the author’s considerations on the subject confined either
to the scientific or the utilitarian, if feasting on snails can be thus
designated. He sometimes soars into the regions of poetry; or,
as he calls it, the sesthetical. The snail could never secure a footing
on Mount Parnassus, ho tells us, but “we may enter the realms of
phantasy and we shall find it among those intruders which had to
be chased from the cradle of the fairy-queen.” Homer did not
disdain to use the snail’s shell as a helmet for belligerent frogs, in
his “mock heroic poem.” ‘The most imposing appearance,” the
author tells us, “ which the animal has made in literature,” is to be
found in Goethe’s “ wild vision of the Walpurgis Night,” when,
on the top of the Harz mountains, “an adventurous and preter-
naturally sensitive snail,” “detected the presence and unmasked the
incognito of notless a person than Mephistopheles himself.” And
the author gives us the quotation, describing the occurrence, which
leaves no doubt that the snail must have been very preternaturally
sensitive, for it was able to smell out the identity of the Evil One
with its tentacles!

However, we do not suppose the author had any intention to
press the great German poet into the service of science, so we will
let that pass.

The first volume of the work treats, as we have said, of land
and fresh-water shells; the second, of the marine molluscs, com-
prising the Brachiopoda and part of the Conchifera. In the third,
the Conchifera are concluded, and the Solenoconchia and part of the
Gasteropoda treated. The fourth continues the description of the
‘great group Gasteropoda, which is concluded in the fifth volume,
where also an account will be found of the higher molluscs, the
Pteropoda and Cephalopoda.

, * Vol. i, p. 183.

1870. | Notices of Scientific Works. 81

Each yolume is accompanied with a beautiful coloured plate as
a frontispiece, and numerous well-executed lithographs. It suffices
to say that the whole work is produced in Mr. Van Voorst’s best
style, and will form a valuable addition to his well-known trea-
tises of reference on Natural History.

SCHRAUF’S HANDBOOK OF PRECIOUS STONES.

To any one who is not familiar with the elements of mineralogy, a
cabinet of precious stones—however rich and rare—has no more
educational value than a collection of shells can have to a person
ignorant of the anatomy of the mollusca. Yet it is by no means
needful to plunge into the depths of mineralogic lore in order to
appreciate the scientific value of a gem. All that is necessary is a
moderate acquaintance with the physical and chemical characters of
the comparatively few minerals which rank as precious stones, and
of those substances which are likely to be mistaken for genuine
gems. Dr. Schrauf, of Vienna, has recently published a text-
book,* which gives, within a moderate compass, all that mineralo-
gical information which the collector ought to have at hand.

The early chapters of the work are devoted to a discussion of
mineralogical physics—a subject which no one can handle better
than the author of the elaborate Lehrbuch der physikalischen
Mineralogie.

Popularly, yet accurately, he tells us all that we need know on
the crystalline form of minerals, their hardness, density, thermal,
electric, magnetic, and optical properties. Then follows a chapter
on the forms in which precious stones are commonly cut by the
jeweller. Each gem is then described separately, in order of value,
commencing, of course, with the diamond.

In the chapter on Diamond, our author proposes a new formula
for determining the value of this stone—a formula which is said to
give results coinciding with the present market value of diamonds,
and is, moreover, applicable to stones of high weight. Let a
denote the current price of one carat; then the value of a diamond
weighing m carats will be, according to Schrauf’s formula,

= (m+ 2) a,

To illustrate the application of this rule, we may calculate the
value of the celebrated Sancy diamond, which was sold only a year
or two ago, and to which so romantic a history is attached. This

* «Handbuch der Edelsteinkunde,’ von Dr. Albrecht Schrauf. Wien, 1869,
Pp. 252.
VOL. VII. G

82 Notices of Scientific Works. [ Jan.,

diamond is said to weigh about 53 carats, and being only rose-cut,
one carat may be valued at 157. Then, according to our rule, the
yalue of the diamond may be thus expressed in pounds:

83 (53 + 2) 15 = 26°5 x 55 x 15 = 21,862°5.

It must be admitted that this is a tolerably near approximation
to the true value, when it is stated that the diamond was sold by
Prince Demidoff to Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy for 20,0000.

Perhaps the most useful part of this work is to be found in the
concluding chapters, which explain the method of determining an
unknown gem, the results of which are afterwards collected in a
tabular form.

We shall be glad to see so excellent a work as this translated
into English.

SENFTS MINERALOGY AND LITHOLOGY.*

IF one branch of natural science, more than another, deserves to
find a place in any improved scheme of scholastic education, that
science, according to Dr. Senft, is undoubtedly Mineralogy. For,
apart from its practical value to all whose daily occupation brings
them into contact, directly or indirectly, with the products of the
mineral kingdom—such as the miner, the builder, the agriculturist,
and the manufacturing chemist—the study of mineralogy is so
closely connected with that of many collateral sciences that a course
of mineralogical lectures, properly delivered, might be made the
means of imparting to a class much valuable information on the
sciences of chemistry, physics, and geology, to say nothing of solid
geometry. Hitherto this relation of mineralogy to other branches
of science has been regarded as a great stumbling-block to the
student, inasmuch as he must needs acquire a rather wide range of
knowledge before he can successfully cope with the difficulties of
mineralogy. ‘These difficulties may, however, be removed, to a
great extent, by an attractive style of instruction, adapted to the
capacity of the pupil, but at the same time not superficial enough
to nullify the efficiency of mineralogical study as a means of intel-
lectual training. Five-and-twenty years’ experience in teachi

science to youths between fourteen and sixteen years of age, has led
our author to mature a scheme of instruction which he regards as
best adapted to meet the wants of those who may not wish to push
their mineralogical studies beyond a very moderate acquaintance
with the more important species. He devotes to this study only
two hours weekly, but he extends the course over two years. The

* Lehrbuch der Mineralien und Felsartenkunde. Yon Dr. Ferdinand Senft
8vo. Jena, 1869. Pp. 656.

1870. | | Notices of Screntifie Works. 83

first year’s course is only preparatory, and chiefly chemical. The
student first learns the properties of the elements, and thus be-
comes, to some extent, acquainted with the characters of such species
as the diamond, graphite, sulphur, and the native metals. He then
advances to the study of simple chemical combinations, and is thus
made acquainted with the chief acids and metallic oxides. This
chemical course occupies a summer session, and is followed, during
the succeeding winter course, by the study of the physical pro-
perties of minerals, as demonstrated on certain species of simple
composition. Our author’s mode .of teachmg may be illustrated
by an example of his lesson on Quartz. A piece of common
quartz is exhibited to the class, pulverized, and treated successively
with water and the ordinary acids, for the purpose of showing its
insolubility in these reagents, A small quantity is then mixed
with an alkaline carbonate, and slowly heated for a quarter of an
hour in an iron capsule. The effervescence consequent on the
expulsion of the carbonic gas points to the acid character of
silica; while the formation of a vitreous silicate illustrates the
chemical composition of glass. During these experiments, an apt
teacher will, of course, entertain his class by a valuable lesson on
the manufacture of glass, and by explaining the method pursued
in the analysis of siliceous minerals. Having thus become familiar
with the chemical characters of the species, a well-formed piece of
rock-crystal is exhibited to illustrate its crystalline form. The six-
sided prism and its two terminal pyramids furnish a text for much
instruction on the crystallography of the hexagonal system, whilst
models of the forms are made in clay before the class, or, still
better, by the students themselves. Attention is then directed to
the other physical properties of quartz: its hardness is shown by
its resistance to the knife, and by striking sparks with steel; its
specific gravity is taken; its phosphorescence exhibited; and
electricity is developed by friction. In this way the student be-
comes interested in chemical and physical science; and if no other
scientific study be introduced into a system of general education,
much solid instruction can be imparted by a judicious study of our
common minerals.

The second year’s course comprehends work of a more strictly
scientific character, and includes the principles of classification and
a description of the more important mineralogical species.

To supply a work adapted for instruction of this practical kind,
Dr. Senft has prepared a useful Text-book of Mineralogy and
Lithology. ‘The first part is devoted to the general principles of
mineralogy ; the second, to a description of the principal species ;
and the third, to the study of rocks or ageregates of minerals. In
the notice of species those only are described which have acquired
importance by their wide distribution, by their oo in the

G

84 Notices of Scientifie Works. 3 [Jan.,

arts, or by their functions as rock-constituents. A few rare species
are, indeed, described, but only on account of certam marked
peculiarities, either physical or chemical. ‘Two plates of crystalline
forms bring the work to a conclusion.

Vegetable Teratology: an Account of the Principal Deviations
from the usual Construction of Plants. By Maxweuu T.

Masters, M.D., F.L.S. ‘London: Published for the Ray
Society, 1869.

Tux attention which Dr. Masters has for many years bestowed on
abnormal developments of the various organs of plants, renders this
last publication of the Ray Society from his pen a peculiarly valuable
one. ‘The importance of a study of teratology, both to the morpho-
logical and to the systematic botanist, in determining not only the
true relationship of organs to one another, but the structural
position of difficult orders, has only recently been acknowledged.
Moquin-Tandon’s has been heretofore the standard work on the
subject, but is completely out of date in the light of modern research ;
since his time St. Hilaire, Morren, and others have investigated
the subject; but up to the present time nothing of importance has
appeared in this country, except a very old treatise by Hopkirk.

The classification of a number of facts necessarily so unconnected
with one another as monstrosities and irregular growths presents
considerable difficulties ; in our present imperfect state of knowledge
of the causes of these variations from typical structure, we think
Dr. Masters has done wisely in adopting in the main Moquin-
Tandon’s somewhat empirical arrangement, rather than attempting
one with more claims to a philosophical basis. He arranges the
phenomena under four heads:—Ist. Deviations from ordinary
arrangement, including union or independence of organs and
alterations of position; 2nd. Deviations from ordinary form; 3rd.
Deviations from ordinary number, whether increased or diminished ;
and 4th. Deviations from ordinary size and consistence, including
hypertrophy and atrophy. Under any classification a certain
amount of repetition is unavoidable; but is probably as small under
the one here adopted as could reasonably be expected.

The work does not profess to be a philosophical treatise on the
causes of aberration from typical form, but rather a chronicle of
the most important instances which have come under the notice
of the writer himself and of other observers ; and the immense variety
of these deviations from the usual construction of plants must
astonish the casual observer. We have well-authenticated examples,
for instance, not only of the comparatively common transformation of

1870.] Notices of Scientifie Works. 85

sepals into petals, or of complete suppression of the calyx or corolla,
but of the far rarer production of ovules within the anthers, in the
case of a Cucurbita, and of pollen within the ovules in the instance
of a passion-flower. Scarcely less curious is the formation of a
flower-bud within the pod iy the charlock, and of a miniature siliqua
in the place of a seed in the wall-flower. Of greater practical 1m-
portance than these strange abortions, are the minor irregularities
in the less vital organs, constituting the possible origin of new races
that have obtained predominance in the “struggle for existence.”
To the physiologist who devotes himself to the investigation of the
causes which lead to the production of abnormal forms, and of their
connection with the origin of species, Dr. Masters’s volume will be
an invaluable repertory of facts. We cannot too highly commend
the care with which the innumerable instances that must have
come before him have been sifted, and those selected which are
undoubtedly authentic, and which may be considered as typical ;
or the labour which has been bestowed on the bibliography of the
subject, consisting mainly of separate articles and descriptions in
‘the various English and foreign botanical magazines, collated under
the different heads into which the book is divided. .The volume is
illustrated with upwards of 200 capital drawings by E. M. Williams ;
many of the best of which have already appeared in the pages
of the ‘Gardener’s Chronicle’ and other publications. We are
glad to hear that a translation of the work into French is already
arranged.

Cyclopedie Science Simplified. By J. H. Pepprr. London:
EF. Warne and Co., 1869.

Proressor Pepper has not only distinguished himself by the emi-
nently practical way in which he has converted the Polytechnic
Institution from a losing to a paying speculation, by discovering
the proper combination of electricity, conjuring, dissolving views,
chemistry, ghosts, and comic songs—a sort of scientific Punch, in
fact—which draws the largest audiences; but he has brought the
same talents to bear upon literature, and has given to the world, at
intervals, three books—‘The Play Book of Science,’ ‘The Play
Book of Metals,’ and the one now under our notice. Looking at
these books from a highly scientific stand-point, we have no doubt
much fault might be found with each of them; but from the point
of view of that large section of the public whom Professor Pepper
addresses, it would be difficult to say how they could be greatly
improved. The present book embraces Light, Heat, Electricity,
Magnetism, Pneumatics, Acoustics, and Chemistry. In each of
these subjects, a large amount of information, generally of the

86 Notices of Scientific Works. | Jan.,

newest character, is given ; the original papers on the various sub-
jects as read before the learned societies being copiously quoted.
As the author is almost bound, he gives full details of the various
illusions and scientific tricks, ghostly and tangible, which have
tended so much to popularize the Institution with which he is con-
nected. The illustrations are numerous, and valuable in many
cases, possessing an interest to men of the highest attamments in
their respective spheres; and the initial engravings to the chapters
are in many cases portraits of eminent philosophers. Thus, on
page 197 we have James Watt, with autograph ; at 392 is one of
the best portraits we have ever seen of Sir Charles Wheatstone; on
page 527 is an excellent portrait of Faraday; and at page 578 is
one of Sir David Brewster. In addition to these, there are over
530 woodents, some of most elaborate description, and a chromo-
lithograph as frontispiece, in which the author is exhibiting to an
astonished audience the wonders of spectrum analysis, on a scale of
magnitude never before witnessed.

Taking all things into consideration, we have no hesitation in
saying that ‘Cyclopedic Science’ is one of the best books for boys
we have ever met with. Its intrinsic attractiveness will do much
to give a taste for science, and lead to a spirit of inquiry which will
not be satisfied until the young philosopher possesses an experi-
mental laboratory of his own.

POPS Pe a Ce ee ee ee ee |

~ a a ae oe

1870. | CaF)

CHRONICLES OF SCIENCE,

Iueluding the Proceedings of Leurmed Societies at Home and Abroad ;
and dlotices of Recent Scientific Hiterature.

1. AGRICULTURE.

Tue past three months have bristled all over with topics of agri-
cultural interest many of them, unfortunately, involving dis- —
agreeable experience. It is certain, now that a large portion of
the wheat crop has been threshed, that the harvest of 1869 has
been very much below the average productiveness of past years:
and the low prices which wheat commands, owing probably to
no one wanting corn in the general market of the world except
ourselves, whatever their benetit to the nation at large, have mate-
rially aggravated to English farmers the injury of a deficient yield.
— The foot and mouth disease—a cattle plague of more or less viru-
lence and frequency ever since 1839, when it first appeared —has
been unusually general and severe during the past autumn. It is
now, however, believed to be on the decline. ‘Though rarely fatal,
it is a painful malady, stopping the milk of cows and wasting the
fiesh of fatting cattle, and thus destroying the property of stock
owners. Itis generally supposed to be an importation from the
Continent ; but though that probably was true thirty years ago, it
can now hardly be doubted that the disease has become indigenous.
Careful quarantine, both at the ports of debarkation, and in home
localities wherever it exists, has, however, all along been urgently
demanded, and it has been at length conceded, so that we may hope to
see the evil reduced within less serious limits.—-The miseries of cattle
transit, whether by land or by sea, have been urged on public attention,
especially by the interest which Miss Burdett Coutis has taken in
the subject. The use of a railway cattle-truck, in which live stock
shall have access to both food and water on a long journey, is most
desirable ; and it is believed that the inferior condition in which
cattle after a railway journey reach the metropolitan market from
great distances, when they have had no refreshment on the road,
must at length make consigners of such cattle willing to pay
the expenses involved in the provision of better accommodation.
An experiment directed by Miss Coutts, in which six cattle were
sent from Edinburgh to London, shows that cattle will eat and
drink upon the way with great comfort to themselves and great
advantage to their owners, if they have the opportunity.—The con-
dition of Ireland, which is to a great extent an agricultural question,
has of late occupied the public mind more’ painfully than any other

88 Chronicles of Sctence. [Jan.,

topic. Among the most valuable and suggestive of the many
pamphlets which have been lately published on this subject is one
by Mr. James Caird, in which he insists upon the curative infiuence
of the lease of land for a term of years, as that which by its proved
effect elsewhere is more likely than any other agency with our
reach to be serviceable in Ireland. The Lothians of Scotland, which
are the very model farm of British agriculture, were a century ago
as badly off as Ireland is at present. Since 1780, owing chiefly to
“enabling laws” affecting the condition of strictly entailed estates,
the principle has become established, and the practice has become
universal there, that the duty of the landlord is to provide the farm
with buildings and other permanent improvements, and that the
duty of the tenant is to find the capital for cultivation under the secu-
rity of a lease for a fixed term of years. It is the influence of the
lease for a term of years that has been so wonderfully illustrated in
Scotland ; and Mr. Caird would accordingly confine all Government
assistance in land-improvement to estates and farms let on lease; and
in other ways he would urge on Izish landlords and Irish tenants
the acceptance of the lease, certain that it would create fertility
and ensure industry and promote contentment in Ireland, as it has
elsewhere.—A very striking picture of foreign agriculture has been
drawn by Mr. James Howard, M.P., in a lecture before the London
Farmers’ Club. He has proved conclusively that the small-farm
system prevalent in many continental countries is greatly inferior
to our own plan of large holdings in almost every particular in
which they admit of comparison. In the actual maintenance of a
large population directly on the land we presume the former must
be acknowledged superior; but the condition of both occupier and
owner under such circumstances is shown to be below that of
the English farm-labourer, while the labouring class in such a case
are in a miserable plight indeed. The small-farm system, and
still more the small-estate system, may possibly be defensible on
other grounds of state policy, but for its power to turn the soil to
the most useful account; and for its power, or rather want of power,
to “stock” the country with an intelligent middle-class population,
it admits of no defence. Mr. Howard’s excellent paper is indeed a
sufficiently convincing proof that English agriculture, in spite of
our higher northern latitude, is on the whole more productive than
that of such districts as he had visited; and that taking even Bel-
gian farming with which to compare it, and with which it has
been occasionally contrasted to its discredit, the agriculture of our
country is on the whole superior, whether as to its produce of grain
and of meat or as to its maintenance of an intelligent and well-
couditioned tenantry.—The condition of the English agricultural
labourer has lately occupied the attention of several Farmers’ Clubs,
and it seems proved that the mere labourer in the country is on the

1870. | Agriculture. 89

whole better off than the mere labourer in town. The summary of
the ‘ Agricultural Gazette’ on the subject may be adopted as on the
whole trustworthy :—

“ Probably the safest conclusion at which an outsider, patiently
considering the various allegations, can arrive, may be stated thus :—
Both in country and in town great poverty and great misery exist ;
both in country and in town the provident and well-conducted
man is able to rise in his position; whether in country or in town,
there is no help, even for the ‘helpless’ classes, that can approach
self-help for its power and efficiency. In the worst-paid agricul-
tural districts the young unmarried agricultural labourer has plenty
of pocket-money. He can squander it and acquire habits which
will render comfort in after-life impossible, whatever be his earnings ;
or he can save it, and begin life with a good character, a houseful
of furniture of his own, and the best girl in the parish for hig wife.

“'The possibilities of the agricultural labourer, whether for decent
comfort or for utter misery, are at least equal to those of the corre-
sponding class in town. And we feel sure that any considerate
master who by the interest which he takes in. the lads and young
men upon his farm, shall retain them in his service, and thus keep
them from the chances of town life, will at least have done them no
harm. Paying them as much as possible according to their work,
z.e. ‘by the piece,’ and interfering successfully by friendly advice in
the alternative before them of saving or of wasting wages in their
youth, he will have secured for them a place in the higher division
of a class which contains a large proportion of individuals living in
comfort and respectability.”

The beet-sugar manufacture is prospering. Mr. Duncan’s factory
at Lavenham is answering his purpose, and it is also answering
the purpose of the growers of sugar beet in that neighbourhood, go
that in all probability we have at length secured the establishment
among us of a new industry, from which, judging by its effect in
agricultural districts of France and Germany, the best consequences
may be anticipated.—The results of the application of sewage
manure to land have been reported at Lodge Farm, near Barking,
and elsewhere, as having been this year satisfactory. It is impos-
sible to doubt that this subject will soon rank with the very foremost
in agricultural and social importance.

(:S80~ ) { Jan.,

2. ARCHAXOLOGY (Pre-ntstoric),
And Notices of Recent Archzological Works.

In vol. v. (No. xx.), p. 546, Oct. 1868, we gave a short account
of the meeting of the International Congress of Pre-historic Arche-
ology at Norwich. The papers read at that meeting have since
been published, and now form a handsome volume, well illus-
trated by fifty-three plates and numerous woodcuts.* It would
be difficult to estimate the relative value of the contents of this
volume, but one paper which, to us, appears a singularly im-
portant communication is by Mr. George Busk, “On the Caves of
Gibraltar in which Human Remains and Works of Art have been
found.” ‘This contribution, which is illustrated by twelve plates,
maps, and plans, contains the most complete record yet published
of those interesting limestone caves and fissures for which the
Rock cf Gibraltar is celebrated, but which, till lately, only served
to gratify curiosity, or, by their illumination, to eke out the scanty
amusements of an almost isolated garrison.

It was to the investigation of these caverns that the last efforts of
the late Dr. Hugh Falconer’s life were directed, in conjunction with
Mr. Busk, the work being carried out upon the spot by Captain
Frederic Brome, late governor of the military prison at Gibraltar,
whose unwearied labours during the last five or six years have been
devoted to their exploration.

The rocky peninsula of Gibraltar is a detached promontory,
composed principally of limestone, about three miles long and three-
quarters of a mile in its greatest width, and lies nearly due north
and south. The lower portion of the western side spreads out so
as to form an irregular sloping suriace, here and there interrupted
by longitudinal cliffs and ravines, upon the gentle declivities of
which the principal part of the town of Gibraltar is built.

The eastern face, on the contrary, is a nearly perpendicular
escarpment of limestone rock rising up at ‘ Wolf’s Crag, or ‘ North
Front,’ in a cliff 1250 feet high; at the ‘Signal Station,’ or
‘Middle Hill,” 1255 feet; and at ‘Sugar-loaf Hill,” on which
O’Hara’s Tower stands, it rises to a height of 1408 feet above the
sea. <A broad plain extends beneath ‘ Sugar-loaf Hill’ to the south,
called ‘Windmill Hill Flats,’ whilst at a still lower level ‘ Europa
Flats’ form the southern termination of the promontory. The
mass of the rock consists of a Secondary Limestone of Jurassic age,

* ‘International Congress of Pre-historie Archeology: Transactions of the
Third Session, opened at Norwich, 20th August, and closed in London, 28th August,
1868.’ London: Longmans, Green, & Co. 1869. 8vo. Pp. 419. Mllustrated with
numerous plates and woodcuts.

wast
ly i tl nine —

|
{
|

1870. ] Archeology. 91

much fissured and dislocated, and dipping to the west, but towards
the southern extremity the beds become nearly vertical.

As is well known, caves constitute a prevailing feature of lime-
stone rocks in all parts of the world, and in no place are they more
numerous within a similar compass than in the promontory of
Gibraltar, which has, in fact, on that account sometimes been
termed the ‘ Hill of Caves.’

The caves are of two kinds. 1. Littoral or sea-caves, scooped
out horizontally by the waves at the sea-level; of which kind
there are numerous instances all along the base of the eastern face ;
successive terraces, one above another, are also visible on the same
face, each furnished with its line of sea-caves, exactly lke those at
present at the level of the water. It would seem, however, that
most, if not all, of these caves owe their origin to their being
situated in the line of a fissure or fracture of the rock of which the
sea has taken advantage to begin its scooping action. 2. Inland
caves, which do not exhibit any appearance of marine erosion, but
may be described as ramified and imtersecting fissures, descending
more or less vertically to great depths, and enlarged by the action
of rain-water charged with carbonic acid.

The principal littoral or sea-caves are :—

‘ Martin’s’ and ‘ Fig-tree’ caves, 700 feet above the sea, in the
eastern face of the rock below O’Hara’s Tower; some caves just
above the blown sands in Catalan Bay; ‘ Monkey Cave, 100 feet
above the sea; ‘Beefsteak Cave, in the cliff below Europa
plateau; ‘ Genista Cave,’ No. 4, 40 feet below the top of the
eastern cliff of Windmill Hill plateau; ‘Poca Roca Cave,’ in the
western face of the northern end of the rock; besides many smaller
caves in the eastern face.

The principal fissure-caves are :—

The famed ‘St. Michael’s Cave,’ opening to the west, situated
in the southern portion of the rock, at an elevation of 1100 feet
above the sea; the ‘ Genista Caves,’ Nos. 1, 2, and 3, all situated
in the Windmill Hill plateau, where there is also a deep ossiferous
fissure.

The four Genista Caves, Martin’s Cave, St. Michael’s Cave, and
some others, have yielded evidences of early man, in the form of
osseous remains associated with flint knives and flakes, stone axes,
polished and chipped; worked bones, serving as skewers, arrow-
heads, needles, and gouges; anklets or armlets of shell, hand-made
pottery, querns, rubbing-stones, and charcoal. With these were
found remains of numerous animals,* including :— Rhinoceros

* [Those marked thus§, are abundant; and thus§§, very abundant.] A single
molar of Elephas antiquus was obtained many years since by the late Mr. James
Smith, of Jordan Hill, in an old sea-beach (now demolished) at Europa Point,
the southern extremity of the rock.

92 Chronicles of Science. able,

etruscus, Rh. leptorhinus§ (extinct); Equus, Sus priseus (extinct) ;
Sus scrofa, Cervus eluphus, var. barbarus§, Cervus dama§, Bos (a
large form), and Bos taurus§. Two forms of Ibex, Capra
Aigoceros§§ ; and also the common goat, Capra hircus; Lepus
timidus, Lepus cuniculus§§, Mus ratius. Of the carnivora were
determined Felis leopardus, Felis pardina, Felis serval, Hyxna
brunnea, Canis vulpes, Ursus sp. Remains of the common dolphin,
numerous genera and species of birds, a species of tortoise, and
numerous remains of fishes, of which the tunny is most prominent.

The remains are imbedded in red cave-earth, and also in a
black layer similar to that noticed in the caves of France and else-
where. In many instances the organic remains have been carried
down from one cavern to another at a lower level through long
fissures, by the heavy autumnal floods which pour from the higher
grounds down upon Windmill Hill plateau (where many of these
ossiferous caves are situated), bringing with them the remains of
the various animals which at an earlier period inhabited the thickly-
wooded heights, now entirely destitute of trees and only covered at
places by“the little Chamzrops humilis.

Many human and animal remains attributable to modern periods
have been also met with; but the older human remains are distin-
euished by peculiarities in the thigh-bones, which closely resemble
those met with in the Cro-Magnon Cave.*

Mr. Boyd Dawkins gives a résumé of what is known on the
subject of ‘ The Antiquity of the Iron Mines of the Weald.+ In
the middle of the Wealden formation are two thin bands of iron-
stone, from which all the iron was obtained. The mines are
scattered throughout the district: the method was to sink a shaft
through the superincumbent clay to the ironstone, and remove
as much ore as was within reach; then fill up and sink again a little
farther on, so that the shafts lie very close together. They vary
in depth from about 7 or 8 to 40 feet, and in diameter from 3 to
6 feet. The first historical notice is in a grant of Henry III.
to the town of Lewes; but Samian and other Roman ware, bronze
fibule, coms of Nero, Vespasian, &c., having been found at several
localities scattered amongst the scoriz at depths varying from 2 to
10 feet, tend to show that they were worked during the Roman
period. These Roman remains were associated with flint flakes
and rude unturned pottery identical with that termed Keltic, in
some places, and in others alone, which, together with the passage
in Cesar’s ‘Commentaries’ describing the inhabitants of the mari-
time part of Britain, “ utuntur aut ere aut taleis ferreis ad certum

* See our Chronicle of Archeology for July last, p. 411.

+ Mr. Boyd Dawkins made careful notes of these workings during his stay in
the district whilst engaged on the Geological Survey of the Wealden ; and he
also refers to Mr. Lower’s papers in the ‘ Sussex Archzologia.’

ee ae

ST ee Ee a ae ee ee ee ee rey eee

oe a, ae Ce ee

1870. ] Archeology. 93

pondus examinatis pronummo. Nascitur ibi. . . . in maritimis
ferrum; sed ejus exigua est copia,” make Mr. Boyd Dawkins
believe that these workings were commenced long previous to the
Roman occupation.

Numerous similar pre-historic iron-mines worked upon the same
primitive plan (the product of which, like that of the Fan tribes
in Africa at the present day, could only have amounted to a few
pounds’ weight of metal) are to be met with m many places
along the northern part of Norfolk, a little inland, from Cromer
to Hunstanton.

The Département de L’ Aveyron, to which we referred in our
last Chronicle as that in which the Cavern of Bruniquel was
situated, seems to be equally rich in megalithic monuments as it
undoubtedly is in caves. Of these Dolmens numerous illustrations
are given, and also of the ornaments and implements of stone, bone,
and bronze found within the mounds and circles.

The Memoir by the Rev. Richard Kirwan, M.A., on the
excavation of three Tumuli on Broad Down, Farway, near
Honiton, Devon, is of the highest archeological interest, not only
on account of the works of art which they contained but also as
exhibiting three barrows, each differently constructed, belonging
to a very early period, probably long antecedent to the Roman
occupation of Britam. Mr. Kirwan’s paper is illustrated by nine
plates.

There are many other papers in this volume, but we have not
space to notice them here.

‘Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, Literature, and Art, 1869. 8vo. Pp. 310.—
Mr. Pengelly has now published the second part of his ‘ Lite-
rature of Kent’s Cavern, in which he gives the whole of the Rev.
J. Mac Enery’s manuscript. ‘On the alleged occurrence of Hip-
popotamus major and Machairodus latidens in Kent’s Cavern,
Torquay.’ The author, in revising the evidence, comes to the
conclusion that no remains belonging to the former animal have
been found, but that the latter undoubtedly has.

Mr. G. Wareing Ormerod gives a notice of the molars of Hippo-
potamus major stated to have been found in Kent’s Cavern, and,
hike Mr. Pengelly, does not think there is any trustworthy evi-
dence that they were found there.

Mr. Pengelly also contributes a few notes upon the submerged
forest at Blackpool, near Dartmouth. This forest, usually entirely
concealed by the sand thrown up by the waves, was, for the third
time during this century, exposed to view by the tempestuous
weather in February last. In the seaward portion was a brownish

94 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

drab-coloured clay, becoming bluish higher up, thickly covered with
vegetable débris, trunks of trees varying from 6 inches to 2 feet in
diameter, branches, twigs, leaves, and hazel-nuts; no animal or
human remains or tools were found, though some of the hazel-nuts,
which were very abundant, had been gnawed (by squirrels ?).
Many stumps were still in a vertical position. The movement of
submergence must have been uniform, as it had not disturbed the
approximate horizontality of the old forest ground, and must have
amounted at the least to 18 feet, the greatest tidal range on that
part of the coast, but there are no data from which to calculate
how much greater it may have been.

3. ASTRONOMY.
(Including the Proceedings of the Astronomical Society.)

Tue careful examination of the photographs of the recent total
solar eclipse in America has revealed a very interesting fact respecting
the sun’s corona. It has long been questioned whether this appear-
ance belongs to the sun or is merely an optical effect due to our
own atmosphere. It appears from the careful comparison of the
photographs taken during the progress of the last eclipse, that the
moon passed over the corona. The reader will remember that it was
from observations of this sort, made nine years ago, that astronomers
were led to the conclusion, now incontrovertibly established, that
the prominences belong to the sun. There seems little reason for
doubting that we may now come to the same conclusion respecting
the corona.

It must be mentioned, however, that many eminent physicists
and astronomers are still disposed to question the justice of this
conclusion. Passing over the observations made by Mr. Pickermg
during the total eclipse, from which he is inclined to think that the
corona belongs to the moon, we may dwell on sounder reasons which
have been alleged against the belief that the corona belongs to the
sun. Recent observations of the spectra of the prominences by Mr.
Lockyer and other astronomers, compared with the careful study
by Dr. Frankland of the corresponding spectra of terrestrial elements
under varying circumstances of pressure and temperature, have led
to the belief that the part of the sun’s atmosphere which lies above
his photosphere is not very dense,—certainly not by any means so
dense as it would be if the corona were in reality a solar atmosphere.

On the other hand, Professor Young, an American astronomer,
has made a highly significant observation. He has found that the
spectrum of the corona exhibits the same bright lines as the auroral

ee ee

1870. ] Astronomy. 95

spectrum. Professor Harkness also found that the corona gives a
bright-line spectrum, but, superposed on a continuous one. Now
when we combine Professor Young’s observation with Angstrom’s
discovery that the Zodiacal Light gives the same spectrum as the
Aurora, it becomes one of the most interesting, and at the same time
one of the most perplexing, ever made by astronomers. A bright-line
spectrum indicates gaseity, and we cannot believe the corona to be a
gaseous solar envelope, nor indeed to be gaseous at all, if we accept
Lockyer’s observations. Nor can one understand the Zodiacal Light
to be gaseous.

Perhaps, however, all these observations may be reconciled by
regarding the spectrum of the corona to be not necessarily indicative
of the gaseity of this object in its entirety. Llectrical discharges
taking place between the particles (probably solid) of which the
Corona and the Zodiacal Light consist would give a spectrum of
bright lines. Then also we could understand the continuous
spectrum seen by Professor Harkness, since the bodies forming the
corona would reflect the solar light.

The whole subject is, however, at present full of difficulty and
perplexity. In future eclipses the corona will doubtless attract a
large share of the observer’s attention.

Another result of the American eclipse observations has been
the suggestion by Professor Young of a new mode of observing the
coming transit of Venus. It was found that the approach of the
moon to the sun’s limb was cognizable befere the moment of actual
contact, owing to the gradual obliteration of the bright lines belonging
to the spectrum of the chromosphere ; and Professor Young suggests
that the approach of Venus might be observable in the same way in
1874 and 1882. There are, however, many difficulties in the applica-
tion of this method. In particular the method applies to external
contacts, and the preparations hitherto made have had reference to
internal contacts. At some of the best places for observing internal
contacts, external contacts will not be observable at all. Then
astronomers are not quite certain at what part of the sun’s limb
contact will take place, nor at what angle Venus will cross the limb.
These circumstances would leave the spectroscopist small chance of
success in an observation of so delicate a nature.

It remains to be seen, however, whether spectroscopic observa-
tion may not be applicable in other ways. For example, Mr.
Huggins has suggested that instead of the slit being placed at right
angles to the sun’s limb, it should be placed tangentially. Mr.
Proctor has recommended an open slit, placed tangentially so as to
include the solar cusps before internal contact. These cusps would
give two continuous spectra, the approach of which towards each
other would indicate the moment of internal contact more exactly
than the approach of the cusps.

96 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

The discovery of a small comet by the indefatigable Tempel
has to be recorded. No observations of special interest have been
made upon this object, however.

The November meteors have not been very conspicuous in
Europe, this year. Unless we hear of star-showers in America, we
must conclude that the denser part of the meteor-stream has now
passed completely away from the neighbourhood of the earth’s
orbit. In that case we need not look for any remarkable display of
the November meteors for some twenty-eight years or so.

Zollner, the eminent photometrician and astronomer, has devised
a new form of spectroscope for observing the stellar motions of re-
cess and approach. The plan may be briefly described as follows :—
The line of light which is to be analyzed by the spectrum is in the
focus of a lens for parallel rays. These parallel rays are divided
into two portions, each passing through two systems of direct-vision
prisms, placed one below the other, and with their refracting edges
turned in opposite directions. It is clear that by this arrangement
two spectra are formed, the red end of one opposite the blue end of
the other, and vice versé. These spectra are observed together by
means of a small telescope, the object-glass of which is divided into
two adjustable parts by a line parallel to the length of the two
spectra. It is thus possible to bring any line of one spectrum into
coincidence with any line of the other, or even partially to superpose
two lines. Now it is clear that if a celestial object is moving from
or towards us at such a rate as to produce an appreciable effect
on the position of a given bright line, Zollner’s arrangement will
exactly double the effect. This, however, is not the chief advantage
of the arrangement. In fact this is, in reality, no advantage at all
(though Zollner appears to think differently), for it is obtamed by
an arrangement which halves the light of the spectrum; and by
simply doubling the dispersive power the same increase of effect
could be obtained at exactly the same cost. The great advantage
promised by the new arrangement is this, that there will be no
occasion to compare a line directly with the corresponding line of
a terrestrial element. Thus, supposing we wish to determine whether
a star is moving from or towards the earth, by observing a particular
dark line in its spectrum, we should in the first place adjust the
two spectra so that this line seen in one would be brought into
coincidence with the same line seen in the other, supposing there
were no motion of recess or approach. This can be done with great
nicety by observing the corresponding bright line of a terrestrial
element. ‘Then the telescope being directed towards the star whose
motion is to be determined, there will be found no longer to be
coincidence, if the star is in motion either from or towards the eye.
By observing how much the micrometer screw by which the divided
object-glass is adjusted has to be moved in order to secure coinci-

1870. | Astronomy. OF

dence, it becomes possible to estimate the rate of the star’s motion.
Zollner believes that the probable error of a single observation will
correspond to a motion of less than half-a-mile per second.

There will be an eclipse of the moon, partly visible at Green-
wich, on January 17th. The eclipse will begin at noon of that
day, ‘and the moon will rise (at Greenwich) slightly eclipsed, and
obscured by the penumbra. The last contact with the penumbra will
take place at 5h. 37 m. P.M.

There will be a partial eclipse of the sun, invisible at Green-
wich, on January 31st.

Jupiter will remain for some time a conspicuous object in the
western skies after sunset On March 18th Saturn will be in
quadrature preceding opposition. Venus will be at her greatest
brillancy as an evening star on January 18th.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.

As usual at this season we have but one number of the Monthly
Notices—the supplementary number—to report on. It contains
but six papers, and four of these are by one author.

Dr. O. Pihl gives a short paper on the subject of the cluster in
Perseus, known as 34 Messier, which he has been studying since
the year 1860. He indicates certain errors in his former estimates
of the declinations of stars in this cluster, these errors resulting
from an error in one of the co-efficients employed for reducing the
declinations of the stars.

Mr. Proctor supplies a calculation of the comparative clinging
of Venus to the solar limb during the transits of 1874 and 1882.
From this it appears that the interval between real and apparent
internal contacts will vary from 29°41 sec. to 35:11 sec. in 1874,
and from 20°46 sec. to 21°39 sec. in 1882. Hence the observed
difference of duration, or of absolute time, in 1874 should exceed
the corresponding differences in 1882 in the proportion of 1:547
to 1, to have an equivalent value.

He adds a note on the later transit, giving the places where
ingress and egress are most accelerated by parallax, as he had
already done for the transit of 1874. He remarks that the cor-
rections necessary for the transit of 1882 are much less than those
for the transit of 1874, not one of the places now determined
differing by much more than 300 miles from the place obtained
when phase and parallax are neglected.

The Astronomer Royal supplies a most valuable contribution
to science in the form of “A Note on Atmospheric Chromatic
Dispersion as affecting Telescopic Observation, and on the Mode of
correcting it.” Every astronomical observer is familiar with the

VOL, VII. H

98 Chronicles of Science. [ Jan.,

annoying indistinctness of objects observed near the horizon. In
such observations as will have to be made during the coming
transits of Venus, it would be of the utmost importance to get rid
of this indistinctness. There would then no longer be any necessity
for limiting the stations where observers should be sent to places
where the sun would have a considerable elevation above the
horizon. And this would be an immense advantage, because at all
the stations which would otherwise be the best the sun will be
low. Now the Astronomer Royal has shown that by means of a
set of flint prisms, of small refracting angle, the observer can get
rid in great part of the annoying dispersion we have spoken of.
One prism only is used at a time, the prisms of the larger re-
fracting angles being used for an object close to the horizon. The
following reports by Mr. Carpenter (of the Greenwich Observatory)
establish in the most satisfactory manner the value of the new
method.

1869, July 15, 11h. 50m. to 12h. 20m. Saturn, zenith-
distance about 82°, viewed with the great equatorial power 245.
Atmospheric disturbances very bad:—Prism 12° corrected the dis-
persion perfectly ; prism 8° corrected it fairly; prism 6° corrected
it partially ; prisms of smaller angle had no effect.

1869, July 21, 9h. The moon, zenith-distance about 78°,
viewed with the altazimuth, power about 100. Prism 2° slightly
diminished the colour; prism 4° better than the last; prism 6°
destroyed the colour entirely. The definition of the details about
the moon’s ragged edge very much improved. Prisms of larger
angle gave an opposite dispersion.

This plan is obviously as satisfactory as it is simple. It cannot
but be regarded as of extreme value and importance; and, simple
as it is, will take high rank among the many important improve-
ments which the Astronomer Royal has effected im the science of
Observational Astronomy.

Mr. Proctor puts forward, in a paper “On the Distribution of
the Nebulz,” illustrated by four folio engravings, a new theory
respecting the constitution of the universe. He expresses his belief
that the nebule are not external galaxies, but that all their varie-
ties are included within the sidereal system. In another paper
he indicates a method for measuring the discs of those stars which
are liable to be occulted by the moon. This method consists in
causing the image of a star to rotate rapidly in a circle, which is
itself rotated, but less swiftly. ‘Thus the image of a star follows
an epicycloidal path, many coils of which will be visible simulta-
neously, owing to the persistence of luminous impressions. When
the moon occults a star (a process which in reality occupies but a
small fraction of a second) the coils will vanish, but according to
the greater or less duration of the occultation a larger or smaller

1870.] Botany. "99

arc of the coil last formed will exhibit a gradual fading-off of licht
towards its extremity. Mr. Proctor has calculated that a star ten
times as far off as a Centauri, and having a real diameter as large
as our sun’s, would give an are of fading light about 56 degrees
in length.

4, BOTANY.

Edible Fungi.—During the last few years great attention has been
paid by botanists on the one hand, and epicures on the other, to the
edible qualities of certain fungi. Notwithstanding the prejudice
generally entertained against this class of vegetable productions,
extending in Scotland, Wales, and some parts of England even to
the common mushroom, there is no question that a considerable
number of species, very abundant in this country, are not only
wholesome, but delicious articles of diet, and are at least as easily
distinguished, with a little practice, from the poisonous or suspicious
species, as berries or other wild fruits. Containing a larger propor-
tion of nitrogen than any other family of the vegetable kingdom,
they furnish an abundant supply of nourishment at a period of the
year when very little else is to be obtained. It is calculated that
there is scarcely a parish in England where tons of wholesome food
are not allowed to waste every year, to say nothing of the facilities
for their artificial culture. Mr. Berkeley reckons that there are at
least 30 distinct English edible fungi; Dr. Curtis has partaken of
40 in North Carolina, and enumerates 111 species in that state
alone reputed to be edible. Fries, the greatest living cryptogamist,
is publishing a large work on the edible and poisonous fungi of
Sweden; several works of a similar character have recently been
brought out in Italy ; in our own country the Rev. M. J. Berkeley,
Mr. Worthington G. Smith, and Dr. Bull of Hereford, may be
mentioned as having paid special attention to the subject. In addi-
tion to the mushroom Agaricus campestris and the truffle Tuber
zstivum, the following species are wholesome, pleasant to the taste
when cooked, easily distinguished from all other species, and more
or less abundant in different parts of the country :—Agaricus
arvensis, or the horse-mushroom; A. procerus, the parasol-mush-
room; A. ostreatus, the vegetable oyster, growing on the trunks of
trees; A. melleus, abundant on dead stumps; A. orcella, the vege-
table sweet-bread; A. prunulus, the plum-mushroom ; Morchella
esculenta, the morel ; Hydnum repandum, the hedge-hog ; Fustulina
hepatica, the vegetable beef-steak, on the stumps of hollow trees ;
Coprinus comatus, very common in gardens; Marasmius oreades,
the fairy-rmg champignon; Bole‘us edulis, in woods; and Lyco-
perdon giganteum, the giant puff-ball, when in the young state,
H

100 Chronicles of Science. | Jan.,

Many of these species are favourite articles of food in the autumn
and winter with the peasantry in various parts of the Continent,
and are everywhere sold in the markets. Our common mushroom
is among the kinds forbidden by the police regulations to be sold in
Rome, but is to be met with in the markets of Palermo and Messina.

Acclimatization of Half-hardy Plants.—Great efforts have re-
cently been made in France to naturalize trees and shrubs—natives
of warmer climates; and these have been attended with consider-
able success in some instances. ‘The Bamboo, introduced at Tours,
Macon, and Angers, has succeeded admirably, and has withstood a very
considerable degree of frost. It seems likely to flourish even in the
climate of Paris, where it is grown in the gardens of the Socrété
d’Acclimatation. Several species of Hucalyptus, especially the EL. glo-
bulus, have also been planted extensively in the Department of the
Var, where they have been found to resist the destructive north-
west wind known as the mistral.

The Fertilization of Winter-flowering Plants—Mr. A. W.
Bennett contributes to the first number of the new scientific maga-
zine, ‘Nature, the results of some observations on the fertilization
of those plants which habitually flower im the winter, when there
are few or no insects to assist in the distribution of the pollen. He
finds that in those wild plants which flower and produce seed-
bearing capsules throughout the year, as the white and red dead-
nettles, shepherd’s purse, chickweed, groundsel, &c., the pollen is
uniformly discharged in the bud before the flower opens. Many
garden-plants, on the other hand, natives of warmer countries, but
which still flower with us in the depth of winter, never bear fruit
in this climate, and in them the pollen is not discharged till the
flower is fully open. Of this class are the yellow jasmine and the
Cheimonanthus fragrans, or all-spice tree; in the latter species the
arrangement of the pistil and the stamens is such as to render self-
fertilization impossible.

Leonardo da Vinci as a Botanist.—In the recently commenced
‘ Nuovo Giornale botanico Italiano, published at Florence, Signor
Uzielli has an interesting article on some botanical observations of
Leonardo da Vinci, showing that to the great painter is due the
credit of the first observation of certain points in the structure of
plants, which has been generally attributed to writers of a consider-
ably later date. The constancy of a uniform arrangement of the
leaves on the branches in the same species, known as the Law of
Phyllotaxis, is stated in botanical works to have been first observed
by Grew and Malpighi towards the close of the seventeenth cen-
tury. Da Vinci, however, who lived from 1452 to 1519, records
observations to the same effect, though not so accurate, in his great
‘Treatise on Painting.’ To the same two botanists is also ascribed
the discovery of the mode in which the stems of exogenous trees

™
7

1870. | Botany. 101

increase beneath the bark by the formation of concentric rings of
wood, from the number of which the age of the tree can be deter-
mined. This had, however, also been already observed by Da Vinci,
and is recorded in passages in the same work.

Arctic Flora.—Dr. Berthold Seemann discusses in the ‘ Journal
of Botany’ the question whether vegetation extends to the North
Pole, supposing land exists there. He answers the question in the
affirmative, maintaining that excessive cold in winter exercises but
a limited influence upon a vegetation which, like the Arctic, enjoys
the protection of a thick covering of snow, and is besides in a state
of inactivity. The temperature of the summer during the months
of July and August has by far the greatest share in the distribution
of vegetable life in the northern regions ; and the lowest tempera-
ture during those months is not found in the most northerly point
yet reached by any exploring expedition, but in Winter Island on
the eastern shores of the Melville Peninsula, where the mean tem-
perature during July and August ranges between 34° and 36° F.
That spot, which may be called the phytological pole, is nevertheless
covered with vegetation ; and, knowing as we do, that plants do grow
not only on a frozen soil, but even, as in Kotzebue Sound, on the
tops of icebergs, there is no reason to suppose that the terrestrial
pole is destitute of vegetation. The most northerly berry-bearing
plant yet recorded is Vacciniwm Vitis-Idxa, or the cranberry,
gathered in Bushman Island, on the north-west shore of Greenland,
by Captam W. Penny, or in latitude 76° N., longitude 66° W.
The most northerly berry-bearing genera are Vacciniwm, Oxycoccus,
Rubus, Cornus, and Empetrum. It is stated that occasionally
berries ripen in Lapland. |

Vegetation of Howes Island.—The flora of this island, 300
miles from Sydney and 500 from Norfolk Island, has been investi-
gated by Mr. Charles Moore, and is found to resemble much more
closely that of the latter island than of Australia. Its situation is
d1° 36'S. lat., 159° 5’ E. long.; it is 44 miles in length and 1}
in breadth, possesses two mountains about 2500 feet high, and is
entirely covered with vegetation, with no barren spots except the
coast and the precipitous cliffs. The indigenous species are very
few, most of them being peculiar to the island and undescribed. Of
Endogens there are four species of Palm, all undescribed and of
great value to the natives ; two species of Pandanus ; three Grasses ;
two Orchids; a Juncus; a Smilax; one species belonging to Lridacez,
one to Amaryllidacex, three to Cyperacex, and one to Comme-
lynacez. All the clearings are, however, covered with introduced
European plants, including the couch-grass. Among Exogens, the
Australian Proteacee and Leguminose are entirely wanting ;
Epacride and Myrtacez,so abundant in Australia, are represented,
the former by a single species, a tree 30 or 40 feet in height, grow-

102 Chronicles of Science. — [Jan.,

ing at great elevations; the latter by two, the leaves of one of
which are used by the natives in the place of tea ; a very remarkable
undescribed Ficus forms a considerable portion of the larger vege-
tation, growing sometimes 100 yards across, with very numerous
root-stems. The castor-oil plant and Solanum laciniatum are
among the most troublesome introduced weeds. Ferns are very
abundant, but of non-Australian types; the genera Adiantum and
Aspidium, so abundant in Australia, New Zealand, and Norfolk
Island, were not observed.

The Lichens of Greenland.—Dr. Lauder Lindsay has worked
out with great care, in an article read before the Botanical Society
of Edinburgh, an account of all that is at present known respecting
the Lichens of Greenland. While in 1840 only 59 species had
been recorded, Dr. Lindsay is now able to enumerate 268 as
natives of Greenland, and thinks that this number may probably be
raised to 300. The degrees of latitude within which they have been
collected range from 60° to 75°, the majority havimg come from
about 70°, a few from as far northas 82°. The almost entire absence
of arboreal vegetation in Greenland necessarily affects the character
of the Lichen-flora, very few corticole and foliaceous species being
found, but a great preponderance of the saxicole forms. One pro-
minent feature is the great abundance of the sombre-coloured
Umbilicariz, giving in many parts a funereal colourmg to the
landscape. Deducting the species that are mainly or entirely con-
fined in their distribution either to Greenland or to Arctic countries,
the majority at least of the remainder occur on the Scandinavian
Alps, and many of them on the Alps of Scotland and Switzerland,
or generally on those of continental Europe; while a considerable
number are common British forms. The lichen-fiora of Greenland
differs, on the other hand, very considerably from that of Arctic
America. The lichens of Spitzbergen and its islets are as numerous
as those of Greenland, notwithstanding the smaller area; while the
whole list of Melville Island lichens contains only twelve species.
There is no record of any species of lichen being turned by the
Greenlanders to any economic purpose, notwithstanding the abun-
dance of Cladonia rangiferina, or the ‘“ Reindeer-moss,” and of
other species which, in other Arctic countries, have been serviceable
in supplying the wants of man or animals.

Hibernation of Duck-weed.—lt has long been known that some
species of Lemna, or duck-weed, produce, at the approach of winter,
leaves of a different character to those formed in the spring, which
fall to the bottom of the pond or stream, enabling the plant to live
through the winter. A series of more accurate observations on this
point is recorded by M. Van Horen in the ‘ Bulletin de la Société

Royale de Botanique de Belgique.’ The species of Lemna indige- —

nous to Belgium are the same as those found in this country; of these

1870.] Botany. 103

M. Van Horen finds that two only, the L. polyrrhiza and gibba,
produce leaves of a different form in winter ; while with the three
other species, L. minor, trisulca, and arrhiza, the ordinary leaves
live through the winter, remaining on the surface. In L. polyrrhiza
these winter-leaves first make their appearance in August or Sep-
tember. They are much smaller than the ordinary leaves, reniform
or sometimes elliptical, olive-brown on both sides, and not gibbous
beneath ; their roots are exceedingly minute, and at first hidden
within the leaf. The aériferous cells which serve to support the
ordinary leaves on the surface do not exist, causing the winter-
leaves to resemble an undeveloped bud. In consequence of the
absence of these vessels they are heavier than the water, and fall to
the bottom as soon as any agitation of the water detaches them
from the parent-leaf, which perishes with the first frost. At the
ordinary period of the revival of vegetation, a small bubble of oxygen
appears on the upper surface of these submerged leaves, which carries
them to the surface, from which they again descend should the
temperature fall below a certain point. In Lemna gibba, leaves of
a sunilar character, were observed hibernating beneath ‘the water,
differing in shape, size, and structure from those developed during
the summer.

Evaporation of Water and Decomposition of Carbonic Acid by
Plants——An interesting and important series of experiments has
been made by M. P. P. Dehérain, of Paris, for the purpose of
determining the natural agents most efficacious in promoting the
physiological functions of-the leaves of plants, the evaporation of
water, and the decomposition of carbonic acid. The results arrived
at are as follows :—1. These two processes are carried on simulta-
neously and with corresponding intensity, the same agents which
facilitate the one being operative also with the other. They proceed
more rapidly from the upper smooth and hard suriace of the leaves
than from the under-surface. 2. The principal agent in deter-
mining these changes is not temperature, but light. While the
amount of water given off was hardly affected by any changes of
temperature, proceeding almost with equal rapidity even when
surrounded by ice; in bright sunshine leaves were found to give
off, in long exposure, more than their own weight of water, whilé
in diffused light it amounted to only six to eighteen per cent., and
in total darkness was scarcely perceptible. The evaporation and
condensation of water proceeded with equal rapidity when the air
was perfectly saturated with moisture. 3. The different rays of
light are not equally efficacious in promoting these actions. M.
Dehérain found, as the result of a number of experiments, that,
with an equal intensity of light, the red and yellow rays, which
have little photographic power, cause in the same time the decomposi-
tion of about five times as much carbonic acid, and the evaporation

104 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

ot a corresponding amount of water, as compared with the action of
the blue or violet rays, which are the most active in decomposing
chloride of silver.

Viridescence of Leaves.—M. Prilliewx has, on the other hand,
shown, by a series of experiments on barley, that the production of
the green colouring matter of leaves proceeds more rapidly in dif-
fused light than in the direct light of the sun, in opposition to the
production of oxygen, which is the more abundant the stronger
the light.

Peloria in Labiate—M. J. Peyritsch has presented to the
Academy of Sciences at Vienna some remarkable instances of
“Peloria,” that is, of abnormal regularity in flowers usually
irregular, observed in the order Labiatz. They occur in Stachys
sylvatica, the common woundwort ; Betonica officinalis, the common
betony ; and in seventy individuals of Galeobdolon luteum, the
yellow dead-nettle. In the latter instance the flowers are formed by
the increase of two segments of the calyx, and by an alteration in the
form of the divisions of the upper lip of the corolla, so that they
become similar to the lateral lobes of the lower lip. The stamens
are perfectly normal, and bear well-developed pollen; but the
carpels are abortive.

The Leaves of Conifers.—At the meeting of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Chicago, Mr.
Thos. Meehan read a paper on the leaves of Conifer. He pointed
out-that the true leaves of Pinus consist of bud-scales ; and what
are popularly known as the leaves are in reality arrested phylloid
shoots. The chief portion of the true leaves in most plants belonging
to this order is adnate to the stem ; sometimes they have the power
of developing only into scale-points ; sometimes into foliose tips. In
Lariz the true leaves are linear, spathulate, entirely adnate to the
stem. ‘There are two kinds of stem-growth. In one case the axis
elongates and forms shoots; in the other, axile development is
arrested and spurs are formed. On the elongated shoots the leaves
are scattered ; on the spurs they are arranged in whorls. There are
therefore’ in the larch two forms of leaves: the one free, the other
adnate. In Cryptomeria the true leaves’ adhere for four-fifths of
their length on vigorous shoots; in Juniperus, for nearly their
whole length on vigorous shoots ; while on weaker branches they are
almost entirely free. In Pinus the phylloid shoots are situated in
the axils of the true leaves. Mr. Meehan sums up his observations
as follows :—The true leaves of Conifere are usually adnate to the
branches. Adnation is in proportion to the vigour of the genus or
species ; or of the individuals in the same species ; or of the branches
in the same individual. Many so-called distinct species of Coniferz
are probably only varieties of the same species in various states of
adnation.

.

1870. | Chemistry. 105

Scorching of Leaves by the Wind.—M. Marchand, engineer of
Fécamp, in Normandy, has made some observations on the effect
produced on the leaves of various trees by the violent storm of the
12th to the 16th of November. The wind was from the north-west ;
and on that side the leaves of nearly all the trees growing near the
coast, except the bay, ivy, and tree-mallow, were scorched as if by
fire, and lost about 39 per cent. of their normal weight; and were
found to have absorbed an appreciable amount of sea-salt, which no
doubt obstructed the circulation of the sap and caused them to
shrivel up. ‘The leaves exposed to the south-east were not similarly
affected.

Japanese Sea-weeds.—At a recent meeting of the Royal Academy
of Amsterdam, a collection was exhibited to illustrate the care taken
by the Japanese in applying to beneficial purposes the natural pro-
ducts of their country. The collection consisted of sixteen species
of Algz which are useful for food or other purposes, together with
fabrics manufactured from some of them. Several of the species
were altogether new; in other instances the application was entirely
novel.

5. CHEMISTRY.

Mr. J. Atrrep Wanxiyn has made known a very unexpected
fact. He says that when chlorine gas is passed over metallic
sodium—even when the metal is fused, and whilst in a state of
fusion, shaken in contact with the gas so as to expose fresh metallic
surface—there is no increase in weight, and of course no action.

The increasing demand for albumen, especially for the use of
calico-printing, has at various times led to attempts to obtain a
supply of this article from the blood of slaughtered oxen and sheep.
M. Dolfus-Galline describes a process invented by him, and actually
in operation on a large scale at the abattoirs of Dornach, France.
The process is based upon the fact of the coagulation of the cruorine
of the blood, and its separation from the serum, the latter yielding,
by cautious management, a dried albumen, which can be applied
instead of egg albumen for clear and bright colours. Ten litres of
serum yield 1 kilo. of dry colourless albumen ; the blood of two
and a half oxen, ten sheep, or seventeen calves, produces the same
quantity of dry albumen, vzz. 1 kilo.

Referring to Professor Graham’s researches on the occlusion of
hydrogen by palladium, M. Favre states, that according to his
experiments the hydrogen in palladium saturated therewith is
present as a chemical compound, and not simply in the state of

106 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

condensed gas. He also states that the vapour of boiling mercury
is as little a conductor of electricity as hydrogen is, and that there-
fore the non-conductibility of hydrogen for electricity cannot be
regarded as an objection to its beg a metal.

M. Chevrier has studied the action of vapour of sulphur on
various gases. With oxygen it forms a slightly explosive mixture
under some conditions ; but usually the vapour of sulphur burns off
quietly. With hydrogen it yields sulphuretted hydrogen gas very
abundantly. With nitrogen the author found no action. With
proto- and bin-oxide of nitrogen it forms sulphurous acid; nitrogen

is set free, and if a frigorific mixture be applied to the apparatus ©

containing the mixed gases and vapours, large so-called lead-
chamber crystals are obtained. Oxide of carbon yields, with vapour
of sulphur, oxysulphide of carbon.

When sodium is thrown upon water, the hydrogen does not
kindle, as is well known, unless the water be warmed, or the metal
confined to one spot by blotting-paper. Mr. T. Bloxam, lecturer
on Chemical and Natural Philosophy, Cheltenham College, has,
however, found that if sodium be dropped upon nitric acid of specific
gravity 1°36 (ordinary commercial), the hydrogen burns with
ease ; but if the acid be diluted, this result ceases. The hydrogen
ceases to kindle when the acid is diluted to specific gravity 1°056.
The residue contains a fair amount of ammonia.

Dr. Emmerling has been carrying on experiments on the action
of water on glass and porcelain. The leading features of his results
are the following :—The action of boiling liquids upon glass vessels
is proportionate to the duration of time of boiling; it is propor-
tionate to the surface which is in contact with the boiling fluid ; it
is independent of the quantity of fluid which evaporates during a
given time; it decreases with the decrease of temperature of the
solution ; alkalies, even in dilute solutions, attack glass very strongly ;
acids, excepting sulphuric acid, generally act less than pure water.
Among the salts, those act most energetically whose acids produce
insoluble salts with lime, e.g. sulphate and phosphate of soda, car-
bonate of soda, and oxalate of ammonia, the action of each of which
increases with the degree of concentration of the solution; those salts
which form in water, readily soluble lime-salts, act less strongly
than pure water alone, and with the greater degree of concentration
of these salts the action decreases; Bohemian glass stands acids
better than glass containing soda; Berlin porcelain is only per-
ceptibly acted upon by alkalies.

Dr. H. Schwartz has observed that when the pulverulent
metallic zinc which is deposited in the tubes of the Belgian zinc
smelting-furnaces is mixed with amorphous phosphorus in powder,
and this mixture is gently heated in a hard glass combustion-tube,

1870.] Chemistry. 107

while at the same time a current of dry hydrogen gas is passed
through, phosphide of zine is formed. From the phosphide of zine
so obtained, phosphuretted hydrogen may be readily prepared by
means of dilute sulphuric acid, or by boiling with caustic potash.

A method of strengthening and rendering woven tissues imper-
meable to water has been invented by M. Newman. A sulphuric
acid bath is made containing acid of about 1°6 specific gravity, and
kept at a temperature of 57°. ‘The woven tissues, cotton or linen,
are rapidly passed through this bath, being only left in contact
with the acid for from ten seconds to two minutes, according to the
nature of the tissue, which is immediately after passed through
very cold water, and next submitted to a thorough washing process.
The effect of the action of the acid is the formation of a varnish-like
matter, which, especially after it has been regularly spread over the
fabric and incorporated therewith by hot-pressing and calendering,
greatly increases the strength of the fabric, and renders it simulta-
neously impervious to water.

The manufacture of oxygen gas on a commercial scale is
increasing in Paris; Mr. Fowler, who has described one of the
factories, says that 500 pounds of manganate of soda, furnish 24
cubic yards of oxygen every hour. ‘This charge is placed in a
retort and superheated, steam passed over it; in five minutes all
the oxygen is extracted from this quantity of the salt. Hot air
passed over this residue for five more minutes restores all the oxygen
given up, and the result of an hour’s continuous work, or six extrac-
tions of oxygen and six re-oxidations, is 24 cubic yards of oxygen.
This oxygen, when it issues from the gasometers, contains about
15 per cent. of nitrogen, but by letting the first portions escape,
the quantity of this mixture can be reduced to 24 per cent.
M. Tessie du Mothay affirms that one ton of manganate of soda
will yield 100 cubic yards of oxygen daily, or more than 36,000 per
year ; and this without having to renew the salt once.

According to M. Kessler, when burning magnesium wire is
placed in a vessel containing carbonic acid, the latter is decomposed,
and carbon deposited. Some nitric acid should be poured into the
vessel at the end of the reaction in order to dissolve the magnesia
resulting from the combustion, and to make the deposit of carbon
distinct. Water having been poured in a rather wide-mouthed flask,
it is made to boil as briskly as possible; when, after this boiling
has been continued for some time, previously-ignited magnesium
wire is held deep down in the mouth of the flask, it continues to
burn. The same metal burns with great brilliancy in nitrous and
nitric oxide, also in sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphurous acid, but
is extinguished by carbonic oxide.

Dr. Poselger deserves the thanks of the public for his determin-

108 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

ing, by positive experiments, that the death of fine trees growing
along the streets and promenades of many, especially continental,
towns, is not due, as has been too often asserted, to the effects of
leakage in gas-mains. From the author’s experiments made with
trees and shrubs, it is a settled point that no damage can accrue to
the trees, nor their growth be interfered with, by any quantity of
gas which may escape in the soil and find its way to their roots.

MM. Martius and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy have tried whether
it would not be possible to prepare chloral, the new anesthetic, in
large quantities, so that if this substance should become used in
pharmacy, it could be easily obtained in a purestate. The hydrate of
chloral answers this purpose by far the best : it is a white crystalline
mass, eudowed with considerable hardness; it dissolves readily in
water, and is devoid of any smell of chloride of carbon or hydro-
chloric acid, while it exhibits its own peculiarly strong smell. The
authors have exhibited several pounds weight of chloral, and hope
shortly to be able to exhibit the synthesis of chloroform by an easily
executed method, and also of trichloracetic acid.

Dr. Calvert states that when hypochlorite of lime and sul-
phate of ammonia are mixed, nitrogen gas is immediately given off,
even without the application of heat. The author observes further,
that all nitrogenized animal matters (such as albumen, fibrin, gela-
tine, silk, feathers, and skin) yield, when mixed with a solution of
hypochlorite of lime, especially when heat is applied, a large quan-
tity of nitrogen and carbonic acid.

Dr. C. Winkler, during some experiments on the bleaching of
wood-pulp for paper manufacture, has found that neither chlorine,
bromine, nor any substances the activity of which is due to oxida-
tion, will answer the purpose, the result always being the produc-
tion of a decidedly yellow and sometimes even brown tinge. Sul-
phurous acid does not completely answer the purpose ; the destruction
of the natural colouring matters by means of fermentation did not
lead to any good result.

When the lecture-room of a chemical laboratory is provided with
a sufficient supply of water under strong pressure, it is possible to
exhibit there an experiment which, owing to a deficient pressure of
water in such rooms, has been almost unnoticed. The experiment
is the following :—Under an ordinary water-tap, the opening of
which has from 10 to 12 metres diameter, a large-sized porcelain
basin is placed, containing from 15 to 20 kilos. of mercury; the
water-tap being suddenly opened, a strong flow of water is caused
to fall into the basin at a height of from 8 to 10 centimetres from
its bottom. On turning off the flow of water again, it will be seen
that on the surface of that fluid there float about bubbles of mercury,

1870. | Chemistry. 109

usually exhibiting a diameter of only 1 centimetre, but occasionally
some are found of two or three times that size. As a rule these
bubbles are very ephemeral ; now and then, however, it happens that
some may be caught along with a quantity of water in a small
beaker glass, and on the mercurial bubbles bursting, it will be seen
how very small a quantity of mercury these bubbles consist of.
Professor Hofmann mentions that. he saw this experiment first
exhibited in the lecture-room of the Royal College of Chemistry,
London, when, twenty years ago, Professor Melsens, from Brussels,
was on a visit there.

Caustic baryta is likely to become of considerable use for indus-
trial purposes. M. Nickles has described its mode of preparation.
It appears that four operations are required :—(1) Conversion of
native sulphate of baryta into sulphide of barium; this is effected
im a continuous manner, in a peculiarly constructed furnace, the
sulphate bemg previously mixed with a reducing substance; (2)
the conversion of the sulphide of barium into hydrate of baryta,. b
means of hydrated oxide of zinc; (3) dehydration of the hydrate of
baryta by ignition along with sawdust; (4) regeneration of the
substance which has served for the desulphuration of the sulphide
and obtaining of sulphur.

M. E. Underhold states that the hardest steam-boiler incrus-
tations are formed when the quantity of carbonate of lime amounts
to from 20 to 25 per cent. of the entire mass. He has found, by
an experience extending over several years, that some kinds of clay
when suspended in the water contained in steam-boilers, prevent
the particles of carbonate and sulphate of lime dissolved im the
water, even if the latter is very hard, from clinging together and
becoming fixed to the sides of the boilers, forming there a hard
incrustation. A series of experiments, made on purpose and con-
tinued for a sufficient length of time to yield a reliable result, has
fully proved that the addition to the feed-water of the steam-boilers
of fatty clay, especially that known as fuller’s-earth, entirely pre-
vents boiler incrustations, even where, of necessity, very hard
water has to be used as feed-water. A loose soft mud is deposited
as soon as the motion of the water due to the boiling ceases on
cooling. This mud readily runs off on opening the valve of the
boiler.

Some valuable sulphur deposits have been discovered in the
island of Saba, Netherlands, West Indies. The rock composing
almost the entire formation of Saba is trachytic porphyry, which
contains glassy felspar and hornblende in crystals, disseminated
through a dark reddish-coloured vase. The sulphur deposit is
located on the northern part of the island of Saba, and extends for
a distance of more than a mile along the sea line. The stratum of

110. Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

sulphur varies in thickness from 15 to 50 feet; its elevation above
sea-level varies from 45 to 200 feet. This island has a surface of
about 9 English square miles, or 5760 acres, and contains 1794
inhabitants.

6. ENGINEERING—CIVIL AND MECHANICAL,

The Suez Canal.—The past quarter will long be memorable in the
annals of Civil Engineering for the completion and successful
inauguration of one of the most wonderful works of modern times.
The Isthmus of Suez Canal, just completed, is, however, the reali-
zation of no modern conception. ‘The idea of traversing that
isthmus, or at least the greater portion of it, is so ancient that the
original author of it cannot now be named; but evidences remain
to show that, at some very remote period, a canal really did exist
between the river Nile and the Red Sea. As far as can be
ascertained it was undertaken by Necho, about six centuries before
the Christian era, and subsequently completed by Darius. There
exists amongst ancient writers some difference of opinion as to the
precise character of the canal and its exact route, but there can be
no doubt that a canal was once made, extending from the Nile to
the Bitter Lakes, a distance of about thirty-four miles, which, being
filled with fresh water by the rising of the Nile, was navigable for
at least such portion of the year as the Nile was in flood: it is also
certain that a smaller canal was continued from the Bitter Lakes to
the Red Sea, near Suez. ‘These works, which for many centuries
had been allowed to fall into decay, were restored about a.p. 649
by the Caliph Omar; but instead of the restored canal joining the
Nile, near Bubastis, it curved southward to Cairo, and was named
the ‘Canal of Cairo.’ This canal appears to have continued open
until about the year a.p. 767, affording means of water communi-
cation between the Nile and the Red Sea. Subsequently to the
above date there do not appear any records of its existence; but at
the latter part of the last century the Emperor Napoleon Bona-
parte, during the time of the Egyptian expedition, caused a com-
plete survey of the old canal and of its route to be made by M.
Lepere. That officer's report was dated in 1799; but in conse-
quence of the withdrawal of the French from Egypt no further
action was taken in the matter.

The next report on the subject which deserves notice was that
of Captain Chesney, of the Indian army, in 1830, who proved the
perfect practicability of the project, and his views were subse-
quently verified by surveys undertaken under Robert Stephenson.
For many years previously Linant Bey had considered the project
of cutting a navigable canal across the Isthmus; and in 1845 an

|
|

1870. | Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 1

association was formed with the view of carrying the work into
effect. Prior to that date, however, M. de Lesseps had formed his
conclusions on this subject ; and in 1854 he suggested his ideas to
Said Pacha, by whom the project was warmly entertained. <A
commission, composed of the principal engineers of Europe, was
convened to examine the scheme, who visited the site in November,
1855, and in January following they submitted their report, in
which the undertaken was represented as easy of accomplishment
and certain of success, and the estimated cost was then set down at
200,000,000 francs. A concession was shortly afterwards given to
M. de Lesseps for the construction of the canal; and after further
careful investigations the works were set in hand, the completion of
which was celebrated by the opening of the entire canal on
Wednesday, the 17th November last.

The course of the canal is from Port Said, on the Mediter-
ranean, through Lakes Menzaleh and Ballah, after which it is cut
through some high ground at El Guisr, which separates Lake
Ballah from Lake Timsah. Between the latter lake and the
Bitter Lakes lies also a length of high land, extending from the
shore of Lake Timsah to Serapeum, after which the canal enters
the district of low, swampy land, known as the Bitter Lakes. It
then reaches high ground once more at Chalouf, and for the
remainder of the distance to Suez passes through high land in deep
cuttings. The length of the canal is about 100 miles. The total
expenditure upon the canal has been 434,000,000 frances; but
according to a statement recently published the net cost, after
allowing for the present value of plant, &., has been 216,000,000
francs. :

Blackfriars Bridge.—In addition to the above great inter-
national work, there have been completed, within the period under
review, two important engineering projects within the city of
London, namely, the reconstruction of Blackfriars Bridge across the
Thames, and the erection of a viaduct across the Holborn Valley.

Old Blackfriars Bridge was first thought of in 1754, at which
date there existed no means of communication across the Thames
between London and Westminster Bridges; and in 1756 an Act
was obtained for the erection of a bridge across the Thames in the
neighbourhood of Fleet Ditch. On 26th April, 1760, a contract
was entered into with a Mr. Phillips for the construction of a
bridge for 110,000/., from the designs of Mr. Robert Mylne. On
the 31st October, in the same year, the first stone was laid by Sir
Thomas Chitty, Lord Mayor, and the bridge was opened to foot
passengers on the 19th November, 1766. It was not, however,
until the 19th November, 1769, that it was finally completed and
opened for wheel traffic. On the 8th June, 1864, old Blackfriars
Bridge was closed, and the traffic diverted over a temporary

112 Chronicles of Science. 7 [Jan.,

wooden structure erected by its side. The design for the new
bridge was prepared by Mr. J. Cubitt, and the estimated cost
was 269,000/. Space will not admit of a detailed description of
this bridge, which was opened by the Queen in state on the 6th
November last.

Holborn Viaduct.—On the same date the Holborn Viaduct was
completed and declared open to public traffic. This important work,
extending from the top of Holborn Hill on the west to the top of
Skinner Street Hill on the east, crosses over the ancient valley of
the Old Bourne, affording a straight line of communication where
two steep hills previously impeded the traffic. The works have been
carried out from the designs of Mr. Heywood, the city architect, at
a total cost of about 2,000,0002.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Institution of Civil Engineers.—Considerable indignation has
been recently aroused amongst the members of the engineering
profession in England and India, in consequence of a Circular Order
issued by the Government of India, from which it was distinctly to
be inferred that the practice of accepting bribes from contractors
and others was recognized by the profession in England. At the

first ordinary meeting of the Institution, on the 9th November, the |

President reported that on receipt of a copy of the Order in question,
a meeting of the Council took place, at which a series of resolutions
were passed totally repudiating the calumny, copies of which were
forwarded to the Secretary of State for India. At a deputation of
the Council, which subsequently waited upon the Duke of Argyll,
his Grace promised to forward the representations of the Institution
to the Government of India, and to call for some explanation as to
the circumstances which led to the publication of the Order; and in
a subsequent letter to the President of the Institution, his Grace
declared that “he regarded with implicit confidence the indignant
repudiation of the Institution of any recognition of the practice
referred to in the notification.”

Society of Engineers.—The principal paper which has been read
before this Society in the present Session, is one by Mr. P. F.
Nursey, on “ English and Continental Intercommunication.” After
referring to the present defective means of transit across the British
Channel, the author briefly alluded to a few impracticable sugges-
tions which have, from time to time, been proposed for the purpose,
and then referred more in detail to those projects which have been
put forward by experienced engineers. These may be divided into
three classes, namely:—1. Those for tunnelling under the bed of
the sea between England and France. 2. Schemes for carrying a

he . *
7 SS UC eo a ee oe al

1870. ] Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 113

railway through submerged tubes laid at the bottom of the sea; and
3. For the improvement of the passage-boats, or, im other terms,
the construction of a huge Steam Ferry between the two countries.
A fourth class of projects may be enumerated, namely, those having
for their object the construction of a high-level bridge across the
Channel, but such hardly come within the category of practical
schemes. That which can be constructed at least cost and with
most expedition is the Channel Ferry project, and this we are in-
clined to think will, for the present at least, be found the most
practical solution of the difficulty.

New York Society of Practical Engineering.—At a meeting
of this Society, on 18th October last, a most useful and practical
paper was read by Mr. C. Williams, C.H, on “ Railway Accidents
and the Means of Prevention.” In the absence of wooden tic.
sleepers, the author advocated the laying of rails upon sleepers
bedded upon sand confined in trenches formed either transversely or
longitudinally with the track. The importance of securely attaching
the rails to the substructure was dwelt upon; and, lastly, improved
fish-jomts and methods for avoiding the breaking of railway car-
riage axles were discussed, and the methods for effecting such means
of security were dwelt upon at some length.

LITERATURE.

‘The Theory of Strains in Girders and similar Structures,’*
by Bindon B. Stoney, B.A.—The first volume of this work appeared
three years ago. The present volume treats of the subject of girders
under compression and in tension, as well as elasticity, temperature,
and the practical designing and estimating of girder-work ; and in
the former part of the volume numerous references are made to the
experiments carried out by Mr. Kirkaldy and Mr. Hodgkinson. As
a text-book for practical engineers this will be found a useful work,
but it would be impossible to enter fully into its merits within the
space to which we are limited.

‘A Practical Treatise on Concrete, and How to make it; with
Observations on the Uses of Cements, Limes, and Mortars,’t by
Henry Reid, C.H.—At the present day when the use of concrete
and cements is being so largely introduced into almost all engineer-
ing works, a more perfect knowledge of their properties is a subject
much to be desired, and every fresh information coming from a
reliable source is much required. During the earlier period of the
introduction of concrete, which, in this country, 1s attributed
by General Pasley to Sir Robert Smirke, it was regarded as being
only fitted for foundations, or hidden work of a similar kind ; but of
late years that material has acquired a higher standard, and is now

* Longmans, Green, & Co., London. + E. and F. N. Spon, London.

VOL. VII. I

.. Chronicles of Science. - | Jan.,

being extensively employed in the construction of buildings of
various kinds with most satisfactory and economical results. The
preparation of concrete is treated very fully by Mr. Reid, who de-
votes distinct chapters to lime concretes, concretes with compound
matrices, Roman cement concretes, and concretes made with Port-
land cement. He also gives descriptions of machinery for mixing
concretes and mortars, as well as remarks on building by frames. -
In conclusion, some general observations of considerable value are
given on the advantages possessed by Portland cement as a building
material, in the course of which he mentions the success which has
resulted from the use of such concrete as a material for pavements.
Altogether this is a very useful work, which may beneficially be
consulted by all classes interested in the use of concrete.

7. GEOLOGY AND PAL/AONTOLOGY.
(Including the Proceedings of the Geological Society, and Notices
of Recent Geological Works.)

Memoirs of the Geological Survey.—Two of these Memoirs, form-
ing an important contribution to British Geology, have reached us
during the past quarter. One is a very elaborate ‘Essay on the
Triassic and Permian Rocks of the Midland Counties of England,’
by Edward Hull, M.A., F.RS., &. (now Director of the Geolo-
gical Survey of Ireland). No less than twenty sheets of the
‘Geological Survey’ (one-inch) maps are referred to in this Memoir,
which include parts of the counties of Gloucester, Hereford, Wor-
cester, Warwick, Leicester, Stafford, Salop, Denbigh, Flint, Cheshire,
Derby, Notts, York, and Lancaster. The rocks are treated in
ascending order, under the following headings, or general classifica-
tion :—

A 1. Rhetic, or Penarth Beds.

A 2. New Red Marl (Keuper).

A 3. Lower Keuper Sandstone (Letten Kohle ?).
Triassic Series .. { (B. Muschelkalk, wanting in England).

C1. Upper Mottled Sandstone

5 . Pebble Beds (Bunter Sandstein).

2

1

2

3. Lower Mottled Sandstone

1. Upper Permian (Zechstein).
2

PERMIAN SERIES .. { . Lower Permian (Rothe-todte-liegende).

The Lower Permian series may be arranged under two distinct
types of strata, called respectively the “Salopian” and the “ Lan-
cashire,” which differ lithologically, and were deposited in separate
hydrographical basins, the disconnecting barrier having been pro-
duced by the upheaval of the Lower Carboniferous rocks along a
tract of country crossing from east to west below the central plain
of Cheshire. Our readers will remember Mr. Hull’s paper, recently

1870. ] Geology. 115

read before the Geological Society, in which he entered fully upon
this question.

The unconformity is noticed between the Triassic and Permian
series, which was pointed out by Professor Sedgwick more than
forty years ago; the newer beds rest indiscriminately on any of
the older formations, whether Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous,
or Permian.

The lithological peculiarities of the beds exhibited in different
localities and their organic remains are noticed. Though it is as
well to mention that the subdivision of the Bunter Sandstone, or
Lower Trias, into three members, which was propounded by
Mr. Hull in the course of his detailed examination of the rocks
over a large area, was altogether dependent on inorganic evidence.

Some little space is of course devoted to the beds of Rock-salt
interstratified with the Red Marls and clays of the Keuper. ‘The
Rheetic, or Penarth Beds, are also briefly noticed; but these beds
have not yet been traced farther northward than the outlier of
Copt Heath, near Birmingham, and at Abbots Bromley, in
Staffordshire. Mr. Hull is inclined to regard these beds as refer-
able to the Triassic formation, although it seems to us better to
regard them as passage-beds between the Lias and Trias—the lower
beds passing into the latter, the upper being more closely related,
and sometimes appearing to graduate into the Lower Lias above.

The Physical Geology of the Permian and Triassic periods are
treated of; also the distribution of the Coal Measures beneath them.

The Bunter Sandstone is considered as a source of water-supply,
and is regarded, with the exception perhaps of the Chalk and
Lower Greensand, as by far the most important water-bearing
formation in England.

In an appendix is given a list of the Fossils in the Warwick
Museum, from the Keuper and Permian Sandstones, by the Rev. P.
B. Brodie, revised by Mr. Etheridge, Palzontologist to the Survey.

The second Memoir is on the ‘Geology of the Carboniferous
Limestone, Yoredale Rocks, and Millstone Grit of North Derby-
shire, and the adjoining parts of Yorkshire,’ by A. H. Green, M.A.,
F.G.8., Dr. C. Le Neve Foster, B.A., F.G.S., and J. R, Dakyns,
M.A. They give a detailed description of the geological structure
of the district, together with observations on the physical features
and drainage, followed by an appendix, giving a list of the Carbon-
iferous Limestone fossils of Derbyshire, furnished by Mr. Etheridge.

The formations described in this Memoir are as follow :—

Recent... .. .. Alluvium and River Gravels.
Post PuioceNE .. Boulder Beds.
Lower Coal Measures, or “ Ganister Beds.”
CARBONIFEROUS .. ene ane
Carboniferous, or Mountain Limestone.
I

116 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

Both these Memoirs are well illustrated with sections and dia-
grams. ‘The authors give due credit to other observers who have
previously described these districts. They will be found of the
greatest service to all who may need to consult them, either for
professional purposes or as amateur geologists.

In November, 1867, the Rev. Thomas Wiltshire, M.A., F.GS.,
read a highly interesting paper before the Geologists’ Association,
“On the Chief Groups of the Cephalopoda.” This has just been
published, and will be found very useful by the student. The
author touches upon the structure and habits of these animals, and
gives schedules of the recent and fossil Cephalopods, wherein are
analyses of the families and genera; he also gives an appendix on
the range of the genera in seolocical time.

Mr. EK. D. Cope has published the first part of an elaborate
‘Synopsis of the extinct Batrachia and Reptilia of North America.’
He has thought it best to describe only those species and types
which are new, and those portions of imperfectly known forms which
will throw additional light on their relations and affinities.

In the course of his investigations, prosecuted during the past
six years, with reference to the structure and relations of the extinct
Reptilia, the following general conclusions have been arrived at,
besides many of lesser significance :—

1. That the Dinosauria present a graduated series of approxi-
mations to the birds, and possess some peculiarities in common with
that class, standing between it and the Crocédilia.

2. That serpents exist in the Hocene formations of this country.

3. That the Chelydra type was greatly developed during the
American Cretaceous period; and that all the supposed marine-
turtles described from it are really of the first-named group.

4. That the Reptilia of the American Triassic period are of the
Belodon type.

5. The discovery of the characters of the order Pythonomorpha.

6. The discovery of the characters of the order Streptosauria.

7. The development of the characters of numerous members of
the Batrachian sub-order Microsauria in the United States.

The Memoir is illustrated with eleven plates and numerous
woodcuts. Mr. Cope’s work is peculiarly interesting, as bearing
upon the researches of Professor Huxley on the affinities of the
Dinosauria with the class Aves independently Buse on in this
country.

‘The Geology and Mineral Veins of the Country around Shelve,
Shropshire, with a Notice of the Breidden Hills, by G. H. Morton,
F.G8., F.R.G.8.1, President of the Liverpool Geological Society
(extracted from the Proceedings of the Society), Liverpool, 8vo,

41.

. This work treats of both the Geology and the Archeology of

1870. | Geology. 117

Shelve, which is situated in western Shropshire. The lead mines were
worked in the Roman period, as shown by their coins, pottery, and
mining implements; pigs of lead bearing on their stamp the name
of Hadrian have been found there. ‘The remains of Roman en-
campments exist in the neighbourhood, as well as several Drwidical
circles ; the largest of which, the Circle, or “ Hoar stones,’ has still
thirty-two stones standing, and seems originally to have contained
thirty-six.

Very red copper ore, “ Redruthite,” has been found in the
neighbourhood, but workings have only lately been commenced.
The average direction of the greatest number of the vems is W.N.W. -
by E.S.E.; most of them are simply fissures in the rock (Lower
Silurian), which is prominently developed in this district, filled with
Barytes Calcite and irregular strings and nests of Galena and Blende,
interspersed with fragments of the slate-rock. The author observes,
“Tt is remarkable that in the Upper Llandeilo rocks the veins
principally contain Barytes ; the Lower Llandeilo rocks, lead ; and
the Cambrian rocks, copper.”

There are several interesting sections given, showing the distur-
bances caused in the Lingula flags, Llandeilo and Cambrian beds,
&c., by the eruptive intrusion of greenstone and other trap-rocks.
Lists of the fossils found in these formations and maps of the mineral
veins are also appended.

The Breidden Hills, about ten miles N.W. of Shelve, range to
the height of 1200 feet above the sea-level, are surrounded by the
Llandeilo strata, and are interesting from the many varieties of
porphyritic._ and amygdaloidal greenstone, trap-breecia, and ash, of
which they are composed.

The ‘ Geological Magazine’ for October, November, and Decem-
ber contains an abundant supply of interesting papers, only a few
of which we have space to notice.

1. A novel theory of the formation of the Chesil Bank is pro-
pounded by Messrs. H. W. Bristow and W. Whitaker. The ques-
tion they deal with is simply the cause of the position of the beach,
separated as it is from the mainland throughout its greater length
by a strip of water called “the Fleet.”

The authors are of opinion that this channel was formed sub-
sequently to the heaping up of the shingle, which they think was
originally formed against the land. Hast of Abbotsbury the ground
is comparatively low, and numerous streams run into the Fleet ; while
for some distance west of this village there are no streams, the
ground is much higher, with cliffs, and the beach is not separated
from the land. The conclusion arrived at is that after the beach
was formed against the land, these streams in flowing down towards
the sea would turn eastwards for some distance before filtering
through the shingle (as is the case with streams west of Burton

ig. Chronicles of Science. | Jan.,

Bradstock), and'as they are not far apart they would in time meet
and form a continuous channel (the Fleet), which would be widened
and kept clear by land-waters, aided pezhaps by tidal action as
suggested by Mr. Evans.*

2. Mr. Ray Lankester records the discovery of Machairodus in
the Forest-bed of Norfolk ; and from the researches of Mr. Pengelly,
no doubt can remain that the great sabre-toothed tiger should be
retained on our list of British Fossil Mammals.

3. Professor Owen describes two new Ichthyodorulites, Lepra-
eanthus Colei from the coal-shale of North Wales, and Hybodus
complanatus (of Neocomian age) from the Iguanodon quarry of
Mr. Bensted, at Maidstone.

4. The Rey. T. G. Bonney discusses the origin of some sup-
posed “ Pholas-burrows” in the Ormesheads. He is inclined to
attribute these holes (with Dr. Buckland and M. Bouchard-Chan-
tereaux) to the agency of land-snails, probably Helix aspersa ; but
we expect that many will still think it safer to regard them as due
to atmospheric influences, and that subsequently snails have taken
up their abodes in the hollows.

5. Mr. C. E. De Rance writes on the Surface-Geology of the
Lake District.

6. Dr. H. A. Nicholson describes some plant-remains from the
Skiddaw slates, and Mr. Henry Hicks some still older from the
Arenig beds of St. David's.

7. Dr. Ruskin continues his researches on Banded and Brecciated
Concretions.

8. Mr. Scrope combats some of Mr. Mackintosh’s statements of
the marine origin of certain terraces, popularly called “ Lynchets”
or “ Balks.” These he regards as of artificial origin, to be owing to
the disturbing action of the plough and the mattock on the surface-
slopes, aided by downward rain-carriage of the loosened soil—a
process which, he adds, is visibly going on wherever a hill-side is
under cultivation.

9. Professor Harkness contributes a paper on the Middle
Pleistocene Deposits, haying reference to the beds m England,
Scotland, and Ireland.

10. Mr. R. Tate furnishes some notes on new and little-known
Liassic Brachiopoda, and gives a table showing the distribution of
all the species known to occur in the Lias of Britain.

11. The Earl of Enniskillen, following Sir P. Egerton’s example,
supplies an alphabetical catalogue of type-specimens of Fossil Fishes
in his collection at Florence Court, which he also adds are open to
the inspection of any geological or paleontological student.

12. Mr. W. H.S. Westropp notices the occurrence of Albite in
the granite of Leinster.

* When this paper was read at the Geological Society’s meeting.

1870.| Geology. 119

We regret to record the death of Dr. R. N. Rubidge, F.G.S., &.,
a gentleman well known for his investigations into the geology of
South Africa.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE GuHoLoGgicaAL Society or Lonpon.

The 100th No. of the Society’s ‘Quarterly Journal’ is now before
us. It is hardly so bulky as usual, for besides two postponed
papers it only contains the communications read at one (the last)
meeting of Session 1868-9, and very many of them are merely pub-
lished in abstract. One of these papers is by Mr. Whitaker, and .
the subject—“ The Connection of the Geological Structure and
Physical Features of the South-east of England with the Con-
sumption Death-rate ”—is a comparatively new and a very important
one.*
We will briefly notice one or two of the papers contained in this
Journal.

Sir Philip Egerton, Bart., describes two new species of Gyrodus:
one from the Middle Oolite on the east coast of Sutherlandshire ; the
other, several specimens of which exist, is from the Kimmeridge
clay of Kimmeridge.

Mr. J. W. Hulke, F.R.S,, contributes two papers. In the first
he describes a large Saurian humerus from the Kimmeridge clay of
the Dorset coast. A careful examination and comparison of it with
other reptilian remains show it to possess strong crocodilian affi-
nities, but to differ from any genus yet completely known. That to
which it appears most closely related is a bone (now in the British
Museum) upon which Dr. Mantell founded his genus Pelorosawrus.
The immense size of the Saurian to which this humerus belonged
may be judged from the bone measuring 31 inches in length, and the
girth of the shaft near the middle being 11 inches. In the second
paper, Mr. Hulke furnishes notes on some fossil remains of a gavial-
like Saurian from Kimmeridge Bay, wherein he establishes its identity
with Cuvier’s “ Deuxiéme Gavial d’ Honfleur” (Steneosaurus rostro-
minor of G. St. Hilaire), and with Quenstedt’s Dakosaurus.

Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.G.S., who was attached as geologist to
the Abyssinian expeditionary force, here brings forward some of the
results of his observations while acting in this capacity. Recent
and Post-Tertiary, Tertiary, Cretaceous, Jurassic, and probably
Triassic rocks, are represented in Abyssinia. Many fossils were
collected, and Mr. Htheridge remarked on the similarity of the
Oolitic specimens to those from the Cotteswold Hills, and also to
some from the Holy Land. In speaking of the denudation to which
the country has been subjected, Mr. Blanford stated that there were
no marks of glaciation discernible, the excavation of the valleys

* This paper has appeared in the ‘ Geological Magazine.’

120, Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

being apparently due to the excessive rainfall. There was not a
trace of marine denudation over the surface examined.

Mr. Mackintosh, F.G.S., contributes an interesting paper “On
the Correlation, Nature, and Origin of the Drifts of North-west
Lancashire and a part of Cumberland, with remarks on Denudation.”

Mr. J. Wood Mason, F'.G.S., describes a new Acrodont Saurian
from the Lower Chalk, near Folkestone, to which he assigns the
name Acrodontosaurus Gardneri.

Mr. Searles V. Wood, jun., F.GS., and Mr. F. W. Harmer,
bring forward evidence of a peculiar case of intra-glacial erosion
near Norwich.

Their observations tend to show that after the deposition of the
uppermost bed of the Lower Glacial period there was a physical
break, a suspension of deposit, during which lapse of time an erosion
took place, sweeping out some of the glacial beds already formed,
and extending some way into the Chalk beneath. Into the trough
thus formed the succeeding drifts of Middle Glacial age were
deposited, as well as upon the hills in regular order above those
Lower Glacial beés unaffected by the denuding agency. A section
exhibiting these phenomena has recently been disclosed by some
new drainage works at Norwich, which the authors hoped by their
communication to induce geologists to visit. Some little time ago,
Mr. Harmer described to the Society a “ Third Boulder-clay ”
which he found lying in the bottom of the Yare valley. This may
now be explained from the section described in the present paper ;
the authors are inclined to regard it as a portion of the Great (or
Upper) Boulder Clay, which was deposited at this low level
owing to the intra-glacial erosion which had taken place before its
deposition.

Mr. J. W. Flower, F.G.8., records some recent discoveries of flint
implements in the drift of Norfolk and Suffolk, concluding with
some observations on the theories accounting for ‘their distribution,
The distribution of the drift-beds he is disposed to attribute, with
the French geologists, to some powerful cataclysmal action, perhaps
of short duration, and several times repeated,—an opinion in which
it appears but few of our own countrymen coincide.

8. METEOROLOGY.

Tur sudden change of weather noticed in the note to our last
Chronicle, p. 549, forms the subject of an interesting paper in the
last number of the ‘ Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society.’

This change occurred in the afternoon of the 28th of August.
The preceding days had been exceptionally warm, especially in

1870. | Meteorology. 121

England; but on that evening a current of polar air began to flow
southwards, causing a fall of temperature of 40° within ten or twelve
hours at several stations (85° at Marchmont Dunse in seven hours),
and producing the unusual phenomenon of a smart night-frost
before the end of August.

The same number of the journal contains a paper by Mr.
Milne Home “On Rotatory Storms,” which he seeks to explain
by the analogy of other known atmospherical disturbances. The
paper, which is well illustrated, consists of a series of extracts from
the reports of various observers of waterspouts and whirlwinds
which they have witnessed, and from Dr. Baddeley’s work on the
Dust-storms of India. The reasoning on the data thus collected is
very brief, and not altogether satisfactory. Mr. Home assumes that.
all our ordinary storms are simply gigantic whirlwinds, generated
by some unknown agency, probably the friction of interfering air-
currents at a high level in the atmosphere. ‘Two such currents
would generate a vortex of conical shape, with great barometrical
rarefaction in the centre, of which the point may reach the earth,
and produce a reduction of pressure and a great disturbance of the
atmosphere. There are, however, several flaws in this chain of
reasoning, not the least important of which is the attempt to explain
the sudden fall of temperature in the rear of the storm, which
accompanies the north-west wind felt there, by the supposition that
the centrifugal force of the vortex throws out a mass of heated
air into the upper region of the atmosphere, and thereby dis-
places the colder strata at that level, forcing them down to the
ground.

A more important paper on a cognate subject is Mr. Blanford’s
investigation as to the origin of the Calcutta cyclone of Nov. 1,
1867, which appears in vol. xvi. of the Royal Society’s ‘ Pro-
ceedings.’ Mr. Blanford is led by the data he has collected to the
belief that the cyclone was generated on Oct. 27 in the neigh-
bourbood of the Nicobar Islands. or a day or two previous there
had been a barometrical depression at that point, when three dis-
tinctly-marked wind-currents commenced flowing round it, and
ultimately coalesced to form the cyclone.

If this idea be true, it would tend to show that the origin of
the barometrical depression, the nucleus of the storm, was to be
sought for in some agency independent of the mutual action of the
wind-currents, a result apparently at variance with the general
tendency of Mr. Meldrum’s investigations into the analogous
storms of the South Indian Ocean, which appear to indicate, as
already remarked by us, that the barometrical depression is gene-
rated between pre-existing currents of air which subsequently form
tangents to the cyclone.

The Report of the Meteorological Committee for Calcutta for

122 Chronicles of Science. [ Jan.,

1868 has just appeared, and it shows that Mr. Blanford is getting
his work well in hand, and gives a fair promise of future good
results. |

The next number of the ‘ Proceedings’ (No. 114) contains a
paper by Sir E. Sabine, “On the Results of the First Year’s Per-
formances of the Photographically Self-recording Instruments at
Kew.” The mean values for the several elements are compared with
those obtained by discussion of the observations for Nertschinsk
and Barnaoul, published by Kupffer, and the results are very
interesting, as showing the contrast between insular and conti-
nental climates.

In connection with Siberia, we may notice that a brief account
of the climate of Sitka and the adjacent country is to be found in
vol. vii. of the ‘ Transactions of the Swedish Academy,’ recently
published. It is in German, and is contained ina letter trom Herr
Furubjelm, of Helsingfors, who lived in that colony for many years.
Little was known of its climate before; and what we now learn of
it shows that “ Walrussia” is anything but an enviable place of
residence, owing to its excessive dampness. i

Professor Wild, the new Director of the Central Physical
Observatory at St. Petersburg, has lost no time in bringing out the
volume of ‘Annales’ for 1865, the issue of which had been inter-
rupted since the death of Kupffer. He tells us in the preface that
a complete change will soon be made in the form and contents of
the publication. ‘The metrical scale is to be at once introduced
throughout the empire, and the speedy adoption of self-recording
instruments is announced as probable.

The Journal of the Austrian Meteorological Society contains a
very interesting account, by Abich, of two hail-storms experienced
at Tiflis in May last. ‘The stones, which were of great size,
were crystallized in forms well known in mineralogy. How these
stones remained suspended in the air long enough for crystals
of such size and regularity to be formed is a question which Abich
does not attempt to solve. It is most fortunate that the occur-
rence came under the notice of so able a- mineralogist as he is, and
we hope that it will find its way into some of our geological
journals. ‘The connection between meteorology and physical geo-
logy is close enough, but a bond of union between it and mineralogy
is at least unexpected.

Herr von Freeden has brought out No. 2 of the ‘ Mittheilungen’
of his office, the weather calendar for North-west Germany, being a -
discussion of his own observations carried on for ten years at
Elsfleth, near Bremen. The whole treatment of the subject is very
thorough, and the paper is a most useful one, as a record of what
may be effected by a single observer keeping a registry for a long

1870. | Meteorology. 123

period on a definite system. There is one special table which calls
for notice, that of the daily temperature of the river Weser. The
results tend to set at rest the moot question of the relation between
water and air temperature. They show that while the water was
permanently warmer than the air to the extent of 3°:5 I’. on the
mean of the year, its changes followed those of the air in point of
time, but were less in extent. There are several very suggestive
deductions from the tables, and the calendar concludes with some
useful practical weather rules.

We mentioned lately that M. Coumbary had organized a Meteoro-
logical service in the Turkish empire. He has now begun to
publish a monthly réswmé of his observations. ‘The provincial
stations from which returns for September are published are:
Smyrna, Beyrout, Diarbekir, Bagdad, Fao, Rustchuk, Sulina, Varna,
Trebizonde, and Salonica. M. Coumbary is very anxious to obtain
daily telegraphic reports from Bombay, an idea even more novel
than that which is already an accomplished fact, the regular
daily service across the Atlantic.

The ‘ Bulletin’ of the new central observatory at Montsouris,
near Paris, has now assumed a definite shape as regards its contents.
It gives for the observatory eight readings daily of the various
instruments, with reports of the state of the atmosphere and the
amount of cloud. Observations are also printed from some stations
near Paris, as well as from six stations on the coast, the same as
are published in our own ‘ Daily Weather Report,’ and the daily
summary of British weather supplied by telegraph to the Ministére -
de la Marine is appended.

Le Verrier’s ‘Atlas Météorologique’ for 1868 contains, in addi-
tion to the usual charts and accounts of the thunder and hail storms,
and a general sketch of the rainfall in France during the year, a
number of memoirs of very varied scope. Among them we find one
by M. Rayet, on the climate of the Isthmus of Suez; another, by
M. Belgrand, on the rainfall in the Seine basin at the Quaternary
epoch (this latter might almost as suitably find a place in the
‘ Journal of the Geological Society’); and a number of special notices
from the various departments. There is, however, a paper by
‘Mr. Buchan, “On the Meteorology of North-west Europe in 1868,”
which calls for remark. The author is well fitted for the pre-
paration of such a paper by his experience in studying storms ;
but in our opinion the value of his reasoning is much diminished
by the introduction of too much theory. More than once we have
a long train of argument depending on a succession of “ifs.” This
is not logical reasoning at all, and is rather out of place in a paper
like that we are discussing. This tendency to theorize we have
before had to notice in Mr. Buchan, as a blemish on his work. Let

124 Chronicles of Scrence. | Jan.,

us have the facts discussed honestly, and few can do that better
than he can; but let the theories be kept to be aired before scientific
societies and published in their journals. Meteorology has suf-
fered more than most sciences from building castles in the air.
Let us lay a firm foundation before we begin the structure.

9. MINERALOGY.

“ Here there is no room for might, could, would, or should,—but
it 7s so; native lead in melaphyre!” With these confident words
Dr. Zerrenntr introduces to us the discovery of native lead imbedded
in a rock at Stiizerbach, in Thuringia.* And, in truth, his ex-
pressions of assurance are by no means ill- timed ; for there is
confessedly a little scepticism lurking in the minds of many of us
as to the genuineness of such a find—scepticism which is perhaps
pardonable enough when we remember how often the mineralogist
has been bitten by describing old shot and rifle bullets as natural
productions! In the case before us, however, there seems no
reason to think that Dr. Zerrenner has misplaced his confidence—
judging at least from the illustration which shows the globules of
lead imbedded in the cavities of the amygdaloidal melaphyre, and
more especially from his description which refers to it as running
through the rock in strings.

Native lead is also said to have been found, within the last few
years, associated with gold in the auriferous drifts of some of the
deep mining “leads” in Victoria.f Quite recently, too, we have
seen some reputed native lead in the form of rounded shot, coated
with a whitish incrustation, and accompanied by magnetic iron-ore
and native gold, from the old auriferous district in Co. Wicklow.

On a question so obscure and enigmatical as that of the origin
of the diamond, every tittle of evidence is worth recording. Dr.
Goppert, in his famous essay which gained a prize at the Haarlem
Academy in 1864, argued strongly in favour of the formation of
this mineral by the wet way. He now publishes an account of
certain diamonds containing organic structures tending to confirm
his views.{ ‘T'wo diamonds in the Royal Mineralogical Museum
in Berlin were found to enclose numerous green cells closely
resembling those of many alge. One of the diamonds, weighing
263 milligrammes, contains a very large number of perfectly round

* ‘Bere und Hiittenmannische Zeitung,’ No. 12, 1869, p. 105 ; also, ‘ Mineralo-
gische Nachrichten,’ 1869, p. 33.

+ ‘The Gold-fields and Mineral Districts of Victoria.’ By R. Brough Smyth.
Melbourne, 1869. Pp. 420.

t “Ueber algenartige Einschliisse in Diamanten, und iiber Bildung derselben.’
‘Abhandl. d. Schlesisch. Gesellsch. (§ Naturwiss. u. Medicin), 1869, p. 62.

1870. | Mineralogy. 125

green granules, which appear to be isolated cells not unlike those of
Protococcus pluvialis. The new species is accordingly named
P. adamantinus. In the second diamond, weighing 3845 milli-
erammes, the cells are less round and more elongated in form,
while they frequently unite so as to form a loose parenchymatous
tissue: they find their best representatives in Palmogloea macro-
cocca, and Gdppert has accordingly ventured to name the new
diamond-plant Palmogloeites adamantinus.

Once again, the old mistake has been repeated in Australia.
In the New England district a stone was found, about the size and
shape of a duck’s egg, and weighing 6 oz. 13 dwts. 12 grs. troy.
Of course it was taken for a diamond, and rumour was soon rife as
to its prodigious worth. A few days after announcing the dis-
covery, the ‘ Australian Mail’ coolly adds, “The ‘ great diamond’
which had created so much sensation has proved to be a piece of
erystal-quartz !”

Hitherto crystallized quartz has been artificially prepared only
by wet processes. But the presence of this mineral in rocks usually
referred to an igneous origin, naturally leads to the belief that it
may certainly be produced also in the dry way. Acting on this
belief, Gustav Rose has recently experimented on the fusion of
silica, adularia, and other minerals, in salt of phosphorus and in
borax.* His experiments were conducted on a large scale at the
furnaces of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory at Berlin. Crystal-
lized silica was thus obtained, but in the form of small six-sided
plates, unlike the crystals of common quartz, from which it also
differed in having the low density of 2°3. Rose has thus produced
not ordinary quartz, but Vom Rath’s curious new species Tridy-
mite, which has been already described in this Journal. Whilst
he has thus obtaimed artificial tridymite, he does not despair of
forming artificial quartz by a modification of his process.

Spectrum analysis has been applied, by Vogelsang and Geissler,
to the difficult question of determiming the chemical nature of the
fluid found enclosed in minute quantity in the cavities of certain
quartz-crystals.| Fragments of quartz were placed in a small
retort, which was connected with an air-pump and exhausted; then
by the application of heat the quartz decrepitated, and the evolved
vapour was examined in a Geissler-tube. The presence of carbonic
acid was thus abundantly proved, and this was confirmed by the
turbidity which it produced in lime-water.

Among some minerals examined by Herr Petersen from the
St. Wenzel mine, near Wolfach, in Baden, he finds a new species
belonging to the interesting group of antimonial sulphides of silver.t

* ¢Monatsbericht d. k. preussichen Akad. d. Wiss.,’ 1869, p. 449.
+ ‘Rhein Verhdlg., xxv. Sitzungsber, p. 77.
t Poggendorff’s ‘ Annalen,’ No, 7, 1869, p. 377.

126 Chronicles of Scrence. [ Jan.,

The new mineral is to be called Polyargyrite or Weichglaserz. It
occurs in small iron-black crystals, belonging to the cubic system,
and consisting of 12 AgS+Sb8,. Now that we are acquainted
with another member of these antimonial sulphides, it may be well
to compare the composition and crystalline system of these minerals,
since it is hardly probable that another species of this group will be
found containing more silver-sulphide than is present in polyar-

gyrite.

Miargyrite AgS+S8b8, oblique
Pyrargyrite .. 3AgS+S8b8, hexagonal.
Stephanite 6AgS+Sb8, rhombic.
Polybasite 9AgS+S8bS8, hexagonal.
Polyargyrite.. ..12AgS+S8bS8, cubic.
Argentite PIS Bd cubic.

Another new mineral from the same locality is described under
the name of Wolfachite. It crystallizes in the rhombic system, and
contains :—Ni 8, + Ni (As, Sb,).

English ears will not easily get reconciled to the sound of
Wollongongite—the name which Professor Silliman proposes for
a new native hydrocarbon, which promises to become of great
technical importance.* Itseems to be a variety of cannel, occurring
abundantly in the Wollongong district of the Illawarra coal-field
in New South Wales. On distillation it yields a large volume of
gas of remarkably high illuminating power.

A mineral mistaken for augite has lately been found by Pro-
fessor Brush to bea new variety of chrysolite, and he has accordingly
named it Hortonolite, in recognition of Mr. Silas Horton’s courtesy
in calling his attention toit.t It occurs in the form of dull blackish
rhombic crystals, in the iron mine at Monroe, Orange Co., New
York ; and from its abundance it may become of some commercial
importance as an iron-ore. It is chemically a chrysolite, containing
iron, magnesia, and manganese.

Among the fine pebbles of stream-tin from Durango, in Mexico,
it is well known that the mineralogist finds the most beautiful little
erystals of limpid topaz. With these there have lately been
detected certain oblique crystals of an orange-coloured mineral,
which Professor Brush names after the locality.{ The following
_ is the general formula of Durangite, where the protoxides are soda
and manganous oxide, whilst the sesquioxides are alumina and
ferric oxide: {4 (3 RO) + ? (R, O,)} As O;. Fluorine is also

resent in this mineral, but its quantity has not been determined.
It is said that Durangite is the only native “ fluo-arsenate” which
has hitherto been observed.

Professor Brush has also lately published the analysis of a

* Silliman’s ‘ American Journal of Science,’ July, 1869, p. 85.
+ Ibid., p. 17. t Ibid., Sept., 1869, p. 179.

1870. | Mineralogy. 127

meteoric stone which fell near Frankfort, in Franklin Co., Alabama,
on the 5th December, 1868.* |

Attention has again been called to the occurrence of pseudo-
morphs in Bunter sandstone after scalenohedra of calcite.t The
discoveries of Dr. Blum, already noticed in this Journal, have been
supplemented by those of Dr. Klocke, from which it appears that
the pseudomorphs oceur in several new localities in the neighbour-
hood of Heidelberg.

A new mica, related to biotite and phlogopite, has been described
by Von Kobell wnder the name of Aspidolite, im allusion to the
basal face of the crystals often resembling an oval shield (ao7ris).
The crystals are small rhombic prisms, of a dark olive-green colour,
and are found in the chlorite of the Zillerthal in Tyrol.}

So complex is the chemical constitution of that curious mineral,
the Tourmaline, that Mr. Ruskin not unaptly calls it “ more like
a medizeval doctor’s prescription than the making of a respectable
mineral.” In spite of its complexity, Rammelsberg has lately
succeeded in reducing all his analyses of this substance to the
general type of the silicate R; Si O;, where R is considered
monatomic, and may represent six atoms of any of the monads
hydrogen, potassium, sodium, and lithium; or three atoms of the
dyads magnesium, calcium, manganese, and oxygen; or two atoms
of the triads boron and aluminium.§ All tourmalines fall into two
sections—one represented by the general formula R, Al, B Si, O,,
which is, of course, obtained by doubling the molecule above ; whilst
the second section contains nine of these molecules written thus :—
Ri, Aly By Sip Oys. |

Rammelsberg has also published a chemical note on the con-
stitution of Axinite, and on some native compounds of tantalium
and niobium. ||

Some good crystals of Gadolonite—the mineral in which yttria
was first discovered —have been examined by M. Des Cloiseaux.4]
He finds the crystals from Hitterde to be doubly refracting, and to
contain from 10 to 12 per cent. of glucina; while those from
Ytterby are singly refracting, and contain no glucina.

Dr. Sadebeck, of Berlin, whose examination of the crystalline
forms of copper-pyrites has already been referred to in this Journal,
has lately directed his studies to another common mineral zinc-
blende, and has produced an elaborate paper on the hemihedral
forms of this cubic mineral.**

* Silliman’s ‘ American Journal of Science,’ Sept., 1869.

+ Leonhard und Bronn’s ‘ Jahrbuch,’ No. 6, 1869, p. 714.

+ ‘Sitzungsberichte d. K. bay. Acad. d. Wissenschaften,’ 1869.

§ ‘Monatsber. d. k. preuss. Ak. d. Wiss.,’ 1869, p. 604.

|| ‘ Zeitschrift d. deutsch. geol. Gesell.,’ No. 3, 1869, pp. 555, 689.
4 ‘ Annales de Chimie et de Physique,’ Nov., 1869, p. 305.
** « Zeit. d. d. geol. Gesell.,’ 1869, No. 3, p. 620.

128 Chronicles of Science. | Jan.,

Whilst we have no lack of literature on the geology of the
voleanic district of Auvergne—of which the excellent works of
Scrope and Lecoq may be cited as conspicuous examples—there has
hitherto been but little written on the mineralogical, chemical, and
microscopic structure of the many and varied rocks of that country.
It is true that a few of these rocks have been carefully described in
the memoirs of Kosmann and of Zirkel, but it has been left for
Dr. Lasaulx, of Bonn, to offer us the results of a systematic course
of “ Petrographic Studies on the Volcanic Rocks of Auvergne.’*
The first part only has yet appeared, and this is devoted to a
description of certain of the Auvergne lavas, so that we must look
to the continuation of the memoir for a notice of the basalts,
trachytes, melaphyres, and phonolites of this interesting locality.

10. MINING AND METALLURGY.
Mixtina.

THE completed returns of the mineral produce of the United
Kingdom for the year 1868 have been published in the ‘ Mineral
Statistics.’ The following are the results :—

| Quantities. Value.
Tons. £
NEE Bien Tamm to * Sig See gt oa Ely 103,141,157 ! 25,785,289F
Meee ee se ee te 10,169,231 | 3,196,000
eee eS te EMS i ae eS se 13553 <} 770,205
Copper SDDS eae eae, o 157.335 | 642,103
NAEREEA, Pegs 8s | oie ede ath. Eee pane» 95,236 | 1,150,768
Zine Ore : SAE Bee NG ng 12,781 | 39,191
Tron Pyrites (Sulphur Ores) pe Meet eae me 76,484 53,636
Gold Quartz... ue AS ea rae 1,191 1,000
Arsenic. 3 wy ead ra Oo SE cae ee ac 3.300 | 9,710
Gossans and Ochres J ah Seheas Cl OTe bagi Moe 6,692 | 6,372
Wolfram pa | Eee Se OE CaM een NaF eT - 67
rer Spar tan) yee I EO Beak ve 60 | 42,
EE See OP eo, | eR ee gear igg te 1,700 | 7,650
EMME. Oo ass ee eee ee ce” eR es 14,235 | 8,728
Sireptnaltaes e515" beth e Ta dee ek i 37,500 71,500
Salt ee bi SES g Jolt bine a oat ere 1.513,840 | 927,227
Clays, jine and fire ss Ve Oe 1,012,479 | 317,770
Earthy Minerals, various (estimated) .. wr 5 piles 650,000

Total value of the Minerals produced in the United Kingdom | £33,637,558

* Leonhard und Bronn’s ‘ Jahrbuch,’ No. vi., 1869, p. 641.
+ Calculated at the actual cost of raising, before any charges for movement are
added.

1870.| Mining. 129

METALS OBTAINED FROM THE ORES ENUMERATED.

Quantities. Value.
Tons. £

reece ee ee ag eee an ee 4,970,206. 12,381,280
Tin me OS a Ut A CA ae: 9,300 901,400
Pea cahy vy "im ia bai oa bee Dect eis tee 9,817 761,602
pcm da) wl ge ee eae tae 71,017 1,378,404
BERG re ae ek a Ee eh) eke tanta 3,713 75,435 |

Ounces.
SUPE i cih se Tale oki ph ie oecocs ey eee Fis eeeaelcee 835,942 229,773
Gold"... Fgh 8 PEE yer 1,012 3,522
Other Metals ‘(estimated) . Se ag ean Hist a8 5,000

Total value of Metals produced .._.. aaa ike £15,736,416

ApsoLuTE Toran VALvuE of the Mera and Coat, with other Minerats (not
including Slates, Lime, Building Stones, or Common Clays), produced in
1868,

Value of the Metals pmdaged 4 from the Mines of the

United Kingdom .. .. in Aap was ROgMOO.LG
Value of Coau_.. - «- 20,180,289
Other Minerals, not smelted, including ‘Salt, Barytes,

CIE ES a os cian in ane patcgh ch Teas wee reg “eps cei AIO OS SLO

£43,525,524

For two years the sad depression of Cornish mining has been
the reiterated complaint. ‘This happily has given place to great
activity. The tin mines of Cornwall were never producing more
tin than at present, and the prices are such as enable most of the
mines to give a good dividend, after paying all the working expenses.
The long celebrated Bearhaven mines, in Ireland, which produced
(in 1868) 3837 tons of copper ore, are about to change hands, and
will for the future be worked by the Mining Company of Ireland.

A variety of experiments have of late years been made in our
mines and quarries with explosive compounds of various kinds, with
very varied degrees of success. Attention is now called to “ Poudre
d’ammoniaque,” which has created quite a sensation in some of the
Continental mines. The following extracts will convey nearly all
the information, of value, at present available.

The ‘ Militai- Wochenr-Blatt, of Berlin, says :—‘‘ Some time ago
the proprietors of the powder ‘manufactory of N ora-Gyttorp took
out a patent in Sweden for the invention of the ‘poudre @’ammo-
niaque,’ a substance only employed hitherto in a few mining districts,
and which seems to be completely unknown elsewhere. Its ex-
plosive power may be compared to that of nitro-glycerine, and,
consequently, surpasses that of dynamite. It will not explode with
a flame or with sparks, but explodes by a powerful blow with a
hammer. Chambers charged with this powder have been burst by
means of a cartouche of ordinary powder. One of the useful and

vob. VII. K

130 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

important properties of this new powder is that it does not require
to be heated in cold weather, whilst it is necessary first to heat
nitro-glycerine and dynamite, which operation has caused many
accidents. According to the information we have received, the
“poudre d’ammoniaque” was invented by Norbin, the chemist.
The ‘ Journal of German Public Works’ contains extracts from the
report of the Prussian architect, Steenke, amongst which are the
followmg remarks concerning poudre d’ammoniaque :—“ Experi-
ments have been made by attaching a lamp to a° pendulum, and
causing it to oscillate. Powder, gun-cotton, nitro-glycerine, and
dynamite ignited the moment the flame passed beneath them, but
poudre d’ammoniaque only commenced to burn when the flame had
touched it twenty times.

“Making experiments to ascertain the pressure requisite to
explode it, it was found that, with the imstrument employed,
explosion followed when the weight descended from 4°5 ft. to5°5 ft.
with powder, 1°6 ft. to 2°25 ft. with nitro-glycerine, 3 ft. to 3°3 ft.
with dynamite, and from 13°125 ft. to 14°2 ft. with poudre
d’ammoniaque.”

The production of gold in Australasia, according to the quarterly
returns issued by Mr. R. Brough Smyth for Victoria, and the re-
ports from other quarters, continues to be almost as large as ever.

The quantity of gold exported from Victoria to the 10th of
September was 1,145,170 ounces, of which 154,075 ounces were
from New Zealand. Very remarkable things are said of the gold
fields of the latter place. Some of the quartz, broken from the
reefs, or veins, have yielded in recent crushings 30 per cent. of
gold. Mr. R. Brough Smyth’s book on gold mining will be noticed
hereafter.

The want of scientific knowledge amongst our miners is shown
in a curious way by some statements which have lately appeared
in ‘The Mining Journal’ on “The Prosperity of Mexico.” The
“Correspondent” informs us that some curious stones have been
discovered at Tula del Hidalgo, “which present a great variety of
appearances, and each face has received, and is constantly receiving,
the landscape in front of it, by means of a colour so perfect, that
I believe that art itself cannot produce such relative exactness.”
Again, we are told, “The faces which begin to receive the first
‘impressions only present the images of the nearest trees with a
wonderful perfection and beauty; those that have been in one
position for a long time without variation present the complete
landscape within the visible horizon, and even the most distant
mountains by which it is limited.” We perceive in this description
a great want of the habit of observation, and a considerable display
of “ Our Correspondent’s” fancy. It will be evident to every one,
possessing the slightest knowledge of Mineralogy, that the stones

1870. | | Mining. | 131

so vividly described are only examples of that mimic vegetation
often so beautifully displayed in stones by the oxide of manganese.
Those arborescent forms and shaded outlines will be familiar to
many who have visited the heights of Clifton, where the “ landscape
marble,” as it is called,is nicely polished and sold to the many
visitors to that delightful locality.

‘La Houille,’ a French journal devoted to the colliery interests
of France is, from, the excellence of many of the articles contained
in it, commanding a considerable amount of attention. It has re-
cently given some notices of experiments made by MM. Rouille and
Co., on producing a light for mines by atmospheric air, impregnated
with petroleum vapour by being passed through the more volatile
of the coal-shale oils, or other hydro-carbons. We refer to this only
to condemn it. In the first place, the introduction of volatile
hydro-carbon vapour into a coal mine is only adding another to the
many dangers by which the coal miner is surrounded ; and in the
second place, the process has been long known, often tried, and it
has always failed ; because the vapour of the petroleum is speedily
deposited from the air, and at a comparatively short distance from
the reservoir the air ceases to be inflammable.

Our ‘Colliery Guardian’ calls attention to the “ Lighting of
Mines” with common gas, by an apparatus devised by Messrs.
Church and Co. We are told that the light is produced by the
combustion of a mixture of ordinary carburetted hydrogen gas with
atmospheric air in certain proportions, and that from the manner
in which the combined fluids are consumed no flame ts produced.
We have not seen this lamp. We do not know how the mixture
of air and gas is burnt; we presume from the description given that
we have a modification of the well-known Oxyhydrogen Lamp—
something of either the Bude-light, or the Drummond-light type.
This, however, we do know, that the statement that “no flame is
produced” is one which cannot be maintained; and while it tends
to deceive those who are not familiar with the laws of combustion,
it may prove highly dangerous, by leading the unwary to make
experiments in explosive atmospheres, under the idea that where
there is no flame there can be no ignition of the surrounding gases.
That the flame may not have the character of the ordinary flame
of a gas-burner may be true; but the very description given
proves that a flame of great intensity is produced by the combustion
of the mixed gases.

At the Hayle Foundry, in Cornwall, there have been some
experimental trials of a system of pneumatic stamps, which have
been witnessed by a large number of practical miners, who are most
favourably impressed with the results. The following brief descrip-
tion will, we believe, convey a sufficiently clear idea of the general
principles of this machine :— ;

K

132 | Chronicles of Science. | Jan.

The battery with which the experiment was tried consisted of
six heads, all working in one coffer, contained in a strong cast-iron
framing ; the crank-axle running in two plummer-blocks, carried on
top of side frames, which are 62 inches apart; and the height from
ground to centre of axle, 110 inches; the total weight, including
everything, 83 tons. ‘The difficulty to overcome was to give a long
and variable stroke of head, with a short and constant throw of
crank; this, however, has been accomplished, as with forging
hammers, in the following manner :—The upper end of the cylinder
is bored, to receive the piston, to a depth of 14 inches ; the piston-
rod plays air-tight through the cylinder cover, which is screwed
metal to metal on the cylinder. The working barrel of cylinder is
pierced with two sets ot small holes, for the ingress and egress of
air, discharging the air behind the piston after it has been once used
as an elastic cushion. Suppose the head to be set in motion with
the crank in a horizontal position, the piston being in the middle,
vertically of the working barrel of cylinder, and midway between the
two sets of air-holes referred to. As the crank and attached piston
rise, the air is compressed between the piston and cylinder cover,
and the cylinder, with stamp-head attached, is forced upwards.
When in rapid motion, the elasticity of the compressed air between
the piston and cover flings the cylinder, with head, some inches
above the range, due to the motion of the crank; on the descent of
the piston below the bottom set of holes in the cylinder, the air is
compressed in a similar manner, and the cylinder is forced down by
the compressed air between the piston and cylinder bottom, until
the stamp-head strikes the ore in a coffer-trough ; thus, whether the
quantity of ore be large or small, the blow is always effective.

At the last meeting of the Midland Institute of Ming En-
gineers, a discussion took place on the paper read by Mr. A. Lupton,
in August last, “On the Use of Hydraulic Machines for Breaking
down Coal :”—

On first introducing the subject, Mr. Lupton, with the aid of a
number of diagrams, gave the results of several experiments which
he made for the purpose of testing the value of the hydraulic ma-
chines, including those of Mr. Grafton Jones, Mr. Bidder, and Mr.
Chubb. ‘The machine of Mr. Grafton Jones, the principle of which
consists in driving a wedge by means of a hydraulic press between
two blocks of steel which are rendered incapable of any but lateral
movement, by tension-bars connecting them with the press, was
tested at the Shipley Colliery, in Derbyshire, where the bed of coal
is worked on the long wall system in banks from 80 to 100 yards
in length, the coal being 4 ft. 7 in. thick. As much work could be
done by it and two men, Mr. Lupton said, in from two to three
hours, and as much coal got, as would take two men by the ordinary
method from one-and-a-half to two days.

1870. | Metallurgy. 133

Mr. Bidder’s machine was capable of giving any degree of
expansion, and, in many instances, is similar to Mr. Jones’s, as is
also that of Mr. Chubb. ‘The discussion on the paper was a very
interesting one, and was taken part in by most of the members
present. The great object in introducing such machines for getting
coal in mines was stated to be, according to the views of those
present, the getting of a maximum quantity of large coal at a
minimum cost, and, by doing away with gunpowder, to ensure the
greater safety of the workmen. Such being the case, it was con-
sidered that every encouragement should be given to the inventors
of mechanical power having for its object the getting of coal. The
impression with regard to the machines noticed in the paper read
was that they were as yet incomplete, but were capable of improve-
ment to an extent at least making their use desirable in many
collieries instead of gunpowder, and for producing a larger coal
generally.

METALLURGY.

The only metallurgical process which has claimed any special
attention during the quarter is the following :—

The Removal of Silicon from Pig-Iron was the subject of an
interesting paper read before the Iron and Steel Institute at a
recent meeting by Mr. J. Palmer Budd, of Ystalyfera. This pro-
cess was witnessed in operation by many of the members at the
works of Messrs. Bolckow and Vaughan, during the meeting of the
Institute at Middleborough. It is claimed for the process that it de-
siliconises the iron, as tapped from the blast-furnaces, without wasting
the iron, and without any extra expense, whatever, beyond the usual
cost of the pig; that, in fact, it was more economical to make than
pig-iron. Mr. Budd’s mode of proceeding is to place a series of iron
moulds, similar to those used, before a refinery, as near as convenient
to the top hole of the blast-furnace. A paste is made by moistening
with water, soft hematite ore, which, if gritty, 1s previously ground,
and a bucketful, containing about 60lbs., 1s thrown into the mould in
a semi-liquid state, and spread evenly on the bottom and sides. The
mould being quite hot from the previous casting, dries the paste
which adheres to the bottom. As much iron as is required from
the blast-furnace is then allowed to run over and fill the moulds to
the depth of from three-and-a-half to four inches. A great ebullition
takes place, jets of flame, of a particularly white colour, burn on
the surface, which is assumed to be the combustion of silicon in the
oxygen liberated from the hematite. It has been proved by repeated
analysis that whilst the silicon was 1:00 per cent. in the white cast-
iron, itis reduced by this simple process to 0°200 or 0:300 per cent.,
or from one per cent. to sipth. A cinder is thrown up containing

134 Chronicles of Science. [Jan.,

silica, some phosphorus and sulphur. The carbon is hardly at all
removed. The appearance of the iron after the process is that of
refined metal. The cost of the process is nz/, as the iron contained
in the haematite is reduced, and adheres as cast-iron to the bottom
of the iron in the mould. There is no sand or coke-dust used, and
the refined iron goes clean into the puddling-furnace. ‘The yield in
- puddling is that of refined iron, about 21 ewt. to the ton of puddled
bars. The puddlers like to have one or two pigs of white iron
with the metal so refined, as they say it works more liquory, show-
ing that when the silicon remaining is only 0-200 or 0:300 per cent.
the charge does not possess the necessary fluidity. The puddling
furnace keeps longer in repair, no other fettling is used than hammer-
slag, and the former allowance of shearings to make scrap-balls has
been discontinued. The men do more regular work, and, like the
refined iron, the yields are larger. The puddled iron is of an im-
proved quality, and much liked in the rail mills. A second process
is the same in every respect as the first, only that 2ths by weight,
and half by bulk, of nitrate of soda is mixed with the hematite ore,
which is formed into a paste and applied in the same way. With
this mixture the ebullition is greater, the flame is of a yellowish
colour, showing the ignition of some of the soda. The cinder is
thrown up and out of the iron, over which it forms a crust, which
can be separated when cold. The iron has a cellular and honey-
combed fracture, like metal much overblown. ‘The scorize contain
sulphur, phosphorus, silica, and soda. ‘The iron works drier and
cleaner, and to a better yield than that made by the first process,
but should have about one-third of grey pig added to make a very
clean and tough iron. The only cost of the process is the nitrate
of soda, which in the proportion named comes to about 4s. a ton at
its present high price.

Li, PHYSICS.

Licgut.—The Rev. Father Secchi has published an account of the
spectrum of the planet Neptune ; he first refers briefly to his former
observations of the spectrum exhibited by Uranus, and then states
that the spectrum of Neptune consists chiefly of three lines, or
bands, placed near the green line, and that its light is entirely
devoid of red; this is confirmed by the colour exhibited by the
planet when seen through a telescope, which is a sea-green.

M. Bontemps, the managing director of the celebrated crystal
glass works of Choisy-le-Roi, states, in his observations on the
colouration of glass under the influence of direct sunlight, that
he was led to the following results :—Within three months after

1870. | Physics. 135

having been exposed to sunlight, the best and whitest glass made
at St. Gobain is turned very distinctly yellow; extra white glass
(of a peculiar mode of manufacture) becomes even more yellow, and
eradually assumes a colour known as pelure doignon ; glass con-
taining 5 per cent. of litharge is also affected, but far less percep-
tibly ; crystal glass, made with carbonate of potassa (the other
varieties referred to contain carbonate of soda), litharge, and silica,
is not at all affected; English plate-glass, made by the British
Plate-Glass Company, and exhibiting a distinctly azure-blue tinge,
remains also unaffected. The author attributes this colouration,
which begins with yellow and gradually turns to violet, to the .
oxidizing effects of the sun’s rays upon the protoxides of iron and
manganese contained in glass.

A solution of iodide of potassium is, even when kept in well-
closed bottles, slowly decomposed by the action of daylight, and
assumes a somewhat yellowish tinge due to free iodine. M. Loew
filled a number of glass tubes for about from one-half to three-
fourths of their capacity, with a solution of iodine of potassium,
and, after having sealed these tubes, exposed them to direct sun-
light. Another set of tubes were likewise filled with the same
solution, but all air was expelled, and the tubes sealed during and
after the solution had been boiling for a considerable time. These
tubes were also exposed to the action of direct sunlight; after
three or four months’ exposure the tubes and contents were
examined, those wherein no air at all was left were found to be
perfectly colourless, no decomposition of the contents having taken
place. As regards the other tubes, the following results are
noticed :—(1) Under the influence of light, the oxygen of the air
decomposes iodide of potassium, iodine in small quantity is set free,
while hydrate of potassa is found in the liquid. (2) This decom-
position is limited, and does not even, when a large quantity of
oxygen is present, increase, because a portion of the iodine set free
enters again into combination with the caustic potassa set free,
forming iodide of potassium and iodate of potassa. (3) The testing
for ozone by means of a solution of iodide of potassium and starch
(or paper prepared therewith) is of no value whatever, unless care
has been taken to exclude direct sunlight.

Hrat.—M. Dufour recommends the following process for
demonstrating that the flame of a candle is formed of a hollow
cone, luminous on the outside only, and dark in the interior. A
caoutchouc tube has, at one of its extremities,a gas jet with an
almost semicircular sit of .04 metre in depth. The other end of
the tube communicates with a reservoir of water placed at a con-
venient height. Upon a suitable pressure, the water flows out by

136 Chronicles of Science. | Jan.,

the slit in the jet, producing a clear sheet. The slit is placed in
such a manner that the sheet presents a horizontal surface, and
this will easily cut the flame of a candle, showing a perfect section.
The hot gases and carbonaceous particles are carried off by the
water. On placing the eye above the hollow cone, the luminous
wall, &., can be distinctly seen. Sections may easily be made
near the wick or near the point; nothing hinders observation,
which may be prolonged at pleasure, and a lens may be used if
desired. Ifa current of air be caused to come out of the shit by
bellows, an invisible sheet of air is formed which is also very con-
venient for making a section of flame. Close observation is quite
possible, for the aérial current prevents the heated gases from
reaching the eyes, and a lens may be used as in the former case.
The flame forms a cone, whose luminous walls are extremely thin, and
their size can be plainly seen. A platinum-wire may be introduced
across the section ; and on being plunged as far as the wick it will
remain unreddened in the dark interior of the cone. Ifa jet of gas
produced by a fishtail burner be cut, the luminous fan will be found
to consist of two brilliant blades, between which there is a narrow
obscure space. ‘The blades are.at a greater distance apart, and the
dark space is wider towards the end of the fantails; M. Dufour
suggests that this method might be of service in the chemical
analysis of flames.

Mr. Spence has made public an apparent paradox in the
science of heat, whereby he is enabled to raise a higher temperature
in certain solutions, by steam of 212° Fahr. He selected a solution
of a salt (nitrate of soda) having a high boiling-pomt—about
250° F. The nitrate of soda was placed in a vessel surrounded by
a jacket ; steam was let into the intervening space, until a tem-
derature of nearly 212° F. was obtained; the steam was then shut
off, and an open pipe immersed in the solution, and steam from
the same source was thrown directly into the liquor; in a few
seconds the thermometer slowly, but steadily, moved, and minute
after minute progressed, until it touched 250° F. This unexpected
fact has become to the author of immense practical value. As a
corroboration of the theory which seems to explain the apparent
paradox, the author finds that the temperatures of his solutions are
m the exact ratios of their specific gravities, and have no con-
nection with the temperature of the steam, which never exceeds
212° F.. The greater the specific gravity of his solutions, the
higher the boiling-point ; and therefore, whatever the boiling-point
of the solution in water of any salt, to that point, or nearly, will
steam of 212° I". raise it.

The annoyance which arises from the bumping of certain liquids
when submitted to distillation or boiling has often attracted the

1870. | Physics. 137

attention of chemists, and various means have been proposed for its
prevention. Dr. Hugo Miller, F.R.S., has described a ready means
for overcoming this annoyance. In cases where the introduction of
any foreign matter into the liquid about to be distilled is undesir-
able, he indroduces through the cork in the tubulus of the retort a
glass tube, which is drawn out to a long capillary tube, and pressed
tightly to the bottom of the retort. The upper end of the glass
tube is connected by means of an india-rubber tube, with a generator
of carbonic acid or hydrogen, or a gas-holder containing air; and
whilst the distillation is going on, one of these gases is passed in a
slow but continuous current through the liquid. Under these ~
conditions all bumping is avoided, and the distillation proceeds with
the utmost facility. For ordinary purposes, however, it is still
more convenient to introduce into the liquid about to be distilled a
small fragment of sodium amalgam, or, in cases where the liquid is
acid, a small piece of sodium-tin. Methylic alcohol is well known
to be one of the most difficult liquids to distil, yet on the intro-
ducticn of a minute piece of sodium amalgam or sodium tin it can
be distilled without the slightest mconvenience. The action of
sodium amalgam and sodium-tin is due to a minute but continuous
disengagement of hydrogen taking place during the process of
distillation.

Dr. Hofmann has described an ingenious experiment to show
that a body really increases in weight during combustion. A small
horse-shoe magnet is hung up at the beam of a balance, sufficiently
sensitive to turn with centigrammes ; the poles of the magnet are
immersed for a moment in levigated iron, when a beard of small
particles of iron adheres to the poles; by means of proper weights
placed on the scale-pan at the other end of the beam the equilibrium
is restored. This having been done, the finely-divided iron is
kindled by approaching to it the flame of a Bunsen gas-burner, and
continues to burn. While burning, it will be seen that the arm of
the balance on which the magnet is suspended considerably deviates
from the horizontal position, thus indicating an increase of weight
on the side where the experiment is going on. This experiment
succeeds best with a magnet of moderate dimensions. The horse-
shoe magnet applied in this instance weighed without its armature
210 grms., and can bear a load of 12°5 grms. of iron. When this
is altogether converted in magnetic oxide by combustion the increase
in weight will be about 4°7 grms.

Dr. Seelhorst has repeated Barrett’s well-known experiments of
holding in the flame of burning hydrogen gas very well-cleaned
glass rods, metals recently cleaned by filing them just previous to
the holding in the flame, and has observed the same blue coloura-
tion as Mr. Barrett did. But the author is not inclined to ascribe

138 Chronicles of Science. | Jan.,

this colouration to the effect of sulphur, which should be so gene-
rally spread about in the shape of some sulphate as to produce this
colouration. The author, though abstaming from statmg any
precise cause at all, inclines to the belief that the cooling effect of
the cold body held in the flame has something to do with this phe-
nomenon. Perfectly pure hydrogen, burnmg from a platinum
burner, as well as from iron or glass burners, exhibited the phe-
nomenon, when cold bodies, just after having been cleaned by
scraping or filing, were held in that flame.

According to M. Baille the moon’s surface emits as much heat
as a cube filled with water, covered with lamp-black, having a
surface of 6°5 square centims., and placed at a distance of 35 metres
from the thermo-electric measuring apparatus employed by the
author for his experiments.

In a paper “ On the Reflexion of Heat on the Surface of Fluor
Spar and other Substances,” by M. Magnus, we learn that the
following substances reflect at an angle of 45° the undermentioned
quantities of heat:—silver, between 83 and 90 per cent.; glass,
between 6 and 14 percent. ; rock-salt, between 5 and 12 per cent. ;
fluor spar, between 6 and 10 per cent. The same author finds that
different bodies heated to 150° emit different kinds of heat; some
substances only emit one kind of heat, others, again, various kinds.
Pure rock-salt is mono-thermic, sylvine (chloride of potassium)
behaves in a similar manner.

M. Delaurier proposes for concentrating and utilizing the sun’s
rays, a truncated cone, open at both ends and lmed mside with
polished silver, the sun’s rays being admitted by the largest opening.
Since the angle of reflexion is equal to the angle of imcidence, all
direct or reflected rays will be united at the narrower end of the
cone. It is clear that the greater the length of the cone, the
greater will be the concentration of heat. The author enters into
a discussion on the advantage of this contrivance over the use of
lenses and mirrors, and he very enthusiastically surmises that the
heat of the sun’s rays may be so concentrated as to serve for various
purposes instead of the combustion of fuel, especially in countries
where, as in Algeria, the heat and splendour of the sun are more
permanently felt than it is in our climate.

Exectriciry.—Our limited space prevents us from doing more
than allude to one or two novelties in this science. Dr. Runspaden
has published a monograph on a subject first observed by Professor
Wohler, that when water acidified with sulphuric acid is decomposed
by a galvanic current, and silver is used as electrodes, peroxide of
silver is deposited on the anode, and meiallic silver on the cathode.
The two main questions answered by the author by a series of

1870. | Zoology. 139

experiments are, What is the cause of the formation of peroxide of
silver on the positive pole, and by what means does the metallic
silver find its way from the positive to the negative pole? In an
appendix, the author informs us that there is an error in all works
on physics, vz. the statement that gold (pure, of course) and
platinum are the only two metals which are not oxidized at the
positive pole, when serving as electrodes. The author finds, and
has confirmed by experiments carefully conducted, so as to exclude
any source of error, that gold itself is oxidized to a very considerable
extent, and that during such experiments as those alluded to, there
is formed a definite oxide,—Au, O; 3H,0; containing gold, 79°47 —
per cent.; oxygen, 9°62 per cent.; water, 10°91 per cent.

A mode has been devised for depositing copper, silver, or gold
by the electric process upon paper or any other fibrous material.
This is accomplished by first rendering the paper a good conductor
of electricity, without coating it with any material which will peel
off. One of the best methods is to take a solution of nitrate of
silver, pour in liquid ammonia till the precipitate formed at first is
entirely dissolved again; then place the paper, silk, or muslin, for
one or two hours in this solution. After taking it out and drying
well, it is exposed to a current of hydrogen gas, by which operation
the silver is reduced to a metallic state, and the material becomes
so good a conductor of electricity, that it may be electro-plated
with copper, silver, or gold in the usual manner. Material prepared
in this manner may be employed for various useful and ornamental
purposes.

12. ZOOLOGY—ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY AND
MORPHOLOGY.

PHysIoLoGy.

The Origin of the Fibrin of the Blood.—Dr. Heynsius in the
course of a series of investigations on the albuminoids of the blood,
endeavoured to determine whether any of the constituents of the
blood corpuscle contribute to the formation of fibrin. He finds
that the quantity of fibrin obtained from the same blood by the
same treatment is somewhat variable, owing to the defectiveness of
the method. By whipping the blood, a greater amount of fibrin
is obtained than by washing the clot. The addition of phosphate
of soda to the blood previous to coagulation, causes great difference
in the amount of fibrin. In the plasma of the dog, the quantity
of fibrin, or of its parent substances (as taught by Buchanan and
Schmidt), is certainly smaller than the quantity of fibrinogenetic

1 Chronicles of Science. ies

substance and globulin contained in the blood. In chicken’s blood
the quantity of fibrin obtained is alone much greater than the
quantity of fibrinogenetic substance that can be separated from the
plasma diluted with a solution of salt of four per cent. Hence it
is not possible to doubt that the albuminoid substance of the so-
called stroma of the blood corpuscles contributes to the formation
of fibrin. ‘These observations of Dr. Heynsius are of very great
value, as they tend further to explain the mysterious process of -
coagulation of the blood, for although the ammonia theory is
abandoned, and Schmidt’s view of a fibrinogenetic material in the
plasma, and a fibrinoplastic one in the corpuscles, has been taught
as the best explanation which could be offered of the phenomenon,
yet further details were and are still wanting. It appears now
that the corpuscles can furnish fibrmogenetic as well as fibrino-
plastic substance.

Whence comes the free Hydrochloric Acid in the Stomach ?—
Acid phosphates reacting on alkaline chlorides produce free hydro-
chloric acid. In the capillaries of the stomach, distended by en-
gorgement, acid phosphates are believed by Professor Horsford, of
Cambridge, Mass., to be formed, and thus the free hydrochloric
acid produced. By dialytic action the hydrochloric acid is rapidly
separated from the inner tissue where it is formed, and coming in
contact with the epithelial cells of the gastric tubules, bursts and
dissolves some of them, thus forming pepsine, which, together with
the acid, some phosphates and chlorides, escapes into the stomach
to act in the liquefaction of food.

Development of Gas in Protoplasm.—Dr. Th. Engelmann has
observed in Arcella, a minute protozoon like an Ameba with a shell,
a periodical development of gas. Dr. Engelmann made his obsery-
ations on specimens confined in a gas chamber, and describes
minutely how gradually in the protoplasmic hyaline substance of
the animalcule, black pomts arise, which as gradually coalesce, form-
ing a distinct air-bubble. ‘This gas can after a time be absorbed
again, and reasons are given for believing that a sort of volition is
exercised by the Arce/lz in the secretion and absorption of the gas
which they use in the manner of a float or air-bladder. The air-
bubbles are not connected with the contractile vacuoles or with
the nuclei. The air-bubbles, it is important to observe, do not occur
in the non-granular protoplasm of the pseudopodia, but in the
granular substance, and are not spherical but of an irregular form,
which, as Dr. Engelmann observes, proves that the protoplasm is not
in the condition of aggregation of a fluid. The chemical composi-
tion of the gas thus so remarkably developed by the Arcellz was not
determined, nor the mechanism (if any exist) of the formation and
disappearance of the air-bubbles. The discovery is of importance
from two points of view: in the first place, for the development of

1870.] Zoology. 141

gas in protoplasm as a physiological phenomenon ; in the second
place, for the supposed voluntary nature of this development, of
which this exceedingly simple organism makes use for the purpose
of locomotion. In the ‘Cambridge Journal of Anatomy’ this paper
is noticed very fully by Dr. Moore. |

Starch in Muscles—Nasse has found starch in the muscles, of
which he considers it a normal constituent, and believes it to be
consumed in muscular action, forming a part of the fuel with which
our muscular engines are fed. It is not many years since starch
was regarded as a peculiarly vegetable product, and even now it
seems difficult to persuade some people that it is not. Bernard’s
discovery of glycogen, or liver-starch, is, however, sufficiently well
known, and so-called “ annyloid substance ” has been found in many
other organs. The starch in muscle is probably connected with
the sugar there found, and some time since shown to be connected
with muscular activity by Ranke.

The Endings of Nerves in the Liver.—Professor Pfliger, of
Bonn, continues his valuable researches on the terminations of
nerves in the various glands of the body. By the use of hyperos-
mic acid applied ina method peculiar to himself, Pfliiger has shown
that the nerves to the salivary and pancreatic glands end in or as
parts of the substance of the secreting cells of those glands. He
now shows, in the last’ number of his ‘ Archiv,’ that this method of
termination is found also in the liver. His observations on the
structure of the liver generally are confirmatory of Dr. Beale’s
views, in opposition to some recent German investigators. He
speaks of the hepatic cell as a nucleated swelling of the axis cylin-
der of anerve. Hence the influence of the nervous system on the
secretion of bile, as seen in the well-known influence of mental
affections upon it, is rendered intelligible. So, too, with regard to
other glands, for Pfliiger holds that it is impossible to understand
the action of a nerve upon a secreting gland, or upon any other
active structure, without the supposition of a continuity of struc-
ture between the two, and this continuity he has now demonstrated
in the more important glands.

The Secretory Nerve of the Parotid Gland.—Professor Eck-
hard has, in a recently published essay, given an account of a
series of careful researches on the nerves which directly stimulate
the secretion of the parotid gland. By various arguments he is led
finally to the conclusion, that in dogs the secretory nerve of the
parotid is the tympanic branch of the glosso-pharyngeal nerve.

142 Chronicles of Science. [ Jan.,

MorpHonoGy.

Cuckoo's -Eggs.— Professor Alfred Newton, of Cambridge, in a
recent number of ‘Nature’ advocates and endeavours to explain
Baldamus’ views with regard to the eggs of the cuckoo. Baldamus
maintained that the popular assertion (popular where?) that the
cuckoo lays an egg which varies somewhat in colour according to
the nest in which it is deposited—being modified according to the
ease, so as to imitate the appearance of the eggs belonging to
the nest—is right. This, Professor Newton accepts as a fact, having
seen Dr. Baldamus’ specimens, and he endeavours to explain this
modification of the egg which must otherwise be supposed to be a
voluntary act of the bird, by an appeal to the Darwinian theory.

Professor Newton supposes that of a number of eggs laid by
cuckoos in the nests of a given species of bird, those eggs would be
most likely to come to maturity which, cateris paribus, had the
strongest resemblance to the egg of the given species. He further
supposes that the offspring would inherit a tendency to lay in the
nest of the same species which its parent had imposed upon, and
thus there would be established a race of cuckoos infesting the
nest of species A, another race infesting B, and so on, each of which
races must tend to imitate closely more and more the eggs of the
infested species. Mr. Sterland objects to this, that in England no
such variety in cuckoos’ eggs as that described by Baldamus is seen,
and that the hedge-sparrow’s blue eggs are those most commonly
associated with the utterly different speckled eggs of the cuckoo.
He also maintains that the supposed separate races of cuckoo would
not be able to keep unmixed, that they must get interbred, but he
forgets that the females could only be crossed by males, who may
be unable to transmit or affect peculiarities belonging to the females
who were their progenitors or happen to be their consorts.

The Kinship of the Vertebrates and the Ascidian Molluses.—
Kowalevsky, a Russian observer, has made some investigations into
the development of Ascidians, which are likely to excite more atten-
tion than anything of the kind has for years past. His observations
were made two years ago, and were noticed as of importance, first
by Ernst Haeckel, of Jena, Darwin's great champion and exponent
in Germany. Now Professor Kupffer, of Kiel, confirms Kowalevsky’s
statements, and more credence and attention will be daily given to
them. It has been long known that the larve of certain Ascidians,
when minute free-swimming creatures, have somewhat the aspect
of tadpoles, having like them a long swimming tail. ‘This tail
has a firm gelatinous rod running along it and projecting into the
body of the larva. Now im all vertebrates one of the earliest
structures elaborated in the course of development is a long

1870.] Zoology. 143

cartilaginous rod, which runs from the tip of the tail to a point
near the middle of the head, and round this, which ig called the
“notochord,” bones and muscles develop. It is however an egssen-
tial and most important feature in vertebrates, that by the rising-up
and closing-in of the walls of the body above this notochord a tube
is formed, which becomes the great cerebro-spinal nerve-organ,
whilst below this axial rod the viscera and blood-vessels lie in a
second tube, formed by the closing-in of the walls of the body below
the notochord. Now it is a very remarkable fact that the nervous
system in these young Ascidians is seen to lie over the gelatinous

rod which runs along their tails, whilst the heart and viscera lie

below it. The mode of formation of the nerve-system as described
by Kowalevsky and Kupffer is the same as that seen in Vertebrata,
that is, there is a rising-up of the embryonic walls to enclose a
cavity, and though this part of the observations is not quite
definite, it certainly appears as a long fusiform vesicle, which
stretches its length through the embryonic Ascidian, being con-
nected with a much larger vesicle anteriorily. It does not seem
improbable to the believers in evolution that these structures in the
embryo Ascidian represent some distant connection in development
between them and the Vertebrata. More has to be looked for on
this matter, and it is a subject for congratulation that the same
brilliant observer, M. Kowalevsky, who has drawn attention to
these facts as to Ascidians, should in the same year have furnished
us with a most valuable account of the development of the lowest
vertebrate, viz. Amphioxus, the history of which was previously
unknown.

The Significance of Cranial Characters in Man.—Professor
John Cleland (spoken of by mistake in our report of the British
Association Meeting as Professor McClellan) has communicated
‘to the Royal Society a paper in which he gives an account of
some careful investigations into the cranial measurements of various
races, and criticizes the various methods of craniometry in use—
pointing out what facts of growth and relation of parts the ob-
served measurements really indicate. He observes that if the
terms dolichocephalic and brachycephalic are to retain any scientific
value, as applied to skulls, the “cephalic index” (that is, the
breadth in terms of the length which is called 100) must not
be depended on. Other points of importance, as pointed out by
Retzius, must be attended to. According to Dr. Cleland, the
relation of the height to length of a skull is of great importance.
There is no foundation whatever for the supposition, which is
a wide-spread one, that the lower races of humanity have the
forehead legs developed than the more civilized nations; neither
is it the case that the forehead slopes more backwards on the floor
of the anterior part of the brain-case in them than it does in others.

144 Chronicles of Science. (Jan.,

Diatom Markings and Podura-scale Markings—The Rev.
J. B. Reade, by the use of a very admirable reflecting medium,
viz. & prism—constructed by Mr. Highley, of London—has been
able to demonstrate satisfactorily that the so-called hexagonal
markings of diatoms are, as Mr. Wenham had previously urged
from investigating splintered bits of diatom-valves, simply hemi-
spherical close-set tubercles. Dr. Royston Pigott, of Halifax, had,
curiously enough a little before Mr. Reade, come to the conclusion
that the well-known markings of the Podura-scale are caused by
a series of spherical “beads” placed in the substance of the scale,
which so act on the light as to produce the effect known to all
microscopists. Dr. Royston Pigott has examined the subject with
exceeding care, having had a ,th especially constructed for his
use, and availing himself of great mathematical knowledge in dis-
cussing the optical problems involved.

Interature-—The reader is reminded of the ‘ Record of Zoo-
logical Literature’, part of which is now ready, and which to
increase its usefulness is now brought out in three separate volumes,
so that those interested in a special department may obtain a com-
plete and reliable record of what has been written concerning
it during 1868, without being encumbered by other matter.—
M. Pollen, with the aid of several illustrious Dutch professors of
Natural History, is publishing at Leyden an elaborate work on
‘The Fauna of Madagascar and the neighbouring Islands,’ where
he spent some years exploring and collecting—A new work
by Mr. Darwin, ‘On Man,’ is stated by ‘The Academy’ to be in
preparation.

Memorial to Dr. Sharpey.—A physiological laboratory and
scholarship and a portrait and bust of Dr. Sharpey are now being
subscribed for by old and present students of University College,
London, and by others interested in physiological research, and
who value the teaching and influence of Dr. Sharpey in this
country ; the object of the subscription being to do honour to
Dr. Sharpey, and to form a species of testimonial or memorial
to him. There is not in England a single laboratory of experi-
mental physiology properly worked and used for the education of
students. It is to be hoped that the proposed Sharpey laboratory
may form an example to be followed elsewhere. A distinguished
German physiologist lately observed upon the strangeness of the
fact, that in England we produce absolutely no physiologists in
the strict sense. This may be due to the want of laboratories,
which are provided by the State in other countries.

1870.] ( 145 )

BS

or

10,

Et.

12.

Quarterly List of Publications receiben for Webiew.

. The Life and Letters of Faraday. By Dr. Bence Jones, Secretary
of the Royal Institution. 2 vols. Illustrated.
Longmans, Green, & Co.
Elements of Chemistry : Theoretical and Practical. By William
Allen Miller, M.D., L.L.D., V.P.R.S. Fourth Edition, with
Additions. Part III., Organic Chemistry.
Longmans, Green, & Co.

. Exercises in Practical Chemistry. By A. G. Vernon Harcourt,

M.A., F.R.S., and H. G. Madan, M.A., F.C.S. Series I. Quali-

tative Exercises. Clarendon Press.

. Essays on Physiological Subjects. By Gilbert W. Child, M.A.,

F.L.S., &. Second Edition, with Additions.
Longmans, Green, & Co.

. Twelve Lectures on Primitive Civilizations and their Physical

Conditions. By John P. Mahaffy, A.M. Longmans & Co.

. The Science of Arithmetic: a Systematic Course of Numerical

Reasoning and Computation. By James Cornewell, Ph.D., and
J. G. Fitch, M.A. _ Simpkin, Marshall, & Co

. The School Arithmetic. By James Cornewell, Ph.D., and J. G.

Fitch, M.A. Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.

. Studies of the Land and Tenantry of Ireland. By B. Samuelson,

M.P. Longmans, Green, & Oo.

. A Practical Treatise on Metallurgy, adapted from the last German

Edition of Professor Kerl’s Metallurgy. By William Crookes,
F.RS., &c., and Ernst Rohrig, Ph.D., M.E. Vol. III. Steel,
Fuel, Supplements. Wath 145 Woodcuts. Longmans & Co.
Chemistry for Schools. By C. Houghton Gill, Assistant-Examiner
in Chemistry at the University of London. With 100 Illustra-
tions. James Waiton.
Burton-on-Trent. Its History, its Waters, and its Breweries.
By William Molyneux, F.G.8. Triibner & Co.
Index to the Fossil Remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia,
from the Secondary System of Strata. Arranged in the Wood-
wardian Museum, Cambridge. By H. G. Seeley.
Cambridge : Deighton, Bell, & Co.
VOL. VII. L

146 List of Publications [Jan.,

13, The Rise and Progress of Manufactures and Commerce, and of
Civil and Mechanical Engineering in Lancashire and Cheshire.
By William Fairbairn, C.E., LL.D., F.R.S. (now Sir William
Fairbairn, Bart.).

PAMPHLETS AND PERIODICALS.

Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom for the Year 1868. By
Robert Hunt, F.R.S., Keeper: of the Mining Records. (Memoirs
of the Geological Survey.) Longmans.

The Triassic and Permian Rocks of the Midland Counties of England.
By Ed. Hull, M.A., F.R.S. (Memoirs of Geological Survey.)

The Lichen Flora of Greenland. By W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D.

On the Geographical Distribution of Conifer and Gnetacee. By

Robert Brown, F.R.G.S.

Introductory Lecture at the Royal College of Science, Ireland. By
Ed. Hull, F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland.

The Land Question in Ireland. By B. B. Stoney, M.B., M.I.C.E.

The Examination of Petroleum and other Mineral Oils according to
the Petroleum Act, 1868. By A. Norman Tate.

A Trip to America. By James Howard, M.P., Bedford.

The Alexandra College, Dublin. Programme and Synopsis of Lectures
to Ladies. (Three Pamphlets.)

On the Continuity of the Gaseous and Liquid States of Matter. By
Thomas Andrews, M.A., F.R.S. Bakerian Lecture.

Methods of Teaching Arithmetic. By J.G. Fitch, M.A. Stanford.

Introductory Address delivered at the Royal Infirmary School of
Medicine, October 1st, 1869. By A. Davison, M.A., M.D.

Liverpool: Adam Holden.

The Working Man’s School. By W. J. Kennedy, M.A. Longmans.

The Popularity of Error and the Unpopularity of Truth. By John

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A Brief Paper on the Pathology of Insanity. By R.C. Shettle, M.D.,
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The Canadian Naturalist and Geologist. (With the Proceedings of
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The Liverpool Medical and Surgical Reports. Edited by P. M.
Braidwood, M.D., and Reginald Harrison, F.R.C.S.

The Geological Magazine.

The British and Foreign Mechanic.

1870. ] received for Review. 147

The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science. J. Churchill & Sons.
Revue Bibliographique Universelle.
Cosmos.

Journal of Applied Chemistry, published simultaneously in New
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The American Naturalist.

Van Nostrand’s Eclectic Engineering.
Scientific Opinion. |
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The Civil Service Gazette.

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PLATE I.—QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, NO. XXVI.

L’Ancresse No. 1.

No. 2.

L’Ancresse.

THE. QUARTERLY

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE.

APRIL, 1870.

I. MEGALITHIC STRUCTURES OF THE CHANNEL
ISLANDS: THEIR HISTORY AND ANALOGUES.

By Lieut. 8. P. Oniver, Roy. Art., F.R.G.S.

Tue Cromlechs in Jersey and Guernsey and adjacent islands
partake of the character of the French Dolmens and Grottes aua
Fées, as well as the Gangrifter (gallery-tombs) of the Swedes, the
Jettestuer (chambered tumuli) of the Danes, and the German
HMiinenbetten.

Our word “cromlech,’ however, is so often applied to such
widely different structures, that there is no wonder if it sometimes
misleads foreign archeologists. The cromlech of the English
antiquarian is the same as the Welsh and English “ quozt,” such
as Arthur’s quoit or coetan, near Criccieth; Lanyon quott, and
Chun qwoit and others in Cornwall; Stanton Drew “quoit,” in
Somersetshire ; the Kett’s Koty or Cot, near Maidstone; and the
Cozt-y-enroc, in Guernsey. Now, we can quite understand what
we mean when we use the word cromlech to be identical with all
these; but the French archeologist, when he uses the word
cromlech, is right only when he apples it to a circle of upright
stones, like the Hurlers and the Nine Maidens in Cornwall; thus
the bardic circles convey a very different meaning to the Dolmen,
or Table of Stone (Dol a table, moen a stone), when used by our
Gallic neighbours.

Professor Sven Nilsson defines the English cromlech as synony-
mous to the French Dolmen, the Scandinavian dds, and the dyss of
Denmark, consisting of one large block of stone, supported by from
three to five stones arranged in a ring, and intended to contain one
corpse only,* several of these dorsar being sometimes enclosed in
circles of raised stones.

Following, however, the nomenclature given by the late Dr.
Lukis, we cannot be far wrong in assigning the word cromlech to
all elaborate megalithic structures of one or more chambers, m

* Nilsson on ‘ The Stone Age,’ pp. 159.
VOL. VII. M
e

150 Megalithie Structures [| April

which category the passage-graves may be included. Nilsson has
clearly pointed out how the gallery or half-cross tombs are close
imitations, if not actual adaptations, of the original dwelling-houses -
of the ancient Pre-Celtic Scandinavians, a people not dissimilar in
their mode of life to the present Arctic nations of Esquimaux ; also
how these galleried-huts were but make-shifts in the plains for
subterranean caves and grottoes in the mountain region from
whence their race originally sprang.

As regards the cromlechs in the Channel Islands, their chief
characteristics may be briefly stated as follows :—

(1.) The large western chamber, composed of large, erect, and, at
least on the inner side, flat slabs of granite,* from six to eight feet
high, arranged in a circular or horse-shoe form, supporting an
enormous capstone (the lower side of which is also flat), the largest
stone in the whole structure. At the west extremity of this
chamber is the largest of the erect slabs, a flat polygonal stone, as
broad as it is high, the remaining uprights being generally less
broad than they are high. This chamber is sometimes divided into
smaller compartments or kists. A good example of these divisions
is to be found in the cromlech at Mont Ubé, Jersey, from which,
unhappily, the capstones have been removed many years since.

(2.) The covered gallery or passage leading to the great west
chamber from the east. The stones forming this, both erect side
blocks and granite imposts, being largest at the western end, and
diminishing in height, size, and distance apart towards the eastern
entrance. This avenue is sometimes so modified as to seem a mere
prolongation of the west chamber, the capstones diminishing in
regular order from the huge block at the west to the small one at
the east, so that the whole structure is bottle-shaped. The gallery
is frequently divided by stone partitions, and there are indications
of thresholds where doors may have existed.t

(3.) The addition of kists outside the main structure, of a later
period ; notably conspicuous in the cromlech Dé-hus.

(4.) The structure surrounded with a stone circle, the centre of
this circle generally in the western chamber; the circles are of the
same dimensions throughout the islands, wz. 60 feet. From this
circle or peristalith in some cases are traces of serpentine avenues
or approaches, probably indicating similar forms to those of Abury.
These avenues are seen best at L’Ancresse. At the Pocquelaye
Cromlech there are remains of a double stone wall encircling the
structure; between these are four small uprights, which seem as
though they had formed a portion of a peristalith.t The perista-
lith of the Couperon Cromlech is oval.

* Except the Couperon Cromlech, Jersey, which is built of local conglomerate.
+ Compare Sir John Lubbock’s ‘ Description of the Danish Tumulus in the

Island of Moen,’ p. 105 ‘Pre-historic Times.’
t See view in ‘ Illustrated London News,’ January 15th, 1870. |

1870. | of the Channel Islands. 151

(5.) All the cromlechs were formerly covered with a tumulus of
earth; these remain in many instances, at Creux des Fées and
Du Thus, but a large proportion have been denuded of their earth-
mound either by accident or design, as L’Ancresse, Le Trepied,
Mont Ubé, Le Couperon, the Pocquelaye, &c.

These are the chief external characteristics of these stone struc-
tures; when we examine their interiors we find the following
noteworthy points :—

(1.) Thick layers of limpet shells, forming a hard concrete,
through which a pick-axe is forced with difficulty. The solitary .
exception to this general find is the cromlech of Ville Nouaux, in
Jersey, where no limpet shells were found when explored in May,
1869, by the author. |

(2.) A vast quantity of human bones, with bones of animals,
showing that the structure was used as a catacomb, and that inter-
ments had been made for a long period. Pavements of flat sea-
worn pebbles, over successive layers of interments, pomt to the
same conclusion. No bones, however, were found at Ville Nouaux.

(3.) The presence of rude pottery and stone implements, and
absence of bronze or iron.

(4.) The position of skeletons indicates that they were buried
in a sitting posture, similar to those found in the Scandinavian
tumuli.

(5.) Absence of any attempt at ornamentation of the stones
similar to the engraved rocks of Gavr’Inis. Exception, the cup-
markings on the Kistvaen, in centre of L’ Ancresse Common.

One curious characteristic of these monuments may be noticed
more in Guernsey than in Jersey, wz. that the majority of these
structures are within sight of one another. Undoubtedly, in
primeval times, such monuments were in existence on every
headland round the coast; and it is possible that signal fires
may have been used in connection with them. Most of these
characteristic features are exhibited in the large cromlech on
L’Ancresse Common, which stands on an eminence, called by the
inhabitants of the Clos du Valle, Mont St. Michel, whilst the struc-
ture itself they call L’Autel des Vardes. Two photoxylographs are
given of this interesting structure from different pomts of view (see
Plate I., Figs. 1 and 2); but although the huge capstones are well
shown, and the gradual diminishing of their size towards the east,
still no outside view can convey any idea of the size of the chamber
and passage beneath, in consequence of the sand and soil being so
heaped up around the outside of the structure, that only the tops
of the side props are visible. However, at the west end one may
stand upright beneath the largest capstone; and when the soil was
removed from the floor during the exploration of this cromlech by
Mr. Lukis and his sons, the height of the western chamber was

M 2%

152 Megalithic Structures [ April,

eight feet. The westernmost upright block is almost identical
in size and shape with those blocks occupying similar positions
in the cromlechs of the Creux des Fées,; Mont Ubé, and the
Pocquelaye.

On the north side of the L’Ancresse Cromlech, under the largest
capstone, an evident disturbance of the pristine condition of the
structure has taken place, one of the side blocks having been pushed
outwards apparently, and smaller stones added, so as to form a
supplementary kist,m which human remains were found, indicating
a secondary interment. It would take up too much space to detail
the relics found at the excavation of this structure; it is sufficient
to mention that they were all attributable to the Stone age, and
have been fully described by Mr. Lukis in the Archeologia, and by
Messrs. Worsaze and Thoms.

Divergent from the partially-destroyed circle which surrounds
the cromlech are two paved causeways, leading in a winding track
to the N.W. and N.E. Lines of Menhirs must probably have
been associated with them. We cannot help noticing the similarity
of some causeways observed by Capt. Parry in the Calthorp Islands
in 1822, in connection with some deserted Esquimaux stone galleried-
huts, amongst which human skulls, lapis-ollaris lamps, and glass
beads, were lying about “as usual.”

“ Leading from the huts towards the highest part of the island
was a curious path made by the natives, two feet in width, and
formed by removing the stones in places where they were naturally
abundant, and where the ground was bare, by placing two regular
and parallel rows at that distance apart. The only conjecture we
could form respecting the use of this artificial road was that it
might be intended for a deer path (those animals preferring a
regular or beaten track to any other), by which means the
Esquimaux might perhaps kill them from their usual ambush of
stones.’*

From the hill on which the great cromlech of L’Ancresse
stands, other megalithic structures can be seen; for instance, in an
eastern direction, and near the foot of the hill, are various blocks of
stone, the relics of a cromlech, known from its position by a marshy
pond as La Mare auz mauves, not far from which again is a
portion of a stone circle, and some stone graves of the Bronze
period. In the centre of the common is an interesting Kistvaen,
consisting of a large oddly-shaped capstone (probably only a portion
of the original stone), supported on several props. On one of
these blocks are some barely-distinguishable cup-markings;} whether

* Vide Parry’s ‘Second Voyage,’ p. 285.
+ Since writing the above, the author has again examined those cup-markings,
which, now that the lichens have been cleared out of them, pre-ent evident signs of

artificial handiwork. ‘They are nine in number, at the side and top edges of the
N.E. prop.—S. P. O., February 4, 1870.

1870.] of the Channel Islands. 153

natural or artificial is mere conjecture. A Logan or rocking-stone
once existed on a natural cropping out of rock to the eastward of
L’Ancresse ; the site still bears the name of La Rocque Balan.

The cromlech next in importance to that at L’Ancresse, which
it rivals in size, is that known by the name of Dé-hus or Du-Thus
(Deuce), by some L’Autel du Grand Sarazin (see Plate IT., Fig. 1).
On examining this structure we see at a glance the large western
chamber, with its huge capstone over 16 feet long, and weigh-
ing at least 20 tons. The second capstone, that next to the
largest, is broken, and the fracture apparently took place during
the period of cromlech-builders or their immediate successors, as
the larger half of the stone still remaining in setw has been propped
up by an additional stone pillar. In all there are eight capstones,
which, with the side blocks supporting them, diminish gradually in
bulk towards the eastern entrance, which is blocked up by a large
stone, analogous to the L’Ancresse and other cromlechs. The
narrow orientated gallery is conspicuous likewise, whilst the main
body of the structure is divided into three chambers. The most
noticeable features however, after all, in this cromlech, are the four
side chambers, two to the north and two to the south; these are
square and polygonal kists, some of which are entered from the
eastern gallery, and others distinct, but all adjoming. In the
chamber to the north and east were found two skeletons ina
kneeling (crouching ?) posture, the flat stone which covers the
kist nearly touching their skulls. In the chambers to the south
were found several layers of mterments, the human bones being
disposed in groups crosswise, with the skull on the top, indicating
the corpses to have been placed in a sitting posture. There
were pavements of flat stones between the layers of interments,
which resemble exactly similar instances in the West Gothland
tombs.*

As at L’Ancresse and in the other cromlechs of the Channel
Islands, innumerable quantities of limpet shells were deposited for
a depth of two feet throughout the structure, and various vases
of ancient pottery-ware were disinterred; they are constructed of
extremely coarse clay, worked with the hand, imperfectly baked,
and some rudely ornamented, together with stone and bone instru-
ments, clay beads (locally called Roulettes des Fées), amulets, &e.

Not far to the north-west of Dé-hus are vestiges of a kist,
the capstones of which were destroyed against the wish, and in the
absence, of the proprietor; this monument curiously enough bears
the name of Le Toinbeau du Grand Sarazin,a name in conjunction
with a similar appellation given to Dé-hus, significant of the [berie
element, distinctly traceable in the ethnology of the Channel
Islanders. A Dolmen, or Trilithon, consisting of a large capstone

* Nilsson on ‘ The Stone Age,’ p. 149.

154 Megalithic Structures | April,

13 feet in length, resting on two props, and partly covered by
the débris of a neighbouring quarry, still marks the spot where a
large cromlech formerly stood in the same parish as the above-
mentioned remains; the huge western capstone, now destroyed, bore
the name of La Roche qui sonne. An analogous name to this
Guernsey Memnon, La Roque ou le Cog chante, another site in
Guernsey, is mentioned by Victor Hugo in his celebrated work,
Les Travailleurs de la Mer, in which he mentions the popular
superstition concerning these remains :—“ Cette pierre est fort a
surveiller. On ne sait ce qwelle fait la. On y entend chanter un
cog gwon ne voit pas, chose extremement désagréable. Ensuite il
est avéré quelle a été mise dans ce courtil par les sarregousets, qui
sont la méme chose que les sins.”

This cromlech is said to have been the largest in the island, and
as the greatest part of the structure extended to the westward of
the present remains, the largest capstone to the west must have
been an enormous block; great superstition, indeed, attached to the
broken portions of this structure. The farm-house of Belval close
by was partly built of fragments from this cromlech, and shortly
after the completion of its building it took fire and was destroyed.
A vessel also sailing from St. Sampson’s with macadam, from the
same source, is said to have sunk. When the remaining portions
were investigated, the proprietor is said to have looked on the
sacrilegious proceedings with a terrified countenance, as if expecting
that “Satan himself was about to be disinterred.”

The fourth capstone at L’Ancresse much resembles the remain-
ing capstone of La Roche qui sonne both in size and shape (a
triangular prism), but is sightly smaller. The sole remaining
impost of one of the Alderney cromlechs, viz. that at Tourgis, is in
every respect similar also. This leads one to suspect that this
stone was the fourth stone of the cromlech, and if so, the “ Roche
qui sonne” Cromlech would have been proportionately larger than
the cromlech at L’ Ancresse.

The last illustration accurately represents the present condition
of a cromlech in the parish of St. Saviour, Guernsey, known by the
name of the Creux des Fées, and which well exhibits the peculiar
features of the French Grottes des Fées and Allées couverts. The
western chamber is still covered in by a great portion of the original
superimposed tumulus, and in fact forms a subterranean chamber
or grotto, with the narrow passage entrance, now uncovered, but
formerly covered with transverse slabs of stone resembling the
gang-graben of Scandinavia. Only the two largest capstones
remain, covering a chamber 21 feet long by 12 feet broad. This
chamber has long been used as a cattle stable, and in consequence
is not quite so sweet as might be. Here may be observed with
advantage the usual method of filling the interstices between the

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1870. | of the Channel Islands. 155

larger blocks with smaller stones, to keep out the soil of the sur-
rounding tumulus. ‘The narrow entrance shown well in the accom-
panying photoxylograph (Fig. 2) is only 2 feet 6 inches broad. The
two stones where the threshold formerly was are 4 feet 6 inches
in height. The western upright slab is 6 feet in height, and
of the same breadth. The plans of all these cromlechs should
be compared with one another and those in Jersey; they may be
found by those who care to inquire further into their original
construction in the ‘Journal of the Ethnological Society’ for
April, 1870, to which the reader is also recommended to refer for
details concerning the other cromlechs in Guernsey; for in an ©
article of this description it is impossible to enter into details of
the numerous pre-historic remains yet extant in the bailiwick
of Guernsey and its dependencies. The chief and most noted may
be briefly enumerated as follows—viz. Le Trépied Cromlech, the
Menhirs of La Pierre Longue and Le Crocq (La Pierre pointue,
La Chaise au Prétre, and La Rocque Magié have disappeared before
the blast of the quarrymen), and the twmuli or Hougues of Hatnée
and Fouqué. Putting aside the pre-historic remains in Alderney,
Herm, and Sark, which fully deserve a paper to themselves, and
which all carry out the generic resemblance to the galleried tombs
of Scania, in Gothland, it is best to proceed to describe one or two
of the principal Jersey cromlechs, in which the characteristics
mentioned are fully exemplified. ‘Three views of these remains,
viz. two croulechs, those of Mont Ubé and the Pocquelaye, with
Le Quesnel Menhir, will be found in a recent number of the
‘Illustrated London News,’ January 15th, 1870. |
The most important of the Jersey cromlechs is undoubtedly
that one named the “ Pocquelaye,” near Gorey Harbour, Jersey ; the
only visible portion twenty years ago was the largest capstone,
the sustaining props and other stones being entirely hidden beneath
the remains of the tumulus. About the year 1848 excavations
were made by Mr. Fauvel, and it was then discovered that this
large stone formed the covering of a chamber of nine side blocks
arranged in a horse-shoe form, whilst this chamber was again
divided by partition-stones forming a smaller kist, a separate grave
as it were, within a tomb. Further excavations were made, and
five or six more chambers were discovered to the eastward of the
first-mentioned. One chamber alone on the north side had a
capstone 7n situ; this capstone was thrown down by the treasure-
seeking proprietor, but is now restored as nearly as possible to its
original position. Other blocks of stone were also thrown down at
the same time, but have been replaced; great doubt unfortunately
must always attach to any attempted restorations of such structures.
Remains were found, but unfortunately no proper records of their
position in the catacomb exist, whilst the pottery, relics, and stone

156 , Megalithic Structures | April,

implements associated with the human skeletons were sold to the
British Museum, where they now are.

The narrow eastern gallery is well exhibited in this example, as
also the remains of a double circular stone wall not dissimilar to
that at L’Ancresse, but if anything of a larger diameter. Four
upright stones now standing between these stone walls may have
formed a portion of a peristalith, but unhappily there is a want of
trustworthy evidence as to their really being zn situ, as the walls
and remains generally have been meddled with to such an extent
that it is well-nigh impossible to separate the modern restoration
from the original design.

The Couperon Cromlech in the same parish as above (St. Mar-
tin’s) was formerly a gem in its way, bemg a small stone (Jersey
conglomerate) structure of two parallel walls covered with cap-
stones, with an oval peristalith surrounding it. Sad to relate,
only two capstones were actually in situ, and the other stones
scattered ; still worse, however, these stones have been rearranged,
and the remains cooked up to form a modern restoration of a pre-
historic sepulchre. One of the present capstones (the fifth) is
manifestly part of an upright which formed half of a partition, as
exactly similar hand-worked stones are found forming partitions
(to allow of entrance) in the covered allées of Brittany, and have
been specially noticed by Mr. Lukis.

The cromlech of Mont Ubé, although devoid of its capstones,
is still most instructive, being remarkable for the regularity of its
form, which exhibits the original plan of the (Celtic ?) architects,
perhaps more perfectly than any other cromlech in the Channel
Islands. This cromlech is more fully imbedded in the soil than
the denuded remains of the Pocquelaye and Le Couperon, which may
tend to its ultimate preservation. It consists of a large western
chamber elongated towards the orientated narrowed passage, and is
divided into several chambers. Two of the upright stone pillars
which separate the cists have been worked into somewhat obelisk-
-like forms, perhaps to adapt them for the reception of an imposed
capstone. It is muchi to be regretted that several important stones
have been removed from this cromlech.

The fourth cromlech in Jersey, only explored last year, appears
to have the form of a covered avenue, but no large western chamber
has yet been excavated. Several cinerary urns were discovered
more or less perfect, besides a small stone amulet drilled with two
holes, a few flint flakes, &c., with traces of charred ash and indica-
tions of osseous interments. ‘This is the only case on record in the
Channel Islands where no layer of limpet shells (although within a
hundred yards of the sea) has been found. From this fact Mr.
Lukis infers that the interments were not of the primary dolmen-
builders. Some years before, some bronze celts were found in this

1870. | of the Channel Islands. 157

neighbourhood. The best Menhir in Jersey is a fine monolith
called Le Quesnel; another, named La Pierre Blanche, is to be
found not far from the Mont Ubé Cromlech. Under a flat Dolmen
near Corbiére Point, named Table des Marthes, some bronze weapons
were found by M. Ahier many years since; but there is great doubt
as to this stone being connected with the other megalithic monu-
ments. Lines of Menhirs have been found in Greenland, where
they appear to have been mainly erected to serve as landmarks
during snowstorms, and some at least lead from the remains of
huts to the nearest water. Capt. Parry notices, after remarking
upon the remains of some stone-built Esquimaux huts, “ We also »
passed a singular assemblage of flat stones set up edgeways, each
about three yards apart, and extending at least five hundred yards
down to a small lake situated in a grassy valley.*

The study of pre-historic archeology has now become a recog-
nized scientific movement, but it may be remarked that, whilst the
stone implements, ornaments, pottery, human and animal remaius
and interior ‘* finds” generally have been assiduously collected in
national and private museums, the cromlechs, sepulchres, and
barrows containing these articles have not yet received their due
amount of public attention. In all collections of pre-historic relics,
which ought always to be docal in order to be really instructive,
there should be models (to scale) of the structures and localities in
which the relics were found. No remains should be suffered to be
taken away from the neighbourhood of the “ find ;” casts and fac-
similes would answer the purpose in the national collections. The
Rev. W. Lukis says “ that the principal if not sole object of some
investigators appears to be the possession of the articles which have
been deposited with human remains. The object of the archzolo-
gist should not be the mere gratification of curiosity nor the
accumulation of ancient works of art. A museum of antiquities is
comparatively worthless if the history of the discovery of each
particular specimen is not accurately known and recorded ; these
examinations should be made with the sole view of throwing light
upon a dark period in the history of those who have previously
occupied the soil.” :

This same gentleman has been so convinced of the necessity of
examining and comparing the megalithic structures in Europe that
he has spent four summers in Brittany, and (sometimes with the
assistance of Sir H. Dryden) made accurate plans of the circles
and avenues of Menhirs at Carnac, and throughout the Morbihan
district. In his lectures on these structures Mr. Lukis draws
attention to the fact that these lmes or Paralleliths are universally
orientated, and that they all terminate in circles at their western
extremity ; whilst the bulk and height of the Menhirs diminish

* Parry’s ‘Second Voyage,’ p. 62.

158 Megalithie Structures {| April,

gradually, and the widths of the avenues also diminish towards the
east. He says, “ There is a feature that is common both to groups
of rows and to the sepulchres which may help to throw some light
on the subject, viz. their orientation. By far the larger number of
the sepulchral monuments, those I mean which are usually termed
Dolmens, have their openings or entrances between the east and
south points of the compass, z.e. nearly 90 per cent. are so turned,
which it must be admitted cannot be an accidental circumstance.
So too all the avenues are similarly orientated. If therefore the
builders of the tombs had a religious reason for this arrangement,
that same reason must have been dominant im the minds of the
constructors of the avenues, and the inference is not without force
that the same people erected both. There are few circles of stone
not attached to avenues in the Morbihan.”

It is in China, however, that chambered tumuli associated with
megalithic avenues have attained, if not their hugest, their most
elaborate development, in consequence of an ancient acquaintance
with iron and steel tools. Thus we read that the great tomb (the
“Ling” or resting-place of Yung-Lo, of the Ming dynasty), thirty
miles from Pekin, consists of an enormous mound or earth barrow,
covered with trees; its height is not mentioned, but is evidently
considerable, from the fact that the circular wall which surrounds
it is a mile in circumference. In the centre of this mound is a
stone chamber containing the sarcophagus, in which is the corpse.
This chamber or yault is approached by an arched tunnel, the
entrance to which is bricked up. ‘This entrance is approached by
a paved causeway, passing through numerous arches, gateways,
courts, and halls of sacrifice, and through a long avenue of colossal
marble figures, sixteen pairs of wolves, kelins, lions, horses, camels,
elephants, and twelve pairs of warriors, priests, and civil officers.
Whether this avenue is orientated or not is not mentioned. An
idea may be formed of the size of these marble figures from the
following :—*‘ During the building of the late Emperor Heen-fung’s
tomb a road 100 miles long was made from the quarries at Fang-
shan to the Tung-ling, and a block of marble 15 feet long, 12 feet
high and 12 feet broad, weighing 60 tons, was seen by several of
us then resident at Pekin being dragged along this road, on a strong
truck or car drawn by 600 mules and horses.” .. . : “This block
was to be cut into the figure of an elephant, to be placed as one of
the guardians of the tomb.” *

In order more fully to appreciate these pre-historic catacombs,
and to comprehend the modes of their construction and the usages
connected with them, we must follow Sir John Lubbock’s example
in comparing them with somewhat similar remains in use by
modern savages; and we take this occasion to bring forward as

* W. Lockhart, ‘ Proc. R. G. §.,’ 1866.

1870. | of the Channel Islands. 159

suggestive and parallel examples the methods of sepulture as
practised up to this day by the tribe of Hovas, the mhabitants
of the mountainous plateaux in the interior of Madagascar. The
Hovas begin to erect their tombs in early life, and make their
completion through a series of years one of the most important
objects of their existence, as an effectual means of being held in
honourable remembrance by posterity. These tombs are family
vaults or catacombs, and im their construction an immensity of
money, time, and labour is expended, limited solely by the wealth
of the builder. In erecting a tomb the first consideration is the
selection of an eligible site, publicity and elevation being the two
principal requisites. Sometimes a tomb is placed immediately in
front of the house of the person by whom it is built, so the tombs
of the kings are within the precincts of the palace at Anantananarivo,
the tomb of the first Radama being a conspicuous object in the
palace yard. The site having been chosen, an excavation is made
in the earth, and a stone vault made, the sides and roof of which
are made of ammense slabs of stone, unhewn granite, flat at least
on the nner side. Hach side of this kist, sometimes seven feet high
and twelve feet in length, 1s often formed of a single stone. <A sort
of subterranean grotto is thus made, the entrance to which, always
to the north or east, is closed by a large.upright block of stone,*
which is removed when a corpse is taken in, and fixed again at the
termination of the funeral. In reading this, does it not remind one
of our European kistvaens and cromlechs of the Stone age? This
stone sepulchre is covered over with earth, and by means of stone
copings gradually diminishing, presents from the exterior a pyra-
midal form. These structures, which we may call pyramidal
tumuli, containing stone chambers, bear at all events a certain
analogy to the chambered tumuli of western and northern Europe.
Some of these structures measure 50 feet in length by 20 in
breadth.

The large slabs used in forming these megalithic structures are
usually of granite and syenite. The Hovas mark out the required
dimensions of the slab by odies or charms (the idol-keepers being
well acquainted with the cleavage of the rock, and taking advantage
of this circumstance) ; large fires of cow-dung are made along the
line thus indicated, and when the rock has become heated, water is
dashed upon it, by which means, and with the help of long levers,
large masses are detached from the mountain side. When the slab
is to be removed, ropes of native hemp (rofia fibre, or the bark of
the hibiscus, and a long tough grass are all used in the manufacture

* Compare Nilsson, ‘ The Sunny Side,’ p. 127; also Ellis relates that one of the
Hovas requested his sons, shortly before his death, that after his interment they
would occasionally remove the large stone slab that would form the door of his
sepulchre, and let the sun shine in upon him.

160 Megalithic Structures [ April,

of cordage) are fastened around it, and amidst the vociferations of
the slaves it is dragged away. In ascending a hill they place
wooden rollers under the stone, and move them forward as it
advances. Sometimes five or six hundred men are employed in
dragging a single stone. A man usually stands on the stone acting
as director. He holds a cloth in his hands, and waves it, with loud
and incessant shouts, to animate those who are dragging the
ponderous block. At his shout they pull in concert, and so far his
shouting is of real service. Holy water is also sprinkled on the
stone as a means of facilitating its progress, till at length, after
immense shouting, sprinkling, and pulling, it reaches its destination.
When the tomb is erected for a person deceased, but not buried, no
noise is made in dragging the stones for its construction; profound
silence is regarded as indicating respect. Sometimes a corpse is
buried in a dwelling-house till the new tomb is finished, when it is
removed to its final resting-place.

The dead body wrapped in a red lamba is placed on a bier, and
a grave is dug for its reception within the vault, which is not
paved : the corpse is placed in the grave without delay, and covered
with earth, so that it isa grave within a stone tomb: a quantity of
fresh charcoal is placed on the body to resist rapid decomposition :
the wooden bier is left within the tomb by the side of the grave.
It is customary at the interment of any man of note to deposit
large quantities of property in the tomb with the corpse, especially
of articles to which the deceased was known to be attached ; thus,
at the funeral of the first Radama, six of his favourite horses were
killed and buried with him, a brass cannon was burst and, with a
cask of wine, also buried with him, besides 10,309 silver dollars and
upwards of 1000 articles of personal property, jewellery, &c.

The tombs are sometimes enclosed with stone walls, and within
the enclosure are often two or three large upright stones.

The Hovas also erect stone pillars not dissimilar to our
Menhirs, some of which are of a considerable size: they have no
marks on them, and are called ‘“‘fahatsiarovana,” i.e. causing to
remember. A name is also given them, derived from their position,
“ mutsangambato,” an elevated stone.

Mr. Lukis, in examining some of the cromlechs and kists in the
island of Herm, near Guernsey, suspects that some were merely
ossuaries ; that the bodies had been subjected to maceration else-
where, and their bones deposited where found ; so, also, Sven Nilsson*
tells us that the Rev. M. Bruzelius found in the Asagrafven
gallery-tomb in Scania, a vast quantity of human bones, from which
he was of opinion that the flesh had been stripped off before being
deposited in the vault, as he found in one place only the bones
of the extremities and no vertebree and in another a quantity

ASP PAGL

re eee eee

1870. | of the Channel Islands. 161

of skulls. A similar conclusion was come to by Mr. Boye in
examining a tomb at Hammer, in Zeeland. I find some almost
similar instances among the Hovas of the present day, which may
serve to throw some light on the subject. In Ankova the bodies
of lepers are carefully bound up and rolled or thrown into a grave
dug in any unenclosed space; here they are left interred beneath
the soil for at least twelve months, after which they are dug up, the
bones cleaned of all the flesh, wrapped in cloth, and deposited in the
family vault. Again, the Hova warriors are always anxious that
their remains should rest in the ancestral stone vault, and it is cus-
tomary for comrades on a campaign to pledge one another that
should one of them die, the survivor is to obtain and convey the
bones of the deceased to his relations. In such a case every particle
of flesh is stripped off the bones, which are brought with great
trouble from the scene of action, however distant, and given to the
nearest relatives, and buried with due ceremony. When the
body cannot be found, after a battle for mstance, it is usual to erect
a cenotaph, which consists of an unfinished tomb, 7.e. the three
sides of unhewn stones, the fourth being left open for the disturbed
ghost to enter and repose. Is it not possible that some of the
apparently incomplete kists were erected with similar intentions ?

The author noticed near Andevorante a tumulus on which were
six upright conical stones about 6 feet high, which had been erected
in memory of six Hova officers who died or were killed during
Radama’s campaign against the Betsimasarakas.

Before leaving the subject it may be as well to allude to the
vestiges of the Vazimba, the supposed aborigines of Madagascar.
These vestiges consist of small tumuli, or rather cairns, surmounted
by an upright stone pillar, and are generally overgrown with
thickets. These graves or altars are regarded with superstitious fear
by the natives, both Hovas and other tribes: they occur in Ankova
and in the western portions of Madagascar. ‘These Vazimba are
said to have been dwarfs, and are described by Rochon under the
name of Kimos, and supply the same part in the Malagasy legends
that the Lapps do as pigmies in the northern Sagas. There
is little doubt that these Vazimba were the Hovas themselves, who,
although not diminutive, are below the average stature, and who in
colour, intelligence, activity, industry, courage, manufactures, and
habitations, are exactly what Rochon describes the Kimos to have
been. Like the Trolls and goblins of Scandinavia, the Vazimba
have two characters; they are sometimes malicious and spiteful
(masiaka), at other times benevolent and grateful (masena). It is
curious that both in Europe and in Madagascar the pre-historic
tumuli should be referred to these dwarfs and elves; thus in
Sweden we have goblin caves and pigmy hillocks, and in the
Channel Islands we have Pocquelaye, Creux des Fées, &c.

162 Megalithic Structures 3 [ April,

A few words about the stone-celt as associated with the pre- |

sumed cromlech-builders of these islands may not be out of place
here. ‘These celts comprise all chipping or hewing stones, Tl-
hugger steen, which, according to their various modifications, may
have been hatchets, axes, chisels, adzes, or wedges, and have been
found generally throughout the islands in such numbers as serve to
show how universally they were used as domestic implements in
pre-historic times. They all belong to the Neolithic period of the
Stone age; nor isit probable that any of the Paleolithic flints would
be found on a granite island where little or no alluvial soil or drift
gravel exists.

Mr. F. C. Lukis supplies me with the following list of celts, in
his private collection, which he has obtained in the bailiwick of
Guernsey (which includes Alderney, Sark, and Herm) alone, with
the parishes in which they were found :—

Le Clos du Valle... .. .. 33) In round numbers 209.
St. Sampson et l’Epine .. 46 It must be remembered,
Ste. Marie du Castel .. .. 22 ‘ however, that this list
St. Andrew’s ee ae een ea does not inelude frag-
fb, CACEPOHE OEE why as. a AN ments of celts, great
St. Martin’s = oe is = numbers of which have
St. Sauveur Spc diyies 6 | 2 been collected.
St. Peter-in-the-Wood 2|°
Torteval bi takin tema 5:
Forest .. 2
155

Herm ale,
Sark 25
Alderney 12

Onan te) he. Saker

It will be seen from this list that the greatest number of these
celts have been found in the parishes of St. Sampson and the Vale,
that is, in the northern part of the island. Perhaps this may be
accounted for by the circumstance that, prior to the year 1808, a
large moiety of both these parishes was cut off from the main island
at high water, and therefore less accessible ; consequently even now
there is more open common and was‘e ground, with less cultivation,
than in the rest of the island. .So also there are more cromlechs
extant, and it is possible that their sites were chosen in this remote
locality on account of its partial maccessibility.

As to the celts, however, they are of all sorts and sizes, as ob-
served above, and singularly enough the materials of which they are
composed are not always native, as might be expected, but, on the
contrary, are as often as not foreign, not only to these islands but to
Trance and even to Europe occasionally, so that we are led to the
conclusion that these instruments have been imported from great
distances.

Oe —_—

1870. | of the Channel Islands. 163

It is just possible that such implements may have accompanied
immigrations of nomadic tribes (Indo-Scythians ?) from beyond the
Caspian Sea, but at the same time they may have been exchanged
or bartered, and thus have found their way so far west as Brittany.
It appears evident that there was some commerce in such tools and
weapons, which must have been highly prized, as many bear un-
doubted marks of haying come from the same locality if not from
the same manufactory. I use the word manufactory advisedly,
for it is almost certain that at particular spots in Kurope (where
favourable geological formations gave ready access to valuable
material, such as quartz, serpentine, porphyry, jasper, granite, green-
stone (diorite aphanite), steatite, actinolite, flints, chert, agate, &c.),
great numbers of celts were manufactured by the resident tribe,
and exchanged with the neighbouring tribes for food, peltry, &c.
Nilsson shows from glass’heads being found among similar remains
that the savage aborigines of Scandinavia had commercial inter-
course with more civilized nations.

‘There is one peculiar celt made of a scarce mineral substance to
which I must allude, as its presence in this part of the world seems
unaccountable. It has never been particularly noticed, as far as I
know, by any archeologist except Mr. Lukis, who long ago re-
marked upon it, and great interest must attach to it. I mean the
celt made of F’brolite: celts of this material have been found
throughout France, the Channel Islands, and in England, and
doubtless (although I have not seen any of the continental collec-
tions) throughout Europe; I am almost certain that there is one in
Col. Lane Fox’s collection from the River Irawaddy, and if so, that
one came from much nearer its original home than those found
here, for it is not known where any of this substance occurs in
Europe; indeed, the nearest spot where it is attainable seems the
Carnatic. If I am right in the above surmises it opens out a
pregnant field for vestigation. Similar observations apply with
regard to the Jade* instruments, which are found in the Lake-
villages of Switzerland. I may say that M. Schlagintweit relates
the curious circumstance that Oriental jade-stone, when first taken
from the quarries, is comparatively soft, not acquiring its extreme
hardness until some time afterwards. The vulgar name for the
celt among the peasantry of the Channel Islands is “Coin de
Foudre,” as it is “La Pierre de Tonnerre” among the French
countrymen, and the Thunderbolt of our English common-folk. The
Swedes also, in common with the Irish, Scotch, and Welsh, have
the same superstition as to their electrical origin. It has ever been
a source of inquiry as to the spot where it (the celt) could be
picked up after a thunderstorm; this idea has been confirmed in

* See Sir John Lubbock’s ‘Pre-historie Times,’ p. 134, on the presence of
nephrite in the Lake-dwellings.

fe ey ee om ea

164 Megalithic i of the Channel Islands. [ April,

Guernsey by numerous examples occurring, in which celis have
been found immediately after thunderstorms, the fact being that it
is only after thunderstorms that the people look for them. Some
years ago the signal staff of the Guat du Catel waich-house was
shivered by lightning, and shortly aiterwards a man m the same
neighbourhood picked up close by a flint celt, measuring 6 inches
in length. He was in the habit of chipping off hitle bits, and,
applying the instrument to his nose, discovered the peculiar smell
(well known when two pieces of flint are rubbed together), which
he conceived, very wisely, proceeded from its mystical fire origi in
the clouds. Among the common people the celt is supposed to
have supernatural powers, and to have the virtue of preservation
from injury.* It is often placed in the masonry of a house to
preserve the same from lightnmg. Mr. Lukis is im possession of
several, which have been obtained from old walls. They have been
known to be kept on board of merchant ships, in the captain’s
cabin, for the same purpose. Mr. Rose tells us that the stone
celts are highly valued in Denmark as charms, so that it is difficult
to induce their possessors to sell them, as they were thought to
bring good luck to the house. There is also an instance mentioned
in which one of these ancient implements was found concealed
under the floor of a cottage, near the door, having been placed
there to keep ont witches. In the Grecian Archipelago few
cottages are without one of these stones, which is supposed to
possess some sanitary virtue; the possessor breaks off a small
portion of it when required, ‘and either keeps it as a talisman
against some particular malady, or dispenses it to his friends for
the same purpose.

“One great source of danger to which this immocent implement
is exposed is the fact of its being supposed to be thrown to the
earth by fairies and hobgoblms. The old mhabitants of some of
our islands, when they found one on their premises or fields, would
immediately smash it to powder upon some stone. A Je
gentleman has informed me that when he ~vas a lad he had seen
many treated in the same manner. Some years since I (Mr. Luks)
obtameii a celé from a countryman of this island (Guernsey), and
there arose a fearful storm of lightnmg and thunder m the night.
On the followmg morning both husband and wife appeared at my
house begging me to return the celt, as they had not slept a wink
the night before.

“In Brittany the Moen-sourous, as the celt is called, is often
thrown down into a well or spring as a purifier of the water. One
well in the Morbihan is known to have had as many as five of
those instruments thrown into it. In Switzerland the mountameers
are in the habit of wrapping one round the neck of the bell-wether,

* Compare Nilsson on ‘ The Stone Age,’ chap. vi, pp. 199-202.

1870.] On Insanity. 165

as a preservative against the foot-rot. We (Mr. Lukis and his sons)
have obtained about a dozen from these shepherds.” —F red. C. Lukis.

Who or what this ancient people were who have left behind
them their cromlechs and circles, Menhirs and tumuli, whether
they are the same people who used these stone implements, yet
remains undecided ; but considering the remarkable results which
have already been arrived at from archeological investigation,
which, as far as the examination of pre-historic vestiges, dates only
from the commencement of the present century, we may be sure
that approximate, if not certain, conclusions will be arrived at
sooner or later, especially when that important branch of ethnology,
namely, craniology, shall have been fully developed by the successors
of Retzius.

II. ON INSANITY.

By Dr. P. Martin Duncan, F.BS., &e.

Ir is very remarkable how long a time it takes to disabuse public
opinion of ideas which are founded upon the slightest evidence.
The pertinacity with which such ideas are held generally originates
in there being some palpable truth connected with them that hides
some very unpalatable errors. Such a truth is all the more secretive
when it refers to things which are to the credit of humanity, in
contradistinction to those which mankind willingly forget as uncom-
fortable subjects. ‘Thus there are some very general ideas current
that the human race is advancing in mental power, that the diseases
of the mind are not increasing, and that the Lunatic Asylum system
is highly satisfactory on account of the cures perfected under it,—
which have their origin in partial truths that have been carefully
fostered, while the errors which make many inquirers demur have
been shut up as social skeletons in the national closet.

The spread of literature and the increased facilities for national
intercourse, the rarity of public exhibitions of the insane, and the
acknowledged comforts and expensive surroundings of the unfor-
tunates in asylums are patent truths which lead the superficial
public to believe in the advance of education, the progress of
that practical Christianity which is the test of civilization, and the
surpassing excellence and usefulness of the lunatic asylum. The
real truth sooner or later breaks upon men; and just as the present
outery for education is a proof of that want of it which has been
protested against for years, so a murmur of discontent often heard
of late is indicative of the commencement of the change in opinion,
which must progress, about the origin of insanity, its relation to
civilization, and the success of the present system of curation, which
is fenced about by commissioners, the law, a staff of well-educated

VOL. VII. N

166 On Insanity. [April,

medical superintendents, a few alienist physicians, and protected by
the inertia of the English mind and by a good amount of the “ rest
and be thankful.”

It is quite time to survey the curious opinions that have retarded
the correct treatment of the insane, to notice what relation the
increase of the disease bears to physical rather than to intellectual
strain, and to show how unsatisfactory are the results of the great and
expensive Asylum system in this country.

Probably there is no subject upon which non-professional people
are more ignorant than that of mental alienation. There is nothing
which speaks more loudly to their fears, and they consider insanity
the direst calamity that can afflict humanity. 1t is usually looked
upon as a mental death, as a condition which taints the family for
generations, and which, if remedied for a time, is constantly on the
point of recurrence. The curability of madness, and indeed its
recognition as a disease within the ministry of man, are matters
productive of much discussion amongst well-educated people, and
there does not appear to have been much advance made by the
public mind towards exact knowledge upon them.

There is nothing more evident than the thorough desire to do
evil which is evinced by the majority of madmen, and the exceptions
are so rare that they are popularly ascribed to the unusual amiability
of the afflicted. Simple delirium which accompanies many ordinary
complaints is constantly cited as a phenomenon which permits our evil
nature to become manifest in spite of ourselves, and the indefinite
nature of the current ideas upon the character of mental aberration
influenced by these thoughts receives greater eccentricity when
arguments are founded upon the ravings of the sufferers from
delirium tremens. The horrible visions, the malicious mischief,
the foul language, and the abject fear of the images floating before
the eyes, so commonly illustrated by ordinarily quiet men under the
influence of poisoning by stimulants, taken into consideration with
the usual phenomena of insanity, present a series of dilemmas to
those who will not hear of any intimate connection between the
mind and the material body. Out of these difficulties there has ever
been an easy path ; but it is to be hoped that it will soon be closed
by that Christianity which prefers to accept the conscientious
labours of truth-loving men as its supports rather than incompre-
hensible dogmas. The bridges over the old road out of the dilemma
were witchcraft, and the action of the moon and the devil. The first
of these has broken down, and the influence of the idea of absolute
possession by evil spirits has almost ceased, but not quite, to operate.
Amongst the uneducated labourers of some of the eastern counties
witchcraft is still an object of terror, and only a few years since, a
crazy woman was considered “ bewitched,” and had to be protected
from the violence of her fellow-villagers by the law.

1870. ] On Insanity. 167

Formerly all Europe considered the devil a better entity than
the philosopher who insisted upon a connection between the physical
condition of the brain and the immaterial mind. It appeared to be
a solace and a comfort to have that evil presence at hand to demo-
lish the pretensions of fellow-men; and as it has ever occupied a
prominent position in the religion of the northern branch of the
Aryan family, there was something almost sacred, with a tinge of
goodness, in advocating its positive powers upon the minds of men,
some of whom had led the purest and holiest of lives before their
day of mental decadence. When priests went mad, it was hardly the
thing to refer to the object of their constant antagonism. Profane
men were known to jeer at the bell-ringing and holy-water splash-
ing, and the general paraphernalia of exorcising, which were per-
sisted in under the circumstances; but they were few in number,
and public opinion, which would not admit any connection between
the body and the mind, had no compunction about the spirituality of
bronze, tallow, and water. Philosophers who desired to be orthodox
shielded themselves under the influence of classical learning, which,
being incomprehensible by the mass, was dearly loved by the few,
and therefore universally reverenced. They quoted the myth which
made Bacchus a mind-destroying god, and thus joined with the mul-
titude in aseribing the seizure to some agency beyond the pale of
materialism.

The occurrence of what has been called demoniacal possession.
being testified to in Holy Writ was never doubted, and the Scriptural
proot of the Satanic origin of mania was strongly insisted upon by -
the clergy. Any attempt to deny this proposition was met with
the usual charge of infidelity; and the suggestion that the possessed
by devils were only so afflicted according to the prevailing method
of scientific thought, and that it was a facon de parler, called up
scornful accusations of atheism and freethinking. Priests and people
stood up manfully for these Satanic rights, and it is really wonderful
that the commissioners for the protection of the msane are not
associated with some title which refers to the old popular idea of
the origin of the affliction. They, however, bear witness to a popular
belief which, after a sharp struggle, overthrew the diabolical theory
to a great extent, for they are called “ Lunacy ” Commissioners.

Artemis had most varied relations with mankmd. She was the
assistant at his birth, she assuaged pain, blessed his industry,
hunted him down when she was sporting, was insensible to the
allurements of love; and the well-formed huntress and mistress of
rivers liked to be propitiated from the time of Iphigenia with the
blood of human sacrifices. She took to herself the attributes of
Selene, and claimed the night-driven chariot. Medieval ignorance
gave her moon, certainly a very material body, a very decided
power over the demented. The full moon, so studied by witches,

nN 2

168 On Insanity. [ April,

was considered to be singularly pernicious to those whose minds
were gone. So fast a hold did this opinion take, that, having a
greater or less origin in an old myth, and belonging to the category
of witchcraft and demoniac notions, it lasted, and has persisted, at
least in name, until the present day. Moon-struck people are
lunatics, and are under the care of Commissioners in Lunacy At
present English science is committed officially to the belief in the
lunar theory of insanity, just as it was formerly to the witchcraft
and diabolical ideas. People still believe that the insane are worse
at the full of the moon; and if the ideas of the multitude concerning
the causes of madness are examined with a little critical care, it will
be seen that they are founded upon the notions that bridged over
the dilemma, and upon a curious opinion which brings the Great
Ruler of all things, as the punisher, in immediate connection with
the suffering mortal. The mind makes the man, and brings him
in relation with his Creator. The perfect immateriality of the mind
and its entire independence of the body being common beliefs, the
particular influence of the Deity upon perversions of it is readily
accepted as a necessary sequence.

Everyone must admit the overwhelming nature of the calamity
of insanity, but modern science has proved that it ought to be as
curable as other afflictions, or rather that a great proportion of the
alienated ought to return to their former healthy condition of mind.

The influence of moral management and hygiene in increasing
the number of recoveries in acute mania, and in shortening the
duration of attacks, is perfectly evident, so that the ministry of man
has much to do with restoring the alienated. There is no doubt
that many become insane, and often incurably so, in consequence
of long-continued moral and physical sins, and such cases come
under the argument so ably elaborated by Bishop Butler. They
prove that “there is a kind of moral government implied in God’s
natural government.” Many suffer for the same natural sins,
but not in the mind, and become hopelessly diseased in important
organs. One class is as bad as the other, and yet in one series of
cases the mind is affected, and in the other the mind is clear, the
body being diseased. The immediate nature of the punishment can
thus hardly be sustained, and we are forced to recognize its influence
as operating secondarily and through certain definite physiological
forces. These stand up like the tower of Siloam, and preach much
the same sermon to the lookers-on. Were it not so, the ministry
of man would be in direct opposition to the Creator’s will, and the
cnres which follow the treatment of that insanity which has been
produced by immorality and physical neglect, would be anomalies
in the scheme of the government of the universe.

The Asiatics reverence insanity just as they do idiocy, and
sufferers from it have been privileged since the days of David.

1870. | On Insanity. 169

The demented and maniacal are not considered to be the victims of
witcheraft, and to be persecuted by the Evil Spirit, nor are they
supposed to be under the influence of the moon. ‘The immediate
influence of the Higher Power is invariably recognized, and no
thought is given to anything like the production of insanity by
physical disease, degeneracy of constitution, and hereditary taint.

The practical North Americans as a body—of course the highly
educated are not included—either hold the indefinite opinions which
characterize the thoughts of the corresponding public in England
upon insanity, or would seem to believe, as English people did
formerly, that the maniac is responsible for his violence and un-
reason, and that it does not much matter how he is treated, so
that he is secluded. Even a curious kind of insanity is admitted to
exist, which can be traced to have its diagnosis decided by offences
against the former national proclivities. Thus an alienist physi-
cian living in the Southern States before the great war, described
a species of insanity which affected the negroes. He compounded
a name out of two Greek roots, which signified the bolting mania.
The comforts and moralities of slavery were so well adapted for the
African people, that the constant attempts at escape could only be
looked upon as an evidence of imsanity in the race which ig so free
ordinarily from psychological affections !

The treatment of some insane people in not very remote dis-
tricts may suffice to prove that the Yankees have very materialistic
notions about the disease, and that they do not hold the Asiatic
opinions.

In 1868, Dr. Alexander Robertson visited the New York City
Lunatic Asylum, and found that on the 31st December, 1867, of
the 895 patients in the asylum, 304 slept on the floor, there being
only 591 bedsteads in the wards. He writes:—“ I was convinced
that there is not sufficient room even for these (beds), as they are
too near each other. Many of the bed-rooms are small and dark,
haying no windows, and are dependent for light and air on small
openings into the corridors. In a large proportion two patients
sleep together, and as the rooms only contain about 700 cubic feet,
it is clear that the atmosphere must become very oppressive during
the night, more especially in hot weather, such as at my visit, when
the thermometer was standing at 100° Fahrenheit in the shade.”
There is about one homicide committed every year in these rooms.
Strait-waistcoats, leather wristlets, and bed-straps to tie patients
down in their beds, are part of the usual comforts of this disgrace-
ful hole. Dr. Robertson sums up with-—“ Much disorder also
prevailed in a number of the wards of this part of the establish-
ment, many of the patients being stretched on the floor of the halls,
some excited, others in a listless, moody, or apathetic state. Their
position, however, seemed very much a matter of necessity, as there

170 On Insanity. [April,

was apparently not a seat for each, had they been all anxious to sit
down at the same time. Both there and in the ‘Separates’ a large
number were barefooted, and their clothing was untidy and ragged
in the last degree. I noticed a man im one of the halls nearly in a
state of nudity, his breast uncovered, his feet, legs, and fore-arms
bare, and the clothing he had on hanging in tatters about his body,
thighs, and upper arms. No remark was made about his condition,
and it did not seem to attract attention as in any way extraordinary.
As I have said, great excitement prevailed, more especially in the
wards for the acute aud violent cases. Never, in fact, have I visited
any institution for the insane where the noise and confusion were
so bewildering, nor where I experienced the same feeling of relief
on leaving.” The river runs by the asylum, and is supposed to
check escapes, but suicides by drowning are “rather frequent.”
Four in six months was considered a favourable average!!! Scurvy
frequently occurs amongst the patients, and four years since a
large number died from typhus fever, and two years ago seventy
died from cholera. The arrangement for religious exercises is most
complete; three clergymen of various persuasions, and lay assistants
being on the rota. The management of this outrage upon Chris-
tendom is by the Board of Commissioners of Public Charities and
Correction, consisting of four members, who have been denounced by
Dr. Beecher in his best strong language.

Dr. Willard published a report at the desire of Congress in
1865, and his opinion of the asylum was “that it was large and
well conducted.” . . . But, fortunately for his reputation, he had
described others in the most straightforward manner, and, compared
with them, the City Asylum was indeed superior. He notices that
in Broome County Poorhouse ‘‘ whipping is seldom resorted to”
(for the insane). Columbia County Poorhouse: the great ma-
jority (all lunatics) are noted as filthy. Twelve sleep on straw,
without bedsteads. The straw is changed once or twice a week.
None had stockings during the winter. Portland County: the
sexes are not kept entirely separated, and male attendants are
employed to care for the female msane. Delaware County: the re-
port, after describing the wretched cells, goes on to say,—“ The
suffermgs of these unfortunates, from whom air and the light
of heaven are shut out, would form (he might have written do
form) a dark chapter of human misery, could it be written.”
Niagara County: “The whip is sometimes, though rarely, used to
enforce discipline.” St. Lawrence County: “ Though no re-
straint(?) is used by handcuffs, whipping is resorted to, and the
violent are put in cages to subdue them.” Saratoga County: “ Cor-
poral punishment is administered to men, women, and children”
(the latter remark apparently refers to sane paupers as well as
lunatics). Tioga County: “They are seldom if ever visited by a

1870.] On Insanity. 171

physician.” Green County—* Six lunatics are confined in cells,
tive of them are in chains, including two women. Some are chained
to the wall. They are in a wretched state, and none are cured or
improved. In conclusion, the following quotation of Dr. Robertson
from Dr, Willard’s report may show the opinion of the Executive
of the United States, that is to say if opinions infer conduct, upon
the status of the insane :—* In some of these buildings the insane
are kept in cages, in cells dark and prison-like, as if they were
convicts instead of the life-weary, deprived of reason. They are
in numerous instances left to sleep on straw like animals, without
other bedding ; and there are scores who endure the piercing cold
and frost of winter without either shoes or stockings being pro-
vided for them. They are pauper lunatics, and shut out from the
charity of the world, where they could at least beg shoes. Insane
im a narrow cell, perhaps without clothing; sleeping on straw or
in a bunk, receiving air, light, and warmth only through a diamond
hole through a rough, prison-like door; bereft of sympathy and of
social life, except it be with a fellow-lunatic; without a cheering
influence or a bright hope of the future: can any picture be more
dismal? and yet it is not overdrawn.”

In Rome the picture may almost be drawn over again, and in
fact wherever the influence of the intellectual classes is swamped by
the masses or by an uneducated legislature. We, as a nation, have
issued from this reproach hardly fifty years. It is still usual to
connect lunacy with an indefinite something which implicates
Providence and the dependence of the mind upon cerebral action,
due reservation being made that there is nothing material between
them. The present system of the treatment of the insane is
' founded upon these remarkably indefinite ideas, but it is a satis-
faction to find that even.the Commissioners in Lunacy, who origi-
nate with the Keeper of the Queen’s conscience, have at last had the
courage to associate mental perversion with physical decay. Let us
notice how some old facts carry out their opinion.

It is excessively difficult to come to a satisfactory conclusion
respecting the amount of insanity and its kind in uncivilized races,
and also in those nations where civilization differs materially from
our own. ‘The most savage races do not come sufficiently in con-
tact with accurate observers for a correct estimate of their freedom
from mental disease to be formed, and the low type of their reason-
ing powers may oftentimes not render delusion and mild dementia
prominent mental conditions, It is rare that any unusual strain is
placed upon the minds of such savages; but when it occurs insanity
appears not to be uncommon. ‘Thus, some of Livingstone’s faithful
followers, who traversed the continent of Africa from west to east
with him, were evidently rendered insane and suicidally so by the
excitement consequent upon visiting residences of Europeans and

172 _ On Insanity. [April,

shipping. The occurrence of insanity in any of the African races
is said to be very rare; but there is plenty of evidence that the
negro slaves suffered considerably from several kinds of insanity,
and their offspring also. This is also true for the slaves derived from
other dark African races, who are not true negroes. Idiocy was fre-
- quent amongst the descendants of the imported negroes, and a low
type of perfect intelligence, which was often perverted, was com-
mon, but was difficult of distinction on account of the mechanical and
automatic action of the life of the slave. Drs. Bucknill and Tuke
quote the testimony of Dr. Moreau in reference to insanity in
Egypt. He found an asylum for the insane at Cairo,* but at
Alexandria, where there was a population of from 80,000 to 90,006
inhabitants and many general hospitals, there was not even a ward
assigned to the insane. He asserts that, on the authority of Dr.
Gregson, surgeon-in-chief and resident in. Egypt for nearly ten
years, that insanity is very rare. The Doctor only saw one example
of the disease in that period. Dr. Moreau says that as the civiliza-
tion of Egypt is left behind and the Delta becomes more distant,
lofty mountains and desert plains, tents and cattle, successively
replace cultivated and fertile fields, habitations and bazaars. With
the soil man becomes more degraded, his intellectual activity di-
minishes, and is at last reduced to a minimum, absorbed as he is
in the necessary wants of physical life. Among this population
the insane become fewer and fewer in number. I have not met
with a single one, not even an idiot, writes Dr. Moreau, in all
Nubia. Several of my friends, he continues, who have visited
Sennaar, Cordofan, and Abyssinia, have found only here and there
a few imbeciles. The same testimony has been adduced with re-
spect to the Guinea Coast. Dr. Moreau suggests, however, that
many of the Santons are really insane, and recent travellers in
Eastern Africa might almost say as much for the brutal chiefs of
some tribes. Nevertheless the rarity of imsanity amongst the
African populations appears to be established.

Dr. De Forest, of the Syrian Mission,} says “that it is im-
possible to obtain accurate statistics of the insane here; but I
think the disease far less frequent than in our own land.” ‘There
would appear to be more insanity amongst the Syrians than
amongst the African races, the Syrians being a very mixed race.
Insanity is said to be less frequent amongst the inhabitants of
Bengal and less acute than amongst the civilized races of Europe ;
but its admitted increase is accounted for by the introduction of
European vices. Polynesia appears to be comparatively free from
insanity; and its natives, with those of the Australian and New
Zealand islands, have received accessions of the disease simply

_-* Some years since the lunatics in this asylum were treated just like wild
beasts. - + See Buckuill and Tuke, page 49.

1870. | On Insanity. 173

through their contact with the worst parts of our civilization. The
Chinese and the races associated under that name, and which con-
stitute so large a proportion of the population of the world, are
said to be remarkably free from mental diseases, if the prejudicial
effects of opium be not considered. The majority of the cases of
insanity observed by European physicians in China had their origin
im opium smoking; and it is generally admitted, although the
opportunities for a close examination of the question have been very
slight, that mania and dementia are rare there. No country has
passed through more exciting. scenes during the last twenty years
than China; and rebellion, wholesale massacres, wars with Euro-
peans, and great social changes must have produced their exciting
and depressing effects upon a race which is singularly domestic in
its affections, much more industrious and saving, and more learned
than any other of the Asiatics. The amount of insanity in this
great empire can really not be estimated even approximately. In
considering the question, some of the peculiarities of the race must
be remembered. ‘The ready disposition to commit suicide which is
common to the races on the mainland and to those of the islands,
including Japan, the sale by men of their own lives for compara-
tively trifling sums of money, and the suicidal despair which readily
affects Chinamen under severe disappointments and hardships when
working in distant countries, indicate that the insanity of the
people may take on very different phenomena to those observed
amongst European nations. The sudden outbursts of murdering
passion observed in the Malay race may be taken as an evidence
that the great peculiarity of insanity amongst its members is
violence, and that ordiary monemania is hardly to be expected.
There is some amount of insanity amongst the rapidly decreasing
New Zealanders ; but here, again, the effects of Huropean vices are
evident. The history of the race is one continued warfare, and it
may be conceded that in this instance, as in all others of the same
kind, this constant pugnacity must hide a good deal of unreason.
A chief whose insanity assumed the ordinary type observed amongst
warlike savages, and was persevering in his enmity, cautious before
the fight, and furious during and immediately after bloodshed,
would not be deemed a madman. Doubtless there have been many
such heroes in the world’s history. These remarks will apply to
the native tribes of the American continent and to the compara-
tively unknown races of Central and Western Asia; but it should
be remembered that amongst the more nomadic nations the con-
stant migrations and the frequent absence of a settled home must
give any'of the mentally afflicted a poor chance of keeping up
with their fellows in the struggle for existence. The amount of
insanity amongst the Mahommedan nations is probably much greater
than is ordinarily believed, and there is no doubt that those religion-

174 On Insanity. | April,

ists who manifest their sanctity by extraordinary physical exertions
and tortures contain a large percentage of men who are not much
more mad than the founder of the Faithful was.

It is impossible to admit that many of the great conquerors
who were the curse of the world were sane. Cambyses, Alexander,
and Attila were subject to attacks of homicidal mania, which were
only salient pomts in a long period of unreason qualified by the
prevailing warlike spirit. ‘Their insanity took on the type which
reflected the ordinary disposition of the age. So did that of Saul
and Ajax. It is hard to believe in the sanity of Domitian and
Nero, or of many of the emperors whose bloodthirstiness was
appalling, and whose cruelties were atrociously wanton, and espe-
cially as madness was so common in the best days of Rome that its
symptoms have been admirably rendered by the physicians of the
period. Violence, homicide, and suicide, although the most marked
of the symptoms of the earlier civilizations, were not unaccompanied
by the melancholy madness so common at the present time. Hippo-
crates notices a case of melancholia in a woman of his day, “from
an accidental cause of sorrow.” She lost her power of sleep, and
had aversion to food, and suffered from thirst and nausea, being of
a melancholic turn of mmd. Her cure by nature is recorded also.
The method of madness simulated by David bears witness to the
acquaintance of the Philistines of Gath with the complaint, other-
wise the stratagem would not have had the desired result. Thus
early in the history of the world the sanctity of the insane was
clearly acknowledged. The unsatisfactory notices of uncivilized
and ancient madness appear to indicate the prevalence of violent
maniacal and homicidal attacks, and the opposite condition of im-
becility. There is every reason to believe that the affliction does
not increase amongst savage nations, and that it never attained a
very great importance in classical times, Probably the mass of the
demented of Europe was not represented by a corresponding type
of disease in the oldentime. The truth is melancholy enough now.

The increase of the population of England and Wales and Scot-
land year by year is beyond doubt; and unfortunately, so far as
England is concerned, there is no doubt about the yearly increase of
pauperism. Emigration has been compensated for by the annual
excess of births over deaths, and it is certain that the exodus ~~
has not taken away a great proportion of the best of the peasantry,
as it has in the case of Ireland. The condition of the agricultural
labourers and miners has slightly improved ; but that of the popu-
lation of the worst parts of our great cities has retrograded.* On
the other hand, commercial enterprise and great engineering opera-

* Ata recent meeting of the Liverpool Select Vestry, a brewer (sic!) attributed

the fulness of the lunatic asylums which he had visited to indulgence in poisoned
beer.

1870. | On Insanity. 175

tions have raised a vast number into the lower middle class, and have
excited increased mental activity and its corresponding anxieties.
The mercantile world has passed through great ordeals, and wealth
has been unusually uncertain during the last few years. ‘There
is hardly a small circle of acquaintance that cannot tell of some
ruin amongst people who have been prosperous; and the details of the
results of the immoral conduct of “ financiers” abound with lists of
the well-educated who have to put up with the greatest privations,
and whose mental sufferings can better be imagined than expressed.
According to the popular idea the increase of insanity should have
been found amongst the middle and upper classes, and the private
asylums should have received an unusual number of patients of late.

The following Table, taken from the last Report of the Com-
missioners in Lunacy, is singularly corrective of the popular idea,
and confirmative of those opinions which connect insanity rather
with defective constitutional vigour and a low state of the nutritive
functions than with increased mental strain and anxiety.

INCREASE OF PRIVATE AND PAUPER PATIENTS IN THE ASYLUMS OF ENGLAND
FROM 1863-67.

lop . Total Number
Year. oe Lae Increase during of Private . Increase during
on Ist January. the Year. Cee the Year.

_ 2 a aa imae 20,949 Spee 9250
oe ee 21,998 1049 5340 90
oe Oe aE ee ee 22,958 960 0327 — 13
DOF kk b civre 4 23,763 805 o177 —150
ito od eee So aaae 24,995 1232 5277 100
RSG T tis ord ite iies 25,998 1003 5286 9

Increase in 5 years ..+ .. 5049 36

It will be seen that there is a steady increase of our pauper
lunatics, at the rate of about 1000 a year, whilst there are only
thirty-six more private patients in asylums than five years ago. The
increase of the general population has been great, yet the small
number of 36 when placed en rapport with its numbers amounts to
nothing as regards increase, and infers a decided decrease.

The Table is carried on in the Report up to 1868 and 1869,
and the number of pauper lunatics admitted into asylums in those
years was 27,363 and 28,728 respectively. But this return does
not refer to all the pauper lunatics ; for the workhouses contained
7963 lunatics in 1859 and 11,181 in 1869; and there were 5798
insane paupers in 1859 living with their relatives, and 6987 in
1869. Thus the whole pauper lunacy of England and Wales
amounted to 31,782 cases in 1859, and to 46,896 in 1869. The
population in 1859 amounted to 19,686,701, and in 1869 to

176 | On Insanity. {| April,

21,869,607. That is to say, with an increase of population of
2,182,906, there were no less than 15,114 pauper lunatics. In the
corresponding time, and with the same increase of the general popu-
lation, there was a gross increase of 840 cases amonyst those who
came under the notice of the Commissioners as private patients in
asylums and at home with their friends and committees.

Doubtless many a lunatic whose friends are above the pauper
class is kept at home and escapes the notice of the Commissioners,
but any increase in the numbers of the “private” class which might
accrue in this manner is compensated for, when the relative numbers
of the insane are considered, by the number of pauper lunatics who
are aged and simply demented, and who are not under supervision.
There appears to be a reasonable foundation, then, that there is a
decided increase in the lunacy of the pauper class, and that it is
slight among the non-pauper class.

This assertion has been most ably and temperately contradicted
by one of the. late presidents of the Medico-Psychological Asso-
ciation, and in 1861 by the Commissioners in Lunacy. ‘They then
wrote the following sentence, which very properly heads Dr. C.
Lochart Robertson’s essay on the subject :—‘ We have not found
any reasons supporting the opinion generally entertained that the
community are more subject than formerly to attacks of imsanity.”*
In 1869, Dr. L. Robertson wrote, “that the alleged increase of
lunacy is a popular fallacy, unsupported by recent statistics.” He
quotes the words of the President’s address, read July 31, 1867 : —-
“During this period (1847-1867) the total number of pauper
lunatics and idiots has increased from 17,952 to 42,943. While in
1847 one in every 880 of the whole population was a pauper
lunatic, this proportion is now, in 1867, one in 494. I do not attri-
bute these numbers to any actual increase in insanity, but rather to
the fact of the more accurate returns which are now made of the
pauper lunacy of the country, and also in some degree to a number
of persons in the lower middle class successfully contriving to evade
the restrictions of the poor law, in order to procure for their insane
relatives treatment in the county lunatic asylums. This opinion of
the absence of any positive increase in the lunacy of the country
is further supported by the relative proportion of private patients
to the population in the same period.”

Popular fallacies and general impressions are very obnoxious to
the dogmatic under any circumstances, and they become exasperating
when they receive support from the most recent and official statistics.
The following Table from the Commissioners’ Report for 1868,
published July, 1869, gives support to the “popular fallacy,” if
figures are of the least value, and unless the Commissioners wish to
throw dust in our eyes.

* Report, 1861.

1870. | On Insanity. 177

Total Number ‘

Fenk. ee pate ale Proportion to

Year Population ibe one ie Population.

oy eer 19,686,701 36, 762 1 to 536
Ses ee ce Sen 19,902,713 38,058 1 ,, 523
Reeds, diver dk 20,119,314 39, 647 Ds cH07,
Bae ee i nk ac 20,336 , 467 41,129 1 ,,. 494
eee ee ab. 554 ToT 43,118 t Lar
eee se ee ae 20,772,308 44,795 15; £04
BOGS LM cciws ah or 20,990,946 45,950 1 ,, 487
DR sere ae.e snsls. lu vel getO; OA0 47,648 1 ,, 445
Ce Se ie et | 21,429,508 49,086 Py cae
SU. Mae en tak 21,049,377 591,000 1, 424
Get Ae bio Dai 21,869,607 03,177 Ly ALE

The gradual and progressive increase is, according to this Table,
most evident ; and if the Table of the increase of private and pauper
patients in asylums already noticed is examined, the same remarkable
support to “popular fallacy” is given. The increase of the number
of admissions is evident. Unless there is an increase in the lunacy
of the general population, and especially in the pauper class, these
statistics must be misguiding and erroneous. It may be asked when
did the inaccuracy of the returns culminate, and when did the
operations of certain Acts of Parliament particularly influence the
singularly and equably progressive percentage noticed above.
The operations of the Act of 1843 may have suddenly swollen the
returns up to 1859, but it certainly did not do so afterwards. The
Act of 1861, writes Dr. L. Robertson, “ rendering pauper lunatics
chargeable upon the common fund of the Union, instead of on their
parish, led to a further increase in the number of lunatics and idiots
sent to the county asylums.” but, on comparing the proportion of

the lunatics to the general population in the years 1862, 1863, and
1864, when this increase of admissions to asylums would have taken
place, there is no proof of any great access to the number of known
lunatics, and simply because they were all allowed for in the returns
of the Commissioners before the passing of the Act. .

Since 1862, the statistics of the insane published by the Com-
missioners have not been subject to any disturbing causes ; they
are not calculated to mislead in the manner suggested, and we are
bound to accept the fact that there is a steady increase in the
lunacy of the population of England, Wales, and Ireland, especially
amongst the pauper class, and to admit that for once popular fallacy
is supported by recent statistics.

The bearing of statistics upon the ultimate causes of insanity
is evident. It warrants the plain statement of Dr. Richardson,—
“Our uneducated cloddish populations are, in short, as I venture
to assume, the breeders of our abstract insanity ; while our educated,

178 On Insanity. [| April,

ambitious, over-straining, untiring mental workers are the breeders
and intensifiers of some of the worst forms of physical malady ;”*
and it is very ably considered by the Commissioners,t who write as
follows :—“ The population of England may be estimated in round
numbers of 20,000,000, of which 1,000,000 are paupers; and we
have thus the remarkable fact of an increase in asylum patients in
five years of 5049 from the million of paupers, and of only 36
from the 19,000,000 of non-paupers. Making very liberal allowance
for the pauperizing effects of lunacy, and the consequent removal
of a considerable number of patients from the independent to the
pauper class, we are thus forced to the conclusion that insanity
is essentially a disease not of the overstrained intellectual or emo-
tional faculties, but of the depraved bodily condition which for the
most part is dependent on insufficient or inappropriate food, irre-
gular living, overcrowded dwellings, long-continuzd nursing, over-
work. fever, or any similar cause of bodily debility.” They might
have added the influence of want of mental exertion, and of hebetude
produced by the sameness of the mental surroundings; for a large
section of the human race dies more or less insane from prolonged
stupidity.

The number of the insane in Ireland should afford a very satis-
factory proof that the affliction accompanies, and is more or less
produced by causes which relate to the general nutrition and vital
force, instead of those which have to do with exaggerated emotions,
intense mental work, and hard labour.

The population of Ireland is steadily decreasing, and the agri-
cultural wealth has been on the whole increasing for the last ten
years ; but the condition of the agricultural class is very much the
same as it was fifty years since. The constabulary obtain very
exact returns of the numbers of the insane who do, and who do not
receive parochial relief; and thus the whole amount of mental alien-
ation may be determined very correctly. The returns made by the
asylums, workhouses, and gaols, taken with those of the constabulary,
and compared with the decreasing population, show a decided increase
in the numbers of the insane from 1851 to 1861, and that although
there has been a decrease in the population since 1861, there had
not been a corresponding decrease in the numbers of the alienates.

Dr. MacCabe has given some very interesting statistics con-
cerning the county and city of Waterford, which maintain a
considerable agricultural and a small urban population. He con-
siders the district to: present a fair picture of an average Irish
agricultural district, the population of the city of Waterford quali-
fying a character that might otherwise be described as exclusively
agricultural. Im 1851 the lunatics of all classes in Ireland num-
bered 15,098, being in the proportion of 1 m 433 of the popu-

* «Journal of Mental Science, October, 1869. + Report, 1869.

1870. } On Insanity. 179

lation, which was 6,552,385. ‘Ten years later, in 1861, the popula-
tion numbered 5,764,543; a decrease of 12°20 per cent. ‘The
number of the insane thus amounted to 15,947, or 1 in 361 of the
population. |

Dr. MacCabe gives the following statistics of Waterford :—The
county and city comprise an area of 721 square miles, or 461,553
acres, of which in round numbers 325,000 are arable, 105,000
uncultivated, 23,000 in plantations, 1500 m towns, and nearly 6000
under water. In 1851, four years after the famine, the population
of the district amounted to 164,051. The numbers of the insane
were :—In the asylum, 121; in workhouses and gaols, &., 61; at
large, 56: total, 238. Ratio to the population, 1 in 689.

In 1861 the population of the district amounted to 134,336,
a decrease in ten years of 29,715. ‘Lhe numbers of the insane in
the district were :—In the asylum, 1385; in workhouses and gaols,
69; at large, but returned by the constabulary, 182: total insane
of the district, 386. Ratio to the population of 1 in 348.

In 1868 the population had evidently declined from the figures
given in the census of 1861. The numbers of the insane were :—
In the asylums, 167; in workhouses and gaols, 90; at large, 120:
total imsane of the district, 377. Ratio to the population, 1 in
358. The increase in the numbers admitted into the asylums and
workhouses depended upon the operation of Acts of Parliament,
but the significance of the sum total is not to be mistaken. There
was an evident increase in the numbers of the insane for ten years,
and no decrease of any amount since 1861, so far as Waterford was
concerned. :

The last returns of the insane population of Ireland for 1867
and 1868, December 31st, in both years are, for the first year,
15,650; and for the last, 16,018. In 1861, it has been already
mentioned, the insane numbered 15,947. Of course a correct esti-
mate of the relative numbers of the insane and sane cannot be
obtained until the census which is about to take place is completed.
But, as a matter of fact, it is known that the general population
did decrease from 1851 to 1861, and there is a strong presumption
from the emigration returns that a steady exodus makes a sad
inroad into the ranks of the peasantry year by year. No one credits
that there is any increase of the population, and therefore the
numbers of the insane must be believed to be on the increase, and
to have increased year by year in Ireland in relation to the popu-
lation.

Esquirol’s remark that insanity belongs almost exclusively to
civilized races of man, and that it scarcely exists among savages,
being very rare in barbarous countries, holds good; and the expe-
rience of the last twenty years proves that he might have said with
great truth that in the most civilized countries where there is the

180 On Insanity. [ April,

greatest wealth, industry, and learning, there there is the greatest
poverty and misery and the largest amount of insanity.

The success of the treatment of the insane, so pleasurably com-
mented upon by our legislators and by magistrates in sessions, can
be estimated by statistics, and the result of a fair inquiry is re-
markably unsatisfactory.

Thirty-five years have elapsed since Prichard’s celebrated treatise
on insanity appeared, and during that time the asylum system
and the “moral management” treatment have gradually attained
a great development; that is to say, the old miseries of the imsane
have to a great degree been replaced by conditions which at least
are very satisfactory to the public. If imsanity were not a curable
disease, if it were perfectly beyond the action of remedies, and
if it were a special affliction far beyond the influence of material
entities, civilization might be congratulated upon having influenced
the minds of men in the direction pointed out by the philosophy
of Christianity. Fine buildings, many of them admirably adapted
for their object ; delightful grounds; elegant corridors, hung with
pictures and ornamented with flowers, and decorated with taste;
a large staff of nurses and attendants; well-educated and benevo-
lent medical men; a perfect system of hygiene, diet, and super-
vision, and sedulous commissioners and visitors. These are the
most prominent accessories of the modern system, and they are
most creditable to humanity. But when Hodge's wife leaves him
in a snug ward, whose surroundings are quite palatial to her won-
dering senses, and returns to her dirty hole of a cottage, to satisfy
the hunger of half-a-dozen young children upon bread, dripping,
and tea, she wants to know whether all this splendour will cure her
John safely, quickly, and pleasantly, and what he will think of home
when he comes out. The people who sent her John to the asylum
know that he will not be cured cheaply, and some have the curious
taste to say that if it were not for those confounded lunatics many
healthy-minded individuals might have a holiday now and then.
As it is, the rates are the devourers of such luxuries. Some rest-
less inquirers have not yet been sufficiently educated up to the
proper appreciation of the grandeur of the modern system, of its
psychological literature, and of its staff of officals and commis-
sioners. Such Bohemians will ask questions which are considered
proofs of gross ignorance by the profession: and some have the
assurance to assert that the magnificent accessories of the treatment
of insanity have not been of great assistance to humanity. They
urge that lunatics are not more frequently cured than they used to
be; that the number of recoveries from insanity has not been increased ;
that the holding down of violent patients and the fracturing of
their ribs by keepers is not a bit better or more Christian treatment
than placing them in strait-waistcoats and fastening them down

1870. | On Insanity. 181

with straps; and that the whole asylum system is uselessly ex-
pensive and detrimental to the majority of the insane and unphilo-
sophical, especially as no means have been adopted by the State
to prevent the occurrence of that misery and pauperdom which
develops lunacy. |

Many independent thinkers, whilst they admit the sedulous care
that is taken of the insane in asylums, and believe that cruel
treatment is very exceptional, are by no means satisfied that much
progress has been made by medical science in the cure of the
alienated. The inmates of asylums are well taken care of, and
they are as comfortable as they can be; but with all this there
is a doubt whether the cures increase year by year with the expe-
rience of the psychological gentlemen. ‘There is even a doubt
expressed about the applicability of the asylum system to many
cases of chronic insanity, and the Commissioners hint at a want
of individual attention to demented patients. Certainly the Com-
missioners have forced the present system of shutting up all lunatics
upon the nation, and have necessitated an enormous expenditure ;
but it becomes a serious question whether the whole of the insane
who are not affected with the disease in its acute form, and who
are not dangerous to themselves and others, would not be better off
under very different circumstances than those of the model asylums.
The heavy expense of the present system is admitted, and the
anxiety of the physicians to do their best also. Now let us consider
some results.

Prichard, writing thirty-five years since, notices the remarkable
results of Dr. Burrows’ treatment. He writes:—“ Dr. Burrows has
reported from his own experience 240 cures in an aggregate of
296 cases of various descriptions ; 221 cures from recent cases ; 19
cases from 64 old cases; affording a proportion of 81 in 100 of all
eases.” He acknowledges the general surprise that this high per-
centage of recoveries has excited, but notices that it coincides nearly
with the statements of Dr. Willis. Dr. Jacobi, of Siegburg, in
Westphalia (1830), cured 40 in 100 cases, and kept his patients
sufficiently long under his eye to render any doubt about their per-
fect cure impossible. Esquirol collected the results of 5360 cases,
and found 2691 recoveries, and this was between a.p. 1798 and
1813. This is at the rate of nearly 50 per cent. In a report
made officially in Paris in 1825 of the state of the hospitals for
lunatics during the three preceding years, and which was con-
sidered by Dr. Burrows, the recoveries were proved to be 34 in
100. Esquirol tabulated the returns from English lunatic hos-
pitals from 1748 to 1814, and found that the percentage of cases
was about 33 against the 50 per cent. in France. ‘The cures at
Bethlehem Hospital from 1819 to 1833 amounted to rather more
than 50 per cent. In the Stafford Asylum, from 1818 to 1828,

VOL. VII. 0

182 On Insanity. | April,

the cures were about 43 in 100 admissions. In Wakefield County

Asylum from 1819 to 1826 the cures were 42in 100. In Lan-

easter County Asylum from 1817 to 1832 the cures were about 40
er cent.

4 The Gloucester Asylum from 1823 to 1832 dismissed nearly

50 per cent. of its inmates cured. The same average result was

obtained in the Retreat, near York, from 1812 to 1833.

Now it must be admitted that the treatment of the sane was,
so far as comfort and science were concerned, at a very low ebb
during the early twenty-five years of this century. The “magni-
ficent period” has lasted from 1835 to the present day. What
do the statistics of recoveries (which relate to the past thirty years)
prove in comparison with those just mentioned, and which belong
to the past ? In the Somerset County Asylum 3284 patients were
admitted from 1848 to 1868, and the recoveries were 42 per cent.
The average number of the cures of the Scottish Asylums amounts
to about from 37 to 40 per cent. The average percentage of reco-
veries to admissions into English asylums during the past ten
years has been, for the county and borough asylums, 33-93 ; and for
the private licensed asylums of the metropolis, 27°60. It follows
that the cures of the insane in our fine asylums are not more
numerous than they were from 1748 to 1814, when the treatment
of the insane was a disgrace to humanity. If anything is to be
made out of the statistics, the percentage of cures has rather fallen
off. Whilst every other disease has been less persistent and has
been more curable, insanity remains as a dead-weight on the statis-
tics of our social miseries. To refer this unsatisfactory state of
things to the comforts of asylums, or to the system of treatment
adopted by the able men who labour in this thankless part of the
medical profession, is simply absurd.

The cause of the mass of incurability is tolerably evident, and
the defects of the system which prevent a cure are so also.

It is admitted that the majority of the msane are more curable
during the first year of the attack than subsequently, and that
mania is, as a rule, followed by recovery in from 90 to 95 per cent.
of cases. But every month that elapses without amendment in
the mental condition complicates the afiliction and diminishes the
chance of recovery. Every relapse actsin the same manner. The
quiet and chronic cases are of course those whose persistence in the
same state renders the percentage of causes so unsatisfactory. Not
only is the malady produced in them, either by hereditary predis-
position, by a long perversion of the nutrition of the brain by reason
of mental and moral abuse, or by organic disease, but it is perpe-
tuated by the rest-and-be-thankful treatment which sooner or later
must be adopted under the present system. The routime of an
asylum and its moral and physical atmosphere act after a while per-

1870. | On Insanity. 183

niciously. The want of definite work, of exercise which interests, of
relief from miserable sights, and of those happinesses of home which
cannot be replaced by any luxurious comforts, together with the effects
of the dismal companionship of fellow-sufferers, during the periods of
temporary sanity, are constantly producing depressing results. Dr.
Boyd, writing in 1869, states that in his experience the tubercular
class of diseases produces very fatal results in the chronically insane.
He remarks, that ‘‘ However we regard the fact, whether from the
numbers collected, or from insanity beng more prevalent amongst
phthisical (consumptive) patients than others, or from both causes,
the mortality from tubercular disease was about double amongst
chronic cases of insanity in both sexes to that of the adult male and
female population of England in 1866.” ‘The longer the duration
of the residence in the asylum, the greater was the mortality from
consumption.*

In ordinary medical practice the consumptive are not more fre-
quently transferred to the alienist physician on account of mental
derangement, than those suffering from other diseases, and of course
less frequently than those with disease of the nervous system. It is
the depressing effect of association and of the want of physical labour
that adds to the list of the consumptive in our great asylums.

Here, then, is one of the most prominent causes of the incura-
bility of the insane brought into definite relation with the asylum
system. Even if it were admitted, which it cannot be, that the
majority of the insane are afflicted with tubercular diseases before
they enter asylums, the peculiar arrangements of the establishments
are not those which would benefit the constitution or retard the issue.

Consider another point. The miseries and the excitements of
one age were pretty well equalled in all others; but it is by no
means clear that education, however trivial, does not add to the
wretchedness of the pauperized, and of those who, whilst they wit-
ness the splendid luxury and waste of their fellow-men, are dragged
down by circumstances into a hopeless condition of semi-starvation
and drudgery whose only termination is in a long vista of want,
with the poorhouse and grave in the distance. The want of mental
and physical resiliency amongst the poorest of our urban and agri-
cultural populations is evident to those who care to mix with them.
The well-disposed and honest are in constant fear about the sus-
tentation of their families, and the careless are, as a rule, steady
drinkers and unsteady workers. The wants of the primitive con-
dition of mankind are superadded to the miseries of our social state ;
and the poverty, which is hardly ever to be cast off, prevents that
healthy direction of the mind and senses which the early hunters
enjoyed, but which appears to be incompatible with the present
state of things. There is nothing wonderful, then, in the state-

* ¢ Journal of Mental Science,’ 1869, pp. 200-2.

OZ

184 , On Insanity. [ April,

ment that the present condition of the pauperized, and of those
who must become paupers in the ordinary course of events, is fa-
vourable to hebetude and to mental decadence, as well as to physical
degeneration. It is clear that the majority of the pauper insane
enter asylums with the malady in their very bones, and year after
year hereditary predisposition adds to its intractable nature. Our
social state is producing year after year an increasing amount of
insanity more than ever difficult of cure.

It is evident to those who can consider the question dispassion-
ately that the method of treatment of the majority of the chronic
cases forming the bulk of the inmates of asylums is inordinately
expensive, unsatisfactory as regards its results, and not nght in
principle. It isa failure. There is no doubt about the efficiency
of the treatment adopted in asylums in cases of mania and in those
where suicide is feared; moreover, there is a social necessity for
separating those thus afflicted from their fellow-men. The total
alteration of scene and diet, the moral influence of strange faces,
and of the clock-like regularity of the establishment, constitute,
however, with that valuable medicine, time, the principal curative
agents. Medicine, so far as drugs are concerned, has advanced
very slightly since the time of the Greeks in the treatment of
insanity, and no important addition to our knowledge concerning
the relation of drugs to insanity has emanated from the alienist
physicians of the past twenty years. Every severe disease has
attracted the urgent attention of the medical protession, and those
which were formerly very fatal are now so managed that a cure is
by no means rare, and, moreover, it bears a definite relation to the
administration of drugs. But the medical treatment of the insane
is in the hands of a few, and the alienists constitute a very close
borough: so of course no progress commensurate with the spirit of
the age is made. Kind Nature cures the majority of the lunatics
who recover, but she certainly does not get the credit. She is
opposed by the asylum system in the cure of the chronic cases, and
therefore they remain much the same as fifty years since.

Our social errors produce such types of madness that even the
Commissioners are downhearted, and begin to be philosophical.
They write, despairingly, as follows :—

“ Hitherto our efforts have been mainly directed to the pro-
vision of asylums for the cure and care of the insane; but these
efforts, however beneficial they may be in many respects, have, as
we have seen, totally failed to meet the increase of lunacy. That
more successful results would be obtained from the rational educa-
tion of the people, and from the introduction of physiological in-
struction into schools, may very reasonably be expected. ‘The pre-
vention of insanity is not only a far nobler aim than the provision of
accommodation after the mischief has been done, but it is one which

1870.] | On Insanity. — 185

there is reason to hope would greatly contribute to sap the sources
of pauperism.” *

The rational-education cry is all very well, but, for reasons
already given, there may be much doubt whether it will be the
panacea for lunatic pauperism. Our difficulty is not, however, at
present how to prevent insanity, but how to treat the apparently
incurable—those who do not receive benefit from the present asy-
lum system—properly and successfully, and without extravagant
outlay. When a system is fully developed, any proposition which
interferes with it is of course ridiculed. Just as the asylum system
was a matter of slow growth, and one full of trouble and mistakes,
so all others, more or less antagonistic to it, must commend them-
selves to us, whilst they pass through stages of incompleteness,
misdirection, and error. If the insane colony of Gheel is mentioned
as a reasonable institution, its shortcomings are of course placed
prominently before us, but really they are equalled in many Eng-
lish asylums, and its statistics prove that the unfortunate patients
afflicted with chronic insanity are cured in about the same ratio.
They have more liberty, and it is possible for them to wear out
their irritability by continuous labour. Certainly they do not cost
so much for maintenance as the English demented, who crawl about
the yards and grounds of the asylum like flies out of season. But
a system of treatment of the chronic insane on the Gheel plan,
and without its evident errors, would give the afflicted a better
chance than they now have. There are many large asylums with
plenty of land around them, and some of the insane work on the
land; but this labour is not universal, and its mercantile value is
always considered. Ifa superintendent turned the whole of his
chronic cases out into the fields day after day, and managed to
direct the attention of each one to work which was possible, it
would not be a more troublesome proceeding than teaching a class
of idiots (and this is well done, after a while, with perseverance),
and the benefit must be great. Ifa great village, with proper cot-
tages, was founded in each county on land which could be culti-
vated without any great loss by skilled labour and by the chronic
insane, the success would not be less, so far as curation is concerned,
than it now is, and it might be greater. The comforts of the
patients would be the same, and the same staff of officials would be
necessary. The dreary walls, the awful sameness of surroundings,
the close company of fellow-lunatics sadly differing in mental pecu-
liarities, would be got rid of, and the restraint would be reduced
to its minimum. Doubtless there would be occasional scenes of
trouble, excitement, and violence; but are there not such within the
walls of the best-regulated asylums? Perhaps they might be less
frequent under the open canopy of heaven. As a matter of expense,

* Report, 1869.

186 The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. [| April,

there can be no doubt that the village system would be very econo-
mical, in fact just as reasonably so as the present asylums are scan-
dalously expensive when their expenditure is contrasted with their
results.

The old notions concerning the origin and nature of insanity are
rapidly going out of fashion, and it is ceasing to be considered a
disease of the mind per se. This change of belief implies no irre-
verence towards God’s special providence, but a growing opinion
that many peculiarities of modern civilization are sufficiently anta-
gonistic to the laws of nature to render unstable that normal balance
between the mind and the body which almost invariably exists in
savage nations. Providing that the body is well nourished and the
brain well worked, there appears to be no increase of mental aliena-
tion in spite of mercantile disaster and political changes. Let long
years of unrequited toil, insufficient and improper nourishment, be
passed amongst all that degrades humanity, and the improperly
educated brain will become unhinged by an unusual series of exer-
tions. Civilized poverty is the hotbed of insanity and of a type
which is singularly irremediable. It follows that whilst moral ma-
nagement may be necessary for some lunatics, a special physical
treatment which must bear a definite reference to the constitutional
causes of the ailment is absolutely required for the majority. This
method of treatment cannot be obtained under the present system
of seclusion in asylums where the success in re-establishing reason |
is not greater than it was when all the horrors of the madhouse
were in full force, but it may be successfully carried out under an
intelligent supervision, adapted to the village and cottage system
foreshadowed by the insane colony of Gheel.

Ill. THE METALLURGICAL INDUSTRY OF
CLEVELAND.

TurovucHout the whole history of applied science and the metal-
lurgic arts there is probably nothing which can at all compare
with the condition of things now prevailing in Cleveland. In the
more limited acceptation of the term, Cleveland is, strictly speaking,
but a small portion of the North Riding of Yorkshire,—probably
about one-third of it; but, from the fact that the staple industry is
the same throughout a large part of Teesdale and South Durham
as in Cleveland proper, the term has now popularly acquired a
more extended signification. Within a very limited area of the
district referred to, the last twenty years have seen an industrial
development which has no equal, either in ancient or in modern

QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, No. XXVI.

makings.

st Age of Iron

The Fir

L—

2.—The Second Age of Iron-making.

4 feat
dene arias

or
hg OO
Sat oF Oe yee

ea

1870. | The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. 187

times, at home or abroad. It has been extraordinary, in every sense
of that term. It is true that in the minds of many persons who
haye no practical acquaintance with Cleveland, there is always asso-
ciated with that name the idea of iron-making; but to the million,
and even to many well-educated people, it conveys practically no idea
whatever, unless it be of the crudest description. It is not highly
improbable that some of the examiners for the Civil Service would
themselves fail to pass an examination in the physical and political
geography of Cleveland; certain it is, however, that some of their
best examinees would be “plucked” if examined on the subject.
And yet, while such a great amount of ignorance prevails regarding
Cleveland, it is already the greatest iron-making district im this
country or in the whole world; and while being the greatest, it is
practically the youngest seat of the iron-smelter’s art in Britain,
that is, if it be compared with South Staffordshire, South Wales,
and Scotland.

As there must be some special circumstances to which that
remarkable pre-eminence is due, it will be the object of this paper
to attempt to trace them out and enlarge upon them. It may be pre-
mised that an unusual amount of attention was directed to Cleveland
in the autumn of last year, both by the iron and steel trades of the
country and by the public at large, owing to the fact that the first
provincial meeting of a new scientific association, bearing the name
of the Iron and Steel Institute, was then held at Middlesbrough,
_ the capital of Cleveland. That organization had only been formally
ushered into existence at the preceding midsummer, by the delivery
of the inaugural address of the President, the Duke of Devonshire,
the great ironmaster of Barrow-in-Furness; and yet at the time of
the meeting referred to it included nearly 300 members, mary of
them being the most extensive and the most scientific ironmasters
and steel-makers in the kingdom. Its success was so great, that
there was no room for doubting the wisdom of the suggestion which
first gave birth to the Iron and Steel Institute. The originator of
the idea was Mr. John Jones, F'.G.8., the secretary for the North
of England Iron Trade, and now likewise the secretary for the new
association, the objects of which were, first, to afford a means of
communication between members of the iron and steel trades upon
all such matters as bear upon the respective manufactures, and are
not connected with trade regulations and wages; and, second, to
hold periodical meetings for the purpose of discussing practical and
scientific subjects relating to the manufacture and working of iron
and steel. Owing to the vast amount of interest, both industrial
and scientific, associated with Cleveland, it was highly proper that
the first provincial meeting of the Institute should be held at
Middlesbrough. It brought together many persons to whom Cleye-
land was practically a terra encognita, and every facility was freely

188 The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. { April,

offered to them for the exploration of the district, so that they

might have an opportunity of studying those features which had

given to the district a history which, though brief, is perhaps the

ata eventful and interesting in the whole annals of the iron manu-
cture.

That history may be said, in a measure, to have commenced in
the year 1829, when the site of modern Middlesbrough was chosen
as a coal-exporting place, owing to its closer proximity to the sea
than the town of Stockton, which was then the eastern terminus of
the famous Stockton and Darlington Railway, by means of which
the South Durham coal-field was connected with the river Tees.
Since then the district of Cleveland and its capital, Middlesbrough,
have had a most extraordinary career, and have acquired a won-
derful importance, whether regarded from a social, industrial, or
scientific point of view. About the time just mentioned the site
of Middlesbrough had only one solitary farmhouse, while at the
present time the municipal borough and its immediate belongings
contain a population of about 50,000 inhabitants.

While the first stage of Middlesbrough history commenced in
. 1829, as already mentioned, the connection of the town with the
great national industry of iron-making only began in the year
1840-41, when a rolling-mill and other works were erected for
the manufacture of malleable iron on a small scale by Mr. Bolckow
and the late Mr. John Vaughan. The former is a German, a native
of Mecklenburg, and the latter was a man of indomitable perse-
verance and unflinching industry, whose practical acquaintance with
iron-making had been gained while he was a workman at the world-
famous ironworks of Dowlais, South Wales. At the time just
- mentioned, and for some four or five years longer, Messrs. Bolckow
and Vaughan brought their pig-iron from a distance and trans-
formed it into bars, rails, castings, &c.; but in the year 1845 or
1846 they erected several small blast furnaces at Witton Park, near
Bishop Auckland, where they expected to secure a suitable supply
of ironstone to keep their furnaces employed. The supply soon
failed, and then they resorted to what was then known as Whitby
ironstone, which they obtained on the Yorkshire coast, at Skinnin-
grove, some ten or twelve miles from Whitby. For a time they
continued to work this Skinningrove ironstone, and carry it by ship
and by rail, and at considerable expense, all the way to Witton
Park to be smelted.

The third period of the history of Middlesbrough and Cleve-
land began about the end of the year 1850, when the town of
Middlesbrough had a population of not more than 7000 inha-
bitants. It began with the discovery of the same deposit of iron-
stone almost as far inland from Skinningrove as Skinningrove is
distant from Whitby, and quite within sight of Middlesbrough.

——

1870. | The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. 189

The difficulties of shipment were so great, owing to the exposed
nature of the coast, that it was deemed very desirable to make a
careful examination of the geological structure of the Cleveland
Hills. It was in the year just mentioned that the search for the
mineral proved successful, and the discovery has been the most
eventful circumstance in the history of Cleveland. From the cir-
cumstance that the mineral was discovered there, it has since been
known by the name of the Cleveland ironstone. Claims have been
urged on the part of various persons as the discoverers of this
famous mineral, as it has already, within the short period of twenty
years, been largely concerned in effecting a great revolution in iron
metallurgy. It is not desirable to make any effort in this place to
settle those claims ; and, indeed, as the Whitby and Cleveland iron-
stone are one and the same mineral deposit, and as the mineral was
certainly known in the year 1822, when it was spoken of in Young
and Bird’s ‘ Yorkshire Coast,’ and more fully described by Phillips
in his ‘Geology of Yorkshire, published in 1835, it would practi-
cally be impossible to decide who was the discoverer of the mineral.
Referring to this subject in his paper “‘On the Cleveland Iron-
stone,” read before the South Wales Institute of Engineers, in
August, 1869, Mr. Thomas Allison says, “ Whoever was the first
discoverer, the German Ocean may, we think, with justice, be said
to have been the first miner, by undermining and denuding the Lias
cliffs of the Yorkshire coast, containing the main bed of ironstone,
strewing the sea-beach with large blocks of the ore, which, like
lobsters boiled, changed their colour to red by billowy and atmo-
spheric influence, while the shaly part of the denuded cliffs was, by
the same causes, pulverized and washed away.”

The ironstone thus mined on the sea-coast was shipped in large
quantities to the ironworks on the Tyne and Wear for a number of
years before it was discovered inland. It is even stated that some
of it was sent to the Tyne as far back as the year 1811. This,
however, is certain, that John Vaughan was the first man to recog-
nize the great industrial value of the inland deposits of Cleveland
ironstone, and that to his practical knowledge is due not only the
tentative introduction of the ironstone in 1850-51, but the present
enormous development of the Cleveland iron trade, based, as it is,
on the utilization of those immense deposits of ore.

After the employment by Mr. Vaughan of portions of the iron-
stone deposit of the Cleveland Hills, its enormous extent began to
dawn upon the minds of geologists and mining engineers ; and since
then its distribution, position, and extent have been most carefully
determined by Messrs. Marley, Bewick, Cockburn, Allison, and
others. It is stating the facts in a very prosaic way to say that
the Cleveland ironstone is deposited in such an enormous quantity
as to be practically inexhaustible, and that the mining operations

190 The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. | April,

are now conducted upon a most gigantic scale. A few details bear-
ing on these points may not be out of place at this stage.

The ironstone of Cleveland is an impure carbonate, but it does
not belong to the Carboniferous series of strata, as do the black-
bands and the argillaceous or clayband ironstones. It occurs in
some nine or ten seams, distributed chiefly through the Middle Lias
group of the Oodlitic series; but they are not all worked, nor, from
a commercial point of view, are they all workable. The chief
source of the ironstone which is at present being worked is the
Main Cleveland Seam, the thickness of which is sometimes from
174 to 20 feet, as at the Eston mines. At other mines it varies
from this extraordinary thickness down to 15, 11, and even to
7 feet. At the Eston mines the ore is worked at a depth of nearly
600 feet from the top of the shaft, which opens out on a bleak and
uninhabited Yorkshire moor. Sometimes the main seam is split up
into two seams by shale and other beds, the upper being distinguished
paleeontologically as the pecten seam, and the lower as the avicular
seam. Where the main seam is undivided it is.generally richer in
metallic iron than where it is split into two seams: in the former
case the ore may yield from 30 to 31 per cent. of metal, while in
the latter the yield is frequently from 28 to 26 per cent. of
metallic iron. Cleveland ironstone is highly fossiliferous—aindeed,
it may be said to be quite charged with animal remains, and conse-
quently there always occurs in the iron extracted from it a notable
quantity of phosphorus, the presence of which has hitherto rendered
the production of steel from it, without puddling, a scientific impos-
sibility. Analyses of Cleveland pig-iron give not unfrequently from
1:2 to 1°3 per cent. of this troublesome element ; and yet, although
it is generally regarded as an undesirable ingredient of manufactured
iron, it would almost seem that Cleveland iron, in the form of rail-
way bars, has a greater degree of durability than iron which is
practically free from phosphorus. Besides the seam referred to—
the Main Cleveland Seam—there is another workable seam, known
as the Top Bed. Geologically, it is from 230 to 250 feet higher
up, resting on the ton of the Upper Lias, the chief feature of
which is the well-known Whitby alum shale. This Top Bed is
only worked at three places—Glaisdale, Rosedale, and Port Mul-
grave, on the coast. At Rosedale there is also a peculiarly depo-
sited bed of rich magnetic ironstone, occupying the same geological
position as the Top Bed just spoken of. It sometimes yields as
much as 49 per cent. of metallic iron.

In a number of places throughout Cleveland the ironstone
deposit has been completely removed by denudation. The total
extent of the denuded area is about sixty square miles, but even
after making allowance for that fact there is an iron-bearing area
of about 420 square miles. In one portion of that area the deposit

1870. | The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. 191

amounts to about 27,000 tons per acre; and in another, where the ore
may be said to be of second-class quality, the yield is almost 18,000
tons per acre. The total amount of ironstone obtainable from the
Cleveland Hills is, therefore, upwards of 4,500,000,000 tons, an
amount so great that one can scarcely form an adequate conception
of it. According to the calculations of Mr. William Cockburn,
mining engineer at Messrs. Pease’s Upleatham mines, the total
yielding power of the mines throughout the Cleveland district is now
upwards of 5,000,000 tons per annum ; and according to the same
gentleman’s calculations the mineral of the first quality may be
expected to last seventy-three years, while that which he considers
to be of the second class is almost inexhaustible. It is to be hoped,
but hardly to be expected, that. the South Durham coal-field will
hold out long enough to supply the heating power to calcine and
smelt the ironstone which Nature has so bountifully deposited in the
Cleveland Hills.

At first the Cleveland ironstone was generally quarried where it
cropped out on the surface, but the plan now adopted is to sink
shafts from the surface or drive levels from the hill-side, or both,
and then work the mineral upon the “ bord and pillar” principle.
Some of the iron-smelting firms have mines of their own, others
contract for their supply of mineral. As the mining operations of
Cleveland are conducted upon such a gigantic scale, it is but natural
to expect that no antiquated measures are adopted unless their
utility has been fully demonstrated. To be “time-honoured” is not
alone sufficient ; they must be the most economical methods of pro-
cedure, both as regards the mineral to be worked and the labour
and life spent upon it. One finds in use the most highly approved
mechanical appliances, both for “winning” the mineral and for
draining and ventilating the mines. As a single illustration it may
be mentioned that in one of the mines explored by the present writer
—one belonging to Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, and Co. (Limited),
at Eston—the engine-plane was brilliantly illuminated throughout
nearly a mile and a half with coal gas. The same plane is a level
or drift which serves as an air-course inwards and a water-course
outwards. The water is drained from the mine at the rate of
about 600 gallons per minute, and is carried by gravitation to the
company’s blast furnaces, where it takes the place of water which
formerly cost 10007. per annum.

The ironstone, which is the raw material forming the prime
requisite of the great industry of Cleveland, is obtained so cheaply
that it can be laid down at the furnaces at a cost of 4s. to
4s. 6d. per ton; and as it contains very frequently from 28 to 31
per cent. of metallic iron, the ore for a ton of pig-iron costs less
than 14s. It is in a very great measure owing to the extraordinary
abundance and cheapness of the raw ironstone that the Cleveland

192 The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. | April,

ironmasters have, in a comparatively short term of years, acquired
for their district the proud distinction of bemg the greatest seat of
the iron manufacture in the whole world.

It was in the month of September, 1850, that the first sample of
Cleveland ironstone from the Eston Hill was smelted at the Witton
Park Iron Works; but it was only a few months afterwards that
active measures were taken for the practical treatment of the mineral
at Middlesbrough, within easy reach of the ironstone deposit.
Messrs. Bolckow and Vaughan were the first firm of ironmasters
to enter upon the Cleveland industry. They were the first to
erect blast furnaces on Tees-side, and were really the original
pioneers of the present gigantic trade of the district. But there
were other firms who soon cast in their lot with Messrs. Bolckow
and Vaughan by erecting blast furnaces in the district. Chief among
these, it is but proper that mention should be made of Messrs.
Bell Brothers, of Clarence lron Works, Messrs. Gilkes and Wilson,
Messrs. Cochrane, and Mr. B. Samuelson, M.P. They were keenly
alive to the great resources of the district, and they brought great
practical and scientific abilities and commercial energy to bear upon
those resources. Their example has since been followed in a most
remarkable manner, and the energy which has since been displayed
has been most wonderful, if not even unique, if one may judge by
comparing the state of things now prevailing with that which
existed twenty, fifteen, or even ten years ago—for even within the
last five years or so, the ironworks of Middlesbrough and its imme-
diate vicinity have been nearly doubled in number.

As already indicated, the chief or primary circumstance to which
this extraordinary scientifico-industrial development is traceable is
the almost inexhaustible store of comparatively rich ironstone lying
quite at hand in the Cleveland Hills; but there are other circum-
stances which must also be taken into consideration. A sojourner
in the district can scarcely fail to be struck with the wonders that
surround him on all hands. ‘Toa few of the circumstances which
strike a stranger to Cleveland—but who is not a stranger to the
iron trade—reference may now be made.

I. Caleining Kilns.—In the Cleveland district the ironstone is
in some instances calcined before leaving the mines, but in most.
cases it is calcined in very close proximity to tlie blast furnaces
where it is to be smelted. The operation is effected in calcining
kilns, never in open heaps or “bings,” such as may be seen in
various iron districts. These kilns have no very distant resem-
blance to lime-kilns. They are generally of very considerable size,
sometimes fifty feet in height, and upwards of twenty in width ; in-
deed, they are frequently a good deal larger than many of the blast
furnaces of South Staffordshire, South Wales, and Lanarkshire.
The raw ironstone is raised to the top of the stacks of calcining

1870. | The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. 193

kilns, either by inclined planes up which the laden waggons are
dragged, or by hoists of great ingenuity. As a rule, it is tho-
roughly roasted or calcined by means of one ton of small coal or
“breeze” to from thirty to forty tons of green ironstone. In every
direction labour-saving appliances are to be found. Even im the
discharging of the kilns an ingenious hopper arrangement has been
applied, which economizes labour to a remarkable extent. The
roasted stone is charged into great iron barrows without any shovel-
ling being required, and by means of them it is lifted in the furnace-
hoists to the top of the furnace, and charged into them quite hot.
This plan of charging the furnaces with calcined ore while it is dry
and quite hot also effects some economy in the fuel.

Il. The Blast Furnaces: their Number, Size, and Mode of
Working.—The blast furnaces of Cleveland form quite an extraor-
dinary feature throughout the whole district, whether we regard
their number or their size, or the mode of working them. In no
other iron-making district can such a sight be seen as that which
meets the eye of the visitor to Middlesbrough and the district imme-
diately surrounding it. At the present time (February, 1870) there
are no fewer than 122 blast furnaces in the Cleveland district, if under
that term it may be permitted to include Durham, considering that
Cleveland ironstone is almost universally used in the blast furnaces
of that county. True, there are twelve of that number of furnaces
that are not likely ever to be again brought into use in their pre-
sent form, as they are too antiquated, and not in accordance with
the prevailing notions as to what a blast furnace should be. Then
there are other nine which are out of use, but as they are available
they may again be called into requisition. There are thus left 101
furnaces, all of which are in blast; but besides these there are four-
teen new ones being built, one being raised, and other two being
rebuilt or modernized. Somewhere about seventy, or about two-
thirds of the whole, are clustered within an area so limited that a
radius of three or four miles from the centre of Middlesbrough
would include almost every one of them.

And then, such furnaces as they are in point of size, almost
universally! Throughout Monmouthshire and South Wales there
are probably not fewer than 200 blast furnaces, while out of that
great number only four or five reach to a greater height than
50 feet. Many of them are only 35 or 40 feet high, and there is
even one that rises no higher than 25 feet. In South Staffordshire
from 45 to 5() feet is the commonest height for the blast furnaces,
and in Scotland the greater of those two elevations is but seldom
exceeded. But what a mighty difference is observable throughout
Cleveland. Such a puny thing as a furnace only 45 feet high is
exceedingly rare, and in comparison with many of the other colossal
structures it might almost be spoken of simply as a crucible or a tiny

194 The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. { April,

smelting-pot. Heights of from 70 to 95 feet are common through-
out the whole district, while at Ferryhill there is one furnace that
towers up to the extraordinary height of 103 feet, and is therefore,
doubtless, the most gigantic iron-smelting furnace in the world.
In the short space of twenty years Cleveland blast-furnace practice
has passed through several phases. At first the furnaces were built
only 45 feet high, then the height was increased to 56 feet, next
to 60 feet, and then (in 1863) to 75 feet, and soon afterwards still
greater heights were adopted. Some of them had but very short
lives comparatively ; they were erected and in use but a few years
when it was resolved to raze them to the ground, and rebuild
them of much larger dimensions. Amongst the new furnaces now
in course of erection it is stated that there are two which are to
be built to the height of 90 feet; and even the great furnace at
Ferryhill is to be overtopped by one which is to reach a height of
120 feet! And as is the height of the Cleveland furnaces so is
their internal diameter at the widest part, or what is technically
known as the “boshes.” It generally varies from 16 to 25 feet,
but in the case of the Ferryhill furnace it is 27 feet. The two
90-feet furnaces just referred to are to be 30 feet wide at the
boshes, or one-third of the height; and it is proposed to make
the 120-feet furnace no less than 33 feet wide at the boshes. Were
the Vulcans and Tubal Cains of antiquity to revisit the earth, they
would doubtless stare on coming within sight of these immense
smelting crucibles.

When compared with such primitive furnaces as are still in use
in Central Africa, as represented in the first of our sketches illus-
trating “the ages of iron-making” (see Plate I.), the contrast is
remarkable in the extreme. It is even still remarkable when such
a blast furnace as is in use at Mariedam, in Sweden (Plate II.), is
compared with one of the modern or Cleveland type, as illustrated
in Plate IIT.

The internal capacity of some of the Cleveland furnaces amounts
to 25,000 or 26,000 cubic feet-—that of the Ferryhill furnace being
33,000 feet ; and the weekly production of pig-iron from a number
of the furnaces—fourteen castings, or two daily—is from 420 to
450 tons; at Norton it is as much as 550 tons. A single casting
from one of the Ormesby furnaces has been known to weigh 45 tons.
With furnaces which, together with their great number, have such
a prodigious yielding power, it is scarcely to be wondered at that
the Cleveland ironmasters are now making nearly one-third of
all the pig-iron produced in Great Britain. One of them is the
greatest individual maker of pig-iron in the world, namely, Mr.
Thomas Vaughan, of Clay Lane and South Bank Iron Works.
His annual make is nearly a quarter-million tons.

For a considerable length of time a vigorous and interesting

1870. | The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. 195

discussion has been going on amongst the Cleveland ironmasters
with reference to the maximum dimensions that may be allowed
in the blast furnaces consistent with a due regard to the highest
degree of scientific economy in the working of the same. Mr.
Isaac Lowthian Bell, who may perhaps be justly regarded as the
greatest authority in the science and practice of iron-making amongst
practical ironmasters, has taken his stand after having instituted
probably the most elaborate series of experiments in blast-furnace
practice ever made. The paper which he read at the Middles-
brough meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, “On the Develop-
ment of Heat and its Appropriation in Blast Furnaces of different
Dimensions,” treats the subject very exhaustively. Mr. Bell ob-
tained his data for calculation from furnaces of almost all capacities,
ranging between 3500 and 33,000 cubic feet, and his verdict was
that the most economical furnaces would ultimately prove to be
those having capacities ranging from 12,000 to 25,000 or 26,000
cubic feet. There are, however, many ironmasters and blast-fur-
nace managers who do not agree with the dictum pronounced by
Mr. Bell, and there is a great deal to be said in favour of the
assumption that the maximum limits have not yet been reached.
In the opinion of Mr. C. W. Siemens, F.R.S., great results must
be looked for rather by increase in the temperature of the blast
than by simply increasing the capacity or height of the furnace.
As a rule, every increase hitherto made in the heights of blast
furnaces has been attended with a saving of fuel, not in Cleve-
land only but in other iron districts also. or instance, by raising
the height of some of the cold-blast furnaces at the Lilleshall Iron
Works, Shropshire, from 50 to 70 feet, there was a saving of seven
or eight cwt. of coal per ton of iron made.

The Cleveland furnaces present a remarkably strange appear-
ance to one who has been much accustomed to the iron-smelting
furnaces of the older iron districts. Elsewhere, as in many parts
of the “ Black Country,” Wales, and Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, the
furnaces are almost all provided with open tops from which great
tongues of flame are constantly belching forth, together with enor-
mous volumes of smoke, indicating prodigal waste of fuel; in Cleve-
land, however, all the furnaces are close-topped, and the gases
generated in the interior are collected and utilized. In the Cleve-
land iron-smelter’s vocabulary the term “ waste gases” is unknown.
According to Mr. Bell,* the system now in operation in Cleveland
effects a saving of something like 600,000 tons of coal per annum
in those works smelting the ironstone of North Yorkshire. -Such
scientific economy cannot fail to have important social and political
considerations. The mode of closing the furnaces is generally the

* Paper read before the Chemical Society of London. ‘Journal of the
Chemical Society,’ June, 1869,

196 The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. [| April,

same in principle throughout the whole district: it is the well-
known hopper-and-cone arrangement; and the gases are drawn off
very near the top of the furnace, and conducted away by means of
capacious tubes to be used in generating steam and in heating the
air of the blast. ‘Theoretically, there should be no coal used in
either of these operations; they should both be accomplished by
means of the furnace gases, and in practice this state of perfection
is fully reached at some of the works.* As coke is the fuel used
in Cleveland, the combustible gas which is generated consists almost
entirely of carbonic oxide, and it is the calorific power of this gas
which the iron-smelter has to utilize. Of course, there is also the
atmospheric nitrogen of the air of the blast passing through the
furnace. Of necessity, it absorbs a vast amount of heat, but of this
heat it is well deprived before it is thrown back into the atmo-
sphere.

‘ Since the hopper-and-cone arrangement of closing the furnace-
top was generally adopted throughout Cleveland, it has been very
materially improved, especially by Mr. Charles Cochrane, of the
Ormesby Iron Works, Middlesbrough, a gentleman who is now one
of the most active spirits in suggesting and applying improve-
ments in blast-furnace practice. Within the last few years he
contributed no fewer than five papers on various phases of blast-
furnace economy to the ‘ Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers,’ and all of them have been marked by indefatigable per-
severance and by great practical and scientific attainments. His
improved arrangement is that of the double-closed furnace-top, and
has for its object the diminution of the amount of gas escaping
from the furnace at the time of charging. It has done this so
effectually that for one furnace the saving in fuel alone is equal to
about 164/. per annum, while the necessary apparatus only costs
2002.

In the hands of the Cleveland ironmasters the great invention
which was given to the world by James Beaumont Neilson, namely,
the hot-blast, has of late almost revolutionized even Cleveland iron-
smelting. Neilson seemed to think that he had arrived at the
aeme of perfection when he got the temperature of the blast raised
to about 600° Fahrenheit ; and in Scotland, where the invention had
its birth, the blast is rarely heated much beyond that temperature.
But in Cleveland, where no such deference is paid to old customs
and traditions as they receive in Scotland and in South Stafford-

-shire, there seems to be no resting-place. Improvement succeeds
improvement with extraordinary rapidity, and at present it is in the
direction of increased temperature in the blast rather than in increase
of furnace capacity that further economy is to be sought for. It is

* At Mr. Samuelson’s Newport furnaces no coal whatever has been used for
several months.

1870. | The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. 197

no uncommon thing in Cleveland to find the blast heated to from
850° to 1000° Fahrenheit, but even the greater of those tempera-
tures is not deemed sufficient. Under the leadership of Mr. Coch-
rane the tendency is still upwards. That gentleman has applied at
the Ormesby Works the Siemens’ regenerative system as adapted
by Mr. E. A. Cowper, C.E., F.R.S., for the heating of the air of the
blast. He has of late used the blast at the unprecedented tempera-
ture of 1452° Fahrenheit, and the result of his experience is that
for each 100° that the blast is raised there is a saving of 1°34 ewt.
of coke per ton of iron made. It is the opinion of Mr. Bell that
21 ewt. of coke per ton of pig-iron is about the lowest minimum
that can be attained, but Mr. Cochrane is sanguine that a mini-
mum of 13 cwt. can be reached, provided that the blast is heated up to
2000°, and he has determined to aim at reaching that minimum
consumption of coke unless experience should prove it to be impos-
sible to attain it. Even a consumption of only 21 cwt. of coke per
ton of pig-iron must be deemed very marvellous, when it is remem-
bered that twice that amount is employed in producing a ton of
iron in cold-blast furnaces. There are instances of furnaces in the
Cleveland district—Consett and Ferryhill—working ona consump-
tion of 17 or 18 cwt. of coke per ton of pig-iron, but they are some-
what exceptional, as the ironstone used was either the rich Rosedale
stone or not exclusively Cleveland stone, but a mixture of it with
hematite, and therefore containing at first a much larger proportion
of metallic iron than is customary throughout the district. Super-
heated air is also in use at Consett Iron Works, the temperature of
the blast being about 1400° Fahrenheit, and produced in a hot-blast
stove, which is a modification and simplification of the Siemens-
Cowper stove in use at the Ormesby Works. Report speaks of it
very favourably as a fuel-saving appliance. The inventor of it is
Mr. Thomas Whitwell, of the Thornaby Iron Works, Stockton.
Various other appliances and improvements have been brought
to bear by the Cleveland ironmasters upon the great industry in
which they are engaged. By the use of separate heaters, water is
generally fed into the boilers in a boiling condition or nearly so.
Furnace materials have to be lifted to such vast heights that hoists
of almost every conceivable variety have been devised and brought
into use ;—the water-balance hoist, the vacuum hoist, the air-pres-
sure hoist, and the water-column hoist, may all be mentioned as
exhibiting special meritorious features of engineering construction.
From the facts already alluded to, and on account of the inter-
esting scientific and practical problems which are at present being
worked out, the eyes of all iron-making districts are anxiously directed
to Cleveland. It is iron-smelting which really forms the staple in-
dustry of that district, and although it is scarcely twenty years since
it had its very small beginning, it is already of such enormous pro-
VOL. VII. P

198 The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. [| April,

portions that every other district is completely overshadowed by it.
But although iron-smelting is the staple industry of Cleveland, it is
not the only one. The manufacture of malleable iron is carried on
to an immense extent throughout the district with great skill and
energy, and it has called into requisition some 1400 or 1500 pud-
dling furnaces, possibly even more: and some of those furnaces are
amongst the most economically effective appliances known to the
metallurgist. In some of these the consumption of coal per ton of
puddled bar has been reduced from 25 to 15 cwt. It was in Cleve-
land, likewise, that works were first erected by Messrs. B. Samuelson
and Co. for the practical application of the Siemens-Martin process
of manufacturing steel; and the experiments made by that firm at
the Newport Works would seem to indicate that there is a great
degree of probability that steel ingots for rails may yet be made at
a price little exceeding that of puddled bar. This is not the place
to enlarge upon the fact, but it may be stated that in the Cleveland
iron trade two great social problems have been solved, namely,—l.
The prevention of strikes and lock-outs, by the establishment of the
Board of Arbitration and Conciliation; and, 2. The possibility of
the co-operative system being catried out in a large iron-making
establishment,—the employés participating with the capitalists in the
division of the net profits of the business. This system has been in
operation during three years at the works of Messrs. Fox, Head,
and Co., and it has just been resolved to continue the arrangement
for the next five years. :

Great scientific and industrial results have been accomplished
by Cleveland already, but it is not too much to expect that she has
in store other equally great, if not even greater, triumphs for the
historian to record.

The production of rails in Cleveland is at the present time not
far short of 750,000 tons, and probably three-fourths of all the iron-
plates used in shipbuilding are made from Cleveland iron.

The readers of this Journal will recollect that brine-springs
have been found under the town of Middlesbrough ; and there is
every likelihood of the manufacture of salt being added before long
to the other industries of Cleveland.

Publications and authorities referred to in the foregoing ar-
ticle :—

1. Proceedings of the South Wales Institute of Engineers. Vol. VL.,
No. 5. August, 1869.

2. Proceedings of the Cleveland Institution of Engineers. No-
vember, 1869.

3. Iron and Coal Trades’ Review. (Article—< The Industrial
Features of Cleveland.”’) 15th September, 1869.

QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, No. XXVI.

a
Pyle
i E

op CLT
Ni ‘eestsTEECHNTTTDAY BULL

1 ua

4—Death of an Ironworks.

1870. | The Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland. 199

4.

5

re

Transactions of the Cleveland Literary and Philosophical So-
cvety— Science Section. Vol. I., 1868-69.

“On Our Foreign Competitors in the Iron Trade:” A Paper
read to the North of England Tronmasters, by I. Lowthian
Bell. 29th September, 1868.

“The Chemistry of the Blast Furnace:” A Lecture delivered to
the Chemical Society of London, by I. Lowthian Bell.
1869.

Transactions of the Iron and Steel Institute. Session 1869.

The Industries of the Tyne, Wear, and Tees. 2nd edition.
Longmans.

DESCRIPTION OF THE XYLOGRAPHIC PLATES.*

I.—First AGE or [Ron-MAKING.—A pen-and-ink sketch, made by Captain Grant,

who accompanied Speke to Lake Nyanza. It represents native Africans
making malleable iron direct from the ore. The ore is placed in the low
charcoal fire, and a man on each side urges it by means of bellows (two
single-acting—that is, four single-acting in all), so as to keep up a con-
tinuous blast.

II.—Srconp Act or [ron-MAxKING.—Illustrated by the blast furnace at Mariedam,

in Sweden, where the low hearth has passed through the intermediate
stage of the b/anofen, and arrived at the high or true blast furnace for the
manufacture of pig-iron. Height, about 40 feet; built of rough stones
bound together by logs of timber painted red; using charcoal, and
making from thirty to forty tons per week during four or five months in
the year.

IlI.—TxHirp oR CLEVELAND AGE or IRon-maxinc. — Illustrated by the Wear

Furnace at Washington, co. Durham. This furnace makes about 330 to
350 tons of iron per week from coke made on the spot, the heat from the
coke ovens being used for heating the blast. The furnace gases are also
partially used for this purpose, for raising steam for the blast engine, and
for boiling down certain solutions in the adjoining chemical works. 'The
exhaust steam from the engines heats up a large quantity of water
required in the chemical works. The ore smelted is the Cleveland stone,
with a small quantity of residual oxide of iron from the chemical works,
nothing being wasted.

IV.—DEATH oF AN IRonworkS.—This sketch represents two furnaces, built on a

landslip, on the Yorkshire coast. After the works were finished, the land
slipped a little further, and reduced the place to a ruin within two
months, The owners, nothing daunted, rebuilt the works, and a second
ruin resulted from the total absence of ordinary judgment shown in
building on such a site.

* The photographs for these plates have been kindly contributed by

I. Lowthian Bell, Esq.

Ge 200 <3 | April,

IV. ON “TROPHIC NERVES.”

By Grorce Routesroy, M.D., F.R.S., Linacre Professor of
Anatomy and Physiology, Oxford.

Au. physiologists, and indeed all observers, whether physiologists
or not, are agreed that the nervous system intervenes most power-
fully, and that not rarely, in controlling and modifying the pro-
cesses of what we call “organic life.” Growth and development, it
is true, may be.carried on, food may be assimilated, and secretions
may be elaborated, independently of nerves and nerve-centres in
many lower animals; but, on the other hand, it is equally true that
in more highly organized creatures there are but few processes of
vegetable life which may not be, at times and to a greater or less
degree, brought under the influence of their cerebro-spinal systems.
As to the facts, there is no question; as to the way in which the
facts are brought about, however, there is a very wide difference of
opinion. This difference is expressed in the contradictory answers
given by representatives of various biological schools to such ques-.
tions as :—Can the nerves act directly upon cells other than mus-
cular fibre cells? Can nerve-force interfere with the cell territory
otherwise than by regulating the stream of nutriment brought
within the borders of that territory by the blood-vessels? Are there,
finally, “trophic” and secretory as well as vasomotor nerves? The
indirect action of nerves upon tissues in the way of vasomotor regu-
lation of the blood-vessels supplymg them is more readily compre-
hensible by us, but that nerves can act directly upon cells pigmentary,
secretory, and other cells, as well as upon contractile cells and fibres,
appears to the present writer all but equally demonstrable. Change
of colour in ourselves is usually dependent upon vasomotor change ;
but change of colour in the frog has been most conclusively shown
by Professor Lister to be dependent upon molecular movements car-
ried on in the interior of cells under the influence of the nervous,
and under circumstances which exclude the intervention of the blood-
vascular system. A force which can be seen to produce molecular
movement within a pigment cell, may well be supposed to be com-
petent to produce nutritional or chemical changes in the interior of
cells of other characters. But if our knowledge of the convertibility
of force makes us ready to allow that nerve-force may show itself
by modifying nutrition or by producing secretion as well as by pro-
ducing motion, our knowledge of the convertibility of function
which nerves possess accordingly as they are distributed in one or
in another class of tissues makes us slow to accept as a necessity the
establishment of a division of “trophic” nerves. Messrs..G. H.
Lewes, Philippeaux, and Vulpian have shown that nerves are sensory

1870.| . On Trophic Nerves. 201

or motor accordingly as they are distributed to sensory or contractile
tissue-elements, and not by virtue of any inherent differences in
their own structure ; and if we have thus to modify our views, if not
as to the use of the words sensory and motor nerves, at all events
as to the meanings we attach to them, it would be doubly inexpedient
to introduce now new words, “trophic” and secretory ; considering,
firstly, that they are not old and familiar to us, nor possessed there-
fore of a claim upon our toleration; and, secondly, that they labour
under just the same disadvantage of needing to be used with a
mental qualification as the older words in question. This is, how-
ever, but a question of words; and it may be well now first to state
the facts so far as they appear to have been ascertained by obser-
vation and experiment; and then, in the second place, to suggest, or
leave the reader to excogitate for himself, such a reading of them as
may seem best fitted to bind them together into a bundle easy to be
manipulated by the mental hand.

I will begin by giving a few facts which bear directly enough
upon the influence exercised by psychical changes and cerebral affec-
tions upon processes of vegetative life, but which do not give any
clear indication as to the way, whether vasomotor or intracellular,
in which that influence is brought directly to bear. Facts of what
some persons would call great generality, but what others would,
and with greater propriety, call great complexity, are presented to
us in the familiar histories of defeated armies and of other bodies of
men subjected to depressing psychical influences. Such aggregations
of men are found to be more liable to succumb to various unhealthy
influences, such as those of dysentery, scorbutus, and malaria, than
are other aggregations of men similarly constituted except as to
their mental impressions or depression. But a generalibus latet
error; and as we have exact quantitative observations, showing that
prisoners in civil gaols perform the ordinary functions of life less per-
fectly, and at greater cost to their own organism, as also to that of
the body politic, than do honest, or, to use the safer term suggested
to me by a warder in Portland prison, wnconvicted men, we had
better refer to them. These observations will be found recorded in
the Report of the British Association Meeting held in Manchester
in the year 1861, at p. 59, and, passzm, in a “ Report on the Action
of Prison Diet and Discipline on the Bodily Functions of Prisoners,”
which we owe to Dr. Edward Smith, F.R.S.,and Mr. W. R. Milner.
The “cerebral exhaustion,” again, so common in these days of stress
and tension, is well known (as well it may be, considermg what
abundant opportunities we have for observing it) to exercise a simi-
larly “ atrophic” influence. Modern language, indeed, by altering
the meaning of the word indolence from that of freedom from pain
to that. of freedom from labour, appears to show us that the real
relation of overwork to disease has been more or less obscurely

202 _ * On-Trophie Nerves. | April,

recognized by the laity, even at times when the faculty inverted the
relations of effect and cause which really do exist between many
manifestations of mal-nutrition, such as dyspepsia and cystitis, on
the one side, and cerebral overwork and spinal exhaustion on the
other. It is to Dr. Gull* that we owe a demonstration of the facts
that the painful affections specified, as well as others only alluded
to, are antecedents, but in the sense in which a man’s shadow ante-
cedes him when the sun is at his back; that the doctrine of reflex
paraplegia was wrongly applied to those cases; and that they are
really to be explained as being of the same character as those fur-
nished to us in the histories of men subjected, in prison, as if in an
experiment, to the working of mental depression.

Simpler cases still are furnished to us by the well-authenticated
accounts of persons losing all their hair after cerebral injury.
When we consider how large an organ the brain is relatively to the
rest of the body, and how, protected as it is by its lodgment within
an air-tight cavity, it can say to all other organs of the body,
“Thou shalt want before I shall,” there is no need to waste time
in imagining how its derangement may and must entail derangement
throughout the entire body. It may be profitable.to discover by
investigation how this secondary derangement is brought about,
whether indirectly by vasomotor alteration, or directly by molecular
disturbance set up intracellularly. At present the necessary inves-
tigations have not been set on foot; and, ad interim, we may
colligate the facts under Mr. Darwin’s expression of “ correlation of
growth.”

We come in the third place to cases of greater simplicity still;
and by this we do appear at first sight to be brought within the
sphere of the explanation which the phrase “Trophic nerves” im-
plies. These cases are constituted by the accidental severances of
nerves which take place in civil, and more especially in military life,
the musculo-spiral nerve, whence the greater part of the thumb and
lesser proportions of the three fingers next to it receive their dorsal
supply, being specially well fitted for such experimentation, and
specially obnoxious to it in the “ pious pastime” of war. Dr. 8.
Weir Mitchell has put on record, in ‘The Contributions relating to
the Causation and Prevention of Disease, and to Camp Diseases,’
edited by Dr. Austin Flint, and published by the United States’
Sanitary Commission, some very valuable observations as to the
effects of such injuries to nerves. These we find summed up as
follows by a writer in the ‘ Edinburgh Monthly Medical Journal’ for
January, 1869, at pp. 646, 647 :—

“There is a careful and interesting description of glossy skin

* See ‘Guy’s Hospital Reports,’ iii., 7: 1861.
+ See ‘Lancet,’ July 10, 1869; and ‘Holmes’ System of Surgery,’ i., article
“ Accidents from Lightning,” p. 750.

1870. ] On Trophic Nerves. 203

following wounds of nerve-trunks. The appearance of the skin in
this condition has been likened by Mr. Paget to that of chilblains.
The integument becomes red and polished, in spots or patches. The
hair is wanting. Sometimes the sensibility remains as usual; some-
times it is increased; sometimes diminished. ‘The case cited as
exceptional is curious enough. A man received a bullet wound,
apparently implicating the axillary artery and musculo-spiral and
median nerves. ‘ Very early in the case his first and second finger
and thumb slowly enlarged without any premonitory signs, and
with slight darting pains.’ This continued after the wound had
closed. Two months after the wound the skin of the affected part
peeled off en masse. Seven months after the injury, when the case
was last seen, sensation was wanting in the first, second, and half of
the ring finger, and in the half of the thumb, though neuralgic
pains were referred to these parts. ‘The palm and first two fingers
were enlarged. The skin was thickened, and of a dark purple
colour. It is not surprising that the American surgeons should be
struck by the resemblance between this and the disease called Ele-
phantiasis Arabum. While in India, we have several times seen
two or three fingers enlarged to twice the size of the others, and
the skin pink and glossy, contrasting with the black skin of the
rest of the hand. 7

“ Other lesions of nutrition or secretion following wounds of
nerves are also pointed out. Sometimes there were copious acid
sweats; sometimes there was dryness or desquamation of the skin,
vesicular eruptions, or incurving of the nails, or subacute inflamma-
tion of the joints, favouring the conclusion that the lesion of the
nervous trunks acts upon the nutrition of the parts, independently
of the loss of sensation or motor power.”

The nutritional lesion at the peripheral distribution of the nerve,
however, may, if it persist sufficiently long, become in its turn the
causative condition of what was in the first instance but a result in
common with itself of the lesion of the nerve-trunk. For Dr. Mitchell
“claims the merit of having pointed out what was practically unknown
before his own researches, namely, that loss of motor power, in a vast
majority of cases, is finally due less to neural defects than to those
obstinate consequences in the range of nutrition which result from
the loss of nerve-power, and wnich may continue long after the motor
power has been partially or completely restored.”

Many similar cases may be found recorded by Mr. Jonathan
Hutchinson in a very valuable paper, consisting of “ Observations
on the Results which follow the Section of Nerve-trunks, as observed
in Surgical Practice,” which was published in the ‘ London Hospital
Reports’ for 1866. Mr. Hutchinson is inclined to explain the phe-
nomena of lessened temperature and those of lessened power of main-
taining temperature which accompany these lesions, by the lessened

204 On Trophic Nerves. | Apri,

vis a fronte of the tissues surrounding the capillaries and acting
then upon the circulation. The present writer is only half inclined
to believe that this is a vera causa in animal hydraulics or “ heemau-
lics;” and that at all events we are not absolutely necessitated to
accept it as such, though the absence of any other plausible hypo-
thesis may be seen from the following record of an observation
made and published by him before he was acquainted with either
of the two memoirs just referred to. This record will be found in
* Medicine in Modern Times,’ at p. 69, and to the following effect :—

“ The following short history seems to me to be a good instance
of the action, or rather of the want of action, of the peripheral nerve-
system upon the arterioles. A man, who came some years ago under
my own care had had a bullet pass through his arm just above the
elbow, so as to sever the musculo-spiral nerve. The scars of exit
and entrance were in the lower third of the arm. Under ordinary
circumstances the soft parts of the lower arm maintained their
natural consistence ; but their power of resisting changes of tempe-
rature was greatly impaired, as well of course as the sensibility of
the parts supplied by the injured nerve. I recollect seemg the
swollen state of the inner side of the hand one cold, raw morning,
when the man was on sentry duty, and had his hand chilled down
by the musket he had to carry. Now, I apprehend that this tur-
gescence is to be explained by saying that the local or peripheral
nerve-system of the affected parts was competent under ordinary
circumstances to regulate the calibre of the arteries; but that its
activity was liable to be depressed, as under the circumstances
related, into actual abeyance in the absence of any possibility of
any assistance being supplied to it from the cerebro-spinal nerve-
axis. ‘Thus, under the depressing effect of cold, which seems to
work here much as it does in checking the regeneration of artificially
amputated parts in snails and in salamanders, * the peripherally-
placed ganglionic system was put into abeyance, and turgescence
of the vessels it ordinarily supplied witn ‘tone’ ensued.”

It may be said that we do actually know and can see that a
nerve when severed from its central connections undergoes fatty
degeneration ; that it is reasonable to suppose that its mal-nutrition
may entail a consentaneous mal-nutrition in the parts which it sup-
plies; and that this secondary mal-nutrition may account for the
reduction thus witnessed of the tissues of warm-blooded animals to the
level of those of the cold-blooded classes. But to this we reply that
atrophy of the nerve-trunk is one thing, and a thing very demon-
strable; whilst atrophy of the terminal nucleate plexus, in which so
many nerves have of late been shown to terminate, is another thing,
and as yet an undemonstrated one. Indeed the physiological existence

* ‘Miiller’s Physiology, by Baly, 2nd edition, i., p. 444; Bonnet, ‘ Giuvres,’
tom. V., i., pp. 328, 329.

1870. | On Trophic Nerves. 205 .

of these peripheral nervous apparatus has only just established itself
as a fact in science,* and so far as the writer is aware, nothing has
as yet been attempted as to their pathological history. And weighing
hypothesis against hypothesis, the writer still thinks his own, which
would explain the facts in question as referable to an impairment of
power, to be, at least for the earlier stages of the history, as probable
as the counter-hypothesis, which suggests a consentaneous though
early alteration of nutrition, as an explanation of the phenomena.

It may be well to add that the changes in question, or at least
some of them, have been observed in non-traumatic cases of nervous
- disease, such as shingles affecting the arm.

The cases which we shall now, in the fourth place, proceed to
relate appear to us to show distinctly that nerve-force can act on
tissues, and that directly, without, that is to say, any intervention
of the blood-vascular system. The first of these is a typically good
instance recorded by a typically good observer. In the twentieth
volume of the ‘ Medico-Chirurgical Transactions’ (1887) we find
the late Sir B. C. Brodie writing as follows :—“ A man was admitted
into St. George’s Hospital in whom there was a forcible separation
of the fifth and sixth cervical vertebre, attended with an effusion of
blood within the theca vertebralis, and laceration of the lower part
of the cervical portion of the spinal cord. Respiration was performed
by the diaphragm only—of course in a very imperfect manner.
The patient died at the end of twenty-two hours ; for some time pre-
viously to his death he breathed at long intervals, the pulse being
weak and the countenance livid. At length there were not more
than five or six respirations ina minute. Nevertheless, when the
ball of a thermometer was placed between the scrotum and the thigh,
the quicksilver rose to 111° of Fahrenheit’s scale. Immediately
after death the temperature was examined in the same manner and
found to be still the same.”

Now temperature often rises in the presence of great lividity, in
the absence, that is, of any but a very imperfect degree of arterializa-
tion or oxidation, though not, of course, in the absence of chemical
change. Dr. Gray, of this place, informs me, as I write, that in a
case of pneumonia, recently under his care, the temperature rose as
highas 106° F. But in the case just quoted from Sir B. C. Brodie’s
memoir no such over-active cell-formation as that which characterizes
pneumonia, and indicates its presence by monopolizing the currency
of chlorides, can be reasonably supposed to have been present; and
we appear to be shut up to the accepting as an explanation the
showering down from the irritated and isolated segments of the spinal

* See Stricker’s ‘Handbuch der Lehre von den Geweben,’ ii., p. 189, 1869.
Dr. Beale, ‘ Royal Society’s Proceedings,’ 1865, p. 249.

+ See Paget, ‘Medical Times and Gazette,’ 1864, March 26, cit. Handfield
Jones, ‘St. George’s Hospital Reports,’ vol. iii., 1868, p. 99.

206 On Trophic Nerves. [ April,

cord of such an amount of stimulus as was competent to throw the
tissues of the lower parts of the body into active chemical change.
That this explanation is a vera causa the following facts will show.
Dr. Semper, in his magnificent work on the Philippine Archipelago,*
has given us an account of certain Echinodermata, of the class
Holothurioidea, the source of the article of commerce known as
“trepang,” from which we learn that several of these curious animals
have the power of dissolving their integument into a kind of amor-
phous slime, upon irritation even of so gentle a kind as simple
removal from the sea water. In the case of one species, Stichopus
naso, it has been found necessary to kill them by heating the water
without removing them from it, as otherwise their dense integument
runs into dissolution, and the animal is spoilt for the Chinese market,
in which, when well preserved, it commands a specially high price.
If, now, fragments of the integument of one of these creatures be
placed under the microscope, and whilst there, be irritated with the
point of a needle, the process of self-dissolution is observed to be
expedited in direct correspondence with the amount of stimulus
applied. In this diffluent slimy mass beautiful reticular and nucleate
nerye-plexuses are to be seen, surviving, which is not always the lot
of destructives, the destruction they have brought about. . Nothing
can speak more clearly to the “ catalytic” power of nervous organs,
unless it be the rationale given by Mr. Paget, as reported in the
British Medical Journal for January 22, 1870, of the formation
of sloughs and bed-sores. There Mr. Paget is reported to have
observed that “ simple loss of nerve-power is followed only by wasting
of the paralyzed parts; but if in addition to loss there is disturbance
of nerve-force, we then find disturbances of nutrition quickly follow-
ing the injury, such as extensive bed-sores and sloughing of integu-
ment on the feet.” To this we should add that if the nerve-system
does not play the part of King Stork, other irritants may ; and that
animal structures deprived of the eminently animal assistance which
a connection with a central nervous system secures to them succumb
to shocks to which, when thus reduced almost to the level of vege-
table tissues, they ought not in fairness to have been exposed. The
discordant results of observations as to the consequences of paralysis
of many, and especially of the trifacial nerves, can be harmonized if
these two considerations are kept before the mind.

For the literature of this subject and much else that is valuable
relating to it, see Handfield Jones, ‘St. George's Hospital Reports,’
ii., 1868, p. 89; Funke, ‘Lehrbuch der Physiologie, Bd. ii., 62
to 775; 1866: Herman, ‘Grundriss der Physiologie, pp. 79, 293,
298; 1867: Dr. Anstie, in ‘ The Practitioner, March, 1870, p. 166.

* ‘Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen,’ iii., 72; iv., 158, 171; v., 200. 1868.

1870.] ( 207 )

V. RECENT OBSERVATIONS ON UNDERGROUND TEM-
PERATURE, OR THE CAUSES OF VARIATION IN
DIFFERENT LOCALITIES. By Epwarp Hott, M.A.,
F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland.

Wirt the last year several series of experiments on the rate of
increase of underground temperature of more than ordinary interest
have been carried out, on which I propose to offer a few observa-
tions. On a former occasion I ventured to give a summary of the
experiments which had at that time been carried out on this inte-
resting branch of inquiry, and to point out a course which, in my
opinion, would if adopted enable us to ascertain the rate of increase
at depths hitherto unexplored.* It is satisfactory to find that the
plan proposed has met with the approval of the Committee appointed
by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, for the
purpose of “ investigating the rate of increase of underground tem-
perature downwards in various localities.” ‘The report for the past
year, drawn up by Professor Everett at the request of his colleagues,
has now been issued, and contains an account of experiments under-
taken by Sir William Thomson, F.R.S., and his assistant, Mr.
McFarlane, in the vicinity of Glasgow, and by Mr. G. J. Symons at
Kentish Town in the metropolis, at the deep boring of the New
River Company. These observations were taken in water which
filled the bore-holes, each layer or stratum of water being assumed
to correspond in temperature with that of the surrounding stratum
of rock; and the instruments used were those invented by Sir W.
Thomson and Professor Phillips respectively for avoiding a source of
error (though one not of much importance) arising from the pressure
of the water at considerable depths on the bulb of the thermometer.

Of the two experiments made near Glasgow: one, taken at
Blythswood reached a depth of 525 feet, with an ultimate tempera-
ture of 59°52°;} and the other, taken at South Balgray, reached a
depth of 347 feet, with a temperature of 53°69°. Ata depth of about
60 feet the constant temperature was reached, and the result obtained
at the Blythswood bore was 1° for every 50°5 feet, and at the South
Balgray bore 1° for every 41 feet, a rate of increase much in excess
of the former; and, I may add, of the mean results of other experi-
ments.t

* ‘Quart. Journal of Science,’ vol. v. 1868.

+ All measurements of temperature in this paper are given in degrees of
Fahrenheit.

{ The rapid increase in this case appears to have arisen from the large pro-
portion of shale at the depth between 390 and 450 feet. Myr. W. Hopkins has
shown that the increase of temperature is in the inverse ratio of the thermal
conductivity. ‘ Phil. Trans.,’ vol. exlvii.

208 Observations on Underground Temperature. [ April,

A question of speculative interest was determined in a bore
made at Kirkland Neuk. A coal-seam passed through had been
charred, owing to contact with greenstone (or trap rock); and the
question occurred, “Are there any remains of the heat which
charred the coal im ancient times; or has it passed off so long ago
that the strata are now not sensibly warmer on account of it?”
The observations seemed to establish the latter alternative, the bore
being colder than its neighbour—that taken at Blythswood.

The observations taken at Kentish Town extended to a depth
of 1100 feet, with an ultimate temperature of 70°, giving the mean
rate of increase at -0191° per foot, or 1° per 52°4 feet, the mean
surface temperature being taken at 49°.

In the case of the Kentish Town bore-hole, notwithstanding the
care taken to prevent the influence of the external air affecting the
temperature of the water in the well, it was found by Mr. Symons
that this influence extended to a depth of nearly 200 feet,—the
temperature of the water rising and falling with that of the season
of the year down to this depth. The well, however, was no less
than 8 feet in diameter.

The experiments undertaken at Rose Bridge Colliery, near
Wigan, by the manager, Mr. Bryham, which I have recently com-
municated to the Royal Society,* deserve special notice, as having
been made during the sinking of the deepest coal-pit in Britain.
The results arrived at differ so strikingly from those obtained at
Dukinfield Colliery, situated near the eastern border of the same
coal-field of Lancashire, and only a little less deep, that a discussion
of the cause of this discrepancy may not be without interest.

An account of the observations at Dukinfield Colliery, undertaken
by Mr. W. Fairbairn, F.R.S. (1848-59), has already been given in
the pages of this Journal,t and was originally communicated by
Mr. W. Hopkins to the Royai Society.{ The depth of the shaft
is 2151 feet, with an ultimate temperature of 75°5° taken in the
seam of coal known as the “Black Mine” of that district. The
mean result is a rate of increase of 1° for about every 83:9 feet.

The observations at Rose Bridge, near Wigan (1854-61), were
at first extended only to the depth of 1800 feet, giving a resulting
temperature in the strata of 80°; butit having been determined by
the proprietor to carry down the shafts to the “ Arley Mine” coal,
which was known to be at a depth of over 600 feet below, opera-
tions were commenced in the spring of the year 1868, and in the
space of fourteen months the Arley Mine was successfully “won.”
The total depth reached was 2424 feet, with an ultimate tempera-
ture (taken in the coal itself) of 93°5°. Throughout the whole
series of experiments from 1650 feet downwards, the increase

* ‘Proceedings of the Royal Society,’ vol. xviii. (No. 116), p. 173.
+ Vok vy. pa: { ‘ Philosophical Transactions,’ vol. exlvii.

1870. | Observations on Underground Temperature. 209

appears to have been tolerably uniform, giving the impression that
there were uno disturbing causes at work. The resulting propor-
tionate increase was found to be 1° for every 54°57 feet; the “ inva-
riable stratum” being assumed at 50° of temperature, and at a depth
of 50 feet from the surface. The results of the observations at
Rose Bridge as compared with those at Dukinfield show a remark-
able dissimilarity. The rate of increase in the former case being
much more rapid than in the latter: for assuming the same stan-
dard of departure in both cases, it will be found that in the case of
Rose Bridge the rate of increase is 1° for about 47:2 feet as against
1° for about 83:2 feet at Dukinfield; an amount of discordance
which I am satisfied is to be explained on other grounds than those
of error in the observations themselves.

Such a diversity of results cannot be attributed to differences in
the conducting powers of the rocks in each locality: for although
sections of moderate depth taken at two different parts of the same
coal-field would undoubtedly present different proportions of the
sandstones, clays, and shales, &c., arranged in a varying manner to
one another, which combine to form what is termed the “Coal-
measures ;” yet if observations in each case be extended down-
wards to considerable depths, such as those in the present instance
which exceed 2000 feet, the varieties of strata will tend to balance
each other, and all cause of discrepancy in the rate of increase of
temperature will probably disappear, or be reduced to such a degree
as to be immaterial.

Neither is this diversity to be attributed to the presence or flow
of water in the strata ; for, as I observed on a former occasion,* the
percolation of water decreases with the depth, and at variable dis-
tances from the surface altogether ceases ; or is limited to the very
small quantity which appears in some cases to have been locked up
in the strata for ages, and which of course takes the temperature of
the surrounding strata themselves. We must, therefore, seek for
other causes to explain the dissimilarity of results in question.

The amount of inclination in the strata, is a cause of variation
in the rate of increase which has not as yet been sufficiently taken
into account, but is one which I think ought not to be lost sight of,
especially in comparing results obtained at moderate depths. In the
case of strata of uniform composition throughout, as the Chalk, or
New Red Sandstone formations, the amount of inclination is of com-
paratively little importance ; but where we have to deal with a for-
mation such as the Coal-measures, composed of variable strata
alternating with each other, and possessing varying degrees of
thermal conductivity, the inclination, or amount of dip of the beds,
becomes an element of much importance when the rate of increase

* “Experiments for Ascertaining the Temperature of the Earth’s Crust.”
‘Quart. Journal of Science,’ vol. v., p. 18.

210 Observations on Underground Temperature. { April,

of temperature is under discussion. In my communication to the
Royal Society I have ventured to suggest that the discordant results
obtained at Rose Bridge and Dukinfield are to be attributed to the
difference in the inclination of the strata at the two collieries, and I
propose to enter a little more fully into the discussion of the ques-
tion here. I shall now describe in detail the position of the strata
in each locality.

Sections showing relative positions of the strata at Rose Bridge
and Dukinfield Collieries.
Rose Bridge Colliery.

9 590 1099 : 2000 Feet

Scale of Feet.

Rose Bridge Colliery.—That part of the South Lancashire Coal-
field known as “the Wigan Coal district,” is traversed by a series of
parallel faults, ranging in a north-westerly direction, with occasion-
ally very large displacements of the strata. These faults divide the
coal-field into sections or “ belts ;” and where the strata are let down
between two faults, a “deep belt” is produced ; on the other hand,
where the strata are thrust up, ‘‘ a shallow belt” is the result. The

1870.] Observations on Underground Temperature. 211

same coal-seam being thereby placed at a less depth from the surface
than in the case of the “ deep belt.”

Between these faults the strata incline at small angles, generally
dipping gently to the eastward.

Nearly in the centre of one of these “deep belts,” Rose Bridge
Colliery is situated; the belt being bounded on the west by the
“Standish fault,” along which the strata are let down on the eastern
side about 150 yards; and on the east, by the Kirkless Hall fault,
along which the strata are let down on the west about 600 yards.
At the colliery itself the strata are almost horizontal ; consequently
all the strata, except those comparatively shallow, are broken off by
the large faults above described before they reach the surface.

Dukinfield Colliery —The circumstances of the strata at this
colliery are very different from those of Rose Bridge. The pits are
situated on the Cheshire side of the river Tame, near Ashton-
under-Lyne, and in this district the beds rise and crop out to the
eastward at high angles. At the colliery, the dip is west at about
35°, and the “ Black Mine” (or coal), which was reached at a depth
of 2151 feet, crops out at a distance to the eastward of little more
than 1000 yards.

From this account it will be seen that we have very different
stratigraphical conditions in each locality, and to this I attribute in
a great measure the difference in the rate of increase -of underground
temperature in these localities respectively. For purposes of com-
parison we may assume a constant supply of heat from the interior
of the earth, tending to travel towards the surface. In its progress
it meets with strata of different conducting powers, the thermal
conductivity of each stratum in the same locality being in the inverse
ratio of the rate of increase, as shown by Mr. W. Hopkins, F.R.S.,*
in other words, where the rate of increase is rapid the conducting
power is small.

But whatever may be the conducting power of a series of strata,
it seems probable that it is impeded when the heat has to travel in
a direction perpendicular to the planes of bedding. On the other
hand if the heat can find its way towards the surface partly along
the planes of bedding, the thermal conductivity is increased, and the
rate of increase is proportionally lessened; for in this way it may
be conveyed by strata which have high conducting powers, and
escape along the outcrop of the strata themselves.

If this view be correct, we can at once account for the difference
in the results at Rose Bridge and Dukinfield collieries. In the
former, owing to the horizontality of the strata, the heat can only
find its way outwards directly across the planes of bedding. We
may, therefore, suppose that the resistance to its motion is increased
thereby ; the conductivity is lessened, and, in consequence, the rate

* *Philosophical Transactions,’ vol. exlvii.

212 Mr. Bruce’s Mines Regulation Bill. | April,

of increase of temperature is rapid. In the case of Dukinfield it is
inferred that, owing to the high inclination of the strata, some of
the heat travels along the planes of bedding, and escapes along the
outcrop with greater rapidity than it would if it were obliged to
travel solely across the strata themselves.

It has been suggested that in the case of Dukinfield Colliery
the escape of the underground heat may have been facilitated by
the formation of vapour at certain depths, the vapour making its
escape along the planes of bedding by the aid of the fissures and
porosity of some of the rocks. It is questionable, however, whether
the elastic force of the vapour would be sufficient, at the compara-
tively low temperature of the strata, to overcome the enormous
pressure to which it would be subjected at depths much below the
surface.

VI. MR. BRUCE'S MINES REGULATION BILL.

Mopvern legislation in this country in reference to industrial em-
ployments tends more and more to impose on the Government the
duty of caring for the health and safety, and at least the elementary
education, of those who, owing either to weakness or to ignorance,
are unable to care for themselves.

In our Factory Enactments, foreign countries have followed
gradually in our footsteps; in the regulations affecting the mining
population, on the other hand, we shall probably never attain the
completeness of supervision, be it for good or for evil, which prevails
in States such as France, Belgium, and Prussia, where the minerals
are the property of the nation.

Mr. Bruce’s Bill for the Regulation and Inspection of Mines, a
réchauffé of his Bill of last Session, consolidates the existing laws ;
but is in other, respects as modest a measure as the opponents of
Government interference could desire.

It continues to forbid females to work in mines, and, at the
urgent request of the operatives, limits, though not to the full
extent of their desires, the time during which youths from twelve
_to sixteen years of age may be employed below ground. Recog-
nizing the failure, in the case of young children working in mines,
of the attempt made to combine work and elementary instruction,
it forbids entirely their employment underground before the age
of twelve. It places women, young persons, and children employed
on the surface under the provisions, as regards the hours of labour
and education, of ‘The Workshops Regulation Act of 1867, which,
however, owing to its administration being in the hands of local

1870. | Mr. Bruce's Mines Regulation Bill. 213

bodies, is a dead letter. Otherwise than under this Act, it makes no
provision whatever for the education of the mining population.

Should Mr. Forster’s Education Bill become law in its present
form, which leaves each district to judge whether parents shall or
shall not be compelled to send their children to school, then the
children in the mining districts of the North and of Cornwall will
probably learn the elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic. We
wish we could expect as much with regard to Staffordshire. The
Revised Code must, however, be re-revised before even the former
will, as a matter of course, have the opportunity of learnmg some-
thing of the laws of nature on which their safety depends.

As to the persons responsible for the conduct of such hazard-
ous works, to require of them the rudiments not of a scientific
but of the most ordinary literary instruction would, according to
Mr. Bruce (perhaps rightly for some few years to come, and in
certain localities), disqualify unfairly, and without benefit to .the
community, men who may be competent, though illiterate. We
hope that the example set by those West countrymen, who, in
addition to their hard day’s labour underground, attend the science
classes of the Miners’ Association of Cornwall and Devon with
assiduity and success may, after a time, be followed elsewhere.

The duty of “ producing an amount of ventilation in collieries,
adequate to dilute and render harmless noxious gases to such an
extent that the working-places and roads shall be in a fit state for
working and passing,” is enforced more peremptorily under the
bill than according to the existing law, inasmuch as the proof of
its fulfilment is, in the event of an accident, to rest with the owner,
instead of being taken for granted unless disproved. Strangely
enough both the masters and the miners object to this condition
as too strmgent. Another provision which renders owners and
agents, like the men, liable to imprisonment for breach of rules is
more likely to pass, although the objection has been raised that it
might lead to the incarceration of the Secretary for the Colonies.
Why he should not be imprisoned, if he were to entrust the man-
agement of his mines to incompetent managers, does not appear
very clearly. We suspect that the locking up of Monsieur Flachat,
the Chief Engineer of the Chemin de l’Ouest, after a great railway
accident in France, has contributed in no slight degree to the safety
of railway passengers in that country.

No change is to be made in the system of colliery inspection,
for two reasons: It is supposed, first, that to mspect every mine
carefully and at short intervals would require 200 competent
officials. This is an evident exaggeration, and one which it 1s
scarcely to be expected that‘the present body of inspectors will
take much trouble to dissipate. At any rate, when it appears that
the number of mines of South Staffordshire and Woreestershire

_ VoL. VII. Q

214 Mr. Bruce's Mines Regulation Bill. [ April,

(Mr. Baker’s district) is returned at 550, and on comparing it
with the returns of the Keeper of Mining Records, we find that
more than two hundred of that number have ceased working
(many of them for six or seven years and longer), this aspect of
the question would appear to require further investigation. |

The second objection, if valid, would be more formidable. It is
argued that the responsibility of the actual managers of collieries
would be diminished if a more close and systematic supervision by
government inspectors were attempted. Doubtless it would be
a mistake to exonerate an incompetent manager on the certificate
of an equally incompetent government official. This is not what
is wanted, but that the inspectors should have such a knowledge of

the condition, as to discipline and safety, of every mine in their
district as a personal inspection can alone afford. Where this is
honestly attempted, as in Mr. Brough’s (the South-western) district
(and we mention Mr. Brough’s case as an example and not as a
solitary instance), the solicitation and advice of a man of large
experience and of sound acquirements would tend to bring the
practice of inferior managers up to the best standard of their own
and other localities.

We are not so sanguine as to suppose that any degree or quality
of inspection will prevent a recurrence of lamentable catastrophes.
With the increase in depth of our coal mines the frequency of the
sudden and dangerous outbursts of gas necessarily increases ; against
them no management of details is of much avail without the faculty
of increasing the supply of air almost indefinitely, now happily
afforded by the exhausting fans of Lemielle, Guibal, and others,
which are rapidly coming into use in the North of England and in
South Wales. Another source of constant danger is the reckless-
ness of the mining population, which will only be removed by such
a change in their habits as time and education can alone produce.

But with all this a more vigilant supervision by the representa-
tives of the central authority cannot fail to increase the good order
and safety of collieries as it has done that of factories. It appears
to us that the country cannot rest satisfied with the present pseudo-
inspection, or rather post-mortem revision, serving, as it does in

nearly every instance, to show merely that the inspector had no
knowledge whatever of the condition in any respects of the pit in
which the fatal accident arose.

1870.] Cras")

VII. ON PRACTICAL SCIENTIFIC INSTRUCTION.
By Grorce Gorn, F.RS. ©

Tur remarks in the following paper are directed more particularly
to education in physical and chemical science, not because there are
no other sciences to which they would apply, but because those are
the sciences selected as illustrations of scientific education.

It is generally considered that of late years a more rapid pro- |
oress has been made in trades and manufactures in America and in
some of the countries of Europe, more particularly in Prussia, than
in this country, and that this is chiefly due, not only to the exist-
ence of compulsory elementary education in some of those countries,
but also largely to the more general diffusion of scientific knowledge
amonest foreign workmen and directors of workmen. So far has
this opinion spread amongst those who are best informed upon the
subject, especially since the Paris Exhibition of 1867, that it is
thought unless great efforts are made in this country to ensure a
general and wide-spread knowledge of science, the prosperity of
our manufactures must speedily decline.

To avert such a calamity “technical education” has been pro-
posed, and much has been said as to the means of supplying it.
“ Technical education,” in the fuller sense of the words, consists of
two things, vz. education in a school and instruction in a manu-
factory ; but in the narrower sense it means the practical knowledge
and experience acquired during apprenticeship in a workshop.

The object of “technical education ” is essentially practical—it is
to make each pupil, whether intending to be a master or a workman,
better able to fulfil the duties of the special occupation in which he
is to be engaged; for instance, to make a worker in brass a better
brass-worker; an iron-smelter a more skilful smelter; an electro-
plater a better plater ; a farmer a better farmer, &c.; and the means
proposed for doing this is by a suitable course of scientific and tech-
nical culture at an early age. Ordinary school education is sup-
posed by some persons to be only intended to impart such a general
discipline of the mind as will fit a man for every employment, with-
out fitting him specially for anything. Technical education, on the
other hand, is more for the purpose of fitting a man for a special
pursuit.

Some persons say technical skill is a quality which cannot be
imparted,—it is a gift of Nature. There is no man so great a
genius that education will not improve him; skill in art does not
come wholly of itself, any more than knowledge of science does,
Under the present system multitudes of workmen of ordinary capa-
city in this country fail to learn because they have no proper teach-

QqQ 2

216 On Practical Scientific Instruction. [April

ing; we must not, therefore, trust to genius only, and the “ rule of
thumb,” as we have hitherto done, but judiciously impart scientific
instruction to minds of ordinary capacity as well as to others.

The education necessary for a workman cannot be completely
supplied either in a school alone or in a workshop alone. The
duties and pursuits of a school are incompatible with those of a
manufactory, and it is not possible that a workshop should also be
a school of science. In an ordinary school, boys should be taught
the general scientific facts and principles upon which trades and
manufactures are based ; and in the manufactory they should learn
the practical directions for working in their trades, and acquire
experience in manipulation.

It is manifest that no scientific education, whether technical or
otherwise, can be imparted except upon the basis of a sufficiently
good elementary secular education ; and as long as the elementary
education in this country remains in its present extremely imper-
fect state, it is impossible for this nation adequately to advance in
scientific knowledge, or keep pace with the progress of foreign
intellect.

It may be asked,— At what point is the school education to stop
and the workshop education to begin? This admits of a sufficient
although not a precise answer: in a general way school education
would cease where manufacturing manipulations commence, but this
would vary with the kind of school. ‘The relations of science to
trade would be carried to a farther stage of development in a “‘ trade
school” than in a school of a different kind ; and in courses of les-
sons or lectures on technology, than in ordinary scientific imstruc-
tion ; they would also usually receive further development in schools
in a manufacturing district than in those of other places. In
a usual way the technical portion of ordinary school education would
include illustrations of the principles and facts of science by descrip-
tions of manufacturing processes, by models and diagrams of appa-
ratus used in manufactures, and by specimens of manufactured pro-
ducts in their different stages of development. It would also, in
some schools, include a limited amount of practice in chemical
analysis, but would not include actual manipulations by the pupils
in manufacturing arts. In “trade schools” technical education
might be carried to a greater extent: the pupils would be taught
some of the practical working directions of various trades, the
handling of ordinary tools, and the modes of manipulation of various
substances, and thus such schools would form an intermediate stage
between ordinary schools and the workshop. Experience in the
production of manufactured articles for sale will probably always be
obtained in a manufactory alone.

As I shall have occasion to use the words “science” and “ art,”
I will first state what I mean by them :—A science consists of laws,

1870. | On Practical Scientifie Instruction. 217

principles, and facts; an art consists of technical directions and
manipulations ; and the latter is in all cases based upon the former,
although in some instances the connection between them may not
be well understood. Thus we have the science of electricity, and
the arts of electric telegraphy and of electro-plating based upon it ;
and the sciences of heat and chemistry, with the arts of ventilation,
photography, soap-making, iron-smelting, &c., depending upon them.
In science, the great aim is truth and accuracy; in art and manu-
facture the chief object is to produce the best practical result at the
lowest possible cost.

Eyery special art or manufacture consists essentially of some »
particular process, or series of operations, generally reduced to the
greatest degree of simplicity in order to lessen the cost of produc-
tion. In each different trade or manufacture a knowledge of the
process is implicitly embodied in a number of instructions and details
with which each workman is supposed to be fully and familiarly
acquainted. Each manufacture is an art, the methods of which are
based upon definite scientific facts and principles. What an English
manufacturer generally expects of a workman is not a knowledge of
the science or sciences upon which his manufacture is based, but a
knowledge of those empirical methods, and ready practical expe-
rience in their use. In accordance with this expectation an English
workman usually possesses a knowledge of the empirical methods or
directions of his trade, but rarely understands their scientific basis :
for example, a brass dipper knows that the methods for cleaning a
figured piece of brass is to dip it into aqua-fortis, but does not under-
stand the general chemical relations of acids and metals, or the spe-
cial chemical effects of aqua-fortis on brass. The empirical methods
of his trade, without which a workman could not work at all, have
of necessity always been taught him, but a knowledge of their sci-
entific basis, which would enable him to work to the greatest advan-
tage, has been greatly neglected.

In some cases this blind following of methods, sometimes called
“the rule of thumb,” is sufficient, though very imperfectly so, for
the manufacturer’s purpose, which is to make the production of his
goods as much as possible a matter of routine; but in most trades
the following of empirical rules alone very frequently does not lead
to the desired perfect result, the articles produced are imperfect,
and then it is that a knowledge of science is necessary to enable the
manufacturer or his men to avert or correct the evil. In such cases
under present arrangements the manufacturer frequently finds fault
with the materials supplied to him, or he sometimes applies to a
scientific man for advice. In many cases, also, the following of
those rules does not lead in the best way to the desired result, the
materials, time, or labour are not used in the most advantageous
manner, and the cost of the finished article is thereby made too great.

218 On Practical Scientific Instruction. | [April,

The selection of materials for manufactures by the “rule of
thumb” alone leads to equally imperfect results. Nearly every
manufacturer is aware by paintul experience of the great and almost
incessant variation that occurs in the quality and properties of the
materials used in his trade, and the consequent frequent risk of
failure of his process. In the manufacture of iron, for example, the
presence of much phosphorus, sulphur, or silicon in the ore is very
detrimental to the quality of the iron produced from it; in the ma-
nutfacture of glass, the least quantity of iron in the materials will
seriously injure the colour of the product; in the selection of copper
for telegraph wire, if it contains the least trace of arsenic, the wire
will not conduct the electricity properly. The difficulties experi-
enced in getting suitable materials for a manufacturing process are
in some cases very great; and when they are procured, additional
difficulties arise from the inability of the manufacturer or his
manager to analyze them.

Every manufacturer is also aware that the difficulties encoun-
tered in manufactures are not limited to the substances employed,
but extend to all the different processes and stages of processes
through which these substances have to pass, and to all the forces,
tools, machinery, and appliances employed in those processes; in
the manufacture of glass, for example, the greatest care has to be
exercised in the making and gradual heating of the pots in which
the glass is melted, the proportions of the materials, the construc-
tion of the furnaces, the management of the heat, and a whole host
of minor conditions too numerous to mention, all of which must be
attended to with the greatest care. In the manufacture of iron and
steel, the smelting of copper, the refining of nickel, the preparation
and baking of porcelain, and in many other trades, innumerable
difficulties, all having their origin in the properties of. matter and
forces, continually beset the manufacturer. In some cases difficul-
ties occur which perplex both the workman and the scientific man
called in to his aid, and so far from an unscientific workman being
able to overcome them, even with the aid of the scientific man, he
_ ig unable to do so.

The phenomena and changes which take place in matter and
forces in nearly every manufacture are far more complex than men
in general have any conception of; for instance, simply in heat-—
ing a bar of iron to redness, a whole series of changes occur in
its structure, its magnetism, its dimensions, its cohesive power, its
specific heat, and its electric conducting-power, in addition to its
absorbent power (“ occlusion ”) of gases from the fire, and its super-
ficial oxidation; the internal changes which occur in even so simple
a phenomenon as this are so numerous, as to produce the impres-
sion that the substance is endowed with vitality. All these pheno-
mena are doubtless only a very few of the number which really

1870. | On Practical Scientofic Instruction. 219

occur in this substance. Faraday said of physical and chemical
phenomena, “ the little that is known is a great and wonderful
indication of that which is to be known.”
| The hidden difficulties which beset a manufacturer are not un-
frequently so inscrutable that the present state of knowledge in
science fails to explain them. Who can tell why it is that wire-
work of brass or german-silver becomes gradually brittle by lapse
of time ? or why varnish made in the open country has different
properties from that made in a town? or why silk dyed in Lyons
should possess a finer colour than the same silk dyed by the same
process in Coventry ? With our present extremely imperfect know-
ledge of Physical and Chemical science, we can perhaps hardly form
an idea of the infinitely complex nature of the phenomena which
it presents.

One of the inevitable results of all these difficulties in manufac-
turing processes and of unscientific management, is the production
of a large amount of goods of an inferior quality; and useless goods,
technically called “ wasters,” the cost of which has to be laid upon
the saleable ones, and thus the price of the latter is enhanced to the
consumer. For instance, flint glass discoloured by iron has some-
times to be sold at a loss for making common enamel; waste win-
dow-glass has to be sold as “rockery” for ornamenting gardens,
and defective articles of glass or metal have to be re-melted.

Many of these difficulties arise from the inaccuracy and care-
lessness of the workmen, and would be lessened by the more general
diffusion of scientific knowledge. If workmen and managers had
more preparatory scientific training, and all apprentices were suit-
ably educated in science, not only would the foregoing sources of
loss and expense be lessened, but workmen would acquire greater
habits of caution, and such accidents as arise from the want of these
in the management of steam-boilers, explosive substances, and mines,
would occur less frequently. A miner never having seen an explo-
sion of coal-gas and air in a scientific lecture, does not adequately
believe or realize the dangerous nature of the mixture; and work-
men in general in this country do not sufficiently believe in the
fearful properties stored up in substances, and in the forces of na-
ture, because they have not seen them demonstrated by experiments.
It is a curse of the ignorant to be incautious in actual danger, and
to suffer terror where no real harm can occur.

Many of our working-men are fearfully reckless in circum-
stances where a small amount of scientific knowledge obtainable by
w:tnessing a few experiments would show them the existence of
extreme danger. We read accounts of barrels of gunpowder being
kept in blacksmiths’ shops; of cans of damp gunpowder being set
on a hob to dry; of nitro-glycerine being conveyed in a jolting cart,
and of its being used to grease the axles of wheels; of a lighted

220 On Practical Scientific Instruction. [ April,

candle being taken to a burst cask of petroleum, or into places
known to be full of escaped coal-gas; of miners habitually carrying
keys to open their lamps in the explosive atmosphere of coal-mines ;
and of men smoking pipes in barges laden with gunpowder. Fre-
quent mishaps or accidents in the management of material sub-
stances are a sign of minds untrained in science.

Our working-men are also frequently very wasteful in the use
of substances and forces; not having the skill to use them econo-
mically, they try to obtain increased quantity of results by a too
liberal employment of means. In consequence of the greatness of
our supply of coal, and a want of knowledge of science, British
' manufacturers have also been exceedingly wasteful of the force of
heat. Coal differs from nearly all other abundant substances by
containing within itself an immense store of power. very particle
of coal we use contains sufficient power stored up in it to lift itself
a height of more than two thousand miles, or a pound of it contains
enough power to lift a ton nearly a mile high.

There is no manufacture which does not continually mvolve
a necessity for scientific knowledge. Every person who has to ope-
rate either physically or chemically upon material substances, or
who has to superintend such operations, ought certainly to possess
a general knowledge of the forces and materials under his care. A
man who handles a substance should be familiarly acquainted with
all its leading properties. Rational knowledge is far more valuable
than empirical knowledge. A man who understands a principle
can solve a new difficulty nearly as well as he can an old one. In
the management and manipulation of materials it is manifest that a
workman who possesses an intelligent knowledge of the principles
of the processes, and of the properties of the forces and substances
with which he is dealing, in addition to the every-day working
experience, is better able to prevent accidents, correct errors, and
vary the process so as to produce special effects; and must also, in
many trades, be a better artisan than he who has only the daily
working experience, guided by the “rule of thumb.” In all manu-
facturing employments, science, combined with natural ability, is the
only true foundation of skill. There is no kind of physical labour,
however simple and rude it may be, in which superior intelligence
does not enable a man to produce better or larger results. In most
other human affairs the means employed are adapted to the object
in view, but in the manipulations with natural forces and material
substances in this country, men are nearly always employed who
are largely ignorant both of the one and the other. Faraday, in his
evidence before the Government Commission appointed to inquire
into the state of science education in our large public schools, stated
that “ we cannot find the intelligent common man in this country.”

What is really wanted in our workmen and managers is not the

1870. | On Practical Scientifie Instruction. 221

substetution, even in the slightest degree, of scientific knowledge for
the knowledge of the special methods of their trades, nor even that
they should be largely acquainted with some one branch of science,
but that they should be much more largely acquainted than they
are with the leading facts and principles of the sciences upon which
their own special arts and manufactures depend, and that they
should know how such knowledge is applied and how these prin-
ciples operate in their several occupations.

With workmen and managers more scientifically skilled, all our
machinery and processes would produce better and greater results,
and labour and materials would be greatly economized. Instead
of employing the present wasteful system, of making several un-
scientific attempts to produce an article, before succeeding, workmen
would arrange their plans in a scientific and systematic manner
beforehand, and thus be able to succeed in an undertaking at the first
attempt. If workmen were more skilled, they might be entrusted
with the care and direction of improved machines, by means of
which labour and materials might be still further economized, and
production increased to an enormous extent. That immense im-
provements remain yet to be made im our manufactures is shown
by the fact that, even in the steam-engine, which ig supposed by
most persons to be so perfect, we only obtain less than one-tenth
of the mechanical power producible by the heat contained in the
coals, the remainder being lost in a variety of ways, largely within
the machine itself.

Not only are workmen and managers in this country insuffi-
ciently acquainted with science, but their employers are as a rule
nearly equally so, and simply because in the great majority of cases
they have been educated in schools where science was not taught.
Several manufacturers and large employers of labour have regretted
to me the fact, that science was not taught them when they were
at school. ‘The general ignorance of science by our manufacturers
is also shown by the absurdity of a large proportion of our patents.
An advance in such knowledge must in most cases begin with the
employers rather than with the employed, for it would be reversing
the natural order and fitness of things for the workman to be better
acquainted than his master with the employment: knowledge in
general should descend from above.

A greater amount of knowledge of the general principles of
science is desirable both im masters and men, and particularly of
those sciences which relate to their trades. It is desirable in the
workman, because he is most immediately in contact with the pro-
cess, and could therefore more quickly detect a fault and prevent
or remedy an accident, and also because he would be otherwise
incompetent to understand and carry out the instructions of his
master. It is a well-known and frequent complaint with some em-

222 On Practical Scientifie Instruction. [April,

ployers of labour that they cannot induce their workmen to vary
or alter their process, even in cases where it is absolutely necessary ;
the workman in his ignorance opposing every improvement. A
scientific workman is more likely than his master to suggest im-
provements in a manufacture, because he feels the wants or defects
of the process, through being in immediate contact with it. A
knowledge of science is also desirable in a master, in order that
he may be able to intelligently direct his workmen in their diffi-
culties. Under present circumstances, it not unfrequently happens
that improvements suggested by workmen are ignored and dis-
couraged by masters, in consequence of the latter being ignorant of
science ; and in this way numerous instances of dissatisfaction have
arisen between master and man, and important inventions have pro-
bably been lost to the nation through want of proper trial. It was
chiefly by the genius and ability of working-men that steam-engines,
the cotton manufacture, and the whole system of modern machinery
was developed, by means of which this nation has obtamed such
immense wealth.

It has been objected to me by some manufacturers, that “ scien-
tific workmen are conceited, unmanageable, and continually want-
ing to make alterations;” and there is a large amount of truth in
these remarks. If scientific education was more generally diffused

~» amongst workmen, a greater degree of equality of intelligence would

exist, and the cause of conceit be removed. In many instances,
where such workmen have been found to be interfering and de-
sirous of making alterations, the annoyance has arisen not solely
from the conceit of the working-man, but in part also from the
ignorance of science by his employer.

It has also been remarked to me that “a little knowledge m a
workman is a dangerous thing ;” it might be much more truly said
that still less knowledge is a still more dangerous thing. Know-
ledge we_know imparts power, and power requires to be regulated ;
knowledge in a workman requires to be regulated by greater know-
ledge in his master; and if the kind of scientific instruction afforded
to workmen whilst boys at school, be specially directed to an incul-
cation of the principles and leading facts of physical and chemical
science, there will be but little risk of its being superficial.

It has further been objected to me by a manufacturer that
“science is making workmen more mechanical, and is driving all
skilled labour out of the field.” Although there is some truth
in this, it is not a correct view of the case, the large intro-
duction of science into trade within the last century, in the shape
of telegraphs, steam-engines, gas manufacture, electro-plating, the
manufacture of machinery, &c., has created a much larger demand
for intellectually-skilled labour than ever existed before; and so
large is this demand that a great difficulty experienced by nearly

i i a i a a

1870. | On Practical Scientifie Instruction. 223

all those who have introduced such inventions has been to obtain
workmen possessing suflicient intelligence to manage their processes.
It is also a well-known fact, and frequent complaint with manu-
facturers, that highly-skilled workmen are much too few in this
country. The tendency of scientific improvements is to diminish
the physical labour of the workman, but they require in its stead
a greater degree of intellectual skill; they have mitigated his physi-
cal toil, by giving him the duty of intelligently directing the labour,
instead of actually performing it. Workmen are now obliged to
exercise the faculties of observation and judgment, in watching the
results, and directing the action, of mechanical, physical, and chem1-
cal forces, instead of beimg themselves the physical machines, me-
chanically performing the work before them. A workman who is
occupied all the day in laborious physical exertion, however great
the skill required in that labour may be, arrives at his home at
night in a condition fit only for sleep; whilst the man who directs
a machine for performing the same labour is able after his toil to
improve his mind by reading. Science has also increased the moral
responsibility of workmen, by entrusting them with the manage-
ment of all kinds of complicated and valuable machinery, requiring
great care and exactitude of attention, upon the proper action of
which the employment of many hundreds of workmen, and even the
lives of numerous persons, not unfrequently depends ; for instance,
in the management of steam-boilers and engines. The lives of the
whole of the passengers in a railway train also depend upon the
skill and care of the engine-driver and fireman.

And it has been further objected to me by a manufacturer, that
“science does not pay,” or that “it does not pay anyone except a
thoroughly scientific man ; it does not, for example, pay a manufac-
turer or man of business.” No doubt science, like everything else,
benefits or pays only in its own special ways. With regard to this
objection, we must distinguish between abstract scientific investiga-
tions made purely for tle discovery of truth, without the slightest
reference to personal profit, and investigations made for manufac-
turing or personal purposes; the former benefit the nation, but do
not pay the investigator; the latter frequently benefits the manu-
facturer or person for whom they are made.

Scientific investigations made in a manufactory for the purpose of
ascertaining the various sources of loss of materials, the circumstances
which affect the amount or quality of the product; or made with the
object of substituting cheaper or more suitable materials, or for vary-
ing their proportions, or for many other kindred objects, have in
many cases resulted in great benefit to the manufacturer, and have
formed in many instances the basis of successful patents. In con-
firmation of these remarks it may be stated that some of the large
brewers, chemical manufacturers, candle companies, and many others,

224 On Practical Scientific Instruction. [April,

constantly employ scientific men to examine their materials, processes,
and products, and keep them acquainted with the progress of dis-
covery and invention in relation to their own particular trades.

The benefit derived by a manufacturer from a personal knowledge
of science is largely of an indirect kind, and cannot therefore be
measured in direct money value, like the profit acquired upon a
given sale of manufactured articles. This knowledge improves his
judgment in nearly all questions relating to material substances and
manufacturing processes. Numerous instances might be collected
where even a small amount of knowledge of science in a master, has
in this way been of great value in the prevention of accidents in his
manufacture or trade. It benefits the manufacturer also by improy-
ing his observing faculties, enabling him more readily to detect
imperfections in the quality of raw materials supplied to him, to
discern faults in the processes, and different stages of processes,
through which his materials have to pass, and to detect imperfections
in the action of the various forces, tools, machinery, and appliances
employed in his manufacture. It gives him the ability of intelli-
gently directing his workmen in their manipulations, instead of being
the subject of their ridicule in consequence of his ignorance of such
matters. It enables him to form a correct estimate of the feasibility
and value of suggestions of improvements in his trade, made to him
by his workmen or others, and prevents his being led by enthusiasts
and designing persons to spend his money and time upon hopeless
inventions. A want of knowledge of science, on the other hand, has
ruined many manufacturers, who have been induced to embark their
money in demonstrably fallacious schemes which could not possibly
succeed; in proof of this we need only examine the lists of patents,
and we there find numerous absurd projects which have been pro-
moted by men of business.

Many persons ignorant of science expect too much from a know-
ledge of it; and from the remarks made to me by some manufac-
turers, they seem to think that a little knowledge of science would
almost at once enable them to make improvements in their trades.
Without such knowledge, undoubtedly, our trades and manufactures
could not have attained their present degree of excellence, and by
means of such knowledge improvements are also continually bemg
made ; but important improvements in trades, like other valuable
things, are not so easily obtained; for every single successful improve-
ment actually effected, many unsuccessful and sometimes costly
experiments have been tried, which are partly lost sight of by some
persons, and the successful results alone are noticed. Numerous in-
stances might be adduced of large sums of money having been lost
in scientific experiments made with the hope of improving various
arts and manufactures; for instance, in the numerous unsuccessful
attempts to properly lay submarine telegraph cables. The losses

— o_o

1870. ] On Practical Scientifie Instruction. 225

however, which occur in experiments scientifically made in this
country, to improve manufactures, are extremely small, compared
with those which result from unscientific attempts made with similar
objects. |

There may, perhaps, be some kinds of knowledge which are of
more value to a manufacturer than that of science, but that is not a
sufficient reason why the latter should be neglected. It may be of
ereater importance to him to have a manager who possesses a
knowledge of workmen, and a good administrative power over them,
than to have one who only understands the science of his manufac-
ture ; andit may be better for him to have a workman who under-
stands the empirical methods of his trade, rather than one who knows
only the science upon which those methods are based. Nevertheless,
if English manufacturers are to successfully withstand foreign com-
petition, they must employ workmen who can not only work, but ©
work to the greatest advantage.

Not only is scientific education of advantage to a manufacturer,
but it is also a national necessity ; without it we are unable to fully
economize the forces and materials employed in manufactures, or
manufacture articles as cheaply as foreigners who bring scientific
knowledge to their assistance. In some of the countries on the con-
tinent of Europe the nationalnecessity of scientific education has
been already recognized; not only is there a much more general
diffusion of such knowledge in those countries than in England, but
there is also a greater degree of State encouragement to scientific
education. In Berlin a laboratory has been newly erected in the
Dorotheen Strasse by the Prussian Government at a cost of 47,7002.,
in Bonn another at a cost of 18,450/., and in Leipsig a third large
one is now being erected, at a cost of about 30,0002. In Carlsruhe,
a noble building, the Polytechnic school, has also been erected,
affording instruction to 600 science students. Having been over
those buildings, and examined their internal arrangements, as well
as the chief ones in this country, I can state that we have no
laboratories, either erected by Government or by corporate bodies,
which are equal to the foreign ones. Liebig, writing to Faraday,
said, “ What struck me most in England was the perception, that
only those works which have a practical tendency awaken attention
and command respect; while the purely scientific, which possess far
greater merit, are almost unknown ; and yet the latter are the proper
and true source from which the others flow. In Germany it is quite
the contrary.” Germany possesses six purely technical universities
specially adapted for the diffusion of “ technical scientific education,”
whilst England does not possess one. It is a notable statement
that “ England spends five times as much on pauperism and crime
_ as upon education ; whilst Switzerland spends seven times as much
upon education as on pauperism and crime.” Each Englishman

226 On Practical Scientifie Instruction. [ April,

may be said to have to continually carry a pauper and a criminal in
consequence of our neglect of education. For all our artisans—
and they number by millions—there exists no means of scientific
education which would specially fit them for their future employ-
ments. The Universities and Colleges are not for them, and in
ordinary schools the principles and technical relations of science are
but little taught. If England is to successfully keep pace with
the progress of foreign intellect and foreign manufacture, there must
not only be a general diffusion of elementary secular knowledge
throughout this country, but there must also be as great a degree of
encouragement of scientific knowledge as exists in other countries.

The desire to withstand foreign competition, and to recover lost
trade and manufacture, are not the highest motives why masters
and workmen should be induced to acquire a greater knowledge of
‘science. It would be a higher virtue, and much more praiseworthy
in all men, if they pursued truth primarily for its own value, and
for the sake of their own mental improvement, rather than for the
immediate pecuniary advantages it may confer.

It was not by means of better scientific education that our
superiority as a manufacturing nation over other countries was
developed, and for many years maintained, but chiefly m conse-
quence of our abundant supply of coal and iron ore, and the genius
of a few scientific men in applying those stores to practical pur-
poses in steam-engines, machinery, and a multitude of mechanical,
physical, and chemical processes. Had it not been for these ar-
cumstances, England, like other nations not possessing such stores,
would have been compelled a generation ago to have adopted an
extensive system of scientific education. The knowledge of science
which has enriched this nation was not acquired in schools; its
possessors had to get it as they best could. Where did Faraday
learn electricity ? Where did Watt learn the science of heat ? How
did Arkwright learn mechanics? They all obtained their know-
ledge in spare moments, not in our public schools, because those
subjects were not taught in them.

Arguments are not unfrequently adduced to support the opinion
that ignorance has its advantages; but, however great the advan-
tages of ignorance may be, those of intelligence are still greater.
The extent to which in this country ignorance of the duties of an
office is considered a qualification for filling it, is in itself a melan-
choly proof of our real want of education.

In consequence of the labours of scientific discoverers and in-
ventors, the progress of science is such that in a very few years a
knowledge of it will be indispensable to all persons engaged in
superintending or carrying out manufacturing operations, and in
all arts, occupations and appointments in which man is dealing with
matter. Science is fast penetrating into all our manufactures and

1870. | On Practical Scientific Instruction. 227

occupations, and ‘ those who are unscientific will have much less
employment, and will be left behind in the race of life.” Hngland
also will be compelled, by the necessities of human progress and the
advance of foreign intellect, to determine and recognize the proper
value of science as a branch of education.

The philosophy of matter is the foundation of all manufacturing
arts and artistic processes; technical education, or the relations of
science to manufactures, &c., can only be properly imparted upon
the basis of a sufficient knowledge of theoretical science. An
attempt to impart technical education without such a basis would.
be but a very imperfect improvement upon the present system of
learning by the “rule of thumb” alone. It is true that our artisans
can work and do work without scientific knowledge, but they cannot
work to the greatest advantage ; and it is precisely such knowledge
they now so badly require. Jt would be difficult to state exactly
how much of such knowledge should be imparted to intended work-
men ; butit should certainly include all the chief laws and principles
of the sciences involved in their prospective employments. What
persons in general, who are not intending to become teachers of
science, require to learn, is rather the general principles and leading
facts of science, and their relations to manufactures, than a large
extent of science ; the entire subject is altogether too great for them.

It is both unnecessary and undesirable that lessons in science
should be entirely of an abstruse character, abounding in scientific
terms difficult to understand. All such lessons should be freely
illustrated by experiments, apparatus, models, processes, diagrams,
drawings, and the use of the black-board; and the difficult terms -
necessarily employed in them should be fully explaied. By selecting
many of the illustrations from the applications of science in the
phenomena of the material universe, of manufactures, and of every-
day life, all the fundamental laws and principles of physical and
chemical science may be readily made intelligible to the meanest
intellect. By this method also, the theory of science and its prac-
tical applications may be simultaneously taught in the most natural
and effective manner. In all scientific lessons to practical persons,
suitable technical illustrations should be freely employed. Artisans
have to deal, not so much with the laws and principles of substances
and forces, as with the substances and forces themselves; and men
who have to deal with matter and forces require not only the forms
but the tangible realities of scientific knowledge. If an attempt is
made to teach pure science alone without such illustrations, working-
men and practical persons will not accept it, because they cannot
perceive its application to their wants. What they specially require
to be taught is, how such knowledge is applied and operates in
their several ocewpations.

Each special manufacture usually involves the principles of

228 On Practical Scientifie Instruction. [ April,

several sciences, including physics and chemistry ; and therefore the
employments connected with it, and the technical education relating
to it, also necessarily include a knowledge and an explanation of
the chief laws and principles of those sciences: for example, the
manufacture and working in metals requires a knowledge of the
sciences of mechanics, heat, and chemistry; the oceupation of
electro-plating necessitates a knowledge of eléctricity and chemistry ;
the numerous employments involving the construction or use of
tools and machinery require a knowledge of the science of me-
chanics, and in some cases also of heat and chemistry.

The fundamental laws and principles of any particular science
operate in a similar manner in all trades, and are substantially the
same for all learners: for example, the same chemical and electric
principles operate in the galvanic batteries of telegraphists and
electro-platers, as in those of the scientific investigator ; the laws of
combustion are the same in a puddler’s furnace as in a domestic fire-
place; water boils at the same temperature, whether it be in a chemist’s
flask, a brewer's copper, or in a servant's saucepan; the laws and
principles of science, therefore, cannot be readily subdivided to suit
particular trades. With the practical illustrations, however, the
case is different; they may be selected from particular occupations,
manufactures, arts, processes, and substances, so as to make the
lessons suitable for different classes of persons, and thus by varying
the kind of illustrations the lessons may be adapted to persons of
different occupations, to agriculturists, metallurgists, and others.
In courses of lessons or lectures on technology, the teacher should
be very careful to select as many of the illustrations as possible
from the actual working experience involved in the particular trades
or occupations of his audience, and in this way the highest science
may be united to the meanest art. A difficulty connected with the
carrying out of this plan is, technical processes are rarely well under-
stood by professional teac chers, because those processes depend so
much upon practical details.

The technological teacher must know both the science of the
manufacture and the details of the manufacture itself to which
that science is applied; he must be able to combine theory and prac-
tice, and continually to show the relation of abstract laws and prin-
ciples to technical results. He must not only know how diffieult
things are done, but he must also to some extent be able to do them,
and thus to teach by example as well as by precept. His teaching
must be full of practical applications and familiar illustrations. Such
teachers are as yet almost unknown, and Faraday, in his evidence
already referred to, stated that the class of men suitable for teaching
science remained to be created.

This statement made by Faraday still remains true. Our Uni-
versities have not yet supplied many schools with teachers eminent

1870. ] Atmospheric Electricity. 229

in physics or chemistry. The sudden public demand for some inde-
finitely understood scientific education has produced a supply of
comparatively unqualified teachers, and those appointed in some
of our schools have had only a book-knowledge of the subject, but
little experience in making experiments, much less acquaintance
with the relations of science to manufactures, and entirely without
experience in original experimental research. The ignorance of
some of the simplest practical scientific matters, shown by some of
these otherwise educated gentlemen, has been quite astonishing, and
the most charitable supposition is that they are unaware of their
ignorance.

The kind of teachers required for communicating scientific in-
struction are not men possessed only of a book-knowledge of science,
and the power of communicating it, nor even of men who have also
repeated the experiments of others as described in books, but men
who, in addition to all this, are familiar with the details of manu-
facturing operations, and have also had considerable experience in
original experimental research, and thereby acquired the power of
distinguishing truth from error in matters of science,—a quality
of the highest value in teaching, and which cannot be acquired in
any other way.

VIII. ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY AND RECENT
PHENOMENA OF REFRACTION.

By Samvuet Barser.

WHATEVER connection may exist between earthquakes and elec-
trical disturbance of the atmosphere—a connection remarkably
substantiated during the past year—there seems little reason to
doubt that there exists between the electric waves or currents and
the condition of atmospheric vapour a close relation. The more
we examine the various changes of cloud and mist, their multiform
shapes and ever-varying tints, their changes in density, altitude,
and attractive or repulsive power, the more are we convinced that
a force of incalculable power and undefined extent, more subtle and
scarcely less potent than that of gravitation is in constant operation
upon them. |

The operation to which I allude, that of electricity, both atmo-
spheric and terrestrial, seems rather to have been studied in its
exceptional manifestations, than as a force subject to law, and of
vast and constant, though unobtrusive, influence. The difficulty
of rendering this science deductive, in its relation to meteorology,
is apparent ; the collection of data and the progress of experimental
research form our present basis.

VOL. VIL. R

230 Atmospheric Electricity [ April,

Till something more is known, however, and known more
definitely, as to the nature of cloud and fog constituents, we can
scarcely expect much progress in this department; and I would
commend the subject to aéronauts and microscopists. Mr. Proctor,
in an interesting paper on the subject of rain,* quotes De Saussure,
Kamptz, &c., against Sir J. Herschel and Tyndall, appearing to
incline to the views of the latter writers. He does not, however,
allude to electrical action in enumerating the causes of rain. Yet
it seems to me there is no reason to believe that the aggregation
or dissociation of clouds and the condensation of their particles is
greatly due to the influence of this force. That the movements of
cloud and mist are accompanied by strong electrical action has been
shown by the experiments of Mr. Crosse, of Bromfield, and
Mr. Ronalds ;} and it is but reasonable to think that this action may
have great influence on contiguous vapour, though unaccompanied
by a disruptive discharge, or any luminous appearance. My
observations induce me to think that electricity is also indirectly
the cause of those peculiarities of refraction which depend upon the
molecular condition of the vapour mediz through which the light
passes, vz.—Halos, Parhelia, Paraselene, &c.; and 1 may here
remark that these phenomena appear to have been unusually
abundant during the past year, which has also afforded such
exceptional displays of aurora, &c.

On the 21st September, a halo, of large diameter, say 60°,
corresponded in position with the cirrhus clouds which formed the
refracting medium. ‘This halo followed the irregularities of the
cloud to a considerable extent. Its disappearance was almost
instantaneous, being caused apparently by the approach of a large
mass of cumulus in the lower region of the sky. Almost as soon as
the latter touched the lower part of the circle, the halo vanished.
The irregularities in the circle of light at one time took the form of
a series of separate arcs, which bent inwards, and appeared to be
composed of half-dissolyed cirrhus. These irregularities of form
were also very conspicuous in a remarkable halo which was seen on
Friday evening, December 19th. This assumed a spheroidal form,
and was intersected by streaks of cirrhus, which changed their
form rapidly, and showed a prismatic refraction like that of the
halo itself. The vanishing of the first-mentioned halo was perhaps
caused by an alteration in the constitution of its crystals or vesicles
resulting from the electric action of the cloud below.

The next appearance I have to describe was of a singularly
beautiful form and perfect definition. It appeared imbedded in a
mass of homogeneous vapour, and consisted of two distinct rings,
the inner one of a deep cobalt blue. This ring was distant from

* ‘Intellectual Observer,’ December, 1867.
+ Vide Sir S. Harris’s ‘ Electricity.’

1870. | and Recent Phenomena of Refraction. 231

the moon’s dise about three diameters. Its outline was clearly
defined, especially towards the inner part of the circle, and the
colour was exquisite in tone. Farther from the moon, by about
two apparent diameters, there was another ring, less defined and
wider than the first, and of a beautiful crimson colour. Altogether
this was the most beautiful appearance of the kind that I ever
witnessed. It occurred about 114 p.m. on the evening following
that on which the first-described halo appeared. All three were
followed by drenching rain, lasting about a week in the first case.
A gale came shortly after the second (December 19th). The
cirrhus clouds which almost filled the sky resembled in form an
appearance of aurora on this occasion, and had a peculiar motion,
vanishing and reappearing in fresh forms, though there was no
wind at the time.

Re 2

( 2382 ) [April,
NOTICES OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS.

FARADAY, HIS LIFE AND LETTERS*

One of the prettiest spots on the rail between Lancaster and Leeds
is the village of Clapham. Here the bold Yorkshire scenery loses
its nakedness, the hill-sweeps are cultivated, and a winding stream
runs through the somewhat wooded valley. At a considerable ele-
vation the railway bridges this valley, and as the station is neared
a few scattered stone cottages mark the commencement of the distant
village. This is the ancestral home of Faraday, and here his family
name is still to be found. The Clapham parish register of 1708
contains the earliest record of the family of our great philosopher
in the person of one “ Richard Ffaraday.” After this we find that
at Clapham Wood Hall, there lived a Robert Faraday, one of whose
sons, James, became a blacksmith. Soon after his marriage, in 1786,
James Faraday moved to London, and lived for a while at Newing-
ton Butts, where his third child, Michael, was born on Sept. 22nd,
1791. This Michael was afterwards the “ Faraday” whose name
is now a household word, and the lustre of whose fame time will
increasingly brighten.

The stages of Faraday’s early life are well known; how, from
being a newspaper boy, he rose to be a bookbinder’s apprentice, then _
to be the assistant, and finally, the successor of Davy. It would,
however, hardly be thought likely that the quiet and simple life of
Faraday would furnish sufficient materials for so extensive a bio-
graphy as that which Dr. Bence Jones has compiled. But it must
be remembered that Faraday’s life was full of his own stirring dis-
coveries, and forms the link between the scientific men of the past
and those of the present. The true function of a biographer 1s to
sink himself in his subject, and this Dr. Bence Jones has done in an
eminent degree. Hence the work reads like an autobiography. It
gives us a picture of Faraday’s intensely active and penetrating mind,
from which there flowed at first sagacious letters to his friends; then
a journal of foreign travel, full of acute observation ; then a record
of his early work in the laboratory; then his early triumphs as a
lecturer ; and, when he had fully trained himself for the fight, his
grand conquests over the secrets of nature. So that one reads on
with an eager and almost breathless interest as Faraday hotly pur-
sues his electrical researches, and goes from strength to strength in
the mysteries he reveals.

The first traces of Faraday’s greatness of mind are to be found
in his letters to his early friend Abbott. This correspondence, to-

* «The Life and Letters ‘of Faraday,’ by Dr. Bence Jones, Secretary to the
Royal Institution. London: Longmans, 1870.

1870. ] Notices of Scientific Works. 233

gether with his foreign journal, occupy the main portion of the first
volume. Most heartily do we thank Mr. Abbott for having preserved
these letters. With all Faraday’s disadvantages of education, his
letters, though often laboured, it is true, are written with an elegance
and thoughtfulness of which anyone might be proud. When twenty-
one years old, he wrote the following passage to Mr. Abbott, in which
at that age his discernment is well seen. How many would do well to
listen to these words :—“ A lecturer falls deeply beneath the dignity of
his character when he descends so low as to angle for claps, and asks
for commendation. Yet have I seen a lecturer even at this point. I
have heard him causelessly condemn his own powers. I have heard
him dwell for a length of time on the extreme care and niceness that
the experiment he will make requires. I have heard him hope for
indulgence when no indulgence was wanted, and I have even heard
him declare that the experiment now made cannot fail from its beauty,
its correctness, and its application, to gain the approbation of all. Yet
surely such an error in the character of a lecturer cannot require
pointing out, even to those who resort to it; its impropriety must be
evident, and I should, and perhaps have done well, to pass it.”

The first lectures that Faraday delivered were given at the City
Philosophical Society in 1816. These were prepared with all the
careful assiduity which marked his subsequent work. From the notes
of these lectures we glean what Faraday was at twenty-four. Here
are his thoughts at the close of one of these lectures :—“ The philo-
sopher should be a man willing to listen to every suggestion, but
determined to judge for himself. He should not be biassed by ap-
pearances ; have no favourite hypothesis; be of no school; and in
doctrine have no master. He should not be a respecter of persons,
but of things. Truth should be his primary object. If to these
qualities be added industry, he may indeed hope to walk within the
veil of the temple of nature.” More than fifty years have passed
since these words were spoken, and now we perceive how perfectly
Faraday himself realized this noble ideal.

From the journal he kept when travelling with Davy, we learn
some interesting facts concerning the social as well as the scientific
state of Europe at that time. Here, too, are to be found traces of
his keen and accurate observation, of his humour, of his kindliness,
and of his constant affection for those at home. In this journal one
of the most valuable of his entries relates to the combustion of the
diamond, a feat, it will be remembered, that Davy first accomplished
at Florence by the aid of the fine lens belonging to the Grand
Duke of Tuscany. Our readers may be glad of the extract :—

“To-day we made the grand experiment of burning the diamond,
and certainly the phenomena presented were extremely beautiful and
interesting. A glass globe, containing abqut 22 cubical inches, was
exhausted of air, and filled with very pure oxygen, procured from

234 Notices of Scientific Works. [ April,

oxymuriate of potash ; the diamond was supported in the centre of
this globe by a rod of platinum, to the top of which a cradle or cap
was fixed, pierced full of holes to allow a free circulation of the gas
about the diamond. The Duke’s -burning-glass was the instrument
used to apply heat to the diamond. It consists of two double convex
lenses, distant from each other about 34 feet; the large lens is about
14 or 15 inches in diameter. The instrument is fixed in the centre
of a round table, and is so arranged to admit of elevation or depres-
sion, or any adjustment required, at pleasure. By means of the
second lens the focus is very much reduced, and the heat, when the
sun shines brightly, rendered very intense.

“ The instrument was placed in an upper room of the museum ;

and having arranged it at the window, the diamond was placed 1 in
the focus, and anxiously watched. The heat was thus continued at
intervals for three- -quarters of an hour (it being necessary to cool
the globe at times), and during that time it was thought that the
diamond was slowly diminishing and becoming opaque. .
On a sudden Sir H. Davy observed the diamond to burn visibly,
and when removed from the focus it was found to be im a state of
active and rapid combustion. The diamond glowed brilliantly with
a scarlet light inclining to purple, and when placed in the dark con-
tinued to burn for about four minutes. After cooling the glass, heat
was again applied to the diamond, and it burnt again, though not
nearly so long as before. ‘This was repeated twice more, and soon
after the diamond became all consumed. This phenomenon of actual
and vivid combustion, which has never been observed before, was
attributed by Sir H. Davy to the free access of air. It became more
dull as carbonic acid gas formed, and did not last so long. The
globe and contents were put by for future examination.”

Returning to England, Faraday was, in 1815, officially appointed
to be chemical assistant at the Royal Institution. As such he con-
tinued for some ten years, when, having already given occasional
lectures, first in the laboratory, and then in the theatre of the
Royal Institution, he was permanently appointed to the position he
held until his death. In 1816 Faraday published his first contribu-
tion to science in the then ‘ Quarterly Journal of Science ;’ this was
rapidly followed, by other papers on very diverse subjects, and it
was not until 1831 he began the great work of his life, the
‘Experimental Researches in Electricity.’ It will be unnecessary to
refer to these researches here, for our readers are probably acquainted
with their magnitude and importance. Unswervingly were they
pursued until, in 1855, he sent the thirtieth, and last, of the series
to the Royal Society.

Remembering his even life, many are surprised that Faraday
found it necessary to relinquish his great work at an age in which
most of our statesmen are in their very prime. When, however,

1870. ] Notices of Scientifie Works. 235

we recall the intense application of mind and body necessary for the
pursuit of physical investigation, and how for forty years Faraday
sustained this unceasing drain of nervous energy, our surprise is
only at his powers of endurance, and that it should have been
possible for one man to accomplish so much. Up to the very end
he worked, even when his memory was fading away and his powers
of mind so exhausted that he had at frequent intervals to rest his
brain, until, like a voltaic pile, the nervous force accumulated. with
sufficient intensity to effect a discharge of thought. At last baffled
at every turn by the loss of memory, his experimental work only
ceased when, after completing a tedious and unsuccessful investi-
gation, he found he had done it all before, and obtained the results
he now sought for in vain.

His last thoughts were turned to the possibility of correlating
gravity with the other forces. And, with all deference, we beg to
express our regret that the Royal Society refused his last paper,
1860, “On the possible Relation of Gravity with Electricity and
Heat.” The results, it is true, were negative, but to publish what
cannot be done is, in science, often as valuable as to publish the
records of success. Here are some of the speculations that are to
be found in Faraday’s note-book at this period. Speaking of gravity,
he says :—“ Might not two globes (or masses, as pigs of lead),
A, B, attached to the end of a long rope, passing over a large
pulley at the top of the clock-tower, or in the whispering-gallery of
St. Paul’s, serve an experimental purpose? Starting with both balls
insulated, discharged, and balanced, then it would be easy to raise
B and lower A, and examination by a very delicate static electro-
meter might show A charged positive and B negative; then dis-
charging both, and reversing the motion, B would come down
positive, and A become negative, and soon..... These electro-
meters being very delicate and of the condensing kind, one man,
having only to turn a windlass, might work the apparatus for half
a day, or it might be kept in motion by a steam-engine, or other
mechanical power. The evolution of one electricity would be a new
and very remarkable thing. ‘The idea throws a doubt on the
whole; but still try, for who knows what is possible in dealing with
gravity?” He makes the trial with all bis accustomed experi-
mental skill, and though he fails he does not despair that others
will obtain results that are denied to him. !

In connection with this subject of the correlation of forces an
important extract, from the notes of a lecture delivered by Faraday
in 1834, is given on p. 48, vol. ii. The notes run thus :—‘‘ Now
consider a little more generally the relation of all these powers. We
cannot say that any one is the cause of the others, but only that all
are connected and due to one common cause. As to the connection,
observe the production of any one from another, or the conversion of

236 Notices of Scientific Works. [ April,

one into another.” Then he states experiments, showing the con-
version of chemical power into heat, into electricity, and into mag-
netism, and of the converse action in each case: after which he re-
marks :—“ Hiven gravitation may perhaps be included. For as the
local attraction of chemical affinity becomes attraction at a distance,
in the form of electricity and magnetism, so gravitation itself may
be only another form of the same power.” Later in life Mr. Faraday
initialed these notes and wrote ‘ Correlation of Forces.’ Now Mr.
Grove’s ‘ Lectures on the Correlation of the Physical Forces’ were
delivered eight years subsequent to this. Hence priority of the idea
_ unquestionably belongs to Mr. Faraday, whilst the masterly develop-
ment that led to its speedy recognition was first accomplished by
Mr. Grove.

The chef-d’ ceuvre of Faraday’s researches is, in our opinion, that
which led to the discovery of magneto-electricity. Both theoretically
and practically its importance can hardly be over-estimated. It is
well known that Faraday took a keen interest in all those develop-
ments of scientific discovery that benefited mankind. The writer well
remembers the emotion with which Mr. Faraday spoke as he showed
him a rod of iron that had been fused by a current of magneto-
electricity, and explained the wonderful expansion of that power
discovered by Mr. Wilde. Thirty years before, Faraday had seen
the birth of that same electricity only in the convulsive twitch of the
needle of his galvanometer. He lived to behold this child of his grow
into a mighty power; he saw it everywhere employed and fortunes
founded on its free use; he saw it adapted for telegraphy, and the
luxury of private telegraphs made possible by its means; he saw it
used on a grand scale for electro-metallurgy ; he saw it generating
ozone, and thereby refining sugar; he saw it make iron run like
water; he saw its light used by the photographer to enlarge his
negatives; and finally, he saw it shine like a midnight sun over the
reefs around our coast. It is sad for our country’s honour to know
that the genius who laid the foundation of this prosperity was all
his life long supported by a private institution, which never could
afford to pay Faraday so much as he would have earned had he been
a bank-clerk. It is humiliating to read how, when Faraday was
rising to the zenith of his fame, the Committee of the Royal Insti-
tution were only able to report that “certainly no reduction could
be made in Mr. Faraday’s salary of 100. per annum, with rooms,
coals, and candles.” And though, happily, Faraday found his highest
reward in the pleasure of his work and in the kindly esteem of his
fellow-men, nevertheless he keenly felt how little our nation care to
recognize deep philosophical pursuits. Writing to Lord Wrottesley,
he says,—‘ For its own sake the Government should honour the
men who do honour and service to their country. I have, as a
scientific man, received from foreign countries and sovereigns honours

1870.] Notices of Scientifie Works, 237

which surpass, in my opinion, anything which it is in the power of
my own to bestow.” What those honours were we had intended to
state, but their astonishing number, some sixty or more—a number
we believe quite unparalleled in the annals of science—would have
occupied more space than we can spare.

In conclusion we must repeat our high opinion of the manner
in which Dr. Bence Jones has compiled this record of Faraday.
It has been a work of labour, but manifestly a labour of love. We
wish the public would read this memoir. It would be well for them-
selves, and it would be well for the progress of science. No one
can rise from the perusal of this work without feeling the better
for knowing more of one who, as the following picture will show,
embodied both “sweetness and light.”

“ As a philosopher, Faraday’s first great characteristic was the
trust which he put in facts. His second great characteristic was his
imagination. It rose sometimes to divination, or scientific second
sight, and led him to anticipate results that he or others afterwards
proved to be true.

“ As a man, the beauty and the nobleness of his character were
formed by very many great qualities. Among these the first and
greatest was his truthfulness. His noble nature showed itself in
his search for truth. He loved truth beyond all other things; and
no one ever did, or will, search for it with more energy than he did.
His second great quality was his kindness. It was born in him,
and by his careful culture it grew up to be the rule of his life; kind-
ness to every one always—in thought, in word, and in deed. His
third great quality was his energy. This was no strong effort for
a short time, but a lifelong lasting strife to seek and say that which
he thought was true, and to do that which he thought was kind.

“That one who had been a newspaper boy should receive,
unsought, almost every honour which every republic of science
throughout the world could give; that he should for many years
be consulted constantly by the different.departments of the Govern-
ment, and other authorities, on questions regarding the good of
others; that he should be sought after by the princes of his own
and of other countries; and that he should be the admiration of
every scientific or unscientific person who knew anything of him,
was enough to have made him proud ; but his religion was a living
root of fresh humility, and from first to last it may be seen growing
with his fame, and reaching its height with his glory, and making
him to the end of his life certainly the humblest, whilst he was also
the most energetic, the truest, and the kindest of experimental
philosophers.”

Such was the man of whom England has not seen his like
since the time of Newton. A true Christian gentleman, a great
High Priest of Nature was Michael Faraday.

238 Notices of Scientific Works. [ April,

Geology and Revelation: or the Ancient History of the Earth con-
sidered in the Light of Geological Facts and Revealed Religion.
By the Rev. Gzratp Motioy, D.D. London: Longmans & Co.
1870. 8vo. Pp. 418.

Ir is no small credit to our Established Church that some of her
best men have been also noted as our most able geologists.

Buckland, Conybeare, Henslow, Whewell, Sedgwick, and many
others, have done credit alike to the Gown and to the Hammer.

Nor have the clergy of other denominations failed to furnish
illustrations of geological workers and writers. The Rev. David
Ure, the Rev. Dr. John Fleming of the Scotch Church, and the
Rey. J. McEnery,* a Roman Catholic clergyman at Torquay, have
largely aided in the promotion of geological science.

The author of the present work is also a Catholic clergyman and
Professor of Theology in the Royal College of St. Patrick, May-
nooth ; where, being engaged in expounding the evidences of revealed
religion, he met with difficulties im reconciling with them certain
geological phenomena and speculations. He therefore resolved to
make himself acquainted with the leading facts of the science, and
for this purpose consulted the works of our great geological masters.
He determined to consider the subject “in a candid and philoso-
phical spirit,” being, however, “ impressed with the conviction that
no fact can be really at variance with revealed truth.”

The results of his inquiry he offers to those who, feeling like
himself the necessity of it, have no time nor opportunity to pursue
such an investigation.

In the present volume, Dr. Molloy treats of the bearing of the
ereat antiquity of the earth, with the history that is given in Genesis.
In a future volume he hopes to discuss the antiquity of man. His
work is divided into two parts. The first is devoted to an outline
of geological facts and phenomena. Contrary to the majority of
authors who have treated of geology and religion, Dr. Molloy dis-
plays a very good knowledge of geological science, and this sum-
mary, which is written in a similar style to Page’ s ‘Geology for
General Readers, can be read with advantage by those for whom
our manuals afford too much dry detail. It contains the essential
facts of geology, and is very agreeably written.

The second part of the work, the conclusions of geologists, are
compared with the “truths of revelation.” Dr. Molloy endeavours
to adapt the periods of geology to the six days of Genesis—a sub-

* Mr. McEnery’s name will always be associated with the earliest exploration
of Kent’s Cavern, and the finding of human remains (in 1824-5) associated with

hyena, &c., in undisturbed deposits beneath the stalagmitic fioor of this now
historic caye.

1870.] Notices of Scientific Works. , 239

ject that has already led to the publication of so many speculative
books.

The chronology of the Bible, he admits, does not go back to the
beginning of the world. There may have been, he thinks, a long
interval of time between the creation of the world, and the work of
the six days. He regards the six days as probably of indefinite,
though not necessarily of unequal length, and proceeds to arrange
the geological formations into six divisions to indicate the different
work done on each of the days. Apparently the seventh day is going
on at the present time. Taking the history of organic life into con-
sideration, he regards plants and trees as created on the third day
(= Carboniferous Period); reptiles, fish, and birds on the fifth day
(= Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic Periods); and the beasts of
the earth, including man, on the sixth day (= Tertiaries, &c.). The
other three days were devoted to light, sun, moon, stars, &c., and we
must not expect to find geological indications of them.

Respecting the fact that organic life, both plants and animals,
prevailed upon the earth for many ages before the Carboniferous
Period began, we need do no more than quote Dr. Molloy’s ingenious
answer :—“ The sacred writer tells us, no doubt, that on the third day
God created plants and trees; but he does not say, either expressly
or otherwise, that previous to the third day the earth was devoid of
vegetation.

“ Again, we read that reptiles, fish, and birds were created on the
fifth day. But there is nothing m the language of the inspired
narrative from which it can be inferred that these several classes of
animal life may not have been represented, before that time, by many
and various species: though, probably, it was only on the fifth day
that they were developed in such vast numbers, and assumed such
gigantic proportions, as to become the most conspicuous objects of
creation.”

We have, in the foregoing brief notice, given some idea of the
scope of Dr. Molloy’s volume. If we could see the feasibility of
arriving at any close agreement between geological facts and the
history given in Genesis, we should welcome such a volume as this
one, coming as it evidently does from an able and candid writer. But
when a strained interpretation has to be put upon the one history
so as to make it accord with the other, and especially when it is
found needful to adopt such explanations as that above quoted, we
cannot but feel that this, as well as almost every other attempt at
dividing geological time into the procrustean limit of six periods,
representing the six days mentioned in Genesis, helps us in no way
towards a satisfactory concordance between the testimony of Moses
and the testimony of the rocks.

A perusal of the first part of Dr. Molloy’s work—especially the
very impartial manner in which he discusses the facts and deductions

240 Notices of Scientific Works. [ April,

arrived at by geologists—gave us a very favourable opinion of the
book. We were disappointed, however, with the second part, and
can only regret that the author has not done equal justice to the
theological side of the question, if it can be said to have a theological
side.

The question very naturally arises in our mind, Why should
theology and geology be reconciled? has the one any ground in
common with the other? The Bible was never intended to teach
geology, nor the rocks ever intended to teach theology, save that
they speak of unity of design, and uniformity of action in creation
from the earliest times to the present day.

1870.] ( 241 )

CHRONICLES OF SCIENCE,

Including the Proceedings of Fearmed Societies at Home and Abroad ;
and dlotices of Recent Scientific Hiteruture.

1. AGRICULTURE.

THE sewage question has had its full share of attention during the
past quarter. Before the Institution of Surveyors, the Society of
Arts, and the London Farmers’ Club, town sewage has been discussed
as a possible source of profit to agriculturists and to ratepayers :
and in the Report of the Rivers Pollution Commission, just pre-
sented to Parliament, it is discussed as a nuisance to be abated.
In this report the agricultural remedy for the nuisance, being the
only one by which it may be made a source of profit, is held out as
trustworthy and efficient—but other remedies are also pointed out.
Filtration—not the mere action of a sieve upon suspended matters,
but filtration of the kind which venous blood undergoes when passing
through the lungs—is a satisfactory remedy. If sewage be passed
in an intermittent way downwards through a sufficiently capacious
filter, displacing at each access the air with which the filter becomes
filled in the intervals, it undergoes a thorough oxidation, and comes
out with all its organic matter oxidized and rendered harmless. In
this way, however, not only is a nuisance abated, but a valuable
property is destroyed. All the agricultural analogies point to the
fertilizing character of town sewage. Man ought to be as useful a
species of farm stock as sheep. Everybody knows the fertilizing effect
of the sheepfold. The 20 millions of sheep in England are the very
safeguard of the permanent fertility of all our light soils. The
20 millions of “ man”—for the two animals are singularly alike in
number and weight—ought to be at least as valuable to the farmer.
At present, man as farm stock is almost good for nothing. No doubt,
the lesson which we are learning of his agricultural value at Edin-
burgh, Aldershot, Barking, Banbury, Warwick, Rugby, Bedford,
Croydon, Norwood, Worthing, and elsewhere, will ultimately con-
vince both town and country of the waste that is beg now incurred.
Perhaps the enthusiasm of those who believe in it, as well as the vis
inertiz of the incredulous, has had something to do with the dila-
tormess of public opinion on the subject. It has been supposed
that sewage will overrule the influence of climate, soil, and even the
specific character of plant and animal. This however is a mistake.
The proper conclusion is, that for most ordinary English agricultural
crops of succulent growth, sewage, applied with discretion, is of
unequalled fertilizing power; but for crops to which our climate is

249 Chronicles of Science. [April,

of only occasional and doubtful fitness, sewage, like other manures,
will produce only occasional or doubtful results. The life and
character of a plant are, in fact, an unalterable “quantity” in all
agriculiural calculations. They may be improvable within very
narrow limits; but no enthusiastic belief in the power of any new
agency in agriculture should blind us to the fact that, however
animals and, a fortiori, men, who are capable of influence by many
other motives besides the merely material ones, may improve under
education, plants have very limited capacities indeed. We may
educate our animals to some extent to bear with and perhaps to
profit by an unaccustomed set of circumstances, but plants must
be simply selected for their ascertained natural aptitudes. Happily
there are plants enough for which our climate is well adapted by
which we can most perfectly utilize the agency of sewage. Italian
ryegrass, mangold wurzel, cabbages, celery, asparagus, and straw-
berries all prosper wonderfully under its influence; and even grain
crops, judiciously treated, will answer satisfactorily to the sewage
whip. We may hope, therefore, soon to see a profitable and whole-
some conversion of town drainage, now so great a plague, into useful
agricultural produce—good milk and vegetables, or even straw-
_ berries and cream!

The question of manure adulteration has occupied the attention
of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, whose chemist, Dr.
Voelcker, is now authorized to publish every month all analyses of
adulterated foods and manures which pass through his hands: and
accordingly several very glaring instances have been gibbeted in
this way of worthless guanoes and superphosphates, in which
gypsum, earth, chalk, and sand figure im place of the genuine -
ingredients of imported guano and bone-ash. This exposure of the
risks which the farmer incurs by incaution in the manure market
is the more necessary, when his success now more than ever seems
to depend on brains and bones—his own brains, as the ‘ Agricultural
Gazette’ says, and somebody else’s bones!

The current number of the ‘English Agricultural Society’s
Journal’ contains an interesting report of Belgian agriculture, from
which, however, we do not gather any justification of the opinion
, which has hitherto been prevalent, that the small farming of that
country is the best agriculture in the world. Of other communica-
tions which the Journal lays before its readers, we may name Dr.
Voelcker’s elaborate investigation into the value of beet pulp, the
refuse of the beet-sugar manufacture, and his report of experiments
which appear to indicate the usefulness of potash salts im manure
for mangold wurzel. There are also reports on the cheese farms
of Cheshire and on the American cheese factory system. Mr.
Bailey Denton also calls attention in its pages to the possibilities
of village sanitary economy in respect of water supply, cottage

1870. ] Agriculture. 243

building, and drainage. And the Rev. J. Stratton calls attention
to the social circumstances of the agricultural labourer, and the
possibility of a comfortable maintenance for him without the aid of
the poor law.

Among other subjects which have occupied. the attention of
farmers, both in agricultural periodicals and at the meetings of agri-
cultural societies, have been—the management of grass lands,
discussed before the London Farmers’ Club; the influence of the
moon on weather, plants, and animals, which was very fully discussed
(the prevalent idea on the subject being shown to be mere delusion),
before a Dorsetshire farmers’ club; the impolicy of the game laws,
and especially of the reservation of hares and rabbits on the part of
the landowner ; the need of some acknowledgment of tenant-right on
the part of landowners in England as well as in Ireland, where the
principle is fully acknowledged in Mr. Gladstone’s Irish Land Bill ;
the prevalence of pleuro-pneumonia and foot-and-mouth disease
among cattle, which has been very unusual both as to extent and
as to severity ; and the policy of improving the means of education
for the agricultural labourer. The introduction of a Government Bill
on elementary education—by which local authorities are required to
enforce the attendance at public elementary schools of all children
under twelve years of age who have no reasonable excuse for their
absence—is a matter of great agricultural importance. Such a mea-
sure cannot fail to tell most beneficially upon the next generation of
both labourers and their employers.

The agricultural statistics of the country for 1869 have been
published during the past quarter. They indicate a considerable
reduction in the number of farm live-stock. There were 70,000
fewer cattle, 350,000 fewer pigs, and no less than 1,110,000 fewer
sheep in 1869 than in 1868. The horse stock has been this year
for the first time enumerated, and we now learn that we have
1,141,996 farm horses at work in England, 1,561,061 altogether
in Great Britain. and close on 2,000,000 in the whole United
Kingdom. Turning to the crop reports, about 340,000 more acres
are returned as being in the hands of English farmers in 1869 than in
1868—23,370,639 acres in England, and nearly double that amount
in the United Kingdom. There is an increase in England in the
area of all grain crops amounting to 20,000 acres of wheat, 84,000
acres of barley, 22,000 acres of oats, 14,000 acres of rye, 45,000
acres of beans, and no less than 100,000 acres of pease. The clover
crop was less in 1869 than in 1868 by no fewer than 365,000 acres,
that being no doubt the extent which was ploughed up and sown
chiefly with pease, but also with other crops, in consequence of the
failure due to the drought of the year before last.

244 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

2. ARCHAOLOGY (Pre-Hisroric).

To whatever country the white man goes he carries with him, in
addition to the blessings of Christianity, a string of evils which,
sooner or later, destroy the aborigines from off the face of the earth.
Alcohol, fire-arms, clothes, small-pox, measles, and many other
noxious accompaniments of civilization have done their work upon
the aborigines of America (as they have on those of Australia, Tas-
mania, and New Zealand), but the last fatal blow seems to have
fallen upon them in the opening of the Great Pacific Railroad from
New York to San Francisco. That which we hail as the harbinger
of peace and good-will to men, this great highway for the nations,
3300 miles in extent, sounds the death-knell of the Pawnees and
the Sioux, the Crows, the Arrapahoes and Cheyennes, as certainly
as it threatens death to Mormonism. JBoth will in a few years be
swept away. |

Mr. Frederick Whymper, giving an account of the line in
‘Tilustrated Travels,’* says,—“ In the neighbourhood of Cheyenne
there is a large military station, Fort Russell, where some 900
soldiers of the United States’ army are quartered, expressly for the
benefit of the Sioux and those ‘dogs of Indians,’ the Cheyennes.
The railroad lost some excellent engineers by the hands of the latter
when the preliminary surveys for the line were being made. General
Sheridan was enabled to surround several of their villages last winter,
and killed and subdued a large number of them. Several hundreds
thereby left this world for happier hunting-grounds. The General
had the reputation, however, of treating the women and children
with great humanity.”+ This is asad picture to contemplate; but
sooner or later the same thing will occur in New Zealand. In
Tasmania one solitary old woman, named “ Lalla Rookh,” represents _
the last of the aborigines! The natives of Australia are driven
into the wilderness. All the good and pleasant places, once their
own, are occupied by our countrymen.

Dr. Haast has communicated to Professor Owen an interesting
account of the discovery, in the province of Canterbury, New
Zealand, of several cooking-pits and kitchen-middens, containing
the remains of various species of Dimornis. Such conclusive eyvi-
dence of the contemporaneity of this now quite extinct bird with
man in this island is most valuable to the ethnologist, and leads
him to hope for fuller details.

Mr. F. Spurrell has lately obtained from the neighbourhood of
Dartford, Kent, several flint implements of the paleeolithic type.

* Part XIV. Edited by H. W. Bates, Assistant-Secretary to the Royal
Geographical Society. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin.
+ Page 34. A

1870. | Archeology. 245

At the Archeological Institute, Mr. Soden Smith recently (Dec. 3)
gave an account of a Circle of Stones in Crosby, Ravensworth parish,
Westmoreland. This was remarkable as being composed of three
concentric circles, and having also an avenue of stones 112 yards in
length leading to it, and two smaller groups of stones lying close
to it.

The Rey. Greville Chester described the shell-implements and
other antiquities of Barbadoes. These shell-implements occur in
old raised benches, and are often very abundant; they are formed
from the columella of Strombus gigas.

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

President, Professor T. H. Huxley, LL.D., F.R.S. Lieut.
Oliver, R.A., has laid before this Society (Dec. 7) an excellent
Report on the Pre-historic Monuments of the Channel Islands, of
which he has communicated the most interesting features in the first
article in our present number.. An ancient Calvaria, assigned to
Confucius, was exhibited and described by Professor Busk. This
calyaria was formerly set in gold and mounted on a tripod, and in-
tended for a drinking vessel. It was taken from the Emperor of
China’s Summer Palace at Peking. Four figures have been dis-
covered upon the skull in faint relief. The president (Professor
Huxley) mentioned that the Australians still use calvarize orna-
mented in a like manner. Major Millingen communicated an
account of the “Koords and Armenians,” and identified the modern
Koords with the ancient Karduks mentioned by Xenophon. The
language spoken in Koordistan is distinct from either Turkish or
Persian, and is divided into numerous dialects. ‘The Koords are
described by the author as a wild and faithless people, rejoicing in
plunder and slaughter, the females engaging in brigandage. Asa
race they are remarkably handsome, and exhibit a great variety of
complexion, a dark skin with black hair and black eyes being most
common ; light hair and blue eyes however are also met with.

On January 11, Colonel Lane Fox gave an account of the
“mere,” or “ pattoo-pattoo” of New Zealand, showing that it is used
as a weapon for thrusting, not as a club; the author believes it to
be a modified stone celt, as a series of transitional forms may be
traced connecting the two implements. Colonel Lane Fox’s opinion
is confirmed by a letter from the Rev. J. W. Stack, of Kaiopoi,
to Dr. Hooker, C.B., explaining that the ‘‘ mere” is always used
for thrusting, not for striking.

Dr. Haast, F.R.S., sends details of the discovery in New Zealand
of a polished stone chisel and a sharpening stone, found by a party
of miners, in an auriferous “lead.” Advancing inland, from the

VOL. VII. S

246 Chronicles of Science. | [April, —

present shore, several distinct belts of land (old sea margins ?) may
be observed, each characterized by its own peculiar vegetation ; it was
in the fourth of these belts, at a distance of 525 feet from the present
high-water mark, that these implements were found. Although the
polished implements are more highly finished than the rude chipped
weapons hitherto found in or near moa-ovens,* the author con-
siders they may have been used simultaneously by two races co-
existing in the island, the more civilized using polished tools and
dwelling on the coast, whilst the ruder primitive race retreated
inland, retaining the use of their unpolished implements.

Dr. Oppert gave an account of a small race, numbering only about
50,000 souls, and known as the “ Kitai,” or “ Kara-kitai,” dwelling
near the Caspian Sea, in the Russian Government of Derbend, and in
the Siberian district of Guldja. These are the last descendants of a
once powerful race, which ruled over China and Central Asia; one
of their princes, Yelintashe, the author identified with the celebrated
Prester John.

On January 25, Mr. Bonwick gave a paper “On the Origin of
the Tasmanians Geologically considered,” in which he sought to
explain the distribution of many of the dark-skinned races in the
southern hemisphere by an ideal southern land from whence they
may have radiated. Dr. Hooker pointed out that man and the
higher animals probably did not pursue the same line of migration
2s that followed by plants; and Professor Huxley suggested that a
chain of islands may have formerly extended from New Caledonia to
Tasmania, similar to that which now extends from New Guinea to
New Caledonia, and that by this means a low Negrito type might
have spread eastwards over this area.

Two papers followed: by Mr. Howorth,“ On a Frontier-line of
Ethnology and Geology,” and by Mr Atkinson, “On the Nicobar
Islanders.” Mr. Atkinson exhibited some grotesquely-carved wooden
figures brought from the Nicobar Islands by Captain Edge.

On February 8, Mr. W. Boyd Dawkins gave the history of a
find of flint-flakes, and flakes of chert discovered in the angular
detritus beneath a submerged forest at Porlock and Minehead, West
Somerset. These objects of human workmanship prove that man
must have existed on this old land-surface before the destruction of
the forest and the accumulation of the series of overlying deposits.
The author considered these flakes to belong to an early stage in the
Neolithic period. Dr. A. Campbell read some notes on the remains
of pre-historic man found in the neighbourhood of the Crinan Canal,
Argyleshire. The Rev. Mr. Mapleson described these remains,
which comprise some curious cup-shaped cavities and concentric _
rings rudely sculptured on certain stones; there are also menhirs
and numerous cairns; crannoges have been found in most of the

* See Chronicle of Archeology for October, 1869, p. 513.

1870. ] Archeology. 247

lochs, but they are usually solitary dwellings. Several duns, a
vitrified fort, a brough, and a flint manufactory were also enumerated
among the remains met with in this district. In connection with
Professor Busk’s paper “ On a Calvaria” (read Dec. 21), that gentle-
man, on the 22nd February, exhibited another calvaria from China,
lent by Dr. Lockhart. This skull is mounted in copper, and was
formerly supported on a tripod and furnished with a lid.

On the same evening Mr. C. Monkman gave an account of
“ Discoveries of Archeological interest in recent Deposits in York-
shire.” Worked flints have been met with in the clay of Kelsea
Hill. Large finds of stone implements of neolithic type are said to
have been made in the York sands. Many implements have also
been found in the old river-deposits in the Vale of Pickering,
opened for land-drainage works.

A paper by Dr. Jagor, the well-known Eastern traveller and
author, was then read, “On the Natives of Naga, in Luzon, Philip-
pine Islands,” in which the author described in detail the manners
and customs of the Bicol Indians inhabiting this locality.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL Socrery.

Dr. Beddoe, President. Dec. 7, Dr. Leitner described his visit
to Dardistan in 1866, and gave some account of the Shina race.
Although the Dards were at war with the Maharajah of Kashmir,
Dr. Leitner was able to keep up friendly relations with them during
his stay at Ghilghit, and to collect much material relative to the
hitherto unwritten Dardoo dialects. The customs of these peoples
differ greatly from those of Mohammedans or Hindoos. They do
not appear to possess any religion or rites, save the placing of a
stone by each person annually on a cairn. Their food was stored
in caverns, each family possessing its separate depository.

Dec. 14. Mr. Wake, “ On the Race-affinities of the Madacasses,”
argues for the unity of origin of the light and dark tribes inhabiting
Madagascar, both the Hovas and the other race having a common
language and customs. Mr. Wake thinks Madagascar must for-
merly have been connected both with the African continent and the
Malay Archipelago. The natives possess the ox, the sheep, and
fowls in a domesticated condition (the dog is not mentioned) ; they
have also a knowledge of smelting and working iron. ‘The author
conjectures that Madagascar was perhaps the seat of man’s primi-
tive civilization.

On the 4th January Mr. L. Owen Pike, M.A., communicated a
paper “ On the Psychical Elements of Religion.” The author dis-
cussed the elements of popular creeds; the religion which appeals
to the emotions and to the intellect ; the religion of the astrologers ;
the personification of natural objects and forces, human passions

gs 2

248 Chronicles of Science. [| April,

and human faculties ; brute worship ; the worship of humanity ; the
philosophic creeds, and their connection with popular creeds, &c.
The Ethnological Society announced by their Honorary Secretary,
Colonel Lane Fox, that a statement which had been published to
the effect that the Ethnological Society was about to be wound up,
was unfounded. That Society owed nothing, and was never in a
more flourishing condition.

The Annual General Meeting of the Anthropological Society
was held on the 18th January, Dr. John Beddoe, President, in the
chair. The Society is at present overshadowed with the loss it has
so recently sustained in the death of its most active promoter and
founder, Dr. James Hunt. No anniversary dinner this year cheered
their proceedings. ‘Those philanthropic souls who labour only to
promote the happiness and freedom of mankind would have lis-
tened with pain on February 1st to Major F. Millingen’s account of
“Negro Slaves in Turkey.” These unfortunates are brought from
the countries situated on the higher basin of the Nile,—the Nile-
valley being the route followed by the cargoes of slaves on their way
to the markets. Major Millingen considers that so long as the
demand and supply exist it is useless to hope that slavery can be
abolished. The endless feuds of the Negro races keep up the supply,
and the religious and social system of the Mussulman nation causes
the demand. Sir Samuel Baker’s expedition to put a stop to the
slave trade will, the author considers, prove futile unless the Sultan
and the Khedive intend really to do away with slavery, which the
Major thinks cannot be accomplished unless they give up their
harems.

At the meeting of Anthropologists, on February 15th, Dr. Bar-
nard Davis and Mr. E. A. Welch gave an account of “ The Abori-
gines of Chatham Islands.” 'The aborigines of these three islands,
which lie to the eastward of New Zealand, have been gradually
exterminated by the invasion of the Maories. Dr. Barnard Davis
gives the result of an examination of the skulls and skeletons of
many of the inhabitants. The stature of the Moriories, or Chatham
Islanders, indicated a race shorter and stouter than the inhabitants
of New Zealand.

Dr. J. Campbell contributed a paper ‘On Polygamy: its Infiu-
ence in Determining the Sex of our Race, and its Effects on the
Growth of Population.” The author, who had been many years
resident in Siam, concludes that the proportion of males and females
born were, as in the case of monogamist marriages, entirely equal.

Mr. Ralph Tate described an inscribed rock on the banks of the
Iguana, a tributary of the Orinoco, presenting incised markings of
a date more ancient than the present inhabitants of the district.

1870. | Astronomy. 249

3. ASTRONOMY.
(Including Proceedings of the Astronomical Society.)

TE dismissal of M. Leverrier from his position at the head of the
Imperial Observatory at Paris has not surprised those who have
been familiar with the progress of events under his régime. By
his rough and uncourteous manner he had alienated the good-will
of his colleagues and subordinates; while by restrictions conceived
in a jealous spirit he interfered with the progress of their labours.
Recently he had given more tangible cause of offence; and the
astronomes adjoints took advantage of the lapse to bring a state-
ment before the Minister of the Interior, in which the conduct of
Leverrier throughout his administration was discussed at great
length. They finally submitted to the Minister the choice of dis-
missing Leverrier or accepting their resignations. After a brief
consideration, he selected the former alternative, and M. Delaunay
has been appointed to succeed Leverrier in the important position
of Imperial Astronomer.

Though one cannot but regret that so distinguished and skilful
an astronomer should have been thus dismissed from a post for
which in a scientific sense he was so well fitted ; it cannot be doubted
that the punishment was well merited. No scientific ability, how-
ever eminent, can be pleaded in justification of a line of conduct by
which scientific interests suffer.

Mr. Lockyer has communicated to the Royal Society an inter-
esting paper “On the American Eclipse Observations.” He quotes
a letter of Dr. B. A. Gould’s to show that the evidence afforded
by the photographs suggests that the radiance seen around the
moon is not the corona at all, but actually the image of the chro-
mosphere. This is shown by many different considerations. ‘The
directions of maximum radiance do not coincide with the great
beams of the corona; they remained constant also, whereas these
last were variable. “ ‘There is a diameter approximately corre-
sponding to the solar axis, near the extremities of which the radiance
on the photographs is a minimum, whereas the coronal beams in
these directions were especially marked during a great part of the
total obscuration. The coronal beams also stood in no apparent
relation to the prominences, whereas the aureole seen upon the
photographs is most marked in their immediate vicinity.” In this
paper Mr. Lockyer expresses the opinion that the corona, as he
has before suggested, is merely an atmospheric phenomenon, though
he fails to show how the atmosphere which lies between the eye
and the region near the eclipsed sun can be illuminated, or why,
supposing it to be so, the glare should not trench on the moon’s
dise. According to ordinary optical considerations the blackness of

250 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

the moon on the corona would indicate that the glory of light
comes from a region beyond the moon.

Professor Tait has put forward a theory respecting comets’ tails
which deserves mention, though it can hardly be accepted as ex-
planatory of even the more ordinary cometic phenomena, still less
of the abnormal phenomena which many comets have presented.
He considers that the visibility of a comet’s tail may depend on
the position of the earth with respect to the plane in which the
meteoric components of the tail are travelling. When the lines of
sight from the earth are directed at a considerable angle to this
plane, the tail would scarcely be visible at all; but when the earth
moves into any plane touching the surface in which the meteoric
particles are for the moment mainly gathered, the tail becomes
visible at once along its entire length, “just as a distant flock of
sea-birds comes suddenly into view as a dark line when the eye
is brought by their evolutions into the plane in which they fly.”
Professor Tait does not show that the appearance of any comet's
tail has corresponded to the earth’s assuming such a position as
he describes; and there is a further objection to his theory in the
fact that the tails of many comets have been visible for months at
a time, whereas the earth cannot have been so long in the plane of
meteoric aggregation unless that plane coincided with the ecliptic,
which has not been the case in any known instance.

Dr. Balfour Stewart has brought before the Astronomical Society
certain views respecting the “ Aurora,” which belong more properly
to the Chronicle of Physics than to that of Astronomy. But a sug-
gestion thrown out in that paper as to the nature of the Zodiacal
Light must not be left unnoticed here. He asks whether this
Light may not be a terrestrial phenomenon—as Mr. Lockyer has
suggested. “When once the anti-trades have reached the upper
regions of the atmosphere, they will become conductors from their
tenuity; and as they pass rapidly over the lines of the earth’s mag-
netic force we may expect them to be the vehicles of an electric
current, and possibly to be lit up as attenuated gases are when they
conduct electricity. May not these form the Zodiacal Light?”
The answer to this question cannot but be negative. A pheno-
menon which rises and sets, which occupies in all latitudes a defi-
nite relation to the fixed stars—in respect of position, cannot by
any possibility be a terrestrial one. The region of the counter-
trades may perhaps be lit up as Dr. Stewart suggests; if so the
whole sky would show the light, and we have here perhaps a satis-
factory explanation of the phosphorescent light often visible over
the whole heavens at night. But the counter-trades cannot throw
a tongue of light over a definite region of the celestial sphere, nor
can they regularly se¢ on spring evenings and as regularly rise on
autumn mornings.

1870. | Astronomy. 251

In a paper communicated to the Royal Society, Mr. Proctor
describes a peculiar motion of the stars, which he terms star-drifé.
According to the accepted theory of stellar distribution, it would
follow that among the stars visible in any given region of the
heavens there should be proper motions in all possible directions,
and ranging through all orders of magnitude from zero to a certain
definite maximum. In place of this, Mr. Proctor finds that in many
regions of the heavens the stars exhibit a certam community of
motion, which seems to indicate that they form a set or system
travelling bodily in a definite direction.

During the next quarter Jupiter will not be favourably visible,
as he will be in conjunction with the sun on May 24th. Saturn,
however, coming to opposition on June 16th, will for several months
be a fine object for the telescopist. The rings are now at their full
opening, and though the planet will be low down, yet in favourable
weather it may be studied with advantage. Venus will reach her
greatest westerly elongation on May 4th, but her apparent diameter
is rapidly diminishing.

The solar spots are now very numerous, and for the coming
months the sun should be very carefully studied.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.

Mr. Paine supplies an account of the total eclipse of August 7,
1869, which he observed in Boonesboro, Iowa. He noticed that
the corona was not as striking as the one seen during the eclipse
of November 30, 1834, nor was the darkness so great. He also
remarks that the prominences were much more distinct last August
than in 1834. He quotes the opinion of one who saw the total
eclipse of 1806, that then also the flames were inconspicuous, and
the darkness greater. |

Commander Ashe describes the eclipse as seen in Canada; and
Mr. Webb communicates an account of the work done by Professor
Mayer in photographing the same eclipse. It is needless to enter
into particulars respecting this communication, since, in a paper by
Mr. Crookes in the last number of this Journal, a full account has
been given, not only of Professor Mayer’s work, but of that done
by other photographers.

Mr. Alexander Herschel discusses certain irregularities pre-
sented during recent appearances of the November meteors. Ob-
servations seem to indicate the existence of two meteoric currents
bordermg upon the main-stream, but separated from it by blank
spaces almost entirely devoid of meteors, and forming lateral out-
hers of the stream, near to which they appear to move in parallel
and closely-adjacent orbits. “'The passage of the earth through the

252 Chronicles of Science. | April,

first of these outlying streams occurs about twelve hours earlier,
and its passage through the last about twelve or fifteen hours later
than its appulse with the main or central current.” From other
communications respecting the November meteors, as seen last
autumn, it would appear as though the distance of the outlying or
lateral streams from the main zone had become very much greater, -
with the advance of the meteors over one year’s are.

Mr. Proctor supplies a note “ On the Sun’s Motion in Space, and
on the relative Distances of the Fixed Stars of various Magnitudes.”
It had been noticed by Mr. Dunkin that when the sum of the
squares of the stellar proper motions is compared with the sum
of similar squares corrected for the effects attributed to the sun’s
motion, the effect due to the correction does not appear to be so
large as was to have been expected. In fact the former sum is
142-0251, while the latter is 186-4917, the difference being alto-
gether insignificant compared with either. Sir John Herschel had
expressed the opinion that this result need not surprise us. “If
the sun move in space, why not also the stars? and if so, it would
be manifestly absurd to expect that any movement could be assigned
to the sun, by any system of calculation, which would account for
more than a very small portion of the totality of the observed dis-
placements.” Mr. Proctor shows, however, that the mere number
of the stellar movements will not suffice to explain the discrepancy,
since the motion of each other is affected by the sun’s, and so the
sum of the corrections is as much increased (through the effect of
mere number) as the sum of squares. By aid of the integral cal-
culus he proves that the correction should in effect be one-half of
the uncorrected sum. He explains the discrepancy as due to the
fact that the stellar distances have been incorrectly dealt with, the
distances of the smaller stars being overrated. He finds in the
observed proper motions of the smaller stars an independent proof
of this.

Dr. Robinson suggests an ingenious method of imitating the
transit of a planet over the sun. He obtains an artificial sun by
placing a plate of brass, in which is a cireular aperture, in the focus
of a telescope. When this is illuminated by a lamp placed behind
it, and viewed collinator-wise, it appears as a luminous disc 17’ in
diameter. He obtains an artificial planet, either (1) by means of a
small opaque disc, carried by the frame of a micrometer in the ob-
serving telescope, or (2) by means of an opaque disc placed within
the aperture, and movable in its plane by a micrometer attached to
the collinating telescope.

Mr. Stone supplies a paper on the increase of probable errors in
a transit of Venus, as dependent upon the smallness of normal yelo-
city. After showing that the differences in time observations made
on the transit of Mercury in November, 1868, actually amounted to

oo

1870. | Astronomy. 253

13 seconds, he remarks that, so far back as April, 1869, he pointed
out the ratio of the probable errors arising from this cause in the
transits of 1874 and 1882.

In a paper on the same subject, Mr. Proctor points out that from
Mr. Stone’s observations upon the transit of November, 1868, it can
be shown how the discrepancy of 13 seconds can be reduced to one
of only the tenth of a second.

Mr. Birt describes the spots and markings on the floor of the
lunar crater Plato.

The Assistant-Secretary, Mr. Williams, has just completed the
translation of the Chinese records of comets observed from B.c. 613

to a.D. 1640. Some of the observations will probably bear im-

portant fruit, since no well-authenticated accounts of comets, seen
so long ago, exist elsewhere.

Mr. Browning supplies a most interesting paper on a change in
the colour of the equatorial belt of Jupiter. During the month of
October last he noticed that this belt, which is usually the brightest
part of Jupiter’s disc, exhibited a strong greenish yellow colour, and
was darker than the bright belts north and south of it. Other
observers, using Browning’s reflecting telescopes, have observed
similar appearances. Indeed, it is worthy of notice that, not only
these changes of colour, but the colours ordinarily present in the
discs of Jupiter and Saturn have been only seen distinctly with
reflectors. MM. Dela Rue and Lassell, for example, have seen these
colours with their fine reflectors, whereas Dawes, with all his asto-
nishing powers of vision, and though he used refractors of exquisite
defining power, has not been able to recognize them clearly, if at all.

Mr. Weston supplies an interesting note on the lunar Apennine
range and adjacent regions.

Mr. Carrington describes his new Observatory at Churt, Surrey.
The principal telescope is an alt-azimuth, constructed on a new
principle, the horizontal axis being the effective optical axis. A
movable prism, placed outside the object-glass, reflects the object
along the tube. Thus the telescope need never be raised, and the
observer can remain always under cover.

Mr. Proctor puts forward a new theory of the Milky Way. He
regards this sidereal group as forming a spiral of really small stars,
swayed into its present position by the attractions of the large stars
which are seen on the galaxy.

Messrs. Airy and Simms have at length brought their new eye-
piece to its simplest and most perfect construction. By the mere
rotation of the eye-glass—which must be plano-convex—all the
effects of the flint-glass prisms described in our last Chronicle can
be obtained without any mischief to the optical performance of the
telescope. eeu

Mr. Proctor supplies a paper on the application of photography

254 Chronicles of Science. | April,

to determine the solar parallax from the transit of Venus in 1874.
It is illustrated by fifteen pictures of the earth on her passage
through the shadow-cone of Venus. The object of the paper is to
show how photographs of the sun may be so taken, at different
stations, that the relative displacement of Venus may be on a radius
of the sun’s disc.

In another paper he exhibits a method of constructing charts by
which the great circle course between any two points on the globe
may be accurately and quickly obtained.

Mr. Browning has invented a new form of micrometer for mea-
suring the position of lines in faint spectra. By this arrangement
an image of a bright cross is thrown on the spectrum, which it can
be made to traverse by turning a micrometer screw. The ad-
vantages of the plan will be appreciated by those who know the
difficulty of determining the position of the spectral lines by the

usual arrangement.

4, BOTANY.

Influence of Climate and Soil upon Plants—M. Kerner, of Inns-
bruck, has published a very interesting pamphlet on this subject,
one of great importance in relation to the question of the origin of
species. In the centre of distribution of a species, where it reaches
its maximum of abundance, it is very unusual for varieties to become
established; since, even if deviating forms were to appear, they
would not be perpetuated, in consequence of the law of nature that
cross-fertilization with other individuals, rather than self-fertilization,
is the rule. On the outskirts, however, of the region of distribu-
tion, where the individuals are very scattered, a variation once
appearing is likely to become established ; because, the chances of
self-fertilization bemg much greater, the peculiarities are likely to
be perpetuated by heredity. Here therefore we must look for
those aberrant forms which become the ancestors of new species.
The author believes the direct influence of climate or soil in origi-
nating changes in the structure of plants to be extremely small ;

these changes being effected only in the course of many generations
by the process of natural selection, those individuals which exhibit
sight divergences suitable to the circumstances in which the plant
is placed being most likely to survive, and to produce large numbers
of seeds. Changed conditions of life can kill a plant, or destroy its
health, but can have no direct influence in transforming it into a
form more suitable for those conditions. As a contribution towards
a series of observations on the relation between the flora of a coun-
try and its natural conditions of soil and climate, M. Kerner has
paid special attention to the general features of the flora of the

ee ee ee iia

1870. | Botany. 255

Tyrolese Alps. Owing to the shortness of the period of activity of
vegetation, which does not average more than from 14 to 34
months, few plants ripen their seeds before the return of constant
frost. In consequence, while the proportion of annual plants is in
the Mediterranean flora 42, and in that of the south-east of Kurope
56 per cent., in the Alpine flora it is only 4 per cent. From the
same circumstance the flower-buds of Alpine plants are commonly
- developed in the autumn before the return of frost, and burst into
bloom immediately on the melting of the snow, before the appear-
ance of the leaves. Another peculiarity of the Alpine vegetation is
the very large number of plants with rosettes of stiff succulent or
fleshy leaves, which both serve as reservoirs of food during the long
winter, and are also proof against the sudden evaporation caused by
the hot sun during the summer months. In contradistinction to
this, is the almost entire absence of the bulbous plants which form so
prominent a feature of the Mediterranean vegetation. Again, while
the forests of tropical countries, where the summer is long and in-
tense, abound with a luxuriance of climbing and creeping plants,
these are almost entirely absent from the Alpine flora, where plants
do not require to seek the shade.

fielation between the Distribution of Plants and of Animals.—
Professor Delpino, of Florence, traces the gradual disappearance of
many classes of plants as one proceeds northwards, to the absence
of those animals, chiefly insects, which are necessary to effect their
fertilization. In the Tropics many plants are fertilized by the
agency of humming-birds, especially those possessing large trumpet-
shaped flowers of a scarlet hue; and these are the first to disappear.
Next follow those fertilized by the larger Lepidoptera and Cole-
optera, as roses, peonies, the night-flowering Szlenex, &c. In the
Arctic zone those plants only can survive which are fertilized by
Hymenoptera or Duptera, or by the wind; a few flies and midges,
and a bee (Bombus terrestris) beg the only insects found so far
north as Nova Zembla. In the gardens near Florence are two
species of Lobelva, one of which is abundantly visited by humble
bees, and produces seed very freely ; the other, notwithstanding its
beauty and the abundance of its honey, is never visited by insects,
and never bears seeds, but can easily be fertilized by artificial
impregnation. Professor Delpino believes that in its native country
it is fertilized by humming-birds.

Flora of Iceland.—Professor C. C. Babington read an interest-
ing paper before the Linnean Society, January 20th, “On the Flora
of Iceland.” The most recent investigations have brought up the
number of flowering plants indigenous to the island to about 450,
of which all, with the exception of about sixty, are found also in
_ Britain ; all the remainder, with three exceptions, are natives of the
European continent, chiefly of Scandinavia; there is no species of

256 Chronicles of Science. | April,

flowering plants peculiar to the island. No woods are now to be
found in the country, although some existed recently; the trees
were all birch; nor is there any trace of the former existence of
pines, or of any other kind of forest-tree ; extensive woods of dwarf
birch-trees are found in several paris, and some shrubby willows.
No grain of any kind is grown on the island. The north-west
corner, which has been comparatively little visited, appears to enjoy
the least inhospitable climate.

Flora of Round Island, Mauritius—At the meeting of the
Linnean Society, held March 3rd, Dr. J. D. Hooker read a very
interesting letter from Sir Henry Barkly, Governor of Mauritius,
on the flora of this very little-known dependency of the colony.
The island is about 25 miles from Port St. Louis, and only about
3 miles in circumference and 1} mile across; but its flora differs
from that of the Mauritius, not only in species, but also in genera
and even in families, although the depth of the intervening sea is
only 400 feet. The island consists of a mound of tuff about 1000
feet in height, but without any apparent crater, bare of vegetation
in the lower part. Only about twenty-four species of flowering
plants were gathered during the visit, of which more than one-half
are not found in the Mauritius, including three species of palm, one
of them 30 or 40 feet high, a Pandanus or screw-pine, and two
species of ebony. The fauna is equally peculiar.

Movements of Chlorophyll.—A very interesting series of obser-
vations has been made by the French botanists, Prillieux, Rose, and
Brongniart, on the apparently spontaneous movements within the
leaves of plants of the grains of chlorophyll which constitute the
green colouring matter. These grains had been noticed by previous
observers to congregate under the direct action of light. M. Pril-
lieux performed his experiments on a species of moss, a kind of plant
which offers great facility for these observations, as the movements
can be observed in them under the microscope without dissection,
owing to their transparency. When the moss had been kept in the
dark for some days, the cells presented the appearance of a green
network, between the meshes of which was a clear transparent
ground. All the grains of chlorophyll were attached to the walls
which separate the cells from one another ; there were none on the
upper or under walls which form the surfaces of the leaf. Under
the influence of light the grains change their position from the
lateral to the superficial walls, the movement taking place, under
favourable circumstances, in about a quarter of an hour. On attain-
ing their new position, the grains do not remain entirely immovable,
but continually approach and separate from one another. If again
darkened, they leave their new position, and return to the lateral
walls. Artificial light produces the same effect as daylight. A .-
protoplasmic material is intimately associated with the grains of

1870. | Botany. 257

chlorophyll, causing them to move in masses of network rather
than in isolated grains; and this protoplasm is supposed to be the
vital and animating part of the cell.

Climbing Plants—M. Paul Lévy sends from Nicaragua some
interesting observations on climbing plants. Their vitality is some-
thing wonderful. M. Lévy tried many experiments upon them, and
found that burning was almost the only effectual way of destroying
them. If the stem is cut, they put out roots from their branches,
and if these roots are cut off, they are reproduced even as many as
eight times. This extraordinary vitality belongs, probably, only to
the climbers of tropical countries, a large number of those observed
by M. Lévy belonging to the genus Begnonia. Some species of
climbers show a preference for particular trees on which to climb,
refusing to attach themselves to some kinds, and clinging eagerly to
others, in order to reach which they may have trailed for some
distance along the ground. Some trees are always entirely des-
titute not only of climbers, but of mosses, ferns, orchids, and other
epiphytes. All the climbers observed by M. Lévy turn from left to
right, none from right to left, as has been stated by other observers.

Alternation of Generation in Fungi.—Some remarkable observa-
tions on this subject have recently been made by M. Gabriel Rivet.
It was noticed as long since as 1806 by Sir Joseph Banks, that the
proximity of the Berberry-tree appears to be a cause of the preva-
lence of the disease known as “rust” in the grain-crops of the
neighbourhood. It has now been ascertained that one of the Fungi
which produce the rust in cereals, the Puccinia graminis, and the
Fungus which causes the well-known orange spots on the leaves of
the Berberry, the Gictdiwm Berberidis, are in reality different forms
of the same plant; the spores of each form will not reproduce itself,
but the other form. In the commune of Genlis, department of
Céte-d’Or, in France, a railway company has recently planted its
embankments with Berberry-trees, and immediately afterwards the
crops of wheat, rye, and barley in the neighbourhood became infested
with rust. A commission being appointed to investigate the sub-
ject, reported that wherever the Berberries are found the grain-crops
are more or less attacked by rust; where they do not occur the
crops are free, and that the planting of a single bush of Berberry is
sufficient to produce the disease where it has never appeared before.

Variegation of Leaves—M. Kdouard Morren reports some im-
portant observations on the variegation of leaves, which he attributes
to a kind of disease, capable of being inoculated from one individual
to another, and even to a different species. By grafting a variegated
plant on another, the infection can be conveyed downwards, no
doubt by the circulation of the sap, and can even be carried upwards
from a variegated stock to a healthy plant grafted upon it. M.
Morren states that the placing of a variegated leaf beneath the bark

=

258 Chronicles of Science. [April

of a branch of a healthy plant is even sufficient to produce the
disease. Variegation may be produced by various causes, debility in
the seed, dampness of the ground, want of light, &e. It can be pro-
pagated by layers, buds, or grafts, but not, under ordinary circum-
stances, by seeds. Variegation is partial decoloration or want of
strength to produce the green grains of chlorophyll ; if the decolora-
tion is general, it causes death. None of the higher plants, except a
few which are parasitic, can exist if entirely deprived of chlorophyll ;
though a perfectly blanched branch may occasionally lead a parasitic
life on the remainder of the plant.

Cultivation of Cinchona.—Many climates are now found to be
adapted to the profitable growth of the Cinchona, or Peruvian bark.
In addition to its introduction into St. Helena, reported some time
since, it is now grown on a small scale in the Azores. In our
own governments of Madras and Bengal its cultivation is rapidly
extending. From a report recently published by Mr. C. B. Clarke,
Assistant-Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Calcutta, it
appears that the increase in the number of plants at the Darjeeling
plantations during the year ending March 31st, 1869, was 673,654,
making in all over three million plants, belonging to the three
species Cinchona officinalis, succirubra, and micrantha, the area
covered on the Ist of April, 1869, being 965 acres. There is also
a smaller Government plantation at Nunklow, in the Khasia Hills.
The tallest plants grown at Darjeeling are 19 feet high. Mr.
Broughton, chemist to the Cinchona plantations in the Madras
Presidency, believes that all the sub-varieties are permanent, and
have been produced by artificial hybridization ; but that hybridiza-
tion seldom takes place in nature.

The Chair of Botany at the College of Science, Dublin.—This
appointment, vacant by the resignation of Professor Wyville Thom-
son, has been conferred on Mr. W. 'T. Dyer, author of ‘A Flora of
Middlesex.’ A vacancy is thus occasioned in the Professorship
of Natural History in the Royal Agricultural College at Ciren-
cester.

5. CHEMISTRY.

A vERY unexpected fact has been published by Professor Wanklyn.
It has usually been considered that the affinity of chlorine for the
alkali metals was very energetic, and when it is remembered that
antimony and arsenic burst into flame when introduced into this gas,
it was reasonable to suppose that the reaction between chlorine and
sodium would be even more violent. Mr. Wanklyn, however, has
shown that when chlorine gas is passed over metallic sodium—
even when the metal is fused, and, whilst in a state of fusion, shaken

1870.] Chemistry. 259

in contact with the gas, so as to expose the fresh metallic surface—
there is no action. A glass vessel containing a piece of sodium was
weighed, and after the transmission of chlorine, under the circum-
stances above named, it was re-weighed, and found to be practically
the same. |

Mr. H. ©. Sorby has published a detailed account of some
remarkable spectra of compounds of zirconia and the oxides of
uranium. ‘The phenomena which he has observed are very com-
plicated, and reflect the highest honour on his philosophical acumen.
Some of the peculiarities in the spectra of compounds of the oxide
of uranium with zirconia, led Mr. Sorby and others, some time back,
to conclude that they were due to a new elementary substance.

A rapid method for the quantitative estimation of sulphur in
cast-iron and steel is a great desideratum in metallurgical labora-
tories. Mr. Eggertz has described a process, based upon the shade of
coloration which small quantities of sulphuretted hydrogen produce
upon pure silver, or certain alloys thereof. In a glass-stoppered
bottle, a mixture is poured of water and sulphuric acid, to which is
added the metal, reduced to the finest possible powder. ‘There is
then suspended, by means of a very fine platinum wire, in the
bottle, without touching the fluid, a clean piece of metallic silver,
the platinum wire being held squeezed between the stopper and the
neck of the bottle. The metal dissolves, in a moderately warm room,
within a quarter of an hour, so that the silver can be taken out and
examined after that time. The author has, by means of a series of
experiments, been enabled to construct a scale of numbers repre-
senting, according to certain shades of coloration, the quantities of
sulphur found.

Naphthaline is a waste product occurring in large quantities in
gas works. The problem is how to utilize it. Dr. Ott has examined
its properties with this object. Pure naphthaline is similar in appear-
ance to alabaster, cracks easily in the warm hands, and becomes
negatively electric on being rubbed with silk. It melts at 174° F.,
and boils at 452° F. Molten naphthaline absorbs a large quantity
of air, which is given off again on cooling ; according to M. Vohl, this
gas 1s pure oxygen. Molten naphthaline dissolves indigo with great
facility, forming a dark-blue violet liquid, from which the indigo
separates on cooling, forming fine shining needles like copper.
The amorphous sulphides of arsenic, tin, and antimony are also
readily dissolved, and likewise phosphorus, sulphur, iodine, the
iodide and chloride of mercury, arsenious, succinic, benzoic, and
oxalic acids. Professor Asa Gray has thoroughly tested and ob-
tained satisfactory results, proving that naphthaline may be advan-
tageously used in museums, herbariums, &c., instead of camphor, as
a very effective protection against moths and other insects.

260 Chronicles of Science. | April,

It appears that in the utilization of the cane sugar existing in
Madder-root, there is a fair field of profitable experimental research
still left open and untouched. Madder-root, and especially the
Zealand madder, is rich in cane sugar, containing between 14 and
16 per cent. The extraction of this sugar, without interfering with
the tinctorial value of madder, and by means different from those
whereby that sugar is now utilized—viz. fermentation and making
of aleohol—is a problem still to be solved. Some 10,000,000 kilos.
of madder are, at the very lowest estimate, consumed annually, and
the bulk of the sugar therein contained is utterly lost.

We have received, from Mr. H. N. Draper, a pamphlet, from
which we learn that the use of methylated ether as an intoxicant,
instead of alcohol, is very general in the counties of Londonderry,
Antrim, and Tyrone. The quantity taken at one time is from two
to four drachms, and the dose is repeated twice, thrice, or even four
and six times daily. Mr. Draper treats the subject in its relation
to the inland revenue, and also to insurance companies, the former
suffering by the practice to the extent of 5666/. per annum,
while the risks of the latter are increased by such an inflammable
liquid being stored and handled by people ignorant of its properties.

As a new disinfectant M. Paquet proposes the use of thymol, the
stearopten of the essential oil from Ptychotis ajowan, an umbelliferous
plant growing in India. In the undiluted state, this substance is a
caustic, and is used in dentistry for the cauterization of hollow teeth ;
its advantage in this respect being that it has not an unpleasant
taste, and, being very aromatic, does not affect the breath as carbolic
acid does. Its aqueous solution is a strong antiseptic, and possesses
disinfectant properties in a very high degree.

MM. Sepulchre and Ohressir have perfectly succeeded in utiliz-
ing the slag of the iron blast furnaces for the manufacture of paving
stones, which withstand a crushing weight of more than 400 kilos.
per square centim., and have answered for the purpose of paving
several streets at Brussels and Paris, and stood heavy traffic, far
better than even the celebrated Quenast stones. The streets paved
with this material at Brussels have a heavy gradient.

The fatty matter contained in sheep’s wool, technically known
as snint, is likely to become of considerable commercial importance.
It contains some 40 per cent. of potassa; and when ignited this
alkali becomes thereby intimately mixed with strongly-nitrogenized
animal charcoal. M. Hayrez points out the protit to be derived
from the use of snint for the manufacture of prussiates and cyanides,
and M. Schattenmann, prussiate and cyanide manufacturer at Boux-
willir, near Strasburg, states that results of experiments made with
snint by him on large scale, are decidedly favourable to the use of

1870. | Chemistry. 261

that substance for the purpose alluded to. It should be observed
that the quantity of snint contained in raw wool amounts to one-
third of its weight; and that in 1867 there were imported into
the United Kingdom 63,000,000 kilos. of raw wool from the Cape
and Australia, the quantity of snint contained therein amounting
to at least 20,000,000 kilos.

The use of hypophosphoriec acid in agriculture for the purpose
of destroying noxious insects has been proposed by M. Martin, for
the destruction of the Phylloxera vastatriz, which makes great
hayoe in the vineyards. The makers of phosphorus obtain a quan-
tity of this acid in aqueous solution, which is thrown away as >
waste ; but since the transport of this waste liquid is too costly (it
may be very usefully applied where it can be had with ease), the
author describes a method of making hypophosphoric acid by the
slow combustion of phosphorus. According to his experiments, 2
grammes of this acid dissolved in 10 or 12 litres of water, is a strong
poison for all kinds of insects, and not only does not hurt plants,
but actually does good by increasing the soluble phosphates in the
soil.

The solution of oxide of copper in ammonia acts as an energetic
solvent upon cellulose ; this property is made use of by A. Jouglet to
waterproof paper in the following manner :—A tank is made to con-
tain the solution just alluded to, and the paper is rapidly passed just
over and in contact with the surface of the liquid, by means of pro-
perly-placed rollers moving with speed. The paper, on leaving, is
pressed between two cylinders, and next dried by means of so-called
drying cylinders, similar to those in use in paper-mills. The short
contact of the felty paper-tissue with the liquid gives rise to just
sufficient solution of cellulose to form an impermeable varnish.

A process for the preservation of butchers’ meat, invented by
M. Georges, is now in use on the large scale at Monte Video. The
meat, in pieces weighing from 2 to 50 kilos., is placed in a mixture
of water, hydrochloric acid, glycerine, and bisulphite of soda. After
haying been steeped for some time, the pieces are taken out and
dusted over with finely-powdered dry bisulphite of soda, and then
packed in air-tight boxes, filled as full as possible. In this state
the meat keeps fresh any length of time, and becomes perfectly fit
for use—equal to fresh butchers’ meat—by steeping for a short
time in water to which vinegar has been added, and afterwards ex-
posure to air; the price of the preserved meat, of which it would be
easy to supply to London and to Paris daily over 10 tons, is from
50 to 60 centimes per kilo. :

Hydrate of chloral, the new anesthetic and sedative, is daily

increasing in importance, and many processes have been given for
VoL. VII. T

262 Chronicles of Science. [ April,
its preparation: the best is probably that of MM. Miller and

Paul. Their process consists in passing a current of dry and pure
chlorine gas into pure and absolute alcohol, until the contents of the
flask are, after about seventy hours, converted into a white and
crystalline mass; when this operation is properly conducted, a large
quantity of hydrate of chloral is obtained. Hydrate of chloral is
readily sublimed, and may be thus obtained as a dry, snow-white,
neutral crystalline powder. It does not exhibit any smell at the
ordinary temperature of the air; it volatilizes slowly, without
absorbing much moisture, unless it be placed in a very damp place ;
it fuses at 56°, boils at 145°, is completely soluble in a small quan-
tity of water, and also soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, sulphide
of carbon, benzol, and fatty substances. Its aqueous solution ought
to be neutral to test-paper, and should not become turbid by a solution
of nitrate of silver.

It is now proposed to make the reflecting surfaces of looking-
glasses of platinum instead of tin amalgam or silver. M. Jouglet
prepares the platinizing compound in the following manner :— Very
thin platinum foil is dissolved in aqua regia, the solution carefully
evaporated to dryness,the solid chloride next placed on a triturating
marble, and gradually mixed with essential oil of lavender. When
incorporated with the chloride, the mixture is placed in a porce-
lain capsule, and left standing for several days; the fluid is decanted
from any sediment, and filtered. As flux for 100 grains of platinum
the following ingredients are used:—25 grains of litharge and
25 grains of borate of lead, mixed and triturated together with
about 10 grains of essence of lavender; this is next mixed with the
platinizing fiuid. After a layer of platinum has been formed upon
the glass, it is fixed by burning it in by placing the glass in pecu-
harly-constructed mufiles.

From a series of observations made at Monaco, on the shores of
the Mediterranean, Dr. Gillebert d’Hercourt concludes that there is
always on the sea-shore an atmosphere impregnated with saline
particles ; this layer of air has, at the above-named place, some 500
metres horizontal and 60 metres vertical extent. This impregna-
tion of salt is due to what the author terms “ pulverization” of the
sea-water by the breaking up of the surf, and is not directly in-
fluenced either by barometric pressure, hygrometric state of the
atmosphere, or temperature. This hydro-mineral dust, as it is
called by the author, is, unless there happen to exist near the coast
physical obstacles in the shape of high mountains, carried far away
inland, and is not to be confounded with what is of more coarse
nature, and termed “spray,” which is only quite local and produced
when a gale of wind blows. The author states that, even on calm
days in winter, the atmosphere near Monaco is up to a height of 70

1870. | Chenustry. 263

metres, and some few miles inland, impregnated with this hydro-
mineral dust.

As a proof of the greatly-improved mode of manufacture of
sulphide of carbon and its very extensive use, M. Contet states that
in 1840 the kilo. of rectified sulphide of carbon cost 50 franes (2/.).
In 1848 M. Deiss manufactured it, and sold it at 8 francs per kilo. ;
and now it may be had wholesale at 50 centimes the same quantity.
As regards the purification, M. Sidot first re-distils the raw product,
then shakes the distillate up with mercury until the latter becomes
black, and this operation is so long repeated as the metal is affected _
by the fluid, or rather by any sulphur dissolved in it. Sulphide
of carbon thus purified is freed from the foetid odour it generally
has, and exhibits a smell of ether. M. Cloeg renders commercial
sulphide of carbon inodorous by leaving it for twenty-four hours in
contact with half per cent. of its weight of finely-powdered corro-
sive sublimate, care being taken to shake or stir up this mixture.
The mercurial compound combines with the substances which are
the cause of the foetid odour of this substance, and an insoluble
compound is deposited. The liquid is carefully decanted, and after
a little pure inodorous fat has been added, the sulphide is re-distilled
by the heat of a water-bath. The sulphide thus obtained exhibits
an ethereal odour, and is eminently suitable for the extraction of
oils, fats, &c., from various substances, since on evaporation of the
purified sulphide these matters are obtained in as fresh and pure a
state as if the oils had been obtained by pressure.

M. Coupier has succeeded in obtaining fuchsine without the use
of arsenic by the action of hydrochloric acid and iron, in small
quantities, upon pure aniline and nitro-toluol, taking care to apply
a suitable temperature. Commercial aniline and commercial nitro-
benzol also yield the same result; and M. Schtitzenberger states
that having been requested to test the results of this reaction, he
has found that the aniline red obtained is identical with that ordi-
narily made, and declared it to be a salt of rosaniline. The yield
is very fair, and somewhat larger than when arsenic is used.

A lengthy memoir on various processes for preserving timber
has been published by Dr. Ott. From it we learn that the opinion
that carbolic acid and substances containing it are effectual in pre-
serving timber is erroneous. The real preservative action of the
tar-oils is due, according to this author, to a greenish fluorescent
oil that comes over at the last stage of the distillation. Direct trials
with pyren and paranaphthaline do not yield successful results. The
question whether tar (coal-tar) contains a sufficient quantity of
the fluorescent greenish oil just alluded to, to justify the use of coal-
tar for preservative purposes, is answered in the negative. The

decay of timber, or peculiar transformation which makes it unfit for
© 2

264 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

practical purposes, seems to be, in most instances, produced by the
attack of fungi and lichens. The mouldering of wood is distinct
from decay, it being merely a chemical process caused by the action
of water with small access of air. None of the processes invented
to preserve timber by chemicals are perfect. The most simple and
practical method is the old, but, unfortunately, far too slow plan of
properly subjecting timber to the action of air and water, as prac-
tised in ship-building yards. A propos of the method of preserving
wood by impregnation with sulphate of copper, it may be interest-
ing to know that by an order recently issued by M. le Maire de
Douai, the bakers of that town have been prohibited from using
the wood of old railway sleepers as fuel for their ovens, since many
of these sleepers have been impregnated with sulphate of copper,
and there is danger that sonie compound of copper might poison
the bread.

Professor Morton has described the works at New York where
oxygen gas 1s manufactured on the large scale. The works consist
of retort-houses, engine-rooms, store-house, pumps for compressing
gas in cylinders, and a gas-holder of 26,000 cubic feet capacity.
The process is carried on as follows :— About 700 lbs. of manganate
of soda are placed in the retort, and heated to the requisite degree ;
superheated steam from a boiler is then admitted for about ten
minutes. Two equivalents of the manganate of soda and two of water
react upon each other, the water combines with the soda of the
manganate to forma hydrate of soda, the manganic acid is converted
into sesquioxide of manganese, containing only half the proportion of
oxygen, and the other half of the oxygen passes off in the free state.
At the conclusion of this part of the process the steam is shut off,
and the superheated air is admitted for about fifteen minutes, where-
upon the sesquioxide combines with more oxygen from the air, and
is re-conyerted into manganic acid, which again combines with soda.
The retorts in each furnace are charged with 700 Ibs. of permanga-
nate of soda, and by the consumption of 2 chaldrons of coke, and
with the labour of three men, 25,000 cubic feet of oxygen are made
per day. Itis now sold at 23d. per cubic foot, compressed in reser-
voirs up to a pressure of 250 Ibs. to the square inch. The gas is
of excellent quality, and very pure.

1870. | Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 265

6. ENGINEERING—CIVIL AND MECHANICAL.

Light Railways.—The great question of the day amongst engi-
neers, at the present time, is the construction of light, or narrow-
gauge railways. The enormous expense which has attended the
laying-down of existing lmes upon what is styled the “standard”
gauge, and their comparative unremunerativeness, have naturally
led to the consideration of how the existing want of increased
facilities of communication can best be supplied so as to recommend
new projects for railway extension to the confidence of capitalists
and the public generally. The subject has also obtained increased
prominence in consequence of the arrival of a Russian Commission
to investigate the means of communication in this country, and who,
together with many other foreigners of distinction, and leading
English engineers and others, paid a visit last February to the little
Festiniog Railway in North Wales. As this line has the narrowest
gauge of any existing railway worked by locomotive power, some
description of it here may not be inappropriate.

Festiniog Railway.—This line, which is 134 miles in length,
extends from Portmadoc to the slate quarries in the neighbourhood
of Festiniog. It is slightly under 2 feet in width of gauge, and
was originally constructed for horse traction, by which power it
was worked until 1863, when the increased traffic necessitated the
employment of steam power for that purpose. ‘The line was
strengthened and improved, diminutive locomotives were con-
structed expressly for it, and since 1865 passenger carriages have
been attached to each train. ‘The difference in level between the
two termini is 700 feet, and the average gradient is 1 in 92. The
steepest gradient on the portion now used for passengers is 1 in 79 ° 82,
and the steepest on which locomotive engines are employed, 1 in 60.
Some of the curves are exceedingly sharp, having radii varying from
2 chains to 4 chains. As the line is a continuous incline from
Portmadoce to Festiniog, the locomotive is employed only to draw
the trams in one direction; it then returns by itself, and the
loaded trains run by gravitation down to Portmadoc—their speed
being regulated by breaks. The original capital of the company
was 36,0007. Since that outlay was incurred the line has been
almost reconstructed ; workshops have been erected and rolling
stock manufactured out of revenue, bringing up the total cost of
the line to about 86,0007. The net profits have amounted to
upwards of 30 per cent. on the original capital, and they exceed
123 per cent. on the total outlay of the undertaking.

New Tunnel under the Thames.—The past quarter has wit-
nessed the completion of a tunnel under the river Thames between
Tower Hill and Vine Street, Tooley Street. The noticeable feature

266 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

of this work is the extreme rapidity, and comparatively trifling cost
at which it has been constructed, the time occupied being only one
year, and the total expense less than 20,000/., whereas the old
Thames Tunnel occupied eighteen years in construction, and cost
over half-a-million sterling. This new tunnel consists of a circular
driftway, 7 feet 3 inches in diameter, having an inclination from either
side towards the centre of the river of 1 in 30. It is approached on
each bank by a perpendicular shaft, that on the Middlesex side
being 56 feet deep, and that on the Surrey side 52 feet. The hit
at either end consists of an iron chamber, to the roof of which a
chain is attached, which passes over a pulley at the head of the
shaft, and at the other end is fixed to a balance weight, capable of
adjustment according to the number of passengers in the lift. The
bottom of each shaft communicates with a waiting-room, having
seats along the sides. Along the tunnel is laid a railway of 2 feet
6 inches gauge, on which a small omnibus runs, capable of accom-
modating fourteen passengers at one time. Under the level of the
tunnel at the bottom of each shaft there is an engine-room contain-
ing a 4-horse power engine for raising and lowering the lifts, and
that on the Surrey side is also employed for hauling the omnibus,
which is driven by means of an endless steel cord passing round a
vertical pulley-wheel at the Surrey end of the tunnel, and a horizon-
tal pulley-wheel placed between the rails at the Middlesex end.

PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Institution of Civil Engineers—The session of 1870 was in-
augurated on the 11th January by an address from the newly-
elected President, Mr. Charles Blacker Vignoles, F.R.S. It would
be impossible briefly to summarize Mr. Vignoles’ speech, which for
interest and importance has never been surpassed, and rarely
equalled. In reading over this important paper, it appears that no
branch of the profession has escaped notice from the time when “in
the earlier stages of the human race their first want must have been,
as it is now, a supply of water for men and beasts of tribes, whether
nomadic or stationary, when no longer within reach of the natu-
ral streams or springs; and assuredly,” said Mr. Vignoles, “the
individual who first dug a well in the desert, and raised water to
the surface, by the simple contrivance of pole and bucket, was the
first mechanic—the first pre-historic engineer, whose rude invention
has nevertheless been followed in all subsequent ages,” down to the
completion of the Suez Canal, “by cutting across the sandy ligament
which has hitherto united Asia and Africa, by which a water com-
munication has been opened, which will never again be closed so
long as mercantile prosperity lasts or civilization exists.”

1870. | Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 267

“On the Statistics of Railway Expenditure and Income, and
their Bearing on Future Railway Policy and Management.” A
paper on this subject was read before the Institution on 1st Fe-
bruary last, by Mr. John Thornhill Harrison. After referring to
the income from passengers and goods on the principal lines in the
kingdom, the question of the further extension of railways was con-
sidered, and it was urged that many lines might be constructed at
a cost of from 30002. to 50002. per mile, provided the landowners
would sell their land for the purpose at the ordinary market value ;
that the Board of Trade would allow level crossings, and that gra-
dients as steep as 1 in 20 or 1 in 80 were adopted. The subject of
expenditure for working the line was next dwelt upon in some
detail, and the percentage of net revenue on the total capital
expended. ‘Two large funds for investment of capital were also
considered : the National Debt, which amounted to 750 millions
sterling, and gave a return of 264 millions per annum, or 34 per
cent., which was a burden on the industry and capital of the country ;
and the capital expended on railways, which amounted to 500 mil-
lions sterling, giving a return of 20 millions, or 4 per cent. per
annum ; whilst a sum nearly equal to the interest on the National
Debt was annually expended in labour and materials.

Society of Engineers—On 7th February Mr. William Adams,
the newly-elected President, inaugurated the session of 1870-71 by
an address. After reviewing the progress of the Society, and advert-
ing to the several papers read during the preceding session, he pro-
ceeded to make some remarks upon locomotive engineering and the
rolling stock of railways, detailing the several improvements that
have of late years been introduced, and especially with reference to
the application of break-power for bringing trains to a standstill,
the two most important improvements for that purpose being the
steam-break of M. Le Chatelier, and the friction-wheel break of Mr.
John Clark.

South Wales Institute of Engimeers.—An important paper has
recently been read by Mr. Brogden, before the South Wales In-
stitute of Engineers, “On the Comparative Merits of Large and
Small Trams or Wagons for Colliery use.” In the course of the
discussion that followed it transpired that at a colliery in the Aber-
dare Valley there had been effected by the introduction of small
trams a saving of ls, 3d. per ton. In getting out 150 tons a day
with a large tram fourteen horses were employed at a cost of
41. 12s. 8d., whilst with small trams the same amount of work was
done for 1/. 11s. 8d., showing a saving of nearly 6d. a ton on that
item alone; besides which there was a difference in the price of
driving headways, in the cost of rails, sleepers, &c. By the use of
small trams there was also a considerable saving in the men called
“dusters,” and by reducing the headway a saving in “ gobbers.”

268 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

Men, it was also said, could earn more by the use of the small
tram, which is therefore advantageous to them as well as to the
masters.

Civil and Mechanical Engineers’ Society—On 8th December
last Mr. R. M. Bancroft read a paper before this Society “On the
Renewal of King’s Cross Station Roof.” When this station was

opened in 1852 its roof created some little sensation, as it was the
largest span-roof of the laminated type constructed in this country.
After a period of eighteen years’ existence it was found that the
timber which formed the ribs was in a state of rapid decay, and it be-
came necessary to replace them with something more durable. The
wrought-iron main ribs were formed and accurately curved so as to
fit in exactly between the old cast-iron shoes built in the walls on
each side, the cast-iron spandril fillings of the old roof bemg cut
shorter to suit the new wrought-iron ribs. The scaffold for the
construction of the roof was designed so as not to interfere with the
traffic constantly passing beneath it, and the large wrought-iron
plate-girders forming it were constructed of such section that they
might hereafter be used in bridges down the line.

Institution of Engineers in Seotland._—Professor W. J. Mac-
quorn Rankine read a very interesting paper before this Society,
upon bemg called upon to fill the presidential chair until the next
election. This paper partook of the nature of a presidential address,
and consisted of a review of the present state of engimeering progress
in its various and numerous branches; but it is on the subject of
“ Engineering Education” that Professor Rankine’s paper dwelt
with most force. In alluding to common errors under existing
systems of education, the Professor stated: “One is led to expect
results from the scientific branch of education which it is not really
capable of accomplishing. The purely practical parts of engmeering,
such as the use of tools and the superintendence of works, cannot
be soundly and thoroughly learned except through experience in
real business; and it is a mistake to endeavour to teach them
during a university course. The true laboratory for students of
engineering science is to be found in the workshops of such cities
as Glasgow, and amongst the earthwork, masonry, carpentry, and
ironwork of engineering structures in progress.”

Institution of Mechanical Engineers.—At the anniversary meet-
ing of this Institution on the 27th January last, a paper “On Le
Chatelier’s Plan of using Counter-pressure Steam as a Brake im
Locomotive Engines,” by Mr. C. W. Siemens, came under discus-
sion ; and a paper was read by Mr. C. Cochrane, of Dudley, “On
the further Economy of Fuel in Blast Furnaces, derivable from
the High Temperature of Blast obtained with Cowper’s Improved
Regenerative Stoves at Ormesby, and from increased Capacity of
Furnace, &c.” M. Le Chatelier’s plan for counter-pressure working

1 ee eee ———————e a _— e

1870.| Geology and Paleontology. 269

consists in introducing a small jet of hot water from the boiler into
the base of the blast-pipe or the exhaust part of the cylinder:
this jet being discharged at boiler pressure into the atmospheric
pressure of the exhaust passages, the greater portion of the water
instantly flashes into steam at atmospheric pressure, and instead
of the heated gases from the smoke-box, a moist vapour or fog is
now drawn into the cylinder behind the piston, upon the engine
being reversed.

LITERATURE.

“Our Iron-clad Ships; their Qualities, Performances, and Cost ;
with Chapters on Turret Ships, Iron-clad Rams, &.” By EH. J.
Reed, C.B., Chief Constructor of the Navy, &c.* Space will not
admit of such a review here as this work deserves. ‘The fact of
its coming from the pen of one so experienced in the subject will
at once commend it as an authority upon the matter of which ib
treats. Its title will convey a fair idea of the contents of the 320
pages of which this book consists; and we can only here state that
whilst this treatise on Iron-clad Ships evinces a masterly know-
ledge of the subject on the part of its author, the style in which
it is written is perfect, approaching at times to eloquence.

7. GEOLOGY AND PALAONTOLOGY.

(Including the Proceedings of the Geological Society and Notices
of recent Geological Works.)

Monographs of the Palzontographical Society, Vol. XXIII—The
success attending combined efforts was never more happily illus-
trated than in the case of the Palzeontographical Society, which was
formed twenty-three years ago for the purpose of describing and
figuring British Fossils. It has published the works of twenty-six
palzontologists, embracing in their monographs every division of
the animal kingdom found fossil in this country. Nor ig it merely
the letter-press descriptions of fossils which it effects (though these
now amount to 6405 pages 4to), but it is the superior means of
illustration it furnishes which gives such value to the volumes of
this Society. The plates now number 1006, and contain 18,991
figures. ‘The volume before us contains 43 plates, some of which
are double size. These plates, with descriptive text, are distributed
to subscribers for 1/. 1s. per annum.

The volumes of the Paleeontographical always contain a diverse
series of monographs; thus we have in this year’s-issue,— Fossil

* John Murray. London: 1869.

270 Chronicles of Science. 7 — [April,

Corals, Cretaceous Echinoderms, Oxford Clay Belemnites, Old Red
Sandstone Fishes, Lias Pterodactyles, and Crag Cetacea. Such a
“bill of fare” was never before presented at so modest a price.

Dr. Duncan’s part contains six species of Corals from the
Greensand of Haldon, thirteen species from the Gault, and six
from the Lower Greensand. ‘To this part is appended a complete
list of British Cretaceous Corals, fifty-eight in all.

Dr. Duncan remarks, “The Coral-fauna of the British area was
by no means well-developed or rich in genera during the long period
in which the Cretaceous sediments were being deposited. The
Coral tracts of the early part of the period were on the areas now
occupied by the Alpme Neocomian strata, and those of the middle
portion of the period were where the Lower Chalk is developed at
Gosau, Uchaux, and Martigues.”

“There are no traces of any Coral-reefs or atolls in the British
Cretaceous area, and its corals were of a kind whose representatives
for the most part live at a depth of from 5 to 600 fathoms.”*

In Professor Phillips’s monograph on the Oxford Clay Belem-
nites, the author notices a singular hiatus between the Inferior
~Oolite and the Oxfordian stage. It must, however, be borne in
mind that pelagic and freely-wandering animals (such as the
Belemnitide must have been, judging from their modern repre-
sentatives, the Squids, Calamaries, and Cuttle-fishes) form a less
sure basis for generalization than do the Brachiopoda and other
sedentary forms of Mollusca and the Corals.

Free swimming Cephalopoda might forsake a large area for
ages, if conditions were unfavourable, returning again at a later
epoch, and again becoming plentiful as fossil remains in the mud
of the period.

It 1s interesting to observe that Professor Phillips, who is per-
haps the most careful observer living, and the last man to be
carried away by an idea, has adopted the doctrine of descent with
modifications, as may be gathered from the following extract; 7}
speaking of Belemmnites explanatus, sp. nov., from the Kimmeridge
Clay, Professor Phillips observes, “On many accounts this form
of Belemnite is of interest in the study of the series to which
it belongs. On the one hand its resemblance to the older type
of B. abbreviatus (excentricus) of the Oxford Clay and Oolite,
and on the other to that of Speeton, in Yorkshire (L. lateralis), is
such as to offer a most instructive example for study, in relation to
the derivation of successive specific forms by hereditary transmis-
sion with modification.”

Some interesting modern types of Loricarian fishes illustrate
Mr. Ray Lankester’s monograph on the Cephalaspide of the Old
Red Sandstone.

+ eG, ft P. 128.

1870. | Geology and Palxontology. 271

These curious buckler-headed fishes are certainly among the
most interesting as they are undoubtedly the very earliest forms of
the vertebrate type with which we are acquainted.

One head-shield figured measures more than 6 inches across
and above 7 inches in length. | |

Mr. Fielding has most successfully rendered the fine and deli-
cate striae on the plates of Péeraspis in plates vi. and vu. The
histology of these fish-plates is carefully worked out and most beau-
tifully illustrated by Tuffen West.

Professor Owen’s monograph on the Lias Pterosawria deserves
more than a passing notice.

For the first time we see before us an entire British Pterodac-
tyle in his Dimorphodon macronyx, not restored at random, but
carefully put together bone by bone from the three specimens in
the British Museum. Démorphodon, as we thus know it, has a
long and slender tail firmly set and imbedded in ossified tendons,
rendering it apparently an inflexible rudder; the hind limbs are
well developed, as also are the claws and the wing-fingers. The
head is very large, with beautiful contrivances for lightening it by
means of large vacuities; the jaws are armed with larger laniary
teeth, and rows of more regular minute and pointed teeth. There
is no evidence that this species had a beak or horny termination to
its jaws as Von Meyer believes to have been the case in Rham-
phorhynchus from the Solenkofen beds.

Upon the affinities of the Pterosawria Professor Owen is at issue
with Professor Huxley, the former arguing against their Ornithic
and in favour of their Reptilian affinities, the latter placing them
in the same group with the Dinosauria, the Crocodilia, and the
Anomodontia (called by Professor Huxley the Ornithoscelida),
the most bird-like of the Reptilia.

Professor Owen argues that the possession of feathers and warm
blood are essentially bird-like attributes, whilst the absence of
feathers in the Pterosawria proves them to have been cold-blooded
reptiles. The Cockchafer 1s cited by Professor Owen to prove
that powerful flight may co-exist with cold blood; but if we could
compare the bulk of the insect with that of the Pterodactyle, there
seems little doubt that the temperature would algo increase with
the size of the animal, and in proportion to the increased muscular
work required to be accomplished. :

We deprecate the tone adopted by the author in his critical
review of Professor Huxley’s observations,* and earnestly hope it
may not be found in any future monographs.

The concluding Monograph, also by Professor Owen, treats of
the Cetacean remains, occurring in the Red Crag, belonging to the
genus Ziphius of Cuvier. These curious rostra are found in tole-

* BOTA.

272 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

rable abundance in the Coprolite-workings in the Red Crag of Suffolk,
and are usually much water-worn and eroded, as if the bed in which
they were originally deposited had undergone subsequent denuda-
tion on some later Tertiary sea-beach. ‘They often appear to have
been bored into by Pholades.

Twenty-three articles appear in the last three numbers of the
‘Geological Magazine.’ Of these the most important are: “On the
Sequence of the Glacial Beds,” by Searles V. Wood, jun.; “On
Lithodomous Perforations,” by J. Rofe, F.G.S.; “The Millstone
Grit of the North Wales Border,” by D. C. Davies ; “The Character
of Lavas,” by G. Poulett Scrope, F.R.S.; “On Faults in Strata,”
by W. T. Blanford and by G. H. Kinahan ; “ New Zealand Plesio-
saurs,” by Professor Owen; “ Boulder-Clay,” by Mr. James Geikie ;
“ Banded and Brecciated Concretions,’ by Dr. Ruskin. If Mr.
Searles Wood, jun., can only induce the Geological Survey to adopt
his classification for the later deposits of our island, much of our
misery and uncertainty about the Contorted Drift and Boulder-Clay
ends, and we may find a place for every pebble-bed and drift-deposit
which we meet with, and can colour it at once.

But the Geological Survey are not converted, although they will,
doubtless, gladly adopt much of Mr. 8. V. Wood, jun.’s, admirable
work on East Anglian surface-geology, when they come to Norfolk,
Suffolk, and Essex.

Mr. Scrope continues his favourite theme, the character of Lavas.
We hear, by-the-by, that he is arranging with Mr. Archibald Geikie
a descent upon the Lipari Islands and Stromboli this summer, so we
may look for a new view of modern volcanoes from a leading man of

the day in Geology.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL Society oF Lonpon.

The present number of the ‘Quarterly Journal’ of this Society
deals in Australian Geology and Paleontology. On Dinosaurian
Reptiles and their affinity with Birds. The evidence afforded by
corals as to the physical geography of Western Europe in Secondary
and Tertiary times. The Brachiopoda of the Budleigh-Salterton
pebble-bed. A comparison of the Boulder-clay of the North of
England with that of the South. On the Graphite of the Lauren-
tian of Canada. On the Geology of the country around the Gulf
of Cambay. On the Rodents of the Somersetshire Caves.

With rocks of Secondary age in Australia we have been hitherto
unacquainted, and there seemed good reason to believe that this
remarkable country held its head above water through the Mesozoic

eriod. ©
: Mr. Charles Moore has, however, brought before us evidence of

1870. | Geology and Paleontology. 273

the occurrence of fossils in erratic blocks from Western Australia,
from the centre of the Continent, on Stuart’s route, and from
Queensland. These remains, although fragmentary, suffice to in-
dicate fossils of Liassic, Oolitic, and Neocomian age.

The propriety, however, of applying the European paleonto-
logical standard to the geology of the Antipodes is exceedingly
doubtful, and we are more than ever impressed with the value of
the late Edward Forbes’s observation, that the occurrence of similar
fossils in formations of widely-separated continents was rather a
proof of the diversity of their age than of their synchronous cha-
racter. That marine faunas extend over a far wider geographical
area than land animals must be admitted, but Mr. Seeley’s obser-
vation, that natural groups of corresponding value exist in different
areas of the globe, deserves consideration.

Professor Huxley contributes three papers, all bearing upon the
Dinosauria and their affinity with Birds.

The skeleton of a young Iguanodon from the Wealden of the
Isle of Wight (described long since by Professor Owen) proves,
upon further examination, to be a new genus of Herbivorous Dino-
saur (Hypsilophodon Foxit), and assists largely to increase the
evidence in favour of the affinity between Dinosaurian Reptiles and .
Birds. A head of Hypszlophodon (obtained by the Rev. W. Fox),
and referred to the same species, seems to have had its preemaxilla-
ries produced downwards and forwards into a short edentulous beak-
like process, the outer surface of which is rugose and pitted. The
peculiar form of the lower jaw of Iguanodon would seem to indicate
that its emargination was destined to receive this beak-like process.
of the premaxillaries. The pelvic bones are singularly avian in
their structure.

Professor Huxley reviews in his second paper the evidence
already cited by himself and others (especially by Professor H. D.
Cope, of Philadelphia), in favour of the ornithic affinities presented
by the Dinosauria, and discusses at length the recently ascertained
facts which bear upon this question. He compared the different
elements of the pelvic arch and hind limbs in the Crocodile, the
Dinosaur, and the Emu, and maintained that the structure of the
pelvic bones (especially the form and position of the ischium and
pubis), the relation between the distal end of the tibia and the
astragalus (which is perfectly ornithic), and the strong enemial
crest of the tibia, &c., furnish additional and important evidence
of the affinities between the Dinosauria and Birds.

In Professor Huxley’s third paper he referred to the biblio-
graphy of the Dinosauria, which, as a distinct group, were first
recognized by Hermann von Meyer in 1830. He then indicated
the families, into which he proposed to divide the group, viz.:

1. The Megalosauridx, with the genera Teratosawrus, Palxo-

274 Chronicles of Science. [April,

saurus, Megalosaurus, Potkilopleuron, Lelaps, and probably Eus-
kelosaurus.

2. The Scelidosauride, with the genera Thecodontosaurus,
Hylzosaurus, Pholacanthus, and Acanthopholis. (The omission
of Scelidosawrus is of course accidental, as the family is founded on
that genus.)

3. The Iguanodontide, with the genera Ceteosaurus, Iguanodon,
Hypsilophodon, Hadrosawrus, and probably Stenopelys.

Although Compsognathus had many points of affinity with the
Dinosauria, as in the ornithic character of its hindlimbs, yet it
differed from them in several important particulars. Professor
Huxley therefore makes a separate group for it, the Compsognatha
forming, with the Dinosauria, an order, the Ornithoscelida.

After treating of the Ornithoscelida in relation to other reptiles,
he concludes to place them in that great division of the Reptilia
which he calls Suchospondylia, in which the thoracic vertebre have
distinct capitular and tubercular processes. The Suchospondylia
embraces the Crocodilia, the Dicynodontia, the Pterosauria, and
the Ornithoscelida.

With regard to the relation of the Ornithoscelida to birds,
Professor Huxley stated that he knew of no character by which
the structure of birds, as a class, differs from that of reptiles, which
is not foreshadowed in the Ornithoscelida.

Dr. Duncan’s paper “On the Geography of Western Europe
during the Mesozoic and Cainozoic periods,’ elucidated by their
Coral-faunas, would seem to have been intended to create a discus-
sion for the purpose of bringing out the younger Agassiz, who is
over for a visit in Europe. Considerable misconception exists in
the minds of even advanced naturalists, as to the species of corals
peculiar to the deep sea, as contrasted with the reef, lagoon, and
shallow-water species. Dr. Duncan contrasted the fauna existing
in our seas with the extinct coral-fauna of the Secondary and Ter-
tiary epochs, and pomted out that a correspondence of physical
conditions in the deposition of certain strata was marked by the
presence of similar organic remains; thus the presence of compound
coenenchymal species of coral indicated reefs, and their absence in
places where simple or non-ccenenchymal Madreporaria are found,
is characteristic of deep-sea areas remote from land.

Professor Alexander Agassiz thought the depth at which true
reef-building corals are said to exist would be considerably ex-
tended. A reef is in the course of formation at the present time
off the coast of Florida.

Mr. Davidson has determined nearly forty species of Brachio-
poda from the pebble-bed at Budleigh-Salterton, near Exmouth,
Devon, and has figured them with his usual accuracy and artistic
skill in three beautiful plates. It is to be feared that, with certain

1870. | Meteorology. 275

paleontologists, a difference in horizon is sufficient to constitute a
difference in species; hence the zones of Ammonites, each marked
by a different species, which is said never to occur above or below
a certain narrow bed or horizon.

Professor Huxley would like to see the rise of a new race of
paleontologists, relying simply on zoological characteristics, and not
upon geological position. A considerable reduction in the number
of species would, he thinks, undoubtedly result.

Although the term species is too often used where variety would
be more appropriate, yet these distinctions —when kept within due
bounds—have been found of great value in tracing out, by their
characteristic fossils, the horizon of beds over widely-extended areas.

Mr. Searles V. Wood, jun., continues his researches on the
Boulder-drift. He finds the Yorkshire Glacial clays are of two
kinds; the lower containing chalk-debris abundantly, the upper
containing chalk sparingly in its lower part, and gradually losing
it upwards. The Boulders of Shap Fell Granite only occur in the
Boulder-clay, without chalk. Mr. Wood ascribes their dispersion
to the agency of floating ice during the submergence of the district.

The great chalky clay derived its chalk from the extrusion of a
great sheet of land-ice over the sea, the chalk-mud being due to the
abrading action of the ice.

The anniversary of the Geological Society of London was held
on the 18th February, when the President announced that the
Wollaston Gold Medal had been awarded to M. Deshayes, as an
expression of the estimation in which his services to Paleontology
and Geology (especially in regard to the classification of the Tertiary
formation and its Molluscan fauna) are held by geologists of this
country.

The balance of the Wollaston Donation-fund was presented to
M. Marie Rouault, of the Geological Museum of Rennes, in aid of
his researches upon the paleontology of the Devonian and Silurian
rocks of Brittany.

Neither of the gentlemen was present, but both sent letters of
thanks.

8. METEOROLOGY.

THe subject which has secured to itself the most important papers
published lately has been the wind-systems of the globe, a question
which had been left at comparative rest for some time.

Mr. Buchan’s paper “ On the Mean Pressure of the Atmosphere,
and the prevailing Winds over the Globe,” appears in vol. xxv. of
the ‘ Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,’ and has been
most carefully worked out. The mean monthly conditions of atmo-

276 Chronicles of Science. | April,

spherical pressure at the sea level are first discussed, on the basis of
all trustworthy observations which were accessible, and then the
prevailing winds are similarly treated, but with reference only to
direction, not to force. The results obtained are entered on charts
for each month and for the year. The broad facts arrived at are
that the wind flows in accordance with Buys Ballot’s Law around
the areas of barometrical depression and elevation, the motion being
retrograde in the first case, direct in the other, and that it does not
flow as a constant anti-trade at the earth’s surface in high latitudes,
as supposed by Maury. The ‘position of the respective areas of
barometrical disturbance varies very considerably from month to
month, and is mainly determined by the thermal conditions of the
globe at the respective seasons.

It will be seen that the ideas of Mr. Buchan are somewhat at
variance with Dove’s theory of the paramount importance of the
Polar and Equatorial currents (as N.E. and 8.W. winds) in regu-
lating climates. He has, however, submitted this theory to a special
test, as on calculating the directions of the prevailing winds at each
station he finds that almost always there are two maximum directions
shown, but that in only 30 per cent. of the stations do these direc-
tions belong to either of the above-named winds; so that it cannot
be maintained that there is a general flow of the winds of the North
Temperate Zone towards and from the Polar regions.

In the theoretical explanation of air-motion, given by Mr. Buchan,
the chain of reasoning is not perfectly conclusive. He argues in this
way: if motion in the lower strata of the atmosphere be in a definite
direction, a compensating movement must exist at an upper level.
The lower currents are determined by the course of the isobaric
lines, therefore the upper currents may be inferred from these same
lines “ taken reversely together with the isothermal lines taken
directly.” He assumes that if, over any area, temperature near the
ground be low, it must necessarily follow that pressure at a great
height over the same area must be much reduced. This may perhaps
be true, but it is far from being as yet proved, in the utter absence
of the possibility of any experimental confirmation of the statement,
as we know nothing of the vertical distribution of pressure.

Taking the paper as a whole, it is one of the most valuable con-
tributions to the science which has appeared of late years, and the
least that can be said of it is that the results are fully commensu-
rate with the labour bestowed on the discussion.

The other paper to which we have referred is one by Dr. Julius
Hann, “ On the Winds of the Northern Hemisphere and their In-
fluence on Climate,” read before the Vienna Academy. In the first
part of this discussion the wind-systems are explained on the hypo-
thesis of Dove’s two currents ; the Equatorial, flowing over the sea ;
and the Polar over the land: but the variations in their respective

1870. | Meteorology. 277

directions from true 8. W. and N.E. are explained by the relations of
pressure. ‘That these variations do exist is shown by the fact that
in the great continent, the coldest point of the windrose shifts
through 108°, from N. 62° E. over the North Sea, to W. 44° N. in
Eastern Asia. The warmest point shifts similarly through 61°.
Corresponding changes are noticeable in the baric windrose, so that,
as Buchan shows, the main directions of the wind are not 8.W. and
N.E. As to the effect on rain, it is found that the sea winds are
always the rain bringers, and the land winds the contrary. Our
driest wind is N.E.; that for Pekin as well as for Toronto is N.W.
Part LI. is a special application of the results contained in the tables
to the peculiarities of climate of the respective stations.

The quarter has on the whole been rather barren of meteorolo-
gical papers both here and on the Continent, but this deficiency has
been more than supplied by some works of a general nature. Mr.
Keith Johnston, jun., has just brought out a ‘ Handbook of Physical
Geography,’ as a companion to the ‘ Physical Atlas.’ The chapters,
three in number, relating to Meteorology are very compact and
comprehensive. Much of what he says on winds has been adapted
from Mr. Buchan’s paper just noticed; but as regards climate, the
account of the Range Lines is a reproduction of a very good paper
by the author, which appears im vol. vi. of the ‘ Proceedings of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh.’ In this paper he has discussed the
range of temperature from January to July all over the globe. This
map is an entirely new idea, and a most useful one, as in the ques-
tion of Range all the differences between insular and continental
climates are involved. ‘Thus in these islands the range is about 20°.
At Yakutsk it is 106°. No part of the open ocean has a range
above 40°, while the curves above 60° are confined to the great
continents.

On the whole, Mr. Johnston finds, as a practical result, that in
the Temperate Zone the West coasts of continents have 15° less
range than the East coasts, and a similar contrast is noticed between
the opposite coasts of inland seas and lakes. ‘Thus the coasts of the
Mediterranean, which face Hast, have 10° more range than those
which face West. The same fact is noticed on the shores of Lake
Superior.

Dove has at last published Part Il. of his ‘ Klimatologische
Beitrage, twelve years after its predecessor. In this he furnishes
the text and tables to the ‘ Atlas of Monthly and Yearly Isotherms,’
which appeared in 1864. The first fifty pages are devoted to a
brief discussion of the climate of Western Europe, which is very
interesting, but hardly worthy of the author’s reputation. If we
test it by what he says of these islands, it is evident that the sources
of information are old and not quite accurate, while the statements
themselves bear signs of haste and carelessness. Thus we are told

VoL. VII. U

278 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

that the hemispherical cup anemometer was invented by Osler,
and improved by Dr. Robinson. Dove assumes that observations
in London, Liverpool, and Dublin, represent our climate fairly,
while the instances cited to prove the mildness of our climate fall
far below the real facts of the case, especially in the vegetable world.
This paper is followed by some remarks on the climate of the Polar
regions, but the bulk of the work is taken up with Temperature
Tables. These are most valuable, containing, as they do, for about
1200 stations the yearly, monthly, and seasonal means, with the
extreme range of climate, as well as that from summer to winter.
To these tables are appended others of the non-periodic variations,
giving for more than 400 places the monthly means derived from
several years’ observation, and the deviations from those means
observed in every year from 1856 to 1868. Remarks on the ave-
rage and absolute variability of temperature follow, and the volume
is concluded with a notice of some of the most remarkable exceptional
seasons which have been recorded, such as severe winters, e. g. 1838,
1850, both of which, though cold in Europe, were warm in America ;
famous vintages, e.g. the Comet Year, 1811, and various other
notabilia as regards climate. Many of these particulars have been
already described by Dove in his ‘ Five-day Means of Temperature,’
and in his papers read before the Berlin Academy ; but the thanks
of all meteorologists are due to him for having condensed such a
mass of information into a work of 300 pages.

Professor Wild has followed up the publication of the ‘ Annales’
for 1865 for the Russian stations by the announcement of the issue
of a new serial, ‘ Repertorium fiir Meteorologie.’ Formerly, a period-
ical under this title was published by the Geographical Society, at
the suggestion of Kamtz, who was himself the author of most of
the papers in it. The new ‘Repertorium’ is to appear under the
auspices of the Academy, and to contain special discussions of the
’ observations which are given in full in the ‘Annales, as well as
independent papers on the Meteorology of Russia. The first part
has already come out, and we find in it the instructions for the
reorganization of the meteorological stations throughout Russia,
with the tables for the reduction of observations on the basis of
centigrade and metrical scales, which are to be substituted for the
former tables drawn up by Kupffer. There is also an ‘ Essay on
the Wind and Rain of Taurida and the Crimea, by W. Koeppen.
It is impossible to do more than allude to this paper, which is of the
ereatest value, being a discussion of a large accumulation of trust-
worthy observations.

It is curious that at the very time that Sir E. Sabine was dis-
cussing the climate of Barnaoul and Nertschinsk, as described in our
last number, Lieutenant Rikatcheff was investigating the same sub-
ject, and he has published his results in a paper “On the Diurnal

1870. | - Meteorology. — 279

March of Temperature” at the two stations in question, deduced
from a series of twenty years’ hourly observations. This paper forms
part of No. II. of the ‘Repertorium.’ The results on the whole
agree very well with Sir E. Sabine’s. The climate of Nertschinsk
is more truly continental than that of Barnaoul, but this difference
is not exhibited to its fullest extent, owing to the difference in ele-
vation between the two stations, the former being situated 2200
feet above the sea, as compared with 400 feet, the elevation of the
latter.

The second report of the ‘ Norddeutsche Seewarte,’ that for the
year 1869, has just appeared. The main points brought forward —
by Herr von Freeden in this report have a special reference to
Sailing Directions and to the practical pecuniary value of the office
to the shipowners and traders of Hamburg. Accordingly, hitherto
he has not been able to devote his attention to the general subject
of ocean meteorology. However, the North German Parliament
has now adopted the office, and several of the seaport towns of
Prussia, such as Memel and Dantzic, have affiliated themselves to
it as branch stations for the issue of instruments and registers.

The Report also contains interesting information relating to the
Telegraphic Intelligence of Storms, sent to Hamburg by the Me-
teorological Office in- London. From this it appears that the storm
only preceded the warning on four occasions, three of which were
accounted ior by the intervention of Sundays, and that no intelli-
gence at all of two other storms was received, owing in one case to.
a break-down on the telegraph line. Accordingly it will be seen that
the storms which are felt on the Elbe almost invariably pass over
these Islands. The instances in which the weather at Hamburg
was undisturbed, subsequent to a warning, are all proved to have
been accounted for by the fact that the storm died out before crossing
the North Sea.

Tn conclusion, we have to notice the very important changes as
regards meteorology which are in progress in France. M. Le-
verrier has been superseded, and his successor at the ‘Observatoire
Impérial’ is M. Charles Delaunay. It is understood that for the
future meteorology will form no part of the duties of the astro-
nomical staff, and we hope that ere long this special science will
receive in France a development worthy of its daily increasing
importance.

280 Chronicles of Science. | April,

9. MINERALOGY.

From the days when Montezuma presented Cortez with four Chal-
chihuitls, on his landing at San Juan de Ulua, it has been matter
of dispute among mineralogists what was the true nature of the
ornamental stone designated by this Mexican name. That it was
held in the highest esteem is well known from many passages in the
old chroniclers. It appears to have been worn only by the chiefs,
and on the death of a great dignitary a chalchihuit] was placed in
the mouth of the corpse. Indeed, the name of the stone became
synonymous with all that was most valued; and according to one
tradition, Quetzalcoatl—the law-giver, priest, and instructor of the
Mexicans—was begotten by one of these stones, which the goddess,
Chimalma had placed in her bosom. In recently laying before the
Lyceum of Natural History of New York a fine collection of carved
chalchihuitls, Mr. Squier took occasion to bring forward a body of
evidence tending to identify the stone.* Molina, in 1571, defines
the word as signifying esmeralda baja—an inferior emerald. Saha-
gun describes it as “a jasper of very green colour, or a common
emerald.” Montolina, in 1555, in enumerating the riches of Mexico,
after speaking of gold, silver, and all metals and stones, refers to the
chalchihuitls, and concludes by saying, “ Las finas de estas son esme-
raldas.” Professor Blake has sought to identify it with the turquoise,
but the author considers this not to be the true stone of the Mexi-
cans and Central Americans. “The weight of evidence, in my opi-
nion,” says Mr. Squier, “ goes to show that the stone, properly called
chalchihuitl, is that which Molina defines to be ‘ baja esmeralda,’
or possibly nephrite, ‘a jasper of very green colour,’ as Sahagun,
already quoted, avers.”

Two Indian meteorites have been subjected to an exhaustive
examination by Professor Nevil Story Maskelyne, the Keeper of the
Collection of Minerals in the British Museum—a collection which
vies with Vienna and Calcutta in the number and variety of its me-
teoric specimens. One of the stones fell at Busti, between Goruck-
poor and Fyzabad, on the 2nd Dee., 1852; and the other fell at
Manegaum, in Khandeish, on the 26th July, 1843.7 The Busti
meteorite consists for the most part of enstatite, a silicate of mag-
nesia, in which are imbedded small spherules of Oldhamite. This
mineral is composed mainly of sulphide of calcium ; and the presence
of such a compound would seem to indicate that the conditions under
which the ingredients of the meteorite were formed must have been
very different from those met with on the surface of our globe.

* ‘Observations on the Chalchihuitl of Mexico and Central America.’ By

E. G. Squier, M.A. New York, 1869.
+ ‘ Proceedings of the Royal Society,’ Jan. 13, 1870, p. 146.

1870. ] Mineralogy. 281

Not only does it bespeak the absence of water and of oxygen; but
having regard to the conditions needful for the production of this
particular compound, the author thinks himself justified in pointing
to the presence of some reducing agent, which operated during the
formation of the constituents of the stone—such an agent as would
be furnished by Graham’s meteoric hydrogen.

Oldhamite forms spherules of a chestnut-brown colour, having a
specific gravity of 2°58, and presenting. a cubic cleavage. In some
of these spherules there are minute gold-coloured octohedral crystals,
which contain calcium, sulphur, and a rare metal—probably tita-
nium. As a befitting compliment to the gentleman who forwarded —
the Busti meteorite to this country, Maskelyne describes this second
mineral under the name of Osbornite.

Dr. Giovanni Striiver’s studies in Italian mineralogy have lately .
been directed to the examination of the iron-pyrites of Piedmont
and of Elba.* In the collection of the Engineering School of
Turin, and of the University Museum in the same city, nearly 6000
specimens of Italian pyrites are to be found. The author has thus
had ample materials for study, and that he has made good use of
his opportunities is clear from his exhaustive monograph on the
subject. He describes the various simple forms and combinations
in which the Italian mineral occurs, including many newly-observed
forms. It is notable that in 5603 specimens only three distinct
simple forms were found. The memoir is illustrated by a series of
fourteen plates.

Some few years ago, Herr Stein described a mineral under the
name of Staffelite. It had the extraordinary composition of a hydrous
phosphate and carbonate of lime, with a fluoride of calcium and
traces of iodine. It occurred usually as a greenish incrustation, but
was said to be also found in rhombohedral crystals. A similar sub-
stance has been met with in certain phosphorite workings near
Offheim, in Nassau ; and upon this crust of so-called staffelite were
some fine clear crystals of apatite. Dr. Kosmann publishes an
analysis of this apatite,t and assigns to it the formula: 5 (3 CaO.
~PO;)+2CaFl. It is notable for contaiming as large a percent-
age as 4:52 of fluorine, and for the presence of magnesia. The
author believes that staffelite is nothing more than an impure
form of apatite rapidly deposited and contaminated with the salts
of the mother-liquor from which it was evaporated. Dr. Kosmann
also describes a new mineral under the name of Lime Wavellite, the
composition of which is sufficiently indicated by its name.

In the Bergmannstroost mine at Altenberg in Silesia certain
needle-like crystals are found penetrating brown-spar. Under the

* “Studii sulla Mineralogia Italiana. Pirite del Piemonte e dell’ Elba.’
Torino, 1869.
+ ‘ Zeitschrift d. deutschen geolog. Gesellschaft,’ Bd. xxi., Heft 4, p. 795.

282 Chronicles of Scvence. [ April,

microscope they appear as strongly-striated rhombic prisms, with
indistinct octohedral terminations. Formerly they were taken for
antimony-glance, but when it was found that they contained lead,
they were referred to either the species Jamesonite or Boulangerite.
Dr. Websky has, however, recently shown that this mineral con-
stitutes a new ore, which he proposes to designate as Epiboulange-
rite. It is a sulphide of antimony and lead, which may be thus
formulated: (Sb,, P b;) §,;.*

Professor Wohler announces the discovery of minute crystals of
diamond, with the native platinum of the Oregon; and diamonds
are also reported from Bohemia.t}

Ramelsberg has been led to compare the relation of gadolinite
with several other species, and finds that datolite, euclase, and
gadolinite form an isomorphous group.t

10. MINING AND METALLURGY.

Mintne.

THE mining interests of the country are promised rather more than
the usual amount of attention from the British Legislature during
the present sitting of Parliament.

The Secretary for the Home Department has introduced his
“ Mines Regulation and Inspection Bill,’ which was read for the
second time on the 21st of February.

Lord Kinnaird, on Thursday, the 17th of February, introduced
a Bill to the House of Lords, which is an attempt to apply the
“Mines Regulation Act of 1870” to the metalliferous mines of the
country.

The President of the Poor Law Board has intimated his inten-
tion of bringing again, before the House of Commons, the considera-
tion of the question of rating metalliferous mines for the support
of the poor.

The Government Mines Regulation Bill, introduced by the
Home Secretary, professes, in its broader features, to fix definitely
the responsibility in connection with the workings of all collieries,
to secure increased safety in the mine, and to promote the better
education of the mining population.

Last year the Mining Association of Great Britain, and the
Colliery Inspectors, representing the Home Secretary, agreed to the
following provision :—‘“ That in every coal and ironstone mine an
amount of ventilation shall be constantly produced, adequate to

* ¢ Zeitschrift d. deutschen geolog. Gesellschaft, Bd. xxi., Heft 4, p. 747.

+ ‘Comptes Rendus,’ 24 Jan., 1870, p. 140.
t ‘ Zeitschr. d. d. geol. Gesell.,’ Bd. xxi., Heft 4, p. 807.

1870. | Mining. 283

dilute and render harmless noxious gases, to such an extent, that
the working places of the pit’s levels and workings, and the travel-
ling roads to and from the working places, shall be in a fit state for
working and passing therein, but that no owner, agent, or other
person shall be held to have contravened this regulation, wnless tt
shall be shown that all reasonable precautions have not been taken.”
This saving clause has been altered in the present Bill to :—“ Pro-
vided that no owner, agent, or other person shall be held to have
acted in contravention of this regulation, if it is shown that all
reasonable precautions have been taken by the owner, agent, or

person who is so charged.” |

This proposition is regarded as the turning-point of Mr. Bruce’s
Bill, and already loud is the cry amongst colliery owners and agents
against it. “It cannot be supposed for a moment,” says the ‘ Colliery
Guardian,’ “that they (the coal-owners) can take any other course
than that of opposing it to the utmost, nor will they find any diff-
culty in showing that English legislation contains no precedent for
an enactment which assumes that every person charged is guilty,
and may be punished as such, unless he can prove himself innocent.”

The question of responsibility ig the one over which the battle
will be fought. Every one is, of course, desirous of relieving him-
self from this burthen; and it is, indeed, a heavy one in some of our
collieries, where the lives of hundreds of men are dependent entirely
on the unceasing attention of a single mind. If the colliery owners
and agents can relieve themselves of this by any pressure which
they can bring upon our legislators, they will most certainly exert
themselves to the utmost to secure the necessary force. We cannot
ourselves sée any alternative. The responsibility of securing the
most perfect appliances, in every division of the workings of a
colliery, must rest somewhere, and it cannot be allowed to be capa-
ble of being shifted from one individual to another. In every
colliery some head-man must be made responsible, and the Bill does
not appear unjust on this point, for if this responsible head can
show, after an accident has occurred, that every proper precaution
had been taken, he will be held to be guiltless of any blame.

The employment of women and children, the payment of wages,
the special rules and provisions as to arbitration, are all carefully
dealt with in this Bill. The clauses which relate to inspection do
not appear to us to be entirely satisfactory. Much has been said of
the inability of twelve inspectors to visit, within the year, the 3000
collieries in the United Kingdom. It does not appear to us to be
desirable that they should do so, but an earnest and intelligent man
may make himself perfectly familiar with his district, without sub-
jecting himself to the labour, or the coal-owner to the annoyance, of
prying into the details of the subterranean workings. Lord Elcho
remarked,—“ The name of ‘Inspector’ was a misnomer, for the in-

284 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

spectors did not profess to go into the mines, they merely held an
inquiry when an accident had occurred. Accordingly they might
with more truth be called ‘ Accident Inquirers.” We fear a good
and sufficient reply cannot be given on this point to Lord Elcho.
Mr. Bruce, anticipating, as he could well do, from the discussions of
last year, on the same subject, attempted to answer this, but all that
he said, cannot be regarded as other than ingenious special pleading.

Mr. Lancaster referred to many of the causes leading to our
present imperfect system of working for coal. To these we can
only direct attention. His concluding remarks are of too much
value not to be quoted :—“ While many of the managers of mines
were men of first-class education, and also of great practical ex-
perience, it was necessary that the younger men should receive a
technical as well as a practical trainmg. He hoped that as to
some of these questions, the Home Secretary would adopt a much
bolder course than that which he had yet taken, and would not
hesitate to carry out the full recommendations which had been
made.”

Lord Kinnaird’s Bill provides for the establishment of General
Rules and Special Rules for Metalliferous Mines as nearly similar
as possible to those proposed for collieries. It is evident from this
that the different conditions of the two systems of mining cannot be
correctly understood by his Lordship. The Bill provides for the
effective ventilation of the metal mines, the depositing of plans
with the Secretary of State (there never has been any objection to
furnishing plans, as the large collection already in the hands of the
Government in the Mining Record Office proves), and for. such
arrangements as are thought to be conducive to the health of the
miners.

“Our Future Coal Supply” has claimed the attention of the
South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire Institute of Mining
Engineers, Mr. Richard Latham and Mr. George Spruce contri-
buting two papers containing much important matter relative to the
future workings of the thick coal of Staffordshire, and the probable
extension of the Staffordshire field towards the coal-field of Shrop-
shire.

Mr. Walter Ness, of Pelsall, also read a paper “On part of the
Coal-field of Fife, N.B.,” in which he proved, probably beyond much
doubt, a large extension of this coal-field beyond the present work-
ings. From this he adventures farther from the shore, and says:—
“Tf we take the total area of the Forth, where we have reason to
believe those Coal-measures exist in their entirety, we have about
180 square miles in their entirety . . . and we get 12,672,000,000
tons. Taking the other parts of the nation (sea-bed ?) in like manner
available, opposite Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire, and
under the German Ocean, also opposite Ayrshire, Cumberland, Lan-

1870.] Physics. 285

cashire, and the Bristol Channel, on the west coast, as jointly capable
of yielding a similar quantity of coal to that of the Firth of Forth, we
shall then have 25,344,000,000.” These are large figures—of their
value we can only judge by the exactness of other statements made
in this paper. “The investigation of the Royal Commission happily
assures us that there is coal enough in store for several generations
to come.” Such is the opening paragraph of Mr. Walter Ness’s
paper. The fact bemg that the Royal Commission has not given
one word of assurance in any form—and, we can state upon autho-
rity, that they are not yet in a position to do so.

METALLURGY.

There does not appear to be any novelty worthy of notice. The
arrangements made upon the termination of one of the Bessemer
Patents have led to considerable activity in the manufacture of
Bessemer steel, and probably the result will be that, ere long, steel
rails will almost entirely have superseded the iron ones, to which
we have been so long accustomed.

A few interesting experiments are in progress, but none of the
results yet obtained are sufficiently reliable to warrant our placing
them on record.

i -PENYSICS.

Licut.—It is a well-known fact that M. Schroetter proved that
the action of sunlight converts ordinary phosphorus into red
amorphous phosphorus. Sulphur, according to M. Lallemand, is
similarly affected by the direct action of sunlight, masmuch as the
sulphur previously soluble in sulphide of carbon, and crystallizable,
is converted into an amorphous modification insoluble in sulphide
of carbon. The author placed a concentrated solution of sulphur
in sulphide of carbon in a sealed tube, and exposed that tube some
time to the action of the sun’s rays, concentrated by a lens; this
causes a copious precipitation of sulphur as an amorphous insoluble
matter.

_ Mr. Burt has examined the action of coloured light upon the
Minwsa pudica. The plants are placed under glass jars constructed
of variously-coloured glass. The chief fact observed in respect of
these very sensitive plants is that by being covered with a green-
coloured glass jar, the plant rapidly becomes insensible, and dies in
a very short time.

The Rev. Father Secchi, after referring briefly to his former
observations of the spectrum exhibited by Uranus, states that the

286° Chronicles of Science. | April,

spectrum of Neptune consists chiefly of three lines, or bands, placed
near the green, and that its light is entirely devoid of red; this ig
confirmed by the colour exhibited by the planet when seen through
a telescope, which is a sea-green.

M. Feil has exhibited before the French Academy samples of
perfectly homogeneous heavy flint-glass for optical purposes free
from any bubbles or defects, and in masses weighing from 25 to
35 kilos. The process whereby this is obtained is not explained ;
but the statement is made that the crucibles having been protected
from the effects of the lead, a heavier glass even than Faraday’s
can be made. ‘The maker sent also a set of samples of beautifully-
made artificial precious stones, not mere specks, but of good size.
The aluminates of lime, of baryta and lime, of lead and of bismuth,
are proposed for flint-glass; and the aluminates of magnesia and
the silicates of magnesia and alumina for crown-glass.

M. Bontemps, the managing director of the celebrated glass
works at Choisy-le-Roi, has arrived at the followmg results in con-
nection with the coloration of glass under the influence of direct
sunlight :—Within three months after having been exposed to sun-
light, the best and whitest glass made at St. Gobain is turned very
distinctly yellow ; extra white glass (of-a peculiar mode of manu-
facture) has become even more yellow, and gradually assumes a
colour known as pelwre d’oignon; glass containing 5 per cent. of
litharge was also affected, but far less perceptibly; crystal glass,
made with carbonate of potassa (the other varieties referred to
contain carbonate of soda), litharge and silica, was not at all affected ;
English plate-glass, made by the British Plate-Glass Company,
and exhibiting a distinctly azure-blue tinge, remained also un-
affected. The author attributes the coloration, which begins with
yellow and gradually turns to violet, passing through red pelure
@oignon, to the oxidizing effects of the sun’s rays upon the pro-
toxides of iron and manganese contained in glass.

M. Schinz states that platinum brought to bright white heat
by means of the ignition of a mixture of hydrogen and carbonic
oxide gases, yields a light which, in relation to good coal-gas, is as
1°24 to 1:0.

Professor B. Silliman has examined, in a lengthy series of ex-
periments, the relation between the intensity of light produced from
the combustion of illuminating gas and the volume of gas consumed.
His experiments prove, among other matters, this theorem—that
the intensity of gas-flames (7. e. illuminating power) increases,
within the ordinary limits of consumption, as the square of the
volume of the gas consumed. The chief point of interest, for the
consumer of gas, to be deduced from the data here presented is, that
where it is important to obtain a maximum of economical effect —

1870.] Physies. 287

from the consumption of a given volume of illuminating gas, this
result is best obtained by the use of burners of ample flow.

Hrat.—According to MM. Troost and Hautefeuille, carbon
when combining with oxygen, only gives out 8000 caloric units;
boron, under the same conditions, yields 14,400 caloric units ; while,
when boron combines with three equivalents of chlorine, 104,000
caloric units represent the heat set free.

The heat disengaged by the combination of 1 grm. of amor-
phous silicium with oxygen is 7830 units, with chlorine 5030.
When 1 grm. of chloride of silicium reacts upon 140 times its
weight of water, it is 2915; the heat disengaged when 1 grm. of
amorphous silictum is converted into crystallized silicium is 290
units of heat.

Dr. St. Claire-Deville states that the oxygen dissolved during
the fusion of platinum causes this metal to present the same pheno-
menon as molten silver—viz. scintillation and spirting while in the
molten state. :

In a paper “On the Heat given off by the Moon’s Rays,”
M. Zantedeschi states that, as far back as the years 1685 and 1781,
the Italian savants Geminiano, Montanari and Paolo Frisi proved
the existence of rays of heat emitted by the moon, by means of
lenses and ordinary thermometers. The author refers to his
observations made some twenty years ago, when he applied thermo-
electric apparatus, as well as spirit thermometers and lenses, and
obtained results fully confirming those made and recorded by the
Tialian savants just alluded to. |

In Germany the doors of the steam-boiler furnaces are now very
generally provided with square pieces of mica, properly fastened, by
means of which the fireman is enabled to observe the fires without
the necessity of opening the furnace-doors too frequent!y, which is
injurious, on account of interfering with the draught and proper
course of combustion of the fuel, by reason of the access of irregular
currents of cold air. Mica withstands avery high temperature ; and
the accidental breakage of the squares of this substance is guarded
against by a properly-constructed iron-wire guard outside.

Dr. Ziurek states that gas from the brown coal from Fursten-
wald, five miles from Berlin, will shortly be made on the spot, and
collected in Berlin in twelve gas-holders, each of a capacity of
750,000 cubic feet. The gas will be carried, as usual, in under-
ground mains, and chiefly applied for heating purposes. 3000 cubic
feet of this gas have a heating power of one-third of a ton of best
coals, and are equal to 1 ton of best Prussian brown coal. 1000
cubic feet of this gas will cost about 5d. in Berlin; and the equi-
valent value of the heating power of this gas as compared with a

288 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

ton of coals will be 4s. 6d. The works have been made to supply
950,000,000 cubic feet of gas annually, or at the rate of 22 millions
of cubic feet daily.

Execrriciry.—A thermo-electrical apparatus, with galena and
iron, has been made by MM. Mure, Clamond, and Gaiffe. Ac-
cording to the results of their experiments, this apparatus deserves
the attention of all who require galvanic batteries, since regularity
and steadiness of action are here combined with economy and the
absence of inconvenient vapours.

For telegraphic work or domestic purposes, where a constant
galvanic current is required with little trouble (electric bells, fire and
thief detectors), the writer has found the new battery known as the
Leclanché cell to be most perfect in action. ‘The main feature is
that peroxide of manganese is used with zinc (not amalgamated) and
an aqueous solution of an alkaline salt, chloride of ammonium being
preferred. The cells are of three sizes: the smallest, with a porous
pot 4°3 inches high, can accomplish an annual electric work which
may be represented by 620 grains of copper reduced in the voltameter ;
the medium size, with a 6-inch porous pot, can reduce from 950 to
1000 grains; while the large size gives a work equal to 1500 or
2000 grains.

F. Zaliwski has described a galvanic element with three fluids.
This contrivance consists of two porous cells placed one inside the
other, and surrounded by another suitable vessel. The inner vessel
contains nitric acid and a piece of carbon, the intermediate vessel
contains sulphuricacid, and the outer vessel a solution of sal-ammoniac
in water and a piece of zinc. This author states that this arrange-
ment is superior to a Bunsen cell.

The phenomena of atmospheric electricity at the island of Haiti,
or St. Domingo, as it is also called, are of a very striking character.
According to Mr. Ackermann, who has during a series of five years
made meteorological observations at Port-au-Prince, there have, on ©
an average, been 129 days of each year either severe thunderstorms
or other very marked electrical phenomena, especially during the
months of May, July, August, and September. Severe thunder-
storms more frequently occur during day than night-time. The
year 1868 was especially remarkable for severe thunderstorms ;
during one of these, lasting for forty-five minutes, 400 lightning
flashes were distinctly seen.

A company has been formed in America with the view of cover-
ing other metals, by galvano-plastic means, with a more or less thick
coating of pure nickel. Since that metal is very hard, it resists,
even in thin layers, rather rough usage ; it is not oxidized, even in
contact with water, at the ordinary temperature, and the metal as-

1870.] Physics. 289

sumes a brilliant polish if required. The method employed for the
deposition of nickel was treated of at a meeting of the French Aca-
demy. The company alluded to have established a branch manu-
factory at Paris, under the management of M. Gaiffe.

M. Gaiffe calls attention to the fact that the presence of even the
smallest quantity of potassa, or soda, or alkaline earths in the bath
containing the nickelizing preparation is injurious to effect a pro-
perly-adhesive coating of the metal. The use of perfectly pure
double chloride of nickel and ammonium, or of perfectly pure sul-
phate of nickel and ammonium, and, moreover, of pure nickel as
one of the electrodes, is required. By these means the nickel is made |
to adhere regularly and strongly, and only requires polishing after
the metal, coated over, is taken from the bath. On the other hand,
M. Becquerel now states that he has purposely repeated some of
his former experiments, with the express view of ascertaining whether
the statement made by M. Gaiffe, concerning the injurious action of
the presence of potassa, be correct or not. The result of experi-
ments is that the presence of potassa is not at all injurious to, and in
no wise affects, the deposition of nickel, since the double sulphate of
nickel and potassa can be applied, as well as the double sulphate of
nickel and ammonia; but if the positive electrode is not made of
nickel, it is necessary to add free ammonia, in order to saturate the
sulphuric acid, which is set free.

M. Scoutetten states that the accidental striking of lightning on
the house of a vineyard proprietor caused the rupture of several
large hogsheads containing wine, which found its way into a cavity
existing in the cellar of the house. ‘The owner imagined his wine
lost and spoiled, but found, to his astonishment, that the wine, in-
stead of having been deteriorated, had become better than it was
before. This accidental occurrence having come to the knowledge of
General Marey-Mouge, caused M. Scoutetien to be consulted, and a
series of experiments instituted with various kinds of wine, of inferior
as well as medium quality. A series of experiments, made on the
large scale, and with various sources of electricity, led to the result
that electricity, under whatever form applied (whether as a regular
current, or a succession of discharges accompanied by sparks), im-
prove wine, rendering it mellow and mature. As to the mode of
action of this agent, the author thinks that the bitartrate of potassa
present in wine is decomposed, the potassa set free saturates the acids
of the wine, and the free tartaric acid, reacting upon the fatty matters
present, favours the formation of the ethers which constitute the
bouquet of the wine. Moreover a small quantity of water is decom-
posed, and the oxygen thereof reacts upon some of the constituents
of the wine, thereby forming new compounds which are peculiar to
old wines.

. 290 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

12. ZOOLOGY—ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY AND
MORPHOLOGY.

PHysIoLoGy.

ftesearches on the Relation of Heat to Work in the Human Body.—
Professor Pettenkoffer, of Munich, has undertaken an investigation
into the amount of heat produced by the human body when at rest
and when at work, which promises to give highly important results.
The wonderful experimental chamber which King Max had con-
structed for Pettenkoffer’s work is to be made use of. The chamber,
which is about 10 feet square, is fitted with an iron tube through
which the air is regularly drawn by means of an aspirator worked
by a steam-engine, the air being accurately measured in a gas
meter. Smaller aspirators brmg measured quantities of the air
through analysis-tubes in which the quantities of carbonic acid, water,
hydrogen and carburetted hydrogens (the last two by combustion
with spongy platinum) are determined in the air both before and
after it enters the chamber. The small aspirators, bringing a small
but constant fraction of the whole air passed into the chamber
through the analysis apparatus, the quantities of carbonic acid gas,
water and hydrogen in the whole can be readily calculated. It is
now intended to take the temperature of the air before and after it
traverses the chamber, and in this manner to ascertain the actual
amount of heat produced by the human body when at rest and when
at work, and in relaticn to the amounts of the various excretions.
For this purpose a smaller chamber has been constructed within the
first made, and arrangements adapted by means of non-conductors,
&c., to prevent, as far as possible, the loss of heat. It is found that
there is a constant loss of about 40 per cent. of the total heat with
two candles burnt in the chamber ; of about 50 per cent. with four.
The heating effect upon the air passed through the apparatus is deter-
’ mined before each experiment with stearine candles of known weight,
and thus when a man is placed in the chamber instead of the candles,
you get his heating effect in terms of stearine candles, and this is,
of course, at once convertible into units of heat. The preliminary
experiments with candles promise very accurate and satisfactory
results from this method. As an apparatus for chemical analysis
the chamber is perfect ; so perfect that the percentage composition
of a candle can be determined as accurately by burning it in the
chamber, and the fractional analysis, as by the most complete direct
combustions. The determination of the heat produced is a matter
of more difficulty on account of the fluctuations of external tem-
perature and the delicacy of the thermometers which must be used ;

but Professor Pettenkoffer has used every precaution, and succeeded
in rendering the apparatus efficient. The experiments are now in

1870. } Zoology. 291

progress ; a man is to be kept in the chamber for six to eight hours,
and the work done is in the form of crank-turning.

The Absence of Currents in Uninjured Inactive Muscle.—Pro-
fessor Hermann states that if the gastrocnemius muscle of the frog
be so prepared for investigation that no contact between the cuta-
neous secretion and the surface of the muscle takes place, then, with
an exceedingly delicate galvanometer, only the very smallest deflec-
tion of the needle is obtained. He concludes, therefore, that by still
ereater care muscles can be obtained perfectly free from currents,
and regards previous observations of muscular currents as having a
very different significance to what has been supposed, being really |
artificial phenomena due to certain accidents of manipulation.

Pasteur’s Views on Fermentation.—Professor Liebig disputes
Pasteur’s theory that the decomposition of sugar in fermentation
depends on the development and multiplication of yeast-cells, and
that fermentation is only a phenomenon accompanying the vital
processes of the yeast. lLiebig considers that Pasteur’s researches
have not explained fermentation, but have only made known another
phenomenon—the development of yeast—which equally requires
explanation.

Physiology of Sepia.—A series of interesting experiments have
been made by M. Bert on this subject. He finds that the excision
of the large supra-cesophageal ganglion-mass causes no pain or
inconvenience to the animal, but simply deprives it of voluntary
motion. He hence infers it to be equivalent to the vertebrate cere-
brum. The contents of the salivary glands, as also of the liver and
pancreas (so-called), are acid. The peritoneal cceca excrete uric
acid. Strychnia and curare have the same effect on this animal as
on vertebrates.

MorpHoLoay.

Commensalism.—Professor Van Beneden, in an interesting ad-
dress to the Belgian Academy of Sciences, proposes this word to
distinguish a group of animals hitherto confused with what he would
term veritable parasites. _Commensal parasites, or commensals, do
not feed on the animal with which they are found, but by it: they
are not destructive or injurious to their hosts, but often are of ser-
vice, if we may judge from the constancy of association and the satis-
faction which both parties seem to enjoy. Professor Van Beneden
distinguishes fixed and free commensals. Among the fixed we may
mention the various barnacles which are attached to whales and sea-
turtles ; the Anemone parasitica, which invariably is fixed to a shell
inhabited by a particular species of Hermit-crab, said to exhibit great
affection for the polyp it bears on its back; many Polyzoa and Hy-
drozoa, which attach themselves to the carapaces of crustacea, espe-
cially the hairy-looking Dromia of our southern coasts.

292 Chronicles of Science. [ April,

Free commensals are the most numerous. Little fish live inside
jelly fishes, without incommoding their host, or being incommoded ;
a whole troop of a particular species may be thus sometimes seen.
Similarly a fish called Fierasfer lives inside a Holothurian, and in a
large species of Anemone the same observation has been made.
Dr. Semper has described, in addition to the little fish inhabiting
Holothurie, several molluscs, which also live in this way; whilst
Miller made known Entoconchon, from the Synapta; and Sty-
lifer lives on Hchinus. The Remora is a remarkable instance of
commensalism. This strange fish, by means of the sucker on the
back of its head, attaches itself to other fish and to whales, some-
times to ships, and is thus carried along through rich feeding-grounds.
The inhabitants of Mozambique use this fish as a means of captur-
ing others, tying a string to it and letting it out ito the sea, when
it attaches itself to some unsuspecting inhabitant of the ocean, which,
together with the Remora, is speedily dragged to shore. The little
crustacean (Pinnotheres), which lives inside the shell of the common
edible mussel, has long been known, and various species in this and
other countries have excited speculation and fable. There is no
doubt a most cordial understanding between the little crab and its
host ; and though we cannot go so far as to believe that the crusta-
-cean acts as a watchman for the Mytilus, warning it when to close
its shell, it 1s yet very evident that there is a close relationship of
reciprocal advantage existing between the two. Chztogaster, the
little worm which crawls about on Lymnezus and Planorbis—the
common water-snails of our ponds—is a good example of a com-
mensal, sticking very close to his friend, feeding on the Cercariz
(true parasites) and other matters which accumulate on the snail’s
body. Many tubicolous Annelids have a commensal, or messmate,
~ who shares their residence; such are many scale-bearmg Annelids
—the Polyndina, which ensconce themselves in the tubes of Che-
topterus insignis, of Terebella nebulosa, and others. One Polynde
was many years since described by Professor Huxley as living on
the common Cross-star, and hence named P. astericola.

The distinction between commensal and parasite is this, that
the parasite uses his host for food; whilst the animals which are men-
tioned above, and many others enumerated by Professor Van Bene-
den, though often termed parasitic, do not feed upon the tissues
of the animal with which they live, and hence have a very different
relation to them. ‘Their food consists often of what is rejected by,
or is even hurtful to, their hosts; and though the line between them
and true parasites may not be easy to draw sharply, it is yet useful
to recognize them under a distinct name, as proposed by Professor
Van Beneden.

A New Genus of Cervide.—Mr. R. Swinhoe, who, as consul at
Formosa and various stations on the Chinese coast, has done most

1870. | Zoology. 293

active and important work in the investigation of the fauna of that
part of Asia, described recently to the Zoological Society of London,
a new form of deer, common on the islands at the lower part of the
river Yangtse-Kiang, near Ching-Kuang, into the markets of which
city it is often brought, though it appears hitherto to have escaped
the observation of naturalists. This deer is distinguished by the
long canines and the total absence of horns in both sexes. Mr.
Swinhoe proposes to form a new genus for the reception of this
remarkable form, and gives it the name Hydropotes imermis.
Animals presenting two distinct Sexual Forms.— From the
time when the so-called alternation of generations became known
to zoologists, they have been familiar with various species of lower
animals which reproduce sexually under one form, and a-sexually
under a totally different form, the form presenting agamic repro-
duction being often so different from that in which sexual maturity
is ultimately attained, that at one time the two phases of the species
have been referred even to different classes of the animal kingdom.
The a-sexual Aphides, whose offsprmg become male and female
adults ; the Cecidomyia larvee, producing a-sexually larvee like them-
selves, which become eventually sexually mature flies; the various
Entozoa and the Annelids of the family Syllide, which reproduce
rapidly by fission, whilst at certain times individuals endowed with
sexual organs, and differing most markedly in their sete and other
characteristics are produced,—are familiar instances. Lately, by the
researches of Leuckart, Mecznikow, and Schneider, we have been
made acquainted with a nematoid worm parasitic in the frog, which
presents the remarkable condition, previously unparalleled in science,
of two sexual forms: the first, in which there are distinct males and
females, is a free living form; the second, to which the eggs of this
bisexual generation give rise, is hermaphrodite, but at the same
time truly sexual in its reproduction, according to M. Schneider, in
which it differs from all previously recorded cases of alternation of
generations. M. Claus asserts the same of the Nematoid, Leptodera
appendiculata; and the Acaleph Carmarzina has since been described
as presenting the same condition of things. M. Claparede, of Geneva,
amongst his other discoveries in the Bay of Naples, has brought to
hight a most interesting case among the highest Annelids of an
animal presenting two distinct sexual generations. The Nereis
Dumerilii is the worm to which these observations refer. For some
time this species has been a puzzle to zoologists, and M. Malmgren
had already detected its relation to Heteronereis; but the problem
has been fully investigated by M. Claparede. He finds that there
are absolutely two forms of sexually mature HHeteronereis (each
having its own males and females, as im nearly all Polychetous
Annelids): one small and very agile, swimming on the surface of
the sea, and thus widely dispersing its reproductive elements; the
VOL. VII. x

294 Chronicles of Scrence. [ April,

other much larger, but less agile, which never leaves the sea-bottom,
and fitted rather to reproduce the species in a fixed locality. The
egos of the two forms of Heteronereis are not at all similar; but the
zoosperms are identical in the two. This, however, is not the most
remarkable part of the case; for it appears that these two forms of
Heteronereis are neither more nor less than developed forms of the
Nereis Dumeriliz, which has also a sexual condition (consisting of
both males and females) as a Nereis. We have in the Nereis
Dumeriluv, according to M. Claparede, a worm which is adult both
as Nereis and Heteronereis, and has probably two Heteronereidan
forms. An important question is whether a worm which has arrived
at sexual maturity as a Nerezs can lose ugain its sexual characters,
and become a Heteronereis; or whether we must consider that a
worm once arrived at maturity as a Nereis can never itself become a
Heteronereid, but only the worms which it produces are destined for
this condition. The question is one of importance, which must be
solved by study of worms kept in the aquarium. Undoubtedly we
have here one of the most astonishing cases of protean diversity of
specific form ever brought before naturalists—of a kind, indeed, totally
unexpected. The history of the Axolotl (chronicled by us some time
since) presents a sort of parallel to this case ; but it may prove that
the resemblance is not so close as we might at present suppose.

M. Dumeril has shown that the Amphibian Axolotl of Mexico
reproduces when in its larval condition with perennial gills, as known
in the tropical region of Central America; and also that in colder
regions losing these gills, it assumes the more perfect Salamandroid
form, and is reproductively active in that condition. The perenni-
branchiate condition may be compared to the Nereis-form, the Sala-
mandroid to the Heteronereis; but it is to be observed that the dif
ferences are much greater in the case of the two forms of the worm
than in the Amphibian: also we have no parallel to the second He-
teronereis form of the Nereis Dumerili, which, by the way, is well
named @ propos of the distinguished herpetologist who has made
known the sexual peculiarities of Szvedon.

Miscellaneous.—The eminent comparative anatomist Professor
Keferstein, of Gottingen, has died at the early age of thirty-seven.
He was an active worker, from whom much in bibliological science
had been already gained, and from whom much was to be expected.

The Sars Fund.—A subscription has been started for the family
ot the eminent Scandinavian zoologist, Michael Sars, whose death
occurred last year. Whoever knows anything of marine zoology
knows of the work of Sars and of his eminent son, G. O. Sars. In
France and Germany the subscription is progressing, and in this
country Mr. J. Gwyn Jefireys has undertaken to receive contribu-
tions. We shall be glad to hear that the appeal to English savans
has been successful.

Quarterly List of Publications receibed for Webtetw.

1, On Comparative Longevity in Man and the Lower Animals. By
RK. Ray Lankester, B.A. Macmillun & Co.
2. Reports on the Progress of Practical and Scientific Medicine in
different parts of the World. Edited by Horace Dobell, M.D.,
Senior Physician to the Royal Hospital for Diseases of the
Chest. Longmans, Green, & Co.
8. Geology and Revelation; or, The Ancient History of the Earth
considered in the Light of Geological Facts and Revealed
Religion. By the Rev. Gerald Molloy, D.D., Professor of Theo-

logy in the Royal College of St. Patrick, Maynooth.
5 Longmans, Green, & Co.
4, Our Domestic Fire-places. New Edition, entirely re-written and
enlarged. By Frederick Edwards, jun. Longmans, Green, & Co.
5. Discussion of the Meteorological and Magnetical Observations
made at the Flagstaff Observatory, Melbourne, during the years
1858-1863. By George Neumayer, Ph.D., late Director of the

Flagstaff Observatory, &e. Mannheim: J. Schneider.
6. Education and Training, considered as a subject for State Legis-
lation. By a Physician. J. Churchill & Sons.

7. Reliquiz Aquitanice ; being Contributions to the Archeology and
Paleontology of Périgord, &c. By H. Lartet and H. Christie.

HKdited by T. Rupert Jones, &., &e. H. Bailliere.
8. Statistics of New Zealand for 1868. Printed by order of the New
Zealand Government. Wellington: G. Didsbury.

9. The Philosophy of the Bath, with a History of Hydro-therapeutics
and of the Hot-air Bath from the Harliest Ages. By Durham
Dunlop, M.R.LA. Dublin: Moffat & Co.

10. Christianum Organum ; or, the Inductive Method in Scripture and
Science. By Joseph Miller, M.A. Introduction by J. H.
Gladstone, Ph.D., F.R.S. Longmans, Green, & Co.

11. Choice and Chance. By Rev. W. A. Whitworth, M.A., Fellow of
St. John’s College, Cambridge.

Cambridge : Deighton, Bell, & Co.

12. Preliminary Field Report of the U.S. Geological Survey of
Colorado and New Mexico. By F. V. Hayden, U.S. Geologist.

Washington: Government Printing Office.

13. Geological Report of the Exploration of the Yellowstone and
Missouri Rivers. By the same Author.

VOR. VIE Y

296 List of Publications [ April,

_ 14. The Book of Nature and the Book of Man. By Charles O. G.

Napier, of Merchiston, F.G.S., &c. Illustrated with photo-
graphs and numerous woodcuts. J. Camden Hotten.

PAMPHLETS AND PERIODICALS.

Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, published under the
Direction of Thomas Oldham, LL.D., &e. Calcutta.

Report on the Filtration of the Water of the Hooghly. By David
Waldie, F.C.S.

Analysis of the Khettree Meteorite, with an Account of its Fall.
Same Author.

Reports of the Mining Surveyors and Registrars of Victoria.

Melbourne: John Ferres.

On the Geographical Distribution and Physical Characteristics of
the Coal-fields of the North Pacific Coast. By Robert Brown,
F.R.G.S., Commander and Government Agent of the first Van-
couver Exploring Expedition, &c., &e. Edinburgh: Neill & Co.

Observations on the Chalchihuitl of Mexico and Central America.
By E. G. Squier, M.A., &e., &e. New York.

Dr. Walter’s Doctrines of Life. Reply to London ‘Lancet.’ (From
‘St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal.’)

A Physical Theory of Animal Life. A Review by Julian.

On the Identity of the Vital and Cosmical Principle. By R. Lewins,
M.D.

The Nature of Man Identical with that of other Animals. By Julian.

On Colour Tests as Aids to Diagnosis. By John Day, M.D. From
the ‘ Australian Medical Journal

Report of the Committee for the Purpose of Investigating the Rate of
Increase of Underground Temperature Downwards, in various
Localities, of Dry Land and under Water. Professor Everett,
D.C.L., F.R.S.E., Secretary. _

An Investigation into some previously undescribed Tetanic Symptoms
produced by Atropia in Cold-blooded Animals, with a Comparison
of the Action of Atropia on Cold-blooded Animals and Mammalia.
By T. R. Fraser, M.D. Edinburgh: Neill & Co.

Midland Steam-Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co.’s Report.

Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for 1869.

Washington.
Notes on Books (Quarterly List and Analysis). Longmans.
Microscopic Objects Figured and Described. No. 1, January, 1870.

By J. H. Martin, Seowlary, Maidstone and Mid. Kent Natural

History Society. Van Voorst,

1870.] received for Review. 297

The Food Journal; a Review of Social and Sanitary Economy and
Monthly Records of Food and Public Health.

London: J. M. Johnson & Sons, 3, Castle Court, Holborn.
Revue Bibliographique Universelle. Paris: 77, Rue de Bac.
The American Naturalist. Peabody Academy of Science. Salem, Mass.
Scientific Opinion.
The Geological Magazine.
The Photographer’s Annual and Almanac for 1870.

J. W. Green, 54, Paternoster Row.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES, &c.
Proceedings and Papers of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland

Archeological Society. Dublin: McGlashan & Gull.

Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society.
Edinburgh: Neill & Co,

Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool.

(1868-9.) London: Longmans.
Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.
( Extract.)

Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.
» Royal Society.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

NOTICE TO AUTHORS.

* * Authors of OrtainaL Paprrs wishing Reprints for private
circulation may have them on application to the Printers of the
Journal, Messrs. W. Crowszs & Sons, 14,.Caarine Cross, 8.W.,
at a fixed charge of 30s. per sheet per 100 copies, including a
CoLoureD Wrapper and Tirtz Paasz, but such Reprints will
not be delivered to Contributors till ONE Montu after publication
of the Number containing their Paper, and the Reprints must be

ordered before the expiration of that period.

ek
‘~ he

‘JueLy,-mo-u0ojIng ‘Aromerg smog » ddostly ‘sassepy ye Arouuny,

PiLaTE. —QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, No. xxvii.

SS

THE QUARTERLY

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE.

JULY, 1870.

I. BEER, SCIENTIFICALLY AND SOCIALLY
CONSIDERED.

By James Samuetson, Editor.

Dourine a visit which I paid last year to Germany, the Tyrol, and
Switzerland, I was greatly struck with the fact that in countries
where beer is the national beverage, the humbler classes are com-
paratively sober; whilst in those parts where wine, even the thin
wine of the country, and ardent spirits usurp the place of the milder
beverage, there is a nearer approximation to the habits of our own
people—in other words, there is a large amount of drunkenness.

In publishing elsewhere a short account of my observations,* I
ventured to express the opinion that the man who should succeed
in introducing into Britain and bringing into general consumption
a mild, brisk, sparkling beverage such as one gets abroad, would be
a greater benefactor to his people than the most self-denying devoted
advocate of teetotalism, and some of the most influential organs in
the country, and notably three, have more or less emphatically
endorsed this view in their criticisms. What is still more satisfac-
tory, I have received inquiries concerning the difference between
the processes of manufacture of the English and German beer, from
persons who haye the will and ability to carry out my suggestion,
whilst German beer is daily more sought after, and in our large
towns, such as London, Manchester, and Liverpool, it may readily
be procured, though the cost is rather high owing to the limited
consumption. Instead, therefore, of having over-estimated the im-
portance of the beer question, I find that it is far more deserving of
consideration than I had imagined, and after having directed my
attention to it, and inquired further into its scientific and social
aspects, I have arrived at the conclusion that there are few subjects
of greater national importance to us as Englishmen, |

One of the journals to which reference has been made,t has gone
so far as to say that “wholesome beer and wholesome recreation

* ‘The German Working Man.’ Longmans.
+ ‘The Illustrated London News,’ January 1; ‘The Pall Mall Gazette,’

January 8; ‘ The Gardener’s Chronicle,’ March 19.
{ ‘The Pall Mall Gazette.’

WOOL. “Vek. x

300 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. [July,

are, for the most part, beyond the reach of our working men ;” and
although much of the blame rests with the operatives themselves,
who prefer to give 6d. per quart for bad beer at a public-house,
rather than the same price for the finest Burton ale, which they
could easily procure by combination, yet it is perfectly true that a
large proportion of the beer now sold to the masses is totally unfit
for consumption. If any of my readers are disposed to doubt this,
let them read the following paragraph which I have extracted from
the proceedings of the Liverpool Select Vestry, as reported in the
Liverpool ‘ Daily Post’ of January last :—

“POISONOUS BEER AND LUNACY: A BREWERS TESTIMONY.”

“A conversation as to the cost of pauper lunatics arose, and
Mr. Glover, addressing the committee, said he thought that, with
regard to lunacy, they began at the wrong end. He had visited
the lunatic asylums in Lancashire within the last three or four
months, and he had asked the masters of the institutions what was
the cause of the increase in pauper lunatics? The answer was
drunkenness, and he (Mr. Glover) believed that that was the case.
He thought the health committee ought to be asked to appoint
some sort of an inspector to look after the quality of the drink sold.
They appointed inspectors of meat and fish, and they condemned
bad fruit, but bad drink was ten times worse than all of them.
There was a law which, if put in force, punished people for using
poisonous ingredients in the making of beer—preventing them from
using grains of paradise, nux-vomica, oil of vitriol, ammonia, and
other things that were used in making beer. ‘That was in addition
to malt and hops, but if only malt and hops were used there would
be no lunatics from drink. His impression was that all a working
man could spend in honestly brewed beer would not kill him or
- drive him mad, if the beer were good. There were some dishonest
publicans as well as dishonest brewers; and there were some pub-
licans who rode handsome chargers, and their wives were driven
about in splendid equipages, and they were doing great injury to
people and filling the workhouses. He believed the drink they
sold was not honest drink, but contained some of the things he had
described. When a brewer had beer that would not keep long, he
said to his customer, when it got a little sour, that he would change
it. It was taken back to the brewery when sour, and then the dis-
honest publican bought it for 10s. or 1/. a barrel. He then
went to the druggist’s shop, and got something that neutralized
the acid; and, was not the poor creature who afterwards drank
the beer likely to go mad? Ifa man had a pint or two of good
honest beer, he would never go mad. The health committee ought
to attend to the matter, and see that good beer was given to the
people.”

1870. ] Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 301

We shall presently have an opportunity to consider scientifically
the character of those precious ingredients, grains of paradise,
cocculus indicus, and other substances not mentioned by the candid
brewer whose remarks I have just quoted, with which the poor
man’s beer is drugged; but before doing so, I propose to give a
short account of the materials which ought to be used in the
production of wholesome beer, of the scientific principles involved
in the art of brewing, and of the most approved methods adopted
at respectable breweries at home and abroad.

It would oceupy too much space to enter fully into the history |
of beer, but it may interest some of my readers to know that its use
is well authenticated in the days of ancient Rome, and according to
Tacitus, the old Teutons had already acquired that taste for “ Lager,”
which has been transmitted to their descendants in our time, for
that author mentions it as their common drink. Pliny, too, states
that it was consumed in Spain and Gaul, and that it was made from
various kinds of grain, whilst a recent writer on the history of
Burton-on-Trent,* tells us that the brewing of ale in that town is
unquestionably coeval with the Abbey, it being a beverage of much
repute with the Saxons, so that there can be little doubt of its
having been drunk all over Europe in very early times. Mr. Moly-
neux, the author referred to, tells us, however, that the brewing
trade of Burton-on-Trent is comparatively recent, and the credit of
haying originated it is accorded to one Benjamin Printon who lived
in the early part of the last century, whilst at the close of that
century there seem to have been only nine brewers in Burton,
amongst whom appear the names of Bass and Worthington, but
not yet that of Allsopp, whose ancestor, Mr. Benjamin Wilson, was
however doing a large business in 1748. Such of my readers as
are curious on these matters, will do well to peruse Mr. Molyneux’s -
interesting little treatise, where they will also find a variety of in-
formation concerning the geology, &c., of the Burton district: but
we must now proceed to consider the materials which enter into the
manufacture of beer.

Those are, or should be, water, malt (barley), hops, and yeast,
and these substances possess not only a practical value for the
brewer, but many special points of interest for the chemist and the
student of botany. There has long been, to the uninitiated, a
mystery connected with the water of Burton-on-Trent, the prevalent
notion being that it is the river water which possesses some special
virtue for brewing purposes. The fact is, however, that it is the
spring-water of the district which is so well adapted for the manu-
facture of beer, and, although the effect is not yet clearly understood,

* “Burton-on-Trent ; its History, its Waters, and its Breweries.’ By William
Molyneux, F.G.S. Triibner and Co,
+ ‘Burton and its Bitter Beer.” By Dr. Bushnan. W. 8. Orr and Co.

a 2

302 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. [ July,

the cause has long been well known to chemists. It arises from the
presence in the water of “earthy sulphates and carbonates,’ and
the absence of organic matter which is fatal to the brewing process.
Analysis has shown the Burton water to contain nearly 19 grains
of sulphate and 15 grains of carbonate of lime to the imperial
gallon (besides sulphates of potassa and magnesia), and the theory is
that these alkalies combine with the acid of the malt extract, and,
in the form of insoluble salts, are precipitated and carry down with
them the nitrogenous substances which it is desirable to get rid of
in the brewing process; so, for the same reason that the presence of
salts of lime and potash in the Burton water is advantageous, that
of organic matter would be injurious, and the freedom of the water
from the latter is therefore very advantageous to the brewer.
Should any of my readers desire further information on this subject
for practical purposes, they may obtain it in the able article on
“ Beer,” in Dr. Muspratt’s ‘ Dictionary of Chemistry,’ or in those on
the same subject in Ure’s ‘ Dictionary of Arts,’ and Watts’s ‘ Dic-
tionary of Chemistry ;’ while Mr. Molyneux’s work, already named,
also contains an excellent chapter on the “ Waters of Burton,” and
the effect upon them of the strata through which they percolate.
Malt, as every one knows, is barley steeped and dried. There
are various kinds of malt, known as pale, amber, brown, and black,
of which the first-named is employed in brewing pale ale, and the
last (which is roasted like coffee) is used for colouring porter.
Barley undergoes two kinds of change during its conversion into
malt, the one morphological, that is to say, in its plant life, the
other chemical. In order to effect the conversion it is steeped for
two or three days in water, then spread out upon a floor to germi-
nate, and when it has sprouted to a certain
length it is taken to the kiln to dry, and in the
subsequent handling “the radicles” which have
shot forth during germination, are broken off
and the grain assumes to a great extent its
original appearance. The annexed woodcuts
will render the morphological change appa-
rent to the eye; Fig. 1 being a grain of barley
with the husk removed to show the embryo;
Figs. 2 and 3 the same after germination.*
But a chemical change, not so easily understood, also takes
place in the malting process, and I will endeavour in a few sentences
to make it as clear as possible. For our purposes, the barley may

* These woodcuts, and some others in this article, have been copied, with the
permission of the publishers, from the plates in a beautiful and interesting volume
‘On Strong Drink and Tobacco Smoke, by the late H. P. Prescott, F.L.S., just
published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co. Frequent references will be made to this
work. Mr. Prescott died recently of consumption, and his book has been passed
through the press, and edited, with much good feeling, by Professor Huxley.

1870. | Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 303

be said to be composed of two main constituents, albumen and starch,
and during the germinating process the albumen is converted into
a new substance, diastase, so called from its property of being able
to split up the other constituent of the grain, starch, into dextrin
or gum, and sugar. The object of this chemical change in nature
is to supply the embryo of the plant with a soluble pabulum or
nutriment; but as in malting the germination is arrested at an
early stage, the starch is converted into soluble gum and sugar,
merely to be extracted in the mashing process which follows at the
brewery. The result of this extraction is to produce the “ worts,”
or “ wort,” the stock, so to speak, of the beer.

The morphological changes which take place in the growth of
the barley, either during germination or subsequently, are deeply
interesting, and an illustrated account of them will be found in
Mr. Prescott’s work referred to, whilst a detailed description of
the chemical changes to which the grain is subject is contained in
the various articles on “ Beer” (more especially Dr. Muspratt’s) in
the Dictionaries already quoted. ‘These are, however, beside our
purpose, and we must now pass on to the other materials used in
brewing, namely, hops and yeast, both of which are as interesting
as malt to the chemist and botanist.

The hop-plant belongs to the same botanical group as the stinging
nettle (Urticacez) and is cultivated chiefly in the counties of Kent,
Sussex, Surrey, Worcester, and Hereford, and also imported from
the Continent. The bitter principle which it contains, and which is
extracted in the boiling process of the brewer, is called “ lwpulzte,”
and it is found in the fruit, which is so well known as hardly to need
description. or the guidance of my readers, however, I will extract
a short account of it from Mr. Prescott’s work, accompanied by such
of the figures as seem essential :—

“The fruit of the plant,” he says on p. 40, “(technically called
strobilz), which is so largely used in brewing, consists of a series of
delicate green, semi-transparent bracts, attached to a common stalk
(Fig. 4) and overlapping at their edges in a very elegant manner.
The seeds are minute, flattened, conical berries of a light-brown
colour; they are attached to the bases of the bracts (Fig. 5) which
fold over at their lower edges to afford them additional support,
and each inner seed-containing bract is covered by another exter-
nally. Attached to the outer seed-coat is a beautiful transparent
membrane, and on this lie, in countless numbers, minute golden-
coloured oval bodies which are the lupulite so valuable to the
brewer (Fig. 6). These granules are abundant on the bracts, espe-
eially at their bases, where the seed is lodged ; they are also present.
in large quantities on the leaves of the plant. When one of these
granules is placed in water under the microscope, and a drop of
sulphuric or nitric acid is added, it immediately bursts, and the

304 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. (July,

coloured matter discharged is seen to consist of excessively minute,
somewhat spherical, particles of an oily nature, that move freely and

Fie. 4. Fic. 6. Pic. 5.

with great rapidity amongst each other with a tremulous motion.
This peculiar motion may at times be observed in the contents of the
granules before they are broken.” *** “A common practice
amongst hop-buyers is to take a small quantity of the dried hop-
fruit, place it m the palm of one hand, and with three or four
knuckles of the other, to chafe and bruise it. The value of the
sample is judged of by the aroma it emits and the sticky almost
resinous stains left upon the hand. This is a rough but effective
way of judging both of the number and produce of the lupulite
granules by crushing them. Good sound hops will yield about
one-sixth part of their weight of these grains. Analyzed by the
chemist they are found to contain, besides a volatile oil, no fewer
than thirteen substances, more or less in combination with each
other. But it would appear that to the volatile oil, soluble in water
and alcohol, and the bitter principle, /wpulite, the most valuable
properties of the fruit are due.”

T have made this somewhat lengthy extract from Mr. Prescott’s
book for a twofold reason ; first, because it conveys in brief and clear
terms all that is interesting to us, in this portion of the subject, and
secondly, because I consider that his powers of observation and his
practical researches deserve to be prominently noticed. In another
part of his book he tells us that he examined the spent hops of
breweries and found that not more than one-half their lupulite is
made available, a circumstance which shows how necessary it is to
call into requisition, more largely, the services of scientific men, even
in our most commonplace manufacturing processes. =

1870. | Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 305

Yeast is a lowly unicellar plant called Torula cerevisiw. The
growth of its cells (which on examination with the microscope are
found to contain minute nuclei) has been ably described * by an
eminent botanist (Dr. Henfry), who obtained some fresh wort in
which fermentation had commenced and placed a drop of the liquid
under the microscope. At first, he says, these globules enlarged
until they attained a certain size, and then they remained unchanged
for a time. Next, a little point-like bud was seen to project from
one portion of the cell-wall, and this grew until it attamed the same
size as the parent cell. This occupied about three hours, and by a
repetition of the process sixteen cells were developed from a single ~
one. After a time the growth slackened and at length it ceased, the
observer believed, “ undoubtedly because all was removed from the
liquid which could serve for
their growth.” The following Fig. 7.
woodeuts represent the micro-
scopical appearance of the cells
of the yeast fungus, Fig.7 being ,
. that found at the bottom, and
Fig. 8 a “white mealy sub-
stance,’ at the top of the liquid ;
the growing globules will be seen in the former, from which my
microscopical readers will perceive that the plant multiplies by the
well-known but incomplete process of fission.

These, then, are the materials which should be employed in the
brewing of good ale. Water, free from organic matter and con-
taining sulphate and carbonate of lime ; barley, in the form of malt ;
hops, and yeast ; and although the reader will have gathered from
the preceding short account of these substances, what leading prin-
ciples are involved in their use and treatment, I propose briefly to
recapitulate the changes which occur in the brewing process, before
attempting to describe the practical operation. In the malting or
germination of the barley the albumen in the grain becomes con-
verted into diastase, the property of which is to change the starch
(also constituent in the barley) into soluble dextrin or gum, and
sugar, and consequently the malt possesses a sweet taste which is
not present in the grain previous to malting. In the mashing
process, this sweet substance is washed out of the malt, and with
the water employed for the purpose goes to form the “wort,” or
stock of the beer. This “wort” is subsequently boiled with hops,
which contain a bitter principle, /wpulite, and an essential oil, of
which the effect is to impart a bitter aromatic flavour to the beer,
at the same time as the chief organic constituents of the wort are
removed. And finally through the introduction of yeast, a minute

* «Micrographic Dictionary’ (article “ Yeast-Plant”), from which, with the
publisher’s permission, the woodcuts are copied.

306 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. [ July,

plant, the cells of which multiply with incredible rapidity, fermen-
tation 1s set up, the chemical effect of which is to convert the sugar
contained in the “ wort,” into carbonic acid and alcohol. ,
The brewer takes care, however, to stop the fermentation at a
certain stage, so that a portion of the sugar may remain uncon-
verted, and the chemical change is then completed in the cask or
bottle, the carbonic acid being held in solution until the beer is drawn
or otherwise exposed to atmospheric action. This gives to good beer
its brisk sparkling appearance and puts a head upon it: in no case
is the effect so conspicuous as in the bottled German beer and Eng-
lish and Scotch pale ales, which continue to effervesce and sparkle
like champagne, long after the liquid is poured into a tumbler.
Passing now from the theory to the practice of brewing, I pro-
pose to conduct my readers through some portions of the magnifi-
cent establishment of Messrs. Allsopp and Sons, of Burton-on-Trent,
where all that science and skill can accomplish has been done to
perfect the process. Let us commence with the malting; and the
reader must imagine himself m a large chamber (one of several
devoted to this purpose), one end of which is partitioned off for the
steeping process. ‘This side of the room, which forms an elongated
trough, is divided into squares, and partly floored with a number
of perforated tiles, which serve to drain off the water; and when
the barley is sufficiently steeped, it is turned out upon the chamber
floor, close to the trough. Here it is kept within certain limits, by
means of a removable partition consisting of boards, which can be
fixed between the columns that run across the chamber parallel to
the steeping-trough, or removed at pleasure; and the barley is then
said to be in the “couch,” where it is gauged by the Excise. After
gauging, the partitions are removed and the steeped barley is spread
evenly over the chamber floor to germinate: the germination haying
reached the proper stage (as already described), it is conveyed to
the kiln to dry. But at Allsopps’ the transfer of the barley from
the germinating floor to the kiln is only the passage from one chamber
to another immediately adjoining ; and unless his attention is directed
to the floor, the uninitiated visitor would observe nothing in this second
chamber to denote its function. The floor is paved with perforated
tiles, and in the kiln pit underneath, which is the same size as the
upper chamber, there stand a series of open furnaces, or gigantic
braziers, in which coke fires are lighted when the kiln isin use. Over
the fires there is a contrivance called a disperser, by which the heat
rising from these furnaces is equalized over the whole surface; and
when the spectator looks up at this disperser, he percetves plainly
the perforations in the tiles of the kiln floor above, and which
allow the heat to penetrate to the malt. After kiln-drying, the
barley, or as it is then called, malt, is subjected to one more process,
namely, screening. This consists in allowing it to run over an ob-

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1870. ] Beer, Scientofically and Socially Considered. 507

lique screen, and during its passage the malt dust and radicles are
removed. ‘These make an excellent food for cattle, varying in value
from 51. to 7/. per ton, according to the requirements of the season.

This completes the malting process; and now we pass on to the
brewing, which commences with the grinding of the malt. By
means of a “Jacob’s ladder,” it is conveyed to an upper story, and
there allowed to fall into a hopper, which feeds a pair of smooth
rollers, very similar to those used im an oil mill for rolling linseed.
Being thus split, and partially ground, it is carried along the chamber
floor by means of an Archimedian screw, and passed through a hole
in the floor into a large hopper in the story below. This hopper is
fixed above the “mash-tun,” or ‘ mash-tub,” where the ground malt
is mixed with water at a temperature of 170° to 180°, and undergoes
the mashing process. The room in which we are now supposed to
stand contains eight such tubs, each capable of treating fifty quarters
of malt, and two of them are shown in Plate II., the one closed and
the other open. I was, unfortunately, unable to obtain a sketch,
which would fully illustrate the mashing process, but will endeavour
to make it as clear as possible with the means at my command.*
The mash-tun has a false bottom, composed of radiating sections,
the object of this being to take them out to clean after each mashing.
Then there revolve in the tub two kinds of apparatus, the one for
“mashing,” the other for “sparging,” to be explained presently.
An upright spindle revolves in the centre of the tun; and rotating
with it, is a strong horizontal wooden pole, having one end affixed
to the central spindle, and the other end, to which a cog-wheel is at-
tached, resting upon rack-work that runs completely round the inside
of the tun. The arrangement will be better understood if the reader
pictures to himself one of those “ roundabouts,” on which children ride
at fairs, with the horizontal pole resting on rack-work, which is visible
in the plate. Along the rotating horizontal pole there are placed
several beaters, somewhat resembling the rakes upon a reaping ma-
chine, but armed with teeth on either side. I have sketched (Fig. 9)

one of these beaters with a portion of the horizontal pole, and by a
suitable mechanism the beaters are made to revolve vertically in the

* All the page plates are copied from photographs kindly lent me by the
Messrs. Allsopp.

308 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. | July,

mash, whilst the pole to which they are attached rotates horizontally,
so that the whole contents of the tun are thoroughly beaten and mixed.
This operation has really a very novel and interesting appearance
to one who has never witnessed it before. As the observer stands
looking into one of the openings in the mash-tun, nothing appears to
be going on in the mash so long as the beaters are on the side opposite
to him, but presently a slight undulation of the surface announces
their approach. Slowly the pole, with its beaters, moves round
towards the side where the spectator stands ; the undulations become
more marked, until at length the revolving arms make their appear-
ance, breaking up the surface and creating a great commotion. After
the round is completed, the apparatus is stopped, and the mash is
left undisturbed for some time, the process being repeated at regular
intervals. But there is another rotating apparatus of a very simple
kind attached to the central spindle, and that resembles in appearance
and action the horizontal discharge-pipe at the back of a watering
cart. It is in fact a copper pipe, of a suitable shape, with holes
drilled along its whole length, and may be seen on looking through
one of the openings in the mash-tun (see Plate II.). After the
strongest portion of the “ wort ” is obtamed from the malt by the
mashing process already described, it is dosed with a shower of hot
water, poured upon it from this rotating pipe, which is called the
“ sparge,” the operation being termed “sparging.” At the bottom
of each mash-tun there are four pipes through which the wort is
drawn off, and these pipes lead into a main which conducts the
liquid into the “ underback,” an intermediate vessel between the mash-
tun and the boiling copper, where, as the name indicates, the process
of botling with hops is carried on.

The boiler is an open copper cauldron or kettle, set in brick, and
heated from beneath. It has a capacity of about seventy barrels;
and when the requisite quantity of hops is deposited in it, the wort
is admitted through a pipe connected with the “underback,” into
which the liquor has been run from the mash-tun, as already de-
scribed. The feed-pipe bends over the opening of the copper, whilst
at the bottom of the same vessel is another pipe, through which,
when the boiling is complete (and the liquor is well stirred during
the process), the boiled wort, or unfermented beer, is run off into the
“hop-backs.” These, again, are intermediate vessels, square wooden
cisterns, with false bottoms, which act as a sieve, and the object of
running the liquor into them is to free it from the spent hops with
which it is accompanied, before cooling and fermentation.

A word concerning the spent hops. After the liquor has been
allowed to drain from them in the hop-backs, they are placed in
hydraulic presses to extract any wort that may still remain in them,
and are then packed and sold as manure.

From the “hop-backs” the wort runs into the refrigerators.

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1870. | Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 309

of which there are two or three descriptions, some of them occupy-
ing the floors of enormous chambers, which are moreover open to
the external atmosphere through the peculiar construction of the
windows. ‘The principle of these refrigerators is, however, always
the same, the hot wort being allowed to flow over a series of tubes
through which cold water freely circulates. Sometimes the tubes
form a spiral coil, at others they run in parallel rows, covering the
entire floor of the chamber, but in every case they slope in an inclined
plane, so that when the wort is poured on at the higher end it flows
down slowly to the lower, becoming cooled in its passage. In
winter the cold air, which is admitted on all sides into the cooling |
chamber, suffices to reduce the temperature of the wort in its passage
down the inclined plane, but in summer it is necessary that the
water which flows through the pipes should be made as cold as
possible ; and at Messrs. Allsopp’s, water is cooled on a large scale
for this purpose by the evaporation of ether. This is done out-
side of the main building, and the water thus cooled is con-
ducted all over the brewery, not only into the wort-refrigerators,
but wherever a low temperature is found requisite in the brewing
process.

From the coolers the wort is next conveyed into the “fermenting
rounds,” capacious vessels, each holding from 15 to 90 barrels, and an
idea may be formed of the magnitude of the operations carried on at
Allsopps’, when it is mentioned that the new brewery (there are two)
has two fermenting rooms, each containing 136 such vessels, conse-
quently above 4000 barrels. of beer may be fermented at one time.
Plate III. represents a portion of one of these fermenting chambers.
The principle involved in fermentation has already been described, as
the conversion of the saccharme matter in the wort into carbonic
acid and alcohol. As my readers are no doubt well aware, it is
effected by adding to the wort a quantity of fresh yeast from a pre-
vious brewing, and such an amount of carbonic acid gas is generated
that the invisible gas occupies the whole space between the surface
of the fermenting liquor and the rim of the vessel. A very curious
effect shown to visitors is to pass a hat through the apparently
empty space over the liquor in the fermenting vessel. This hat at
once fills with the invisible gas, which may then be poured into
another belonging to a visitor, just as we see chemical lecturers
illustrate the specific gravity of the carbonic acid gas they have been
making, by pouring it from one glass vessel to another.

Let me, in passing, refer to the method in which, at Messrs.
Allsopp’s, the superfluous yeast is utilized, for it is only at these
large establishments that every waste product is turned to good
account. First, as much of the ale as possible is allowed to
drain from the yeast, and then it is press-packed. The soft yeast
is placed between suitable cloths and transferred to hydraulic presses

310 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. | July,

of low power, which reduce it to pretty much the same consistency
as the imported Dutch yeast. In this condition it is packed and
exported to France for distilling purposes.

The rationale of the fermenting process is not as yet tho-
roughly understood, but it is known that the surface yeast is formed
by the nitrogenous matter contained im the wort being earried
upwards by the bubbles of the generated carbonic acid gas. When
this fermentation is carried on at a temperature of from 65° to 90°
Fahrenheit, as it is almost always in England, the yeast invariably
rises, and in Germany this is called “ Obergahrung,” or top-
fermentation ; but in Bavaria and elsewhere abroad, the fermenting
process is often carried on at a lower temperature, and then it is
called “Untergahrung,” or “bottom fermentation,” for in that
case the yeast does not rise, but the nitrogenous matter sinks to
the bottom and forms a slimy sediment. This is the essential
difference between the Continental and English methods of brewing ;
except perhaps that abroad a larger portion of saccharine matter is
left im the beer, which, under a cool temperature is gradually con-
verted into carbonic acid and alcohol in the vessels into which it
is subsequently conducted or poured, and the result is a rich effer-
vescing beverage. I am indebted to my friend Mr. Fenton, the
Secretary of our Embassy at Munich, for some interesting parti-
culars concerning the method of brewing in that city. ‘“ Obergah-
rung,’ or “ top-fermentation,” is there conducted at 15° to 17°
Reaumur = 66° to 71° Fahrenheit, and “Untergahrung,” or
bottom fermentation, at 12° R. = 59°F. The process is not carried
on as with us on the floors of the brewery, but in specially con-
structed subterranean chambers (“Gahrkammer”) in which the
temperature is kept low by means of ice, and thence the beer is
conducted by pipes into the vessels in which the fermentation is
completed.*

In England, as abroad, in the best breweries, the beer is
conducted after fermentation into barrels specially constructed for
the purpose, in which the fermenting process is completed. This
at Allsopps’ and other large breweries is called the “ Union”
system, long rows of barrels being connected together by a hori-
zontal pipe. The barrels are raised above the floor, suspended in
a frame, and are made to revolve on their axis precisely the same
as a revolving barrel-churn. The chamber in which they are
placed is called the “ Union-rcom,” or tunnery, and the reader
will form a fair idea of its extent and appearance by referring to
the Plate (1.). There are two rows of barrels as shown in the

* The German system of mashing is also entirely different from the English. I
believe that the best book published abroad on the Continental system of brewing
is ‘Die Bierbrauerei,’ by Heiss, published at Augsburg, 5th edition, 1869, price
5 florins; but I was unable to procure it in time for the preparation of this essay.

1870. | Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 311

Plate, and above and between the rows runs a long tank, in which
the superfluous yeast is collected. This is done by means of a
“‘swan-neck ” pipe, a syphon acting inversely, and the arrangement
will be understood from the following woodeut (Fig. 10), where

Hig... 10.

Y=

|

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is one of the barrels containing the incompletely fermented beer,
B the swan-neck, ¢ a portion of the long tank or receptacle for the
yeast (Fig. 10). ‘The latter continues to rise slowly whilst the
beer remains in the barrel, being carried upwards (as during active
fermentation) by the escaping carbonic acid gas, and having risen
into the “swan-neck,” it may be seen slowly bubbling over into the
tank. The temperature of the beer during this process is regulated
by a flow of water through an ingeniously contrived tubular
apparatus, which can be inserted into or withdrawn at pleasure from
the barrel, through an oblong aperture in front (see Fig. 10); and
when the beer is cleared of the remaining impurities it is drawn off
by boys who creep underneath the barrels and open a tap attached
to a pipe, first into large vats and then into casks for sale.
The object of allowing the barrels in which fermentation is com-
pleted to revolve, is simply that they may be cleansed after each
operation.

It has, of course, been impossible for me within the short limits
of an essay, professing to deal with the social as well as the scientific
aspects of this question, to describe fully either the principles or
practice of brewing; but I hope enough has been said to convey to
the reader a fair idea of both; and there now remain to be con-

312 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. [July,

sidered: 1st, how beer is injuriously affected during or subsequent
to its manufacture; and 2nd, what social results follow from its
adulteration or abuse. ‘Those who have mixed much with artisans
know well that they seldom drink the fine Burton ale, and if they
do, it is often adulterated after it leaves the brewery; but with a
view to ascertain what they really do drink, I have obtained from my
friend Mr. Norman Tate, F.C.S., Analytical Chemist of Liverpool,
who has interested himself deeply in this question, a report upon
the Liverpool beer, which is as follows :—

“The results of the examination of twenty-five samples of beer
of the kinds known as ‘sixpenny,’ and ‘eightpenny,’ purchased in
the ordinary way from public-houses in different parts of Liverpool,
showed that the quantity of alcohol varied in these samples from
2°2 per cent. (by weight) to 5°62 per cent., the percentage in
fourteen specimens being under 4, very little difference being
observable in this respect between the sixpenny and eightpenny.
The general results convinced me that fully half the samples were
not genuine preparations of malt and hops. One undoubtedly con-
tained tobacco; another, of a dark colour and rather hard unpleasant
taste, gave unmistakable evidence of the presence of sulphate of
iron ; whilst two others contained such a quantity of common salt
as could not be accounted for by the presence of that ingredient in
the water used for brewing, or by any other ordinary cause. Sugar
also appeared to have been added in one case, and in another car-
bonate of soda. ILdid not find in any of these specimens indications
of cocculus indicus, or picric acid, said to be frequently used for
adulterating beer (I have found picrotoxin, the active principle of
cocculus indicus on a previous occasion), but that other matters,
such as liquorice, gentian, and other drugs, not of an injurious
character, but nevertheless adulterants, were present I have not
the least doubt. Several of the samples were of an objectionable
character owing to bad brewing or bad keeping, and, in one or two
instances, the quality was so bad that it is difficult to imagine how
any persons can be fourd to drink such vile stuff. Only eleven
out of the twenty-five were of what I consider really good quality.
One of these was a sample which I purposely obtained, knowing it
to be brewed by a leading firm at Burton, and to have been kept
with great care by the person from whom I procured it.

“ With regard to bitter beers I obtained somewhat better results,
so far as general quality is concerned, with the exception, however,
that the use of other bitters than hops seemed to be rather the rule
than the exception. Although it is difficult or even impossible
always to detect these bitters by distinct chemical tests, yet my
experience of such drugs has made me so familiar with their taste
that I have no hesitation in saying that quassia, wormwood,
gentian, rue, camomile, and orange-peel had been used. Quassia

1870.] Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 313

and wormwood, however, seemed to me to be the bitters in most
general use, the quantity of the latter m one case being so great as
to make the beer positively nauseous. One sample, which appeared
to me to be flavoured with orange-peel, possessed a warm, some-
what spicy taste, which was very apparent in the residue after
evaporation, indicating the addition of something more than the
ordinary ingredients.”

This report, it will be seen, affords experimental confirmation
of what was said by Mr. Glover at the Liverpool Workhouse
meeting, and it will therefore be interesting to inquire a little
further into the matter. Our authorities tell us that the following .
substances are employed to adulterate beer. “ Cocculus indicus
multum (an extract of coceulus indicus), colouring, honey, hartshorn-
shavings, Spanish juice, orange-powder, ginger, grains of paradise,
quassia, liquorice, carraway seeds, copperas, capsicum, mixed drugs.”
These, we are told, “ were seized at different breweries in London,
and at brewers’ druggists’ laboratories.”"* In addition, sulphuric
acid, alum, salt, Datwra stramonium, picric acid, and other sub-
stances are mentioned by different writers.

Of Datura stramonium Mr. Prescott says,t “It has been
frequently used by desperate characters for hocussing or stupefying
the intended victim of a robbery by surreptitiously adding it to his
beer at the public-house bar. It is the seed of the Thorn-apple, a
native of Greece, and belongs to the same family as the tobacco-
plant.” The same author also describes very minutely the micro-
scopical structure of the various seeds which ought, and which
ought not, to be used in the preparation of beer, including barley,
hops, cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, and Datura stramomum,
his object being to facilitate the detection of fraud and crime ; and
I would recommend my microscopical readers, who take an interest
in the question, to examine these various substances with the aid of
a microscope and Mr. Prescott’s beautiful diagrams.

Of the various adulterants named, sulphate of iron, alum, and salt
are employed to give beer a “ head” or froth (salt to stimulate the
thirst as well); sulphuric acid is used to “ bring it forward,” or
harden it, and impart to new beer the character of old; carbonate
of soda to neutralize acidity ; whilst coceulus indicus, quassia, worm-
wood, grains of paradise, and similar substances are mixed with beer
either to impart bitterness or pungency, and to disguise the true
character of the drink.

The necessity for all this doctoring has already been touched
upon, but it may be as well to explain its cause more fully. At
Allsopps’ and other large Burton breweries (and no doubt in many

* Report of Committee of the House of Commons.’ See Watts’s ‘ Dictionary

of Chemistry,’ vol. i., p. 537.
t ‘Strong Drink and Tobacco Smoke,’ p. 37.

314 Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. [ July,

smaller respectable country breweries) the capital embarked in the
trade is large enough to admit of the beer being perfectly fer-
mented and freed from impurities or substances likely to cause
acetification ; the beautiful system employed by Messrs. Allsopp
for that purpose has been described. But many brewers really sell
their beer, not at the brewery, but in their own public-houses, and
they have not sufficient capital (or it may be they are too anxious
to make money) to give their products sufficient time to become
fit for consumption. The beer is sometimes drawn off from the
fermenting vats into the barrels in which it is to be sent out, with
the bung holes open for the escape of superfluous yeast; as little
time as possible is given for it to “fine,” and it is sent out to the
public-house with orders to return any that is unconsumed when
it begins to turn sour. I do not pretend to be initiated into
the mysteries of “ brewers’ druggists’ laboratories,’ nor the secrets
of those who employ their fraudulent compounds; but certain it
is, that carbonate of soda is used to neutralize the acidity of the
spoiled beer, and various drugs and chemicals are then added to
impart to it an artificial flavour and counteract the alkaline taste,
until, as Mr. Tate remarks, it is “difficult to imagine how any
persons can be found to drink such vile stuff.” But when we
remember that three-fourths of the persons who do drink it are
drunk already, the mystery is solved. Not only are the lower
kinds of beer thus doctored, but they are often mixed with
Allsopps’, Bass’s, and other fine ales, so that it is the interest
of those firms not only to suppress adulteration, but to do their
best to assist in providing the humbler classes with a cheap pure
beverage, which it will not pay the vendors to sophisticate.

So far, repressive legislation has been a dead letter ; we hear
now and then of the Act of Victoria 23 & 24, c. 84, being put in
force to prevent the sale of grossly adulterated food, or tea, but
although brewers will tell us that the Excise would punish adultera-
tion severely, I do not recollect ever having noticed a prosecution.
Public analysts may be appointed under this Act, and it is to be
hoped that the time is not far distant when this course will be
adopted, and the doctoring of what is really the staple beverage of
our people may be reduced to a minimum, if not entirely prevented.

But we have another question to consider in connection with
the effects of beer upon our population, and that is its real or
reputed strength. For this purpose I have compiled the following
table, partly from the Dictionary articles referred to, and partly from
analyses made for me by chemical friends.

A glance at this table and a moment’s reflection will show why
English beer-drinkers are so often drunkards, whilst Germans, who
indulge in a similar beverage to the same extent, are comparatively
sober. It may be safely said that the percentage of alcohol in German

1870. | Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 315

beer is on the average half as great as in the English, so that
where an Englishman drinks a pint, a German may partake of a
quart ; but when we look at the character of the beer drunk by the
intemperate classes in England, and compare it with that of the
poorer people abroad, we may unhesitatingly assert that less injury

Percentage of
Name of Beer.

Alcohol. Pam ae Water.
Strong Scotch Ale 8°5 10°9 0°15 80°45
Burton Ale .. 5°9 14°5 ae 13-6
Barclays London Porter 5'4 6°0 0°16 88-44
Dreher’s Vienna Beer* 4°62 . fe
Low Brussels Beer (Faro).. 4:9 2°9 0°2 92:0
Bavarian Draught Beer 3°8 o°8 0-14 90°26
Sweet Bohemian Beer (Prague) 3°9 10°9 oe 85°2
Liverpool Doctored Beer (Mr. Tate’ 'stest 2°2 oe Bt we
Berlin White Beer... 1:9 5°7 0°6 91°8
Sweet Brunswick Beer (Mum) .. 1°9 45-0 ae 53°1

|

would arise from drinking half-a-gallon of German beer than from a
pint of English ale. And again, when we compare the Berlin
“ Weissbier,” which contains 1-9 per cent. of alcohol, with the lowest
Liverpool beer, which Mr. Tate found to contain only 2°2 per cent.,
and consider that whilst the Prussian artisan may imbibe his beve-
rage all day long from quart tankards with impunity, an English
labourer will succumb to a few glasses of the public-house trash :
what other inference can be drawn, than that it is not the beer
but the drugs it contains which affect the brain? I have been
told that English labourers will not take kindly to German beer ;
it is not strong enough for them. This is quite true of the present
generation ; how should it be otherwise, when their taste has been
corrupted by cocculus indicus, tobacco, and salt? But unless the
advocates of temperance strenuously support the introduction of a
mild, pure, cheap drink (for the Englishman not alone buys bad
beer, but pays three or four, aye in some cases five or six times as
much for it as the German does for his unadulterated beverage),
unless, I say, a vigorous effort is made to change the taste of the
next generation as it grows up, the same difficulty will still remain
to be overcome by posterity.

And now let me, in conclusion, refer to the data which have
been given by an eminent Swiss social economist, to show (as I
have done elsewherej) that comparative sobriety is the result of

* For this test, I am indebted, through the kindness of Dr. Frankland, to
Mr. W. Valentin, of the Royal College of Chemistry.

+ ‘The German Working Man,’ p. 70, quoting Gustave Moynier, ‘Les Insti-
tutions ouvrieres de la Suisse. Cherbuliez : Paris,

VOL, VII. | Z

316 Spiritualism Viewed by the . alaly,

the introduction of beer, and the displacement of stronger drinks.
The canton of Soleure in Switzerland was formerly very imtem-
perate, now it is much improved. This is partly attributable to
the opening of small shops where good coffee (a thing unknown
to the poorer classes in England) along with small white rolls and
butter are sold; but concurrently with that, a change has taken
place in the alcoholic drinks of the people, which is represented by
the following figures, denoting a Swiss measure of 14 litre :—

Consumed in Swiss Wines. Foreign Wines. Beer and Cider, Brandy.
1863 oom Re Eh oy ee 637,166 .. 23,168 ie, ~~ Mectaaee
1865 ie 1483596 909,944" -.. S372 go) jee

The total consumption of alcoholic liquor, therefore, had in-
creased altogether nearly 30 per cent., but the beer consumed was
augmented threefold, whilst brandy had fallen off 4 per cent. !

Couple this experience with the fact that the Germans drink
certainly as much, if not more beer than we do, and are sober,
whilst we are perhaps the most drunken nation on the earth,
and I conceive no one will dispute the proposition so often ad-
vanced by me, that as claret and light Continental wines are slowly
reforming our middle classes, so will it be necessary to introduce
mild, pure beer as a staple drink, in order to attain the same end
amongst the labouring population. Until that is done, I am con-
vinced that not all the efforts of temperance advocates (whose
self-denial every one must admire and respect), neither lectures,
tea-meetings, denunciation, nor repressive legislation, will avail
anything beyond saving here and there a drowning wretch from
the flood of poisoned liquor with which our large towns are deluged,
but such a change as I have suggested being accomplished, I be-
lieve that, with the spread of education, and the introduction of more
rational amusements than those now offered to the humbler classes,
repressive legislation will be no longer needed; the ranks of our
criminals, paupers, and lunatics will be thinned, and it is to be
hoped the foulest blot will in time be removed from our national
escutcheon.

II. SPIRITUALISM VIEWED BY THE LIGHT OF
MODERN SCIENCE.
By Witi1am Crooxss, F.B.S., &e.

Some weeks ago the fact that I was engaged in investigating

Spiritualism, so called, was announced in a contemporary ;* and in

consequence of the many communications I have since received, I

think it desirable to say a little concerning the investigation which

I have commenced. Views or opinions I cannot be said to possess
* The ‘Atheneum.’

1870. | Light of Modern Science. 317

on a subject which I do not pretend to understand. I consider it
the duty of scientific men who have learnt exact modes of working,
to examine phenomena which attract the attention of the public,
in order to confirm their genuineness, or to explain if possible the
delusions of the honest and to expose the tricks of deceivers.
But I think it a pity that any public announcement of a man’s
investigation should be made until he has shown himself willing to
speak out.

A man may be a true scientific man, and yet agree with Prof.
De Morgan when he says,—“I have both seen and heard, in
a manner which would make unbelief impossible, things called —
spiritual, which cannot be taken bya rational being to be capable of
explanation by imposture, coincidence, or mistake. So far I feel the
eround firm under me; but when it comes to what is the cause of
these phenomena, I find I cannot adopt any explanation which has
yet been suggested. . . . The physical explanations which I have
Seen are easy, but miserably insufficient. ‘The spiritual hypothesis
is sufficient, but ponderously difficult.”

Regarding the sufficiency of the explanation I am not able to
speak. That certain physical phenomena, such as the movement
of material substances, and the production of sounds resembling
electric discharges, occur under circumstances in which they cannot
be explained by any physical law at present known, is a fact of
which I am as certain as I am of the most elementary fact in
chemistry. My whole scientific education has been one long lesson
in exactness of observation, and I wish it to be distinctly under-
stood that this firm conviction is the result of most careful investi-
gation. But I cannot, at present, hazard even the most vague
hypothesis as to the cause of the phenomena. Hitherto I have
seen nothing to convince me of the truth of the “spiritual” theory.
In such an inquiry the intellect demands that the spiritual proof
must be absolutely incapable of being explained away; it must be so
strikingly and convincingly true that’ we cannot, dare not deny it.

Faraday says, ‘“ Before we proceed to consider any question in-
volving physical principles, we should set out with clear ideas of the
naturally possible and impossible.” But this appears like reasoning
in a circle: we are to investigate nothing till we know it to be
possible, whilst we cannot say what is impossible, outside pure mathe-
matics, till we know everything.

In the present case I prefer to enter upon the inquiry with no
preconceived notions whatever as to what can or cannot be, but
with all my senses alert and ready to convey information to the
brain; believing, as I do, that we have by no means exhausted
all human knowledge, or fathomed the depths of all the physical
forces, and remembering that the great philosopher already quoted
said, in reference to some speculations on the gravitating force,

Z2

318 Spiritualism Viewed by the [July,

“ Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the
laws of nature; and in such things as these, experiment is the best
test of such consistency.”

The modes of reasoning of scientific men appear to be generally
misunderstood by spiritualists with whom I have conversed, and
the reluctance of the trained scientific mind to investigate this
subject is frequently ascribed to unworthy motives. I think, there-
fore, it will be of service if I here illustrate the modes of thought
current amongst those who investigate science, and say what kind of
experimental proof science has a right to demand before admitting
a new department of knowledge into her ranks. We must not mix
up the exact and the inexact. The supremacy of accuracy must be
absolute.

The first requisite is to be sure of facts; then to ascertain con-
ditions ; next, laws. Accuracy and knowledge of detail stand fore-
most amongst the great aims of modern scientific men. No observa-
tions are of much use to the student of science unless they are
truthful, and made under test conditions; and here I find the great
mass of spiritualistic evidence to fail. In a subject which, perhaps,
more than any other, lends itself to trickery and deception, the
precautions against fraud appear to have been, in most cases, totally
insufficient, owing, it would seem, to an erroneous idea that to ask
for such safeguards was to imply a suspicion of the honesty of some
one present. We may use our own unaided senses, but when we
ask for instrumental means to increase their sharpness, certainty, and
trustworthiness under circumstances of excitement and difficulty,
and when one’s natural senses are liable to be thrown off their
balance, offence is taken.

In the countless number of recorded observations I have read,
there appear to be few instances of meetings held for the express
purpose of getting the phenomena under test conditions, in the pre-
sence of persons properly qualified by scientific traming to weigh
and adjust the value of the evidence which might present itself.
The only good series of test experiments I have met with were tried
by the Count de Gasparin, and he, whilst admitting the genuineness
of the phenomena, came to the conclusion that they were not due
to supernatural agency.

The pseudo-scientific spiritualist professes to know everything:
no calculations trouble his serenity, no hard experiments, no long
laborious readings ; no weary attempts to make clear in words that
which has rejoiced the heart and elevated the mmd. He talks
glibly of all sciences and arts, overwhelming the inquirer with terms
like “ electro-biologize,” “ psychologize,” “animal magnetism,” &c.
—a mere play upon words, showing ignorance rather than under-
standing. Popular science such as this is little able to guide dis-
covery rushing onwards to an unknown future ; and the real workers

1870. | Light of Modern Science. 319

of science must be extremely careful not to allow the reins to get
into unfit and incompetent hands.

Tn investigations which so completely bafile the ordinary observer,
the thorough scientific man has a great advantage. He has followed
science from the beginning through a long line of learning, and he
knows, therefore, in what direction it is leading; he knows that
there are dangers on one side, uncertainties on another, and almost
absolute certainty on a third: he sees to a certain extent in advance.
But, where every step is towards the marvellous and unexpected,
precautions and tests should be multiplied rather than diminished. |
Investigators must work; although their work may be very small
in quantity if only compensation be made by its intrinsic excellence.
But, even in this realm of marvels,—this wonder-land towards which
scientific inquiry is sending out its pioneers,—can anything be
more astonishing than the delicacy of the instrumental aids which
the workers bring with them to supplement the observations of their
natural senses ?

The spiritualist tells of bodies weighing 50 or 100 Ibs. being
lifted up into the air without the intervention of any known
force; but the scientific chemist is accustomed to use a balance
which will render sensible a weight so small that it would take ten
thousand of them to weigh one grain; he is, therefore, justified in
asking that a power professing to be guided by intelligence, which
will toss a heavy body up to the ceiling, shall also cause his
delicately-poised balance to move under test conditions.

The spiritualist tells of tappig sounds which are produced in
different parts of a room when two or more persons sit quietly round a
table. The scientific experimenter is entitled to ask that these taps
shall be produced on the stretched membrane of his phonautograph.

The spiritualist tells of rooms and houses being shaken, even to
injury, by superhuman power. The man of science merely asks for
a pendulum to be set vibrating when it is in a glass case and sup-
ported on solid masonry.

The spiritualist tells of heavy articles of furniture moving from
one room to another without human agency. But the man of
science has made instruments which will divide an inch into a
million parts; and he is justified in doubting the accuracy of the
former observations, if the same force is powerless to move the index
of his instrument one poor degree.

The spiritualist tells of flowers with the fresh dew on them, of fruit,
and living objects being carried through closed windows, and even solid
brick-walls. ‘The scientific investigator naturally asks that an addi-
tional weight (if it be only the 1U00th part of a grain) be deposited
on one pan of his balance when the case is locked. And the chemist
asks for the 1000th of a grain of arsenic to be carried through the
sides of a glass tube in which pure water is hermetically sealed.

320 Spiritualism Viewed by the | July,

The spiritualist tells of manifestations of power, which would
be equivalent to many thousands of “foot-pounds,” taking place
without known agency. The man of science, believing firmly in
the conservation of force and that it is never produced without a
corresponding exhaustion of something to replace it, asks for some
such exhibitions of power to be manifested in his laboratory, where
he can weigh, measure, and submit it to proper tests.*

For these reasons and with these feelings I began an inquiry
suggested to me by eminent men exercising great influence on the
thought of the country. At first, ike other men who thought little
of the matter and saw little, I believed that the whole affair was a
superstition, or at least an unexplained trick. ven at this moment
I meet with cases which I cannot prove to be anything else ; and
in some cases I am sure that it is a delusion of the senses.

I by no means promise to enter fully into this subject ; it seems
very difficult to obtain opportunities, and numerous failures cer-
tainly may dishearten anyone. ‘The persons in whose presence
these phenomena take place are few in number, and opportunities
for experimenting with previously arranged apparatus are rarer still.
T should feel it to be a great satisfaction if I could bring out light
in any direction, and I may safely say that I care not in what direc-
tion, With this end in view, I appeal to any of my readers who
may possess a key to these strange phenomena, to further the pro-
gress of the truth by assisting me in my investigations. ‘That the
subject has to do with strange physiological conditions is clear, and
these in a sense may be called “spiritual” when they produce
certain results in our minds. At present the phenomena I have
observed bafile explanation ; so do the phenomena of thought, which
are also spiritual, and which no philosopher has yet understood.
No man however denies them.

The explanations given to me, both orally and in most of the
books I have read, are shrouded in such an affected ponderosity of
style, such an attempt at disguising poverty of ideas in grandiloquent
language, that I feel it impossible, after driving off the frothy
diluent, to discern a crystalline residue of meaning. I confess that
the reasoning of some spiritualists would almost seem to justify
Faraday’s severe statement—that many dogs have the power of
coming to much more logical conclusions. Their speculations utterly
ignore all theories of force being only a form of molecular motion,
and they speak of Force, Matter, and Spirit, as three distinct

‘ * Tn justice to my subject, I must state that, on repeating these views to some
of the leading ‘‘spiritualists” and most trustworthy “mediums” in England, they
express perfect confidence in the success of the inquiry, if honestly carried out in
the spirit here exemplified; and they have offered to assist me to the utmost of
their ability, by placing their peculiar powers at my disposal. As far as I
have proceeded, I may as well add that the preliminary tests have been
satisfactory.

1870. ] Light of Modern Science. 321

entities, each capable of existing without the others; although they
sometimes admit that they are mutually convertible.
These spiritualists are certainly not much in advance of an
alchemical writer, who says—
We behad, “T asked Philosophy how I should
te? Have of her the thing I would.
She answered me when I was able
To make the water malliable,
Or else the way if I could finde,
To mesure out a yard of winde;
Then shalt thou have thine own desire,
When thou canst weigh an ounce of Fire;
Unless that thou canst do these three,
Content thyselfe, thou get’st not me.”

It has been my wish to show that science is gradually making
its followers the representatives of care and accuracy. It is a fine
quality that of uttering undeniable truth. Let, then, that position
not be lowered, but let words suit facts with an accuracy equal to
that with which the facts themselves can be ascertained; and in a
subject encrusted with credulity and superstition, let it be shown
that there zs a class of facts to be found upon which reliance can be
placed, so far, that we may be certain they will never change. In
common affairs a mistake may have but a short life, but in the study
of nature an imperfect observation may cause infinite trouble to
thousands. The increased employment of scientific methods will
promote exact observation and greater love of truth among inquirers,
and will produce a race of observers who will drive the worthless
residuum of spiritualism hence into the unknown limbo of magic
and necromancy.

If spiritualists would but attend to the teachings of their own
prophets, they would no longer have to complain of the hostile
attitude of Science; for hear what Thomas L. Harris urges, in his
‘Lyric of a Golden Age!’

‘The nearer to the practical men keep—
The less they deal in vague and abstract things,
The less they deal in huge mysterious words—
The mightier is their power.
* * * *

The simplest peasant who observes a truth,
And from a fact deduces principle,

Adds solid treasure to the public wealth.
The theorist, who dreams a rainbow dream,
And calls hypothesis philosophy,

At best is but a paper financier,

Who palms his specious promises for gold.
Facts are the basis of philosophy ;
Philosophy the harmony of facts

Seen in their right relation.”

( 322 ) [July,

Ill. THE RATE OF GEOLOGICAL CHANGE.

By H. M. Jenxrins, F.G.S., Secretary of the Royal Agricultural
Society of England.

PUBLIC opinion on questions of theoretical geology grows slowly,
and usually precedes the statement of important speculations.
The progress of discovery leads up to the induction, which, after
floating more or less hazily in the minds of geologists for a certain
time, is at last enunciated piecemeal at irregular intervals by the
more daring theorists. Finally the scattered fragments are col-
lected and arranged, bound together by the idea which connects
them, and placed on record as a complete whole. This last is the
task which I propose to attempt in reference to the progress of
public opinion on the subject at the head of this article.

But first, let me clear the way by a short summary of the ideas
which prevail amongst English geologists, so far as they bear on
this subject. The prominent feature of the favourite modern school
of geology in England—Uniformitarianism—is the belief that the
forces in operation at the surface of the earth in former times dif-
fered in no appreciable degree from those now in action. This
article of faith is, however, commonly restricted to what, for con-
venience of expression, has been termed “ Geological time’”—a
period which is entirely represented by the rocks found on the
earth’s surface, from the oldest to those now in course of formation.
According to this school, the rate of geological change has been
approximately equal throughout the vast period which has elapsed
since the deposition of the oldest stratified rock. Local variations
of this law would doubtless be admitted by even the most thorough
advocate of Uniformity, but the broad general principle character-
istic of the creed is equality in the rate of change throughout all
geological time.

Catastrophism, which is the name usually given to the other
great school of geologists, is distinguished broadly by the tenet
that in past times the forces in operation at the surface of the
globe were of far greater intensity than they are now, and that
great physical changes were then produced by more or less violent
cataclysms. Probably there are geologists who now-a-days reject
the catastrophes, but still cling to the belief that modern forces are
much less intense, and modern changes much less rapid and ex-
tensive, than those which occurred in former geological periods.
Therefore, whichever view we take of this theory, it is clear that
its advocates believe that the rate of geological change was greater
in past times than it is now; and the inference appears fair that,
according to this school, the rate of change has, on the whole, pro-
gressively diminished from the earliest down to modern times.

1870. | The Rate of Geological Change. 323

In his Anniversary Address to the Geological Society last year,
Professor Huxley defined a “third phase of geological speculation,
namely, Evolutionism.” This doctrine, in the words of the author,
“embraces all that is sound in both Catastrophism and Uniformi-
tarianism, while it rejects the arbitrary assumptions of the one, and
the, as arbitrary, limitations of the other.” ‘To my mind it cannot
well be distinguished from ordinary Theoretical Geology, unfettered
by the trammels of any school; but obviously, the Hvolutionist is
prepared to accept whatever theory on the rate of geological change
can be shown to be consistent with those known facts which can
fairly be quoted as evidence.

The title of this article is capable of more than one interpreta-
tion, and in its various meanings it has already been investigated
by speculative geologists. The late Professor Edward Forbes, in
his lecture before the Royal Institution, “On the Manifestation of
Polarity in the Distribution of Organized Beings in Time,”* en-
deavoured to show that the rate of development of generic types
reached its maximum intensity, firstly, during the earlier Paleozoic
periods, and secondly, during the later Neozoic periods; that is to
say, near the beginning and the end of the geological scale. Again,
the rate of development was shown to be at its minimum during
the later Paleozoic (Permian) and earlier Neozoic (Triassic) periods,
from which contiguous zero-points the development of generic types
was asserted to increase in both directions.t This relation Professor
Forbes termed “ Polarity,’ and he showed how in several of the
great divisions of the animal kingdom, two of their groups appeared
to exercise a kind of “ reciprocity,” as, for instance, our old friends
the Palzeozoic four-starred corals versus the Neozoic six-starred.
But Professor Forbes was careful to make the reservation that
“the numbers of species in a group or genus at an} given epoch is
to be excluded, not being an element in the discussion of the ques-
tion, though apt to be introduced through mistake of the nature
of the generalization attempted to be attained.” Indeed, the rela-
tions of individuals, species, and genera were favourite subjects of
speculation with this poetic and philosophical paleontologist ; and
the generalization we have just sketched was a sequel to some
other inquiries, in recording which he defines a genus as “an
abstraction—an idea—but an idea impressed on nature, and not
arbitrarily dependent on man’s conceptions.”{ Again, “a genus
consists of more or fewer of these manzes resulting from one
[species] linked together, not by a relationship of descent, but by

* “Notices of the Meetings of the Royal Institution,’ vol. i., p. 428.

+ This view may be correct; but at present, as at the time when it was
advanced, we have only negative evidence in support of it; and it is still very
possible that Permian and Triassic recks, rich in generic types, may be discovered

in some hitherto unexplored region of the earth.
t ‘Notices,’ &., vol. i. p. 196.

4

324 The Rate of Geological ee [ July,

an affinity dependent on a divine idea. m= Tt is necessary to bear
in mind these definitions of a genus in order to understand the
author’s generalization of “ Polarity ” in the “development of
generic types,’ and to prevent confusion with other ideas which I
shall attempt to elucidate in the following pages.

Before estimating the rate of geological change in successive
epochs, we must clearly understand the means by which that rate
is measured. Our geological chronology is divided into epochs of
greater or less extent, distinguished and characterized by certain
forms of animal and vegetable life, either peculiar to them, or pre-
ponderating in number and variety during their continuance. We
can conceive that in a previously unexplored country, far away
from any region whose geology is known, the explorer may meet
with diverse geological formations, each formation bemg charac-
terized by a sufficiently numerous and distinctive fauna. Lf forma-
tion A contains 1000 species, and is 10,000 feet thick, and forma-
tion B contains 5000 species, but is only 1000 feet thick, and if
the range of zoological rank in the 5000 species is approximately
the same as in the 1000 species, we should be justified in saying of
formation A, that, in comparison with formation B,—

(1) It was deposited very quickly ; or,

(2) During its deposition species changed very slowly.

Further investigation by our hypothetical explorer might pos-
sibly furnish him with evidence that, during the deposition of for-
mation A, the conditions of climate and physical geography had
remained more or less stationary, and that the strata were deposited
slowly. On the other hand, formation B and its fossils might yield
evidence of great changes in climate and physical geography, and of
comparatively rapid deposition. Under these circumstances, he
would be justified in the conclusion that, during the epoch repre-
sented by formation A, the rate of geological change was much less
rapid than during the ‘period represented by formation B.

This hypothetical contrast will assist the reader in appreciating
the significance of the following synopsis of the Paleozoic and
Mesozoic rocks and their fossils, and will enable him to estimate
how far these epochs agree with those which we have supposed to
be represented by formations A and B respectively.

Professor Phillips, in his Rede lecture, delivered before the
University of Cambridge in 1860,} remarks that if we select among
the marine classes of animals those which are represented in all the
great periods of geology, count the number of species yet discovered
in them in British strata, and refer them at present to only three
great periods, we find that the Paleozoic rocks contain 2729 species,

* Loc. cit.

+ Afterwards published under the title of ‘Life on the Earth. Macmillan.
1860. See pp. 59-62.

1870. ] The Rate of Geological Change. 325

the Mesozoic 2170, and the Cainozoic 1222. ‘The absolute
number of marine species appears thus to be greatest in the
Paleozoic strata; but when the thickness of the deposits, which
represents elapsed time, is taken into account, the variety of forms
in a given thickness or given period of time is very much less.”
This conclusion he illustrates by the following Table :—

Total Species in| Maximum Relative Number
eight Classes Thickness of Species to
g : : 1000 feet.
Cainozoic strata .. F228 2,240 545
| Mesozoic strata .. .. 2,170 23,190 164*
| Paleozoic strata... 2,729 57,154 41+

And he again observes (p. 62), “Thus it appears certain that the
variety of life estimated by the marine tribes existing in a given
period is greater in the more recent periods.’”{

* Should be 93. + Should be 47.

{ The editor of this Journal (Mr. James Samuelson) has asked me whether I
may not have overlooked the biological aspect of the case, and whether this may
not be the result of the laws of selection in the lower forms of life varying from
those in the higher forms, and the rate of change being perhaps more rapid in the
latter; e.g. low molluscs or acalephs having predominated in earlier times, might go
on multiplying for ages without material change, their conjugation being, like that
of plants, regulated by the elements, whilst in the fishes and higher molluscs, sexual
selection and destruction of each other would be very active and would produce
rapid change of species. It appears to me that at least two powerful arguments
may be advanced against this interpretation. First, geologically considered, the
interpretation would be erroneous because we are contrasting the abundance and
variety of life characteristic of the different great periods, and it cannot be said of
any one great period that it is characterized, for instance, exclusively by low mol-
luses, nor of any other that it is characterized exclusively by higher orders of that
class, as is shown in the following Table by Professor Phillips :—

Zoo- | Echino-| Crus- |Brachio-| Mono- | Dimy- | Gaste- | Cepha-

phyta. \dermata.| tacea. | poda. |myaria.| aria, | ropoda. | lopoda. Total.
Cainozoic .. 27 41 15 8 63 394 662 12 | 1222
Messozoic .. | 103 | 245 65 165 308 | 499 389 | 396 | 2170
Paleozoic .. | 379 225 218 | 632 196 | 342 | 401 336 | 2729

Thus the Paleozoic rocks abound both in the highest and the lowest orders
of the testaceous Mollusca, viz. the Cephalopoda and the Brachiopoda, while the
Tertiary deposits are characterized by the intermediate groups of Gasteropoda
and Lamellibranchiata. The oldest fishes are not regarded by the best autho-
rities as of uniformly lower types than the most recent; and with regard to the
power of sexual selection, the advantage is doubtless on the side of the Paleozoic
and Mesozoic representatives of the modern Claspers. But the weightiest argument,
to my mind, is to be derived from the improbability that sexual selection in such
animals (for, owing to our imperfect record, we are necessarily compelled to deal
almost exclusively with animals of no high zoological grade) was to any great
extent the result of direct volition, or that sexual selection was the determining
cause of change of species, although it no doubt was one means to that end.
It appears to me far more probable that changes in species have been rapid

326 The Rate of Geological Change. [ July,

These quotations show that so keen an observer and so
thoughtful a philosopher as Professor Phillips had not allowed this
subject to escape him; but Iam not aware that any other geologist
has discussed it from precisely the same point of view. ‘The figures
given by Professor Phillips show that the rate of geological change,
with regard to the relation between the deposition of strata and the
changes in faune, was neither uniform throughout all geological
times, as the Uniformitarians would have it, nor more intense in
the earlier periods, as the Catastrophists contend. On the contrary,
these figures prove, to the extent which they go, that the rate of
change was marvellously more rapid in the more recent periods,
and that the increase in rapidity was rapidly progressive, from the
earliest to the latest times. There are four times as many species*
belonging to the eight classes which are persistent through: all
geological periods, per 1000 feet, in the Mesozoic strata than in the
Paleeozoic, and there are three times the number { of such species
per 1000 feet in the Cainozoic strata that there are in the Mesozoic.

In the same year (1860), Professor Phillips, as President of the
Geological Society, delivered the Anniversary Address to the Fellows,
and again adverted to this subject, and the following quotation
gives his conclusions, as delivered before one of the most critical
geological audiences in Europe :—

“In the earlier periods of the world’s history, the changes of
life in the sea were accomplished at a rate much less rapid than
that which prevailed in later times,t which agrees with the acknow-
ledged very wide distribution of Paleozoic forms in geographical
space. Admitting the changes of life on the whole to be equal
from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic, and from these to the Cainozoic
periods, we find the rate of progressive change § 75th for Paleozoic,
zsth for Mesozoic, and 3rd for Cainozoic time,—a conclusion of great
importance, and probably indicative of the greater influence and

or slow, in proportion as changes in climate and physical geography have been
frequent or seldom. In the Paleozoic periods we have reason to believe that
changes in physical geography were rare, while the climate and the nature of the
earth’s surface were very slightly diversified. In the Tertiary epoch, on the con-
trary, climate and physical conditions have been very diverse, and have frequently
varied; and these variations have been accompanied by proportionate changes of
species. If periods of small duration had been compared by Professor Phillips, it
is quite certain that the chances of error would have been very great; but by put-
ting in contrast only the three great epochs into which Geological 'Time has been
divided, I believe that those chances of error have been reduced to a minimum,
according to the well-known law of averages—H. M. J. With all deference to
so eminent a geologist as Professor Phillips, and to the author of this essay, it
appears to me that such a table is an unsafe guide in the present state of the
paleontological record. Here, for example, the fishes—the most important group
of all, biologically—are entirely omitted —Eprror.

* According to my calculation, twice as many. + I make it six times.

t{ The italics are mine —H. M. J.

§ Taking the unit of thickness such that it shall be =4,th of the ascertained
strata in which life-traces occur. :

1870.] The Rate of Geological Change. 327
superiority in early times of a slowly changing physical condition
of the whole globe over the partial and irregularly varying local
conditions, which were continually augmenting, and are still
augmenting in influence with the lapse of time.”

It may be objected to Professor Phillips’s figures that he
includes only the species belonging to the eight classes of animals
which have been represented in each of the three great periods. I
therefore give in the following Table the approximate total number
of species (excluding plants only) that have been discovered in
British stratified rocks up to the present time, with the result per
1000 feet, and the average number of feet per species in each
great period :—

- Relative Number} Number of
. Number of Maximum ;
ae Species: | Thickness, | Of Soeise Per) | eee
Cainozoic 1,500 2,240 670 5
Mesozoic... 4,000 23,190 173 0°8
Paleozoic 3,500 57, 124 61 16°3

‘The evidence yielded by the analysis of these figures is even more
in favour of the conclusion that the rate of geological change,
according to the evidence of animal life, has progressively increased
from the earliest to the latest times.

With one other numerical illustration I shall close the argument
drawn from the organic phase of the question. The late Professor
Bronn, in his prize essay, and in the third edition of his ‘ Lethea
Geognostica, gives the following as the total numbers of known
species in 1850, just twenty years ago :—Paleozoic 6681, Mesozoic
10,879, and Caiozoic 15,188. If we assume the maximum
thickness of the deposits of these periods to be 60,000, 25,000, and
10,000 * respectively, we get the following numbers of species as
occurring per 1000 feet of strata :—Paleeozoic 111, Mesozoic 435,
and Cainozoic 1513 ; thus showing exactly the same result almost
in the same proportions. | 3

The foregoing calculations are based on the assumption that
the time required for the deposition of 1000 feet of strata was
approximately the same in the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cainozoic
periods, and so far the argument is Uniformitarian ; but the
received interpretation of the physical conditions which prevailed
in those periods renders it probable that the strata were deposited
more slowly in the earlier than in the later periods, which, a
fortiori, adds considerable strength to my conclusion.

The inorganic aspect of the subject has been discussed more

* I purposely make this number very large, so as not to run the risk of being
charged with making too much of my argument from this point of view.

328 The Rate of Geological Change. - [Tuly,

frequently than that phase which we have just reviewed ; but with
this striking difference, that no geologist has treated it from the point
of view of pure geology in the same direction as Professor Phillips
has from a paleontological standpoint,—the geological arguments
are all either purely Uniformitarian, or as purely Catastrophic.

In the second of two essays “On the Measurement of Geolo-

gical Time,” which were published in ‘ Nature’ only a few weeks
ago,* Mr. Wallace touches on this question. He remarks} that for
the last 60.000 years the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit has been
very small, and that therefore the opposite phases of precession, each
lasting 10,500 years, have during that time produced scarcely any
effect on climate. This state of things, however, is regarded by
him, as by Mr. Croll, as quite exceptional, for during nearly the
whole of the last three million years the opposite state of things has
existed, namely, a high eccentricity coupled with a change (in the
extra-tropical regions) every 10,500 years, from a very cold toa
very mild climate. Mr. Wallace therefore argues as follows :—
“This will necessarily have caused much migration both of plants
and animals, which would inevitably result in much extinction and
comparatively rapid modification. Allied races would be continu-
ally brought into competition, altered physical conditions would
induce variation, and thus we should have all the elements for
natural selection and the struggle for life to work upon and develop
new races. High eccentricity would therefore lead to a rapid change
of species, low eccentricity to a persistence of the same forms; and,
as we are now, and have been for 60,000 years, in a period of low
eccentricity, the rate of change of species during that time may be
no measure of the rate that has generally obtained in past geological
epochs.”
: I shall not stop to criticize Mr. Wallace’s attempt to measure
geological time, as Mr. Dawkins has already pointed out the fallacy
involved in the major premiss of this argument, v7z. that all climatal
change has depended solely on the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit.t
It is sufficient for my present purpose to point out that Mr. Wallace
recognizes the principle that the rate of change of species may have
varied in different geological epochs. ‘To refer the cause of its
variation to differences in the eccentricity of the earth’s orbit is pro-
bably erroneous, but that error of ultimate explanation by no means
diminishes the importance or the stability of the fact which is thus
sought to be explained.

Both Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. Wallace have attempted to
estimate the duration of the several geological epochs, basing their
calculations on a supposed rate of change in species of marine
mollusca. In this way Sir Charles Lyell concludes that “ we may

* February 17th and March 3rd. + Loc. cit., March 3rd, pp. 453 and 454.
~ See ‘ Nature,’ March 17, p. 505.

1870. | The Rate of Geological Change. 329

consider a million years to represent the twentieth part of a com-
plete revolution in species, and we might thus estimate the number
of years required for the elaboration of the successive Tertiary for-
mations.” Proceeding thus, Sir Charles Lyell calculates that two
hundred and forty millions of years have elapsed since the beginning
of the Cambrian period. Mr. Wallace, however, by taking the same
facts and figures, manipulates them differently, and comes to the
conclusion that the lapse of time is exactly one-tenth of that esti-
mated by Sir Charles Lyell. This difference of result is of very
little consequence, as both calculations are equally speculative, and
it is chiefly to a point of resemblance that I wish to draw attention.

Sir Charles Lyell and Mr. Wallace, however much they may
differ in other matters, whether they regard the revolution of species
as haying been accomplished in no less a period than twenty millions,
or in one no greater than two millions, are agreed in using the same
rate of change for the Paleozoic as for the more recent periods.
Taking the figures of the latter author, and calculating the time
required for the deposition of strata on his hypothetical rate of
change in species, we get at the following results :—

ons Duration 7 icles of b Bale of
er1oas. OCKS eposit; years
(Wallace). (bilan. uenttoek:
Cainozoic wig ok ia 6,000,000 2,240 2,678
MTESOZ0IC! se) fats 8,000,000 23,190 345
Paleozoic anh hee 10,000,000 57,124 175

It may be urged that the Tertiary rocks are comparatively thin
in England, owing to the absence of Miocene deposits; but the
same argument may be applied to each of the three periods with
greater or less force; and at any rate the relative rapidity of deposit
would not be very much disturbed if we took the maximum thick-
ness all over the world instead of those occurring in the British
Islands. Leaving denudation entirely out of the question, it does
not seem at all probable that the Paleozoic rocks should have been
deposited at the swift rate of one foot in 175 years; and if we
deduct from the calculation the period represented by “ breaks,”
which Professor Ramsay regards as longer even than that repre-
sented by strata, we shall have the conclusion drawn that the
Paleeozoic rocks were deposited at the rate of one foot in less than
a century! At the present day there are many localities peculiarly
favourable to the rapid accumulation of deposits over limited areas,
as, for instance, the deltas of the great rivers; but even in such
cases the rate of deposition is probably not more than what, accord-
ing to Mr. Wallace’s estimate, must have been general all over the
aquiferous surface of the earth during Paleozoic times.

330 Air-Pollution by Chemical Works. [ July,

Whether we measure the relative lapse of time occupied by the
successive events of Geological History by the known facts of the
accumulation of deposits, or by the comparative changes which have
occurred in the life of successive periods, we are led equally to infer
that the rate of geological change has been more rapid in the
later than in the earlier geological periods, and that that rate has
increased progressively from the earliest to the latest times.

Such an inference, though it may at first sight seem here-
tical, is in reality but the natural result of those conditions of the
earth’s surface which the most orthodox geologists regard as cha-
racteristic of successive periods. A greater uniformity of climate
and of surface in the earlier Paleozoic periods than at the present
day has long been considered the legitimate inference to be drawn
from the thick masses of uniform deposits spread over large areas,
and containing species of fossils possessing an enormous geographical
distribution. In ascending the geological scale the deposits gradu-
ally become more differentiated, and the fossils belong to species
which had a more restricted geographical range; these differences
are usually and properly regarded as the result of greater diversity
of climate and surface-configuration during the later periods, and
these more diversified conditions must have been accompanied by
a greater rapidity in the rate of geological change, if for no other
reason than that there were a greater number of centres of change,
acting and reacting on each other.

Ty. AIR-POLLUTION BY CHEMICAL WORKS.

A MANUFACTURER, having realized his primary object of making
what he can out of the materials which pass under his hands, and
having utilized all that he deems valuable in them, finds there is yet
another need to be fulfilled; he must get rid of his refuse, and that
as speedily as possible. Our present object is to watch this latter
operation, and, losing sight of the beautiful or useful results of his
work, to direct our attention to what is waste or refuse, and inquire
how he disposes of it. When this is solid and bulky, it must be
removed at the cost of much labour, and a place must be provided
where it can be deposited. When the refuse is a liquid, the pro-
cess of getting rid of it is generally less expensive ; it will flow away
in the water-courses if only proper drains and passages are provided.
When the refuse is gaseous, this process of removal is easier still ;
no passages need be cut, no culverts nor bridges built, the vapour
can be allowed to pass into the air, and is blown away.

In each of these cases the manufacturer’s object is attained; he
is rid of the refuse, and has room for renewed work. Unfortunately,

1870. ] Air-Pollution by Chemical Works. 331

however, although he is rid of it, his neighbours are not so; they
find, on the one hand, that the water of their brook is no longer fit
for use, nor pleasant to look at, and the air they breathe is polluted
with unsavoury and noxious vapours. Where a manufactory of this
kind stands alone, or where only those who are dependent on it for
their subsistence dwell in its vicinity, this state of things goes on for
a long time without calling forth much complaint. Sooner or later,
however, complaints must come; we cannot all live at arm’s length.
Population increases, we are pressed together, and valuable though
the various products of manufacturing industry may be, pure air
and pure water are more valuable still. Yet we cannot do without
the manufactory, unless we return to barbarism. A naked savage
eating uncooked roots erects no chimney to pour its black or acrid
vapour into the air; he discharges the liquor from no dye back into
the clear brook of the glen—but he remains a savage. We must
keep our manufactories; by their products we are warmly clothed, our
houses are firmly built and are decorated with colours; the wind is
shut out by panes of transparent glass; the paper on which we write
is white and fair. These and a thousand other things are the results
of many a mechanical or intricate chemical process, the waste
products from which, solid, liquid, and gaseous, are unpleasant
enough.

If, then, we will not go back to barbarism to get rid of our
smoke and our dirty water, can we go forward and by greater skill
diminish or suppress them? The answer must be “ Yes.” Yet those
only who have to work out the problem know with what difficulty
this answer has in many cases been given, whilst in many it is not
given yet.

The materials which the manufacturer throws away, we have
already classed in correct school-room fashion as solid, liquid, and
gaseous. With the first of these the manufacturer alone is con-
cerned, and it may be safely left in his charge. The more of it he
produces, the more must he expend im its removal, the more land
must he purchase on which to deposit it; and if he throws away
that which is valuable, he is the chief loser. We may, therefore,
safely leave him, with certain reservations, to look after his solid
refuse, knowing that no sharper impulse can be applied to induce
him to diminish its amount, or to save what is valuable in it, than
the spur of self-interest which already exists. We say it may be
safely left in his charge; but if, through some process of fermenta-
tion or change, a portion of it shall slip out of his custody, and
yield, after rain, a noxious liquid to drain into the nearest brook,
or a gaseous escape to contaminate the air around, it falls back into
the two other classes.

For the present we propose to direct attention to the latter of
these two classes only, the gaseous. In doing so, we would first dwell

VOL, VI. 2A

339 Air-pollution by Chemical Works. | July,

on the magnitude of the evil which may and does arise from the
pollution of the atmosphere by gases discharged during the carrying
on of various manufacturing processes; secondly, on the state of
our laws on the subject; and thirdly, as to the direction which
further legislation on the subject should take.

The evils complained of are not uniformly spread throughout
the country, and do not come under the observation of everyone.
Some districts are found to be specially suitable for carrying on a
particular manufacture, so throughout the country we find works of
a certain kind grouped together. Those who reside in the districts
known as “ manufacturing,” are too familiar with the evils arising
from noxious vapours floating in the air to need any setting forth
of their extent, unless indeed familiarity with these evils has dimmed
the perception of their magnitude. In Staffordshire, the so-called
“black” country is a district of many miles in extent, blasted by
the smoke of the iron furnaces; in it not a tree can be found, and
searce a blade of grass. Near St. Helens and Widnes in Lan-
cashire scarce a living tree is seen in the direction towards which
the prevailing winds blow, and in the valley of Swansea, thickly set
with copper works, not only are the hill-sides bared of the green
forests which once waved there, but the underwood, the shrubs, the
hedge-rows, the grass itself is gone, and, to complete the desolation,
when the roots and fibres which permeated the soil died and rotted,
the soil itself, no longer able to withstand the action of the rain,
was also washed away, leaving only bare heaps of stone and gravel.
These, more like huge railway embankments than natural hill-sides,
suffer yet another injury, for the rain, not now absorbed and held
back by tree, shrub, grass, roots, or soil, falls on the bare hill-side,
as on the slated roof of a house, and as quickly runs off it, plough-
ing the ground in its headlong course, making each rippling stream-
let into a torrent even durmg a moderate shower. And still the
desolation is not fully described, for when the even adjustment of
nature is disturbed, who shall say where the derangement will stop?
Here the grass, the soil is gone, and with these the insects and
birds, with the exception of a few sparrows.

The manufacturing processes which may give rise to noxious
vapours are numerous. The French, in the elaboration of their
sanitary code, enumerate seventy-four.

These noxious vapours may do injury of two kinds—injury to
animal life and to vegetation.

Injury of the former class, though real and widespread, is a
matter less easily brought to the measure of money than that of
the second class. People are annoyed at a vile smell arising from
some manufacturing process, and by its continuance are affected in
health, but they do not assess the damage in money and sue for it at
law, except in so far as property is injured. Where, however, in

1870. ] Air-Pollution by Chemical Works. 333

an already populous district a factory is established, the emanations
from which can be proved to be injurious to human health, there
is power for suppressing the nuisance; for, under the Sanitary Act
(18 & 19 Vict., c. 121), the “Local authority, when moved by its
Medical Officer of Health, or by two legally qualified practitioners,
or by ten householders residing in the district in which the nuisance
exists, is bound to complain to the magistrates (two lay, or one
stipendiary) and to prosecute the offenders. The penalty, if the
case is proved, is a fine of from 40s. to 5d. for the first conviction,
102. for the second, and for each subsequent conviction a sum double
the amount of the penalty imposed on the last preceding conviction,
but so that such cumulative penalty do not in any case exceed 2001.”

The operation of the law here is clear, and generally satisfactory.
This clearness, however, ceases when we turn to the working of the
law in cases of injury done to vegetation. The question is not now
whether any damage is done to the farmer’s crops and trees, but
how much; for if an important manufactory is carried on, giving
employment to a large number of workmen, producing articles of
general value, and returning a handsome income to the proprietor,
it would not be wise to put a stop to all this producing power,
because it of necessity entails a small amount of collateral damage.
Rather let those who carry on this lucrative manufacturing busi-
ness compensate those who are injured by it; and consider that
they have only fairly earned that amount which remains, when from
their gross profits they have deducted this charge. In this way
we have a gauge by which to determine the amount of forbearance
which the public shall exercise towards’a manufactory doing obvious
damage to the vegetation around it.

If a factory produces a revenue of 1000J. to its proprietors, and
at the same time injures neighbouring vegetation to the extent of
100/., it clearly does more good than harm. The farmer is com-
pensated, and 900/. is honestly earned after every one 1s satisfied.
Put, however, the figures the other way; suppose the works, while
earning 100/., to do 10002. worth of damage, and the proprietors
compelled to pay this, it will require no injunction from the Court
of Chancery to make them close the works, or else to improve the
manufacturing process so as materially to lessen the damage done.

But we have hitherto considered only the relations of the manu-
facturer and the farmer, imagining the smoking chimney to be sur-
rounded by corn or clover, orchards and hedge-rows. All these
have a known market value, and can be paid for with money. In
place of the farmer, with his marketable crops, imagine him or his
landlord dwelling in the old house of his fathers. The trees which
surround his cottage or his mansion are of ancient growth; the
place is his home. What money shall compensate for its loss? He
may be rich and put little value on pecuniary compensation. He

2A 2

334 Air-pollution by Chemical Works. [ July,

will feel himself grievously wronged when, his trees being killed,
he is offered money in place of them.

This might be said, however, in all cases where the sanctity of
private property is invaded. When a railroad is planned, which is
to carry a nation’s traffic, it will disturb many an ancient hall and
many a cottage home. The money equivalent is paid the owner,
but in his eyes this is often no sufficient compensation. He must,
however, bow to his fate and give way before the greater good of
the many. So in the case where a man sees every year the noble
trees vanish from his land, from the ancient domain that has been
held in quiet enjoyment by his family through many generations,
and feels himself driven from it by the advancing tide of manufac-
turers. He is much to be pitied; for, let him be paid ever so libe-
rally for the damage actually done to the estate, he is not compen-
sated. Yet he must submit and suffer personal loss for the public
benefit.

Fortunately, however, these cases are exceptional; generally
those interested in the land can be fully compensated in money for
all they lose. A farmer, who should get 100U/. for the produce of
his wheat-field, is content if it brings him in only 50/. in the market,
provided he can get the remaining 50/. by way of damages from the
neighbouring chemical manufactory. A question here at once arises,
Will he have much difficulty in obtaining from the manufactory the
50/., the proved amount of his loss? If the manufactory is standing
by itself, he probably will have no great difficulty. If the demand
is resisted, his course at law is plain. He proves that on a certain
day, or on many days, the smoke of the offending chimney was seen
to fall upon his land, that soon afterwards the crops were visibly
injured, in such a way as is known to be caused by chemical smoke ;
he also further proves, by the assistance of agricultural valuers, that
the amount of the damage done is an equivalent of the sum of
money he now claims. This chain of evidence is usually so con-
clusive that the farmer wins the day.

Suppose, however, that in place of one chemical work being
near the farm, there are several in a group, from all of which
the smoke approaches simultaneously. These works may be of
different kinds; there may be alkali-works and copper-smelting
works; glass-works and potteries, with chemical works whose
various processes and products defy enumeration, how shall the
farmer discriminate, or rather how shall he criminate ? how shall
he fix on the culprit among such a motley crowd of evil doers ?
Let us suppose him calling on the first in order, and making his
complaint against him, as the one he thinks most likely to have
been the offender ; the manufacturer explains to him in the clearest
manner that from the nature of the processes he carries on, and the
care with which all injurious vapours are avoided or condensed, he

1870.] Air-pollution by Chemical Works. = gee

cannot have injured the land; perhaps it was his friend of the
neighbouring works, whose processes are different from his own.
Doubtless this gentleman would be equally clear and conclusive
in his explanations, and would pass our farmer on once more, to be
sent in turn from one to the other, but to get redress from none.

The farmer soon learns that the only way in which he can
obtain compensation from any of the chemical manufacturers is to
fix on one of the works, perhaps the one nearest his land, or the
one with the highest chimney, and to watch till he thinks he can
distinguish the smoke from it come upon his farm. On that he
fixes, and, shutting his eyes to the other works and forgetting the
injury they probably do him, charges the proprietor with the whole
of the damage he has sustained. The judges and juries before
whom such eases come for trial are in great difficulty, they know
that the manufacturer in question has not done all the damage
alleged, yet they have no power of apportioning it between him and
other offenders, therefore, as some of the damage has been proved
to come from the defendant’s works they give a verdict for the
plaintiff.

Among chemical works, the largest, and those capable of doing
most harm to vegetation, are the alkali-works. In these works
soda, in its various forms of ash, carbonate, bicarbonate, crystal or
caustic, is extracted from common salt. Common salt consists of
soda in combination with muriatic acid. When it is mixed with
sulphuric acid and heated, muriatic acid is driven off asagas. In
the earlier days of the soda manufacture this acid was considered as
a waste product to be got rid of as speedily as possible. The easiest
way was to let it pass into the chimney and thence into the sur-
rounding atmosphere. Complaints were soon made that trees in
the neighbourhood were injured. The manufacturer therefore
raised his chimney, building it so high that the acid might be carried
away to a great distance by the wind and its effects lost sight of.
The result of this effort was not successful; on wet days the rain
passing through the smoke would wash down the acid and fall in
burning drops even at the foot of the chimney; while on fine days
the smoke would travel farther and though much spread out, still
powerful for evil, would carry on its destruction over a larger
area. A wiser plan was next adopted; by the use of the now famous
Gossage condensing towers the acid vapours were washed out of
the smoke and kept from contaminating the air altogether. Those
alkali manufacturers who carried out this method well sent out
scarcely any acid vapour to damage the farmers’ crops. Some of
the manufacturers, however, were behindhand in the movement,
and either from want of skill or of enterprise, did not condense
their acid vapours. Of the efficiency of this condensation in indi-
vidual cases the farmer could not judge; he found that his crops

336 Air-Pollution by Chemical Works. | July,

were still damaged, and therefore brought his action as before,
ossibly to recover from an innocent party. At this point the
ficken stepped in, and in the Alkali Act of 1863, passed a
measure which has worked well in the interests of both the manu-
facturers and the agriculturists. ‘The Act announces it to be the
duty of the manufacturer to condense 95 per cent. of the muriatic
acid he produces, and fixes a penalty of 50/. for each omission,
raising the penalty to 100/. after the first conviction. Inspectors
are appointed, whose duty it is to visit the works from time to
time and ascertain that the provisions of the Act are carried out.
It should be noticed that the Legislature in passing this Act stepped
out of its accustomed course. The common law maxim is that for
every injury a man may receive he has his remedy against some
one. He must, however, receive the injury before he can seek his
remedy ; but in this case, asit already has been shown, much injury
may be done which has no remedy. Who can replace an oak tree
of 100 years’ growth and restore the waving woods which adorned
the hill side? The law therefore here steps in beforehand, and no
sooner does the Inspector find that 95 per cent. of the acid is not
condensed, than he stops the process under the penalties mentioned.
The new law has been found to work very well, it has enforced the
condensation of muriatic acid to the benefit both of the manu-
facturer himself and of the public. It has protected the agricul-
turist against the manufacturer, and the manufacturer against the
agriculturist. The Inspector is received as a friend by both sides ;
he protects the farmer’s interests by enforcing care on the part of
the manufacturer, and he protects the manufacturer’s interest by
proclaiming the extent to which he carries the suppression of
noxious vapours. ‘The Act has had the effect of bringing up the
hindermost manufacturer to the rank of the most skilful. Before
this legislation took place many manufacturers condensed a portion
of their muriatic acid; now they all condense not a small portion
only, but fully 95 per cent., some indeed habitually condense 99
per cent. The manufacturer finds the visits of the Inspector an
assistance to him in keeping his condensing apparatus in efficient
order ; and an amount of acid escaping which would pass unnoticed
by the master or his workpeople is detected by the Inspector. It
should be understood that to point out leakage of muriatic acid is to
point out waste, for this acid is needed in the manufacture of bleaching
powder, and other products. The amount of acid thus saved by
the operation of the Act is very large. One manufacturer sells
muriatic acid annually to the amount of 1500/.—acid which pre-
vious to the passing of the Act was sent up the main chimneys of
the works to the destruction of all surrounding vegetation.
It may now be asked in general terms, has the Alkali Act, this
somewhat experimental law, succeeded ; does it accomplish the work

1870. ] Air-Pollution by Chemical Works. 337

it was intended to do? The reply is that it has done all and
more than its promoters or those who understood its provisions ex-
pected; but probably the public generally are not satisfied; they
fail to understand that a law which professes to shield them from
muriatic acid cannot also defend them from chlorine, sulphurous
acid, sulphide of hydrogen, and the host of nameless gases by which
their noses and their gardens are assailed ; still less can they under-
stand that an Act which should prevent the emission of muriatic
acid from the chimney of an alkali works, cannot also prevent the
escape of the same acid from copper-extracting works, a bottle
factory, or a pottery.

The Act must, however, not be blamed for omitting to do that
which it was never framed to accomplish ; let us be glad that a step
has been gained, that one noxious gas has been measured and sup-
pressed.

Some instances have occurred where manufacturers who are
not alkali makers have desired to place their factories under the
Inspector appointed under the Alkali Act. Their object being first
to know if, in his opinion, they were sending out an injurious amount
of noxious vapour, then, having diminished it so as to meet with
his approval, to gain his advocacy and defence when harassed by
their natural enemies the farmers. This has brought a certain
amount of volunteer work on the Inspectors, which they have cheer-
fully borne on account of the obvious good they could accomplish, by
diminishing on the one hand the escape of noxious acids, and pre-
venting litigation on the other.

In districts such as that around St. Helens, in Lancashire,
where alkali-works and copper-smelting works are found together,
the copper smelters look somewhat enviously at the alkali makers.

Before the passing of the Alkali Act, the farmers who thought
they had suffered loss through the mjury of their crops by acid
vapours, charged the damage sometimes against the alkali-works
and sometimes against the copper-works. Now, however, owing to
the improvements which have been made in the alkali-works under
the stimulus of the Act, and supposing the manufacturers to be
somewhat protected by it, the landholders direct their attacks ex-
clusively against the copper smelters. The amounts claimed by
each farmer are not always large, but the aggregate has reached
30002. a year against the six copper-works.

Besides these smaller claims an important action was lately
brought by the proprietor of an estate three miles from St. Helens
against a copper smelter, for damage done to his trees and crops by
the smoke from the works. The course the action took, so well
shows the present working of the law, and indicates perhaps the
direction in which it could be amended, that it might be well to give
some account of it here.

338 Air-pollution by Chemical Works. [ July,

The plaintiff proved he had received damage from smoke coming
from the direction of the defendant’s works, and alleged that the
damage he had sustained was wholly done by them, intimating that
if he gained a verdict in the present suit he should apply to the
Court of Chancery for an injunction to restrain the carrying on of
the works altogether, as he believed he would then be free from all
damage. In defence it was pointed out that the defendant’s works
lay in a straight line between the plaintiff's land and St. Helens, so
that the same wind which brought defendant’s smoke would also
convey the smoke from a large portion of St. Helens, and that in
general, as the plaintiffs park was subject to injury from all the
factories in the neighbourhood, it was unjust to charge the whole
damage upon the defendant.

It will be seen that the following question would at once pre-
sent itself :—Is it possible to determine the amount of damage which
each factory in a district contributes towards the damage done by
all ?

In other words, if a farmer sustains a loss of 100/. through his
crops being injured by the accumulated smoke of a manufacturing
district, is it possible to set down to each manufacturer the amount
which he ought to contribute towards this 1002. ?

Turning to the fifth of Dr. R. Angus Smith’s very able reports
under the Alkali Act, we find this question anticipated and an answer
given. Referring to the amount of acid vapours thrown up with the
smoke of factory chimneys, he says at page 25 :—“ Now it is easy to
estimate this amount, and it is easy to put down to every one in the
district the exact share of guilt so far as the acid is concerned. ... .
Perhaps we may also bring in the element of distance.”

In consequence of this Mr. Alfred E. Fletcher, the Inspector
under the Alkali Act for the district which includes West Lancashire,
was asked to apply himself to the question. He had to consider:

1st. The distance of each factory from the injured land.

2nd. The rateat which the increase of distance diminishes the
power of the smoke to do damage.

3rd. The number of days throughout the year on which the
wind blows from each point of the compass.

4th. The amount of acid vapour discharged from each factory
in a given time.

First, the distances; these are easily measured on the map.

Information on the second point was obtained in the following
manner. Ata time when the ground was covered with snow for a
week, lines were drawn, in a direction following the wind, from St.
Helens and from other groups of works, to a distance of two or
three miles. At each half-mile a sample of the surface snow was
collected and brought home for analysis, Also during a period of
rain, collecting vessels were set at regulated distances from a group

1870. ] Air-pollution by Chemical Works. 339

of works. A determination was then made of the amounts of mu-
riatic and of sulphuric acids collected by the snow and by the rain,
and these were compared with the distances at which the samples had
been obtained. It was seen that the amounts diminished in even
ratio with the increase of distance. Probably a sufficient number of
experiments of this nature have not yet been made, firmly to esta-
blish the law; for the undulations of the ground, the position of
trees, and any objects which interfere with the uniform motion of
the air, affect the even deposition of the acid vapours. More ex-
periments, it was said, were about to be undertaken in order to esta-
blish the law on a wider basis. Information on the third point may
be usually obtained at some neighbouring observatory. In the case »
of St. Helens the returns of the direction of the wind, published at
the Liverpool Observatory, on Bidston Hill, were depended on.

Fourthly, the amount of acid vapour discharged from each factory
in a given time can be known by periodical examination of the gases
which are passing up the various chimneys of the works. This is
already done as far as the alkali-works are concerned under the pro-
visions of the Alkali Act. In the cases of copper-smelting works,
elass-works, and others where systematic inspection has not been
carried on, the amounts of acid vapour thrown into the air can be
calculated from the materials used in the manufacturing processes
carried on.

The acid vapours discharged from the various works in the
St. Helens district are:—From ten alkali-works,—muriatic acid,
sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid, nitrous acid, chlorine, coal smoke ;
from nine glass-works,—muriatic acid, sulphuric acid, sulphurous
acid, vapour of common salt, coal smoke; from six copper-smelting
works,—sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid, coal smoke; from six col-
lieries, six iron foundries, two soap-works, 8000 dwelling-houses,
—coal smoke; from the Sankey Brook and the heaps of alkali
waste,—sulphide of hydrogen.

This is a formidable list, but the amounts of each may be calcu-
lated with a very near approach to accuracy, except the last item,
the sulphide of hydrogen, which varies continually with the amount
of rain-fall, and with the temperature of the air.

Having, then, collected the information as set forth under these
four heads, it became merely a question of figures to apply it to the
solution of the problem raised in the St. Helens law-suit. A list
was made out of the principal factories in the district capable of doing
injury to the plaintiff's land. Opposite these was set down the dis-
tance of each factory from the land and, in a parallel column, the
amount of acid vapour thrown up by each. On dividing the figures
in the second column by those in the first, numbers were obtained
which were proportioned to the share each one had contributed to
the total damage done by all to the plaintiff’s land.

340 Air-pollution by Chemical Works. [ July,

Further, a method was adopted by Professor Roscoe, of Owen’s
College, Manchester, which confirmed the accuracy of this calculation.

St. Helens lies, as has been said, three miles from the plaintiff’s
park, defendant’s works being half-way between them.

While the snow lay on the ground last February, the wind
blew mainly from the east. Professor Roscoe then took samples of
the snow lying three miles west of St. Helens, and also some of
that lying a mile and a half west of defendant’s works, that is, the
same distance to the west as plaintiff’s land is to the south-south-
east. He found that the proportion of the amount of acid con-
tained in the one to that contained in the other, agreed closely with
the proportion determined by Mr. Fletcher in the previous calcula-
tion. This was given as evidence at the trial, and it appears that
the jury acted on the principle here laid down, that a manufacturer
should only be called on to pay in proportion to the amount he
contributes to the total damage sustained, and that it is possible to
ascertain what that amount should be. Since this trial two other
similar cases have been decided by arbitration, in each of them the
arbitrator showed by his award that he adopted the principles here
set forth.

Having now given some account of the working of the Alkali
Act, the most recent legislation on the difficult subject of air-
pollution, and sketched the action of the law courts when mat-
ters of the kind are brought before them, it may be desirable to
discuss the course which further legislation should take in the
matter.

As regards the present Alkali Act, we would object that though
successful it is too limited in its application.

Secondly, the onus of carrying out its penal clauses rests on the
Inspector. We should havea noxious vapour Act applicable to every
mantfacture where injurious gases are thrown off. The duty of the
Inspector should be solely to imspect and to publish the results of
his inspection—the public should be the prosecutors.

Let us follow the working of such an Act. In every district
its Inspector would, from time to time, publish a list of the works,
together with the amounts of acid or other vapour escaping from
them. This would be given either as the amount in 1000 cubic
feet of the chimney gases, or the actual amount by weight of that
which escapes per month or per annum. The result of this to the
manufacturers would be that they would anxiously consult the
published list and exercise a wholesome rivalry as to who should
stand well in it. Moreover, these lists would form the basis for
assessment of damages in case of claims made by the neighbour-
ing farmers. A pecuniary stimulus would thus also be given.
To the neighbouring farmer or landholder these lists would be in-
valuable; they would show him where to apply with the best

1870.] De Mortuis. 341

chance of success for compensation for proved loss by noxious
vapours; or enable him to apportion his claim among several
works, in proportion to their places in the list and their relative
distance from his land.

Thus in place of the goading influence of a few isolated and
sudden prosecutions, a gradual pressure onwards would be felt, a
constant stimulus to improvement. All chemical manufactures can-
not be embraced in the provisions of an extended Alkali Act until
for each separate noxious vapour a process of suppression can be
described, and a limit for its working defined. But with such an
arrangement as is here proposed, all noxious vapours without the
task of enumeration would be at once legislated for. If there are.
several manufacturers carrying on the same processes in the same
district, and one of them by special ingenuity discovers some pro-
cess by which a large portion of the acid vapour he has hitherto
sent away may be condensed, he improves his place in the Uist, and
so enjoys immunity from actions for damage on the part of the
farmers. The other manufacturers would obviously be compelled
to follow him in the race of improvement. Thus all would be
brought up to the rank of the foremost, and there would bea con-
stant impulse to the manufacturer to reduce the noxious emanations
from his works within the smallest possible amount.

VY. DE MORTUIS.
By Henry Woopwarp, F.GS., F.Z.8., &.

In almost all countries, both among savage and civilized races, the
rites of sepulture have been looked upon as a debt so sacred that
those who neglected it were considered infamous.

The Greeks and Romans believed so strongly in the importance
of this obligation that they considered it to be fatal to their admis-
sion into Hlysium to neglect to do honour to the dead.

Nor can the practice of honouring the dead be claimed by these
classical countries alone, for throughout Egypt, Palestine, Persia,
India, and China, are monuments of the most lasting and costly de-
scription raised to the mighty dead.

That the more northern and western races of mankind possessed
the same traditions cannot be doubted, and although their monu-
ments are of a ruder character they display often a vast amount of
labour in their construction, and an equal care for the departed
whose remains they were intended to preserve.

On the rude but colossal “ Megalithic Structures of the Channel
Islands, their History and Analogues,” a very able and exhaustive

342 De Mortuis. [ July,

article by Lieut. 8. P. Oliver, Royal Artillery, F.R.S., appeared in
the ‘Quarterly Journal of Science’ for April last, to which it is only
needful here to refer our readers.*

Fortunately for the archeologist the uninviting exterior of these
northern and western tombs has been, until of late years, a means
of protecting them to a great extent from pillage; for within these
rounded dome-like hills of earth (Tumuli) are often discovered relics
of a period so remote that, save for these sacred depositories, we
never could have hoped to obtain any reliable information of the
builders, or to have learnt aught of their advance in civilization, or
of the arts they practised.

The rich and varied discoveries of the Swiss Lake habitations
indeed, have thrown much new light upon the early history of
Europe, yet many writers have nevertheless concluded that these
remains are, after all, not much more than two thousand years old,
seeing that similar lacustrine habitations were known to Hippocrates
(z.c. 460), and Herodotus (z.c. 404). But the careful researches
of Prof. Keller, and many other investigators, prove beyond ques-
tion that these settlements go back to the early Neolithic period, if
not to the paleolithic.

In speaking of the ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron, however, we
should always guard against the notion that, at any one time, save
in the very earliest palzeolithic stage, one material for the manufac-
ture of implements was used exclusively over the whole of the
Continent. Not only does the “Iron age” stretch from our own
time back to an antiquity more remote than Nineveh, but the
“ Bone age” is still extant and has overlapped all the other divisions,
for horn and bone are still used by civilized man, and our most re-
mote ancestors we know discovered the economic value of the bones
and horns of the first animals they slew in the chase.

Therefore in the examination of all early remains many collateral
circumstances must be taken into account before we can justly assign
an approximate date to any discovery. or instance, if we grant
that the civilization of man actually ran its course through these
periods, just as they are mentioned above, yet it is certain that the
Bronze period of Northern Europe by no means agrees in time with
that of the middle and southern parts of this Continent.

Again, the Bronze age of Greece and Italy may be separated by
centuries from that of Egypt, which we may consider as the cradle
of western civilization. —

We may safely conclude, as the Danish antiquaries themselves
allow, that in the Scandinavian countries stone implements were for
a length of time used while the Bronze period was in full activity in
the more southern lands, and that Egypt, whose oldest monuments
indicate very clearly the use of i iron, and also Greece, had both ad-

* Vol. vii., p. 149.

1870. | De Mortuis. 343

vanced to the Iron period when Central Europe was in the Bronze
age. If, therefore, according to the testimony of ancient authors
and monuments, bronze and iron were used in the earliest ages in
the countries round the shores of the Mediterranean, the commence-
ment of these periods in the inland and northern parts of Hurope
was regulated entirely by the greater or less amount of intercourse
between these countries and those to whom we are indebted for a
knowledge of metals, so essential to civilization. We may even at
the present day observe a similar irregularity in the distribution of the
products of higher civilization and art. Nor do these divisions give
us any positive certainty ; for in very few burial places or early
settlements are the remains found so purely distinctive as to enable
us conclusively to attribute them to any one of the three periods.
It seems very certain that there was no hard line of demarcation
between the three periods, but that the new materials were spread
abroad like any other article of trade, and that the more useful tools
gradually superseded those of less value.* |
We should hardly, writes Sir John Lubbock,} have hoped to
ascertain much of the manner in which the people of the Bronze
age were dressed. Considering how perishable are the materials
out of which clothes are necessarily formed, it is wonderful that any
fragments of them should have remained to the present day. There
can be little doubt that the skins of animals were extensively used
for this purpose, as indeed they have been in all ages of man’s
history; many traces of linen tissue also have been found in English
tumuli of the Bronze age and in the Swiss lakes. Even a single
fragment throws much light on the manufactures, if we may call
them so, of the period to which it belongs; but fortunately we need
not content ourselves with any such partial knowledge as this, as
we possess the whole dress of a chief belonging to the Bronze age.
On a farm occupied by M. Dahls, near Ribe, in Jutland, are
four tumuli, known as Great Kongehoi, Little Kongehoi, Guldhoi,
and Treenhoi. This last was examined in 1861 by MM. Worsaae
and Herbst. It is about 50 ells in diameter and 6 in height, being
composed of a loose sandy carth. In it, near the centre, were found
three wooden coffins, two of full size, and one evidently intended
for a child. The coffin with which we are now particularly con-
cerned was about 9 feet 8 inches long and 2 feet 2 inches broad
on the outside; its internal measurements were 74 feet long and
1 feet 8 inches broad. It was covered by a movable lid of corre-
sponding size. ‘The contents were peculiar and very interesting.
While, as might naturally be expected, we find in most ancient
graves only the bones and teeth, all the soft parts having long ago
decayed away, in some cases—and this was one of them—almost

* Keller’s ‘ Lake-Dwellings:’ translated by J. E. Lee, F.S.A.
+ ‘ Pre-historic Times.’

344 De Mortuis. [July,

exactly the reverse had happened. Owing to the presence of water,
and perhaps to the fact that it was strongly impregnated with iron,
the soft parts of the body had been turned into a dark, greasy,
substance (adipocere ?); and the bones, with the exception of a few
fragments, were changed into a kind of powder.

Singularly enough, the brain seems to have been the part
which had undergone the least change. On opening the coffin it was
found lying at one end, where no doubt the head had originally
been placed, covered by a thick hemispherical woollen cap, about
6 inches in height. ‘The outer side of the cap was thickly covered
by short loose threads, every one of them ending in a small knot,
which gave the cap a very singular appearance. The trunk of the
corpse had been wrapped in a coarse woollen cloak, which was
almost semicircular, and hollowed out round the neck. It was about
3 feet 8 inches long, and broad in proportion. On its inner side
were left hanging a great number of short woollen threads, which
gave it somewhat the appearance of plush. On the right side of
the corpse was a box, closed by a lid, 74 inches in diameter, 64
inches high, and fastened together by pieces of osier or bark. In
this box was a similar smaller one, without a lid, containing three
articles, namely, a cap 7 inches high, of simply woven woollen stuff ;
a small comb, 3 inches long by 25 inches high; and a small simple
razor-knife. ‘The coffin also contained two woollen shawls, one of
them covering the feet, the other lying higher up; they were square
in shape, 5 feet long, 3 feet 9 inches broad, and with a long
fringe.

‘At the place where the body had lain was a shirt, also of woollen
material, cut out a little for the neck, and with a long projecting
tongue at one of the upper angles. It was fastened at the waist by
a long woollen band, which went twice round the body, and hung
down in front. On the left side of the corpse was a bronze sword
in a wooden sheath, 2 feet 3 inches in length, having a solid simple
handle. At the feet were two pieces of woollen stuff about 144 inches
long and 34 inches wide, the use of which does not seem quite clear,
though they may be supposed to be the remains of leggings. At
the end of the coffin were found traces of leather, doubtless the
remains of boots. In the cap where the head had been was some
black hair; and the form of the brain was still recognizable. Finally,
this ancient warrior had been wrapped round in an ox’s hide, and
so committed to the grave. The other two coffins were not examined
by competent persons, and the valuable information which they
might have afforded is lost to us. The more indestructible things
were, however, preserved; they consisted of a sword, a brooch, a
knife, a double-pointed awl, a pair of tweezers, a large double button
or stud, all of bronze; a small double button of tin, and a javelin-

head of flint.

1870.] De Mortuis. 345

The “ Kongehoi” contained four wooden coffins, in which were
bodies clothed in woollen garments, a bronze sword in a wooden
sheath ornamented with carvings, two bronze daggers, a wooden
bowl ornamented by a large number of tin nails, a vase of wood,
and a small box of bark.

There can, therefore, be no doubt that these very interesting
tumuli belonged to the Bronze age, and I am inclined (says Sir
John Lubbock) to place them somewhat late in the period, partly
on account of the knife and razor-knife, both of which are forms
referable to the close of the Bronze period, and to the beginning of
that of Iron. Bronze brooches are also very rarely found in the
Bronze age, and are common in that of Iron. The sword, again, ©
belongs to a form which Professor Nilsson regarded as being of late
introduction. The mode of interment may also be regarded as
unusual in the Bronze age, though commonly so found in inter-
ments of the Iron age.

In Denmark cremation appears to have been all but universal,
and seems plainly to betoken the south-eastern origin of the peoples
who practised it. Bateman and Sir R. C. Hoare, record a number of
instances of graves opened by them in England containing objects
in bronze which well illustrate the prevalence of burning the dead :—

Position
Body contracted. Burnt. Extended. Facets,
Number of cases.. 19 a 59 aA 7 ig 15

Canon Greenwell also mentions that out of 100 interments with
bronze ornaments, &c., examined by him, all were either burnt or
the body was placed in a sitting posture. Of the wide-spread practice
of interment in a sitting posture, we may find abundant instances
in Wilson’s ‘ Pre-historic Man’ Thus* in opening a Peruvian tomb
it is stated “the male mummy was that of a man in the maturity
of life, en the usual setting position, with the knees drawn up to the
chin.” We should certainly consider this mode of interment to be
the most primitive.

If ornaments, weapons, or coins in any number, be found in the
erave, or if much labour has been bestowed upon its construction, we
may justly infer that, to whatever period the grave may belong, it was
the last resting-place of a chief or warrior of the tribe; for the same
causes which operate now to deter the poorer classes from a lavish
expenditure upon the dead, acted in early times still more strongly,
when every article of dress and every weapon being required for
daily use were of so much greater intrinsic value, and consequently
the devotion which instigated their dedication to the use of the de-
parted must have been either the result of strong attachment, or a
display of the affluence of the family to which the deceased belonged.

There can be no doubt that the introduction of Christianity was

* At p. 440.

346 De Mortuis. [July,

the means, not only of putting an end entirely to the practice of
incremation, but also to a great extent to that of depositing votive
offerings in the graves of the departed. The introduction of such
sentences as those which our burial-service contains, against the
thought that we can take anything with us out of the world,
evidently when introduced by the early Church had reference to the
heathen practice of placing objects highly esteemed in the grave with
the dead.*

Schiller’s lines (translated by Lytton) well express this practice
so common among the aborigines of our own day :-—

* Here bring the last gifts! and with these
The last lament be said ;

Let all that pleased, and yet may please,
Be buried with the dead.

Beneath his head the hatchet hide
That he so stoutly swung ;

And place the bear’s fat haunch beside—
The journey hence is long!

And let the knife new sharpened be
That on the battle-day

Shore with quick strokes—he took but three—
The foeman’s scalp away !

The paints that warriors love to use,
Place here within his hand,

That he may shine with ruddy hues
Amidst the spirit-land.”

It not unfrequently happens that fragments of the bones of
sheep and other animals are found in cinerary urns associated with
the human remains. This is easily explained when we consider the
manner in which the rites to the dead were performed.

If the dead person were a chief or warrior of note, it was usual
to erect a funeral pyre of great size, upon which the corpse was
laid, surrounded by the bodies of various animals slain in honour of
the dead, together with costly unguents and perfumes. Frequently
a number of slaves and captives were also sacrificed to the manes of
the departed. Thus, in Homer’s ‘ Iliad,’ we have a graphic descrip-
tion of the death of Patroclus during the Trojan war, and the
honours paid to his body by Achilles and the Greeks :— 3

“ While those deputed to inter the slain
Heap with a rising pyramid the plain.
A hundred feet in length, a hundred wide,
The growing structure spreads on every side;
High on the top the manly corse they lay,
And well-fed sheep and sable oxen slay :
Achilles covered with their fat the dead,
And the pil’d victims round the body spread ;

* Rolleston ‘ Archzologia,’ vol, xlii.

1870. ] De Mortuis. 347

Then jars of honey, and of fragrant oil,

Suspends around, low-bending o’er the pile.

Four sprightly coursers, with a deadly groan

Pour forth their lives, and on the pyre are thrown,
Of nine large dogs, domestic at his board,

Fall two, selected to attend their lord,

Then last of all, and horrible to tell,

Sad sacrifice! twelve Trojan captives fell.

On these the rage of fire victorious preys,

Involves and joins them in one common blaze.”*

During the ceremony, decursions and games were celebrated,
often lasting several days, after which the osselegiwm, or gathering
of the bones and ashes of the dead, washing, anoimting, and deposit-
ing in urns, was performed. ;

Amongst refined and civilized peoples it is possible to conceive
that a certain sacredness was connected with this ceremonial, and
that such lines as the Salve Eternwm might form an appropriate
conclusion of such service :—

“Farewell, O soul departed !

Farewell, O sacred urn !

Bereaved and: broken-hearted,

To earth the mourners turn !

To the dim and dreary shore,

Thou art gone our steps before!

But thither the swift hours lead us,

And thou dost but awhile precede us !
Salve—Salve !

Loved urn and thou solemn cell,

Mute ashes !—farewell, farewell!
Salve—Salve ! +

But the incremation ceremony in western and northern Europe
was in reality more an occasion of feasting ; the slain animals being
chiefly cooked and eaten by the mourners. Thus we find in Anglo-
Saxon barrows and graves in England abundant remains of animals,
especially those of the horse, which have served as feasts.

To so high a pitch had this practice of the lyke-wake risen in
later times that it was severely denounced in numerous inhibitions
issued by the early Church.t}

Judging by the number of instances in which gold ornaments
have been found in graves, it seems probable that gold was the metal
which first attracted the attention of man. Its bright colour would .
certainly attract even the rudest savages, who are known to be very
fond. of personal decoration.

Silver does not appear to have been discovered until long after
gold, and was apparently preceded by both copper and tin, as it is
rarely, if ever, found in tumuli of the Bronze age; but however
this may be, copper seems to have been the metal which first became
of real importance to man; no doubt owing to the fact that its ores

* Pope’s Translation of the ‘ Iliad,’ Book xxiii.
+ ‘Last Days of Pompeii :’ Lytton.

t See Rolleston in ‘ Archeologia,’ vol. xlii.
VOL. VI. 2B

348 De Mortuis. [ July,

are abundant in many countries, and can be smelted without dit
ficulty ; and that, while iron is hardly ever found except in the form
of ore, copper often occurs in a native condition and can be beaten
at once into shape.*

There is no reason to suppose that the mound-builders, whose
earth-works occupy leagues in extent in the valleys of the Mississippi
and Ohio, were acquainted with the art of smelting copper; that
they mined it extensively on the shores of Lake Superior, and
wrought it into knives, spear-heads, chisels, and bracelets, and other
personal ornaments there can be no reasonable doubt, but having
no tin, they could not, like the ancient dwellers of the Swiss lakes,
Denmark, &c., impart to the alloy almost the hardness of steel. It
is doubtful, even, whether their metallurgic art extended to the smelt-
ing of copper; ‘for it often happens that the native copper of Lake
Superior encloses native silver, both metals existing side by side
chemically pure, which, if smelted, in whatever proportions, would
form a homogeneous compound. Bracelets have been found in the
mounds, in which this peculiarity is preserved, thus showing that
the material had not been sme!ted but simply hammered cold ; and
the ends are brought together by bending, without any evidence of
having been soldered.

Of the amount of gold found in the Chiriqui graves in Central
America probably no just estimate can be obtained. At the period
of Mr. Power's visit in August, 1859, about 250 lbs. weight of gold
had been extracted from the huacas at Bugabita, two-thirds being
tolerably pure gold, the remaining third what is called “ guanin,”
or gold alloyed with copper; the value of the whole was about
12,5007. In the summer of 1861, some fresh tombs were discovered
from which gold objects to the value of 16,0002. had been extracted.
Although, as must necessarily happen, these interesting remains
find their fate in the melting-pot wholesale, there are yet to be seen
in the Blackmore Museum at Salisbury, the Christy Museum, Vic-
toria Street, the British Museum, and elsewhere, many examples of
these curious American antiquities,

From a careful examination of many of the Ohio mounds and a
comparison of their characteristics with ancient Scandinavian tumuli,
it seems highly probable that, in some instances at least, the tomb
was formed by covering the dwelling in which the dead man had
lived with a mound of earth or a cairn of stones.

This would explain the curious sorted condition of many remains
in the American mounds. ‘Thus in mound No. 8, “ Mound City,”
may have been buried the body of some celebrated pipe-maker, with
all his stock-in-trade, which his friends no doubt believed he would

* Lubbock, ‘ Pre-historic Times,’ pp. 3-4.
+ Foster’s ‘ Mississippi Valley,’ p. 423. -
t ‘Flint Chips, by E. T. Bicgone pp: 285-6.

1870. ] De Mortuis. 349

find valuable to him for barter in the land of spirits as he had done
in this world. In others the stock of arrow-heads was so enormous
we may well suppose the occupier of the mound had been a maker
of flint arrow-heads.

The practices of modern savages often throw great light upon
these difficult points. |

Thus we find among the New Zealanders, if the owner dies, he
is commonly buried in his house with all it contamed.* The islanders
of Torres Straits also used their dwelling-huts as dead-houses.t
It is still more significant that the Esquimaux themselves frequently
leave the dead in the houses which they occupied when alive.
We cannot, says Sir John Lubbock, compare the plan of a Scan-
dinavian “ passage-grave ” with that of an Esquimaux snow-house,
without being struck with the great similarity existing between them.

Under these circumstances there seems much probability in the
view advocated by Professor Nilsson, the venerable archeologist of
Sweden, that these “ passage-graves ” are a copy or adaptation of the
dwelling-house ; that the ancient inhabitants of Scandinavia, unable
to imagine a future altogether different from the present, or a world
quite unlike our own, showed their respect and affection for the dead
by burying with them those things which in life they had valued
most ; with women their ornaments, with warriors their weapons.

They buried the house with its owner, and the grave was literally
the dwelling of the dead.§

From the foregoing premises we may venture to establish this
axiom, namely, that any people who accompanied the rites of inter-
ment of their dead by such evident indications of care and attention
as we find ina vast number of graves belonging to different periods
and races in Western Europe and America, may be safely concluded
to have possessed a notion of a future state, whatever may have been
the name they ascribed to it; and moreover they must have also
believed it possible, by their gifts and good offices, to assist their
departed friends into the spirit land.

* Tylor, ‘ New Zealand and its Inhabitants,’ p. 101.

+ M‘Gillivray, ‘ Voyage of Rattle-snake,’ vol. ii., p. 48.
{~ Ross’ ‘ Arctic Expedition,’ 1829-33, p. 290.

§ Lubbock, ‘ Pre-historic Times,’ pp. 126-7.

( 3850 ) [July,

VI. FOREIGN TREES AND PLANTS FOR ENGLISH
GARDENS.*

By Aurrep W. Bennyert, M.A., B.Sc, F.LS.

THE introduction of new forms of vegetable life into our gardens and
greenhouses has made considerable progress during recent years.
The Acclimatisation Societies of Paris and London have, it is true,
paid more attention to the domestication of foreign animals than of
plants; something, however, has been attempted in this direction,
and with considerable success. This branch of acclimatisation would,
indeed, seem likely to be the most fertile in results beneficial to
mankind. For one fresh animal introduced that will be of real
utility, there will probably be a dozen plants that yield important
economical products. ‘The early races of mankind appear to have
exhausted our powers over the lower animals—the horse, the ass,
the dog, the camel, the ox, the sheep, were all brought under sub-
jection to man at the earliest period of his history ; and within his-
toric times no important addition has been made to the number of
our domestic animals. Not so with plants. A large number of
the vegetable substances used as food at the present day, and of the
vegetable articles of manufacture, were unknown to the ancients;
and the field for further extension of our utilisation of the vege-
table kingdom seems indefinitely large. ‘The power of cultivation
in modifying plants is also much greater than any corresponding
power of domestication in modifying animals. The oldest extant
drawings of the horse, the ox, or the camel, scarcely point out any
distinctive features from their descendants now living; the potato
and the apple, on the other hand, may almost be considered as ma-
nufactured products; while many gardeners’ flowers, such as the
Pelargonium and the Tulip, differ so widely from their ancestors as,
in some cases, to obscure their parentage. The term Acclimatisation
has been objected to by some scientific men, on the ground that the
descendants of any animal or plant which has been transported from
one climate to another have no more power than their ancestor of
adapting themselves to that climate, unless the principle of Natural
Selection has come into play to eliminate the individuals least able
to adapt themselves to the new climate, those only surviving which,
from some cause or other, are most suited to the fresh conditions. Be
this as it may, there is no question about the fact that the farmer

* ‘The Planter’s Guide: Trees and Shrubs for English Plantations.’ By
A. Mongredien. London: J. Murray. 1870.

‘Alpine Flowers for English Gardens.’ By W. Robinson, F.L.S. London:
J. Murray. 1870.

‘Dendrologie: Baume, Straucher, und Halb-straucher welche in Mittel oder
Nord-Europa im Freien kultivirt werden. Kritisch bearbeitet von Karl Koch.
Erster Theil. Erlangen. Enke, 1869.

1870.| Foreign Trees and Plants for English Gardens. 351

and the gardener have it in their power to naturalise plants foreign
to our climate and our soil.

But the conditions of this naturalisation are by no means so
simple as might at first sight appear. It might naturally be sup-
posed that all we have to do is to introduce those plants which grow
spontaneously in a climate and a soil similar to our own, and that
they will necessarily flourish, and will scarcely be aware of the change.
Or, if they come from a warmer country, that all that is needed is to
protect them by glass and artificial warmth from the inclemency of
our winters. But in practice this is not found to be the case. A
plant will frequently obstinately refuse to become naturalised in a
country, the climatal and geological conditions of which are similar
to those that occur in the region where it is indigenous. Our
common daisy, a native of almost every country of Europe, is said to
have resisted all attempts to introduce it even into the gardens of the
United States. Some plants seem to have an unconquerable aversion
to the fostering hand of man, even in their own country. A well-
constructed and carefully-kept fernery will contain specimens, more
or less luxuriant, of nearly all our native ferns; the polypody and
hartstongue from shady banks and tree-stumps; the so-called male
and female ferns from the woods; the spleenwort from dry walls;
even the royal “ flowering-fern” from bogs; and some of the semi-
alpine species will flourish with the exercise of a little care. One
kind, however, is almost invariably absent, and that the most widely
distributed of all our ferns, the common brake, a native of every county
and almost of every parish in the country, but which can seldom
be induced to remain a denizen of soil that has once been brought
under man’s dominion. On the other hand, some of the greatest
favourites of our gardens, which display no coyness whatever in over-
running our flower-beds, are natives of countries where the climate
presents very different features to our own, or of very limited tracts
of our own country, to which they seem strictly confined by impas-
sable barriers of soil or meteorological conditions. To take instances
of the latter phenomenon :—There is no garden flower more cos-
mopolitan in its tastes, more certain to thrive under any conditions
of light or heavy soil, sun or shade, care or neglect, even in the
heart of a town, as its very name seems to indicate, than the London
Pride. Yet the Saaifraga umbrosa is one of the most restricted
in distribution of our native plants. Abundant enough where it
does grow, it is yet entirely confined to the moist equable climate
of the hilly country in the south-west of Ireland and a few other
similar localities, beyond which it is never found in the wild state.
Botanists will think themselves amply repaid for a toilsome day’s
march by gathering the beautiful Polemoniwm ceruleum in its
native habitat among the calcareous hills of the west of Yorkshire ;
yet the Jacob’s Ladder is an ornament of every garden on the very

3952 Foreign Trees and Plants [ July;

stiffest part of the London clay. Probably every piece of cultivated
ground, which contains a laburnum tree, produces each spring a
plentiful crop of self-sown young trees, which come up without
the least care or protection until destroyed in the process of weed-
ing; yet the laburnum shows no disposition to take a place among
the naturalised trees of our woods and hedges, although the seeds
must often be carried there by birds. It is remarkable that many
of our common vegetables, the cabbage, the asparagus, the sea-kale,
the celery, are natives of our own shores, never growing sponta-
neously out of reach of the salt spray; and yet requiring, when
transplanted into our gardens, no peculiarity of soil or treatment to
enable them to support a vigorous existence. These are instances of
plants to which our climate appears entirely congenial, and yet which
seem as if they could not propagate themselves with us or spread,
except under man’s protection. Others, again, appear to require only
to get a footing in a foreign soil to become established in it with
extraordinary rapidity, even to the overmastering or expulsion of
some of the indigenous inhabitants. When Australia and New
Zealand were first colonized by Europeans, their flora presented an
aspect of perfect strangeness, very few of the native trees or flowers
belonging even to genera common to Europe. ‘The seeds of some
of our English weeds were, however, introduced, intentionally or
accidentally, by the early settlers; and now the thistle covers the
waste lands of Australia as it does in England, and the clover and
the groundsel everywhere remind the Englishman of his far-away
home, and have become as completely at home as the mustangs or
wild-horses on the pampas of South America. In our own country
a very remarkable instance of this rapid naturalisation has occurred
in the case of the Hlodea canadensis or Canadian water-weed ; which,
introduced not many years since into our canals from Canada, has
now become such a pest in many places as seriously to impede the
navigation. Other instances might be mentioned of foreign plants
introduced with seed having in a very short time become common
weeds in all cultivated land. Indeed, many of the species included
in our handbooks of British plants are so entirely confined to arable
land or to spots in the immediate vicinity of human dwellings, that
it is impossible to say how many of them may be really indigenous
to the soil, and how many naturalised aliens.

There is no doubt we have a great deal to learn as to the mode
in which plants propagate themselves in nature, which may be of
the utmost value to our gardeners. Every one is familiar with the
fact of the apparently spontaneous appearance, in immense abun-
dance, of plants in soil when subjected to certain farming operations,
or on the sowing of some particular crop. Whenever a new rail-
way cutting or embankment is made, some plant unknown in the
neighbourhood is almost sure to appear, and either permanently

1870. ] for English Gardens. 353

establish itself or again disappear after a few years. The “sowing”
of land with lime is invariably followed by the appearance of a crop
of white or Dutch clover. When certain kinds of wood are cut
down, it is said that during the next year a particular species of
moss will always be found covering the ground. Immediately after
the great fire of London in 1666, the London Rocket (Sisymbriwm
Trio) sprang up in enormous quantities on the dismantled walls,
but is now no longer to be found in the metropolitan district. The
usual theory to account for this sudden appearance of new plants
is the existence in the soil of large ‘stores of seeds” ready to ger-
minate on the first favourable opportunity. In his Anniversary
Address to the Linnean Society in 1869, Mr. Bentham, however,
pynted out that if this explanation is the true one, it ought not to
depend merely on theory, but would be capable of easy practical
verification. He suggested whether a hitherto insufficiently acknow-
ledged part in the rapid dissemination of plants may not be played
by birds. The whole subject presents a wide field for further in-
vestigation, and must amply reward any one who takes up the
inquiry, if endowed with the qualities of accurate observation and
patient research. :

Mr. Mongredien’s ‘ Planter’s Guide’ deals chiefly with the intro-
duction into this country of foreign trees and shrubs. Within the
last twenty or thirty years the appearance of our lawns and planta-
tions has been greatly changed by the number of new forms which
have made their appearance. ‘The stately Wellingtonca, the formal
self-asserting “ Puzzle-monkey” or Araucaria imbricata, the
massive Deodar and Cryptomeria, the elegant Pinus insignis and
Cupressus Lawsoniana, are all still of too recent introduction to
permit us to judge of what their effect will be when grown to their
full stature. The number of cone-bearing trees from all parts of
the world, perfectly hardy in this climate, is extraordinary ; and,
partly from their graceful shape, partly from the evergreen character
of their leaves, the attention of cultivators has been perhaps too
exclusively confined to them, while deciduous trees have been com-
paratively neglected. Recent experiments have shown that in this
quarter also there is abundant room for an extension of our powers
of domestication. In one of the London Parks least frequented by
the upper ten thousand, that at Battersea, great success has attended
the introduction, during the last few years, of half-hardy trees and
shrubs, the precaution being taken of protecting their roots during
winter by a layer of some substance impervious to frost. The
French have paid more attention to the perfect naturalisation of
half-hardy plants than we have done: notwithstanding the greater
severity of their winter, species are grown by them out of doors
which are never seen with us except in greenhouses; even as far
north as Paris, the bamboo, for instance, is frequently met with in

dot Foreign Trees and Plants | July,

gentlemen’s gardens; and there is no doubt that many shrubs and
herbaceous plants, which we never think of attempting to grow
except under protection, might, with a very little care and attention,
become permanent denizens of our gardens and shrubberies. Pro-
bably few are aware that the common Camellia will stand with
impunity an ordinary English winter. Mr. Mongredien says that
“it protected during the first two or three years after being planted
out, and when once established, it proves in the climate of London
quite as hardy as the common laurel, and blooms as profusely as in
a conservatory. It is true that, from its habit of flowering early
in the spring, the blossoms are sometimes damaged by the nipping
easterly winds, but this occurs only in unfavourable seasons; and
even if the tree never flowered at all, its lovely foliage would still
make it one of the most beautiful evergreens of which our gardens
can boast. A plant of the variety Donkelari has stood out for
twelve years in a garden at Forest Hill with a northern aspect,
without the slightest protection during the severest winters, and
now forms a good-sized bush, densely clothed with magnificent
foliage. ‘The Camellia ought to be planted out in every garden,
and with a little attention for the first year or two, it would prove
quite hardy, at least in the more southern counties, and each
season it would increase in attractiveness.” —--

The climate of the south of England is far more congenial to
the introduction of foreign trees and shrubs than that of the
northern counties, not from the greater severity of the winters in
the north, for the minimum temperature of the year is often as
low in Kent or Hampshire as in Yorkshire or Northumberland,
but from the shorter and cooler summers. Many plants absolutely
require a considerable period of high temperature to enable them to
ripen their wood sufficiently to withstand the winter frosts, and
especially to induce them to flower. In many parts of Scotland,
however, the climate is as favourable to horticulturists as in any
district of England. In the Duke of Sutherland’s estate at Dun-
robin, on the east coast of Sutherlandshire, Hydrangeas, myrtles,
and other half-hardy plants, grow as freely and as unchecked out
of doors as they do in Devonshire or Cornwall. The equalizing
effect of the Gulf Stream on the temperature is no doubt the cause
of this special immunity from frost. The proximity of the sea-
coast is not generally favourable to the growth of trees and shrubs,
not so much from the saltness of the air as from the prevalence of
high winds, which are very injurious to growing vegetation. Young
and tender shoots which will bear a moderate amount of cold, will
sometimes be scorched as if by fire by a tempestuous night.

Mr. Mongredien’s book is intended as a repertorium of every-
thing connected with the choosing, planting, and treatment of Eng-
lish and foreign trees and shrubs, and contains an immense mass

1870. | for English Gardens, 355

of information for any one whose tastes lie in this direction. Its
defects are rather of omission than of commission. The plan pro-
mises a completely exhaustive treatment of the subject: in the first
place we have an alphabetical list, with brief descriptions, of 621 trees
and shrubs, selected as desirable for planting in the open air in this
country ; followed by a classification of them under a variety of
headings, as to their height, their foliage, their time of flowering,
the colour of their flowers, their fruit, their timber, and other points.
It is illustrated by a number of very pretty woodcuts, of which
we subjoin a specimen. The principle on which these 621 species

Abies nobilis ; Wimbledon.

have been selected is not always obvious. Why, for instance, is our
common Fuchsia (miscalled Fuchsia coccinea, as Dr. Hooker has
shown) excluded, forming as it does the glory of every cottage-garden
in the Isle of Wight and in Devonshire, the stems assuming almost

306 Foreign Trees and Plants [July,

a tree-like character; or the Berberis aquifolium, which, with its
glossy leaves and very early flowers, is so deservedly a favourite in
every shrubbery? In the enumeration of winter-flowering plants
we miss also the beautiful Forsythia, and several others which might
have been mentioned. An exceedingly useful list is that of ‘ species
which thrive in the smoke of cities,” in which Mr. Mongredien names
the horse-chestnut, Aclantus glandulosa, Virginian creeper, almond,
Artemisia abrotanum, Aucuba, Catalpa, Cydonia japonica, labur-
num, fig, ivy, Cape jasmine, privet, Paulownia imperialis, Phillyrea
media, plane, evergreen oak, Rhamnus Alaternus, samach, flowering
currant, Robinia pseudacacia (commonly called the acacia), Sophora
japonica, and guelder rose; a very useful list to cultivators of
suburban gardens, but again very incomplete. In London gardens
the lilac is everywhere the companion of the laburnum; magni-
ficent hawthorn-trees could be shown within two miles of Charing
Cross; the roads in the suburbs are everywhere adorned in early
spring with the beautiful hght-green foliage of the lime; while the
sides of the houses are gay in the summer with the gorgeous flowers
of the hardy passion-flower, or the gigantic leaves of the Aristolochia
Sipho; nor should the apple, the pear, and the cherry have been
omitted, if it is only for the wealth of their flowers. It is worthy
of remark that the smoke of an ordinary town is not nearly so de-
structive to vegetation as that poured forth from the chimneys of
manufactories or chemical works. Flowers will be found to thrive
in gardens in the very heart of London, which many a Lancashire
gentleman would give almost any money to establish even in his
ereenhouses. Notwithstanding the deficiencies we have named,
‘The Planter’s Guide’ is a book that should be in the hands of
every one interested in the subject; and we hope it may be the
means of attracting attention to the great value and importance of
ornamental planting in improving the character of our lawns,
shrubberies, and parks.

If we now turn from trees and shrubs to herbaceous plants, we
enter on a still wider field, and one more within the reach of every
lover of nature. Arboriculture, after all, must always be the pur-
suit of those only who have both money and space at their command ;
floriculture may be followed by every cottager, and even by every
dweller in a town who has a window-sill at his disposal; and we
doubt whether the latter does not derive the most pleasure from it.
Although many of the favourite flowers of the last two or three
generations will probably always hold a place in our gardens, and
deservedly, yet the number of species that have been introduced of
late years worth cultivating for their beauty, and within the reach
of every one who possesses a flower-pot, is very large; and as a
hand-book for this class of plants, though treating only of a section
of them, plants especially adapted for rock-work, we can most

Fe ee

1870.] for English Gardens. 357

cordially recommend Mr. Robinson’s ‘ Alpine Flowers for English
Gardens.’ ‘The easy and lively style in which it is written, no less
than the excellence of its matter, will commend it to every lover of
lants.
; Mr. Robinson is no mere enthusiast in his subject when he says :
—“ This book is written to dispel a very general error, that the ex-
quisite flowers of alpine countries cannot be grown in gardens, and
as one of a series of manuals having for their object the improve-
ment of our out-door gardening, which, it appears to me, is of in-
finitely greater importance than anything that can ever be accom-
plished in enclosed structures, even if glass sheds or glass palaces
were within the reach of all.” His first concern is with the struc-
ture of rockeries, in the mode of building which not only is the
taste still displayed, or at all events till quite recently, barbarous
and inartistic in the extreme; but it would seem as if the very
conditions necessary for the health of the plants were studiously
neglected. The ordinary idea of the treatment of rock-plants,
judging from the hideous monstrosities which may be seen in many
a gentleman’s garden, is that you have nothing to do but to poke
them in between the chinks of perfectly bare stones or clinkers piled
together in a promiscuous heap, in order to present them in their
native habitats. A gardener who commits such an absurdity as
this, can never have ascended a mountain with his eyes open. To
quote again from Mr. Robinson :—* Mountains are often bare, and
cliffs are usually devoid of soil ; but we must not conclude therefrom
that the choice jewellery of plant-life scattered over the ribs of the
mountain, or the interstices of the crag, live upon little more than
the mountain air and the melting snow! Where will you find such
a depth of well-ground stony soil, and withal such perfect drainage,
as on the ridges of débris flanking some great glacier, stained all
over with tufts of crimson saxifrage? Can you gauge the depth
of that narrow chink, from which peep tufts of the diminutive and
beautiful Androsace helvetica? No; it has gathered the crumbling
erit and scanty soil for ages and ages; and the roots enter so far
that nothing the tourist carries with him can bring out enough of
them to enable the plant to live elsewhere.” Alpine plants are
peculiarly exposed to sudden alternations of heat and cold, of moisture
and dryness. The cold, almost frosty night will be followed, in
July and August, by an unclouded day, when the rays of the sun
beat on the unsheltered surface of the rock with an intensity that
would scorch up many an English meadow plant. Only a very
small proportion of alpine plants are annuals ; and they are frequently
provided with a storehouse of nourishment in the form of rosettes
or tufts of thick succulent leaves; but their chief water-supply is
through their roots; and thus we find that while our garden
annuals have fibrous roots of insignificant dimensions, and even

308 Foreign Trees and Plants [July,

our forest trees will seldom strike their roots to a greater depth
than the height of their foliage, the roots of alpine plants scarcely
an inch in height will be found to penetrate the chinks between the
rocks full of rich earth, to the depth of sometimes more than a yard,
or forty times the height that they venture into theair. The neglect
of this most essential condition for the growth of alpine plants is of
itself amply sufficient to account for the failure which has generally
accompanied the attempts to introduce these lovely flowers to our
rockeries. A good depth of soil is indeed more indispensable to
these plants than the presence of rock and stone. They no doubt
prefer to expand their flowers and extend their green shoots over
the bare rock ; and where rock-work is artistically managed, this
faint attempt at a reconstruction of their native habitat adds greatly
to the picturesqueness of the effect. But many of them will flourish
equally well in open borders, and even when planted in pots, with
a few stones about them to protect the roots from the direct action
of the sun, if only the two requisites are attended to, of constant
moisture and perfect drainage; and hence they are invaluable ac-
quisitions to the cottage or window gardener. The Saxifrages, the
beautiful purple Awbrietia, with respect to which Mr. Robinson
says, ‘ rock-works, ruins, stony places, sloping banks, and rootwork
suit it perfectly; no plant is so easily established in such places,
nor will any other alpine plant clothe them so quickly with the
desired vegetation,” the various species of Arabis, the alpine
Primulas, all make excellent bedding plants. The ease with which
a new alpine can be domesticated in our climate is shown by the
rapid spread of the lovely early forget-me-not, Myosotis dissitiflora,
brought not many years since from the Alps near the Vogelberg,
now to be had from every nurseryman, and the treasure of many a
cottage garden, with its exquisite sky-blue flowers, continuing from
mid-winter till early summer.

But it is not alpine flowers only which will repay the small
amount of trouble necessary for their introduction. Many plants
which are never grown without the protection of a greenhouse, do
not require any elevation of temperature for their successful growth,
but merely an absence of great changes both of temperature and
moisture. ‘This is especially the case with not a few of the most
delicate ferns, such as the elegant maidenhair, and the two fragile
little filmy-ferns; and the requisite uniformity of temperature and
moisture can be obtained out of doors by the erection of a partially
underground grotto or ravine of rocks, through which water is per-
petually trickling, the entrance being protected by a screen of
foliage from the direct infiuence of the weather. It is astonishing
how equable a climate can be obtained by a simple device of this
kind. The drawing given on p. 359 is from such a rock-cave
constructed in the grounds of one of our most scientific and success-

1870. ] for English Gardens. 309

ful nurserymen near York, where he grows not only our royal so-
called “ flowering fern,” the Osmunda regalis, and several foreign

Entrance to Cave for Killarney Fern in Rock-garden.

allied species, but the most beautiful of all this beautiful tribe, the
moisture-loving Killarney fern, which clothes the soil of the damp
dark woods by the Tore waterfall.

The beauty of these horticultural experiments is that they can
be tried on so small a scale, and are thus within the reach of almost
every one ; yielding a source of pure and healthy enjoyment which
few other "pursuits will afford. Mr. Robinson almost promises us
that his little book shall be the first of a series of similar manuals
on different departments of gardening ; and we can hardly conceive
a greater service than this to a large number of his countrymen,
who merely require to be told how to set to work to cultivate this
fascinating science.

( 360 ) [July,

VII. A RECENT TRIUMPH OF SYNTHETICAL
CHEMISTRY.

Iv is not often that so legitimate a triumph of synthetical chemistry
as the artificial production of a natural substance becomes, at the
same time, an important national discovery, the money value of
which may be reckoned by millions. Such, without exaggeration,
it is not unlikely that the artificial production of Alizarine, the
colouring matter of madder, may become.

Madder is the root of a plant belonging to the order of Ru-
biacez, amongst which are included some valuable plants, such as
the cinchona, ipecacuanha, and coffee. The madder plant is the
rubia tincorum. It is estimated that its consumption reaches over
47,000 tons per annum, and this, at 45/. per ton, amounts to over
2,000,0007. sterling, one half of which is imported to England, and
the payment for which (1,000,0002.) goes out of this country mto
the pockets of foreign manufacturers. If now the essential con-
stituent for which madder is so valuable, its pure colouring matter,
can be economically prepared by chemical means from coal-tar, that
amount of money will naturally go into our own pockets—a not
unworthy reward for chemical ingenuity.

The value of madder in dyeing and calico printing depends upon
the many different colours which can be dyed by its means ; thus,
one mordant (iron) gives purple shades, from the most delicate
mauve to black; with another mordant (alumina), red shades are
produced, from the palest pink to deep crimson, including the
brilliant and well-known Turkey red; and by judicious admixture
of these mordants, combinations of all varieties of chocolate-brown
are produced. These colours are very permanent, whilst the high
price of the raw material to which they are due renders the dis-
covery of a substitute a problem of the highest commercial import-
ance. For these reasons the chemical investigations of madder have
been very numerous, the most valuable results having been obtained
by our own countryman, Dr. Schunck. This chemist found that the
root did not contain a colouring matter ready formed, but there was
in it, amongst many other bodies, a erystallme substance, which he
named rubianic acid. When the powdered madder is allowed to
stand in a moist state, or is gently heated with water in the dye-
beck, a peculiar fermentation sets up under the influence of a fer-
ment called erythrozyn, by which the rubianic acid is split up into
alizarine and glucose. Besides alizarine, there is another colouring
matter obtained from madder, called purpurine ; but as all the valu-
able shades and colours of madder are due to the alizarime, we need
only devote attention to the latter substance.

Alizarine is a brilliant scarlet substance, which crystallizes in

1870.] <A Recent Triumph of Synthetical Chemistry. 361

prisms, and when exposed to carefully-regulated heat, sublimes, con-
densing into beautiful tufts of scarlet needles; it is only sparingly
soluble in water, but dissolves in spirit, and in alkaline solutions ;
its tinctorial power is at least thirty-five times as great as that of
madder itself. Dr. Schunck was the first to point out that Turkey
red, madder pink, and all the finer madder colours, are simply com-
pounds of alizarine and fatty acids with bases, and he has described
a process for preparing pure alizarime from cotton which has been
dyed Turkey red.

The discovery of the method of preparing alizarine artificially
is due to two continental chemists, Messrs. Graebe and Liebermann,
and their discovery is the more remarkable, since it has not been
effected by any haphazard, rule-of-thumb system of experimentation,
but is the result of a scientific investigation on the properties and
molecular structure of alizarine, and has been conducted, step by
step, in accordance with logical deductions from the known laws of
synthetical chemistry. The train of reasoning is too complicated,
and requires too profound a knowledge of the laws of modern
chemistry, to be given in detail here, but a brief outline of their
research will perhaps be of interest.

From an examination of the substances obtainéd when pure
alizarine from madder was submitted to sundry chemical processes,
it was ascertained that this principle was connected with the hydro-
carbon group containing fourteen atoms of carbon, and by heating it
with a body capable of removing oxygen, they obtained from it the
hydro-carbon of the group, containing fourteen atoms of carbon and
ten of hydrogen. This was seen to be identical with one of the solid
crystalline bodies obtained in the distillation of coal, named anthra-
cene; and by a somewhat complicated process they converted this
into anthraquinone, then into bibrom-anthraquinone, and lastly, into
alizarine; having by this means added four atoms of oxygen to and
removed two atoms of hydrogen from the alizarine. The key to the
synthetical formation of alizarine having thus been discovered, it was
not long before improvements were effected ; for when a particular
series of chemical reactions have to be performed, a clever chemist
can always find different ways of effecting them, as the records of
many a celebrated patent case will show. There are now four pro-
cesses in operation, three of which are patented, whilst one is being
worked secretly. All effect the same purpose by somewhat similar
means, but by the use of different reagents, and all start from an-
thracene. Mr. Perkin’s patent is now in operation in this country,
and his artificial alizarine is in use amongst the Scotch dyers, where
it is competing favourably with madder. [Besides alizarine, other
colouring matters are formed during these synthetical operations ;
and unless care is taken in the purification, the tones produced by
the artificial colouring matter are liable to be somewhat yellowish ;

362 A Recent Triwmph of Synthetical Chemistry. [July,

but when pure, there is no doubt as to the identity of the artificial
and natural dyes, as they are similar in their absorption spectra,
their tinctorial powers, their unalterability under the influence of
light, and their solubility.

Whether artificial alizarine will supersede madder to any great
extent depends principally on the supply of the raw material, anthra-
cene. Dr. Roscoe says that in an experiment made on a large scale
it was found that 100 tons of tar yielded 0°63 ton of anthracene, or
1 ton of anthracene could be obtained from the distillation of about
2000 tons of coal, not reckoning the quantity of anthracene con-
tained in the pitch. But tar distillers have hitherto turned very
little attention to this substance, and from some experiments of Mr.
Perkin it is probable that some kinds of coal-tar contain considerable
quantities of anthracene. Attention being now directed to the sub-
ject, all experience tells us that the demand will bring a supply, and
already we see signs of this in the advertisement pages of chemical
periodicals, where the price of anthracene is regularly quoted along
with that of other coal-tar products. Should our anticipations be
fulfilled, this discovery, although made by German chemists, cannot
fail to be of most benefit to England, the great tar-producing country
of the world. ‘Tar distillers will do well to bear this in mind, and
examine the influence of various temperatures in distillation, for
anthracene is likely to become as important as benzol was a few

years ago.
i W. ¢.

1870.| ( 363 )

NOTICES OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS.

FORMS OF ANIMAL LIFE.*

‘T'wENTY years ago a number of statutes were passed in the Uni-
versity of Oxford indicative of a commencing change in the educa-
tional methods pursued at that venerable institution, of which change
the book before us is one of the fruits. The “ progressive studies,”
and prominently among them the study of the natural sciences, were
introduced as legitimate objects of pursuit ; and the admission thus
made that, in the opinion of some, they were at least competent to
supplement, if not to supplant, as agents of intellectual discipline,
the investigation of the ancient classics, or of the philosophical works
of Kant and Hamilton.

Whether science, however, as distinct from literature, be efficient
in developing the mental faculties and engendering correct habits of
thought, must depend entirely on the method in which it is pursued.
It must be obvious to anyone who has had much experience in teach-
ing, that it is quite as easy—and perhaps even easier—for a youth
to acquire a scientific as a classical pedantry ; to be able glibly to talk
chemistry, as many boys do their Latin, by employing a confused
jumble of words and formule, without the slightest appreciation of
broad general principles. It is, indeed, quite marvellous how little
has been effected in England in some branches of science, even under
circumstances that would at first sight appear most favourable,
merely through the pursuit of a wrong method. Ask ninety-nine
out of a hundred senior medical students what the effect of a section
of the phrenic or the sympathetic nerve would be, and they will
probably detail certain characteristic changes in the respiration and
circulaticn. Supplement the first question by another requiring the
source of their information, and they will at once give the name of
the compiler of the physiological text-book most in vogue at the time.
Now ask two similar questions concerning the situations of these
nerves in the human body, and the replies will be of a very different
character. Their directions and relations to contiguous parts will
be promply set forth; and in reply to the second query the students
will inform you that they have seen the nerves with their own eyes,
and dissected them with their own scalpels, and are quite prepared
to prove the correctness of their statements by a demonstration of

* “Forms of Animal Life: being Outlines of Zoological Classification based
upon Anatomical Investigation, and Illustrated by Descriptions of Specimens and
of Figures.’ By George Rolleston, D.M., F.R.S., Linacre Professor of Anatomy
and Physiology in the University of Oxford, Oxford: Clarendon Press.

VOL. VII. ee

364 Notices of Scientifie Works. [ July,

them in the anatomical theatre. In the first case the knowledge is
hearsay, in the second it is the result of close individual observation,
and is therefore real.

Now it is the acquisition of a real and substantial basis of facts
—facts which must be verified again and again by the observing eye
and sensitive touch—to which physical and biological science, as an
engine of education, should first prompt the student. In other studies
words come to him invested with the authority conferred by the name
of some master. In these he is to believe what he sees and can prove
by experiment.

If it be asked why two such nearly related subjects as Anatomy
and Physiology should be studied so differently, and with such dif-
ferent results, we think the answer is near at hand. Comparative
anatomy, as a branch of scientific education, has, until recently, been
almost entirely neglected, and even now is not extensively taught.
Comparative physiology cannot be studied without a preliminary
groundwork of comparative anatomy. While, thirdly, almost all
advance in human physiology must depend on experiments made
on the lower animals. In these three statements we have indicated
what we conceive to be the true answer. Students cannot them-
selves work out the physiological problems connected with the nerves
in question, or any other similar part, because they are not suffi-
ciently familiar with their relative position in the only bodies on
which experiment is possible, vz. those of the lower animals. When
a course of comparative anatomy, carried out not merely by dry
lectures, but by actual dissections and demonstrations on familiar
representative animals, be considered an integral part of a medical
education, and not till then, will physiology be generally studied
according to a better method.

But if an English student of medicine of to-day desires to fit
himself for pursuing physiological studies after the manner indicated,
or by practical dissection to enlarge his knowledge of those empirical
laws which underlie animal forms, whither is he to look for a guide
—such a guide as books on anthropotomy afford him in his prac-
tical study of the human body? Except the book before us, we do
not know any that would serve his purpose. There are many books
of great value which give the results of comparative anatomy ; as,
for example, Professor Owen’s great work; or the remarkably lucid
and able ‘ Introduction to the Classification of Animals,’ by Professor
Huxley. But their scope and aim are different. Professor Rolles-
ton’s book does then, we think, supply a real want.

By the aid of its very clear descriptions, and, if possible, still
clearer figures, the student is enabled to dissect and recognize all the
salient points in the anatomy of a rat, pigeon, frog, and many an-
other familiar and typical animal. The volume is not intended for
the mere reader of comparative anatomy, and will do him no good—

1870. | Notices of Scientifie Works. 365

or at least no more good than any other able treatise on the subject.
It is designed as an aid to the practical worker; not to burden his
memory and confirm him in the enervating habit of receiving on
trust statements which ought to be verified by observation, but to
educate him into the way of educating himself. Though written
primarily for the benefit of students of the University of Oxford,
in the museum of which institution an illustrative series of prepara-
tions exists, we think we have said enough already to prove that its
advantages need by no means be limited to them; but that it will
prove most useful to all those who desire, ike we did in our own
student days, a reliable guide by which to work. To go through the
book as the author designs it to be gone through, and as the reader
for his own sake should make up his mind to go through it, will
involve both time and labour ; but they will be time and labour well
expended.

There are three parts to the work. First, an introduction,
“ oiving a classification of the animal kingdom, with a zootomical
account of the various sub-kingdoms and their subordinate divisions
and classes.” Secondly, a “description of certain readily procurable
specimens, which illustrate in the concrete a very large number of
the systematic descriptions contained in the introduction ;’ and
thirdly, descriptions of figures supplementary to the descriptions of
specimens, and designed to aid those specimens in “ furnishing that
groundwork of particular facts, without which it is impossible to
obtain any real knowledge or permanent hold of general principles.”
This endeavour to erect the principles of the science on a firm basis
of fact, which the student is taught how to observe for himself, is
the unique and most valuable feature of the book.

Of the three parts, the first consists of 168 pages, and is recom-
mended in the preface to be studied after the preparations and spe-
cimens whose descriptions succeed it. We do not quite see, as these
are to be read first (as they undoubtedly should be, and that too as
a commentary on actual specimens; all the better if actually made
by the reader), why they should be placed second. This is a matter
of small moment perhaps, except that a book is generally written in
the order in which it is intended to be read; and that a good many
people either pass over prefaces altogether, or read them just as
authors write them, namely, after they have finished the works to
which they are intended to be the real introductions. One of the.
most striking features of this first part is its extreme truthfulness.
No attempt is made to construct a completer system than Nature her-
self has given. Everything in it is reliable, because in everything
Nature has been followed, not led. Nothing is easier than to fix on
some one character as a basis, on which a zoological system .can be
constructed, whose symmetry and philosophic completeness shall
captivate the mere reader of zoology—nothing, except the readiness.

ce 2

366 jotices of Seientifie Works. [ July,

with which this symmetry can be shown to be unreal. We could point
to more than cne book, whose numerous editions testify to their
numerous readers, written on this principle. In the “Introduction”’
before us, if we miss a little of the charm of a completeness, easily
attained when men construct animal kingdoms out of their own
imaginings, we recognize in every page the far more substantial
advantage of a severely conscientious truthfulness. Scarcely a fact
of broad and general application is stated, that has not the “but,”
which introduces all the exceptions to it, immediately after; and it
will be a great satisfaction to the student of the book to know that,
however much he may have to supplement the knowledge it affords
him as the science of comparative anatomy may advance, he will
have little or nothing to unlearn. .

The admirable calmness and temper displayed when the passing
discussion of any biological theory is rendered necessary; the
carefulness with which conclusions which are merely probable are
distinguished from others that bear the stamp of certainty; the
evenness with which the balance is held between opposing probabi-
lities—as for example at pp. xxv. and clxu. respectively, where the
theories of evolution and of the existence of a regnum protisticum
are reviewed; and the readiness everywhere manifested to accept
any new truth when proved, coupled with a cautiousness in dispa-
raging the old simply because it is so, cannot fail to exercise a
wholesome influence on the mind of the reader.

In two ways we venture to think the value of this part might
be enhanced. First, by the addition to it of some such glossary as
that appended by Dr. Pye Smith to Professor Huxley’s “ Introduc-
tion.” Secondly, by the devotion of a single figure and about a page
of description to the elucidation of the constituent parts of a complete
vertebra ; in the absence of which the student is referred, at p. 9,
Part II., to Professor Owen's ‘ Descriptive Catalogue,’ a work not
easily obtained, except by those living in Metropolitan or University
towns.

The second part consists of the descriptions of fifty preparations
obtained from representative, and for the most part easily procurable
animals, such as the rat, pigeon, common fowl, frog, perch, cray-
fish, &c. While they are so clear as to enable the student easily to
recognize in the preparation before him its anatomical details, or to
make the preparation for himself if he has not access to a museum
containing it, they are something more than mere descriptive sketches
of the particular animals under consideration. Each serves as a text
for a discourse on the entire class, and side by side with the account
of every organ are allusions to homologous organs of creatures in
allied orders. With the descriptive anatomy of the common cray-
fish, for example, are frequent comparisons of its different parts with
those of other Decapods, both brachyurous and macrourous; of Iso-

1870.] Notices of Scientific Works. 367

pods, Amphiopods, and many others; so that by being thus grouped
around one central and familiar figure, the resemblances and differ-
ences can be better appreciated and more easily remembered.

In the third part are twelve plates containing drawings of nine
dissections of common animals, executed from the dissections them-
selves, by Mr. G. Crozier, formerly draughtsman to the Radcliffe
Library, Oxford; and sixteen diagrams taken from the best sources.
In the descriptions, which serve as comments on these figures, there
is necessarily at times some amount of repetition of what has been
gone over in the previous part. Nobody, however, who knows how
much the impressions of facts upon the mind are deepened by their
being presented in different manners, will regret this. The facts
of anatomy, as every teacher or learner of it knows, have to be re-
iterated many times before they become retained.

A certain amount of preliminary knowledge is necessary before
this book, or indeed before any book on comparative anatomy, can
be beneficially studied. It is not much. One session’s steady work
will give any average student a fair knowledge of human osteology
and visceral anatomy, and then he will be prepared to enter with
advantage on such a study of comparative anatomy as Professor
Rolleston has here so admirably sketched out for him.

OTHER WORLDS THAN OURS.*

Tue first sentiment of a thoughtful man untrammelled by the in-
fluences of doctrinal theology, when he hears the question, “ Are the
celestial spheres intended as the abode of life?” is one of profound
astonishment. The more natural inquiry, it seems to him, would
be, “ Why should the other worlds not be the seats of living organ-
isms?” and the very question reminds him at once of the littleness _
of his race, and of the restricted mental capacity which can seriously
entertain such a doubt. Imagine a colony of ants, who have
raised, what appears to them, a vast monument of their enterprise
and industry in the shape of a little mound, upon some islet in a
vast lake; and conceive of the complacency with which the ant-
philosophers will gaze upon the neighbouring islets, from which
they are separated by an impassable barrier, and of their grave
deliberations as to whether those other vast regions are peopled with
beings like themselves, or what can have been the object Nature had
in view when she raised up other lands besides their own? This is
precisely the position of our philosophers who cling to the idea that

* ‘Other Worlds than Ours: the Plurality of Worlds studied under the
Light of Recent Scientific Researches.’ By Richard A. Proctor, B.A., F.R.A.8,
Longmans, Green, & Co.

368 Notices of Scientific Works. [July,

ours is the only habitable world, and that the rest are but shining
lights placed in the heavens to give us light by night.

If we thought that many of our readers continued to hold this
doctrine, we should indeed lay down our pen in despair, and descend
to themes which come within the scope of the utilitarian under-
standing ; but thanks to the rapidly advancing strides of science, we
may fairly assume that a large proportion of the readers who con-
sult these pages are quite prepared to consider with the author of
the work before us, not whether other worlds are the seats of or-
ganized existence, but whether we have any, and, if any, what kind of
evidence concerning the nature of the living forms which now inhabit,
or are destined in future to reside upon, the other celestial spheres.

In considering the question from this pomt of view, we are
compelled still to admit our profound ignorance; but we may do so
without shame or humiliation, for in this case it is no longer the
unreasoning ignorance of the lower animals—we are no longer ant-
philosophers—it is the darkness which precedes light; the gloom
that is being dispelled, slowiy but surely, by the efforts of philo-
sophical research, through that quality of the human mind which
distinguishes us from inferior intelligences. We know very little
indeed of the conditions of existence in spheres other than our own,
and although Mr. Proctor has managed to write a book of more
than 300 pages on the subject (a great portion of which, however,
deals with matters interesting enough in themselves, but completely
alien to the main inquiry), all that has been ascertained with any-
thing approaching to certainty as bearmg upon the habitability of
the heavenly bodies, might easily be compressed into a dozen sen-
tences. So that if we were strictly to obey the injunction which is
given to young lawyers, that before they begin to consider the law
in any particular case upon which they are consulted, they should
thoroughly master the facts; if, we say, we were to apply this safe
method to the question, what kind of beings are living or destined
to live upon the heavenly spheres, the consideration of the subject
might be long deferred, and we should have to pronounce upon it
with great doubt and hesitancy.

Around Mercury there is probably some kind of atmosphere,
but the planet is too near the sun to admit of a satisfactory exami-
nation with our present philosophical instruments. Venus almost
certainly possesses an atmosphere, and the inclination of her axis
leads us to infer the existence of seasons.

Mars is the great piece de résistance in this light intellectual
banquet. That planet has almost certainly an atmosphere heavily
laden with clouds, two poles similar to our own, capped with snow
which encroaches upon and recedes from its more temperate zones
according to the seasons of the Martial year of 687 days; those
seasons being, like our own, the consequence of an inclination in

1870.] Notices of Scientific Works. 569

the axis of the planet to its orbit. But our information concerning
Mars does not stop here, for astronomers are sufficiently convinced
of the existence on its surface, of continents, islands, oceans, seas,
straits, and inlets, to have given them such designations as W.
Herschel Continent ; Kepler, Lockyer, &c., Lands; Phillips Island ;
Dawes Ocean; De la Rue Sea; J. Herschel Strait; Nasmyth Inlet,
&c., as may be seen from Mr. Proctor’s interesting chart in the
work under review; and if these surmises be correct—if the fair
face of Mars is divided into land and water, and if its skies are
varied with clouds and sunshine, it is only a reasonable inference
that in every other respect its physical aspect resembles that of our
own earth; its continents being diversified by hill and dale, plain
and valley ; its valleys adorned with lakes, and serving as the beds
of rivers; whilst waterfalls will likely adorn its hill sides, and
glaciers its mountain recesses. And if so, cut bono? Are there no
trees and shrubs to draw their nourishment from its streams and
watercourses ? no insects nor other flying things to flutter in its
sunshine? no living, moving beings to wander over its vast con-
tinents? And if some of these should still be absent, has all this
beauty been produced in vain for ever? We leave the common
sense of our readers to dictate the answer, for they are as well
able to form an opinion on the matter as the author of the work
before us.

From the slight inclination of its axis, Jupiter has no seasons
in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but probably the planet
possesses a cloud-laden vapour with its consequences. It is pos-
sible that Jupiter may be in a condition somewhat similar to that
in which our earth was when its seas swarmed with ancient forms of
life. Mr. Proctor does not say so, but judging from the necessity
of a supporting medium for its animal races (if it possess any), in
consequence of their additional weight as compared with those on
the earth’s surface, as will be explaimed presently, and from other
circumstances, such a view is worth consideration. Saturn, too, has
probably an atmosphere laden with vapours; and here our know-
ledge, which can hardly be called. positive, of the phenomena favouring
the existence of life in other parts of our Solar system, terminates.

There are, on the other hand, certain well-established pheno-
mena which render life impossible upon certain other spheres. The
photosphere of the Sun consists probably of glowing vapours, amongst
which those of many well-known elements, such as iron, calcium,
magnesium, as well as hydrogen gas, have been distinctly traced by
‘spectrum analysis; and so, too, similar elements in the same form,
sodium, magnesium, iron, hydrogen, have been clearly ascertained
to exist in some of the fixed stars.* In such an atmosphere, it is

* See Huggins “On Recent Spectroscopic Researches,” ‘ Quarterly Journal
of Science,’ April, 1869.

370 Notices of Scientific Works. [July

safe to say that no beings at all resembling those which live on
earth could possibly exist. Again, that side of the moon which is
visible to us has, in all probability, neither atmosphere nor water,
and it is subjected to the unimpeded action of the sun’s rays for
the space of fourteen days without intermission, a protracted tropical
day, which is followed by an Arctic night of equal duration.
Although there are grounds for believing that in past eons our
satellite may have been the abode of life, it is hardly possible, for
the reasons named, that it can be so in our time.

Again, there are circumstances from which it may reasonably be
inferred that even where it is legitimate to assume the existence of
living creatures on certain orbs, they must be constituted differently
from those we know on our globe. For example, an object which
on the earth’s surface weighs 1 lb., weighs only 7 oz. on Mercury,
but the same object would weigh 24 Ibs. on Jupiter; so that a man
of 10 stone here would have to carry 25 stone on Jupiter, and only
4 st. 6 lbs. on Mercury; and Mr. Proctor, if he had wished to
indulge his lively imagination more freely than he has done, might
have conceived of Mercury as an advanced planet, peopled by a
superior race of beings, who having a lighter weight to carry and
consequently less need for muscular exertion, would probably
require only one meal a day to compensate for physical waste, and
would therefore have more time and energy to devote to higher
occupations than mere nutrition. And, as already mentioned, the
additional weight which creatures would have to carry on Jupiter,
with its present size and density, suggests the idea of its containing
vast seas, that support Ichthyosaurs and their congeners. These
are, of course, speculations, like Mr. Proctor’s; but it may be as
well to mention that on all matters involving biological as well as
physical considerations, even speculators should be conversant with
the past history of life on our earth; should be geologists and
paleontologists as well as physical and astronomical observers.
The more we study Nature as a whole, the greater the need appears
for a school of thought which shall embrace all natural sciences.

In regard to the condition and habitability of other spheres, one
consideration—for it is absurd in the present state of our knowledge
to talk of conclusions—seems to press itself upon us, namely, whether
smaller orbs, as the nearer planets (Mercury, Venus, the Earth,
Mars), and the satellites in the Solar system, do not mean ad-
vanced life, or (as on our Moon) life already passed away ; and the
larger planets, and the Sun itself, retarded inorganic and organic
existence.

Those who desire to be fully informed as to Mr. Proctor’s views
on these matters must turn to his interesting pages; but it may be
remarked here, that he believes the exterior planets to be what may
be called semi-solar in their character, not only receiving heat from

1870. | Notices of Scientific Works. 371

the Sun, but, from their peculiar condition, having the power to
impart more than they receive, and so serving as suns to their
systems of satellites which he regards as true worlds. Why under
these circumstances he talks of Uranus and Neptune, which he
includes in his subsidiary Solar system,—indeed he speaks of Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune as “ four suns ” *—as Arctic planets
it is difficult to understand.

Having dealt with what may be termed the legitimate portion
of his subject—the habitability of the spheres—in the first half of
his book, the author proceeds to consider such objects and pheno-
mena as meteors and comets, the other suns, nebule, and he con-
cludes his volume with a chapter on ‘“‘ Supervision and Controul.”

We have space only for two or three passing criticisms. Mr.
Proctor adopts and enlarges upon the meteoric theory of the uni-
verse, which differs from the nebular theory of Laplace, in assuming
that at some time or other there was a chaos of moving meteors
and that these agglomerated into masses. In our Solar system, for
example, the sun first drained space of an immense quantity of
meteoric matter, leaving but little in its own immediate neighbour-
hood, so that first smaller planets were formed ; but as the attractive
force of the central orb diminished, larger centres (Jupiter, Saturn,
&c.) were again set up; whilst in other portions of the universe
similar processes were going on. ‘This hypothesis has received, and
will continue to receive, much attention. It is a kind of Darwinian
theory of the universe, not attempting to go back to the beginning
(for it is as difficult to account for the formation of a meteor as
of a sun), but endeavouring to reason by strict logical induction
from known and present phenomena to the probable past. Whoever
reads Mr. Proctor’s argument, however, will be struck by his strain-
ing to appropriate all known phenomena, even such as offer con-
tradictory evidence, in his own favour; whereas, many of his facts
or supposed facts are quite as applicable to the views of Laplace
as to the Meteoric hypothesis ; and such phenomena as the gaseous
nebule, their proximity to star systems, and their probable absorp-
tion by such systems, tell at least as strongly against, as for, the
theory which he has adopted. Here, too, in his great flights of fancy
the author fails to see the full significance of some of the pheno-
mena to which he refers. Astronomers are in the habit of saying
that we see creative processes now going on in the heavens; meaning
thereby that we see nebulous matter being formed into worlds to-
day. In all probability this is only true in one sense. The author,
quoting an anonymous writer, shows that we see many of the distant
stars, not as they are to-day, but as they were in ages past, for their
distance from us is so enormous, that the light which brings us

su ita Oe

372 Notices of Scientifie Works. [ July,

intelligence of their condition has been ages in speeding through
space. The application of this fact to the appearance of nebulze
and what may be considered as worlds in course of formation, is not
dwelt upon sufficiently ; for just as we see the formed suns as they
existed in past zons, so do we now observe the condition of nebulous
masses as they formerly existed. Here, again, a little paleontology
and archeology would have done the author no harm. Just as the
Almighty has left us fossils in our terrestrial strata, fimts in our
burial mounds, and inscriptions upon our tombs to instruct us in
the past history of the earth and its inhabitants, so He unfolds to
us—not as with His all-seeing and omniscient faculties, but through
the very imperfection of our senses, through our inability to leave
the surface of our little earth, and the consequent necessity that we
should stay here and await the intelligence of the past,—so, we say,
he shows us the whole history of the universe at one glance, re-
vealing to us to-day stages of formation and progress which existed
at periods long past, in a ratio of time measurable by the space
through which the message-bearmg ray has had to pass in its
mission of knowledge. In other words, as soon as our instruments
enable us to measure the distance from us of a fixed star or nebula,
and show us its condition, we are able to compute at what period
of the past, reckoning backwards from to-day, the object we are
viewing was actually in that condition, and we have therefore a
more precise method of ascertaining the time which has been requisite
to bring about cosmical changes than we at present possess for
determining the periods required for the deposition of terrestrial
strata.

As to Mr. Proctor’s views on “Supervision and Controul,” they
are as suggestive as all his other chapters, but they are not likely
to gain much favour, from the author’s timidity in expressing his
views on controverted subjects. It is not difficult to guess what
these are; but when a writer says he will give us an insight into
the nature and operations of the Almighty, but he sees no advantage
in making people uncomfortable by saying what he himself thinks
on just those matters on which he is best able to form a judgment,
his views of Divine action are not likely to be much heeded either by
“believers” or “unbelievers.” The book has other faults. It is of too
mixed a character, treating in some places (as where the principles
of the spectroscope are explained) of physical phenomena in terms
suited for a schoolboy, and in others discussing controverted points
in astronomy with the earnestness and particularity of an experienced
disputant, and not always without the suspicion of some little un-
philosophical animus.

No one will accuse us, after these criticisms, of having followed
the too common but ignoble practice of handling tenderly, if not of
flattering, the productions of a collaborateur, but we are bound to

1870.] Notices of Scientifie Works. 373

say in conclusion, that we have been much charmed by the perusal
of the work. It is in many places very poetical; its author shows
himself to be a careful and earnest observer, and the novel aspects in
which old phenomena are presented to the reader are deeply in-
teresting and often startling. The beautiful chromo-lithographs
are amongst the best we have seen, and they convey vivid impres-
sions of the heavenly bodies which they are intended to represent.

COMPARATIVE LONGEVITY.*

Mr. Lanxester has published an Oxford prize essay on Longevity,
and his little book merits the attention of a wider circle of readers
than it would be likely to find within the precincts of the University.
The title was, of course, not of the author’s choosing, and as ori-
ginally given out was as follows :—‘ The Comparative Longevity of
different Species of Lower Animals, and the Longevity of Man in
different States of Civilization.’ As the author very properly says
in his preface, “The subject does not admit of very satisfactory
treatment from a scientific pomt of view, and is accordingly one
which probably few persons would have selected to write upon,
unless under special circumstances,” “but at the same time,” he
remarks, “longevity is a subject of great popularity, and hence the
facts and arguments herein set forth may, it is hoped, interest the
ublic.”

; Although we should not feel justified in complimenting the
author upon his treatment of the question from any other than a
scientific point of view, and are unable to accredit him with success
in haying imparted greater popularity to this subject, we have no
doubt that the essay will materially add to his rapidly increasing
reputation as an accurate observer and promising naturalist, for every
page bears evidence of careful thought and extensive reading.

In conformity with the apparent wishes of the examiners or
judges, he has divided his subject into two sections, the first of
which treats of longevity in organisms generally, and the second
of longevity in man.

His definition of longevity would be apt to puzzle non-scientific
readers, for it is “the length of time during which life is exhibited
in an individual ;” but the meaning intended to be expressed, as
subsequently explained, is that it is the “ potential duration of life ”
in an “individual,” as distinguished from a group or succession of
individuals, as in the case of asexually-produced polyps, for ex-

* ‘On Comparative Longevity in Man and the Lower Animals.’ By E. Ray
Lankester, B.A., Oxon. Macmillan & Co.

374 Notices of Scientific Works. [July,

ample. A reference to the author's carefully and conscientiously
prepared “Statements as to the duration of the individual in organ-
isms” (pp. 55 e¢ seg.), shows upon what slender data he has been
compelled to base his conclusions; for concerning whole groups,
hardly anything appears to be known in this respect, and even
where our knowledge is less scanty, line after line is preceded by the
author's notes of interrogation.

His conclusions regarding the duration of life in the lower
animals are as follows :—

“ Hence, in spite of the great complication of the case, we may
conclude, on both deductive and inductive grounds, that the high or
low potential longevity of different species, as a general law, is
necessitated by those conditions of life which necessitate high or
low individual development, as the case may be, whether of bulk,
or complexity, or both, that it is directly subject to those conditions
which cause personal expenditure to fluctuate, or which affect gene-
rative expenditure, beg high when these are low, and low when
these are high; that these relations, interacting and contending
variously according to the special case, determine the potential
longevity of the various species of lower animals.

“From the intricacy of these relations we may conclude that
potential longevity is a very delicately balanced quantity, and that
very slight causes may produce great fluctuations in it and be
almost impossible to trace; the magnitude of the result being far
larger in proportion to the magnitude of the initial cause, as 1s so
often found to happen in biological science” (pp. 87-88). It may
be as well to add, by way of explanation, that the author means by
personal expenditure, “that involved in the wear and tear of assimi-
lating food, and generally carrying on life” (p. 48).

When he comes to treat of longevity in man, his essay, as might
be expected, is more popularly interesting, and its interest is en-
hanced by the originality of some of his observations. He attributes
a longer life to man in civilization than in a state of nature.
“ Civilized man,” he says, “ lives in societies, one of the most essen-
tial bonds of union in which is the maintenance to a greater or less
extent by the community of the feeble. The security which the
healthy and vigorous man hopes for himself when grown old and
feeble he naturally extends to others, and thus the aged are fed and
protected as the result of a specific habit or characteristic among
men (the most barbarous excepted)” (p. 88). This is the scientific
re-statement of the commandment, “Honour thy father and thy
mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord
thy God giveth thee.”

The author’s account of the rise and spread of our race, and his
partial application of Mr. Darwin’s theory, only disappoint us by
their brevity, and his conclusion is incontrovertible that “ individual

1870. | Notices of Scientific Works. 375

men do not struggle for existence—that is assured to them by
society—they struggle “to get on.” This is practical Darwinism,
and the author shows that the expenditure of brain-power in man’s
case affects the potential duration of his life. He reviews carefully
the phenomena bearing on this aspect of the question on savage
and civilized life, and his conclusion is, “that a. civilization of the
highest order in which the efficiency of the community and the
efficiency of the component individuals is greatest—in which there
is the most harmonious action, the greatest happiness for the
ereatest number, the least excessive expenditure with the least
luxury, where regularity and temperateness are innate character-
istics, will be that state of civilization most favourable to lon-
evity.”

; But there is a set-off against this: great thinkers do not live so
long as those who take things more easily, and we find from his
tables that dess distinguished men in every profession enjoy longer
lives (in one sense of the word “enjoy ”) than those who are more
distinguished. If the millennium were reached, “men would no
longer die of disappointment, but would all attain 80 or 100 years.
There is no apparent reason why longevity should not increase
beyond that limit, and advance with advanced evolution, and the
diminished expenditure implied in complete adjustment” (p. 128).
There is, however, another matter to be considered: Will not the
limited area of our globe be pretty well covered with human deni-
zens before that happy day dawns upon us? and what then?
However, that is a matter for posterity to consider ; and meanwhile
we cordially recommend Mr. Lankester’s suggestive little yolume to
our biological readers.

1870.] ( 376’)

CHRONICLES OF SCIENCE,
Including the Proceedings of earned Societies at Home and Abroad ;
and Aotices of Recent Scientific Literature.

1. AGRICULTURE.

THE extreme drought of the past three months is by far the most im-
portant of recent agricultural events to put upon our record. Already,
in early June, throughout the southern counties, pastures are be-
coming bare and brown, and spring-sown crops are dwindling. Clover
and other forage crops are not yielding half their usual produce to the
scythe; wheat alone has not yet materially suffered, but a continuance
of dry weather must injure the wheat harvest too. Wheat, indeed,
“ needs no rain after May;” but that is only when May itself has
soaked the ground. The usefulness of artificial manures depends very
much on the wetness of the growing season. No applications in the
way of top-dressings to growing crops are made when they would
obviously be useless; and this great aid and stimulant to fertility
being lost, the year’s produce thus suffers indirectly also from the
drought. The Cirencester Chamber of Agriculture has reported
the favourable results of top-dressings of nitrate of soda and super-
phosphate of lime on the wheat and barley crops of the Cotswold soils.
On three experimental plots, the average increase of grain per acre
per 100 lbs. of the former dressing by itself was 276 lbs. The
average increase per acre of four plots per 100 lbs. of the former
together with 200 Ibs. of the latter dressing was 517 Ibs. of grain.
In other cases the difference due to the added superphosphate was
not so great; but the conclusion, upon the whole, seems to have
been that nitrate of soda, applied as a spring top-dressing to wheat,
whether by itself or not, yields a satisfactory increase of produce ;
though the result of the combined dressing of superphosphate together
with the nitrate was still more satisfactory. The practice of top-
dressing grain crops in spring is a growing one; and as no one
thinks of making this application, except in wet weather, this is
an advantage which this year’s harvest will have lost.

Dr. Voelcker continues to report to the Royal Agricultural So-
ciety of England the results of his constant analyses of commercial
manures and cattle foods—showing to how much fraud and roguery
English agriculturists are exposed. Guano is this year unusually
various in its composition—even genuine Peruvian guano is some-
times damaged by sea-water, or contains an excessive quantity of
sand. Samples are reported containing as much as 17 per cent.
of water and 5 to 9 per cent. of useless mineral matter, and
only 12 to 13 per cent. of ammonia—being thus worth less by 30s.
or 40s. a ton than the price at which Peruvian guano is now sold.

1870.] Agriculture. 377

Another artificial guano, containnmg 26 per cent. of water and
60 per cent. of lime and sand, &c., and not 1 per cent. of ammonia,
is sold at 70s., while it is not worth carrying a mile if it could be
had for nothing. Other manures still occasionally find purchasers,
though absolutely worthless, or even mischievous. Oil-cakes of
various kinds, as well as fertilizers, pass through Dr. Voelcker’s
hands, and faulty samples, under analysis, lose the character under
which they have been bought and sold: and the publication by the
Royal Agricultural Society of these investigations by their chemist
must ultimately prove serviceable.

A very instructive discussion by Mr. Lawes on the waste of food
during respiration has been published with a view to the elucidation
of sound farm practice in the meat manufacture. It is obvious, as
he points out, that in the case of animals fed for the butcher the
economy of the feeding process will be the greater, the less the
amount of food expended by respiration in the production of a given
amount of increase; and it is equally obvious that one ready and
efficient means of lessening the proportion of the waste or expen-
diture to the increase produced, is to lessen as far as possible the
time taken to produce it; in other words, to fatten as quickly as
possible. From numerous experiments made at Rothamsted it appears
that a pig weighing 100 lbs. will, if supplied with as much barley-
meal as he will eat, consume 500 lbs. of it, and double his weight—
that is, increase from 100 Ibs. to 200 lbs. live weight—in seventeen
weeks. Of the 420 lbs. of dry substance which the 500 lbs. of
barley-meal contain, about seventy-four are stored up in the 100 lbs.
of increase in live weight, about seventy are recovered in the manure,
and 276, or nearly two-thirds of the whole, are given off into the
atmosphere by respiration and perspiration—that is to say, are ex-
pended in the mere sustenance of the living meat-making machine,
during the seventeen weeks required to produce the 100 lbs. of
increase.

Mr. Lawes points out that if instead of allowing the pig to have
as much barley-meal as he will eat, the 500 lbs. of meal had been
made to last many more weeks, the result would have been that the
animal would have appropriated a correspondingly larger proportion
of the food for the purposes of respiration and perspiration, and a
correspondingly less proportion in the production of increase. In
other words, if the 500 lbs. of barley-meal were distributed over a
longer period of time, it would give less increase in live weight, and
a larger proportion of it would be employed in the mere maintenance
of the life of the animal. Indeed, if the period of consumption of the
500 lbs. of meal be sufficiently extended, the result will be that no
increase whatever will be produced, and that the whole of the food,
excepting the portion obtained as manure, will be expended in the
mere maintenance of the life of the animal.

378 Chronicles of Science. [ July,

The conclusion is obvious, that, provided the fattening animal
can assimilate the food, a given amount of increase will be obtained
with a smaller expenditure of constituents by respiration, the shorter
the time taken to produce it. In fact, by early maturity, and the
rapid fattening of stock, a vast saving of food is effected.

Mr. Lawes has lately made a practical use of the conclusions to
which his Rothamsted researches have led him in connection with
another branch of farm practice. Ina paper read before the London
Farmers’ Club on the exhaustion of the soil in relation to landlords’
covenants and the valuation of unexhausted improvements in favour
of an outgoing tenant, he drew a distinction between the natural
fertility of a soil, which is the property of the landowner, and the
“condition” of the soil, which is often properly the property of a
tenant. The following are the practical results which he considers
follow upon his discussion of this subject :—

“ Condition” is a quality distinct from natural fertility of soil,
and is mainly dependent on the amount of capital expended by
the tenant in the purchase of cattle food or manures. It is,
therefore, his property, and may be easily and rapidly reduced.
—The natural fertility of a soil, on the other hand, whether high
or low in degree, is, comparatively speaking, a permanent quality ;
it can only be injuriously affected by the continuance of an ex-
haustive system of cropping for a long period of time; it is the
property of the landlord; and, excepting in the case of very light
soils, it is the chief element in determining the rent-value of the
land.—No injury is likely to result to the landlord in the case of the
heavier soils from granting the tenant permission to crop as he
pleases, provided he be bound to keep the land free from weeds, and
to leave a fixed proportion under fallow and green crops at the
termination of his occupation.—By the valuation of so much of the
farmyard manure, and of so much of the manure constituents derived
from purchased cattle food, as have not yet yielded a crop, and also of
the straw of the last harvest, fair compensation may be made to the
outgoing tenant.—If abundant capital is to be attracted to the soil,
it is essential that liberal covenants in regard to cropping should
be adopted, and fair compensation for unexhausted improvements
made.

Among the remaining principal events which have lately hap-
pened in the agricultural world must be named the remarkable favour
with which the so-called A BC process for dealing with the town
sewage nuisance has been received by many towns on which the
adoption of it has been urged. Chemical analysis does not endorse
the extravagant assertions which have been made regarding the
merits of the process. The water is still foul after sewage has been
acted on by the A BC mixture; and the dried mud which it throws
down, for which 70s. a ton is the price demanded, is not worth, even

1870. | Archeology. 379

theoretically, one half that sum; while, practically, it must be pro-
nounced of very little value indeed. ‘The valuation of 1 or 2 per
cent. of “combined nitrogen” in the midst of a mass of clay and
other inert mineral matters cannot be conducted on the same scale
as is applicable to the ammonia of a manure in which it forms } or +
of the total weight. And in addition to the lower theoretical value
of “combined nitrogen” in this diluted form, it is practically so
much the less valuable on account of being loaded with a lot of
worthless stuff, the expense of applyimg which to the land has to be
deducted from any result of the application which may be due to
the small quantity of fertilizing matters with which it may be
charged. Nothing connected with this or any other scheme for
sewage utilization has at all shaken the conclusion, to which the
Rivers Pollution Commissioners had been led by their investigations,
that sewage irrigation is not only the best method of sewage defeeca-
tion, but the only known plan by which its filth may be profitably
converted into fertility.

2. ARCHAXOLOGY (Pre-Historic).

‘Furr Cares’ is the title of a book just issued by the Trustees
of the Blackmore Museum, Salisbury, written and compiled by
Mr. Edward T. Stevens,* their honorary curator. Few private
gentlemen have merited the thanks of men of science more justly
than Mr. William Blackmore, by whose munificence the town of
Salisbury has been enriched with the excellent Museum of Pre-
historic Archeology described in the clearly-written and well-printed
pages of the book before us.

Mr. Stevens’s work has been written with a view to illustrate
the Stone age by the help of the collections in the Blackmore
Museum; but he has really done far more than this, for we learn
from these pages the history of “Wampum ”-—that very useful
article in whatever part of the world we may be cast—of the earliest —
known evidence of the use of tobacco as evidenced by the “ Mound
City” explorations; of the cultivation of maize and other cereals ;
of the early evidence of the manufacture and the use of pottery; of
weaving, spinning, &., as practised by aborigines; of ornaments
in gold, silver, and bronze; of weapons of war and the chase, and
how they were used; of the animals found with primitive man ; of
the houses he dwelt in above-ground, above-water, and underground ;
and, lastly, of his burying-places and religious rites for the dead.

These and a hundred other topics Mr. Stevens has brought

* ‘Flint Chips: a Guide to Pre-historic Archeology.’ By E. T. Stevens.
London. 8vo, pp. 632. Bell and Daldy. 1870.

VoL. VII. 2D

380 Chronicles of Science. — [July,

together in a useful form in his book, all that he says having a
reference to the collections in the Blackmore Museum, yet giving
sufficiently clear information upon each subject to interest the general
reader who may never be able to visit this most interesting place.

The arrangement of the Blackmore Museum consists mainly of
four great groups:—l. The remains of animals found associated
with the works of man. 2. Implements of stone. 3. Implements
of bronze. 4. Implements, weapons, and ornaments of modern
savages, which serve to throw light upon the use of similar objects
belonging to pre-historic times.

The mammalian remains are described by Dr. H. P. Blackmore.
These consist chiefly of a local series from Fisherton, near Salisbury,
associated with stone implements of the palzolithic type. “The
animals,” says Dr. Blackmore, “ which lived in our country whilst
the drift-beds were being deposited, differed strangely from those
with which we are now familiar, and afford the most conclusive
evidence of the greatly altered condition of our climate. The musk-
sheep, reindeer, lemmings, pouched marmot, mammoth, and woolly
rhinoceros are all animals peculiarly adapted for living in an Arctic
clime. Our downs were tenanted by vast droves of rather small
but hardy horses, not unlike the half-wild forest ponies of the pre-
sent day, by large herds of deer, and shaggy-maned bisons. ‘The
stillness of the night, we may imagine, was not unfrequently broken
by the terror-inspiring roar of a hungry lon, or perchance by the
howling of a pack of wolves, or the hideous discord of the savage
hyzenas quarrelling over some half-putrid carcase—making the air
re-echo with their peculiar yells.”

There is good reason to believe that the Blackmore Museum,
although not so extensive in every department as some of the Con-
tinental museums, is nevertheless one of the best in Europe.

But what adds perhaps the greatest value to the Collection, and
what, for purposes of comparison, places it above all others,’ is
the suite of American antiquities obtained by Messrs. Squier and
Davis in their explorations of the tumuli and mounds of the valleys
of the Mississippi and Ohio. This was the finest collection of ifs
kind in the United States, and it is doubtful whether one of equal
extent, and so rich in the works of primitive man, can again be
made in America; indeed many of the specimens are unique.
Apart from the general merit of the Blackmore Museum as illustrat-
ing pre-historic archeology in a singularly successful manner, the
fact of its containing this remarkable American collection gives it
at once a distinctive character,.and offers a special object to reward
the archeologist who may visit this ancient city—already famous
for its magnificent megalithic remains at Stonehenge on Salisbury
Plain, once the home of the bustard, the last of our large indigenous
wild birds exterminated by man.

1870. | Archeology. 381

Part X. of ‘ Reliquie Aquitanice’* has come to hand since
our last Chronicle was written. M. Lartet commences in this
number a very admirable article on the employment of sewing-
needles in ancient times, illustrated by a plate and numerous wood-
cuts of bone and bronze needles.

The bone needles from the caves have nearly all rounded stems,
and in most cases they have been carefully polished. Narrow pieces
of the hard exterior of the bone or horn were carefully isolated by
parallel cuts with a flint flake, and when quite detached the splinter
was rubbed into proper shape on a sandstone rubber, and polished
on askin. The eye of the needle was drilled with a pointed flint
drill. Some needles figured exceed three inches in length, and, in
finish, are as slender as a German-wool-work needle or large darn-
ing-needle of the present day. It is very interesting to find in the
same cave with the finished needles, the half-made needles (partially
eut from the horns of reindeer, the bones of a bird, the metatarsal
of the reindeer, and the metacarpal of the horse) and the “ wasters,”
also the instruments used for their manufacture, showing that the
cave-folk of the reindeer period were as well accustomed to make
and use the needle in the preparation of articles of dress as are
the modern Esquimaux. It is also (as M. Lartet observes) but
reasonable to suppose that, like the Esquimaux, they used the
sinews of the reindeer for their thread, as there is equal justness in
inferring that their dress was composed of the skin of these animals
so abundant throughout the region of Aquitania in pre-historic
times. M. Lartet thinks the long needles may have been used for
embroidery, as they would have been too delicate to use for ordinary
sewing or stitching of skins, for which the short stout needles seem
best adapted.

An interesting account is given of the preparation of the skins
by the Esquimaux, and their methods of sewing and ornamenting
their dresses.

The cave-folk of the Reindeer period were quite unacquainted
with the sheep, and although, like some modern aborigines, they had
a prejudice against the hare and rabbit, yet they seem to have killed
them for the sake of their fur, to use, it is supposed, as the Lap-
landers do, to trim the borders of their dresses with.

Before concluding this account, it is interesting to note that the
eyed needles were not found indifferently in all the stations of that
period. At Les Eyzies, Laugerie Basse, and at La Madelaine in
Dordogne, the largest quantity of needles have been collected and
always associated with harpoon-heads of the barbed type. It is also

* © Reliquise Aquitanice: being contributions to the Archzology and Palxon-
tology of Périgord and the adjoining provinces of Southern, France. By Edouard
Lartet and Henry Christy. Edited by T. Rupert Jones, F.G.S. London.
H. Bailliere.

2p 2

382 Chronicles of Science. (July,

with these barbed weapon-heads that similar needles have been
found in the Bruniquel Cave by the Vicomte de Lastic, and in the
rock-shelters of the same place, so successfully explored by M. Brun,
of Montauban. They have been found in similar association in the
lower cave of Massat (Ariége).

From the cave of Veyrier at the foot of Mount Saléve, which
belongs, like those of Les Eyzies, La Madelaine, &c., to the artistic
portion of the Reindeer period, and where the antlers of this rumi-
nant have been found having figures of animals and plants engraved
upon them; needles have also been obtained, one of which appears
to be made of ivory.

Tn the older caves, like that of Aurignac (Haute Garonne), Les
Fees (Allier), and the Gorge d’Enfer, where remains of the rein-
deer are less abundant, and at the same time the Quaternary fauna
is more completely represented by extinct species, eyed needles have
not as yet been met with. Simple awls, made of bone or ivory,
seem to have served in their stead, whilst the modern barbed type
of weapon-head is not found, but in its place the older lanceolate
form.

Eyed needles have been discovered in the Swiss-Lake habitations
and elsewhere; but in general these needles, though belonging to
times comparatively more recent, are far from being as well shaped
as those of the artistic epoch of the Reindeer age.

Discovery of a Pre-historic Dwelling on the Coast of Hadding-
tonshire.—A short note by Mr. J. W. Laidlay, F.S.A., F.GS., on
a pre-historic dwelling and kitchen-midden, discovered by him ona
small rocky peninsula near Seacliff on the coast of Haddingtonshire,*
is of great interest as deciding against the theory, put forward so
ably by Mr. Archibald Geikie, and subsequently by Mr. T. Smyth,
that the shores of the Firth of Forth had risen at least 25 feet
since the time of the Roman occupation.

The rock in question, situated about three miles east of North
Berwick, on the south side of the Firth of Forth, is isolated at
spring tides, but is at other times separated by the sea from the
mainland. The remains found upon the rock were, first, the founda-
tions of an ancient building, consisting of stones selected apparently
from the beach, and jomed together only with earth or mud; being
two or three courses in height, but concealed until recently by a
thick coating of turf; secondly, a large quantity of rude hand-
made pottery in fragments, a number of implements of bone. such
as needles, arrow-heads, combs, knives, chisels, &c., very similar in
point of manufacture to those from the Swiss-Lake dwellings of the
Stone period; thirdly, a vast quantity of bones of oxen (exhibiting

* See the ‘Geological Magazine,’ vol. vii., June, 1879., p. 270.
+ See ibid., vol. ii., 1865, p. 181.

1870. } Archeology. 383

considerable variety in proportions, and including Bos longifrons)
sheep, goats, deer, swine, dogs, &c.; of shells, in great abundance,
especially those of Patella vulgaris and Littorina litorea; a very
rude querne, &c. All of these have been deposited in the Museum
of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in Edinburgh; and are
considered, by those best qualified to judge of their age, to belong
to a period certainly as remote as the Roman occupation, or even
earlier. This opinion is greatly confirmed by the absence of all
trace of metallic implements, notwithstanding the most diligent
efforts on the part of Mr. Laidlay and his sons to discover any such
by having the entire soil upon the top of the rock (of which there
were many cart-loads) all carefully sifted by hand.

This rock is not more, as to its lower part, than 22 or 23 feet
above high-water mark. Assuming that its age extends beyond
the historic period, it seems clear that, if the assumed elevation of
this coast, already mentioned, had taken place since the time of the
Romans, this rocky promontory would not merely have been unin-
habitable at high water, but it would have been actually submerged.
As it is at present, the sea in rough weather renders it hardly
endurable to remain on the rock; whilst a very slight depression
would enable the waves to make a clean breach over it.

Dépét for the Manufacture of Flint Implements. —The inves-
tigation of the so-called “ Devil’s Pits” and “ Grimes’ Graves,” near
Brandon, Norfolk, show that the working of flint at this spot dates
back to a far earlier period than the manufacture of gun-flints, now
also almost a thing of the past. The bottom of the pit has been
reached, disclosing a network of galleries extending into the chalk
in various directions. At the end of No. 1 Gallery a fine ground-
stone hatchet was discovered, and two well-worn horn-picks. These
caves were doubtless pre-historic chalk-workings for obtaining flint
for the manufacture of implements of which such numbers have
been obtained from the river-valley gravel close by.

The early flint-implement makers of the Stone age seem to have
been as fully aware of the advantage of working a freshly dug out
flint as the modern gun-flint makers, a race of artisans now nearly
extinct.

Ancient Kitchen-nuddens in the Andaman Islands.—Dr. Sto-
lickza has lately communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal an
account of a visit made by him to the Andaman Islands.

These islands, inhabited by probably one of the very lowest
types of aborigines known, have abundant “ refuse-heaps” of evident
antiquity, composed of shells, bones of the Andaman pig, stones,
and broken pottery. One of these mounds, which Dr. Stolickza
examined at the north end of Chatham Island, was 12 feet in height,
and about 60 feet in diameter; it had been long undisturbed, as

384 Chronicles of Science. [July,

large trees were growing upon it. Besides pottery of the rudest de-
scription and stone hammers, a few polished celts and a typical arrow-
head have been picked up. The mounds, so far as they have been
examined, afford no evidence of human bones to support the charge
of cannibalism brought against the Andamanese, whose ancestors no
doubt left these middens, seeing that similar heaps are now being
formed by the natives at all their favourite places of resort around
the coast.

Cannibalism in Namur.—M. Spring, the Belgian anthropolo-
gist, after an examination of the cavern of Mont Chauvaux (Namur),
has satisfied himself that the men, whose bones are there found
mixed with those of deer and oxen, were cannibals. He further
concludes that they were so from choice, not from necessity ; for
the roasted bones are not only those of the aged, but also of young
women, boys, and infants.

Mr. Darwin mentions that the Tierra del Fuegians in times
of scarcity eat the old women first and their dogs last, the former
being an incumbrance, whilst the latter assist in procuring food.

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Colonel Lane Fox (March 8) read a paper “On the Opening of
two Cairns near Bangor, in North Wales.” One was situated on
the summit of Moel Faben, and contained a cist, in which was
placed an urn, together with several small dressed stones, probably
arrow-heads, and flakes, worked, not in flint, but in the trap and
felspathic rocks of the neighbourhood. Other worked stones were
found beneath the cist. Professor Ramsay described the nature of
the materials used. The second cairn examined, called Carnedd
Howel, contained fragments of an urn surrounded by fragments of
burnt human bones, but not protected by a cist.

The Rey. J. C. Atkinson (April 12) made a communication
“On the Danish Element in the Population of Cleveland in York-
shire.” The author showed that not only many words in the
Cleveland dialect, and a very large proportion of personal and local
names in the district, are of Scandinavian origin, but also that many
of the idioms are markedly Scandinavian. He also traced an old
Anglian element in the dialect of the people.

Dr. Donovan (April 26) read a paper “On the importance to
the Ethnologist of a careful study of the characters of the Brain in
different Races.” This was followed by one from Mr. E. B. Tylor,
“On the Philosophy of Religion among the Lower Races of Man-
kind.” The author ascribed the first ideas of religion to a belief in
spiritual beings (Animism). The idea of a soul extended to animals,
plants, and even inanimate objects. To such spiritual beings are

1870. } Archeology. 385

ascribed the phenomena of disease, especially epilepsy and mania.
Trees, rivers, sun, moon, heaven, earth, &c., furnish other spiritual
beings, which again are divided into favourable and harmful spirits,
causes of good and evil, and thus Dualism is a fundamental prin-
ciple in the religions of the lower races. ‘The culminating notion
of a Supreme Deity is well known to many of these races.

The President, Professor Huxley (May 10), delivered an address
on the Ethnology of Great Britain.

He showed that the oldest accounts of the peoples of these
islands prove the existence of two types of people, physically dis-
tinct—the one tall, fair, yellow-haired, and blue-eyed; the other
short and dark, with dark hair and black eyes. ‘This dark type, as
exemplified in the ancient Silures, closely resembled the people of
Aquitania and Iberia, whilst the fair type bore considerable resem-
blance to the Belgz of north-eastern France, and what is now called
Belgium. Both peoples spoke dialects of a Celtic language. Pro-
fessor Huxley did not consider that the invasions of Britain really
introduced a new element into the pre-existing population; it seems
doubtful if the Roman occupation strengthened the fair or the dark
element. The invasions of the low Dutch and the Danes strength-
ened the fair element.

In the paper which followed, the Rev. Dr. Nicholas endeavoured
to show that “ the influence of the Norman conquest on the Eth-
nology of Britain’ was greatly gainful to the old British or Gallo-
Celtic population, seeing that the Normans, so-called, were in a far.
ereater degree Cymric and Gallo-Frankish in blood.

In his Anniversary Address (May 24) Professor Huxley spoke
of the efforts that had been made to amalgamate the Ethnological
and Anthropological Societies, and pointed out the desirableness of
union between the several Societies having kindred objects in view.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

Two papers were read before this Society on April 5th, by Mr.
Hodder M. Westropp, and Mr. C. Staniland Wake, the former en-
titled “On Phallic Worship,” and the latter ‘On the Influence of
the Phallic Idea in the Religions of Antiquity.”

On the 19th April, Mr. Alfred Sanders read a paper “On Mr.
Darwin’s Hypothesis of Pangenesis as applied to the Faculty of
Memory.”

Mr. George C. Thompson contributed a note “On Consan-
guineous Marriages.” From the paper and its discussion it would
appear that the practice of interbreeding was not only not neces-
sarily injurious, but by judicious selection an improved race of men
might be obtained. The difficulty of course, is to carry out in

386 Chronicles of Science. [July,

practice what Dr. Langdon Down is theoretically satisfied would be
of enormous value to the community, men not being like race-horses
or oxen.

Major W. Ross King, on May 3rd, communicated an account of
the “ Aboriginal Tribes of the Nilgiri Hills,” known as the Todas,
Khotas, Erulas, and Kurumbas, especially noticing the former as
the most singular and important. ‘The author described the charac-
teristic features and peculiarities of each ; their social customs and
religious rites, showing that even in a limited area, like the Nilgiris,
several tribes may exist, each preserving its own language and
customs; and all remaining perfectly isolated from the enormous
populations of the plains. ‘The presence of Druidical circles, crom-
lechs, kistvaens, and tumuli, on the Nilgiri Hills, offers a striking
resemblance to those of our own country, and suggests the possibility
of an early western migration of pre-historic peoples from this cradle
of the Kast.

On the 19th May a large gathering of anthropologists and their
friends took place at St. James’s Hall, to hear Mr. Henry F.
Chorley’s paper “On Race in Music.” Mr. Dannreuther illustrated
the paper by numerous examples on the pianoforte.

On the 31st May, Dr. John Shortt read a paper “ On the Arme-
nians of Southern India;” and Mr. John Stirling “On the Races
of Morocco.”

Tue AncreENT CEMETERY AT F'RILFORD.*

Almost the only source of information we possess capable of being
used either to check off, or to throw light upon, the early history
of our Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon ancestors—a well-nigh
pre-historic epoch in this country—is derived from a study of the
early graves and barrows scattered over this island far and wide,
many of which have yielded evidence of the highest import to the
historian, archeeologist, and ethnologist.

In the paper before us, Professor Rolleston has given a most
complete and exhaustive memoir upon the remains obtained by him
during a two years’ exploration of the ancient burying-place at
Frilford, near Abingdon, Berkshire.

The cemetery is situated in the angle between the left bank of
the river Ock and the road leading from Frilford to Wantage.
Frilford “Field” is now brought under cultivation, but the tra-

* Although this subject barely comes within the scope of this Chronicle, it is
inserted here on account of its connection with Anthropology.

‘Researches and Excavations carried on in an Ancient Cemetery at Frilford,
near Abingdon (Berkshire), in the years 1867 and 1868.’ Communicated to the
Society of Antiquaries by George Rolleston, M.D., F.R.S., Linacre Professor of
Anatomy and Physiology in the University of Oxford. 1870. 4to, [Reprinted
from the ‘ Archeologia,’ vol. xlii., pp. 417-485. ]

1870.] Archeology. 387

dition that this portion of it is haunted still survives in the recol-
lections of the rustics, one of whom told Dr. Rolleston that, although
he had never seen one himself, ghosts were supposed to be parti-
cularly likely to be seen at a single thorn-bush which stood some
time back close to the site of these graves.

Dr. Rolleston is not the first who has devoted his attention to
this fruitful spot. Mr. Akerman had, in 1865, furnished an account
of excavations in this same locality to the Society of Antiquaries.

But the present is by far the most complete and exhaustive me-
moir yet published, giving, as it does, a careful account of the ex-
humation in a more or less complete state of 123 separate individuals,
probably the largest number ever yet examined by any one savant
from a single locality. The exploration of the ground has resulted
in the discovery of Roman remains in lead coffins, Romano-British
remains in ordinary graves, and Anglo-Saxon skeletons having
ornaments associated with them belonging to that period, also un-
doubted Anglo-Saxon cinerary urns containing half-calcined human
bones. Dr. Rolleston has discovered that these numerous interments,
representing several separate periods of time, are also placed at dif-
ferent levels in the soil, the Anglo-Saxon cinerary urns having been
so slightly interred as to have, in one instance, been actually cut
by the ploughshare.

In spite of the ravages of fire, in the cases of cremation, and the
all but equally destructive working of the water, containing carbonic
and other acids, upon inhumation in ground with the rock (Coral-
line Oolite) within an average distance of about a yard from the
surface, it has been found possible to identify the sex and age in all
but about a sixth of the skeletons, or parts of the skeletons examined.
Many skeletons, however, and many urns have been lost to science
during the various quarrying operations carried on previously to
Mr. Akerman’s report in 1865.

Great numbers of Roman coins have been and still are found
by agricultural labourers, when at work, all round this spot; and
also fragments of very many varieties of Roman pottery. ‘There
is much other evidence to show that Roman civilization had taken
firm root in this locality ; for not only have three or four Roman
leaden coffins been found containing human skeletons and coins
(of Constantine jr., Valens, and Gratian, a.p. 383), but about a
couple of hundred yards distant from the cemetery, having observed
the greater greenness and strength of the crops upon two patches
of ground, Mr. Wiliam Aldworth, the liberal owner of the soil,
permitted the ground to be opened with the result of finding for a
depth of ten feet or more, an aggregation of fragments of pottery
of the most varied patterns and degrees of fineness mixed up with
similarly fragmentary bones of the ox, sheep, pig, and dog, and
with other articles, such as a key, a spoon, knives, a bronze ring, a

388 Chronicles of Science. [July,

hair-pin, coins, &¢., which, like the bones and shards specified, would
be expected in the rubbish-heap of a great house. The site of the
house Mr. Rolleston did not find, but he thinks the quarry, whence
the stones for its construction were taken, was converted afterwards
into, and is now represented by, one or other or both of the rubbish-
its.

: Professor Rolleston has given most carefully-prepared lists of
all the remains found in the various graves which he divides into
those :—

In leaden coffins (Roman period), 6.

Romano-Britons, 81 men, 22 women.

Supposed Anglo-Saxons (but without relics), 3 men, 3 women.
Anglo-Saxons, with relics or in urns, 21 individuals.

Other skeletons, 15. Children found without relics, 23.

One of the most striking peculiarities of this series is the very
large proportion of aged persons; but a closer inspection shows
that tle proportion varied most surprisingly in accordance with the
nationality. Out of the undoubted Anglo-Saxon interments only
two could have been considered old. ‘This may have resulted from
the mortality inevitable in the ranks of all successful invading armies,
especially such undisciplined troops as composed the Saxon hosts.

The preponderance of aged Romano-British skeletons may be
not only the result of more settled conditions, but may also be ex-
plained, Professor Rolleston thinks, by the hypothesis that the
young men had been taken away to fight and die in distant countries
under such commanders as Magnus Maximus.

This state of things is well understood in France and elsewhere,
where conscription is practised in time of war.

In discussing the variations in the series of skulls exhumed at
Frilford the author well remarks that “most or all invasions entail
more or less of intermarriage between the invaders and the invaded ;
and the craniographer who considers what very motley hordes passed
into England under the names of ‘ Roman’ and ‘ Saxon’ respectively,
and for what long periods these immigrations continued to be made,
will be cautious as to his inferences.”

We might follow Professor Rolleston through the detailed
account of this laborious investigation ; the subject is one of deep
interest, but we have said sufficient to show the import and nature
of the author’s researches, and to commend him as a sure and
experienced guide, both in archeological and ethnological inquiries.
To those who have not seen the Oxford Museum, the fact of its being
the depository for this wonderful series of remains may serve as a
further inducement to pay it a visit.

1870. ] Astronomy. 389

3. ASTRONOMY.
(Including the Proceedings of the Astronomical Society.)

Tue attention of astronomers is becoming more and more directed
towards the preparations which are being made for observing the
total eclipse of December 24th next. ‘There seems every reason
to believe that the English corps of observers will be far more
effective than any which this country has hitherto sent to observe a
total eclipse. Spectroscopy, photography, and polariscopy, will be
entrusted to the charge of those who are best fitted to superintend
the details by which these modes of research can alone be rendered
successful. As yet the arrangements have not been fully decided
upon, though they will probably be known before these pages are
printed. At present it is understood that there will be two expe-
ditions, one to Spain, the other to Sicily. Hach will consist of
about thirty persons; and each will include, besides one or two
general observers, three distinct parties, the spectroscopic observers,
the observers with the polariscope, and the photographers. It has
been proposed that the three parties forming the Spanish expedition,
should be headed respectively by Mr. Huggins, the Rev. C. Pritchard,
and Mr. Browning. As regards the parties forming the Syracusan
expedition, it has been proposed that Mr. Lockyer should head the
spectroscopists, and Mr. Brothers the photographers, the polari-
peg department not having as yet been assigned to any specified
chief.

Everything promises well for the success of these expeditions,
since we learn from Lieutenant Brown, whose long residence at
Gibraltar renders his opinion especially valuable, that the weather
is, on the whole, more likely to be clear and settled in December
than in any other month of the year. The Poet Laureate has
volunteered to join the expedition, and we may perhaps hope to have
from his pen such a description of a total eclipse as will be at once
worthy of the subject and of his powers.

The observers must not forget, however, that nothing but the
utmost care and the most thoughtful consideration beforehand of all
the difficulties they are likely to be troubled with, as well as of all
the methods by which they may secure reliable results, will serve to
render the expedition successful, It must be remembered that the
points to be determined—the nature and structure of the corona—
are questions of extreme difficulty and delicacy, which have already
foiled the exertions of the able astronomers who have observed the
last two total eclipses. During the present eclipse totality will not
last more than half as long as during the eclipse of 1869, and
scarcely one-third as long as during the eclipse of 1868. It will
tax the powers even of the skilful observers about to take part in

390 Chronicles of Science. [July,

this important work, to learn something new about the corona
during the two minutes of total obscuration.

The discovery that the star Eta Argis, around which the most
amazing nebula in the whole heavens spreads itself in fantastic con-
volutions, is shining with the light of burning hydrogen, is, perhaps,
when rightly understood, the most instructive fact which has been
revealed by astronomical observation for many past years. We
know that this star is now nearly at its minimum of brightness,
and astronomers confidently expect that in the course of the next
half century it will rise from its low estate as a sixth-magnitude
star until it again outblazes even Canopus in splendour. That
this star, like the new star which lately shone out in Corona, is
surrounded by hydrogen-flames, seems clearly established by the ob-
servations of Mr. Le Sueur at Melbourne. He has not been able,
indeed, to test the character of the bright lines across the star’s faint
continuous spectrum, by actually bringing them into juxtaposition
with the lines of hydrogen. But he has been able to measure their .
position with considerable accuracy. He finds, by spectroscopic ob-
servation, that the space around the star is really free from nebulous
light, and isnot merely dark by contrast ; and he deduces the conclu-
sion that the star has been fed, so to speak, by the matter of the
nebula, since the nebulous light which appears at some distance from
the star exhibits one of the hydrogen bright lmes. ‘This view may
well be demurred to, since it would render the restoration of the star’s
light a simple impossibility. And besides, when Sir John Herschel
observed the star in 1837, the nebula was bright all round the star ;
whereas, since the star was then shining very brightly, the nebula
should have shown signs of having been consumed near Kta Argis,
were Mr. Le Sueur’s theory correct. It seems far more probable
that the amazing variability of this nebula is due to the motion of
its parts, and is associated with the equally amazing variability of
Kta Argts in such sort that, when a rich region of nebulous matter
is brought to the star’s neighbourhood the star becomes bright,
while when, as now, the star is surrounded by a region bare of
nebula, its light sinks low.

One fact, at any rate, seems placed beyond all question by Mr.
Le Sueur’s researches. We can scarcely doubt any longer that the
nebula and the star are intimately associated, or that the strange
variation of one is but the counterpart and measure of the variation
of the other.

Mr. Browning’s invention of the automatic spectroscope is full of
promise for the advancement of our knowledge of the constitution of
the celestial bodies. This is not the place to enter into a considera- _
tion of the advantages it presents over all other forms of the spectro-
scope; but our Chronicle would have been incomplete without a few
words of comment on this most ingenious addition to our means of

4

1870. ] Astronomy. 391

research into the physical habitudes of the orbs which people the
celestial depths.

Professor Kirkwood’s ingenious hypothesis that the periodicity
of the solar spots may be referred to the existence of solar regions
favourable to the development of spots, has received its death-blow
at the hands of Sir John Herschel. Our veteran astronomer is
still ready to devote his great powers to the study of such ques-
tions. In this case he has been at the pains to mark down the exact
place on the sun’s globe of all the spots observed by Carrington.
He finds no trace of a region where sun-spots occur with unusual
frequency, or if there are traces of such a region they are so
slight as to afford no sufficient foundation for Professor Kirkwood’s
hypothesis.

Professor Kirkwood’s detection of the law that comets of small
perihelion distance have their perihelia nearly in the direction towards
which the sun is travelling, has been followed up by a careful in-
vestigation of the periods of some of the meteoric rings. The
April shower, though less familiarly recognized than the November
and August showers, is yet too well marked not to be admitted
among the periodical meteoric systems. Professor Kirkwood shows
that this system cannot be associated, as Weiss suggested, with the
first comet of 1861; but by comparing the dates on which remark-
able showers of meteors belonging to this system have appeared, he
exhibits the probability that the system has a period of 282 years,
and an aphelion distance very nearly equal to the mean distance of
Uranus. Dealing with the meteors of December 11-193, he finds for
them a period of 293 years. For the meteors of October 15—21, he
obtains a period of 274 years. He adds, “if these periods are cor-
rect, it is a remarkable coincidence that the aphelion distances of
the meteoric rings of April 18-20, October 15-21, November 14,
and December 11-13, as well as those of the comets, I. 1866 and
I. 1867, are nearly all equal to the mean distance of Uranus.” As
Jupiter has his family of dependent comets, so distant Uranus has
depending from his orbit a family of meteoric and cometic systems. |
Can we suppose that those among these meteor-systems which inter-
sect the orbit of the earth are all which thus depend on Uranus, or
that they form a thousandth or even a millionth part of his family
of meteor-systems? ‘The laws of probability are enormously against
such a supposition ; and if it be indeed true (as we seem forced to
admit) that around the orbits of the major planets there cling these
myriads of meteoric and cometic systems, we obtain a new insight,
indeed, into the characteristics of the solar system.

Saturn will continue to be favourably visible during the ensuing
quarter. Mars, Venus, and Jupiter will be unfavourably situated.
We remind our readers to look out for shooting-stars on the nights
of August 9-13,

392 Chronicles of Science. [July,

There will be a total eclipse of the moon, visible at Greenwich, ©
on July 12. The first contact with the penumbra will take place at
7h. 46m. p.u., first contact with the shadow at 8h. 45m. Totality
will commence at 9h. 44m. and end at 11h. 24m. Last contact
with the shadow will take place at 12h. 24m., last contact with the
penumbra at 1h. 22m. on the morning of July 13. On July 27th
there will be a partial eclipse of the sun invisible at Greenwich.

—_——_——_—_—___

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.

Lieut. Herschel, in a paper on “ Dark Objects crossing the Solar
Disc,” describes how he was for some time deceived into the belief
that a flight of meteors was crossing the sun’s face on October
17-18, 1869 ; but at length discovered that the objects he had been
watching with so much attention were locusts.

Mr. Proctor contributes a paper “On the Solar Corona and the
Zodiacal Light,” with suggestions respecting observations to be
made on the total solar eclipse of next December. He exhibits a
series of arguments for rejecting the view put forward by Mr.
Lockyer that the sun’s corona is due simply to atmospheric glare,
showing in particular that that portion of the sky on which the
corona is projected during total eclipses corresponds to a portion of
the atmosphere which is absolutely unilluminated by the sun. He
gives reasons for believing the corona to be simply the condensed
part of the zodiacal light. Remarking on Dr. Balfour Stewart's
recent suggestion that the zodiacal light may be a terrestrial pheno-
menon, he points out that the trade-wind region (to the illumination
of which by electric discharges Dr. Stewart ascribes the zodiacal
light) occupies (above the horizon-plane of any station) a lamina
shaped like a watch-glass, and the whole of this lamina (in other
words, the whole sky) should be illuminated if the theory were
correct. Were the zodiacal light caused in this way, a “ tongue-
shaped slip” only of this lamina would be illuminated ; and admit-
ting this to be a possible arrangement at any time, we have yet no
explanation of the fact that this slip always occupies a region near
the ecliptic, or that it rises and sets with the stars. Among the
suggestions put forward respecting modes of observing the eclipse,
there is one which, remembering the very short duration of totality,
seems to be worth consideration. When totality begins, the eye,
accustomed to a brighter light, is unable to accommodate itself to
the darkness of totality, nor does totality last long enough to admit
of a change in this respect. If, however, the eye were kept in dark-
ness before totality commenced, there seems little doubt that the
observer would be able to employ much more effectually the two

1870. | Astronomy. 393

minutes of total obscuration. This remark applies not only to
general observation, but in an especial manner to those extremely
delicate spectroscopic and polariscopic observations which are re-
quired in the present instance. }

Captain Noble, observing Venus near her inferior conjunction,
found the body of the planet projected very distinctly as a dark
disc on a light background. “The difference of tint from that of
the surrounding sky was evident,” he says, “the instant Venus was
regarded.” This observation, though not new, deserves special
attention just now that the nature of the solar corona is being so
much inquired into. It shows beyond all possibility of question
that there is some light which comes from regions beyond the
planet ; in other words, that there is just such illumination beyond
Venus as we should expect to find if the corona is a solar appen-
dage. It seems amazing that in the face of such evidence—with
Venus actually projected as a dark disc on some illuminated region
beyond her—any astronomer should believe the light of the corona
to come from the glare of our atmosphere some hundred miles or so,
at farthest, from the earth.

Mr. Browning invites attention to farther changes in the form
and colour of Jupiter’s belt. The ochreish-yellow which had been
so marked during the winter months of 1869 had, on January 31,
become much fainter and of a duskier hue, being also confined to
the northern part of the equatorial belt, instead of covering the
whole of it as had before been the case. On March 10th, he found
the tawny-yellow colour again extending over the whole of the
equatorial belt, which had become broader than he had ever before
seen it. This belt had a very dark band on the south, and a
narrower dark band on the north; beyond each of these being a
brilliant white belt. It will be interesting when the planet again
returns to our skies (towards the end of the year) to observe whether
the strikmg outbreak of colour has passed away or increased. The
planet will not rise to a great height on the meridian, but the cor-
recting eye-plece ingeniously contrived by Messrs. Airy and Simms
will render observation at low elevations a very different matter
from what it used to be.

At Myr. Hind’s suggestion, Mr. Plummer, of Mr. Bishop’s Ob-
servatory at Twickenham, has re-examined the orbit of the comet of
1683. He has been able to show that, instead of the ellipse caleu-
lated by Clausen, the orbit of the comet is probably parabolic or
nearly so, so that there is very little probability that this famous
comet will quickly return to the sun’s neighbourhood.

Professor Wolf has continued hig researches into the solar spot-
period. He finds that the observations made in the years 1864—69
supply clear evidence in favour of his theory that the spot-period is
one of 113 years. But the most interesting part of his communi-

394 Chronicles of Science. | July,

cation is that which has reference to the relation between the varia-
tion of the magnetic declination and the frequency of solar spots.
In 1859, Professor Wolf had proposed the following formula for
this variation (v) at Christiania :—

» = 0':0413 r + 4’:921,
where 7 is the “relative number representing sun-spot frequency.”
The following Table, in which v represents the calculated v' the

observed variation, indicates what cannot but be regarded as a very
satisfactory confirmation of this formula :—

1864. 1865. 13866. 1867. 1868. 1869.
“eh er ized 2 | 6'°26 5’ 64 5'*25 6’-58 8':39
CE eT si 5°72 5°70 5°69 6°65 7°82

The observations of the magnetic variation were communicated to
Professor Wolf by Messrs. Mohn and Fearnley. It will be seen at
once that the minima of the two series closely accord. Doubtless,
with the progress of observation, the empirical formula stated above
will have to be slightly modified.

Mr. Birt supplies further notes on the visibility of the spots
upon the floor of the lunar crater Plato. It seems too difficult to
separate the different qualities of vision, the various conditions of
the atmosphere, and still more the peculiarities of different telescopes,
from the variations of visibility considered by Mr. Birt, to form any
satisfactory conclusion on the subject.

Professor Cayley supplies two valuable papers on the geome-
trical theory of solar eclipses. The mode in which he treats the
subject is too rigidly mathematical to admit of being presented in
these pages. It may be remarked, however, that in his first paper
he discusses, in a most lucid and interesting manner, the problem of
determining the stereographic projection of the curve of two dimen-
sions which is the intersection of a cone and a sphere, showing that
this projection is a bicircular quartic.

4, BOTANY.

Cross-fertilization—Dr. Ogle has continued his observations on
the various contrivances in the structure of the flower to promote
cross-fertilization. The purpose of the nectary is to attract insects ;
any noticeable irregularity of the corolla is also usually connected
with the visits of insects, compelling them, when in search of the
nectary, either to impinge on the anthers or on the stigma, and thus
carry the pollen from one flower to another. Adrien de Jussieu had
remarked the connection which exists between the presence of nec-

1870. | Botany. 395

taries and the irregularity of the flower, but had not discovered the
reason of this connection. To speak of the tufts of hair-like papillie
which are often found on the pistil as collectors of pollen for the
purpose of the self-fertilization of the flower, is clearly erroneous ;
their position shows that their use is the very opposite, serving to
sweep the pollen out of the way in order to prevent it from reach-
ing the stigma. Instead of pozls collectewrs, by which term they
are known in French manuals, pot/s eapulseurs would be a better
name for them. The heads of flowers of the order Composite
usually begin to expand at the circumference, the expansion then
extending to the centre. As a general rule the anthers are ripe be-
fore the stigmas (protandry of Hildebrand); the pollen, therefore,
of the inner flowers fertilizes the pistil of the outer flowers; hence
the outer flowers of the ray are generally destitute of stamens, Dr.
Ogle finds that in Papilionacez cross-fertilization is the rule; and
that the peculiar form of the stamens in Hrica, Vaccinium, Arbutus,
and other genera of the same order, contributes to this end.

Fertilization of Ferns. —Dr. K. Strasburger contributes a paper
on this subject to Pringsheim’s ‘Jahrbuch ftir wissenschaftliche
Botanik.’ He commences the account of his experiments by tracing
the development of the antheridia, or cells which produce the sper-
matozoids, from their earliest condition, and states that the growth
of their lateral cells presents the first example in the vegetable
kingdom of annular cell-formation by division. The new twin cells,
a central cell and the annular lateral cells, are distinguished from
ordinary cells by the differences of their contents, the inner one
being stuifed with granular protoplasm, the outer ones containing
at first an almost colourless sap, with a single scarcely discernible
nucleus, and a few scattered grains of chlorophyll. After escaping
from the antheridium, the spermatozoids, corresponding to the
pollen of flowering plants, enter into the central cell of the arche-
gonium, or female organ, by a peculiar twisting motion, and there
meet with and fertilize the germ. A large number of the sperma-
tozoids will enter a single cell, forming a kind of chain, but fertili-
zation appears capable of being effected by one only.

Turning of Plants towards the Light.—M. Duchartre con-
tributes to a recent number of the ‘Comptes Rendus’ an account
of a remarkable growth of fungi in a garden at Meudon (Seine et
Oise). They were found growing in a hollow place beneath a
reservoir kept constantly full of water, in perfect darkness, but in
a comparatively high temperature. At the end of September, on
the lower surface of this reservoir were found more than 500 indi-
viduals of a small Agaric belonging to the genus Coprinus. ‘They
were all towards the southern part, springing from the roof of the
cavity, with their head downwards. The stem of every individual
had departed from the vertical by an angle of at least 30°, their

VOL. VII. 25

396 Chronicles of Science. [July,

direction being towards the north. The circumstances seem to
contradict the prevalent theory that the deflection of plants from
the perpendicular is due either to the force of gravity, or to a desire
to seek the light.

Sensitiveness of the Mimosa.—In the ‘ Mémoires de la Société
des Sciences Naturelles de Strasbourg,’ M. Millardet details some
new and elaborate researches on the periodicity of the “tension” in
plants, especially in the Mimosa pudica, or sensitive plant. The
amount of “tension” is greater by night than by day, but under-
goes various oscillations of two kinds, which he terms periodic and
paratonic oscillations. The periodic oscillations are either long or
short, the longer lasting for twenty-four hours, and attaining their
maximum towards the end of the night, and their minimum towards
the middle of the day; the shorter periodic oscillations lasting
about an hour, and occurring both by day and night. The para-
tonic oscillations are due to differences in light, temperature,
moisture, and other causes, and are more pronounced by day than
by night; they are intermediate in duration between the longer and
shorter periodic oscillations. All these movements occur in both
stem and leaves. The motor organs of the leaves consist of tissues
which are subject to variations of tension, and the movements are
but an expression of these variations.

Variegation and Double-flowering.—It had long been laid
down as a maxim by botanists that variegation of the leaves and
doubling of the flowers (conversion of stamens into petals) never go
together; and although recent writers had doubted the universality
of the law, it was difficult to pot to any authentic instances of the
two phenomena occurring together. Professor EZ. Morren, of Liége,
has, however, set the matter completely at rest by a description in
the ‘Belgique Horticole,’ accompanied by a drawing, of a double
wallflower with variegated leaves, which has been successfully grown
for some years by M. Rodigas of St. Trond.

Irritability of Stamens.—M. Jourdain * has been trying experi-
ments on the effects of chloroform on the stamens of Mahonia,
which are excitable like those of the barberry, springing back against
the pistil when irritated. When enclosed in a glass bell, in which
was placed some cotton, on which a few drops of chloroform had
been sprinkled, at the end of one minute the stamens were strongly
thrown back as if in a tetanic state, and resisted all attempts at
excitation. Exposed again to free air, after eight or ten minutes
the irritability reappeared, at first feebly, and completely after the
lapse of twenty-five or thirty minutes. If the action of the chlo-
roform is continued for ten or twelve minutes the flower assumes
an orange tint, and the stamens do not recover their sensibility on
exposure to the air; the next day they become black.

* “Comptes Rendus,’ April, 25.

1870. ] Botany. 397

Acclimatization of Palm-Trees.—In addition to the date-palm
and the Chamerops, which have long been naturalized on the
Kuropean shores of the Mediterranean, M. Naudin has succeeded
very well with several other kinds at Collioure, in the Pyrenees,
notwithstanding the exceptionally unfavourable character of the
- winter of 1869-70. The severe cold of the last week of December,
when the thermometer descended to — 4°, and in some localities
even to — 6° C., was fatal to only one species. The extraordinarily
heavy fall of snow which took place in January, lasting for forty-
four hours without intermission, was expected to destroy the young
trees altogether. After, however, they had been entirely covered up
with snow for nine or ten days, so that the boughs were completely
flattened, when the thaw came they almost immediately recovered
their former position, even the green colour of the leaves not being
injured. The same fall of snow caused a fearful amount of destruc-
tion among the olives and cork-oaks.

Mimetie Plants.—At a recent soirée of the Linnean Society a
very interesting set of foliage-plants was exhibited by Mr. W. Wilson
Saunders, arranged in pairs, the plants of each pair bearing such a
striking resemblance to one another in the general character of the
foliage, and even in the venation of the leaves, as to be with diffi-
culty distinguishable from one another, and yet belonging to en-
tirely distinct natural orders, not in any way related to one another.
Mr. Saunders states that none of the plants were grown for the
purpose, but were selected on the spur of the moment from his
collections; and he has little doubt that if attention were drawn to
the subject, such a collection might be indefinitely increased.

Parasitic Fungi.—In several recent numbers of the ‘ Zeitschrift
fir Parasitenkunde,’ edited by Dr. E. Hallier, instances are recorded
of diseases of the ear resulting in deafness being caused by minute
parasitic fungi. The most certain cure appears to be the external
application of spirits of wine.

Recent and Fossil Copal.—At the meeting of the Linnean So-
ciety, held May 5th, Dr. J. D. Hooker read a communication from
Dr. Kirk, Her Majesty’s Vice-Consul at Zanzibar, on the distinction
between the recent and fossil states of the resin known in commerce
as Copal. One characteristic by which fossil copal is known from
the recent resin is the so-called “ goose-skin.” Dr. Kirk has ascer-
tained that the fossil copal shows no trace of this goose-skin when first
dug out of the earth, but that it makes its appearance only after
cleaning and brushing the outer surface. Both descriptions often
contain imprisoned leaves, flowers, and insects in a beautiful state of
preservation ; but the fossil variety is clearer and more transparent.
Captain Grant states that the true copal gum-tree is a climber reach-
ing to a great height among the forest trees, finally becoming com-
pletely detached from its original root, when the copal gr from

2&5

398 Chronicles of Science. [July,

the extremities of these detached roots. Large pieces of the resin
fetch a very high price even in that country.

New Species of Jalap—Mr. Daniel Hanbury contributes to the
‘Journal of the Linnean Society’ a description of a hitherto un-
described Convolvulaceous plant, which he names Ipomea simulans,
being the plant the root of which furnishes the article known in
commerce as Tampico Jalap. It is obtained from Mexico, and has
been extensively brought into the market ; and though it is less rich
in resin and less purgative than true jalap, yet, on account of its
lower price, it has found a ready sale, chiefly in the Continental trade.

5. CHEMISTRY.

It has long been a disputed question whether a small quantity of
phosphorus improves or injures the mechanical properties of steel.
M. L. Gruner has carefully examined this subject, and has arrived
at the result that phosphorus present in steel in a quantity of from
0:002 to 0-003 causes the metal to be rigid; it tends even to in-
crease the elasticity and the resistance to breaking, but does not
modify the hardness. Such steel, however, is wanting in real
strength and toughness; it is brittle (azgre), that is to say, does
not withstand shocks. ‘The general result is, therefore, that even
very small quantities of phosphorus present in steel do not only not
improve, but certainly deteriorate, its good qualities. Dr. Salet,
the chief assistant to Professor Wurtz, has arranged an ingeniously
constructed apparatus to detect the smallest possible quantity of
phosphorus in iron and steel, by means of the spectrum produced
by the combustion of the hydrogen obtained by the action of chlor-
hydric acid on the metal.

Since the internal use of amylic alcohol, even in small quantities,
is very deleterious, the means of rapidly testing for its presence in
spirits and alcohol (either for pharmaceutical or scientific use) is of
importance. The suspected alcohol is poured into a burette, mixed
with its own bulk of rectified and pure ether, and also its own bulk
of water, and the mixture gently shaken; the ether, on becoming
separated from the rest of the fluid, floats to the top, containing in
- solution the whole of the amylic alcohol which might have been
contained in the alcohol or spirits under examination. The ether
is removed by a pipette, and on leaving it to spontaneous evapora-
tion, will leave behind the amylic alcohol, readily detected by its
offensive odour.

The absence of oxygenated water from snow which fell at Rouen
has been shown by M. A. Hozeau. He has tried some very careful
experiments to detect the presence of peroxide of hydrogen in water

1870.] Chemistry. 399

obtained from snow, care being taken to prevent the loss or decom-
position of the peroxide alluded to. The author’s opinion is that,
since the experiments made at Kasan undoubtedly proved the pre-
sence of the peroxide of hydrogen in snow-water, there may exist
an essential difference, caused by the locality where it falls. Kasan
is situated almost in the centre of the Russian empire, far away
from any seas or oceans. |

On the other hand, Professor H. Struve has ascertained the
presence of peroxide of hydrogen in air. His chief results are, (1)
peroxide of hydrogen is formed in air simultaneously with ozone
and nitrate of ammonia, and is condensed in the rain-water; (2)
peroxide of hydrogen, ozone, and nitrate of ammonia, are intimately
connected together; (8) the change which the so-called ozone-
paper undergoes when exposed to air is due to the joint action of
ozone and peroxide of hydrogen; (4) peroxide of hydrogen does
not decompose solution of iodide of potassium with separation of
free iodine ; (5) free carbonic acid decomposes the solution of iodide
of potassium, causing the formation of carbonate of potassa and free
hydriodic acid ; (6) when the peroxide of hydrogen is present along
with carbonic acid (acting as just alluded to), iodine is separated ;
(7) the best and most effective reagent for the detection of small
traces of peroxide of hydrogen is oxide of lead, since puce-coloured
peroxide is formed.

According to J. Jouglet, nitro-glycerine, dynamite, iodide of
nitrogen, chloride of nitrogen, and some other similar compounds,
explode the very moment they are brought into contact with ozone;
so that, for instance, a drop of nitro-glycerine, introduced into a
vessel containing ozone, causes an instantaneous explosion. Picrate
of potassa gunpowder, and ordinary gunpowder, are slowly decom-
posed by ozone, a decomposition which, as regards the last-named
substance, takes several weeks before it is perceptible.

Under the name of Albolith, Dr. Riemann prepares a cement
chiefly consisting of magnesia or this purpose, the magnesite of
Frankenstein (Silesia) is ignited in retorts similar to those used for
gas-manufacture; and after the mineral (a native carbonate of
magnesia) has been ignited, it is mixed with silica and some other
substances. ‘This mixture has the property of yielding, with mode-
rately concentrated solutions of chlorides (for instance, chloride of
magnesium), an extremely plastic, but, on drying, a very hard
material, excellently adapted for use as cement for stucco and or-
namental work, and instead of gypsum.

In a research on Isinglass, J. L. Souberain states that the dif-
ferent varieties of this article, as met with in the trade, may be
recognized as follows :—Russian isinglass dissolves rapidly and in-
stantaneously in hot water, leaving hardly ever more than at most
2 per cent. insoluble residue; Bengal isinglass dissolves readily,

400 Chronicles of Science. | July,

but leaves from 7 to 13 per cent. of residue. The taste of Russian
isinglass is pleasant and sweet; it yiclds a very firm gelatine, which
is perfectly transparent. The Bengal, or Indian kind, often has a
fishy taste, and the gelatine it yields is not clear. The Brazilian
isinglass yields an opaque, milky-looking gelatine, and its taste is
acrid. China isinglass is a rare article in the European markets. —

An important reaction in synthetical chemistry has been pub-
lished by Dr. E. Royer, who has effected the formation of formic
acid from carbonic acid. ‘The author states that, while submitting
to the action of a current of electricity an aqueous solution of car-
bonic acid, the latter was simply converted into formic acid by the
addition of hydrogen.

Owing to the fears of a quinine famine expressed some years
ago, great efforts were made to introduce the cultivation of cinchona
trees in numerous new localities. We have recently heard of the
first importation of cinchona bark from Java, a quantity of some
$30 Ibs. of this bark having been exported from Java to the
Netherlands. According to analysis made by Dr. B. Moens in
Java, this bark contains from 2°4 to 7°5 per cent. of alkaloids, of
which quantity 0°59 to 3°67 is quinine. ‘The loss of weight occa-
sioned by the drying of the bark has been found to amount to 66
per cent. ‘There is every prospect that within some six or seven
years hence Java will largely export this drug; and the cultivation
of the cinchona trees is also to be extended to Sumatra, Celebes, and
the Moluccas.

Dr. Loew has made known a fact which renders still more pro-
bable the Hydrogenium theory of the late Professor Graham.
The researches of Graham went to show that hydrogen could be
alloyed with palladium, and that it was also contained in meteoric
iron. He condensed the hydrogen in the palladium, and came
nearer proving its metallic character than any other person had done.
Dr. Loew has succeeded in combining hydrogen with mercury.
He takes an amalgam composed of not more than 3 or 4 per cent.
of zine, and shakes it with a solution of bichloride of platinum; the
liquid becomes black, and a dark powder settles to the bottom.
The contents of the flask are then thrown into water and hydro-
chloric acid added to dissolve the excess of zinc. The amalgam of
hydrogen and mercury at once forms in a brilliant voluminous
mass, resembling in every way the well-known ammonium amalgam.
It is soft and spongy, and rapidly decomposes, but without any
smell of ammonia. The hydrogen escapes, and soon nothing but
pure mercury is left in the dish. The experiment appears to show
that an amalgam of hydrogen and mercury can be formed, and that
hydrogen is really a metal.

Now that the analysis of air—physical and chemical—is attract-
ing so much attention, it may be of scme interest to know what

1870.] Chemistry. 401

substances the New York Metropolitan Board of Health found in
the air of the opera-houses. Over one hundred specimens of the
particles floating in the air, and falling as dust, were collected on
plates of glass, and examined under the microscope. The propor-
tions of the different ingredients varied, but the same substances
were found in all the specimens. The composition of the matter
subjected to the microscope was as follows :—The dust of the streets
in its finer or coarser particles, according to the height at which it
had been collected, with a large proportion of organic elements ;
particles of sand, quartz, and feldspar; of carbon, from coal-dust
and lamp-black ; fibres of wool and cotton of various tints; epider-
mic scales; granules of starch of wheat; the tissues of plants,
mainly the epidermic tissue, recognized by the stomata or breathing
pores ; vegetable ducts and fibres, with spiral markings; vegetable
hairs or down, either single or in tufts of four or eight, and of
great variety, and three distinct kinds of pollens. Fungi were
abundant, from mere micrococcus granules to filaments of mould.
When water was added to a portion of dust from whatever source,
and exposed in a test-tube to sunlight or heat for a few hours,
vibriones and bacteria made their appearance, and the fungous
elements sprouted and multiplied, showing that they maintained
their vitality, and proving that the germs of fermentation and
putrefaction are very widely diffused. In connection with this
subject, it is right to mention here that Mr. Samuelson performed
a similar series of experiments six years ago, on dust from all parts
of the world.*

All lecturers who have tried to float and then ignite an explosive
balloon will be glad to know the following easy means of effecting
this difficult but striking experiment devised by Mr. Patterson. At
first the author tried the india-rubber balloons of the toy-shops.
From various causes they had failed; but the chief difficulty was
doubtless the tension which made it difficult to secure the gases,
Recently the author’s attention has been directed to the collodion
balloons, obtainable from the philosophical instrument makers,
believing that they would suit well, both on account of their light-
ness, and on account of the fact that they would wholly disappear
on ignition. After a number of trials he has found them to succeed
admirably. The method adopted is as follows :-—

A fuse of filter-paper, about 1 inch long and 3 inch broad, is
gummed to the side of the balloon near the mouth, and allowed to
dry. The latter is then filled with a mixture of 24 volumes of
hydrogen gas and 1 volume of oxygen, the mixture being prepared
in a separate vessel. The mouth of the balloon is at once tied with
a piece of thread to increase the force of the explosion. When the
balloon is ready to ascend, a drop of the so-called “Greek fire”

* See ‘ Quarterly Journal of Science,’ July, 1864.

402 Chronicles of Science. [July,

(that is, a solution of phosphorus in carbon disulphide) is placed on
the filter-paper ; the thread is cut and the balloon left to itself. In
the course of half a minute or so the explosion ensues. It is neces-
sary to have an excess of hydrogen in the mixture, because exosmose
takes place so rapidly that, by the time of ignition, the volume of
that gas is sensibly reduced.

6. ENGINEERING— CIVIL AND MECHANICAL.

Ty our last number we gave, under the above heading, a brief ac-
count of narrow-gauge railways, which, during the period therein
referred to, had engaged considerable attention both in this country
and in Russia. The necessity for improving the means of local
transit has, since then, continued to receive the consideration of all
most interested in the question; and a “ Tramways’ Bill” has re-
cently passed through the Legislature, in which provision is made
for facilitating the construction and laying of tramways on common
roads.

Street Tramways.—Tramways for passenger traffic have for some
time past been in operation in New York, Boston, Washington, New
Orleans, and they are becoming general in all the more important
towns of the United States. Paris, Genoa, Vienna, Copenhagen, and
Brussels, have ail their tramways for passenger traffic, and they have
also, for some years, existed in Liverpool along the Dock sides. Some
years since iron rail tramways were introduced into London, but
after a short trial they were ordered to be removed in consequence
of the obstructions they caused to ordinary vehicles. At the East
End of London a granite tramway has been in existence for many
years, extending from the western end of the Commercial Road East
to the West India Dock; and in a circular by Mr. J. B. Redman,
dated in March last, on the subject of Metropolitan Tramways, it is
stated that “ practically the tramway is in as efficient working a state
as it was twenty years back.” The late Mr. Walker conducted certain
experiments with granite tramways in 1829, which showed that a
powerful draught-horse could draw a load equal to 30 tons upon a
level, at the rate of four miles an hour; and in his report on the
subject he said, “The friction is not more than upon the best con-
structed edge railways. I consider that the greater size of our
wheels, and there being no flange, compensates for the roughness of
the stones (from their being newly laid) as compared with an iron
railway.”

Whilst fully alive to the advantages of tramways for lessening
friction, attention has not yet been sufficiently given in this country
to the improvement of our macadamized roads by rolling; and now

1870. ] Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 403

that steam road-rollers have been brought to such perfection, the
operation is much simplified. Road rolling has for more than a
quarter of a century been officially applied over the whole extent of
the French and Prussian roads, which are kept up under centralized
State superintendence, and perhaps one of the strongest arguments
in its favour may be given in the words of the surveyor of the roads
near Coblentz, in Prussia, who has observed that as “ everywhere in
Prussia and in France the highways are rolled, if the systems were
not good the expense would not be incurred.” Space will not admit
of our entering further into this subject now; the whole question
has recently been very ably and fully discussed by Mr. F. A. Paget,
C.E., in a pamphlet entitled ‘The Economy of Steam Road-rolling,’
ss oe we would refer our readers for further information on this
ead.

The recent movement in favour of tramways in London has
resulted in the construction, by the Metropolitan Street Tramways
Company, of two short lines, together about four miles in length,
the one at Brixton and the other between Whitechapel and Bow.
The tram adopted by this Company, and which may class, perhaps,
as the best in form hitherto introduced for the purpose, consists of an
iron groove fixed level with the surface of the paving, on which the
flange of the omnibus wheel travels. The lines are double, and be-
tween them as well as in the space between the trams, and strips on
either side of about 20 inches wide, the ground is paved with granite
sets. The plan of the road, which consists of longitudinal wooden
sleepers laid upon concrete, admits of the repair of the tramway, by
lifting up lengths of tram and sleeper, without breaking up the road
beyond the width of the tram (four inches), and a few stones here
and there to undo the fastenings.

Single Rail Permanent Way.—Amongst other novelties of
recent introduction, and which come under the category of “ Tram-
ways, we may mention two projects for single-line rails. The one
by Mr. W. J. Addis, of Tannah, near Bombay, has already been put
into practice in India, where it is reported to work very favourably.
In this case the rail is intended to be laid down either upon any
existing line of road, or on roads made especially for the purpose of
a tramway. One of the advantages claimed for this kind of line is
that ordinary carts may run upon it, the only necessary alteration
being the addition of a central wheel, or wheels, according to the
length of the vehicle; the additional wheels being attached to the
bottom of the platform of the carts, and having a flange on either
side to prevent any moving off the rail. These wheels work on a
swivel attached to a screw, by means of which the ordinary side-wheels
are raised slightly off the road, so that the whole weight of the
vehicles rests upon the central rail.

The second single-rail project to which we have referred was

404 Chronicles of Science. — [Ju'y,

designed by M. J. Larmanjat, and was first carried out by him in a
short trial line, constructed between Raincy and Montfermeil in the
summer of 1868. According to M. Larmanjat’s system, the tram-
way is constructed with a single central rail, and along a good road
this constitutes the whole of the permanent way. The locomotive
employed to haul the trains has four wheels, the two driving wheels,
placed on either side, resting on the ordinary surface of the road,
and a leading and trailing wheel, having grooved peripheries, and
which are situated on the centre line of the machine, bearing upon
the central rail. The carriages have also four wheels, arranged in a
similar manner, but whilst in the engine the greater weight rests
on the side driving wheels, in the case of the carriages the adjust-
ment of the springs is such that the chief weight rests upon the
wheels running on the central rail, the other wheels merely serving
to steady the vehicle.

Wire Tramway.—Another improved method of cheap tramway
construction is found in Hodgson’s Wire Tramway system, a specimen
of which, five miles in length, has recently been constructed in the
immediate vicinity of Brighton. One respect in which this differs
from other tramway projects is its unfitness for passenger traffic, it
being principally applicable for the conveyance of mining produce
and goods generally. Hitherto it has mostly been employed by the
French beet-root growers to carry the roots from the field to the
storehouses. This tramway consists of a strong iron wire, running
over rollers supported on posts, having brackets extending on either
side. The greatest length to which one rope line is usually applied
is five miles, and a succession of such lengths would be required for
any greater distance. At each end of the line is placed a horizontal
wheel, around which the rope turns, and at one end is placed an
engine for giving motion to the wire. The truck employed consists
of a kind of shallow box without a lid, suspended from the wire by
means of a bent arm, so arranged that the saddle which rests on
the wire is immediately over the centre of the truck. ‘The rope
being put in motion, these trucks are caused to run upon it, and are
carried forward with it. Where a long line is required, suitable
arrangements are made by which the trucks run from one wire on
to the next, and so on.

MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Institution of Civil Engineers.—Space will not admit of more
than a passing remark on the most important papers read at this
Institution. On 8th March, Mr. D. M. Fox read a “ Description of
the Line and Works of the San Paulo Railway in the Empire of
Brazil.” The line is 88 miles in length, and was constructed at a
total aggregate cost of 1,861,667/. It runs over low swampy

1870. ] Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 405

eround for the first 134 miles, and then rises to a height of 2500 feet
by means of inclined planes of 1 in 10, worked by stationary engines.
From this summit, for a distance of 68 miles, the line crosses a suc-
cession of short ridges and valleys, with occasional deep cuttings and
embankments. A description of “The St. Pancras Station and Roof,
Midland Railway,” was read by Mr. W. H. Barlow on 29th March.
As this work has already been noticed in this Journal, we shall not
give any further account of it now. “The Maintenance and Re-
newal of Railway Rolling Stock,” by Mr. R. Price Williams, on
12th April, is a most important and interesting paper, but it 1s so
filled with statistics and figures as to render any short abstract im-
possible. On May 3rd, Mr. George Berkley read a most important
paper “On the Strength of Iron and Steel, and on the Design of
parts of Structures which consist of those materials.” And on 24th
May two papers were read, the one by Mr. George Fowler, “On the
Relative Safety of different modes of Working Coal,” and the other,
nos Coal Mining in Deep Workings,” by Mr. Emmerson Bain-
ridge.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers.—At a general meeting of
this Institution, held on 28th April, amongst other business a paper
was read “On a Steam Road-Roller.” This roller was 25 tons weight,
and 9 feet wide; it could roll an area of 300 square yards per hour,
with a consumption of coal of about 1 cwt. per hour. The adhesion
was found sufficient for gradients as steep as 1 in 9.

South Wales Institute of Engineers——On the 5th May, at the
usual general meeting of this Society, held at Newport, Monmouth-
shire, discussion was resumed on Mr. J. Brogden’s paper “On the
Comparative Merits of large and small Trams for Colliery Use,” and
“On Bernard’s Coal-Washing Machine.” A paper was also read “ On
the Application of Blast of a High Temperature to Blast Furnaces
of moderate Elevation,” by Mr. Thomas Whitwell.

The New York Society of Practical Engineers.—A well-timed
paper was read on 20th April last by Mr. C. Williams, “On the
Old and New Methods of City Transit,” in which a history was pre-
sented of the various methods from time to time attempted to facili-
tate locomotion in cities and towns; and the paper wound up with
a description of a method of applying compressed air to locomotive
purposes.

LITERATURE.

‘Report on the Maritime Canal connecting the Mediterranean
at Port Said with the Red Sea at Suez,’ by Captain Richards, R.N.,
F.RS., Hydrographer to the Admiralty, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Clarke, C.B., B.l., Director of Engineering and Architectural
Works, Admiralty. This report has been published by Govern-

406 Chronicles of Science. [ July,

ment, and coming as it does from officers of such high authority,
after a personal inspection of the Canal, it possesses a peculiar national
interest not to be found in similar works by independent individuals
on the same subject.

‘ Principles and Construction of Machinery ; a Practical Treatise
on the Laws of the Transmission of Power, and of the Strength
and Proportions of the various Elements of Prime Movers, Mill-work,
and Machinery generally; arranged for the use of Students, En-
gineers, and Practical Mechanics,* by Francis Campin, C.E. The
aim of the author is stated in the preface to have been “ in the first
place to explain the fundamental theories of mechanism in the
clearest and briefest manner, so as to impress upon the mind general
principles, not special cases, and then to show the practical develop-
ments of such theories, care being taken to arrange the matter as
to try the faculties of the mind as little as possible.” This text
appears to have been well adhered to, and the result has been the
production of a book calculated to prove of great use to the classes
for whom it has been written.

7. GEOLOGY AND PALZZONTOLOGY.

(Including the Proceedings of the Geologicai Society and Notices of
recent Geological Works.)

Tx the ‘ Philosophical Transactions (1869), p. 445, will be found a
most valuable contribution to the Fossil Flora of North Greenland,
being a description of the plants (collected by Mr. Edward Whymper
during the summer of 1867) by Professor Oswald Heer.

The greater part of the fossil plants which have been brought
from Arctic regions have come principally from one locality,
Atanekerdluk, in (lat. 70° N.) North Greenland. Here, however,
they occur in such profusion that we are able, to some extent, to
restore the ancient flora, and deduce most important conclusions as
to the former condition and climate of this high northern region.
The fossil plants brought home by M‘Clintock, Inglefield, and
Colomb, and deposited in Dublin and London, were found at this
locality, also the very rich collection made by Mr. Olmk (formerly
inspector of North Greenland), and now deposited at Copenhagen.
These materials were found upon examination to contain 105 spe-
cies of plants. Of some the leaves, fruits, and seeds were observed,
sc that an absolute determination of their species was rendered
possible ; while of others merely the leaves, and of these, at times,
only fragments, were discoverable. Of these latter therefore the
identifications cannot be considered as final.

* London: Aitchley and Co.

1870.| Geology and Palxontology. 407

Mr. Whymper’s collection contains, on the whole, 80 species of
plants from North Greenland; 32 of these are new for this flora,
and 20 are quite new. The Miocene plants of North Greenland
have thereby reached the number of 137 species, and those of the
Arctic Miocene flora 194. Of these 137 species from Greenland,
46 agree with those of the Miocene of Europe. The systematic
position of a number of plants from North Greenland is as yet
uncertain ; but the number positively identified is so large, that it
enables us to give a sketch of its Miocene flora. Of the fossil plants
from Disco Island there are 14 species: of these, Aspidiwm Meyer,
Sequoia Couttsix, Platanus Guillelme, and Magnolia Inglefieldi
are most widely distributed. The plane and the Sequoza are the
commonest trees; to these may be added a Widdringtona, a
Liguidambar, and a Magnolia with large evergreen leaves. Two
cones of this Magnolia having been obtained, they corroborate the
determination of this tree originally effected by means of the leaves
alone.

A Dryandra, an Aralia, and a Paliwrus probably constituted
the brushwood of the forest, whilst several species of ferns covered
the ground. The Phragmites and the Sparganium point to the
existence of a river or alake. Of the 73 species from Atanekerdluk,
25 are new. Five of these are found in the Miocene flora of
Europe, viz. :——Poacites Mengeanus, Smilax grandifolia, Quercus
Laharpit, Corylus insignis, and Sassafras Ferretianum. ‘The oaks
appear very frequently at Atanekerdluk. The southern limits
have been determined as follows: — Six species stop at the Baltic
coast ; ten occur in Switzerland ; seven in Austria; four in France;
seventeen in Italy; six in Greece; four are common to North
Greenland and Bovey Tracey in Devon. It is certainly very in-
teresting to find so many species extend to Italy and Greece.
Almost all these may be referred to the country situated between
these two extreme limits, and we thereby see that our knowledge
respecting the Miocene flora of Europe, at least the forest-plants,
is no longer so imperfect as heretofore. Dr. Heer’s paper contains
descriptions of all the species collected, and is illustrated by eighteen
4to plates of the fruits and leaves determined.

On Palzocoryne, a genus of Tubularine Hydrozoa from the
Carboniferous Formation.*—This new and remarkable little fossil,
representing the first of its class, 1s introduced to the Royal Society
under the guarantees of Dr. P. Martin Duncan, F.RS., &c.,
Sec. Geol. Soc., and Henry M. Jenkins, F.G.S., Sec. Roy. Agric.
Soc. It was obtained from the lower shales of the Carboniferous
limestone series of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, which is very
fossiliferous in many places, and is also remarkable for the perfect
condition in which the organic remains found therein have been

* *Phil. Trans.,’ 1869, p. 693.

408 Chronicles of Science. (July,

preserved. In these shales numerous small pedunculated radiata
(whose external appearance differs from that of any extinct or-
ganism hitherto discovered) are found, usually attached to the
margins of the polyzoarium of Fenestellz, or in a more or less
fragmentary condition amongst the small pieces of broken Polyzoa
ie Crinoid stems which compose the fossiliferous layers of the
shale.

The attachment is by a dactylose base, which, when broken or
cut, is proved to be cellular internally. ‘The base contracts as it
increases in height, and is continued upwards in the form of a
cylindrical stem, which is faintly enlarged in its middle portion,
and which is surmounted by a symmetrical structure resembling a
reversed obtuse cone, the margin of whose base is prolonged into
several tentacular processes, which are arranged in one whorl, and
are long, slender, and tapering. The upper surface of the body is
granular, and the stem is ornamented with longitudinal flutings and
minute processes. The general appearance is that of a long straight-
armed star-fish reversed and fixed on a stiff stem with an expanded
base. The authors enter carefully into the minute anatomy; they
then proceed to show why it is inadmissible as an Echinoderm, a
Polyzoan, or a Zoantharian, and finally, through having so re-
markable a calcareous investment, they show that by the aid of the
anomalous living genus Bimeria (Wright) they are able to over-
come the difficulty and refer it to the Hydrozoa. It is therefore
placed in the class Hydrozoa and in the Order Tubularidz, of which
it will constitute a new family and at present a singular genus.
Two species are described and figured by the authors. It is extremely
probable that other new and interesting forms may be discovered in
these shales, but hardly possible that anyone will be able, like the
authors of this paper, to light upon a new class of fossils.

Mr. W. T. Blanford, F.G.S., late Geologist to the Abyssinian
Expedition, has given us the result of his observations on the
Geology and Zoology of Abyssinia, made during the progress of
the British Expedition to that country in 1867-68.*

The author was detached from the Geological Survey in India
in 1867, and started for Abyssinia.

The formations met with throughout the region traversed were :
—1. Recent: consisting of soils of the highlands, including “regur,”
or cotton-soil, similar to that found in India, and alluvial deposits
on the coast. 2. The volcanic series, which skirts both coasts in
the southern portion of the Red Sea. This group, which is but
poorly developed on the west coast of Annesley Bay, Mr. Blanford
proposes to call the Aden Voleanic series. 3. Trappean series. This
grand collection of beds, which forms the Abyssinian highlands, in-
cluding Magdala and the Ashangi groups, consists of two divisions,

* Macmillan and Co.: London, 1870.

1870. ] Geology and Palzxontology. 409

which are unconformable to each other, the former (the Magdala
group) consisting of trachytes and dolerites, and the latter (the
Ashangi group) entirely composed of dolerites of great thickness and
bedded volcanic rocks, lavas, and ashes. Through this Trappean
series, near Bethor, not far from Magdala itself, the Jitta River has
cut its way and now runs at a depth of 3500 feet, in a valley pro-
bably more than a mile in width. The sides are extremely steep,
often perpendicular. The beds on both sides appear exactly to cor-
respond. A well-marked river-terrace, half-way down, indicated on
both sides of the stream, records the fiuviatile origin of the gorge.
Of all the grand scenery, says Mr Blanford, met with im Abyssinia,
none equalled this wonderful gorge. His descriptions remind one
of the Grand Cafions of the Colorado River. 4. “The Antalo lime-
stone” is of Oolitic age, and contains Ceromya similis, Trigonia
costata, and other characteristic fossils, reminding one strongly of
British forms. 5. “ Adegrat sandstone,” a massive formation, oc-
cupying a very extensive area in northern Tigre, and perhaps repre-
senting the coal-bearing rocks known to exist north-west of Lake
Dembea, but yielding no fossils. 6. Metamorphic rocks of various
mineral character, with a general north and south strike, due to
pre-existing cleavage.

The author describes the scenery as being almost everywhere
most strikingly beautiful, now bold and romantic, now resembling
the undulating character of Western England. Some of the illus-
trations are very remarkable and striking, the plateau-like disposition
of the tops of all the hills reminding one strongly of the Sinaitic
peninsula, as if the same meteoric agencies had carved out the
valleys from an originally highly elevated, but unbroken plain. The
recent natural history part of the work is ably dealt with by Mr.
Blanford, and the book will well reward the zoologist, and even
the ordinary reader of travels.

Several Geological Survey Memoirs have made their appearance
in the present quarter. From the Geological Survey of England
and Wales we have,-—‘ A Memoir on the Geology of the Carboni-
ferous Limestone, Yoredale Rocks and Millstone Grit of North
Derbyshire and adjoining parts of Yorkshire, by Messrs. A. H.
Green, C. Le Neve Foster, and J. R. Dakyns, with an Appendix on
the Fossils by R. Etheridge. Secondly, ‘The Triassic and Per-
mian Rocks of the Midland Counties of England,’ by Edward Hull,
F.R.S., &e.

From the Indian Geological Survey we have Part I. vol. vii.
of the Memoirs, ‘On the Vindhyan Series, as exhibited in the North-
western and Central Provinces of India,’ by Frederick R. Mallet,
I'.G.8.; No. I. of Records (1869), ‘The Valley of the Poorna River,
West Berar, by A. B. Wynne, F.G.S., &c.; also Part I. vol. viii. of
the ‘Records of the Indian Survey for 1870.’ In this last-men-

410 Chronicles of Science. [ July,

tioned publication is Dr. Oldham’s Report for 1869, in which the
Director sets forth not only the labours accomplished by his com-
paratively small staff, but also sketches out their projected labours
for 1870. In speaking of the enormous area which the Indian
Survey has to traverse, Dr. Oldham remarks, “ I have always found
it exceedingly difficult to lead to a just conception of the immensity
of the areas we have to deal with in this country, and it may be
useful to draw a comparison here which may tend to a realization of
the facts. The small map, which accompanies Mr. Mallet’s Report (a
reduction from the larger scale maps used in the field), the title of
which we quoted above, represents an area quite as large as Eng-
land and Wales; while all the lines of geological division and sub-
division shown on it have been actually traced out by detailed
examination.

The previous Part of the Memoirs (the last Part of vol. vi.) con-
tained also a geological map of quite as extended an area; that is to
say, geological maps and reports have been published within twelve
months, exhibiting the structure of a country larger in area than the
whole of Great Britain and Ireland; and to this should be added
that the maps relate to a country, regarding the structure of which
nothing trustworthy was known previous to the Geological Survey
commencing their labours.

‘wo other papers appear in the same Part, namely, “ Notes on

the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Madras,” by R. Bruce Foote,
F.G.8., and “ On the Alluvial Deposits of the Irawadi, more par-
ticularly as contrasted with those of the Ganges,” by W. Theobald,
jun., Esq.
Diet the title of ‘Eminent Living Geologists,’ the Editor of
‘The Geological Magazine’ has published an account of Professor
Adam Sedgwick, of Cambridge, and Mr. G. Poulett Scrope, F.RS.:
both these gentlemen have attained to the highest honours in geo-
logical science, and have contributed largely towards its literature.
The former, as the Woodwardian Professor of Geology in Cambridge,
has delivered fifty-two courses of lectures in the University; the
latter is the well-known author of the ‘ Volcanoes of Central
France,’ published so long ago as 1827, and of many other works
on Volcanoes, &c. Both notices are accompanied by well-executed
portraits.

In the same journal Professor Huxley gives us the results of
his examination of Palzotherium magnum ;* Professor T. Rupert
Jones, the South Wales Entomostraca ;} Professor de Koninck, of
Liege, some new Paleozoic Echinoderms ;{ Professor Harkness, of
Elephant-remains in Ireland.§ Mr. James Croll accounts for the
Boulder-clay of Caithness; Mr. Charles Lapworth explains the
Geology of Galashiels; Mr. Henry M. Jenkins, the Geology of

* P) 153. + P. 214. i P. 248. § P. 253.

1870. | Geology and Palxontology. 411

Belgium ; Mr. Allport writes on the Basaltic Rocks of the Midland
Coal-field ; The Rev. T. G. Bonney, on Pholas-Burrows; Mr. J. W.
Judd, on the use of the term Neocomian, &c., &c. There are also
the usual Geological Notices, Reports, &c.

‘The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society’ contains
papers by Messrs. R. Tate and J. 8. Holden, on the iron ores asso-
ciated with Basalts in the North-east of Ireland ; Principal Dawson,
of Montreal, on the Structure of Stgillaria, and on some new
Animal-remains from the Carboniferous and Devonian of Canada.

Mr. J. W. Hulke makes known a new Crocodilian skull from
Kimmeridge Bay, Dorset, which he has named Steneosawrus Man-
selit ; and some teeth associated with two fragments of jaw, from
the same locality, which he has provisionally named Huthekiodon.

Mr. Etheridge describes the Geological Position and the Geo-
graphical Distribution of the Reptilian or Dolomitic Conglomerate
of the Bristol area, from which were obtained the remains of Theco-
dontosaurus and Palzosawrus, Dinosaurian reptiles about which
more has yet to be made known.

Mr. Wilson sketches out the surface-geology of Rugby, and
Mr. Lloyd does the same for the Avon and Severn Valleys.

Mr. Moore’s (postponed) paper upon Australian Mesozoic
Geology and Paleontology, makes us acquainted with a large
number of new Australian fossils (chiefly obtained from erratic
blocks, of the parentage of which nothing is at present known).
These remains are, however, many of them very unsatisfactory for
purposes of determination. Mr. Moore considers they are com-
parable with our Lower Lias types. The part is a bulky one, and
is ilustrated by nine 8vo and two 4to plates.

The Ancient Relations of Land and Water. — Professor
Huxley’s address last quarter to the Geological Society has
such vast importance for the zoologist that we must allude to
it here. It forms the starting-point of a scientific study which
hitherto has been suffermg for want of some sound and com-
prehensive speculation to which workers may bring their facts,
which may be taken as the basis of operations, and enlarged, modi-
fied, and improved in various directions. The question suggested
by a consideration of the distribution of living organisms on the
earth’s surface is, not only what forms have we in this or that
locality, but how did they get there? Did A come with B or with
C; did they all come together or separately? It is this examina-
tion of the faunz and florz of various regions which Professor
Huxley enters on, and broadly sketches out the various ways in
which in past times the terrestrial animals of the different areas at
present recognized may have arrived there. By fully following
out this line of study, we may one day be able to assign its proper
history to every species of animal and plant, and to trace the wan-

VOL. VIL. 2F

412 Chronicles of Science. [July,

derings of its forefathers from one region to another, and their
gradual modifications of form. In looking at our English fauna, we
' may hope to recognize certain forms as belonging to our area from
Paleozoic times, others as dating from Mesozoic, others again as
Hocenic, others as Miocenic or later ; in some cases we shall assign
such an age to the order or genus, and a later age to the specific
modification. Professor Huxley conceives that distinct provinces
of the distribution of terrestrial life have existed from the earliest
periods—earlier than those of which we have any record. Whilst
in the dry land of our own area during Carboniferous times Amphibia
existed, in some other terrestrial provinces of that period Birds,
Reptiles,and Mammalia may have been developing. The Permian
epoch marks the beginning of a new period, and during the Trias
dry land existed in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, as it
does now. ‘The mammals, birds, and reptiles developed in the pre-
ceding epoch spread into this great continental area called Arctogea.
Depression then commenced in parts, and special developments
occurred in various regions. At the early part of this period,
Professor Huxley conceives Australia to have been separated and to
have remained dry land ever since. The discovery of the remark-
able Australian Ganoid since his address, confirms his conclusion.
The Mesozoic continent was probably continued across the Pacific
area to what is now the province of Austro-Columbia, the charac-
teristic fauna of which dates from this period. At a later part of
the Mesozoic period, upheaval of the Atlantic shore and depression
of the Pacific caused a westward movement of the Vertebrate fauna
which took possession of new lands and increased in extent up to
the Miocene epoch, from which period we may clearly trace all the
Mammalian forms characteristic of the great continental area of our
present world—exclusive of South America, Australia, and New
Zealand. From the Devonian period to the present day, the four
great oceans—Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Antarctic—may have
occupied their present positions and only incessantly changed their
channels of communication and coast-lines.

The attempt in this address to follow back the origin of Verte-
brate forms of life, needs only to be succeeded by similar efforts
with regard to Invertebrate groups, and more especially as to plants,
the same method of comparing present distribution and past, as far
as it is yet known, being used, and we shall ultimately attain most
valuable conclusions as to both Geological and Biological history.

The paleontology of the greater part of the earth has yet to be
investigated in order to bring light on this matter.

1870. | Meteorology. 413

8, METEOROLOGY.

THE most important paper which we have to notice in this number
is one by Dr. Julius Hann, “ On the Climate of the Upper Regions of
the Alps,” which appears in the ‘Journal of the Austrian Meteorolo-
gical Society.’ The Swiss stations are situated in many instances at
considerable heights above the sea. ive of them are at a level
exceeding 6000 feet. The station of Hoch Obir, in Carinthia, is at
a similar height. However, the information derived from these
points gives us hardly any knowledge of the climate prevailing
above the snow-line, and the difficulties which presented themselves
in the way of obtaining accurate observations from such an elevated
region seemed almost insurmountable, until they were overcome by
M. Dollfuss. This gentleman succeeded in persuading three Swiss
guides to spend an entire year, from August 1865 to August 1866,
on the Pass of St. Theodule, under the Matterhorn. ‘The level
of this station is all but 11,000 feet above the sea.

The barometrical observations were made three times a-day,
while those of temperature, wind, and weather, were recorded eleven
times daily.

The first point on which Dr. Hann touches is the extreme of
cold registered, which he finds to be only 6°°-5 F. The winter of
1865-6 was a warm one, but still the temperature just cited is un-
expectedly high for so elevated a station, considering that much
greater cold has been experienced at lower stations in Kurope nearly
on the latitude of the Pass in question, e. g., — 12°°5 at Geneva in
January, 1838, and — 20° at Prague in 1830. We need not refer
to the intense frost felt in corresponding latitudes in America, where,
in the State of New York, the mercury has been known to freeze.

The self-registering minimum thermometers, which have been
placed on the summits of so many mountains by the members of
the Alpine Club, have not yielded results at all commensurate with
the labour of depositing them in their resting places and subse-
quently reading them, so that we are driven to the ordinary records
at high levels to find a confirmation of the minimum observations
at St. Theodule. It is found to be universally true that the ex-
tremes of cold are registered not on the summits of the mountains
but in the valleys where the chilled air collects.

The winter climate was on the whole cold, as the thermometer
never rose above 32° from November to April, but the weather was
very enjoyable notwithstandmg. At the high level of their station
the observers found the intensity of the solar heat on a calm day to be
so great that they frequently were sitting in the sun in their shirt-
sleeves, when the thermometer in the shade was close to zero I’, They
often noticed the snow melting when the observed temperature was

2F 2

414 Chronicles of Science. [July,

7° or 8° F., and even on the peak of Mont Cervin itself they more
than once saw traces of a thaw.

As a compensation for the unlooked-for mildness of the winter
climate, the summer at the station was extraordinarily cold. The mean
temperatures of the three summer months was 32°'3, and that of July,
only 33°°5. These are the lowest average summer temperatures
that have ever been reported ; for the mean of Dr. Kane’s stations in
Smith Sound was 35°°4 for the summer, and 39°°9 for July. It is
well known that at Yakutsk and other stations in Siberia, as well as
in North America, where the winter temperature is excessively low,
the heat of the summer is comparatively high, approaching and even
surpassing that observed in these islands. The result is that a rapid
and vigorous, though short-lived, vegetation is produced.

It is hopeless to look for anything of this nature on the Pass of
St. Theodule, where frost occurs every night. The perpetual sun-
shine of an Arctic summer effectually prevents any damage to the
growing plants from this cause.

The annual march of temperature at high stations is remarkable,
Comparing the observations now under discussion with those from
other stations at somewhat lower levels, Dr. Hann finds that Feb-
ruary is the coldest month, sometimes even March, while December
ig extraordinarily mild. In this month it is found that the tempe-
rature increases with the elevation owing to the accumulation of cold
air in the hollows.

This fact shows the great difficulty of determining accurately
the decrease of temperature with height, in any district, the local
conditions which influence the result being so very various. How-
ever, the Swiss observations throw some light upon it, and Dr. Hann
has submitted to the Academy at Vienna a paper on the subject, in
which he has calculated provisionally a table to show the rate of this
decrease. From this paper we learn that the level of the isothermal
contour of 32° varies from 1100 feet in January to upwards of
11,000 in July. If we look for an annual temperature of 0° F.,
which is about that of Rensselaer Harbour, we find it to lie about
2000 feet over the top of Mont Blanc, while the lowest July tem-
perature at sea level, that of Northumberland Sound, is met with at
the level of 10,000 feet in the Alps. : |

Comparatively little is said about the other meteorological
elements. The barometer is dismissed with a few words; but as
regards the distribution of moisture the author goes into more
length. In winter the air on the mountain tops is dry and clear ;
in summer it is much more cloudy. The action of the “ courant
ascendant” is analogous to the foregoing, for the mornings are much
less commonly cloudy than the afternoons. As to the actual
amount of precipitation at the upper stations, as compared with the
lower, there is not much to say. The data for ram and snow are

1870. | Meteorology. 415

very uncertain, but on the whole much less fell on the Pass of St.
Theodule than might have been expected. The heaviest fall of
snow recorded was only 2 feet deep, while in many of the Alpine
valleys a depth of 6 or 7 feet is not uncommonly known to fall in
the space of twenty-four hours.

The same journal contains a paper by Dr. Dellman, “On the
Electricity of Clouds,” being one of a series of papers on atmo-
spherical electricity. Our space will only allow us to give some of
the most important conclusions. They are as follows :-—

All clouds are electrified, and oppositely so in different parts of
the cloud.

As far as the observations at Kreuznach go, they prove that all
clouds have a negative centre surrounded by positive bands or zones.

The density of the electricity diminishes towards the circum-
ference, but the maximum density is not at the centre.

A cloud can only give rain by the occurrence of an electrical
discharge.

With reference to meteorology in Russia, a report has been
drawn up by a Committee of the Academy of St. Petersburg on the
organization of the system. The most important suggestion which
it contains is, that the empire should be divided into separate dis-
tricts, with a central observatory furnished with self-recording
instruments in each. Three of these establishments are now in
existence. St. Petersburg; Helsingtfors, for Finland; and Tiflis,
for the Caucasus. Taschkend is designed as the central station
for Turkestan. To these thirteen others are to be added. 'These
institutions are to be quite independent of each other, each being sur-
rounded by its own auxiliary stations, and publishing its own results,

Professor Mohn, of Christiania, has brought out a paper “ On
Sea-temperatures between Iceland, Scotland, and Norway,” based in
part on the observations of the Scottish Meteorological Society, and
illustrated by charts for the four seasons and for the year. The
isothermal curves, at all seasons except the summer, exhibit very
sharp bends pointing north-eastwards. Professor Mohn calls the
line joining the summits of these curves the thermal axis of the dis-
trict, inasmuch as on either side of it the temperature decreases,
This thermal axis lies parallel to the coast of Norway, at a distance
of about 120 miles, excepting in the summer months, when the
warmest water is found in the Cattegat, and the thermal axis is only
traceable along a line running from the North Cape towards Spitz-
bergen. This thermal axis indicates the course of the Gulf Stream
in these waters, which is rapidly cooled in its progress northwards,
on the one hand by the ice in the neighbourhood of Iceland, and on
the other by the cold mainland of Norway.

The last number of the ‘ Journal of the Scottish Meteorological
Society’ contains a very suggestive paper by Dr. R. Angus Smith

416. Chronicles of Science. | July,

“Qn Chemical Climatology,” or, in other words, on the impurities of
atmospherical air. In addition to the ordinary analysis of the
gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, Dr. Smith proposes to
collect and determine the foreign matter suspended in it. In dry
weather, or in covered places such as hospital wards, he shakes some
water in a large bottle, containing about a gallon of air, and renews
the air as often as necessary. In wet weather he collects ram. The
preliminary results are very interesting from a sanitary point of view,
but their general bearing is more chemical than meteorological. The.
author hopes “to be able to tell plainly and authoritatively if a place
is close or otherwise; and to say that the rain or the air when washed:
must not show more than a given amount so as to be fit for respira-
tion. In this way it may be possible authoritatively to fix a limit
to the density of population, and the extent to which manufactures
may be carried on within a given area.” The large amount of solid
matter in specimens of rain collected in Glasgow leads Dr. Smith
to connect the fact with the great mortality of that town. We are
glad to see that a more extensive investigation of the subject is
being undertaken, and that rain is being collected at many different
stations to be subsequently analyzed by Dr. Smith.

Mr. Buchan gives a preliminary paper “On the Rainfall of the
South of Scotland,” which is chiefly of local interest, as the rain-
gauges are very unevenly distributed over the country. ‘The driest
district is the lower part of Teviotdale, where Jedburgh reports
21°99 inches; while the greatest fall is on Httrick Pen, at a height
of 2268 feet, where 71°73 inches were collected. However, the
observations on hill-sides show most clearly that no law of increment
with height can be assigned—the conditions of rainfall are dependent
to so great an extent on the lie of the hills. The fall in the South of
Scotland is far less than that in the West Highlands, owing to the fact
that Ireland drains the south-west winds of much of their moisture.

The last few numbers of the ‘ Proceedings of the British Meteoro-
logical Society’ do not contain many papers of interest. The forty-
eighth number is entirely taken up with a paper by Mr. Glaisher
“On the Daily Rainfall at Greenwich for the last Fifty-five Years.”
Although the period is so long, the numbers vary very much from
day to day, and the irregularities are not eliminated even by grouping
the results for periods of 5, 10, 15, 80, 60,90, and 120 days. ‘The
only practical conclusion arrived at is, that all the periods of least
rainfall occur during the first three months, and the heaviest between
the months of June and December. ‘The graphical representation
of the results gives a very irregular curve. The absolute minimum
of daily fall occurs about the end of March, between the eightieth
and ninetieth day of the year, and the absolute maximum is noticed
in the last half of October, between the 290th and 300th days.

1870. | Mineralogy. 417

9, MINERALOGY.

To determine with accuracy the true nature of those colouring
matters which, although present in extremely minute proportions,
nevertheless impart to many of our gems much of their value and
their beauty, is a task which has often sorely taxed the resources of
the mineralogical chemist. It is still an open question, for example,
whether the green tint of the emerald is due to the chromium which
the mineral contains, as originally suggested by Vauquelin, or whe-
ther it is referable to the presence of certain organic constituents de-
tected in the emerald by M. Lewy. Towards a solution of this
question a contribution has recently been published by M. J. Bous-
singault,* who has had at his disposal more than a couple of pounds
of the amorphous emerald from the celebrated mines of Muzo, near
Santa-F'é-de-Bogota, in New Granada. In the carbonaceous schist
two kinds of emerald are found—known respectively as canutillos
and morallones—the former being crystallized, transparent, and of
great value, while the latter are uncrystallized, less translucent, much
fissured, and comparatively valueless: it was, of course, a kilo of the
latter that found its way to Boussingault’s laboratory. Whilst Lewy
has asserted that the emerald becomes opaque and colourless by cal-
cination, Boussingault finds that nothing of the kind takes place
with the morallon: the green colour is preserved at a bright red
heat, but the mineral suffers a loss of nearly 2 per cent., consisting
partly of water and partly of carbon. The water is regarded as ex-
isting in a state of chemical combination, since it is not expelled below
a red heat, while the carbon is probably derived from the admixture
of small particles of the schist in which the mineral occurs, and from
which not even the finest crystals are altogether free. On the whole,
Boussingault agrees with Wohler, G. Rose, and Vauquelin, in at-
tributing the colour of the emerald to the presence of oxide of

chromium.
, It is now several years since Tschermak first enunciated his cele-
brated theory on the constitution of the felspars, in which he showed
that the several species may be regarded as isomorphous mixtures of
the two extreme types—albite and anorthite. Some difficulty has
lately arisen through Yom Rath’s analysis of a Norwegian felspar,
regarded as Labradorite, whose composition did not fit in with the
theory. Tschermak thereupon called the analysis in question, and
asserted that no labradorite could exist free from soda. ‘This pro-
position has called forth some ingenious observations on isomorphism
by Dr. Kenngott.t

* “ Analyse de l’Emeraude Morallon des Mines de Muso, Nouvelle-Grenade.”—
‘ Annales de Chimie et de Physique,’ 1870, p. 328,

¢ “Ueber den Isomorphismus verschieden zusammengesetzter Korper,”—
‘Journ. f. prakt, Chemie,’ 1870, p. 77.

418 Chronicles of Science. [ July,

Kenngott assumes that two minerals are strictly isomorphous if
the ratio between the number of atoms of metal and of oxygen is the
same in the two compounds. Now, albite and anorthite may both
be reduced to the general formula: 4 RO.6 RO, where the ratio of
R:O=10:16. For our author takes the liberty of writing the
formula of albite in this fashion: (Na,O, Al,O,) (6 8i0,) ; and that
of anorthite in this wise: 2 (CaO.AIO) (2Si0,.Al0,). Extend-
ing this mode of formulating the silicates, he shows the possi-
bility of the existence of a compound containmg CaO.Si0, +
Al,O,.2 Si0., for such an expression may be thrown into the form
(CaO. A10) (8 Si0,.A10,), which is now referable to the general
type 2 RO.4 &i0,. Such a compound would be, as Tschermak
observes, a labradorite free from soda, but we see at once that itis not
isomorphous with albite. We forbear to follow Kenngott’s interesting
suggestions farther, as they lead across the border-land of chemistry.

In the third number of the new Italian Geological Journal—
a journal which we welcome as a fair sign of scientific progress in
Italy—Professor Bechi publishes some analyses of minerals from
Sig. Foresi’s collection.* His examination of some fine limped erys-
tals of beryl from the isle of Elba, show that they are remarkable
for containing cesium, and for holding more alumina and less glu-
cina than other beryls. ‘Traces of lithium were ‘also detected by
the spectroscope. A black tourmaline from the granite of the isle
of Giglio—an islet rising from the waters of the Tuscan Sea—
has also been analysed; and for the sake of economizing space we
place the composition of the two minerals side by side :—

BERYL. TOURMALINE.
DIG ra | we ee cee! SO OOS Siena 2 S6"71 |.) “Maenesia 0-48
Alumina cell tvsts Seve) ln 3 ta BI oy a Saday ise “83
Glucina ch Wbe leg -=: MOL: erriG. oxide S-51 - 4, .. Botash: 2.20770
Cesium.. .. .« . O°88 | Ferrous oxide 9°39 .. Boricacid 5°56
Oxide of iron ce oe 2 842 7) Sime’ “os> “| SOSGE Wee oring “1-35

Two substances physically distinct, but occurring together near
Brevig in Norway, have hitherto been confounded under the general
name of Esmarkite. One of these is a true Praseolite, but the other
ig an extremely rare mineral, which has received Des Cloiseaux’s
attention during his visit to Norway.t This acute crystallographer
has carefully examined authentic specimens of the true Esmarkite,
and pronounces it to be merely a laminar variety of the felspar—
anorthite.

Several new species recently described demand a cursory notice.
Glaucopyrite is Professor Sandberger’s name for a new mineral, ob-
tained from Guadalcanal in Spain, and consisting of an arsenio-
sulphide of iron, in which part of the iron is replaced by cobalt and

* “Analisi chimiche di alcuni minerali delle ,isole del mare toscano.”—

‘ Bollettino del R. Comitato geologico d'Italia,’ 1870, p. 82.
+ ‘Ann. d. Chim. et de Phys.,’ 1870, p. 176.

1870. | Mineralogy. 419

copper, while part of the arsenic gives place to antimony.* Herr
Boricky describes, under the name of Zepharovichite, a new,species
allied to Wavellite occurring in the sandstone of 'Trenic in Bohemia.{
Tschermak proposes the name of Stmonyzte for a salt lately found
at Hallstadt, closely related to Bloedite, from which it differs, how-
ever, in being stable when exposed to the air.t Finally, Dr.
Schrauf apples the name Simlacte to a mineral from Simla in
India, simular to meerschaum, but containing alumina, and belong-
ing to the group of halloysites.§

Two Cornish minerals have lately been analyzed by Professor
Church—the one a variety of kaolin, akin to lithomarge, and termed
Restormelite ; the other is the beautiful green mineral known as
chalcophyllite, or copper-mica.|| The formula of restormelite may be
written Al,O;.2 Si0,-++ 2 ag.; while the composition of the chalco-
phyllite may be thus expressed: 8 CuO. Al,O,.As,0, + 24 ag.

Attention is directed by Mr. 8. G. Perceval] to the occurrence
of topazes in the granite of Lundy Island, somewhat similar to the
well-known crystals from the granite of the Mourne mountains.
The writer of this Chronicle has for several years past been familiar
with specimens of both topaz and beryl from Lundy.

Professor How follows up his ‘ Contributions to the Mineralogy
of Nova Scotia’ by further notices of the two species—natroboro-
calcite and silicoborocalcite, now better known under Dana’s names
of Ulexite and Howlite.** Both minerals have been found good
substitutes for borax in welding.

We learn from the ‘ Levant Herald’ that a large meteorite fell
at Mourzouk, in Fezzan, on or about the 25th December, 1869.
The fall occasioned considerable consternation to a group of Arabs
who were standing near, and they immediately discharged their
muskets on the unwelcome stranger. }}

It seems likely that the Australian mineral lately introduced
under the name of Wollongongite will in future be known by some
more appropriate designation. The Rev. W. B. Clarke has pointed
out that some little error has arisen in assigning to this species a
local habitation anda name. In fact, the so-called Wollongongite
occurs not in Llawarra, but at a place called Petrolia, formerly
known as Reedy Creek, where it was recognized by Count Strzelecki
as far back as 1839. Under these circumstances the name ceases
to be appropriate, so that “ there can be no question, I think,” says
Mr. Clarke, “that Wollongongite is a misnomer, and that Professor
Siliman will change it.”

A good deal of common sense characterizes the little minera-

* ‘Jahrbuch f. Mineralogie,’ 1870, p. 196. ¢ Ibid., p. 229.
{ ‘Sitzber. d. Kais. Acad. d. Wiss., 1869. No. XXV.
§ ‘Corr, Blatt. d. z. Mineralog.’ V.in Regeusburg, 1870. p.

64,
|| ‘Chemical News,’ May 13, 1870, p. 223, q ‘Geolog. Mag.,’ 1870, p. 192.
** «Phil, Mag.,’ April, 1870, p. 275. tt ‘Nature,’ vol. i, p. 538.

420 Chronteles of Science. | July,

logical guide which Dr. A. M. Thomson has published in Sydney,*
for the assistance of explorers seeking to develop the mineral re-
sources of the colony. Plain directions are given for easily recog-
nizing the more important species—a task at all times extremely
embarrassing to the unassisted beginner.

10. MINING AND METALLURGY.

Munina.

THE newly drafted Bill amalgamating the Mines Regulation Bill
and the Metalliferous Mines Bill has been printed. We cannot but
think that this amalgamation will be found to be unfortunate.
Nearly all the conditions of a coal mine and a copper or tin mine
are so different, that it is quite impossible to apply the same legis-
lation to them with any hope of advantage. This is shown on the
face of the Bill itself. It now comprehends three sets of General
Rules: one applicable to all mines; the second, to coal mines only ;
and the third, to mines other than coal mines. The redrafted Bill
is supposed to embody the suggestions of the representatives of all
the interests affected—it is therefore probably now in that form
which will become law. In the last Quarterly Journal we suffi-
ciently entered upon the principles of the Mines Regulation Bill,
and therefore we need not occupy valuable space by enlarging upon
its clauses.

Tin mining has, once again, resumed its condition of high pros-
perity in our western counties; the prices of tin ore (black tin),
which have varied during the past quarter from 75/. to 85/. the ton,
being such as to leave a large profit to the miner. The result of
this is that numerous new tin mines are being opened, and the
miners have full employment and are getting good wages.

Copper mining is not in the same favourable condition. The
Clifford Amalgamated Mines, which employed a short time since
upwards of a thousand persons, are about to be abandoned, after a
long and profitable career. These mines—which comprehend the
United Mines, the Gwennap Consolidated Mines and Wheal Clifford
—were the most extensive copper mines in this country. The
levels were upwards of sixty miles in length, and from six to seven
miles of shafts had been sunk upon the lodes. This mine was re-
markable for the very high temperature of its lower levels. The
miners in some of the ends of the levels worked in temperatures
varying from 110° F. to 115° F., the water rising in those levels
being at the temperature of 120 F. This hot spring was remark-

* ‘Guide to Mineral Explorers in distinguishing Minerals, Ores, and Gems.’
By Alexander M. Thomson, D.Sc. Sydney, 1869.

1870. | Mining. 421

able for the great quantity of lithium which it held in solution.
All the lower parts of the mine are now filled with water ; a little tin
is being obtained from the shallow levels ; the machinery is being
removed ; and soon this scene of activity will become a silent ruin.
At Wheal Owles, in the mining district of St. Just, there have
lately been discovered some valuable samples of the oxide of ura-
nium, which have been sent into the market and realized high prices.
The Gold-fields of Nova Scotia—The declared returns of gold
for the whole province to the end of the year 1869 are as follows :—

Number of : Annual
Year. Yield of Gold. Miners daily | Quartz crushed. | 4V¥¢T@8e Yield | oaimings per
employed. per fon. man.
OZ. dwt. gr. No. cwts. oz. dwt. gr. $ c,
1862 .. 7.210 OO 500 134,800 SZ 291 00
1863 .. 14,001 14 17 877 340,035 0 18 10 319 30
1864 .. 20,022 18 13 810 428,700 1 0 20 494 36
1865 .. 25,454 4 8 683 ; 500,025 1 3 6 745 6
1866 .. 25,204 13 2 679 635,387 017 13 742 56
SBGfe eas oats EE TTL." | 702 666, 429 0 19 10 778 66
1868 .. 20,541 610 | 774 678,817 014 6 530 84
1869... 17,868 10 19 676 708,486 011 5 528 64
Total .. | 157,682 9 8 | 713 | 4,092,679 | 0 15 10 | 553 90

The gross yield of gold in Nova Scotia during the past ten years
has been 180,000 oz., representing, in round numbers, a value of
720,0002. sterling.

The produce of gold in Nova Scotia for the year ending 31st
December, 1869, in all the gold-producing districts, is shown in the
following Table :-—

A Value oe
: aily Average | #Verage yie
District. eee of ayeeene Quartz crushed.| yield “ ee
employed. One ployed at
$18°5 per oz,
| oz. dwt. gr. | No. tons. cwt.|oz. dwt.gr.| £ s. d
Stormont ..| 227 013 19 784 0/0 519| 4715 11
Wine Harbour | ALS VOR 0) 65 2 eo. be. | Ooo. 6 44 6
Sherbrooke .. | 5,546 11 16 134 PY O00 OO" Oo Ia 16a tae 6
Tangier .. 1,192 3 10 51 L332) 2 | O17 21 93 5 6
Montague .. 805 13 14 29 Oey 8 ay eS | Jad Be 7
Waverley sa 1,591 14 10 54 3,915 15; 0 8 3/117 18 1
Oldham .. | 1,394 16 0 56 1,730 2/;016 1 SNL Phoelll
Renfrew .. .. 3,097 Td". 7 112 7,208 9;0 812/110 12 9
Uniacke .. 1,867 3 12 71 5,171 13.| 0 11 18 | 105 3:10
Lawrencetown . 30 0 20 20 293 0:0 216 G6 148
aie ae aL a | 2,000 O'23 36 Woon te Oe te | ie eg
Unproclaime
poe a 394 11 19 29 622 9/0 623] 54 8 7
17,868 019 | 676 | 35,424 6/010 2/105 14 7

422 Chronicles of Science. [ July,

The produce of gold for the month of February, 1870, being
according to the Mineral Inspector’s Report, as follows :—

District. | Gold yield. Quartz crushed

(Colonial weight).
oz. dwt. gr. tons.
Sherbrooke .. .. .. 309.10-4:0 694°03
PAIGE se we. win, te 135 7 20 88-00
Olam fo0 ss. 104 7 14 200-07
Waverley Bed ee tee WAT 141-00
Eo i nr ee ff Spe ae | 223:°10
Musquodoboit ts ae 52 5 21 73°10
ACRE! ess” eh on 47 2 4 105-00
Wine Harbour 28 712 100°10
Isaac’s Harbour 21115 3°10

Mr. R. Brough Smith reports that the total quantity of gold
raised in Victoria in 1869 was 1,544,7574 ounces, and of this there
were exported 1,340,8384 ounces. The total imports into England
of Australasian gold in 1869 were of the value of 7,892,7571.
Since 1858 the imports have been as follows :—

£. Le
BSIS x2), os « Sy O%, 160 1364 oe) oni As Gdosane
$359" i. 8s. Sek, UU 1860°".. se. Ss 00l, bTU
1860 cv ibs 6,749, 000 1866.0\.5) 26 68365674
1861...) \2,...6,801,220 IBGT.. “wa ~wegi(\ BOIGZ07
TOU os we, VOg AE aoe 1868 .. .. 6,989,594
1863 .. .. 5,995,368

The increased returns of the last three years were due to the
opening of new gold-fields in Queensland, South Australia, and
New Zealand.

METALLURGY.

Mr. Spence, of Newton Heath, Manchester, has patented a new
process of separating copper from ores. He takes the solution of
chloride of copper as now obtained in extracting copper from ores
(by the wet process) which contains iron in variable proportions,
and generally contains free hydrochloric acid. This solution he
places in large open vats, and in another vessel of cast iron, fitted
with a revolving stirrer, he places a considerable quantity of the
vat waste of the alkali manufacture, or the spent lime from the gas
purifiers, and to this is added a solution of sulphate of ammonia, or
chloride of ammonium. The vessel or still being closed, a jet of steam
of from 20 to 30 lbs. pressure is blown into the mixture. Sulphide of
ammonium distils over, and is conveyed by a pipe into the vat con-
taining the metallic solution of copper and iron, by which sulphide
of copper is precipitated, and the ammonia combines with the

1870.] Metallurgy. 423

liberated hydrochloric acid. The process is continued until all the
copper is thrown down, which point is at once observed by sulphu-
retted hydrogen being evolved, when the process is stopped ; for if
continued, the ammonia would now neutralize the free acid, and the
iron would then be precipitated. The sulphide of copper thus ob-
tained is very nearly pure; it is washed and dried, and smelted into
copper by any of the usual methods employed.

A new process of calcining tin and other ores has been adopted
by Messrs. Oxland, F.C.S., and John Hocking. The ores are
introduced into a revolving iron cylinder, 4 feet in diameter and
30 feet long, lined with fire bricks, and supported at an inclination
of about 2 inch per foot on three pairs of rollers, on which it is kept
constantly revolving at a slow rate. ‘The fire passes from the fire-
place over a chamber into and through the tube. The ore having
been first dried on iron plates in suitable flues, at the back of the
calciner, is admitted in a steady stream into the higher end of the
cylinder, and the slow revolving motion imparted to it causes the
advance of the ore by its own gravitation, and it is discharged in a
continuous stream into a chamber between the fire-place and the
front of the tube. Great economy of fuel is said to be effected by
this furnace. The heat from the fuel has to traverse more than
double the distance over which it passes in Brunton’s calciner before
it escapes into the flues, and the tube presents nearly double the
amount of heating surface. None of the working parts are exposed
to the action of the fire. In working it is found to be economical
both as regards fuel and labour.

Several patents have been taken out of late relating to the
manufacture of iron and steel. Mr. Cowper, of Westminster, patents
improvements in treating cast iron for the production of wrought
iron and steel therefrom. By this process the purification of the
east iron is accomplished by a jet of superheated steam applied to
a stream of the liquid iron as it flows from the blast furnace, so as
to divide it up into small particles, and act upon them; the iron is
received into a hot box, and transferred to a calcining furnace, in
which it is kept hot whilst still exposed to an atmosphere of hot
steam ; such purified iron is mixed either hot or cold with liquid
cast iron, and afterwards used as cast iron, or made into steel or
wrought iron.

In the manufacture of steel Mr. Julius Baur, of New York,
patents a process of alloymg or combining metallic chromium with
metallic iron, so that chromium in a metallic state shall be present
in the finished product, which is said to impart valuable properties to
it. This process is distinguishable from that secured by Mr. Robert
Mushett for mixing oxide of chromium in the manufacture of steel.

Letters patent have also been granted to Mr. J. M. Stanley, of
Sheffield, for improved modes of utilizing the heat given off during

424 Chronicles of Science. [July,

the decarbonizing or converting process, the object of which is to
eave the consumption of fuel, and reduce the cost of the
metals.

There is also an invention whereby very superior iron and steel
are said to be obtained by smelting titanic iron ore, Imenite, in a
blast furnace, without the addition of any other metalliferous body ;
the alloy of iron thus obtained possesses a large percentage of car-
bon. Various methods are adopted to carry out this process, The
inventor is Mr. T. 8. Webb, of the Norton Iron Works. |

11, PHYSICS.

Licut.—Spectrum analysis has been applied by Vogelsang and
Geissler to the difficult question of determining the chemical nature
of the fiuid found enclosed, in minute quantity, in the cavities of
certain quartz-crystals. Fragments of quartz were placed in a
small retort, which was connected with an air-pump and exhausted ;
then, by the application of heat, the quartz decrepitated, and the
evolved vapour was examined in a Geissler-tube. The presence of
carbonic acid was thus abundantly proved, and this was confirmed
by the turbidity which it produced in lime-water.

A great improvement in the spectroscope has been made by
Mr. Browning, who calls his instrument the automatic spectroscope.
It is furnished with a battery of six equilateral prisms of dense
flint glass; all the prisms are joined together like a chain by their
respective corners, the bases being in this manner linked together.
This chain of prisms is then bent round so as to form a circle with
the apices outwards ; the centre of the base of each prism is attached
to a radial rod. All these rods pass through a common centre.
The prism nearest the collimator, 2. ¢. the first prism of the train,
is a fixture... The movement of the other prisms is then in the pro-
portion of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, the last or 6th prism moving five times
the amount of the second. All these motions are communicated by
the revolution of the micrometer screw, which is used for measuring
the position of the lines in the spectrum; and the amount of motion
of each, and of the telescope, is so arranged that the prisms are
automatically adjusted to the minimum angle of deviation for the
ray under examination. It is easy to test the efficiency of the
instrument in this respect. On taking the lens out of the eye-piece
of the telescope, the whole field of view is found to be filled with
the light of the colour of that portion of the spectrum which the
observer wishes to examine; while in a spectroscope of the usual.
construction, at the extreme ends of the spectrum, just where the
light is most required, only a lens-shaped line of light would be

1870. | Physies. 425

found in the field of view. As a consequence of this peculiarity,
the violet and deep-red ends of the spectrum are greatly elongated,
or rather, much more of them can be seen than in an ordinary
spectroscope, and the H lines, which are generally seen only with
difficulty, come out in a marked manner.

Drs. Roscoe and Thorpe have recently communicated to the
Royal Society the results of a series of determinations of the chemical
intensity of total daylight, made in the autumn of 1867, on the flat
plateau of the river Tagus, about 84 miles south-east of Lisbon,
under a cloudless sky, with the object of ascertaining the relation
existing between the solar altitude and the chemical intensity of the
light. The experiments were made as follows:—1. The chemical
action of total daylight was observed in the ordinary manner ;
2. The chemical action of the diffused daylight was then observed,
by throwing on to the exposed paper the shadow of a small,
blackened, brass ball, placed at such a distance that its apparent
diameter, seen from the position of the paper, was slightly larger
than that of the sun’s disk; 3. Observation No. 1 repeated;
4. Observation No. 2 repeated. Next, the means of observations
1 to 4 were taken. The sun’s altitude was determined by a sextant
and artificial horizon. One of the sets of 134 observations was
made as nearly as possible every hour. It has been already pointed
out, and proved by experiments made at Kew, that the mean
chemical intensity of total daylight, for the hours equidistant from
noon, is constant. The results of the present series of experiments
prove that this conclusion holds good generally. One of the chief
results arrived at is that, although the chemical intensity for the
same altitude, at different places and at different times of the year,
varies according to the varying transparency of the atmosphere, yet
the relation, at the same place, between altitude and intensity, is
always represented by a straight line.

A new and very ingenious graduating diaphragm for the micro-
scope has been contrived by Mr. J. Zentmayer. This exceedingly
ingenious arrangement is shown in the accompanying cuts, which
are taken from photographs; Fig. 1 showing the apparatus with

Pre. 1. Fie. 2.

|

———S re pet ——
ee 2... SS \ > -s
6 SS S22: — 2
eg =! =: == EF
= = Z = SS =
———=$4 = = = SSS SSNS
== Oz 6 =]_=E
ESS SS =: == SSS
———— == EEA =. ]S=
= = SS ——— >- Se
—S— ‘ ———— —— =

!

its largest, and Fig. 2 with its smallest opening. To obtain a
circular diaphragm which, like the eye, should expand and contract

426 Chronicles of Science. [ July,

gradually by a continuous change, and yet be made of rigid and
unchangeable material, might seem at first sight to be an impossi-
bility ; but, after all, when the result is accomplished, as in this
apparatus, we are surprised as much by the simplicity as by the
ingenuity of the means employed. ‘The woodcuts almost explain
the apparatus of themselves ; but we may say, in addition, that it
consists of two cylinders or rollers with parallel axes and surfaces
in contact, having similar conical grooves on their surfaces, and
fine teeth cut at one end of each, which, gearing together, cause
them to rotate in unison. There is, theoretically, an objection to a
diaphragm of this construction, from the fact that its opening will
not always be in the same plane—that is, the smallest cross-section
of the space between the rollers will not always be equidistant from
a plane at right angles to the line of sight and passing through the
axes of the rollers. With the larger opening, this cross-section will
be nearest to, and with the smaller, farther from, such a plane. In
practice, however, this difference is so small as to be entirely unim-
portant, and may even, in some cases, be turned to advantage.

Experiments have been made at Toulon by M. F. Silvas to try
to attach to life-buoys another floating body provided with phos-
phide of calcium, which, on becoming wet, gives off spontaneously
combustible phosphuretted hydrogen, thus emitting light to guide
the man, who might have fallen overboard and be in search of the
life-buoy.

Heat.—Dr. Guy has arranged in series the different poisonous
substances according to their melting and sublimation temperatures.
The arrangement is as follows:—(1) Sublimates formed without
any previous change of state of aggregation, and giving white
vapours; under this head are brought bichloride of mercury, calo-
mel, arsenious acid, and cantharidine. (2) Sublimates after pre-
vious fusion, and without leaving any residue—vwiz. oxalic acid.
(3) Sublimates after previous fusion, leaving a carbonaceous residue
—morphine and strychnine. (4) Fusion, change of colour, subli-
mation and deposition of carbonaceous residue, aconitine, atropine,
delphine, veratrine, brucine, digitaline, picrotoxine, solanine. (5) De-
crepitation ; slow and partial sublimation; tartar emetic.

Professor Morren has instituted some experiments on the com-
bustibility of diamonds, and the effect of a high temperature on
these gems. ‘The author, in a letter, first relates the following facts
as having given rise to his experiments. A jeweller at Marseilles
was requested to enamel afresh the gold bearings of two large
diamonds of great value, used as shirt buttons. Instead of taking
off the diamonds, always a delicate operation, the jeweller, who had
frequently executed such work previously, decided to enamel the
gold while the diamonds were left on their bearings. Not having

1870. | Physics. 427

charcoal at hand, the jeweller took coal for heating the mufile for
enamelling, an operation which succeeded most perfectly; but on
taking the buttons from the muffle, the jewels had become perfectly
black, and no amount of rubbing or friction restored them to their
pristine state. The jeweller was therefore obliged to dismount the
jewels, which looked like plumbago, and to send them to Paris,
when by the first touch of the lapidary’s wheel they became restored
to their former beauty ; while, curiously enough, their weight had
notchanged. Professor Morren who, through the kindness of MM.
Laurin, jewellers at Marseilles, was enabled to experiment with
several diamonds, placed them on a small platinum boat in a pla-
tinum tube, and tried the effect of a high temperature simultaneously
with different gases. Heated in coal-gas the gems become blackish,
increase in weight, and are found to be coated with a strongly-
adhesive layer of carbon, such as is deposited in gas retorts; in
pure hydrogen, the gems may be heated almost to the melting-
point of platinum without undergoing any change; heated in car-
bonic acid gas, the gems become dull and lose a little weight. ‘The
carbonic acid gas was found to be dissociated into carbonic oxide and
carbonic acid; this, the author found, was caused by the platinum
and not by the diamond. When the diamond is placed in oxygen
eas and ignited, it continues to burn, but remains white, appearing
as a piece of unpolished glass; the stone does not blacken, nor swell
up, and, if it is free from flaws or cracks, does not split asunder.

Dr. Janssen, who, it will be remembered, went to India for the
purpose of observing the total solar eclipse, has communicated some
observations on the artificial production of ice in India. In many
parts of the Indian continent, the natives dig shallow pits in localities
which are freely open to the sky and distant from trees. ‘The pits
are lined with straw, and upon the straw are placed dishes (made
of a very porous earthenware) filled with water. During the calm
and ¢lear nights prevailing in the period from November to the end
of February the water placed in the dishes freezes, yielding a solid
cake of ice, while the temperature of the air is + 10°. Dr. Janssen
has investigated this curious subject experimentally, and has found
that the freezing is principally due to the radiation during the night ;
but the evaporation of the water, aided by the porosity of the
earthenware employed, is at the same time not to be overlooked,

In order to exhibit the effect of the expansion of water when
freezing, F. Ridorff fills with distilled and previously well-boiled
and cooled water a cast-iron cylinder, having the following dimen-
sions:— Height, 160 millimétres ; diameter (external), 50 millimetres ;
thickness of solid iron, 15 millimetres, After having been filled
with water this apparatus is closed by means of a plug screwed into
the neck, and the cylinder is next placed in a mixture of three parts

VOL. VII. 26

428 Chronicles of Science. [July,

of snow or pounded ice, and one part of common salt; after about
forty minutes the cylinder bursts with a loud report. It is essential
for the success of this experiment that the plug fits very perfectly, and
that the cylinder, after having been filled with water, be placed for
some time in ice. ‘The wooden pail which contains the freezing
mixture should be roomy, and be covered with a stout towel to pre-
vent the spirting about of the contents at the time of the bursting.

Some experiments on the freezing of wine have been tried by
A. Rousselle. The reason why freezing improves wines, under
certain conditions, is, according to this author, because by partial
freezing the proportion of all the fixed substances in the liquid
Wine is increased ; and these are, moreover, thereby rendered more
fit for causing the combination of the acids with the alcohol, so as
to form those ethers to which wine owes its peculiarly distinct
flavour, aroma, and strength.

Dr. Hann has tried to solve by observation the problem of the
decrease of the temperature of the air in relation to the elevation
above sea-level, by comparing the average of temperature as observed
at certain groups of stations situated under the same mean latitude
and longitude, and by taking into account local influences. Seven
of these groups are situated in the western portion of the Alps, at
from 230 to 3330 metres above sea-level; four in the northern
part of Switzerland, at from 500 to 1780 metres above sea-level ;
three in the Rauhe Alps (Wurtemburg), at from 310 to 810 métres
above sea-level; four in the Erzgebirge (Central Germany), at from
180 to 850 métres above sea-level ; and four in the Harz (province
of Hanover and Brunswick), at from 70 to 1140 metres above sea-
level. The results obtained have proved that, in the instances
mentioned, the decrease of the temperature of the atmosphere near
the ground is really proportionate to the height of the locality above
sea-level. When the results of all the observations are duly con-
sidered, there is discovered a strongly marked annual periodicity,
and a very uniform decrease of temperature from below to above,
the average relation of the temperature reigning in December being,
to that of June, as 1 to 2.

Dr. Yon Wartha has obtained solid disulphide of carbon by the
rapid evaporation of this liquid itself, in the same way as solid car-
bonic acid is formed. The solid sulphide melts at 9° F’., and has the
appearance of small cauliflowers.

Some time ago M. Lamy proposed a pyrometer based upon the
dissociation of carbonate of lime. He now proposes to apply ammo-
niacal chloride of calcium, which gives off ammonia at low tempera-
tures. The instrument is to be connected with a manometer, which
will record the temperature. The contrivance is to be especially
adapted to record the temperature at different depths under the

1870. | Physies. 429

surface of the soil. In reference to this, M. Z. Becquerel and others
have very properly observed that better and far more accurate means
for accomplishing this purpose exist already, and are daily employed
with success.

A valuable substance for crucibles and fire-bricks has recently
been discovered. ‘There occurs, in the Département des Ardennes,
France, a variety of hydrated silica known by the name of gaize,
and geologically situated below the cretaceous deposit; the thick-
ness of this layer is 30 metres, and it extends over a distance of
24°85 English miles. The sp. gr. of this substance is 1°48 in crude
state, and after ignition 1-44. This stone is used as a building
stone; it is, at first, quite soft, so that it can be cut with a knife.
The material resists a very high temperature without fusion or
cracking, or, also, of perceptible contraction, either cubical or linear,
and it has consequently been recommended for the manufacture of
crucibles (on the lathe), for fire-bricks, and for furnaces.

Execrriciry.—A cause of error in electroscopic experiments has
been pointed out by Sir Charles Wheatstone, F.R.S. In the course
of some experiments on electrical conduction and induction the
author was frequently delayed by what at first appeared to be very
puzzling results. Occasionally he found that he could not discharge
the electrometer with the finger (or only to a certain degree), and
that it was necessary, before commencing another experiment, to
be in communication with a gas-pipe which entered the room. How
he became charged could not at that time be explained ; observation
and experiment, however, soon led Sir Charles to the true solution.
He was sitting at a table not far from the fire-place, with the electro-
meter (one of Peltier’s construction) before him, and was engaged
in experimenting with dises of various substances. ‘To ensure that
the one in hand (which was of tortoiseshell) should be perfectly dry,
it was held for a minute before the fire. Returning, and placing it
on the plate of the electrometer, it had apparently acquired a strong
charge, deflecting the index of the electrometer beyond 90°, and it
was then observed that the same thing took place with every disc
thus presented to the fire, whether of metal or any other substance.
The first impression was that the dise had been rendered electrical
by heat; but, on placing it in contact with a vessel of boiling water,
or heating it by a gas-lamp, no such effect was produced. The next
conjecture was that the phenomenon might arise from a difference
in the electrical state of the air in the room, and that at the top of
the chimney. That this conjecture, however, was not tenable was
soon evident, because the same deviation of the needle of the electro-
meter was produced by bringing the disc near any part of the wall
of the room. ‘This seemed to indicate that different parts of the

room were in different electrical states; but this, again, was dis-
2G 2

430 Chronicles of Science. [July,

proved by finding that, when the positions of the electrometer and
the place where the disc was supposed to be charged were inter-
changed, the charge of the electrometer was still always negative.
The last resource was to assume that the author himself had become
charged by walking across the carpeted room, though the effect was
produced even by the most careful treading. This ultimately proved
to be the case; for, resuming his seat at the table, and scraping the
foot on the rug, Sir Charles was able, at will, to move the index to
its greatest extent.

As a substitute for copper for the Daniell Electric Battery, Dr.
C. Stélzel proposes to take a piece of well-polished tin plate (sheet
tin, not tinned iron), immerse it in a very dilute solution of a copper
salt, and put it in connection with a weak galvanic current. After
the lapse of from fifteen to eighteen hours a layer of strongly
adhering metallic copper will have become firmly deposited upon
the tin plate ; and the latter, after having been bent into the required
shape, is an excellent, cheap, and durable substitute for the copper
cylinder in Daniell’s battery.

Considering the numerous experiments now being tried on wine,
it is to be hoped that the quality of the cheaper kinds of this be-
verage will shortly show some improvement. Whilst Dr. Rousselle
proposes to freeze wine, Dr. Scontettin prefers to electrify it. As
a very tangible proof of the gain obtained by the immediate con-
version of young wines into drinkable beverages by means of elec-
tricity, the author states that, considering that the annual production.
of wine of France amounts to from 60 to 70 millions of hectolitres
(each equal to rather more than 22 gallons), and that at least 10
francs per hectolitre is lost by vaporization during the time of the
maturity of the wine while in casks, this represents an amount of
from 600 to 700 millions of francs gained by rendering wine fit for
immediate consumption by the author’s electric process. We may
not inaptly apply here, “Si non e vero e bene trovato.”

Some useful electrolytic experiments have been tried by P.
Burckhard. After describing his arrangement, the author states
that oxide of bismuth is not a conductor of electricity unless it be
in a state of fusion, but in that case one of the copper electrodes
becomes coated with bismuth ; while, if platinum electrodes are
used, there is formed at one of the electrodes a very fusible alloy of
the two metals. Fused borax is not a bad conductor, although the
author confirmed the statement made by Dr. Tichanowitsch that
pure boric acid does not conduct electricity at all. When borax
in a fused state is experimented with, a series of compounds are
formed or volatilized ; but the main result is its decomposition into
soda, oxygen, and boron. Pyrophosphate of soda in a fused state
yields, among the products of electrolysis, phosphide of platinum,

1870. ] Zoology. 431

if a platinum electrode be applied; but the decomposition, which is
chiefly the result of the electrolysis of this salt, is its splitting up
into oxygen, phosphorus, and soda. Carbonate of soda in a fused
state is a good conductor of electricity ; it is decomposed into car-
bonic acid and soda, but a small portion of carbon is also formed.

A series of very accurate experiments, made with chemically
pure substances, have been tried by M. E. Becquerel, on the electro-
motive force of divers substances, as for instance, pure carbon, gold,
platinum, &c., in the presence of water and other fluids. Among
the curious facts elicited is this, that pure gold, obtained from the
French Mint, is acted upon by pure water in a manner not hitherto
explained, but which gives the author occasion to ask whether pos-
sibly gold does not contain another substance which has not been
discovered, or whether perhaps the slow action of the water is not
the cause of the disaggregation of the gold, thus explaining the fact
of its being found in rivers in the state of dust.

In a very lengthy paper on the properties of galvanically-pre-
cipitated iron, Kt. Lenz records a series of experiments, not only made
with iron, but also with copper. The results are stated as follows:—
Tron and copper, when reduced to the metallic state by electricity,
contain gases occluded, among which hydrogen is in largest amount:
the bulk of gas thus occluded varies considerably, but iron has been
found by the author to occlude as much as 185 times its own
bulk. The absorption of the gases is more considerable in the first
layers of metal deposited. On being heated, the iron loses gas,
even below 100°, the gas evolved at so low a temperature being
chiefly hydrogen. Iron which has been galvanically precipitated,
and then made red-hot and cooled, becomes oxidized when put into
water, that liquid being decomposed and hydrogen given off.

12. ZOOLOGY—ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY AND
PHYSIOLOGY.

MorpHonoey.

A new Ganoid Fish from Australia.—We have this quarter to
record what is certainly the most important zoological acquisition
which science has received since the finding of the Archopteryx
of Solenhofen. Mr. Gerard Kreft, the able curator of the Austra-
lian Museum of Sydney, who has already by his single exertions
shown us what a rich mine of new forms is still waiting to be
brought to the hands of science in the Australian continent, has sent
over photographs of a fish obtained in the rivers of Eastern Queens-

432 Chronicles of Science. [July,

land, which has at first sight very much the aspect of the African Pro-
topterus or South American Lepidosiren. The Queensland fish is,
however, larger than Lepidosiren, measuring nearly 5 feet in length.
A further examination of the photographs sent by Mr. Kreft shows
that the fins, which are long worm-like appendages in Lepidosiren,
with a very slight border of fin-rays, are here much more developed,
being broader and flat, with a large axial lobe and diverging rays,
something like those of Polypterus. The scales are large and solid-
looking—to judge by the picture—and with a wave-like sculpture on
the surface, recalling the paleozoic Holoptychius in this respect, as
well as in the long-lobed fin. The photographs of the skull display
a most formidable array of long, wedge-shaped teeth, with undulat-
ing edges, exceedingly like those of the Carboniferous Ceratodus.
The teeth are, in their limited number and position, very similar to
those of Lepidosiren, but have even a more marked resemblance to
Ceratodus than have the latter. Mr. Kreft was so struck with the
resemblance to Ceratodus that he has proposed to call this mar-
vellous fish, which he places with amphibians, Ceratodus Forster?,
after the gentleman who discovered it. The name Potamothawma
has, however, been also proposed, since we have no right to rele-
gate it to an extinct genus solely on the ground of agreement in
the teeth. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this
discovery with reference to the problems of the geographical distri-
bution of organisms, and the ancient relations of land and water.
On the other hand, this fish has an equal interest from the purely
zoological point of view. We believe that specimens are not very
difficult to obtain, so that some may soon be expected in this country.
How isit that no one has yet studied the development of Lepidosiren ?
Surely, now that in three-quarters of the globe such a fish has been
found, the eggs and. fry may be expected to be made known. It is
only quite recently that the development of Polypterus—the Ganoid
of the Nile—has been studied on the banks of its habitation, and
the fact that it commences life with large external gills like those
of a young Newt, or of a very young Tadpole, clearly established.
The Graphie Method in Odontology—tThe study of teeth, not
from the dentist’s but from the naturalist’s point of view, is of very
great importance, since by the power of drawing correct inferences
from a few teeth we are able to arrive at most weighty conclusions
as to the age of Tertiary and other strata. The study of teeth, par-
ticularly of mammalian teeth, has become quite a speciality—a little
field of knowledge requiring great care and perception of form for
its successful cultivation, and standing apart from other anatomical
work. So great is the amount of attention required in this study,
and so great the importance attached to it, that the late Dr.
Falconer occupied most of his life with the study of the teeth on
Elephas, Mastodon, and Rhinoceros; whilst a fellow of the Royal

1870. ] Zoology. 433

Society has been raised to that dignity because he had confined his
studies to the molar series of Rhinoceros and Hyena. Anything
which will simplify this study and reduce it to the level accessible
to ordinary minds must therefore be hailed with pleasure, and the
method which Mr. George Busk has devised is exceedingly valuable
in that way. Mr. Busk proposes to convert number into form in
the case of teeth, for increase of twentieths of an inch in breadth
using extension of a line, just as the mathematician proceeds in
drawing a curve representing progressive phenomena, The paper
ruled in fine squares of a tenth of an inch or so, which physiologists
and others make use of in recording rises of temperature or increase
of movement at successive intervals, is employed by Mr. Busk. To
obtain the odontogram of any mammal, you mark off as many hori-
zontal lines as there are teeth in the molar series; let each division
on the horizontal lines made by the perpendicular represent, say a
tenth of an inch; -then with compasses measure the breadth of your
first: molar, mark it with a dot on the first horizontal line in tenths
of an inch; then measure the second and mark it on the second line,
and so on for all seven—if seven there be. Your dots will now be
at various distances from the perpendicular zero line, according to
the breadth of each tooth: join the adjacent dots and you have an
irregular figure produced of definite form and characteristic of the
species. On the same set of lines you can now measure out the
lengths, or antero-posterior dimensions of the same teeth, and pro-
duce a figure overlapping your first figure, equally characteristic,
the two together giving an exceedingly accurate and trustworthy
means of comparing the dental series in allied species. With re-
gard to the teeth of some of the large pachyderms Mr. Busk hag
proposed certain points of measurement besides those of length and
breadth, which we may hope soon to see adopted. It would be an
inestimable boon to paleontologists if Mr. Busk would found a
system of measurements for all mammalian teeth, and publish at the
same time an authoritative series of such measurements with odon-
tograms of all the known recent and fossil mammalia. It at any
rate might be done with Rhinoceros and the Carnivora to begin with.

The Zoological Position of Sponges.—It is not three years since
in chronicling the discussions to which the glass-rope sponge, Hya-
lonema, gave rise, we had to mention that Ehrenberg the great
microscopist—who still is in Berlin outliving his age—holds to his
old belief that Sponges are Vegetals. We have now to record that
Professor Ernst Haeckel, of Jena, proposes to associate the Sponges
with the Corals and Hydromeduse, bringing them under the group
Coelenterata. Haeckel has attacked in former years that hetero-
geneous assemblage which we still know as the Protozoa; and he
removed from it the Infusoria proper, leaving the Sponges, the
Radiolarians, the Amceboids, the Foraminifera, the Gregarines, and

434 Chronicles of Science. [ July,

the Monera (a group of simplest forms which he himself discovered)
associated with the Flagellata and Diatomacez as Protista. Haeckel
now proposes—with very great propriety, we think—to remove the
Sponges from this company, with which they have no close relation
at all, their complex aggregated structure finding no parallel in any
of the other groups, and the fact that they are built up of amceboid
and ciliate cells in large measure, being absolutely as true for all
animals as for Sponges. ‘Two years since in the Canaries, Haeckel
was with his pupil, Miklucho-Maclay, and there the latter paid
particular attention to the calcareous Sponges, and both he and
Haeckel were much struck with the high degree of organization
which these forms presented. Haeckel has since studied the cal-
careous Sponges (which are represented by the genus Grantia on
our coasts) in the Adriatic; has found an immense number of new
forms, and has watched the development of a great number. He
now points out that the central orifice, or “osculum,” of such a
sponge as Grantia is homologous with the mouth of Ccelenterata ;
that the canals of the Sponge too are homologous with the canal-
system of Corals, though they open externally by the temporary
pores in the former. He describes a small form, Prosyewm, which
has not canals opening thus, but only the central orifice, and this
he considers very near to the common ancestor of the Sponges and
Nematophora (Corals, Hydre, Ctenophora), which he distinguishes
as Protascus. Haeckel can distinctly demonstrate an endoderm and
ectoderm in many Sponges, whilst in some of the Calcispongiz we
have the presence of those radiating septa or “antimera” so cha-
racteristic of Corals. The Calcispongize make the nearest approach
to Nematophora by the distinctness of the “persons” which they
present, each osculum, or mouth, and canal-system stands alone,
like a separate polyp. In other Sponges there is much fusion and
merging of persons into a common individuality—in various ways
which Haeckel explains—one of these consisting in the possession
of a single osculum by several persons. Professor Haeckel’s pro-
posal has already been attacked in England by Mr. Kent, of the
British Museum, who thinks that the osculum of a sponge cannot
be the homologue of the mouth of a sea-anemone, because the water
runs in at the latter but out at the former—really no reason at all
as far as homology is concerned. He also thinks Coelenterata differ
from Sponges in having free-will, which Sponges have not, and
declares the Sponges to be the head of the Protozoa.
Spermatophores in Fresh-water Annelids.—In the last number
of the ‘ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science,’ Mr. Ray Lan-
kester announces the discovery of these structures in the genera
Nais, Tubifex, Iimnodrilus, and Clitellis. Peculiar elongate bodies
fringed with slowly-moving cilia, and occurring in the seminal
receptacles of Clitellis and Limnodrilus, had been described under

1870. | Zoology. 435

the name Pachydermon by M. Claparéde as parasites, similar to
the well-known Opaline. Mr. Lankester having detected these
bodies in a new species of Limnodrilus living in ponds at Hamp-
stead, carefully examined their structure, and found that they were
simply closely-fitted masses of spermatozoa, held together by a
viscid cement, and with their tails projecting beyond this viscid
matter freely, and thus giving the appearance of ciliation. Further,
Mr. Lankester had observed exceedingly long coiling bodies in the
seminal receptacles of Nads, and he had no doubt from their struc-
ture that these also were spermatophores. This curious phenome-
non of the aggregation of the spermatozoa into definitely-shaped
masses after their complete development and separation from their
developmental aggregation, has been observed in Molluscs, Insects,
and Marine Annelids, but not hitherto in the Oligocheeta. It is
not easy to conjecture what purpose may be served in the worm’s
economy by this strange aggregation of the spermatozoa. The
appearance presented by the masses is very like that of a densely-
ciliated Infusorian, and they move gracefully along the stage of the
microscope as though endowed with an individual vitality, instead
of being but a spirally-interwoven mass of sexual particles. The
same number of the Journal contains an important paper by Pro-
fessor Cleland “ On the Structure of the Grey Matter of the Brain,”
and one by Dr. Van Beneden “On Nematobothriwm.”

Surface Life of the Ocean.— Lieutenant Ingram Palmer,
having a considerable talent for drawing, determined to investigate
the various minute forms of life which abound on the ocean surface.
He arranged a series of nets for towing behind the vessel to which
he was attached ; purchased a small microscope, and set to work to
examine everything and draw everything which came to hand.
The result is, a very large collection of beautifully-executed drawings
of minute crustacean larve, worms, Pteropodous Molluscs, Echi-
noderm larvee, and various adult Amphipods and Isopods of great
beauty, few being larger naturally than a pin’s head. The amount
of work and skill represented by these drawings is something enor-
mous, and yet they will probably prove of no scientific value. They
have been exhibited at the Geographical and Linnzan Societies, and
are now in a magnificent frame at the Admiralty. The talented and
persevering artist who produced them had absolutely no knowledge
of what he was drawing, and did not go to work with the critical
power of a zoologist, and hence he has drawn much that was well -
known before, and has often failed to give the details required for
zoological purposes, though his drawings are exceedingly clear and
accurate. A very little previous education in Natural History—
the opportunity for which ought to be given to every officer in Her
Majesty’s service—would have rendered Lieutenant Palmer’s great
talents available for science. It is to be hoped that the Admiralty

436 Chromeles of Science. [ July

will now grant him the time to study, so that when he again finds
himself afloat he may be able to do that service in zoological science
which his perseverance and artistic skill would ensure.

PHystoLoGy.

The Moving Force of a Single Cilium.—An interesting experi-
ment has been recently made by Dr. Jeffreys Wyman, of Cambridge,
Mass., and repeated by Dr. Bowditch, of Boston, now in Professor
Ludwig’s laboratory at Leipzig, which suggests to us the above
heading. If the ciliated membrane from the palate and fauces of
the common frog be carefully removed and stretched on a perfectly
smooth plate whilst quite fresh and moist, and on this surface a
weight be placed, its surface being carefully covered with a piece of
fresh peritoneum of the frog to prevent the contact of dead matter
with the cilia, it will be found that the weight is slowly moved
along by the force of the cilia, a weight of as muchas four grammes
being actually transported in this way—slowly but perceptibly.
Dr. Bowditch has varied the experiment by cutting off the head of
a frog and inserting a glass tube into the mouth, so that the ciliated
surface may work on the rod, and he has actually succeeded in causing
the head to move along the rod when ina horizontal position or but
very slightly inclined against the direction of movement, simply by
the ciliary power. It would be interesting to know the mechanical |
equivalent of asingle cilium ; that is to say, what fraction of a horse-
power, for instance, a cilium power may be.

The Movements of Wings in Fluight—lt is to Dr. J. Bell Petti-
erew, I'.RS., of Edinburgh, that the credit is due of first advancing
the view that during flight the movement of wings is such as to
describe a figure of eight if progression of the whole body be hin-
dered. In an elaborate investigation into the mechanism of flight
in yarious animals, insects, birds and bats, he demonstrated that the
structure was such as to provide for and necessitate this form of
movement; in fact, the wing should act as a reciprocating screw.
Whilst acknowledging that Dr. Pettigrew has the merit of first
giving this account of the movements of flight, Dr. Marey, of Paris,
the illustrious physiologist, who has so successfully applied the
graphic method to the study of the circulation and of muscular
contraction, has demonstrated the truth of Dr. Pettigrew’s inference
from structure by actual experiment. An insect’s wing being gilded
and a strong beam of light used, its movement could be followed
by the eye; also by allowing it to brush against a cylinder covered
with lamp-black, the figure of its movement was obtained. Dr.
Marey is now investigating by most ingenious methods the flight of
birds—with a view to determine exactly what is the effective part

1870.] Zoology. 437

of the stroke in the movement of the wing. The movement of the
wing itself is recorded by an arrangement with an electric current,
wires being connected with a small instrument carried on the bird’s
back. The impulse upwards or forwards is also recorded by means
of an elastic bag containing air, on the surface of which lies a piece
of lead: when a sudden movement occurs at right angles to the
plane of the lead plate, it compresses the air in the bag by its inertia,
and this movement is recorded by means of a tube, another bag and
a lever, as in the cardiograph.

Peregrinations of Cells in the Living Body.— The study of living
tissues to which Cohnheim’s views on inflammation (vz. that there is
no multiplication of the cells of connective tissue, but that pus cells
are extrayasated white blood corpuscles) have given rise, progresses
very rapidly in Germany under the hands of Von Recklinghausen
of Wurzburg, of Stricker of Vienna, of Rollet of Gratz, and their
pupils. It appears certain now that both white and red blood cor-
puscles do freely pass through the capillary walls in inflammation ;
but it is equally certain, from the admirable researches of Stricker,
that cells multiply in inflammation which are not white blood cells,
such as the stellate cells of the cornea, the corneal epithelium, the
connective-tissue cells of the tongue, and others which Stricker has
seen under his eyes commence and finish the act of division. Among
the most remarkable results recently obtained from this study of
living cells is the observation of Saviotti, that cells pass znto the
capillaries and small veins as well as out of them. He has seen
this frequently occur with the pigment cells of the frog’s web,
when inflammation was set up by dilute sulphuric acid, and the fact
was recently witnessed also in the laboratory of Professor Stricker,
of Vienna. . The pigment-cells deliberately advance to the capillary
wall, and passing through it are carried along in the circulation.
These facts as to living cells are so remarkable that some have been
inclined to suppose there is optical illusion. ‘They are, however,
now placed beyond doubt by repeated observation. Movements of
cells in the tissues may now be demonstrated in many parts as well
as the cornea, in the frog’s egg of the second day, in the brain, in
the foetal liver, in the skin (migrated cells of Besiadecki) ; and hence
K6lliker’s supposition that all cells at one time or other can exhibit
active movement is likely to be established. Recklinghausen has
kept an excised frog’s cornea alive for six weeks by supplying it
with fresh serum and attendimg to cleanliness; a wonderful proof
of independent vitality.

Physiology in Trinity College, Cambridge.—Trinity has lately
proved her claim to stand alone and at the head of the colleges in
Cambridge by the establishment of a preelectorship in pure physiology,
to which that able teacher, Dr. Michael Foster, of University Col-
lege, London, and Fullerian Professor in the Royal Institution, has

438 Chronicles of Science. [July,

been called. It is a peculiar source of gratification to Dr. Foster’s
friends that he is able to accept this chair, since at the beginning
of the year family bereayements and the threatening of serious ill-
ness held out but a gloomy prospect for future work. Dr. Foster
is now in good health and will enter on his duties at Cambridge in
October. When we remember that on former occasions as well as
quite recently, Trinity has expressed her willingness to make some
of her collegiate property available for the endowment of Professor-
ships in the University in natural sciences, and that her generous
intentions have been baulked by the ignorant parsimony of certain
of the smaller colleges, we cannot but congratulate her upon having
taken this step. It goes far to confirm the enumeration of Univer-
sities once given by a Trinity man, vzz. “ Dublin, Oxford, Cambridge,
and Trinity College.” We hope the college will provide Dr. Foster
with a large laboratory.

Laboratories in Amsterdam and London.—Professor Kuhne
has recently delivered an admirable discourse on the importance of
physiological research on the occasion of the opening of the grand
physiological laboratory which the city of Amsterdam has built for
him. ‘This laboratory and that of Professor Ludwig at Leipzig are
the most perfect in Europe, though there are many others coming
near to them. Ludwig’s laboratory is as extensive as the whole of
the Cambridge and Oxford laboratories taken together. There is
not even one physiological laboratory in England, though we may
hope to see one, at University College, as a memorial to Dr. Sharpey.
Kine’s College recently refused to build one, though Dr. Beale
offered to assist in the expense in a most generous way. A strong
attempt is being made to get something in the form of a laboratory
put up at the public expense through the Privy Council. Let us be
thanktul for any such movement.

1870.] (f4be-)

Quarterly List of Publications receited for Webiew.*

1. Researches on Diamagnetism and Magne-crystallic Action; in-
cluding the question of Diamagnetic Polarity. By John
Tyndall, LL.D., F.RS., &e. Longmans, Green, & Co.

2. Notes of a Course of Nine Lectures on Light, delivered at the
Royal Institution of Great Britain. By John Tyndall, LL.D.,
F.RS. Longmans, Green, & Co.

8. Other Worlds than Ours: the Plurality of Worlds studied under
the light of recent scientific researches. With Illustrations.

By Richard A. Proctor, F.R.A.S. Longmans, Green, & Co.
4, Alpine Flowers for English Gardens. By Wm. Robinson, F.L.8.
With Illustrations. John Murray.

5. Forms of Animal Life, being Outlines of Zoological Classification
based upon Anatomical Investigation, and Illustrated by
Descriptions of Specimens and of Figures. By George Rolles-
ton, D.M., F.RS., &e. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

6. Strong Drink and Tobacco Smoke: the Structure, Growth, and
Uses of Malt, Hops, Yeast, and Tobacco. With 167 original
Illustrations, drawn and engraved on Steel. By Henry P.

Prescott, F.L.S. Macmillan & Oo.
7. A Handbook of Phrenology. By ©. Donovan, Ph.D., &e. With
Illustrations. Longmans, Green, & Co.

8. Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection. A Series of
Essays by Alfred Russel Wallace, F.R.G.8., &e.
Macmillan & Co.
9. The Ornithosauria: an Elementary Study of the Bones of Ptero-
dactyles, made from Fossil Remains found in the Cambridge
Upper Greensand. By Harry Govier Seeley. With 12 Plates.
Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, & Co. London: Bell & Daldy.
10. A Manual of Zoology for the Use of Students; with a General
Introduction to the Principles of Zoology. By Henry Alleyne
Nicholson, M.D., D.Sc. &c. Vol. I.: Invertebrate Animals.
R. Hardwicke.
11. L'Uomo e la Natura. Ossia la Superficie terrestre Modificata
per Opera dell Uomo. Di Giorgio P. Marsh.
Firenze: G. Barbera.
* We cannot undertake to acknowledge books and pamphlets

on purely theological subjects, nor such as concern betting
transactions.

440 List of Publications [ July,

12. Burton-on-Trent ; its History, its Water, and its Breweries. By
William Molyneux, F.AS. Triibner & Co.

13. The Fuel of the Sun. By W. Matthieu Williams, F.C.S.
Simpkin, Marshall, & Co.

14, Burton and its Bitter Beer. By J. S. Bushnan, M.D.

William S. Orr & Co.
15. A Star Atlas for the Library, the School, and the Observatory,
&e. With Two Index Plates with Coloured Constellation Figures.

Drawn by Richard A. Proctor, B.A., F.R.A.S., &., &e.
Longmans & Co,
16. On the Manufacture of Beet-root Sugar in England and Ireland.
By William Crookes, F.R.S., &e. Longmans & Co.

PAMPHLETS AND PERIODICALS.

On the Thermal Resistance of Liquids. By Fredk. Guthrie,

On Ocean Currents. By James Croll.

Records of the Geological Survey of India.

Notes of Fifteen Lectures (to Women) on Physics. Delivered by
Professor Guthrie at South Kensington Museum.

Descriptive Catalogue of One Hundred Microscopie Objects. Exhi-
bited at the Royal Microscopical Society by C. Stewart, F.L.S.
Notes on Diatomacez. By Professor A. M. Edwards. (Boston,

U.S.A., Natural History Society.)

Report presented to the Minister for Agriculture, &c., respecting the
Vaccinations performed in France in 1865 and 1867. Translated
by George 8S. Gibbs.

Report on the Present State and Condition of Pre-historic Remains in
the Channel Islands. By Lieut. 8S. P. Oliver, R.A., &e.

What Shall we Teach? or, Physiology in Schools. By Edwin Lan-
kester, M.D., F.R.S. Groombridge & Sons.

Biographical Sketch of the late Fredk. Penny, Ph.D., &c., Glasgow.
By James Adam, M.D.

The Currency Question. By Rigby Wason.

Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. By Dr. Augustus Voelcker
and H. M. Jenkins, F.G.S. (Reporter).

An Irish Farmer on the Land Difficulty. By J. E. Scriven.

On the Relative Safety of the Different Methods of Working Coal.
By Mr. George Fowler.

Stanford’s Geological Map of London.

A Guide to the Study of Insects. By A. S. Packard, jun., M.D.

Salem, Mass. London: Triibner & Co.

Notes on a Trip to the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. By V. Ball.

(Bengal Asiatic Society.)

1870. | received for Review. 441

Life and the Equivalence of Force. By J. Drysdale, M.D.
London: Turner, 77, Fleet Street. Liverpool: Holden.
Announcement of the Forthcoming Series of Annual International

Exhibitions. Science and Art Dept.
The Gardener’s Magazine.
Journal of Applied Chemistry. New York, éc.
The American Naturalist. Salem, Mass.
The Canadian Naturalist, and Proceedings of the Natural History

Society of Montreal. Montreal: Dawson Bros.
Revue Bibliographique Universelle.
The Geological Magazine. Triibner.
The Food Journal. Johns & Sons, Castle Court, Holborn.
The Popular Science Review. R. Hardwicke.
Scientific Opinion. 75, Great Queen Street, London.
The Westminster Review. Tribner.
Fraser’s Magazine. Longmans.

Longmans’ Notes on Books.
Williams and Norgate’s Foreign Book Circular.

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES, &c.

Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Férhandlingar.
Stockholm : Norstedét & Séner.
The Thirty-seventh Annual Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic
Society. 1869.
Proceedings and Transactions of the Nova Scotian Institute of
Halifax, Nova Scotia. London: Reeves & Turner, 196, Strand.
First Annual Report of the American Museum of Natural History.

New York.
The Journal of the Historical and Archeological Association of
Treland. Dublin: McGlashan.

Transactions of the Geological Society, Glasgow.
Proceedings of the Bath Natural History Society and Antiquarian

Field Club. Bath: Chrenicle Office.
Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain.
s) » Royal Society.

Royal Astronomical Society.

22 99

NOTICE TO AUTHORS.

————_—— ———

** Authors of OrtamvaL Paprrs wishing Reprints for private
circulation may have them on application to the Printers of the
Journal, Messrs. W. Crowrs & Sons, 14, Cuarina Cross, 8.W.,
at a fixed charge of 30s. per sheet per 100 copies, including a
ConovreD Wrapper and Tirtz Paaz, but such Reprinis will
not be delivered to Contributors till OnE Monts after publication
of the Number containing their Paper, and the Reprints must be
ordered before the expiration of that period.

’

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ts

bins

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5

EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.

eee OS

Tuis number of the Quarterly Journal of Science brings to a
close a series which has for seven years been conducted under
one management, and as the periodical now passes out of the
hands of its present Editor, he craves permission to say a few
words concerning his stewardship.

Of the status which the Journal has acquired, it will be the
most becoming to say but little. The list of publications regu-
larly acknowledged in each number as having been received
from authors and learned societies in all quarters of the civilized
world, sufficiently indicates that it has found readers in every
clime and nationality, whilst the best criterion of its scientific
value is its list of contributors.

Amongst those who have from time to time communicated
to its pages the fruits of their labours or the result of their
reflections are the well-known names of ANSTED, CARPENTER,
Crookes, DAUBENY, FAIRBAIRN, FRANKLAND, GEIKIE, GLAD-
STONE, HerscHEL the Elder, Huaains, Hutt, Hunt, Lacaze
Dututiers, The LANKESTERS (father and son), MALLET, CHAL-
MERS Morton, NAsMyTH, ODLING, PENGELLY, PHILLIPS,
Ramsay, Rowiieston, Scott Russet, ScLATER, ANGUS
SmitTuH, SorBy, BALFouR STEWART, WILLIAM TURNER, ALFRED
WALLACE, and others hardly second to those in reputation.
Some of the foregoing, along with other earnest, sound, scientific
writers, have from quarter to quarter chronicled the progress
of scientific discovery, each in his particular branch, and only
once or twice during seven years does the Editor recollect
haying received a remonstrance for unfair criticism. But the
experience acquired during the past history of the Journal
clearly points to the necessity for a change in its management.
The names of CaurcHinL and Loneman are sufficient guarantees
that all has been done that was possible to make the Journal a
permanent contribution to our scientific literature. One defect,
however, has been the absence of its Editor from the centre of
English intelligence, and that will be henceforward removed.

In the interests of science only, the present Proprietors and
Editor have transferred the property and management of the
Journal to a gentleman whose name has been conspicuous on
its title-page from its commencement.

Mr. Witu1AmM Crooges, F.R.S., Editor of the ‘Chemical
News,’ of 3, Horse-shoe Court, Ludgate Hill, will henceforward be
the sole Proprietor and Editor of the ‘QuarTERLy JoURNAL OF
Science. He is a valued friend of the present Editor, who will
continue to give him his cordial and earnest support, and who
now solicits for his successor the same kind consideration as he
has himself received from his collaborateurs and from the
readers of the Journal.

~ Tue Eprror.

THE QUARTERLY

JOURNAL OF SCIENCE.

OCTOBER, 1870.

I, THE ECLIPSE OF AUGUST 7, 1869.—“ ANVIL”
PROTUBERANCE.

By W. 8. Gimmay, jun., New York.

THosE who observed the solar eclipse of last August with a sizeable
telescope will not soon forget the startling effect produced by the
appearance of the large oval protuberance on the western limb of
the moon. We were unusually favoured as to atmosphere at our
station near Sioux City, Iowa, and when in addition to this it is
stated that our observations were made by the aid of a 4-inch re-
fractor—one of Mr. Alvan Clark’s best—it will not seem strange
that the details about to be recorded were so readily obtained.

The “anvil” protuberance, for such the object is recorded in
my notes, was seen by one of our party several moments prior to
the totality. :

Several months’ study of the sun’s surface had prepared me to
expect the more remarkable protuberances in the southern hemi-
sphere, and having selected the south-western quadrant as an
especially favourable locality, from the presence of faculous ridges
near the limb two days prior to the eclipse, the bright “ anvil ”-
shaped mass instantly attracted my attention. Its extraordinary
brilliancy enabled me afterwards to keep it in view when a con-
siderable crescent of the reappearing sun had rendered the corona
invisible.

A hasty glance at other portions of the moon’s limb satisfied
me that the “anvil” protuberance possessed greater interest than
any other, and I therefore devoted my whole time to its considera-
tion, except so much as was employed in obtaining several outline
sketches of the corona.

In a forecast of the probable positions of protuberances, which
I made on August 5 (see Fig. 1), the double prominence at A
occupies very nearly the position of the object under discussion. In
Fig. 2 we have the appearance of the sun’s disc on the same day,
and near that part of the limb subsequently occupied by the
“anvil,” we notice a cluster of bright faculous spots. It was the

VoL. VII. 248

444 The Eclipse of August 7, 1869. [Oct.,

Bre, at;

OQ: ROSE PROTUBERANCES AS FORECASTED
AUGUST 5, 1869.

Fig. 2.

Solar disc, August 5, 1869.

1870. | The Eclipse of August 7, 1869. 445

intense whiteness of these objects that led me to suppose there
might be hovering above the solar surface in this region gaseous
exhalations that would appear during the eclipse. The white
meridian in this second diagram represents the limb of the sun
for the 7th of August, and it will be noticed that the cluster of
facule is just beyond this line. A similar white meridian in the
diagram giving the appearance of the sun on the 9th of August
(Fig. 3), indicates the eastern limb of the sun during the eclipse.

Fie. 3.

Solar disc, August 9, 1869.

In this latter instance we have the faculous ridges marked
I, G, F, E, which may be referred to prominences 4, 5, 6, and 7
of Prof. Mayer’s diagram. It is worthy of special notice that the
faculous masses at 1 are very irregularly disposed, the tortuous
windings of its parts suggesting whirling motions in the photo-
sphere. Prof. Mayer’s “Eagle” prominence is a fit object to
hover over such a curiously-agitated portion of the solar surface.
That my sketch gives a correct representation of the windings of
these ridges of facule I feel quite confident. While making the
observation the outline was likened to a rude drawing of a camel
(Fig. 4). The resemblance may appear to some if the page is
inverted, the camel being supposed to face to the left. |

Fig. 5 isa copy of my sketch of the spots on the sun’s disc, as
they appeared an hour previous to the eclipse. There was little or
no change in their form or position until after the close of the
phenomenon. The large spot near the eastern limb, enveloped
in a platform of facule, is the same as that visible on the 9th

(Fig. 3) near the same locality.
2H 2

446 The Eclipse of August 7, 1869. {Oct.,

I was particularly impressed with the stability of the protuber-
ance. It resembled a monstrous white-hot coal, and its outlme

=

Fig. 5.

DIAGRAM SHOWING SPOTS ON THE SUN DURING THE
ECLIPSE, AS SKETCHED ONE HOUR PREVIOUS TO THE
FIRST CONTACT.

was sharp and well defined. The appellation “sosy protuberance ”
struck me at the time asa misnomer. I detected only bright fire-
orange tints, like the glowing coals of an anthracite grate, with
delicate crimson flakes of surprising brilliancy scattered over the
southern part.

These flakes stood out against the bright background as if
totally disconnected from the rest of the phenomenon. In the plate
I have endeavoured to give their positions and the direction of their
axes, which latter coincided with the stratification of the protuber-
ance. I should estimate the length of these brilliant dashes of
crimson light at from 3” to 5”. Possibly in a future eclipse a
momentary spectrum of them may be obtained, as their extra-
ordinary brilliancy may make amends for their minute size.

The plate accompanying this article was prepared from my
observations of the great protuberance, with the exception of the
outline of the mass, which was obtained from the last Ottumwa

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THE “ANVIL” PROTUBERANCE

OF THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF AUG. 7 1869. FROM SKETCHES
AND NOTES MADE DURING TOTAiLIT Y

AT ST PAUL JUNG" IOWA.

OUTLINE TAKEN FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHS

1870. | The Eclipse of August 7, 1869. 447

photograph of the totality. In preparing this illustration the litho-
grapher has been very successful in copying my sketch, the plate
as given recalling the protuberance to my mind with great fresh-
ness and power. The flaky structure of the protuberance I have
endeavoured to indicate by a deeper tint of orange running diago-
nally across the flame. The southern end is more compact than
that turned towards the equator, which latter breaks up into
several smaller independent clouds, between which, and suspended
fully 10,000 miles above the solar surface, projects the tapering
point of the “anvil.” A casual glance at the sketch impresses one
with the idea of a down-rush of the glowing matter from the
southern end to the “anvil” point.

The details of the termination of this tapering end are wholly
from my notes, which record that this part of the protuberance
was composed of “fibrous lines of flame” apparently in motion
and emitting a tremulous light. I have now a vivid recollection
of the impressions produced upon my mind by this portion of the
phenomenon which riveted my attention for some moments. In
the photographs the tapering end of the protuberance terminates
in a misty ball, which is what we should expect if the fine lines
revealed by the telescope were really in motion.
~~ One word regarding the corona. By a slight movement of my
instrument its limits were brought into view, and its extent quickly
indicated on diagrams previously prepared. At the same time I
indicated by two heavy pencil-marks the positions of certain bands,
or inéervals, in the light of the corona on opposite sides of the
moon’s disc. These dark intervals deserve a passing notice.

In my coloured sketch of the corona, made immediately after
the eclipse, and which accompanies my report published by the
Washington Naval Observatory, I have indicated the positions
and character of these bands. The absorption bands of the solar
spectrum occurred to me at the time as an illustration of the
delicate striations in these portions of the corona. In the case of —
one gap a multitude of fine violet lines were compressed into a
space of about 10° in width, forming, to my mind, one of the most
beautiful features of the eclipse. The same striated appearance
was noticed in other regions of the corona, though in a less striking
degree.

These apparent gaps in the corona’s light I judged to be
opposite elevated portions of the chromosphere, from the fact that
there was a similar diminution of light above the great protuber-
ance, as my sketches show. ‘This point was not carefully examined,
however, from want of time. On my return from the south, in
February last, it occurred to me to compare my sketch of the
corona with the diagram of protuberances accompanying Professor
Mayer's report m the October number of the ‘Journal of the

L

448 The Surveys of India. — ~ [Oct.,

-Franklin Institute,’ published in Philadelphia. This I did, for
the first time, on the 9th of that month, finding a fair agreement
between the eauteea portions of his prominences 5 and 10, and
the dark bands given in my sketch. I have, therefore, little doubt
but that in locating these dark intervals in my original sketches, I
intended to place the western one near 285°, and the eastern one
near 120°, great exactness not being obtainable in the few moments
given to the observation. In speaking of these bands as dark, I
would be understood only as meaning that they were sufficiently so
to be readily seen.
A comparison of the Des Moines and Ottumwa pictures of the
“anvil” protuberance gives the following measurements. It will
be noticed that the figures are somewhat in excess of those obtained
from the last totality picture made at Burlington.

ry Miles.
Extreme length of the “anvil” .. . . 265 or 119-800
base of the “anvil”... .. 205 » 92°500
Greatest altitude above the sun’s surface ees hewn, RSE: Si, .) ee

Thus if, as is probable, the entire protuberance was not visible,
its base being beyond the sun’s limb, we have a bright cloud im the
solar atmosphere nearly, if not quite, equal in volume to the planet
Jupiter, and which in the direction of its length would sufiice to
reach more than half way to the Moon in her perigee.

THE SURVEYS OF INDIA.

II, THE TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY.
(With a Sketch-map.)
By F. C. Danvers, A.I.C.E.

Tue surveys of India may be divided into two classes—viz. the
Great Trigonometrical, and the Geological. In connection with the
former, other minor operations are undertaken under the title of
topographical and revenue surveys, to which we shall refer more
particularly in due course.

The idea of a great trigonometrical survey of a country, to be
undertaken by the Government of that country, was first conceived
by General Watson, at the suppression of the rising in Scotland in
1745. The execution of it was committed to General Ray, and
was originally intended to extend no farther than the disaffected
districts of the Highlands. The design, however, was subsequently
enlarged, and the grand trigonometrical survey of Great Britain

Quarterly Journal of Science N° XXVIII.

COREE MAP ©OF, .ENDIA
shewing the Principal Triangulation Series
of the

GREAT TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY.

AA. The Great Arc Series _

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1870. | The Surveys of Indva. 449

and Ireland was projected. Perhaps a more important survey, in
some respects, than the British one was that undertaken by the
French nation at the period of the Revolution. About that date
the philosophers of France undertook to introduce a great reforma-
tion in regard to all those habits and usages of men which have
reference to numbers, and everything—lengths, areas, moneys,
weights, periods of time, ares of circles—was to be numbered by
tens, hundreds, thousands, &c. ‘The question then came to be,
What should be adopted as the basis of this standard, which was
designed not only for France, but for the world? This ques-
tion having been brought to the attention of the Constituent
Assembly, it was proposed by M. de Talleyrand, and decreed ac-
cordingly, that the Parliament of England should be requested to
concur with the National Assembly in fixing a natural unit of
weights and measures; that under the auspices of the two nations,
an equal number of Commissioners from the Academy of Sciences
and the Royal Society of London might unite in order to determine
the length of the pendulum which vibrates seconds in the latitude
of 45° (as proposed originally by Huyghens), or in any other lati-
tude that might be thought preferable, and to deduce from them an
invariable standard of measures and of weights. The Commission
named by the Academy had under their consideration three different
units, namely, the length of the pendulum, the quadrant of the
meridian, and the quadrant of the equator. ‘The length of a quad-
rant of the meridian having been determined on, the measurement
of an are was entrusted to MM. Mechain and De Lambre, who
began their labours in 1792, and thus commenced the trigonome-
trical survey of France.

The origin of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was not
unlike that of the first Scottish Survey. After the successful termi-
nation of the war with Tippoo Saib, at the close of the last century,
Captain Lambton (who had previously served as a surveyor in
America, and who joined Her Majesty’s 33rd Regiment at Calcutta
in the year 1797) brought forward his plan of a geographical
survey of part of the territory that had been conquered, and he
proposed to throw a series of triangles across from Madras to the
opposite coast, for the purpose of determining the breadth of the
peninsula in that latitude, and of fixing the latitudes and longitudes
of a great many important places, which were believed to be very
erroneously determined in the survey previously executed by Colonel
MacKenzie. Captain Lambton first submitted his plan to Colonel
Wellesley, in whose regiment he had formerly served, who at once
sent up the proposal to Government supported by his strong recom-
mendation. Lord Clive was at that time Governor of Madras, and
warmly approved of the undertaking, and it was accordingly sanc-
tioned by Government.

450 The Surveys of India. { Oct.,

- . The first base Ime measured by Colonel Lambton was on the
table-land of Mysore, near to Bangalore. The chain used by him
was one of blistered steel, constructed by Ramsden, and precisely
similar in every respect to the one used by General Roy in mea-
suring his base of verification on Rumney Marsh. It consisted of
forty links of 24 feet each, measuring in the whole 100 feet, ata
temperature of 62°, and fitted with two brass register-heads, with a
scale of 6 inches to each. This chain, it appears, had originally
been sent with Lord Macartney’s embassy as a present to the
Emperor of China, and having been refused by him, it was made
over by his Lordship to the astronomer, Dr. Dinwiddie, from whom
it was purchased. ‘The measurement of this base line was com-
menced on the 14th October, 1800, and completed on the 10th
December following. Its total length was 7°4321 miles.

Whilst these operations were being carried on, an order was on
its way to England for a supply of instruments of the best manu-
facture that could be obtained. Amongst these was a new chain
which Colonel Lambton neyer allowed to be taken to the field, but
it was reserved as a test, whereby that actually used was constantly
verified. The other instruments received from England were a
36-inch theodolite, by Cary; an 18-inch repeating theodolite by
the same maker; a 5-feet zenith sector, by Ramsden; a standard
brass scale, by Cary; and several small theodolites, by different
makers, for minor purposes. These instruments were the finest
that the state of art at the commencement of the present century
could produce.

On the 10th April, 1802, the real commencement of the Great
Trigonometrical Survey of India was made, although at that time
the extent to which those operations would be ultimately carried
was not even contemplated. Upon the resumption of operations -
no notice appears to have been taken of the Bangalore base line.
Work was commenced by the measurement of a fresh base line of
40006 -4 feet, on a plane near Saint Thomas’ Mount, Madras, at no
great distance from the shore, and nearly on the level of the sea.
From this a series of triangles was carried, about 85 miles eastward,
north as far as the parallel of 13° 19’ 49” N., and south to Cudda-
lore, in latitude 11° 44’ 53”, embracing an extent of about 3700
square miles. Before describing further the progress of the survey,
we must pause for a moment in order to give some account of the
care taken in measuring the base line, The chain was in all re-
spects similar to the one used at Bangalore. It was laid in coffers
or long boxes, supported on stout pickets driven into the ground,
and their heads dressed even by means of a telescope. At one end
of the chain was a draw-post, to the head of which the near end of
the chain being fastened, it could be moved a little backwards or
forwards by means of a finger screw. Near the handle of the chain,

1870. | The Surveys of India. 451

and at a point where its measuring length was supposed to com-
mence, there was a brass‘scale, with divisions, which was fixed to
the head of another picket, distinct both from the draw-post and
from those supporting the coffers. This scale could, by means of a
screw, be moved backwards and forwards on the head of the post
till it coincided with the mark on the chain. A similar arrange-
ment was made at the other end, but the handle of the chain,
instead of being firmly attached to the weigh-post, as it was called,
had a rope passing over a pulley; and to this rope was appended a
weight of 28 lbs. to keep the chain stretched. This arrangement
enabled the measurer to move his chain backwards or forwards with
the greatest nicety, and when satisfied that it was correctly placed,
to keep it there perfectly steady ; while, by means of the registers,
he marked the places of the two extremities of the chain. The
chain was then lifted by twenty coolies and carried forward, the
near end being adjusted to the scale which had before marked the
fore end. A new chain’s length was then laid off in a similar
manner, and so on, until the base was finished. During these
operations tents were erected over the line, and thermometers were
placed in the coffers to determine the temperature of the chain ;
and the rate of expansion having been previously determined by
experiment, the necessary corrections were made for the varying
temperature of the measurement. The quantity of this correction
was *00725 inch for every degree of Fahrenheit.

Many of the triangles carried forward from this base line had
sides of from 30 to 40 miles in length. In computing their length
Colonel Lambton reduced the observed angles to the angles of the
chords, according to the method of De Lambre; and though he
computed the spherical excess, he did not use it in any other way
than as a measure of the accuracy of his observations. The chords,
which were the sides of the triangles, were then converted into
arches ; and as Colonel Lambton had contrived that the sides of the
four triangles which connected the stations at the south and north
extremities should lie very nearly in the direction of the meridian,
their sum, with very little reduction, gave the length of the inter-
cepted arch, which was thus found to be 95721°326 fathoms. By
a series of observations for the latitude, at the extremities of this
arch, made with a zenith sector, the amplitude of the arch was
found to be 1°°53233, by which, dividing the length of the arch
just mentioned, Colonel Lambton obtained 60494 fathoms for the
degree of the meridian bisected by the parallel of 12° 32’. This,
till the survey was extended farther to the south, was the degree
nearest to the equator—excepting that in Peru, almost under it—
which had yet been measured. The next object was to measure a
degree perpendicular to the meridian, in the same latitude. This
degree was accordingly derived from a distance of more than 55

452 The Surveys of India. [ Oct.,

miles, between the stations at Carangooly and Carnatighur, nearly
due east and west of one another. Very accurate measures of the
angles which that line made with the meridian at its extremities,
were here required; and these were obtained by observations of the
Polar star when at its greatest distance from the meridian. For
this purpose a lamp was lighted, or blue lights were fired at a given
station, the azimuth of which was found by the Polar star observa-
tions, and afterwards its bearing was taken in respect of the line in
question. Thus the angle which the meridian of Carangooly makes
at the pole with that of Carnatighur, or the difference of longitude
of these two places, was computed. It was then easy to calculate
the amplitude of the arch between them; and thence the degree

rpendicular to the meridian at Carangooly was found to be
61061 fathoms. Upon comparing this degree of the perpendicular
with the degree of the meridian, the compression at the poles would
appear to be equal to sj. A writer in the ‘ Philosophical Trans-
actions’ for 1812, p. 342, contended that, on account of an error
in calculation which escaped Colonel Lambton, the foregoing mea-
surement should be diminished by 200 fathoms, thus reducing the
length of the degree of the perpendicular to 60861 fathoms, which
would give 335 for the compression. These measurements were
made in 1803. .

In May, 1804, a base of verification of 39793-7 feet (7-536
miles, reduced to mean sea-level) was measured by Lieutenant
Warren, Colonel Lambton’s assistant, near Bangalore; and though
the distance was nearly 160 miles, the computed and measured
lengths of this base differed only 3°7 inches, or about half an inch
in the mile; a proof of the great care and accuracy with which the
work was conducted. This base was adopted for the origin of the
great Indian are series, to which we shall presently refer more
particularly. From it a series of triangles was carried across the
peninsula to the Malabar coast, which they intersected at Manga-
lore on the north and Tellicherry on the south. The heights of
the stations were all determined from the distances and observed
angles of elevation. The most considerable heights were at Soobra-
manee and Taddiandamole, in the western ghauts, not very far from
the coast, the former being 5583 feet, and the latter 5682 feet
above the level of the sea; but notwithstanding haying to cross
such elevations, after carrying the survey over a distance of 360
miles, it was found that the sum of all the ascents, and of all the
descents, reckoned from the level of the sea, differed from one an-
other only by 83 feet. From the triangles thus carried across the
peninsula, a correct measurement of its breadth was obtained, and
one considerably different from what was before supposed. The
distance from Madras to the opposite coast, in the same parallel,
was ascertained to be very nearly 360 miles; whereas, until then,

1870. ] The Surveys of India. 453

the best maps made it exceed 400 miles. All the principal places
on the old maps, which had been fixed astronomically, were also
found considerably out of position: for example, Arcot was out
10 miles, and Hydrabad no less than 11 minutes in latitude and
32 minutes in longitude.

For a long period the operations referred to above were fre-
quently interrupted by the disturbed political condition of the
country, which was often the scene of warlike operations; for it
was not until the Marquis of Hastings destroyed the Pindaree
confederacies in 1818 that the peninsula and Deccan settled down
into quiet and repose. The mysterious character of the instru-
ments and operations, as well as the planting of flags and signals,
always more or less awakened the apprehensions or excited the jea-
lousy of the native princes; and it required, therefore, no ordinary
tact, firmness, and patience, in order to conciliate their good-will.

Between the years 1802 and 1815, a network of triangles was,
under the superintendence of Colonel Lambton, carried over the
whole country as high as 18° latitude, whereby the peninsula was
completed from Goa on the west to Masulipatam on the east, with
all the interior country from Cape Comorin to the southern boun-
daries of the Nizam’s and Mahratta territories. Subsequent to this
achievement, the great arc triangulation was extended nearly to
Takal Khera, in latitude 21° 6’. The greater part of the Nizam’s
eastern territories were triangulated by meridional series between
the Kistnah and Godavery, and considerable progress was made in
the longitudinal series from the Beder base towards Bombay. The
area comprised by the whole of the operations prosecuted during
the time Colonel Lambton was superintendent aggregated 165,342
square miles. In October, 1817, the Marquis of Hastings, im-
pressed with the important utility of the trigonometrical survey,
resolved to transfer the control over its operations to the Supreme
Government of India, which took effect from the 1st January, 1818,
and Colonel (then Captain) Everest was appointed assistant to the
superintendent, whom he subsequently succeeded upon the death
of Colonel Lambton on the 20th January, 1823. Colonel Everest
first acted as chief assistant during the latter part of 1818, and he
was employed, in the first instance, in the triangulation of the
eastern parts of the Nizam’s dominions, and subsequently on a
longitudinal series of the great triangles emanating from the Beder
base line towards Bombay. He was engaged on this important
work at the time of Colonel Lambton’s death, by which event he
succeeded to the office of superintendent, and immediately proceeded
to concentrate the resources at his disposal on the extension of the
great arc series, which, after many difficulties, was at length carried
up to latitude 24°, where a base line was measured at Seronj.

After this, Colonel Everest proceeded to England, returning

454 The Surveys of India. [Oct.,

thence, in 1830, provided with geodetical instruments and appa-
ratus of every description executed by the most skilful artists of
the day, including a complete. base-line apparatus, the invention
of Colonel Colby, precisely similar to that employed on the Ord-
nance Survey; a great theodolite, 36 inches in diameter; two
18-inch theodolites; and a variety of smaller instruments from 12
inches diameter downwards. The signals, all of the most efficient
kind, and recently invented, consisted of heliotropes, reverberatory
lamps, and Drummond’s lights, of which the two former have been
exclusively used.

In addition to the duties of Superintendent of the Trigonome-
trical Survey, Colonel Everest had, on his return to India, to per-
form those of Surveyor-General of India. In 18383 the offices of
Deputy Surveyor-General at Madras and Bombay were abolished,
and their duties devolved upon the Surveyor-General, so that Colonel
Everest had now to perform the work which had hitherto occupied
the undivided attention of four officers.

By the end of 1832.a longitudinal series of triangles had been
completed from Seronj to Calcutta, where another base line was
measured. Upon the completion of that work the measurement of
the great arc was re-commenced, after a cessation of seven years.
It was carried on from that time unremittingly till December, 1841,
when the whole Indian are from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas,
forming the main axis of Indian geography, was finally completed.
The area comprised by the great arc operations, principal and secon-
dary, aggregated 56,997 square miles, including the revision of the
section from Beder to Kahanpoor, and the measurement of three
base lines, each from 74 to 8 miles in length, viz. those of Beder, in
latitude 18°; Seronj, near Kalanpoor station, in latitude 24°; and
the Dehra base, about 70 miles north of Kaliana station, in latitude
29° 30’, where the great are actually terminates ; this distance being
observed on account of the proximity of the Himalayas. On com-
paring the actual measurement of the Debra Dhoon base by Colley’s
apparatus with that calculated from the Seronj base, measured by
the chain in 1824, a difference of nearly 34 feet was found. In
former times this would have been considered a very satisfactory
agreement, seeing that the length of the base is 73 miles, and its
distance from the new base upwards of 400 miles in a straight line ;
but Colonel Everest considered the difference as indicating a much
larger error than ought to exist, regard being had to the precision
of the new methods. In order to set the question at rest, he re-
solved to re-measure the old base with the more complete apparatus
he now had at his command. This operation was completed in
January, 1838, when it appeared that the length given by the
chain measurement of 1824 was too short by nearly 3 feet, as
compared with the new result.

1870. | The Surveys of India. 455

In the year 1829 a trigonometrical survey in the Bombay Pre-
sidency was commenced by Lieutenant Shortrede, on an indepen-
dent base and point of departure. This survey proceeded in an
unsystematic manner until it was brought under Colonel Everest’s
control in 1831, when, finding that no use could be made of this
confused net of triangulation, the Colonel directed that the longitu-
dinal series should be taken up where he left off in 1823. This
was concluded in 1841, the series extending over a distance 315
miles in length.

The space at our disposal will not admit of a detailed account
of the several series of triangulation carried out by the Trigono-
metrical Survey Department; they will, however, be seen by refer-
ence to the accompanying map. LBesides the great arc series,
extending from Cape Comorin to Dehra Dhoon, there are two
longitudinal series, the one extending from Cachar, in Assam, to
Peshawur, and the other from Calcutta to Kurrachee: between
these are numerous series of triangles, those to the east of the great
are being at distances of about one degree, or 60 miles apart, taking
meridional directions, thus forming what is called a gridiron system,
similar to that adopted in the French and Russian surveys. Base
lines are measured at the extremities of the longitudinal chains, and
at the points where the chains cross Colonel Everest’s arc; thus
the triangulation is divisible into large quadrilateral figures, with a
base line at each corner.

Colonel Everest was succeeded in the appointment of Superin-
tendent of the Great Trigonometrical Survey and Surveyor-General
of India by Captain (afterwards Sir) Andrew Waugh, in December,
1843, who held the combined offices for seventeen years. Sir
Andrew Waugh left the service in 1861, when he was succeeded
by Colonel J. T. Walker, R.E., as Superintendent of the Great
Trigonometrical Survey, and by Colonel Thuillier, R.A., as Sur-
veyor-General of India, both which officers respectively fill those
appointments at the present time.

The charts of the trigonometrical operations are zincographed
on a scale of 4 miles to the inch, and the geodetical co-ordinates for
each station with azimuths and linear distances are entered upon
them, so that each chart forms a brief but complete record of the
survey results. Skeleton charts of levels, on a scale of 2 miles to
the inch, are also prepared and photozincographed; these show
the combined results of both trigonometrical and spirit levelling
reduced to the common datum of the mean sea-level of Kurrachee
harbour.

Revenue Survey.—The Revenue Survey Branch, in the Bengal
Presidency, first commenced in the year 1822. It comprises a scien-
tific periphery admeasurement of the land by means of angular and
linear measurements, performed with theodolites and steel chains ;

456 | The Surveys of India. [Oct.,

and its operations extend into such parts of the country as are
under British administration and yield a fair revenue. It is a defi-
nition and survey of village boundaries and estates, and may also be
termed a large scale topographical survey, as it affords accurate
topography of every district falling within the scope of its opera-
tions. The system followed is that of traversing with the theo-
dolite and steel chains, known as Gale’s method of land-surveying,
modified to secure greater accuracy and efficient checks on both the
boundary and interior detail measurements. Large areas are first
traversed with the better class of small theodolites having from 12
to 8 inch horizontal circles, starting from an initial station, where
the azimuth is observed, to obtain the true bearings of stations in
advance, the distances between stations being measured with steel
chains twice over and repeated in rough ground, or wherever any
doubts arise. These traversed areas, called main circuits, being in
the first instance traversed and proved, afford a complete check on
the minor or block circuits into which they are subdivided; and
these minor circuits, being in their turn traversed and proved true
on the basis of the main circuit containing them, reduce the errors
in the village boundary work toa minimum. The trifling angular
and linear discrepancies which may occur in the village traverse
circuits are adjusted znter se. | ae

The interior or detail survey, which is filled in by plane-table
or compass and chain, rests on these small village polygons, plots
of which are furnished to the native plane-tablers. The stations of
the main circuits are permanently marked, and the masonry plat-
forms which mark the tri-junctions of villages are, whenever prac-
ticable, made theodolite stations. The boundaries of villages are
measured by offsets taken to all boundary pillars from the lines
enclosing the village polygons, these linear and offset measurements
being carefully recorded in the village boundary field-book.

Along the Revenue Survey lines of levels, all masonry platforms
marking the junction of three villages which fall on or near the line
are invariably adopted as permanent bench-marks. These being
all.marked prominently on the maps of the Revenue Survey, the
entry of the data will be readily and easily made, showing the
height of each bench-mark above the mean sea-level, as determined
by starting from and closing all the lines of Revenue Survey levels
on the Great Trigonometrical stations, or the bench-marks of the
grein series of levels of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of

ndia. Se |

In connection with the Revenue Survey, levelling operations
were carried on, during 1868-69, in Oudh and Rohilcund, and they
have subsequently been extended to the central provinces, Bha-
mulpoor and Bengal. The object of these is to run series of levels
across districts not yet contoured, and to combine the results of the

1870. ] The Surveys of India. 457

levelling operations of the Revenue Survey with those already com-
leted, or about to be prosecuted, by the Irrigation Branch of the
ublic Works Department.

The field mapping is all executed on a scale of 4 inches to the
mile.

In addition to the regular professional revenue survey of villages,
there has always been a minute measurement of fields for assessment
purposes, conducted by native agency, entirely under the collector
or settlement officers. These are crude operations after native
fashion.

In the presidencies of Madras and Bombay, minute cadastral
measurements of fields are in progress under European officers ;
these surveys are essentially for settlement and revenue pur-
poses, and have no connection with the Indian Survey Depart-
ment, nor are they under the direction of the Surveyor-General of
India.

Topographical Survey.—The Topographical Branch of the In-
dian Survey Department is under the immediate superintendence of
the Surveyor-General of India, and had its origin in the Revenue
Survey. Its operations are confined chiefly to hilly and jungle-
covered ground, yielding but little revenue, in parts of the country
not actually under British management, and in friendly native
states along the British frontier; and its object is to obtain a
cheap, rapid, and reliable first survey for geographical and admi-
nistrative purposes. The groundwork or basis of its operations is
secondary and minor triangulation dependent on the Great Trigo-
nometrical Survey operations, from which all the initial elements of
latitude, longitude, elevation, distance, and azimuth are derived.
The triangulation is carried on in a network covering the ground
with points or stations at about 3 to 4 miles apart. The instru-
ments employed for the secondary triangulation are vernier theo-
dolites with 12 and 14 inch azimuthal circles; the horizontal
observations are taken on four zeros repeated and the vertical
angles on two zeros. For the subsidiary or minor network of
triangles, theodolites with 7 and 8 inch azimuth circles are
used, and the angular measurements are made with two zeros
repeated.

The detail work, or delineation of the configuration of the
sround, is executed usually on the scale of 1 inch to the mile by
means of the plane-table. Some topographical surveys in culti-
vated or valuable tracts are on a scale of 2 inches to the mile; and
a few others, in very broken and wild ground, on a scale of 2 miles
to the inch. In addition to the 1-inch survey, the Topographical
Branch undertakes the plans of all the important cities, forts, and
strongholds in native states; these are mapped on scales varying
from 6 to 16 inches to the mile.

458 The Geological Survey of India. [ Oct.,

REFERENCES.

Asiatic Researches. Vol. VII. 1803.

Edinburgh Review. Vol. XXI. 1813.

Calcutta Review. Vol. IV. 1845.

Everest s Measurement of the Meridional Are of India. 1847.

Calcutta Review. Vol. XVI. 1851.

Trigonometrical Survey (India). Printed Parliamentary Paper.
No. 219 of 1851.

Report on the Survey of India for the three years ending 1858-59.
By Lieut.-Col. Sir A. 8. Waugh. 1861.

General Reports on the Operations of the Great Trigonometrical
Survey of India. 1862-63 to 1868-69.

Professional Papers on Indian Engineering. Vols. II., III,
and IVY. Published at Roorkee. |

Report on the Cartographic Applications of Photography, and
Notes on the European and Indian Surveys. By Lieut. J.
Waterhouse, R.A. Calcutta, 1870.

III. THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA.
(With a Sketch-map.)
By H. Woopwarp, F.G:S.

SIxTEEN years have now elapsed since the Geological Survey of
India commenced its systematic labours, and it may now be inte-
resting to give some account of the progress that has been made,
and to note a few of the results to which the Government officers
have been led.

Some time beforehand, in 1851, Mr. (now Dr.) T. Oldham, the
Superintendent of the Survey, arrived in Caleutta.

The work which he was then required to do was to go from
place to place, and, without loss of time, to search for coal and
other minerals of economic value; to farnish reports, and thus to
indicate by observations in a few places the important results that
might be obtained from a detailed survey of the whole of the
country. Great were the difficulties with which he had to contend
at the outset, and for a long time afterwards; so that not until
1856 was he able to establish that regular system of operations
carried on by a staff of officers, small at first, and even in 1863
numbering but fifteen geologists.

No one was better fitted for the task in hand than Dr. Oldham ;
he had been Local Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland,
ms was previously Professor of Geology in Trinity College,

ublin,

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1870.] The Geological Survey of India. 459

With his small band of Geologists, the Survey was carried on
with vigour, and periodical reports were published, accompanied by
maps, geologically coloured, and sections of the country described.

The value of the establishment was soon appreciated by the
public, and numerous applications for reports on geological matters
were made, as well as for aid in analyses of coal, minerals and ores,
of soils, water, and in assays. Such information and assistance was
given to many private individuals, as well as to Government depart-
ments and to companies.

The earlier observations were, as might be expected, fraught
with much difficulty. But few and isolated notices, compared with
the size of the country, had been written upon it. The labours of
Dr. Carter, of Bombay, of the Revs. Hislop and Hunter, Presby-
terian missionaries in Tinnevelly, and some others, had certainly
done a little towards paving the way for a classification of the
rocks; and Mr. Greenough had, in 1854, after many years’ labour
in compilation, prepared a map of India, upon which he had
depicted all that was then known concerning the geology of the
country.

Dr. Oldham,* however, found it necessary to establish several
new groups to receive (provisionally) the various rocks that were
met with, inasmuch as for many—and these some of the most
widely-extended and important groups of rocks—there was no
definite horizon from which to work either up or down. Over
thousands and tens of thousands of square miles not a fossil was
found, save some vegetable remains, affording, at the best, but very
imperfect evidence. The richly fossiliferous rocks of the Himalaya
and Sub-Himalaya being widely separated from all the rocks of the
Peninsula by the broad expanse of the Alluvium which unites the
valleys of the Ganges and Indus, it was impossible to trace out,
by their aid, any superposition. |

To endeavour to remedy this, it was found advisable to examine
many distinct tracts, and to make more or less rapid observations on
distant parts, which, although interfering with the continuous pro-
gress of the Survey, were generally of essential service in leading to
definite results on important geological points, which, in the ordinary
progress of the work, could not have been arrived at for many years
to come.

The climate of India necessarily restricts the work to certain
portions of the year. The working season lasts about seven months,
and differs very materially in the southern part of the Peninsula
from that in Bengal. In the latter district, the close of the Indian
financial year (the 31st March) nearly coincides with the close of
the field season. In Madras the season is then not half over.

* See Mr. Horner’s Anniversary Address to the Geological Society of London.
61.

VOL. VII. a i

460 The Geological Survey of India. [ Oct.,

Considering the great exposure to which all field-geologists
working in the open country are unavoidably subjected, and the
necessity for their visiting, and often remaining in, the most mala-
rious and unhealthy parts, it is not surprising to learn that the
whole staff are seldom at work at one time. The illness of one or
more, and the necessity for leave of absence, is generally recorded in
the Annual Reports. But it is grievous to learn the loss by death
of five or six officers since the Survey has been in operation, whilst
several have been forced to resign from ill-health.

These causes have occasioned much loss of time. It is seldom
possible, Dr. Oldham remarks, to meet with persons qualified to
supply the vacancies immediately. There is, moreover, absolute
necessity for a considerable amount of training, occupying gene-
rally a year, before any newly-appointed Assistant can become
really useful, and able to carry on alone the mapping of a district.

The pecuniary temptations furnished to individuals to join the
Survey are not very great, the maximum ratio of pay being 500
and 600 rupees per month, but this is only obtainable after eight
or ten years’ service. The salary, as on the British Survey, is very
fair to commence with, but equally discouraging in prospect.

The latest report of Dr. Oldham, dated the 3rd January, 1870,
is accompanied as usual by an index-map, showing the area surveyed,
and published to the end of 1869, and that in progress. A reduced
copy of this map accompanies our notice.

The Atlas of India, which includes Burmah and the Malay
Peninsula, comprises about 180 sheets, portions of about 64 of
which have been mapped, while others have been visited and re-
ported upon.

A very large area has not yet been surveyed topographically,
so that the direction of the detailed mapping by the Geological
Survey has some restrictions. ‘The size of the sheets is 3 feet
41 inches by 2 feet 34 inches, and each contains an area of about
17,824 square miles.

The principal part of the work has been carried on in Central
India. The faultiness of the existing maps of the country was found
a serious drawback to successful progress, but so far as possible they
were corrected, and every effort was made to render them of the
utmost service. It was soon found, however, that the character of
the geological work must be suited to the available maps of the
district, and with very imperfect maps to attempt great detail
would be useless. For all practical purposes, the boundaries of
the geological formations could generally be fixed with sufficient
accuracy.

But few sheets have been entirely surveyed. This, however,
would be accounted for by the necessity, previously stated, of ex-
amining many different and distant parts for the purpose of arriving

1870] The Geological Survey of India. 461

at a classification or knowledge of the order of superposition of
the rocks in India; and when the vast area embraced by each sheet
is taken into consideration, it is not surprising that few have been
completed.

A glance at the map best shows the amount of field-work that
has been done, and considering the many difficulties and dangers
that have had to be encountered—not forgetting the disturbed state
of the country during the Indian mutiny in 1857—we must con-
eratulate the Survey on the great progress it has made.

Besides the preparation and publication of the geological maps,
the Survey now maintains three periodicals of letter-press.

The first part of the ‘Memoirs’ appeared in 1856, and since
then six volumes have been completed, containing thirty-two geolo-
gical reports (over 2200 pp. of letter-press), and the first part of
vol. vil. has recently been published. All are well illustrated with
maps and sections.

Particular attention has been given to the coal-bearing deposits.
The ‘ Memoirs’ contain reports on the Coal-fields of Talchir, Rani-
gun], Jherria, Bokaro, Ramgurh, &c.

The coal-fields of Bokaro and Ramgurh belong to the ordinary,
or Damuda series.

In the Jherria coal-field, the two series, Talchir and Damuda, are
developed.

The lower, or Talchir, contains no coal.

The Damuda series contains many seams, very irregular, and
varying in thickness from a few inches to 20 feet and more. Nume-
rous coal-seams are much injured by trap-dykes, which have ramified
through them, and which have rendered the coal useless. There
is also a general tendency to ignition in all the seams, owing, it is
thought, to the presence of iron pyrites, which gives rise to spon-
taneous combustion. Metamorphism is produced in the shales in
proximity, giving to them the character of well-burnt bricks.

Dr. Oldham calculates that there is an available quantity of coal
in this Jherria field of about 465,000,000 cubic yards, or, roughly,
tons of coal.

In Sinde there is a lignitic coal of Lower Tertiary age, but not
worth working. In one of his earlier reports Dr. Oldham noticed
the existence of Tertiary coal by the river Irrawaddy, near Prome.

Coal of excellent quality has been found in Assam, which lies
near the river Brahmapootra, convenient for transport by water.

Considerable doubt attached to the age of the coal-fields of
Damuda, Talchir, and Nagpur. ‘The reported discovery in them
of certain plants was thought to place them in the Triassic or
Oolitic period. But it has since been ascertained that these re-
mains occur in shales above and distinct from the Coal-measures.

Comparisons have been made of late between the several series

ya

462 The Geological Survey of India. [ Oct.,

of sandstones, &c., associated with the coal in Bengal and those of
Central India. ‘The vast extension and great constancy in mineral
character of the Talchir rocks (which form the base of the great
coal-bearing series) have been fully established, and the thinning
out of the beds in passing to the west has received further support.
The entire Coal-formation, which in the east gives five well-marked
subdivisions (in ascending order, Talchir, Barakar, Ironstone shales,
Ranigunj, and Panchet), becomes, at a short distance to the west,
only a threefold series, comprising the Talchir, Barakar, and Panchet
subdivisions. Additional proofs have been brought forward to show
that on the large scale, the present limits of these Coal-measures
coincide approximately with the original limits of deposition, and
are not the result of faulting, or even mainly of denudation.

And Dr. Oldham expresses his opinion that the great drainage
basins of India were on the large scale marked out, and existed (as
drainage-basins) at the enormously distant period which marked the
commencement of the deposition of the great plant-bearing series.
In this point of view, local variations in the lithological type, local
variations in the thickness of the groups, and even their occurrence
or non-occurrence, are only necessary consequences of the mode and
limit of formation.

In 1861 Dr. Oldham gave a summary statement of the amount
of coal raised throughout India for the past three years, which was
about 850,000 tons. The total amount of coal raised in India gene-
rally was, in 1858, about 226,140 tons; in 1859, about 347,227 tons;
and in 1860, about 370,206 tons. Of this quantity the Ranigunj
field yielded by far the greater part. The only mode of transport,
however, from this field was by the river Damuda, a stream only
navigable during the freshes of the rainy season, after which it be-
comes so dry that no more coal can be sent to market until the
next season.

In 1867 Dr. Oldham made a report on the Coal-resources of
India.* The extensive fields which occur are not distributed gene-
rally over the country, but are almost entirely concentrated in one,
a double, band of coal-yielding deposits, which with considerable
interruptions extends more than half across India, from near
Calcutta towards Bombay.

Little more than surface workings are carried on—the deepest
pits scarcely exceed 75 yards, while certainly one-half of the Indian
coal which has been used up to the present date has been produced
from open workings or quarries.

Dr. Oldham concludes that out of the whole series of Indian
coals, the very best of them only reach the average of English coals,
and that on the whole they are very inferior to them. It should,
however, be borne in mind that until all the fields are carefully

* Being a return called for by the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for India.

1870.] The Geological Survey of India. 463

mapped, any estimates of the Coal-resources and production of British
India must be defective.

Besides the coal-reports, the ‘ Memoirs’ contain papers on the
gold-bearmg and other economic deposits, also many describing
the geology generally and physical geography of particular areas.
Some few treat of paleeontology.

One very important paper describes the Vindhyan series, as
exhibited in the North-Western and Central Provinces of India.
The district described included the greater part of Bundelkund. The
Vindhyan series is divided into an upper and a lower division, the
former gives rise to great table-lands, the latter furnishes more
diversified scenery. The area affords many striking instances of
the power and effects of subaérial denudation on a grand scale. As
yet the Vindhyan rocks have yielded no fossils; they appear to be
older than the Talchir, and may possibly turn out to belong to a
period about the age of the Devonian. Lithologically they consist
of alternations of limestones, shales, sandstones, and conglomerates,
often distinguished by local names, as for instance the “ Bijigurh
shales.” Some of the beds furnish good building stone.

Tn order to gain a more rapid publication of many isolated facts
noticed during the progress of the Geological Survey, and which
were scarcely adapted to the ‘ Memoirs,’ a new publication called the
‘Records’ was started in 1868. The series contains notices of the
current work of the Survey, lists of contributions to the Museum
and Library, &c., and it is intended also to publish analyses of such
books published elsewhere as bear upon Indian geology, and gene-
rally to notice all facts which come to light illustrative cf the
geology of Hindostan. The third volume is now in course of
publication.

Among the numerous published Reports the following appear
most worthy of special notice.

The Surat Collectorate,in the Bombay Presidency, although a
comparatively flat country, possesses many features of geological
interest. Traps, ranging from basalt to a soft shaly-looking amyg-
daloid, are met with, and resting unconformably upon these is the
great Nummulitic series. This consists of sandstones, conglome-
rates, and limestones, with nummulites, molluscs, fossil-wood, and
fragments of bone. Alluvium covers a large extent of the district,
and the cotton (or black) soil covers it over many large tracts of
the country. This soil seems to be the residuum left by the decom-
position of an alluvium largely composed of volcanic (trappean)
débris. It usually occurs in districts in which trap-rocks abound,
as for example in the Poorna valley, West Berar.

The Poorna alluvium is of considerable depth, in places about
150 feet. Much of it produces efflorescences of salts, chiefly of
soda; and in many places the wells sunk in it are brackish or salt.

464 The Geological Survey of India. [ Oct.,

Comparisons have recently been drawn between the Alluvial
deposits of the Irrawadi and the Ganges. Every river that dis-
charges its waters into the sea has the character of its deposits
influenced according to whether the area be im a state of subsidence,
quiescence, or of elevation. Generally in every large river-basin
two distinct alluvial deposits will be met with. The older of these
may be either marine (estuarine) or fluviatile (lacustrine), or of a
mixed and alternating character ; but the newer group is essentially
fitivio-lacustrine, and directly produced by the existing river. While
no very great thickness of the newer stratum can anywhere have
been deposited without a corresponding subsidence of the area, a
very large accumulation of the older or estuarine deposit may have
taken place during an elevation of the area covered by it.

The Ganges and Irrawadi present examples of rivers subjected,
respectively, to the former and latter conditions. The alluvium of
the Ganges, as ascertained from a well-boring at Fort William, con-
sists of 70 feet of the newer or fluviatile deposit, resting on the
denuded surface of the “‘kunker clay.” This clay is regarded asan
estuarine deposit accumulated durmg an upward movement of the
land. The Gangetic area is now considered to be undergoing de-
pression at a rate adequately counterbalanced by the accession of
sediment brought down by the river. The alluvium of the Irrawadi
belongs almost entirely to the older group, this river-delta being at
the present time in precisely the same condition as was the delta of
the Ganges when the first layers of its alluvium, 70 feet below the
present surface at Calcutta, were being deposited. The difference
in the fertility of the two areas is attributed to the greater richness
of the newer alluvium, and hence the inability of the delta of
the Irrawadi to compare with that of the Ganges in agricultural
produce.

The geology of the neighbourhood of Madras is noticed in the
third volume of the ‘ Records.’ The greater part of this district is
occupied by rocks of Secondary, Tertiary, and Recent ages, the re-
mainder is taken up by metamorphic rocks, forming part of the great
gneissic series of Southern India. Some time previously, beds of
magnetic iron-ore were pointed out in the metamorphic gneiss rocks
of the Madras Presidency, the supply of which was considered to be
practically inexhaustible.

The Rajmahal plant-beds consist of conglomerates, sandstones,
gritty clays, and shales.

The Laterite deposits are also pointed out. They comprise
clayey conglomerates, gravels, and sands, which graduate one into
the other. The gravels contain pebbles of quartzite and gneiss,
mixed with pisiform ferruginous pellets. Other deposits called the
Conjeveram gravels are noticed; they differ from the laterite beds
in the absence of ferruginous matter. Both appear to contain imple-

1870. | The Geological Survey of India. 465

ments of human manufacture in the shape of axes and spear-heads
made of chipped quartzite pebbles, and of the same types as those
which occur in the gravels of Western Europe. ‘They were spread
rather widely over a large extent of area in the country to the west
and north of the city of Madras, and have been made of the best
substitute which this portion of the country could afford for flint,
vamely, the very hard and semi-vitreous quartzites of the Cuddapah
series.

In gravel, situated near Pyton on the banks of the Godavery,
an agate-flake has been found, which is undoubtedly an artificial
form. It is figured in vol. i. of the ‘ Records.’

We have but briefly and imperfectly noticed a few of the more
important results arrived at by the energetic labours, in the field, of
Dr. Oldham and the officers of the Geological Survey. This work—
superintended by Dr. Oldham—has been carried out by the many
able assistants who have served under him, among whom we may
mention H. B. and J. G. Medlicott, H. J. and W. F. Blanford,
C. AX. Oldham,* W. Theobald, jun., F. R. Mallet, A. B. Wynne,
KR. B. Foote, T. W. H. Hughes, W. King, jun., I’. Fedden, &c.

We will now turn our attention to the paleontological work.

A Museum of Economic Geology was established at Calcutta in
1840, and in 1856 it was placed in connection with and under the
same superintendence as the Geological Survey of India. There are
also Museums at Madras, Bombay, and Kurrachee.

During the progress of the Survey numerous fossils have been
collected, and specimens are being constantly added to the Museum.
Indeed Dr. Oldham reports that they increase so rapidly that no
room can be found for their proper exhibition, and in the examina-
tion and description of them it is impossible to keep pace. During
the year 1869 more than 20,000 specimens passed through the
hands of the curator and his assistant. A suitable building is, we
are informed, now in course of erection at Calcutta, where the fine
collections already brought together will be properly arranged and
exhibited.

One of the more richly fossiliferous tracts is at Spiti and Rushpu
in the Himalayas, where representatives of Silurian, Carboniferous,
Triassic (Lilang series), Rheetic (Para limestone), Lower and Middle
Lias, and three subdivisions of the Jurassic period, and also Creta-
ceous rocks are believed to occur.

In order to figure and describe the species of organic remains
collected by the Survey, the ‘ Palzeontologia Indica’ was instituted.
This quarto publication is issued in fasciculi, each containing about
six plates, and published once every three months. Five series of
these fasciculi have been published.

_ * This able geologist died 30th March, 1869, aged 37 years. See Obituary,
‘Geol. Mag.,’ vol. vi., p. 240.

466 The Geological Survey of India. | Oct.,

The jirst series was printed in 1861, and treated of the Fossil
Cephalopoda of the Cretaceous rocks of South India, containing the
Belemnitidz and Nautilide, by H. F. Blanford ; the Ammonitidz,
by Dr. F. Stoliczka, formed matter for the third series.

The Cephalopoda were found to include 146 species, of which
nearly one hundred were Ammonites, three only Belemnites, whilst
of Nautilus there were 22 species, &c. Thirty-seven of these
species were found identical with species Known in Europe and
other countries. Ninety-six quarto plates are devoted to the illus-
tration of these fossils.

The Gasteropoda of the Cretaceous rocks form the subject of the
jifth series; they are illustrated with sixteen plates, and are de-
scribed by Dr. Ferdinand Stoliczka.

Two hundred and thirty-seven species of Gasteropoda are de-
scribed. Among them, four species of Helicide are deserving of
special attention from the rarity of land-shells in these Cretaceous
rocks, and particularly as they are said to belong to types still found
living in the same or neighbouring districts.

Dr. Stoliczka considers that the South Indian Cretaceous deposits
only represent the Upper Crgtaceous strata, beginning with the
Cenomanien. The larger number of representative species were
found to agree with the Turonien. The original notion of repre-
sentatives of Neocomian beds existing in South India loses support
from the more complete examination and comparison of the species.

The second series of the ‘ Paleontologia Indica’ is devoted to
the Fossil Flora of the Rajmahal series (Jurassic), six iasciculi of
which have been published. The descriptions are by Dr. Oldham
and Professor Morris. The Rajmahal beds occur near Madras, in
Bengal, and Kutch. Ai Madras the beds contain no carbonaceous
matter, which in their equivalents in other parts of India occurs so
largely as to form coal-seams. The plant-remaims occur chiefly
in a white shale. They include Palzozamia, Dictyopteris, Tzni-
opteris, Pterophyllum, Pecopteris, Stangerites, Poacues, &c.

The fourth series on the Vertebrate Fossils of the Panchet rocks
is by Professor Huxley, and is illustrated with six plates. These
remains consist of numerous fragmentary and sometimes rolled
bones, the majority being vertebre, with a few teeth, portions of
crania, &c. They were discovered in a stratum of conglomerate
sandstone exposed by the Damuda river near Deoli, fifteen miles
west of Ranigunj, and they are of great interest as being the first
remains of vertebrata discovered in the great group of rocks associ-
ated with the coal-bearing formations of Bengal. They proved to
belong to a peculiar group of fossil reptiles (Dicynodontia) hitherto
only known from South Africa. The strong analogy which these
South African rocks offer to some of the Indian rocks had been
insisted on by Dr. Oldham, before this discovery, on the strength of

1870. | Rainfall in England. 4.67

the plant-remains alone, and this has been strangely confirmed by
the discovery of reptiles of the same type (Dicynodontia).

Very many years must necessarily pass away before the Geolo-
gical Survey of India is completed, nor can Dr. Oldham and his
present staff hope to see its accomplishment, but they have done
sufficient already to indicate the great geological features of the
country, and we may hope to see in one of their future publications,
a table of succession of the Indian strata as far as at present deter-
mined, with their probable European equivalents.

IV. RAINFALL IN ENGLAND.
By W. Pencetty, F.R.S.

As regularly as the new year comes, and very speedily afterwards,
come Mr. Symons’s ‘ British Rainfalls, containmg the well-tabu-
lated results obtamed by many hundreds of rain observers whose
gauges are spread over Great Britain and Ireland, as well as the
adjacent isles.

The data contained in these annual publications are of great
interest, not only in themselves and as they stand, but because they
are capable of being worked up and discussed in various ways, some
of which I will now proceed to illustrate.

The Rainfall of England and Wales——During 1869, there
were in Great Britain south of the Tweed and Solway no fewer
than 1093 gauges at work, giving an average of about 21 for each
county, but, as may be supposed, without any approach to uni-
formity of distribution. They were most thickly strewn in Middle-
sex, and most sparingly in Montgomeryshire, there being one gauge
for every 59783 acres in the former, and for every 284,060 acres in
the latter ; that is relatively about forty-seven times as many gauges
in the one as in the other. On the average, there was in the entire
kingdom one gauge on every 34,149 acres; hence, were the distri-
bution uniform, each gauge in England and Wales might be supposed
to occupy the centre of a square measuring 7:3 miles in the side.

It is eminently creditable to the zeal and perseverance of their
meteorologists that the mountainous and thinly-populated counties
of Carnarvon, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, were amongst those
in which the relative number of gauges exceeded the average for the
entire country; thus for every ten gauges in England and Wales
as a whole, there were 10°5 in Carnarvonshire, 18°4 in Cumber-
land, and 25:5 in Westmoreland. In the last, moreover, there
were no fewer than twelve gauges on ground upwards of 1000 feet
above the sea, three upwards of 2000 feet, and one at the height of

468 Rainfall in England. [ Oct.,

3200 feet. Westmoreland had five gauges more than 1000 feet
high ; and though Carnarvon had none exceeding 850 feet in height,
the returns from every gauge in the county were in every respect
complete, as they contained full information as to height above the
sea and the ground, the total annual rainfall, the number of wet
days, and therefore of the average wet-day rate of rain.

The stations varied in height from the sea-level, at Hull, to
3200 feet above it, at Scafell Pike in Cumberland. ‘The least
county average height was 53 feet, in Cambridgeshire; the greatest
was 715 feet, in Radnorshire; whilst that for the entire kingdom
was 297 feet. This general average was surpassed in twenty-five
counties, but not reached in the remaining twenty-seven.

The tops of the gauges were by no means at one uniform height
above the ground on which they stood. In several cases they were
level with the surface, whilst one at Cockermouth was 100 feet
above it. ‘Taking the counties as separate wholes, the least average
height was 13 inches in Leicestershire, and the greatest 8 feet
7 inches in Cambridgeshire; while the mean height for the entire
country was 2 feet 9 inches. This general average was exceeded in
twenty-four counties, but not reached in twenty-six.

During the four years ending with December 31st, 1869, the
least annual rainfall at any station was 7°84 inches—the receipts in
1869 of a gauge at Sheerness, the top of which was 70 feet above
the ground and 79 feet above the sea; whilst the greatest was
207°49 inches, received in the same year, in a gauge 6 inches
above the ground, and 1077 feet above the sea, at the Stye in
Cumberland. During the four-year period just named the average
annual rainfall in the different counties as separate wholes varied
from 68°91 inches in Cumberland to 22°55 inches in Bedford-
shire; the average for the entire kingdom being 35°37 inches.
The three numbers were as 195: 63:100. The general average
was exceeded in eighteen counties but not reached in thirty-four ;
the former, or “ wet” counties, being to the latter, or “dry” ones,
as 1:2 nearly.

According to the Registrar-General, England and Wales con-
tain 37,324,915 statute acres; hence, with an average rainfall of
35°87 inches, they every year receive 4,792,261,544,086 cubic feet
of rain; that is, a quantity sufficient to fill a canal having an
uniform breadth and depth equal to those of the Thames at low
water at London Bridge (700 x 12°5 feet), and a length of
103,721 miles, or more than four times the circumference of the
earth. ‘Taking the weight of a cubic foot of water at 1000 oz. av.,
England and Wales annually receive 133,712,677,011 tons of rain.
Were the entire rainfall of the year converted into a hailstorm it
would be a globe having a diameter of 4730 feet = -9 miles.

The eighteen “wet” counties are, in descending order, Cumber-

1870. | Rainfall in England. 469

land, Merionethshire, Westmoreland, Montgomeryshire, Carnarvon-
shire, Cardiganshire, Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, Monmouthshire,
Glamorganshire, Caermarthenshire, Lancashire, Devonshire, Breck-
nockshire, Radnorshire, Anglesea, Derbyshire, and Somersetshire—
those, in short, which, with the exception of Cheshire, Denbighshire,
and Flintshire, form our western coast from the Solway to the Land’s
End, including the Bristol Channel to the eastern margins of Mon-
mouth and Somerset shires, together with the inland mountain
counties of Montgomery, Brecknock, Radnor, and Derby. Obviously
our rains come from the west and south-west; high lands have a
greater rainfall than those which are low; and, as a corollary, dis-
tricts having loftier lands between them and the Atlantic must receive
less rain than those not thus sheltered,—a truth well illustrated by
the comparative dryness of Cheshire, Denbigh, and Flint shires,
which lie on the dry side of Carnarvonshire, Anglesea, and Ireland.

In the provisional language of meteorologists, those days are
termed “wet” on which not less than ‘01 inch of rain falls in the
twenty-four hours. During the four years already mentioned, the
greatest number of wet days recorded in one year at any station was
315 in 1866, at Patterdale Hall, in Westmoreland; and the least
number was 77 days at Beeston Lock, Nottinghamshire, in 1868.
The greatest county annual average for the same period was
207 days in Merionethshire, the least 137 days in Bedfordshire,
whilst for the entire kingdom it was 169 days: the three numbers
being as 122 : 81:100.

In twenty-two counties the general average number was ex-
ceeded, whilst it was not reached in twenty-eight ; the former group
included all the counties of excessive rainfall, with the exception of
those of Brecknock and Pembroke. }

From what has been stated above, it appears that the county
of greatest average rainfall was not that of the greatest average
number of wet days, and that the difference between the rainfall
extremes was greater than that between those of the number of wet
days, it being 132 per cent. in the former, but no more than 41 per
cent. in the latter case. In other words, though a great annual
rainfall, and a great number of wet days may be said to go together,
the former, instead of depending entirely on the latter, depends also
on the average wet-day rate of rain.

Cumberland, as we have seen, received, on the average, 68°91
inches of rain on 192 days per year; hence its average wet-day rate
of rainfall was 36 inch (= 68°91~+192), and this was the maximum.
The minimum was that of Cambridgeshire, amounting to no more
than *15 inch; whilst the average for England and Wales, as a
whole, was *22 inch; the three numbers varying as 164:68:100.

Fourteen counties, all of them having excessive rainfalls, ex-
ceeded the general average wet-day rate.

470 Rainfall in England. [ Oct.,

It may be convenient here to recapitulate in a tabular form the
principal facts just established in connection with the three pluvial
elements of England and Wales, and which show that the rainfall
of a district depends on the wet-day rate of rain rather than on the
number of wet days.

Max | Min Mean.
Average annual relative rainfall .. peers 195 63 100
Average annual relative number of wet days. Bc gaeee 122 81 100
Average relative wet-day rate ofrain .. .. .. « 164 68 100

On taking the “ wet” and “dry” counties as two distinct wholes,
their pluvial elements stand as below :— |

ACTUAL. RELATIVE.
Wet. Dry. Wet. Dry.
Annual average rainfall,. .. ss | eo 22 io 28°68 im. 7) 0
Annual average number of wet days .. | 185 days | 160 days | 116 | 100
Annual average wet-day rate of rain .. °27 in. -18 in. | 150 | 100

The Influence of Height above the Ground on the Rainfall
It has long been known that at the same station a gauge on or near
the ground receives more rain than one higher above it. Dr. Dalton
stated, in 1802, that the ratio of the quantity of rain collected on
the top of St. John’s steeple, Manchester, to that collected on the
ground in the vicinity, about 50 yards below, was 1n summer as 2:3
nearly, and in winter as 1:2 nearly.*

Mr. Symons’s ‘ British Rainfall’ extends over the ten years be-
ginning with 1860; and at several of the stations whence he receives
returns there are two or more gauges at different heights above the
ground. Omitting all whose vertical distances are less than 10 feet,
and taking the highest and lowest only at the same station, there
werein Great Britain and Ireland 226 cases spread over the ten
years which are available for the discussion of the question imme-
diately under notice.

The “ vertical gauge-distances” varied from 10 feet to 99:5 feet,
and averaged 40°5 feet. The total amount of rain received by all
the lower gauges was 6812-02 inches, and by the upper ones
5707°98 inches; showing an actual defect of 1104-04 inches, or a
relative defect of 16°3 per cent. This, divided equally between the
226 cases, gives a total deficit of 4: 885 inches each per year. Di-
viding, again, by the average gauge-distance, or difference of height

* «Monthly Magazine,’ vol. xiv., p. 5. 1802.

1870. ] Rainfall in England. 471

(40°5 feet), the result is an annual average deficit of *12 inch,
or ‘4 per cent., for every foot of elevation above the ground. In
other words, if the rainfall, received during a year by a gauge on, or
a few inches above, the ground, be divided into 1000 equal parts,
for every foot a second gauge is placed vertically above this, it will,
on the average, receive four such parts fewer.

It is obvious that this wniform average “ foot-defect” of +4 per
cent. of the receipts of the lower gauge presupposes that the lower
gauges are all at the same small height above the ground, and that for
a given depth or zone of atmosphere the actual deficit is the same,
whether the zone be at a high or low level. The first is unfortu-
nately anything but true, as some of the lower gauges are level with
the surface, whilst others are as much as 8°5 feet above it.

Waiving this however, interesting information on the second
point is contained in the returns, tabulated below, from Southampton,
Oxford, and Preston, and which have been selected from the entire
list simply because they extend over a greater number of years than
any of the others, and because the difference in the heights of the
gauges, that is, the depth of the zone of atmosphere on which the
experiments were made, was not the same at any two of the stations.

Wertital Relative Foot-defects.
Stations. gauge. |
Sees | 1860. |1861.| 1862. |1863. | 1864. | 1865. | 1866. |1867. 1968. 1869. |Means.
| ft. in |
Southampton | 18 1 | 1:03] °92| 1°19 | -97 | 1°03 | 1°33 | 1°04 | 55 | -66 | 63 | :93
Oxford . .| 22 9 -64-|-59 | -65 | -78 | -<81| 669 | =86)1 230) ..ai| “28 | “60
Preston . .| 49 5 23 | +27 32 | ‘31 25 27 34 | 34 | 42 | -26 | -30
|

An inspection of the Table shows that whilst at each station
there were fluctuations from year to year, the foot-defect was
invariably an inverse function of the vertical gauge-distance. In
other words, if a series of gauges be placed vertically above one
another, at uniform distances, the first or lowest will receive, on
the average, more rain than the second, which in its turn will
receive more than the third, and so on; but the difference between
the receipts of the first and second will be greater than that
between those of the second and third, and so on.

The foregoing Table contains twenty-nine annual returns from
the three stations collectively. Jf with them we include all the
annual returns from stations having gauges differing in height from
10 to 70 feet, and form them into six groups, such that the first
shall be made up of those only having a gauge-distance of from 10
to 20 feet, the former alone inclusive; the second, of those whose
distance ranged from 20 to 30 feet; and so on to the sixth or last ;
we get the following Table, in which the Southampton returns just

472 Rainfall in England. [ Oct.,

given, obviously belong to the first group, those from Oxford to the
second, and those from Preston to the fourth :—

Vertical gauge-distances. Number of Average Foot-defect,
in feet. Annual Returns. per cent.
|

Brom 10 to 20... 22 °939
3 SAGO OU Ow. 53 oa be
wd eSOete AOS ois. 50 “395
ee ee 35 -378
eer atto OO... 19 305
| » 60t070 .. .. 13 ‘374

From the foregoing figures, it appears that if the contents of
the lower gauge be divided into 100,000 equal parts, the upper
gauge will, on the average, receive 939 fewer such parts for every
foot of elevation, provided such elevation be not less than 10 nor
more than 20 feet; or 512 fewer such parts per foot provided the
vertical gauge-distance be not less than 10 nor more than 30 feet,
and so on.

A glance at the last or right-hand column shows: Ist, that, with
one exception, the foot-defect diminishes with increased vertical
gauge-distance; 2nd, that the difference between two consecutive
foot-defects becomes less and less with increase of difference of
elevation, and almost disappears at the height of 70 feet.

At certain stations, as Cardington and Cockermouth, there are
three gauges, each at a different height above the ground, whose
receipts are tabulated below :—

Height | Actual Rainfall in inches. Mean | Mean

Stations, of | Relative S a
Gores | 1865. | 1866. |. 1867. | 1868, | 1869. | Means, (Rainfall. ior cent,
: Bo we | a

Cardington 0 0O | 27°25 | 26°88 | 23°57 | 21°94 | 21-25 | 24-18| 100 ie
: 3 6 | 26-18 | 25-53 | 22-26 | 21-30 | 20°33 /23-12| 96 | 1:14

3 35° 0 ee aes 19°05! 79 | +58

| |

Cockermouth} 0 6| .. |50°77| 88°35 | 50:12 | 46°31) 46°39| 100 i
95 6 6 48-19 | 36°29 | 48-02 | 44°48 / 44-24} 95 *83

55 100 0 | ped eit ZO Oo oo *49

| |

Here, as before, the receipts of the gauges, at the same stations,
were greater when nearest the ground.

The difference of receipts increased with increased difference of
elevation.

The deficit, per cent. per foot, became less as the difference of
height became greater.

And on comparing the results from the two stations, it appears

1870. | Rainfall in England. 473

that whilst a difference of 3°5 feet in vertical gauge-distance gave a
foot-defect of 1:14 per cent. at Cardington, a distance of 6 feet gave
a foot-defect of only *83 per cent. at Cockermouth; and that
whilst a vertical gauge-distance of 36 feet at the former gave a foot-
defect of *58 per cent., a distance of 99°5 feet at the latter gave a
foot-defect of no more than *45 per cent.

Enough has probably now been said to show, what indeed has
long been known to meteorologists, the importance of the height of
the gauge above the surface on which it stands, with the consequent
absolute necessity of this height being everywhere the same if we
are to attach any meaning to the “ Rainfall of District,” or if rain-
fall statistics are to be of any scientific value.

Devonshire, for example, is one of the “wet” counties of South
Britain, and, from its situation, Plymouth might have been expected
to have been one of the “wet” stations of the county. This ex-
pectation is quite in harmony with the popular belief, which finds
expression in such remarks as “It always rains at Plymouth.”
“Don’t forget to take your umbrella when you go to Plymouth,” and
soon. Nevertheless, the published returns do not confirm it. The
average annual rainfall of the county during the four years ending
with December 31st, 1869, was 42°40 inches, whilst at Plymouth
it was no more than 39°45 inches, that is a deficit of 7 per cent.
If the figures are to be trusted then, Plymouth is for Devonshire a
“dry” station, at least so far as the annual rainfall is concerned,
whatever it may be with regard to the number of wet days, about
which no returns are made. ‘The case is rendered by no means less
remarkable when we turn to the other stations in the neighbour-
hood, all of which confess that they are “wet.” Thus Ham,
Saltram, and Ridgeway are all within 4 miles of it—the first in a
north-westerly, and the second and third in a north-easterly direction
—all farther from the sea, and all have their gauges on less elevated
ground ; all, in short, have conditions likely to betoken a less rain-
fall, yet their average annual falls, during the four years so —
frequently spoken of, have exceeded the county mean by 4, 9, and
16 per cent. respectively. The solution of the problem, however, is
not far to seek; it lies in the fact that whilst all the other stations
have their gauges very near the ground, the Plymouth gauge is
30 feet above it.

Two other Devonshire stations, Tavistock and Mount Tavy, tell
the same story. They are barely a mile apart, and very nearly at
the same height above the sea, but the average rainfall of the latter
exceeds that of the former by upwars of 12 per cent.—a fact for
which no other explanation can or need be given than the sufficient
one that the Mount Tavy gauge is only one foot, whilst that at
Tavistock is 20 feet, above the ground.

In this age, so famous for the application of science to commercial

474 Rainfall in England, [ Oct.,

purposes, it surely ought to be possible to turn to account the
defective receipts of rain gauges high above the surface; and in
the absence of a better, perhaps the following suggestion may be
of service :—Watering-places and other towns of fashionable and
wealthy resort, are always naturally desirous of advertising their
attractions. Knowing that their visitors dislike rain, their business
is clearly to prove that they are remarkably exempt fromit. It is
true that a wet day is comfortless and a bore simply because it 7s
wet, not because the rain is or is not heavy; hence all that is
necessary is to place the town gauge high above the ground, make
no record of the number of wet days, publish the annual rainfall
thus ascertained, and with it those of towns which have no tempt-
ation to this form of utilization. The rainfall will undoubtedly
stand in very favourable contrast with that of any of the other
towns, and the general public will readily conclude that the wet days
were correspondingly few.

Seriously, however, our method of collecting rainfall data is
anything but satisfactory, and the figures must fail in the nigid
accuracy which science requires.

In concluding this part of my paper, I venture to express the
hope that at no distant day all observers will employ gauges of the
same size and construction, which shall be tested before being
located ; that they shall all be at one uniform small height above
the surface : that the ground on which they are placed shall be at
least approximately level, and quite unoccupied for some distance
from them; that none of them shall be placed on buildings, since
these, especially when large, cannot but be thermal agents and

affect the rainfall; that, with the ex-

ee ee ception of a few very elevated stations,

—SSeeenr-_ the number of wet days shall be duly

SS ==7 ~-s recorded; and that, tor ascertaining

the exact relation of rainfall to height

above the surface, a series of such

gauges shall, at least, at one station

in each county, be placed practically

in the same vertical line at uniform
successive distances, say of 10 feet.

Without intending to express any
doubt respecting the accuracy of other
gauges, it may be stated that probably
none are to be preferred to the “ five-
inch gauge” made by Mr. Casella,
under the auspices of the British
Association, and which, through the
kindness of the maker, is figured above. It consists of a Receiver,
a Reservoir, and a Metre. ‘The last, of course, requires no descrip-

1870. | Rainfall in England. 475

tion ; and the reservoir may be dismissed with the remark that it is
a bottle of stone or glass, 9°7 inches high. The Receiver is a
copper circular funnel, 5 inches in diameter, 4°8 inches deep, and
terminating in a tube 8°5 inches long and ‘3 inch in internal
diameter. Outside this, and soldered to the bottom of the funnel,
is a cylindrical phlange, 2°25 inches deep, and having between it
and the tube a space for the reception of the head of the reservoir,
which it exactly fits, so that when united a horizontal section
through the phlange would disclose three tightly-fitting concentric
tubes. The phlange keeps the receiver steady, prevents the rain
which falls on the outside of the funnel from leaking into the
bottle, and reduces to a minimum the evaporation of the contents
of the reservoir. When fitted together the height of the instrument
is 14-1 inches; but when in use it is placed firmly in the ground,
and should have its top 9 inches above the surface.

Supposed Influence of the Moon on the Rainfall—That the
moon is very influential in, or at least closely connected with, all
changes of the weather, is a belief at once widely spread and deeply
rooted. Our satellite can neither be full, nor new, nor “ fill her
horns,” without, as is popularly believed, causing or indicating some
alteration in the state of the weather. If she is caught “lying on
her back,” or, in other words, if, when she is less than a semicircle,
her cusps are pointed upwards so that the straight line joming them
is more or less approximately parallel to the horizontal plane, the
fact is supposed to be an indication if not the cause of rain. If she
submits to be “towed by one star and chased by another,” that is, if
she is between and near two conspicuous stars, so that the three bodies
are at least nearly in a straight line, the fishermen expect a storm.

Though meteorologists show no favour to these and many
similar beliefs, some of them admit that it is neither unphilosophical
nor contrary to fact to regard the moon as a meteorological agent.
Thus, Sir John Herschel, from his own observations, regards it as _
a meteorological fact that the clouds have a tendency to disappear
under the full moon, and adds that a slight preponderance in
respect of quantity of rain near the new moon over that which falls
near the full, would be a natural and necessary consequence of a
preponderance of a cloudless sky about the full.* M. Arago, who
concurs in this opinion, states that the expression “the moon eats
the clouds,” is common in France among country people, and espe-
cially among sailors.| The latter philosopher adds that the results
obtained from meteorological observations in Germany and in Paris,
were that the maximum number of rainy days occurred between the
first quarter and full moon, and the minimum between the last

* ‘Outlines of Astronomy,’ par. 432, and note, p. 285. Sth edit. 1858.
+ ‘Popular Astronomy,’ Smyth’s Translation, vol. ii., ch. xxiii., pp. 311-313,
1858.

VOL. VII. Die

476 Rainfall in England. [ Oct.,

uarter and new moon; the ratios being 100 : 121-4 in Germany,
and 100 : 126 in Paris ; but that in the south of France the mini-
mum number of rainy days occurred between the full moon and the
last quarter. He concludes with the remark that “the question
requires to be examined afresh.” *

Having by me an unbroken series of carefully-made rainfall
observations from the beginning of 1864 to the present time, I have
tabulated the results below so as to show the amount of rain, the
number of wet days, and the wet-day rate of rain in each of the
four quarters of the seventy-four complete lunations, beginning with
the new moon on January 9th, 1864, and ending with January Ist,
1870—a period of 2185 days.

The word “ quarter,” as used here, may be defined thus :—The
first quarter begins with the day of the new moon, and ends with the
day immediately preceding that on which, according to the almanac,
the moon reaches the first quarter, and so on for the others.

| QUARTERS. |
Sahie Lee ho ae me Totals
First. | Second. Third. | Fourth. /
ah is al ts A a ee _ .
Actual rainfall in inches... .. .. | 56-66 | 58-87 | 57-30 | 55-90 | 228-73
Relative rainfall : ; | 2477 | 2547 | 2505 | 2444 | 10000
Number of times rainfall was ‘more)
than 25 per cent. .. wa 30t | os -
Number of times rainfall was les}
than 25 per cent. = ei = ue a
Number of dry days .. 274 301 241 266 1082
Number of wet days.. .. .. 274 248 307 274 1103
Relative number of dry days .. 253 278 223 246 1000
Relative number of wet days .. - 248 225 278 248 1000
Mean wet-day rate of rain in sities | -2141 | -2374 | -1866 | | +2043 | -2073
Relative mean wet-day rate of rain | | 98 100

103 115 | 90
|

From the foregoing Table, it is obvious that with regard to the
three pluvial elements, in South Devon, during the six years ending
with January Ist, 187 0, the four quarters of the seventy-four moons
may be arranged, in descending order, as below:

Rainfall. | Number of Wet Days. Wet-day Rate of Rain.

Second. (greatest) | Third. (greatest) Second. (greatest)
Third. Second. Fi

irst.
First. Fourth. Fourth.
| Third. (least)

Fourth. (least) First. (least)

* «Popular Astronomy,’ Smyth’s Translation, vol. ii., ch. xxxv., pp. 317, 318.
+ The rainfall of one “second quarter” was exactly 25 per cent. of that of the
lunation.

Quarterly Journal of Science N° XXVET.

:

How the Earth is presented towards the Sun, during
- the Eclapse, and the path of the Moon's Shadow.

&
ITER RANEAN

. Nes

The course and shape of the Moon's Umbra.

Litho Whiteman k Bass, London

1870. | The approaching Total Solar Kelipse.. 477

This tabular summary shows :—

1st. That the quarters arrange themselves in an entirely dif-
ferent order under the different heads, with the single exception of
the second being the quarter of greatest average rainfall and also
of greatest average wet-day rate of rain.

2nd. That the least average rainfall was in the quarter imme-
diately preceding the new moon, instead of being, as Sir J. Herschel
supposes, about the full moon.

8rd. That the maximum number of wet days was in the third
quarter, and the minimum in the first; thus differmg in every
particular from the results stated by M. Arago to have been
obtained in Germany and Paris, on the one hand, and in the south
of France on the other, which, as we have seen, differed from one
another.

This discussion may be appropriately closed, perhaps, by echoing
Arago’s remark, that “the question requires to be examined
afresh.”

V. THE APPROACHING TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE.
By R. A Procror, F.R.AS., &e.

Tue eclipse of next December is less remarkable in many important
respects than the two total solar eclipses now commonly known as
the Indian and American eclipses of 1868 and 1869. The former
of these was distinguished among all the eclipses of recent times by
the exceptional extent to which the lunar dise overlapped, during
central totality, the concealed disc of the sun. For more than six
minutes at some stations no direct solar light was visible. The
eclipse of last year was not distinguished in this particular way,
though the duration of totality—at some stations exceeding four
minutes—was far from inconsiderable. What rendered the Ameri-
can eclipse so extremely important, even more important than the
Indian one, was the fact that a large proportion of the track of
the moon’s shadow lay across a region dotted over with well-armed
observatories. It is probable that on no previous occasion has so
large an array of practised observers been employed in scrutinizing
the phenomena of a total eclipse; and it is absolutely certain that
so many appliances had never before been employed to render the
researches of the observers effective.

In both respects the approaching eclipse is less important. The
greatest duration of total obscuration will be but 2m. 11s.; and
the track of the moon’s shadow only skirts the region within which
the principal European observatories are situated. In fact, the only
parts of Kurope traversed by the shadow are the southern provinces
of Spain and Portugal, Sicily, the southern extremity of Italy, and

2K 2

478 The approaching Total Solar Eclipse. [ Oct.,

parts of Greece and Turkey. And of these regions only those in
the Spanish peninsula and Sicily are practically available, because
in the others the duration of totality will be less and the sun will
have but a small elevation. In Greece, for instance, and Turkey,
though the phenomena of totality may chance to be well seen, yet
the chance is not such as would justify an expedition from the prin-
cipal astronomical centres of Europe. The best places of all for
observing the eclipse will undoubtedly be those along or near the
track of totality in Algeria. These, however, will probably be left
to the astronomers of France.

Fig. 1 shows the actual presentation of the earth towards the
sun, and the course and shape of the moon’s shadow on Decem-
ber 22nd next. The hour is supposed to be solar noon at Green-
wich. The earth must be conceived to be rotating in the direction
shown by the arrow (on the equator), and at such a rate that any
meridian line in the figure will reach the place occupied by the
next meridian towards the right in two hours. The black spot to
the west of Spain represents the shadow of the moon at the hour
named. This shadow is surrounded by the penumbra, a portion of
which, however, remains throughout the eclipse beyond the northern
limits of the earth’s disc. The course of the shadow is indicated by
the curved line taken through the black spot. If an observer on
the sun could trace the apparant path of the moon’s centre across
the earth’s dise, he would not find it curved in this way, but appre-
ciably straight. As the earth is rotating, however, the disc turned
towards the sun undergoes an appreciable change during the dura-
tion of central eclipse, and the motion of the different points of the
earth along parallels curved like those shown in the figure, causes
the path of the moon’s centre with reference to the earth’s globe
(distinguished here from her disc as seen from the sun) to have the
shape indicated in the figure. |

Central eclipse begins on the earth generally at twenty-six
minutes before noon,—in other words the black shadow shown in
the figure as already well advanced is supposed to have entered on
the disc twenty-six minutes before the epoch corresponding to the
figure. Central eclipse concludes for the earth generally at twenty-
one minutes past one, or eighty-one minutes after the epoch corre-
sponding to the figure. The total interval during which the moon's
shadow (as distinguished from her penumbra) falls upon the earth
is thus 1h. 47 m.; and the amount of motion due (during this in-
terval) to the earth’s rotation can be conceived by remembering
that the southern extremity of Spain moves during totality from
a place below the dark spot in the figure (and on the proper
parallel, of course) to about the place occupied in the figure by
Sicily.

it will be evident from a further consideration of the relations

1870. | The approaching Total Solar Eclipse. 479

presented in Fig. 1, that there are two respects in which this
eclipse is unfavourable. First of all, the track of the shadow lies
far from the centre of the disc. It is clear that, pro tanto, the
shadow is rendered smaller by falling near the outer parts of
the disc; because these parts lie farther than the centre from the
sun. Secondly, the elevation of the sun at the time of eclipse is
not considerable. Since the sun is vertical at the place which
occupies the centre of the earth’s illuminated disc, and on the
horizon for any place which lies on the circumference of that disc,
it is obvious that when the track of the moon’s shadow lis as in
Fig. 1, the sun’s elevation is relatively small during total obscura-
tion. In the present eclipse, at the stations where the chief
observing parties will be placed, the sun’s elevation will be about
30 degrees, amply sufficient for ordinary observing purposes, but
not altogether so great as might be desired for spectroscopic and
polariscopic researches, and still less satisfactory for photography.

Fig. 2 presents on a larger scale the track of the moon’s shadow,
and the actual oval shape of the black spot which seen foreshortened
in Fig. 1 appears as a circle. It will be seen that Odemira in
Portugal, Cadiz and Xeres in Spain, Oran and Ratna in Africa, and
Syracuse in Sicily, are the principal towns which lie very close to
the central line. But it is probable that the stations will be selected
without special reference to the proximity of towns ; indeed for many
purposes the less inhabited regions of a country are best suited for
such observations as have to be made during eclipse.

Although Mount Etna is not very close to the central line, there
are reasons for believing that a party stationed on the summit of
this mountain would be enabled to make important observations.
They would be more than twice as far raised above the sea-level as
those observers were, who during the American eclipse obtained
such favourable views of the solar corona from the summit of
White Top Mountain. It will be remembered by our readers that
General Myer reports the extension of the corona as seen from this
station to have exceeded more than twofold the extension observed
by those at lower levels. As there will probably be an English
observing party near Syracuse, it would be a matter of the utmost
interest and importance to compare their observations of the corona
with those made at the summit of Etna.

At present, it may be mentioned in passing, there seems every
reason to believe that two important expeditions will be sent from
England to observe the eclipse. As we write, the arrangements are
not complete, and there still remains a possibility that the whole
undertaking may fall through. But it is hoped that this may not
be the case, and that the large array of volunteers whose names
appear in the list of the two proposed expeditions may be enabled to
devote their energies to the work they have severally undertaken.

480 The approaching Total Solar Eclipse. [ Oct.,

The main object of the astronomers of this and other countries
will be to determine the nature of the corona. For this purpose,
each of the English expeditions is to be divided into four parties.
First, there will be the spectroscopists ; secondly, the polariscopists ;
thirdly, the photographers; lastly, there are the general observers,
who in our opinion are very far from forming the least important
portion of the expedition.

The spectroscopic evidence obtained during the Indian and
American eclipses is contradictory and unsatisfactory. Let it be
remarked in passing, however, that it is not altogether so contra-
dictory as has been asserted. The American observers appear to
have been misled into the supposition that Major Tennant saw the
ordinary solar spectrum—that is, that the Fratinhofer lines could
be seen in the spectrum of the corona. And indeed in Prof. Roscoe’s
treatise ‘On Spectrum Analysis,’ it is stated that Major Tennant
saw the ordinary solar spectrum, whereas “ Professor Pickering, on
the other hand, saw only a continuous spectrum.” But Major
Tennant’s account expressly asserts that the spectrum he saw was
continuous. He says, “ What I saw” (the italics are his) “was
undoubtedly a continuous spectrum, and I saw no lines. There
may have been dark lines, of course, but with so faint a spectrum
and the jaws of the slit wide apart, they might escape notice.”
Thus the continuous spectrum seen by some of the American
observers is in perfect accordance with Major Tennant’s observation.
Indeed the mistake is rather fortunate than otherwise, because it
led the American observers to search specially for dark lines such
as they supposed Tennant to have seen ; and, therefore, their failure
to recognize any may be regarded as all but decisive of the matter.

Where Major Tennant’s observations are not accordant with
those made by the American observers, these latter observations are
themselves wanting in accordance. For Professor Young saw three
bright lines in the coronal spectrum, and Professor Harkness saw
one bright line; whereas Professor Pickering, like Major Tennant
in 1868, saw only a continuous spectrum. This discrepancy will,
we may fairly trust, be cleared up during the approaching eclipse.
It may perhaps be found that different parts of the corona give
different spectra. It may be noticed, however, that the bright line
seen by Harkness and the bright lines seen by Young were delicate
objects, and would almost certainly have escaped notice had these
observers used a much narrower or a much wider slit than they
actually employed. Professor Harkness failed to see the line till
he had slightly opened the slit; but he would probably have lost
it equally had he widened the slit too much.* May not Major

* The total quantity of light from the bright lines would be increased by widen-
ing the slit; but the intrinsic brilliancy of the broadened bands would be no greater

than before. On the other hand, the intrinsic brilliancy of the continuous back-
ground would be increased by the change.

1870. | The approaching Total Solar Eclipse. 481

Tennant have failed through such a course? He says, “ thinking
that want of light prevented my seeing the bright lines which [
had fully expected to see on the lower strata of the corona, I opened
the jaws of the slit.” It is worth noticing that failure may arise
from this very adjustment. ‘Too narrow a slit is clearly unfavour-
able, because a certain quantity of light is required for distinct
vision; but on the other hand too wide a sht is equally unfavour-
able, because a certain relative superiority in the brightness of the
lines (or in this case bands) over the background of the continuous
spectrum is equally requisite. The obvious conclusion is, that a
telescope of large aperture and therefore of high light-gathering
power should be employed, and the light of the continuous back-
ground reduced as much as possible by increasing the dispersion.

As respects the polariscopic operations, there is a similar con-
tradiction to be explained during the approaching observations.
The observers of the Indian eclipse assert positively that the hight
of the corona is polarized in a plane through the sun’s centre ; the
American observers, on the other hand, as positively deny this.
The Astronomer Royal (than whom no higher authority—on this
particular subject—exists) solves the difficulty summarily by ex-
pressing his belief that the observers in India were not sufficiently
familiar with the principles of polariscopic research to interpret
what they saw. In this case, and assuming a similar state of
things in the case of the American observers, we must look forward
to the approaching eclipse as likely to supply the first really reli-
able information yet obtained respecting the polarization of the
corona. We cannot doubt that the observers next December will
not fail from want of knowledge, since not only has the Astronomer
Royal called special attention to the necessity of their carefully pre-
paring themselves beforehand, but the government of the party has
been assigned to Professor Pritchard, who is nothing if not a master
of the science of theoretical optics. Our great fear is, however, lest
the methods of testing light at present in vogue may not be suffi-
ciently effective for the resolution of the somewhat difficult pro-
blems depending on the polarization of the corona. Whatever
advantage there may ordinarily be in the use of well-tried methods,
it may be questioned whether in this particular case more powerful
instruments than the polariscopes at present in use might not be
devised and employed with advantage.

We pass over the photographic department of the expedition ;
in the first place because there is every reason to feel confidence
that under the able supervision of Messrs. Browning and Brothers
(at Gibraltar and Syracuse respectively) the photographic arrange-
ments will be exceptionally successful, and in the second because as
regards the inquiry, which is the main purpose of the expedition,
photography can teach us comparatively little. Unless the whole

482 The approaching Total Solar Eclipse. [Oct.,

duration of totality were given to a single negative—which would
be clearly unwise—no satisfactory picture of the corona could be
obtained. :

The chief promise of the expedition, in our opinion, lies in the
number of skilled observers who have joined the two parties which
are to devote their energies to general observation. The names of
Mr. Lassell, Lieut.-Colonel Strange, and others (it is almost in-
vidious to particularize), afford a sufficient guarantee not only of
skilful observation, but also of a thoughtful study beforehand of the
modes of observation likely to be most successful. We cannot sup-
pose for a moment that such observers will be content merely to
renew the observations which have been made so often and to such
little purpose,—to tell us merely the oft-told tale respecting the
beauty and splendour of the corona, its colour, extent, shape, and
so on. Something much more definite is required, and that some-
thing, if it can be obtained (of which we have no doubt whatever),
is surely to be expected from the skilful astronomers who have pro-
mised to take part in the general observations to be made on the
corona.

Let us consider a few of those points on which it is most desir-
able that information should be obtained.

It has been observed by some astronomers that the structure of
the corona seems in places to be marked by the presence of curves
and striations, and sometimes even of complex portions, which have
been compared to “hanks of thread in disorder.” It is most im-
portant that adequate telescopic power should be applied to deter-
mine how far this appearance is real, and what peculiarities may be
recognized in the curves, hanks, and striations, under telescopic
scrutiny. For this purpose the disc of the moon ought not to
occupy (as has been usually the case) the centre of a large field;
but the brighter part of the corona close by the moon’s limb should
be kept altogether out of the field of view. Further, different
powers should be employed, and the focussing for each should be
very carefully noted. For even those who reject wholly (as we
confess that we do) the theory that the corona is merely a pheno-
menon of the earth’s atmosphere, must recognize the fact that the
appearance of the corona may be, and probably is, very much
affected by our atmosphere, through which it is necessarily seen.
So that some of the peculiarities which apparently belong to the
corona may in reality appertain to our own atmosphere. In this
case the focussing suitable for clear recognition of the causes of such
peculiarities would correspond to the relatively small distance of the
upper parts of our atmosphere, and would thus differ appreciably
from the focussing for celestial objects. It has been suggested that
“the use of a telescope of low magnifying power but first-rate de-
finition, a comet eye-piece being employed, would be desirable in

1870. ] The approaching Total Solar Kelipse. 483

studying the corona. ‘The telescope should be accurately driven by
clockwork, and a dark iris-disc, 1f one may so describe an arrange-
ment which would be the converse of an iris-diaphragm, might be
employed with advantage to hide the light of the prominences and
chromosphere. If the field of view were several degrees in diameter,
and the dark disc at the beginning of totality concealed a circular
space extending a degree or so beyond the eclipsed sun, the observer
might first examine with great advantage the outer parts of the
corona, and gradually extend his scrutiny to the very neighbour-
hood of the prominences.”

A question of extreme importance, which seems fairly within
the range of the available modes of research, consists in the deter-
mination whether the outer and extremely faint parts of the corona
show any sign of prolongation towards those regions where, as we
know, the zodiacal light extends. The whole of that portion of the
heavens along which (speaking with reference to the place of the
sun) the zodiacal light is ordinarily visible, is above the horizon
during most total eclipses. Further, the dark region corresponding
to the place occupied by the moon’s shadow in our atmosphere,
extends at the beginning and end of totality over a very wide range
of sky, first on the western and then on the eastern side of the
lunar disc. Along this region the faint glow of the zodiacal light
ought to be perceptible if sought for under favourable circumstances.
Among such circumstances are, of course, a clear sky and an elevated
station. But there is one condition which, so far as we know, has
never yet been attended to. The maximum darkness of a solar
eclipse comes on so rapidly that the eye is yet dazzled by the light
when totality is in progress. Nor does totality last long enough
for the eye to acquire the power of recognizing faint differences of
illumination. This fact serves to explain the failure of observers,
hitherto, in detecting the delicate phenomenon we are now consider-
ing. There appears to be good reason for believing that the search
would be conducted with a much better prospect of success if the
observer who undertook it were in the first place to keep his eyes
as much as possible in darkness until totality had fairly commenced ;
and in the second, to hide the whole of the corona from view while
searching for the zodiacal light. This could be very easily managed
by arranging beforehand a black disc so as to conceal the sun at the
time of totality from an eye placed at a certain aperture, through
which the observer should conduct his search, during totality, for
the faint light along the ecliptic. This method seems so promising,
and the inquiry itself is so full of interest, that we cannot but hope
some observer will be willing to devote himself specially to this par-
ticular subject. ;

But we may safely expect from those who have volunteered to
take part in an expedition which will probably be by no means a

484 The Controversy on Spontaneous Generation: — [Oct.,

pleasure trip (remembering the season and the nature of the voy-
age) the thoughtful consideration beforehand of all those means by
which the expedition may be made successful. They will be fully
aware that the astronomical world will expect from them something
more than the renewal and confirmation of former observations. We
may hope from them therefore results of extreme interest, throwing
new light on important problems of solar physics, and perchance
even revealing unexpected truths respecting the economy of the
solar system itself.

VI. THE CONTROVERSY ON SPONTANEOUS
GENERATION: WITH RECENT EXPERIMENTS.

By James Samvuetson, Editor.

THERE is perhaps no biological question, excepting the origin of
species, which has been so warmly debated in England and abroad,
as the mode in which the lowest known types of animal and plant
life come into existence, and probably one reason why these in-
quiries have been productive of so much excitement, is their indirect
theological bearing.

The developmental theory recently elucidated by the researches
and arguments of Darwin gave a fatal blow to the ancient beliefs
concerning the first appearance and presence of the animal and
plant races on the earth’s surface, and rendered unnecessary the
special intervention of the Creator to account for the production of
new species ; whilst the hypothesis of spontaneous generation, or
the creation de novo, in organic infusions of the lowest known types
of plants and animals in our time, seems, to impetuous and super-
ficial thinkers, to put the divine influence altogether out of sight,
and almost to degrade what have hitherto been regarded as living
beings and vital forces to a level with the unconscious physical
forces and inert forms of matter.

With these considerations, however, scientific men have no
concern, and whether or not the creation of a living thing from
organic or inorganic materials, by what may be termed artificial
means, be regarded as a sacrilege, the investigation must be under-
taken without apprehension or prejudice, and the verdict given, not
by theology or theologians, but on the evidence of strict experi-
mental research, and from unprejudiced inductive reasoning.

Scientific men being, as a rule, regarded as ruthless iconoclasts,
anxious only to lacerate the feelings and undermine the most sacred
aspirations of true believers, it may be supposed that these remarks
are prefatory to an argument intended to overturn all our precon-
ceived views as to the higher nature of life, and to hand over the

Quarterly Journal of Science N° XXVIII.

200 drs

Litho. Whiteman & Bass, London

Organisms found in infusion of Orangejuice , and in

)

purée Rain Water.

1870.] with recent Hxperiments. 485

task of creating living beings to the chapter of accidents and to the
blind physical forces of nature. My task is, however, not of such a
painful character. In the first place, it must be remembered that
if it should turn out that living beings are capable of springing into
existence through the direct transformation of decaying organic
matter, those beings are, so to speak, merely the instruments upon
which the higher psychical faculties play ; from dust they come and
to dust they return. And again, every advanced thinker is pre-
pared to admit that even the higher races which animate, beautify,
or transform the earth’s surface, are fed, grow, and decay through
the direct operation of the physical forces, and that they are exqui-
sitely constructed machines, lable to injury, accident, and destruc-
tion, and need fuel and reparation just as any humanly-constructed
mechanism. What difference, then, can it make to any but the
most timid or bigoted thinkers whether the first appearance of the
lowest types of animal and plant life is due to the direct action of
the physical forces upon matter which has once been organized and
is undergoing decomposition, or to the same forces or some unknown
modification of them acting in the first instance m or upon almost
inconceivably minute pre-existing germs ?

I can, however, offer to such timid philosophers the crumb of
comfort, that it is not unlikely the ultimate result of the discussion
which now agitates the scientific world will be to show that the
lowest known living types are not now created de novo, but that
their germs are almost omnipresent and ineradicable; and this
conclusion has been arrived at by me, not from the experiments
with varying and contradictory results which have been tried by
different investigators, but from a calm consideration of the whole
question, renewed at intervals, over a space of nearly fifteen years.

And this reflection causes me to draw attention to a peculiar cir-
cumstance connected with the controversy on spontaneous genera-
tion; namely, that we hardly ever hear of the work of any observer
extending over a lengthened period. In most cases we have a set
of experiments tried by an investigator of greater or less eminence
now a zoologist, then a chemist, which are published along with his
views, usually of a very decided and dogmatic character, and then he
rushes out of the arena, and we hear nothing more of him on that
subject. Of course he has settled the question to his own satisfac-
tion and to the satisfaction of those who agree with him, and there
is no need of further investigation until some new circumstance or
some fresh set of experiments invalidates all previous evidence and
raises up a new host of combatants and disciples on either side.

We are at present in the very thick of such an intellectual con-
test, and no doubt there are many true believers in heterogenesis who
regard as conclusive the recently-published experiments and obser-
vations of Dr. Bastian which have startled the boldest thinkers and

486 The Controversy on Spontaneous Generation : [ Oct.,

some of the most profound biologists; but after bestowing upon
them the careful consideration which they well deserve, and trying
such experiments as seemed to me to throw light upon some of the
mysterious appearances described by him, I have come to the con-
clusion that, so far as he is concerned, the argument stands just
where it was, and that the question is likely to remain an open one
for a long time to come. :

Many will, no doubt, remember that some years since Professor
Huxley, influenced by the astounding revelations of organic che-
mistry, and by the facility with which one form of organic matter
after another was being synthetically produced by chemists in their
laboratories, ventured on the bold speculation that possibly experi-
mentalists might one day be able “ to take inorganic matters such as
carbonic acid, ammonia, water, and salines in any sort of inorganic
combination, and be able to build them up into protein matter, and
then that that protein matter ought to begin to live in an organic
form ;’* but Dr. Bastian believes that he has accomplished even
more than this, that he has taken solutions of saline substances in
proportions which he details most circumstantially, has exterminated
in them all the germs which they might possibly be said to contain,
and by excluding the atmosphere has prevented the entrance of new
ones which might be said to be floating in that medium; and that,
yet, after intervals varying from nine or ten to forty days there have
been spontaneously produced in and from those substances, not par-
ticles of protoplasm as it was hinted possible by Professor Huxley,
but truly organized plants and small ciliated infusoria.

But, in the first place, his own account of these experiments is
often very vague. For example, he tells ust that he prepared a
solution of crystallized white sugar, tartrate of ammonia, phosphate
of ammonia, and phosphate of soda, which was boiled for twenty
minutes and kept am vacuo nine days; and, to use his own words,
“when examined microscopically a few monads and bacteria were
found in the first drops of the liquid which had been poured out
before the whole was shaken.”

So far, after nine days’ exposure he found only what has been
seen by a score of observers over and over again, and cautious in-
vestigators, such as Dr. Child, Dr. Beale, and others (as I ventured
years since to predict), have refused to admit many of these minute
moving specks to be living organisms at all. But he goes on to
say, “The remainder was then poured into a conical glass, and
after having been allowed to stand for a time, the supernatant fluid
was removed and the last few drops containing the sediment were

* “On our Knowledge of the Causes of the Phenomena of Organic Nature ;’
being Six Lectures to Working Men. By Professor Huxley, F.R.S. London:
R. Hardwicke.

t ‘Nature,’ July 7, pp. 195-6.

1870. ] with Recent Experiments. 487

examined.” Itis to be regretted that we are not informed how long
the fluid was allowed to stand exposed to the air, for although
in the case under consideration the only result of the exposure was
the appearance of many “ bacteroid particles” (whatever that may
mean—for a bacterium itself is the minutest speck perceptible to the
eye with high microscopic powers), “and monads of different sizes
exhibiting the most active movements,” yet I will show presently,
that when certain fresh infusions are exposed under favourable cir-
cumstances only for a few hours, they become filled with perfectly-
organized plant forms in different stages of growth. In addition
to those “bacteroid” particles and monads, Dr. Bastian also found
“irregular-shaped particles” which were active, and the conclusion:
at which I am constrained to arrive, is that his enthusiasm in the
cause of heterogenesis has led him, there at least, to confound the
atomic motion of organic and inorganic particles with the move-
ments of similar objects, of which it is always necessary to trace the
growth and development before they can be safely pronounced to be
the germs of infusoria or of lowly plants.

Let me, in passing, recommend those investigators who are
reviving the experiments of Pouchet, Pasteur, Schulze, Joly, Musset,
Wyman, and others, all of whom have failed to convince the scien-
tific world, that they should not only examine their infusions, as
heretofore, some days after they have been sealed up, but some
hours afterwards, and I have reason to believe that the comparison
will change their views as to the result of closing and preserving
those infusions. Pitta

Again, some of Dr. Bastian’s experiments are strikingly adverse
to the hypothesis that the types observed and described were created
de novo. In experiment No. 13, a solution of tartrate of ammonia
and phosphate of soda, which had been kept twenty days an vacuo,
was found to contain a fungus, &c., whilst another solution, which
had been prepared in the same manner and at the same time, was
opened on the thirty-fifth day, and “yielded no organisms of any
kind;” but mark! when a third solution of the identical sub-
stances was so treated as to give free access to the air, and was
examined on the thirty-eighth day, there was found what the
observer calls “a spirally-twisted organism.” It seems to me that
it would hardly be possible to adduce more convincing evidence
against heterogenesis and in favour of the atmospheric germ theory
than is afforded by these results, and a very striking confirmation
of this view is to be found in a circumstance which has recently
been discovered in another quarter, affording evidence, all the
more valuable, because it was not intended to influence this con-
troversy. Mr. Wood, of Middlesbrough, in his efforts to preserve
tartaric acid solutions in a state fit for chemical experiments,
has found that whilst such a solution will, under ordinary circum-

488 The Controversy on Spontaneous Generation : [ Oct.,

stances, become mouldy, it will not undergo that change if pre-
viously boiled and filtered—but it must in fairness be added that
he says, even if exposed to the air. Whether he means constantly
exposed to the air, or only occasionally, I am unable to say. How
such substances become mouldy will be seen presently, and it will
be found to have a direct bearing on the argument.

Before proceeding to describe my own recent investigations,
however, I desire to make one more reference to the published
opinions of Dr. Bastian, to show how necessary it is to be cautious
before we construe the microscopical appearances connected with this
inquiry.

In speaking of the pellicle which appears on the surface of
infusions, Dr. Bastian says,* “What Burdach named the pro-
ligerous pellicle of organic solutions, is made up of an aggregation
of monads and bacteria in a transparent jelly-like stratum on the
surface of the fluid. It constitutes at first a thin scum-like layer,
and although the monads and bacteria entering into its composition
are motionless, M. Pouchet and others were not warranted in
assuming from this fact alone that they were dead. There is
indeed good reason for believing to the contrary, since, as pointed
out by Cohn, when any of these particles are set free from the
broken edge of a pellicle, they always resume their movements.
Motion, therefore, may simply be prevented by the presence of the
transparent jelly-like material in which they are imbedded, although
the particles may be undoubtedly living.”

Under what circumstances the observers examined this so-called
“proligerous pellicle,” I am unable to say, and Dr. Bastian him-
self says, that owing to his observations being carried on in winter,
he was not able to witness those changes observed by Pouchet; but
he describes certain other changes in this pellicle on infusions
which, according to his account, resulted in the development of
unicellular organisms.

Now, with all deference to the eminent observers quoted by
Dr. Bastian, I venture to say that the appearances referred to have
no bearing whatever upon the controversy, inasmuch as they are
by no means confined to infusions.

Long before I had heard the expression “ proligerous pellicle,”
or was aware that this phenomenon was supposed by the advocates
of heterogenesis to precede the creation, de novo, of living forms, I
had myself observed a precisely similar appearance in pure distilled
water exposed to the atmosphere. This was recorded at the time, as
follows, in a paper read before Section D of the British Association
in 1863 :-— .

“Let me, however, briefly refer to the results of the exposure of
distilled water only, in July, for that experiment has not been re-

* ‘Nature,’ June 30, p. 172.

1870. | with Recent Haperiments. 489

peated with such satisfactory results. The glasses containing the
water were so placed in a box divided by three partitions and covered
with lids of blue, red, and yellow glass, that the panes intercepted
all dust falling perpendicularly, and for several days very little dust
reached the contained water. A deposit of dust had meanwhile
accumulated on the panes of glass. Finding little or no life in the
distilled water, I washed the dust from the glass lids into the re-
spective vessels, and on the following day repeated the examination.
As usual, I observed particles of silex and fragments of organic sub-
stances, and, with a low power, these seemed to be imbedded in a
gelatinous film. I had placed the little glass vessels themselves
under the instrument, and after pouring off the water, examined the
deposit with a power of about fifty diameters. On covering the
sediment with a thin glass, and bringing a higher power to bear,
I found the gelatinous film to consist of motionless transparent
monads or cells, and carefully restoring the contents of the vessels,
pouring back the water, I left them until the following day. Dur-
ing the night and day, the cells or monads had become endowed
with rapid motion, and an examination of the water showed it to
be peopled with myriads of active moving germs.”

Here, then, is another phenomenon supposed to be attendant
upon the creation de novo of lowly organisms in infusions, which I
had observed and recorded years since in pure distilled water ex-
posed to atmospheric action.

And this brings me to my recent investigations, conducted
during the months of June, July, and August last. As considerable
doubt has been thrown upon the existence of germs in the atmo-
sphere by certain observers, in their anxiety to prove the sponta-
neous production of the lowest plants and animals, I first repeated
my former simple experiments with distilled water, and this time I
used open saucers, small glass well-dishes (those used to hold ink),
and even test tubes.

On the 21st June I first exposed two saucers of distilled water
to the air, and two days afterwards I found it to contain a little
sediment of dust. On examination with the microscope, a drop of
the water presented the appearance so frequently described by me.
There were fragments of silex, soot, and minute moving germs.
The latter I shall not attempt to dignify with scientific names;
suffice it to say that the contrast between their movements and the
molecular motions of particles of organic and inorganic matter af-
forded: sufficient proof of their being endowed with life. I then filled
two test-tubes with portions of this water, closed the opening of
one with a sheet of cotton-wool, and left the other exposed to the
air. From the 23rd June to the 5th July the weather was cold
and rainy, conditions very unfavourable for the development of
living germs; but between the 5th and 7th July the temperature

490 The Controversy on Spontaneous Generation : [ Oct.,

had risen considerably, and I then examined the tubes. (It should
be added that I had in the meantime added distilled water to that
in the open tube to compensate for evaporation.)

The exposed water contained numerous zoospores, and uni-
cellular forms. Some of these were quiescent and attached toge-
ther in clusters; others in active motion. ‘There were some small
amoebze, small particles of protoplasm, with elastic cell-walls, well
known to micro-zoologists. In these, not only the characteristic
changing prolongations were visible, but I clearly followed the
rhythmical movements of the contractile vesicle. From the other
tube, the cotton-wool appeared to have excluded the dust and
germs—the former having collected on the cotton, for I found no
organisms of any kind. It is right, however, to mention that
cotton-wool does not permanently exclude the germs; and in an-
other case, where the conditions of development were favourable (if
the view be correct that they are conveyed by the atmosphere), it
will be found that the substance referred to failed to exclude them.

As to my saucers of distilled water, on going to examine them
I found the contents dried up, but a considerable quantity of dust
remained. ‘This I scraped together; retained it until my return
from a journey on the 19th July, and then submitted it to the
following process in the laboratory of my friend Mr. Tate, of Liver-
pool, aided by his assistant :—

First we heated the dry dust in an open tube to 480°C., and
then, allowing it to cool, we heated it again to 280°C. It had
then caked, and after loosening it with a wire we added distilled
water, and boiled it for a few minutes. Then I closed the tube
containing the liquid temporarily with a little stopper of cotton-
wool.

The same evening, on examining the sediment with a power of
200 diameters, I observed many of the appearances described by
investigators who have opened infusions after they have been kept
in vacuo several days; some, for example, similar to those described
by Dr. Bastian in his first experiment recorded in ‘ Nature’ of
July 7th. But I did not feel justified in attributing the movements
of the particles to their beg endowed with life.

I then divided the chief part of the water containing the dust
into two tubes, closing one with cotton-wool and leaving the other
exposed, and a little of it was left in an open wine-glass. The open
tube I examined on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th July. The tempe-
rature was very high—82° in the shade—and the development of
the little Cercomonas, so frequently described by me in former
years * was very rapid, so that on the 25th its movements were
clearly traceable amongst other lowly types.

The water in the wine-glass was again dried up, but the effect

* «Journal of Science,’ vol. i., p. 607, and elsewhere.

1870. ] with Recent Haperiments. 491

of the high temperature was surprising, and two hours after I had
added a little distilled water to the dust I found it to contain clearly-
defined and active monads and other living types. JI may here
mention that the very warmth of the hand in which the slide is
held will often render active and instinct with life little unicellular
organisms which, on being first examined with the microscope,
appear inanimate and motionless.

On the 28th and 29th July I again examined the tubes, open-
ing the closed one on the latter day, and found that although the
number of forms in that was much less than in the one that had
been exposed, they were alike in character, and I showed to two
astonished visitors who had never seen such appearances, active
amecbe in water taken from both tubes.

Here my experiments with pure distilled water terminated, and,
so far, they are not only confirmatory of what had been observed
and described by me many years since, but they satisfied me that
the solid floating contents of the atmosphere may be submitted to
an exceedingly high temperature in the dry as well as moist condi-
tion without exterminating the living germs; and that when dis-
tilled water is added and the sediment is examined, either imme-
diateiy or after a few days’ exposure, even if the air has been
excluded, it exhibits most of the phenomena believed by the advo-
cates of heterogenesis to be proper to infusions which have been
boiled and kept 7m vacuo.

And now I have to describe a second set of experiments, which
may perhaps serve to throw hght upon the appearance of those
fungi which are frequently found upon decaying substances in the
form of mould or mildew, and which Dr. Bastian believes he has
been instrumental in creating spontaneously in organic and inor-
ganic infusions. Two announcements recently made by the advo-
cates of heterogenesis influenced the direction taken by my investi-
gations. One was the statement contained in Dr. Bastian’s
account of his experiment No. 5,* that he had discovered in an —
infusion of turnip 7m vacuo which had been hermetically sealed five
days, a reticulated substance which he calls “ Leptothrix’ filaments.
The other was the discovery by Mr. Wanklyn, the chemist, of suffi-
cient albuminous matter in a pint of air to render it highly probable,
from that circumstance alone, that the atmosphere is charged with
living germs. Mr. Wanklyn strangely enough cites his discovery,
triumphantly, as conclusive evidence of the absence of such germs,
inasmuch as the quantity of albuminous matter was found to be very
insignificant ; but Dr. Beale, one of our most experienced micro-
scopical observers, has expressed the view | that Mr. Wanklyn has
found a volume of such matter, which, insignificant as it may appear,
renders it highly probable that of the air tested by him “not a

* Reported in ‘ Nature,’ July 7. + ‘Nature, July 28, p. 255.
VOL. VII. 2 L

492 The Controversy on Spontaneous Generation : [ Oct.,

thimbleful could be taken without containing several” germs.
Mr. Wanklyn’s evidence certainly reads very much like that of a
scientific witness for the defence in a case of murder, who seeks to
show that the deed could not possibly have been committed upon a
certain clean deal floor where it is said to have been perpetrated,
inasmuch as he had carefully examined a square inch of the floor,
and had only discovered the minutest spot of blood !

As to the “ Leptothrix” which Dr. Bastian found in turnip-
juice, 1 may mention in passing that it is considered by microscopic
botanists to consist of the mycelial filaments of mildew fungi,* and
I believe from my own investigations, to be described presently,
that if he had followed the growth of his “ Leptothrix” he would
have found it to be one of those plants. Now these mildew fungi
are found not only in and upon decaying organic matters, but also
upon bare stones and rocks, where they cannot be created de novo,
but must necessarily result from atmospheric spores moistened by
showers of rain. Coupled with the two circumstances just men-
tioned, the account given by Dr. Angus Smith of his mode of
testing atmospheric air opened out to me a new field of inquiry.
Dr. Smith’s system of washing the air is admitted to be tedious and
imperfect, though it may be the best in the cases with which he
deals; but it seemed to me that no better method could be devised
for ascertaining the nature of those substances which are held in
suspension in the atmosphere than the one which nature provides
in the form of rain collected as it falls from the clouds.

Two circumstances are well established as regards falling rain.
The first is that at the commencement of a shower after a long-
continued drought the rain brings down much more organic and
inorganic matter than later on; and secondly, that after a heavy
shower the atmosphere is for some time comparatively free from
such matters.

Then as regards the discovery of filaments in infusions, I had
tried some experiments with infusions of orange-juice, orange-peel,
apple-juice, and cabbage-juice, in distilled water, freely exposed to
atmospheric influences, in 1862 and 1863, and when Dr. Bastian’s
observations were published I recollected having found such a
mycelium in orange-juice, and having corresponded with Professor
Hoffmann about it, but as he could throw no light upon the appear-
ance of the mycelium and I was unable to account for it, I dropped
the investigations. A record of these observations was however
kept, and was discovered by me amongst some old papers whilst I
was making the following experiments, and they will now be found
of some service.

On the 4th of August, after a long continuance of intensely
hot weather, we had a violent thunderstorm. I had been expecting

* *Micrographie Dictionary’ (Van Voorst), article ‘‘ Leptothrix.”

1870. | with Recent Haperiments. 493

and preparing for this, and at once proceeded to catch the rain as
it fell, and at the same time to prepare an infusion of filtered
orange-juice 7m pure distilled water. This infusion I divided
between two glass-wells, one of which I closed with cotton-wool,
whilst the other was freely exposed to the atmosphere ; and side
by side with these I placed a tall champagne glass full of the rain-
water which I had collected during the shower, and which contained
numerous particles of dust.

None of these liquids showed any undoubted signs of life when
I examined them with the microscope, before exposure. ‘The
infusion contained organic yellow particles ; the rain-water organic
particles, fragments of minerals, empty sheaths, empty cell-walls,
and minute moving specks.

The very next day, however, August 5th, I was astonished to
find in the open infusion of orange-juice the mycelium figured
and described by Dr. Bastian as having been present in his infu-
sion of turnips, or one closely resembling it; and in my infu-
sion if was accompanied by innumerable minute unicellular oval
organisms, the careful examination of which satisfied me beyond
a doubt that they were an earlier stage of the thread-like filaments.
Some of them were single, others were undergoing subdivision into
two or more segments, whilst on the other hand some of the fila-
ments were giving off cells exactly resembling the smaller detached
ones.

During a long course of microscopical observation of biological
changes, I never was so much astonished as on that occasion to find
with what rapidity Nature (or that I may not be misunderstood—
Nature’s Ruler) brings back to active life the decomposing materials
which have been its previous stronghold; and had I been led away
by momentary impressions I could not have conceived it possible that
the change had been produced in that case by any other process than
heterogenesis, or the elevation of a portion of the organic infusion
into organized types, without the auxiliary influence of pre-existing
germs. But a little reflection reminded me that it is just these
first surprises and impulses which lead men to disseminate erroneous
views, as it was no doubt the extraordinary appearance of maggots
and flies on some decaying carcase which gave rise to the idea of
those insects being spontaneously generated there. I therefore
contented myself with figuring the cells and the mycelium as they
appeared under varying powers of the microscope on the day in
question and the four following days (Figs. 1 and 2), and during
that time the mycelium gradually developed into a true mould or
mildew fungus, some of which floated on the surface. At the same
time numerous ciliated infusoria made their appearance.

On the 9th August I opened the other glass-well containing
the infusion, and found it covered in like manner with mildew. I

2h 2

494 The Controversy on Spontaneous Generation : | Oct.,

carefully removed a portion and delineated one of the dry full-
grown filaments with a cluster of spores in its spore-case at the
extremity (Fig. 3). Of course I was surprised to find the pro-
gress which had been made in this closed infusion, but on con-
sideration it soon occurred to me that if on the one hand the
ingress of the first germs was impeded by the cotton-wool, on the
other, the same agency prevented their egress when they were
produced there, and compelled them to fructify in the vessel in
which they were confined ; and moreover, whilst I had been daily
disturbing the organizations in the open vessel, and adding distilled
water to compensate for evaporation, the other had remained un-
disturbed during the whole period. 4

Then on examining, for the first time after exposure, the rain-
water in the champagne glass, I there discovered large numbers of
the same unicellular organisms as in the two infusions, some single,
others undergoing subdivision, precisely as in the cases described
(Fig. 4), and the natural inference to be drawn from this arcum-
stance would be, of course, that the mildew fungi were the result,
not of spontaneous generation, but of the introduction of germs from
without. But here again it was necessary to exercise caution before
coming to a conclusion. In the first place, the very fact which
I have been trying to demonstrate, wz. the existence of innumer-
able atmospheric germs, at once suggested the probability that
the germs in the rain-water which stood close to the infusions
might have been wafted into it from the fungi growing in those
infusions. And secondly, the slightest residuum in my dipping
tubes, which I might not have cleansed properly, would suffice to
account for the appearance of these cells. These doubts were
partly cleared up at once.

On tasting the infusion which had been covered with cotton, I
found signs of acid fermentation, and I examined drops from the
surface as well as from the bottom of the liquid, for recent investi-
gations on another subject had taught me that during such fermen-
tation the biological phenomena vary in different parts of the fluid.
At the bottom of the fiuid I found clusters of large globular cells
(Fig. 6), and on or near the surface groups of smaller elongated
ones (Fig. 5). I was at once induced to compare these with the
cells of the yeast fungus (Torula cerivisiz) which are delineated
in the ‘Micrographic Dictionary, and were said to have been
found by the observer at the bottom and on the surface of fresh
brewer's wort in which fermentation had just commenced. I
could hardly find any difference between the two sets of cells, and
in both cases those from the bottom of the fluid were round,
whilst the surface cells were elongated. This is of course no proof
of identity ; and although I strongly suspected that in the one case
as in the other the germs had been introduced from without, I

1870. | with Recent Haperiments. 495

guarded myself from considering this as more than prima facie
evidence. Another circumstance tended to show the correctness of
this observation.

I had just found the notes of my experiments with infusions in
1863; and these entries had been made in connection with the
infusion of orange-juice :— :

“ Aug. 3. Mycelium with minute cells.”

“ Like yeast-cells, ‘ Micr. Dict.,’ Plate 20, Fig. 25.”

“Aug. 7. The flocculent deposit tastes like mould.” “ No acid
taste.”

This description and the sketches which accompany it leave me
in no doubt that the appearances were precisely those which I had
observed last month, and the Plate and Fig. referred to m the
‘Micrographie Dictionary’ are strangely enough the same as I had
a second time consulted after an interval of seven years, and which
will be found copied in an article recently published by me on the
manufacture of Beer.*

The same notes contained the following entries :—

1. In regard to an infusion of cabbage-juice exposed July 27th,
and examined August 2nd—

“ Homogeneous cellules.—Little or no motion, and nothing to
indicate whether they were spontaneously produced from cabbage.
Closely resembled sessile monads in dust exposed under coloured
glasses. See paper before Academy ” (des Sciences).

2. Concerning pure distilled water exposed August 2nd, 1863,
examined 7th (temperature 70°)—

“A little mycelium, same as in organic matters.”

The only difficulty I experienced was this. It seemed to me
incredible that the same specific germs which (as I believed) had
floated in the atmosphere in 18638, and had then found their way
into and had become developed in infusions of orange and cabbage
juice as well as in distilled water, should again be present in an
infusion of orange-juice and in distilled water in 1870, but a further
investigation soon decided the matter.

On the 22nd of August last, again, after continued warm dry
weather, the rain set in, and during the first hour I succeeded in catch-
ing some direct from the clouds in two distinct localities: at my
own house, which is in Everton, at the very outskirts of Liverpool,
with gardens about, and trees and fields close at hand; and also in
Vauxhall Road, one of the most unhealthy of the lower parts of the
town, where, notwithstanding the efforts of the sanitary authorities,
the atmosphere is charged with smoke and other emanations from
factory chimneys.

* “ Beer :” see ‘Journal of Science,’ July, 1870.

496 The Controversy on Spontaneous Generation. [ Oct.,

On examining the rain which had fallen in both these localities
I found, naturally enough, no animal or plant germs in that from
the lower part of the town, although it was highly charged with
soot and various kinds of dirt; but in that which had been collected
near my house, I found on the same day a few of the unicellular
organisms as before, some single, others undergoing sub-division ;
also a little soot and silex. On the following day I expected these
germs would have sprouted, and I was not mistaken. I had cleansed
my tubes weil with sulphuric acid, after having made them red-hot,
and had taken every possible precaution to avoid fusion of the fluids
or their contents; but the result was unmistakable. ‘The particles
of soot and silex were present in the Vauxhall Road water, but no
germs of any kind, nor any mycelium; whilst that caught in Everton
was full of unicellular organisms in various stages of growth and sub-
division, and the particles of soot had become beds, as it were, in
which the germs were sprouting, for out of them grew fibrous fila-
ments precisely resembling those which I had first observed in the
infusions (Fig. 7). On the 24th (the following day) these filaments
had assumed the form of a straggling mycelium, not so thick as in
the former infusions, and not so much interlaced, but the identity
of the organisms was quite undoubted. ‘There were also swarms of
minute rapidly-moying infusorial germs along with somewhat larger
ciliated infusoria.

Coupling, then, my experiments of former years with those
recently tried by me, the results, as far as they bear on this con-
troversy, are as follows :—

In 1863. I found in infusions of orange and cabbage juice the
germs and mycelium, which constitute the earlier stages of mildew
fungi, and at the same time I found those lowly plant forms in
pure distilled water which had been exposed to the atmosphere.
Recently I again found this plant type in an infusion of orange-
juice, and traced its growth into a mildew fungus. I also found it
in pure distilled water, and afterwards, well developed, in rain-
water caught as it fell direct from the clouds. This plant, or one
closely allied to it, Dr. Bastian believes to have been spontaneously
generated in an infusion of turnip-juice contained in vacuo in a
closed tube.

Again in 1862-3. Dr. Balbiani in Paris, and I in Liverpool,
found simultaneously in pure distilled water exposed to the atmo-
sphere, and in dust taken from window-panes and elsewhere, various
infusorial animalcule, especially one well-defined type, which I have
again recently found in pure distilled water, and in dust which had
been submitted to a high temperature. And that such animal
germs are present in the atmosphere in all parts of the world, I
showed some years since, by submitting to microscopical observa-

1870.] The Devonshire Association. 497

tion the dust shaken from rags which had been picked up in the
streets of Tunis, Trieste, Melbourne, Bombay, and other places from
which such rags are imported. These animal types, too, are
believed by some to be spontaneously created in infusions.

Here I leave to the judgment of men of science the results of
my experiments, which any boy possessed of a. microscope may re-
peat as effectually as I have performed them. And if the believers
in spontaneous generation still insist that their hypothesis has not
been refuted, and that, assuming my observations to be correct, their
view of the case has not been fully disproved, I am not prepared to
deny this; but on the other hand I must be permitted to retort that
their experiments have only proved, so far, their inability, notwith-
standing all their precautions, to exclude invisible germs from their
infusions. As to the mysterious appearance of these microscopical
types on their solutions ¢ vacuo, what is it compared with the pre-
sence of some of the internal parasites of man and the lower animals?
And who would have credited twenty years since, the story of the
wanderings and metamorphoses which those forms undergo before
they find their way mto the final habitat designed for them by
Nature? ‘There is, however, very little chance of the controversy
coming to an end at present. It is fascinating and exciting, and
in so far quite in accordance with the spirit of the age. Nor is it
desirable that it should cease, for it is causing microscopical observers
to direct their attention more and more to the beginnings of life,
and to the development of those living types which are visible only
with the aid of the lens; and I knowof no subject more worthy of
the consideration of biologists.

ag

Vil. THE DEVONSHIRE ASSOCIATION FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND
ART.

Earty in 1862, it occurred to a few scientific men, residents in
Devonshire, that they might with advantage establish in their own
county an institution resembling the British Association, of which
they had for several years been more or less active members. The
idea having been favourably received in some of the principal towns
of the county, a meeting was held at Plymouth, which, though not
largely attended, was thought to be of sufficient weight to inaugu-
rate the proposed Association, to draw up a provisional constitution,
to elect officers for the first year, and to announce that the first
annual meeting would be held at Exeter on the 14th and 15th of
August, 1862. |

From that time, meetings have been annually held in different

498 The Devonshire Association. [ Oct.,

towns of the county, the number of members and of papers have
steadily increased, and several distinguished men have accepted
the office of President. In short, the Association is not only well
established in the county, but it is also fully and cordially recog-
nized by the scientific world generally.

We proceed to give a brief sketch of its history, constitution,
and operations, believing that there would be little or no difficulty,
and very great advantage, in establishing kindred institutions in the
other counties of the kingdom.

Being limited to a single county, it was decided not to restrict
it to science. It was accordingly named “The Devonshire Asso-
ciation for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art,” and
its objects were declared to be “To give a stronger impulse and
a more systematic direction to scientific inquiry in Devonshire ;
and to promote the intercourse of those who cultivate science, lite-
rature, or art, in different parts of the county.” There can be no
doubt that this decision was wise, as it was calculated to enlist a
greater number of members, and to secure more numerous and a
greater variety of papers, whilst it enabled men who might other-
wise regard themselves as unqualified, to accept the office of Pre-
sident.

The number of members has steadily increased from 69 in 1862
to little short of 300 at present; and almost every part of the
county is represented by them.

Each member pays ten shillings annually, or a life composition
of five pounds, and is entitled to tickets of admission for himself
and a lady, as well as to a copy of the annual ‘Transactions.’ Not
only has this small sum been found sufficient to cover all expenses,
but at the meeting held on July 26th, 27th, and 28th, of the
present year (1870), under the presidency of Mr. J. A. Froude,
the eminent historian, the treasurer reported a balance in hand of
upwards of ninety pounds, besides property, in the form of ‘ 'Trans-
actions’ in stock, to the amount of upwards of one hundred and
sixty pounds.

As the Association was not established for the purpose of accu-
mulating money, there is reason to hope that it may very shortly
be in a position to vote small sums for the purpose of conducting
or aiding researches within the county. Devonshire, it is well
known, is rich in bone caverns and barrows which would well repay
investigation, and its moorlands abound in megalithic structures, of
which at least accurate models should be made and placed in the
museums at Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, and Barnstaple.

' The Presidents are ineligible for re-election. The following is
the entire list, as well as of the dates and places of meeting, from
the beginning :— | 2

1870.] The Devonshire Association. 499

Dates. | Places. Presidents,
1862, August 14th .. .. | Exeter .. .. | Sir J. Bowring, LL.D., F.R.S.
1863, July 29th .. .. | Plymouth .. | Mr.C. Spence Bate, F.R.S., F.LS.
1864, July 20th .. .. | Torquay .. | Mr. E. Vivian, M. A.
1865, June 28th .. .. | Tiverton spill ror. Daubeny, M.D., FBS.
1866, August 8th .. .. | Tavistock .. | Earl Russell, K.G., F.RS.
1867, July 23rd —=—siw«w~S iw. ~ | Barnstaple .. | Mr. W. Pengelly, ERS EGGS:
1868, July 28th .. .. | Honiton .. | Sir J. D. Coleridge, M.A., Q.C.
1869, July 20th .. «.. | Dartmouth ...| Mz..G, P. Bidder, C.E.
1870, July 26th .. .. | Devonport .. | Mr.J.A. Froude, M.A.

The earlier part of the first day of each annual meeting is
devoted to business, and in the evening the President delivers his
address, and thus “reads himself in.” ‘The next day is occupied,
from eleven to four o'clock, with papers and the discussions they
originate; and in the evening the members dine together. The
third day is also devoted to papers, and the meeting closes about
five o'clock.

During the first five years the papers were disposed of in one
day, but since 1866 they have been so numerous as to furnish full
employment for the second day, and it is now understood that the
meeting will last three days.

During the nine years a total of 152 papers have been read,
which may be classified thus :—

Geology and Paleontology .. 40 | Literature —.. 4
Archeology and History .. 35 , Architecture .. 2
Botany and Zoology .. .. 23 ATE Mee Ae 2
Moetesrolopyy sias ops 4 (dary ion HLS Engineering .. 2
Economic Science... .. ., 12 Mental Philosophy 2
EYRICS on. es cat ee ace ALO Biography .. 1
didneations: 9.20) a ele “ate

The Association claims “ the right, at its discretion, of printing
in extenso in its ‘Transactions’ all papers read at the annual meet-
ing,” and this right has been exercised ever since the first year,
when abstracts only of the papers were printed. ‘The copyright of
the papers, however, remains the property of the authors.

One of the laws provides that the Association shall, within
three months after each annual meeting, publish its ‘ Transactions,’
imcluding the Rules, a Financial Statement, a List of the Members,
Obituary Notices of all Members who have died during the year,
the Report of the Council, the President’s Address, and such papers,
in abstract or a eatenso, read at the annual meeting, as shall
be decided by the Council. ‘The annual volumes are accordingly
in the hands of the members within the stipulated time.

The ‘Transactions’ for the first year was a pamphlet of fifty-
four pages, whilst that for 1869—the last which has yet been

500 The Devonshire Association. | Oct.,

printed—was a portly octavo volume of 537 pages. Up to this
time the annual issues form three goodly volumes; and the first
part of the fourth volume, or the fourth volume complete, according
to the quantity of matter, will be printed before the end of October.
They contain a vast amount of information respecting the county
of Devon, together with matter of a more general nature.

Every author receives gratuitously twenty-five reprints of his
paper, and may arrange with the printer for any greater number.

The next annual meeting will be held at Bideford, commencing
August 2nd, 1871, when the Rey. Canon Kingsley will be the
President.

The inhabitants of the towns in which the meetings have been
held have always given the Association a cordial welcome. A large
amount of both public and private hospitality has been displayed,
a conversazione has commonly occupied one of the evenings, and the
day after the close of the meeting has usually been spent in some
picnic or féte.

It may be stated, in conclusion, that the Devonshire Association
originated with men who were and still are members of the British
Association, and whose active work for the offspring has not caused
them to work a whit the less for the parent.

1870.] (501 )

NOTICES OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS.

Researches on Diamagnetism and Magne-crystallic Action, includ-
ing the Question of Diamagnetic Polarity. By Joun Tynpatt,
LL.D., F.R.S., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Royal
Institution. London: Longmans, 1870.

Tris work is the first instalment of a complete collection of the
original memoirs on experimental physics, which the learned author
has published during the last eighteen years. It contains not
only a record of his own work on the subject of diamagnetism, but
also extracts from the writings of Faraday, Plucker, Becquerel,
Matteucci, Weber, and other experimental philosophers, bearing
upon the same phenomena, so that the reader has before him every-
thing necessary for a complete understanding of this very intricate
subject. The second part of the book contains letters, essays, and
reviews, relating to magnetism and electricity, and includes among
others a discussion on the existence of a magnetic medium in space,
the relation between magnetism and the electric current, an account
of the polymagnet, and one of the clearest descriptions of Ohm’s
theory which we have ever read.

We are so accustomed to see a magnetic substance like iron or
a magnetic needle point north and south, rush to the poles ‘of a
magnet when brought near to one, or arrange itself axially when
suspended between the poles, that it is difficult to imagine that the
vast majority of substances possess almost diametrically opposite
qualities. When brought near to a magnet of sufficient power they
are repelled from it, and when suspended freely between its poles
they swing round, if of an elongated form, and arrange themselves
equatorially or at right angles to the line joming the two poles,
apparently with the object of getting as far away from them as
possible. This action was named by Faraday “ Diamagnetism,”
the common phenomena exhibited by iron being named “ Paramag-
netism,” whilst Magnetism is used as a general term to include the
whole range of both phenomena. Paramagnetic bodies are few in
number, but they include some of extraordinary energy, iron, nickel,
cobalt, and oxygen for instance; whilst diamagnetic bodies include
the greater number of the metals, and such substances as rock
crystal, heavy spar, sulphate of magnesia, marble, alum, common
salt, saltpetre, carbonate of soda, Iceland spar, tartaric acid, citric
acid, water, alcohol, ether, the mineral acids, glass, iodine, phos-
phorus, sulphur, resin, spermaceti, sealing-wax, turpentine, india-
rubber, sugar, starch, gum arabic, wood, fresh beef, blood, apple,
bread, &c. In fact, could a marble statue, or its living prototype,

502 Notices of Scientific Works. | Oct.,

be suspended between the poles of a sufficiently powerful magnet it
would set equatorially, or east and west instead of north and south.
Of all diamagnetic bodies bismuth has attracted the most attention,
owing to the comparative power which it exhibits. Its diamagnetic
properties, although vastly inferior to the paramagnetism of iron,
are yet sufficiently marked to enable its properties to be observed
with small permanent magnets weighing a few ounces; whilst a
bismuth needle freely suspended will set itself parallel to the wires
of a galvanometer. ‘The property is not one possessed permanently
by the bismuth, but is simply induced by the proximity of the
magnet, nothing being communicated which the bismuth can carry
away.

aeog shown almost complete antithesis between the mag-
netism of iron and bismuth, the question naturally arose, Is this
extended to polarity? Faraday worked long and earnestly at this
question, and we believe to the last he was not satisfied that the
question of polarity in diamagnetic bodies was settled, although the
experiments with Weber’s exquisitely beautiful apparatus were tried
in his presence by Professor Tyndali. In a letter to Matteucci,
dated November 2, 1855, Faraday wrote, ‘‘ All Tyndall's results are
to me simple consequences of the tendency of paramagnetic bodies
to go from weaker to stronger places of action, and of diamagnetic
bodies to go from stronger to weaker places of action, combined with
the true polarity or direction of the lines of force in the places of
action.” On the other hand, it would appear as if these two philo-
sophers were looking at the subject from entirely different points of
view. Faraday had his mind fixed on lines of magnetic force, the
use of which, as true representations of nature, he said never failed
him ; whilst Tyndall limited his view to that doubleness of action
in which the term polarity originated. But these were apparent
differences only, not differences in reality, for in the letter just
quoted, Faraday said, “I differ from Tyndall a good deal in phrases,
but when I talk with him I do not find that we differ in facts.
That phrase polarity in its present undefined state is a great
mystifier.”

Considerable space is given to the description of the beautiful
instrument devised by M. Weber in order to submit this question
to a crucial test, the design of which was ably carried out by
M. Leyser, of Leipzig. Clear engravings of it are given, and the
experiments are described in full detail. With it not only has dia-
magnetic polarity been proved to exist in the case of bismuth, but
the same result was obtained with cylinders of calcareous spar,
statuary marble, phosphorus, sulphur, heavy glass, distilled water,
bisulphide of carbon, and other non-conductors of electricity, remoy-
ing the scruples of those who saw in the first experiments of this
sort an action produced by induced currents. By these experiments,

1870. | Notices of Scientific Works. 503

Professor Tyndall concludes that a body of evidence has accumulated.
in favour of diamagnetic polarity, which places it among the most
firmly-established truths of science.

This being the case, it would be of interest to ascertain on
which side exists the fallacy of reasoning by which Professor
Thompson has reduced the existence of diamagnetic polarity to an
apparent absurdity ; the paradox is well stated in the following quo-
tation from a paper by Faraday, “On some Points of Magnetic
Philosophy,” published in the ‘ Philosophical Magazine’ for Feb-
ruary, 1855 :—“ If a globe of bismuth be placed without friction in
the middle of the magnetic field, it will not point or move because
of its shape ; but if it have reverse polarity, it will be in a state of
unstable equilibrium ; and if time be an element, then the ball,
being once moved on its axis ever so little, would then have its
polarity inclined to the magnetic axis, and would go on revolving
for ever, producing a perpetual motion. I do not see how this con-
sequence can be avoided, and therefore cannot admit the principles
on which it rests. ‘he idea of a perpetual motion produced by
static forces is philosophically illogical and impossible, and so I
think is the polarity opposed or adverse static condition to which
I have already referred.”

Of course if time does not enter as an element in diamagnetic
induction the above argument falls to the ground ; but it appears
to be so firmly established a fact that an exertion of physical force
occupies time, that it can scarcely be doubted that it is concerned
here also; that was Faraday’s opinion, although he admitted that
it seemed to be so brief in period as to be inappreciable by the
means he had employed.

We should have liked to give an extended notice of the second
subject included in the title of this work; namely, Magne-crystallic
action,—the phenomena of which were at first so paradoxical as to
bafile the ingenuity of the most acute experimentalists, but, thanks
to the labour of Professor Tyndall and other physicists, now dedu-
cible with as much care and certainty from the action of polar forces
as the precession of the equinoxes is from the force of gravitation.
In the author’s language, “The whole domain of magne-crystallic
action is thus transferred from a region of mechanical enigmas to
one in which our knowledge is as clear and sure as it is regarding
the most elementary phenomena of magnetic action.”

The magne-crystallic force is one by which certain crystals are
caused to set themselves with certain of their axes parallel or trans-
verse to the lines of magnetic force acting on them. This force acts
at a distance, and is by no means so weak as might be at first sup-
posed, for just as a crystal is moved by the magnet at a distance, so
can the crystal also move the magnet at a distance. Faraday ob-
tained the latter result by converting a steel bodkin into a magnet

504 Notices of Scientific Works. [ Oct.,

and suspending it freely in the neighbourhood of the crystal. The
tendency of the needle was always to place itself parallel to the
maegne-crystallic axis.

Neither will space permit us to refer, except in the briefest
manner, to the results obtained by preparing bars of magnetic and
_ diamagnetic substances, by reducing them to fine powder, and then
compressing them in moulds in such a manner that the line of
greatest compression is in different directions along or across the
bar. A bismuth bar so prepared, squeezed flat within the jaws of
a vice and suspended between the poles, will turn with the energy
of a magnetic substance into the axial position; whilst a bar made
up of powdered carbonate of iron (magnetic) compressed in this
manner will recoil from the poles as if violently repelled. It thus
appears that the line of magnetic action has a near relation to that
of the closest contact among the material particles, and this rela-
tionship is traced in many different ways, and appears related to
the cleavage of crystals.

It would be of interest to try some of these experiments on
diamagnetism with the metal Thallium, a metal which, whilst i
rivals, if it does not surpass, bismuth in diamagnetic energy, is as
soft and amorphous as lead, and lends itself with the same facility
to moulding and compression. Probably many of the apparent
anomalies of diamagnetism which observers at first encounter, owing
to the highly crystalline nature of bismuth, would disappear if
thallium were the metal selected for experiment.

We cannot close this book without expressing the profound
admiration which it leaves in the mind for the author’s philosophical
acumen and experimental skill. He moreover possesses one valu-
able quality, which we regret to say is as rare amongst scientific
men as the combination of the two former,—that of placing his views
and describing his experiments in such clear language that the
profoundest mysteries of nature seem under his treatment to become
clear and simple to a child’s comprehension. Speaking as one who
never loses an opportunity of listening to this philosopher on
whom the mantle of Faraday has so worthily descended, the writer
scarcely knows which gives him greater pleasure—to listen to one of
Dr. Tyndall’s lucid expositions of some hitherto hidden mystery of
_ nature, or to hear him in his clear logical manner quietly put down

a scientific opponent who has ventured to differ from some of his
conclusions.

1870. ] Notices of Scientific Works. 505

ON SAVAGES.*

Wnrat Sir Charles Lyell has accomplished for the student of
Geology, Sir John Lubbock is now achieving for the student of
Ethnology. His ‘ Pre-historic Times ’} first excited and awakened
public attention by the clearness of its descriptions and the able
and masterly manner in which the author dealt with the questions
relating to primitive man.

Tn the present work Sir John Lubbock has adopted the same
inductive method of reasoning which has been so ably applied to
geological investigations by the illustrious Lyell in his ‘Prin-
ciples,’ vez. that of explaining the monuments of the earth’s past
history by the “living present.” Thus, from the habits and
customs of modern savages we are enabled to understand the
meaning and uses of the various relics of early man met with in
civilized countries where no primitive races now exist, and we can
thus more accurately picture and more vividly conceive the manners
and customs of our ancestors in bygone ages.

Founded upon a course of lectures, originally delivered at the
Royal Institution in 1868, the author proposes in the present
volume “ more particularly to describe the social and mental condi-
tion of savages, their art, their systems of marriage and of rela-
tionship, their religions, language, moral character, and laws.”
Sir John promises in a future volume to publish those portions of
his lectures which have reference to their houses, dress, boats, arms,
implements, &e.

“The study of the lower races of man,” writes the author,
“apart from the direct importance which it possesses in an empire
like ours, is of great interest from three points of view. In the
first place, the condition and habits of existing savages resemble in
many ways, though not in all, those of our own ancestors in a period
now long gone by; in the second, they illustrate much of what is
passing among ourselves, many customs which have evidently no
relation to present circumstances, and even some ideas which are
rooted in our minds, as fossils are imbedded in the soil; and thirdly,
we can even, by means of them, penetrate some of that mist which
separates the present from the future.” :

On the subject of savage intellect, it seems difficult to realize
the extreme mental inferiority of the lower aborigines; the mind
of the savage, like that of the child, is of wonderfully small capacity
and limited in its powers of taking in ideas; it is easily fatigued
by exercise, and is generally in a dormant state. Curious instances

* «The Origin of Civilization, and the Primitive Condition of Man’ (Mental
and Social Condition of Savages). By Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.B.S., &c,

8vo. Pp. 380. London, 1870. Longmans and Co.
+ Originally published (in part) in the ‘Natural History Review.’

506 Notices of Scientific Works. [ Oct.,

of this are mentioned from the accounts of various travellers; in-
deed, the number of authorities quoted under each chapter is truly
surprising. No fewer than 178 authors and upwards of 200 works
have been consulted and are referred to in these pages, the author in
every case being cited, and credited with the statement made on his
authority.

The cosmopolitan character of some customs has induced a
strong belief in the unity of origin of the races among which such
practices prevail; for example, among many races a woman is
absolutely forbidden to speak to her son-in-law. Another curious
custom is that known in Bearn under the name of “ La Couvade.”
It would seem to be a very wide-spread custom for the father, upon
the birth of a child, to be put to bed instead of the mother. The
ideas among savages respecting the influence of food are equally
ludicrous. Thus the Malays give a large price for the flesh of the
tiger, not because they like it, but because they believe that the man
who eats tiger acquires the sagacity as well as the courage of that —
animal. For the same reason the New Zealand baby at its baptism
is made to swallow pebbles, so that its heart might be hard and
incapable of pity. The reflexion of many of these ideas still linger
with children and uneducated persons. A little girl was heard to
say to her brother, “If you eat so much goose you will be quite
silly.” To take the portrait of a native is looked upon as most
injurious, and the better the portrait the worse for the sitter; so
much life could not be put into the copy except at the expense
of the original. Pictures are also considered as efficient charms.
Writing is believed to be even more magical than drawing.

Mungo Park on one occasion profited by this idea; a Bambarran
offered him a supper of rice if he would write him a charm on his
writing-board, to protect him from wicked men. The proposal was
at once accepted. Park wrote the board full from top to bottom
on both sides. The Bambarran, in order to secure the full force of
the charm, washed the writing from the board into a calabash with
a little water, and having said a few prayers over it, drank the
powerful draught; after which, lest a smgle word should escape, he
licked the board until it was quite dry.

The science of medicine, indeed, like that of astronomy, and
. like religion, takes among savages very much the character of
witchcraft. Many savages do not believe in disease or natural
death, but if a man die, however old, they conclude that he must
have been the victim of magic.

Twins are considered as a bad omen, and in most cases one, in
some others both are killed.

The belief in the attributes of life appertainmg to inanimate
objects is also very wide-spread.

A hook that has once caught a big fish is preferred to twenty

1870.] Notices of Scientifie Works. 507

that have never been tried. ‘Two fish-nets are never put together,
for fear they should be jealous. The story of the natives of Tahiti
who sowed some iron nails given them by Captain Cook, hoping
thus to obtain young ones, reminds the writer of the story of a little
boy of his own family, who planted his hair in his garden expecting
it would bring forth a crop of little boys like himself. The ability
or inability to draw seems to vary in one and the same tribe of
aborigines; the absence of perspective is also very general, and
extends to many people otherwise in a highly advanced state of
civilization, such as the Egyptians, Assyrians, and the modern
Chinese.

The earliest traces of art yet discovered belong to the Stone
age—to a time so early that the Reindeer was abundant in the
south of France, and that probably, though on this point there is
some doubt, even the Mammoth had not entirely disappeared.
These works of art are sometimes sculptures, if one may say so, and
sometimes drawings or etchings made on bone or horn with the
point of a flint.

The Esquimaux etchings of the present day appear to approach
most nearly to these early relics from the caves of France, but they
lack the spirited style of execution of the latter.

Upon the marriage rites, if such they may be called, much
information is collected, but, as the author truly observes, many of
the facts which he has recorded are very repugnant to our feelings,
although it was impossible not to mention them in such a work.
Marriage by capture appears to be very general all over the world,
and where not attended by real violence the pretence of using force
and even blows is kept up in form. The practice of carrying off
the bride to the woods may yet linger among civilized nations, as,
for example, in our own custom of the wedding tour.

The position of women among savage nations generally is very
deplorable, nor can any amount of romance render savage life other-
wise than revolting to an educated and civilized man.

Notwithstanding our advanced state of civilization, it is impos-
sible, however, to deny the fact that—

“Tn many of our ideas and tastes we are still influenced by the
condition of our ancestors in bygone ages.”

“What that condition was,’ says the author, “I have in this
work endeavoured to indicate, believing as I do that the earlier
mental stages through which the human race has passed are illus-
trated by the condition of existing or recent savages. The history
of the human race has, I feel satisfied, on the whole been one of
progress. I do not of course mean to say that every race is neces-
sarily advancing: on the contrary, most of the lower ones are
almost stationary ; and there are, no doubt, cases in which nations
have fallen back; but it seems an almost invariable rule that such

VOL. VII. 2M

508 Notices of Scientific Works. [ Oct.,

races are dying out, while those that are stationary in condition are
stationary in numbers also; on the other hand, improving nations
increase in numbers, so that they always encroach on less progres-
sive races.”

It would be impossible in this brief notice to convey a very
adequate idea to the reader of the mass of well-arranged facts upon
which Sir John Lubbock has established his conclusions, but we
give them in his own words.

“The facts and arguments mentioned in this work afford, I
think, strong grounds for the following conclusions, vz. :—

‘“‘ That existing savages are not the descendants of civilized
ancestors ;

“That the primitive condition of man was one of utter
barbarism ;

“That from this condition several races have independently
raised themselves.”

Sir John Lubbock thinks we shall not be the less inclined to
adopt these conclusions on account of the cheering prospects which
they hold out for the future.

We heartily thank the author for his interesting book, which
has afforded us not only much instruction, but also much real
amusement in its perusal.

THE SCIENCE OF BUILDING.*

THe science of building is so comprehensive, and has been treated
by so many able writers, that we must be prepared for some dis-
appointment when perusing a work whose title would lead us to
believe that the whole subject is included in its pages.

Since the application of iron to building purposes, a new study
has presented itself to the architect, and Mr. Tarn’s book contains
many formule with which those who belong to his profession
would do well to make themselves acquainted; for it is not un-
common to find such errors committed by them, as the loading of
cast-iron girders to their full breaking weight, or a waste of metal
in making them stronger than is necessary.

Whilst we commend the work to persons entering the building
trade, we consider it right to mention that the study of mechanics,
such as may be followed with the aid of ‘Tate’s Exercises in
Mechanics, would be even more useful to builders than Mr. Tarn’s
book, as it would sooner make them acquainted with the elements

* ‘The Science of Building: an Elementary Treatise on the Principles of Con-
struction” By E. Wyndham Tarn, M.A., Land Architect. Lockwood and Co.

1870. | Notices of Scientific Works. 509

of mechanics which are indispensable to all who follow the pro-
fession.

In the chapter on retaining walls, the author should have
directed the student’s attention to the various methods of con-
structing them, and should have explained the difference between a
vertical wall having its beds horizontal or perpendicular to its face,
and one with an inclined face, and the transverse section of joint,
perpendicular to that face. Also, in a brick retaining wall some
advantage would be derived from the disposal of the length of brick
or style of bond, and to the architectural student those are matters
of great importance, for in many cases practice seems to defy
theory. The author does not extend his chapters to the relative
strength of brickwork, nor to an account of the various kinds of
bricks made throughout England; details which are now essential
in such a work, as bricks rank in these days amongst the most
important materials of construction. His chapter on arches might
also with advantage have been extended to the flat soffit and head
or cambre arch, showing the limit of span for a given depth and
breadth of face and soffit; also to observations on the grom arch,
which would have imparted originality to his work.

The remarks on mortar and cement are limited, and it would
have been well to refer to their tenacity and resistance to com-
pression, their suitability for various situations; and the advantage
of the application of concrete to bad foundations.

The information on centering of arches is also too much re-
stricted and too indefinite. The pressure of the voussdirs in a
pointed arch could not act on the centre at any of the angles in
the manner named by the author, and it would have been better
had he named the description of arch to which his remarks have
reference, as the pressure of the vousséirs differs considerably in
elliptic, pointed, and semi- or segmented arches.

The chapter on iron does not refer to the segmental or curved
girder which is applied with much advantage in engineering, in
railway and other works. There is also room in the chapter for
observations on the trussed girder and the advantage or disad-
vantage of applying wrought-iron flitch-plates to wood beams.
All these matters should have been referred to, so that the student
of the ‘Science of Building’ (a title by the way which is likely to
mislead those who purchase it into the belief that it is an advanced
treatise) might be prevented from committing many errors into
which architects and builders are too prone to fall.

2m 2

( 510 ) [Oct.,

CHRONICLES OF SCIENCE,
Including the Procerdings of Learned Societies at Home and Abroad;
and Zotices of Recent Scientific Piterature.

1. AGRICULTURE.

Tue drought of 1870, though not so utterly destructive of succu-
lent growth during the summer season as that of 1868, has been
more injurious on the whole. Beginning earlier and ending later,
it has spoiled both the hay crop and the aftermath ; and the wheat
crop too, generally so able to withstand a dry summer, has materially
suffered. The returns from the correspondents of the ‘ Agricultural
Gazette’ declare the wheat crop to be below an average; and all
other grain crops, except barley throughout Scotland, and perhaps
the pea crop throughout the country generally, are still more below
an average. Neither in its return of food for man nor in its pro-
mise of food for beast, does the harvest of 1870 compare favourably
with its predecessors. Mr. Lawes, of Rothamsted, who has for
twenty-seven years subjected the wheat crop to specific treatment
of many different kinds, reports upon the other hand his produce
to be this year above the average. There has been, he says, a
splendid seed-forming and seed-maturing season, acting however in
many cases upon an insufficient amount of plants, and it is probable
therefore that some of the heaviest and some of the lightest crops
ever known in England have been grown this year.

Among the leading agricultural events of the past quarter are
the great annual meetings of the Royal Agricultural Societies of the
three kingdoms. The English Agricultural Society at Oxford and
the Highland Society at Dumfries have had capital meetings. The
Irish Agricultural Society was less successful. One of the most
interesting circumstances of the Oxford meeting was the award of
a valuable prize to the best-managed farm of the district. It has
been somewhat of a surprise and perhaps a disappointment to the
agricultural optimists of the day, that the very competent jury ap-
pointed by the Society to examine the competing farms should have
placed highest upon the list one which owes but little to the im-
proved stock and implements whose use and introduction the
Society has fostered. It is a somewhat old-fashioned style of
management which has been thus decorated. ‘The four-course rota-
tion of wheat, turnips, barley, and clover in succession is the crop-
ping of the farm; the live stock is inferior, and comparatively few
modern implements are in use. The visitor who in the morning

1870. | Agriculture. 511

left the showyard of the Society full of the best specimens of the
finest breeds of all kinds of farm stock and every new agricultural
machine, saw nothing of either on the “ best-managed farm” which
he walked over in the afternoon. He saw, however, magnificent
crops of grain, and roots, and grass, obtained without their aid, and
he might conclude that what was wanted for the improvement of
English agriculture was not a Society stimulating the production
of the best machines and live stock, but an agency for making
farmers more energetic and laborious in the use of the common
means already everywhere at their command.

This agency it is plain exists in an improved relationship between
the landlord and the tenant. The nature of the best farm agreement
has been the subject latterly of frequent discussion in the agricultural
journals. ‘The lease for a term of years, with freedom to cultivate
the land as the tenant chooses up till within a few years of the close
of the term, is certainly the system which gives freest scope to the
intelligence and energy of the tenant, and most likely therefore to
result in industrious and successful cultivation.

An interesting paper “On Wheat Flies” appears in the ‘ Agri-
cultural Gazette, from which we learn that Cecedomyia tritici, to
which Professor Henslow drew attention thirty years ago as the
most destructive wheat midge of his time, is no longer prevalent ;
and that the complaints now common of injury from the wheat
midge are due to Lasitopteryx obfuscata. The former is a yellow
fly, the latter black. ‘The insect is not easily bred, neither Mr.
Kirby, Mr. Curtis, nor Professor Henslow having succeeded. The
successes of Miss Eleanor Ormerod, of Sedbury Park, Chepstow,
which are recorded in the ‘ Agricultural Gazette,’ seem to have
been wholesale, notwithstanding her failures in detail. She placed
on earth in different flower-pots, grubs and pup, with the ears and
stalks to which they respectively adhered, as well from wheat as
barley, protecting each with a covering of gauze or muslin. These
were kept in the most natural conditions, and carefully watched
and tended all through the winter and spring, without producing
anything; but a small heap of wheat rubbish, which had been as-
certained to be well supplied with grubs and pupe, was left in an
out-of-the-way corner by itself, and early in June was found to be
swarming with a cloud of these small Cecidomyia-looking midges,
viz. Lasiopteryx. “ Numbers of these,” says the writer whom we are
quoting, ‘“‘ were also obtained, and sent to us from the wheat fields at
different dates, but not a single specimen of the Cecedomyia tritiet
reached us. Now, is this abundance of Lasvopteryx and scarcity of
Cecidomyia confined to the neighbourhood of Chepstow, or is it
general over the whole country? If so, another question, which
however, we can scarcely hope to fathom, is—when Cecidomyia
ceased to be prevalent, and Lasiopteryx took its place. It may

512 Chronteles of Science. | Oct.,

even be a question whether Cecidomyia ever was generally pre-
valent—it may have been so only in Kigsy’s time and the London
district.”

The Rivers Pollution Commissioners have issued a report upon
the so-called “A BC” process for defecating sewage. They pro-
nounce it a failure. The sewage treated on this plan is not defecated,
and the manure produced is extremely poor. The only advantage
derived from its adoption is a somewhat quickened subsidence of
the suspended matters which town sewage carries with it, but as
every 10 cwt. of these are rattled through the sewers of a town,
borne along in the case of a town with ordinary water supply in a
thousand tons of water, it is not likely that these suspended matters
can retam much that is soluble or valuable on their exit from
the sewer system of a town. And in point of fact the solid matters
of town sewage are of very little agricultural value indeed. It is
the liquid portion that contains the elements of the food of plants ;
and it is this, therefore, in which these substances are present in
too dilute a form to be precipitated that must be carried to the
land, if either a nuisance is to be abated or a valuable property to
be turned to good account. The Commissioners pronounce sewage
wrigation to be the only method known to them by which both these
results can be attained.

There has been an unusual prevalenee of cattle disease during
the past quarter. During the severely restrictive system under
which alone cattle traffic was permitted during the prevalence of
the cattle plague, the more common diseases, the foot-and-mouth
affection and pleuro-pneumonia, almost disappeared. They have
resumed their frequency and virulence with the relaxation of the
rules affecting cattle-markets.

2. ARCH AOLOGY (Pre-Hisroric).

Primeval Monuments of Peru.*— Mr. E. G. Squier, the well-
known American archzologist, has lately explored the early mega-
lithic monuments of Peru. The great plateau of the Andes, elevated
15,000 feet above the sea, and fenced in with high mountains and
frigid deserts, possesses nevertheless a number of stone structures
belonging to what is regarded through the world as the earliest
monumental period, comcident in style and character with the so-
called cromlechs, dolmens, and “Sun” or “ Druidical” circles of
Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, and Northern and Central
Asia

Considerable importance attaches to these remains, as indicating

* By E. G. Squier, MLA., F.S.A.. &. From ‘The American Naturalist,’
vol. iy., 1870, p. 1. -

1870.] Archeology. 513

the existence at one time in Peru of a population identical in the
degree and stage of their constructive development with the people
who raised corresponding lithic and megalithic structures in other
parts of the world, and who, if not the progenitors of the semi-
civilized nations found in Peru at the time of the conquest, certainly
preceded them in the occupation of the country. Mr. Squier
suggests that, “if it should be found that there has been a gradual
development of any of the rude remains into elaborate and imposing
monuments, corresponding with them in their purpose or design,
or a gradual change from the rough burial-chamber of uncut stones
into the symmetrical sepulchral tower, built of hewn blocks ac-
curately fitted together, and in general workmanship coinciding
with the other and most advanced and admirable structures of the
country, then we may reasonably infer that the latter were con-
structed by the same people that built the first, and that, monument-
ally at least, the civilization of Peru was indigenous and gradually
developed, and not introduced.”

The first and simplest form of burial monument, and which the
author assumes to be the oldest, consists of flat unhewn stones of
various lengths set firmly in the ground, projecting above it from
1 to 2 feet, so as to form a circle, more or less regular, about 3 feet
in diameter. In this circle, the body was buried in a crouching
posture, with a vase of pottery or some other utensil or instrument
at its feet. Sometimes a few flat stones were laid across the upright
ones, so as to form a kind of roof. These rude tombs were some-
times placed side by side in long rows, and stones afterwards heaped
over them. A more advanced form of tomb consists of large slabs
of stone projecting 4 to 6 feet above ground, and set in a circle
from 6 to 16 feet in diameter. The top is roofed by blocks of stone
which lap over each other inwardly until they touch, forming a
rude arch or vault. At Quellenata, N.E. of Lake Titicaca in
Bolivia, and at many other places in the ancient Callao, these same
tombs occur, but they are enclosed in a circular wall, varying from
10 to 30 feet in height, the stones broken so as to conform to the
outer curve of the tower, and the whole cemented together with
clay. These round chulpas are of varying excellence in workman-
ship and design, and lead up to the square chulpas of Escoma, the
sides of which are vertical with a projecting cornice near the summit,
and divided internally into two stories or chambers. At Sillustani
the largest and best-built chulpas occur, constructed of great blocks
of trachyte and other hard stones fitted together with unsurpassable
accuracy, the structure nevertheless preserving some of the charac-
teristic features of the first and rudest form of chulpa. ‘The stones
forming the dome are not only cut on accurate radii, but the curve
of the dome is preserved in each, tending to give compactness and
strength to the whole structure.

514 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

Mr. Squier also mentions that many stone structures exist in
Peru, corresponding with the so-called Cyclopean monuments of Italy.
He describes many sun-circles, some composed of simple upright
stones, others having in addition a regular causeway of slabs, form-
ing a platform of stone more or less hewn and fitted together.

In the ancient town of Chicuito, a singularly fine and massive
rectangular monument exists, measuring 65 feet on each side. The
author considers this to be the most advanced megalithic structure
in Peru, and proposes in a future work to illustrate it more fully.
When the whole of Mr. Squier’s drawings are published, he believes
all students of these archaic monuments will agree with him, that
there exist in Peru and Bolivia, high up among the snowy Andes,
the oldest forms of monuments, sepulchral and otherwise, known to
mankind, exact counterparts in character of those of the “old
world,” having a common design, and all of them the work of the
same peoples found in occupation of the country at the time of
the conquest, their later monuments being developed forms of those
by their ancestors, and the earliest the productions of primitive man
in all parts of the world, and not derivative.

Mr. Squier has thus furnished another admirable illustration of
the well-established law that “man under analogous circumstances
will act in a similar manner irrespective of time or space.”

Stone Implements from Burmah.—Myr. W. Theobald, jun., of
the Indian Geological Survey, has communicated some notes on the
stone implements of Burmah, to the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
The implements are curious as differing in form and type, not only
from anything found in India, but from anything hitherto de-
scribed from any part of Kurope, though any implement yet found
in India has its precise analogue in Europe. These implements
are not only singular in form, but also in the material out of which
they are manufactured ; being fashioned either of basalt or some
schistose rock, quite unlike anything met with in the district where
the implements occur: a fact which seems to indicate that they were
brought down from Upper Burmah, where such implements are
common, by the original settlers of the country. ‘The same super-
stition which connects these implements with the “thunderbolt”
prevails in Burmah, where they are called “ mogio,” or thunder-
bolts. Curious traditions prevail as to the virtues possessed by
these heaven-born stones: such, for instance, as preserving from
lightning, fire, shipwreck; conferrmg invulnerability upon the
wearer; great medicinal virtues, a chip administered internally
cuxing inflammation of the liver; it is also a specific for oph-
thalmia, &c. The types of these Burmese instruments described
by Mr. Theobald are:—1. A rough, stout, wedge-shaped instru-
ment, closely resembling the better finished specimens of fiimt-
hatchets, of the type which occurs in the Danish kjokkenméddings.

1870. | Archeology. 515

This form is very rare. 2. A hatchet with flat sides converging
towards the base which is square, and with a segmental edge, much
hike the common German form. ‘This type is common. 3. A long
adze with square, slightly converging sides, and a bevelled seg-
mental edge, in character much resembling some of the implements
discovered in Java, Borneo, and Sumatra, and also a New Zealand
‘form. 4. Implements of the same character, so far as the edge and
sides are concerned, but having tne butt end reduced in width so as
to produce a square shoulder on each side of the blade. In some
this reduction in width extends more than half the length of the
blade, so as to produce a T-shaped form. These shorter speci-
mens are the most common. This form appears to be peculiar to
- Burmah.

Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., F.S.A., offers some valuable critical
notes upon Mr. Theobald’s discovery, in ‘ Nature.’* He says:—

“In some cases the lashings used to fasten them to their hafts
have left traces on the stone. The implements are usually picked
up on the surface of the hills, and in the fields, or clearings made
for cultivation, and not in the plains.

“Mr. Theobald seems inclined to doubt whether, without the
use of iron also, those who made these implements could have
effected clearances in the gigantic forests of Pegu; but it may be
urged against this view that by calling in the aid of fire the effi-
ciency of such tools is almost as great as if they had been formed
of metal, and it is difficult to conceive a people in possession either
of bronze or iron bestowing the necessary time and trouble on the
fashioning of stone tools when those of metal were at their com-
mand, which, whether fire were employed in the clearance or no,
were for general purposes so much more effective. If the makers of
those stone tools had been in possession of other means for clearing
the hill-sides, then Mr. Theobald would be inclined to regard the
stone relics as agricultural implements used in hand agriculture, at
the end of sticks, as a kind of spade, to form the shallow holes for
the cultivation of ‘hill rice.” If not explained in this manner, he
argues, we must regard them as weapons of the chase and war,
though this use is, he thinks, negatived by their thoroughly ineffi-
cient character for such purposes.

“To this may be objected, first, that the material of which they
are usually formed is basalt, a stone constantly used as a material
for cutting-tools ; secondly, that the presence of the square shoulders,
so like those on the horn sockets for hatchets of the Swiss Lake-
dwellers, seems to testify to the tools having been used as adzes or
axes, or possibly chisels ; and thirdly, that if they had been required
merely for hoeing or digging, the trouble of grinding and polishing
might and would have been saved.”

* Vol. ii., No. 32, p. 104.

516 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

The Cheesewring threatened with Destruction.* —This very
remarkable pile of rocks, six or seven miles north of Liskeard in
Cornwall, is threatened with imminent destruction by quarrying
operations at its foot. Will no one prevent its demolition? A
committee was formed some time since for the express purpose of
arresting by all possible means the Vandals who are everywhere
plotting the overthrow of our ancient megalithic monuments,
Surely the preservation of this fine dolmen is worth an effort.

The Meenas of Central India.—Lieut.-Colonel Showers has
communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal an account of the
Meenas, a wild tribe of Central India occupying the hilly and
jungly country of Jehazpoor, where they appear to have maintained
their independence and carried on a marauding life for centuries.
They are described as a fine race of men, endowed with great per-
sonal courage, and addicted to the use of arms. They marry freely
with other tribes, but never allow their daughters to marry out of
their own tribe. Polygamy is allowed, each man having three or
four wives. The aggregate male adults in the tribe is about
24,000.

Roman London.—Numerous remains of oxen and horned sheep
were found some few years since on the site of old London Wall,
near Moorgate Street. They had been all killed with the blow of
a blunt instrument on the forehead, probably a stone celt. From
associated relics there can be little doubt that this was one of the
slaughtering places of the ancient inhabitants of London in Roman
times. The Wall-brook evidently ran here, as the foundations of
the old wall was built on piles. Another and recent excavation
repeats the same story, and shows an old river-bed of silt, with
numerous bones of animals.

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

At the Ethnological Society papers have been read during the
past quarter by Mr. C. Spence Bate, F.R.S., “On the Pre-historie
Monuments of Dartmoor.” Mr. Bate gives a melancholy account
of the wanton destruction of the cromlechs in this district, and
suggests obtaining legal protection for them before they are all
demolished.

Dr. Caulfield records the discovery of copper celts near Butte-
vant, Co. Cork, and describes a supposed Ogham inscription from
Rusglass, Co. Cork. _

Lieutenant 8. P. Oliver reports the recent destruction of another
cromlech in Jersey.

Professor Huxley gave an interesting account of “the chief
modifications of mankind, and their geographical distribution.”

* ‘Nature,’ vol. ii., p. 101.

1870.] Astronomy. 517

The characters of greatest value are—colour, character of hair, and
form of the skull. The author described five distinct types. 1.
The Australioid. 2. The Negroid. 38. The Xanthochroic, with
fair skin and blue eyes. 4. The Melanchroic, a type with dark
complexion, occupying an area between the Xanthochroic and
Australioid peoples; and 5. The Mongoloid. ‘The paper was
illustrated by a large coloured map showing the distribution of these
five groups and their subdivisions.

Professor Busk described the opening of the Park Cwm Tumulus
in the peninsula of Gower, South Wales.

The Rey. Canon Greenwell read a paper “ On his Exploration
of Grimes’s Grave, Norfolk” (see last Chronicle, p. 383).

Mr. Boyd-Dawkins gave an account of some remains of Platy-
cnemic or Flat-shinned people in Denbighshire. The remains were
found in two bone-caverns, a refuse-heap, and in a tumulus. Simi-
larly-formed bones have been obtained from Cro-Magnon Cave in
France, and the caves of Gibraltar.

Colonel Lane Fox described the Dorchester dykes and Sinodun
Hill, and showed the works were British, and not Roman.

Mr. David Forbes, F.R.S., described the Aymara Indians of
Bolivia and Peru. In stature they are small, massive, and thick-
set, with large heads and short limbs. ‘The trunk is disproportion-
ately large, and the capacity of the thorax enormous, being adapted
to meet the requirements of respiration at an altitude of 8000 to
16,000 feet above the sea-level, where the atmosphere is propor-
tionately rarified. Many interesting customs, &c., relative to this
people were recorded by the author.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL SocImHty.

Dr. Hudson read a paper “On the Irish Celt;” Mr. G. H.
Kinahan “On the Race Elements of the Irish People;” and
Dr. Beddoe “On the Kelts in Ireland.” Dr. Beddoe describes the |
Trish as a dark-haired but light-eyed race, and he argues that
wherever there is light hair it may be accounted for by the Danish
or English intercrossing. The dark hair of the Irish may be, partly
at least, attributed to the Gaelic Kelts.

3. ASTRONOMY.
(Including Proceedings of the Astronomical Society.)

As we write, the prospects of the eclipse expeditions hardly appear
so favourable as could be wished. It seems doubtful whether Go-
vernment will be willing to aid the expeditions by supplying the

518 Chronicles of Science. 7 [Oct.,

means of transport,—the reason suggested for the expected refusal
being the war which is at present devastating France. We can
scarcely believe, however, that the Government will abide by this
resolution. Remembering that some of the most important of those
researches which adorn the annals of English science have been
prosecuted under Government protection, and with Government
aid, while England has been in the throes of deadly warfare—nay,
when the very existence of England has been at stake—we refuse to
believe that the mere risk of war should cause our Government
to refuse a single ship in aid of scientific observations of extreme
interest and importance. |

Unfortunately, the mere report of such a probability has sufficed
to check the process of preparation ; and despite our confidence that
England is not destined to suffer shame in this matter, we are com-
pelled to recognize the possibility that the only systematic observa-
tions of this important eclipse will be made by French astronomers
in Algeria.

Further on will be found an account of the extent to which the
eclipse will be partially visible in this country.

Dr. Zoilner, known as one of the most successful students of
solar physics, has been inquiring into the evidence which the form
and dimensions of prominences afford respecting the temperature
and physical condition of the sun. He points out that prominences
may be divided into two classes, the cloud-formed and the eruptive
prominences. Those belonging to the latter class are so obviously
due to real eruptive action that we may fairly refer them to the
same general cause as terrestrial eruptions, that is, to a difference
between the pressure in the region whence the erupted matter flows
and the pressure in the space into which that matter passes. But
this view requires us to believe that there is a barrier-layer (Tven-
nungschicht) by which one region is separated from the other—a
stratum limiting the compressed hydrogen below the chromosphere
from the free atmosphere of hydrogen which constitutes a propor-
tion of that envelope. |

Starting with this hypothesis, Dr. Zéllner proceeds to apply the
mechanical theory of heat to determine the temperature of different
portions of the sun’s globe. We see that the prominences are pro-
jected to a certain height, and we have therefore a means of de-
termining the force exerted in the propulsion of the compressed
hydrogen. The equations for this purpose are those resulting from
the law of Mariotte and Gay-Lussac, and those which are deduced
from the theory of heat. Certain assumptions have to be made, the
probability of whose truth depends on the imterpretation of tele-
scopic and spectroscopic observations of the sun.

Some of the results are of great interest, especially as, even
though the fundamental suppositions should be importantly im error,

1870. | Astronomy. 519

the conclusions would still be but slightly affected. Zollner finds
the minimum temperature of the base of the solar atmosphere to be
about 27,700° Centigrade, and the corresponding temperature in the
region whence the prominences are projected to be about 68,400°
Cent. He calculates the pressure in this last-named region at
4,070,000 atmospheres, while the pressure outside the stratum en-
closing this region he calculates at 184,000 atmospheres. He then
shows that whereas these results have been obtained on the suppo-
sition that the pressure at the base of the chromosphere is but that
corresponding to about 7 inches (180 mm.) of the mercurial baro-
meter, the actual pressure of the nitrogen and oxygen atmospheres _
at this level must be almost infinitely minute. But he remarks that
this alone does not suffice to explain the absence of the lines of these
elements from the spectrum of the sun, since the lines of volatilized
metals are seen. He attributes the visibility of the latter lines to
the fact that the vapours of the metallic and alkaline elements have
a much greater emissive power, and consequently a much greater
absorptive power than those of the permanent gases.

To proceed further with the discussion of his researches would
bring us upon ground altogether removed from astronomy. We
may remark, however, that there is one point which seems to us to
have been too little considered in these and similar researches. It is
assumed that spectroscopic researches enable us to determine the
actual pressure at the base of the chromosphere. As a matter of fact,
we have no means of knowing whether the estimated pressure belongs
to the base of the chromosphere or to a height of ten, a hundred, or
even a thousand miles above the solar photosphere. It must be re-
membered that 1000 miles at the sun’s distance subtends little more
than two seconds of are, the minuteness of which distance will be
appreciated by those who have examined double stars two or three
seconds apart, even with very powerful telescopes. Assuming that —
with the magnifying power employed (magnifying power being an
essential element in such applications of the spectroscope as we are
here considering) an arc of two seconds could be recognized, yet the
tenth part of such an arc would be wholly inappreciable. Now the
increase of pressure within a distance of 100 miles from the base of
the chromosphere is probably more considerable than that occurring
throughout all the thousands of miles of chromospheric height above
that level.

The most important astronomical event of the next quarter is un-
doubtedly the great eclipse of December 22nd next. In England
it will be considerable though not total. The following are the data
for the principal places in the British Isles:—

At Greenwich the eclipse will begin at 11h. 8m. a.m, reach its
ereatest phase at 12h. 25m. (when 0°814 of the sun’s dise will be
concealed by the moon), and end at 1h. 42 m. p.m.

520 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

At Cambridge the eclipse will begin at 11h. 9m. a.m. (mean
time at Cambridge), reach its greatest phase at 12h. 26m. (when
0 808 of the sun’s disc will be concealed), and end at 1 h. 42 m. p.m.

At Oxford the eclipse will begin at 11h. 1m. a.m. (mean time
at Oxford), reach its greatest phase at 12h. 18 m. (when 0°813 of
the sun’s dise will be concealed), and end at 1h. 35m. p.m.

At Liverpool the eclipse will begin at 10h. 52m. a.m. (mean
time at Liverpool), reach its greatest phase at 12h. 8m. (when
0-804 of the sun’s disc will be eclipsed), and end at 1h. 24 m. p.m.

At Edinburgh the eclipse will begin at 10h. 53m. a.m. (mean
time at Edinburgh), reach its greatest phase at 12h. 7m. (when
0-788 of the sun’s disc will be concealed by the moon), and end at
Lh, 21m. p.m.

Lastly, at Dublin the eclipse will begin at 10h. 34m. a.m.
(Dublin mean time), reach its greatest phase at 11h. 50m. a.m.
(when 0-812 of the sun’s disc will be eclipsed), and end at
Lh. 6m. p.m.

We may remind our readers that on the 12th, 13th, and 14th
of November, shooting stars may be looked for. A year or two back
it was possible to indicate somewhat more definitely the time when
the display was to be expected ; but it needs only a careful study of
the phenomena presented by the successive showers, since the great
one of 1866, to prove that the meteor-system has been widening
out, growing in the meantime less and less rich: so that while we
may be tolerably certain of seeing many November meteors, there is
small chance of a display resembling that of the year 1866.

The planet Jupiter will be well situated for observation during
the next quarter, coming to opposition on December 13th. Saturn
on the contrary is passing away from our nocturnal skies, and will
be in conjunction with the sun on December 22nd. Mars is return-
ing, but only at the end of the year will he be near enough to be
worth studying telescopically. He comes into opposition on March
19th, 1871.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.

Lieut. Brown supplies an important paper on December weather
in the neighbourhood of Gibraltar. It appears from the meteoro-
logical observations he records that there is every reason to antici-

ate favourable weather during the eclipse of December 22nd next.
From the 15th to the 31st December there were in 1860, 6 very
good days; in 1861,3; in 1862,10; m1863, 13; in 1864,5; in
1865, 12; in 1866, 6; in 1867, 8; in 1868, 11; and in 1869, 7;
—the bad days in those years numbered, respectively, 5, 9, 1, 1, 2,
1, 2,3, 1,1. So that in all there were 81 good days and but 254
bad ones, the remaining 644 being indifferent.

1870. | Astronomy. 521

Commander Ashe endeavours to show that the Council of the
Astronomical Society were not justified in expressing the opinion
that “in photographs 3 and 4” (of his set of 4, illustrating the
American eclipse) “there is evidence of the disturbance of the tele-
scope during the exposure of the sensitive plate. But there seems
every reason to accept the opinion of the very able committee ap-
pointed by the Council to consider the matter, and the members of
this committee “unanimously report that in their opinion there was
a decided moyement of the instrument at the time the photograph
was taken; a conclusion arrived at from an examination of the
chromosphere close to the moon’s limb, as well as from an examina-
tion of the prominences.” |

In a description of the occultation of Saturn by the moon on
April 19, 1870, Captain Noble dwells on the exceeding sharpness
of Saturn’s definition; the most delicate details being perceptible,
even In contact with the moon’s limb. ‘The crape ring C was seen
most perfectly where the dark limb of the moon crossed it. “I
never was more impressed,” remarks this skilful observer, “ with the
absolute absence of a lunar atmosphere of any appreciable density
than I was on this occasion.”

Mr. Penrose, from observation of the star Algol, concludes that
the period of 2°86727 days assigned to this remarkable variable in
Herschel’s ‘Outlines of Astronomy’ requires to be slightly corrected.
The minima occurred nearly three hours earlier than the epochs
calculated with the above period from a minimum which occurred
on January 3, 1844. The shortening of the period of this variable
is certainly a remarkable and interesting circumstance. Observers
should watch from time to time the occurrence of the well-marked
minimum, in order to see whether the reduction of the period is
steadily progressing, or to detect signs of its being eventually trans-
mitted into the reverse process, as in the case of planetary pertur-
bations.

Mr. Proctor, in a paper “On the Resolvability of Star-groups
regarded as a Test of Distance,” points out that there is good reason
for doubting whether we can form any opinion whatever respecting
the distance.of a cluster of stars from the telescopic power necessary
to completely resolve it. He shows that a star-group may be so
constituted that let its distance be ever so great it cannot appear
nebulous, or again that conceiving its distance to be increased so
that it passed eventually beyond the range of our most powerful
telescopes, it would pass from irresolvability to resolvability and
again to irresolvability through the mere effect of a continually in-
creasing distance. The question of the resolvability of a star-group
depends not on distance alone, but on the relation between the
magnitudes of the component stars and the distances separating
them. If the magnitudes are such that the stars would vanish in-

522 Chronicles of Science. [Oct.,

dividually through increase of distance, before their distances from
each other became evanescent, the group (or the special order of
stars considered—as the case may be) could not possibly present a
nebulous appearance, at any stage of its recession, with whatever
telescopic power it was studied. On the other hand, if the distances
between the stars became evanescent before the stars vanished in-
dividually, the group or order of stars must necessarily become
nebulous when it reached a certain distance. In the case of a
group consisting of several orders of stars, one order might thus
become nebulous at a certain distance, but with yet greater increase
of distance this nebulosity would vanish, and the question whether
any new nebulosity would replace it would depend wholly on the
question whether the next higher orders of stars belonged to one
or other of the classes considered above. Considerations thus ap-
plied to a group of stars passing away from the eye, may obviously
be extended to star-groups at various distances; and since we could
not judge of the distance of the moving group from its resolvability
or irresolvability, so neither can we place any reliance on those
estimates of the distances of nebule which have been founded on
their resolution.

Mr. Williams describes some early telescopes made by Giuseppe
Campani which he purchased at the sale of the late Dr. Lee’s in-
struments. Jeaders of the ‘ Celestial Cycle’ and its ‘ Prolegomena’
will not need to be reminded that these instruments were tested by
the late Admiral Smyth. .

Mr. Powell communicates a paper “On the Double Star a
Centauri.” The companion has recently reached its lesser maximum
of distance, and has commenced its return towards the primary.
Thus an exactitude of determination has become possible, which
(as Captain Jacob used to remark) was impossible while it remained
unknown how far the companion would pursue its northerly ex-
cursion. The following are the elements which Mr. Powell now
assigns to the orbit :—

Longitude of periaster .. 38°°40 BEMGaxIS. .. “ee p73 207-13
Hecentrieity |<) 2G Fer esgee 7° Pertod 2-899 76°25
Risme node 2)-.npiee 9) 240718 | Periastral passage .. 1874°2
UmGMNALIOR, 6 oe a cechin as WEL tee

These results differ somewhat importantly from those obtained by
Sir John Herschel, Hind, and formerly by Mr. Powell himself.

Mr. Seabroke endeavours to show that Mr. Lockyer’s theory
that the corona is a phenomenon of the earth’s atmosphere “is quite
possible.” For this purpose he considers how far such spectroscopic
results as Major Tennant obtained during the Indian eclipse, might
be accounted for on that theory. It is unfortunate that in place of
dealing with the actual circumstances of that eclipse, Mr. Seacombe
determines “what spectrum we ought to obtain from a corona at

1870.] Astronomy. 523

a point on the earth where the limbs of the sun and moon are in a
line; that is, where the eclipse is total exactly.” In any given
total eclipse the coincidence of the limbs of the sun and moon is
necessarily a momentary phenomenon; and the state of things at
the moment is altogether exceptional. What has to be explained
before Mr. Lockyer’s strange theory can be admitted, is the observed
state of things when lines from the sun’s limb to the moon’s disc
fell eighty miles or so from the observer's station. Mr. Lockyer
himself has begun to recognize the necessity of explainng away
this difficulty, and he now supplements his theory by introducing
“a possible action at the moon’s limb,” though what the nature of
that action may be he forbears to indicate.

Mr. Browning gives an account, accompanied with illustrations,
of his ingeniously devised automatic spectroscope referred to in our
last. When this paper was read before the Royal Astronomical
Society, Professor Pritchard stated that he had given several hours
to the examination of the optical relations of the new instrument,
but could not definitely assert that minimum deviation is secured
for rays of all orders of refrangibility. Although the instrument
is probably as perfect practically as it can be made by whatever
further refinements may be adopted, it requires but little considera-
tion to show that it does not in its present form theoretically secure
true minimum deviation for all rays. The fixity of the first prism
(the collimator being also fixed) suffices to prevent this. We believe
that Mr. Browning is now at work on a modification of his instru-
ment which has been suggested to him, in which this objection is
obviated.

Fr. Perry, of the Stoneyhurst Observatory, gives an account
of an observation made on Winneeke’s new comet (discovered on
May 30, at Carlsruhe). He had searched in vain for D’Arrest’s
comet. Mr. Hind sends the elements (calculated by Winneeke
himself) of the former comet, which is described as a round pretty
bright nebula, about 24 minutes in diameter.

Lieut. Hill, on May 22, saw three large spots on the sun, with
the naked eye. On the following day a fourth spot was visible.
We believe that this is the first instance on record in which so many
spots have been seen without telescopic aid.

In a paper on the stereographic projection, Professor Cayley
points out that the very same circles which in the direct stereo-
graphic projection of a hemisphere (viz. that wherein the projection
is on the plane of a meridian) represent the meridians and parallels
respectively—represent also in the oblique projection of the hemi-
sphere meridians and parallels respectively.

Mr. Lynn discusses the proper motion of the star “ Groombridge,
1830.” He finds as the final result of his examination of the

VOL, VI. 2N

524 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

Greenwich records of this star, the following mean annual proper
motions in four several intervals :—

Years. Proper Motion in R. A. Proper Motion N. P. D.
1845-1850 ee +05°*358 ee os +5'-82
1850-1860 a gee 0°343 EE rk 9°73
1860-1864 er 0-336 foe oo 5°93
1864-1869 ee re +0°338 AP wee! +5°71

We may fairly assume that the mean of these values (properly
weighted) represents the true value of the star’s motion—which it

will be seen is exceptionally large.

4, BOTANY.

Evaporation of Water from Plants.—Some researches have recently
been undertaken by Von Pettenkofer on the amount of evaporation
which takes place from the foliage of plants. The experiments
were made in the case of an oak tree, and extended over the whole
period of its summer growth. He found the amount of evapora-
tion to increase gradually from May to July, and then decrease till
October. The number of leaves on the tree were estimated at
751,592, and the total amount of evaporation in the year at 539-16
cubic centimetres of water for the whole area of the leaves. The
average amount of rainfall for the same period is only 65 cubic
centimétres; the amount of evaporation is thus 84 times more
than that of the rainfall. The excess must be drawn up by the
roots from a great depth; and thus trees prevent the gradual
drying of a climate, by restoring to the air the moisture which
would otherwise be carried off by drainage.

Germination of Palms.—Mr. J. W. Jackson, Curator of the
Museum at Kew, has published a useful paper “On the Germina-
tion of Palms.” This is incorrectly described in all the botanical
text-books commonly in use. The peculiarity consists in the end
of the cotyledon remaining in the seed, whilst its stalk is pushed
out, carrymg with it the radicle, which germinates in the usual
manner at a little distance from the seed. In the double cocoa-nut,
Lodoicea, the protruded end of the cotyledon is as much as 12
or 18 inches long. The sheath or socket at the base of the stem
of this palm is shown not to be peculiar to it, as has been supposed,
though more developed than in other species, and to be formed by
the vascular bundles of the rudimentary and early leaves.

Existence of a Formative Layer in the Leaves of Plants.—
M. Cave has recently pointed out that a formative layer exists in
the leaves of plants, similar to the well-known cambium layer,
which, in exogenous plants, intervenes between the bark and the

1870. | Botany. 525

wood, and from which the new wood is formed. He finds it not
only in the leaves, but in all foliar or ‘‘appendicular”’ organs,
normal or modified, as for instance the flowers, but occupying a
different position to the cambium layer, namely, between the tissue
of the organ itself and the epidermis. The knowledge of this fact
M. Cave applies to determine a morphological question which is
often a matter of controversy, whether a particular organ belongs
to the axis, to the foliage, or to both sets of organs combined ; and
he shows that if the formative layer is exterior to the fibro-vascular
system, the organ belongs to the leaves; if interior to it, to the stem.
The application of this test proves that the receptacle-like peri-
gynous calyx of many plants is a dependency of the axis; while
the pericarp of superior fruits is always formed of metamorphosed
leaves and nothing else; this is also the case with the axile and
parietal placentze; but the free central placenta, as in the case of
Primulacez, is a prolongation of the axis. Fruits proceeding from
an inferior ovary are composed of two parts, varying in their mutual
proportion in different plants, a receptacle-like calyx and carpellary
leaves. It is noteworthy that M. Cave found this formative layer
to occupy the same position in the leaves and fruits of endogens as
in those of exogens.

Changes in the Colour of Flowers produced by Ammonia.—
M. Vogel has recently published the results of some experiments
on the changes produced by ammonia in some vegetable colours,
especially those of flowers, which he thinks may be of practical
importance in the manufacture of vegetable colouring matters of a
character similar to the aniline dyes. The colouring matter he
states to be of two kinds, united with a different degree of persist-
ence to the tissue of the flower itself, and requiring a shorter or
longer time to produce any alteration. The change produced in
the colour of some flowers, as the rose and phlox, by the fumes of
tobacco, is entirely due to its ammoniacal element. M. Vogel
found that some colours are altogether unchanged by lengthened
exposure to ammonia; as, for instance, yellows, all reds (except in
the case of the Zinnia, which is converted into a brown-red), and
dark violets. Blue is sometimes unaltered, sometimes changed into
a dirty green and then bleached. In some cases, not only the
colour but the tissue of the flower is destroyed. The changes are
generally the same as those that take place during the withering
of the flower.

Electricity in Plant Life-—A writer in the ‘Gardener’s
Chronicle’ points out the important part played by electricity in
the phenomena of vegetable life. He states that every hair and
sharp point in the vegetable kingdom is necessarily a conductor of
electricity, which must always be present wherever water rises in
the form of vapour. Hence all the young and growing parts of

2N 2

526 Chronicles of Science. { Oct.,

plants are clothed with delicate hairs; and the same is generally
the case with those fruits or other parts which have a very fine
and delicate scent or flavour, these qualities being, the writer
believes, greatly developed by the agency of electricity.

Poisoning by Ginanthe crocata.—Myr. Worthington G. Smith
records an instance of poisoning by the water dropwort, Ginanthe
crocata, a common Umbelliferous plant in the South of England.
A carter, whilst at work, ate some of the roots, supposing them to
be wild parsnips; in about an hour he became unconscious and
convulsed, and death occurred in another half-hour, before medical
assistance could be obtained. The man had fed his horse with roots
of the same plant, and the animal also expired about two hours
after eating them. The plant belongs to that group of narcotico-
acrid poisons comprising the Solanacez (Belladonna, Hyoscyamus,
&c.), and characterized by producing convulsions with delirium.
The juice of the plant was in this instance of a yellow colour; it
has been stated that a variety of the plant with colourless juice is
a less virulent poison. ‘The taste of the root is said to be inter-
mediate between that of celery and turnip.

Mistletoe on the Oak.—Dr. Bull records, in the ‘ Transactions
of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club,’ a very interesting case of
this extremely rare occurrence. ‘The tree grows in the hedge-row
of a field called the Harps, at Haven Aymestry, in the ancient
forest of Deerfold, in Herefordshire. It was discovered in the
spring of 1869, but the mistletoe must have been growing on the
oak for some years. The oak is of the variety sesseliflora, and may
be some fifty or sixty years old. The mistletoe is a female plant,
and grows high up on the main stem. It forms a large spreading
bunch, with a diameter of 3 feet 6 inches, and springs out from
the oak in a single stem, nearly 4 inches in circumference. ‘The
mistletoe is also growing on a thorn close by, and has probably
sprung from a seed dropped by a bird from above. The great
rarity of the growth of mistletoe on the oak is proved by the fact
that there are put eight examples which have been well authenti-
cated as existing at the present time; the localities being Eastnor
Park, Herefordshire ; Tedstone Delamere, Herefordshire; Forest of
Deerfold, Herefordshire; Frampton-on-Severn, Gloucestershire ;
Sudbury Park, Monmouthshire; Dunsfold, Surrey; Hackwood
Park, Hants; and one near Plymouth,

The Cinchona in the West Indies.—In a recently-issued Colo-
nial Blue-Book, Sir James P. Grant, the Governor of Jamaica,
states that the cinchona plantation in that island may now be pro-
nounced a complete success. Cinchona plants were first received
in 1866. By the close of 1867 the number of young plants had
so much increased, that it became necessary to provide land for
their final establishment on a planter’s scale. Six hundred acres of

1870. | Botany. 527

virgin forest in the Blue Mountain were acquired early in the year,
and were set apart for the purpose of a cinchona plantation, for
which the place is in every way admirably suited. The elevation
varies from 4000 to 6000 feet. It is well watered, has the best
aspects, and possesses a soil reported to be admirably adapted to
the requirements of the cinchona. Fifty acres were cleared, of
which forty were filled with cichonas in the course of the year;
about 20,000 plants of five different species having been planted.
By the latest accounts all of these were in full vigour, and the plan-
tation must by this time be doubled in extent. The plants have
stood one of the driest seasons that has ever been remembered on
Blue Mountain, without suffering in the least. There is now no
doubt that the cinchona can be successfully reared in Jamaica.

Origin of Prairie Vegetation.—Professor Winchell, of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, has recently promulgated a new theory re-
specting the origin of the vegetation of the American prairies,
namely, that it dates back beyond the historical epoch to the Glacial
period. He believes the origin of the prairies to be lacustrine; but,
contrary to the generally-received opinion, he maintains that lacus-
trine sediments contain no living germs. JDiluvial deposits, he
states, on the contrary, are found everywhere replete with living
germs, which, when hidden away from the influence of light and
moisture, retain their vitality or power of germination for an in-
definite length of time. These living germs of the diluvial deposits
he believes to have been buried during the glacial period, in the
course of which the surface was ploughed up by glaciers, and
afterwards exposed to the commotion of the sea, which overspread
the land, burying everything in promiscuous ruin; but yet by this
very means storing away the seeds which, when brought to the sur-
face after the lapse of a geological age, are possessed of vitality, and
able to reclothe the barren earth with verdure and beauty. ‘Thus,
in proportion as the diluvial surface became exposed, the flora of
the pre-glacial epoch was reproduced. In support of this theory, he
brings forward the argument that the fossil plants which have been
discovered in the tertiary deposits show a correspondence of genera,
and in some cases even of species, with those existing at the present
time.

The Herbarium of the British Musewm.—The Curator of the
British Museum Herbarium has just published his annual report of
the national collection. A considerable number of families have
been re-arranged, and collections incorporated in the general her-
barium from Mexico, New Granada, Nicaragua, Ecuador, California,
India, and other countries. The most important additions to the
herbarium have been 2000 plants from Abyssinia, and upwards of
2000 from South Africa, as well as more than 1000 European
plants, and a number of smaller collections. Various portions of

528 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

the British herbarium, and the collection of fruit and seeds, have
been re-arranged, and the recent and fossil Coniferz and Cycadex
have been examined and arranged.

The Botame Garden at Brussels—The Belgian Government
recently purchased the magnificent collection of dried plants of the
late Von Martius as the nucleus of a national herbarium. It
has more recently concluded the purchase of the Botanic Garden
belonging to the Horticultural Society of Belgium; and has thus
commenced the formation of a national establishment intended to
rival those of Paris and London.

5. CHEMISTRY.

Or all the non-metallic elements, fluorine appears the most dif-
ficult to bring under the domain of organic chemistry ; very few
compounds of this element with carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen
being known. Dr. R. Schmitt and H. von Gehren have recently
succeeded in preparing Fluorbenzoic acid and Fluorbenzol. Fluor-
benzoic acid is prepared from diazo-amidobenzoic acid by treating
that substance at a high temperature in a platinum basin with
hydrofluoric acid. The fluorbenzoic acid thus obtained resembles,
as far as its physical properties are concerned, benzoic acid; it is,
however, far more volatile, fuses at 182° C., is difficultly soluble in
cold, readily in hot water, and soluble also in ether and alcohol;
its aqueous solution exhibits a strongly acid reaction to test-paper
and decomposes inorganic carbonates very readily ; the acid does not
act upon glass, and is a very fixed substance, which may be even
dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid without decomposition.
Fluorbenzol is a crystalline solid, boiling at about 183° C., fusing
at 40°, insoluble in water, and specifically heavier than that liquid,
readily soluble in ether and alcohol.

Whilst organic chemistry is aptly called the chemistry of
carbon, Drs. Friedel and Ladenburg are engaged in researches
which tend to place silicium parallel to the former element. They
have succeeded in preparing what they call silico-propionic acid, a
compound wherein a large percentage of the carbon of propionic
acid is replaced by silictum. The physical aspect and many of
the properties of this body are akin to silica; but it is a com-
bustible substance, insoluble in water, but soluble in a hot and
concentrated solution of caustic potassa. M. Dumas observed, in
reference to this paper, that it is not impossible that there exist in
nature organic compounds of silica, a remark which gave rise to
some observations on Dr. Friedel’s ‘Memoir, by P. Thenard. The
author begins with stating that M. Dumas is quite right, and

1870.] Chemistry. 529

relates further that he (M. Thenard) is at present engaged on
researches of organic acids which contain even 24 per cent. of
silica entirely disguised. When ulmic acid is treated by ammonia,
azhumie acid is formed ; this contains nitrogen so fixedly, that it is
only eliminated at a temperature of about 1200°: This acid is pos-
sessed of the remarkable property of readily dissolving silica, and
combining therewith in the same manner as the compound alluded
to above by Dr. Friedel. The author also states that although his
researches on this subject are not yet quite concluded, he is justified
in stating that all arable and garden soil, and far more so farmyard
manure, contain similar organic silicious compounds which play an
important part in the feeding of the plants.

That indefatigable savan, the Abbé Moigno, has recorded that
when picric acid is introduced into a vessel containing ozone, a
violent detonation instantaneously takes place, a new proof of the
danger attending experiments with nitrogenous compounds contain-
ing nitrogen only loosely bound.

The utility of mixig peroxide of manganese, for which, how-
ever, may be substituted substances such as peroxide of iron, oxides
of zinc and tin, burnt gypsum, and others, provided they are pre-
viously well dried (best by ignition) with chlorate of potassa, is
based according to Dr. G. Krebs upon the fact that the substances
alluded to, which are infusible by themselves, are the carriers and
transferers of heat to the chlorate of potassa, each particle of which
is surrounded with a source of heat, which aids its rapid decom-
position. The peroxide of manganese is prevented from being -
itself decomposed, because the chlorate of potassa withdraws from it
heat, for the purpose, first of its own fusion, whereby heat becomes
latent ; secondly, by its decomposition. The author states that
when oxide of iron, or peroxide of manganese, is strongly heated
in a crucible, and chlorate of potassa very gently fused at the same
time by itself in a porcelain dish, the addition of the moderately
hot oxides to the fused chlorate causes the evolution of oxygen to
set in instantaneously, and with so great violence, that unless this
experiment be performed in open vessels and with small quantities
at a time, serious explosions may occur.

A compound of hydrogen and mercury, which the discoverer
calls Hydrogenium-amalgam, has been prepared by O. Loew, by
shaking together in a vessel, to be kept very cool, a mixture of
mercury containing from 1 to 2 per cent. of metallic zinc, along
with an equal bulk of a solution of chloride of platinum containing
10 per cent. of solid chloride. A slimy mass is obtained, devoid of
metallic lustre and prone to decomposition, owing to the presence
of zine and some compounds of that metal; but on treating the
mass with dilute hydrochloric acid, a body having the consistence

530 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

of butter is obtained, which according to the author is a true
amalgam of mercury and hydrogenium. The author describes at
length several reactions of this body, which in many of its pro-
perties is akin to hydrogenium-palladium. Professor C. A. Seeley,
speaking of this amalgam and the allied ammonium amalgam, gives
it as his firm opinion that they are only mechanical mixtures of
mercury and gases. In illustration of this he describes an im-
portant experiment to prove that if ammonium amalgam be subjected
to varying pressure, its volume changes, apparently, in accordance
with Mariotte’s law of gaseous volume. To illustrate this, a glass
tube 4 inch in diameter, 20 inches long, and fitted with a plunger,
was employed. Mercury containing a little sodium was poured
into the tube to 4 inch in depth ; and upon this was poured a strong
solution of chloride of ammonium occupying about 2 inches in
length of the tube. The ammonium amalgam was completely
formed in a few minutes, and occupied several inches of the tube.
On adjusting and depressing the plunger, the volume of the
amalgam progressively diminished till it closely approached the
original volume of the mercury. Also, it was notable that
the amalgam progressively gained fluidity and the mirror surface
till, at the greatest pressure, the original volume and appearance of
the metal were resumed, whilst on reducing the pressure below
that of the air, the amalgam still expanded until it rose above the
surface of the liquid in the tube. If the great pressure be main-
tained, more ammonium amalgam will be formed, the mass expand-
ing progressively, apparently in accordance with the fact that the
absorption or adhesion of gases to liquids is favoured by pressure.
By means of the simple apparatus used, a pressure of ten atmo-
spheres or a good vacuum are easily and at once obtaimable, and the
experiments with itare very striking. The considerations regarding
ammonium amalgam are evidently equally applicable to Loew's
hydrogenium amalgam; both may be only metallic froths. The ex-
pansion of palladium observed by Graham, on its absorption of hydro-
gen, is probably analogous to the case in question. In both cases,
the gases concerned are condensed, by reason of their attraction
to the metal; and if the molecules of palladium were made free
to move, as those of mercury, it is probable that Graham’s hydro-
genium alloy would become a palladic froth, more remarkable than
the corresponding mercuric froth. |

The presence of manganese as an essential constituent of milk
and blood (human as well as animal) has been known for about
twenty years past, but HE. Pollacci gives some particulars about the
method of detection of this metal in the two animal fluids referred
to. The milk which contains this metal in the largest proportion
is first evaporated to the consistency of a paste; this is carbonized
by heat in a platimum crucible; the charcoal thus obtained is

1870.] Chemistry. 531

pulverized and next completely incinerated ; the ash is triturated
in an agate mortar and lixiviated with water ; the residue is treated
with very pure nitric acid, and the solution thus obtained is
evaporated to dryness and calcined in a test-tube; after cooling, a
few drops of nitric acid are added, and the contents of the tube again
boiled ; next a few grains of puce-coloured oxide of lead are added
and the liquid again boiled ; a more or less deeply purplish-coloured
liquid appears on leaving the tube at rest for a short time, which
is due to the formation of permanganic acid. No quantitative re-
searches have as yet been made by the author.

All chemists must have suffered inconvenience by finding that
their test-solution of tartaric acid had become mouldy. Many re-
medies for this decomposition have been suggested, but none appear
so simple as the one proposed by William H. Wood, of Middles-
bro’-on-Tees. This chemist has made known that if a solution of
tartaric acid in water, whether mouldy or not, be filtered and then
boiled for a short time (say ten minutes), it will not afterwards be-
come mouldy, whether corked or stoppered up im a bottle, or left
exposed to the air. This statement will, if confirmed, be important
as bearing on the so-called “spontaneous generation” controversy,
and may throw some light on it.

The production of a crystalline alloy of zinc and calcium hag
been observed in the preparation of calcium by the process of
M. Caron, in which an excess of zinc was employed. It contains
about 95 per cent. of zinc and 5 per cent. calcium, corresponding
to the formula Zn,,Ca. These crystals are small octahedrons with
square bases. They are acted upon by water with the liberation
of hydrogen.

Dr. W. Stein has devised an easily-executed process for the
detection of madder colours upon cloth or by themselves. He
boils the cloth with a concentrated solution of sulphate of alu-
mina, whereby a liquid is obtained of reddish colour, exhibiting
a golden-greenish fluorescence, due to the presence of purpurine ;
the behaviour of the colouring matters of madder towards sulphate
of alumina is so characteristic that this salt may serve as an effec-
tive test for these substances; the alizarine may be readily rendered
soluble by treating the dye material or dyed cloths with alcohol
acidified with hydrochloric acid.

As a result of a lengthy series of experiments, M. Ei. Baudri-
mont concludes that tin-foil, in consequence of its impermeability
for water, may serve with great effect to protect various substances
from the effects of the atmospheric moisture, as well as act as a
protective against the alterations fruit undergoes by evaporation of
the fluids therein contained ; tin-foil also protects against the oxi-
dizing action of the oxygen of the atmosphere, and may hence serve

532 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

to keep fatty substances from becoming rancid, while it may use-
fully serve in laboratories to wrap up caustic lime, bisulphite of
soda, and similar substances, which may thus be preserved for a
great length of time without deterioration.

The cause of the precipitation of muddy matter from water by
the aid of dilute saline solutions has been investigated by Dr. Ch.
Schlasing. Water otherwise pure, but contaminated simply with
clay (as may be the case with the water of rivers after heavy rain
or fall of snow), becomes at once clarified by very minute quantities
of some salts of lime: z/5oth part of chloride of calcium for 1 part
of water effects this purpose in a moment; the nitrate, bicarbonate,
and caustic lime act in the same manner. The precipitated sub-
stance may be readily separated from the water by filtration,
whereas the filtration of the water containing the suspended matter
is very difficult, because the pores of the filters become choked. The
practical importance of this matter is very great, since it is, for
instance, a well-known fact that the water of some rivers (the
Durance being notorious in this respect) does not, in winter time,
and after heavy rainfall or snow-storms, become quite clear, even if
left at rest in large ponds for a considerable time. The same is the
case with the water of the Rhine, which in its lower course is often
turbid for weeks together, simply from the effects of very finely-
divided clay beg suspended even after the water has been at rest
in tanks. The water of the river Durance supplies Marseilles with
fresh water, the latter being brought to that city by a magnificent
series of works, among which may be mentioned the celebrated
Aqueduc de Roquefavour. Certain bitter vegetable substances have
been applied both in Egypt and in India, for the purpose of ren-
dering the waters of the Nile, Ganges, Indus, and other large rivers,
potable, many centuries before the rationale of the action of these
substances was understood.

6. ENGINEERING—CIVIL AND MECHANICAL.

The Mitrailleur.—Unfortunately the peaceful progress of Kngineer-
ing Science has, within the last few weeks, been suddenly inter-
rupted by the outbreak of hostilities on the Continent; and
prominence has consequently, for the time, been obtained by that
branch of engineering which devotes its energies to the production
of warlike engines and materials. For some years past attention
- has been given to the improvement of our artillery, and the revival
of breech-loading cannon, which for a while was received with much
favour, is already beginning to find strong opponents from the fact
that, as a rule, they possess less precision than the old muzzle-

1870. | Engineering—Civil and Mechanical. 533

loaders. Steel and chilled iron also appear likely again to give
place to bronze as a material for field guns. The arm of the day
is, however, the mitrailleur, or mitrailleuse as it 1s sometimes called,
which has already performed such bloody work in the present war.
The mitrailleur belongs to the same class of weapon as the revolver,
having, however, this advantage, that its barrels may be fired almost
simultaneously. One of the earliest of this class of weapon was
the American Gatling gun, which was first seen in Europe at the
Exhibition of 1867. This consists of six barrels mounted in two
rings of iron, fixed on a central axis; at the rear of these are two
half-cylinders of iron, bolted together, which serve to enclose and
protect the mechanism; within these a cylinder revolves, with
grooves into which cartridges fall as it is turned round, and by a
selfacting mechanism they are pushed forward into the barrels,
fired, and the empty cases subsequently extracted. A continuous
and rapid fire can thus be maintained as long as there remains
ammunition at hand to continue feeding the breech. The mitrailleur
which has recently been subjected to comparative and experimental
tests at Shoeburyness, is of Belgian origin; it was introduced into
this country by Major George Fosbery, V.C., of the Bengal Staff
Corps. It was invented in 1867 by M. Montigny, but has received
several modifications and improvements since that date. ‘This
weapon consists of thirty-seven steel barrels, of an hexagonal form
exteriorly, fitted and soldered together, and finally surrounded by a
wrought-iron tube. To the tube or barrel thus constituted a breech
attachment is screwed, and the two together, with the movable
breech-block and its lever, form the gun. In outward appearance
the gun looks like a solid steel block about four feet long, pierced
with thirty-seven holes. A cartridge holder, consisting of a steel
plate with holes corresponding in position with the barrels of the
gun, being filled with central-fire cartridges, is inserted in the breech-
piece and held in its place by suitable arrangements, whilst by the
movement of a handle on the right-hand side of the gun, corre-
sponding plungers are released, and striking their respective cart-
ridges fire the gun. According to the rapidity with which this handle
is moved the barrels may be fired one by one, or in a volley. The
weight of each projectile is 600 grains, and the charge 115 grains.
It would be premature at present to give any results of the experi-
ments now being carried on. It may be here stated that Major
Fosbery estimated the speed at which the mitrailleur could be fired
at ten rounds per minute, but this rate has not yet been nearly
attained in practice.

Steam and Air Engines.—Although the union of steam and
air for the purpose of effecting economy in engine working is by no
means a new invention, yet the means adopted for effecting this
object which have recently been made public, appear to be so far

534 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

superior to what has previously been introduced, as to warrant some
prominence being given to the subject. Some years ago a steam-
engine used in an industrial establishment at Muhlhouse in France,
was converted into an aéro-steam engine by the simple addition of
a pump to force air into the boiler ; a considerable increase of power
was stated to have been thereby secured, but its success does not
seem to have continued long, and the experiment did not then
secure much general favour. Recently, however, the subject has
been revived, and two inventors claim the support of the public on
behalf of their respective inventions. The first of these is Parker’s
steam and air engine, and the second Warsop’s aéro-steam engine ;
the general principles involved in each are the same up to a certain
point, but the methods of applying them differ considerably. In
Parker’s engine the air is drawn directly into the steam-pipe, lead-
ing from the boiler to the engine, by means of the force of the
steam passing through it; this steam-pipe is sometimes passed
through a small coke fire, in order to raise the temperature of the
united steam and air, but this is not considered in any way essential
to the utility of the apparatus. Experiments made with it are
reported to have resulted in considerable economy of fuel combined.
with increased efficiency of engine power.

Warsop’s aéro-steam engine consists in the use of an air-pump,
worked either by the steam-engine itself, or by a donkey-engine ;
this pump takes in cold air which, after beg compressed, is forced
on through an air-pipe passing through the smoke-box, or some
other part of the boiler where heat can be taken up from contact
with the waste gases. The highly-heated air passes a self-acting
clack-valve into the bottom of the boiling water, and is so distributed
by simple mechanical means, that it rises constantly through the
water. On rising above, the air is saturated by the steam, and
the two together pass on to their duty in the cylinder. From a
series of experiments carried out with this engine at Nottingham,
it appears that in the amount of useful work done for fuel expended,
the advantage rested with the combined steam and air system, as
compared with when steam only was employed.

Thames Embankment.—Upwards of eight years have now
elapsed since the reclamation of the foreshore of the Thames between
Westminster and Blackfriars Bridges was undertaken by the Metro-
poltan Board of Works. This magnificent boulevard was opened
on 15th of July last. It consists of a roadway 100 feet in width
throughout, haying on the river-side a foot pavement 20 feet wide,
and on the opposite side one of 16 feet; the former is edged by a
row of trees, planted at intervals of 20 feet. The total amount of
land reclaimed is 372 acres, of which the carriage-road and footways
occupy 19; 8 acres will be converted into ornamental gardens for
the public use, and the remaining 103 acres pass over to the original

1870. | Engineering —Civil and Mechanical. 535

proprietors of the foreshore. From the official description of the
Victoria Embankment, it appears that the works and material em-
ployed comprise 144,000 cubic yards of excavation, 1,000,000 cubic
yards of earth fillmg, 140,000 cubic yards of concrete, 80,000
cubic yards of brickwork, and 650,000 cubic feet of granite. The
total cost of the works has been 1,260,000/., and the amount paid
for compensation 450,000. Beneath the roadway lies hidden a
portion of the London main sewage system, above which is a sub-
way, behind the embankment wall; on the opposite side, the works
of the Metropolitan District Railway have been carried on con-
temporaneously with the Embankment, and there are four stations,
namely, at Westminster, Charing Cross, the Temple, and Blackfriars,
accessible direct from the roadway. Communications will no doubt
shortly be completed between the Embankment and the several
roads leading southwards from the Strand, as without such connec-
tions this handsome new boulevard would be deprived of half its value
as a means of communication ; according to an existing Act of Par-
lament, however, the right to make such connections is prohibited.
Chatham Dockyard Hatension.—For some time past extensive
works have been in progress for the extension of Chatham Dock-
yard. They are being executed upon 380 acres of land, and com-
prise, amongst other works, the reclamation of a marshy tongue of
land known as St. Mary’s Island, which was formerly submerged at
high water; in addition to which the scheme includes the construc-
tion of a series of three extensive docks along the line formerly
occupied by St. Mary’s Creek, and the erection of workshops. The
reclamation of St. Mary’s Island has necessitated the erection of a
considerable portion of embankment and river-wall, the latter con-
sisting of a brickwork face with concrete backing; the island was
then raised, by means of spoil tipped upon it, to a level well above
high-water mark. ‘The first basin, next Chatham Reach, has an
area of 22 acres; it will be used for repairs, and is furnished on its
south side with four large graving docks, the first stone of which
was laid on 21st April, 1868. The middle, or factory basin, 20
acres in extent, will be provided with factory buildings on the
southern side, including fitting and erecting shops, boiler shops,
smithy, foundry, stores, &c.; whilst on the northern side will be
the camber for a floating dock, a docking platform, and ten slips
for laying up frigates, with the necessary worksheds. The third,
or fitting-out basin, into which vessels entering for repairs will pass
to be dismantled prior to going into the other basin, or, if leaving,
they will be rigged and receive their supplies and stores, is 33 acres
in area. The repairing basin, with its graving docks, and the com-
munication with the factory basin, are expected to be opened in
April next. The factory basin will probably be opened by the end of
1871, and the works of the other basin are also in a forward state.

536 _ Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.

Institution of Mechanical Engineers.—The meeting of this
Society was held at Nottingham on the 3rd August last. Amongst
the papers read were the following :—“ On Self-acting Machinery
for Knitting Hosiery by Power,” by Mr. Arthur Paget, of Long-
borough ; “ On the mode of working Coal in the Midland Counties,”
by Mr. George Fowler, Manager of the Hucknall Colliery ; “ Con-
clusions derived from the Experience of Recent Boiler Explosions,”
by Mr. E. B. Marten, Chief Engineer of the Midland Boiler Assu-
rance Company; and “On a Self-acting Safety and Fire-extin-
guishing Valve for Steam-Boilers,” by Mr. G. D. Hughes. Space
will not admit of our giving a reasonable abstract of all the above
papers; we shall therefore confine ourselves to a few remarks on
the first and last two mentioned subjects. Mr. Fowler's lectures
are reviewed elsewhere.

Self-acting Machinery for Knitting Hosiery by Power.—The
date at which appliances for knitting have been brought within the
limits of machinery is very recent. It is one of the greatest pecu-
liarities of the hosiery manufacture that it shapes wearing apparel
without the intervention of the tailor or of the milliner ; thus there
exists a necessity that the machines employed should be easily
adapted to make articles of very great variety of shape, thickness,
and degrees of elasticity. Mr. Paget gave a description of a self-
acting power-frame of his own invention, which, on account of its
necessarily great complication of parts, it would be impossible to
describe without illustrations. A skilful framework knitter with
his hand-frame would, it was stated, knit about 5400 stitches per
minute ; whereas a girl could, on the same work, attend to three of
Mr. Paget’s self-acting machines, making in the aggregate 40,500
stitches per minute.

Boiler Explosions.—Mr. Marten remarked that from the result
of the experience of the last four years, he was enabled to confirm
the opinion he previously held, that all boilers, however good in
original construction, are liable, in the course of time, to get into
bad order and explode. The causes of explosions appear to be
three, viz.—1l. Faults in construction or repair; 2. Faults in work-
ing, which creep on insidiously and unnoticed ; and 3. Faults which
might be seen and guarded against by careful attendants. Nearly
all the faults would be detected by periodical examination, which is
indeed the only true safeguard against explosions. Hach cubic foot
of water has the explosive effect of one pound of gunpowder, and
the explosion of a boiler assimilates more nearly to that of gun-
powder than of any other explosive agent. Mr. Marten enters into
some detail regarding the various explosions that have come under

1870.] Geology and Palxontology. 537

his notice, and sums up with some very excellent rules for the avoid-
ance of such disasters.

Safety-Valve for Steam-Boilers——This apparatus is intended to
serve the double functions of fusible plugs and low-water alarums.
An internally loaded valve of spherical form is placed in a steam-
chamber, and a pair of steam-pipes connect this chamber with the
furnace crown of the boiler. The safety-valve is dead weighted, and
should the pressure of steam lift it up, it escapes into the chamber
and down the pipes into the furnace. Any over-pressure is thus
dealt with, and the motion of a float is made to act in a similar
way on the same safety-valve. Another independent safety-valve
is adjusted to blow off at a pressure somewhat lower than that at
which the dead weight is adjusted.

Inverpool Polytechnic Society.—A very interesting paper was
recently read before this Society by Mr. T. B. Thorburn, C.E.,
Surveyor to the Birkenhead Commissioners, “On the method
adopted in Birkenhead for Ventilating Sewers, and carrying away
the Gaseous Emanations generated therein.” This paper, which it
would be impossible to follow im detail, contains an account of the
extent of the Birkenhead sewers, and not only states the different
ventilators employed, but gives also the cost of constructing them
according to the several arrangements adopted.

7. GEOLOGY AND PALAZONTOLOGY.

(Including the Proceedings of the Geological Society and Notices
of Recent Geological Works.)

Professor John Phillips, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D., F.RS. &c.—Few
men have by their own labours contributed a larger share to the
advancement of scientific knowledge than Professor Phillips, and
we are glad to obtain a sketch of his career,* which is probably as
full of noble achievements as that of any scientific man we have
ever known. Brought very young (by the death of his father)
under the care of his uncle, William Smith, originally known as
“Strata Smith,” and afterwards called “the father of English
Geology,” he was early led to take delight in the identification of
strata by their fossil contents, and accompanied his uncle through
the greater part of England during his geological investigations,
which resulted in the first geological map of England and Wales.
Few men of science have had a more distinguished career. Ap-
pointed Keeper of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society’s Museum
in 1825, that Society grew and flourished under his care, and led in

* «Geol. Mag.,’ vol. vii., 1870, p. 301.

538 Chronicles of Science. ‘[Oct.,

1831 to the establishment of the British Association, of which he
became the Assistant General Secretary in 1832, and continued to
act in that capacity until 1863. In 1834 he became Professor of
King’s College and a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1840 he re-
signed York Museum, and entered upon the duties of the Geological
Survey of England and Wales, to which he contributed Memoirs
on ithe Palaeozoic Fossils of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, and
afterwards on the Malvern Hills, &e. In 1844 he became Professor
of Geology in the University of Dublin. In 1849 he was appointed
one of Her Majesty's Commissioners to inquire into and report upon
the system of ventilation employed in mines. In 1853 he com-
menced the duties of the Chair of Geology at Oxford, which he has
continued to hold ever since the death of Dr. Buckland. In 1859
he was elected President of the Geological Society of London; in
1865, President of the British Association. His various geological
works are above seventy in number, and his astronomical and other
papers are also very numerous. Besides the York Museum which
enjoyed the advantages of Professor Phillips’s attention, the present
Oxford Museum may be said to have been created by him, and is
a model for any city in the world to copy.

Lecture on Voleanoes.—Mr. David Forbes, F.R.8., recently *
delivered an interesting lecture at St. George’s Hall on Volcanoes.
Speaking of the relative energy displayed by volcanic forces in the
older geological periods, Mr. Forbes said, “We must bear in mind
that we still have voleanoes whose craters, several miles in diameter,
send forth at times streams of molten stone forty miles and more in
length, or showers of ashes which bury the surface of the ground
to a depth of 400 feet below them, and, furthermore, see volcanic
mountains and islands literally rising up before our eyes to an
elevation of even thousands of feet, in what, geologically speaking,
is but a second of time, it does not to me seem at all necessary to
assume that such internal or cataclysmic forces were so much more
energetic in any other period than at present.”

The author believes that sufficient importance has not been
given to the effects produced by the cataclysmic action of volcanoes.
He points out that all the chief features of the earth’s surface are
due to the elevatory forces within, and that volcanoes not only form
the most lofty mountains in the world, but that the backbone of
most of the others is composed of eruptive rocks. Jt must therefore
be admitted that the changes effected in the physical geography of
the world have resulted from a combination of two great but most
opposite agencies, the internal and external, igneous and aqueous,
cataclysmic and uniformitarian; and that all the phenomena of
nature result from a combination of one or more forces, the same
phenomena, at times, being the result of totally different agencies.

* June 19, 1870.

1870. | Geology and Palxontology. 539

Mr. Hopkins’ Method of Determining the Thickness of the
Earth's Crust—Having been some time since challenged by M.
Delaunay,* a distinguished French astronomer and mathematician,
the late Mr. Hopkins’ friend, Archdeacon Pratt, F.R.S.,f writes in
his defence and shows what he conceives to be a flaw in M. Delau-
nay's objections ; namely, that the earth is not a simple shell with
a fluid interior always revolving in one plane (in which case he
admits there would be no possible objection to M. Delaunay’s argu-
ments in favour of a comparatively thin rigid crust and a fluid
interior), but that it is ever being disturbed by the forces of pre-
cession and nutation; and before the rigid crust and the fluid
interior could arrive at a state of equilibrium in one position, the
axis would begin to assume a new position, and the fluid interior
would again be unconformable in its motion to the external shell ;
and the earth’s motion would again be retarded in a small degree,
sufficient to interfere with the axial variations to which the earth is
ever subject by the laws of precession and nutation. As science
advances it is absolutely imperative that in all these questions our
conclusions should be in accord with the laws of chemistry and the
known terrestrial conditions, as well as the laws of dynamics.

A New Fossil Snake in Grreece.—A new fossil Python has been
lately described by Dr. Ferd. Roemer} from the Island of Eubea.
This is the second fossil ophidian found in Greece, and adds greatly
to the interest of the Miocene fauna of this old continent, already
rendered so important by the discoveries at Pikermi of such a
remarkable series of types of African Mammalia, together with the
Hipparion by M. Gaudry.

A New Labyrinthodont Amphibian from the Coal-shale near
Neweastle-upon-Tyne.—Mr. Thomas Atthey, well known to geo-
logists as one of the most indefatigable investigators of the fossil-
remains of the Newcastle Coal-shales, has again been successful in
bringing to light the skull of a new and remarkable Labyrinthodont
reptile, which the authors of the paper,§ Messrs. Atthey and —
Hancock, have named Batrachiderpeton lineatum. The lower jaw
was discovered three or four years since, but the cranium has only
now been obtained.

It is impossible to contemplate the structure of the roof of the
mouth of this curious Labyrinthodont, without being reminded
of the arrangement of the parts in that of Siren, Proteus, and
Azolotl. The well-armed vomer in particular is very striking.
The extensive development of this vomerine armature and the
deficiency of bony maxille, would seem to ally Batrachiderpeton

i ‘Geol. Mag.,’ vol. v., p. 507. + Ibid., vol. vii., p. 421.
t ‘ Abdruck a. d. Zeitschr. d. Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft,’ Jahre,
1870.
— ‘Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.,’ Series 4, vol. vi., No. 31, p. 56, Pl. I, July,
VoL. VI. 20

540 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

to Siren and Proteus; while the relationship of the vomers to the
pterygoids, and the form of the latter, are very similar to what
obtains in Azolotl ; and the alliance with this last-named interesting
form would be rendered still stronger, if it should turn out that our
new genus has really bony maxille, particularly as the premaxille
are armed with teeth. In Siren and Proteus the premaxillaries
are quite minute and are devoid of teeth. This is not the only
instance in which a Labyrinthodont has been found to exhibit an
approximation to the Siren-type of structure. Pteroplax is so
related, although its approach is by a different line from that of
Batrachider peton.

Petrified Forest near Caivo.—The fossil-wood which covers the
desert to the east of Cairo has long filled the passing traveller on
this great eastern high road with surprise. The immense quantity
of what seems to be decaying wood in a region described as a
“dreary arid expanse, treeless and almost shrubless, rugged with
dark-coloured knolls, and intersected by a few dry rain-channels,”
excites, by the remarkable contrast of the present with what is
apparently the not far-distant past, the wonder of the most careless
observer. They have, of course, been referred to by travellers in
many published books. Burkhardt thought they were petrified
date-trees, Holroyd referred them to the Doom-palm, Murray's
‘Handbook’ also speaks of them as palms. Gardimer Wilkinson
refers to branched and thorn-bearing trees as well as palms, also to
some jointed stems resembling bamboos. A careful examination by
the late Prof. Unger, however, failed to elicit more than a single
species, after a most searching examination of a very large series
of specimens, and after a personal visit to the spot.

This form, which he named Nicolia Egyptiaca, has just been
supplemented by a second species brought home by Prof. Owen
during his recent visit to Egypt with the Prince and Princess of
Wales. Mr. Carruthers has figured and described it as Nicola
Owenti,* after its discoverer.

Ttalian Tertiary Brachiopoda,—Mr. Thomas Davidson, F.B.S.,
our great authority upon “ Lamp-shells,” has taken up his pen and
crayons to illustrate the Tertiary Brachiopoda of Italy, which he is
carrying out most completely in the ‘Geological Magazine.” In
his introduction he refers to the much-discussed question of deve-
lopment of species. ‘“ We are,” he says, “far from having disco-
vered the laws which regulate the gradual succession of life; and
we are, I fear, much too apt to guess at the origin of species, and
to interpret those unknown laws from a small number of incomplete
observations. The assiduous researches which, for many years, I
have made among the living and fossil species of Brachiopoda have,
to a certain extent, imbued my mind with the idea that an indivi-

* See ‘Geol. Mag., vol. vii., p. 306, 1870.

1870. ] Geology and Palxontology. 541

dual species may have been gradually very much modified in time,
so as to suit the conditions under which it had to exist; but at the
same time everyone who has studied with any degree of care any
class composing the animal kingdom, must frankly admit that there
are so many inexplicable sudden appearances of entirely distinct
forms, with no apparent links connecting them with those that
were antecedent or even contemporaneous, that it is impossible to
arrive at any definite conclusions as to what extent species are de-
rived from their predecessors.”

New British Brachiopod.—Mr. E. Ray Lankester describes a
new species of Terebratula from the (Portlandian ?) “ Drift” of East
Anglia, which he has named T. rea; it is a remarkably large form.

Cephalaspis Dawsoni, sp. nov.—The same gentleman describes
a nearly perfect Cephalaspidean Fish from the Silurio-Devonian
beds on the north side of Gaspé Bay, Canada, associated with
plant-remains. It is named after Principal Dawson, of Montreal.

The Structure of the Crinoidea, Cystidea, and Blastoidea.—
We have lately received considerable additional information upon
this subject from the pen of Mr. E. Billings, the able Palzontolo-
gist to the Geological Survey of Canada.* In the first part of his *
paper Mr. Billings considers the position of the mouth in relation
to the ambulacral system.

Earlier paleontologists described the large lateral aperture in
the Cystidea as the mouth. Von Buch, Forbes, Hall, and Billings
himself, in his first paper, adopted the view that this was not the
mouth, but an ovarian aperture, and that the smaller orifice, usually
situated in the apex, from which the ambulacral grooves radiate,
was the true oral orifice. Subsequently (nm 1858) Mr. Billings
re-investigated the subject, and came to the conclusion that the
lateral aperture was really the mouth, or serving as both oral and
anal aperture in those species not possessing distinct orifices. The
small apical orifice was determined to be an ambulacral aperture.

To this view Prof. Wyville Thomson demurs, on the ground
of the want of analogy in the rest of the class. Mr. Billings re-
plies that in this class the position of the various organs in relation
to each other, and also to the general mass of the body, is subject
to very great fluctuations. Thus the mouth and vent are separated
in some of the groups, but united in others; while either or both
may open out to the surface directly upward or downward, or at
any lateral point. The ovaries may be either dorsal or ventral,
internal or external, and associated with either the mouth or the
anus, or with neither. ‘The ambulacral skeleton may be imbedded
in and form a portion of the general covering of the body, or lie
upon the surface, or be borne upon free-moving arms. Although
these characters are constant, or nearly so, in the same family, in

* See Silliman’s ‘ American Journal of Science.’

202

542 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

different orders, or remotely allied families, they are extremely
variable.

The author proceeds to cite a number of instances in support of
his conclusions in which the mouth was altogether disconnected
from the radial system, and he figures Batocrinus acosidactylus,
Amphoracrinus, sp. Caryocrinus ornatus, &e.

Mr. Billings next discusses the functions of the pectinated
rhombs and calycine pores of the Cystidea. Upon this subject a
very able and exhaustive paper was written by Mr. J. Rofe,* to
-which Mr. Billings refers, and accepts the decision of Dr. Dana,
Mr. Rofe, &., and concludes them to be respiratory organs. The
author proceeds to describe these organs in Codaster, Pentremites,
&c., and then endeavours to show the homologies which exist
between the respiratory organs of these paleozoic forms and recent
Echinoderms, and lastly, the nature of the “convoluted plate” of
the Crinoidea. This plate, like the pectinated rhombs, seems to
have been connected with the respiratory system. There can be
no doubt that the true explanation of why these respiratory organs
occupy so large a proportion of the body of the animal is to be
found in the fact that the food was obtained by the motion of the
vibratile cilia of the arms, which thus fulfilled, as in so many other
invertebrates, the double function of bringing fresh streams of the
circumambient respiratory medium into intimate contact with the
fluid within the general cavity of the body of the animal; and at
the same time of conveying minute animalcule and other organic
particles to the mouth in order to serve as food.

GEOLOGICAL Society oF Lonpon.

The present number of the ‘Proceedings of the Geological
Society’ contains a rich store of paleontological information, both
British and foreign. We have illustrations of Mammalia, Reptilia,
Mollusca, Corals, and Plants; and those who delight in long lists
of fossils can also fully satisfy their appetites. Nor need the field-
geologist grumble, for he also may regale himself on the Neocomian,
the Oolite, or the Lias to his heart’s content. A valuable contribu-
tion to our knowledge of Fossil Corals is from Dr. P. Martin
Duncan, “On the Madreporaria of the Australian Tertiary Deposits.”
The series described is from the province of Victoria, the Geolo-
gical Survey of which was (until lately abolished) so ably con-
ducted by Mr. Selwyn (now. Director of the Geological Survey of
Canada). The species described do not belong to the reef-building
forms, but to such as*now occupy the sea-bottom from low spring-
tide mark to the depth where Polyzoa abound. It is interesting to

* ‘Geol, Mag.,’ 1865, vol. ii., p. 245.

1870. ] Geology and Paleontology. 543

note that twenty genera are now found in the Australian seas, only
three of which, however,, have species in the Tertiaries, viz. the
eosmopolite T'rochocyathus, Flabellum, and Amphihelia, but the
fossil species are quite distinct from those now living. If we may
judge by the wide geographical distribution of some of these species
we may with safety infer that their range in time was also very
much greater than has hitherto been assumed. Allied forms are
found living in Japan and China, the Red Sea, the West Indies,
and Europe in Miocene times.

The descriptions of the new species are illustrated by thirty-two
figures, occupying three double-octavo plates. ,

There is reason to believe that the Wealden vertebra, now
described and figured by Mr. J. W. Hulke, belongs to the same
large animal—distinct from any of the known Dinosawrs—of which
there is a single vertebra preserved in the British Museum, and
named by the late Dr. Mantell Streptospondylus. The texture of
the bone is like the coarse diploé of the elephant’s skull, and has led
to the belief, by Mr. H. G. Seeley, that it represents a gigantic
Pterosaurian; but Mr. Hulke reminds us that an extremely light
skeleton does not necessarily prove endowment with flight, and also
that all the known flying-reptiles have proccelian vertebrae, whilst
the vertebra of Streptospondylus is amphicelian in type. The
supply of new and wonderful reptilian remains furnished by the
Wealden of the Isle of Wight seems almost inexhaustible, but it is
much to be regretted that by far the greater part of these have,
of late years, fallen into the hands of a local collector in the island,
unable to describe them himself and unwilling to allow them to be
worked out and described by anyone else.

Our knowledge of Fossil Botany has been increased by an inte- —
resting description of a new fossil fern-stem, so like the recent
Osmunda, as to justify its describer, Mr. Carruthers, in placing it
in the Osmundaceze. The specimen was silicified so effectually that
even the starch-grains in its cells, and the mycelium of a fungus |
traversing some of them, were perfectly represented. The fossil
(which was probably derived from the upper part of the Thanet
Sands) has been named Osmundites Dowkeri, after Mr. George
Dowker, its discoverer.

Professor Owen has ventured upon the difficult task of deter-
mining the remains of a number of fossil Mammalia upon the
evidence furnished by a series of detached teeth brought home by
Mr. Robert Swinhoe, H.B.M. Consul at Formosa, and obtained by
him from the apothecaries’ shops at Shanghai and at Chung-king-foo
(Eastern Szechuen) on the Yangtse-kiang River. They included
two species of Stegodon, a new Hyzxna, a new Tapir, a new Lhino-
ceros, and a species of Kaup’s genus Chalicotherium. From a
general agreement in colour, chemical condition, &c., Professor Owen

544 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

concluded they all belonged to one and the same period, either to
Upper Pliocene or Post Pliocene. Strong objections were raised as
to the soundness of the species by Professor Busk, especially to
Stegodon, Hyzna, and Rhinoceros; it was also objected by Pro-
fessor Boyd Dawkins, that there was no proof of their contempo-
raneity. These teeth, which are extremely various, are sold by the
Chinese apothecaries as a very valuable medicine when pounded to
a powder. They are described by Mr. Daniel Hanbury in his
account of the Chinese Materia Medica.

Mr. Hanbury mentions that Mr. Waterhouse, of the British
Museum, has determined the following species:—Molars of the
lower jaw of Rhinoceros tichorhinus, tooth of Mastodon ; of Elephas
insigmis (?); molars of Hquus; teeth of Mippothertum (two
species ?); teeth of sheep, stag, bear.*

They are said to come from the provinces of Shen-si and Shan-si,
but the demand for them is so great that they are believed to be
largely imported from the East Indies, and notably from Borneo.

Mr. Sharp’s paper, ‘‘ On the Oolites of Northampton,’ is prin-
cipally of importance because of the recent discovery in this district
of vast bands of ironstone, the economic quarrying of which has
yielded a characteristic fauna with a decidedly Inferior Oolite
facies, in beds which had been mapped as Great Oolite (“ North-
ampton Sands”) by the Geological Survey, and in which—until
quite recently—not a trace of a fossil remain was known to exist.

Mr. Sharp has carefully described the district illustrating his
observations by numerous sections and a good sketch-map of its
geology, together with lists and localities of the fossils he has been
so successful in obtaming. As a rider to the paper, Dr. Wright
describes a new and very finely-preserved star-fish (Stellaster
Sharpiz), from the ironstone of the Inferior Oolite, Northampton.

Mr. J. W. Judd, of the Geological Survey of England and
Wales, has devoted much time and attention to the Neocomian
strata of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and their correlation with
those of north-western Germany and elsewhere. He now gives us
the result of his studies, carefully prepared and illustrated with
maps, sections, and tables. ‘The Neocomian beds of Yorkshire, &c.,
appear to be the extreme westerly development of a great mass of
strata of the same age stretching over a wide area in Northern
Europe. It is also seen that in Yorkshire and in Brunswick the
Neocomian series is complete, but in the intermediate districts its
lowest member is absent, being replaced by the fresh-water deposits
of the German Wealden.

Mr. Ralph Tate supplies two papers, on the Middle Lias in
Ireland, and the Lower and Middle Lias in Gloucestershire. No
higher member of the Jurassic series is known in Ireland than the

* «Journal of the Pharmaceutical Society,’ 1860.

1870.] ~ Meteorology. 545

Lower Lias. The Middle Lias occurs as drift on cultivated fields,
&c. Mr. Tate suggests that this drift may have been transported
from the Hebrides by glacial action. In the case of Gloucestershire,
Mr. Tate endeavoured to apply the numerical test as to the distri-
bution of organic remains in order to show that the zone of Ammo-
nites Jamesoni belongs to the Middle Lias, and A. raricostatus
to the Lower Lias. For the present it is exceedingly difficult to
follow these minute divisions until more of their contained fossils
have been identified and figured.

In addition to these, we have abstract notices of the Crag of
Norfolk and Associated Beds, by J. Prestwich, Esq., F.R.S. Cap-
tain 8. Hyde on Deep-mining in §.W. Ireland. Dr. E. Bunzel on
a Reptilian Skull from Griinbach. Mr. R. J. Lechmere Guppy on
Trinidad Fossils. M. Coumbary on the Fall of an Aerolite in
Fezzan. Dr. A. A. Caruana on a further discovery of Fossil
Elephants in Malta. The Journal is a very stout one, numbering
468 pp. and having fourteen lithographic plates.

8. METEOROLOGY.

THE Meteorological Office has issued Part I. of its new publica-
tion, ‘The Quarterly Weather Report,’ for the first three months
of 1869. The chief features of novelty presented by this Report
are the fac-simile representations of the curves of the self-recording
instruments. It should be stated that the preparation of plates
such as those referred to has been rendered possible by an invention
of Mr. Francis Galton’s. This isa pantagraph which is capable of
effecting reductions simultaneously in different proportions along
two rectangular co-ordinates. The proportions selected for the
plates have been 4 for the horizontal or time scale, and } for
the vertical scale. By this means all the information for five days
from the seven observatories is condensed into the space of two 4to
plates, one for the barograms and wet and dry bulb thermograms, —
the other for the wind and rain. Scales on both the British and
metrical systems are given at each side, so that the readings of the
barometers and thermometers may be determined for any epoch.
For the wind the scales are in statute and geographical miles.

The letter-press consists of (1) an introduction containing some
general remarks, especially on the difficulty of obtaining trustworthy
records of wind at land stations ; (2) the Report itself, which is
a chronicle of the weather for the three months, derived from all
sources which were available to the office, with tabular statistics of
storms ; (3) the tables for the year 1869, giving the monthly and
the five-day means of various elements, derived from the hourly
tabulated readings of the instruments.

546 Chronieles of Science. | Oct.,

In the appendix Mr. Scott has given a notice of some late
easterly storms, which is an attempt to classify them and possibly
discover traces of their origin. The number of storms investigated
is only twenty-five, evidently far too few to allow of important
deductions being drawn, but some very interesting facts come out
in the discussion, and we hope that the paper may be followed by
others of a similar statistical character.

The price of the Report is very moderate, being only 5s. a —
number. It is published by Stanford.

The Third Annual Report of the Committee has also lately
appeared. It shows steady progress in the three departments of
the operations of the office—Ocean Meteorology, Storm Warnings,
and Land Meteorology of these islands. With regard to the last
of these we regret to see that Dr. Stewart has found himself
obliged to resign his position as Secretary to the Committee. His
services in organizing the system of self-recording observation has
been of extreme value to the cause of meteorology in England.

In Part II. of the Report we have the description of some new
instruments— Mr. Galton’s Pantagraph, above noticed; Beckley’s
Self-registering Rain-gauge, which is to be introduced at all the
observatories ; and Dr. Miller’s Deep-sea Thermometer, to which we
have alluded in a previous number.

The last number of the ‘ Journal of the Scottish Meteorological
Society ’ is mainly occupied with a paper by Mr. D. Milne Home,
“ Suggestions for Increasing the Supply of Spring Water at Malta,
&c.” In our notice of the last paper by the same author, in
No. XXYV. of this Journal, we said, “ The paper consists of a series
of extracts from the reports of various observers,” and the same
words will apply exactly to that now under consideration. Mr.
Home in his remarks suggests the old and well-known remedy for
local drought, vzz. extensive plantations. It seems rather a pity
that when the Society, as we learn from another part of the journal,
is endeavouring to obtain funds from the Government, any portion
of its means should be expended in publishing papers on foreign, or
at least colonial, meteorology.

In our last number we noticed Dr. R. Angus Smith’s paper
“On the Detection and Estimation of the Impurities of Air, by
the Analysis of Rain Water, and by Washing Bottles of Air.” His
Sixth Report, as Alkali Inspector under the Board of Trade, has
just appeared, and contains much valuable information on the
subject, which is, however, too foreign to meteorology to require
further notice here.

Mr. Blanford, Meteorological Reporter to the Government of
Bengal, has published a paper in the ‘Journal of the Asiatic
Society,’ “ On the Relations of Irregularities of Barometrical Pres-
sure to the Monsoon Rainfall of 1868-9.” He finds that in both

1870. | Meteorology. 547

years an area of relative depression existed in Lower Bengal which
took its rise at the beginning of the south-west monsoon in April.
“ Tts position was different in the two years, being in the former in
the north-west corner of the Bay of Bengal, in the latter in the
hilly country to the west of the Delta. It influenced the vapour-
bearing winds from the south by deflecting them towards it; and
necessarily, by determining an ascending current, it produced an
excessive rainfall to the north of its position, the maximum fall
being at from 50 to 150 miles distance from the place where
the barometer was lowest. Finally, it impeded the passage of the
vapour-bearing winds to the north-west provinces, and thus deprived
that region of a great part of its usual annual supply.”

Considering the extreme importance to India of the periodical rain-
fall, papers like this of Mr. Blanford’s are of great value and interest.

The Third Annual Report of Mr. Blanford’s office has also
appeared ; it shows a steady progress in the way of systematic
organization of the various observing stations in Bengal. We may
now hope that the example shown by this Presidency will soon be
followed in the other districts of Hindostan.

M. Harold Tarry has published notices of the fall of red rain
in Italy on various occasions. The papers first appeared in the
‘ Bulletin of the Association Scientifique,’ and then in the ‘ Comptes
Rendus.’ His object is to prove that the occurrence is due to
previous dust-storms in the desert of Sahara, and not to the advent
of cosmical dust from the regions of space, as Arago and Quetelet
formerly maintained. He has examined three recent instances of
the phenomenon, viz. March 10, 1869, March 24, 1869, Feb-
ruary 14, 1870. He says that the sequence of circumstances is
the same in all cases. A barometrical depression and a storm
advances from north to south across western Europe to Africa,
where the sand of the Sahara is set in motion in clouds of dust.
A few days subsequently a reverse action takes place: a storm
advances from Africa to the south of Europe, carrying the dust
with it, which comes to the earth with the rain.

The paper is very interesting, but we must say that M. Tarry
has not quite proved his case as yet.

The later numbers of the ‘ Journal of the Austrian Meteoro-
logical Society ’ do not contain much that is suitable for extraction
for this Chronicle. The editors have adopted the practice of giving
abstracts of meteorological data from isolated stations, and these
cannot be rendered intelligible without the insertion of a large
amount of tabular matter. The districts for which such informa-
tion is afforded are very various. M. Rayet’s paper “On the
Meteorology of the Isthmus of Suez” is reproduced, in abstract,
from the ‘ Atlas Météorologique’ for 1868. Then follow several
papers by M. Wojeikoff “On the Meteorology of Russia,” which he

548 Chromeles of Science. [Oct.,

has ‘compiled from various disconnected registers of local observa-
tions for short periods lying at the observatory of St. Petersburgh.
The stations are very widely distributed over Europe and Asia.

The Report of the Central Physical Observatory, by Prof. H.
Wild, the Director, consists mainly of an account of the condition of
the observatory, anda catalogue and description of instruments. As
no report had been published since 1864 it was necessary to take
stock, and to publish the account for the information of the Russian
public. The only matter of general interest is that Prof. Wild
appears to have finally decided not to employ photographic self-
recording instruments at the normal stations, owing to their serious
initial cost and the expense and trouble of working them.

Dr. Prestel, of Emden, has published a pamphlet entitled ‘ Der
Sturmwarner, in which he commences by discussing the facts of
storms, and the possibility of giving telegraphic intelligence of their
approach. On reading this part of the paper we are disappoimted
to find that Dr. Prestel has not made himself acquainted with the
latest facts of the subject. The principle of his storm-warner is
similar to that of Piddington’s horn circles.

He makes four assumptions.

I, That the barometrical reading at the centre of the storm is
28:78 ins. on the mean.

II. That the wind blows in circles round it.

III. That the diameter of the storm is nearly constant.

IV. That the difference between barometrical readings for a given
distance in all parts of the storm, or the “ gradient,” is constant.

If these four postulates be oranted, the use ‘of the transparent
diagram is perfectly simple and intelligible, but as there is no foun-
dation for any one of them, the whole reasoning falls to the ground.

Another book the utility of which we fail to discover, although
it has been favourably noticed in some newspapers, 1s ‘ The Wind in
his Circuits,’ by Lieut. R. H. Armit, R.N.

The author proposes to subvert Maury’ s theory of the wind by
facts drawn from his own experience. A few examples will suffice
to show the character of his arguments. The italics are his :-—

“The trade winds are very damp moist winds, heavily charged
with vapour: every cubic inch of them containin g millions upon
millions of minute globules of water. On entering the equatorial
calm belt, the process these globules undergo is simply that of being
turned into steam.”*

“The easterly wind is formed of compressed vappowr or steam.’ a)

“Lightning and thunder are caused by the ‘ Arctic current’
descending to fill any vacuum that may suddenly be formed in the
warm currents belowit...... The ‘ Arctic current’ in rushing
down would grate against the sides of the warm air of the under

* P24, + P.57.

1870. | Meteorology. 549

currents, causing ‘ friction’ and ‘lightning, the sudden shock of the
impenetrable masses the ‘thunder.’ ”’*

“ Regarding our atmosphere as a homogeneous metallic body.” t

Our readers will be ready to admit that Capt. Maury has not
much to fear from opponents like Mr. Armit.

We are glad, however, to be able to record a contribution to
theoretical meteorology of a character very different to the foregoing.
This is ‘ Physical Geography in its relation to the Prevailing Winds
and Currents,’ by Mr. J. Knox Laughton. We regret that we can
only very briefly allude to its contents. Mr. Laughton gives a
concise account of the existing winds, and then discusses the accepted
theories of the origin of the great currents of air and water which
exist on the globe. He shows that Hadley’s theory of the trade
winds, as developed by Dove, is insufficient to explain the facts
observed. ‘The air does not flow towards the region of highest
temperature for the time being. In the old continent this district
is the north of Africa and Arabia, towards which the trade wind
does not blow. Secondly, he concludes that the rotation of the
earth does not materially affect the direction of the currents of air,
because “ the friction between the air and earth is so great, that the
air almost instantaneously acquires the velocity of the points of
the earth to which it is transplanted,” and because Dove's theory
will not explain due easterly or westerly winds any more than
north-westerly or south-easterly winds in the northern hemisphere
(S.W. or N.E. in the southern). The laws of motion of flowing
water are next described, and the action of obstacles in altering
the direction of the current, and producing reverse currents or
backwaters. After giving an account of the currents of the sea,
similar to that previously given of the winds, the author concludes
“that wind, acting not only on the surface of the sea, but, by means
of intense friction, to a considerable depth, is the chief ”—he will
not say the only —“ cause of the numerous oceanic currents.”

The final theory which Mr. Laughton adopts is thus stated :—
“'The whole atmosphere, relatively to the surface of the earth,
continually moves, or tends to move from west to east; and the
prevalent local variations from that direction are either eddies, or
deflections, formed in accordance with the principles which regulate
the motion of fluids.” .

Our space will not allow of our criticizmg Mr. Laughton’s
reasoning in detail, but we cannot omit to give him credit for
having collected a most valuable series of facts from the most
authentic and most recent sources, and discussed them with thorough
conscientiousness. Although we may not agree with all his conclu-
sions, we feel that he has produced a very useful and interesting work.

+ PGs: j P11,

550 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

9. MINERALOGY.

WuueE the colony of Victoria has year after year been eagerly ex-
plored by many a miner in quest of its golden wealth, it is notable
that the number of mineral species hitherto brought to light has
been strangely incommensurate with the activity of these mining
operations. In spite, however, of this poverty of materials—a
poverty which is the more striking when contrasted with the pro-
digality of species distributed through the ore-deposits of many
other mining countries—some good mineralogical work has already
been done in the colony. This is due especially to the exertions of
Mr. Ulrich, one of the geologists who, under Mr. Selwyn’s guid-
ance, were carefully working out the structure of the country, until
the colonists were tempted, in an evil hour, to disband their staff
of Geological Surveyors. Mr. Ulrich’s recent observations on the
minerals of Victoria have been thrown into the form of a little
brochure,* which may be regarded as forming a sequel to an essay
on a kindred subject prepared by the author for the Intercolonial
Exhibition of 1867.

In the pamphlet now before us we find descriptions of three
species which are entirely new to mineralogical science. One of
these is a native alloy of gold and bismuth found in the Nuggetty
Reef at Maldon, and hence termed Maldonite:+ the second is a
green mnassive mineral allied to serpentine, consisting of a hydrous
silicate of alumina and sesquioxide of chromium, found in Upper
Silurian rocks on the flanks of the Mount Ida range, and named
Selwynite, in compliment to the Director of the late Geological
Survey; while the third new species is Talcosite, a mmeral which
resembles tale and occurs in seams traversing the Selwynite. In
addition to these newly-discovered species, many other Victorian
minerals described by Mr. Ulrich merit attention, either from their
crystalline forms—such as the splendid specimens of Herschelite
examined several years ago by Dr. von Lang, of which some addi-
tional forms have been lately discovered—or from their peculiar
mode of occurrence, such as the crystals of Struvite recently found
in the guano which covers the floor of the Skipton caves in Balla-
rat, and appears to have been derived in great measure from the
excrement of bats which resort to the caverns as a hiding-place
during the day. Among gem-stones, Victoria can boast of possess-
ing the diamond, ruby, sapphire, topaz, and garnet—some crystals
of the last being notable for their singularly distorted and conse-
quently deceptive appearance. The study of Australian gems is
one which the Rey. Dr. Bleasdale has made peculiarly his own.

* ‘Contributions to the Mineralogy of Victoria’ By George H. F. Ulrich,

F.G.S. Meibourne, 1870. Pp. 32.
+ ‘Quart. Journ. Science,’ October, 1869, p. 556.

1870. | Mineralogy. 551

Passing to-another of our colonies, we find materials for mine-
ralogical work afforded by the many meteorites which from time to
time have fallen in India. One of these has lately been analyzed
by Mr Waldie.* In February, 1867, a shower of about forty
stones fell near Khettree in Rajpootana. Alarmed at the shower,
and attributing it to the vengeance of an offended deity, the natives
at once collected the stones, reduced them to a fine powder, and
scattered it to the breeze. Diligent search, however, led to the
discovery of a piece which luckily had escaped destruction, and it is
this fragment which formed the subject of Mr. Waldie’s analysis.
The stone is of a light bluish-erey colour, darker in parts, and
contains disseminated metallic particles and granules of a greenish-
‘mde colour. Its general composition was found to be as fol-
OWS :—

Nickel iron Pees. a «fay wate ERPS
Troilite, and. schreibersite .. . .. ss», = <<. Sieve
Earthy matter soluble in acids Pree paar is alls)
Die moolwhie: i. 62. eae A ey Sa eb

LOL-31

For eighty years a specimen has lain in the Wirzburg collec-
tion, under the name of an arsenical ore. Prof. Sandberger’s recent
examination shows, however, that it is really a new species, which
he terms Isoclase.t The mineral—which is said to have come from
the mines of Joachimsthal, in Bohemia—crystallizes in the oblique
system, and consists of a hydrous phosphate of lime having the
following formula, and therefore analogous to the species Libe-
thenite and Tagilite, among the copper phosphates: 4 CaO. PO,
+ 5 HO.

Another new phosphate of lime is described by the same author
under the name of Collophane. This is an amorphous substance
found in cavities in the altered coralline rock of Sombrero, and has
the following composition: 3 CaO. PO; + HO.

The energetic French chemist, M. Pisani, has published an
analysis of the new Algerian mineral described by M. Flajolot as
Nadorite—a name which has reference to the Djebel Nador, in the
province of Constantine, where the mineral in question was found.
While Flajolot regarded it as a compound of the oxides of lead and
antimony, Pisani finds that it contains chlorime—a point of great
interest, since this is the first mimeral in which chlorine has been
detected in a compound containing antimony. In fact, Nadorite is
an antimonial Mendipite, or oxychloride of lead, and may be thus
formulated:{ (Sb,O;.PbO) + PbCl.

Rabdionite is Von Kobell’s name for a new mineral from the

* ‘Chemical News,’ xxi., No. 551, p. 278.

+ Leonhard and Bronn’s ‘ Jahrbuch fiir Mineralogie,’ 1870, Heft IIT., p. 306.
t ‘Comptes Rendus,’ Aug. 1, 1870, p. 319.

552 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

mines of Nischne Tagilsk, in the Urals.* -It occurs in small dull
black rods, and contains in a hydrated form the protoxides of copper,
manganese, and cobalt, with the peroxides of iron and manganese.
In writing the name of this species we have followed the author’s
mode of orthography, but the etymology of the word clearly de-
mands the form Lhabdionite (pa8diov, diminutive of fpaBédos, a
rod).

picts! publishes the results of his examination of the Russian
mineral Lawrowite,} which tend to show that it is really a diop-
side, coloured bright green by the presence of 4:2 per cent. of
hypovanadate of lime. Accompanying this mineral, he finds a new
species of analogous composition, but containing much more vana-
dium. ‘This species, which he proposes to name Vanadiolite, may
be regarded as formed of three molecules of augite associated with
one of hypovanadate of lime. The same author describes, under
the term Phosphorchromite, a Russian mineral containing chromate
of lead and phosphate of copper.

A new British locality is announced for the beautiful mineral
avanturine-quartz.t Mr. Traill is said to have found it in Orkney,
on the S. and §.W. shores of Inganess Bay.

According to the ‘ Brighton Herald,’ a large deposit of the sub-
sulphate of alumina, called Websterite, has been recently found in
Brighton during certain excavations for deep drainage.

Professor Streng’s recently-published ‘ Mineralogical Notices ’§
describe the prehnite of Harzburg, and certain pseudomorphs of
calcite and asbestos, after apophyllite, also from Harzburg.

The attention of the crystallographer may be directed to Dr.
Werner’s paper “On the Theory of the Hexagonal System ;” || to
Dr. Klein’s ‘ Note on some Forms of Galena ;’4] and to Herr Groth’s
‘Dissertation on the Topaz of certain Tim-ore Deposits, especially
those of Altenberg and Schlaggenwald, in Bohemia.’ **

10. MINING AND METALLURGY.
Mrninc.

In our Chronicles for July we noticed the proposed amalgamation
of the Mines Regulation Bill and the Metalliferous Mines Bill, re-
marking on the unfortunate character of this attempt to legislate by
one Act for two dangerous industries, differing in all their essential

* ¢ Journ. f. prakt. Chimie,’ 1870, p. 423. t Ibid., p. 442.
t ‘Geolog. Mag.,’ Sept., 1870, p. 444.
§ Leonhard and Bronn’s ‘ Jahrbuch,’ 1870, Heft IIL., p. 314.
|| Ibid., p. 290. q Ibid., p. 311.
** « Zeitschr. d. d. geolog. Gesell.,’ XXIL, p. 381.
Erratum in Chronicles last quarter, p. 417, line 8 from bottom: for “the
several species,” read “ the several plagioclastic species,”

1870.] Mining. 558

points (except that they are both subterranean employments) as
widely as possible from each other.
We have much pleasure in recording the fact that this amalga-

mated Bill has been withdrawn. The attention of the House of

Commons will no doubt be called early in the next session to some
system of legislation for collieries and mines. Let us hope that any
Bills which may be framed, will be submitted to some persons
familiar with the perils of mining, who may so organize the rules as
to render them effective and Waeneek

The Colliery Inspectors have recently issued their reports of the
fatal accidents and deaths in and about the coal and ironstone mines
of Great Britain during the year 1869. ‘The following is a con-
densed summary of their tabular statement of accidents in collieries:

In July we stated that tin mining in our western counties had
resumed a condition of high prosperity. This has, unfortunately,

: MISCELLANEOUS.
| EXPLOSIONS. ee. INSHARS sa a
| Underground. } On Surface.
| ae ‘Deaths, er foe a Deaths. ar eves Acci- Deaths.
od | es ) Le |
Northumberland, | |
Cumberland, and Pie) ee Gio ABN -2Btddel? B41 18 fo te ete
North Durham | |
. South Durham 1 2 30 | 31 6 6 24 Zany es 15
North and East
3.{ a i ee Oe ee
West Lancashire = Pie
4. eae Wales gs |128| 43| 45| 20| 20] 21] 32| 9 | 9
5. Yorkshire... 1 if 38 | 41 6 v4 12 15 5 5
Derbyshire, | |
Nottinghamshire
Leicestershire, ’ | 5 6 ol 5! Mi 12 19 22. + i
Warwickshire
North Staffordshire, = |
Chester, Shvopdine : a2 ae 7 | q 7 - - :
South Staffor dshire,
« Worcestershire | GA ee rt alaars |e : 2 = =
Monmouthshire,
Gloucestershire, 6 23 oO. OF ue Es; = 5 5 3
Somersetshire |
10. South Wales.. 9 70 62 63 14 15 Pil 21 9 12
11. Scotland—East . a 19 il 29 30 8 8 10 10 7 9
12. Scotland—West .. 4 | 4 28 | 28 6 6 me ee 1 if
Total in Collieries ee 48 | 257 | 451 | 466 | 123 | 1294) £59 | GO 7 85
9 Jronstone Mines; .. | .. 2h ae eee. SA EO TO 3 3
Gross Total... | 48 | 257 | 480 495 | 135 | 141 ma] 169 | 189 | 76 | 88
Total fatal accidents .. .. 908 in 1869 _ .. 928 in 1868
‘Total deaths<..! (20) se ee, st = MOBO m5,

554 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

been exceedingly short lived. The influence of the Continental
war has led to a reduction of from 12/. to 15/. a ton in the price of
tin ore, and consequently the tin miner is dispirited, and tin mines
are not at all in favour with speculators.

: The following were the purchases of tin ore in each month of
1869 :-—

Tons. Tons.
JomMUety Asie. 4d, Se ed UULY i sat)» Sistvse my ec alee atacnes
Kebruarye a. 1.» b 20% AUSUS i ee Oe Ok
March he eae 976 September... .. 1, 144
ADE es a | sits alle, ORD Oetoberivin4. ¢ ss
MVE iit th wd. , dep oe ee November... ... L279
Ue sh een ee Oe | December... .. 1,112

Total for 4869). yaad. Senn! ae 25

Some interesting mining operations are now being prosecuted at
a colliery belonging to the Earl of Dudley. We copy the follow-
ing particulars from the ‘ Birmingham Gazette :’"—This section of
the Dudley estate has probably been the most prolific in the world
so far as the actual yield of coal is concerned. It has been in work
for more than a hundred years, and yet its resources hold out satis-
factory promises of reward to the persevering efforts of those en-
gaged in the present experiment. In some parts of the district on
the east side of Dudley, coal is not to be found until the mine
reaches a depth of 250 yards; in other parts, as in the celebrated
twelve-yard-thick measure at Fox-yards, near Sedgeley, the coal
crops out at the surface, and may be carted away for almost the cost
of loading. In most cases the coal lies in a pretty nearly level con-
dition, and may be worked in the ordinary way, wz. by a pit-shaft
sunk perpendicularly into the earth, from the bottom of which
“oate roads” are driven; but in some instances the coal lies in such
an oblique position that to “ win” it in that manner involves great
cost and danger. ‘To overcome the difficulties of getting the coal
where it lies in this oblique position, the experiment under notice
has been resorted to. It consists of two tunnels driven from the
surface of the earth into the mine, at an angle of about thirty
degrees ; these tunnels are lined with substantial brickwork, and the
“skips” and their contents are drawn up the inclined railway, which
is laid down for the purpose, by an ordinary stationary engine fixed
on the surface. The coal already got in this way is only a few
yards from the surface, and it is found to be of a good serviceable
quality. Similar experiments were made near Bilston twelve
months ago, and the works are now in successful operation there.

The discovery of a coal of good quality in Japan is of moment.
This Japanese coal has been discovered in the Takasima Colliery at
Nagasaki. According to the analysis of Dr. Jas. Martin, the con-
stituents of this coal are in the following proportions :—Carbon,

1870.] Mining. 555

82°07; hydrogen, 5°30; oxygen, 3°35; nitrogen, 2°72; sulphur,
1°64; ash, 4°90; loss, 0°02. The samples taken from the level
drives, showing a specific gravity of 1°231, are scarcely less satis-
factory. On first firing up, the coal is said to give out smoke rather
freely, but this soon passes off, and its deposits of soot are not more
than would accrue from good English coal. The following remarks
of Mr. Madden, chief engineer of Her Majesty’s ship ‘ Ocean,’ are
very conclusive as to its merits:—“ Keeping steam with ease at
50 Ibs. pressure. Full speed for five hours with a continuous steam
exhaust blast from four cylinders, being a very severe test of evapo-
rative qualities for bituminous coal, which involves large quantities
of smoke each firing for a short time, but if used in ordinary boilers,
without blast and slow combustion this would be considerably
reduced. I consider the two samples as tested above to be equal in
general steaming properties to English North Country; and com-
pared with Welsh, repeatedly tested under same circumstances, as
shown to be best Welsh 5 cwt. = 7 cwt. Takasima.”

We have recently visited the Hayle Foundry Wharf at Nine
Elms to see the operation of some pneumatic stamps. The import-
ance of introducing the utmost economy into the ore-dressing
arrangements of the tin mines of Cornwall renders this invention of
the highest importance. The following is a brief description of the
machine :—

In the pneumatic stamp the motion is conveyed from the crank
to cap and guide cross-head, on piston-rod, by an ordinary connect-
ing-rod. Attached to its lower end is the piston-rod, and piston
packed with double reverse cup-leather packings; the piston is
41 inches diameter, and operates freely in the upper part of a gun-
metal cylinder 34 feet in length; attached to the bottom of this
cylinder, by a socket in the usual manner, is the round stamp-head
of chilled cast-iron, 9 inches diameter. The upper end of the
cylinder is bored, to receive the piston, to a depth of 14 inches ;
the piston-rod plays air-tight through the cylinder cover, which is
screwed metal to metal on the cylinder. The working barrel of
cylinder is pierced with two sets of small holes, for the ingress and
egress of air, discharging the air behind the piston after it has been
once used as an elastic cushion. Suppose the head to be set in
motion with the crank in a horizontal position, the piston being in
the middle, vertically, of the working barrel of cylinder, and mid-
way between the two sets of air-holes referred to. As the crank
and attached piston rise, the air is compressed between the piston
and cylinder cover, and the cylinder, with stamp-head attached, is
forced upwards. When in rapid motion, the elasticity of the com-
pressed air between the piston and cover flings the cylinder, with
head, some inches above the range due to the motion of the crank ;
on the descent of the piston below the bottom set of holes in the

VOL. VII. 2P

556 Chronicles of Scrence. [ Oct.,

cylinder, the air is compressed in a similar manner, and the cylinder
is forced down by the compressed air between the piston and cylin-
der bottom, until the stamp-head strikes the ore in a coffer-trough ;
thus, whether the quantity of ore be large or small, the blow is
always effective, the only difference in the working of the machine
being a shorter or longer vertical play of the cylinder and head.

The committee appointed by the North of England Institute of
Mining Engineers to mvestigate the action of safety cages and
hooks have made their report. After a most careful investigation
of all the inventions which were brought before them, and they
were very numerous, they have arrived at the following conclusion :—
“That there are really but two different classes, namely, those which
come into operation every time the chain is slackened, and those
which do so only when the cage is actually falling or descending at
a speed almost equal to that of a falling body. Inventions of the
first class are very numerous; the second class has one sole expo-
nent, Calow, and both depend on the action of springs (which are
always subject to derangement) to initiate the grip, which intensi-
fies itself by being drawn more and more into gear by friction on
the guides. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages ;
for even Calow’s, although it does not wear so much as the others
by being constantly in motion at the top and bottom of the pit, yet
is apt to stick in the shaft if by any cause the cage receives a
sudden jerk.”

In conclusion the committee say :—“ It must be admitted that,
with every desire to see some efficient apparatus in use at every
colliery to prevent the lamentable loss of life that occasionally occurs,
your committee have felt an instinctive distrust of the various modes
hitherto proposed for doing so, which distrust has not been alto-
gether overcome by the investigation that has been gone into. Up
to the present time there seems some element wanting to perfect these
machines (some of which are excessively ingenious) and render them
really reliable, and it 1s much to be desired that such an improvement
may be arrived at speedily. With this feeling your committee can-
not express an opinion as to the necessity for the adoption of any
of these provisions for safety, and can only lay before you the facts
they have acquired, with such deductions from statistics and obser-.
vations as have presented themselves, and which it is hoped will
materially assist in considering the merits of new inventions.”

Papers on the Theory and Practice of Coal Mining. By
George Fowler, M.E. W.M. Hutchings. London.—Mr. Fowler
has read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, and other
societies, papers “On the Relative Safety of different Modes of
Working Coal,” and on kindred subjects. These papers are now
gathered together, and, reconstructed, are presented to the public
in a very useful form. Each mode of working coal is carefully

1870. | Metallurgy. 557

described, and the author’s views are given as to the relative values
of the several systems. It is not practicable, did we even deem it
advisable, to enter into any discussion on these questions. We
must refer all of our readers who are interested in the subject of
mine ventilation to the book itself, which they will find very full
of useful information. :

METALLURGY.

It is our duty to record such of the numerous attempts as are
made from time to time to improve the make of iron and steel as
may appear to possess merit. It is not a new idea to use the alka-
line metals for removing deleterious ingredients from iron; but we
are not aware that it has hitherto been proposed, as is now done by
Girard and Poulain, to force the vapour of potassium or sodium
through the molten metal. ‘They propose to saturate the fuel with
carbonate of soda, and dry it, or to mix common salt with the fluxing
materials. These inventors, however, appear to place most confi-
dence in a process for blowing those vapours mixed with moist air,
or moist carbonic oxide, through the melted metal in a Bessemer
converter. Pure iron or steel is said to be thus obtainable at
pleasure. If experience proves this, we shall soon hear more of this
process.

The continually-increasing demand for high-class pig-iron and
iron ores, caused by the extension of the Bessemer process, has
brought into notice the red hematite and magnetic ores of Norway
as a possible source of supply for the Continent. According to a
statement published in the ‘ Berggeist,’ a paper representing the
metallurgical interests of Westphalia and the Rhine provinces, it has
recently been suggested to employ the magnetic ores raised in the
neighbourhood of Arendal for the production of Bessemer iron on
the spot, the total output of which the mines are capable being
estimated at 50,000 tons of 40 per cent. annually, which it is pro-
posed to smelt in two moderate-sized furnaces with coke made on
the spot from washed English small coal. Whether such a proposal
is likely to be commercially successful may be doubted; but the
point is in so far of interest as showing how completely iron making
is now governed by the item of cheap fuel; the making of char-
coal pig-iron even in a thickly-wooded country like Norway being
nearly at an end, for out of fifteen blast-furnaces in the southern
part of the country only five are now in blast, the cost of produc-
tion of pig-iron being nearly 67. per ton, owing to the high price of
charcoal... On the system proposed, the cost of No. 1 grey Bessemer
iron is computed at 68s. 6d. per ton, which, could it be realized,
would leave a fair margin on the selling price of hematite pig-iron
in our north-eastern ports. ee

P

558 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

The question of the exact nature of the changes involved in the
conversion of pig-iron into steel in the Bessemer process, or rather
of the composition of the pig-metal employed, is still a matter of
great uncertainty. That sulphur, phosphorus, and copper are in no
degree removed during the process, and that consequently these
impurities must be absent from the metal treated, is proved by all
the analytical investigations made in this country as well as in
Sweden and Austria. As regards the question of silicon, Professor
Jordan, of Paris, has recently pointed out, in a memoir published
in the ‘ Revue Universelle,’ the probability that the enormous heat
developed in the process is mainly due to the combustion of this
element, because the whole of the heat produced by the burning of
silicon to silica, of silicate of protoxide of iron in the slag, and the
subsequent formation is entirely retained in the metallic bath, while
that produced in the combustion of the carbon to carbonic oxide is
in great part carried out in the current of flame and heated gases
issuing from the mouth of the converter. The exactitude of this
view cannot of course be positively demonstrated, because neither
the calorific power of silicon nor its specific heat has yet been
determined. If, however, we assume with Professor Jordan, which
is not improbable, that these factors are the same for silicon as for
carbon, it can be shown that in the conversion of a pig-iron contain-
ing 4°25 per cent. of carbon and 2 per cent. of silicon that the
amount of heat developed by the combustion of the latter element is
more than six times as much as that obtained from the former. In
proof of this statement it is asserted that the Bessemer process could
only be successfully carried out at Terrenoire in France when the
metal was run direct from the blast-furnace to the converters, the
small proportion of silicon, about 14 per cent., present being not
sufficient to allow it to be cast into pigs and remelted, as is usually
done. The dark grey No. 1 Bessemer pig-iron produced in Cum-
berland and Lancashire contains generally from 2:6 to 2:7 per cent.
of silicon.. It appears to be probable, however, that when too much
silicon is present, or rather when its proportion as compared with
that of the carbon is too high, it may not be entirely removed in the
blowing.

The separation of sulphur and phosphorus from iron has long
been a problem of much interest, especially so since the introduction
of the Bessemer process. At the Working Men’s International
Exhibition at the Agricultural Hall, London, is a display of speci-
mens of iron obtamed, by a process invented by Sir Antonio Brady,
from some of that dockyard refuse irreverently described as “ Seely’s
pigs,” and which has been the subject of discussion both in Parlia-
ment and by the press. ‘These pigs were of different qualities, but
were all largely contaminated with phosphorus and sulphur, and
were supposed to be of little or no value. The presence of phos-

1870. ] Metallurgy. 559

phorus renders iron brittle when it is hot ; the presence of sulphur
renders it brittle when it is cold. The pigs containing both were
worth in the market about 2/. 5s. a ton. By Sir Antonio’s process
the sulphur and the phosphorus is said to be extracted at a cost of
about 35s. a ton, and the residual iron is described as “superb.”
One of the pieces exhibited is stated to have been beaten cold to the
thinness of writing paper at one end, drawn to a point at the other,
and then twisted by hand eight turns in an inch at a single heating.
Massive bars are said to have been beaten cold until the surfaces on
each side of the bend came into perfect contact, and a plate six inches
wide and half an inch thick to have been beaten till its edges were
in contact, the flat surface remaining horizontal. In neither case
was there any trace of a flaw, either at the convexity of the curve,
where the metal was stretched, or at the concavity, where it was
compressed. Holes in a thick plate are labelled as having been
enlarged by driving cones into them, and, in a word, the iron is
described as having been knocked about in every possible way. At
a very low estimate it is affirmed to be worth 14/. a ton, and as
there is plenty of the raw material to be had, the profit of the
invention seems likely to be great.

A remarkable steel casting was made recently at the works of
Messrs. Thomas Firth and Sons, Sheffield, which deserves a record:
This casting is to form the shaft of the screw of the Dublin Steam-
Packet Company’s vessel ‘ Munster,’ and is about 15 feet in length
by nearly 4 feet in diameter, and weighs over fifteen tons. This ig
one of the largest blocks of steel ever cast in this country.

The work of melting commenced about eight o'clock, in no
fewer than five hundred and forty-four crucibles, each containing
64 lbs.—the total quantity of steel beg 34,816 Ibs. At half-past
twelve the work of casting began, and was rapidly completed, by
the joint and perfectly organized action of 300 men. This metal-
lurgical operation was a perfect triumph of mechanical skill.

The enormous difficulty and expense caused by the ever-accu-
mulating mountains of slag produced by iron furnaces worked on
the modern scale, often amounting to as much as 60 tons per furnace
per day, has led to different proposals for utilizing these unpleasant
ejecta, and we remember certain glowing descriptions of valuable
results to be got by converting the despised slags into materials
rivalling the finest porphyries and other ornamental rocks. The
less ambitious but more practical plan of using them as paving
stones has been for some time past under trial in Brussels, and,
according to Kennis, with such success that they are to be employed
generally in the repavement of that city. The process employed ig
simply that of allowing the cinder to run from the furnaces into
an excavation sufficiently large to contain the whole daily yield of
several furnaces, and the cooling is retarded by covering the surface

560 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

with earth when the pit is filled. When cold the mass is found to
leave a widely-radiated structure, recalling that of natural volcanic
rocks, and the texture is that of a finely crystalline or granular
porphyry, having a mean specific gravity of 2:77. The surface is
said to wear in such a manner as not to become slippery under
traffic, and the cost to be 20 per cent. less than that of ordinary
stone paving. It is very much to be desired that experiments of
this character should be carried out in the only district in this
country where blast-furnace slags are used as a road material to
any great extent, viz. in Northamptonshire, where, according
to the present method, the general character of the roads may be
represented by a series of parallel ruts filled with broken glass,
owing to the slag used being cooled in small masses, producing a
vitreous substance unfitted for road making, but which is used
owing to the difficulty of obtaining natural stone for the purpose.
A new process of casting metals has lately been attracting con-
siderable attention. In July a number of gentlemen met at the
Lancashire Engineering and Compression Casting Works, at St.
Helens Junction, to witness the new process of casting in brass
and iron chased and embossed work of the most elaborate descrip-
tion. The process, which was here for the first time exhibited in
England, is an American invention, and its utility was shown to
consist in this—that any design, whether in high or low relief,
chased on metal of any required pattern or shane, whether flat as a
door-plate or round as a vase, can be produced by castings from it
ad infinitum, and each casting will show upon it all the sharpness
and beauty of the original chasing. Moulds are made with a pre-
paration of fine clay from tlie articles to be reproduced. The
making of one of these moulds takes a person from five to ten
minutes. The moulds have then to stand twenty-four hours ex-
posed to dry air, after which they are baked in a furnace for eight
hours. These clay moulds, into which the metal is afterwards
poured, are, to all intents and purposes, encaustic tiles. The
moulds are placed in a box, and the air is extracted from them so
as to form a vacuum, after which the molten metal is forced into
them, and in this way, in ten minutes, a casting can be completed.
When the casting is taken out, the design, however intricate, is
found to be perfectly represented, with the exception of removing a
slight surface of clay from it, which can be done in half an hour,
and the article is then ready to be sent to the bronzer, instead of
having to be kept in the chaser’s hands. In this way an enormous
amount of cost and labour on ornamental articles in metal is saved.
A new process for refining and desilvering lead has been intro-
duced by Gustave Luce, Son, and Bozan, of Marseilles. The
invention consists in the application of steam. For this purpose
the crude argentiferous lead is melted down in a vessel heated by a

1870. | Metallurgy. 561

fire, and provided at its lower end with a spout, closed with a slide,
through which, when the lead is melted, 1t is caused to flow down
into a lower vessel or vat, heated only at times directly by a special
fire, and at other times by the waste heat from the fire of the upper
vessel. When the lower vessel is full, steam is introduced through
a central pipe, leading down to near the bottom of the vessel,
where it is provided with a cock turned by a rod from above,
and with a disc, for the purpose of dividing the steam as it enters.
The steam, in passing up through the molten lead, effectually
oxidizes all impurities, which then rise in the form of scum to the
top of the metal, whence they are removed. The introduction of
the steam at the same time produces a violent ebullition of the lead,
causing it to crystallize; and when this crystallization has taken
place to a sufficient extent the introduction of steam is stopped by
closing the cock on the steam-pipe, and the remaining liquid portion
of the lead, in which the greater proportion of the silver will be found
concentrated, is run off through one or more spouts into troughs
turning on pivots for conducting the lead into a series of ingot
moulds. During this time a fresh charge of lead, containig a
percentage of silver approximating to that of the crystals in the
lower vessel, has been melted down in the upper vessel, and is run
into the lower vessel as soon as all the liquid portion has been
removed therefrom. Steam is then again introduced, effecting a
further purification and separation of silver, and this process is
continued until, by the repeated crystallization, one part of the lead
is rendered comparatively free from silver, to be used as merchant
lead, while the lead run off is sufficiently rich in silver for the
cupelling process. The duration of each operation for twelve or
thirteen tons of argentiferous lead is about from two and a half to
three hours. 3
The Iron and Steel Institute, whose first provincial meeting
was held at Middlesbrough last year, has just held (September,
1870) another such meeting at Merthyr Tydfil, the chief seat of
the coal, iron, and steel industries of South Wales. The formal
business meetings of the Institute extended over two days, and
other two days were devoted to the inspection of the iron and steel
works at Swansea and Ebbw Vale. Although the Institute has
not yet been in existence two years, there are already upwards of
350 members enrolled, a large proportion of whom were present at
Merthyr, notwithstanding its great distance from the other prin-
cipal seats of the iron-trade, and the difficulty attending the means
of reaching it. At the meeting just held, the Duke of Devonshire
presided, and Mr. Henry Bessemer was elected to the presidentship
for the ensuing two years. The Council of the Institute have
resolved to discontinue the publication of the ‘ Transactions of the
Institute, and to issue instead a quarterly journal devoted to the

562 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

science and practice of the iron and steel manufacture, both at
home and abroad. The foreign editorship of the journal is to be
conducted by Mr. David Forbes. Several very interesting and im-
portant papers were read and discussed at the Merthyr meeting.
We can only find space to indicate the subjects upon which they
treated.

I. “The Geological Features of the South Wales Coal-field.”
By Mr. William Adams, Cardiff. In this paper the extent of the
coal supply of South Wales was put down at 36,000,000,000 tons,
even after making a very liberal allowance for faults, waste, loss in
working, &c.

II. “On Pumping and Winding Machinery at the Castle Pit,
Cyfarthfa.” By G. C. Pearce, Cyfarthfa Iron-works. This was a
short paper describing some recently-erected machinery of a superior
character, and which was carefully inspected in operation by the
members.

III. “On the Condition of Carbon and Silicon in Iron and
Steel.” By Mr. Geo. J. Snelus, Associate of the Royal School of
Mines. This was the longest and most elaborate paper read at the
meeting. In it the author showed that he had struck out a new
path, a method, or rather methods, of mechanically separating the
carbon and silicon contained in iron and steel, which will doubtless
prove to be a valuable supplement to the ordinary methods of
chemical research.

IV. “Ona New Form of Pyrometer.’ By Mr. C. W. Siemens,
C.E., F.R.S. The author described several kinds of pyrometers,
and then described and exhibited one constructed upon a plan
involved in the principle that the pure metals have the property of
offering an increasing resistance to the passage of an electrical
current with increase of temperature.

V. “On the Efficiency and Durability of Plain Cylindrical
Steam-Boilers.” By Mr. Jeremiah Head, Middlesbrough. The
author of this paper gave an account of a new method of suspend-
ing or supporting plain cylindrical boilers so as to prevent explo-
sions. Out of nearly 18,000 boilers on the books of the boiler
insurance companies, 22:7 per cent. are of this sort, thus showing
that they are much in request. A method of ensuring their safety
is therefore a thing much to be desired.

Other two papers were set down for reading, but there was no
time left for them. One of them was by Mr. F. Kohn, C.E., and
the subject was, “ On the Production of Alloys of Iron and Manga-
nese, and on their Application to the Manufacture of Steel.”

¢

1870. | Physics. 563

TLIO PEYSICS.

Liaut.—A new substance possessing fluorescent properties in a
very high degree has been prepared by Professor A. H. Church
from the Cyclopia vogellii, one of the plants used by the African
Boers for tea. It possesses acid properties, and the discoverer calls
it cyclopic acid. Its action on light is best seen when a crystal or
two of the new body is dropped into a solution of caustic soda and
viewed in sunlight. An intense greenish-yellow fluorescence is
perceived at first, but disappears in the course of some hours.

A new artificial light which has recently been successfully ex-
perimented with, called the Philipp carbo-oxygen lamp, and its
recent trial at Cologne, was such as to win approval on every hand.
The light is generated by the combustion of a liquid chemical com-
pound in a current of oxygen, arrangements for the purpose being
constructed in a suitable lamp. The gas is derived from the
atmosphere either by chemical or mechanical means; the chemical
methods being to absorb the oxygen of the air with chloride of
copper (Mallett’s method), or with manganate of potash (Tessie du
Mothay’s method), while the mechanical mode is that of utilizing
the different degrees of solubility of nitrogen and oxygen in water
or other liquids. By compressing atmospheric air into receivers
filled with water, a portion of the nitrogen is taken up by the
water, while the oxygen remains insoluble in the water; the air
thus containing a goodly proportion of oxygen is forced into a
second reservoir of water, where a further amount of nitrogen is
absorbed, and after the operation has been repeated seven or eight
times, an atmosphere is obtained containing 97 per cent. of oxygen.
The nitrogen which has been separated is made use of in a well-
constructed apparatus as an auxiliary to the motive force. Hxpe-
riments have established the fact that a flame fed with air contain-
ing 53 per cent. of oxygen yields a light equal in brillancy to that
obtained with pure oxygen, and with diluted oxygen of this kind
the Philipp flame has a brilliancy of 90 to 100 candles, or ten
times that of an ordinary gas jet. The light is of a bluish-white,
resembling very much that of electricity or burning magnesium.
The liquid employed consists of liquid hydrocarbons very rich in
carbon; it costs but little, burns economically, and can be em-
ployed only in this particular direction. The flame is made to
assume the form of a star, and any heating of the wick-holder
thereby prevented ; if of the size and power above mentioned, the
quantity of gas consumed is 54 cubic feet per hour. As to the
lamp, no special attention is necessary beyond that of filling it with
liquid, as the wick is of a very durable nature, and needs no trim-
ming.

564 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

An optically-neutral sugar has been prepared by EH. J. Mau-
mené. He mixes equal parts of pure sugar-candy and neutral
nitrate of silver, both previously dissolved in water, and evaporates
the mixture upon a water-bath. He states that neither at 100°,
nor even at 140°, any decomposition ensues or any reduction of
silver takes place, provided the sugar be free from inverted sugar.
The sugar, rendered syrupy by the process described, is optically
neutral. The silver-salt is separated from the sugar by means of
pure chloride of calcium, and the nitrate of lime is separated from
the sugar by the addition of alcohol and placing this mixture under
a bell-jar along with quick-lime. In this manner, by slow concen-
tration, two layers of different specific gravity are formed: the
upper being an alcoholic solution of nitrate of lime, the lower a
viscous saccharine liquid. The former is poured off, and, by a
slight washing with cold distilled water, the thick sugar solution
is freed from any adhering nitrate of lime. The sugar obtained
does not crystallize.

In a lengthy paper on the optical properties of benzyl, and of
some substances belonging to the camphor groups, in the crystal-
line state and in solution, M. des Cloizeaux describes a series of
experiments, the chief results of which are that benzyl and perio-
date of soda possess, when in the solid crystalline state, strongly-
marked rotatory powers, and are devoid thereof in the state of
solution. Quartz, chlorate, and bromate of soda act the same.
Sulphate of strychnia possesses rotatory powers in crystals as well
as in solution, while ordinary camphor, patchouli camphor, cam-
phor of oil of mint, Borneo camphor, tere camphor, and monchlor-
hydrate of turpentine possess rotatory power when in solution, but
not in the crystalline state.

O. Loew has found that when aqueous sulphurous acid is ex-
posed in sealed tubes to the action of sunlight, it is gradually
reduced to sulphur, but the oxygen is not liberated, another part
of the acid having been oxidized by it to sulphuric acid.

According to J. Girard, who has made several voyages on the
Mediterranean Sea, its peculiar colour, ranging from pale blue
through all shades of that colour to black (viz. when seen from a
ship’s deck), is entirely due to the mode of reflexion of the sun’s
rays according to the lower or higher position of that luminary
above the horizon, so that at mornings and evenings, when the rays
fall more obliquely and pass therefore through a larger bulk of
water the colour is deepest, provided it be at such distances from the
shore that the depth of the sea is sufficiently great.

At one of the recent meetings of the Franklin Institute, Pro-
fessor Morton exhibited in the lantern some pictures on gelatine
prepared in a manner devised by Mr. Holman. For this purpose

1870. | Physics. 565

a sheet of gelatine, such as is used for tracing by engravers, was
securely fixed over an engraving, and with a sharp steel point
(made by grinding down the end of a small round file), the lines
of the original traced pretty deeply on the transparent substance.
Lead-pencil or crayon dust was then lightly rubbed in with the
finger, and the picture was at once ready for use. A number of
such drawings could be easily carried between the leaves of a book,
each in succession being held in a frame or cell made of two plates
of glass separated by a frame of thin card or three edges, and united
by paper or muslin pasted around the same edges. ‘The effect of
these drawings in the lantern was excellent, and their ease of pro-
duction very great.

A most valuable adjunct to the microscope has been made by
Mr. J. Zentmayer. It is a mechanical finger, which in the study
of diatoms forms a substitute for the clumsy fingers of the human
hand, to do the delicate work of picking up rare and valuable dia-
toms detected by the microscope, and to transfer them to a slide for
preservation. The instrument may be readily understood on reference
to the accompanying cut.

: L
A is the top plate of —-
the mechanical stage; the ——
circular plate is omitted. ie = —

The cap B is fitted to the
lower body below the stage,
into which cap the new
sub-stage cis fastened by a
narrow tube, wide enough — =A Lim
to admit illumination from fammiil camapegisnssecl
the mirror. As the lower ~~ — =
body is movable up and al Jar e
down by a rack, another ie l I
movement is gained which

is necessary to accomplish the result. The difference of the size
of the aperture of the stage and the diameter of the tube which
connects the sub-stage with the cap A is equal to the movement of
the mechanical stage, and this is found more than sufficient. D is
the clamp by which the finger is attached to the stage by means of
the screw E. A steel cylinder, a, is nicely fitted into the top and
bottom of the tube F, leaving room inside for a light spring to press
the steel cylinder upwards. To prevent turning, the spring J is
provided at u with a steel pin, accurately fitted into the fork at the
top of the tube Fr. By turning the nut x the spring J is elevated
and depressed, giving nice adjustment to the needle N in case the
finger is to be attached to a microscope not having rack movement
to the cap B, to bring the end of the hair and the object in close
approximation. ‘The end of the spring 3 forms a little rg, with

566 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

a screw cut inside into which a cork m is screwed to receive a
needle n, to which a hair is fastened by wrapping gum paper
around. Turning the cork facilitates the adjustment of the hair to
the proper inclination. A slight pressure on the button 1 brings
down the hair, and the spring inside of F instantly lifts it again
when the pressure is removed. The tube F turns in the clamp D in
order to adjust the hair and cork more conveniently, and when
brought back again it is tightened by a set screw. Complicated as
it may appear, only one movement is added to the microscope stand
by this instrument, the one, namely, which gives the vertical motion.
When the apparatus is to be used, the material to select from is
placed on the sub-stage c and focussed, then the point of the hair is
approximately brought over the selected object by means of the
stage movements and turning of p; this brings the hair nearly in
focus too, because it is almost in the same plane with the object.
Next adjust the hair precisely over the selected shell, press down
the button 1, and the shell will adhere to the hair. Now remove
the slide with the material and substitute a glass slide moistened by
breathing on it, and having brought it in proper position briskly
dip down the button x again and the shell will be deposited on the
glass slide. If the mechanical stage has a graduated indicator, the
finger may be moved along regularly and shells may be placed at
equal distances in lines. After the cover glass is carefully placed
over it, Canada balsam may be run in by capillary attraction with-
out disturbing the position of the shells.

Hzat.—Dr. J. D. Boeke, Teacher of Chemistry at the Hoogere,
Burgerschool at Alkmaar, opposes the statement of Mr. Loew that
ozone is formed by rapid combustion. On repeating Mr. Loew’s
experiment with this slight modification, that a stream of oxygen
instead of azv was blown through the luminous flame of a Bunsen’s
burner into the mouth of a glass balloon, he really found that the
air in the balloon had assumed a peculiar odour, and the property
of colouring blue a mixture of starch paste and of potassium. But
it appears that both changes are the result of the formation of a
compound of oxygen and nitrogen (probably dinitric trioxide or
nitric dioxide), not from the formation of ozone, as Mr. Loew asserts.
So when Mr. Loew declares that he was able to “identify the for-
mation of ozone by its intense odour and the common tests,” he was
somewhat rash in this conclusion. Still Mr. Loew’s experiment is
a yery interesting and easy one, and will soon take its due place in
the series of lecture-experiments intended to elucidate the complex
phenomena of combustion.

H. Sainte Claire-Deville relates at great length a series of ex-
periments which may be summarized as follows:—Perfectly pure
iron kept at temperatures varying from 150°-1600°, is treated with

1870. | Physics. 567

vapour of water of a known tension and temperature. Under these
conditions results are obtained which prove that the decomposition
of vapour of water by iron while red-hot is rigorously subject to all
the laws which govern the tension of saturated vapours.

M. E. Cappel has published a lengthy paper on the influence of
the temperature on the sensitiveness and delicacy of spectrum
reactions. ‘The main result is, that the temperature most suitable
for the spectrum analysis of the alkalies is that of the oxyhydrogen
flame, and for the rest of the metals the heat of the electric spark.
The higher the temperature the more distinct the reactions.

In some observations on the batswing-burner flame, Dr. A.
Baudrimont states that the flame consists of two distinct portions,
one of which (the interior) has a comparatively low temperature
while it is surrounded by a luminous envelope, the temperature of
which exceeds that of molten platinum. Indeed the author found
that a platinum wire ,1,th mm. thick, when properly placed in this
flame, fused immediately.

General Morin has experimented at the Conservatoire des Arts
et Métiers on some fire-clay stoves; the results are said to be
highly satisfactory. The useful effect of heat given off by the fuel
amounts to 93 per cent. The air in the rooms where these stoves
were placed was not at all vitiated so as to incommode those pre-
sent, notwithstanding the interior of the stoves became thoroughly
red-hot. The author says that, takmg all in all, these stoves,
when suitably connected with flues, will afford a cheap and in
every respect wholesome mode of heating apartments.

A new material for the manufacture of crucibles is described by
M. J. Desnoyers. The substance known as gaize, or pierre morte,
is a mineral largely met with in the departments of the Ardennes,
where it forms a deposit of some 100 metres thickness. Its specific
erayity is 1:48. It is on being dug up quite soft, so that it can be
cut with a knife, but becomes hard on drying and very hard when
exposed to red-heat, whereby its specific gravity is reduced to 1-44.
This material is essentially a substance capable of withstanding high
temperatures; and the author exhibits crucibles made from the
gaize which have been used successfully for melting iron. Dr. La
Salvelat, the celebrated chemist of the Imperial Porcelain Works
at Sévres, states that layers of similar material exist in the central
parts of France, and that these minerals are of great value for the
construction of blast and other furnaces.

By the term “rochage,” H. Caron understands a peculiar pro-
duction of sparks, best seen when molten cast-iron is run off from
the blast furnace into moulds. In a lengthy paper the author
describes a series of experiments undertaken with the view to prove
that since steel and cast-iron, when molten in an atmosphere of

568 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

hydrogen or oxide of carbon, never emit sparks, the production of
the latter cannot be due to an evolution of reducing gas absorbed
during the fusion, but is due, according to the author, to the forma-
tion of oxide of iron at the moment the molten metal comes in
contact with air. This curious phenomenon is well known to those
engaged at blast furnaces. The sparks are known by the workmen
as “jumpers,” and their presence is usually held to indicate an
approximation to white iron. These sparks are absent during the
running of grey iron from the furnace, and only begin to make their
appearance when the iron is about No. 4, the usual degree of grey-
ness preferred in South Staffordshire for puddling. ‘The sparks are
best observed during the running of white iron from the furnace,
especially if the molten metal is not very fluid, at which times a
vast number are produced, particularly in the channel; and some-
times after the pigs have “set,” little jets of sparks are continuously
discharged for many minutes, which discharge is accompanied by a
hissing sound. M. Caron’s view may probably be correct, but a
correspondent of the ‘Chemical News, who signs his name T. B.,
says that he is inclined to attribute the production of these sparks
to the combustion of carbon and not of iron, as there is an entire
absence of the peculiar scintillations displayed by burning iron.

A very striking mode of demonstration in the lecture-room that
burning bodies increase in weight has been contrived by H. Kolbe.
A glass rod is fastened in a horizontal position to one arm of a
balance. Upon this is fastened a glass cylinder in which a candle
is burnt, connected with which, by a glass tube, there is a V-tube
for condensing the vapour, a flask filled with lime-water for carbonic
anhydride, and two more V-tubes containing soda-lime. The last
are connected by an india-rubber tube with a Bunsen’s pump, by
which a steady current of air is drawn through the apparatus. The
beam is first counterpoised; as the candle burns away the arm of
the balance to which it is attached sinks down until its progress is
arrested by the table.

Mr. W. T. Suffolk, the well-known microscopist, has experi-
mented during a pedestrian tour on the most advantageous methods
of boiling water, and has come to the conclusion that the very best
arrangement is an “Etna” of French construction made of very
thin copper, electro-plated, and weighing, with a store of 6 oz. of
spirit, 14 lb. The time occupied in boiling half a pint of water is
from seven to ten minutes, and the consumption of spirit about
two fluid drachms. The apparatus requires a perfectly calm atmo-
sphere for its proper action; this may be secured by building a
small cromlech of flat stones, which are always at hand in hilly
countries, and with the help of a large handkerchief as a further
protection against the wind, no difficulty will be found in securing

1870. | Physics. 569

efficient performance ; other contrivances will suggest themselves
where stones are not procurable. Although it would seem that
alcohol is consumed to a disadvantage without a wick, yet practi-
eally the “Etna” boils water with a smaller consumption of spirit
than any contrivance yet tried, a good argand lamp requiring at
least half an ounce to do the same work as the Htna. The Russian
blast lamp is still more wasteful, consuming nearly 2 ounces. The
superior economy of the Ktna is attributed to the low temperature
of the wickless flame and the manner in which the boiler is wrapped
in the fire, no more heat being supplied than can be taken up by so
bad a conductor as water. The defect of all lamps giving an
intense flame being that heat is wasted by being supplied too
quickly, so that the apparently feeble fire in the gutter of the tna
is more efficient than the heat of powerful lamps, as well as more
economical ; the latter quality is very important to the pedestrian,
to whom every ounce of weight is a consideration.

P. Lewald, referring to the phenomenon first observed by Dr.
Fritsche, says it is not at all a correct statement that the blocks of
tin exposed toa cold of — 35° should alter their state of aggregation
from that cause; the real cause is that the blocks of tin usually of
250 cubic inches capacity are cast in iron moulds, and as a conse-
quence thereof the tin contracts unequally, and so as to leave in the
inside of the blocks cavities often so large as to occupy 40 cubic
inches. These hollows are lined by a crystallized metal at a high
degree of tension. The tin at St. Petersburgh was laying heaped
block upon block, and the effect of the cold was simply a remote cause
to what took place, the weight of the blocks of metal placed on each
other being such as to produce necessarily a pressure too great to be
borne by the undermost blocks. The author says, if tin is molten
and allowed to cool, so as to shrink uniformly, no cold, even of — 40°
or less, will have the effect observed in the locality alluded to.

L. Cailletet has studied the variation of compression of air and
hydrogen between 1 and 800 atmospheres. Up to 80 atmospheres’
pressure, air is more compressed than it should be if it followed the
law of Mariotte ; and at 680 atmospheres’ pressure it only occupies
two-thirds of the space which it ought to do theoretically. The
method by which the author is enabled to measure the volumes
occupied by a gas in an opaque apparatus is very simple. The glass
tube is enclosed in an iron one; the former, containing the gas, is
lightly gilt. The mercury which serves for the transmission of
pressure, whitens the gold, leaving a well-defined mark on it after
the pressure ceases.

Exectriciry.—In a letter to M. Dumas, Professor de la Rive
states that he has just finished a series of experiments on the mag-

570 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,.

netic rotatory power of liquids, the results of which will be shortly
published. The first portion of this work is devoted to the descrip-
tion of the apparatus and processes of experimentation ; the second
part contains the results of the determination of the magnetic
rotatory power of some liquids. As a curious anomaly the author
mentions that taking water as unit, the coefficient of the magnetic
rotatory power of monohydrated sulphuric acid is 0°750, and that
coefficient is, for liquid anhydrous sulphurous acid, equal to 1-240
at a temperature of 12°. The third part of this work is devoted to
the study of the influence of the temperature on the magnetic rota-
tory power. In the fourth part, the author gives the results of his
investigations of the magnetic rotatory power of a mixture of two
liquids as compared with that each of these liquids possesses sepa-
rately. The fifth part contains the results obtained by experiment-
ing with two isomeric liquids.

In some experimental researches on the length of duration of
the electric spark, MM. Lucas and Cazin employ two transparent
discs placed upon the same axis. One of these discs is a fixture,
while a more or less rapid rotatory motion can be imparted to the
other. Upon both discs are painted the same number of opaque
stripes in the direction of the radius. When, therefore, an electric
spark is observed through these discs, a certain amount of speed
having been imparted to the movable one (the apparatus being
placed in a darkened room), it is clear that by the light emitted by
the spark a certain number of coincidences of the movable and fixed
stripes may be observed, and these coincidences may serve to calcu-
late the period of duration of the spark.

Dr. Demayes describes at length an apparatus constructed by
him, which appears to be an improvement on Siemens’ electro-
magnetic apparatus; while making from 250 to 280 revolutions a
minute, the lifting power of the magnet is 70 kilos., and under
similar conditions a platinum wire, 0°8 mm. thick and 20 centim.
long was rendered red-hot, and iron wire of the same thickness
fused ; the machine produces per second of time half a cubic centi-
métre of gas by the decomposition of water.

In a recent instalment of his researches on electro-capillary
action, which have occupied M. Becquerel for a series of years, he
announces the artificial formation of the oxychloride of copper in
crystalline state, and exactly similar to that found in the copper
mines of Peru and Chili, and known as atacamite. This formation
has taken no less than fifteen years.

Mr. E. W. Blake, jun., has described a method of producing by
the electric spark figures similar to those of Lichtenberg. The
method consists in throwing the discharge upon the surface of a
fusible non-conducting body. If the body be near its fusing-point

1870. | Physies. 571

the figure appears at once; if cold, a latent image exists, which
may be developed by heat. ‘The non-eonducting surface is prepared
by coating a plate of metal with an even film of pitch. Pieces of
sheet tin, 3 inches square, coated with films of pitch of a thickness
varying between 0°01 and 0°02 inch were used; the pitch was
the ordinary article of commerce freed from sand, &c., by being
melted and strained through a muslin bag. ‘The author gives cuts
of the figures as produced by frictional electricity and the induction
coil,

Metallic iron, as obtained by the electric current, has been ex-
amined by C. Collas. He employs a weak solution of chloride of
iron, which is decomposed by the aid of a Bunsen battery ; perfectly
pure iron is thus obtained, which is very friable, highly oxidizable,
especially when moisture is present. When this iron in the state
of fine powder is poured in a bottle when the atmosphere is very
moist, the iron is instantaneously oxidized, water decomposed, and
the evolution of hydrogen causes the bursting of the bottle.

A new method of copper extraction and its separation from other
metals is published by Mr. J. Elkington. The principle consists
in applying electricity for dissolving the copper contained in the
crude metal obtained by the usual smelting methods, and for de-
positing that metal galvanically upon plates of copper, causing the
other foreign metals to fall to the bottom of the vessels in which
the operations take place; copper containing very small quantities
of silver may be advantageously treated thus for the recovery of
the last-named metal.

An improvement in galvanic batteries has been devised by Mr.
W. Poole Levison, of Cambridge, Mass. While making use of a
small bichromate of potash battery he discovered that the addition
of nitric acid to the mixture of potassic bichromate and sulphuric
acid contained in its porous cups, conferred upon it the virtue of
steadiness without involving the evolution of annoying fumes. For
over two months during last summer the author had in almost
constant action a combination of twenty-three large Bunsen cells
charged with dilute sulphuric acid and the triple mixture mentioned,
and “set up” openly upon the floor of the room. Not only did he
work about it with perfect comfort, but left choice brass instruments
in its immediate neighbourhood with impunity. Its energy never
fluctuated, but after remaining for some time steady declined, pre-
cisely as if the electro-negative plates were bathed in nitric acid
only. To a cooled mixture of potassic bichromate solution and
sulphuric acid (perhaps preferably in atomic proportions) add nitric
acid. The proportion of nitric acid may be greatly varied, as its
office is merely to transfer oxygen.

A research on the best methods of tinning of iron without the
VOL. VII. 2 Q

572 Chronicles of Science. [ Oct.,

aid of heat has been carried out by J. B. A. Daubié. The chief point
of interest is that the tinning of iron in the cold cannot succeed at
all, unless the bath used for that purpose contains in solution or
suspended an organic substance like starch or glucose, although no
precise scientific explanation of this indispensable condition has been
hitherto given. The author employs the following bath: To 100
litres of water are added 3 kilos. of rye meal ; this mixture is boiled
for half an hour, and next filtered through cloth. To the clear but
thickish liquid are added 106 kilos. of pyro-phosphate of soda,
17 kilos. of protochloride of tin, 100 to 120 grammes of sulphuric
acid ; this liquid is placed in well-made wooden troughs, and serves
more especially for the tinning of iron and steel wire for the use of
carding-machines. When instead of the two salts of tm just named
cyanide of silver and cyanide of potassium are taken, the iron is
perfectly silvered.

12. ZOOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY.

The Zoological Position of the Brachiopoda—Leuckart, Haeckel,
and Gegenbauer do not include the Polyzoa among the Mollusca,
as is done by Huxley, but class them as also the Tunicata among
the great heterogencous group of Vermes. Mr. Morse, an American
naturalist, who has devoted much study to the Molluscoida, pro-
poses to turn over the Brachiopoda into the same position. In
doing so he unconsciously meets an argument advanced in favour
of the retention of the Polyzoa among Mollusca by Professor
Rolleston, viz. that they present close affinities to the Brachiopoda,
especially to the larval Brachiopod described by Fritz Miler.
Mr. Morse has by perseverance obtained the great advantage of
studying living specimens of Lingula, a species of which he obtained
in quantity on the North Carolina coast. He compares the sete
which frmge the mouth of Lingula to those of Annelids (in this
he is probably misled), the lophophor with its cirrhi to the cephalic
appendages of tubicolous worms, the oviducts with their trumpet-
shaped openings to the funnel-like oviducts of many worms; the
embryo of Thecidium, with its four segments and eye-spots, 1s
adduced, as also the embryo of Discina, which, according to Fritz
Miiler, has projecting bristles like the temporary bristles of some
Annelid-larve. Mr. Morse says it is a startling discovery that the
vascular fluid of Lingula is red, and seems to think that this
colour gives this Brachiopod some affinity to worms. It is, how-
ever, not at all surprising, though Lingula is an interesting
addition to the category of invertebrata with red blood, including
as it does already the molluscs Planorbis and Arca. Probably

1870. ] Zoology. 573

the coloration is due to Hemoglobin as in the eases of Molluscs,
Insects, Crustacea, and Vermes with red blood, investigated by
Mr. Ray Lankester. Mr. Morse’s proposition to classify Brachio-
poda with Vermes deserves full consideration, but we shall look
for some solid reasons in the memoir which he promises on the
subject. ,

New Sponges.—Sponges continue to occupy a great deal the
attention of naturalists. Dr. Perceval Wright, Mr. Carter, Mr.
Charles Stewart, and others, have lately described new genera and
species. Mr. W.S. Kent, of the British Museum, who two months
since made an expedition to the coasts of Portugal in the yacht of
Mr. Marshall Hall, has described three new species (two belonging
to new genera) of that very important and interesting group, the
silicious sponges or Vitrea of Professor Wyville Thomson. The
Vitrea are represented by the notorious Hyalonema, or glass-rope
sponge ; by Huplectella, the beautiful lace-sponge ; and by Professor
Thomson’s new genus, Holtenta. Mr. Kent would recognize Dr.
J. E. Gray’s division of the Corallispongia im preference to that of
Vitrea proposed by Professor Wyville Thomson. In describing a
new species allied to that author’s Holtenia Carpenteri, he points
out that the genus Holtenca must give place to Pheronema, previ-
ously proposed by that most distinguished of American naturalists,
Dr. Leidy, of Philadelphia. There appears to be no doubt that the
sponge described under this name by Dr. Leidy is generically iden-
tical with Wyville Thomson’s subsequently described Holtenca. Mr.
Kent's new species is called Pheronema Gray, and was obtained by
him in the deep sea off the coast of Portugal. Two other inter-
esting vitreous sponges were also detected, and have been fully
described by Mr. Kent. ‘The Royal Society assisted Mr. Kent in
the outlay necessary for dredging apparatus, &c., and these new
sponges are among the first of the fruits of his voyage which he
has made known. The Society has done well to entrust some of its
funds to this promising naturalist; and zoological science is much |
indebted to Mr. Marshall Hall for using his yacht for its advance-
ment.

Bathybius and the Coccoliths.—The organism which Professor
Huxley described two years ago as being so widely spread in the
ooze of the ocean bottom, consisting of a simple ramified network
of protoplasm, has been recognized and fully established by no less
an authority than Professor Haeckel, of Jena. Professor Haeckel
gives figures of the protoplasmic network, and then discusses the
propriety of associating with this organism the Coccoliths and
Coccospheres, as Huxley has done. He does not arrive at definite
conclusions on this pomt; but re-figures all the various forms
of Coccoliths, Cyatholiths, and Discoliths described by Huxley.
Haeckel would at present definitely establish Bathybius on the

Para apy

574 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.,

protoplasmic network, and leave the exact origin of the Coccoliths
doubtful. A very remarkable observation which he has made neces-
sitates this ; for he has discovered a new genus of oceanic Radiola-
rians, in the centre of each specimen of which he finds a mass of
concretions which really cannot be distinguished from a Coccosphere.
In fact, we may say that Coccospheres are found inside these new
Radiolarians. At present there is nothing to show how they got
there: whether they are secretions of the Radiolarian, or whether
they have been taken in by it. Meanwhile the Coccoliths have
been observed in other oceanic accumulations besides the Atlantic
mud and the Chalk.

MiIscELLANEOUS.

Mr. Darwin and the French Academy.—At the outbreak of the
present war between Germany and France, the claims of our great
naturalist, to be elected a corresponding member of the French
Academy, were under discussion in that body. There is nothing
which has so fully illustrated the difference between the scientific
attitude of France—or rather let us say Imperial France—and
‘Germany, as the manner in which the views of Mr. Darwin have
been treated in these two countries. In Germany their almost
universal adoption has been the signal for the most active and
valuable investigations “fur Darwin ;” and the brilliant researches
of Fritz Miller, Haeckel, Kowalewsky, and others have proceeded
directly from this as a cause. Imperial France on the other hand
has, with a rare exception here and there, treated Mr. Darwin with
scorn and even insult. M. Flourens, the late perpetual secretary
of the French Academy, made a most unseemly attack upon Mr.
Darwin some years since, which Professor Huxley showed up for
the amusement of English readers in an article in the ‘ Natural
History Review,’ which is reprinted in his volume of ‘ Lay Sermons.’
In the recent discussion on Mr. Darwin’s claims, MM. Milne-
Edwards and De Quatrefages did justice to his merits as an observer,
though they do not accept evolution; but Brongniart, Robin, and
Emile Blanchard, appear to have expressed a very low opinion of
him : he was called ‘amateur, an ‘ inaccurate dreamer ;’ and Eli de
Beaumont, whose theory of mountain chains has been so completely
crushed by Lyell, said that Darwinism “is all fizz ”—“cest la
science moussée.” And yet it is a fact that Cuvier and Lamarck
were Frenchmen.

A New Manual of Zoology—Dr. H. Alleyne Nicholson, of
Edinburgh, lecturer on zoology in one of the medical schools, has,
with excellent intentions, produced a manual of zoology. He has
not done rightly, for the book is almost entirely an abridgment of
Huxley’s lectures published in 1856 in the ‘ Medical Times and

1870. | Zoology. 575

Gazette, of Greene’s ‘Manuals of the Coelenterata and Protozoa’
published eleven years since, and of Woodward's ‘ Mollusca’ pub-
lished fourteen years since. The only additions appear to relate to
the geological range of the various groups of animals. No attempt
is made to give any of the later results of investigation, nor to seek
information from original memoirs. ‘The writer gives his state-
ments at third-hand, and with the exception of some rough diagrams,
his figures have appeared in many a manual of zoology published
during the last twenty years.

Chioral, the New Opiate.—It is little more than a year since
Liebreich suggested the use of the hydrate of chloral as an anodyne,
and a few grains of it were obtained at the Exeter meeting of the
British Association, through the Pharmaceutical Association, for
experiment. Within six months of that time, such is the rapidity
with which the medical profession avails itself of any new and
valuable discovery, chloral was im daily use in nearly every London
and provincial hospital. However much we may complain of back-
wardness in England in some scientific matters, we cannot but ex-
press admiration at the remarkable activity of our medical men. It
has been urged upon the bodies who are sending relief to the
wounded soldiers in France, to forward chloral and chloroform.
Any individual who should go the round of the hospitals, or even
on the battle-fields themselves, and administer chloral to those suffer-
ing from the pain of wounds, would be able to spare an immense
amount of agony, and save many lives. This is one of the adjuncts
of war which science offers as a set off to her mitradleurs. Chloral
has also lately been used with much success in some cases by Dr.
Robert Caton, in making various physiological experiments in place
of curare or chloroform. His methods of studying the tissues of
living animals under the microscope, are published by him in the
last number of the ‘ Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science.’
We hear also that Dr. Sanderson, F.R.S., and Professor Stricker,
of Vienna, who is now on avisit to this country, have succeeded by
the use of chloral, and by proper precautions for maintaining
temperature, in studying the living circulation of small mammalia,
so as to extend to the mammalia the inquiries commenced by Waller,
lately renewed by Cohnheim, as to the emigration of blood-corpuscles
from the blood-vessels in inflammation. This is most important
as bearing on human pathology and physiology, for hitherto such
observations had been confined to the cold-blooded vertebrata—
almost entirely, in fact, to fish and frogs, or toads.

576 Chronicles of Science. | Oct.

MorPHOLOGY.

Homogeny and Homoplasy.—In the July number of the ‘ Annals,’
Mr. Ray Lankester proposes to use these terms to signify certain
relations of parts in organisms which have hitherto been confused
under the one head of homology. Homogeny is applied to such
structures as owe their identity in arrangement and relation to
inheritance from a common ancestor ; parts which are thus rendered
similar in two organisms are said to be homogenous one with the
other. Many structures present, however, a very close similarity
in their relations to surrounding parts in two organisms without
being so inherited; the similarity beng due merely to a com-
munity of external conditions in the two cases, necessitating similar
corresponding internal arrangements. These agreements are said
to be due to “homoplasy,” and are called homoplastic one with
another. ‘The fore-limbs of all vertebrata are thus broadly homo-
genous, that is, are inherited from a common ancestor. But the
four cavities of the heart of the mammal and of the bird are not
homogenous each with each. The hearts as a whole are so, but
since the common ancestor of birds and mammals had in all proba-
bility a heart with three cavities, the four cavities cannot be due
to inheritance in the two cases. They are homoplasts; they are
due to similar exigencies in the mammalian and ornithosaurian
stock after their divergence from a common stock. Various in-
stances of homogenetic and homoplastic agreement are distinguished
in Mr. Lankester’s paper, and it is pointed out that what are called
serial homologies belong to the category of homoplasts; thus, the
fore and hind limb of vertebrata agree in many of their details of
structure on account of the mechanical arrangements required in
fore and hind limb being to a very great extent identical. In a
subsequent number of the same periodical, Mr. St. George Mivart,
F.RS., writing on the use of the term homology, accepts the
terms homogeny and homoplasy, though he would retain Professor
Owen’s word homology, in a wide sense, distinguishing homogenetic
homologies and homoplastic homologies. He also proposes to dis-
tinguish “ancestral homogeny” and “developmental homogeny.”
But it appears that “ancestral homogeny” is all that the term
homogeny was defined to include. What Mr. Mivart calls “de-
velopmental homogeny,” when it is not accompanied by ancestral
homogeny, falls simply under the category of homoplasy. The
subject is a little abstruse, but is of importance, since the doctrine
of homology as propounded by Professor Owen has sunk very
deeply into the mind of British anatomists; and now that so many
have accepted the doctrine of evolution, and the doctrine of creation
by types is no longer in favour, it becomes necessary to remodel
our terminology in accordance with new ideas.

1870. ‘ak cian

Quarterly List of Publications receited for Mebietv.

1. The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Condition of Man.
Mental and Social Condition of Savages. By Sir John Lub-
bock, M.P., F.R.S. Longmans, Green, & Co.

. On Microscopical Manipulation. Being the Subject-matter of a
Course of Lectures delivered before the Quekett Microscopical
Club. With 49 Engravings and 7% Lithographs. By W. T.

i)

Suffolk, F.R.MLS. Henry Gillman.
3. Heat as a Mode of Motion. By John Tyndall, F.R.S. Fourth
Edition. Longmans, Green, & Co.

4. Class-Book of Inorganic Chemistry. By D. Morris, B.A.

Phillip & Son.

5. Chemical History of the Six Days of Creation.
New York: The American News Company.
6. Papers on the Theory and Practice of Coal-mining. By George
Fowler, Mining Engineer. Wm. Hutchings.
7. Notes of a Course of Seven Lectures on Electrical Phenomena and
Theories, delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.
By John Tyndall, LL.D., F.R.S. Longmans, Green, & Co.

8. Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution.
Washington: Government Printing Office.

PAMPHLETS AND PERIODICALS.

Mineral Statistics of Victoria. Melbourne.
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge :—
The Transatlantic Longitude as Determined by the Coast Survey
Expedition of 1866. By B. A. Gould.
The Indians of Cape Flattery. By James G. Swan.
The Gleddon Mummy Case. By Charles Pickering, M.D.
The Orbit and Phenomena of a Meteoric Fire-ball. By James H.
Coffin, LIZDs : Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
Index to his Observations on the Genus Unio. By Isaac Lea, LL.D.
Philadelphia: T, K. Collins.
On the Size of Red Corpuscles of the Blood of Moschus, &e. By
G. Gulliver, F.R.S.
First Report of the River Pollution Commissioners. (Blue Book.)

578 List of Publications | Oct.,

Narrative of a Journey to Musardu. By Benjamin Anderson.
New York: S. W. Green.
Remarks on Prof. Owen’s Monograph on Dimorphedon. By Harry
G. Seeley, F.G.S. Taylor & Francis.
On the Artificial Formation of Organic Compounds. By J. Campbell
Brown, D.Sc. Lond.
On Ailanthus Excelsa; a new Indian Remedy. By Mr. Narayan

Daji. Bombay: Asiatic Press.
A System of Botanical Analysis applied to the Diagnosis of Natural
Orders. By W. H. Griffiths, Ph.D. Wyman & Sons.

A Sketch of a Philosophy. Part IIJ.: The Chemistry of Natural
Substances. By John G. Macvicar, LL.D., D.D.
Williams & Norgate.
A Lecture on Malt Liquor. By Joseph Livesey.
Public School Reforms. By M. A. B.
Biology versus Theology. By Julian.
Statement of a recently-claimed Discovery in Natural Science. By
Research. Melbourne.
Railway across the Himalaya, projected by R. Stirling, Esq., F.R.S.
Contributions to the Mineralogy of Victoria. By George H. F. Ulrich,
E.GS. Melbourne: John Ferres.
Report of the Examiner of Coal-fields in New South Wales. In the
‘Newcastle Pilot’ (Australia).
Metropolitan Board of Works. Report on Steam Road-Rolling. By
F, A. Paget, C.E.
Notes on Books. Longmans.
On the Cause of the Motion of Glaciers. By James Croll.
On the Scientific Use of the Imagination. By John Tyndall, LL.D.,

F.R.S. Longmans.
The Technologist. New York: The Industrial Publication Company.
The Canadian Naturalist. Montreal : Dawson Brothers.
The Food Journal. London: Johnson, 3, Castle Court, Holborn.
The American Naturalist. Salem: Peabody Academy of Science.
The Geological Magazine. Tribner & Co.
Scientific Opinion.
The American Chemist. New York: Baldwin & Co.

The English Mechanic.

The Westminster Review.

Revue Bibliographique Universelle,
Fraser’s Magazine.

The Popular Science Review.

1870. | received for Review. 579

PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES, &c.

Vargasia. Boletin de la Sociedad de Ciencias fisicas y Naturales de
Caracas. Caracas : Imprenta del Estado Bolivar.
Ofversigt af Kongl. Vetenskaps-Akademiens Forhandlinger.
Stockholm: Norstedt & Sons.
Proceedings of the Lyceum of Natural History in the City of New
York.
The Journal of the Historical and Archeological Association of
Treland.
Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club.
Fifth Report of the Quekett Microscopical Club.
Proceedings of the Royal Society.
» Royal Institution of Great Britain.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

-( 580 )

INDEX TO

A.

A B C Sewage Process, 512.

Asicu, Herr, on Crystallized Hail-
stones, 122.

Aboriginal Tribes of the Nilgiri Hills,
586.

Aborigines of America and Extermina-
tion of, 244.

Abyssinia, Geology of, 119, 408.

Acclimaiization of Half-hardy Plants,
100.

Acid, Hydrochloric, in the Stomach, 140.

Apams, W., Inaugural Address before
the Society of Engineers, 267.

Appis, W. J., on Single Rail Permanent
Way, 403.

Acassiz, Prof., on Reef-building Corals,
274.

Agricultural Prospects, 376.

—— Statistics, 243.

Agriculture, Belgian, 242.

—— Chronicles of, 87, 241, 376, 510.

Air, Compression of, 569.

—— Physical Analysis of, £00.

Pollution by Chemical Works, 330.

Atry, Prof., on Atmospheric Chromatic
Dispersion, 97.

Arey and Spos, Messrs, New Eye-
piece, 293.

Albolith, 399.

Albumen, Manufacture of, 105.

Algez, Japanese, 105.

Algol, Variable Star, 521.

Alps, Climate of the, 413.

America, North, Extinct Reptilia and
Batrachia of, 116.

American Eclipse Observations, 249.

Amylic Alcohol, Detection of, 398.

Anesthetic, New, 261.

Andaman Islands, Ancient Kitchen
Middens in the, 383.

Animal Life, Forms of, 363.

Physiology and Morphology, Chro-
nicles of, 139, 290, 431, 572.

Animals and Plants, Distribution of,
255.

Anthropological Society, Annual Meeit-
ing, 248.

“Anvil” Protuberance of Eclipse of
Aug. 7, 1869, 443.

[Oct.,

VOL. VII.

Apatite, 281.

Arborescent Forms in Stones, 130.

Archzological Discoveries in Yorkshire,
247.

Archeology, Chronicles of, 90, 244, 379,
512.

International Congress of Pre-his-
toric, 90.

Arctic Flora, 101.

AsHzE, Commander, on the Total Eclipse
of 1869, 251.

Aspidolite, a New Mica, 127.

Astronomy, Chronicles of, 94, 249, 389,
517.

Atrinson, J. C., Danish Element in
the Population of Cleveland, 384.

Atmospheric Electricity and Recent
Phenomena of Refraction, 229.

Aurora, on the, 250.

Australasia, Production of Gold in, 130.

Australia, Geology of, 272.

New Ganoid Fish from, 431.

Auvergne, Rocks of, 128.

Axinite, Constitution of, 127.

Aymara Indians of Bolivia and Pern,
516.

B.

Basrxetos, Prof. on the Flora of Ice-
land, 255. 955.

Bate, M, Heat from die Moon, 138.

Banceort, R. M., on the Renewal of
King’s Cross Station Roof, 268.

Bazses, S., on Atmospheric Electricity
avn Recent Phenomena of Refraction,

Bagg ty, Sir H., Flora of Round Island,
Mauritius, 256.

Baneetr, W. F., Light and Sound,

Baryta,

Bathybius and the Coccoliths, 573.

Batrachia and Repiilia, Extinct, of
North America, 116.

Bavuprmonxt, A., Examination of
Flame, 567.

— E., Uses of Tinfoil, 531.

Bxgcul, "Prof, Analyses of Beryl and
Tourmaline, 418,

i

1870.]

BrcqveEREL, E., Electro-capillary Action,
570.

on Electro-motive Forces, 431.

Beer Scientifically and Socially Con-
sidered, by J. Samuelson, 299.

Belgian Agriculture, 242.

BeEnEDEN, Prof. Van, on Commensalism,
291.

BENNETT, A. W., on Foreign Trees and
Plants for English Gardens, 350.

Benzyl], Optical Properties of, 564.

Bert, M., Physiology of Sepia, 291.

Beryl, Analysis of, 418.

Bessemer Process, 557.

Birt, Mr., on Lunar Crater Plato, 394.

Blackfriars Bridge, 111.

BuakE, E. W., Electric Spark Figures,
570.

BuanrorD, W. J., Geology of Abys-
sinia, 119, 408.

Origin of a Cyclone, 121.

Blast Furnaces, 192.

Blast-iurnace Slag, Utilization of, 260.

Blood, Origin of Fibrin of the, 139.

Bioxam, T., Ignition of Sodium on
Water, 106.

Buivm, Dr., on Pseudomorphs, 127.

Boeke, J. D., Formation of Ozone by
Combustion, 566.

Boiler Explosions, 536.

Incrustations, Prevention of, 109.

Boiling Liquids, Bumping of, 136.

Water, Best Method of, 568.

Bonney,'Rey. T. G., Pholas-burrows in
the Ormes Head, 118.

Bontemrps, M., Action of Light on
Glass, 286.

Bonwick, Mr., on the Origin of the
Tasmanians Geologically considered,
246,

Botanic Garden at Brussels, 528.

Botanist, Leonardo da Vinci as a, 100.

Botany, Chair of, at College of Science,
Dublin, 258,

—— Chronicles of, 99, 254, 394, 524.

Boulder Drift, on the, 275.

Bousstncautt, M., Colouring Matter
of the Emerald, 417.

Brachiopoda, Italian Tertiary, 540.

Zoological Position of the, 572.

Brapy, Sir A., Purification of Iron, 558.

Breidden Hills, Notice of, 116.

Bridges and Roofs, Wrought Iron, 72.
Bristow and WHITAKER, Messrs., on the
Formation of the Chesil Bank, 117.
British Conchology, or an Account of
the Mollusca which now Inhabit the
British Isles and Surrounding Seas,

79.

Brogpen, Mr., Comparative Merits of
Large and Small Trams for Colliery
Use, 267.

Index.

581

Broveuton, Mr., on the Cinchona, 258.

Brownine, J., Automatic Spectroscope,
390, 424, 523.

Change of Colour, 253.

sy Changes of Colour on Jupiter,

Spectrum Micrometer, 254.

ede Mr., Mines Regulation Bill,

Brusu, Prof., on Durangite, a New
Mineral, 126,

— on Hortonolite, 2 New Mineral,
126.

— Meteoric Stone, 126,

Bubbles of Mercury, 108.

Bucuwan, Mr., on the Mean Pressure of
the Atmosphere and the Prevailing
Winds over the Globe, 275.

Fi ae, Rainfall of South of Scotland,

16.

Bupp, J. P., on the Removal of Silicon
from Pig-Iron, 133.

Building, the Science of, 508.

Buu, Dr., Mistletoe on the Oak, 526.

BurcxuarD, P., Electrolytic Experi-
ments, 430.

Burmah, Stone Implements from, 514.

Burt, Mr., Action of Coloured Light on
the Mimosa Pudica, 285.

Buss, G., Caves of Gibraltar, 90.

ego ees Method of Odontology,

32.

C.

CamLLeret, L., Law of Compression of
Air, 569.

Cairns near Bangor, Opening, 384.

Calcining Kilns, 192.

Calcium and Zine, Alloy of, 531.

Calvarize, Ancient, 245, 247,

CaLveErt, Dr., Preparation of Nitrogen,
108.

CampBELL, D. J., on Polygamy, its In-
fluence in Determining Sex, and its
Effects on the Growth of Population,
248.

Campin, F., on the Principles and Con-
struction of Machinery, 406.

Canal, Suez, 110.

Cane, Mr., Formative Layer in Leaves
of Plants, 524.

Cannibalism in Namur, 384,

Carre, E., Influence of Heat on the
Delicacy of Spectrum Reactions, 567.

Carbonic Acid, Combustion of Magne-
sium in, 107.

Decomposition of, by Plants, 103.

Carboniferous Limestone, Geology of,
115.

582

Caron, H., on “ Rochage,”’ 567.

2 Alloy of Zine and Calcium,
531.

CarrincTon, Mr., Description of his
Observatory, 253.

Casting Metals under Pressure, 560.

Cavern of Bruniquel, 93.

Caves of Gibraltar, 90,

CayLey, Prof., on the Geometry of
Solar Eclipses, 393.

Cells in Living Bodies, Peregrinations
of, 437.

Cellulose, Solvent for, 261.

Cements, on, 113.

Cemetery at Frilford, Ancient, 386.

Cephaiopoda, Chief Groups of the, 116.

Cervide, New Genus of, 292.

Chalchihuitls, Mexican, 280.

Channel Islands, Megalithic Structures
of the, 149.

Pre-historic Monuments of the,

245,
Chatham Dockyard Extension, 535.
Island, Aborigines of, 248.
Cheesewring, threatened Destruction
of the, 516.
Chemical Climatology, 416.
— Works, Air Pollution by, 330.
ome Chronicles of, 105, 258, 398,
28.
Chesil Bank, Formation of the, 117.
Cuester, Rev. G., Shell Implements
and other Antiquities of Barbadoes,
245.
Cuevrier, M., Action of Vapour of
Sulphur on various Gases, 106.
Chloral, Hydrate of, 261.
—— the New Opiate, 575.
Preparation of, 108.
Chlorine and Sodium, 259.
Chlorophyll, Movements of, 256.
Chromatic Dispersion, Atmospheric, 97.
CHRONICLES OF SCIENCE :—
Agriculture, 87, 241, 376, 510.
Archeology (Pre-historic) and
Ethnology, 90, 244, 379, 512.
Astronomy, 94, 249, 389, 517.
Botany and Vegetable Physiology,
99, 254, 394, 524.
Chemistry, 105, 258, 398, 528.
Engineering, Civiland Mechanical,
110, 265, 402, 532.
Geology and Paleontology, 114,
269, 406, 537.
Meteorology, 120, 275, 413, 545.
Mineralogy, 124, 280, 417, 550.
Mining and Metallurgy, 128, 282,
420, 552.
Physics, Light, Heat, and Elec-
tricity, 134, 285, 424, 563.
Zoology and Animal Physiology,
139, 290, 431, 572.

Index.

| Oct.,

Cuurcu, Prof. A. H., a New Fluor-
escent Substance, 563.

Cilium, Moving Force of a, 436.

Cinchona, Cultivation of, 258, 400.

in the West Indies, 526.

CLaARgEE, C. B., Cultivation of Cinchona,
258.

CLELAND, J., Significance of the Cranial
Characters in Man, 143.

Cleveland, Metallurgical Industry of,
186.

Climate and Soil, Influence of, on
Plants, 254.

— Influence of Winds on, 276.

of Sitka, 122.

Climatology, Dove’s, 277.

Climbing Plants, 257.

Coal, Breaking Down, 132.

Mining, Theory and Practice of,

556.

Supply, Future, 284.

Coccoliths and Bathybius, 573.

Cotas, C., Electro-deposited Iron, 571.

Collodion Balloons, 401.

Combustion, Increase of Weight during,
137.

Comet of 1683, 393.

—— Discovery of a, 96.

— Winneceke’s, 523.

Comets, Theory of, 250.

Commensalism, 291.

Conchology, British,
Jefireys, F.R.S., 79.

Concrete, on, 113.

Conifers, Leaves of, 104.

Continental and English Intercom-
munication, 112.

Copal, Recent and Fossil, 397.

Corr, E. D., Extinct Batrachia and
Reptilia of North America, 116.

Copper, Depositing, on Paper, &ec., 139.

—— Extraction, 571.

—— Mining in England, 420.

Separating, 422.

Substitute for, in the Daniel
Battery, 430.

Corals, on Reef-building, 274.

Cornish Minerals, 419.

Corona, Mr. Seabroke on the, 522,

Observations on the, 94.

Spectrum Observations on the,

during Eclipse, 38.

and Zodiacal Light, 392.

Covumpary, M., Meteorological Service
in the Turkish Empire, 123.

Counter-pressure Steam-breaks, 268.

Courter, M., Manufacture of Fuclisine,
263.

Couret, M., Manufacture of Disulphide
of Carbon, 263. 2

Cranial Characters in Man, Significance
of, 148.

by J. Gwyn

1870. ]

Crookes, W., F.R.S., &c., Spiritualism
viewed by the Light of Modern
Science, 316.

-— a Recent Triumph of Synthetical
Chemistry, 360.

— on the Total Solar Eclipse of
August, 1869, 28.

Cuckoo’s Eggs, 142.

Cyclone, Origin of a, 121.

Cyclopzedic Science simplified, 85.

D.

Daxyns, J. R., Geology of North
Derbyshire and Yorkshire, 115.

Danish Element in the Population of
Cleveland, 384.

Danvers, F. C., on the Survey of India,
448.

Dardistan, Visit to, 247.

Dartmoor, Pre-historic Monuments of,
516.

Darwt1y, Mr., and the French Academy,
O74.

Davsré on Tinning Iron, 571.

Davipson, Mr., on Brachiopoda, 274.

Davis, Dr. B., and E. A. Wetcn, on the
Aborigines of Chatham Island, 248.

Dawsins, B., Antiquity of the Tron
Mines of the Weald, 92.

—— Flint Flakes and Flakes of Chert,
246.

Daylight, Chemical Intensity of, 425.

DeueEratn, P. P., on the Evaporation
of Water and Decomposition of Car-
bonic Acid by Plants, 103.

De wa Rive, Prof., Magnetic Rotatory
Power of Liquids, 569.

Dexavrier, M., Concentrating and
Utilizing the Heat from the Sun,
138.

De.timAN, Dr., Electricity of Clouds,
415.

De rrno, Prof., on the Relation between
the Distribution of Plants and of
Animals, 255.

Demayes, Dr., Electro-magnetic Appa-
ratus, 570.

De Mortuis, by H. Woodward, 341.

De Rance, C.E., Geology of Lake Dis-
trict, 118.

Des Crotseaux, M., Crystals of Gado-
linite, 127.

—— Optical Properties of Benzyl,
564.

DersHayes, M., Award of the Wollaston
Gold Medal to, 275.

Devittze, H. Sre. Criame-, Oxygen
Dissolved on Fusion of Platinum,
287.

— Reactions of Iron and Steam, 566.

Index.

583

Devonshire Association for the Advance-
ment of Science, 497.

D’Hercourt, G., on Salt in the Atmo-
sphere of Monaco, 262.

Diamagnetism, Tyndall on, 501.

Diamond, Researches on the, 426.

Diamonds, Discovery of, 282.

Origin of, 124.

Diatom Markings, 144.

Dinornis Contemporary with Man, 244.

Dinosauria, Prof. Huxley on, 273.

Dises of Stars, Measuring, 98.

Disinfectant, a New, 260.

Dispersion, Atmospheric Chromatic,
9

Dotrus-GaLiine, M., Manufacture of
Albumen, 105.

Double Star a Centauri, 522.

Dove, Prof., Klimatologische Beitrage,
277.

Draper, H, N., Ether as an Intoxicant,
260.

Drought of 1870, 510.

Ducuartre, M., Turning of Plants
towards the Light, 395.

Duckweed, Hibernation of, 102.

Duncan, Dr., on Corals, 270.

— on the Geography of Western
Europe during the Mesozoic and
Cainozoic Periods, 274.

— P.M., F.R.S., on Idiocy, 49,

on Insanity, 165.

Durangite, a New Mineral, 126.

E.

Earth, Fuller’s, in the South-West of
England, 68.

Earth’s Crust, Determining Thickness
of, 539;

Ecxuarp, Prof., on the Secretory Nerve
of the Parotid Gland, 141.

Eclipse, Approaching Total Solar, 389,
477, 517, 519.

— of August 7, 1869, the “ Anvil”
Protuberance, 443.

—— of Moon, 97.

—— Observations, on the American,
249,

—— Prominences, Spectroscopic Notes
on the, 34, 39.

— of Sun, of December 24th, 1870,
389, 477, 517, 519.

—— of the Sun, Partial, 97.

— Total, of the Sun, of August, 1869,
94,

oe Solar, of August, 1869, on
the. By W. Crookes, F.R.S., 28.

Eclipses, Geometry of Solar, 393.

— Records of Chinese, 253.

Edible Fungi, 99.

084

Eeerton, Sir Partie, Two New Species
of Gyrodus, 119.

Eiecrrtz, M., on Sulphur in Iron and
Steel, 259.

Eges, Cuckoo’s, 142.

Electric Currents in Muscle, 291.

—— Spark, Duration of, 570.

Figures, 570.

Electrical Decomposition of Water with
Silver Poles, 138.

Electricity, Atmospheric, and Recent
Phenomena of Refraction, 229.

—— — at Haiti, 288.

— Chronicles of, 138, 288, 429, 563.

in Plant Life, 525.

of Clouds, 415.

Electrification of Wine, 430.

Electro-Capillary Action, 570.

Electrolytic Experiments, 430.

Electro-magnetic Apparatus, 570.

Electro-motive Forces, on, 431.

Electroscopic Experiments, Cause of
Error in, 429.

Exincton, J., Copper Extraction, 571.

Emerald, Colouring Matter of the, 417.

EmmeEr.inc, Dr., Action of Water on
Glass and Porcelain, 106.

Encetmann, Dr. Th., on the Develop-
ment of Gas in Protoplasm, 140.

Engineering, Chronicles of, 110, 265,
402, 532.

— New York, Society of Practical,
113.

English and Continental Intercommu-
nication, 112.

Epiboulangerite, 282.

Erosion, Intra-glacial, near Norwich,
120.

Esmarkite, 418.

Ether as an Intoxicant, 260.

Ethnology of Great Britain, 385.

Exhaustion of Soils, 378.

Explosive Powder, New, 129.

Hye-piece, New, 253.

¥,

Farabay, his Life and Letters, 232.

Favre, M., Occlusion of Hydrogen by
Palladium, 105.

Fem, Mr., on Heavy Flint Glass, 286.

Felspars, Constitution of, 417.

Fermentation, Pasteur’s Views on, 291.

Ferns, Fertilization of, 395.

Fertilization, Cross, 394.

—— of Ferns, 395.

of Winter Flowering Plants, 100.

Festiniog Railway, 265.

Fibrin of the Blood, Origin of the, 139.

Fixed Stars, Distances of the, 252.

Flame, Examination of, 135, 567.

Index.

[ Oct.

‘Flint Chips” By EH. T. Stevens, 379.

Flakes in Somerset, 246.

— Glass, Heavy, 286.

—— Implements, 383.

—— —— in the Drift of Norfolk and
Suffolk, 120.

Flora, Arctic, 101.

Fossil, 406.

of Iceland, 255.

of Round Island, Mauritius, 256.

Fiower, J. W., Flint Implements in the
Drift of Norfolk and Suffolk, 120.

Flowers, Change in Colour of, 525.

Fluids in Crystals, Determination of,
by Spectrum Analysis, 125.

Fluor Spar, &c., Reflexion of Heat from,
138.

Fluorescent Substance, New, 563.

Fluorine, Organic Compounds of, 528.

Forpss on Volcanoes, 538.

Forest, Petrified, near Cairo, 540.

Submerged, at Blackpool, 93.

Forestry, French Imperial School of, 60.

Formic Acid, Synthesis of, 400.

Fostrr, C. Li Nerves, Geology of North
Derbyshire and Yorkshire, 115.

Fow.err, Mr., Manufacture of Oxygen,
107.

Fox, Col. L., Opening Cairns near
Bangor, 384.

D. M., on the San Paulo Railway,
404.

FREEDEN, Herr Von, ‘ Norddeutsche
Seewarte ’ for 1869, 278.

— Weather Calendar for North-West
Germany, 122.

French Imperial School of Forestry, 60.

FRiepet and Laprnsure, Drs., Organic
Compounds of Silicium, 528.

Frilford, Ancient Cemetery at, 386.

Fuchsine, Manufacture of, 263.

Fuller’s-earth in the South-West of Eng-
land, 68.

Fungi, Alternation of Generation in, 257.

Edible, 99.

—— Parasitic, 397.

G.

Gadolinite, Crystals of, 127.

GatFFE, M., Electro-plating with Nickel,
289.

Gaize, Uses of the Mineral, 567.

Galvanic Batteries, Improved, 571.

Battery, Leclanché, 288.

Zaliwski’s, 288.

Ganoid Fish, from Australia, 431.

Gardens (English), Foreign {Trees and
Plants for, 350.

Gasin Protoplasm, Development of, 140,

Lighting Mines with, 131.

1870.]

Gas Supply of Berlin, 287.

Gases, Occlusion of, 431.

GEISSLER and VoGELsanG, MM., Deter-
mination of Fluids in Crystals by
means of Spectrum Analysis, 125.

Gelatin, Magic-lantern Pictures on, 564.

Generation, Alternation of, in Fungi,
257.

Geography of Western Europeduring the
Mesozoic and Cainozoie Periods, 274.

Geological Change, the Rate ef, 322.

Memoirs, 409.

Survey, Memoirs of the, 114.

Geology and Revelation, 238.

— Chronicles of, 114, 269, 405, 537.

— of Country around Shelve (Shrop-
shire), 116.

Gerorces, M., Preservation of Meat, 261.

Gibraltar, Caves of, 90.

Gitman, W. S., on the “Anvil” Pro-
tuberance of the Eclipse of August 7,
1869, 443.

GrrarD, J., Colour of the Sea, 564.

GuaisHER, Mr., on the Rainfall of Green-
wich, 416.

Glass, Action of Light on, 286.

Action of Water on, 106.

Coloration of, by Sunlight, 134.

Glaucopyrite, on, 418.

Gold, Depositing, on Paper, &c., 139.

Gold-fields of Nova Scotia, 421.

Gold from Victoria, 130.

Production of, in Australasia, 130.

GoprrerT, Dr., on the Origin of Dia-
monds, 124.

Gor, G., F.R.S., Practical Scientific
Instruction, 215.

Green, A. H., Geology of North Derby-
shire and Yorkshire, 115.

Greenland, Lichens of, 102.

Gruner, L., on Phosphorus in Steel,
898.

Guy, Dr., Melting and Subliming Tem-
peratures of Poisons, 426.

Gyrodus, two New Species of, 119.

H.

Haast, Dr., on the Contemporaneity of
the Dinornis and Man, 244.

on some Stone Implements in New
Zealand, 245.

Habit and Intelligence in connection
with the Laws of Matter and Force,
73.

Harcket, E., Zoological Position of
Sponges, 432.

Hail-stones, Crystallized, 122.

Haiti, Atmospheric Electricity at, 288.

Hangury, D., New Species of Jalap,
398.

Index.

585

Hany, Dr. J., on the Climate of the
Alps, 413.

— on the Winds of the Northern
Hemisphere and their Influence on
Climate, 276.

Relation of Temperature to Sea-
level, 428.

Harmer, F. W., and S. V. Woop, on
Intra-glacial Erosion, 120.

Harrison, J. T., on Railway Expen-
diture and Income, 267.

Heat, Apparent Paradox on, 136.

—— Chronicles of, 135, 287, 426, 563.

—— Emission of, from the Moon, 138.

of Sun, Concentrating, 138.

of Union of Carbon, Boron, and

Silicon with Oxygen, 287.

re nae of, from Fluor Spar, &c.,

—— Relation of, to Work in Human
Body, 290.

Herbarium of the British Museum, 527.
Hermann, Prof., Absence of Currents
in Uninjured Inactive Muscle, 291.
cae a Sir J., on the Solar Spots,

OL.

Lieut., on Dark Objects crossing
the Solar Dise, 392.

Secs on the November Meteors,

Herynstvs, Dr., Origin of the Fibrin of
the Blood, 139.

Hibernation of Duckweed, 102.

Hippopotamus major, Molars of, in Kent's
Cavern, 93.

Hodgson’s Wire Tramway, 404.

Hormann, Dr., Increase of Weight
during Combustion, 137.

Holborn Viaduct, 112.

Homes, M., on Rotatory Storms, 121.

Home Island, Vegetation of, 101.

Homogeny and Homoplasy, 576.

Hopkins, Mr., Determining Thickness
of Earth’s Crust, 539.

Horsrorp, Prof. Free Hydrochloric
Acid in the Stomach, 140.

Hortonolite, a New Mineral, 126.

ree M. A., on Oxygenated Water,
98.

Houxxe, J. W., F.B.S., Fossil Remains
of Saurians, 119.

Hutt, E., F.R.S., on the Triassic and
Permian Rocks of the Midland
Counties of England, 114.

Recent Observations on Under-
ground Temperature, on the Causes
of Variation in Different Localities,
207.

Houxtey, Prof., Modifications of Man-
kind, 516.

on the Ancient Relations of Land

and Water, 411.

586

Hvx.ey, Prof., on Dinosauria, 273.

— on the Ethnology of Great Britain,
385.

Hydraulic Machines for breaking down
Coal, 132. ve

Hydrochloric Acid, free, in the Stomach,
140.

Hydrogen, Occlusion of, by Palladium,
105.

— Peroxide of, 399.

Phenomena during the Combus-
tion of, 137.

Hydrogenium Amalgam, 529.

-——— Dr. Loew on, 400.

Hypophosphoric Acid, Use of, in Agri-
culture, 261.

cL

Ice in India, Production of, 427.

Iceland, Flora of, 255.

Ichthyodorulites, on two New, 118.

Idiocy, on, by P. M. Duncan, F.RS.,
4

9.

India, Rainfall of, 546.

—— Surveys of, 448, 458.

Insanity, on, 165.

Intercommunication, English and Con-
tinental, 112.

Iodide of Potassium, Decomposition of,
in the Light, 135.

Tron and Steam, Reactions between,
566.

—— and Steel Institute, 561.

—— —— Patents for Manufacture of,
423,

Sulphur in, 259.

clad Ships, their Qualities, Per-

formances, and Cost, 269.

Electro-deposited, 571.

— making, Stages of, 186.

—— Mines of the Weald, Antiquity of
the, 92.

— Purification of, 557, 558.

—— Pyrites of Piedmont and Elba,
281.

Removal of Silicon from, 133.

Irrigation, Sewage, Principles
Methods of, 17.

Isinglass, on, 399.

Isoclase, New Mineral, 551.

and

J.

JAcKsON, J. W., on the Germination of
Palms, 524.

Jacor, Dr., on the Natives of Naga,
247.

Jalap, New Species of, 398.

JANSSEN, Dr., Production of Ice in
India, 427.

Index.

| Oct.,

Japan, Coal in, 554.

Japanese Sea-weeds, 105.

JEFFREYS, J. Gwyn, F.R.S., British
Conchology, 79.

JENKINS, H. M., the Rate of Geological
Change, 322.

JouNsTONE, K., Handbook of Physical
Geography, 276.

Jones, Dr. H. Bence, F.B.S., Life and
Letters of Faraday, 232.

JOUGLET, A., Waterproofing
261.

—— on Explosions caused by Ozone,

9

Paper,

Jourpary, M., Inritability of Stamens,
396.

Jupiter, 97.

—— Changes of Colour on, 253, 393.

—— Visibility of, 251.

K.

Kent's Cavern, Literature of, 93.

Kernier, M., on the Influence of
Climate and Soil on Plants, 254.

KessLeER, M., Combustion of Magnesium
in Carbonic Acid, 107.

Kilns, Calcining, 192.

Kine, W. R., Aboriginal Tribes of the
Nilgiri Hills, 386.

Kirk, D., on Recent and Fossil Copal,
397.

Kirxwoop, Prof., on Meteors, 391.

Kitai, Account of the Race, 246.

Kitchen Middens, Ancient, in the
Andaman Islands, 383.

Knitting Machine, 536.

Kosei, Von, on a New Mica, 127.

Kose, H., Increase of Weight by
Burning Bodies, 568.

Koords and Armenians, Account of the,
245.

Kosmann, on Apatite, 281.

KowaA.eEvsky on the Kinship of Verte-
brates and the Ascidian Molluscs,
142.

Kress, G., Preparation of Oxygen, 529.

L.

Labiatex, Peloria in, 104.

Laboratories in Amsterdam and London,
438.

Labyrinthodont, a New, 539.

LaLLemMAnD, M., Action of Sunlight on
Sulphur, 285.

Land and Water, Ancient Relations of,
411.

LaNKESFER, E. R., on Comparative
Longevity, 373.

1870.]

LANKESTER, Ray, Machairodusin Forest
Beds of Norfolk, 118.

—R., on the Cephalaspidee of the
Old Red Sandstone, 270.

Spermatophores in Annelids, 434.

Larpiay, J. W., Pre-historic Dwelling
on the Coast of Haddingtonshire,
382.

Larret, E., Reliquizse Aquitanice, 381.

Lawes, Mr., on Exhaustion of Soils,
378.

Waste of Food during Respira-
tion, 377.

Lead, Desilvering, 560.

Native, in Metaphyre, 124.

in Victoria, 124.

Leaves of Conifers, 104. ;

of Plants, Formative Layer in, 524.

Scorching, by Wind, 105.

Variegation of, 257.

—— Viridescence of, 104.

Lr CuaTecier’s Plan of Using Counter-
pressure Steam as a Break, 268.

LeEcLANCHE Battery, 288.

Leitner, Dr., Visit to Dardistan, and
Account of the Shina Race, 247.

Lenz, R., Occlusion of Gases by Metals,
431.

LEONARDO DA VINCI as a Botanist, 100.

Ler Svrcr, Mr., Phenomena of Star 7
Argus, 390.

Lerverrrier’s‘ Atlas Météorologique, 123.

Prof., Dismissal of, 249.

Levison, W. P., Improved Galvanic
Batteries, 571.

Lévy, P., on Climbing Plants, 257.

Lewatp, P., Action of Cold on Tin,
569.

Lichens of Greenland, 102.

Liesic, Prof., on Pasteur’s Views on
Fermentation, 291.

Life-buoys, illuminated, 426.

Light and Sound, an Examination of
their Reputed Analogy, by W. F.
Barrett, 1.

—— Chronicles of, 134, 285, 424, 563.

Coloured, Action of, on Mimosa

Pudica, 285.

Decomposition of Iodide of Potas-

sium by, 135.

New Artificial, 286, 563.

—— of Coal Gas, relation of, to Volume
consumed, 286.

— on Glass, Action of, 286.

— Turning of Plants towards, 395.

Lighting Mines, 131.

Limes and Cements, on, 113.

Liquids, Bumping of Boiling, 136.

Lithology and Mineralogy, 82.

Liver, Endings of Nerves in the, 141.

Lockyer, Mr., on the American Eclipse
Observations, 249.

VOL. VII.

—_—_——

Index.

587

Loew, O., Action of Light on Sulphur-
ous Acid, 564,

on Hydrogenium, 400.

on Hydrogenium Amalgam, 529.

Longevity, Comparative, 373.

Looking-glasses, Platinizing, 262.

Lussock, Sir J., on Savages, 505.

Lucas and Cazrn, on the Duration of
the Electric Spark, 570.

Lunar Crater Plato, 394.

M.
Machairodus on Forest Beds of Norfolk,
118

Madacasses Race, Affinities of the, 247.

Madder Colours, 531.

Root, Sugar in, 260.

Magne-crystallic Action, Tyndall on,
501

Magnesium, Combustion of, in Carbonic
Acid, 107.

Magnetic Rotatory Power of Liquids,
569.

Maaenus, G., on Reflexion of Heat from
Fluor Spar, &c., 138.

Malta, Water Supply of, 546.

Man, Cranial Characters in, 143.

Pre-historic, Remains of, in Ar-

gyleshire, 246.

Manganese in Milk, 530.

Manure Adulteration, 242.

Manures, Falsification of, 376.

MarcuanpD, M., on Scorching of Leaves
by Wind, 105.

Marry, Dr., Movements of Wings in
Flight, 436.

Marriages, Consanguineous, 385.

Martin, M., Use of Hypophosphoric
Acid in Agriculture, 261.

Martius, Dr., Preparation of Chloral,
108.

Masters, Maxwetu J., Vegetable Tera-
tology; an Account of the Principal
Deviations from the usual Construc-
tion of Plants, 84.

Mavment, E. J., Optically Neutral
Sugar, 564.

Meat, Preservation of, 261.

Meena, T., on the Leaves of Conifers,
104.

Meenas of Central India, 516.

Megalithic Structures of the Channel
Islands, 149.

Melaplhiyre, Native Lead in, 124.

MENDELSSOHN-BarrHoLpDy, M., Prepara-
tion of Chloral, 108.

Mercury, Bubbles of, Floating on Water,
108.

“Mere,” the, a New Zealand Weapon,

245,
a

588

Metallurgical Industry of Cleveland,
186.

Metallurgy, Chronicles of, 128, 282, 420,
d02.

Meteoric Stone, on a, 126.

Meteorite, Fall of a, 419.

Meteorites, Analysis of, 280.

in India, 551.

Meteorological Instruments, Self-record-
ing, Results of, 122.

Memoirs in France, 123.

—— Office, Weather Report of, 545.

—— Servicein the Turkish Empire, 123.

Meteorology, Chronicles of, 120, 275,
413, 545.

of North-West Europe in 1868, 123.

Progress of, in France, 278.

Meteors, 391.

November, 96.

Mexican Chalchihuitls, 280.

Mica, a New, 127.

for Furnace Doors, 287.

Micrometer, Spectrum, 254.

Microscope, Graduating Diaphragm for,
425.

—— Mechanical Finger for the, 565.

Milky Way, New Theory of the, 253.

Mitarvet, M., on the Sensitiveness of
the Mimosa, 396.

MiLiincen, Major, on Negro Slaves in
Turkey, 248.

Millstone Grit, Geology of, 115.

Mimosa, Sensitiveness of the, 396.

Mineral Statistics of the United King-
dom, 128.

Veins of Country around Shelve
(Shropshire), 116.

Mineralogy and Lithology, 82.

Chronicles of, 124, 280, 417, 550.

Mines Regulation Bill, 212, 420, 952.

Mining, Chronicles of, 128, 282, 420,
592.

——,, Legislature on, 282.

—— Operations at Dudley, 554.

Mistletoe on the Oak, 526.

Mitrailleur, the, 532.

Monn, Prof.,on Sea Temperatures, 415.

Mo toy, Rev. G., Geology and Revela-
tion; or, the Ancient History of the
Earth considered in the Light of
Geological Facts and Revealed Re-
ligion, 238.

Molluscs, Ascidian, Kinship of Verte-
brates and, 142.

Monaco, Atmosphere of, Salt in, 262.

Monxman, C., Archeological Disco-
veries in Yorkshire, 247.

Moon, Eclipse of, 97.

Emission of Heat from the, 138.

Heat from, 287.

Morphology, Chronicles of, 142, 290,
431, 572,

Index.

[ Oct.,

Bate taek M. E., Variegation of Leaves,

ie

Variegation and Double Flower-

ing, 396.

Researches on the Diamond, 426.

Mortars, on, 113.

Morton, G. H., Geology and Mineral
Veins of Country around Shelve
(Shropshire), 116.

: rik Manufacture of Oxygen Gas,

64,

Miter, Dr, H., F.R.S., Preventing the
Bumping of Liquids, 136.

M., on Hydrate of Chloral, 261.

Mvre, Cuamonp, and Guirre, MM.,
Thermo-electric Apparatus, 288.

Murruy, J. J., Habit and Intelligence
in their Connection with the Laws of
Matter and Force, 75.

Muscles, Starch in, 141.

Ni

Nadorite, Analysis of, 551.
Naga (Philippine Islands), Natives of,
247

Naphthaline, Utilization of, 259.

Nass, M., Starch in Muscles, 141.

Naupry, M., Acclimatization of Palm
Trees, 397.

Nebule, Distribution of the, 98.

Needles, Ancient, 381.

Negro Slaves in Turkey, 248.

Neptune, Spectrum of, 286.

Nerves, Endings of, in Liver, 141.

Trophic, 200.

Ness, W., on the Coal-field of Fife, 284.

Newman, M., Rendering Woven Tissues
Impermeable to Water, 107.

Prof., on Cuckoo’s Eggs, 142.

New York Society of Practical En-
gineering, 113.

New Zealand Weapon, 245.

Nickel, Electro-plating with, 288.

NickiEs, M., Preparation of Caustic
Baryta, 109.

Nitrogen, Preparations of, 108.

Noste, Capt., on Planet Venus, 393. -

Nova Scotia, Gold-fields of, 421.

Minerals of, 419.

Norsey, P. F., on English and Conti-
nental Intercommunication, 112.

O.

Ocean, Surface Life of the, 435.
Odontology, Graphic Method in, 482.
O«uE, Dr., on Cross-fertilization, 394.
OnRESsER and SeputcHre, MM., Utili-
zation of Blast-furnace Slag, 260.

1870.]

Oldhamite, 281.

O.rver, Lieut. S. P., on the Megalithic
Structures of the Channel Islands,
149.

Oprert, Dr., Description of the Kitai,
246,

ORIGINAL ARTICLES :—

Light and Sound; an Examination
of their Reputed Analogy. By
W. F. Barrett, F.CS., 1.

On the Principles and Methods of
Sewage Irrigation, 17.

The Total Solar Eclipse of August,
1869. By William Crookes,
F.RS., &e., 28.

Instruction in Science for Women,

On Idiocy. By P. Martin Duncan,
E.RS., 49.

The French Imperial School of
Forestry. By A. Pengelly, B.A.,
60

The Fuller’s Earth in the South-
West of England. By R. Tate,
F.GS., 68.

Megalithic Structures of the Chan-
nel Islands, their History and
Analogues. By Lieut. S. P.
Oliver, 149.

On Insanity. By P. Martin Dun-
can, F.R.S., &c., 155.

The Metallurgical Industry of
Cleveland, 186.

On “ Trophic Nerves.” By G. Rol-
leston, F.R.S., 200.

Recent Observations on Under-
ground Temperature, or the
Cause of Variation in Different

Localities. By E. Hull, F.R.S.,
207.

Mr. Bruce’s Mines Regulation Bill,
212

On Practical Scientific Instruction.
By G. Gore, F.R.S., 215.

Atmospheric Electricity and Re-
cent Phenomena of Refraction.
By S. Barber, 229.

Beer Scientifically and Socially
Considered. By J. Samuelson,
299.

Spiritualism Viewed by the Light
of Modern Science. By William
Crookes, F.R.S., &., 316.

The Rate of Geological Change.
By H. M. Jenkins, 322.

Air Pollution by Chemical Works,
330.

De Mortuis. By H. Woodward,
341.

Foreign Trees and Plants for Eng-
lish Gardens. By A. W. Bennett,
390.

Index.

589

ORIGINAL ARTICLES—continued,

A Recent Triumph of Synthetical
Chemistry. By William Crookes,
E.BS., &e., 360.

The Eclipse of August 7, 1869,
“Anvil” Protuberance. By
W. S. Gilman, jun., 443.

The Surveys of India. II. The

- Trigonometrical Survey (with a
Sketch-map). By F.C. Danvers,
A.I.C E., 448.

The Geological Survey of India
(with a Sketch-map). By H.
Woodward, F.G.S., 458.

Rainfall in England. By W. Pen-
gelly, F.R.S., 467.

The Approaching Total Solar
Eclipse. By R. A. Proctor,
F.R.AS., 477.

The Controversy on Spontaneous
Generation; with Recent Expe-
riments. By J. Samuelson, 484.

The Devonshire Association for the
Advancement of Science, Litera-
ture, and Art, 497.

Osbornite, 281.

Other Worlds than Ours, 367.

Ort, Dr., on the Preservation of Timber,
263.

—— Utilization of Naphthaline, 259.

OweEN, Prof., on the Lias Pterosauria
and on Cetacean Remains, 271.

on Two New Ichthyodorulites,
118.

OxuanpD, Mr., Calcining Tin Ores, 423.

Oxygen Gas, Manufacture of, 107, 264,
529, 563.

Oxygenated Water, 398.

Ozone, Explosions caused by, 399, 529.

Formation of, by Combustion, 566.

—— Testing for, 155.

P.

Paring, Mr., on the Total Eclipse of
1869, 251.

Paleocoryne, on, 407.

Paleontographical Society, Monographs
of, 269.

Paleontology, Chronicles of, 114, 269,
406, 537.

Palladium, Occlusion of Hydrogen by,
105.

Palm Trees, Acclimatization of, 397.

Palms, Germination of, 524.

Paper, Electro-deposition of Copper,
Silver, and Gold on, 139.

Paquet, M., on Oil of Thymol, a New
Disinfectant, 260.

Parotid Gland, Secretory Nerve of the,

141.
oR o,

590

Patterson, Mr., on Collodion Balloons,
401.

‘* Pattoo-Pattoo,” a New Zealand Wea-
pon, 245.

Pav, M., on Hydrate of Chloral, 261.

Peloria in Labiate, 104.

PencELLY, A., The French Imperial
School of Forestry, 60.

—— Mr,, Literature of Kent’s Cavern,

—— W., Rainfall in England, 467.

Peprer, J. H., Cyclopzdic Science
simplified, 85.

Permanent Way, Single Rail, 403.

Permian and Triassic Rocks of the
Midland Counties, 114.

Perseus, the Cluster in, 97.

Peru, Primeval Monuments of, 512.

PrErerseN, Herr, Autimonial Sulphide
of Silver, 125.

PETTENKOFFER, Prof., on the Relation
of Heat to Work in the Human Body,
290.

on the Evaporation of Water from
Plants, 524.

Pettigrew, Dr., Movements of Wings
in Flight, 436.

PeyritscH, J., on Peloria in Labiate,
104.

Priucer, Prof., on the Endings of
Nerves in the Liver, 141.

Putirp, Carbo-oxygen Light, 563.

Puitires, Prof. J., Career of, 537.

on the Oxford Clay Belemnites,
270.

Pholas-burrows in the Ormes Head,
118.

Phosphorus in Steel, 398.

Phosphuretted Hydrogen, 106.

Photographie Operations during Total
Solar Eclipse of August, 1869, 40.

Physical Observatory at St. Petersburg,
122.

Physics, Chronicles of, 134, 285, 424,
563

Physiology, Animal, and Morphology,
Chronicles of, 139, 290, 431, 572.
— in Trinity College, Cambridge,

7.
—— Vegetable, Chronicles of, 99, 254,
394, 524.
Picort, Dr. R., on Podura Scale Mark-
ings, 144.
Prat, Dr. O., the Cluster in Perseus, 97.
Prre, L. O., on the Psychica]l Elements
of Religion, 247.
Plants, Acclimatization of Half-hardy,
" 200.
—— and Animals, Distribution of, 255.
—— Climbing, 257.
Deviations from the usual Con-
struction of, 84.

Index.

[ Oct.

Plants, Evaporation of Water and De-
composition of Carbonic Acid by, 103.

—— Fertilization of Winter Flowering,
100.

a: Influence of Soil and Climate on,
254.

—— Mimetic, 397.

Variegation and Double Flowering
of, 396.

Platinizing Looking-glasses, 262.

Platinum, fused, Oxygen dissolved by,
287.

Piummer, Mr., on the Comet of 1683,
393.

Pneumatic Stamps, 131, 555.

Podura-scale Markings, 144.

Poisoning by CEnanthe Crocata, 526.

Poisons, Melting and Subliming Tem-
peratures of, 426.

Potxacci, E., Manganese in Milk, 530.

Polyargyrite, New Silver Ore, 126.

Polygamy, its Influence in Determining

_ Sex and its Effects on the Growth of
Population, 248.

Porcelain, Action of Water on, 106.

PoseLcEeR, M., Damage to Trees, 107.

Potash, Extraction of, from Suint, 260.

Powe.t, Mr., on the Double Star a
Centauri, 522.

Prairie Vegetation, 527.

Precious Stones, Handbook of, 81.

Pre-historic Archeology, 244.

International Congress of, 90.

Dwelling on Coast of Haddington-
shire, 382.

Pressure, Mean, of Atmosphere and
Prevailing Winds over the Globe,
275.

Pritiievx, M., on the Movements of
Chlorophyll, 256.

on the Viridescence of Leaves, 104.

Proceedings of the Metropolitan Learned
Societies :—

Anthropological, 247, 385, 517.

Astronomical (Royal), 97, 251, 392,
520.

Ethnological, 245, 384, 516.

Geological, 119, 272, 542.

Institution of Civil Engineers, 112,
266, 404.

—— Mechanical Engineers, 268,
405, 536.

Proctor, R. A., the Approaching Total
Solar Eclipse, 477.

on the Corona and Zodiacal Light,
392.

—— on the Distribution of the Nebule,
98.

— on Measuring the Discs of Stars,
8

—— New Theory of the Milky Way,
253.

1870.]

Proctor, R. A., Other Worlds than
Ours, 367.

— on Star-drift, 251.

— on the Sun’s Motion in Space, and
on the Relative Distances of the Fixed
Stars of various Magnitudes, 252.

— Transit of Venus, 97, 253.

Prominences, Eclipse, Spectroscopic
Notes on the, 34, 39.

Protoplasm, Development of Gas in, 140.

Pseudomorphs, on, 127.

Pyrometer, Novel, 428.

Q.
Quartz, Artificially Crystallized, 125.

R.

Rabdionite, New Mineral, 551.

Railway Accidents and Means of Pre-
venting, 113.

—— Expenditure and Income, 267.

—— Festiniog, 265.

San Paulo, 404.

Railways, Light, 265.

Rainfall in England, 467.

of Greenwich, 416.

of South of Scotland, 416.

RAMMELSBERG, Dr., on Axinite, 127.

M., on Gadolinite, 282.

Ranxine, W. J. M., Inaugural Address
before the Institution of Engineers in
Scotland, 268.

Rave, J. B., on Diatom Markings and
Podura-scale Markings, 144.

Red Rain, Falls of, 547.

Redruthite, 117.

Reep, E. J., Our Iron-clad Ships: their
Qualities, Performances, and Cost, 269.

Refraction, Recent Phenomena of, and
Atmospheric Electricity, 229.

Ren, H., ‘A Practical Treatise on Con-
crete, and how to make it; with Ob-
servations on the Uses of Cements,
Limes, and Mortars,’ 113.

Reimann, Dr., on Albolith, 399.

Religion, Psychical Elements of, 247.

‘ Relique Aquitanice,’ 381.

Repertorium fiir Meteorologie, 278.

Reptilia and Batrachia, Extinct, of
North America, 116.

Resolvability of Star Groups, 521.

Respiration, Waste of Food during, 377.

Reviews oF RECENT SCIENTIFIC WoRKS.

‘ Wrought-iron Bridges and Roofs,’
By W. C. Unwin, 72.

‘Habit and Intelligence, in their
Connection with the Laws of
Matter and Force. <A Series of
Scientific Essays. By J. J.
Murphy, 75.

Index.

591

Reviews oF RECENT Screntrric Works
— continued,

‘ British Conchology.’ By J. G.
Jeffreys, 79.

Schrauf’s ‘ Handbook of Precious
Stones,’ 81.

Senft’s ‘Mineralogy and Lithology,’
82.

‘Vegetable Teratology; an Ac-
count of the Principal Deviations
from the usual Construction of
Plants.’ By Maxwell T. Masters,
84

‘Cyclopedie Science Simplified.’
By J. H. Pepper, 85.

‘Faraday, his Life and Letters.’
By Dr. H. Bence Jones, 232.

‘ Geology and Revelations ; or, the
Ancient History of the Earth
considered in the Light of Geo-
logical Facts and Revealed Re-
ligion.’” By Rev. G. Molloy, 238.

Rolleston’s ‘ Forms of Animal Life,’

363.

Proctor’s ‘ Other Worlds than Ours,’
367.

Lankester’s ‘Comparative Lon-
gevity,’ 373.

Tyndall’s <‘Diamagnetism and

Magne-crystallic Action,’ 501.
ae John Lubbock ‘On Savages,’
05.
‘The Science of Building” By
E. W. Tarn, 508.

Ricwarps, Capt., F.R.S., on the Suez
Canal, 405.

RikATCHEFF, Lieut., on the Diurnal
March of Temperature, 278. -

Rivet, M. G., Alternation of Generation
in Fungi, 257.

Road Roller, Steam, 405.

Rosginson, Dr., on Imitating the Transit
of a Planet over the Sun, 252.

“ Rochage,” H. Caron on, 567,

Rocks of Auvergne, 128.

Rouueston, G., F.R.S., on Trophic
Nerves, 200.

— Forms of Animal Life, 363.

— Ancient Cemetery at Frilford,
386.

Roman London, 516.

Roof, Renewal of, at King’s Cross
Station, 268.

—— Wrought-iron Bridges and, 72.

Rotatory Storms, 121.

Rovavutt, M., Award of Wollaston
Donation Fund to, 275.

Round Island, Mauritius, Flora of,
256. °

Rovsss..e, M., Freezing of Wine, 428.

Royer, E., Synthesis of Formic Acid,
400.

592

Rinoerr, F., Expansion of Water when
Freezing, 427.
Russia, Meteorology in, 415.

Ss.

Saba, Island of, Sulphur Deposits in,
109.

Saprye, Sir E., Results of the First
Year’s Performances of the Photo-
graphically Self-recording Instru-
ments at Kew, 122.

SapEBeEcK, Dr., Zine-blende, 127.

Safety Cages, 556.

Valve, Improved, 537.

Salt in the Atmosphere near the Sea,
262.

Samvetson, J., on Beer Scientifically
and Socially Considered, 299.

on Spontaneous Generation, 484.

Sars Fund, the, 294.

Saturn, 97, 251.

Occultation of, 521.

SaunveErs, W. W., on Mimetic Plants,
397.

Saurians, Fossil Remains of, 119.

Savages, Sir J. Lubbock on, 505.

Scuinz, M., on a New Artificial Light,
286.

Scuia@sine, Cx, Clarifying Muddy
Water, 532.

, R., Organic Compounds of
Fluorine, 528.

Scuracur, Dr. A., Handbuch der Edel-
steinkunde (Handbook of Precious
Stones), 81.

Scuwartz, Dr. H., Preparation of
Phosphuretted Hydrogen, 106.

Science, Instruction in, for Women,
43.

Scientific Instruction, Practical, 215.

Scorching of Leaves by Wind, 105.

Scoutettmrn, M., on the Electric Im-
provement of Wine, 289, 430.

Scrore, Mr., on the Origin of certain
Terraces, 118.

Sea, Colour of the, 564.

Sea-weeds, Japanese, 105.

Seccut, Rev. F., Spectrum of Neptune,
134, 286.

Secretory Nerve of the Parotid Gland,
141,

Seetey, Prof, on So-called Hydro-
genium and Ammonium Amalgams,
O29.

SretHorst, Dr., Phenomena observed
during the Combustion of Hydrogen
Gas, 137.

Sexrt, Dr. F., Lehrbuch der Mineralien
und Felsartenkunde (Mineralogy and
Lithology), 82.

Index.

| Oct.,

Sepia, Physiology of, 291.

SEPULCHRE and Onressmr, MM., Uiili-
zation of Blast-furnace Slag, 260.

Sewage Irrigation, Principles and
Methods of, 17.

— Utilization of, 378, 241.

Sexual Forms, Animals presenting Two
Distinct, 293.

SsHarpey, Dr., Memorial to, 144.

Shell Implements of Barbadoes, 245. ~

Shina Race, on the, 247.

Silica, Crystallized, 125.

—— Hydrated, Discovery of, 429.

Silicon, Removal of, from Pig-iron, 133.

—— Organic Compounds of, 528.

Stiitm1ay, Prof. B., on Relation of Light
produced to Volume of Coal Gas
consumed, 286.

on Woolongongite, a New Hydro-
carbon Mineral, 126.

Silver, Antimonial Sulphide of, 125.

Decomposition of Water with
Poles of, 138.

—— Depositing on Paper, &c., 139.

Simlaite, on, 419.

Spots and Arey, Messrs., New Eye-
piece, 253.

Simonyite, on, 419.

Sitka, Climate of, 122.

Slag of Blast Furnaces, Utilization of,
260.

Slavery in Turkey, 248.

Surru, Dr. R. Ancus, F.R.S., Chemical
Climatology, £16.

S., on a Circle of Stones in West-

moreland, 245.

W. G., Poisoning by C£nanthe
Crocata, 526.

Snake, Fossil, in Greece, 539.

Sodium and Chlorine, 259.

Ignition of, on Water, 106.

Soil and Climate, Influence of, on Plants,
254.

Solar Dise, Dark Objects Crossing, 392.
Eclipse, on the Total, of August,
1869. By W. Crookes, F.R.S., 28.

—— Physics, Zoliner on, 518.

—— Spots, 525.

Periodicity of the, 391, 393.

Sorsy, H. C., Spectra of Zirconium
and Uranium, 259.

Souperatny, J. L., on Isinglass, 399.

Sound and Light, an Examination of
their Reputed Analogy. By W. F.
Barrett, 1.

Spectra, Remarkable, of Compounds of
Zirconium and Uranium, 259.

Spectroscope, Automatic, 390, 424, 523.

New Form of (Zéllner’s), 96.

Spectrum Analysis applied to Deter-
mination of Fluids in Crystals, 125.

— of the Corona, 94.

1870.

Spectrum of Neptune, 134.

—— Reactions, Influence of Heat on
Delicacy of, 567.

Spencer, P., Raising Temperatures by
Steam, 136.

g Copper from its Ores,
422.

Spermatophores in Annelids, 434.

Spiritualism Viewed by the Light of
Modern Science. By W. Crookes,
FE.R.S., &., 316.

Sponges, New, 573.

Zoological Position of, 433,

Spontaneous Generation, 484.

Sprine, M., Cannibalism in Namur, 384.

Sauter, E. G., on the Chalechihuitl of
Mexico, 280.

Staffelite, on, 281.

Stamens, Lritability of, 396.

Stamps, Pneumatic, 131.

Starch in Muscles, 141.

Star-drift, on, 251.

Eta Argis, Phenomena of, 390.

Stars, Measuring Dises of, 98.

Statistics, Agricultural, 243.

Steam and Air Engines, 533.

Raising Temperatures by, 136.

Steel Casting, 559.

and Iron, Patents for Manufacture

of, 423.

Sulphur in, 259.

Stern, Dr. W., Madder Colours, 531.

Stereographic Projection, 523.

Stevens, E. T., ‘ Flint Chips,” 379.

STEewart, Dr. B., on the Aurora, 250.

SroLtickza, Dr., Ancient Kitchen Mid-
dens of the Andaman Islands, 383.

SrouzeL, Dr., Substitute for Copper in
the Daniel Battery, 430.

Stone, Mr., on the Transit of Venus,
252.

Implements in New Zealand, 245.

Stones, Circle of, in Westmoreland, 245.

Precious, Handbook of, 81.

Stoney, B. B., ‘The Theory of Strains
in Girders and similar Structures,’
113.

Storm Warnings, 548.

Storms, Rotatory, 121.

Strains in Girders, 113.

STRASBURGER, Dr. 'E, on the Fertiliza-
tion of Ferns, 395.

Structure of Crinoidea, Cystidea, and
Blastoidea, 541.

Struve, Peroxide of Hydrogen in Air,
399,

Srrtver, Dr. G., on the Iron Pyrites of
Piedmont and Elba, 281.

Suez Canal, 110.

Report on the, 405.

- Surroik, W. T., on Boiling Water, 568.

Sugar in Madder Root, 260.

Index.

593

Sugar, Optically Neutral, 564.

Suint, Extraction of Potash from, 260.

Sulphide of Carbon, Manufacture of,
263.

— Solid, 428.

Sulphur, Action of Sunlight on, 285.

— Action of Vapour of, on various
Gases, 106.

Deposits, 109.

—— in Steel and Tron, Estimation of,
259.

Sulphurous Acid, Action of Light on,
564.

Sun, Eclipse of, of Dec. 24, 1870, 389.

Partial Eclipse of the, 97.

— Total Eclipse of the, August, 1869,
94.

Sun’s Heat, Concentrating, 138.

Motion in Space, 252.

Sunlight, Action of, on Sulphur, 285,

Coloration of Glass by, 134.

Survey, Memoirs of the Geological, 114.

SwryHog, R., New Genus of Cervide,
292.

Synthetical Chemistry, a
Triumph of, 360.

Recent

AM

Tart, Prof., Theory of Comets, 250.

Tarn, E. W., on the Science of Build-
ing, 508.

Tartaric Acid, Prevention of Mouldi-
ness, 031.

Tasmanians, Origin of the, 246,

Tats, Ralph, on an Incised Rock on
the Iguana, 248.

— on the Fuller’s-earth of the South-
West of England, 68.

Telescopes, Early, 522.

TrmPEL, M., Discovery of a Comet, 96,

Temperature, Diurnal March of, 278.

—— Observations on Underground, 207.

—— Relation of, to Sea Level, 428.

—— of the Sea, "415.

Teratology, Vegetable; an Account of
the Principal Deviations from the
usual Construction of Plants, 84.

Thames Embankment, 534.

Theory of Strains in Girders, 113.

Thermo-electric Apparatus, 288.

Tuompson, A. M., Mineralogical Guide,
419,

G. C., on Consanguineous Mar-
riages, 385,

Thymol, Oil of, a New Disinfectant, 260,

Timber, Preservation of, 263.

Tin, Action of Cold on, 569.

Foil, Uses of, 531.

—— Mines in Cornwall, 129.

—— Mining in England, 420.

594

Tin Ores, Calcining, 423.

Tinning Iron, 571.

Tissues, Woven, Rendering Imperme-
able, 107.

Total Eclipse of 1869, 251.

Tourmaline, Analysis of, 418.

Constitution of, 127.

Trams for Colliery Use, Comparative
Merits of Large and Small, 267.

Tramways, Street, 402.

Transit of Venus, 95, 252.

of Planet over the Sun, Imitating
the, 252.

Trees along Promenades, Damage to,
107.

and Plants, Foreign, for English
Gardens, 350.

Triassic and Permian Rocks of the Mid-
land Counties, 114.

Troost and HAavTEFEUvILLE, MM., Heat
of Union of Carbon, Boron, and Sili-
con with Oxygen, 287.

Trophic Nerves, 200.

Tumuli near Honiton, = ha 93.

Tunnel under the Thames, 265.

TynpALL, J., F.R.S., on Diamagnetism
and Magne-crystallic Action, 501.

U.

Underground Temperatures, Observa-
tions on, 207.

UnDERHOLD, E., Prevention of Boiler
Incrustations, 109.

Unwin, W. C., Wrought-iron Bridges
and Roofs, 72.

Uranium and Zirconium, Spectra of,
259.

iv:

Vegetable Physiology, Chronicles of,
99, 254, 394, 524.

Teratology, 84.

Vegetation of Howes Island, 101.

Venus, 97, 393.

Transit of, 95, 97, 252, 253.

Vertebrates and Ascidian Molluscs,
Kinship of, 142.

Viaduct, Holborn, 112.

Victoria, Minerals from, 550,

Gold from, 130, 422.

VIGNOLEs, C. B., F.R.S., Inaugural Ad-
dress of, before the Institution of
Civil Engineers, 266.

Viridescence of Leaves, 104.

VoELCKER, Dr., Falsification of Manures,
376.

VocEL, M., Change in Colour of Flowers,

25.

Index.

[ Oct.,

VoGELSANG and GEISSLER, MM., Deter-
mination of Fluids in Crystals by
Means of Spectrum Analysis, 125.

Volcanoes, Forbes on, 538.

ce

Wake, Mr., on the Race Affinities of
the Madacasses, 247.

WanELYN, J. A., Sodium and Chlorine,
259.

Water, Action of, on Glass and Porce-
lain, 106.

Clarifying Muddy, 532.

—— Evaporation of, from Plants, 103,
524.

——— Expansion of, when Freezing, 427.

Waterproof Paper, 261.

Wartua, Dr. von, Solid Disulphide of
Carbon, 428.

Weald, Antiquity of Iron Mines of the,

92.

Weather Calendar for North-West Ger-
many, 122.

of Gibraltar, 520.

Werssky, Dr., on Epiboulangerite, 282.

Weight, Increase of, during Combustion,
137, 568.

Weston, Mr., on the Lunar Apennine
Range, 253.

Wheat-flies, 511.

WueatsTongE, Sir C., on a Cause of
Error in Electroscopic Experiments,
429,

WHITAKER and Bristow, Messrs., For-
mation of the Chesil Bank, 117.

Wuyrmper, E., Fossil Flora, 406.

Witp, Prof., Physical Observatory at
St. Petersburg, 122.

—— ‘Repertorium fiir Meteorologie,
278.

Wiis, C., on City Transit, 405.

Railway Accidents and Means of |

Preventing, 113.

J., Chinese Records of Eclipses,

253.

Witsuike, Rev. T., on the Chief Groups
of the Cephalopoda, 116.

Freezing of, 428.

WINCcHELL, Prof., on the Origin of Prairie
Vegetation, 527.

‘Wind in its Circuits,’ 548.

Winds and Currents, ’ Physical Geogra-
phy in relation to, 549.

Winds, Influence of, on Climate, 276.

prevailing over the Globe, 275.

Wine, Electric Improvement of, 289.

Wings, Movements of, in Flight, 436.

WINKLER, Dr. C., Bleaching Wood-pulp,
108.

Wire Tramway, 404.

1870.]

Wouter, Prof., Discovery of Diamonds,
282.

Wotr, Prof., on the Solar Spot Period,
393.

Women, Instruction in Science for,
43

Woop, 8. V., on the Boulder Drift,
275.

—— and F. W. Harmer, on Intra-gla-
cial Erosion, 120.

W. H., Preventing Mouldiness in
Tartaric Acid, 531.

Wood-pulp, Bleaching, 108.

Woopwarp, H., De Mortuwis, 341.

— Geological Survey of India,
458.

Woolongongite, a New Hydro-carbon
Mineral, 126, 419.

Wrought-iron Bridges and Roofs, 72.

¥.
Yoredale Rocks, Geology of, 115.

Index.

595

Z.

ZAuLIwsky’s Galvanic Battery, 288.

ZANTEDEscHI, M., on Heat from the
Moon, 287.

ZENTMAYER, Myr., Graduating Dia-
phragm for Microscopes, 425.

— Mechanical Finger for the Micro-
scope, 565.

Zepharovichite, on, 419.

ZERRENNER, Dr., Native Lead in Mela-
phyre, 124.

Zine and Calcium, Alloy of, 531,

Zinc-blende, Examination of, 127.

Zirconium and Uranium, Spectra of, 259.

ZrvuREK, Dr., on the Gas Supply of Ber-
lin, 287.

Zodiacal Light, 392.

Theory of the, 250.

ZOLLNER, Dr., on Solar Physics, 518.

ZOLLNER’s Spectroscope, 96.

Zoological Literature, Record of, 144.

Zoology, Chronicles of, 139, 290, 431, 572.

— New Manual of, 574.

END OF YOL. VII.

VOL. VII.

( 596 ) [Oct., 1870.

e
LIST OF PLATES IN VOLUME VIL.

Correlation of Colour and Music (Chromolithograph)

The Total Solar Eclipse of 1869 ee ee

L’Ancresse Cromlech .

L’Autel Déhus, and Creux des Fées alicia.

Tunnery at Allsopp and Sons’ ee

Mash Tun at ditto he Fea

Fermenting Room at ditto .. ..

The Anvil Protuberance. Eclipse of Beene 1869 (Chromolithograph)
Sketch-map of the Trigonometrical Survey of India ;
Sketch-map of the Geological Survey of India..

The Approaching Total Solar Eclipse

hia found in Distilled and Rain Water, ad in ees ce teptess

LIST OF WOODCUTS IN VOLUME VII.

_—+ot.

Diagram showing Waves of Light and Sound e
Apparatus of Curved Reflectors for seagate Action of Sensitive Flame
Sewage Irrigation (Vignette) a slat ates, ioe 4 ee
Sewage Irrigation: Sluice .. .. ..

Ditto Pane and Gutter

Ditto Catchwork :

Ditto Ridge and Furrow

Solar Eclipse of August, 1869. Fig. 1
Ditto ditto 5 ie
Ditto ditto types
Ditto ditto » 4

Sections of Rose Bridge and Duckinfield Gofkemes 2
Germination of Malt Sy. Sah ee
The Hop Plant, parts of
Cells of the Yeast Plant
Stirrer of Mash Tun... f
The Swan-neck Pipe for the Henna of Gachouie Acid eae in ee
Abies Nobilis .... Se nabai S| as
Entrance to ere for Hedley fone in 1 Rook Garden
Graduating Diaphragm for the Microscope &
Rose Protuberance as forecasted. rite ree 7, 1869
Solar Dise. Eclipse, August 7, 1869 .
Ditto ditto sie
Diagram showing spots. Eclipse, Reeae 1, 1869 eS
Casella’s Apparatus for Catching Rain } 5
Mechanical Finger for the Microscope

London: Printed by W. Clowes & Sons, Stamford Street and Charing Cross.

445

484

Ohio hm
wag

‘WALA