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TRE 


AMERICAN JOURNAL ~ 


OF 


SCIENCE AND ARTS. 


CONDUCTED BY 


BENJAMIN SILLIMAN, M.D. LL. D. 


Prof, Chem., Min., &c. in Yale Coll.; Cor. Mem. Soc. Arts, Man. and Com.; and 
For. Mem. Geol. Soc,, London; Mem. Roy. Min. Soc., Dresden; Imp. 
Agric. Soc., Moscow; Hon. Mem. Lin. Soc.,. Paris; Nat. Hist. 

' Soc. Belfast, Ire.; Phil. and Lit. Soc. Bristol, Eng.; 
Mein. of various Lit. and Scien. Soc. in America. 


VOL. XX.—EE*, 1831. 


NEW HAVEN: 
Published and Sold by HEZEKIAH HOW®# and A. H. MALTBY. 


Philadelphia, &. LIVTELL & BROTHER. New York, G, & O. & HU. 
CARVILL.—Boston, HILLIARD, GRAY, LITTLE & WILKINS. 


PRINTED BY HEZERIAIL LOWE, 


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i 
CONTENTS OF VOLUME XX. 
NUMBER lI. 
Page. 
Art. I. On the means of safety in Steam Boats, By sun L. SuL- 
LivaN, Civil Engineer, - - ‘1 


Il. Specification of an improvement in duets engine boilers, 
for the employment of carburetted hydrogen gas, as 
fuel; by Joun L. Sutuivan, Civil Engineer, - - 10 
III. A description of an Economical Steam Boat, - - 14 
IV. Remarks on the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic coast, 
of the North American States; by Witttam C. Reprieip, 17 
V. Observations on a new variety of Peruvian Bark; with 
some remarks on the alkaline bases Quinia and Cincho- 


nia; by Georce W. CarPeNTER, - - sh. es Om 
VI. Analysis of the Protogza of Leibnitz; by Prof. E. 

Mircuety, of the University of North Carolina, - 56 
VII. On Central Forces; by Prof. Tazoporr Strone, = - 65 


VIII On the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqui; by Cap. R. 
H. Bonnycastie, R. E. Up. Can., with figures—see 


the plate, - - - - - - - 44 
IX. Notice concerning. the Garden of Fromont, translated 

from the French; by Jacos BonreHy M. Dy - 83 
X. Chemical Works, - - - 88 


XI. Art de se preserver de l’action de la Wane. par -M. le 
Chevalier Atpiwi.—The art of preserving from the 
action of flame; by the Ch. Atpinz. Analysis by Prof. 


J. Griscom, - - eae - - = 96 
XH. Geological Communications. 
1. Crotalus? reliquus, or Arundo? crotaloides, - 122 


2. The Gold of Mexico in a rock, equivalent to that 
which contains the Gold of the careless by Hick 
Amos Eaton, 124 
3. Scratches on ce eneee | in the hilgeteny are te 
Wiiiam A. Tuompson, of Sullivan county N. ee 124 
XIII. Meteorological Observations, made by Dr. S. P. Hir- 


DRETH, at Marietta, (Ohio) in 1830, - 126 
XIV. On a singular instance of Crystallization ; by ‘Anausrus 

A. Haves, - - - - - - - 128 
XV. Onachange of climate, - - - - - - 130 
XVI. Fuel for Steam Boilers.—Eprror.  - - - 133 


XVII. On the electro-magnetic properties of etliteecus veins 
in the mines of Cornwall; by Roserr Wess Fox, of 
Falmouth, - - - - - - - aie 
XVIII. Galvano-magnetism, > - oh hes Qt? 07 


iv CONTENTS. 


Page. 
MISCELLANIES—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 
1. Statistics of New York, - - - - 147 
2. Fish of Hudson River, from Prof. Baton, - - 150 
3. On shooting stars, - - - 153 
4. Compendium of American Omithology, by Thomas Nuttail, 
A. ME 1. 8., &e:, - 154 
5. Elements of Physics, by Neil Arnott, aM D ar the Royal 
College of Physicians, - 155 
6. Buffalo Mineral Spring, - - - 156 
7, 8. Loss of vessels inthe Gulf SireduiTraprovement inthe | 
Reflecting Goniometer ; by A. race - - - 158 
9. Mapping Instrument, - - - - 159 


10, 11, 12. Boston Mechanics? Meecine epee impregnated 
with platinum—The American Botanical Register, 160 
13, 14, 15. Floating Pumice-—Bromine—American Birds, 161 
16. Abstract ofa Meteorological Journal, - - - 162 
17, 18, 19, 20. Mauch Chunk ‘Anthracite pee! Tati His- 
torical Society—Notice respecting Steam Boats—Pro- 


fessor Hitchcock’s lectures on diet and regimen, 163 
21, 22. To mineralogists, geologists, &c. —Reflections on the de- 
cline of Science in England, - - - 164 


23, 24, 25. Purification of olive oil, for chronometers, &c.— 
Method of clearing the Baltimore rail-way of snow 
during the late winter—Discourse, delivered before the 
Historical Society of Michigan, by Henry R. Schoolcraft, 166 

26, 27, 28. Encyclopedia eC ealieed Carbon— 
Horticulture, = 167 

29, 30, 31. Literary and eientne aocibtied of Ganada—“Afinity 
of the Diallage family, in chemical ePaetnlous with 

augite—Collections of Insects, - - 168 

32, 33, 34. Localities of Minerals, by Jacob Porter trap. and 
rocks altered by Me Bey Ee s Ponpelations 


in travel, - - 170 
STATISTICS. 
1. National encouragement of Science, _—- 172 
Dost 4. Necrology—State of Education in the City 7 Lyons— 
Rail roads in Austria, — -- 174 
5, 6. The last annual meeting of the N: piuraline and phy eit 
of Germany—Petersburg Botanic Garden, - 175 
7, 8, 9. Kingdom of Wirtemburg—Iron Trade of Great Brit- 
ain—Russian Universities, . - - - 176 
10. Destruction of Live Stock by Wolves in Russia, - 177 
MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY. 
t. Vidltaigvelectri¢ity. 3) s< 575uuis helen ead hee) Re 
2, 3. Safety of steam engines—Violent thunder storm in Swit- 
zerland, - - - - - - - 178 


A, 5. Decomposition of water by atmospheric electricity— 
"> Decompositions by common electricity, - - 179 


CONTENTS. v 


Page. 
6, 7, 8. Heat produced by the compression of gas—The seat 
of taste—Currents in the ocean, - - - 180 
9. Sargasso Weeds, - - - - - - - 181 
10, 11. Arrangement of Rocks—Iron manufactured, and coal 
consumed in Wales, - - - - 182 


12. Importance of the discovery of the curing of Herrings, 183 


CHEMISTRY. 
1. Quantity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, - : 183 
2. On the mutual action of iodic acidand morphine, - 184 
3, 4. Preparation of ‘Clystallized Todic acid—On AnunE nitric 
acid, - 185 
5,6, 7. On the Beceeneement of Water “Weceumeciion of 
Carbonic acid—On crystallizable Acetic acid, - 186 
8, 9. Asparagin—Decomposition of metallic salts, - - 187 
10. The Black Sea, - - - - - - - - 188 
11, 12. Charring of wood at low temperatures—Limits to va- 
porization, - - - - - - - 189 
13. Composition of gunpowder, - - - - - 190 
14. Purple powder of Cassius, - - - - - 192 
15, 16. Arsenic in sea salt—On chloride of silver, - 193 


17, 18, 19,20. Preparation of bromine and its hydrate—Hy- 
drate of bromine—New process for opisin ae Lithia— 
On powdering phosphorus. - - 194 
21, 22, 23. Preparation of sugar from starch—Sulphate” of pot- 
ash and copper—On improvement in black writing ink, 195 


MEDICAL CHEMISTRY. 


1. Tincture of iodine, - = - = “ 2 - 196 
ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS BY MR. C. U. SHEPARD. 

1, 2. Pinguite, a new argillaceous mineral—Prunnerite, - 197 
3, 4. New analysis of Brewsterite—Polarizing rocks, - 198 
5. Nitrous atmosphere of 'Tirhoot, - - - 199 

APPENDIX. 


An account of a large Electro-Magnetic apparatus, made for the 
Laboratory of Yale College, under the direction of Messrs. 
Henry and Ten Eyck, of Albany, - - os ° - 201 


NUMBER II. 


Art. I. Remarks on the supposed tides of the North American 
Lakes; by Major Henry Wurrine, - 205 
Il. A Notice of the Salt Springs of Moutiers, in the "Ta 
rentaise, (Alps,) and of a peculirr method of evapo- 
ration; extracted from the Travels of R. BAKEWELL, 
Esq. : Vol. IL. p- 220: London, - - - 219 


Vi 


CONTENTS. 


: Page. 
Ill. Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions and Pro- 
ductions; with notices of its iphaleteane and of those 


of Oahu, - 228 
IV. List of the Plants of While ‘tranclated fen the Span 

ish by Dr. Ruscwennercer, U.S. N. 248 
‘V. Meteorological Tables; by Gen. Martin Fiexp, 261 


© VI. On the Achromatic Microscope; by Epwarp ‘Tomas, 265 
-VII. On the employment of Sulphate of Copper, &c. in the 
making of Bread, presented to the Board of Health 
of the department du Nord, (April, 1830); from the. 
French of M. Kuxuimann ; translated by J. Griscom. 269 
VIII. Chemical Examination of the Bark of the White Birch : 


by Owen Mason, of Providence, R. I. - - 282 

IX. On Analytical Geometry ; by C. Ww ILDER.  - - 285 

X. On Central Forces; by Pref. 'THroporr Strone, 291 
XI. An easy solution of a Diopnantine Froblem; by A. De 

WHEELER, 295 

XII. Halos.—Solar and fine - - 297 


XIII. Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain, 300 
XIV. Observations and Experiments on the rapid production 
of Steam in contact with metals ata high fonIpetae 


ture; by Prof. Watrer R. Jonson, - 308 
XV. Safety Apparatus for Steam Boats: by Prot A. D. 

BacHE, - ° - - 317 
XVI. Review of Prof. Renwiek’s Treatise on he Steam 

Engine, - 322 


XVII. On a Reciprocating aan Precuced by Magnet At- 
traction and Repulsion; by Prof. JosserpH Henry, 340 
XVIII. Description and History of a new Plant, Tallia Pyc- 
nanthemoides; by Dr. M. C. Leavenwortu. Cries 
a drawing.) - - - - 343 
XIX. Notice of the method of manufacturing the amon 
Sulphuric Acid, as practiced in. Germany ; ; by Tuomas 
_ G. Cremson, - - - - 347 
XX. Observations and Experiments on Light and Vison, and ~ 
the cause of prismatic analysis; by Dr. C. Conwext, 350 
XXI. On Storms and Meteorological Observations; by Prof: 


“f E. Mircuett, = - - - - 361 
XXII. Report of Messrs. Cooper, Surru, and Dz Kanes on Fos- 
sil Bones from Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, 370 


XXIII. Prof. Otmstep’s Reply to Dr. eee on Hail Stone 373 


| MISCELLANIRS—FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. 
NATURAL HISTORY. 


1,2. The Aes formerly called the Siberian Elm—Change 

of climate ; diminution of tomberatare on the surface 

of the earth, - - - - 377 
3. Monography of the enue Cyprea, - - - 379 


CONTENTS. Vil 


4 Page. 
4: Bone Caves in New Holland, -*®  - 2 =1./.380 
5. Volcano in New Zealand, - - . - - - 381 
6, 7, 8. Interesting discovery of Fossil Animals—Recent for- 
mation of PEO BES) in Living Vegetables, 382 
CHEMISTRY. 
1. On the development of Azotic gas in Warm Springs, 383 
2, 3, 4. Salicine—Crystalline compounds in Sulphuric ae 
A remarkable Chalybeate Walser, - - * 384 
5. Platina Lamp, - - - -° 385 
6. A new metal discovered, - - - - 386 
| MEDICAL CHEMISTRY. 
1. Efficacy of Iodine, - - - - - 386 
STATISTICS. 
1. Universities of Prussia andGermany, - - - 388 
2, 3. The city of Berlin—St. Peccrpore a aca of Helen eee) 389 
4. Antique Medals found near Geneva, - 391 
MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY. 
1. Bored Wells, - . : : Le 392 
2. On tempering metallic wires and springs, - - 393 
3. Manufactured articles from Horns and Heats - - 394 
4. Thunder Storms in France,’ - - - 395 
5, 6. Aurora Borealis at Paris—Lightning “Tubes, - - 396 
OTHER NOTICES. 
1. Exchanges of organized remains, - - 397 © 
2. Heidelberg collection of minerals, petrifactions, and models 
- of crystals, - - = -- - 398 
3. Gum Ammoniacum, ~ - = - - - 399 
DOMESTIC. 
1. American Marine Conchology, mil ea) 400 
2. Projected Branch Mint of North Gune, - - 401 
-3. Electrical properties of Caoutchouc, - - - 404 
4. Geological remarks relating to Mexico, - - 406 
5. Aluminium and magnesium, = - - - - 408 
6, 7. Pure chromate of potash—Covering for wires, - 409 


8, 9, 10, 11. Memoir on vision—-Problem—-Topaz in the 

White Mountains of New Bony ite. Matt for manure, 410 

12. Iodine in Angina Pectoris, - “A11 
13, 14, 15. New Monthly Dournal Weare of Useful a 
Entertaining Knowledge—Journal of ihe Franklin In- 

stitute, - - - - - A12 

16, 17. Mr. Cooper’s Micelaimen--Wedhieation. - - AIS 


Vili CONTENTS. 


Page. . 
18. Journal of the Academy. of Natural Sciences of Phila- ‘ 
delphia, - -. - - - - 
19, 20, 21. New monthly Journal, called The Friend of Man- 
kind—Proposed exchanges by the Franklin Society of 
Providence—Destruction of Life by explosions of Steam 


414 


Boilers, - aS Cn 5 4 af 415 

22, 23. Encyclopedia Americana—Ohio Canals, - = 416 
24, Journal of Law, - aK eA oe = . A17 
25, Alum in Mica Slate, . - - SA anianr ye 418 
Addition to Prof. Johnson’s piece on steam, . - - 418 
Postcript—Gen. Van Rensselaer’s Note, - ey tae 419 


ERRATUM. 


No. 1, Vol. XX, p. 153, line 9 from top, for stones read stars. 


‘TOUDTIOUDUG JeEINGUIC “AT 


861 


THE 


| AMERICAN 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 


Arr. 1.—On the means of safety in Steam Boats; by Joun L. 
Suuiivan, Civil Engineer. 


Vew York, January 21st, 1831. 


Pror. Stnuiman.—Dear Sir,—As it appears from your reply, that my proposed 
article on the subject of safety in steam boats, was not early enough for the January 
number of the American Journal, and as you have offered it a place in the April 


number, I now transmit the communication, and although late for the occasion, 


there seems to be some reason for preferring that the same work wherein my letter 
on the proximate causes of danger was republished,* might be the medium of making 
known the preventive since discovered. 


I haye long thought that the only complete safety to passengers was 
to be found in a separate bottom; and although this be literally true, 
still, the necessity there is of using the single boat in many situations, 
and the convenience of that compact form of boiler which has the 
furnace and flue within it, would have been sufficient motive to any 
conversant with this business to seek out a precaution against the 
danger attending it; yet when to this is superadded the appalling 
fact you have stated, that not less than fifteen hundred persons have 
already lost their lives by steam boat explosions in our country, while 
many more, probably, have been great sufferers who survived their 
injuries—motive indeed is offered for every one in the profession 
which comprehends this subject, to devise some mode of safeguard 
against so great an evil; one that otherwise must in liability be com- 
mensurate with the use of steam in navigation. 

And I am the more encouraged to address you on this occasion, 
as I perceive that Mr. Renwick, in his excellent treatise on the steam 
engine, lately given to the public, confirms my opinion expressed in 
that letter, on the principal cause of the danger; and I ask leave to 
quote a few paragraphs from his pages. 


* See Mr. Sullivan’s Ietter, Vol. xix, p. 146. 


Vol. XX.—No. 1. 1 


2 On the means of safety in Steam Boats. 


“In all cases where fatal accidents have occurred, the explosion 
appears to have been due to other causes than the mere expansive 
force of the steam that would be formed when the boiler is in proper 

order and supplied with water. ee 

“If we suppose that the supply of water is impeded or checked 
altogether, the level of that in the boiler must descend, and parts ex- 
posed to the acticn of the fire may become dry; such parts may then 
become heated far beyond the temperature of the water beneath. 

“cif by any cause the water from beneath is brought into contact 
with the vapor and heated surface of the boiler, it will be instantly 
converted into steam of great expansive force, and in quantities for 
which the usual safety valves are not sufficient to provide an escape ; 
an explosion must therefore ensue.—p. 96. 

‘The water may be brought into contact with these heated parts 
of the boiler, or with the hot vapor, by the very means that would, in 
other cases, be applied to dimmish the danger. ‘Thus, if the safety 
valves should be opened, the water which was before boiling quietly, 
will suddenly rise mto violent ebullition; or if the feeding apparatus 
begin again to act, the level of the water will be raised. In both 
cases, a contact will take place with the red hot surfaces, and with 
the intensely heated steam. This is in truth, almost the sole cause 
of the explosions of boilers, whether of low or high pressure.”—p. 97. 

“¢ Boilers, when the fire is made withm, or when the return flues pass 
through them, are obviously far more subject to accidents arising from 
this cause, than those heated from without. Low pressure engines 
are as liable to them as high, and it is confidently believed, that very 
many explosions are to be attributed to this cause against which the 
usual safety apparatus furnishes no protection.”—p. 98. 


This conclusive explanation appears to be sustamed by the exper- 
iments of Prof. Johnson of the Franklin Institute, given in your last 
number, on the rapid production of steam by the immersion of red 
hot iron; and the rate of production might be estimated on the prin- 
ciple of latent caloric, according to Dr. Black, transferred from the 
mass of sensible heat. 

As the readiest description of my expedient or means of alarm or 
notice to be given by the subsiding water itself, 1 annex the specifica- 
tion of the invention—intending to claim a patent for it at maturity. 
It is well known that a privilege of this kind is not often a remunera- 
tion for the time bestowed on the subject of it. Yet the usefulness 


< On the means of safety in Steam Boats. 3 


of a new thing depends very much on its being carried properly mto— 
effect. To suggest and then leave an improvement to itself, would 
perhaps in most cases, be productive of little benefit to the public. 
To induce this care to give perfection to inventions, was a part of the 
good policy of those who framed the constitution ; and though not a few 
have been futile, still, immense benefits have already resulted from 
the encouragement held out in the exclusive privilege or property in 
very useful inventions. ‘The arts were, at the period alluded to, like 
the nation itself, in their infancy. The nature and cheapness of the 
privilege might well have been expected to produce some crude con- 
ceptions ; and some old things new vamped ; but as education advanc- 
ed, the principles of mechanics were better. inculcated ; and ihe hap- 
piest efforts have been those which supply some great deficiency or 
want arising from new exigencies in the progress of affairs. 

Thus, for example, your venerable Yale sent forth the cultivated 

genius of Whitney, opportunely to aid the agricultural enterprise of 
all the south. At the moment the great staple indigo was rivalled by 
that of the Indies, cotton was introduced; but in vain, till his mge- 
nuity, produced the gin, and he became the benefactor of half the 
Union. 
But it was not till 1819 that the protection of patentees became 
effectual. In that year Mr. Webster and Judge Hopkinson rendered 
the interests of literature and the arts a valuable service, in obtaining 
the passage of a law giving the circuit court chancery powers and 
original jurisdiction in all cases of this nature ; thus by injunction 
against trespassers, placing the burden of proof on them, no longer 
therefore supported in aggression by its profits. 

Thus effectually placed under the protection of the power that 
eranted the privilege, there is no discouragement to the talents even 
of the best informed, the most likely to know what has already been 
done and what is yet wanted in the art, such may propose to improve. 
The most scientific American would be proud, I should think, to ren- 
der his country a service as valuable as Watt rendered to his; or 
like Sir Humphry Davy, would rejoice to shed light—especially the 
light of safety, on the path of humble industry, or peaceful travel, 
and free it from the most appalling of the dangers that walk in dark- 
ness and waste at noon day. If a more effectual safeguard than that 
I describe should be by some more skilful mechanician produced, I 
shall rejoice in it. Until then it is submitted to the public with no 
other recommendation. than its simplicity and intention. 


A On the means of safety in Steam Beats. 


Experience has taught us the serious lesson, that there are times 
when the usual means of safe-guard in steam boats would be una- 
vailing. Practice has also established extensively the use of that 
form of boiler which has flues within; and it may not be reasonable 
to expect them to be changed, as this would involve much expense. 
! think this invention will, as to the most formidable cause, make 
them safe. if 

Whenever the oceasion of alarm or approach of danger occurs, it 
will be important to supply water liberally without delay to the boiler, 
whether the engine be in motion or stopped. ‘Then the supply- 
chamber described in Mr. Renwick’s treatise and represented plate 
IL, fig. 2, (which originated with me some years ago) is well adapted 
to this purpose. 

I am well convinced there can be no defence but prevention. 
The effects of the explosion at McQueen’s foundery in this city last 
summer, serves to show that no bulwark that could be erected on 
the side of a steam boat, would avail as a protection, but might, by 
shattering the side, endanger her sinking. 

When we shall have superadded safety to speed in our steam 
packets, this branch of navigation will be advanced nearly to its prac- 
tical perfection. | 

With the highest respect, 1 am your friend and humble servant, 

J. L. Sunuivan. 


copy. 


Specification of a new and useful improvement or invention to 
guard against the danger of explosions, denominated the Alarm Bell 
Float and Phonic Guage of Steam Botlers; invented by John L. 
Sullivan, Civil Engineer; described as follows, viz. 


The first object of this mvention is to cause the water itself to give 
the alarm, when becoming dangerously low. © 

The second object in importance is to use bells or metallic trian- 
gles, or other sonorous bodies, within the boiler to ascertain where 
the surface of the water is within certain limits. 

The principle of their operation is founded in the facts which ex- 
periment has established, that bells or sonorous bodies emit a louder 
sound in compressed air, than in the atmosphere—that the surface of 
water is favorable to conducting sound, and that it will pass through 


On the means of safety in Steam Boats. 5 


metallic bodies—that steam is elastic and dense, and therefore a good 
conductor of sound: therefore, a bell fixed in a boiler above the water 
will ring. But I have ascertained, and it is obvious, that if its rim 
touch the water it will not vibrate or sound; so that when two bells 
are placed there, the one, (for example,) an inch higher than the 
other, with suitable wires leading out from each tongue through pack- 
ing to the front of the boiler; if the lower one touch the water it will 
not ring, while the upper one being above the water will sound and 
be heard; thus making it known to the engineer that the surface is 
between them. In like manner any requisite number of bells, or 
sonorous bodies, of the proper size, may be placed the one, half an 
inch or an inch higher than one and lower than another, so that the 
actual place of the surface through the vertical space occupied by 
the whole may be known within half an inch or less, whatever the 
temperature of the steam. And I give the bells a shape preferably, 
with perpendicular sides, and without flare, in order to prevent sedi- 
ment from lodging thereon, which might, if in extreme, lessen the 
sound; and if the water used be very foul, I place a cover somewhat 
above and partly around them each, for the same purpose. 

The alarm bell (or other sonorous body) is of the largest size, 
preferably, which the upper part of the space, above the ordinary 
reach of the water, will admit. It is ntended to ring spontaneously 
whenever the water shall happen to subside so much as to make bare 
and expose the furnace or flue to the action of the fire within: or, if 
a single cylindrical boiler, exposing some part of the sides to the ac- 
tion of the fire without, or under, whereby the flue or sides unpro- 
tected by the water might become red hot, and impart great heat 
suddenly to any accession of water, causing, (as writers on the sub- 
ject say,) so great an increase of steam of high temperature and great 
expansive force, that the safety valves cannot vent it. Nor, for the 
same reason, could an opening made by a fusible plug relieve the 
boiler instantaneously of so great a volume. And this is manifest 
from the law of increment of expansive force, compared with in- 
crease of heat, as exhibited in the following extract from the table 
of results of Prony, Dulong, Gerard and Arago, on the expansive 
force of steam.* 


* Ann, de Ch. et de Ph. Vol. XLIL, p. 74. 


6 On the means of safety in Steam Boats. 


Cent. Fahr. Difference 
1 atm. temp. 100° =212° for 1 atm. 


Dist “ §121.4=250.52 38.52—diff. between 1&2, 38.52 
Shue la 21520.) 24.08 
aihs.<t “© 145.4=293.72  18.52—diff. between 2&4, 43.20 
Pais “ 153.8=308.84 15.12 
6;,,,*6 ie sh O0i2 320.36, 4152 
Gat hives Ud66.5 = 331.20) 50 1134 
Bf « 172.1=341.78  10.08—diff. between 4&8, 48.06 


According to Mr. Renwick, 
4 atmospheres, - +. 291° 
8 fe ol teen Bale swvol. ioe (canodaitbrence:! owt ahh ee 
and so usually stated. 

Besides, the necessity or expediency of anticipating the danger is 
made more striking by the law of resistance to the passage and es- 
cape of steam through openings, as its velocity does not increase in 
the ratio of its elasticity. The Treatise of Prof. Renwick, (p. 87,) 
assigns it the following ratio, viz. 

At If atmospheres, . . . . . 873 feet per second. 


2 Ee oie Pe huh) ainoveaiinen Yalla@mer Fe Vian te 
4 celit wienaone Hilt Mey salen qOqGES ier diate 
6 Ke aac hata le) Sinenbyey iGyeiseaainn ee 
8 66 . 1852 * 66 


Wherefore, I conceive the ae means “of dafety is, in this as in other m- 
stances of liability of exposure to an uncontrollable explosive force, to 
anticipate the cause and prevent its sudden accumulation or occurrence. 

To this end, as the undue decline of the water is the proximate 
cause, I make that decline of it operate as a power to give the alarm, 
or notice of the near approach of danger. 

The method of safe-guard to be described cannot indeed prevent 
the pramitive cause, whether it be neglect, defect or leakage ; but, it 
will audibly announce when either of these causes has diminished the 
water to the limits of safety, and the borders of danger. It will make 
it known not only to the engineer, but to others, seasonably, to provide 
against the tremendous consequences of disregarding the warning. 

With this view I make a float of heavy plank, the specific gravity 
of which is about .900; or, preferably, of metallic plate or lead, 
made just buoyant by qtaeline cork securely to it, so that when 
raised out of the water in some degree, it will operate as a weght, 
sr power upon the shert end of a lever, with which it is connected 


On the means of safety in Steam Boats. 7 


by arod from its centre. 1 suppose this end to be conveniently four 
inches long, and the other twelve inches; of course the depression 
of the short end one inch, will raise the long end three inches; I 
then firmly fix a bell, triangle of steel, or other sonorous body, as 
large perhaps as the space ordinarily vacant above water, or occu- 
pied by steam will admit, and fix its tongue or hammer externally, 
near to it, projecting downwards from an axle, from which an arm 
extends horizontally towards the float, perhaps one third the length 
of the tongue, the under side smooth and flat. I then make the 
said lever, (which extends from the float-rod,) to underlap this arm 
one, two, or three inches, according to size; but at about one half 
its length from its fuleram or support, I bend it downward, and at a 
point that clears the arm of the tongue make an elbow joint, from 
which a short piece rises at about an angle of 45°, to contact with 
the said arm, at about two inches from its end; and in the end of 
this short part of it, I place a small roller to prevent friction while 
moving on each other; and I put in the angle of the joint a small 
spring. When therefore the float pulls down the short arm of the 
lever one inch, the long arm rising three inches, or in due propor- 
tion, raises the arm of the tongue three inches, while it at the same 
time recedes from the bell six or nine inches, as the proportions may 
be; and as the ends of the lever and arm describe opposite curves, 
they separate at their intersection, and the arm bemg liberated the 
tongue falls (and with the more velocity if the reaction be increased by 
a spring above the arm) and the bell is struck, and the alarm sounded 
precisely at that moment when the surface of the water will have settled 
to a level beyond which it would become dangerous to allow it to fall. 

The danger bemg perceived and the boiler consequently better 
supplied, the float rises and the lever returns to its position under the 
arm of the tongue by means of the joit, which closes a little by the 
pressure of the end of the arm till past-it, when the spring throws it 
out to its proper position for raising the tongue again. 

The lever does not, of course, remain in contact with the arm ; but 
when the water rises still more than one inch, it recedes downwards 
from it. If onthe contrary, the water falls and raises the tongue short 
of the point that would produce the blow, yet returns in consequence 
of the seasonable restoration of the water, the roller in the end of the 
lever is to permit this motion easily as the tongue rises and lowers. 

Thus independently of constant human agency and care, the water 
in the boiler will itself, by its motion, give notice of its own undue 
and dangerous diminution ; which is of the more importance as steam 


8 On the means of safety in Steam Boats. 


boats have to run by night as well as by day, and the practice of pla- 
cing the boilers on the guard platforms, makes it less likely that a se- 
eret leak would be seasonably discovered in any other way. 

Another modification of the principle is, to place the bell outside 
the boiler, and communicate the power of the float to it by the fol- 
lowing means. The tongue instead of striking immediately on the 
bell, strikes on the end of a rod, communicating (through a packing 
box) to the outside, and in contact with the short arm of a lever, at 
the end of the long arm of which is the hammer ; and this arm may 
be elastic as a spring: the impulse thus given within the boiler, from 
the float to the rod, gives the blow on the bell outside. 

In this arrangement the blow has to overcome the resistance of the 
packing around the rod, (which is not however much,) and the rod 
has to be returned after the blow, to its place, by hand or by mechan- 
ical means; but this mode permits of a louder alarm; the former 
mode of a warning somewhat more sure. If the bell is external it 
may be -so enclosed as to be accessible alone to the captain of the 
boat; if within it is not under the immediate care of either the captain 
or the engineer, but is then independent of human agency, and be- 
comes specially and spontaneously the passengers’ mechanic sentinel. 

For flue boilers the float requires the following modification: The 
depth of water over the flue or furnace may not be sufficient for the 
float. It may, or must in this case, be divided into two parts, con- 
nected across, and of a suitable shape to lay in the deeper water at 
the sides without touching: its connection with the lever will then be 
from the connecting piece. 

The same principle is also applicable to locomotive engines, which 
have hitherto been made with internal flues, and must always proba- 
bly be so; and though the same melancholy consequences in degree, 
are not to be expected in case of explosion, still, some one or two per- 
sons may be exposed to injury. ‘This precaution will not only make 
them also more safe, but more sure of avoiding the damage of rup-. 
ture and the inconvenience of delay. 

With sure means of knowing the actual state of the water, steam 
of much higher expansive force may be employed, and more busi~ 
ness done by nearly the same investment of capital. 

_Among the advantages of this improvement in steam boilers may 
be also stated, that the circumstance of there being concealed the 
sure means of loud alarm, will make the engineer more vigilant and 
careful, because the occurrence of the occasion for it would show 
gross negligence, unless it were caused by a secret leak and the con- 


On the means of safety in Steam Boats. ) 


sequent incompetency of the supply pump, or some other mechani- 
cal defect, in which case, he would be exonerated and the cause for- 
tunately discovered in season. 

2d. It is applicable to all existing flue bovlers, and by making 
steam boats safe, adds to their value and security as an investment. 
- 3d. By obviating the greatest objection to investment in steam 
vessels, it makes this kind of navigation as a business, more calcula- 
ble, and lessens the premium of insurance thereon. 

4th. It affords to passengers a consciousness of safety and thus 
increases the use of steam boats. 

5th. It brings all the causes of danger more definitely within the 
reach of Legislative remedy, or of definite provisions of law regard- 
ing the proof of boilers originally and periodically, as to size, form, 
and number of safety valves, &c. 

6th. And more especially it will be the means of absolutely pre- 
venting those calamitous explosions that have been often destructive 
of life; for it may be fairly presumed that with this apparatus, few if 
any of those accidents would have occurred, which, according to au- 
thentic information, have destroyed at least, fifteen hundred persons 
in the United States, and caused great suffermg to many who sur- 
vived the first injuries. © 

And pursuant to the provisions of the law of Congress relative 
to letters patent, I explicitly claim and declare the principle of my 
aforesaid invention to be the use or employment of combined bells, 
or other sonorous body or bodies, so placed within the steam boiler 
in relative elevation as to indicate by their sound when rung by wires, 
leading out to hand, the actual> place of the surface of the water 
within the limits of the vertical space between their rims by the ring- 
ing of the one next above the surface, and the refusal of the one in 
contact with it to emit sound. 

Also, as above described, an alarm bell, or other sonorous body, 
within or near the boiler to receive a blow and be sounded by means 
of mechanical apparatus connecting it and this effect with a float on 
the water within the boiler, the weight of which operates as a power, 
as the water unduly subsiding causes the aforesaid, or other equiva- 
lent apparatus to work; and by the blow of the tongue or hammer, 
give notice or alarm as aforesaid, at the near occurrence of that bare- 
ness and heat of the flue or furnace, or sides of the boiler, whence 
danger of explosion arises. J. L. Sunivan. 

New York, eighteenth of January, A. D. eighteen hundred and thirty one. 


Vou. XX.—No. 1. 2 


10 Improvement in Steam Engine Boilers. 


Art. H.—Specification of an improvement in steam engine boilers, 
for the employment of carburetted hydrogen gas, as fuel, denom- 
nated auxiliary fire; invented by Joun L. Suutivan, Civil Engi- 
neer, described as follows, viz. 


Tue object of this improvement is to have at command a volumin- 
ous flame, capable of instant production or instant cessation, and of 
regulation as to quantity. 

For this purpose, | make a receiver for inflammable liquids, that 
are to be vaporized ; the heat requisite thereto, beg only about 100° 
Fahrenheit, may be derived from the boiler itself. 

The vapor or gas thus raised, is conducted by a pipe to a fire with- 
in or under the boiler, where it will be instantly and incessantly ig- 
nited. 

Thus, with a small basis of anthracite, the engine may have the 
advantage of a lively blaze, fillmg the space of the furnace, and 
sometimes extending far into the flue; which will of course be un- 
der the water within. ; 

The materials of the gas may be conveniently derived from the 
oil of turpentine, alcohol, and other inflammable liquids, such as the 
different varieties of the volatile, carbonaceous and hydrogenous oils 
and spirits. 

As early as the year 1808, while engaged in steam engine exper- 
iments, I invented an instrument, caherehy tar and steam were com- 
mingled and projected into the fire ; but that method was found to 
be too expensive of that material in substance. ‘The present im- 
provement is essentially different : it contemplates the most econom- 
ical mode of using the most active fuel in generating steam. 

It therefore differs from Brown’s hydrogen gas engine, which uses 
a vacuum in cylinders, caused by burning hydrogen gas therein : and 
from Morey’s, which (patented in 1826) forms a vacuum in cylin- 
ders by explosive vapors, mixed with common air in certain propor- 
tions. My purpose, on the contrary, as before mentioned, is to im- 
prove the steam engine in respect to its economy of fuel. 

It is a fact, established in chemistry, that the carbonaceous hydro- 
genous fluids, above named, and alluded to, are freely vaporized 
at‘a moderate temperature, and that their elements spontaneously 
combine in those proportions which form carburetted hydrogen gas, 


Improvement in Steam Engine Boilers. 11 


and are inflammable on coming in contact with flame or fuel ata red 
heat, such as anthracite coal well ignited. 

I make the said receiver, or generator of the vapor, of a suitable 
form and size to receive the combustible fluids; and with surface 
enough for the air to pass over to take up and receive its charge, 
when it is led by a pipe to the furnace ; and when circumstances 
permit hot and dry air to be admitted, it will take up the vapor more 
freely. 

The introductory pipe or pipes, must each have a cock, not far 
from the furnace, to govern the supply ; and between the cock and 
the furnace, a wire-gauze screen, on the principle of the safety lamp 
of Sir Humphry Davy: and to keep the same free from obstruction, 
I sometimes cause a small stream of steam, led from the boiler, to 
enter behind the screen of wire gauze, and strike it in the direction of 
the course of the current of vapor continually or occasionally, and with 
the more sure advantage when the temperature is high, and the pipe 
prolonged in the furnace very hot ; when some additional portions of 
hydrogen may be obtained from its decomposition. 

The boiler of the engine, when this auxiliary fuel is to be feed 
should be made with proper adaptation to this intention. Whatever 
the size or form of the boiler, the bottom of the furnace will be oc- 
cupied with a narrow grate of coal. When the boiler is made of 
four long cylinders, in°the manner of my anthracite coal furnace- 
boiler, then this improvement thereon can be conveniently applied ; 
the introducing tubes being so arranged as to direct the vapor upon 
or into the most lively part of the fire. When the boiler is for loco- 
motive engines, the furnace will be more conveniently placed in an up- 
right cylindrical boiler, with a reverberatory roof or dome within, that 
will be covered with water; the flue leading into a long horizontal 
part, or into other upright divisions of the cylindrical boiler, till the 
heat is principally imparted to tlre water. 

But as the flame thus produced, demands a large supply of oxy- 
gen from the atmosphere, and if it were received aot through the 
grate, it might not only cause the coal to consume a yronanaencly 
fast, but the air be deficient in oxygen, I supply it by means of 
air tubes around the furnace, with convenient stopples or stop cocks, 
to regulate the quantity, and wholly stop it when anthracite coal alone 
is used 5 the air tubes in passing in, contracting to a small orifice to 
inerease the velocity of the air—an exhauster of the funnel or chim- 
ney, a fan wheel, as usual, operating to increase the draft. 


12 Improvement in Steam Engine Boilers. 


In cases where the grate is extensive, and it is of consequence to 
distribute the gas throughout the jire, 1 make use of iron tubes ex- 
tending from the orifice or orifices of the introducing pipe or pipes, 
cast with openings inclining downward to avoid being clogged. ‘The 
additional sections of pipe when used, are easily removed and re- 
placed, and serve when at a red heat to decompose any water that 
may, from the said steam pipe, enter with the carburetted hydrogen 
gas or vapor. ; 

So far as the flame extends along the flue, the materials of the 
fire (which in combustion produce aqueous vapor,) may be decom- 
posed and recomposed, renewing the heat with new accessions of ox- 
ygen so long as flame is present in the flue. 

Some estimate of the advantage in pomt of efficiency from this 
auxiliary fuel, may be made approximately, from a consideration of 
the chemical phenomena of combustion. 

In combustion, heat is well known to be produced in the ratio of 
the quantity of oxygen quickly consumed; and’ the greatest: heat 
known (except that of the galvanic battery,) is from the rapid con- 
sumption of oxygen and hydrogen in the proportion to each other 
which forms water; eight parts of oxygen by weight, to one part of 
hydrogen; in volume, 1 of oxygen to 2 of hydrogen. But these 
gases, pure and separate, not being at command for the practical 
purposes of fuel, the nearest approximation thereto, is this concen- 
trated fuel,—the use of artificially produced carburetted hydrogen. 

The more convenient materials are perhaps those derived from 
the pine. The ow of turpentine in common use being an article of 
merchandize, and always at command, it may be preferable for my 
purpose. 

Some calculation may be made from the analysis of this liquid 
by Dr. Ure. At the speeific gravity of 800 it contams 56 carbon, 
4 oxygen, and 40 hydrogen. Consequently, one gallon being eight 
pounds (troy,) contains 61440 grains less 1 for specific gravity, we 
have 49152 grains; wherefore, according to the above proportions, 
a gallon will contain of oxygen 1966 grains, of carbon 27520 grains, 
of hydrogen 19667 grains. ‘Then as 100 cubic inches of light car- 
buretted hydrogen weighs grs. 16,95 (i. e. 12,69 carbon, 4.26 hy- 
drogen,) these constituents of the gas, the carbon being divided by 
12,69 gives 2166 times the quantity requisite to 100 cubic inches; 
using of the hydrogen 2166 x 4.26=9227 grains, leaving 10.440 
grains of hydrogen to combine with the oxygen of the atmosphere. 


Improvement in Steam Engine Boilers. 18 


(less the above 1966 grains,) which, in proportion to the demand for 
the formation of water, would be 83520 grains. ‘Thus, about half 
the hydrogen would combine with the air, more or less in proportion 
to the ratio of that producing the greatest heat; the other half in 
the ratio which the carburetted hydrogen demands oxygen. 

Such may be the comparative basis of calculation; and as 2 
vols. pure hydrogen require 1 vol. oxygen to form water and 1 vol. 
carburetted hydrogen, 2 vols. oxygen to be consumed.* ‘The ratio 
of effect of the latter must be 4 to the former, supposing the com- 
bustion to be under equally fear circumstances. 

Whatever would be the effect of 1 lb. of pure hydrogen gas in 
raising the temperature of water, it would thus seem that the effect 
of 8 Ibs. of the light carburetted hydrogen after proper deductions 
would be about 2 of 8 lbs. or 6 lbs. besides the effect of the sur- 
plus hydrogen combmed with atmospheric oxygen. Practical use, 
experimentally, authorizes the belief, that the carburetted hydrogens 
as fuel, will be economical in point of first cost. And the incidental 
advantages of this improvement may be thus stated. ‘The command 
and discontinuance of a voluminous flame in locomotives, in boats, 
and in stationary rail-way engines, ferry boats, gun boats, packets, 
canal and small river steam boats. ‘The fuel to be carried to produce a 
given effect, is much less in weight than if it were coal or wood. 
The activity of this fire will better keep up the Ha tension of the 
steam, while the engine is rapidly at work. 

I therefore declare and claim the principle of the aforesaid im- 
provement in steam boilers and fuel to be, and consist of, the adap- 
tation of boilers as aforesaid, to the reception and use of the carbu- 
retted hydrogen gases and vapors, and the combination therewith of 
a receiver or generator of the said vapor or gases for that purpose. 

New York, Jan. 24th, 1831. J. L. Sunurvan. 


* See Prof. Silliman’s Elements, Vol. I, p. 402, (1. ) 


14 Economical Steam Boats. 


Arr. Il.—A description of an Economical Steam Boat. 


PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. 


Str—In a branch of navigation so extensive as that employing 
steam power, cheapness and durabiiity are qualities of the hull by no 
means unimportant, either as regards public or private economy, 
since whatever the amount of the investment, its compensation must 
be levied on the business done. If vessels can be made to last twen- 
ty instead of ten years, one tenth of the whole value of any number 
of them would be saved every year. 

There is reason to think that ship building, as an art, has not ad- 
vanced equally with others. Prejudice may have seconded the interest 
of carpenters to oppose the introduction of evident improvements in it. 
This is to be easily accounted for without imputing blame to that re- 
spectable class of mechanics. ‘The number of master builders is al- 
ways small compared with the number in the other trades. They 
have no motive to economize in construction, as the merchant owner is 
forbidden, by calculation, to try an experiment in principle, that might, 
from the prejudice or doubt of an inspector from an insurance office, 
affect unfavorably his insurance. ‘These inspectors who are com- 
monly respectable retired ship-masters, are thus incidentally the de- 
positaries of much power of obstructing, but not of advancing im- 
provement. ‘Thus no essential change in ship building can be intro- 
duced but by some ship-builder himself, who ventures from confi- 
dence in his new method to build on his own account, in a manner 
more accordant with principles of mechanical science. Such were 
the Messrs. Brindleys of Rochester, in Kent, on the Medway. 

These gentlemen, one of whom is now resident near New York, 
may be considered as at the head of their profession; having built 
forty or fifty ships of war for government. 

These experienced builders say in a publication which appeared in 
1824, in London, in reference to their invented method which ts de- 
scribed in the Repertory of Arts, August, 1823, that ‘ among the 
numerous improvements that have attended the arts and sciences, 
there is perhaps no one that has made so little progress as ship- 
building”—that ‘if any one tolerably acquainted with the first prin- 
ciples of mechanics were to examine the various parts of a ship, as 
now built in the ordinary way, he would be struck with surprise at 
the huge masses of timber so disproportionably arranged, and so in- 
adequately connected together.” 


’ 


Economical Steam Boats. 15 


Should not this and other such testimony silence prejudice, and 
awaken the attention of a commercial community. ‘The Brindleys 
built the Rochester Indiaman of four hundred tons measurement, ca- 
pable of carrying nearly exght hundred tons weight, and many others 
in the new way, till the navigation interest in general declined in Eng- 
land, as is well known to have been the fact of late years. Proof 
was both accidentally and intentionally given of their abundant 
strength. 

The principle is to place all the materials used in the position that 
gives strength to the fabric. Accordingly every piece adds to its 
thickness and tightness. ‘The whole ship is bound together with iron 
bands like a cask. But instead of being a cask of one thickness of 
staves, it is composed of a number in succession ; and not only suc- 
cessively bound on each other, but bolted successively through and 
through, and drawn together by numerous screw bolts. ‘Then, as 
every successive coat or thickness of plank is caulked and pitched, 
the structure is a solid mass of wood and iron and carbonaceous im- . 
pervious imperishable substance. The keel is secured on external- 
ly, and instead of being a cause of danger from its exposed position, 
serves as a defence ; because it may be even knocked off or ground 
to pieces by violence without causing the destruction of the hull. 
Within, there is a kelson and floor timbers to receive the loading. 
The liability to spring a leak is diminished in proportion to the num- 
ber of layers. Loading increases the strength of a ship while she 
floats. 

Insurance and custom not so much influencing construction of steam 
boats as ships, this method is peculiarly suitable to them ; because 
they ply principally on our fresh waters and in the heat of summer, 
when their upper-works are very liable to shrink and admit the weath- 
er. Of course the causes of decay, heat and moisture operate as 
powerfully as prematurely. But if the sun can have no effect but on 
the external coat, all the others will remain sound. ‘The Messrs. 
Brindleys observe that their mode of building is very economical, not 
only because it takes less timber, but requires none that 1s crooked, 
which costs twice or thrice as much. Is not this fact worthy of the 
attention of a naval power? Might not the method be fairly tried 
by government in one instance on a moderate scale? For it is the 
premature decay, and necessity of consequent repairs that makes a 
navy so very expensive even in ordinary. 


i6 Economical Steam Boats. 


The least costly engines are those which are placed horizontally, 
and use steam of high temperature and great force. They are much 
employed on the Mississippi. ‘There is one in a new boat on the 
Hudson, made at Pittsburg. It is represented in Mr. Renwick’s 
Treatise, page 6. 

But the most economical use of fuel for steam, is where the engine 
works it expansively, using a condenser. ‘To this subject a chapter 
of that work is well devoted: at page 73, a table of effects shows 
that steam of 12th atmosphere, filling the cylinder, consumes fuel, 
say as 1, effect 10, while 4 atmospheres, using 1th cylinder full, con- 
sumes half as much fuel, and the effect is 20, or double. ‘To raise 


¢ 


the steam from 1 atmosphere to 4, requires an increase of tempera- 


ture of only 45°, that is, from 212° to 291°. ‘This shows the ad- 
vantage of using even with a condensing engine, boilers that will 
safely bear 4 atmospheres. 

The form of boiler, for this and for other reasons, which I have 
supposed the most economical, is calculated to use anthracite coal, 
and do without inside flues. 

It consists of four single cylinders, placed side by side, the two 
middle ones a little asunder, to allow the coal to fall from hoppers 
over this space on to a sharp ridge, which causes it to slide down to 
two long narrow grates under the middle boilers. The draft is 
thence sidewise under the outer ones, rising over a ridge to impinge 
on their bottom before it turns down under them to reach the vents 
on the other side; which are small funnels leading to the main fun- 
nel above. 

This method allows the coal to burn near the bottom of the boil- 
ers, and advantageously as the course of the draft does not intercept 
the heat. 

The carburetted hydrogen gas fire, as an auxiliary for flame, is 
very conveniently applied to this form of boiler; when if it be found 
to require more surface to act on, the number of cylinders might be 
six, instead of four: and three, (half this arrangement,) may ke con- 
veniently employed in some instances. 

Thus I have endeavored to present in one view the most econom- 
ical hull; the manner of working an engine with most effect of 
steam; the manner of making a boiler to use at once the most com- 
pact, cheap and active fuel; the manner of preventing explosions ; 
the manner of supply, by throwing in water when the engine is not 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlante Coast. 17 


in action; the whole perhaps constituting - the least costly and the 
most durable and powerful steam boat. 

But it remains to say, that although safety is thus provided for, 
the covered barge is capable of being the swiftest as well as the most 
convenient and elegant method of carrying passengers; because the 
proportion of power that may be placed on board the engine boat 
may be much greater than usual, while the buoyancy of the barge 
occasions, ina smooth wake, little resistance. 

Hitherto the requisite timber and iron, in a hull where the engine 
works perpendicularly and the cabins are so long as to afford ie ge 
accommodations, has been such that perhaps the carpenter’s bill of 
no class of vessels has been so high. 

if these suggestions should tend to promote the extension or profit 
of this branch of navigation, the appropriation of your pages to this 
subject thus liberally will not be without public benefit. 

Respectfully yours, &c. 


Joun L. SuLuivan. 
New York, Feb. 19, 1831. 


Arr. 1V.—Remarks on the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic coast, 
of the North American States ; by Wittiam C. Repriexp, of 
the city of New York. 


Tur changes which usually occur in our atmosphere may be con- 
sidered as of two kinds or classes. In the one class are recognized 
those effects which are the result of gradual variations in the temper- 
ature, humidity, and density of the atmosphere. In the other, we 
include all those active and more striking changes, which result from 
the agency of unusual or irregular movements of the atmospheric cur- 
rents. ‘These extraordinary movements we denominate storms, hur- 
ricanes, &c.; and they exhibit, or develope the most striking atmos- 
pheric phenomena with which we are acquainted. 

The occurrence of storms is sometimes conjecturally ascribed to 
mere changes in electricity ; but the natural tendency to equilibrium, 
in the more subtle, as well as the denser fluids, appears to forbid 
this supposition, and these electrical changes seem rather to occur im 
consequence of other disturbing causes, \ eh operate to destroy the 
general equilibrium. It has been justly remarked, that to ascribe 
every phenomenon, with the cause of which we are unacquainted, to 


Vor = Nowe 3 


18 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


electrical agency, serves rather to retard than to advance our knowl- 
edge of nature. 

Rarefaction, occasioned by an increase of temperature, has also 
been adduced as the immediate agent in producing storms; but, to 
say nothing of the difficulty of proving an extraordinary increase of 
temperature before a storm, it has been justly remarked by Dr. 
Hare, that ‘the air, being a perfectly elastic fluid, its density is de- 
pendent'on pressure as well as on heat, and it does not follow that 
air, which may be heated in consequence of its proximity to the earth, 
will give place to colder air from above. ‘The pressure of the at- 
mosphere varying with the elevation, one stratum of air may be as 
much rarer by the diminution of pressure consequent to its altitude, 
as denser by the cold consequent to its remoteness from the earth ; 
and another may be as much denser by the increased pressure aris- 
ing from its proximity to the earth, as rarer by being warmer. 
Hence, when unequally heated, different strata of the atmosphere 
do not always disturb each other.” ! 

It is, ndeed, the prevailing opinion that change of temperature, is a 
principal cause of those extensive currents or revolutions of the earth’s 
atmosphere which we distinguish as trade winds, monsoons, &c.; and it 
is to the operation and effect of these great and regular moving masses 
or currents, that we are disposed mainly to ascribe the more active 
and striking meteorological phenomena which occur in every latitude. 
But whether this be admitted or not, it must be evident, that to as- 
eribe the occurrence of storms and hurricanes chiefly to change of 
temperature or rarefaction, in a particular locality, whether m the 
tropical or temperate latitudes, is falling into as great an error as if 
we were to ascribe the tides of the bay of Fundy, or the coast of 
Patagonia, to the specific attraction of the heavenly bodies on those 
localities. Indeed, the analogy between the tides and currents of 
the ocean, and of the atmosphere, is perhaps sufficient for our argu- 
ment, for as the great semi-diurnal swell, or tide wave of the ocean, 
is brought to bear with concentrated effect upon its smaller portions, 
or tributaries, so do the massive currents or tides of the atmosphere 
often press with corresponding energy upon its more detached por- 
tions, while seeking to restore the general equilibrium. We have 
the full effects of heat and rarefaction exhibited on nature’s grandest 
scale, between the tropics, acting jointly with other causes, and the 
aggregate and uniform result, is only that of a regular and moderate 
breeze or trade wind, and an equable state of the barometer. To 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 19 


create in the midst of these equable winds or elsewhere, by the aid 
of rarefaction, a fanciful vacuum into which the atmosphere, from a 
distance of many miles, and even many hundreds of miles, is to rush 
with all the fury of a storm, is to do violence to the established prin- 
ciples of natural science. ‘To ascribe such effects to such a cause, 
is no better warranted than to refer all storms to the direct influence 
of electricity and magnetism. : 

As connected with these remarks, the following explanations are 
given of some of the principal terms used in application to this sub- 
ject. 

Winp is air in motion; either progressively over the surface of 
the earth, or relatively, as regards the surrounding portions of the 
atmosphere. 

A CALM, is a cessation of motion in the air at the surface of the 
earth. It is obvious however that a given portion, or current of the 
atmosphere may be stationary as regards this surface, and yet may 
be rapidly moving through, or penetrating other portions of the at- 
mospheric fluid. A calm, therefore, affords no evidence of a state 
of quietude in the surrounding, or superincumbent portions of the 
atmosphere. 

A srorm, is a violent wind, passing over the earth’s surface. In 
popular language, a storm is supposed to mean a wind or tempest, 
accompanied by rain, or indications of rain. In the views to be sub- 
initted, the term. will be used in its most general sense, but chiefly as 
applying to those winds or atmospheric changes, which are attended 
by a condensation or deposition of vapor. 

A HURRICANE, is @ wind or tempest of the most extraordinary vio- 
lence. It has been stated as a distinguishing characteristic of hurri- 
canes, that the wind blows from different points of the compass, dur- 
ing the same storm. 

It is an obvious fact that most of the storms of the Atlantic coast 
of the United States, excepting thunder gusts, blow from an eastern 
quarter of the horizon. It has also, been often noticed, and the fact 
is recorded by Dr. Franklin, that north-east storms commence in the 
south-west and make progress from thence in a north-east direction, 
being experienced much sooner at Philadelphia than at Boston. An- 
other leading fact, noticed by every observer, is, that in north-east 
storms, a return of fair weather first appears to the leeward or west- 
ward ; or, in other words, that these storms first terminate as well as 
commence in the south-western quarter. Some attempts have been 


20 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


made to explain the manner in which storms blowing from the north- 
east, should, at the same time, be found extending in that direction, 
without visible cause, and in apparent opposition to their own forces. 

The unsatisfactory character of these explanatory theories has in- 
duced the writer to pay some attention to the foregoing facts, and to 
the other phenomena exhibited by the storms of our climate, which 
has resulted in an apprehension that the general causes and manner 
of operation of these storms are not beyond the reach of investigation. 

The storms experienced in that portion of country bordering upon 
the sea coast, and on the adjacent parts of the Atlantic ocean, are com- 
monly viewed as forming two varieties, one of which is distinguished as 
blowing from the north-eastern, and the other from the south-eastern 
quarter of the horizon. ‘These do not greatly differ in their ordinary 
effects, although those from the north-east have usually a more pro- 
longed duration, and exhibit a more sensible reduction of tempera- 
ture. Some account of the phenomena and ascertained progress of 
a south-eastern storm, which occurred in September, of the year 
1821, may, in its leading features, apply to many other storms, and 
will, it is believed, afford sufficient ground for the conclusions which 
we shall attempt to establish. 

This storm, as experienced in the central parts of the state of Con- 
necticut, commenced blowing violently from E. 5. E. and S. E. 
about six o’clock on the evening of the 3d day of September, having 
been preceded by a fresh wind from the southern quarter, and flying 
clouds. It continued blowing m heavy gusts, and with increasing 

‘fury till about 10 o’clock, P. M. when the wind suddenly subsided. 
A calm or ludi, of perhaps fifteen minutes duration ensued, which 
was terminated by a violent gust from the north-west, which contin- 
ued till about 11, P. M. and then gradually abated. Much damage 
was sustained, and fruit trees, corn, &c. were uniformly prosirated 
towards the north-west. 

It afterwards appeared that the same storm was experienced, with 
at least equal violence, at New York, about three hours earlier than 
at the point before mentioned, but blowing from a more eastern quar- 
ter, and terminating its ravages at about 8, P. M. having also been 
preceded by a fresh wind from the southward. That in the north- 
“eastern parts of Massachusetts, it was experienced some hours later 
than in Connecticui. That at Providence, in the state of Rhode Is- 
fand, where the memorable gale of 1815 had raged with such terrifie 
fury, the storm was felt from the south-eastern quarter, but not se- 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 21 


verely ; as was also the case in the south-eastern parts of Comnecti- 
cut. In the north-western portions of the latter state, and the adja- 
cent towns of Massachusetts, the gale blew with its chief violence 
from the north-western quarter, and the trees and corn, as the writer 
afterwards witnessed, were uniformly prostrated towards the south- 
east. At Worcester, in Massachusetts, the storm occurred some 
hours later than in Connecticut. 

It appears, therefore, that the more violent effects of this storm 
were of limited extent from south-east to north-west, but were ex- 
hibited over a much greater range of country from south-west, pro- 
gressively, to north-east; that in the central part of Connecticut, 
the mass of atmosphere upon the earth’s surface, was moving for 
several hours, apparently towards the north-west, with a probable 
velocity of seventy five to one hundred miles per hour, while in the 
northern parts of Litchfield county, in the same state, at a distance 
of say forty miles, the wind, at about the same period, was blowing 
with nearly equal violence towards the south or south-east. 'To- 
wards the sea coast of Rhode Island, from whence the gale at Mid- 
dletown, in Connecticut, seemed to come with such surprising ve- 
locity, the gale was of no extraordinary character ; while at New 
York, the storm had ceased blowing from the eastward, soon after its 
commencement from the south-east in this part of Connecticut. 

In reviewing these facts, we are led to inquire how, or in what 
manner it could happen, that the mass of atmosphere should be found 
passing over Middletown for some hours, with such exceeding swift- 
ness, towards a point apparently within thirty minutes distance, and 
yet never reach it; but a portion of the same or a similar mass of 
air, be found returning from that point with equa! velocity ? and how 
were all of the most violent portions of these atmospheric movements 
which occurred at the same point of time, confined within a circuit 
whose diameter does not appear to have greatly exceeded one hun- 
dred miles? ‘To the writer there appears but one satisfactory ex- 
plication of these phenomena. This storm was exhibited in the form 
of a great whirlwind. 

This position renders it proper to notice a class of winds which we 
‘have not previously considered. 

Some idea of the existence and character of whirlwinds or torna- 
does, as they are sometimes called, is common to most persons who 
are at all conversant with the subject of meteorology. One variety 
of whirlwind is often exhibited during the prevalence of dry westerly 


22 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


winds, which, owing to partial obstructions or other causes, frequent- 
ly form into eddies or whirls, the rotative motion of which increases 
with their progress as they are wafted along by the surrounding at- 
mospheric current, raising clouds of dust and other light substances, 
till they finally become broken or dissipated. ‘The writer has seen 
a whirlwind of this kind, operate with so much violence in passing 
over a river, as to raise a white cloud of spray to the height of some 
forty or fifty feet, which disappeared before reaching the opposite 
shore. Whirlwinds of a still severer character sometimes occur, and 
are, by seamen, denominated white squalls, from the white appear- 
ance of the spray thus raised into the atmosphere. Doctor Frank- 
lin, it is well known, maintained the identity of these smaller whirl- 
winds with water spouts. 

Another class of whirlwinds, of more formidable character, are 
those which sometimes attend the thunder storms, or gusts, of the 
Atlantic states, and more frequently, ravage the fields and forests of 
the regions west of the Alleghany mountains, carrying desolation and 
death in their progress. Like the smaller class, they are carried 
along by the attendant wind of whose mass they form an integral 
portion. ‘Their ravages are generally confined to a narrow track, of- 
ten of but few yards in breadth. Rising at times, over objects in 
their path, and leaving them untouched, they again descend to the 
surface, and continue the work of destruction. ‘The chief force of 
these winds evidently consists in the almost inconceivable rapidity 
with which the mass revolves about its own axis of rotation, a veloci- 
ty which is, therefore, unopposed, except by the obstacles brushed 
upon at the earth’s surface, and which is maintained in full activity 
by the concentric, or tangentical pressure, or action of the surround- 
ing portions of the atmosphere. 

It is believed that no valid reason can be shown, why much larger 
masses of the atmosphere may not acquire, and develope, rotative 
movements, similar to those which are exhibited by whirlwinds, and 
the demonstrated existence of the latter ought to free us from the 
charge of maintaining a mere hypothesis, when we ascribe the same 
character to such storms as that which we have already described, 
if we can show that they are attended with corresponding phenom- 
ena. 

It is demonstrably evident, that at any poimt over which the center 
of a whirlwind may pass, the wind must, at the moment in which 
this center passes, suddenly change to a direction almost exactly op- 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 23 


posite to that in which it has been felt during the preceding part of 
its progress, and that at the immediate center of the whirl, little or no 
violence of effect can at any time be experienced. It is further evi- 
dent that, towards one side of the track of a whirlwind, it must blow 
in a direction which is retrograde from that of its progress, while, on 
the opposite portion of the track, the direction of the wind will be 
found in the contrary direction, and coinciding with the progressive 
motion of the body of the whirlwind. Now these known phenom- 
ena, or peculiarities of a whirlwind, appear to have been fully exhib- 
ited by the storm im question, though on a more extensive scale, and 
for aught that appears, may also be exhibited in some degree, by ev- 
ery other storm. We might expect, however, to find in the supposed 
revolutions of the great masses which compose our easterly storms, 
the violence of effect to be lessened in due proportion to the magni- 
tude of the revolving mass, and the increase of surface affording re- 
sistance, except in cases where the amount and duration of the rota- 
tive forces should be adequate to the production of equal velocities. 
The duration of the storm, also, at each of the several points over 
which it passes, instead of being momentary, as in the lesser whirl- 
winds, must increase with the dimensions of the revolving mass. 

If our position be conceded, then it is no longer difficult to explain 
the paradox, or mystery, which otherwise pertains to the phenomena 
exhibited by this storm, and all others of a similar character. We 
can now perceive why the wind may blow, even with excessive vio- 
lence, at one point, and yet scarcely be felt in a position but a few 
miles distant from the regular track of the storm. We can trace 
the circumvolution which produces such a contrariety m the direc- 
tion of the wind on the opposite sides, or portions, of the revolving 
mass, and we can appreciate the centrifugal tendency and other 
causes, which produce about the rotative axis of the storm, that sus- 
pension of effect which occurs on each successive portion of the 
track over which its center of rotation may pass. We can also per- 
ceive the cause of the sudden change of wind at this crisis of the 
storm, and we can satisfactorily explain the more gradual changmg 
or veering of the wind, which takes place on the more eastern or 
western portions of the advancing storm. We can discern the reason 
why, in seamen’s phrase, “a north-wester will never remain long in 
debt to a south-easter,” and we may also appreciate some of the 
causes which render the last semi-diameter of the rotative mass a dry 
wind, in a short period after this change in its direction. 


24 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


Nor do we any longer find difficulties in conceiving of the regular 
progress of the storm from south-west to north-east, as a component 
portion of the general mass of atmosphere which has previously been 
tending in that direction. ‘This progress still continues while the 
stormy mass is revolving around its own moving axis, and we can 
readily comprehend the violent effects of its unresisted rotation, 
while this velocity becomes accelerated by nearly all the oblique for- 
ces, and perhaps resistance, of the circumjacent currents or masses 
of moving atmosphere. 

In order to give a further history of the storm of 1821, and lest 
we should fall into the error of adopting a conclusion, which a more 
complete array of the facts might fail to warrant, we will give some 
further notice of the first appearance and entire progress of this 
storm, so far as we have been able to obtain accounts of it. This 
will enable us to identify its.track, and exhibit further evidence of 
its character as a whirlwind, or, will afford us evidence with which to 
combat that conclusion, if it be erroneous. 

The earliest supposed trace of this hurricane which has béen ob- 
tained, is from off Turks-Island, in the West Indies, where it ap- 
peared on the first of September, two days previous to its reaching 
our coast. It was felt there severely, but at what hour in the day 
we are not informed. 

The next account we have is from Lat. 23° 43/, where the storm 
was severe, Sept. Ist, from south-east to south-west. Whether these 
two accounts are considered as identifying the storm, or otherwise, 
will not, at this time, be deemed material. 

Our next report is from Lat. 32° 30’, Lon. 77° west from Green- 
wich, on the night of Sept. 2d, a hurricane for three hours. 

At 3, A. M. on the 3d of September, a severe gale was experi- 
enced thirty miles outside of the American coast, off Wilmington, 
North Carolina. 

At Wilmington there was no gale. 

At Ocracock bar, N. C. at day light on the morning of the 3d, 
severe gale from east-south-east. 

At Edenton, N. C. the gale was at north-east. 

Off Roanoke, on the morning of the 3d, a dreadful gale at east, 
then south-west and north-west. 

A vessel from Charleston, 5. C. two days previous to arriving in 
the Chesapeake, experienced the gale at 4, A. M. on the 3d, from 
south-east to west-south-west. 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 25 


A vessel from Bermuda, experienced the gale from the westward, 
on the inner edge of the gulf stream. 

Another vessel, from Charleston, did not experience the gale. 

In Lat. 37° 30’, on the inner edge of the. gulf stream, gale from 
the westward, with squalls. 

On James’ river, Virginia, the gale was severe from north-west. 

At Norfolk, Va. the gale raged, on the 3d, for five hours, from 
north-north-east to north-north-west, and terminated at the latter 
point; greatest violence from 10, A. M. to 1, P. M. 

At sea, forty miles north of Cape Henry, severe from soutli-east, 
changing to north-west. 

Off Chincoteague, coast of Maryland, on the 3d, gale from south- 
east. 

At Snowhill, Maryland, gale commenced at 11, A. M. 

In Lat. 38° 30’, Lon. 74° 30’ gale south by east. 

Gale reported as slight in the gulf stream. 

A ship’ from Boston, bound to Norfolk, experienced nothing of 
the gale. On the 3d, was in Lat. 40° 19’, weather foggy, and light 
winds from south-east. 

At Morris’ river, Delaware, the gale was from east-south-east. 

No hurricane was felt at Baltimore. 

At Cape Henlopen, Del. the gale or hurricane commenced at half 
past 11, A. M. from east-south-east, shifted in twenty minutes to east- 
north-east, and blew very heavy for nearly an hour. A calm of half 
an hour succeeded, and the wind then shifted to the west-north-west, 
and blew, if possible, with still greater violence. 

At Cape May, (New Jersey) commenced at north-east, at 2, 
P. M. and veered to south-east, and blew with violence. After abat- 
ing fifteen minutes, it again blew with increased violence for two 
hours, and then abated. The sun set clear, with pleasant weather, 
at which tume not a cloud was to be seen in the western horizon. 

At Bombay-Hook, near the mouth of the Delaware river, the gale 
blew from north-north-east, to west-north-west. 

At sea, forty miles north-east of Cape May, the gale was at south- 
east, and lasted eight hours. - 

At Philadelphia, the storm commenced at 1, P. M. on the 3d, 
from north to east, and raged with great violence from north-east to 
north-west, during the greater part of the afternoon. 

At Trenton, (New Jersey) the gale commenced at 3, P. M. with 
the wind from north-east. 


Vout. XX.—WNo. 1. 4 


' 26) On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


In Lat. 39° 20’, Lon. 73° 30’, the gale blew from east-south-east 
to south-south-east, and continued eight hours. 

At New York, the gale was from north-east to east, and com- 
menced blowing with violence at 5, P. M.; continued with great fu- 
ry for three hours, and then changed to seu More damage was 
sustained in two hours than.was ever before witnessed in the city, 
the wind increasing during the afternoon, and at sunset was a hurri- 
cane. At the time of low water, the wharves were overflowed, the 
water having risen thirteen feet in one hour. Previous to the setting 
in of the gale, the wind was from south to south-east, but changed 
to the north-east at the commencement of the storm, and blew with 
great fury till evening, and then shifted to the westward. 

At the quarantine, Staten-Island, the wind was reported as east- 
south-east. Other accounts fix it at east. 

At Bridgeport, Conn. the gale commenced violent at south-east, at 
6, P. M. and continued till 9, P. M.; then shifted to north-west, and 
blew till nearly 11, P. M. : | 

At New London, the gale was felt from 7, P. M. to 12 at night. 

On the coast of Rhode Island, between Point Judith and Watch- 
hill, gale from the south. 

At Middletown, Connecticut, violent from south-east for five hours. 

At Hartford, commenced heavy from south-east at 7, P.M. 

At Springfield, Mass. violent from 9 to 12, P. M.; then changed 
to the westward. 

At Northampton, from south-east on the same evening. 

At Worcester, Mass. in the night, between the 3d and 4th of Sep- 
tember. 

At Boston, the gale commenced at 10, P. M., but does not ap- 
pear to have been severe. At the time the storm was raging with 
its greatest fury at New York, the citizens of Boston were witnessing 
the ascent of a balloon, and the aeronaut met with little or no wind. 

The general course of tiis storm, northward of Cape Hatteras, ap- 
pears to have been from south-south-west to north-north-east, and of 
its further progress we are uninformed. 

It appears from the foregoing statement of facts, that this storm, 
previous to its reaching Long Island, extended but a moderate dis- 
tance inland, and that its influence seaward from the coast was al- 
most equally limited ;—that, between these boundaries, it maintained 
a regular progress along the coast, from a great distance towards the 
south, and probably even from the neighborhood of the West-India 


On tie prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 27 


islands ;—that this progress, though slower in the lower latitudes, 
was, after reaching the American coast, at a rate not greatly differing 
from thirty geographical or nautical miles per hour, which is pre- 
sumed to have been nearly the velocity of the direct southerly cur- 
rent prevailing in the atmosphere at that time, at a medium height 
from the surface; and this rate of progression appears to have gov- 
erned the duration and termination of the storm at each place over 
which it passed ;—that on the western margin, or verge of the storm, 
or at those places most distant from the sea, the wind was north- 
easterly or northerly, while on the opposite verge, at sea, the wind 
was southerly and westerly ;—that along the central portion of the 
track, the storm was violent from the south-eastern quarter, changing 
suddenly to an opposite direction;—and that there was previously 
and subsequently, no prevalence of an easterly wind, nor was there 
any other apparent cause for a direct movement of the atmosphere 
from that quarter ; all the existing tendencies being in another direc- 
tion. The center of the storm or hurricane, appears to have been 
generally outside the coast, till, reaching Long Island, it crossed the 
same, and entered upon the State of Connecticut. It seems also to 
have passed westward of New Haven, and to have entered the val- 
ley of the Connecticut river near Middletown, and after partially fol- 
lowing that valley for some distance, and crossing the State of Mas- 
sachusetts, the storm must have disappeared towards the eastern 
coast, and its further progress does not appear to have been reported. 

The general analogy or correspondence of the foregoing facts to 
the known phenomena of whirlwinds and tornadoes, will, it is be- 
lieved, be sufficiently evident, at least so far as the difference in the 
magnitude and other circumstances of these rotative masses, will per- 
mit of the resemblance. As it will be assumed, in the progress of 
our remarks, that this peculiarity of motion is a general attribute of 
storms, it may therefore be proper to sum up these points of resem- 
blance in a more concise manner. 

1. The regular progress of both the storm and the whirlwind from 
the point where they first become appreciable in their effects, till 
their ultimate extinction, uninfluenced by any particular direction of 
wind which they may exhibit, deserves especial notice. 

2. The limited diameter of the known smaller, and the supposed 
larger whirlwind, or storm, as compared with the extent over which 
they sweep in ‘pursuing their several tracks, is an important resem- 
blanee, and is evidence of a similarity in the mode of operation. 


28 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


3. The regular and obvious proportion which the several diame- 
ters of the storm and whirlwind, and their rate of progression, bear 
to their duration, at each point over which they pass. 

4. The different and opposite, or nearly opposite directions in 
which the wind is found to blow upon the opposite sides of the track, 
and also upon the opposite marginal portions, of both the storm and 
the whirlwind. 

The last consideration, if established, hardly falls short of demon- 
strative evidence of the supposed identity in the mode of action in 
these different masses of moving atmosphere. Every person, on ex- 
amining the track of a destructive whirlwind, where it has passed 
through a forest, will, in crossing that track, often find ihe trees pros- 
trated in exactly opposite directions, and it is obvious that this effect 
must necessarily follow, as the result of the acknowledged cause, a 
circular, or rotative force im the whirlwind. ‘The same effect was 
equally apparent, only on a larger line of observation, after the storm 
or hurricane of 1821, as already described. ‘The same general evi- 
dence of a sudden or a progressive change in the direction of the / 
wind, runs through all the accounts which we have given, or which it 
is in our power to submit, in relation to other storms. 

In relation to whirlwinds of the smaller class, we may here take 
occasion to remark, that it is not conceived to be essential to the 
character of a whirlwind, that its axis of rotation should occupy a ver- 
tical position, or one but slightly inclined to the plane of the horizons 
On the contrary, the axis, or center of gyration, in whirlwinds of a 
limited character, may, and probably often does, occupy a horizontal 
position at a considerable height in the atmosphere. ‘This variety of 
whirlwind is presumed to enter largely into the formation of thunder- 
storms and squalls, and particularly hail-storins. 

Having attempted to establish the circumrotative character of the 
south-east storm which has been described, we are led to inquire 
whether other south-easterly storms possess the like character ; and 
whether this be also an attribute of the north-eastern storms of our 
coast, and also what constitutes the specific difference of character 
in these storms. 

If the foregomg views be sufficiently established, it must follow, 
that the direction of the wind at a particular place, forms no part of 
the essential character of a storm, but is only incidental to that par- 
ticular portion or parallel, of the rout er track of the storm which 
may chance to become the point of observation. We have seen that 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 29 


in order to blow from the south-east, the center of the storm, (if its 
progress be north-eastward) must pass near the point or parallel from 
which we observe it, the direction of the wind being, in all cases, 
compounded of both the rotate and progressive velocities of the 
storm, in the mean ratio of these velocities ; while towards the north- 
ern and western margin of the same storm the wind is north-easterly. 
Such south-east storms, their central portions being on, or near, the 
land, must necessarily be circumscribed in their infinence by the 
obstructions and elevations of the interior, and particularly by the 
mountainous ranges. Being thus confined or limited in their dimen- 
sions, they of course extend only to a corresponding distance on the 
opposite semi-diameter to seaward, and this furnishes the reason why 
the south-east storms experienced on land, are never known to ex- 
tend, at sea, to any great distance from the coast. ‘The narrow di- 
mensions of the south-east storm also favor its more rapid impulsion 
by the prevailing southerly current of atmosphere, and this sufficient- 
ly accounts for its comparatively short duration. 

It results also from these views, that if'a storm blow from the north- 
east along our coast, its central portion, or axis, will be found to range 
at a considerable distance from the coast, atsea. If such astorm be 
also felt over a considerable portion of the country adjacent to the 
coast, its dimensions must be far more considerable than those of the 
south-east storm, and if in addition to its increased dimensions, it be 
found to advance with less rapidity than the smaller storm, its increas- 
ed duration will be sufficiently explained. 

The generally admitted progress of our storms from sottth-west to 
north-east is confirmed by all the evidence which the writer has been 
able to obtain. It has been freely assumed also in these remarks, 
from what was deemed to be sufficient evidence, that most storms, if 
not all, exhibit ina greater or less degree a circumrotative character, 
or in other words, that they usually blow in the form of extensive ed- 
dies or whirlwinds, and the specific character of the north-east and 
south-east storms of our coast, and their points of difference has been 
explained upon these principles. Should the evidence produced be 
deemed insufficient to establish these views, further confirmation may 
be obtained for them by ascertaining the direction of the wind in. an. 
easterly storm, on a line drawn across its track from north-west to. 
south-east. ‘The farther inland such an’ enquiry is extended, the” 
more northerly will have been the direction of the wind, till we get 
beyond the extreme verge of the storm. On the other hand, as we 


# 


30 On the Prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


approach the seaboard the wind will have blown in a more easterly 
direction, and veering further as we extend our enquiries in that di- 
rection. If we farther prosecute the enquiry among the records of 
our nautical friends we shall find a further veering of the wind to east, 
and ultimately to south-east and south; till towards the opposite or 
south-eastern margin of the storm its effects will have been felt from 
south to south-west, and generally to west or north-west, till the cir- 
cle is completed. 

If the position of a ship on our coast, be within the north-western 
half or semi-diameter of the storm, it will usually commence from 
a point to the northward of south-east, veering, ultimately, by way of 
north, to the westward. But if the position of the ship be within the 
opposite or south-eastern semi-diameter, the storm will commence 
between south-east and south, veering afterwards to south-west, west, 
and even north-west. Rain, or the deposition of vapor in any form, 
seems chiefly confined to the north-eastern or advancing semi-diame- 
ter of the revolving mass, though its external or marginal portions are 
often free of clouds; while most of the south-western semi-annular 
section or division, displays the appearance of clear weather. Near 
_ the frontier margin of the revolving mass, upon the land side, we may 
sometimes notice the clouds which form the upper stratum connected 
with the storm, disposed into corticular ranges or layers, of greater 
or less density, and with various degrees of frequency and harmony 
in the arrangement. North-eastern storms often blow but moderate- 
ly, which is to be ascribed to a sluggish rotation, and comprising, usu- 
ally, a more extensive surface than south-eastern; they bring to us, 
in their extensive revolution, the humid and chilly atmosphere of the 
north-eastern coast. 

As the storms of the North American coast, may sometimes be 
traced, as we have seen, from a great distance in the general direc- 
tion of that coast, it may not be unavailing to seek for the primary 
causes which bring them into operation. 

Owing to the general prevalence of the trade winds in the tropical 
regions, and which, in the northern Atlantic, extend to about the thir- 
tieth degree of latitude, the incumbent mass of atmosphere is in con- 
stant progress towards the American continent, and into the gulf of 
Mexico. Continents, and especially elevated and mountainous ran- 
ges, are well known barriers to the trade winds, which being thus 
obstructed by the isthmus of the two Americas, restore the equili- 
brium of the northern hemisphere by a general and regular efflux of 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 31 


variable winds, ' tending back to the north-east in the temperate lati- 
tudes. This prevalence of these compensating winds is so uniform 
as to occasion an average difference of seventeen days in favor of 
the eastern passage of packet ships engaged in the European trade. 
Even in England they have two hundred and twenty five days of 
westerly wind to one hundred and forty days of an easterly direction, 
and if our view of the easterly storms be correct, this tendency is 
more general and uniform than has hitherto been supposed, most of 
the other winds being, in that case, but irregular modifications of the 
westerly or returning trade wind. ‘The prevailing effect upon the 
North American coast, during most parts of the year is that of a 
south-westerly wind, but becoming more westerly as we advance 
northward. 

This general current of atmosphere is often qualified in its direc- 
tion, and acted upon obliquely by the more western and north-western 
land winds. These several winds or modifications of the same gen- 
eral current, often prevail in stratified currents overlaying each other, 
the most western of these currents forming generally the upper stra- 
tum. Itis probable, as already suggested, that these winds are but 
the recoiling, or returning masses of the trades which penetrate to 
the bottom of the gulf of Mexico, the superior strata of which may 
be sent back from the most western points of the horizon from the 
highest barrier which is found in the great Mexican elevations, or 
even the Chippewayan range.* 

There is a class of these variable returning winds, which appear 
to recoil in a comparatively short circuit from the gulf of Mexico 
by way of the North American coast, and from whence, in the au- 
tumnal and winter seasons, they often fall in upon the trades, from a 
northerly direction, at different points between the eastern limit of 
the gulf of Mexico and the meridian of the Bermudas, thus coin- 
ciding in effect with another obstacle to the regular progress of the 
northern portion of the trades which we shall now mention. 

At these seasons the northern margin or parallels of the trade 
winds in sweeping towards the gulf, must necessarily come in collis- 


* It appears from a record of the prevailing winds at Little Rock, on the river Ar- 
kansaw, that during a period of five months ending with October last, the winds from 
south-east to south-west were in the proportion of nearly four-fifths of all those that 
blew from all points of the compass; and that in the same period there was only two 
days in which the wind prevailed from any point between west and north-east. 
This is but an item in the great mass of evidence by which this great cireuit or re- 
volution in the atmosphere is established. 


32 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


ion with the great Archipelago of islands which skirt the northern 
limit of the Caribean sea. Of these islands, the three largest form 
an almost perfect and continuous barrier, opposed, obliquely, to the 
progress of these regular winds. Now as the mass of moving atmos- 
phere presses down upon the islands in its south western progress, 
and sweeps along their northern coasts, the obstruction which they 
afford produces a constant tendency to circular evolution in the mass 
which constitutes the impending or passing current, and which, there 
is reason to believe, takes full effect upon large portions of the trade 
wind at successive periods, and especially after the parallel or por- 
tion of the trades sweeping north of the islands, becomes narrower 
by the approach of the autumnal equinox. ‘These masses of atmos- 
phere, thus set into active revolution, continue to sweep along the 
islands with increased rapidity of gyration till they impinge upon the 
American coast, or encounter the more regular returning efflux of 
the trades, or land wind of the North American continent. Grad- 
ually assuming a different direction as they recoil from these obstruc- 
tions and receive new impulsive forces, the stormy masses continue to 
sweep over, or along the American coast, in a direction conforming, 
generally, to that coast, or to the direction of the Florida stream, 
and in conformity also with the prevailing atmospheric current, of 
which they become an integral part, till they finally become lost, or 
dissipated, at an unknown distance in the northern Atlantic, or per- 
haps even reach the coasts of Europe or its northern islands; the 
particular course of each storm being no doubt modified by the vari- 
ous oblique winds and other incidents which may attend its progress. 

That the foregoing is a just account of the formation of the hur- 
ricanes and severe storms of the West Indies and the lower latitudes 
of the North American coast, is strongly confirmed by the fact, that 
beyond the 12th parallel of latitude, which is a little southward of 
Barbadoes, hurricanes are never known to occur. ‘The more com- 
mon origin or source of the autumnal hurricanes is believed to be 
about the north eastern angle of this great chain of islands; and if 
we rightly appreciate the operation of these causes, they uniformly 
tend to produce the rotative movement in the direction which has 
been recognized, that is, from right to left, or, in seamen’s dialect, 
against the sun. This course of rotation is understood to be con- 
trary to that which is exhibited in the trades which pass southward 
of the great islands, and which, on reaching the gulf of Mexico in- 
cline from left to right, with the sun, thus coinciding, or blending, with 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 33 


the returning winds of the North American States and the northern 
Atlantic, or falling back again upon the trades by a circuitous route. 

It appears not improbable that these hurricane formations, if this 
term may be applied to our idea of storms, may sometimes originate 
at various positions in the great curve between the windward islands 
of the West Indies, and the capes of North Carolina, and that the 
more southern and windward formations often diverge to the north- 
ward upon a track which, in the lower latitudes, lies eastward of the 
Floridian current, and producing those severe tempests on the At- 
lantic, of which we hear only by the occasional reports of our mar- 
iners; while those storms of a more leeward origin, or which pursue 
amore westerly direction, press upon our coast as they advance 
northward, and thus become more appreciable in their effects, or 
perhaps visit us with their violence. 

The violent hurricanes of the West Indies* having been included 
in the range of these remarks, it will here be observed, that it is not 
deemed to be possible, considerig the nature of the atmosphere 
and its constant tendency to an equal distribution, that the wind 
should blow with very great violence at hardly any place on the 
globe, unless by means of a circuitous, or revolving motion, in that 
portion of the atmosphere by which the effect is produced. ‘The 
position of the axis of revolution may sometimes, however, be hori- 
zontal, or may be inclined in any degree from the plane of the hori- 
zon, as in the cases which have been alluded to, and as is probably 


* It has been supposed by some, that the hurricanes of the West Indies, are but 
thunderstorms of extraordinary violence, but an acquaintance with the usual phe- 
nomena of these hurticanes will lead to a different conclusion. The fact is well es- 
tablished that thunderstorms arise ‘in the west and move in an earterly direction. 
Hurricanes, on the contrary, first appear in the eastern or southern quarter of the 
horizon, and advance ina westerly or north-western direction. Violent thunder 
and lightning is by no means a necessary and uniform attendant on hurricanes, and 
the gyration of these storms being, as has been shown, chiefly horizontal, is not cal- 
culated to produce that sudden and violent admixture of the higher and lower strata 
which, in the vertical gyration of a thunderstorm, produces such striking electrical 
effects. Inthe hurricane, the gradual and uniform depression and contact of the 
upper region with the tower produce, ordinarily, only those broad flashes of light- 
ning which indicate electrical action upon an extensive surface, with but little ener- 
gy of action. The passage of a hurricane over a hilly country, or mountainous 
island, will however, by a disturbance of the general equalibrium, doubtless produce 
violent thunder and lightning. 

It may be added that in the season of hurricanes when the inhabitants of the Cari- 
bean Islands can discern thunder clouds in the horizon, all immediate apprehensions 
of a hurricane are at once removed. 


Vou. XX.—No. I. 5 


34 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


the case sometimes with violent winds which blow from off moun- 
tains, or high table land. ‘The motions of some parts of the atmos- 
phere which may be immediately contiguous to a storm or a whirl- 
wind, may also be in every intervening state of regularity or eonfu- 
sion. It is believed, however, that all hurricanes and tornadoes 
must be ascribed to causes analogous to those of which we have ta- 
ken cognizance. ‘Those which occur in the East Indian seas are 
well known to attend the changes of the monsoons, where winds 
moving in different directions, are brought to bear upon each other, 
or upon the opposing coasts, and the violent rotative effects naturally 
follow. 

The desultory character of this essay, and the nature of the sub- 
ject treated of, may seem to require some further detail of facts, or_ 
circumstances, tending to corroborate the foregoing views, and which 
will now be given, although the recollections of most persons, and 
particularly the observations of experienced and intelligent ship- 
masters, it is believed, will sufficiently establish the leading facts 
upon which these remarks are grounded. It is ‘to the recorded ob- 
servations, and careful reports of the members of the laborious and 
hazardous profession to which we now allude, that the cause of sci- 
ence must be chiefly indebted for an accurate and extensive knowl- 
edge of oceanic meteorology. 

Some storms of recent occurrence have, from their peculiar vio- 
lence, excited more than ordinary attention, and the following state- 
ments have been selected from the accounts which have been ob- 
tained of their locality and progress. ‘Lhe first of these storms which 
claims our notice, is that which passed the city of New York on the 
17th of August last, (1830) being at New York, and along the whole 
coast north of Hatteras, a north-east storm. 

This storm, or hurricane, was severe at the island of St. Thomas’, 
on the night between the 12th and 13th of August. 

On the afternoon of August 14th, it commenced at the Bahama 
Islands, and continued during the succeeding night, the wind veering 
almost round the compass during the existence of the storm. 

On the 15th of August, the storm prevailed in the Florida chan- 
nel, and was very disastrous in its effects. 

In Lat. 26° 51’, Lon. 79° 40’, in the Florida stream, the gale was 
severe on the 15th, from north-north-east to south-west. 

Late on the 15th, off St. Augustine, (Florida) m Lat. 299'58’, 
Lon. 80° 20’, the gale was very severe. 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. “AB 


At St. Andrews’, twenty miles north of St. Mary’s, (Geo.) from 
8, P. M. on the 15th, to 2, A. M. on the 16th, the storm was from’ 
an eastern quarter, then changed to south-west, and blew till 8, A.M. 

Off Tybee, and at Savannah, (Geo.) on the night of the 15th; 
changed to north-west at 9, A. M. on the 16th, and blew till 12, M. 

At Charleston, (S. C.) on the 16th, the gale was from the south- 
east and east, till 4, P. M.; then north-east, and round to north-west. 

At Wilmington, (N. C.) the storm was from the east, and veered 
subsequently to the west. 

In the interior of North Carolina, the storm was felt at Fayette- 
ville. 

In the vicinity of Cape Hatteras, at sea, the storm was very heavy 
from the south-east, and shifted to north-west. 

A vessel bound from New York to Hayti, in the middle or outer 
part of the gulf stream, about Lat. 33° Lon. 72°, experienced the 
gale, moderately, from south-west and south-south-west, but with a 
- very heavy sea from a westerly direction, and is supposed to have 
been on the outer margin of the storm. 

Another vessel, at aha the same distance from the coast, dada 


enced similar effects. ‘ 
Early on the morning of the 17th, the gale was felt severely, at 


Norfolix, and also in Chesapeake Bay ; from the north-east. 

Off the Capes of Virginia, on the 17th, in Lat. 36° 20’, Lon. 74° 
2’, “a perfect hurricane ” from south to south-south-east, from 5, 
A.M. to 2, P. M., then need to north-west. 

On the 17th, in Lat. 37° 30’, Lon. 74° 30’, near the coast-of Vir- 
ginia, the gale was severe at east-north-east, and changed to west- 
north-west. 

Off Chincoteague, (Md.) precise distance from the coast unknown, 
the gale was severe between south-south-east and north-north-east. 

Off the coast of Delaware, in Lat. 38°, Lon. 72°, ‘ tremendous _ 
gale,” commencing at south-east, at 1, P. M. on the 17th, and blow- 
ing 6 hours, then changed to north-west. 

At Cape May, (N. J.) the gale was north-east. 

Off Cape May, in Lat. 39°, Lon. 74° 15/, heavy gale from east- 
north-east, on the afternoon of the 17th August. 

Near Egg Harbor, coast of New ree the gale was heavy at 
north-east on the same afternoon. 

Off the same coast, in Lai. 39°, Lon. 73°, the gale was at east- 
north-east. 


36 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


In the same latitude, Lon. 70° 30’, “tremendous gale,” com- 
mencing at south-south-east, and veering to north. 

At New York, and on Long Island Sound, the gale was at north- 
north-east and north-east, on the afternoon and evening of the 17th. 

Off Nantucket shoals, at 8, P. M. the gale commenced severe at 
north-east by east. 

In the gulf stream, off Nantucket, in Lat. 38° 15’, Lon. 67° 30’, 
on the night of the 17th, ‘“ tremendous hurricane,” commencing at 
south, and veering, with increasing severity, to south-west, west, and 
north-west. 

At Elizabeth island, Chatham, and Cape Cod, (Mass.) the gale 
was severe at north-east, on the night between the 17th and 18th. 

On the 18th, heavy gale from north-east, at Salem and Newbury- 
port, Mass.) 

Early on the 18th, in Lat. 39° 51’, Lon. 69°, severe gale from 
south-east, suddenly shifting to north. 

In Lat. 41° 20’, Lon. 66° 25’, “tremendous hurricane” from 
north-north-east on the 18th of August. 

On the night of the 18th, off Sable island, and near the Barpbice 
bank, in Lat. 43°, Lon. 59° 30’, “ tremendous heavy gale” from 
south and south-west to west, and north-west. 

In Lat. 43°, Lon. 58°, severe gale from the south, the mamner of 
change not reported. 

This remarkable storm appears to have passed over the whole rout 
comprised in, the foregoing sketch, in about six days, or at an ave- 
rage rate of about seventeen geographical miles per hour. 

The duration of the most violent portion of the storm, at the seve- 
ral points over which it passed, may be stated at from seven to 
twelve hours. 

The general width of the track influenced in a greater or less de- 
gree by the gale, on the American coast, is estimated to have been 
from five to six hundred miles. 

Width of the hurricane portion of the track, or severe part of the 
gale, one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty miles. 

Semi-diameter of the hurricane portion of the storm seventy five 
to one hundred and twenty five miles. 

Rate of the storm’s progress from the island of St. Thomas to 
Providence Island, Bahamas, fifteen nautical miles per hour. 

Rate of progress from Providence to St. Johns, Florida, sixteen 
miles per hour, 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 37 


From St. Johns to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, sixteen anda 
half miles per hour. 

From Cape Hatteras to Nantucket, on the south-eastern coast of 
Massachusetts, eighteen miles per hour. 

From Nantucket to Sable Island, off the south-eastern coast of 
Nova Scotia, twenty miles an hour. 

The general rout of this storm is delineated on the annexed map, 
so far as could be done by a careful collation of accounts from more 
than seventy different localities. ‘The four dotted lines are supposed 
to include that portion of the rout on which the storm exhibited its 
greatest violence, but its entire influence was spread over a much 
wider range. ‘The two central lines are believed to be an approxima- 
tion to the rout pursued by the vortex, or moving axis, of the storm. 

The storm appeared on this part of the coast simultaneously with 
the prevalence of a north-westerly wind, which maintained itself at a 
few miles distance, for some hours after the setting in of the north- 
east wind at New York; the latter gradually extending itself up the 
Hudson. During the whole period of the gale the extreme margin 
of the stratum of clouds pertaining to the storm, was visible from the 
city and elevated not less than ten or fifteen degrees in the north- 
western horizon. ‘The sun set during the height of the gale, and by 
illumining the lower surface of the'dense canopy at his departure, 
gave a most striking degree of splendor to the scene ; an effect which 
was much noticed at New Haven, and other places. 

On the western part of the Atlantic ocean, between the parallel of 
New York and the northern limit of the trades, the prevailing winds, 
for a considerable period both previously and subsequently to the oc- 
currence of this storm, were south-westerly, or from the southern 
quarter; and over the whole breadth of the Atlantic on the rout fre- 
quented by ships in the European trade, fresh south-western or west- 
erly winds also prevailed at the same period, for many weeks. ‘These 
facts are well established by numerous marine journals which have 
been consulted in relation to this subject. 

Striking evidence of the vorticular or rotative character of the 
storm, is afforded by the journals of two of our outward bound Euro- 
pean ships, the Britannia and the Illmois. The former had sailed 
from New York on the 16th, with the wind in a southern quarter, 
and encountered the storm on the night of the 17th, between Block 
Island and the latitude of 39°. ‘The storm was first felt from N. E. 
and KE. N. E., and on the course steered by the ship veered by mid- 


38 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


night to E.S.E., at which time it was a “perfect hurricane” and 
the ‘sea tremendous beyond description.” At 4 A.M. of the 18th 
the wind had veered back to north, and at 8 A.M. to north by west. 
The Illinois was, on the same night, in the gulf stream, in a south- 
easterly direction from the Britannia, standing eastward with a fair 
wind and moonlight, when the scuds appeared flying with great swift- 
ness, and the wind, changing to south, soon commenced blowing a 
full hurricane, veering successively, during the night, first to south- 
west, then to west and to north-west, raging with increased fury till 
S A. M. on the 18th when it abated. It appears evident that this 
vessel was in the outward or southern semi-diameter of the storm, 
and that its vortex or axis passed between the two ships. It is also 
worthy of remark that the Illinois, which was bound from New Or- 
leans to Liverpool, had passed through the Florida channel just pre- 
vious to the passage of this storm towards the continent, and experi- 
enced, from the south, its treméndous swell, while off the coast of 
South Carolina, but by favor of a fine south-west wind and the cur- 
rent of the gulf stream the ship escaped, for the time being, to be 
afterwards overtaken by the storm when it had assumed its north- 
eastwardly course.* 


* Since writing the above, the letter from which the following is an extract has 
been received from the commander of the filinois. 

I sailed from New Orleans on the 3d of August, bound to Liverpool; nothing 
worth notice occurred until the 15th, being then in the Gulf Stream, Jat. 33° N. 
lon. 77° W.; winds light in the south-east; experienced a very heavy swell from 
the south, more than I had ever experienced before in this part, unless preceded by 
heavy gales. We had no indications of wind at this time, but a dull and heavy ap- 
pearance inthe south. During the night of the 15th the wind shifted round to south 
south-west, the weather stiil continuing fine.—By the commencement of the 16th 
we had a fresh, wholesale breeze, so that with the help of the Gulf Stream, we ran 
at a great rate, steering north-east; lat. at ncon 36°, lon. 73°.—All the 17th the wind 
continued steady at south south-west, blowing a strong, wholesale breeze; appear- 
ance in the south dull and heavy; the sea quite smooth again, and to appearances 
we had outrun the heavy southerly swell. Lat. at noon 37° 58’, lon, 69° 23/; still 
continuing to run about the course of the Gulf Stream; temperature of the water 

6°.—On the first part of the 18th, (afternoon of the 17th, current time,) the wind 
backed to south and began to fresken-in very fast; some heavy clouds arising in the 
south-west, and likewise observed some sinall flashes of lightning in that quarter. 
8 P.M. the wind had increased io a strong gales the weather at this time had an 
unusual appearance, but still it did not look bad; 10 o'clock, the wind still increas- 
ing, took in our saiis and prepared for the werst; 11 o'clock, the sea ran high and 
cross, Which induced me to heave the ship too under a close-reefed main top-sail. 
About half past 12, (midnight.) all was darkness; the heavy clouds that bad been 
rising in the south-west had at this time overtaken us; the rain fell in torrents, ang 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 39 


The next storm on which we shall bestow a moment’s attention, is 
that which occurred on the succeding week, which passed New York 
on the 26th and 27th of August, and which was also on this coast a 
north-east storm, of about three days duration. From the eastward 
of the Bahamas it appears to have passed northwardly, between the 
Florida stream and the Bermudas, and touching the American shore 
near Cape Hatteras, raged with great fury for about forty hours at 
each locality, as it swept the great central curve of our coast, and 
passing from thence, continued its course over George’s Bank, in a 
north-easterly direction. It was evidently of greater compass and 
slower progress than the preceding storm, as is proved by a collation 
of the various reports of marimers and its long duration, and its ef- 
fects were almost equally violent. A few notices only, will be given 
of the reports of this storm; and we here note the fact, that it is 
sometimes difficult to determine between current and nautical time, 
in the dates of marme reports. 

August 22d, the gale was experienced off the Bahamas. 

«23d, in lat. 27° 30’, lon. 72°, heavy at KE. N. E. 


eG «© 30°30’, “ 68°, do. dovtiuc 
cer Dat, sian §t aoe. ** 65°, tremendous gale at S. E. 
Cah Tanta ae 70°, heavy gale. [two hours. 


«24th and 25th, off Cape Hatteras, severe gale E. N. E. forty- 
«25th and 26th, lat. 37°, lon. 74°, severe gale N. E. [W. 


<< “« .  — off Cape May, forty hours, changing to N. and 
ot és “Jat. 88° 30’, lon. 71°, severe at N. E. 
«26th, at Boston and the east coast of Massachusetts, N. E. 
og “Tat. 41°, lon. 62°, severe at S. 


the lightning was uncommonly vivid; the wind had, in the space of one hour, in- 
creased from a moderate gale to a perfect hurricane. Half past 1 A. M. it began to 
veer to the westward; at 3 A. M. it was west, and rather increased in violence as it 
shifted. At day light the sky had cleared, but the gale, if any thing, rather increas- 
ed in its fury; the sea was tremendous and ran in every direction. 7 A.M. the 
wind had got to the north-west, and at 9 o’clock it began to abate a little in violence. 
At noon it became moderate enough to steer off our course.—Al] the 19th, moderate 
gales at north-west and clear weather. Lat. at noon of the 18th 38° 33/, lon. 66° 30/; 
lat. on the 19th 39°, lon. 62° 22’; temperature of the water 81°—still continuing in 
the Gulf Stream.—From this period, (excepting one or two gales from the eastward.) 
until we arrived at Liverpool, on the 12th of September, we had moderate winds 
from south south-west to north north-west, with a very smooth sea.—I have only to 
add, that from an experience of twenty or thirty years, during. which time I have 
been constantly navigating the Atlantic, my mind is fully made up, that heavy 
winds or hurricanes run in the form of whirlwinds. Yours truly, 
Rozsert WATERMAN. 


40 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


This storm pursued, in the early part of its progress, a more north- 
wardly rout, than is usual for those storms that reach the coast, and its 
rate of progress cannot have greatly exceeded ten miles per hour.* 

It may be remembered, that Doctor Franklin has assigned one 
hundred miles per hour as the average rate of the advance made by 
north-east storms, towards the north-east. As the termination of 
these storms also follows on from the south-west to north-east, in 
the same ratio with their commencement, the direct effect of this 
rate of progress would, of itself, be equal to a violent hurricane 
from south-west. The facts which we have exhibited show a very 
different result, and the discrepancy can be accounted for, only by 
supposing that in the state of the country at that early period (1740) 
reports of meteorological facts were too unfrequently and loosely 
made, to furnish the necessary data for a correct estimate on this sub- 
ject. The mistake might easily be fallen into in a case like that 
which we have last mentioned, where a storm of very great extent 
has fallen obliquely upon the coast ; as even a correct report of the 


* The annexed extract from the New York Gazette, comprises some additional 
facts, and will assist us in forming some just conception of the scenes which are of- 
ten occasioned by the severe storms of the Atlantic :— 


Extracts from the log-book of the ship of war Kensington, W. W. Ramsay, Esq. 
commander. 


Monday, August 23d, Cape Henlopen bearing west-south-west at 7, P. M.; 
discharged the pilot, and steered off east-south-east.—Tuesday, August 24th, com- 
mences with light and variable weather; from 4 to 6, P. M. light airs from the 
southward; from 6 to 8, nearly calm; from midnight to 4 A. M. moderate and 
clear—disagreeable head sea; from 4 to 8, A. M. wind fresh from east-north-east ; 
from 8 to meridian freshening, took one reef in the fore and main, and two in the 
mizen-top-sails— Wednesday, August 25th, wind high from the north-east—took two 
reefs in the fore and main-top-sails; from 4 to 6, P. M. fresh gales from the north 
and east; weather cloudy ; sent down royal yards: from 6 to 8, wind increasing ; 
at 7, 40, close reefed the top-sails, reefed the courses, and furled the main-sail ; from 8 
to midnight, very squally, with rain; at midnight under close-reefed topsails, reefed 
fore-sail and fore-stay-sail ; the second gig washed from the larboard davits; from 4 to 
8, A. M. wind not so strong, and hauling to the east.—Thursday, Augusi 26th, fresh 
gales from north and east, with heavy head sea: attached an eight-inch hawser to 
the end of the bowsprit; brought both parts into the hawse holes, and set them well 
up; got a pull of the bobstays and bowsprit shrouds; from 4 to 6 P. M., gale in- 
creasing; in sending down topgallant yards lost fore-topgallant-mast and yard ; furled 
the fore-sail, fore and mizen-top-sails; got preventer tackles from the fore-mast to the 
bowsprit; at 6, Andrew McCormick was washed from the jib-boom and drowned ; 
from 6 to 8, P. M. gale very heavy, the sea increasing to an alarming height; from 
8 to midnight, gale most violent ; lying to, under close-reefed main-top-sail and fore- 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 41 


time of its first appearance, might show an apparent progress at this 
high rate between certain points, on or near, the great central curve 
of our coast. 

The two storms next reported to us, took effect on a more eastern 
portion of the Atlantic. One of these appeared on the 20th of Sep- 
tember, pursuing a northerly course in Lat. 39°, Lon.40°. ‘The 
other appeared off the south-east border of the great bank of New- 
foundland, on the 24th of September, pursuing a north-easterly di- 
rection. Both storms exhibited the essential character which we 
have described, with all the violence of hurricanes. 

The next storm which we have occasion to notice, appears to have 
originated in the vicinity of the Windward Islands, near the close of 
September, and which, passing the Bermudas on a course somewhat 
west of north, on its approach to the Florida stream assumed a 
more easterly course, towards the eastern coast of Newfoundland, or 
the Grand Bank. Of this storm, which was very disastrous, we 
shall give a few reports. 


stay-sail. From midnight to4 A.M. gale raging with great violence—a tremendous 
sea; at 1, A. M. the main and mizen-topgallant-masts were blown away close to the 
caps; at 2, A. M. a perfect hurricane from the north, taken aback; the ship in a 
very critical situation; pitched away the jib-boom, with it the sprit-sail-yard, sprung 
the bowsprit and fore and main-masts—attempted to relieve tie ship of the main- 
top-sail, weather sheet parting, the sail was instantly thrashed to pieces; at 4, the 
situation of the ship was most critical, working violently, and much distressed from 
the weight of her battery ; at 4, 30, foresail, fore-top-sail and main-sail burst from their 
gaskets and were blownintoribbons; from 4108, A. M. gale raging with unabated fu- 
ry—fore-stay-sail blown from the bolt-rope, and such the force of the storm, that not 
a rag of canvass could be shown; at 4,40, main-top-mast went by the cap; at5, fore 
and main-mast badly sprung, secured the partner wedges with heavy spikes; to save 
the fore-mast and bowsprit, cut away the fore-top-mast, carrying with it the head 
of the fore-mast, and part of the fore-top ; cock-billed the fore-yard and. secured the 
lee arm to the cable bilts; at 5, 30, carried away weather mainbrace bumpkins; to 
save the mast, cut away the main-yard, which no human effort could secure ; the 
situation of the ship awful in the extreme ; five feet water in the hold, and the crew 
perfectly paralyzed: the wind had now attained a furious height, and the sea in- 
creased to such an alarming degree, that with great difficulty men could be found to 
cut away the main yard.—Friday, August 27th, gale yet dreadful; at 4, 30, wind 
hauled to west ;" set the mizen-stay-sail to keep the ship too; from 4 to 8, gale some- 
what abated, set the main-stay-sail ; at 6, gale abating, all hands employed in clear- 
ing wreck—weather cloudy; from 8 to midnight, moderate, heavy sea, ship very 
uneasy ; from midnight to 4, very heavy sea; from 4 to 8, A. M. gale again increas- 
ing. Spoke ship Norfolk, from WVorfolk ; received an offer of assistance. The Nor- 
folk was not in the gale. 


Vou. XX.—No. 1. : 6 


42 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


In Lat. 20° 30’, Lon. 63°, the storm commenced on the 29th of 
September, at 1, P. M., and continued till half past 6, P. M. from 
north-east and south-west alternately. 

On the same day, in Lat. 22° 46’, Lon. 65°, a hurricane. 

Sept. 30th, at night, Lat. 26° 7’, Lon. 66° 31’, “ very heavy” five 
and a half hours. 

Oct. Ist, Lat. 30° 38’, Lon. 63°, severe at south-east, shifted to 

north-west. 

“ = ~~ Lat. 33°, Lon. 66° 30’, severe gale or hurricane. 

«6 hat. 34° 9%, Lon. 66° 12’, “hurricane” at east-south- 

. east. 

<)/) “6 Wat. 30°, Ion: 68°, severe) gale. 

co Matiaoe. lons0o°, “la hurricanes 

¢ 6 Tat. 38° 30/, Lion. 57°, severe gale. 

«¢ Lat. 40°, Lon. 61°, hurricane from nearly south, at 
2, P. M., sudden and violent from the north. 

«Lat. 40° 25’, Lon. 58° 24’, moderate gale, with heavy 
swell and cross sea. 

cS Lat. 41°, Lon. 55°, very, severe: 

By an average estimate of dates and distances, it appears to ‘have 
made progress at the rate of about twenty-seven miles per hour. 

A north-east storm, of three days’ duration, appeared on our cen- 
tral coast one week subsequent to the foregoing, the rainy, and more 
tempestuous portion of which continued about twenty-four hours, its 
progress and other features being analogous to those previously de- 
scribed. jie 

It must not be supposed that the facts which are comprised in the 
foregoing recitals, are peculiar only to the most violent storms, or to 
the season of the equinoxes, but the same general features appear to 
have pertained to every storm which has prevailed in these regions. 
The extensive hurricane of 1804, which swept over most of the isl- 
ands in the West Indies, commenced at Martinico on the 3d of Sep- 
tember, reached Savannah on the 7th, Boston on the 9th, and be- 
came a snow-storm on its arrival in the interior of New Hampshire. 
The great gale of 1815, commenced at St. Bartholomews on the 
18th of September, and reached Rhode Island on the morning of the 
23d, where it was awfully destruetive from the south-east, while in 
the south-eastern part of Massachusetts it was then blowing at south, 
at New London from east to south-east, and at New York from north 
to north-north-west. ‘The violent north-east snow-storm of Decem- 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. Aa 


ber 6th, 1830, swept along our whole coast in the same manner,* it 
being experienced from the southward and westward, by vessels which 
were at a certain distance from the coast. It would be easy to fill a 
volume with the record of facts of a like character, and it is believed 
that, of the storms of the last forty years, the route and corresponding 
character of all those which have been sufficiently violent to receive 
notice in the marine reports, can be traced in a similar manner ; 
while not an instance of a contrary kind has come to our knowledge. 

A remission of the south-westerly and westerly winds usually oc- 
curs towards the close of the autumnal season, or rather, perhaps, 
these winds exert their chief force, at this period, on more southern 
parallels. At this period we often experience a long succession of 
easterly storms, generally of a sluggish character, and attended with 
cold rains. ‘This weather sometimes continues into the winter months, 
and generally occurs again, subsequently to the vernal equinox. 
Perhaps some of these storms, as well as those of other periods, ori- 
ginate to the northward or leeward of the great headlands of our 
coast, particularly those of North Carolina ; but, however originating, 
the absence of the impulsive effect of a brisk westerly wind, causes 
them to linger on our shores, to the annoyance of hypochondriacs, 
and all admirers of acloudless sky. In some rare instances, the cir- 
cuit of these north-eastern storms is so great as to sweep, at one and 
the same time, up the gulf and lower valley of the St. Lawrence, and 
along our coast, almost to Cape Hatteras, while vessels which are 
approaching our shores from southern latitudes, encounter the same 
atmospheric current at west and north-west. 

The prevalence of regular winds, generally tends to produce fair 
weather. By aregular wind is here understood, an atmospheric 
current of magnitude, which blows, uninterruptedly, in nearly a di- 
rect course, without any extraordinary agitation of its parts, or, which 
blows in a circuit of such extent, as to preserve a similar equability 
and placidity of movement. At a period subsequent to the vernal 
equinox, we are sometimes visited by an easterly wind of this charac- 
ter, of no inconsiderable duration. A remarkable instance of the 
kind occurred in the spring of 1830, when we experienced a regular 


* The great snow-storm and gale of January 15, 1831, which occurred after this 
article was forwarded for publication, exhibited the same character, being a north- 
east storm on shore, while at a certain distance from the coast, its force was ex- 
erted in nearly an opposite direction. 


44 , On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


east wind, from even the shores of Europe, and the passage of some 
returning ships was performed in fifteen or sixteen days, and in some 
instances, without takmg in a top-gallant-sail.* After a little chilli- 
ness on the first day or two in which it prevailed, this wind became 
remarkably bland and agreeable in its effects, in a greater degree, 
perhaps, than any other winds which we experience at that season. 
North-easterly storms, of an extensive formation, and with a mode- 
rate gyration, are also supposed to blow, occasionally, with a clear 
sky, towards their marginal portions, for a considerable time, and 
over a large extent of country ; constitutmg what are somtimes call- 
ed dry north easters, and which, in some places, disappear with- 
out producing symptoms of rain. ; 

The gyral axis of a storm in most cases, is probably inclined in 
the direction of its progress, for, being retarded by the increased re- 
sistance of the surface, the more elevated parts of the storm must 
necessarily be inclined forward and overrun to a very considerable 
distance the more quiet atmosphere, which lies near the surface. 
This will account for the first hazy appearance of the storm which 
is exhibted in the south west, usually on the evening previous to its 
setting-in, and often, some hours previous to any change of wind at 
the surface.t ‘This overlaying of the higher portion of the storm 
will account for another’ premonitory indication which we shall yet 
have occasion to notice, and thus, also, vessels at sea sometimes en- 
counter the sudden violence of these winds upon their more lofty 
sails and spars, while all is quiet upon deck. ‘Thus also a balloon 
sent up in a moderate breeze, has, on ascending a considerable height, 
been carried off at the rate of seventy miles an hour. ‘The two lat- 
eral margins of the advancing storm will also overlay the prevailing 


* On this occasion, London papers were read in New York on the sixteenth day 
after their publication. 

+ Dr. Mitchill has recorded as the result of the observation of laboring peopie in 
New York, that when the haze or cirrous which, appearing at sunset, indicates the 
approach of a storm, is seen over Staten Island at S. W. or more southerly, the storm 
of the succeeding day will blow from the north-east ; but if it appears over the Jer- 
sey shore of the Hudson from W.S. W. to N. W. then the storm is expected to blow 
at south-east. These prognostics accord very closely with the views maintained in 
this article—for as in a S. E. storm, its most advanced and central portion must be 
over the land, its first appearance will necessarily be exhibited in the western quar- 
ter of the horizon—while a north-east storm, the main body of which passes over the 
ocean, and covers the land with only its north-western limb or margin, will accord- 
ingly exhibit its premonitory appearances in a more southerly direction. 


On the prevaling Storms of the Atlantic Coast. = 45 


current in the same manner, to a Jess extent, owing to the centrifu- 
gal action of the storm; the greatest velocity and force being un- 
questionably produced ata considerable elevation. ‘These lateral 
effects or overlayings in the higher portions of the atmosphere often 
occur, it is believed, without producing any visible influence at the 
surface. A somewhat contrary effect is usually produced on the re- 
ceding margin where the prevailing current, or impelling wind, presses 
heavily upon the advancing mass, and generally overlays it to some 
extent. 

One of the most important deductions which may be drawn from 
the facts and explications which are now submitted, is an explana- 
tion of the causes which produce a fall in the barometer on the ap- 
proach of a storm. This effect we ascribe to the centrifugal ten- 
dency, or action, which pertains to all revolving or rotatory move- 
ments, and which must operate with great energy and effect upon 
so extensive a mass of atmosphere as that which constitutes a storm. 
Let a cylindrical vessel of any considerable magnitude, be partially 
filled with water, and let the rotative motion be communicated to 
the fluid, by passing a rod repeatedly through its mass, in a circular 
course. In conducting this experiment we shall find that the sur- 
face of the fluid immediately becomes depressed by the centrifugal 
action, except on its exterior portions, where, owing merely to the re- 
sistance which is opposed by the sides of the vessel, it will rise above 
its natural level, the fluid exhibiting the character of a miniature vor- 
tex, or whirlpool. Let this experiment be carefully repeated by 
passing the propelling rod around the exterior of the fluid mass, in 
continued contact with the sides of the vessel, thus producing the 
whole rotative impulse by an external force, analogous to that which 
we suppose to influence the gyration of storms and hurricanes, and 
we shall still find a corresponding result, beautifully modified, how- 
ever, by the quiescent properties of the fluid; for instead of the 
deep and rapid vortex before exhibited, we shall have a concave de- 
pression of the surface, of great regularity, and by the aid of a few 
supended particles, may discover the increased degree of rotation 
which becomes gradually imparted to the more central portions of 
the revolving fluid. ‘The last mentioned result obviates the objec- 
tion, which, at the first view might, perhaps, be considered as op- 
posed to our main conclusion, grounded on the supposed equability 
of rotation in both the interior and exterior portions of the revolving 
body, like that which pertains to the rotation of a wheel, or other 


. 


46 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


i 


solid. It is most obvious, however, that all fluid masses are m their 
gyrations subject to a different law, as is exemplified in the foregoing 
experiment; and this difference, or departure, from the law of solids 
is doubtless greater in aeriform fluids than in those of a denser 
character. 

The whole experiment serves to demonstrate, that such an active 
gyration as we have ascribed to storms, and have proved, as we 
deem, to appertain to some, at least, of the more violent class, must 
necessarily expand and spread out, by its centrifugal action, the stra- 
tum of atmosphere subject to its influence, and which must conse- 
quently become flattened, or depressed, by this lateral movement, 
particularly towards the vortex or center of the storm, lessening 
thereby the weight of the mcumbent fluid, and producing a conse- 
quent fall of the mercury in the barometrical tube. This effect 
must increase till the gravity of the circumjacent atmosphere, super- 
added to that of the storm itself, shall, by its counteracting effect, 
have produced an equilibrium in the two forces. Should there be 
no overlaying current, in the higher regions, moving in a direction, 
different from that which contains the storm, as in case of violent 
storms of great extent there probably is not, the rotative effect may, 
in these latitudes, be extended into the region of perpetual congela- 
tion, till the medium becomes too rare to receive its influence. But, 
wherever may be the limit of this gyration, its effect must be to de- 
press the cold stratum of the upper atmosphere, particularly towards 
the more central portions of the storm, and, by thus bringing it m 
contact with the humid stratum of the surface, to produce a perma- 
nent and continuous stratum of clouds, together with a copious supply 
of rain, or a deposition of congelated vapor, according to the state 
of temperature prevailing in the lower region. 

If the view which has before been taken of the forward inclination 
of the axis and advancing margin of the storm be well founded, it 
will result, that on its approach, the barometer will usually be affect- 
ed previously to any sensible indications of its proximity, especially 
if the storm be a violent one, and that the sinking of the mercury 
will continue till the nearest approach of the center of the storm, as 
existing in the higher parts of the atmosphere. It will also ordinari- 
ly happen that, previous to the arrival or passage of the center of 
rotation, as exhibited at the surface, the mercury will commence 
rising, and continue its ascent during the approach and prevalence of 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 47 


the last or receding semi-diameter of the storm, even though the 
violence of the wind, as sometimes happens, should be greater than 
on its advancing section ; the rise of the barometer being accelerated 
by the impulsion of the general current which presses forward the 
storm, as well as by the forward inclination of the gyrating mass. 

It sometimes happens, when the central portion of an extensive 
storm passes over or near the point of observation, that the compara- 
tive calm or lull which prevails about the apparent center of rotation, 
is preceded by a gradual, rather than sudden, abatement of the wind, 
and that the seemingly contrary wind of the opposite section of the 
storm, as gradually resumes its violence. ‘This circumstance, among 
others, has led to the erroneous conclusion of the prevalence of two 
distinct and opposing storms, one rapidly succeeding the other, or, 
as a comparison of facts at different points on the central line of the 
storm’s progress might seem to show, that these supposed separate 
storms were constantly blowing, each directly against the other. 
The tendency of such a movement, however, must be to produce 
an immediate calm, instead of a continued and violent gale, and 
would inevitably produce a rapid and unnatural rise in the barometer 
at the first setting in of the storm, arise which must continue as long 
as these forces remained opposed to each other. Now as the baro- 
meter invariably falls, when under the influence of a violent gale, its. 
testimony ought to be decisive against such a view of the subject, 
even were it possible to assign any natural cause which would be 
adequate to furnish the immense and inconceivable power which 
would be necessary to produce and sustain belligerent movements of 
such violence and duration. The application of a little physical 
arithmetic to subjects of this kind, it is conceived, would often pre- 
vent the adoption of erroneous or hasty conclusions. 

The usual phenomena of these changes, on the central track of 
the more violent storms of the Atlantic, are however, often exhibit- 
ed in a manner too sudden and striking, to permit of the illusion of 
two separate storms to take possession of the mind of the observer ; 
with whatever solution he may attempt to reconcile the apparently 
opposing effects. Every experienced navigator will shrink with in- 
stinctive apprehension from the very idea of those moments of awful 
and treacherous stillness which place him in the central vortex of the 
hurricane, ready to be overwhelmed by the rapidly advancing and 
seemingly impenetrable line of spray which envelops the onset of the 


48 On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


last and most dreaded portion of the receding storm.* A spirited 
and graphic description of this remarkable and well known crisis of 
a hurricane, constitutes a leading feature in almost every well wrought 
description of a marine tempest. 

We have assumed that the leading storms of the northern and 
western Atlantic, and the American coast, originate in detached and 
gyrating portions of the northern margin of the trade winds, occa- 
sioned by the oblique obstruction, which is opposed by the islands to 
the direct progress of this part of the trades, or to the falling in of the 
northerly and eddy wind from the American coast upon the trades, 
or to these causes combined. Were it not for the fear of ranging 
beyond the limits of established data, we might follow out this part 
of the subject so far as to enquire after the probable influences which 
indicate or govern the succession of periods in which these aerial 
masses thus fall into a state of gyration, and the probable effect of 
this gyration upon each successive portion of the trade wind which 
may follow m the same course. If we venture on this ground, we 
would say that the most probable indication of the separations which 
we suppose to occur from this parallel of the trade, would be found 
in the diurnal mfluences to which they are exposed, these being 
among the most powerful causes which mark the production of me- 
teorological phenomena, or, in other words, that such a portion of 
the passing atmosphere would be likely to become detached in one 
body, as should arrive at, or pass a given meridian of the obstruction, 
in the course of an entire day. ‘The extent of this influence on the 
atmosphere, if subject to a progressive rate of sixteen miles an hour, 
which is near the average advance of the storms in that region, 
would be something short of four hundred miles from east to west, 


* To the southward of Newfoundland, shifts of wind are very common, and it fre- 
quently happens that, after blowing a gale upon one point of the compass, the wind 
suddenly shifts to the opposite point and blows equally strong. It has been known, 
that while one vessel has been lying-to in a heavy gale of wind, another, not more 
than thirty leagues distant, has at the very same time been in another gale, equally 
heavy, and lying-to, with the wind in quite an opposite direction. In the 
year 1782, at the time the Ville de Paris, Centaur, Ramilies, and several other 
ships of war, either foundered or were renderod unserviceable, in lat. 42° 15/, 
lon. 48° 55/, on or near the Banks, together with a whole fleet of West Indiamen, 
except five or six, they were all lying-to, with a hurricane from east south-east ; 
the wind shifted, without any warning, to north north-west and blew equally heavy, 
and every ship lying-to under a square course foundered.—Purdy’s Memoir, 6th 
edition, London, 1829, corrected from Medical Repository. 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 49 


which corresponds sufficiently with the usual diameter of the lesser 
storms, and also with the probable breadth, in latitude, of that por- 
tion of the trade which, in the stormy season, is subject to this influ- 
ence. Now the immediate effect of the rotative motion in this mass, 
will be to induce, in some degree, a counter gyration in the diurnal 
mass which next succeeds it, and which has not yet become subject 
to the original rotative influence. ‘The previous tendency, thus im- 
parted, will enable the second diurnal mass to pursue its course along 
the islands on the following day, in a comparatively quiescent state, 
which is induced by these contrary influences. But not so with the 
third diurnal succession of atmosphere, which, previous to its arrival, 
has perhaps already felt the influence of the counter movement of 
the second mass, somewhat in the manner in which toothed wheels, 
by their external contact, communicate motion to each other; and 
this diurnal mass, thus predisposed, may receive the gyrating impulse 
with more facility than either of the two which have preceded it. 
By parity of reasoning, the fourth day would witness the passage of 
a comparatively undisturbed atmospheric current, while on the fifth 
day an increased disposition to gyration would again occur, and so 
alternately, on the succeeding days. ‘These successive diurnal in- 
fluences, though subject to all the collateral influences which may 
chance to attend them, may notwithstanding, be supposed to produce 
some discernable effects, and, in the usually regular progress of these 
winds towards the continent, and afterwards in the general direction 
of the coast, these diurnal effects might be supposed distinguishable 
at a great distance from their original source. ; 

It may happen at some seasons, that the causes which produce 
the revolving impulsion, operate upon a still larger portion of the at- 
mosphere, equal, we will suppose, to the space occupied in the ad- 
vance of two days, and some also of three days, as seems to be she 
case with some extensive storms or hurricanes. Now in most of 
these cases, whether in periods of one, two, or three days’ dura- 
tion, their termination will coincide at the end of the sixth day.* On 
the seventh day, therefore, a renewal of the original revolving influ- 
ence, may again be expected to occur. Whatever may be thought 


* At St. Augustine, in. Florida, where the storms from the vicinity of the islands 
frequently appear, it is said that a storm which continues more than one day, will 
last three days; and this peculiarity, parhaps, continues to be observable till the 
storm has advanced a much greater distance along the coast, but with less exactitude 
in proportion to the distance from the place of its origin. 


Vote XX.—No. 1. i 


50 ' On the prevaihng Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 


of this hypothesis, there are persons who suppose that in stormy sea- 
sons there is, in our climate, a constant tendency to the recurrence 
of bad weather on the third, fifth and seventh days from the date of 
a given storm, and this is more particularly noticed on the seventh 
days, especially when the storm may happen to fall on Sundays. 
The records of the weather for the more stormy part of the last three 
years, if carefully examined, will be thought to accord with this opin- 
ion, particularly as regards the seventh day storms. ‘These have 
sometimes occurred for many weeks in succession, and in some cases 
of failure, have appeared within twelve hours, sooner or later, of the 
assumed period. If this idea of the subject be well founded, it may 
be interesting to inquire whether this peculiarity in the weather be 
not the origin of those diurnal indications, which prevail in some of 
the febrile diseases of our climate. 

The foregoing view of the character of our easterly storms tends 
to show more clearly the general uniformity and extent of the great 
atmospheric current of westerly winds, which sweeps over a consid- 
erable portion of our continent, and of the Northern Atlantic: It 
also strengthens the opinion which we have entertained, that these 
westerly winds, together with the trades which originate them, form 
but a portion of a great circuit or system of winds, whose revolu- 
tions are constantly, though in some parts, irregularly, maintained, in 
the atmosphere which is incumbent upon the greater part of the At- 
lantie ocean and a large portion of the adjacent continents; and that 
this revolution, varying in its sphere with the change of seasons, is 
kept in constant activity by the causes which prodace the trade 
winds. ‘The same winds produce also in their turn, the great sys- 
tem or circuit, of oceanic currents, comprising the equatorial, the 
gulf stream, the arctic current, and also their numerous appendant 
currents, often of a gyrating and varying character, like that of the 
bay of Biscay. The center of this eceanic revolution is found in 
that great eddy of the Atlantic which is called the grassy sea, lying 
between the parallels of 20° and 35° of north latitude, and the 28th 
and 60th merdians of longitude west from Greenwich. We have 
the satisfaction to find, on referring to an able and interesting outline 
of our physical geography and climate, that this great and continued 
revolution in the atmosphere of the Atlantic basin is supported by 
irrefragable evidence drawn from a valuable collection of meteoro- 
logical tables, which have been compiled from numerous observa- 


On the prevailing Storms of the Atlantic Coast. 51 


tions, made at various points on both sides of the Atlantic.* The 
same able geographer has shown also in coincidence with the revo- 
lution, a general westerly wind or current in the temperate and high- 
er latitudes, connecting the basins of the Pacific and Atlantic, and 
sweeping entirely across the continents of America, Europe, and part 
of Asia, and which we find is sustained by numerous authorities. 
These extensive revolutions, in the great aerial ocean which envel- 
opes our earth, seem to be a benevolent provision of the great author 
of nature, tending to equalize the climate and temperature of our globe 
which would otherwise be attended with far greater inequalities. 

It appears, also, if the severe storms of the Northern Atlantic pur- 
sue a general and somewhat uniform course, that, on receiving intel- 
ligence of the cccurrence of such a storm, im a particular locality, a 
probable opinion may be formed of the hazard or exposure of any 
absent vessel, whose position on the ocean may be known with any 
good degree of certainty. ‘This shows the importance of particular 
marine reports, specifying the latitude and longitude, date, time of 
commencement, direction, duration, and subsequent changes of such 
storms as may exhibit, either extraordinary violence, or indications 
of such violence in their immediate vicinity. 

In the early stages, or indications of storms upon our coast, it would 
seem, also, that a pretty correct estimate may be formed of the bear- 
ing, and probable course of the heart of a storm, and of the course 
also which, if steered, will have the best tendency to lessen its vio-= 
lence, or duration; and that those navigators who find in any of the 
more moderate storms, an adverse wind, may, by pursuing a course 
transverse to that of the storm, often modify its direction in a man- 
ner favorable to their wishes. ; 

These remarks are frankly submitted to the consideration of gen- 
tlemen of science and observation, who may have means and oppor- 
tunity for a more accurate and extensive examination of the sub- 
ject. Any person who may be able to furnish additional facts rela- 
ting to any of the storms which have been noticed in this article, is 
respectfully requested to leave a memorandum of the same in the care 


of Messrs. E. & G. W. Blunt, Hydrographers, in the city of N. York. 


Be zs a 


* View of the United States. By William Darby. Philadelphia, 1828. H.S. 
Tanner. 18mo. pp. 654.—If in addition to the usual tabular records of meteorology, 
a separate column should be appropriated for noting the course of the clouds, and 
particularly of those which form the upper stratum, we should obtain evidence, far 
more conclusive of the prevailing direction of the great atmospheric currents than 
can be derived from the direction of the winds at the earth’s surface. 


52 Observations on a new variety of Peruvian Bark, &c. 


Arr. V.—Observations on a new variety of Peruvian Bark; with 
some remarks on the alkaline bases Quinia and Cinchonia; by 
Grorce W. Carpenter, of Philadelphia. 


Peruvian bark is admitted to be one of the most valuable articles 
_of the materia medica, and there is none in its catalogue, which em- 
braces so great a number of species, and in which there is so great a 
disparity in the medical qualities of each variety. Under these cir- 
cumstances, it is peculiarly unfortunate, that the natural history and 
classification of Cinchona should be so enveloped in ambiguity, the 
nomenclature of the different species so very defective, and the vari- 
ous writers so discordant in their opinions, as to lead the student 
through a protracted, and too often fruitless investigation. ‘The at- 
tention of our pharmacologists should be particularly directed to the ar- 
ticle Cinchona, for the purpose of determining and agreeing upon a spe- 
cific classification of those species which now occur in commerce, and 
to establish a nomenclature for them, by which each species and variety 
could be readily particularized, and at once understood by its name, 
which is at present impossible. In a preceding volume of this jour- 
nal, I called the attention of the faculty to this subject, and described 
the several species of Peruvian bark, which then occurred in com- 
merce, and made the description as accurately as possible from spe- 
cimens before me. I then suggested as the most appropriate nomen- 
clature, the names of the provinces of South America, from which 
the different species were collected, as Calisaya, Loxa, &c.— 
appellations which have been so generally adopted, as to be the 
most familiar in the language of commerce. ‘The terms Calisaya, 
Loxa and Carthagena, convey at once the idea of the particular kind 
of bark, and are perfectly understood, while the terms Lancifolia and 
Cordifolia, would involve an ambiguity as to what kind of bark 
was intended, in as much as several varieties of different quali- 
ties could come under the same term, and it would be impossible to 
understand which was intended ; for example, the Calisaya and Car- 
thagena, (the former the most superior, and the latter the most infe- 
rior species in commerce,) being both yellow bark, would come un- 
der the denomination of cordifolia, hence, if cordifolia was order- 
ed, it would be difficult to determine whether the Carthagena or 
Calisaya was intended, or some intermediate quality. 


Observations on a new variety of Peruvian Bark, &c. 53 


There has appeared (since my description of Peruvian bark in 
this Journal,) a species of Cinchona hitherto not observed in our 
market, and unnoticed by any of the writers on the subject. 

Having devoted considerable attention to this valuable article of the 
materia medica, it is my purpose to furnish, from time to time, as in 
the present communication, descriptions of any species of Peruvian 
bark which may be added to those already in commerce, and which 
has not previously been noticed or understood. ‘This bark, which has 
been denominated Maracaibo, has been imported in large quantities 
and the importation is likely to be continued, so that we may calculate 
upon aregular supply of this bark. It comes from Maracaibo in bales 
containing generally from seventy to one hundred pounds; hence the 
name, above adopted, pursuing the arrangement of nomenclature from 
the locality, as observed in my former paper. This bark is much supe- 
rior to the Carthagena or common bark as it is generally met with. 
It produces more than double the amount of salme matter, composed 
of cinchonine and quinine, and also a larger quantity of extractive mat- 
ter than the latter; it is therefore, at least, of more than double the 
value. As this bark can be purchased at the same price, it will be- 
come an object in commerce, and it will be advantageous for the prac- 
titioner to be acquainted with its distinguishing characters by which 
he could discriminate and recognize it among the different species 
and varieties of common bark. } 

It occurs in flat pieces which are short and broken, as if it were 
separated from the tree with difficulty, being mostly in pieces from 
one to three inches in length, and half to one inch broad, and rather 
thinner than Carthagena bark. There are occasionally found small 
quills, the longitudinal edges folding together, forming tubes from 
one fourth to half an inch in diameter. It is of a deep yellow color; 
the epidermis which is extremely thin, smooth, and of a light grey 
color, is generally rernoved from the bark. It may be distinguished 
from the Carthagena bark by being more compact, and breaking 
with a short and cleaner fracture, and more particularly by its taste, 
which is much more bitter, it is quite as strong a bitter as the Loxa 
bark, but has not the astringency of the latter. ‘The internal layer 
is fibrous but in a less degree than the Carthagena. This bark has 
appeared in our market only within a year or two, and as it will sup- 
ply the place of a much inferior article, it is of high importance to 
the profession. 


54 Observations on a new variety of Peruvian Bark, &c. 


The quality of bark depends no doubt, on the proportion of quinine 
and cinchonine which they respectively contain. The separation 
of these alkalies, therefore, affords a very valuable test to discover the 
qualities of different species of bark. Different barks, however, 
produce with acids various proportions of these two salts. Thus we 
find the Calisaya produces most quinine, the Loxa most cinchonine, 
and the red or oblongifolia yields both these salts in nearly equal propor- 
tions. What is their comparative value is yet a subject of controversy 5 
a considerable majority of practitioners however, are in favor of the qui- 
nine, perhaps because most of them have not had an opportunity of em- 
ploying the cinchonine. Dr. Paris goes so far as to state that cin- 
chonine is only one fifth as active as quinine; others contend for 
the reverse. An interesting paper read before the Academy of 
Medicine at Paris, was published in the Bulletin des Sciences 
Medicales, for November, 1825, in which M. Bally states that he 
has experimented upon the sulphate of cinchonine, with a view to 
determine its febrifuge qualities. He administered this sulphate in 
twenty seven cases of intermittent fevers of different types, in doses 
of 2 grain pills, giving three or four in the interval of paroxysms, by 
which treatment he cured the disease as effectually, and as speedily 
as with the quinine; of which twenty seven cases, there were sixteen 
tertian, nine quotidian, and two quartan. He remarked further, that 
the cinchonine has properties less irritating than those of quinine, 
and that consequently its employment should be more general, and 
preferred in all simple case. I believe few or no experiments have 
been made by the physicians of this country upon the medical prop- 
erties of the cinchonine, and it must consequently be very little known 
to them from their own experience. It is most certainly a medicine 
which deserves at least, a trial. 

The sulphate of quinine, as generally termed, is not a perfectly 
neutral salt, being in the state of a sub-sulphate, and is only partly 
soluble in water. Its exhibition in this fluid is rendered much more 
eligible, by the addition of a drop of sulphuric acid to each grain of 
‘the salt, which makes a perfectly transparent solution, and which I 
think, from its obvious advantages, must entirely supersede the com- 
mon formula of gum and sugar; a few grains of citric or tartaric acid 
will have the same effect as the sulphuric acid, in dissolving the qui- 
nine, and these acids have been preferred by some. Dr. Paris states 
that he lately saw a prescription in which the salt was directed to be 
rubbed with a few grains of cream of tartar, and then to be dissolved 


Observations on a new variety of Peruvian Bark, &c. 55 


in mint water. ‘This, he continues, is obviously injudicious, since 
tartaric acid decomposes the sulphate and occasions an insoluble tar- 
trate, which is precipitated. With deference to Dr. Paris, I would 
beg leave to differ, on the following grounds. ‘The cream of tartar 
is objectionable, merely from the circumstance that the active part 
of the compound may be obtained in a more direct and speedy pro- 
cess _by the tartaric acid. The combination of cream of tartar and 
sulphate of quinine, in the above prescription, does produce decom- 
position, as Dr. Paris has observed, but the virtue of the medicine 
is not in the least affected by it, and the precipitate, instead of being 
an insoluble tartrate of quinine, as he observes, is sulphate of po- 
tassa; tartrate of quinine isa very soluble salt and is held in solu- 
tion, whilé the water becomes slightly turbid, by the precipitation of 
sulphate of potassa, which however, from its extremely minute di- 
vision, is speedily taken up by the water, when you have a transpa- 
rent solution of tartrate of quinine and sulphate of potassa, and as 
the latter answers neither a good nor a bad purpose, it of course can’ 
very conveniently be dispensed with, and therefore, as before stated; 
the tartaric acid should be ‘suse mah as having a more bey and 
speedy. action. : 

The high price which the sulphate of quinine has always com- 
manded, and the increasing demand which its reputation has con- 
stantly kept up, has been an inducement to fraud ; and it is much to 
be regretted that this valuable article of our materia medica, like 
others of an expensive kind, has been mixed with foreign substances 
of inert character, for the base consideration of reducing the cost 
and enhancing the profit on its sale, and all this at the expense of the 
health of the suffering patient, to the disappointment of the practi- 
tioner, and not unfrequently to the injury of the reputation of the 
genuine medicine. It is of high importance therefore to be acquaint- 
ed with the most efficient means of testing its character, where we: 
have any doubt of its purity. ‘The following are the distinctive char- 
acters and properties of the sulphate of quinine, and the most simple 
and effectual method of discovering fraud or adulteration in its com- 
position.* 

1. The sulphate of quinine must be soluble, ata moderate heat, in 
rectified alcohol; if it contains sulphate of lime, soda, potassa, or any 


* See observations, communicated by Dr. Faust, on the adulteration of quinine, 
bark, &c. Vol. XVIII, pp. 81, 84, of this Journal. Ed. 


‘56 _ Analysis of the Protogea of Leibnitz. 


other substance insoluble in alcohol, the adulteration will easily be 
detected. 

2. It is soluble in acidulated water, say one drachm of sulphuric 
acid to an ounce of water, which will readily dissolve the quinine. 
By this means, if there is any stearine or margaric acid, (substances 
prepared expressly for adulterating the article,) they will float on the 
surface. 

3. It should give, by sal ammoniac, a white precipitate, rather 
flaky, which is soluble in alcohol, and which, on being exposed to a 
gentle heat, will consume without leaving the least residuum. 

4, After having dissolved it in acidulated water, it can be decom- 
posed by means of a little sal ammoniac; it must then be filtered: 
and evaporated. If sugar has been introduced into it, it will be easi- 
ly detected by the taste or by fire, which will produce its peculiar 
odor. 

5. If a white substance, insoluble in cold water, be found in the 
sulphate of quinine, heat the mixture to about 170° Fahr. This 
will render the starch soluble, and its presence may be determined 
by the addition of an aqueous solution of iodine, which will immedi- 
ately occasion a blue color, and eventually a blue precipitate. The 
iodine must be added in very small quantities and very slowly, or the 
experiment will fail.* 


Art. VI.—Analysis of the Protogea of Leibmtz; by Prof. E.- 
Mrrcuety, of the University of North Carolina. 


As any science advances towards perfection, its early history, 
though not always a matter of great importance, becomes never- 
theless an object of interest. In stating the doctrines held by con- 
temporary pbilosophers, we cannot well avoid some reference to the 
opinions of those who have preceded us in the same field of investi- 
gation and discovery, and if they are mentioned at all, it may well 
be claimed that the account given of them should be fair and accu- 
rate. Ihave supposed that a very brief analysis of the Protogea 
of Leibuitz might be acceptable to the readers of the Journal, and 


* Specimens of all the species of Peruvian bark, which now occur in commerce, 
neatly put up in bottles, with a full description of each and a treatise on Cinchona, 
can be had, for five dollars, at Geo. W. Carpenter’s Chemical Warehouse, Phila- 
delphia. 


Analysis of the Protogea of Leibnitz. ee 


I am the rather inclined to offer it because of the erroneous char- 
acter given of that work in a recent geological publication of Prof. 
Brande. 

** Among the correspondents and opponents of Woodward, we 
meet with several authors whose works are never read, and whose 
names are falling fast into entire oblivion; there were others of 
more celebrated memory, and among them Leibnitz, who, towards 
the end of the 17th century, published his Protogza, in which there 
are little more than crude and improbable speculations, relating to 
the agency of fire upon a'supposed chaotic mass.” 

It may be useful, before proceeding to the proposed analysis, to 
notice the circumstances which had directed the mind of Leibnitz 
to the subject of geology, and prepared him for the composition of 
this work. 

No individual of the age in which he lived, had formed so inti- 
mate an acquaintance with all the different departments of knowl- 
edge. ‘That extraordinary genius,” says Gibbon, speaking of 
Leibnitz, “embraced and improved the whole circle of human sci- 
ence ;’—he.remarks however, m another place, that ‘“‘he may be 
compared to those heroes whose empire has been lost in the ambi- 
tion of universal conquest.” [He had made chemistry a particular 
object of attention in early life.* On the death of the Elector of 
Mentz, the Duke of Brunswick Lunenburg became his patron, and 
establishing himself at Hanover in 1677, the next ten years of his 
life were spent chiefly in that city.: Most of the valuable mines in 
the Hartz being within the territories of the Duke, who derived a 
considerable revenue from them, and the successful prosecution of 
operations there being obstructed by the accumulation of water, the 
mechanical ingenuity of Leibnitz was put in requisition for creating 


. 


* His scheme for acquiring a knowledge of chemistry, had in it perhaps as much 
of cunning as probity. Ele heard at Nuremburg, that there was in the city a very 
secret society of persons engaged in the study of that science and the pursuit of the 
philosopher’s stone. The difficulty was to secure an admission amongst them. He 
collected from the chemical books the expressions whose meaning he found himself 
the least able to comprehend, and composed of them a Jetter wholly unintelligible 
to himself, which he addressed to the director of the society, demanding, on the 
ground of the proofs therein exhibited of his extensive knowledge, to be admitted a 
member of their body. It was not doubted that the author of the letter was an 
adept. Wie was received with much honor in their laboratory ; requested to act as 
their secretary, and by these methods made himself master of whatever knowledge 
they possessed.— Fontenelle’s Eloge. Brucker’s Philosophy. 


Vioriiine Now th: 8 


58 Analysis of the Protogea of Leibutz. 


the means of draining them. What was the exact amount of time 
and thought that he devoted to this object it is perhaps impossible 
after an interval of a century and a half to determine. It is probable, 
however, that he was a kind of director or superintendant of mining 
operations in the Hartz, during a considerable part if not the whole 
of these ten years. In an application made by him for a post in the 
service of the Emperor in 1680 or ’81, he stated that his attention 
was much occupied with this business, which however he then hoped 
would be finished, so far as he was concerned, in the course of a few 
months. ‘The mountains are about forty miles from Hanover. He 
had evidently made himself familiar, by personal observation, with 
the whole district of the Hartz, and with all the processes of mining 
and metallurgy practised there. ‘The appearances presented in the 
mines could hardly fail of leading a mind like that of Leibnitz, to 
some speculations on the causes by which they had been produced, 
and to the composition of a work like the Protogea. It is from this 
quarter that many of his facts and illustrations are drawn. In 1687 
he went to Italy, to collect materials for a history of the House of 
Brunswick, and when in that country did not neglect the opportu- 
nity that was offered of prosecuting his geological enquiries and ob- 
servations. 

It appears from a passage in the 19th section, that the Protogea 
was composed soon after his return to Hanover, in 1691, when he 
was forty five years of age. Like most of his other writings, it is 
a short tract; such as would occupy a space of fifty pages only in 
this Journal. It is illustrated by twelve plates, prepared by the au- 
thor, containing representations of shells, ichthyolites, teeth of mam- 
mifere and other organic remains. A ‘“schediasma” or abstract of 
the work, (how full Iam unable to say, but it is spoken of as con- 
taining only “ primas lineas”—a mere outline,) was inserted by Leib- 
nitz in the Leipzic Acta Eruditorum, for January, 1693. The Pro- 
togea itself then lay in manuscript till 1749, thirty three years after 
his death, when it was at length published, with a dull impertinent 
preface, half as long as the work to which it is attached, by Scheide. 
From the manner in which the abstract in the Acta Eruditorum is 
referred to, in two or three places in his letters, it may be conjectured 
that the author thought well of his performance, and felt a consider- 
able anxiety to Jearn the opinions of others respecting it. 

The Protogeza is divided into forty eight sections or chapters, of 
which the first five, after the introductory one, are upon the primeval 


[ 


Analysis of the Protogea of Leibnitz. | 59 


condition of the globe and the deluge; the next sixteen treat prin- 
cipally of mineral veins and the causes by which they have been 
produced ; thirteen relate to organic remains, especially shells; and 
the last thirteen to the caverns of the Hartz, amber, alluvium, turf 
and other miscellaneous matters. A more particular account of the 
different sections is subjoined. = 

1. Some reasons are assigned for the composition of the ensuing 
treatise, as (a.) The importance of the subject, giving value to even 
a moderate acquaintance with it. (6.) The enterprise in which he 
was about to engage, of writing the early history of the House of 
Brunswick, to which he seems to consider the Protogea as an ap- 
propriate introduction;* so that the merry author of the history of 
New York, from the creation of the world to the end of the Dutch 
dynasty, is not without a precedent in the case of this illustrious au- 
thor. (c.) The opportunities afforded by his peculiar situation, for 
acquiring information upon these subjects. 

2. The form of the earth in the beginning was regular and its 
surface smooth, the mountains being of more recent date; because 
God makes nothing imperfect and because it was fluid. Its fluidity, 
which was the effect of heat, is proved by the existence of veins, 
crystals, and the remains of plants ue animals, (“solida intra soli- 
dum clausa,”) in the rocks. 

3. The present aspect of the earth has been produced by confla- 
grations, succeeded by deluges. It was first a star or body ejected 
from the sun, lucid by itself, upon whose surface scoria were form- 
ed; it cooled and ceased to be luminous. ‘This is rendered proba- 
ble by the circumstance that the rocks and scorie from a furnace, 
are alike convertible by heat into glass, especially if certain salts be 
added; by which they are proved to have a common basis. 

4. The moisture that had hovered in vapor around the hot globe, 
was condensed as its temperature sank, and being attracted by the 
ashes or remains of the recent conflagration, formed a lixivium or 
lye and thus created the salt sea. As the crust of the earth cooled, 
large cavities were formed in it, by the breaking up of which and 
the subsidence of the rocky masses, it was diversified with moun- 
tains and vallies. ‘The inundations produced by these changes 
formed the more recent strata. 


* « Ttaque ab antiquissimo nostri tractus statu orsuro dicendum est aliquid de pri- 
ma facie terrarum.” 

t “Secute inundationes que cum deinde rursus sedimenta per intervalla depone- } 
rent atque his indurescentibus redeunte mox simili causa strata subinde diversa alia 


60 Analysis of the Protogea of Leibnitz. 


5. An enumeration of certain mountain ranges, which he supposes 
to be part of the original skeleton of the globe. He does not deny 
that smaller confiagrations, earthquakes, and: deluges of less extent, 
have changed the aspect of particular countries. Mankind will de- 
cide these things more correctly, when they shall have more accu- 
rately examined the surface and strata of the earth. 

6. The Deluge. It is proved by the occurrence of marine or- 
ganic remains upon the mountains. A number of different theories 
of the modus operandi, by which the highest mountains were cover- 
ed with water, are stated. He prefers the opinion, that the contents 
of vast caverns in the interior of the earth, were forced out by the 
falling im of the earth and rocks above, and that these superfluous 
waters afterwards found their way into other caverns, that had before 
been empty, and so disappeared. 

7. The Brocken, inaccessible during the greater part of the year, 
and infamous in the surrounding country from concerts of owls, is 
described. ‘The rivers rising near its summit, are no valid objec- 
tion to the theory that ascribes them to ram and snow descending 
from the clouds. 

8. ‘The metals are much more abundant in the surrounding moun- 
tains of less elevation, than in the Brocken itself. Metallic veins are 
well defined, as leaves or strata running far into the earth, of mode- 
rate thickness and different. composition from the rocks in which 
they le. ‘They are divided into pendentes and cadentes, or beds and 
proper veins; the former of limited extent, the latter descending in- 
definitely. The effects of their concourse, divarication, eic., are ac- 
curately stated. ‘They are ascribed partly to deposits in horizontal 
beds, which were afterwards shifted info an inclined position, and 
partly to rifts in the crust of the earth, filled with matter rendered 
liquid by heat or-a solvent. By diligent observation, rules, much 
superior to those now in use, may be found out for conjecturing the 
substances lying hid in the bowels of the earth. — Vallies have every 


7 
aliis imponerentur facies teneri adhuc orbis sepius novata est. Donec quiescenti- 
bus causis atgue equilibratis consistentior emergeret status rerum. Unde jam du- 
plex origo intellegitur firmorum corperum; una cum ab ignis fusione refrigesceret, 
altera cum reconcresceret ex solutione aquarum. Neque igitur putandum est lapi- 
des ex sola esse fusione. Id enim potissimum de prima tantum massa ac terre basi 
accipio. Nec dubito, postea materiam liquidam in superficie telluris procurrentem 
quiete mox reddita ex ramentis subactis ingentem materi vim deposuisse quorum 

_alia varias terree species formarunt, alia in saxa induruere, e quibus strata diversa 
sibi supcrimposita diversas precipitationum vices afque intervalla testantur.”’ 


Analysis of the Protogea of Leibnitz. 61 


where been formed by the force of rushing waters or other violence, 
‘as is proved by the correspondence of the strata on their opposite 
sides. 

9. For ascertaining the methods pursued by nature in the forma- 
tion of mineral substances, it would be ef advantage to compare them 
with the results obtained in the laboratory. ‘“‘/Veque enim aliud est 
natura quam ars quedam magna.” He will say nothing respecting 
the production de novo of the metals, or the possibility of the con- 
version of one metal into another; but places the stories of the re- 
generation of gold in sands that have been washed, and of the re- 
fuse matter of a mine acquiring new riches, on the same footing with 
those relating to subterranean pigmy miners and the discovery of 
‘treasures by means of the divining rod, by men who, if you blind- 
fold them, will not detect the largest and best known veins. Metal- 
lic matter is drawn from some old mines in the Hartz, but it is a sedi- 
ment brought in by water. 

10. Native and artificial cinnabar, native zinc from the East Indies 
and that collected from the furnaces of the Hartz, native calamine 
and that which, rising in smoke from certain ores, incrusts the same 
furnaces, are cited as examples of an agreement between the pro- 
ducts of nature and those of art. 

11. Artificial resemble natural crystals, but the latter, whether 
produced by the refrigeration of a melted mass, evaporation or sub- 
limation, being the result of a more intense heat than we are able to 
create, and of a process much-longer than ours, are harder and more 
perfect. The forms of sects and grass, and the liquids sometimes 
seen in rock crystal, favor the idea that it has been formed from a 
solution. _ 

12—15. Short and unimportant. Sal ammoniac is raised by nat- 
ural sublimation and collected near Naples. Native gold and silver 
have been fused and received a form from the matrix in which they 
lie. Some mineral substances owe their form to the motion of wa- 
ter alone, as the rounded pebbles found cemented into a rock in the 
Alps themselves; some are the effect of the combined agency of fire 
and water. ; 

16. Of tufa, stalactites, and the caverns, whether great or small, 
in which they are formed—also of a cavern which emitted a vapor 
that took fire from a candle and burned some of the workman. ‘Toads 
sometimes found alive in the rocks. 


62 Analysis of the Protogea of Leibnitz. 


17. Repetition, “ Nunc illud absolvamus ut quemadmodum que- 
dam ignisoli; alia soli motui aquarum et sedimentis deberi dicimus; 
ita interdum caloris et aquae junctas operas requiri ostendamus; ali- 
cubi variantibus causis ambiguum judicium esse declaremus.” 

18. Of the copper slates with ichthyolites of Eisleben and Oste- 
rode. The number of the ichthyolites, their size, and the accuracy 
of the delineation, prove them to be real fish and not lusus nature. 
A lake was overwhelmed—the mud enveloping the fish hardened 
by heat into slate—the animal matter consumed or dissipated, and 
the metallic matter brought in to supply its place. 

19. Weare not to be incredulous in regard to the agency of sub- 
terranean fire producing the effects here ascribed to it, hardening the 
strata, fusing the mineral masses, and producing crystals by sublima- 
tion and the refrigeration of matter that had been melted or dissolved, 
inasmuch as earthquakes and volcanoes either now active, as in Italy, 
or extinct, as on the Moselle, prove the existence of an internal fire. 

20. If the idea is preferred that the copper slates have been hard- 
ened by time or that they have been produced by a lapidific and 
metallic vapor, he will not dispute the point, though he considers this 
opinion less probable—only let it be allowed, that these are real fish 
and not mere appearances like those of Luther and the Pope shewn 
at Eisleben, where you would never have discovered the resemblance 
had it not been pointed out to you. 

21. These fish were overwhelmed by some great convulsion. 
Salt springs as well as shells, are a proof that the sea once covered 
what is now dry land. Steno’s treatise de solido intra solidum is 
referred to with approbation. Different catastrophes have produced 
in succession, three different varieties of dry land—the lofty moun- 
tains, hills of moderate elevation, and the low level shores of the 
ocean. 

22. As shells are found upon high land, it is has been supposed 
by some, that the mountains were raised by the elasticity of an in- 
terior wind or vapor. Small effects of this kind may have been 
produced, but so far as the great ranges are concerned, the opinion 
is inadmissible. Some accounts of the prodigious effects of wind— 
probably in a great measure fabulous. 

23—35. Of organic remains. ‘They have been observed from 
the most ancient times, and in all parts of Europe. ‘The Spanish 
ambassador at the court of Persia saw them in the lofty mountains: 
of Caramania. ‘That they are real remains is proved by their va- 


Analysis of the Protogea of Leibniz. 63 


riety, shape, color, and other properties which are so well marked, 

that the species can be studied in the rocks as well as in a cabinet. 

Some of them are entire and others broken, and sometimes there is 
merely a cast; they are not therefore, a simple and direct product 
of nature. ‘They have no roots, but are separated by well defined 
limits from the rock in which they lie. ‘The more accurately they 
are examined, the stronger will be the conviction that they are real 
remains, whereas, the representations of men and buildings some- 
times found in the rocks must be viewed at a distance, or the illusion 
vanishes. ‘Their number, and that the species is not known to exist 


_ in the living state as is the case with the cornu Ammonis, is no objec- 


tion. ‘They may have been accumulated on certain points by cur- 
rents, and brought from distant regions or the dephts of the sea that 
have never yet been explored. Analogues of the mineral species 
are detected in greater numbers as observations are more extended 
amongst the living races. In proportion as men are more diligent in 
the business of observation and better acquainted with nature, they 
are more apt to adopt the opinion espoused by Leibnitz. Such as 
embrace different views are deceived by the fables of Kircher, Be- 
cher and others, who find not only plants and animals but historical 
facts exhibited in the rocks, and tellof whole fields strewed with the 


‘leg bones of giants. ‘These remains are quite distinct from certain 


crystals that are mentioned, and the other geometry of inanimate 
nature.* The glossopetra of Luenberg, are described and stated 
to be shark’s teeth and not to differ from those of Malta, that are so 
much valued for their medicinal properties—they may not be alto- 
gether without virtue as amedicine. Sect. 33 is a long enumeration 
and description from Lachmann of different species of shells——34. 
On bones, apparently of the elephant, found in the caves and laid 
bare by the rivers of Germany. ‘The ivory tusks dug up in Russia 
and America may belong to the Walrus. If they are real elephant’s 
bones, the habits of the animal or the condition of the earth must 
have changed, so that the limits beyond which he does not range must 
be more confined than formerly, or they may have been transported 
from a distance.—35. Of the remains of an unicorn dug up in Ger- 
many—fabulous, judging from the figure, and in bad taste, inasmuch 
as it violates Horace’s rule of not associating discordant organs in the 
same animal. 


* «< Caeleramque cmnem nature inanime geometriam.” 


64 Analysis of the Protogea of Letbnitz. ’ 


36—7. Description of the caves of Scharzfield and Blackenburg 
in the Hartz with their bones and teeth— aliqui tantae magnitudinis 
ut ad nota nobis animalia referri non possunt.” ‘The same caves 
are described by Buckland in his Reliquie Diluviane. 

38. Of amber. The figures of leaves, mosses, and insects pre- 
served in it (the substances themselves are wanting,) favor the idea 
of its vegetable origin. 

39—41. Of the alluvium of rivers, etc.—the mouths of the Rhine, 
the Rhone, the Po, the Nile, with some. others, are cited as examples. 

42—3. Account of the succession of strata under the town of 
Mutina in Italy and its wells. After descending nearly seventy feet, 
a pointed instrument, is driven downward, on withdrawing which, the 
water rises quite to the top and flows over upon the surface of the 
earth. The ascent is so rapid that the workman is in danger of be- 
ing drowned ; an explanation is given to which it is not necessary for 
us to attend. As an example of the accumulation of earth in some 
situations, the well known fact is stated, that we now descend to get 
into the Pantheon of Agrippa instead of ascending as the Romans 
did by a number of steps when it was first built. 

44—5. Of fossil wood whether petrified or retaining its vegetable 
character—dug up in Germany and other parts of the world—a sim- 
ple statement of facts. 

46. Of turf—its origin and the manner of preparing and using it 
—it is reproduced very slowly if it all. 

47—8. Of a subterranean forest and the succession of strata ob- 
served in digging a well two hundred and thirty two feet in depth, 
under the town of Amsterdam. 

It will be apparent from the above abstract, that Leibnitz does by 
no means merit the reproaches that have some times been heaped 
upon him as (at least in this department.of knowledge,) a mere vis- 
ionary system builder. ‘The science of mineralogy was yet to be 
created when he wrote, and his treatise therefore, contains but little 
that can be valuable to a geologist of the present day. But its de- 
fects are chargeable upon the age in which it was written rather than 
upon Leibnitz. , Good sense, and the indications of patient and ac- 
curate observation, pervade every part of it, and we may venture to 
assert, that if examined instead of being condemned at hap hazard 
from its title, it will be found not unworthy of the genius and fame of 
its illustrious author. 


\ 


University of North Carolina, Jan. 31st, 1831. 


Central Forces. i 65 


Arr. VII.—On Central Forces; by Prof. THrvpore Sreone. 


(Continued from Vol. XIX. p. 49.) 


t 


By (5) given at p. 48, Vol. XIX, to Thee (1); or, since p’ 


Pe eee age te 

=a(l—e ); ~ 1 fe cos. 7 (2)3 hence e/dt=r? "= TT + e005. w)? v)? 
: (1—e2)3dp 
(3). Put Ss and V/ Lan, then by (3) (ul Siac cos.v)# 


(4); nt=the mean anomaly, v= the true do.; which are here 
ae(1 —e?)sin. vdv 


counted from the perihelion. By 2G a ees. 3) and 
fa ae mee iow (1 —e2)2dv 
SiC eee ; ~ (LF cos. a) 
rdr Oe 


eS UN em 
: a—r\? ‘ 

(5); then ndt=(1—ecos.¢) dp or by integration nt=y—esin. » 

(6); p= the eccentric anomaly, which is supposed to be reckoned 


=e cos. 9 or r=a (1 —e cos. ¢) 


1-—e? 
from the perihelion: by comparing (2) and (5) 1--ecos.v 


v 1l+e : : 
—ecos.o; hence tan. aoe Vie x tan. (7). Ife=1, the conic 


! 


v 2 
section is a parabola; and since 1-+cos. v=2 cos.?5 = ae 
1--tan.?5 
BOR v\ , 
(ly (eecomies| tommy, =o (1-+12n.23) (8); and (3) becomes 
2 ee | 
fs = £ / a 
edt="5—| 1+ tan.*5 d tan.5> or by integration c/t= tan.5 aie 
£25) Be 
3/3 put Ci — Jay (NEN sr: (3 tan. Stan. 8 oun) (9): | But 
is r 
4 = and assume R cos. 6=g, R cos. (v—)=5 (10); hence R= 


Vor. sexo. 1. Q 


66 Central Forces. 


g qcos. (v — 8) 
aaa 
cos. a? cos. 6 


v : 
1-+tan.?= —cos. 
a -+tan 3 cos v] q 


v v 
NOR GeO 8 =) Tr sai p = (s tan.5 tan.) » or by (9) 


‘ 
=9 COS. v--qsin. ytan.d=5= g({1+ tan. 25) 


SAS a 
q tan. 6= On! (11). (11) agrees with Newton’s construction, (Prin. 


A 
Vol. I, Sec. VI, prop. 30.) his ea and gtan.é6= his GH= 


3M. Let p= the semi circumference of a circle rad. being 1, then if 


=Q) tan.g =1, and A becomes came hence 2p! iG: ASS - ’ 


which agrees with Newton’s proportion in cor. 1. and q tan. => 


2p’ 
Sc't d(q tan. é Be! 0 3M 
=a gives ue ee ae 3 (V= the velocity of the par- 


d(q tan. é) 
ticle at the vertex ;) or —~Fe—_ 
tion in cor. 2. and his cor. 3 is evident by (10) which are assumed 
on the supposition that a circle is described through the points A, S, 
P, in his figure ; its centre Hi being at the nicHuee HOH of GH and a 
perpendicular erected at the middle of SP or 7, its radius SH=R, 


GS=q, HSG=), ASP=», ..HSP=v—é. 


:V::3: 8, which is his propor- 


/ 
‘Let r, v, ¢, A, become 7’, v’, t’, A’; then by (8) r= Ha = 


2cos. a) 


p of i (s vt 3 vf / 
9 (1-+-tan. 5) (12); and by 0) = 5 tan.3 + tan. a = 3A 


(13); by subtracting (9) from ee resolving the remainder into 
. v vy . : . 

factors, and putting for 1--tan.*5° I--tan.?3> their respective 
2h 2k : p’ v 
equais rae ee by (8) and (12); there results-5 \ tan.g — 


/ 


v pf OM v 

tan.5 x [prt cr tan. tan.) =3(A’ —A) (14). Put 0’ — 
v=2u and let c= the chord connecting the extremities of 7’, r, and 
g/t-rte=2m, 7 +r—c=2n../ +r=m+n; (by trig.) ¢?=7/2 + 


7? —2r’r cos. 2u, or since cos. 2u=2cos.2u—1, c?=(2'+7r)? — 


Central Forces. 67 
/ 2a) .° 2 2 / a psbos, tt 
4r’r cos.*u.*. (r/--r)? —c? =4mn=4r’r cos.2u= i a by 


COSt2-—ICOS- 4) = 
2 2 


/ 


(8) and (12); = 


v v Ee 
(1-tany tan. 5) =Vmn; also m+n— 


2V mn =(Vm —Vn)? =r tr 2V mn =p (1 ean.25 2st it 
(tan.5 tang 5) ; or(Vm-Vn) 


{/ 


= rbomint 
tan. 3 rtan.5 sane Ne 


sels iE eel essa! tut 
tan.5 3 — tans). By substituting the values thus 


found in terms of m and n, in (14), it becomes Wa 4 (mm? wed n?) 

=3(A’'— A); hence by restoring the values of A’, a m,n, and put- 
Ce r+r+tce)?—(r+r— 

ED 7 =f | have ’—t= puis ili ast ata! Ear (15); (See 


Mec. nd Vol. Il, p. 31.) 
Suppose eZ 1, then the conic section is an ellipse; a= its semi 
transverse axis, and e= its focal distance —a. (6) is easily chang- 


e(a a ! 
ed to Lane = —asin. Al or since n, €, a, are the same at all 
F F; ap : ie Ree 
points of the curve, ¢ is as Ta Sin. @ 5 which indicates Newton’s 


SO 
construction, (Prin. Vol. 1, Sec. VI, prop. 31,) for x0 in his fig- 


a “AG? 
ure, a=AO, .° = Sia his OG, and o= angleAOQ ...— = OG 


Xo= are GF, xe asin.p=AO x sin. AOQ= sin. AQ (to a AO;) 
a sin. 9-=GF— sin. AQ=GK, or tis as GK. Put in (6) 


o=o'-+ x(x=a small arc) then nt==9/+-x—esin. (9’-+2)=o Vhaite 
nt —o’ +e sin. 0 
1—eCos. 9’ 
volve 27,2°, &c.; or if 2°, nt°, '°, R°, denote the degrees in a, nt, 
nt? —o/9+eR°sin. of 
1—ecos. 9’ 
(16). (16) agrees with the first method of approximation given in 
the scholium to the 31st proposition; for nf0=N, ¢/°=AOQ, eR°= 


ésin. 0’ — ve COS. 9." .2= neglecting terms which in- 


o’, and an arc of a circle equal to its radius, 2° = 


68 Central Forees. 
: SO 
his B, for e= 76 (see his fig.).. AO: 5O0:: R° t eR° whichagrees 


ees 
with his proportion for finding B; also his L=— (R= his radius ;) 


~.L: L—Reos. 9’: = ; = —Rceos.9’::1 3 1 —ecos. 9’; and by 
(16)* 1 —e cos. o’ > 12: nt? —/°-+-eR° sin. o' } «2, which agrees 
with his proportion for finding K, .°. his E=a°. By adding x° to 
o’° and repeating the operation with the corrected value of 0°, 
the second part of his process will be obtained, and so on; ob- 
serving that the successive corrections are to be applied according 
to their algebraic signs; and that the sign of ecos./ in the de- 
nominator of (16) must be changed into +- when 9/° is between 90° 
and 270°, also the sign of eR°sin. 9’ must be changed into — when 
o’° is between 180° and 360°, because cos. 9’ is negative in the former 
of these cases, and sin. o’ in the latter ; when o is found, v is easily 
found also by (7). By changing the sign of e cos. v in the denominator 


a({1—e?) 


of (2) it becomes r=; (17); v being counted from the 


—€ COS. v 
aphelion. Put 2a—r=r’, then 7’= the distance of the particle, 
which is supposed to describe the ellipse, from the other focus; let 
v= the angle made by 7’ and the distance of that focus from the 
a(1 —e?) 
nearer vertex, then (or aS i 
equal angles with the tangent at the place of the particle rdv=r'dv’, 
a+2aecos.v’-+ ae? 
1) Pecasso me 
and c’'di=v gp’ xdt=v ag(t—e?) xdé; by substituting these 
values, and that of 7’ as given by (18), in (19) and reducing, I have 
(1+:2¢ cos. ’-te?)X V1 —e? Xdv’, g ; 
(Ov ae tl econ woh ad CeO ae las Kot—naes (or (a — 
1+2e cos. v’ +e? cos.? 2’ i : 
ndt X een eI x (Te) 2, or ‘smee cos. 7 
1-+cos. 20” ye 
3 by rejecting quantities of the order e*, e°, &c. I have 


(18); and because r, 7’ make 


orr2dv=e'dt=rr'dv’ (19). By (18) r=2a-r'= 


e? | 
dy’ = (1 +r cos. 2v’-+-e3(cos. v/—cos. v’ cos. 20") xndt; by known 


cos. 3v’-+-cos. v’ 
formule cos. v’ cos. 20’ = 573 hence and by neglect- 


~, 


Central Forces. 69 


2 2 
= 2 


€ e 
ing quantities of the order e*, &c, dv’= [14 eos. ant 5 


Clans 
(cos. nt — cos. Sn) xndt, or by integration o’=nt--7- sin. 2nt+- 


Cay sin. 3nt adie sin. dnt 4 . Pe yaa, 
2 (sin nt 3 » but sin. nt — gg she ints Une 
oD aa Line 5 / 
aid sin. 2nt-+ “q sin. °n¢ (20). Put ap’=c?, then, since p’= 
a(1— Le c? =a7(1—e?), ot c=a (1 -5) neglecting quantities 


of the order e*, e°, &c. or 2e=a+a(1—e?)=a-+>p’; hence by put- 


ting c—p’=D, Ihave a—c=D, a? —c? =a%e? =(a+c)D, “os 


ere er a Yee 
Aq? 2 oar. i oa 4a? 
4eD 


Y nearly, 37 = sin. Z4=Z nearly, (Y and Z being small angles;) Y 


sin. 2nt=V, Zsin.2nt=X3; then (20) becomes v’=nt+X-+V, 
which agrees with the second method of approximation given in the 


lly 
scholium ;- Newton’s 9 =P’ DO=c, AO=a, PHB=v’, PSB=1, 


dl: 
and the angles X, V, are the same as his X, V. Again by (4), ~ 


% ! 1+e Cos. v 

=(1-+ecos.v)? X(1 —e? aon 2 also by (2) and (5), paar 
1 d 1— 

Tee a hence == be op and, since ndt=(1—e cos.¢) 


do i dv dp \? aga 

ae aH = (Uecos oj? | mdi a A eye (ei) 

I will now investigate a general formula, which will enable me to 
find v in terms of nt by (21). Let Q=Fy= any function of y, and 
y= any function of x; (w being a small variable quantity ;) then is Q 
a function of x, which can generally be expressed by a series of the 
form Q=Q/+2Q , +-0°Q,+42°Q,...tv"Q,+20"T'Q,,,+ etc. (a); 
Q’, Q,, Q,, &c. being independent of x. Put e=0, then (a) be- 
comes Q=Q’, .-.Q’= the value of Q when x=0; and by taking the 
differential of (a) n times relatively to x, (supposing dx constant,) I 


n 


d"Q 
have = 1.2.3...nQ,, +2.3...(n+1)cQ,., + ete. (6); by putting 


70 Central Forces. 


d" Q’ , 
20m (b), [have Q@, = 13.3. — for the general form of the 
«. : d"Q’ d"Q 
quantities Q a) Q,...Q, etc.5 oe the value olay am yee 


dQ’ 
when r=0 ] let n=1, 2, 3, 4, and so on successively, then Q, FE 


dew doy i 
Q, eS Q, Sito ae and so on; by substituting these values 


dQ’ v2 d?2 Q’ 
of Q,, Q,, &e. in (a) it becomes Q=Q’ ae dx +19 2 dx? +s 


d 
— + etc. (c). Let r=fy= any function of y; and y=L(u-+-ar) 


(d), =any function of w--wr; then if (d) is solved with respect to y, 
y will equal a function of u and x, but as there is no given relation 
between u and x they are independent variables; alco Q=Fy=a 
function of wand 2. Again, (by solving (d) with respect to uw-+-ar;) 
u+-ar=a function of y, let z denote this function; then (d) becomes 


dz 
z=u-+or (e). The differential of (e) with respect to u, gives dy * 


dy dr dy ane ‘igs aatole : dz dy 
oii hie an and its differential relatively to x, gives dy * des 


dr dy dy dy dQ dQ dy 

ay ae hence 7 =rq, (f)5 and 7 aah x 7,3 but, by (f); 
dQ iy dQ. dy_{ dQ dy ae dQ dQ dQ 
dy dam" *dy du =|(sines ay Guda due nee ee 
(¢). Let R= any function of r; then R=a function of y = a func- 

dQ 
; d Ra) dR aay dQ R! (52) = dR 
tion of u and w; hence —— PaO dy NEU ATE +R.a A dy 

dx 


dy dQ. dy dQ a(R) 
Ra(z \= cana ie (h). Now by (g) I have 


“du” dy ” de de 
du. 
dQ dQ 
d2Q ara) alr a) iQ &Q 
et ae dak by (A); butby (g) 4 dz Sar du’ ° ‘dx? — 


d d d 
a(t) dQ d? i = d? (72. ze) 
du? ag dx® ~~ de.du ~ du? by (2); or, by (g), 


Central Forces. Fi! 


: dQ n=] n dQ 
eq © (a) vg & la) 
ae dan? hence generally 72 =——~ gyi 


dQ’ 
d"™-} (1-5) 


dQ’ d 
= at anaes (Oyign mis a being the values of r, when «=0. 


dQ’ 


a usralld ae 


NE AN WMC MER 
Let n=1, 2, 3, and so on successively in (7); then Go=r' 
dQ’ | 5g AY 
d?Q’ a(r27 | dQ! dl? \9 | aad 
EGE aeoae apaatal? and so on; by substituting 
dQ’ d2Q’ d?Q’ dQ’ 
these values oe eee ae &e. in(c) it becomes Q=Q/T 2. (oe) 
dQ’ dQ’ 
ave | is d2 [rs a 
wv? du x du ; 
1.2) He moe eal -++ etc. (k); put c=0 in (d), 


then y=Lu, and Fy=F(1u)=Q’; this value of Q’, when substituted 
in (£) gives the general formula which I proposed to find; (see Mec. 
Cel. Vol. 1, p.173.) If L=1, or y=u-+ar, then Q=F y, Q’=F u, 


, dQ’ d¥u 
1’ =fu= the value of fy when x=0, and ine hence (/) becomes 
F (v: “ qe (ws a2) 
dE u oe du 2a ae du. 
Fy=Fu-+a. ( aa 12° Fe ioe ow Has ae 
: dFu du 
ete. (1); if F=1, or Fy=y, then Q’/=Fu=u, and de aa ae 


e2 dr? me d2r/3 


hence (/) becomes yautor +73" du +123 du2 © ete (m) ; 
(see Mec. Anal. Vol. II, p. 22.) If fy=1, r°=1, and y=u+afy 
becomes y=u-+a, and Fy=F(u+2); hence (/) becomes F(u+.2) 

dFu wv? d?Fu ss aw? dd? Fu ‘ " 
See a ia ong Taos) Ae + ete. (n); this formula is 
usually known by the name of 'Taylor’s theorem, and it may also be 
observed that (c) is usually called Maclaurin’s theorem; (see La 
Croix’s Traité élémentaire de Calcul Différentiel, etc. pp. 27, 29.) 
Now by (6) [have p=nt-+e sin. 9, which agrees with y=u-t-afy by 


; i dnt 
making y=o, fy= sin. p, u=nt, =e; put Te 8 (nt, then Fu= 


a dEu ; ek 
Fnt, and Tn Ent, =fus= sin. nt; by substituting these values 


Wee Central Forces. 


in (1) it becomes Fo=Fnt+e(F’nt. sin. nt) +55 ee es cee 

enya Evan. sin. ?nt) 
1:23:33) n2 dt? 
page 177, Vol. 1, Mec. Cel. Let F=1, then Fo= = Fe eae 
* d(sin.* .*nt) 


7 2 ndt 


+ etc. (0); which agrees with (q) given at 


F’nt=1; hence (0) becomes 9 = nt +-e sin. nt + —;] 


e® d?(sin.*nt) - 
1.213 n®dt? 
(m), by changing y into ©, u into nt, x into e, and 7” into sin. nt. 


-+ etc. (p); this formula is found immediately by 


d 2 

By taking the differential of (p) I have —yaite cos. nt —t 
d?(sin.2nt e? ds sin. 2nt 

Sey 123° ie PEPTE BEN etc. (q); substituting in (g) for 


sin.2nt, sin.2nt, &c. their values, (see La Croix’s Traité de Calcul 
Différentiel, etc. p. 314,) taking the differentials, (as indicated by the 
formula, making nd¢ constant,) and by rejecting those terms which 


i dc 
involve powers of e higher than e°, I have =! --e cos. nt-e? 
e° ie et e8 
cos. 2nt + 7 (9 cos. Snt — cos. nt) + 3 (4cos. 4nt — cos. 2nt) +334 
e6 ; 
(625 cos. 5nt — 243 cos. 3nt + 2 cos. nt) + 120 (248 cos. 6nt — 128 


a 
cos. 4nt-+-5cos.2nt) (r). It may be observed that aa can also be 


found immediately by the value of w, (g iven in the Mecanique Ce- 
leste, Vol. I, p. 179,) viz. by taking the differential and then dividing 


du 
both sides of the equation by ndi, and —7, will be found to be the 
dp 
same as the value of alt given by (7), as it evidently fe to be, for 
d i 
his w denotes the same thing as 9. Now by (21) as =(%, ” x 


do 
(l—e? 22 hence by taking the square of ? as given by (7), neg- 
lecting those terms which involve e’, e*, &c. then multiplying by 


(1 62), (observing that the terms which involve e’, e°, &c. are 


di Coens 
to be neglected as before,) and I have ait | Qe— 4 +96¢° 


Central Forces. . 73 


i) 11 17 Doe HE29 
cos. nt-+ (5 ner —7o°" + 96° X cos. 2nt-+ (Fe — Tiga’ e*) cos. dnt 
can ag 451 
(= a4 © — 120° e* | 
multiplying ee ndt and then taking the en T have v=nt+ 
e? 5 13 
( 2e— tae ‘| si. nt+(5 =e? oA hn °) sin ant+ (35 Te? — 
43 103 451 1097 aaa 
64e ‘| sin. ant+ (55 5 e* — 750° et] sin. 4nt-+ 9-25 960°. sin. 5nt-+>eq 960° 
sin. 6nt (s); this ae of » is the same that La Place has found at 
page 181, Vol. I. of the Mecanique Celeste, and if I am not greatly 
deceived the method which I have used is altogether more simple 
and easy than his. Again v is easily calculated by Newton’s method 
of repeated substitutions; for (4) is easily changed to du=ndt x 


1097 1223 
Cos. rey 192 e° cos. dnt + —— 160 e* cos. 6nt; 


e? e? a : 
(145-420 c0s.045 cos. 20 | ee) ite — 0; avi, 


and cos. v= cos. nt, this value of cos. v when substituted in (¢) gives, 
by neglecting quantities of the orders e?, e?, &c. du=ndt X(142e 
cos. nt), or by integration v=nt-+2e sin. nt; this value of » when 
substituted in cos.v, cos.2v, by rejecting quantities of the orders e°, 


5 
e*, &c. gives dv=ndt X ( 1+2e Cos. nt + 5e° COS. ont | and by inte- 


: : Ds hain sh : 
gration v=nt+-2e sin. né-- 4e? sin. 2nt ; by substituting this value of » 


in Cos. v, Cos.2v, and neglecting terms which involve e?, e°, &c. I 


e4 5) 13 
have v=nt+ ( 20 sin. nt-+-4e" sin. 2nt+ Te" sin. dnt, and by 
repeating the process for the fourth powers of e, then for the fifth 
powers, and then for the sixth powers the same value of v will be 
found as given by (s); but this method, although very simple for a 
few of the first terms of the series, becomes ultimately very laborious. 


Vout. XX.—No. 1. 10 


74 Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqua. 


‘ 


Arr. VII.—Continuation of the Essay on the Transition Rocks of 


the Cataragui; by Capt. R. H. aR SCASTID, R. E. Up. Can. 
(With figures—see the plate.) 


t 


(Continued from Vol. X VIII, p. 104.) . 


In proceeding eastward from the hill on which the curious tablets 
above mentioned lay, like monumental records of animal races, whose 
very existence would have been otherwise unknown, we pass over a 
rough and uneven portion of the limestone country, where Earth- 
quake appears to have partially exerted his giant power, and here is 
discovered another singular and, as far as | am aware, unusual dispo- 
sition of the calcareous rock. 

In the upper parts of the denuded beds, at certain points, as, for 
instance, at a short distance in front of the road which crosses Point 
Henry and at about one hundred and ten feet above the level of the 
lake, where the layers have been disunited in searching for quarries, 
a sort of faintly marked Ludus Helmontii, resolvable into a series 
of finely graven wavy septaria, may be discovered on the flat and 
weather-worn surfaces. 

These septarian lines, depicted thus on the tabular surfaces, are 
surrounded by undulations, through which the stone is roughened 
into a continuity of little knobs and cups, which a smart blow causes 
to separate along the tortuous lines of the wavy septe, and discloses 
a beautiful series of extremely delicate and minute columns, which 
penetrate, in some instances five or six inches, into the layer of stone, 
but more commonly only to the depth of half an inch or an inch. 

These acicular columns, or rather flutings, are perpendicular to 


the plane of the bed, and are generally terminated by a folding, as it 


were, of their inferior extremities into a crater, whilst however, the 
needles or fibres retain their parallelism, which they, invariably, pre- 
serve throughout their vertical position. ‘The crater, or cup-shaped 
termination is thicker as its hemisphere approaches its lowest part, 
whilst the hair-like prisms are every where else very thin, and indeed, 
are a mere coating to the limestone they envelope. ‘These flutings 
are sometimes very deeply channeled, at others the specimen has 
the outward look of an imperfect prism or cylinder.* 


* T have one large piece, of which a drawing is subjoined, (see the plate,) which 
when reversed, or placed on the natura! flat surface, originally uppermost, looks like 
two fluted towers, joined by a fluted barbican, and crowned by rounded roofs; the total 
height is about three inches, the total length near five and the thickness nearly two. 


Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqus. 15 


The color of this coating is that of beautiful and fine dark brown 
hair, a little oiled, when the specimen is first exposed to the air, but 
it does not retain this pleasing lustre very'long, unless great care is 
taken to cover it with cotton or wool and place it in a close drawer, 
as it oxidizes rapidly and at length the acicular prisms themselves 
appear to vanish, leaving the limestone with the same columnar look, 
but coated only by a disagreeable rusty colored substance. : 

In the siliceous or cherty limestone of the falls of Niagara, there 
is an indication of the same appearance, but it is very indistinct, and 
has been taken, by casual observers, for petrified wood. See plate, 
fig. 1 

Kingston is, however, (as far as we have hitherto seen,) its chief 
locality, and as neither Jameson, Cirzavetanp, Puriiips, nor any 

other mineralogical writer notices it,* I suppose it must be very un- 
common, and perhaps a new substance. I have, unfortunately, nei- 
ther the apparatus nor the leisure to have it properly analysed, and 
conjecture, with Mr. Baddeley, to whom I shewed it soon after his 
arrival at Kingston, that it may be only a sport of Nature, in modify- 
ing the shale which so abundantly accompanies the thin seams of the 
limestone of the Cataraqui. I fear the trivial examination appended 
in the subjoined note, will scarcely prove of much utility in affording 
a description of it, but it is ever better, I conceive, to afford all the 
facts concerning a mineral newly discovered, than to withhold any, 
merely because they are not sufficient. 


* A specimen has been sent to Professor Thomson, at Edinburgh, (Glasgow?) who, 
I hear, says he has never before met with such a mineral, but supposes it to assume 
the appearance from organic remains, which I respectfully beg to differ with him 
about, as it seems to me altogether improbable. 

+ As this substance appears to me a very interesting one, I shall therefore give a 
slight notice of its mineralogical characteristics. 

A small knob or cylindric column of lime, entirely embraced by it, being immers- 
ed in dilute nitric acid, was thus acted upon: a violent effervescence of the lime took 
place and lasted about five or six hours, moderating.as it proceeded, until all action 
ceased. At first, flocculi of a tea leaf brown appearance, separated and swam on the 
surface ;. then small needle-shaped brown masses floated, and a great deposit of alu- 
minous matter, of a dirty white brown color, subsided. 

The shell or skeleton of the substance which had invested the lime was now left 
nearly perfect; its round cup-shaped bottom being very thick in proportion to its’ 
walls or sides. The outer face was scarcely altered, and even retained its shining 
hair brown lustre; the inner surface was of a dingy ashy hue. 

On washing carefully with water, a more perfect separation of the fine thin wall 
took place, but by addition of acid no further effervescence or alteration occurred. 
It was then again washed and left all night in water, but no change was effected. 


76 Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqu. 


This curious substance appears to me, very decidedly, to be an in- 
filtration, as the cup-shaped ends are invariably present, either as a 
whole or in part, and are uniformly thicker by many lines than the 
vertical portions, whilst the bottom of the cup is again thicker than 
its own sides, which also gradually thicken as they curve down. 

In the denuded masses of the limestone it is much more easily ex- 
tracted than in those which have not been long exposed to the action 
of the atmosphere, and the upper surface of the limestone has then 


The skeleton, after being left twelve hours, suffered no alteration.. It was then put 
into a strong solution of prussiate of potassa, but no variation took place ; the solution 
remaining colorless. 

It was now removed into a glass mortar, with a small portion of water, and on 
slightly pressing it, it gave way and was with very little trouble pounded into a 
brown muddy mass, resembling clay. Upon this mud, the solution of prussiate of 
potassa was poured, when the usual indication of tritoxide of iron was observed. 

When the precipitation had fully taken place, the solution was decanted and nitric 
acid poured over the precipitate, but no change nor any developement of lime took 
place until the prussiate of potassa was again admitted and the vessel slightly shaken, 
when the whole solution turned of a lively greenish blue, and in a few hours a co- | 
pious dark biue precipitate occupied the bottom of the glass. 

A little of the last nitric acid had been decanted off previously to the last experi- 
ment, but after it had remained for some hours at rest and muriate of soda was drop- 
ped into it, nothing occurred; the muriate subsiding in its proper form and remain- 
ing undisturbed, 

Tm muriatic acid, both dilute and pure, the adhering limestone dissolved very slow- 
ly and with much less effervescence than in the nitric, but a copious deposit occus 
pied the bottom of the vessel, which after twenty four hours was converted into a 
whitish jelly like substance, resembling borax when deprived of its water of crystal- 
lization. The mineral itself remained unchanged, although it required several fresh 
accessions of the acid to free it from its adhering lime and other foreign substances. 
After a few days standing, the borax-like clouds were gradually resolved into a 
browner white Balen) mass, which sank to the bottom of the vessel. Taking up 
a portion of this substance accidentally, on a glass stirring rod, and holding it to the 
blue flame of a candle at the bottom, it bubbled violently, and communicating a 
vivid rose red light, (probably from the presence of the acid,) to the flame, it soon 
dried into a hard white coating om the glass, which required some trouble to remove. 

For want of time and materials I could not continue the application of chemical 
tests, but at leisure intervals I subjected it to other analyses. 

Before the blowpipe, on charcoal, there was no decrepitation; nor per se in for- 
ceps exposed ; nor enclosed in the platinum forceps. With borax, on charcoal, it 
fused readily. With borax, on P. W. fusion easy; when cool, colorless. glass. 
With salt of phosphorus, more difficult of fusion, but at length easselvicds and on 
cooling exhibited an opaline glass, with large flaws. 

Its specific gravity is 2.5, or the same as the investing or invested limestone. 

It has scarcely any action with the electrometer, although every precaution was 
used ; its electricity, therefore, is feeble. 

Magnetism, by the usual modes, shewed no action, or at least very feeble if any. 

_ Phosphorescence—none apparent, in any way. 


Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqut. 77 


a yellowish white coating or crust, of some thickness. The colum- 
nar portion of the stone is also then well defined on the upper out- 
side, like a chain of sutures or septe, by faint brown lines which fol- 
low its contour, thus. See fig. 2. 

The columns seldom terminate sharply or abruptly, but are round- 
ed or bent, as already stated, over the top. See fig. 3. 

Its resinous lustre together with its soft feel, would almost tempt an 
observer to say, that it was a bitumimous coating merely, but trial 
proves otherwise ; it is probably a new variety of shale, in which 
there is a good deal of iron; a good chemical examination will how- 
ever, solve the difficulty. In the mean time, in order to afford all 
the information in my power, I make one more sketch of a beautiful 
little morceau, which is highly characterized by its graceful and deep 
flutings, the deepest fluting being at A, fig. 4. 

It must be remembered, that the flat base is always actually the 
top of the columns, er in fact that all the figures, as well as the third, 
should be reversed. 

When this essay was commenced, the writer believed that these 
beautiful specimens of nature’s minute architecture were always per- 
fectly vertical as regarded the bed of the layer of limestone in which . 
they were inserted; butin taking a geological walk over Point Henry 
yesterday, he saw, in the more compact stratum already mentioned, 
proof to the contrary, asin one hard specimen alone were several 
columns variously inclined, and almost curved in another, which ap- 
peared to be imperfectly formed, and near which were large amor- 
phous lumps of the same shaly matter. The difficulty of separa- 
ting this particular species of the transition limestone had probably 
been the reason why these appearances had not been observed pre- 
viously ; still however, whatever was the inclination, and it was gen- 
erally very small, or whatever was the disposition of the columns, 
the fibres or prisms were always parallel to each other, and it is as 
well to mention now that this curious substance always shews two 
similar although distinct faces, namely, that of the face on the matrix 
or great body of the limestone, and that of the face on the limestone 
nucleus of the columnar body. ‘The following is a sketch of the 
piece taken from the Falls of Niagara, in which it will be observed, 
the columnar appearance is coarser and less fluted, although it is per- 
fectly distinct. The specimen is from the hard cherty rock full of 
siliceous particles which glitter in the sun like so many sparks, and is 
the more singular from being found in a rock so different from that 
of the transition limestone of the Cataraqui. 


78  — Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqui. 


This specimen (fig. 5,) is of a grey color, and even the columns 
glitter with the siliceous particles of the cherty limestone of which it 
iscomposed. ‘The prisms are broken, sharp, and not so soft or needle 
like as the Kingston ones; nor have they the bituminous or hair like 
appearance although their conformation is otherwise the same: I be- 
lieve they are nct common at the falls, never having seen any other 
specimen than this one from that locality. 

Nature appears to have been in one of her most varying moods 
when the rocks and minerals of the neighborhood of the Cataraqui 
were formed, as in so small a littoral as that embraced by the wa- 
ters of the Ontario and those of the Cataraqui and Gananoqui rivers, 
almost every variety of the primitive and transition classes with the 
confused detritus of ancient convulsions in the forms of boulders, 
sands, gravels and mud, are to be found without much difficulty. I 
have now before me, a mass of limestone glittering with calcareous 
spangles, in which is imbedded a large piece of basanite of the shape 
of the valve of a huge terebratula, but which, on closer examination, 
looks more as though it had been a flattened trilobite, and every day 
brings forth some new and equally curious variations from the usual 
appearances in similar geological associations. 

But, although nature is so singularly sportive in her mineral crea- 
tions on these hills, she appears to have been determined to withhold 
the evidence of the ages of the rocks as far as she possibly could in 
the remains of the animal kingdom. Ina long and extensive course 
of quarrying, embracing nearly four years, only one perfect fossil 
was discovered and that the entomolithus paradoxicus, of which, from 
its comparative rarity in this locality, 1 cannot avoid giving the follow- 
ing drawing, figs. 6, (a,) and 6, (6.) The terebratular family are 
however, more numerous, some of the lower plateaux of the tran- 
‘sition limestone being filled with their remains which are sometimes 
in a very perfect state; these, with a very limited number of the 
strange fossil of the orthoceratite tribe, named recently the Huronia, 

are the chief and indeed almost the only fossils which have been 
discovered here. In a future number of this essay, I hope to be 
able to depict a specimen of the tables mentioned in the first part, 
in which the Huronia reposes. ‘The larger orthocerites hitherto 
discovered and of the pointed conical form are more numerous, 
but in general are in a very weather worn state. One or twol have 
recently seen which reached the great length of nearly five feet, and 
which I shall probably again revert to; but it 1s now time that we 


Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqua. 79 


leave farther investigation of these fairy forms of architecture, and 
of animals left to our admiring eyes from the wrecks of ancient for- 
mations, to continue our tour, in which we stopped on the summit of 
Point Henry, and which, in proceeding eastward, brings us once 
more to the shores of Lake Ontario. 

Directly opposite to the south west end of Cedar island on the 
main shore, a quarry was opened some years ago. ‘This is called 
the soft limestone quarry, because the stone, when first exposed, cuts 
with much ease. 

Amidst the wonderful variety of transition aggregates with which 
the singular locality we are describing abounds, this appears to be a 
mere bed or mass, and to rest upon the granite; but it is every 
where, as far as it is visible, surrounded by the usual dark transition 
limestone of the Cataraqui. It has been opened to some extent, and 
presents a continuous face for a considerable length, and at its base 
on one side, the hard layers appear as if conjoining with it, whilst 
here, on careful examination, may be seen the fact, that it also par- 
tially reposes on those beds, and that the passage of one into the 
other most probably takes place generally at this line of contact, not- 
withstanding instances occur where the soft stone appears, at it were, 
cemented to the dark blue limestone. 

Near the junction of the two substances, a kind of variolous as- 
pect is given to the soft stone by little sprigs or buttons of carbonate 
of lime of a dull white color, jutting from its surfaces. 

This soft stone, so totally different from the other limestones of 
the Cataraqui, consists of silica, lime and alumina, and somewhat 
resembles, in its appearance and properties, the grés blanc of the 
French geologists, a building formed of it looking like those of the 
finest white freestone of Bath or Edinburgh. But, although it hard- 
ens a good deal by exposure, yet from the alumina being in quantity, 
it can neither resist the dripping of rain, nor the severe frosts and 
sudden thaws of the Canadian climate where it is exposed in thin 
portions. Its mean specific gravity is 2.6. 

I believe that no fossil remains have been seen in this rock, which 
is regularly stratified and divided into bands or zones, assuming dif- 
ferent colors as they become weathered. ‘The two lower beds are 
of a lighter blue (approaching to grey,) than the hard rock on which 
they rest, and next to these, comes a band of an iron brown color, 
which, from the quantity of silica in its composition, disintegrates to 
a mere sand. ‘his band is eaten outwardly into numerous holes in 


80 Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqut. 


an almost continuous line along its centre, which have a very curious 
appearance, but proceed from the wasting away of a layer of amor- 
phous crystals of carbonate of lime, which as they are generally ei- 
ther egg shaped or rounded exteriorly, may have proceeded from a 
deposite of testaceous remains. 

Above the iron brown band is another much more inclining to 
white, which is again followed by a bed approaching to a bluish green, 
and upon that bed a thick brownish and very fissile layer is superim- 
posed, which is capped by debris and soil from the hill above. 

The hill now dips towards the lake, and the connection of this 
sandstone with the usual limestone of the locality is lost, and pro- 
ceeding along the shores covered with numerous boulders of foreign 
rocks, we arrive, in a short transit, at a spot where the bank, again 
rising, shews more indications of the soft stone. 

Here a struggle between lime and silica appears to have occurred, 
for the silicous particles have disappeared in a layer composed of 
calcareous tufa, which is visible for some feet, and being loosely co- 
herent is easily extracted. It lies above the hard rock, and proba- 
bly between it and the soft, which gives indications of terminating 
its course here. The specific gravity of this tufaceous bed is the 
same as that of the adjacent sandstone, 2.6. 

The shores of the lake now become covered with boulders in 
which feldspar chiefly predominates, and from their size and number, 
they hinder the observer both in his progress and examinations. ‘The 
limestone beds occasionally, however, present their bassets towards 
Haldimand cove, whereby may be traced the usual uniformity of 
their deposition, and it may not be uninteresting to the geologist to 
give an accurate section of those beds which have here been denu- 
ded in cutting for a well, and in which the almost regular alternation 
of layers of only a few inches in thickness at every third or fourth 
stratum of beds generally exceeding a foot, is very remarkable. 
Could these deposits have been regulated by the comparative ab- 
sence or presence of the solvent, which in the ancient seas, caused 
the precipitation of the lime from the fluid, or were these regular 
formations of almost primitive matter, caused to vary in their quan- 
tum by being precipitated at long intervals, which is indeed the most 
probable, or how can we otherwise account for their regular stratifi- 
cation and the usual accompaniments of roughened surfaces which 
generally are coated with a thin white or black layer. The lower 
bed must in short, have been always hardened, before the upper one 


Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqut.. Si 


was laid on it. What long periods may therefore have elapsed in 
time whilst the transition limestone of the Cataraqui obtained its 
_ present magnitude. 


6 ft.—soil and debris. 
10 in. 
D ite 


1 ft. 10 in. 


This vast bed is extremely solid and hard, as indeed are 
5 ft. } all the rest, excepting two or three at the bottom, which are 
6 in. } of a lighter color and softer; some near the top have a very - 
thin layer of clayey earth interposed. 


3 ft. 92 in: 


Cit Vim: 3 . ‘ 

8sin. - 

1 ft. 7 in. 

Tite Ligeti 

9 in. 
| 1ft., 54 in. 

| a 

|1 ft. 8 in. All these strata appear to be nearly 
eee horizontal, at least, they follow the usual 

a tendency of the Cataraqui limestone. 


ji ft. 72 in. 
| 


{ ft. 92 in. 


| 
| 
| 


1ft. 7iin. 
Hiri 
1 ft. 5 in. 


This section reaches to about two or three feet below the level of 
the lake. No appearance of shells or organic remains was observa- 
ble in cutting it, and if it had been necessary to have carried it a 
little deeper, it would most probably have laid bare the subjacent 
granitic aggregate. 


Vou. XX.—No. |. 11 


82 _ Essay on the Transition Rocks of the Cataraqui. 


It is on the exposed surfaces of this rock, particularly on the low 
shores of the lake on the south side of Kingston, that we find those 
beautiful masses imbedded, which have excited so much enquiry and 
which were alluded to in a former number of this Journal. 

They are composed of a mixture of barytes, strontian, crystallized 
carbonate of lime, iron pyrites and zinc ; sometimes the first two in- 
gredients alone are present; sometimes the mineral is apparently a 
component part of the rock, at others it is evidently a mere ball or 
mass enveloped by it and easily detached. Occasionally the car- 
bonate of lime is slightly yellow or flesh colored, but the crystals, 
always large and without distinct form, are generally in curved layers 
and magnesian. Masses as large as a man’s head have recently been 
discovered, and these, when broken, present some beautiful speci- 
mens, the blades or fibres shining with the lustre of new satin. 

This substance was supposed, for a long time, to be tremolite, and 
certainly it bore the outward look of that species named after Lake 
Baikal, but its obvious specific gravity should have caused doubt; it 
was first described in the opening volume of the ‘Transactions of the 
‘Quebec Society of Natural History, and from the specimen I used 
in analysing it, I had every reason to believe that it was a sulphate 
of barytes. Since that time a very attentive mineralogist, Mr. Bad- 
deley, has given an account of it in this Journal, and pronounced it 
to be strontian. ‘The question is however decided ; both were right 
and both were wrong, and a conjecture hazarded in the interim has 
been verified by Professor Thomson, to whom the mineral was sent 
by the Secretary of the Montreal Natural History Society. Tt is 
stated by that eminent mineralogist to be a new substance, and he 
proposes to call it baryto-sulphate of strontian.* Iam not, however, 
yet convinced but that many specimens of this substance contam pure 
sulphate of barytes only, in some of their portions, whilst others con- 
sist also of pure sulphate of strontian, although I am perfeetly ready 
to admit that the masses generally are those of the new substance 
thus named.t+ 

(To be continued.) 


* According to the Professor’s analysis, it contains cleven atoms of strontian and 
five of baryta. 

t In a communication to Dr. Holmes, I had previously suggested that it might be 
a barytic sulphate of strontian, as I felt convinced that Mr. Baddeley’s opinion as 
to the strontian was correct. With respectful deference to the Professer, I think 
Kingstonite would not be a bad name for it. 


Notice of the Garden of Fromont. 83 


Arr. IX.—JVotice* concerning the. Garden of Fromont, translated 
for the American Journal of Science, from the Annales de V In- 
stitute Horticole de Fromont, for April, 1829; by Jacos Por- 
Ter, M. D. 


Tur Garden of Fromont contains a hundred and thirty arpents 
inclosed. Situated in the district of Ris, on the road from Fontain- 
bleu, six leagues from Paris, it extends from the great road to the 
Seine and overlooks a large and fertile valley, which 1s watered by 
this river, in front of the forest of Sénart. The ground, for two 
thirds of its extent; descends rapidly to the north. All the upper 
part is good soil for grain, mellow and a little sandy. At a little 
depth is found ihe plastic clay, beneath which is a bed of sand or 
marly chalk, in which lie blocks of millstone. ‘The lower part is - 
good soil for rye, of little depth, resting on a bed of river sand, 
through which the waters of the Seine are infiltrated and rise when 
the river is high. This alteruate and frequent motion of the subter- 
‘raneanwvaters supplies a little the dryness of the soil, and favors the 
growth of the large trees. Some small springs, fortunately situated 
m the upper part of the garden, are sufficient for the purposes of 
cultivation, and contribute to the beauty of the scenery. The park 
of Fromont, planted only iwenty one years since, presents fine 
masses of trees and shrubs of every description. ‘The scenery, in 
the interior, is simple and natural. The external views are rich 
and extensive; and, as the inclosures are seen from scarcely any 
point, the country appears to far greater advantage from the garden 
than the best drawings can représent it. One may observe. very 
considerable masses of evergreens, of cedars of Lebanon in great 
numbers and very flourishing; and, on the downs, at the north, near 
the manor, is a very fine specimen of the true larch of Caramania, 
raised from seeds brought to France by the naturalist Olivier, who 
describes it in the third volume of his travels in the Ottoman em- 
pire, Egypt and Persia. ‘This fine cone-bearing tree began to fur- 
nish seeds in 1826, by means of which it may be multiplied in- 
definitely. 


* Although this isa description of a local object, it contains many interesting and 
instructive facts and views which are of general application, and may suggest many 


useful hints to Americans.— Hd. 


34 Notice of the Garden of Fromont. . 


In the extensive heath grounds have been collected all the fami- 
lies of vegetables, that are designated in cultivation under the gen- 
eral name of heath plants. These grounds have been laid out for 
their protection, and, at the north, some large masses of trees are 
destined to serve for their shelter, and the surplus waters from the 
higher grounds are conveniently distributed by means of tubes, 
cocks, streamlets and gutters, moistening the ground; so to speak, 
drop by drop, .and preserving it, almost without the aid of manual 
sprinkling, in a state of constant freshness. It is in this factitious 
soil, entirely formed by art, and whose surface is estimated at about 
three acres, that the magnolias, azaleas, andromedas, and the differ- 
ent rosaceous plants will hereafter flourish ; indeed, they already af- 
ford a rich supply of seeds. 

Such was Fromont less than six years since, when the proprietor, 
having obtained, in the vigor of life, that leisure, which the shep- 
herd of Virgil regretted to have known so late, conceived the plan 
of making of a simple garden of pleasure a special monument con- 
secrated to the studies of horticulture and botany; but he perceived 
that such an enterprise, in the hands of an individual, could not be 
sustained and prosper, except by its own products, and that it would 
fail essentially, unless industry should come in, with all its activity, 
to the aid of science, which might, in its turn, contribute to the pros- 
perity of the former. An establishment of industry was therefore 
immediately founded, not as an end but a means, as the most solid 
and necessary basis of that edifice, the future elevation of which 
could not be determined, and the profitable cultivation of duplicates 
without number, is becoming the honorable means and the best guar- 
anty of the indefinite extension of the scientific collections. 

Greenhouses were constructed. ‘Vheir arrangement is such that 
they present, in some measure, by their extent, their conveniences 
and their connection, the appearance of a hamlet, whose roofs are 
all glazed. ‘heir length is about two thousand feet; and they pre- 
sent all the varieties of exposure, that renders them proper for every 
kind of culture. Water is brought into them by leaden pipes, and 
distributed by cocks, that pour it into some reservoirs in stone, in 
lead and in zine, placed in each greenhouse, in such a manner that 
it may be made to flow in one of the divisions only or in all the divis- 
ions at once. In this way it may be readily made to suit the tem- 
perature of each greenhouse. 


Notice of the Garden of Fromont. 85 


These different preparations are employed for the support and 
propagation of a collection of vegetables, (many of which are still 
rare in France,) which amounts already, including those in the open 
air, to more than six thousand species and varieties. ‘The number 
of duplicates raised in pots is constantly kept at about a hundred and 
twenty thousand. The part of the garden devoted to heath plants 
is considered by the best judges as the most complete in the environs 
of Paris. ‘To give an idea of the rapid increase in this department 
alone, it is sufficient to state that there were raised the last year, un- 
der glass frames, forty thousand of the broadleaved Kalmia, and that 
four thousand azaleas are arranged in pots for the grafting of more 
than a hundred and fifty varieties, according to the method of baron 
de T'schaudy. ‘This kind of nursery is protected from the sun and 
the winds by the long palisades of 'Thurgas, and watered by numer-_ 
ous furrows; and at the same time that it is happily connected, by 
the prolonged contour of its evergreen mass, with the general scenery 
of the park, it includes within itself very considerable resources, 
of which the nurserymen and florists, both at home and abroad, 
who come hither to furnish themselyes with assortments, know how 
to avail themselves. _ 

At a time when the scarcity and dearness of wood are more and 
more sensibly felt; when some writings of distinguished excellence 
have been published on the necessity and the means of arresting this 
constantly increasing evil; when a benevolent individual has come 
forward to encourage by his writings, his example, and his patriotic 
liberality, the cultivation, on a large scale, of the best resinous trees ; 
when a grand company embraces, in.a single speculation, the clear- 
ing and planting of nearly two hundred thousand acres, it would be 
a lamentable void, in the establishment at Fromont, not to furnish 
the first elements of this grand forest plantation. But, far from in- 
curring such a reproach, we have, on the contrary, brought forward 
the subject and treated itn a manner fruitful and novel, by calling 
the attention of our planters to the employment of precious elements, 
which, hitherto too generally uaknown or uadervalued, have never 
been introduced, as most certainly they might be, into the composi- 
tion of our territorial riches. “We wish to speak of those fine forest 
trees of North America, the oaks, walnuts, ashes, maples and pines, 
which our colleague, M. André Michaux, has described in a work, 
that ought to be in the hands of all planters; trees, whose various 
qualities might be brought under tribute in forming a good system of 


86 Notice of the Garden of Fromont. 


plantations and in the regeneration of our forests, as reason and ob- 
servation, connected with elevated theories of physics and agricul- 
ture, already point out. 

The summary ideas, that we have offered to the public on so im- 
portant a subject, and that were at bottom nothing more than a cor- 
ollary and application of the principles of cultivation and increase, 
are now, in some measure, brought forward and experimented upon 
in our own soil by some preparatory labors, the importance of which 
has been duly appreciated by enlightened persons, who have honored 
us with their visits, as well as by our correspondents. Innumerable 
seeds received from North America have begun to germinate in the . 
soil of Fromont, and will permit observers to judge what great ad- 
vantages, at the least expense and by repeated trials at different times 
as well as in different places, the mixture of the best forest species 
of America with our indigenous species would present in the primi- 
tive formation of large masses of wood. ‘This inquiry is so import- 
ant, the grounds, on which it would be interesting to make trials re- 
specting it; are so extensive, the direction of the’ public mind in re- 
gard to plantations is becoming so decided, finally, the number of 
enlightened men, devoied and liberal, is so great 1n our beloved coun- 
try, that, in order to favor and multiply experiments of this kind, 
our intention is to take as models, in this part of our labors, the grand 
nurseries of Scotland, which furnish to the kingdoms of Great Brit- 
ain and the continent of the north the plants of forest trees in mil- 
lions, at prices, that would seem comparatively trifling, and that per- 
severing industry in their cultivation can alone explain; for it is in 
Great Britain and especially in Scotland that we must look for the 
finest and most useful examples of most horticultural establishments. 
And what interest have we but to doit? ‘The bottom lands in France, 
whether belonging to individuals or the public, that are susceptible 
of being planted with wood, may be reckoned at millions of acres. 
It is, Joes, by millions that we must offer to proprietors and put 
into their hands, with instructions and conditions alike encouraging, 
the plants of all the trees, that are proper for adorning and making 
useful the places now wild and unproductive; sustaimed by public 
patronage the garden of Fromont will be able to effect this. We 
attach to this part of our enterprise an importance proportioned to its 
high utility, and we are so much the more encouraged in it, as we 
shall be guided by the talents and experience of our colleague, M. 
André Michaux, whose observations and works we shall often have 


Notice of the Garden of F'romont. 87 


occasion to cite. It is well known that it was not asa_ botanist 
merely that he studied the vegetables of North America, but that 
he applied himself to observe and describe their specific qualities 
and economical uses. With his name and his efforts are connected all 
the essays made in France and in Germany for the naturalizing in 
Europe of American trees. It is to him that the inhabitants of the 
United States themselves have begun to owe a more perfect knowl- 
edge of their own riches; and his benevolent cooperation will be 
sufficient to recommend to public interest the exotic part of the for- 
est establishment, that we propose to form. 

But it is not. enough to furnish proprietors with new sources of 
wealth and enjoyment ; it is necessary that they should be taught 
how to use them. In an address delivered at the last public sitting 
of a society that has been obliged to suspend its useful labors, we at- 
tempted to show of what importance horticulture is to évery one, and 
would be to us, such as has been conceived, brought forward and 
practiced before us, an enlightened and liberal nation, and what 
would be the advantages of its union with the kindred sciences, that 
is to say, of practice with observation, of labor with study, of intel- 
ligence with industry. Soon afterwards we had the happiness to see 
formed a Horticultural Society, sumilar to those of England. It shed 
around a sudden light; its: utility was understood ; the object of its 
labors was appreciated, and new ideas gave it favor. Weare happy~ 
this day to connect our institution with such favorable circumstances, 
and 1o meet new wants, which are most sensibly felt. We will con- 
cur with all our power and all our devotedness to diffuse, for the 
benefit of proprietors, instruction among laborers; to inspire, for the 
benefit of laborers, the taste for cultivation among proprietors. ‘This 
taste is the most natural to man, the best adapted to interest him; it 
is that, which connects itself most happily with serious ideas by what 
it has of reality, with virtuous pleasures by what it has delightful and 
pure. ‘There is certainly no lack of materials for horticulture. Ve- 
getable matter, in its application to the wants of man, is the theatre, 
on which are displayed two equally useful branches of industry, agri- 
culture and horticulture. These two branches, so nearly related to 
each other, are enlightened, in their parallel progress, by a series of 
general ideas, equally applicable to both. But agriculture operates 
only on large masses; its labors are extended, but uniform as the 
plains it cultivates; and its meditations, serious and peaceful, still 
leave much leisure to our minds. Horticulture, on the contrary, 


se Chemical Works. . 


upon a theatre less vast, occupies and charms us by the elements 
that it employs, the processes that it invents, the experiments that it 
undertakes, the success that it obtains. Its attractive studies are 
constantly animated and sustained by variety and interest; and when 
it has, like agriculture, loaded us with real blessings, its cheering pic- 
tures come once more to embellish our dreams, while the laborer 
fatigued finds only heavy slumbers on a glebe too often rebellious. 
Soutance Bonin. 


Arr. X.— Chemical Works. 


1. Branpe’s Manuau.—This valuable work, (especially in the 
improved edition of Prof. McNeven of New York,) is extensive- 
ly known in this country. A new English edition, three volumes 
in two, with the latest revision of the author, is announced in the 
London Journals. It will of course embrace all the improvements 
and corrections in the science, and as it will doubtless be republished 
in this country, it will add to the means of information in chemical 
science already possessed by our students. 

2. Dr. Turner’s Evements; third American, from the second 
and latest English edition. ‘The American editions of this excellent 
work, published by Mr. John Grigg of Philadelphia, under the vigi- 
lant and accurate revision of Dr. Franklin Bache, have made it fa- 
miliar to the scientific public of this country. Dr. Bache has cor- 
rected such errors of typography or inadvertence as were observed 
In the English editions, and our students, therefore, possess a chem- 
ical work which, in the American editions, is not only the cheapest 
in the language,* but inferior to none in precision, accuracy, dis- - 
crimination and just philosophical views. Dr. Turner’s Elements 
are a medium between the larger and smaller works, and upon the 
scale which he has adopted, there is no better chemical book. 
Within the limits which he has prescribed to himself, it is impossi- 
ble to present to the student a more judicious selection of facts, or 
more scientific deductions from them. We understand from a friend, 
who is now attending on Dr. Turner’s courses in the London Univer- 
sity, that he is very skilful in manipulation and extremely happy in 
his experiments. From so active and accomplished a teacher and 


* Confining the remark to the most complete elementary books. 


Chemical Works. 89 


investigator, we may expect repeated editions of a work which, from 
its deserved popularity in Britain and in this country, must continue to 
be in regular demand and cannot be supplanted by any cotemporary 
performance. It interferes not with the works of the other British 
chemists: those of Dr. Thomson, Dr. Henry, Dr. Ure, Dr. Murray 
and Prof. Brande, being sufficiently different in design not to come 
in competition with Dr. Turner,* or, materially, with each other. 

3. Prof. J. W. Weester’s Manuat, on the basis of Brande.— 
For a notice of this work, we refer to Vol. XI, p. 377, of this Jour- 
nal. Since that, it has passed through a second edition, and its adop- 
tion in several American colleges and other seminaries, evinces that 
its merits, as a judicious and faithful compendium of the science, are 
justly appreciated. 

4. Prof. Green’s Kxements, on the basis of Turner.—Upon this 
basis, Professor Green has ingrafted various additions and improve- 
ments, resulting especially from his personal observations abroad, and 
more particularly while in Paris, under the auspices of some of the 
most eminent men of that city. 

5. Dr. Henry’s Exvements, 11th edition.—It was our intention 
to notice this latest and much improved edition, more than a year 
since, when a copy was received from the respected author; but 
cares and labors have intervened, and prevented the fulfilment of 
many purposes, as well as of this. ‘The following notice from Dr. 
Brewster’s Journal for July 1830, (Edinburgh,) is so much in unison 
with our own views, and we were so much gratified by the extract 
which it contains, that we with pleasure insert it entire. 

“From this new edition of Dr. Henry’s system of chemistry, we 
extract the following recommendation, which is addressed to the no- 
tice of learned Societies. ‘The great laws of combination in defi- 
nite and in multiple proportions, on which the Aromic THEory 
mainly rests, have, more especially, derived increased support from 
the accumulated mass of evidence. In too many instances, it must 
be acknowledged, we have not, even yet, attained all the precision 
that is desirable, as to the true proportions in which bodies combine. 
Nor can we arrive at this degree of certainty, until the relative weights 


* Mr. Grigg’s editions are in 2 neat and convenient form, and perhaps the great 
demand for the work in this country, will enable the respectable publisher to give 
his future editions in a style more attractive to the eye. 


Vou. XX.—No. 1. is 


90 Chemical Works. 


‘ 


of some of the elementary gases have been determined, with the aid 
of the most refined instruments, and with the most elaborate and scru- 
pulous correctness. It were to be wished, indeed, that this should 
be attempted under the auspices of some one of those learned socie- 
ties, which have been instituted for the promotion of science; and 
that the investigation should be confided to a commission of its mem- 
bers, whose skill, experience, and fidelity, would he a pledge for the 
accuracy of the results. The precise admeasurement of an arc of 
the meridian was not more important to astronomical truth, than the 
exact determination of the specific gravities of the elementary gases 
is to chemical philosophy.’ 

«With the importance of the foregoing observation we concur ; 
and should be proud if the chief philosophical institution of our Scot- 
tish metropolis would take the lead in putting into execution so desir- 
able an object. 

“Tn the preface, the author has alluded to the deep loss which the 
scientific world has sustained by the death of Sir Humphry Davy 
and Dr. Wollaston, in a joint eulogium upon these two distinguished 
philosophers, which is characterized no less by its just discrimination 
of their respective excellencies, than by its forcible eloquence: ‘It is 
impossible,’ says Dr. Henry, ‘to direct our views to the future im- 
provement of this wide field of science, without deeply lamenting the 
privation, which we have lately sustained, of two of its most success- 
ful cultivators, Sir Humphry Davy and Dr. Wollaston,—at a period 
of life, too, when it seemed reasonable to have expected, from each 
of them, a much longer continuance of his invaluable labors. ‘To 
those high gifts of nature, which are the characteristics of genius, 
and whieh constitute its very essence, both those eminent men united 
an unwearied industry and zeal, and researeh, and habits of accurate 
reasoning, without which even the energies of genius are inadequate 
to the achievement of great scientific designs. With these excel- 
lencies, common to both, they were nevertheless distinguishable by 
marked intellectual peculiarities. Bold, ardent, and enthusiastic, 
Davy soared to greater heights; he commanded a wider horizon ; 
and his keen vision penetrated to its utmost boundaries. His ima-- 
gination, in the highest degree fertile and inventive, took a rapid and 
extensive range in pursuit of conjectural analogies, which he submit- 
ted to close and patient comparison with known facts, and tried by 
an appeal fo ingenious and conclusive experiments. He was imbued 
with the spirit, and was a master in the practice, of the inductive 


Chemical Works. 91 


logic ; and he has left us some of the noblest examples of the eflicacy 
of that great instrument of human reason in the discovery of truth. 
He applied it, not only to connect classes of facts of more limited 
extent and importance, but to develope great and comprehensive 
laws, which embrace phenomena, that are almost universal to the 
natural world. In explaining those laws, he cast upon them the illu- 
mination of his own clear and vivid conceptions ;—he felt an intense 
admiration of the beauty, order, and harmony, which are conspicu- 
ous in the perfect Cuemistry or Nature ;—and he expressed those 
feelings with a force of eloquence which could issue only from a mind 
of the highest powers, and of the finest sensibilities. With much less 
enthusiasm from temperament, Dr. Wollaston was endowed with bodi- 
ly senses of extraordinary acuteness and accuracy, and with great gen- 
eral vigor of understanding. ‘Trained in the discipline of the exact 
sciences, he had acquired a powerful command over his attention, 
and had habituated himself to the most rigid correctness, both of 
thought and of language. He was sufficiently provided with the re- 
sources of the mathematics, to be enabled to pursue, with success, 
profound enquiries in mechanical and optical philosophy, the results 
of which enabled him to uafold the causes of phenomena, not before 
understood, and to enrich the arts, connected with those sciences, by 
the invention of ingenious and valuable instruments. In Cuemisrry, 
he was distinguished by the extreme nicety and delicacy of his ob- 
servations; by the quickness and precision, with which he marked 
resemblances and discriminated differences; the sagacity with which 
he devised experiments, and anticipated their results; and the skill, 
with which he executed the analysis of fragments of new substances, 
often so minute as to be scarcely perceptible by ordinary eyes. He 
was remarkable, too, for the caution, with which he advanced from 
facts to general conclusions; a caution which, if it sometimes pre- 
vented him from reaching at once to the most sublime truths, yet 
rendered every step of his ascent a secure station, from which it was 
easy to rise to higher and more enlarged inductions. ‘Thus these il- 

lustrious men, though differing essentially in their natural powers and 
~ acquired habits, and moving, independently of each other, in different 
paths, contributed to agcomplish the same great ends—the evolving of 
new elements; the combining of matter into new forms; the increase 
ef human happiness by the improvement of the arts of civilized life ; 
and the establishment of general laws, that will serve to guide other 
philosophers onwards, through vast and unexplored regions of seien- 
tific discovery.’ 


92 Chemical Works. 


“The foregoing interesting extracts from the new edition of Dr. 
Henry’s chemistry are sufficient. ‘Io enter into an analysis of such 
a well known standard work as this, proceeding from the pen of one 
who ranks among the most eminent chemical philosophers of the day, 
would indeed be a superfluous task. We remember many years ago, 
in a very different chemical era to the present, when the first edition 
of this work appeared under the unpretending form of a duodecimo 
volume, intended as a manual for the experimental student. From 
this time, Dr. Henry has been an unremitting laborer in the field of 
science, and as his work in its successive editions has kept a regular 
pace with the advances of chemical knowledge, to which he has him- 
self been so distinguished a contributor, the eleventh edition now ap- 
pears before the public m a very enlarged and ample form, containing 
a store of information, the selection and arrangement of which can- 
not be too highly rated. In short, Dr. Henry is to be esteemed as an 
author, who has always been an industrious collector of facts, and an 
accurate reasoner; avoiding premature speculations, and strenuous 
for the rigid canons of inductive philosophy. For this reason, his 
volumes may be recommended as among the most useful and the 
safest which can be entrusted to the hands of the student.” 

At the moment that this sheet is passing through the press, we 
learn that Mr. Desilver, of Philadelphia, has just published an Amer- 
ican edition of Dr. Henry’s eleventh. He has conferred on the sci- 
entific public of this country an obligation, which we have no doubt 
will be fully appreciated. 

6. Murray’s Evements.—This excellent work, in two thick oe- 
tavo volumes, was digested by the late Dr. John Murray from his 
large system in four volumes. It is impossible for one who was ac- 
customed to listen to Dr. Murray’s living eloquence, to look into his 
works, without seeing the image of his luminous, philosophical mind. 
In his lectures,* his scientific style flowed like a deep river, clear, 
powerful and serene. His Elements of chemistry are among the 
first of the philosophical treatises of this day and are particularly 
adapted to the diligent perusal of the student, who, having attended 
courses of experimental lectures, is prepared to follow a connected 
train of facts and reasoning, digested in a lucid and attractive form, 
and presenting many original philosophical views. 

The present edition, the sixth, is ably sustaimed by Dr. Murray’s 
son, in the spirit of his father, and all his pupils and other admirers 


or 


* See an obituary notice, Vol. HH, ». 355, of this Journal. 


Chemical Works. 93 


7. Dr. Tuomson on Hear any Lacur.—This is the first part of a 
series of volumes, (a substitute for his learned and elaborate system,) 
which this able author designs to publish for the use of the students 
of the University of Glasgow, of which he is Regius Professor of 
chemistry. As he has allowed himself a full octavo volume for these 
subjects, he has expatiated with correspondent fullness, and the work 
is a very valuable digest of the most important facts and opinions on 
topics which are inexhaustible. His researches have enabled him to 
introduce much new important matter, some of it from sources not 
usually explored, and he has enriched this volume with many valua- 
ble tables. — 

By some perhaps, the style will be regarded as occasionally less 
condensed than is usual in elementary treatises of science, but no 
thorough student of these subjects will wish the account of them to 
be shorter. We shall look with impatience for the succeeding vol- 
umes of this great work. 

8. Arxris’ Dictionary.—lt is a matter of great surprise and re- 
gret, that only one edition, (and that more than twenty years ago,) 
has been published of a work of incomparable excellence, and which 
is still an invaluable book of reference. From long and intimate fa- 
miliarity with this Dictionary, or rather Encyclopedia of chemistry, 
we have no hesitation in saying that it is surpassed by nothing with 
which we are acquainted in the English or French language, and a 
greater service could not be performed to chemistry and the connected 
subjects, than by giving a new edition in the spirit and manner of the 
first, with all the discoveries and improvements to the present time. 

9. Urx’s Dictrionarny.—A fourth edition of this work, with the 
author’s revision, has just reached this country. We have not had 
time to examine it, but cannot doubt that an author of so much acu- 
men, zeal and industry, has given this work all requisite additions 
and improvements. Originally, this dictionary was published by the 
late Mr. William Nicholson of London, and it was exceedingly 
valuable, especially as it appeared before Aikins’ Dictionary. It has 
been modernized, and in a great measure rewritten, by Dr. Ure, and 
the American public have been made acquainted with it through the 
improved edition of Dr. Hare. It is a very useful work, and we trust 
that the fourth edition will be found free from some personalities, 
which we regret to have seen in former English editions. 

Among the books of this class, we may mention the small diction- 
ary translated from the French, by Mrs. Lincoln. ‘To those who 
find it inconvenient to consult the larger dictionaries, that now men- 


4 Chemical Works. 


tioned will prove very advantageous; under correct definitions, con- 
cise notices.of the leading facts of chemistry are given, in a compre- 
hensive and attractive form. ; 

10. Tuenarp’s Cuemistry.—This, the only recent and full sys- 
tem of chemistry of the French, is a substitute for Fourcroy’s great 
work—the System of Chemical Knowledge, in 11 vols. 8vo—which 
although diffuse and verbose, was very complete up to the time when 
it was written, (nearly thirty years ago) it was on the whole a learned, 
eloquent and interesting work, and was ably presented, in analysis, in 
the perspicuous and condensed synoptic tables by which it was accom- 
panied. ‘Thenard’s work, in five full volumes octavo, 4s not surpassed 
in learned fullness and accuracy. ‘The author’s method has how- 
ever caused him to divide the different members of the same subject, 
and to separate them into all the volumes, which makes it an incon- 
venient work for consultation. As the last edition is four years old, 
we trust that another must soon be forth-coming, and it will be wel- 
comed by the scientific world. 


11, § 1: Cours or Gay Lussac, ) p, 
* 22. Cours or Laveirr, a 


M. Gay Lussac, in a note in the Annales de Chimie et de Phys- 
ique, protests against the publication of his lectures without his con- 
sent, and disclaims any responsibility for their accuracy,* observing 
at the same time, that the Parisian booksellers have thus discovered 
a new species of industry. It appears however that the work was 
revised by one of his friends. It is in 3 vols. with plates. 

That of Prof. Laugier is in four volumes, one of which contains 
plates, &c.; both works are very neatly printed. I have not seen 
any disclaimer by Prof. Laugier. 

In both works there is necessarily much that is common to all able 
courses of chemical lectures; but we are not certain that either work is 
exactly what their celebrated authors would have made them. Sul, 
the chemical student and the chemical teacher will find in them much 
that is interesting and instructive, and he would read them with the 
greater interest could he be sure that they present a fair specimen of 
the manner of these distinguished teachers. ‘There are gentlemen m 
this country who have listened to them, and who, on this head, could 
give us information upon which we can rely. Ina pretty exten- 
sive examination of these works (the latest on elementary chemistry 
that have issued from the French press,) we have not been able to 


“ He even intimates that this account of thein is not altogether accurate. 


Chemical W orks. 5 


discover any material discrepancies between them and the numerous 
published memoirs and other writings of these eminent men. 

12. Berzenivus’ System.—We mention this work merely to say 
that the translation published in Paris is denounced and disowned by 
the author, and we must wait patiently for a French or English trans- 
lation which he will sanction as accurate. From sueh a source we 
are entitled to expect new treasures of information. 

* * % * %* ¥ * 

In writing the foregoing brief notices we could have pointed out 
some errors, but where there is such prevailing excellence, this duty 
may well be left to the private communications of personal and sci- 
entific friends, and to the vigilance and sagacity of the authors in 
revising their future editions. 

13. Dr. Hare’s Compenpium.—This work was written for the au- 
thor’s pupils, and is made the companion of his public lectures. It 
contains a luminous and comprehensive sketch of scientific chemis- 
try, and one as full as was consistent with the limits which the author 
had prescribed to himself, after allowing sufficient room for a detailed 
account of many varieties of chemical apparatus and experiments, 
especially those which have been the result of Dr. Hare’s own in- 
vention and ingenuity. Excellent wood cuts are given of most of 
these, and many of them have been exhibited and described in pre- 
ceding Volume of this Journal. No man in this country has labored 
so much, and so successfully, for the improvement of practical chem- 
istry, as Dr. Hare; and if we were to mention only his compound 
blowpipe, his eudiometers, and his galvanic instruments, this state- 
ment would be fully established. In a future edition of his able work, 
he will probably enlarge, somewhat, the elementary part, and digest 
some things into system, that are now inserted in appendix. 

% # * % % ® * 

The foregoing notices were begun, only with the intention of men- 
tioning the improved edition of Dr. Henry’s Chemistry, and of some 
other foreign works; but they have been extended, almost without 
design; ail are now thrown out, as being perhaps capable of con- 
veying some useful hints to young sideuies of chemistry, who have 
not had an opportunity of consulting various authors, most of whose 
works are well known to professors and other teachers. 

We have, however, no idea of giving a sketch of all the chemical 
authors of this age, although it might have been very agreeable to 
mention some other works, as those of Scheele, Bergmann, Lavoi- 
sier, Chaptal, Black, Davy, Dr. F. Bache’s System for Medical Stu- 


96 Protection of Persons from Fire. ' 


dents and the Philosophy of Chemistry of the late Prof. Dana; be- 
sides various miscellaneous but valuable writings, as those of Parkes, 
Watson, Priestley, &c. Gray’s Operative Chemist, Dr. Porter’s im- 
proved edition, we mentioned in Vol. XIX, p. 362, of this Journal. 

14. Evements or Cuemistry, in the order of the lectures given 
in Yale College.—An explanatory notice of this work, (then nearly 
finished,) was given in No. 2 of Vol. XIX of this Journal. ‘The 
work is now completed, and is comprised within two octavo volumes, 
averaging a little over 600 pages, besides an appendix of 48. The 
figures (chiefly those of Dr. Hare,) are given in the pages in wood 
cuts, except that there are three distinct plates to illustrate Dr. Hare’s 
galvanic instruments. 

The principal discoveries and doctrines are brought down to the 
present time, and there are also notices of American science and arts, 
with many miscellaneous facts. 

The principal object of this work is to present to the chemical stu- 
dent a condensed digest of the subject, in such a form as to facilitate his 
progress; it contains also copious references to original authorities, 
many pharmaceutical processes and medical notices, and the neces- 
sary directions for the performance of experiments. 

Although this work was designed and executed in accordance 
with the wishes of former classes in Yale College, and is made the 
companion of the experimental course there given, the students of 
that institution are left at liberty to use it or not as they choose, and 
itis easily adapted to any other course in which a different arrange- 
ment of the subject is pursued, and in which it may be found useful. 


Art. XI.—Art de se preserver de Paction de la Flamme, appliqué 
aux Pompiers, et a la conservation des personnes enposées aux 
Feu; avec une serté d’experiences faites en Italie, a Geneve et a 
Paris; par M. Le Chevalier Aupinr. 


‘The art of preserving from the action of flame, applied to firemen 
and persons exposed to fire; with a series of experiments made in 
Ttaly, Geneva and Paris; by the Ch. Aupinr. Analysis by Prof. 


J. Griscom. 


Havine received from our correspondent at Paris a copy of the 
above named work, and also, through the obliging attention of Consul 
Barnet, a number of lithographic plates illustrative of the means 
employed by the Chevalier Aldini to guard the body against the at- 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 97 


tacks of heat and conflagration, we now present our readers with an 
analysis of the work and a description of the apparatus.* 

This task affords us the more pleasure from the personal acquaint- 
ance which we enjoyed with the benevolent author, whose useful la+ 
bors in another fertile field of discovery have been long known and 
appreciated by men of science; and who now, at the venerable age 
of seventy two, is actively engaged in the applications of science to 
objects of humanity. ! 

From a brief notice of the inventions of the Chevalier Aldini, in 
a preceding number of the Journal,> our readers are aware that the 
preservation from flame, which has been the object of his pursuit, 
was sought for through the medium of a covering of wire gauze and 
asbestine cloth, alternately placed over those parts of the body which 
are exposed to the most intense action of the heat. In his introduc- 
tion, the author justly intimates that notwithstanding the efforts which 
men have hitherto made in rendering assistance to the helpless in 
cases of conflagration, the great number of victims, among those who 
generously devote themselves to the relief of the sufferers, furnishes 
the strongest evidence of the necessity of some further means of al- 
leviation and security. 

“The celebrated Peter Franck, in his T’reatise on medical police, 
complains that in cases of conflagration, governments have not sufti- 
ciently borne in mind that human life ought to be the first object of 
their solicitude. Firemen, says he, ought to be supplied with a cov- 
ering at once light and thick, enveloping the body as completely as 
possible, so as to enable them to resist the action of the fire. Great- 
er benefits might also be expected, if noble encouragements were 
offered to every one who should brave danger and save the life of a 
human being.” 

“The spirit of speculation has given rise to insurance companies 
against loss by fire. ‘These have doubtless done much good, but 
they afford no guaranty against the loss of life. What compensation 
is it to the owner of a house, to be assured that his mansion will be 


* The author’s consent to this republication was also received. This analysis was 
ready in October, and has been delayed in expectation of the arrival of the remain- 
der of the prints from Paris; only a few hundreds were sent out and the number 
necessary for a full edition was ordered from Paris in July, but as no intelligence of 
them is received after waiting six or eight months, we have had the prints litho- 
graphed anew in Boston; this statement will account for the delay.— Editer. 

i Vide Am. Jour. Vol. XVIII, p. 177. 


Mor wee —- NOL: it 


G9 


98 Protection of Persons from Fure. 


rebuilt by, the insurers, for the benefit of his heirs, after this same 
house shall have become his tomb !” 

Humane societies have been formed in numerous places for the 
restoration of persons from drowning and suffocation, and premiums 
have been awarded to those who have in such cases adventured bold- 
ly in defence of life, but how much more complete would be the sat- 
isfaction, if to the means of recovery used on those occasions could 
be added a new and more effectual safeguard against death by fire. 
With this humane object in view, the author has declined any recourse 
to the privileges of a patent, but cherishes the hope that his expedi- 
ents will be approved and adopted by all enlightened mations. 

The corps of firemen in France, (sapeurs-pompiers,) by the mili- 
tary precision of its organization and discipline, has furnished a model 
for that of Milan, Naples, Florence, Bologna and Pavia. At Rome 
they preserve the ancient name of Vigils, given to this corps by 
Augustus, who in the year 759 of the foundation of Rome, not satis- 
fied with the nocturnal triumvirs, whose principal duty from the time 
of the Republic had been to watch over conflagrations, created a co- 
hort especially destined to arrest the ravages of fire. . 

It gives us much satisfaction to find, by the appendices to the volume, 
which contain several reports, from committees of learned societies, 
on the inventions of Chev. Aldini, as well as by direct information from 
our correspondents, that he has received flattering testimonials of ap- 
probation from various quarters; among which may be mentioned 
gold medals from the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce 
of London, from the government of Milan, and from the court of 
Rome; and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, who has taken a particu- 
lar interest in these discoveries, presented the author with a rich snuff 
box of gold, with his cipher set in brilliants. But the most substan- 
tial acknowledgment is from the Royal Institute of France, which 
decreed to him, on the 30th of May last, the Monthyon prize of 
eight thousand francs. 

Cur author divides his book into twelve chapters. These we shall 
take up seriatim, and give an abstract of all their most useful contents. 


Cuap. I. is ow the use of maille or mesh-work, of metallic gauze, 
and of substances which are non-conductors of electricity. 


The author cites various experiments demonstrative of that prop- 
erty of metallic gauze, discovered by Sir H. Davy, which causes it 
to resist the passage of heat and preserve from combustion the most 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 99 


inflammable substances in contact with it, on the side opposite to that 
of the heating source. ‘This is the principle of safety in the Davy 
lamp, now so extensively used by miners. It is now, we believe, 
generally admitted by chemists, that the effect of metallic gauze is to 
be ascribed to the repulsion of the flame by the metal,* rather than to 
the conducting power of the latter. ‘The flame is thus prevented 
from coming into contact with the wire. ‘The author partakes of this 
opinion, and he has proved that a gauze of amianthus produces a simi- 
lar effect on flame. ‘This appears to be the only substance of which, 
without preparation, a tissue can be made suitable for resisting flame. 
It is true that cotton and linen cloth, well impregnated with certain 
saline solutions, are rendered almost combustible. Sulphate of alu- 
mina, carbonate of magnesia, and other salts, have this property 3 -but 
none, according to Gay-Lussac, are equal to phosphate of ammonia. 
When a cloth well prepared with this salt is exposed to the fire, the 
salt melts, the ammonia is volatilized, and the vitrified phosphoric 
acid forms around the tissue a varnish which defends it from combus- 
tion. ‘The cloth becomes ignited, but preserves its form and remains 
simply carbonized. 


Cuar. H.—On the art of preparing amanthus, and rendering wu fut 
jor spinning and weaving. 


No substance, artificially prepared, resists the action of heat so 
well as amianthus, a property conferred upon it by nature. ‘The 
Romans made much use of this material, and appear to have been 
well acquainted with the means of preparing it, though Pliny and 
others consider it as very difficult to work. ‘The author finds that it 
is only amianthus of a certain consistence that is fit for use. It is of- 
ten very white and shining, but too fragile. It sometimes contains 
lumps, which cause the fibres to be too short for spinning. 

When taken from the mine, it contains generally portions of earth 
or other foreign matters, which must be separated by putting it mto 
large basins full of water, where it should be left several days, sim- 
ply renewing the water from time to time as 1t becomes charged with 
earthy or other particles. Hot water is preferable to cold, and it is 
of advantage sometimes to boil it either in pure water or in the lye 
of ashes. The author has tried weak muriatic acid, and other chem- 


“The metal in this case, but the gases which are evolved from flame, will, by 
stviking against any substance, cause a repulsion of the flame. 


} 


100 © Protection of Persons from Fire. 


ical processes, as well as the action of steam, upon considerable 
masses of it, in strong vessels; but the result has not corresponded 
with the expense of the process. He deems it better, therefore, af- 
ter washing the amianthus, to loosen the fibres by rubbing or beating 
it with wooden mallets; or, if it be im compact masses, with iron 
hammers, and immersing it repeatedly, in order to separate the fila- 
ments and render them supple. 

In spinning the pr epared amianthus, the use of the distaff is found 
to be inconvenient, im consequence of the ends of the short fibres 
presenting themselves perpendicularly, and thus breaking the thread. 
The best method is to place the wool between two cards or paste- 
boards, with a weight upon the upper one, as is done in the case of 
silk, and the spinning becomes immediately safe and easy. Oil is 
to be excluded from the spinning of this mineral. ‘The author’s ex- 
perience also induces him to reject entirely the combing and carding 
of the material, and also the practice which Ciampini had recom- 
mended more than a century ago, of introducing in the spinning one 
thread of flax with three or four of the amianthus. It is highly inex- 
pedient thus to mingle a combustible substance with the texture of 
that which is meant to resist the fire. 

It is not to be understood that a cloth of this substance is abso- 
lutely mcombustible. Like all other mineral bodies, it will melt at a 
very high temperature, and either vitrify or undergo decomposition. 
Being composed in part of carbonates of lime and magnesia, their 
saline ingredients are decomposed at a temperature somewhat below 
ignition. Hence in a furnace or before the blow-pipe, or in the fo- 
cus of a burning mirror, it undergoes a change of composition and a 
diminution of weight; but as a large fragment or cord of it is less 
easily affected by fire than a small one, M. Aldini finds that the best 
cloth is obtained by making the chain of a double thread, and the 
warp single. If the threads be too coarse the texture is not so good, 
and the cloth is too heavy. Portions of amianthus, which, on ac- 
count either of the shortness of its fibres, or the impossibility of sep- 
arating them completely from each other, will not answer for spin- 
ning, may be converted into pasteboard. Sometimes this refuse is 
mingled with a portion of good material, and made into paper. 
Pasteboard of this material, may in certain cases be substituted for 
the cloth, which is always more costly. 

Amianthus destined for cards or pasteboard, must first be washed 
and prepared, as if for spinning, except that the filaments need not 
be separated. It is then to be pounded until it acquires a pasty con- 


a 


Protection of Persons from Fure. 101 


sistence ; then mixed with common size, and subjected to the usual 
process for making pasteboard. ‘These sheets have sufficient con- 
sistence to admit of being smoothed without abrasion. It has been 
manufactured under the author’s direction at Milan, Florence, Bo- 
logna, and other places in Italy, in sheets of about half a yard long 
and a foot wide. 


Cuap. Il].—New method of enabling firemen to preserve them- 
selves from the violence of flame. 


The author adverts to the power of the human body of sustaining, 
by well known artificial expedients, extremes of temperature from 
that at which mercury congeals, to that of the burning valley of the 
Niger, and even, as in the case of Blagden, Fordyce and others, to 
a heated air, exceeding in temperature that of boiling water. But all 
these are vastly below the heat of flame. ‘The only means of sup- 
porting, even for a short period, such burning and destructive heat, is 
a defence similar to that which the author proposes—the interposi- 
tion between the exposed parts of the body and the burning source, 
a substance which is at once a slow conductor, and mcombustible. 

The finer the metallic gauze, that is, the smaller the wire, and the 
more numerous the meshes, the better will it repel the flame. The 
non-conducting substance must evidently be such as to resist violent 
agitations of the air, and whirlwinds of flame, and of course it must 
have strength and weight. Amianthus would be preferable to every 
thing else, if it could be every where easily procured, and the prepa- 
ration of its cloth were less expensive. 

To prove by a simple experiment the efficacy of metallic gauze, 
the author takes two tubes of this wire tissue, the one enchased with- 
in the other, but separated by a thin stratum of air. Its diameter is 
such as to admit a finger clothed with amianthus. He then exposes 
the finger fully to the flame of a lamp or candle for three or four 
minutes with impunity. This isa much greater heat than that to 
which firemen are generally exposed. 

In whatever way the defensive armors are arranged for the pro- 
tection of firemen, the author lays down the following as rules of 
practical importance. 

1. That the firemen avoid carefully all contact of their bodies with 
substances that are rapid conductors of heat. 

2. That the armor be so prepared as to present the fewest pos- 
sible openings. 


102 ‘Protection of Persons from Fire. 


. That it be as light as | possible, consistent with a proper degree 

of eee 

4. That the junctures be so free as to produce as little constraint 
as possible to the limbs. 

5. As flame commonly ascends, the openings which are unavoid- 
able should be made on the opposite side. 

6. That the firemen govern their movements so as to present the 
least possible surface to the direct action of the flames. 


Cuap. 1V.—On the buckler of wire gauze destined to ward off flame. 


To overcome the impetuosity of the flames, a buckler should be 
provided of an elliptical form, and of fine gauze, that it may be very 
light. ‘The longer axis of ‘the ellipse may be one and a half yards, 
and the shorter two and a half feet. It should ‘be swelled in the 
middle so as to spread er divert the flames, which prevents it from 
becoming too intensely heated, and from its thinness it cools in a 
few moments, and does not prevent the fireman from seeing objects 
through it. Its longer axis should be thicker in the middle, to give 
strength to the oaale which must be well fastened to it, and to the 
cross-bars which form its frame. ‘The wire work should have a lit- 
tle play on the frame to prevent its warpmg. A ring should be at- 
tached to the handle, through which the arm might occasionally slip 
so as to leave the hand at liberty. This buckler may be strength- 
ened, if necessity requires it, by cross wires placed near each other. 
Besides those of large dimensions, smaller bucklers might be provid- 
ed, which would serve to arrest the flames through windows or other 
openings, and to-protect the fireman who carries the engine pipe into 
ihe most difficult places. ‘The author insists on the importance of 
this method of defence. 

To prevent the flames from rushing from one apartment to an- 
other, through doors or windows, a buckler, in the form of a parallel- 
logram, may be made of double wire, with a small projection of a 
metallic plate at each corner, with an opening for a nail, by which it 
could be easily fastened against the issue of the flame. 

A large sized buckler enables a fireman to ascend or descend a 
stair case in flames, even in his ordmary dress. In cases of this 
kind, the precaution should be used of carrying a sponge in the 
mouth. ‘This, the author states, is an important application of the . 


buckler. 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 163 


In the country, where destruction by fire is often most fatal for 
want of the means of extinction, one or two of these bucklers kept 
always at hand, ane prove of the greatest importance. 


Cuar. V.—On the manner of handling ignited metals, and of walk- 
ing over red hot plates of tron. 


It may happen that the floor of a room or chamber, although fire- 
proof, may become so heated as to render it impossible, without pro- 
tection, to pass into it, or through it with safety. But by clothing the 
feet and head with the defensive materials, the Chevalier Aldini has 
enabled fire men to walk over a grate of iron bars heated to redness, 
and through the openings of which the flames were vigorously as- 
cending from a fire beneath. ‘They have walked in like manner leis- 
urely over cast iron plates, so heated that some of them have crack- 
ed in several places. 

if there should be a necessity of performing an operation requir- 
ing time, e. g. breaking a hole through a wall, in a situation where 
the floor was thus heated, he recommends a wooden stool with iron 
legs. The seat of the stool to be hollowed out on the top, covered 
first with amianthine pasteboard, then with a quantity of ashes, 
(which is a slow conductor of heat) then a covering of the paste- 
board, and lastly, the whole seat covered with wire gauze, nailed or 
screwed to the wood. If the hands be covered with gloves of ami- 
anthus, and then again with a glove of the metallic gauze, or simply 
with a second glove like the first, there will be no difficulty, as has 
been amply proved, in handling red hot bars, extracting from burning 
coals and ignited rubbish, articles of value, and conveying them ie 
places of ae 


Cuar. VI.—On the manner of defending the head, so that it may be 
exposed to the action of flames and smoke, without injury to res- 
piration. : 

The first experiments of the author in ascertaining how far life 
may be preserved when the head is enveloped in flame, were made 
upon pigeons, chickens, rabbits and other animals. They were 
placed in cages of iron wire, attached to long handles, and surround- 
ed with metallic gauze, so as to keep the flames at a certain dis- 
tance. The interior was furnished with prepared stuff, and openings: 


104 Protection of Persons from Fire. 


left at top for communication with the atmosphere. ‘The animals 
thus placed, were retained in the midst of flames a much longer 
time than firemen would have occasion to remain in the course of 
their duties, in extensive conflagrations. 

Thus encouraged, the experiments were extended to men. An 
armor was prepared for the head, whose interior surface was a tis- 
sue of iron wire, with a double metallic gauze, which enveloped it ; 
the front was closed only by the gauze. 'This armature descended 
to the shoulders, and rested upon them, so that the top of the head 
was not in contact with the metal, but was defended by it from ex- 
ternal blows, and being of considerable strength, and supported en- 
tirely by the shoulders, this armature is at once a fire guard, and a 
preservative against external violence. 

Thus equipped, firemen exposed thew faces to the combined 
flames of twenty-four and even thirty-six candles, as well as to the 
flames of wood and straw, and held them in this position for more 
ihan two minutes, with but a slight increase of heat. So satisfactory 
were these trials, that several young persons who witnessed them, 
wished to make the experiment, and did so more than once. 

The difficulty of conceiving how an air of this kind can be breath- 
ed with impunity, will be lessened by the reflection that the tempera- 
ture within the mask is much lower than without; that by the agita- 
tion usual in flame the air is frequently renewed; that in the air 
which is mingled with a volume of flame, the oxygen is by no means 
exhausted ; that in such cases it is not the want of oxygen so much 
as the presence of carbonic acid, that causes respiration to become 
difficult; and that this foul and heated air is continually ascending 
and giving piace to fresh portions of pure air. 

To guard against the effects of smoke, is another affair. The au- 
thor cites various methods which have been proposed by others, viz. 
covering the face with a mask of sponge, except two openings closed 
by glasses for the eyes, keeping the sponge moist with water, with an 
alkaline solution, or with chlorine, as the case may require ; covering 
the face with leather, to which is attached a tube three or four feet 
long, containing at its extremity a moistened sponge. ‘These are good 
precautions against smoke alone, but when smoke and flame are active- 
ly combined, they are not sufficient, and it does not appear that the 
chevalier has been able to propose any thing more effectual. He justly 
observes, that the existence of much smoke is an evidence that the at- 
mosphere is not freely admitted to the burning materials, and therefore 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 105 


itis often advisable thata passage should be opened to the air, even at 
the expense of greater combustion, for a fireman properly armed against 
the heat, might be less in danger from it than from suffocation by 
smoke, and better able to extend relief. It would be well for fire- 
men to learn to be able to suspend their respiration for a considera- 
ble tme. ‘This, with the other precautions, would enable them to 
render more extensive aid in cases of difficulty and suffering. 


Cuap. VIL.—On the dress jit for passing through flame, and on 
the construction of different parts of the armer: 


In all cases where the fire is violent, and the exposure to it must 
be continued for some time, the body must be completely envel- 
oped with the resisting materials, and even then the buckler should 
be also used. A complete armor is composed of a cap of double 
metallic gauze, a cuiras or breast plate, pantaloons, gloves of metal- 
lic cloth, and of stockings of amianthus, over which metallic boots 
can be drawn. ‘The cap of metallic gauze, and the mask of amian- 
thus, have been described. ‘The cuiras is composed of a light iron 
frame, covered with metallic tissue, destined to protect the trunk 
from the action of the fire. It closes on one of its sides, and has but 
one sleeve of metallic tissue, which is furnished at the elbow with a 
piece of metallic gauze, to give freedom to the arm; on the other 
side it is open, so as to be promptly fixed, and it fastens with brass 
buttons. The other arm will be sufficiently defended by the buck- 
ler. ‘The pantaloons are of strong metallic tissue, terminated above 
by a thin iron plate with a longitudinal slit, so that by means of but- 
tons and button holes it can be adapted to the shape of the wearer. 
These pantaloons cover the cuiras at top, and below they enter the 
metallic boots. But these boots the inventor finally abandoned, not 
only on account of their heaviness, but because they did not enclose 
the feet with sufficient firmness. In their place he substituted bus- 
kins of double metallic tissue, with a sole made of a very thin plate 
of iron articulated, and large enough to enclose the foot. 

There should be provided a number of these complete armors of 
different sizes. 

It was an examination of ancient armor that led M. Aldini to this 
contrivance ; and it has been his study to render it as light and as 
supple as possible, and he is well persuaded that in its present state it 
would not be found oppressive to any fireman. It is far ighter than 


Vou. XX=—No. 1. 14. 


ROG, Protection of Persons from Fire. 


the warlike armor of the ancients, who combated in their ponderous 
clothing in fields far less honorable than those where humanity is the 
motive, and the saving of human life, the prize. 

To reduce this apparatus to the greatest possible simplicity, the 
author found that the cuiras and pantaloons of metallic tissue might 
be omitted, and a dress of prepared cloth substituted, consisting of 
a jacket and pantaloons combined, with a cloth girdle. They may 
be drawn on over the common clothes in a few moments. 

The eloth of which this vestment is made, must be prepared by a 
previous soaking in some saline solution. Phosphate of ammonia is 
the best, but alum is cheaper, and answers very well. One immer- 
sion of the cloth m the solution is not enough. ‘The solution should 
be saturated, by dissolving the powdered alum in warm water. But 
the author, finding that the alum erystallizes on the surface of the 
eloth and then easily rubs off, proposes a strong solution of carbonate 
of potash as a substitute. He admits that the potash must be satu- 
rated with carbonic acid, otherwise the causticity of the potash would 
destroy the cloth ; but he does not advert to the fact that the intense 
heat to which the garment is to be exposed, might decompose the 
carbonate, and thus defeat the intended advantage. He finds that 
sulphate of iron, or of zinc, or other metallic oxides, will answer the 
purpose. 

In case of urgent necessity, a solution of common salt would be 
very useful, and even if a garment should be sponged with this solu- 
tion, it would have a decided tendency to preserve it from combus- 
tion. 

If over this vestment of prepared saline cloth, a tunic of metallic 
tissue, and pantaloons of the same material, were worn, the defence 
would be very great, and combine safety with facility of motion. 
This kind of dress, the author thinks, would answer very weil in com- 
mon fires; but, in consulting the history of conflagrations, he is satis- 
fied that in extensive and violent fires, the armor first proposed ought 
not to be dispensed with, and that the buekler and cuiras ought to 
be used. 


Cuap. VII.—On the means of saving persons and valuable objects, 
in buildings on fire. 


This chapter, after noticing the difficulty and danger that people 
are often in when their own or an adjacent dwelling takes fire, con- 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 107 


tains only a brief account of some of the mechanical contrivances 
that have been proposed to rescue them from thei peril; such as 
pullies, rope ladders, sliding baskets, jumping out of windows on ex- 
tended sheets or elastic cushions, forcing pumps for supplying fresh 
air to persons in danger of suffocation, &c.; but in none of these in- 
ventions is there any provision for enabling firemen to rush into the 
flames, and endure the heat with impunity long enough to accom- 
plish the important object of rescue and deliverance to those who are 
unable to help themselves. 


Cuar. IX.—A summary account of the principal experiments made 
in Italy with the armatures and other apparatus. 


These experiments were commenced in 1827. ‘They were wit- 
nessed by a deputation of the municipality of the city of Milan; and 
agreeably to the proces-verbal, duly attested by the secretary, fire- 
men were able to expose their hands, arms, feet, and even their 
faces, to a burning fire of wood, without any painful constraint upon 
respiration, or considerable augmentation of heat. ‘The apparatus 
consisted of gloves, caps and Houle as before described. 

In 1828 the experiments were extended, and in that year, both at 
Milan and Pavia, firemen walked through the flames and smoke 
leisurely, which in one case extended about eight yards long, rising 
to the height of two to three yards. A cage was placed in the mid- 
dle of the flames, and taken away a minute after, without injury to 
the animals it contained. 

The author states that his illustrious colleague, the chevalier Scarpa, 
examined his apparatus with great interest, and pointed out several 
modifications of which he thought it susceptible. | 

After these preparatives the chevalier Aldini exhibited, in the be- 
ginning of June, 1828, before the viceroy of Lombardy and the au- 
thorities of Milan, his experiments with the apparatus, upon a large 
scale in the barracks of St. Jerome, which had been assigned him 
for the purpose. The firemen in their own simple dress, each with 
a sponge in his mouth and defended by a buckler of double metallic 
net work, ascended and descended a very narrow staircase, about 
which a fire of straw had been kindled, many times without injury ; 
others resisted fora long time fire and smoke in a close chamber ; 
and some in the complete armor walked many times over a grate 
of hot iron two yards long, and a fireman carried on his back, a pre- 


/ 


108 Protection of Persons from Fire. 


pared basket containing a child whose head was covered with a cap 
made of amianthine pasteboard, through flames several yards in 
length, and to reduce the defensive dress to the greatest simplicity, 
he shewed that when the fireman was covered with a cloth dress of 
a single piece, with bootees, gloves, and cap of wire gauze, and a 
mask of amianthus, he could walk through the flames carrying the 
child, &c. without danger. 

In the month of February, 1829, by the direction of the govern- 
ment, the experiments were repeated in the yard of the barracks of 
St. Gervais, where the spectators were arranged in several rows and 
two towers were erected two stories high, surrounded by heaps of 
inflamed materials consisting of faggots and straw. ‘The firemen 
braved the danger with impunity. One man with the basket and 
child, against the advice of M. Aldini, rushed into a narrow place 
where the flames were raging eight yards high. The violence of 
the fire was such that he could not be seen, while a thick black 
smoke spread around, emitting a heat insupportable to the spectators. 
The man was so long invisible that serious doubts were entertained 
of his safe return; but he at length issued from the fiery gulf safe 
and sound, and proud of the danger which he had braved. 

Some time afterwards a circular fire was made in a large mead- 
ow, into the flames and smoke of which firemen entered, two of 
whom passed many times backwards and forwards carrying their 
own children on their shoulders, and were followed by a third who 
wore a dress entirely of amianthus, then made for the first time at 
Bologna. 

The grand duke of Fuseany who had attended some of the ex- 
periments at Milan, engaged the author, through his minister, Fos- 
sombroni, to prepare suitable apparatus for the instruction of the fire- 
menof Florence, and on the 26th of May, 1829, the author exhib- 
ited in that city before the grand duke a series of experiments, which 
were repeated on the first of June before the first authorities of the 
city, civil and military, the members of the Academy des Georgo- 
philes, and a large part of the corps diplomatique. 

Three rows of wood in the form of an amphitheatre, were arrang- 
ed so as to form two alleys twenty five fathoms in length. A large | 
number of firemen, properly prepared, rushed through the flames, 
and some of them passed through the alleys of fire six times. One 
of them carried his own child, eight years of age, through the flames, 
another carried upon a crotchet covered with an incombustible var~ 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 109 


nish, a man upon a saddle made for the purpose, and whose face 
was covered with a mask of amianthus; the captain of the company 
and some others carried large bars of red hot iron, protected by the 
gloves, and others plunged their heads into the flames guarded either 
by the mask or cap. Several physicians who attended the experi- 
ments, observed that some of the experimenters experienced very 
little alteration of the pulse. ‘The result of these trials ‘* surpassed 
any expectation that could have been conceived of the execution of 
a project of so much apparent danger.” 


Cuar. X.—Application of the safeguards agaist fire ta many of 


the arts. 


The author supposes that in several of the arts in which high heat 
is employed, some of the contrivances which have been described 
may be of use. 

In glass blowing the melting pot is sometimes overturned or 
nearly so, and must be righted. ‘The ovens are exposed to the same 
accident. If the head and hands of the workmen were protected 
by the prescribed covering, the damages alluded to might be repair- 
ed more promptly and effectually and with much less risk than they 
now are. ‘The same remarks apply to a certain extent to pottery. 

In high furnaces, reverberatory furnaces, melting, moulding, &c. 
—The workmen would often be saved from injury in these arts if their 
faces were protected from inflamed cinders, and their lower limbs 
from torrents of inflamed metal. But they have never thought of 
rendering their clothes incombustible or of handling red hot metal 
in the act of forging. 

Architecture.—The immense utility of wire gauze in elosing pas- 
sages against flame without interrupting the circulation of air, the 
passage of gas, &c. will sooner or later be appreciated by architects. 
To devise a suitable protection against fire is surely no less im- 
portant than to guard against thunder by lightning rods, and no less 
worthy of architectural skill. 

Varmsh making, paper coloring, magazines of inflammable mate- 
rials, &c. 

The progress of the flames, in cases of accident in these fabrics 
is often too rapid for external assistance. The metallic gauze and 
other armor if at hand, might be of essential service to life and 
property. 


110 Protection of Persons from Fire. 


Art of the sculptor and stone cutter—A mask of fine metallic 
zauze is precisely what is wanted to guard workman from the chips 
and fine dust which are so injurious to the eyes and lungs. 

Medicine and surgery.—Cannot the organs of sight and respira- 
tion be protected by the means recommended in exposure to disease. 

Precautions against insects in places infested by them.—The me- 
tallic gauze placed before windows and doors, while it freely admits 
air, would exclude insects, more effectually than the stuffs used for 
that purpose. 

Amianthine paper and pasteboard.—The packers of cloth may 
avail themselves very usefully of the pasteboard as a substitute for 
the common pasteboard. This has been done in Italy with com- 
plete success. ‘The consumption of a great quantity of pasteboard 
is thus done away with, and also of the disagreeable smell which it 
occasions. 

With respect to the amianthine paper, made by the common pro- 
cess, the author says he has several sheets of it half a yard long and 
a foot wide, and that it would be decidedly the best thing for bank 
notes or paper money ; and more particularly for public records, for 
if an indelible ink were applied to it, it would be exempt from all 
risk of accident by fire. Boxes made of several thicknesses of the 
paper or pasteboard, would effectually preserve their contents, how- 
ever exposed to heat. 

The author states that he has improved the Davy lamp, by en- 
larging the meshes of the gauze, and making some other alterations, 
(not clearly described) which render it a valuable substitute for com- 
mon lanterns for farmers, hostlers, &c. Wire gauze is manufactured 
in almost every considerable town in Europe, but that is not the 
case with fabrics of amianthus. Nature, however, is liberal in this 
production, and suitable encouragement is only wanting to render its 
fabrics far more common and accessible. It is said that Charles V. 
had a manufactory of it near Ghent, and that he used a table cloth 
of it, and amused his guests by throwing it into the fire in order to 
cleanse it. In China, cloth is made of it, but the price is excessive- 
ly high; for a piece of it half a yard square, was sold, during the 
Jast century, for nine hundred francs. In the time of Pliny, amian- 
thus was as dear as pearls, but since that time the price has greatly 
diminished. 


Protection of Persons from Fire. lit 


Cuap. XI.—On the advantages which the foregoing processes may 
be of to insurance compames against losses by fire. 

Marine insurances are of much longer standing than those against 
fire. It was not until 1714, that the English began to provide 
against these losses; but they soon found imitators on some parts of 
the continent. Italy appears to have been very slow in admitting 
these economical institutions. In 1819, they were encouraged in the 
Italian states of Austria by an imperial circular. A company was 
formed at Trieste in 1824, and another at Milan in 1825. The king 
of Sardinia followed this example, and a company was established at 
Turin in 1828. 

The author proposes that insurance companies should extend their 
risks to personal security. By providing companies with a certain 
number of suits of the defensive armor, and offering high rewards to 
those who, by their courage and dexterity, should rescue human be- 
ings from the devouring element, they would usefully and honorably 
extend the sphere of their influence. 

The remainder of this chapter is chiefly occupied with remarks 
upon the imperfect operation of insurance in Italy. In Bologna, a 
large store-house was burned three years ago, and great loss sus- 
tained for want of the means of unbarricading a door, through which 
a large portion of the goods might have been saved. A person 
equipped with the Aldini armor, would easily have accomplished this 
object. 


Cuar. XU1.—General considerations on the causes of fires, and the 
means of preventing the disasters which they produce. 


The atmosphere (says the author) may be heated so far as to kin- 
dle very combustible materials, and which in their turn set fire to oth- 
er matters more abundant, which burn only at a higher temperature. 
The minister Sommer, at Koningsburg, made many experiments to 
demonstrate this fact, and to ascertain the various circumstances of 
it, and he proved that conflagrations may occur without either negli- 
gence or crime. Cloth, wool, cotton, hemp, &c., which have been 
charged with oil, will undergo spontaneous combustion. This facé 
has been long known. ‘The chronicles of Villani inform us that a 
fire took place at Florence in 1344, from the spontaneous heat of 
some oiled cloth, which burned eighteen houses and shops. ‘These 


112 Protection of Persons from Fire. 


facts deserve the attention of all who have charge of custom houses 
and other depots of merchandize. 

It is well known that many coal mines inflame spontaneously. 
Certain kinds of coal have this property, and the maritime police of 
certain countries prohibit its transportation in ships. 

Sulphurous turf (and there is much of it) is also the cause of spon- 
taneous fire; and requires the same precautions as coal of the same 
quality. In both cases, it is the abundance of sulphuret of iron, and 
its decomposition by moisture, that produce the heat requisite for 
combustion. ‘The fermentation of hay and straw may set fire to 
barns. Ifthe mass be sufficiently moist, no circulation of air will 
prevent the effect. . 

As the art of building advances, the causes of destruction are 
more and more removed. Incombustible materials are more sought 
after. ‘The superb dock ware-houses of England are almost entirely 
of cast iron. In private dwellings, means have been tried to render 
wood incombustible, or very slow of combustion and easily extin- 
euished. ‘These consist of some external cement or covering, or of 
a substance which penetrates the wood, without weakening it; but 
this art has not yet attamed perfection. 

It is doubtless impossible to prevent fires altogether. Pliny, in 
speaking of the ravages which fire had just occasioned in Nicomedia, 
proposed to Trajan to form an establishment of one hundred and 
fifty select and skilful men, to be charged with the special duty of 
extinguishing fires and assisting the Suenos s this is the first idea of 
the institution of firemen. 

In general, the means of extinguishing fires are the more effica< 
cious the sooner they are applied. Let every obstacle, therefore, 
which can retard the operations of firemen, and the arrival of their 
apparatus, be as far as possible removed. ‘The eyes of magistrates 
should be particularly directed to this point. 

How extensive soever a conflagration may become, the well di- 
rected courage of the firemen may prevent a mass of distress. 
Though a whole town should take fire, there will be quarters where 
assistance would not be useless; but the power of man, as well as 
his foresight, has its limits. When Franklin had found the secret of 
preserving buildings from the ravages of lightning, he acknowledged 
that he made no pretensions to the means of preventing the en- 
croachments of another deluge, or of a universal conflagration. But 
notwithstanding this limitation of power, the world will not renounce 
the use either of lightning rods or of fire engines. 


Protection of Persons from Fire. “iis 
F call NOTES. 


Note, referring to the Introduction.—Vhe practice of burning the 
bodies of the Roman emperors, enveloped in sheets of asbestus, was 
not, according to the author, so common as Pliny insinuates. ‘They 
were burned in an enclosure of refractory stone, without any extra- 
ordinary precaution to prevent the ashes of the wood from mingling 
with those of the body. Suetonius, and other historians that have 
described the funeral of Augustus, Trajan, Severas, and other em- 
perors, make no mention of amianthus, though its use had been then 
long known, as is attested by Strabo, Dioscorides and others. 

Clement XI. presented to the Vatican library a magnificent urn of 
marble, which contained a winding sheet of amianthus, enclosing ash- 
es and acranium. ‘This fine relic was discovered outside the Vevia 
gate in 1702. It is the only one hitherto found in the tombs of 
persons of distinguished rank. ‘The tissue of this cloth is rather 
close, and the threads very coarse. ‘The urn signified that it con- 
tained the head of a king or an emperor. The piece of cloth is 
nine palms long and seven wide. M. Aldini has made some as 
large. 


Note, after Chap. VI.—The report of Gay-Lussac on the exper- 
iments of M. Aldini, and the observations contained in the Acts of the 
Milan Institute, perfectly agree in relation to the respiration of the 
firemen while in the midst of the flames. ‘The author having, be- 
fore he left Italy, made a head covering, consisting of a piece of 
cloth and a cap of wire gauze, found that it rendered the respiration 
painful, and he afterwards followed the advice of his friend Scarpa, 
and left an empty space for air between the envelope and the head. 
— It is essential that the air in contact with the flames should not enter 
the lungs, not only because it is deprived of oxygen, according to the 
observation of Gay-Lussac, but because the temperature is in equi- 
librium with that of the flames, and consequently at its maximum. 
But in the midst of these whirlwinds of flame, in appearance so 
threatening, the fireman introduces air which has not lost its oxygen, 
and whose heat is still far below that of the flames, and this serves 
for respiration. ‘The buckler opens a wide space for the column of 
wholesome air which precedes the man, and lowers around him the 
temperature of the medium in which he is plunging. Respiration is 
really in danger, only when he remains motionless, which cannot con- 


Vol. XX.—No. 1. 15 


114 Protection of Persons from Kure. 


tinue more than a few moments, from the activity which the fireman 
must necessarily exert. 


Note to Chap. ViE.—%n this note, the author states his belief that 
amianthus (which he is aware may in most places be too scarce and 
dear) is not indispensable to the preparation of good armor. Wool 
rendered difficult of combustion by a chemical preparation, may be 
used as a substitute. In this case, white stuff or blankets are prefer- 
able, as being worse conductors than stuff dyed by some conducting 
material. At Paris, the men equipped in dresses of prepared wool, 
resisted the fire as well as those in amianthus. It is possible that in 
time the metallic gauze may be dispensed with, but the author thinks 
that until some further discoveries are made, an external covering of 
this material will remain highly important in extensive fires. Its 
properties are unchangeable and well known. Prepared woollen 

- stuffs have not been very long tried. In Italy they have been used 
for two years, without any sensible deterioration. ‘They must be 
carefully preserved from moisture, which would eause the wool to 
rot, and the iron to rust. 

It is important that the dress be made as much as possible of one 
piece, for the heat penetrates at every crevice. ‘The form given in 
the plates is that which has been found best. 


The Arpenpix contains four official Reports on the plans of the 
Chevalier Aldini, for the preservation of the body from flame. 

The first is that of Professsor Maurice on the experiments made 
at Geneva. A summary of these experiments was given in our last 
volume, page 177. ‘They were very similar to those performed in 
Italy, and already described in Chap. IX. 

The second is a report made to the Academy of Sciences at Paris 
by Gay-Lussac. The experiments here detailed, were chiefly a 
repetition of those before described. One of the firemen carried a 

child eight years old in an osier basket covered exteriorly with a mez 

tallic tissue, while the child had only a mask of incombustible stuff. 
The spectators witnessed this experiment with fright, but the result 
was very satisfactory. 

The reporter states that M. D’Arcet and himself had proved, by 
a great number of experiments, that whenever an oven sufficiently 
heated emits smoke or flame, the air within this oven is entirely de- 
prived of oxygen. It is therefore certain, he adds, that in flame, ever 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 115 


after it ey have been extinguished by the wire gauze, there must be 
imminent danger of asphyxia; and that if no difficulty of breathing 
ensues, a purer air must find access to the men, and this he con- 
ceives may occur in several ways. | 

1. It is certain that the men have not their heads constantly in the 
flame, which we know moves with the gentlest current, and thus af- 
fords moments favorable for respiration. 

2. Admitting that the men remain too long 1 in the flames to breathe 
freely, we must then conceive that fresh air may rise between the two 
tissues not m contact, and thus supply the respiration. Besides, it is 
not difficult to hold one’s breath thirty, sixty, or even mere seconds, 
and though we do not think that the firemen resorted to this in pass- 
ing along the hedges of flame, the short time requisite to walk ten 
yards renders it possible. 

But although in the open air, or ina a ee respiration may be 
effected without chee it is certainly to be feared that in a confined 
situation, filled with smoke, which it is so common to meet with at 
fires, it would not be possible to breathe freely, though protected by 
the armor. Would it not be advisable then to provide a portable re- 
servoir of fresh air, or a flexible tube descending from the mouth to 
the floor, where the purest air is generally to be found. ‘The reporter 
insists on this point, for nothing so much interferes with respiration as 
a dense smoke. It would be well for firemen to exercise themselves, 
like divers, in holding their breath. 

Amianthus is found more abundantly, especially in Corsica, than it 
was formerly supposed; and simce Madame Lena Perpenti of Como 
has succeeded in making various qualities of tissue, and even lace; of 
this material, it cannot be doubted that this mineral may be used for 
the various operations of spinning and weaving, but it must always 
bear too high a price to admit of extensive applications. Hence 
woollen cloth properly prepared is to be preferred, and when well 
impregnated with sal ammoniac and borax it does not take fire, and 
may even be calcined without communicating combustion, and is also 
a slow conductor of heat. In this latter respect it has even the ad- 
vantage of amianthus, as has been shewn by M. Hourens. 'There- 
fore, in point of economy, of facility of preparation, of convenient 
use, of lightness, and of slower conducting power, wool is preferable 
to amianthus,—and its resistance to dane though incomparably less 
than that of the mineral, is nevertheless great enough to answer as a 
substitute for the latter in almost all the circumstances of ordinary fires. 


116 Protection of Persons from Fire. 


The cloth of amianthus or prepared wool will alone afford a sufii- 
cient guard in common eases; while the metallic gauze in extinguish- 
ing flame doesnot sufficiently intercept the heat. The latter also, by 
its rigidity, constrains the motions of the firemen, a serious inconven- 
ience when we consider how essential it is for them to enjoy the full 
play of their limbs. The reporter therefore infers that woollen gar- 
ments, sufficiently thick and close, and well impregnated with saline 
solutions, or preferably perhaps several lighter folds, one over another, 
of close stuff, to prevent the admission of air, would alone be suffi- 
ecient, and that at farthest it would only be necessary, in particular 
circumstances, to add moveable pieces of metallic cloth, to guard 
those parts of the body which are the most exposed to the heat, pre- 
serving always the two coverings at a certain distance from each 
other; for a close contact renders the metallic tissue more injurious 
than useful. 

The reporters speak highly of the use of the buckler, either with 
or without the dress of prepared stufis—and also of the advantage of 
metallic gr ating or wire work, as a stoppage to flame in doors, win- 
dows, Nc. 

On the whole, they recommend in strong terms the means invent- 
ed by the Chev. Aldini, to enable firemen to penetrate buildings on 
fire, to remove valuable materials, and to preserve the lives of sltoee 
who are liable to perish in the most frightful torments. 

The third report in the appendix is from a commission appomted 
by the Prerecr or Poricr, consisting of D’Arcet, Marc, Baron 
de Plazanet, Meyniel and Gualtier de Claubry. ‘The third named 
commissioner, Baron de Plazanet, colonel of the fire companies of 
Paris, devoted much attention to the experiments of M. Aldini. 

‘The report speaks favorably of the lamp or lantern of metallic 
tissue, introduced by the author. It may be set down upon’ straw 
or hay, or be surrounded by it without danger. If a straw should 
penetrate the lantern and take fire within, it will not communicate 
the flame beyond the meshes. A moveable muff has been added, to 
guard the flame against a current of wind. 

It would have been desirable in the opinion of the Lore, that 
an experiment had been made in a close room or building filled with 
fire and smoke, and they are not confident that without a reservoir of 
condensed air, or some additional artificial way, there would be a 
safety in remaining in such a situation. 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 117 


The metallic envelope must remain at a distance from that of the 
amianthus. When the latter is once heated it becomes dangerous. 
A fireman’s hand was considerably burnt by carrying a red hot iron, 
although he did not announce the accident. 

The commissioners are of opinion that the apparatus ought to re- 
ceive some modifications in order to render the use of it prompt, safe, 
and easy. 

The metallic armor should be rendered more flexible, and the 
means of putting it on and off more easy. 

Other needful changes are pointed out, which it is presumed that 
the well established and enlightened zeal of firemen will in due time 
effect, to the benefit of science man object which interests ina high 
degree the happiness of men. 

The report commends in strong terms the zeal and benevolence 
of the inventor, and recommends the special appropriation of a fund 
io the further perfection of the apparatus—and also a reward to the 
first fireman, who, equipped in the new dress, shall preserve persons 
or property from the imminent danger of a rapid conflagration. 

A new experiment on the 3d of November was still more satis- 
factory, the firemen having acquired greater confidence in their safety. 


The fourth report, also from Gautier DE CLauBry, made to 
the Societé d’Encouragement pour l'industrie Nationale, consists 
chiefly of a recapitulation of the facts and experiments, which have 
been before detailed. 


An account of the firemen of Paris. 

The city of Paris has been protected against fires only since 1696. 
In the reign of Louis XIV, thirteen engines were provided. In 
1722 the kmg extended the number to thirty, and created the corps 
of (garde- | ponies) engine keepers, which has been successively in- 
creased. In 1811 it Heecived a military organization, and in 1821 
the king decreed that this corps should constitute a part of the army. 

The corps of firemen is composed of four companies of one hundred 
and fifty four men. It supplies thirty two posts in the city and thirteen 
theatres. Each post or station has one or more engines; and in a very 
short time a great number of men and engines can be collected, and a 
fire never extends its ravages beyond the house in which it takes. The 
wails remain entire with their wooden partition, and it is very rare 


118 Protection of Persons from Fire. 


that the death of a single person occurs. ‘The corps is daily em- 
ployed in working the engines, and in infantry and gymnastic exercises. 

Experience has proved that when a fire takes place in a theatre, 
- assistance arrives from without always too late. Such places are 
therefore furnished with engines, which are placed in cellars in such 
a manner that those who play them may be sheltered from danger 
during the fire. ‘The water is drawn through a hose from a reservoir 
immediately beneath, which is filled by the city aqueducts. An as- 
cending pipe passes through the vault of the cellar, and leads to the 
fire. ‘This pipe has branches at different stories, through which, by 
simply opening the stopper, the water plays. At each of these stop 
cocks is a screw on which is fixed a hose (boyau,) fifty feet long, at 
the end of which is a lance. These are enclosed in a closet, in 
which is placed a bell rope corresponding with a closet below, so that 
if the fireman in the upper story wants water, he rings to the one be- 
low ; the latter does the same, and so on in succession to the cellar. 
When the fire is over, a second ring warns the engineer that it is 
time to stop. 

In each closet is an axe, a hand sponge, another sponge on the 
end of a long rod, and a long hook for cutting cords and pulling 
down inflamed parts. 

Reservoirs are also constructed in the upper stories of the theatre, 
from which pipes descend to the different parts of the house. Hose 
which can be speedily adjusted to these pipes are kept in due order 
in the closets. 


f 


He«planation of the Plates and dimensions of the Apparatus. 


PLATE I. 


Fig. 1. The height of this apparatus is six inches. ‘The lamp 
should be kept level so that the flame may not vary either in size or 
intensity. In bringing an iron wire about one tenth of an inch thick 
very near the flame it goes out. 

Fig. 2. A wrapper of wire gauze and amianthus into which a fin- 
ger is inserted and then held over a Jamp, to shew the advantage of 
a glove for handling and carrying hot articles. ‘The amianthus should 
be at least one tenth of an inch thick, and the two cylinders of wire 
gauze (the one inserted into the other,) must ‘be of such dimensions 
that the fore finger may remain at ease in the enclosure. The ex- 
terior gauze may have sixteen wires to the inch and the interior thirty. 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 119 


Fg. 3. A cup or saucer of porcelain, under which is placed a 
wire gauze, or a piece of amianthine cloth, to shew that the flame of 
alcohol is extinguished as soon as it approaches either of them, al- 
though the cup alone, at the same distance, does not produce this 
effect. 

fg. 4. This arrangement, destined to measure the action of the 
same flame at different distances, requires no particular description. 
In announcing the results, it is indispensable to note the size of the 
flame during the experiment. 

Fig. 5. Wire gauze, of which the meshes are of different sizes. 
Parallel wires of different sizes, and more or less distant from each 
other, may thus be tried. By means of fig. 4, or other similar ar- 
rangement, their action on the flame is easily ascertained. 

Fig. 6. Apparatus for determining, by means of the thermometer, 
the interior temperature of fig. 2, by varying the distance and volume 
of the flame. 

Ig. 7. Cage of wire gauze, for conveying animals through flame. 
The bottom of this cage must have the form of a truncated pyra- 
mid, on which the animals must be placed, on wooden supports, ren- 
dered incombustible by chemical solutions. 

Fig. 8. A stool, on which the firemen raise themselves for any 
special purpose. It should be of about sixteen inches diameter, and 
ought not to be less than four inches high. But it would be well to 
have them of different heights. 

fig. 9. Also for experiments on flame at different distances, and 
with different intervening obstacles. Its use will be manifest from 
the figure. ; 

fig. 10. A case of amianthus with its cover, of the same mate- 
rial. Its use is to enclose papers, or other objects to which its size 
may be adapted. In lieu of cylinders, boxes may be made of any 
desired shape. Pasteboard of amianthus answers well for this pur- 
pose. ‘The tubes or boxes should be covered with wire gauze. 

Fig. 11, 12,13, 14, and 15. Various forms of the safety lanthorn 
for domestic, country or city use. That of fig. 12, with a double 
envelope of very fine copper gauze, may be safely taken into arse- 
nals and powder magazines. Fig. 15, represents the firemen’s 
lamp; and in fig. 16, is seen the arrangement of the holes of the 
circular plate of this lamp. ‘The flame of it, is that of a wax can- 
dle enclosed in a tube, and kept up by a wire spring. Its envelope 
should have at least sixteen meshes per inch, or two hundred and 
fifty-six per square inch. 


120 Protection of Persons from Fire. 


PLATE il. 


The various parts of a complete armor for firemen, as they have 
been made in Paris, are represented in this plate. 

Fig. 1. A helmet of wire gauze, known in commerce by No. 18. 
The head covering is of double, and the sight holes of single gauze. 
The dimensions ought to be such that the head of the wearer may 
not touch the helmet, especially at the upper part. 

Fig. 2. Cuiras of metallic cloth. It should be so made that the 
helmet may be attached to it. It opens on the left, for the conven- 
ience of being put on easily. In order to close it, at Paris, they 
make use of clasps, and in Italy chains have been used. With the 
former, the wearer needs assistance in fastening it; with the latter 
he can fasten it himself. 

Fig. 3. Pantaloons of metallic cloth, divided into two parts, which 
are fastened together by means of a clasp at the waistband. ‘They 
descend to the feet. 

Fig. 4, 5, 6. Boots of metallic cloth, with a vena of jointed iron 
plate. ‘The upper part has also two covered joints, so that no burn- 
ing material can get in, and the top of the boot behind is fastened by 
a chain to the pantaloons. =~ 

Fig. 7. Sole of amianthine pasteboatd, which may be replaced if 
necessary by other pasteboard of difficult combustion. ‘These soles 
are adapted to the pantaloons, fig. 3 

Fig. 8. Jackets and pantaloons of cloth prepared for resisting fire. 
This dress should be very wide. 

Fig. 9. Mask of amianthus, furnished with two wires covered with 
amianthus, to keep it at a certain distance from the face, and to per- 
init the introduction of air for breathing. 

Fig. 10. Head dress of amianthine pasteboard, covered with me- 
iallic gauze, for those whom the firemen may wish to carry through 
the flames. No opening is left for the eyes, but simply one for 
breathing, as it is better that the persons thus cireumstanced should 
not see the danger which surrounds them. 

Fig. 11. Glove of amianthus covered with a metallic gauze, sup- 
ple enough to yield to the motion of the fingers. In fig. 12 this me- 
tallic gauze is replaced by a second glove a amianthus, including the 
first. 


’ 


Protection of Persons from Fire. 121 


Fig. 13. A fireman in the prepared dress, with the boots of fig. 4 
and gloves of fig. 11, walking on hot plates of iron and holding in his 
hand a bar of red hot iron. (Experiment in Italy.) 

Fig.14. Moistened sponge, with spectacle branches to keep it 
against the mouth. It is destined to retain matters injurious to res- 
piration, in places filled with smoke. 


PLATE Iii. 


Fig. 1. Experiment in which the firemen, covered with the helmet 
and cuirass, expose their head to the flame of a hot fire, kindled ina 
vase whose capacity ought to be such that the volume of flame effectu- 
ally envelops the head and its armor. 

Fig.2. Buckler of metallic gauze. It is fifty inches high and thir- 
ty inches wide. It may be made of two pieces, joined in the direc- 
tion of the longer axis, with fastenings which will render it firm and 
compact when used. ‘The wire gauze ought to be twenty to the inch. 
This buckler may be very solid without weighing more than 5 Ibs. 

Fig. 3. Grate of wire of the size of a door or window, to intercept 
ithe passage of flame through such an opening. ‘The upper and lower 
rods are extended about four inches, and have a hole at each end, to 
admit of its being fastened with four nails. If a close double defense 
of this kind be used, it will be sufficient, in most cases, to extinguish 
flame and arrest the fire. 

Fig. 4. Basket for removing children from the midst of flames. 
It is of wire gauze, lined with prepared woollen cloth. The cover 
is simply wire gauze. 

Fig. 5. Crotchet for transporting men through flame. It is a 
wooden board, prepared for resisting fire. It should be about forty 
inches high and twelve wide. A kind of saddle, covered with pre- 
pared cloth, is attached to the middle of it, on which a man places 
himself. It is important that all its parts be firmly connected. 

Fig. 6. This figure is designed to give an idea of one of the ex- 
periments made at Florence, in which a man carried by a fireman, 
and a child by another, walked for some minutes in the midst of the 
flames in a circular enclosure. 


Vor.nox—No: I. 16 


122 Geological Communieations. 


Arr. XH.— Geological Communications. 


1. Crotalus? reliquus, or Arundo? crotaloides. 


TO PROF. SILLIMAN. 


i sznp you the long promised drawing of the Montrose peirifac- 
tion. I have had it drawn twice, besides several other unsuccessful 
attempts. Our best connoisseurs in drawing agree, that it is very 
difficult to make a drawing of this specimen, which will convey a 
just idea of it. But Miss T. Lee, of the Troy Female Semmary, 
has succeeded in making the most perfect resemblance. Iam anxious 
to have it laid before the scientific public, of both continents, for a 
decision on the question—to which of the two kingdoms of nature 
does it belong—the animal or vegetable? If to the animal, it is un- 
questionably of the order ophidia, and probably of the genus Crotalus. 
If a Crotalus, I give it the specific name reliquus; because ] can de- 
duce no safe characteristics from this fragment. It certainly bears 
some resemblance, in general outline, to the Phytilus Martini, which 
is of the reed family. But even the character of that petrifaction is 
not perfectly established. Besides, in my specimen, there are ap- 
parently essential differences. In the part marked F—curvilinear 
fibres, unquestionably the product of organization, appear as in the 
drawing; and there are traces of the same in the part marked D. 
It is true, that these may be the mineral substitutions for the veins of 
lateral leafy appendages; but it is truly wonderful, that a reed should 
present so many of the characteristics of the modern rattlesnake. 

I presume naturalists will generally decide, that it is nearly related 
to Martin’s petrifaction; therefore I will state particulars, to enable 
them to review the opinion given of that relic. ‘The drawing here 
given is the natural size, and its dimensions are exact proportional 
measures. ‘The curvilinear fibres appear strong and distinct—from 
one to three lines apart at their origin, generally converging towards 
their extremities, but in some cases distinctly bifurcate. It is the 
segment of a compressed hollow cylinder. On laying a rule from B 
to C, the depression in the middle is two lines. 

This specimen was presented to me by Dr. Rose, of Montrose, in 
Susquehanna county, Penn. He found it in the graywacke rock, on 
his own estate. Mr. C. Van Rensselaer and myself, traced that rock 
to the Carbondale and Tioga coal deposits. It lies over the Carbon- 
dale anasphaltic coal, (commonly called anthracite, but 1 think im- 


Geological Commumeceations . 123 


properly,) but we were not able to decide whether it embraced, over- 


lay, or lay under, the bituminous coal of Tioga. The rock strata; 
embracing the Tioga coal and Carbondale coal, when traced into the 
state of New York, to the distance of thirty miles, are certainly sepa- 
rated by an extensive stratum of limestone. But the limestone may 
disappear, in a kind of cuneiform termination, a little north of the 
Pennsylvania line; leaving, what I have called, the second and third 
graywacke rocks to unite in cne—the lower part embracing the an- 
asphaltic, and the upper part the bituminous beds of coal. This 
specimen was taken from the rock in which reeds, ferns and palms 
are found in abundance. But if it is the remains of a vertebrated 
animal, all doubt ceases respecting the stratum, embracing the bitu- 
minous coal of ‘Tioga, being upper secondary. If it is a culmiferous 
plant, the question is still open for discussion. 

The graywacke rock, embracing the specimen, does not contain 
the glimmering scales, always found in first graywacke, and generally 
in small quantities in second graywacke. It is a dirty yellowish grey, 
in the cleavage where the impression is made ; but of the usual color 
of graywacke, in a fresh fracture: Amos Eaton. 


Rensselaer School, Troy, Jan. 22, 1831. 


Since the above was in type, a note has been received from its 
author, saying that he had taken much pains to ascertain whether 
this species of petrifaction had been hitherto published or observed. 
Foreign journals were carefully examined, and enquiry was exten- 
sively made by a traveller in Europe. It appearing to be original 
and very interesting, was communicated for publication. A friendly 
call from J. H. Fielding, President of Madison College, Penn. has 
caused some doubt. He has an indistinct recollection of something 
of the kind, as he believes. ‘The author therefore requests, that 
wherever this Journal is read, enquiry for a similar specimen, or a 
publication of it, may be sought and information communicated to 
the editor; as other parts of this organic relic may have been found, 
which will settle the question, whether it was an animal, or a vegeta- 
bie of the reed family. One of our most accurate devotees to the 
study of recent organic relics, William Cooper, Esq. of the New 
York Lyceum, has examined it. He is in doubt, but is inclined to 
believe it an Arundo, or some plant of that family. Surely, says the 
author, it resembles the Phytilus Martin, when magnified with a 
power of 100.—EnrTor. 


— 


124 Geological Communications. 


2. The Gold of Mexico in a rock, equivalent to that which contains 
the Gold of the Carolinas; by Prof. Amos Eaton. 


Ar page 50, Vol. XVIII, of this Journal, I related facts intended 
to demonstrate, that the gold of the Carolinas was embraced in tal- 
cose slate rock; and that its gangue is quartz, of an intermediate 
character between the milky variety contained in argillite and the 
translucent variety of the granite. I have now before me more than 
one hundred specimens of the gold ore of Mexico, with its gangue 
and rock walls; both of which precisely resemble those of the Caro- 
linas. These specimens, as well as numerous others of the silver, 
quicksilver, copper and zinc, of that country, were collected by 
George Robinson, Esq. of Curracoa, W. I. (whose son is a member 
of this school,) who has been engaged for twenty years in exchang- 
ing European goods for bars of Mexican gold, &c. In this collec- 
tion are specimens from all the most important gold mines, extending 
north and south through a district of country of more than a thousand 
miles. Iam authorized to say, that all these mines are contained, 
chiefly, in the talcose slate; and wholly so as a central range. By 
this expression I wish to be understood, that the mines sometimes 
extend laterally into the adjoining rocks, as the hornblende rock, 
mica slate, &c. but that the main body of every mine is in the talcose 


slate rock. 
Rensselaer School, Troy, March 3, 1831. 


3. Scratches on elevated strata of horizontal graywacke wn the Al- 
leghany range; probably deluvial. Communicated to Prof. Ea- 
ton, by Judge William A. Thompson,* of Sullivan county, N. Y. 


Pror. Sr.ti14n.—T ue unpretending character of Judge Thomp- 
son, deprives the republic of science of much valuable information. 
He is the proprietor of ‘Thompson town, is perfectly at leisure, and 
a nice observer. His estate lying in the most interesting part of the 
Alleghany range, gives him peculiar advantages. 1 have drawn from 
him the result of some of his geological observations. 

Yours respectfully, Amos Eaton. 


* Ina letter, dated Dec. 22d, 1830. 


Geological Communications. 125 
Extract from Judge Thompson’s letter. 


During my last visit at Troy, you strongly pressed me to commu- 
nicate the result of some observations, through the medium of the 
American Journal of Science. My reason for hesitating on this sub- 
ject is, that all my observations may have been anticipated. But at 
your request I will state, that for twenty years I have been forcibly 
struck with the following phenomena. Wherever the earth has been 
removed, leaving the horizontal graywacke bare, scratches and deep 
grooves are observed running a few degrees north of a due east 
course. I have observed this fact in more than fifty places, where 
the earth has been removed in the construction of turnpikes, com- 
mon roads, mill works, &c. But they scarcely ever appear on 
rocks which have been exposed to air, rain, &c. When these 
scratches first attracted my attention, | was almost a stranger to the 
writings of geologists; but I could not resist the inference, that 
they were made by heavy rocks or boulders, driven over the sur- 
face of the upper layers of graywacke by the waters of the del- 
uge. I was even inclined to infer, that the scratches indicated 
the direction of the oceanic waters. I did not venture on the opin- 
ion, that the waters moved in precisely the same direction in all 
places; but that here, in Sullivan county, such was their direction. 
I supposed that the general direction was every where the same; 
but that the particular configuration of mountains, valleys, &c. might 
give local variations to the course of the mighty movements of wa- 
ters many miles in depth. 

After ten or twelve years, I became acquainted with several geo- 
logical works which gave the waters of the deluge a direction from 
north west to south east. I have only to say, that if these scratches 
indicate this direction, such could not have been their course here. 

If these facts, which I should be pleased to point out to Prof. Sil- 
liman, or any other geologist travelling this way, (to whom I offer my 
house for a home,) should be thought worthy of any consideration, 
I may venture to present additional results of my observations, made 
in this place and its vicinity, during the last thirty years. 

Respectfully your friend, Wituiam A. THompson.. 

Amos Eaton, Esq. 


126 


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Meteorological Observations. 127 


Mean temperature for the year, 54° 93’, being, two and a half 
degrees more than in the year 1829. 

Rain and snow, 37 ,2,°; inches, being more than two inches less 
than in the preceding year. 

Prevailing winds, from the S. S. W. and N. N. W. 

Heat the greatest in July, and least in January. 

We have had fifty-three fair days more than in the year 1829; 
this will explain the diminution in the quantity of rain. ‘The season, 
after the 4th of July, having been an uncommonly dry one—crops of 
Indian corn and potatoes suffermg more from drought, than in any 
preceding year, since 1804: from the 4th of July to the 5th of Sep- 
tember, there fell but two and a half inches of rain, while the heat 
from the 5th of July to the last of August, ranged from 85° to 94°, 
in the middle of the day, and the mean temperature for those two 
months was above 75° night and day. ‘The heat and drought ex- 
tended nearly or quite all over the Mississippi valley ; while at the 
same time excessive rains were falling on the borders of the Green 
Mountains, and in the New England States. ‘The spring months 
were unusually fine: fruit trees were in blossom nearly twenty days 
earlier than in 1829, and all the spring crops ripe two or three weeks 
sooner. Professor Olmsted’s theory of our climate is by far the 
most plausible of any which I have seen, and his facts as to the prev- 
alence of western winds over the United States, coincide with the 
observations made at this place. ‘The general current of the atmos- 
phere is from the west, setting round to the eastern quarter from the 
north, making a regular circuit in this manner, viz.—South-west, 
west, north-west, north, north-east, east, south-east and south; but 
never in the opposite direction. ‘This series has been often observed 
in the vernal and autumnal months. ‘The reader, in looking over 
the barometrical register, will doubtless be surprized at its low range. 
By comparing it with a table kept at Lexington, (Ky.) and one in 
Athens, (Ohio) I find it is too low by about ,2,°; of an inch, proba- 
bly from there being a little air in the top of the tube. But from all 
the observations I have seen, there is a difference of nearly an inch 
in the mean annual altitude of the mercury here, or that near the 
Atlantic shore. Ihave kept a table of atmospheric variations for 
three years, but have offered none for publication until now; by 
making the allowance above noted, it will vary but little from the true 
state of the barometer in this part of the valley. 


128 On a singular instance of Crystallization. 


The winter thus far, up to the 15th of February, has been one of 
unexampled severity since the first settlement of the Ohio company, 
at Marietta, in the year 1788. The thermometer has been for a 
number of mornings at zero, and once or twice five degrees below, 
since the 22d of December last. ‘The great snow storm, which 
seems to have visited the whole length of the United States, com- 
menced here on Friday the 14th January, 1831, at 4 o’clock, P. M. 
and continued until Saturday, 11 0’clock, A. M. ‘There fell fifteen 
inches in depth of snow, very level and even over the surface of the 
earth. A light breeze from the north attended the fall. ‘The weath- 
er continued cloudy until Tuesday, with occasional light showers of 
snow. 

February 15th, 1831. 


Art. XIV.—On a singular instance of Crystallization; by Av- 


custus A. Hayes. 


Ar the extensive drug ware-house of Messrs. Henshaw & Co. of 
Boston, after a few weeks of unusually cold weather, a quantity of 
oil of sassafras was decanted from a canister which had contained a 
mixture of the oil and water; there remained at the bottom a solid 
mass, which was liquefied by heat, thrown into an open tub, and left 
uncovered, exposed to the temperature of about 40° Fah. twelve or 
fourteen hours. At this time it was observed that the whole interior 
of the tub, below the surface of the fluid, was beautifully studded 
with large transparent crystals, closely resembling those deposited 
from a saturated saline solution. ‘The fluid was decanted and re- 
placed by cold water from a well; covered with this, the crystals 
remained unaltered, an interesting object of curiosity to numerous 
observers, for several days. 

Through the kindness of Mr. Henshaw, I was permitted to exam- 
ine the forms of the crystals, and select from them a number, for the 
purpose of learning their composition, and observing the circumstan- 
ees attending their production. ‘The form was that of a hexagonal 
prism, terminated by low six-sided pyramids, variously modified ; 
two lateral faces of the prism were sometimes so extended, that a 
line only marked the others; the faces of the pyramids were also 
unequal, and in a few instances, one plane obliterated all traces of 


On a singular instance of Crystallization. 129 


the pyramid ; often grouped, crossing each other at various angles, 
and then exhibiting both terminations ; white, transparent, possessing 
a vitreous lustre, brittle, the-fracture disclosing a regular internal ar- 
rangement ; the odor, like that of the oil at the same temperature, 
was slightly fragrant. When detached from the sides of the vessel, 
they instantly subsided in the water. ‘The temperature of the air 
being about 62° Fah., the crystals partially exposed above the water, 
were slowly diminishing in size and resuming a solid form, on those 
below, which were at 45° Fah. ; the difference of temperature be- 
ing maintained by the evaporation of the oil from the surface of the 
fluid, contained in an imperfectly conducting vessel. When with- 
drawn from the water, and wiped, they soon melted into a colorless 
fluid; in size, they varied from one and a half inches in length, by 
half an inch in width, to one-tenth these dimensions. 

Having often observed the oil of sassafras, inclosed in glass phials, 
perfectly fluid, at all the intermediate degrees of temperature from 
—10° to +70° Fah., it seemed to me probable that a crystallizable 
compound had been produced by some alteration in the constituents 
of the oil. With this supposition in view, I carefully removed the ad- 
hering water from some fine crystals, by means of bibulous paper, 
and allowed them to melt in a clean, covered vessel. Portions of 
the resulting fluid, in suitable vessels, were cooled to different ther- 
mometric points, under circumstances deemed favorable to ordinary 
crystallization ; the oil remained fluid, although its mobility dimin- 
ished by reducing the temperature; yet no tendency to assume a 
solid form was indicated. 

On examination, the fluid obtained from the crystals presented the 
physical and chemical properties of pure oil of sassafras, so far as I 
know them ; precautions were taken to remove water if mixed with 
it, but the desiccating compounds were not moistened, nor could it 
be resolved into two fluids by distillation. 

Recurring to the circumstances under which the erystals were first 
observed, a portion of the oil was placed, with three parts of water, 
in a cylindrical glass vessel, the vessel, immersed in a freezing mix- 
ture, was occasionally agitated, until the whole was reduced to a soft 
solid mass; crystals of the oil were now observed, and by allowing 
the vessel to remain in a warm room, the congealed water became 
fluid, leaving the crystals incrusting the sides and bottom of the ves- 
sel. ‘The crystals thus obtained, presented varieties of the same 
form as the original crystals from which they were derived, and in 


Vor SOO —INos Ie 17 


130 On a change of Climate. 


relation to the quantity of the fluid, were quite as large in size. ‘They 

remained thirty-six hours in an atmosphere, whose temperature was 

increasing from 46° to 58° Fah. ; some fluid oil then collected in 

globules, and the exact temperature of a half fluid mass was 514° F, 
Roxbury Laboratory, 5th March, 1831. 


Arr. XV.—On a change of Climate.* 
(FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE LATE BISHOP HEBER.) 


[HE principal apprehension at present [m Norway] arises from 
the too rapid destruction of their forests, to the existence of which 
they attribute, with apparent reason, the superior mildness of their 
climate to countries under the same latitude.” —Life of Bishop He- 
ber, Vol. I. p. 80. 

“¢ The resemblance of the Tanais to the Nile has been remarked 
by many writers ; but that these ample downs, whither its fertilizing 
waters cannot extend, have not since degenerated into a desert, like 
those of the Thebais, must be ascribed to the difference of latitude, 
and the beneficial effects of a four months continued snow. ? 

‘This rigor of climate is so greatly at variance with those inter- 
ested reports which, in the hope of attracting settlers to her new do- 
minion, were circulated by the empress Catharine ; and it differs so 
widely from that temperature which might be supposed to exist in 
the latitude of forty-six, in the same parallel with Lyons and Gene- 
va,—that though the ancients observed and recorded it, the fact has 
been very slowly admitted by the generality of modern inquirers. 
Even among those who yielded a respectful attention to the authority 


* Extract of a letter from David Thomas, Esq. to Prof. J. Griscom, dated, 
** GREATFIELD, 12th Mo. 10, 1830. 

“Since my last letter was written, I have read with much interest and satisfac- 
tion, some remarks of the late Bishop Heber on physical climate, which differ in 
point of fact from several writers on this subject. His opinion will command the 
greatest deference, not only on account of his eminent talents, but because he was 
on the spot to observe and to inquire. I copy such parts as appear pertinent to our 
present discussion. 

s* As much has been written on a change of chmate, and, in my view, many er- 
roneous notions widely diffused, perhaps it would subserve the interests of science, 
to offer Heber’s remarks for a place in Prof. Silliman’s Journal.” 


On a change of Climate. 13! 


of poets and historians, many have been anxious to suppose that the 
peculiarity they describe, has long since ceased to exist; and they 
have deduced from this supposed difference between the ancient and 
modern climate of Scythia, a proof that by the destruction of forests, 
the draining of marshes, and the triumphant progress of agriculture, 
the temperature, not only of certain districts, but of the earth itself, 
has been improved.* But how far all or any of these changes may 
be able to produce effects so extensive, as it may reasonably admit 
of doubt, so it is in the present instance superfluous to inquire; since 
in Scythia these causes have never operated, and no apparent melio- 
ration of the climate has taken place. ‘The country still continues, 
for the most part, in the wild state painted by Herodotus and Strabo 5 
and all the countries bordering on the Euxine Sea are still subject to 
an annual severity of winter, of which (though in a far higher lati- 
tude,) the inhabitants of our own country can hardly form an idea. 
“That water freezes when poured on ihe ground; that the ground 
in winter is muddy only where a fire is kindled ; that copper kettles 
are burst by the freezing of their contents; that asses, being animals 
impatient of cold, are found here neither in a wild nor tame state,— 
are circumstances no less characteristic of modern Scythia, than of 
Scythia as described by Herodotus and Strabo.t Nor do I ques- 
tion the authority of the latter, when he assures us that the Bospho- 
rus has been sometimes so firmly frozen, that there has been a beaten 
and miry high-way between Panticapeum and Phanagoria ; or that 
one of the generals of Mithridates gained there, during the winter, a 
victory with his cavalry, where, the preceding summer, his fleet had 
been successful. In the neighborhood of the latter of these towns, 
by the Russians since called Tmutaracan, a Slavonic imscription has 
been discovered, which records the measurement of these straits over 
the ice, by command of the Russian prince Gleb, in the year 1068. 
But such events must, from the force of the current, have at all 
times, been of rare occurrence. By the best information which I 
could procure on the spot, though the straits are regularly so far 
blocked up by ice as to prevent navigation, there is generally a free 
passage for the stream unfrozen. Across the harbor of Phanagoria, 
however, sledges are driven with safety; and on the other side of 
the Crimea, a Russian officer assured me that he had driven over 


* Howard’s Theory of the Earth. + Herod. Melpom, 28—-Strabo, L. vii. 


132 On a change of Climate. 


the estuary of the rivers Bog and Dnieper, from Otchakof to Kin- 
burn. But not only straits and estuaries, but the whole sea of Azoph 
is annually frozen in November, [ ! | and is seldom navigable earlier 
than April. This sea is fished during winter, through holes cut with 
mattocks in the ice, with large nets, which are thrust by poles from 
one to the other ; a method which has given rise to Strabo’s exag- 
gerated picture, of ‘fish as large as dolphins, (apparently meaning 
the bieluga) dug out of the ice with spades.’ This remarkable se- 
verity of climate on the northern shores of the Euxine, may induce 
us to give a proportionate faith to what the ancients assure us of its 
southern and eastern shores; and though Ovid may be supposed to 
have exaggerated the miseries of his banishment; and ihough re- 
ligious as well as African prejudice may have swayed ‘Fertullian in 
his dismal account of Pontus, it is certain that Strabo can be influ- 
enced by neither of these motives, where he accounts for Homer’s 
ignorance of Paphlagonia, ‘because this region was inaccessible 
through its severity of climate.’ 

‘¢'T’o account for this phenomenon, is far more difficult than to es 
tablish its existence; and the difficulty is greater, because none of 
those theories by which the problems of climate have been usually 
solved, will, in the present instance, apply. In elevation above the 
sea, which, when considerable, is an obvious and undoubted cause of 
cold, the downs of European ‘Tartary do not exceed those of Eng- 
land. Forests, the removal of which has in many countries been 
supposed to diminish frost, have here never existed ; and though the 
custom of burning the withered grass in spring, which has been for 
so many centuries the only secret of Scythian husbandry, may have 
produced in many parts of this vast pasture, a considerable deposit of 
saltpetre, it is not easy to suppose with Gibbon, that a cause like this 
can produce such bitterness of wind, or such unvarying rigor of win- 
ter. It may be observed, however, (and the observation, though it 
will not solve the difficulty, may perhaps direct our attention imto the 
right train of inquiry) that it is only in comparison with the more 
western parts of Europe, that the climate of Scythia is a subject of 
surprise ; and that in each of the two great continents, we discover in 
our progress eastward, along the same parallel of latitude, a sensible 
and uniform increase of cold. Vienna is colder than Paris; Astra- 
ehan than Vienna; the eastern districts of Asia are incomparably 
colder than Astrachan; and Choka, an island of the Pacific, in the 
same latitude with Astrachan or Paris, was found by the Russian cir- 


Fuel for Steam Boilers.  - 133 


cumnavigators m 1805, exposed to a winter even longer and more 
severe than is commonly felt at Archangel. In America, the same 
marked difference is observed between the climate of Nootka and 
Hudson’s Bay ; and even in so small a scale of Nature as that af- 
forded by our island, the frosts are generally less severe in Lancashire 
than in the East Riding of Yorkshire. If then the southern districts 
of European Russia are exposed to a winter more severe than those 
of France or Germany, they may boast in their turn of more genial 
climate than the banks of the Ural and the Amur ; while all are sub- 
ject to a dispensation of nature which extends too far, and acts too 
uniformly to be ascribed to any local or temporary causes.”—Life 
of Bishop Heber, Vol. I. p. 532—535. 


Art. XVI.—Fuel for Steam Botlers—Eprror. 


Tue vast consumption of wood in our steam-boats, and in some 
of our manufactories, must, m a few years, make serious inroads 
upon our forests, which (while the applications of steam will be con- 
stantly extending with our increasing population,) will, year by year, 
be wasted in a rapidly increasing proportion. In the maritime parts 
of the country, and especially in the eastern and middle States, this 
effect is already conspicuous in relation to the pine groves.and_ for- 
ests, and especially those of the pitch pme. ‘This fuel is decidedly 
preferred, because the resinous matter, with which it abounds, cre- 
ates an abundant flame, that readily rolls along, in unceasing vol- 
umes, and thus applies the heat to the whole extent of the metal with: 
whose surface the water is in contact. 

In steanz boilers, there must not only be a sufficient heat in the 
grate of the furnace, but the heat must be applied wherever the 
steam is to be generated. ‘The fuel that affords the greatest abun- 
dance of inflammable gas is therefore the best. Flame is produced 
by the combustion of inflammable matter, in the state of gas or va- 
por; a burning substance which affords no volatile matter, cannot 
produce flame ; thus iron gives bright sparks, but (if pure) no flame. 
Wood, in all its varieties, turf and bituminous coal, during their de~ 
composition in the act of burning, emit vast quantities of inflammable 
gas and vapor, and therefore burn with abundant flame ; but pure 
plumbago (black lead) affords little or no flame, and anthracite much 
less than the other varieties of fuel that have been named.. 


134 Fuel for Steam Boilers. 


The vast mines of anthracite which exist in this country, (and of 
which accounts have been published in several of the volumes of 
this Journal) afford an inexhaustible resource for fuel, on the eastern 
side of the Alleghanies, while the bituminous coal is equally abun- 
dant on the west, and this variety of coal will hereafter be applied to 
the production of steam, when the forests of the Ohio and Mississippi, 
and their tributary waters, shall have been wasted. 

It is well known, that the anthracite of Pennsylvania differs from 
that of the old continent, by producing considerable quantities of in- 
flammable gas.* ‘This is most copiously evolved when the coal is 
first ignited, and is gradually diminished in quantity, and finally ceas- 
es, with the continued action of the fire; and a very intense heat is 
long maintained in the furnace after the flame has nearly ceased. In 
this state, when the fire is in active ignition, if a little water is thrown 
upon it, the flame is renewed, and perhaps a great volume of it in- 
stantly bursts ito the room. ‘The cause is obvious; the water is 
decomposed by the highly ignited carbon, and its hydrogen being lib- 
erated, burns ; this depends upon the well known chemical fact, that 
intensely heated carbon decomposes water, by attracting its oxygen 5 
and by supplying a regulated flow of steam, passing in, beneath the 
grate,-as much as the coal could decompose, without having its tem- 
perature too much depressed, (when it would cease to decompose 
the water, and the latter would operate to extinguish the fire) we 
might probably have a constant supply of flame from ignited anthra- 
cite. It is well known, that moistened anthracite burns better than 
dry ; it will indeed not kindle so soon, but when kindled—which is 
most easily done by adding it to anthracite or charcoal, already on 
fire, it burns with very abundant flame. I have often observed that 
anthracite thrown into the fire with much snow adhering to it, burns 
all the better for this addition. On putting a large mass of snow 
into an anthracite furnace, in a very active state, a great roaring was 
immediately produced, like that from a burning chimney, and -the 
noise was rather startling, and continued till the snow was all melted 
and the water decomposed ; by throwing in small snow balls in succes- 
sion, the inflammable gas was produced in a more manageable way. 
it seems evident, therefore, that a supply of water, or of steam, duly 


* See Vol. X. p. 333, of this Journal. 
t I do not advert to its use in the open grate, but in furnaces, such as are used for 
warming halls. 


‘ Fuel for Steam Boilers. 135 


proportioned to the quantity and heat of the fuel, might be made to 
increase the activity of the fire, and to furnish it with an abundant 
flame. Water presents the great advantage of being without cost, 
and always at hand in the same apparatus to which the fire is applied. 

It will be observed that we are not now speaking of a mode of in- 
creasing the quantity of heat, but of applying, advantageously, that 
which is produced. It would perhaps be unphilosophical to expect, 
that gas created at the expense of the fire, should do any thing more 
than to restore the heat which it had taken up when it became gas, 
and there could plainly be no increase of heat from this source, ex- 
cept from the oxygen employed in burning the inflammable gas, and 
which, mingling with it every where in the flue, might thus increase 
the quantity of heat evolved. 

But there is another property of ignited anthracite, which it pos- 
sesses in common with probably all ignited bodies. It decom- 
poses various compound fluids, even where it does not operate by 
attracting oxygen; it dissolves the bond of union between the ele- 
ments, and thus enables them, in new combimations, to assume the 
gaseous form. 

This is the foundation of the important application proposed to be 
introduced by Mr. J. Li. Sullivan, and described in an early part of 
the present number. He proposes to pass the-vapor of spirits, and 
of inflammable oils, or other combustible fluids, through or over ig- 
nited anthracite, and thus to supply the only imperfection (in rela- 
tion to steam boilers) of this admirable fuel. If no mechanical diffi- 
culty occurs in practice, it is not easy to foresee why a continued 
flame, sufficiently abundant to pervade the entire flue of a steam boiler, 
may not be thus afforded by ignited anthracite ; the flame, by a due 
regulation of the supply of the inflammable fluid, or of its vapor, may 
be made more or less abundant, at pleasure ; it may be very quickly 
stopped or renewed, by cutting off or opening the communication ; 
the anthracite, remaining in the mean time ignited, there can be no 
loss of time in reanimating the fire, as happens when a fire of blazing 
pine is extinguished, and as the anthracite continues to burn for many 
hours with little variation of energy, the attendance of the firemen, 
instead of being constant, as now, (and distressing even to the specta- 
tor to behold, much more to these poor men to endure,) may admit 
of considerable intervals ; taking care to supply the anthracite, once 
perhaps in half an hour, or possibly an hour, and in the mean time to 
regulate the flow of the inflammable vapor, which may be done with- 
out even approaching the mouth of the furnace. 


136 Electro-magnetic properties in the mines of Cornwall. 


If this projected improvement should prove successful, it would af- 
ford an additional and most important market for the coal of the an- 
thracite mines, which perhaps, from its great abundance, and the in- 
creasing facilities of conveyance, may soon sink too low in price to 
enable the proprietors to prosecute their mining operations with fair 
advantage ; nor is this all; it would afford also a new market for 
spirit, the cheaper kinds of which would then be used for fuel ; they 
would be appropriated to the furnace instead of the firemen, and 
ihus the great cause of temperance would be promoted by dimin- 
ishing the temptation to drink, and an adequate substitute would be 
afforded for the consumption. Should there be found to be any ad- 
vantage in mingling steam with the vapor of the inflammable fluids, it 
could be easily introduced by a very simple and obvious contrivance. 

This proposed improvement appears therefore to be a fair and rea- 
sonable subject of experiment for the proprietors of steam-boats 5 
and we are the more persuaded that it will be tried, as many of these 
gentlemen do not regard exclusively the profits of their capital, but 
wiew, with a benevolent and patriotic feeling, the great cause of 
public improvement and of national prosperity.* 

Yale College, March 16, 1851. 


Arr. XVII.—On the electro-magnetic properties of metalliferous 
veins in the mines of Cornwall; by Ropert Were Fox of 
Falmouth.—Communicated by Prof. J. Griscom. 


Havre received from my friend R. W. Fox of Falmouth, a copy 
of his interesting paper on the electro-magnetic properties of metal- 
liferous veins, read before the Royal Society on the 10th of June, 
1830, I have no doubt that the following abstract of it will be highly 
acceptable to the readers of the American Journal. ‘The subject is 
new, and the author in his letter accompanying the paper, intimates 
the wish that analogous investigations might be prosecuted in this 
country. He expresses a desire in particular, to receive information 
relative to the prevalent horizontal direction and underlie of some of 
the principal metallic veins in the United States—the nature of their 
vein stones, and whether they accord with the rocks traversed ; also, 
whether the metallic veins are intersected and shifted by other veins 
of quartz, clay, or other substances, as in Cornwall. In addition to 


* We observe with pleasure, that coal (we suppose the bituminous of Nova Sco- 
tia) has been recently introduced into the Rhode Island steam boats, with much 
economy of room, money and trouble 


Electro-magnetic properties in the mines of Cornwall. 137 


the information on these points which may be found in the pages of 
the American Journal, it is to be hoped that some of its readers may 
contribute something more specific, and accompany their statements 
with the result of experimental engineers, similar to those detailed in 
the following abstract. J. G. 


The previous experimental researches of the author on the pro- 
gressive increase of temperature in mines, suggested to him the opin- 
ion, that this internal heat, which he has so satisfactorily proved to be 
augmented with the depth, might be connected with electrical action. 
The fact of such an action his experiments have clearly established. 

His apparatus consisted of small plates of sheet copper, which 
were fixed in contact with ore in the veins by copper nails, or press- 
ed closely against it by wooden props, stretched across the “ levels” 
or galleries. Between two of these plates at different stations, and 
a galvanometer, a communication was made by means of copper 
wire, one twentieth of an inch in diameter, which was at first coated 
with sealing wax ; but this prevention was afterwards dispensed with. 
The galvanometer, used for detecting the electric action, consisted 
simply of a magnetic needle three and a quarter inches long, one 
eighth of an inch wide, and one twentieth of an inch thick. It was 
inclosed in a box four inches square and one inch in depth, having a 
a plated copper wire, one fiftieth of an inch in diameter, coiled round 
it twenty five times. No magnet was used to neutralize the terres- 
trial polarity. In some instances nearly three hundred fathoms of 
copper wire were employed. 

The intensity of the electro-magnetic action differed greatly in 
different places; in some cases the deviation of the needle was in- 
considerable, in others it went completely round the circle. In gen- 
eral it was greater, ceteris paribus, in proportion to the greater abun- 
dance of copper ore in the veins, and in some degree perhaps to the 
depth of the stations; and where there was little or no ore, there 
was little or no action. Hence it seems likely, that electro-magnet- 
ism may become useful to the practical miner in determining with 
some degree of probability, at least, the relative quantity of ore in 
veins, and the directions in which it most abounds. When the dis- 
tance of the plates from each other in a horizontal direction was only 
a few fathoms, and the copper ore between them was plentiful, and 
uninterrupted by non-conducting substances, or the workings in the 
mine, no action occurred, owing no doubt to the good conducting 


Vou: XX—Now tf. 18 


138 Electro-magnetic properties im the mines of Cornwall. 


power of the vein; but where a cross vein of quartz or clay hap- 
pened to be between the plates under similar circumstances, the ac- 
tion was unusually great. 

When the communication was established between two plates at 
different depths on the same vein, or between different veins, whether 
at the same level or otherwise, the electrical action was in general 
the most decisive. In fact, veins, which in some instances were al- 
most destitute of ore, and did not affect the needle, per se, did so, 
though perhaps in a slight degree, when electrical communications 
were made between them. 

The direction of the positive electricity was im some cases from 
east to west, and in others from west to east; and when parallel 
veins were compared, its general tendency was, the author thinks, 
from north to south, though in several instances it was the reverse. 
In veins having an underlie towards the north, the east was commonly 
positive with respect to the west; but in veins dippmg towards the 
south, the contrary was observed, with one exception only, and that 
under rather unusual circumstances. In comparing the relative 
states of veins at different depths, the lower stations appeared to be 
negative to the upper; but exceptions sometimes occurred when a 
cross vein of quartz or clay intervened between the plates, and the 
higher one was on the negative side with respect to the horizontal 
eurrents. 

In such cases it may be supposed that there is an accumulation of 
electricity in different states, on the opposite sides of the non-con- 
ducting vein. Such intersections of ore veins, and their being often 
very rich to a great depth in one direction and not in another, added 
to their varying underlie at different depths, which is not unfre- 
quently reversed, may tend to produce apparent anomalies in exper- 
iments of this nature. 

At Huel Jewel mine, the author obtained results between a heap 
_ of copper ore at the surface, and a plate fixed at different depths 
against the ore in the vein; the latter becoming negative, im propor- 
tion to the depth at which it was placed. Piles of copper ore at 
the surface did not act on the needle when tried together, independ- 
ently of veins, nor was it to be anticipated that they would. 

It is not improbable that the progressive increase of negative elec- 
tricity observed im descending into mines, if hereafter contra 
may be found to be Beaneeredh with the progressive increase of tem- 
perature. The author has not discovered any distinct connection 


Electro-magnetic properties in the mines of Cornwall. 189 


between the electricity. and temperature at the same level, but then 
the differences of temperature are comparatively small. Nor does 
the electricity appear to be influenced by the presence of the work- 
men and candles, or by the explosion of gunpowder, although some 
veins of copper ore were blasted on different occasions in the imme- 
diate vicinity of the copper plates. At a very productive copper 
vein in Great St. George mine, the ground is so soft that gunpow- 
der is not used: yet the needle was powerfully acted upon by the 
electricity it contained. On this occasion as well as on some others, 
the galvanometer remained at the surface, the wires being passed 
down through the shafts; and in this manner it was sometimes found 
that the electricity acted with considerable energy, so as even to 
cause the needle to revolve with some velocity. 

In connection with the electricity of veins, the author deemed it 
desirable to ascertain the relative power of conducting galvanic elec- 
tricity possessed by many of the metalliferous minerals; and it ap- 
peared to be in about the following order, viz. 


Conductors. 


Copper nickel, purple copper, yellow sulphuret of copper, vit- 
reous copper, sulphuret of iron, arsenical pyrites, sulphuret of lead, 
arsenical cobalt, crystallized black oxide of manganese, tennantite, 


fahlerz. 
Very imperfect conductors. 


Sulphuret of molybdenum, sulphuret of tin, or rather bell-metal ore. 
Non-conductors. 


Sulphuret of silver, sulphuret of mercury, sulphuret of antimony, 
sulphuret of bismuth, cupriferous bismuth, realgar, sulphuret of 
manganese, suiphuret of zinc. 


Mineral combinations of metals with oxygen and with acids. 


Amongst the rocks prevalent in Cornwall, clay slate or ‘“ killas” 
seemed to possess the property of conducting commion electricity, in 
a slight degree, but only in the direction of its cleavage, perhaps 
owing to the moisture it retained. 

These facts are mentioned in some detail, because it is curious to 
observe that the conducting power of metallic ores appears to have 
no reference to any of the electrical or other properties of the metals 


140 Llectro-magnetie properties of the mines of Cornwall. 


in a pure state, or to the proportion of them in combination. Silver 
and mercury, for example, are combined with, comparatively, very 
small quantities of sulphur ; and zinc, which seems to hold an oppo- 
site place te silver in the electrical-scale, is also found in combination 
with a much less proportion of sulphur than is contained in copper 
pyrites, though the latter is one of the best mineral conductors of 
electricity. There are many other analogous examples, which 
prove that no conclusion can be drawn, a priori, from the nature or 
chemical arrangements of minerals, as to their relative electrical 
properties. 

Much time and attention have been bestowed by geologists on the 
consideration of the origin and comparative ages of veins, and but 
little on the purposes for which they are designed. 

The author thinks it will prove a vain attempt to reconcile a mul- 
iitude of facts observable in mines with any known natural causes. 

1st. The very oblique descent of a large preportion of the veins 
into the earth, in some cases in very hard rock, and in others in 
ground so soft, that it would immediately fall in, however small the 
excavation, without being completely supported by timber. Were 
it possible to conceive fissures to exist under such circumstances, it 
is not reasonable to suppose that they would not take the direction in 
which the resistance would be least, that is, either the vertical, or the 
line of the cleavage of the rocks. 

Qd. Veins are often divided into branches, which unite again at a 
considerable depth, including between them vast portions of rock, 
perfectly insulated by the ore or vein stones from the general mass; 
these, it is evident, could not have existed as fissures for a moment. 

3d. Veins are continually subject to changes in their horizontal di- 
rection and underlie; their size also often varies exceedingly, one 
part being many times wider than another, without any reference to 
their relative position or depth under the surface. 

4th. Although a portion of their vein stones are usually quite dis- 
tinct in their characters from the rocks they traverse, they are gen- 
erally, in part, of the same nature, and vary with the contaming rocks, 
whether granite, elvan, killas, &e., and they are commonly too regu- 
larly arranged in the veins, and are found inclosing insulated portions 
of the ore, &c. in their very substance, to admit of the idea of their 
having been originally mere broken fragments of the inclosing rocks. 

At Dolcoath mine, there is an instance of one ore vein imtersect- 
ing another at different depths, and being itself intersected, and even 
shifted by the same vein at a greater depth. 


Electro-magnetic properties of the mines of Cornwall. 141 


Many other facts might, if it were necessary, be accumulated, rel- 
ative to the position and intersection of veins, as well as the nature 
and arrangement of their contents, which are calculated to throw en- 
tire discredit on the various hypotheses which have been invented to 
account for their origin. But the object is rather to suggest whether 
the arrangement of veins, &c., does not argue design, and a probable 
connection with other phenomena of our globe. 

Metalliferous veins, and those of quartz, &c., appear to be chan- 
nels for the circulation of the subterraneous water and vapor; and the 
innumerable clay veins or ‘ flucan courses,” (as they are termed in 
Cornwall) which intersect them, and are often found contained in 
them, being generally impervious to water, prevent their draining the 
surface of the higher grounds as they otherwise would, and also fa- 
cilitate the working of mines to a much greater depth than would be 
practicable without them. 

With respect to their electrical properties, it may be observed, that 
ores which conduct electricity have generally, in this country at least, 
non-conducting substances interposed in the veins between the ores 
and the surface. ‘Thus a brown iron ochre, with quartz, &c., nam- 
ed “ gossan” by the miners, is almost invariably found resting on 
copper. ‘Sulphuret of zine occurs sometimes in the same situation, 
both with regard to copper and lead ; but tin ore, which is a non- 
conductor, is without either, and is mostly found nearer the surface 
than copper. 

Tin veins are usually intersected by those of copper when they do 
not coincide in their horizontal direction or underlie; thus, in this 
case, the conducting veims traverse the non-conducting ones. And 
when two veins of copper meet at opposite angles in descending, 
they are generally found to be unproductive at and near the place of 
junction; but when they unite, proceeding downward in the same 
direction, but at different angles, they are commonly observed to be 
enriched. ‘These facts appear curious when regarded in connection 
with the opposite currents of electricity in veins having opposite dips, 

Many of the phenomena of the mines bear striking analogies te 
common galvanic combinations, and the discovery of electricity in 
veins seems to complete the resemblance. 

The author has been informed by intelligent persons, who have 
visited some of the mining districts of Mexico, Guatimala and Chili, 
that there is a general resemblance between the veins, elvan courses, 
&c. in some parts of those countries and our own; and he thinks it 


- 


142  Electro-magnetic properties of the mines of Cornwall. 


has been noticed by Baron Humboldt, that the stratification of primi- 
tive rocks in different and far distant parts of the world, has a general 
tendency from the north east towards the south west. 

Such analogies become highly interesting when regarded in con- 
nection with terrestrial electricity, magnetism and heat; for if it be 
granted that the two latter increase in intensity at great depths in the 
earth, they are evidently so connected with electrical action that the 
augmentation of it also, in the interior of the globe, may be reason- 
ably inferred. 

However this may be, assuming that metalliferous veins exist more 
or less in primitive rocks generally, and experience favors this as- 
sumption, whether we refer to the new mines which have been dis- 
covered in various parts of North and South America, Siberia, Ire- 
land, &c. or to the mining county of Cornwall, in which whole dis- 
tricts have comparatively of late been found abounding with mineral 
treasure, where none have been formerly supposed to exist, it may 
be presumed, that the electrical currents, which so affect the needle 
in the galvanometer, may likewise influence the direction of the mag- 
netic needle on the surface of the earth; at least no explanation of 
this phenomenon appears to be so plausible or so well connected with 
ascertained facts. Even the cause of the variations of the needle, 
mysterious as it has hitherto appeared to be, may probably be refer- 
red to the relative energies of the opposing electrical currents, which 
are perhaps subject to occasional modifications; and the appearance 
ef earthquakes and volcanic action, from time to time, seems to coun- 
tenance the probability of such changes. 

Nor should it be overlooked, in reference to this view of the sub- 
ject, that the oblique bearing which is generally observable in the 
strata and veins, with respect to the equator, causes them, as it were, 
to cross at opposite sides of the globe, in the same parallels of lati- 
tude, so that their tendency, if any, must necessarily be to produce 
more than one magnetic pole in each hemisphere. Thus, in this 
respect also, the hypothesis accords with the interesting fact lately 
announced ;—of Professor Hansteen having ascertained the exist- 
ence of a second magnetic pole within the arctic circle. ‘The revo- 
lution of the earth on its axis from west to east, seems to harmonize 
with the idea of oblique electrical currents; since rotation m the 
same direction may be produced by corresponding electro-magnetic 
arrrangements. 


Galvano-magnetism. 143 


The author mentions the following facts in relation to inerease of 
temperature in mines. | 

At Tingtang copper mine, in the parish of Gevennap, at the bot- 
tom of the shaft, at one hundred and seventy eight fathoms depth, 
the water was at the temperature of 82°. In 1820, when the same 
shaft was one hundred and five fathoms, the temperature was 68°; 
thus an increase of 14° has been observed in sinking seventy three 
fathoms. 

At Huel Vor, the water was 69°, at one hundred and thirty nine 
fathoms, in 1819. It is now two hundred and nine fathoms deep, 
and the temperature is 79°. 

At the bottom of Poldice copper mine, in 1820, at one hundred 
and forty four fathoms, it was 80°. Now, at one hundred and sev- 
enty six fathoms, it is 99°, and in a cross level, twenty fathoms far- 
ther north, the water is 100°. ‘The two last are the highest tem- 
peratures observed in any of the mines of Cornwall. The water 
pumped up from this part of the mine was estimated at one million 
and eight hundred thousand gallons in twenty four hours. 


ART. XVII.— Galvano-magnetism. 


The communication of Prof. Henry, in our last No., induced Prof. 
J. W. Webster of Harvard University, and Dr. Hare of the University 
of Pennsylvania, to repeat the experiments: the statements are 
annexed. 

Dr. W. in a letter to the editor, dated Feb. 7th, 1831, says— 
Immediately on receiving the last No. of the American Journal, | 
set about constructing a magnet, and having procured a bar of twen- 
ty inches in length by two, arranged it ina frame. With five hun- 
dred feet of fine copper wire, and a single coil of copper and zinc, 
of three inches by two, it sustained all the weights I had at command. 
[ then procured a beam capable of weighing six hundred pounds, the 
beam weighs twenty, and the armature ten; the whole was sustained. 
Tam to lecture next week to the Mechanics’ Institution in Boston, 
and shall use it in this state; after which, I intend to proceed to 
the maximum. ! have no doubt it will carry twelve hundred pounds. 
May we not anticipate, that there will be some valuable application 
of this power in the mechanic arts? Every thing being adjusted, we 
have only to lift a tumbler of acid and water to the coil, and the 


144 Galvano-magnetism. 


effect is produced. I have also been constructing a new galvanic 
battery in two parts, each containing five hundred pairs of six inch 
plates; the effect I have as yet tried only with water and about a 
pound of salt; with this mixture, it fuses substances instantly, and gave 
the globules, which you consider, fused carbon. 

In constructing the magnetic apparatus, there is considerable econ- 
omy in using sealing wax instead of silk. I stretch my wires across the 
room, and with a spirit lamp heat each wire, following on with a stick 
of wax, which melts and covers the wire very equally ; but I thnk 
the solution in alcohol preferable, as being less brittle and more 
readily applied. 

Since the above was written, Dr. W. informs me that one hun- 
dred and twelve pounds were held suspended, during twenty one 
hours after the coil had been removed from the acid, and the plates 
had become perfectly dry.—Ed. 


Prof. Hare, in a letter dated Feb. 24, writes—I have just made 
an apparatus, upon a small scale, in imitation of that of Prof. Henry 
of Albany, and it is quite successful. I used four coils of bell wire, 
of about fifteen feet each, wound first to the right, and then back 
over the coil first made, so as to bring the commencing and termina- 
ting wires to the same ends of the coils. All the commencing wires 
were soldered to one lead rod, and all the terminating wires to anoth- 
er, and these rods were severally made to communicate with the poles 
of acalorimotor, of about a square foot of zinc surface. I used no 
wrapping, but merely shell lac varnish, applied in winding, and pa- 
per between the coils. ‘The magnet consists of an iron bar of three 
eighths of an inch diameter. It easily holds a fifty six pound weight, 
and would bear, I believe, a twenty eight in addition. 


In another letter dated March 4th, Dr. Hare, in answer to enqui- 
fies which had been proposed to him as to his mode of construction, 
writes—that the wire was varnished by mixture of a thick solution 
of shell lac, in alechol, and vermilion, the varnish being applied in the 
winding of the coils. ‘This process was performed by a mandrill 
turned by a lathe, by means of a dog and centre points. ‘The man- 
drill, a round iron bar of the same size and shape as the magnet, 
was wrapped in a coil of paper so as to thicken it. ‘The coils were 
wound upon this for about two inches, one forward and one back, 
and between the first and second jayer paper was interposed. 


Galvano-magnetism. 145 


The coils thus forivied, four in number, were slid upon the legs of 
the magnet, the poles of the wires pointing all in the direction of the 
bar or of thé terminations of the horse shoe. It is of no importance 
how the wires are wound if put upon the bar in the order of their 
polarity, which may be ascertained by the needle. I first tried the 
magnet with four coils, two on each leg; afterwards, with six and 
eight, but found not only no proportionate increase but scarcely a per- 
ceptible one. Hg die 

With four coils, my magnet, three fourths of an inch in diameter 
and about twenty inches long, held about ninety pounds. 

The same coils on a shorter magnet of the same bar of about a 
foot in length held one hundred and twelve pounds. 

The effect in charging other magnets seems to me the most im- 
portant. A horse shoe magnet of about half an inch by thirty four, 
and about a foot in length from the beginning of one pole to the end 
of the other, following the curve, held three fourths of a pound: 
After twice drawing it over the poles of the artificial magnet in the 
usual way, it held four pounds. A needle of about a foot in length 
vibrated six times in two minutes; after treating it in the same manner 
as above described, it vibrated thirteen times in the same period. 
In each case it was held at right angles to the meridian and then al- 
lowed to vibrate. — 

Having made a magnet by tin foil coiled round the steel rod, I 
was led, in the multiplier, to substitute a strip of tin foil for the coil 
of wire covered by silk. <A strip about one half of an inch in width 
and about seventeen feet long coiled up with paper intervening, is 
more sensitive than a coil of eighty feet of the covered wire. A 
single contact of bright plates of copper and zinc, one inch and a 
half in diameter, with moist paper interposed, causes a semi-revolu- 
tion of the needle. 


A third letter, dated March 17th, containing additional facts, has 
been received from Dr. Hare. 


PHILADELPHIA, March 17th, 1831. 


My dear Sir—Smnce I wrote to you last, respecting my multiplier 
made with tin foil, I have constructed another with a similar strip of 
that material of double the length (about thirty-four feet) resorted to 
in the first instance. The indications with a like degree of excite- 
ment are, in consequence of the additional length of the foil, more 
striking, and are decidedly superior to those obtained in an instru- 


Vou. XX.—No. 1. 19 


146 Galvano-magnetism. 


ment made according to the European plan, with eighty feet of cop- 
per wire covered with silk. 

It is well known that of two metals of different susceptibility of ox- 
idizement, after contact with each other, that will be found positive, 
which is most oxidizable, and that negative, which is the least at- 
tractive of oxygen. In this sense copper is said to be negative in re- 
lation to zinc. It should however be recollected, that since the more 
oxidizable metal becomes positive by a discharge from the other, 
during the existence of a galvanic circuit, the metal which is nega- 
tive in the sense above mentioned, forms the positive pole. ‘Thus, 
if we constitute a circuit of zine, moistened paper, and copper, the 
copper is positive; and if we connect it with the end of the coil 
which enters over the needle, and stand so as to look in that direc- 
tion, the north pole moves to the left. 

Having supplied the bottom of a saucer with a stratum of mercury 
from my pneumatic cistern, covered by water and paper, a dise of 
copper was placed over it on the paper. Under these circumstances 
I was surprized to find that when a wire proceeding from one pole of 
the multiplier, was held in contact with the copper, and the other 
wire dipped into the mercury, the same deflection took place as when 
a similar circuit was made, substituting zinc for mercury, the same 
wire being in both cases kept in contact with the copper. On sub- 
stituting suceessively iron, tin, lead and tin plate, for the copper, the 
same wire being in contact with the mercury as in the first instance, 
I found this metal to have the same relation to all of them as zinc. 

Its relation to zine was found to be feebly of an opposite kind. 

Subsequently, I procured an adequate quantity of pure mercury, 
by precipitating the protonitrate, by copper. ‘This I found to have 
a polarity with copper and all the other metals above named, the op- 
posite of that which the impure metal had with them. ‘The impure 
metal had the same relation to it as zmce. ‘Thus we have a conven- 
ient method of testing the purity of mercury, since a very slight im- 
purity renders this metal an the circuit negative with copper, unless 
the impurity be of one of the precious or less oxidizable metals. 
Possibly we may in this way have the means of testing gold and sil- 
ver, by amalgamation with mercury. 

Having the keeper, and a weight of about fifty-six pouuds, sus- 
pended by a galvanic magnet, of which the coils were in the circuit 
of a galvanic pair of about a square foot of surface, I attached one 
pole of my calorimotor, of fifty square feet, to the keeper, and the 


JMiscellantes. 147 


other to the vertex of the magnet. On completing the circuit of the 
calorimotor thus connected with the magnet, the weight fell off; I 
found, however, that although the power of the magnet was enfee- 
bled, it was not destroyed, as in despite of the torrent from the calo- 
rimotor, it held, as nearly as I could judge, about half as much as 
before. 

I have ascertained that when the poles of the galvanic magnet, 
while excited, are brought into contact with mercury, communicating 
with one pole of the calorimotor, above mentioned, the vertex of the 
magnet being in contact with the other pole, a gyratory or whirling 
motion may be observed in the mercury. 


MISCELLANIES. 


(DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN.) 


1. Sratistics or New Yorx.—( Communicated. )—From the 
“New York annual Register, for 1831,” avery useful statistical 
compilation, by Mr. Edwin Williams, we glean the following items of 
information respecting the State of New York. 

Population—1,616,458 ; of which number 49,999 are blacks. 

Yards of woollen, cotton and linen cloths manufactured in 1830, 
14,466,226; number of grist mills, 2,264; saw mills, 5,195; oil 
mills, 121; fullmg mills, 1,222; carding machines, 1,584; iron 
works, 170; trip-hammers, 164; distilleries, 1,129 ; asheries, 2,105. 

‘There are 237 newspapers, publishing annually as is estimated, 
14,536,000 printed sheets. 

Manufactures.—There are 88 cotton manufactories, 208 wool- 
len, 202 iron. 

Cotton.—The cotton manufactories employ about 132,000 spin- 
dles. About 22,000 bales of raw cotton are used, and the annual 
value of cotton goods manufactured exceeds $3,000,000. 

Wool.—Number of manufactories 208, exclusive of a “large 
number employed in custom work.” Value of woollen goods annu- 
ally manufactured, (exclusive of those made in families) considera- 
bly upwards of $3,000,000. 

fron.—Value of annual manufacture, $4,000,000. 

Paper.—About 50 paper mills. Value of annual manufacture, 
$500,000. 

Hats.—Value of annual manufacture, $3,000,000. 


148 Miscellanies. — 


Boots and Shoes.—Val. ann. manufact. 5,000,000. 

Leather.— Do. do. 2,905,750. 

Window Glass.— Do. do. 200,000. 

Manufactured in families, as per State census returns. 

2,918,233 yards fulled cloth, value $2,918,233. 

3,468,001 yards flannel, and other woollens, not fulled, value 
$693,600. 

8,079,992 yards linen, cotton and other cloths, value $1,211,998. 

The sales of domestic manufactures at the ware-houses in the 
city of New York during the past year, principally of wool, cotton 
and iron, are estimated to amount to twenty-five millions of dollars, 
exclusive of large amounts of articles made and sold by the mechan- 
ics of the city. 

Agriculture-—Acres of land in the State, 29,494,720. 

Acres of improved land, 7,160,967, value $179,024,175. 

Neat cattle, . » 1,813,421, © 15,134,210. 

Horses, : : Ot OO 2S. ees 17,481,400. 


Sheep, . y : 3,496,539, “ 5,244,808. 
Hogs, Seniee SU AGiora, oS 4,403,719. 
$221,288,312. 


Salt.—The amount inspected, and on which duties have been 
paid to the State the past year, is 1,430,000 bushels. : 

Canals.—Tolls for the year 1830, $1,056,799 67 cts., bemg an 
increase in the receipts of $243,662 22 cts. over those of the pre- 
ceding year. 

Banks.—There are fifty-two banks in the State, with an aggre- 
gate capital of $26,275,800. 

Education.—Colleges, 4; medical colleges, 2; academies, 55 ; 
students in the colleges, including those in preparatory schools con- 
nected with Columbia and Geneva colleges, 5063 students in the 
medical colleges, 276 ; students in the academies pursuing classical 
and other studies, 3,835 ; whole number of common school districts, 
9,062; whole number of scholars taught in common schools, 499,424 ; 
increase of children taught last year, 19,383. From the report of 
ihe superintendant of common schools, it appears that the productive 
capital of the school fund now amounts to $1,696,743 66. ‘The 
revenue received into the treasury on account of this fund the past 
year, has been $100,678 60. This revenue is less than one-tenth 
of the sum annually expended for common schools, viz. 


MMiscellanies. 149 


Expenses of buildings for school houses, &c. per ann. $115,694 
Annual expense of books for 499,484 scholars, , 249,717 
Fuel, Leas 88,460 
Amount of public atoriey iat for eahiers wages, . 339,715 
Amount paid by the different districts for teachers’ 
wages, besides public money, , ; 346,807 
Estimating in the same ratio for 45 towns aed have 
not deuuntied the amount over and above public 
money, : : 4 i : Me : 21,308 
$1,061,699 
Being a total of one million sixty-one thousand six hundred and 
ninety-nine dollars expended annually for the support of the com- 
mon schools of the State. ‘The superintendant’s report to the legis- 
lature proceeds :-— 

“The preceding estimates show that the revenue of the school 
fund (that is, the amount derived from the State treasury) pays less 
than one-tenth of the annual expenditures for the support of the 
common schools; another tenth is raised by a tax upon the property 
of the towns respectively ; and the two tenths thus made up, (being 
the $239,713 in the foregoing statement) constitutes what is called 
the school moneys, and is the sum raised by the commissioners of 
the towns for distribution among the several districts. Something 
less than two tenths, for school houses and fuel, is raised by a tax 
upon the property of the district, in pursuance of a vote of the in- 
habitants thereof; and the residue, nearly six tenths, or $617,820, 
is paid voluntarily by the parents and guardians of the scholars, for 
books, and for the balance of their school bills, after the public 
money has been applied. 

“In fifty-two counties, the average number of those attending 
school, compared with the whole number of inhabitants, is as 1 to 31. 
The average in the State, including New York and Albany, is in the 
proportion of 1 to 394-100. Appended to this statement, is a table, 
showing a similar comparison between the children at school and the 
whole number of inhabitants in various countries in Europe. In Rus- 
sia there is 1 child at school for every 7 inhabitants ; in Bavaria, 1 
to 8; in England, 1 to 15. 

“The children taught in the common schools of the State, fall only 
576 short of half a million. According to an enumeration in 1829, 
there are 442 private schools in the city of New York; there are, at 


150 /Miscellanies. 


least, 40 schools in Albany, 27 in Utica, and numerous private 
schools in the other cities, and most of the villages of the State, the 
scholars of which are not embraced in the returns made to the su- 
perintendant. A complete census of the scholars in the colleges, 
academies and the private and common schools, would present a to- 
tal of at least 550,000 scholars receiving instruction annually in the 
whole State, which is equal to 1 person attending school to 31 of the 
whole population, as ascertained by the late census.” 

Steam Boats.—There are seventy-five steam boats, (including six 
. British boats plying on Lake Ontario) exclusive of steam on boats, 
&c., with an aggregate of 4,192 horse power. 

Fidahiend Avafeasione: —Of the clergy of the State there are one 
thousand three hundred and eighty-two. 

Law.—The number of attorneys and Counsellors at law, is one 
thousand seven hundred and forty-one. 

Medicine.——The number of practismg physicians and surgeons is 
two thousand five hundred and forty-nine. 

Military establishment.—The military force consists of tharty- 
seven DIVISIONS, subdivided into exghty-one brigades, three hundred 
and thirty-eight regiments, two separate squadrons of cavalry, twenty- 
two separate battalions of artillery and infantry. 

The adjutant general’s report returns the number of horse 


artillery at : : : ‘ ' 1,716 
Cavalry, . , 3 : : é 5,814 
Artillery, . } : é 12,803 
Infantry, including light tenn? and riflemen, wip 66;514 
Twenty-seven companies of artillery and cavalry attach- 

ed to infantry for inspection, ‘ : 4 1,679 
‘Total rank and file, ; : 5) MISS526 


The State owns 320 pieces of sali auiee! of which 141 are iron, 
and 179 brass, with the requisite number of small arms, colors, mu- 
sical instruments, tents and camp equipage. 


2. Fish of Hudson River.—Prof. Silliman.—I have a neighbor 
on the bank of the Hudson, (within a dozen rods of whom I have 
resided ten years,) who has been most efliciently engaged in the 
fishing business, in the same place, sixty four years. ‘To prove his 
efficiency in this business I may state, that he has accumulated a 
large estate in lands, houses in town, and bank stock, by this busi- 


MMiscellanies. 151 


ness solely; without the least advancement by speculation. His ac- 
count of the fish in this river, may aid the naturalist more or less; 
and he may rely upon Mr. A. as one of those who have the most 
scrupulous regard for truth.—Mr. A.’s statement. 

Sixty years ago, the sturgeon, (Acipencer sturio,) and the common 
herring, (Clupea pseudo-haringus,) were the principal fish which 
came up as high as this place, (one hundred and fifty seven miles 
north of New York Bay, and one hundred and seventy seven from 
the Atlantic ocean.) Here the Jock and dam were built between six 
and seven years ago, to improve the navigation. As the rapid was 
always an obstruction to sloops, when the water was low; it may be 
considered as the natural head of navigation. But boats could run 
up thirty three miles higher, to Fort Miller Fall. After passing that 
fall, boats could ascend to the Great Fall at Fort Edward, called 
Baker’s Fall, ten miles higher. 

Mr. Adams says, that herring fishery was worth but little when he 
commenced fishing ; because they were so plenty, that in many pla- 
ces, particularly along the shores and in the little creeks above Still- 
water, farmers could drive their waggons into shoal water, and fill 
them in a short time, with a common scoop-net. But almost imme- 
diately after Gen. Schuyler erected a dam across the Saratoga Creek, 
about fifty six years ago, the herring began to diminish, and have 
continued to diminish yearly. Mr. A. supposed that their grand de- 
posit for spawn, up the Saratoga Creek, was then broken up. 

Sturgeons were in great abundance here half a century ago. I saw 
forty eight lie on the shore two years ago, at one time, (the shortest 
five feet, the longest nine feet,) which were caught in the space of 
three hours; and Mr. A. told me, that this would have been con- 
sidered but an ordinary case, even thirty years ago, and that they 
had been diminishing yearly, for more than fifty years. 

Bass (Perca labrax) were much more plenty half a century ago, 
than now; and pike were not uncommon, though now very rare. 

It appears then, that herring, sturgeon and bass, have greatly di- 
minished ; and he says, that suckers, chubs, eels, sun-fish, and other 
fresh water fish, have neither increased nor diminished, materially. 

The principal object of this article remams. It is the history of 
the shad, (Clupea sapidissima.) ‘This fish is from thirteen to nine- 
teen inches long, and weighs, before dressing, on an average, about 
five pounds. Seventy will generally fill a barrel, when dressed. 
When fresh, it is of a most delicious flavor ; when pickled, it is not 


152 JMscellanies. 


better than the common mackerel. Sells here, while fresh, for about 
ten cents—along the river, at a distance from cities and populous vil- 
lages, for six cents. 

From fifty to sixty years ago, Mr. Adams rarely caught over five 
hundred shad in a season; which was then confined to the month of 
May. Some seasons he caught but one hundred, with the utmost 
diligence. Before the dam was erected, shad increased quite as 
fast as herring or sturgeon decreased; and the season for taking shad 
increased to two months—beginning the latter part of April and con- 
tinuing towards the end of June. ‘The same diligence and the same 
method of operating, which gave him, at most, but nine or ten hun- 
dred shad, in the years 1789, 1790, 1791, &c. gave him about twen= 
ty thousand from the years 1820 to 1825. ‘This gives an average 
ratio of increase, equal to more than the whole he ever caught in 
the years 1770, ’71, °72, &c. He says, there has not been the 
same increase at all the fishing grounds between this place and the 
mouth of the river. But there has been more than a tenfold in- 
crease throughout the whole length of the river. Since this dam 
was erected, the number of shad has been gradually diminishing. 
He supposes the shad are reduced about one fourth, during the last 
five years. This he ascribes to the exclusion of the shad fronr their 
usual spawning ground, by the dam at this place; as very few are 
seen above the dam, even at Baker’s Falls, formerly the best fishing. 
ground on the river. 


Queries respecting the increase of shad, on the Hudson River. 


1. Does the increased population cause an increased wash of ani- 
mal matter into the Hudson, which serves as food for shad? 

2. Does the diminution of herring and sturgeon, cause the in- 
erease of shad? 

3. Has a change taken place at the bottom of the Atlantic, near 
the mouth of the Hudson, which turned the course of shad into this: 
river? 

4, Does the increased number of fishermen, and the increased: 
number of improved fishing grounds, by which twenty or thirty fold 
raore are taken, kill off the older fish, leaving room for the young 
and healthy, who can live in a more crowded situation, cause the 
increase? 

Such being the facts, national economy demands a reason. 

Respectfully yours, Amos Eaton. 


Miscellanies. 153 


3. On shooting stars.—Pror. Sittiman.— Dear Sir—The trans- 
parent vapor, which was described in the last number of your Jour- 
nal as the basis of the aurora borealis, unquestionably exists in va- 
rious tracts of the atmosphere, independently of latitude. It possi- 
bly gathers in larger quantities towards the pole, but the principal 
reason why it appears more luminous and extensive as we recede 
from the equator, is its relative position to the solar light. 

While examining the causes of the aurora borealis, I became con- 
vinced, that shooting or falling stones are derived from the same ori- 
gin. A flake of the vapor, which forms the basis of the aurora, by 
reflecting the light of a star, vertical or nearly so to its apparent 
place, becomes an image of the star, and while it remains quiet Is 
not distinguishable from others in the hemisphere. When an aerial 
current crosses it, it is immediately removed from the direct rays of 
the particular star whose image it reflected, and disappears, or in 
common phrase, goes out, in the same way that the streams and 
flashes of the aurora vanish by changing their relative positions to 
the source of illumination. 

Falling stars descend diagonally, unlike the aurora of these lati- 
tudes, which undulates, or shoots upwards when it moves at all; but 
in the northern regions its motions are very often lateral, and in some 
instances it falls perpendicularly. ‘The levity of the vapor in the 
aurora is one of its characteristics, and the increase of its specific 
gravity so far as to cause its descent, is an exception to its prevailing 
condition ; in the star, however, as in the descending aurora, the va- 
por becomes surcharged with moisture, or its elements form some 
new combination sufficient to overcome in part, its buoyancy, and 
the resistance of the atmosphere. And this is consistent with the 
laws which regulate the clouds, which at one time float in the alr, 
and at another descend. We cannot follow the erratic movements 
of this vapor after it leaves the position where the lines of light dis- 
close its existence, because it is invisible except when locally lumin- 
ous in the night; and whether it is dispersed in the expanse of the 
heavens after it disappears from our sight, or whether it combines 
with the clouds, or becomes itself a cloud, or whether by parting 
with its superfluous moisture it retains its gaseous and invisible iden- 
tity is unknown. 

Shooting stars increase in number and frequency towards the equa- 
tor, as the aurora increases towards the pole. M. Humboldt describes 
them as being innumerable over the seas between Maderia and Af. 


Vou. XO —=Nor 1. 20 


154 JMiscellanies. 


rica. Within the tropics they are seen only in a serene and azure 
sky, and often leave a train behind them for several seconds, always 
impelled by the wind, and shooting in the direction to which it blows, 
which latter fact, strongly indicates their meteorological origm. ‘The 
sudden dispersion of the luminous particles, causes the gleams and 
shivers which appear like a pale blaze or tram in the line of their 
descent. M. Arago passed whole nights in watching these beauti- 
ful meteors with intense and philosophic interest. His observations 
mark the same results, particularly their fidelity to the direction of 
the wind. He states that in some instances they fell in one course 
for several consecutive hours, and changed their direction when the 
wind shifted, always obeying its variations however small, and to 
whatever point it veered. With great respect, I am Sir, yours. 


New York, March, 1831. 


4. Compendium of American Ornithology, by 'THomas Nurratn, 
A. M., F. L. 8., &c.—Messrs. Hilliard & Brown, booksellers to the 
University of Cambridge, have issued proposals for the above work, 
with a specimen illustrative of the same; and they wait only for a 
moderate subscription to be formed, in order to commence the pub- 
lication. ‘The work will embrace “a general history of all the birds 
indigenous to the most extensive limits of the United States, and of 
Canada; with their habits, manners, uses, and systematic arrange- 
ment, illustrated with faithful and original delineations of about two 
hundred of the most important species: to be printed in royal octavo, 
upon good paper, and to be comprised in two closely printed vol- 
umes, in a good sized type, and to be delivered to subscribers in half 
volumes, or numbers, as they are completed. ‘The price to subseri- 
bers will be $5.00 a number, or, with colored plates, $6.50.” The 
names of subscribers are desired previous to the Ist of May, 1831. 

We take much pleasure in announcing the foregoing proposals ; 
feeling that a work, which can be afforded at a moderate price, upon 
this delightful branch of natural history, is a great desideratum ; and 
having the utmost confidence in the ability of its author. No indi- 
vidual has been more favored than Mr. Nuttall, in opportunities for 
observing the habits of our birds. He has traversed, repeatedly, the 
whole extent of the United States, and has passed entire years in 
the natural resorts of the feathered tribe. His character as a_philo- 
sophical naturalist will be a sufficient pledge for the scientific ar- 
rangement of the work; and his well known attainments in botany 


Miscellanies. 155 


will enable him to do greater justice to his subject than most writers 
on ornithology : while the easy manner in which he expresses him- 
self in describing natural objects, will, we doubt not, approximate his 
descriptions, for popular interest, to those of the celebrated Wilson. 


5. Elements of Physics, or Natural Philosophy, General and 
Medical ; explained independently of technical Mathematics. In 
two volumes. Wol. HI. Part I. Comprehending the subjects of 
Heat and Light ; by Nem. Annort, M. D., of the Royal College 
of Physicians. First American, from the first London edition. | 
Carey and Lea, Philadelphia.—The second volume of Dr. Arnott’s 
Elements of Physics, so long and impatiently called for, has just is- 
sued from the press of Carey & Lea. ‘The first volume appeared in 
London more than two years since, and has already gone through 
four editions in England, beside being reprinted in America, and in 
France, where it was translated, and accompanied with algebraical 
formule for the use of schools and colleges. 

The first part of the second volume treats of heat and light, and 
as regards these branches, may be deemed a “royal road to sci- 
ence,” for the explanations are so clear and familiar, as to be per- 
fectly intelligible to such as are not skilled in technical learning.— 
Prefixed to this volume is an appendix, in which the cause of stut- 
tering or stammering is explained, and a simple remedy suggested, 
which, by the author, is considered effectual. 

In a practical view, it is a work of great value. It instructs the 
artisan in the nature of heat; qualifies him to apply and control it, 
and to convert its most terrible force into a quiet and manageable 
working power. In the language of the author, “the element of 
heat in its tranquil and invisible diffusion, is the life and soul of the 
universe; the cause of seasons and climates, and of all the changes 
and activity which distinguish a living world from a dead and frozen 
mass. Fire, in man’s service, may be figured as a legion of spirits, 
to whom no labor is difficult. In every private dwelling he has these 
spirits as his domestic servants ; in his manufactories they are melting 
glass, reducing ores, and boiling and evaporating for an hundred pur- 
poses. But it is chiefly while chained to the steam engine that they 
put forth a giant’s strength, heaving a river from the bottom of a 
mine, or urging a vast ship through the winter storm.” Equally ad- 
mirable is the “ nice dexterity with which they twist the silk or cotton 
threads, and weave them into the most delicate fabrics.” ‘The work 


156 Miscelianes. 


elucidates, as far as they are known, the hidden principles of this ele- 
ment, whether cheering and comforting man on the blazing hearth, 
and warming the apartments of his dwelling ; or im the mild breath 
of spring; or in the ripening influences of summer ; or in its indis- 
pensable, though mysterious union with animal and vegetable life. 
Nor is a knowledge of the laws which regulate the operations of 
Lieut, without practical importance, for, although it does not pos- 
sess the working power of heat, the philosophy of hght is essential to 
the pairiter, the astronomer, the architect, the optician and the natu- 
ralist ; and is not without its uses in many of the common arts of life. 
Nothing displays the beneficence of the Creator more than the gift of 
this element, with the precious and perfect organ of sight, which he 
has adapted to receive and appreciate it. Aside however from its 
utility, light is one of the most interesting subjects of contemplation. 
Without it there were no beauty, no color, no perception of grace or 
proportion, or form. All the glories of the universe were a blank ; 
and man, with his capacities for improvement—second only to the an- 
cels—elevated to the heavens by his intellectual endowments, must 
have groped through the long night of his existence, “ with wisdom 
at one eptrance quite shut out.” 

The second part of this volume is promised soon to succeed this, 
and will comprise the subjects of Astronomy, Electricity and Mag- 


netism. 
December 3ist, 1830. 


§. Buffalo Mineral Spring. 
Extract of a letter from Dr. M. Bristol to the Editor, dated August 11, 8830. 


Dear Siyv—I have taken the liberty of sending to you six bottles 
of water, from the Seneca spring, about four miles from our village, 
upon the Indian lands. It has long been familiarly called the Deer 
Lick, because deer used to resort to this spring for drink, preferring 
it to common wafer, on account of the salt it contaims. ‘There are 
several of these springs, issuing from opposite sides of the stream 
upon which they are situated; considerable gas issues constantly 
from them, which is inflammable. The sensible properties of these 
waters resemble very much those of the Avon springs, upon the 
banks of the Genessee River, a few miles from Mr. Wadsworth’s. 
I will thank you to analyze this water, which appears so similar to the 
Avon springs. ‘The latter are resorted to considerably by invalids, 
and J am inclined to think that these possess equal and similar virtues. 


Miscellanies. 157 


Chemical Examination, by Mr. C. U. Sueparp, Assistant in the 
Chemical Department of Yale College. 


This is a sulphureous water, as is perfectly obvious to the smell 
and tastes 

A. Twenty four ounce measures of the water boiled in a retort for 
half an hour, gave over two and a half inches of gas, which appeared 
to be a mixture of sulphuretted hydrogen and azote. It possessed 
the odor of the former of these gases, and extinguished a lighted 
match, which was introduced into it. ‘The water, after boiling, ex- 
hibited a copious precipitate and still continued to emit the odor of 
sulphuretted hydrogen gas; the smell of which was increased upon 
the addition of a little sulphuric acid, from which circumstance it ap- 
pears probable that the sulphuretted hydrogen is not wholly free, but 
in part engaged with a basis, probably lime, in the form of a hydro- 
sulphuret. 

B. Litmus paper, introduced into the water before boiling, was 
unchanged ; but after being first reddened by a little acid, it had its 
blue color restored; indicating the presence of carbonate of soda or 
potash. ‘Tincture of alkanet was immediately changed to blue, by 
the boiled water. 

C. Muriate of lime gave a precipitate with the water, proving the 
presence of carbonate of lime. 

D. Muriate of barytes gave a precipitate with the water, proving 
the presence of a sulphate or carbonate, probably lime, the substance 
precipitated by boiling (in A.) 

E. Nut galls and prussiate of potash, gave no indications of iron. 

F. The addition of muriatic acid produced a distinct effervescence 
in the water, owing either to sulphuretted hydrogen or carbonic acid, 
or to both. 

G. The addition of carbonate of ammonia, and afterwards of phos- 
phate of soda, gave a copious precipitate, proving the existence of 
carbonate of magnesia. 

It appears then to be a strong’ sulphureous water, free from any 
uncombined carbonic acid, and containing notable quantities of the 


carbonates of lime, magnesia and soda, together with sulphate of lime. 
Sept. 4, 1830. 


Remarks by the Editor. 


T am not aware that the Avon water has been analyzed, but judg- 
ing from its sensible properties, which I had an opportunity of ob- 


158 /Miscellantes. 


serving at the spring in October, 1827, I should think it decidedly of 
the same class with the Buffalo water, and from the geological struc- 
ture of the country in that region, it is highly probable that the springs 
have a similar origin. 

At Avon, I observed that the silver watches of the attendants were 
rendered almost perfectly black, by the influence of the fetid gas, 
pervading the apparel and fillmg the air around, for a considerable 
distance, with the characteristic odor. 


7. Loss of vessels in the Gulf Stream.—in noticing frequently the 
loss of vessels coming from sea, by their running on shore before the 
captain supposed he was near it, it appears to me that such loss might 
easily be avoided, by the use of the thermometer to get the tempera- 
ture of the water, which is always colder on soundings than off sound- 
ings. I came upon our coast last April, from the West Indies, with 
dull hazy weather; and the captain told by the thermometer, very 
accurately, when he got upon soundings. 

We crossed the Gulf Stream on the 19th, in lat. 36°; the tem- 
perature of the ocean to the eastward had been 66° to 68°, in the 
Gulf Stream it was up to 75°; the air at the same time was 61°; as 
soon as we had crossed the Gulf Stream, the temperature of the wa- 
ter was down to 62°; air 62°. Lat. 38°, next day, the water was 
down to 58°; air 59°. Lat. 39°, the water continued near 58° 
through the day, until at eight in the evening we found it to be only 
42°; the captain immediately said he was on soundings; he ordered 
the lead to be thrown and found bottom accordingly, at the depth of 
forty three fathoms. He threw the lead every two hours during the 
night, until at three in the morning he had twenty two fathoms, and 
at four he had only seven fathoms, which placed him upon Nan- 
tucket South Shoal. He immediately tacked ship and in fifteen 
minutes run out into deep water, and the next day arrived in Boston. 
The temperature of the ocean from Nantucket to Boston, taken 


every hour, was 41° to 44°. A passenger on board. 
New York, Dec. 8, 1830. 


8. Improvement in the Reflecting Goniometer; by A. Katon.— 
Whoever has used the reflecting goniometer, has experienced 
considerable inconvenience in adapting some crystals to the instru- 
ment, by the use of the common crank, &c. Four years ago, I di- 
rected an artist in this city to make a reflecting goniometer, with an 


JViscellanies. 159 


axil an inch and a fourth in diameter, without any crank. I have 
now used it constantly in this school, and the students have used it 
continually, for four years, with a substitute of the common adhesive 
substance, called diachylon by the druggists. This we mould into a 
form adapted to the mineral to be examined. A slender cylinder of 
it, with one end adhering to the broad end of the axis on one side of 
the center, arching so as to bring the angle to be measured in a line 
with the center, is required for a small crystal. A large crystal, or 
any crystal which adheres to a large mass of its gangue or embracing 
rock, requires a large piece of the diachylon, covering one side of the 
end of the axis. A mineral weighing several pounds, or only the 
fourth of a grain, may be thus fixed to the instrument, at the pleasure 


of the operator. 
Rensselaer School, March 3, 1831. 


9. Mapping Instrument. 


TO PROF. SILLIMAN. 


Several mapping or plotting instruments having been recently pro- 
posed, and perhaps will be patented; please to permit the following 
paragraph to go out in your next number. 

Any artist shall be welcome to the right of an mvention of my 
own, of a mapping instrument, which received considerable attention 
about twenty years ago; but was never brought into extensive use. 
One of the instruments was presented by myself to President Day, 
in the year 1816, when he was professor of natural philosophy. He 
told me afterwards that he had deposited it with the College appara- 
tus, where, I presume, it may now be seen. ‘This instrument per- 
forms the office of scale, dividers, parallel ruler, and protractor; and 
it does not contain a joint. One may conceive of the construction of 
this instrument, by imagining one end of a six inch scale, brazed to 
the middle of the straight side of a common protracter, and the scale 
open in the middle, half an inch in width, from the brazed end to 
near the other end—then imagining a slide to run in that opening with 
a graduated nonius, and the graduations fitted to the decimal divis- 
ions of an inch on the scale. A prick-point fixed to the under side 
of a spring, attached to the slide at the end, towards the brazed end 
of the scale, completes the instrument. Yours respectfully, 


Amos Eaton. 
Troy, March 8, 1831. 


160 Wiscellanies. 


10. Mechanics’ Magazine and Journal of public internal improve- 
ment.—This useful and commendable work is published by Mr. 
Samuel N. Dickinson of Boston, and the first volume containing 
384 pages Svo. is just finished. It is neatly printed on a good pa- 
per, and is furnished with good figures, chiefly from wood, for the 
various subjects which require that species of illustration. 

Dr. Jones has for several years conducted, very successfully, the 
Franklin Journal, published at Philadelphia; and New York, has at 
times, been furnished with a Mechanics’ Magazine, but we do not re- 
collect that a similar attempt has been made in Boston before the 
present. 

On looking through the pages of the Boston Journal, we find that 
they contain much valuable matter both original and selected, and 
that the Magazine is both an instructive and attractive work. ‘The 
editor has honored the American Journal by occasional selections, 
-and we are happy if any thing in our pages may be esteemed suffi- 
ciently valuable to obtain in this way a wider circulation, and an op- 
portunity of effecting more good. We regret to learn that Mr. 
Dickinson’s patronage is not at present sufficiently extensive to meet 
his inevitable expenses, but we trust that a second year will remedy 
ihis difficulty, and that Boston will not permit its Mechanic’s Maga- 
zine to languish for want of adequate patronage. 


11. Asbestos impregnated with platinum.—l find that if asbestos 
or charcoal be soaked under an exhausted receiver in muriate of pla- 
tinum, then dried in an evaporating oven for twenty fours hours and 
afterwards ignited, the property of ignition in the gaseous elements 
of water is acquired.— From a letter of Dr. Hare. 


12. A new 8vo. monthly Journal, called Tux American Bo- 
TANICAL ReqisTER, is announced for publication at the city of Wash- 
ington; it will contain the description, specific character, culture, 
history, and application in the arts, of the plants exclusively indigen- 
ous to America; together with the systematic and common syno- 
nyms, the scientific names accentuated, and their etymology explain- 
ed. The whole arranged according to the Linnean system, and the 
natural orders of Linneus and Jussieu, with references to figures 
and the standard authorities, for the description of each individual 
plant. 


JMiscellanies. 161 


The Jetter-press will be in English, and illustrated with accurate 
engravings of every plant described, colored from nature. 

To be edited by Witiiam Ricu and Joun A. Brereton, M. D. 
U.S. Army, assisted by scientific gentlemen. 

Each number will contain eight colored engravings, and every 
third number an extra plate, forming an annual volume of one hun- 
dred colored engravings, descriptions of plants, &c. &c. Subscrip- 
tion—T'welve Dollars per annum. 


13. Floating Pumice.*—Extract of a letter from Mr. A. A. 
Hayes to the Editor.—An interesting specimen of an unusual vari- 
ety of pumice, was exhibited a few weeks since in Boston, and ex- 
cited considerable attention. I was permitted to detach a fragment 
for examination, but as it was readily separated by mechanical means, 
into three distinct minerals, whose composition is known, an analysis 
of the specimen was not made. About nine-tenths of the bulk of | 
ithe specimen is a white, vesicular transparent mineral, fusible per 
se, and with fluxes acts as a siliceous feldspar. One-hundredth of 
the bulk is black mica, in small, and often minute scales; the remain- 
der perfectly inclosed in the first, consists of crystals, and grains of 
white transparent quartz; a regular form had been given to the spe- 
cimen by artificial means. 


14. Bromine.*—(From Mr. A. A. Hayes to the Editor.)—In a 
former No. of the Journal, I observed in your communication of the 
discovery of bromine in the waters of Salina springs, the interesting 
fact, that the bittern from the Connecticut salt works does not con- 
tain bromine. Is it possible that the presence of some other sub- 
stance causes its separation in a state of combination, from the water 
in the process of evaporation, or are we to conclude that the salts of 
hydro-bromic acid, are more abundant on some coasts than on oth- 
ers? ‘The bittern from the salt-works near Hingham, Mass., con- 
tains bromine, and it may be readily detected by the usual processes. 


15. American Birds.—We are informed that Audubon’s work on 
American birds has arrived for the Atheneum in Boston. It exceeds 
the most sanguine expectations of Mr. Nuttall, and all who have 
seen It. 


* These notices were prepared for a former number, but were accidentally post- 
poned. 

| Mentioned in a letter from John Tappan, Esq. to the Editor, as having been 
found floating at sea in a very large mass. 


Vou. XX.—No. 1. 21 


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JMiscellanzes. 163 


17. Mauch Chunk Anthracite mines.—From the report of the 
board of managers of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, 
and that of the acting manager, Mr. White, it appears that the new 
mines mentioned in the 19th Vol. of the Am. Jour. are about to be 
opened. A rail way of four miles will bring the coal to Mauch 
Chunk village, and arrangements are making for sending to market 
one hundred thousand tons during the ensuing season. ‘The com- 
pany’s grand canal is finished and in perfect order to Easton, and 
nothing is necessary but the completion of the canal along the Dela- 
ware to Philadelphia, and of those across New Jersey to New York, 
in order to give the Lehigh coal a full access to market: Three 
hundred thousand tons of coal are uncovered at the great mine and 
ready for quarrying. 


18. Indiana Historical Society.—This association was formed Dec. 
11th, 1830, and it embraces in its design the natural, civil, and political 
history of Indiana and the promotion of useful knowledge generally. 

The regular seat of the society is at Indianapolis, but the corres- 
ponding secretary, John W. Farnham, resides at Salem, Washington 
county, Indiana, to whom communications may be addressed. In 
the list of officers we observe the names of gentlemen whose repu- 
tation affords a satisfactory pledge that they will give all practicable 
efficiency to the society, whose objects are of the most laudable 
kind, and we rejoice to see such institutions springing up in the west, 
as fast as civil society advances. 


19. Notice respecting Steam Boats.—In reference to the method 
of ship building described page 14 of this No. I am authorized to say, 
that Mr. Brindley will undertake to build steam boats or vessels of any 
burden according to this system-——and will, through me, furnish any 
estimate desired; having in England built a considerable number of 
these vessels. ‘They combine the good properties of strength, light- 
ness, and durability. When intended for steam boats, I would en- 
gage to have'them fitted up with engines from one of the first manu- 
factories here, including the safety apparatus and auxiliary fire de- 
scribed in this number. J. L. SULLIVAN. 


20. Professor Hitchcock's lectures on diet and regimen.—A new, 
enlarged and improved edition of this valuable work has been re- 
cently published ; its tendency is decidedly good, and weare glad to 
find that the demand for it has been so great as to require a new edi- 
tion within the first year. 


164 Miscellanies. 


To mineralogists, geologists, §&ce.—H. H. Hayden, Esq. au-- 
thor of Geological Essays, having on hand a number of volumes of 
the above work, requests us to propose to the mineralogists of the 
United States, an exchange of one or more copies, for an indefinite 
number of the minerals of their respective districts. Mr. H. not be- 
ing aware of the value at which some persons may estimate minerals, 
has mentioned an indefinite number, leaving it discretionary, and en- 
tirely to the liberality of those who may feel a desire to possess the 
work. He hopes, however, that it will not be undervalued by those 
who know how to appreciate the labor, and unavoidable expense 
wecessarily required in its prosecution. ‘To any person or persons 
wishing for one or more copies, Mr. H. will send them to any part 
of the United States, free, as far as practicable, of all expense, and 
will, likewise, incur the expense of transport of such minerals as 
may be sent in return. Mr. Hayden adds :— 

‘In my visit to the gold regions I found, at several of the mining 
locations, that what many called a mica slate, was in fact a talcose 
slate. Mr. Keating is now ona tour to the Floridas, taking the gold 
region in his.course. A few days since he wrote me from Charlotts- 
ville, Va.—He informs me that he has crossed the gold region and 
has visited several of the mines,. and finds that the rock in which the 
veins occur is “a talcose slate.” With such authority to support me, 
I thnk my word may pass current.”* Baltimore, Md. 


22. Reflections on the decline of Science in England; by Charles 
Babbage, Lucasian Prof. of Math. in the Univ. of Cambridge.— 
Some notices in the English Journals had prepared us for this vol- 
umet of 232 pages. Even if the task were a grateful one, we have 
neither time nor room to present an analysis of this work. We confess 
we cannot be gratified by learning, that the Royal Society of London, 
so long admired and venerated, is in a state of dotage, and that it is 
abused for purposes of personal ambition and aggrandizement. It be- 
comes its members, however, to vindicate themselves from the charges 
which Prof. Babbage, openly and fearlessly, brings against them, as 
well as against other societies and distinguished individuals. His 


* It will be observed that this view coincides with Prof. Eaton’s opinion, expressed 
in: this and a former number.— Ed. 

t Received through the kindness of a friend in London. We have also received a 
pamphlet of 23 pages, (second edition,) containing thirty six charges against the presi- 
dent and councils of the Royal:Society, by Sir James South, a member, who, in antici- 
pation of a possible result, concludes by saying, that “where admission is no honor, 
expulsion can be no disgrace.” 


Miscellanies. 165 


arrows fly from no uncertain hand; he stands forth avowed, and di- 
rects his artillery at men and institutions of the greatest celebrity. 
If his satire is caustic, his irony cutting, his playfulness provoking ; 
they are not the less so on account of the constant appeals which he 
makes to facts, documents and living witnesses. 

We pronounce, for the present, no opinion on this remarkable vol- 
ume; it cannot however fall to the ground, mere brutum fulmen ; it 
must tell, in some way or another; either by a recoil upon the au- 
thor, if his case is not made out, or by a salutary operation upon the | 
high institutions and individuals who are so powerfully assailed. 

The following tariff of admission to some of the principal societies, 
we quote simply as a statement of facts, remarking only, that how- 
ever proper or necessary it may be thus to raise a revenue at home, 
we should hardly have expected the same terms to be prescribed to 
foreigners, to whom membership is indeed a gratifying honor, but 
cannot afford much positive advantage.* 


Fee of admission, 


Societies. including composition Appended 
for annual payments. letters. 
Royal Society, -  - - £50 Os - - - F.R.S. 
of, Bdinburehje On 4 = Rate Salle 
Academy of Dublin, 2Oniion= - - M.R.I.A. 
. Society of Literature, SO |. P= - F.R.S. Lit. 
Antiquarian, = - - - 50 § - . - F.A.S. 
Linnean, - - - - 36 = - F.L.S. 
Geological, - - - 34 13 - - - F.G.S. 
Astronomical, - - AS Daisy acs Bia te - M.A.S.: 
Zoological, = - - - 26 5 - - = BoZ..S. 
Royal Institution, - - - 50 - - M.R.I. 
Royal Asiatic, - - < 31 10 - - - F.R.A.S. 
Horticultural, - - = (ASN Outs - POH: S. 
Medico-Botanical, - - 21 - - - F.M.B.S. 


Mr. Babbage remarks, that “those who are ambitious of scientific 
distinction may, according to their fancy, render their name a kind of 
comet, carrying with it a tail of upwards of forty letters, at the aver- 
age cost of £10 9s 94d per letter.” 


* We do not know that the demand of money, from foreigners, is universal with 
English learned societies; we know however that some of them enforce this demand. 
Nor are we certain how far other European societies pursue this course, but we have 


not known any instance of money being required out of Britain, where honor was 
eonferred. 


166 JMiscellanies. 


23. Purification of olive oil, for chronometers, &¢.—(H. Wilkin- 
son, in Trans. Soc. of Arts, &c. Vol. XLVIII, p. 43.)—The best 
olive oil, in considerable quantities, is kept in jars for one year or two, 
(in a state of repose,) during which time most of the water and mu- 
cilage subside. ‘Two or three gallons are skimmed from the surface 
of a large jar, and afford better oil than any subsequent portion. One 
gallon being placed in a cast iron vessel of twice that capacity, is heat- 
ed for one hour, over.a slow clear fire, to 220°, and must never be 
hotter than 230°, nor descend below 212°. 'Thus the water and 
acetic acid are evaporated. The oil is then exposed to a cold of 30° 
to 36°, for two or three days; (winter is of course preferable ;) the 
congealed portion is separated by a muslin filter; the solid part may 
be used for common purposes, and the fluid part is then filtered 
through newly prepared animal charcoal, coarsely broken, and sus- 
tained on bibulous paper, in a wire frame, within a funnel; this re- 
moyes rancidity, if any is present, and the oil becomes perfectly 
bright and colorless. 

Messrs. Barraud and son, (the celebrated chronometer makers in 
London,) attest that this oil is superior to any other, and that they 
have used no other for the last four or five years. 

The process is simple and easy, but it demands considerable time ; 
it has been used by the discoverer for ten or twelve years. 


24. Method of clearing the Baltimore rail-way of snow during 
the late winter.—It was 
invented by Mr. Winans, 
and consists of an angular 
frame, shod with iron, 


followed by a sled, shod with irons oblique to the line of the runners ; 
the first pushing the snow each way off; the latter scraping snow 
and tice more closely, as the oblique irons in succession scrape the 
rails. It was drawn by five or six horses at a trot; and was effect- 
ual, though the snow was two feet deep on a level; in the deep pass- 
es, much more.—( Communicated by Mr. J. L. Sullivan.) 


25. Discourse, delivered before the Historical Society of Michi- 
gan, by Henry R. Schoolcraft-—This discourse contains very inter- 
esting notices of the northern and ‘interior portions of this continent, 
particularly in relation to the past and present condition of the abo- 
riginal tribes; and of their connexion with, and relation to, the 
French, English and Anglo-Americans. A historical society, whose 


/Miscellantes. ; 167 


anniversary is thus ably commemorated in a place which, within the 
memory of persons still living, was regarded as scarcely an ‘ out- 
post of civilization,” is an object of peculiar interest; and the state of 
useful arts there is sufficiently indicated by the beautiful paper and 
typography of this discourse. Detroit, with its dawning literature, 
has, however, the honor of affording a retreat to a venerable and ac- 
complished scholar, jurist and poet; the only survivor of a brilliant 
circle, who adorned the early literature of their country, which will 
never forget the names of TrRumputt, Dwieut, Humpureys and 
Baruow, the first of whom only survives; clarum et venerabile nomen.* 


26. Encyclopedia Americana.—The fifth volume of this work is 
just published. Our impression, derived from an examination of a 
few articles in this volume, relating to Natural History, Chemistry, 
General Physics, &c., is equally favorable as that expressed in rela- 
tion to the first volume. As specimens in these departments, in the 
present volume, we would refer our readers to the articles Galvan- 
asm, Geology, Granite, feldspar, Fluor and Garnet. 'The minera- 
logical articles, in particular, are drawn up with precision and skill, 
are sufficiently full, for such a work, and are brought down to the 
present time. A great amount and variety of useful knowledge are 
compressed in this Encyclopedia, which deserves and cannot fail to 
have an extensive circulation. 


27. Crystallized Carbon.—Dr. C. C. C. Cohen, of New York, 
in company with Mr. J. Boston, while passing vapor of alcohol 
through an ignited iron tube, for the purpose of forming pure carbu- 
retted hydrogen gas, obtained a large deposit of charcoal, among 
which ‘“ were several specimens of perfectly bright needles of crys- 
tallized carbon,” resembling that obtained while passing carburetted 
hydrogen gas over ignited iron, for the purpose of converting it into 
steel, and described in Henry’s Chem. 11th ed. Art. Carbon.— 
(Letter to the editor, March 22, 1831.) 


28. Horticulture—This elegant and useful art is constantly re- 
ceiving increased attention in this country, and in many places has 
already attained great excellence, as appears from the rich display of 
esculent, as well as ornamental productions, made at the horticultu- 
ral exhibitions. + 


* Which Mr. Walsh has recently applied, with equal felicity, to another literary 
and legal ornament of his country and of his age. 
| That of Philadelphia, in June, 1830, which we saw, was very splendid. 


168 Miscellanies. 


We notice also, with pleasure, a valuable horticultural Repository, 
published monthly in New York, and various occasional addresses, 
containing interesting facts and details: that of Dr. J. W. Francis, 
delivered in September, in New York, is a rich and elegant docu- 
ment; and that of Mr. G. W. Clinton, pronounced at Canandaigua, 
in the preceding June, exhibits a vigor and spirit for improvement, 
creditable to the writer, and the fine region of western New York. 

Among the publications that commemorate the productions of our 
great gardens, those of the Messrs. Prince, possess much interest 
and value. 


29. Literary and scientific societies of Canada.—We have had 
occasion, repeatedly, to notice the promising and already successful 
efforts which are making to promote science inCanada. We under- 
stand, from a correspondent at Kingston, that a second volume of 
the Transactions of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, 
may be soon expected. | 

The last report which we have seen of the Natural History Soci- 
ety of Montreal, dated May 31, 1830, exhibits a sound and vigor- 
ous growth of that institution, which is evidently under a wise and 
liberal direction. 

We wish all success to our intelligent neighbors in their merito- 
rious efforts, which it will be always a pleasure to promote in any 
way in our power. 


30. Affinity of the Diallage family, in chemical constitution, with 
augite—Fr. Kohler has given (Poggendorff, Ann. XII. 101) the 
results of a mineralogical and chemical examination of the species 
Metalloidal Diallage, Bronzite and Hypersthene, from which he in- 
fers their general identity with augite; to which species he refers 
them, under the denomination of the Schiller spar family.—(Zeat- 


schrift fiir Mineralogie, Nro. 5. Mai. p. 386.) 


31. Collections of Insects ——M. J. L. Laporte, of Bordeaux, 
in a letter to Dr. J. Porter, of Plainfield, Massachusetts, states, that 
he is engaged in a work upon the insects of both Americas, and that 
he is therefore anxious to receive insects of every species from all 
parts of North and South America. He requests particularly that 
the butterflies may be put up in paper triangles, that they may ar- 
rive in the best state. He promises liberal returns in insects from 


MMiscellanies. 169 


the eastern continent, particularly from Europe and india; or, if 
more agreeable, he will send plants and shells.* 

The following letter from M. Laporte to Dr. Porter, expresses his 
views more-fully. 

“¢T am very much gratified to learn that the little collection of in- 
sects which I sent you gave you pleasure; and I repeat my offers, 
to send you, not only a large proportion of all the species of Europe, 
but likewise those of India and other countries. 1 will alsoysend 
you, if you desire it, plants, both in the phanerogamous or cryptoga- 
mous department, as I possess many duplicates duly prepared. 

“ T can also send specimens in conchology, either sea, land, river 
or fossil shells.+ . 

*¢ My brother, being particularly engaged in ornithology, would be 
alike desirous of entering into correspondence with any naturalists, 
who collect birds: he would be able to furnish many specimens. 

“1 desire, above all things, to receive insects, of whatever order 
they may be; and, as | am engaged upon a work concerning those 
of the two Americas, it is indispensable that I should receive not only 
a large number, but from different localities. For this I shall be dis- 
posed to make numerous sacrifices, in order to ndemnify my corres- 
pondents for the pains they may take to assist me in my researches: 
I shall therefore feel very grateful to you, if you will have the good- 
ness to attend to my request; and I desire you more especially to 
put up the lepidopterous insects in paper ee that they may 
arrive in the best state. 

“I do not consider it indispensable to have the insects, that may 
be sent me, classed, but only every variety, as far as possible, of the 
different species, by having several specimens of the same put up. 
This would be of great advantage to me. 

‘If, among the number of species that I have sent, or may here- 
after send you, some of the same should be found also with you, I 
request that you would not, on that account, neglect sending them 
to me. 


/ 
TT Ta Uda PTS EEE eee 
* M. Laporte requests that whatever is intended for him may be forwarded di- 
rect to Bordeaux, and not by the way of Havre. His address is, WW. J. L. Laporte, 
Tresorier de la Soci¢té Linneenne de Bordeaux, Rue du Parlement, No. 13, & 
Bordeaux. 
| With respect to minerals, I have but few duplicates. 


Vou. XX.—No. 1. 22 


i7¢ JMtscellanies. 


“The great number of sects, which it is in my power to send to 
your country, affording me the assurance that I can satisfy several 
correspondents, induces me to request that you would make some 
overtures in my favor, so as to bring me into connection with’ such 
entomologists of your acquaintance, as may be desirous of making 
exchanges. [recommend this measure more particularly with re- 
spect to the naturalists, that live in countries, that you may not be 
able to visit. You may reckon beforehand on all my efforts to tes- 
tify my gratitude, which will always be something more than a mere 
equivalent for the pains that you and your friends may take in my 


behalf.” 


32. Localities of Jinerals, a Jaceb Porter.—Spodumene, in 
coarse grained granite, with beryls, near the celebrated locality of the 
tourmalines, Chesterfield, (Mass.) The crystals are very large, ma- 
ny of them having a delicate apple green color. Red ae of tita- 
nium, in fine crystals, near the soap-stone quarry, Cummington, Mass. 


33. Trap, and rocks altered by 1t.—Professor Leonhard, of Hei- 
delberg, Germany, in a letter to the editor, dated May 22, 1830, re- 
marks, that he had been much interested in the account contained in 
the 17th volume of this Journal, of the changes which the trap had 
produced upon the sand-stone in the vicinity of Hartford ; and he ts 
disposed to call the sand-stone the variegated. He adds, “7 have 
been occupied several years in similar researches, and have visited 
most of the mountains of Germany that are interesting in these re- 
spects: I have also gone over Auvergne and Velay, and in all these 
places I have made a rich collection of a great diversity of rocks, 
which I have seen in contact with basalt or with dolerite, and which 
prove the different degrees of alteration produced by the heat. I 
intend to publish—perhaps the next year—a work upon this sub- 
ject.”* We will only add, that after such extended and varied obser- 
vations, Prof. Leonhard’s work will be highly acceptable to geologists. 


34. Sir Humphrey Davy’s Consolations in travel—Throughout 
ihe whole of this interesting volume, we observe traces of the most 
genuine unaffected piety, and the most complete proofs, that the au- 
thor had studied, in his latter days at least, the peculiar doctrines of 


* In two vols. Svo. with numerous sections and maps: it may be expected during 
the present year.—Prof. Jameson, Edin. Jour. Dec. 1839, 


MMiscellanies. 171 


christianity, and derived from them that consolation which they are 

so well fitted to inspire. It is a proud triumph of the christian faith, 
that the greatest chemical philesopher ef modern times, should not 
only have added his testimony to its truth, but should have spent his 
latest hours in impressing his convictions upon others. - ‘There per- 
haps never was an individual who rose more quickly than Sir H. 
Davy to.the highest objects of ambition. Placed in the chair of 
Newton, at the head of ihe Royal Society; itoriored by the special 
notice of his sovereign, associated with the highest ranks of society, 
and distinguished over all Europe, as the most successful of moderr 
Inquirers, he yet found that there was something beyond all this, af- 
ter which his soul aspired, and before which all earthly glory dis- 
appeared. 

“Religion,” says he “ whether natural or revealed, has always the 
same beneficial influence on the mind. In youth, in health and 
prosperity, it wakens feelings of gratitude and sublime love, and pu- 
rifies at the same time that it exalts; but it is in misfortune, in sick- 
ness, in age, that its effects are most truly and beneficially felt; wher 
submission in faith, and humble trust in the Divine will, from duties 
become pleasures, undecaying sources of consolation; then it creates 
powers which were believed to be extinct, and gives a freshness to 
the mind, which was supposed to have passed away for ever, but 
which is now renovated as an immortal hope; then it is the Pharos 
greeting the wave-tossed mariner to his home, as the calm and beau- 
tiful still basins or fiords surrounded by tranquil groves and pastoral 
meadows, to the Norwegian pilot escaping from a heavy storm in the 
North Sea, or as the green and decoy spot gushing with fountains to 
the exhausted and thirsty traveller in the midst of the desert. Its 
influence outlives all earthly enjoyments, and becomes stronger as 
the organs decay and the frame dissolves; it appears as that evening 
star of light in the horizon of iife, which we are sure is to become 
in another season a morning star, and it throws its radiance through 
the gloom and shadow of death.” 

We would strongly recommend this volume, not only to the study 
‘of scientific men in general, but especially to those who are just en- 
tering upon their philosophical career. At that dangerous period 
when presumption and scepticism are the attendants of knowledge, 
it will not be an unprofitable lesson te read in the lives of Newton 
and of Davy, that. in minds of the highest order, humility and piety 
are the genuine offspring of true science.—Dr. Brewster's Journal. 


72 Miscellanies. 


(The following articles were extracted by Prof. J. Griscom.) 
STATISTICS. 


1. National Encouragement of Science.—The following circum- 
stances are stated by Charles Babbage, M. A. F. R.S. L. and E., 
Professor of Mathematics, Cambridge, in his work “ on the decline of 
Science.” 

Examples of a few of those men of science, who have formerly 
held, or who now hold, high official stations in the sen a aictis of 
their respective countries. Hin 


| Department of 


Country. Nome ii 2). Science. Public Office. 
France |Marquis Laplace* |Mathematics perenne 
France |M. Carnot Mathematics |Minister of War. 

Cee ye we 

anatomy, Minister of Public In- 
France |Baron Cuviert Natural His- struction. 
; tory 
Priccia | (Baron ietunbolat Oriental Lan- Arabacadee to Eng- 
guages land. 
France (Count Chaptalt — |Chemistry Minister of the Interior. 
Pes Baron Alexander|The celebrated|Chamberlain to the King 
Humboldt traveller of Prussia. © 
Minister of Finance and 


of Public Instruction, 
President of the Italian 
.|*Academy of Forty. 
(|Prime Minister of the 
2 |Grand duke of Tuscany. 
Saxony |M. LindenauT Astronomy |Ambassador. 


Modena |Marquis Rangonil| |Mathematics 


Tuscany |Countfossombroni)|/Mathematics 


* Author of the Mecanique Celeste. The first Vol.-of the first translation of this 
celebrated work into our language, has just arrived in England from America! 

* Author of Lecons @’ Anatomie Comparé—Récherches sur les Ossemens fos= 
siles, &c. &e. 

¢ Author of Zraité de Chimie Applique aux Arts. 

|| Author of Memoria sulle Funzioni Generatrica, Modena, 1824, and of various’ 
other memoirs on Mathematical subjects. 

§ Author of several memoirs-on mechanics and hydraulics, in the Transactions of 
the Academy of Forty. 

7 Author of Tables Barometriques, Gotha, 1809—Tabule Veneris nove et cor- 
recta, Gothe, 1810—Investigatio Nova Orbite a Mercurio circa Solem descripte, 
Gothe, 1813, and of other works.- 


Miscellanies. 173 


Comparative numbers of the Royal Society of London, the Insti- 
tute of France, the Italian Academy of Forty, and the Royal Acade- 
my of Berlin. 

Number of Members Number of For- 


Country. Population. of its Academy. eign Members. 
1. England . 22,299,000 - 685 5 50 
2. France . 33,058,000. TEL ene Naniewee 
3. Prussia . 12,415,000 ; 38 § 16 
4. Italy . $2,000,000 40 5 8 


Hence it appears that in Peace! one person out of 427,000, is a 
member of the Institute; that in Italy and Prussia, about one out of 
300,000 ; and in England, every 32,000 inhabitants produce a Fellow 
of the Royal Society. 

In France, the situation of its savans is highly pespectable, as well 
_as profitable. 


Number of the Members of the Institute _ Total number of each class 
who belong to the Legion of Honor. of the Legion of Honor. 
Grand Croix : : 3 : 80 
Grand Officier : : 3 : 160 
Commandeur : : 4 : : 400 
Officier l AMS) 7, : 2000 
Chevalier 40 t Not limited. 
Of the Order of St. Michel. Total Number of that Order. 
Grand Croix 4 2 
Chevalier a7 ie we 
Among the members of the Institute, there are— 
Dukes: . 3 2 
Marquis . : 1 
Counts , : 4 
-Viscounts: 5 Q 2 
Barons’ F é 14 
23 
Of these there ave Peers of France 5 


Among the 685 members of the Royal Society, there might be 
found a greater number of peers than there are in the Institute of 
France ; but a fairer mode (says the writer) of instituting the com- 
parison, is to inquire how many titled members there are among those 
who have contributed to its Transactions. In 1827, there were 109 
members who had contributed tothe transactions of the’ Royal Soci-’ 
éty ; amongst them were found : 

Peer - < yal 
‘Baronets ; ; 5 
Knights “ : 5 


(174 Miscellanies. 


Five of these titles were the rewards of members of the medical 
profession, and one only, that of Sir H. Davy, could be attributed ex- 
clusively to science.—dinburgh Journal of Science, July, 1830. 


2. Necrology.—The president of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, 
announced at the session of May 17, the loss which they had just sus- 
tained in the death of M. Fourier, perpetual secretary for the math- 
ematical sciences, and one of the most illustrious scavans of the age. 

The committee appointed at the succeeding session to nominate 
suitable persons to fill the important station thus left vacant, presented 
on the 31st of May. MM. Arago, Puissant, and Becquerel, and ata 
subsequent meeting, Arago was, by a large majority, elected perpetual 
secretary, in the room of his deceased colleague——Rev. Encyc. 


3. State of Education in the City of Lyons.—In the course of an 
extensive journey through the South of France, in the autumn of 
1828, the benevolent savant Ch. Dupin, visited Lyons, and has fur- 
nished the Revue Encyclopedique with an interesting memoir on the 
commercial and moral condition of that city. From a census annu- 
ally taken of the number of young men who arrive at the age of twen- 
ty, it appears thet in 1827, the number of that class amounted to 835 
in the city of Lyons: of these 285 knew how to read and write; 329 
knew only how to read; 221 knew nothing. In the rest of the de- 
partment of the Rhone, of 1919 young persons examined, 787 knew 
how to read and write; 139 knew only how to read; 993 could nei- 
ther read nor write. ‘The memoir farther observes, 

At Lyons, more than a fourth part of the young people can neither 
read nor write. At Lyons, less thana third cf the young people can 
write. At Lyons, more young persons are interrupted in the midst of 
a course of primary instruction, than are left to finishit; in other 
words, more than half the parents who send their children to the 
schoois, gratuitous or otherwise, withdraw them as soon as they have 
learned to read, and without waiting until they can write. 

They only means of remedying this evil, is to render primary in- 
struction so, rapid, as to teach the children reading and writing in 
the time now devoted to reading only, by the old and difficult meth- 
od which they still pursue.—Rev. Encyc. Avril, 1829. 


4. Rail Roads in Austria. —Within five years, three rail roads 
{chemins en fer) have been constructed in Austria by private compa- 
nies.’ The longest is that from the river Moldau, in Bohemia, on the 
eonfines of Bavaria, to the Danube. Its length already exceeds 
13,400 cordes; the corde being equal to six German feet. The 
building of several chain bridges is also under consideration. Indus- 


MMiscellanies. 175 


try and commerce seem to have taken a fresh start, but the movement 
is very much confined to Austria— Rev. Encyc. Sept. 1830. 


5. The last annual adie of the Naturalists and physicians of Ger- 
many, was held at Hamburg, in September last. ‘This scientific re- 
union was founded in 1822, for the purpose of rendering the scientific 
men of Germany, acquainted with each other, and of facilitating an 
exchange of ideas and discoveries, and producing a union of efforts in 
favor of the progress of science. After having held their meetings 
successively at Dresden, Berlin, Frankfort, and Heidleberg. They 
decided on meeting at Hamburg, and the Senate of that city were the 
more gratified in receiving them as their Burgomaster, Bartels, one of 
the most learned and influential citizens, had been chosen President 
of the assembly. Every thing was done to give them an agreeable 
reception; the chamber of finance placed at the disposal of the Pres- 
ident, funds sufficient to treat them in a style worthy of the occasion. 
M. De Struve the Russian Minister, a distinguished mineralogist, was 
invited to attend the meetings, and was placed at the head of the sec- 
tion of mineralogy. 

The assembly consisted of upwards of 400 persons, among whom 
were Prof. Berzelius of Stockholm, Agardh, of Lund, Count Stern- 
berg, of Prague, and others from Edinburgh, fonder Copenhagen, 
Vienna, and even from Baltimore. 

Prof. Struve pronounced a discourse, as interesting as instructive, 

on the merits of the Germans in Astronomy ; ; and’ ie director of the 
imperial garden at St. Petersburg, M. Pischer read a memoir concern- 
ing the foundation and actual condition of this garden so magnificent- 
ly endowed by the emperor. At the last session held on the 26th 
September, they decided on motion of Count Sternberg to meet the 
next year at Vienna, it being understocd that it was the Emperor’s 
wish that his learned Society should meet in his capital. . The ses- 
sions were conducted with great harmony, and the provision that had 
been made for dining parties and soirees, greatly contributed to the 
general satisfaction.— Rev. Encyc. Oct. 1830. 


6. Petersburg Botanic Garden.—Louis Riedel who has been con- 
nected as botanist to the scientific expedition of M. Langsdorf at 
Brazil, has brought from Rio-Janeiro, for the botanic garden a collec- 
tion of more than a thousand living Brazilian plants, beautiful and 
rare, among which are many that have not before been found in any 
Botanic Garden in Europe. This rich acquisition, joined to the young 
plants which the garden of Petersburg had before obtained from seeds 
sent from Brazil, will be sufficient to fill a large Green-house in 


‘17 ii Miscellanies. 


which in the latitude of 68° the amateurs of Botany may form an idea 
of the beauty and variety of the flora of a vast country, situated be- 
tween the tropics._—Rev. Encyc. Nov. 1830. . 


7. Kingdom of Wirtemburg.—On the first of Nov. 1826 the pop- 
ulation of this kingdom was 1,517,770 inhabitants, of whom 1,055,132 
profess the evangelical and 462,857 the Catholic worship, 9,100 are 
Jews, 463 menonists, and hernhuters. 

In 1827 the University of Tubingen was frequented by 800 stu- 
dents of whom 90 were foreigners. In the same year there were in 
the kingdom, in 59 Gymnasia and Latin Schools 2,303 Students, in 
1,400 primary protestant schools, 160,000 students, in 787 primary 
catholic Schools, 30,000 Students. Of new works there were published 
in the same year 149, public Journals 48, Le nombre des enfans nat- 
urel fut, 7,475 sur une population de 1,540,000; civil prisoners 1,084, 
of whom 673 were Protestants, 403. Catholics, 1 Greek, '7 Jews. 790 
were men and 294 women, 1037 were condemned to more than 3 
months imprisonment and 7 to, death.—Idem. 


8. Iron Trade of Great Britain.—(Repertory of Arts.) The whole 
iron made in Great Britain has been as follows :— 


1740, 17,000 tons, from 59 furnaces. 
1788, 68,000 « se 121 S 
1796, 125,000 <«. . 
1806, 250,000 « : 
1820, 400,000 
1827, 690,000 « ae 284 “) 
The iron produced in 1827 was made as follows :— 
South Wales, 272,000 tons, from, 90 ss 
Staffordshire, 216,000 ‘ & 95 & 
Shropshire, 78,000 *§ e dl oe 
Yorkshire, 43,000 « ee 24 a 
Scotland, 36,500 “ ee 18 es 
North Wales, 24,000 ‘“ ae 12 ne 
Derbyshire, 20,500 <Ǥ cs 14 Of 
690,000 284: 


About 3,ths of this is used for home consumption, and the other 
yaths are exported.—Brewster’s Journal. 


9. Russian Universities —The University of Petersburg which 
contained in 1826, 30 pupils, had in 1829, 177. The number of stu- 
dents in the eight governments of its arrondissements, was 10,200. 


JMiscellantes. 177 


The number of pupils of the University of Moscow, which in Janu- 
ary, 1830, celebrated the 75th anniversary of its foundation, had, dur- 
ing the scholastic year of 1829, 660 exclusive of 18 candidates and 
38 surgeons who continued their studies in it. The total number of 
students in the 296 institutions of public instruction of the eleven gov- 
ernments of the University circuit, was 15,601. These students were 
divided as follows. 3 

Number and kind of establishments. Number of pupils. 


Gymnasia, - - - - - - il 1,089 
District schools, - - - - - 94 7,506 
Parish and primary schools, - - - 134 4,945 
Boarding and private schools, - - - | 54 994* 
University of Moscow, - - - - - - - 716 
Boarding school for the nobility at Moscow, . - 272 
High school of Demidoff, = - - - - - 79 
Total number of establishments, - - 296 15,602 


The number of pupils in 1829 was 1,300 more than in 1828; and 
that of professors and masters 827, which makes about 18 pupils to 
one master.—Rev. Encyc. Sept. 1830. 


10. Destruction of Live Stock by Wolves in Russia.—In the gov- 
ernment of Livonia alone, the following animals were destroyed by 
wolves in 1823. The account is an official one. 


Horses, - - - 1,841 Goats, - - - 2,545 
Fowls, - - 1,243 Kids, - - - 183 
Horned cattle, - - 1,807 Swine, - - - 4,190 
Calves, - - - Tao Sucking pigs, - - 312 
Sheep, - - - 15,182 Dogs, - - - 703 
Lambs, - - 726 Geese, - - - 673 

Idem. 


MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY. 


1. Voltaic electrictty—Professor Saverio Barlocci, of Rome, in a 
memoir on the influence of solar light in the production of electrical 
phenomena, relates the following experiments :—Having decomposed 
a beam of light, by the solar prism, he caused the red ray, and the 
violet ray to fall on two disks of copper, painted black, and to each 
disk was adapted a copper wire. 'T'wo rings of copper sliding on two 
vertical rods of glass, were attached each to one of the wires, so as 


* Of whom 362 are boys, and 632 girls. 
Vou. XX.—No. |. 23 


178 JMiscellanies. 


to admit of their being easily brought together or separated at pleas< 
ure. He then suspended a prepared frog to the upper wire, and 
placed the hind feet of it on the lower wire. Thus prepared, when- 
ever the disks were plunged, one of them into the red ray, and the 
other into the violet, and the extremities of the two wires were 
brought into contact, contractions took place in the muscles of the 
frog.—Jour. des Prog. des Sciences et Med., Tom. IT, 1830. 


2. Safety of steam engines.—The societé d’Encouragement of 
Paris have decided upon granting two premiums ;—‘“ One to him, 
who shall perfect and complete the means of safety, which have hith- 
erto been employed or proposed, against explosions of steam engines 
and other boilers, or point out better ones; the other, to him, who | 
shall invent a form, and a construction of the boiler, which will pre- 
yent or annul all danger from explosions.” 

Each of these premiums shall be two thousand francs, and decreed 
to any Frenchman, or Foreigner, who shall be deemed most worthy 
of it. ; 

The method proposed must have been tested by, at least, six months’ 
trial in a steam engine of high pressure, of ten horse power or larger, 
or on a boiler of equal force. The efficacy of the proposed improve- 
ment must be duly authenticated, and the inventor must renounce any’ 


intention of securing patent priviliges. ‘The memoirs, designs, or . 


models, reports or certificates must be sent before the first of July, 
1831.—Ann. des Mines. \ 


3. Violent thunder storm in Switzerland.—At the meeting of the 
Helvetic society last year at St. Gall, an account was given by M. | 
Watt of a storm in the Canton of Basle, on the sixteenth of July, 1830. 

The road which leads from Soleure to Basle by Wangen, passes 
over the Haunstein, on the north eastern extremity of the Jura. On 
the highest point of this route, the clouds collected from different 
quarters, and poured their contents upon the northern side of the 
mountain. The Hauptbach, a small brook, runs through the valley, 
along which the road passes, and empties into the Ergeltz, which, in 
turn, discharges itself into the Rhine. Ina few moments these streams 
were transformed into enormous torrents from six to ten feet deep. 
The water, bearing with it wood and stones, overthrew every thing 
in its passage. The roads were destroyed from the top of the valley, 
the bridges and farms were ruined. At Waldenburg, it demolished 
all the houses in the lower part, and inundated those in the upper. 
Proceeding onward, the villages of Oberdorf and Nulerdorf were soon 
left a heap of ruins. On the village of Mollstein, the devastating tor- 


Miscellanies. 179 


rent poured with all its fury ;—three houses alone remained entire. 
The fruit trees, of this fertile valley, were destroyed. Of the bridge 
at the baths of Bubendorf, built of hewn stone, not a vestige remains. 
The farms were ravaged over the extent of five leagues. An idea of 
the prodigious volume of water which was condensed and precipitated 
on this occasion may be formed, from the fact, that at Basle, about 
two leagues below the embouchure of the Ergeltz, in less than an hour; 
the Rhine rose two feet. The smiling and fertile plain of Hoéllstein 
was left a desert. ‘Twenty one persons perished in this disaster. 
The waters, in some places, appeared to have fallen in masses. M. 
Watt ascribes this, and other similar phenomena, to the great thick- 
ness of the strata of clouds, brought together in the first instance by 
winds from different quarters. ‘The drops formed on the upper sur- 
face in the higher regions of the atmosphere, are, by their descent 
through such a mass of vapor, enlarged by all the vesicles which 
they meet with. This produces a great condensation. A cloud is 
formed in the atmosphere by some particular refrigerating cause, and 
thus overshadowing a space below, deprives it of the sun’s rays, and 
thus occasions a rarefaction of the air. The surrounding air, charg- 
ed with vapor is precipitated into this partial vacuum, and thus occa- 
sions such an accumulation of vapor as, when suddenly condensed, 
forms torrents of this frightful description —Bzb. Univ. Oct. 1830. 


4. Decomposition of water by atmospheric electricity.—M. Bonijol, 
curator of the Reading Society of Geneva, and a zealous friend of 
science, having constructed a variety of delicate apparatus, by which 
water is easily decomposed by common electricity, has succeeded in 
effecting it also by the electricity of the atmosphere. The atmos- 
pheric electricity is drawn off from an insulated rod by a very fine 
point, which communicates with the apparatus in whieh the decom- 
position is effected, by a wire whose diameter does not exceed half a 
millimetre. Water is thus decomposed constantly and rapidly, even 
when the atmosphere is moderately electric. It is only necessary 
that the weather be stormy.—Jbid. 


5. Decompositions by common electricity—M. Bonijol has decom- 
posed potash and chloride of silver by placing them in tubes of glass 
very narrow, and passing sparks through them from a common ma- 
chine, by the mere approach of two wires. When the sparks are 
rapidly continued from five to ten minutes, reduced silver is found in 
the tube filled with the chloride; and in that containing potash, the 
potassium is seen to take fire as it is disengaged.—Jdzd. 


180 Miscellanies. 


6. Heat produced by the compression of gas.—In the June No. of 
the Ann. de Chimie et de Phys. Baron Thénard publishes some ob- 
servations on the light which is emitted from air and from oxygen by 
compression. Common air, oxygen and chlorine, are the only gases 
which are known to emit light when compressed. Hydrogen, azote 
and carbonic acid, afford no such phenomena. 'Thénard, presuming 
that this difference might arise from the combustion of the oil or 
grease with which the piston of the compressing machine is impreg- 
nated, performed the experiment so as to avoid this source of error, 
by using a piston of potter’s felt, well moistened with water, after 
having washed the tube well with potash to remove the grease. 
There was then no light, how forcible soever the compression of Oxy- 
gen gas; but at the same time, ifa piece of paper or dry wood, were 
attached to the end of the piston, there was a vivid inflammation in 
the same gas. Chiorine presented the same results. Thus no gas 
becomes luminous by simple compression in the pneumatic fire 
pumps. It was ascertained that a fragment of pine wood would not 
inflame in oxygen gas at the temperature of 350° cent. under atmos- 
pheric pressure. It only became of a deep brown color, but it inflam- 
ed at 252° under a pressure of 260 centimetres. 

To determine the temperature to which compression would elevate 
other gases, M. Thénard used fulminating powders which exploded 
at different temperatures. He thus ascertained that a gas compressed 
as strongly as possible by hand in a glass tube, rises much beyond 
205° centigrade (or 401° F.) Powders which decompose at 205° 
cent. explode in azote, hydrogen and carbonic acid by sudden and 
strong compression.—ZJbid. 


7. The seat of tasie.—By covering the tongue with parchment,. 
sometimes in whole, and sometimes in different parts, it has been de- 
termined by two experimenters in Paris, M. M. Guyot and Admy- 
raula, that the end and sides of the tongue, and a small space at the 
root of it, together with a small surface at the anterior and superior 
part of the rcof of the palate, are the only portions of surface in the 
cavity of the mouth and throat, that can distinguish taste or sapidity 
from mere touch. A portion of extract of aloes, placed on any other 
part, gives no sensation but that of touch, until the saliva carries a 
solution of the sapid matters to those paris of the cavity.—Jbzd. 


8. Currents in the ocean, by Charles Rumker, Esq.—‘'The wa- 
ters of the Pacific being supposed higher than those of the Atlantic, I 
expected an easterly current on approaching Cape Horn, but I could 
discover none. Near the northern coasts of the Brazils and Guiana, 


JMiscellanies. 181 


we experienced strong currents to the west, in conformity with Hum- 
bolt’s theory of an indraft into the Caribbean Sea, occasioned by an 
equatorial current.” Mr. R. gives a table of comparison between 
the ship’s place by observation and that obtained by the log, with the 
drifts and force of the current for twenty-four hours. 


9. Sargasso Weeds.—In the North Atlantic Ocean, coming from the 
South you fall in about the tropic, with the Sargasso weeds, collec- 
ted in narrow lines extending in the direction in which the trade wind 
blows, that is E. N. E. and W.S. W., and the eye cannot see the end 
of them on either side of the vessel. ‘These lines run constantly par- 
allel to each other, and the nearer you come to the middle of the 
Sargasso sea, the thicker it is strewed with weeds, and the closer the 
lines approach to one another, being in some places but fifteen feet 
asunder. Home bound ships have a better opportunity of observing 
these lines, as they cross nearly at right angles, and can trace their 
continuation more conveniently on both sides, observing one line after 
another in rapid succession. 

These weeds occupy the zone from about 20° to 35° north latitude, 
which may, however, differ according to the longitude in which you 
cross it. ‘Towards the zone’s northern extremes, the weeds are less 
regularly formed in lines, which may arise from their being less me- 
thodically acted upon by the trade winds that seem to occasion their 
order. They have been termed gulf weeds by sailors, who believed 
them to be driven out of the gulf by the Florida stream; nor is this 
opinion entirely refuted by the experience that they are rarely met 
with in the gulf. For the weed swimming on the surface of the At- 
lantic is withered, decayed, and incrutsed with salt, which proves the 
time it has been exposed to the sun, and is of a brownish yellow color, 
whilst you rarely meet with a green bunch; that, being heavier, on 
account of its higher state of vegetation, swims several feet below 
the surface. It is true that not with certainty can any roots, thicker 
branches, or stems be perceived, wherewith they might have adhered 
to the rocks or the ground: nevertheless, as these weeds abound with 
animals that do not live upon the surface, but inhabit the bottom of 
the sea, such as crabs, shrimps, barnacles, conchilias of all descrip- 
tions, and serpents, I have no doubts that they originated in a shallow 
basin of water, out of which they were swept by the force of a cur- 
rent along the bottom, until the heavier vegetable fluid being exhaust- 
ed, they rose to the surface. Moreover they are never seen near the 
European or African coasts, but most plentifully found about the en- 
trance of the gulf Phil. Maz. and Ann. Decem. 1830. 


182 Miscellanies. 


_ 10. Arrangement of Rocks.—Dry. K. C. Von Leonhard, professor 
of Mineralogy and Geology at Heidleberg, dissatisfied with the old 
division of rocks into Primitive, Transition and Secondary, has pro- 
posed the following, which he regards as better defined by analogies 
of character, better connected by reciprocal gradation, by organ- 
ic remains, and by a constant, or at least a very frequent, appearance 
of various members of such groups. 
I. Postdiluvial. 
If. Diluvial. 
Til. Fresh water Gypsum, with coarse limestone, (grob kalk) and 
plastic clay. | 
{V. Chalk and green sand. 
V. Jura and oolite limestone. 
VI. Lias and Keuper. 
VII. Shell limestone (muschel kalk) and variegated sandstone. 
VIII. Magnesian limestone, (zechstein) and red sandstone, (tod-lie- 
gendes) 
XI. Coal. 
X. Transition limestone, greywacke, and. clay slate.—Jameson’s 
Journal, Oct. 1830. 


il. Enormous quantity of iron manufactured, and of coal consu- 
medin Wales. (Foster, in Transactions of the Natural Society of 
Northumberland, Durham and Newcastle.)—The quantity of iron an- 
nually manufactured in Wales, has been calculated at about 270,000 
ens. Of this quantity a proportion of about three fourths is made 
into bars, and one fourth sold as pigs and castings. The quantity of 
coal required for its manufacture on the average of the whole, in- 
cluding that used by engines, workmen, &c. will be about 52 tons 
for each ton of iron; the annual consumption of coal by the iron- 
works will therefore be about 1,500,000 tons. The quantity used in 
smelting of copper ore, imported from Cornwall, in the manufacture of 
tin plate, forging of iron for various purposes, and for domestic uses may 
be calculated at 350,000, which makes altogether the annual consump- 
tion of coal in Wales=1,850,000 tons. The annual quantity of iron 
manufactured in Great Britian is 690,000 tons. From this statement 
it will be observed that the quantity of iron smelted in Wales, is up- 
wards of one third of the total quantity made in Great Britain. The 
manufacture of the Welsh Iron is in the hands of a few extensive cap- 
italists, and is carried on with great spirit and attention to improve- 
ment. The principal works are in the town of Merthyr, and its im- 
mediate neighborhood; and as the greatest proportion of metal pro- 
duced is manufactured into bar iron, a process which in the refining, 


MMiscellanies. 183 


puddling, and cementing of the metal, necessarily requires a great 
number fof furnaces, their appearance on approaching Merthyr, by 
night, from the hills with which it is surrounded, presents a scene 
which is probably without a parallel Jameson’s Jour. Oct. 1830. 
12. Importance of the discovery of the curing of Herrings.—The 
discovery of the mode of curing and barreling Herring, by an obscure in- 
dividual of the name of Beukles, or Beukelzon, towards the middle of 
the 14th century contributed more, perhaps, than any thing else, to in- 
crease the maritime power and wealth of Holland. Ata period when 
the prohibition of eating butcher meat during two days every week, 
and forty days before Easter, was universal, a supply of some sort 
of subsidiary food was urgently required; so that the discovery of 
Beukles became of the greatest consequence, not to his countrymen 
only, but to the whole christian world. ‘The Emperor Charles V. be- 
ing in 1550, at Biervliets, where Beukles was buried, he visited his 
grave and ordered a magnificent monument to be erected, to record the 
memory of a man who had rendered so signal a service to his coun- 


try.—Idem. 


CHEMISTRY. 


1. Quantity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere.—An elaborate 
series of experimental observations to determine the changes which 
take place in the quantity of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, has been 
made by Theodore De Saussure, an account of which, was given in 
a memoir read at the Societé de Phys. et d’Hist. Nat. de Genéve on 
the eighteenth of February, 1830. The following is the authov’s 
Résumé. 

““The variations, which I have obseryed in the atmospheric car- 
bonic acid, in the open country, are due to two principal causes: 

“Ist. To the changes which the soil undergoes in its moisture, 
which absorbs this gas, and the dryness which evolves it. 2nd. To 
the opposing influences of night and day, or from darkness which in- 
creases, and light which diminishes, the proportion of this gas. _ 

“The upper strata of the atmosphere contain more carbonic acid 
than the lower. 

«The variations of this gas from day and night are scarcely sensi- 
ble in the upper strata. They appear to participate more fully in the 
less sudden changes of the lower strata by the general effect produ- 
ced by moisture. 

“The variation, occasioned by day and night, is relatively small in 
the streets of Geneva; but it is considerable on the adjacent lake, 
which presents no obstacle to the lateral circulation of the air of the 
country. 


184. Miscellanies. 


«‘ A violent wind commonly increases the carbonic acid during the 
day, in the lower strata of the air, and destroys, in whole or in part, 
the increase of the gas during the night.” 

The author’s experiments were continued during several years, the 
last noted, being on the third of January, 1830. They amounted to 
the number of two hundred and twenty five. He found in a volume 
of ten thousand parts of air, a minimum of about 3.06 parts, and a 
maximum of 5.78 parts of carbonic acid. 

On the summit of the Dole, about four thousand feet above the sur- 
face of the lake, the quantity was 4.61, while, at the same time, 
at Chambeisy, on the plain, it was 4.74, and on another occasion 
it was 4.91 on the mountain and 4.46 on the plain. This difference 
is ascribed to the superior influence of vegetation on the plain, which 
decomposes the carbonic acid, and to the greater absorption of it by 
the streams. he greatest difference observed at the extreme heights 
was during a time of extraordinary humidity. — Bib. Univ. Juin, 1830. 


2. On the mutual action of iodic acid and morphine, or the acetate 
of that base; by M. Szervuiias.—TIf iodic acid, in solution, at a common 
temperature, be brought into contact with a single grain of morphine, 
or acetate of that base, the liquid becomes of a deep red brown, and 
exhales a strong odor of iodine. ‘The hundredth part of a grain of 
acetate of morphine, is sufficient to produce the effect very sensibly. 
The action is prompt when the fluid is somewhat concentrated, slower 
when diluted, but not less appreciable, in the lapEe of a few seconds 
even in seven thousand parts of water. 

Quinine, cinchonine, veratrine, picrotoxine, narcotine, strychnine, 
and brucine, subjected to the same trial, have no action on iodic acid; 
while the smallest quantity of morphine, or its acetate, becomes evi- 
dent in the manner just mentioned. Todice acid may therefore be re- 
garded as an extremely sensible reagent for detecting the presence of 
morphine, either free or combined with acetic sulphuric, nitric or hy~ 
drochloric acid, not only isolated, but also in mixture with vegetable 
alkalies, provided the latter have no action on iodic acid; or, if they 
have any, that it does not resemble that which morphine exerts under 
the same circumstances. 

To render more distinct the iodine set free in the experiment, we 
may begin by triturating with a little starch jelly, the small quantity 
of liquid containing the morphine, or its salts, and then add a few 
drops of the solution of iodic acid, which immediately develops the 
blue color. 

This process will serve equally well for the detection of opium, for 
a few drops of laudanum, or of an aqueous solution of opium, min- 


JMiscellanies. 185 


gled with starch paste, and then with a solution of icdic acid, imme- 
diately give a blue color. 

In the reciprocal action of iodic acid and morphine, the former is 
evidently decomposed, since a large quantity of the iodine is set free. 

The mixture, diluted with water, remains of a red brown, witha 
deposit of the same color, which, after exposure to the air, passes 
with the fluid to a clear yellow, from the volatilization of the iodine. 
The supernatant fiuid, by spontaneous evaporation, yields a yellow 
powder of a crystalline aspect.— Annales de Chim., Fev. 1830. 


3. Preparation of Crystallized Iodic Acid.—The following pro- 
cess is given by Serullas as the best method of obtaining this acid. 
Make a solution of iodate of soda; heat it to ebullition during twelve 
or fifteen minutes with sulphuric acid in excess, (at least double the 
quantity necessary to saturate the soda,) and filter. ‘The fluid, sufti- 
ciently concentrated, being left to itself in a stove at 20° to 25° cent. 
furnishes in a short time a crystalline mass, which is to be washed 
with a little water, placed on bibulous paper, and dried in a stove. 
When pressed, it divides into small brilliant crystals. The iodic acid 
thus obtained is pure; the process is easy ; a portion of it, heated to 
redness in a tube ought to disappear entirely. If it can retain traces 
of iodate of soda, it should be dissolved a second time with addition 
of sulphuric acid and recrystallized. 

Crystallized iodic acid is very soluble in water ; but very sparingly 
in alcohol, which precipitates it from water. It undergoes no notable 
alteration in the air, nor does it attract moisture very sensibly ; it has 
a peculiar odor, in which that of iodine cannot be mistaken. ‘The 
author has not observed that it attacks gold, as has been said. He 
has ascertained that Sir H. Davy was mistaken in several points with 
regard to this acid, probably from the small quantity with which he 
experimented. 'The substances which Davy designates by the names 
of iodo-sulphuric acid, iodo-nitric acid, and iodo-phosphoric acid, and 
which he considers as durable acids in definite proportions, do not ex- 
ist.—Idem. 


+ 4. On fuming Nitric Acid, by M. Mitcherlich.—The temperature 
of the laboratory being at ---10° cent. he heated very gently in a re- 
tort placed on a sand bath, 10 to 20 lbs. of fuming nitric acid. A very 
long tube was adapted to the retort surroynded with chloride of cal- 
cium and snow, and joined to a receiver and a pneumatic tube. From 
the latter tube no gas was disengaged. In the receiver a liquid was 
condensed which formed two strata, which remained distinct after ag- 
itation, much like oil and water. ‘The lightest fluid, when separated, 


Vou. XX.—No. 1. 24 


186 , MMiscellanies. 


began to boil at 28° cent. and continued at that point till it was all. 
evaporated. Its specific gravity was 1.455. It is decomposed in con- 

tact with water, into nitric acid, and oxide of azote; in a word, 

it presents all the properties of the compound of nitrous acid with ni- 

tric acid discovered by Dulong. On the contrary, the heavy fluid be- 

ing heated, its boiling point rose continually from 28° to more than 

126° progressively as the distillation was continued. 

This liquid is of an intense red color like common fuming nitric 
acid. It becomes colorless when about one half is distilled off. The 
product is about one half of the light and one half of the heavy liquid. 
The specific gravity of the latter is 1.539. Common fuming nitric 
acid acts in the same manner. 

It results from these experiments that fuming nitric acid is a solu- 
tion of hypo-nitric acid in nitric acid, which however can dissolve 
only a certain quantity, about half of its weight, so that in distilling 
common fuming nitric acid, we obtain a heavy liquid, (viz. a saturated 
solution of nitrous acid in nitric acid,) and a lighter fluid, viz. hypo- 
nitric acid.—Idem. 


5. On the decomposition of Water, by C. Despretz.—It has been 
long known that red hot iron decomposes water and disengases hy- 
drogen gas, and that a current of this gas, removes entirely the oxy- 
gen from the oxide formed. Gay-Lussac has shewn that the decom- 
position and recomposition of water takes place at the same tempera- 
ture. I find that zinc, nickel, cobalt and tin act like iron. The ox- 
ide of manganese is not completely reduced by hydrogen. Some 
pure peroxide of that metal, exposed to a current of the dry gas, in 
the highest heat of a good forge, left a portion of melted pretoxide, 
of a very fine green color.—Idem. 


6. Decomposition of Carbonic Acid, by C. Despretz.—Carbonic 
acid presents the same phenomena as water ; it is brought to the con- 
dition of oxide of carbon by iron, zinc, and tin, and the oxides of 
these metals are reduced by the second gas. 

The oxide of carbon was prepared by a mixture of oxalate of pot- 
ash and sulphuric acid, and deprived of any acid which it might en- 
tangle by an alkaline solution.—Idem. 


7. On crystallizable Acetic Acid, by C. Despretz.—The process by 
which crystallized acetic acid is prepared, is kept a secret. After 
many trials | succeeded in obtaining very fine specimens by heating 
a mixture in atomic proportions of melted and dried acetate of lead 
‘and boiled sulphuric acid, (203.4 parts of the former, and 61.4 of the 


Muiscellanies. i87 


second.) ‘The anhydrous acetates ought necessarily to furnish the 
same result as,the acetate of lead.——Idem. 


8. Asparagin.—Chevreul and Serullas made a report on the mon- 
ography of the asparagin of Plisson and Henri, pharmaceutists. The 
authors obtained asparagin from the roots of the marsh-mallow by the 
following process. Having stripped the dry root of its epidermis, 
they subjected it to repeated infusions in warm water, and obtained, 
by boiling and concentration, large octohedral crystals; which they 
purified by a second crystallization. A kilogramme of the root of 
marsh-mallew gives 20 grammes of pure asparagin. This substance 
is colorless, inodorous, and as transparent as diamonds. ‘The crystals 
have the taste of aspartic acid, (acidity apart.) Asparagin is soluble 
in water, insoluble in alcohol and ether; calcined to redness in con- 
tact with air, it disappears entirely and gives all the products of ani- 
mal matter. Hence, according to the results of Plisson and Henri, 
asparagin contains much azote. Its composition may be represented 
by 2 proportion of ammonia, | of cyanogen, 3 of bi-carbonated hy- 
drogen, and 4 of carbonic acid. 

The action of water, of alkalies, and of acids upon asparagin is 
very remarkable. It occasions, in every instance, the same phenom- 
enon of transformation, namely, ammonia and aspartic acid, variously 
combined with the reagents employed. The acids, especially the sul- 
phuric, very readily produces aspartic acid. The authors impute 
these changes to electro-chemical forces, the nature of which is deter- 
mined by these various agents, and this suggested the idea of making 
experiments with other animal matters, such as gelatine, albumen, &c. 
The results confirmed their prepossessions, and they think that a 
great number of neutral azotized animal matters may be arranged, in 
this respect, under the same law. ‘The employment of lime in pre- 
venting the exhalation of gases depends on the same principle, by 
changing into non-deleterious bodies those which result from dead 
carcases left to themselves. ‘The authors conclude also that the pro- 
ducts of putrid fermentation are much more numerous than is com- 
monly thought.—Rev. Encyc. Oct. 1830. 


9. Decomposition of metallic salts, by Carlo Matteuct.—Having 
charged an electric column of thirty pairs, the author plunged the pla- 
tina wires, which were in connection with the poles, into a solution of 
marine salt, and immediately from both extremities there was an evo- 
lution of gas. But when the wires were transferred to a solution of 
sulphate of copper, he was surprised to find that no hydrogen was 
disengaged from the negative wire, which became covered neverthe- 


@ 
188 Miscellames. 


less with metallic copper, while oxygen continued to flow from the 
positive wire. He varied the experiment by trying other metallic so- 
lutions: silver and lead, and some others, presented the same phenom- 
ena, except that the silver and lead were transported in the metallic 
state, while in other cases only the oxide was deposited. 

We must, in these cases, suppose, either that the hydrogen com- 
bines with the metal, or that the metal, separated in the state of ox- 
ide, is reduced by the hydrogen, which forms water by its combina- 
tion with the oxygen of the oxide. The latter supposition only is ad- 
missible. ‘To assure himself of its truth, he took a pile of two pairs, 
incapable of decomposing water slightly saline. A solution of nitrate 
of silver, of much easier decomposition than water, was easily decom- 
posed, and it was observed that there was at first deposited, not me- 
tallic silver, as was common, but an olive coat of oxide of silver. 
Thus it is proved that the disengagement of hydrogen at the negative 
pole ceases, only because this gas is employed in reducing the oxides 
separated from their combination with acids, by the electric agent. 

Thus it appears that hydrogen, in its nascent state, is capable of 
decomposing oxides, a property it does not commonly possess, ex- 
cept at elevated temperatures. 

In pursuing the investigation, the author took a pile of two pairs, 
charged with water very slightly saline, and which could not, of 
course, decompose even acidulated water. He placed the platina 
wires of this pile in a solution of chloride of copper, and observed, 
in the course of time, that the negative wire was acquiring a coating 
of metallic copper, while from the positive wire bubbles of gas were 
rising. Having changed the platina conductor for one of silver, the 
latter acquired a yellow coating, which soon became violet, and 
which led him to suspect the presence of chloride of silver. The ex- 
periment was repeated with iodide of zinc and of iron; and scarcely 
were the platina wires plunged into these solutions, when the iodine 
appeared, distinctly, at the positive pole, and the metal was reduced 
at the negative pole. 

From these experiments the author thinks it may with certainty be 
affirmed, that these combinations, even when dissolved in water, do 
not change their nature, and are not converted, as chemists have of- 
ten imagined, into hydro-chlorates, hydriodates, &c., of oxides.—— 
Forli, 10 Sep. 1830.— Bib. Univ. Oct. 1830. 


10. The Black Sea.—Dr. P. C. Hepites, of Odessa, has analyzed 
the water of this sea, with the following results: Spec. grav. 1011. 
10,000 parts of the water being evaporated at a low heat, left 65 parts 
ef a yellowish residue, which consisted of 


Miscellanies. 189 


Hydrochlorate of soda s - Ea z 35 

Do. lime - - - - - 3 

Sulphate of magnesia - - F - - 10 

Do. lime - - ~ loos - 2 

Vegetable matter analogous to gelatine - s 8 

Loss and a little iodine - “ - “ : 7 
—Idem. 


11. Charring of wood at low temperatures.—Mr. Charles May, 
chemist, of Ampthill, has sent me some specimens of wood converted 
into nearly perfect charcoal, at a very low but long continued heat. 
The pieces, he informs, are part of the bottom of a tub, which held 
about 130 gallons, and which had been in use in his laboratory about 
three years anda half, and almost constantly worked for boiling a 
weak solution of common salt, generally with an open steam pipe, 
and sometimes, though rarely, with a coil: the temperature was sel- 
dom higher than 216° or 220°, and the vessel was lined with tin roll- 
ed into sheets about one-sixteenth of an inch thick, and nailed to the 
inside; the joints, however, were not so good as to prevent the 
liquid from getting between the metal and the wood. Mr. May states 
also, that he had long since remarked, that on making extracts with 
steam of very moderate pressure, all the apparent effects of burning 
might be produced, but that he was not prepared to find so complete 
a carbonization of wood by steam; the vessel was made partly of fir, 
and partly of ash, the former of which was most perfectly reduced to 
the state of charcoal. R. P.—Phil. Mag. and Ann. Nov. 1830. 


12. Limits to vaporization.—A paper on the above named subject, 
by Mr. Faraday, was published in the Philosophical Transactions for 
the year 1826: when the experiments therein mentioned were pub- 
lished, others relating to the same subject were arranged, but which 
required great length of time for the development of their results. 
After a lapse of four years the experiments were examined, and the 
results are now stated. In September, 1826, several stoppered bot- 
tles were made perfectly clean, and several wide tubes close at one 
extremity, so as to form smaller vessels, capable of being placed with- 
in the bottles, were prepared. Then selected substances were put 
into the tubes, and solutions of other selected substances into the bot- 
tles; the tubes were placed in the bottles, so that nothing could pass 
from one substance to the other, except by way of evaporation. The 
stoppers were introduced, the bottles tied over carefully, and put away 
in a dark safe cupboard, where, except for an occasional examination, 
they have been left for nearly four years, during which time such 


190 Miscellanies. 


portions of the substances as could vaporize, have been free to act and 
produce accumulation of their specific effects. 

In this way it was found that neither sulphate of soda, nor muriate 
of barytes, were volatilized ; the same was the case with solution of 
nitrate of silver and chloride of sodium; diluted sulphuric acid and 
common salt; solution of potash and arsenious acid in pieces and 
powder; diluted sulphuric acid and muriate of ammonia: solution 
of persulphate of iron and ferrocyanate of potash in crystals; solu- 
tion of potash and fragments of calomel ; solution of iodide of potash 
and chloride of lead; solution of muriate of lime and crystals of car- 
bonate of soda; solution of per-sulphate of copper and crystals of 
ferro-cyanate of potash,—from these experiments it would appear, 
Mr. Faraday observes, ‘ that there is no reason to believe that water 
or its vapors confer volatility, even in the slightest degree, upon those 
substances which alone have their limits of vaporization at tempera- 
tures above ordinary occurrence, and that consequently natural evap- 
oration can produce no effects of this kind on the atmosphere.” 

From other experiments, Mr. Faraday concludes that ‘nitrate of 
ammonia, corrosive sublimate, oxalic acid, and perhaps oxalate of am- 
monia, are substances which evolve vapor at common temperatures.” 
(Journal of the Royal Institution, October, 1830.)—Phil. Mag. and 
Ann. Nov. 1830. 


13. Composition of gunpowder.—Dr. Ure has analyzed various 
samples of gunpowder, and the following are the results of his inves- 
tigation : 

Waltham Abbey—nitre, 74.5 ; charcoal, 14.4; sulphur, 10.; water, 
1.1 

Hall, Dartford—nitre, 76.2; charcoal, 14.; sulphur, 9.0; water, 
5D; loss, .3 

Pigou & Wilkes—nitre, 77.4; charcoal, 13.5; sulphur, 8.5; wa- 
ter, .6 

Curtis & Harvey—nitre, 76.7; charcoal, 12.5; sulphur, 9.; water, 
1.1; loss, .'7 

Battle gunpowder—nitre, 77.; charcoal, 13.5; sulphur, 8.; water, 
°8; loss, .7 

‘“‘The process,” observes Dr. Ure, “ most commonly practised in 
the analysis of gunpowder seems to be tolerably exact. ‘The nitre 
is first separated by hot distilled water, evaporated and weighed. A 
minute loss of salts may be counted on from its known volatility, with 
boiling water. Ihave evaporated always ona steam bath. It is prob- 
able that a amall proportion of the lighter and looser constituents of 
gunpowder, the carbon, flies off in the operations of corning and dus- 


Miscellanies. 191 


ting. Hence analysis may show a small deficit of charcoal below the 
synthetic proportions originally mixed. 'The residuum of charcoal and 
sulphur left on the double filter paper, being well dried by the heat of or- 
dinary steam, is estimated as usual by the difference of weights of the in- 
ner and outer papers. ‘This residuum is cleared off into a platina cap- 
sule with a tooth-brush, and digested in a dilute solution of potash at 
a boiling temperature. Three parts of potash are fully sufficient to 
dissolve out one of the sulphur. When the above solution is thrown 
on a filter and washed first with a very dilute solution of potash boil- 
ing hot, then with boiling water, and afterwards dried, the carbon will 
remain; the weight of which deducted from that of the powder will 
show the amount of sulphur.” 

Dr. Ure says that he has tried other and more direct modes of es- 
timating the sulphur, but with little satisfaction ; such as dissolving it 
by means of hot oil of turpentine, its conversion into sulphuric acid 
by the use of nitric acid and chlorine, &c. 

“Tf we acquire” says Dr. Ure, “how the maximum gaseous vol- 
ume is to be produced from the chemical reaction of the elements of 
nitre on charcoal and sulphur, we shall find it to be by the generation 
of carbonic oxide and sulphurous acid, with the disengagement of ni- 
trogen. ‘This will lead us to the following proportions of these con- 


stituents:—1 prime equiv. of nitre 102 - 75.00 per cent. 
1 do sulphur 16 11.77 
3 do charcoal 18 13.23 
136 100.00 


The (acid of the) nitre contains five primes of oxygen, of which 
three, combining with the three of charcoal will furnish three of car- 
bonic acid gas, while the remaining two will convert the one prime of 
sulphur into sulphurous acid gas. The single prime of nitrogen is, 
in this view disengaged alone. 

The gaseous volume, on this supposition, evolved from 136 grains 
_ of gunpowder, equivalent in bulk to 75 grains of water, or three- 
tenths of a cubic inch, will be, at the atmospheric temperature, as fol- 
lows : 


Grains. Cubic inches. 
Carbonic oxide, - - 42 - - 141.6 
Sulpurous acid, - - - 32 - - - 47.2 
Nitrogen, - - - 14 - - ATA 


Being an expansion of one volume into 787.3. But as the tempera- 
ture of the gases at the instant of their combustive formation must be 
incandescent, this volume may be safely estimated at three times the 
above amount, or considerably upwards of two thousand times the 
bulk of the explosive solid.”—Jdem. 


192 Miscellanies. 


14. Purple powder of Cassius.—M. Buison states that in prepar- 
ing this substance, he found that the solution of gold always contains 
the same muriate, though it may be mixed with more or less acid ; 
but he observes, that the solution of tin, even when well prepared, 
contains two different muriates and it is upon their co-existence, with- 
in certain limits, that he conceives the goodness of the solution to be 
owing. ‘The experiments upon which this opinion are founded are the 
following. 

Ist. The solution of proto-muriate of tin, as neutral as possible 
when mixed with a solution of gold, gives a maroon, brown, blue, 
green, or metallic precipitate, according to its concentration and pro- 
portion, but the color is never purple. 

2d. Pure per-muriate of tin, whether acid or not, produces no 
change in the same solution of gold, whatever be the proportions em- 
ployed. 

3d. A mixture of one part of proto-muriate nearly neutral, and two 
parts of per-muriate of tin, with one part of muriate of gold, instantly 
occasions a fine purple color. Founded on these facts, M. Buison gives 
the following process for obtaining the purple powder : 

4th. Dissolve about 15 grains of granulated tin, in muriatic acid, 
either with or without heat, taking care that the solution is neutral. 

5th. Prepare a solution of per-muriate of tin by dissolving about 
30 grains of tin in a sufficient quantity of aqua-regia, composed of 
three parts of nitric acid, and one part of muriatic acid; taking care 
that the solution is neutral, and free from proto-muriate which is 
determined by its giving no precipitate with a solution of gold. 

6th. To prepare the solution of gold, dissolve about 108 grains of 
gold in aqua-regia, composed of one part of nitric acid and six parts 
of muriatic acid; the solution should be nearly or quite neutral. 

Dilute the solution of gold, so that a pint of it contains about 15 
grains of the metal. Pour in the per-muriate, till the required tint 
is produced, remembering that the proto-muriate causes a brown, and 
the per-muriate a violet color, and intermediate proportions give a red. 
Wash the precipitate as quickly as possible, that no action may take 
place between the salts of tin and the precipitate, which alters its col- 
or. The purple powder of a fine tint yielded by analysis ; 


Metallic Gold, - - - - - - 28.5 
Peroxide of tin, - - - - - - - 65.9 
Chlorine, - - - - - - . 5.3 
99.6 

Loss, 4 

100.0 


(Jour. de Pharmacie, October, 1830.)—Idem. 


Miscellanies. 193 


15. Arsenic in Sea Salt—The presence of arsenic in sea salt has 
already been observed in that found in commerce; and MM. Latour 
de Frie and Lefrancois, students in pharmacy, have lately detected it 
ina salt used in the canton of Sézanne, in the department de la Marne. 
It appears to have occasioned serious accidents; and was submitted 
to examination, which showed that the salts contained a quarter of a 
grain of deutoxide of arsenic in anounce. Theauthors purchased 
salts in various parts of Paris, but did not detect arsenic in any one 
sample.—ZJbid. 


16. On chloride of Silver ; by M Cavalier.—(Jour. de Pharmacie) 
—The color produced in chloride of silver by the action of light, has 
long been known, and a similar change is apparently produced by 
some chemical reagents; but whether the alterations are identical is a 
question which M. Cavalier says he does not pretend to decide. He 
then states a method by which the violet chloride of silver may be 
procured without the agency of light. Dissolve some recently pre- 
pared and perfectly white chloride of silver in ammonia, and pass a 
current of chlorine gas through it, and the same phenomena as occur 
when the gas is passed through mere solution of ammonia will be pre- 
sented ; such as slight detonation on the arrival of each bubble to the 
surface, abundant white vapors, increase of temperature, the disen- 
gagement of azotic gas, &c. Afterwards, the solution becomes turbid, 
and soon a greyish precipitate is observed; at length it assumes a well 
marked violet color: this color occurs when the ammonia is com- 
pletely decomposed by the chlorine. 

What is the nature of this new substance? Is ita smaller or great- 
er quantity of chlorine which has modified the properties of the chlo- 
ride ; or is itidentical with the white chloride: and is the color acquir- 
ed, merely the result of a different molecular arrangement? 

The following experiments are in favor of the latter opinion. 

If the violet chloride be dissolved in ammonia, nitric acid precipi- 
tates it white. ‘Take 20 grains of violet and 20 grains of white chlo- 
ride, put each into a glass, and with them diluted sulphuric acid and a 
piece of zinc, stirring the chloride with the latter so as to keep it sus- 
pended ; the chlorides are both decomposed by the hydrogen evolved, 
and metallic silver is obtained, and from each chloride the same quan- 
tity, viz. 15 grains. 

According to these experiments, the new substance cannot be re- 
garded either as sub-chloride or a deuto-chloride ; every circumstance 
seems to prove that the coler is produced merely by a different mole- 
cular arrangement. In this case, it remains to be explained what is 
the body which forces the chloride to acquire a different physical prop- 


Vou. XX.—WNo. 1. 25 


194 MVhiscellames. 


erty. The heat produced during the operation has certainly nothing 
to do with it, for the experiment succeeds equally when the vessel is 
placed in a freezing mixture.—Idem, Dec. 1830. 


17. Preparation of Bromine and its Hydrate.—(Ann. der Phys.) 
—The mother liquors containing bromine are to be evaporated to a 
fourth of their volume in iron pans, and then left for several days ; 
in which time the larger part of the chloride of calcium crystallizes. 
The supernatant liquor, being diluted with water, is to be mixed with 
sulphuric acid as long as a precipitate is formed. 'The liquid portion 
being separated, and the solid residue pressed, all the fluid is to be 
mingled and evaporated to dryness, and then redissolved, that a cer- 
tain quantity of sulphate of lime may be removed. On acting upon 
the solution by sulphuric acid and peroxide of manganese, and then 
distilling, bromine is obtained.—Idem. 


18. Hydrate of Bromine——This compound is easily formed at a 
temperature of from 39° to 43° Fahrenheit, by making the vapor of 
bromine pass into a tube moistened with water; in about a quarter of 
an hour the tube is filled with solid hydrate——(Ann. de Phys. XIV. 
485. Roy. Inst. Journ. April 1830.)—Idem. 


19. New process for obtaining Lithia.—M. Quesneville jun. gives 
ithe following as his method of separating Lithia. ‘I take one part 
of levigated Triphane, and mix it accurately with two parts of pow- 
dered litharge: I put the mixture into a crucible, and expose it to a 
white heat. In about a quarter of an hour the mass is perfectly fluid; 
1 then cool it and powder it finely: f£ afterwards act upon it by ni- 
tric acid, the silica separates in a very divided state; I precipitate all 
the nitrate of lead by sulphuric acid, and evaporate to dryness to ex- 
pel all the nitric acid. I afterwards treat it with water, and precipi- 
tate the alumina and other metallic oxides by ammonia, and then add 
carbonate of ammonia to precipitate the lime and magnesia; the so- 
lution is then filtered and evaporated to dryness. ‘The mixture is to be 
strongly calcined to expel all the ammoniacal salts; this operation 
must not be performed in a platina crucible, as it would be acted up- 
on; Luse aporcelain one. The calcined residue is to be treated with 
water, and all the sulphuric acid precipitated by barytes ; the filtered 
liquor when evaporated gives pure lithia.”—(Jour. de Pharmacie 
April, 1830.)—Jdem. 


20. On Powdering Phosphorus.—M. Casaseca remarks, that the 
method of pulverizing phosphorus, mentioned by all chemical authors, 


Miscellantes..- 195 


is that of agitation for some time in water, in a well corked bottle; 
but, he observes, the powder obtained by this method is very imper- 
fect; whereas if alcohol at 36° be used instead of water, a powder of 
the utmost fineness is produced, which has a crystalline appearance, 
and on agitating the liquid in the sun, the bottle appears to be entirely 
filled with a light brilliant powder.—Idem. 


21. Preparation of Sugar from Starch—M. Heinrich says, that 
from one to two parts of sulphuric acid for each 100 parts of potato 
starch is suflicient, if the heat applied be a few degrees above 212 
Fahr.; and also, that then two or three hours are sufficient to give 
crystallizable sugar. He applies the heat in wooden vessels by means 
of steam.—(Roy. Institution Jour. June, 1830.)—Jdem. 


22. Sulphate of Potash and Copper.—When equal quantities of 
Sulphate of potash and sulphate of copper are mixed, a particularly 
bright, green precipitate is gradually formed, which Vogel considered 
as a subsalt. Having been analysed by Brunner, it appears to con- 
sist of 


Oxide of Copper, - - - - lie 39.23 
Potash, - - = = - - - - 12.12 
Sulphuric acid, - - - - - 39.70 
Water, - ° - - - - - - 8.94 
100.00 

Idem. 


23. On improvement in black writing ink; by John Bostoch, M. D. 
F.R.S., &c.—(Transactions of the Society of Arts of London.)— 
The changes, which tend the most to impair the value of ink, are its 
moulding, the separation of the black matter from the fluid, and its 
loss of color,—the black first changing to brown, and at length disap- 
pearing. ‘The author considers the gallic acid to be the only part of 
the solution of the gall nut, which is essentially concerned in the pro- 
duction of permanent black ink, and that the tan, the mucilage, and 
the extractive matter are the causes of its deterioration. ‘The mould- 
ing is considered as arising from the mucilage, and the precipitation 
to be chiefly occasioned by the extractive matter. ‘The tan, it is con- 
jectured, forms a triple compound, in the first instance, with gallic 
acid and the iron; and that in consequence of the decomposition of 
the tan, this compound is afterwards destroyed. 

The practical conclusions, says the author, that I think myself war- 
ranted in drawing from these experiments, are as follows :—In order 
to precure an ink, which may be little disposed either to mould or 


196 Miscellanies. 


to deposit its contents, and which, at the same time, may possess a 
deep black color, not liable to fade, the galls should be macerated for 
some hours in hot water, and the fluid be filtered; it should then be 
exposed, for about sixteen days, to a warm atmosphere, when any 
mould that may have been produced must be removed. A solution of 
sulphate of iron must be employed, which has also been exposed for 
some time to the atmosphere, and which, consequently, contains a cer- 
tain quantity of the red oxide of iron diffused through it. I should 
recommend the infusion of galls to be made of considerably greater 
strength, than is generally directed; and I believe that an ink, formed 
in this manner, will not necessarily require the addition of any mu- 
cilaginous substance to render it of a proper consistence. 

I have only farther to add, that one of the best substances for dilu- 
ting ink, if it be, in the first instance, too thick for use, or afterwards 
becomes so by evaporation, is a strong decoction of coffee, which ap- 
pears, in no respect, to promote the decomposition of the ink, while 
it improves its color, and gives it an additional lustre-—Jameson’s 
Journal, Oct. 1830. 


MEDICAL CHEMISTRY. 


1. Tincture of lodine.*—Dr. Joerg, professor of cbstetrics at Leip- 
sic, has formed a society for the purpose of determining the proper- 
ties of some of the most useful and active medicaments by an actual 
trial of them by the members themselves. ‘The following is the re- 
sult with regard to iodine. 

“The positive effect of the tincture of icdine consists in an excite- 
ment of the whole alimentary canal; it appears to act upon the parie- 
ties of the intestines like a good concentrated salivary and pancreated 
fluid. Hence, with persons in healih there is a saline taste in the 
mouth ; an augmentation of salinary secretion; thus, increase of ap- 
petite, sensible motion of the intestines, slight pains, evacuation of 
wind and fecal matters. But this excitement is transmitted also to 
the brain, as happens with most substances which inerease the activ- 
ity of the intestinal canal ; producing heaviness and pain in the head, 
felt sometimes in one place and sometimes in another. Iodine in- 
creases no less the afflux of blood to the iracheal artery and the lungs, 
and places those organs in a condition approaching to phlogosis, or, 
actually inflames them. This irritation seems to extend to the internal 
membrane of the nose, since the mucous secretion is increased as well 
as the bronchial. As iodine acts so energetically upon the digestive 
tube, it must affect equally the genito-wrinary apparatus when admin- 


“ R. Todine, 48 grains; pure alcohol, one ounce. Agitate until the iodine is en- 
tirely dissolved. Ten drops of his tincture contains one grain of iodine. 


ae 


Miscellanies. 197. 


istered in large doses ; and several members of the society have ex- 
perienced these secondary effects in the most decided manner. 

Further, since iodine acts not only on the internal surface of the 
intestines, but also on that of the connected parts which open into the 
digestive tube, upon the glands of the mouth and the stomach, it must 
also increase the saliva, the gastric juice, the pancreatic fluid, the bile, 
&c. It must therefore modify, extensively, the process of assimila- 
tion and nutrition, if employed in suitable doses and under appropri- 
ate circumstances. Now, if iodine possesses a character of this kind ; 
if, as has been said, it stimulates the activity of various glands, we 
certainly cannot refuse it the power of resolving inveterate swellings 
and indurations of the glands. 

But what physician would restrain the use of a medicine so power- 
ful, to the treatment, singly, of goitre ? may we not expect from iodine 
the best effects in diseases of the abdominal viscera, occasioned by 
the weakness of the digestive tube, to the stagnation of the blood in 
the vessels of those parts, in scrophula, and other similar affections. 
It promises to afford eminent service in those cases in which the veg- 
etative process of the animal economy is in a suffering state, from a 
diminution of vital energy. The employment, however, of this medi- 
cine demands the greatest precaution ; if administered in excess, it 
may easily give rise to inflammation or a morbid relaxation of the 
parts. ‘T'wo, three, six or eight drops of the tincture will be the or- 
dinary dose, which should be repeated only once in twenty four or for- 
ty eight hours, and taken each time in a little water. F. J. Rimster. 

Jour. des progres des sciences Medicales, 1830, Tom. I. 


(Additional selections from foreign Journals, by Mr. C. U. Soeparp.) 


i. Pinguite, a new argillaceous mineral.—(A. Breithaupt, Schweig- 
ger’s Jahrb.; 1829, H. 3, S. 303.) This mineral is not unlike green 
iron-earth; but its greasy lustre or fracture, entirely distinguishes it 
from that substance. Compact. Hardness =1. Specific gravity 
=2.315. When heated in a glass tube, it gives off much moisture. 
It comes frem the mine of New Beschert Glick, in the Saxon Erzge- 
berg; and occurs in a gangue of Heavy-Spar engaged in gneiss.—~ 


(Jahrbuch fiir Mineralogie, 5c. 1830. S. 86.) 


2. Prunnerite——The violet blue mineral found along with apo- 
phyllite in the island of Hestoe, one of the Faroés, and hitherto ar- 
ranged as a variety of cuboidal calcareous spar, has been, by Esmark, 
on account of its form and large proportion of silica, put forth as a 
new species, which he names Prunnerite, in honor of Prunner, the 
naturalist, of Cagliari, in Sardinia.—(Edin. New Phil. Journ. 1830, p. 
382.) 


198 Maiscellanies. 


3. New ae of Brewsterite——Mr. Connell has repeated the 
analysis of this mineral, which Retzius, according to Berzelius, found 


to contain Silica, - - 57.285 
Alumina, - - 17.011 
Soda, 
Lime, i =) 7.764 
Water, - - - 17.872 
99.932 
Mr. Connell’s specimens were from Strontian, and gave 
Silica, a aa 53.666 
Alumina, - - 17.492 
Strontia, - - 8.325 
Bary, - 6749 Lees 
Lime, - - 1.346 
Oxide ofiron, - - -292 
Water, - - 12.584 
100.454 


es S?-+4A8?2+6Aq; or, if we 
suppose the propertion of the str bolas and baryta to be 2 atoms of the 
former to 1 of the latter, the constitution will then be, 2 atoms bisili- 
cate of strontia +-1 atom bisilicate of baryta +12 atoms tersilicate of 
alumina 4-6 atoms of water.—(Ideim. Jan. 1831, p. 35.) 


lis formula may be expressed by 


4. Polarizing Rocks.—The first observations concerning the mag- 
netic polarity of rocks were made by Baron Humboldt in 1796. He 
noticed it in a serpentine rock on the Haidberg, near Celle, in the coun- 
try of Baireuth. 11 was afterwards observed in many other rocks, such 
as hornblende-slate, porphyry, trachyte, basalt, &c.* It is appar- 
ently confined to mountains containing magnetic iron-stone, although 
the quantity of this admixture in itself does not limit the intensity of 
the property ; as indeed it shows itself with different purely magnetic 
iron stones in the greatest variety of degrees of strength, and there 
are some of these which show no magneto-polar action. Neither is 
there any regularity in the position of the axes either in one and the 
same mass of rock in general, or a fixed correspondence, in the posi- 
tion of these axes, with the direction of the strata of the rocks. 


* For the discovery of Humboldt and those connected with it, see the Intelligenz 
Blatt Algemeine Literaturzettung, 1796 and 1797. JVewes Bergmann’s Jour. 1, 
pp. 257 and 542. Gren’s Weues Jour. d. Chem. u. Phys.1v. V. Moll’s Jahr. d. 
Berg.u. Hutten Kunde, 111, p.301. V. Moll’s Weues Jahr. d. B. u. H. 11, p. 403. 
Gilbert’s Annalen; neue Folge, xiv. Heft 1, p.89. Goldfusz and Bischot’s Phisik. 
Statist. Beschreiburg d. Fichtelgeberges, 1, p. 189, and ibid. altere Reihe, xv111, p. 
297. 


Miscellames. 199 


Bergmeister Schulze, of Duren, in an excursion in the Hifel, a re- 
gion of graywacke and basalt, observed from the top of the Niirbure 
mountain, (a basaltic cone two thousand Prussian feet above the level 
of the Rhine) on an elevation in an eastern direction, something re- 
sembling the ruins of a building. Instead of ruins, however, he found 
it to be two small rocks, about three feet distant from each other in 
their diagonals, about six feet high, with bases not far from three feet 
square: one of them was six feet long and three feet broad ; the other 
was a little shorter, but broader. Both rocks were stratified, with a 
dip of twelve hours and parallel to the basaltic range on which they 
reposed. On presenting a magnetic needle to them, it was subject to 
sudden and violent changes. ‘The circumference of one of them at- 
tracted the north pole through half its extent, but repelled it for the re- 
mainder. The manner in which the needle was affected by the other 
rock may be understood by drawing a line lengthwise through the cen- 
ter of the upper plane of the rock, and another crosswise through the 
same plane, so that the point of contact shall occupy the center of the 
plane: the north pole of the needle was attracted at the extremities 
of the longer line, while the opposite pole was attracted at the extrem- 
ities of ie shorter one. 

M. Reuss, of Berlin, counsellor of. mines, observed the same pro- 
perty in a mountain of dark, grayish, black basalt, free from magnetic 
iron stone, in the Mittelgeberg, (lordship of Schréchenstein.) The 
mountain, one thousand eight hundred feet hich, is covered with wood 
to its summit, and precipitous on all sides. Its polarity is so great, 
that the needle at its eastern foot was moved 40°, and at the summit 
itself, 90° W. At the western foot of the rock, the contrary was the 
fact ; but the polarity is shown not only in the whole mass of the 
rock, but likewise in the larger detached pieces, and even in the small- 
est fragments ;—the north point of the needle being at one end distinet- 
ly attracted, and at the opposite end as distinctly Pepeled 

These observations, detailed in the Jahrbuch der Chem. u. Phys. of 
Dr. Schweigger, render it possible that the magnetic results obtained 
by Prof. Hitchcock upon the mica-slate mountain of Canaan, in Con- 
necticut, may be connected with the polarity of rocks; and not de- 
pendent upon a mass of native iron, as supposed.* 


5. Nitrous Atmosphere of Tirhoot.—Tirhoot is one of the principal 
districts in India for the manufacture of saltpetre; the soil is every 
where abundantly impregnated with this substance, and it floats in the 
atmosphere in such quantities, that, during the rains and cold weather, 
it is attracted from thence by the lime on the damp walls of houses, and 


* See Vol. xiv, p. 228, of this Journal. 


200 MMiscellanes. 


fixes there in the shape of long, downy crystals of exceeding delieacy. 
From damp spots it may be brushed off every two or three days al- 
most in basketsful. In consequence of all this, the ground, even in 
hot weather, is so damp, that it is extremely difficult either to get 
earth of sufficient tenacity to make bricks (the country being quite 
destitute of stones), or, when made, to find a spot sufficiently solid to 
sustain the weight of a house. Even with the greatest care the ground 
at last yields, and the saltpetre corrodes the best of the bricks to such 
a degree, that the whole house gradually sinks several inches below 
its original level. Houses built of inferior materials, of course suffer 
much more; one, of which the inner foundations were of unburnt 
bricks, absolutely fell down whilst I was at Mullye, and the family in 
it, escaped almost by miracle. My own house, which was not much 
better, sunk so much, and the walls were at bottom so evidently giv- 
ing way, that 1 was compelled, with extreme expense and inconven- 
ience, to pull down the whole inner walls, and build them afresh in a 
more secure manner. From the same cause, a new magazine which 
government directed to be built, with an arched roof of brick-work, 
was, when complete, found so very unsafe, that it was necessary to de- 
molish it entirely, and rebuild it on a new plan, with a roof of tiles. 
In such a soil, it. will easily be concluded that swamps and lagoons 
prevail very much, of course, mostly during the rains, and till the sun 
gathers power in the hot weather; and, in fact, what has been above 
so much insisted on, as to the two contrary aspects of the country 
with respect to vegetation, may, by a conversion of terms, be equally 
applied to the water on its surface. In the cold and dry weather it 
is comparatively scanty, in the rains it is superabundant; and as the 
rivers in this district are frequently found to change their situations, 
so, through a long course of time, it has resulted that hollow beds, 
being deserted by their streams, become transformed into what, dur- 
ing the rains, assume the appearance of extensive lakes, but in dry 
weather degenerate into mere muddy swamps, overgrown with a pro- 
fusion of rank, aquatic vegetations, particularly the gigantic leaves of 
the Lotus, and swarming with every tribe of loathsome, cold-blooded 
animals. Some of these lakes, during the height of the rains, com- 
municate with their original streams, and. thus undergo a temporary 
purification; but others receive no fresh supply except from the 
clouds, and of course their condition is by much the worse. Some 
of the conversions of a river-bed into a lake, have occurred in the 
memory of the present inhabitants, or at least within one descent 
from their ancestors.— Tytler, on the Climaie of Mullye, in Trans. 
Med. § Phys. Soc. of Calcutta, vol. iv. 


APPENDIX. 


An account of a large Electro-Magnet,* made for the Laboratory of 
Yale College ; by Josepu Henry and Dr. Ten Evcx. 


(Extract of a letter to Prof. Silliman, accompanying the Magnet.) 


Tuer magnet is constructed on precisely the same principles as 
that described in the last number of the Journal. It weighs 594 lbs. 


avoirdupois, (exclusive of the copper wire which surrounds it,) and. 


* This magnet is now arranged in its frame, in the laboratory of Yale Col- 
lege. Being myself out of town when the instrument arrived, the necessary ex- 
periments and fixtures were satisfactorily made by Mr. C. U. Shepard, (Chem. 
Assis.) and Dr. Titus W. Powers, of Albany, who was so obliging as to bring the mag- 
netto New Haven. There has not been time (as the magnet came just as this No. was 
finishing) to do any thing more than make a few trials, which have however fully 
substantiated the statements of Prof. Henry.t He has the honor of having construct- 
ed by far, the most powerful magnets that have ever been known, and his last, 
weighing, armature and all, but 824 Ibs., sustains over a ton. It is eight times more 
powerful than any magnet hitherto known in Europe, and between six and seven 
times more powerful than the great magnet in Philadelphia. We understand that 
the experiments described in the last No. of this Journal; (except those ascribed to 
Dr. Ten Eyck) were devised by Professor Henry alone, who (except forging the 
iron) constructed the magnet with his own hand. The plan of the frame, and the 
fixtures, and the drawing in the last No., were done by Dr. Ten Eyck. In the Yale 
College magnet, the plan was drawn by Professor Henry, and the iron forged un- 

‘der his direction. The length of the wires being agreed upon, the winding was 
done by Dr. Ten Eyck, and the experiments were mutually performed.— Hd. 


t It may be worth while to state a single experiment, which I made with a view 
to learn the chemical effects of this instrument. As its magnetic flow was so pow- 
erful, I had strong hopes of being able to accomplish the decomposition of water by 
its means. My experiment, however, which was made as follows, proved unsuc- 
cessful. The battery being immersed, to the extremities of the magnet were applied 
two broad, polished plates of iron, terminating in flattened wires, which were united 
with the wires of the ordinary apparatus for decomposing water, and the contact heigh- 
tened by the use of cups of mercury: not the slightest decomposition was, however, 
observable. Aware, that had any chemical effect been produced, this arrangement 
could have decided nothing, (except perhaps from the degree of energy in the de- 
composition) as respects the point whether simple magnetism is adequate to decom- 
pose water, since it might under these circumstances be attributed to the electricity 
from the battery, I had determined in a second experiment, had the first proved suc- 
cessful, to have interrupted the galvanic flow by a non-conductor; in which case, 
had the decomposition ensued, pure magnetism might have been considered as the 
decomposing agent. But as my preliminary experiment was unsuccessful, I pro- 
ceeded no farther; I lope, however, to resume the research hereafter, under more 
favorable circumstances. C. U. SHEPARD, 


You. XX.—No. 1. 26 


v 


202 Electro-Mag net. 


was formed from a bar of Swede’s iron three inches square and thir- 
ty inches long. Before bending the bar into the shape of a_horse- 
shoe, it was flattened on the edges, so as to form an octagonal prism, 
having a perimeter of 10? inches. ‘The other dimensions of the 
magnet, as measured before winding it with wire, are as follows :— 
perpendicular height of the exterior arch of the horse-shoe 112 inches 
—around the outside from one pole to the other 29, inches—in- 
ternal distance between the poles 34 inches. 

The armature or lifter is formed from a piece of iron from the 
same bar, not flattened on the edges; it is nearly 3 inches square, 
94 inches long, and weighs 23 lbs. ‘The upper surface is made per- 
fectly flat, except about an inch in the middle where the angles are 
rounded off so as to form a groove, into which the upper part of a 
strong iron stirrup, surrounding the armature, fits somewhat loosely. 
The weight to be supported is fastened to-the lower part of the stir- 
rup, and by means of the groove is made to bear directly on the cen- 
ter of the armature. 

For the purpose of suspending the magnet, a piece of round iron 
with an eye on one end, is firmly screwed into the crown of the arch 
and is attached to the cross beam of a frame, similar to that figured 
in the last number of the Journal. 

The magnet is wound with 26 strands of copper bell wire, cover- 
ed with cotton thread 31 feet long; about 18 inches of the ends are 
left projecting, so that only 28 feet actually surround the iron; the 
ageregate length of the coils is therefore 728 feet. ach strand is 
wound on a little less than an inch; in the middle of the horse-shoe 
it forms three thicknesses of wire, and on the ends or near the poles 
it is wound so as to form six thicknesses. 

Two small galvanic batteries are soldered to the wires of the mag- 
net, one on each side of the supporting frame, in such a manner as to 
cause the poles to be instantaneously reversed, by merely dipping 
the batteries alternately into acid. ‘To render these as compact as 
possible, they are formed of concentric copper cylinders with cylin- 
ders of zine plates interposed and so united as to form but one gal- 
vanic pair. Each of these batteries presents to the action of the acid, 
measuring both surfaces of the plate, 47 square fect—they are 12 
inches high and about 5 inches in diameter. 
of a 
square foot of zine surface was first attached to the wires; with this 
the magnet could not be made to support more than 500 Ibs. An- 


In experimenting with this magnet, a battery contaming 2 


Electro-Mugnet. 203 


other battery was then substituted for the above, containing about 
three times the same quantity of zinc surface 5 with this, at the first 
instant of immersion, the magnet sustained 1600 lbs. ; after the acid 
was removed, it continued to support, for a few minutes, 450 lbs. ; 
and in one experiment, three days after the battery had been excited, 
more than 150 lbs. were added to the armature* before it fell. It was 
evident from these experiments, that this magnet required a consid- 
erably larger quantity of zinc surface in proportion to its weight, to 
magnetize it to saturation, than that described in the former paper. 
Accordingly the two batteries, before mentioned as containing 47 
square feet, were prepared. With one of them, at the first immer- 
sion, the magnet readily supported 2000 Ibs. A sliding weight was 
then attached to the bar ; the battery was suffered to become per- 
fectly dry, and on immersing it again, the magnet supported 2063 
Ibs. ‘The effect of a larger battery was not tried. 

To test its power of inducing magnetism on soft iron, two pieces 
of round iron 12 inches in diameter and 12 inches long, were inter- 
posed between the extremities of the magnet and the armature— 
with this arrangement, when one of the batteries was immersed, the 
pieces of iron became so powerfully magnetic as to support 155 lbs. 

To exhibit the effects produced by instantaneously reversmg the 
poles, the armature was loaded with 56 lbs. which added to its own 
weight made 89 Ibs.; one of the batteries was then dipped into the 
acid and immediately withdrawn, when the weight of course continued 
to adhere to the magnet; the other battery was then suddenly im- 
mersed, when the poles were changed so instantaneously, that the 
weight did not fall. That the poles were actually reversed in this 
experiment, was clearly shown by a change in the position of a large 
needle placed at a small distance from the side of one extremity of 
the horse-shoe. 


P. S. Last autumn, | commenced a series of observations on the 
magnetic intensity of the earth at Albany, and intend to begin a new 
series next month ; the apparatus used was that sent by Capt. Sabine 
to Prof. Renwick, and was mentioned in the Journal, Vol. xvu, p. 
145. Ihave constructed a similar apparatus for myself, and intend 
to pay considerable attention to the subject. 


* The armature of 23 Ibs. applied when the battery is immersed, only for an inch 
and an instant, remains, day after day, without falling, although the galvanic coils 
are perfectly dry.—Hd 


Drawing of the Crotalus, Sc. 


Mr. Eaton, having seen the last proof of the drawing of his sup- 
_ posed fossil crotalus or arundo, requests that the following remarks 
may be added. 

The figure is stzffly accurate, as the original appears when mag- 
nified; though it is the natural size. I preferred this to having it 
shaded ; as it affords a better opportunity for accurate comparison. 
It is engraved, at my request, in a stiff (and rather artificial) manner, 
which the drawing would not warrant. A. E. 


Fendieton’s Litho 9! Boston. 


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Penatetons Lithog. Boston 


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Sf vanstttow— Yorks of the Calarague: Fig. 6. (@) 
See puge 74. 


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AMERICAN 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 


Art. 1.—Remarks on the supposed tides, and periodical rise and 
fall of the North American Lakes; by Major Henry Wurrine, 
U.S. Army. 


In the article “on the supposed tides in the great North Ameri- 
can Lakes,” communicated by Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, (Vol. xvt. 
No. 1. April 1829,) it is stated that Gov. Cass had been requested 
to cause observations to be made, during his stay at Green Bay, on 
the changes of elevation in the waters at that place. In the year 
1828, while there on public duties, he did so, during a course of 
more than six weeks. ‘The following table is the result, presenting 
a series of observations of such extent and minuteness, as to deter- 
mine as satisfactorily, perhaps, as the case admits, the character of 
the phenomenon in question. A cask, without heads, was fixed in 
the Fox river, just within its mouth, with a rod, graduated with inch- 
es, placed perpendicularly in the center. ‘The cask was perforated 
so as to admit the water freely, while the rod, at the same time, was 
protected from such fluctuations of the surface as the wind might 
cause. 


Pable of observations on the rise and fall of the Lake at Green Bay, 
. made by Gov. Cass in 1828. 


Day of the Time of the | Course of the | Strength of the | Height of the 
month. day. wind. wind. water. 

July 15, 1828.} 9 N. Moderate. 9 
é6 | Noon. ‘ (a4 66 g 
6s 4 Corny £6 54 
&6 74 ' 66 6G 11 cp 
16, 63 W. Light. 10 
é6 | 8 | 66 | 66 | 104 
& 1 | 66 66 6 
£6 4 66 66 6 
66 7% | 66 £6 63 


Vou. XX. —No. 2. QT 


a a en a area el es eT RT A Ne Re ar 


206 On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 


Day of the Time of the | Course of the | Strength of the | Height of the 
month, _ day. wind. wind. water. 
17, 6 S. W. Light. | 6 
66 8 6c 6e 84 
66 Noon 66 66 6 
(4 4 66 66 5s 
66 74 66 (73 8 
18, 6 3 66 1 
66 8 66 6c 4 
y Noon Strong 7 
66 4 (3 cs | 4 
(73 74 ANG 66 7 
19, 6 W. of S.W.] Light | 7 
66 8 66 66 5 
66 9 1; 66 11 
66 Noon. 66 66 5d 
66 4 - (13 4 (73 q 
66 at 66 T3 64 
20, 8 No wind. None. 6. 
: Noon. N. W. Light. | 8 
66 4 66 66 10 
| (t3 ve 66 (T3 | 54 
21: 8 S. W. | “6 94 
66 a) 66 66 10 
66 4 66 66 
gs 74 N. Violent storm. 18 
22, 7 S. W. Light. 10 
66 Noon. 66 6¢ O 
6s 4 6G (5 or 14 
66 74 66 (14 11 
23: 8 ce Moderate. 34 
s Noon. Ge ne 14 
‘ 66 4 66 66 114 
66 7 as 66 11 
24, 8 N. E. Light 9 
‘s Noon ce ce 8 
3 4 66 13 14 
6s . 74 66 (43 | 10 
25, 8 Ss. W. Moderate 53 
“ Noon 6c ae 54 
66 4 66 66 ot 
66 Th 66 66 124 
26, 8 « fen. | 1 
as Noon &c « 10 
66 4. (19 66 gt 
(74 TL | cc cc vil 


On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 207 


Day of the |. Time ofthe | Course of the | Strength of the | Height of the 
month. day. wind. wind, ___ water. 
a7, 8 W. Light, 104 
66 Noon 66 66 6 
33 4 & 3 1 O) 
66 | 74 | «6 66 12 
28, 8 N. Fresh. 4 
6 Noon. ee ae 11 
3 4 3 oS 2 
66 74 66 “66 84 
29, 8 S. W. Light. 11 
66 Noon 66 66 64 
3 4 a3 66 4 
66 a4 66 66 8 
30, S N.W ia | 9 
« Noon . e 9 
é< 4 ce be 9 
31, | 8 S. W. | “ | 7 
66 Noon 66 66 / 
6s 4 3 66 | 8 
66 74 (5 6é 74 
Aug. 1, ey) N ff 13 
ce Noon G “ | 9 
66 4 6 66 "7 
Ge al 74 66 66 | 8 
Os 8 N. E. a | 7 
é Noon ‘ e Pie 
&c 4 | 6 ¢ | 1 
3 ves a 66 6 U1 
3, 8 | S. W. cs | 4 
ee | Noon s oy 10 
66 4. 6é 66 | ef 
faa 74 | 66 | 66 9 
3 9 l 66 73 7 
4 | : | NeWa. Ufo) | 7 
“ Noon. | cc Ks 8 
7 4 | 6 ce 12 
3 74 6s Ge j 5 
5, 8. | S. W. | | 6 
_ 66 Noon i < | 63 
3 4 66 be 12 
Ce Ce ae | &< és | "7 
6 am 66 6é 6 
cs | Noon 1; (<3 9 
3 4 cc ‘G 8 
714 | 14 | 66 | 6 10 


208 


Day of the Time of the | Course of the 
month. ate day. wind. a 
Aug. -7, 8 | 5. W. 
Cs Noon. as 
66 t 7% ce 
8, | Noon N. 
66 4 66 
(44 1s | 66 
9, 8 ie We 
66 * Noon 66 
66 A 66 
66 1s 66 
10, 8 N.E. 
ce Noon. 6s 
66 4 i (<4 
ra 1 ce 
It, 8 beats 
Ge ; Noon { te 
G | 4 | 6s 
6c 74 66 
aa 8 Sow: 
ae Noon. c¢ 
6€ 4 66 
6s } 74 | 66 
13, 8 Pim fe 
Gr Noon | oe 
66 4 66 
66 74 66 
14 8 Ge 
as Noon | ce 
6 4 66 
cc | 1s | 66 
15, 8 : 
be Noon | We 
79 bias 4 Ge 
66 74 ne 66 
16, | 8 S. W. 
6s | Noon nee 
66 4 a 66 
66 73 66 i 
17, 8 : 
a Noon 6 | 
ce 4 | 6G | 
rats 74 66 . 
16) Me eh Un) 
a Ry Noon... | ee 


—— 


| 


ie 


Strength of the 
wind. 


oT ea 


Strong. 
(<4 


66. 


66 


Prowy fresh. | 


Lahn 


M erste 
Fr os, 


Ligh 


| 
| 
7 
| 


oh 
| 
4 
a 


On the Fides om the great North American Lakes. 


| Height of the |, 
water. 


= 
oe 


— 
iz) 


aa 
ROAQS 


= 
Ne 


— 


— 
VETTE WWMUMAABWADUADAUROBMWOOMNAWA 


On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 209 


Day of the Time of the | Course of the | Strength of the | Heieht of the ; ' Height of the 
month. day. eles a wind. ___ water. as 
Aug. 18,. 4 N. W. Light. 2 To 
: 66 74 66 5 

19, 8 Ss Fresh 4 

66 Noon 6é 66 8 

66 g 66 66 g 

66 74 ; 66 «6 5 
20, 8 Ba We ye) deh. 5 

66 Noon. 66 (13 a d 

13 4 6c 43 Il 

6G 74 6c . 6c g 
21, 8 N. es git 

66 Noon. 66 66 8 
“ A 6c 6G Ow? 

6s 1 ce 66 Onn 
Oe. 8 No wind te 10 

66 " Noon 66 6e 4 

ee | 4 6¢ 6c 11 

68 | 7h 66 66 14 
Dans tH 48 S. W. « 8 

GE Noon Ge Ce q 

66 | 4 6s 66 11 

66 ae 66 66 4 
wl 8 OG Moderate 8 

(73 Noon (<3 13 9 

66 4 66. 6s 7 

(1 ial & 86 8 

25 8 cs ; Light 10 

66 Noon 66 66 4 

66 4 « | 66 1k 

(74 Tes CC: 66 13 
26, 8 Northerly. | et Oe: 

ce Noon a | ce AS) 

6c 4 66 66 10 

66 2 66 66 4 
Cael ly Gs “ « 12 

66 Noon. 66 66 8 

ee 4 X3 ce 9 

66 Fu 6 3 14 

28, 8 a e 12 | 
29, Noon. 0: ee HO 


An examination of the foregoing table will probably satisfy most 
vainds, that planetary influence has little or nothing to do with the 
changes of elevation in the waters there noted. The oceanic tides, 


210 On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 


though somewhat modified in their height and recurrence by winds, 
and other terrestrial agents, are, nevertheless, so regular in their flux 
and reflux, as to show a constant and inseparable connexion with the 
movements of the moon and sun. We presume the only question here 
to be, whether the apparent tides in the lakes exhibit any character- 
istics of a similar connexion; that there isa frequent rise and fall in 
the level of the lake waters is beyond dispute. And it is as certain, 
that these fluctuations, in some places, appear to be as independent of 
atmospheric, as of lunar control. But, while we are unable to refer 
them to,one cause, it does not follow that they must be assigned to 
the other. Gov. Cass did not annex to his observations any note of 
the ‘‘moon’s southings” at the time. If there were the remotest 
probability that such a reference could be useful, it might still be 
done. But the utter discrepancy between all lunations and the ebbs 
and floods noted down in his table, renders such a task supereroga- 
tory. If the table be examined throughout, there will probably not 
be found an instance, where the time of high water tallies with the 
moon’s southing, admitting the usual retardation. Even if there 
were several such instances, they ought to be regarded as fortuitous 
coincidences, as nothing but a prevailing concurrence would authorize 
us to link them together as cause and effect. 

It may be well to draw a few facts from the table, to Show the ir- 
regularity and caprice of the times of high water. ‘T’o avoid any ap- 
pearance of making partial selections, we begin at the first dates. 
July 15th, it was high water at } past 7, P. M. the 16th, at } past 
8, P. M. the 17th, at 8, A. M. the 18th, at noon, and again at 3 past 
7, P. M. the 19th, at 9, A. M. the 20th, at 4, P. M. the 21st, at 3 
past 7, P. M. the 22d, at 4, P. M. the 23d, at 4, P. M. the 24th, at 
4, P. M. the 25th, at 2 past 7,P. M. Making allowance for a part 
of the night, during which no observations were made, the intervals 
would still appear without the slightest accordance with planetary at- 
traction. They rather, so far as these instances go, evince some- 
thing like a diurnal variation, arising from some local atmospheric 
habitude. Upon reference, however, to the course of the wind, as 
stated to have prevailed during those days, we do not find any such 
alternations of its currents, as would sustain such an opinion. 

Tt will be seen, as we have before remarked, that the changes of 
elevation are independent of the course of the winds; that the fluc- 
tuations continue, notwithstanding the winds.remain the same. Gov. 
Cass suggests a reason why the F ox River should fall, even while 


On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 211 


the wind blows strongly up the bay and into its mouth. If a north- 
erly wind prevail for some days, as it often does, down Lake Mich- 
igan, although it would, for a time, heap up the waters at the head of 
Green Bay (which runs nearly parallel with the lake,) while propel- 
ling a still greater mass towards the head of the lake, yet, the con- 
sequent depression of the level at the mouth of the bay, would soon 
cause a refluence of the accumulation at its head, even against the 
strength of the wind. This accounts for the contrariety of wind 
and current during a long storm; but it does not appear to apply to 
the diurnal, and even hourly, ebbs and floods which almost constantly 
succeed each other, whether the wind be blowing or not. A conjec- 
ture of some plausibility is suggested by inspecting the general course 
of the winds, as they are noted down in the table. Their prevailing 
course is up cr down the bay, whose direction is about S. S. W. 
This would naturally have a tendency to roll the surface of the wa- 
ters into waves, not very unlike those of the lunar tide, excepting 
their more frequent succession. ‘These waves, whether refluent, or 
moving before the wind, in passing through the sinuous channel of 
the embouchute of Fox River, would be compressed into an increased 
elevation, and may be supposed to exhibit such intervals of fluctua- 
tion, as have been so long noticed at that place. 

In speculating on the supposed tides of the North American Lakes, 
it has been natural to regard the head of Green Bay as the point 
where they would show themselves in the greatest fullness. ‘The 
course of planetary attraction, operating on a line from east to west, 
would begin at the eastern part of Gloucester Bay in Lake Huron, 
and moving over this lake to the Straits of Mackina, and thence 
across the foot of Lake Michigan and up Green Bay, would tra- 
verse a space of from four hundred and fifty to five hundred miles. 
The configuration of the coasts too, through which the line passes, 
would appear to lend much extraneous aid, to give whatever wave 
might be formed an undue elevation; as, after crossmg Lake Huron, 
it would be compressed into the tunnel, or rather triangular form of 
that part of the Lake which terminates at Mackina, causing a con- 
volution, which would naturally send it through the straits into Lake 
Michigan with added height and impetuosity. Again, when the 
wave, after traversing the foot of Lake Michigan, still somewhat pre- 
served in its artificial elevation, by a chain of islands that run almost 
the whole breadth of this transit, enters Green Bay, the same ten- 
dency to accumulation must prevail throughout the ascent of that 


212 On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 


deep arm of the Lake. The extent of Lake Superior is not equal 
in length to the course here described, and that lake, excepting the 
projection of Keewuna Point, presents but few littoral features which 
would have any sensible influence on the elevation of a tide-wave. 

But it must be borne in mind, in reference to this subject, that the 
planetary attraction, on reaching the eastern point of these lakes, 
having brought with it ne “wave,” has there to begin with an initial 
force, and that it must pass over a considerable portien of the water 
before its eperation can be felt. We cannot say at what distance 
from the eastern shore this point of sensible effect would be found ; 
but, if Lake Huron were an isolated lake, we should’ probably look 
for no lift of the surface, from this cause, even at the western side. 
The tide-wave, therefere, when it arrives at the Straits of Mackina, 
is, notwithstanding the favoring approximation of the twe shores, 
probably aearly er quite insensible. It is well known that, although 
currents and counter currents have been long noticed in these straits, 
no one has ever regarded them as possessing any of the character- 
istics of a lunar tide. Even the fact stated by Charlevoix, and to 
which Mr. Schoolcraft alludes in his travels, ef his boat floating one 
way while the wind blew the reverse, may be satisfactorily explained. 
A continuous and strong wind prevailing either way through the straits, 
will propel so much water out ef one lake into the other, as to destroy 
the equilibration of surface; when the refluent tendency of the ac- 
cumulated mass will preduce a counter current, though the wind 
may remain unchanged and unabated. Hence Charlevoix’s boat 
may have been “carried against a head wind.” 

If then it be probable that there is no sensible tide at the Straits of 
Mackina, Lake Michigan, including Green Bay, must be considered 
as deriving little or no assistance, in forming its tide-wave, from the 
sister lake. ‘That it would exhibit this phenomenon, if it stood alone, 
few would be inclined to believe, notwithstanding all auxiliary cir- 
cumstances, of the chain of islands, and the tunnel form ef the bay. 
Indeed, Lake Michigan, though favorable for the increase of a wave 
sent into it frem Lake Huron, yet, from its comparative shallowness 
and diminutive breadth, seems unfavorable to the formation of one 
on its own bosom. 

It is not to be assumed that planetary influences.are wholly inoper- 
ative on the lake waters. ‘They undoubtedly have their due effect. 
But that effect is probably nearly or quite insensible. If a calm could 
de supposed to prevail on the lakes of a sufficient continuance to allow 


On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 213 


these influences to act without disturbance from other causes, nice 
observations, at different, points, would doubtless detect a small lunar 
tide. But such a halcyon lapse of time is improbable, if not impos- 
sible. And as long as shifting winds, or even breezes, are continu- 
ally varying the stinfade of the waters, they will so interfere with 
these delicate tumefactions caused by the HOU as wholly to disguise 
or overpower them. 

Reasoning from our knowledge of the great inland waters of the 
other hemisphere, we should take it for granted, that the North Amer- 
ican Lakes have no sensible tide. ‘The Caspian, Black and Baltic 
seas, are said to have none; and even the Mediterranean is indebted 
to the sharpsightedness of modern times, for the development of such 
a phenomenon on her wide spread bosom. 

As General Dearborn has thrown out a hint respecting the sup= 
posed tide in Lake Superior, 1 have obtamed a communication from 
H. R. Schoolcraft, Esq. on that subject. His long residence at the 
foot of that lake, combined with his enlightened powers of observa~ 
tion, and habitual use of them in the furtherance of scientific objects, 
give much weight to his opinions: Gov. Cass, whose opportunities 
have been great, not only to see himself, but to collect the opinions 
of others, is satisfied that there is no BuLetele lunar tides on the lakes. 


< Derrorr, January 19th, 1831. 


Maj. Henry Wonencivet —Dear Sin ,—The idea of the existence 
of a tide in our lakes, caused by lunar attraction, appears to have 
originated in those changes in the level of the waters, which are pro- 
duced by atmospheric phenomena. ‘These changes were observed 
at a very early day, and they have continued to be observed, by 
travellers and by the resident population, down to our own times. 
The attention you formerly bestowed upon the subject, induces me 
to hope that you will resume your observations, and give the result 
of them to the public, in such a form as may enable others to 
judge of these phenomena, and the particulars wherein they dif- 
fer—if, as I believe, they do indeed differ, from the ordinary, and 
from any known appearances of oceanic tide. I know not that your 
own observations will go the length of these conclusions, or that the 
conclusions themselves are based on remarks, which can be fully 
brought to mind. But I will endeavor to put you in possession of 
some facts bearing on the subject. 


Vou. XXI.—No. 2. 28 


214 On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. . 


During a residence of nine years on the straits of St. Mary, near 
the foot of Lake Superior, I have remarked that the waters of those 
straits, and of Lake Superior, are particularly exposed to the influ- 
ence of winds, which, for the greater portion of time, prevail either 
up or down the lake and the straits, thus subjecting them to an influ- 
ence in the direction in which they are susceptible of being most af- 
fected by currents of wind. ‘The effects are, a swelling in the wa- 
ters at the point opposite to that at which the force is put in motion ; 
and a recession of the waters whenever this force is abstracted. ‘The 
rise and fall thus produced, have much of the appearance of a tide. 
The waters often overflow the banks; and they may recede, and 
again overflow the same portions of shore, twice, or oftener, during 
the same day. 

Owing to counter currents of air, either in the higher or lower stra- 
ta of the atmosphere, or to positive changes in the current of the 
wind itself, the results are varied, and the periods of submersion and 
recession rendered longer or shorter. Sometimes the water will re- 
act against the wind; sometimes it will continue to rise, when the 
wind itself has apparently (that is at the spot of observation) died 
away. Sometimes there will be little rise or fall, during the twenty- 
four hours. And it is only durmg a calm, and that continued long 
enough, and in itself perfect enough, to leave the waters subject on- 
ly to the operation of these ordinary laws, that an apparently level 
and equable surface is preserved in the lake. 

But it is these variations in the tzme, the height of water, and the 
number of the changes in any given time, that (without any reference 
to atmospheric phenomena) afford, to my mind, the most conclusive 
evidence that the changes in the diurnal or periodical level of the 
water, are separate and distinct, in their causes, from lunar tides. 

The appearances of a tide rising against the wind, noticed by Capt. 
Dearborn at the head of the military mill-race at the Sault St. 
Marie, admit of explanation on the principle of a reaction of the 
body of water, confined in that portion of the strait (about ten miles) 
situated between the head of the race (which is also the head of the 
falls) and lake Superior. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
Henry R. Scuooncrart.” 


Before these desultory remarks are closed, it may not be imap- 
propriate to notice what General Dearborn terms ‘ the periodical in- 


On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 215 


crease and diminution of the whole volume of water on the lakes.” 
It is the popular tradition on these lakes, that there has been a rise 
and fall of the water once in every fourteen years. ‘The New York 
canal commissioners, I believe, state it to be about once in eleven 
years. It is now a matter of record, that in 1814 and 15, the St. 
Clair and Detroit rivers were unusually high; that the foundations 
of houses, and much land that had long been under dry cultivation, 
were submerged. ‘These buildings had been erected many years 
before, and of course under a belief that they were aloof from all but 
extraordinary and temporary inundations. No observations appear 
to have been made on the progress of the elevation, whether it were 
gradual or abrupt, or whether there were any preceding seasons of 
a character to produce it. The general impression seemed to. be 
that the rise had been gradual, in accordance with the popular notion, 
that the waters rise seven years, and subside through the same period. 

In 1820, or about that time, the rivers had resumed their usual 
level. Several wharves were built in Detroit between that year and 
1828, at a height, as it was supposed, sufficiently above the general 
level, for all purposes of convenience and safety. At the latter date, 
the rivers had again attained the elevation of 1815, and remained so 
until 1830, with only such occasional depressions as might be caused 
by strong winds, being generally nearly upon a level with the wharves. 
In this instance, like that of the foregoing, no observations appear to 
have been made previous to the rise, either on the character of the 
seasons, or the rapidity with-which it reached its maximum. 

The rivers continued at this unusual height until January, 1831, 
when, in the course of eight or ten days, they subsided three or four 
feet ; and they have now maintained that minimum level for about 
six weeks. ‘I'wo hydraulic works which had been established in 
connexion with the river the last season, were left, by this subsidence, 
above high water mark, and their source-pipes have been extended 
many yards towards the channel, in order to reach a new supply. 

In conversations with several of the mtelligent old inhabitants of 
Detroit and its vicinity, it has been ascertained that there was a cor- 
responding rise in the water about 1800. A road, running along the 
‘bank of the river near the town, was then nearly submerged, as it 
has been twice since. 

Such are the simple facts and traditions relative to this phenom- 
enon of the lakes. Being on this station in 1815, I witnessed the ele- 
vation at that time, and the subsequent depression. I was again there 


216 On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 


just before the rise in 1828, and have marked the continued eleva- 
tion since that time, until the recent subsidence. There is not the 
same certainty as it respects the elevation of 1800; but there is no 
reason to doubt the concurring testimony of two or three respectable 
affirmers to the fact. . ‘The condition of the road—a great thorough- 
fare—alluded to, is a familiar and striking criterion, and likely to 
make an impression. ‘There is no tradition, that we know, reaching 
farther back, excepting what may be inferred from the general belief 
of the old settlers, that the rise and fall is periodical as before stated. 

As far as these facts go, they certainly favor the popular theory. 
but it rests on these facts alone. In every other point of view, 
it is improbable and seemingly absurd. ‘There does not appear 
to have been any observations made on the character of the sea- 
sons immediately preceding and accompanying the elevation of the 
waters. We are therefore in the dark as to such causes as copious 
rains and abundant snows. 

‘Abrupt and very considerable changes in the level of the Detroit 
river are frequently observed. Within twelve hours there will some- 
times be a difference of two or three feet. But this may be satisfac- 
torily accounted for. ‘The Detroit river forms something like the are 
of a circle, the two ends resting on Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, 
whose courses continue the curve. A strong west or south-west 
wind drives back the waters of Lake St. Clair, thus diminishing the 
usual supply discharged into the river, and drives forward the waters 
of Lake Erie, thus lessening the volume and accelerating the current 
at the mouth of the river.” On the contrary, an easterly wind, driv- 
ing down from Lake St. Clair an increased volume of water, and 
heaping it up equally at the outlet in Lake ee causes an unusual 
elevation. . 

The sudden depression of the waters this winter, (1830-31,) be- 
fore alluded to, is fresh in the recollection of every one, and if any 
obvious causes had preceded it, many would doubtless have observed 
them. . It was observed that a strong westerly wind prevailed not 
long before. This would account for a temporary depression, upon 
the principles already explained, but for a temporary one only, as, 
even if Lake Erie were depressed many feet below its usual level, 
it is evident that the Detroit river would maintain its habitual height, 
provided the supply above continued the same ; and, in the present 
mstance, that supply would of course return, the moment the wester- 
ly wind subsided, or the refluent tendency of the accumulated wa- 
ters of the lake should overcome the resistance of that wind. 


On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 217 


Mr. Schoolcraft has incidentally remarked, that it would appear 
natural for all the lakes to subside in a degree during the winter 
months. Evaporation and other wastes go on as during the summer 
months, though with diminished effects, while the ice and snow with- 
hold from the tributary streams. all the moisture of the earth’s sur- 
face, and leave their channels almost. dry. This opinion, so well 
founded in natural causes, is partly sustained by facts. It has been 
often observed that the ice, connected with the shore, is generally, 
before it breaks up or dissolves, found depressed below its'first level. 
But this effect was not so sensible in the winters of 1828-9 and 

1829-30, as to be noticed at Detroit. 

From the foregoing remarks, the conclusion may be drawn, it 
there has been a Reriodieal elevation of the upper lakes once in about 
fourteen years ; or, that its recurrence has been sufficiently precise, 
to authorize the popular belief of its regularity. But we are con- 
stramed to suppose, although destitute of the light of all observations 
on the subject, that they must have been caused by unusually abun- 
dant rains and snows, and that this abundance has, been in fortuitous 
coincidence with certain cycles of time; for, improbable as this may 
be, it is less so, than that nature should have departed from her or- 
dinary course. 

Since closing the foregoing remarks, I have been ancl with the 
following leieers from Gir. Cis, which expresses his opinion fully on 
the subject, and forms a valuable commentary on it. 


: ‘‘ Derroit, March 24th, 1831. 

Sir—In the conversation we had respecting the existence of tides 
in the lakes of this region, I referred to a series of observations, 
made by myself at Green Bay, in August and September, 1828, 
with a view to determine this long disputed question. This paper 
I now enclose to you, to dispose of as you think proper.* ‘The place 
of observation was upon the Fox River, about three miles above its 
mouth, and two miles below the point, where the current ceases to 
be perceptible. A cask was securely placed near the bank, and a 
graduated rod fixed in it. ‘The cask was sufficiently open to show 
the rise and fall of the water, without being affected by the ripples on 
the surface, occasioned by the wind. It was my intention to record 
the state of the water at regular intervals, and this, as you will per- 
ceive, was generally done. But sometimes circumstances intervened 
to withdraw my own attention, or that of others from this duty, to 


* See the Table, page 205. 


218 On the Tides in the great North American Lakes. 


whom the task of observation was entrusted. Full confidence pe 
however be placed in these memoranda. 

The slightest inspection will satisfy you, that the changes in the 
elevation of the water are entirely too variable to be traced to any 
regular permanent cause ; and that consequently there is no percep- 
tible tide at Green Bay, which is the result of observation. And 
such it appears to me is the result of calculation, when the laws, 
which regulate solar and lunar attraction, and the limited sphere of 
their operation, are taken into view. And the conclusion is fortified 
by analogy ; for in the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the Caspian,-each 
much larger than either of our lakes, there are no tides, or none wor- 
thy of observation. ‘The opinion however has long prevailed, and 
been frequently advanced, that the ebb and flow of the water, which 
are constantly observed upon the shores of the North American 
lakes, are tides, governed by the same laws as the tides of the ocean ; 
and Green Bay has been often referred to as a place affording the 
most distinct proof of this phenomenon ; and particularly as the rise 
and fall of the water do not always appear to depend upon the di- 
rection of the wind. A glance at the features of the bay and lake, 
and at their relative position, will probably enable us to account for 
this prevailing error, without calling in question the veracity or judg- 
ment of preceding observers, or resorting to causes for the explana- 
tion of the difficulty, which have obviously no connexion with it. 

Lake Michigan is about three hundred miles in length, and about 
fifty in breadth. Near its northern extremity, it is joined by Green 
Bay, which is in fact a deep indentation of the lake, nearly parallel 
with it in its course, and extending perhaps eighty miles into the 
country. A northerly wind blows up the bay and lake; and as the 
former is comparatively small, it will much sooner feel the full effect 
of the wind than the latter. The water will be driven from the mouth 
of the bay towards the head, until it attains its maximum elevation ; 
and in the mean time, the operation of the same cause will propel the 
water of Lake Michigan towards Chicago. There will consequently 
be a depression at the mouth of the bay, where the water will con- 
tinue to ebb, after it has risen to its full height in the upper part of 
the bay. For the wind, it will be recollected, is still sweeping up 
Lake Michigan, and driving the water before it. It is obvious 
that in this state of things a reaction must take place in Green Bay, 
and that the water will begin to flow towards the mouth, to supply the 
deficiency, occasioned by the transfer of a part of the contents of 


Salt Springs of Moutiers. — 219 


Lake Michigan, from the northern to the southern extremity 5 and 
this too, while the duration and intensity of the wind remain the 
same. Atthe head of the bay, the phenomenon will thus be exhib- 
ited, of the recession of water in the face of-a strong current of wind. 
This occurrence has no doubt led to the opinion already referred 
to, and the same appearances will be exhibited, though in a less 
striking degree, upon the shores of all the lakes. A slight variation 
in the force, or direction of the wind, will occasion a change in the 
elevation of the water, seeking at all times to attain a level; and 
alternations of ebbing and flowing will thus be exhibited, aided no 
doubt by the conformation of the coast, not easily reconcilable to the 


actual state of the wind. Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
L. Cass. 
Major Henry Wuitine, U.S. A. 


Arr. I.—4 Notice of the Salt Springs of Moutiers, in the Taren- 
daise, (Alps) and of a peculiar method of evaporation ; extracted 
from the Travels of R. Bakewett, Esq.: Vol. I. p.220: Lon- 
don. 


Introductory Remarks.—By permission of the author, we insert 
the following extract, presuming thatthe method of evaporation here 
described may be advantageously adopted in this country, especially 
in the case of springs whose impregnation is weak. We are aware 
that methods, depending on the same principle, have been adopted 
in this country, but we are not informed that any of them have been 
permanently successful. 


Tue springs that supply the salt works at Moutiers, rise at the 
bottom of a nearly perpendicular rock of limestone, situated on the 
south side of a deep valley or gorge, through which the Doron runs, 
before it joins the Isere. The distance from the springs to the salt 
works is about a mile; the water runs in an open canal, made for 
the purpose, but is received in a reservoir in its passage, where it 
deposits part of its ocherous contents. Formerly the canal was con- 
tinued to Conflans, a distance of sixteen miles, where part of the wa- 
ter was evaporated. 

The water rises from the rock with considerable force, and emits 
much gas, which is principally carbonic acid, with a mixture of sul- 


220 : Salt Springs of Moutiers. 


phuretted hydrogen ; it has an acidulous and slightly saline taste. 
These springs rise at the end of long passages, that have been exca- 
vated in the rock. I broke off a piece of the rock in contact with 
the water ; it is a black imperfectly crystalline limestone, coated with 
a thick ocherous incrustation. From the position of this rock, and 
its connection with those on the other side the gorge, I have no doubt 
that the spring rises from the lowest limestone in this part of the 
Alps, where it comes in contact with dark schist, or talcous slate, as 
I have observed to be the case in other parts of Savoy and the Haut 
Vallais ; but the actual junction of the two rocks is not seen here. 
The temperature of the strongest spring is 99° Farenheit ; it con- 
tains 1°83 per cent. of saline matter. ‘The second spring has the 
temperature of 95°, and contains 1-75 of saline matter. Other sour-, 
ces have been discovered that contain only 1°50 of salt. I was told 
that there is a deep and nearly inaccessible chasm in the rock be- 
hind the springs, which is supposed to have some connection with 
them. Beside common salt, the water contains in small proportions, 
sulphate of lime, sulphate of soda, and sulphate and muriate of mag- 
nesia, together with oxide of iron.’ Much of the gypsum in this part 
the Tarentaise being intermixed with rock salt, we may well con- 
ceive whence the water derives its saline impregnation ; but I am in- 
clined to believe that the high temperature of these springs, as well 
as of all the thermal waters in Savoy, is occasioned by an intermix- 
ture of boiling water, which rises from immense depths, being heated 
and forced up by subterranean fire, like the hot springs in countries 
undoubtedly volcanic. During the great earthquake that destroyed 
Lisbon in 1756, the salines at Moutiers ceased to flow for forty-eight 
hours, and when they flowed again, their quantity was increased, but. 
the saline impregnation was weaker. A similar effect was produced 
at the same time at the hot springs of 'Toplitz, in Bohemia. 

It may seem extraordinary that the waters at Moutiers, which have 
only half the strength of sea-water, should repay the expence of 
evaporation; but the process by which it is effected is both simple 
and ingenious, and might be introduced with great advantage on ma- 
ny parts of our own coast, should the salt duty be entirely removed. 
The salt works at Bex, in the Pay de Vaud, are nearly similar to 
those at Moutiers, but not on so extensive a scale ; and a very use- 
ful part of the process at Moutiers is not adopted at Bex. Having 
never seen an intelligible account of the process of evaporation by 
faggots, I shall endeavor to give such a description as will enable any 


Salt Springs of Moutiers. = (oat 


person to imitate it in this country ; indeed, so little is known of this 
mode of evaporation by faggots, that it has been often stated by Eng- 
lish writers, and,has recently been again gravely repeated, that it 
consisted in throwing salt water upon burning faggots, and gathering 
the salt that remained. This would be a mode of making salt, as 
wise and practicable, as the nursery method of catching birds by put- 
ting salt on their tails. 

i is obvious that water so weakly fini he “ath salt as to con- 
tain only one pound and a half in every thirteen gallons, could not 
repay the expence of evaporating by fuel, in any country. ‘The wa- 
ter of the north sea contains 24 per cent.of salt, and yet it has 
never been attempted, that I know of, to make salt from it by evap- 
oration with coal fires, even on the coast of Northumberland or Dur- 
ham, where refuse coal, suited to the purpose, might be purchased 
for 1s. 6d. perton.. In order to make sali from the saline water at 
Moutiers, it was necessary to concentrate it by natural evaporation ; 
and to effect this speedily, it was required to spread the surface of 
the fluid over as large a space as possible, the ratio of evaporation 
being, ceteris paribus, in proportion to the extent of the surface ex- 
posed to the action of the atmosphere. The first attempt at Mou- 
tiers was made in 1550 , by arranging pyramids of rye-straw in open 
galleries, and letting the water trickle through it gradually and re- 
peatedly. By this process a portion of the ‘sulphate of lime it con- 
tained was deposited on the straw, and the water became concentra- 
ted to a certain degree. © It was then carried to the boiler, and fur- . 
ther evaporated by fuel. In 1730 the present buildings were erect- 
ed by order of Charles Emanuel the third. : 

There are four evaporating houses, called Maisons d’Epines (lit- 
erally, houses of thorns). Nos. 1. and 2. receive the water from 
the reservoir, and concentrate it to about three degrees of strength, 
viz. they evaporate one half of the water they receive. These 
houses of evaporation are three hundred and fifty yards in length 
each, about twenty five feet in height, and seven feet wide. They 
are uncovered at the top. ‘They consist of a frame of wood, com- 
posed of upright posts; two and a half feet from each other, ranging 
on each side, and strengthened by bars across; the whole is support- 
ed on stone buttresses, about three feet from the ground, under which 
are the troughs for the salt water to fall into. The frame is filled 
with double rows of faggots of black thorn, ranged from one end to 
the other, up to the top; they are placed loosely, so as to admit the 


Vor. XX.—No. 2. 29 


292 Salt Springs of Moutiers. 


air, and supported firmly in their position by transverse pieces of 
wood. In the middle of each Maison d’Epines is a stone building, 
containmg the hydraulic machine for pumping the water to the top 
of the building ; it is moved by a water-wheel. When the water is 
raised to the top, it is received in channels on each side, which ex- 
tend the whole length of the building ; from these long channels it is 
made to pass into cis ones by ie side, from which it trickles 
through a multitude of small holes, like a very gentle shower, upon 
the faggots, where it is divided into an infinite number of drops, fall- 
ing from one point to another. Being thus exposed to the contact 
of the air, it gains one degree of strength in falling, and, by the ac- 
tion of the pumps, it is raised again, and falls in other showers, till it 
has acquired the strength required for passing to the sevepetaing 
house, No. 3. 

The process is conducted with less nicety in Nos. 1. and 2. than 
in the others, and, as I mentioned before, the houses are not covered. 
The pumps moved by the machine in the centre of the building, are 
distributed at equal distances on each side of the Maison d’Epmes. 
The water is not always let to trickle down on both sides of the thorns, 
but only on that exposed to the wind. ‘The two buildings, Nos. 1. 
and 2., are placed at different angles, to catch the different currents 
of wind that rush down the valley. No. 3..is constructed on the 
same principles as Nos. 1. and 2.5 it receives the water from them 
both; it is three hundred and seventy yards long, and is covered to 
preserve the salt water from the rain. ‘There are twelve pumps on 


each side in this building, and more care is taken to distribute the 


water equally ; here it is concentrated to the strength of twelve per 
-cent., and deposits most of its remaining sulphate of lime, in incrus- 
tations on the twigs. 
The water being now reduced to-about one seventh of the éricul 
quantity, and prced to the strength of twelve degrees, is sed 
along channels to the Maison d’Epines, N. 4... This is only seventy 
yards in length : here it is further concentrated by a similar process, 
till it nearly reaches the point of saturation, but this depends on the 
season. In dry weather, it is raised to twenty-two degrees ; but in 
rainy, moist weather, to eighteen degrees only. In summer-time the 
whole process of evaporation, in passing through the different houses, 
is about one month; in wet seasons it is longer. ‘The stream of 
water that sets in motion the hy draulic machines for raising the sa- 
line water to the top of the buildings, is brought by a small wee tect 


~ Salt Springs of Moutiers. 223 


from the river Doron. When once in motion, the process goes on 
and requires little farther attention, or manual labor, till it is comple- 
ted. When. the water is nearly saturated, it passes to a large build- 
ing, where are the pans for boiling, and the salt is crystallized in the 
usual method. That ihe reader may form an idea of the quantity 
of water evaporated before it comes. to the pans, I will state the re- 
duction at each of the evaporating houses: 
8000 hogsheads, when received.at Nos. 1. and 2., contain 


about 14 per cent. of salt - - - - - reduced to 4000 
4000 hogsheads, when received at No. 3., contain about 

3 per cent. of salt - - - - - - = reduced to 1000 ° 
1000 hogsheads, when received at No. 4., contain about 

12 per cent. of salt - - - - - + - ‘reduced to 550 
550 hogsheads, received at the pans, contain near 22. per cent. 

of salt. 5 


Thus, out of every eight thousand hogsheads, passing through the 
Maisons d’Epines, seven thousand four hundred and fifty are evapo- 
rated by the air in summer, and about seven thousand in winter ; 
and only one-sixteenth part of the fuel is consumed, ‘that would be 
required for. evaporating the whole quantity of water by fire. 

The faggots are changed at periods of from four to’ seven years. 
Those in Nos..1. and 2. where the saline impregnation is weak, will 
decay sooner than in Nos. 3. and 4. In No. 3. all the twigs acquire 
so thick a coating of selenite, that when broken off, they resemble 

stems and Branches of encrinites. 


The Maison’ de, Cordes was invented by an ingenious Savoyard, a. 


named Buttel. Itis forty yards in length and eleven wide; itis — 
much stronger than the Maison d’Epines, the roof being supported 
by six arches of stone work; the intermediate spaces on the sides 
being left open. In every one of these divisions are twelve hundred 
cords, in rows of twenty-four each, suspended from the roof, and 
fixed tight at bottom. The cords are about sixteen feet in length. 
The water is raised to a reservoir at the top of the building, and dis- 
tributed into a number of small transverse canals, each row of twen- 
ty-four cords having one of these canals over it, which is so pierced 
as to admit the water to trickle down each separate cord, drop by 
drop. The original intention of this building was to crystallize the 
salt itself upon the cords, for which purpose the water was made use 
of from the pans after it had deposited a quantity of salt in the first 
boiling, to serve the expense of fuel in a second boiling; the resi- 


224 Salt Springs of Moutiers. 


due-water of the first boiling, by repeatedly passing over the cords, 
deposited all its salt in about forty-five days, and the cords were in- 
crusted with a cylinder of pure salt, which was broken off by a par- 
ticular instrument for the purpose.*. This process is at present 
abandoned for crystallizing ;. but the Barts are still used for evapora-. 
ting, and are found to answer better for the higher concentration of 
ie le than the faggots. This method a not: answer for the 
first evaporation, because the water rotted the cords; but it was dis- 
covered that the cords were not soon injured by it, when it had ac- 
quired five degrees of strength. The cords, we were informed, had 
“many of them remained thirty years in use, without being changed : 
indeed, they were so thickly encased with depositions of selenite, that 
they were defended from the action of the water, This: mode of 
evaporating is found to be more expeditious than that of the faggots. 

A sketch of the evaporating house, No. 1., is annexed; No. 2. 
is similar to it in every respect. 

In the covered house, No. 3., there are twenty-four pumps, twelve 
on each side, to distribute the water more equally over the whole. 
This system of pumps is worked by joined bars of wood, which 
move baékwards and forwards, and are connected by erank wheels 
with each piston, to raise and depress it. As I have before mention- 
ed, they take care to evaporate on the windward side of the build- 
ing.. When I was on the top of No..3., though the air was very 
warm, I felt an intense degree of cold, the consequence of speedy 
evaporation. ng 

Inthe Maison de Cordes, it is found that the evaporation goes on 
more speedily in windy weather than in the Maisons d’Epines, as 
might be expected from the more ready access of air to.the surface 
of the water. The cords are double, passing over horizontal rods 
of wood at the top and the bottom, to keep them firm im their posi- 
tions, and at regular distances from each other. I) did not see the 
cords without their envelope of selenite; but 1 was informed that 
they were not thicker than the finger. With the incrustations they 
were become as thick as the wrist. ! 

Near the salt-springs. there are. the remains of a large reservoir, 
into which the water was formerly made to fall from a considerable 


* This process might be used for sea-water with particular advantage in warm cli- 
mates, and the necessity for boiling altog ether avoided. 


EME DAOSNHTII \E 
PANERIMONA 


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 Pecetcrrewercsod | 
POUTEDONSES 

COALS NW | 
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226 Salt Springs of Moutiers. 
height by a machine; but this mode of evaporation was jaund to 
answer only in very hot weather, and the process is given up. 

The saline water-is received into reservoirs from the springs, 
where it remains some time before it passes to the Maisons d’Epines, 
and here it deposits a considerable quantity, or nearly all of its fer- 
tuginous matter; the canal along which it runs to the reservolrs is 
also lined with a red ochreous incrustation. 

The total length of the Maison d’Epines is as under: - 

_ Yards, English. 

Nos. 1. and 2. together - - 700 

Der ne mM eli 
aU Seg 1 76) 


_ Total, 1140, or nearly two-thirds of a mile. 
The fuel used at the pans for the last process is partly wood, and 
partly anthracite from the neighboring mountains. The anthracite 
answers remarkably well when once ignited, as it preserves for a 
long time a regular degree of heat. ‘The consumption of wood was 
formerly so great, that it has denuded many of the higher mountains 
in the ‘Tarentaise, and exposed them to the action of the atmosphere, 
which has occasioned vast eboulements; for it is found that forests 
are of the greatest utility, in preserving precipitous mountains from 
destruction. ‘The fact is now so well ascertained, that the govern-’ 
ment, for this cause alone, has lately paid particular attention to the 
preservation of the wood. ~The quantity of salt made here annually, 
is estimated at 100,000 mytiagrammes, or about 2,250,000 Ibs. 
avordupois, and about 9000 myriagrammes.of sulphate of soda, ‘or 
about 187,000 Ibs. ‘The other alkaline matter which adheres to the 
pans is sold to the glass-makers. ‘The government receives, on the 
average, one hundred and fifty thousand franes for the products, out 
of which it is estimated that thirty thousand are expended for wood 
and fuel, eight thousand for materials employed in the buildings, and 
for faggots, &c., and sixty-two thousand for the wages‘ and the sala- 
ries of the different officers, leaving an annual profit of fifty thousand 
francs. In some of the mountains of the 'Tarentaise, the gypsum is 
intermixed with rock salt en masse, and was worked by the peasants, 
but the places are now closed up, and so strictly guarded by order 
of the government, that I found it difficult to procure specimens. 
These mines were formerly worked, the salt being separated from 
the gypsum by solution, and subsequently evaporated by fire; but 


Salt Springs of Moutiers. 227 


the great eboulements, caused by clearing away the wood from the 
sides of the mountains, obliged the government to abandon the mines, 
and undertake the manufacture of salt atthe Salines. - These mines 
are mentioned by the Roman historians. ; 

The volumes from which the foregoing extract is taken, deserve a 
full notice in a Journal of Science. They contain many facts and 
views that are interestiug to science, particularly to geology, in which 
the author has shewn himself a skillful and independent observer. 
But the work is not to be regarded merely as a book of scientific trav- 
els; itis also popular, and interesting to all readers who value sound 
information ona great variety of the subjects which are among the 
most interesting to man. The vigor of mind, the candor and recti- 
tude of judgment, and the power of exciting interest and conveying 
instruction, which the author, in still earlier years, discovered in his ge- 
ology, are very apparent in his travels. Society, in domestic life as 
well as among the learned; the arts, useful and ornamental ; histori- 
cal facts, especially as connected with particular places and scenes ; 
the face of nature both in grandeur and wildness, and in the loveliness 
of cultivation; these and many other subjects give diversity to the 
author’s pages, and furnish entertainment and instruction for readers 
of various mental acquirements and taste. 

Geology is a prominent subject, but in general, the topics of this 
nature are so arranged that they.may be omitted by those readers to 
whom they are not interesting. ‘To all who cultivate this branch of 
knowledge, they will however prove highly acceptable. 

We have rarely met witha book of travels containing no perilous 
adventures, in which there is more that is at once interesting and val- 
uable ; it is a solid, manly, and useful production, and the animated 
style and discriminating observations of the author, prevent the book 
from becoming heavy. Itseems however, not to be much known even 
in England, and not at allin the United States. If any thing which 
we can suggest should contribute to bring it more before the scien- 
tific and literary public of both countries, we should be gratified, es- 
pecially, as the work is remarkably free from prejudices, and pecu- 
liarly from those which English critics often point out in their coun- 
trymen. It contains some fine colored engrayings and numerous 
woods cuts from original drawings. 


228 Notice of Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 


Arr. I. —Havaii, (Owyhee,) and its Voleanie Regions and Pro- 
ductrons ; with some notices of the moral and civil progress of its 
imhabitants, and of those of Oahu. 


1. Notices from a letter addreessed to the Editor. 


In former volumes of this Journal, we have repeatedly mentioned 
this interesting region, of past and present volcanic action. A letter 
received some months since, dated Byron’s Bay, October 28, 1829, 
by the Editor, from Mr. Joseph Goodrich, (to whom we have been 
often indebted for valuable information,) mentions that in July, 1829, 
he had again visited Kirauea* and that-he was surprised to'see how 
much it had filled up since his last visit, the crater not being then so 
deep by six hundred feet as at the time of his first visit.- This is 
of course attributable to the subterranean effort to eject the melted 
matter, which has.again congealed at ua bottom of the crater and 
thus accumulated. 

Mr, Goodrich has forwarded-a box of ‘the lava, and he states that 

- all the specimens were taken either hot or warm from the bottom of 
the crater ; the light pumice stones were from the a of the crater,. 
or the snken plain, as Mr. Ellis calls it.” 

The volcanic specimens from Hawaii are singularly marked by 
the strong impress of fire. It would be impossible to doubt their ig- 
neous origin, even if one knew nothing of their history.. Black is 
their prevailing color, but some are red or deep brown, and occa- 
sionally they are mottled.and party colored, with various hues. 

They pass, by almost imperceptible gradations, from compact au- 
gitic lava, heavy and almost without pores, to that which is in the 
highest degree vesicular and inflated. In general, they have a high 
vitreous lustre; attended frequently by brilliant hues of uncommon 
variety and beauty, iris-colored, columbine, of a steel tarnish, &c. 
Frequently they assume thecharacters of perfect volcanic glass. 

As it appears decidedly,. from facts quoted-in Vol. XI, that the 
entire island is of volcanic origin, . it is interesting to learn that there 
are rocks of basalt, (‘‘answering very nearly to the description of the 
Giant’s Causeway in the north of Ireland.”) ‘Many of the prisms 
are six sided, broken off even with the surrounding rocks ; others 


“ Then evidently in tranquillity, as ladies and little children were of the party. 
i See Vol: XI. 


Notice of Hawari, (Owyhee,) and ats Volcanic Regions, &e. 229 


are thirty or forty feet high, presenting a mural front, and the super- 
incumbent masses do not appear to differ materially from the trap of 
East and West Rock, near New Haven.”* Beautiful cascades fall 
over some of these rocky ledges; some of them are one hundred 
feet and more in height. ; 

Among the Hawaiian specimens, the red lavas, by decomposition, 
afford a red clay, which is used by the natives as a paint. Sulphur, 
of a pure yellow, is also frequent. Capillary voleanic glass was men- 
tioned in a former notice of the igneous productions of this island ; 
it is sometimes so fine as to be blown away by the winds and to be 
rolled along and accumulated in winrows. A tendency towards form- 
ing it is exhibited upon the lavas now before us. Frequently the ex- 
terior is covered with glassy fibres, cemented to and PenuGIOpIEE fused 
masses of vitreous lava. 


2. Notices of Kirauea and of the contiguous region, in a second visit 
of the Rev. CHarLes Stewart. 


¢ 


Remark.—Iin Vol. XI, we gave an analysis of the tour of the mis- 
sionaries around the island of Hawaii, and endeavored to condense 
into a connected view the principal facts relating to its volcanic char- 
acter and phenomena. We also republished a revised letter of the 
Rev. Charles Stewart, containing an account of his visit with Lord 
Byron to the great crater of Kirauea.t 

From the interest manifested in those notices, both at home and 
abroad, we are persuaded that the following will also prove accept- 
able. ‘They are taken, by permission, from the sheets of the (as yet) 
unpublished visit of the Rev. Mr. Stewart to the South Seas, with a 
sight of a part of which he has been so kind as to favor us. In this, 
his second visit to the South Seas, he went as chaplain of the Vin- 
cennes, an American national ship of war, commanded by Captain 
Finch, and the public may expect soon to see Mr. Stewart’s own ac- 
count. ‘The part which we have been permitted to examine is, like 
Mr. Stewart’s former volume, replete with interest and instruction. 

The peculiar design of this Journal does not embrace that part’ of 
Mr. Stewart’s narrative which relates to the progress of civilization, 


*-With which Mr. Goodrich was familiar while at College; these rocks are green- 
stone trap, reposing on sandstone; they greatly resemble, both in texture and posi- 
tion, Salisbury Craig at Edinburgh. 

i See Vol. XI, p. 362. 


Vout. XX.—No. 2. 30 


230 Notice of Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 


and of moral and religious influence. While passing, however, to 
‘our more appropriate objects, we feel little disposition to suppress the 
pleasure we feel or to apologize for expressing it, while we contem- 
plate the wonderful results of the labors of the men of peace and 
love, who have gone into voluntary exile, and fixed themselves on 
the coral rocks and among the volcanic fires of the vast Pacific ; 
who have, in a few short years, converted many thousands of bar- 
barous and degraded savages into civilized and Christianized men; 
whose high moral character, whose pure and courteous manners, and 
whose advancement in the arts, and in political happiness, are a con- 
stant theme of astonishment to the navigators who throng that great 
highway of nations. If, while we are citing the facts respecting vol- 
canic agency, which we have derived from Mr. Stewart, we inter- 
sperse some passages, illustrative of the topics to which we have 
just alluded, we trust that. every reader, who loves mankind as well 
as natural knowledge, will pardon the digression. 

In order to estimate justly the condition of the great volcano of 
Kirauea in 1829, the period of Mr. Stewart’s second visit, it is ne- 
cessary to recur to the account of the first in 1825,* and if in the 
present sketch, the scenes exhibited are more calm, they are not less 
instructive. i 

On the 2d of October, 1829, the Vincennes anchored off Byron 
Bay in Hawaii; a hasty visit was paid to the shore by Mr. Stewart 
and a part of the officers, a stay of only half an hour being allowed 
them with the mission family of Mr. Goodrich and with the Chris- 
tianized natives, many of whom, recollectng Mr. Stewart, kissed 
and embraced his hand, shedding tears of joy, or sank at his feet. 
The party having regained the ship, which was waiting in the offing 
of the bay, her captain was induced, by the state of the wind, to re- 
linquish his purpose of immediately sailing for Maui, and to tack and 
stand into the bay. When the boat left the ship in the morning, she 
was nine or ten miles from land, towards which a tremendous swell 
was setting, and it seemed at the hazard of life that the party jump- 
ed into the boats, as they rose and fell ten or twelve feet with every 
returning billow. Yielding to the waves and the wind, and. “ by 
spreading a mountain of light sail,” they were gently fanned in. 

As they entered the bay, the rays.of the declining sun gleamed 
brightly over the wide extent of open champaign country, distinguish- 


eo Serer os 


* See Vol. XT. 


Notice of Hawan, (Owyhee,) and ws Volcanic Regions, &c. 231 


ing this part of Hawaii from that of every other island in the Pacific 
such the traveller had visited—presenting its broad lawns and dark 
groves, in lights and shades of exquisite beauty, and in every variety 
of verdure, from that which seemed- almost mie to the deepest 
green. 

From the lofty, but primitive looking chapel, as a centre, the hum- 
ble dwellings of the fisherman and the farmer were seen, widely scat- 
tered in every direction; some skirting the beach, as it swept round 
in the beautiful curvature forming the boitom of the bay; some hang- 
ing on the cliffs of the bolder Hane: ; some just peeping from the 
thiele foliage of a grove more inland, or slightly screened by the shade 
of a small clump or single tree; and some, again, standing unshelter- 
ed and alone, in the midst of a wide spreading field. . Such was the 
foreground ; while behind, an extensive country, marked in two or 
three places by old, long extmguished, and now verdant craters—rose 
gradually for miles, to the stately forests enriching the broad bases of 
Mounaroa and Mounakea, both in distinet view—the first appearing 
far in the south, above and beyond a line of green forests, in one long, 
regular, and distant arch of blue—the last, pec near, and tow- 
ering loftily against the western sky, in irregular and broken summits 
of gigantic magnitude. 

The admiration of all on board, says Mr. Stewart, was pi eX- 
cited by the scene, which, in the simple luxuriance of natural beauty, 
was one of the most rich and lovely. 

As is almost invariably the case in this district, heavy showers of 
rain fell during the latter part of the night and morning. 

On the 9th of October, the party which had been formed to visit 
the volcano at the foot of Mounaroa, thirty five miles inland from the 
harbor, commenced their tour. There were eleven gentlemen of 
the ship assisted by twenty natives and a servant or two, and their 
route was that which is exactly described in Mr. Stewart’s former 
volume. We shall, as far as possible, use his own language with oe- 
casional abridgment, and such slight modifications as may be neceés- 
sary to connect the facts without injuring the sense. 

We accomplished, says the author, funteen miles just after four 
o'clock ; and finding at that distance excellent accommodations for the 
night, determined to sleep before proceeding farther. The establish- 
ment—consisting of three houses, situated a short distance from the 
road, on the borders of a fine tract of land, having very much the appear- 
ance of a large plantation of intermingled arable and meadow grounds at 


232 Notice of Hawan, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 


home, and just at the edge of a fine forest running from the sea to 
the interior—belongs to Kinai, the head man of the thinly inhabited 
district of Ora. The master and his family were absent, at the dis- ° 
tance of thirty or forty miles, superintending the cutting of sandal 

wood, and the charge of the houses was left to a few domestics, who, 

however, received us very kindly ; and, at once, sUasuu ses to us 

the principal habitation. 

Here we were quickly made sensible, that the improvements and 
advancement of the people are not limited to the sea ports or to the 
coast. ‘The house was divided into separate rooms by screens of 
native cloth and mats, furnishing distinct sleeping places for the in- 
mates, besides one large and airy apartment, evidently kept as a better 
and principalroom. Into this last we were shown, and its neatness 
and comfort were a great luxury to us. 

The finer mats for the floor, were, in the absence of the chief, eco- 
nomically rolled up against one side of the house, and other derange- 
ments, from the same cause, of the ordinary articles of use, were ob- 
servable—so that we. did not see the establishment in its best state. 
Still, every thing testified, in my eyes, to a vast improvement in the 
style of living, (since my former visit,) even among the inferior chiefs. 
Among other evidences of advancement were the books printed in 
the native tongue, (as yet few in number,) well bound and wrapped 
in covers of native cloth; and-a large slate, suspended against one 
of the partitions. 

But that which our party hailed with peculiar pleasure, was a 
fine lounge or divan, eight or ten feet in width, and extending the 
whole length of the apartment. It was composed of a great num- 
ber of thicknesses of mats, on a platform of wood, elevated about 
two feet from the floor; and, surrounded by curtains of neat furni- 
ture chintz, it afforded a couch for the whole of our number, which we 
might have coveted under circumstances of much less fatigue. 

Indeed the comfort of the accommodations—a refreshing cup of 
tea and a snbstantial supper—the novelty of every thing around— 
freedom from the confinement of the vessel, and with it, from the 
tedium of the night-watch, and other inconveniences of nautical life, 
gave such a How to the lively spirits of some of our younger compan- 
ions, as to make it a late hour, before we were composed to quiet- 
ude and to sleep. 

Nothing of particular interest occurred the next day, till we had 
arrived in the immediate vicinity of the volcano. The smoke as- 


Notice of Hawan, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 233 


cending from it was discerned at a much greater distance (ten or 
twelve miles,) than on my former visit; and was so massive in its 
columns, as to promise a high state of action. I regretted to ascer- 
tain, that the only hut now standing, in which we could find shelter, 
was at a different place from that which we had occupied in 1825 ; 
and that, in going to it, we should approach the cratér in a different, 
and less striking manner. I was wishing to have all my first impres- 
sions and emotions renewed ; and, in the disappointment, almost lost 
the wildness and beauty of the more gradual descent of the preci- 
pices, which we were making, by a atl which branched off from 
the old one, just as we were coming upon them. The nearness of 
night, and a threatning appearance of rain, however, left me no al- 
ternative—and I hastened on with my companions, to catch a first 
view, under whatever advantages the new approach might offer. 

Our arrival at the voleano was more sudden than I had expected 
itto be. Thad been looking for some more abrupt descent than any 
we had yet made, and was straining my eyes into the vast body of 
thick and heated smoke—tising high to heaven and spreading widely 
over the whole. hemisphere to the south—for at least a glimpse of 
the tremendous gulf from which it issued; when almost without 
warning, we found ourselves entering heavy currents of steam, rising 
rapidly from crevices and deep fissures about our path, and extend- 
ing, at intervals, on one side, to the smoke from the crater, and on 
the other, to a low precipice, flanking our right. On turning towards 
the latter it was seen in many places, even to its very top, to smoke 
like a coal-kiln. 'The whole surface of the level on which we were 
—a plain a mile in length and half a mile in. breadth, inclosed on 
the edge of the crater by a sweep of the precipice—exhibited, in a 
greater or less degree, the same evidences of wide-spread subter- 
ranean burnings. : 

The trade-wind blew freshly, and swept the dense steam’ and 
highly heated air, bursting from the ground, im strong currents and 
whirling eddies across our path; and, at the same time, bore before 
it above, a thick and gloomy scud from the sea, flying so low as to 
brush swiftly through the trees on the top of the precipice, and, at 
times, to be scarce above our heads. Every thing wore a foreboding 
and saddening aspect : and, whatever I felt [ had lost in a clear and 
distant view—like that enjoyed when with Lord Byron—the sight of 
the hut, which was to be our sleeping place, still far ahead, and, seem- 
ingly, in the midst of the admonitory signs of a dangerous substra- 


234 Notice of Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, Xe. 


tum, gave rise to a sense of exposure, and to apprehensions, not ex- 
perienced! on the former occasion. 

The rude lodge which we were to occupy, open in front, and only 
slightly thatched on the side next the wind, stands two or three hun- 
dred yards from the edge of the crater on the north end, but does 
not command a view below; we, therefore, scarce stopped at it, but 
with impatient eagernesss, hurried to the brink. It was, however, 
only to meet with disappointment: the smoke in the whole chasm, 
was so dense as to be utterly impenetrable—a flickering flame was 
to be seen, only occasionally, here and there through its thickness ; 
and, now and then, a sudden flash, sending an illuminated column 
high towards the summit. Still the sight was deeply impressive. It 
was evident that the perpendicular depth, from our very footsteps 
down, was tremendous, and seemingly unfathomable ; and the ob- 
secure outline of the upper edges, sweeping off'on either hand till 
lost to the eye in the smoke, gave an impression of awful immensity, 
disposing one to shrink back from such alarming proximity. 

Another cause of disappointment, was the absence of those ter- 
rific noises, which on my first visit, were constantly bursting on the 
ear; now scarce a sound was to be heard, except the rushing of the 
wind, as it swept over the edges of the cliffs, to replace the more 
rarefied atmosphere within—unless it were an occasional indistinct 
sigh—a half smothered murmur—and now and then, as a lull or eddy 
of the wind rendered the hearing from that direction more distinct, 
the hiss of escaping steam, and something like the simmer and the 
bubbling of a mighty cauldron, mingled with the distant sound of 
a surf, rolling on a pebbly beach. 

There was in this assemblage of images—in the lowering sky and 
driving wind—in the riven and steaming erdindin the heavy masses 
of noe rismg from the hideous chain beneath, as if from a bot- 
tomless pit—and in the oppressive and saddening sounds occasionally 
coming to the ear—that, which was well suited to the recollection of 
years gone by, and of friends afar, who had once shared with me in 
the enthusiasm of high wrought admiration, excited by the same ob- 
ject. And, in the indulecnee on 


—‘*a mood of mind we all have known,” 


thus induced by circumstances and by the scene, I lingered on the 
brink till completely chilled, by the increasing freshness and damp- 
ness of the breeze. 


Notice of Hawani, (Owhyee,) and its Voleanic Regions, &c. 235 


The rude hut, or rather screen against the wind—consisting of 
poles propped ina slanting position, and covered on one side only 
with a few leaves of the sugar cane, and bushes slightly placed upon 
them—we thought for a time very comfortable, and wisely located as 
to temperature; being on a spot of ground of such grateful heat, 
compared with the rawness of the mountain air, as to lead us to con- 
gratulate ourselves in the advantage it afforded, as we sat on our va- 
rious packages in front, and partook of our evening repast, within a 
foot of a crevice, from which steam issued of such power as to cook 
our potatoes in a short time, without the aid of fire. But when we 
came to take possession of the mats, strewn inside of it for beds, we 
found ourselves in quarters considerably hotter than those, in which, 
Colman the poet puts his lodger over the bake shop. You will 
scarce believe, that we all slept on a temperature of 120° Fahrenheit 
—but such is the fact: and it was well the air above was as low as 
56° or 60°, so that by frequent turnings, we could let one side cool, 
while the other was heating, or we should have been well-nigh par- 
boiled by morning. ‘There was no alternative however—it was the 
only shelter—and as there were dashes of rain through the night, it 
would have been almost death to have slept, in the open air, on any 
cooler bed. We, therefore, made the best of the necessity; and 
after many a turn of restlessness, and some impatience, and forebo- 
dings, we obtained a tolerable night’s rest; and were quite reconciled 
to our dormitory, when, on rising, we found that the continued vapor 
bath had dissipated, almost entirely, the stiffness of limbs which most 
of us had suffered, from the length and rapidity of our walk. 

I rose at midnight, and went to the crater. ‘The steam from above 
was still driving, in thick volumes, over the cliffs; and with the smoke 
from below, rendered every thing obscure; but various seats of fire, 
in tremendous action, sent up flashes of light through the dimness, to 
the highest clouds, and, at times, converted the whole body of smoke 
into one lurid mass. ‘Some of the spots, apparently most liquid and 
most agitated, were situated immediately below the place where I 
stood; and, now and then, the fiery streams in them, circling widely 
and swiftly in different directions, glared on the eye, in all the regu- 
larity and brilliancy of the lamps of an orchestra. But as these ex- 
hibitions were but fitful and obscure, compared with what I had on 
a former occasion beheld, and the wind bleak and piercing, I was glad 
to make a hasty and shivering return, to the warmth of my couch, 


236 Notice of Hawaii, (Owhyee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 


The morning, with a sky of the purest blue, was bright and beau- 
tiful, and afforded us splendid views of Mounaroa, seemingly close 
at hand and tinged with purple, and of Mounakea far behind us 
in the distance. I was at the crater again, before sunrise; and fol- 
lowed its brink a half mile or more’ westward, with an opportunity 
of distinguishing, for the first time, its characteristic features. But 
the light of the day had extinguished the fires—where, in the night, 
the principal action had been observed, nothing could now be discern- 
ed but smoking lakes, or black cones, dpped: with pale, ee 
flames. 

In an excursion with two gentlemen of our party, who were in 
pursuit of ducks, we found whortleberries, which covered the surface 
in rich clusters, and beyond the rising ground, over which we were 
walking, we found abundance of the finest strawberries, principally, 
in an open meadow-like spot, skirting a wood of noble trees of 
the Eugenia and Acacia. 

In returning, we passed by the pools, furnishing visitors with the 
only water in the vicinity. Its preparation is a iaind provision, not 
only for the weary traveller, as he occasionally crosses the island at 
this wonderful place, but for the fowls of the air, which, at most times, 
find security in the regions around—I say preparation, for the pro- 
vision, though natural, is strictly such; and one of the most singular 
in the world. It is by the condensation of steam, escaping from 
holes and crevices in the ground, immediately to the windward of a 
bed of earth and lava so hard and compact, as to be impervious to 
water, and into excavations and natural basins, of which the drops, 
" formed by the effect of the cold wind upon the vapor, fall, and fur- 
nish a constant supply of the purest water. I looked with admira- 
tion, on the simple process ever taking place, and thought with won- 
der and gratitude of the wisdom and goodness of the Almighty, often 
displayed in the economy of nature, in which circumstances seem- 
ingly small and unimportant, are not only highly conducive to the 
comfort, but vitally essential to the well being of his creatures. 

Soon after breakfast we began to prepare for a descent below ; 
and, before long, were all marshalled and equipped with long canes, 
water flasks, &c. for the undertaking. Directly im front of our sleep- 
ing place, and entirely round the western side, the descent to the 
edge, or offset, is a perpendicular wall of nine hundred feet; we, 
therefore, went a quarter or half a mile to the east, by the direction 
of our attendants, many of whom had, within the last two or three 
years, been here with several successive parties. On coming to the 


Notice of Hawair, (Owhyee,) and rts V oleanic Regions, &c. 237 


path leading down, I was quite surprised to find the commencement 
of it so different from that of my former descent. Indeed, I did not 
know, till then, that any part within the upper circumference, pre- 
sented such an aspect—at a single view, affording the most conclu- 
sive proof of the kind of process going on, in the undermining of 
the surrounding mountain; and of the manner in which the enor= 
mous fires beneath are fed, when old masses of matter upon which 
they have been acting, become utterly reduced to scoria and ashes. 

After an almost perpendicular descent of eighty or a hundred feet, 
=n accomplishing which, we at times, hung-from rock to rock,— 
the path came upon an extent of gronnd, ‘half a mile in length and 
a quarter broad, broken into abrupt hills and deep glens, and cover- 
ed with grass, shrubbery, and small trees.. The whole declines 

- gradually, several hundred feet, towar ds the crater, and constitutes a 
little valley, separated from it, by a succession of barren hills, and of | 
voleanic rock and sand.. It had evidently been shattered into its pres- 

_ent forms, and sunk from the level above, at no very remote period, 
in some convulsion, after its foundations had been sapped by the ele- 
ment still raging beneath. And it is not improbable, that, even now, 
the whole is suspended on some comparatively slender base, till an- 
other throe shall open for it a descent into a raging abyss, to be con- 
verted, in its turn, into a mass of Tiquid fire.) 

The scenery, here, was strikingly unique and romantic ; petal 
above and behind us, of the bare and perpendicular face of rocks, 
from which this section had been rent -as it came down; and of a 
succession of miniature mountains and ravines, thrown into every 
wild form, and still beautifully verdant with various growth. ‘The 
path winding over and through these—though plain and’ seemingly 
safe—is, in truth, the most dangerous that I have met with in the 
whole region. In many places, the bushes and grass skirting it, either 
partially or entirely conceal the most horrible pits and fissures, into 
which, almost without knowing it, a single false step, or a slip, might 
plunge one to be heard of no more. I several instances, when least 
dreaming of danger, I have come upon some of these, with a sud- 
denness and want of caution, that have made my blood curdle, ‘as I 
ventured a gaze, into their yawning and unfathomable moutlis. Once, 
in particular, the first intimation I had of being near any thing of the 
kind, was given by the heat of the steam issuing from it and striking 
against my face—my feet being already on the very brink. It was 
sufficiently large to admit the stoutest man entire ; of a depth to which 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 31 


238 Notice of Hawarr,. (Owyhee,) and its Volcame Regions, &c. 


the eye could not reach; and filled with vapor scalding hot! To have 
fallen into it must have been instant and irrecoverable destruction. 
Tn another place the path led over a crack—to all appearance without 
bottom, several feet in width, and extending on either hand as far as 
we could: distinguish—by a single narrow arch. of a foot’s breadth 
only, in the manner of a natural bridge, from which a deviation of a 
single step would have been fatal. — 

After traversing this singularly located glen, we found pach 
still four or five hundred feet above the ledge, within the crater: and 
the descent to it, very abrupt and difficult, from the hardness and 
smoothness of the lava of which, chiefly, it is constituted. In many 
places, large streams of no very ancient date—since they cooled and 
hardened in their running form—marked the sides of the cliff: and 
by a principal one of these (resembling a cascade still pouring down 
the face of the hill,) most of our party, in slow and necessarily eau- 
tious progress, reached the offset, or natural gallery, running round 
the chasm. 

Here the changes that have taken place since 1825, first became 
striking. The general features were much. the same; but almost 
every spot, when looked upon in detail, shows evidence of new and 

‘tremendous action of fire, and of convulsion: after convulsion, that 
must have shaken every thing far and wide. ‘The greatest alteration, 
however, is that of which I had been apprised namely, the filling up 
of the whole surface below the ledge, at least two hundred feet. The 
depth below this, was estimated by Lord Byron’s party, at. five hun- 
dred feet--at present it cannot, on an average, be more than two 
hundred. Many of the highest of the cones have, thus, been much 
reduced in their lofiiness ; and many-have entirely disappeared. In 
all other respects, the general surface and aspect are the same: there 
is however much more fire in the north end than formerly, and the very 
route we took, in crossing the bottom at that time, is naw a chain of 
liquid lakes, from one side to the other. 

_ My first walk on the ledge was westward—the same direction in 
which 1 went when with Lord Byron—but I had not proceeded half 
the length of the northern side, before the way was interrupted by a 
sulphur cone, which has risen on-the ledge ; and which was surround- 
ed by such a suffocating vapor, ‘as to prevent my passing. I therefore 
returned to my companions, who were busily employed, in gathering 
curious specimens of a variety of kinds, till I. should return to ae- 
company them down the remaining distance to the bottom. 


Notice of Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 239 


By the rising of the lava, the difficulty of making the descent is, in 
a great degree, done away in those places where it was ever practi- 
eablé ; and it occupied but a few moments to go down. ©The surface 
is more broken and distorted than ever; and presents a truly hideous 
mass of ruins. ‘There being much more fire at the north end, than 
‘in 1825, the currents of Boned gas and air are more numerous, and. 
more strongly impregnated, nd consequently, an examination is’ 
more hazardous. Our number became divided into separate parties 
—one of which went far into the middle of the northern section, and 
they believe themselves to have been at the very edge of the largest 
lake, seen in powerful action the night before. The specimens of 
sulphur, collected from its border, are of the finest and most beauti- 
ful kind, but so recently formed and so ey as to be very diffi- 
cult of preservation. | 

-In the course of the two or three hours which we spent at the bot- 
tom of the crater, we visited four cones—all of them being centres of 
very active fires. The first was almost encrusted with sulphur, and 
could be approached only on the windward side, from the heat and 
suffocating vapor in every other direction. This was only a few feet 
high 5 ue we got near enough to touch the sides and top with our 
canes. - Though smoke and steam were projecting from its top with 
great force, and considerable noise, we perceived no flame or liquid 
lava: but the roaring of mighty fires below was distinctly heard; and 
so near, that the adventure which brought us within the hearing of its 
undulating and deeply menacing sounds, was thus proved to be one 
of great temerity. 

The eager curiosity, however, which rendered us in a degree i in- 
sensible to the hazard of our situation, was afterwards more com- 
pletely gratified, in a visit to two other contiguous cones, much more 
lofty and unique, and altogether more imposing in their state and as- 
pect. ‘They were situated a mile farther south, along the eastern 
side ; and our attention was called to them by the loud hissing and 
Herries action of steam, and by the flames which, occasionally, 
flashed from their summits. They were each about twenty feet in 
height, not more than sixty in circumference at the base, and taper- 
ing almost to a point at the top; having been, evidently, formed by 
successive slight overflowings of lava, which, as it rolled down, cool- 
ed into irregular flutings, ornamented with rude drops and pendants, 
and long, tapering stalactites. 


240 Notice of Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 


By the nearness of our approach, in the examination of these cones, 
we were greatly excited, although, judging from the tremendous roar 
within, the irresistible force and deafening hiss, with which the steam 
rushed from. every opening, and from the flames which flashed up, 
followed by lava white with an intensity of heat, the action beneath 
must have been intense—still the incrustation of scoria: immediately 
around, seemed firm, and was less hot, than in many other places: 
admitting, not only of our coming close to the sides of the cone, but 
also of clambering some feet up them, till we could run our canes 
into the orifices at the top, and withdraw, with their burning ends, 
red hot lava, on which we readily made impressions, ee pencil 
cases and naval buttons. — . 

Even the slightest touch, however, with our sticks against the 
molten lava, fedeced an increased rush and roar from elas with 
an angry spitting of the fiery:matter high in the air around us; and, 
more than once, we hastily retreated, anticipating a more violent 
eruption. — 

So much of novelty—so much of fearful sublimity attracts the at- 
tention and calls for admiration, on every side, that day after day, in 
place of a single morning, would be insufficient to exhaust the points 
of interest in this grand object: and we regretted the necessity, that 
hunger, thirst anit fatigue. imposed’ upon us, os taking leave of the 
depths to which we had descended. 

The ascent to our cabin, by the same path we came, was toilsome 
in the extreme ; and but for the refreshment derived from the whor- 
tleberries—after having surmounted the first cliffs—we should have 
been almost entirely overcome.* 


* The first evening of our arrival from the bay, while standing on the edge of the 
crater, a sudden blast of wind brushed from my head a Leghorn hat, which I had 
worn to shield my face, by its broad rim, from the sun; and in an instant swept it 
out of sight over the precipice, as was then supposed, beycnd all recovery. But, 
while at dinner, after having reached the hut, we were alarmed by the running of 
one of the natives from the crater, calling, in great agitation, for'a rope, which had 
been used in lashing our provision chest; and on hastily demanding what was the 
matter, we learned, that.an islander, when below in the morning, had caught a 
glimpse of the hat, lodged on the face of the precipice over which it had been 
blown, a hundred feet or more below the summit; and, that on coming up, he had 
gone over the brink, and by a most frightful effort, had succeeded in gaining pos- 
session of it. After making his way back, however, till within twenty or thirty feet 
of the top, he found it impossible to ascend farther; and was then standing on a sin- 
gle projecting stone, in danger every moment of losing his hold, and of being pre- 
cipitated to instant destruction, down a wall-faced cliff of at least nine hundred feet! 


Notice of Hawai, ( Owyhee,) and its Ve olcante Regions, &c. 241 


‘The remainder of the day was given to repose. As the darkness 
of the night closed around us, however, we tcok a station in sight of 
the crater, and, wrapped in our cloaks, sat in the fresh wind: on the 
precipice for an hour or more, catching occasionally through the 
smoke, exhibitions of great beauty and sublimity. But Hiei were 
none to prevent a feeling of disappointed expectation, on my part, in 
comparison with the high gratification before derived from the same 
object: and I returned to our lodge with my companions, thinking 
that I must remain indebted to my first visit, for the sublimest im- 
pressions ever made on my mind and feelings, by a work of nature. 

In this, however, I was mistaken. After some hours of sound sleep, 
I awoke; and perceiving the smoke and clouds over the volcano to 
be pabiueicly illuminated, hastened with a glass to a point of observa- 
tion. A very sensible change had taken place in the liveliness of the 
seats of fire—in the ceadnees of the flashings of light—and>in the 
sharpness and force of the sounds from various parts. 1 had been seat- 
ed about ten minutes, fixing, with great delight, the field of the teles- 
cope on one and another of the cones, and on the lakes and rivers 
of bright lava, when a sudden hissing and mingling of confused 
connie accompanied by a brilliant glare of flames almost directly be- 
neath me, attracted my attention, and led me to direct the glass to 
the spot. In doing this, I was presented with a spectacle, which, 
even imagination itself can scarce rival. é 

The power of the glass was such as to bring the scene, seeming- 
ly, within touching distance; and to make me involuntarily recoil, 
from the apparent proximity. A lake, a half mile or more in cir- 
cumference—and probably but just unclosed—was raging in all the 


We shuddered at the possible catastrophe—but seeing a sufficient number of the 
natives collected, to render any assistance which might be practicable, we waited 
in silent agitation ; not wishing to witness an event which we had no power to ar- 
rest.. In a few moments we had the happiness to perceive, from the general move- 
ment and appearance of, his companions, that the attempt at rescue had been suc- 
cessful; and, shortly after, pale as death—trembling like an aspen leaf—and cover- 
ed with a cold sweat, he came and laid the old Leghorn at my feet! 

The hat was not worth a moment of anxiety, much less such an exposure ; and, 
while I rewarded the inttepidity, I felt disposed to reprove the rashness of the young 
man. None but the kindest and most disinterested motives induced the attempt— 
a principal one, doubtless, being that of seeing me under the necessity of resorting 
to a turban of silk handkerchiefs, to shield my head from a noonday tropical sun—and 


though alarming in its possible consequences, the motive merited commendation and 
grateful acknowledgnient. 


242 Notice of Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &e. 


tumult of a tempest at sea. At first, the agitation was perpendicular 
—precisely that of a boiling cauldron—tossing up masses of the red- 
hot matter, in a bubbling action, fifteen and twenty feet, with a rapid- 
ity of motion, equal to that of the most heated boiler. ‘Then came 
a long, regular motion from the south, heaving before it a fiery surf, 
whose crested billows rose, and broke, in slicers and spray of fire, 
like heavy billows sweeping over a reef tot the shore! The effect 
‘was almost too fearful to be gazed on; and, for a moment—in for- 
getfulness of the distance and safety of my location—as billow after 
billow rose higher and higher and seemed ready to dash over me, 
with an exclamation of beecoel I dropped the glass and closed my 
eyes upon the sight. 

‘I would have run for my fellow travellers, but feared, “that before 
they could be aroused and would reach the spot, the aspect of the 
scene might be entirely altered. This indeed would have been the 
case; for, in less than fifteen minutes, the agitation had entirely ceased ; 
and the surface soon became less bright and fiery than that of many 
other spots. I waited a long time, hoping to see it renewed, but in 
vain: and then returned to my couch under an excitement of varied 
emotions, admiration, awe, and deep humility; by this scene I was 
repaid a hundred fold, for all the fatigue and exposure of the journey. 

In the nearness and distinctness of the view, and in the clear per- 
ception of the form, character, and power of the action, it far sur- 
passed any thing beheld on the nights I was there with Lord Byron 
—although the general Exhibiions at that period, were far more 
beautiful, and less obscured by smoke, than during this visit. 

Early on Thursday morning, our encampment was in the bustle 
of preparation for a return to the bay: and breakfast was finished, 
and our long procession formed, by half past six o’clock. The 
weather did not promise much in our favor. The clouds were low 
and scudding—every thing wore rather a gloomy aspect—and we 
had scarce accomplished three miles, before it began to rain; and in 
a short time, we found ourselves in a perfect storm.. There was no 
alternative, however, but as rapid a march as possible. With stiffen- 
ed and swollen limbs and feet, shoes very much the worse for ser- 
vice already performed, stores nearly expended, a driving rain in our 
faces, and a walk of twenty miles to accomplish before we could 
reach a shelter, we did not feel much disposed to be facetious; and 
formed a procession rather silent and wo-begone, compared with the 
buoyancy, with which we had hurried over the same ground, two 


Notice of Hawaii, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, Sc. 243 


days before, and at noon arrived at the residence of Kinai, the petty 
chieftain of Ora, and found his establishment tenfold more welcome 
than before. We were all drenched with rain, and ma state greatly 
to relish the luxury of a large fire, and a change of clothes, which 
our portmanteaus still fortiittacely afforded ; and thus sheltered and 
refreshed, we were ees by the son when screened from its 
power. 

We marched again in the morning; and after a walk, rendered 
very fatiguing by the wetness, and excessively bad state of the road 
through the wood, we found a boat in waiting for us—so that we were 
safely on board the Vincennes in time for dinner. 


Miscellaneous facts relating to Scenery, Manners, &c. 


It will be remembered, that the mountains of Hawaii are very 

lofty, some of them far surpassing Mont Blanc, and even emulating — 
the higher Andes. Water falls are, therefore, to be expected in 
countries which abound so much with rain. Some of these were 
visited by Mr. Stewart, and his party. On the river Wairukee, the 
natives amused the spectators by leaping from the precipitous banks, 
thirty, forty, and fifty feet high, into the basins below, and gliding 
down the falls, with the greatest apparent hazard. One of the cas- 
cades resembles much the most admired sections of the Trenton falls 
on the Canada creek, in the state of New York, and similar casual- 
ities have signalized both places.* 
_ Another Sade. one hundred and ten feet in height, pitches over 
a natural bridge, or rather a projecting arch, which rests upon abut- 
ments of basaltic rock forming precipices one hundred and fifty feet 
or more in height; in form and regularity of arrangement, they are 
precisely like the Giants’ causeway, which, in a country where every 
thing appears to have been produced by fire, is a fact of great im- 
portance as to the origin of the trap rocks. ‘This cascade falls inte 
a basin of some lymdneiis of yards in circumfer ence, which is as 
placid asa lake, except where the stream plunges into it from above, 
and the silvery mass appears to be poured from the blue bosom of 
the sky} into the depths. below. 


* A young native female reaching after flowers, which grew over the precipice, 
and trusting toa branch of the tree’ on which they grew, was, by its: breaking, 
thrown into the whirling eddies of the gulf below, and instantly lost. 

i This appearance, so well described by Mr. Stewart, is presented in a most re- 
markable manner on the American side of the Niagara falls; when the observer 


244 Notice of Hawai, (Owyhee,) and its Volcame Regions, &c. 


Another water fall in the interior was reported by Mr. Goodrich 
to be three hundred feet high. 

From the fine prismatic tints observed in the spray, the natives call 
these water falls the cascades of the rainbow. Many old craters are 
observed near the shore at this place. ‘The truncated summit of the 
highest is half a mile in circumference, and three or four hundred 
feet in elevation. It is observed that the sides of the ruins next the 
ocean, are the lowest, evincing that they disgorged in that direction. 
There are fine views of the eee country aun the summits 
of the craters. 


Worship of the Natives. 


Early on the morning of the sabbath, a few of the islanders, wrap- 
ped i in their large vantlee of various hues, appeared here and there, 
issuing from the groves and hills; and the numbers increased, till 
crowds of both sexes, and all ages, formed an unceasing procession 
towards their chapel, which, although an immense structure, capable 
of containing many thousands, was entirely filled so that the naval 
gentlemen found it very difficult to advance to the place assigned them 
near the pulpit, without treading on the people who were sitting on — 
their feet on the matted floor, and presented almost a continued mass 
of heads, over about nine thousand square feet, and crowds without: 
the door could not obtain admittance. ‘Their appearance was in the 
highest degree reverential and interested, although this is the most 
obscure corner of the Island, and the people the least removed from 
their primitive state, either in dress or manners. Only four years 
before (Mr. Stewart observes) it was very difficult, even with the ex- 
ample of some principal chiefs, and with the persuasion of the mis- 
sionaries, to collect an audience of one hundred persons. 
~ We cannot enlarge on this topic, which, however interesting, is not 
appropriate to this work, and will conclude these citations by adding, 
that the natives refused to enter into any traffic with the seamen from 
the ship on the sabbath, although they gave them watermelons and 
bananas ; that their females uniformly withdrew from their approach, 
and took refuge in their families; that an entire moral change had 
taken place; instruction of every kind is eagerly sought; one hundred 


approaches as nearly as possible to the bottom of the cataract, and Jooks up through 
the torrent, as it doubles over the barrier of rocks, it appears to him a mighty deluge 
bursting from the heavens.’ 


Notice of Hawan, (Owyhee,) and us Volcame Regions, &c. 245 


thousand people had then recently assembled at an examination of 
schools ; the mission house was crowded with earnest inquirers, and 
evil customs, and atrocious vices, were abandoned.* Along the 
whole coast no noisy drum of heathen carousal, or rude song of ob- 
-scenity, is now heard—but in their place, the hum of the crowded 
school, the voice of thanksgiving and prayer, and, not unfrequently, 
the chanting of the morning “idl evening hymn.. 

These chimed as Mr. Stewart justly observes, are best appreci- 
ated by those who have formerly known the inhabitants of this coast 
in all their rudeness, vice and ignorance. 


Scenes and events in Oahu. 


Oahu is two hundred miles from Hawaii, and as the ship (on the 
13th of October,) bore away from the latter, Mounakea, its highest 
mountain, continued so long visible as to convince the observers that, 
if not eighteen thousand feet according to the usual esta it is, 
_ still, among the highest mountains of the globe. 

As they entered Honolulu, the port of Oahu, a pilot. sontteted 
them into a harbor filled with whalers, and merchantmen, and with 
native craft, exhibiting the activity of commerce, usual in civilized 
countries. Here are foreign consuls, resident European and Amer- 
can merchants, a dock yard, vessels on the stocks, and permanent 
stone buildings; and the daily arrival of vessels has ceased to excite 
surprise. 

The meeting of Mr. Stewart with his missionary friends} and oth- 
ers, was of course, very interesting, and the courtesies of civilized 
life, practised between foreign powers, were not forgotten; eighty eight 
guns were exchanged between the Vincennes, on the one part, and 
on the other, the fort, and king Tamehameha’s finest vessel of war, 
which is kept in naval order im the centre of the port, with a long 
pennant banner and jack flying. ‘The presentation to the king Kaui- 
keaouli or ‘Tamehameha Hl, was marked by many circumstances 


Se errr = : a 
* «From many.an humble dwelling now 
is daily heard 


The voice of ‘prayer 

And even in the hut of the child murderer 

the father with his offspring dear, 

- Now bends the knee to God, and humbly asks 
That he would bless them with a parent’s love. 


i Mr. Bingham, Mr. Ruggles, aad others. 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 32 


246 Notice of Hawan, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 


of regal splendor. Within the king’s grounds, (from intrusion into 
which a high fence kept off the populace,) every thing was in a high 
degree, neat and orderly. ‘There were separate houses for the king’s 
household, and for the offices and sleeping room of the king. 

The palace of thatch is more than one hundred feet ae fifty or 
sixty broad, and more than forty high, beautifully finished:and orna- 
mented with fern leaves, and furnished with a pebbled area. 

The royal guard was composed of two hundred men, forming a 
double file, and wearing a white uniform with scarlet cuffs and collars, | 
and black caps; their commander Kahuhu, was dressed in scarlet with 
gold lacings and an expensive sword. As Capt. Finch and party 
passed the gate, they presented arms in exact military style, and the | 
commander of the kings’ forces, Kekuanoa, receiving them in the full 
and rich suit of a major general, and with the gracefulness of a pol- 
ished gentleman, ushered them through the glass folding doors into the 
interior of the palace. It is in one vast apartment, the timbers being 
in sight, and the wood beautifully hewn and contrasted with braided 
lashings of the bleached fibre of the cocoa, wrought into tasteful 
patterns and applied at close and regular intervals, so that the posts 
and rafters have the appearance of natural sections. ‘The thatch of 
the building is also concealed from view by an elegant native tapes- | 
try, made of a brown mountain vine tied: together like the bamboo 
window blinds ; one continued tissue of this fabric is extended from 
the floor to the peak of the roof through the whole apartment between 
the timbers and the thatch, and thus imparts a very rich appearance. 
The floor, instead of rushes or grass which were formerly the founda- 
tion for the mats, was made of stone and mortar as hard and smooth as 
marble. Upon this, beautifully variegated mats of Tauai were 
spread—forming a carpet as delightful, and appropriate to the cli- 
mate, as possible. Large windows on either side, and the folding 
doors of glass at each end, are hung with draperies of crimson dam- 
ask; there were also handsome pier tables, and large mirrors; a line 
of glass chandeliers suspended through the centre, with lustres and 
candelabra of bronze, ornamented or molu, were affixed to the pillars 
_ Iining the sides and ends of the apartment; and portraits, in oil, of the 
late king and queen, taken in London, were placed, at the upper end, 
in sae frames richly gilt. In the middle of the room, about sixty 
feet in front, or two thirds the length of the apartment, the young 
monarch was seated in an arm chair, spread with a splendid cloak of 
yellow feathers. His dress was the Windsor uniform, of the first 
rank, with epaulettes of gold—the present of George [V—and an 


Notice of Hawati, (Owyhee,) and its Volcanic Regions, &c. 247 


underdress of white, with silk stockings and pumps. Ona sofa, im- 
mediately on his right, were Kaakumana, the regent, and the two 


ex-queens, Kinau—at present the wife of General Kekuanaoa—and 
Kekauruohe. Being-in mourning, they were in well-made, and be- 
coming dresses of black, with ruffs and caps of white. Chairs were 
furnished for the whole party, which was numerous, including the 
consuls, resident merchants, visitors, and the mission family. 

This interview was not a mere pageant; it was introductory to the 
delivery of friendly documents from the government of the United 
States; which were received in the kindest manner, and supported by 
appropriate presents. The king, although only sixteén, is as grace- 
ful, well bred, and perfectly gentleman-like in his whole’ deportment, 
as any youth of his age in the most polished circles, and his deport- 
ment was marked by great dignity and propriety ; his private char- 
acter is as unexceptionable, as his public appearance is manly and 
becoming the station he occupies. 

Subsequent visits to some of the chiefs eulticedd that their houses were 
(according to their stations,) not behind the king in neatness, order, and 
convenience. The habitation of Kekuanaoa was of this description. 
He was in England with the late king; there is much of the ease 
and courteousness of high life in all his movements; and in his man- 
ners, figure, dress, and whole deportment, that which would secure 
to him the epithet of a “ gentleman” in any society. 

We had, says Mr. Stewart, approached the rear, instead of the 
front of his establishment; and to reach the principal apartment, or 
rather house—for every room is a distinct building—were conducted 
by the chief first through that, which, from a spread table and side- 
board, was evidently a dining hall; and then through another with 
accomodations for-sleeping. Iby no means regretted this, however, 
when I perceived the perfect neatness and good taste of each. 
Had I entered them by accident, without knowing to whom they be- 
longed, I should not have thought of being in the residence of a na- 
tive, but, from the finish of every part, and from the furniture, I should 
have supposed myself in the rooms of some foreign gentleman. 

The sitting room is delightful. A large door at each end opens a— 
fine draft for the air; the floor was beautifully carpeted with mats ; 
while, in the centre, stood a rich couch of yellow damask, with arm- 
ed chairs placed on either side, so that those occupying them, en- 
joyed all the benefit of the breeze sweeping through. On one side, 
a native lounge or divan extended the whole length of the apartment ; 
spread with a succession of the finest mats beautifully variegated 


248 List of the Plants -of Chile. 


with stained grass, and furnished with round pillars of damask and 
silk velvet, it looked more tempting to us, on entering from the noon- 
tide heat of a tropical day, than the Ottomans of more polished draw-. 
ing rooms would under circumstances of lessassitude. A pier ta- 
ble covered with a rich cloth, a large mifror, and a portrait cf Ma- 
nuia, completed the furniture on that side; onthe opposite, a curtain 
or screen of handsome chiniz, looped up a foot or two at ae bottom, 
partially discovered a boudoir. 

-The captain was exceedingly pleased with this. specimen of pri- 
vate life; and, for some time, could scarce say any thing, but m ad- 
miration of the whole establishment, and in gratulation to our friends, 
at. the comparative luxury of comfort in which they were living. Af- 
ter much pleasant conversation, which I was enabled, with the assist- 
ance of Kekuanaoa’s English, to interpret, and a glass of wine politely 
handed by the master of the house himself, (for not a common native 
was within hearing—a change which you can scarce credit when you 
think of the dirty, idle throng formerly ever swarming about the 
houses and visitors of the chiefs) we took leave, saying, that we in- 
tended continuing our calls among theircompeers. On hearing this, 
they both exclaimed, “ kakouw pu,”—“all of us together ;” and the 
lady taking the arm of the captain, and the general one of mine, we 
proceeded. : - 

Such is a specimen of the wonderful effects of religious and moral 
instruction, and of the consequent effects of civilization, in convert- 
ing, within a few years, hordes of disgusting and profligate barbarians 
into enlightened, polished, and virtuous people. 


Art. 1V.—List of the Plants of Chile; translated from the “Mercu- 
rio Chileno,” by W.S. W. Ruscuenpercer, M.D. U.S. Navy. 


(Continued from Vol. XIX, :p. 311.) 


Chenopodium murale, C. album, Linn. and its variety viride, com- 
mon in olitories and fields, and near fences. It is vulgarly called 
Qungua. The C. Ambrosioides, C..anthelminticum and multifi- 
dum, Linn. called Payco, are also frequent in gardens, near drains, 
and in sandy situations in the vicinity of torrents. They are fre- 
quently employed in medicine, and in fact the penetrating essential 
oil which they contain leaves no doubt as to their virtues, the princi- 
pal of which 1s vermifuge. Apothecaries should extract their es- 


Last of the Plants of Chile. 249 


sence, which, administered in small doses, produces immediate and 
salutary effects in children suffering from verminous affections. Steu- 
del, Roemer and Schultes cite in their works the Chenopodium and 
the Herniaria Payco, Molina, which are only synonyms of the C. 
Ambrosiordes and multifidum, Linn. A seed called Quinua is em- 
ployed to give taste to the Aloja an agreeable and refreshing drink, 
when it is not too much aromatised. Not having seen the plant 
which yields this product, I do not know positively, whether it be- 
longs to the C. Quinoa, or to another species of the same genus. 

Chironia Chilensis. W. Vulgarly Cachanlagua. A plant very 
frequent on the arid plains of the low grounds, and in the pastures | 
on the hills. - It is very much used in this kingdom, and particularly 
in the country, where it is preserved in packets from year to year. 
The principal virtue attributed to it is that of thinning the blood. 
My prescribed limits do not allow me to examine in detail the action 
of the medicine, nor of many others used by the people, who are 
commonly guided by ancient traditions, and by the blind and gross 
empiricism of quacks. ‘This point, important to medicine and the 
country, would be more properly considered in a treatise on indige- 
nous Materia medica. ‘The only observation I may now make, in 
passing, is that the ‘modus operandi’ of the bitter principle of the 
Gentians is sufficiently known to persuade us that cachanlagua pos- 
sesses tonic, stomachic and vermifuge properties, afialogowl to Peru- 
vian bark, but.in a less degree. Sprengel has retained this plant in 
the genus Chiroma. Persoon and Steudel in Erythrea, Richard. 
The examination of its capsule, in a state of maturity, authorises me 
to believe that it should make a part of the latter. Besides, its re- 
semblance to the lesser Centaury 'y of Europe, the E. Centauri wumM, 
Rich., appears to confirm this opinion. 

Chhidanthus fragrans. Lind]. A different genus from the Pan- 
cratium J. with which this plant has been classed by Poiret and 
Sprengel, (P. Luteum.) I have seen it cultivated in gardens, where 
itis called arwuma. Its pleasant odor enhances the value of the spe- 
cies, and it should obtain a place in every flower garden. 

Chlorea. Lindl. ‘The species of this genus, of the family of the 
orchidew, are sufficiently numerous. It appears they belong exclu- 
sively to Chile, but their specific characteristics are very subject to 
variation, even in the same individual, which has probably contribu- 
ted to the augmentation of the list. ‘They are found in the stony pas- 
tures of the mountains, and in the arid spots near-the Cachapual. If 


250 Last of the Plants of Chile. 


it were possible to keep them in gardens, they would produce a fine 
effect, from the varied shades and the rare elegance of their flowers; 
then their minutie might be sketched, which is necessary, and even 
indispensable, to show to the public the true representation of the 
beauties of nature, and to the learned the means of determining, 
with certainty, plants whose characteristics are materially changed 
by desiccation, but unfortunately the family of the orchidez prefers 
the savage state to the assiduous care of the gardiner, or rather, we 
should say this branch of cultivation has not yet arrrived at the per- 
fection of others. 

Chrysanthemum Indicum. Li. ‘This beautiful species and its nu- 
merous varieties deserve a distinguished place in gardens, both from 
the elegance of its flowers and for the diversity of their colors. In 
autumn, and even in the winter, they decorate the parterres. 

Cicer arietinum. L. Pea, Chick-Pea; Garbanzo. Cultivated 
in patches. ‘The consumption of this product might be much more 
important, and its exportation to neighboring countries, particularly in 
those years when other crops are scarce, might form a shin consider- 
able branch of commerce. 

Cichorium Intybus. L. Vulgarly Achicoria, is found growing wild, 
both in cultivated and uncultivated situations. If this and the Endive, 
C. Endivia, L. were planted in gardens, two more vegetables would 
be added to the table, and two more plants for refreshing ptisans. 

Cineraria. Li. 'Two fruticose species, the first in the woods on 
the mountains. It is vulgarly called Vegua; the leaves are smooth, 
somewhat adhesive, sometimes woolly and whitish underneath. 'The 
second is found in woods, near the Cachapual. ‘These two shrubs 
are not of any known use, and it seems that they ought to belong to 
another genus.. | 

Cissus striata. Ruiz and Pavon. Pavilla. Itis found in the high 

‘woods on the mountains. It mounts the highest trees, and twining 
round them, reaches to their summit. There is a downy variety. 

Citrus Aurantium and C. Medica. Li. Cultivated trees, known 

under the names orange and lemon. There are many varieties, 
some of which are much esteemed, as the citron and the lime. 
Since the climate of Chile is favorable to these beautiful trees, it 
would be well to multiply them, and acquire the good varieties from 
Europe, which would contribute considerably to the magnificence of 
large gardens, and yield fruit whose flavor and sweetness are known 
throughout the world. The tree called the orange of the Capuchins 


Last of the Plants of Chile. 251 


or of Lama, is probably that which Molina has described, under the 
appellation of Citrus Chilensis; Steudel and Sprengel cite it, but 
De Candolle has intentionally omitted it. It does not differ from the 
C. Aurantium, except in the small size of all its parts, and particu- 
larly of the fruit, which is spherical; the petioles are shorter and - 
scarcely marginate. Otherwise it is the same as C. Aurantium, and 
I believe it is only a variety. ‘There is no indigenous species of Cz- 
trus in Chile. 

Cladonia pyxidata. Spr. Onrocks and at the foot of large trees 
in woods. ‘There are many varieties, one considered as such ap- 
pears rather to be a different species. ‘The name of calchacura is 
given to all Lichens which grow on trees and rocks. 

Clavaria Helvola. Var. Aurantia. Pers. (Myc. Europ.) A 
moss which is found on walls and on the sides of drains, in shady 
and humid situations. _I have seen another species on the bark of 
decayed trees. It is very small, as white as snow, and has a spiral 
form. It appears new. | 

Coccoloba sagittfolia, Ortega, is a very common shrub in the 
plains, on the heights, near roads and other places. It is called 
Quilo. Children eat its ripe fruit, which, though small, is very 
agreeable. Its root is employed as a medicine, and its wood as fuel. 

Cocos Chilensis, Molina. ‘The most majestic tree of Chile, call- 
ed Palma de coco. It is only found at particular poimts, at the foot 
of mountains. ‘This palm does not belong to the genus. Cocos of 
Linneus. It differs from the Jubea Spectabilis, H. B. and Kunth, 
in some well marked characteristics; | have thought that a genus. 
should be made of it, to be dedicated to the memory of the cele- 
brated Molina, a compliment that every Chilian will view with satis- 
faction, since this author has every right to the gratitude of his coun- 
trymen. The different genera which have been dedicated to him, 
have all been referred by modern botanists to others previously es- 
tablished. The Molinea of Commerson should have been preserv- 
ed, but M. Ad. Brongniart has followed him and given it the name 
of Retanilla, by which term the species which compose it are desig- 
nated. I will call it Molinea micrococos, and in time will give its 
description. J conceive it to be useless to speak of the utility and 
qualities of this tree, since all are acquainted with its abundant fruit, 
and the syrup (mzel de palma) which is used, as also of the several 
purposes to which it is applicable: The leaves are employed for 
thatching. Its extraordinary hard and incorruptible wood may af- 


252 Last of the Plants of Chile. 


ford great resources, since with the trunk (after having removed the 
center, [pith?] which is not difficult,) may be formed tubes and con- 
duits for water, and sewers, an economical method of replacing those 
commonly used and whose’ duration is not so certain. | 

_ Colletta. Commers. ‘This genus includes some species very com- 
mon inthis country. The C. spinosa, Lamk. (cruzero, junco mari- 
no,) is known, ashrub which grows on the high grounds near Leona 
and in other places. The C. Cruzerillo, Bertero, is found in the 
mountains of the same place. It is said that the wood of both these 
shrubs is purgative. The ¢rebw and the tralhuen are two other spe- 
cies, which I shall call by the same common names. It is believed 
that the first possesses vulnerary powers, and an infusion of its bark 
is employed in cases of internal abscess resulting from-blows. ‘The 
wood of the second is used for turners’ work. Boiled in water, it 
yields a red dye. It is also used for props in high-raised vineyards. 
The C. Ephedra, Vent. known by the name of frutilla del campo, 
abounds in arid situations and on elevations near rivers. It is thus 
named from the color of its fruit, which at a distance resembles 
strawberries ; it is sometimes white. ‘The thorny species, and _par- 
ticularly the tribu, are employed for hedges; the others are useful 
only as fuel. The genus Retanilla, Brongniart, (Mem. sur la fa- 
mille des Rhamnes,) is composed of two species of the Colletia of 
authors. I think the tralkwen might form another, as its fructification 
is very different. The Talguenea costata, Miers, belongs probably 
to this species. 

Colliguaja odorifera. Molina, Colliguay. A pretty shrub; very 
common on the heights, and in stony and arid situations of the moun- 
tains. Sprengel is mistaken in placing it with the genus Croton; it 
differs too much from it, not to be known, even at first sight. It has 
even some relation to the Sapium, as has been already suspected by 
M. Andr. de Jussieu, in his memoir on the Kuphorbiaceew. Its gener- 
ic characters are not well known, and until the present period litle 
more has been done than to copy those given by Molina. Its wood 
is of no use. , When burned it yields an agreeable odor. Its milky 
juice is acrid. It is sometimes .used to destroy the nerve in carious 
teeth. , 
Colymbea quadrifaria. Salish. Pino or Pinon de Arauco. 1 
have seen it cultivated in some gardens, though not in abundance. 
Every year the cones and ripe seeds of this tree are received from 
ihe Biobio, and are quickly eaten, as they soon become rancid. 
Why is not its extensive cultivation attempted in favorable soil? It 


Last of the Plants of Chile. 253 


would be admirable to see, in a large garden, the palm and ihe beau- 
tiful pme of Arauco side by side. There would be some to say our 
descendants wll see them; and it is certain in they would say our fore- 
fathers planted them! Wh 

Conathera bifolia. Ruiz and Pavon. C. nails : seal 
Very common in dry, stony places on the hills and plains. ‘The last 
ig more common on the heights of Quinta and. Taguatdgua. The 
general name of pajarito is given to its flowers, and to a great num- 
ber of others which resemble it only in the color, which is usually blue ; 
but they have no distinguishing | names. It might be proper to culti- 
vate both of these species, the last of which might form a new genus. 

. Condalia microphylla. Cav. . A thorny shr i on the arid heights, 
and among the rocks near Cachapual. _ It is related to the Colletia. 

Ganivary maculatum. L. The barraco or cicuta of the country 
appears to differ, at least in the variety, from ihat ef Europe. It is 
common in fields and particularly on the. sides of roads. Animals 
do not eat it. It is used as a cataplasm to tumors and in colics. 

Convolvulus purpureus. Li. In gardens and cultivated enclosures. 

lis flowers are called Suspiros—sighs! ‘This plaut, and many other 
species of the same genus, as well as a great number of species of 
creeping and climbing plants, the living roots of which should be ob- 
tained, are ees to cover old walle which are offensive to the 
sight, as they yield only flowers.. In pastures and on the sides of 
roads we meet the C. arvensis. L. On the heights and in the en- 
closures on the hills the C. Chilensis. Spr. and the C. Bonariensis 
and Lastanthus. Cav. They are indifferently called correuela.’ 

Coremium glauewm. Link. A small moss which grows on. half 
rotten apples, pears and other fruits. 

Cucumis satiwus. L. Pepino, cucumber cultivated in the fields. 
It is eaten in salad, and pickled in vinegar which is what the French 
call cormchons—gherkins? The JMelon. C. Melo. L. many varie- 
ties of which are distinguished only by their color, are abundant in 
Chile, and commonly possess an exquisite taste. The fruit, which 
is called the melon de olor, and which is cultivated in fields and gar- 
dens, appears to me to be a variety of the C. Melo, if it is not the C. 
deliciosus.. Roth. , ‘These melons, generally small and spherical, some- 
times acquire a considerable size with various forms. They are not 
edible, but the pleasant-odor which they exhale renders them agree- 
able. They are sometimes placed in clothes-presses in order to com- 
municate their perfume to the clothes. The C. Citrullus. Ser. (i 


Vou. XX.—No. t. 30 


254 List of the Plants of Chile. 


D. C. prodr.) is the: most extensively used fruit of the country. — It 
is called zandia—watermelon ; it is wholesome, very juicy and some- - 
times very. sweet, and is delightful in the country, where there is an 
incredible consumption of it. ‘There are many varieties; one of 
them-is late, and has the additional merit os Bens kept with facility 
until the winter season. 

Cucurbita Lagenaria. L. (Lagenaria vulgaris. Ser. C. c.) 
Vulgarly calabaza—calabash. ‘The fruit well ripened is used as a 
ladle. Some are very large, and of different figures, upon which 
the name given them often depends. ‘The Acayota and Zapallo— 
pumpkin, are the most frequent species. ‘They are cultivated in oli- 
tories and ‘in fields. ‘The first is employed almost exclusively for 
making sweet-meats ; the second is an excellent aliment and may be 
preserved throughout the year. ‘There are zapallos abounding so 
much in saccharine matter, that it would be difficult to distinguish 
them by the taste from the batata dulce—sweet potatoe—(Convol-. 
vulus Batatas. L.) the root of which is brought from Lima and i 
known under the name of Camote. Attempts have been made to 
cultivate it in this country. The C.-Siceraria and. C. mammeata 
Molina, are referred to these two species, and I doubt if they can — 
be separated from the C. maxima, Duch. Melopepo, and Pepo, L. | 
I have not found them wild in this country. 

Cupressus.’ A tree cultivated in some gardens. ..A sad decora- 
tion for a place of amusement; it would be more appropriate near 
the funereal marble, on a peaceful and solitary mountain. The name 
cypress is given to this tree, to a Thuia, which is also cultivated, and 
to a tree of this country which | have not yet seen.. The wood of 
the last is that which is most used. 

Cuscuta Chilensis. Ker. A wild plant which.is nevertheless cal- 
led angel’s hair—cabello de angel. It is very injurious to meadows 
and vineyards. Ihave seen it cover trees to the very top. “The 
means of its destruction should~be sought for. There are two 
species, if the sessile and pedicellate flowers area constant character. 

Cydonia vulgaris. Pers. A cultivated tree; there are. two va- 
rieties, the membrillo and the lucuma.. The fruit in sweetmeat. is 
good and, in fact, has no other use. The twigs of these trees are 
manufactured into baskets. This dwewma must not be confounded 
with that of Coquimbo, a genus so called by Jussieu, and of which 
{ will speak in the proper place. The genus Lucuma, Molina, should 
be abolished, in as.much as it is composed of lieterogeneous species 
which belong to other genera. 


— East of the Plants of Chile. 255 


Cynara Cardunculus. L. It would be difficult to persuade an 
inhabitant of the country in Chile, that the artichoke, cardo, is a 
_ plant of the old continent. , In reply they would point to its extensive 
- cultivation, which occupies half the soil. In fact it is impossible to 

believe this, until after traveling for leagues amidst great quantities of 
‘this plant which flourishes here’in an astonishing degree. ‘The leaves. 
afford aliment to their flocks, but they eat them however, only when 
other food is scarce. The people of the country are very fond of the 
foot stalks when they are tender... Many prefer the stalk itself in the 
same state, the amount of the consumption of which, during the spring, 
is almost incredible. Notwithstanding this, I am persuaded that its 
extermination is desirable, which will be difficult from the depth of 
its roots. The following method might be tried. Let the stalks 
be cut down during the flowering season, by which its propagation 
by seed will be prevented. It would. be well to cultivate this plant 
in given quantities in olitories;-to guard it well and store it in the 
earth for winter, and thus secure an excellent vegetable, suitable for 
the most elegant and refined table. The C. Scolymus. L. a va- 
riety-of the first according to Sprengel, vulgarly alcachofa, is not 
much propagated. A country like this should have excellent arti- 
chokes, i.e. alcachofas, and in large quantities. 

Cynoglossum lateriflorum. ule and C. pauciflorum. Ruiz 
and Pavon. ‘Two small plants, common in pastures near. rivers. 
The last-is-also found on the hills. 

Cyperus. L. ‘Two species; one-in drains, and wet meadows, vul- 
garly called vareta de San José, St. Joseph’s rod, the other smaller, 
resembles the C. flavescens. L. which grows in the marshy situations 
about the lakes of Aculeo and:'Taguatagua.’ 

Cytisus sessilifolius. L. » A shrub of Europe cultivated in some 
gardens. It would be better in landscape woods. 

Dacryomyces aibidus. Bertero.. A small and beautiful moss, 
which grows on the trunks of fallen and half rotten trees. » It differs 
in color and other characteristics from the D. stillatus. Nees. which 
also [ have found. nee 

Danthonia antarctica. Spr. -A rare grass in the arid and moun- 
tain pastures, near the Cachapual, running towards Cauguenes. 

Datura arborea. Li. \ Cultivated in gardens for the beauty and 
fragrance of its lowers. ‘The floripondio is easily multiplied, partic- 
cae in a climate like this, where it may pass the winter in the open 
air. The D. Tatula. L,. (chamico) is very.common near dwellings, 
in deserted gardens, and along torrents. There is a variety with 


256 List of the Plants of Chile. 


very large flowers of a clear blue color and aie with small white ° 
flowers. The sad aspect of the plant and the disagreeable odor 
which it exhales indicate its noxious qualities. It is Sellen eX- 
ternally in certain complaints. ! 

Daucus Carota. L. Zanahoria, earrot, ety the gardens. Its: - 
use is not so extensive as it should be. It is frequently met with 
near woods, in meadows where there are trees. The D. Montevi- 
densis. Link. has no common name. — 

Delphinium Ajacis. LL. An interesting plant from the prodigious 
number of varieties cultivated in gardens. It is one of those which 
bears the name of payarito. If it is not well taken care of it soon 
degenerates, becomes simple and is only an ordinary flower. 

Dematium fimbriatum. Schwein. A very small moss which is 
met with on the dead and rotten branches of cherry and plum trees. 

Dyanthus Caryophyllus and D. Chinensis, L. Claveles, pinks, 
these two are the only species cultivated in gardens. ‘The numerous 
and beautiful varieties of the first are little known. ‘Those which 
are met with are not remarkable. In order to possess good pinks, 
much care is required’ in sowing the seed which has been obtained _ 
by crossing the different colors. It would be desirable to propagate 
here good collections of pinks, particularly for the use of the fair sex 
whose admiration for flowers is known. 

Dichondra sericea. Sw. A small plant which is seen by the sides 
of roads and in the stony pastures om the hills. It is perhaps the 
same which Miers has named the D. repanda. 

Dimorphopetalum Tetilla. Bertero. A new genus of the family 
of Oxalides: this pretty plant is met with in stony situations, and in 
the clefts of rocks. ‘The petiole is notched at its base, and full of 
an acrid sweet juice, which children take pleasure in suckmg. The 
vulgar name, ¢etidla,* given to this plant designates with sufficient 
clearness the form of the part which i is eaten, though the resemblance 
is not exact. 

Pioscorea variifolia. Bertero. Common in pastures, on 1 the hills, 
and in thickets. I donot know whether itis the same species as 
the D. Hederacea. Miers; all J can say is, that it does not resemble 
the ivy in any particular, either in‘its leaves or its size. ‘The leaves 
are sometimes cordate, sometimes sagittate and sometimes linear in 
the same individual. The flowers are dioecious. 


— a —* aes 


* A little dug 


Fast of the Plants of Chile. 257 


Diplandra Potamogeton. Bertero. This plant, the most mter- 
esting which [have met with, grows in the clear waters of the drains 
of Quinta, Corcolen and Taguatagua, and resembles a Potamogeton 
so closely that it can be distinguished only by its flower. It is salir 
cious ; the calyx tubular, very large, and the tube of the corolla more 
elongated, the anthers are twelve, and are inserted 1 into, the throat of 
the cooley at the top of the tube. After fecundation, they are di-. 
lated and take the form of a petaloid membrane. It is doubtless a 
new genus, and should be added to the family of the Naiades. 

Dipsacus Fullonum, 1. Carda, common on the banks of drains 
and in humid spots on the plam. This plant has but little use at” 
present, nor will it be an object of speculation until manufactories of 
cloth are established, which will not be until after the propagation of 
the Merino sheep, which ought to do well in many parts of the terri- 
tory of Chile. 

Dolichos biflorus, and D. sesquipedalis, Li. are plants very little cul- 
tivated. The first should draw the particular attention of cultivators 
who would have another vegetable at their disposal ima country 
where this species of pulse is in general use. Its lezumes, when they 
are tender, forma delicate dish, and may be preserved throughout 
the year by salt, in well stopped jars, thus securing an excellent re- 
source in winter. ‘The plant which is cultivated in. gardens under 
ihe name of ramilette—nosegay—is without doubt the D. henosus, 
L. It is probable that Molina has described the same species, to 
which he has given the name of D. funarius. ‘The D. ruber, Jacq. 
(Droclea Jacquiniana. D. C. Hymenospron rubrum. Spr:) is also 
cultivated in some gardens, and is called enredadera, a very vague 
appellation and applicable to an infinity of plants whose stalks inter- 
lace with the neighboring plants. 'The same use may be made of 
these two last species as was spoken of under the head of Convolvulus. 

Donatia. Forst... Common on arid heights and, on the sides of 
torrents. ‘This very singular and pretty plant has no vulgar name. 
De Candolle places the Donatia in the family of thé Paronychia, 
(Prodr. Vol. Il, p. 351,) though he does not mention it among 
those he describes in that place. . Was it overlooked? 

Dothdea Spheriordes. Fries.. Avery small moss common on 
the bark of the Populus dilatata, Ait. alamo, poplar, principally on 
the dead and half rotten branches. — 

Dryms Chilensis. D.C. This tree known by the name of Ca- 
nelo—cinnamon tree—is: nearly related to the D. Winteri, Forst. 
and it appears to me difficult to separate it since the characters as- 


258 "List of the Plants of Chile. 


signed to it are not constant. In fact, the height of its trunk varies 
much; some are very high. . I have met with it in humid places on 
the plains, and in the woods on the mountains. Its peduncles are 
sometimes simple and’ sometimes umbellate. ‘The number of petals 
also varies in the same cluster. The Canelo. is the sacred tree of 
the Indians, for their assemblies and religious ceremonies, in which 
they invoke Pillai, ‘They employ it for different superstitious uses, 
and itis an ingredient in the greater part of their medicines. ‘The 
fresh wood is tough and dry, and it is hard, and proper for works 
which are not exposed to water. Joists are made of it; it:preserves 
clothes from insects; when burned, it exhales a smoke offensive to 
the eyes, but of a pleasant smell. Its bark is employed as a medi- 
cine: its decoction restores the color of indigo and fixes it; mixed 
with salt and urine it kills the insects which infest animals. It is ad- 
ministered in scaly eruptions, and it is considered a detergent in ma- 
lignant ulcers. The properties of the winter’s bark being known, 
we can have no doubt of those possessed by this tree. ; 
Duvaua dependens. D.C. A small shrub four or five yards high, 
known under the name Huingan, common in woods atthe foot of 
hills. ‘The infusion of the seed is stomachic. It is exhibited in 
hysterical and urinary affections, and in the principal of the hydro- 
pic diseases when the type allows its use. ‘From this tree exudes 
a resin, which, spread on paper, is applied as a specific against pains 
and tension of the muscles and tendons, as. well as for diseases from 
cold.’ The decoction of its bark yields a balsamic, vulnerary es- 
sence, useful in the pains of gout and coldness of the feet.. Its seed 
is used in the drink ealled chicha, which is agreeable but too strong. 
The Schinus Huigan, Molina, cited by all modern botanists, belongs 
to the D. dependens, and should be referred to this species. The 
Molle.as we have already said, is probably a species of Amyris or a 
new species of Duvaua.: | ise Nitck 
Eccremocarpus ‘Sepium. Bertero. I will add to what I have 
already said, that this plant differs considerably from the E. longi- 
florus. Humb. and Bonpl. I am convinced of this, by a compar- 
ison made with the drawing given by those authors, (Plant. flag. 1. 
tab. 65.) 
Eclipta erecta. Lu. In the ielosares! around the lake of Nealeb: 
Tt resembles the E. palustris. Forst. 
Elatine tripetala. Smith. In the roads and oozy places of the 
plains and hills. “The number of the petals and stamina is subject 
to variation. 


Last of the Plants of Chile. 259 


Elymus. L.A grass which grows in humid situations on the 
plains and hills. It is called. by some cola de raton, rat’s tail, a name 
common to several plants of the same family. fe , 

Ephedra Americana. Humb. A small shrub which delights in 
stony, craggy situations among the rocks, and hills, and the moun- 
tains. The E. bracteata, Miers, is perhaps the same. | 

Epilobium. L. ‘Two. species related to the E. alpinum and te- 
tragonum. L.. ‘They grow in the drains, and humid and sandy places, 
near torrents, in Taguatagua_ and Aculéo. i whiryg 

Equisetum Bogotense. oD B. and Kunth. On the sides of drains, 
near rivers, in sandy and humid situations. It is called yerba de 
plata—silver srass, because it serves to clean tarnished silver. Its 
root is employed as a diuretic. 

Erigeron. Lu. Four species, of which one is probably new, the. 
E. Canadensis, Lu. the other two resemble the E.’ Bonariensis. Li. 
All these plants grow in inclosures, gardens, and fields, on the sides 
of roads, and in the dry pastures of the plain. 

. Erineum Vitis. Pers. Generally known by the name of peste. 
It attacks the leaves of the vine, and in some places extends itself 
in an almost incredible manner. I have found another species which 
Ihave called E. Mayteni.. It grows on the under surface of the 
leaves of the Mayten. | h 

Eriosporangium Baccharidis. Bertero. A small moss which 
grows on the branches of the rosemary ; it produces furrowed nodosi- 
ties, filled with woolly filaments, which shed a yellow dust similar to 
the pollen of flowers. 

Erodium. L. 'Thespecies of this genus bear the name of al- 
fierillo. The E. moschatum, Ait. is very common in the meadows, 
and especially in those of the mountains; it smells like musk and _ 
communicates its own odor to the animals that cat it. It is an ex- 
cellent forage. The E. Cicutarium, Smith, and the variety B. 
D. C. prodr. are very frequent in meadows, in sandy situations, near 
rivers, and on the hills. I have met in the stony places along the Ca- 
chapual, with an Erodium, whichresembles the E. Malachoides, Willd. 

Ervum Lens. L.  Vulgarly lenteyja—tentil—sown in fields. As 
vegards the cultivation of this plant, and the consumption of it, we 
will refer to the article Cicer Arietinum; what has been said there 
is here equally applicable. 

Eryngium. Li. The name, cardoncilla is given to the E. pani- 
culatum, De Larbr. which grows on heights, near crags: I have met 
with two other species: one in the marshes in the suburbs of San- 


260 List of the Plants of Chile. 


tiago, which appears to be the rostratum, Cav. the other in the san- 
dy meadows along the Cachapual going, to- amie? This last is 
probably new. \ 

Erythrina. L.* ; | 

Escallonia. Mutis. ‘Three species are known : the wiupa (E. ru- 
bra, Pers.) and Corontilla, (E. resinosa, Pers.) ‘These two trees 
grow in the woods on the hills. The last is very pretty when in flow- 
er. The racemes, hard and almost cylindrical, resemble .a smal! 
ear of corn, and hence the vulgar name. It would look well in gar- 
dens. I have seen'a variety with velvety leaves on the heights of 
Taguatagua. ‘The wood is useful for some kinds of work, but it is 

“not much appreciated. The leaves are employed in medicine, for 
baths and vapors. The lun (E. thyrsoidea. Bertero,) grows in 
woods near rivers, Its wood is solid, though it is not used. Its bark 
is purgative. . 

Eupatori wm. L. ‘Two species of this genus: the fu'st is a shrub, 
common in the woods of the hills; it approaches the E. levigatum. 
Lam. It is called salvia, and. its leaves are used in certain cases. 
The second is common in breaks, and the sides of woods in’ the 
‘mountains. I call it E. Chilense. It is proper to remark that the 
FE. Chilense, Molina, is only a synonym of the Blaveri ia Contra- 
jerva. Pers. 

Euphorbia Teathins L. Vulgarly, tartaro canines yo; a plant 
of Europe which is not rare in gardens. It is a powerful drastic, 
and should be exhibited only with the. greatest precaution. The 
pichsa (E. Sepyllifolia. L.) is indigenous, and grows on the sides of 
roads and fields in sandy situations. Itis employed asa purgative. 
{ts infusion is given in certain urinary affections. 

Eeacum Ghileise. Bertero. A beautiful and small plant, very 
abundant in the meadows, near rivers, and on the hills: It resem- 


bles the E. pusillum, D. C. and quadrangulare. Willd. ' 


To be continued. 


*]T met by chance with a branch belonging to a species of this genus. It was 
loaded with flowers, and appeared to be recently torn from the tree. The leaves 
and petioles were armed with thorns as was also the branch. It is cultivated “in a 
garden in the capital. I have searched for it in vain. “ Having seen it only en pas- 
sant, it was impossible to determine it. 1 think, however, it is originally from 
Mexico, whence the seed has been brought. The elegance and color of the 
flower make it worthy of a place in flower gardens. Since the climate of Santiago 
does not prevent ifs-culture, I would advise the owner of the tree to sow the seeds 
or divide them among amatcurs.—-B 


261 


Meteorological Observations. 


ART. V.—Meteorological Tables.—1. By Gen. Martin Frevp. 


Extracted from aJournal of Observations, made at Fayetteville, (Vt.) from the 30th day of April, 1830, to the Ist day of May, 1881, in lat.42° 58/ N. 
3 and lon. 4° 20/ E. from Washington. 


THERMOMETER. ' WEATHER... WINDS. ; - MISCELLANEOUS. 


SANS |S S | Maximum of | Minimum of ; + |No.of daysof Bs “3 = = 3 == 
2 as aS 8 =} temperature. | temperature. § Idiff variation. aie co BS = g Bl os 
= Pee |b ellie) || 5 eee a ee ate | Oo ee eer ee ry 23g) 3 wo Ss 25/5 
1880 (2p las os é 5 |e El la) sldicigicleless| Fee | s2 | 23 (slg 
and ee Slow! _< ao) 5 TH o) Se 7 % By te <- fal eee ta} Es = ioe w a 2 3s en 6 |e 
1831. |£ =| 8|~ 8] ee , (23 Fe Feolea, Bs fep lA] 1?) jel lala Se) a he | bos a  |azie 
q = Hes) Baile ae Se 2 Oo Fl onl |: us) le ogu oO fF a fe o eS 5 
—< | |c/Smi ale] 2 fe“le] 5 [8 a}.8| 3 /elo ay SLE ca ss Ep & 5 a le 
= an aia ae 3 S ° aia|f ala 9 aes oS One| oS 
Mee Sie ea eal ee ee fe lee li eli | |S. 2) 2 < 8S 
May ‘| 42.8) 65. (52. |53.3/1 |2 p. a./76° [2315 a, az,| 26°)50°] 28] 8| 3] ols |-a/—| 2] 9] 3] 4] 7 —s 2= 28 rel SIE eS 
June | 58.3) '71. | 59.6] 61.3)15/3 Afovn 4 Eyes 44 }38 | 19] 11; 9| Oj—| 3} 1) 2) 7] 5) 5) Wo 48 1.9 6.7 = 6/3 
July. 60.6) 77.4) 67.2]. 68.4)21 5 94 110 A3 151-4 20) 11+ 8} O|—| 4] 3) 3] 3] 4] 5) Of 3.5 1.8 (51533 — Hares - 
Aug- |58..|'73.7/65..|65.6/7.|2 . |86 |19/5 . 46 j40 | 21] 10} 6} OF 1] 1/—) 2].8| 4] 2} 18 1.2 2.1 33.33 — 6 4S 
Sept. | 48.6) 66.6) 54. | 56.425 5 76 [3016 . 26 150 | 22) 8) 4).0F 2) 5) 1j— 9 2) 2] Of 1.4 i 2.4 = eee Pet. 
Oct.- 38.1) 5'7.'7| 44.5] 46.72 » (70 426 5 20 {50 | 20) 11). 7} Of 2) 2) 4) 1] 5] G| 2) Sf —.7 3. 3.7 — 3 | 6 
Nov. | 38.3} 47.8} 39.1] 41.711 . (66 [2117 -. | 25 |41 |-14| 16} 4) 2 1) 6] 5) 2l—} 2) 3) 11 4.— 4,— 8.— 13 = — | 4 
Dec. 26.1) 33.3) 27.6] 29. j26/3 44 [22/8 . |-12 (56 | 15) 16] 3) 2) 1] 6] 1] 2] 6] 4] 3) 8 1.3 48 6.1 = aaauilei) 
Jan. 10,4) 21. |15.2}15.555 12 . |43 121 . i 8 [51.} 21) /10} 2).3) 5) 23—\—!] 2) 3] 3] 16) 1.2 2,—- 3.2 18.-— — | 4 
Feb. 10.4) 25.6] 16.6} 17.5128 . (88 114 .. }-10 (48 | 23) 5} 1) 4} 2/—!] 1} 3] 1] 3] is] 1.8 2.3 41 23.— —|5 
March | 29. | 43.6|.33.5] 35.4)31 64 1816 . 15 {49 | 19) 12) 1) 5}—} 1) 1} 38}-3} 7 6) 10 1.9 3.3 5.2 11.- 1/6 
Apri! | 39. | 53.6) 43.8) 45.5)15/3 66 41215. 26 “40 | -18) 12] 6] 0} 3] 4) 1] 4) 3] 3] 5) FW 3.9 3.8 Mad = meg a 
Ag.tem! 37.9 53.1) 43.1 44,71 Recapitulation. 235)130/54|16'20'37117 22'58'44143'1241 26.5 32,— 58.5 68.=— 24 |56 ee 
Z 


Remarks.—F rom the foregoing table it- appears, that the mean temperature of the year was 44° 7’, which was 5’ | 
warmer than the two years preceding. ‘The temperature of the summer months was 65° 1’; that of the winter months, 4 
20° 7’—difference 44° 4’, The highest temperature within the year was on the 21st of July, and was 94°; the lowest,b< 
on the 22d of Dec., and was 12° below zero. Range of thermometer, 106°. The temperature was above 90° on_; 
four days in the month of July, and fell below 0 eleven nights during the winter. From the 5th of January to the 15th 
of February, (being forty-one days) the temperature at no time rose above 28°. We had sixty-eight inches of snow and 


262 Meteorological Observations. 


hail during the winter, which is much less than usual in Vermont ; 
and we had no sleighing till the first of February, and it went off 
about the first of March. The quantity of water which fell in rain, 
hail, and snow, was 58.5 inches, which was 22.4 inches more than 
fell during the twelve months preceding.—Vegetation was unusually 
forward the last spring, and fruit trees were in full blossom about the 
first of May. But afterwards, within that month, we had eleven se- 


vere frosts, which destroyed all the fruit in the vallies, and on the - 


low grounds throughout this part of the country. But the summer 
months were cue for vegetation, and most- of the eg were 
abundant. — 

On examining my meteorological journal, which I have kept for 
many years, I find that the occurrence of the aurora borealis has 
varied from ten to twenty eight nights, when I have noticed it in dif- 
ferent years; and that for ten years, previous to the last, the aver- 
age number of- evenings when it has been seen, is eighteen, annu- 
ally. But within the last twelve months the aurora has been visible 
on fifty six nights, which is twice the number of any former year of 
which I have any record. During the year past, it has exhibited 
many interesting appearances, two of which I shall briefly notice. 
The first occurred on the evening of the 14th of July.—The atfter- 
noon of shat day was showery, with lightning and thunder ; but the 
evening was clear, except a black cloud low down in the north. 
The thermometer stood at 62°, and we had light breezes from the 
west. As soon as the day light closed, the aurora borealis appeared 
above the dark cloud in the north—and immediately it shot up in 
streams of diverging rays of light towards the zenith. ‘These streams 
of rays would accumulate and dissolve in rapid succession, and at 
10 o’clock the onrthern part of the heavens was brilliantly illumina- 
ted. At half past ten an arch of yellowish white light appeared in 
the north about 30° above the, horizon, which. moved towards the 
south, with a gradual and equal motion, absorbing in its course all 
those streams of diverging rays before mentioned. “At half past 
eleven the arch passed the zenith exhibiting a broad and luminous 
band in.the heavens, which extended to the horizon on the east and 
west, and was studded with stars, which were visible through it. After 


passing the zenith a few degrees, the arch broke up into columns, ’ 


which gradually disappeared as they passed off to the south. This 
arch very much resembled that which occurred on the evening of the 
28th of August, 1827, except that the light did not present the wa- 
ving motion which. was then exhibited a he dark cloud in the north, 


Metérological Observations. 263 


and the aurora, continued through the night. ‘The day following was 

rainy, attended with vivid lightning and Hens, thunder. ual so 
“The next appearance of the aurora borealis which I shall notice, 

occured on the evening of the 9thof March. There was-nothing 


unusual in the appearance of 
the aurora on that evening ex- 
cept the form of the arch, and- 
that was such as I never before 
witnessed, nor am I able to ex- 
pla the cause. There was 
no moon at the time—the sky 
was clear—and the stars bril- 
liant. The wind had blown 
from the south during the day, 
but the evening was “untisually 
calm. The thermometer stood 
at 26°. arly on that evening, 
streams of light shot up in the 
north as usual, but were princi- 
pally confined near the horizon. 
At.half past 8 o’clock a bright - 
arch was formed which rose to 
the height of about 40°. It 
was well defined, and extend-: 
ed to the horizon on the east 
and west. ‘This arch exhibited 
the appearance of segments or 
sections of circles, of different 
diameters, all of which were 
perfectly united. This appear- 
ance continued about fifteen 
minutes, when the arch became 
broken into sections, and grad- 
ually disappeared. The fol- . 
lowing diagram which I made 
at the time, will afford a tolera- 
ble idea ‘of the form of the | 
arch during its continuance. 

In conclusion I would re- 
mark, that so far as I have ob- 
served, the aurora borealis gen- 
erally occurs in calm weather, 
and in summer it is almost uni- 
versally the precursor of thun- 
der storms, and in winter, of 
snow and boisterous weatlier. 

Fayctteville, Vt. May 2d, 1931. 


Thermometrical Register. 


264 


oCOT— GEST ‘MST pue WITT Afng “soysipy 
‘O10Z Morey oGI—9@8I 4sq Areniqo 7 pur : ‘ IZSI Mure ‘Arenuep saaory 


9G'6V 86°SE|L8'6E|SE°TS|09'S9|68'°69|TP'SLIOO' LOLS LGIELOV|PI'9E|LG-6|SG9G| “MP 
66°38 JO7’ LE|SL°OV 9@'84'96°89 V9°69|0G-"99/88°69|OP 9P/ESCEILT ES|EG' 9G 6681 
SL 1G 6G°9E|L9'EPV GE V9/60 PLI8G ELIOL OL/OG 9G|6L PY 69 LETS LENE LS 8681 
61°80 10°CE/66'VE) VG'G9|L6' 89|9L'TL|10°99|06'946|\SE "0G 8S" LE|G6 8E|L9°GS LOSI 
16°0¢ 86° 6E|69 OV 9&G°79|48° 69/66 GL96' 49|69°S9\9G EF/09' 9E|G6'0E|G0' 6G 9G8T 
69°0G VG GE|9L' 6S 81°09|PF'69|19°LLIZ8°69|86°9G/LLSP|FO'OF|IS TS|OL'8% Cosi 
Vo 6V cL VE\E8 6 16°C9 0G LOIS TLIPE POG SG OL LVOL SEITE’ 6G\0E OF vost 
OS LV VG GE|LV9E|LT 0G/98°8S|\G70L)48'0L|60°S9/9L'S4/89' 9F\LG°EE|TL’SC|GL' 9G S681 
68°67 LO OS|GGVLIES SS'LV'99|9T'89/G6' SLISL 9OILE' TO\GT SVOL' SENS’ 8c\8a' Su COSI 
60°87 96 66,19 'OV|VG 0S|VG'E9|0G ILLiGG'891SS'99'E0'9GI8G'ET/SO'VE|SS CS|\8S'0G Tést 
LES CS 9G|GL LET OSILL' 1V9/6G OLIVE SLOP 99/61 S¢ P6' VPLS GS|60° 1S|88° Se OG8Ir 
S1e9 "20¢F | “AOKT ydog | *Sny | Aine | ‘oung | -Aeqy |«pidy | youepy| A.qoq| “Auer ‘S183_A 


wots * Af iP olh “BUOY NG OG 


‘Wd 6 pur gS WV 2 “uoHRAdesqo jo sinoTy 


“YONUAILED 


mre 6° ile ) M0} ur qdasy eel uaz sof TR PELE | 


On the Achromatic Microscope. 265 


Art. VIL.—On the Achromatic Microscope; for the Journal of Sei- 
fe. 9 ence, by Enwarp Tuomas. 


In a former article on improvements in the microscope, ,published 
in Vol. XTX. of the Journal of Science, a description was given of 
the best form of the achromatic microscope then adopted. Material 
improvements have since been made, which it is the object of this 
paper to explain. Many of these have been introduced by Alden 
Allen. Se apt 

When a lens is required with a focal distance of an inch or more, 
and is to be used as a simple microscope, one single lens of plate 
glass, having its radii nearly as 1 to 6, will exhibit objects about as 
distinctly as one of any other construction. But when the focal dis- 
tance is half an inch or less, an achromatic lens is superior, whether 
for ¢ ‘simple or compound microscopes. The form represented in 
Fig. 1, is the best for simple microscopes, when the focal distance is 
from one half to one fourth of an inch. Ifa shorter focal distance 
be required, and a large aperture is necessary, it will be most advan- 
tageous to employ the sextuple achromatic shown in Fig. 2 

i Fig. 1, is shown the best form of the object glass ae a compound 
microscope, when an aperture is required nearly equal to one half of 
the focal distance: a is the first surface, 6 the last, and o the place 
of the object to be viewed. ‘The following are the dimensions and 
radii.* 


Inch. Fig. 1. 
Radius of the Ist surface, 0.15 1 
do. 2d do. 0.20 ‘ Date 
do. Bal elo 0.15 ‘ Aint 
do. 4th do. 0.15 ‘ 
do. Tilbud Oe 0.15 
do. 6th do. 0.20 ‘ Dale 
Focus of the compound lens, 0.27 
Miametery ce bos. on OSTA 
Clear aperture, . . 0.10 to 0.12 fo) 


* The figures are all drawn four times the real size. 


266 On the Achromatic Microscope. 


Fig. 2 represents the best form of the sextuple object glass, and 
is to be used when an aperture nearly as great as the focal distance 
is requisite. ‘The superiority which this form of the sextuple lens 
possesses over the one formerly described, consists in its greater sim- 
plicity, having a less variety of curves; in its affording a greater field 
of distinct vision; and in a greater freedom from secondary aberra- 
tion of figure, when the aperture in each bears the same proportion 
to the focal distance. It is also practically free from spherical aber- 
ration, both when the tube of the microscope islengthened and when 
it is shortened.* These advantages more than compensate for the 
loss of light, caused by a greater number of reflecting surlaues: a 
The followin are its dimensions and radii. 


Inch. 

Radius of the Ist surface, 0.19 ke 
do. 2d do. 0.267 ‘ Beate 
do. ad dos" 0.20 A 
do. 4th do. 0.20 ‘ mt 
do. 5th’ do.” 0:20 
do. 6th do. 0.267 ; plate 
do. Mth) dow V0ls 
do. Sth do. 0.20 plate 
do. 9th. ido, a O15 iar 
do. LOrhiie doy, wiDsliay, 6 
do. Hlthsjdo. 0.25 ) 

_ do: Hihv dows, 0.20 plate 


Focus of the compound lens, 0.17 
Diameters. (oboe ve 0.15- 
Clear aperture, . . 0. 13 to. 0.15 


Fig. 3 exhibits the form of the microscope to be adopted when an 
aperture greater than the focal distance is necessary. It consists of 
nine lenses, of which six are plate glass and three flint glass. The 
following are the dimensions and radii. 


* The former sextuple combination was free from spherical aberration, only when 
the tube was extended to a certain length. 
i All the surfaces in contact are cemented in cach of the three combinations. 


On the Achromatic Microscope. 267 


~ 


iach. 
Badin of the Ist surface, 0.16 
do.. 2un avdo. " 0.93 plate. 
do. 3d). dose OslG ake 
do. - 4th . do. 0.24 : ae 
do. 5th . do... 0.24 
do. "6th, dos 8.23 ‘ Be 
do. SEA MOM i Onde 
do. Sth do. 0.155 ; Bee 
do. SiMe GO Ole flint 
do. 10th = do. 0.15 ( ; 
do. tith do. .0A8 ; 
do. 12th do. 0.155 ; Date 
do. 13th do.. 0.09 
do.. '-* » 14th ‘do. . 0.08 plate 
do. - 15th do. 0.08 Aint 
do. 16th do. 0.12 ne 
cov nmeiveliaihweridos) (Onl2a) mee 
do. 18th do. 0.09 §! 
Focus of the compound lens, 0.102 — 
Diameter of the Ist set 0.14 
Gone WAN ead ECON oN AON 
do. ode 0.08 
Clear aperture, 0.12 to 0.14 


Fach of the three kinds shown in the figures has been constructed 
and found to perform well. _'The convex lenses of the object glass 
shown in Fig. 3, should be made as thin as is practicable, that the 
focus of the microscope may be as far as possible from the last sur- 
face. The thickness of the flint lenses at their centres may be 
about ;4, of aninch. If-they are much thinner they will bend and 
become disfigured while polishing. 

The lenses of the object glass of an achromatic microscope must 
be centred with great accuracy; and they may be considered as well 
centred, ae their optical centres do not vary from a right line more 


rin glass 1s teeeele which has -the greatest diene ratio 5 
for the seeondary aberration of figure is less, when the aperture is 
the same in relation to the el distance ; although it is greater, 
when the aperture is the same in relation to the ar radius of the 
flint lens. © 


268 On the Achromatic Microscope. 


The tube of the microscope should be made of variable length. 
When the sextuple object glass is used, the length may be made to 
vary from four to six and a half inches. ‘The microscope will then 
magnify the diameter, with a proper eye-piece, from ninety to one 
hundred and eighty times. When the length is so adjusted as to 
make it magnify the diameter one hundred times, the vision is so 
distinct that objects are rendered visible, which cannot be seen with 
any single glass lens. 

In constructing achromatic microscopes, it is very difficult to make 
them free from spherical aberration in the first attempt, even when 
we know with precision the required radii and thickness of the lens- 
es; as a small variation in either will materially affect the spherical 
aberration. It is therefore found expedient not to rely on theoretical 
calculations, but to ascertain by direct experiment, the radii that will 
destroy, most effectually, the color and spherical aberration in glass 

of a given density. When a standard microscope is thus obtained, 
and several similar ones are required, the most practicable method 
appears to be, to construct them as nearly similar as can easily be 
done, and then change one of the curves of the first lens, until by 
approximation, the spherical aberration be nearly corrected. When 
this is done, the correction may be completed by changing the size of 
the aperture, enlarging it when the aberration of the convex lens is 
greater than that of the concave, and diminishing when less. The 
correction may also be completed, when the aberration of the con- 
cave is less than that of the convex, by grinding the edges of the 
flint lens on a flat hone, so as to bring its centre and the uncemented 
convex lens nearer together. No correction could be made by chang- 
ing the aperture, if no secondary aberration of figure existed ; but in 
consequence of the great increase of this abenratien with the increase 
of aperture,* on the one hand,—and the insufficiency of a great re- 
duction, (especially if the aperture be small,) to correct the spherical 
aberration, on the other,—the extent of \this mode of correction is 
necessarily limited. It must, therefore, be first nearly corrected by 
changing one or both of the radii of the first lens. As these changes 
are small, they will not much affect the secondary color. 


* It appears from calculation, that the longitudinal secondary aberration of figure, 
in microscopes of large apertures, increases nearly as the fifth powers of the aper- 
tures; and that when the apertures are very large, it increases in a still greater ratio. 


Use of Sulphate of Copper, &c. in Bread. 269 


When ordinary plate glass is used. with flint glass whose specific 
gravity is 3.45, the radii previously given may be taken as the stan- 
dard. If the density be 3.50, the first radius should be changed in 
the triple object glass, from 0. 15 to about 0.14, applying the other. 
radii, as there given, for astandard. ‘The plate glass used had a re- 
fractive power of 1.514. ; f 
In order to obtain the best forms for microscopes, it appears m4 
cessary to make those radii which are situated at nearly the same 
distance from the focus of the microscope, as nearly equal as possi- 
ble, and at the same time correct the color and spherical aberra- 
tion,—as indistinct vision caused by secondary aberration of figure, 
will be produced, if the diameter of the pencil of light be too great 
in proportion to the radius of the surface through which it passes. 
Thus in a triple microscope, having a double-concave flint glass 
whose radii are equal, an aperture sel greater than four fifths of 
the shortest radius in the microscope, (even if its focal distance were 
-made very short,) cannot be advantageously used, especially if the 
first concave surface has a radius as short as any in the microscope. 

It is believed a microscope might be made more powerful than 
any hitherto used, by substituting sapphire or some other substance 
of similar optical properties for plate glass; and using flint glass of 
great density. This would enable us to diminish the focal length in 
relation to the aperture, and thus increase the power. 

Greatfield, Cayuga County, N.Y. May, 1831. 


Arr. VII.— Considerations on the employment of Sulphate of Cop- 
per, and of various other saline materials in the making of Bread, 
presented to the board of Health of the department du Nord, 
(April, 1830); by M. Kuntmann. 


(Abridged from the Annales de L’Industrie ; by J. Griscom.) 


Berne frequently called upon. by the tribunals to undertake the 
chemical examination of bread, suspected to contain substances inju- 
rious to health, the author obtained a variety of facts relative to this 
kind of adulteration, which he has deemed it right to exhibit, in order 
that those who may be occupied with such examinations, may be 
saved the trouble of numerous trials, and that the public authorities 
may direct their attention to a matter which so much concerns the 
general welfare. 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 35 


. 


270 Use of Sulphate of Copper, &c. in Bread. 


The author divides his essay into two parts; in the jirst he treats 
of the origin of the use of those materials which are employed in 
adulterations, of the proportions of them which have been adopted 
by bakers, of the effects they produce, and of the methods he has 
found most effectual-for detecting their presence, even in minimum 
quantities ;—in the second, he determines the action which these dif- 
ferent substances exert upon the quality of bread. ‘This was effected 
by baking a very great number of loaves with variable proportions of 
the adulterating materials. 

PART FIRST. 

‘The north’ of France and .Belgium has been for some time past 
the principal theatre of frauds committed by bakers, by the mixing 
of sulphate .of copper with their bread. ‘The practice appears to 
have commenced about 1816 and 1817, in which years the grain 
was generally of a bad quality. To obviate this inconvenience, they 
mixed with the wheat flour, the flour of dry beans and other. sub- - 
stances, and at length made use of blue vitriol, finding that it contri- 
buted to hasten the fermentation, to cause the dough to retain more 
water, to diminish the labor of kneading, and produce. a lighter and 
finer looking bread from the defective or the mixed flour.* The 
abuse was afterwards carried to such an extent, that in some of the 
towns, commissioners were chosen to have the permanent supervision 
of the bread made and sold by bakers. 

If the detection and punishment of so serious a crime as the poi- 
soning of bread is a matter of importance to the public welfare, it is 
also very necessary to be able clearly to demonstrate the presence of 
the poisonous material. ‘The detection of copper in bread would 
seem to present no difficulty, as this metal manifests its presence by 
decisive chemical characters. ‘The contact of sulphuretted hydro- 
gen, hydro-ferrocyanate of potash, or ammoniacal gas, may remove 
all uncertainty ; but when it is considered in how small a proportion 
this poisonous salt is employed, these experiments demand the most 
careful attention. Prussiate of potash indeed will indicate the pres- 
ence of one part of sulphate in nine thousand parts of white bread, by 
the production of a rose color in thé containing fluid. The author 
obtained the following results. 


* Thirteen bakers were condemned on the 27th of January, 1829, by the cor- 
rectional tribunal of Brussels, for mixing sulphate of copper with their bread. 


Use of Sulphate of Copper, &c. in Bread. 271 


No Quantity of sulph.| Action of ferrocyanate of — jAction of hydro-sulphate of 


* |of copper in bread. potash. i ammonia. - 
I Ba0T0 ys : he 
2 Tsa00 | eine rUehanake 
3 es \Very apparent rose color. ariel 
4 ae A‘deeper rose color. ae: 
5 ae _ Blood red. Brownish color. 
6 oane Crimson cerns) sapere browns 


It is obvious that hydro-sulphate of ammonia is much less decisne 
than the ferrocy anate of potash. Liquid ammonia produces a sen- 
sible blue color by contact with bread, only when the sulphate of 
copper is in such quantity as to occasion a green color in the bread. 

The author considers the ferrocyanate of potash as a test suffi- 
ciently delicate to shew the presence of copper in quantities injurious 
to health; but to determine its existence in the smallest quantities, 
the method which he prefers is to burn m a platina capsule two hun- 
dred grammes of the bread to be examined, reduce the cinders to 
fine powder ; mix this with eight or ten grammes of nitric acid ; 
heat the mixture till the free acid is evaporated, dilute the pasty mass 
with distilled water aided by heat, filter, add a small excess of liquid 
ammonia and a few drops of a solution of sub-carbonate of ammonia. 
When cold, filter again, heat to ebullition so as to expel the excess 
of ammonia, and until the fluid is reduced to a fourth of its volume. 
This fluid, acidified by a drop of nitric acid, is divided into two parts ; 
to one is added hydro-ferrocyanate of potash; to the other hydro- 
sulpharic acid or hydro-sulphate of ammonia. ‘This process, says 
the author, if punctually followed, will shew, by the first of these 
tests, the presence of one part of sulphate of copper in 70,000 of 
bread, by the immediate production of a rose color, and a light crim- 
son precipitate after a few hours’ repose. ‘The hydro-sulphate pro- 
duces a light fallow color, and a brown precipitate. If the copper 
exist in greater quantity, a polished blade of iron in the solution will 
indicate its presence. The calcination of the bread in an earthen 
crucible would require six or eight hours; ina pines capsule two 
or three hours are sufficient. : 

“The precipitate occasioned by the ammonia, consists principally 
_ of phosphate of lime, phosphate of magnesia, oxide of iron, and a 
small quantity of alumine, ‘The first filtration may be dispensed 
with when the detection of tle copper is the sole object. 


272 Use of Sulphate of Copper, Sc. in Bread. 


In these experiments, the entire freedom of the tests employed, 
from copper, is very important. Water, distilled from a copper 
alembic is rarely exempt from slight traces of the metal. 

In a great number of trials which the author has made, the quan- 
tity of copper which he found was so small; that he was obliged to 
answer the question of any addition of sulphate to the materials of the 
bread, in the negative. From several facts it is inferred that traces 
of copper may naturally exist in flour, and consequently in the grain 
which produces it. This he considers to be true with respect both 
to wheat and rye. There is nothing in this fact surprising to chem- 
ists. M. Sarzeaud has detected this metal in. several organic pro- 
ducts, and M. Meissener, of Halle, has’ discovered it in a great num- 
ber of plants. Still there is a wide difference between the quantity 
thus introduced by nature, and the smallest portion fraudulently add- 
ed by the baker. Bread which contains ,;1,, of sulphate, gives 
an ammoniacal liquor, which, when rendered slightly acid, becomes 
immediately rose colored by ferro-prussiate of potash, while that 
from wheat and flour requires a long time, and in many cases the 
prussiate of copper becomes apparent only from its giving a color to 
the white base, which appears to be a little earthy phosphate dis- 
solved by the ammonia. 


On the employment of alum 1 im baking, and the means s of deiecting at 
in bread. 


The use of alum appears to be very ancient. It serves to dis- 
guise the quality of bad flour, and even to enable the baker to adda 
portion of the flour of beans or peas, and perhaps of potatoes, without 
an easy detection. 

The quantity of alum, requisite to make a light porous bread out 
of inferior soipe varies from ;1, to 53; of the flour employed, ox 
from ;4; to ;;4 of the bread obtained from it. \ It enables the ba- 
ker also to dispense in whole or in part with the salts commonly 
used. 

Its injurious action upon the health is not to be compared to that 
of sulphate of copper; and yet taken daily into the stomach, it may 
seriously affect the system. 

Dr. Ure’s method of detection is after soaking the washings of 
stale bread in distilled water, to press out the water, filter it, and test 
it by muriate of barytes. ‘This, says our author, will shew 1, of 


Use of Sulphate of Copper, &c. in Bread. 273 


alum, but he does not deem it sufficiently exact to prove the exist- 
ence of very small portions of alum, for he obtains a precipitate in that 
way, from bread without alum. The water with which the flower ts 
mixed generally contains sulphate of lime, and as the barytic test only 
proves the existence of sulphuric acid, it does not determine the na- 
ture of the sulphate. The following is the author’s method. 

Incinerate 200 grains.of bread, porphyrise the cinders, treat it with 
nitric acid, evaporate to dryness, dilute with about 20 grains of distilled 
water, add to the unfiltered mass pure caustic potash in excess, heat 
gently, filter, and add muriate of ammonia, until the alumina is-all 
precipitated, which is best effected by boiling a few minutes. Col- 
Ject the alumina on a filter, and determine iy its weight the quantity 
of alum employed. | 

It may be observed, however, that the inemerated bread of 
wheat or rye will give sometimes a precipitate of alumina without 
any addition of alum, but in quantity so small, that its weight would 
occasion no sensible error in estimating the amount of the salt. It 
may be derived from earthy particles adherent to the grain, or from 
the hearth of the oven in which the bread is baked. 

Bread which contains ;,';; of alum, gives an immediate precipi- 
tate of alumine, by this method. 

So small a quantity produces no effect upon the quality of the 
bread, and cannot be regarded as of any importance to health. 

The weight of the ashes of burnt bread will furnish the means of a 
pretty good estimate ; 200 grains of ae white bread give 1.27 to 
1.03 of ashes, while bread containing ; +, of alum, yield 1.6 of ashes. 
The latter is incinerated more easily, gives whiter ashes, and in much 
greater bulk. 

Sulphate of Zinc has been, it appears, oceasionally used in bread. 
As incineration might volatilize the zinc, the analysis must be man- 
aged in the humid way. 

The presence of the acid may be detected by muriate of barytes, 
as inthe case of alum. ‘That of zinc.as follows ;—digest 200 ers. 
ofthe crumb in cold distilled water, press the fluid through a linen 
cloth, filter through paper, evaporate by gentle heat, till the liquid be- 
comes somewhat viscid ; add to it an excess of liquid ammonia, filter, 
acidulate slightly by nitric acid; divide the fluid into’ two portions, 
add to one prussiate of potash, to the other hydro-sulphate of ammo- 
nia. Both of these reagents will shew the presence of zine, by a 
white precipitate, but the first most decisively. The precipitate 
ought to be soluble in an excess of ammonia. 


Q7A Use of Sulphate of Copper, Sc. in Bread. 


Sub- Carbonate of hea 


It has been stated by diana Davy, that from 20 to 40 grains of 
sub-carbonate of magnesia, intimately mixed with one pound of bad 
flour, will materially improve the quality of the bread. It is proba- 
_ ble that the carbonate is converted by the fermentation into an ace- 
tate, and although the quantity of magnesia above mentioned may de 
no harm, it may not be amiss to show how it may be detected. Por- 
phyrise the ashes of 200 grains, (or a larger quantity in any case if 
desirable,) dilute with acetic acid, and evaporate to dryness to expel 
any excess of acid. ‘Treat the dry mass with alcohol and filter ; 
evaporate again to dryness, and. redissolve in a little water. 

To this solution add a slight excess of bi-carbonate of potash and 
filter. By boiling this filtered liquid, the magnesia, if any exist, will 
separate in a white jelly. This process might be much simplified, if 
there did not exist in flour, phosphate of magnesia,.the solution of 
which must be avoided. 


/ilkaline Sub-carbonates. — 


Many authors assert that sub-carbonate of ammonia contributes 
powerfully to promote the rising of bread, and to increase its white- 
ness. ‘The volatility of this salt may possibly aid mechanically the 
extension of the dough, but since it is probable that the acetic acid 
developed by the fermentation would combine with the ammonia, it 
is doubtful whether much benefit would be derived from the use of 
this salt, unless employed in very large doses. 

The existence of this or other alkalies can be detected by the 
methods which depend on their solubility, and other peculiar pro- 
perties. 


Other Substances. 


Chalk, pipe clay and plaster have also been employed in the adul- 
ieration of bread. The design in these cases is to increase the 
weight of the bread and perhaps its whiteness.» ‘Their presence may 
be shewn, both by the increased weight which they give to tlie ashes, 
and by the tests usually employed to distinguish their component’ 
parts. ah 


Use of Sulphate of Copper, &c. in Bread. 275 


PART SECOND. 


Series of experiments on bread making’. 


Considering the nature of the various materials resorted to for the 
purpose of disguising the quality of bad flour, it is difficult to con- 
ceive precisely in what manner they produce their effects. 

The desire of proving experimentally the influence of sulphate of 
copper upon the progress of fermentation, induced the author to un- 
dertake'a series of practical operations, upon the effects of this and 
various other salts. These results are given in the order in which 
they were obtained. ‘The experiments were all made by the same 
baker in the author’s presence. 


First: baking. 


Several lande of flour were tried. 

1. Flour of 1829,—slack, (lachante, )—eiving a dough which 
spread out, without rising, so as to furnish only a heavy tread: 

2. Flour called’ pain @avet from wheat called blanzé, 4 of the 
bran only extracted. 

3. Flour of brown bread; ten per cent. of bran extracted. 

With each of these, equal portions of yeast and leaven were in- 
corporated and made equally moist. Different quantities of sulphate 
of copper in solution were added, and mixed with the dough of dif- 
ferent loaves, and kept in a warm place until fit for the oven. 

It was observed that-the loaves destitute of the sulphate, merely 
flattened out (pousser plat,) without increasing in height, while those 
which contained the smallest quantity swelled more and more, and 
broke upon the surface, and the greater number became very porous. 
Those however which had received the greatest proportion of cop- 
per, did not sensibly increase in volume, and remained flat. They 
were all baked together, remaining in the oven about half an hour. 
The results are exhibited in the table. 


Observations on the first baking’. 


Bakers are generally of opinion, that there are two distinct actions 
in the rising of bread, the one owing to the leaven, which consists in 
strengthening the paste, the other to the yeast and leaven together, 
in the development of gas and increase of volume. 


276 Use of Sulphate of Copper, Sc. in Bread. 


The presence of sulphate of copper in all the trials is very mani- 
fest, even when used in the smallest quantity, in strengthening the 
paste and preventing its spreading into a flat mass. 

An excess of this poisonous salt however, is essentially injurious 
to the rising of the bread. It impedes the fermentation. . Its action 
appears very analogous to that of leaven. An excess of either gives 
rise to the same odor. ibis 

Besides the property of furnishing a finer, more porous and lighter 


quantity of bread, the sulphate of copper enables it to retain a greater 
quantity of water, so that the loaf No’7, lost almost nothing of its 
weight. ‘4 

To prove more distinctly whether the increase in weight was in 
proportion to the metallic sulphate employed, recourse was had to a 
second baking, the result of which was, that 1125 parts of flour, 
625 parts of water, 260 parts of leaven, 90 parts of yeast, produce 
a loaf, which, twenty four hours after it is withdrawn from the oven, 
weighs 1720 parts, the height being 64 centimeters, and the width 
30. The same‘ quantity of ingredients, precisely in the same pro- 
portions, with the addition of .025 of sulphate of copper, the weight 
was 1745, the height 84, and the width 30. With .05 of sulphate 
of copper, the weight was increased to 1762, the height to 9, the 
width 294. Each of these additions of the sulphate, greatly im- 
proved the appearance, lightness and sponginess of the bread. ‘The 
quantity of sulphate in proportion to the bread was in these two 
cases ;gtz, and zziz;z- A larger quantity of sulphate increased 
the weight of the bread but injured its appearance and quality. 


Observations on the second baking. 


The results were 1.. The action of the copper on the. quality of 
the bread is very manifest and very favorable, even in the proportion 
oe 
2. The increase of weight is very sensible, amounting even to an 
ounce in a pound, when ,,1,; of sulphate was used.. When the 
same quantity of water was added to an equal quantity of paste ex- 
empt from the cupreous salt, it gave a loaf very spreading, very 
heavy, exactly half the height, and weighing 8 per cent. less than the 
preceding. 


On the Employment of Sulphate of Copper, &. 277 


3. The suppression of leaven in counteracting an excess of cop- 
per was very decided, for the bread containing ;,'5, in the former 
batch, which remained to be a mere paste, gave in the latter a very 
fine, porous, and well raised bread, simply by omitting the leaven ; 
but the’salt manifested itself by a disagreeable odor and a verdi- 
grease taste. 


Conclusions relate to the action of various agents, as determined 
by experiments. 


Sulphate of copper.—This salt exerts-an extremely energetic ac- 
tion on the nutes and rising of bread, even when employes 


sda73 beyond this it becomes too moist, less spite; and acquires an 
odor like leaven. 

It is easy to obtain by the use of this salt, well raised bread from 
flour called slack, (lachantes,) or moist. It may occasion the reten- 
tion of water to the amount of an ounce in a pound without injury to 
the bread. In the summer season there is the greatest need of 
strengthening the paste and preventing the spreading of the loaf. It 
is usually done by leaven and common salt, but a very small quantity 
of sulphate of copper, will serve as a substitute for both, only it is 
necessary to increase a little the quantity of yeast. 

The greatest quantity of this salt which can be inode without 
altering the beauty of the bread is ;,,- With ;,',, the paste will 
not rise, all fermentation is stopped, and the bread acquires a green 
color. By omitting the leaven, and introducing more water, it rises 
well, and becomes very porous, but it is moist, greenish and disa- 
greeable. 

It is evidently the base of the salt, much more than the acid, that 
produces these effects on panification, for sulphate of soda, sulphate 
of iron, and even sulphuric acid, have not, in comparative trials, fur- 
nished analogous results. 

Alum.—The effects of this salt are much the same as those of sul- 
phate of copper, but it mee be used in much larger quantity. The lat- 
ter in the proportion of ;,',5 is so great as to diminish the rising, but 
that quantity of alum produces no apparent result. It must be in- 
creased to ;4,; to produce any sensible effect. In the dose of ;3; 


686 


Vou. XX.——No..2 Ds 36 


278 On the Employment of Sulphate of Copper, &c. 


the effect is more remarkable. The action of alum (except as it re- 
gards quantity) is much the same as that of sulphate of copper. In 
the baker’s phrase, it makes the bread swell large. 

Sulphate of Zinc.—The results obtained ie this salt are incon- 
siderable, and the author is persuaded that if any supposed efficacy 
has been attributed to it, it must have been confounded me sulphate 
of copper. 

Sub-carbonate of sepia: —No great effect on the rising of 
bread. In the proportion of ;}, it produces a yellowish color, which 
may relieve the dark color of sod flour. 

Sub-carbonate of ammonia.—No very remarkable result. By 
being changed to acetate it may perhaps, in common with the car- 
erie of porch and soda, preserve the moisture of bread for a 
longer period. 

Marie salt.—Like alum and sulphate of copper, it c tneneanere 
the paste, but with less power. It does not produce a bread so white 
nor so well divided a crumb, as the other salts. Bread, however, is 
much better for the use of it, for alum and copper give very little 
taste. Their crumb is more like that of a light cake than of com- 
mon bread. | 

A sufficient quantity of common salt may, like alum and copper, 
serve as a substitute for leaven. 

Summary.—An experimental inquiry into the remarkable effects 
of sulphate of copper in the process of panification, elicits the en- 
couraging fact that the presence of this venomous substance.can, in 
the very smallest proportion, be detected by chemical analysis. 

Every consumer may apply the means of determining its existence 
in bread, when in quantity too small to occasion any serious incon- 
venience. A drop of prussiate of potash let fall on the bread, in 
a few seconds, gives a rose color, even when the sulphate is only 
suas part of the mass. 

These researches also prove that the sulphate of copper cannot be 
introduced into bread, in very large quantity, not even in the propor- 
tion of 5.55 part, without injuring its appearances and arresting the 
fermentation of the dough. A disagreeable oder aiso becomes man- 
ifest as soon as the proportion of the sulphate exceeds ;,, part of 
the bread. 

The author expresses the hope that the numerous experiments, 
detailed in his memoir, will throw some additional light on the subject 
of panary fermentation—still too obscure to justify any attempt at 


On the Employment of Sulphate of Copper, &c. 279 


an explanation of the manner in which that process is affected by 
the various substances, which have been the subject of his trials. 
The art of bread making, one of the most ancient and the most use- 
ful, is probably as little understood, in theory, as almost any other. 
A perfect acquaintance with the theory of panification would proba- 
bly be of great utility, especially in the use of flour of an inferior 
quality, or of damaged flour. ‘The least discovery in the rationale 
of this process may become of great importance. Of what great 
utility has been the application of yeast, or how important in the fab- 
rication of bread has been the employment of the fecula of the 
potatoe ! | 

Whole volumes have been devoted to the culture of the cerealia, 
and seldom do we meet with a page on the making of bread, the 
final object of such cultivation. F 

While chemists have entered zealously into the process of sugar 
refining, extraction of gelatine from bones, the improvement of wine 
making, distillation, &c. bread, by far the most important article of 
our food, has scarcely engaged their serious attention. A few ma- 
chines for kneading dough, and those of recent invention, are nearly 
all that we find in the way of improvement. 

It is this continued ignorance with respect to the chemistry of the 
art, which causes bakers to lay-so great a stress upon every secret 
process. The remarkable effects of sulphate of copper and alum, 
greatly encourage their avidity. To obtain a whiter, more porous, 
and finer grained bread, and in greater quantity from a given weight 
of flour, and at the same time to dispense with the preparation of 
leaven, are advantages too great to prevent the apprehension that they 
will be greatly abused, and the public health grossly neglected. The 
proper authorities ought not to be inactive in a matter of so much 
importance. 


280 On the Employment of Sulphate of Copper, &c. 


TABLE. 
ES Boas 
Baa. lobes Observations. 
ie Sew 
ros — 
BI OaBE Bs 
iS) oD e 
Pie et oe Vee 4 
i ed to a Loaf fine, though rather compact,— 
Without for- | small eyes,—well baked, uniform grain, 
1; eign sub-) 62 | 28 pvery white, sweet or mild flavor. Re- 
Sion gee | sult rather inferior to what is: commonly 
| ney) obtained. 
| | Very handsome, fine grain, round and 
1 
i ae alae | elevated form, of a more beautiful white 
ela tanteh bie pean the preceding, on account of its 
of copper. an a 


J greater porosity. 


|) Ashandsome as the preceding,—-rais- 
ed throughout its whole width and con- 
sequently more voluminous. It was as 
fine a loaf as possible, but rather taste- 
_| less. It would be very difficult, the ba- 
ker stated, to obtain with this flour, by 
the common methods, a loaf so light and 
| elastic as those of Nos. 2 and 3; for if 
by increasing the quantity of yeast, we 
endeavor to swell it out, the bread will 
not be so light, and will be liable to ac- 
quire a bitter taste. It will at first rise 
and then sink in the oven. — If this result 
had been foreseen, the baker added, it 
might have been allowed to expand still 
more by putting more water inthe dough 
and kneading it more; the bread would 
J} have been as fine and larger. 


SSS eee 
bi 
a. 
(a2) | net 
5 
LS) 
f=) 
$$ nen 


BR Very fine bread, well raised in all its 
dimensions, color rather more gray than 
{the preceding, its odor somewhat like 
| brown bread. 


On the Employment of Sulphate of Copper, &c. 281 


ia (eee 
bs Brau S ; 
Bais) 3 Om a 
a ies ye 
ee 2558 Observations. 
£3s |zl4 
6| £62 |2/= 
ANDAs, Js. a Je | | 
xs | Loaf swelled to the largest size.— 
Very large eyes, color more grey than 
; inartst 5 No. 4. Dough sour smell, somewhat 
7300 2 
| idem 2 28 greasy. A similar odor, the baker states, 
is developed when too much: leavem is 
J put into the dough. ; 
" J i Rather less raised than No. 4. Very 
eae large eyes, color sombre, with a tinge of 
59.0 
ye oe 83 1283 ge smell like No. 5,. but stronger. 
oils Very greasy and heavy. - 
ae A 18% | ~A real dough, penetrated with several 
large holes, with blisters on its surface ; 
: | a humid aspect, green color, smell like 
eee eer 6 |25 r-sour starch, a doughy taste, with a me- 
tallic after taste. ‘The baker pretends 
that simple dough without leaven or 
He bek vcbiity by yeast, would have risen as much. 
Household bread, (pain @avoét ou de ménege.) 
“| 
alt Ree aaa [ey 07 »l Ordinary whiteness, but not so light 
“Be as common, tougher, well baked. 
“aha Incomparably finer than the foregoing, 
SOD | well risen, high in every part, more po- 
9jsul. of cop-| 8 | 28] $ ste ae P 
per { rous than No 8, color similar, odor much 
Cie sia aa the same. 
| At least as fine as No.9. The baker 
says it would be very difficult to obtain, 
| even with the greatest labor, bread of 
10|  -zas00 this kind, of so good a quality, without 


sulphate of copper. 'This is the more 
remarkable as it is the result of -a trial 
ona small scale, and of course under 
J unfavorable circumstances. 


282 Chemical Examination of the 


Sm) Bae 
=| ae ‘ : 
52 E 3: EE Observations. | 
Om es S 
Z eo x 
1 as a ses te Larger eyes than the preceding, more 
al 6a 29 ; moist, dough of sour smell, color dull. 
46 aay aie enh Eyes irregular, hollow within, moist, 
Lv hut wasnt “ |" |) brown color, smell strong. 
At) Ge ‘) Compact and heavy, very moist, brown, 
| : oO . 
ialb ie 73 | 26 ae sles sour. Its bad quality 1s 
{ owing to excess of copper. Longer ba- 
J king might have helped it. ~ 
TATE TRE a More pasty than the last, hollow, crust 
1 separates from the crumbs, green, very 
Hahn GAaP Balers f disagreeable odor, pretty free from ex- 


J cess of copper. 
Brown bread. 

Fine, rather flat, uniform grain, the 

smell of bran not disagreeable. 

Much lighter than the last, more moist and 
friable, deeper color, and doughy smell. 
)  Doughy, very greasy, sticking to the 
| knife, numerous large fissures, color very 
\ dull, smell of leaven, strong and disa- 
| greeable. Much injured by excess of 


copper. 


4 


LAE eee 74/125 


| bre 


Arr. VIIT.—Chemical Examination of the Bark of the White 
Birch; by Owen Mason, of Providence, R. I. 


Wuen residing in the country some years since, I had frequent 
opportunities of obserying the extreme combustibility of the exterior 
bark, or cuticle, of the white birch, (Betula alba,) and its durability, 
when exposed in situations favorable for a speedy decomposition. 
In every swamp where the white birch abounds, there are usually 
many trees which have been prostrated by the winds, and those will 


Bark of the White Birch. 283 


generally be found in a state of decay while the bark, which covers 
them, is entirely sound. ‘The bark may easily be collected in cylin- 
drical pieces, by shaking out its rotten contents. ‘These cylinders 
are frequently converted into baskets and other articles, and very 
often employed for kindling materials, and for torches, in the noctur- 
nal excursions of youthful anglers. Recollecting these facts, I was 
induced to undertake a few experiments, with a view of ascertaining 
to what principle the bark owes its inflammability, and its power: to 
resist the ordinary agents of decay. 

_A portion of the bark, chipped fine, was acted upon by boiling 
water. ‘I'he water separated neither volatile oil nor wax. It con- 
tained some extractive matter and tannin. Upon the same portion 
of bark, highly rectified alcohol was kept in gentle ebullition a long 
time. ‘The alcohol was decanted off and suffered to cool, and a very 
copious curdly precipitate formed. When the whole of the alcohol 
was evaporated, a granular substance was obtained, which resembled, 
in appearance, the lighter varieties of muscovado sugar, or more 
closely, the sugar from starch. . This substance possessed the follow- 
ing properties: It was extremely combustible, and when thrown upon 
hot coals, it diffused throughout the apartment, a peculiar and very 
agreeable odor. It fused at a temperature of 454°.* After fusion, 
it resembled the darker varieties of the resin from pine. By friction 
it exhibited negative electricity. It was insoluble in water, but it 
readily dissolved in alcohol and ether.. With several of the essential 
oils it combined, but with much greater difficulty than common resin. 
With the oil of turpentine, however, it very readily formed a clear 
solution. It combined with solution of potassa, and from this alka- 
line solvent it was separated by the addition of an acid. 

These characters entitle this substance to a rank among the resins, 
and at the same time, they are sufficiently distinctive of a peculiar 
variety. ‘The high temperature at which it fuses, and the odor afford- 
ed when thrown upon hot coals, are characteristic of no similar body. 
The bark, when acted upon by repeated portions of boiling alcohol, 
becomes no more combustible than ordinary woody fibre, and as all 


* A small quantity of the birch resin was put into a glass tube, and a like quan- 
tity of common resin in another. The tubes, together with a thermometer, were 
placed in oil, which was heated over a furnace. The temperatures at which the 


resins began to melt was noted. Common resin, under these circumstances, melted 
at 218° Faren. 


284 Chemeal Examination, &c. 


vegetable bodies, containing a large proportion of resin, are known 
to resist decomposition for ages, the combustibility of the bark and 
its enduring qualities when exposed to heat and moisture, are un- 
questionably due to its resinous ingredient. 

The resin constitutes a great proportion of the batke so great a 
proportion indeed, that when heated in close vessels, the whole mass 
appears to melt. It is singular that the resin, when so abundant, 
never manifests itself by a spontaneous exudation from the tree. 

In the course of some of the experiments detailed. above, I spread 
a portion of the resin upon a paper, and placed it upon a warm stove, 
with a view to dry it effectually. In this situation it was accidentally 
subjected to so high a temperature, that a portion of the resin began 
io melt. Attracted by the odor with which the room was filled, I 
immediately removed it from the stove, and was surprised to find that 
the whole surface of the resin was covered with brilliant acicular 
crystals, radiating from every elevated point, and crossing each other 
at every possible angle. ‘This crystalline matter resembled benzoic 
acid so closely that at first I supposed it was that substance, and con- 
sequently, the resin containing it belonged to the class of balsams. 
A subsequent examination, however, convinced me that that supposi- 
tion was erroneous although it was not decisive of the real nature of 
the substance. 

It is extremely difficult to obtain this body in large quantities, and 
no means that [ have applied, have proved more effectual than those 
by which it was first procured. It possessed the following properties : 

It experienced no change by exposure to the atmosphere for weeks. 
Tt was destitute of taste, and, at common temperatures, of smell. 
When gently heated, it afforded the peculiar odor of the resin. 

The copious vapors, arising from it, could be mhaled without any 
of that irritation of the respiratory organs which the vapor of benzoic 
acid occasions. . It was absolutely insoluble in cold water, and-very 
sparingly so, if at all, in hot. It combined instantly with alcohol and 
ether. Digested with dilute muriatic and nitric acids, imperfectly 
crystallized compounds were formed, which possessed a strong bitter 
taste. 

If this examination be too imperfect to authorise any decision upon 
the chemical nature of this substance, it is, I think, nevertheless con- 
clusive as to those properties which distinguish it from the benzoic 
acid, which it so much resembles in appearance. 


, 


On Analytical Geometry. 285 


Should this body prove to be a new proximate principle, the name 
betuline, suggested by a distinguished scientific gentleman, who has 
seen some of it, would be particularly appropriate. 

I have obtained considerable quantities of resin from the thin cuti- 
cle of the black birch, (Betula nigra). In its general properties it 
resembles that obtained from the white birch. It is, however, of a 
darker color, and gives off, when burning, a slightly empyreumatic 
odor. Ihave been unable to detect any of the crystalline matter 
in it. 


Art. IX.—On Analytical Geometry; by C. Witper. 


Let A, B, and C, be points in any surface whatever, connected 
by the lines AB, AC, and BC or a, y, and z, the shortest that can 
be drawn on that surface between those points. 


Cc 


Then 2+y>2, y+z>«, or z>x—y (x being greater than y,) or 
what is the same thing z<a-+y and >V(a-+y)? — Axy, : 
2<V(e—y)? +4ay and >x—y, 
and which shews by inspection alone, that when A and B are compris- ' 
ed between 0 and 1, that we may write zaV (o--y)? —4Axy, 
z=V (x y)? +4Bzy, 


from these equations, we find 


ra ean Cai es ee 
Upto a 
ign tg Me 9) ay ia (- plea) 


When therefore the angles of the triangle ABC depend on the relative 
position of the points A, B and C, A and B will be functions of those 
Vol XGX==Now 2: 37 


286 On Analytical Geometry. 


angles, and consequently independent of x, y and z. Let us make 
n= y=Ac=1, dhemy WH) iiy/Aqeegs | 
A2 eee) 


ret 
1 2 be 
SON wor 


It thus appears that A and B may be treated as jamevare solely of 
the angle BAC. Accenting, to designate the other angles, and we 
have z%=v? +y2+2(1—2A)ay ‘ (1) 
2? =x? +y?—2(1—2B)ay §~ 
y? =x? +22-+42(1 —2A’)xz t (2) 
yes aie — 2(1—2B’)axz 
xe? =y? +2?-+2(1 copie (3) 
pe ane —2(1— 2B” \yz 
From ihe identity of the second members of (1), (2) and (3), re- 
sult | A+B=!1 tet 
A’+B/=1 
A’ +B’=1 
Adding the corresponding equations of (1) and (2), and dividing by 
2x, of (1) and (3) and dividing by 2y, and of (2) and (3) dividing 
by 2z, we get 
v+(1—2A)y+(1—2A)2= (4) 
(1-2A)a+y+(1—-2A”)z= (5) 
(1 -2A’)o+(1-—2A”)yt+z=0 (6) 
From these three equations, we easily derive the equation of condi- 
tion (1~2A)?-+(1 2A’)? +(1—2A”)? +1 = 2(1—2A) (1 2A’) 
(1 — 2A”)=0, between the angles of the triangle ABC. 
Resuming the values of A Sail B, (obssanae that the difference of 
the squares of two numbers is equal to the produet of their sum and 
difference) and 


Qu? y? + 20227 + 2y2?z27—(a+y4 ana) ak 


x? 2 
(Gee) Na | at +2) (—#+y+2) 
vs y VA y 
im the same manner 
D m2 92 DQDy2x2 yore — {4 4toiv4 
GB 2x7 y? o 2 Zz ae Ei@ese Yl ae: ) 
16A”B” _ on? ue Bea cae dia mets $28) 


NB 22 AB ie AB ae 
and consequently, ANB! 92? ABI and Api e (7). 


On Analytical Geometry. 287 


When the angles of the triangle ABC depend on the relative po- 
sition of the Raiaits A, B, and C, it is manifest that AB, AC, and 
BC, are determined in position by the position of any two points 
through which they pass; let therefore AB/ or x’ be the continu- 
ation of AB, and then we have in the triangle BB/C 

B/C? =2'3 ee +2? 4+22(a/+2) (1— 2A’) 
writing for 22, its value, ©? +-y?4+2(1—2A)ay, and for (1 — 2A’) 
o+(I se iets 


its value, — ——", drawn from (4) and 


eee —2(1—2A)z'y. 
We thus see that in passing from the triangle ABC to AB/C it ts 
sufficient to change the sign of either x, or 1—2A. 

In the same manner, it is shown, that to pass from the triangle 
ABC to ABC’ along AC, the sign of y, or 1 — 2A, must be changed. 
Let us make in 2’? -+y? —2(1—2A)a'y=2” 

2 bc 

a’ =y=Ac=1 and then Ae iG 

The magnitude and position of 2, y, and z, being determined 
by the position of their extremities, the surface S, comprised by 
those lines must also depend on the same conditions. We ought there- 
fore to have S=F(xyo)=F'(xz9’), p and g’ designating the angles 
BAC, ABC, but from the equations (7) x?y?AB=2?2? A/D’ ; 
from which it follows that («?y? AB)” is the general term of F'; a 
therefore S=C(«2y2AB)*-+-p and then we shall have for the trian- 
ele AB/C, S’=C(a’?y? AB)* +p’ and for the triangle BCB’, S’/= 
CC a! +x)? 2? AB)? +p"s but S’=S-+S’ and z? A’B’=y?AB; we 
have then 

CX ((2’+2)?y2AB)* +p”=C x(y? AB)? (w!2* 02") 4op-p’ 
and consequently, (since this equation is identical,) when r=w’, 
(2x)? =2a? or 2° =2 we have then a=. In the same manner 
may it be shown, that in the second, third, etc. terms of the devel- 
opment of F, 8=4, v =4, etc. and consequently we have, S= 
pry/ AB, p being a Ae depending on the nature of the surface. 
Writing a AB, its value, and 


The eda of the first member of ee Bt into two fac- 
1 1 y—— 4 
tors of the same degree gives A?4B?2V —t=a-" (8) 
are pa =o" 3 


288 On Analytical ,Geometry. 


Pl ae eka, 
ok ie te) 
—~A?V —14+B?=a0™ 


' 1 at"tat 
and consequently A?=——, 
A wile ds) 
Ti oy/ a | 
1 aay LY, bs 
A?= — 
DT 
tn En 
Be eos 
2 


Comparing the 1st equation of (8) multiplied by —V —1, and the 2d 
by V —1, with the second and first of (9) and at" = Fq="V = 1. 

Elevating (8) and (9) to the power m, and eee the first 
members and their results, 


C?4D?V —1=atm, 
C?-D?V o1=a™, 
C2V —14-D? =ot™, 
—C? flea eS es et 


1 qin gt 
O72 2 
tinn —-mn 
ere 
Duy, ay 
rs et 
7 2a/ —] 
bane oer 
P ful 2 j 
It is thus seen that C2, and D:, are the same functions of mn, or 
eee At? Be 
mn’, that A“ and B* are of n, or n/, and consequently if > or 
a 


C 
subtends the angle BAC or n, 9 Os will, when not greater than 
unity, subtend the angle mun. 


On Analytical Geometry. 289 


AP 4 BEV 
at_piv=i 


mre 3 3 
(0! 28 22) a) 


Or putting 9 for the real factor of the second member, and n= 


From (8) we have ———4-~—- =a". - Or developing, 


eV —1, (9 designating the angle BAC,) it appears, from the 
equation an" =jatw —1, (if x designate the angle BAC) that 
aletiY = 11 y —1; the sum of these angles is thus seen to 


be constant.and to have opposite signs. Put o’, and 9”, to repre- 
sent the angles ABC, Oe and equations (1), (2) and (3), become 


a? ty? —ay(a~ dag? ime ACD 
vt bet mot’ Neen ay 
ye pet —ye(at V1 4 PY “Vyas, (ay 


and (4), (5) and (6) become 


+20V =1 4.gFeY 1 ae vol ev 


2x —(a- )y— (a )2=0,(4)! 
A a3 1), 42y-(a eae te 
ae Aly GeO +20” uf ms orl?! af =) 1) y-422-0,( (6)’ 
Qo St. hop = i 
te? Ree’ 
and since AaB a waa , (7) is changed to 


2 gtteV—l gieM a1. eV 1 2. 29v A 


Rea yp = ee ee = En na a Hf 
20 Nh 20 tee V1 _ 72 1 _ 
Resolving the first members of (1) into two factors of the first 


degree and we have the following equations. 
+29V ail fe) tt) 


—- Gi 2) 
jeeY tsar” J 
eee we +-y=20t” i 

20V —1 n/ f Co) 
ate? * --y==201 ; J 


290 On Analytical Geometry. 


Taking the difference of ihe two equations of (12) and 
it2oY =I - wieey —1 (tev =1_ ev 1 


— ; » and con- 
ym (fae 1 vey tiga 
sequently n= Dy —1. In the same manner by taking the differ- 
ence of the two equations of (13) n= —29"/ — 1; we have there- 


fore for (12) and (13) 


ie een? er, =29'V — 1 | 
2 zi Q9'V = 1 fice 
~—yat ? eg J 
Se Aas Wie Lag) 
Sete? i qu ake? 1) es 
apeey tae eer me 


Multiplying the first equation of (12) by — qth —1, , and com- 
paring with the second of (13)’, and ar ) vous — ond = me 
Bi / u RT Tina, wpe 
or better grote ae Mita =V—=1. Wescee from this equation, 
that the three angles of the ‘triangle ABC, are equal to the two 
BAC-+B’AC, and consequently that B/AC =o’ +0”=ABC +ACB. 
In a series of triangles whose sides are x, y and z, wv, y and z 

etc. and included angles 9,20, 3p, etc.; we have 


129V =1__ 20" = 1 


Payee 
a —20"'V/ —1 
ule TN oh d 
Atel iy 
L— yee? oe Tas ane | ete. 


Vet. 
and consequently when an? is aroot of the equation r"+1=0, 


different from unity, the first members are factors of x"+y"3 we 
B(o! Wy ms if 4 

have, therefore, 2’ "yy" =ezle"at Ar ee) ; etc. the 

theorem of Cotes, when the triangles have one side common. 


Cincinnati, April 15, LSs1. 


Central Forces. 291 


Art. X.—Qn Central Forces ; by. Prof. Tuzoporr Srrone. 
(Continued from p. 73 of this Volume.) 


Pur Fo=1-—ecos.¢, then Fnt=1—ecos. nt, F’nt=e sin. nt ; 
RE JHE d sin. ?nt 

ponee by (0) 1-ecos.p=1—e cos. nt-+-e? Fs 

e* d? sin.*nt 
19:3 ged 7 ree. but by (5) 1—e cos. a hence by substi- 
tuting this value, and the values of sin.2 nt, sin.*nt, &c. (see La 
Croix’s 'Traité de Calcul Différentiel, etc. p. 314,) then taking the 
differentials (as indicated hy the formula, making nd¢ constant,) and 


e2 e2 e* 
there results the equation a I+ gq —€ C08. nt — GCOS. 2nt — 1.2.22 


(3 cos. 3nt — 3 cos. nt) — a (4? cos. 4nt. —4.2? cos. 2nt) — etc. 


(1), (see Mec. Cel. Vol. I,p. 179.) It may be well to observe, that (s) 
gives the solution of Kepler’s Problem, supposing v to be calculated to 
terms, including e° only ; but it is easy to see that the value of v can 
be easily calculated by the method which I have given to terms in- 
volving any integral positive powers of e which may be desired. If 
e>1, the conic section is an hyperbola, a= its semitransverse axis, 

= its focal distance ~a, asin the case of the ellipse. In this 


a(e BR —1) ) p'2dv 

curve pale" — 1), t= 1+ecos. v (rs "(1 +ecos.v)2 v2” 
ef? £ (e?—1)? dv 

put p Oa aa, then Ce oeenarae NE (3). ° (By @) 


ya (Ee 


ae(e? — 1) sin sin. vdv 


= ine eee 
7 (-Eecos. 8)? 0 and sin. » Re ’ 
Lee eat € 
= —— 7 DU ean ? 
a ~ COS. P 
arf (a2) cee (22 
a 


if 
-1) (4), then ndt=ed tan. o — —* 


On. 7=a ( 
OS. P 


ose » or by inte- 


9, P 
gration nt=e tan. p—A.I. tan. ee 5] (5), v, g, and ¢ being reckoned 


from the perihelion, and P= the semicircumference of a circle rad 


292 Central Forces. 


—] e 


1-++ecos.v Cos. t; 


=1. By comparing (2) and (4) 1 have 


hence tan. 5= n/ ttt x tan. ; (6); (see Mec. Cel. ps 187, Vol. I.) 


I will now suppose that the parameters of the conic sections are 
indefinitely diminished, so that they may be considered as differing 
insensibly from right lmes. Let a= half the transverse axis of the 
section, (if it isan ellipse, or hyperbola,) which is supposed to be in- 
variable, when the parameter is diminished ; r= the distance of the 
particle from the centre of force at any tiie t, V= the velocity of 
the particle, V’= the velocity of a particle of matter describing a 


: pepe! 
circle around the centre of force at the distance r, P= = the cen- 


tral force, (A= const.) ‘Then by ah and (11) given at pp. 331, 
332, Vol. XVII. V=V’ Wie ail (1) when the section is an el 


lipse; V=V’ wae (8) when it is an hyperbola ; and V=V'4/2 


Me A ances 
(9), when it is a parabola. Now ah ea) (On war/A, let 
i 


V”= the velocity of a particle describing a circle about the centre 
of force at the distance a, in the ellipse or hyperbola, and at any as- 


1/2 A 
ser Od A=aV”?, 


sumed distance, p, in the parabola; then 


when the section is an ellipse, or hyperbola, and A=pV”?, 


when it is a parabola; hence by substitution V’=V” /4 in the el- 
r 


lipse, or hyperbola, and V/=V” A) P in the parabola; by substi- 
r 
ie these values of V’ in (7), (8), (9), they become V= 


2a (0), ¥ avin / att (11), Vawen/2P (12,) 


ee aly: Now when the parameters of the sections are indefi- 
nitely diminished, it is evident that the focus in which the centre of 
force is situated may be considered as coinciding with the nearer 
vertex of the ellipse, or hyperbola, and with the vertex of the par- 
abola, also the ellipse may be considered as coinciding with its trans- 
verse axis, and the hyperbola with its transverse produced, also the 


Central Forces. . 293 


parabola coincides with its axis; hence supposing the particle to re- 
cede from the centre of force, it may be considered as moving in the 
axis of the ellipse at the distance (r) from the centre of force, or at 
the distance(r) from the centre of force in the axis produced, in the 
case of ie len ai and at the distance (7) in the parabola; 


hence — 7 by substituting this value of V in CLO LU) sl 2), 


aN nce AN) A) nl wads 
and by reducing they become Wane Voge 


=VW'dt (13), == 


rdr De 
VWdt (14), pasar (15). Tt may be well to observe that V, 


V’, V”, &c. are not supposed to have the same values in the three 
cases treated of; but supposing them to be adapted to any one case, 
their values are supposed to be altered when they are applied to the 


2a—r 


other cases, so as to suit those cases also. Put cot. o= Ls 


(16), cot. gan / ett (17), and cot. @ van? (18), then 


 eoseodd odo aV” 
2 Tez 


(13), (14), (15) are easily changed to 
rT? COSEC. & ‘do! ri 2 cosec. 2( La fa // j Vu 
a 5 Xdt (20), ae ail = 


(19), 
: Sr? cosec.? od: 
(21)5 or ae integration (19), (20),(21) become = an 


Mt 


<dt 


Sr? cosec.20/dp! ae Sr? cosec.20/do”” 
Sg 00 C8) gee ae 


me (22) 


7 V4 / 


xt (24); S being the sign of integration, and it may be observed 


that no correction is necessary supposing ¢ to commence when r=0. 
(22), 23), (24) indicate Newton’s constructions, (Prin. Vol. I. Sec. 


7, prop. 32.) (22) gives his case 1. for (see his fig. 1,) @—o= his 


r? cosec.2odp. 
3 = 


angle CBD, r=CB, 2a=AB, r cosec.p=BD, and 


Sr? cosec.2 odo 
the differential of the area BD, .:. cot = the area BD, 
the integrals commencing when r or CB=0, hence in his fig. 1. 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 38 


204 ! ; Central Forces. 


VM UW 


AV Pave iat 
Xt (25) or because Q = const. tis as the area BD, or 


BD= 9 
supposing the particle to fall from A, the time from A to B is to the 
time from C to Bas the area of the semicircle ADB to the area BD. 
In like manner (23) gives his case 2. (see his fig. 2.) the axis AB 
of his rectangular hyperbola =2a, CB=r, AC=2a-+r, and 


: Sa 
cot. fa FT = tan, ang. CBD, .".3 —9'=CBD, hence »as 


4 Vv" 
before the area BD= xt (26), and the time from C to B is as 


the area BD. Also (24) gives his case 3. supposing that p= the 
semiparameter of his parabola, (see his fig. 3.) r=CB, then 


5 sO P . 
cot. An ees tan. ang. CBD .”.5 — 9’ =CBD, hence as before 
r 


yr 
l have the area BD > Xt (27), and the time of motion of the 


particle from C to B is as the area BD. Again, (25), (26), (27), 


agree with Newton’s conclusions, (Prin. Vol. I. Sec. 7, prop. 35,) 
/! : 


VG 
the areas BD in (25), (26) are equal to = in which a= the ra- 


dius of the circle described by the particle at the distance a, from 
latus rectum 
2 


the centre of force = of the circle, or rectangular hy- 


perbola, and V’t= the arc of the circle described by the particle 

aV''t. BS ne 
in the time ¢, se the area described by the radius vector, a, 
in the circle (rad. =a,) whence his first case is evident; also his se- 
cond case follows in the -same manner from (27), the radius of the 
circle in this case =p= half the latus rectum of the parabola. Also 
Newton’s constructions of props. 36 and 37, are evident from what 
has been done, his 37th being equivalent to supposing that V, V’, r 
in (7) and (8) are given to find a; whence by squaring those equa- 
tions and writing them in the form of proportions, his proportions 
will be obtained for finding a, &c. but as these proportions are very 
simple, I shall here leave them. 


Solution of a Diophantine Problem. 295 


Arr. XI.—An easy solution of a pabpndiein Problem ; by A. Dz 
Wueeter, Principal of the Latin Grammar School, Salem, Mass. 


Problem.—To find two squares, whose sum shall be a square; or 
in other words, to find rational values for the legs and hypothenuse 
of a right angled triangle. 

Rule.—Take any two numbers, of which the difference is 2. 
Their sum will be the root of one square; their product, that of the 
other. Add 2 to the product, just found, and you obtain the root of 
the sum of the squares, or the value of the hypothenuse. 

Example.—Take the numbers 10 and 12; then 10+12=22= 
the root of one square, and 10X 12—120= that of the other. 
Furthermore, 120+-2=122= the root of their sum; since (22)? 
-+-(120)?=(122)?. ‘These quantities may be multiplied by any 
number whatever, and their products, when squared, will still answer 
to the conditions of the problem. 

Demonstration.—Let z represent the smaller number, and z+2, 
the larger. Their sum z+-(z+2)=2z+2 [A], and their product, 
z.(z+2)=2?+22[B]. Now (2z+2)?+(2?42z2)?=z!+4234 
8z2+82+4= a square, whose root is 2?+42z4+2=(z242z)+ 
2[C] = the product [B]-+2. Multiplymg the expressions [A], 
[B], and [C], by m, and squaring, we have m?(2z+-2)? +-m2(z?-- 
2z)* =m? (z4+422+822+824+4) =m? (z24+224+2)?, whatever 
be the values of m and z. Q. E. D. 

When m=0, and zis an odd number, the quantities [A], [B], 
[C], are prime to each other. But when zis even, these quantities 
may be divided by 2, and by no other number. For, if we suppose 
the quantity [B].to be divisible by n, then, when vis a prime number, 
either z or 2-4-2 must be divisible by it. -Because, if a prime num- 
ber will divide neither factor, it cannot divide the product. (Euler, 
App. 10). But since the difference between z and z+-2 is only 2, 
the number. n, when greater than 2, cannot divide them both; and, 
consequently, cannot divide the quantity [A]. (Bonnyeastle, p. 145). 
Again if [B] and [C] are divisible by n, then the parts of [C], (z?-+ 
2z) and 2 may be divided by n. But, it is plain, that this cannot be 
done, unless, as before, n=2. 

If x be not a prime number, it is necessary to remark, that all 
compound numbers may be resolved into prime factors, each of 


296 Solution of a Diophantine Problem. 


which is capable of dividing the same quantities as its compound. 
If therefore no prime number will divide a given eae no num- 
ber whatever will divide it. 
Now, assigning to 2 integral values, ma dividing by 2, when ¢ is 
an even numer, we form the following table. : 
EAR «| MEE Le) [D] (FI [F] 
2242 2°4+22 2°+22412 


z=0, ie) 0 2, dividing by 2, 1 Od 
eget 4 3 nm) | | 
2=2, 6. 8 100 Span Tee ic 
2=3, 8 15 itefs boy 

z=4, LO} ay (4 OG ances coh 12) ie 
25, 18 35 37 3 
z=6, 14 48 50 ce Ser leg 2086 oS), 
cial § 16 63 65 

ao, 


18 80 82 Kc ce O-AO ea 
EO 20 99 101 


This table may be extended at pleasure; and since each set of 
numbers may be multiplied by m, it appears, first, that the proportion 
between the sides of rational triangles may be infinitely varied ; 
and secondly, that-different values may be indefinitely assigned ion 
the proportion between the sides remains constant. 

The following properties of the numbers in the foregoing table are 
worthy of notice. 

1. If the numbers in the column [A] be subtracted from those in 
the column [C], the difference will be a square. Ex. 101—20=81. 

Demonstration. (2?-+-2z2+2)—(2z+2)=z? a square. , 

2. If 1 be added to the numbers in the column [B], the sum will 

bea square. Ex. 3+-1=4=0, 8+1=9=1 We. 
Demonstration. (z?-+-22)+1=2?4+22+1=0.* 

3. If 1 be taken from the numbers in the colunm [ C], the remain- 

der willbe asquare. Ex. 101-1=100=0,,82—1=81=0 &c. 
Demonstration. (2?+22+4+2)—1l=z?+2z2+1=0 

4. The numbers in the column [F] are all composed of the sum 
of 2 squares, taken, two and two, in the regular series 1, 4, 9, 16, 
&e. Ex. 5==1-44, 13=449, 25—9+16, &e. 


a 


* This is the demonstration of a property stated some weeks since in the Albany 
Evening Journal, and thence copied in the National Intelligencer. 


Halos. 297 


Demonstration. ‘These numbers are half of the corresponding 
numbers in the column {C]. The expression for them, is there- 


g2) Baie 
fore eee which is composed of the two squares 74 and 
2? ) : : 


Arr. XI.—Halos.—1. Souar.: 


Some account of an Atmospheric Phenomenon, seen.a few years 
since, in the County of Otsego. (Froma paper read before the 
Albany Lyceum.)* 


Communicated by 8. DpeWirr Buooncoop, Esq. 


- On the morning of the 7th of February, 1823, a very brilliant 
parhelion, or halo, round the sun,.with anthelia, or mock suns, in the 
circumference of the circle, was observed by many persons in the 
county of Otsego. The writer, in company with some gentlemen 
of this city, (Albany) was travelling in the town of Decatur, on the 
road.to Cherry Valley, when, at about 8 o’clock in the morning of 
that day, the phenomenon alluded to, was distinctly visible on “the 
right hand side of the road. A large and_ brilliant circle surrounded 
ne sun, and at the extremities of the horizontal diameter were two 
mock suns, very bright, with conical tails, opposite the true sun in 
the center. The day was cold and stormy, and the air was filled 
with dry and shining particles of snow which apparently hung over 
the brow of the hill, upon which the road ran. The sun had ee 
20 degrees of altitude. ‘The wind was due West, and the halo was 
very large. It is impossible at this time to ascertain its size, but it 
appeared to be of great magnitude, and very near the spectator. It 
lasted about ten minutes, and then vanished. 'The weather for the 
two or three following days was cold and stormy. 

The. writer of the above statement regards the socenevane hither- 
to given of such phenomena, as not altogether satisfactory, or rather, 
that of some of them no'real explanation, has been given. Water 


* The explanatory remarks are abridged froma manuscript communication to the 
Editor. 


298 ; Talos. 


in the atmosphere is concerned in their production; in the case of 
hail, he supposes that the spherical drops of water congeal -into the 
same form, and that the spicular, prismatic and stellar form of snow 
flakes, depends on erystallization from the state of vapor. The 
light which comes to the eye, in cases like that described above, 
passes through a compound medium. 

A cloud of rain, snow or ice intervenes between the eye and the 
luminous body. ‘The cloud is near or distant. 

It will be large in direct proportion to the angle of vision which it 
subtends, and the diameter will be in an exact ratio to the visual an- 
gle. ‘The various sizes of these halos are explained by the case of 
a-rainbow, the continuity of whose are depends on the continuity of 
the cloud, and the edge of the cloud limits the extent of the refrac- 
tion (for there the medium is broken off, and is at an end); so it 
follows that the size of the cloud will control the limits of the reflec- 
tion in the corresponding case of a halo, or simple corona.  Sup- 
pose the sun elevated, and acloud of dry, glistenimg snow inter- 
venes between it and the spectator. ‘The whole mass becomes re- 
flective like water, or like glass, or like a semi-opaque body. _ At the 
extremity of the cloud, or at the densest part, the rays will be most 
strongly attracted and reflected, since it is proved that light is subject 
to this general law, and they will represent a circular image, for they 
proceed in right lines from a spherical body. 

Although refracted by the earth’s atmosphere, they move in equal 
parallelism, as well after as before refraction. All the direct rays 
from the sun passing through the’ cloud would represent that object, 
while those striking the cloud, in other angles, would have the angles 
of incidence and reflection equal, or in other words, would be reflect- 
ed to different pointsof sight, and give to other spectators at the other 
positions a similar image. If the ciréle be white, the rays, as pos- 
sessing equal refrangibility, are called homogeneous, if colored, het- 
erogeneous, because unequally refrangible. ‘The halo seen on the 
7th of February was of pure white, the rays were homogeneous, 
and the medium transmitting them was consequently of the same 
refracting and reflecting power throughout, a fact which goes very 
far to support the theory already projected. 

We have heard of many facts- which show that entire clouds be- 
come the media of reflection. On the Alps the figure of a man 
is seen by the wondering shepherds. In Sicily the Fata Morgana 
are well authenticated, and within our own knowledge a fact exists 


‘Halos. 299 


which puts the matter entirely beyond dispute. While Commodore 
Hardy was lying off Boston, during the ‘late war, his whole ship’s 
crew observed, during a particular state of the atmosphere, the figure 
of aman, resembling a sailor of a colossal size reflected in the 
heavens. : 

If the particles of the atmosphere had reflected each its respec- 
tive image, the object would have been confused, shapeless and 
obscure. | 

The halo being thus accounted for, the anthelia, or mock suns 
yet remain to be explained. As yet nothing of this kind has been 
attempted. The best works, within our reach, are silent on the sub- 
ject, but yet it is evident that at the particular points, where they are 
seen, a greater collection, and a greater reflection of homogeneous 
rays must take place than at any other. 

The idea most obvious is this, that those direct rays of the sun, 
which would otherwise have passed off uncollected, are attracted to 
the edges of the cloud, drawn within its influence, and then refracted 
and reflected to the eye of the spectator. 


2. Lunar.— West Point, March 27, 1831. 


In observing a beautiful halo around the moon, on the night of the 
20th inst., I was led to consider the cause of this onan phe- 
nomenon; I noticed that the inner part of the halo was about 10° from 
the moon, that its breadth was about 3° or 4°, and that the brightest 
colors were in the middle of the ring. Near the edge of the moon 
the sky was of its natural color; as wel! as I could determine, the 
color of the concentric rings, which formed the halo, were as follows, 
(beginning with the inner ring,) pale blue, yellow, orange, and pale 
blue again. 

That this and similar phenomena are occasioned by the watery 
vapors in the atmosphere, is highly probable, and indeed it is ren- 
dered almost certain from the following experiment, which I perform- 
ed a short time after I observed it. I took a clear and smooth piece 
of glass with parallel faces, and after gently blowing the breath upon it, 
I held it up so as:to look through it at the moon; by means of the 
aqueous vapor which was scattered. in very small globules over the 
surface of the glass, the moon’s rays were refracted, producing all 
the different colors which I had seen in the halo. » 'The variety and 
brightness of the colors can be modified by the quantity of vapor 
which is attached-to the glass, and the size of the ring will depend 


300 Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britan. 


of course upon its distance from the eye. Now it is well known that 
since the specific gravity of watery vapor (at common temperatures) is 
less than that of the air, it will ascend from the surface of the earth, 
until the decrease in the density and temperature of the atmosphere 
causes it to remain suspended in equilibrio; and this it may do too, in 
quantities insufficient to destroy the azure ofthesky. From these facts, 
we may very naturally conclude that (the medium of the atmosphere 
representing the glass,) the refraction caused by the particles of water, 
suspended at a great distance in the air, will produce all the. com 
ances indicated by experiment. 

And it may be observed further, that the size and brightness of ! 
the halo will depend upon the distance of the vapor from the earth, 
and the quantity of it suspended in the air. 


Art. XIIl.—WNVotices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain. 


1. J. S. Mirier,* A.L.S. Curator of the Museum of the Bris- 
tol Philosophical Institution, was a native of Dantzig, the only son 
of truly respectable parents. He was designed by his father for 
commercial pursuits, and served an apprenticeship with M. Dennies, 
amerchant of his native town. He came to England in 1801, with 
a full resolution of proceeding to America, and with letters of re- 
commendation to persons in that country.’ The vessel in which he 
expected to cross the Atlantic had sailed on the day before his arrival ; 
and being thus detained in Bristol, he formed connections by phigh 
he was find ally induced to alter his purpose and to fix his abode in 
this city. Here he endeavored to establish himself in mercantile 
business, but his efforts were unsuccessful ; and it happened, unfor- 
tunately for his prespects in life, that Dantzig was at this period over- 
run and pillaged by the French. His father’s property shared the 
common fate; and of fifteen hundred pounds which had been left 
io Mr. Miller, nothing ever came into his possession except a box of 
valuable coins, which was concealed during two years in a church, 
and a very inconsiderable sum of money. He now devoted himself 
entirely to scientific pursuits, for which he had shown a strong incli- 
nation from his early youth, and he soon acquired very extensive in- 


* Phil. Mae, for January, 1831. 


Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain. 301 


formation in various branches of natural history. Some curious re- 
searches i in entomology introduced him at an early period to the ac- 
quaintance of Dr. Leach, and this was the first occasion on which 
his talents became known beyond the circle of his personal friends. 
The prospect of succeeding Dr. Leach at the British Museum open- 
ed a new field to his mind; and although he was frustrated in this 
expectation by the appointment of Mr. Children, he applied himself 
from this time with increased. energy to his researches in natural 
history. An investigation of the structure and nature of the organic 
remains of the Enerinus, for which the vicinity of Bristol affords so 
remarkable a field, now became his favorite pursuit. It was while 
he was engaged in the publication of his well-known work. on the 
Crinoidea,* that he became known to the Rev. W. D. Conybeare, 
by whom his merit was soon distinguished and very highly apprecia- 
ted. As the work was going through the press, Mr. Conybeare 
kindly undertook to revise.it, and, by correcting the peculiarities of 
a foreign idiom,+ to render it more acceptable to the public than it 
might otherwise have been. In this publication Mr. Miller had to 
surmount many difficulties; and although it became the means of 
spreading universally ‘his reputation as a profound and accurate natu- 
ralist, it was to him a source not only of. present expense, but of ul- 
timate pecuniary loss. ‘This may be attributed in part to his great 
liberality of disposition. I am informed that he gavé away not less 
than a hundred copies of his work, principally to individuals whom 
he supposed unable to purchase it. His pen was always ready and 
his services energetic in any scientific undertaking in which they 
were requested, as the many letters of thanks and ee. presented 
to him in consequence of such assistance will sufficiently testify. 

Notwithstanding the difficulties he experienced at his first publication, 
he was not discouraged. He contemplated and had arranged in his 
mind the materials for a second work on fossilized corals, and like- 
wise an appendix to that on the Crinoidea. There was scarcely a 
department of natural history to which he had not directed his mind 
with zealous and intense application ; ; and there is no doubt that he 


* There is a copy of this work in the library of Yale College, and this is a work 
which should be attentively studied by those who examine our transition and early 

secondary limestones. 

t This, however, was strictly confined to the correction of such idiomatic inac- 
curacies as might have obscured the sense to an English reader; in all other cases 
it was considered in every respect desirable scrupulously to preserve unaltered the 
author’s own expressions.—W. D. C. 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 39 


302 Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain. 


would have achieved more, as an original discoverer, than he has ac- 
tually performed, if his time and exertions had not been engrossed, 
during the last years of his life, by his occupations in the Museum 
of the Philosophical, Institution of Bristol, of which he was the cu- 
rator from the pertod of its establishment. 

Mr. Miller’s constitution of body, though not robust, was healthy, 
and during a period of.twenty seven years he had never a day of 
severé indisposition. His cheerfulness and temperance were re- 
markable. ‘The unceasing activity of his mind was apparently too 
great for the physical energy of his body ; and the confinement to 
oh ich he wasof necessity subjected, in consequence of his appoint- 
ment in-the Institution, probably contributed to undermine his health, 
which began to give way about three years before his death. He 
was married.in the year 1806, and has left a widow and three sons. 

“As a natur alist, Mr. Miller was well fitted by the habits of his mind’ 
to cooperate in the researches of an age, of which it is the peculiar 
merit to obviate ‘the reproaches once, perhaps justly, cast against 
mere systems of classification, and to found such arrangements upon 
the just and philosophical g grounds afforded by the exact determina- 
tions of science, and the general principles of ‘physiology and com- 
parative anatomy. ‘The labors of Baron Cuviermay be cited as the 
ereat model in this line; but among those who in this country have 
followed the sathe course, the subject of the present memoir assur- 
edly deserves very favorable mention. "To. an acuteness of mind ~ 
which readily seized on general relations, he joined the most inde- 
fatigable patience of laborious. investigation,—a quality particularly 
requisite in the branch to which he especially directed his attention 5 
viz. the elucidation of the history of the organic remains which are 
preserved i in our strata in,a fossilized state. fn. this state individual 
specimens generally occur ina more or less imperfect condition, so 
that the real type of the organization can cuitony be ascertained with- 
out the most careful comparison of many particular-relics. ‘They ~ 
are likewise; in many instances so imbedded in thevsolid rock, that 
the most essential. parts are concealed, and cannot: be detected with- 
out the nicest dexterity of manual operation. When these circum- 
stances are taken into the account, we may fairly appreciate. the la- 
bor and talent necessary to produce such a work as Mr. Miller’s ac- 
count of the fossil Crinovdea. ‘This family of organic bodies, from 
the delicate beauty. and interesting character of many of its speci- 
mens, had long excited the attention of naturalists ; but still our whole 
knowledge on the subject, previously to the appearance of Mr. Mil- 


Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain. 303 


ler’s work, was in the highest degree * vague and indeterminate. His 
-researches, however, have established in the most complete manner, 
and have placed in every respect in the fullest and clearest light, 
the whole history and relations of this curious family. He has de- 
monstrated its arrangement into four divisions, including nine genera, 
and more than twenty species. . Of each ‘species he has developed 
the whole anatomy with the same exactness as if they had been re- 
cent objects easily preserved, overcoming the many and, great obsta- 
cles which, as it has been always noticed, the fossilized state presents 
to such inguiries. Persons who are at all aware of the complicated 
structure of the Crinozdea, and the numerous articulations which 
enter into’the composition of each individual, must feel all the ar- 
duousness of such a-task; but those only can fully appreciate the 
extreme care with which it has been performed, who have had an 
opportunity of examining Mr. Miller’s collection of original speci- 
mens now deposited in the Museum of the Bristol Institution, and 
of comparing these with the illustrations published in his work, | 

The great merit of this treatise secured its immediate reception as 
the standard. work on the subject, by all the scientific writers. inter- 
ested in similar pursuits on the continent as well as in this country ; 
and reference is now uniformly made to it-as such. .The author had 
intended to follow up this work, as before mentioned, by a similar 
examination of our coralline remains; but it is feared that he has 
left no papers on this branch at all prepared for publication. A pa- 
per of his, published in the Transactions of the Geological Society, 
contains very valuable contributions towards the history of our fossil 
belemnites, and has been most favorably referred to’ by the French 
author who has subsequently joy ele the standard monography of 
that depattment. 

Mr. Miller’s.talents have been highly estimated by the ablest of 
our naturalists and geological writers.’ Professor Blumenbach, Ba- 
rom Cuvier, MM. Latreille and D’Aubigné, have expressed in letters 
to him high commendation of his works. Professor Bucklatd. ob- 
tained his assistance in arranging the valuable collection of organic 
remains belonging to the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. ‘The same 
Professor, in his very interesting paperon the recent discovery in 
this country of fossil remains belonging to the flying reptile the Pter- 
odactylus, mentions that Mr. Miller first suggested to him the possi- 
bility, thus confirmed, that the fossil bones commonly supposed to 
belong to birds really appertained to that animal. And Mr. Cony- 


304 Notices of Eminent.Men deceased in Great Britain. 


beare, while drawing up the lists of the organic remains in our strata, 
which are given in his “ Outlines,” was in the common habit: of ap- 
pealing to Mr. Miller’s authority. 3 

In surveying the results of Mr. Miller’s scientific acquirements 
and of his exertions, we must not forget the important benefits ren- 
dered by him to the Museum of the Institution of which he was Cu- 
rator. It may safely be affirmed, that the history of similar collec- 
tions, does not present another instance in which so rapid'a progress 
has been made in accumulating the varied stores connected with 
such undertakings; and the rapidity of this progress must undoubt- 
edly be ascribed in a great measure to the energy and zeal of the 
Curator in the service, and to the interest which he so well knew 
how to communicate to those with whom he came into intercourse. 

2. Major James ReENNELL* was descended from an ancient and 
respectable family in Devonshire, ‘said to be of Norman origin. His 
father was a Captain in the Royal Artillery, and fell at the siege of 
Maestrich. James Rennell was born at his father’s house, Upcott 
near-Chudleigh, in Devonshire, on the 23d of December, 1742. 
He entered on the naval service of his country at a very early age, 
where his spirit and exertions soon attracted. the notice of Sir Hyde 
Parker, with whom he sailed in the Brilliant frigate to India. After 
the conclusion of peace, his eager desire for active service induced 
him to quit the navy, and he obtained a commission in the corps of 
engineers belonging to the East India Company. His zeal and abil- 
ity in discharging the duties belonging to this station obtained for him 
the friendship of many superior officers, and especially of the great 
Lord Clive; and he was soon promoted to the station of Surveyor 
General in Bengal. ; 

The fatigues attached to this civil employment were sufficient to 
exhaust the strength of any European constitution, conducted as 
were the surveys, with indefatigable industry, along the banks of the 
great rivers, periodically ‘overflown and perpetually damp. But 
these Were not all: Major Rennéll in encountering dangers which 
are inseparable from military renown, had suffered wounds so severe 
that he was, I believe, twice left exposed on the field of battle, and 
never recovered from their effects up to the latest period of his life. 


* This notice and those that follow, are taken from the address of Daveis Gilbert, 
Esq. Pres. of the Roy. Society, at their anniversary, Noy. 30th, 1830. 


Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain. 305 


These altogether compelled his return to England, and alone ‘pre- 
vented him from attaiming the highest military stations. 

Retired to private life, the whole energies of his mind were di- 
rected to scientific and, literary pursuits. We have, founded on his 
exertions in India: An Atlas of Bengal—A Map of the Mogul 
Empire.—Marches of the Army in India.—A Map of the Peninsula. 

But the mental powers of Major Rennell were far from being con- 
fined to one region of the world. 

- We have from his pen a work on the Geography of Africa. And 
with a vigor of intellect that may well call to our recollection the 
greatest of the Roman censors, he acquired at an advanced age a 
competent knowledge of Greek for consulting the early writers in 
that language, and gave to the world, The Geographical System of 
Herodotus, including the Expedition of Darius Hystaspes to Scythia ; 
The Site of Babylon; The Temple of Jupiter Ammon ;° ‘The Per- 
iplus of Africa, &c.; and A Dissertation on the Locality of ‘Troy. 

The attention of this great investigator of every thing connected 
with the surface of our globe, extended. itself from. mountains and 
plains to the waters of the ocean; and produced a most curious in- 
vestigation of the currents prevalent in. the Atlantic, and of accumu- 
lations caused by certain winds in the English Channel. 

And lastly, I would mention a very ingenious mode of ascertaining 
distances, and connecting with their honaiies the actual localities of 
spots in the Great Desert, by noting the average rate at which cam- 
els travel over those worlds of sand. 

This is a very imperfect catalogue of the works published by Ma- 
jor Rennell; and Iam happy to add that several more exist in man- | 
uscript, destined, we may hope, at no distant time, to appear. 

Major Rennell has-been honored by’ the Copley medal from this 
Society; by the gold medal from the Royal Society of Literature ; 
he was a Corresponding member of the Institute of France; and a 
member of various other societies. ; 

Our regret for such a man, exerting his intellectual powers with 
so much energy and to such useful purposes, throughout the course 
of along life, and up to his eighty-eighth year, must always be strong 
and sincere; but we console ourselves with the reflection that he had 
attained the utmost ordinary limit of human life, amidst the respect 
and esteem of all who knew him, and that his memory is revered. 

3. Mr. Cuenevix was undoubtedly a man of considerable ability, 
acqtirement and industry. We have from him sever different com- 
munications to the Philosophical Transactions : 


306 Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain. 


An analysis of the arseniates of copper. -—Observations on Dr. 
James’s powders, with a method of preparing a similar substance in 


the humid way.—Observations and experiments upon oxygenated - 


and hyperoxygenated muriatic acid.—An analysis of corundum.— 
Observations on the chemical nature of the. humors. of the eye.— 
Inquiries concerning the nature of a metallic substance, under the 
title of Palladium.—On the action es platinum and. mercury on each 
other. 

In the latter years of his Jife, which could not have rescHee three- 
score, he appears to have abandoned chemistry, and to have fallen 
on speculations wholly unworthy of being noticed from this place. 


4. Mr. Surruson, then called Miele, and an undergraduate,. had . 


the reputation of excelling all other resident members of the Uni- 
versity in the knowledge of chemistry. He was early honored by 
an intimate acquaintance with Mr. Cavendish; he was admitted into 
the Royal Society, and soon after presented a paper on’ the very cu- 
rious concretion frequently found in the hollow of bambu canes, 
named, Tabasheer. This he found to consist almost entirely of si- 
lex, existing in.a manner similar to what Davy long afterwards dis- 
covered in the epidermis of reeds and grasses, 


-Mr. Smithson enriched our 'Fransactions with seven other commu- 


nications :—Achemical analysis of some calammes. —Account of a 
discovery of native minium.—On the composition and crystallization 
of certain sulphurets from Fuel Boys m Cornwall.—On the compo- 
sition of zeolite —On a substance procured from the.elm-tree, called 


Ulmine.——On a saline substance from Mount Vesevius.—F acts rel-- 


ative to the coloring matter of vegetables. 

He was the friend of Dr. Wollaston, and at the same time his rival 
in the manipulation and analysis. of small quantities. Ayaéy 0’ Epis 
52 Gooroist. « Mr. Smithson frequently repeated an occurrence with 
much pleasure ahd exultation, as.exceeding any thing that could be 
brought into competition with it,—and this must apologize for my in- 
troducing what might otherwise be deemed an anecdote too ‘ and 
trifling on such an occasion as the present. 

Mr. Smithson declared, that happening to observe a tear gliding 
down a lady’s cheek, he endeavored to catch it on a crystal vessel : 
that one-half of the drop escaped, but having preserved the other 
half, he submitted it to reagents, and detected what was then called 
microcosmie salt, with muriate of soda; and, I think, three or four 
more saline substances, held im solution. . 


Notices of Eminent Men deceased in Great Britain. 307 


For many years past Mr. Smithson has resided abroad, principally, 
I believe, on account of his health: but he carried with him the es. . 
teem and regard of various private friends, and-of a still larger num- 
ber of persons who appreciated and admired his acquirements. 

5. Mr. Henry Browne.—No one, Ff believe, was ever more 
distinguished in the important station of commanding those vessels 
which secure to England the commerce of nations unknown ‘to 
former ages; nor did any one more largely contribute towards intro- 
ducing the modern refinements of nautical astronomy, which. skill- 
fully pursued, and under favorable circumstances determine the place . 
of a ship with greater accuracy, than what in the early part of the. 
last century would have: been thought amply sufficient for headlands, 
roadsteads, or harbors.of the first importance. And I cannot omit 
this opportunity of congratulating all those who addict themselves to 
astronomical pursuits, or who feel an interest in the perfection of ge- 
ography and navigation, on the great improvements recently suggested 
and likely to be made’in our national ephemeris; improvements 
which, in part atleast, I hoped to have got adopted twelve years 
ago: but now under more fortunate auspices I flatter myself that 
_ they will-be carried into execution, and theit practical advantages 
cannot fail of being very great. 

Retired to-private life, Mr. Browne usefully amused his declining 
years by a continuance of his favorite pursuits; and up to the latest 
period of his life he patronised, encouraged, and one practical 
astronomy. ° 

6. The late Duke or Aruont demands also attention, not on ac- 
count of his high station, but as a patron of science, and. especially 
of that most important, interesting and pepidlys! improving branch ‘of 
science, geology 

Geology, derivate its birth from the continent of Europe, seems 
‘to have been drawn to this island by the genius of Dr. Hutton, and 
here to have grown with the vigor of youth under the fostering hands 
of many who now hear me, ‘and also of a gentleman to whom the 
Duke of Atholl afforded every assistance to be derived from his 
large property, and his extensive influence. 

The Duke of Atholl has also at once enriched and decorated his 
country ; and afforded an instructive example to all other proprietors 
of similar wastes, by clothing tracts of land, incapable of a different 
cultivation, with the most valuable of the pmes. His forests of larch, 
which have acquired maturity in the course of a single life, promise 


308 On the Rapid Production of Steam. 


not merely to supersede the use of foreign deal, but to allow of our 
reserving the tree always esteemed the peculiar pride and boast of 
this island, for the construction of ships of war on the largest scale. 
7. Sir Taomas Lawrence stands proudly preeminent among na- 

tive artists, and perhaps among artists of the whole world, in that 
department to which he exclusively applied the powers of his genius ; 
nor would, I am persuaded, the great painter of the preceding age 
have been unwilling to admit him as his equal in the delineation of 
portraits—not_ the servile copies of individual features, but poetic 
likenesses, where every excellence is heightened, where the mind is 
depictured, and where the particular person seems to embody the 
class of virtues, of intellectual powers, or of amiable qualities desig- 
nating the moral order in which he is arranged. 

This constitutes’ unquestionably a department of historical paint- 
ing, not inferior, perhaps, nor even less erect of acquirement than 
the others, where all is imaginary. . | 

The name of Reynolds must, and_ for various reasons, ever will 
stand first.on the list of those who have cultivated in this country the 
whole extent of an art, the most refined, requiring talents the most 
rare, and at the same time the most delightful of all that have sprung 
from the human mind ;—but that of Lawrence will be hailed by the 
Academy as their Spes altera, and their Decus gemellum. 


Art. XIV.—Observations and Experiments on the rapid production 
of Steam in contact with metals at a high temperature ; by Wat- 
TER R. Jounson, Professor of Mechanics and Natural Philoso- 
phy in the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia. 


By a reference to the number of this Journal for January of the 
present year, the reader will find an account of the method of per- 
forming the experiments detailed in the following pages. From the 
data fliers furnished, we may readily calculate the quantity of steam, 
of atmospheric pressure, which would be generated by any known 
quantity of iron that should become red hot. ‘Thus, should a boiler 
twenty feet long and thirty inches in diameter, with a returning flue 
one foot in diameter, be constructed of iron one fourth of an inch 
thick, the exterior shell would give a curved surface of 157 square 
feet, and as the specific gravity of good boiler iron is 7.770, it must 
weigh 10 pounds 2 oz. to the square foot. The whole exterior 


On the Rapid Production of Steam. 309 


cylinder would therefore. weigh 1582 pounds, exclusive of any al- 
lowance for rivets and for double thickness at the joints. The 
weight of the interior shell or flue will be 636 pounds. As the fire 
is supposed to act on one half of the outer shell, and on the whole of 
the flue, there would, in case of the heeling of a boat, sufficiently to 


throw all the water out of one boiler, be no less than 6364+—5 = 1427 


pounds of iron exposed to the direct action of the fire, ie liable to 
become red hot. By the first series of experiments detailed im the 
paper above alluded to, (page 296,) we see that one pound of at- 
mospheric steam will be generated from water at 212° by every 
nine pounds of iron, at a low red heat, in day light ; ponsequentlys the 


metal above supposed would be sufficient to produce —9—~=158$ 


Ibs. of steam from water at 212°, whenever a change of position 
should favor its influx in sufficient quantity to cover, either by actual 
submersion, or by violent agitation, the surfaces of the flue and lower 
arch of the boiler. To calculate the effect of this weight of vapor, 
we must compare its bulk with the steam-room left in the boiler. 
The whole interior capacity of the latter is but 82.4 cubic feet ; but: 
in the condition of things now supposed, a small part cal of this 
space is occupied by water. 

The bulk of steam becomes known by comparing its specific 
gravity with that of the water from which it % formed. ‘Thus, as- 
suming the specific gravity of common air, at 60°-Fah. to be .00122 — 
of that of water at the same temperature, as determined by Biot & 
Arago, the specific gravity of steam compared with air at-60° being 
-481 to 1, the specific gravity of steam compared with water at that 
temperature, is .00058682. As 1585 lbs. of water at 60° measure 
—- 2,b = 2-936 cubie feet, the atinospherie steam, w hich can be ob- 


tained from i it will be=2.536-—.00058682 =4321 cubic feet ; : which, 
4321 362 
divided by the capacity of the boiler, gives 82,4 = 52354524) 
nearly, for the number of atmospheres of pressure, supposing the 
whole to be condensed and confined in the single boiler, within 
which we have shown that it may be generated. ‘This would give 
786 Ibs. to the square inch. But upon the supposition that while 
heat continues to be applied to the boiler, from which the water is 
drained, its connexion with others remains uninterrupted, nearly the 
usual pressure will be maintained within it. This pressure may be 


Vout. XX:—No. 2. 40 


310 On the Rapid Production of Steam. 


stated at 8 atmospheres ; so that by adding the 522 derived from 
the over-heated metal we should have no Jess than 602 atmospheres 
or 906 Ibs. to the square inch for the resulting elasticity. This is 
upon the assumption that steam obeys the same law in regard to its 
relative bulk and elasticity, as that which governs atmospheric air. 
But if it do not follow that law, there is no probability whatever that 
the pressure would be /ess than in the direct ratio of the density. 

_ Before proceeding to the detail of experiments on other metals, I 
think it proper to present the following series of results, in which my 
main object was to ascertain, accurately, the rapidity of cooling of 
iron from incandescence down to 212°, taking into consideration the. 
temperature of the water, both at the beginning and end of the ex- 
periment, its weight in some cases, and the relation, in all cases, be- 
tween the weight of metal and the amount of its generating surface. 
These experiments were performed in an apparatus similar to that 
described in my former communication, but furnished with an at- 
tached thermometer to mark with accuracy the temperatures attained. 
The result, as will be seen, is, that the times approximate to an in- 
verse proportion to the generating surface. ‘This proportion will not 
be found to obtam, where part of the heat was employed in raising. 
temperature, and a part in generating steam. ‘The time demanded 
for cooling a given mass of metal from redness to 212°, by the latter 
process, must be greager than by the former, both because the tem- 
perature of the liquid, which is to receive heat, is greater, and the 
difference between it and the metal less, and because the surface of 
the iron is momentarily denuded of water and prevented from acting 
by aconstant and uniform communication. ‘The temperature, in a 
few instances, was calculated by multiplying: the weight of water by 
the number of degrees through which it was heated, and dividing the 
product by the weight of metal multiplied into its specific heat. ‘To 
the quotient was, of course, added 212°, the temperature at which 
the metal was withdrawn after every trial. 


On the Rapid Production of Steam. 


31l 


FOURTH SERIES. 


Showing the time in which iron, in a state of incandescence, may 
be reduced to the boiling temperature, either by heating water from 


different points, by 


{ 
| 


generating steam, or by both operations in suc- 


cession. 
Se Me Sz [sue |22 [a 
2S a! ne es) (Fels le a a) ( 
Be [2-3] £8 Wclegioe |e 
Seu ees ul ay OEUS wis , 
eS o| & eS L:o|2 NAY ics 
Se |S Sn |BPlSS\|eS |o &\Remarks on observed tempera- 
Be 15) 42 > [2 2ilselFe, (2s tur 
2s eB) £2 [Sessissas HS 
| SS. (8S) SS JESIFSQ ENS | 
68 Ze) a2 se 2. 8 
Sa | MOS aztisqiae O12 " © 
Sie | 
9 f Qune. | 1: .513 | 60,)140 | 81 Comparable. 
B8E || Slune. |1: O13 120 |212 |} 71 Clear red. | 
S22 ue IRE wes i 
Sen ie 
oe Atl 415. |1: 515 | 55 |190 | 126 Bright red. 
SO o (| 5/21.5 | 1: 515 | 60 [144 | 117 |1801 Very bright red. 
& mq (| Glune. | 1: .515 | 60 |212\) 114 | Bright red. 
B ON; | ll ji: .515 | 76 [180 | 95 1218 Above comparable. 
Ores J 
+ .)| Sjunc. | 1: .625 | 66 {100}. 90, Very bright. 
o's. || 9] 10 | 1: 625 | 80 |212 | 112 Do. 
gS. Very bright, continued red in 
| ae Jolunc. | 1 : .625 |212 |212 | 128 the water 82//, and ebullition 
| ceased in 46’ afterwards. 
=o J |Lj14 | 1: .625 [180 |212 | 110 Bright red. 
Sie is 
ie 12) ~, -|1: 2.75 | 60 j212 | 23 Comparable. 
= S'S | [13| S -| 1: 2.75 (100, |212"| 23 Do. 
EBS | fl4) Eg] 1: 2.75 [128 j212 | 33 Full red. 
‘om s (15) 7 &) 1: 2.75 (175 |212 | 41 Bright red. 
ae ( 16] S 9/1: 2.75 |180. j212°| 25 Comparable. 
SSE | 17) S2|1: 2.75 (212 |212 | 25 Do. 
Ze S| 18) S |1: 2.75 [212 212 | 28 Do. 
=S,, [|19) & |1:/2.75 [212 |212 | 36 Full red. 
Oma eI ’ 
io wr | 20)1.375) 1: 1.14 | 82 {18% 20 |1462 ; Clear oo 
FS ap 4 : 3ee|§ Rather less red, but above 
555 | 211.375]: 1.14 | 40 127 | 19 1288 connec 
= S.3:| |22/1.875)1:4.14 | 72/172 | 21 |1449) Clear red. 
£36 | 23/1.375] 1: 1.14 |100 |212} 25 | Do. 
2° @ | 24)1.3875| 1: 1.14 |112 |212 | 30 Do. 
& Goo (-25|1.875|1:1.14 |126 /212.| 3 Do. 
<3 “rt | (26/1.375} 1: 1.14 |148 [212 | 36 Do. 
aNd | 27/1.375| 1: 1.14 |168 {212 | 43 Do. 
WSs 8 | (28/1.375] 1: 1.14 |190 |212 | 75 Do. 
ie acs | 29)1.375| 1 :'1.14 |200 [212 | 77 | Do. 
loa 2 J (S0/1.375| 1: 1.14 [212 [212 | 78 Do. 


312 On the Rapid Production of Steam. 


_ FIFTH SERIES, cM 3 
With hollow cylinders of copper, presenting 149 square inches of 7 
generating surface—water kept at 212°. 


ares Boz) 2s 

= el 3 5 g Be = s l= 5 

oj oa] al s ‘ae - elie & 

di orge| S| 25 [se] ae 

5) oe 18] 2 8 ees| Ss baie , 

Sla S 1o!l Oo 5 1a.° 8) 4% 9 | ~ Heat observed. Remarks. 
A os 2 nS eg lo} . , 
o yon (= oe a os w 3 : \ 

ee, a=) = (5) a ‘| (cb) 5 oS 

Ol So lol] & Hel oO. 

-|-o a =) oes] ga 

6} 35 12) 5 SESH ie) Se 
(aie OE, AS s|_o 8 i 

1)158.50/75| 9.875}.0636 [16.050 Black. 

2)158.25/50|10.5 |.0663}15.071 Black. 


3lis7. |70|12.25 |.0780|12.816 3 Bice ae by aaa) a 


not in day light. 
4/159. |70/13.5  |.0S46)11.777 0. 
5|159.25/73)14.25 |.0895/11.175| Comparable dull red. 


6159. |45/14.25 |.0896|11.158 Do. } Tames. 
at once. 
W158. 155|14.5 |.0911|10.896| -° ‘Do. , 
-8)156.75|66/14.5.  |.0925,10.816 Do. tu 
-9)158.75)75)14.75 |.0929 10.762 Do. 
10/159.75)75) 15. .6939 |10.650 Clear red. 
11)157.5. |65)/15.25 |.0967|10.327) _ Do. 
12)/157.75/70|/17.25 |.1093] 9.145 Bright red. 


~ The mean amount of metal to the ounce of steam in the five ex- 
periments marked comparable in the above table, is 103.8, ounces, 
which may be assumed as 11 without sensible error. 
ie SIXTH SERIES, 
To determine the quantity of steam yielded by given weights of cast 
brass at red heat, when plunged into water-at 212°. 


| MAT OUES 
= —_ ac ~_ & 
cla |ale.les|zs 
oa, le Sg s o n d 
BIS ai 3 aS ou Soy | 
g Oo} © 9 3S O1 |, | b 
S| o-a) a 22h] Cah Col seeiy Heat observed. | Remarks. 
Ss n ae) O12) : 
Pye ols] e8el[xea r= | 
SSS | ale Syl eo os 
2 |o0 Cn celia be TES NS) | 
6}o s 5} Og Sao 
Zi Soeabes |e Sane ea MOniep enn mis LAD Null 
Red only ine Iq. 
11176] 70|15.75].0895111.809] § y.i8; | IPaimersetiat once. 


?. the dark. 


21176|120|16.5. |.0943110.6c6! ; aes “| Do. by degrees 
3/175] 60)16.75|.0958/10.448 Do. Do. at once. 
4)176)105)17. — |.0966)10.353 Do. ' | Do. more gradually. 
5{ 175 |120/17.25).0985)10.145 Do. Do. slowly. 

6}1'75 |120)1'7.25).0985)10.145 Do. - Do. Do. 
71175|180/18. |.1028] 9.722] Clear red. Do. Do. 

8/176] ‘75/19. . 1.1085] 9.263) Fullred.  ~ | Do. at once. 

SIPTG6 120/22. 1.1250) 8.000! Bright red. Do. gradually. 


On the Rapid Production of Steam. «318 


The five experiments which were made at a dull red heat in day 
light, and which were therefore marked ermpanae, prove that, on. 
an average, one pound of steam requires 10,22, pounds of cast brass — 
of that temperature for its production. It was observed that the vio- 
lence of agitation, when brass was employed, appeared to be much 
greater than when similar masses of iron were the subjects of experi- 
ment. ‘This was attributed to its higher conducting power. A repe- 
tition of this series might not exhibit precisely the same results, un- 
less the specimens employed should have the same pepe of in- 
ae and the same specific gravity. 


SEVENTH SERIES, 


With agus of standard silver, of various weights, from 214 to 1954 
ounces avoirdupois. 


Bleed =n. ELIE £ 

Bis ,2| 23 |e) 3% 

BI ecsale rien wu isin ea : 

See | 33 wel Sos 2 | Heat observed. Remarks. 

Vi wn S <2 ja D SSS . 

S| ms |e gi lse| 

sJ35)8| & ge | 52 

2\e°o/e. cm pee a ae Bed 

{)195.5/120|10; -- besa pli9.55019 Comparav(c,| } Immersed by de- 
& (dull red.) orees. 

2| 26.5] 30) 1375 |.0519)19.272) Do. Do. at once. , 

3| 26.5| 33) 1.5 |.0566)1'7.666 Do..: Do. Do. 

4) 26.5) 30] 1.75 |.0660)15.143) Clear red.- | Do. Do. 

5| 26.5] 32) 1.75 |.0660/15.143, Do. __ he) gradu- 

6| 41.2] 50) 3.0625].0740/13.453 Do. Do. at once. 

7 41.2) 55] 3.125 |.0758/13.120) Full red. Do. Do. 

8|195.5| 130/15. .0767|13.033 Do... - Do. gradually. 

9] 21.5} 30) 1.75 — |.0814 12.286 ‘Do. ~ Do. at*once. 

10) 41.2 a8 3.0 . |.0849)11.771 Do. De. gradually. 


( Do. at once; sil- 
2.5 ee 10.600 


Bright red. ver beginning 
Q to soften. 


11| 26.5) 30 


From a comparison of the three experiments marked comparable, 
in the above table, it appears that about 18,53, pounds of standard 


100 


silver will be required for generating one pound of steam. 


314 On the Rapid Production of Steam. 


EIGHTH SERIES, 


With an ingot of pure gold, weighing 14 lbs. 84 oz. avoirdupois,* 
and other circumstances as in preceding series, the following re- 
sults were given. 


a “A= le =} 2 
o wn |) wm Bll Ca 
Pies slau oa| es 
Pa SS BS) CONES 
~ faa} O|He also 
{se} S| ole Sia e, a2 
Slee! Ste gle bl ou 
Sate. | listo |e ees Heat of metal. Observations. 
| SP | sia Oo) a4] oe 
OC] eee | of eel irs) og 
6| 0 S & o os = 5 
Al = Be le lo eee 
The water had remained expo- 


1/232.25)100)2 oz. 00861116.1251Red in the dark.| 4 sed a short time, and probably 
lost a few deg’s before this exp. 
46.450} Comparable. Plunged ‘by degrees. 
Do. 


38.708} Comparable. 


2/232.25)120/5 << |.0215 
| 3/232.25/125|6 * |.0258 


The mean, of the two experiments, made at the temperature of 
comparison, is 42,52, pounds of metal to each pound of steam. ‘The 
extremely low specific heat of gold, renders necessary.every precau- 
tion formerly detailed, in regard to avoiding loss of temperature in 
the water between two successive experiments, and also demands 
peculiar accuracy and dispatch in the process of weighing. After 
all the efforts, which were made to insure a correct result, it may 
have happened that a few degrees of heat, in the gold, were expen- 
ded in raising temperature, and a corresponding deficiency in the 
quantity of heat of elasticity may have been the consequence. 

The following summary exhibits a comparative view of the several 
metals submitted to trial, as shown in the preceding series, indicating 
the mean result of those experiments in each series which were 
made at the comparable temperature. 

From all the preceding series it appears that at comparable tem- 
perature, each pound of steam requires for its production of | 


Cast iron, = 2 81 pounds 
‘Wrought iron, = - = LELEG & 
Wrought copper, = - - LO Be ince 
Cast Brass, = i Ni) sei ae 
Standard silver, . SG ppl oes ae 
Pure gold, =, = ey Al@ = &c 


* The above mentioned mass of gold, at the mint valuation of 45'; cents per grain, 
was worth $4105.448.' For the use of this, as well as of several ingots of silver, and 
for other conveniences in these experiments on the precious metals, f£ am indebted 
to the politeness of Dr. Moore, superintendent—Mr. Eckfeldt, chief comer—and 
other officers of the United States’ Mint. 


On the Rapid Production of Steam. 315 


If the temperature assumed for comparison be precisely as much 
above 212° as is equal to the number of degrees of heat, which be- 
come latent in water while it passes into steam, it is evident that any 
substance at comparable temperature, and possessing the same spe- 
cific heat as water, would generate its own weight of steam in cool- 
ing down to 212°. But if its own specific heat be less than that of 
water, its weight must be proportionally increased, and then. the 
effect of cooling will be the production of the same weight of steam 
as before supposed. Hence as the specific heat is directly propor- 
tional to the quantity of steam which a given weight of metal would _ 
produce, the latter may, at a known temperature, be assumed as a 
measure of the former. By the following comparison it will be ev- 
ident that the temperature adopted in these experiments was nearly 
identical with that which I have above alluded to, and which exceeds 
212°, by the amount of latent heat (990°) in a unit, by weight, of 
steam. 


Steam to the unit of metal. Specific heat. 
Iron, 111 1100 Petit & Dulons. 
Copper, .0907 0949 «i ec 
Brass, .0940 -1100 Dalton. 
Silver, .0532 0557 Petit & Dulong. 
Gold, 0236 .0298 ce it 


It must be annie that the above statements of specific heats, 
taken from Petit and Dulong, are those of the-mean effect from 0° 
to 100° centigrade. ‘That of silver, for example, is .0557 within 
these limits, but if the mean specific heat found by them from 1° to 
300° cent. be adopted it will come somewhat above the result of 
my experiments, that is .0611. 

The method which has thus been adopted adds another to the 
means heretofore employed for determining the specific heat of many . 
solid and gaseous substances, or at least of verifying the results of 
former methods. ‘The three modes, just alluded to, are those of 
mivture, of meliing ice, and of cooling im avr, the last in particular 
seems liable to many objections on account of the ‘different conduct- 
ing and radiating power of the bodies, and the different natures of 
the surface which may be given to each, whereby the time of cooling, 
which is made the measure, will be exceedingly variable. 

The calorimeter, of Lavoisier, is not regarded as correct in its 
indications, on account of the subsequent congelation of a portion ’ 
of the ice, melted by the hot body, and the rise of temperature in 


316 On the Rapid Production of Steam. 


water by mixture involves the necessity of considering the increase 
of pie Ge the containing vessel, together with its separate 
at t, I yefore any qgcurate result can be anticipated. The 


a ism a 1s liable to. Paiaten from any of these sources of 
ne The only modifying ¢ cause, which deserves much attention, 

ie barometric pressure during the experiment, which involves also. 
ee consideration of the specific heat of steam under different press- 
_ ures, but as this source of error may be obviated by performing ex- 
periments at uniform pressures, we need hardly take it into view, in 
estimating the general correctness of the mode now Lae gen of 
verifying the specific heats of bodies. 

_ By knowing at what- temperature we plunge a piece of metal un- 
ae boiling water, the weight of the metal, and its mean capacity for 
heat, we may readily infer, from what is known of the quantity of la- 
tent heat in the unit by weight of steam, what weight of the liquid 
will be boiled \off while the metal is reduced from a superior tem- 
perature down to 212° 

Thus let the peri of the metal above 919° =t 

Its weight re 3 

Its mean capdeity between 212° and the known temperature =c 

The latent héat of atmospheric steam =/ 

The weight of steam which the metal can produce =s 


|  tew 
Then wills={~ ‘Thus, suppose ¢=2000°, e=.1111, w=160z. 


teow 2000X%.1411 X16 | 
and [=990°, then we shall have iq Fin argo. ana 335 Uh 


ounces. 


From the above formula we derive immediately an expression for 
the temperature are all the other elements are known; for ls=tcw, 


ls 
whence (ae >“so that when we would determine the actual tem- 


per ature of a body above 212° , whose specific caloric has been care- 
fully ascertained, we have nl to find ona weight of vapor it will 
produce in coming down to the point of ebullition; multiply this by 
the latent heat in steam, and divide the product by the product of the 
weight. of heated matter multiplied by its specific heat. Upon the 
basis of this proposition I have constructed an instrument called the 
steam pyrometer, to be applied to the measurement of heat in incan- 


Safety Apparatus for Steam Boats. 317 


descent metals, coals, and furnaces, to mark the melting point of 
metals, to verify the results presented by « other instruments ‘employed 
in. similar operations, and to answer some other pra retical and scien- 
tific purposes. As the instrument would require ‘a drawing i in order 
to be fully understood, a description of it is postponed to a future oc- 
casion ; several series of experimen, on other points of the subject 4 
are likewise deferred. Big Ne OMI 1 a a 


Arr. XV.—Safety Apparatus for Steam Boats, being a combina- 
tion of the Fusible Metal Disk with the common Safety Valve ; 
by A. D. Bacue, Professor of Natural Philosophy and ate 
in the leu sigh of Pennsylvania. 


= (Eetraniod from the Journal of the Franklin Institute for April, 1831.) __ 


Amone the causes which produce the explosions of steam boilers, 
no one stands more prominent, whether we have regard to the fre- 
quency of the explosions caused by it, or to their violence when they 
occur, than a defective supply of water within a boiler when in ac- 
tion. When the supply of water afforded to a boiler, is insufficient 
to compensate for the water-which is converted into steam, the level 
of the fluid within is lowered; the boiler itself becomes heated, of- 
ten intensely, and the steam partakes of this temperature without, 
from an insufficient supply of moisture to give the density correspond- 
ing to that temperature, having a corresponding elastic force. Of 
the existence of such a state of things within a boiler, the ordinary 
safety valve gives no indication, the tension of the steam within is 
not sufficient to overcome the weight withwhich the valve is loaded; 
it not only ceases to deserve the name of safety valve, but the open- 
ing of it, by hand, may be the very means of producing an explosion : 
for the escape of steam, thus permitted, relieves the water within the 
boiler ‘from pressure; the fluid rises in foam; and being thrown into 
contact with the heated sides of the boiler, (or, as is supposed by 
some, being projected into the hot and unsaturated steam,) is flashed 
into steam, too considerable in quantity to find a vent through the 
valve, and of an elastic force sufficient to defy the controlling power 
of the materials used in the construction of the boiler. ‘The raising 
of this valve is not necessary to the production of an explosion in 
the circumstances supposed, a supply of water suddenly introduced 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. Al 


318 Sufety Apparatus for Steam Boats. 


will produce the same dreadful effect. ‘That such circumstances 
have frequently occurred, and have as frequently caused the results 
above described, is fully shown by the various authentic accounts of 
explosions on record. 

The memoir of M. Arago, a Pe sation of which is contained in 
the Journal of the Franklin Institute,* furnishes proofs of this fact ; 
and the explosion of the boiler of the Chief Justice Marshall, during 
the last summer, has, I conceive, been fairly referred to the occur- 
rence of similar circumstances. 

~The French Academy, when called upon, in 1823, to report to 
their government, the precautions to be used to prevent the explo- 
sions of steam boilers, satisfied of the insufficiency of the common 
valve to insure safety, required that in addition to two safety valves 
of the ordinary construction, one at the disposal of the engineer, the 
other under lock and key, there should be two plates. of fusible 
metal covering apertures in the boiler; the one having its melting 
point. at 18° EF. above the temperature of the steam, which, accord- 
ing to the statement of the proprietor, made when his engine was es- 
tablished, was required to be used in the engine, the other at 18° 
above the fusing point of the first: the fusing point of each is thus, 
even in a high pressure engine, much below the temperature to which 
the boiler being heated there would be danger of explosion.t Now 
whether the steam be very elastic or not, so soon as it, or the boiler, 
arrives at the temperature requisite to fuse these plates, they melt, 
and the steam is discharged ; this, too, below the limit of tempera~ 
ture at which such a discharge of steam would, according to the 
statement made in the former part of this article, be attended with 
danger. 

These plates are made of alloys of bismuth, tin, and lead, in pro- 
portions varied according to the temperatures at which they are re- 
quired to melt; by covering each with a piece of fine wire-gauze, it 
is prevented fore swelling out by the effect of softening as it verges 
towards the fusing point. 

Euxperience has shown that these plates.can be relied on, confi- 
dently, to answer the ends proposed. In the stationary engine we 


i 


* Vol. V. No. 6, and Vol. VI. No. 1, 1830. 

t Iron at a dull red heat has a temperature of 947° F. while steam of eleven at- 
mospheres corresponds according to the late determination of Arago and Dulong te 
a temperature of 367.34° F 


Safely Apparatus for Steam Boats. — 319 


should thus, by borrowing from our brethren abroad, be provided 
with a certain remedy against explosions caused by the circumstances 
we have endeavored to explain, and also against the bursting of the 
boiler from an accumulation of steam within, should any accidental 
derangement of the common safety valve preventits action. This de- 
vice would be of the greatest value if applicable to steam boat boilers, 
for, being entirely without the control of the engineer, caution would 
be roduded by the fact that any attempt to raise the steam above 
the proper pressure, or any inattention to the supply of water within 
the boiler, would be immediately made known to the captain and_ 
passengers by the noisy efflux of steam through the aperture opened 
by the melting of this tell-tale plate. If the plate were placed within 
sight of the passengers, the only means of an improper kind, to 
which the engineer could resort, to prevent its fusion, (sometimes 
practised in the stationary engine in France, according to M. Arago,) 
viz. keeping it cool by the application of water to its a ace, would 
be entirely cut off. 

The reason why this plate has eeu considered inapplicable to 
steam boat boilers, in general, is obvious; when the plate melts, all 
the steam must escape from the boiler, and the apparatus must cool 
before it can be replaced by a similar plate ; this sudden desertion of 
the prime mover of the engine might, in certain cases, put the lives 
of the passengers in almost as great jeopardy as an explosion; in- 
stances, in an exposed navigation, will readily occur on reflection, 
such as a boat on a lee- Shore! &c.. In all cases such a desertion 
would be attended with very great inconvenience. , 

The remedy for this, and one which staples and consequent 
ease of application seem to recommened very particularly, will now 
be stated. If, as is hoped, this apparatus shall be found to remove 
every objection to the use of the fusible plate in the boilers of steam 
boats, it will insure the exemption of passengers from a_ portion at 
least of the dangers to which they are now so often exposed. 

The method, which I would propose, is to combine the fusible 
plate, with the ordinary safety valve. Such a plate affixed to an 
opening of a proper size, in the boiler, as near as may be practicable 
to the highest line which is exposed to the direct action of the fire, 
is covered with a hollow cylinder, of a greater diameter than the 
aperture Covered by the plate, the base of which presses upon the 
edges of the plate, while the top is arranged as the seat for a coni- 
cal, or flat valve, of the ordinary kind; this valve will be habitually 


320 Safety Apparatus for Steam Boats. 


open, and when required to be used to prevent the escape of all the 
steam, will be pressed down, as is usual, by a weight acting by the 
intervention of a lever. ‘This apparatus should be so placed upon: 
the boiler as to be seen by the passengers, who are thus enabled to 
know that all is right, while the lever attached to the valve is in an 
elevated position, showing that the valve is raised from its seat; this 
lever is kept in its raised position, by a cross bar, supported on up- 
rights, to which it is attached by a strong chain fastened by a pad- 
lock; the key of this lock being in the possession of the captain of 
the boat, the chain cannot be slipped, and of course the lever cannot 
be lowered, to close the valve, except through his agency. | Suppose 
the steam or the boiler to become heated to the fusing point of the 
plate; it melts, steam issues through the small cylinder covering the 
plate, with a noise, which even at night would arouse the captain and . 
passengers; if no danger will be incurred by loss of steam, and the 
consequent stoppage of the engine, such an escape should be allowed 
as a measure of precaution, though it is by no means one of neces- 
sity, since the limit of temperature producing fusion is much below 
that required for explosion. ‘The alarm given, the steam gauge, 
should derangement of the safety valve have prevented its action, or, 
the usual practical observation upon. the issuing steam, will show 
whether the fusion of the plate was caused by an accumulation of 
steam, or by the defective supply of water; this may be further 
tested by the guage cock; should it prove that the water is below 
the usual level, a supply can be introduced without danger. A se- 
cond plate, arranged in a similar manner to the first, fusible at say 
20° F. above this, should be also provided, that the same means: of | 
safety may remain in case of accident to the first plate. The vigi- 
lance of the engineer would almost be insured by the use of these 
plates, from a knowledge that his inattention could not escape de- 
tection and its consequences. _ Passengers would be guarded against 
the results of carelessness, should it exist, and captains, as well as 
the public, would have the means of knowing accurately the value 
of those employed in the responsible station of engineers. ‘The 
want of patronage which would inevitably attend an ill regulated en- 
gine, would soon correct evils now so formidable. 

By the annexed figures, the method of arranging the fusible plate 
and safety valve, is shown in detail. 


Safety Apparatus for Steam Boats. 321 


Fig. 1, representsan = | ‘Fig. 1. 
oblique view of part of 7 
a boiler with the safety 
apparatus attached. An 
unfavorable case, as to 
the space occupied by 
the apparatus, is taken, - 
namely; that of a high 
pressure boiler required 
to work with steam of 
150 lbs. bursting pres- 
sure, (ten atmospheres, ) 
rendering it necessary _ ill fil 
to load the valve with rather more than 150 pounds. 

Fig. 2, gives more in detail the method of arranging the fusible 
plate, ee bene a section of the apparatus. ‘The area of the aper- 
ture closed by the plate is taken at 3 square inches, which is one 

half more than the area of the safety valve commonly used in a high 
pressure boiler of 3 feet in ; He 2. 
diameter by 10 feet in length. 
A, B, Fig. 2. is the aperture 
closed by thé plate, C, D, of 
fusible metal, covered by a. 
piece of wire gauze to pre- 
vent the plate from yielding 
as the temperature approaches" 
its point of fusion. The plate _ 
is surrounded by a cylinder, 
K, I’, G, H, of a greater diameter than the plate, terminated, above, 
by the valve seat E, F’. Should the fusible plate, in giving vent. to 
the steam, be thrown upwards, as an expression used by Arago in 
relation to it, gives reason to suppose, the valve should not be in the 
cylinder, EK, F, G, H, but in one at right angles to it, so that the 
valve ‘seat should not be vertically over the fusible plate. The valve, 
1, K, is represented of the usual form, though it may be questioned, 
whether this is the’best which can be given: it is drawn in the posi- 
tion which it should habitually have, that is, so far raised from the 
seat as to give an opening for the escape of steam, equal in area to 
ihe valve. 


322 | Review of Renwick 


To retain the valve in its position, the lever L, M, fig. 1, is fas- 
tened toa bar of iron, N, O, (supported by the uprights, N, P, and 
O, R, of the same material) by a'chain, which is attached to N, O, 
at one extremity, and which passing round the lever, returns through 
an opening in.N, O, to the top of the bar, where it is secured by a_ 
padlock. In the drawing the area of the valve, I, K, is 44 square 
inches; this, at 150 lbs. to the square inch, requires a weight of 675 
Ibs. to press it down. The short arm of the lever is 1$ inch, the 
long arm 30 inches, the weight, T, is then about 33 lbs. 

To raise the valve sufficiently above its seat, requires in the case 
figured, stanchions of 12.4 inches high. The whole apparatus thus 
occupies less than three feet in length, and eighteen inches in height. 
The dotted lines represent the position of the valve when, after the 
fusion of the plate, it may have been closed. : 


———— 


Arr. XVI.—Treatise on the Steam Engine; by James Renwick, 
LL. D. Professor of Natural Experimental Philosophy and Chem- 
istry, in Columbia College, New York. New York: G.& C. & 
H. Carvill: 1830. pp. 328. 


Tue Steam Engine has become at the present day an object of 
intense interest. ‘The magnitude and variety of its performances 
awaken the highest admiration, while its resistless energies, triumph- 
ing as they sometimes do over the ingenuity of man that controls all 
things else, inspire almost a superstitious awe and reverence. In the 
fabulous ages, men would have invested it with the attributes of di- 
vinity, and would have offered to it incense to propitiate its favor. 

The Steam Engine, moreover, affords the most striking exempli- 
fication of the natura! alliance which subsists between philosophy and 
the arts,;—an alliance which, though it is so obvious to the present 
age, and so natural in itself that, as Professor Playfair remarks, what 
is a principle in science is a rule in art, was still scarcely dreamed of 
before it was pointed out by Lord Bacon. ’ As this is the united and 
most noble production of both science and art, so no one is qualified 
to compose a treatise on it who is not a proficient in both. No other 
man can comprehend it in all its vast relations; no other can effectu- 
ally explore the causes of ihe dangers that still environ it; none can 
with so much probability hope to find the means of obviating those 
dangers; none can judge so well of proposed improvements in its con- 


on the Steam Engine. — 323 


struction; none is so likely to discover new methods of improvement. 
Before we can control the powers of nature, we must learn their laws 
or modes of action; and our dominion over them can be commensu- 
rate only with a knowledge of their properties. By studying the prop-. 
erties of flame, and especially of that which results from the combus- 
tion of the mixed gases extricated in coal mines, Davy was led by a 
short and easy route to the discovery of the safety lamp; and it was 
by learning the properties of the electric fluid, that Franklin subject- 
ed to his control the lightning itself. 

Professor Renwick, we are happy to say, possesses in an eminent 
degree the qualifications to which we have alluded. - Well versed in 
both mechanical and chemical philosophy, he is qualified to expound 
the varicus scientific principles that are necessary to be understood, in - 
order to a complete knowledge of the construction of the Engine, or 
of the nature of the dangers which attend it, while his situation at 
the fountain-head of steam navigation, and his extensive intercourse 
with manufacturers of steam engines, and the most successful build-' 
ers of steam boats, afford him great facilities for becoming intimately 
acquainted with the practical part of his subject. Under these fa- 
vorable impressions of the author, we took up the work before ‘us 
with the expectation of being highly gratified and instructed; and 
we are happy to add, that the perusal has not at all disappointed us. 
We can therefore cordially recommend this Treatise, as a work which 
contains an able and succinct account of the Steam Engine in its va- 
rious forms, presenting a perspicuous view of this great subject in its 
multiplied relations, as it regards its construction, the means of insur- 
ing its safety, its applications, and its history. ! 

Under the head of “Mechanical and Physical Principles,” with 
which the work commences, we are presented with a concise but lu- 
minous view of those principles of mechanics, and those laws of 
heat, which relate to the Steam Engine. This part of the work is 
well adapted to a numerous class of readers, embracing a large pro- 
portion of the practical men for whom the ‘Treatise was designed, 
who have not had an opportunity to acquire this knowledge in the 
regular course of education; and to many who had once acquired 
the same information, it will serve as a useful review, and nothing 
will contribute more to a clear and intelligent acquaintance with the 
whole doctrine of the Steam Engine, and with all the discussions that 
arise respecting the,sources of its dangers and their proper remedies, 
than a fresh and familiar knowledge of these elementary principles. 


324 Review of Renwick 


After principles have been studied in the abstract, we love to see 
them brought into near connexion with the arts which they illustrate, 
and we renew our acquaintance with them with increased pleasure, 
when we recognise them in their useful applications. 

The article on Combustion, in the second chapter,, is particularly 
worthy of attention ; and we know not where to find, within the same 
compass, more siaefal information on this important subject, not mere- 
ly in reference to the Steam Engine, but to the ordineay purposes 
of life. 

We do not propose to follow our author through all parts of his 
work, but shall have chiefly in view those parts which are at present 
peculiarly interesting to the community, namely, the means of secur- 
ing safety in the use of the Steam Engine. 

The dangers of the Steam Engine are obviously of a twofold char- 
acter,—such as result from defective construction of the machinery, 
and such as arise from the peculiar nature of the moving force. The 
work before us begins with the consideration of the former, particu- 
larly as it relates to the construction of bozers. We subjoin an ex- 
tract on the materials of boilers. 


Boilers are always of metal, and three different materials are used 
in their construction: wrought iron, cast iron, and copper. Wrought 
iron and copper are rolled for this purpose into plates and ‘sheets, 
which, after being bent to the proper form, are united by bolts, driven 
through holes punched around their edges, and‘riveted. When cast 
iron is used for boilers, they may either be of a single piece, or it 
may be cast in separate portions, which are united by screw bolts and 
nuts, passing through holes left or drilled in flaunches. Of the two 
first, copper is most easily worked, but it is by far the most expensive 
material, and is therefore now used only in a few instances, where the 
others are, from the circumstances of the case, inadmissible. Copper 
is much less easily acted on by oxygen, than sheet iron; it acts 
less powerfully on the saline deposits, that oecur when sea or other 
impure water is used; in addition, it*is less liable, than either of the 
other materials, to split or.crack on sudden changes of temperature. 
Sheet ‘iron is more tenacious than copper, but is liable to rapid oxida- 
tion, and has frequently invisible joints arising from the manner in 
which it is manufactured. Still, however, when the water used is 
iolerably pure, it is the best material, if we take into view the strength 
and compararive cheapness.—p. 67. 


on the Steam Engine. , 325 


Upon the- subject of employing tubes instead of boilers, upon 
which so much was said-a few years since, our author offers the fol- 
lowing remarks. 


As the quantity of steam generated, depends wholly upon the sur- 
face of the boiler that is exposed to heat, and as the saving of weight 
is, in many cases, advantageous, it.-has been proposed to use a combi- 
nation of tubes for boilers, which will expose a much greater surface, 
in comparison with their‘internal capacity, than larger cylinders ; for 
it is a mathematical law, that while the surfaces of cylinders of equal 
length increase as the diameters simply, their internal capacity in- 
creases with the squares of that dimension. A saving may also be 
made in the material of which the tubes are constructed, for the 
strength of a metallic tube to resist an effort to burst it, increases in 
the inverse ratio of its diameter. It has also been proposed to im- 
merse such tubes wholly in the flame, and inject into them, from time 
to time, a certain quantity of water, to be converted almost instantly 
and wholly into steam. ‘Such were the original boilers of Babcock. 
The first of these plans has a speedy limit in practice,’ and the last 
is wholly inadmissible, as will appearfrom the following considerations: 

1. The presence of a conducting body in the midst of the flame, 
will cool the gas of which it is composed, diminish the intensity of 
the combustion, and the draught of the chimney... 

2. When tubes are actually heated to the proper degr ee, and no 
longer act to cool the flame, the flues must be made short enough to 
permit the air to enter the chimney as soon as it is cooled down 
to the temperature of the tubes, otherwise, instead of heating them 
farther, it will tend to cool them.—pp. 72 and 73. 


Another very serious objection to the use of tubes in the place of 
boilers (the tubes being immersed in the flame,) is found in certain 
anomalous effects produced upon steam when brought into contact 
with a highly heated surface, effects to which we shall advert more 
particularly by and by. It is an additional objection to tubes, that 
the deposits of solid matter, which fall from almost all water when — 
evaporated, and which are greater in proportion as the water is more 
impure, become harder and more compact than when the boiler is 
kept full of water. They also adhere more forcibly to the metal, 
and are more liable to corrode it. The author, however, concedes that 
this method has the advantage of being free from all risk of explo- 
sion, and that there are of course cases where this advantage may 
be worth obtaining, even at the sacrifice of a considerable quantity 
of heat. 


Vol. XX. wine 2. 42 


326 Review of Renwick 


But we cannot fairly: estimate the degree of strength necessary to 
be maintained in the boilér, and the other parts of the apparatus, or 
understand the various precautions necessary in order to insure 
safety in the use of the steam engine, without understanding very 
fully the nature of the moving foree.. Let us therefore review the 
LEADING FACTS RESPECTING STEAM, especially such as relate to the 
subject before us. 

1. It will be recollected, that the great “and peculiar property, on 
which the mechanical agencies of steam depend, is its power of ex- 
erting at one moment a high degree of elastic force, and losing it in- 
stantaneously the next moment. ‘This force, acting on the ‘Otten of 
the piston, which moves in the main Cylinder, raises it, and fills the 
space below it with steam. ‘The steam is suddenly condensed, and 
hence no’ obstacle is opposed to the descent of the piston, but it is 
readily forced down again by steam acting from above. ‘This alter- 
nate motion of the piston, the rod of which is connected with the 
working beam, is all that is required in order to communicate motion 
to all parts of the éngine. . 

2. The elastic fonge of steam depends on the temperature at 
which it is formed; and the temperature necessary to its’ production 
depends upon the pressure incumbent ieee the water during its for- 
mation. 


Water is capable of forming vapor at all temperatures whatsoever. 
Its tendency to rise is, however, impeded by pressure, and thus it 
does not boil in an open vessel, when the rising of steam is impeded 
by the resistance of the atmosphere, until it reaches the temperature 
of 212°. But with each diminution of pressure, the boiling tempera- 
ture becomes lower, until, in the vacuum of an air pump, it boils at 
90°, ['70°?]. Hence, so soon as a portion of the steam is condensed, 
fresh vapor will be rapidly formed, at a lower temperature, and, al- 
though the expansive force of this diminishes in a geometric ratio, 
yet it is still capable of opposing a resistance to the motion of the 
piston. .This résistance is such that it has been found by experience, 
that the vapor of water at 212°, whose expansive force is equivalent 
to a pressure of fifteen pounds on every square inch, had never acted 
on the piston with a mean force of more than ten pounds, until means 
were applied to remove or obviate this resistance.—p. 117. 


The reason why water boils at the temperature of 212° is that, 
at that temperature, the vapor acquires just elasticity sufficient to 
overcome the atmospheric pressure. Hence, it is said that steam 


on the Steam Engine. 327 


produced at the temperature of boiling water; has a force equal to 
the pressure of the atmosphere. It has, im fact, a force a little 
greater than that, smce it overcomes that pressure. If we introduce 
a few grains of water into a vessel, as a flask, and place the vessel 
over the fire, the water will soon be converted into steam, which will 
expel the air of the vessel and fill its whole capacity. If we now 
close the orifice of the vessel and continue the heat, the steam will 
expand in the same manner as air would: do under similar cir- - 
cumstances, which is at a comparatively moderate rate, so, that it 
might be heated red hot without exerting any very violent force. If, 
however, the vessel is partly filled ols water, and the heat is con- 
tinued as before, then the elastic force is rapidly augmented, and 
becomes at length so great as to burst almost any- wescel that can be 
provided ; for every portion of new vapor that is raised from the 
surface of the water, adds to the density of that which was before in 
the vessel, and proportionally increases its elasticity. 


In experiments made by Perkins, steam was heated to a tempera- 
ture at which, if of a cerresponding density, it ought to have exerted 
a force of fifty six thousand pounds per square inch, but which did 
not exert a pressure of more than one hundred and fifty pounds.. The 
reason is obvious, for it was enclosed ina separate vessel, and its 
quantity remaining constant, it did not increase in density. Had, 
however, a small additional quantity of water heated under pressure 
to a high temperature, been injected, it might be inferred, that the 
steam would have acquired the density necessary to enable it to exert 
the force corresponding to its temperature. Perkins also established 
the truth of this inference by actual experiment. Water was heated 
in one of his generators, the safety valve of which was loaded with 
a weight of sixty atmospheres, to a temperature of 900°; a receiver 
was prepared, void of both air and steam, and.heated to upwards of 
1800°; a small quantity of water was then made to pass from the gene- 
rator to the receiver ; this was instantly converted into steam, whose 
heat was sufficient to inflame the hemp that coated the tube, at’ the 
distance of ten feet from the generator. lis temperature was there- 
fore estimated at not less than 1400°. In spite of this high tempera- 
ture at which the steam was formed, its pressure did not exceed five 
atmospheres. But by injecting more water, although the temperature 
was lessened, the elastic force was gradually increased to one hun- 
dred atmospheres.—p. 95. 


3. The space occupied by a given weight of vapor, depends on 
ihe degree of pressure under which it is formed. Water converted 


328 — Review of Renwick 


into vapor. at the temperature of 212° expands nearly 1700 times; 
but at the temperature of 419°, it expands but 37 times. Dr. 
Thomson, in his recent work on Heat and Electricity, adds, ‘that it 
is probable that at a temperature not much higher than 500°, the 
steam of water would not much exceed double the bulk of the water 
from which it was generated. ‘The expansive force of such steam 
would be truly formidable. It would, when it issued into the atmos- 
phere, suddenly expand almost 650 times. We'do not know at what 
temperature water would become vapor without any increase of vol- 
ume. But it would then support a column of mercury 3243 feet in 
height, and exert a force of 19.459 lbs.” upon every square inch of 
the vessel containing it.”* . 

4. The absolute quantity of heat is always the same in the same 
weight of steam, whatever may be the temperature of that steam. 
When the vapor is formed at a low temperature, nearly all the heat 
that enters it is in the latent state; but as we heat it to a higher de- 
gree, its proportion of sensible heat is constantly augmented, and of 
latent heat diminished in the same ratio, so that the sum of the two 
is the same constant quantity. 

“If (says Dr. Thomson) we could apply such a pressure to water, 
that we could heat it till its sensible heat arose to 1212°, it is obvious 
that it would be converted into steam having the specific gravity, and . 
consequently the volume of the original water. The latent heat of 


* Outline of the Sciences of Heat and Electricity, p. 222. 

t As some of our readers may not be familiar with the precise signification of the 
terms latent heat, specijic heat, and capacity for heat, which occur in connexion 
with this subject, we will ihtay explain them. Latent heat is that which enters 
into a body while changing its state from solid to liquid or from liquid to eriform, 
which portion of heat is not sensible to the thermometer, but disappears or becomes 
latent as water does when added to quick lime. Thus, when water is converted into 
steam in the common process of ebullition, a quantity of heat enters into the water 
to convert it into steam, which if applied to water would be sufficient to raise it near- 
ly 1000 degrees, but which does not raise the temperature of either the water or the 
steam in the least degree. Hence the latent heat of steam is said tobe 1000. Spe- 
cific heat is the absolute quantity of heat which a body contains compared with an- 
other body of the same weight and temperature, taken as the standard unit. Thus, 
steam is said to have a specific heat of 1.7778, because if we take equal weights of 
air and steam at the same temperature, it can be proved that the actual quantities of 
heat which these two bodies contain are in that ratio to each other. The term ca- 
pacity for heat is sometimes employed as synonymous with specific heat: where 
any distinction is intended, it is this, that the one denotes the ratio of the actual 
quantities of heat contained, while the other denotes the ratio of the powers of con- 
taining these respective quantities, which ratios are evidently the same in both cases. 


on the Steam Engine. 329 


such steam would be 0°; but its elasticity would be prodigious. The : 
instant that the pressure upon it was removed, it would expand, and 
its latent heat would increase at the expense of its sensible heat. It 
is obvious from this that the existence of latent heat in steam is owing 
to its expansion, and that the moment we reduce it,to the bulk of 
the water prem which it was generated, all the latent heat becomes 
sensible.” ele 

5. Steam has certain remarkable and anomalous properties when 
brought into contact with a highly heated surface. 


Ifa polished spoon of iron be taken and heated to a white heat, and 

a drop of water be let fall uponit, the drop divides at first into several 

smaller ones, which, however, speedily unite.. This if it be closely 

observed, will be seen to have acquired a rotary motion ; it continual- 

ly decreases in bulk and finally explodes. A second and a thir d drop 

exhibit the same phenomena, butthe continuance of the drop upon the 

metal becomes less and less as the latter cools. While the first drop 

remained forty seconds, the third nemained only six seconds, and the 

sixth evaporated instantly. : 

Perkins has recently observed similar phenomena in the generator 

of his engine. This vessel being heated red hot while empty, water 

was admitted. The elastic force ioe the vapor, was at first but small, 
and increased rapidly as the temperature of the generator was dimin- 


ished.—pp. 73, (4. 


Having now reviewed the leading properties of steam, we are pre- 
pared to consider the methods of insuring safety in the use of this 
powerful agent. 
~ ‘Those Panonioue explosions which occasionally afford such mel- 
ancholy proofs of the dangers with which the steam engine is. en- 
compassed, arise from the energy inherent in the moving force it- 
self—from a deficiency in the supply of water to the boiler—from 
the weakness of the material of which the boiler is constructed— 
from its becoming incrusted with saline and earthy matter—and from 
what is called a collapsing of the boiler. 

More or less danger is always involved in the employment of pow- 
‘ers of great energy. The horse will sometimes grow furious and 
throw his rider; winds. become hurricanes and wreck the mariner : 
water wheels seize upon the manufacturer and tear him in pieces; 
powder-mills explode in spite of all the vigilance of man. Wherev- 


* Outlines of the Sciences of Heat and Electricity, p. 231. 


330 Review of Renwick 


er safety depends on human vigilance, it will sometimes be jeopar- 
dized ; for that vigilance will sometimes slumber. 

Bat notwithstanding the dangers inseparable from so powerful an 
agent as steam, yet in fact but ow of the explosions of the steam en- 
gine which have ever taken place are attributable simply to the ener- 
gies of the moving force. 

In all cases, where fatal accidents have occurred, the explosion ap- 
pears to have been due to other causes than the mere expansive force 
of the steam that would be formed when the beiler is in e oper or der, 
and supplied with water.—p. 97. 


This, however, it must be acknowledged, is only saying, that noth- 
ing need be apprehended from the energies of the moving force em- 
ployed, if we always guard it sufficiently ; while the improbability of 
employing such a guard at all times is such, as to render the employ- 
ment of powerful agents always more or less dangerous. ch 

It would seem at first view a very easy matter to provide against 
any danger from the active energies of steam, by the means of safety 
valves. ‘These, however, sometimes, either by accident or design, 
become too heavily loaded; they are also liable to lose their sensi- 
bility by becoming rusty, and in various other ways; and such vast 
quantities of steam are sometimes suddenly generated, that.the safety 
valves are inadequate to afford any relief. Our author strongly re- 
commends that every boiler should -be furnished with two safety 
valves, one of which should not be under the control of the fireman. 

It would also appear to be within our power to provide against 
hazard from the expansive force. of steam by proving the boilers; 
that is, by previously subjecting them to a pressure much greater 
than that under which they are intended to work. 


It has been proposed to apply a pressure five or six times as ereat as 
the boiler is intended to bear. Nor is this too great a precaution, for the 
water proof is performed when cold, and ihe metal is then more tena- 
cious than when heated, and the proportion. of six to one, at least, is 
necessary before this difference is obviated. If a boiler be not sub- 
jected to such proof, it may be possible that when heated, ils limit of 
rupture may be reached before the safety valve opens. The water 

proof having been performed, the boiler should next be subjected to 
a similar trial by steam, say of twice’ the force that is usually to be 
generated in the boiler without causing its safety valves to act. In 
France, it is required by law, that all high pressure boilers be subject- 
ed to a proof five times as great as the boiler is intended to bear when 
in service.—p. 8d. 


on the Steam Engine. 331 


The corrosion effected by the chemical agents that are constantly 
acting upon the material of the boiler, and the changes of strength 
produced by sudden changes of temperature, render safety unattaina- 
ble by any such single proof of strength in the boiler; nor ought’it to 
be relied on, except for intervals of time of moderate duration. “ A’ 
safety valve,” says M. Arago, ‘‘ however well constructed, can never 
warrant the engineerin neglecting to prove his boiler from time to 
time, nor can it warrant him in not endeavoring to prevent by all the 
means im his power abrupt changes in the elasticity of the steam, 
and in not preventing the boiler from, at any time, a too ae 
heated. 

MA deficiency in the supply of water to the Boiler: ig one of the most 
common causes of the explosion of steam engines. By this means 
the upper parts of the boiler, when the flame plays on them, become 
heated even to redness. This greatly impairs the cohesion of the 
metal, and proportionally weakens the boiler. The metallic surface 
also, under such circumstances, rapidly corrodes, and is thus weak- 
ened still farther. Meanwhile the steam, in contact with the upper 
surface of the boiler, is becoming intensely hot, without acquiring a 
proportionate density and elasticity. ‘The moment, therefore, the 
water below is, by any means, brought into contact with this heated 
surface, and mixed with the hot steam, the latter instantly acquires 
great density and a tremendous force, against which the safety valves 
‘are incompetent to provide, and which the boiler now is unable to 
resist, and a violent explosion is the inevitable consequence. 

It is a remarkable fact, and one unaccounted for, until it was ex- 
plained by Mr. Perkins after his investigations into the properties of 
steam at very high temperatures, that bowers frequently burst at the 
very moment of opening the safety valve. 'The water’ within the 
boiler being low, and the steam which presses upon its surface very 
much heated, but of little elastic force, suppose the safety valve to be 
opened: a copious discharge of steam takes place ; the water re- 
lieved from the pressure upon its surface, rises up in foam, the action 
being’ similar to that which takes place in a champaigne bottle on 
drawing the cork; the water thus thrown in small drops into the 
midst ofan intensely heated vapor, flashes. into highly elastic steam, 
and the safety valve not affording a sufficient vent for the discharge of 
the steam, the boiler is rent.’* 


—_ a — —— 


* Avago on the Explosion of Boilers: 


332 Review of Renwick 


In order to obviate the dangers which result from a deficiency of 
water in the boiler; and a consequent heating of the upper surface, 
and of the flues when these are employed, several different methods 
are used. Guage cocks are attached to the boiler, which the en- 
gineer turns at short intervals, for the purpose of ascertaming the 
level of the water ; and a thermometer ought to be connected with 
the boiler in such a manner that its indications may be seen from 
without. A still more effectual way of guarding against the conse- 
quences of an accumulation of heat in the upper part of the boiler, is 
by means of plates of fusible metal. It is well known that an alloy 
composed of lead, tin, and bismuth, has the property-of melting at a 
very low temperature, sometimes even, when the best proportions 
are observed, at a temperature below that of boiling water. By va- 
rying the. proportions of the ingredients, various degrees of fusibility 
may be attained. A plate of this alloy connected with the boiler of 
a steam engine, and having such a degree of fusibility as to melt at a 
temperature so low as to let off the ‘steam before it could-acquire a 
dangerous degree of heat, promises to afford the most effectual se- 
curity hitherto devised against the dangers which arise from over- 
heating the boiler, or any part of it. Upon this subject M. Arago 
has the following remarks. ‘As soon as it was found that the com- 
mon safety valves sometimes got out of order, and did not present a 
certainty of security, it was proposed to replace them by an entirely 
different contrivance, the action of which should never be uncertain. 
This was the fusible metal valve. 'To understand rightly the nature 
of these valves, we should know that it is possible that steam should 
have a very high temperature, and but little elasticity, but not possi- 
ble that a great degree of elasticity should not be accompanied by a 
high temperature. Experiments have determined the lowest tempe- 
ratures necessary for steam to acquire a tension of one, two, three, 
ten, &c. atmospheres. By using these results, we can know what 
temperature the steam must not surpass, after we have fixed upon 
the pressure. If then we cover an opening in the boiler with a 
plate made of an alloy of lead, tin, and bismuth, in proportions such 
that the alloy will melt at the limit of temperature fixed upon before 
hand, this temperature can never be exceeded, for on reaching it, 
the plate melts and gives vent to the steam. In France, a royal or- 


dinance requires that every boiler shall be provided with two fusible 
plates of unequal sizes. The fusing point of the smaller is 10°, 


(18° Fah.) above the temperature of steam having an elasticity equal 


on the Steam Engine. 333 


to that which the steam to be used in the engine should have. The 
second plate fuses at 10°, (18° Fah.) above the first. 

-© Although many cases may be cited in which fusible plates have 
probably prevented explosions, they are’ employ ed unwillingly by 
most, preference being given to the common valves, with which, in 
addition to the plates, the boilers must be provided. - Let us then 
examine the objections to these plates. It was said at first that since 
these plates were affected by temperature, and not by pressure, they 
might melt when the steam within was very hot, but not elastic in 
proportion, but this can happen only when the vapor is not saturated 
with moisture : that is, only. when there is not a ‘aha supply of 
water within the boiler; then a portion of the boiler must become 
heated, perhaps even to redness, and then there is eminent danger 
of explosion. This first objection, therefore, seems to be Lee 
The plate does not approach the point of fusion, without being soft- 
ened ; it is therefore feared that it may give way under a tension 
much less than that which would produce its fusion. At the outset, 
this did actually take place, but the difficulty has been obviated by 
covering the plate with a wire gauze, of small meshes, before it is 
fixed by bolts to the aperture which it is to close. Even now parts 
of the plate yield partially, swelling out in different places as the 
fusing point approaches; but experience has shown that it is only 
very near to this point that the metal yields entirely, opening a free 
passage to the steam. ' When the fusible plate has been melted, all 
the steam escapes through the opening which it closed. It may take 
some time to replace it, to fill anew the boiler, and to heat the water, 
‘and during this time the engine stands still. In a steam boat, in cer- 
tain cases, this sudden absence of the moving power, might occasion 
serious accidents. . This is a real and a great difficulty, and perhaps 
is the reason why our neighbors have not adopted the fusible metal 
valve, but give preference.to the ordinary safety valve. These it is 
true, never suffer all the steam to escape. If they open, it is only 
when the elasticity of the steam within has passed a certain limit; 
as soon as this elasticity has returned within the limits fixed by the 
engineer before hand, they fall, closing the anes ; and thus the 
moving power can never fail entirely. 

_ “ The advocates of the fusible metal plates, considered as one of 
the highest advantages of these valves, the physical impossibility of 
changing their limit of action, thus placing. them beyond the reach of 
imprudent workmen. It is true that with these plates, all overcharge, 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 43 


334 Review of Renwick 


in the literal meaning of the word, would be useless; but when the 
firemen wish to urge their fires more than usual, they understand 
how to prevent the fusion of the plate, by directing a constant stream’ 
of cold water upon it, so that in this point of view, penal: we have 
gained nothing.”* 

We have extracted this passage at length from the essay of M. 
Arago, because it appears to us that ae subject of fusible metal 
valves has not commanded among our countrymen the attention it 
deserves. We do not learn indeed, that a single trial has yet been 
made of them. And surely, the repeated and Gcenenee instances 
of steam boat explosions, that have occurred among us during the 
last two or three years, ought to awaken our attention to any de- 
vices. for securing safety, especially when recommended by authority 
so respectable as that of M. Arago. ‘There is some reason to fear 
a growing apathy in the public. mind on the subject of steam boat 
accidents, from the very frequency of their occurrence. Those 
who have often escaped, while others have fallen, fancy themselves, 
like veteran soldiers, invulnerable. 

Professor, Renwick recapitulates the chief precautions to be em-— 
ployed in order to insure safety, in the following paragraphs. Seve- 
ral of them we have already mentioned incidentally, but the impor- 
tance of the subject induces us to extract this passage entire. 


1. Cylindrical boilers, without ¢ any return’ flue, either without or 
within, are safer than any others. 

2 Internal flues should be avoided whenever it is possible, and es- 
pecially the chimney, or vertical flue, should never be permitted to 
pass through the boiler. 

3. Every: boiler should be furnished, in addition to the safety valve, 
with one not under the control of the fireman. 

4. All boilers should be furnished with guage cocks, or other appa- 
ratus, to show the level of the water, and these should be so placed in 
steam boats, that no error in their indication can take place when the 
vessel heels or rolls. 

5. Plates of fusible metal should be pr ovided. 

6. A thermometer should be intr oduced into the boiler, a in- 
dications may be seen from without. 

7. Self-acting feeding apparatus should be adapted to the bees 
by which water will enter, and keep the fluid within at a constant 
level, and this should depend upon the waste of water, and not on the 
action of the engine. It unluckily happens that no such apparatus 


* Arago, on the Explosion of Boilers, in Franklin Journal, Vol. V. p. 410. 


on the Steam Engine. 335 — 


has yet been contrived. for high pressure engines, nor indeed for any 
where the tension of the steam exceeds 11 atmospheres. Neither are 
they always applied even to low pressure engines. 

_ 8. The chimney should be provided with a damper, by which the 
draught of the flues may be’ suddenly checked, and doors should, if 
Pe eine, be placed upon the ash pit. A damper that would close as 
soon as the engine ceased to move, would be of great service in les- 
sening the liability to explosion, and this does not appear to be dif- 
ficult of attainment. 

9. The proof of the boiler snoutd) be conducted with the greatest 
care, first with, water, at a pressure five or six times as creat as the 
boiler is intended to carry, and afterwards with steam.of twice the pro- 
posed tension. The water proof should be repeated from time to 
time, and every part carefully examined to ascertain that all the safe- 
ty apparatus is in working order.—pp. 101—2. 


The following paragraph presents us with a fearful view, of the neg- 
ligence which prevails in our country in respect to these precautions. 
An intelligent gentleman, intimately acquainted with the state of steam 
boat navigation in this country, has intimated to us, that the negligence 
is not'so great as is here represented. We hope itis not; but the ter- 
rible disasters that are multiplying upon us, give us too much reason 
to fear that the account is substantially true. It is as follows. . 


Few or none of these precautions are usual in cur American steam 
boats: the boilers, even if cy linders, have both internal flues and’ fur- 
naces, and the vertical chimney frequently rises in the boiler; there 
is never more than one safety valve; plates of fusible metal are un- 
known; the feeding apparatus is merely a forcing pump, which is turn- 
ed on or thrown off at the pleasure of the engineer, and which does not 
act at all at the time the engine is not in motion; but avery few steam 
boats have dampers upon their flues; and the proof is wholly a matter 
between the maker and proprietor, and for its proper performance the 
public have no guarantee. Thus, of all the precautions that have been 
proposed in order to insure indemnity from explosion, but two are in 
use among our steam boats, namely, the safety valve and guage cocks; 
the former being still subject to the caprice of the persons employed, 
and the latter having an uncertainty in their indications, both when 
the boat inclines to either side, and when they contain, as they most 
frequently will do, water of condensation. Need we wonder that ex- 
plosions have become frequent, and that they have produced the most 
fatal consequences? 

The means which are used are not certain to insure safety, even 
when the care of the officers of the vessel, and of the .persons em- 
ployed about the engine, is unremitting, and directed by the utmost 


336 Renew of Renwick 


intelligence; and hence dangerous accidents eccur without giving 
rise to blame, and thus diminish a proper feeling of responsibility.— 
pp. 102, 103. : Seth 

A great proportion of the fatal accidents which have occurred in 
steam boats, have arisen from a collapsing of the boilers ;. that is, in 
consequence of the sudden formation of a vacuum in the boiler, by 
which means the sides of the boiler have been crushed together by 
external pressure, and the hot water and steam forced out with great 
violence. It seems a very easy matter to provide against this source 
of danger, by attaching to the upper parts of the boiler an air valve 
opening inwards. Whenever the tension of the steam becomes less 
than the pressure of the atmosphere, the valve will open and restore 
the equilibrium. 

Finally, notwithstanding the dangers inherent in the employment 
of a force of such tremendous energy as steam, yet it is easy to over- 
rate the actual dangers. . When steam boats explode, the catastrophe 
usually involves so many sufferers, and becomes so widely known and 
discussed, that the dangers are greatly exaggerated in comparison with 
those more silent and unobtrusive but not less real dangers, that attend 
all the other modes of travelling by sea and land. One flies from the 
city of the plague and meets a watery grave; another shuns the seas 
and finds the pestilence on land. 

Frustra cruento Marte chtapiniies 
Fractisque rauci fluctibus Adriz. 

We are happy to be able to conclude this article by presenting ‘to 
our readers, the following facts and observations, obligingly commu- 
nicated to us by a valued correspondent.* 


List of Steam Boat Explosions which have occurred in the U, States. 


, HIGH PRESSURE. 
Names. Place of explosion. 


Constitution, Ohio, -» 13’killed. 
Gen. Robinson, Mississippi; 9 
Yankee, re ABE p 
Heriot, a3 ae 
AXtna, Ne YeBay 1304 
1828, Grampus, - Mississippi, Unknown. 
’ Barnet, L.1. Sound, 1 killed. 
1830, Helen McGregor, Mississippi, 33 “ 14 wounded. 


74 14 


* Mr. William C. Redfield; of New York. 


Previ- 
ous to 


1825 


- Eagle, 


_ on the Steam Engine. 


. Names. 
Enterprise, 
Paragon, 
Alabama, 


- -Feliciana, 


Arkansaw, 


Fidelity, 


_ Patent, 


Atlanta, 
Bellona, 
Maid of @ileans:' 


Rariton, 


Bristol, 
Powhatan, 


cl ersey, 


Tesch, 
Constitution, 
Legislator, 


Hudson, 


Franklin, 
Ramapo, in Jan. 


LOW PRESSURE. 


Kind of boiler. 


(copper) 


(copper) 


66 


(unknown) 


(copper) 


Do. March, 
- Oliver Ellsworth, 
Carolina, 


Ch. J. Marshall, 


United States, 


, General Jackson, 


(copper) 


Place of explosion. 


Charleston, S. C. 
Hudson River, 
Mississippi, 


' Red River, 


N. York harbor, 


Savannah River, 


Rariton River, 


‘Chesapeak, 


Delaware River, 
Norfolk, 


Jersey City, 


Mississippi, 
Hudson River, 
N. York harbor, 
East. River, 
Hudson River, 
New Orleans, 
L. 1. Sound, 

N. York harbor, 
Hudson River, 
East River, 


Fludson “ (supposed) 


307 


Killed. Wounded. 


CHARACTER OF ENGINES NOT SPECIFIED. 


Names. 


Cotton Plant, 


1826, 
1827, 
1826, 
1827, 
1830, 


Washington, 
Macon, 

Hornet, 
Susquehannah, | 
Union, 


Place of explosion. 
Mobile, 
Ohio River, 
South Carolina, 
Alabama, 
Susquehannah, 


Ohio River, 


Wm. Peacock, (st’m pipe) Buffaloe, 


66 


ow t to Bb 


— 


SS Mian) 

1 1 

4 

2 

4. 

we 

5 2 

2 

Q 

6 

1 

2 several. 
al 

ae 

2 

several. 

ans 

5 Ps 
ay | 

Tow 

5 2 

sO eat gee] 

. 

1 

Il 24 

ae 

12 13 

95 29 

Killed. Wounded. 


unknown. unknown. 


- 66 


SS) 


338 Renew of Renwick 


Names. | Place of explosion. | Killed. Wounded. 

— New Caledonia, Mississippi, 10 i et 
«©  Kenhawa, Ohio River, 8 4 
“Car of Commerce, tae Ree 2320 

co Atlas _ Mississippi, Lae 

“Andrew Jackson, Savannah R. 2 

1831, Tri-Color, Ohio River, 8 8 
85 61 


Total, killed, 254; Wounded, 104. 


“In some of the principal accidents comprised in the foregoing list, 
the number of killed includes all who failed to recover from their 
wounds. In other cases the numbers are as given in the news- 
papers of the day, and some of the wounded should perhaps be 
added. In some few instances no list has been obtained, and possi- 
bly in some, no loss has occurred. The accounts of some of the 
minor accidents may have been lost sight of or overlooked in my 
files. In making an approximate estimate of the whole number of 
lives which have been lost in the United States by these accidents, I 
should fix it at three hundred. 

*¢ Although this is a melancholy detail of casualties, yet it seems 
less formidable when placed in comparison with the ordinary causes of 
mortality, and especially when contrasted with the msatiate demands 
of intemperance and ambition. It is believed that it will appear 
small when compared with the whole amount of injury and loss, 
which has been sustained by travelling in stages and other kinds of 
carriages. More lives have probably been lost from sloops and 
packets on the waters of this State, since the imtroduction of steam 
boats, than by all the accidents in the latter, though the number of ' 
passengers exposed has been much smaller. In one case that occur- 
red within a few years, thirty four persons were drowned on board a 
slcop in the North river, and many instances involving the loss of a 
smaller number of lives, and one loss has occurred on the Sound of 
twelve or fourteen individuals. 

“Tt will be seen by reference to the foregoing list, that of twenty 
five lives that have been lost on board of New York steam boats, pre- 
vious to the case of the: Chief Justice Marshall, and excluding the 
case of the Etna, only one passenger* is included in the number. 


* Mr. Lockwood, on board the Oliver Ellsworth. 


on the Steam Engine. 339 


Even in the more fatal cases which are here excluded, and in all ac- 
cidents of this nature, the chief loss is sustained by the crew and of- 
ficers attached to the boats, who, by the nature of their employments, 
are compelled to encounter by far the greatest portion of the hazard. 
_ “ An earnest and persevering attention to the safety of steam boil- 
ers, and strict personal inquiry into the accidents which have occur- 
red, enables me to state fearlessly, though 1 in opposition to received 
opinions, that since the year 1824, no accident in this region has 
been justly chargeable, either to want of water in the’boiler, or to 
culpable negligence or incompetency ; but every one has arisen from 
the defective form and structure of the boilers which have failed. 
Some of the most careful and meritorious of the engineers and at- 
tendants have suffered at their posts, and have sunk into their graves - 
under imputations as.unmerited as they were gratuitous and cruel. 
Nor can a resort to legislative enactments either. remedy the evil, or 
afford any additional security ; but the matter must be left to the in- 
telligence of the age, and to the operation of motives which are 
more powerfully felt by the owners and managers of steam boats, 
than any which legislative authority can impose. 

“ Notwithstanding the multiplication of steam boat accidents during 
the last and present.seasons, still the hazard, or the average loss of . 
life is constantly diminishing, and will probably diminish in a still 
greater ratio, as soon as the large, ill-constructed, and unsafe boilers, 
which were in vogue a few years since under the soothing cognomen 
of low pressure boilers, shall have been finally discarded, in which 
result considerable progress has already been made. 

*‘'T’he amount of steam boat business in this country lias been in- 
creased immensely since 1824, and perhaps exceeds the average of 
the preceding period by fifty or one hundred fold. In 1824, but 
one steam boat ran in the waters of Connecticut, and but two from 
New York, eastward, and with a small number of passengers com- 
pared with what they now carry. N ow we have sixteen or twenty 
in full activity in that direction. One boat on the Hudson, built in 
1825, has carried near two hundred thousand passengers, and we 
have now sixteen or eighteen boats plying on the Hudson, while 
southward from this city the change has been equally great. So late 
as the commencement of the year 1817, the whole number of steam 
boats which had been built on the western waters, was ten, and in 
that year the feat of performing a passage from New Orleans to the 
falls of the Ohio, in twenty five days, was celebrated by public re- 


340 Reciprocating Magnetic Attraction. 


joicings. A late article on the subject which accords in its-facts 
with other statements which I have, contains the following statements. 

«<The whole number of steam boats which have been built upon 
the western waters is about three hundred seventy five. Some of 
them are of.five hundred tons burden, and from that down to one 
hundred, and their average not over two hundred tons. The num- 
ber now in commission is something over two hundred. ‘Their an- 
nual expense for fuel is estimated at one million one hundred and 
eighty one thousand dollars, and the other expenses at one million 
three hundred thousand, making an aggregate of nearly two million 
five hundred thousand dollars. 

“The value of steam navigation to the United States, and partic- 
ularly to the great valley of Mississippi, is incalculable ; it defies the 
power of calculation. We doubt whether the citizens of the United 
States, who duly appreciate its importance, would be willing to part 
with it for the amount of the debt of Great Britain of eight hundred 
millions of pounds sterling. But for the introduction of steam navi- 
gation into the United States, and its bringing, as-it were into juxta 
position, the extreme regions of her widely extended borders by 
“ conquering time and space,” and but for its happy influence in pro- 
moting international commerce, and social intercourse by the ties of 
interests it creates, in a thousand different ways, the Atlantic and 
Western states would soon have become alienated from each other, 
and a separation would have been the consequence.’” 


Arr. XVII.—On a Reciprocating motion produced by Magnetic 
Jittraction and Repulsion; by Prof. Joserpn Henry. 


TO THE EDITOR. 


Str,—I have lately succeeded in producing motion in a little ma- 
chine by a power, which, I believe, has never before been applied 
in mechanics—by magnetic attraction and repulsion. __ 

Not much importance, however, is attached to the invention, since 
the atricle, in its present state, can only be considered a philosoph- 
ical toy ;. although, in the progress of discovery and invention, it is 
not impossible that the same principle, or some modification of it on 
a more extended scale, may hereafter be applied to some useful pur- 
pose. But without reference to its practical utility, and only viewed 


Ei eqrocaning Magnetic Attraction. — 341 


as a new effect produced by one of the most mysterious agents of 
nature, you will not, perhaps, think the following account of it un- 
worthy of a place in the Journal of Science. : 

It is well known that an attractive or repulsive force is exerted 
between two magnets, according as poles of different names, or poles 
of the same name, are presented to each other. 

In order to understand how this principle can be applied to pro- 
duce a reciprocating motion, let us suppose a bar magnet to be sup- 
ported horizontally on an axis passing through the center of gravity, 
in precisely the same manner as a dipping needle is poised; and 
suppose two other magnets to be placed perpendicularly, one under 
each pole of the horizontal magnet, and a little below it, with their — 
north poles uppermost ; then it is evident that the south pole of the 
horizontal magnet will be attracted by the north pole of one of the 
perpendicular magnets, and its north pole repelled by the north pole 
of the other: in this state it will remain at rest, but if, by any means, 
‘we reverse the polarity of the horizontal magnet, its position will be 
changed and the extremity, which was before attracted, will now be re- 
pelled ; if the polarity be again reversed, the position will again be 
changed, and so on indefinitely: to produce, therefore, a continued 
vibration, it is only necessary to introduce, into this arrangement, 
some means by which the polarity of the horizontal magnet can be 
instantaneously changed, and that too by a cause which shall be put 
in operation by the motion of the magnet itself; how this can be 
effected, will not be difficult to conceive, when I mention that, instead 
of a permanent steel magnet, in the moveable part of the apparatus, 
a soft iron galvanic magnet is used.* 

The change of polarity is produced simply by soldering to the 
extremities of the wires which surround the galvanic magnet, two 
small galvanic: batteries in such a manner that the vibrations of the 
magnet itself may immerse these alternately into vessels of diluted 
acid; care being taken that the batteries are so attached that the 
current of galvanism from each shall pass around the magnet in an 
opposite direction. | 

Instead of soldering the batteries to the ends of the wires, and 
thus causing them at each vibration to be lifted from the acid by the 
power of the machine ; they may be permanently fixed in the vessels, 


* For a method of constructing the galvanic magnet on an improved plan, see my 
paper in Vol. XIX, p. 329 of this Journal. 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 44. 


342 Reciprocating Magnetic Attraction. 


and the galvanic communication formed by the amalgamated ends of 
the wires. dipping into, cups of mercury. 


A B 5 
SANAUMNY ps ANN 


PENI © Vania Dy — 
| _ rere 
\7 
i D. 7 
) SF call 


aie 


ul} 


HT 

The whole will be more readily understood by a reference to the 
annexed drawing; A B is the horizontal magnet, about seven inches © 
long, and Caable on an axis at the center: its two extremities when 
nied in a horizontal line, are about one inch from the north poles, 
of the upright magnets C and D. G and F are two large tumblers 
containing diluted uae in each of which is immersed a plate of zine 
surrounded with copper. J, m, s, t, are four brass thimbles soldered 
to the zinc and copper of the batteries and filled with mercury. 

The galvanic magnet. AB is wound with three strands of copper 
bell wire, each about twenty five feet long; the similar ends of these 
are twisted together so as to form two stiff wires, which project be- 
yond the extremity B, and dip into the thimbles s, ¢. 

To. the wires g, 7, two other wires are soldered so as to project in 
an opposite direction, and dip into the thimbles 1, m. The wires of 
the galvanic magnet have thus, as it were, four projecting ends;_and 
by inspecting the figure it will be seen that the extremity m, which 
dips into the cup attached to the copper of the battery in G corre- 
sponds to the extremity 7 connecting with the zinc F’. 

When the batteries are in action, -if the end B is depressed until 
g, 7 dips into the es s, t, AB instantly becomes.a powerful mag- 
net, haying its north pole at B; this of course is repelled by the 
north pole D, while at tae same time it is attracted by C, the posi- 
tion is consequently changed, and o, p comes in contact with, the 
mercury in J, m; as soon as the communication is formed, the poles 
are reversed, and the position again changed. If the tumblers be 


Tilha Pyendnthemoides. 343 


filled with strong diluted acid, the motion is at first very rapid and power- 
ful, but it soon almost entirely ceases. By partially filling the tumblers 
with weak acid, and occasionally adding a small quantity of fresh acid, a 
uniform motion, at the rate of seventy sue vibrations in a minute, has 
been kept up for more than an hour: with a large battery.and very 
weak acid, the motion might De continued for an indefinite length of 
time. © : 
‘The motion, here described, is entirely distinct from that produced 
by the electro-magnetic combination of wires and magnets it results 
direcily from the mechanical action of ordinary magnetism: galvan- 
ism being only introduced for the purpose of changing the poles. 
My friend, Prof. Green, of Philadelphia, to whom I first exhibited 
this machine in motion, recommended the substitution of. galvanic 
magnets for the two perpendicular steel ones. If an article of this 
kind was to be constructed on a large scale, this would undoubtedly 
be the better plan, as magnets of that kind can be made of any re- 
quired power, but for a small apparatus, intended merely to exhibit 
the motion, the plan here described is.perhaps the most convenient. 


Ant. XVIII.— Description and History of a new Plant, Tillia Pyc- 
nénthemotdes; by Menres Conxuin' Leavenwortu, M. D. 
of Augusta, Ga. (With a drawing.) 

TO THE EDITOR. , 
Waterbury, Ct. May i7th, 1831. 
Dear Sir,—I transmit to you a deseription and drawing of an 

American plant, which hitherto appears to have evaded the wana 

of botanists. The generic name which I have bestowed upon it is com- 

memorative, and in compliment to my friend, William Tully, M. D. 

Professor. of Botany, Materia Medica, and Therapeutics, in Yale 

College, I believe, (with a single exception,) the earliest cultivator 

_of scientific botany, under the Linngan method, in the state of Con- 


necticut. Yours Sir, very respectfully, etc. 
M. C. LeavEnwortu. 


\ 


DESCRIPTIO UBERIOR. 


Caulis bi vel tripedalis, quadrangularis, subpubescens, supra me- 
dium ramosus; rami numerosi, axillares, subfastigiati, incano-to- 
mentosi. 


344 Tilha Pycnanthemordes. 


Folia subdistantia, opposita, petiolata ; petiolis marginibusque ci- 
liatis; lamina ovata, acuminata, basi attenuata, remote dentata, vee 
canescens, infra glaucescens. 

Inflorescentia Hiseeolus spicarum secundarum axillaris, termin- 
alisque ; spice (externa facie) primo uniflore, postea producte, et 
serié continuata, flores novos alternos confertos unibracteatos, produ- 
centes ad extremum pedunculorum ; bracteis subulatis, longitudine 

calycis absque appendiculis deauum. 

Calyx monosepalus, tubulosus, subventricosus, striatus, ileueatuse ; 
labio superiore tridentato, inferiore bidentato, paulo breviore ; denti- 
bus erectis, subulatis (vel sublanceolatis,) subequalibus, appendicu- 
latis ; appendiculis penicilliformibus. 

Corolla monopetala ringens; tubo longitudine et forma calycis; 
labio superiore ovato-oblongiusculo, integerrimo, inferiore tripartito ; 
lacinia intermedia longiore, pauloque latiore, margine subundulata. 

Stamina quatuor, exserta, labio superiore paulo longiora, duo 
breviora ; filamentis filiformibus, antheris subglobosis. 

Ovaria (externa facie) quatuor, in fundo calycis. 

Caryopsides? (non vise. ). 


CHARACTER GENERICUS ESSENTIALIS. 


Perianthium bilabiatum; labio superiore tridentato, inferiore bi- 
dentato ; dentibus appendiculatis ; corolla bilabiata; labio superiore 
integerrimo, inferiore tripartito ; lacinia media majore. 

This plant was found the 22d of October, 1830, when I was de- 
scending the Paint Mountain in Eastern Te nieeee. It apparently 
commences flowering in August. When discovered, there were 
from two to four flowers upon each spike, which were of a delicate 
pale-rose color spotted with purple. 

It is almost superfluous to state, after the full description which 
has been given of our plant, that it belongs to the natural order La- 
BiaT®, which is characterized by didynamous stamens, four caryop- 
sides commonly called naked seeds, a. single style, and an irregular 
corol. 

From the foregoing description, it will be equally evident that this 
plant belongs to the Linnean class, Didynamia, and the order, 
Gymnospermia, and to that section of the genera which is characteri- 
zed by a calyx bilabiatus. ‘The chancen of the several genera of 
this section (according to Sprengel’s edition of the species Planta- 
rum, which is perhaps the latest,) are as follow. 


Tillia Pycnanthemordes. . ° 845 


Lumnitzéra.—Cal. 1 lab. super. ovato- incumbente. Corol. 3:4 
Stem. declinat. send 

Ocymum.—Cal. lab. super. subrotundo, aeurnbedte: Corol. 4. 
lab. infer. majore, porre ecto. Stam. declinat. interiora basi processu 
instructa. : We 

Plectranthus.—Cal. 3, fructifer, basi gibbus. Corol. %;*, lab. 
~ infer. integro, porrecto, a eae Stirs declinat. edentul. 
Prunélla.—Cal. 2, lab. super. plano, incumbente. Corol. 1 
_ Filamenta adscendentia, apice bidentata. Anthere didyme. 

Melissa.—Cal. 2, lab. super. planiusculo. Corol. 1, lab. super. 
fornicato, bifido, s. emeteinate Stam. adscendentia. 

Dracocéphalum.—Cal. 2, s. 5dentat. Corol. faux inflata. 

Prasium.—Cal. 2. Corol. +, lab. super. emarginato ; inferioris 
lobo medio maximo. Caryopsides drupacee. 

Phryma. —Cal. 3, pueden, reflexus; dentibus lab. super. elon- 
gatis, setaceis. Corol. 3, lab. super. abbreviato ; infer. porrecto. 
Caryopsis solitaria. 

Cleonia.—Cal. 2, lab. super. planiuseulo. Corol. 2, labii inferio- 
ris lobo medio emarginato. Filamenta apice bifurca. Stigma 
4fidum. Caryopsides 4. 

Trichostéma.—Cal. 2, lab. infer. Supt majori. Corol. 2, lab. 
infer. falcato. Filamenta longissima, incurva. 

Thymus.—Cal. 2, fauce villis clausa. Corol. 2. Stamina ad- 
scendentia. i eae 

Gardéquia. —Cal. » fauce nuda. Corol. 2. Stam. distantia. 
Thymbra. —Cal. 3. Corol. 2 2, lobis subequalibus. Stylus bifi- 
dus. 

Lepechinia.—Cal. 2. Corol. 2, calyei equalis. Stam. distantia. 

Clinopodium.—Cal. 2, dentibus aristatis ; involucris  setaceis. 
Corol. 2, lab. super. eapondete: 

Melittis—Cal. 1. Corol. 1, Anthere 2loculares, loculis supe- 
riorum super, inferiorum juxta se positis. 

Scutellaria.—Calycis labia indivisa, fructiferi elausa, superius oper- 
culatum. Corol. subpersonata. 

Chilodia.—Cal. 2bracteat. 1. Corol. 1, lobo-medio labii: infe- 
rloris emarginato. ~ a 

Prostanthéra.—Cal. lab. indivisa, fructiferi clausa. Corol. 2, lab. 
infer. expanso, lobo medio 2lobo. Stam. declinata, antherz calea- 
rate. 

Cryphia.—Cal. 2bracteat., labiis indivisis, fructifer clausus. 
Corol. inclusa 1, lab. super. brevissimo, anthere mutice. 


“SOs 


346 Tilhe Pycninthemoides. 


— Perilomia.—Cal. labiis mdivisis, dorso gibberoso, fructifer clausus. 
Corol. tubo arcuato 2 i Anthere diye Caryopsides alate. 

_Aemiandra.—Cal. 3. Corol. 2, labii infer. lobo medio 2lobo. 
Stam. adscendentia, rae cides loculo altero casso. 

Synandra.—Cal. 2. Corol. 4, fauce inflata. Filamenta tomen- 
tosa, anther superiores loculis sipprionibis cassis coherentes.” 

From this synopsis it will be obvious that our plant can be referred 
to none of these genera. From, that section of the genera which is 
characterized by a calyx equalis, it is obviously excluded by the 
form of its perianth: but it seems to approach nearer to the genus 
Pycnanthemum, than to any other.: | 

According to Michaux, the founder of that genus, its natural, char- 
acter, (in contradistinction from Brachystémum,) is as follows, viz : 

“ Calyx tubulosus, multistriatus, quinquefidus ; dentibus. erectis, 
semi-lanceolatis, seu subulatis. 

Corolla,—tubus longitudine calycis ; labium superius subrecurvo- 
porrectum, oblongiusculum, modice convexum, apice rotundatum, 
subintegrum ; labium inferius multo majus, recurvo-patens ;. subcan-- 
aliculatum trifidum ;, laciniis lateralibus subsemiellipticis, intgemnodig 
longiore, pauloque Iatiore, nonnihil repandula. 

Stamina exserta, distantia, duo labio superiori longitudine subze- 
qualia, duo conspicue breviora ; anthere loculis subparallelis, etc. 

Observatio.—Genus affine Satupete. ; 

Habitus.—Herbe! perennes scu suffrutices. Folia punctata. 
Capitula subsimplicia seu composita, multibracteata.” 

The natura! character of Michaux’s Genus Brachystémum, which 
has been since united with P2 yencnthemum, is as follows : | 

“ Calyx tubulosus ; dentibus quinque SreviDns: subiequalibus, 
erectis, acutis; fauce nuda. 

Corolla.—tubus longitudide calycis,. gracilis ; labium: superius 
breve, porrectum leriter. emarginatum ; labium inferius multoties am- 
plius, patens, obtuse trilobum, intermedio productiore, subligulato- 
oblongo. 

Stamina filamentis brevissimis inclusa, subeequalia. 

Semina cylindraceo-oblonga. 

Habitus.—Labiate perennes ; folia puncticulosa ; verticilli con- 
fertiflori seu capitula ; bracteolis ciliatis.” 

The essential character of these two genera united, as given by 
Pursh, is “ Involucrum multi-bracteatum, capitulis subjectum ; calyx 
iubulatus striatus. - Corolle labium superius subintegrum, inferius 


‘trifidum. Stamina subaqualia.” 


Notice of the Smokie Sulphurie Acid. 347 


Sprengel’s essential character of these united genera is “ Flores 
verticillati, bracteati. Calyx ae eb epi nda a A 
Stamina subeequalia, inclusa vel exserta.” 

Our plant is therefore not a Pyeniinthemum, either descent to 
Michaux, Pursh, or ees 


Arr. XIX.—WNotice of the method of manufacturing the smoking Sul- 
— phurie Acid, as practiced at Ni ordhausen, Braunlage and ‘Tanne, 
im Germany; by Tuomas G. Cuemson—in a letter to the Editor, 

dated Paris, April 18, 1831. 

In the interior of our country, in places far distant from those in 
which sulphuric acid is manufactured in the ordinary way, its use’ be- 
comes expensive in consequence of transportation; among these pla- 
ces, 2 coincidence of natural circumstances may permit of obtaining 
the acid with advantage from the sulphate of iron. The easy con- 
struction of the little necessary apparatus, the materials of which are 
every where present, and the little expense attendant thereon, to- 
gether with its particular uses, may suffice to raise this species of in- 
dustry, hitherto unknown, (at least to myself,) in the United States. — 

There are three Prussian towns, not far distant from each other, 
where this acid is made from the sulphate. of iron; they are Nord- 
hausen, Braunlage and Tanne: It is from the first named that this 
acid has taken one of its names; the two latter places are more hap- 
pily situated than the first; they are surrounded by forests, which 
cover the highlands of the Hartz, and are not so far distant from the 
locality where the decomposed pyrites of the celebrated Ramelsberg 
are lixiviated.. The oleum’s hutté or manufactory of the smoking 
sulphuric acid of Nordhausen, stands on the road that leads from 
Zorge to Braunlage, not far distant from the latter place. The build- 
ing is simple and of stone, ventilated by standing blinds in the lateral 
walls and roof, thus permitting the easy escape of smoke and other 
more deleterious vapors. ‘The building contains four galleries or fur- 
naces, and each gallery sixty four cylinders or retorts, with as many 
recipients. ‘The whole is conducted by two workmen, the master 
and his son. 

Fig. 1 is the elevation of the gallery. ABCD is the base, which 
is in stone, being 1 metre and 80 centimetres (72 inches English) in 
breadth from A to B, and 60 centimetres from B to C. E is the 


s 


348 Notice of the Smoking Sulphuric Acid. 


ash pit, being 35 by 20 centimetres. FF are the recipients, in posi- 
tion; they are adapted to the retorts, the position of which is seen 
in Fig. 3. GG are two chambers, constructed for efflorescing the 
sulphate of iron; thus giving an acid containing less water than oth- 


_ erwise would be obtained, provided the copperas was calcined in its 


natural state: they extend the entire length of the furnace and par- 
allel with the fire hole: they are 40 centimetres from K to C, 34 
from C to H, and 36 from Ito K. IH isa plate of iron, supporting 
the recipients. The bars that support the combustible are in brick, 
having a thickness of 3 centimetres. The extreme height of the front 
elevation is 150 centimetres. ‘The whole length of the gallery is 4 
metres. a 

Fig. 2 isa horizontal cut, following CD. Fig. 3 is a perpendicu- 
lar cut, showing the position of the retorts. Fig. 4 isthe plan. Fig. 
5 isa side elevation, having no other conductor for the smoke than is 
seen in O, passing off through the side and superior ventilators of ‘the 
building. Fig.-6 is the retort, represented on double the scale; from 
P to P=10 centimetres, 8 at the mouth, (S,) and. from P to S=38 
centimetres. ‘The recipient differs little from the retort; it is fig. .7, 
the mouth of which should enter the aperture of the retort. ‘The 
recipients are in stone ware and support the fire well. Fig. 8 is the 
charging spoon, having a length of 45 centimetres; it has a groove 
running nearly the length of the instrument, represented in the cut. 
Fig. 9 is the scraper used for cleansing the retort of the colcothar. 

The retorts remain in their horizontal position until they are bro- 
ken, or until the necessity of making other repairs requires their re- 
moval. They are charged with the white sulphate of iron, by the 
means of the spoon represented. The recipient is then adapted and 
the whole luted, with a mixture of saw dust and clay. In this state 
the gallery is heated; wood is the combustible employed; the fire is 
kept up for twenty four hours. ‘The charge for each-retort is 2 lbs. 
or 128 lbs. for a gallery, giving from 70 to 79 lbs. of smoking sul- 
phuric acid. This result is not constant; frequently much less is 
obtained. ‘To obtain a like product the wood should be dry and the 
fire well conducted, otherwise on inspection, some of the retorts will 
be found to contain a weak acid and in less quantity. ‘Those of the 
recipients which contain a weak acid are known by their not smo- 
king 3 it is distributed in this state, by piece-meal, into the other pro- 
ducts. ‘The twenty four hours having expired, the fire is suffered to 
fall; when sufficiently cool, the lute that attaches the recipient to the 


Notice of the Smoking Sulphuric Acid. 349 


; DS : 
pa 

MUI MOF a 
so ii aia ae einai 
0 Serer Ro [aero [ao ee c 
ce ig | 
ea ea 
ace a 
Dei [a 


*YSI[SUq SOyOUt GL ‘SOI AW}USI 08 ‘g1j0W T 


[ee | sees | ee | 7 eee (asa a 


cs | eo] me Ce a SS Se eae 


350 ~~ On the Refraction of Light. 


retort is broken,* and the acid thrown into large stone ware jars and 
thus sold. » The coleothar is extracted from the retorts by means of 
the scraper; it is of a dark red color, having occasionally a yellowish 
hue, which indicates but a partial. decomposition. . This oxide is sent 
back to Goslar, where it is manufactured into ochre. Those of the 
retorts that’are no longer fit for service are replaced. ‘Twenty four 
hours suffice for collecting the acid, and making the necessary prep- 
arations fora new operation. ‘The quantity of sulphate of iron em- 
ployed in each charge, is. always effloresced in the lateral chambers, 
by a preceding heat. ‘Thus each furnace is heated three times per 
week, leaving the workmen at liberty the seventh day. 
The depot of this acid is at Frankfort, on the Mayne ; in Paris its 
first cost is forty sols the pound. ‘The sulphate of iron costs 1 thaler 
and 12 bons groschens the quintal. The four furnaces consume at 
one distillation seven matters of wood, giving a quantity of acid, ac- 
cording tothe manner that the distillation has been conducted, from 
200 to 260 lbs. which is sold at 15 bons groschens the pound. ‘The 
colcothar sells for 12 bons groschens the 5 quintals.. ‘The cylinders 
last a very long time; thus the expenses for breaking are trifling. 


Arr. XX.—Observations and Experiments on the phenomena de- 
veloped by Light, in its passage through small apertures; with re- 
marks on some of the received theories, and an investigation. into 
the cause of prismatic analysis; by Cotumpus C. Conwei, M.D. 


TO THE EDITOR. 


THE experimerits and observations contained in the following pa- 
per, relate to the partial decomposition which light undergoes in pass- 
ing through small orifices, and impinging on the surfaces of bodies, 
and to other phenomena of vision. Although the subject has long 
exercised the ingenuity and industry of studious minds, the phenom- 
ena appear to be inconsistent with the existing hypotheses. Without 
recapitulating theories, or citing the authorities by which they are 
sustained, I proceed to the statement of the following facts, happy if 
I have augmented the number of exact observations, and thus aided 
in any degree in advancing this interesting branch of science. 


* The lute is moistened and reserved. 


On the Refraction of Light. 351 


Images transmitted to the retina through a puncture made by the 
point of a fine needle in a piece of sheet lead, do not appear so dis- 
tinct or luminous as when viewed by the naked eye; but seem to be 
enveloped in a hazy brownness, whose intensity is inversely as the 
width of.the aperture. ‘The solar spectrum viewed through this 
puncture loses much of its brilliancy, and the nice distinction be- 
tween the colors can no longer be observed.. Whether the small 
aperture be angular or slightly elliptic, it will, when applied close to 
the eye, invariably present the figure of a perfect geometrical circle. 
If the aperture be an incision of a line in length, it will assume the 
figure of an oblong, rounded at its two extremities. The size of 
these circles does not depend entirely on their proximity to ‘the eye, 
but on the contraction and. dilatation of the pupil. 

When a number of punctures are made in the lead, at the distance 
of one sixteenth of an inch from one another, and gradually approach-. 
ed to the eye, the opaque interval between them diminishes as their 
diameters increase, till at length it is obliterated, and the whole ap- 
pears diaphanous and filled with perfect circles cutting one another. 
But the most paradoxical appearance attending, this experiment is, 
that the circumferences of these cutting circles, which receive at 
least doubly as much light as their centres, are distinctly dark, while 
their centres are illuminated. ‘This anomaly.is somewhat analogous 
to that discovered by Grimaldi, whilst studying the inflection of light: 
viz. “that a body actually illuminated may become more dark by 
adding a new light to that which it already receives.’ 

When a number of long parallel apertures, about half a line apart, 
are cut with the point of a penknife through a plate of lead, and ap- 
plied close to the eye, no opaque interval will be found. A similar 
phenomenon occurs when a small body, as a wire or needle, is grad- 
ually approximated to the eye. ‘Thus, if we close one eye and raise 
a needle, by degrees, from the page of a book, towards the other, 
the needle will appear as it approaches the eye, to lose imperceptibly 
its density and opacity, till at last it will become diaphanous, letters be- 
ing visible through i it, and nothing of it remaining but a diffused shadow 
or eon liea This illusory transparency may be observed to occur 
in cylinders of even'a line in diameter. It is moreover to be re- 
marked thatthe shadow (if so we may termit,) into which the body 
appears to resolve itself, is imbued with the color of the body. If 
we look at the page of a book through a thick wire painted black, 
the letters within the shadow will seem dark ‘and denigrated ; but if 
we look through a white wire at a black surface, it will appear whitish. 


352 On the Refraction of Light. 


In looking through the long aperture, placed at a short distance 
from the eye, dark and bright lines, such as are seen bordering shad- 
ows and supposed to be deflected from bodies, will appear running 
parallel to the fissure. Having closed one eye, if we apply the long 
aperture in such a manner to the other that the pupil shall be nearly 
covered, and then direct the glance to a luminous object, it will ap- 
pear beautifully bordered with chromatic light. The uniform devel- 
opment of color along the edges of bodies, “Ted to some experiments, 
instituted for the purpose of examining, under various circumstances, 
this phenomenon. From among het ] select the following as being 
curious and anomalous: close one eye, and with the other look stead- 
fastly at any luminous object, as the flame of a candle or an illuma- 
ted window; then move an opaque body (for example the finger,) 
gradually across the eye; and when the pupil is nearly covered, the 
candle flame will appear to glow with the primitive colors. The 
moon viewed in this manner presents a beautiful and splendid spec- 
tacle. It.is remarkable in this experiment that the colors, supposed 
to be compound, viz. the orange, green and indigo, are more copi- 
ously and distinctly developed than the primary ones. Whether the 
opaque body be black or white, the same unaccountable appearance 
will be produced. 

When the sun is viewed through a puncture, the ananAneR white 
light is resolved into its agate hues, and the colors are seen em- 
anating separately from the sun. 

If we apply the long aperture to the eye, and hold a needle at.a short 
distance behind it,it will form a curve, which being gradually brought 
closer to the eye, will enlarge into the seeming shadow before spo- 
ken of; but if we place behind the long aperture a broader body, 
as the flat side of a penknife blade, it will appear cut on either side 
by a semicircle, thus describing a space between two circles. In 
passing through a small circular aperture, the image of a candle 
flame received on a white surface, will be found inverted, and if the 
white surface be held at some distance, the image will be exceed- 
ingly magnified, -as in the case of its transmission through a double 
convex lens. In other instances the small aperture displays the prop- 
erties of a double concave glass, as in giving distinctness and achro- 
macy to telescopic images. When the image of a candle flame is 
transmitted through a long incision in the lead, -it will be -zultiplied 
and present the appearance of a row of lights all inverted. If a 
plate of lead having many punctures be held close to a candle flame, 


On the Refraction of Light. 353 


and a white surface placed at some distance behind it, each puncture 
will be seen to contain a perfect image of the flame. 

The ‘small circular aperture displays some singular appearances, 
when allowed to transmit dispersed light. ‘Thus, place in a sun 
beam, admitted through a hole in a dark chamber, a spherical mir- 
ror® of about four lines in diameter, and near it, place in the disper- 
sed rays, a leaden plate containing a few punctures. At a conven- 
_ient distance receive on a white surface the shadow of the plate, and 

the following phenomena will be evident: each puncture will contain 

-a number of dark circular lines or epicycles, with luminous-intervals 
between them. On minute examination these lines will be found 
chromatic, being bordered on the one side by orange, and on the 
other by bluish light. When the holes in the lead are square or 
rhombic, the images received on paper will be found to comprise 
many smaller squares or rhombs. ‘The development of dark and 
bright lines is not occasioned by a property, exclusively belonging to 
heterogeneous light; for when we admit into the dark chamber a 
beam through red or blue glass, and adjust in it the spherical mir- 
ror and punctured plate, the*same dark and bright circles are ob- 
served; but instead of the chromatic. fringes the border the circles 
in Core light, we shall only perceive dilutions and concentra- 
tions of the color employed. 

The homogeneous rays emerging from a prism, being transmitted 
through holes in the leaden plate, present some appearances well 
worthy of notice. Having admitted a beain of white light into a dark 
chamber, through a hole half an inch wide, I ordered a prism in such 
a manner as to decompose the light, and placed in the emerging 
_ rays, at some distance from the prism, a plate of lead, having in it a 
hole of one line in diameter. . At a distance of four- feet from the 
lead, I held a sheet of white paper, expecting to find on the paper 
the base of a lummous cone, such as would be formed by white light 
under the same circumstances ; mstead of which, there appeared 
from the lead to the white surface a pyramid of light whose base 
on the paper described an oblong figure, bounded on all sides by 
straight lines. On varying the position of the prism, so as to let the 
refracted rays emerge at different angles from the incident rays, the 


* This experiment ought to be performed with a metallic reflector. The bulb of 


a thermometer answers the purpose, but not so well as metal, since the light is liable 
to be decomposed by the slightest inequality of the glass. 


354 | On the Refraction of Light. 


figure of the pyramid was varied, and the base on the paper describ- 
ed, according to the position of the prism, a square, a rhomb, a 
rhomboid, a trapezium, or a parallelogram. All the figures were 
quadrilateral, and terminated by right lines. These phenomena 
would lead us to consider the spectrum in an entirely new light; for 
if we admit the Newtonian hypothesis, that it consists of circular 
images of the sun, the appearance of these luminous pyramids must 
remain inexplicable. The idea that the spectrum consists of mono- 
chromatic circles, the diameter of one of which forms its breadth, 
and whose circumferences bound it on all sides, is a beautiful con- 
ception, but it appears inconsistent with the luminous pyramids, 
and with the following fact, which I accidentally discovered. 
Whilst experimenting ‘on the effects of transmitting the analyzed 
rays emerging from a prism, in a dark room, through a bi-convex 
lens, I chanced to interpose the lens between the sun and the prism, 
in such a manner that the focus. fell on the prism near its refrac- 
ting angle. On the opposite wall I was surprised to see a spec- 
trum of a very peculiar and novel appearance. ‘The proportion be- 
tween its length and breadth exactly: corresponded to that of the 
Newtonian Spectrum, it being about five times longer than it was 
broad ; but unlike the Newtonian image, its length lay in a direction 
parallel with the length of the prism. In this spectrum the colors 
are arranged longitudinally, in the order of the common spectrum, 
and-consequently all: the dimensions of the common one are reversed 
in this. Newton, from the circumstance of his not having succeeded 
in attempts to increase the breadth of the spectrum, concluded that 
its breadth was the diameter of one monochromatic circle ; but if we 
grant that the breadth of this spectrum is formed by the diameter of 
a colored circle, we must admit that that - circle is painted with the 
seven primitive colors, which, from a consideration of both spec- 
ira, would be absurd. The lines bounding the extremities of the 
common spectrum, form the lateral boundaries of this new one ; and 
its extremities. are terminated by lines, which bound the long, sides 
of the Newtonian spectrum. The lines which bound the extremities 
of the common speetrum are so produced in this image as to termi- 
nate its long sides with straizht lines; and as it is certain that a curve 
line on being produced cannot form a straight line, so it is certam that 
all the boundaries of the solar spectrum are right lines. In order to 
examine this spectrum minutely, the prism should be fixed on a stand, 
the lens mounted on a swivel, and the white surface placed at a suit- 


On the Refraction of Light. 355 


able distance from the prism, which, considering the divergent pow- 
er of the lens beyond its focus, should be cwiteh nearer than is re- 
quisite for examining the common spectrum. ‘The prism employed — 
is very liable to ke broken, from the quantity of heat concentrated 
on it by the lens. ; 

The luminous pyramids before spoken of are probably i images “of 


the prism, which pass in minature through the foramina in the leaden 
plate, and augment im magnitude as thee distance fr om the lead in- 
creases ; for hens instead of using the homogeneous: rays issuing 
from a prism, we place red er blue glass in the aperture through 
which the solar beam is admitted, and allow the rays to pass through 
holes in a plate of lead ; on receiving the images on paper at some 
distance from the metal, we shall ged them to be perfectly circular. 

It has been maintained by a few of those who have written on the 
inflection of light, that some of the calorific rays are more diffrangi- 
ble than others, and as a corollary to this, it follows that differently 
colored rays, after passing through punctures of equal diameters will 
form figures whose bases, if received on a white surface, will appear 
of different sizes. ‘To ascertain the truth of this position, the following 
experiments were performed. 

A plate of red glass was placed in the aperture in ‘the window 
shutter ; and at the distance of a couple of feet from it, was fixed a 
sheet of lead, having in it a round hole of a line in diameter. | The 
boundaries of the base of the cone formed by the rays, were accu- 
rately marked with a crayon on a sheet of white paper, at the dis- 
tance of twelve feet from the leaden plate. On substituting blue for 
red glass in the window shutter, the base of the blue cone was found 
to occupy precisely the same space on paper as that of the red one. 
Yellow and violet glasses were employed, and the cones which they 
formed were equal to those produced by red and blue. It is to be 
remarked that these monochromatic cones do not differ in magnitude 
from the cone formed by compound solar light. The colored fring- 
es observed round the base of the cone of white light, cannot of 
course be observed around the base.of the monochromatic cone ; 
but instead of them, appear rings of different intensities of color : 
towards the centre of the base the color is bright but dilute, and 
dark but concentrated around the circumference. 

-Lest the equality in the size of the cones might be supposed to 
arise from any difference or imperfection in the colored media, I 
received the analyzed rays, emerging from a prism, on a sheet of 


356 On the Refraction of Light. 


lead, pierced with holes of nearly a line in diameter, at equal distan- 
ces from one another, (about an inch,) and in the same line. The 
bases of the pyramids, formed by the insulated colors, being received 
on paper, were found to occupy exactly the same spaces, and to be 
equal to one another.* The rays of the different colors are, there- 
fore, all equally diffrangible. 

The shadows of bodies in homogeneous light, instead of being 
fringed with colors, as in compound light, are bordered by concen- 
trations of the color in which they are placed; and the luminous 
streak around the border appears to be even more distinctly devel- 
oped in monochromatic than in white light. 

Having always entertained some doubts about the different refran- 
gibilities of the colorific rays, notwithstanding the high philosophical 
authority from which the theory emanated, I.instituted a few obvious 
experiments for the purpose of settling my mind on the subject. 
Before stating them, I beg leave to make a few introductory remarks. 
It is established that when the solar rays are transmitted through a 
double convex lens, to a focal point, their convergency is caused by 
the refraction which the rays undergo in the glass; and hence it ne- 
cessarily follows. that the distance i the focus from the lens is in- 
versely as the degree of refrangibility. possessed by the light. In 
other words, if light were more ‘refrangible than it really is, its rays 
would converge sooner to a focal point than they do, the same lens 
being employed. Now according to the: Newtonian doctrine, there 
is a gradation of refrangibilities from the red to the violet rays; the 
rays of the latter being most refrangible, those of the former being 
least so, and the colors included between these extremes, possessing 
intermediate degrees of refrangibility. It naturally follows that when 
the same double convex glass is used, the point of convergency or 
focus will be nearest the lens in the violet rays, less near to it in the 
indigo, still less so in the blue, and so on to the red’ rays, in which 
the distance of the focus from the glass must be greatest, since they 
possess less refrangibility than any of the other rays. Impressed 
with these views, I Jonaned a double convex lens whose foca! dis- 
tance in the compound solar light was two feet, and mounted it on a 
sliding stick, accurately graduated.. Having decomposed, by a prism, 


* The bases formed by the superior yellow rays and the inferior green, appear, 
when viewed at a distance, to be larger than the rest, but this arises from their 
greater illuminating power, by which they illustrate a space contiguous to them. 


On the Refraction of Light. 357 


the solar light entering a dark chamber, I fixed the lens thus adjust- 
ed in the isolated red rays, which were refracted in their passage 
through the lens, and made to converge to a focal point at precisely 
twenty four inches from the glass. The lens was then fixed in the 
violet rays, which having passed through it, converged to a focus at 
exactly twenty four inches from it. The orange, yellow, green, 
blue, and indigo rays were passed separately through the lens, and 
all made to converge to one focus. A bi-convex glass, whose focal 
distance is four feet, was subsequently employed, and gave results 
scrupulously analogous to those already stated: all the differently 
colored rays converging at the same distance from the lens. 

Double concave glasses were used to determine whether the di- 
vergent rays of the different colors would form circles of equal diam- 
eters, at the same distance from the lens. The circumference of 
the circle formed by the divergency of the red rays was accurately 
marked with a pencil on letter paper, and the circle produced by the 
violet rays was found to have, at an equal distance, the same diame- 
ter. ‘These experiments are obvious and simple, and they go to es- 
tablish that the rays of all colors are equally refrangible. 

If we admit that the several colorific rays are endowed with dif- 
ferent degrees of refrangibility, we must be prepared to admit the 
following results, as the necessary consequence of such a property. 

1. A beam of white light, in passing through a diaphanous medi- 
um of equal thickness, as a plate of glass, with parallel surfaces, 
would undergo analysis, and the colors would appear in the order of 
ce refrangibilities. 

. Bodies viewed meee different colors of light would appear 
of ee magnitudes; for the focal distance of the crystalline lens 
would vary, according to the refrangibility of the rays. 

3. A double convex glass would have seven foci; for the violet 
rays, being most refrangible, would converge soonest to a focus, and 
the red rays, being least so, would form the most distant one. If, 
therefore, the violet focus were received on paper, it would be seen 
surrounded with six circles of colored light, of which the red would 
form the external. 

4. The same chromatic circles would appear, if solar light were 
transmitted through a double concave glass; with this difference, that 
in the latter case, the center would be formed of the least refrangible 
or red ray, and the circumference of the Woe ‘ 


Vou. XX.—No. 2. 46 


° 
sf 
ZT 


358 — the Refraction of Light. 


5. The bed ofa a river, or a picture behind a plate of glass, would 
be seen beautifully enamelled with spectra. | ‘. 

These, and many more phenomena of a similar nature, would be 
manifest, if the colorific rays possessed different degrees of refran- 
gibility ; but as no such appearances are observed to take place, it 
follows that the colorific rays are all equal in point of refrangibility. 
In order, therefore, to account for the prismatic analysis of the solar 
rays, we must seek for some other cause has the different refrangi- 
bilities of the colors of light. v 

A theory which appears to me to be less objectionable than any 
already advanced, more consistent with phenomena, and more con- 
formable to facts, is the following. 

It is manifest, even to the organ of vision, that there exists, on the 
solar spectrum, a gradation of dextinte from the red to the violet rays; 
the former being most dense, the latter most rare, and the colors in- 
cluded between these extremes possessing intermediate degrees of den- 
sity.* Asacorollary to this, it follows that the attraction existing be- 
tween homogeneous colorific atoms is most energetic in the red, and 
most feeble in the violet rays. This density, or concentration of color- 
ific atoms, varies not only in rays of different colors, but in different rays 
of the same color. This may readily be proved. Into a dark cham- 
ber admit a sun beam through red glass, and fix the prism in sucha 
manner as to refract the rays; receive the image on a white surface 
at a distance, and it will be seen that the red color is most concen- 
trated at the base, and becomes gradually less dense from the lower 
to the upper extremity of the image. Lest this phenomenon might 
have arisen from any inequalities in the substance or polish of the 
colored medium, I admitted into a dark chamber, the red rays, 
emerging from a prism, and having refracted them by a second prism, 
Treceived the image ona white paper. It differed in no respect - 
from that produced by red glass. In this experiment it is to be re- 
marked that the image is not circular, as Newton imagined, but 
quadrilateral. The quantity of heat, which accompanies the differ- 
ent colors of light, appears to depend on the density of ‘the colorific 
ray, and to be proportional to it; for, as we proceed upward on the 
solar spectrum with the differential thermometer, a decrement of sen- 


* Sir Isaac Newton was of opinion that the particles of red light were not only 
more contiguous to one another, but larger than those of the other colors, and con- 
sequently that they possessed a greater Bees gravity. 


~ 


_ On the Refraction of Light. 359 


sible coloric is indicated, and this, I have observed, not only. in dif- 
ferently colorific rays, but in different rays of the same color: thus, 
by transmitting a beam of red Jight through colored glass, and causing 
it to be Esfkacted as in the foregoing experiment, it will be found, by 
a delicate thermometer, that the heat is greater at the base than at 
the summit of the image. The development of caloric* is, there- 
fore, directly as the density of the colorific rays. Now when a beam 
of white light is incident on a dense diaphanous medium of unequal 
thickness, such as the prism, its red rays, as they possess the greatest 
density, and hence penetrate glass with greater difficulty than the 
rarer rays, are trajected through the thinnest portion of the prism, 
which they permeate with most facility. Having passed through 
less of the glass than their concomitant colors, they will consequently 
be less refracted, and occupy the base of the spectrum. ‘The orange 
rays, being next in the order of density, pass through the next thin- 
nest portion of the prism, and having permeated a part ‘of the glass, 
thicker than the red, and thinner than the yellow rays, they undergo 


* When we introduce a pencil of red rays into a dark chamber through a plate 
of colored glass, the thermometer being placed in them, indicates a higher tempera- 
ture than in blue or violet light, admitted through colored glasses; but it would be 
preposterous to conclude that, because more heat is found in red than in blue light. 
this difference is owing to the circumstance of the calorific rays being less refracted 
by red than by blue glass, or that heat consists of differently refrangible rays. A 
more gratuitous conclusion cannot easily be imagined; for what proportion exists 
between copiousness of heat and refrangibility ? were the rays of caloric differently 
_ refrangible, why recur to glass prisms to prove it? or what analogy is there be- 
tween bodies that transmit light, and those which transmit or conduct caloric? In- 
deed these properties generally occur in bodies in inverse proportion with regard to 
each other. If the rays of caloric were differently refrangible, metallic prisms, 
particularly silver ones, would answer the purpose of measuring the degrees of 
their refrangibility much better than glass ones, since they are much more perfect 
conductors. of coloric.t Far from having any proof that the rays of heat are dif- 
ferently refrangible, we have nota single fact to countenance the opinion that, 
per se, they undergo refraction at all. 

For when a beam of heat strikes on a piece of silver, in the shape a double con- 
vex lens, the thermometer does not indicate any focus or concentration of calorific 
rays. I may here mention an experiment which cost me much trouble. It was 
instituted with a view of ascertaining, whether the rays of heat, after passing 
through a conducting medium of metal, shaped like a burning glass, would converge 
to a focal point. A circular piece of glass was cut with a diamond, out of the mid- 
dle of a plane mirror, and in the hole was fixed a double convex lens of silver which 
exactly fitted it. The mirror was mounted perpendicularly on a supporter, and an- 


t Does the refrangibility depend on the conducting power? heat is hardly con- 
ducted by water at all, solar heat instantly radiates through that fluid. 


360 On the Refraction of Light. 


an intermediate refraction, and must necessarily eccupy, on the spec- 
trum, a position between the red and the yellow. ‘The violet rays, : 
being most rare, penetrate the thickest part of the prism, and con- 
sequently, being most refracted, must occupy the summit of the spec- 
trum. It would follow, from this theory, that a beam of white light, 
in permeating a double convex lens, would undergo analysis, and 
paint many spectra, on a white surface at some distance from its focus, 
since the lens is of unequal thickness. Such is really the case, 
though the colors produced cannot separately affect the retina, from 
the circumstance of their bemg developed in so many points of 
the lens, and blending so iaiteneely together as to make white light. 
But that light is decomposed by the lens, may be proved thus: 
Attach to the back of the lens a disk of sheet lead having any num- 
ber of punctures, and let a beam of light, entering a dark chamber, 
strike on the lead; at some distance beyond the focus, hold a sheet 
of letter paper, and the image of each hole in the disk will be seen 
occupied by a spectrum, glowing with the primitive colors. The 


other column was placed near it, and facing the mirror, to support an iron globe. 
Things were so ordered that, on heating the iron ball, all the calorific rays, incident 
on the mirror, would be reflected, and those only, which fell on the silver lens, 
would be transmitted. On subjecting the globe to an incandescent heat, I held the 
bulb of a thermometer in the spot ene the focus would be, if a beam of light 
were refracted through a diaphanous lens of the same dimensions; but the ther- 
mometer did not there indicate a higher temperature than in any other spot, equi- 
distant from the metallic lens and within the cone of radiation. Nor did the unequal 
thickness of the lens appear to affect, in any degree, the intensity of the transmitted 
heat. This experiment, which was cautiously performed, has convinced me that 
caloric, per se, is not subject to the laws of refraction. When united with light, 
in a combination which may be called chemical, it accompanies its rays as a neces- 
sary and indispensable agent. ‘The combination of caloric with the red rays seems 
to be in a certain invariable ratio above the surrounding temperature, and that ratio 
is directly as the density of the colovific rays. _1t becomes thus, easy to account for 
the inequality of heat presented on the spectrum, or transmitted through glasses of 
different colors or lenses, when we reflect that caloric is held, chemically combined 
with the atoms of each color of light, and the more the colorific rays are condensed, 
the more sensibly will their caloric be developed. That heat should be found beneath 
the apparent base of the spectrum may seem at first paradoxical; but when it is 
recollected, that the illuminating, or properly Jucific rays, through which alone ob- 
jects are visible, are totally distinct from the colorific rays, the anomaly immediately 
vanishes. For the densest rays may be collected where sensible caloric predomi- 
nates; and still be invisible to us, from the circumstance of their not being combined 
with the illuminating rays. That a fluid, like caloric, perfectly homogeneous in all 
its parts, and producing uniformly the same effects, should consist of differently re- 
frangible rays, is an hypothesis, so diametrically repugnant to all philosophical prin- 
ciples, that it is wonderful it should have received a moment’s consideration. 


On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 361 


same phenomenon, still more brilliantly and vividly developed, will 
appear, when, instead of the lens, we employ a concave glass speculum. 
In the same manner, if we affix to the prism a plate of punctured 
lead and allow a solar beam to pass through, we may beliold, at a 
slight distance from the prism, as ee spectra as there are punc- 
tures in the lead. 


Anr.. XXL—On Storms and Meteorological Observations ; by 
Prof. Mrrcwes, Univ. N.C. 


ON THE POSITION, OF THE AXIS OF GYRATION IN STORMS. 


In the 40th number of this Journal an attempt was made to show 
that certain winds, and amongst other storms those of the Atlantic 
coast are the result of a gyratory movement of the air about an axis 
parallel to the plane of the horizon. In a paper by Mr. Redfield in 
the last or 41st number, whilst the correctness of the views just re- 
ferred to, so far as thunder storms are concerned, is allowed, it is con- 
tended that in the great tempests that sweep along our sea board, the 
gyration is about an axis either perpendicular or moderately inclined 
to the horizon. The author of the first of these communications 
does not find himself warranted in abandoning the opinions originally 
advanced by him, and begs leave here to offer ae following additional - 
remarks. 

A sound theory of storms must fulfil three conditions. 

1. It must account for the characteristics of the wind which con- 
stitutes an important part, though by no means the whole of the phe- 
pe ne its direction, velocity, etc. 

. It must account for the precipitation of moisture under the form 
mt of rain, hail, or snow. 

. The motion ascribed by it to the aerial currents must be such 
as fe causes known to.be active upon the earth’s surface, have a ten- 
dency to generate. 

In my own paper, each of these points received particular though 
perhaps not satisfactory notice, and I should not have ventured to 
offer it for publication if I had not swpposed that the theory contained 
in it was shown to satisfy the three conditions. Mr. Redfield’s at- 
tention is directed almost exclusively to the course, velocity, and 
changes of the wind. His theory does not and cannot account for 
the rain and snow, and that the motion ascribed by it to the air is such 


- 362 On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 


as the causes known to be active upon the earth’s surface can seldom 
or never produce, at least, upon the scale that he supposes. 

1’. It may be objected to the opinions advanced in Mr. Redfield’s 
paper, that the induction upon which they are founded is too narrow, 
embracing too small a number of particular observations, and these 
too slightly connected to warrant the conclusions that are drawn from 
them. ‘The phenomena stated may all be explained upon the sup- 
position of a whirlwind revolving about a horizontal axis. The prin- 
cipal movement of a revolving fluid is almost necessarily accompanied 
by various eddies, counter currents, and motions in an opposite di- 
rection, and especially must this be the case during the commotion 
produced by the precipitations and rapid and violent mixtures of air of 
different temperatures that constitute a furious storm. A good deal 
of stress is also laid upon the fact, that in certain specified cases, a vio- 
lent wind from the N. E.,E.S. E. S.orS. W. quarter was suc- 
ceeded by another from the north west. But did this north west 
wind by sinking down into a calm, after having continued for as long 
a time as the wind that preceded it, prove itself to be a portion of a 
retiring whirlwind? Or did it continue for a longer time—two or three 
days—with clear weather, and thus shew that it was the first burst of 
an aerial torrent, by which the current, natural to this part of the 
earth’s surface, was established. When a case shall be adduced 
where a wind from some other quarter succeeded one from the north 
west as part of the same storm, the argument drawn from the changes 
remarked in the course of the wind, will be entitled to more weight 
and confidence. 

It may be observed farther that in the storms which sweep over the 
land, and which are of such moderate dimensions, that the direction 
of the constituent wind can be easily and accurately ascertained ; 
whirlwinds are of rare occurrence. It is. probable, therefore, that 
the same is true of such tempests as are of larger dimensions, and 
whose route is either in part or altogether over the ocean. Itis a 
sound rule in philosophy, that when any phenomena, from their vast- 
ness or for any other cause, cannot be accurately observed, their 
character is to be inferred from analogous phenomena that are within 
the reach of observation. 

2.’ It is manifest that what has always been regarded as a princi- 
pal difficulty in accounting for the phenomena of storms—the furnish- 
ing an explanation of the precipitation of moisture, with the immense 
evolution of latent heat, and the depression of temperature which 


On Storms and Meteorological: Observations. 363 


does, nevertheless, in very many cases accompany it—is not touched: 


at all by Mr. Redfield’s theory. ‘The problem to be solved in this 
part of meteorology, is the bringing of large masses of air of very 
different temperatures suddenly into a state of intimate mixture. 
But no such effects could be produced by a.whirlwind with a verti- 
eal axis, which might continue to spin for ages without producing a 
single drop of rain. It:was with reference to this difficulty especially, 
that an horizontal axis of gyration was ascribed to storms in my own 
paper, and on this one point the whole question may be safely rested. 
3’. Though condensation and rarefaction may not in every in- 


stance produce a wind, there are no other known agents by which 


any considerable movements in the great aerial ocean can be gener- 
ated; and nothing is more certain than that the only motion they 


have a direct tendency to produce is gyratory, and about an horizon-~ 


tal axis. ‘This is matter of demonstration. If-they ever produce . 


whirlwinds with vertical axes it must be by an indirect action, and it 
does not seem safe to assign to phenomena of common occurrence, 
causes which act indirectly, and of which there is no full and positive 
evidence that they have ever generated such a whirlwind half a 
dozen miles in diameter. Nor must it be claimed that there are pe- 
culiarities in the form and positions of the mountains, seas, and islands 
of the western continent, which will determine the formation of 
whirlwinds of a peculiar character, with us, rather than in other 
parts of the globe. Storms are of common occurrence the world 
over, their characteristics are every where much the same, nor is 
there room for doubt that they are every where regulated by the 
same general laws and to be referred to the same general causes. 


OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. 


Mr. Redfield has unquestionably fallen upon the proper method 
(too much neglected in this country since Franklin’s time,) of ar- 
riving at valuable and accurate results in meteorology. It is by tra- 
cing the progress of particular storms and noticing the succession of 
changes over a wide district of country, that we must ascertain the 
laws that regulate the atmospherical phenomena. The collections 
of meteorological tables, registers, and observations, under. which 
the shelves of our libraries have long groaned, are almost worthless; 
partly by reason of the imperfections of the instruments employed, 
partly because the objects aimed at may be gained by shorter meth- 
ods, and partly because they are directed to the acquisition of mean 


364 On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 


resulis. It is not meant to be asserted that mean results are of no 
value, but we must not hope to deduce many of the great laws of na- 
ture from them. This were much as if a chemist should set down 
in a table. all the acid, alkali, alcohol, ete. consumed in his laboratory 
in the course of the year, with all the resulting substances of what- 
ever kind, and undertake to derive from these data the great funda- 
mental doctrines of his science. 

No record of the height of the mercury in the barometer can be 
cof value unless the instrument is both carefully purged of air and 
filled with mercury whose specific gravity has been correctly ascer- 
tained. It is somewhat remarkable, when we consider the many la- 
borious observations that have been made in various parts of the 
world, the plans that have been proposed for clearmg the tube com- 
pletely of air, and the contrivances added for reading off the altitude 
to the thousandth part of an inch, that the constant and perhaps ne- 
cessary uncertainty of the standard itself should have been so much 
_ neglected. The mercury employed by Mr. Daniell in filling the 
tube of the barometer recently made for ihe Royal Society, was 
found by Mr. Faraday to have a specific gravity of 13.624 at 40° 
of Fahrenheit’s thermometer, the temperature of the water being the 
same—or of 13.609 at the temperature of 60°. He states the 
mean height of the barometer in London at 29.881 inches. But 
Dr. Henry in the last edition of his Chemistry makes the specific 
gravity of mercury 13.545 at 47° of Fahrenheit, or 13.538 at 60°. 
If Daniell’s mean altitude was obtained with the same metal, or with 
a metal of the same specific gravity with that employed in filling the 
Royal Society’s barometer ; the mean height with Dr. Henry’s mer- 
cury would be 30.038. But Dr. Thomson, remarking that the spe- 
cific gravity of mercury “ varies considerably like that of all other 
metals,” says that he once obtained it as low as 13.4228. ‘This would 
stand according to Daniell at. 30.295. We have therefore the fol- 
lowing numbers: 

Height of the barometer in London as deduced by Luke Howard 
from the register kept at the rooms of the Royal Society, a mean 


of twenty years, - - - - - 29.8655 
Height stated by Daniell—supposed ee gt avity 5 

of the mercury, 13.609, - - 29.881 
Height with Dr. Henry’s mercury—same pressure, 30.038 
Height with Dr. ‘Thompson’s mercury, = - 30.295 


Uncertainty depending upon the variable specific 
gravity of the mercury, - - - - 4295 


On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 365 


Dr. Young states that mercury once distilled has a specific. gravity 
varying from 13.55 to 13.57—that the mercury employed in filling 
_ barometers has commonly! a specific gravity of 13.6, and that Boer- 
haave by 511 distillations once obtained it as high as 14.11. What 
would be the condition of the science of astronomy if an able phi- 
losopher were to find occasion for the remark, that the are employed 
by astronomers im measuring the angular distances of the heavenly 
bodies and divided by them into ninety degrees was commonly a 
quadrant or quarter of a circle? The low state of the mercury in 
Dr. Hildreth’s barometer noticed in the last number of the Journal, 
may depend in part upon the specific gravity of the metal with which 
it is filled. - Whether these discrepancies depend upon the presence 
of a foreign substance or supposing the mercury to be pure;: by what 
methods a given specific gravity may be obtamed seems not to have 
been made the subject of accurate investigation. The other sources 
of error depending on.the presence of air in the tube; the unequal 
pressure of the bag containing the mercury, etc. are not particularly 
‘noticed here, but it is evident that the mean results given by an in- 
strument that is rendered by their combined influence so very varia- 
ble and uncertain in its indications as the common barometer, must 
be of little value.* 


D * It has occurred to me that when aconsiderable manufacture of ba- 
rometers is carried on, the arrangement in the margin might be employ- 
ed with advantage for filling them in vacuo, boiling the mercury and 
thus freeing them completely of air. ABis a gun barrel carefully pol- 
ished on its interior surface, and furnished with a hollow screw having 
a square nut for the purpose of forcing it down with a key and making 

A an air-tight joint at A, and with a smaller solid screw at B. The barom- 

eter tube, thoroughly dried, is to be cemented into the hollow screw and 

connected with the barrel asin the figure. Mercury is then to be pour- 
ed in at B until the compound tube is full. The solid screw is then to 
be put into its place, the apparatus inverted with the bottom in a basin 
of mercury, and the screw removed, when the mercury will flow out 
until it stands at C, about thirty inches above B. Thescrew may then be 
returned to its place again and the mercury boiledin vacuo. Whenit has 
become cool, a second immersion will cause the mercury to flow into the 

B ‘glass tube which will thus be filled in vacuo with mercury thoroughly 

freed from air without any danger of fracture. As however, the vacuum above C, 

would not be quite perfect in the first instance, the operation might be repeated. 

The tube being filled again at B and inverted, all the metal containing air would 

flow out first, and the success of the process be rendered complete and certain. To 

prevent the oxidation of the iron and dust from getting in, the barrel may be kept 
constantly filled with mercury. 


Vol. XX.—No. 2. 47 


366 On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 


The mean temperature of any place is so very readily ascertained 
and with so much certainty by means of a few observations upon its 
wells and springs, made within the compass of a single year, that it 
seems a very useless waste of time and attention to watch, and record 
with reference to this object, the indications of a thermometer ex- 
posed to the air. 

The columns for the direction of the winds, for the aspect EA the 
heavens and the amount of rain, that appear in the best meteorologi- 
cal registers are not without their value, but their usefulness would 
be very much increased if measures were instituted for effecting an 
immediate comparison of them with the observations made in other 
and distant parts of the country. When observations with the hy- 
grometer shall have been sufficiently multiplied to warrant us in 
drawing conclusions from them, it will probably appear that the quan- 
tity of vapor is less on the western than on the eastern side of the. 
Atlantic—that though the amount of precipitation is greater the air 
is considerably drier. 

It is however by a minute and thorough «study of individual phe- 
nomena, and tracing the progress of the changes that occur from. 
time to time over a wide extent of country, that the science of me- 
teorology is to be perfected. ‘The truth of the proposition stated by 
Leibnitz—“ Neque aliud est natura quam ars quaedam magna,” is 
to be borne constantly in mind. Every great storm is a succession 
of chemical changes, immense alike m their number, magnitude, and 
the space through which they occur, and as it is by a close attention 
to all the circumstances of single experiments, and not by a. loose 
and indefinite approximation of a number, that chemistry has made 
such astonishing advances, so meteorology, if studied at all with suc- 
cess, must be pursued in the same way, the labors of many different 
persons being combined in the collection of data, where the observa- 
tions of a single individual would be Wade (ital to the attainment of 
the object in view. 

It is not known whether the plan sketched in the following letter 
of Professor Brandes, dated Breslaw, December 1, 1816, copied 
from Gilbert’s Annals into the Bibliotheque Universelle, and transla- 
ted from thence for the Journal of Science, has been carried into 
execution, but it will be apparent that it might be applied with ad- 
vantage to our own country. 

“Some investigations which I had proposed to attach to this letter, 
have not afforded the results I expected from them. Thad collected 


On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 367 


from. different journals a number of notes on the very remarkable 
meteorological phenomena of the last summer, and hoped to be able 
to draw from them some conclusions in regard to the general progress 
of the season. But on comparing them, I find the inferences I ex- 
pected to make are not quite certain. It'is however, worthy of par- 
ticular remark, that the month of July was, not only in Germany and 
France but as far south as Naples, rainy, changeable and cold; whilst 
in Russia, Norway, part of Sweden and the North Sea, it was dry 
and warm. -In America, it must have been cold in the northern part 
of the United States and hot at the south. ‘These however are only 
some general conclusions, to be drawn from the comparisons just 
mentioned. : 

“If it were possible to collect meteorological statements somewhat 
more exact, (were it only for the continent of Europe,) it is probable 
that very interesting consequences might be deduced from them. If 
we could, for example, color maps of Europe for each of the three 
hundred and sixty five days of the year, according to the aspect of 
the heavens on each day, we should discover at a glance, the bounda- 
‘ries of a great stormy cloud which covered Germany and France 
during the whole of the month of July. We should see whether 
the limits of this cloud were extended gradually towards the north, 
or whether new clouds were formed suddenly in the different lati- 
tudes and longitudes, and whether whole kingdoms were covered by 
them. 

_‘ Whatever absurdity some persons may find in the idea of these 
colored maps, representing the atmospherical changes, I believe 
nevertheless that it is worthy of being carried into execution. It is 
at least certain that three hundred and sixty five small maps of Eu- 
rope, colored to represent in one placesa blue sky, in another clouds, 
whether light, or massy, or rain, with little arrows at each place of 
observation to denote the direction of the wind, if we were to connect 
with them some definite indications of the temperature, would com- 
municate more pleasure and instruction than the most extensive me- 
teorological tables. : 

“For making a trial im accordance with these ideas, it would be 
necessary to procure the observations of fifty or sixty different sta- 
tions, scattered over the region between the Pyrenees and the Ural 
Mountains. Although this distribution would leave many points un- 
determined, we should nevertheless obtain something altogether new. 
If you could contribute something towards furnishing me with regis- 
ters of observations after this plan, I would willingly take upon my- 


368 On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 


self the task of comparing, with this object in view, the meteorological 
tables of any one year. I should not propose to myself to furnish the 
public: with particular and detailed remarks upon all the observations, 
but simply to give an account of whatever interesting facts were to be 
discovered in my three hundred and sixty five particular maps. I 
fear that these ideas, which will perhaps appear to have been made 
somewhat at a hazard, would not be found easy of execution. Whilst 
waiting however for some result of this sort, -I am about to collect a 
number of papers on the subject of meteorology, which I hope to be 
able to arrange and publish in the course of the ensuing year. Along 
with some fragments of my own, I propose to give a translation, with 
notes, of an English work, entitled Researches on Atmospheric Phe- 


nomena, by Thomas Forster.” 


Tt would be difficult in this country to secure the cooperation of as 
large a number of observers, as were required by Professor Brandes 
for carrying his plans into execution. But the comparison of a much 
smaller number of meteorological registers, exhibiting the course of 
the winds, the aspect of the heavens, and the quantity of rain or 
snow, would afford valuable information, especially respecting the 


‘more remarkable phenomena. Such a comparison would have 


shown, during the last fall, that violent north east storms may sweep 
over the northern and eastern states, without making themselves felt 
at all in the Carolinas. We meet from time to time, in this Journal 
and elsewhere, with enquiries respecting the “Indian summer”—or 
the dry fog that covers this country in autumn, and sometimes in the 
spring. A very few observations in remote parts of the United States, 
continued through a single year, would be worth more than a consid- 
erable book of speculations upon the subject. ‘They would determine 
in particular whether the opinion of some philosophers who represent 
it as asmoke proceeding from the combustion of the prairies and 
forests is correct, or whether, as is more probable, it depends upon 


‘some condition of the atmosphere that is not understood, and is simi- 


lar to that which accompanies the Harmattan on the coast of Guinea. 


The following quotations have reference to this subject. 


“During several of the summer months of the year 1783, when . 
the effects of the sun’s rays to heat the earth in these northern re- 
gions should have been the greatest, there existed a constant fog over 
all Europe and great part of North America. ‘This fog was of a 
permanent nature; it was dry, and the rays of the sun seemed to 
have little effect towards dissipating it, as they easily do a moist fog 


arising froin water. ‘They were indeed rendered so faint in passing 


| 
| 


On Storms and Meteorological Observations. 369 


through it, that when collected in the focus of a burning glass they 
would scarce kindle brown paper. Of course their summer effect 
in heating the earth was exceedingly diminished. Hence the sur- 
face was easily frozen, and the first snows remained on it unmelted 
and. received continual additions. Hence perhaps the winter of 
1783-4 was more severe than any that had happened for many 
years. The cause of this universal fog is not yet aseertained.”* 

“In my descent from Pittsburg to Louisville, I found the wind, 
excepting about two days, constantly blowing up the river. The 
north west or south west winds in fact continue almost three quarters 
of the year. The deep valley which the river has excavated forms 
a vortex, into which the rarefied air of the land rushes for equilibri- 
um. The south west wind is uniformly, at this season of the year, — 
(latter part of November,) attended with a dense and bluish atmos- _ 
phere, charged with vapors, which appear like smoke and sometimes 
accumulate so as to obscure the land.” 

*“‘ Among the more remarkable features of the autumnal season in 
this country, (Arkansaw,) is the aspect of the atmosphere, which in 
all directions appears so filled with smoke as often to render an object 
obscure at the distance of one hundred yards. ‘The south west winds 
at this season are often remarkably hazy, but here the effect 1s. great- 
ly augmented by the burning of the surrounding prairies.” - 

See Dobson on the Hiacmudier in the Philosophical Transactions 
for 1781.—“ An extremely dry wind in Africa, coming from the north 
east, drying even potash. It generally brings a fog of some unknown 
nature.” { Humboldt promised a discussion of the subject of dry fogs 
in the Personal Narrative, but it is to be expected of a book a quarter 
of a century in publication than some things promised in it will be for- 
gotten and omitted. 

It is very desirable to have the atmospherical changes on the east- 
ern and western sides of the Alleghanies connected and compared, by 
means of a series of good observations; but in the case of the winds, 
the fact noticed by Mr. Nuttall must be attended to—that the winds 
along the beds of large streams, or in the neighborhood of the sea, 
determine nothing precisely in regard to the direction of the main 


currents of the great aerial ocean. 
University of North Carolina, June 7, 1831. 


* Franklin’s Works, Vol. III, p. 288. 
t Nuttall’s Travels, pages 35 and 217. 
$ Young’s Philosophy, Vol. II, p. 458. 


370 Collection of Fossil Bones. 


- Art. XXII.—Report* of Messrs. Coorrr, J. A. Surru, and Dz 
Kay, to the Lyceum of Natural History, on a collection of Fossil 
bones, disinterred at Big Bone Lack, Kentucky, in September, 
1830, and recently brought to New York. 

Read May 30, 1831. 

“Tar Committee beg leave respectfully to report, that these bones 
having been landed only within a few days, sufficient time has not 
been afforded them for the accurate determination of every imperfect 
or mutilated fragment. The greater part, however, belonging to 
well known animals, were immediately recognized, and it is not be- 
lieved that any thing of much importance will be hereafter observed. 
They therefore submit, this evening, a general account of this col- 
lection, reserving for a future occasion such further particulars as may 
be deemed of sufficient interest. 

The remains of the Great Mastodon compose more than one half 
the entire quantity of which this collection consists. Among them is 
a head, which, though not entire, is in better preservation than any 
of this animal heretofore discovered. It enables us to form a better 
idea of the figure of this important part, than could hitherto be obtain- 
ed. It is found to have the cranium much depressed, in which it devi- 
atesremarkably from the Elephant. Both the tusks are preserved, 
one having been found still in the socket, and the other lying at a 
short distance off. 

Of other large tusks, there are besides, five that measure from six 
and a half to twelve feet in length, and many more large fragments 
of others. 

Six portions of upper jaws, all containing teeth. 

Fifteen portions of lower jaws, twelve of which contain from one 
to three grinders each. 

Besides these, there are seventy three detached molar teeth of all 
sizes, some of them as large as any yet discovered. 

Of the large bones of the anterior extremity, there are five scap- 
ul, seven humeri, three uln, and one radius, more or less perfect. 

Of the posterior extremity, six ossa innominata, ten femora, and five 
tibia. Some of these are almost entire, others are much mutilated. 

It is necessary to observe, that although these large bones, as well 
as the detached tusks, have been provisionally referred to the Mas- 
todon, yet it is not improbable that on a further comparison a part 


* Inserted in this Journal by permission of the Lyceum. 


+) 


Collection of Fossil Bones. 371 


may be found to belong to the Fossil Elephant. The mutilated con- 
dition of some ender it extremely difficult to pronounce with cer- 
tainty upon a slight examination. : 

The remains of the fossil Elephant comprised in this Collection, 
are next in interest and number to those of the Mastodon. 

The first that we shall notice is a head of a young individual, more 
complete than any known to your committee, to have been obtain- 
ed in North America. It consists of the upper and lower maxillary 
bones, with six molar teeth in good preservation. Isolated grinders 
have been discovered in the United States in numerous instances, 
but generally without any portion of bone adhering tothem. There 
are also of the Elephant, in this collection, several other large frag- 
ments of jaws, and twenty separate molar.teeth. | 

Of the Horse, there are perfect teeth, and other portions, found 
under circumstances that favor the belief of their being of equal an- 
tiquity with the extinct animals whose remains are associated with 
them in the Collection. ‘The teeth are remarkably large and sound. 

Of Ruminating animals, there are skulls and some other parts of 
the Buffalo, Bos Americanus ; of the extinct species named by Dr. 
Harlan, Bos bombifrons, and of a large species of Cervus, resem- 
bling C, Alces. | 

Finally. we have also discovered among these interesting relics 
some considerable portions of. the Mezalonys: whose osteology is 
still so imperfectly known. ‘The most important of these is a right 
lower maxillary bone, with four teeth in the sockets, and another de- 
tached tooth which appears to. have come from the upper jaw. 
There is also the tibia of the right leg, and perhaps some other bones 
which may prove to belong to the same animal. 

Remarks by the Editor.—Having (since the above account was 
received) seen. the collection of bones so accurately described above, 
I cannot refrain from attempting to convey to others something of the 
impression made upon my own mind on entering the room contain- 
ing this astonishing assemblage of bones, many of which are of gi- 
gantic size. ‘They produce in the beholder the strongest conviction 
that races of animals formerly existed on this continent, not only 
of vast magnitude, but which must also have been very numerous ; 
and the Mastodon, at least, ranged in herds, over probably the 
entire American continents. 

It is stated by the person who exhibits this collection, that the 
skull, and the tusks which it contains, weigh upwards of five hundred 
pounds ; that a pair of tusks now lying in the room, and supposed to 


372 Collection of Fossil Bones. 


belong to the same species, weighed six hundred pounds when taken 
from the ground ; and these are nearly perfect, and when we regard 
them as being merely appendages, and sustained by the animal at 
a great mechanical disadvantage, since they do not, like horns, rest 
upon the head, but project from it laterally forward, we can easily 
imagine that it would require the most powerful muscles to sustain 
and wield the entire cranium tusks, muscles and integuments. 

We shall be happy to see additional illustrations from the able com- 
mittee to whom we are indebted for the previous statement of facts. 

We will however venture to mention the extraordinary curvature 
of the tusks: those of the elephant, we believe, are always in the 
form of a bent bow, but these have almost the shape of a sickle, 
with the blade curved to one side; they are sharp and pointed. 
Many of the molar teeth of the mastodon in this collection, as we have 
often observed elsewhere, are much worn by grinding, and. possess 
a high lustre from the, polish produced by friction ; they appear to 
have belonged to animals of very various ages, and the smaller teeth 
are generally little or not at all worn; in some of the teeth, the pro- 
cesses or ridges which are so remarkably prominent in the mastodon 
and so remarkably contrasted also in this respect with those of the 
elephant, are entirely worn away, and are replaced by a deep, egg 
shaped cavity, of extreme polish, as if it were varnished. 

It is stated that this collection of bones contains upwards of three 
hundred in number, besides twenty two tusks, and that it weighs in 
all 5,300 pounds. ‘The bones were obtained by Capt. Finnel, at 
the Big Bone Lick, twenty miles south of Cincinnati, in Kentucky. 
The deposit was twenty two feet below the surface, but bones ap- 
pear to have been found at various depths, as may be observed in 
the notice of the Rev. Sayres Gazley,* Vol. XVIII, p. 131, of this 
Journal.f : 

The discovery of bones of the horse is very extraordinary, as this 
animal had been supposed not to be a native of America, and the 
Committee believe that they are of equal antiquity with the other 
bones ; the great size of the teeth implies very large individuals, if 

not a large species, in analogy with similar facts on the eastern con- 
tinent. 


* Then anonymous, but since acknowledged by the Rev. gentleman, who visited 
the spot. 

t This collection is at present shewn at the corner of Broadway and Pearl street, 
New York, but it is understood that it will ere long, be transferred to London or 
Paris. 


Professor Olmsted’s Reply to Dr. Christie. 373 


Arr, XXIII.—Reply to ‘Dr. Christie on Hail Sian "MS § by Denison 


 Ousrep, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy i m. 
Vale College. 


To the Editor of the American Journal of Science. 


Dear Sir,—In the New Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,* is an 
article on “ Indian Hail Storms,” communicated to that Journal by 
A. Turnbull Christie, M.D. The writer mentions several facts 
rélative to the occurrence of hailstorms’ in the southern parts of India, 

and of course within the limits of the torrid zone, which facts appear 
to him inconsistent with the views I had offered respecting the causes 
of hailstorms, in an article first published in the eighteenth volume of 
this Journal, and republished i in the New Heimbarel Philosophical 
Journal. 

These facts are of so interesting a nature, that I could not igh 
them to be witheld from your readers, although they should subvert 
the explanation I had ventured to suggest; but whether they subvert 
or confirm that explanation, your readers will have an opportunity of 
judging, if they will do me the favor, after reading the annexed arti- 
cle, to peruse the subjomed remarks. ‘The article is as follows. 


[From the New Edinburgh Philosophical Journal.] 
‘ e. 
On Indian Hailstorms ; by A. "TurnpuLt Curistiz, M. D. 


In the last number of your Journal a new theory of hailstorms is 
proposed by Professor Olmsted of Yale College, viz. that they are 
caused by “the congelation of the watery vapor ofa body of warm 
and humid air, by its suddenly mixing with an exceedingly cold wind 
in the higher regions of the atmosphere.” 

According to this theory it is very easy to account for those ee 
storms which so frequently occur in some parts of the temperate zones, 
asin the south of France, or in the United States of America; for in 
such situations it is very possible that. an intensely cold wind, pro- 
ceeding from the north at. a great height, might meet with a warm 
body of air highly charged with moisture, and thus cause a very sud- 
den congelation, with the other phenomena that generally accompany 
such storms.. But this explanation could not apply (even according 
to the Professor’s own showing) to hailstorms in the torrid zone, for 
any two currents of air; within this zone, would differ so little in tem- © 


* This number of that work not having yet reached us, the above extract is taken 
from the Philadelphia National Gazette, ch June 14, 


Vor Ox. Niow 23 48 


374 Professor Olmsted’s Reply to Dr. Christie. 


perature, that their sudden mixture could not possibly produce conge- 
lation, but merely clouds and rain, thunder and lightning; and, 'says the 
Professor, ‘in this region we know not where to leok for the freezing 
current, unless we ascend so high that there no hot air exists holding 
watery vapor to be frozen by it.” He therefore supposes that violent 
hailstorms are unknown in the torrid zone, excepting in one situation, 
viz. in the vicinity of lofty mountains covered. with snow. Here, 
however, he is mistaken, hailstorms being by no means uncommon in 
different parts of the peninsula of India, and consequently at a dis- 
tance of many hundred miles from any lofty mountains.* 

Weare iold, in Rees’ Cyclopedia, that hailstorms never occur in 
the torrid zone; and in the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, under the article 
Physical Geography, that they never occur there, except at an eleva- 
tion of not less than one thousand five hundred or two thousand feet. 
This, I will show, is by no means the case. In May 1823, a violent 
hailstorm occurred at Hydrabad, which is about 17 degrees north 
latitude, and has an elevation ({ believe) of not more than one thousand 
feet above the level of the sea. he hailstones were of a considera- 
ble size, and a sufficient quantity was collected by the servants of a 
military mess to cool the wine for several days. A hailstorm occur- 
red at Darwar, north latitude 16° 28’, east longitude 75° 11’, in May 
or June 1825. The height of Darwar above thé level of the sea is 
two thousand four hundred feet, but it is near no high range of moun- 
tains. The hailstones had a white porous nucleus, and varied in size 
from that of a filbert to that of a pigeon’s egg. A similar storm) oc- 
curred at the same place, and about the same season, in 1826. These 
are the only instances of hailstorms which ¢ame under my own. ob- 
servation during the five years I was in India; but numerous’ others 
might be brought forward from the testimony of others. I shall only 
mention a few. Lieutenant Colonel Bowler, of the Madras army, 
tells me that he witnessed a violent storm of hail at Trichinopoly, 
about the middle of the year 1805, when the hail stones were nearly 
as large as walnuts. He also mentions very violent hailstorm which 
occurred in Goomsa Valley, about twenty five miles west of Gamjam, 
and only a few feet above the level of the sea, when he was in camp there 
about the end of April 1817. It commenced about half past three in 
the afternoon. The weather had previously been very sultry, with 
hot blasts of wind, and heavy clouds, which appeared almost to touch 


* The highest mountains in the peninsula of India are the Neelgherries, a 
small group, situated between the tenth and eleventh degrees of north latitude, and 
having a height of little more than eight thonsand feet above the level of the sea, 
being not more than one half of that which the snow line would have in this situ- 
ation. ~ 


, Professor Olmsted’s Reply to Dr. Christie. 375 


the tops of the tents. On the hail falling, the air became on a sudden 
disagreeably cold, as it had been before oppressively hot. ‘The same 
gentleman also witnessed a hailstorm at Masalapatam, on the coast of 
Coromandel, in 1822 (he thinks in the month ef April); and others, 
at different times, in various parts of India. 

We are told by Heyne, in his historical and ctctieal tracts on 
India, that ‘“‘ masses of hail of immense size are said to have fallen 
from the clouds, at different periods,” in the Mysore country; and 
that “in the latter part of Tippoo Sultan’s reign, it is on record, and 
well authenticated, that a piece fell near Seringapatam of the size of 
an elephant.” Of course, it is not to be expected that we are to be- 
lieve this to the letter—we must make some allowance for oriental 
exaggeration. - 

It is needless to multiply examples, for I’ believe there is not an 
officer who has been many years in India, who cannot bear testimony 
~ to the frequency of hailstorms in that country. . Professor Olmsted’s 
theory, therefore, even according to his own account of it, must be 
abandoned ; or, at all events, it will only apply to those falls of hail 
which occur in the temperate zones. 

_ Remarks.—That these facts are not inconsistent with my «theory 
of hailstorms” will, J think, appear evident, by placing side by side 
my leading proposition, and one of the most striking facts the Doctor 
has Mentioned. 


Proposition. bens Fact mentioned by Dr. C. 


‘Hailstorms are caused by the The weather [previous to a 
congelation of the watery vapor | violent hailstorm] had been very 
of a body of warm and humid | sultry, with hot blasts of wind, 
air, by its suddenly mixing with | and heavy clouds, which appear- 
an exceedingly cold wind, in the | ed almost to touch the tops of 
higher regions of the atmosphere. | the tents. On the hail falling, 

the air-became on a sudden, as 
disagreeably cold, as it had been 
belove oppressively hot. 

This fact ts so much to my purpose, that had I met with it in sea- 
son, | should undoubtedly have annexed it to those offered in support 
of my views. The hot sultry blasts that preceded, and the cold weath- 
er that followed the storm, implies the meeting of just such elements 
as the theory demands. It has been suggested, indeed, that the cold 
that ensues is caused by the hail itself; but this does not account, like 
the other supposition, for the formation of the hail, and moreover 


376 Professor Olmsted’s Reply to Dr. Christie. 


there is usually, if not always, a change of direction in the wind ; 
that is, the wind blows from a different quarter after the storm, and is 
often exceedingly cold when the quantity of hail that falls is too small 
to produce so great a change. 

Dr. Christie is under a mistake in supposing that my explanation 
of the causes of hailstorms, requires that these storms should never 
occur in the torrid zone, except in the region of high mountains. 
So far from this, the theory demands that hailstorms should occur 
wherever such hot and cold blasts of air, as he mentions, meet.and 
mix together. For obvious reasons assigned in my paper, they do 
not often meet in the torrid zone, and accordingly hailstorms are 
much less frequent there than in the temperate zones. ‘The two 
very respectable authorities which I quoted,* inform us, the one that 
they never occur in the torrid zone, and the other that they are never 
met with, except at an elevation of one thousand five hundred or two 
thousand feet. It appears, however, from the facts adduced in the 
foregoing article, that there are other situations within the torrid zone 
where hailstorms occur; but still, so far as we ‘can gather the cir- 
cumstances from the brief statements of Dr. Christie, these storms 
result from the same causes as were assigned for hailstorms in gener- 
al, namely, from the sudden meeting of blasts of very hot and very 
cold air. | 

I beg leave to add one remark mere. Although I have endeav- 
ored to show the precise manner in which these hot and cold blasts 
meet, and hence, as I’suppose, furnished a probable explanation of 
the extraordinary fact, of the much greater frequency of hailstorms 
in the temperate, than in the torrid or the frigid zone, yet should 
these blasts meet in any other manner,—should cold and hot portions 
of air meet either by the subsiding of cold strata from above, as 
maintained by Professor Mitchell,t or should the opposite kinds of 
winds be mixed together in the form of whirlwinds, as maintained by 
Mr. Redfield,t the leading doctrine which I have advanced would still 
be true, that hailstorms result from the mixture of blasts of hot and 
cold air, and not from any agencies of electricity, to which they have 
been more commonly ascribed. 

Respectfully and truly yours, 


ae Denison OtmsteED. 
Yale College, June 17, 1831. 


* Rees’ Cyclopedia, and the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. 
t Amer. Jour. Vol. XIX. } Ibid. 


MMiscellames. 377 


MISCELLANIES. 
"(FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.) 


Extracts and translations by Prof. Griscom. 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


2 


1. The Planera, formerly called the Siberian Elm, isa tree which 
grows on the borders of the Caspian and of the Black Sea. Ac- 
cording to an account given of it to the French Academy on the 
3ist of January, last, by Desfontaines and Mirbel, it grows to the 
height of twenty-five or thirty metres, with a straight and well pro- 
portioned trunk, free from branches, to the height of eight or nine 
metres, and of three or four metres or more in circumference. Its 
head is large, and tufted, and the branches rise almost perpendicu- 
larly. The sap of the Planera is white, but acquires a red color to- 
ward the heart. It is heavier and stronger than the elm or, chesnut, 
and of so close a texture as to receive a beautiful polish. The wood 
is so hard that it is difficult to drive a nail into it. It has the supple- 
ness and elasticity of oak, and is-preferred to that wood for planks 
and carpentry in Georgia. It is not subject to worms, ‘and is very 
durable in water and in the ground. Being larger than the forest 
trees of F'ratice, it offers many advantages, and is deemed well wor- 
thy of cultivation. Its foliage is never injured by caterpillars.— 


Rev. Ency. Jan. 1831. 


2. Change of climate ;. diminution of temperature on the surface 
of the earth.—It is not only from analogy, observes Mr. Lyell in his 
new work on geology, that we must infer a diminution of tempera- 
ture in the climate of Europe ;’there are proofs of this doctrine in 
the only countries hitherto studied by geologists, in which we might 
expect to find direct proofs. It is not in England, or in the north of 
France, but on the borders of the Mediterranean, from the south of 
Spain-to Calabria, and in the islands of the same sea, that we must 
look for conclusive demonstrations of this fact. For it is not only in 
beds whose fossil shells are like the shells of living species, that a 
theory of climate can be subjected to a kind of experimentum crucis. 
In Sicily, at Ischia and in Calabria, where fossil shells of the most 
recent beds’ belong almost. entirely to kinds which are known to be 


378 Miscellanies. 


still inhabitants of the Mediterranean. ‘The conchologist remarks 
that individuals deposited in the interior of the earth, surpass, in 
medium and size, their living types.. It cannot however be doubted, 
notwithstanding such a difference in dimensions, that the species are 
identical, since the living individuals, sometimes, though rarely, at- 
tain to the size of the foal? ; and the preservation of the latter is so 
perfect that they still retain their color, which furnishes another means 
of comparison. - 

In leaving the sea and advancing into regions less disturbed by 
modern volcanos, there are found’ in the Sub-Appenine hills some 
species still living in the Mediterranean, mingled with multitudes of 
other kinds now extinct, and which present indubitable indications 
of a warmer climate. Several kinds are common ‘to the Sub-Ap- 
penine hills, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. ‘The fossils 
correspond in size with their fellows within the tropics, while the in- 
dividuals of the same species now in the Mediterranean, are small, 
degenerated and. stunted by the absence of those conditions which 
they still enjoy in-the Indian seas. 

_No observations of a contrary nature have occurred to neutralize 
our conclusions, neither are there found associated in these groups, 
individuals appertaining to species confined within the arctic regions. 
On the contrary when we can identify these fossil shells. with living 
species foreign to the Mediterranean, itis not in the icy sea, but 
between the tropics that we must look for them. , 

~ Mr. Lyell has carefully examined several hundred species of shells 

obtained in Sicily at the height of one thousand feet, among which 
is a great number of kinds still living in the Mediterranean; the dif- 
Siriee of size’ being very eat in the greater number of these 
two classes. . 

Some interesting observations, formerly made “by Péron and ues 
sueur, stated in the Annales du Museum, T. XV, p. 287, and which 
_ Mr. Lyell has not cited, confirm his opinion that the greater size of 
individual shells of the same species, is an indication of a change of 
climate. ‘These naturalists have remarked that every species of ma- 
rine animals has received a distinct location, confined to certain parts 
of the ocean, and that in those positions they are found to be larger, 
and more beautiful. In proportion’as they are removed from this 
locality, they degenerate, and are at length extinct. 

The Haliotes gigantea for example, which in Van Dieman’s land, 
attains the length of fifteen to twenty centimetres, suffers in its di- 


MMiscellanies. 379 


\ 
mensions at Maria Island, is still more degraded at the Island of 
Decres and Josephine, is only a miserable abortion on the rocks of 
Nuytland, and is no longer visible at port King George. The same. 
_ thing is observable-in the Phasianellus ; their proper habitation is at 
Maria island where vessels are loaded with them; and after suffering 
insensible degradations they are lost at port King George. It is in- 
teresting to’ witness the same phenomena exhibited in a horizontal 
direction on the present surface of the earth, appearing again in a 
vertical direction upon the different surfaces, which, at successive 
periods have limited the exterior configurations of the terrestrial 
globe.—Brb. Univ. Dec. 1830. - j 

3. Monography of the genus Cyprea.—Dumeril and De Blain- 
ville made a report to the Academy on the 27th of December, on 
the memoir of M. Ductos, entitled Monographie du genre Cyprea, 
(vulgairement coguilles porcelaines.) ‘This kind of shells is one of 
those for which amateurs have still a predilection, not only on ac- 
count of the elegant. and singular form of the shell, but especially 
from the beauty of their robes, the almost infinite variety of the col- 
ors with which they are ornamented, and of the splendid kind of 
varnish with which they are covered. It is in this genus therefore, . 
as well as the cones and volutes, that are included those species 
which have retained the greatest venal value. It is time that this 
genus, which has long been only an object of luxury and curiosi- 
ty, should rise to a level with the other departments of conchology. 
This was not an easy thing, on account of the connection between 
the animal and its shell, and of the peculiar developement of the 
lobes of its mantle, which, void in its earliest period, acquires a 
successive developement, so as to cover the entire shell when the 
animal is at rest. The shell passes through three or four distinct 
stages, which are very different in form, and especially so in struc- 
ture, thickness and color. Several naturalists, with a view to an ex- 
planation of the fact, that in the same species there are found-both 
dwarfs and giants, have thought it sufficient to state that the animal ’ 
changed its shell, an opinion which appears to the reporters to have 
been victoriously refuted. ‘The labors of Lamarck, de Blainville, 
and of Gray, adjunct curator of the British Museum, have still left 
much to be desired. M. Duclos has been perseveringly engaged for 
fifteen years in the monography of the genus Cyprea. During his 
travels in Belgium, Holland and England, he has acquired new ma- 


380 Miscellanies. 


\ 


terials and perfected what he had before jeatelbas _ He has been at 
great pains and expense in procuring the three or four varieties of 
the developement of each species, from its issue from: the egg to its 
state of decrepitude, as well as those on which may depend the pro- 
portionate size and the color. From these labors has resulted the 
finest collection with which we are acquainted. ‘Those species which 
are wanting, are supplied by good colored figures. Aided by these 
materials, M. Duclos has executed a-complete and methodical des- 
cription, with a colored representation of all the species and principal 
varieties of the porcellanous shells now existing in the collections of 
central Europe. He has considerably increased the number of known 
species, especially in France, since he extends the whole number of 
species to one hundred and forty two, of which seventy seven are 
from New Guinea, California, Scychelles, &c. Lastly, he has dis- 
tributed them into three very natural sections; the Alucitated or sleek 
kinds, the tuberculated and the striated. We hope that this great 
work may be connected with the materials which Quoy and Gainard 
have collected by their late cireumnavigation, and which have brought 
to our knowledge a great number of species. The reporters conclude 
with the hope that iDucle: may, as soon as possible, be enabled to 
gratify the taste of amateurs by laying before them the result of his 
extensive and expensive labors, which they deem to be altoget}.ar 
worthy of the encouragement and approbation of the Academy.— 


Rev. Encyc. Dec. 1830. 


4. Bone Caves in New Holland.—A collection of fossil bones 
has been sent to Prof. Jameson, from New Holland, taken from a 
cave or caves in Wellington Valley, about 210 miles west from Sid- 
ney. ‘They are found embedded in a red ochreous cement which 
occurs partially in crevices of the limestone rock, in different parts of 
the interior of South Wales. The limestone rests on granite, and 
generally near or under trap rock. | ‘The bones are found in a brok- 
en state, as in caves of a similar character in Europe, and like them 
they are of animals of very different kinds’and sizes. | 

It appears from tke description, by Major Imrie, of the red ochre- 
ous cement, containing bones which occur at Gibraltar, and along 
the northern shore of the Mediterranean, that this breccia is of the 
same kind, both am sztu, and character, and that its. antiquity is 
at least equal to, if not much higher, than that of the bones found un- 
der stalagnite, in caves in different parts of Europe. 


Miscellanies. 381 


The Australian bones have been examined by Prof. Jameson, by — 
Dr. Adam, and especially by W. Clift, an experienced and’ distin- 
guished anatomist of the College of Surgeons, London. One of 
them approaches very nearly in form to the metacarpal bone of an 
ox, but much larger. It also bears a great resemblance to the radi- 
us of the Hippopotamus. The others are mostly bones of the Da- 
syurus, Wombat, and Kangaroo. 

‘From the geological characters of the caves, and bone-breccia, 
the mode of distribution, of the bones in the caves, and the nature of 
the teeth and bones themselves, it follows— 

1. That these caves agree in character with those in Europe. 

2. That the bone-breccia exhibits the same character as the va- 
rieties of that rock found in different parts of the European conti- 
nent and islands. _ 

3. That New Holland was, at a former period, distinguished from 
the other parts of the world, by the same peculiarities in the organi- 
zation of its animals, which so strikingly characterize it at the Ble: 
sent day. 

4. That the large bone resembling the radial bone of the hippo- 
potamus, shews that Australia formerly possessed animals much 
larger than any of the present existing species, equalling, or even ex- 
» eding in magnitude the hippopotamus ; a fact of high importance, 
when we recollect that the quadruped population of New Holland is 
at present but meagre, the largest species being the kangaroo. 

5. That the bone caves, and bone-breccia, contain, along with 
animals at present known, others that appear to be extinct, as is the 
case with the caves and breccia of Europe. 

6. ‘That the same agent or agents that brought together the re- 
mains of animals met with in bone-caves and bone-breccia, in Europe, 
operated on New Holland. 

7. Lastly, that the animals in the Australian caves and breccia 
were destroyed and became fossil, if not at the same precise time as 
the European, during a similar series of Geological changes.—Edin. 


Phil. Jour. Mar. 1831. 


5. Volcano in New Aealand.—Accompanying a specimen of 
volcanic ashes, sent to Professor Jameson, by Col. Lindsay of Syd- 
ney, is a notice to the following effect: This substance is found on 
what is called White Island, from the ashes that continually fall from 
a volcano, at present in a state of activity, and. which has been long 


Vor. 0X —Now 2. 49 


382 /Miscellanies. 

in the same condition. It is about three miles round, and lies op- 
posite to the Bay of Plenty, between the river Thames, and the 
East Cape, and from twenty to thirty miles fromthe main land of 
New Zealand. When this island was last visited, it presented a 
frightful display of flame and smoke, from the crater of its volcano. 
At the foot of the pile in which the volcano is situated, there is a 
lake of boiling sulphur, and all around the lake the ground is en- 
crusted with sulphur. The natives say the volcano runs under the 
sea, and bursts out again in the interior of New Zealand, about 20 
miles from the shore, in a district where there is a large hot lake, in 
the waters of which, the natives cook their provisions.—Jbid, 


6. Interesting discovery of Fossil Anmals—There has been — 
lately sent to fhe Garden of plants, a collection of fossil bones, from 
the:Lacustrine deposits of Argenton, (Indri,) consisting of five or 
six species of Lophiodon, from the size of a large Rabbit, to that of 
a horse; also species of the genus Anthrocotherium, of the Trionyx 
and Crocodile. Some recent discoveries in the diluvian ossiferous 
deposits of Chiveley, (Loiret,) of the bones of the extremities of the 
animal called Gigantic Tapir, by Cuvier, shews that this animal, 
by the test of its osteology, is closely allied to the living 'Tapir, al- 
though equalling, if not exceeding the Rhinoceros. ‘The Indri and 
Loiret are two departments in the central districts of France.—Jbid. 


7. Recent formation of Zeolite.—Stilbite, Mesotype, and Apophy!l- 
lite, appear almost always as a newer formation in the cavities of Amyg- 
daloid, and along with these is found calcareous spar. ‘The formation 
of zeolite through the action of atmospheric water on dolerite, seems 
still to be going on. We observe it forming in hollows of a con- 
glomerate, in which zeolite plays the part of calcareous sinter. 
Springs deposit a similar zeolite sinter ; and when, in the summer 
the brooks dry up, their whole bed appears white. In deep caves, 
where, during lower temperature and greater humidity of the air, 
scarcely any evaporation takes place, | found a matter partly gelatin- 
ous, partly crystalline, which proved the continued production of 
zeolite. —Porchammer.—Ibid. 


8. Crystals in Living Vegetables.—Various naturalists have taken 
notice of the appearance of crystals in the internal parts of vegetable 
tissues, but nothing very explicit and certain has been stated respect- 


Miscellanies. 383 


ing them. M. Turpen has’ discovered, in the cellular tissue of an 
old trunk of the Cereus Peruvianus, 1 in the Garden of Plants of Paris, 
where it has been growing one hundred and thirty years, an im- 
mense quantity of agglomerations of oxalate of lime. They are 
found in the cellular tissue of the pith and bark. They are white, 
transparent, foursided pristns, with pyramidal terminations, collected 
in radiant groups. | 


/ 


CHEMISTRY. 


1. On- the development of Azotic gas in Warm Springs, by 
C. Daubeny, M. D. F. R. S. Prof. of Chemistry inthe University 
of Oxford.—In a memoir read by Prof. Daubeny, on the 30th Nov. 
1830, before the Natural History Society of Geneva, of which he is 
an honorary member, he adduces the fact of the disengagement of 
- azotic gas from thermal springs, as tending to support the theory of 
volcanic action to which he gave the preference in his work on vol- 
canoes, published in 1820. This is the theory of Sir Humphry 
Davy, which ascribes volcanic force to the disengagement of vapors, 
consequent upon the infiltration of water, through the crust of the 
earth upon the metallic bases of the alkalies and earths, = 

A more simple view of the causes of this phenomena, arises from 
the belief now entertained, that the interior of the earth is in a state 
of incandescence, and that the contact of water with this ignited 
mass, whatever may be its nature, must necessarily occasion con- 
cussive or explosive forces. : 

Prof. Daubeny has examined various hot springs in the region of. 
the Alps, and he cites the authority of other good chemists to prove 
that those of the Pyrenees, as well as the thermal waters of some 
other countries, discharge azotic gas, mixed in some cases with car- 
bonic acid, and occasionally a small quantity of oxygen. 

This copious discharge of azote he considers as the result.of that 
chemical action in the interior of the globe, which gives rise to the 
increased temperature of these waters. : 

The entire nature of these changes, is undoubtedly covered with 
an impenetrable veil, but the author thinks that the disengagement of 
azote cannot be referred to the single access of water to any incan- 
descent substance,—but that it would be the consequence of a com- 
bustion, which, though proceeding from the infiltration of water, may 
be maintained by means of atmospheric air.— Bib. Univ. Dec. 1830. 


et /Miscellanies. » 


2. Salicine—On the 6th of December last, Gay-Lussac present- 
ed to the French Academy of Sciences, six bottles of Salicine, sent 
to him by M. Leroux, and destined for the six members of the Sec- 
tion of Medicine. This interesting substance is manufactured by 
M. Leroux, in large quantity, and it is his wish that its qualities as 
a febrifuge may be thoroughly tried.—Rev. Encyc. Dec. 1830. 


3. Crystalline compounds in Sulphurie Acid.—Chevreul and 
Serullas made a report to the Academy on the 27th of December, 
on the memoirs of Gaultier de Claubry, relative to the crystalline 
compound which is formed in the preparation of sulphuric. acid. 
“ According to Gaultier, the theory of the formation of sulphuric 
acid requires some modifications. In his view, the sulphurous acid 
completely decomposes a portion of hypo-nitric acid, by disengaging 
azote: the sulphurous acid, transformed into sulphuric acid, unites 
with the nitrous acid and water, to form, as is well known, crystal- 
line matter, which being dissolved in water, is converted into sulphu- 
ric acid, hypo-nitrous acid, and-deutoxide of azote. ‘This crystal- 
line compound includes less water than the hydrate of sulphuric acid, 
and the denomination of nitrous and hydrie sulphate, which Berzelius 
has given to it, ought to be adopted, as denoting exactly its compo- 
sition. The numerous experiments of Gaultier require the use of 
materials difficult to manage, and they can be performed only by 
dextrous hands. ‘They confirm known principles,—they show a dis- 
engagement of azote before unobserved, and Jead to some changes in 
the analysis of crystalline matter.—Jbid. 


4. A remarkable Chalybeate Water discovered in the course of 
the last summer, at Vicars Bridge, near Dollar, in Scotland, is de- 
scribed by Arthur Connel, FR. S. E. in Jameson’s Journal. — Its sp. 
gr. is 1.04893. ‘Three cubic inches. of it weighing about 814 grs., 
contain 42.651 gers. or more than 5 per’cent of solid matter. Sea 
water contains about 3 per cent. of saline constituents. The con- 
tents of one gallon of the water are— 


Per-sulphate and proto sulphate of Iron, 3057.84 
Sulphate of alumina, 580.64 
Sulphate of magnesia, 277.200" 
‘Sulphate of Lime, 43.68 
Common salt and muriate of potash, 2.04 


3941.40 


Miscellanies. 385 


The quantity of iron in this water is so great, as to produce, by 
the addition of nut galls, and a little gum arabic, a pretty good wri- 
ting ink. The water is supposed to proceed from the decomposition 
of shale in its vicinity.— Edin. Phil. Jour. Apr. 1831. 


5. Platina Lamp.—tin a communication from George Merry- 
weather, Esq. to Professor Jameson, dated Edinburgh March 5th, 
1831, it is proposed to extend the aphlogistic platina lamp, by con- 
structing the body of the lamp, of tin large enough to contain a 
quart or more of alcohol. ‘This will be sufficient to keep the platina 
in a state of constant ignition for thirteen or fourteen days and nights. 
Such a lamp, while it is entirely devoid of glare, affords sufficient 
light to shew the face of a watch inthe dark of night. It is best 
managed by inserting a little spongy platina into a small cage of 
platina wire. The top of the lamp wick should be spread out, a 
little, in the form of. a coronet, and the wire cage pricked into it, so 
as to be nearly, but not quite, in contact withit. 'The bottom of the 
lamp should be'concave so that the wick may take up all the alcohol, 
and if it be connected with an unfailing reservoir of alcohol, the lamp 
may be' kept ignited for years. The spongy platina does not appear 
to be, in the ees deteriorated ay being kept in a state of constant 
ignition. 

To prevent the access of dust, &c. the lamp is cavered with a glass, 
shaped like an inverted funnel, resting upon a ring or cylinder of tin 
having holes around it to admit a current of air. Ifa light is requir- 
ed, the glass cover is to be elevated and the platina gently touched 
with a match of chlorate of potash, which will be instantly inflamed. 

Should the lamp diffuse an unpleasant cdor in the room, a conden- 
sing shade or cover may be applied to it, formed of tin. This cover 
is conveniently made of a conical shape. -The base of the cone is 
to be convex inward, like the bottom ofa common glass boitle. 
From the center of this concave bottom (concave externally) a tube 
proceeds downwards, of sufficient length and diameter to admit the 
neck of the glass funnel which covers the lamp. The vapors that 
rise up through the funnel into the conical condenser, and fall to 
the bottom if it in a liquid state, may be drawn off through a stop 
cock soldered to the edge of the cone. This cone may be suspended 
by aring to a nail in the wall, and brought over the glass funnel when 
required. | 

The author finds that equal parts of alcohol and whiskey answer 
quite as well as pure alcohol, or he says, one third of alcohol and two 


386 Miscellanies. 


thirds of whiskey do very well. This lamp may prove very useful in 
mining districts, as a constant light that may be depended upon, if » 
the reservoir is periodically replenished.—Jdid. 


ay 


6. A new metal discovered.—M. Dulong read, on the 7th of Feb- 
ruary? last, to the French Institute, a ie from Berzelius, which 
announces the discovery of a new, simple substance by Mr. Sestrom, 
director of the mines of Fahlun in Dalecarlia. Mr. Sestrom being 
engaged in examining an iron, remarkable for its softness, discovered 
in it a substance, which appeared to him to be new, but in such small 
quantity, that he could not determine with accuracy all its properties. 
Afterwards, however, he found it more abundantly in the scorie of 
the iron, and was thus enabled to prove that the substance in question 
was a new metal, to which he gave the name of Vanadium, after an 
ancient Scandinavian deity. We have had communicated to us the 
following additional notice. Humboldt presented to the Institute spe- 
cimens of vanadium, the new metal recently discovered in the iron of 
Eisterholm by Mr. Sestrom, and which also exists in Mexico, in a 
brown ore of lead of Zimapan. M. Del Rio, Professor in the school 
of Mines, of Mexico, had extracted from that ore a substance, which, 
to his apprehension, resembled a new metal, to which he gave the 
name of Erythronium. M. Collet Descotils, to whom he sent a 
specimen, could not admit that erythronium i is a single substance, and. 
believed he -had demonstrated that it was an impure chrome. It 
would appear that Prof. Del Rio agreed in this opinion, and there 
was no longer any idea of its being a new metal. But since the dis- 
covery of Sestrom was known to Voller, he, struck with the resem- 
blances which exist between the properties of Vanadium and that 
which the Mexican chemist attributes to his erythronium, has repeat- 
ed the analysis of the brown ore of lead of Zimapan, and from which 
he has obtained a simple body perfectly identical with that of the iron 
ore of d’Esterholm.. It is worthy of remark that.so rare a metal 
should have been discovered in two places so far asunder as Scandi- 
navia and Mexico. —ihid. 

MEDICAL CHEMISTRY. 

1. Efficacy of Todine. —A-report was made to the French Acade- 
my, on the 3d of January, 1831, by Duméril and Magendie, on the 
treatment of scrofulous diseases, by preparations of iodine, at the hos-— 
pital St. Louis, by M. Lueou. “The Academy has already been 
informed by the report which we had the honor to make, with what 
success M. Lugol treats those diseases. ‘This success is such that a 


Miscellanies. 387 


disease, very common among the poor, the treatment of which was 
so long and so difficult, that it has been rigorously excluded from our 
hospitals, has become curable in a limited time and by wnexpensive 
‘means, so that the numerous poor who are attacked with it have now 
aright to be admitted and treated im the hospitals like other patients. 
The new facts which your committee have obtained, ‘must produce 
on this point an entire conviction. The cases exhibited to us were 
not those ‘of scrofula of the first or second stage, but scrofula of the 
most inveterate form,—real scrofulous consumptions, as they are call- 
ed in medicine. Deep alteration of the glands and other organs, ac- 
tual lesions of the bones and their principal articulations, with those 
general accompaniments which announce a speedy death, have been, 
and we assert it, in great numbers, entirely cured in the space of a 
few months; and, saving the indelible marks which such deep seated 
diseases cannot fail to leave, these patients enjoy all the health which 
it is possible for them to obtain. ‘These results are so much the 
-more deserving of attention, and so much the more satisfactory, as 
the greater number of the patients which M. Lugol has subjected to 
his treatment, were, before he commenced with them, in a hopeless 
state, and which had been admitted into his rooms only as deplora- 
ble examples of the ravages of an incurable disease. One of your 
committee is perhaps as favorably situated as possible for apprecia- 
ting the merits of M. Lugol’s clinical researches. A physician in 
the largest hospital of Paris, of a numerous division filled with or- 
ganic diseases over which art has no more power, he has continually 
under his observation, unfortunate beings who with the sinister quali- 
ty of incurable, come, in the midst of sufferings as difficult to describe 
as to lessen, to die in the’places provided for them. Among the un- 
fortunate beings who are thus destined, are frequently found scrofu- 
lous persons, whose mutilations are truly horrible. Before the dis- 
covery of iodine, they were all devoted to certain death; but, since 
the introduction of iodine and bromine into therapeutics, your com- 
mittee have had the sweet satisfaction of restoring to life, and even to 
a tolerable existence, many of these incurables; and, what it is not 
unintportant to add, these cures have been as rapid as unexpected. 
We shall not here go into the minute facts which M. Lugol has sub- 
mitted to us. We have added a few of them to this report, but they 
are not of a nature tobe read. Such descriptions would only sadden 
the feelings, without any advantage to science. M. Lugol, as we 
have before stated, does not pretend to the discovery of the utility of 
iodine in scrofulous diseases; but from the great number of cures 


388 & JMiscellanies. 


which he has obtained, from the zeal and perseverance with which 
he pursues his researches, by the light which he has thrown upon 
the various effects produced by the different preparations of iodine, 
employed internally and externally, M. Lugol has effected a decided 
advancement in medicine, and as he has, besides, had the wisdom to 
avoid all vague explanations, the least inconvenience of which is that 
they are useless, we have the honor to propose that the researches 
of M. Lugol be-crowned with your approbation, by engaging him to 
continue in labors whose results are so advantageous to humanity.” 
(Approved.)—Rev. Encyc. Jan. 1831. 

STATISTICS. 

1. Universities of Prussia.—The following table gives the num- 
ber of students in each of the universities, during the summer. session 
of 1826 compares with that of 1829, and the increase or diminution. 

No. of students during the 


summer session-of Difference. ) 
Universities. am A | -—-— sn 
Cos 1826. 1829. More. | Less. 
Berlin, - - - - 1245 1706 461 
Bonn; <=) ).3- - - 526 978 | 452 
Breslau, - = =! - 710 VA iA Sea 
Greisswald, —- Seg te 2207 159 68 
Halle, - - - - 1119 1290 a2 
Konigsberg, —- soit Male 303 405 102 
Munster, - - - 361 : 
Total, - - - 4130 6047 |1624 | 68 


It thus appears that there has been an increase of more than three 
eighths of the number of students in the six Prussian universities in 
the course of three years. : 
Universities of Germany. 


|Number of students dur- ; 
ing the summer session of| Difference. 


Universities. ee EN | ee eee 
|” 1826. 1829. More. |Less. 
Friburg = - - SIN 556 627 ‘71 
Giessen - - - - 371 558 187 
Gottingen - - - - 1.545 1,264 281 
Heidelberg - - - - 626 602 | | 24 
Jena | - - - - | . 432 619 187 
Leipsig - — - - - 1,384 1,400 16 
Marbourg - - - - 304. | 351 47 
Munich | - oe =. 623 1,854 1,231 
Tubingen - - - - 827 . 876 49 
Wurzbourg = - - - ' 660 513 147 
ly 0 1. Tonle (ca IMesSee Nl ye le64 lessee 


Miscellantes. 389 


It results from this enumeration, that the number of students in 
these ten universities has increased rather more than one fourth. It 
may therefore be inferred that a proportionate increase has taken 
place in all the universities of Germany, the foregoing seventeen be- 
ing justly regarded as an evidence of the general progress. ‘The di- 
minution in the nnmber of students of Greisswald, Gottingen, Heidel- 
berg and Wurzbourg, is attributed to local causes.—Jdem. 


2. The city of Berlin.—The history of this city by W. Mila, 
Berlin, . 1829, furnishes the following facts relative to its progressive 
rank and greatness. It was probably founded by Albrecht II, who 
reigned between 1202 and 1220. In 1640 it contamed but 6000 
souls; but in 1688 the number of inhabitants had risen to 20,000, 
and at the beginning of the 18th century the population was 30,000. 
At the death of Frederick I, in 1713, his capital contained 50,000 ; 
in 1741 the number had risen to 90,000, including the military. In 
1773, the population was 133,580, and in 1797, it was 183,960, 
comprehending 45,574 soldiers. At the end of 1827, the number 
of inhabitants, including 16,909 militaires, was 220,277, distributed 
among 8511 houses and 5000 back buildings, insured together against 
fire for 250 millions of francs. The electoral library contained in 
1687, 1618 manuscripts and 20,600 volumes. In 1827, it num- 
bered 4611 manuscripts, and 250,000 printed volumes. The ex- 
tent of the city embraces a circumference of 20,475 paces, and a 
surface of 973,743 square perches, and within the southern wall of 
the city a space is left destined for the projected enlargement, in which 
are laid-out thirty one new streets, eleven large public places, and 
six smaller ones.—Rev. Ency. Fev. 1831. 


3. St. Petersburgh Academy of Sciences—The annual public 
session of this Academy was held on the 10th of January, 1831. 
The Vice President, M. Srorcu, the celebrated economist, in the 
chair. M. Fuss, perpetual secretary, read in Frencha statement of 
the labors of the Academy during the year 1830. Death had de- 
prived it, within that period, of the following members: M. Mzr- 
TENS, adjunct in zoology; M. Ewers, professor at Dorpat; Sozm- 
mERING, of Munich; Fourrer, of the French Institute; Dr. Mun- 
TER, bishop of Copenhagen ; and Major Rennewu, of London. All 
the museums of the Academy have received considerable acces- 
sions. The hall for magnetic observations, commenced in 1829, 


Vol. XX:—No. 2. 50 


390° Miscellanies. 


has been finished and furnished with instruments, so that this Acad- 
emy possesses the only establishment of this kind, complete and per- 
fect, and the public may soon be in possession of the results of the 
labors of M. Kuprer, who is devoted to this branch. Eight similar 
observatories are to be constructed in different parts of Russia. - 
The zoological museum has been enriched by Lanesporr, Mer- 
TENS, and especially by Kirriirz. It contains seven hundred and 
fifty four specimens of three hundred and fourteen species of birds, 
mostly new, and a rich collection of shells sent by Eaerr from Port . 
au Prince. The herbarium has received an important increase by 
the collection of plants from India from Dr. Watuicu, director of 
the garden at Calcutta; by that of P'Leiscuer, at Esslingen, and by 
the remittances of Tourrcuanrnor, from Irkutzk, of Haupt, from 
Ecatheriaoslaf, and of Karausxy, Kirrtirz and Ecerr. The 
mineralogical cabinet is enriched by the rare collection of M. 
Struve, resident Russian minister at the Hanseatic towns, purchased 
for 50,000 rubles. ‘The Asiatic museum is indebted to M. Can- 
ERINE, minister of finance, for a great number of curious medals of 
Persia and Tartary, as well as a complete collection of Russian 
medals, struck during the last three reigns, consisting of twenty of 
gold, seventy eight of silver, and two counters of Bronze. ‘The 
museum has also received the collection of counterfeit silver medals 
of M. Becxer, of Offenbach, to the number of two hundred and 
ninety six, imitating with great fidelity and admirable skill, the 
antique medals of Greece and Rome. ‘The Egyptian museum has 
received from Admiral Count Heypen, two stones, one of which is 
sepulchral with. hieroglyphic inscriptions, brought from Greece. 
Agreeably to the proposition of the late M. Mrrrens, an-ethnographic 
museum has been founded, and has received the objects collected 
by M. Mertens during his voyage round the world. Among the 
number of important acquisitions must be mentioned the port-folio 
of drawings brought by the expedition of the ships Moller and Sén- 
wavine, and presented to the Academy by the savans and artists who 
accompanied it. This rich and precious collection is composed of 
one thousand and twenty eight sheets, the greater portion of which 
will enrich the accounteof this voyage which the Academy intends 
speedily to. publish. M. Lenz has presented to the Academy the 
journal of his travels to Nikolaief and Bakons.. The archeographic 
labors have been continued under M. Srrorer, who, arrested, in his 
excursions by cholera morbus, was enabled by this delay to prepare 


MMiscellanies. 391 


a report which he intended to read at this session, but was prevented 
by the interruption of communication between Moscow and Peters- 
burgh. ‘The 11th volume of the memoirs of the Academy contains 
some posthumous dissertations of Eutmr, who, before his death, 
manifested the desire that the memoirs of the Academy should con- 
tain some of his works during the forty consecutive years after his 
decease. ‘They have in fact enriched twenty five of its volumes. 
In 1823 the term of forty years having expired, there remained in the 
archives of the Academy some fourteen dissertations of the celebrated 
mathematician, now published in this 11th volume, ‘conjointly with 
four dissertations of Scwusert and thirteen of Fuss. They have 
continued the printing of the Species Graminium of 'TRintus, the 
work of Kreprer on crystallography, the Mongolian grammar of 
Sewrinpt, the Russian translation of the calcul differentiel et inte- 
gral of M. Cancuy, by Bouniakovsky. The number of disserta- 
tions and manuscripts read to the Academy in the 40 sessions it held 
during the year 1830, amounted to 50. After the statement of M. 
Fuss was gone through, M. Hess read, in French, a dissertation on 
Waerthite, a new mineral, discovered in the neighborhood of Peters- 
burgh ; and afterwards in Russ, the report of M. Wenz, on his ex-, 
pedition to Bakoer. M. Fuss, perpetual secretary, read after him, 
a memoir en, the population of Russia, prepared by M. Ouvaror, 
President of the Academy.—Rev. Ency. fev. 1831. 


4. Antique Medals found near Geneva.—In November last, Dr. 
Dufresne, in digging at his country seat near Chéne, found about one 
hundred Roman Coins, in bronze, most of which are in perfect pres- 
ervation. ‘They are nearly all of the Emperors Constantine the 
Great, Constantine I]. Constans, Constant I. Magnentius, Decen- 
tias, Valentinian lL. One large piece, however, is of Antoninus Pius, 
and there are two of Marcus Aurelius, in admirable preservation, 
and a small number of coins of Galliénus and Claude le Gothie. 
This discovery is remarkable, inasmuch as coins of the Constantine 
family are very rarely found in this country, all those discovered for 
many years past being of an anterior date. 

A more interesting discovery was that made one or two years ago, 
at Bonneville, ofa small figure of Cybele in silver, in the finest con- 
dition. ‘This little statue, very rare, appears to be of the 2d century. 
It belongs to the Museum of Geneva.—Bub. Univ. Jan. 1831. 


392 /Miscellanies. 


MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY. 


1. Bored Wells.—The practicability of obtaining copious supplies 
of running water, even in some places where a distressing deficiency 
of this essential article has long been experienced, has been abun- 
dantly proved, in various parts of Europe as well as in the United 
States. ‘The extraordinary depths to which the sound and the borer 
have penetrated, in these researches, and the force with which the 
water has risen to the surface, and issued forth in continued jets and 
streams, are among the most remarkable facts in the history of hy- 
draulics. 

The French ‘ Societe d’encouragement pour lindustrie nation- 
ale,” sometime since offered medallic premiums to the engineers or 
artists who should be the most successful in establishing new facts or 
in obtaining plentiful supplies of water in situations where bored 
wells had not been previously introduced. The programme of the 
Society excited much attention in Europe, and aunts to have oc- 
casioned much emulation in France. 

From the report made to the Society on the 29th of December, 
1830, and signed Héricart de Thury, rapporteur, it appears that 
eight persons had presented themselves as claimants of the reward. 
Of these eight, three have been successful in obtaining medals, viz. 

M. Degousée, civil engineer of Paris, the first gold medal. 

M. Povttevin, of Tracy-le-Mont, department de L’Oise, the second 
medal. 

M. Fraisse ainé, of Perpignan, the third medal. 

The first of these gentlemen, after various trials in different coun- 
tries, learned that the first requisite to success was, to become well 
acquainted with the geological character of the country ; and that 
without this knowledge, time and expense will be often encountered 
im vain. One of the wells bored under his direction was at Fontés, 
department du pas-de-Calais. It was commenced at 6 o’clock in 
the morning and finished at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The depth 
was 65! feet. ‘The water rose more than 6 feet above the surface, 
and discharged 50 gallons per minute. 

Three wells bored at St. Gratien, 42, 52, and 55 feet deep, were 
completed in 25 days, and gave each of them 15 gallons per minute. 
They cost in the whole 187 dollars... They were bored to supply 
the water of the pond D’Enghein, which became so warm in summer 


Miscellames. 393 


as to destroy the fish. Another at St. Hubert was finished in 18 
days, 123 feet deep, and produced a fine fountain, which rose 4 feet 
above the surface. 
At the place Saint Gratien, in the city of Tours, the most remark- 
able well was bored which M. Degoussée had ever accomplished. 
At the depth of 320 feet, the first sheet of ascending water was at- 
tained. A second was reached at 364 feet ; and finally, a third, at 
about 400 feet, which issued with impetuosity about 5 feet above the 
surface, carrying with it a great quantity of green sand. ‘This well 
was to be furnished with a tube of copper throughout its whole ex- 
tent, 4 inches in diameter. It discharged 38 gallons per minute, 
having the temperature of 62 Fahren.; and by extending the tube, 
the water rose 22 feet above the pavement, and more than 50 feet 
above the channel of the Seine. ‘The value of such a well to the 
city being incalculable, the authorities engaged the engineer to es- 
tablish two others; and several neighboring proprietors determined to 
avail themselves of his skill on their estates. -'This well was the first 
in which the borer had penetrated, with complete success, entirely 
through the chalk.—Bul. D’Encour. Dec. 1830. 


2. On tempering metallic wires and springs.—A bar of steel or 
iron, after being sufficiently hammered or subjected to the action of 
fire, becomes successively yellow, violet, blue, grey and white. ‘The 
variations in degree of these processes will partly depend upon the 
state and quality of the metal operated upon. Although philosophers 
are agreed that all hard bodies are elastic; yet hardness does not 
constitute the measure of elasticity, for a glass ball is much more 
elastic than an equal globe of cast iron; but their difference of hard- 
ness is by no means proportioned to that of their elasticity. A Da- 
mascus or Moorish sword blade is more springy or elastic than an- 
other, which shall notwithstandmg make an impression upon the 
edge of the former. ‘This difference arises from the varied mode of 
tempering the respective blades. ‘The steel or iron, after each transi- 
tion above noticed is said, by the French, to become revenu. 

M. Le Roy, pere, the celebrated watchmaker of Louis XV, in- 
forms us that he took three wires of common steel, to which he sus- 
pended weights, and put them ina pendulous motion. They did 
not maintain their vibrations beyond’seven minutes. He then tem- 
pered them to the fourth, or grey state; in this stage of revenu the same 
wires maintained the vibrations of their masses during the space of 


394 ' Mascellanres. 


fifty minutes. A wire of cast steel which maintained the vibrations 
of its suspended weights for ten minutes, continued them after it had 
passed to full blue (gros blue) an hour longer. 

’ From Dr. 'Thomson’s tables of cohesion, we learn that the power or 
force of cohesion of bar iron, is to that of cast iron nearly as seven- 
ty five to fifty; for to tear- asunder rods of each species, an’ inch 
square at the base, “it required seventy four thousand five hundred 
pounds avoirdupois, to destroy the cohesion of the particles of the 
bar iron rod, and fifty thousand one hundred pounds to break the 
castiron rod.’ The-elasticity or spirit of tempered steel springs ap- 
pears therefore, to be in an inverse ratio to their power of cohesion. 
An untempered wire of a harpsichord, maintained. its vibrations for 
fourteen minutes; after being tempered to grey white, it maintained 
its motion nearly an hour. A wire of cast steel was tempered 1o 
gros bleu and then was diminished (i. e. untempered) and polished, 
in which. state it vibrated only seventeen minutes, but upon the rev- 
enu a gros bleu, it vibrated sixty seven minutes. ‘'These-general facts 
seem’ to show the great advantage of understanding the variations of 
tempering, as affecting the elasticity of springs, and their consequent 
fitness for any required purpose. M. Le Roy applied his knowledge 
to the formation of the best chronometer work of the period, in which 
art he gained a high reputation. 

Soft metallic wires and springs without temper, will not vibrate 
well. A copper wire is unsuited for these purposes; a brass wire 
is suitable in proportion to the quantity of zine in its composition, so 
that it does not exceed one half; the usual proportion is four parts 
of copper to one of zinc. Piano-fortes strung with wires tempered 
gros-blew, were universally acknowledged by amateurs, and by the 
Royal Academy of Paris to be superior in tone to instruments chord- 
ed with the usual steel wire.—Lond.. Jour. of rts and Sciences, 
Mar. 1831. 


3. Manufactured articles from Horns and Hoofs.—A patent was 
enrolled, March 1829, to J. & T. Deakin, of Sheffield, for certain 
methods of making from horns and hoofs, various articles, such as 
handles and knobs of drawers, curtain rings, bell pulls, door handles 
and knobs, key-hole escutcheons, coverings for doors and window 
shutters, finger plates, knobs and handles of table knives and forks. &c. 

The method of making some of these articles is thus stated: 

In making a ring of horn,. the required piece is first cut out of the 
flats, of its proper dimensions, and nearly in the shape of a horse 


JMiscellames. 395 


shoe ; it is then pressed in a pair.of dies to give its surface the de- 
sired pattern, but previous to pressing, both the piece of horn and 
the dies are to be heated: the piece of horn is to be introduced be- 
tween the dies and pressed in a: vice, and when cold, the pattern 
or impression will be fixed upon the horn. 

But the dies are to be so made that the open ends of the horse 
shoe piece of horn, after being pressed, shall have at one end a nib, 
and at the other a recess of a dove tailed form, corresponding to 
each other ; and the second operation in forming this ring of horn is 
to heat it and place it in another pair of dies which shall bring its 
open ends together, and cause the dove tailed joints to be locked 
fast into each other, which completes the ring, ant leaves no appear- 
ance of the junction. 

In forming the handles of table knives and forks, or other things, 
which require to be made of two pieces, each of the pieces or sides 
of the handle, is formed in a separate pair of dies; the one piece is 
made with a counter sunk groove along each side, and the other 
piece with corresponding leaves or projecting edges. .When these 
two pieces are formed by being first cut out of the flat horn, then 
pressed in the dies in a heated state, for the purpose of giving the 
pattern, the two pieces are again heated and put together, the leaves 
or edges of the one piece dropping into the counter sunk grooves of 
the other piece, and being introduced between another pair of heated 
dies, the joints are pressed together, and a. two pieces formed into 
one handle. ‘ 

In making knobs for drawers, which have metal stems or pins to 
fasten them into the furniture, the face of the knobis to be first made 
in a die, and then the back part of the knob with a hole init; a 
metal disk of plate iron is then provided, in which the metal stem or 
screw pin is fixed, and the stem being passed through the aperture 
in the back piece, and the two pieces of horn put together, they are 
then heated and pressed in dies, as before described; the edge of 
the back piece falling into the counter sunk groove of the front piece 
and by the heat they are perfectly cemented together.—Jbid. 


4. Thunder Storms in France.-—The Count de Triston has made 
observations on the direction of the thunder storms which have de- 
vastated the department of the Lorich for the last sixteen years. 
The following genera! inferences have been made by him respecting 
the progress and intensity of thunder storms in plain countries, ‘inter- 


396 JMiscellanies. 


sected by shallow valleys. ‘Thunder storms are attracted by forests. 
When one arrives at a forest, if it be obliquely, it glides along it; if 
directly, or if the forest be narrow, it is turned from its direction ; 
if the forest be broad, the tempest may be totally arrested. When- 
ever a forest; being in the path of-a thunder storm, tends to turn it 
aside, the velocity of the storm seems retarded, and its intensity is 
augmented. A thunder cloud which is arrested by a forest, ex- 
hausts itself along it, or, if it pass over, is greatly weakened. When 
a large river or valley is nearly parallel to the course of a thunder 
storm, the latter follows its direction; but the approach of a wood, 
or the somewhat abrupt turn of the river or valley makes it pass off. 
A thunder cloud attracts another which is at no great distance, and 
causes it to deviate from its course. There is reason to believe that 
the action is reciprocal. A cloud attracted by a larger, accelerates 
its motion, as it approaches the principal cloud. When there is an 
affluent cloud which was committing ravages, it sometimes suspends 
them on approaching the principal mass, which is perhaps a conse- 
quence of the acceleration of its course ; but after the unioa, the evil 
generally increases. ‘I'wenty one thunder storms whose course has 
been distinctly traced, have extended from N.N.W. to 8.S.W. 
No destructive thunder storms have.come from any other points of 
the horizon. Lastly, the position and form of the forest of Orleans, 
Blois, &c. satisfactorily accounts for the frequency of hail storms in 
certain communes, and their rare occurrence in others. 


5. Aurora Borealis at Paris.—The following are the magnetic 
observations made at the Observatory of Paris, on the Aurora which 
was visible on the night of the 7th of January. ‘The Aurora caused 
a deviation of the magnetic needle in variation. 

A declination equal to 1° 6’ 47”. 

An inclination equal to 0° 28’ 00”. 

N. B. The variations of the magnetic needle, in declination, can 
be appreciated to five seconds at the Paris observatory. 


6. Lighining Tubes.—In the vicinity of the old castle of Rem- 
stein, near Blenkenburg, which stands on a picturesque series of 
rocks, belonging to the green sand, or quadersandstein formation, 
in a loam land, there have been found this summer, very firm and 
long vitreous tubes. From a branch in the upper part, two branches 
go off, some of which are ten feet long, and from these proceed three 
small branches.—Literary Gaz. Jan. 15, 1831. 


Miscellanies. 397 


OTHER NOTICES. 


1. Exchanges of organized remains.—In a letter dated Heidel- 
berg, May 17, 1830, to the editor, written by Prof. C. H. Bronn, 
that gentleman enquires, whether there are persons in this country 
who are disposed to exchange fossil organized remains; he is inclined 
to obtain those of North America from persons situated in different 
states where there are organized remains, to furnish those of Europe 
in exchange, and to add the names which they sustain in Germany. 
He mentions some of our most distinguished naturalists, with whose 
labors he appears to be well acquainted, and he wishes us to ex- 
cite an interest among those, who have the best opportunity and 
the strongest inducement, to collect specimens, principally from 
the more ancient formations, which he regards as the most, interest- 
ing; he is aware that they are extensively diffused in the states of 
Pennsylvania, New York, (he names Trenton Falls, Albany, Black 
River, Plattsburgh, Hudson city, Lakes Seneca, Erie, Ontario, &c.) 
Canada, (Falls of Montmorency, Ottowa River, York, Lake Hu- 
ron,) and in the Cattskill mountains. 

He adds, “If my offers‘should be acceptable to any person, I will 
endeavor, in the course of half a year at most, to collect and prepare 
what may be most interesting to them, (as soon as I shall have been 
informed what may be agreeable.) That we may be mutually in- 
formed what will be an equivalent, each should advise the other of 
the number of species of petrifactions which he can furnish, and to 
avoid unnecessary expense in transportation, that each particular 
parcel (envoz) should neither be too small nor burdened with speci- 
mens which are imperfect, or too heavy in proportion to their value.” 

It will afford us much pleasure if, through the medium of this Jour- 
nal, we can call the attention of naturalists throughout the United 
States and Canada, to the interesting object proposed by Dr. Bronn. 
Such exchanges cannot fail to be highly useful, and it remains prin- 
cipally for our young and active collectors, not yet embarrassed by 
too much duty, to avail themselves of the present advantageous op- 
portunity. — | 

The field of organized remains in this country is vast, and much 
of it is of the geological age indicated by Dr. Bronn, that is what 
is usually called the transition and older secondary, which cover so 


large a part of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, &c. It is far 
Vou. XX.—No. 2. 5] 


398 /Miscellanies. 


from being true that it has been adequately explored, and it cannot 
be doubted that interesting discoveries are still to be*made. 


2. Heidelberg collection of minerals, petrifactions, and models of 
erystals.—I. Oryctognostic collections ; classed after the manual of 
orytognosy of Prof. Leonard. | 

a, In beautiful paper cases of four craWwers, 100 specimens from 11 
to 24 florins. 

b, In five drawers, 150 specimens, 22 fl. 

c, Without cases, 800 specimens of larger size, 66 fl. 

d, Id. AGO devon: rabies square, 110 fl. 

II. Collections of precious stones. 

a, In beautiful paper cases, 50 specimens, the ereater part pol- 
ished, 66 fl. 

b, In beautiful paper cases, in greater number and larger size, at 
any desired price. 

Til. Geognostic collections, after the characteristic rocks of Mr. 
Leonhard. 

a, In paper cases, 100 specimens, 4 square inches, 11 fl. » 


b, Id. 150 specimens, 22 fl. 
c, Without cases, 150 specimens of 9 sq. in. 33 fl. 
d, Id. 200 Id. Id. 55 fl. 


IV. Pharmaceutical collections, after the system of Mr. Geiger, 
price and number of the specimens as in I. 

V. Collections in economical mineralogy, for the use of. public 
schools and polytechnic institutes, after Mr. Blumhof or Brard. 

a, 300 specimens, of 6 sq. in. 77 fl. 

b, 400 Gh Ge 121 fl. 

VI. Collections of petrifactions after the system of Mr. Bronn. 

a, 100 specimens, 33 fl. 

b, 200 Id. rime 

VIL. Suite of models of crystals, made of paper and covered by 
a beautiful varnish. 

a, 23 specimens respecting the primitive forms, 4 fl. 

6, 100 Id. Id. and also 77 se- 
condary forms, 16 fl. 

All the specimens of the different collections are well selected and 
fresh, and equally adapted for study or instruction; they are la- 
belled as to species and locality and if desired both in French and 
English. : 


JWiscellanies. 399 


The collections are arranged according to any system, that may 
be preferred. Collections will be furnished of every species in 
larger number and size, and of rich crystallizations, and of rare and 

‘precious minerals as may be desired according to any price that may 
be agreed on. 

Catalogues (raisonnés,) of the magazine of minerals and of rocks 
and petrifactions are furnished gratis. (Forwarded to the Editor and 
inserted by desire.) -. 


3. Gum Ammoniacum.—Linnean Society, Dec. 9, 1830.—A pa- 
per was read on the plant which yields the gum ammoniacum, by Mr. 
David Don, Lib. L. S.—Although the gum ammoniacum has held 
_a place in the Pharmacopceia from a very early period, yet the plant 
itself has hitherto remained wholly unknown. It proves to be a new 
genus, belonging to the group of Umbellifere, named by DeCandolle 
Peucedanee, differing essentially from Ferula and Opopanaz, in its 
large cup-shaped epigynous disk, and in having solitary resiniferous 
canals. ‘lhe specimen was obtained, in the districts where the gum 
ammoniacum is collected, by Lieut. Col. Wright of the Royal Engi- 
neers, on his way through Persia from India, and was by him pre- 
sented, along with other dried plants to the Linnean Society.. Every 
part of the specimen is.covered by drops of a gum, possessing all 
the characters of gum ammoniacum, and this circumstance alone 
would seem sufficient to remove all doubt on the subject, but Mr. 
Don has carefully compared it with the fruit and fragments of the 
inflorescence found intermixed with the gum in the shops, and he 
finds them to accord in every respect, so that the plant may now be 
considered as fully ascertained. Dioscorides derives the name Am- 
moniacum from Ammon or Hammon, the Jupiter of the Libyans, 
whose temple was situated in the desert of Cyrene, near to which 
the plant was said to grow; but as the plant is now ascertained to 
come from the north of Persia and not from Africa, Mr. Don is dis- 
posed to consider the name Ammoniacum or Armoniacum, as it is 
indifferently written by ancient authors, as merely a corruption of 
Armeniacum. We subjom Mr. Don’s essential character of the 
genus, and some of the more important parts of the detailed de- 
scription. 

Dorema. Discus epigynus cyathiformis. Achenia compressa, 
marginata;. costis 3intermediis distinctis, filiformibus. Vallecule 
univittate. Commissura 4vittata. 


400 Miscellanies. 


Herba (Persica) robusta, facie fere Opopanacis. Folia ampla, 
subbipinnata. Umbella prolifera, subracemosa. Umbellule globose, 
breviter pedunculate. Flores sessiles, lanugini immersi! 

The species is Dorema Ammoniacum. 

Mr. Don concludes his paper with a few observations on the plant 
which yields the analogous gum Galbanum, which he regards as also 
constituting a new genus allied to Siler, but differing essentially in 
the absence of dorsal resiniferous canals to the fruit, and in the com- 
missure being furnished with two only. He proposed for the plant 
the name of Galbanum officinale. The Bubon Galbanum of Linn. 
possesses neither the smell nor taste of Galbanum, and is altogether 
a totally different plant.——Phil. Mag. and Ann. of Phil. Jan. 1831. 
—No. 49. N.S. 


DOMESTIC. 


1. American Marine Conchology: or Descriptions and Colored 
Figures of the Shells of the Atlantic Coast of North America. By 
T. A. Conrap. Philadelphia: printed for the Author.—The first 
number of a work by the above title has just. made its appearance, 
and relying solely upon its own merit, has been modestly offered to 
the scientific world. We can truly say it desérves success. 

The plan proposed by the author is to give monographs of each 
of the genera. Such species as may be subsequently discovered, 
will be given in a supplement. ‘The work will appear in numbers 
every two months, each number to contain two colored plates, at the 
low price of three dollars per annum. It is supposed that eighteen 
numbers will be sufficient to contain the whole of our marine shells. 

In the present number the author has been eminently successful— 
his descriptions are clear and his observations always pertinent. We 
are acquainted with the ability and industry of Mr. Conrad, and most 
heartily wish him success in the present undertaking. We shall hail 
the completion of the work as a desideratum in our Fauna, and we 
feel assured that every conchologist will be desirous of placing so 
desirable an assistant to his studies on his table. 

The work is beautifully printed on fine paper, and the figures are 
elegantly executed, and colored with care and accuracy. 

‘Works of this kind in all the branches of the natural history of 
our country would be exceedingly useful, and if as well executed, 
and at so reasonable a price as this, could not, we think, fail of success. 

The genus pecten is given in the present number, which contains 
ihe following species : 


Miscellanies. 401 


Pecten Magellanicus, 
“< - Coneentricus, 
‘«¢  Purpuratus, » 
“s-Pealeii, 
«¢ _ Ornatus. 


2. Projected Branch Mint of North Carolina.—A report on this 
subject recommends that application be made to Congress for power 
to establish a branch mint in North Carolina, that the value of their 
gold may be ascertained at home, and that thus, by being issued 
first in the state, it may be turned to more immediate and profitable 
account: at present, owing to the different value of gold from the 
various mines, and to the Hapleratong gold bullion no longer pass- 
es as money in commerce, and much loss of interest is aetna 
while it goes to Philadelphia to be assayed. Mexico is stated to 
have provincial mints, besides one at the metropolis. 

It appears that the sum of $500,000 has been obtained during the 
late year (1830,) in North Carolina, by employing a cape of | 
$150,000 in the gold business.. Agriculture, it is stated, has thriven 
in consequence of the increased demand for its productions at cash 
prices, and the bills of North Carolina—three years since at’8 per 
cent discount—are now at par. 

It is supposed that much of this gold used in the arts will be fab- 
ricated at home, and thus North Ca arolina may supply other com- 
munities with useful and ornamental articles, as Geneva supplies 
Paris with gold watches. 

The importance of the Gold mines of North Carolina is also much 
_ enhanced by the alledged decrease of the precious metals—of which 
the following is a summary tabular exhibition of the sources of sup- 
ply, and of the diminution. ~ ! 


Previous to 1810. Subsequent ‘to 1820. 


Europe and Asia 44,000,000 45,000,000 
Indian Archipelago 2,980,000 2,980,000 
Africa 1,000,000 1,000,000 
America 47,000,000 15,000,000 

Total, $54,980,000 423,980,000 


Decrease of the annual supply since 1810, 31,000,000 dollars, 


amounting, during the last nineteen years to an aggregate of 589,- 
000,000 dollars. 


402 JVscellanies. 


But it is not alone this extraordinary decrease in the supply to 
which the rise in value of the precious metals is attributable. Be- 
sides this, there has been a great increase in the demand for gold 
and silver, since 1810, consequent in part upon the augmented con- 
sumption. 

The number of. gold and silver watches manufactured in France 
was, in 1789, 200,000, and in 1819 had increased to 300,000. At 
present it is stated at 400,000. 

In Mr. Huskisson’s speech of 18th May, 1830, it is stated that the 
duty upon wrought gold and silver had risen in net produce, from 
less than £5,000 in 1824, to upwards of £105,000 in 1828—‘a 
rise more than twenty fold, notwithstanding the greatly diminished 
supply from the mines, and the consequent constantly increasing 
value of the precious metals.” A numerical sfatement-of the actual 
supply and demand of the precious metals for the last nineteen years 
gives the following result. The supply for these nineteen years 
being estimated at 23,980,000 annually, making an aggregate of 
435,980,000. . Taking the metallic currency of the world at 
3,000,000,000 of dollars, and estimating the wear and tear, re- 
coming, and loss by shipwreck, at 2 p. mille, annually, it would in 
nineteen years amount to ; $114,000,000 
The increase of the absolute quantity which has 

become requisite since 1810, estimating at 6 per 


cent. - 180,000,000 
The chasm in circulation occasioned by withdrawing 

paper money since 1815, and since filled up by * 

gold and silver coin, 300,000,000 


And finally, the consumption of the precious metals 
by artificers, &c. at 30,000,000 dollars annually, 


amounts in nineteen years to 570,000,000 
‘Total demand since 1819, - 1,164,000,000 
Deduct supply from mines, 455,620,000 
The deficiency appears to have been 708,380,000 


The total produce from the much celebrated Ural mines in Rus- 
sian Asia, from 1814 to 1824, has not exceeded, according to Hum- 
bolt’s estimate, $17,000,000 i. e. $1,700,000 annually. By the 
most recent accounts from Chili, the yearly produce of the mines is 
stated to be 190,000 dollars, including, as would seem, silver as well 
as gold. 


MVscellanies. 403 


For the last nineteen years all Brazil is not estimated to have ex- 
ceeded an annual average of $1,240,000. Peru, which, from 1752 
to 1801, had yielded annually upwards of 2,000,000 dollars, by the 
last accounts, produced nothing worth mention. By a report from 
the Executive government of New Grenada to Congress, it is stated 
that the mines in 1822 produced 1,270,000 dollars, as would appear 
of silver and gold, and this amount has been since greatly diminished. 

North Carolina possesses adventitious advantages, in a healthy 
country, abundant supplies, cheap labor, and prompt returns. The — 
auriferous veins of North Carolina, crop out at the surface, and in 
this state, such treasures are obtained by slight movements of loose 
- materials, as in some countries are collected at great depths. 

Great waste has been committed in Mexico; extensive amalgam- 
ation works have been destroyed in civil war, and the mines have 
become filled with rubbish and water. In many-of the Hispano- 
American mines, necessary supplies and aids are obtained with dif- 
ficulty. At the Etoria Mines in Mexico, a small timber for a stamp- 
ing mill costs $600; and to the St. Ana-mines in Colombia, now work- 
ed by English capital, nothing can be transported except on the 
heads and shoulders of Indians, access even by mules being imprac- 
ticable. i 

We are not informed whether Congress have acted upon the sub- 
ject of the North Carolina Mint, the demand for which appears to 
be reasonable, provided it interferes with no important principles of 
national domestic policy. 

% * * % * % Bete Peed eae 

The following facts are cited from the official report of the direc- 
tor of the mint, (Dr. Moore,) for the last year, 1830. 

The coinage effected within that period, amounts to $2,306,875 50 
comprising $295,717 50 in gold coms, $1,994,578 in silver, and 
$16,570 in copper, ; and consisting of 7,694,501 pieces of coin, viz. 


Half Eagles, 57,442 pieces, making $287,210.00 
Quarter Eagles, 3,403 do. do. 8,507 50 
Half Dollars, 3,7 12156). do... \dou 4 elke 50.978 00 
Dimes, 770,000 do. do. 77,000 00 
Half Dimes, 1,230,000 do. do. 61,5000 00 
Cents, 1,414,500 do. — do. 14.145 00 
Half Cents, ~ 487,000. do. do. 2.435 00 


7,674,501 $2,306,875 50 


404 | Miscellanies. 


Of the amount of. gold bullion, deposited at the Mint, within the 
last year, about $131,000 were received from Mexico, South Amer- 
ica, and the West Indies ; $22,000 from Africa; about $12,000 
from sources not ascertained; and the residue, about $134,000, 
from North Carolina, and the adjacent States of South Carolina and 
Virginia. ‘The proportion from North Carolina may be’ stated at 
$128,000; that from South Carolina at $3; 500, and that from Vir- 
ginia at $2,500. 

The first notice of gold from North Carolina, on the records of 
the Mint, occurs in the year 1814, within which it was received to 
the amount of $11,000. It continued to be received during the 
succeeding years, until 1824, inclusive, in varying amounts, all infe- 
rior however to that of the year first mentioned, and on an average 
not exceeding $2,500 yearly. In 1824, the amount received was 
$5,000; in 1825, it had increased to $17,000 ; in 1826 it was: 
$20,000; in 1827 about $21,000; and in 1828, nearly $46,000. 
In 1829, as above stated, it was $128,000. | 

This remarkable increase in the amount of gold received from 
North Carolina, during the years following 1824, has been consider- 
ed of sufficient interest to be noted in the annual reports from the 
mint, since that period. ‘The circumstance will attract additional at- 
tention, from the fact now ascertained, that the gold region of the 
United States extends far beyond the locality to which it fins hereto- 
fore appeared to be limited. Gold bullion had not been received 
from Virginia or South Carolina, until within the last year ; or, if at 
all received, it has been in quantities too inconsiderable to nave been 
specially noticed. ‘The gold from all these localities is found, in its 
native state, to be, on an average, nearly of the same fineness as the 
standard of our gold coin. 

Some additional observations on the gold mines ‘of the Carolinas, 
which arrived too late for this number, will appear in the next. 


8. Electrical properties of Caoutchoue.—Prof. Walter R- John- 
son, ina paper read to the Academy of Natural Sciences, April 20, 
1830, has developed the electrical properties of caoutchouc, and 
states some novel results and applications. 

Although Dr. J. K. Mitchell had before placed it among non- 
conductors, Mr. Johnson has shewn that it is one of the most perfect 
non-conductors. In the common process of removing pencil marks 
from paper, much of the latter, with the crayon and some of the 


JMiscellanies. 405 


abraded rubber itself, adheres to the firm part of the latter, chiefly 
at the last stage of the rubbing, by an electrical attraction, and ac- 
cordingly, when the hand is passed lightly over the rubber, the adher- 
ing matters drop off, because the hand conducts away the electricity. 

~ When a piece of India rubber is pressed closely upon the brass 
cap of a Bennet’s gold leaf electrometer, and suddenly withdrawn, 
the leaves will diverge and strike the sides of the glass; if the rub- 
ber is simply stretched and applied, the excitement is feeble, espe- 
cially if slowly withdrawn, “while a smart separation causes the 
leaves to diverge at once to their greatest extent.” ‘The production 
of heat, when a thong of caoutchouc is held againsf‘the lips and sud- 
denly pulled to the utmost, and at the same moment pressed hard, Is 
well known. ! 

According to Dr. J. K. Mitchell, the caoutchouc, even in the ex- 
treme diinnets to which he reduces it by his peculiar mode of ex- 
panding it, by blowing after immersion in ether, entirely prevents the 
passage of the electric spark from the prime conductor ; it is how- 
ever probable that it would . be lacerated by the’ discharge from a 
powerful battery. - 

The remainder of Mr. Johnson’s paper, we quote entire. 

“The fact, however, that it has a power of resisting to a consider- - 
able extent, points it out as a good medium to be interposed between 
the two surfaces of the condenser, or substituted in some form for 
the Leyden phial. 

“For this purpose, a piece of gum, reduced to a very thin sheet, 
may be interposed between two sheets of tin foil and laid upon a ta-. 
ble; a thicker sheet of gum may then be laid upon the upper sheet 
of foil, so that the edge of the latter should be at some distance from 
that of the former. ‘The whole may then be rolled up into a coil, 
allowing a small part of the included tin foil to project out at one 
end of the roll. A charge may now be given to this apparatus, and 
a shock obtained by connecting the outer sheet of tin with the part 
of the inner, projecting at the end. 

‘A disk of metal may be covered with a thin sheet of caoutchouc 
and another disk furnished with an insulating handle placed above its 
this apparatus will serve all the purpose of the ordinary condenser. 

“I have stretched a piece of gum upon a circular piece of board, 
six inches in diameter, with a coat of tin foil underneath ; on rubbing 
this with flannel, it becomes highly electrified, and if a plate, like the 

Vou. XX.—No. 2. 52 


406 Miscellanies. 


upper or receiver plate of the electrophorus, be placed upon it and | 
touched, it will evince a very vigorous action on the electroscope. 

“This effect may be increased by the use of the condenser, and 
even a common Leyden jar may be charged in favorable weather to 
a considerable degree of intensity. | 

“‘By a single contact of the plate of this electrophorus so much 
electricity is sometimes developed, that it will communicate to a pin’s 
head, electricity enough to turn the small needle of the silk thread 
torsion balance ihnoeeh two or three revolutions. 

“Fhe non-condueting property of caoutchouc may be profitably 
employed in the construction of torsion balances, for measuring the 
intensity of electrical action. or this purpose a string of the gum, 
of any convenient thickness, may be cut from a sheet or bag, making 
it as nearly as practicable of unzform thickness. ‘This may after- 
wards be reduced to the required size by treating it with ether, 
stretching it and allowing it to remain distended until the ether is 
fully evaporated. A small longitudinal hole may then be made at 
one end, through which a needle of gum shellac, carrying -a disk of 
metal, or what is better, a very thin spherical bag of caoutchoue at 
one extremity, may be accurately adjusted on its centre of gravity, 
Insulators of this substance may be formed either in plates, strings, 
or conical portions of bags to support any required apparatus. 

‘“‘ Hence it,appears that nearly a complete set of electrical appara- 
tus may be formed of this substance, capable of being transported 
with perfect ease and safety under circumstances in which the com- 
mon apparatus would be inevitably demolished. In a large bag, or 
extended sheet, it may be used for the cylinder or plate of the com- 
mon machine. _ A portion of the same may be substituted for the 
rubber. ‘The electrophorus, the condenser, and the Leyden jar 
may be formed of it. ‘The torsion balance constructed with balls of 
this substance instead of pith balls, is an instrument far preferable to 
that of Coulomb. ‘The jar may receive either the coiled form al- 
ready described, or it may have the usual form by making the inner 
coating of tinned iron, covering it with a thin sheet of gum, and then 
adding an exterior coating of metal.” 


4. Geological remarks relating to Mewico, &c. in a letter dated 
Mexico, May 30th, 1830, from Wii11am Macture, Esq.—The 
regular order of original stratification has been so much deranged in 
this country by the intimate and frequent alternation of volcanic 


_ Miscellames. 407 


rocks, as to have subverted the original order of nature and to change 
the class every mile; this leaves the geologist in doubt concerning 
the substrata, and would reduce most of his investigations to hy- 
pothetical results. ‘The brilliancy of the precious metals has so fixed 
the attention of all travellers, miners, and mineralogists, that the only 
specimens to be met with are derived from what they call veinstones; 
so true is this, that a gentleman who wished to acquire a little knowl- 
edge of geology, could not find in Mexico a ‘specimen of granite, 
gneiss, or mica slate; any assortment of rocks, to be found here, 
comes from Fryberg in Germany. From this great scarcity of ma- 
ierials, and still greater difficulty of procuring them, any thing resem- 
bling a general description must be a hypothesis formed from the 
suf spots above the principal mines that have been wrought 1 in fol- 
lowing the metallic veins to a great depth. 

From the great range of the Andes, spring all the subordinate 
mountains, forming large plains or valleys either near their summit 
or on the planes of their descent on either side, on which planes, be- 
low the level of the principal range, when not covered by the vol- 
canic formations, the greatest part of the primitive crops out to day. 
On the tops, both of the great range and the subordinate heights, 
appears to be placed the seat of hal mines, principally in transition, 
though some are thought to be in primitive shist or marble, from 
which it would appear, that the summits of the mountains are prin- 
cipally transition. This supposition is countenanced by the small 
quantity of well defined primitive found in the vicinity, and by its 
appearing at a lower level on both sides; this seems to indicate that 
the primitive is the formation of the whole range. Having gone so 
far without sure footing, the speculation may be pushed a little fur- 
ther for our amusement:if not for our instruction, while we indulge 
some conjectures as to the mode of origin. ‘The patches of secon- 
dary limestone with shells, and the quantity of minute particles like 
sand, which I suppose to have been cinders reduced to a level in the 
plains, would indicate submarine volcanos, and in all probability, the 
secondary limestone with shells could not be superposed on the vol- 
canic by any agent except water, and the quantity of cinders that. 
would be formed by the quick cooling of the lava by ejection into 
the sea may be considered as a collateral proof. 

Most of the veinstones, I have seen, which are the principal speci- 
mens in all collections; are secondary ; generally very poor in the use- 
ful metals, so as not to pay for working unless the wages are exceed- 


408 /Miscellanies. 


ingly low and the work performed by laborers who live on little. 
This secondary may be considered as a proof if ever the veins were 
filled, that they must have been filled from the surface, for it is diffi- 
cult to conceive how, in a primitive range, the secondary could be 
ejected from below ; it has been considered asa geological fact, that 
metallic ves can have no dependence or connection with volcanos, 
yet our total ignorance of many original natural methods of opera- 
tion, ought to make us cautious in restricting nature to any exclusive 
mode ifs acting. Our primitive mountains in the north have iron in 
abundance, iia the precious metals have, as yet, been rarely found ; 

nor are there any modern volcanic rocks. ‘The same may be ati 
served-in the north of Europe. Sweden, and the north of Ger- 
many, have rarely silver and gold, and no modern voleanic rocks, 
whereas, in Saxony and Hungary and Spain, there are both precious 
metals and volcanic rocks—and on the southern continent of Amer- 
ica, there seems to be a proportion between the gigantic volcanic 
formation and the abundance of the precious metals. If we sup- 
pose the convulsions and earthquakes that might precede the erup- 
tion of lava to the surface, to have rent and cracked the shell so as 
to give space to the formation of these veins, and the precious metals 
if converted into vapor, would penetrate through chinks that would 
not permit lava to pass; this vapor meeting with the secondary that 
was filling the vein from the surface, might form a mixture such as 
we find in most. of the veinstones; this conjecture will not support 
the fashionable theory:of the central fire, for there would be no good 
reason why the cracks in our northern mountains were not as near 
the melted mass, and therefore as liable to be filled with the vapor 
of the precious metals as the rocks of the inter-tropical countries. 


5. Aluminium and: magnesium.— Lieut. W. W. Mather, of the 
Military Academy, West Point, has succeeded in obtaining the chlo- 
rides of aluminium and magnesium, and in decomposing them by po- 
tassium, so as to obtain the metallic base both of alumina and-of mag- 
nesia. ‘The magnesium that-he obtained, had not a distinct metallic 
appearance until it was burnished, but both it and the aluminium were 
combustible when heated in the air. 

Lieut. Mather was so good as to enclose ‘to us a portion both of the 
aluminium and magnesium, whose metallic appearance is quite dis- 
tinct; the color ‘of the aluminium is light grey and in spots tin white. 
The hilonivle of magnesium obtained by him has exactly the appear- 


JMiscellames. 409 


ance of the lamellar hydrate of magnesia of Hoboken, N. J.; and 
that of the aluminium has a bright sulphur yellow color, the crystals 
standing out from the sides towards the centre of the tube in which 
it was formed. Lt. Mather obtained about one ounce of each of 
these chlorides at a smgle operation for each.— Extract of a letter, 
of April a 1831, to the Editor. 


6: Pure chromite of potash.—M. Zuber has published a process 
for examining this salt, by means of tartaric acid, which is considered 
as objectionable, on account of his selection of an acid, which is 
rarely found in a pure state, and which forms with a solution of the 
chromate, a very compound solution, in which the indications of 1 re- 
agents are not precise. i 

It is better to use colorless nitric acid, adding about half a part to 
the salt in solution, a drop of a solution of nitrate of baryta, will oc- 
casion precipitation, if sulphuric acid is present, or, alike quantity of 
nitrate of silver, will cause the deposition of chloride of silver, should 
muriatic acid contaminate it. Both chromates of baryta and silver, 
are soluble, to a considerable extent, in chromic and nitric acids, and 
if the reagents are not added in excess, there is no precipitation, if 
pure chromate of potash isin solution. An extension of this method 
furnishes us with the salt ina state of purity. The chromate of 
commerce is to be re-crystallized to remove the silicate of alumina 
and oxide of iron, dissolved in water, nitric acid to displace one half 
of the chromic is added and the liquor heated; moist chromate of ba- 
ryta may be dropped in, until the heavy sulphate ceases to fall, the li- 
quor filtered, and chromate of silver mixed with it, so long as the curdy 
chloride is formed, when it is again filtered and the clear liquor evapo- 
rated to a salt and heated to redness in a platina dish; the mass dis- 
solved in water, affords crystals of the pure salt by slow evaporation. 
It is impossible to remove sulphate of potash from this salt by the 
processes of re-crystallization and solution.—A. A. Haves. 


7. Covering for wires—Mr. A. A. Hayes recommends mastic 
colored by ver vinillions or otherwise, as a very excellent substance for 
covering the wires of galvanoscopes. Mr. H. melts it in a saucer 
and slides the wire under the surface of the resin, by fastening a stick 
across. the saucer so as to have its edge dip; then it is wound in a 
coil or spiral. Its superiority is due to its tenacity when gently 
warmed. ; 


410 Miscellanies. 


8. Prof. Joslin, of Union College, has published an ingenious 
memoir on vision; presenting some novel facts and opinions, which 
cannot fail to be interesting both to the anatomist and optician.—See 


Phil. Jour. of the Med. Sciences for May 1831. 


9. Problem.*—To assign rational numbers for the length of the 
sides of a right-angled triangle. Assume m, n, p, ay rational num- 
bers, so that n>p. ‘Then m(n?+ 2), m(n? —p*) and 2mnp will 
be the sides of the required triangle. 


Demonstration: (m?(n* —p?)? +-(2mnp)? ye =m(n® +p?). 
Example: Put m=1, p=1, n=2; then by the foregoing formula 
we have the sides of a well known right-angled triangle, viz. 3, 4 and 5. 


10. Topaz in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. 
Extract of a letter from Prof. Hitchcock to the Editor, dated June 9, 1831. 


Mr. Oakes, of Ipswich, showed me, the other day, an interesting 
specimen from the White Hills. He labeled it, “from the falls of 
Amonoosuck, one mile and a half, down the river, from E. A. Craw- 
ford’s—White ‘Mountains—close to the road—a single loose speci- 
men.” It is a coarse granite, whose felspar is flesh colored and the 
quartz smoky ; both being distinctly crystalized. Mixed with these, 
are several prismatic terminated crystals, which I have little hesita- 
tion in saying are topaz! For they have the hardness of that min- 
eral, and exhibit a lamellar structure at right angles to the axis of the 
prism—a character, which I have found very decisive of this mineral 
when crystalized. ‘These crystals are limpid, and resemble very 
much the topaz from Brazil. 


11. Marl for manure-—We have received a specimen of calca- 
reous materials mixed with earthy matters from Mr. Durner Oakes 
of Baltimore. It appears, from trial by acids, to contain from one 
half to two thirds of calcareous matter, evidently the ruins of disin- 
tegrated and decomposed shells, among which, pectens are numer- 
ous, and is obviously a portion of a great oceanic deposit, similar to 
those found so extensively from New Jersey to Florida and Louisiana. 


* Remark.—The author (Mr. Gould,) became acquainted with Mr. Wheeler’s 
problem, in consequence of reading the proof, and therefore his problem is allowed 
to appear in the present No. Since the above wasin type, he suggests, that he 
has found the same solution in Bonnyeastle’s Algebra. 


JMiscellanies. 411 


Mr. Oakes informs us that the marl, now mentioned, ‘is on the — 
Chesapeake Bay, about sixty miles from the capes, and the deposit 
is so extensive that millions of bushels may be obtained. It is con- 
venient to navigation, and it is supposed that it may be delivered 
on board of vessels at four or five cents a bushel. How far this 
material may admit of transportation to distant states we cannot say, 
but it admits of no doubt that on certain soils it must be a very val- 
uable manure, and we should be pleased to have the experiment tried 
within those States, which can obtain it with facility. 

The subject of marl has received but little attention as yet in this. 
country, parts of the Western States, and particularly in the eastern 
states, while it is well known that it is highly efficacious in other 
countries, and in some parts of this. On the territory of James 
Wadsworth, Esq., and of his brother, General Wadsworth, at Gen- 
eseo, New York, the soil contains a natural marl, which renders it 

permanently fruitful in the production of wheat so that it needs not 
the usual additions of animal and vegetable matter. 


12. Iodine in Angina Pectoris—The case of Dr. B. Lynde 
Oliver, was mentioned in Vol. XVI, p. 176. From the same gen- 
tleman, under date’ of May 28, we derive the following statement. 

Mr. Worthington, near Baltimore, had been for about five years 
afflicted with the Angina Pectoris, to such a degree, that while walk- 
ing he was obliged to stop and stand still two or three times in every 
hundred yards, and during the above period he had no intermission 
of his symptoms. He then. took the Iodine, agreeably to Dr. Oli- 
ver’s prescription,* and in one fortnight was able to walk six miles 
without any inconvenience, and with no more fatigue than he had 
usually felt when his health was good. On a return of the symp- 
toms, the iodine was again and again resorted to, and as often as- 
suaged the complaint. In a more recent letter, Mr. Worthington 
says that he has for seven months enjoyed good health, having a re- 
gular pulse, and no symptoms of the Angina Pectoris, except from 
great fatigue or excitement, although he was occasionally seized with 
great weakness. With an abstemious diet, a regular life, and an 
issue in his arm, he had been able to live for a good while without 
the iodine. 


* Solution, 20 grs. iodine to 1 oz. of alcohol, taken three times ina day, beginning 
with six drops, and gradually increasing the dose to 16 or 20. 


412 —— Miscellanies. 


Dr. Oliver states that in his own case he had been obliged seve- 
ral times to return to the use of iodine, and always found relief. 
Under the pressure, however of a catarrhal affection, and great men- 
tal anxiety and suffering, on account of the sickness and death of an 
only brother, an inmate of his house, the palpitation of the heart re- 
turned, with extreme irregularity of pulse, threatening sudden death. 
In this case he derived great benefit from the Prussic acid, and is 
now convalescent. 


13. New Monthly Journal.—No. I. of this work, devoted to Nat- 
ural Science, and especially to Natural History, will appear July 1, 
edited by G. W. Featherstonhaugh, Esq. The numbers will con- 
tain fifty pages each, with engravings. ‘The publisher and proprie- 
tor is Henry H. Porter, Literary Rooms, 121 Chesnut street, Phila- 
delphia. The price is $3.50 per annum. : 


14. Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge, by N. 
Sarcent, and As. Hatsey.—This agreeable and valuable Journal 
has nearly finished its second year. It is published monthly, and 
contains. papers original and selected, on most subjects relating to 
science, arts, literature, and other great interests of mankind ; it is 
well worthy of encouragement, and as it occupies a station midway 
between the technical journals of science and elaborate literary re- 
views on the one part, and the fugitive diurnal and weekly jour- 
nals on the other, it must be both useful and entertaining to a large 
portion of the reading community. 


15. Journal of the Franklin Institute—This. very useful Jour- 
nal appears with punctuality, is ably conducted by Dr. Jones, and 
we cannot doubt, performs an important: service to the rising arts of 
this country, while it keeps progress with ‘the science of the age. 
We know not where the American reader will. find more that is val- 
uable, especially to the practical arts, and patefited inventions. ‘The 
number for May last contains articles on the use of salt water in 
steam boilers—on splicing a waterwheel shaft,—and a reply to Mr. 
J. Shaw’s observations on H. Bell’s patent; besides the proceed- 
ings of the Franklin Institute, and a list of American patents, with 
their specifications. 


JMascellanies. 413 


3 .. 16. Mr. Cooper’s Disclaimer. 
. New York, 28th April, 1831. . 
; TO THE EDITOR. 

Sir.—In the last number of your valuable Journal, p. 123, I find, 
to my great surprise, an opinion attributed to me, relative to a fossil 
described by Mr. Eaton, so different from what I have ever enter- 
tained or expressed to any person whatever, that I must beg the fa- 
vor of you to insert my disclaimer of itin your next number. The 
fossil in question was shown to me in September last, when I inti- 
mated that it was a plant, and not, as supposed by Mr. Eaton, an 
animal. Similar vegetable impressions are represented in Plates 
1 and 2, vol. TL, of the American Journal, as well as in Parkinson’s 
and other works on Fossil plants. ‘They belong to the genus Lepi- 
dodendron, of Sternberg and Brongniart, of which thirty species are 
now known, including those formerly confounded under the name of 
Phytolithus cancellatus.. ‘They are supposed to have much affinity 
with the Lycopodiacee ; and are therefore widely ae from 
Arundo, or any of the Gramineous Family. 

I remain, with great respect, your obedient servant. 
. Wu. Cooper. 


17. Education.—tIn this great and growing country, it is very grati- 
. fying to observe how much the public mind is directed towards educa- 
tion, for this alone can insure a healthful state of public aoe which 
is the supreme law of the land. 

In this view, the efforts of Mr. Joseph Holbrook, in Mascnchivel, 
to bring as much valuable knowledge as possible within the reach of 
the most numerous class of society, are well known, and deserving of 
respect and commendation. | 

A member of the Albany Institute, (said to be Mr. Bloodgood,) 
has recently presented to that body an interesting memoir on Educa- 
tion, especially as conducted according to the systems of Lancaster, 
Bell, Fellenberg and Pestalozzi; and more particularly of Jacotot, of 
Flanders, whose name is little known in this country. ‘The pamph- 
let® is well worthy of an attentive perusal. The system of Jacotot 
is founded upon memory, in the first instance, and the improvement 
of the pupil is stated to be rapid beyond all former experience, espe- 
cially when if is considered how limited are the literary means em- 
ployed. The pamphlet must be consulted for the details. ‘The au- 


* Published by E. Bliss, 111 Broadway, New York. 
Vou. XX.—No. 2. 53 


414 Miscellanies. 


thor of the pamphlet, faithful to the most important interests of man- 


kind, regards their moral and religious interests as superior to all oth- 
ers, and Sustly considers all systems as defective which leave them out 


of view, and of course as erroneous if they tend to pervert the mind 
of the youthful pupil. 


18. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadel- 
phia.—The April No. contains communications, 

1. On the electrical properties of Caoutchouc,* by Prof. Johnson. 

2. On two new species of Salamander, by Prof. Jacob Green. 

3. On fifteen new recent and three fossil species of shells, by T. 
A. Conrad. 

4. On the fossil bones of the Megalonyx, by Dr. R. Harlan. 

5. Ona fossil fucus, by the same. 

6. On some parasitic worms, by Dr. 8. G. Morton. 

7. On new American Hemopterous insects, "F Thomas Say—in 
continuation, &c. &c. 

In proportion to its age, no institution in this country has done more 
for science than the Philadelphia Academy, and its museum—which 
is extensive and various, and kept in fine order—has recetved, during 
the last year, a valuable addition, in a collection of fossils; being that 
made by the late Mr. Clifford, of Kentucky, and till recently kept at 
Cincinnati. It has been purchased by Mr. J. P. Wetherill and gen-— 
erously presented to the Academy. In this collection are some bones 
of the Megalonyx, from the White Cave in Kentucky.t ‘These bones 
form the subject of an interesting memoir, by Dr. R. Harlan, who ob- 
serves, that with teeth constructed after the manner of those of the sloth, 
the skeleton presents a singular admixture of characters, peculiar to the 
Ant-eater, the Armadillo and the Orycteropus. Mr. Harlan infers that 
the Megalonyx is about one third less than the Megatherium, which 
Cuvier estimated to be seven feet and four and a half inches high; and 
that the individual Megalonyx, whose bones Dr. Harlan examined, 
was about five feet high and of the size of a common ox, although it 
did not appear to be more than three fourths grown. Along with the 


* Of which an abstract is given in the present number of this Journal. 

+ In Edmonston County, one hundred and twenty miles south west of Lexington, 
on the bank of Green River. It is one of the saltpetre caves, which are numerous 
in the limestone regions of the West, and in which human mummies, dried and im- 
putrescible, have been often discovered, being the bodies of some of the aborigines. 


JViseellanies. 415 


remains of the Megalonyx were received portions of the skeletons of 
the bos, the cervus, the ursus and a metacarpal human bone. 

Dr. Harlan has also described a fossil fucus of ‘singular beauty, 
found in the compact sandstone subjacent to the coal formations, on 
one of the eastern ridges of the Alleghany, one hundred and fifty miles 
from Philadelphia, ten miles east of Lewistown, Mifflin County. A 
fragment of a stone, two and a half feet long by one and a half wide, 
is completely crowded with the forms of this plant, lying upon each 
other three or four layers deep; the stone seen at a short distance 
presented the appearance of beautiful artificial sculpture. ‘This fos- 
sil fucus not unaptly resembles the fingers of a hand branching from 
the palm. 

Only two fossil species of fuci have been before found in North 
America. It is observed by M. Brongniart, that the marine vegeta- 
tion, like the terrestrial, resembles that of our climates the more in 
proportion as it belongs to more recent formations, and more that of 
equatorial climates, as it belongs to a more ancient formation. We 
have not room to notice the other papers of this number of the Jour- 
nal of the Academy, all of which do credit to that Institution. 


19. New monthly Journal, called The Friend of Mankind ; con- 
ducted by Prof. Rafinesque.—It is not tobe restricted to any particular 
subjects, but is to embrace all kinds of useful knowledge, whether in 
science, literature, or art, and is intended to give them a cheap and 
popular form. Reviews will be introduced, containing notices of 
the increase of knowledge afforded by books. 


20. Proposed exchanges by the Franklin Society of Providence, 
R. 1—The Franklin Society have procured, by purchase, the ex- 
tensive collection that belonged to the late Dr. Samuel Robinson, — 
which having a large number of duplicate specimens, will enable 
them to furnish valuable suites from that vicinity, and Massachusetts, 
to those who may be desirous of obtaining them in return for others, 
from different sections of the country. 


21. Destruction of Life by explosions of Steam Boilers.—Mr. 
Redfield has given, in the present number, a valuable document on 
this painful subject. We are glad to find the amount so much less 
than was stated, on the authority of a correspondent, in a former 


number of this Journal, (Vol. XIX, p. 3). We shall be ready 


2 


416 ‘Miscellanies. 


to receive from our correspondent any statement in support or modi- 
fication of his former account. The loss of life onboard of steam 
boats in consequence of running foul of each other, has been consid- 
erable, and of course is not included in Mr. Redfield’s statement. 

The public have a right to demand a prompt and careful investi- 
gation of the immediate causes of these dreadful calamities. 


22. Encyclopedia Americana.—The 6th Vol. of this valuable 
work has appeared, and is written and compiled in the spirit of its 
predecessors. It is learned, condensed, perspicuous and practical. 


23. Ohio Canals.—The fine state of Ohio, with a million of free 
inhabitants, followmg the example of New York, has not hesitated 
to expend millions of dollars upon her canals. By the report of 
January, 1831, it appears that $4,131,579 2.5 had been expended 
upon the great canal and its branches and auxiliaries; $554,186, it 
was supposed, would be requisite to finish the work, exclusive of su- 
perintendence and engineering. It is fair to infer that $5,000,000 
will cover the whole, and then the great lakes will be connected with 
the Ohio river, as well as with the Hudson, and thus (the-canal around 
the falls of the Ohio being finished) there will be an uninterrupted 
inland water communication between New York and New Orleans, 
surpassing in extent any thing known elsewhere in the world. In 
this way Ohio and the contiguous states will enjoy the choice of a 
market, either at New York or New Orleans; an advantage net too 
dearly purchased for Chio, at the average price of $10,555 per mile 
on her canals, exclusive of charges of superintendence and engineer- 
ing. Should the United States continue at peace, and wisely appro- 
priate their superfluous resources to internal improvement, what grand 
results may be ultimately expected. Baltimore, with its rail road, 
and Washington city, with its canal, will in a few years connect the 
Ohio with the Chesapeake; the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and 
ihe Ohio, will be joined through the great canals of Pennsylvania ; 
the Alleghanies, although they cannot be levelled, will be readily 
passed, and a multitude of communications of smaller extent, but 
some of them of great importance, will facilitate the commercial, so- 
cial and political interchanges of this country, which interest and poli- 
cy will conspire to connect in one empire, compact and we trust in- 
dissoluble, although so extensive. Would governments avoid war, 


Miscellanies. 417 


how soon would they be able to effect the most desirable improve- 
ments, and to augment, an hundred fold, the resources and enjoy- 
ments of their subjects! War is madness; it settles nothing as to 
right, and when its rivers of blood have flowed and its millions have 
perished, the survivors can adjust their claims only by discussing them 
in a spirit of conciliation and justice, which they could, have better 
done before they had mutually inflicted the most dreadful sufferings. 


24. Journal of Law.—This Journal appears in semi-monthly nuni- 
bers of sixteen pages each.* It is addressed to the People of the 
United States, and is devoted to the exposition, in popular language, 
of the philosophy, history, and actual state of law and government 
in different countries—of our own constitutions, state and national— 
laws, civil and criminal—judiciary systems and modes of procedure— 
together with particular essays on those branches of the law, a knowl- 
edge of which may be most practically useful to men engaged in ac- 
tive pursuits; as, for mstance, the law of corporations, patents, insur- 
ance, bills of exchange, and commercial and other contracts, , in all 
their varieties, real estate, with the modes of conveying it, insolvency, 
wills, descents, mtestacy, &c. Se. 

Reports of interesting decided cases, biographies of eminent law- 
yers and others, medical jurisprudence, sketches of the legal, literary 
and benevolent imstitutions of various countries, anecdotes, and the 
various topics of general literature are within the scope of this journal. 

Its aim is to afford instruction without tediousness, and amusement 
without frivolity. — 

This journal, (useful we cannot doubt-to the profession, and not 
without interest and even amusement to the general reader,) affords 


another mstance of that division of literary and professional labor, 


which, as in practical arts and business, is necessary to excellence. 
Theology and medicine have long, in this country, had their appro- 
priate journals, and Jonispmadcrge has, at former periods, called forth 
several attempts, and if they could not be sustained, it was pr obably 


because they were elaborate and voluminous. T he present being in 


fact a newsletter of law, must command a much larger number of 
readers, and will, we presume, be adequately supported. 


“J. Dobson, 108 Chesnut street, Philadelphia; price $1.50 per annum. All agents 
for the Journal of Health receive subscriptions for this work. 


Cot ae 


418 JMiscellames: 


25. Alum in Mica Slate —This fact is of not unfrequent occur- 
rence in this country. A crumbling, half decomposed mica slate, 
now lies before us, containing beautiful incrustations and masses of 
plumose alum in fine silky crystals not unlike those of the Island of 
Milo, (Greece.) We are informed that the rock is found about three 
feet from the surface of the earth, and the alum appears to be purer, 
the deeper the digging proceeds. 

Some mica slates contain sufficient sulphur to burn blue when laid 
on a hot shovel,* or coals, and the alum would appear to be formed 
between the sulphur, becoming sulphuric acid, by the action of the 
oxygen of air or water, or both, and the alumina of the mica, aided 
probably by alkali in the same mineral. 

If materials of this kind should be found in abundance, they might 
form the basis of a profitable manufacture. 

In the present instance, reference may be had to Mr. Christopher 
Johnson, of Colchester, Conn., where the rock is found. 


Mddition to Prof. Johnson’s prece on steam. 


On page 310, after “direct ratio of the density,” line 7th, insert the 
following :—It is true that if only one boiler in a range were to be- 
come empty and exposed to excessive heat, at the same time, the 
quantity of steam just calculated, would be, in part, distributed, 
through the connecting pipe, to the others, at the moment of its pro- 
duction, which would diminish in a measure the pressure in the 
over heated boiler. It may be said on the other hand, that the over 
heating of the outer shell will never be confined to the lower arch, 
nor to a single boiler in a range; and it is evident that the lower 
boilers in a boat must in the cases supposed want steam room in pro- 
portion as the wpper want water; and that the connecting pipe could 
not, as generally constructed, convey away the steam so fast as it 
would be produced. The boiler which had been most remote from 
the wharf, has generally sustained the injury, in explosions that have 
occurred immediately after putting off. 


* Tn this instance, heat exhales the smell of sulphur, but without flame; most of 
the sulphur has;evidently been acidified. 
t Received too late for insertion in its proper place. 


419 


POSTSCRIPT. 


Arter ihe preceding page was in type, we received the following 
note from the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, with a request that it 
might appear at the end of the present number, and a compliance is 
less an act of courtesy than of justice, especially as many of Mr. 
Eaton’s papers have appeared in this Journal ;—always, however, 
(as in the case of other correspondents,) on his own responsibility-— 
for it is stated in the plan of this Journal, prefixed to Vol. I., that 
“the Editor will not hold himself responsible for the sentiments and 
opinions advanced by his correspondents.” 


Gen. Van Rensselaer’s Note. 


It is stated on page 482 of the last number of the North American 
Review, that Prof. Amos Eaton had abused the opportunities, fur- 
nished by me, of doing good in the cause of geological science. Will 
you do me the favor to state that I am perfectly satisfied with Prof. 
Eaion’s labors? He has been diligent and faithful in attending to the 
general duties of his department. 

Iam not a geologist myself, but I have received assurances from 
many of our distinguished scientific men, that Prof. Eaton’s mass of 
geological facts has greatly contributed to advance the science in this 
country, and to awaken the spirit of inquiry on geological subjects. 
Mr. Jeffries, of Edmburgh, also informed me some time since, that 
Prof. Buckland, whom the correspondent of the N. A. Review so 
deservedly compliments, says that Prof. Eaton “seems both to under- 
stand lus business, and to have done it carefully.” May not these 
assurances be fairly considered as counterbalancing the assertion of 
the correspondent referred to? 

It is to be regretted that the author of the review, whose professed 
object was to advance the science, did not examine Prof. Eaton’s 
views with a little better spirit, and point out and correct the sup- 
posed errors. Let any serious mistakes be pointed out, and fairly 


420 Postscript. 


proved, and I will immediately cause a resurvey of the state to be 
made by other scientific gentlemen. . 


S. Van REenssevaEr. 
Albany, June 22d, 1831. 


Remarks.—Although we have not always agreed in opinion with 
our correspondents, and with Prof. Eaton among the rest, we have 
been satisfied that his valuable labors have contributed very materially 
to the advancement of geological knowledge in this country, by pro- 
moting investigation, and adding largely to the mass of facts, which 
constitute the true riches of geclogy. Were the entire crust of the 
planet fully explored, and the nature and order of its mineral masses, 
and their contents accurately ascertained, described, and laid down 
in maps and sections, no one would hesitate to say, that a vast ser- 
vice had been performed, even although no theory, nor any spec- 
ulation had been devised. 

The value of geological research is, therefore, very great, and that 
of geological theory is certainly much less, although it is highly in- 
teresting ; theory is constantly fluctuating with the progress of 
discovery, and until we have discovered all the facts, we cannot be 
sure that our theories will stand. With respect to theory and no- 
menclature, there is therefore, room both for fancy and error; but 
those who, like Mr. Eaton, have labored hard and long, in investigating 
facts, and like him, have faithfully reported them, according to the 
best views which they possessed at the time, are entitled to our res- 
pect and kindness, although their first sketches may possibly require 
some correction from subsequent observations of themselves and 
others. The munificence of Gen. Van Rensselaer in promoting geo- 
logical knowledge, is, so far as we are informed, without a parallel in 
any country, and he has been fortunate in the field of geological re- 
search, in which he has employed Mr. Eaton, since it is not only 
fruitful in scientific facts, of great interest, but in substances of prime 
importance to society ; and perhaps we may yet hope that coal will 
be added to the other mineral riches of: this important region, al- 

though it may lie at a depth, too great to admit of its being profita- 
bly explored.* 

Yale College, June 27, 1831. 


* See Mr. Eaton’s excellent view of this subject, Vol. XIX. No. I. of this Jour- 
nal. 


INDEX TO VOLUME XX. 


—D +o 


A. 


Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila- 
delphia, 414. 

Academy of Sciences of St. Petersh onan 
389. 

Acetate of morphine, 184. 

Acetic acid, crystallizable, 186. 

Achromatic microscope, 265. 

Addition to’Prof. Johnson’s article, 418. 

Aikin’s Dictionary of Chemistry, 93. 

Aldini, Ch., on protection from Hae: 96. 

Alum in mica slate, 418. 

Aluminium, preparation of, 408. 

American Birds, new work on, 161. 

American Botanical Register, 160. 

Analysis of Black Sea, 188. 

————. Brewsterite, 198. 

—- the Protogea of Leibnitz, 56. 

Analytical geometry, 285. 

Angina pectoris, use of iodine in, 411. 

Anthracite mines, 165. : 

Antique medals found near Geneva, 391. 

Arsenic in sea-salt, 193. 

Asbestos impregnated*with platinum, 160. 

Asparagin,. 187. 

Atholl, Duke of, notice concerning, 307. 

Atlantic coast, prevailing storms of, 17. 

Atmosphere, carbonic acid-in, 183. 

Augite, affinity of to the Diallage family, 
168. 

Aurora borealis seen at Paris, 396. 

Austria, rail roads in, 174. 

Azotic gas in warm springs, 388. 


B. 


4 


Babbage, Prof., on the decline of Science 
in England, 164, 172. 

Bache, A. D., Prof., on asafety apparatus 
for steam boats, 317. 

Bakewell, R. on the salt springs of Mou- 
tiers, 219. 

Berlin, history of, 389, 

Berzelius, his System of Chemistry, 95. 

Betuline, a seuEond new principle in 
birch, 282. 

Birds, American, anew work on, 161. 


\Bireh, bark of, containing a supposed new 
principle, 282. 

Black Sea, analysis of, 188. : 

Bloodgood, S. De Witt, on Halos, 297; 

Bone caves in New Holland, 380. 

Bones, fossil, from Kentucky, 370. 

Bonnycastle, Capt. on the geology of the 
Catataqui, '74. 

Bored wells, 392. 

Boston Mechanics’ Magazine, 160. 

Botanic Garden of St. Petersburgh, 175 © 

Branch mint in North Carolina, 401. 

Brande’s Manual of Chemistry, 88. 

Brewsterite, analysis of, 198. 

Bromine, preparation of, 194. 

— in salt works at Hingham, 161. 

Bronn, Prof., his proposal to exchange pet- 
nietetions. 397. 

Browne, H. Mr., notice of, 307. 

Buffalo mineral spring, 156. 


Oper 


Canada, literary and selentific societies of, 
168. 

Caoutchouce, electrical properties of 404, 

Carbon, crystallized, 167. 

Carbonic acid in the air, 183. 

Carburetted hydrogen Sas» as fuel for 
steam boilers, 10. 

decomposition of, 186. 

Carpenter, G. W., on Peruvian Bark, 52. 

Cass, Gov., on the ‘tides at Green Bay, 217. 

Cataraqui, “geolocy of, ‘74. 

Cassius, the purple powder of, 192. 

Central forces, 65, 291. 

Chalybeate water, a remarkable one; 384. 

Charring of wood, 189. 

Chenevix, M., notice of, 305. 

Chile, plants of, 248. 

Chloride of silver, 193. 

Christie, Dr., reply to, by Prof. Olmsted, 
373. 

Chromate of potash, pure, 409. 

Chronometers, purification of oil. for, 166. 

Cinchonia, remarks upon, 52. 

Clemson, T..G., on the manufacture of 


Sulphuri ic acid, 347. 


422 


Climate, change of, 130, 377, 

Cohen, Mr., on crystallized carbon, 167. 

Compression of gas, producing heat, 180. 

Conchology, American, 400. 

Conrad, T., notice of his work on shells. 
A400. 

Conwell, Dr., on light, 350. 

Cooper’s disclaimer, » 13. 

Crystallization, a singular kind of, 128. 

Crystals in living plants, 382. 

Currents in the ocean, 180. 

Cyprea, monograph of, 379. 


D. 


Daubeny, Prof., on azotic gas in warm 
springs, 383. 

Davy, Sir H., notice of his last work, 170. 

Despretz, C., on cr ystallizable acetic acid, 
186. 


the decomposition of car- 

‘bonic acid, 186. 

—— on the decomposition of 
water, 186. 

Diallage, affinity of, with augite, 168. 

Diophantine Problem, solution of, 295. 


E. 


Eaton, Prof., on a supposed fossil crotalus, 
122. 


on the gold rock of Mexico, 


124. : 
——- on the fish of Hudson river, 
150. : 
notice of his geological labors, 
419, 
on the reflective goniometer, 
TSBs.) 


‘Economical steam boat, 41. 

Education, 413. ; 

in Lyons, 174. 

Electro-magnetic properties of metallic 
veins, 136. 

Electricity of the atmosphere, 179. 

Electricity, decomposition by, 179. 


Electro-magnet, a large one at Y. Coll! 


201. 
Elements of Chemistry, notice of, 96. 


416 
Erythronium, a new metal, 386. 
Explosions of Steam boilers, 415. 


ak. 


Lee Onsen s G.W., new Journal of, 
412... 

Field, Gen. M., Teteoralogied| table and 
remarks, by, 261. 


INDEX. 


Fire, protection from, by peculiar dresses, 
96 


Fish in Hudson river, 150. ' 

Flame, protection from, by a new inven- 
tion, 96. 

Floating Pumice, 161. 

Fossil animals, 382 

Fossil bones from Kentucky, 370. 

Fossils, proposal for the exchange of, 397. 

Fuel for steam boilers, 133. 

Franklin Institute, journal of, 412. 

Society of Providence, proposal of 


Friend of Mankind, a new journal, 414. 
Fromont, garden of, 83. 


G.. 


Galvano-magnetism, 143. 

Garden of Fromont, 83. 

Gay-Lussac’s lectures, 94. 

Gold coinage in the U. States, statistics 
of, 401. 

—— formation of Mexico and U. States, 
124. 


-||——— mines of N. Car olina, 401. 


Goodrich, Mr.. J., on the volcanic region 
of Hawaii, 228, 

Green’s elements of chemistry, 89. 

Greywacke, scratches on, 124. 

Griscom, Prof., translations by,.96, 172, 
269, 377. 

Gulph stream, loss of vessels in, 158. 

Gum ammoniacum, 399. 

Gunpowder, composition of, 199. 


H. 


||Elail storms, reply to Christie on, 373. 


Halos, solar and lunar, 297. 

Hare, Dr., his Compendium of Chemis- 
95. : 

Hayten s Geological Essays, 164. 

Hayes,A.A., on pure chromate potash, 409. 

—_—— on a singular erystallization, 

128. 
Elawaii, volcanic region of, 228 


'||Efeat produced by compression of gases, 
Encyclopaedia Americana, notice of, 167,) ; 


180. 

Heideiberg collection of rocks and mine- 
rals, 398. 

Henry, Prof. J.,on magnetic attractions 
and repulsions, 340. 

on a large electro magnet, 201. 

Henry, Dr., notice of his elements of 
chemistry, 89. 

'|Elerrings, on the discovery of the meth- 
od of curing them, 183. 

Hildreth, Dr. 8. P., Meteorological re- 
marks by, 126. 


INDEX. 


Hitchcock, Prof., lectures on regimen,163. 
on topaz in White mountains, 410. 
Horns and hoofs, new use of in the arts, 

394, : 
Horticulture, 167. 


I. 


Indiana, historical society of, 163. 

Ink, improvement in, 195. 

Insects, proposals for the exchange of,168. 

fodine, efficacy of in medicine, 386. 

in angina pectoris, 411. 

, tincture of, 196. 

Jodie acid, and Morphine, action on one 
another, 184. 

— crystallized, preparation of, 185. 

fron, manufactured in Wales, 152. 

——- trade of Great Britain, 176. 


{ 


J. 


Johnson, W. R:, on the rapid production o 
steam, 308. 
Joslin, Prof., 
vision, 410. 


notice of his memoir on 


K. 


Kuhlmann, M., on sulphate of copper in 
bread, 269. 


L. 

Lakes of North America, tides of, 205. 
Laugier, lectures of on Chemistry, 44. 
Law, Journal of, 417. 
Lawrence, Sir T., notice of, 308. 
Leavenworth, Dr., description of a new 

plant, by, 345. 
Leibnitz, analysis of his Protogwa, 56. 
Leonhard, Prof., arrangement of rocks by, 

182. 

his proposed work on trap, 170. 

Light, on refraction of, 351. 


Lightning, tubes of sand, formed by, 396. 
Lithia, new process for obtaining, 194. 


M. 


Maclure, Mr., on the geology of Mexico, 
406... 

Magazine of useful and entertaining know- 
ledge, 412. 

Magnesium, preparation of, 408. 

Magnetic attraction and repulsion, 340. 

Mapping instrument, 159: 

Marl for’ manure, 410. 

Mason, 0., on the Warkof the white birch, 
282. 


Mastodon, bones of, from Kentucky, 370.||Quinia, femarks upon, 52 


423 


Mather, Lieut., 
nesium, 408. : 

Mauch.Chunk, mines of, 163. 

Metallic veins, electro magnetic proper- 
ties of, 136. 

—— salts, decomposition of, 187. 

Meteorological journal kept .at N. Bed-. 
ford, 162. 


on aluminium and mag- 


—_—_——— Boston, 264. 

——N. Fane, 260. 
Marietta, 126. 

observations, 361. : 

Mexico, geology of, 406. 

Miller, F. S., notice of, 300. 

Miner als, localities of, 170. 

Mineral spring of Buffalo, 156. 

Mitchell, Prof., on the Protogeea of Leib- 

nitz, 56. 


—— storms, 361. 

Mitcherlich, M.,on fuming nitric acid, 185. 

Morphine and [odine, action on one an- 
other, 184. 

Moutiers, notice of the salt springs of, 219. 

Murray’s Elements of Chemistry, 92. 


N. 


Naturalists, Germ, meeting of, 175. 
Necrology, 174. - 

New York, statistics of, 147. 

Nitric acid, fuming, 185. 

Nitrous atmosphere of Tirhoot, 199, 
Nuttall; his proposed work on birds, 154. 


O. 


} 


Ohio canals, 416. 

Olmsted, Prof., his reply to Dr. (Cis es 
373. 

Ornithology, American, 154. 


P. 


Peruvian bark, a new variety of, 52. 
Petersburgh botanic garden, 175. - 
Physics, Elements of, 155. 
Phosphorus, mode of powdering, 194, 
Pinguite, a new mineral, 197. 
Planera, notice of, 377. 

Plants of ‘Chile, 248. 

Platina lamp, 385. 

Polarizing rocks, 198. 

Porter, Dr., on the garden of Fromont, 82. 
Problem, 410. 

Prunnerite, a néw mineral, 197. 
Prussia, Universities of, 388. 

Purple powder of Cassius, 192. 


Q. 


424 
R. 


Rail roads in Austria, 1’74. 

Railway, how cleared from snow, 166. 

Redfield, W. C., on storms of the Atlantic 
coast, 17. 

Reflecting” goniometer, remarks on, 158. 

Rennel, Maj. J., notice of, 304. 

Renwick, Prof., review of his work on 
steam engines, 322. 

Rocks, new arrangement of, 182. 

Royal Society of London, notice of, 172. 

Rumker, C.,.on currents in the ocean, 180. 

Ruschenberger, Dr., on the botany o 
Chile, 248. 

Russian Universities, 176. 


S. 


St. Petersburgh Academy of Sciences. 262 

Salicine, 384. 

Salt springs of Moutiers, 219. 

Sargasso weeds, 181. 

Schoolcraft, H. R., notice of his discourse, 
166. 


———————— letter on the tide of 
Lake Superior, 213. 

Scratches on greywacke, 124. 

Sea salt containing arsenic, 193. 

Serullas, on iodic acid and morphine, 184. 

Shepard, C. U., extracts from foreign Jour- 
nals by, 197. . 
———— experiments with Henry’s 

magnet, 201. 

Shooting stars, 153. 

Siberian elm, notice of, 377. 

Silliman, Prof., Elements of Chemistry 
by, 96. 

Silver, chloride of, 193. 

Smithson, Mr., notice of, 306. 

Societies, literary and scientific of Canada, 
172 

Solar halos, 297. 

Specification of an improvement in steam 
boilers, 10. 

Statistics of New York, 147. 

Steam, on the rapid production of, 308. 

Steam boat, description of an economical 
one, 14. 

Steam boats, means of safety in, 1 

— safety apparatus for, 317. 

proposal to build, 163. 

Steam boilers, fuel for, 133. , 

Steam engine, premium for a safe one, 178. 

treatise on, 322. 

Stewart, Rev. C.,on Sandwich Islands,229. 

Storms of the Atlantie coast, 17. _ 


Strong, Prof., on Central forces, 65, 291. 


INDEX, 


Sulphuric acid, smoking, 347. 
— crystaline compounds in, 


384. 
Sulphate of copper in bread, 269. 
a potash and copper, 195. 


T. 


Taste, the seat of, 180. 
Tempering of’ metallic wires and springs, 
393. 

Ten Eyck, Dr., account of a large elec- 
tro-magnet, 201. 

Thenard’s System of Chemistry, notice 
of, 94. 

Thomas, E., on the achromatic micro- 
scope, 265. 

Thompson, Wm. A., account of marks on 
graywacke, 124. 

Thomson, Dr., on light and heat, 98. 

Thunder storms in Switzerland, 178. 

France, 395. 

Tides of the North American lakes, 205. 

Topaz of the White Mountains, 410. | 

Transition rocks of the Cataraqui, 74. 

Trap, and rocks altered by it, 170. 

Tullia Pyenanthemoides, anew plant, 343. 

Turner’s Elements of Chemistry, 88. 


U. 


Ure’s Dictionary, 93. 
Ure, Dr., on the composition of gunpow- 
der, 190. 
V. 


Vanadium, a new metal, 386. 
Van Rensselaer, Gen., note on Eaton’s 
survey, 419. 

Vaporization, limits to, 189. 

Voleanic region of Hawaii, 228. 
————— Kirauea, 229. 

Volcano in New Zealand, 381: 

Voltaic electricity, 177. 


W. 


Water, on the decomposition of by atmos- 
pheric electricity, 179. 

Water, decomposition of, 186. 

Webster’s Manual of Chemistry, 89. 

Wells, bored for water, 392. 

Wheeler, A. D,, solution of a problem by, 
295. 

Whiting, H. Maj., on the tides of the N. 
A. Lakes, 205. 

Wilder, C., on analytical geometry, 285. 

Wires, covering for, 409. 

Wirtemberg, kingdom of, 176. 


- remarks upon, by Prof. Mitchell,361.|'Wolves, stock destroyed by them in Rus- 


sia, 177. 


Sullivan, J.L. description ofa steam boat, 14. Wood, charring of at low temperatures, 


— improvement in steam boil- 
ers, 10. 


et 


on safety of steam Deaton : 
Sugar from starch, (195. se 


189. 
Z: 


Zeolite, recent formation of, 382. 


AMERICAN JOURNAL 


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