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“CALCUTTA JOURNAL 


NATURAL HISTORY: 


Miscellany 


OF THE 


ARTS AND SCIENCES 
Tit Indta, 


CONDUCTED 


BY JOHN M‘CLELLAND, F. L. S. 


Bengal Medical Service, 

JUNIOR MEMBER AND SFCRETARY OF A comMMI 

MINERAL RESOURCES OF INDIA—FELLOW OF THE ROYAL 
TISBON; AND OF THE WN 

MEMBER OF THE ZOO 


SOCIETY OF BELPas? ; ‘OF THE BOSTON so- 
CIeTY OF NATURAL HISTORY oF THE JUNITED STATES, ETC. ETC, 
r 


VOLUME ifk. 


INTERNATIONAL BOOK DISTRIBUTORS 
: 9/3, RAJPUR ROAD, (ist, FLOOR). 


DEHRADUN-248001 INDIA 


REFRINTED -- 1985 


Published by R. P. SINGH 
For 


‘INTERNATIONAL BOOK DISTRIBUTORS 
93, Rajpur Road, Dehra Dun-India. 


CALCUTTA JOURNAL 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY: 


AND 


Miscellany 


OF THE 


ARTS AND SCIENCES 
in indta. 


CONDUCTED 


BY JOHN M‘CLELLAND, F. L. S. 


Bengal Medical Service. 


JUNIOR MEMBER AND SFCRETARY OF A COMMITTEE FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF THF 
MINERAL RESOURCES OF INDIA—FELLOW OF THE ROYAL BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF RA-, 
TISBON; AND OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF FRANKFORT—CORRESPON DING 
MEMBER OF THE ZOOLOGICAL, AND OF THE ree accep ta eh or LON- 
DON; OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF nIThg be ¥ THE BOSTON so- 


CIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY OF THE UNITAO STATES, ETC. ETC. 


VOLUME 


CALCUTTA. 
W. RIDSDALE, BISHOP’S COLLEGE PRESS 


M.DCCC,XLIII, 


Third Volume of the Calcutta Journal of Natural History. 


RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO. 


THE MERCANTILE COMMUNITY OF CALCUTTA. 


Contributors. 


_W.H. BENSON, ESQ. C. S., Bengal. 

J. CAMPBELL, ESQ. Captain in the Madras Army, and 
Assistant Surveyor General. 

G. J. GORDON, ESQ: Vice Pres. Med. Soc. Cal. 

W. GRIFFITH, ESQ. F.L.S., Soc. Acad. Reg. Nat. Cur. 
Bonn. ;—Offg. Superintendent Bot. Gard. Calcutta. 

J. M‘CLELLAND, F.L.S., Soc. Sc. Reg. Bot. Ratish. 

A. ROBERTSON, ESQ., Assist. Chem. Lecturer Mei. 
Coll. Calcutta. 

R. B. SMITH, ESQ., Lieut. Bengal Engineers. 

_ G. B. TREMENHERE, Captain Bengal Engineers. 

S. R. TICKELL, ESQ. Lieut. Bengal Army. 

W. M. WESTERMANN, ESQ. 


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Contents. 


_—-_ 


Art. I.—On East Indian Isinglass, its introduction to, 
and manufacture for, the shan Mar- 
ket. By the Editor, 


Extracts of Correspondence on the same; ht Re- 


marks of Baron Cuvier and M. Valenciennes on Po- 
lynemus plebeius, Brouss. ; Polynemus Lineatus, Lacep. ; 
Polynemus Sélé, Buch. ; from the Histoire Naturelle 
des Poissons,—Ep. ... Gas 

II.—Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. By 
Professor Schouw, communicated to the 
Calcutta Journal of Natural History, 2 
Dr. T. E. Cantor, 

1{I.—Concluding Observations of M. Déslinyeu'e on 
the completion of his great work on the 
Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin,—Eb. ... 

IV.—The Silurian System. By R. I Murchison, 
Esgq., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c. &c. &c.—Eb.... 

V.—Experiments on the Magnetic Influence of 
Solar Light. By Lieut. R. Baird Smith, 
Bengal Engineers, 

VI.—A Catalogue of the Maniiadlia of Nisei. By 
H. Walker, Assistant Surgeon, agi 
Medical Service, 2 

VII.—Notice of the Ursus sak thistia. Horsfield, 

VUI.—Muscologia Intineris Assamici; or a Des- 
cription of Mosses collected during the 
Journey of the Assam Deputation, in the 
years 1835 and 1836. By W. Griffith, Esq. 
F.L.S., Imp. Acad. Nat. Cur. Assistant 
Surgeon, Madras Establishment.... 


Page. 


157 


270 


ii 
IX.—Memorandum regarding Salmo Orientalis, 
or Bamean Trout.—Eb. =A : 
X.—Memorandum regarding the predaceous bie 
bits of certain Indian Frogs, in an instance 
observed by T. siege Ri: at Suha- 
runpoor, Ss 
XI.—India Review, aes mes 
XII.—Notes on Camphor, 
; Ep. 
and Isinglass. }Ep 


XIII.—Correspondence, __ . - 
Extract of a Letter from E. O'Reiley, Esq. dated jai 


herst, 6th March, 1842, to J. M‘Clelland, Assistant — 


Surgeon, Calcutta, * 

Extract of a Letter from T. Wilkinson, Esq. Resident 
at Nagpore, to J. M‘Clelland, Esq. Secretary to the 
Coal Committee, Calcutta, one ene 

Extract of a Letter from Dr. Boase, late Seccsiece to 
the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. Pre- 
sented by Capt. Campbell of Madras, 

XIV.—Miscellaneous,... 

On the Principles of Electro-Magnetical Wichines, 

_ by Professor Jacobi, of St. Petersburgh,... ove 

Third Meeting of the Men of Science of Italy, ves 

Dr. Lush on the Madi, or Chili Oil-seed, Madia sativa, 


XV.—Meteorological Tables, 


283 


Tontents. 


_ Pages. 
Art. I.—Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. Par 


Louis Agassiz, Professeur d’Historie Na- 
turelle 4 Neuchatel. Neuchatel, (Suisse,) 
1833.—Eb., a as she .. 3813 
I].—Faraday’s Experimental Researches in Elec- 
tricity. By Lieut. R. B. Smith, Bengal 
Engineers, “8 345, 
IIJ.—Remarks on a few Plants from Central India. 
—By W. Griffith, Esq., F.L.S., Imp. 
Acad. Nat. Cur., ... ae Ws a aa 
IV.—Experiments on the Magnetic indocnes of 
Solar Light. By Lieut. R. Baird Smith, 
Bengal Engineers,—(Continued.) ..._ ... 368 
V.—On the Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern 
India. By Captain J. Campbell, Assistant 
Surveyor General, Madras Establishment, 386 
VI.—Description of the Sungnai, Cervus (Rusa) 
frontalis, a new spécies of Deer inhabiting 
the valley of Moneypore, and brought to 
notice by Capt. C. S. Guthrie, Bengal 
Engineers. By J. M‘Clelland, . 401 
VII.—The Benturong, or Ictides Ater. De Blain, 410 
VIII.—The Baraiya, or Cervus elaphoides, Hodgson, 411 


i 
Pages. 
1X.—Correspondence :— ... + eas 
Vegetable Physiology.—Action of Metallic Poison- 
ous Substances upon Vegetation. Communicated 
by E. T. Downes, Esq., dis a avs occ I 
Extract of a Letter from T. A. Henley, Esq., dated 
Port Louis, Mauritius, 3rd April 1842, to George 
James Gordon, Esq., Calcutta, oii abe 416 
Extract of a Letter from S. H. Robinson, Esq. dated 
Dhobah, August 22d, 1842, on the Dhobah Coal 


Mines on the Adji., ... oes ove ee 418 
Letter to the Editor of the Calcutta Fount: of Na- — 
tural History,... eee ose vo 419 


Barren Island in the Bay of Beil _fp. np. 6e oe = 422 


X.—Miscellaneous :— - 
The Annals of Electricity, Maphetiod. pa iat oy 
try; and Guardian of Experimental Science. On 
the Chemical Relations now subsisting between 
Plants and Animals, with reference to those which 
have subsisted in former ages. In a Lecture deli- 
vered at the Conversazione, on Wednesday, March 
9th, 1842. By Dr. Lyon Playfair, Royal Victoria 
Gallery, Manchester, oa eee os oo. 424 
A General View of the Environs of Pekin. By M. 
Kovanko, Major in the Corps of Engineers of 
Mines; translated by Lieutenant-General Lord 
Greenock, F. R. S. E., from the Annuarie du Journal 
des Mines de Russie, année 1838. Published at St.’ 
Petersburg, 1840.,__... eee ove oes s» 448 
Agri-Horticultural Society’s Journal and India 
Review, oe vee ane ose ens «+» 460 
Notice of Books, bes cole ous 90h) ie ‘aon = Qe 


XI.—Meteorological Tables, ips un ... 463 


Contents. 


Pages. 


Art. I.—Description of Camptoceras, a new genus of 
the Lymnezade, allied to Ancylus; and of 
Tricula, a new type of form allied to Me- 
lania. By W. H. Benson, Esq., Bengal 
Civil Service. sph ; 

II.—Rough Notes on the controversy et 
Geologists, carried on by those who adopt 
the meaning which was formerly assigned 
to the first chapter of Genesis. By An- 
drew Robertson, Medical sag Cal- 
cutta, 

III.—Notes on Rajmehal Coal, : 
IV.—Extract from the Memoir of M. Peliyot'o on 
the analysis of Sugar cane, and other Do- 
cuments relative to the manufacture of Su- 
gar. Communicated by G. J. Gordon, 
Esq., eety 
Report of the Dumliciaige: of the ‘aca by M. 
Thenard, on the Memoir of M. Peligot, of which 
the foregoing is an extract, evs wen). iees 
Extract of a Letter of M. Guibourt, ...  ... ove 
Extract of a Letter from M. Peligot, * 
Result of the Researches of M. Plagne, on the com- 


position of Vesou,... 
Extract from Ure’s Dictionary of ‘Reta Avtidle Buia. 


V.—Extract of a Letter from Dr. Lund, on the 
Brazilian Ant, 

VI.—M. E. De Beaumont’s Views of the ralative 
Age of the European Mountains, an abstract 
by Professor Schow. Communicated by 
W. M. Westermann, Esq. 


468 
501 


ii 


VII.—Observations on the Genus Spathium, By 
M. P. Edgeworth, Esq. 


VITI.—Extract of a Letter from Father ‘Joseph 


Gury, S. J., to his brother, 
Extract of a Letter from Father Smet, Jesuit Mission- 
ary, to the Reverend Father General of the Society, 
The Assam Tea Plant,... 


IX.—Twelfth Meeting of the British Asnictation: 


for the .advancement of Science, Man- 


chester, 22nd June, 1842, ay 
X.—Abstract of M. Fourier’s Theory of Heat: ae 
From “ The Revolutions of the Globe Fa- 
miliarly Described,” by Alexander Bert- 
rand, M.D., ... 
General Report of the Council of Public fenimantinns 
of Bengal for 1841 and 1842, oie 
Agri-Horticultural Society's Journal, ad India 
Review, eos ste par one eon see 
XI.—Indian Coal, 
Extract of a letter from the Editor of the Calcutta 
Journal of Natural History to Charles Lyell, aie 
F.R.S., dated 10th February, — “ 
XII.—Collections, ’ 
XIII.—Meteorological Tables, 


531 


’ 539 


New Subscribers. 


S. Andrews, Esq. 

Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 

E. A. Blundell, Esq. Commissioner Tenasserim Provinces. 
G. C. Ranken, Esq. Assistant Surgeon General Hospital. 
W. Cameron, Esq. Apothecary to the E. I. C. 

Qf. Skexidan; Arrakan. 


PREFACE TO VOL. III. 


The utility of a Journal of Natural History in Calcutta, 
can hardly be considered any longer a doubtful question, 
since we find at the end of the third year of the experiment, 
sufficient encouragement on the part of the public for its 
continuance, without any effort to enlist new supporters, 
further than the regular appearance of each number as it 
becomes due. , 

The events, political and mercantile of ‘the past year, have 
been, it is true, calculated to divert attentifn from scientific 
enquiry, and we believe our Journal is the only one of its 
kind in India, depending on the voluntary, labours of corres- 
pondents, that has not suffered from the circumstances ad- 
verted to. Retirements from India, and other changes in 
Society, have deprived us of the support of above forty of 
the original subscribers, yet an almost equal number of 
new subscribers enable us to continue the work, under the 
advantage not only of increased experience, but also, we: 
trust, of increased editorial strength. 

From this period, we may hope to be assisted in the 
Editorship of the Journal by Mr. Griffith. 

It is hoped, that the increased interest which this arrange- 
ment will secure to the work, may also be attended with a 
proportionate increase to the number of subscribers, which 
would enable the Editors either to reduce the expense of the 
work, or to enlarge it materially. It is needless for the 
Editor to say, that it never was ‘intended that any profit 
should accrue to himself as remuneration for his trouble. 

It is not intended to introduce any change in the form 
of the Journal; but its pages, we trust, will gradually be 
made to embrace a wider range of subjects than heretofore. 


THE 
CALCUTTA JOURNAL 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


Faraday’s Experimental Researches in Electricity. 
First and Second Series.* 


The marked analogies that subsist between the leading 
phenomena of Electricity and Magnetism, early suggested 
the idea of these two powers being intimately connected, and 
led to many oft-repeated and varied, though long fruitless, 
efforts to detect the nature and relations of this connection. 
Numerous distinguished names occur in the records of these 
unsuccessful attempts, and it is sufficiently remarkable that 
at least in one instance, that of the celebrated Beccarria, the 
very verge of that brilliant discovery, on which has been 
reared the new science of Electro-magnetism, was uncunsei- 
ously attained. During the progress of his researches, un- 
dertaken with the specific intention of investigating the re- 
lations of electricity to magnetism, Beccarria observed, that 
a needle through which he had transmitted an electric shock, 


* We are indebted to Lieut. R. Baird Smith, of the Bengal Engineers, 
for this interesting analysis of the three first Series of Faraday’s Ex- 
perimental Researches, as we have been to the same accomplished 
officer for former papers, also on Electricity, which excited consider- 
able interest at the time they were published.—Ep. 


VOU. Ill. NO. TX. APRIL 1842, B 


‘ . 
\ 


2 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


acquired a remarkable species of polarity, since instead of 
placing itself as usual in the magnetic meridian, it exhibited 
a decided tendency to assume a position transverse to this; 
so that instead of pointing north and south, it pointed east 
and west. That he did not follow out this singular fact, 
proves that he was ignorant of its true value; since its re- 
discovery, nearly half a century afterwards, by Professor 
Oersted of Copenhagen, was the first step in that career of 
discovery, which has conferred immortal honour on that 
philosopher’s name, and has secured for him one of the most 
honourable niches in the temple of scientific fame. None | 
who had endeavoured to solve the seductive problem we 
have above alluded to, laboured more assiduously, and. 
perseveringly to this end, than M. Oersted; and although the 
fundamental fact was originally discovered by him, in a man- 
ner almost accidental, it was an accident of which he alone 
was capable of availing himself, and for the due appreciation 
of the value of which, his mind had been prepared by a long 
train of thought and experiment; so that there was in reality 
no more chance in the discovery, than there is in the process 
by which, in a happy moment of inspiration, a man solves a 
difficulty upon which his mind has long been intently fixed. 
In the year 1820, Oersted announced that the conducting 
wire, connecting the poles of a galvanic battery, while being 
traversed by an electric current, acts upon the magnetic 
needle, and gives origin to a force so acting upon it as to 
dispose it to take a position at right angles to the wire. 
Intense excitement was created among scientific men by this 
announcement; verification of Oersted’s experiments was 
made in several countries ; and the range of his facts widely 
extended among the most distinguished of the cultivators of 
the infant science, to which the name of Electro-magnetism 
had ben assigned were Ampere and Arago in France, and 
Davy and Faraday in England ; and by their united efforts 
much important and valuable information was elicited. Tio 


f 


q 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 3 


enter into any of the details of this, forms no part of our pre- 
sent design, save in so far as it may be necessary to ensure a 
clear apprehension of the views we shall subsequently ex- 
press ; and we may therefore only briefly state at present, 
that on analysing the experiments of Oersted into their sim- 
_plest conditions, it appeared as if the conducting wire exert- . 
ed on the pole of the magnet a kind of force, neither attrac- 
tive nor repulsive, but transverse ; and by numerous experi- 
ments it was clearly established that the force was really of 
this perfectly novel and singular nature, a remarkable ex- 
ample of it being exhibited by Mr. Faraday in 1821, 
wherein the force actually sustained either the wire or the 
magnet, in a state of constant and rapid revolution about 
each other. Two theories were proposed in explanation of - 
these phenomena, the one by Oersted, in which the conduet- 
: ing wire was supposed to be made up of an infinite number 
of minute transverse magnets, having their opposite poles 
facing each other; and the other devised by M. Ampere, in 
which the magnet is supposed to be made up of a series of 
conducting wires in transverse positions. At first sight it 
seemed a matter of indifference which of the two theories 
was selected, as both appeared capable of application to the 
facts : but it was ere long found that the first could not, with- 
out certain arbitrary and improbable additions, afford any 
explanation of continued motion in electro-magnetic experi- 
ments, while the second explained this, and also the mutual 
action of magnets on each other, and of conducting wires on 
eath other, cases not contemplated by Ampere in originally | 
devising his theory, and therefore telling strongly itt its 
favour, in the most complete and satisfactory manner. Re- 
markable experimental evidence for the Amperian theory 
was farther obtained from the perfect identity of effects’ 
produced by spiral conducting wires, or electro-dynamic 
cylinders as they were called, and common magnets. In com- 
mon they are influenced by the magnetism of the earth; the — 


4 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


same phenomena of attraction, repulsion, and revolution are 
exhibited by each; the extremities of the cylinder corres- 
pond to the poles of the magnet ;-and two cylinders act upon 
each other precisely as two magnets do. Hence then the 
most hypothetical part of the theory of Ampere, the exist- 
ence within the magnet of spiral currents of electricity, re- 
ceives the strongest confirmation from actual experiment ; 
and taking into account with this, the profound mathemati- 
eal evidence in its favour, there cannot be a doubt of its 
representing truly the constitution of bodies on which their 
magnetic properties depend, and thus demonstrating that 
magnetism is nothing more than a peculiar modification of 
electricity. 

While however the genius of Ampere, as displayed both 
in his consummate skill in analysis, and fertility in expe- 
rimental resources, successfully proved that magnetism is 
only a peculiar form of electro-motive action, and that all 
its phenomena may, by means of this, be imitated correctly, 
all efforts to shew that the converse of this discovery, or the 
production of electricity from magnetism was possible, were 
for a long time fruitless ; and it was not till in 1831, when 
Faraday commenced his masterly course of experimental 
research on the subject, that any important information was 
obtained. 

These researches present to us one of those remarkable 
and rare epochs to the history of science, when the disco- 
very of certain grand and novel principles involves an en- 
tire remodelling of our ideas on that branch of inductive 
truth, to which they refer. Viewed as a whole, their most 
important relation is undoubtedly to the science of chemistry, 
since the results they exhibit, by proving the entire identity 
of the forces of affinity and of decomposition on the surest 
of all evidence, that of the balance and measure, have led 
to the firm establishment of the electro-chemical theory 
of the constitution of water. But there are interspersed - 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 5 


throughout them, several related, yet at the same time dis- 
tinct, trains of investigation, that have an interest and a 
beauty peculiarly their own. These we shall not fail to no- 
tice as we progress in our review; and we may remark that 
the general principles which Faraday has so successfully 
established, are not merely extensions of pre-existing know- 
ledge, but they are essentially new laws of nature—new pro- 
vinces added to the domains of science, inviting to extended 
enguiry, and promising rich returns. 

The first and second series of the experimental research- 
es, to which we purpose confining the present article, are 
devoted to the investigation of certain new and important 
points in the science of electro-magnetism. They presup- 
pose, on the part of their readers, 2 somewhat extensive ac- 
quaintance with the doctrines of this science; but still there 
is nothing in them that may not readily be understood, and we 
shall endeavour, as far as we can, to make an exposition of 
them clear and explicit. | This object is materially facilita- 
ted by the lucid style in which the researches are narrated, 
since that vividness of conception, and steadiness of thought, 
at all times so characteristic of truly original minds, are, in 
Faraday’s case, accompanied by a corresponding facility of 
exposition, and command of language, so that his results are 
invariably presented to the reader in the simplest and most 
appropriate terms, and illustrated in the most effective, and 
often engaging manner. He appears to repudiate entirely 
that mystic style in which many love so suspiciously to 
clothe their thoughts, and in the purest spirit of philosophy, 
his sole aim seems to be first to discover, then to expound, 
the simple and unadorned truth. 

So early as the year 1825 Faraday had experimented, but 
without success, on the induction of electrical currents: from 
that time forward his mind appears to have been keenly 
alive to the detection of phenomena relating to this branch 
of the subject, and a conviction seems to have been ever pre- 


6 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


sent with him, that could the key to the discovery but be © 
found, a rich treasure would reward the discoverer. “It ap- 
peared very extraordinary,” he remarks, “ that as every elec- 
tric current was accompanied by a corresponding intensity 
of magnetic action at right angles to the current, good 
conductors of electricity, when placed within the sphere 
of this action, should not have any current induced through 
them, or some sensible effect produced, equivalent in force to 
such a current.” These considerations, with their consequence, 
the hope of obtaining electricity from common magnetism, 
have stimulated me at various times to investigate experi- 
mentally the inductive effect of electric current: the power 
of induction herein alluded to, may be defined as that pro- 
perty by which electrical currents induced any particular 
state upon matter in their immediate neighbourhood, and in 
this general sense it is employed by Faraday throughout his 
masterly researches. 

After several experiments equally unsuccessful with his 
former efforts, Faraday at length, in 1831, obtained decisive 
proof of the power of a current of galvanic electricity to 
induce upon a wire in its vicinity, a certain electrical 
state, and in a manner very different indeed to his previous 
expectations. It then appeared that induction took place 
momentarily, when the contact of the conducting wire 
with the battery was made, and again when it was broken. 
But to render this more clear, we shall briefly detail that ex- 
periment by which this result, and through it the large train 
that follows it, were obtained. Two hundred and three feet 
of copper wire in one length were coiled round a block 
of wood; other two hundred and three feet of similar wire 
were interposed as a spiral between the turns of the 
first coil, and metallic contact everywhere prevented by 
twine. One of these helices was connected with a gal- 
vanometer, and the other with a battery of one hundred 
pairs of plates, four inches square, with double coppers, 


a 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 7 


and well charged. When the contact was made, there was a 
sudden and very slight effect at the galvanometer, and also 
a similar slight: effect when the contact with the battery — 
was broken. But whilst the voltaic current was continuing to 
pass through the one helix, no galvanometrical appearances 
nor any effect like induction upon the other helix could 
be perceived, although the active power of the battery 
was proved to be great, by its heating the whole of its 
own helix, and by the brilliancy of the discharge when made 
through charcoal.” ‘The results caused by this experiment 
proved in Faraday’s hands the clue to the electrical laba- 
rynth in which he had been wandering so long in com- 
parative darkness; and he rapidly traversed the field of 
discovery now opening around him. He found by varying the 
form of the preceding experiment that it was sufficient to ex- 
hibit proofs. of induction, if he merely moved the induci- 
ble in front of the inducing wire, since as the former 
was made to approach to, or recede from the latter, so-the 
galvanometer was affected, indicating on the approximation 
of the wires an induced current in a contrary direction 
to the inducing current, while on their recession the two 
currents had the same direction. Efforts were then made to 
exhibit in it like effects to the preceding, with wires convey- 
ing charges of common electricity, but without any satisfac-— 
tory result, in consequence of the instantaneous discharge of 
the current rendering it impossible to separate the effects 
due to its commencement from the equal and contrary 
effects due to its close. Time enters as a necessary element 
with the induction of voltaic currents; but in discharges of 
common electricity, this element cannot be commanded. 
The peculiar action to which we have now alluded, has been 
termed by Faraday volta:electric induction. 

We formerly, in briefly adverting to the Amperian theory 
of magnetism, stated that a voltaic current, circulating in 
a wire of a peculiar form, namely that of a vertical, spiral, or 


i$ Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


\helix, was, to all intents and purposes, a magnet; and hence 
the step from volta-electric to magneto-electric induction 
‘was an immediate and necessary one. As introductory how- 
ever to the use of the magnet itself, Faraday experi- 
\mented on the effects of adding an irow core to his helices ; 
and when this was done, it was found that, using the same 
strength of battery, the influence of the current, as indicated 
by the galvanometer, was tenfold greater than when no 
‘iron was present. So powerful indeed was the impetus 
communicated to the galvanometer needle, that when the 
battery of one hundred pairs of plates was used, it spun — 
round three or four times before the action of the air, 
and terrestrial magnetism could reduce its motion to 
simple oscillation: a minute spark was also exhibited by 
using charcoal terminations to the inducible wire, invaria- 
bly on making, but rarely on breaking contact at the bat- 
tery. 

A pair of common bar magnets was then substituted for 
the galvanic battery, and it was then found that by simply 
making, and breaking magnetic contact, powerful electrical 
currents were induced in the helices employed. The de- 
tails of the first experiment by which this discovery was estab- 
lished are so short and simple, that we shall transcribe them 
here. “ A combination of helices, like those above described, 
was constructed upon a hollow cylinder of pasteboard ; there 
were eight lengths of copper wire, containing altogether 
220 feet : all of these helices were connected end to end, and 
then with the galvanometer, by means of two copper wires, 
each five feet in length. A soft iron cylinder, seven-eighths 
of an inch thick, and twelve inches long, was introduced into 
the pasteboard tube; a couple of bar magnets were arranged 
with their opposite poles at one end in contact, so as to resem- 
ble a horse-shoe magnet, and then contact made between the 
other poles, .and the ends of the iron cylinder, so as to 
convert it for a time into a magnet. Upon making mag- 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 9 


netic contact, the needle was deflected ; continuing the con- 
tact it became indifferent ; on breaking the contact it was 
again deflected, but in the opposite direction to the first 
effect; and then it again became indifferent.” By other 
experiments it was proved that the electrical currents induced 
in the copper helices were due solely to the mere approxi- 
mation of the inducing magnet, and by employing a very 
powerful compound magnet, it appeared that the mere motion 
of a single copper wire in front of, but without making contact 
with, the magnet, was sufficient to induce in it currents of 
electricity. At first no chemical, calorific, nor physiological 
effects could be produced by the induced electrical current, 
but on repeating his experiments more at leisure,with a natural 
magnet or loadstone, capable of lifting thirty pounds, Faraday 
found that a frog was powerfully convulsed, and he thought 
at the same time he could perceive the sensation upon the 
tongue, and the flash before the eyes, although he still failed 
in producing chemical decomposition. The various ex- 
periments however which he made, appears to furnish the 
_ fullest warrant for the conclusion that electricity may be 
préduced from common magnetism. ‘That its intensity, ” he 
remarks, “should be very feeble, and its quantity very small, 
cannot be considered wonderful, when it is remembered that, 
like thermo-electricity, it is evolved entirely within the sub- 
stance of metals retaining all their conducting power.. But 
an agent which is conducted along metallic wires in the 
manner described ; which, while so passing, possesses the 
peculiar magnetic actions and force of an electric current ; 
which can agitate and convulse the limbs of a frog, and 
which finally can produce a spark by its discharge through 
charcoal, can only be electricity.” 

Faraday proceeds, in the third section of his first series, 
to communicate his views as to the state into which the in- 
ducible wire is thrown during the continuance of the induc 
tive action upon it; but as he subsequently abandons the 

c 


10 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


idea of the electro-tonic condition as he calls it, we conceive 
it unnecessary to take up our time and space in dwelling upon 
it, and therefore proceed at once to the fourth section, which 
is occupied by explanations of certain extraordinary magnetic 
phenomena, discovered by M. Arago, and which had long 
defied the efforts of the most able philosophers to account . 
for them. 

In the year 1824, M. Arago shewed, that if a plate of 
copper, or indeed of any other substance, be placed immedi- 

ately under a. magnetic needle, it diminishes sensibly the 
extent of its oscillations, without however affecting their 

duration; and the needle is brought to rest in a shorter time 

than if no such substance were placed near it. The converse 

of this experiment however exhibited much more remark- 

able results ; for if a plate of copper be revolved close to a 

magnetic needle, so suspended that the latter may rotate in 

a plane parallel to that of the former, the magnet tends to. 
follow the motion of the plate; or if the magnet be revolved, 

the plate tends to follow its motion even although both 

nay be of several pounds weight. M. Arago asserts that 

the phenomena alluded to may be produced with all sub- 

stances, although this assertion has not been found capable 

of verification by other experimenters. The subject was 

investigated in England by Mr. Babbage and Sir John 

Herschell ; but their efforts proved completely unsuccessful, 

and to Faraday belongs the undivided merit of having re- 

moved all that obscurity which, up to the date of his re- 

searches, had enveloped it. . 

Employing the large compound magnet previously alluded 
to, he found that by rotating between its poles a copper 
disc, a permanent deflection of the galvanometer needle, to 
the extent of 45° could be maintained, thus demonstrating 
the production of a permanent, whereas before he could 
only obtain a momentary, current of electricity by common 
magnetism. Motion of the plate was found to be ‘essential 


” 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. Il 


to the development of this current, since while it remained 
at rest, no deflection of the needle occurred ; and with refer- 
ence to the relation of the current of electricity produced 
to the magnetic pole, and to the direction of rotation of the 
plate Mr. Faraday remarks that “ it may be expressed by 
saying that when the unmarked pole (or that pointing to the 
south pole of the earth) is beneath the edge of the plate, 
and the latter revolves horizontally, screw-fashion, the elec- 
tricity that can be collected at the edge of the plate nearest 
the pole is positive ;” while that collected at the centre and 
neighbouring parts is negative. The currents in the plate 
are therefore from the centre by the magnetic pole to the 
circumference. Hence then it appears that the case of the 
copper disc is only an extension of that formerly noticed, 
wherein a single piece of metal had currents of electricity 


‘ developed in it, at right angles as to the direction of the 


motion, and crossing it at the place of the magnetic pole, or 
poles between which it was made to move. For if we con- 
ceive this wire to be moved in front of the magnet, like 
the spoke of a wheel, a current of electricity tends to 
flow through it from one end to the other; and as a solid 
disc is made up of an infinite number of such spokes 
or radii in contact, the currents will tend to flow in the 
direction of these permanently, if a channel be open for 
their return, which, in a continuous plate, is afforded by 
the lateral portions on each side of the particular radius 
near the magnetic pole. The existence of electrical currents 
being thus the sole cause of the magnetism of rotation, it 
is at once apparent why all effects cease when motion ceases, 
since the currents have then no existence; and it will be 
found that, on applying the same principle of explanation to 
the various results obtained by Messrs. Arago, Ampere, 
Babbage, Herschell, and Harrjs, the most harmonious and 
explicit results are obtained. 

The rapidity and facility with which Faraday appears to 


12 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


have apprehended the law of magneto-electric induction is 
very remarkable, and indicates forcibly the clearness of- his 
conceptions of the relations of forces in space ; since by com- 
mon consent of all who have turned their attention to the 
subject, the law in question is exceedingly difficult to seize 
at once, from the complicated manner in which electrical and 
magnetic forces are related, the one set being at right an- 
gles to the other. No such difficulty however seems to have 
impeded Faraday’s course; for he remarks, “ the relation | 
which holds between the magnetic pole, the moving wire or 
metal, and the direction of the current evolved, i. e. the law 
which governs the evolution of electricity by magneto-electri¢ 
induction is very simple, although rather difficult to express. 
He then represents it by referring position and motion to the 
curves that pass from one magnetic pole to another, as indi- 
cated by the manner in which small iron filings arrange 
themselves, when strewed upon a sheet of paper placed 
over a magnet. “ Thecurrent of electricity,” he states, 
“which is excited in a metal, when moving in the neigh- 
bourhood of a magnet, depends for its direction alto- 
gether upon the relations of the metal to the resultant 
of magnetic action, or to the magnetic curves, and may 
be expressed in a popular way thus: Let A B (see 
figure) represent a cylinder magnet, WW 

A being the marked pole, and B the Are 
unmarked pole. Let PN be a sil- 
ver knife-blade, resting across the 
magnet with its edge upwards, and 
with its marked or notched side 
towards the pole A; then in what- 
ever direction or position this knife 
be moved, edge-fore-most, either about the marked or 
the unmarked pole, the current of electricity produced 
will be from P to N, provided the intersected curves 
proceeding from A abut upon the notched surface of 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 1% 


the knife, and those from B upon the unnotched side. 
Or, if the knife be moved with its back foremost, the 
current will be from N to P in every possible position 
and direction, provided the intersected curves abut on the 
same surfaces as before. A little model is easily construct- 
ed, by using a cylinder of wood for the magnet, a flat piece 
for the blade, and a piece of thread, connecting one end of 
the cylinder with the other, and passing through a hole in 
the blade, for the magnetic curves; this readily gives the 
result of any possible direction.” : 

The results detailed in the section on magneto-electric 
induction were obtained with equal facility by the employ- 
ment of electro-dynamic cylinders instead of magnets, thus 
affording additional experimental evidence in favour of 
Ampere’s beautiful and comprehensive theory, and al] tend- 
ing to prove “ that the power of inducing electric currents is 
circumferentially exerted by a magnetic resultant or axis of 
power just as circumferential magnetism is dependent upon, 
and is exhibited by, an electric current.” 

Having discovered the law relative to direction according 
to which magneto-electric induction took place, it became 
immediately apparent that the earth itself might be substi- 
tuted for the magnets employed in all the previous experi- 
ments ; and accordingly in his second series of Experimental 
Researches, Faraday investigates the subject of terrestrial 
magneto-electric induction, and furnishes the most striking 
instances of the production of electrical current, by the in- 
fluence of the magnetism of the above. Having taken a 
hollow copper helix, into which a cylinder of iron, first heat- 
ed red hot, and then slowly cooled, to deprive it of all mag- 
netism, was inserted; he attached the wires of the helix to 
those of a galvanometer, and holding the combined bar and 
helix in the magnetic direction or line of dip, he merely 
inverted them, so that the lower extremity became the upper, 
the whole being still in the magnetic direction, and immedi- 


14 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


ately the needle was deflected, so as ultimately to describe 
arcs of no less than 150° or 160°! This, and other results, 
led Faraday to hope that the direct inductive effect of the 
earth’s magnetism might be exhibited without the aid of 
iron, and he accordingly found that by using merely the cop- 
per helix above alluded to, and inverting it several times in 
the line of dip, the galvanometer needle could be made to 
vibrate through arcs of 80° or 90°. “ Here, therefore,” he 
infers, “ currents of electricity were produced by the direct 
inductive power of the earth’s magnetism, and without the 
use of any ferruginous matter, and upon a metal not 
capable of exhibiting any of the ordinary magnetic phe- 
nomena.” 

Passing now to the subject of the magnetism of rotation, 
it was found that all the phenomena of the revolving copper 
plate could be exhibited without the use of any other 
magnet, than the earth. Upon rotating this plate in a 
horizontal plane, which in the latitude of London, where 
the experiments were made, would be inclined about 7° 
to the line of dip, the needle was immediately deflect- 
ed, while, in perfect accordance with the law of mag- 
neto-electric induction, if this rotation took place in the 
plane of dip, then no effects were produced upon the gal- 
- vanometer, since the magnetic curves were not in this case 
intersected, and without such intersection electrical currents 
could not be developed.” The moment however the in- 
clination of even a few degrees to the plane of dip was 
given to the plane of the plate’s rotation, then electricity. 
made its appearance, and became more and more powerful, 
till the inclination reached 90°, when for a given velocity it 
was amaximum. “It is astriking thing,” says Faraday, ‘to 
observe the revolving copper plate become thus a new elec- 
trical machine; and curious results arise on comparing it 
with the common machine. In the one, the plate is the best — 
non-conducting substance that can be applied; in the other, 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 15 


it is the most perfect conductor; in the one insulation is 
essential; in the other it is fatal. In comparison of the 
quantities of electricity produced, the metal machine does 
not at all fall below the glass one, for it can produce a 
current capable of deflecting the galvanometer needle, 
whereas the latter cannot. It is quite true that the force of 
the current thus evolved has not as yet been increased so as 
to render it available in any of our ordinary applications of 
this power; but there appears every reasonable expectation 
that this may hereafter be effected: and probably by several 
arrangements. Weak as the current may seem to be, it is 
as strong, if not stronger, than any thermo-electric current: 
for it can pass fluids, agitate the animal system, and, in the 
case of an electro-magnet, has produced sparks.” From 
the rotation of a plate transition was made to that of a 
metallic globe, and as in this the currents are nowhere inter- 
rupted, it was natural to anticipate powerful effects. Nor did 
disappointment ensue, for although the brass ball employed 
was only four inches in diameter, and turned merely by the 
hand, the needle became immediately affected, and by vary- 
ing the form of experiments, the deflections caused were in 
all cases such as to prove that the needle was influenced 
solely by electrical currents in the substance of the ball. 
These results suggested an experiment of extreme simplicity, 
of which Faraday remarks : “ The exclusion of all extraneous 
circumstances and complexity of arrangement, and the dis- 
tinct character of the indications afforded, under this single 
experiment, are an epitome of nearly all the facts of magneto- 
electric induction.” We cannot therefore do better, since its 
details are very brief, than give it at length. “A piece of 
common copper wire about eight feet long, one-twentieth of 
an inch in thickness, had one of its ends fastened to one of 
the terminations of the galvanometer wire, and the other end 
to the other termination ; thus it formed an endless continu- 
ation of the galvanometer wire; it was then roughly adjusted 


16 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


into the shape of a rectangle, or rather of a loop, the upper 
part of which could be carried to and fro over the galvanome- 
ter, whilst the lower part, and the galvanometer attached to it, 
remained steady. Upon moving this loop over the galvan- 
ometer from right to left, the magnetic needle was immedi- 
ately deflected : upon passing the loop back again, the 
needle passed in the contrary direction to what it did be- 
fore ; upon repeating these motions in accordance with the 
vibrations of the needle, the latter soon swung through 90° 
or more. The relation of the current of electricity pro- 
duced in the wire to its motion may be understood by sup- 
posing the convolutions of the galvanometer away, and the 
wire arranged as a rectangle with its lower edge horizontal, 
and in the plane of the magnetic meridian, and a magnetic 
needle suspended over and above the middle part of 
this edge, and directed by the earth. On passing the 
upper part of the rectangle from west to east, the marked 
(or north) pole of the needle went west; the electric 
current was therefore from north to south in the part of the 
wire passing under the needle, and from south to north in 
the moving or upper part of the parallelogram. On pass- 
ing the upper part of the rectangle from east to west, the 
marked pole of the needle went east, and the current of 
electricity was therefore the reverse of the former.” This 
experiment proves with what remarkable facility currents of 
electricity are produced in metals moving under the influ- 
ence of magnets; and when we reflect upon the universal 
influence of the magnetism of the earth, the startling 
inference follows, that scarcely a single piece of metal can 
be without an electric current existing within it. “ It 
is probable,” Faraday adds, “ that amongst arrangements of — 
steam-engines and metal machinery, some curious accidental 
magneto-electric combinations may be found, producing ef- 
fects that have never been observed, or if noticed, have never 
as yet been understood: what, for instance, may not be the 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 17 


magneto-electric combinations producing their daily effects 
unseen, amid the beautiful and complex mechanism of the 
Calcutta Mint, or during the extensive and varied operations 
in metals, in constant progress in the Foundry at Cossipore! 
A farther consideration of the effects of terrestrial mag- 
neto-electricited action, appeared to Faraday to lead irresis- 
tibly to the conviction that inductive action must be produced 
by the earth on its own mass, in consequence of its diurnal 
rotation, and a curious and interesting series of experiments 
were undertaken, with the view of verifying this impression. 
Conceiving it not impossible that certain natural differences — 
“might exist between bodies as to the intensity of the cur- 
rent produced in them by terrestrial induction, especially 
as Messrs. Babbage, Herschell, and Harris had found great 
differences between metals and other substances, as well as 
between metals and each other, he inferred these differences 
might be rendered sensible by opposing the bodies to each 
other. ‘This view was however not confirmed by experi- 
ment, for although he opposed copper to iron, and copper 
to a large mass of pure still water, being the lake in the 
gardens of Kensington Palace, he could procure no decisive 
galvanometrical effects; and it appeared that when cutting 
the magnetic curves with equal velocity, even such dissimilar 
bodies as copper and water exactly neutralised each other’s 
effects. He then examined the curious and interesting 
results obtained by Mr. Fox of Falmouth, relative to the 
electricity of metalliferous veins, with the view of discovering 
whether any of these were due to magneto-electric induc- 
tion, but believes, although not able to speak strongly, 
that they are not. As increased length of the substance 
acted upon increases the intensity of the current, Faraday 
hoped to obtain, with large masses of moving water, sensible 
effects, although quiescent water gave none. He therefore 
experimented on the Thames at Waterloo Bridge, by stretch- 
ing a copper wire nine hundred and sixty feet in length along 
D 


18 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


the parapet of the bridge, and dropping from its extremities 
other wires, having extensive plates of metal attached to them, 
to complete contact with the water. With this arrangement 
constant deflections of the galvanometer.were procured, but 
with great irregularity, and they were in succession referred. 
to other causes than that sought for. The different con- 
dition of the water as to purity on the two sides of the 
river ; the difference in temperature; slight differences in 
the plates and in the holder used; all produced effects in 
turn, and nothing satisfactory could be observed. Still, 

however, although in these experiments sensible effects could 
not be obtained, it is nevertheless theoretically true that, 
whenever masses of water are flowing, then electrical currents 
are formed, and hence it may be inferred that the great 
oceanic currents, the flow of tidal waves, and of the vast 
rivers of the old and new continents will, by influencing the 
intensity of terrestrial magnetism, exercise a perceptible 
effect on the directions of the iso-dynamic lines, or lines 
of equal variation on the earth’s surface in their imme- 
diate vicinity. Before leaving this branch of the enquiry, 
Faraday remarks: ‘‘ I hardly dare venture, even in the most 
hypothetical form, to ask whether the Aurora Borealis and 
Australis may not be the discharge of electricity thus urged 
towards the poles of the earth, from whence it is endeavour- 
ing to return by natural and appointed means above the 
earth to the equatorial regions. The non-occurrence of it 
in very high latitudes is not at all against the supposition ; 
and it is remarkable that Mr. Fox, who observed the deflec- 
tions of the magnetic needle at Falmouth, by the Aurora 
Borealis, gives that direction of it, which perfectly agrees 
with the present view. He states that all the variations 
at night were towards the east, and this is what would 
happen, if electric currents were setting from south to north 
in the earth, under the needle, or from north to south in 
space above it.” 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 19 


Proceeding to compare the magneto-electric effect pro- 
duced upon different metals by the magnetism of the earth, 
it was found to be in direct proportion to their conducting 
powers, .and the order in which the different metals expcri- 
mented uponis placed, is as follows, copper, zinc, tin iron, and 
lead. That the electric currents produced are exactly pro- 
portional to, and dependent upon, the conducting powers, 
Faraday conceives to be established, by the perfect ventrali- 
ty displayed when two metals, or other substances, as acid, 
water, &c. are opposed to each other, for then the feeble cur- 
rent, which tends to be produced in the worse conductor, 
has its transmission favoured in the better conductor, and the 
stronger current, tending to form in the latter, has its inten- 
sity diminished by the obstruction of the former; and the 
forces of generation and obstruction are so perfectly balanc- 
ed as to neutralise each other exactly : therefore as the 
obstruction is inversely as the conducting powers, the ten- 
dency to generate a current must be directly as that power 
to produce this perfect equilibrium. 

in endeavouring to explain the phenomena of the mag- 
netism of rotation, Messrs. Babbage and Herschell had 
attributed them to the production, during the period, of 
rotation in the rotating plate, of a feeble polarity, similar in 
kind to that existing in iron. When by the adjustment of the 
attractive and repulsive forces exerted in different positions 
between the magnet and plate, the singular results it was | 
_ considered might be explained. This view, as we formerly 
remarked, proved utterly inadequate to the explanation of 
the phenomena, save in the single case of iron; and Faraday 
now thought he had devised a decisive apeeiniaial test, by 
which it would be shewn whether the polarity developed 
during rotation was of the same, or of an entirely different 
nature to that present in ferruginous bodies: “ no other 
known power,” he reasoned, “ has like direction with that ex- 
erted between an electric current and a magnetic pole; it is 


20 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


tangential, while all other forces acting at a distance are di- 
rect. Hence, if a magnetic pale on one side of a revolving 
plate, followed its course by reason of its obedience to the 
tangential force exerted upon it by the very current of elec- 
tricity; which it hasitself caused, a similar pole on the oppo- 
site side of the plate would immediately set it free from this 
force; for the currents which tend to be formed by the ac- 
tion. of the two poles are in opposite directions ; or rather 
no current tends to be formed, or no magnetic curves are in- 
tersected, and therefore the magnet should remain at rest. 
On the contrary, if the action of a north magnetic pole were 
to produce a southness in the nearest part of the copper 
plate, and a diffuse northness elsewhere, as is really the case 


with iron; then the use of a north pole on the opposite side 


_ of the same part of-the plate should double the effect, 
instead of destroying it, and double the tendency of the first 

magnet to move with the plate. On submitting these 
views to the test of experiment, the fullest evidence was ob- 
tained that with iron, and other bodies admitting of ordina- 


ry magnetic induction, opposite poles on opposite sides of . 


the edge of the plate neutralise each other’s. effect, whilst 
similar poles exalt the action. But with copper and sub- 
stances not sensible to ordinary magnetic impression, similar 
poles on opposite sides of the plate neutralise each other ; 
opposite poles exalt the action, and a single pole at the edge 
or end does nothing.” ‘ Nothing,” Faraday concludes, “ can 
more completely shew the thorough independence of the ef- 
fects obtained with metals -by Arago, and those due to ordi- 
nary magnet force; and henceforth therefore the applicati- 
on of two poles to various moving substances will, if they 
appear at all magnetically affected, afford a proof of the na- 
. ture of that affection. If opposite poles produce a greater 
effect than one pole, the result will be due to electric cur- 
rent. If similar poles produce more effect than one, then 
the power is not electrical ; it is not like that active in the 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 21 


- metals and carbon when they are moving, and in most cases 
will probably be found to be not even magnetical, but the re- 
sult of irregular causes not anticipated, and consequently not 
guarded against.” It therefore appears that there are in 
reality very few bodies magnetic in the same manner as iron; 
and as warranted by the result of his investigations, Faraday 
divides all substances into three classes with reference to 
their relation to magnets; first, those which are affected 
_ when at rest, like iron, nickel, &c. being such as. possess 
ordinary magnetic properties ; then those which are affected 
when in motion, being conductors: of electricity in which 
currents are produced by the ‘inductive force of the magnet ; 
and, lastly, those which are perfectly indifferent to the mag- 
net, whether at-rest or in motion. 

Extended research will still be necessary to afford a 
foundation for a theory including all these differences; but 
we may remark, that it-appears as if iron and its associ- - 
ate bodies were constantly in that state into which copper 
and other conductors are thrown temporarily, while by 
their rotation they are intersecting magnetic curves, and 
hence, since it is evident that electricity in motion is the 
~ source of this state in the latter case, it follows that it must be 
‘so likewise in the former : and from the researches on magneto- 
electric induction of Faraday, the magnetic theory of Ampére 
receivés additional and powerful: confirmation. 

We have now terminated our notice of the first and 
second series of the researches, and we would fain hope that - 
in presenting, although it has necessarily been in general 
terms, a view of their varied and important results, our la- 
bour has not been in vain: we have still an extensive field 
before us in the remaining researches, which- increase in- 
_ terest and. value as they progress: to these we will return 
on another occasion, and méanwhile would only in conclu- 
sion state, that general law, to which the wonderful assem- 
blage of new phenomena discovered by Faraday has been-re- 


22 Fictitious Vegetable Impressions in Sandstone Rocks. 


naling a 


duced. This law is, that if a wire cut the magnetic ciirves, 
a power is called into action that tends to excite in it an 
electric current; and if a mass move across the same 
curves, its parts being in different directions, and with vary- 
ing angular velocities, there also are electric currents called 
into eals.ence. | 


Fictitious Vegetable Impressions in Sandstone Rocks. By 
Lieut. R. Batrp Suitn, Bengal Engineers. 


An observation recently made on the effects produced by 
very minute currents of water on the surface of newly depo- 
sited beds of sand, has led me to conjecture, that possibly 
some of those vegetable-like impressions so constantly found - 
in sandstone rocks, may owe their origin to the action of 
similar causes, instead of being the casts of decayed organic 
structures. The circumstances under which the observa- 
tion alluded to was made, were these : to facilitate certain 
repairs to a masonry dam across the Nowgong river, which 
intersects the line of the Doab canal, about sixteen miles 
to the northward of Saharanpore, a temporary “ bund,” or 
breastwork of sand, protected from the action of the water 
by means of piles and fascines of straw, was thrown. across 
the river. The water, however, percolating the sand in 
minute streams, carried with it a considerable quantity of 
fine sand, very similar in appearance to that, by the aggrega- 
tion of which, the sandstone of the Siwalik Hills is formed, 
and deposited it on the masonry flooring of the dam, to the 
thickness of about an inch at the thickest part. On examin- 
ing the surface of this deposit, I was much struck by the 
vegetable-like appearance exhibited by the small channels 
cut in it by the running streams, since they presented a per- 
fect assemblage of the stems, main, and lateral branches of 
shrubs. I annex a rough outline of a portion of the surface 


Fictitious Vegetable Impressions in Sandstone Rocks. 23 


of the bed, shewing very distinctly the nature of the effects 
to which I refer; A B being the revels 
breastwork of sand, C, D, E, shew- an DTG 
ing the regular disposition of the 

minute channels on the surface of 

the deposit: these are invariably 

broadest at the point where they 

issue from the mass of sand, and 

gradually diminishing as they pro- 

gress, divide themselves alternately 

into a fine network. Since it may with confidence be inferred, 
that the cause to which these effects are due, would be in fre- 
quent and extensive operation during those periods required 
for the formation of our numerous sandstone rocks, it appears 
_ to follow, that it may occasionally be necessary to distinguish 
between these surface impressions due to the action of very 
small streams of running water, and those due to actual im- 
_ bedding of vegetable remains. It will readily be admitted, 
that could an impression equally regular i in its outlines, be - 
transferred to a mass of sandstone, it would be difficult to 
resist the conviction of its organic origin, and as I have not 
before seen any reference made to the production of such 
impressions by the cause herein adverted to, I trust the few 
observations I have made, as they may tend to eliminate 
error, will not prove uninteresting. It is easy to conceive a 
geological catastrophe, which would lead to the immediate 
enclosing of impressions made by running water in the mass 
of a sandstone formation; as for example, the covering of a 
tract of country by volcanic mud or sand, or by the sudden 
disruption of a lake, the waters of which were heavily charg- 
ed with sediment or the "deposit on the surface of the 
ground of the sand held in suspension by rivers after heavy 
floods.* 


* Some sandstones derive a slaty structure from these arborescent, or 
as Professor Jameson calls them, dendritic delineations, which, however 


24 Fictitious Vegetable Impressions in Sandstone Rocks. 


Before concluding, I may advert to another peculiarity I 
have observed in the action of water when falling as rain upon 
masses of earth exposed to it. This is the division of 
the surface into a series of regular prismatic columns, occa- 
sionally so perfect, as to represent a mimic Giant’s Causeway, 
and shewing a curious analogy between the action of fire 
and water, the two great antagonist, but co-operative forces 
in the dynamics of Geology. This prismatic arrangement I 
have observed only on a very small scale, in different spots 
in the neighbourhood of Mussoorie} and in some of the sec- 
tions in the nullah’s beds in the plains, and attribute its ex- 
istence to the varying tenacity of the surface soil, parts of 
which yielding sooner than others to the action of the rain, 
afford greater facilities for its erosive power to operate. An 
impression exists om my mind, that I have seen the same 
sort of structure, but on a much larger scale in the district 
around Bangalore, in the Mysore country, but having made , 
no written record of the circumstance, I cannot speak posi- 
tively. Perhaps, Captain Campbell, whose observations on 
these localities are as minute and careful in detail, as they 
are interesting and important in general results, may be able 
to supply some information on the point to which I have 
alluded. 


have always been regarded as mineral rather than organic characters. 
The eause of these singular and beautiful characters in rocks is still, 
however, an unsettled point in which the observations of Lieut. Smith 
must have considerable influence.—Ep. 


25 


Suggestions regarding the probable origin of some kinds of 
Kunkur, and the influence of deliquescent Salts on Vegeta- 
tion. By Captain J. CAMPBELL, Assistant Surveyor Ge- 


neral, Madras Establishment. 


The information which Mr.. Liston has obligingly given us 
at page 125 of this volume, refers to some remarks by me 
published in the India Review, written in consequence of 
reading the paper by that gentleman, page 236, vol. i. of this 
work. 

In the soils of Mysore and of the Barramahal, I have found 
that muriate of lime and of magnesia are very common ; 
in some spots in such profusion, that I have obtained two or 
three ounces of these salts by lixivating about a peck of the 
earth. Both the above salts are very deliquescent, and there- 
fore such spots are remarkable by being quite damp, while 
all the surrounding soil was quite dry in the hot weather. 
The surface of the red marle formation of Mysore is gener- 
ally bare and arid, but at Burrah Ballapoor, 14 miles S. W. of 
Nundidroog, the spot is particularly fertile, and the above 
deliquescent salts are found on lixivating the soil of the 
hollows.—Similar soils to those which yield the salts in the 
' greatest profusion are scraped up, and applied by the native 
gardeners to the surface of the soils of brinjal gardens, by 
which the fruit becomes of very large size, and at Bullapoor, 
where the salts are common, the brinjals are commonly full 
_ five inches in diameter. 

Lieutenant Newbold remarks (Madras Journal, vol. x. 
page 117): “ It is a curious fact that many gardens, particu- 
larly at Bellary, formerly extremely productive, now yield 
comparatively speaking, little or nothing ; this I have found 
to arise from the practice of irrigating them with water 
drawn from brackish springs, the water evaporating leaves 
its saline contents disseminated in the soil, which by con- 
stant progressive accumulation, first diminishes, and after- 
wards destroys the power of vegetation.” As Lieutenant 

E 


26 Origin of some kinds of Kunkur. 


Newbold does not appear to have examined either the saline - 
contents of either the water or the soil, a latitude for spe- 
culation may be assumed, and I am inclined to think it pro- 
bable that the garden may have owed its fertility to the 
deliquescent salts in question, and-that these being decom- 
posed by the possibly alkaline water of the well, have made 
the soil unproductive, in consequence of its being deprived 
of a supply of moisture absorbed from the air; or from no 
longer being able to retain the moisture supplied to it. 
From the facts above stated, I am inclined to think that 
deliquescent salts in soils may produce considerable effect 
upon the fertility of land in tropical climates, and as I am 
not aware that the remark has ever been made before, it may 
be as well that experiments should be made upon this sub- 
ject. For this I have myself neither leisure nor. opportunity, 
but to any person who will take up the enquiry, I would — 
suggest, in the first place, to try if muriate of lime produces 
any deleterious action upon the roots of a plant, This might 
be easily done by setting a plant growing in a flower pot 
\in a saucer filled with a strong solution of the salt, which has 
been exposed for several days to the atmosphere, and in the 
next place, the effect of weak solution should be tried. The 
muriate of lime for the purpose may be readily made’ by 
adding quick lime to a solution of the sal-ammoniac of the — 
bazars, and boiling it until no more ammonia is given off. 
Mr. Liston in his remarks at page 236, vol. i. of this work, 
alludes to a kind of soils which he terms “ danjar,” and men- 
tions that they require to be irrigated. If they are incapable 
of producing crop without being irrigated, there must be a 
very remarkable difference between the soils of Bengal and 
of the South of India, for every kind of soil in this part of the 
country is productive, except when it is too sandy or too 
stony. Our soils therefore resemble more what Mr. Liston 
calls “‘ bhat,” which possibly derive the power of retaining 
moisture from the deliquescent salts they may contain. This 


_——. 


Se 


a 


Origin of some kinds of enkur. at 


might be easily proved by lixivating portions of the different 
soils. 

I do not find that we have any information regarding the 
geology of Goruckpore, but, supposing that most of the soils 
of Bengal are alluvial, (in South India very few soils are so,) 
it would seem extraordinary how they should contain a 
salt. 

Many of the wells of the Barramahal contain muriate of 
lime in considerable quantity, yet it does not appear that the 
_ people and cattle who use the water suffer any ill effects from 
it. Iam informed by a medical authority that many wells 
and springs in South India are known to contain salts which 
produce bad effects upon the health of persons not accus- 
tomed to the use of them. 

In consequence of the prevalence of muriate of lime in the 
soils of South India, it may naturally be supposed that some 
kinds of Kunkur, such as the branched ramified kind, (which 
some writers have supposed to be formed by deposition upon 
the roots of plants,) may have been produced by the decom- 
position of the muriate of lime by the carbonate of soda, 
which appears to be common in many parts of India; and 
accordingly the red marle formation of Mysore, where the 
carbonate of soda is scarce, so also kunkur-is almost un- 
known, while in the Barramahal, soda and kunkur generally 
occur together. This would be a famous subject to theorise 
upon, but I shall pursue it in detail no more at present. 

The accounts which Mr. Liston has given us of the action 
of tests on the waters he had examined, are much the same 
as upon the waters of the saline wells in the South of India. 
The precipitate by boiling is most probably sulphate of lime, 
which being only slightly soluble, the water may have been 
saturated with it, and a portion was deposited as the water 
was driven off in vapour. The effects of tests for lime or for 
muriatic acid are not given, but we must hope that Mr. 
Liston will not let the subject drop. 


28 Origin of some kinds of Kunkur. 


The water may be tested first with a little solution of soap 
in alcohol, which will shew if it contains any earthy salt ; 
that it contains no metallic salt, has been shewn by prussiate 
of potash producing no effect. 

Oxalic acid, phosphoric acid, or their alkaline salts will 
shew if the water contains any lime, and a little lime water 
will shew if it contains any free carbonic acid, which might 
cause the precipitate on boiling. Nitrate of silver will shew 
the presence of muriatic acid, and an alkalic prosphate with 
excess of ammonia will shew the presence of magnesia. 

Mr. Liston of course will be perfectly aware of what the 
action of the above tests indicate, but I make the remark to 
point out which will be most satisfactory if the subject is 
followed up. 

This subject leads me to what may be called “ improvis- 
ing,’’ tests, for want of a better word. Gentlemen travelling 
with only a small test chest may often provide themselves 
with tests by a little ingenuity. For instance, as the princi- 
pal acids will be always at hand, a test for lime may be 
provided on an emergency by burning a bone, pounding it, 
pouring a little sulphuric acid on it, adding a little water, 
letting it stand ten minutes, filtering, supersaturating the 
solution with ammonia and filtering again ; a little phosphate 
of ammonia containing only a very small portion of sulphate, 
will be thus provided fit to be used as a test in five minutes. 
Or a little sugar-candy may be boiled with some nitric acid 
for five minutes, and the filtered solution saturated with 
ammonia will be a mixture of oxalate and nitrate of ammonia, 
which will be a capital test at once. It is unnecessary to 
pursue the subject farther in this place, but it will easily be 
seen that a traveller well acquainted with the processes 
of operative chemistry may very often supply his wants on 
an emergency with very slender means at command, and may 
thus render it unnecessary to lumber himself with a multi- 
tude of tests. 


29 


Remarks on Pteropus Edulis, Geoffroy. By Lieut. Ticket. 
Plate. III. 

Order, 3d Carnassier—Family, Cheiroptera— Genus, Ves- 
pertilio—Subgenus, Pteropus (of Brisson)—Species, Edulis ? 
(of Geoffroy.) 

“ Black Roussette’—Flying Fox—Kalong of Java—Ba- 
door of Hindoostan—Malanon Bourou of the Malays. 


_ Dimensions of a mature Male. 


Jeet. inch. 
From tip to tip of wings,...... 4 2 
Snout to rump,.......... 112 
ORR eet ree ie 33 
Humerus, ayes: ee 5 
WN ov ao aks ees 63 
Thumb, (without claw,) .. 2 
Claw ofthumb, (chord toare,) iz 
Little finger, ............ 87 
Of which 1st Phalanx, 0 42 
ee ee 
ot 
Second finger, ....... 0 10 2 


3d Ph.,.... 2. 
Middle finger,........ 1 1 
Ist Phalanx, 0 4% 
5 
20 Ph...) Be 
Sd Ph.,..:. 42 
Index finger,.......... 0 5 (with little claw.) 
Ist Phalanx, 3 4 
2a°FPh.,.... 


30 Remarks on Pteropus Edulis Geoffroy. 


feet. inch. 
PONG 2 Sic OC eae a 
y iaeBtes erat aden, 35 
FRG DAW. Sends cata te 2 
Its claw (cord to arc), = 
Length of ear,.......... 1s 
Between ears, .......... 1s 
Between shoulders. across : 
“back, .... 2... 2} , 
Breadth of interfemoral dene 
membrane, .. .. 1} 8 
e ; 
incisors. canines. molars. s § 3 3 
Ai mis OL eel 4—~ i ate She% 
Teeth, | a la 0 


Incisors, square, blunt, separate. Canines large, quadrangular 
(being flattened on all four sides), the lower canines flat posteally, 
anteriorly round. Upper Molars, trenchant, conical, triangular, 
longitudinally bifid, two nezt flat, oblong, longitudinally bifid, i. e. 
a groove runs along upper surface, dividing each tooth into two 
blunt tubercles.. Last Molar flat, rudimentary. Behind lower canine, 
a small rudimentary flat tooth. Next to which molar long, conical. 
Four next oblong flattened. Last one small. All of them fur- 
rowed by a longitudinal hollow into two blunt lateral tubercles.* 
All the teeth are peparate, and when the jaws are closed pertially in- 
terlock. 

Tongue.—Long, narrow, with aiouths tip; thick strong 
papille on upper surface. 

Nose. —Septum deeply bifid, betel: nostrils .semi- circular; muz- 
zle almost bare, leathery, with small vibrisse. 

Ear.—Conical, sharp-pointed, plain, no developed tragus ; trans- 
verse lamina. 

Eye.—Pupil round, contracted to a point in day-light. 


* These tubercles become obsolete by age, and the surface of molars 


flattens. 
‘\ 


Remarks on Pteropus Edulis, Geoffroy. 31 


Colour.—Male. Muzzle almost smooth, blacker sooty, which colour 
extends half way up head, and along the cheeks, but with a 
browner tinge on latter ; fur of chin black, fading through smoky red 
brown into colour of throat and breast. Head, to as far as line 
between ears reddish tawny, with smoky red hairs intermixed. 
Round roots of ears smoky chesnut; from thence to shoulders and 
top of back clear golden tawny, parted from black of back by an 
edging of chesnut. Below the cheeks, breast, and belly tawny, red- 
dest on throat and chest, pale in centre of belly, and fading into . 
“smoky brown about pubis and on flanks. All the limbs covered with 
smoky black fur. Back and along humerus, plain black with grey © 
hairs mixed, thighs the same. Flying membrane pale, plain black- 
ish inside, ears black, claws ditto : eyes smoky reddish chesnut : nose 
black: fur near humerus below wings smoky reddish. Genitals 
black leather. 

The female is smaller and obscurer in colour. Head smoky brown, 
blackish on muzzle. Dark smoky chesnut on throat—under parts 
dark brownish tawny. Pubis and inside thighs smoky reddish 
brown. Upper part of back and neck duller than male, and back of 
thighs dashed dusky red. Czetera pares. 

Fur.—Rough below like mohair, lying flatter and smoother on 
back, but harsh. 

Wing.—Humerus and radius very muscular, phalanges of fingers 
similar to those of other bats, but index ended by a small hooked 
nail bending upwards, or outwards from the plane of wing. Wing 
near arm clothed with scanty woolly fur. And from radius to edge 
of the membrane extend interrupted parallel muscular strips, fifteen 

in number : these are crossed here and there by veins, and one very 
large strip runs along interfemoral membrane, up its centre. Carti- 
laginous appendage from near root of inner toe running through 
(across) interfemoral membrane, weak and small. No vestige of tail. 
The wing membrane ‘attaches to the root of the index finger of the 
hind paw, spreading across front of foot or instep. 
_ Paws.—As in all bats—claws subequal. 

Genitals —Male. Testes large, oval, placed on each side of 
penis. Penis pendant, with flat denuded glans, having a lateral 
opening to urethra, becomes erect as in monkey or man,—Female. 


32 Remarks ~ Pteropus Edulis, Geoffroy. 


Oval, latera™: iain orifice immediately between the bones of the 
pelvis, which approximate. In both sexes the parts are placed so 
forward, that it is probable they copulate’ face to face. Urethra, or 
Wola Gf Talis, “Sepates te. ee ee with an ovarium at — 
either extremity. 

Mansi. is patio venyitie bait, remote, immediately un- 
der axillz, very large in female. oor 

Sternum keel-shaped as in birds, “Hic inlinchnwba ofthe. nicdag 
pectoral muscles. Liver largé, deeply divided into four ‘lobes. In- 
testines very much as in human subject, but apparently no colon 
or ccecum. Spleen lérze and long, ribs 12, clavicles distinct. Con- 
dyles of jaw transverse oblong preventing lateral motion, Nasal 
bones prolonged 40 ‘aiid ‘of -Sanatale, so as to leave but a trifling quan- 


tity of cartilage: 
Habitat. —Throughout Continental India, but not beyond the 


Cis-Himalayan range -(I believe). In Java, Sumatra, Malacca, and . 
- most probably. throughout the Eastern Archipelago and Southern 
China. Frequent’ large trees in groves, open mene or forest, but 
always near cultivation. : 

Remarks.—The “ Flying fox” is one. of eat Cominonest 
animals of India, and one of.the most characteristic features — 
of a tropical night. Every evening these animals may be — 
seen flying heavily along in one particular direction, singly © 
or in parties of 5 or 6. As they seldom alight until the dusk 
has deepened, their manners and method of procuring their 
food on the trees they frequent is seldom noticed, at Jeast 
by the casual observer, however familiar their demon-like 
forms may be to him, as they flag heavily through the night air. 

The Pteropi rest during -day-light on some large tree, 
preferring for this purpose the tamarind, which they never 
_ quit when once selected, although équally inviting trees may 
be in the immediate vicinity, Generation after generation | 
resort to this one tree, until excess of numbers forces a part — 
- to select another, but the transfer is not effected without 
difficulty, the oldest bats ejecting the weaker and younger. 
It must have been a familiar sight to many, to see some- 


Remarks on Pteropus Edulis,..Geoffroy. 33 


huge tree, in the centre of a village, on the skt : of-a: forest 
or in.the midst of a wide plain, garnished by hundreds of 
the dangling bodies of these animals. A person stationed 
near. such a spot at the first break of dawn might see the 
" Pteropi come stealing: back. to their retreat from all quar- 
ters. From the arrival of the first comer, until the sun is 
high above the horizon, a scene of incessant wrangling and 
contention is enacted amongst them, as each endeavours to 
- secure a higher and better place, or to eject a neighbour from 
too close vicinage. _In these struggles the bats hook them- 
selves along the branches, scrambling ‘about hand over 
hand” with some speed, biting’ each other severely, striking 
out with the long claw of the thumb, and shrieking and 
cackling without intermission. Each new arrival is compel- 
led to fly several times round the tree, being threatened from _ 
all: points, and when he eventually hooks on, has to go 
' through a series of combats, and be probably ejected two 
or three times before he makes good his ‘tenure’. The 
‘¢ alarums—excursions,” continue till 8, 9, or 10 a. m. when 
_ they get sleepy, and hang side by side in peace, fan- 

ning themselves with .their wings, which in repose they : 
wrap round the head, slumbering with the chin on the breast 
and the muzzle covered by the membrane of the last ‘pha- ~ 
langes. The usual noises of a village, in the centre of 
which they often select their roosting place, do not appear 
to disturb them, or to cause further stir than a production 
. of two or three heads from within. their mantles, which after 
a logk on the houses and people: below, and‘a few rapid - 
tremulous movements of the ears, are again popped into | 
their envelopes. The report of a gun causes dreadful com- 
motion; they rise in clouds from: the tree, and continue cir- 
cling round and round, having to fight their battles over ° 
again when left to resettle, and to go through the whole 
scene, shrieking, cackling, and contention of the morning.’ 

- Their departure for their nightly rambles is unattended by 

F 


34 Remarks on Pteropus Edulis, Geoffroy. 


any of this uproar. As the sun sinks below the horizon, 
the Pteropi drop silently from the branches, one by one, — 
and sail away into the coming gloom. They first shape 
their course to a tank or river, and sweeping down to the 
water’s surface, lap as they fly along, until their thirst is 
sated, when they wend their course to the trees, the fruit vi 
which may happen to be in season. 

This animal is entirely frugiverous, devouring almost any 
fruit, either wild or of the garden, in which at times he 
makes great havoc, especially among plantains. Among 
wild fruits, they prefer the mowhooa berries, and the figs of 
the bar, peepul, and goolar. 

They eat, when alighted, in silence, hanging heel down- 
wards by one hind foot, the other being employed in hold- 
ing the food,* which is devoured slowly, in large mouthfulls 
at a time, both cheeks being crammed full, and the tongue . 
protruded. Its jaws being incapable of lateral motion, the 
animal is compelled to open and shut them solemnly up and 
down, munching, so to say, all the while with great deliber- 
ation. Those I have now in captivity (five in number) are 
fed on goolars, (Ficus glomerata), which they chew in the 
manner above mentioned, until they have extracted all the 
juice, when the remaining pulp is ejected out of the mouth. 
Glutinous and farinaceous food, such as plantains, they do 
not serve in this manner. 

Many classes of Hindoos, sitiotiabep in Bengal’eat these 
animals, and in Java (if our subject be the same as the 
“ Kalong” of Dr. Horsfield,) they are thought a delicacy. 
The flesh looks well enough, but the animal has a strong 
penetrating odour, which one would suppose would affect 
the taste ; this smell is as bad in the female as in the male; 
it pervades the body, and does not exude from any secreting 
gland—at least, I can find none. 


* It does not hold the fruit by grasping, but by sticking its claws in, 
in the fashion of a prong or fork. 


Remarks on Pteropus Edulis, Geoffroy. 35 


. The Flying Fox, or ‘ Badoor” is very easily tamed. It 
will eat or drink from the hand a day or two after capture, 
even when wounded. It drinks eagerly at all hours, lapping 
milk or water with its long pointed tongue, and it readily 
‘ learns to eat in the day time as well as at night. I have 
kept one now, the wing of which was broken by shot, many 
weeks. ‘Hookey,’ as he has been named, has become per- 
fectly familiar, rather fearless than tame, for he attacks 
' the approaching hand, tooth and nail, (literally,) although he 
will eat and drink from it. He is accommodated with a high 
narrow box, having a projecting grating, to which he hangs 
suspended, endeavouring to grapple all passers with sound 
hook or thumb claw, to see whether they have any eatables 
upon them. When angry, he opens the mouth, growling or . 
cackling in the fashion of a monkey, and striking out forcibly 
with the afore-mentioned claw or hook. If the contest wax 
yoo warm for him, he swings round, and strides. back into 
his box, head downwards all the time, of course. 

. The modus copulandi must be, I imagine, vis-a-vis. _ Thé 
female generally brings forth one young one, which ad- 
lieres firmly to-the breast by means of its claws, retaining 
its position whether the dam be flying or at rest. They 
may bring forth two, but I have seen several old females fly- 
ing about with a single young one sticking on to:them, never 
_ with more. The young are born about the end of March 
_ and April; they are I believe blind when exuded, and they 
continue a ‘fixture’ on the mother till the end of May or 
early in June, when they are nearly as big as herself. 

I should be glad to know whether the present subject is 
the Pteropus Edulis or Javanicus of Dr. Horsfield. Geof- 
froy's Cuvier merely describes the animal as black, with top 
of neck and back 'tawny. No mention is made of the whole 
of the under-parts being tawny or brown. ‘The expanse of 
wings is also given as above 5 feet. The specimen | have 
here described was the largest of 8 or 9, and not above 4 


36 Methods of estimating accurately 


_ feet 2 inches across the wings. It is an old one too, for the 
teeth are well mumbled or worn down. 

Seeing that bats are condemned to hang ever head down- 
wards, it is not an impertinent question to ask how they 
void their excrement, without interfering with their own 
persons. This is minutely explained in Geoffroy’s Cuvier, 
Mammalia, vol. ii. page 95. The Pteropus goes through the 
same ceremonies precisely as the bats described in that 
publication; viz. when urged by the call of nature, it 
adroitly reverses its position by hanging on with the thumb 
claws and letting go its feet, when of course, with reference 
to its own head there is no further occasion for the precau- 
tion. me 
Since commencing this paper, of five I had in captivity, and 
from which most of these remarks are taken, but one re- 
mains, two died of their wounds; one of decline, (although it 
ate ravenously to the hour of its death ;) one flew away. The 
remaining one is in good condition and perfectly tame. They 
were very quarrelsome when together, and frequently bit 
and wounded each other severely. The animals are cruelly 
infested by a tough nimble spider-shaped tick (Oribata Ves- 
pertilionum,) which the most incessant scratching fails in 
getting rid of. 


Methods of estimating accurately the Substances usually present in 
Water. By Mn. A. Roserrson, Calcutta. 

Before describing these processes, it may be of service to mention. 
something about the vessels to be used, and the manipulation, ye 
quantity of water ought to be determined by weight, as being much - 
more accurate than measurement, and 10,000 grs. is a very conveni- 
ent portion for the purpose. To concentrate this by evaporation, a _ 
wedgewood-ware basin, usually recommended, is rather improper, on . 
account of the difficulty of excluding dust from it, and the porosity of 


. 


A Substances usually present in W ner, ST 


the ware now generally sold under that name. A glass flask is pre- 
ferable, and much more convenient, the water in it being made to boil 
briskly on a sand-bath, or over a lamp or chauffer of charcoal, A 
Florence oil flask is better than a flint glass one, being of a harder 
glass, less easily attacked by the boiling water, and though it can be 
filled little more than half full at the outset, as the water is boiled 
off, it may be filled up by pouring in the remainder of the water 
through a funnel so as not to touch the empty part of the flask, 
and doing this smartly before the issuing steam has time to heat the 
neck of the funnel. In this case there is no risk of breakage. 

Should it be required to evaporate to complete dryness, this is 
best done by using the flask until about 300 grs. of liquid’ only 
(unless the water be very saline) remain. This is poured out into a 
platina vessel, a capsule of German porcelain, or the lower part of a 
flask cut off, washing out any sediment from the flask by distilled 
water, and adding it to this fluid remainder. From such a vessel it 
can be easily removed after all the moisture is dissipated. 

In precipitating _ the different substances, wine glasses do not. 
answer, as the matter thrown down adheres to their conical sides. 
Test tubes for small portions, and tall vials with flat bottoms for . 
larger, answer much better. It is also much more accurate for small 
quantities to dispense with filters in collecting precipitates, provid- 
ed the experimenter be not pressed in point of time. To manage 
without these, the precipitate should be allowed to subside com- 
pletely, the clear liquid above it be run off by a small syphon, dis- 
tilled water put in its place, agitated, allowed to become clear, again 
run off; and this be repeated till the washing from soluble saline - 
matter be judged completé. The sediment is then transferred into a 
small procelain capsule or platina crucible, carefully washing the last — 
portions out of the glass, allowed to repose a sufficient time, the 
clear liquid above removed by a pipette, the moisture evaporated, the 
precipitate heated to faint redness and weighed, deducting the tare 
of the little vessel containing it. 

Should a speedy result be desired, filtering may be employed, 
washing the precipitate on the filter with distilled water by a © 
pipette. The thick spongy paper with a rough surface, usually sold 
as filtering paper, is unsuitable for this, because a very appreciable 


38 Methods of estimating accurately 


quantity of the fine precipitate either adheres to its surface inse- 
parably, or even sinks into its substance. ‘The best is a sort of 
thinish blotting paper, with one of its surfaces apparently glazed, 
from which the dried precipitate easily scales off, leaving but a very 
small trace upon it. Weighing the precipitate, on a previously 
weighed filter, is inadmissible, as the paper will vary in weight 
according to its degree of exsiccation, and it is scarcely possible to hit 
the precise stage of dryness in which it was when first weighed. 
Burning the filter and adding the ashes to the precipitate will give 
an excess of weight, unless a corresponding portion of the paper be 
burnt, and the weight of its ashes subtracted. Even in this case, 
there is a source of error in the obstinate retention, in spite of all 
washing, of some saline matter in the very edge of the filter, a source 
of error which also holds in regard to the estimation of substances 
upon a filter previously weighed. 

- All precipitates to be weighed should, immediately previous, be 
exposed to a heat visibly red, with the exception of such as would be 
volatilized or decomposed by it. These are usually dried, for an 
hour or two, at the heat of boiling water. The ignition of small 
quantities is best performed on platina over a spirit lamp. 

The first step in the process is to ascertain the substances pre- 


sent in the water, by testing. All natural waters contain a little - 


atmospheric air, sometimes with an excess, sometimes with a 
deficiency of oxygen. Unless the analysis be a scientific one, this 
may be neglected. Carbonic acid gas is a usual ingredi-nt. This is 
most certainly detected, when free, by boiling the water in a retort or 
flask fitted with a bent tube, and receiving the evolved gas in lime or 
barytes water, when white carbonate of these earths will be preci- 
pitated. Some of the usual methods of preventing error from the 
absorption of the carbonic acid gas in the atmosphere should be 
adopted. Carbonates are precipitated by boiling, and recognised by 
effervescing with acids. Sulphuretted hydrogen is known by its smell, 
or when in minute quantity, by the blackening of the recent water 
by salts of lead, bismuth, or copper. It is soon decomposed on 
exposure to the air. Sulphuric acid is indicated when a white 
precipitate falls on adding to the water first nitric acid to prevent the 
precipitation of a carbonate, and then nitrate of barytes. The liquid 


a 


the Substances usually present in Water. 39 


separated from this precipitate will shew muriatic acid on adding 
nitrate of silver. Nitric acid, which may be looked for in all surface 
water in India, is indicated by concentrating the water by evapora- 
tion, and adding gold leaf, muriatic acid, and boiling it, or better, 
by adding a little pure sulphuric acid, free in particular from nitric 
oxide gas, which almost all ordinary sulphuric acid contains, and 
putting into it a small crystal or two of pure green proto-sulphate 
of iron, and applying heat, upon which, if that acid:be present, a 
dark greenish hue will soon pervade the liquid in the neighbourhood 
of the crystal. Vegetable acids or other matters, such as crenic 
acid in springs, and vegetable infusory matters in surface waters, 
will blacken on exposing to heat the residuum of the evaporation of 
the water; and if animal matter be also present, ammonia will be 
evolved, shewn by the cloud formed beside a rod dipped in muriatic 
acid and held over it, or more delicately, by reddening the yellow of 
moist turmeric paper also held above it. Some of these substances © 
when in solution also give a brown precipitate with nitrate of 
silver. 

The residuum of evaporation, if boracic acid, met with in some 
waters, be in it, when mixed with a little sulphuric acid will tinge. 
burning alcohol of a beautiful green, not the bluish green given in 
the fire by common salt. Iodine, though in minute quantity, will, on 
making thin solution of starch with the water nearly boiling, and 
cooling it, give with a little chlorine water, or even with nitric 
acid, a blue film where the two different liquids touch each other. 
Bromine, to be looked for in salt waters, is best detected by heating 
in a test tube with pure sulphuric acid the precipitate from the wa- 
ter by nitrate of silver, when reddish or yellowish-brown vapours of 
bromine, like those of nitrous acid, will be evolved. 

The bases of the salts usually present in water may be detected as 
follows :—Lime by oxalate of ammonia, a white precipitate in a 
somewhat diluted solution. Magnesia, in the water from which the 
lime has been thus separated, by a white precipitate on the addition 
of carbonate of ammonia and phosphate of soda or ammonia, Alu- 
mina, provided no peroxide of iron be present, by acidulating the 
water, and adding carbonate of ammonia with cons.ant stirring, so 
that the liquid may be strongly charged with free carbonic acid, on 


40 Methods of estimating accurately 


which there is a white precipitate soluble in potass water, and this, 
if the quantity of iron be not great, may even bé a good test if the 
iron be previously partially de-oxidized by a stream of sulphuretted 
hydrogen gas. In general, however, alumina and iron in a solution 
fall together. Iron gives an ultimately rusty precipitate with an al- 


__ kaline carbonate, a black with tannin, and if peroxidized, a blood red 


colour with sulpho-cyanate of potass. Ferro-cyanate of potass is not a 
good test, as it often gives a blue with an acid solution, owing to a 
- partial decomposition of its own acid. Potass, in a concentrated ‘so- 
lution of the water, gives a bright yellow crystalline precipitate with 
chloride of platina, but no ammoniacal salts must be present, as 
these yield one exactly similar. Soda is recognised when a little of 
the residuum of the evaporation is exposed to the blow-pipe flame on 
a loop of platina wire, by an orange-coloured bright cone of flame 
proceeding from it. A great excess of potass imparts to this « viclet' 
tinge. 

If it be desired to ascertain the quantities of the different com- 
pound salts contained in any water, the analytical chemist must . 
determine those of their acids and bases, and then by calculation 
according to equivalents, and the best lights afforded by some che- 
mical facts known regarding the play of elective affinities in such 
mixtures, proceed to state the compositions in which they exist. 
Here, though in regard to the most common substances, he has some 
pretty sure guides, a good deal must be mere probability. One 
chemist, for instance, supposes that they are in a state of mutual com- 
bination, forming only one chemical body, not a mixture of different 
compounds, but this appears rather unlikely. Another thinks, that 
they exist in the state of such salts as hayg.the greatest affinity for 
water, i. e. are most soluble, not according to what others imagine, 
that the strongest acids are united with the strongest bases. This 
jas qoninn to tik pvetty gunctaieed prabehie eptelan.Sahiteariee 
a good many facts tending to subvert it. © 

So Ser on ta ‘Tilia :whein: 0) wilak liebemndualina: taaanaeyal 
concentrated by evaporation a play. of affinities takes place, by 
which, at the new degree of concentration, old substances are decom- 
posed and new combinations formed. Thus, in evaporating sea 
water, muriate of lime and sulphate of soda, seem to give sulphate of 


_ the Substances usually present in Water. 41 


“ime and chloride of sodium; and thus also a solution of bi-car- 
bonate of magnesia and sulphate of lime yields carbonate of lime and 
- sulphate of magnesia. These changes seem to be determined by the. 
relative solubilities of these salts in a certain proportion of the 
liquid. In like manner, alcohol may often precipitate from a mix- 
ture of acids and bases, not the existing compounds, but such new 
compounds as are insoluble in it. Temperature too has a great effect ; 
for instance, sulphuric and muriatic acids, soda and magnesia, at the 
freezing point of water, give rise to muriate of magnesia and sulphate 
,of soda, which crystallizes; but at the boiling point, to ‘chloride of 
‘sodium, which crystallizes, and a solution of sulphate of magnesia. 
It is evident then that the complicated methods of separating the 
different salts in waters, copied by many chemical system writers 
downwards. from the time of their contriver Mr Kirwan, are, to say 
the least, useless ; even if the practicability and’ correctness of many 
of them were not more than questionable. 
_ In proceeding with the analysis after the substances contained in 
the water have been discovered by testing, the gaseous substances 
may be first estimated. For the atmospheric air, if it be thought 
necessary to measure it, take a small/tubulated retort, cork the end 
of the neck, fillit completely with aXnown quantity of the water, and 
then stop the tubuture with a cor\#pierced with a small tube to con- 
duct away the water displaced Sy the evolved gas. This will be 
collected in the neck on heating the water to the boiling point. 
Transfer it into a measure tube. Absorb any carbonic acid by lime 
or potass, then remove the oxygen by phosphorus. Thus the bulk 
.of the oxygen and nitrogen emitted by a given weight of water, 
may be readily known. 
The free carbonic acid is usually directed to be ascertained by 
expelling it from the water by boiling, and collecting it over mercury. 
This, however, gives no good or uniform result in many instances, 
owing to the long boiling required, and the quantity of water vapo- 
rised, before the whole of the excess of carbonic acid is driven off 
from the bi-carbonates present in the solution. A better process 
seems to be the following. Pour 10,000 grains of the water into.a 
stoppered flask, add to it an excess of lime water, allow the precipi- 
tate to subside, pour off by a syphon the liquid above) wash. The 
G 


42 Methods of estimating accurately 


result is a mixture of carbonates with magnesia, alumina, and iron, 

if present. For strict accuracy, this must be wrapt up in thin paper 

in one or more pellets, and transmitted to the top of a measure tube . 
full of mercury, where it is decomposed by a little muriatic acid, and 
the gas given out measured. This is the whole of the carbonic: acid 

contained in the water, whether free or combined. The quantity of ~ 
the combined is afterwards ascertained in a different manner, and 
being subtracted from this, the remainder is that which was free. 

Should lime alone be in the water, the carbonate of lime precipitated 

may be heated and weighed at once as carbonate, and from it the 

equivalent of carbonic acid derived. . This process is correct only 

when thé carbonic acid in the atmosphere is excluded from the free 

lime in the flask. 

The walphuiretted hpdrtigen ix: lencrwii!loy “adding hchation “olan 
ate of copper in excess, filtering the precipitate from the liquid, and 
-washing it quickly, that it may not be oxidized by the air into sul- 
phate of copper; then putting it moist into nitro-muriatic acid, and 
boiling till both the copper and sulphur present are dissolved. 
Muriate or nitrate of barytes will after this give a precipitate of sul- 
“phate of barytes, from which the quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen 
may be easily inferred. 

Ten thousand grains of the water should now be evaporated to 
dryness, the residue heated to slight redness, and weighed to give 
_ the whole saline contents of the water, as a check upon the amount 
of the substances found individually, Thus also the silica, often pre- 
sent, is separated. It will appear like bits of jelly towards the end 
of the evaporation, and on moistening the dry mass with muriatic 
acid, allowing it to stand for some time, and then boiling it in water, , 
the silica will remain insoluble. The solution separated, from this 
might serve subsequently for ascertaining the quantity of bases, but 
as there is always a little loss in each operation, it is better, if there 
is plenty of the water, to take a fresh portion. Some guess of the 
quantity of animal or vegetable matters in the water may alsd be — 
now formed from that of the carbon which will probably be mixed 
with the silica, and which ‘will be burnt away in i it. To de- 
termine these exactly, would require difficult and i pro- 
_ cesses, which are not pretended to be here given. 


the Substances usually present in Water. 43 


~'To discover the amount of combined carbonic acid, the greater part 
of a portion of the water is boiled off; the earthy carbonates and 
iron are thus precipitated. This precipitate is treated as above, over 


" mercury in a tube, to give the carbonic acid combined with the 


earths or oxide of iron; or, should it be unmixed carbonate of lime, 
it may be ignited, and the carbonic acid estimated directly *from 


its weight. 


Should the water contain carbonic acid in urion with potass 


ie or soda, it may be then separated by pouring in solution of pure 


nitrate of lime. The precipitate is carbonate of lime, from which 
- the carbonic acid may be easily calculated. 

To the ‘solution | now freed from carbonates, nitrate of barytes 
is added. From the weight of the precipitate is got that of the 
‘sulphuric. acid. Should boracic acid be present, the precipitate will 
contain borate of barytes,. which, ‘previous to weighing it, must 

- be dissolved out by digestion in diluted nitric acid. 

Into the solution thus freed from sulphates, nitrate of silver is 
poured, to separate the muriatic acid. Chloride of silver precipitates, 
which must: be fused into a horn-like substance, before it is weighed 
to estimate the chlorine in it. As, in case of boracic acid in the 
water, it may be contaminated with borate of silver, it must also be 
previously purified by the action of diluted nitric acid. 

The only good method of separating nitric acid is the following : 
Concentrate the water highly by evaporation. . Remove the muriatic 


acid in it by the action of sulphate of silver. Then add to it in a 


small retort pure sulphuric acid. Distil to dryness into a receiver 
in which is water containing pure carbonate of barytes diffused 
in it. Nitrate of barytes is formed, sulphuric acid is added to 
this in solution, and from the weight of the precipitated sulphate 
of barytes, the equivalent weight of the nitric acid is inferred. 

The boracic acid may be obtained by evaporation of the water to 
dryness, adding sulphuric acid in quantity sufficient to decompose 
the saline matter present, dissolving out the boracic acid by alcohol, 
adding ammonia to prevent any of it from passing off with the 
alcoholic vapours, evaporating to dryness and ignition, by which 
pure boracic acid alone remains. 3 

The bromine will be found associated with the chlorine precipitated 


44 Methods of estimating accurately 


by silver, to ascertain the muriatic acid. The quantity of it will most 


likely be imponderable, and there is‘ no method known by. wick , 


its separation from the chlorine can be well effected. 

lodine, if present in appreciable quantity, may be precipitated as 
protiodide of copper by adding a solution of 1 part of sulphate of 
coppér, mixed with 2}-parts of proto-sulphate of iron. 

To estimate the bases of the salts contained in the water, a portion 
of it is concentrated by evaporation, a little nitric acid having 


been previously added with the.double view of retaining in solution . 
the earthy carbonates, and of peroxidizing the iron. Should its | 
saline contents be great, it must not, however, be much concentrated? 


It is now rendered acidulous by muriatie acid in proportion to 


the quantity of lime and magnesia it is supposed to contain, and an 


excess of carbonate of ammonia added with constant stirring. The 
free carbonic acid evolved keeps in solution the lime and magnesia, 
provided the solution be not too concentrated, while the alumina 
and peroxide of iron are precipitated and allowed to subside in a 
closed vial or flask. Or, instead of this, muriate of ammonia is 
added to retain in solution the magnesia, then aqua ammonie in a 
flask or vial which the liquid’completely fills, and which is closed to 
prevent the absorption of carbonic acid from the atmosphere. The 
- alumina and peroxide of iron will thus be separated and subside, 
while the lime and magnesia are retained. In an open glass 
carbonate of lime would also precipitate. 

These mixed precipitates may be separated by boiling them in 
- solution of potass, which dissolves the alumina, and leaves the per- 
oxide of iron. From the potass solution the alumina may be preci- 


pitated by adding muriate of ammonia, and boiling it for some time. 


The liquid from which the precipitate has been removed is neutra- 


~ tised exactly with muriatic acid, and considerably concentrated by | 


boiling. Oxalate of ammonia will now throw down all the lime as 


oxalate. This is mixed with sulphuric acid and heated to redness, _ 
and from the resulting sulphate of lime the quantity of lime is. 


deduced. 

A mixture of carbonate and phosphate of ammonia is now added to 
the residual fluid. After 24 hours’ repose, a precipitation of minute 
crystalline grains, containing the whole of the magnesia, will be com- 


the Substances usually present in Water. 45 


plete. ‘After these have been heated to redness, neutral phosphate 
of magnesia remains, from which is known the quantity of magnesiat. 

Any sulphuric acid in the remaining fluid, together with the ex- 
cess of phosphoric, is now removed by acetate of lead, and, after 
this precipitate is separated, the excess of lead is thrown down by car- 
bonate of ammonia. There is now left in solution only chlorides of 
potassium and sodium, and easily volatilizable salts of ammonia. 
This solution is evaporated to yee ignited, and these chlorides 
weighed. 

They are re-dissolved, and any charcoal from organic matters is 
separated, and its weight deducted from theirs. A solution of chlo- 
. ride of platinum is added; the whole is evaporated to dryness, and 
_ as much is re-dissolved as will dissolve in a little cold water ; chloride 

of potassium and platinum remains, from which is gained a know- 
~ ledge of the quantity of potass. The quantity of chloride of potassi- 
um in it is also calculated, and this, deducted from that of the mixed 
chlorides, gives that. of: the chloride of sodium ; hence that of the 
soda is derived. If it be wished to exhibit the chloride of sodium 
apart, it may be done by separating the excess of platinum in the 
"last solution by carbonate of ammonia, evaporation to : ee and 

ignition. q 
The chemical examination of waters is of immense con- 
sequence, not so much in reference to what are properly 
called mineral ‘springs, as in regard to that water employed 
in the ordinary purposes of life. The presence of a little 
. animal or vegetable matter, of nitrates, or of a minute portion 
of some other ingredient, may, by the continued use of such 
water for months or years, give rise to diseases in a great 
measure constituting the difference between a healthy and un- 
healthy locality.. It is also of great consequence in the arts - 
and manufactures, such as brewing, distilling, sugar refining, 
bleaching, and particularly in dyeing. A celebrated dyer of a 
beautiful red’ in France, could not succeed on removing his 
residence to another place. He investigated the cause, it lay 
in the water, and, on imitating artificially the water at his 
former residence, his colour became as bright as before. 


46 Methods of estimating accurately 


Chemistry is certainly one of the sciences conducing most 
to the prosperity of a manufacturing and mercantile nation. 
What was the iron and coal trade of Britain a century 
ago, before chemistry taught the proper processes for pro- 
curing that iron economically, and rendering it of good qua- 
lity. What was-her eotton manufacture till Watt developed 
some of the chemical properties of steam, and so set her 
cotton mills in motion. How limited were her resources 
in dyeing and calico printing till of late years. To what 
does she owe the economical artificial light of gas, and her 
now beautiful porcelain. Seventy years ago, what was the 
beginning of her sulphuric acid manufactories, which are now 
estimated to produce for her beneficial consumption eighty 
thousand tons a year. Thirty years ago, where’ was the 
immense production of soda from sea-salt, through which the 
price of that article, so necessary in many manufactures, has 
been lowered to at most a fourth of its then cost. What an 
immense benefit has resulted to sugar refining from the 
application to it of late of a single chemical principle; and 
how much has not a rationally applied chemistry done in 
increasing the fertility of the soil, and the agricultural pro- 
duce of Great Britain. Chemistry also lends great aid in 
developing the vegetable, as well as the mineral treasures of a 
country. It can turn to valuable purposes vegetable sub- 
stances of once unknown properties; and linked with geo- 
logy, the offspring of it, a science, \which, though now ad- 
vancing rapidly to maturity, had a few years ago no existence. 
It can traverse a land, and say, here you will find nothing, 
because in such a configuration of deposit nothing has yet 
been found ; but here you are likely to find coal, here lime- 
stone, here ores of iron, copper, tin or lead, silver or gold, 
because in such situations these have been hitherto found ; 
and it can determine the composition of these bodies, ascer- 
tain their value, and the best means of turning them to ac- . 
count. Such is the rapid progress, that all these wonders 


the Substances usually present in Water. . 47 


have been effected within the memory of many still 
alive: 

‘Chemistry is one of the most fascinating, as well as one of 
the most useful of the sciences. ~ Its brilliant experiments, 
well arranged and dextrously conducted, produce effects far 
surpassing those recorded in tales of eastern magic, aré often 
indelibly impressed on the youthful mind, and excite a curio- 
sity to know their causes, and an ardour in the pursuit of 
the science, which no privations can damp, no obstacles re- 
press. ; . 


On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. By Capt. G. B. Truwznuzene, 
Executive Engineer. With a Map, Pl. ii, 


(Communicated by the Coal and Mineral Cominittee.} 

1. The tin of this province has not been sought fdr since the Bur- 
mese took possession of the’country from their Siamese neighbours. 
Under the rule of the latter, or during the period at which Tenasserim 
was an independent state, extensive works for tin were carried on. 
It occurs chiefly in the beds and banks of streams issuing from the 
primitive mountains, which form the principal feature of this ee 
sula. Portions of the banks of streams in which it is found are, in 
some instances, rivetted with rough stone work to confine the water 
for washing operations; and the ground on either side for many 
miles along their course is penetrated by innumerable pits, from 
eight to ten and twelve feet deep. Traces of the work of many 
thousands of men are evident in several places. These pits are not 
connected with one another, but seem to have been sunk by separate 
small parties of men, to whom probably definite tasks were assigned, 
with a view of tracing the tin ground, and of extracting the gravel 
with which the tin is mixed. 

Their variable depth, and the amount of labour expended on them, is 
a tolerable indication of the success with which this has been pursued, 
and of the places in which ground might be again perhaps opened © 
with advantage. 


48 On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. 


. 2, The streams themselves are rich in tin, which may be collected 
from their beds in considerable quantities.’ The process by which it” 
has been deposited for long periods, and for many miles along the 
_ line of valleys through which they flow, appears to be in active 
operation at the present day. Crystals of the peroxide of tin washed 
dowti by the rivers and deposited with sand and gravel in their: beds 
may, by changes of the river’s course during the freshes, be quickly 
covered with a few feet of gravel and soil. The older deposits have, as 
far as my observation extends at present, the same alluvial character, 
and it would be well in future operations to have regard to the levels 
in which the streams may have formerly run. The first of these loca- 
lities which attracted my attention was the Thongdan river, issuing . 
from the primitive mountains in the immediate neighbourhood of the 
coal mine on the Great Tenasserim river. 1 visited this river in the 
eourse of my survey of the coal basin, and found pits in great num- 
ber along its banks, of the existence of which I had been previously 
informed, though the object for which they had been dug was not" 
known to my informant. On washing some of the gravel from the 
bottom of one of the pits, a small quantity of tin’ was found. 

3. A Shan was subsequently sent there, and collected 11,889 
grains of tin, of the native peroxide, in the course of an hour and 
half, Specimen No. 1, which is equivalent.to 19 ounces and 198 
grains of pure tin. 

4. After leaving the vicinity of the coal mine, I proceeded down 
the river, and was accompanied by the Shan, who had been employ- 
ed in tin works in the Straits, and to whom several tin streams in 
the Mergui province were known. These are situated chiefly on 
the Little Tenasserim river, into which they empty themselves. 
The first and most accessible is the Thabawlick, which unites with 
the Thakiet, four miles above the junction of the latter with the Little 
. Tenasserim. The mouth of the Thakiet is eleven miles from the 
town of Tenasserim. 

5. The access to this: tin ground: is 1by-Jand to ‘the dey:anemek. 
Landing at the village of Thakiet, I proceeded on foot eight miles, and 
reached the Thabawlick at the point indicated in the accompanying 
sketch. - . 

6. ‘The intervening ground is for the most part flat. After 


On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. ee lle 


passing a marsh of some extent, there is a low ridge of hills, which 
presents, however, no obstacle to land carriage of any description: 
The face of the country is as usual, except in marshy places, 
thickly covered with jungle trees, but the wild elephant’s track is 
open and convenient. During the monsoon, boats carrying 100 bags 
of rice can ascend the Thabawlick to the place alluded to, in one 
day. The tide is felt about six miles from its mouth. 

7. Havingsarrived at the spot at a point known to my guide, 
and at which he had the previous year stationed himself for a few 
months for the purpose of collecting tin, I found numerous pits and 
old cuttings from which tin had been formerly obtained ; it is found 
in layers of gravel immediately beneath the soil. The surface is 
undulating, and during the wet season, streams of water could have 
been conveniently conducted near the excavations, for the purpose of | 
washing the gravel. ee 

8. The guide stated, that crystals of tin could be in this manner 
separated by the hand, without the usual aid of the washing-trough. 
The rains not being at that time sufficiently advanced for that pur- 
pose, I did not succeed in obtaining any tin from the pits. The line 
of deposit of the richest stanniferous gravel has been probably influ- 
enced by many causes, and the chances of finding it are much the 
same as those to which other undertakings of this nature are sub- - 
ject. A few trials, however, across the low ground, through which 
the hill streams pass, would enable the speculator to follow its: 
course. 

9. The time of the tin washer was, I found, much better occupi- 
ed in seeking for tin in the bed of the river. He was assisted by one 
man, who disturbed the.sand and gravel with his feet to as great a | 
depth as he could thus accomplish ; when a conical and shallow 
trough about two feet in diameter and ten inches deep was filled with 
the same, and washed in the stream by a circular motion so as to get 
rid of the gravel and lighter particles, leaving the crystals of tin to 
collect by their gravity on the apex of the hollow trough: Each filling 
and washing occupied on an average, six minutes. | 

One washing produced 1041 grains of native peroxide of tin in six 
minutes, Specimen, No. 2, equivalent to 1 oz. and 335 grains of pure 
tin. 

H 


50 On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. 


One ditto ditto, 1265 grains of ditto ditto, Specimen No. 3, equi- 
valent to 2 oz. and 31 grains of pure tin. 

. One ditto ditto, Lge Bovine ot ier Bee een ome oe 
valent to 2 oz. and 430 grains of pure tin. - 

_ One hour’s work. apart ° dict: thew, 8166 grains of ditto. 
Specimen No. 5; equivalent to 13 oz. and 160 grains of pure tin. 

Total of half a day’s work including the above, 25,406 grains, equi- 
valent to 2 Ibs. 9 oz. and 232 grains of pure tin. 

_ Specimen No. 6, contains of the latter 13,149 grains, 

The price of labour in this province is six annas per day. 

0. The'ptoduce of a day’s labour of two men would be, according 
to the above trial, equivalent to 5 Ibs. 2 oz. and 464 grains of pure tin, 
at the cost of 12 annas, exclusive of the expenses of reduction to’the . 
metallic state.- This process, from the pure’ state of the mineral,.is 
extremely simple and inexpensive. The tin collected in the trough: 
would, require one more washing to remove particles of sand, &c. 
and. charcoal is the only fuel required for its reduction.. The 
pieces. or ingots of tin, in the shape of the frustrum of a cone, 
Specimens Nos. 7 and 8, which are manufactured at the Rehgnon 
"mines on the Pak Chaw river to the southward, and exchanged 
there for goods at 4 annas each, weigh 1 Ib. 2 oz. and 383 grs.; and 
their value at Mergui, where the average price of tin is 85 rupees per 
100 viss of 364 Ib. is 4 annas 4 pie. The value therefore of 5 lbs. 
2 oz. and. 464 grains or the day’s work of two men would be one 
rupee eight annas four pie. The cost of collecting being 12 annas, 
leaves 12 annas and 4 pie for the cost of the reducing process, and 
for profit on the labour of two men. 

11. On the morning after reaching the Thabawliek, I traced the 
tin ground for a mile in a N. N. E, direction. The pits are in some 
parts more abundant than in others; and I was informed that they 
occurred and were thickly scattered throughout the entire course of 
the river, between that point and ‘the hills’ from which it issued, at 
the Gintencs of anentive Say's journey Se sine reeee 
are followed. 

12. The pits-have not been worked since the Burmese took pos- 
session of the country. At the head of the stream, there are said to 
be the remains of bunds constructed for distributing water for wash- 


On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. . 51 


_ing the tin, and the posts of a house still standing, which is supposed 
to have been occupied by a Siamese Superintendent of the work 
there carried on. 

The season was too far advanced to enable me to prosecute my 
enquiries towards the hills on this occasicn, and my attention was 
therefore confined to the spot from which I obtained the results de- 
tailed above. 

13. Four other rivers emptying themselves into the Lesser Tenas- 
serim, are said to produce tin, but none are so accessible as the 
Thabawliek. 

The following are the names of these streams, with their distances 
from the Thakiet river :— 

The Khamoungting river, one day by the Little Tenasserim, and 
one march in‘land. 

Engdaw river, no road through the jungle. 

Kyeng ditto, two days by the river, and two days in land. 

Thapyn ditto, three days by the river, and one march in land. 

From the Khamoungting, Specimen No. 9, weighing 2890 grains 
was collected in ten washings, but I did not visit the place myself. 

14. After returning to Tenasserim, I visited Loundoungin river, 
where tin was said to exist, but it turned out to be wolfram sand, 
which had been washed down from the adjoining slate mountains, 
and was lying on the surface of the sandy bed of the stream. 

15. In proceeding down the Great Tenasserim river toward: 
Mergui, I halted at Moetong, for the purpose of visiting a tin 
ground, which was said to exist near the range of hills to the N. E. 

. skirting the open plain in which this place is situated. On pene- 

trating to the hill itself, I found it to consist exclusively of granite, 

with not a trace of another rock of any description. The dry beds 
of the water-courses consisted of granitic sand alone. 

There were many excavations for tin on the face of the hill; 
several loads of gravel from the bottom of the pits and from the beds 
of the water-courses were carried to the river and washed, but the 
out-turn of tin was very small. There is no water within convenient 
reach. 

16. The next spot visited was Kahan, a small hill. near the 
Zedavoun Pagodah, on the right bank of the Great Tenasserim river, 


52 On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. 


ll tiles from. Mengui. The tin occurs hereunder conditions differ 
ing much from that of the localities above mentioned. ; 


17. Kahan itself is the highest portion of « lowe tidge of hile not 


more than 200 feet above the level of the river: it is composed of a 
soft friable white sandstone rock, the upper portions of which are de- 
composed and irregular. The surface gravel does not contain tin. 
It is found in the crystallized “form interspersed in decomposed 
granite, forming a vein about 3 feet wide, which is enclosed by the’ 
white sandstone rock, and dips down at a high angle with the 
horizon. Specimen No: 10, if its form be preserved, illustrates well 
the tin crystals imbedded in the decomposed granite, which are 
easily detached from the matrix. The Specimen No. 11, from the 
same vein of yellow colour, is considered the surest indication of the 


presence of the mineral, and lies below the white, No. 10. Large scales * : 


of chlorite occur with it, which as they are generally found where. 
the tin is most abundant, is called by the natives the mother of 
tin. The face of the hill is in one spot scattered over these, which 
appear to have been brought down from the vein with other matter 
_ from which the tin has been separated by the usual mode of washing. 
It will be noticed, that the granite is completely decomposed, and that 
the crystals would be easily separated by washing. No. tin has been 
raised here since the country came into our possession, but the locali- ° 
ty has been known. It was worked during the Burmese rule, and © 
valued as supplying the richest ore of tin.. A Burmese residing near 
the spot, pointed out the place where his operations had ceased. He 
had followed the direction of the vein alluded to, as well as he was 
able, and had driven a gallery under ground in an inclined direction 
upwards, till the bank above fell in, when the mine was abandoned, 


He stated that he had procured considerable quantities of tin 


daily, and that he often found it in large masses mixed with yellow 
ground above mentioned. Arriving at the spot where his work had 
terminated, I set people to excavate and find, if possible, the vein which 
had been described. It was reached after about two hours’ digging, at 
the depth of five feet from the surface of the cut in the hill in which 
we stood. In about a quarter of an hour, a few baskets of the decom- 
posed granite were removed down the hill, from which 3900 grains 
of thn eataiont peertin oh, BRE ee ee 


On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. 53 


Specimen No. 12, were collected; and the next day 23400 grains, 
equal to 2 lb. 6 oz. and 200 grains of pure tin were found in the same 
manner by one man’s labour in excavating, one carrying down to the 
water, and a third washing.. 

18. This locality appears to be of very promising description, and 
I have little doubt that if the work were aided by ordinary skill and 
means, that a tii miné here would be productive. A vein of tin is,. 
in fact, exposed to the day, and would only require for a considerable 
period of work the precaution of well supported galleries and shafts, 
to allow of its contents being easily extracted. ) 
_ 19.. The Kahan hill is I conceive an indication of a salts re- . 

pository of tin. It is but quarter of a mile from ‘the creek communi, 
cating with the river, which is accessible to any boats. Its proximity 
to Mergui offers also great facility for the procurement of labour and 
supplies. 

20.. The localities therefore which appear to hold out the best 
prospects for tin are, lst, for stream tin, the Thabawlick river and 
the Thengdan river ; and 2d, for mine tin, the Kahan hill. They all 
produce tin of the same nature and quality ; viz. crystals of the na- 
tive peroxide, being a combination of oxygen and. tin only. 

21. No difficulty would be found in procuring labour from Mergui, 
or carrying on tin works at either of these places. 

: 22. Of the existence of tin in considerable quantities, . there 

cannot, from the facts. above stated, be much question; and from 
the trial of the produce of one man’s labour in a given time, there 
appears to be sufficient to justify every expectation of a profitable 
- employment of labour on an extensive scale. 

23. The results, however, which are given in detail, can only be con- 
sidered rough approximations to 'the probable out-turn of tin, with an 
establishment properly” ‘superintended. Much economy in labour 
might be effected in collecting thé sand and gravel for the washers, 
but no better mode could, I think,.be adopted in separating the tin 
in the first instance, than by people accustomed to work with the 
flat conical-shaped troughs before described. ‘The quantity collected 
would fully repay the employment of men in this operation. ~ 
- 24. The tin as produced by thé washers should be. placed on sloping . 
iene and water conducted Over it from a fi ara with holes. 


54 On the Tin of the Province of Mergui. 


for the purpose, in order to get rid of foreign particles, and it would 
then, after by being finely pounded, be ready for smelting. Of all 
metals, tin is in this process the least troublesome after the ore is 
freed from the earthy and silicious particles with which, in other 
countries, it is often mixed. The crystallized form in which the 
ore is here found, renders its separation extremely easy, and the 
whole processes of stamping and dressing, which in England are te- 
dious and expensive operations, can thus be dispensed with. No 
arsenic or sulphur being mixed with the ore, it need not be roasted 
before it is placed in the furnace. 
(25. It will thus be seen, that the tin of the Misnihsdlidoes ctmen 
no ordinary inducement to the outlay of capital, without much of 
the risk, uncertainty, and large previous outlay usually attending 
mining adventures. 
26. The location of the coal mine on the Great Tenasserim river, 

has given rise to much additional cultivation along the banks of that 

iver, where there are many Kareen villages, from which parties 
on the Thengdan could be supplied. Fruit trees, not indigenous to 
the place, and other traces of a considerable population having once 
occupied its banks, are observable on this river. The banks of the 
Little Tenasserim are thinly occupied by Siamese villages. The 
country in this direction, except near the banks of the river, is utter- 
ly unpeopled, and appears always to have been so, 

- 27. Communication by water from the Thakiet to the Thabaw- 
liek tin ground is not open in the dry season, but the distance by 
land is short. The produce of two lines of country, that of the vici- 
nity of the Great and Little Tenassérim river passes the town of Te- 
\nasserim at the junction of these rivers, only eleven miles from the 
Thakiet, and no difficultyin procuring subsistence for working als 
ties on the Thabawliek need be apprehended. 


Although stream ore is worked with advantage in Cornwall, we believe it is Mine-tin 
ore that is chiefly worked at Banka, and other parts of the Dutch possessions, in the Straits, 
with so much advantage. As mine ore occurs under favourable circumstances at Kahan, 
a hill described by Captain Tremenheere on the right bank of the Great Tenasserim, only 
eleven. miles from Mergui, the Coal and Mineral Committee, to which this report has 
been referred by the Government, were of opinion that the ore Ned be worked in that 


locality, with every prospect of success. —Ep. 


ating 


55 


Oa the Manganese of the Mergui Province. By Captain G. B. 
TREMENHEERE. Plate ii. 


1. During my stay at the Tenasserim coal basin, a piece of man- 
ganese ore, (black wad) of good quality, was brought to me by a Ka- 
reen, who stated, that it had been found accidentally in the bank of a 
stream called the Thuggoo, which enters the Great Tenasserim, seven- 
teen miles below the coal site. Subsequently, several other pieces of 
the same ore were brought by Mr. T. A. Corbin, Assistant to the 
Commissioner from the Therabuen river, five miles above the Thug- | 
goo, and from an intermediate spot, the locality of which had been 
previously known, and had been, I believe, originally pointed out by 
Lieutenant Glover of the Madras Army. 

2. In proceeding down the river, I visited these spots, and found 
at each, that a valuable bed of manganese ore existed close to the 
surface of the country. It had been apparently cut through by the 
action of the stream and river before mentioned, leaving a section of 
the bed of ore in their banks, covered only by the debris of the banks 
themselves. Large quantities might have been carried away, but a 
few hand specimens only were taken, which sufficiently shew the 
nature of the deposit, and are fair samples of what might be easily 
collected. 

3. The best Specimens, Nos. 1 and 2, are from the Thuggoo river 
and the bank of the Great Tenasserim. That of the Tnerabuen did 
not appear to be at the surface of so pure a quality, but the exist- 
ence of the bed being known, it is perhaps premature to pronounce 
it an inferior ore from the examination of specimens taken from a 
hole extending not two feet into the bank. No. 5, is a portion of 
- manganese rock projecting into the Great Tenasserim river, near the 
mouth of the Therabuen stream. 

4. For the localities above mentioned, I must refer to the sketch 
accompanying my Report on the tin of this province, recently 
forwarded. 

5. Of the extent of these manganese beds it is difficult to pro- 
nounce. The face of the country in which they are situated is flat, 
thickly overspread with soil, and with the densest jungle. It is not, as 

far I could perceive, intersected by many streams which would afford 


56 «ss Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


"the means of tracing the mineral deposit.” The Great Tenaseerimn 


river has passed through the manganese bed in one spot, 2} miles 
removed from two other points ‘at which it occurs to the north and. 


south, at both of which it is likewise discovered near the surface — 


by the action of the streams Thuggoo and Therabuen. The pro- 
~ bability therefore, is, that it is an horizontal deposit. covering many 
square miles. But without indulging in conjecture, there is suffici- 
ent at the localities referred to, to indicate large quantities of man- 
ganese ore which could be collected by penetrating through the soil 
ying above it, and immediately near the spots in which it is now 
exposed tothe day. ==” 

It occurs in the form of the black oxide, and is the -manganese of 
commerce. It is largely consumed in Europe in the preparation of 


bleaching compounds, eae is valuable to the manufacturer 


of glass.* 

6. The soft black ore, No. 1, fa & Mydsabe of the peroxida of man- 
ganese, known under the name of wad. It contains of water two 
equivalents, or 29 per cent. 

Iron, 1.96 grains by analysis; its specific gravity is 1.47. 
The specific gravity of the grey peroxide, No. 4, is 1.46. 
Moulmein, 11th September, 1841. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici ; 6 eon of Mosses collected 
during the Journey of the Assam Deputation, in the years 1835 and 
' 1836: By W. Gairrrra, Esq. Assist. Surgeon, Madras Estabt. 
(Continued from page 514, vol. ii.) . 
Bracuymentum, Hoox. Brip. Bryow. untv. 
1. Brachymenium contortum, Griff. 
oer beevi' simplici vel fastigiatim ramoso, foliis siccitate con- 
_ tortis, oblongo-lanecolatis_marginibus incrassatis apicem ver- 
_ sus denticulatis, capsula erecta elongato-obovato-pyriformi. 
Hab: Super arbores pinetorum Moflong. 
Caulis brevis, vix bilinealis, innovationibus ramosus, et sepius 
dichotomus. Rami erecti, simplices, caule paullo longiores. 
* It is used in the fumigation of ships, and has hitherto been imported for the purpose 
from Europe. An application has been made to Capt. Tremenheere for a few maunds as s sam- 


ple, and if the Tenasserim manganese is found to answer, the article may be omitted in 
future indents on Europe for Medical Stores.—Ep. 


Ne ee eee 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 57 


Folia siccitate valde contorta, leniter tortilia, marginibus-valde 
revolutis humore patenti-ascendentibus, interdum leniter con- 
torta summa subrosaceim patula, interdum obovata, margi- 
nibus leniter revolutis (apices versus exceptis fibrosis, sur- 
sum attenuatis et apices versus denticulatis, percursa vena in 
cuspidem subulatam folio aliquoties: breviorem ‘scabram ex- 
currente-areolis conspicuis. 

Flores monoici vel dioici; masculi terminales geramitories, cincti 
foliis caulinis terminalibus et ideo quasi ‘ discoidei, foliisque 
- perigonialibus conniventibus multo minoribus, ovato-rétunda- 
tis, apiculatis simili modo, concavis. 

Paraphyses plures hyaline filiformes. 

Antherz plures subsessiles-oblongo, cylindracez, areolate, apice 
dehiscentes. : sf 

Flores feeminei terminales discoidei. 

Paraphyses pistillaque plurima. 

F, Perichzltalia -consimilia, interiora minora. Seta terminalis, 
seepius e dichotomia uncialis vel sescuncialis, rubra, sicca flex- 
uosa tortilisque, humore paullo flexuosa. 

Vaginula longiuscula, subcylindrica, paraphysibus hyalinis filifor- 
mibus pistillisque pluribus obsita. 

Capsula erecta cum apophysi longa capsula paullo breviore obco- 

~ nica, obovato-pyriformis, brunnea, ore valde constricto, lucido, . 
rubro, annulato. _Membrana interna leviter adnata. 

Peristomii dentes operculo detruso primo per paria cohzrentes, 
demum erecto discreti, zequidistantes, reflexo-patentes, medio- 
cres, pallidi, apicibus albidi opaciusculi, linea longitudinali 
notati, trabeculati, capsule firme adhzerentes. 

nterius e membrana areolata punctulato-opaciuscula, sedecies 
carinata, carinis dentibus peristormii exterioris alternis paull 
prominulis, obtusis, ultra interstitia que plerumque bidentato 
breviter productis ; dentes interstitiorum interdum (mora 
Bartramis) conniventes. Membrana secus carinas facile findie 
tur. ! 

Sporula viridescentia, majuscula, levia, immersa globosa opacius- 
cula, 

Columella truncata, inclusa. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 
Operculum diu persistens, conicum, obtusum cum columelle 
apice secedens. 
Calyptra desiderata. 
An. B. nepalense, Schwaeg ; Brid. Bryol. univ. tard 
Habitus illi Leplostomo, RBr. certe affinis. 


2. Brachymenium cuspidatum, Griff. 


Caule brevi ramoso, ramis cylindraceis fastigiatis, foliis lan- 
ceolatis acuminatis integerrimis, vena excurrente cuspidatis, 
marginibus simplicibus, capsula suberecta pease: 

Hab : In sylvis Myrung. 

Caulis primarius brevissimus, innovationibus ramosus. Rami 
erecti, breviusculi, vix semunciales, sicci filiformes, humore 
squarrosuli, Folia siccitate adpressa, humore ascendenti-pa- 
tentia, concava, valde acuminata, vena excurrente in cuspidem 
brevem subulatam patentem preedita, areolis fusiformibus. 

F. Perichetialia magis acuminate oblongiora, marginibus  sub- 
incrassatis. Seta terminalis, uncialis, vel ultra, flexuosula, ru- 
bescens, sicca tortilis, Vaginula brevis, conico-ovata, obsita — 
paraphysibus hyalinis filiformibus pistillisque numerosis. 

Capsula erecta vel paululum inclinata, cum apophysi longe obo- 
vato-pyriformis, rufo-brunnea,—fere Br. contorti, sed.minor. 

Peristemntom exterius e dentibus 16, erectis, imis apicibus subre- 

curvis, trabeculatis, linea aye notatis, rubris, — 
opacis lutescentibus. 

Interius e membrana alta, sordide lutescente areolata, sedecies 
plicata, plicis exeuntibus in dentes breves irregalares, (inter- . 
dum in cilia,) fissis plerumque divaricatis et dentibus p. exter- 
ioris oppositis, sinubus sepius nudis. 


Sporula minuta, levia, immersa diaphana. 


* Culumella inclusa, filiformis, truncata. 


Operculum conicum, obtusum. 
Calyptra desiderata. 
An B. bryoides, Schwaeg. Brid. Bryol. univ, 1. 603 ? 


. Brachymenium filiforme, Griff. 


Caule ramisque elongatis filiformibus, foliis arcte adpressis ovatis 
_muticis mediatenvs }-veniis, capsula cernua vel pendula. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 59 


Hab: In ripis Maamloo; in rupibus inter Surureem et Moleem 
et ad cataractam Moosmai. 

Czspitosum, argenteo canescens; caules basi decumbentes, sub- 

. clavati,-apicem versus innovationibus ramosus, ramique sim- 
plices, interdum longissimi, sepe fastigiati. Folia dense im- 
bricata, sicca madidave arcte adpressa, obtusa vel acutius- 
cula, integerrima, vel minutissime denticulata, marginibus 
simplicibus, vena mediocri medium versus evanida donata ; 
areolis fusiformi-angulatis. 

Perichetialia exteriora caulis terminalia sed acutiora, interiora 
minora. 

Seta terminalis, uncialis, vel ultra, rubescens, siccatione etortilis. 
Vaginula brevis, conica, paraphysibus pistillisque pluribus ob- 
sita. Capsula cum apophysi mediocri obconica (capsula 3-plo 
breviori) obovata, brunnea, ore constricto rubro annulato. 

Membrana interna libera. 

Peristomium exterins connivens, e dentibus 16 angustis, plano- 
subulatis, sordide et pallide rubris, acuminibus setaceis albidis, 
subhyalinis, linea longitudinali inconspicua szpius notatis 
trabeculatis. Interioris membrana alta, solida, areolata, sor- 
dide lutescens, sedecies carinata, carinis dentibus p. exteri- 
oris more solito alternis, productis in dentes irregulares 
breves, vel longiusculos, setaceos, rarius perforatos, interdum 
si breves,-fissos, laciniis divaricatis. (ut in Bartramia.) 

Sporula minuta, lutescenti-viridia, immersa diaphana. 

Columella, inclusa puncata. 

Operculum conicum, obtusum, rubrum, obliquiusculum. 

Calyptra desiderata. 


Bryvum, Linn. 
1. Bryum argenteum, Linn. Hook. 
Hab : Saxa ad Surureem et Nunklow. 
cg, Bryum cespiticium, Linn. 


Hab : Rupes, Churra Punjee et Surureem. Super arborem de- 
lapsam Suddiya. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


. Bryum coronatum, Schwaeg: Brid. Bryol. univ. 1. 650. 


Hab : Colles Khasiyani ; locus nobis ignotus. 
Planta Khasiyana descriptioni Bridelii 1. c. apte quadrat.. . 


Bryum crudum, Huds. e Muse. Brit. 


Hab : Terreste. Pineta Moflong. . 

Variat statura : Caules sepe innovationibus ramosi, folia sepe 
plus minus destructa, vena continua etiam subexcurrente pre- 
dita, innovationum latiora brevioraque. sacs Pr A 


. Bryum coriaceum, Griff.. 


Caulibus sterilibus repentibus, fertilibus erectis simplicibus, foliis 
terminalibus rosaceo congestis obovatis emarginatis denticula- 
sit, setis aggregatis, capsula cylindraceo-oblonga cernua, oper- 
culo longe et oblique rostrato. 

Hab : Rupes humidi maamloo, ubi copiosum. 

Caules steriles ramosi, flagelliformes, fertiles sepius simplices, 
subunciales, basi denudati, radiculoso-villosi. 


| Folia caulium fertilium crassa, coriacea, emarginata, sinu mucro- 


nigero, marginibus diaphanis lutescentibus e cellularum diffor- 
mium sub-triplice serie conflatis, percursa vena subulata com- 
pleta vel intra apicem evanida sepius centro linea fuscescenti 
notata percursa, areolis majusculis sub-6-gonis seepe aer conti- 
nentibus; inferiora magis rotundata, et vix emarginata. 

Caulium sterilium folia inferiora aliis conformia, superiora rotun- 
data vel orbicularia, repanda. 

Pericheetialia exteriora caulina terminalia, interiora minora, in- 

' tima minima, acuminata, integra. 

Flos terminalis, hermaphroditus 

Anthere plures. Pistilla numero varia. 

Paraphyses copiosissime, hyaline, filiformi-clavate. 

Seta pallida, raro solitaria, seepius 2-3, ne 6, aggregate 
sescuncialis, sicca parce tortilis. 

Capsula cernua vel nutans, sepius hdrizontalis, fasco-viridis 
immatura tantum visa. 

Peristomium exterius e dentibus 16, latis, breviusculis, trabecu- 
latis, linea longitudinali obsoleta notatis. 


| Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 61 


- Interioris membrana lutescens ; ciliis ample perforatis, ciliolis 


binis ternisue cohzrentibus interjectis. 

Operculum e basi convexa longe et oblique rostratum, (rostro 
seepius incurvo) capsula dimidio brevius. 

Calyptra longe subulata, hinc fissa. 

Medium quasi tenet inter B. punctatum et affine. 


Bryum Sollyanum, Griff. 

Caule repente, ramis erectis, foliis terminalibus, rosaceo-congestis 
obovatis acuminato-cuspidatis marginatis, marginibus medium 
infra revolutis integris supra planis argute serrulatis, vena intra 
apicem subevanida, capsula oblongo-cylindracea cernua, oper- 
culo acute mammillari. 

Hab : In sylvis Surureem, et copiose in pinetis Moflong. 

Rami erecti, unciales vel ultra, inferne nudiusculi radiculoso- 
villosi, interdum apice vel infra proliferi. 

Folia rosaceo-patentia, confertissima, maxima, semuncialia, vel 
ultra, lalitudine extrema fere 3-linealia, breviter acuminato- 
cuspidata, cuspide semi-torta, argute serrulata, dentibus serra- 
turis sepe biseriatis, percursa vena crassa sursum attenuata 
intra apicem subevanida, lete viridescentia, areolis anguste 
hexagonis siccitate flexuosula interdum subtortilia. 

Flos hermaphroditus femineusve, terminalis, vix discoideus, 
cinctus foliis perigonialibus caulinis multo minoribus, erectis, 
lanceolato-linearibus linearibusve, carinatis, acuminatis, acu- 
mine in subulam scabrellam longam exeunte, marginibus sub- 
simplicibus infra medium insigniter revolutis, sursum planis 
obsolete denticulatis, vena basin acuminis versus evanida. 

Anthere plurime, clavate, breviter peptate, apice dehiscentes, 
celluloso-areolate. 

Paraphyses plurime, hyaline, filiformes, eequaliter septate. Pis- 
tilla floris hermaphroditi pauca, feeminei copiosa, 2-3 sepius 
fecundata. 

Seta terminalis, sepius bine termeve, 1} vel 2-uncialis, ru- 
bescens. 

Vaginula ovato-conica, mediocris. 

Capsula raro pendula, sepius subtransversa, maxima, longitu- 


62 


y & 


1 
Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


dine trilinealis, oblongo-cylindracea, inequilateralis, basi 
solida, demum brunnea, collo parum constricto, ore annulato. 

Membrana interna libera. 

Peristomium exterius connivens, e dentibus 16, magnis, plano 
subulatis, utrinque trabeculalis, lineis compositionis albis con- 
spicuis notatis pallide rubris, acuminibus setaceis albidis. 

Peristomuim interius e membrana lutescente altiuscula, insigniter 
sedecies plicata, ciliis valde acuminatis, .crebre ampleque 
perforatis punctulatis ; ciliolis interjectis hee subeequantibus 
tenuissimis, seepius ternatis conspicue trabeculatis. — 

Sporula minuta, viridescentia, globosa, levia, immersa opacius- 
cula. Columella longe apiculata, inclusa; operculum concolor. 
Calyptra desiderata. 

Species pre aliis ampla et palchra. 

B. Umbraculo proximum. Hook ; Musc. exot. p. 16. t. 133. 


Bryum longirostrum, Griff. 

Cuale sterili repente, fertili erecto, foliis (terminalibus) rosaceo- 
congestis oblongo-ligulatis obtusis marginatis denticulatis 
vena in mucronulum excurrente, setis aggregatis, capsula 
cernua cylindraceo oblonga, opercula longe et oblique ros- — 
trato. 

Hab: In arboribus vel ripis sylvarum, collium is ta 
inter Churra Punjee et Nunklow. 

Folia omnia subconformia, siccitate crispata, seepius recurvata et 
carinata, oblongo-vel spathulato-ligulata. 

Pericheetialia intima, minima: 

Sete aggregate 2-8, capsule sepius hurizontalis, inaquilate 
ralis, annulata. 

Peristomium exterius humore connivens, pallide lutescens; dentes 
plano-subulati, breviusculi, trabeculati. 

Interioris membrana solito saturatius lutescens, ciliis acuminatis 
valde poratis, ciliolis simplicibus binisve interjectis. 

Sporula globosa, lavia, immersa opaciuscula, 

Columella longiuscule apiculata, inclusa. 

Operculum e basi convexa longe et oblique rostratum, capsula 
} brevius, lutescens, margine rubrum. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 63 


Calyptta longe subulata, apice uncinata, ad medium usque fere 
fissa. 

A B. ligulato, vix distinguendum operculo longiro-nisistro, et 
floribus hermaphfoditis ? 


\ 


Preroconium, Hook. 


Pterogonium squarrosum, Griff. 


Caule repente pinnatim ramoso setigero, ramis erectis simpli- 
cibus, foliis siccatione adpressis humore patentissimis late 
ovatis valde concavis breviter apiculatis integris aveniis, 
capsula erecta oblongo-ovata, operculo conico-subulato. 

Hab: Super arbores sylvarum Tingrei vicinitatisque Suddiye. 

Rami siccatione seepe depressi, apice interdum elongati. 

Folia dense et undique imbricata, late ovata, interdum suborbicu- 
laria, breviter acuminata, apices versus fusco-tincta, areolis 
angustis fusiformibus, basilaribus utriusque lateris ampliatis 
subquadratis. 

Perichetialia lanceolato-oblonga, acuminata, acuminibns exte- 
riorum et minorum patentissimis vel recurvis, interiorum 
rectis. 

Seta vix semuncialis, pallida, sicca parce tortilis. 

Vaginula subcylindracea, pallida. Paraphyses plures, tenues, 
filiformes. Pistilla pauca. 

Capsula exannulata, albida, zequilateralis. 

Peristomium e dentibus 16, plano-subulatis, acutis, binatim com- 
positis, linea longitudinali transversisque distinctis, interdum 
apices versus obsolete perforatis, sub lente centies augente 
obscure striatis, badio-rufis, apicibus diaphanis ; serius albi- 
dum, fragile. gh 

Sporula magna, valde ineequalia, rotundata. 

Columella apiculata, inclusa. 

Operculum leviter inclinatum, obtusius culum. 

Calyptra profunde dimidiata, levis. 

Affine Pterogonio Myuro, Hook. Muse, exot. p. 9. t. 148, a quo 
precipue differt caule repente, ramis erectis squarrosis ap- 
proximatis, foliisque acuminatis. 


64 


2. 


3. 


4. 


Muscologia, Itineris Assamici. 


Pterogonium aureum, Hook. Musc. exot. p. 8. t. 147, 


Brid. Bryol. univ. 2. 180. 


Hab : Super arbores—Mumbree. 
Folia plantee Khasiyyance multo_magis patentia quam demonsrat 


Hookeriana icon.—Capsulas seniores tantum vidi, quarum 


_ peristomia ‘decolorata.. Praecedenti valde affine, discrepans 
 foliis minus patentibus, membranaceis, lanceolato-acuminatia, 
marginibusque recurvis. 


Pterog onium flavescens, Hook. Muse. exot. p. 8. t. 155, 
Bridel. Bryol. univ. 2. p. 18, 

‘Hab: ‘Super arbores Myrung. 

Omnia fere plant nepalensis, sed statura major, et ramifiontio 
indistincte pinata. Variat dentibus peristomii solidis perfora- 
tisve. 

Pterogonium neckeroides, Griff. 

Caule repente pinnatim ramoso, ramis ascendentibus, foliis as- 
cendenti-patulis lanceolato-acuminatis planiusculis tenuissime 
semi-veniis subintegris, capsula obliqua cylindracea inclinata — 
annulata, operculo conico-subulato brevi. 

‘Hab : Super Buddlee speciem arboream Mumbree. 


_ Rami depressi,- siccatione filiformes.’ Folia sub-4-fariam ‘ie: 


cata, siccitate adpressa, humore patentia,. marginibus: medium - 
infra leviter revolutis, areolis Apgitis, mae, baseos 
majusculis quadratis. . ith; 

F. Pericheetialia avenia, acuminibus patulis, 

Seta axillaris, solitaria, vel aggregate, sed ad iatooaebeatien di- 
versas seinper pertinentes, pallida, sicca tortilis; vaginula me- 
diocris, cylindracea ; paraphyses pistillaque paucissima, — a 

. Capsula cylindracea, inzequilateralis, sont paullo attenuata, 
brunneo-rufescens. 

Peristomii dentes 16, subulati, similis. breviusculi, coriacei, 
solidi, lutescentes, mergiaibas: valde opacis, triaggot mang 
nati. ; 

 Sporula majuscula, vix uuniforniia, ston, ‘vn virdewentin 


immersa opaca. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 65 


Columella filiformis, inclusa, apiculata; operculum obliquius- — 
culum. 

Calyptra non visa. . 

Variat statura. 


NECKERA. . 
Hedw. ex pte. Bridel. Bryol. univ. 2. 226, ex pte. © 
1. Neckéra curvata, Griff. 


Caule repente pinnatim ramoso, ramis apice attenuatis curvatis, 
_ foliis undique imbricatis late ovatis ovatisve-breviter acumi- 
“natis minutissime denticulatis seepius aveniis, capsula erec- 
- tiuscula cylindracea leniter arcuata, operculo concico subulato. 

Hab: Rupestris prope torentem Bogapanee collium Khasiyano- 

Caulis elongatus. Rami siccitate filiformes, madidi subcyliudracei. 
Folia subquadrifariam. imbracata, siccitate appressa, humore 
ascendentia, concaviuscula, sub-lente forti minute denticulata, ~ 
avenia vel basi brevissime bivenia (potius bistriata,) fusco- 
tincta, caulinia late-ovata, acuminata, ramena ovata, acuta vel 
breviter acuminata. 

F, Perichetialia exterioria conforma, recurva; interiora majora, 
oblongo-lanceolata, valde acuminata, recta, subintegra. 

Seta lateralis, aucialis vel paullo longior, rubro—sanguinea sicca 

Vaginula oblongo—cylindracea pallida. Paraphyses hyslini, ‘ 
filifomes, plures. Pistilla pauca. 

Capsula obliquiuscula, leviter arcuata, anguste cylindracea, fer- 
rugineo-brunnea, — 

Membrana interna libera, stipitata: 

Peristomium utrumque cum membrana interna scedens, exterius 
e dentibus 16, plano-subulatis, binatim compositis, solidis, 
rigidis, fragilibus, conniventibus, etrabeculatis, infra. medium 
rufis, supra idem lutes centibus. Interius e ciliis totidem 
altenantibus, brevioribus, éetacies, Dinatim compositis, solidis, 

_ pallide cites sana sieptanlh, basi unitis in sor el ns 
perbrevem. 

Columella subcylindracea, Scicialo persistente exerto. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


Sporula viridescentia, globosa, levia, mixta cum massis ovatis, 
aliquoties majoribus, compositis, in membrana hyalina in- 
clusis. 

Operculum conicum, obtusum, capsula fere 4-plo brevius. 

Calyptra levis, demidiata. 

Habitus omnino Hypni. 


; Neckera lurida, Griff. 


Caules repente subpinnatim ramoso, foliis undique imbricatis 
ovato-lanceolatis brevissime acuminatis cymbiformibus basi 
obsolete biveniis integerrimis, capsular oblongo cylindracea 
basi subapophysata operculo conico. 

Hab: Rupes Surureem. 

Caules elongati repentes, subpinnatim ramosi, sepe denudati. 
Folia undique imbricata, patulo-ascendentia, acuta, cymbifor- 
mia, marginibus leviter involutis, basi obsolete biveniis. 

Perichetialia fere praecendentis. 

Seta precedente paullo brevior, apice in apophysi pS 
incrassata. 

Capsula inclinata, leviter arcuata, obliquiuscula, rubra incomplete 
annulata. — 

Columella, sporulaque preecendentis. 

Peristomii exterioris dentes fere ut in preecedente, sed duplo 
breviores magisque evoluti et trabeculati. 

‘aterius e ciliis totiden alternantibus, inferne obsolete carinatis, — 
brevioribus vel subzquantibus, lutes centibus, diaphanis, basi 
unitis in membranam brevissimam (vix demonstrandam) den- 
tium peistomii exterioris basibus arcte cohzrentem. 

Precedenti, quamvis habitu sat distincta, proxima, 

An species Anomodanti et Hookeri et Taylori. 

Neckera pulchella, Griff. 

Caule repente pinnatim ramoso, ramisque subcomplanatis, foliis 
undique imbricatis lanceolatis acuminatis, concavis, basi bi- 
striatis apicem versus minute denticulatis, capsula cylindracea 
leniter arcuata, peristomio interiore tenerrimo, operculo coni- 
co-subulato. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 67 


Hab: Sylve Mumbree. 

Species pusilla. Rami presertim siccitate complanati, depressi. 
Folia undique imbricata, lateralia disticha, concava incurva, 
acuta, basi inconspicue bivenia, areolis angustis, basilaribus 
utrinque laxis et quadratis, marginibus subincurvis. 

Flos feemineus axillaris, gemmiformis, cinctus foliis perichetia- 
libus conniventibus acuminibus patulis, interiorum longissimis 
rectis vel subtortilibus. Pistilla circiter 12. Paraphyses ma- 
gis numerose hyaline, longiores. 

Seta axillaris, lineas tres vix excedens, rubescens, sicca valde 
tortilis. Vaginula mediocris, pallida, ore membranaceo. 

Capsula suberecta, obliquiuscula, annulata, brunnea. 

Peristomium exterius e dentibus 16, humore incurvis, plano-su- 
bulatis, breviusculis, vix trobeculatis, transversim crebre line- 
atis, linea longitudinali inconspicud, valde fragilibus, pallide 
rubro-brunneis, acuminibus hyalinis. Interioris cilia breviora, 
alba, utrinque repanda, fere moniliformia, tenerrima, fragilli- 
ma, membrana basilari tenuissima dentibus peristomii exteri- 
oris cohzerente. 

Sporula mediocria, rotundata, fusco-viridescentia, immersa se- 
mi-opaca, 

Columelle apiculus acutissimus, primo exsertus. 

Operculum subulatum, rostro curvato, capsula vix duplo_bre- 

__ vius. | 

Calyptra profunde dimidiata, levis. 

Medium quasi ambigit inter N. curvatam et N. letam, precipue 
hujus varietatem A.e qua tantum differt statura minore, ra- 
mis minus complanatis, operculo longiore peristomioque in- 
teriore tenerrimo. 

Dentis peristomii exterioris fere ut in Pterogonio. 


Neckera léta, Griff. 


Caule repente pinnatim ramoso, ramis complanatis, foliis lanceo- 
latis acutis integerrimis basi sepius bi-tri-striatis, capsula 
_ erecta cylendracea, operculy subulato. 
Hab : Super arborem lapsam prope cataractas ‘“‘Moosmai.”” Loci 
editi Assamici prope Suddiyam et Negrogam. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


Folia undique imbricata, antica posticaque adpressa, literalia 
disticha, ascendentia, concaviuscula, pallide viridescentia. 

Flores masculi axillares, gemmiformes. Fol perigonialia exte- 
rioria rotundata, interiora oblongo acuminata, acumine patente 
ascendente. __ 

Paraphyses pauce, hyaline, antherarum longitudine. Anthere 
plures, circiter decem, subsessiles, apicibus dehiscentes, in- 
conspicue saltem post dehiscentiam areolate. — 7 

F. Perichetialia acuminata, acuminibus exteriorum’ recurvis, 
interiorum ascendenti-patentibus. 

Seta axillaries pallida, subuncialis, sicca tortilis. Vaginula brevis, 
pallida, ore rubro. ' Paraphyses hyaline, filiformes. 

Pistilla pauca, stylis longis. 

Capsula anguste cylindracea, basi solida, subsqualis, pallida, 
sub lente modice augente areolis quadratis reticulata, ore 
levi, rubro, exannulato. 

Membrana interna adnata. 

Peristomium exterius humore connivens, siccitate erectum, breve; 
dentes binatim compositi, subulati, rigidi, fragiles, vix trabe- 
culati, castaneo-brunnei. 

Interius e ciliis totidem, subconcoloribus, solidis, ridiinaibial 
diaphanis, basi in membranam mediocrem sursum concolorem 
cum peristomis exteriore leviter cohzerentem unitis. 

Columella filiformis, apiculo semi-exserto. 

Sporula subuniformia, levia, immersa subdiaphana. 

Operculum obliquiusculum, alatum capsula sub 5 plo-bre- 

vius. 

Calyptra profunde dimidiata, levis, apice stylifera. 

Variat : 

A. ramis magis complanatis, foliis estriatis, (an semper ?) Peris- 
tomii exterioris dentes siccitate ascendenti-patentes, longiores 
perforati. 

Hab: Negrogam et Suddyia. 

An distincta ob dentes p. exterioris s perforatos (characterem i inso- 
litum) coloremque. ; 

B. Fuscescens. 

Hab: Nunklow. 


Muscologia Itineri is Assamici. 69 


+B Recker brevitostris,” Griff. 


‘Caule repente, ramis complanatis ascendentibus apice valde atte- 
nuatis, foliis ouatis lanceolatisve cuspidato- acuminatis conca- 
vis marginibus revolutis subintegerrimis basi szepius bistriatis, 
capsula cylindracea inclinata, Apiren to conico subulato rostro 

'. curvato. 

Hab : Arbore utasieia: 

Rami aseendentes, simplices, ambitu Jineari-lanceolati, apicibus — 
valde attenuati, basi sepius setigeri. 

Folia sub 4-fariam laxe imbricata, basi concaviuscula, lanceotata, 
valde acuteque acuminata, sublente forte minute denticulata, 
raro prorsus avenia ; partis rami attenuati minora, falcatim- 

- jncurvata,’ disticha. In axillis foliorum inferiorum adsunt 

| appendicule, longissime, tenuissimz filiformes, septate, pauce, 
utrinque -leviter attenuate, articulis vel omnino materia gru- 
mosa velpartim materia coagulata repletis. 
: 5 F, Pericheetialia acuminata, acumine- denticulato. 
Seta lateralis, 7- 8-linealis, filiformis, \oicagseieen sicea  tor- 


. tilis. - 
Vaginula detent, clinda Parphyses subnulle: Pistilla 
_ pauca. 
Capstila inclinata, apte cpindaces, angusta, exannulata, fusco- 
- brunnea. 


Membrana interna adnata, ore carnosiore acters 

Peristomium exterius e dentibus 16, angustis, subulatis humore 
apicibus patulo-reflexis, i inconspicue trabeculatis, lineis trans- 
versis subconspicuis, VCE aenaeimans notatis, albidis, 
punctulato-opacis. 

Interius ; cilia totidem ilcriiiitie: breviora, tenuissima, sane 
lato opaca, basi unita in’ membranam brevissimam areolatam 
dentibus peristomii exterioris leviter adnatam.. 

Columella. apiculata, inclnsa, subcylindracea. 

Sporula fusco-viridescentia, deformia immersa, majora opacius- 
‘ cula, minora diaphana. 

Operculum fuscescens, e basi conica breviter rostratum ; rostro 

- obtuso, ut plurimum i incurvo, 
Variat, A, Ramis erectis, foliisque augustioribus striatis, appen- 


0 Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


diculis copiosissimis oculo nudo villos ferrugineos mentientibus 
valde conspicuis, capsula oblongo-cylindracea, operculoque 
longiore. 

Hab : Pineta Mofiong. 

Appropinquat sectioni ultime. 

6. Neckera rostrata, Griff. : 

Caule repente subpinnatim ramoso, ramis ascendentibus brevibus, 
foliis. undique imbricatis lanceolatis valde acuminatis con- 
cavis, sub integerrimis aveniis, capsula inclinata cylindracea, 
operculo conico-subulato inclinato capsulam fere zquante. 

Hab: Sylva Myrung, abi muscis aliis mixta vee Super pinuia 
vicinitate Myrung frequentissima. 

Arborea, ceespitosa. Folia, etiem sicca, palenti-ascendentia, pluri- 
fariam imbricata, marginibus subrevolutis. ' 

Seta lateralis, rubescens, vix uncialis. | 

Vaginula arcta. Paraphyses pitillaque pauca. 

Capsula inclinata, equalis, cylindracea, utrimque paullo atte- 
nuata, brunea, exannulata. . 

Membrana interna adnata. 

Peristomium exterius siccitate apice inflexile, e dentibus 16, 
binatim compositis, linea longitudinali notatis, trabiculatis, 
subulato-setaceis, longis, apicibus opaciusculis, 

Interius: Cilia totidem alternantia, conniventi-erecta, angustis- 
sima, opaciuscula illis paullo breviora: membrana basilaris 
brevis basi peristomii exterioris coheerens. 

Columella inclusa, apiculata. 

Sporula insequalia, rotundata, levia, immersa diaphana. 

Operculum e basi conica longe et oblique subulatum. 

Calyptra dimidiata, levis. 

7. Neckera copillacea, Griff. 

Caule repente, ramis subascendentibus brevibus, folius undique 
imbricatis lanceolato-acuminatis aveniis apicem versus minute 
denticulatis, seta longissima capillacea, capsula erecta urceo- 
lato-ovata, operculo conico subulato obliquo brevi. 

Hab: Super arbores sylvarum Surureem rara, 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 71 


Folia ascendenti-patentia, concava; perichetialia oblongo lan- 
ceolata, acuminibus denticulatis. 
. Seta 14 uncialis, pallida, flexuosa. 
Capsula ereeta, zequalis, fusco-brunnea, exannulata. 
Peristomium utrumque album; exterioris dentes siccatione un- 
dulati, plano subulati, obtusi, conniventes, lineis compositi- 
onis inconspicuis, opaco-punctulatis, basi unitis in membranam 
brevem areolatam solidam sedecies plicatam. ' 
Sporula sordide viridia, levia, immersa opaciuscula. 
Columella inclusa. | 
Operculum conico-subulatum, obliquum, capsula triplo brevius. 
Calyptra non visa. 
Species distincta, Leskiz approximans. 


8. Neckera comes,* Griff. 


Caule repente subpinnatim ramoso apice attenuato penduol, 
foliis laxe imbricatis lanceolato-acuminatis aveniis acumine 
minutim denticulato, seta brevi, capsula inclinata ovato-ob- 
longa, operculo conico-subulato obliquo. 

Hab: Colles Khasiyani, inter Churra Punjee et Nunklow. Prope 

_ maumbree frequentissima, semper que sodalis. 

Caules apicibus sepius valde attenuati gracillimique, spithamei, 
vel paullo ultra, muscis sociis arcte implicati. | | 

Folia palentissima, margine uno involuto, concaviuscula, 
prorsus avenia, acuminatissima, partium elongatarum dis- 
ticha et sepe aristata. 

Perichzetialia externa rotundata, mutica ;' interiora caulinis sub- 
conformia, acumine ascendente ; intima longissime acuminata, 

Seta pallida, curvatula, subbilinealis ; vaginula subcylindracea ; 
paraphyses plures, hyalin, filiformes. Pistilla numerosa, 

Capsula exserta, zequalis, exannulata, pallide brunnea. 

Membrana interna inferne libera. 

Peristomium utrumque album, fere hyalinum, humore connivens, 
ori capsule arcte cohzrens. 


* Come—because it always occurs mixed with other mosses. i 


=I 
aa | >| 


. Neckera aurea, Griff. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici.— 

Exterioris dentes 16, subulato-setacei, linea longitudinali sub- 
inconspicua transversisque crebris conspicuis exsculpti. 

Interioris cilia alternantia, breviora, submoniliformia, carinata, 
interdum obsolete perforata, basi unita jn membranam 
brevem, hyalinam, reticulatam. - : 

Columella apiculata, inclusa. 

Operculum e basi convexiuscula oblique neues, capsula 
paullo brevius. 

Calyptra dimidiata, levis. 

Affinis videtur N, acuminate, Hook. Muse. exot. 2. 15. t. 151. 


Caule repenet, seepius longissime pendulo pinnatim ramoso, foliis 
undique imbricatis e basi lanceolata acuminatissimis serrulatis 
mediatenus-veniis, seta brevissima, capsula subexserta oblongo- 
urceolata, operculo conico-subulato recto, calyptra mitreeformi 

Hab : Pineta Maamloo et Moflong. Margines sylve Mumbree, 
ubi frequentissima aliorumque Muscorum Jungermanniarum- 
que socia. 

Fusco-aurea, squarrosa. Caules longitudinis varise, paullo elon- 
gati copiose fructiferi, vel longissimi, pedales quin. fere 
sesquipedales, seepiusque steriles. Rami plerumque simplices, 
unciamque vix excedentes. Folia sicca subdisticha, madida pa- 
lentissima, oblique torta, margine uno basin versus involuto, 
plus minus undulata, areolis angustissimis, partium attenuata- 
rum disticha apice fere pilifera. Variant angustatione, margi- 
nibus subinvolutis, venaque ultra medium evanida. — 

Flores moneeci; masculi axillares, gemmiformes, cincti foliis 
perigonialibus concavis, ovato-lanceolatis, lanceolatisve acu- 
minatis, integris, aveniis, interioribus minoribus. Paraphyses _ 
paucissime, 2-3, filiformi-clavate, hyaline. 

Anthere pauce, subquine, breviter stipitate, apice tekileonntie: 
ore membranaceo irregulari, cellulis sine ordine om 
areolate. 

Folia perichetialia caulinis euhenlaeala, subintegra vel acu- 
mine denticulata ; interiora majora, capsulam subsequantia, 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 73 


Seta brevissima, vix linealis, crassiusculava, ginula ovata, ore 
‘¥brunneo, seta subduplo-brevior, paraphysibus fere ex- 
pers. 

Pistilla. pauca. 

Capsula suberecta, equalis, exannulata, setam paullo excedens, 
fusco-brunnea. 

Membrana interna adnata. 

Peristomium exterius albidum; dentes plano-subulati, longe 
acuminati, acuminibus flexuosis, longitudinaliter obsolete 
transversim magis conspicue notati, vix trabeculati, opaci 
humore reflexo-erecti. Interius e ciliis totidem ejusdem lon- 
gitudinis teniussimis, capillaceis, binatim -compositis, solidis, 
punctulato-opaciusculis, basi carinatis et unitis in membranam 
brevem obsolete sedecies plicatam. 

Columella cylindracea, apiculata, inclusa. 

Sporula rotundata, immersa opaciuscula.. 

Operculum lutescens, capsula vix duplo brevius. 

Calyptra. mitreformis, glabra, basi aliquoties fissa fe 
inflexa, fissura una profundiore. ; 

Habitu precedenti valde affinis. Variat statura et gracilitate, 
capsulaque interdum exserta. © 


10. Neckera crispatula, Hook, Muse. exot. 2. 15. t. 151. 
—Brid. Bryol. univ. 2. 236. 


Hab: Colles Khasiyani, inter - Churra et Nunklow, super oo 
arboresque. __ 

Fructiferam non vidimus. 

Muscus hujus sectionis preeczteris speciosus. Caules elongati, 
sepe penduli. Folia siccatione adpressa, tri-striata fere’ tri- 
carinata, leviter flexuosa. 

Flos, masculus axillaris, gemmiformis, ovatus. Folia perigo- 
nialia concava, avenia ; exteriora rotundata, mutica ; interiora 
ovata acuminata, acuminibus ascendentibus vel subpaten- 
tibus. 

Paraphyses filiformes, hyaline, rectze. 

Anthere circiter decem, subsessiles areolate, saturate brun- 
nee. 


74 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


11. Neckera fuscescens, Hook. Musc. exot. 2. p. 14, t. 157. 


Pilotrichum fuscescens, Brid. Blyol. univ. 6-224. 


Hab: Socia N. aurez, comitis filamentoseque. Nuperius col- _ . 


libus Naga, Borhauth vicinis, legimus. 

Folia quam iconis Hookerane, 1. c. magis concava. 

Flores moneeci? axillares; masculi gemmiformes, ovati, cincti 
foliis perigonialibus concavis, ovato-rotundatis vel ovatis, 
breviter acuminatis, acuminibus rectis vel patulis. Paraphy- 
ses plures, hyaline, filiformes. Anthere subsessiles plures, 
cylindraceo fusiformes, areolate-brunnee. Flores feminei 
subcylindracei, gemmiformes; folia perichetialia inferiora 
minima, rotundata ovatave, acuta, avenia ; interiora longissi- 
ma, alba, lineari-lanceolata, acuminata, subintegra vel apices 
versus minute denticulata, citra medium 1—venia. 

Paraphyses pauce, interdum subnulle. 

Pistilla pauca.—Florem femineum, quoad wewnente, masculo 
apte similem semel solum vidimus. 

Seta brevissima. Vaginula cylindracea, ore hennaneieo, pa- 
raphysibusque nonnullis longissimis flexuosis rectisve varidque 
longitudinis stipata. 

Capsula immersa, foliis pericheetialibus interioribus longe su- 
perata.- 

Membrana interna adnata. 

Peristomia infra marginem oris capsule oubiamensiabes ex- 
serta. 

Exterius humore connivens, castaneo-brunneum, apice pallidum ; 
dentes plano-subulati, diaphani, lineis compositionis conspi- 
cuis notati, leviter trabeculati; interius e ciliis totidem alter- 
nantibus, subsequantibus, a medio infra circiter binatim com- 
positis, setaceis, articulis incrassatis, basi in membranam bre- 
vissimam concolorem liberam unitis, p. exterioris dentibus 
preeteris similibus. 

Sporula valde inzequalia, rotundata vel angulata, levia, immersa, 
diaphana, in acervulo fusco-viridia 

Columella crassa, sub cylindrcea, apiculo gracillimo in- 
cluso. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 75 


Calyptra basi aliquoties fissa, fissura una profundiore, villis 
flexuosis numerosis ascendentibus simplicibus (paraphysibus) 
paucissimisque compositis eadem directione (foliis abortienti- 
bus) obsita. Pistilla etiam gerit. 

Variat folliis magis concavis, integris ; apiculo productiore tortili ; 
peristomii exterioris dentibus irregulavibus linea longitudinali 
obsolete notatis ; interioris ciliis minus evolutis quin inter- 
dum simplicibus. _ Varietas rara, forma foliorum sequenti 
accedens. 


12: Neckera filamentosa, Hook, Musc. exot. 2. p. 14. t. 158. 
Pilotrichum filamentosum, Brid. Broyl. univ. 2. 264. 


Hab : Colles Khasiyani, super arbores ; muscorum, presertim vers 
N. fuscescentis socia. Collibus “ Naga,” altitudinis circiter 
1000-pedalis nuperius legimus, fructifera vers nobis ignota. 
Inter Churra Punjee et Nunklow. 

Flos masculus axillaris, gemmiformis, cinctus foliis perigoniali- 
bus conniventibus, valde concavis ; exterioribus ovato-rotun- 
datis, muticis vel breviter apiculatis; interioribus majoribus, 
acuminatis, rectiusculis. Paraphyses copiose, breviuscule, 
antheras longitudine paullo excedentes, hyaline, filiformes. 
Anthere breviter stipitate, majuscule, 12-15, oblongo- 
cylin-dracez, areolis subquadratis reticulate, apice dehi- 
scentes. ; 

Var. A. Statura multo minore, vena longiore, infra apicem 
evanida. . 

Fores feeminei gemmiformes, axillares. Folia perichetialia foliis 
perigonialibus supra descriptis subsimilia, acuminibus scabris 
sepius rectis: interioribus minoribus lanceolatis, acumibus— 
denticulatis ; intimis minimis, setiformibus scabris. 

Paraphyses paucissime, hyaline, filiformes, articulis seepe alter- 
natim compressis. Pistilla pauca 8-10, stipitata. 

An ita distincta a planta Hookeriana cujus ‘folia perichetialia 
“obtusa, emerginata, atque pilo longo sub-flexuoso termi- 
nata, nervo obscuro ; intra hec folia parphyses numerose.” 

Hab : Loci Assamorum editi, ‘ Negrogan’ vicini. 

( To be continued. ) 


. Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India, with a notice of its 
Fisheries. By J. Fonsxs Royze, M. D.* 

Isinglass is a substance well known in commerce, from its employ- 
ment both in the arts and in domestic economy. It is the purest 
known form of afiimal jelly, and is obtained from the swimming 
bladder of a few kinds of fish, chiefly of the genus Sturgeon, the 


Acipenser of zoologists. This is indicated by some of its continental ~ _ 


names, of which the English is no doubt a corruption;—thus. in 
German, Isinglass is called Hausenblase, from hausen, the great stur- . 
geon, and blase a bladder. It is exported in the largest quantities 
from the rivers of Russia, principally from those which flow into the 
Black and Caspian Seas, but also from the Sea of Aral and the Lake 
Baikal. The fishery affords employment to numerous individuals, and 
is still further important from the fish, both in their fresh and in their 
dried state, forming a great portion of the food of the inhabitants of 
Russia. Some, moreover, are exported, the eggs converted into Ca- 
viare, and the sounds or swimming bladders into Isinglass. 

The preparation and commerce of Isinglass are not of recent origin. 
It is, indeed, remarkable for having been well known at the time of 
the Romans, and probably at even still earlier periods. For we learn 
from Pliny, as translated by Holland, “ A fish there is named Icthyo- 
colla, which hath a glewish skin, and the very glue that is made 
thereof is likewise called Icthyocolla (that is fish-glue). Some affirm 
that the said glue, Icthyocolla, is made of the belly and not of the 
skin of the said fish, like as bull’s-glue. This fish-glue is said to 
be best that is brought out of Pontus,t the same also is white without 
any veins, strings, or scales, and very quickly melteth or resolv- 
eth.” In comparing the different passages of this author, as well 
as referring to the accounts of previous (as Dioscorides) as well as — 

* We have been favoured with the proof sheets of a Pamphlet bearing the 
above title, written under authority at the India House, and the very useful con- 
tents of which we place before our readers. Our own observations on the same 
subject, and which we intended for the present number, we must now reserve for 
the 10th No --Ep. Calcutta Journal Natural History. 


+ Laudatur Pontica, candida, et carens venis squamisque et que celerrime 
liquescit.—Plinii, lib. 32, cap. xxiv. 


- Production of Tsinglass on the Coasts of India. 17 


- of subsequent authors (see Hardouin’s Pliny), where the same fish is 
mentioned, we find it described as -being without bones and without 
_ scales, but provided with bucklers on its skin; also that its name is 
Acipenser, and that it is found in the Danube and in the rivers falling . 
into the Euxine. . Hence, there can be no doubt that the substance 
- was Isinglass, and that it was obtained from some species of Sturgeon. 
The continuance of this:commerce from ancient’ times until the. 
present day is a proof of the abundance as well as of the facility 
of the fishery.. It may likewise be taken as an indication of the ex-. 
cellence of this Isinglass, considering that it is a substance prepared 
from an organ like the sound, so generally found in fishes. . The 
whole quantity exported from Russia is considerable, but we will 
at present refer only to that which is imported into England. From 
McCulloch’s Commercial Dictionary, we learn that the imports in 
_ 1831 and 1832 amounted on an average to 1,9843 cwt.a year. In 
the Report of the Committee on the Import -duties, we see, that in 
the year 1839 there were imported 1,860 cwt. with additional 25 
cwt. from: British possessions. The former yielding a duty of 4,039/. 
and the latter of 19/.* 
_- Considering the nutritious nature of Isinglass, and the facility i it 
affords in making elegant dishes for the sick and convalescent, as 
well as its general uses in confectionary and cookery, its employ- 
ment in clarifying wine, beer, &c., and its utility also in some other of 
the arts, we should have expected a considerable increase in the 
importation even from 1831 to 1839. Instead of this, there is, in 
' fact, an actual decrease, though this is only to a small amount. 
There is no doubt that the very high retail price of. the best Isin- 
glass, amounting to 18s., or even higher, per pound, must check its 
consumption in domestic economy, and necessitate only the inferior 
kinds being employed in the arts. Perhaps its being principally 
_ supplied from the more difficultly accessible parts of Russia may 
also have some effect. -But the consumption limited by these causes 
is still further diminished by substitutes being found for it, in a con- 
stituent of the animal frame, of which it itself is the purest form. 


* Isinglass, the produce of, and imported from, any British possession, pays l5s. 
10d., but otherwise imported a duty of 2/. 7s. 6d. per cwt. 


78 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


This is gelatine, which is very abundantly diffused throughout 
the animal kingdom. — 

Gelatine is familiarly known to every one in the form of animal 
jelly, and is found in considerable quantity in different parts of 
@ great variety of animals. It is distinguished from other animal 
substances, which it may resemble by being soluble in hot, or rather 
boiling water, and forming a transparent and colourless solution, 
_ which on cooling becomes a solid tremulous jelly. This contains so 
large a proportion of water that it readily reliquifies on being warm- 


ed. Albumen, which, when liquid or in solution, may be mistaken: 


for gelatine, is distinguished from it by becoming solid when ex- 
posed to heat, This may be witnessed in the boiling of an egg, the 
white of which consists of albumen, and was of a glairy consistence 
previous to the application of heat. 

Gelatine, when pure, is transparent and nearly colourless, devoid 
of both taste and smell, easily preserved when in a dry state, but 
“soon putrifying when moist. . It is soluble in. the different dilute 
acids as well as in the fixed alkalies, but the compounds formed with 
the latter, do not form a permanent lather with soap. A charac- 
teristic of gelatine is the copious precipitate which is formed from 
any of its solutions on the addition of tannin, as in the form of a 
decoction of oak bark, of galls, or of catechu. The precipitate forms 
a grey ductile mass which smells like tanned leather, with which it 
is indeed identical in nature.* The extent to which pure gelatine 
can unite with water, and still become a solid fremulous mass, ‘has 
been ascertained by the experiments of Dr. Bostock. He found that 
when water contained no more than ~ of its weight of Isinglass, it 
still stiffened completely on cooling, and even if it contained only 


a, the solution was evidently gelatinous when cold, though. it 


did not become concrete. ‘“ One of the most remarkable properties . 


of gelatine is,” as Dr. Prout says, “its ready convertibility into 
a sort of sugar, Wy 6 procme eile tu: that bg, OUR, eaeeney be 
so converted.” 

It has been stated that gelatine is very abundantly diffused through 


the animal kingdom. Thus, though not contained in any of the 


* Corrosive sublimate does not precipitate gelatine, and therefore serves to. 
distinguish it from albumen, as both are precipitated by galls and oak-bark. 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. © 79 


healthy animal fluids, it is obtained in large proportion from skins, 
most of the white and soft parts of animals, as cartilage, tendon, and 
membrane; also from bone and horns. It is likewise found in a 
large proportion in cartilaginous fishes, and forms the natural ce- 
ment of many shells. From all these gelatine may be extracted 
by simple boiling in water, with different precautions in regard to 
cleaning. From bones it may be obtained by the same process, but 
with the assistance of pressure, and still more easily, if they have 
been first acted on by muriatic acid, to remove the phosphate of 
lime. The obtaining of gelatine may thus give rise to a number of 
employments, which may be practised wherever these offals are 
obtainable, and the product, in the form of gelatine, can be turned 
to account. 

The solution of gelatine, which, on cooling, becomes a tremulous 
mass, may by further evaporation be converted into a hard and brit- 
tle substance, well known by the name of glue. This is made from 
the parings of hides or horns of any kinds, the pelts obtained from 
furriers, the hoofs and ears of horses, oxen, calves, sheep, &c. In 
France it is made from the raspings and trimmings of ivory, the 
refuse pieces and shavings left by button-mould makers, and from 
other kinds of hard bone. Size, again, is made by boiling down in 
water the clippings of parchment, glove-leather, fish-skin, and other 
kinds of skin and membrane. This is used either alone or mixed 
with flour paste, gum arabic, or trugacanth, and employed by book- 
binders, paper-hangers, and painters in distemper. 

Mr. Hatchett, many years since ascertained that the viscidity and 
tenacity of the varieties of gelatine are qualities inherent in each, 
depending in one, on the age of the animal, the old giving a much 
stronger glue than the young; in another, on the substances by 
_ which it is furnished, as glue obtained from the skin is much stronger 
than the solid gelatine from bones, sinews, or any other part. Mr. 
H. further found the force of adhesion of the glue from skin was 
generally proportionate to the toughness of the skin, those which 
were soft and flexible yielding a thinner gelatine than the hard bony 
skins, at the same time that they yielded it more easily. 

Considering the nature and sources of Gelatine, and the high 
price of Isinglass, it is not surprising that the former should be fre- 


80 ‘Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India.’ 


quently substituted ‘for’ the latter. ‘Hence we have different kinds 
of British gelatine and French gelatine, “as well as a Patent gelatine, - 
selling at retail prices of from 8s. to 12s., Whtn the est lsinighens ts. 
selling for 18s. a pound." 

~~ Gelatine is one Gf the. principal constituents of moat of ths animal 
substances employed as food, and it arranged by De, Prout among” 
the albuminous group, all of which, he says, ‘ ‘ differ from. the olea- 
_ ginous and the saccharine principles in this respect : that they con- 
_ tain a fourth elementary principle namely azote.” It forms one of 
the constituents of bone, from which it may be separated even ages 


. after the animal has ceased to exist, as in’ the case of the bones of -_ 


the Mammoth, from which gelatine was separated and tasted at the 
table of the Prefet of Strasbourg. As it is found in other refuse 
animal matter, it has been proposed and employed especially in 
hospitals and prisons, and some public institutions in France as an 
‘article of diet in the form of soups, &c., which has by some been 


a disparagingly called “soup of gaiter buttons.” 


In some. recent experiments, it has been ‘attempted to prove 
that gelatine or animal jelly affords no nutriment, or not sufficient 
_ to support: the’ life of the more highly developed animals, Similar 
experiments have formerly been made with other articles of diet. 
such as sugar and gum, and now with Gelatine, Albuinen, Fibrine, 
and Fecula, and all with the sdme results, so as to prove that none of 
them: singly are calculated to afford nourishment and support life. 
For, in fact, man was not intended to live upon any one of these sub- . 
stances alone, but upon # mixed diet. So Flesh, Bones, and Gluten, 
being compound bodies, supported life perfectly. Dr. Prout arranges 
all nourishing substances, capable as they are of assuming an infinite 
variety of forms, under the three heads, or staminal principles, 
of the Saccharine, the Oleaginous, and the Albuminous group.* 
And says as all the more perfect organized béings feed on others that — 
are organised beings, their food must necessarily consist of one 
or more of the above three staminal principles. Hence, the diet 
Se ee ee must 


* Gelatine he considers as the least perfect kind of . siigurnens matter i Existing 
in animal bodies. 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 81 


contain more or ei of the three staminal principles, and therefore. 
Gelatine may be one of them. : 
Isinglass, as already stated, is one of the purest forms of animal 
jelly, and is brought to market i in different forms, sometimes in that 
of simple plates, at other times rolled up in different shapes, or cut 
into fine threads, When of good quality, Isinglass is of a whitish 
colour, thin and semi-transparent, but tough and flexible, destitute — 
of taste as well as of smell. The inferior kinds are thicker, yellowish 
coloured, opaque, and sometimes having a fishy smell and taste. 
‘When placed in cold water, it becomes soft, then swells, and’ if held 
up to the light in this state is opalescent. In boiling water, Isinglass 
is entirely dissolved, with the exception of a very minute proportion 
of impurities, which Mr. Hatchett ascertained did not amount to 


more that 1.5 parts in 500; these consisted of earthy residue, 


which appeared to be the phosphates of soda and of lime. A solution . © 
of one part of Isinglass in 100 of water when cooled down assumes - 


_ the form of a clear and colourless jelly ; which is a compound of pure 


gelatine and water. Though the best Isinglass is thus completely 
dissolved in hot water ; yet. much of that found in commerce does not 
become so, in consequence of the presence of albuminous parts. ee 

With respect to the action of acids and alkalies, as well as of 
tannin and other chemical re-agents, the effects are the same as those 
produced on a solution of gelatine. 


_ Isinglass, being mild and unirritating in its nature, and atthe same. 
time nutritious, is much employed as an article of diet for the sick 


and convalescent, and the fine shreds into which it is cut.and kept in 
shops, give great facilities: for making a jelly in the shortest possible 
time. This can be made as palatable and nourishing as any. by the ° 
addition of sugar and milk, acids or spice ; about one-third or half an 
ounce is sufficient for a pint of water. It may also be taken in the 
form of a soup with the addition of salt, spices, and sweet herbs, or 
it may be employed medicinally as an emollient and demulcent, 
either externally or internally.. The best kinds of Isinglass are alone 
employed in articles of diet and for the best confectionary, being add- 
ed in small quantities to other, especially vegetable, jellies, to give 
them a tremulous appearance. But gelatine is now frequently sub- 


stituted. 
M 


82 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


Isinglass is also employed in making court-plaster, which, in 
France, is called sparadrap d’ Angleterre ; it is a thin coating of Isin- 
glass with a little tincture of benzoin spread on black sarcenet. It is 
also employed for giving a lustre to some kinds of woven fabric ; 
but it is more extensively used for clarifying different liquors, such 
as wine, beer, and coffee, than for any other purpose. The inferior _ 
kind, called cake Isinglass, being brownish coloured, and having an 
unpleasant odour, is only employed in the arts, and for the purposes 
of glue. . 

The great consumption of Isinglass—necessarily however of the 
inferior kinds—is chiefly by the brewer, in the process of fining. 
This he effects by the use of Isinglass, which he dissolves in sour 
beer to the consistence of thick mucilage. A little of the solution 
being added to the liquor to be clarified, causes the subsidence of all 
the suspended matter in the course of a few hours, when the liquor 
remains perfectly transparent. The sounds of codfish are said to be 
employed for the same purpose, though I cannot learn that many are 
imported, except in a salted state, for food. The white of egg, and 
the serum of blood will also produce the same effect as far as trans- 
parency is concerned. The mode of action of these substances in 
this process is usually explained by supposing that the floating par- 
ticles become entangled within the Isinglass, as in the meshes of a 
net, and, uniting with it, form insoluble compounds, which precipi- 
tating, are carried downwards, and thus leave the supernatant liquor 
free from all impurity. Mr. Donovan explains this process by sup- 
posing that the substance added, by dissolving in the water, lessens 
its affinity for the suspended particles, which thus set free, subside 
by their own specific gravity. 

Such being the uses of Isinglass, and its consumption being no 
doubt limited by its high price, it is desirable to examine more 
minutely into the present sources of supply, and to inquire whether 
efficient substitutes, in the form of new varieties of Isinglass, may not 
be obtained from other parts of the world. 

It has been mentioned that Isinglass is chiefly obtained from the 
rivers of Russia, which fall into the Black and Caspian Seas, and that 
it is principally formed of the swimming bladders of fishes of the — 
genus Acipenser, or Sturgeon. These belong to the great subdivision 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 83 


of cartilaginous fishes, which are so named from the skeletons being 
devoid of bony fibres, and chiefly composed of cartilage, with the lit- 
tle calcareous matter deposited in small grains. Among these along 
with the Sturgeons, are arranged the Shark, Ray, and Skate, as well 
as the Lamprey and the Myxine, the most er of fishes, and 
indeed of vertebral animals. 

The Sturgeons are easily distinguished by having bony bucklers 
implanted in longitudinal rows on their skin, and by having their 
heads, to use Cuvier’s expression, similarly cuirassed. The mouth is 
small, devoid of teeth, and placed under the muzzle. They resemble 
ordinary fish by having their gills free, which have but a single 
orifice, and by being oviparous. Internally, they are characterised 
by having a large swimming bladder, which communicates by a wide 
hole with the cesophagus. They ascend several rivers in great 
numbers from different seas, and thus give rise to very p ofitable 
fisheries, as their flesh is in some countries esteemed as food, both in 
a fresh and salted state, while ‘their eggs form Caviare, and their 
sounds Isinglass. . 

As the genus Acipenser is known to consist of several species, it 
might be expected that Isinglass is yielded by more than one of them. 
This is found to be the case with several, though all the species of 
the genus have not yet been accurately determined. A few have 
been known from early times ;’ several were determined by Pallas, no 
less than nine are figured and described in the Medical Zoology of 
Brandt and Ratzeburg.* 


* Medizinische Zoologie von J. F. Brandt und J. T. C. Ratzeburg. Ber- 
lin, 1829. 

The following are the species which are best known, in Empnpeence of their be- 
ing caught and valued for their products: — 

The Common Sturgeon (Acipenser Sturio)—Br. and R, tab. iii. fig. 1,—which 
is usually about six or seven feet in length, and is found in the Atlantic Ocean, on 
the coasts of France and of England, in the North Sea, Baltic, and German 
Ocean, whence it ascends the rivers of France and Germany. It is occasionally 
caught in the Thames, and used formerly to he considered a royal fish, and much 
prized, probably on account of its rarity. ‘The flesh, somewhat resembling veal is 
eaten both in a fresh and salted state. The roes yie.d an excellent Caviare, the 
swimming-bladders may yield Isinglass, but are not applied to any use, probably 
because too few are obtained at a time. 


84 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


Fishing occupies a great number of people, affords food to many 
of the inhabitants, and is the source of considerable revenue to 


The gréat Sturgeon (Acipenser Huso)—Br. and R. tab. i. fig. 1.—Suppl. tab. i. 
fig. 1,—called hausen or husen by the Germans, and beluga by the Russians, 
attains a great size, being often twenty feet in length. It is an’ inhabitant of the 
Caspian, especially of the quieter bays and gulfs, and of the rivers which flow into 
it, and of their tributaries. It ascends these great rivers from the sea, towards the | 
end of winter when they are frozen, in order to deposit its spawn in spring, and is 
said to return to the sea in the autumn.’ The fishery is performed by contract. 
Many of the fish caught are kept in pieces of water, and are again brought up in 
winter through holes made in the ice. Then the mass of the fish becomes frozen, 
when it is distributed in this, as well as in a salted and pickled state, through the 
interior of Russia. The roe and the Isinglass are at the same time separated. A 
single fish is said sometimes to yield as much as 120 pounds of roe, with which 
caviare is prepared. This is principally consumed in Russia, Germany, Italy, and 
by the Greeks during their long fasts: but lately the consumption has much in- 
creased in England; that made by the Cossacks of the Oural is usually preferred. 
The belugas also afford a considerable portion of oil, and the whole fish yields a 
considerable revenue to Russia, About seven poods and a-half of Isinglass are ob- 
tained from 1,000 fish. The roe, or caviare, of 1,000 fish weighs 100 pood, or 4,000 
pounds. This species, according to Dr. Martius, yields Leaf Isinglass of three 
qualities—fine firsts, firsts, and seconds, 

The Osseter (A. Guldenstadtii, Br. and R. tab. iii. fig. 2). This species is wide- 
ly diffused, being found in the Black and Caspian Seas and the rivers which flow 
into them, as well as in their tributaries; also in. Lake Baikal. It yields about. 
one-fourth of all the Caviare and Isinglass of commerce. The caviare iis one of 
the best kinds, and is preferred to that of the belugas. It is probably this species 
which is called the Sturgeon in the above situations. One thousand, produce two 
poods and a half of the best Isinglass, and the same number of fish not more than 
60 poods of caviare or roe. Both staple and leaf Isinglass are yielded by this 
species. The varieties of the former are Patriarch, Astrachan, and Astrachan 
firsts, seconds, and thirds, also leaf and book at Sallian (Martius). 

The Sterlet (A. Ruthenas)—Br. and R. tab. ii. fig. 2,—is also very generally 
diffused, being found in the Caspian and Black Seas, as well as in the Arctic 
Ocean, in many of the rivers which flow into them, and also in the tributaries; 
likewise in Lake Baikal. It was transferred by Frederick the Great to the Lakes 
of Pomerania and by Frederick the First of Sweden into the Malar and Hamarby 
Lakes. Its flesh is prized. It yields the best Isinglass, especially for inlaid 
works. In commercial language, leaf and book (first and second). also staple 
Isinglass are yielded by this species, and its roe yields caviare. 

The Sevruga or Sewrjugha, Starred Sturgeon (A. stellatus, Pallas)—Br. and _ 
R. tab. iii. fig. 3,—is a native of the Caspian and Black Seas and of their tributary 
rivers, also of the Lake of Aral, One thousand sevrugas produce one pood and a 
quarter of superior Leaf Isinglass, and sixty poods of the best caviare. 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 85 


Russia. ‘Those of the Volga are particularly productive, and comsist 
of the Carp, the Pike, the Trout, the Herring, and of the«Pilchard ; 
but to a still greater extent of the Sturgeon, Beluga, and Salmon, 
besides of the Lampreys and Mackerel in the Crimea for pick. 
ling. , 

M. Schnitzler says, that the Sturgeon fishery is: of considerable 
value: 1,850,500 caught | in the year 1793, in the Volga, near 
Astrakhan, yielded 124,970 poods of caviare and 3,375 poods o 
Isinglass. The net value‘of the Russian fisheries is calculated oe 
him to amount to more than 10,000,000 rubles. __ 

The following statement of the produce of the Ruseian fisheries of 
the Caspian and its tributary streams, in 1828 and 1829, is extracted 
from the’ official Report made to the Minister of Commerce at 
St. Petersburgh. 


| | 


Number . 

of -Per 3 , 
dgons em-' Stur- | o* fer ge Fish Car- sin ass. 
Year. ployed  geon, Sevruga. Beluga. avin: ih Care [" 8 
ing. |’ : i | | 


Z 


| 
| Poods. 1b.| Poods. Ib. Poods.Ib.- 
1828 | $887 | 43,035 |. 653,164 | 23,069 | 34.860 11,207 381,225 27 
1829 | 8760 | 68,325 | 697,716 20,30 | 28,420 7h 173 264 1,092 22 
' 
; x 


Pallas, in his Travels in the Southern Provinces of the Russian 
Empire, states that the emoluments of the fisheries in the Volga and 
the not less productive shores of the Caspian Sea, may be considered 
as the principal support of the inhabitants of Astrakhan. It would 
be difficult to find in the whole world, except on the banks of 
Newfoundland, a more productive fishery; or one more advantageous 
to the government, than those on the Volga and the Caspian 
Sea united. During the fasts of the Greek church and the weekly 
fast days, which together amount to at least one-third of the year,. 
this fishery ‘affords the principal food ‘to the whole European part 
of Russia, and its populous. capitals. Many thousands of indi- 


The other species figured in the same work are Acipenser brevirostris. tab. i. 
fig. 2. A. Schypa, tab. i. fig. 3, and Suppl. tab. i. fig, 2. A. Ratzeburyii, tab. i. 
fig. 3. A. Lichtensteinii, tab. ii. fig. 1. With A. Maculosus and Oxyrbynchus of 
North America described, but not figured. 


86 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


viduals are employed, and acquire wealth either by fishing and con- 
veying the fish on rafts or sledges, or by selling them in the mar- 
kets. 

The whole value of the Sturgeons of different kinds caught in 
the waters of Astrakhan and the Caspian Sea, amounts to the annual 
sum of 1,760,405 rubles.* To this must be added the value of the 
Persian fishery at Sallian, which, when established only a few 
years, yielded annually upwards of 300,000 rubles, « It might 
be still more lucrative, if the injudicious fishermen would preserve 
the great number of fish, instead of throwing them into the sea as 
useless, after having collected their roes and air-bladders. 

“The most valuable production of the Sturgeons,” Pallas con- 
tinues, “ is the Isinglass prepared from their air-bladders. Accord- 
ing to the list of exports printed by the English factory at St. 
Petersburg, there has been exported in British vessels, from 1753 
to 1786, from 2,000 to 3,000 ; in later years usually upwards of 
4,000, and in 1788, even 6,850 poods of that article. The exporta. 
tion to other countries has also amounted, within these few years, 
to above 1,000 poods. The large and almost incredible demand, 
has, at the same time, tended to increase the price of the different 
qualities of this commodity at Astrakhan itself ; and on the exchange 
of St. Petersburg, whence Isinglass of the best quality, so late as 
the year 1778, did not exceed the price of 36 rubles a pood, it has 
lately been advanced to 90 rubles.” 

Isinglass being prepared from the swimming-bladder of certain 
fishes, and this being an organ generally, though not universally, 
diffused through that class of the animal kingdom, it seems remarka- 
ble that it should not be more generally employed for the purpose of 
yielding so valuable a commercial article. The fact, however, is, — 
that though Isinglass of the finest quality, and in the largest quanti- _ 
ties is yielded by, it is not confined to, the Sturgeon tribe, for even 
in Russia the Silurus Glanis, Cyprini, and Barbel yield it, and we 
meet in commerce with Brazilian, New York, and Hudson’s Bay 
Isinglass. 

* Products of the fisheries of the great ig ied AMOUNE tO. sseeesveees 341,535 

Little ites he sees ccesevowceess seneeeceaveeseerens 549 Odd 


Sevrugas. AO ERR ee MOK eee ee eT EHH EH ETOH TESTES tees oe gah325 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. © 87 


The fishes which produce it on the coast of Brazil have not been 
ascertained. Camera supposed it to be a species of Gadus.*. Mr. 
Yarrell informs me that no species of Gadus is caught on the coast 
of Brazil. The common Cod prefers water of a low temperature ; 
though found all the year about Boston, it migrates northward from 
New York when warm weather begins. The fishes producing Isinglass 
in Brazil, he further writes, are probably species of the genera Py- 
melodus and Silurus, or closely allied genera. ~ 

The Brazilian Isinglass is imported from Para and Maranham. It 
is very inferior in quality for domestic purposes to the best imported 
from Russia, which sells for 12s. per lb., and the other from about 
3s. to 3s. 6d., and even as low as 9d. per lb. It is in the form of 
Pipe, Block, Purse, Honey-comb, Cake, and Tongue: Isinglass, the 
last formed of a double swimming-bladder. The specimens known to 
Mr. Yarrall appeared to him ta belong to different species of Fish. 

The Isinglass obtained from North America, in the form of long 
ribbons, is produced, according to Dr. Mitchill, by Labrus squeatea- 
gue, at New York, which is called weak fish, about fifteen inches in 
length, and above six pounds in weight, forming one of their most 
abundant fish, and the principal supply of their tables. One author 
states that the thick silvery swimming-bladders are pressed, and — 
others that the intestines are cut into strips, and I am told, pressed 
between iron rollers to form Isinglass. 

The Labrus Squeateague is Otolithus regalis of Cuvier (the Johnius 
regalis of Bloch), of the tribe Sciznoides. These are allied to the 
Perches, but have more variety, and a more complicated structure in 
their natatory bladders ; almost’ all good for eating, and many are 
of superior flavour. To the genus Otolithus also belong some Indian 
fishes, as O. ruber, Cuv., the Peche pierre of Pondicherry, called 
there panan, is fifteen inches long, and is caught in abundance all the 
year, being esteemed as food, and O. versicolor, Cuv. This genus is 
closely allied to Sciena, of which species as S. Aquila (maigre of the 
French, and umbrina of the Romans), &c., are found in the Mediter- 
ranean. S. Pama or Bole Pama of the Ganges resembles the maigres, 


* Notice sur l’icthycolle fonrnée par differentes espéces de gadus que l’on 
péche au Brésil. La Médicine éclairée par les Sciences Physiques, i. p. 364. 


88 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


but has a singular natatory bladder. Whien twelve or fifteen inches 
long, it is erroneously called whiting at Calcutta, and furnishes a light 
and salubrious diet. It is caught in great abundance at the mouths 
of the Ganges, but never ascends higher than the tide. 

In New England, the intestines of the common Cod (Morrhua 
vulgaris). are cut into ribbon Isinglass: in Iceland also the Cod is 
said to yield Isinglass, so also the Ling (Lota Molva). Mr. Yarrell 
informs me that he has no reason to believe that Isinglass is so pre- 
pared, at least in the southern parts of this country; the fish being 
brought alive in well-boats as far as possible. Cod sounds as used in 
this country, are mostly preserved soft by salting, and are dressed 
for table as a substitute for fish. 

Hence we see that Isinglass is not confined to the rivers of Rus- 
sia, nor to the tribe of Sturgeons, but that it is found in fishes on the 
warm coast of Brazil and the cold one of Iceland. It would not, 
therefore, be surprising to find it yielded by .some of the great va- 
riety and shoals of fishes, on the long extended coasts of the British 
Empire in India. Some experimental quantities have, in fact, al- 
ready been imported’ from Bengal into this country .within the last 
year. Indeed, from the accounts published, and the additional facts 
which will be adduced, it will appear that a trade in Isinglass, and 
in some of its substitutes, has‘long been established on the coasts of 
India. ‘ mi 
The first who appears to have drawn attention to this subject, was 
an anonymous correspondent in Parbury’s Oriental Herald in Junu- 
ary, 1839, who stated, that the Chinese haditong been engaged in 
trade with Calcutta in Isinglass. Also, that this was afforded by a 
fish called sulleah in Bengal, and that from half a pound to three- 
quarters of a pound was obtained from each fish, 

In consequence of this notice, the. attention of Mr. McClelland, 
of the Bengal Medical Service, was was turned to the subject, and he. 
has pursued it with a degree or « or energy icy and intelligence, which 
renders it extremely probable, that Isinglass may be regularly esta- 
blished as an article of export from Bengal to Europe. , 

Mr. McClelland’s first paper was published at Calcutta in ‘June, 
~ 1839, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, vol. viii. p. 203. Inthis — 
he informs us, that having procured a-specimen, from the bazar, — 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 89 


of the fish yielding the Isinglass, he -was surprised to find it to 
be a species of Polynemus, or paradise fish, of which several species 
are known for their excellence as articles of food. Of these he ad- 
duces the Mango Fish, or Tupsée Mutchee of the Bengalese (Polyne- 
mus Risua, Buch.) as a familiar instance, though this is remarkable 
as being without a swimming-bladder :* while the other species have 
it large and stout. These occur in the seas of warm climates; five 
are. described by Dr. Buchanan in his Gangetic fishes, but only two 
are of considerable size, occurring in the estuary of the Hoogly, and 
probably in those of the Ganges. - One of these, with another large 
_ species is also described by Dr. Russell in his work on the fishes of 

the Madras Coast. That figured in tab. 184, and called maga- 
 boshee is Polynemus uronemus of Cuvier, while the maga-jellee, tab. 
183, named P. tetradactylus, by Shaw, is probably P. Teria of 
. Buchanan. Both, but especially the first, Russell says, are esteemed 
for the table, and called row ball by the English. 

Mr. McClelland ascertained that the species affording the Isinglass, 
is the Ploynemus Sele of Buchanan, sele or sulea of the Bengalese, 
described but not figured in his work on the Gangetic fishes (p. 226). 
Mr. M. has, however, published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society 
of Bengal, a figure from Dr. Buchanan’s unpublished collection’ of 
drawings, which are kept at the East-India Company’s Botanic 
Garden at Calcutta. ° This figure, he states,.conveys an excellent 
representation, about half “the size of a specimen, from which 
he obtained sixty-six grains of Isinglass. Dr. Buchanan describes 
the Sele as affording a light nourishing food, like most of the fishes 
which he has called bola, but as inferior to many of. them in flavour. 
It is common in the estuaries of the Ganges, and is often found 
weighing -from twenty to twenty-four pounds ;+ and may perhaps be 
the. Emoi of Otaheiti, the Polynemus lineatus of La Cepede, the P. 
slebeius of Broussonet.t This, according to Bloch, is by the English 


* We have since found this to be likewise the case with Polynemus iar: 
JSilis, Cuv.—Ep. 


t Its ordinary size when in season is from 3 to 4 feet in Tength, and’ from 50 to 
100 lbs.—Ep, 


¢ The Polynemus Emoi, P. lineatus, eolynemus plebeius, Polynemus sele of 
authors, are different names for one and the sdme species, called Suleah by the 


Nae 


90 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


called king-fish, and is the Kala mine of John from Tranquebar, and 
abundant in the Kistnah and Godavery. Buchanan further states, 
that the Sele has a strong resemblance to the above named maga- 
booshee of Dr. Russell. 

As the anonymous author above referred to, states, that from half a 
pound to three-quarters of a pound may be obtained from each fish ; 
Mr. McClelland supposes either that P. Sele attains a much larger 
size than twenty-four pounds, the limit given to it by Buchanan, or 
that Isinglass is also afforded by a far larger species, namely P. 
tetradactylus, Terea, or teria bhangan. This, as we have seen, is 
identical with the maga-jellee of the Coromandel Coast, and which 
Buchanan often saw six feet long in the Calcutta bazar, and was in- 
formed it sometimes equalled 320 pounds avoirdupois in weight. It 
is considered by the natives as a wholesome diet, although seldom 
used by Europeans. 

Mr. McClelland says, he has frequently seen them of a uniform 
size, that must have weighed from fifty to a hundred pounds at least, 
loading whole cavalcades of hackeries (carts) on their way to the 
Calcutta bazar during the cold season. Both the Sele and the teria 
bhangan must consequently be very common there from November to 
March. 

Whether both species have natatory bladders was doubtful when 
Mr. M. wrote his paper.* But from the large quantities and size 
of the Isinglass which has been produced in the Bay of Bengal, it is 
probable that it is yielded by both the above species. P. Sele 
is supposed to be a variety of P. lineatus, which is said to be com- 
mon on all the shores to the eastward ; but if so, Mr. M. says, it 
seems strange that the Chinese should send for it to the Hoogly. 
The same might, however, be said of the Cod, which, though caught 
in abundance on the coasts of Great Britain, is also diligently sought 
for on the banks of Newfoundland. He also inquires whether 


Bengalese, and which is well known all round the coasts of India by various local 
names.—Ep. 

* We have since ascertained that of the various species of Polynemus, the 
Suleah alone affords Isinglass, as well as the principal supplies of the article 
known in commerce as Cod Sounds, or Fish Maws,—Ev. 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India, 91 


Polynemus Emoi and P. plebeius, supposed by Buchanan to corres- 
pond with his Sele, contain the same valuable substance ? and do 
either of Russell’s species, the above named maga-booshee and maga- 
jellee (Indian Fishes, 183-184) yield it? These questions are very 
interesting, in connection with the information which will be after- 
wards given, respecting the extent of the fishery along the coasts of 
India, and of the export to China of large quantities of a substance 
which is 16 doubt one form of Isinglass. 

Dr. Cantor, in a paper read before the Royal Asiatic Society, 
on some Indian fishes found in the Bay of Bengal, says, ‘To the 
genus Polynemus, I shall add a species called by the natives salliah 
or saccolih. It enters the mouths of the Ganges in shoals, and is 
equally sought by Europeans and natives for its excellent flavour, 
which much approaches that of salmon. I have seen it from three 
to four feet in length and eight to ten inches in depth. . It ap- 
pears equally plentiful all the year round, which is also the case with 
a nearly allied species, the Polynemus quadrifilis of Cuvier.” In re- 
ference to this passage, Mr. M. says, ‘I am not sure that the species 
of Polynemus, Dr. Cantor particularly refers to in his paper as 
salliah or saccolih, is not the very fish that affords Isinglass ; 
if so, it appears to be considered by Dr. Cantor as a new 
species.”’* ; 

In his letter, dated 17th February, 1841, Mr. McClelland says, 
“ that besides the Polynemus Sele, the fishes described by Dr. 
Buchanan, under the name of Bola, all afford a considerable quanti- 
ty of Isingless.t Some of the specimens sent are from a species of 
this genus. Several of the Siluridze also afford it in large quantities, 
especially the species marked Silurus raita by Dr. Buchanan.” This 


* We have now reason to think the species in question is the Suleah to which 
so many names have already been applied by different authors.—Ep. 

t+ The Bole of Buchanan are the Scienoides of Cuvier, one of which inhabiting 
the coasts of North America, is said to afford Isinglass. Another which we have 
recently received from Dr. Heddle of Bombay, where it is called Gol, and with 
Polynemus sele contributes to the supply of fish-maws exported from that coast ; 
we are not yet sure of the species, but we think it has been indicated by 
Buchanan as a variety of his Bola chaptis, called Nuria in Jessore. The 
same species also exists on the Tenasserim coast, from whence we recciyed a 


92 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 
is interesting and important, as it is probable, as before stated, that a 
Silurus yields a Brazilian Isinglass ; and, Silurus Glanis, in the wouth 
of Russia, and of several kinds as, firsts, seconds, book, &c., one 
of which is esteemed in England, it might, therefore, be produced of 
as good quality by the Indian species of Silurus. 

The first sample received at the India House was sent to the author 
by Mr. Cantor, of the house of Cantor and Co., of Calcutta, with a 
note, dated 30th October, 1840, stating that it was a»specimen of a 
consignment sent by his house in Calcutta.* 

The next samples. were forwarded by Mr. Rogers to Mr. Melville, 
the Secretary of the East India Company, for the Court of Directors, 
with a note stating that they were curious as being the first impor- 
tations of Isinglass from India. No.-1, was valued at 4s., and No. 
2.+ at 1s. 8d. per lb., alco thet tip ipeeeiien See 
pected to exteed fifty tons during the year. 

“Tide theeiaes apetenplaledeg.ortianimeatannmada aie G. Rem- 
_ frey, stating that No. 1.{ was Isinglass simply taken out of the 
fish and dried by exposure to the sun; and that No. 2. was the same 
substance partially prepared, by being cut open, the’ interior mem- 
branes taken out, washed with told water, and beat on a piece of 
wood; by which means it is flattened, extended, and loses weight. 
He further states, that another description of Isinglass is common at 
Calcutta. “This is prepared by the natives to imitate, and is sold for 
local consumption for one-fourth of the price of European Isinglass. 
They take the above Isinglass, when in its freshest state, and pull it 
into shreds with their fingers, then dry it in the sun, and mix with it ° 
Satna portions af chunnte (Qewseney ne) Shanta 
damp, &c. 

_ Mr. Remfrey also adverts to the fact, that while Europeans were 
unacquainted with the existence of this trade, the Chinese had from 


specimen for which we were indebted to Mr. E. O’Reily and Mr. Blundell. — 
Both the Tenasserim and the Bottbay specimens, were too much decayed to 


allow of a sufficiently accurate Np SoHE but the species is probably unde- 
scribed.—Ep. 


* On the part of a: constituent.—Ep. 
+ ~ These numbers du not eem to refer to the same specimens. 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of Fadl. 93 


time immemorial been supplied with Isinglass from Bengal. He - 
says, that when in Calcutta he was informed that ‘the natives of 
the eastern countries were in the habit of coming through the Sun- 
derbuns to a large village, near the salt-water lake, six miles south- 
east of Calcutta. There they obtain as much as 800 to 900 maunds 
of this Isinglass for the China market, and pay for it 25 to 40 rupees. 
per maund. The Chinese, if is surmised, use it for their soups, 
glues, &c. It is imported in the same state as specimen No. 1.’ It 
was at this village that both the samples sent were purchased. The 
Chinese are said also, in one account,-to bring back to Calcutta the 
Isinglass which they had exported from its neighbourhood, but in an ~ 
improved form, and at a considerable advance of price. 

-Isinglass, the produce of Bengal, though apparently unknown to 
the merchants and European residents of Calcutta, has been celebra- 
ted in China from the-earliest times. Dr. Lumqua, a Chinese 
physician, long resident in Calcutta, informed Mr. McClelland that 
-’ the Bengal Fish-sago (as Indian Isinglass is called in China), is well 
known throughout the empire. Algo that nothing could surpass his 
surprise, on his arrival nearly: twenty-five years since in Calcutta, 
-when he found that, with the exception of his countrymen, who car- 
ried on the trade, no one appeared to know or care anything yout 
ever for the article in question. 

The next quantity réceived, was haunted by the Governor-Ge- 
neral, the Earl of Auckland, to the Court of Directors, as samples of 
an article of considerable interest ; sin order that the Court might, 
if they saw fit, obtain the opinion pf competent ‘persons, as to the 
purposes and probable extent to which Bengal Isinglass of the des- 
cription, sent could be applied. 

‘These samples had been prepared by Mr. McClelland, who forward- 
ed forty-six seers of Bengal Isinglass, in different forms, obtained 
chiefly from the Polynemus Sele, with other specimens from the 
species-of Bola already.alluded to. He states that his attention had 
for two years been directed to the subject to ascertain the extent 
‘to which Isinglass may be procured, and the means by which its 
manufacture may be improved. 

Mr. McClelland also informs us, that in order to ascertain the value 
. of the article, (merely stripped of all impurities calculated to injure 


4 


94 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


its quality, without any regard to appearance), a considerable 
quantity had been sent to England. An account having been receiv- 
ed of the sale, it appears that this Isinglass realised only Is. 7d. 
per lb., which was considerably under its prime cost. Forty-four 
maunds and ten seers of Fish Sounds having been bought for 
40 rupees a maund, required an expense of 100 rupees for cleaning 
after purchase from the fishermen, thus costing altogether about ls. 
ld. per Ib. This quantity, or 2,235 lbs. at 1s. 7d. per lb., realised 
£176. 18s. 9d.; but the charges in India and in England, consisting 
of packing, demurrage, freight, insurance, shipping charges, export 
and import duties, ware-house, brokerage, commission, interest, &c., 
were so heavy, that the whole did not realise quite one-third of the 
outlay. 

The kinds now sent consist, firstly, of the Isinglass in entire pieces ; 
secondly, of the same cut into fine shreds; and, thirdly, some to 
which a little chalk had been added, to preserve it dry and free from 
insects. Also four specimens of Isinglass from the Bola Fish. 

These several samples of Bengal Isinglass differ considerably from 
each other in appearance. ‘Those first received from Messrs. Cantor 
and Rogers were in oval-shaped pieces, about nine inches in length, 
and five in breadth, and at least one-quarter of an inch in thickness, 
opaque, of a brownish colour externally, but beautifully white, even 
silky-looking, when thin pieces were stripped off.* These speci- 
mens had little taste or smell, but as they were only few in number, 
the smell could not be judged of so well as when in bulk. 

Mr. McClelland’s specimens vary in length, being from six to 
twenty-four inches long, about three and four inches broad, and from 
one-sixth to one-tenth of an inch in thickness.} Whitish in colour, 
rough in some places apparently from the adhering pieces of mem- 
branes stripped off, smooth and translucent in others, and oc- 


* These samples consisted of the Isinglass in its riatural state, as taken from the 
fish, and merely cleaned and dried without any attempt to improve the shape and | 
appearance of the article. —Ep. 

+ These were stretched and altered in shape, by having been passed between 
_ rollers, but in other respects they are the same as the specimens received from 
Messrs. Cantor and Rogers, and came from the same hands,—Ep. 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 95 


casionally nearly transparent in-some, having something of an oily 
feel when rubbed, and exhaling a fishy odour when in mass. Some 
of the specimens are whitish in appearance, from a little adhering 
chalk, which was sprinkled on the soft substance to assist its drying, 
and to prevent the masses adhering together. As this is easily 
brushed off, and is, moreover, insoluble in water, it will not in any 
way interfere with the article when brought into use. 

The Isinglass cut into threads is unsuitable for the English market, 
notwithstanding that Isinglass for retail is cut into fine threads, 
as more convenient for general use, and for making jellies and soups, 
in consequence of the extensive surface which is exposed, rendering 
it more easily and quickly soluble. But there is a great prejudice 
in the wholesale market to buying things in a cut or powdered state, 
in consequence of the innumerable methods adopted, for falsifying and 
adulterating almost every drug. Machinery is used in London for 
cutting the Isinglass into threads of any degree of fineness, and as it 
‘is impracticable at present to rival this in India, besides having to 
contend against a prejudice if sent in this state, it is preferable, and 
will be cheaper, to prepare the article and send it as sheet Isinglass, 
that is in the form of the slit sounds themselves, or their purest: 
membrane washed, cleaned, and dried in the best manner. 

It has been stated that several parcels of Isinglass from Calcutta 
have already been sent to the London market Though we are not 
acquainted with the prices which all have brought, yet we have the 
fullest evidence respecting the cost and the out-turn of one large 
sample ; and that the price was small, compared even with the origi- 
nal outlay. But other parcels have sold at a higher price. 

Many circumstances tend to produce an unfavourable effect on the 
price of an article exposed for sale, independent of the intrinsic va- 
lue. In the first place, it is new and unknown; this will of itself 
repel many: ordinary purchasers, because they are unacquainted with 
its peculiarities, and do not consider it worth the trouble and expense 
of submitting to experiment, more especially as they do not know 
whether they may meet with it again as'a regular article of com- 
merce: Others, again, who are willing to submit it to trial, will 
only do so, when they can obtain it at a sufficiently cheap rate, and 
therefore take adyantage of its unknown condition to depreciate its 


96 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


value. Besides, there is always a certain degree of trouble and risk 
with a new substance. 

The Indian Isinglass prepared as it is from the sounds of a fish, 
undoubtedly possesses all the general characteristics of Isinglass, for 
which reason it is valued by the Chinese, and imported into their 
country from the mouths. of the Ganges. Yet-it has some positive 
defects, which, though interfering but little with its general proper- 
ties, may give a colour to the objections of purchasers. 

That this Bengal Fish Sound does possess the general properties 
of Isinglass may be proved to the satisfaction of any one who will 
boil a portion of it for a little time in water. If, after straining, it 
be set aside to cool, it will be found to congeal into a clear, tasteless, 
transparent jelly, which, when sweetened and flavoured in the usual 
manner, can hardly be distinguished from any- other kind, as has 
been observed both by Mr. Yarrell and the author. — 

Notwithstanding this, some may object to its appearance, as many 
of the specimens are but imperfectly prepared ; but others are fine 
and transparent enough to be mistaken for specimens of good Russi- 
an Book Isinglass. It is not surprising, if without practical experi- 
ence, and with necessarily imperfect knowledge respecting the best 
modes of preparing Isinglass on the banks of the Volga, the fisher- 
men on those of the Ganges should nof at first succeed in rivalling 
this anciently established manufacture. Taking all things, however, - 
into consideration, the success of the first attempts is surprising, and 
assures us how much more is likely to attend the efforts of those 
who follow Mr. McClelland’s example, when informed of the objec- 
tions made in the London market to their first attempts. This Isin- 
glass, however, appears excellent when compared with the simply 
dried sounds, or the rude thick masses which characterise Brazilian, 
which has also the disadvantage of a Sern: smell, and in il 
tions being insoluble albumen. 

The defective preparation of Bengal Isinglass is especially observable 
in its still retaining something of the fishy smell, as well as in being 
in part insoluble, apparently from some portion of the albuminous 
membranes still continuing adherent to the purer gelatinous parts. 
.It is probable, that by increased care in cleaning “and drying by: 
exposure to air, some of those defects may be removed, especially as _ 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. = 97 


we shall observe, in comparing the two processes, that much greater 
care is bestowed on the preparation in Russia than in India. 

These objections made to the Indian Isinglass in the London 
Market, and known to many, are embodied in the following letter - 
from experienced Brokers, to whom the author submitted prnples of 


this Isinglass. 


. TO DR. ROYLE. 

S1r,—The three samples of Isinglass are of a quality not unknown 
to us as from the East Indies, and have hitherto been received in the 
whole or entire sheet state, and not cut. In consequence of the 
article not having had sufficient care bestowed upon it before being - 
subjected to the process of drying, so as to remove the unpleasant 
fishy smell, it is impossible to bring it into use here for culinary pur- 
‘poses, and thereby supersede the Astrachan sorts now in use, and 
selling a* 10s. to 12s. per tb. The East Indian will be only available 
for brewer’s use, and then it must be sweeter and of better flavour than 
the present samples. The Brazil is the description taken by brewers, 
and is worth 2s. 6d to 3s. 6d. per tb., but is quite free from 
the objectionable smell, as is also the Samovy, which is of nearly the 
same value, and applied to similar purposes. 

We sold a parcel of East Indian in sheet at public sale in Novem- 
ber 1840, at 2s. 6d. per tb. in bond; but we think that 3s. 6d. is nearer 
the price it would now bring. 

) Tuomas Merry anv Son. 
15, Laurence Pountney Hill, 
26th August, 1841. — 
; P. S. One of the cut samples has been bleached, but is of no more 
_ value than the unbleached one. 


Mr. Emley, also an experienced Broker, in examining the speci- 
mens found some which he considered very well prepared, though 
the majority were too thick and whitish coloured, instead of being 
colourless and transparent ; Mr. Rogers’ 8 specimens he RRR to 
the Cake Brazilian. — 

Mr. McClelland, in sending this Isinglass, writes, that in Calcutta 
it was found to correspond precisely with the Russian Isinglass in 

o 


98 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


Chemical and Essential properties. The author sent specimens to 
Mr. Hennel of Apothecaries’ Hall, which he was good enough to 
examine. He complains of it as being insoluble, very closely resem- 
bling the Brazilian Isinglass, and therefore of low value. As the 
article promises to be of considerable importance as an export from 
India, it was desirable to have it submitted to a detailed and careful 
Chemical analysis. Mr. Edward Solly, jun., Lecturer on Chemistry 
at the Royal Institution, has furnished the following account of the 
results of his experiments. 


NOTE ON BENGAL ISINGLASS. 

Good Isinglass is generally described as ‘being one of the purest 
forms of Gelatine we are acquainted with ; it consists, in fact, of 
little else besides, and accordingly presents very nearly the charac- 
ters of that substance. The properties of pure Isinglass or Gelatine 
are briefly the following. It is transparent and colourless, or nearly 
so, inodorous, tasteless, and of a hard or horny consistence. It is 
but little hygrometric, remaining tolerably dry in ordinary conditions 
of the atmosphere. In cold water, it gradually softens and swells 
up ; in hot water, it easily dissolves, and forms a clear solution, which 
if it contain as much as a say th part of its weight of Gelatine, has 
the property of gelatinizing or assuming the form of a soft tremulous 
solid as it cools. Dry Gelatine is a permanent and unchangeable 
substance, but in solution it is very liable to undergo decomposition, 
becoming mouldy, and rapidly putrifying when exposed to the air ; it 
has been observed that the ordinary and more impure forms of Gela- 
tine are more liable to undergo these changes than the pure sub- 
stance, the presence of minute quantities of acids, alkalies, and other 
impurities, greatly accelerating its decomposition. All Isinglass 
contains small, quantities of Albumen, Saline, and earthy matter, and 
a peculiar substance called Ozmazome, the better sorts containing 
less, and the inferior more of these impurities. 

The Bengal Isinglass consists of Gelatine, Albumen, a small por- 
tion of saline and earthy substances, Ozmazome, and a. minute trace 
of an odorous oil. The Albumen exists in an unusually large pro- 
portion, which of course somewhat modifies the properties of the 
Isinglass. The pieces are rather unequal in composition, some of 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 99 


the thinner portions being purer, and containing less Albumen than 
the others, thus three experiments gave the following results :— 


: | 

Isinlass. Soluble Gelatine. Insoluble Albumen. 
j cL aiatents Sa FORT Bed tte a eS | 
1,000 parts 965 3a 
| 

Ditto 909 91 : 
Ditto 928 es 72 


The best pieces have comparatively little colour or smell, dissolve 
tolerably easily in water, and form a good firm jelly, which appears 
to have but little tendency to become mouldy. The inferior pieces 
are somewhat coloured, unequal in appearance, dissolve with dif- 
ficulty, and have a peculiar disagreeable smell, in great part due — 
to the presence of the oily substance before-mentioned. From the ap- 
pearance and properties of this Isinglass, it is probable that its defects 
are in a great measure to be attributed to a want of sufficient care in 
its preparation, and it is evident that good Isinglass cannot be made 
without considerable attention is paid during the processes of wash- 
ing, beating, scraping, and drying ; all of which have a very important 
influence on the goodness of the finished Isinglass. Some of the 
samples of the Bengal Isinglass are unquestionably very good Isin- 
glass, whilst others are decidedly inferior, in consequence of their 
being but imperfectly soluble in water, and possessed of a peculiar 
and disagreeable smell; it, therefore, becomes important to inquire 
into the cause of these objections, and the best way of obviating or re- 
moving them. The imperfect solubility of some, and more especially 
the thick pieces, is occasioned by the presence of a considerable 
quantity of albumen or insoluble membranous matter, having most of 
the properties of albumen, which is not only itself insoluble, but in 
addition renders much of the Gelatine, with which it is associated, 
likewise insoluble. It is more than probable that the gréater part of 
this albuminous substance might be readily removed by sufficiently 
scraping the Isinglass during its preparation. Attention should also 
be directed to the process of drying, as if not properly dried, it might 
possibly undergo a slight change or decomposition, and become 
partially converted into a more insoluble form of gelatine. A more 


100 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


important objection is the smell, which, however, may likewise, to 
some extent, be traced to the preparation. When the inferior pieces 
of this Isinglass are boiled in water, the surface of the fluid soon 
becomes covered with a very thin film of oily matter, and the dis- 
agreeable fishy odour is then very strong; when, however, the 
boiling or simmering has continued for some little time, the surface 
becomes clearer, and the odour gradually diminishes; so that by 
boiling for some time, good and strong jellies may be easily made, 
having little, if any, more smell than those made with ordinary 
Russian Isinglass. Great care should be taken that the Isinglass is 
as little as possible contaminated with the animal fluids of the fish, 
because when this is the case it is very difficult completely to purify 
it by subsequent washing, and a little attention to such points as 
these would greatly improve the value of the produce. It would be 
easy to suggest plans for the removal of the bad odour of the Isin- 
glass, but it would be far better if it can possibly be prevented by 
increased care in the preparation and curing. . 
E. SOLLY, Jun. 
Lecturer on Chemistry at the Royal Institution. 


From the foregoing analysis and observations, it is evident that 
the Bengal possesses all the essential qualities of good Isinglass ; 
and that with a little more care, and some modification in the pro- 
cess of preparation, it is probable that the smell might be got rid 
of, as well as a considerable portion of the albuminous parts. How 
these very desirable objects may be best carried into effect, ‘will 
appear when we can compare.the mode of preparing Isinglass in 
India, with that which has been so long and so successfully practised 
in Russia. 

Mr. McClelland, in the manuscript which accompanied his speci- 
mens, states, that the “‘ Sounds when received fresh, are opened and 
stripped of the vascular coyering and internal membrane, washed, 
and at once made up into any form the manufacturer finds most con- 
venient for packing. The article requires no further preparation 
than this :— F 

« When dry, before it reaches the manufacturer, (which is com- 
monly the case, the fish being caught at a distance, towards the sea,) 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 101 


the sound is to be opened, and as much of the lining membrane re- 
moved as possible by the hand. A large earthen vessel is then filled 
with sounds, and water poured into it, and the whole covered up for 
twelve hours, when the sounds will have been brought back to their 
original soft state, in which they may be perfectly cleaned, as if they 
had been obtained fresh. 

“For the removal of discoloured parts, as well as for perfectly 
softening the more solid portions of the Sounds without dissolving 
the thinner parts, they are steeped a short time in alum water, that 
is, an ounce of alum in four or five gallons of water. When satu- 
rated, each Sound is to be taken out and spread on a linen or cotton 
cloth, also saturated with alum water, and then rolled tight up and 
set aside for twelve hours, and this process is to be repeated until 
the Sound is perfectly bleached, when it may be either drawn out 
between the fingers into shreds in the direction of the fibre, or rolled 
into thin plates. When the quantity in hand is large, a little chalk 
is sprinkled over the soft substance after it has been rolled. This 
adheres as long as the Isinglass is soft, but may be dusted or rubbed 
off. when it dries. There is, however, no harm in allowing it’ to 
remain on the surface, as in case of exposure to damp during the 
voyage, it may act as a preservative, and it can always be easily 
rubbed off before use.” 

If we wish to compare this, with the method of preparing Isinglass 
on the shores of the Caspian, we shall find that it is difficult to get 
any account, which is sufficiently minute for a manufacturer to take 
as a guide, in all the details of the operation. Most of the accounts 
published aré by scientific travellers, and therefore worthy of atten- 
tion, but the preparation of Isinglass is only one of the numerous 
subjects which they describe. 

The earliest account pretending to any accuracy is that of H. Jack- 
_ son, published in 1783, in the 63rd vol. of the Philosophical Trans- 
actions, who says he made an unsuccessful voyage to Russia to learn 
the mode of making Isinglass. But he afterwards succeeded in get- 
ting the necessary information. His object was to find a good sub- 
stitute for brewers in fining their beer. For this purpose, he first as- 
certained experimentally that Isinglass, oc the natural membrane of 
the Sounds of Fish, is much more efficacious than any solution of 


102 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


glue, that is of Gelatine, as it would now be called. He describes 
the Sounds as taken from the fish while sweet and fresh, slit open, 
washed from the slimy sordes, divested of a very thin membrane 
which envelopes the Sound, and then exposed to stiffen in the air. 
He also details the mode of making, and gives figures of the long 
and short staple, and of the book form of Isinglass. 

The Sounds of the Cod and Ling, he states, Wate, gregh ihiidnegy 
to those of the Sturgeons; and that they had been prepared and 
employed as substitutes for the foreign Isinglass in fining, and 
with similar effects, except in warm weather. The only peculiarity, 
he describes in their preparation is, that when the Sounds are slit 
open, they are washed in lime water, in order to absorb their oily 
principles; and then in clean water, when they are laid upon nets 
to dry. He also states, that since this discovery, and before the 
publication of his paper, forty tons of British Isinglass had been 
employed; also that several specimens of fine Isinglass had been 
obtained from North America, in consequence of advertisements 
distributed in different parts, offering premiums for the Sounds of 
Sturgeon and other fish. aa Gee we ay prey ae ree 
of the American trade in Isinglass. 

The several distinguished naturalists who were employed by the 
Russian Government in exploring the different parts of that exten. 
sive empire, have collected valuable informiation on this, as on many 
other subjects. This we find incorporated in several works, as in 
Tooke’s View of Russia, published in ]799, and in the recent one 
of Brandt and Ratzeburg (v. p. 17). 

Brandt and Ratzeburg describe the swimming-bladder as consist- 
ing of three membranes, the outer or peritoneal coat, the middle 
membranous and muscular one, and the inner glossy highly vascular 
one, which has a pulpy appearance, and is the membrane. which 
forms the best Isinglass. The species which yield it are the Great 
Sturgeon, Osseter, Sevruga, and Sterlet, also the Silurus Glanis, 
Barbel,; and Perca luciopenca, Cyprinus Brama and Carpio, which 
do not belong to the tribe of Sturgeons. 

In the fisheries of the Caspian and Volga, where the system 
is most complete and the division of labour the greatest, the 
Sounds and Roes are extracted immediately the fish are caught, 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 103 


and delivered over to the Isinglass and to the Caviare makers. 
The fresh Sounds are first split open and well washed, to se- 
parate the blood and any adhering extraneous matter, (on the Lake 
Baikal, warm water is used, according to Georgi), they are then 
spread out, and exposed to the air to dry, with the inner silvery 
white membrane turned upwards. This, which is nearly pure Gela- 
tine, is carefully stript off, laid in damp clothes (or left in the outer 
covering), and forcibly kneaded with the hands. It is then taken out 
of the cloths, dried in the form of Leaf Isinglass, or rolled up, and 
drawn in a serpentine manner into the form of a heart, horse-shoe 
or lyre (long and short Staple), between three pegs, on a board 
covered with them ; where they are fixed in their places by wooden 
skewers. When they are somewhat dried thus, they are hung on 
lines in the shade till their moisture is entirely dissipated. The ob- 
long pieces are sometimes folded in the form of Book Isinglass. In 
order to obtain good Isinglass, it is necessary to have well-arranged 
rooms to dry it in, as at Astrakhan. 

It has been questioned by some authors whether any Isinglass is 
prepared with the aid of heat or of solution, but such will come 
rather under the head of Gelatine, or of Fish-glue, than of Isinglass. 
There is no doubt, according to Pallas even, that at the lower parts 
of the Volga, a fine Gelatine is boiled out of the fresh swimming- 
bladder, and then poured into all kinds of forms. In Gurief, a fine 
boiled Fish-glue is prepared, perfectly transparent, having the colour 
of amber, which is cast into slabs and plates. The Ostiaks also boil’ 
their Fish-glue in a kettle. The Common Cake Isinglass is formed 
of the fragments of the other sorts: these are put into a flat metallic 
pan, with a very little water, and heated just enough to make 
the parts cohere like a pancake, when it is dried. The Sounds of 
Silurus Glanis and Barbel are pounded and boiled; but, as the glue 
does not entirely dissolve, the liquid is strained to separate the fila- 
ments from the gelatine. Besides these, the cartilaginous and 
tendinous parts of several fishes are boiled down to form Fish-glue. 

The Osseter yields the best kind of Isinglass; that of the Beluga 
is the worst obtained from the tribe of Sturgeons, but this is said to 
be improved by the addition of that of the Sevruga and Sterlet. 
The Glue of the last is the most tenacious, and is valued for inlaid 


104 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


cabinet work. Russian authors state that Isinglass is sometimes 
adulterated by the intermixture of pieces of common bladder and of 
the intestines of animals. _ ) 

In comparing the Russian and Indian processes, we observe 
a general resemblance, though the differences are considerable enough 
to modify some of the results. In the first place, the Russian 
manufacture, being more extensive, has men especially devoted to the 
preparation of the Isinglass, while others prepare the Caviare, or salt 
the fish. The inner membrane also of the Sturgeon yields the best 
Isinglass, while in the Sele it seems to be rejected,* and this would 
account for the more fibrous nature of the Bengal Isinglass; but it 
does not follow, that in the Sele, the innermost is the best. A 
decided improvement would be effected if the Isinglass were prepared 
as soon as possible after the fish is caught. The Sounds should be ex- 
tracted, split, and more carefully washed than the native fishermen 
are likely to practise if left to themselves, besides being freely exposed 
to the air. 

The lightest kind of roof at the nearest point, as at Saugor 
Island, would probably enable the Sounds to be better dried than 
when exposed to a powerful sun, as in the latter case the oily parts 


* The structure of the air-vessel cannot be said to be membranous, the inner extraneous 
membrane which we have said is rejected, is quite different from the air-vessel itself, and 
consists of a net of blood vessels merely. 

The value of the Isinglass appears to depend mainly on the removal of this extraneous 
membrane, which, as well as a similar outer membrane, may be peeled off when the air- 
vessel is fresh. Ifthis be done carefully, the Isinglass requires nothing more to render 
itas pure as itcan be. But if these membranes are allowed to remain, or if in removing 
them, or from any other cause, the little blood vessels of which they are composed be burst 
or bruised, permanent stains of blood are thus left, which no subsequent washing can re- 
move. The Isinglass being translucent, these stains, however superficial they may be, ap- 
pear to penetrate the mass (though such is not the case) and are visible on both sides. As the 
removal of these membranes in the first instance when the fish is caight ..ast be left to 
the fishermen, from whose carelessness it would be impossible altogether to avoid some stain- 
ed or discoloured spots, wo would therefore recommend the article to be sorted, and such 
parts as are free from stains and membrane’, selected as 
Firsts.—This will always be of uniform yellowish white colour, and translucent when hela 
to the light. ; 
Seconds.—This will consist of the discoloured parts removed from the firsts, it will 
be translucent on the edges of the stains, which will be found to be superficial, affecting only 
one side. 

Thirds.—This would consist of parts of firsts and seconds, from which the membrane 
has been imperfectly temoved.—Ep. 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 105 


may melt, and be more extensively diffused through the membranous 
structure, than would be the case in drying in the shade. Part. of 
the oiliness and smell may probably be removed by chemical reagents, 
as lime and chlorine, but these should be with care, as their use is so 
likely to leave a taint on the Isinglass, that it would be objected to 
by manufacturers. Thus some Isinglass is employed for glazing 
calicoes, and an attempt was made to substitute glue, but it was 
found that the alum, of which the glue contains a trace, changed the 
colours of the printed calicoes. 

The Indian Isinglass as at present prepared, is complained of 
as too thick, if intended to come into competition with the superior 
varieties of Russian Isinglass. Some of it may, without difficulty, 
be rendered thinner, as even in the dried state, layers uf membrane 
may be stripped off, which display a fibrous structure, and which no 
doubt contain the greater portion of the insoluble albumen. It 
might also be made thinner by beating, or pressing between iron 
rollers or marble slabs, as is done with American and some kinds 
of Brazilian Isinglass, and then cut by machinery into a fit state 
even for domestic use. The extra labour which this would require 
might be profitably saved, by not tearing it into fibres, in which 
state it is disapproved of in the market. The refuse might be 
turned to account ; the soluble parts of the Sounds separated from 
the insoluble, and poured out into thin plates and dried on nets, as 
is done with some of the gelatine of commerce. 

By these means, or by others which will no doubt suggest them- 
selves, when the objections to the Indian Isinglass are known, the 
manufacturers will be able to improve it to the degree requisite 
to enable it to occupy a permanent, as well as a high place among 
the Isinglass imported into the principal markets of Europe. 
Though the first quantities sent from India brought only 1s. 7d., 
others have been sold for 3s., and a few samples have been valued at 
4s. per pound. Besides this opening for an extensive sale in the 
European market, even in the present state we know there is always 
a constant demand in China for the Isinglass of Bengal. These will 
no doubt afford sufficient encouragement to persevere in the exten- 
sion and improvement of this newly-established and highly promis- 
ing article of the export trade of India to Europe. 


106 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


Seeing that so large a quantity as 800 or 900 maunds, of the 
Sounds of Fish, that is of Isinglass, is exported from the neighbour- 
hood of Calcutta, it is certainly remarkable that it should never have 
attracted the attention of any one even as an object of curiosity. 
Still more so that it should have escaped the notice of mercantile 
men, as doubtless a knowledge of the fact, might have been turned 
to profitable account. But now that it is known, those who are 
interested in the improvement of the Resources of India, will not feel 
satisfied with seeing a lucrative trade confined to one place, when 
there is every probability that it might’ be profitably practised at many 
points of the long extended coasts of the British Empire in India. 

It becomes desirable, therefore, to ascertain the points where the 
fishes yielding Isinglass in the Hoogly and the Sunderbuns resort 
to in shoals, such as at the mouths of the Irrawady and Burram- 
pooter, at those of the Mahanuddy, Godavery, and Cauvery, or in the 
Gulfs of Cambay and Cutch, and at the mouths of the Indus. Also, 
whether there are not, in these situations, other fishes of which swim- 
ming-bladders are at least as easily convertible into Isinglass. And at 
the same time to inquire whether Isinglass or any similar substance is 
at present exported, by the Chinese or others, from these situations. 

The fondness of the Chinese for all gelatinous substances is well 
known, and has been described by all those who have visited their coun- 
try and partaken of their banquets. In addition to employing, animals 
and parts of animals which are rejected in other countries, as articles 
of diet, they import various substances which can be valuable only as 
yielding gelatine of different degrees of purity; of these we have exam- 
ples in Agar-Agar, Tripang, Birds’-nests, Shark’s-fins, and Fish-maws. 

The Agar-Agar is a species of Fucus or Seaweed, exported from 
the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and is a portion of the cargo 
of every junk. It forms a gelatinous mass with water, to which the 
Chinese add sugar, and use as a sweetmeat. Another Sea-weed 
(Gracillaria tenax) is imported in large quantities into Canton from 
the coasts of Fo-kein and Tchekiang, and is suppose to be an in- 
gredient of the Chin-chou glue or jelly. Another species, a native 
of Ceylon (Gracillaria lichenoides), is also of a gelatinous nature ; 
and after being washed in tresh water and pressed to remove the salt 
and some mucilage, it is employed as a preserve. This is thought 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 107 


to be the substance which by some is considered to be a species of 
gelidium, and by others the spawn of fish floating on the surface of 
the sea, made use of by the Salangana, or Esculent Swallows, in 
constructing their nests, which are so highly esteemed by the Chi- 
nese. That appears, however, rath r to be a viscous secretion of the 
salivary glands of the mouth and stomach of the bird, which may be 
observed hanging from its bill. The nests, as Mr. Crawford re- 
marks, both in external appearance and consistence somewhat resem- 
ble a fibrous ill-concocted Isinglass. At all events, the best kinds 
are sold for about 5/. 18s. 14d. per pound, and even as high as 
4,200 Spanish Dollars per picul ; these last, therefore, are more va- 
luable than their weight in silver. Mr. Crawford calculates that not 
less than 242,400 Ibs. of different qualities (white, black, and ordi- 
nary) are yearly imported from the Indian Islands into China. 

Mr. Crawford, after stating that the Fisheries of the Indian Is- 
lands form a most valuable branch of their industry, and that a great 
variety of the fish caught are dried in the sun, proceeds’ to observe 
that ‘‘ ordinary dried fish forms no portion of the foreign exports of 
the Indian Islands, but three singular modifications of it do, Fish- 
maws, Shark-fins, and Tripang, all of which are sent to China in 
large quantity.” The Tripang Swala, or Beche de Mar, often called 
Sea Slug, one of the tribe of Holothurie, is an unseemly-looking 
molluscous animal, which constitutes, in quantity and value, one of 
the most considerable articles of the exports of the Indian Islands to 
China. There are fisheries of Tripang in every country of the Indian 
Archipelago, from Sumatra to New Guinea, and upwards of not 
lees than 8,000 cwt. are yearly sent to China from Macassar. 
The price ranging from 8 Spanish Dollars per picul to 20, and 
as high as 115, according to the quality. The same author states, 
that Shark-fins are exported to China from every maritime country, 
between the Arabian Gulf and the East Indian Islands. A picul of 
Shark-fins usually sells in China as high as 32 Spanish Dollars, or 
at 6/. ls. per cwt., which high price makes it evident, that they are 
no more than articles of luxury for the use of the rich. In the mar- 
ket of Macassar, the ordinary price is about 15 Spanish Dollars, or 
2/. 16s. 84d. per ewt. 

Of the three substances mentioned by Mr. Crawford as exported 


108 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


from the Indian Islands, one only remains to be noticed, and this is 
Fish-maws. But of this he merely says, that it “is a favourite 
' article of the strange luxury of the inhabitants of that country, often 
bringing as high as 75 Spanish Dollars per picul, or 141. 3s. 6d. 
per cwt., in the market of Canton. Neither in his nor in any of 
the other works which the author has had an opportunity of consult- 
ing, has he been able to find any description of fish-maws. The 
name had frequently struck him when endeavouring to ascertain the 
countries which actually produced different drugs, by tracing their 
names from one price-current into another. Being ‘unacquainted 
with this substance, and unable to procure information respecting 
its nature, he placed it in a list of subjects for inquiry. 

In the course of the present researches respecting the production 
of Isinglass in India, the subject recurred to his mind; he then 
again referred to the price-currents, and finding that fish-maws were 
imported into Canton and exported from Bombay, he was induced to 
consult the official accounts of the exports and imports from the 
three Indian Presidencies. _And was surprised, as, no doubt, others 
will be, to find that no less, than to the value of nearly forty 
thousand pounds of Shark-fins and Fish-maws was exported in one 
year from Bombay to China, being first imported from the great 
variety of places mentioned below, and sold at the following prices:— 
The price of Fish-maws was from 90 to 105 rs. per maund in 1836-37 


Ditto ditto ditto 92.8 to 9% ditto in 1837-38 
Ditto Shark-fins ditto 18 to 25 ditto in 1836-37 
Ditto ditto ditto 35 ditto in 1837-38 
Quantities and Value of Shark-fins and Fish-maws imported into and exported 
from Bombay in the years 
Shark-fins and Fish- 


{ 


From the Coasts of— 


Arabian Gulf. ee ee eeeetens 
Persian Gulf cotacensvess 1,849 
Uutch and Scinde......... 
Demaun, and Diu, 
Subordinate Ports— 
Panwell and Concan..... 
Guzerat csccccccccsccess 


' “Tmports into Bombay....... 


‘ Exports to China ae veréenues 


= 
2 
SBE 
2 
4 
Q 
E 
5 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 109 


Besides these there were imported into Madras :— 


Shark-fins & Fish-maws. 1837 —38. 
Cwt. Ibs,| Value 
Imports—Fort St. George 
From Ceylon and Tranquebar....-sssceccece cece 64 0 252 
From Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Rajahmundry, and 
along the Coast ...sssecsecceeenves eeceseccces 105 0} 3,814 
| Fish-maws from Ragahmandry, sgt 
eon Timmully, and Malabar. ....cceeresesssccses sack 
| Exports— 
| To China and Straits of Malacca......sceessees e-.| 1,043. 0} 22,880 


From Tanjore to Straits of Malacca......eeeeeees 39 0} 11,527 


From the quantities of Fish-maws which the author thus unex- 
pectedly discovered, were exported, and the high price which was 
paid for them, that is from 2s. 1jd. to 2s. 63d. a pound, he con- 
cluded that the substance must be well known ; or if not the fish, at 
least the part of the fish which was so called. But on inquiring of 
several gentlemen well acquainted with the products and commerce 
of Bombay, he was unable ‘to obtain any more precise information 
than he had already procured. He then applied to Mr. Malcolmson, 
of the respected firm of Forbes and Co., to obtain for him the re- 
quisite information, and, if possible, a sight of a specimen, if there 
should be any in London. Mr. Malcolmson was good enough to send 
him some specimens, of different sizes of the Bombay Fish-maws. 
On examination, these proved to be composed of a sac-like mem- 
brane, which had been slit open; some were small, thin, and trans- 

‘parent, others three and four inches across in both diameters, 
something of the shape of short purses with spring clasps, of a light 
eplour, and semi-transparent, and resembling the ordinary qualities 


. of Isinglass, especially some of the Brazilian kinds, in appearance, 


Or submitting these to Mr. Yarrell, he pronounced both kinds to be 
the Sound of a Fish which he thought might perhaps be the same 
species, but at different ages, and that it was apparently allied to the 
Gurnards. It is interesting to observe, Cuvier mentions that there 
are species allied to Trigla hirundo (or the sapphirine Gurnard) 
in India. 

Thus we see that fish-maws are Fish Sounds ; and as Fish Sounds 


110 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


of another Fish were carried away by the Chinese from near to Cal- 
cutta, at the rate of about a shilling a pound, without any one being 
apparently aware of it, so in Bombay a commerce has long been es- 
tablished in Fish-maws, at about double the price of the former, 
without its being generally known that it was Isinglass which was 
thus exported. The Chinese, therefore, obtain from India, what we 
import from Russia and Brazil, and in this respect they exhibit 
no greater strangeness of taste than we do ourselves. For they give 
only about the same price (14/.) which is obtained in the London 
market for Isinglass of the same quality, and while we give as much 
as between 60/. and 70/. for the best kinds; and between 90/. and 
1007, when we require this for consumption. 

The large quantities in which these Fish-maws are collected and 
exported from the Port of Bombay (independent of what Mr. Craw- 
ford mentions as exported from the Indian Islands to India), indicate 
that very large numbers of Fish must have been caught. In fact, 
that the natives of these various countries must be in the habit 
of paying very considerable attention to Fishing in general. We 
are thus almost insensibly led from a consideration of the mode 
of preparing the Sounds of Fish, to that of the methods of 
procuring and preserving the Fish themselves. Also to the amount 
to which these processes are practised, or to which they may be 
extended. 

The most cursory inspection of the preceding table of the imports 
into one port, shews that Fishing must be followed to a considerable 
extent on the African Coasts, and the Gulfs of Arabia and Persia. 
The Arabs have indeed, from the earliest times, been noted as navi- 
gators, and for having been the carriers of the produce of India to 
the shores of the Red Sea, and the banks of the Euphrates, which 
thence found their way into Egypt, Syria, and Europe. The 
Natives of India are generally supposed to be little addicted to the 
sea, or to availing themseleves of the treasures which it affords, but 
the foregoing table shews that the Gulfs of Cutch and Cambay, as 
well as the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts, all send the spoils 
of the sea to be exchanged for the treasures of the land. We know 
_ also that Fishing is practised to a consideration extent in the vici- 

nity of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, as well as every where in 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 111 


the rivers, in the interior of India. It may be thought that this 
change has taken place in modern times, but if this were so, it is 
curious that in the Institutes of Menu, who is said to have 
flourished 800 or 900 years before the Christian zra, he should 
make an exception, in limiting the legal interest of money, in 
regard to adventurers at sea, and that Fa-hian, in the fifth cen- 
tury, made a voyage from Java to Ceylon in a vessel belongs 
to Brahmins. 

In the present day, Sir A. Burnes represents “‘ the mariner of 
Cutch as truly adventurous,” putting to sea, for a trifling reward, and 
stretching boldly across the ocean to Arabia, the Red Sea, and the 
Coast of Zanguebar in Africa. The sea vessels of Curachee sail to 
Muscat, Bombay, and the Malabar Coast ; and the fishing-boats at 
the mouths of the Indus he describes as good sea-boats, as sailing 
very quickly, and as numerous, because the fisheries there are exten- 
sive, and form a source of commerce. So Dr. Cantor states, that at the 
mouths of the Ganges the fishermen have sea-going boasts, which 
they build themselves ; and that they are a superior description of 
Indian Sailors, of much more ifdustrious habits than the majority 
of the natives of India. If we look still further to the eastward, we 
shall see the Burmese and Siamese almost living in boats, and the 
Malays most formidable as Pirates in the India Seas. Mr. Crawford 
represents the Indian Islanders as expert fishermen, and that there is 
no art which they carry to such perfection as fishing, which the 
nature of their climate allows them to practise, with hardly any in- 
terruption, from one end of the year to the other, the fishing-boats 
proceeding to sea with the land-breeze at an early hour of the morn- » 
ing, and returning with the sea-breeze a little after noon, The 
fisheries afford-a most valuable branch of their commerce, as a 
great variety of their fish are dried in the sun, or salted and 
dried, and sent by the inhabitants of the Coast in large quantities 
into the interior of their salenee, or transmitted to every part of 
the Archipelago. 

Seeing that the inhabitants of the Coasts of these various coun- 
tries already practise fishing to some extent, it is desirable to inquire 
whether it may not be still further extended. Dr. Cantor has parti- 
cularly called attention to the importance of attending to, and encou- 


112 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


raging the sea fishery, in a paper which the author had the honour 
of presenting to the Royal Asiatic Society, and which is published in 
their Journal. Sea fishing, Dr. C. states, is carried on to a very 
small extent, chiefly because the distance to Calcutta is too great to 
allow of the carriage of fish in a fresh state. The only class of fish- — 
ermen who have sea-built boats inhabit villages situated near the 
entrance of the Hoogly, Their chief and most profitable employ- 
ment consists in attending with their boats on the shipping entering 
and leaving the river, for which they receive 16 rupees per diem. 
Whenever this employment fails, they resort to work with their nets, 
which they drag during high water along the coasts of the Sunder- 
buns. Two or three times are, generally speaking, sufficient to load 
a boat with fishes and shell-fish, (a truly prodigious quantity being 
brought up in a few hauls). The larger portion of the prize which 
is not consumed or otherwise disposed of on the spot is then pre- 
served. This process consists simply in dividing the fish, taking out 
the viscera, and spreading them in the sun till they become suffi- 
ciently dried. 

«« With a view to ascertain how far the locality and climate would 
favour the process of salting and drying fishes on the coasts of Ben- 
gal, Captain R. Lloyd, (who as Marine Surveyor General, has always 
evinced a strong desire to inquire into the natural products and re- 
sources of those localities which by his indefatigable zeal have been 
surveyed), caused a series of experiments to that effect to be tried on 
board. The materials submitted to trial were either purchased 
from fishermen at the rate of three rupees a hundréd, or supplied 
by the nets belonging to the fishing-boats attached to the survey. 
The experiments turned out so satisfactorily, that I feel convinc- 
ed that the process of curing, salting, and drying fishes, may 
easily be accomplished there during the north-east monsoon, that 
is, during the period from 15th October, to the 15th of April.” 
(Cantor 1. c.) 

Dr. Cantor did not fail to take eee of the eipoltanition 
which others neglect, and made himself acquainted with the natural 
history of the part where he was placed. Thus, while discharging 
the medical duties on board the Honourable Company’s surveying 
vessels at the Sandheads, he examined the Fishes of the northern 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 113 


part of the Bay of Bengal, and those of the Gangetic estuaries. He 
observes, that by reference to the ichthyological works of Dr. Russell, 
Dr. Buchanan, Baron Cuvier, and Mr. Bennet, describing the Fishes 
from different Indian localities, he found that at least one-third, perhaps | 
one-half, out of upwards of a hundered species, which he examined 
between Calcutta and the 21° of N. latitude, were not noticed by the 
above authors. The fact is, as he states, he observed many species, 
inhabiting a more southern latitude, which were brought up towards 
the mouths of the Ganges, by the strong flood-tides prevailing dur- 
ing full moon, while others only temporarily enter the rivers during 
the spawning season. 

The Polynemus Shalliah or Saccolih, has already been mentioned 
as entering the mouths of the Ganges in shoals. The Kharrah, or 
Indian Mackerel, a species of Thynnus, is rather uncommon in these 
estuaries, but it must be found in abundance on the Burmese coast, 
as from thence, great numbers in a dried state, are annually imported 
into Bengal. The Cartilaginous fishes, Dr. C. states, abound in 
numbers and species, and are remarkable for their wide geogra- 
phical distribution. The sharks enter the rivers to a considerable 
distance from the sea. Shark-skin, he says, is used by the native 
workmen for polishing wood and ivory ; and Shark-fins we have seen 
are largely exported to China. 

Of the better known salt-water fishes of a wider geographical 
distribution, such, for instance, as are valued as articles of food, at 
the three distant points, Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, the market 
of the first is the least rich in varieties, in consequence of its greater 
distance from the sea. The abundance of the supply, however, 
makes up for what it wants in variety; and the great demand for 
fish affords a livelihood to great numbers of fishermen, who every 
night spread their nets in the river, and in the salt-water lake. 

The Lates nobilis, different species of Polynemus, and the Mugil 
Corsula daily cover the tables of Europeans, who will more readily 
recognise ‘these fishes under the names of the Begti or Cockup, 
Sudjeh, Tupsi (Mango fish), and the Indian Mullet. At the Sand- 
heads, may-be found some of those delicious fishes which are more 
familiar to the residents of Madras and Bombay; for instance, the 
Indian Soles, the Roll-fish, and, above all the Black and White 


Q 


114 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


Pomfrets, and the Bummoloh, which latter, in a dried state, is 
known by the name of the Bombay duck. Of these, the Indian 
Mullet is the most widely distributed, being common in the Straits 
of Malacca, the Bay of Bengal, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, 
also at the Cape of Good Hope. 

‘The bazars in Calcutta,” Dr. Cantor remarks, “are always 
stocked. with an ample supply of dry fish, which is consumed partly 
by the European and native shipping of that port, partly by the 
poorer classes of Bengal, and the Upper Provinces. Cargoes of 
this article are annually imported by the Burmese and the Arabs.” 

But as no duty is levied on the importation, Dr. ©. had been un- 
able to ascertain the actual amount, which, however, from the infor- 
mation he obtained from European and native merchants, he had no 
doubt was considerable. By examination, he found these dried 
fishes to consist chiefly of the Bummalos, the above named Siluroid 
Fish, which sells in Calcutta at the rate of four or five rupees a 
hundred, the Indian Mullet, the Sudjeh, the Begti, and the Kharrah 
or Indian Mackerel. 

The demand for dried fish exists all along the Coasts of the 
Peninsula, as the author, by examining the official accounts of the 
commerce of the different districts of the Presidency of Fort St. 
George, finds that dried or salted Fish is imported from Bengal, 
Pondicherry, Ceylon, Travancore, Goa, Bombay, and Arabia, also 
sometimes from the Maldives into Ganjam, Madras, Tanjore, Tin- 
nivelly, and Canara, as will appear from the following table. Of 
the quantity imported, a small portion, to the value of 1,009 rupees, 
was taken into Mysore, and to the value of 1,087 rupees exported to 
the Straits of Malacca. 

Salted and dried Fish, 


Ganjam to value of 5,377) Pondicherry, Bombay, Arabia, Cey- 
Madras ___ ditto 7,921 } lon, and Travancore. 

Tanjore ditto 1,181 Ceylon. 

Tinnivelly ditto 3,512 Travancore and Malabar, by sea. . 
Ditto ditto 69,590 Travancore, by land. 

Canara ditto 6,037 oa Bpmbey, sod Fondiohowy 7 


Ditto ditto 3,625 Goa, by land, 


Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 115 


That considerable attention must be paid to fishing ali along the 
coasts is evident from these facts, as well as from those adduced 
respecting Fish-maws and Shark-fins. At Bombay the large quan- 
tities of the Bummalo, which are both consumed and exported, prove 
the same, though, from no duty being levied, we are unable to 
ascertain the quantities which are either caught or exported. At 
the mouths of the Indus, the fishery is extensive, and there, no 
doubt, some of the Fish Sounds are procured. This is evident 
from the imports into Bombay, and from Lieutenant Carloss sta- 
ting, that Cod Sounds and Shark-fins are exported from Curachee. 
The former are, no doubt, Fish-maws, perhaps Sounds of Poly- 
nemi, as Mr. McClelland suggests, but they may also be those of 
other fish, as the specimens of Fish-maws given to the author by 
Mr. Malcolmson are very different in form from the Isinglass sent 
from Bengal. ’ 

Mr. McClelland, in his paper, calls attention to the very im- 
portant subject of increasing the supply of fish in the interior 
of India. Wherever there are any large pieces of water for the 
purposes of irrigation, as in the Peninsula of India, these he 
conceives might support quantities of fish, if proper kinds were 
selected, and pains taken to destroy the injurious animals, in the 
season when the water is sufficiently low for the purpose. He 
also suggests that at the different sanitaria which have been 
established in the mountains, it would be desirable, and easily 
practicable, to form vivaria, which would at all times yield a sup- 
ply of fish. This might, as he suggests, be done by damming 
up a portion of some of the valleys through which the mountain 
streams pass. 

He also further recommends that the natives of India should be 
encouraged to turn their attention to the curing of fish in districts 
where they are abundant, and in sending them to others where they 
are less so, and for consumption at seasons when fresh fish becomes 
scarce. ‘‘ The cold season, from November to February, when most 
fishes are taken, is short. The fishermen not having the means of 
curing their fish, have nothing to stimulate them to any exertion, 
beyond what can be consumed when fresh. Had the fisherman the 
means of preserving the result of his labours, his chief market 


116 Production of Isinglass on the Coasts of India. 


would commence when the fishing season ends, and his industry 
would then become a permanent benefit to himself and the country 
at large.””* 


* Mr. McClelland observes, that it must have been long known, that the 
difficulty of preserving meat depends more on the state of the atmosphere in 
regard to electricity and moisture, than on temperature, &c. With salt and other 
means at hand, he conceives there would be no difficulty in curing fish in an 
Indian climate in the months of November and December, when the Sullea fishery 
could be carried on. On this subject, of very considerable’ interest, Mr. 
C. K. Robison, one of the magistrates of Calcutta, remarks: “It would be 
a famous thing if these enormous fish (the Sullea) could be cured, as well as their 
Isinglass obtained; and I cannot help thinking the measure very feasible, if the 
fishermen at the time of taking them and cutting them up, dipped them first into 
weak chloride of soda, mixed with a small quantity of impure pyroligneous acid. 
This would not only preserve the fish till the salt acted, but improve the flavour.”’ 
The pyroligneous acid, or a solution of Creosote, would probably produce the 
desired effect; if Mr. R.’s hint is followed literally, the mixture would produce an 
acetate of Soda. 


An account of the Electro- Magnetic Engine. Translated from 
‘the German. By Dr. Taytor.*—London 12mo. 1841, 
Plate IV. 


By a Vote of the German Diet, the sum of 100,000 florins 
has been awarded to the Inventor of the Electro-magnetic 
Engine. The following pages are faithfully translated from 
the second and improved Edition of the original German 
Work, of which one thousand copies were sould in the short 
space of a week. In it will be found a report of the Experi- 
ments of Jacobi, Lenz, Davenport, Davidson, - Stoehrer, 
Wagener, &c. with every improvement to the present time. 


* Mighty and vast is the influence which Steam (since the commencement 
of the present century) has exerted on all the relations, as well of nations as of 
individuals, It has served to facilitate the intercourse between lands the most 
distant, and has confessedly exerted an influence on the face of empires, more 
incalculable in its effects than any previous invention to which the mind of man 
has given birth. For England, especially, it has served to consolidate the 


An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 117 


On the Laws of Electro-Magnetism, and its application as a 
moving power. 


If you immerse two pieces of metal of different kinds—for instance, a 
piece of copper and a piece of zinc—in an acid diluted with water, or 
in a weak solution of an alkali or salt, in such a manner that the 
metals shall not touch \shen in the fluid, but be connected externally 
by means of a metallic rod, or wire, an electric current will thereby be 
produced; which will pass from one piece of metal to the other, by 
means of the connecting rod, and be conveyed to the former through 
the agency of the intervening fluid: this electrical current will continue 
to circulate in this manner, as long as no insuperable obstacle be inter- 
posed by the metals or fluid themselves. This electricity is identical _ 
with that developed by an electrifying machine, and that with which 
the thunder-cloud is charged; the only difference being, that the electri- 


varied elements of its power, and by-annihilating space and time, brought the 
geographical parts of the gigantic empire of Britain into such immediate proxi- 
mity, that it may be said to have diffused new life and vigour throughout all the 
veins of its giant members, and given a nervous strength to its arm, which must 
long perpetuate its sway 

Great, however, as have been the benefits which we have thus recorded, we 
cannot disguise from ourselves the many unavoidable dangers and imperfections 
with which Steam, as a moving power, has been, and must ever be, attended, 
arising from the nature of the agent employed, and the extreme costliness and ex- 
pense attending the consumption of fuel, without taking into consideration the utter 
impossibility of procuring the necessary supply exactly where it is most needed. 

That Steam is about to be superseded, through the manifold advantages of the 
invention or series of discoveries which will be found detailed in the following 
pages, can hardly admit of question. 

The chief inducement which has led the translator to undertake the rendering 
of these few pages, was the desire to attract the more general attention of the 
practical mechanic of England to the consideration of so engrossing a subject; 
to effect which every effort has been made to divest the translation of technicali- 
ties, and render it as universally intelligible as the subject would admit: to the 
scientific scholar, it may not be uninteresting to be informed of what is being 
done in other countries in relation to this important subject. 

We think it hardly necessary to allude more particularly to the advantages 
which Electro-magnetism offers, and content ourselves with referring to the 
results which have been deduced from experiment and practice. —TRANsLATOR's 
Prerace. 


118 An account of the Electro-Magnetie Engine. 


city in the former is in a state of motion, whilst in the latter it is in a 
state of equilibrium. As it exists in the metals and fluids alluded to, it 
gives forth a feeble bat continuous electric shock. This electrical cur- 
rent has the effect of heating the connecting wire, and imparting to it a 
magnetic virtue. This species of electricity, developed by the connec- 
tion of metals with acids, has received the names of galvanic and 
voltaic, from Galvani and Volta, the original discoverers.* 

From the period of the discovery, by Professor Orsted, of Copen- 
hagen, in 1820, of the peculiar influence exerted by the electrical cur- 
rent on the magnetic needle, no possible doubt could be any longer 
entertained of the connection between magnetism and electricity. And 
the varied exertions of scientific men of different countries have suc- 
ceeded in directing attention to a new branch of study, which does not 
date beyond twenty years ago; the influence of which on. practical 
life promises to become-more and more beneticial. To the exertions of 
Schweiggers we are indebted for the multiplier, or galvanometer; by 
means of which the relative strength of different currents may be tested. 
Ampére succeeded in shewing, that a wire, spirally coiled, possesses all 
the properties of an ordinary magnet, as long as the electrical currents 
circulate therein. Sturgeon, of Woolwich, was the first who, in 1826, 
produced a powerful electro-magnet, by coiling wire spirally round 
a bar of soft iron, and discharging an electrical current through the 
wire. Henry and Ten-Eyk, in America, have already produced mag- 
nets capable of raising two thousand pounds weight, and upwards. It 
therefore appears, that, whilst it has been hitherto a matter of much 
difficulty to procure magnets of any considerable power, we need at 
present nothing more than a bar of soft iron, horse-shoe shaped, round 


* If the electrical current be brought to bear on a fluid, it resolves it into its two principal 
constituent parts: thus, for instance, water is thereby resolved into oxygen and hydrogen, 
sulphuric acid into sulphur and oxygen, and blue vitriol, or vitriol of copper, into sulphuric 
acid and oxide of copper : and this separation of the parts is peculiar, in so far as the oxygen, 
or body most resembling it, invariably attaches to the zinc, whilst the other constituent 
element attaches itself to the copper ; but in the canal between the zinc and copper no trace of 
this action is visible. On applying ulue vitriol diluted with water, the sulphuric acid of 
the salt-and the oxygen of the water will be recognised on the zinc, and the oxide of 
copper of the former and hydrogen of the latter on the copper. The oxyyen and zinc combine, 
and give oxide of zinc, and this resultant combined with the sulphuric acid yield sulphuretted 
oxide of zinc; whilst the hydrogen ia combination with the oxygen contained in the oxide 
of copper forms water; and we thus arrive at a clear precipitate of copper. The above- 
named substances, copper, zinc, water, and blue vitriol are the bodies whose agency is princi- 
pally employed in the galvano-magnetic machine,” 

The copper which is thus obtained is perfectly pure, and covers at least one half of the loss 
of sinc occasioned by the procesc.—Algemeine Anzeiger der Deutschen. 


An account of the i:lectro-Magnetic Engine. 119 


which a wire is coiled, and a pair of proportionably large plates of 
zinc and copper, connected together by a wire, and separated by an 
acid diluted with water, to be able to produce magnets capable of 
bearing several hundred weight; and also of depriving the most pow- 
erful magnets in en instant of their magnetic virtue, or of completely 
reversing their poles. This peculiarity of being able to produce mag- 
nets of almost unlimited power, and of again instantaneously reversing 
their power of attraction and repulsion, led very naturally to the idea 
of employing these forces as a moving power, as steam or water has 
been hitherto used. 

_It being, however, necessary for the judicious and practical applica- 
tion of the electro-magne‘ic powers, to be acquainted with the generai 
laws which govern them, we shall take the liberty of mentioning 
the most important of them here.* 

The various experiments of the scientific have aucceeded i in establish- 

ing the following results, which we shall record with as much brevity 
as possible :— 

I. As to the influence of the strength of the current on the intensity 
of the magnetism produced in the iron. Fechner dal Negro and. 
Professor Jacobi have shewn by experiments, that the intensity of 
the magnetic power produced in soft iron is proportioned to the 
strength of the current applied. 

II, As to the influence of the thickness of the wire of thes pirals 
employed on the magnetism produced, the experiments of Lenz and 
others have shewn that the greater or less thickness of the coils em- 
ployed is wholly immaterial as to their capabilities of magnetizing ; 
but that as the thicker the wire is the greater its conducting power, 
the thinner wires require stronge. electrometers than the thicker ones, 
in order to produce a current of equal intensity. 

1fl. As to the width of the coils, or the diameter of the spirals, or 
the distance of the wire. from the centre of the iron, it appeared that 
the magnetism produced by spirals of different widths; but, ceteris 
paribus. was proportional to the strength of the current actually coming 
into play; and that the trifling difference arising from the greater 
distance of the coils from the centre of the iron, whick was experienced 
in practice, may he wholly disregarded. So that it might be considered 


* The Translator begs leave to refer such of his readers as desire to become more thorough- 
jy acquainted with the laws here alluded to, to the proceedings of a Mecting of the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science, held at Glasgow, a correct report of which, 
as far as relates to this interesting subject, will be foun in No. 678 of the Atheneum, 


120 An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine 


as an established law, that the width of the coils had no influence or 
the magnetic power, though they were arranged in any of the various 
positions represented in Figure 1. 

IV. From the experiments which have been made to discover the 
influence of the number of the coils on the magnetising of the iron, it 
appeared, that the magnetism was proportional to the number of the 
coils, so that this law may be thus stated ;—the total effect of the col: 
lective coils encircling a bar of iron, is equal to the sum of the effects o! 
each single coil. 

The results as to the discovery of the maximum of power which have 
been established and deduced by algebraic formulas, were as follows :— 
that the same was independent of the number of plates and thickness o} 
the wires, that, by the due ordering of the battery, we can arrive at the 
same maximum, be the wire thick or thin; that, in consequence of the 
conditions imposed by this arrangement, the number of coils which can 
be applied is limited; that the mode of coiling is in practice of ne 
importance, provided that the chain be duly arranged, as the thickness 
alone is of importance; that the maximum corresponds with a certain 
surface of zinc, which cannot be increased; that the maxima of the 
magnetism are as the square-toots of the zinc-surfaces, and that by 
increasing the thickness of the coils, the magnetism can only be in- 
creased to a certain limit. As to the expense and consumption of zine, 
Faraday has shewn, that the strength of the current is proportioned 
to the quantity of zinc dissolved in each canal in a given space of time. 
This consumption knows no maximum, but increases as regards the 
effect produced, the thinner the wire is, and in proportion to the 
fewness of the pairs of plates. As far as the expense and con- 
sumption of zine is concerned, when the magnetism is at a maxi- 
mum, it is wholly indifferent whether that magnetism be attained 
means of thin or thick wires, provided only that the number of pla 
be arranged according to the conditions found on the proper 
culations. 

The principal result to which all previous experiments have led 
that the iron cylinder being given, we may obtain the same maxi 
of magnetism, determined by the zinc surface, in innumerable di 
ways, provided only we adopt the thickness of the wire to the a 
ment of the chain; but that the mode in which this maximum is 0 
tained, is wholly without influence on the consumption of zinc. 

Jacobi assures Faraday in a letter dated the 21st of June, 1839, 
he has succeeded in overcoming the difficulties which the due 
of the battery presents; and that, according to his former e 


An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 121 


he required a battery presenting a surface of platina of twenty square 
feet to obtain one horse-power, but that he hoped to be enabled to at- 
tain the same power with one from three to ten square feet. Accord- 
ing to the experiments which Lenz and Jacobi instituted, as to the 
laws of electro-magneis, it appeared, that the attraction of the electro- 
magnets was proportional to the products of the magnetising cur- 
rents; or, if these be equal, to the squares of the magnetising cur- 
rents. From the results of the experiments undertaken with a view 
to confirm the law, that the attraction of two electro-magnets, or an 
electro-magnet and a bar of soft iron, was as the squares of the 
strength of the magnetising currents ; it appears that the attraction of 
two rectilinear electro-magnets, or of an electro-magnet and an anchor, 
is as the squares of the magnetising streams, provided they both do not 
touch, but continue at the distance of about a line from one another. 

Jacobi’s latest experiments on the chemical and magnetic galvano- 
meter confirm the law, that the chemical forces are exactly proportional 
to the magnetical, and that we can deduce a standard for the cou- 
sumption of zinc from the indications of a magnetic needle, submitted 
to the influence of the magnetic currents employed. But the con- 
sumption of zinc being proportional to the expenses of maintenance, 
we can accordingly deduce the cost of working the machine from the 
magnetic needle. 

The first machine constructed by Jacobi, and set in motion by means 
of clectro-magnetism, was on the following plan. (See plate.) 

The principal figure of the plate represents a magnetical apparatus, 
in which eight bars (four bars of soft iron in the shape of horse-shoes) 
are symmetrically attached tb a wooden frame, revolving round a hori- 
zontal axle, A, and eight other similar, arranged on a sufficiently 
strong fixed frame. The arrangement of the cylinders admits of every 
possible variety, it being only necessary that they be symmetrically 
arranged, and that their poles shall pass each other as closely as 
possible. Since in all probability the centre of the magnetical gravity 
is situated at some little distance from the extremity, as is the case 
with the ordinary magnetic bars, it would be better to arrange it so 
that the axes of the cylindrical bars should be at right angles to one 
another, instead of parallel, as in the figure. It must likewise be 
observed, that there is some difficulty in procuring cylinders of a horse- 
shoe shape,* so that the axes of the bars be exactly at the same 
distance, and the bars themselves exactly cylindrical ; all repairs by 


* This relates to Germany. 


122 An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 


means of filing or hammering may possibly prove injurious, by hard- 

ening the surface of the iron, and thereby rendering it less susceptible 

of magnetism. The form given in the plate is attended with some 

other inconveniences, as regards the formation of the spiral iine of 
copper wire, which must be first bent over another cylinder of the same 

dimensions. These spirals must be quite close to the cylinder, but 
be preserved from contact with it by being wrapped in silk for the 
sake of isolation. In future the arrangements represented in figure 2, 

will be preferred, in which f f are stationary cylinders, and m m the 
cylinders revolving round the axle d. By this means cylindrical bars 

of soft iron may be used, to obtain which can be a matter of no diffi- 

culty, as they are to be had of all dimensions ready formed. There will 

then be nothing further necessary than to cut them to the proper 

length, and bend the spirals round them by means of a lathe or 

otherwise. 

The several bars attached to the moveable and stationary frames are 
then converted into electro-magnets, by being encircled by the wire of a 
voltaic battery, and their extremities are north and south poles alter- 
nately. If, then, a slight impulse be given to the moveable frame, 

it will continue to revolve in the direction given, until the contrary 

poles come opposite one another, after a few oscillations the motion 

would be suspended, were it not, that, by means of an ingenious con- 

trivance of Jacobi, which he terms the ‘* Commutator,” the moment dis- 

similar poles come opposite one another, the poles of the moveable or 

stationary bars are reversed, and thus the original conditions of motion 

are renewed. 

Figure 3 gives a side and a front view of the Commutator. a b ¢ d are 
four plates of copper, attached to the rotatory axle, e e, which likewise 
bears the frame on which the electro-magnets are fastened; the plates 
a and 6, as well as the plates c and d, are connected by copper tubes, 
Jf f, and each pair of plates perfectly separated from the other by the 
interposition of a hollow axle of japanned wood, or any similar isolat- 
ing substance. The edge of each plate is accurately divided into eight 
parts, four of which, hA h h, are cut out, and duly filled with ebony, so 
that the sectors and the metal present a perfectly even surface. The 
plates are so arranged on the axle, that the sectors of wood and metal 
alternately correspond, as exhibited by the figure, Z Z. C C, are 
copper levers, very moveable round their axes, and serving to conduct 
the current of the voltaic battery. Each lever is shaped like a hammer 
at the end, which rests on a corresponding plate. The shorter arm is 
bent, and dips into the vessel &, filled with mercury. The vessels & k 


An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 123 


and k k, are, as appears by the plate, connected with one another 
by means of a copper wire. 

The action of the Commutator will be now readiiy understood. 
The levers are in constant connexion with the plates, but touch the 
metallic and isolating parts alternately. As they readily move round 
their axes, they fly from the slightest inequality of surface, and the 
friction which is thereby caused is very trifling. The spiral coils which 
_ encircle the moveable bars are united to one wire, branches of which 
(i m) are soldered to the pairs of plates, ab andcd. The other spirals, 
encircling the fixed bars, are similarly joingd, and the ends n and o dip 
the one into a vessel of quicksilver, p, which is connected with the voltaic 
apparatus, and the other into the vessel £ of the Commutator. Thus, by 
means of the Commutator, the whole sixteen spirals form but one 
conaecting wire. The voltaic apparatus consists of four troughs of 
copper, into which four plates of zinc dip. The direction of the current 
is pointed out in figure 3, by the small darts. As soon as the large 
wooden frame is turned by the power of the voltaic pile, the Com- 
mutator, which is attached to the same axis, will be likewise set in 
motion, and thus the reversal of the poles effected by means of the 
machine itself, provided that the commutation plates be so constructed 
that the extremities of the levers shal! pass from one sector to the 
other. 

In September, 1837, by advice of the Minister of Public Instruction 
in Russia, a commission, consisting of Rear Admiral von Krusenstern, 
the Academicians, Foss, Ostragradski, Kupfer, and Lenz, Colonel 
Sololewski, and Lieutenant-Colonel Buratschock were appointed, un- 
der the guidance of Professor Jacobi, of Dorpat, with a view tu endea- 
vour, by experiment, to render electro-magnetism applicable to the 
working of machinery, and particularly to the propulsion of ships. 
The object of this commission appears in part obtained, as on the 25th 
of September, 1838, a vessel was set in motion on the Neva. An 
eight-oared galley, such as is usual in the navy, was placed at the dis- 
posal of the commission, 28 feet in length and 7} in breadth; it was 
provided with paddles similar to those of a steampacket, and the vari- 
ous apparatus were put on board. The insufficiency of many of the 
arrangements which had been made, was then, for the first time, ap- 
parent, and, in consequence, the first experiment was in a measure 
proportionably unsuccessful. It had been intended to make experi- 
ments only in still water, but they succeeded in propelling the vessel 
on the Neva, even against the stream. The speed attained in still 
water was three English miles per hour, and would have been greater 


124 An account of the Electro-Maguetic Engine. 


had the weight on board, which was large, been properly distributed 
throughout the boat, which drew 2} feet of water. The machine, 
when on board, occupied a space 12} feet in breadth, and 2} in 
length. 

_ The battery consisted of 320 pairs of plates, arranged along the sides 
of the boat, leaving sufficient room for twelve persons. The whole 
battery could be brought into play only for a short time, in conse- 
quence of a trifling fault in the connexion, which it was impossible 
to correct on the spot. The consumption of zine, or rather the pro- 
duction of vitriol of zine, per horse power, could not be exactly ascer- 
tained; but it would appear from the experiments, that this could not 
be very considerable, inasmuch as the original weight of the zine 
being 400 pounds, and presenting a surface of 96 square feet, had de- 
creased but 24 pounds in weight, during from two to three months that 
the experiments were continued, 

Provided the health of Professor Jacobi allow him, he intends con- 
structing an electro-magnetic machine of 40 to 50-horse power, and to 
adapt it to the propulsion of a vessel. 

-We must also mention Cyprian Callet’s (of New York) electro-mag-. 
netic machine. (Patent llth July, 1838.) On a balance, similar to 
that of a steam-engine, connecting rods are attached at both sides, — 
which are again connected with strong iron bars, shaped like the 
shoulders of a Brahmah pump. These bars are firmly encircled by © 
electro-magnetic spiral coils. From another point of the balancer a 
connecting rod passed to the crank in the horizontal axle of a fly- 
wheel; and commutation wheels, on Jacobi’s principle, are attached to — 
the same, in order to transfer the electric currents from the battery to 
the spirals. As soon as an electric current is conveyed by means of 
one of the spirals, the bar, which is already in a measure encircled, is 
driven with considerable force into the spiral, and a power is thereby © 
engendered, which, from the fly-wheel, may be applied to the propul- 
sion of boats, vehicles, machinery, &c. j 

According to a writtea communication from Forbes, addressed to 
Faraday, dated October 7th, 1839, it would seem that R. Davidson 
for the last two years had a small waggon and a lathe propelled by an 
electro-magnetic machine. The galvanic battery for the foregoing con- 
sists of a square foot of zinc surface, and the lathe is of sufficient power 
to turn small articles, Davidson is said to be the first who attem 
to produce motion, not by reversing the poles, but by a momen 
suspension of the magnetic virtue. 

Davenport, who has constructed the most powerful machines 


An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 125 


pelled by electro-magnetism, is said to have already applied some 
smaller ones to different objects, such as the working of printing- 
presses, principally of a few horse power. As Davenport’s machines 
are at present the most powerful and simple, it is but fair to give a des- 
cription of them here. 

1. Rotatory machines, consisting. of moveable electro-magnets and 
stationary magnets. 

The moveable part of this machine consists of two horizontally- 
placed iron bars, crossing each other at right angles. They are both 
fifty-two -inches long, and pass at each end into a spherical segment of 
soft iron. The sectors of each of these segments are three inches long, 
and their position horizontal, being attached to the iron rods. 

This iron cross rests upon a perpendicular axle, round which it moves 
with ease: the iron cross-poles are encircled with coils of copper wire. 
round which cotton has been spun; and they may be brought in 
connection with a small battery consisting of concentric copper and 
zinc cylinders, which can be inserted in a quart of diluted acid. Two 
semicircles of strongly magnetized iron form a circle, except at the 
opposite poles ; and within this horizontal circle the galvanized iron 
cross moves, so that its iron segments move parallel, and close to 
the magnetic circle, and likewise in the same plane. Its axis is pro- 
vided at the upper end with a cog-wheel, on whose horizontal axle 
weights are suspended, which are raised by the coiling of a rope. As 
soon as the battery is duly provided with diluted acid, and set in 
connection with the machine, the action and motion commence, by 
means of the iron cross revoiving with its segments or flanks By 
means of the galvanic battery, the crosses and segments are mag- 
netized; in other words, they acquire at their opposite extremities 
positive and negative polarity ; and as they are exposed to the powers 
of attraction and repulsion of magnets fastened in a circle, a rapid 
horizontal motion necessarily ensues. 

If the battery be small, 200 to 300 revolutions take place in one 
minute, and 600 if a larger one be employed. The rope with a 14lbs. 
weight attached, was coiled up, and 28lbs. raised from the ground. 
The motion instantly ceases, on the connection with the battery being 
interrupted ; and it may be reversed by merely making the wires of the 
battery change place with those of the machine: the motion then 
takes place with the same rapidity, but in a contrary direction. 

2. Rotatory machines consisting solely of electro-magnets. 

Mr. Davenport exhibited a machine of this kind in New York, 
March, 1837. The only difference between it and the one just describ- 


126 An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 


ed is, that the stationary circle of magnets of the former is supplied by 
one of electro-magnets in this, and the external circle of soft iron di- 
vided into two to form the poles. These semicircles are one-eighth of 
an inch thick, one inch broad, encircled in copper wire, and isolated by 
cotton. This wire extends over about ten inches of each circle; and, 
by being coiled back upon itself, presents two shafts of wire, amount- 
ing on both semicircles to about 1500 inches. 

The iron of the semicircles is not entirely encircled, but the ends are 
left naked and bent inwards, as represented in figure 5: each of the 
ends bent in is about one-sixth of the semicircle. The semicircles thus 
formed may, if desired, be converted into electro-magnets, and are sub- 
stituted in the place of permanent steel magnets in the former machine. 
In order to obviate the necessity of having two batteries, the conduct- 
ing wires are so arranged that the same current which supplies the 
magnets of the fly-wheel, also supply the stationary magnets which 
surround it. The stationary galvanic magnets by which the place of 
the steel magnets is supplied, are oniy half as heavy as the former. 
Witb a battery which could be immersed in a quart of diluted acid, the 
apparatus raised 16lbs. very rapidly; and, without the weight, exe- 
cated 600 evolutions in a minute. The machine was so sensitive of 
magnetic power that it went with considerable speed when the battery 
was sunk but an inch deep into the acid. When provided with electro- 
magnets the effect seemed more powerful than with the ordinary mag- 
nets. 

We are indebted for a great improvement in electro-magnetic 
machines to the mechanician Stoehrer, of Leipsic, who has constructed 
a machine as a model, the perfect simplicity and easy construction: 
of which will in all probability insure its application in the room of all 
other moving powers. It is worked at present but by four elements, 
each consisting of a copper cylinder filled with vitriolic acid in which a 
zinc plate is hung, and sets a lathe in motion, which is applied to the 
turning of small brass articles. The expense of this power for twenty- 
four hours is one shilling, one-half of which is fully covered by the 
pure metallic copper which is obtained. 

Stoehrer constructed his model last year on the principles laid down 
by Jacobi; and some time after, Wagener, of Frankfort, constructed a 
simiiar model, for which a reward of 100,000 florins was guaranteed 
him by the German Diet, as soon as the plan should be carried out 
on a large scale. 

This execution on a large scale has, according to the latest accounts, 
succeeded most brilliantly; for a saw-mill is at present worked by 


An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine, 127 


electro-magnetism in Bavaria, and this new power has already realized 
the most sanguine expectations. A locomotive is also propelled by 
it. 

It is therefore to be expected that electro-magnetism will soon play 
an important part, and unquestionably supersede steam, which is so 
much more dangerous and expensive, and every other power with which 
we are as yet acquainted. Stoehrer is convinced that, with 100 zinc 
elements, as above mentioned, (equal to forty-five horse power,) he 
can propel a train of waggons with the usual number of passengers, 
from Leipsic to Dresden on the railroad, at an expense of but 
six shillings, whilst the expense at present is about five pounds 
sterling. 

We thus arrive at a standard of the extraordinary economy and 
power of these new machines. notwithstanding their immense power, 
they, can, nevertheless, be instantly stopped by a child; nothing 
further being necessary to stop the machine than to lift the connecting- 
rod out of the vessel. 

The extent by which this power may yet be, and must in time 
be perfected is sufficiently clear, from the fact of its being applicable, 
with the greatest advantage, for grinding, turning, spinning, and in- 
numerable other mechanical processes. 

We feel therefore justified in calling the attention of mechanics to 
this novel power; and we hope by the aid of the drawings (which 
we have taken principally from Jacobi)-to enable any one to get such 
machines made. Herr Stoehrer, in Leipsic, undertakes to construct 
such machines. 

The following has been selected from an article in the Polytechnisches 
Centralblatt, which we doubt not will be read with interest. 


On Electro-Magnetic Machines. By Emit Stornren, of Leipzig, 
Mechanician. 


Tt would seem as if the construction of electro-magnetic machines was 
regarded as a secret everywhere, inasmuch as different means are 
employed to attain the same end each person is entitled to protection 
for all that is peculiar in his mode of construction. But, since the 
laborious efforts of Messrs. Jacobi and Lenz, in St. Petersburgh have 
succeeded in definiug the laws which govern the strength and power of 


128 An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 


the electro-magnets; and since those gentlemen have published the 
same to the world, it is within the power of every one versed in 
mechanics, and acquainted with the theory of galvanism and electro- 
magnetism, to construct electro-magnetic machines of tolerable ef- 
ficiency. 

Besides, it is well known that the late experiments of Messrs. Jacobi 
and. Lenz have been eminently successful. The same boat, twenty- 
eight feet long, seven and a half broad, and two and three quarter 
deep, carrying fourteen persons, which in 1838 was set in motion by a- 
copper and zinc battery of 320 pair of plates, each plate measuring 28 
square inches, was propelled, in the autumn of 1839, by a battery 
of zine and platina, on Groves’s plan, consisting of 64 pair of plates, 
each plate measuring 36 square inches, by means of a judicious altera- 
tion in the arrangement of the bars, attained a rapidity of two miles 
and three quarter an hour, against the stream ; being almost equal 
to the speed of a steam-boat on the Neva, where the experiment 
was made. In the next place, we know on good authority, that 
an electro-magnetic machine has been long since applied in Philadel- 
phia to the working of a printing-press; and there can be hardly 
any doubt but that, up to the present moment, some further progress 
has there been made. 

Since the beginning of last year, I also have made numerous experi- 
ments; and am at this moment engaged in the construction of a good- 
sized machine, according to the calculations of Messrs. Jacobi and 
Lenz. With a view of contributing something to the diffusion of a 
general acquaintance with this wondrous machine,I shall take the 
liberty of communicating the following results at which [ have 
arrived. ’ 

_ The modei of an electro-magnetic machine was set in motion by means 
of a constant battery, constructed for technical purposes, and present- 
ing a zinc surface of ninety-nine square inches, and raised, in the space 
of one minute, two pounds weight to a height of three feet. By means 
of three elements, each ninety-nine square inches in superficies, the 
same battery raised seven pounds in one minute three feet high. The 
electro-magnets applied are in the furm of bars, and care had been 
taken that they should possess the largest polar surface possible, and 
pass each other as closely as possible. The number of the revolutions 
with one element amounted to 100 in one minute, and with three ele- 
ments to 250 in the same space of time. During twelve hours of 
unintermitting action with one element, a quarter of a pound of blue 
vitriol was decomposed, and the copper therein contained precipiiated. 


An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 129 


Experiment has shown that this secondary product fully covers the loss 
of zinc incurred during the same time. By employing one element, 
which does not cost more than three-half-pence daily, 1440 pounds 
may be raised to a height of three feet in twelve hours. A battery and 
machine, to suit technical purposes is regulated as follows: 

1. By lifting up the connecting-wire the whole action is suspended, 
and all motion instantly ceases. 

2. Arrangements are made so that the machine can work with any 
intermediate power from the minimum to the maximum, without its con- 
suming a greater quantity of blue vitriol than is exactly requisite for 
the power required. 

3. A battery can continue for twelve hours in perfectly equable ope- 
ration, provided that the vitriol be supplied once a day. 

4, The solution always remains in the holders of the battery in a 
saturated state, so that the machine may be instantly set in motion by 
the inserting of the zinc, and without its being necessary to resort to a 
new solution of the vitriol. 

5. The battery is free from the inconvenience of generating noxious 
gas, so that the machine may be set in operation in a room, without 
causing the slightest smell of any kind. 

6. Arrangements may be made for the removal of the precipitate ot 
copper from time to time, and so applied to any purpose. 

7. When the machine is not in action, the zinc can be easily re- 
moved, and suspended over the machine: no cleansing is necessary 
until the zinc be completely dissolved. 

If we can no longer doubt, after the experiments of Messrs. Jacobi 
‘and Lenz, that the effect of the electro-magnetic machines increased 
in proportion to the squares of the number of the elements of the bat- 
teries, they must, when executed on a large scale, prove very economi- 
cal, independent of the outlay of capital and the cost of repairs being 
so much less than with steam-engines. 

A power which can raise two pounds weight thtee feet high in one 
minute, will raise six pounds one foot high in the same time. As only 
one element of the battery is required to effect this, let this be consi- 
dered as unity, and the first member of the following progression, 
which may serve as the basis of the construction of electro-magnetic 
machines. The dimensions of the whole machine must naturally be in 
proportion to the increase of the elements. Since, according to Jacobi, 
he power of the machine increases with the quadratic relations of the 
number of elements, it is clear likewise, that the power may be in- 

8 


130 An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 


creased by a proportional enlargement of the machine. The numbera 
of the following table must be accordingly multiplied by the number 
which would represent the enlargement. 


| . 
Number of |. Pounds weight ~ Number of Pounds weight 
battery ;  Taised one foot battery raised one foot 
Elements. ~~ high. Elements, high. 
i 
1 | 6 23 | 3174 
@ 24 24 3456 
$s 54 28 4704 
4 26 32 | 6144 
5 150 36 . «9776 
6 216 40 9600 
v 294 44 ae 11616 
8 384 48 138%4 
9 486 52 16224 
10 , 600 56 | 18316 
11 626 60 21600 
ig 864 64 | 24876 
is 1014 ' 68 27744 
14 1116 i 72 $1104 
15 1330 76 34656 
16 1536 80 38400 
17 i731 | 84 42336 
18 1944 88 46464 
iy 2106 92. 50784 
20 2400 96 55296 
2t 2766 100 } 60000 
22 $904 


As one element costs three-half-pence daily, we may thence deduce 
the expenses of the machine with ease. A machine, the magnets of 
which were twenty-five times the size of the model, would accordingly, 
with 100 elements, or for 12s. 6d., (the half of which is covered by the. 
copper,) exert a power equal to forty-five horses. 

Experience will hereafter show in how far the calculations which 
have been made from models will coincide with reality. So much, 
however, is certain, that, when the advantages come in practice at all 
near the caiculations, there can be no means of producing motion so 
cheap and convenient as electro-magnetism. 

In a conversation which the trans!ator had with the above-mentioned 
Herr Stoehrer, that gentleman informed him that he was then engaged 
in constructing a locomotive far the Leipsic and Dresden railway, by 
order of the Company. He was, however, of opinion that it would 
be more judicious to divide the power amongst several smaller machines, 
than to concentrate it in one large machine. He seemed surprised that 


An account of the Electro-Magnetic Engine. 131 


England, possessing, as she does, the most enormous capital for the 

‘purposes of experiment, should remain so indifferent on a subject 
of such vast importance. He has obtained a patent for his invention 
throughout the kingdom of Saxony. 


Address of the President, Sin J. F. W. Henscuzx, Barr. on the pre- 
sentation of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, to 
Professor Brssxx, at the Anniversary Meeting, February 12, 1841, 
for his observations and researches on the Parallax of 61 Cygni. 


GrntTLEMEN,—The Report of the Council has placed before you 
so ample a view of the state of the Society, of its labours during 
the last year, of the accessions to its members, and of the many 
and severe losses it has had to deplore, that little is left for me to 
add, except my congratulations on its continued and increasing pros- 
perity. It would be inexpressibly gratifying to me if I could per- 
suade myself that my own exertions in its chair had contributed, 
even in a small degree, to that prosperity ; but, alas! I have felt only 
too sensibly how very feebly and inefficiently, especially during the 
last year, owing to a variety of causes, but chiefly to residence at a 
distance from London, I have been able to fill that most honourable 
office. 

The immediate object of my now addressing you, Gentlemen, is to 
declare the award by your Council of the gold medal of this Society to 
our eminent associate, Mr. Bessel, for his researches on the annual 
parallax of that temarkable double-star 61 Cygni,—researches which 
it is the opinion of your Council have gone so far to establish the ex- 
istence and to measure the quantity of a periodical fluctuation, annu- 
al in its period and identical in its law with parallax, as to leave no 
reasonable ground for doubt as to the reality of such fluctuation, a: 
something different from mere instrumental or observational error : 
an inequality, in short, which, if it be not parallax, is so inseparably 
mixed up with that effect as to leave us without any criterion by 
which to distinguish them. Now, in such a case, parallax stands to 
us in the nature of a vera causa, and the rules of philosophizing will 


132 Sir J. Herschell’s address 


not justify us in referring the observed effect to an unknown, and, so 
far as we can see, an inconceivable cause, when this is at hand, ready 
to account for the whole effect. 

I say, in the nature of a vera causa, since each particular star must 
of necessity have some parallax. Every real, existing, material body, 
must enjoy that indefeasible attribute of body, viz. definite place. 
Now place is defined by. direction and distance from a fixed point. 
Every body, therefore, which does exist, exists at a certain definite 
distance from us and at no other, either more or less. The distance 
of every individual body in the universe from us is, therefore, neces- 

sarily admitted to be finite. 

' . But though the distance of each particular star be not in strictness 
infinite, it is yet a real and immense accession to our knowledge to 
have measured it in any one case. To accomplish this, has been the 
object of every astronomer’s highest aspirations ever since sidereal 
astronomy acquired any degree of precision. But hitherto it has 
been an object which, like the fleeting fires that dazzle and mislead 
the benighted wanderer, has seemed to suffer the semblance of an ap- 
proach only to elude his seizure when apparently just within his 
grasp, continually hovering just beyond the limits of his distinct ap- 
prehension, and so leading him on in hopeless, endless, and exhaust- 
ing pursuit. 

The pursuit, however, though eager and laborious, has been far 
from unproductive, even in those stages where its immediate object — 
has been baffled.. 

The fact of a periodical fluctuation of some kind in the apparent 
places of the stars was recognized by Flamsteed, and erroneously 
attributed to parallax. The nearer examinatior of this phenomenon 
with. far more delicate instruments, infinitely greater refinement of 
method, and clearer views of the geometrical relations of the sub- 
ject, rewarded Bradley with his grand discoveries of aberration and 
nutation, and enabled him to restrict the amount of possible parallax 
_ of the stars observed by him within extremely narrow limits. 

Bradley failed to detect any appreciable parallax, though he con- 
sidered 1” as an amount which would not have escaped his notice. 
And since his time this quantity has been assumed as a kind of con- 
" ventional limit, which it might be expected to attain, but hardly to 


on the presentation of a Medal. 138 


surpass. But this was rather because, in the best observations from 
Bradley’s time forward, 1” has been a tolerated error ; a quantity for 
which observation and mechanism, joined to atmospheric fluctuations 
and uncertainties of reduction, could not be held rigidly accountable 
even in mean results ; than from any reason in the nature of the case, 
or any distinct perception of its reality. If parallax were. to be de- 
tected at all by observations of the absolute places of the stars, it 
could only emerge as a “‘ residual phenomenon,” after clearing away all 
the effects of the uranographical corrections as well as of refraction, 
when it would remain mixed up with whatever uncertainties might 
remain as to the coefficients of the former, with the- casual irregula- 
rities of the latter, and with all the forms of instrumental and obser- 
vational error. Now these have hitherto proved sufficiently even in the 
observation of zenith stars, quite to overlay and conceal that minute 
quantity of which astronomers were in search. 

It is not my intention, Gentlemen, to enter minutely into the his- 
tory of the attempts of various astronomers on this problem, whether 
by the discussion of observations of one star, or by the combination 
of those of pairs of stars opposite in right ascension; nor with the 
occasional gleams of apparent success which, however, have always 
proved illusory, which have attended these attempts. For such a — 
history, and, indeed, for a complete and admirably drawn-up mono- 
graph of the whole subject, I must refer to a paper lately read to 
this Society by Mr. Main, and which is now in process of publication 
in the forthcoming volume of our Memoirs.: In whatever reference I 
may have to make to the history of the subject, I must take this 
opportunity to acknowledge my obligations to the author of this 
paper, as well as for his exceedingly luminous exposition of the 
results of those more successful attempts on the problem by Hender- 
son, Struve, and Bessel, which I shall now proceed more especially 
to consider. 

It would be wrong, however, not to notice that the first indication 
of some degree of impression beginning to be made on the problem 
seems to be found in Struve’s discussion of the differences of right 
ascension of circompolar stars in 1819, 20, and 21. The only posi- 
tive result, indeed, of these observations is, that in the case of twen- 
ty-seven stars examined, none has.a parallax amounting to half a 


134 Sir. J. Herschell’s address 


second. But below this, there certainly do seem to be indications in 
the nature of a real parallax, which might at least suffice to raise 
the sinking hopes of astronomers, and excite them to further 

But the time arrived when the problem was to be attacked from a 
quarter offering far greater advantages, and exposed to few or none 
of those unmanageable sources of irregular error to which the deter- 
minations of absolute places are liable. I mean by the measurement 
of the distances of such double stars as consist of individuals so dif- 
ferent in magnitude as to authorize a belief of their being placed at 
very different distances from the eye; or, as Struve expresses it, 
optically and not physically double. This, in fact, was the original 
notion which led to the micrometrical measurements of double stars: 
but not only was anything like a fair trial of the method precluded 
by the imperfections of all the micrometers in use until recently, but 
the interesting phenomena of another kind, which began to unfold 
themselves in the progress of those measurements, led attention off 
altogether from this their original application, which thus lay dor- 
mant and neglected, until the capital modern improvements, both in 
the optical and mechanical parts of refracting telescopes, and the 
great precision which it was found practicable, by their aid, to attain 
in these delicate measurements, revived the idea of giving this 
method, what it never before had, a fair trial. The principle on 
which the determination of parallax by means of micrometrical obser- 
vations of a double star turns, is extremely simple. If we conceive 
two stars very nearly in a line with the eye, but of which one is 
vastly more remote than the other, each by the effect of parallax, 
will appear to describe annually a small ellipse, about the mean 
place as its centre. These two ellipses, however, though similar in 
form will differ in dimension ; that described by the more remote 
star being comparatively much smaller: consequently, the apparent — 
places being similarly situated in each, their apparent distance on 
the line joining these apparent places will both oscillate in angular 
position and fluctuate in length, thus giving rise to an annual rela- 


tive alternate movement between the individuals both in position — 


and distance, which is greater the greater the difference of the 
parallaxes. 


on the presentation of a Medal. 135 


Thus it is not the absolute parallax of either, but the difference of 
their parallaxes, which is effectively measured by this method; i. e. 
by repeating the measurements of their mutual distance at all times 
of the year. But, on the other hand, aberration, nutation, precession, 
and refraction, act equally on both stars, or so very nearly so as to 
leave only an exceedingly small fraction of these corrections bearing 
on the results. And when the stars are very unequal in magnitude, 
there is a presumption that the difference of their parallaxes is very 
nearly to the whole parallax of the nearer one. 

The selection of a star for observation involves many considera- 
tions. In that pitched on by M. Bessel (61 Cygni), the large star 
so designated, is in fact a fine double star ; nay, one that has been 
ascertained to be physically double. It.is in every respect a highly 
remarkable star. The mutual distance of its individuals is great, 
being about 164”. Now this being necessarily less than the axis of 
their mutual orbit, affords in itself a presumption that the star is a 
near one. And this presumption is increased by the unusually great 
proper motion of this binary system, which amounts to nearly 5" 
per annum, and which has been made by Sir James South the sub- 
ject of particular inquiry, and found to be not participated in by 
several small surrounding stars, which, therefore, are not physically 
connected with it. Moreover, the angular rotation of the two, one 
about the other, has been well ascertained. 

Now, it fortunately happens, that of these small surrounding stars 
there are two very advantageously situated for micrometrical com- 
parison with either of the individuals of the binary star, or with the’ 
middle point between them. The one of these (a), at a distance of 
7, 42", is situated nearly at right angles to the direction of the doubk 
star ; the other (b) at a distance of 11’ 46", nearly in that direction. 
Considering (a) and (4) as fixed points then, and measuring at any 
instant of time their distances from (c), the middle point of the 
double star, the situation of (c) relative to (a) and (0) is ascertained ; 
and if this be done at every instant, the relative locus of (c). or the 
curve described by it, on the plane of the heaven with resnect to the 

. fixed base-line a 6, will become known. 

Now, on the hypothesis of parallax, that locus ought to be an 

ellipse of one certain calculable eccentricity and no other. And 


136 Sir J. Herschell’s address 


its major and minor axis ought to hold with respect to the points, 
a. 6, certain calculable positions and no other. Hence it follows 
that the distances a c and 6 ¢ will each of them be subject to annual 
increase and diminution ; and that, Ist, in a given and calculable 
- ratio the one to the other; and, 2ndly, so that the maxima and mini-. 
ma of the one distance (a c) shall be nearly contemporaneous with 
the mean values of the other distance 6 ¢, and vice versd. 

Thus we have, in the first place, several particulars independent of 
mere numerical magnitudes ; and, in the second place, several dis- 
tinct relations 2 priori determined, to which those numerical values 
must conform, if it be true that any observed fluctuations in these 
distances (a 5) (a c) be really parallactic. So that if they be found 
in such conformity, and the above-mentioned maxima and minima do 
observe that interchangeable law above stated : and if, moreover, all 
due care be proved to have been taken to eliminate every instrument- 
al source of annual fluctuation ; there becomes accumulated a body 
of probability in four of the resulting parallax, which cannot but 
impress every reasonable mind with a strong degree of belief and 

Now, all these circumstances have been found by M. Bessel, in his 
discussion of the measures taken by him (which have been very 
carefully and rigorously examined by Mr. Main in the paper alluded 
to, as have also M. Bessel’s formule and calculations, for in such 
matters nothing must remain unverified), to prevail in a very signal 
and satisfactory manner. Not one case of discordance, in so many 
independent particulars, have been found to subsist ; and this, of it- 
self, is high ground of probability. But we may go much farther. 
Mr. Main has projected graphically the deviations of the distances 
(ac) and (6c) from their mean quantities (after clearing them of the 
effects of proper motion and of the minute differences of aberration, 
&c.). Taking the time for an abscissa, and laying down the devia- 
tions in the distances so cleared as ordinates, two curves are obtain- 
ed, the one for the star (a), the other for the star (4). Each, of 
these curves ought alternately to lie for half a year above, and for half 
a year below, it axis.—Jt does so. Each of them ought to intersect its 
axis at those dates when the maximum and minimum of the other above 
and below the axis occurs. With only a slight degree of hesitation at 


on the presentation of a Medal. 137 | 


one crossing—it does so. The points of intersection with the axis 
ought to occur at dates in like manner calculated @ priori ; and so they 
do within very negligible limits of error. And, lastly, the general 
forms, magnitudes and flexures of the curves ought to be identical with 
those of curves similarly projected, by calculation onan assumed re- 
sulting parallactic coefficient. This is the final and severe test : Mr. 
Main has applied it, and the results have been placed before you :— 
oculis subjecta fidelibus. If all this does not carry conviction along 
with it, it seems difficult to say what ought to do so. 

The only thing that can possibly be cavilled at is the shortness of 
the period embraced by the observations : viz. from August 1837 to 
the end of March 1840. But ‘this interval admits of five intersecti- 
ons of each curve with its axis ; of two maxima and two minima in 
its excursions on either side; and of ample room for trying its agree- 
ment in general form with the true parallactic curves. Under such 
circumstances, it is quite out of the question to declare the whole 
phenomenon an accident or an illusion. Something has assuredly 
been discovered, and if that something be not parallax, we are alto- 
gether at fault, and know not what other cause to ascribe it to. 

The instrument with which Bessel made these most remarkable 
observations is a heliometer of large dimensions, and with an exqui- 
site object-glass by Fraunhofer. I well remember to have seen this 
object-glass at Munich before it was cut, and to have been not a lit- 
tle amazed at the boldness of the maker who would devote a glass 
which at that time would have been considered in England almost 

‘invaluable, to so hazardous an operation. Little did ! then imagine 
the noble purpose it was destined to accomplish. By the nature and 
construction of this instrument, especially when driven by clock- 
work, almost every conceivable error which can affect a micrometri- 
cal measure is destroyed, when properly used ; and the precaution 
taken by M. Bessel irf its use have been such as might be expected 
from his consummate skill. The only possible apparent opening for 
an annually fluctuating error seems to be in the correction for tem- 
perature of its scale, But this correction has been ascertained by 
M. Bessel by direct observation, in hot and cold seasons, and applied. 
Nor could this cause destroy the evidence arising from the simul- 
taneous observation of the two companion stars, since a wrong cor- 

T 


138 Sir J. Herschell’s address 


rection for temperature would affect both their distances proportion- 
ally, leaving the apparent parallactic movement still unaccounted for. 

The resulting parallax is an extremely minute quantity, only thirty- 
one hundredths of a second ; which would place the star in question at 
a distance from us of nearly 670,000 times that of the sun !* Such 
is the universe in which we exist, and which we have at length found 
the means to subject to measurement, at least in one of its members 

.probably nearer to us than the rest. 

It becomes necessary for me now to refer to two series of research- 
es on this important subject, which have been held by your Council 
to merit very high and honourable mention ; though neither of them, 
separately, for reasons which I shall state, would have been consider- 
ed as carrying that weight of probability in favour of its conclusions, 
which would justify any immediate decision of the nature which they 
have come to in the case of M. Bessel’s. I allude to M. Struve’s 
inquiries, by the method of micrometric measures, into the parallax 
of a Lyre: and to Mr. Henderson’s, by that of meridian observati- 
ons, on the parallax of a Centauri. 

a Lyre is accompanied by a very minute star, at the distance of 
about 43”. That this star is unconnected with a by any physical 
relation, is clear from the fact ascertained by Sir James South and 
myself, that it does not participate in the proper motion of the large 
star. The mutual angular distance of these stars has been made 
by M. Struve the subject of a very extensive series of micrometric 
measures with the celebrated Dorpat achromatic, bearing this object 
steadily in view, and working it out to a conclusion of the very same 
kind, and, though materially inferior in the degree and nature of its 
evidence to that of Bessel, yet certainly entitled to high considera- 
tion. M. Struve’s observations on this star, and for this purpose, 
extend from Nov. 1835 to Aug. 1838, and are distributed over sixty 
nights, averaging twenty per annum; and from their combination, 
according to the principle of probabilities, he concludes a parallax of 
0”-261. Mr. Main has subjected these observations to an analysis 
and graphical projection, precisely similar in principle to those 

© The orbit described by the two stars of 61 Cygni about each other will, there- 


fore, be about 50 times the diameter of the earth’s about the sun, or 24 times that 
of Uranus. 


, on the presentation of a Medal. 139 


I have explained in the case of 61 Cygni. The curves so projected 
have been subjected to your inspection, and that inspection certainly 
does leave a very strong impression of a real and tolerably well-as- 
certained parallax having been detected in this star. But at the 
same time an impression no less decided, owing to irregularities in 
the march of the curve, when compared with the true parallactic 
curve, is created,—that the errors of observation are far from being 
eliminated,—that, on the contrary, they bear such a proportion to 
the parallax itself as to leave room. for some degree of hesitation, 
and to justify an appeal to a longer series of observations, and to con- 
current evidence from other quarters, before declaring any positive 
opinion. The evidence of this kind, in short, is not equal to that af- 
forded by the similar projection of Bessel’s observations of either of his 
two comparison stars. And to this it must be added, that only one 
star of comparison existing in the line of a Lyre, the possible effect 
of temperature and annual instrumental variation is not eliminated 
from the result in the way in which it is from the measures of 61 
Cygni ; while all that great mutual support which the observations of 
parallaxes of the two comparison stars afford each other in the latter 
case, is altogether wanting in the former. These considerations, 
without any under-estimation of the great importance and value of 
M. Struve’s researches yet formed essential drawbacks on the imme- 
’ diate admission of his results. 

In a word, I conceive the question of discovery as between these 
illustrious, but most generous and amicable rivals, may be thus fairly 
stated. M. Struve’s meridian observations in 1819-1821 seem to 
haye made the first impression on the general problem, but too 
slight to authorize more than a hope that it would yield at no 
distant day. His micrometric measures of a Lyre commenced more 
than a year earlier, and have extended altogether over a longer — 
period than M. Bessel’s of 61 Cygni. From their commencement 
they afford indications of parallax, and these indications accumulating 
with time have amounted to a high degree of probability, and ren- 
dered the supposition of parallax more admissible than that of instru- 
mental or casual errors producing the same influence on the measures. 
On the other hand, M. Bessel’s measures commencing a year later, and 
continued on the whole through somewhat less time, have exhibited 


140 Sir J. Herschell’s address 


0. camigect sand edeebianie: tol abana drawn from two distinct 
systems of measures mutually supporting each other, and so steadily 
bearing on their object as to leave no more reasonable doubt of its 
truth than in the case of many things which we look upon as, 
humanly speaking, certain. And this conviction once obtained, reacts 
on our belief in the other results, and induces us to receive and admit 
it on the evidence adduced for it; which, without such conviction so 
obtained, we might hesitate to do until after longer corroboration 
of the same kind. 
. The other series of observations to which I must now call your 
attention are those of Mr. Henderson, made at the Cape of Good 
Hope, on the great star @ Centauri, the third star in brightness 
which the heavens offer to our view. It is a magnificent double 
star consisting of two individuals, the one of a high and somewhat 
brownish orange, the other of a fine yellow colour, and each of 
which I consider fairly entitled to be classed in the first magnitude.* 
Their distance ‘s at present about 15’ asunder, but it is rapidly 
diminishing, and ‘nu no great lapse of time they will probably occult 
one another, their a..gular motion being comparatively small. ~ Their 
apparent distance was formerly much greater: how much we cannot 
say for want of observations, but probably the major axis of their 
mutual o1it is little short of a minute of space. They, therefore, 
afford stroug indications of being very near our system. Add to 
which their proper motion is very considerable, and participated in 
by both, which proves their connexion as a binary system; and an 
additional presumption in favour of their proximity may be drawn 
from their situation in what, from general aspect, I gather to be the 
nearest region of the milky way, among an immensity of large stars. 
Mr. Henderson observed these stars with great care both in right 
ascension and declination with the very fine transit, and (in spite of 
certain grievous defects in the axis) the otherwise really good and 
finely divided mural circle of the Royal Observatory in that colony. 
Since his return to England, he has reduced these observations with 
a view to parallax, and the result is the apparent existence of that 
* I have seen both their images projected on a screen of three thicknesses of 


stout paper, the eye being on the opposite side of the screen from that on which 
the images were depicted 


on the presentation of a Medal 141 


element to what, after what has been said, we must now call the 
great and conspicuous amount of a full second. Mr. Main, to whom 
I am so largely indebted for allowing me to draw so freely on his 
labours, has also discussed these results, and comes to the conclu- 
sion that (as might, perhaps, be expected) the right-ascension obser- 
vations afford a trace, but an equivocal one, of parallax, but that in 
declination (I use his words) ‘The law of parallax is followed 
remarkably well. There is scarcely an exception to the proper 
change of sign, according to the change of sign of the coefficients 
of parallax. This is quite as much as can reasonably be expected in 
a series of individual results obtained from any meridional instru- 
- ment for observing zenith distances. We cannot expect to find the 
periodical function regularly exhibited by the differences. On the 
whole, therefore, we should say that, in addition to the claims of 
a Centauri on our attention with relation to its parallax, arising 
from its forming a binary system, its great proper motion, and its 
brightness,—it derives now much additional importance, in this 
point of view, from the investigation of Mr. Henderson. This we 
are at least entitled to assume until some distinct reason, indepen- 
dent of parallax, shall have been assigned for the changes in the 
declinations.: Such I do not consider impossible, having before my 
eyes the results which Dr. Brinkley derived, in the cases of certain 
stars, from the Dublin circle. For the present it must be considered 
that the star well deserves a rigorous examination by all the methods 
which the author himself has so well pointed out; and that, in the 
event of a parallax at all comparable with that assigned by Mr. Hen- 
derson being found, he will deserve the merit of its first discovery, 
and the warmest thanks of astronomers, as an extender of the know- 
ledge which we possess of our connexion with the sidereal system.” 

With this view of Mr. Henderson’s labours I fully agree, and 
await with highly excited interest the result of Mr. Maclear’s larger 
and complete series of observations on this star both with the old 
circle and with that more perfect one with which the munificence of 
government has recently supplied the Observatory. Should a differ- 
ent eye and a different circle continue to give the same result, we 
must, of course, acquiesce in the conclusion; and the distinct and 
entire merit of the first discovery of the parallax of a fixed star will 


142 Sir J. Herschells address 


“rest indisputably with Mr. Henderson. At present, however, we 
should not be justified in so far anticipating a decision which time 
alone can stamp with the seal of absolute authenticity. 

Gentlemen of the Astronomical Society, I congratulate you and 
myself that we have lived to see the great and hitherto impassable 
barrier to cur excursions into the sidereal universe ; that barrier 
against which we have chafed so long and so vainly—(estuantes 
angusto limite mundi)—almost simultaneously overleaped at three 
different points. It is the greatest and most glorious triumph which 
practical astronomy has ever witnessed. Perhaps I ought not to 
speak so strongly—perhaps I should hold some reserve in favour of 
the bare possibility that it may be all an illusion—and that further 
researches, as they have repeatedly before, so may now fail to sub- 
stantiate this noble result. But I confess myself unequal to such 
prudence under such excitement. Let us rather accept the joyful 
omens of the time, and trust that as the barrier has begun to yield 
it will speedily be effectually prostrated. Such results are among 
the fairest flowers of civilization. They justify the vast expenditure 
of time and talent which have led up to them; they justify the lan- 
guage which men of science hold, or ought to hold, when they 
appeal to the governments of their respective countries for the libe- 
ral devotion of the national means in furtherance of the great objects 
they propose to accomplish. They enable them not only to hold 
out but to redeem their promises, when they profess themselves pro- 
ductive labourers in a higher and richer field than that of mere ma- 
terial and physical advantages. It is then when they become (if I 
may venture on such a figure without irreverence) the messengers 
from heaven to earth of such stupendous announcements as must 
strike every one who hears them with almost awful admiration, 
that they may claim to be listened to when they repeat in every 
variety of urgent instance, that these are not the last of such an- 
nouncements which they shall have to communicate,—that there 
_ are yet behind, to search out and to declare, not only secrets on 
nature which shall increase the wealth or power of man, but rruTHs 
which shall ennoble the age and the country in which they are divul- 
ged, and by dilating the inteilect, react on the moral character of 
mankind. Such truths are things quite as worthy of struggles and 


on the presentation of a Medal. 143 


sacrifices as many of the objects for which nations contend, and ex- 
haust their physical and moral energies and resources. They are 
gems of real and durable glory in the diadems of princes, and 
conquests which, while they leave no tears behind them, continue 
for ever unalienable. — 

It must be needless for me to express a hope that these reabarGhes 
will be- followed up. Already we have to congratulate astronomy 
on the resolution taken by one of our great academic institutions to 
furnish its observatory. with an heliometer of the same description as 
Bessel’s ; nor can we fear but that the research will speedily be ex- __ 
tended to other stars, offering varieties of magnitude, and other indi- — 
cations to draw attention to them. 

Ca the whole, then, the award of our medal, which the Council 
have agreed on, seems to me, under the circumstances, fully justi- 
fied. I will now request the foreign secretary to convey it to our 
distinguished associate ; and in so doing, I will add our hope that, 
in the painful and distressing visitation with which it has pleased 
Providence recently to try him, he may find occasion to withdraw 
his mind a while from that melancholy contemplation to receive 
with satisfaction such a tribute to this his last, and perhaps his 
greatest achievement, accompanied as it is by the truest regard for 
his private worth, and the most respectful sympathy for his present 
distress. 


On a Thorny Species of Lizard and other Reptiles from 
New Holland, described by Mr. Gray. Plate V. 


Having been favoured by our friend Dr. Huffnagle with 
a species of Thorny Lizard, (plate V), we found it to be one 
of those new Reptiles, brought to notice by Mr. Gould, as 
inhabitants of New Holland, and which are described by 
J. E. Gray, Esq., F. R. S. in the Annals and Magazine of 
Natural History, April 1841. The species is that which is 
named by Mr. Gray, Moloch horridus, and as it has never 


144 Description of new 


been figured, we have endeavoured from the specimen pre- $ 
sented to us to supply this desideratum, although we regret 

to say, we have in a great degree failed. The animal in 

spirits is of a yellow colour, with dark interrupted streaks 

along the body, which is covered with spines. We. here 

quote Mr. Gray’s remarks, in which the description of this 

curious creature will be found under the name above 

stated :— 


Description of some new Species and four new Genera of Reptiles from 
Western Australia discovered by John Gould, Esq.. By J. E. Gray, 
Esq., F. R. S., &c. . 


To the Editors of the Annals and Mag azine of Natural History.. 


GENTLEMEN, 


Mr. Gould having kindly placed in my hands the collection of Rep- 
tiles which he made during his visit to New Holland to gather materials 
for his ‘ History of the Birds of Australia,’ I have sent you the descrip- | 
tion of the following species, which appear to be new to science. The ; 
two new genera are very interesting ; the one, Ronia, being exactly | 
intermediate in organization between the two-legged and the four- 
legged Scincs; and the other, Moloch, for its extraordinary appearance 
and grotesque forms. 

I may remark, this collection conta two sp°cimens of ,Soridia 
lineata, Gray, which MM. Dumeril and Bibron h° ve accused me of 
erroneously describing as an Australian animal. (See ‘ Erpétologie 
Générale, v. 787.) [ believe that this has arisen from M. Bibron sup- 
posing all the Reptiles that he saw at the Chatham Museum to be from 
the Cape of Good Hope ; whereas that collection is very rich in Austra- 
lasian Reptiles. Chelomeles of MM. Dumeril and Bibron appears to. be 
very nearly allied to Soridia, and should most probably be arranged 
with it in the family of Rhodonide. 

Mr. Gould's specimens of Delma having enabled me to examine more 
minutely the characters ofthat genus, I am now convinced that it 
should be referred to the family Pygopide. It chiefly differs from the 
genus Pygopus in the small size of the rudimentary feet, and in the 
absence of the pre-anal glands. - 

The genus Lialis, which heretofore has been placed with Pygopus, 

+ appears to be the type of a new family. It, Delma and Pygopus are all 


Species of Reptiles. 145 


found in Western Australia, as is also the genus Aprasia, which ought 
in my Catalogue of Slender-tongued Saurians (Ann. Nat. Hist. vols. 
i. and ii.), to have been arranged with the Apodel Scincs. On examin- 
ing Mr. Gould’s better-preserved specimen, I am inclined to consider it 
alzo as the type of a family characterized by the shields of the head 
and the position of the nostrils, to which most probably, MM. Dumeril 
and Bibron’s genus Brachymeles will also have to be referred. These 
genera will then range thus :— 

Fam. Liatisipz :—Lialis. 

Fam. Pycorip= :—Pygopus, Delma. 

Fam. Ruovonipz :—Rhodona Soridia Chelomeles. 

Fam. Arrasiapz:—Aprasia Brachymeles. 

Ronta, Gray. Fam. Scincide. 

Head rather shelving, shielded with one transverse frontal and two 
large vertebral plates, the hinder largest ; the rostral plates large, 
with two unequal supercilliary plates. The nasal plate triangular, 
interposed between the rostral plate and the frontal ones, with the 
nostrils in its centre; loreal plates two, square; labial plates large; 
ears none, only a very indistinct sunk dot in their place. Body 
cylindrical ; tail conical, tapering. Scales smooth, ovate, imbricate, 
of the belly 6-sided. The front limbs very small, rudimentary, | 
undivided ; the hinder limbs moderately developed, ending in two 
very unequal toes, with distinct claws. 

Ronia catinulata, Gray. Back with eight series of small black dots, 
one dot on the centre of each scale ; cheeks, black, speckled; sides 
and beneath whitish. 

Body 34, tail 23 inches. 

Inhab. Western Australia. Mr. J. Gould. 

The scales under the tail are rather larger, and the spots on the tail 

are rather larger than those on the back. 

Grammatophora cristata. Nape with a crest of distinct, rather short, 
curved, compressed, spinose scales; back and tail with a series of 
compressed scales forming a slight keel; occiput with separate 
short strong conical spines; sides of the neck and back with folds 
crowned with series of short compressed scales; base of the tail 
with some scattered larger scales. In spirits, dull olive; crown 
black with large white spots, beneath black; middle of the belly 
and under sides of the base of the tail white ; tail with black rings, 
at the ends; feet whitish. _ 

Inhab. Western Australia. Mr. J. Gould. 

The underside is coloured somewhat like G. maculatus (G. Gaimardii 

U 


146 — Description of new 


Dura. and Bibron), but the sides of the head near the ears are spi- 
nose, and the nape is distinctly crested. But as MM. Dumeril and 
Bibron’s species is only described from a single specimen, which is in 
a bad state, and has lost its epidermis, and as the description itself, 
though long, refers chiefly to parts which do not differ in the species 
of the genus, this species may prove to be identical with it. 

These authors, in giving the character of Grammatophora Gaimardii 
and G. Decresii, appear to place great reliance on the one having 
tubular and the other non-tubular femoral pores, which is a fact en- 
tirely depéndent on the state in which the animal might be at the time 
. when it was put into the spirits, as I have verified by comparing 

- numerous specimens of different reptiles furnished with these pores. 

But in this genus the size of the pores is apparently of less im- 
portance than in many others, for they appear to be quite invisible 
in some states of the animal: thus out of many specimens of G. mu- 
ricata brought by Mr. Gould from Van Diemen’s Land and Western 
Australia, eight specimens have no visible pores ; these specimens differ 
from the others in being of a rather paler colour beneath. This state 
of the pores may entirely depend on the manner in which they were 
preserved, for all these specimens had a slit made into their abdo- 
men to admit the spirits; while in all specimens in which this care 
had not been taken the pores are distinctly seen, sometimes moderately 
sized, and sometimes tubularly produced. 

Grammatophora Decresii, Dumeril and Bibron, Erp. Gén. iv. 472. 

Tail conical, with nearly regular scales ; the base rather swollen? 
without any series of spines on the side; back with small sub- 
equal scales and a few larger once in cross series ; the nape and ~ 
back with a series of rather larger, low, compressed scales ; side 
of the head near the ears and side of neck with two or three — 
ridges crowned with short conical spines. In spirits black, yel- 
low spotted and varied, beneath gray, vermiculated with black- 
isa ; tail black-ringed. 

Inhab. Western Australia. 

This species is so much smaller than G. muricata, that I might have 
considered them as young animals if one of them had not had the body 
filled with well-formed eggs; and the tail is much shorter than in the 
young of that species. 

The specimens agree in most points with the description given By 
MM. Dumeril and Bibron, but not in the colour and the size of the tail. 
The specimens in this collection greatly differ in their colour, but are 
ali very different from any other species. 


Species of Reptiles. : 147 


Grammatophora muricata, Cuvier. ‘The young animals have a series 

of small spines on each side of the base of the tail, and a series of 
_ spots‘on each side of the back. 

Mr. Gould has brought home two very distinct local varieties. 

Var. 1. Diemensis, Young dark-coloured, with vermiculated marks ° 
on the chin, chest, and abdomen. The adult dark, beneath gray, 
varied with black spots placed in irregular lines. 

Inhab. Van.Diemen’s Land. ; 
Var. 2. Adelaidensis.. Young pale above and beneath, ‘with three broad . 
diverging black lines on the chin, leaving an oblong spot in the . 
centre of the throat, with a broad streak onthe chest separated 
into three lines on the abdomen, which unite together again on 
the pubis. The adult gray, with a few rats Baeeesh. 
~ Inhab. Adelaide, Western Australia. 


Motocx, Grey. sstitt . Fam. Agamide. 


‘ Body depressed, covered with irregular unequal, small granular plates, 

_ each furnished witha more or’less prominent central spine, and’ 
with a series of large, conical, convex, acute spines; head and— 
limbs covered with similar scales and spines; head small; with — 

’ very large spines over each of the eyebrows; tail with irregular 

_ rings of large acute spines ; femoral and subanal pores none; teeth 
small, subequal; toes 5. 5, short, covered above and below with 
keeled scales ; claws long, acute.. 

The external appearance of this Lizard is the most ferocious of any 
-. that I know, the horn of the head and the numerous spines on the 
body giving it a most formidable aspect. The scales of the back are 
small and unequal; they gradually increase in’ size as they approach 
the base of the conical spines; which is surrounded with a ring of 
larger scales with longer spines: the large spines are conical; rather 
compressed, spinulose below, smooth and acute at the tip, and are 
usually furnished with a sharp toothed ridge on the front edge, and . 
sometimes on the hinder one. These spines only consist of a horny 
sheath placed on a fleshy process of the very same form and appear- 
ance as the spines they bear. The scales of the under side of the body 
are of the same form, and are furnished with similar but smaller and 
less produced spines than those of the back. ‘The back of the neck 
of the only two specimens I have seen is furnished with a large round- 
ed protuberance like a cherry, covered with large granular spinous 
scales, and armed on each side with a large conical spine; but I do 
not know if this is common to the species or merely. accidental in 


148 Description of new 
these individuals; at any rate it adds consulerabty to the singulari* 
of their appearance. 

I have named this genus, from its appearance, after “ Moloch, hor- 
rid king.” 

Moloch horridus. t.y. Pale yellow, marked with dark brown regular 

spots ; sides and beneath bla.k-edged, dark red similar spots. 

Inhab. Western Australia. Captain George Grey, Mr. J. Gould. 

The marks on the body are very definite, but from the irregularity 
of their form they are not easily described. The lips are darx brown, 
with two streaks up to the small spines on the forehead ; there is a 
dark cross-band from the base of the two large horns over the eye- 
brows, running behind and then dividing into two broad streaks, one 
along each side of the centre of the back of the neck to between the 
shoulders, crossing the nuchal swelling. In the middle of the back 
there is a very large black patch nearly extending from side to side, 
and over the loins are two oblong longitudinal black spots; the dark 
lines commencing from the lower angle of each eye extend to the legs, . 
along the upper part of each side to the upper part of the groin. On 
the front of the fore and hind-legs and the sides are marked similar 
dark bands. A dark band commences from the hinder part of the 
lower lip, merging in the throat, and expanding out so as to be united 
together at the back part of the chin. There is a large, rather oblong 
spot in the centre of the chest and the hinder part of the abdomen, 
separated from each by a large, somewhat triangular spot on each 
side of the middle of the abdomen ; body 44 inches. 

This is the Spinous Lizard exhibited by Mr. Gould at the meeting of 
the Zoological Society, on the 25th day of August, 1840. 

Breviceps Gouldii. Smooth, with a few scattered low ‘tubercles; 

gray-brown, yellowish beneath. 

Inhab. Western Australia. " 
This animal has all the external appearance and character, as far 
as they are given in MM. Dumeril and Bibron’s work, of the Breviceps 
gibbosus of the Cape of Good Hope, except that it has not the yel- 
low dorsal band, and the back is scarcely to be designated as granu- 
lar. It is the second species of the genus, and only the second Toad 
found in Australia, the other being Phreniscus australis, which I describ- 
ed in the ‘ Proceedings of the Zoological Society,’ under the name of 

Bombinator australis. 
Ureroreta, Gray. Fam. Ranide. 


Head large ; palate quite toothless ; upper jaw with small close teeth ; 


Species of Reptiles. 149 


the tympanum hid under the skin ; the toes of the fore and hind- 
feet elongate, slender, quite free; the ankle with a roundish 
external and a small conical inner tubercle : the tongue small, ob- 
long, roundish, and entire behind. 

This genus is most nearly allied to Leiwperus of MM. Dumeril and 
Bibron, with which it agrees in having no teeth on the palate, but it 
differs from it in the tympanum being quite hid. 

The internal nostrils are some distance in front of the cross-ridge 
on which the palatine teeth are generally placed. 

Uperolia marmorata. Black and green marbled, leaving a triangul*r 

greenish spot on the forehead, beneath lead-colour. 

Inhab. Western Australia. 

. Dr. Tschudi has formed a genus under the name of Crinia, which | 
appears by his characters to be nearly related to the above; but MM. 
Dumeril and Bibron (Erp. Gén. viii. 416) observed that the specimers 
he described have two very small groups of teeth on the vomer. 

Hyla bioculata, Gray. Slender; fore-toes quite free; hinder tos 
webbed to the last joint (in spirits). Grayish white, with a series 
of very small, indistinct, oblong tubercles, with a dark streak 
from the nostrils to the shoulder, enclosing the eyes, and a white 
streak below it from the under side of the eye, sides purplish, 
with small white spots ; back of the thighs purple, with two yellow. 
spots ; belly and under side of thighs whitish, granular. 

Var. 1. Back of thighs with one or two additional yellow spots. 

Var. 2. Back bluish gray ; back of the thighs with six or seven small 
subequal yellow spots. 

Inhab. Western Australia. 

Hyla Adelaidensis, Gray. Slender; fore-toes quite free, hinder toes 
webbed to the last joint; (in spirits) gray-blue, with a series of 
small oblong tubercles; the sides’ purple-brown, with a white 
streak from the under side of the eyes to the’shoulders ; sides of 
the belly and region of the vent purplish, with small white spots ; 
the hinder side of the thighs purple-brown, with three large ob- 
long white spots; belly and under side of thighs granular ; chin 
white, brownish dotted; palatine teeth in two roundish groups 
between the internal nostrils. 

Inhab. Western Australia. 


Hexzrororus, Gray. Fam. Ranide. 


Head short, swollen; eyes large convex; palatine teeth in a straight 
interrupted ridge between the two internal nostrils; teeth very 


150 Description of new Species of Reptiles. 


small; body swollen; skin of the back minutely granular, of the 
belly smooth ; legs rather short; toes 4.5, short, warty beneath, 
quite free; the hind wrist with a large, oblong, compressed, in- 
ternal tubercle; the base of the inner finger with a conical wart, 
ending in a small acute bony process; tongue large, entire be- 
hind. 

- This genus has many of the characters of Cystignathus, but differs 

from it in being warty and swollen, and in having short toes like a 

Toad. 

Heleioporus albo-punctatus. Lead-coloured (in spirits), with white 
spots; beneath dirty white, with some small white warts at the 
angle of the mouth ; legs smooth. 

Inhab. Western Australia. . 

Cystignathus dorsalis. The palatine teeth in a single large straight 
line, just behind the inner nostrils; tongue large, slightly nicked 
behind; the tympanum nearly hid under the skin, gray-brown 
(in spirits), marbled with dark irregular spots, with @ white 
streak down the middle of the forehead and front of the back ; 
sides pure white, spotted and marbled with black, beneath white ; 
toes elongate, slender, tapering ; back part of thighs brown, white 
speckled. 

Inhab. Western Australia. J. Gould. 

This species is very distinct from C. Peronii and C. Georgianus, the 
two Australian species described by MM. Dumeril and Bibron. It 
agrees with the former in the disposition of the palatine teeth. 

Elaps Gouldii, Gray. Pale yellowish; the scales of the back small, 
six-sided, with a dark anterior margin, giving the.back a netted 
appearance ; top of the head and nape black, with a yellow spot 
on the rostral scale on each side just before the eyes ; head small; 
the occipital plates large, elongate; the nasal plate triangular ; 
one moderate anterior, and two subequal posterior ocular shields ; 
six upper and lower labial shields, the fourth under the eyes ; eyes 
small, pupil round. 

There is an indistinct small yellow spot behind the upper part of the 
eye; but this may be an accidental variety, as the spots on the two 
sides are not equally defined. 

Inhab. Western Australia. 

This species resembles Calamaria Diadema, which is also found in 
Western Australia; but it is larger, and the head is larger in compa- 
rison with the body, and in this species it is the base of the scales, 
while in the latter it is the outer margin that is dark. : 


151 


Miscellaneous. 


Extract from the Proceedings of the Entomological Society, 4th May 1840. 


A letter was read from Alexander Burn, Esq., dated Kiva, Gujerat, 
- December 6th, 1839, addressed to the President of the Entomological 
Society, accompanying a box containing two Indian species of blister- 
flies which abound at Gujerat, and which he had found to be equal 
as vesicants to the Spanish fly: indeed when used fresh a liquor Lytte 
“of greater strength and activity can be obtained from them. The 
writer had called the attention of the Bombay Government to these 
insects as objects indigenous to India, which might be worthy of 
attention as articles of commerce. The first, Lytta gigas, Fab., ap- 
pears early in the season of the monsoon, (August and September), 
creeping along the ground, seldom using its wings,’ and feeding on 
the young tender shoots of grasses. The other species, Mylabris 
pustulata, Blbg. flies about all day, and feeds on the flowers of various 
plants, specially the esculent Cucurbitacee and Hibiscus esculentus and 
cannabinus, abounding in some seasons to such an extent as to prove 
extremely destructive to the plants, hardly a single blossom escaping 
them. To the market gardeners they are therefore a great nuisance, . 
and as the objection to destroy animal life is extremely rank in this 
part of India, the only ‘plan adopted to get rid of them is picking them 
with the hand from the plants into large earthen vessels, and sending 
them to a distance of a mile or two to be set free in any wild or uncul- ' 
tivated spot. 
. In reference to the above letter Mr. G. Newport stated that he had 
ascertained that Meloé Proscarabeus, the Common English species, was 
highly diuretic, and it was suggested that as the two species of 
Indian Cantharide possessed very powerful medicinal properties and 
were extremely abundant, it would be advisable that they should be 
collected in quantities and imported into England, so as to supersede 
the use of the common blister-fly.* 


* We would strongly recommend this object to the attention of mercantile people in 
various parts of India, where these flies are common, The supplies of this article which 
up to within the last eighteen months were importéd from Europe, are now obtained 
in the country for the public service at a saving of several hundred pounds per annum, 
and it is found that the Native fly is better than the Spanish. These flies are universal 
throughout India, and may be collected by women and children in any quantity at about - 
one-sixth of the market value of the Spanish fly in England. We would recommend mercantile 
people who would turn their attention to object, to consult the Secretary of the 
Medical Board on the subject, from whom samples of the article, as used in medicine, 
may be obtained as a guide. —Ep. 


152 


List of some of the Articles which have been made at the Futtegurh 
Flintware Manufactory. 


Some thousands of dozens of soda water bottles, vitreous ware, 
jars from 8 Ib, downwards, wide and narrow-mouthed ; mortars and 
pestles, large and small evaporating dishes ; funnels of sizes, syp- 
hons, water and gas pipes, gally pots of sizes, common and with 
covers, tea pots, butter pots, cups and saucers, jugs and mugs, 
milk and slop bowls, inkstands double and single, hookah bottoms, 
candlesticks, flower-holders, chamber utensils ; also fire bricks, 
fire tiles, glass-house pots, crucibles of sizes, capable of bearing 
the most intense heat, and glazed tiles for paving 6 and 8 inch;. 
these latter were intended for. forming the floor of a sulphuric acid 
chamber laid down with a composition of lac and sand, but we ulti- 
mately adopted lead; two of these tiles have lately been sent down 
through Major Lumsden, C. B., to Colonel Garstin, Superintending 
Engineer, Lower Provinces. 


' Futtergurh, 26th March, 1842. W. PYLE. 


Indian Turpentine. 

We recently received specimens of the resin of Pinus longifolia - 
from Major Carter, as well as from Mr. H. Inglis, Assistant to the 
Political Agent at Cherra-Ponji. These have been found to yield 
in the Laboratory of the East India Company’s Dispensary 75 per 
cent. of rosin and ten per cent. of rectified oil of turpentine. 
This rosin and turpentine are both articles of Materia Medica, 
the one sold at 10 shillings per cwt. and the other at 80 shillings 
in the English market, and are exported to India; where however, 
whole provinces are overgrown with various species of pines, from 
which, as the foregoing results show, extensive supplies of these 
articles might be furnished. All that is necessary in order to obtain 
rectified oil of turpentine and rosin is a copper still; the oil distils — 
over, and the rosin remains behind in the still. The oil is rectified _ 
by redistillation, a little water being placed with it in the still, the pure | 


eee I a See ee 
7" , . 
/ 


Miscellaneous. < 153 


rectified oil is collected in a receiver. The only expense attending 
the production of these articles is the fuel; but if the distillation 
were performed in the retired places, where the pine forests are 
so abundant, this would cost but little ; so that there is every reason 
to suppose rosin and turpentine might be produced in India 
under as many advantages as in America, or elsewhere. They 
are both articles of common use in the arts, as well as in medicine. 
It is therefore satisfactory to know that they may be furnished 
extensively for local consumption, if not as articles of export. Pine 
forests cover the central ridges of the Kasyah mountains, particularly 
the northern declivities. Extensive tracts of Kemaon are likewise 
covered with forests of Pines. In these situations the trees are 
useless for their timber, but might be rendered productive in the 
way we have here pointed out.—Ep. 


Mineral Indigo. 


‘We received a letter from Major Jenkins the Commissioner of 
Assam a short time since, enclosing from Mr. Landers, one of his 


Assistants, a specimen of “ Blue Earth” found on the banks of 


the Deko Nuddie, a little above Nagura. The earth consists of 
deep blue coloured, perfectly fine, and impalpable powder, which 
gives a blue colour to water and oils with which it is mixed, 
but the colouring matter appears to be insoluable, and is dissipated 
and entirely destroyed at a red heat, and protoxide of iron is 
precipitated from the ashes by hydro-sulphurate of ammonia. It 
therefore appears to be an earthy substance containing protoxide 
of iron and vegetable colouring matter. Major Jenkins states that 
he has written for further information on the subject, requesting 
to be supplied with large samples, and to be informed if it is pro- 
curable in large quantity; as in that case, Major Jenkins suggests 
it might be used as a paint, if good for nothing else. 

In descending the Dhunsiri Major Jenkins himself saw boulders 
of black clay, which on being broken, proved to consist internally 
of layers of decayed leaves, which when separated afforded traces 
of the same kind of coloured earth.—Ep. 

x 


154 Miscellaneous. 


Insects at Sea. 


We are indebted to Captain Guilhinbey the Geaaahic ab 


French ship, for a species of Casida taken at sea, Lat. 12° N., West. 


Long, 21°. which we find to be near the Cape De Verd Islands ; but M. 
Guillamier, who was struck with the beauty of this insect, states that 


land was not in view when it came on board.. It was captured by . 
M. Guillamier, and lived throughout the voyage to Calcutta, and ap-. 


- peared to be in perfect health when transferred to our charge, — 
a cae iE on board of ——- of three months Ep. 


OBITUARY. 


Late accounts from Europe have brought intelligence of the 
death of Professor Decandole, Professor Don, and Aylmer Bourke 
Lambert, Esquire.. We were not sufficiently acquainted with these 
eminent persons, except from a very slight knowledge of their 
works, to be able to notice the peculiarity of their characters. As 
biographical notices of them will doubtless appear in the reports 


of some of the Learned Societies to which they belonged, we shall — 


not fail to notice them in our pages. From Professor Don we 
had a short time since a kind letter bespeaking an ardent and en- 
thusiastic mind, and from which it will be enough to add the follow- 
_ ing short extract ; “ It is gratifying to me,” he says, “ to witness the 
efforts of some young and generous, minds, to do justice to the 
memory of Buchanan Hamilton, whose merits as a naturalist were 


of the highest order; and perhaps no single individual has done’ 


so much towards elucidating the riches of the Flora and Fauna 
of India.” Professor Don was a learned Botanist, and held for 
many years past the office of Librarian to the Linnzan Society, 
of which he was a fellow. He was also Professor of Botany to 
King’s College, London. 


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. THE 
CALCUTTA JOURNAL 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


On East Indian Isinglass, its introduction to, and manufuc- 
ture for, the European.Market. By the Eviror. 


Having called attention ‘to the ‘subject in the March 
Number of the Journar of the Asiatic Society for 1839, 
p. 203, and again in the Researches of the Asiatic Society, 
‘for October of the same year, it was our intention to re- 
main silent regarding Bengal Isinglass, with the view of 
allowing the article to work its own way in the English 
market. 

But the appearance by the January mail of the proof 
sheets of a pamphlet by, Dr. Royle on this subject, ren- 
ders a few observations necessary, in order that the in- 
formatio before the Government may be as complete -as 
tHe res which~ have been ascertained are capable of 
making .. 


* Dr. Royle’s valuable Report on this subject has been rep. inted 
in full in our last number, together with additional notes of our own. 


VOL. II. NO. X. JULY 1842. Y 


158 On East Indian Isinglass. 


Dr. Royle’s pamphlet comprises all the information he has 
_ been able to collect in his office at the India House, as well as 
the opinions of brokers, dealers, and consumers, as to the de- 
fects of the Bengal compared with the Russian Isinglass. 
It also contains, what was very much desired, a detailed 


chemical analysis of the Bengal article, all which will be of © 


service to those who are engaged in preparing Isinglass in 
this country. 

Much information has, however, been collected in India, 
that has not been officially reported to the Government, nor 
published ; and some also has been published in the two 
last numbers of the Calcutta Journal of Natural History,* 
which Doctor Royle could not have been aware of when he 
wrote; so far therefore his pamphlet is deficient, and. it 
is to supply this deficiency that we now enter upon the 
subject. 

Having found, in December 1839, that notwithstanding 
the publication in Calentta of several statements in which 
the advantages of making Isir<'-~~ *-*™ fishes in the Hoog- 
ly were pointed out, still we found tha. no one had taken 
up the article with a view to the European market, and the 
little that was collected by the fishermen, was purchased, as 
usual, by the Chinese in a rough state, with as little com- 
petition as if nothing whatever had been published on the 
subject. 

Such being the case, we felt that it would be altogether 
waste of time to write more about it, and instead of doing 
so, we desired our servants to collect the article from the 
fishermen, the same as the Chinese were doing, and at the 
same rate, or a slight advance if necessary. In the course 
of about a month, by going from village to village along 
_ the banks of the Hoogly and Salt-water lake, otr khit- 
mutgar collected altogether about 45 maunds, 

A maund consists of about 200 impure dry fish bladders, 


* Nos. 7 and 8 for 1841, pp. 450, 615. 


ait aes 


On East Indian Isinglass. 159 


and the rate charged for these was 4 rupees per score, or 
40 rupees per maund. It was necessary to buy them by the 
score, because it seldom happened, that so many as a maund 
could be had at any one place. In the hands of petty 
dealers, who collected from the fishermen for the Chinese, 
three or four maunds were occasionally met with ; but as 
far as we have been able to learn, there is every reason to 
doubt the accuracy of Mr. Remfrey’s statement, quoted by 
Dr. Royle, page 32, in his pamphlet, that in one village on 
the Salt-water lake, the Chinese obtain from 800 to 900 
maunds for the Chinese market. 

On the contrary, we think the transactions of the Chinese 
in this article in the vicinity of Calcutta has been extremely 
small; for although we advanced a higher rate for the article 
than the Chinese ever gave, in order to secure all, or as 
much as was collected, with a view to ascertain the extent 
of the trade, yet we only succeeded in obtaining 45 maunds 
the first year, and the following year, 1840-41, at the still 
further advanced rate of 50 to 55 rupees a maund, we only 
succeeded in obtaining 75 maunds. 

We are therefore led to the conclusion, that so far from 
finding supplies ready to our hands in any one place, to the 
extent stated by Mr. Remfrey, we must look for large sup- 
plies of the article in the improvement not only of the 
demand, but also of the means, which European capital 
and intelligence can alone supply. 

We commenced collecting Isinglass in December 1834, 
then nearly the end of the season, only because we found the 
ebject neglected. Had we not taken this step, on finding 
no one else disposed to set the example, we are strongly 
impressed with the conviction, that Bengal Isinglass would 
still be unknown as an article of import in the English 
market. 

The following is the upshot cf the first year’s operations, 
which, if viewed merely as a mercantile speculation, must be 


160 On East Indian Isinglass. 


regarded as a decided failure, as it has left us upwards of 
2,000 rupees out of pocket.* If, on the other hand, it be 
regarded as an experiment, by which the value of an article 
unknown before in the European market was to be tried, 
we think it has been eminently successful, and must lead 
to permanently useful and beneficial results. 

Those who have purchased the first investment at ls. 7d. 
per Ib. in 1840, appear to think “ that 3s. 6d. per Ib. is 
nearer the price that it would now (1841) bring.” No pro- 
cess of mere reasoning or of argument, however conclusive, 
could have led to this result. Nothing, in short, but an 
extensive trial of the article, such as that which has been 
afforded at our expence, could have demonstrated the value 
of East Indian Isinglass, to the satisfaction of brokers and 
consumers. 

There was no other way in which that trial could have 
been made, but by taking its responsibility entirely upon 
ourselves. We felt assured, that an application for an ad- 
vance of public money for such an object would not be 


attended to, and even if it could, that we could not make it; 


on the other hand, we felt perfectly satisfied as to the im- 
portance of the object, and that there was no other way in 
which the experiment could be made :. .» by taking it 
solely upon ourselves. 


* It will be seen by the annexed extracts from correspondence 
with the Government that this sum has been liberally reimbursed to 
ua.—Ep. 


161 


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ST FT ON ee 


162 On East Indian Isinglass. 


From 14th March 1840, when we transferred the article © 
to our agents, Messrs. Cantor and Co., we left every thing 
connected with its shipment and sale on our account to that 
firm. Itis due, however, to the liberality of H. M. Low, Esq. 
one of the partners in the late firm, to say, that he offered 
to take the risk-of the investment on himself, and to repay 
to us the 3,086:6:0 Rs. which it had then cost us. This 
very kind and liberal offer of Mr. Low, we considered it 
our duty to decline. The experiment was undertaken with 
a public view, and any private arrangement, such as that 
proposed, we conceived might alter the character of the 
transaction, as far as we were individually concerned. 

The sample of Isinglass therefore which Dr. Royle states, 
page 31 in his pamphlet, to have been the first received at the 
India House, and which was sent to him on the 30th October 
1840, by Mr. Cantor, with a note, stating that it was a speci- 
men of a consignment sent by his house in Calcutta, belong- 
ed to, and formed a part of that which was prepared by us, 
and sent at our own expence and risk through Messrs. 
Cantor and Co., to the London market for trial, consisting 
as already stated, of 2,235 lbs. 

Whether the specimens subsequently presented by Messrs. 
Rogers and Remfrey, and alluded to, page 31, in Dr. 
Royle’s pamphlet were derived from our stock, is of little 
consequence, as the public sale at which the 2,235 lbs. were 
disposed off, took place on the 2nd of November, only three 
days after the first specimen had been received at the 
India House. ¢ 

We have been thus particular in stating the circumstances 
and views under which the first investment of Isinglass sént 
from India to the European market was made, because we 
regard the subject of very great importance, and are de- 
sirous of placing the facts connected with it in as clear a 
light as possible. 

The only other person besides ourselves, who took any 


es 


On East Indian Isinglass. 163 


practical interest in the subject during the season of 1839-40, 
was Mr. G. T. F. Speed, who after our own operations had 
created a stir amongst the fishermen, appeared for the first 
time to have entered the market, if we might so express it, 
as our rival; but whether Mr. Speed’s experiment.was of 
such dimensions as to create any very serious injpression in 
the Home market, or to produce satisfactory and cenctusive 
results, or whether it would ever have been undertaken but 
for our example, we cannot take upon ourselves to say. 
Thus much, however, we have much pleasure in stating, that 
Mr. Speed was, in our opinion, perfectly successful in ren- 
dering his Isinglass as pure and free from fishy smell, and in 
every way as neat, as Russian Isinglass. 

The opinions of brewers and brokers as to the quality of 
ihe first investment were so unfavourable, that had they not 
been in some reSpects directly opposed to what we had 
ascertained before hand to be the properties of the article, 
as well as contradictory among themselves, we should have 
been disposed to abandon all hopes of the article. 

In October and November 1839, we were employed in an 
investigation of different kinds of fishes yielding Isinglass 
in the Hoogly, as well as the properties of the article as 
afforded by different fishes. The following are the results 
as regards the latter part of the subject :— 


Per cent.|Per cent. Quantity tried 
Sort Ewe Gelatine. | Albumen.| of each. 


Large Suleahy .....4;..0..00-000seseseeseans 93.4 6.6 100 parts. 
BPIGINTUIOR I: ccccccucsecsnesesdecocdnsscce’ 86.7 13.3 100 
Reema A £8. 0 tik ctheaitacticiead 87.0 13.0 | 100 ,, 
Small Silurus Rita, ... ......-..scesseees 67.0 33.0 100 


From the above results we were satisfied, that the com- 
plaints of the brokers and brewers of the large size, thick- 
ness, &c. of the Indian Isinglass resulted from prejudice, 


164 On East Indian Isinglass. 


as the largest and thickest sounds, or those of full grown 
adult fishes, seemed to be the purest Isinglass. We are 
aware of the bulky appearance of the little albumen contain- 
ed in the large Sulea Isinglass, but if this be collected on 
a strainer and dried, it will be found to amount to no more 
than 6 per cent., 94 per cent. nearly, being pure gelatine 
which is entirely soluble, yet the large Sulea Isinglass was 
declared by some to be insoluble. In small Sulea and other 
smaller fishes, the results were more unfavourable. 

Others protested against the smell, which they declared 
to be peculiarly offensive. Our Isinglass, after eight or ten 
day’s exposure only to the sun and dew, had lost completely 
its fishy smell before it was packed; it is probable, however, 
that it had been packed too fresh, and that the packages 
may have got damp on board ship, or perhaps in the Custom- 
house or other stores at home; in that case the smell would 
be very offensive, but the article might still be perfectly 
freed from smell again by re-exposure for a time to dry air. 
We cannot exhort merchants and others too much as to the 
importance of having Isinglass perfectly dry when packed, 
and well aired when offered for sale. 

We would therefore recommend exposure to the open 
air for months before packing, and that the packages should 
be small, not exceeding ten Ibs. each. Our packages were 
large chests of eighteen cubic feet each, and from which the 
article ought to have been removed and well aired in Lon- 
don before offering it, either as samples or for sale. The 
package of the article during so long a voyage is a subject 
of much importance. 

We cannot take upon ourselves to say how far the article 
may have been injured after it left our hands by exposure 
to a hot sun in the month of March, when passing the Cus- 
tom-house, and other forms prior to shipment, or what in- 


jury it may have sustained from damp or other causes on : 


bourd ship, or in the docks and stores in London. 


Ea ee 


oe 


rey a 


On East Indian Isinglass. 165 


We are of opinion, that small gunny, or coarse canvass 
bags would be the safest and best package, but on this sub- 
ject experience will be the best guide. Doctor Royle has 
omitted to point out how the Russian Isinglass is packed, 
and to consult the brokers on the best methods of packing 
the Indian ‘article. The great fault complained of was the 
smell, a fault which it must have acquired ‘after it was pack- 
ed, and had left our hands, and which the lapse of time 
during the voyage could not account for. In March 1840, 
we had about 15 or 20 seers of the article left, which was 
not enough to make an uniform package. It was therefore 
allowed to lie, during the ensuing rains, neglected in a damp 
cellar until the November following, when the complaints 
of the brokers arrived regarding the smell of the despatch 
sent home for sale. 

But. so far was this neglected sample from having con- 
tracted any bad smell, that it had on the contrary lost every 
trace of that which it originally possessed, a fact to which we 
cannot attach too much importance. The greater size of the 
packages, and their closeness from haviag been soldered, 
and exposure to sun in this state during shipment, or to wet 
on board ship, or to rain in England, are the only causes to 
which we can ascribe the smell complained of in the invest- 
ment sent home; but we are perfectly satisfied that the 
fishy smell of Isinglass may be altogether removed by con- 
tinued exposure to the air; this may be as well effected in 
Europe after removal from the original packages as in India. 
But if this be considered an injury to the article in the 
European market, it will only be necessary for those who 
are engaged in its preparation in India, to adopt more pre- 
vaution for its perfect removal, by care in cleaning in the 
first instance, and subséquent airing before packing, as well 
as by attention to the description of package. 

The arrangements for future operations in this article 


were shaped according to the advices received from Messrs, 
t 


166 On East Indian Isingiass. 


James Cockburn and Co., relative to the above experimental: 
investment, due allowance being made for the prejudice of 
brokers and consumers. Their first letter on this subject 
is dated 4th May 1840, in which they say, “ Isinglass advised 
is a new article from your quarter. We shall have great 
pleasure in deing all in our power to have it well shewn, 
and to obtain the highest value for it, as we cannot but feel 
an interest in the introduction of a new article of import.” 
In their second letter, dated 31st October 1840, they en- 
close the opinion of different brewers as to its value. 

Truman, Hanbury, Buxton and Co. state, that the sample 
submitted to them was not sweet, and that if it were so, it 
would he worth 3s. to 4s. 6d. per lb. if it yielded well in 
testing, but they add, Isinglass is a very difficult article to 
judge of by appearance only. Messrs. Cockburn and Co. 
therefore enjoin greater care in cleaning, and state, that if 
put up in the manner of Russian Isinglass, it would com- 
mand at least 4s, to 5s. per Ib., and they enclosed in 
their letter a piece of Russian Isinglass worth 12s. per Ib. 
to which our own appeared in every respect equal in 
quality. The only difference appeared to be in size; the 
Russian staple weighed only about an ounce, while the 
Indian varies from six to fourteen ounces, the produce of 
each fish being so much in favour of the latter; the nature 
and properties, texture, and structure of both being econo- 
mically and chemically the same. 

The third letter of Messrs. Cockburn and Co. to their 
correspondents in Calcutta, is dated 4th November 1840, 
two days after the public sale. They state, that they had 
taken considerable pains to have the Isinglass well shewn, 
and to obtain the best opinion of it value, and also the 
probable quantity that could be safely sent to the London 
market. 

“The first point,” they say, “ for your friend,” (alluding 
to us,) “ to consider, is to make it up in a state for consump- 


On East Indian Isinglass. 167 


tion, which should be done by carefully cleaning the blad- 
ders as soon as they are taken out of the fishes, scraping 
off all fat and fleshy or skinny particles, and to get off 
entirely the ¢hin skin in the inside of the bladders, wash 
‘them carefully in fresh water, and then dry them in 
the sun. 

“When the process is complete, they will be of one uni- 
form colour, clear, and transparent, and free from all fishy 
smell, and if they arrive in this state, they will probably sell 
for as much as 5s. per lb., but we think you may safely caleu- 
late upon getting 3s. 6d. for any quantity up to 50 or 60 tons 

' in the course of the year. If, however, they are very suc- 
cessful in bleaching, a larger quantity may be sent. It is 
stated to be a description of glass only suited to brewers, 
who take Brazil Isinglass chiefly for their use, which is now 
worth 2s. to 3s. 6d. per lb. This glass leaves a large resi- 
dium when melted, unless mixed with an acid which renders 
it of no value, except for brewers, otherwise it would com- 
mand a higher value.”—Letter of Messrs. J. Cockburn 
and Co. 

We have now to notice how the operations thus com- 
menced have been followed up. In the months of August 
and September, the fishermen represented the necessity of 
making advances to them before November, the season 
when Sulea fishing commences, in order that they might be 
enabled to make preparation for taking the largest possible 
quantity of fish. Their representations appeared perfectly 
fair and reasonable, and we conceived it to be highly desir- 
able to know what quantity of fish could be procured under 
the arrangements they proposed. 

The results of the sale of the last investment were how- 
ever still unknown, so that advances could not be made with 
safety to the extent that was necessary; some séven or eight 
hundred rupees were, however, given out in small sums for 
the construction of nets, boats, &c. to some forty or fifty 


168 On East Indian Isinglass. 


villages, and about the end of November the article began 
to come in, and continued to arrive in the proportion of from 
one to three maunds a day for about six weeks, when we 
found the whole amount furnished did not exceed 75 
maunds, although the prices rose in consequence of compe- 
tition towards the end of January to 50 and 55 zupees per 
maund. 
The advices from England having arrived, the next object 
was to improve the manufacture, and as pointed out in 
Messrs. Cockburn’s letter of 4th November 1840, to make 
up the article in a state for home consumption. Our inter- 
course being now fairly established with all “ interests in the 
trade,” we became acquainted with a family who had been 
in the habit of accompanying the fishermen for the purpose 
of obtaining fresh fish sounds, which they pull out into 


shreds in imitation of the European form of Isinglass as — 
described by Mr. Remfrey, page 32, in Dr. Royle’s pam- | 


phlet, a form that appeared to be admirably suited to the 
English market. 

Our fish sounds were, however, dry and hard, so that it 
became necessary to bring them back to their original soft 
state before they could be converted into the shredded state. 


With this view, they were soaked in lime water for twelve 


hours, and cleaned in the same manner as the Isinglass of 
the first year 1839-40; in addition to this treatment, they 
were next steeped in alum water a short time, and then 
spread out on cotton clothes, also saturated with the same, 
and rolled tightly up in the folds of the cloth, and left 
overnight covered to prevent evaporation; on opening the 
damp cloths the following morning, the fish sounds were 
found perfectly soft, as in the first instance when removed 
from the fish, and such parts as were cleaned properly quite 
white. In this state the Isinglass may be either pulled out 
into shreds, or pressed as thin and flat as is desired, by 
passing it between double rollers. After the manipulation 


| 


On East Indian Isinglass. Oo 


is completed, and the article is reduced to the form intend- 
‘ed, a little fine chalk is to be dusted over it, which prevents 
the soft pieces from adhering to each other. This if found 
at all injurious, may be avoided by spreading the fresh Isin- 
glass on cloths to dry at once, when the chalk would be 
unnecessary. The only thing necessary to be guarded 
against in using the chalk is, that when it is once applied to 
the Isinglass, we cannot attempt to alter the form of the 
latter by further pressure or manipulation, otherwise we 
press the chalk into the soft surface, or even into the sub- 
stance of the Isinglass, from which we cannot afterwards re- 
move it by any subsequent process; it thus destroys the 
transparency and natural appearance of the article, without 
however any injury to its properties; for, as Dr. Royle re- 
marks, the chalk-will subside in solution. 

The greater part of the Isinglass we prepared during the 
second year was in the shredded form, the rest was passed 
between rollers. The tirst is the most expensive mode of 
preparation. We had the shredding part of the process 
done on contract at eight annas per seer. 

The sample submitted to Government, 17th February 
1841, for transmission to the Honorable Court of Directors, 
- consisting of 28 seers, both of the rolled and shredded sort, 
and subsequently, as suggested in the letter of Government, 
General Department, No. 324, under date 24th February, 
a second chest consisting of 33 seers of the shredded Isin- 
glass was also submitted, for transmission to the India House. 
In all 6] seers, instead of 46,* as stated by Dr. Royle, 
page 33, had been thus forwarded at the request of Lord 
Auckland, who evinced much interest in the subject. His 
Lordship, however, conceived that it might be objectionable 
to allow a servant of Government to enter upon experiments 
partaking so much of the character of speculations, upon 
which we transferred our interest in the second vear’s ope- 


* Calcutta Journal of Natural History, 1242, page 93. 


170 On East Indian Isinglass. 


rations in the article to Messrs. Cantor and Co., continuing 
however, to conduct the experiment as if it were still on our 
own account, until all the article on hand, consisting of 47 
chests of Isinglass, exclusive of the two chests presented to 
Government, were completed, the whole amounting to about 
50 maunds of 80 Ibs. each. 

The outlay, exclusive of interest, insurance, and shipping 
charges for this quantity was 6000 rupees, including the cost 
of the impure article as extracted from the fish at the advanc- 
ed rate of 40 to 55 rupees per maund ;* also package, the 
erection of a shed, and the additional charge of 8 annasa seer . 
for shredding nearly two-thirds of the whole quantity, which 
last item might have been saved had we known the prejudice 
in the English wholesale market, (referred to p. 36, Royle’s 
pamphlet,+) against things in a powdered or cut state. Yet 
under all the disadvantages of having to feel our way here 
in the manufacture of a new article, and our ignorance of the 
form best suited to the market at home, the outlay in India, in- 
cluding all expenses, amounted to no more than 120 rupees — 
per maund, or 1/8 per lb., and unless the objection to the 
shredded form operates unfavourably in the wholesale mar- 
ket, the article will fetch 3s. 6d. per Ib. Mr. Cantor, one of 
the members of the firm to which the article was transferred, 
and who being himself in London at the time of its arrival, 
commenced disposing of it to retail dealers at 3s. 6d., but 
after the failure of the house, the assignees will not perhaps 
take the same interest in the article, and the brokers in the 
wholesale market will thus be able once more to obtain 
it at their own terms. The 4000 lbs. of which this invest- 
ment consisted, (including the two chests forwarded to the 
India House,) together with the 2235 Ibs. of the preceding 


* It is procured at Arrakan and Moulmein at 30 rupees, and if ex- 
tensive means were employed, might be had for still less; vide Calcutta 
Journal of Natural History, 1841, pp. 452, 614. 

4 Calcutta Journal of Natural History, 1842, p. 95. 


| 
Se ee 
1 


— 


On East Indian Isinglass. 171 


year, the whole of which we collected and prepared, amount- 
ing nearly to three tons, will render the article well known, 
and tend to establish its value in a way most likely to 
remove all difficulties and uncertainty in future operations 
in regard to it. 

In describing the article, page 35 in his pamphlet, Dr. 
Royle describes the samples he received from Messrs. Cantor 
and Rogers, as of a different kind from what he received from 
us. We can explain this by stating, that Messrs. Cantor 
and Rogers’ specimens were merely samples from our own 
first investment, consisting of the fish sounds simply split 
open, the external and internal membranes removed, and 
the air vessels washed and dried. ‘These specimens are de- 
scribed by Dr. Royle as of “oval shape, nine inches in 
length, and five in breadth, and at least a quarter of an inch 
thick ; opaque, of a brownish colour externally, but beauti- 
fully white, even silky-looking when thin pieces are stripped. 
off. These specimens,” Dr. Royle states, “ had neither taste 
nor smell, but as they were only few in number, the smell 
could not be judged so well as when in bulk.” We have 
placed in italics, such parts of this description as we think 
wrong. These specimens were, or ought to have been trans- 
lucent when held against the light; but strips removed 
from the mass are opaque, as well as the mass itself, when 
either surface is broken. 

Secondly, we think it would be wrong to imply that the 
true way of judging of the smell is in bulk, merely because 
the article has been sent home in bulky packages of eighteen 
cubic feet; for if this be found to cause the article to smell, 
the packages may be made as small as we like, and it is 
quite enough to know, that when the bulk is separated, as 
it must be before the article can be used, it loses its smell 
like the samples presented to Dr. Royle by Messrs. Cantor 
and Rogers. We have dwelt on this point as one of vital 
consequence ; the samples in question having been mere aver- 


172 On East Indian Isinglass. 


age specimens of an investment of 2235 Ibs., which was sold 
at a loss, because it was said to smell. 

Dr. Royle next describes the samples which we sent 
through the Government to the India House, which he says, 
* are from six to twenty-four inches long, and about three 
or four inches broad. »nd from 1-6th to 1-10th of an inch 
_ thick, white in colour, rough ix some places, apparently 
from adhering portions «“ membrane stripped off ; smooth 
and translucent in others, and occasionally nearly trans- 
parent in some, &c.” One would suppose this to be quite a 
different article from that which was presented by Messrs. 
Cantor and Rogers from our first year’s manufacture, but 
its peculiarities depend on the oval substance (or air-blad- 
der) having been divided and drawn out, when soft, be- 
tween rollers, and subsequently dusted over on the surface 
with lime, a mode of preparation which we did not employ in 
the samples presented by Messrs. Cantor and Rogers. 

Having now explained what has been done in the manu- 
facture of Isinglass, particularly by ourselves, we turn with 
more satisfaction to what has been accomplished by others, 
as far as we are in possession of information on this impor- 
tant subject. J. G. Malcolmson, Esq. of the firm of Forbes 
and Co., Bombay, in a note to our address dated 25th March 
1841, states, “I have already prepared Isinglass here o¢ 
course from your (meaning the Calcutta) “‘ Polynemus,” and 
from a fish with large scales.” Soon after the receipt of 
Mr. Malcolmson’s note, we were favoured by Sir James 
Carnac on his departure from Bombay, with information 
collected there by Dr. Heddle at the request of Lord 
Auckland. The substance of which is, that the article 
known in commerce as Fish Maws, is the swimming blad- 
der of a species of fish, which attains 24 to 3 feet in length, 
and is very common, at certain seasons, all along the coast. 

This fish, of which Dr. Heddle has been kind enough to 
send a specimen, proves to be the same as our Bengal spe- 


» ~_ 


On East Indian Isinglass. 173 


é E cies, and is in fact Polynemus Sele, Buch. Dr. Heddle states, 

/ that at Bombay this fish is called Dara; at Scinde, (where it 
proves, as originally suggested by us, to be the source of the 
cod sounds alluded to as an article of export from Kura- 
chee) it is called Seer.* The substance extracted from the 

_Dara, as well as two other species on the Bombay coast, 

_ which we shall presently notice, is called B’hat by the Mah- 
rattas, and P’*hat by the Guzeratees and Scindees. Bhat 
is collected by the fishermen, and sold to a certain class of 
Mussulman merchants, called Khojah, who export it largely 
to China. : : 

The principal portion of the B’hat exported is collected, 
Dr. Heddle states, from the Dara ; the best is from Scinde, 
and sells for 20 to 25 rupees per maund, This fish Dr. 
Heddle states, frequents the whole of the western coasts of - 
India, particularly the coasts of Scinde, where it penetrates 
up the estuaries of the Indus, and is caught at Gorabari, 
Kurachee, and other places on the estuaries of the Indus. 
Polynemus Sele, or Dara, appears from the statement of Dr. 
Heddle to afford the best B’Aat, or fish sounds, as well as the 
largest supplies. The fish itself. is also highly esteemed as 
an article of food. 

The second kind of fish affording this article, attains, ac- 
cording to Dr. Heddle, four feet in length, the usual size 
is from 2} to 3 feet, and is caught in great abundance about 
Bombay, the flesh of which is reckoned wholesome bv the 


Sis * We were not unprepared for the confirmation of this important 
; fact, as the species was found by Bruce, the African traveller, to frequent 
ie the coasts of the Red Sea, although as Cuvier remarks, “ par 1 ne de ces 
. 2 -  €tourderies dont son livre est rempli, il ecrit au bas de la planche le 


nom de binny, et il lui applique dans son texte tout ce qu’ il avoit re- 

4 cueilli sur le vrai binny, qui est un poisson du Nil, du genre des bar- 
Oe beaux (le Cyprinus binny, Forsk et Gmel.) Il n’y a point de Polyneme 
dans le Nil, et c’est uniquement sur cette méprise de Bruce qu’est 
5 fondée l’espéce du Polynemus Niloticus du Shaw.” —ZJlist Nat. des Pvissons, 


t. 3, p. 283. 
Qa 


as ary © 9 eet NaS, 


174 On East Indian Isinglass. 


natives, and is very generally found in the Bazars with the 
air bladders extracted, having been previously removed by 
the fishermen, who sell them in a fresh state to the Khojah 
or Bhat merchants, who dry them for exportation. The 
name of this fish, both at Bombay and Scinde, is Gol. We 


have also been indebted to Dr. Heddle for a specimen. 


of this fish, which we identify as a species of Bola, indicated 
by Buchanan as a variety of his Bola Chaptis, called Naria 
in Jessore. It will be recollected, that we identified this 
same species as the Not-kadon of the Burmese, and one of 
those recently sent to the Government as yielding Isinglass 
on the Tenasserim Coast, (Calcutta Journal of Natural His- 
tory, vol. ii, p. 454,) and now we find it contributing largely 
to commerce, as well as to the common food of the people 
of the Malabar Coast. 

Although indicated by the accurate Buchanan, this spe- 
cies has never been described; it belongs to the genus Cor- 
vinus, Cuv. The specimen received from the Tenasserim 
Coast, as well as that from Bombay, were too large and too 
much decayed to allow of detailed descriptions being made 
from them; nor is the drawing with which we have been 
favoured by Dr. Heddle, sufficiently characteristic in re- 
gard to details, otherwise we should be glad to give it 
publicity. 

It may be sufficient, however, for the present to say, that 
the species is very closely allied to Corvinus Niger, Cuv. but 
of monstrous dimensions compared to the European species. 
From the account given of it in Dr. Heddle’s letter under 
the local name of Gol, as well as from its occurrence on the 
Tenasserim Coast, as already pointed out, and also in the 
Gangetic estuaries, this species, together with the Isinglass 
it affords, ought to be carefully examined and investigated. 

Dr. Heddle in the same letter mentions, that there is still 
a third species on the Bombay Coast which affords Isinglass, 
called Kota, of which he has kindly promised to forward a 


On East Indian Isinglass. 175 


specimen to us, as well as of another fish of which Caviare 
is_prepared. 

Of these fishes, which at Bombay contribute largely to the 
exports of that place, two have within the last few months 
been made known as common also on the Tenasserim Coast, 
where their value, as far‘as we yet know, appears to be less, 
or indeed little understood.* 

The attention of the authorities in the Tenasserim Pro- 
vinces, as well as Arrakan, have already been attracted to 
the subject, and reports from Mr. Blundell and Captain Bogle 
have been received, which prove, that they are engaged in 
collecting information, which will doubtless be the means of 
leading to the improvement and encouragement of fisheries.+ 


* A memorandum enclosed with Dr. Heddle’s letter shews the amount 
of exports from Bombay, during the official year of 1839-40, for sharks’ 
fins and fish-maws to be 2,82,383 rupees. The following places are 
given as the sources of these supplies: Malabar Coast, Cutch, Scinde, 
Mekran, Muscat, Bunder Abbas, Goa, the Coasts of Concan, Damaun, 
and Surat. Those exported from Scinde and Damaun are reckoned the 
best, those from Malabar are inferior. These different qualities in the 
Bhat depend, we conceive, upon the species of fish from which it is 
taken, and not upon the place 

+ Mr. Blundell, the Commissioner of the Tenasserim Provinces, to 
whom at the desire of Lord Auckland, we communicated all that had 
been done in Calcutta on the subject of Isinglass, writes to us from 
Moulmein, 24th June 1841, that having given to a friend at Amherst 
all the information collected in Calcutta about Isinglass, he commenced 
some inquiries, the results of which he wrote to me as follows: “The 
Polynemus Sele, called by the Burmese Kéthay, frequents our coast. I 
had one brought to me yesterday, which is the perfect fish described in 
the Asiatic Journal. 1 send you the Isinglass taken from it. The fish was 
about 13 inches long, and judging from the size of the sound, and its 
weight in comparison with the description of McClelland, I should be 
inclined to say, that it is infinitely superior. * * * The large specimen I 
found in possession of a Chinaman, and on inquiry of the Burmese, 
I find it is procured from the same fish of a large size. The season of 
their visitation in numbers, is on the approach of the dry weather, 
when by arranging with the fishermen, a large quantity may be collected. 


176 On East Indian Isinglass. 


It would appear from the information collected by Mr. 
Blundell, and referred to below, as well as in the report of 
Mr. E. O’Reily, recorded in the second volume of the Ca/- 
cutta: Journal of Natural History, that the Polynemus sele 
frequents the estuaries of the Irrawaddi during the cold 
season, precisely as it does those of the Ganges, and as we 
learn from Dr. Heddle, those of the Indus and Coast of 
Scinde. With regard to the Isinglass, Mr. E. O’Reily re- 
marks, that the article never having been noticed in the 
Moulmein river before, it appeared difficult when he wrote, 
(August 1841,) to say to what extent it may be procurable. 
The arrangements proposed by Mr. O'Reily to the head 
fisherman, of erecting stake-traps at the mouth of the river, 
seemed to promise about 500 viss, or 2000 Ibs., as the pro- 
bable amount of Isinglass that may be collected during the 
dry season. Similar arrangements might be made at the 
mouths of the Great Tenasserim and other estuaries along 
the Coast. 

Captain Bogle, Commissioner ot Arrakan, to whom at the 
desire of Lord Auckland we gave in August last a specimen 
of the Sulea fish to shew to the people on that Coast, to- 
gether with all the information in our power, soon after in- 
formed us, that the Sulea fish is found at Arrakan in great 
abundance and perfection. It is there called Lukwah, and 


The large sounds, as per specimen, are at this season imported from 
Rangoon, and sell here at 14 rupee per viss. The Chinaman says, the 
smaller specimen is much finer, and would bring a much larger price if 
imported with others, but I suppose the Burmese look more to quantity 
than to quality. I should very much like to hear McClelland’s report 
on it, especially the smaller specimen, which I think is very fine, and 
certainly more plentiful in the fish here than in that described by him.” 
- The small fish alluded to in the foregoing note is the young Suleah, the 
large sound being afforded by the adult fish; our own observations 
rather prove the sounds of the adult fish to be the purest, although 
both Dr. Heddle and Captain Bogle state, that small sounds bring a 
higher price in China: the subject requires further investigation. 


On East Indian Isinglass. 177 


appears in the estuaries in shoals about the middle of 
January, and disappears in April; its usual size is from 3 to 4 
feet long; about 10,000 of these fish, large and small, are 
taken annually at Arrakan. 

The Mugs split these large fish open, and dry them in the 


- gun; and until within the last few years threw the air vessel 


away; but since then, they sell this to petty dealers at from 
sixteen to eighteen rupees a maund for the large size, but 


twenty for the average description, and sell them again to the - 


Chinese at 30 rupees per maund. Captain Bogle adds, the 
Chinese export the dry bladders to Penang, where they are 
in great request, and bring, it is said, forty or fifty dollars.* 

Taking the value of the export from Bombay, as stated 
by Dr. Heddle on the best authority on the spot as our guide, 
the quantity annually exported from that port would be, at 
20 rupees per maund, 1,129,520 lbs. Now we have found, that 
for every lb. of Isinglass 100 lbs. of fish must be taken. Thus 
supposing, as there is much reason to believe, the article _ 
exported to China as shark’s fins and fish maws to he chiefly 
Isinglass, 50425 tons of fish must be taken to produce it. 
The question therefore arises, what becomes of the fish; 
what proportion of it is consumed fresh; and how much of it 
is cured? The fishermen who in two months supplied us 
with 75 maunds of fish sounds in December and January 
1839-40, must have taken 250 tons of fish, not one-tenth part 
of which we believe, was turned to any useful account. 
Captain Bogle indeed states, that in Arrakan the Mugs split 
the fish open and dry them in the sun, after removing the 
air vessels, and sell four or five fishes in this state for a 
rupee without salting, or otherwise preparing them. 

It is very much to be feared, that their method of curing 


‘fish at Bombay is not much better than at Arrakan, and 


that a vast source of prosperity and trade is thus lost not 
only to our coasts, byt particularly to the interior, where 


* Calcutta Journal of Natural History, vol. ii. p. 615. 


178 On East Indian Isinglass. 


fish is dear, and provisions of all kinds often scarcely suflici- 
ent for the population. 

The estuaries and western shores of the Persian Gulf 
abound in shoals of what we now know to be a superior fish, 
not merely as an article of food, but also superior in the 
production of another article of high commercial value. 
We have also found, that the same species is equally 
abundant during the cold season along the western shores 
of the Bay of Bengal, where up to the present time, it has 
been almost entirely neglected. 

‘These two facts are of the highest practical importance. 
We can infer from them, that the natives of the Malay Coast 
may, if they like, contribute three lacks of rupees to their ex- 
ports, the same as the people on the Coast of Malabar; as 
they have the same fish in the same vast shoals, and the 
same means of fishing if they like to employ them, besides 
the advantage of being so much nearer to China and the 
Straits, hitherto the only market for fish maws. 

But as another market is now opened for this article in a 
more improved and pure stute, the fishermen may obtain 
higher prices, and thus be enabled with European assistance 
to bring improved means to bear upon their employment. 

We have estimated the quantity of fish taken on the 
Malabar Coast annually from the amount of fish maws ex- 
ported, to be upwards of 50,000 tons, of this probably not 
above a 10th part is made available for the supply of food, 
perhaps for want of salt. ‘ 

What we would here recommend is, that a premium be 
allowed on salt fish, equal to the duty on the salt used 
in curing it. It would also be desirable, that attention 
should, if necessary, be directed to the production of salt 
suited to curing provisions. The best salt for this pur- 
pose, and which is used in England, is made in the south 
of Europe from sea water by solar evaporation, and import- 
ed as Foreign Bay Salt. But the native salt merely washed, 


On East Indian Isinglass. 179 


and recrystallized, would answer the purpose. There is, how- 
ever, considerable variety in the native salts in different 
districts, but in general their impurities appear to depend 
on the evaporation of sea water to perfect dryness, instead of 
allowing the last portion of the solution, which consists 
chiefly of muriates of magnesia, lime, and sulphate of soda 
to drip off. 

Salt for curing provisions should not contain above two 
or three per cent. of these last named impurities ; whereas, 
if sea water be evaporated to dryness, the result will contain 
in addition to muriate of soda, above ten per cent. of sul- 
phate and deliquescent muriates, which absorb moisture, and 
have no antisceptic properties, but the contrary. Salt for 
curing provisions should also be large grained, hard, dry, 
and coarse, but white. When such salt is used; fish or other 
provisions may be as perfectly cured in India during the 
cold weather, from the end of November to the end of Janu- 
ary, when the Sulea fish is in season, as in any other climate. 

The only other distinct propositions we can venture to 
urge at present is, that an experimental fishery be esta- 
blished at Amherst, where Mr. Blundell reports arrange- 
ments for the purpose to have already, in some degree been 

made, and that regular information regarding the progress 
~ of the experiment may be reported. 

A figure, (Plate vi.) together with a few remarks on the 
history of a species promising to become so important to the 
commerce of India, may not be here out of place. Polynemus 
plebeius, Polynemus lineatus, and Polynemus sele, are names 
which have been proposed by different authors for the same 
species. 

It was first made known to naturalists by Broussonnet, 
from a specimen obtained by Sir Joseph Banks at Otaiti, 
where it is called D’emot. About the same period, Dr. Juhn, 
a missionary at Tranquebar, one of the earliest, and at the 
same time one of the most distinguished, explorers of the 


180 On East Indian Isinglass. 


Natural History of India, communicated a figure, together 
with adescription of the species, which subsequently ap- 
peared in Bloch’s great work on Ichthyology, which appeared 
about the close of the last century. The figure given by 
Lacépéde, was communicated by Commerson from the Isle 
of France, and a specimen of the fish itself, the only one we 
believe in Europe, is in the Royal Museum of the Nether- 
lands. Bruce, the African traveller, also met with the spe- 
cies on the borders of the Red Sea, but erroneously figured 
it as one of the fishes of the Nile. Lastly, Buchanan Ha- 
milton describes it as one of the species of the Ganges. 
Cuvier and Valenciennes, from whose great work on the Na- 
tural History of Fishes,* we have derived the above particu- 
lars, give as its habitation the whole of the Indian Seas and 
adjoining parts of the Pacific. 

All authors who have noticed it, speak in high terms of its 
delicacy ana wholesomeness as an article of food, and of the 
excellence of its flavour. Commerson found it to be confined 
in the Isle of France to the tables of the rich, but Dr. 
John found it in such abundance at Tranquebar and other 
places on the Coromandel Coast, as to render it extraordina- 
ry that his observations regarding it have excited so little 
attention in India. It assembles, he says, in the month of Ja- 
nuary when it is in season, in great numbers on the coast in 
search of clear water on the sand banks, and at the mouths 
of rivers for spawning, which takes place in April, and is 
taken in large numbers in the mouths of the Kishna and 
Godavery ; each fish he describes as tour feet in length, and 
the head in particular he remarks is reckoned above all 
other parts a most delicate morsel. 

Buchanan merely speaks of its fine flavour and superior 
qualities as wholsome food, but not one of these authors 
appears to have noticed the remarkable value of its air blad- 
der, which surpasses in size and also in importance that of 


* We annex a translation of their remarks on the subject. 


On East Indian Isinglass. 181 


the Beluga itself. The following list of names by which it is 
known on different parts of the coast, may be useful in ad- 
dition to the figure, which we now give, Plate VI, from 
Buchanan’s unpublished drawings. _ 

Sélé, Bengal, (Buchanan.) 

Suleah, Bengal, (Anonymous.) 

Seer, in Scinde, (Heddle.) 

Dara, Bombay, (Heddle.) 

Lukwah, Avrakan, (Bogle.) 

Ka-tha, Tenasserim. The small or young? (O’Reily.) 

Ka-ku-yan, Tenasserim, the large when in season, (O’Reily.) 

Kala mine, Tranquebar, (John.) 

Pole-kala, Pondicherry, (Leschenault.) 


Note.—The species is distinguished by the great size of its air vessel, 
and by the presence of five tendrils or bristling feelers placed on the 
breast on either side below the pectoral fins. We have ascertained that 
Polynemus quadrifiles, distinguished by four tendrils on each side, has 
no air vessel whatever. We had before pointed out the same pe- 
culiarity in Polynemus paradiscens, so that Polynemus Sélé, or as it might 
now be appropriately named Polynemus gelatinosus, is not to be mistaken 
for any adjoining species. 

Caucurta, 26th February, 1842. 


Extract of a Letter from Assistant Surgeon J. M‘Cuniianp, to G, A. 
Bususy, Ese., Secretary to the Government of Bengal, i Se. §e. 
under date 26th February, 1842. 


As the experiments were not undertaken with the previous sanction 
of the Government, I cannot in consequence make any claim for the 
actual cost with which they were attended ; but if their utility be allowed, 
and the results be found to prove of practical interest, I may then trust 
to the liberality of His Lordship for the reimbursement of that deficiency, 
which will appear on comparing the debtor with the credit side of ‘he 
Isinglass account for 1839-1840, and also for 183 rupees, the actual cost 
of 61 seers of Isinglass, forwarded through the Government as a sample 
to the Honourable Court. 


2B 


182 On East Indian Isinglass. 


Extract of a Letter from G. A. Bususy, Esa., Secretary to the Government 
of Bengal, No. 264, to J. M‘Crettann, Esa., M. D., under date 26th 
February, 1842. 

In reply to your letter dated this day, submitting a full report on the 
results of your enquiries and experiments to ascertain the value and 
the source of East India Isinglass, | am directed by the Right Honor- 
able the Governor to acquaint you, that a copy of the report in question 
will be forwarded for the information of the Honorable Court of Di- 
rectors, and that although the Honorable Court have not yet noticed 
the first communication respecting the expence incurred by you in 
this enquiry, his Lordship is pleased to authorize you to be compensa- 
Total Expense incurred, ... w. Rs. 3086 0 6 ted to the extent of rupees 


Sale paBéseds 102%, 19. 112 2,280: 4: 4, being the net ex- 

at an Exchange of 2s. Id. 933 122 yense incurred after deduct- 
Rs. 2097 : i 

Ada costs of 61 seers see mance, Rs. 2007 4 4 ing the amount realized at the 

Honorable Court, ... ..ssesessoee 183 0 0 Home market by the sale of 


Net Expense, Rupees 2280 4 4 the article experimentally ma- 
nufactured, and I have to enclose a Treasury Order for the amount, 


Extract of a Letter from Dr. Hevvwe, dated Bombay, April 26, 1841. 

That form of Isingiass which is prepared by simply drying the 
swimming bladder of certain fish that frequents the coasts about this, is 
an article of export from Bombay to China. The substance is called 
‘* B’hot by the Mahrattas, and P’hot by Guzeratees and Scindees. There 
are three species of fish, from which the bladder is usually extracted for 
this purpose, The first is called by the natives of Bombay Dara, and 
by the Scindians Seer: it furnishes the best B’hot, and I believe also, 
the largest proportion of that which supplies the market is taken from it. 
This fish frequents the whole of the western coasts of India, particu- 
larly the coast of Scinde, and it penetrates up the estuaries of the Indus, 
where it is caught at Gorabari and other places on the Indus, to which the 
influence of the tide reaches. It is met with also at the mouths of the 
Euphrates, for an Arab merchant of Bussora, who went with my people 
to the bazar to procure the fish, singled out this as the one from which 
the bladder is extracted in the Bussora river, the estuaries of which it 
frequents. I have given a figure of our Dara in the drawing numbered 2. 
The fish attains the length of 4 feet at least, but the usual size is 2} to 3 
feet. It is caught in great abundance about Bombay, and the flesh, 
which is esteemed wholesome by the natives, is very commonly eaten. 
The fish are generally found in the Bazars with the bladder previously 


On East Indian Isinglass. 183 


extracted. These are taken out by the fishermen, who sell them to a 
certain class of Muslem merchants called Khojah, who are the principal 
dealers in this article. The fishermen sell them in a fresh state, the 
Khojahs dry and otherwise prepare them for exportation. That pre- 
pared in Bombay is the least esteemed, and the lowest priced. The 
reasons for this inferiority seem to be, that the substance is not per- 
fectly dried, and is liable to be attacked with maggots. Another reason 
is, that the bladders are not so thick as those which are more esteemed. 
Damaun and the coast in that quarter furnishes the article of superior 
quality at Bombay, but the best of all, and the largest quantity, comes 
from Scinde and from the Mekran coasts. The B’hot of Scinde is of larger 
size, is well dried and hard, but generally of a darker colour than that 
prepared in Bombay, and this latter difference appears to be owing to | 
the fact, that in Bombay the bladders are dried in the shade, whereas 
in Scinde they are exposed from the first to the sun. The best Scinde 
Brhot sells for 20 to 25 rupees per maund, and fetches in China from 80 
to 90 dollars per picul of 43 maunds. 

The sécond species from which this substance is prepared, is called 
both by the people here and in Scinde, Gol. This is figured in the draw- 
ing numbered 1. It attains the length of 3} feet and upwards. It is 
inferior to the Dara, both as an article of food and on account of the 
quality of the B’hot it furnishes. However, a large quantity of the ar- 
ticle extracted from this fish is brought to market. It is prepared ex- 
actly in the same way as the Dara, and sells here for 15 to 18 rupees 
per maund. Although the Gol frequents the coasts of Scinde, the peo- 
ple of that country say, that it never enters the river, but is always 
caught in salt water. No use whatever is made of the B’ho/ in Scinde; 
it is simply prepared and exported to Bombay, and eventually to China, 
nor am [ aware at present that any of this substance is consumed in 
Bombay. 

The Khojah were asked by my people, why they did not export 
their B’hot to England? But the reply was, that upon enquiry they 
found, that the demand for this article in England was very limited. 

There is a third species from which B’hot is extracted, called here 
Kota. This fish is rare on our coast, but appears to be more abundant 
to the westward, especially about Muscat, where it is well known. The 
hot from this is universally admitted as inferior to the others, and 
consequently little of it is brought to the market. 

The sample which accompanies this is the B’hol of the Dara, (the 
Seer of the Scindeans,) prepared in Scindc. It will shew the nature of 
the substance, which if prepared with care, by the process used by the 


1st On East. Indien Isinglase: 


Russians would no doubt furnish Isinglass of the best quality. More 
detailed drawing of the “ Seer” and “ Gol” fish shall be communicated 
hereafter, with a drawing of the Kota as soon as one can be procured, 
and a drawing also of the fish from which Caviare is prepared. This 
substance is called Gubolee by the Mahrattas, and the fish from which 
it is proeured, “ Soormaee.” The best cemes fromvatinde, but unlike 
the B’hot it is most prepared for honsac~ sumption, that is in India. 


Extract of a Letter from the same, dated Bombay, August 9, 1841. 

I had a drawing of each of the species now sent taken for you, 
but I imagine that Dr. Brown may not have forwarded them in the 
hurry of departure. The delay which has occurred in answering your 
letter, has arisen from my not being able to procure the third species 
mentioned in my note as yielding the B’hot, that called here “ Kota.” 
From the fact of my not being able to procure one since I received your 
letter I am led to conclude, that the habit of this fish is migratory, 


though the fishermen will not distinctly admit the fact. They say, itis 


scarce on this coast. I am assured, however, that I shall meet with it 
this month, and if I succeed, I shall despatch a specimen by the first 
vessel in the same manner as the last. 

With regard to the habits of Gol and Dara, the enquiry I have made 
would lead me to conclude, that neither species is migratory. Both 
are caught in Bombay throughout the year. It is true at some seasons 
in greater abundance than at others, but this is said by the peo- 
ple to depend on circumstances quite unconnected with the presence 
or absence of the fish. About June, and again in September, the 
number taken is small compared to the intermediate periods. At 
these times, the fishermen change their ground. In June removing 
their tackle, &c. from the deep sea-fishing stakes, which are fixed off the 
west coast of the island, in the open ocean, to other stakes fixed 
in the piece of sea to the east of the island, and situated between it and 
the mainland. Here the fishing is continued during the south-west 
monsoon; and’in September they move again outside. The fish also 


shift their ground; at least none are taken in the inner water during - 


the fine season. 

The information I obtained last season from the Mohanas of Scinde, 
would lead to the same inference with regard to the stationary habit 
of these two species on their coast. They say, that on the coast of 
Scinde and the eastern part of Mekran, the fish are not taken during the 
S. W. monsoon, because the boats do not go out at that season. The 


On East Indian Isinglass. 185 


Dara, however, which pushes into the Indus, is caught even during that 
season in the estuaries of the river. 

With regard to the abundance of both the kinds in question on this 
coast, I have been repeatedly assured, that at some seasons during: the 
springs, the bazars of Bombay and neighbouring ports along the coast 
are literally glutted. This I have observed myself frequently. Vast 
quantities are consumed by all classes of natives in the fresh state, and 
likewise salted. In the latter state it is sent into the interior, but 
by far the largest quantity is consumed by the sea-faring population of 
‘this. part, both those navigating the small craft, as well as the large. It 
forms with them their stock of salt provisions. In this point of view, 
both these fish are extremely important, and the trade in the other pro- 
duction of the same species (the B’hot) must be of secondary value to 
it. I will not trouble you with further details on this subject at 
present, but enclose an original memorandum of the ports from which 
the bladders of the three species yielding this substance are imported.* 
It will give you an idea of the quantity that must be produced, as well 
as the space over which the species are met with. The fish dried and 
salted, are imported from the same places. 

I shall in the ensuing fine season induce one of the people engaged 
in the preparation of B’hot to prepare some by the method you 
communicated, and inform you of the result.} 

Hereafter I hope to be able to furnish you with a list of all the 
fish to be found in this bazar at different seasons, with dcawings of 
some, or all of themif possible. Also an account of those which the 
fishermen here admit to be migratory, such as the famous Pulla, which 
is caught in the Indus at certain seasons, and which is known also 
here, and another fish of small size, (the name I have forgotten,) but 
which is valuable as yielding a fish-oil much used on this, and the 
Malabar coast. 


The Remarks of Baron Cuvier and M. Valenciennes, on Polynemus ple- 
beius, Brouss.; Polynemus Lineatus, Lacep.; Polynemus Sélé, Buch. ; 
from the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. 


Our first species with five filaments appears to be the Polynemus 
plebeius, of which Broussonnet has published a very exact detailed des- 


* See note page 175. 

+ We regret to find that Dr. Heddle soon after this was vi;tien, was obliged to leave Bom- 
bay for the benefit of his health, which however became worse, and death deprived us of an 
intelligent and obliging correspondent at Bombay, and the public of an excellent ser- 
vant,—Ep. 


186 On East Indian Isinglass. 


cription.* It was Sir Joseph Banks who furnished the specimen, and 
who procured it at Otaheite, where it was named D’emoi. The sailors of 
the first expedition of Cook also caught them at the Isle of Tanna. 
In the Royal Museum of the Netherlands, there is a specimen which 
came from Java. It is as we have said the Polynemus figured by Com- 
merson from a specimen caught at the Isle of France,} and the 
Kala-mine of Tranquebar sent to Bloch by John; we have also received 
it from Pondicherry through M. Leschenault, under the name of Pole- 
kala. Lastly, Mr. Buchanan believed, with every reason for the truth of 
his opinion, that it is the Séé of the Ganges. They are therefore to be 
regarded as inhabiting the whole of the Indian and warmer parts of 
the Pacific Oceans, but we do not know where Bloch has taken his 
authority for its also being found in America. Admitting as we may, 
the identity of these subjects, we may regard the Polynemus as a fish re- 
markable for its fine flavour and the size which it attains on certain coasts. 
According to John, as quoted by Bloch, it attains in Malabar four feet 
in length, and we have seen in the Royal Museum of the Netherlands an 
individual from Java, forty-five inches in length. John adds, that it is 
one of those species on which the name of Royal Fish is bestowed in the 
Colonies, and by the traders on the Coromandel Coast, with whom the 
head is considered a delicate morsel ; they are dried and salted, and also 
preserved with spices. They are seen in great quantities on the 
Coasts in search of clear places on sand banks in the mouths of rivers. 
They afford much fishing in those of the Krishna and Godaveri. 
They are in season in January; they spawn in April. 

We found in a manuscript of Commerson, recently communicated to 
us by M. Hammer, that at the Isle of France, where they ate named 
Barbue, they are caught in small quantities all the year, and beiag 
scarce, are reserved for the tables of the rich. 

If it be the same as the Sélé of the Ganges described by Mr. Buchanan, 
it does not enjoy such a character in Bengal. This author says merely, 
its flesh is light, and something like that of the Bola, or as others say, 
like our Merlan ; but that numerous species are preferable for their 
flavour. They are caught in great numbers in the mouths of the 
Ganges, and weigh from 20 to 24 ibs. At Pondicherry, they appear 
to be smaller, for it is remarked by M. Leschenault, that they are 
a foot in length; they may be taken all the year round on the coast 
at Pondicherry, but are not common. It will be for those observers 


* Dans le premier et I’ unique cahier de son Ichtzologie (Copié dans I’Encyclopedic Me- 


thodique Ichtzologie, fig. 209.) 
~ + Copied in Lacepede, t. v. Pl. 13, fig. 2. 


On East Indian Isinglass. 187 


who reside on the spot to determine the nature of these discrepancies, 
and whether they are owing to varieties, or to geographical position, 
or to different species being confounded, from the want of means to 
make direct comparison of those species of which the characters differ 
but little. An Indian naturalist, who had only isolated descriptions 
of many of our Cyprins, would be very liable to overlook those differ- 
ences which we have found it difficult to seize when comparing nearly 
allied species, and which our fishermen never mistake. But a confusion 
of species, for which there is no excuse, is, that which was made by 
Bruce, on the very species we are now describing. He has given in his 
Travels, (Plate 41,) an exact figure from a drawing which appears to have 
been made on the coasts of the Red Sea: but by one of those blunders 
with which the work is replete, the name Binny is written at the bottom 
of the plate, and if you refer to the text, you will find the true Binny 
is a fish of the Nile, of the genus Barbus, (the Cyprinus binny, Forsk et 
Gmel.) There is no Polynemus in the Nile, and on this extraordinary 
mistake of Bruce, is founded the species Polynemus Niloticus of Shaw.* 

Our specimen from Pondicherry is a little shorter in proportion, the 
head a little larger, and the second dorsal and the anal more pointed 
than the Polynemus tetradactile, to which in other respects it bears a 
close resemblance. The denticules of the preoperculum ‘are also 
smaller, and the inferior angle isround. The teeth are in straiter bands 
and descend less outside of the lower jaw. Not only has it one ray 
more, but the three first rays are longer than the pectoral, while in 
the Tetradactylus, they are shorter. The ventrals are situated behind the 
pectorals, and reach almost to the extremity of the free pectoral rays. 
The lateral line extends in a line from the superior angle of the 
operculum to the tail, on which it is prolonged a little downwards 
with its slope. 

The number of its rays.—D. 8 : 4 a =: C.17: P. 17. v. oe 

Our specimen is silvery, with longitudinal grey or dark lines formed 
rather by reflection than true tint, and prevailing along the whole of the 
back to the tail. The fins are pointed and dark. M. Leschenault, to 
whom we owe this specimen, and who saw it when fresh, assured us, 
that the muzzle of the fish is transparent as gum; and Commerson 
also says so. In this state, the brown lines of the back are less ap- 
parent, for M. Leschenault has described this species as grey on the 
back and white below the belly. Commerson has given it only one 
colour, a bluish silvery tint towards the back. The figure of Com- 


* Shaw, Univ. Zool, t. v. part Ist, p. 151, 


188 On East Indian Isinglass. 


merson, upon which M. de Lacépéde established his Polynemus lineatus 
is in fact drawn from a dry specimen, and we are certain, that it is the 
same species with that which we have received from Pondicherry, since 
we are in possession of the original specimen as well as the original 
drawing, and have made a comparison with this and other individuals. 

According to our observatio#€, the Polynemus has a very large 
swimming bladder, thin and without appendages; its stomach is a cul- 
de-sac, and its pyloris is furnished with innumerable small coecums.— 
Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, t. 3me, p. 281, Paris, 1829. 

JM. 


Europe :—A popular Physical Sketch: By Professor 
Scnouw, communicated to the Calcutta Journal of Na- 
tural History, by Dr. T. E. Cantor. 


(Continued from vol. ii, p. 16.) 


In consequence of the considerable height of the South 
European Mountains, the South European on ascending them 
arrives at climates and vegetations similar to those of the 
North of Europe, whereas the North European in his own 
country, remains ignorant of the nature of the South of 
Europe. Thus the Italian or the Spaniard on ascending his 
mountains, may see beech-forests, hazel-bushes, rye-fields, 
and luxuriant meadows; ascending still higher, he meets 
with plants of Lapland and snow at midsummer, while the 
North European in his own country, never knows the mild 
winter or the clear sky, nor sees the laurel, myrtle, nor the 
evergreen forests, olives, nor oranges. 

The smaller extent of surface of the south of Europe, and 
the greater encroachment of the sea, are the causes that no 
rivers can. equal in size those of the great plains of the 
north. The largest rivers in Europe, Wolga, Danube, 
~ Dnieper, and Don, appear all to the north of the great moun- 
tains, where also the lakes in extent and number surpass 
those of the south, particularly so in the countries surround- 
‘ing the Baltic. The structure of the mountains is not very 
different in the north and the south. Mines are particu- 


Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 189 


larly found in the north: England, Scandinavia, Hungary, 
and Saxony. 

The mean temperature of the north of Europe appears to 
be between 27.5°* Fahr. (the supposed mean temperature on 
the north coast of Russia), and 56.7°, (Dax and Bordeaux) ; 
that of the south of Europe between 54.5° (Milan) and 68° 

(supposed mean temperature of the south coast of Sicily.) 
If coasts and plains solely be taken into consideration, the 
difference in the mean temperature is greater in the north ; 
but the low mean temperature of the north appears also on 
the lofty mountains of the south ; thus for instance, the mean 
temperature of St. Gothard is from observations 29.8°, and 
from a probable calculation 28.63° on the summits of Etna 
and the loftiest peak of the Apennines, and 5° on the top 
of Montblanc, whereas the highest summits of the northern 
mountains scarcely have a lower mean temperature than 14°. 

Owing to the extensive inland plains, a greater difference 
in the climate of the eastern and western extremities exists 
in the north of Europe, than in the south, which is in im- 
mediate contact with the sea. 

The coasts of the Atlantic and its islands possess the © 
mildest climate, whereas in the south of Europe the coasts 
of the Atlantic have a climate less mild than the corre.- 
ponding part of the Mediterranean between Spain and Itz!y. 

The climatic difference between the north and south of 
Europe consists much more in the winter than in the sum- 
mer temperature, which will appear by the following compa- 


rison :— 
Winter. Summer. 


Palermo, ...0..<0cs.+s DN sc vesertans 740° 
MARUI S ci aedsindecvecs ast URS eer Brae 68° 
Copenhagen, ......... SM eh ces ane ens 63.5° 
NOR in, Gk! Os <5) Need Ta neses's 61°2° 


* he temperatures were given according to Reaumur’s scale; we are resy asible 
throughout for their reduction to Fahrenheit,—Editor Calcutta Journal .va- 
tural History. 

2 


190 Europe :--a popular Physical Sketch. 


The difference in the summer temperatare between Pa- 
lermo and Vienna thus amounts to only 6°; in the winter 
temperature to 20.2°. The summer in Stockholm is only 13.59, 
while the winter is 27.2° below the winter temperature in 
Palermo. 

That this applies still more to the highest faatee, of heat 
and cold,* will be seen in the table :— 


Highest. Lowest. 
Stockholm, 68 years, 95° ....... 26°5° below zero. 
Copenhagen, 52 years, 93°85°........ 13°° ditto ditto. 
Rome, ....... 40 years, 100°62°........ 21.88° above zero. 
Palermo, .... 34 years, 106°2° ........ 32° — ditto ditto. 


This difference between the seasons and the proportion- 
ally great summer heat in the north, exerts a very salutary 
influence over the vegetation; the severe winter cold indeec 
checks the vital activity, but does not destroy it ; whereas 
the high summer temperature of the long summer days, 
promotes the growth of the plants, the ripeness of the fruits 
and seeds. If there were no difference in the seasons, or in 
other words, had the north of Europe perpetual spring, we 
should in Copenhagen, for instance, never see snow or ice to 
be sure, but we should also never see corn or fruit ripen, 
nay, we should see no trees at all. In the high land of 
South America, under the line, where there is no great _ 
difference between the heat of the seasons, grain cultivation 
ceases already at 25° above the freezing point, (the mean 
temperature of Milan,) and the tree vegetation at 18°, (the . 
mean temperature of Carlsruhe); if such was the case in 
Europe, there would exist no grain cultivation north of 


* Every comparison of observations of the highest and lowest temperature is 
rendered somewhat uncertain, from the circumstance, that the spot where the 
thermometer is placed, by name the elevation over the ground, exerts a much 
greater influence over the highest and lowest temperature, than it does over the 
mean terhperature. Supposing even the data in the Table be incorrect, say one or 
two degrees, the correctness of the statement will be apparent nevertheless. 


Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 191 


the Alps, and no forests north of Paris, Carlsruhe, Prague 
and Ofen. 

The salutary influence of the change of seasons becomes 
also apparent on comparing the coasts and islands of the 
-northern parts of Europe, with the interior of the Continent. 
Iceland and the Far-island produce neither forests nor corn, 
while both flourish on a much more northerly latitude on the 
Continent, where the summer heat is greater, but the annual 
mean temperature is less. For the very same reason, the 
vine and maize limit does not extend so far northward on 
the west-coast of France as in Germany. ; 

‘Such European plants as require a very mild winter, are of 
course not to be expected to grow in the north of Europe; 
for instance, the ever-green trees, the olive, and the orange- 
tree, and these therefore are peculiar to the south. 

Another consequence of the greater difference between the 
seasons in the north, is, that the arrival of spring is much 
more conspicuous, The mild air relieves the severe cold, 
the frozen lakes and rivers thaw, the snow-cover of the earth 
disappears, making room for grass and herbs; the trees shoot 
leaves, the itinerant birds arrive, and the insects are called 
to life. In the south, on the contrary, where no snow hides 
the earth, where field and meadows are verdant in winter, 
and where most trees and bushes retain their leaves, the 
only change consists in a greater number of plants springing 
and flourishing, a greater number of trees shoot leaves, and a 
greater number of birds and insects make their appearance. 

The arrival of spring forms there a much less important 
era in the life of the husbandman, who, the whole of the 
winter, may work in his field, garden, vine, or olive yard. 

The annual quantity of rain depends on the locality and 
physical condition of the countries to such a degree, that it 
is impossible to produce any thing like a comparison between 
the northern and southern Europe. In lofty mountain dis- 
tricts, the quantity of rain is very great, particularly on the 


192 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 


south and west side, whither the wind carries vapours from 
the warmer regions and the sea. Coasts and islands appear 
to receive a greater quantity of rain than the large plains on 
the interior of the Continent, ceteries paribus ; the quantity 
appears greater indeed in the south of Europe; particularly 
on the south side of the Alps, and the same side of northern 
part ofthe Apennines. But the vicinity of the torrid Africa, 
in conjunction with the great elevation of the Spanish table- 
land, are the causes of the scanty annual supply of rain in the 
southernmost part of Europe. In the distribution of the 
rain, however, a great difference exists between the-north 
and the south of Europe; in the former the quantity is tole- 
rably equally distributed throughout the four seasons ; yet the 
greatest quantity falls in summer and autumn. In the south 
of Europe, on the contrary, the summer rain is very seanty, 
the autumn and winter the proper rainy seasons; and the 
farther we advance to the southward, the more the summer 
rain decreases, and the winter rain increases. Also the number 
of rainy days is greater in the north than in-the south, 
where the fall of rain is more rare, but the more violent. 
Snow, being so conspicuous in the north, (particularly to- 
wards east) of Europe, is a rare occurrence in the lower 
regions of the south of Europe; hail-stones, on the other 
hand, are much more common in the south, and there much 
more dreaded by the husbandman. 

Lightning and thunder seldom appearing in the north, 
except in summer, are common phenomena in the south 
throughout every season, but particularly in autumn. Of an 
hundred thunder storms occur .- 


Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn. 
In Copenhagen, .,...._ 1 18 70 11 
-In Palermo, ........... 15 15 22 48 


The sky is much clearer in the south of Europe’ than in 
the north, 


Europe :—a popular Physical Sketeh. 193 


In the south of Europe, the daily changing land and sea 
winds are frequent, particularly in summer. During the day, 
the land-air is more heated than the sea-air, for which reason 
the air rises over the land, and pours in from the sea. At 
night, on the contrary, the sea-air is warmer, for which reason 
the land-air streams towards the sea, of such change of wind 
but slight traces are observed in the north of Europe.” The 
hot enervating winds (scirocco, solano,) which blow in the 
south, are unknown in the north, where also little is perceiv- 
ed of the pestilential air, which infests so many tracts of 
country in the south. 

The chief distinctions between the vegetation of the south 
and the north are,—the south produces a greater multitude, 
and by name a greater variety in species of trees and shrubs, 
a greater number of tropical forms of plants, of creepers and 
bulbs, of beautiful flowers and scented herbs; wherewithal 
the evergreen foliage is peculiar to the south of Europe. 
On the other side, the grass vegetation is much more luxuri- 
ant in the north, owing to the summer rain, which is much 
rarer in the south, which during that season gives an arid 
greyish-yellow appearance to the grass. 

Although the wheat is also much cultivated in central 
Europe, and in some countries is the principal grain-sort, 
rye nevertheless is characteristic to the north; whereas 
wheat, maize, and partly rice are the common grain with the 
south European. Potatoes and buck-wheat, of great impor- 
tance as food in the north, are rare in the south. Beer is com- 
mon beverage with the north, wine with the south European; 
yet the vine-limit lies to the north of the dividing mountains. 
The oil and butter, on the contrary, correspond exactly to 
the dividing medium between the two principal parts of 
Europe. 

In the south of Europe, vegetables ark fruit are much 
more generally cultivated than in the north, and there is also 
a greater variety of oranges. Pistachios are found to the south 


194 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 


only of the great mountains ; apricots, peaches, almonds, figs 
and grapes, although extending farther northward, appear 
in a small part only of the northern Europe, and there not 
unless cultivated with great care and art. 

These differences in the productions must produce a 
considerable contrast in regard to the food of the inhabit- 
ants. Rye bread, beer, butter, a greater quantity of animal 
food, and a less of vegetables and fruit with the north 
European; wheat bread, maize, wine, oil, a greater quantity 
of fruit and vegetables, and less animal food with the south 
European. — 

Hemp and flax are more commonly cultivated in the 
north. The cotton plant in the south only, and rearing of 
silkworms also, is nearly exclusively confined to the south. 

The wild mammalia offer no striking contrast between 
the north and south; the Arctic countries only possess some 
peculiar large animals, as the reindeer and the polar bear. 

Serpents and lizards are much more common in the south 
of Europe, as also the number of insects and molluscs 
increase towards the south. The southern seas are inha- 
bited by a greater number of species of fishes, but the 
number of individuals appears greater in the northern, for 
which reason the north European supplies the south 
European with fish. The most important fishes of the 
north are the different species of ‘ Torsk,’ (Brosmiusco,) 
and herring; that of the south is the tunny. 

The domesticated animals, as well mammalia as birds, are 
the same in the south as in the north, except perhaps the 
ass and the mule, which, more common in the south, don’t 
extend far beyond the line of demarcation, and the reindeer, 
which is domesticated in the northern Scandinavia. 


The complexion of the south European, his hair and — 


eyes.are darker; the form of his body less clumsy ; he is 
more agile ; is thinner clad ; lives more in open air ; and has 
fewer necessities. He is more exposed to fevers, while 


eh 
ee 


Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 195 


diseases of the chest and gout are more common in the 
north. 

Europe considered as a whole, is situated between 35 and 
71° north latitude; a small part only belongs to the Arctic 
zone; the rest is situated in the temperate zone, which, 
if divided in two, taking the 45° north latitude as the 
line of demarcation, will place by far the greater part 
in the colder temperate zone. Europe is situated between 
6° west latitude, (or if Iceland be excluded 7° 30',) and 
75° east of Ferro. 

On east, Europe is thoroughly connected with ror and 
the transition is imperceptible. On. this, the eastern frontier 
appears an immense plain from the Polar Sea to the Black 
Sea; continuing towards west, but is cut into a cuneiform 
shape by the Scandinavian mountains on one side, and 
Balkan, the Karpathians, Sudetes, Erzgebirge and the Harz 
mountains on the other side, and in this basin the Baltic is 
confined. West of the Harz mountains, the plain expands 
between the Atlantic on one side; the Weser, and the 
French mountains on the other. In this basin we might 
fancy the North Sea to be enclosed, the north-western brim 
of which in that case would be the British mountains. From 
this mode of view there would appear one large plain, 
divided into two minor ones, however, of unequal magnitude, 
- by the Danish peninsula. From this enormous plain access 
to the Highland is opened first by the Hungarian plain, and 
the communicating deeply entering Danube-valley ; secondly, 
by the equally deeply entering Rhine-valley. Although the 
Central European mountain chains in the preceding have 
justly been separated from themselves and from the Alps, 
they might, in a more common point of view, be united to 
those, and viewed as one immense Highland, if looking 
upon the base, on which the smaller mountains rest, as low 
side-terraces shooting from the Alps, and thus we obtain a 
definite distinction between the Highland and Lowland of 


196 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 


Europe. It has also been already observed, that both 
the Apennines and the Dinaric Alps are in connection with 
the Alps, and they might therefore be taken in under the 
same ‘extensive Highland. The Pyrenées, on the contrary, 
are separated from those, but communicate with the moun- 
tains of the Spanish peninsula. | 

Europe would thus consist of four principal parts :— 

1.—The large south-eastern Highland, including the Alps, 


the central European mountains, the Apennines, the Dinaric 


Alps, Balkan, and the Greek mountains. This is also the 
loftiest. 

2.—A smaller north-western Highland, consisting of the 
Scandinavian mountains, and to which might be included also 
the mountains of Great Britain. 

3.—A smaller south-western Highland, including the Pyre- 
" nées and the Spanish mountains. 


4.—A large plain between these three Highlands, the 


Ural mountains, and the Atlantic Ocean. 

The mountains of Crimea are isolated from the others; 
they are of small extent, and belong perhaps to Caucasus ; 
also Iceland and some smaller islands come not within this 
division. 

If all these mountains be classified according to their ex- 
tent, the following classes might be established :— 

lst Class——The Scandinavian mountains, the Alps, Apen- 
nines, Karpathians. 

2nd Class.—Balkan, the Dinaric Alps, the Greek and 
Icelandic mountains, (if they be admitted,) the Pyrenées, the 
Gallacian-Asturic mountains, Gaudarama, Serra Nevada, the 
Cevennes, Jura, the Scotch mountains, Serra Guadaloupe, 
Serra Morena, the Vosges, and the mountains of Sicily. 

3rd Class——The mountains of England, Sardinia, Auver- 
gne, Bohmerwald, the mountains of Corsica, Schwarzwald, 
Rauhe Alps, the mountains of Crimea, Serra Monchique, the 
Sudetes, the mountains of Ireland, and the Far-islands. 


Se aaa 


‘Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 197 
4th Class.—The Harz, Erzgebirge, and the rest of the 


smaller mountains in central Germany. 

If these mountains be classified according to their highest 
summits we shall have—. 

1st Class—Mountains reaching nearly 15,786* feet, the 
Alps. _ 

2nd Class.—Mountains from 10,760 to 11,733 feet, Serra 
Nevada, the Pyrenées, and Etna. 

3rd Class.—Mountains between 8,533 and 10,000 feet, 
the Apennines, the mountains of Corsica, and probably 
Balkan. 

4th Class.—Mountains between 6,400 and 8,533 feet, 
Guadarama, the Scandinavian mountains, the Greek moun- 
tains, the Dinaric Alps, the mountains of ae (Etna how- 
ever excepted,) and Iceland. 

5th Class.—Mountains between 4,270 and 6,400 feet, the 
Cevennes, the mountains of Auvergne, and Sardyia, Jura, the 
Sudetes, the mountains of Majorca, Crimea, Schwarzwald, 
the mountains of Minorca, the Vosges, and the Scotch moun- 
tains. 

6th Class—Mountains below 4,270 feet, all the rest 
whose height has been ascertained. 

This order would be somewhat changed, if the mean height 
of the mountains was laid down as the standard, which does 
not always correspond to the height of the summits. 

With regard to the direction of the larger elongated moun- 
tain chains, we find— 

In East and West.—The Alps, Balkan, the Pyrenées, the 
Spanish chains. _ 

In North and South.—The Scandinavian mountains, the 
Cevennes, Vosges, Schwarzwald, the mountains of Sardinia 
and Corsica. 


* The heights were given originally in Paris feet, we are responsible for their 
reduction throughout this paper to English feet,--Aditor Calentta Journal 
Natural History. 

2D 


198 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 


In North-west and South-east—The Apennines, the Di- 
naric Alps, the Sudetes, and Bohmerwald. 

In South-west and North-east.—Jura with Rauhe-Alpadn, 
the Scotch mountains. 

Of a rounded form—The mountains of Auvergne, Harz, 
and some smaller ones. 

Mountain groups from the mountains of Greece, Iceland, 
Sicily and Ireland, with those situated on the arched mound 
of the Karpathians. 

Isolated mountains of considerable height, on the von 
are Etna, Hecla, Montserrat, Vesuvius, Gargan. 

Of the plains, the east European is the largest, next to 
which the north European, then the Hungarian, after which 
follow the rest. Of the table-lands, the Spanish is the high- 
est and most extensive, next to which the Bavarian. 

Were the Rivers of Europe to be classified according to 
their respective length, they would follow thus :— 

lst Class.—Volga and Danube. 

2nd Class.—Dniper and Don. 

3rd Class—Rhine, Petschora, Dwina, Vistula, Dniester, 
Elbe, Loire, Taio, Diina, Guadiana, Oder, Niemen, Duoro, 
Ebro, Po, Rhone, and Guadalquivir. 

4th Class.—The rest of the rivers mentioned in the pre- 
ceding. 

The Caspian Sea receives the largest river; the Black 
Sea the three next; of the 3rd class the Arctic Ocean re- 
ceives two; the Baltic four; the North Sea two; the Atlantic 
five ; the Mediterranean three; the Black Sea one. 

With regard to their sources, three of the two first classes 
originate on the east European plain; the Danube from the 
Alps, the central European mountains and Balkan. Of the 
3rd class rivers, three come from the Alps, four from the 
central European mountains, five from the Spanish mountains 
and the Pyrenées, and five from the east European plain. 
From this will be seen, that the largest rivers originate on 


at, 


Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 199 


the east European plain, and those next to them in the 
Alps. 

The Scandinavian and the Greek Peninsula, sea tke Eu- 
ropean Islands possess no river sufficiently large to come 
under the three first classes. 

It is already mentioned, that the north of Kurope possesses 
more lakes than the south. The largest collection of lakes 
forms a broad belt south-east of the Scandinavian mountains 
in the north of Russia, Finland, and south Sweden; another 
parallel belt of smaller lakes appears on the south side of 
the Baltic. A third considerable collection of lakes, is that 
at the foot of the Alps. , 

The conspectus of the temperature of Europe is rendered 
easy by drawing lines, (isothermic lines,) through all such 
places which have an equal annual mean temperature. The 
considerable southern curvature of those lines in the east 
of Europe, proves that the heat decreases towards the east. 
Thus the isothermic line for 4° Reaumur falls a little 
south of Iceland, in the 63° north latitude, a little south 
of Drontheim in nearly the same latitude, but at the Baltic it 
sinks down to the 60° north latitude, and in Russia to 55°, 
These curvatures are larger in the north, than in the south 
of Europe. 

It has already been observed, that the quantity of rain par- 
ticularly depends upon the mountains, and the vicinity of the 
sea, and that the south and the south-west side of the south 
Iuropean mountains are the most rainy localities. 

Perpetual snow appears in Iceland, Scandinavia, Balkan, 


_ the Alps, Pyrenées, and Serra Nevada.’ The summits of the 


Karpathians, Apennines, of Etna, and the Corsican moun- 
tains touch the snow limit. At the North Cape this line is 
2,346 feet above the level of the sea, on Etna 11,182 feet. 
It sinks everywhere somewhat tow:.ds the sea. Avalanches 
(Glaciers, ‘ Gletschen’,) appear in Iccland, Scandinavia, and 


the Alps, and faint traces in the Pyrenées and Karpathians. 


200 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 


As the sky is clearer in the south than in the north, so it — 
is also clearer in the east than in the west, where the vapours 
of the sea frequently produce fogs and clouds. 

The north limits of some of the most common trees form 
lines that bend to the southward in the western part of the 
north of Europe, thus indicating the vicinity of the sea being 
unfavourable to forest vegetation. The different trees, how- 
ever, offer remarkable modifications in the latter respect. 
The north limit of the beech is much curved ‘towards the 
south in the eastern part of Europe. 

The northern limits of the most important cultivated plants 
are explained by the lines which also serve to explain how 
corn and vine cultivation depend upon the mean temperature 
of the summer, while that of the olives and oranges upon 
the mean tempeature of the winter.* 

Taking into consideration the wild plants as well as the 
cultivated, Europe might be divided into the four following 
zones, provided all the mountains, the lower temperature of 
which of course change matters, be excepted :— 

1.—Northern Zone. The Zone of the fir and birch. The 
uncultivated Zone. Here are either no forests at all, or birch 
and pine forests; some mountains; plants, none; or very little 
grain cultivation, (barley,) no fruit tree. The occupations 
followed here, are fishery and breeding of cattle. Iceland, 
Far-islands, Scandinavia north of 64°, Russia north of 62°. 
Most of these’ regions are mountainous. 

2.—First intermediate Zone. Zone of the beech and ‘ak 
Zone of the grain. Forest partly of pines,t partly of 
beech and oak, some heaths with heather; much grain, par- 
ticularly rye; northern fruit trees; considerable breeding of - 
cattle. The British isles, Scandinavia south of 64°, Finland, 


* The isothermal lines and the limits of several kinds of Vegetation 
and cultivation are laid down in Professor Schouw’s original sketch 
in various Maps, &c., which we are urfable to introduce here.—Ep. 

+ Original “ Needle Trees,” which are probably Pines.—Ep. 


Europe :-—a popular Physical Sketch. 201 


the east European plain between 62° and 48° north latitude, 
the north European plain, and Denmark, mostly plains. 

3.—Second intermediate Zone. Zone of the chestnut and 
oak. Zone of the vine. Forests of leaf-trees, principally 
chestnut, oak and beech. (Pines on the mountains;) grain, 
particularly wheat, also maize and vine. All the plains and 
valleys between and on the central European mountains, and 
the east European plain south of 48°. 

4.—Southern Zone. Evergreen Zone. Olive Zone. Ever- 
greens, wheat, maize, rice, vine, olives, southern fruits. In 
the southern part, oranges. ‘The three south-European pe- 
ninsulas. To these four zones, situated north and south of — 
each other, correspond tolerably well those mentioned under 
the head of Italy, forming four principal zones of altitude ; 
viz.—l. The evergreen zone, or the olive zone. 2. Chestnut 
and oak, or vine zone. 3. Beech and grain zone. 4. Moun- 
tain plant zone, or the uncultivated zone. The zone of 
fir and birch is missing, but it exists as a regular zone on 
the Alps. 

From the chief occupations of the nations, the following — 

geographical divisions might be established :— 

Fishery, chiefly in the northern part of Scandinavia, Ice- 
land, the Far-islands, north of Scotland. 

Breeding of sheep, particularly on the Spanish table-land, 
the mountains and plains of Greece, Puglia, Iceland, and 
the Far-islands. 

Breeding of horned cattle in the western part of the 
north-European plain,.the British Isles, and on the Alps, 

Cutting of wood on the Scandinavian peninsula, the north- 
ern part of the east-European plain, the eastern part of the 
north- European plain, on the Alps, and the central European 
mountains. 

Cultivation of grain on the extensive east-European, and 
the north- European plain. 

Cultivation of the vine in the south-European peninsulas 


22 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 


and in the valleys between the central European moun- 
tains.. 
Cultivation of olives and southern fruits in the lower val- 
leys of the south-European peninsulas. | 
Mining in the Scandinavian, Scotch, English mountains, 
the Harz, Eryzebirge, the Alps, Pyrenées, the Gallician 
mountains, Serra Morena, and the Hungarian mountains. 


Land-trade, chiefly on the east and porth-Rxtropesn plains. 


Sea-trade in the west and south of Europe. 

Manufactures, more, extensive in the west (England, 
Belgium, France, north Germany,) than in the east; more 
so in the north than in the south. Navigation also is more 
important in the north than in the south. 


List of the Heights quoted. 


Paris. |English 
Names. feet. ray Remarks. 

Gousta, .. --| 5801 | 6150 |Smith. Topogr. Stat. Saml. 2. 

- D. 2 B. 
Justedelsbri, ..| 6000 | 6400 |v. Buch. Gilb. An, 41. 
Skagestiltind, ..| 7650 | 8160 |Keilhau and Boeck, Mag. for 

‘Naturvid. 1. 
Lodalskaabe, .. | 6190 | 6602 |Bohr. Morgenblad1822,No. 155. 
Sneehiitten, .. | 7099 | 7572 |Hisinger, Antekn., 3. 
Syltop, .. .. | 5507 | 5874 |Do. do. 2. 3. 
Sulitelma,. . ..| 5796 | 6182 |Wahlenberg, Miittn. _ 
Enontekis,. . ..| 1341 | 1430 |Grape. (Ehrenheim. Klim. Rér- 
: ligh.) 

Taberg, .. --| 1032 | 1100 |Hisinger, Profiler. 
Kinnekulle, --| 856 | 913 |Do. do. 
Rytterkniigten, ..| 480 | 512 |Orsted og Esmark, Bornholm. 
Finland, (greatest 

height) ..{| 1200 | 1280 |Engelhardt. Darst. 1. 
Orifa Jékul, .-| 6030 | 6432 |Scheel MSS. 
Oster Jékul,, ..}| 5340 | 5696 |Ohlsen, (Scheel MSS.) 
Hekla, .. ~..| 5033 | 5368 |Soekort Arkiv. Kort.  . 
Slattaretind, §..| 2712 | 2892 |Forchammer MSS. 
‘Skiellingfield, ..| 2847 | ..  |Do. . i Dos 
Ben Nevis’ }| 4110 | 3722 [Boué, Essai Géologique. 


Sy 


= 


Se a ee ae 


Europe :—a popular Physiccl Sketch. 203 


Names. 


Paris English 


feet. |-. feet. Remarks. 
Cairngorm, . ui 4083 |Boué, Essai Géologique. - 
Hartfell, . 3096 | 3376 |Do. do. do. 
Hellvelyn,. . > 3227 |Dalton, (Brewster’s, Cyclop. ) 
Skiddaw, . . 2835 | 8024. Conybeare and Philips’ Outl. of 
Geol. 
Snowdon,,. . 3377 | 3602 |Brewster’s Cyclop. 
Dortmoor, 1681 | 1793 |Conybeare and Philips’, 1. c. 
McGillicuddy’s 
Rocks, . . 3193 | 3331 |Miltenberg. 
Nephin, .. 2468 | 3632 |Kirwan, (Brewster Cyclop.) 
Montagnes d’ Arrée, 942 | 1004 |Berghaus’ Map. 
Cote d’Or,.. -.} 1716 | 1830 |Do. do. 
Plateau de Langres,| 1584 | 1689 |Do. do. 
Himmelbjerg, -.| 510 | 544 |Schouw MSS. 
Aborrebjerg, -e| 476 | 507 |Schouw, (Paludans Méen. - 
Veirhéi, .- aly farts Yh | 395 |Wessel and Schouw MSS. 
Stubbenkammer,..} 540 | 576 |Brugiere Orographie. 
Golmberg,. . 555 | 592 |Madler (Berghaus Ann. 1.) 
Duberowberg, 443 | 472 |Kléden (ibidem). 
Hasenberg,. . 594 | 643 |Ibidem, 2. 
Mont d’Or, : 5814 | $201 |Berghaus’ Map. 
Cantal, ..| 5718 | 6099 |Delambre, ibid. 
Pierre sur Haut, ..| 5964 | 6361 |Ibid.. 
Mt. Mezin, 5322 | 5676 |Ibid. 
Lozére, 5280 | 5632 |Hombre Firmas, (Bibl. Univ. 
1832.) 
Pré de Marmiers,.. | 5300 | 5653 |v. Malten ‘Berghaus, Hertha 13) 
Réculet, .. 5280 | 5632 |Do. % do. 
Mont Tendre, 5180 | 5525 |Do. do. do. 
Déle, a 5160 | 5504 |Do. do. do. 
' Hohenberg, .. | 3160 | 3370 |Oyenhausen, Hertha 1. 
Ballon de Sulz,. ..| 4337 | 4626 |Miltenberg, (mean height out of 
four measurements. ) 
Ballon d’Alsace, ..| 3870 | 4128 |Andre de'Gy. (Miltenberg.) 
Feldberg, . . .. | 4500 | 4800 |Miltenberg, (mean.) 
Malchen, . . --| 1573 | 1677 |Cyenhausen and Dechen Map. 
Brocken, .. 3506 | 3739 |F. Hofmann, (Berghaus Ann. 1.) 
Weser Mount, 1441 | 1537 |Do. do, do. 
Grosser Beerbery, | 3150 | 3329 |Berghaus, Erdbeschreib. 
Schneeberg, (Fich- Biirg, Hofmann, Weiss, (Bergh. 
_ telgebirge,) 3221 | 3435 | Ann. 4,) 
Schwarzwald, ..| 3769 | 4020 |Hallaschka, (ibid.) 
Heidelberg, 3860 | 4117 |Miltenberg. 
Arber, . 3840 | 4096 \Hoser, (Miltenberg.) 


204 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 
: | 
Paris English; 

Names. feet. or Remarks. 
Schneekoppe, ..| 4946 | 5275 |Hallaschka, (Bergh. Ann. 2.) 
Glatzer Schneeberg,| 4300 | 4586 Charpentier, (Miltenberg.) 
Eisthalerspitze ,..| 8000 | 8533 |Wahlenberg, Flora Carp. 
Lomnitzerspitze, .. | 7944 | 8473 |Do. do. do.» 
Hundsdorfferspitze, | 7800 | 8320 |Do. do. do. 

Clermont, .. ..| 1265 | 1349 |Ramond, Mem. sur la form. bar. 

Gaisekaln, . . 965 | 1029 |Struve, (Bergh. Ann. 12.) 

T'schadyrdagh, 4742 | 5058 |Engelhard and Parrot, Reise. 

Babugan Jaila, 4724 | 5038 |Do. do. do. | 

Orbelos, 9000 | 9600 |Poqueville, (Miltenberg). 

Mt. Dinario, 7000 | 7466 |Hacquet, Nevmaraie 

Klek, 6500 | 6933 |Do. 

Mt. Viso,.. 11809 |12596 Comabeut, “(Mem de la, Soe. de 
Geogr. 2.) 

Lou 13548 |14451 |Guérin (Miltenberg.) 

Montblanc, 14798 |15786 |Roger, (Bibl. Univ. 1828.) 

Mt. Rosa,. . 14273 |15224 |Corabceuf, (1. c.) 

Jungfrau, .. |12872 |13730 |Tralles. Best. der Hihen. 

Finsteraarhorn, .. {13234 |14116 |Do. do. do. 

Ortler, . 12059 {12863 |v. Welden, Monte Rosa. 

Groszglockner, 12483 [13315 |Schiegg. (v, Welden) v. Moll. 
Jahrbiich, 1800 Mean. 

Terglou, .. 9294 | 9913 |Hacquet, (Miltenberg.) 

Steiner Alp, 10274 |10958 |Valsoret, (Miltenberg.) 

Col de 'Tende, 5739 | 6121 |Schouw MSS. 

Col de Genévre, :.| 6109 | 6516 |Hericart. Villars. (Journ. de 
Phys.) Mean. 

Mt. Cenis, .. 6446 | 6876 |Schouw, (Zach. Corresp. 1.) 

Gr. Bernard, 7668 | 8179 |Biblioth. Univ. : 

Simplon, .. ..| 6198 | 6611 |Hertha, 1. 

St.Gothard,  ..| 6439 | 6868 |Schéu Witterungskunde. 

Spliigen, .. ..| 6451 | 6881 |Schouw, (Zacch. Corresp. i.) 

Stilfser Joch, 8610 | 9184 |v. Welden, Mte. Rosa. 

Brenner, .. 4364 | 4654 |v. Buch. . Beob. 

Semmering, 3122 | 3330 |Fallon. (Zacch. Monatl. Corr. 
25.) 

Lake of Geneva, ..| 1146 | 1222 |Roger. Bibl. Univ. 1828, 

Lake of Neufchatel,| 1340 | 1429 |Malten, Hertha 14. 

Lake of Ziirich, 1264 | 1348 |Wahlenberg, Tentamen Helvet. 

Lake of Boden, 1089 | 1161 |Miltenberg. 

Lake Cenis, 6070 | 6474 |Schouw (Zach. 1. ¢.) 

Milano, 420 | 448 |Cesaris. Bibl. Ital. 1831. Feb. 

Ofen, 477 508 |Wahlenberg Flor, Carpath. 

Geneye, .- 1200 | 1280 |Bibl. Univ. 


Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 205 
Paris |English 
Names. feet. ee Remarks. 
Miinich, .. 1629 | 1737 |Schéu. Witterungsk. 
Peissenberg, .| 3088 | 3293 |Do. do. 
Vignemale, . |10326 |11014 |Reboul. and Vidal. Ann. de Chim 
T. 5. 
Mt. Perdu, 10482 |11180 |Do. do. do. 
Pic Posets, 10584 {11289 |Do. do. do. 
Pic Nethon, 10722 |11486 |Do. do. do. 
Mont Calm, 10008 |10675 |Do. do. do. 
Canigon, .. 8580 | 9152 |Do. do. do. 
Mt. Louis, 4890‘| 5216 |Cotte Memoir, T. 2. 
Madrid, 2016 | 2150 |Bauza & Humboldt, (Hertha 4.) 
Granada, . 2414 | 2574 |Rodrigues, (Ann.deChim.1822.) 
Penalura, . . 7716 | 8230 |Bauza, (Humboldt, |. c.) 
San Ildefonso, 3846 | 4102 |Do. do. do. 
Pass of Guadarama,| 4818 | 5139 |Humboldt, 1. c. 
Cerre de Mulhacen,'10870 |11594 igues, l. c. 
Albujarras, 8700 | 9280 |Miltenberg. 
Serra Foja, 3830 | 4085 |Franzini, (Balbi Ess.i Statisi- 
que.) 
Silla Torellos, 4802 | 5122 |Miltenberg. 
Mte. Toro,.. ~ ..| 4500 | 4800 |Brigiere Orographie. 
Mte. Cimone, 6645 | 7088 |Inghirami, Elevazione delle prin- 
cip. eminenze de}}- Toscana. 
Alpe di oa 
hene, .. 6153 | 6563 |Ibid. 
Sibilla, .. 6766 | 7217 |Schouw, (Zach Cc 2.) 
Gransasso d'Italia, | 8935 | 9530 |Do. do. do. 
Majella, .. 8770 | 9354 |Do. do. do. 
Mte. Pollino, 7004 | 7470 \Schouw iiSS. 
La Sila, 5000 | 5333 |Schouw, (approx.) 
Aspromonte, 6000 | 6400 [Do. 
Pizzo d’Uccella, 5771 |. 6155 |Inghirami, 1. c. 
M. Amiata, .. | 5486 | 5798 |Schouw, (Zac Corresp. Asir. 1.) 
Schiena d’Asino, .. | 4547 | 4768 |Prony. Marais Pontins. 
Mte. Albano, 2966 | 3163 |Schouw, (Zach.Corresp. Astr. 1.) 
Gargano, .. 3000 | 3200 |Schouw, (approx.) © 
Vesuvius, .. 3774 | 4025 |Humboldt. (Hertha * 
Euganeans, 1830 | 1952 |Shouw MSS. 
Elba, a 3097 | 3303 |Piquet. Carte de l’isle d’Elbe. 
Stromboli, ..| 2037 | 2172 \Smyth, (Zach. Corr. 10.) 
Pass of La Boc- 
chetta, . 2367 | 2524 


Schouw, (Zach. Corr. Astr. 1.) 


206 Europe :—a popular Physical Sketch. 


\ 
Paris |English 
Names. feet. | feet. Remarks. 
. Pietramala, ..| 2996 | 3195 |Schouw. aga Corr. Astr. 1.) 
Ariano, .. _—.. | 2352 | 2588 |Do. 
Lago Fucino, «| 2047 | 2183 |Schouw, ach, Corr. Astr, 2.) 
Le Madonie, ..| 6111 | 6518 jl. c. Do. do. 
Enat, .. .. 10484 |11182 |Schouw, Bibl. Univ. abit 
Genargentu, .. | 5632 | 6007 |Marmora Sardaigne. 
Mte. Rotondo, ..} 8506 | 9073 |Annuaire de la Corse. 
Mte. d’Oro, ..| 8166 | 8710 |Perney, (Miltenberg -) 
Pindus, .: ..| 6500 | 6933 |Holland, Travel. 
‘Taygetus,. ..| 7441 | 7937 \French Engineers, (Berghaus.) 


et at .. 1.7200 | 7680 |Sieber, Reise nach Kreta, a 


Concluding Observations of M. Desuayes, on the comple- 
tion of his great work on the Fossil Shells of the Paris 


Basin.* 


faving concluded the description of the fossil shells of the 
environs of Paris, it will not be altogether useless to take a 
rapid view of the general results obtained by their study. 

All those persons who are now occupied in’ geological 
researches, acknowledge how much useful aid they have 
obtained from a knowledge of organic fossil bodies, which 
are imbedded in the crust of the earth. We have already 
said, that they are the authentic medallions by which we are 
enabled to trace the philosophic history of the successive 
tevolutions to which the planet we inhabit has been subject. 

Great results have already been accomplished in the 
science of geology, and much grace has been conferred on 
its study by combining it with that of fossils; and these re- 
sults are almost always obtained by means of appropriate 
- inductions derived from a comparison of the organization of 
living animals with the remains of the extinct, or fossil 
species. ‘There can be no doubt geology, although still 


* “ Description des Coquilles Fossils des environs de Paris, par G, P. 
Deshayes,” &c., tome second, p. 763.—Ep, 


On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 207 


in its infancy, is far from an art of minor perfection; nor is 
it confined to enquiries merely of more or less exactitude 
into. the chronology of the ages of our earth, but it also 
attempts to revive, as it were, the forms that peopled the 
surface of the earth at times anterior to the existence of 
man, and of which it is impossible to i ave any other history 
than the primitive ages have left us in these ancient medals. 
It is not alone to determine the periods of mineral changes, 
which are uncertain in their nature, and of comparatively 
little philosophical importance ; but it is the glory of the 
geologist, aided by the labours of zoologists and botanists, 
to collect and arrange materials for the history of each of 
the great periods during which organic beings were suc- 
cessively developed, and to bring them by a succession of 
great events, (sometimes interrupted,) down to the period 
of authentic history. 

Cuvier in his Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles, and 
M. Brongiart in the example of the great zoologist, have 
been the first to introduce the study of organic fossils, and 
Cuvier in particular has afforded, by numerous examples and 
happy inductions, various beautiful applications of this study 
to geological pursuits. M. Brongiart afterwards conferred 
additional value on the study of organic fossils, by extending 
their application to geological questions, which appeared to 
him to have remained before without satisfactory solution, 
and which were capable of illustration by means of those 
particular organic fossils which formed the peculiar subject 
of his own study. It is no easy matter indeed to seize for 
sound geological application, such parts of the science of 
fossils as are most adapted to the purpose. All branches 
of the subject are doubtless useful, but all are not’ so to the 
same degree; thus for example, the remains of vertebrated 
animals are rare, and difficultly determined, diminishing 
rapidly in proportion as we descend, seldom affording results 
so general as those of other classes. Thus it must also follow 


208 On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


from the circumstance of plants being extremely favourable 
to their preservation, that numerous terrestrial strata will 
contain some traces of them. 

This is no less the case with many classes of invertebrate 
animals, and among these, shells and zoophytes are the 
most universally distributed. These bodies are seen in all 
strata; frequently distributed in great abundance; and their 
study well attended to, is an immense aid; for they cannot be 
examined with a view to the great question of their history, 
without affording exact materials for the solution of the dif- 
ficult question of the general and physical history of the 
globe. | 

To render useful services to the science of geology, it is 
necessary that zoologists should apply themselves to the mi- 
nute study of those fossil bodies, which are most universally 
distributed. ws 

In this point of view, Conchology possesses an incontest- 
able pre-eminence ; but it is unnecessary to defend a science, 
which from the taste and zeal of its amateurs, has recently 
become a fashionable study, more difficult however than 
is generally supposed, and only conferring utility in its vast 
applications in proportion as we descend to its minutest 
details. 

This science, like all the other branches of Zoology, 
implies an acquaintance with the intimate structure of 
animals, so as to combine the character and affinities of 
organization with the form of the solid body which the ani- 
mal supports. It is after we have become acquainted with 
all the facts detailed relative to living mollusca, that we can 
arrive at a rational knowledge of fossil shells by means of 
inductions sometimes difficult, in which we are guided never- 
theless by recent shells. 

The inductions are first applied to the fossil species which 
approach nearest to the living; but in proportion as we des- 
cend in the strata of the earth, the species differ more and 


On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 209 


more from our own, belonging frequently to extinct races of 
animals ; and it is necessary to be able to employ these induc- 
tions, so as to verify each step by observation. Thus for 
example, after obtaining the first results of comparison be- 
tween the fossil and living species, the former must then be 
compared with the fossils of different types, and on this pro- 
cess being extended to the whole series of fossil shells, our 
judgment is to be formed from the result. It is by following 
those steps of which we are now about to afford a rapid 
view, and which we have endeavoured to detail at large in 
this work, that we may hope to facilitate a knowledge of the 
geology of a set of strata, which will serve as a starting point 
in the study of tertiary rocks, and at the same time present 
to the zoologist interesting facts relative to species which 
no longer exist on the surface of the earth. 

From the study of our species of the Paris basin being 
nearly complete, they afford the hope, after very extensive 
researches on the subject, that we shall be able to deduce 
from them a standard of comparison for the study of other 
tertiary beds in which the same fossils occur. 

In a work presented to the Academy of Sciences in 183], 
we have given the results of the comparisons which we had 
made between the shells of living species and the fossil 
shells of the tertiary deposits of Europe. One of the princi- 
pal results of this comparison has been the determination of 
the peculiar characters of these beds, and an indication of their 
superposition ; these results with prophetic spirit appear to 
have anticipated subsequent acquisitions which have been 
made to science by the researches of geologists, and it is thus 
that we have also realised our former conjectures, and have 
established the importance in these pursuits, of inductions 
derived from zoological inquiries. 

Another result obtained by the same means is, that no 
one species of shell has been found to belong to both 
secondary and tertiary strata: thus the upper beds of the 


210 On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


secondary, which constitute the chalk formation, are perfect- 
ly distinguished from the tertiary strata by means of geolo- 
gical observations, as they are by those of the zoologist. Ob- 
jections have been made to this result, founded on the exis- ~ 
.tence of beds in which there is an intermixture of species of 
the chalk with those of tertiary fossils. But we are convinced 
that this is an error, arising from incomplete observations, 
and we doubt not, will so appear when these same beds 
‘shall have been examined by competent persons without 
regard to theoretical opinions. Every where in short, not 
. alone in the Pyrenées, geologists agree in the obvious dis- 
tinctions between the chalk formation and the tertiary beds. 

The Paris basin, placed in a geological series between 
the chalk and the upper tertiary beds, presents to the re- 
searches of the learned a deep interest, from the hope of 
its affording a solution to questions of great importance. It 
was natural at first, to’ compare the species which these 
more ancient deposits afford with those which are now alive. 

But if it be true, as we believe, that the whole of the 
species of the secondary beds have been destroyed in 
Europe, at least before the establishment in the same 
countries of those of the tertiary, we must conceive the 
chain of succession to have been violently broken, from 
whatever cause is difficult of explanation. If after a great 
cataclysm, all the races of marine animals were to be des- 
troyed, how are we to explain the sudden reappearance of 
the whole of the zoology of the Paris basin, which we have 
proved to consist of nearly 1200 species, belonging alone to the 
class of molluscs? These have been well examined in a suc- 
cession of species and individuals, in order to establish their 
modifications, and define the limits of the species; but that 
which we have been unable to comprehend, and which is 
yet inexplicable to us in the present state of our know- 
ledge, is the extinctions and remodelments of races of ani- 
mals which have frequently taken place during long geo- 


a 


On the. Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 241 


logical periods, such as those which we know to have hap- 
pened in Europe. 

The comparison of the species oe tertiary beds with those 
of the secondary, of which we have just now spoken, having 
afforded the important result that none of thé species of the 
secondary deposits lived at the same time with those of 
the most inferior tertiary beds, it was curious to examine — 
whether these inferior tertiary beds contained any species 
which might be identified with those which now live. This 
identity is incontestably established, but only in regard to a 
small number of species, which is sufficient, we think, to 
connect the tertiary epoch with the present, and this.con- 
nexion is so much more remarkable, as we have seen the 
number of analogues augment in proportion as we pass from 
the more ancient to the more recent beds. 

Yet within these few years geologists assimilate the whole 
of these beds, which they believe to be of the same age, 
and represent them parallel, bed for bed, to those of the 


‘Paris basin. But we have seen in the tertiary beds not 


a parallelism, but a true succession, and at the same time 
we have made use of the analogy of fossil species to dis- 
tinguish between them, where they are limited to a very 
small number of those tertiary basins of the same geologi- 
cal epoch with that of Paris. We have had occasion in the 
course of this work in giving the localities of the species, to 
mention two of these tertiary basins which are of the same 
age with ours; we refer to that of London, and to that of 
Belgium, as more extensive and considerable. than we are in 
the habit of supposing. 

The little tertiary basin of La Manche, in the environs of 


-Volognes ; the calcareous beds of Bas-medoc, which are de- 


posited below, and on either side of the vast basin of. 
Gironde ; on one part of the valley of Ronca, near Verona; 


the limestones of Castel-Comberts ; the beds singularly mo- 


dified in the Alps, and which are met with particularly in 


212 On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


the environs of Gap ; belong also to the formations of the 
Paris basin, because they contain the same fossils. It ap- 
pears, indeed, that the same fossils are presented again 
in. Hungary and in Moldavia, which announces that the 
sea from which they have been deposited, was vast and 
extensive. We may remark, from the observations of others, 
that traces of the presence of the same sea will be found 
far more extensive than those we have mentioned. A very 
important question suggests itself here, as depending on a 
more careful examination of fossil species ; many persons for 
instance, have been employed in researches relative to the 
temperature of the earth during the great geological epochs. 
To arrive at the solution of this question, numerous important 


things require to be considered, and whatever light we are — 


to hope for on the subject, we believe must result from an 
investigation of the tertiary beds of Europe, among which 
those of the Paris basin occupy a principal place; for the 
‘ion of temperature is inseparably connected with the 
haracter . the animals, whose remains are entombed in these 
“vata. And here we have to encounter the only source of 
\ifficulty ; but when the whole of the phenomena connected 
with the tertiary strata are examined together, they lend a 
mutual support to the results. We are now accordingly to 
afford a brief statement of our opinions on the subject, and 
of the means by which we have formed our conclusions. 

If the character of the plants, as learnedly established by 
M. Arago, in L’ Anuaire du Bureau des Longitudes de 1834, 
enable us to afford an approximation to the mean tempera- 
ture of periods in which they lived; if the existence in 
certain places of the vine, palms, &c. be equivalent with the 
vhilosopher to thermometric observations, we thus know 
that the animals, and above all, those which people the 
waters of the sea, enable us by their presence to deter- 
mine very nearly the mean temperature of the places they 
inhabit. 


On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 213 


All marine animals are not true indicators of temperature ; 
it is necessary to select for the purpose, those whose feeble 
movements constrain them to depend for their sustenance 
on the alternations of the seasons, and compel them to 
limit their influence to the places where they were first pro- 
duced. The greater number of the mollusca and zoophytes 

. supply these conditions. 

To arrive at the knowledge of the temperature of the 
times anterior to the existence of man, the logical course to 
pursue is, first, to search for some positive position to start 
from, so as to assure ourselves of the real character of the 
animals from which we derive our evidence, and then to 
seize upon those conditions of their existence, with which 
temperature has more or less todo. It is the principal part 
which temperature plays in the distribution of the mollusca, 
in advancing to the North or South, which we are now briefly 
to explain; and for brevity’s sake, shall speak only of those 
which have been collected near Cape North, and in the 
Gulf of Guinea. 

If the small number of species which live in the north 

be separately considered, they can be divided into two 
very distinct kinds: the one proper to the colder seas, 
do not pass beyond the limits of these; the others, in 
smaller rfumber, coming to live in the temperate regions of 
Germany, France, and England, with the species of these 
seas. ) 
In examining the testaceous molluscs of the seas of the 
temperate regions of Europe in which there exists a 
greater number of species than in the seas of the north, it 
is easy to separate them into three series: in the first of 
these are comprised those which we have indicated, and 
which return again to the seas of the north; the species 
_of the second series descend into the seas of the south; 
lastly, those of the third series are proper to European 
temperatures. If we now carry our observations to the 
2 F 


oo 


214 On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


intertropical regions, we meet with similar phenomena; we 
meet with a greater number of species than in the two 
preceding regions, and amidst these, some are proper to 
the temperate region; a great number also proper to the 
equatorial seas, 

These are general facts, onal we can already draw from them. 
this general conclusion, that each assemblage of species re- 
presents the mean temperature. But there are some species 
more locally, and others more generally distributed. - Thus — 
the Buccinum undatum, for example, is found from Cape 
North to Senegal, slightly modified by temperature; thus it 
is easy enough to distinguish in it the varieties produced by 
three or four principal conditions of temperature. This 
species is not the only one thus distributed, but we are al. | 
ready acquainted with a very considerable number, having 
with this the property of living in different temperatures. 

Other species more sensible of the influences of tem- 
peratures, are much more local, and are those which it is’ 
important to understand. I here enumerate some of them :--- 

1. Buccinum glaciale. It does not extend beyond the 
polar circle, and is found in Norway and Greenland. 

2. Cardium grenlandicum. With the preceding. 

3. Terebratula psittacia. Between 65° and the 75°; these 
species, and many others which it would be too numer- 
ous to mention, represent the mean temperature of the 
north of Norway. | 

1. Tellina baltica. 

2. Patella noachina. 

3. Natica clausa, _ 

4. Many species of the genus Astarte. 

5. Patella testudinalis, ete. 

These and other species represent the mean temperature 
of the north of England, south of Sweden and of Denmark. 
In the British Channel, on the coasts of France and England, 
there also exist many species peculiar to our temperature. 


On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 215 


1. Pholas callosa. 

2, Psamobia vespertina. 

3. Pecten irregularis, etc. 

The coasts of Spain and Portugal are less known than 
those of New Holland or South America. 

The Mediterranean contains also a great number of species 
peculiar to it; but as this is an inland sea, we will not now 
speak of it, lest we should attribute the presence of its 
species to peculiar circumstances. 

The observations are few in number on the coasts of Africa, 
from Barbary to Senegal; but for this important region, we 
have the excellent work of Adanson, and the commercial 
relations with Senegal and Guinea have long since enriched 
the collections of marine shells from this quarter. 

Amidst the great number of species known in the inter- 
tropical zone, there are many which are peculiar to it, but 
the list is too,long to enter into the particulars in this 
place. The species inhabiting warm climates are less vari- 
able, nor are they met with living on any other part of the 
surface of the globe; they determine therefore with fidelity 
the temperature of the sea they inhabit. 

These facts are mentioned as concisely as possible, that 
they may precede what we have to say on the tempera- 
ture of the geological epochs of the tertiary strata; but to 
afford a solution of this interesting question, it was necessary 
that the whole of the living species with which we are ac- 
quainted, should be compared with patience, care, and mi- 
nuteness, with all those that are found in the different terti- 
ary beds of Europe; and here are the principal results 
obtained by our labours on this subject :— 

1. The tertiary beds of Europe do not contain any onc 
species identical with those of the secondary rocks. 

2. The tertiary beds alone contain species still living. 


ar. 


3. The analogues of living species are more numerous ° 


in proportion as the bed is more recent, and vice versa. 


216 | On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


4. The constant proportions (3 per cent. 19 per cent. and 
52 per cent.) in the number of living species determine the 
age of the tertiary beds. 

5. The tertiary beds are in wperpesitian, and not in pa- 
rallellism as had been supposed. 

6. The beds, from their zoological contents, appear to be 
divided into three groups or stages. 

About the month of August 1831, we proved the ex- 
istence of these groups, and indicated the places where 
the observations were made; geologists have since con- 
firmed these results, and separated the tertiary rocks ac- 
cordingly. 

The latest and most superficial tertiary strata have been 
deposited when the temperature of Europe was almost the 
same as it is at present; here are the proofs. ; 

The tertiary beds of this age, of Norway and Sweden, of 
Denmark, of Saint Hospice near Nice, of a portion of Sicily, 
contain in a fossil state, all the species of the corresponding 
seas, and amongst others, those which in most places best 
represent for us the temperature. These fossils present the 
same series of varieties with the living species which an- 
nounces most positively, that the beds referred to have been 
deposited under circumstances similar to those in which their 
existence is still maintained. These same beds in the South 
of France, subject to the Mediterranean, of Spain, of Italy, 
and of Sicily, of the Morea, of Barbary, (Algiers,) contain a 
large proportion of the species still living in the Mediterra- 
nean, but they contain also those whose analogues do not 
exist, or are distributed in small numbers in the warmer 
regions.of the Atlantic, and the Seas of India. To afford a 
correct idea of the tertiary period in Italy, we must distin- 
guish three sorts of fossil species. 

1. Those whose analogues are still living in the Medi- 
terranean. — 

2, Those in small number, whose analogues are not found 


a oe ee 


~“ 


On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 217 


in the Mediterranean, but in the Atlantic Ocean, the Red 
Sea,’and the Seas of India. 
3. Those of which no living analogues exist. 


: ;\ Bhese-ebs a Ce that the Me- 

I . A [edited eka the ma se a 5 HS ‘tT ty) nk sufficient basis 

on account of the chain of the Atlas mountains on one coast, 

and that of the Apennine on the other, affecting the tem- 

perature. These changes in the elevation of strata, and 

consequently of temperature, explain the extinction of the 

living analogues of a certain number of fossil species on the 

sides of the Mediterranean, and the distribution of certain 

others in warmer seas. To us it appears probable, that the 

Mediterranean before the last movements of its borders, had 

one large open communication with the Atlantic Ocean 

. through the great desert of Africa, and another with the 

Indian Ocean, which may have been either by the Red Sea, 

or by the flat sandy parts of Arabia, which separate the 
Mediterranean from the Persian Gulnh. 

The second tertiary period composes a great number of 
little basins; as the Superga, near Turin: the basin of the 
Gironde; the marine, deposits composing the faluns of 

-» Touraine; the little basin of Angers; the basin’ of Vienna in 
Austria; the Pédolia:; the Volhinia ; and some other patches 
on the southern frontier of Russia in Europe; patches, 
whereof ‘some spots are seen not.far from Moscow. The 
lacustrine beds of Mentz, and the borders of the Rhine, also 
probably belong to this period. 

() The duration of this period we do not know, but it has 
'\ / been considerable, for not only have the deposits formerly 
composed a large surface, but they have still in many places a 
great thickness. During this period, the temperature has 
been very different from tlat which we now experience ; 
indeed the species proper now-a-day to Senegal and the 
sea of Guinea, those which \representsthe mean tempera- 


218 On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


ture of the tropics, correspond with the fossils in the se- 
veral places we have mentioned. Now, considering the 
number of species, and the great number of individuals 
belonging to each of these, their development would sug- 
gest the basin of the Gironde as the line of greatest inten- 
sity of heat, where in former times an equatorial tempera- 
ture prevailed ; it has necessarily been to this temperature 
that we owe the present fossil remains of species, which 
in former times inhabited our seas. It was necessary that 
this increased temperature should also have been directed 
continuously during a long series of cycle, in order that the 
accumulated constituents of generations should form by their 
remains a solid of such vast expanse. 

If, as we firmly believe, the basin of Gironde to have 
been deposited under an equatorial temperature, it will be 
sufficient to cast a look at a map in order to feel convinced 
that the influence of this temperature has extended as far as 
Poland, and to the middle of Russia in Europe. 

To determine the equatorial temperature of our second 
tertiary period, we have compared nearly two hundred spe- 
cies of the intertropical zone with the fossil species from the 
upper strata at Bourdeaux and Dax, and other basins be- 
longing to this second period; but unfortunately one conclu- 
sive element is deficient for the first tertiary period, that which 
represents the Paris basin. In nearly fourteen hundred spe- 
cies, thirty-eight only have living analogues; it is true that 
the greater number of these species are found throughout the 
equatorial zone, but among them there appear to be some, 
which are found not only in that zone, but which pass inte \ ‘ 
our temperate seas, and even wander to the North Sea. 

I must therefore abandon, in regard to the most important 
tertiary period, those means for the estimation of its tempe- 
rature, which have been employed with success in the case 
of the two preceding periods. We endeavour in the mean” 


On the Fossii Shells of the Paris Basin. 219 


time to supply by several indirect means, the want of direct 
means of comparison which we here experience. 

In the frozen seas, there exists but a small number of 

molluscs; but some species are adapted to endure cold in pro- 
portion as they advance from the warmer regions, and thus 
there are but eight or ten, which subsist at the 80th degree, 
while there are above nine hundred living species in the tro- 
pical region of Senegal and Guinea. This augmentation of 
species with temperature, sufficiently indicates the power- 
ful agency of heat in the creation of these beings. But this 
phenomenon is not alone seen in those parts of the terrestrial 
globe which we have selected for example, it is repeated 
from the sea of Behring to the isles of Sunda, and may be 
traced inversely on each coast of South America. 

One important fact is elicited, and affords a new point 
d’ appui in the estimation of the temperatures of these last 
tertiary periods; it is the proportion in the number of fossil 
and of the living species. Thus in northern latitudes, few 
species exist, and few of those which do, are found fossil; of 
tropical regions nearly seven hundred species are fossil, and 
six hundred exist. It must be remembered, tha‘ this differ- 
ence in the proportion of the living as compared with the 
fossil species, is owing to a certain number belonging to lost 
races. In short, the elevated temperature of the second period 
may be regarded as settled with certainty, whén we state, that 
nearly one thousand species in the corresponding basins 
have been examined and compared with nine hundred living 
species from the intertropical seas of Africa. 

Since the number of species accords with the temperature ; 
since, on one particular portion of the intertropical region 
we find nearly nine hundred species, it appears to me 
natural, that we should attribute to the first tertiary period 
a temperature at least equatorial; for we are actually ac- 
quainted with fourteen hundred species, of which twcve 
hundred were collected in the Paris basin, that is to say, in 


220 On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


an extent of forty leagues in diameter in one direction and 
fifty-five in another, there do not exist in any of our seas 
any thing approaching to so many species in a space so 
limited. 

If we now examine these species, we shall find particu- 
larly large numbers of them to belong to those genera and 
families, the species of which are so numerous in the warm- 
est regions of the earth. One hundred and forty species 
ofthe genus Cerithium, a great number of the genus Fussus, 
of Pleurotoma, of Mitra, of Voluta, of Venus, of Buccinum, 
of Arca—fossils of the environs of Paris. The absence 
in this basin of the forms proper to the northern seas, all 
the considerations connected with Conchology, unite in at- 
testing strongly the great period of time the Parisian strata 
required to form, under a temperature probably more elevat- 
ed than that of the present equator. 

In adverting to others parts of the Parisian Paleontology 
not belonging to Conchology, we find in the great number of 
Pachydermata, their size sometimes gigantic, a proof of the 
high temperature of the Paris basin. Where do we find in 
the present day analogous animals, if it be not in the tropi- 
cal parts of Africa and South America, in the islands of 
Sunda, and in those of Asia? In addition to these consi- 
derations, those which are furnished by a small number of 
plants, particularly palms, sufficiently prove the high tem- 
perature of the period during which the first tertiary depo- 
sits took place. We might here be able to form a contrast 
between the ancient condition of the Paris basin compared 
with its present state—we might find on one side a great num- 
ber of animals of which the races have become extinct ; on the 
other, the soil occupied by the races of recent animals, and 
the seas in the vicinity peopled with species of which ninety- 
nine per cent. did not exist in former times. We should see 
in this comparison the proofs of the wonderful changes which 
are in operation in the conditions of the existence of living 


On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 221 


beings; but we will not urge this interesting subject, which 
demands more attention than we could devote to it in this 
place. 

The details we have gone over, appear to lead to the fol- 
iowing conclusions :— 

The first tertiary period must have rolled away under an 
equatorial temperature, in all probability, many degrees 
warmer than that of the present equator. 

During the second period, the deposits of which occupy 
the centre of Europe, the temperature has been similar to 
that of Senegal and of Guinea. 

The temperature of the third period was at first a little 
higher than that of the present basin of the Mediterranean, 
it then became, as we have endeayoured to shew, fixed 
or uniform: for in the north, the species of the north are 
fossil ; in the south those of the south are fossil. 

Thus we have established the fact, that since the com- 
mencement of the tertiary beds, the temperature has been 
constantly diminishing: the theory of the central heat of 
the globe, which rested on the supposition of philosophers, 
rendered the change of temperature, of which we have been 
speaking, probable; but it is curious to see a science long 
neglected approaching these important questions, and fur- 
nishing materials calculated to explain them. 

The question of temperature is not the only domain of 
Zoology and Conchology in particular, its use extends to 
other subjects of no less importance, connected) with, the 
development of life on the surface of the earth, throughout 
time and space, in proportion to the extent of its materials ; 
but this science is yet in its infancy. Lamarck has drawn 
the outline ; who is to lay the foundation ? 

We have long since remarked, and we continue to repeat, 
that Geology had no claim: to the’ character of an exact 
science until the moment when she adopted those branches 
of philosophy which treat of organic beings, their investiga- 

2.@ 


222 On the Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin. 


tion from the nature of the suvjects being more within a 

rational controul. It will now be understood, after what we 

have elsewhere said, that Zoology is the basis of Geology, 
and that there can be no science in the latter beyond what it 

owes to organic remains, and of this truth, we are therefore 

every day more and more convinced.* 


The Silurian System. By R. I. Murcuison, Esa., 
F.R.S., F.L.S., &e. &c. &e. 


(Continued from vol. i. p. 627.] 


We know of no elementary work in which the entire 
succession of strata, from the most ancient to the recent de- 
posits are exhibited in a connected view, so as to include 
the results of recent observations. ‘The rocks beneath 
the old red sandstone have been fully investigated by 
Mr. Murchison, who has pointed out a regular series of 
strata beneath the old red sandstone, distinguished by the 


* Nothing can exemplify more forcibly the truth of the concluding 
observations of M. Deshayes, than the following analysis of Murchison’s 
Silurian System, except indeed the original work of Mr. Murchison itself, 
which, like that of M. Deshayes, is unfortunately inaccessible, from 
its size and expense, to the generality of readers, particularly in India. 
Many instances of the practical importance of organic fossils in direct- 
ing enquiries for coal and other useful minerals, will be found throughout 
our notices of Mr. Murchison’s work ; but it is only necessary to refer 
the reader to vol. i. p. 18 of this Journal, to be convinced of the import- 
ance of fossil remains as the only sure guide in al) enquiries connected 
with the subject of Geology, whether theoretical, or practical. The 
retrograde movement recently made in the Asiatic Society of Calcutta 
in the Patronage of ‘ Economic Geology’ is therefore much to be ‘re- 
gretted, however we maybe disposed to acknowledge the importance 
to engineers and architects of the art of selecting materials ; but to call 
this ‘ Geology,’ and to pretend that it is capable of facilitating our 
knowledge of the productions of a country, is to say the least of it, 
erroneous. 


Murchison’s Silurian System. 223 


presence of peculiar organic remains, the first strata of 
which are connected by a gradual advancement in the num- 
ber and characters of their fossil contents with newer de- 
posits. Some of these beds were known, others were either 
not known, or mistaken for rocks connected with, or belong- 
ing to the coal measures. 3 

“The upper Silurian, or Ludlow formation, consists of red 
and yellow compact micaceous sandstones, bluish grey 
mottled. limestone, and slaty impure argillaceous slates con- 
taining lime and sandy particles. The upper stratum of 
Silurian rocks, where it dips beneath the old red sandstone, 
is covered by the remains of large fish bones, shells, and 
coprolites, called the bone bed. The remains contained in 
this bed partake equally of those forms, (chiefly fishes,) 
which are found in the upper Silurian, and lower old red 
system. | 3 

Below these strata, the rocks generally lose the appear- 
ance of sandstone, and contain more calcareous matter, 
which is mixed up mechanically in an argillaceous paste.* 
The strata are usually thin bedded, but are not so compact 
as to answer for flagstones. The surface of the beds pre- 
sent a waved undulating appearance, like the ridges and 
furrows occasioned by the rippling action of waves, to which 
the appearance is partly due. Mr. Murchison, however, 
thinks some of the transverse markings have been occasion- 
ed by animals, such as lived on sandy shores. The animals 
whose remains characterise these upper beds, are Leptena 
lata, t. vii. fig. 15, Cypricardia amygdalina, t. vii. fig. 3 
Orbicula rugata, t. vii. fig. 19, and Avicula lineata, t. vii. 
fig. 18, which also occur in the lower beds of the old red 
system, 


* These stones are used for building, but they do not answer well, 
unless when used immediately after extraction from the quarry, when 
they require to be laid horizontally in the direction of their slaty 
lamine. 


224: Murchison’s Silurian System. 


Serpuloides (?) longissuna, t. vii. fig. 1, and of Crustacea, 
Homalonotus knightii, (Konig.) t. viii. fig. 9, 10,* and H. 
Ludensis, Murch. t. viii. fig. 11, Orthocerus Striatum. Some 
beds contain a small species of Turbo, T. coralii, invested 
often with a species of coral, Favosites fibrosa, Gold fuss. 
The third stage of-the upper Silurian rocks becomes 
micaceous, and more argillaceous, occasionally running into 
large spheroidal concretionary forms; these beds contain 
fewer organic remains, but the lowest beds of this division 
are characterised by a species of Terebratula, T. navicula. 
t. vii. fig. 16. 

Ludlow or Aymestry Limestone.—The beds just described 
are occasionally called the mudbeds, from their loose friable 


structure. They are succeeded by a subcrystalline argilla- 


ceous blue, or bluish grey limestone of laminated structure, 
produed by shells and corals. The characteristic fossils of 
these beds are, Pentameris Knightii, t. viii. f. i. a. (fig. 1, 
b. the young.) Lingula Lewisii, t. viii. fig. 4, Terebratula 
Wilsoni, Bellerophon Aymestriensis, t. viii. fig. 5, Avicula 
Reticulata, t. viii. fig. 6; and corals, Favosites Gothlandica. 
t. viii. fig. 7, 8, Atrypa Affnis, Terebratula Affinis; but where 


the latter become characteristic, Pentamerus Knightii disap-. 


pear. These limestone beds are distinguished by the name 
of the place where they were first discovered by Mr. Murchi- 
son, are much less pure than those of the mountain limestone, 
but their earthy character renders them of great value, as 
affording a cement which sets in subaqueous operations. 
Crystals of carbonate of lime and sulphate of barytes are 
the only minerals observed by Mr. Murchison in this lime- 
stone. 


* We have selected from the numerous plates in Murchison’s work, 
figures of a few of the most characteristic fossils, of which we have 
compiled the plates referred to in the text, in order that these remarks, 
in the absence of the original work, may be morc intelligible and useful 
to observers in India. 


~ 


Murchison’s Silurian System. 225 


Lower Ludlow Rock.—Beneath the latter beds, calcareous 
thin bedded flagstones occur ; the strata seams are formed by 
thin layers of sandstone; occasionally a substance like fuller’s 
earth occurs between the beds. The colour of the rock in 
situ is dark grey or black, but it weathers, like all similar 
beds of the upper Silurian system, to light ashen grey. 
These beds are distinguished by many peculiar organic 
remains, which ‘have ‘not been ‘observed: in any overlying 

stratum, viz. Cardiola interrupta, Phragmoceras Nautileum, 
t. viii. fig. 12,° 13, Orthocerus. filosum, O.  Pyriforme, 
t. viii. fig. 2, Lituttes giganteus, together with ,Trilobites, 
as Calymene Blimenbachii and Asaphus caudatus, but 
these last fossils are equally found in the subjacent beds. 
With the exception of thin’ seams of galena, and a. little 
iron pyrites, no minerals have been found in this rock. The 
entire thickness of the Ludlow rocks is estimated by Mr. 
Murchison at 1,500 feet. 

enlock Limestone, or Ballstone. The next member of 
the Silurian system corresponds with a limestone which pro- 
jects abruptly through the coal formation at Dudley, where 
the intermediate beds being wanting, it was impossible to as- 
certain its place in the geological series. ‘This. limestone 
is distinguished by its containing masses of a crystalline 
limestone, highly charged with corals and encrinites, so much 
so, as to be liable to be mistaken for mountain limestone ; but 
on further enquiry, it is found, that the crenoidal remains 
contained in this rock are peculiar to itself, or at ‘east dis- 
tinct from those of the mountain limestone. The ordinary 
colour of the rock is dark grey, freckled with veins and 
strings of white carbonate of lime. The beds are broken and 
irregular, with deposits of shale contained in the crevices. 
This last is so abundant, as to give the limestone an earthy 
appearance, and to constitute one of the best characters of 
the 1ock. In ‘other cases; all traces of bedding are wanting, 
and the whole calcareous mass is made up of concretions 


296 Murchison’s Silurian ‘System. 


called ballstones,* sometimes of immense size, surrounded 
by beds of shale and impure limestone. 

Beneath these beds, a shale containing concretions of 
very impure limestone occurs. These beds, which are called 
Wenlock shale, constitute the base of the upper Silurian 
rocks. These beds are succeeded occasionally by courses of 
very impure lenticular limestone, the concretions of which 
contain concentric figures, made up of dark coloured crystal- 
line carbonate of lime in an argillaceous paste. 

The Wenlock portion of the upper Silurian rocks is esti- 
mated by Mr. Murchison at about 1000 feet in thickness; 
that is, 300 feet for the limestone, and 700 for the beds of 
shale. 

The minerals found in it, are calcspar, sulphate of ba- 
rytes, lead and iron, peroxide of manganese, sulphurets of 
copper and bitumen, but not in such abundance as to render 
any of them of much value. 

The organic remains on which the peculiarity of this rock 
depends, consist of 


Corts. 
Heliopora pyriformis, (De Blain.) 
Catenipora escharoides, (Lamarck.) 
Stromatopora concentrica, (Goldf.) 
Favosites Gothlandica, (Lamarck.) 
Cyathophyllum turbinatum, (Goldf.) 
Simaria clothrata, (Steininger.) 


ConcHIFERS. 
Euomphalus discors, 
rugosus. 
—— funatus, 
Productus Euglyphus, 
depressus, 


* These are used as a flux for iron ore, and hEreenees Mr. M. remarks, 
to the impure limestone.. 


< WOT 0 tna 5g se denen tia 


Murchison’s Silurian System. 227 


Atrypa tenuistriata, 

aspera, 

Terebratula imbricata, 
cuneata, 

Nerita haliotis, 

Orthoceras Brightii, 

TRILOBITES.* 

Asaphus caudatus, Common to the Ludlow 

Calymene Blumenbachit, j and Wenlock beds. 

Calymene variolaris, Parkin 


macrophthalma, Brong. 


Downingia, 

tuberculata, Peculiar to the 
Asaphus Stokesi, Murch. “Wenlock forma- 

longicaudatus, id. tion. 


Bumastus Bariensis,.id. 
Paradoxides bimucronatus, id. 
quidrimacronatus, id. } 
The shale of the Wenlock formation is also distin- 
guished by 
Productus transversalis. 
Spirifer cordiospermiformis, 
trapezoidalis, 
~ Terebratula brevirostra, 
interplicata, 
imbricata, 
Orthoceros attenuata, 
The following are common to all the Silurian rocks :— 
Atrypa affinis.+ 
Productus depressus, var. pl. 12, fig. 2. 


* . 3Examples of these fossils shall be figured in future numbers when 
we arrive at that portion of the work in which they are described in 
detail by W. S. Macleay, Esq., they are of the more interest, as none 
lave as yet been discovered in India. 


+ Terebratula affinis, Sow. Min. Con. 


228 Murchison’s Silurian System. 


THE LOWER SILURIAN ROCKS. 

Caradoc Sandstone.—Unlike the upper Silurian rocks, these 
are composed essentially of sandstone of different colours, 
with an occasional thin bed of impure sandy limestone. In 
these beds, all traces of the Trilobites common to the upper 
Silurian rocks are lost, and in place of them occurs Trinu- 
cleus caractace, Murch., which belongs to a genus never 
observed in the upper Silurian rocks. The upper group of 
this diyision of Silurian rocks is described by Mr. Murchison 
as thinly laminated sandy shale, only slightly micaceous, con- 
taining layers of pipe clay and thin bands of impure sandy 
limestone. The fossils characteristic of these beds are, 

Productus sericeus, 
Bellerophon bilobatus, 
B. acutus, 
Littorina striatella, 
Orthis alternata, 
callactis, 
canalis, 
pecten, 
Avicula obliqua, 
Arbicula granulata. 
The upper beds of this formation dip beneath the Wen- 


lock shale, and the lower strata graduate into flagstones. On. 


fracturing these flagstones, Mr. Murchison remarks, the 
fossils stand out in neat casts covered with brown and yel- 
low hydrate of iron, presenting a marked relief from the 
dingy yellow olive green sandstone. 
The characteristic fossils in this group of flag strata are, — 
Orthis actonia, 
O. grandis, 
Trinucleus caractace, . Dar “4 
T. fimbriatus. 
This group of Caradoc sandstone, Mr. Murchison thinks, 
is not less than four hundred feet thick. The flags are 


Vsti wre 


Murchison’s Silurian System. 229 


in some places worked for troughs, tomb-stones and building 
purposes. 

The calcareous grit forming the lowest bed of the Cara- 
doc formation, contains 

Terebratula, (orthis) anomala, 

Pentamerus oblongus, and the plumose Coral, 
Calamopora fibrosa, Goldf. 

The Caradoc sandstone reposes on deep reddish purple 
sandstones, with streaks of dirty yellowish-green, in beds from 
six inches to two and three feet. Where these beds are 
exposed, Mr. Murchison found in their superficial strata 
casts of ; 

Orthis flabellulum, | 
O. vespertilio, 
Terebratula unguis, 

These beds are dissimilar to any of the overlying strata 
from their red colour and intermixture with clay and marl. 
In other situations, the section of these lower Silurian rocks 
present 


“ Grits and coarse sandstone of brown and yellow colour. Pure white 
grained sandstone, consisting of grains of sand imbedded in a matrix of 
felspars, which decomposing, give the whole a freckled appearance. 
Yellowish sandstone with ferruginous streaks, deep red sandstone, and 
whitish gritty sandstone.” 

These. sandstones are in places cut through and thrown 
into vertical position by eruptive trap rocks. 1n other situ- 
ations, quartzose pebbles are held together by a ferruginous 
cement. This formation is liable to be mistaken for old, or 
even new red sandstone; but its best distinction, says Mr. 
Murchison, consists in its position below the upper Silurian 
rocks, and in its organic remains, which are different from 
those of any formations that overlie it. 

The minerals which occur in the lower Silurian rocks, are 
green carbonate, of copper, and other copper ores, thin 
seams of galena with associated crystals of blende; and 


Qu 


230 Murchison's Silurian System. 


where the beds are much disturbed by trap rocks, rich and 
productive lead veins are found. 

The following is a general list of the fossils of the lower 
Silurian rocks :— 


obliqua, 


—— undulata, 


hemispherica, 
— affinis, 
Bellerophon trilobatus, 
acutus, 
bilobatus, 
Bucinum (?) fusiforme, 
Euomphalus tenuistriatug, 
perturbatus, 
corudensis, 
funatus, 
Lingula attenuata, 
Leptena* (Producta) sericea, 
complanatus, 
————. duplicata, 
englypha, 


* Atrypa, Leptena, and Orthis, are subdivisious of the great genus 
Terebratula, Leptena are distinguished in little from the genus Pro- 
ducta. Atrypa are Spirifers, with a short hinge, and destitue of for- 
amen, or having a small triangular one ; and with acute, not perforated 
beaks. 

Orthis is distinguished from Spirifer, by its long narrow hinge and 
circular flat striated shell.—Ep. 


Murchison's Silurian System. 


Leptena depressa, 
tenuistriata, 
Littorina striatella, 
_ Lituites cornuarctis, 
Nautilus nodosus, 
Nucula (?) levis, 
Orbicula granulata, 
Orthis grandis, 
expansa, 
alternata, 
compressa, 
protensa, 


———  anomala, 


pecten, 
semecircularis, 
flabellulum, 
virgata, 

-—- radians, 
——— costata, 
——— actonee, 
——— callactis, 
—— lata, 

——— triangularis, 
——— canalis, 
——— testudinaria, 
——— bilobata, 

— vespertilio, 
Pentamerus levis, 
oblongus, 
Pleurotomaria angulata, 
‘Spirifer radiatus, 

—— plicatus, 
alatus, 
liratus, 
—— lavis, 


231 


232. Murchison’s Silurian System. 


Terebratula furcata, 
—_——— unguis, 
Terebratula neglecta, 
tripartita, 
decemplicata, 
pusilla, 

Tentaculites scalaris, 

annulatus. 

Llandeilo Flags.—The lower strata of Silurian rocks con- 
sist of flags, named by Mr. Murchison like the other forma- 
tions from the place in which. he found the strata best deve- 
loped. They consist of hard, dark-coloured flags, sometimes 
slightly micaceous, frequently calcareous, with veins of 
white crystallized carbonate of lime. These beds are, 
however, better distinguished as the repository of large Tri- 
lobites, called Asaphus Buchii, Bron. and A. tyrannus, Mur- 
chison. These flags pass under ridges equivalent to the 
Carodac, and are seen in some situations to graduate down- 
wards into the older strata of the Cambrian or primary 
rocks, the upper portion of which consists of overlying 
masses, containing a few calcareous courses, with casts of 
fossils, and at intervals thick and massive bands of prophy- 
ritic trap, as well as thinly laminated yellowish green bands 
of compact felspar, and other rocks of igneous origin. Among 
the fossils found in these beds, Mr. Murchison enumerates 
the following :-— 

Orthis anomala, 
actoniz, 
canales, 
compressa, 
flabellulum, 
lata, 
pecten, 
protensa, 
——— testudinaria, 


Murchison’s Silurian System. 233 


Bellerophon bilobatus, 
Leptena sericea. 

As these .ossils also occur in the lower Silurian rocks, no 
zoological division can yet be drawn between the lower 
Silurian and upper Cambrian groups.* 

And as great lines of disturbance generally mark the 
frontier of the two groups, the difficulty of defining their 
common boundary is much increased. On the line of demar- 
cation may occasionally be seen the various Silurian rocks, and 
the quartzose slaty sandstone passing into a coarse grit, or 
greywacke of foreign geologists; usually grey, but it is some- 
_ times brownish and other ferruginous colours, and containing 
casts of encrinites and corals, but in general void of fossils. 

The lower flags of the Silurian system (in those situations 
in Wales where the junction is not interrupted by intrusive 
trap, as on the western sides of the Grongar hills,) rest on 
black schists, which overlie the Cambrian strata. These 
schists are considered by Mr. Murchison and Professor 
Sedgewicke, as the link that connects the Silurian and Cam- 
brian systems. Mr. Murchison remarks, that the trilobites 
and fossils of those beds bear so near a resemblance to those 
described by Mr. Brongniart, from Angers in France, that 
he regards the black flags in both places as the same.+ 

Although the upper Cambrian rocks do contain fossils in 
some places, in Caermarthanshire they do not. Even in 
those places in which fossil remains have been found, it is 
not in the fine slaty beds whose structure is so well calcu- 
lated to preserve organic fossils that they occur, but in occa- 
sional courses of hard grits or sandstones, which re-appear 
at wide intervals in the schist. 

These greywacke rocks, or grey micaceous slaty sand- 
stones and compact regenerated slates, often containing 
fragments of older rocks in a quartzose cement, are gene- 


* Murchison’s Silurian System, p. 308. 
+ Silurian System, p. 358. 


234 _ Murchison's Silurian System. ° 


rally highly inclined at their junction with Silurian rocks, in- 
dicating a period of great physical changes to have elapsed 
between the time they were consolidated and the commence- 
ment of Silurian deposits. 

Trap and altered Silurian Rocks.—Great outbursts of 
trap rocks took place during and after the accumulation of 
Silurian rocks. Mr. Murchison describes tracts of Caradoc 
sandstone cut and thrown up into vertical beds in a state 
approaching to quartz rock, being much indurated, and in 
parts cellular. Where the sandstones come in contact with 
trap, it is only to be detected in the state of true quartz; in 
most instances, the traces of bedding being quite destroyed. 
Trap rocks when erupted in contact with schist, convert it into 
an indurated form, or Lydian stone; of this there are several 
instances, vide Murch. p. 320, where the schist has been origi- 
nally perhaps of bituminous character, as shale; anthracite 
is not an uncommon mineral in the altered rock. Mr. Mur- 
chison details an instructive instance of this nature, where a 
credulous farmer ruined himself by mistaking one of these 
indications of anthracite in the lower Silurian rocks for coal. 

Greenstone often contains fragments of the rocks through 
which it is projected in a state more or less altered; 
sometimes black crystals of carbonate of lime, iron py- 
rites, and little flakes of anthracite and mineral waters ; when 
these issue from contiguous springs in volcanic districts, they 
are often very different in their nature, but when issuing 
from greenstone they are generally sulphureous and saline. 

The older Silurian rocks are covered, in certain localities 
described by Mr. Murchison, with stratified sedimentary 
rocks, alternating with nodular concretionary deposits, which 
he regards as volcanic grit, proving that repeated igneous 
action took place during the period when the upper Silu- 
rian strata were accumulating. 

In some instances stratified trap rocks, consisting ot con- 
cretions of compact felspar, cortrining crystals of common 


Murchison’s Silurian System. Q35 


felspar, hornblende, and iron pyrites, with a little dissemi- 
nated lime alternate with flags, containing Asaphus Buchii, 
and other trilobites of the lowest beds of Silurian rocks. The 
beds of volcanic and sedimentary rocks are conformable, one 


_ above the other, indicating so many distinct alternations of 


volcanic and sedimentary deposit. From evidence of this 
nature, Mr. Murchison has shewn, that submarine volcanic 
eruptions were frequent during the formation of the lower 
Silurian beds, while the upper Silurian rocks and old red 
sandstone were formed during a long period of tranquillity, 
after which, these last deposits ‘were dismembered - and 
thrown up by vast outbursts of intrusive trap. Mr. Murchi- 
son is further led to the conclusion, that the carboniferous 
system was deposited im vallies after the older strata had 
been upheaved, and that subsequent dislocations, including 
some of the most violent with which we are acquainted, took 
place after the accumulation of the coal measures and 
lower new red sandstone. How far these conclusions may 
be borne out, or modified by the observations of geologists 
in other parts of the world, we are not yet prepared to say ; 
but we feel strongly impressed with their general accuracy 
in regard to geological facts in India. 

The following examples of the dislocations of Silurian 
rocks in Wales, are given by Mr. Murchison: The first is a 
complicated fault by which a mass of Aymestry limestone(c) 


has been thrown into nearly vertical position abutting against 
the edges of a mass of similar limestone, which has been thrust 
up between the highly inclined strata.and another dislocat- 


-ed mass. Each of these bands of limestone (c) is capped 


236 Murchison’s Silurian System. 


by the stratum charged with Terebratula navicula, and 
underlaid by the Pendle beds (d) of the lower Ludlow rock. 

The locality in which this fault occurs in the Silurian rocks, 
is situated between two great axes of volcanic outburst, the 
Dee Hills and the Caradoc, to which this and other similar 
dislocations in the same district may be ascribed. 

One of the effects of sudden outbursts of volcanic rocks, 
amidst consolidated strata, is to separate the latter ; if this 
be at the same time accompanied with great elevatory move- - 
ments, large masses of the disturbed strata are liable to give 
way and become detached. These Mr. Murchison calls 
outliers. It is always necessary to be able to distinguish 
outliers, since they are often associated with formations to 
which they do not belong. Their investigation also, is cal- 
culated to throw much light on the circumstances under 
which the causes which produced them took place. Three 
outliers of the Ludlow rocks are described by Mr. Murchi-. 
son; one of these, called Tinker’s Hill, rises on the south- 
west bank of the Teme. It consists chiefly of small nodules 
imbedded in sandy calcareous shale, occasionally united in- 
to flag-like beds of bluish grey earthy limestone, containing 
Terebratula Wilsoni, and other characteristic fossils of the 
lower Ludlow rocks. This outlier is two miles in length, and 
is parallel to the main direction of the Silurian deposits. 

The direction of the joints and fractures of strata is also 
an important point, on which subject the reader is referred 
to Phillip’s Geology. In some chains, Mr. Murchison re- 
marks there are long fissures, either coincident with the 
line of elevation, or nearly at right angles in the direction of 
thedip. These may frequently, Mr. M. remarks, be ascribed 
to the elevation of strata en masse; but must not be con- 
founded with the symmetrical lines by which beds of rock are 
often intersected, and which are often the greatest conveni- 
ence in quarries ; for where these straight chinks cut the 
rocks across their bedding, there is little more to be done 


Murchison’'s Silurian System. 237 


than remove the detached masses, as these fissures are un- 
attended with any displacement of strata. They are ascribed 
to one of the last changes to which the strata affected by 
them were exposed after their deposit. Crystalline forces have 
been supposed by Professor Sedgwicke to have had some 
effect in producing such fissures as these, as well as the 
slaty cleavage of rocks. Mr. Murchison, however, thinks 
that such joints in strata have been occasioned by heat, par- 
ticularly as they seem to be more frequent in the vicinity of 
fissures of eruption, and particularly in those strata that 
have been altered by the effects of heat. | 

Landslips of the Silurian Rocks.—These are referred by 
Mr. Murchison to the jointed condition of the strata, and 
their inclined position on the surface of steep ridges, toge- 
ther with the softening or decay of subjacent beds. 

Wells in Silurian Rocks.—The jointed structure of the 
strata already noticed, renders them permeable to water, 
while, faults, dykes and dislocations act as dams to it, and~ 
thus it is obliged to find some other outlet, thus also lines 
of faults are often traceable by the outburst of springs ; 
singular springs of this kind are referred to by Mr. Mur- 
chison, of which every mountainous tract may afford instan- 
ces. Mineral springs depend on similar causes, the pecu- 
liar properties of their waters being derived from the strata 
through which they permeate. 

Mining Ground of Silurian Rocks.—This is situated in 
the altered rocks, where they come within the influence of 
trap. Several veins of galena, common and steel grained, 
are worked; also carbonate of lead, both crystallized and 
stalactitic. The veins are chiefly parallel to the strike of the 
strata; but some are in the form of the letter N. Nearly all 
the veins diverge in separate strings; many of the best and 
richest ores being found in the points of intersection. The 
ordinary ores yield from six to seven ounces of silver per 
ton. Some of the veins were first worked by the Romans, 

2% 


238 Murchison's Silurian System. 


whose mining implements are found in them. In one of the 
principal veins, says Mr. Murchison, the wall is granular 
felspar, with green earth; and two contiguous bosses of 
crystalline greenstone rising up unconformably through the 
strata of sandstone and shale, cut off the productive veins. 
In this case, Mr. Murchison is of opinion, that there has not 
been a sufficient quantity of contiguous sandstone and shale to 
afford ground for the production of the ore. The altered 
rocks in which the only instances of metalliferous veins _ 
occurred to his observation throughout the Silurian rocks, 
were situated in the vicinity of intrusive trap, and that the best 
veins of galena were found in the lower Silurian rocks near 
the great outburst of trap. In the shales and sandstones con- 
nected with the altered rocks in which the veins of galena are 
situated, Mr. Murchison found Trilobites,* identical with 
those of the lowest flags of the Silurian system, together with 
many shells of the Caradoc sandstone, and thus evenin altered 
disrupted strata he was able to discover the true nature of 
the rocks in which metallic veins occur in distant situations. 
Three of the lead mines situated in lower Silurian rocks 

of Shropshire, described by Mr. Murchison, near the vil- 
lage of Shelve, afford the following produce :— 

Bog mine, ... _... 1,554 tons of lead, 

Snail batch,...  ... 1,800,ditto, , 

Grit and gravel mine, 685, ditto. 


Total, 3,539 
The present depth of the engine shaft of the Bog 
mine is 293 yards, and the lowest working level 265 yards, 
the upper working above the adit or boat level 105 yards. — 
In this district, Mr. Murchison observes, there are thirty 
veins that have been profitably worked. 
The Stiper Stones, is a barren naked ridge of quartz rock 


* In a future number we hope to give examples of these curious 
fossils from Mr. Murchison’s work.—Ep. 


- 


Murchison’s Silurian System. 239 


‘or altered sandstone, which has been thrown up like a wall 
between two mining districts, the one affording copper and 
the other lead ores. 

Agricultural character of the Silurian Rocks.—The upper 
Silurian rocks, when not covered by transported materials, 
afford a good substratum of clay and sand, owing to the 
jointed and fissured character of the strata ; the soil is dry, . 
the water having once passed through the thin covering of © 
earth enters the rocks, and is thus carried off from the land, 
which notwithstanding affords good crops of barley, oats, 
and turnips, as well as good timber. | 

On the other hand, the second division of the upper Silu- 
rian rocks, called Ludlow and Wenlock formations, being 


‘ soft and argillaceous, and subject to the drainage of water, 


are comparatively cold and unmanageable, except where 
limestone rocks afford an intermixture «f calcareous matter, 
which yields excellent crops of wheat. 

The lower Silurian rocks afford quite a different charac- 
ter. These rocks being for the most part of a sandy structure, 
disintegrate into short, not very productive soil ; but where 
the quartzose conglomerates prevail, the surface is sterile. 
The lowest portion of these rocks consisting of flags, is often, 
as might be expected from the nature of the beds, rich and 
productive, particularly in Czrmarthenshire, although where 

‘much invaded by trap rocks, as in the mining vicinities of 
Shropshire, the soil is generally poor. 

Lowest Fossiliferous Beds.—As the series of strata extend- 
ing from the old redstone down to the non-fossiliferous 
slates has been until lately regarded as a single group, 
exhibiting the remains of the earliest animals introduced 
upon the earth, we cannot appreciate too much investi- 
gations which are calculated to extend our views to periods 
so remote as those which the earliest fossiliferous strata 
refer to. Professor Jameson we believe to have been one 
of the first observers who discovered the elements of dis~ 


240 Murchison's Silurian System. 


tinct formations between the old red sandstone and non-fos- 
siliferous slates, and the two groups, which he named the 
older and newer transition rocks, would appear to refer to 
those divisions of Silurian strata the peculiarities of which 
have been so well illustrated by Mr. Murchison in the great 
work before us. In the Plinlimon, or dark and indurated 
slaty sandstone, which forms the intermediate beds between 
the Silurian rocks of Murchison and the Cambrian system of 
Professor Sedgwicke, no fossils have been found, while 
nearly all those of the ‘ Bala’ or dark limestone overlying the 
Cambrian or primary rocks, contain fossils identical with — 
those of the lower strata of the Silurian system. Perhaps 
- these beds, as well as the grauwacke of foreign geologists, 
should still be included in the same system with Silurian 
rocks. Mr. Murchison and Professor Sedgwicke, however, 
think otherwise, and while the former has given positive 
characters to Silurian rocks, the investigations of the latter, 
when fully before the public, will go far, no doubt, to cast as 
much light upon the Cambrian system, as the nature of the 
beds composing it will admit of. 


Experiments on the Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 
By Lieut. R. Barry Smitu, Bengal Engineers. 


The repeated ebb and flow of opinion among scientific 
men, as to the existence of a magnetic influence in solar 
light, gives a curious degree of interest to the history of the 
question. The discovery was originally announced in 1813, 
by Prof. Morenchini of Rome, who asserted, that by expos- 
ing steel needles in a particular manner to the violet ray 
of the solar spectrum, he had succeeded in imparting to 
them a perceptible magnetic polarity. These experiments 
were repeated in the presence, and apparently to the entire 
satisfaction of Sir Humphrey Davy, Professor Playfair, and 
certain other English philosophers, who happened, at the 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 241 


time of their announcement, to be in Rome. The subject 
was altogether a curious one, and Morenchini’s experiments 
were repeated in various quarters, and with various success. 
MM. Carpa and Ridolphi produced results similar to those 
alluded to above, but M. Berard of Montpelier, M. Hom- 
bre Firmas at Alais, and Professor Configliachi of Pavia, 
failed utterly in obtaining any evidence whatever of magne- 
tic action. The balance of credit appears to have inclined 
in favour of the latter observers, since the discovery fell into 
disrepute until in 1825 it was again prominently forced on 
the attention of scientific men by some ingenious and ap- 
parently very decisive experiments of Mrs. Somerville. She 
was at the time unacquainted with the details of Morenchini’s 
method of observing, but as it appeared to be improbable 
that the same cause acting upon a needle could give rise 
both to a northern and southern polarity, she protected one 
half of each of those employed by her from the influence of 
the sun’s rays by covering it with paper, allowing the light 
to act on the other half. Proceeding thus, she obtained the 
most marked results, of which a brief detail may here be 
given. Having covered half of a sewing needle, about an 
inch long, with paper, she exposed the other half uncovered 
to the violet ray of a spectrum thrown by an equiangular 
prism of flint glass on a pannel at five feet distance. As 
the place of the spectrum shifted by the motion of the sun, 
the needle was moved so as to keep the exposed part con- 
stantly in the violet ray, and after being thus exposed for 
two hours, the previously unmagnetic needle exhibited de- 
cided polarity, the exposed end having the properties of a 
north pole. Repeated experiments were made with needles 
of different sizes, and placed in different positions with re- 
ference to the magnetic meridian, and with results uniform- 
ly of the same kind as the preceding. Needles were then 
in turn exposed to the other rays of the prismatic spectrum, 
and it was found, that while the indigo ray was nearly as 


242 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


effective as the violet, the blue and green rays only occa- 
sionally succeeded, and the yellow, orange, and red, never 
did so, although the same needles were exposed to their 
influence for several successive days. Subsequently, ex- 
periments were tried with solar light, transmitted through 
various coloured media, and it was found, that needles half 
covered with paper, and exposed under a glass coloured 
blue by cobalt, became after three or four hours feebly mag- 
netic, and after six hours, sensibly and permanently so. Si- - 
milar results were produced with green glass, and also with 
blue and green riband. Such is an outline, although no 
more, of the experiments of Mrs. Somerville, but I regret 
exceedingly, that I have been unable to procure any detailed 
account of the various steps in her method of observing, 
since although the results appear sufficiently decisive, it 
. would have been very desirable to have had the power of 
remarking whether all sources of error had been foreseen 
and eliminated by her; especially as the method employed 
by her is one in which many such sources exist, as will 
afterwards be more particularly alluded to. 

In repeating the experiments of Mrs, Somerville, M. Baum- 
gartner of Vienna discovered that a steel wire, some parts 
of which were polished, while the rest were without lustre, 
became magnetic by exposure to the white or undecom- 
posed light of the sun, a north pole appearing at each 
polished part, a south pole at each unpolished part, and 
the effect was hastened by concentrating the light upon the 
wire by means of a lens. In this manner eight poles were 
obtained on a piece of wire eight inches long. 

The magnetic influence of solar light was exhibited in 
another form by Mr. Christie of Woolwich in 1825, he 
having found that the vibrations of a magnetized needle 
when exposed to the sun’s light, ceased in a much shorter - 
time than when it was vibrated in the shade, and this inde- 
pendently altogether of the effect of temperature. This 


Magnetic Infiuence vy Solar Light. 243 


effect, however, was not confined to needles that had been 
magnetised, since it was found to apply also to unmagne- 
tised needles, to needles of glass and copper, vibrated by 
the force of torsion, with all of these it was found the arcs 
of vibration diminished in amplitude more rapidly in the 
sun’s light than in the shade, in the following proportions ; 
the terminal excess (that is, the excess of the terminal arc 
in the shade above that in the sun, after the same number 
of vibrations commencing from the same point in each case) 
would by the first series of experiments, be for the magne- 
tised needle 13° 75’ ; for the copper needle 5° 24’ ; and for the 
glass needle 4° 71'—and by the second series of experiments, 
for the magnetised needle 114°; for the unmagnetised 
needle 7° *; for the glass needle es; and for the copper 
needle 5°. “ 'To whatever cause,” Mr. Christie remarks, ‘ we 
are to attribute the singular fact, that any needle will.come 
sooner to rest when vibrated exposed to the sun than when 
screened, the great increase of effect which is observed 
when a magnetised needle is made use of, proves, I think 
decidedly, that the compound rays possess a very decided 


magnetic influence.” 
The experiments of Mr. Christie were repeated by Mr. 


Zantedeschi of Pavia, who found that by exposing the north 
pole of a needle, a foot in length, the semi-amplitude of the 
last oscillation was 6° less than the first; while on exposing 
the south pole, the last oscillation became actually greater 
than the first, a result, it must be remarked, of the most 
extraordinary character. This observer, however, admits, that 
he frequently met with the most inexplicable anomalies in 
his experiments; and in the abstract of them which I have 
seen, they are recorded in a style of peculiar vagueness and 


indecision. 
The results now stated appear to afford a very marked 


confirmation to the idea of a magnetic power being resi- 
dent in the solar rays, and yet a series of careful and 


244, Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


well conducted experiments by MM. Moser and Riess have 
again involved the whole question in its former obscurity, 
they having failed completely in producing any change of 
magnetic intensity in steel needles exposed to the solar 
rays. The method of observation employed by them was 
to count the number of oscillations performed in a given 
time before and after the needle was submitted to the ac- 
tion of the violet rays. So decisive were their results in 
indicating the invariable intensity of the needles thus ex- 
posed, and also so completely did they fail in verifying 
the results of Baumgartner, formerly alluded to, that they 
zonsider themselves entitled to reject wholly a discovery, 
which for seventeen years has at different times disturbed 
science. “The small variations,” they observe, “ which are 
found in some of our experiments, cannot constitute a real 
action of the nature of that which was observed by MM. 
Morenchini, Baumgartner, &c. &c. &c. in so clear and 
decided a manner.” The latest authorities, as for instance 
Prof. Turner, in the last edition of his Elements of Che- 
mistry, coincide in this view of MM. Moser and Riess, so 
that at present the discovery of the magnetic influence of 
solar light is again considered more than doubtful. 

Such being the present aspect of the question of solar 
magnetism, it ardently invites to farther enquiry; and as it 
appeared to me that India offered several important advan- 
tages for the investigation of such a subject, I resolved to 
commence a series of experiments upon it, in the hope of 
obtaining some interesting or decisive results. We have 
here the command of a solar intensity both of light and 
heat, far greater than observers in temperate regions can 
avail themselves of, while the almost uninterrupted clearness 
of the weather during certain seasons, enables us to pro- 
secute our experiments from day to day with facility and 
certainty. At the same time it must be remarked, that advan- 
tages such as these, are far from being unalloyed, since all ex- 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 245 


periments requiring delicate apparatus and minute observa- 
tion are attended in this country by peculiar difficulties— 
difficulties too that increase in rapidly accelerated pro- 
portions as we recede from large towns or stations. The 
mechanical resources necessary for the construction of 
scientific apparatus are peculiarly difficult to command, and 
in. many instances, it is necessary to procure their most 
essential parts from great distances. Thus I have been 
unable to obtain a common prism from any place nearer 
than Calcutta, a distance of upwards of a thousand miles: 
from the spot where these experiments have been made, and 
similarly with other parts of the apparatus I have employ- 
ed. Still if difficulties such as these were to be allowed to 
deter us wholly from scientific research, but very little 
would be done in this country, since they meet us at every 
step—they may however be pleaded as a reason, why that 
minuteness of observation, confessedly so desirable, may 
not at all times distinguish our experiments, and will excuse 
the expedients to which we are oceasionally obliged to have 
recourse to work out our views. Another disadvantage of 
localities so remote as that where the experiments to be 
subsequently detailed, were made, is the impossibility of 
obtaining books for the purposes of consultation. Of the 
various researches on the subject of solar magnetism to 
which allusion has been made, I have been able to obtain 
only the merest abstracts of the original memoirs, and have 
consequently been compelled to follow throughout my own 
experiments, that course which appeared to me best. The 
results I have obtained, I therefore give in the fullest detail, 
so that if any sources of error exist in them, they may 
readily be detected and allowed for. The experiments will 
be divided into the three following sections :— 

Section I.—On the magnetic action of undecomposed light. 

Section II.—On the magnetic action of the rays of the 
prismatic spectrum. 


240 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


Section III.—On the magnetic action of the light, trans- 
mitted through different coloured media. 


Section I.—On the magnetic action of uudecomposed light. 

In proceeding to detail the experiments of this section, 
I would first describe the apparatus employed. The needles, 
or rather cylinders, used were of soft steel, of various lengths 
and diameters, as noted particularly in the subsequent 
tables, and having surfaces brightly polished. Each needle 
_was fitted into a brass wire stirrup made in the following 
manner : a piece.of very thin wire about two inches in length 
is bent double, a small loop is then formed by twisting 
the bent wire twice or thrice, leaving the ends about three- 
quarters of an inch long each—the wire is then placed on 
the centre of the needle, the right hand end seized by a 
piece of pincers and wrapped round the needle, and the 
same being done with the left hand end, the stirrup is com- 
plete. To the loop of the wire there were attached a few 
filaments of silk, for the purpose of suspension, the length 
of which, throughout the experiments, was 13 inches, The 
detached extremity of the suspending filament was inserted 
into the split made in a piece of straw, and on the needle 
being introduced within a large glass shade, to protect it’ 
from the wind or other disturbing causes, the straw was 
placed across the aperture in the top of the shade, and thus 
supported the needle during its oscillations. At the bottom 
of the glass shade was placed a graduated circle, over 
which the needle oscillated, and by which the oscillations 
were regulated. 

Method of observation and adjustments.—The method of 
observation employed throughout this section, was to ob- 
serve the time required to perform a certain number of 
oscillations before and after exposure to the sun’s light. 
Since the same dynamical laws are applicable to needles 
oscillating under the influence of magnetic power, as to pen- 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 247 


dulums vibrating under the influence of gravitation, and 
since in the latter case the squares of the times of perform- 
ing a given number of oscillations are inversely proportional 
to the force of gravity, it follows that in the former the cor- 
responding law obtains likewise, hence then the higher the 
intensity of the magnetic force that acts on a vibrating 
needle, the more rapid will its oscillation be, and therefore 
by comparing the times of its oscillations under different 
circumstances, any variation of intensity that it may have 
undergone, will immediately become apparent. . According- 
ly, by vibrating a needle before its exposure to the sun’s 
light, a distinct indication of its magnetic condition is obtain- 
ed, while by vibrating it after its exposure, the change consc- 
quent on this exposure becomes perceptible. There cannot 
_be a doubt of this being by far the best, and indeed I believe 
the only sure method of judging of changes of magnetic 
condition, and it is the employment of it that makes the ex- 
periments of MM. Moser and Riess so much more decisive 
than those of Mrs. Somerville or others, by whom a different 
method, to be afterwards described, was employed. During 
exposure, the needle was placed upon a table, and it ought 
to be in a direction at right angles to the magnetic meridian, 
since there is then the least possible chance of any inter- 
ference of terrestrial magnetism with the results due to the 
action of solar light. This was not done by me at first, as 
the chance of error from the source alluded to, did not occur 
to me; but in the later experiments it was invariably attend- 
ed to, and ought always to be borne in mind, since feeble 
magnetism may be imparted to a steel needle held in the di- 
rection of the magnetic meridian, especially if it approaches 
the line of magnetic dip, by the mere inductive action of 
the magnetism of the earth. While placed, therefore, in 
this proper position, the direct light of the sun concentrat- 
ed into a focus by means of a lens 1-5th of an inch in dia- 
meter and onc inch focal distance, was made to traverse 


248 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


one-half of the needle, invariably from right to left, a spe- 
cified number of times. The exposed end, for the sake 
of clearness, will always be styled the marked end, it having 
been distinguished from the other by a small black dot, this 
other end, being the unmarked one. After exposure, the 
needle was replaced in its stirrup, and allowed to take up a 
fixed and settled position, so that there might be no remains 
of torsion in the silk filaments to interfere with the freedom 
of its vibrations. It was then carefully adjusted, so as to 
coincide with the zero line of the graduated circle, its centre 
being placed exactly over the:centre of the circle ; a slen- 
der rod of straw introduced within the glass shade through 
‘the aperture at its top, and by means of this rod a slight: 
impetus was communicated to the needle, by which its 
oscillations were established. These were allowed to dimi- 
- nish until the arc had a semi-amplitude of 54°, from which, 
as from a fixed point, the counting and registering com- 
menced in every case. The time was registered every 60 
seconds by the aid of an excellent watch, although from 
this not having a stop, it was a little difficult to read off 
with the exactness required. The results in the following 
table are given as they were obtained at the time of experi- 
ment, with the exception, that whereas I then endeavoured 
to register the amplitudes of the first and last oscillations, 
I found it afterwards so difficult to attend to both these 
and the times, that I struck out the former and attended 
wholly to the latter. The temperature, as being an element 
of some importance in experiments such as the present, is 
‘given in degrees of Fahrenheit, the needle was frequently 
very warm after exposure, but invariably became perfect- 
ly cold again long before the experiments with it were 
closed. : 

I now proceed to give numerical - details, and plod the 
tabular form, as being in every respect the most convenient 
and concise. i 


Magnetic Influenct of Solar Light. 249 


Gables of Uxperiments. 


1.—Experimental Needles of soft steel, and having pean 
polished surfaces. 


TABLE I. 
Shewing the Duration of Oscillations of Needle A. before exposure. 


Salen H f S22 i - : 
%\S .| Hour of |S 3/6 5 wo) §S js 
i288" (63 |g3| F lsd] 23 [38] tomes 
a SZ\SAle | Ba las 
- A. M.|P. a A Qa res & 
Jan. In. | In. Sca. 
_ 110th} 11]... | 4,/0°05|63e] 5 762} 0. 
ESN iets Areas Be ay Seg fi 5 | 852]... |Needle not proper- 
| Bae es «| 5] 92 |...| ly adjusted.” Ob- 
4|. ‘a ne 5 | 99 |...| servation reject- 
. do. e a 5 | 96 ‘ ed. 
6 . ee ee 5 97 
7 . ee ve 5 : 98 
8| 5 af sf 5 | 97. 
9} ~ a 5 98 
10) . ae 2 5 | 99 
Sums, ...| 50 | 861 
Means, ...|_ 1 {19°15 


This Table being the first, exhibits considerably greater 
differences between the times observed than subsequent 
ones do; as greater facility in reading off was gradually 
obtained. From the circumstance previously alluded to, 
of the watch employed to register the times, by having no 
stop, single seconds may. have occasionally been lost or 
gained during the intervals of observation; an error of 
this kind would, however, compensate itself in a series of 
observations, since the probabilities are as much in favour 
of its being in one direction as the other. During the day 
on which the above and succeeding Tables of Experiments 
were made, the sun was slightly clouded, so, that both its 
light and heat were to a certain degree interfered with. 


250 | Ragsetic Influence of Solar Light, 


TABLE II. 
Shewing the Duration of Oscillations of Needle A. after exposure. 


spend of | | 
y- a 
3 


As M. P. M. 


| Remarks. 


Temp. 
No. of 
Oscill. 


No. of Exp. 
Date of 


— 
me 
oe 


SO ONTID HP Oo 


Ll 


. . 
. 
* 
. 
8 
. 
* 
. 
$ 
Sl eragaaaaaauaa 
. 
$ 


F 


TABLE III. 
Shewing the Duration of Oscillations of Needle B. before exposure. 


Hour of ts 


Remarks. 


a. [Sa 
é\s8 


Jan. In, | In. Sca. An error in count- 
20 | 314! 0 jing one vibration too 

-» | 20 | 300... {many has evidently. 
20 | 300 | ... been made here. The 

0 | 300 | ... |Observation is there- 
0 | 302 ... /fore rejected. An er- 
20} 300... jror of this kind is 


A. M.|/P. M. 


No. of Exp. 
Date of 
Ex 
Len 
Needle. 


= 
— 
i) 
g 
: 


CO TD Or OO 
: : 

. 

: 

. 

. 

. 

. 

. 


see '| ve | coe | oes | eee |. vee 301 | ... |very easily made. 
. bel eee eee . eee 300 ee 
eee . eee eee eee een 299 eee 

10 eee eee eee eee eee eee 


3016 | 
15-011 | 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 251 


I 


TABLE IV. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Needle B. after exposure. 
3). Hour of |S : ; 
Bis ..| day. |_$|°s| 2 [sa] Sa s8 
alot SBisyl gs . 9 23 ) Remarks. 
else else] & ISO| se les 
ta A. M,|P. u.| 84 Aa|& j4 as a 
Jan In. | In Sca. 
13th} 11 4 |0-05| 85°] 20 | 302 |200 |Sun_ very bright 
Prag Gea . --- | 20} 300]... | and powerful, sky 
vo | ccc] cvs [coe] cos 4 ses { BO\P- O02 | oe | Quite cloudless. 
ee | Sateen SE teee TE kee oheesenl oO 302)| cso 


20} 209° |... 


Bila Sits ee NE PR a os Ee 
RE OS Bie & | 90+ 301 |... 
ee) i “| 20} 300] ... 


on La opi Reale Peato 4: 800 1c 
ry | 204. 300:1"2,3 


SeEONAURWH 


Sums, .../200 | 3006 


Means,...| 1 | 15.03 | 


TABLE V. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Needle B. after farther exposure. 


Hour of 


ole od IS o oH a G 
ie A. MiP. M.) 3 AS IFs 
Jan. In. | In Sea. 
1/13th] ... ] 4 |0.05| 97° | 20 307 |600 
ieee sal IP eee,|lsead: des | 20 304 > ... 
BT <dee e weet e00 | 20 307 | ... 
4) .. See ae Pe Nt Pa 20 306 
br ‘ . was. Ise eon 20 BOY a3. 
6| .. ave. tops ° é 20 306 | ... 
Ui ee oad, wee tek ‘ 20 306 | .. 
| a Be ia r 20 308 | ... 
OF cee . 20 307 | . 
11 4 - oo | see | 20: |. (807 
Sums, ...'200 | 3065 


Means, ...| 1 15.352 


252. Magnetic Influence of Sclar Light. 

The needle B. was in every respect the counter-part of 
A, having been cut from the same piece of steel ; the same 
stirrup and suspending filament were employed in both 
series of experiments, and the only difference between them | 
was, that in order to ensure a greater degree of accuracy, a 
larger number of Oscillations was counted at each observa- 
tion. The latter series were made under peculiarly favour-— 
able circumstances, the weather being still and clear, and the 
sun very bright and powerful, both in light and heat. 


TABLE VI. 
Shewing the Duration of Needle C. before exposure. 
6. Hour of oa ax ; 
ale | Day. [PF s/>3 a {Ses BS ise} | 3 
elo & Be 3 Els] ~o Remarks. * 
Sigg to 3 38 Ca 4 eee a 
gif A. M.|P. au) $4 a) eo as a ; 
Jan In. | In. Sca. 
1)19th} 11 | ... |. 5 |0.04) 640) 20 re 0 
eee ‘os eee eee eee eee 20 6 4 eee 
BS] nce | ove 20 | 616 
4) ice | cae 20 | 620 
GS] we | 20 | 615 
Sums, ...... 100 | 3075 
Means, ...... 1 | 30.75 
TABLE VII. 


Shewing the Duration of Oscillations of Needle C. after exposure. 


Hour of |= . le 


a er [F\54] «heal £3 ee 
S 3m 3 FE g 33 z2 62 Remarks. 
6lA la ule. al SQ H| & [A AS i 
Zz 
Jan. In. | In. Sca. 
119th} 12 |... | 5 |0-04| s3e| 20 | 615 |.200| | 
2 eee one “** aoe eee eee 20 615 eee 
3 ‘ 20 | 615 
4 20; 615 
5 20.| 617 


Sums, .,.. |100 | 3077 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. . 253 


TABLE VIII. : 
Shewing the Duration of Oscillations of Needle C. after farther exposure. 


ry . aa a ow 3 
& a | elous of day.| =; S Pig ps 3 Sad a 
—_——l| + = ° me 
‘ss s 23 g% g 5 3 Sly e Remarks. 
s 2 | ule] az1a2| © 3 | 8° 1 6 
oft  -e z\lA |z 
‘ Jan. In In. "1 Sea. 
1 19th “4 2 5 0°04} 819 20 624 600 
2 =x oo s as oe 20 625! . 
38 a 20 | 624 
4 fe 20 628 
20 626 
Suins, soo 100 | 31:27 
Means, .....! 1 | 91-27| 


The only difference between the details of these and 
former experiments consisted -in one-half of needle C 
being covered by several folds of paper, while the other half 
was exposed to the Traverses of the focus of concentrated 
light. In order that the results obtained in the present 
branch of our enquiry may be exhibited at one view, the 
following table has been prepared. 


TABLE IX.. 


Shewing general results of Experiments on the magnetic action of undecom- 
posed Solar Light, with needles having brightly polished surfaces. 


i] 
|s$e)/s8 |s 
os 8 3 ae} a% a |" ee ey 
3 43 3 23 sag Sad Remarks, 
1 3|3 |e i 2/888 | § Bz | S22 
Zz 14 3 A Boa | 268 
‘ Jan. 4 
1842 
10th | A 4 0:05 19°45 | 19°94 | sso These observations were not 
2 12 B 4 0°05 | 15-011 15°03 | 15.322 all made on the same day, as 
3 19 Cc 5 | 0:04 30°75 30°77 | 3127 will be seen in the table of de- 
tails foreach. They are how- 
ever one in this table as if 
they had been so, for the pur- 


pose of clear comparison. 


From this.table, it is perfectly clear that no increase 
whatever of magnetic intensity had taken place in the 
needles A B and C, in consequence of their exposure to 
direct undecomposed solar light, a result in accordance with 
those of other observers, none of whom have ever succeeded 

Rr. 


254 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


in imparting magnetism under the circumstances described. 
That the differences observable in the periods of Oscillation 
before and after exposure’ are due, at least in part, to 
minute and unavoidable differences in the conditions of 
experiment for each needle, I have but little hesitation in 
affirming, but their extent and uniformity of direction for-_ 
bid their being attributed wholly to such a cause, and warrant 
a remark, which [ am not aware of having been previously 
made, namely, that brightly polished soft steel needles, after 
being exposed for a certain time to the direct light of the 
sun, and subsequently withdrawn to the shade, will vibrate in 
sensibly longer periods than before exposure. .That this 
result is not magnetic in its origin, is, I think, very clearly 
proved by the following experiments made with the express 
view of testing this point. An exceedingly slender sewing 
needle, about one inch in length, and one hundredth of an 
inch in diameter, entirely devoid of all magnetism, was sus- ~ 
pended within a glass shade by means of a single filament 
of silk, about six or seven inches in length, forming a very 
delicate and sensitive testing apparatus for magnetic polari- 
ties. To this testing needle, each of the cylinders A B and 
C was in turn approximated, but not the slightest indica- 
tion of polar action of any kind could be obtained, the 
needle being utterly indifferent to the presence of the 
cylinders. This result, both serves to verify that given by 
the different method of oscillations, and to shew that to 
whatever cause the longer periods of oscillation after expo- 
sure are to be attributed, there is no reason to believe that 
magnetism is concerned in producing them. That the 
action of the sun is capable of producing remarkable 
changes in the internal constitution of bodies, while their 
external appearance continues unaffected, has been very 
strikingly established by the experiments of M. Mitscherlich 
of Berlin, who has found, among other instances, that pris- 
matic crystals of the metal zinc are completely changed 


io 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 25 


in form, becoming octohedrous by exposure for a few minutes 
to the action of the sun, and that by the same cause, pris- 
matic crystals of nickel, without changing their external 
form, had become internally so altered as to exhibit when 
broken up, a series of octohedrons with square bases. Here, 
therefore, we have proofs of powerful internal molecular 
action consequent on exposure to the sun, and although it 
would be unwarrantable for me to conclude that such action 
had taken place in the steell needles also, the passing allusion 
I have made to M. Mitscherlich’s results, will not be. mis- 
placed, if it shews that while no changes of magnetic condition 
took place in them, it is not impossible that changes of a differ- 
ent nature may have done so, and may have produced those . 
dynamical differences to which reference has been made. 

2nd.—Experiments with steel and iron cylinders in dif- 
ferent. degrees of Oxidation. 

It being an established fact that a certain degree of 
oxidation pervading the mass, or distributed on the surface 
of steel or iron increase their susceptibility of magnetic 
influence, I was desirous of discovering whether the action 
of light could be made perceptible by using cylinders in 


this condition. The following experiments, were accordingly 
made with this view :— 


TABLE X. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Needle D. before exposure. 


ae Hour of =| es eS te 
f\° Day. gi 9.8 &, |e} 24 So 
& |o % 3 a3 g i $2.8 Remarks. 
ols 2/22 1.2 18) so lo 
sc A. Mp. M.| 9% A : 4 as & 
Jan. In. | In Sca. 
1/20th} 103| ... | 4 | 0.033 | 660] 10 | 261 0 
2 eee ee ere ene fe eee 10 259 eee 
3 eee eee oe eee eee eee 10 258 eee 
4 wee ebe eee eee . see 10 260 . 
5 eee eee ee . . 10 257 . 
Sums. 50 | 1295 
| 
| 
Means. ...' 1 25.91 


256 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


TABLE XI. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Needle D. after exposure. 
H f 
is J|'be Eel? |e heel ig ke] 
s|3k oe gs 8 38 ES |55| Remarks. - 
ae Zé =] 4 
6|A™ la. w.!e. oc] 2% Az |& 4 As e 
Zz 5 
Jan. In. | In. * Sea. 
1/20th/114 | ... | - 4 | 0.033 | 97°} 10 262 |200 
2 eee eee ere eee ere eee 10 262 eee 
3 10 262 
4 10 261 
5) . 10] 261 
Sums. ...| 50 | 1308 | - 
Means. ...| 1. {26.116 


The needle D was partially oxidated on the surface, the 
oxidation being distributed in small patches interspersed 
with brightly polished spots. It is clear from the two 
Tables, that no magnetic effect was produced upon it by 
exposure, and this result was verified by means of the test- 
ing apparatus formerly described. The experiments were. | 
however, varied in the following manner. A sewing nee- 
dle 1; inch long and of an inch in diameter was strongl{ 
magnetised by the aid of a horse-shoe magnet, which heing 
placed on its centre, was made to traverse it backwards and 
forwards for sometime, the needle being occasionally turn- 

" ed round, and care being taken to pass over each portion of 
it an equal number of times, to insure equable distribution 
of its magnetism. It ought farther always to be placed in 
the magnetie meridian, and it may be useful to mention, that 
when two common bar magnets are employed instead of the. 
horse-shoe one, to impart magnetism to a needle, their’ 
opposite poles must be placed upon its centre, and themselves 
being held inclined at an angle of about 23°, they must 
be drawn along the needle in different directions, then lifted 
perpendicularly, and carried well away from the needle, 
until they can be brought down again upon its centre, when 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 257 


they are again drawn along it, and so on, until it has become 
sufficiently magnetised. The needle above referred to, was 
found after magnetization, to have acquired a northern 
_ polarity at its point, and a southern polarity at its eye 
extremities, by which I mean, that the former pointed. to the 
north pole, the latter to the south pole of the earth. The 
polarities really acquired were therefore the converse of 
those I have stated, but custom has sanctioned the change of 
terms, and that point of a needle which turns to the north, 
is invariably called the north pole, although southern pola- _ 
rity really exists in it. Some writers insist on using the 
rigidly correct terms, and calling the common north pole of 
the magnet the south pole, but this has led to much confu- 
sion, and if any change at all is adopted, the best undoubted- 
ly would be to dispense entirely with the terms north and 
south, and to call the end of the needle that turns to the 
north pole of the earth, the marked, and the other the 
unmarked end, as is frequently done by the best authorities. 
To return, however, the magnetised needle was suspended 
by means of a single filament of silk within a glass cylinder 
open at both ends, about six inches in height, and two 
inches in diameter, so that the needle vibrated freely within 
it. This apparatus was then arranged over a slit in a table, 
through which slit the wires or cylinders to be tested were 
placed in front of the testing needle, and could be raised or 

depressed in any way that was necessary. When the needle 
- became stationary in the magnetic meridian, a mark was 
made on the glass cylinder exactly opposite the north pole, 
and another mark about 45° to the east of this; from the 
latter mark the registered oscillations commenced; and it 
remained constant throughout each series of observations. 
The method of observation employed was first to register 
the duration of a certain number of vibrations of the testing 
. needle, with the wire under experiment placed at a certain 
known distance in front of it, before exposure to the sun’s 


258 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


light, and after exposure to repeat this process, the condi- 
tions of experiment continuing unaltered. ° The heights 
of the wires were measured from the surface of the table, 
about a quarter of an inch above which was the plane of the 
needle’s vibration. -Entire oxidation of the surface of a 
wire was effected by covering it with a little acid, and allow- 
ing this to act upon it for a few days, when the desired 
result was invariably produced. ; 

To exhibit, if possible, the degree to which oxidation 
of the metal contributed to susceptibility of magnetic in- 
fluence, as indicated by the testing apparatus just described, 
three soft steel wires of the same length, and nearly, al- 
though not quite, of the same diameter, one of which 
was brightly polished on the surface, another partially, and 
a third wholly oxidated, were placed in turn before the © 
needle at the constant distance of three-quarters of an inch, 
and the duration of oscillations observed before and after 
exposure, with the results shewn in the annexed Table:— 


TABLE XII. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Wires in different 
degrees of oxidation in front, before and after exposure. 


mee |e] SER a Ee 
é Exp. d (S|aa| 3s lt ; ie 
ia e| Ee lergldli 45) lbs Jy 3: 
31% ’ 553] 32 Sehsepsed 
a|Ennleol El 2 ELE /¢ | ae] ag beets ubaiae 
i re smal. a |e]. 005 | 00 as 10| 77| 78| 80) 80| g2| 8@ 
2 2) ee Re ery we luo {10} 77] 78) 80) 80) sa} 82 
Sy) age Meee ae ber w |u| 40} 77| 78] 80| 80] 81] 82 
Ge | oe | ome | ae] we) fw foe | 00]. 78] 78] 90] 90} sa] 88 
Ws, ts Ps Pn Pad SS 10| 77| 78] 80| 80} s1| 8 
Sums, “650 | 336 | 390| 400| 400| 407.) 410 
Means. ..| 1 7.72 | 7.80 | 8.00; 8.00 | 8.14 | 8.20 


From the above results it is evident, that no increase of 
intensity had taken place during two hours’ exposure to a 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 259 


very powerful sun, the glare of light being on this occasion 
very great, and the sky perfectly cloudless. I therefore feel 
warranted in asserting, that the sun’s light cannot communi- 


- cate magnetism to steel needles having oxidated surfaces. 


There is, however, a peculiar distribution of oxidation, 
combined with polish, which existing in steel wires, has 
been considered capable of insuring their magnetization 
by solar light, and this is when oxidated and polished 


portions alternate along the length of a wire. By employing 


wires in this state, Mr. Baumgartner found, that after expo- 
sure, they exhibited a south pole at each polished, and a 
north pole at each oxidated part. In attempting to verify 
these results, MM. Moser and Reiss failed completely, and 
could produce no such effects. The point, therefore, requires 
farther investigation, and I proceed to give the results of 
my experiments upon it. 

The magnetic testing apparatus formerly described was em- 
ployed throughout, and in the first series of experiments, the 
vibrations of the needle were counted, while no wire was-in 
front, and then when the wire that had been exposed in the 
meanwhile, was placed before it. The wire was placed at a 
constant distance of one inch outside the glass cylinder. 


, TABLE XIII. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of testing Needle, without and with steel 


wire in front, before and after exposure. 


| 


| 


6 Hour of | Temp. jx -|3|3 3g 
gic Exp. a 3 ls [segs 88 
w\es 2 [ue -|8.8\ a S| a leo 8.8 \se| Remarks. 
se". I. ISOS BRE RE S3/UsSelss 
c -M([P. M.D ¢ 6|S— |3% 
Z el es OMA” IAB 
Feb. In. | In. 
1} 1/12] 1 J63e |ss° jo.05| Z{Ox. {10,76 | 72 
Bovee fre | ose | ee [one | one | 14] Pol. /10, 75 | 70 
5 
3 28 Ox. |10/ 76 | 70 
‘ 2/Pol.|10! 76 | 71 
A 
5! - 421 Ox. |10| 75 | 70 
! 45 
52/Pol./10) 76 70 
i ole 62 Ox. |10/ 76 | 70 


260 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


A glance at the two concluding columns of this Table will © 
shew a very decided magnetic effect due to the presence of 
the steel wire, to the extent of from 5 to 6 seconds of in- - 
crease of intensity in the time of performing ten oscillations. 
Accordingly, on approximating the wire to the unmagnetic 
testing needle, immediate, though certainly not very strong, 
attraction between the two was exhibited, the needle freely. 
following the wire through considerable ares, and by apply- 
ing the magnetic testing needle, it was found that each oxida- 
ted part had become a north, each polished part, a south 
pole. This distribution of the polar forces, is precisely the 
converse of that obtained by Baumgartner, but is conforma- 
ble to some of the cases observed by Moser and Reiss. In 
using the magnetic needle as a means of discovering the 
kind of magnetism that may be resident in any part of a 
magnetised body, it is only necessary to bear in mind, that 
like poles repel, unlike poles attract each other. In the 
present instance it was observed, that on approaching the 
north pole of the testing needle to the oxidated parts of the 
wire immediate repulsion was manifested, indicating the 
presence of polarity like in kind to itself, while on ap- 
proaching it to the polished parts, attraction ensued, shew- 
ing unlike, or southern polarity. | 

While these results indicate with perfect clearness the 
truly magnetic condition of ‘the steel wire, there are certain 
points now to be mentioned, which make it exceedingly 
doubtful whether this was due to the action of solar light. 
The method of observation employed was, in the first place, | 
objectionable, as it does not shew the condition of the wire 
previous to exposure, a point of most essential importance, 
since its having been left undetermined, renders it doubtful 
how much of the effect on the testing needle was really due to 
the exposure of the wire, how much to the previous state of 
the wire itself. It was further found that during exposure, 
the wire had been inadvertently placed in the magnetic 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. — 261 


meridian, and inclined in a direction approximating to that 
of magnetic dip, thus being in the. very position of all 
others most favourable for being influenced by the induc- 
tive action of the magnetism of the earth, and consequently 
for. becoming a magnet itself. ‘This is a very essential point 
to be borne in mind, and in a subsequent section of this 
paper I shall have to point out how it has in all probabi- 
lity so influenced the results obtained by Mrs. Somerville 
and others, as to make it at least doubtful whether it has 
not led them astray, by being the unrecognized cause of 
those effects attributed by them to the action of light. The 
circumstances I have just alluded to, rendered it essential 
to repeat the experiments which appeared to favour the 
idea of the magnetic action of light, and the same wire was 
re-exposed, under proper. precautions, its previous state 
being clearly determined by the observations in the last 
column of Table x11: it was however determined anew to 
' be certain against any intermediate changes. 


TABLE XIV. 


Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with steel wire in front, 
before and after exposure of the latter. 


- — 
. Hours of | Temp. |, «a (sis ald « 
Sle | Exp. —l8 sts gl& [6/6416 & 
12 | 2 gH] 5 H(SS\s|S 0/6] Remarks. 
° a] ' a) 5 Mae | 4 Ra a dt <4 ° fe 
6|O a\u.le. me IS 2 le IS neg 6i82i82 
Zz mala ZIAS\IAS 
Feb. In. | In. | 
1) 2] 10 6 © 193° |0.05| 7 |Ox. }10| 69 | 70 
to 8 
2)... |11} 1. Pol. |10} 70 | 70 
a: 26|Ox. 10|.70 | 70 
4| . 32 |Pol. |10 70 | 70 
5). , 42 |0x. 10] 70 | 71 
"cig ere eae 58. Pol. |10| 70 | 70 
ds oe 6>|Ox. 10} 70 | 71 


262 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


From this Table it accordingly appears, that no increase 
whatever took place in the intensity of the wire after far- 
ther exposure, and it may therefore with safety be inferred, 
that such exposure was not originally the cause of the mag- 
netic phenomena it displayed, but that these were due, in all 
probability, to the-influence of the magnetism of the earth 
upon it. The results in Table x11. possess considerable 
interest, however, because they prove clearly the susceptibi- 
lity of the testing apparatus to small changes of magnetic 
condition, and therefore justify us in placing considerable 
confidence in its indications, while they farther shew how 
important the interference of terrestrial magnetism with 
such experiments may be. I do not feel competent to offer 
any explanation of the causes of the peculiar distribution of 
the magnetism throughout the wire; but that the oxidated 
and polished parts are invariably in opposite states, although 
these states are not always of the same kind, is a remark 
confirmed by all the observations that as yet have been 
made on the point. The following Table exhibits the re- 
sults obtained with steel wires, in which the polished por- 
tions were roughly finished, and not ground smooth, as in 


former instances. 


TABLE XV. 
Shewing the Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with roughly polished 
and oxidated steel wire in front, before and after exposure. 


Gl. me Temp ta bee 5} 2 & |geigé 
Bisd = :$|°¢ es 
> 3 sy ——-| © | E.R a. me on ° ° Remarks. 
] S e& oO a es lat ° S £ , 5 
6A aul we SHOSRG mFiuls [gS BS 
m4 a jee | |S ja Ase 
Feb. | | | Um. Hn 
1)5th | 12| 2) 61° 79°/005 1 | Ox.} 10 | 63 | 63 
2] ee eee ooo | eve 2 |Pol.} 10 | 71 | 73 
3 oes ee | 3 |Ox.| 10 | 81 | 85 
4]. 4 |Pol.| 10 | 96 | 96 


Wires prepared as the above, do not therefore give results 
more favourable to the theory of the magnetic action of 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 263 


light than we formerly obtained. There is, however, one 
point of difference between the last Table and those shewing 
the action of the wires having smooth polished surfaces, 
somewhat anomalous in its character; and that is, that 
while in the former case, increase of height of the wire pro- 
' duces a perceptible effect in increasing the duration of the 
oscillations of the testing needle, in the latter it appears to be 
perfectly indifferent to such increase, the times continuing 
the same while the heights vary from Zth of an inch to 63th 
inches. . From Table xv. it appears, that while the height 
of the wire varied from one to four inches, the durations of 
oscillation exhibited a difference between the first and 
fourth observation, of no less than thirty-three seconds in 
the time of performing ten vibrations. 

Soft iron being more susceptible of magnetic influence 
than steel, although less capable of retaining it permanently, 
it appeared not unlikely that by employing it, the action 
of the sun’s light might become apparent, while by speedily 
submitting it to the proper test, the acquired magnetism 
would not have time to dissipate itself, and would accord- 
ingly be recognised by the testing needles. Under this 
impression, the following experiments were made, the iron 
wires having each alternate inch roughly polished, the in- 
tervening one being perfectly oxidated on the surface. 


TABLE XVI. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with soft iron wire in 
front, before and after exposure. 


él Temp. | _ lag la {2 r 
| 0 .|Hours pr Vabetne ee el ee og i 
Sige ole glee] de lad) |S ls? gis 5] Romans, 
o}3e 8 B12 3) 33 (25) 5/3 |. eee 
SIA la. {p.m lene je | 2 marl als |Boxises 
a se ie ) 6/4 AsaA® 
Feb In. | In. | 
U5th.} 11 | 1 | 59°) 83° aig ‘1 jOx.|10-| 72) 72 
2 ee ee o* oe “* - Pol. 10 75 75 
3} .. 3 |Ox. | 10 82 82 
4 ., 4 'Pol.| 10} 86} 87 
d}.. | 5 Ox.' 10; 80". Ol 


264 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


TABLE XVII. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with soft iron wires in 
front, before and after exposure. 


H : 

él enh ) Temp. sls jz | as 55, 

Riek ar g® | $] ~ 5 |s3 bs * 8] Remarks. 

Sisal. eee =e =e S S L BI di 

gp pn Pale) 8 Sg eaae | 
From.|To. In. {in 

slse “ti ‘| 59°] 2°! 0.031 1 [os rig e7 | 8 

fh steeds 1 3 os] wl 781 794 

a| — | 4|poil io} 86 | 86 

sl: — | slox.}10} 96] 87 


Whence it appears that iron wires are not more adapt- 
ed for exhibiting the magnetic action of undecomposed 
light than steel ones, and the general conclusion to which 
all the experiments detailed clearly point, is, that such 
action has no real existence, and that the effects attributed 
to it must have, been due to some interfering cause capable 
of producing changes of magnetic condition, but unrecog- 
nised, and therefore not provided against by the observers. 
Having been unable to procure even the briefest statement 
of the details of M. Baumgartner’s experiments, I cannot 
attempt to point out any sources of fallacy that may have 
vitiated their results, but of the existence of these I can 
entertain but little, if any, doubt, after the observations just 
described, which shew in the clearest manner, that when 
proper precaution were observed, the magnetic condition | 
of the steel and iron wires, under experiment, continued iden- 
tically the same before and after exposure to the sun's light. 
Camp near Saharanpore, 

15th A ene 1842. 

(To be continued.) 


265 


_ A Catalogue of the Mammalia of Assam. By H. Warkur, 


Sj 


9. 


10. 


I}. 


. Lemur tardigradus, Linn. As- | 


Assistant Surgeon, Bengal Medical Service. 


QUADRUMANA. 


. Hylobates hooloc, Harlan. As- 


samese name, Hooloc. ... Hooloce. 


. Semnopithecus entellus, F. 


Cuv. .. Hoonuman. 


. Macacus- Rhesus, Desm. As- 


samese, Lall Saunt, ... ... Rhesus Monkey. | 


. Macacus assamensis, M’Clel- 


land, ... a a Assam Monkey. 


samese, Nilagi Bhundar, ... Slow Lemur. 


CHEIROPTERA. 


. Pteropus Edwardsii, Desm. .... Edwards’ Pteropus. 
. Dysopes ———,undetermined. 


. Rhinolophus 


, undeter- 
mined. 
Vespertilio 
mined. 


, undeter- 


INSECTIVORA. 


Sorex myosurus, Pallas. Assa- 

mese, Seeka,... ... Musk Shrew. 
Talpa micrurus, Hodgson. As- 

samese, Ooloonooa. ... ... Short-tailed Mole. 


CARNIVORA. 


. Ursus labiatus, Blainv. Assa- 


mese and Bengalee, Bhalluk. Thick-lipped Bear. 


. Ursus malayanus, Raffles, ... Malay Bear. 
. Arctonyx collaris, F. Cuv. 


Assamese, Hunteree Borah, Sand Hoy. 


. Ailurus refulgens, F.Cuv. ... Panda. 


266 


18. 


19. 


20. 


2 


Catalogue of the Mammalia of Assam. 
16. Mustela kathiah, Hodg. As- 


samese name, Durrup, ... 


Lutra Nair, F. Cuv. Assamese, 
Wood, a 

Viverra sibetha, tie FP 
mese, Hagah Gendrah, 
Viverra rasse, Horsf. 


. Paradoxurus typus, F. Cuv. 


Assamese, Jymahl, 


. Herpestes Edwardsii, Desm. 


Assamese, Neool, 


. Canis primevus, Hodg. Aeiee 


mese, Kouang, 


. Canis bengalensis, Shaw, 


Canis aureus, Linn. 
Hyzna vulgaris, Desm. 


. Felis tigris, Linn. Assamese, 


Bagh,... We. 
Felis leopardus, Linn. Temm. 
Assamese, Nahar Phuttické, 
Felis macroscelis, Temm. 
Felis viverrinus, Bennet, 
Felis bengalensis, Desm. 


Felis chaus, Guld. Assamese, . 


Hoppa, 


RopenmTia. 
. Taguan Flying Squirrel. 


Pteromys petaurista, Cuv. 
Pteromys sagitta, Cuv. Assa- 
mese, Bahukek, 

Scuirus bicolor, Sparam, 
Scuirus hippurus, Isid. Geoff. 
Scuirus lokriah, Hodg. 
Scuirus lokroides, Hodg. ... 
Scuirus M’Clellandii, Horsf. ... 


17. Mustela flavigula, Boddaert, Yellow-throated Martin. 


Otter. 


Zibeth Civet-cat. 
Rasse Gennet. 


Common Paradoxure. 
Edwards’ Ichneumon. 
Wild Dog. 

Bengal Fox. . 
Jackal. 

Striped Hyzena. 
Tiger. 


Leopard. 


.. Clouded Tiger. 


Viverrine Cat, — 
Bengal Tiger Cat. 


Red-eared Cat. 4 


Arrow Flying Squirrel. 
Javan Squirrel. 


Red-bellied Squirrel. 


M’Clelland’s Squirrel. 


Catalogue of the Mammalia of Assam. 267 


40. Gerbillus indicus, Desm. .... Indian Gerbil. 
41. Mus rattus, Linn. ... ... Black Rat. 
42. Mus decumanus, Linn. ... Norway Rat. 
43. Mus musculus, Linn. ... Mouse. 

44, Hystrix cristata, Linn. Assa- 


mese, Khetelah Pohoo, _..._ Crested Porcupine. 


Lepus ruficaudatus, _Isid. 
Geoff. Assamese, Saha Pohoo, Red-tailed Hare. 


. Lepus timidus, Linn. ... Common Hare. 
. Lepus hispidus, Pearson, 


48. Rhizomys sumatrensis, Gray. 
Assamese, Samboor, .... Sumatran Bamboo Rat. 
49, Rhizomys sinensis, Gray, ... Chinese Bamboo Rat. 
EDENTATA. 
50. Manis pentadactyla, Linn. 
Assamese, Songooee, ... Pangolin. 
PACHYDERMATA, 
51. Elephas indicus, Cuv. Assa- 
mese and Bengalee, Hati, ... Indian Elephant. 
52. Sus scrofa, Linn. Assamese, 
Gavuree,_... es ... Wild Boar. 
53. Rhinoceros indicus, Cuv. As- 
samese, Gor, ... Jia ... Indian Rhinoceros. 
RuMInaNTIA. 


57. 
. Cervus Aristotelis, Cuv. Assa- 


59. 


. Moschus moschiferus, Linn. 


Assamese, Gan Pohoo, ... Musk Deer. 


. Cervus Duvaucelii, Cuv. As- 


samese, Bhelingee Pohoo, ..._ Duvaucel’s Deer. 


. Cervus porcinus, Zimm. As- 


samese, Kojela Hern, ... Hog Deer. 
Cervus pumilio, Ham. Smith, Dwarf Axis. 


mese, Khat-khowah Pohoo,... Sambur. 
Cervus muntjac, Gmel. Assa- 
mese, Hoogeree, ... .... Muntjac. 


268 Catalogue of the Mammalia of Assam. 


GO. Antelope cervicapra, Pall. ... Indian Antelope. 
Gl. Antelope ghoral, Hardw. As- 

samese, Deo Chagul, ... Ghoral Antelope. 
62. Capra hircus, Linn. Assa- 


mese, Sagolee, ie ... Goat. 
63. Bos taurus, Linn. var. Indicus. 
Assamese, Ghooroo, ... Indian Ox. 


61. Bos bubalus, Linn. Assa- 
mese and Bengalee, Mahees, Buffaloe. — 
65. Bos gaveus, Smith. Assa- 


mese, Bum;ooréa Ghooroo,... Gyal. 
66. Bos grunniens, Linn. «» Y&k. 
CETACEA. 


G7. Platanista gangeteca, Roxb. Gangetic Platanist.* 


Notice of the Ursus Isabellinus, Horsriexp. 


In the 15th volume of the Transactions of the Linnzan 
Society, is a notice of a new species of Bear by Dr. Hors- 
field, founded on a mutilated skin from Nipal. Dr. Hors- 
ficld named it Ursus Isabellinus. It does not appear that 
any further notice of the animal has been published since 
Dr. Horsfield’s paper, which was read to the Linnean Socie- 
ty, in June 1826. The following additional particulars are 
derived from a living specimen now in the hands of a jug- 
gler in the neighbourhood of Calcutta. It is said to be 
four years old, is quite tame, and has been in the posses- 
sion of its present owner three years. The man says it 
has not arrived at its full growth, and he has seen others 


* The above Catalogue is founded on 324 Specimens of Mammalia, 
collected in Assam in 1840-1. For the greater part of this collection, 
I am indcbted to the kindness of the Civil and Military Officers in As- 
sam, especially Major Jenkins, Agent to the Governor General; Ma- 
jors Simonds and Davidson; Captains Vetch, Wemyss, Bigge, and Fld; — 
Lieut. Reynolds; and Messrs. Bedford, Hudson, and Robinson. - 


Pi a a a ee 
i 


Notice of the Ursus Isabellinus. | 269 


upwards of three feet high at the shoulder in Cashmere, 
where they are numerous, and all of the same colour as 
the present animal. It is a female. 


Measurements. - Feet. Inch. 
From the tip of the nose to the root of the tail, 4 0 
Tail, including terminal hairs, .. ms sO & 


0 
43 


Head, from the tip of the nose to occiput, 1 
Ditto from ditto, to internal angle of eye, 0 
Height at shoulder, a dio 2 
Ditto at haunches, By ro 7S 
Length of ears, ... : Me el ys 
Ditto ditto, with Salad ‘hiaies 0 
Circumference of the extremity of the sities 0 7 
Ditto of the head at the occiput, a EO 
Ditto of the trunk midway between the exterior 
and posterior extremities, ... oe AS ec 


The colour is dirty yellowish white, assuming a darker 
shade with a slight tinge of red on the head, neck, limbs, and 
along the middle line of the back. A white mark is seen on 
the chest, of the form of a Y, the forked extremities of which 
pass up in front of the shoulders as high as to a point oppo- 
site the base of the ears. The hair on the upper and under- 
lips is also whiter than that on the rest of the body. The 
fur is of moderate length, being shorter than that of Ursus . 
labiatus ; but much longer than that of Ursus Malyanus. 
It is of a soft woolly texture, and more or less matted. The 
hind feet, and the anterior extremities from the thighs 
downwards, are covered with hair of a more bristly charac- 
ter. The base of the head is not surrounded with a mass 
of long hair as in Ursus labiatus. The claws, or the fore- 
feet are elongated, considerably curved, compressed, convex 
above, grooved beneath. The longest claw is three and a half 
inches in length, about three quarter inch in depth at the 
root, and about three lines im thickness. The claws on 

2N 


270 Notice of the Ursus Isabellinus. 


the hind feet are much shorter and less curved, the longest 
is one and a quarter inches. The head is conical, broad at 
the base, and quickly narrowing towards the muzzle, which 
is truncated. The forehead is nearly on a line with the 
nose, the slight elevation of the former arising in part from 
the character of the fur which is short, and smooth on the 
muzzle, and thicker and longer on the forehead. The 
under-lip is shorter than the upper, and is overhung by the 
latter, so as almost to be concealed by it when the mouth 
is shut. The eyes are small, and situated nearly midway 
between the extremity of the muzzle, and the root of the 
ears. Irides brown. The ears are large, rising three and a 
half inches above the outline of the head. There are a 
few short vibrisse on the upper and under-lips. The 
front teeth have been extracted. There are three molars 
on each side above and two below, so far as can be ascer- 
tained from an imperfect view of the interior of the mouth at 
some paces distance. The neck is short and thick, the 
body robust, the limbs short and stout. The outline of the 
back presents a considerable eminence opposite the shoul- 
ders, behind which it is nearly horizontal, with a slight 
elevation opposite the haunches. There is no mane as in 
Ursus Syriacus. There are two pectoral, and two ventral 
teats. oer H. W. 


Muscologia Intineris Assamici ; or a Description of Mosses collected 
during the Journey of the Assam Deputation, in the years 1835 and 
1836. By W. Gairritu, Esq. Assist. Surgeon, Madras Estabt. 

(Continued from page 75, vol. iii.) 
Daltonia, Hook et Tayl. Muse. Britt. 138 partim. Bri- 
del Bryol Univ. 2. 255. 
1. Daltonia marginata, Griff. 
Foliis oblongo-anceolatis marginibus fibrosis, seta apicem versus 
scabrella, capsula cum apophyse obovata inclinata. 


‘ sper 
= eR TY 
4‘ 7s 


ae 


i a ae GED 


“7 gaat Tee 


SoA ee - 


bani: 


*F 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 271 


Hab: In arboribus in Pinetis Moflong. 

Museus pusillus, elegans, Caules subsimplices apice innovantes, 
ascendentes, vix trilineates. 

Folia rafione plante magna siccatione tortilia, humore psa 
vel ascendentia, acuminata, plicato-carinata, integerrima, 
marginibus fibrosis diaphanis incrassatis, vena crassiuscula infra 
apicem evanida donata ; areole parve rotundate oblongzve. 

F. Perichetialea pauca, subquina, minima, evenia, intergra, 
Goncava vel convoluto-coneava, exteriora lanceolato, ovata, 
acuminata, marginata, interiora subrotunda, brevissime apicu- 
culata, obsolete marginata. ai 

Seta axillaris, crassiuscula, subbilinealis, rubro brunnea, apicem 
versus scabra et in apophysin brevem incrassata, ceterum 
pertotam longitudinem sublente fortiter augente minutis- 
sime scabrella. 

Vaginula subcylindracea, arcta, rubro brunnea. 

Paraphyses paucissime. Pistilla pauca longiuscule stipitata. 

' Anthere quas semel solum vidi pluris 5-7 ovate, mediocriter 
stipitate, celluloso-areolate, brunnez. 

Capsula cum apophyse sicca ovata, madida obovata vel Biceio, 
pyriformis, situ fere horizontalis, equalis, exannulata, saturate 
rubro-brunnea, sublente modice augente areolis oblongis 
quadratisve reticulata. 

Membrana interna leviter adnata, subsessilis. 

Peristomium exterius lutescenti-albidum, capsulam ipsam sub- 
zequans, humore demum arcte reflexile, e dentibus 16, subulato 
setaceis, late trabeculatis, linea longitudinale obsolete notatis, 
punctulato-opacis scabrellisque. 

Interius e ciliis totidem alternantibus paullo brevioribus, sub- 
erectis, binatim compositis, punctulato-opacis, scabrellis, basin 
versus sepe obsolete et minutissime perforatis, et ima basi 
unitis in membranam brevissimam dentium peristomii extcrio- 
ris basibus arcte coherentem. 

Columella inclusa, breviter apiculata. Sporula in acervulo viri- 
dia, immersa globosa levia, diaphana. 

Operculum conico-subulatum, rostro acuto recto, capsulam cum 
apophyse sub-zquans, brunnescenti-aureum, 


272 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


Calyptra mitreformis campanulato-conica, basi (demum) fissa, 
pilis simplicibus longis acutis pallide stramineis hyalinis 
fimbriata, obsolete (madida saltem) reticulata, basi lutescens 
rostro sanguineo brunneo vel atrato. 

Character generis in Muscol. Britt. loc. cit erroneus, preesertim 
quoad D. heteromallam, quecus species neckere cujus peris- 
tomii interioris membrana basilaris, quamvis brevis, facile de- 
monstratur. Dubitare = licet de genere Anomodon 
ejusdem libelli. 


Pievropus, GriFr. 


Seta lateralis. Per: ext: e dentibus 16. Interius e ; 


membrana alta divisa in cilia totidem alternantia 
irregularia, obsolete carinata. Calyptra dimidiata. 

Musci arbosei repentes. Folia undique imbricata, acu- 
minata, venatione varia. Flores monoici (an in omni- 
bus) Capsula in species unica ineequilateralis. 


Genus medium inter Neckeram et Leskiam, a priori 


apicem membrana basilari alta, a posteriori ciliis irre- 
gularibus obsolete carinatis distinguendum. 


. Pleuropus densus, Griff. t. xvii. 


Folis lanceolatis acuminatissimis concavis integerrimis aveniis, 
capsula ovata, operculo brevirostro curvato. 

Hab : In Pinetis Moflong. 

Cespilosus, luteo-nitens. Caules repentes, remossimi, ramis 
ascendentibus, sepe fasciculatis, apicem versus pinnatim 
dispositis. 


Folia siccatione adpressa, humore patentia dense imbricata, basi 


utrinque conspicue areolata cellulis magnis quadratis, areo- 
lis reliquis angustis. Flores monoici; masculi laterales sepius 
setze basi approximate, gemmiformes. Fol. perigonialia cor- 
dato-acuminata, integra, avena. Paraphyses nulle Anthere 
plures breviter stipitate oblongo-ovate apice coarctate (an 
semper) areolate. 


F. Pericheetialia ovato-oblonga, acuminatissima, recta avenea 


medum supra minute denticulata, bases versus laxe areolata. 


Muscoloyia Itineris Assamici. 273 


Seta lateralis, rubro-sanguinea, fere uncialis, sicca tortilis flexu- 
osaque. ; 

Vaginula oblongo-conica, paraphysibus subexpers.  Pistilla 
plura. . 

Capsula erecta, zqualis, rubro-brunnea, exannulata, exapo- 
physata. a 

Peristomium exterius humore connivens; dentes 16 primo per- 
paria coherentes, cito discreti, plano subulati, solidi, cre- 
berrime trabeculati, lined longitudinale inconspicua, rigidi, 
opaciusculi, lutescentes. 

Interius e membrana breviuscula areolata, solida, sedecies plicata, 
dentibus peristomii. Exterioris alternantibus exeuntibus in 
dentes totidem plicatocarinatos, irregulares, breves, solidos, 
obtusos, sinubus nudi vel denticulum gerentibus. 

-Columella cylindraceo-clavata, apiculata, inclusa. 

Sporula majuscula, levia, fusco brunnea, immersa opaciuscula. 

Operculum e basi conica, breviter curviatemque rostratum. 

Calyptra dimidiata levis, apice atrata. 


. Pleuropus fenestratus, Griff. t. xviii. 


_ Foliis e basi cordato lanceolata acuminissimis planis serrulatis 
mediatenus. 1 veniis, capsula cylindraceo-ovata, peristomii 
interioris membrana fenestrata pertusa, operculo longi- 
rostro. 

Hab: In arboribus Mumbree et Myrung.—Cepitosus. Caules 
repentes, ramosi, ramis ascendentibus simplicibus sepuisve 
pluries ramosis, apicibus (saltem siccitate) incurvis. Folia 
undique imbricata, ascendenti-patentia, marginibus simplici- 
bus basi subrecurvis, acumine semitorto magis serrulato, 
predita vena tenui medium paullo supra evanida. Arcole 
oblonge, angustissimz conformes. 

F. Perichetialia lanceolato-oblonga, concava, longe cuspidato- 
acuminata, acumine patenti recurvate denticulato, evenia vel 
interiora interdum obsolete 1 venia. 

Seta axillaris, rubro-nitens, vix uncialis, sicca valde tortiesu. 
Vaginula, mediocris. 


274 Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


Paraphyses plures filiformes, hyaline interdum copiosissime. 
Pistilla plura. 

Capsula erecta, zqualis, basi obsolete apophysata, annulata, 
rubro-brunnea. 

Membrana interna distincta, sessilis. 

Peristomium exterius e dentibus 16, plano-subulatis, medio- 
cribus fragilibus, rigidis linea longitudinali inconspicua no- 
tatis, trabeculis, conventibus humore, siccitate patentissimis. 

Interius e membrana areolata altiuscula, membrana speciei 
precedentis duplo longiore, sedicies plicata, punctulata, irregu- ‘ 
lariter-perforata, plicis exeuntibus in cilias setacea, fragillima, 4 
longitudine fere dentium p. exterioris, subcarinatis opacis, 
ciliolis brevibus interdum dentiformibus, persistentioribus, 
solitarus binisve intersectis. 

Sporula globosa, levia, immersa opaciuscula. 

Columella cylindracea, apiculata, inclusa operculum e basi co- 
nica longe et oblique rostratum, capsulam subequans. | 

Calyptra dimidiata, levis, cum operculo decedens. 

Cilia p. interioris fugacia, sunt, cave ne cum lis ciliola persis- 
tentiora confundas. An separandus ob membranam p. inte- 
rioris perforatam, characterem insolitum, et cilia longa 
magis evoluta. 

3. Pleuropus pterogonioides, Griff. t. xx. — 

Foliis ovatis valde concavis acuminatis integerrimis avenies, 
capsula cylindracea inclinata, peristomiorum dentibus cohe- 
rentibus. 

Hab: In arboribus in Pinetis Moflong. 

Caspitosus, aureo-nitens. Caulis repens, vage ramosus. Rami 
sepius divisi, ascendentis apicibus prasertim siccitate incurvi. 

Folia undique dense imbricata, patentia valde concava acumina- — 
ta in apiculum breviusculum interdum semitortum, avenia, 
interdum basi obsolete bistreata marginibus subrecurvis inte- 
gerrimis, Areole angustissime, basilares ime utrinque laxe 
quadrate. 

F. Perichetialia exteriora lanceolata, acuminata, interiora 
multo majora, acuminatissima, apicibus imis scabrellis dia- 
vhanis. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 275 


Seta’ unciam excedens, gracilis, apice incrassata, fusco-aurea, 
siccatate leviter tortilis. Vaginula elongata cylindracea. 

Paraphyses copiose, filiformes, hyaline. Pistilla pauca. 

Capsula cylindracea, sepius inzequalis, grisea, inconspicue areo- - 
lata. . 

Peristomium exterius-e dentibus 16, subulatis, siccitate inflexili- 
bus, humore erectiusculis albidis obtusis crebre trabeculatis, 
marginibus, diaphanis conspicuis, linea longitudinati incon- 
spicua notatis. 

Interius e membrana areolata, breviuscula, tenuissima, fragil- 
lima, cellulis componentibus facillime solubilibus albida se- 

-decies plicata, plicis exeuntibus in dentes carinatas solidos 
cum dentibus peristomii exterioris arcte coherentibus subse 
quantibus, marginibus sepia is vel repandis vel grosse 
dentatis. 

Collumella inclusa, apice truncata, valde dilatata. 

Sporula. 

Operculum calyptraque desiderata. . 

Habitus Pterogonii aurei, an affinis Necker tenui Hooker Pte- 
rogonium Schwaege ?. 


ANHYMENIUM, GRIFF. 


Seta lateralis. Peristomium duplex, exterius e dentibus 
16, (brevibus) interius e ciliis totidem alternantibus 
(maximis) carinato convolutis, basi angustatis ; mem- 
brana basilari brevissima. Capsula subequalis. Ca- 
lyptra dimidiata. : | 

Muscus Leskioideus, pusillus, dense cespitosus. Flores 

_. monoici. 

Anhymenium polycarpon, Griff. t. xvi. 

Hab: In Buddlee specie arboreé ad marginem sylve. Mum- 
bree copiose legi. 

Caules repentes, ramosissimi, ramis ascendentibus, siccis cla- 

vato-cylindraceis, ramosis, rarius simplicibus. 

Folia dense undique imbricata, siccitate adpressa, madida paten- 

tia, ovata, breviter acuminata, integerrima, percursa vena 
ultra medium paullo evanida, marginibus leviter recurvis, 


276.5 Museologia Heiner dacaniies. 
areolis subconspicuis 0 oblongis argulatis inferior adpressa 


brunneo tincta. 

Flores masculi laterates, gemmiformes, sete basi see 
ovati. 

F. Perigonialia rotundata ‘cnn avenia concava, interiora, 
‘majora, Paraphyses copiose, longitudene varie, filiformes 
vel subclavate, hyaline. Anthere oblonge, oblique, apice 
dehiscentes, areolate. : 

Pericheetialia interiora iisblicieia majora acuminibus sub- 
patulis, vena obsoleta apicem infra evanida. 

Seta lateralis e basi ramorum plerumque exserta, horum fere 
longitudene et subtri-linealis, apicem versus curvata, rubra. — 
Vaginula oblongo-cylindracea, paraphysibus liyalinis. filiformi- 

bus pluribus pistilisque paucis obsita. 

Capsula inclinata, subobliqua, ovatocylindracea, inconspicue 
areolata rufobrunnea, ore integerrimo exannulato. 

Membrana interna libera. — 

Peristomium exterius e dentibus 16, profunde intra os thecz ex- 
sertis, inflexilibus, brevibus, latis, plano-subulatis, obtusius- ‘ 
culis, crebre trabeculatis, marginatisque, linea longitudinali: 
tenui exaratis, pallide lutescentibus. 

Interius e ciliis totidem maximis dentes p. exterioris triplo ex- 
cedentibus, plicato-convolutis, ideoque dorso non carinatis, 
acutis, basi angustatis, (ambitu ideo fusiformibus) dorso (api- 
cibus exceptis) fissis foratisque, luteo-flavescentibus, punctu- 
lato opaciusculis, basi unitis in membranam brevissimam, lutes 
centem, dense areolatam, sinubus nudis. 

Sporula rotundato-angulata, in acervulo irre immersa glo- 
bosa opaciuscula. 

Columella subcylindracea, apiculata inclusa. 

Operculum conicum, obtusum, minute mammellatum. 

Calyptra dimidiata, levis, per totam fere longitudinem fissa. 


HookeriA, SMITH. 


1. Hookeria Grevilleana, Griff. 


Caule decumbente simplici vel ramoso, foliis lanceolatis acu- 
minatis acutis aveniis, capsula cylindracco-ovata nutante, 


~~ 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 277 


operculo e basi convexa recte subulato, calyptra integra 
glabra. 

Hab :' In ripis et rupibus madidis. 

Surureem et Mumbree. 

Caulis spe simplex, 1}-2 uncialis ramique (si adsunt) com- 
planati. : ; 

Folia subquad-rifariam imbricata, antica posticaque cauli sub- 
. parallela, lateralia disticha paullo obliqua, integerrima, gran- 
dia longitudine bilinealia, latitudine extrema unilincalia, mar- 
ginibus simplicibus, textura quam maxime cellulosa, areolis 
magnis fusiformi-hexagonis. 

Flores monoici ; masculi axillares, gemmiformes, cincti foliis 
perigonialibus paucis, minutis, rotundatis, avehiis, breviter 
acuminatis. Paraphyses pauce breves filiformes, hyaline. 
Anthere 2-5. : 

Folia perichetialia pauca, caulinis plures minora, lanceolata, 
acuminata, concava avenia. 

Seta axillaris, basi subgeniculata, subuncialis, crassa, rubra 
sicca etortilis. 

‘Vaginula brevis. Paraphyses pauce, hyaline, filiformes. Pis- 
tilla pauca. 

Capsula inclinata, nutans, equalis, conspiciuscule areolata, 
custaneo-rubra. Membrana interna libera, stipitata. 

Peristomii exterioris dentes humore inflexiles, basi connati, 
plano-subulati, acuminatissimi, crebre trabeculati, linea longi- 
tudinali inconspicue notati, rubri apicibus capillaceis scabrellis 
hyalinis. 

Interioris cum membrana interna facillime solubile; cilia con- 
niventia, plicato-carinata solida, apicibus ‘capillaceis punctu- 
latis scabrellisque, membrana basilaris, altiuscula pallide 
straminea, conspicue areolata ; ciliola nulla. 

Sporula minutissima, in acervulo viridia, globosa, leevia, immersa 
semi-diaphana. 4 

Columella apice truncata, inclusa operculum e basi convexa 
longe recteque subulatum, capsula sepius } aliquando demi- 
dio brevius. ! 

Calyptra mitreformis, conico-subulata, celluluso-arcolata. 


20 


278 Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


Valde affinis H. lucenti, equa presertim distinguitur foliis ma- 
joribus, lanceolatis, acuminatis, semperque ecutis et capsule 
minus ovata. 


2. Hookeria obovata, Griff. 


‘Caule acendembente ramoso, foliis densissime imbricatis spa- 
thulato-obovatis apice rotundalis obtusissimis ultra medium 
univeniis marginibus fibrosis integerrimis, floribus hermaphro- 
ditis, seta scabra, capsula horizontali itive calyo- 
tra scabra, basi fimbriata. 

Hab: Inveni specimen unicum fructiferum inter muscos alios e 
Maamloo allatos. 

Caulis vage ramosus, ramique ascendentes, apicibus latiores, 
leviter decurvati, complanatis. Folia adpresso ascendentia, 
vena unica infra apicem desinente predita, .cellulis maximis 
sub-hexagonis areolata, marginibus integerrimis e fibris fusi- 
formibus sub-biseriatis conflatis. 

Flores hermaphroditi axillares, gemmiformes. 

Folia perichetiala caulinis aliquoties minora, ovata vel lanceo- 
lata acuta vel acuminata, avenia, concava, marginibus simplicia, 
Paraphyses nulle. Anthere 2 6, fuscescentes, areolate, cy- 
lindraceo-oblonge. _Pistilla plura centralia. 

Seta semuncialis, curvata, atro-rubra, pertotam longitudinem 
(apice vaginula inclusa excepta) papillis simplicibus, denti- | 
formibus albis exasperata. 

Vaginula mediocris, atro-brunnea. 

Capsula equalis, basi solida, sub lente modice augente areolis 
quadratis hexagonisve reticulata. 

Membrana interna omnino fere libera, stipitata. 

Peristomii exterioris dentes subulati, acutissimi, peristomium 
interius paullo excedentes incurvi, utrinque trabeculati, 
centro linea longitudinati lutescentiata notati, pallide lutea, 
apicibus punctulatis, : 

Interioris cilia solida, acuminatissima ; membranam basilarem 
sedecies plicatam duplo vel paullo ultra superantia. 

Sporula viridia globosa. 

Columella inclusa, obovata. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 279 


Calyptra (perjunior tantum visa) mitreformis conico-subulata, 
papillis (setee papillis simplicibus). exasperata, basi pilis longis 
simplicibus fimbriata. 

Operculum desideratum. 

Hujus speciei perpulchre capsulam unam tantum vidi. Flores 

in exemplaribus duobus examinationi subjectis hermaphroditi, 
quamvis vaginula exemplaris setigeri, pistilla tantum gessit. 


-Hookeria pulchella, Griff. 


Caule ascendente ramoso ; foliis obovato lanceolatis mucronato- 
acutis vena ultra media marginibus fibrosis integris repandis, 
capsula nutanti obovato-pyriformi, calyptra integra, hasi 
fimbriata. Say 

Hab: In rupibus madidis sylvaticis, Surureem Mumbree et 
“Myrung. 

Caulis semuncialis, raro uncialis, interdum simplex, ramique 
complanati. 

Folia subquadrifariam imbricata, lateralia disticha, siccitati flexu- 
osa, marginibus recurvis; areolatio densuiscula cellulis sub 
6-gonis vel rotundatis. 

F. Perichetialia pauca minora, lanceolata, valde acuminata, 
recta. 

Seta axillaris, vix semuncialis, rubra, sicca tortilis. 

Vaginula brevis cylindracea, rubro-brunnea, paraphyses sub- 
nullz, pistilla perpauca. 

Capsula inclinata, nutans, vel pendula, basi solida et obsolete 
apophysata, obovata pyriformis vel obovata. 

Membrana interna adnata. 

Peristomii exterioris dentes breviusculi, acuti, crebre trabeculat, 
linea longitudinali conspicua, lutescentes, apicibus hyalinis. 
Interioris cilia acuta, dentes peristomii exterioris longitudine 
paullo superantia, solida, hyalina, membrana basilari mediocri, 

ciliolis interjectis nullis. 

Sporula minutissima, globosa, levia, in acervulo viridia, im- 
mersa hyalina. 

Operculum conico-subulatum, rostro mediocri rectiusculo, inter- 
dum perbrevi. 


280 


4. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 
Variat stratura, caulibus longicribus foliis plus minus oblongis, 
operculo brevi-rostro, et calyptra basi, villis quasi soluta. 


Hookeria secunda, Griff. 


Caule decumbenti, ramis ascendentibus, foliis oblongo-lanceola- 


tis, acutis vel breviter acuminatis argute dentatis medi- 
_atenus biveniis (lateralibus falcato-secundis, capsula cylind- 
raeco-ovata, pendula, peristomii interioris, ciliolis nullis. 

Hab: Mumbree in ripis. - 

Rami complanati sepius ut videtur simplices. Folia laxiuscule 
subquadrifariam imbricata, antica et postica adpressa, latera- 
tia disticha obliqua, marginibus simplicibus basin versus 
integris, ceterm argute dentatis preedita venis 2 sursum di- 
vergentibus medium infra vel paullo supra evanidis ; areolis 
angustis angutatis, parietibus crassis. 

Pericheetialia acuminato-cuspidata, (cuspide patula denticulata) 
per totam vaginulam inserta, avenia, interdum obsolete bi- 
striata. 

Vaginula foliis perichetialibus nuncupata ceeterum nuda. 

Seta lateralis, rubra, flexuosa, unciam paullo’excedens. 


_ Capsula equalis vel subobliqua brunnea, inconspicue areolata. 


Peristomium exterius humore connivens, e dentibus 16, plano- 
subulatis, creberrime trabeculatis, linea longitudinali semi-° 
pellucida notatis, opacis, rubris apicibus albidis. 

Interioris membrana breviuscula ; cilia acuta, solida, punctulata, 
ciliola interjecta nulla. 

Sporula non visa. 

Operculum calyptraque desiderata. 

Proxima K. falcate, Hook. Musc. Exot. t. 54. p. 17. a qua 
presertim distinguitur foliis brevite racuminatis, capsula pen- 
dula, peristomioque interiori, quod Leskioideum, 


i. Hypnum rotulatum Hedio. Hooker.— 


—Vix:' Hy. 

Hab ‘In rupibus calcareis prope speluncam Mooosmai et in 
rupibus areonosis Mumbree. 

Folia marginata lateralia obliqua sursum irregulariter et sep e 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 281 


argute denticulata, vena ultra medium evanida accessoria 
lateralibus alternis tantum adjecta, ove mebetiogrs 
vena excurrente preedita. 

Perichetialia minora avenia concava pial 

‘Seta apice incrassata. 

Capsula cylindraceo-ovata nutans aspectu cellulosa. Per. Hypni. 

Cilia peristomii interioris minute perforata; ciliola interjecta 
irregularia. 

Operculum e basi conica longe recteque subulatum capsulam 
excedens. 

Calyptra dimidiata levis. 

Huc. referri ob verba cel. Hookeri in Muse: Exot. sub Hypno 


laricino, t. 35. Vix ic am rotulatum. Brid. Bryol. 
Univ. 2. 713. 


2. Hypnum mnioides, Hook. Musc. Exot. p- 20. t. 77. ? 


Hab: In rupibus umbrosis, Churra Punjee in regione Assatheia 
alta versus. Negrogam. Fructiferam reperi in sylva Theiferam 
Gubroo Purbut. 

Verosimiliter species distincta ambigens inter H mnioide et 
spininervium, huic caule simplicii foliis angustis setaque basi- 
lari, illi foliis marginatis et carina denticulata accedens. 

Habitus quo dammodo Polytrichoideus. 

Color szpius Fuscescens folia siccatione incurva, interdum obso- 
lete tortilia. 


Description of the Plates referred to in Muscologia Iti- 
neris Assamici. 
Plate XVI.—Anhymenium polycarpon. 
Plant, portion of. 
Leaf, 
. Male flower. 
. The same leaves removed. 
. Anther. 
. Capsule. 


Operculum. 
. Calyptra. 


ONAN wD 


_ 
i=) 


ar OD 


‘ Portion of the plant. 


. Same leaves removed. (ie 


. Calyptra. 
. Capsule. 
. Portion of capsule, outer and inner peristomes and of inner 


. Tooth of outer peristome. 
. Portion of inner peristome and membrane. 


. Sporula. 


. Portion of a plant. 


. Tooth of the outer peristome. 
. Portion of inner peristome ‘and membrane. 


. Portion of the plant. 
. Perichetial ditto. 


Capsule. 
; Portion of capsule and outer and inner peristomes. 


Muscologia Itineris Assamici. 


. Inner membrane and peristome. 
. Tooth of the outer peristome. 
_ Portion of the inner peristome and inner membrane. 


Sporula. 
Plate XVII.—Pleuropus densus. 


Cauline leaf. 
Male flower. 


Anther. he? 


Capsule with its opere' um. 
Operculum removed. 


membrane. 


Plate XVIII.—Pleuropus fenestratus. 


Operculum. 


Inner membrane and peristome, ~ 


Plate XX.—Pleuropus pterogonioides. 


Cauline leaf. 


All more or less magnified. 


283 


Memorandum regarding Salmo Orientalis, or Bamean Trout. 
By Mr. GrirrFitu. — 


Plate I is a reduced figure from an original drawing 
_of Salmo Oriental, the species is described p. 585 of the se- 
cond volume of this work, as inhabiting the tributaries of 
the Oxus, on the northern declivities of Hindoo Koosh. 
There is no fact in Natural History so characteristic of the 
peculiar laws to which the distribution of species is subject, 
as the occurrence of Salmons on the northern declivities of 
the Hindoo Koosh, contrasted with the equally well establish- 
ed fact of their absence, not merely on the southern decli- 
vities of the same chain, but also throughout the rivers of 
Affganisthan and India. Considered by itself, or merely with 
regard to temperature, latitude, longitude, and elevation, it 
would be quite inexplicable; but on the other hand, when 
viewed in relation to the well-known habits of the Salmons, 
it is only what might be expected. ‘The Salmons are known 
to belong to he seas of temperate climates, and to enter 
_the mouths of -ivers during spring, and penetrating to their 
extreme tributarics, there deposit their spawn in the gravel, 
beyond the reach of various injuries to which it would be 
subject, as well as the young fry, in less remote situations. 
However suitable the Himalyan and other mountain streams 
south of the boundary just noticed might be in point of 
temperature, and other circumstances adapted to the deve- 
lopment of the young Salmon, yet the tropical seas into which 
these waters fall would be fatal to them, so that the absence 
of Salmon may be easily accounted for in all countries, the 
rivers of which have no communication with the seas of 
the temperate climates. The sea is essential to the Salmon, 
indeed it is their natural abode, as they leave it only for 
the purpose of spawning. It is evident, therefore, that the 
Salmon must ascend the Oxus from the sea of Aral, a dis- 


284 _ Salmo Orientals. 


tance of 1,200 miles, to the place where they were disco- 
vered by Mr. Griffith, at an elevation of 11,000 feet, 
nearly equal to the mean elevation of the highest chain of 
» the Alps, from Mount Blanc to Mount Rosa. 

The species although named as new, may not be s0, as 
the Salmonide are extremely. numerous, and consequently 
difficult to define; it is possible, therefore, that we may be 
mistaken. Lacepéde, Bloch, and Yarrell are the only authors 
we have been able to consult on the subject, but as specimens 
have been sent to England with the collections of Mr. 
Griffith, the question may there be decided. The figure is 
reduced to about two-thirds of the size of the original draw- _ 
ing. The form of the operculum, as represented in the 
figure, not corresponding with that of the specimen, we 
have supplied Fig 1. a correct outline of this part, Fig. 4 
represents the form of the intestine in situ. Figs. 2 and 3, 
the same as removed from the fish. 

Mr. Griffith remarks, that it takes the worm greedily, 
generally gorging the hook. In sunny days, in winter, he 
says it takes the fly freely, although the cold is exceedingly 
severe. It is found, Mr. Griffith further remarks, in the 
streams falling into the Bamean river, from the Kohi-Baba, » 
as high as 11,000 feet, but a few marches nearer the plains 
of Toorkistan at Bajgah, Mr. Griffith learned from Captain 
Hay that it attains a considerable size, and that the flesh is 
very delicately flavoured. 


~Memorandum regarding the predaceous habits of certain 
Indian Frogs, in an instance observed ee T. Wriaut, Esa. 
at Suharunpoor. 


About the end of August 1840, Mr. Wright one evening 
was seated on a terrace, outside of the house, and noticed 
one of the large yellow ram frogs of Hindostan quietly 
couched under a piece of timber close to the terrace. There 


Memorandum regarding the Indian Frogs. 285 


happened to be a quantity of chaff and grain strewed over 
the ground, which attracted a crowd of sparrows to the 
spot. The movement of the birds hopping about and peck- 
ing the grain, soon aroused the frog, which evinced its 
interest, by raising itself on the hind legs, and vibrating 
the body rapidly backwards, without breaking cover from 
under the timber. At length one of the sparrows came 
sufficiently near, when the frog in one spring of some four 
feet, threw itself most accurately on the bird, and seized it in 
an instant, taking the head, neck, and body, at once into its 
gape. - It then sprang back to its cover, and was vigorously 
engaged in swallowing the bird, when Mr. Wright, who was 
attentively watching what was going on, pushed the frog into 
a corner, where he was able to seize it, and after a deter- 
mined resistance compelled the reptile to disgorge its prey. 
The sparrow had some life remaining when drawn out. 


India Review. 


For a series of months past, we have been flattered by the re-appear- 
ance of articles from our pages in large editorial type in the India Re- 
view. Sometimes a small asterisk, and still smaller foot-note indicate 
the source from whence they were taken, but as nothing would be 
easier in quoting the India Review, than to overlook the asterisk toge- 
ther with the little ibid to which it refers, (and which would mean no- 
thing, unless several preceding articles, similarly appropriated, should 
also be quoted at the same time,) we confess it would be more satis- 
factory to see in full the titles of the works from which such extracts 
are made, inserted in italics at the end of each article. Why should an 
Editor be ashamed to acknowledge, freely and fully, the titles of the 
works from which he borrows? Where he omits to do so, or merely 
minces an obscure or imperfect acknowledgmcat, he deprives the author 
kp quoted of his right, or evinces an unwillingness to « ow it, and be- 
sides introduces an uncertainty as to authorship, which is always to be 
avoided. In the last number of the Review, there is av article on Agricul- 
ture, by Mr. Griffith, the botanist, in which the author’s name is altoge- 
~ ther omitted, and the article inserted as if it were taken*<from Mr. 


Speede’s Hand-Book of Gardening, which forms the preceding subject. - 
2 P 


We have also been accustomed to see our lithographic drawings 
reprinted in the India Review, with the title of this Journal erased 


from them, and that of Dr. Corbyn’s substituted in its place,—a prac- 
tice which surely can never be sanctioned with propriety. 


CAMPHOR. 


With regard to the letter of Mr. O’Reiley, which we have. 


inserted in the correspondence, we referred to Dr. Voigt of 
Serampore for information relative to the plant affording 
the Camphor, of which specimens both of the plant itself, 
and of the crude Camphor afforded by it, had been forwarded 
by Mr. O’Reiley. Regarding the plant, Dr. Voigt states, that 
it belongs to De Candolle’s genus Blumia, and is, as far as he 
can see, a new species ; the genus however affords, Dr. Voigt 
remarks, several species presenting camphoraceous properties. 
The sample of Camphor forwarded by Mr. O'’Reiley, as ob- 
tained from the plant in question, which appears to be very 


common on the Tenasserim Coast, we placed in the hands of 


the Laboratory Assistant in the Honorable Company's Dis- 
pensary, in order to have a portion of it refined, and also 
that the various preparations of Camphor in medical use 
might be prepared from it, which has been done accordingly, 
and the samples of the different articles obtained, have been 
submitted, through the proper channel, to the Medical 
Board. 
In refining this Camphor, there is a loss of about 25 per 
cent. of its weight. The ordinary loss in refining China 
Camphor is about 19 per cent. Taking the value of the 
latter at 4s. 8d. per lb. in its crude state, the usual 
rate being for the present year 2 rupees 8 annas per |b., 
that of the former would be 3s. 9d.; but last year the arti- 
cle was obtained for 2 rupees per lb., or 11d. per lb. less 
than its cost this year, so that the Tenasserim Camphor 


would require to be delivered at 2s. 10d. or 1 rupee 5 annas_ 


per lb., ih order to complete with the Chinese article. From 


— 


Camphor—Isinglass. 287 


the observations of Mr. O’Reiley, the plant seems to be very 
abundant, and the method of manufacture both simple and 
efficient, so that there would not appear to be any obstacle 
to the article becoming an important production. _ In its re- 
fined form, it is identical in all its properties with Chinese 
Camphor. 


Isinauass. 


Since the remarks on Isinglass detailed in the commence- 
ment of the present number were printed, a very important 
observation has been made relative to the structure of the 
air vessel of Polynemus Sélé, which will lead to the perfect 
purity of the Isinglass, and place it on a footing with the 
best Russian description of the article ; while the abundance 
in which it is afforded by this fish, cannot fail to render it 

- an object of great importance. When examining a sample of 
the article received from Mr. O’Reiley of Amherst, weighing 
-12 lbs., and which cost on the Tenasserim Coast 4 rupees, 
it was found that each piece, from which the outer and inner 
membranes are removed, consists of an outer and an inner 
structure. The outer structure consists of a thin lamina 
composed of oblique fibres, which are easily seen passing 
diagonally over the surface, and composing about ten per 
‘cent. of the whole. If the mass be divided crosswise into 
narrow sections, the transverse fibres may be perfectly se- 
parated into fine silky fibres, which consist entirely of 
pure isinglass. Mr. Scott, the Assistant, who was em- 
ployed in the examination, suggested the separate ana- 
lysis of the outer oblique fibres, when it was found that 
they consisted entirely of fibrin, and contained all the impu- 
rities for which the Bengal Isinglass had hitherto been con- 
sidered inferior. 

Comparing one of the sections from which the oblique 
fibres had been removed, (No. 5 in the annexed table,) with 
a specimen of Isinglass received from Dr. Royle, (No. 1 in the 
annexed table,) and said to be very pure, the resemblance was 


quite perfect, and it will be seen from the annexed table of 


analysis that, of the two, our own specimen is the purest, 


The analysis has since 


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289 


¢ orrespondence, 


Extract of a Letter, ois E. O’Remey, Ese. dated Amherst, 6th March, 
1842, to J. M‘Cuettanp, Assistant Surgeon, Calcutta. 


Campuor. 


The bottle herewith sent is part of a quantity of about120/bs. procured 
by evaporation from the tops of a plant growing most profusely 
throughout the jungles on this coast, (specimen in flower enclosed in 
the box.) The attention of a few Chinese was attracted to it some 
months ago, by my enquiry whether the same plant was common in 
China, and to what purpose it was applied. I was informed that the 
plant, which is an annual, was cultivated in some of the seaward pro- 
vinces of China, and that the salt procured from it formed a part of 
their Materia Medica, being considered efficacious in cases of rheumatic 
pains and other diseases requiring emollients. 

The whole of the apparatus employed in procuring the salt is simple 
in the extreme, consisting merely of a large pan into which the tops are 
put, with a sufficient quantity of water to cover them over, in which is 
placed a cylindrical casing of wood, being smallest at the top, on which 
is fitted a large shallow brass basin. A gradual heat is then applied, 
and the steam rising through the casing is condensed on the surface 
of the basin, which being constantly supplied with cold water, causes a 
crystallization of the salt ; this method is so rude, that it is impossible to 
form any correct idea as to the proportional parts of salt in a quantity 
of the plants, but judging from its very strong odour when rubbed 
between the fingers, it may be supposed to contain a very much larger 
proportion than is procured by the method just stated; should it prove 
to be of any considerable value, or at all approaching to that placed 
on it by the Chinese who made it, the yearly produce of these jungles 
would amount to a very considerable item. On this head I shall be 
most happy to hear from you. > 

IstnGLass. 

‘The box contains about 12/bs. of this article, prepared by the method 
you gave sometime ago, when specimens of the fish were forwarded; 
this lot will enable you to form a better opinion of the article than the 
former specimens. I have paid 4 Rupees for the quantity now sent, to 
induce a greater interest being taken in it by the Burmese fishermen, and 
as the article obtains a footing, as being in large request; I have no 
doubt of being able to procure it by and bye at a considerable reduc- 
tion, say at least one-third less than the price now paid. 


290 Correspondence. 


Arrow Roor. 


The bottle now sent, I made two days ago from plants of one year old, 
which are the produce of a few plants presented to me by Dr. Wallich, 
when in Calcutta some time ago. The plant appears to thrive remark- 
ably well here, and judging from the size of the bulbs, (one of which is 
now forwarded,) I should say it is not excelled by any grown in ; 
Bengal.* ' 


Extract of a Letter from T. Witxinson, Esa., Resident at Nagpore, 
To J. M’Crettanp, Ese., Secretary to the Coal Committee, Calcutta.t 


1.—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 
the 25th ultimo, and in compliance with the wishes of the Committee, 
shall furnish you such information as I have been able to collect, 
regarding the ores and minerals found within the territories of the 
Rajah of Nagpore. 

MInERALs. 

2.—In Wyragurh, about 90 miles to the south-east of the city of 
Nagpore, there are diamond mines. I formerly visited them with Mr. 
Jenkins, when he was Resident at Nagpore; the following is what he - 
has written about them: “The diamond mines of Wyragurh were 
formerly celebrated, though now they do not yield sufficient returns to 
- render them worth working. The diamonds were found in earth 
which forms small hills in the vicinity of Wyragurh. The spots are 
still distinguishable where they have been dug up. During the reign 
of the late Raghéjée Bhonsla, the mines were worked at a consider- 
able expense, but only a very few small diamonds of little value were 
found, and they are now entirely neglected.” 

3.—At Koraree, near Nagpore, there is much white marble found, 
which is capable of receiving a fine polish, it is used extensively in 
building. A specimen is forwarded. 

4.—At Seukeindan in the Larihee Hills, there is a red ochre found in 
large quantities, a great deal of which is exported. The natives use it 
in colouring their houses, and with it is dyed the clothes worn by 
Gissaons and Byragees, and also Tant Putties, it sells in Nagpore 
at 25 seers for the rupee. A specimen is forwarded. 

5.—Yellow ochre is found in the Chanda district, but in what parti- 
cular villages I have not ascertained. It is used for colouring houses, 


* The Arrow Root appears to be of very superior quality,—Ep. 
+ Presented by the Committec. 


Correspondence. 291 


by both Europeans and Natives. It sells in the city of Nagpore at 
“15 seers for the rupee. A specimen is forwarded. i 
6.—An infer description of yellow ochre is found near Kulmeshur, 
about sixteen miles to the east of the city of Nagpore, it is used for the 
same purpose as the last mentioned, and sells in the city of Nagpore at 
30 seers for the rupee. 
7.—There is a fossil alkali,* which the Natives call Reh, found in 
large quantities near Ponar, 50 miles south-west of Nagpore. It is 
used by the Dhotees for washing clothes, and I believe the Natives 
make use of it in preparing soap. 
8.—Pukan red, found at Kondallee, 30 miles to the west of the city 
of Nagpore, the English name of it I have not been able to ascertain ; it 
is used in medicine by the Natives, particularly for women after child- 
birth. I send a specimen, and shall feel obliged by your informing me 
what its name is in English. It sells for 28 seers the rupee. 
9.—Sungjura, or Sungi Jirahal, a species of steatite or soap-stone, 
used by Natives in medicine ; it is not found within the Rajah’s country, 
but I believe somewhere in the Jubbulpore territory, although the ex- 
act place I have not ascertained; I will endeavour to do so. It sells in 
the bazar at 10 seers fora rupee. A specimen is forwarded. 
10.—Tuli ‘is found in different parts of the country, but not good. 
Limestone is plentiful, but good clay for making brick is scarce. 
There is a small hill about five miles to the west of the Residency 
of basaltic columns. I am not aware of the existence of coal states, 
fusible earth, earth oil, or any other useful minerals besides those 
above-mentioned. In the event of hereafter learning that such are to 
be found, I will inform you. 
11.—Iron ore is found at many places in the Nagpore country in 
large quantities ; the following are the names of several villages at which 
it is prepared; viz. Aumgaon-oomjerrie in the Suhanghurree Per- 
gunah, Konolie in Pertaubgurh, Lahara, Bijlee, and Porara in Lanjhee, 
Puttrapite in Ambagurh, Agree in Chandpore, Mendkee and Ballapore 
in Berhampooree, Gunjumarrah in Gurh Boree, Armorie in Wyragurh, 
Naotulla in Nerus, and Govindpore and Shunkerpore in Chinioor. 
The ore is smelted in the first instance in a furnace of the shape of a 
pyramid made of mud, with charcoal of such wood as may be procur- 
able, it is afterwards removed to a smaller furnace in which charcoal 
of bamboos or teak is used, which completes its preparation for the 
market. I have procured some of the ore from Aumgaon-oomerjerrie, 
1 and send a specimen.t Steel is not manufactured from any of the ores 


* A specimen is sent. It is an earth containing asmall proportion of Carbonate of Soda,—Ep. 
+ Is sént. 


"292 Correspondence. — 
of iron found in this country. At some of the places above named, a 
superior description of iron is prepared called by the Natives Beer, 
which is used for giving a finer edge to tools. I send herewith a ~ 
specimen, and have sent for some of the ore from which it is made, 
which I will forward hereafter. 

12.—Gold dust in small quantities is procurable in Jouk Nuddee, near 
Sonakan in Chutteesgurh, in the Mahanuddee near Rajoo in Chuttees- . 

gurh, in the Sou and Deo nuddies, in Lanjhee, and in the Marroo nud- 

dee in the Amborah Pergunah. A caste, called Soujerries, gain a poor 
livelihood by collecting the sand and washing it, and then separating 
the gold from the finer particles of sand by means of quicksilver. I send 
specimens of the gold freed from the sand, and some mixed with it. 

13.—If I should hereafter make any discovery of other metals or 
minerals, I will report the same for the information of the Committee. 


aovore Residency, the 22d April, 1841. 


The following extracts of a letter from Bagdad can 
hardly fail to interest our readers,* and the information 
given regarding a country so little known, and which so few 
Europeans have ever an opportunity of visiting, must be 
thought valuable even by the most indifferent person :— 

* During my last trip up the Euphrates to Sook-el-sook and the 
ruins of two Babylonian cities near it, the fearfal curse pronounced 
upon that wicked land, was impressed most deeply upon my mind. 
The horrible desolation; the soil full of saltpetre; the flood from the 
Euphrates; and the misery and oppression everywhere exercised upon 
. the inhabitants, all speak this most strongly. The desolation has 
fallen not only upon Babylon, but upon all her provinces, which extend 
from Anna to Bussorah. Every city was built upon a high mound of 
mud, bricks, and straw, raised above the level of the low land around; 
and these mounds are the only vestige left by which we can discern 
where her rich cities were; for there is not a natural hill in all Meso- 
potamia; not a building to be seen but these mounds, which are inva- 
riably shunned by the Arab for a distance of thirty miles ; not a vestige 
of life or dry land is to be seen, the banks of the river having been 
washed away, the water has flowed over the whole face of the country 
converting (what was formerly so fertile,) into one vast dismal sheet of 
bitter water, for not a rush nor a reed will grow. So, turn which way — 


* We are indebted for it to Capt. Campbell of Madras, whose valuable contributions have 
formed so prominent a feature in our pages.—Ed. Cal. Jour. Nat. Hist, 


Correspondence. 293 


you will, nothing but a painful, chilling feeling of solitude runs through 
the shuddering breast. The weather here (Bagdad) is bitter cold, 
(28th January); a sharp frost for several days having prevailed, which 
is an extraordinary change from the heat of summer. Here, however, 
a real winter is seen. Trees and shrubs all bare, the ground covered 
with frost, and one day we had snow. We had ice lying in our court- 
yard for two days; the sun did not melt it. 

_“T will now give you an account of our trip to Anna. We reached 
the banks of that noble river, tle Euphrates, at Felugia, from thence we 
went to Hit, celebrated for its bitumen springs, of which there are seven, 
but two only are made use of, the bitumen from the rest streaming 
down the sides of the hills, where it congeals. This is the Hit of 
Scripture, and was one of the Babylonian cities destroyed. From this 
we reached Anna in three days, and returned by about morning, with 
the current at about three miles an hour. Anna is a most delightful 
place, the people are rosy-cheeked, active, and happy, compared with 
_ other places. The females are fair and pretty, and. the whole place 
seemed cheerful. Fine gardens of the olive, apple, pear, and orange ~ 
mingled with the date occur on the river side, watered by picturesque old 
ivy or moss-covered aqueducts, into which the water is raised about thirty 
feet by huge rudely made wheels of thirty-five feet diameter, turned slow- 
ly and groaningly by the force of the current into which the lower rim 
dips. A number of little pots fixed round the rim of the wheel, fill as 
they dip into the water, and are emptied into wooden troughs at the 
top. These rude, but effective machines, are found in great number all 
along the river to Hit, below which there being no stone or lime (to 
build the aqueducts or dams), the water is drawn by cattle, the same as in 
India. At Anna I visited aspot pointed out as where Imaum Alli, cou- 
sin of Mahomed, stamped in anger, and indented the rock with his foot. 
There is certainly a mark, but it required much imagination to sup- 
pose it like a foot-print.. (This must be something like the cavities 
left in the granite rocks of South India by the decay of nests of embed- 
ded hornblende, by which every desirable locality is provided with a 
print of Ramaswamy’s foot, or of the Bull Nundy’s). At Anna also I 
visited with much more interest, the graves of four of the unfortunate 
crew of the Tigris, whose bodies were recovered and interred. Below 
Anna, we visited all the ancient Mabomedan ruins on the banks ; now 
with all their signs of grandeur forgotten and almost unknown. To 
enumerate every one, would be useless.. Between Anna and Hit, are 
Tiblis, Hadaisa, Aboose, and Jubuh, which were flourishing Christian 
Bishopricks in the time, ofthe Armenian church, now all in ruins and 
2a 


- 


294 Correspondence. 

desolation. The Arabs of the Desert being the only people met with, 
no man is safe who cannot carry sufficient force to intimidate those 
he meets, and prevent their plundering him. The wharfs, numerous 
corn mills, stone embankments at the bunds of the river to receive the 
rush of the current, the ruins of numberless aqueducts and lofty mina- 
rets, ate the only signs of the past, now to be seen. Below. Hit, 
the nature of the country alters very much from a hilly and rocky 
country, the stream now enters an open level country, the bank being 
low and formed of mould, (the alluvium of the Delta of the Euphrates 
here doubtless commences), and the course becomes very .tortuous 
and winding; the rapid action of the stream on the banks causes 
frequent changes, by which whole towns are sometimes swept. entirely 
away. Here the country takes an active and cheerful appearance, the 
natives being seen busy on the side of the river irrigating their corn 
fields by cattle and leather buckets, singing and responding to each 
other, and a stranger would little think, while he listens to their jokes 
ind merriment, that he was passing a tribe of the greatest thieves and 
rascals, who for two buttons would not scruple to commit robbery 
ind murder, and return to their buckets again with greatest sang froid 
maginable ; to us, however, they were civil enough, for they feared the 
strength of the party. 

“ Here we had an opportunity of witnessing a most pleasing sight. 
One evening it being quite calm, we exchanged compliments with the 
chief of the tribe; he expressed sincere friendship for the English, and 
as we left, his Moollah asked us to decide a dispute about a feast which 
was to commence that night or the next, but they had forgotten which. 
Having just come from Hit, they thought we could tell them, as they 
had no communication. On assuring them that the feast began that 
night, the Seik immediately ordered the signal to be made, on which a 
dozen balls of fire rose on the points of the long spears, and the men 
mounting galloped about, causing a most extraordinary appearance, for 
in a short time the country round, as far as the eye could see, appeared 
covered with little stars flitting about in all directions. The rest of the 
people commenced singing and dancing, and the watermen on the 
banks of the river passed rapidly the news down to each other, so that 

ve found that the fare had reached Hillah the same night, a distance 
of 150 miles. 

“ From Hillah, the supposed ruins of the tower of Babel are situated 
seven miles distance in a S. W. direction. These remains are most 
admirably represented and correctly described in ‘ Keith on Prophecy.’ 
The mound is now 140 feet in height, and is without question, square 


Correspondence. 295 


-and solid, so that it cannot have been a palace, nor a fort, nor a store- 

house, as some imagine. It is formed of bricks cemented with a kind of 
slime peculiar to the ‘ Birs,’ as it is called; but what it is I could 
not exactly make out, but it did not seem to be bitumen. Huge masses 
of brick lay scattered one upon another, as from the explosion of 
a vast mine. Every mass, even of ten feet in diameter, is vitrified to 
the very centre, though the form of the bricks can still be distinctly 
seen, shewing the effects of a degree of heat far beyond the power of 
man to produce, and pointing out in the most striking manner, the effect 
of that’ Almighty power, which has effected the destruction. Having 
taken a hasty view of the city of Hillah, which is entirely built of the 
bricks from the tower of Babel, we started for the ruins of Babylon, 
which extend for some distance up the river. These are mounds or 
heaps, the first of which is called the palace of marble, from which the 
beautiful slabs of marble are taken and broken up for cement. Near 
this, the natives pointed out a large oven or furnace, partially fused 
like a brick kiln. This they say is the furnace into which Daniel 
was cast. It is too close to the palace to be a brick kiln, and can only 
have been intended for the purpose of punishment. 

“ A little to the north of the large hall of the palace, stands the only 
willow tree to be found any where in the country. It grows among the 
ruins, raised fifty feet at least above the level of the good soil, down 
to which its roots must reach, to obtain nourishment; for all these. - 
heaps of ruins are saturated with saltpetre. A little further on, is a 
figure of a lion standing upon a prostrate man, cut in stone, four feet — 
high by eight feet long. Not a vestige of the city walls is to be seen, 
so completely have they been destroyed; but the ground for twenty 
miles round is strewed with bricks and pots. Not a blade of grass grows 
here, nor does man seek the desolate waste; save a few who live by sel- 
ling bricks and antiques ; beyond these heaps is a castle in which I hope 
to make some discoveries, but of that hereafter. To the north is the 
plain of Dura, where the golden image was set up.” 


Extract of a Letter from Dr. Boase, late Secretary to the Royal Geological 
Society of Cornwall. Presented by Captain Campbell of Madras. 


The following may be interesting to those who have had an opportu- 
nity of perusing Dr. Bcv:se’s excellent work on Primary Geology, and I 
think that there are few who have studied that work, and have’ had 
opportunities of comparing his perspicuous and admirably correct” 
descriptions with the phenomena of nature, who will not regret to 
learn, that the author is no longer engaged in scientific pursuits, but 


296 Correspondence. 

has been obliged to devote his time to commercial affairs. I may 
be allowed to record my regret on learning this, for I had looked 
forward to the publication of a revised and improved edition of a work, 
which is beyond doubt the most useful of any with which I am ac- 
quainted. . 

It is gratifying to learn, however, that although the opinions regard - 
ing Geological phenomena, which Dr. Boase has assumed from his own. 
observations are totally at variance with the opinions generally re- . 
ceived, and the current theories, and if proved by future research to be 
correct, will tend to overturn all existing systems, yet his labours have 
‘been well appreciated by the Geological Society, who have paid him the 
flattering compliment of electing him 9 member of their Council; a 
compliment the more gratifying, as. it was ney unexpected on 
Dr. Boase’s part. 

It is singular, that the information of the discoveries by Sedgwicke 
and Murchison should have reached us just about the time of the dis- 
coveries by Messrs. Kaye and Cunliffe at Sydrapettah, for from my 

“knowledge of the Geology of the country lying to the west of this 
locality, I consider it most probable, that like the Dartmoor formation, 
the fossiliferous beds are superposed immediately from the granitic. 

Dr. Boase remarks, “ You will have learnt by the reports of the Geolo- 
gical Society, that Sedgwicke and Murchison have traced the fossiliferous 
strata to the immediate vicinity of the granite of Dartmoor; they as- 
sert even to the very contact therewith, and traversed by granite veins. 
I should have liked to investigate this point, but had no opportunity 
before leaving the West of England. That the strata with organic 
remains may approach very near to, and even overlap the granite, is 
well known ; and it would not be easy to trace the line of demarcation 
between them and the primary slates, should any here intervene, 
because the one being formed of the detritus of the o‘her, and being 
of so old a formation, would be perfectly consolidated, and exhibit the 
same lines of structure. Now, if true granite veins, that is, elongations 
of the same mass of granite intersect the strata, and pass into or 
shew a similar mineral composition, then it is evident that the 
strata adjacent to the granite are primary according to my views, that 
is, contemporaneous with the granite.” 

Dr. Boase considers the crystalline schists and argillaceous slate 
not to be of sedimentary origin, but to be mechanical modifications of 
primary rocks, and that they are not stratified. An opinion which | 
consider to be corroborated by my own observation, and which I had 
entertained and explained to a friend at Hoonsoor, long before I met 


Correspondence. : 297 


with Dr. Boase’s work. “If my theory be correct, then the strata so 
traversed by granite veins are not fossiliferous, but will be found at 
some point to be distinct.” Dr. Boase denies the generally received fact, 
of the supposed graduation of fossiliferous formations into the prima- 
ry schists. If, on the-other hand, it be substantiated that the very 
same beds with organic remains reach the granite, and at the parts 
adjoining are metamorphised Hi the action of heat, then I am in . 
ef 
ir. Boase doubts. the correctness of the assertion, that rocks are 
As eteacarti by the action of heat when in contact with what are 
called “igneous rocks,” and he remarks, (Primary Geology, page 306,) 
“ Admitting these changes to have been produced by the action of in- 
‘tensely heated trap rocks, how comes it to pass that a like cause 
“thas not produced a corresponding effect ; how is it if these rocks have 
“been intruded among. ‘the strata in a state of ignition, that they have 
“ not equally altered the same rock throughout their entire course f 
I have alluded in several parts of my book, more particularly in the 
~ last chapter, but more explicitly in the Annals of Philosophy, to a way 
im -which the generally received theory and mine may be recon- 
~ eiled. - Suppose my general views to prove erroneous, as in the above 
instance, then I must admit that primary crystalline schists are only 
secondary strata, changed by the action of heat; but in so doing I 
contend, that granite itself is in the same predicament ; that-is, that the 
whole of the primary rocks have then resulted by the action of fire on 
fossiliferous strata. It may come to this, but in the mean time, the 
facts are not sufficient to justify “ our jumping at such a conclusion.” 
Upon the investigation of the points on which Dr. Boase remarks, I 
do not find that we have any published information as yet from the 
examination of the vast primary formations of South India. The only 
notice I am able to find, is a remark by Dr. Malcolmson, (Journal of the 
Asiatic Society of Bengal, No. 50,) where he remarks, that between 
Hydrabad and Nagpore at the Meeklegandy Ghaut “limestone con- 
‘taining shells was observed lying upon granite of a reddish colour ;” 
but the observation is very imperfect, as it does not appear whether 
the rock was part of an extensive granitic formation, or only a 
portion of one of the granitic beds occurring in what I have termed the 
“schistose series ;” neither does it appear, thn! Dr. Malcolmson endea- 
-- voured to observe, whether the fossiliferous b. was traversed by veins 
from the granite, or whether it was metamorphised in any way, or 
changed in appearance or mode of aggregation, by association with the 
bed of granite. 


298 


4 


PAiscellancous. 

On the Principles of Electro-Magnetical Machines, by Professor Jacost, 

of St. Petersburgh.* 

“T have the honour to present to the British Association an historical 
sketch of the laws which regulate the action of Electro-Magnetic 
Machines, laws which will enable us to determine in a precise manner 
the important question, of the application of this remarkable force 
as a moving power. Since the commencement of my labours, which 
had partly a purely practical tendency, I proposed to myself to fill 
up as much as possible the blank which still remained in our knowledge 
of electro-magnetism. With the assistance of M. Lenz, I prosecuted 
the labours, which were the more arduous as they had but few 
precedents in the direction which I considered it necessary to follow, . 
and we began to examine carefully the laws of electro-magnets. The 
report, which contains the results of our researches, was readin June 
1838, before the Academy of Sciences, at St. Petersburgh, I take the 
liberty of repeating here very briefly, the contents of this first report. 
The problem which we sought to determine may be stated as follows: 
If a nucleus of malleable iron and a voltaic battery of a certain 
surface is given, into what number of elements should this surface. 
be divided? what should be the thickness of the wire of the helix which 
surrounds the nucleus? and, lastly, what number of turns should ~ 
this helix have, in order to produce the greatest amount of magnetism? _ 
I will not dilate here upon the manner in which we have proceeded, or 
upon the degree of certainty which belongs to the laws established 
according to our observations. I take the liberty of appending to this 
statement the report in question, and will proceed to explain the parti- 
cular laws: Ist. The amount of magnetism engendered in malleable 
iron by galvanic currents, is in proportion to the force of those currents. 
2udly. The thickness of the wire twisted into a helix, and surroundin, 
a rod of iron, is absolutely of no consequence, provided that the helix 
have the same number of turns, and the current be of the same force. 
This law extends also to the case in which ribbons of copper are 
employed instead of wire. Nevertheless I must notice, that in order t 
obtain a current of equal force, it is necessary to employ a voltaic appa- 
ratus of greater force, if small wires which offer a greater resistance are 


* These observations are referred to, by Dr. Taylor the translator of the accc 
of an electro-magnetic engine reprinted in our last number, vide, p. 119. 


Miscellaneous. 299 


employed. Srdly. If the current remain the same, the influence which 
the diameter of the helix exercises may be neglected in the majority 
of practical cases. 4thly. The total action of the electro-magnetic helix 
upon the rod of iron, is equal to the sum of the effects produced by 
each coil separately. Adopting these laws, and submitting them to 
calculation according to the formula of M. Ohm, the importance of 
which formula was but lately begun to be appreciated by some British 
philosophers, we have established the formula which contains all the 
particular conditions required to obtain the maximum amount of mag- 
netism, which may be expressed in the following extremely simple man- 
ner; viz. the maximum of magnetism is always obtained when the total resist- 
ance of the conducting wire, which forms the helix, is equal to the total resist- 
ance of the pile. On referring to the remarkable law of the definite 
action of the galvanic current, established by Mr. Faraday, it is found 
that the magnetism of malleable iron divided by the consumption 
of zinc,—a quantity which we have called economic effect, is with 
reference to the maximum of this magnetism, a constant, or an ex- 
pression into which neither the thickness of the wire nor the number of 
the elements into which the total given surface of the battery is divided 
enters, but only the total thickness of the envelope. 
. “Having finished these first researches, and having obtained these re- 
sults, which were highly satisfactory, not only for their simplicity, but 
also for their practical value, we set about extending our inquiries to 
iron rods of different dimensions. Is there, it may be asked, any speci- 
fic effect produced by the length or thickness of the nucleus? or does the 
degree of magnetism solely depend upon the construction of the helix, 
and the force of the current? The solution of this new problem presents 
‘a greater difficulty than the problem which we had succeeded in com- 
pletely solving. Now, we are obliged to take iron rods of different 
dimensions, and, consequently, in all probability of different qualities. 
Similar conditions with reference to the action of the electro-magnetic 
helices are likewise difficult to obtain; and we soon perceived that these 
circumstances rendered it impossible to attain so close an accordance, 
as that which we had obtained in our former observations. Although 
these experiments were made two years ago, the results have not yet 
been published, because, being occupied with other labours, we have not 
been able to find the necessary time for their reduction and arra 1gement, 
and for the requisite calculations. Nevertheless I take the l-berty of 
presenting to the Section some results, which are not devoid of interest, 
and which are intimately connected with the question of electro-magne 
tic machines. We submitted nine cylinders of malleable iron, each eight 


300 Miscellaneous. 


inches in length, and of different diameters, from three inches down to 
one-third of an inch, to the action of a voltaic current of the same force 
in each case, and we obtained the amount of magnetic force etme 
in the following table. :— 


— nor dys 3 | Magnetism observed. Magnetism calculated. 
3 447 a 442. 
24 378 . 376 — 
2 308 310 
1} 246 244 
1 O78...) 220, as 
2 158 156 
+ 142 (135 
$ 112 113 
2 87 91, 


“This calculation has been made. according to the formula m = 131.75 
d+46.75, in which the constants have been obtained by the method of 
the least squares. The differences between calculation and observation, 
are not so large that they cannot be attributed to the inevitable errors of 
observation, and to circumstances inherent in the qualities of iron, &c. 
A similar agreement is found between other observations, which we 
shall describe in the report itself. I think, therefore, we may admit the 
following law, namely, that the amount of magnetism received by different 
iron rods of the same length, and submitted to the influence of a current of the 
same force, is proportional to the diameter of the rods. 1 must remark, that 
the constant which we have added in the formula depends upon the — 
magnetic influence which the helix exercises, independently of the 
nucleus of iron which it incloses. The practical consequences which 
may be deduced from this remarkable law are of considerable importance. 
Among these, however, I will at present mention only the following. 
Having found that the amount of magnetism is proportional to the sur- 
face of the malleable iron, and taking into account the quantity of iron 
employed in the electro-magnets, it is ascertained that it is more advan- — 
tageous to employ in the construction of electro-magnetic machines, 
rods of small instead of large dimensions; or rather hollow iron, in 


accordance with my own experiments of 1837, which are found in — . 


‘ Taylor's Scientific Memoirs,’ vol. ii. &c. I cannot pass over in silence — ‘ 
the experiments-of Prof. Barlow, who, as is well known, proved a long 
iron,depends only upon the surfaces, andis almostindependent ofthethick- 


Miscellaneous. - 301 


ness. In order to ascertain the law of electro-magnets of different lengths, 
M. Lenz andI undertook numerous and laborious observations, which were 
extended even to rods of thirteen feet in length, and keeping in view at the 
same time the determination of the particular distribution of magnetism 
in the rods. .Among these observations I shall only refer to such as seem 
most applicable to electro-magnetic machines, and which have yielded re- 
sults as simple as unexpected. The following table contains-the results 
‘of some observations made with rods of the same diameter, but of dif- 
ferent lengths, covered with electro-magnetic helices, and influenced by 
a current of. the same force. M being the magnetism of the extremities, 
and n the number of the coils of the helix, we have x = 2, a formula , 
according to which we may calculate the numbers contained in the 
‘third column. The numbers in the fourth column are deduced from a 
series of other observations, made. with the same helix of 960 turns, 
which did not cover the whole length of the rods, but were collected at 
_ the extremities only, where they occupied a space of about two inches in 
length. The helices being the same in all the observations, it was only 
necessary to divide the magnetism of the extremities by 960, in order 
to find the numbers of this column. 


' Table of ewer upon the Magnetic Rien of Rods of different lengths. 


Mean Value ot 

Mean Value of One | One Coil, if the 

Length of Number of-| Coil, if the Helix | Helix o--upies 

the rods. | Coils. occupies the whole | only the ex- 
length. tremities. 
3! 946 7,334 7,560 
PS. 2d 789 6,993 7,264 
2 | 684 7,402 6,871 
1.5 474 7,880 7,491 
] ; 315 7,847 7,573 
0.5 163 7,766 7,691 
7,537 7, 408 


“From these cue it will be scen that the influence of one coil of 
the helix is nearly the same for all the rods, and that their lenyth does 
not exercise any specific influence. It is only in proportion to the 
number of the turns or revolutions, and to the force of the current, that 

_ the rods can acquire a greater or less amount of magnetism. The small 
rods even appear to have a slight advantage over large rods, since it has 
been found by experiments that the actual furce of rods of three feet, 
bears to that of rods of half a foot the ratio of seventy-three to seventy - 
seven. It is also found, that there is a gain of seventy-five to seventy- 


four when the whole length of the rods is covered, instead of simply 
‘2R 


‘302 Miscellaneous. 


collecting the same number of coils around the extremities. The dif- 
ferences between the observations and the simple laws are, as will 
be judged, quite inconsiderable for practical purposes, and will, in time, 
I hope, entirely disappear by a complete integration embracing the 
whole length of the rods, and founded upon the effect of an elementary 
part of the current. I will now hasten on to the immediate object 
of my present address. In March 1839, M. Lenz and I presented to the 
Academy of of Sciences at St. Petersburgh, a report, which I shall present 
to the Association. It contains the result of the experiments by which 
we have been enabled to establish the remarkable law, that the attraction 
of the electro-magnets is proportional to the square of the force of the galvanic 
current, to the influence of which the rods of iron are submitted. This law is 
of the highest practical importance, as it serves for the basis of the 
whole theory of electro-magnetic machines. 

“ Before proceeding, I may be permitted to make some remarks con- 
cerning an instrument which J laid before the Academy of Sciences, in 
the commencement of this year. It is destined to regulate the galvanic 
current, and is of value in many investigations of this kind. During my 
sojourn in London, Prof. Wheatstone has shown me an instrument, 
founded on exactly the same principles as mine, and with very incon- 
siderable modifications and differences. Now, it is quite impossible that 
he should have had the least notice of my instrument ; but as it is pro- 
bable that its use may be greatly extended, I must add, that while [ 
have only used this instrument for regulating the force of the currents, 
he has founded upon it a new method of measuring these currents, and 
of determining the different elements or constants, which enter into the 
analytical expressions, and on which depends the action of any galvanic 
combination. It is principally to the measure of the electro-motive force, 
by those means, that Mr. Wheatstone has directed his attention; and 
he has shown me, in his unpublished papers, very valuable results which 
he has obtained by this method. 

“ While these purely theoretical researches were in progress, I did not 
fail myself to enter directly upon the question of the practical application 
ofelectro-magnetism. Unfortunately, I cannot here give the details either 
of the experiments which I have made upon a very large scale, or of 
the machines and apparatus of various kinds which I have constructed. 
The necessity of multiplying the facts or tangible results—a necessity 
the more urgent, because the practical applications of this force in- 
creased so very rapidly —this necessity,-1 say, has not allowed me time 
or leisure to digest and arrange them. I can only here express my 
readiness to afford any explanation of the details which may be desir- 


Miscellaneous. . 303 


ed. I will, however, particularly notice the satisfactory results-of the 
experiments made last year with a boat of twenty-eight feet in length 
and seven and a half feet in width, drawing 2} feet of water, and carry- 
ing fourteen individuals, which was propelled upon the Neva at the 
rate of about three English miles in the hour. The machine, which 
occupied very little space, was set in motion by a battery of sixty-four 
pairs of platina plates, each having thirty-six square inches of surface, 
and charged, according, to the plan of Mr. Grove, with nitric and diluted 
sulphuric acid. Although these results may perhaps not satisfy the 
exaggerated expectations of some persons, it is to be remembered, that 
in the first year, namely, in 1838, this boat being put in motion by the 
same machine, and employing 320 pairs of plates, each of thirty-six 
square inches, and charged with sulphate of copper, only half this velo- 
city was obtained. This enormous battery occupied considerable space, 
and the manipulation and the management of it was very troublesome. 
The judicious changes made in the distribution of the rods, in the con- 
struction of the commutator, and lastly, in the principles of the vol- 
taic battery, have led to the successful result of the following year, 1839. 
We have gone thus on the Neva more than once, and during the whole 
day, partly with and partly against the stream, with a party of twelve 
or fourteen persons, and with a velocity not much less than that of the 
first invented steam-boat. I believe that more cannot be expected from 
a mechanical force, whose existence has only been known since 1834, 
when I made the first experiment at Konigsberg, in Prussia, and only 
succeeded in lifting a weight of about twenty ounces, by even this 
electro-magnetic power. 
“T must, on the present occasion, confess frankly and without reserve, 
that hitherto the construction of electro-magnetic machines has been 
regulated in a great measure by mere trials ; that even the machines con- 
structed according to the indisputable laws established with regard to 
_ the statical effects of electro-magnets, have been found inefficient, as soon 
as we came to deal with motion. Being always accustomed to proceed 
in a legitimate manner, and feeling great regret at the-irregular at- 
tempts which were being made every-where, without any scientific 
foundation, this state of things appeared to me so unsatisfactory, that I 
could not but direct all my efforts to ascertain clearly the laws of these 
remarkable machines. I submit the formule relative to these laws, 
which appear to me to recommend themselves as much by their simpli- 
city as by the natural manner in which they develope themselves. Let 
R. represent all the mechanical resistances acting upon the machine, 
and v, the uniform velocity with which it moves: we have for the 


power or mechanical effect, the expression T= Rv. Let n be the 
~~ number of the coils of the helix which covers the rods; *, the number 
of the plates of the battery; B, the total resistance of the galvanic 
circuit; E, the electro-motive force ; k, a co-efficient, which depends on 
the arrangement of the bars, the distance of the poles, and the quality 
of the iron; we have then for the maximum of the mechanical effect 
which —_ be obtained, the expression— 


LL. t= 


For the velocity, which corresponds to this maximum, 
B. 
Il. v.= Tn? 
For the resistance acting upon the machine, 
_ n? 2? BE, 
Il. = <9 
Lastly, for the economic elle i. e. the duty or the mechanical effect 


divided by the consumption of zinc-in a bate time,--- 


IV. O=F5: 


« These formule may be expressed in the terms :— 

“ Ist. The maximum of ‘mechanical effect which may be obtained from a 
machine, is proportional to the square of the number of voltaic elements, 
multiplied by the square of the electro-motive force, and divided by the 
total resistance of the voltaic circuit. There enters, moreover, into the 
formula, a factor, which I have designated %, and which depends upon 
the quality of the iron, the form and disposition of the rods, andthe dis- 
tance between their extremities. The result is, that with reference to 
some other investigations, which I have made of voltaic combinations, 
and under similar conditions, the use of platinum, zinc, the resistance 
being the same, will produce nn ibetiiys oe tance tiles antes Or the 
use of copper, zinc. 


«Sih Weithoed Ge Soniabed of: Che ablie-of the; alin: whit soneca Gal ned a 


rods, nor the diameter or the length of the rods themselves, has any 
influence upon the maximum of the power. It results, therefore, that 
neither by adding to the length or diameter of the rods, nor by em- 
ploying a greater quantity of wire, can the power be increased. There 
is, however, this remarkable fact, that the number of coils disappears 
from the formula, simply because the force of the machine is in a direct 
ratio, and the velocity is in an inverse ratio, to the square of this 
number. It is thus that the number of coils, the dimensions of the 
rods, and the other constituent parts of an electro-magnetic machine, 


Miscellaneous. | 305 


should be considered simply as occupying the range of the ordinary 
mechanisms which serve for the transmission or transformation of 
‘the velocity, without increasing the available power. So it would be 
possible to use, instead of the ordinary wheelwork, rods of greater or 
less length, or a greater or less quantity of wire, in order to establish be- 
tween the force and the velocity, the relation which the applications to 
manufacturing processes may require. 
“8rd. The mean attraction of the magnetic rods, or the pressure 
' which the machine can exert, is proportional to the square of the cur- 
rent. This pressure is indicated by the galvanometer, which in this man- 
ner performs this function of the manometer of steam-engines. : 

“4th. The economic effect, i. e. the duty or the available power, divid- 
ed by the consumption of zinc, is a constant quantity, which is exposed 
most simply by the relation between the electro-motive force and 
the factor %, which has been previously noticed. I may here repeat, 
what I stated elsewhere, that by employing platinum instead of copper, 
the theoretical expenses may be reduced in the Proportion of nearly 
.23 to 14. 

“5th. The consumption of zinc, = takes place while the machine 
ig at rest, and does no work at all, is double that which takes place, 
while it is producing the maximum of power. 

ae | consider that there will not be much difficulty in determining with 
sufficient precision the duty of one pound of zinc, by its transformation 

into the sulphate, in the same manner that in the steam-engine, the 
- duty of one bushel of coal serves as a measure to estimate the effect of 
different combinations. ‘The future use and application of electro- 
magnetic machines appears to me quite certain, especially as the mere 
trials and vague ideas which have hitherto prevailed in the construction 
of these machines, have now at length yielded to the precise and 
definite laws which are conformable to the general laws which nature 
is accustomed to observe with strictness, whenever the question of effects 
and their causes arises. In viewing on the one hand a chemical effect, 
and on the other a mechanical effect, the intermediate term scarcely pre- 
sent itself at first. In the present case, it is magneto-electricity, the 
admirable discovery of Faraday, which we should consider as the re- 
gulating power, or, as it may be styled, the logic of electro-magnetic 
machines.” 

Prof. Forses congratulated the Section on the advance made towards 
introducing electro-magnetism among our useful moving powers. Here 
was a boat, twenty feet long, capable of containing fourteen people, 

; propelled by it on the Neva, at the rate of three miles an hour: a more 


306 Miscellaneous. 


successful result than had for many years been attained in the use 
of steam.for a similar purpose.—A gentleman asked the power of the 
engine.—Prof. Jacos: replied, about 1 or 1.5 horse, but the term horse 
power was itself vague.--Reports British Association of Athemeum No. 678 
October, 1840. 


Third Meeting of the Men of Science of Italy. 


The men of science of Italy have selected Florence as the place of their 
third meeting as well from its being the place which, after having given 
birth to the revival of literature and the arts, was the cradle of experi- 
mental philosophy, as from its being the royal seat. where was first 
entertained the thought of this new and great institution, and in which 
a high-minded prince has raised to the divine Galileo a temple wherein 
his manuscripts and apparatus will be preserved as a large part of the 
glorious inheritance of Italy. 

It occurred to every one that the friends of science assembled in Flo- 
rence, in the midst of such numerous splendid monuments of art 
and science of past and present times, would feel incited by these recol- 
lections to pursue the course gloriously opened by our forefathers, 
and by so doing would pay the deserved tribute of their gratitude to 
the prince who encouraged the progress of the science, and promoted the 
honour of his country. 

It is satisfactory to announce, that the Grand Duke, our sovereign, 
approving the selection of his capital for the place of the third meeting 
of the Italian Savans, and having promised to aid its objects in every 
manner with his royal bounty and patronage, permits that the meeting 
should commence the 15th of September, 1841, to continue to the end 
of that month. 

The regulations determined on at the first meeting in Pisa have con- 
ferred the right of taking part in the scientific meeting on the Italians 
belonging to the principal academies or scientific societies for the 
advancement of natural knowledge; the professors of the physical and 
mathematical sciences ; the directors of the higher branches of study, or 
of the scientific establishments of the various states of Italy ; and the 
chief officers of the corps of engineers and artillery. Foreigners coming 
under any of the above descriptions will be also admitted to the 
meeting. 

We feel sure that our brethren who enjoy the privilege of attending the 
meeting will gladly avail themselves of it, and thus contribute to the 


5 


Miscellaneous. 307 


great advantages which it confers upon the whole body of speculative 
and practical sciences. It is hoped that the invitation to scientific fo- 
reigners will prove not less effectual, as the estimation in which they 
hold Italian science is a pledge that they will be anxious to witness all 
that Italy has done and is doing, and to afford their co-operation in the 
noble undertaking. 

A future advertisement will announce the final and special arrange- 
ments for the meeting and for the accommodation of those who may 
attend it. In the mean time, it is satisfactory to state that there 
have been elected to the office of Assessors, Prof. Gaetano Georgini, 
Superintendent of the Studies of the Grand Duchy, and Cav. Giuseppe _ 
Gazzeri, Prof. in the University of Pisa.—Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist. 

Florence, Dec. 28, 1840. 

The President General, The Secretary General, 
Marchese Cosimo Ridolfi. Cav. Ferdinando Tarturi. 


Dr. Lush on the Madi, or Chili Oil-seed, Madia sativa. 

“‘ We insert a paper by Dr. Lush, of the Medical Establishment of this 
Presidency, which brings to notice a new seed, called the ‘ Madi, or Chili 
Oil-seed,’ which promises to be a valuable adjunct to the plants of that 
class in this country. It appears to flourish in a high and dry land, 
and will probably succeed in the Deccan and Southern Mahratta 
country. Dr. Lush has presented it to the Agricultural and Horti- 
cultural Society in Bombay, by whom it will be tested, and its uses 
fully developed. 

“The demand which now exists for oil-seeds from British India 
has caused much attention to be drawn towards such products as 
may be raised in sufficient quantities, and at such a price, as may 
ensure them a permanent place among Indian exports to England. 
On the western side, or the districts under Bombay, we find, that for 
field produce as oil-seeds we must look out for such articles of cul- 
tivation as will not require irrigation, seeing that the sesamum, the 
kerday, the linseed, and the castor-oil are all produced in different 
districts of our Presidency as dry crops. Besides those already men- 
tioned, we find a quickly-growing plant in the Deccan, sown usually 
with the ordinary crops of bajree and pulse; viz. the Verbesina sativa 
(since called Guizotia oleifera), or Black Til. This plant is valuable to 
the natives from its quick and hardy growth in a dry climate and 
scanty monsoon; but from the small quantity of oil in proportion to 
the bulk, and the inferior quality of that oil, it is not a plant likely 
to attract attention beyond local wants. 


«The Madi (Madia sativa) is a plant of the same habit, and allied in| 


botanical characters to the Verbesina. It has lately been grown in Eng- 
land by one or two experimentalists, in the hope of obtaining an 
indigenous oil of a superior quality. Professor Lindley, who has grown 
a portion at the Horticultutal Society’s Garden at Chiswick, is of opi- 
nion that the climate of England is too damp and cold for the Madi; and 
on my requesting to be furnished with seed for trial in the dry parts of 
India, he kindly sent me a liberal supply (which I have brought here 
overland), and agrees with me in the opinion that it will stand a good 
chance in the high and dry Jands of the Deccan and other similar 


districts of India. A plant requiring no more care in the cultivation than ag 


the black til of the Deccan, and producing an oil second only to that of 
the almond and olive, and superior to the sesamum, (the common ‘sweet 
oil’ of Western India), must prove @ valuable addition to the produce of 


the country, and as such I eommit it to the care of the Agricultural — 


and Horticultural Society of Bombay without further recommendation, 
merely subjoining a notice of what has already been. mentioned by 
authors about this hitherto neglected plant. 


« DeCandolle, in his ‘ Prodromus,’ gives & fall description of the plant, 


and notices shortly that the seed is used for making an oil. This oil, 
however, does not seem to have attracted the notice of commercial 


persons, and the only account of it I could procure in London was kind- - 


ly pointed out to me by my friend Professor Don, ina work published 
in the year 1711, (in the library of the Linnean Society of London), 
‘ Histoire des Plantes Médicinales de Perou et de Chili,’ by Mons. 
Feuillée. Of this account the follwing is a translation :— 


“« An admirable oil is made from the seeds of this plant throughout | 


all Chili. The natives make use of it not only as a local application to 
assuage pain, anointing with it the parts affected, bat also as a con- 


diment, and besides for burning in lamps. I found it,’ says M. Feuillée, ~ 


‘sweeter and of a more agreeable taste than the greater part of our 
olive oils; its colour is the same. There are no olives in Chili, and 
whatever olive oil is found there is brought from Peru, where a large 
quantity is made.’ 

“I beg to present the Society with an original coloured drawing of 
this plant, made for me in August last at Chiswick, by Mr. Hart, 
lately draughtsman to the Botanical Register—Cuanpes Lusu, M.D.” 
—Bombay Gazette, 26th November, 1840. 


* Jy 4 
Pn a ee ee 


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the 


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Meteorologicas Register kept at 


*s Dispensary. 


for the Month of March 1842. 


WOI-1 spuvjs ies 


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Company's Dispensary. 


The Observations after Sunset are made at the Hon’ ble 


Meteorological Register kept at the Surveyor General's Office, 


Observations made at 8 p. m.| Observations made at 10 p.m 


Calcutta, for the Month of April 1842. 


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CALCUTTA JOURNAL 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles.* Par Louis AGassiz, 
-Professeur d'Histoire Naturelle a@ Neuchatel. Neucha- 
tel, (Suisse, ) 1833. 


The work of M. Agassiz, from the admirable execution of 
the descriptions, as well as of the plates, together with the 
important aid which it affords ‘in geological pursuits, is ge- 
nerally regarded in Europe as a worthy continuation of 
Cuvier’s Researches on Fossil Bones, chiefly of the higher 
classes of vertebrate animals. The plates are numerous, and 
afford detailed and satisfactory drawings of from six to 
eight hundred fossil species, and have been executed by two 


* Containing an introduction to the study of these animals, the 
comparative anatomy of the organs which contribute to a/determi- 
nation of fossil species, a new classification of fishes expressing their 
connection with the series of formations, an exposition of the laws 
of their succession and development during all the metamorphoses of 
the terrestrial globe, accompanied with general geological considera- 
tions ; finally, descriptions of above eight hundred species, most of whoge 
characters and forms we have re-established from the fragments Cuu- 
tained in the strata of the earth. 


VOL. Ill. No. XI. OCTOBER 1842, 25s 


“greatly to the interesting materials upon which the great 


‘to the colouring. M. Dinkel accompanied the Professor 


314 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


talented artists, Messrs. Dinkel and Weber, in a manner at | 
once satisfactory to the zoologist and geologist, from the 
strict attention paid to the delineation of details, as well as 


in his travels for the inspection df the Fossil Fishes coutained- 
in the various Museums, public and private, throughout Eu- 
ropd. : 

A mere enumeration of the'Museums, in which fragments 
of Fossil Fishes are treasured, with a notice of the variety and 
value of the specimens in each collection,constitutes of itself 
one of the first chapters of the work, and affords a striking 
instance of the interest with which such objects are regarded 
in Europe. Every town in the Austrian dominions, Swit- 
zerland, Prussia, Holland and France, seems to have its 
Museum, which in most instances, contributed more or less to 
the materials of Professor Agassiz. If England has contri- 
buted less from such sources, the riches of her strata in fossil 
fishes, and the liberality of her scientific men, have added 


work in question is founded. The work is intended to — 
consist of 5 volumes Atlas, with a corresponding number of _ 
volumes of folio plates ; 40 pages only of the first volume, 267 
pages of the second, 156 of the third, 181 pages of the fourth, 
and 72 of the fifth volume, together with an Appendix of 117 _ 
pages, in all 833 pages of different volumes, and 164 plates — 
are completed. It is now nearly ten years since the first — 
livraison of this work was issued, and from the interest and — 
importance attached to it, much anxiety has been evinced — 
for its progress and completion. 

‘Difficult in itself, from the nature of the subject, it is , 
dered still more so from the materials of which it is con- 
structed being widely dispersed throughout the various 
Museums of Europe; so that it is easy to account for the de-_ 
ls with which its completion is necessarily attended, with- 
out at all despairing of its ultimate accomplishment. | 


¢ ad ' 


stecherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 315 


We take the present opportunity of placing before our rea- 
ders, the views of Professor Agassiz, relative to the skin and 
the scales of fishes; because these views, together with some 
of the terms employed in explaining them, must in future be 
attended to in all scientific descriptions of fishes. This will 
be an excuse for the introduction of what might otherwise be 
thought tedious, and perhaps trifling details, 

With regard to the object of the work, we have conclud- 
ed our present notice with an abstract of one of M. Agassiz’s 
orders of fishes, which we think will do more to make it un- 
derstood, than the most lengthened remarks we could offer. : 
As we hope by degrees to afford a general analysis of this 
work, we will not here anticipate the interesting results 
it affords. It may be enough to say, that the following » 
minute investigation of the scales and skin of fishes, from 
affording new means of identifying species, has led to the . 
most interesting and important results in Geology, has éx- 
‘tended the science of Zoology, and led to the discovery of 
entire creations, which were unknown to us before. Hence 
it is, that in the study of nature, no object, however trifling it 
may seem, is unworthy of attention. Every thing is full of 
meaning, and when rightly contemplated, whatever we take 
up, either a scale or a skeleton, is sure to lead to some great 
principle connected with harmony and unity of design. 


Dermatology, and in particular the Scales of Fishes, as 
compared to ihe analogous productions of the Skin in other 
classes of the Animal Kingdom.* 


As the skeletons, the scales, and the teeth are the only 
parts which are found in a fossil state, it is necessary in this 
place to afford a sketch of the structure of these parts, and 


to explain their peculiarities in different families of the class 
of fishes. 


* Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. By M. Agassiz, chap. iv. vol. i. 


316 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. - 


This exposition will serve as a guide to those, who are 
“desirous of becoming acquainted with fossils only, without 
requiring to enter specially on the study of Ichthyology; 
and will explain at the same- time, all the proper terms 
which I have used in the description of species. By this 
means, I shall be able to afford a better knowledge of 
the exact characters by which to identify in the different 
classes of the animal kingdom, those detached parts of the 
organic bodies which may become the subject of investiga- 
tion, so that any one of no pretensions will thus be able to 
distinguish a scale, a bone, or a tooth of fishes, from the cor- 
responding parts of other animals, which may be found with 
them. I have also frequently had occasion to remark, how: 
easy it is to mistake some of these fragments amongst 
themselves ; for example, bones or teeth for scales. 

_ The skin of which the scales are a special production, de- 
serves in all animals particular attention; the study of it has 
in every way, unfortunately for Zoology, been too much neg- 
lected ; amidst the Polypes* and the Meduse,}+ where it is not 
yet detached from the mass of the body ; amidst the Echino- 
dermest and the Molluscs,§ where it forms the calcareous _ 
shell; amidst the articulated animals,|| in which it forms 
horny rings, and even in fishes, reptiles, birds, and mammalia, 
where the lamellar scales, the horny plates, the feathers, 4 
and the hair, in all assume a peculiar structure, and pro- 
duce different solid shapes in each class. 

It is easy to see the reason of all these modifications, . 
destined to protect the body of the animal against the influ- — Ff 
ences of the external world. The skin is but the result of the 
action and re-action, which is established between the being © 
and medium in which it is enveloped and lives; and if it be i 


* Sea Slugs.—Ep. + Sea Nettles.—Ep.,. 

t Sea Eggs, Sea Urchins, and Star Fishes—Ev. § Shell Fish—Ep. — 
|| Insects so called, from the outward covering of their bodies being» 
composed of detached pieces.—Ep. 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 317 


right to say that the skeleton is, in an animal, a material im- 
pression of the spirit that has influenced it during its life, 
we are enabled to affirm also, that the skin is the result of 
those conditions that. exist between the being and the 
ambient medium. In this point of view, it partakes on the 
one hand of the nature of the organization 6f the animal 
to which it belongs, and on the other, of the conditions of © 
existence in which it is destined to live. It is, then, the field 
of action to all external influences, and the means by which 
all the interior actions are transmitted to it without. It is 
an organ essential to the animal, an external i impression of 
all the peculiarities of its existence, and of its organization, 
thus. carried to the surface, and submitted directly to the 
view of the observer; hence from its simple aspect, we are 
at once enabled at a glimpse to deduce all the details of the 
structure of an animal which we have never seen, such being 
the intimate relations which exist between all the organs. 
|The study under this point of view will then, as it ad- 
vances, be found to be of very great importance to com- 
parative Zoology, and above all, in the examination of fossils 
of which we find but an external print. 

As the common integuments form the boundary of the se- 
veral organs, and distinguish at the surface the peculiar 
forms of animals, before speaking more particularly of the 
organization of the skin, I should enter here into some de- 
tails of the general configuration of the body, were I not | 
afraid of departing too far from my subject. I shall merely 
say, that the figure of any being whatever is determined 
by the proportions of three dimensions of its bulk, compris- 
ed under different aspects in different species. 

These dimensions determine also the different regions by 
which we are in the habit of distinguishing animals. The 
longitudinal direction establishes the proportions between the 
‘anterior and ‘posterior parts, as the head, the breast, the 
abdumen, and the tail. The breadth we have taken from 


318 _ Recherches sur tes Poissons Fossiles. 


right to left, whatever may be the irregularity in the propor- 
tions of one or other side of the animal, and it is upon these 
proportions that symmetry depends. The height which here 
is the thickness, is the differences which exist between the 
dorsal and ventral regions, or according to the position of 
the animal, between the superior and inferior parts; essen- 
tial differences which may be traced up from the separation 
of the blastoderm into a serous and a mucous membrane 
producing two orders of organs so different in the parts 
which they are to perform in life. 

No other class of the animal kingdom presents these 
forms in such variation as the class of fishes. There is no 
other class in which such perfectly spheroidal animals as the 
Diodons* occur ; other species are discoid, or circular, and 
flat, but this last form presents two conditions very different 
from the effects of either excessive contraction, or of exces- 
sive development of the two sides of the body; for in the 
first case it is compressed, and very elevated, but also very 
narrow, as in the Vomers, and the Orthogoriscs ; whilst in the 
second case it is very depressed, flat, and very broad as in 
certain Rais. Other species are oval, more or less elongated, 
slender, and compressed on the flanks; this is the most 
ordinary form in fishes, and hence those which possess it, 
are called regular fishes, such as the Carps, the Trouts, &c., 
yet notwithstanding the longitudinal direction varies con- 
siderably, passing from every possible intermediate state, (in 
- the Pikes for example,) to the elongated fishes, which are 
sometimes cylindric, (the Eels), sometimes compressed or flat 
_ as a ribbon, (the Cepoles, ) the same of others which have an 
excessive breadth in comparison with their height, (the 
Gymnetres and the Ophisures.) Although the forms most 
fantastic, are those which present surfaces more or less 
plane, and which are circumscribed by angular figures, 

* The Cutcutia (Tetradon cutcutia Buch.) is a familiar example of this 
form in Bengal.—Ep. 


“Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 319 


sometimes triangular, square, pentangular, or having the two 
sides insymmetrical, that is flat on one flank and arched on 
the other, and with the bones of the head so much dispro- 
portioned, that the two eyes are turned to one side of the 
animal,* (as the Soles, &c.) atti 

The essential character of the skin is to envelope com- 
pletely the animal, and to form thus a sort of external skele- 
ton for the protection of the surface, as the osseous skeleton 
protects surrounding internal organs. 

In the invertebrated animals, there are no other solid sup- 
ports than those which are produced by the integuments, or 
which depend on them; nevertheless, we would be wrong if 
from that circumstance we were to draw a parallelism with the 
osseous skeleton of the vertebrated animals, which is ex- 
clusively peculiar to these last, and which has no point of 
analogy with the solid pieces of the inferior classes. They are 
much more the productions of the skin, that, in the ver- 
tebrata represent the skeleton of the invertebrata; and yet 
we can trace completely the parallism of different degrees of 
progression in the Animal Kingdom, notwithstanding the 
considerable differences in the manifestation of analogous 
parts between the superior and inferior animals. For we 
observe even more striking differences between the various 
productions of the skin in vertebrate animals than that which 
we have just remarked in the invertebrate. As to the rest, 
it is enough to know, that these metamorphoses of the skin 
have a peculiar tendency to the surface of the body, and pre- 
sent constant relations between the skin and other systems 
of organs. However, the skin is not intended alone for the 
external surface of the body, it penetrates also into the inter- 
nal cavities which it lines, and on the surface of which, it 
produces equally the solid parts of different structures, to 


* Several examples of this form are presented by the fishes of India ; 
they are familiar to the fishermen of Bengal under various namer 
as Pan, Arsee, Nauphala, &c.—Ep. 


32n Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


which are attributed different functions; for example, the 
teeth and all the horny plates, which in many classes are 
found on the internal surface of the intestines. Two essential 
modifications of the skin may therefore be distinguished, and 
consequently also, two modifications of the dermatic skeleton. . 
The one which covers the external surface of animals, and . 
the ‘other which is developed in their internal .surface. 
These two kinds of skeletons exist together in the inverte- 
brated animals, and present between themselves very inti- 
mate and numerous relations and connexions, as we shall 
presently see; they are seen also in many places passing in- 
sensibly into one or other at the superficial openings of the 
internal cavities of the body. They exist also constantly — 
double in all the vertebrate animals, which have in other res- 
pects an interior bony structure encircling the cavities, and 
round which all the organs are placed. 

In this great division of the Animal Kingdom, not only 
do the two modifications of the dermatic skeleton present 
numerous connexions, but these again afford intimate rela- 
tions to the bony skeletons on many parts of the body, 
where insensible transitions are observed from one to the 
other; for example, in the fishes, between the opercular 
‘pieces and the scales, between the occipital bone, the 
humerus and the scales, between the teeth and the pha- 

ryngeal bones, &c. &c. 

It exists besides in a constant antogonism in the develop- 
ment of the three kinds of skeletons I am describing, and of 
which the parts of the one are increased in proportion 
as those of the other are less complete in different regions 
of the body. 

No one has yet obtained better information of the dif- 
ferent modifications of the skeleton than Carus; no one has 
examined it in more detail ; but no one has explained it in a 
manner more confused than he has done in his work, on the 
essential parts of the osseous and testaceous structure. 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 321. 


As to the development of the skin, it is at first seen to be a 


mere serous film of the blastoderme, or first rudiment of 
the common envelope of the body. In the mean time, the 
observations which have been recently made on-_the ad- 
vanced period of development of the egg, promise soon 
to prove the serous membrane to be the common basis 
from which the bones, the muscles, and the skin are equally 
formed. This is separated again into many lamina, amongst 


which are distinguished, first the epidermis, afterwards we 


see the formation of the net of malpighi, the corion, and 
the subjacent muscular coat. 

In the fishes, the skin is always much more tense at 
the surface of the body than in other animals; uniting to 
the muscles by a dense.cellular tissue, and is never possess- 
ed of so much mobility as in other vertebrated animals. In 
the class we are now speaking of, it is the corion and 
the solid parts produced at the surface of the malpighien 
net, that acquires such considerable development under the 
term of scales. But in order, to afford an accurate idea of 
the structure of scales, which is to form the principal question 
for our consideration in this chapter, it is indispensable to 
know the condition of the different layers which are formed 


_in the integuments of those animals in which the skin is most 


organised. 
First the epidermis, the outermost part of the skin, may 


be'regarded in a general point of view as a membraneous 


lamina of horny substance, which covers the whole surface of 
the animal, isolates it from the external world, defends the 
parts of most delicate organization, and which as a bad 
conductor of heat, preserves to the animal that proportion 
of warmth which is proper to it. The epidermis is insensi- 
ble, and is reproduced readily ; it is composed of a great num- 
ber of layers or folds, superimposed and strongly adherent 
to one another. It is the modifications of the folds of 


the skin, that is to say, the hair, the feathers, the scales, 
Ae 


322 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


shells, etc., upon the consideration of which we are more 
particularly engaged, and which we are about to compare 
with each other. 

The rete malphigii, as it is commonly called, is the inner 
lamina of the epidermis which is not yet become hard, which 
adheres to the corion, and which is at first soft, and after- 
wards hardened by means of a secretion from the corion. 

The corion, in short, is the living part of the skin; it 
is forrhed of very hard mucous tissue, and of vessels and 
nerves; it adheres to the muscles by cellular tissue more 
or less strong. It is this part of the skin which is the seat 
of sensation, because of the number of nervous fibres which 
it receives; it is this which, by means of the net of little 
sanguineous vessels with which it is covered, secretes the 
coloured pigments at its surface, produces and supports 
the other lamine of the skin; and, in one word, which re- 
gulates all the various functions of the surface of the body. 

The different tints of the skin are owing to the deposition 
of different coloured pigments which float between the epi- 
dermis and the corion. In those fishes in which they are 
most abundant, we observe first at the inferior surface of the 
scales, a bed of pigment of a metallic golden or silvery aspect, 
and which often produces various brilliant metallic reflec- | 
tions; (itis with this material that false pearls are coloured ;) 
besides this, they have towards the surface of the back, and 
in general on the upper parts of the body, numerous scattered 
points, of various pigments, more or less approaching to a 
black colour, which follow in such abundance, as to produce 
on the skin the effect of paint. These different pigments 
are composed of little crystals of different earthy and me- 
tallic substances. They are found again on the external 
surface of the peritoneum, on the brain, medulla oblongata, 
and in the eyes. Ehrenberg observed them in the Pike, but 
they exist in all fishes, and present numerous varieties of 
form and composition according to the species, A very re- 


‘ 


Recherches sur les toussons Fossiles. $23 


markable phenomenon in fishes depending on the abundance 
of pigments, their differences, and the rapidity with which 
they are secreted and absorbed, is the changes of colour 
which belongs te many species at different seasons of the 
year. In the time of spawning, for example, or rather during 
their time of growth, or when excited to violent movements, 
or even after their death, when they have been exposed to 
different atmospheric influences. 

All the species which I have observed, present at the 
period of spawning, even more vivid and marked tints than 
usual, the points of coloured pigment that are not ordinarily 
seen towards the back, are then extended also on the flanks 
and belly which they embellish.. Even the (at other times) 
uncoloured regions of the body are at this period also cover- 
ed with various tints ; the abdomen, for example, is marbled, 
and the insertions of the fins are red or orange, and the 
belly partakes of various shades of these different colours. 
During the development of fishes, we see also their skin and 
their fins presenting the most fanciful and brilliant tints, 
although at the period of their birth they are nearly all 
white and transparent. In making drawings of living fish, 
I have yet another curious observation to make on their 
colouration: it is, that when they are irritated, or exerting 
violent efforts to escape from their confinement, they pre- 
sent the most animated, as well as the most rich and cha- 
racteristic of their colours, they become pale, or even 
completely lose their colours, which they again slowly re- 
cover. I have not however observed this fact often in the 
Zingel (Aspal Zingel), in the Trout of the rivers (Salmo 
Fario), in the Lotte (Lota Fluviatilis,) and in the Silure 
(Silurus Glanis.) To me it appears capable of explana- 
tion by the supposition of an abundant secretion and sud- 
den reabsorption of the coloured pigments.’ After death, 
all the green parts of fishes very soon change to blue 
on exposure to the air; thus nearly all blues represented 


x 


324 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


__in drawings of fishes are the colours of death. The other 
tints change in different ways: the red passes frequently to 
yellow, the yellow becomes black, &c. When left in water 
after their death, fishes become quite discoloured, yet not- 
withstanding, if after the lapse of some time they are brought 
into the air, their natural colour though somewhat faded, re- 
-turns.* These phenomena of coloration are so much more 
remarkable, as in certain cases the coloured pigments appear 
to be very fixed: particularly as they have been found in 
fossil fishes, in which very distinct traces of the distribution 
of their colours are preserved in the black pigment, as for ex- 
ample, in the Platax vespertilio, Agass. the Enchelyopus 
tigrinus, Agass. found at Mount Bolca. It is this fact. 
which induced me to speak here of the coloration of fishes. 
I shall afterwards detail all the observations I have made 
on this interesting subject. 

The surface of the body of living fishes is constantly 
covered with a great quantity of mucous. With some it is 
little tenaceous, and forms a thinish layer ; with others, and 
particularly with those in which scales are less developed, it 
is more firm, and forms a thicker coat, for example in the 
Tench. The fluid is secreted by a mucous gland which ex- 
tends the whole length of the body, and which is ramified 
in all the bones of the head; it is conveyed 'to the surface by 
numerous pores, which are seen on the cranium and on the 
bones of the face, on the length of the superior maxillary, on 
the preopercule, and by a series of tubes which traverse the 
scales of the lateral line. From these the mucous is spread 
over the entire surface of the body, as we have proved by 

‘drying the surface of fishes with a cloth; after this operation 
they lubricate themselves anew with mucous, which flows 
from the pores on all parts of the body. 

* In spirits of wine, fishes ratain their colours much better if previously replac- 
ed again for a short time in water, then quickly dried in the air after having 
wiped. 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 325 


An epiderm is constantly found beneath a plastering of this 
- mucous, which last is easily produced by spirits of wine ; the 
coagulated mucous being raised, the epiderm is found, al- 
though some authors have erroneously denied its existence in 
fishes; it is indeed very thin and transparent, and bears a re- 
semblance to the epithelium, which lines the mucous coat of 
the alimentary canal. Nevertheless, in fishes covered with 
 imbricated scales, it forms of itself the folds which envelope 
the posterior extremity of each scale, so that it covers as 
much of the internal surfaces, as of the external; but it is 
chiefly in fishes whose scales are very small and emersed 
in the skin that its existence is easily demonstrated, on _ 
‘raising the coagulated coat of mucous formed by alcohol, 
and with which it is covered. 

From the foregoing considerations, we are also to regard 
the teeth as dermatic formations, of which the bulb is a spe- 
cies of malpighien gland, and which might be treated of 
in this place ; but I prefer referring their examinations to the 
head of Osteology, on account of some observations on their 
growth in different modifications of the dentary system, which 
I would wish first to conclude, so as to be able to refer to 
- certain peculiarities of the skeleton with which it is necessary 
to be previously acquainted, in order that the singular 
disposition presented by the teeth may be treated more 
completely in connection with the point of their insertion. — 

The scales of the greater part of fishes are imbricated one 
upon another as tiles: that is to say, those of the anterior 
series rest their posterior border on the anterior border of 
the series following; and this imbrication still leaves unco- 
vered a part of the scales more or less considerable, not 
alone of their posterior border, but also of their superior 
and inferior borders. This overlying gives to the scales 
their apparent form, which is very often quite different from 
their true contour ; for an oblong scale is covered so far in 
front and rear, that its height may seem to exceed the length, 


326 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


just as a broad short scale would appear more long than high, 
from the superior and inferior border being much concealed 
by the imbrication before and behind. It is also necessary 
to distinguish the different modes of imbrication: the most 
simple is that where the scales of each transverse series 
have simple joinings by the superior and inferior borders; 
without being overlapped in their anterior part by the middle 
of the posterior border of the scales of the series which pre- 
cede. We observe this disposition in nearly all the Ga- 
' noids, with this difference only, that sometimes the scales’ 
_ of the consecutive series alternate the one with the pther, 
so that the superior and inferior borders of an anterior 
' series correspond to the middle of the scale of the following 
series, for example, in the anterior parts of the trunk of 
the Lepidosteus, t. xi. f. 1 and f. 3, so much of the borders 
are placed in a line with one another, as for instance in the 
posterior part of the trunk of the Lepidostes, f. 6, or rather 
they are brought but little over towards the superior or inferior 
part of the following scale, as in the Polypterus, f. 2. Some- 
times the upper and lower borders of two scales appear to 
have simple juxtaposition, and are applied one against ano- 
ther to their square sides, for example t. xi. f. 6, 7, 8, or rather 
they have their edges cut so as to fit diagonally between the 
superior and inferior borders in a manner to afford the most 
intimate union in their partial superposition; for example, 
t. xi. f. 3, 4, 5, or lastly, the superior border of one scale is 
provided with a very salient hook or crochet, which corres- 
ponds to a hollow in the lower border of the superior scale 
to which it is fixed, such are the scales, fig. 9, 10, 11, 12, 
and J3. 

Another mode of imbrication, is that where the scales do 
not overlap by means of anterior and posterior series, but 
yet wherein each series, each superior scale covers with its 
inferior border, a portion more or less of the superior 
border of the inferior scale. Generally, when the imbri- 


- Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 5 


cation advances in this way, and the scales appear in straight 
lines, it. produces sometimes a longitudinal series of scales, 
to which we give the name of lateral line, which is found to 
be composed almost entirely in this manner, as in the Pike, 
the Corégones, etc. 

Numerous modifications in the external aspect of scales 
result from the form of their imbrication, depending on the 
degree of alternation of the scales in their successive dorso- 
ventral series; for, according to the inclination of these se- 
ries, a superior scale of any one series may be sufficient 
to cover simultaneously with an inferior scale of the pre- 
ceding series a great portion of the two sides of the adjoin- 
ing scales, according to the degree in which they are drawn 
together; for example, as seen in the Leuciscs and our 
' Perches. The scales which are not imbricated, are either 
very small and plunged into the skin in a manner to render 
them imperceptible to the naked eye, or they assume the 
form of shields or darts, sometimes standing equally over 
the whole surface of the body (the Diodons); sometimes 
they are overlapped diagonally or in a tesselate form, (the 
Coffres ;) or finally, they form peculiar series in certain parts 
_ of the body, while the rest of the surface is furnished with 
other scales, (the Sturgeons, the Raies, etc.) 

The form of scales depends also greatly on their posi- 
tion; it is necessary therefore to attend particularly to the 
position of the series from which they have been taken, 
especially with regard to imbricated scales. These series 
are disposed obliquely one behind the other, from the ridge 
of the back to the middle of the belly. To, this series we 
apply the term dorso-ventral series. Generally, in each of 
these the dorsal scales are smallest, those of the middle and 
flanks are the largest, then they diminish again in size, and 
it is on the lower parts of the body that they are observec 
the smallest of all; but there are exceptions to this generai 
disposition, and sometimes the lowest scales are the largest. 


328 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


Almost always it may be remarked, that towards the middle 

of the series, one scale of a peculiar conformation is perceiv- 
ed to be perforated with a hole, and which with others of 
the following series forms a range of peculiar character, 

placed on the middle of the sides, and to which the very 

improper term of lateral line is given. This longitudinal 

range separates all the scales of one side of the body into 

two fields, which present often the most —— differences 

in their aspect. 

The superior field is generally occupied. by the smaller 
scales, particularly in the Perches and the Chetodons, and 
their imbrication is such, that they are more easily distin- 
guished in the oblique series, which, with regard to the 
lateral line is directed upwards and backwards towards the 
back, than they are in the series in which they are directed 
upwards and forward towards the back; whilst in the 
inferior field it is the reverse; in the oblique series, in the 
direction backward and downwards, they are more visible 
than in those which are turned forward. 

These different directions of the series are more or less 
perceptible in different families. However, we can always 
recognise the two kinds of series which cross the lateral 
line: the one, and that generally the best marked, in the 
Ganoides and Cycloides, is directed from the middle of the 
back to the middle of the belly, frora before backwards and 
from above downwards, in the same direction in the whole 
extent; the others, directed from behind forward and from 
above downwards, crossing the lateral line also with the pre- 
ceding. It follows from these observations, that it is necessary 
to distinguish still farther these half-series,. superior and in- 
ferior, by particular names, and I call the medio-dorsalis series 
those which extend from the lateral line to the back, and I 
distinguish the series medio-dorsalis, anterior and posterior, 
according as they indicate a direction forward or backward; 
and as it is the lateral-line which appears to establish these. — 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 329 


differences, it is that which I start from in their apprecia- 
tion. Thus in the Polypterus, t. xi. f. 2, I gave the name of 
the series, medio-dorsal posterior, to that which proceed- 
ing from the fourth scale of the lateral line arrives near 
‘to the first ray of the dorsal, and to all those which 
follow the same direction, et vice-versa that of medio- 
dorsal anterior, to the series which, from the ninth scale 
of the lateral line, extends to the same ray. It will be 
the same of the series below the lateral line which I have 
called medio-ventral; those which extend backward and 
_ downward from the lateral line, are the medio-ventral post- 
erior ; and those which are directed upward and forward, the 
medio-ventral anterior. The necessity of distinguishing these 
series and their different directions, will be better under- 
stood when we enter upon the description of the scales of 
fishes of the families of Percoids, Sparoids, Chetodons, &c., 
because these half-series not being always equally mark- 
ed, give to fishes their various aspects according to the 
salient disposition of the scales. This method presents 
still another advantage. It leads to an intimate acquaintance 
with the relations which exist in a great number of fishes, 
between the position of the scales and the disposition of 
the skeleton. We remark in general, that nearly all those 
fishes with large scales have the same number of series 
of scales as of vertebra ; those of the series which are most 
remarkable have them in the same direction with the spinous 
apophyses of the sides of the skeleton. This is very strik- 
ing in the Leuciscs and in some Percoids; the series 
medio-dorsalis posterior correspond exactly with the superior 
spinous apophyses; the series medio-ventralis posterius, 
which forms a very wide angle with the preceding, cor- 
responds, on the contrary, to the sides of the inferior 
spinous apophyses. Whatever be the nature of this analo- 
gy in the disposition of the parts of the skeleton and 
the scales, it is not always thus sensible, though traces of it 
2uU 


330 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


are almost every where found, as we may perceive from the 
Tables A, &c. Vol. ii. Attention to the plates of the follow- 
ing livraisons will afford still better ,examples of this 
analogy.* We found again in many fishes peculiar ranges 
of scales on the middle of the back or of the belly, at 
the insertion of the fins extending vertically with the fin 
rays.+ 
From all the possible modifications in these different com- 
binations, it follows, that there must be a very great variety 
in the external aspect of scales; yet they present always the 
same organization, and may be all regarded as branches of 
one fundamental type, whatever may be their apparent form, 
or whether they are imbricated or not; whether they are 
thin and formed only, some of small horny lamine, or thick 
and at the same time osseous plates. It is very easy td 
examine these analogies in all the modifications which they | 
present in the different families of the class, however numerous 
and however varied they may be. It is not, however, my ob- 
ject in this place to stop to describe all the forms which — 
exist. These details will be found in the following volumes 


= 


_ * In examining attentively the plates of this work, (Recherches sur les _ 


Poissons Fossiles,) and comparing them with nature, my readers will be 
convinced that in all the fishes which I have represented, the scales are 


figured in their natural position, and with their characteristic form. I % 


have made this remark particularly, because the greater part of plates 
which exist, are in gross violation in this respect, of laws the most 
constant and precise. 


+ The most remarkable instance of this peculiarity occurs in the 7@ 
genus Schizothorax of Heckle, in which the lower ventral ranges of scales 


separate some distance in front of the anal fin, leaving a naked mem- 
branous space in which the outlet of the intestine is placed. The group 
in which this peculiarity occurs belongs to the mountains of India, and 
was unknown to M. Agassiz, at the time the above was written, — 
otherwise he would probably have thought it deserving of some special 
notice. He will since have become acquainted with it, however, from — 

the work of M. Heckle on the fishes of Cashmere,Ep. | z 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 331 


of the work; it will be sufficient to point out the principal 
modifications of the general type, and to afford a. few exam. 
ples of their secondary variations. 

Some genera of fishes have no scales whatever, nor even 
parts analogous; the epidermis in that case rests immedi- 
ately on the layer of pigment which colours the skin; such 
are the Myxines, the Pieromyzons, etc. In the greater part 
of these fishes, however, the scales are more or less develop- 
ed, and their position, their form, their consistence, and the 
nature of their surface varies to an infinite degree. They 
are contained in the mucous cavities, or little pouches, 
formed by the corion, to which they are not however 
attached by vessels. Supported in their position by a 
duplication of the epidermis, which embraces their pos- 
terior border, they are formed of plates, or horny or 
calcareous leaves, superimposed one upon another, and 
which are secreted from the surface of the corion; these 
leaves are each successively attached to the surface of 
the preceding leaves to which they are united by hardened 
mucous. To form a just idea of their development, it is 
necessary to examine them first in those genera of fishes in 
which the scales are disposed in the most simple state ; for 
example, in the Eels, the Blennies, the Loaches, and the 
Leuciscs. These fishes are remarkable for the cells of the 
corion in which the scales are found; the anterior border, 
(that which in other cases is usually imbricated,) is free 
and unattached to the adjoining part of the cellule of the 
scale, its posterior border, on the contrary, is contained in 
a fold of the epiderm which covers the outer surface of each 
scale, and which, passing by the posterior border of the in- 
ternal surface, a part of which it also covers, is continued to 
the external surface of the following scale, and thus forms 
the beds of the corion in which the scales are supported, as 
may be seen in figure 8, t. xi. 

Thus the posterior border of each scale is fixed in a fold 


332 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


of the skin; that which is to follow in the superposition, 
or the imbrication of the scales, appears to be free, and 
is generally found to be so, whilst the anterior border is 
covered by the preceding scale which advances freely in 
its cellule. When we detach a scale from the body of 
a fish, we necessarily raise the fold of the epiderm which — 
fixes it to its cavity, it is owing to this that at first sight 
the posterior border of scales always appears so different 
from the anterior border. We have remarked in fact on the 
external surface of each scale, or the part which advances 
into the cellule, a great number of concentric lines so much 
the more visible as they approacli the centre. But when the 
epiderm of the posterior border is raised, the lines are found 
to be similarly concentric, and thus it is easy to see that the 
concentric lines of the anterior and posterior borders are conti- 
nuous with one another. After macerating the scales for 
some time in common water, they appear to be easily 
divided into a great number of plates or leaves, more or less 
thick, and of different sizes, but which are all of the 
form of the scales: these leaves are superimposed in such a 
way, that the smallest occupies the centre of the scale, 
and forms its outer part, whilst the larger succeeds the 
smaller, successively, and is soldered to its inferior surface : 
thus it is evident, that the concentric lines which are visible 
on the outer surface of scales, are simply the borders of the | 
leaflets of which they are composed. Thus the reason why 
the inner surface of scales should always be smooth is, 
because the last leaf of which it consists, extends beyond the 
borders of all the others. A correct idea of the structure 
of scales may thus be formed by conceiving them to be 
so many flat cones with broad bases, consisting of a succes- 
sion of plates, the smallest occupying the summit, and the 
largest composing the base of the cone ; only in represent- 
ing them thus, it should not be forgotten, that it is the 


summit’ of the cone which exists first, and thus it is\by 


_ Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 300 


its inferior surface. or its base, it extends in its growth. 
We have confirmed these observations by comparisons be- — 
tween a great number of different examples of scales of 
all ages of one and the same species of fish. They will 
form in this way a series presenting all degrees of develop- 
ment of the scales, that we are able to observe in one 
individual during all the periods of its growth. We learn 
also from this, that the number of leaves which compose a 
scale, do not correspond with the age of the fish, and that 
in different species it is formed of a different number of 
lamine of growth during a year; we find also, that the 
growth of scales is periodical; that they are not form- 
ed continually without interruption, but that there are. 
according to the species, different seasons of the year’ 
more favourable to their development, during which they 
form all the leaflets they present for the increase of 
the year. After the consolidation of the new leaves, they 
remain a long time, during which they are not disposed to 
form new lamine; the last lamina shortening itself tends 
more or less to the border, and forms a species of hock, 
very inconspicuous it is true, but which becomes more pro- 
minent when the leaves of new growth are joined to it the 
following year; and they are then seen at the surface of all 
the scales, as so many concentric zones, more marked in 
proportion to the years the fish has lived. As these zones 
are found equally visible on the scales of fossil fishes, it 
will, in time, become the means of determining frequently 
the age which has been attained by fossil species. 

It would be a great advantage to geology, if all the infor- 
mation that collections of fossils are calculated to afford, 
could be had relative to the respective ages attained by the 
ancient beings whose remains are found in the crust of the 
earth. If we were at first to study zealously the relations 
which exist between the leaves of growth in the shell of 
the mollusc as compared with the age of the animal, and 


Bob Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


then extend these inquiries to the growth of the vertebre, 
to the development of the plates, and the spines of the 
echinoderms, to the cellules of the polyps, we might hope 
that a day would not be far distant when we should obtain by 
this means a glimpse of the duration of the creations, which 
have successively enlivened the surface of our globe. In 
presenting the geological results of my researches, I have 
become acquainted with facts which I have already arrang- 
ed with regard to the class of fishes. As to the Molluscs, 
the species whose shell is ornamented with spines, pores, 
channels, and enlargements regularly disposed on the sur- 
face, are the most adapted to initiate us into an acquaint- 
ance with their age, as Cardiums, Chamas, Ranellas, Tritons, 
the Murex’s, Scalaris’s : the partitions of the Nautilites, of the — 
Ammonites, and in short, the number of whorls in the outline 
of the spire of all the species, will yet be sufficient to serve as 
a term of comparison. The determination of the relative 
age of analogous species in the different successive geologi- 
cal formations, will present the most curious results. Science 
besides would derive from such researches the advantage of 
reducing considerably the number of species, and above all, 
of pointing out those differences that depend merely on 
age. 

All the modifications that we observe in the form and 
nature of the surface of scales, proceed from the form 
of the leaves of growth, and the manner in which they are 
superimposed one upon another. Nevertheless it must not 
be forgotten, that there are scales (in the Ganoides,) on the 
external surface of which layers of enamel are deposited 
in proportion as the leaves of growth are extended, like the 
enamel of the teeth which covers their crown, while deficient 
on the bony layers which form their roots. 

_ ‘The outline of scales varies infinitely in different species — 
of fish, and we even observe the difference of form to be 
considerable in each individual, according to the place 


~ Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 335 


which they occupy on the body. By degrees they become 
round or oval, or more or less angular, having their centre 
_of increase(!) in the middle, and then all the leaflets are 
placed one upon another, and equally bordered in every 
side) ; they may again possess this same form, but the 
centre of growth approaching more or less to one or other 
border, the concentric lines are then removed more 
to one than to the other side, being closest on the side 
at which the centre of increase is placed ;(°) occasionally 
the contour presents sinuosities, the lobes of which 
being more or less large, and conspicuously marked, when 
the leaflets of growth present these forms, and they are 
superimposed exactly one over another according to their 
size; (4) it is particularly on the anterior border of the scales 
that we observed these large undulations. When these 
lobes are acute in the form of denticulations, or very sharp 
serratures, and which are only found on the last leaflet (the 
_ preceding leaflets presenting a successive disparity in blunt- 
ness,) it follows that such scales will have their border 
simply serrated ;©) but whenever it is found on the border 
of many leaflets consecutively, the border of the scale and 
all the visible external surface of the same presents nume- 
rous ranges of bristling prickles,() they are then very rough 
to the touch. It is the same when the borders of the leaves 


(@) [ thus name the part of the scale where the first lamina is 
secreted in the alveolus. I call it also the centre of radiation, when 
encircled by the delineations which ornament the surface of the scale. 

(2) Voyez dans mon selecta genera et spec. Piscium Brasiliensium, 
Tab. D., les écailles du Rhaphiodon gibbus, and Tab. E. those of Cory- 
phoena immaculata. 

® Voyez selecta genera Tab. E. Cynebium maculatum et Caraux 
lepturus. 

‘ Myletes bideus ; Saurus longirostris, intermedius and truncatus. 

(5) Selecta genera, Tab. D. Rhombus ocellatus, et soleaeformis : Tab. F. 
Corniger spinosus. ; 

(6) Selecta genera, Tab. D. Plogusia brasiliensis. 


336 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


are not sufficient in thickness to relieve the intervals 
from space to space of one side,() as we see also in 
some species of Tellines. It is always at the posterior 
border of scales that we observe on the sides of the 
leaves of growth, those points to which, according to their 
form we have given the names of cilia, denticules, spines, _ 
and also of ridges ; and as it is this part of the scale which © 
is visible on the surface of the fish; it is also to this dis- 
position of the scales that the asperities of the skin in the 
Perches, the Chetodons, and the Pleuronectes, is owing ; 
in these the inequalities in question are most prominent. It 
is no objection whatever to this, that their anterior border 
may not be more or less lobed, as it would be all the same if 
it were perfectly smooth. 

When the scales have acquired a certain development, 
and their external surface has been consequently for a ‘ong 
time in contact with the enveloping medium, it frequently 
happens that the first formed filaments desiccate, harden, and 
are detached from the middle of the scale, under the form 
of little irregular palettes or spangles, which render the cen- 
tral parts very unequal, and give to them quite a different 
aspect from that which belonged to them when the fish was 
smaller. Nothing can illustrate these changes better, than 
the scales in old Carps when compared with young indi- 
viduals. 

There is yet one peculiarity in certain scales which tends 
to render their surface unequal; namely, a number of fur- 
rows which extend in different directions from the centre 
of growth, or some other part of the scale to the border, () 
which they do not however always reach.(3) In some species 


(1) Selecta genera, Tab. F. Mesoprion, Corvna, Pachyurus. 

(2) Selecta genera, Tab. C. Erythrimus unitecniatus, Tab. F. Batrachus 
punctatus, Lobotes ocellatus et Mesoprion. 

(3) Clupanodon ausens, Chalceus angulatus. 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 3387 


it is ramified.(!) Sometimes these furrows do not commence 
where the scale is composed of many leaflets; for example 
below the middle of its radius ;(2) or more towards the centre 
of the scale is occupied by the thick leaflets with hardened 
edges, to which only the furrows extend,(3) or rather the mid- 
dle of the scale is covered with furrows which are interlaced 
and form a net, which in other species extends over the 
whole scale. The leaflets are otherwise perfectly smooth 
on the whole extent of their surfaces by which they are 
joined to one other. “The furrows are not extended beyond 
the outer margins of the leaflets of growth; they are the 
canals to the border of the external surface which commu- 
nicate from one leaflet to another: they are multiplied 
during the growth of the scale, and give rise to all the 
variations which we have described. The disposition of 
the furrows ‘varies also the reflections of the fish.* 


. Abstract of the families, genera, and species of the order 
of Ganoides. Rech. sur les Poiss. Foss. chap. i. vol. ii. 


1st Onv.—_GANOIDES, Agass. (Goniolepidoti, Agass.) 


I place the order of Ganoids at the head of the class of fishes, because 
of their great peculiarities as compared with the types of the families 
now predominant. However the order of Placoids is even still more 
distinct from existing forms; but I have not yet had sufficient opportu- 


(1) Selecta genera, Tab. C. Clupanodon aureus, Tab. D. Chalceus an- 
gulatus. 

(2) Chichla labrina. 

(8) Serrasalmo Piranha. 


* The chapter here breaks off abruptly; but although incomplete, 
these details may be sufficient to show the care with which the 
principles have been examined on which Professor Agassiz’s classi- 
fication‘is founded. We shall now afford some examples of the manner 
in which those principles are applied, and of the results obtained 


from them in Geology, as well as in Ichthyology.---Ep. 
2x 


338 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


nity to make myself acquainted with the species, (in general very badly 
preserved), to enable me to trace their organization throughout all the 
geological formations, in a manner so complete as the order of Ganoids, 
I have therefore commenced with this division, whose species belong to 
the coal formation. 

Scales angular, rhomboidal or polygonal, formed of os- 
seous or horny lamine, covered with enamel. 

The families are the Lépidoids, the Lauroids, the Pitt 
donts, the Scléroderms, the Gymnodonts, the Lophobranchs, 
etc. etc. 


1st. Family —LEPIDOIDES, Agass. (Lepidostei, Agass.) 


Teeth crowded (en brosse) in many rows or one only 
range of little obtuse teeth. Scales flat, rhomboidal, 
parallel to the body, which is all covered. Skeleton 
bony. 

A. Body elongated, fusiform ; superior lobe to the caudal 
vertebre longer than the inferior,* all the teeth crowded. 
The genera are, Acanthodes, Catopterus, Amblypterus, Pa- 
leoniscus, t. xii. f. 1. and Osteolepis. 

B. Body flat, and large: 

lst. Superior lobe to the caudal vertebra. The genera 
are, Platysomus, and Gyrolepis. 

2d. Tail regular : the genera are Teragonolepis, Dapedius. 
- C. Body elongated, fusiform ; tail forked or round ; genera 
are, Semionotus, Lepidotus, Pholidophorus, Microps, and 
Notagogus. 


* This gives the peculiar obliquity to the base of the caudal fin 
observed in figs. 1 and 2, plate 12. M. Agassiz has observed that this 
obliquity depending on the proportional development of the upper 
and under appohyses of the vertebra, is confined to the fossil fishes 
of the coal formation. Those species in which the obliquity is most 
prominent, have lived at the most remote period of the coal formation, 
and from thence the peculiarity gradually diminishes as we ascend in 
the series of strata up to the chalk formation, where it is no longer 
observed in the fossil fishes of that period.—Ep. 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 339 


3 
2nd. Fam.—SAUROIDES, Agass. 


Teeth conical, pointed, alternating with tufts of little teeth, 
scales flat, rhomboidal, parallel to the body, which is all 
covered. Skeleton bony. . 

A. Body elongated, fusiform; superior lobe of the caudal 
vertebre longer than the inferior; Pygopterus. t. xii. f. 2. 
Acrolepis. © 

B. Body elongated, fusiform, caudal regular. Ptycholepis 
Sauropsis, Pachycormus, Thrissops, Ureus, Leptolepis, 
Megalurus, and Macropoma. 

C. Body very elongate, cylindrical; caudal regular; jaws 
prolonged. Saurostomus and Aspidorhynchus. 


8rd. Fam.—PYCNODONTES, Agass. 

Teeth a little flattened or round, in many ranges, scales 
flat, rhomboidal, parallel to the body, which is all covered. 
Skeleton bony, body flat, large. Placodus. Spharodus. 
Pycnodus. t. xii. f. 3. Gyrodus and Microdon. 


4th. Fam.—_SCLERODERMES, Cuv. 

Palatine arch immovable; muzzle prominent, armed 
with some distinct teeth. Scales flat, and formed in large 
rhomboidal or polygonal plates placed obliquely to the body, 
which is all covered. Skeleton fibrous, but little ossified. 
Ostracion. 


5th. Fam.—_GYMNODONTES, Cuv. 
Palatine arch immovable; jaws covered with an ivory 
sheath formed by the union of teeth. Scales raised to points 
or hooks. Skeleton fibrous, ossification slight. Diodon. 


6th. Fam.—LOPHOBRANCHES, Cuv. 
Branchies united. in little round tufts. Body elongate, 
angular, covered with angular plates; muzzle tubular, ter- 
minating by little thin jaws. Skeleton osseous. 
These are the leading groups of one of the orders of 
M. Agassiz, which is placed at the head of the class of 


340 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


Fishes, because of their being very distinct from the families 
which now predominate. : : 

Of the families ot this order, some are composed of living 
Fishes, as the Goniodonts, Agass. the Siluroids, Cuv. and 
the Accipenser, Agass.; but the great bulk of the species 
composing the order are extinct; and are found throughout 
all the geological formations, from the coal measures up- 
wards. M. Agassiz found but one single fragment, which 
could be referred to any of the species of this order in beds 
anterior to the coal formation. To take the families as 
they stand in the preceding synopsis, all the genera of 
the family Leriporps are found in beds anterior to the 


Jurasic formation,* and have no representative species now 


existing on the earth. The family consists of 11 genera, 
as already enumerated; of the first of these, namely Acan- 
thodes, one species is found in the coal formation at Saar- 
bruck. Of the 2d genus Catopterus, four species are found 
in the slates of Caithness.. Of the 3d genus Amblypterus, 
Agass., one species is found at Ceara in the Brazils, and 
four in the coal formation at Saarbruck. 

Of the genus Palewoniscus, Agass., six species are found 
in the coal formation; one in the coal formation of America 
at Sunderland in Massachussets, and Westfield in Connecti- 
cut, and five in that of Europe, chiefly at Munster-Appel, 
and at Muse near Autun ; three are found in the Zechstein+ 


* This is the foreign equivalent of our English Oolite, which, on the 
continent assumes a calcareous character, and constitutes the principal 
formation of the Jura mountains. The Ooliie occupies an intermediate 
position between the chalk and New Red Sandstone formations.—Ep. 

+ The Zechstein is the German equivalent of the English magnesian 
limestone, it forms the lowest series of the New Red System, and rests 
immediately on the coal measures.—vide Cal. Journ. Nat. Hist. vol. i. 
p. 45. ; 

It is necessary to refer to these synonyms in order to show how 
the fossil fishes of the same gencra are always found in the same 
groups of strata, in whatever part of the world they oceur.—-Ep. 


~ . r a ‘ 
SS Ss OO eee) a 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 341 


near Mansfeld, and one in the magnesian limestone of Eng- 
land at East-Thickley. All the species of this genus which 
are found in the coal measures M. Agassiz remarks, have 
their scales smooth; and those spor the Zechstein, have 
them striated. 

Of the 5th genus, Pistyeomis, Agass. four species are 
found in the Zechstein of Mansfeld, three in the magnesian 
limestone of England, and three species of a closely allied 
subgenus Gyrolepis, Agass., are found in the arsed 
of Lunéville and Schwenningen. 

The-6th-genus, Tetragonolepis, Bronn, affords six species 
from the lias of Lyme Regis and other parts of England, 
and Neidingen and Seefeld on the continent, and one spe- 
cies from the inferior oolite at Caen. With regard to this. 
genus, the bituminous slates of Seefeld were formerly refer- 
red to what were called transition rocks, but M. Agassiz be- 
lieves them, from the nature and structure of the F’ossil Fish- 
es which they contain, to be more recent than the Jurasic 
deposits, and even posterior to the chalk. 

The 7th genus, Dapedius, De la Bech. contains two 
species, one from the lias, and another from an undescribed 
Jurasic structure. 

The 8th genus, Semionotus, Agassiz, affords four species, 
one from the Brazils, its geognostic position unknown, two 
from the lias in Switzerland and England, and one from 
the Keuper,+ or the coarse lias of Coburg in Saxony. 


* Muschelkalk is a limestone which is wanting or absent in the Eng- 
lish New Red Sandstone, but which belongs to that age. Its geognostic 
position is intermediate between the saliferous marls and the next lower 
group of English strata called Red Sandstone and quartzose conglome- : 
rate; vid. Murchison’s Sil. ane p. 80. and Calcutta Jour. Nat. Hist. vol. 
i. p. 20.—Ep. 

+ Keuper, Marnes irisees of the French, are foreign synonyms of cer- 
tain beds of the English saliferous marls, or upper beds of the New Red 
Sandstone; vid. Murch. Sil. Syst., p. 26. and Calcutta Jour. Nat. Hist. 
vol, i. p, 20, 45.—Ep. 


342 Recherches eur ice. Péiosons Fessiles. 


The 9th genus, Lepidotus, Agass., contains fourteen spe- 
cies, four of which are from the lias near Boll in Switzerland, 
Seefeld and Wirtemberg on the continent, and Northampton 
and other places in England ; two from Jurasic limestone ; 
the remainder are from the Green Sand of Hastings and’ 
Tilgate forest in England, and the Morea; and Portland 
rocks, and one from the Calcaire Grossier* of Paris. 

The 10th genus, Pholidophorus, Agass., affords five spe- 
cies, four of which aré stated by M. Agassiz to be from the 
lias of Lyme Regis, and three from that of Seefeld, and 
the fifth from the Zechstein of Sohlenhosen, and the frag- 
ment of a sixth species has been found in the lias of 
Oberland. 

The 11th genus, Microps, Agass., consists of a single spe- 
cies in the lias of Seefeld. 

The 12th genus, Notagogus, contains three species; two 
found at Naples, and one in the Zechstein of Sohlenhosen. 

The genera composing the Saurorps, or second family of 
the Ganoids, like those we have just gone over, have nothing 
corresponding with them in the: present creation. Those 
in which the superior lobe of the caudal vertebre is elon- 
gated, lived anterior to the Jurasic deposits, being found in 
underlying, and those in which the caudal is uniform, existed 
afterwards, being found in overlying, rocks. 

Of the Ist genus, Pygopterus, Agassiz, one species be- 
longs to the coal formation, and is found at Saarbruck; two 
are found in the Zechstein of Mansfeld, Nendershausen, 
Riegelsdorf, and Muse near Autun; and a fourth in the mag- 
nesian limestone of East Thickley. 

The 2d genus, Acrolepis, Agassiz, contains but a single 
species from the magnesian limestone of East Thickley, and 


* The Calcaire Grossier is a tertiary formation “exhibiting the first 
dawn of the existing state of the animal creation,” with, as in the pre- 
sent instance, some of the last traces of an earlier creation. It is*placed 
next above the plastic clay.—Ep. ° 


Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 343 


the 3td genus also consists of but one known species, the 
remains of which are found in the lias of Boll in Switzerland. 
The 4th genus, Sauropsis, comprises but two establish- 
ed species : one from the Zechstein of Sohlenhosen, the other 
from the lias. of Wirtemberg and Baden. The 5th genus, 
Pachycormus, Agassiz, affords three species, one from. Soh- 
‘Jenhosen, and two from the lias of Beaune in Bourgoyne 
and Wirtemberg. The 6th genus, Thrissops, Agassiz, two 
from Sohlenhosen, and one of a Jurasic structure, but lo- 
cality unknown. The 7th genus, Ureus, Agassiz; con- 
sists of five species, all from the Zechstein of Sohlenhosen ; 
the 8th genus Leptolepis, Agassiz, consists of seven species, 
of which four are from the lias of various parts of Europe, and 
two from Sohlenhosen. The 9th genus, Megalurus, Agas- 
siz, is founded on a single species found at Sohlenhosen. 
The 10th genus, Saurostomus, is founded also on a single 
species from the lias; and of the llth genus, Aspidor- 
hynchus, Agassiz, one is from the lias, and two species from 
Zechstein of Sohlenhosen. ie 
The 3rd family, or Pycnoponrts, like the two preceding 
families, has no one representative in the present creation. 
hose genera in which the superior spines of the caudal 
vertebra are elongated, causing a corresponding elongation. 
in the upper lobe of the caudal extremity, are anterior to the 
Jura deposits. The first genus of this family, Placodus| 
Agassiz, embraces two species, one from the Muschelkalk 
at Bayreuth, and one from the Grés Bigarré at Deux Points. 
Of the 2nd genus, Spharodus, Agassiz, one is found in 
Zechstein at Sohlenhosen; one above the Jura formation; 
two in the chalk formation; and two in the tertiary beds 
at Aix and Lonjameau respectively. ‘The third genus 
Gyrodus, Agassiz, comprises five species ; two of which are 
found in the upper Jura rocks ; one in the chalk of Caen and 
at Baden, and one in the Speeton clay, Yorkshires and one 
locality unknown. The fourth genus, Microdon. AgasstZ, 


344 Recherches sur les Poissons Fossiles. 


comprises four species all from Sohlenhosen. The fifth 
genus, Pycnodus, Agass., contains one species from the mid- 
dle Jura, Yorkshire, and Normandy; four from the chalk of 
Caen, Belgium, Kent, Maestricht, &c.; two from Mount 
Bolca; and one from the Green Sand of Tilgate forest. 

The 4th family Gymnoponts, Cuvier, is composed of ge- 
nera of the present creation, only one species being found 
in a fossil state. 

The 5th family, Scteroperms, Cuvier, affords no in- 
stance of extinct genera, and like the last, but a single in- 
stance of extinct species. 

The 6th family, LorHoprancus, affords no fossil ge- 
nus, and but two extinct species. 

Thus the Ist order of Fishes affords six families, the three 
first of which are composed entirely of extinct genera, of which 
above 120 species have already been described and figured 
by M. Agassiz. The remaining families afford no instance 
of an extinct genus, and but few of extinct species, even 
in the newest and most superficial covering of the earth. 

The extinct genera would thus seem to be almost as nu- 
merous and diversified as the living; and appear to indicate 
amongst themselves several distinct creations, in as much as 
those forms which are found in the old Red Sand stone, do 
not exist in the rocks of the coal formation; while those 
which lived during the period of the coal formation, gradual- 
ly became extinct, and gave place to others which flourished 
for a time, and in their turn also finally became extinct 
during the Oolitic formation. These were followed by other 
forms whose remains extend throughout the chalk. Still 
more recent creations, approximating more to the charactér 
of existing forms, are entombed in tertiary formations, and‘i it 
is only in the newest tertiary or most superficial layers of the 
present stirface, that the remains of existing genera are 
found. 

| (To be continued.) 


345 


Faraday's Experimental Researches in Electricity.. By 
Lieut. R. B. Sutru, Bengal Engineers. 


(Third and Fourth Series. } 


From the very commencement of his Researches, Fara- 
day appears to have formed the most comprehensive idea of 
- the conclusions to which they were destined to conduct him, 
and it is evident from many internal evidences, that the 
- ground-plan (so to speak) of his labours, was apprehended 
by him in so clear and distinct a manner, that from the first, 
his mind refused to be satisfied with leaving even the slight- 
est obstacle that would interfere with the perfect symmetry 
of the structure he contemplated raising, unremoved. 

In accordance with this state of feeling, he undertakes 
the laborious train of research, detailed in his third series, 
to satisfy himself of the identity of electricities derived from 
different sources, since, to employ his own words, the pro-. 
gress of the electrical researches he had the honour to pre- 
sent to the Royal Society, had brought him to .a point, at 
which it was essential for the farther prosecution of his in- 
quiries that no doubt should remain as to the identity, or 
distinction of electricities excited by different means. Nor 
was this a step of minor importance, for although an im- 
pression favourable to such identity certainly did ‘exist in 
the mind of the generality of scientific men, it was vague 
and indistinct, and had no sound claim to admission among 
established scientific truths; doubts of different kinds and 
in different degrees being over the question, and even up to 
the date of the publication of Faraday’s third ‘series, and 
in the number of the Philosophical Transactions immedi- 
ately preceding that in which it was published, efforts had 
been made by distinguished electricians to establish dis- 
tinctions between electricities derived from different sources. 
To have left the question undecided would therefore have 

2Y 


346 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


placed Faraday in the position of a general advancing into 
a new region, and leaving a strong post unsubdued in his 
rear, by which the integrity of his movements would have 
been destroyed, and the prospects of his ultimate success 
rendered unsatisfactory, because uncertain. In a spirit of 
the soundest policy, however, he delayed his advance until 
the obstacle in question had been satisfactorily removed 
from his path, and of the means adopted by him to this end, 
we may now proceed to give a rapid sketch. 

The various phenomena exhibited by Electricity may, for 
‘the purpose of comparison, be arranged with two divisions; 
namely, those connected with electricity of tension, or what 
we may venture to call, statical electricity, and those con- 
nected with electricity in motion, or dynamical electricity. 
The effects of the first, at rest, are either attraction or re- 
pulsion at sensible distances; of the second, Ist evolution 
of: heat; 2nd magnetism; 3rd chemical decomposition ; 
4th physiological effects; 5th spark. The mode of pro- 
ceeding adopted by Faraday was to compare electricities 
from different sources by their power of producing these 
effects, and in the event of identity of effect being establish- 
ed, he was, of course, warranted in inferring identity of 
cause. 

The first step was to ascertain in how far voltaic electri- 
city corresponded in its effects to the standard above ad- 
verted to, and as it is well known that the discharge of 
ordinary electricity through air by means of points, its 
transmission through highly rarefied air, and also through 
heated air, as for instance a flame, are effects due to its 
state of high tension, similar effects were sought for with 
voltaic electricity under the same circumstances; the deflec- 
tion of the galvanometer, or the occurrence of chemical de- 
composition being employed as the tests of the passage of 
the electricity. On endeavouring, however, to procure indi- 
cations of a discharge by means of very fine points carefully 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 347 


arranged and approximated both in air and in an exhausted 
receiver, from a battery of 140 pairs of plates, which was 
capable of deflecting the gold leaf electrometer about one- 
third of an inch, no such indications could by any possibility 
be obtained. In this result, however, there was found to be 
_ no discordance between ordinary and voltaic electricity, since 
when a Leyden jar was charged so as to produce a deflec- 
tion of the electrometer equal to that mentioned above, the 
points were found equally unable to discharge it with such 
effect as to produce either magnetic or chemical effects. 
Hence then, the influence of points proves in so far identity, 
instead of difference, between common and voltaic electrici- 
ties. : 

Heated air was then employed as a means of discharging 
the electricity of the battery, and the clearest evidence of 
the passage of the fluid between the two platinum points 
terminating the apparatus employed, was obtained, both by 
chemical decomposition and magnetic influence. The in- 
stantaneous charging of a Leyden jar, by the application to 
a battery is another decisive proof of the tension of voltaic 
electricity. 

In motion, the electricity of the battery produces all the 
effects mentioned in the standard of comparison, and its 
powers of evolving heat and magnetism, of producing che- 
mical decomposition, physiological effects, and a brilliant 
spark—the most brilliant indeed that man can obtain, by 
artificial means—are familiar to all. It satisfies therefore 
in the most complete manner, the various conditions of the 
comparison. 

' Before proceeding to the examination of ordinary electri- 
city, Faraday considers it necessary to define certain expres- 
sions, which subsequently come much into use. These are 
first, the term current, by which he understands any thing 
progressive, whether it be a fluid of electricity, or two fluids’ 
moving in opposite directions, or merely vibrations ; or speak- 


348 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


ing more generally still, progressive forces. And second, 
the term arrangement, by which is understood a local adjust- 
ment of particles or fluids, or forces not progressive. 

These definitions premised, ordinary electricity now comes 
under consideration ; and in regard to its tension, little more 
is necessary than the simple statement of its existence, since 
the effects due to it, are among the fundamental and most 
familiar of the science. The attractions and repulsions exhi- 
bited by it are identical in kind, though different in degree, 
with those exhibited between the two poles of the voltaic bat- 
tery, and it is quite unnecessary to dwell longer on the point. 

The heating power of common electricity, when passed 
through wires or other substances, is perfectly well known. 

Until Faraday examined the subject, the magnetic power 
of ordinary electricity was by no means distinctly establish- 
ed, and the experiments of M. Colladon, of Geneva, on the 
point, were not received as decisive in consequence of their 
being accompanied by certain suspicious circumstances. 
The magnetic power of an electric current appearing to de- 
pend on time being allowed for its action, it was necessary 
to devise some means by which the almost instantaneous 
transmission of ordinary electricity should be checked, and 
the intensity of the charge reduced within manageable li- 
mits without the quantity being affected. To the retard- 
ing power of bad conductors, Faraday first looked, with 
the hope of producing this result, and combining this power, 
with the influence of a discharging train of enormous extent, 
being -nothing less than the entire fabric of the metallic 
gas and water-pipes of the city of London, he succeeded 
perfectly in throwing the discharge of ordinary electricity 
into the form of a current, and then found, in full accordance 
with his expectations, that it possessed magnetic influence 
equal to that of a voltaic current of the same intensity. 
Deflections of the galvanometer were readily produced by 
discharging a Leyden jar through a wet thread about four. 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 349 


‘feet long, connected with the discharging train, and these 
_ deflections were in the same directions that would have 
resulted from the transmission of a voltaic current under 
similar circumstances; 7. e. the positively charged surface 
of the electric battery, coincided with the positive end of 
the voltaic apparatus, and the negative surface of the former 
with the negative end of the latter. Varying considerably 
the conditions of his experiments, Faraday found as the ge- 
neral result, ‘‘ that a current of common electricity, whether 
transmitted through water or metal, or rarefied air, or by 
means of points in common air, is still able to deflect the 
needle; the only requisite being, apparently, to allow time 
for its action; that it is, in fact, just as magnetic in every 
respect as a voltaic current, and that in this character there- 
fore, no distinction existed.” 

From the magnetic, transition is made to the chemical 
powers of ordinary electricity, and by a very ingenious and 
delicate series of experiments, the ability of the current to 
produce decomposition is very decisively and distinctly es- 
tablished. The decomposing power of electricity of the 
machine had been previously investigated by Dr. Wollaston, 
and although he furnished the strongest evidence in favour 
of this, his opinion was not received with confidence, because 
it was discovered that one of his leading experiments was 
erroneous. In this experiment, water was decomposed by 
passing a current of ordinary electricity through very fine 
wires, the points of which were guarded with glass coverings, 
so that only a mere section of the wires was exposed and 
immersed in the water; but it was observed, that from each 
pole or wire both cxygen and hydrogen were evolved; a 
violation of the well-established law of electric decomposi- 
tion which proved, in the most decisive manner, that the 
effect observed was not due to its operation. 

By employing paper moistened by various decomposable 
solutions, and connected with the electrical machine 


350 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


through the discharging train, Faraday obtained the am- 
plest evidence of the chemical influence of the current. Sul- 
phate of copper, iodide of potassium, sulphate of soda, &c. 
&c. were rapidly decomposed, so that no doubt could re- 
main that voltaic and ordinary electricity had power of 
chemical decomposition alike in their nature, and governed 
by the same law of arrangement. 

Atmospheric electricity being admitted universally to be 
of the same nature as ordinary electricity, instances of che- 
mical decomposition by the former, furnish proofs of a like 
power belonging to the latter. Of these Faraday alludes to 
several, and especially to an experiment by Mr. Barry, in 
which two tubes, having wires passing through each closed 
end, as is common for voltaic decompositions, were employ- 
ed. The tubes were filled with solution of sulphate of 
soda, coloured with syrup of violets, and connected by a 
portion of the same solution in the ordinary manner; the 


wire in one tube was connected by a gilt thread with the . 


string of an insulated electrical kite, and the wire in the other 
tube by a similar gilt thread with the ground. Hydrogen 
soon appeared in the tube connected with the kite, and 
oxygen in the other, and in ten minutes the liquid in the 
first tube was green from the alkali evolved, and that in the 
other red, from the free acid produced. There are several 
doubtful points connected with this experiment, some of its 
details being with difficulty reconcilable with others; and 
Faraday remarks of it, “ Mr. Barry's experiment is a very 
important one to repeat and verify. If confirmed, it will 
be, as far as I am aware, the first recorded case of true 
electro-chemical decomposition of water by common electri- 
city, and it will supply a form of electrical current, which, 
both in quantity and intensity, is exactly intermediate with 
those of the common electrical machine and the voltaic pile.” 

With regard to magneto-electricity, the next form that 
comes under notice, the experimental effects obtained by it, 


Pd 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 351 


conform fully to the standard. The attractions and repul- 
sions due to a state of tension are-readily exhibited; the 
evolution of heat has been distinctly indicated ; magnetic 
effects led to the original discovery of this form of electri- 
city; chemical decompositions have been effected by M. 
Pixii and M. Hatchette, after repeated failures on Faraday’s 
part; physiological effects have been produced; and the 
feeble spark at first obtained has since been varied and 
‘strengthened by Nobili, Antinori, and others, so as to 
leave no doubt of its identity with the common electric 
spark. 

At the period of the publication of the third series, in 
January 1833, certain experimental effects had not been 
produced with thermo-electricity, but prior to the publica- 
tion of the collected researches in the volume now under 
review, these vacancies had been supplied, so that with the 
exception of the indications of tension, this form agrees 
fully with the others. ‘ Only those effects are weak or de- 
ficient that depend upon a high degree of intensity: and if 
common electricity be reduced in that quality to a similar 
degree with the thermo-electricity, it can produce no effect 
beyond the latter.” 

The extraordinary physiological effects produced by the 
gymnotus and torpedo, are well known to depend on the 
power of evolving electricity, on contact, possessed by these 
singular animals ; and relative to the identity of animal with 
other forms of electricity, Faraday remarks, ‘ After an ex- 
amination of the experiments of Walsk, Ingenhouz, Caven- 
dish, Sir H. Davy, and Dr. Davy, no doubt remains on 
my mind as to the identity of the electricity of the torpedo 
with common and voltaic electricity: and I presume that 
so little will remain on the minds of others, as to justify my 
refraining from entering at length into the philosophical 
proofs of that identity. The doubts raised by Sir H. 


' Davy have been removed by his brother, Dr. Davy: the 


— 352 Experimental Researches in Electricity, 


results of the latter being the reverse of those of the 
former.” 

With the exception of tension, animal electricity exhibits 
all the experimental effects due to the influence of the other 
forms of electricity. Heat has been evolved, deflections of 
the needle produced, true chemical decomposition display- 
ed, and the spark distinctly observed, by using the current 
derived from the gymnotus and torpedo. “ In concluding 
this summary of the powers of torpedinal electricity,” Fa- 
raday remarks, “I cannot refrain from pointing out the 
enormous absolute quantity of electricity which the animal 
must put in circulation at each effort. It is doubtful whe- 
ther any common electrical machine has as yet been able to 
supply electricity sufficient in a reasonable time to cause true 
electro-chemical decomposition of water, yet the current 
from. the torpedo has done it. The same high proportion 
is shewn by the magnetic effects. These circumstances in- 
dicate ‘that the torpedo has power, (in the way probably 
that Cavendish describes) to continue the evolution for a 
sensible time, so that its successive discharges rather resem- 
ble those of a voltaic arrangement, intermitting in its action, 
than those of a Leyden apparatus, charged and discharged 
"many times in succession. In reality, however, there is no 
philosophical difference between these two cases.” 

The general inference to be drawn from the collection of 
facts made by Faraday, is undoubtedly that electricity, what- 
ever may be its source, is identical in its nature. The phe- 
nomena in the five kinds spoken of, differ in degree, not in 
character; and in that respect vary in proportion to the va- 


riable circumstances of quantity and intensity, which can | 


at pleasure be made to change in almost any one of the kinds 
of electricity, as much as it does between one kind and an- 
other. 

Before leaving this branch of the subject, Faraday gives 
a table, which, as furnishing in epitome, all the evidence for 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 353 
the entire identity of electricity, whencesoever derived, we 
shall transcribe here: premising, that the effects obtained at 
the original publication of the series under ngtice, are 
marked by an oblique, those obtained subsequently by a 
vertical cross. 


Table of the experimental effects common to the Electricities derived from 
different sources. 


Ee e ie2[* 2 
‘hp @ 3} 2 co] iS S|, 
28igsloesl el (ess-3) hx 
Seiesplsca bord tn SIisasl* a 
eol2s|Ps| eis | S18 eis— 
Pla | a 2 iOS le ' ° 
SSleh ls "| |$ Sie SiS Fi ga 
a Gc & = 1A 
X, ‘peer wae eee 
1. Voltaic electricity,  ...... SORT SST Se SCT. Ser SEA E SGE TBE 
2. Common electricity, ......) x | x |x |xixIf|xi]x |x 
3. Magnets electricity, ......) x°-| x | x | x |x |x |x 
4. Thermo electricity, ......) x |x | +i] +i1+] +. 
5. Animal electricity, ..../ x | xi|xi+i+!x 


‘It thus appears that only five spaces remain unmarked, 


two under atiraction and repulsion, and three under dis- 


charge by hot air; bat although these effects have not yet 

been obtained, it is a necessary conclusion that they must 

be possible, since the spark corresponding to them has been 

observed. For when a discharge across cold air can occur, 
that intensity which is the only essential additional requi- 

site for the other effects must be present. 

Having fully satisfied his own mind as to the identity of 
electricities, Faraday next endeavoured to procure a com- 
mon measure of the electricity excited by the machine and 
that derived from the voltaic pile, not only for the purpose 
of still farther confirming their identity, but also of demon- 
strating certain general principles, and creating an extension 
of the means of investigating and applying the chemical 


power of this wonderful and subtile agent. 
24 


354 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


His first object was to determine whether the same abso- 
lute quantity of ordinary electricity sent through a galvano- 
meter under different circumstances, would cause the same 
deflection of the needle. A battery of eight jars was first em- 
ployed, and was charged by thirty turns of a common ma- 
chine, this charge was sent through a galvanometer to 
which an arbitrary scale, each division of which measured 
4°, was attached, a thick wet string, about 10 inches in 
length, being included in the circuit. The needle was im- 
mediately deflected 5} divisions. 

Fifteen jars were next employed, and charged with pre- 
cisely the same absolute quantity of electricity as in the 
first experiment, namely, that derived from thirty turns of 
the machine, and on discharge being made, as before, the 
needle was deflected to precisely the same point as in the 
former instance. The experiments were varied in different 
ways, and the current was materially altered in intensity, al- _ 
though continuing constant in quantity ; yet it appeared that 
in all, the deflection of the needle was the same. Hence 
then the interesting general conclusion arrived at was, that 
if the same absolute quantity of electricity pass through the 
galvanometer, whatever may be its intensity, the deflecting 
force upon the magnetic needle is the same. 

An effort was then made to establish a ratio between the 
quantity of electricity and the deflecting force, and although 
the experiment was not quite decisive, still, Faraday consi- 
dered it highly probable, that the deflecting force of an 
electric current is directly proportional to the absolute quan- 
tity of electricity passed, at whatever intensity that current 
may be. The same inference is supported by an experiment 
of Drs. Ritchie and Harris, which has proved the same law 
to obtain in the case of the heating powers of an electric 
current, 

The next point was to obtain a voltaic arrangement pyo- 
ducing an effect exactly cqual to that just alluded to, and it 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 355 


was found, after several preliminary arrangements, that a 
zinc and a platinum wire, each an eighteenth of an inch in 
diameter, fixed in a support five-sixteenths of an inch apart, 
and immersed in a solution consisting of one drop of strong 
sulphuric acid in four ounces of distilled water, and retained 
in it during eight beats of a watch that gave one hundred 
and fifty in a minute, produced a deflection of exactly 5} 
divisions of the scale. Hence then it appeared that a 
voltaic circuit, consisting of these two small wires was capa- 
ble of producing in jth of a minute a current of electri- 
city equal in deflecting power to that derived from thirty 
turns of the large machines ; and by extending the experiments 
to chemical power also, the same standard arrangement. was 
found equivalent to the same number of revolutions of - 
the machine. Hence it follows, that the chemical powers, as 
well as the magnetic force, ts in direct proportion to the abso- 
lute quantity of electricity which passes. 

The third series terminates here, and we scarcely know 
which to admire most, the thorough theoretical knowledge 
of the subject displayed, or the inexhaustible experimental 
resources, as delicate and beautiful as they are effective, 
exhibited by Faraday throughout its whole progress. The 
question of the identity of electricities was in a state of 
uncertainty, analogous to that of several other questions in 
physical science, which require the hand of a master to 
resolve them, and in no instance, in the past history of 
science, has greater skill or perseverance ever been brought 
to bear upon such problems, than in that which has now 
been under consideration. Both in the present and in the 
succeeding series, there are indications, feeble however and 
imperfectly developed, of the great principles which were 
opening on Faraday’s mind, and on which he dwells at 
length in the fifth series of the researches. We seem now 
to be like travellers drawing gradually nearer and nearer to 
regions whither silver and gold and precious stones incite 


356 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


our approach, and we are encouraged to proceed by dis. 
cerning occasionally among the comparatively inferior ma- 
terials that bestrew our paths, the sparkle of the rich ore 


that ere long will so abundantly reward our efforts. One 


path more must be traversed before we reach the grand 
object of Faraday’s labours, but happily we shall find much 
that is novel in it, to excite our curiosity, all that is beauti- 
ful in inductive research to gratify our reasoning faculties, 
abundant materials for thought, and to those who love it, 
for speculation also. 

The fourth series of the experimental researches is oc- 
cupied with the development of a new law of electric con- 
duction, and with considerations on conducting power in 
general. “It was during the progress,” says Faraday, “ of 
investigations relating to electro-chemical decomposition 
which [I still have to submit to the Royal Society, that I 
encountered effects due to a very general law of electric 
conduction not hitherto recognised : and though they pre- 
vented me from obtaining the conduction I sought for, they 
afforded abundant compensation for the momentary disap- 
pointment, by the new and important psa which A, 
gave to an extensive part of electrical science.” 

The first indications of this new law, were obtained by 
Faraday while working with ice and the solids resulting 
from the freezing of solutions, and he found that the inter- 
position of the slightest possible film of such solid matter 
between the conducting portions of a voltaic arrangement 
wholly interrupted the power of conduction, however well 
the same body might conduct in its fluid state. 

By an ingenious arrangement of platinum plates in small 
tin vessels filled with water, which was subsequently frozen 
by a mixture of salt and snow, a thin plate of solid ice 
was made to intervene between the tin and the platinum. 


By connecting the tin and platinum respectively with the — 


opposite poles of a voltaic battery, a strong current of elec- 


ea So a ee —" 


Experimental Researches in Eleotricity. 357 


tricity was directed through them, but on reaching the bar- 
rier of ice, it was so effectually checked, that a galvanometer 
introduced within the circuit, was not in the slightest degree 
deflected. ‘The moment, however, that liquefaction took 
place, power of conduction followed, and this power was in- 
variably accompanied by decomposition of the water. 

As it seemed very improbable that this Jaw of the assump- 
tion of conducting power during liquefaction and loss of it 
during congelation would be peculiar to water, Faraday, 
with characteristic earnestness and deep perception of the 
relations of the law indicated, immediately experimented 
on various other bodies of different chemical characters, and 
obtained the most decisive evidence of its general applica- 
bility, and of its right to be considered a true law of the 
phenomena, the first requisite towards a philosophical in- 
vestigation of the cause to which it was due. The various 
substances experimented upon were, 

First. Water. 

Amongst Oxides. Potassa, protoxide of lead, glass of 
antimony, protoxide of antimony, oxide of bismuth, chlorides 
of potassium, sodium, barium, strontium, calcium, magnesium, 
manganese, zinc, copper (proto) lead, tin, (proto) antimony, 
silver. 

Lodides of potassium, zinc, and lead ; protoxide of tin; per- 
iodide of mercury; fluoride of potassium; cyanide of po- 
tassium; sulpho-cyanide of potassium. 

Salts. Chlorate of potassa; nitrates of potassa, soda, 
baryta, strontia, lead, copper, and silver ; sulphates of soda 
and lead; proto-sulphate of mercury; phosphates of po- 
tassa, soda, lead, copper, phosphoric glass, or acid phos- 
phate of lime ; carbonates of potassa and soda, mingled and 
separate: borax, borate of lead, per-borate of tin; chromate 
of potassa, bi-chromate of potassa, chromate of lead; acetate 
of potassa, 


Sulphurets. Sulpburet of antimony, sulphuret of po- 


\ 


358 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


tassium, made by reducing sulphate of potassa by hydrogen; 
ordinary sulphuret of potassa. 

Silicated potassa: chameleon mineral. 

That this list might be enormously extended, Faraday 
has no doubt; but he had not time’to do more than confirm 
the law by a sufficient number of instances. 

Some anomalies occurred, but these, it was anticipated, 
would disappear under more careful experiments, and in a 
later series the point is successfully resumed. The con- 
ducting power gained by the bodies experimented upon was 
very great, ‘water being the feeblest of all, and the oxides 
chlorides, §c., exhibiting it some hundred times higher than 
water. 

“This general assumption of conducting power,” Faraday 
remarks, “‘ by bodies as soon as they pass from the solid to 
the liquid state, offers a new and extraordinary charac- 
ter, the existence of which, as far as I know, has not before 
been suspected ; and it seems importantly connected with 
some properties and relations of the particles of matter, 
which I may now briefly point out. In almost all the in- 
stances,” he continues, ‘‘ as yet observed, which are governed 
by this law, the substances experimented with have been those 
which were not only compound bodies, but such as contain 
elements known to arrange themselves at the opposite poles ; 
and were also such as could be decomposed by the electrical 
current. When conduction took place, decomposition 
occurred; when decomposition ceased, conduction ceased 
also ; and it becomes a fair and an important question, whe- 
ther conduction itself may not, wherever the law holds good, 
be a consequence, not merely of the capability, but of the 
act of decomposition? And that question may be accom- 
panied by another, namely, whether solidification does not 
prevent conduction, merely by chaining the particles to their 
places, under the influence of aggregation, and preventing 
their final separation in the manner necessary for decom- 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 359 
position 2” These two questions contain the genus of that 
electro-chemical theory which is developed in detail in a 
subsequent series; and several anomalies are adverted to by 
Faraday, which he did not remove until a future period. It 
is interesting, however, to remark the dawning of those 
comprehensive views which have wrought an entire revolu- 
tion in chemical science, and to observe how their first 
beginnings were derived from the happy and determined 
working out of an incidental observation, whose importance 
would in all probability have escaped a mind less acute 
than that of Faraday. Such a contemplation of “ the day 
of small things” in science, affords at once a lesson to in- 
struct, and an example to encourage us: it tells us of the 
importance of tracing any unusual result into all its various 
relations and connections; and it brightens.our hopes, by 
shéwing us, how great may be the consequences of assidu- 
ously and perseveringly pursuing this principle, in our 
researches, whatever the nature or field of these may be. 
The law we have been.adverting to, exhibits a singular 
relation between the power of conducting electricity and 
that of conducting heat, and seems to imply a natural de- 
pendence between the two. ‘ As the solid becomes a fluid, 
it loses almost entirely the power of conduction for heat, 
but gains in a high degree that for electricity; but as it 
reverts back to the solid state, it gains the power of con- 
ducting heat, and loses that of conducting electricity. If 
therefore the properties are not incompatible, still they are 
most strongly contrasted; one being lost, as the other is 
gained. We may hope, perhaps, hereafter, to understand 
the physical reason of this very extraordinary relation of the 
two conducting powers, both of which appear to be directly 
connected with the corpuscular condition of the substances 
concerned.” | » dois 
Were we disposed to indulge in speculation, we might 
dwell at some length on the interesting relation these views 


360 Experimental Researches in Electricity. 


,have to certain points of geological science, those, namely, 
“connected with the occurrence of crystallised minerals in 
metamorphic and igneous rocks. That the occurrence of: 
simple minerals in rocks that have been subjected to the 
action of heat, is intimately related to, or perhaps depend- 
ent upon, the action of polar electrical forces, we entertain 
the firmest conviction, although we still require experimental 
evidence to complete the chain of induction in favour of this 
idea, which receives some confirmation from the appearance 
of several natural mineral bodies in the list Faraday gives 
of those he has found to be subject to the new law of con- 
duction he has established. It would occupy, however, too 
. much of our space and time to enter in anv detail on this 
point at present, and as without such detail it would be vain 
to attempt to do justice to it, we prefer passing it by with- 
out farther remark. 

The fourth series is concluded by some general remarks 
' on conduction; and it will suffice for us now to give the sum- 
mary of the conditions of electric conduction in bodies, with 
which Faraday terminates his paper. 

** All bodies conduct electricity in the same manner, from 
metals to lac and gases, but in very different degrees. 

“Conducting power is in some bodies powerfully increased 
by heat, and in others diminished; yet without our perceiv- 
ing any accompanying essential electrical difference either 
in the bodies, or in the changes occasioned by the electri- - 
city conducted. 

« A numerous class of bodies, insulating electricity of low 
tension, when solid, conduct it very freely when fluid, and 
are then decomposed by it. 

But there are many fluid bodies which do not sensibly . 
conduct electricity of this low intensity; there are some 
which conduct it, and are not decomposed ; nor is fluidity 
essential to decomposition. 

“There is but one body yet discovered (per-iodide of mer- 


Experimental Researches in Electricity. 361 


cury) which, insulating a voltaic current when solid, and con- 
ducting it when fluid, is not decomposed in the latter case. 

‘There is no strict electrical distinction of conduction 
which can, as yet, be drawn between bodies supposed to be 
elementary, and those known to be compounds.” 

We have now approached the point to which these prelimi- 
nary researches were subservient, and our next article will 
be devoted to the development of Faraday’s electro-chemi- 
cal theory—a theory not more remarkable for its compre- 
hensiveness, than for its entire consistency of detail, and not 
more happy in its explanation of established phenomena, 
than successful in its predictions of the results of combina- 
tions formed in accordance with its principles. 

May 14th, 1842. 


Remarks on a few Plants from Central India.—By W. 
GrirritH. Esq., F.L.S., Imp. Acad. Nat. Cur. 


The accompanying is a partial account of a few plants, 
kindly presented to me by my friend, Mr. D. Macleod, 
Principal Assistant to the Commissioner, Jubbulpore. Al- 
though their number is very limited, yet as they come from 
the “‘terra incognita” of Central India, and as one un- 
described genus is, I think, found among them, I am in 
hopes that the account may not be altogether devoid of 
interest, more particularly as the notes appended to the spe- 
cimens by Mr. Macleod, are practical and interesting. 

1.—Curcuma. Natural family, Scitamineew, the speci- 
men is without leaves ; its native name is Bun-huldec. 

2.—Ceprea. Natural family, Cedrelacee, so closely re- 
sembling C. Toona, the Toon of India, that I am unwilling 
to attempt to characterise it as distinct: although Mr. 
Macleod says, “ this is a tree which { have only met with 
in a single small Pergunnah, and there in abundance; it is 
called by the natives here the Maha-Nim. It closely resem- 


Ba 


362 Remarks on a few Plants from Central India. + 


bles the Toon, yet I believe it is not the same. Its wood 
is of a pinkish red, but different in tinge from that of the 
Toon.” . 

3.—Bavuuinia Racemosa. Roxburgh’s Fl. Indica, ii. p. 
325. B. Vahlii, Wight, and Arnott’s Prodromus: Fl. Penin- 
sule Orientalis i. p. 297, Natural family, Leguminose. 
The specimens have been gathered without tendrils. 

“* The Mahol or Mohlain; a gigantic creeper, of which 
the bark is extensively used for making twine and rope, be- 
ing very strong, and withstanding the seasons much better 
than Sun or Bakkal. Is this the same as that recently sent 
to the Agricultural and Horticultural Society from the hills, 
through the Government, for experiment and report.”—(Mr. 
Macleod. ) 

The plant is widely diffused, occurring in all the hilly 
parts of the N. W. and N. E. Frontiers, in profusion on. 
the Suvalik Hills. Mr. Royle mentions its being used for 
the manufacture of rope, and Dr. Roxburgh notices its be- 
ing applied to line baskets, and the various packages in use 
among the hill people. 

4. 5.6.—Three species of Natural family, Umbellifere. 
The Tej-raj, Bhoj-raj, Bal-raj, of the natives. 

Mr. Macleod informs me, that the first “ grows in great 
abundance on the Basaltic hills and high lands. There are 
said to be seven different kinds of herbs, commonly called 
the “ seven Rajes,” (Sat-raj, Hindee), of which the roots are 
largely used internally by the natives for restoring strength 
to a debilitated constitution ; of these the most spoken 
of are, Bhoj-raj, Tej-raj, and Bal-raj.” 

Having no knowledge of the very intricate family to which 
these plants belong, their determination requiring an Eu- 
ropean Herbarium, and the specimens being without ripe 
seeds, I do not attempt to name them. Assuming that the 
other four “ Rajes” are equally correctly grouped, we shall ~ 
have at least seven umbelliferous plants indigenous to Cen- . 


Remarks on a few Planis from Central India. 363 


tral India ; a large proportion, and one indicating consider- 
able elevation. 

6. This plant belongs to the Natural family, Verbenacee ; 
it is interesting for being allied to the teak, and to which 
affinity it owes its valuable properties as a timber tree. 
It appears to me unknown to science. 

Hemieymnia.* Calyx infundibuliformis, striatus, 5- 
dentatus. Corolle tubus infundibuliformis ; laciniz 5 (angus- 
ta, tubo duplo longiores.) Stamina 5 aqualia, inclusa. Ova- 
rium, 4-loculare, 4 ovulatum: ovula solitaria, ascendentia. 
Stylus bifidus, rami profunde bipartiti, intus stigmatosi. 
Fructus (immaturus) drupaceus, rostrato-cuspidatus, calyce 
cupuliformi semicinctus. 

Arbor mediocris ; partibus novellis pube ramosa tomen- 
tosis. Folia opposita, cordata, vel cordato-rotundata. In- 
florescentia terminalis, cymoso-corymbosa. Flores congesti, 
in apicibus pedicellorum brevium articulati, mediocres, albi? 

Habitus quodammodo Rottlerz, aspectus florum Lythra- 
ricus, Pemphidis si velis. 

Hemigymnia Macleodii.t 

Habitat: Sylva Jubbulpore vicine, plerumque cum Tec- 
tona consociata. 

Mr. Macleod remarks of this tree, that it is called by the 
natives Dahman or Dahyan, and is abundant in our jungles ; 
it is not to be found at a less distance than from thirty to 
forty miles from Jubbulpore ; it is almost always, if not in 
every case, in association with the teak, but in less quantity 
than that tree. It grows to a considerable size, and has a 
thick stem, not quite so tall as that of the teak, but of great- 
er proportional compass. The wood is remarkable for its 


* In allusion to its half-naked fruit, in contradistinction to that of 


Tectona. 
+ [have named this after its discoverer, oue of the ornaments o1 the 


distinguished service to which he belongs. 


364 Remarks ona few Plants from Central India. ~ 


great strength and elasticity ; its properties appear to re- 
semble those of the lance wood.” 

In answer to my enquiries, whether the timber might be 
introduced to some of the great marts of India, Mr. Macleod 
states : “ Both this and the teak are found on the banks of 
the Nerbudda, and are floated down to Jubbulpore as late 
as the month of December; from hence I apprehend they 
might be floated in the rains, (unless the falls at Bhera 
Ghat should be an insuperable obstacle,) to the sea. The 
wood from above Mandla, however, cannot thus‘reach us, 
as near that place there are falls which form an insuperable 
barrier at all periods. As far as I can judge, I should doubt 
whether the wood, either of this or of the teak, are either in 
size or quantity, sufficient to render them available for gene- 
ral export from this remote locality.” 

This genus appears to me more nearly allied to Tectona 
than to any other of the same natural family: it differs, 
however, abundantly from that genus in its calyx and corolla, 
the not exserted stamina, the division of the styles, and 
half-naked fruit like those of Tectona; its leaves are rough 
from siliceous ( ?) deposits. The other regular-flowered ver- 
benaceous Indian genera, with which it may be necessary 
to contrast it, are Sphenodesme, Symphorema, Callicarpa, 
Hymenopyramis, and perhaps Glossocarya. 

The two first, with Congea, are at once known by their 
remarkable involucrate inflorescence. Callicarpa is dis- 
tinguished by the quaternary number of parts of the calyx 
and corolla, by the exserted stamina, and berried, highly 
coloured or white fruits. Hymenopyramis by the same 
characteristics affecting the calyx, corolla, and stamina; by 
its bilocular ovarium, and by its capsular, 4-valved fruit, 
enclosed in an enlarged scarious four-winged or angled 
calyx. Glossocarya, which varies with quaternary parts, 
will be known by its one-celled ovarium, and its peculiar 
placentation; and by the very remarkable capsular fruit, 


Remarks on a few Plants from Central India. 365 


which separates into 4 valves, with the upper-half of each 
of which, a fourth part of the upper-half of the placenta 
separates. 

Hemigymnia in the remarkable character of divided sim- 
ple styles adds, it appears to me, to those indications of 
affinity with Cordia, furnished by Tectona. 

As neither Hymenopyramis, nor Glossocarya, have been 
yet, so far as I know, described; but on the contrary are 
placed “ ad calcem familie” in Dr. Lindley’s Introduc- 
tion to the Natural Orders, I subjoin characters of both.* 

Hymenopyramis, Wall. Calyx 4-dentalus. Corolla sub- 
infundibuliformis, subregularis, 4-partita. Stamina 4 exserta. 
Ovarium biloculare; ovula cujusgue loculi, 2. pendula, Sty- 
lus exsertus. Stygma bifidum. Capsula calyce ampliato 4- 
gono, 4-alato inclusa, dicresile 4-valvis; placenta libera, 
bipartibilis. Semina pendula, (exalbuminosa.) 

Frutex subscandens, ramis elongatis, tamulis fructigeris 
brachiatis. Folia opposita, ovato-lanceolata subintegra, sub- 
tus tomento brevi albida. Cyme avillares et termin: ‘es. Flor¢ s 
subumbellati, congesti, albi, parvi. Ovarium glabrius-aitum, 
apice glandulosum. Pedicelli fructuum elongati, capillucei. — 
Capsula pilosa, glandulis sessilibus luteis fragrantibus in- 
persa. 

Hymenopyramis brachiata, Wall. Catal. No. 774. 

I have seen this plant in the Serampore Botanical gar- 
den, but the above description is taken from dried speci- 
mens communicated’ by Dr. Wallich. 

* This leads me to remark, that it is curious that genera referred to 
their places by Dr. Wallich without doubt, should be viewed with such 
doubt as to be registered “ ad calcem familie.” Auneslea, an undovbt- 
ed Ternstrzemiacious Plant, is even placed “ad calcem regni.”’ I might 
extend the remark to some of Jack’s Plants, such as Eurycoma, which 
he referred to Connaracee with strict proj iety, as it appears .o me. 

_ Both these Botanists deserve to have more confidence placed in their 
determinations, more particularly “ack, who appears to be a masi’y 
of description, and of very correct views of affinities. 


7 bd 
366 Remarks on a few Plants from Central India. 


The genus appears to me to partake of the characters of 
Callicarpa, and to a certain extent of those of Tectona. 

Gtossocarya, Wall. Calyx infundibelliformis, 4-5 den- 
talus. Corolla subhypocrateriformis (tubo cylindraceo gracili,) 
4-5 partita, laciniis subequalibus. Stamina 4-5, exserta- 
Ovarium 1,—loculare (!) placente bilamellate, lamellis recur. 
vato-incurvatis ; ovula 4, pendulo-appensa. Stylus filiformis, 
exsertus. Stigma bifidum, Capsula (semi-exserta) 4-valvis ; 
valva queque cum placente parte supera seminifera sece- 
dens. Placente pars inferior, libera, persistens. Semina. 

Frutex cano-pubescens. Folia cordato-ovata, Flores parvi, 
in corymbis terminalibus congesti. Corymbi fructus magis 
expansi. Capsule pilose, ascendentes, secunde. Valve se- 
mina basialata simulantes. 

Glossocarya mollis, Wall. Catal. No. 1741. 

Hab. Rupes calcaree ad speluncas Demithawt editas flu- 
minis attran, provincia Molmain, regni Burmanni, (No. 305, 
of a small Molmain collection, sent home several years ago.) 

The ovarium, unless I have mistaken its structure, is one- 

celled from want of cohesion between the placente, which 
do meet in the axis. The placentation is much like that of 
some Cyrtandree, it is, however only to be considered as the 
maximum amount of a placentation of common occurrence in 
Verbenacee. 
- The separation of the fourth part of the upper-half of the 
placenta, (in which the abortive ovula are to be found,) with 
each valve of the capsule appears to me remarkable, espe- 
cially when taken into consideration with the integrity of the 
lower part of the same organ. It is, perhaps, a curious way 
of adhering to the nucamentaceous dehiscence, character- 
istic of many genera of the family. 

The above descriptions are only to be considered as tem- 
porary; they are only given to assist such Indian botanists 
as have had no access to the plants, which they are intended 


y 


to charactcrise. F 


Remarks on a few Plants from Central India. — 367 


There are few Indian families in greater need of revision 
than Verbenacee, the characters of which require to be 
much enlarged. Even in so late a work as the Scrophu- 
larineze Indice of Mr. Bentham, the incomplete characters 
of a fruit, which is indehiscent and an ovarium divided 
into uniovulate cells, are given as affording “‘ more decided” 
marks of distinction from Scrophularinee. For the present, 
I have only to remark that Selaginez are not absolutely dis- 
tinguished from Verbenacee by their unilocular anthers; 
such a structure, (even were it sufficient for the foundation 
of a distinct family,) appearing to exist in some Verbenacee, 
allied to Clerodendrum ; which genus may perhaps be consi- 
dered as the type of the tamily. 

And as connected with Indian Verbenacez, I may add that 
Corysanthera, referred to that family with doubt by Dr. 
Wallich, belongs to that section of Gesneree, described by 
Jack as a distinct family under the name Cyrtandracex.* 

The last specimen I have to notice, is a fragment of a 
Ceropegia, of the natural family Asclepiadee. Of this Mr. 
Macleod, says, ‘‘ The Bagaia Kanda is a tuber exceeding- 
ly resembling the Blatce, which I consequently imagine may 
be perhaps rendered by culture a valuable addition to our 
esculent vegetables, especially as it appears to come to 
maturity in May. I have accordingly transferred a few 
plants of it to my own garden for experiment. The basal- 
tic, however, is it native soil, and I find it sickens in the 
light siliceous soil, which composes our gardens here.” 

As Mr. Macleod has in the most obliging manner pro- 
mised to communicate to me a more general collection, I 
hope before long to send you further notices regarding the 
vegetation of Mr. Macleod’s district. From all that I could 
learn during a short visit to Jubbulpore, it would appear to 
include table lands, 5 or 6,000 feet above the level of the 
sea, and possessing a very moist climate. 

Malacca, June 10, 1842. 


* Lin. Trans, vol. xiv. p. 25, 


368 


Experiments on the Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 
By Lieut. R. Bair Suita, Bengal Engineers. 
. [Continued from p. 264, vol. iii.] 


Section IIf.—On the Magnetic Influence of Solar Light, 
transmitted through different coloured Media.* 


The only experiments on this branch of the subject of 
Solar Magnetism with which I am acquainted, are those due 
to Mrs. Somerville ; but as far as I have, up to the present 
time, been able to ascertain, only two coloured Media, namely 
green and blue, were employed by her, and both with suc- 
cess. Needles exposed to the sun for three or four hours, 
under a glass coloured blue by cobalt, were found to have 
had imparted to them a feeble, but none-permanent, mag- 
netism; and in subsequent experiments, by éxtending the 
period of exposure to six hours, a very distinct degree of 
Magnetism was acquired and permanently retained. Green 
glass was also tried, and was found to admit of the passage 
of magnetic rays; and needles suspended behind a window 
pane, half covered with blue and green riband, were found 
to have been equally strongly magnetised as when coloured 
glass itself was employed. 


* It will furnish to European observers, a striking illustration of the 
paucity of experimental resources in the remoter parts of British 
India, when I state that up to the present time, although aided by the 
kind and active efforts of friends, I have found it quite impossible to 
procure, on any conditions, a common glass prism, to enable me to com- 
plete the experiments of the second section. It is probable I shall 
be obliged to procure such a piece of apparatus from England, and 
in the mean time I cannot but fear that the opportunity of complet- 
ing this section for at least a very long period, will be allowed to 
pass. The completeness of the enquiry is of course interfered with by 
the absence of the second section; but the first and third, are, at the 
same time, perfect in themselves, and in no way dependant on its pre- 
sence, so that it is of comparatively little moment, in what order they 
are published. It is impossible however to rest satisfied with the 
present imperfect condition of what I meant to be a perfect examina- 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 369 


The earlier experiments under this section, were the first 
of the entire series, and the method of observation employed 
by me throughout them, was the same I believe as that of 
Mrs. Somerville. This remark is however made with some 
reservation, in consequence of my having been unable to 
procure any detailed account of this lady’s experiments, but 
there is still sufficient in the brief and imperfect notices I 
have had the opportunity of examining, to make me feel 
tolerably certain on the point. Half of each experimental 
needle employed was covered with several folds of thin 
(quarter-tola) paper, and then exposed on a proper support 
to the influence of the sun’s light transmitted through the 
medium employed. After exposure, the needle was remov- 
ed to a room, and being there delicately suspended, a small 
compass needle was carefully and gradually approximated 
to it, and the nature of the action between the two observed. 
To this mode of observation there are, in my opinion, in- 
superable objections, but as these developed themselves only 
in consequence of the experiments to be detailed, I shall 
reserve all remarks upon this point until these details have 
been given, since the reality of my objections will then be 
much more readily felt and admitted. 


tion of the question of solar magnetism, and I will return to the subject 
on the earliest opportunity. In ignorance of what may occur in the 
interval, I will not however detain the third section by me, until such 
an opportunity presents itself, lest I should be disappointed alto- 
gether.—R. B. 5. 

Aug. 4th, 1842.—Since the above note was written I have had the 
pleasure, through the active kindness of my friend Mr. M’Clelland, of 
receiving all the apparatus necessary for the composition of the second 
series of these experiments. To the characteristic liberality of J. W. 
Grant, Esq. C. S. (in this instance, the more grateful as shewn towards 
a total stranger), I have been indebted for an excellent prism, well 
adapted to my objects. The acceptable gift reached me however, only 
the day before the rainy season regularly set in, and I have of course 
been unable to bring it into use as yet. Unless circumstances should | 
interfere, the second section will be undertakeu at the commencement 


of\the cold weather. 
3K 


370 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


Expt. 1.—Camp, Berheri, Doab Canal, November 20th 1841. 


Experimental needle A, having a length of 1.625 inches 
and a diameter 0,031, “ with brightly polished surface and 
having no previous magnetism, was exposed upon a sun-dial 
to the light of the sun passed through a dark green glass, 
from 10 a. m. to 12, and on being submitted to the action of 
the testing needle, the following results were observed. 

1. On approximating the north pole of the testing needle 
to the extremity of the exposed part of needle A, the latter 
was strongly attracted. 

2. On repeating this process with the extremity of the 
covered part of A, equally strong repulsion was manifested. 

3. On approaching the south pole of the testing needle to 
the extremity of the exposed part of A, repulsion, equal to the 
attraction exhibited in the first observation, was displayed. 

4, On repeating the approximation to the covered part a 
corresponding attraction was observed. 

Whence it clearly appears that the experimental needle 
A had become perceptibly magnetic, its exposed end hav- 
ing acquired southern, its covered end northern Polarity ; 
the enquiry immediately arises, was this effect clearly and 
distinctly due to the action of solar light? I shall therefore 
now state the circumstances that appear to me both to ren- 
der this more than doubtful, and to indicate one of the 
sources of error to which the method of observation employ- 
ed, is exposed. The needle A, while subjected to the 
action of the sun’s light, was fixed by means of a slender 
wooden support in the place of the magnetic meridian, 
forming an angle with the horizon of between 40° and 50°. 
It was therefore in a most favourable position for being 
magnetised by the inductive action of the earth ; suppos- 
‘ing it had been so, in how far, it may be enquired, do 
the indications of Polarity actually obtained correspond 
with those that theoretically would result from such action. 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 371 


To this I reply they are édentical, for as the exposed extre- 
mity of needle A during the period of action pointed to the 
south pole of the earth, the force of induction would tend to 
generate in that extremity a northern Polarity, and such 
Polarity really exists in it, although in a former paragraph 
I stated it had become a south pole. The form of expression 
to which allusion was made in the first section of these 
experiments, immediately explains this apparent anomaly, 
since it was then stated that while, by sanction of custom, 
the extremities of a magnetic needle that point to the north 
and south poles of the earth, are called respectively the 
north and south poles of the magnet, the nature of the 
Polarities resident in them is precisely the converse of that 
indicated by the terms employed. Now it has often been 
experimentally proved that the inductive action of the earth’s 
magnetism will act upon very small masses of steel or iron, 
changing the one permanently, the other temporarily into 
magnets, and hence I conclude that experiments on the sub- 
ject of Solar magnetism, from which reference to it has 
been excluded, are seriously deteriorated, if not rendered 
wholly valueless. ‘That such a cause may have interfered 
with Mrs. Somerville’s results I cannot doubt, when I find 
the needles in her experiments were suspended vertically, thus 
being only about 20° removed from the line of dip, which in 
the latitude of London is about 70°. In farther confirma- 
tion of this view, I may mention that Faraday has repeatedly 
employed the vertical as a sufficiently close approximation 
to the actual dip, throughout the course of his beautiful 
experiments on Terrestrial magneto-electric induction, and 
has exhibited perfectly decisive and satisfactory results with 
it, and apparatus of a very minute character. 

Exp. Il. Experimental needle B, having a length of 1.5 
“and a diameter of 0.016,” prepared similarly to the pre- 
ceding, was exposed under a dark green glass from } P.M. 
to 1} Pp. m. and on being tested exhibited the following 


372 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


results. I may however premise that the needle was partial- 
ly oxidated on its exposed half. 

1. On approximating the north pole of the testing needle 
to the exposed extremity of B strong repulsion ensued. 

2. On repeating this with the covered extremity, repul- 
sion also was observed. 

3. On bringing-the pole as above, to the centre of the 
needle B, attraction was immediately indicated. 

4, A repetition of these observations with the south pole 
of the testing needle, confirmed the distribution of  cheapeeid 
exhibited by them. 

From which it appears that northern Polarity had been 
imparted to the two extremities of B, southern Polarity ac- 
cumulated in the centre. This peculiarity was in all pro- 
bability the result of the partial oxidation of the surface of 
the experimental needle, as such a state has been already 
shewn to produce like effects. 

I may now point out a source of interference with these 
res'.s, that prevents our attributing them to the magnetic 
action of solar light. Since every magnet has a tendency to 
act by induction on ary matter in its vicinity capable of 
being magnetised, it is very evident that the approximation 
of the testing needle must produce a change in the magne- 
tic condition of the needle under experiment. It is there- — 
fore impossible to say, how much of the effect observed is 
due to this cause, how much to any other that may be 
capable of producing similar effects; and the uncertainty 
thus introduced must ever prove an obstacle to the formation 
of decided conclusions. The actions themselves were fi 
ther observed to be so feeble, that to attempt to allot them 
to different causes would be vain and unsatisfactory effort. if 

There is yet another source of error to which I may 
allude, namely, that which arises from the possibility of 
minute electric currents being excited in the mass of the 
needle under experiment, in consequence of one half of it 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 373 


being covered with a non-conducting material, the other 
freely exposed to the heat of the sun; it is well known that 
such differences do give rise to thermo-electric currents, 
and these have been rendered perceptible under such cir- 
cumstances as to make it far from improbable that in ex- 
periments like the present, their influence may have been 
felt. It has been found that even with small pieces of 
common clay, unequally moistened and exposed to the heat 
of the sun, electric currents have set in directions from the 
hotter to the colder portions, and the mutual re-action of 
electricity in motion and magnetic forces, is too well known 
as the source of some of the most interesting and important 
phenomena in the entire range of science, to require to be 
more that merely adverted to. 

These different considerations on the causes that may 
interfere with the results of observations made after the 
preceding method, have so completely destroyed my confi- 
dence in it, that I consider it unnecessary to detail the 
remaining experiments, in which it had been employed. I 
may however ‘state that their results were uncertain and 
capricious, occasionally tending to prove, and occasionally to 
disprove, the theory of the magnetic influence of light. 

In the subsequent tables of experiments, the same method 
by oscillations has been employed as in the preceding 
sections, and as the sources of error are almost wholly elimi- 
nated by it, the indications afforded are decisive and satis- 
factory. The influence of unequal temperature in the 
portions of the cylinders exposed to.the sun’s action still 
operates, and perhaps to this source may be attributed the 
very minute indications of variation of intensity some of the 
tables exhibit. As this however never amounts to more 
than a single second, and is exhibited in but few instances, 
the inference is undecisive, and the observed difference may 
be owing merely to some trifling alteration in the conditions 
of experiment, or to a minute error of observation. 


374 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


1, Experiments on the magnetic influence of light, trans- 
mitted through coloured glass media. 

The pieces of steel employed in these experiments were 
all of the same length, namely, two inches, and of diameters 
between 0.05 and 0.04 inches. They were placed upon a 
table, one half being under the glass which was slightly 
inclined so that the sun might strike directly upon it, and 
the other half freely exposed to the white light of the sun 
without any paper covering. It having been previously 
shewn that undecomposed light could produce no magnetic 
effects, the free exposure of ore-half of each cylinder to it, 
could not in any way vitiate the results due to the action of the 
light passing through the coloured medium, and every precau- 
tion was observed to guard against other interfering causes. 

I now proceed to give details of the experiments under 
the present section. 


Tables of Uxperiments. 


TABLE I. 
Shewing Duration Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder A in front, 
before and after exposure. 
Mepium Green Grass A. : 
: | Hours of =| Duration of 
é] &'| Expos [5 [5 .| 7? FE Oscillations. 
a 
Als oe gS nd Remarks. 
S| » |From| To |§O Be? Before} After | ° | Before! After 
6 z Ava. [Ps 34-5 Expos.|Expos.| ¢ |Expos.| Expos. 
Z| Zz 
Feb. In. | In 
1 |28th} 10} 2! 2/ 0.05) 60°] 96¢ |10) 95 95 
2 eee wee 10 95 96 
3 eee oe 10 95 ’ 95 
& | see 10} 94 95 
5 | we 10} 95 95 
ze Sums, .../50| 474 | 476 
Means, ...!10|94.8 | 95.2 


Whence it appears that there was an increase in the _ 
duration of ten oscillations of 0.4 of a second, a result so i 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 375 


trifling, that it may with confidence be inferred that no 
change whatever took place in the magnetic condition of the 
cylinder A, in consequence of its exposure for four hours to 
the light of the sun, which was most favourable for the 
experiment, the day being fine and clear, and the sky per- 
fectly cloudless. And it now appears clear, as will be still 
farther confirmed, that the results obtained by the method 
of approximation previously employed were erroneous, or at 
least due to other causes than any power of imparting mag- 
netism resident in the Solar Rays. Although theoretically, 
the currents caused by the. irregularity of temperature 
throughout the cylinder, may influence the vibrations of the 
testing needle, it does not appear from this table, that prac- 
tically it does so, to any appreciable extent. It is just 
possible, and nothing more, that the minute retardation 
observed may be an effect of this cause, and since the co- 
vered and exposed portions of the cylinder were placéd 
indifferently before the testing needle, the effect would 
occasionally, as in the present instance, tend to retard, and 
occasionally.to accelerate the oscillations of the needle. 


TABLE II. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle with Cylinder B in front, 
before and after exposure. 
Mepium Green Gtass B. 


.| g, | Hours of | i Temp a Duration of 
ee Expos. |° .|s6 . | Oscillation. 
| 2 a alg Slog o) Risiask: 
to —“|O0mn\)n Mm e€marks. 
%S S From| To ESIE SITS 21S Se Seige 
6} lamirwle |FiS eld gle| oo) so 
Z| aA Z| ag | “a 
‘Feb In. | In Sunverybright 
1 28th} 113) 33) 2 | 0-04) 730] 91010, 96 96 |and powerful, 
2 ten.|. dee . 110) 96 96 |Sky cloudless. 
3 oes 10} 95 96). 
4 wee . 19) 96 96 
5). see wes, 110} 95 96 
Sums, 50| 478 | 480 
Means, 10! 956 96 


376 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


This Table it will be observed, gives precisely the same 
difference of 0.4 “ as the last, and hence furnishes no sup- 


port to the Magnetic Theory. 
TABLE III. 


Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle with Cylinder C in front, 
before and after exposure. 


Mepium-Licut Rep Grass C. 


;/ Duration of 


= | Hours of Temp. 
o a Expos. ro ‘  . F Oscillations. | 
i OE gee meldsle gle , - | Remarks. 
S| 3 lrrom| mo [eo ieoe He SI gs g8 
A ate iid mi“ )6 Sa | << 
Feb. In. | In. : 
1)18th} 103 | 24 | 2 | 0°05) 62°) 92e)10/) 89 87 
2 10| 88 87 
3 10] 88 87 
4 - |10) 88 87. . 
5 ee . 10 88 87 
Sums, .../50)441 | 435 
Means. ... 10) 88-5 | 87 


The difference of 1.5 “ exhibited in the preceding expe- 
riments arises, I have no doubt, from mere error of observa- 
tion, or as remarked before, possibly from the unequally 
exposed portions of the cylinder affecting the testing needle. 
No indications, however, of magnetic polarity could by any 
means be obtained with the cylinder, and I therefore infer 
no such polarity existed it.” 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 377 


TABLE IV. 


Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle with Cylinder D in front, 
Before and after exposure. 


Mepium Dark Rep Grass. 


;, | Hours of —:| Duration of | 
-| = 
a Expos. (s ar Temp. ‘S| Oscillations. 
eI 1 PR | eared eee ; 
y S wo, eS On| a 2 Remarks. 
©}.g |From| To |§O\}20|5 2/8 g|°|Before | After Ry 
2 A jas M. |p. M.i om 3 <4 S Expos.|Expos. 

Feb. In. | In. A high wind 
1\28th| 103} 23! 2 | 0-05) 68°; 920/10) 97 96 jprevailed at 
2 eee ere eee , eee eee eee 10 97 96 first. Expos- 
3 see eee ove eee see eee eee 10 96 96 sure delay- 
SSS Baran Berens Heese WG Siar: Fate Saree UT eg 96 ed fill wind 
5] . tee «. |10/ 97 | 96 /lulled. 

Sums ...|50| 484 | 480_ 
Means ...'10| 96:8 96 


During the course of the forenoon on which this and the 
succeeding’ series of experiments were made a high wind 
prevailed, from the influence of which upon the needle, a 
difference of 6’ or 7’ in the periods of Oscillation before and 
after exposure, was observed. As I had taken every possi- 
ble precaution to guard against the interference of currents 
of air, I at first thought I had obtained decisive indications 
of magnetic action, and under this impression proceeded to 
verify the results by means of the unmagnetic testing ap- 
paratus. I was therefore somewhat disappointed, when I 
could obtain no indications whatever of polarity by its means, 
as I knew it was capable of shewing the presence of much 
inferior magnetic intensity to that indicated by the above 
mentioned difference. The experiments were accordingly 
repeated after the wind had completely lulled, and the 
result very clearly proves that in the first instance, a dis- 
turbing cause had interfered, which no doubt was the wind. 

3 Cc 


378 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


TABLE VY. 


_ Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder E in 
front, before and after exposure. 


Meprum Very Dark Rep Grass. 


: | Hours of :| Duration of |. 
al & Expos. Ss . 1 a Temp. 3 Oscillations. 
=| 3 eeld}.. ~| Remarks. 
S| 9 'From| To go\5 |g d)2 ei Before | After 
fC A [As Me [Pe Ms 33 <4 |S |Expos.|Expos. 

Feb. In. | In. Wind high 
tlosth’ 11 | 3 | 2 10-05] 72°] 91el10| 97 | 97 meagan 2 
2 . 110} 96 97 after wind lul- 
3|. .. tol 97 | 97 [led 
4) +e eee + eee eee eee 10 97 97 
5 * *e ere eer eee eee eee 10 97 97 


' 


Sums ...|50| 484 | 485 


Means ...|10! 96°8 | 97 


From the preceding experiments it may with safety be 
concluded, that no magnetic influence whatever is exerted 
by light, transmitted through coloured glass media; and as 
in former instances, it may be inferred that the results 
obtained by Mrs. Somerville were in reality due to the 
action of some unrecognised cause, capable of producing 
magnetic phenomena. Even supposing, in the present in- 
stance, decisive indications of such phenomena had been 
obtained, it would still have been fairly a question whether . 
they were due to the decomposed light, for it must be 
recollected that metallic owides are the chief materials em- 
ployed in imparting colours to glass and some of these 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 379 


oxides, as of iron and cobalt, belong themselves to the class 
of independent magnetic bodies. It is more than probable 
that the red colour of the glass employed in these experi- 
ments was imparted by means of oxide of iron in a very 
large proportion, mixed with a minute quantity of copper, 
so that had there been evidence of increase of magnetic 
intensity in the cylinder, it would have been necessary to 
take the presence of the former substance into considera- 
tion, and to determine clearly the influence it had produced, 
ere any decisive inference as to the real source of the 
magnetism, could have been ventured on. In this point of 
view, one of Mrs. Somerville’s experiments is peculiarly 
objectionable, and cannot possibly, I think, be received as 
any proof of the magnetic action of light. The instance 
alluded to, is that wherein it is stated that the light was 
transmitted through a glass coloured blue by cobalt, a body 
which we well know, possesses the most distinct and de- 
cisive independent magnetic properties, and which therefore 
ought never to have been employed in such delicate ex- 
periments as those on the present subject, in consequence 
of the certainty of its interfering action, vitiating the re- 
sults. I regret I had not the means of making some 
direct experiments with cobalt to shew its interfering 
effects, but of their existence there can be no reasonable 
question. 

2. Experiments on the magnetic influence of Solar Light, 
transmitted through Coloured Silk Media. 

Having by the active and valued kindness of a friend, 
been supplied with an abundant assortment of coloured 
silks and cloth, I selected such colours as appeared to me 
best calculated to suit my purposes, and with these covered 
half of each experimental cylinder, exposing it subse- 
quently, with due precaution, to the direct light of the 


sun. 
The subsequent tables exhibit the results obtained. 


380 Magnetic Influsnce.sf Solar Light: 


TABLE VI. .- 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder F in 
front, before and after exposure. 
Mepium Waite Six. 
- | Hours of Duration of 
a gE Expos. | F 3s F 7 3 Oscillations. 
feo] i “e H 
= ‘~~ e= . . Remarks. 
She From} To ESS 5 2\§ 3/5 Before | After 
sid a at 3 |< iS |Expos-|Expos 
\Feb.| In. | In. 
1; 22d; 10} 1 2 | 0°05) 66°} 92°|10) 88 85 
2 eee eee 10 88 86 
Si ve 10) 88 86 
4 ere 10 89 86 
Ol css 1 87 85 
Sums ....../50] 440 | 428 
Means ...... 10} 88 | 856 


There is here a small indication of increase of intensity 
to the 2.4 but no signs of Polarity could be obtained, the 
result is therefore doubtful, especially as the next series, 
incline in the opposite direction. 


TABLE VII. 


Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder G in 
front, before and after exposure. 
Mepium Buve Sirk. 
Hours of |__ =| Duration of 
& 3 Expos. “ S < eae E . ion, | 
oI $= 5 Remarks. 
- @ From| To ECE E | £5 [Before After 
Ss ls mire ue ‘ <8 |S | ExPos-| Expos. 
‘Feb. ~ | In. | In, 
1.22d.\ 103} 13] 2 |0.04| 70 | 92 \10| 95 | 96 
2 ere eee eee eee “eee eee ere 10 96 96 
3 eee eco ee eee eee ere eee 10 96 96 
4A ccii-T vas | pak tees. “Tioondl “ane: fbees MU eT oe 
Sp . +P] vee 9 96 96 
Sums -=]60| 479 | 480 
Means ...10.95.8 | 96 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 381 


TABLE VIII. 


Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder H in 
front, before and after exposure. 


Mepium Purpte SILx: 


- | Hours of | Duration of “T: 
d| & | Expos. |S .|'s .| Te™P [S| Oscillation. 
| = Ag]. fo) 
al weld ele ale sls Rematia. 
S| » |From| To |§0'|.301% 6/5 o|°|Before| After 
S$} 3 lamieml A IS es le) Expos.| Expos. 
Za mraz | 

Feb. In. | In. 
1| 22d.) 11 2 2 | 0.05) 72 | 88 |10) 95 95 
2 eee eee eee eee oe eee eee 10 95 - 94 
3 ere eee eee ese eee eee eee 10 96 94 
4 . eee eee eee eee cee eos 10 95 95 
5]. ena tebe it aie perth era PU) 94 | 


Sums .../50| 476 | 472 


Means .../10195.2 | 94.4 


TABLE IX. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder I in 
front, before and after exposure. 


Mepium Grey SILk. 


; | Hours of =| Duration of 
Pa & Expos. | P a. Temp FE Oscillations. 
Al $8 d= Remarks 
S 3 From| To gOLES|E 3/8 8/5 Before | After 
3 A aulP. mj [A Se <i o C Expos.|Expos. 
Feb.} In. | In 


22d.|: 113) 23) 2 |0.05| 720) 90°10) 90 91 
tee Pines. | cet] eee. | ase J- ve {10} 91 90 
soo | veo | cco | oes | ove (10) 91 91 
woo | cee | ove | coe | coe {10} 91 91 


| or © bdo 
. 
_ 
So 
© 
_ 


Sums ...|50) 454 | 454 


Means ...'10/9U.8 | 90.8 


This series gives the Duration of Oscillations before. and 
after Exposure identically the same, the time being thiee 
hours, and the difference of temperature 18°. 


382 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. ‘ 


TABLE X. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder K in 
front, lefere ted after dispose: 


Mepium Brack SILk. ~ 


Hours of =| Duration of 
a! S Expos. |S F S bas ‘8 | Oscillations. 
S| += ° 
sl 2h la, [ee slo gle distae .| meme. 
Sl 9 Breed FoR OVA S1E aie ai cine ane | 
Ss a A. M. P. M. Salta s xpos. Hxpos, 


| 

n. | In. 

124th} 10 13; 2 0.04} 700; 99°:10} 98 96 
eve dey bwce” bt ebe | wtih idea 1 eto On 2 aS 96 

sew I the taste sen, b Sent es a eo 

4) sce. } ‘sue! | cece Kom, {don Roce] SO 108 Ane 

SD! eee cvs. 'Pawen, 1 seed ancl weatl: ccc Lae pane 97 


Sums .../50| 483 | 490 


7 Means +-( 10; 98°8 96.6 


TABLE XI. 

Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder L in front, 
before and after exposure. 

Meptum-Yettow Sik. 


a, | Hours of |. ny Temp. |= q| Duration of 
: tee 
oe Expos. \° leg rarer Oscillations. 
a) ew K g| io ; Remark 
to E= Di te marks, 
S| & |From| To ioe Bis ale 5.3 Before| After ’ 
$i 8 jamin (i844 “Abmae Expos. 
Z| a | | 
Feb. In. In. fe 
1|24th| 10 1}) 2 0.05! 70°109 10! 86 86 
yO ee ee eee a 410, 87 86 
3 . “" « eee . /10= 86 86 
1 a | oad 94s 10} 86 | 86 
5 ** * j eee jlo 86 86 
Sums +50, 431 | 430 
Means .../10 86.2 | 86. 


The results of these various experiments with coloured 
silk média appear to me to shew very distinctly that the light 
transmitted through them possesses no magnetic properties 
whatever. Had it been otherwise, that want of uniformity 
which marks the general results exhibited by the tables, would 
not have prevailed, and had the increase of i intensity been in 
any way equivalent to that specified by other observers, the 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 383 


apparatus employed would, I doubt not, have indicated it 
distinctly. The silks employed were of various textures, but 
in no single instance, even when slight variations of magnetic 
condition were indicated by the testing needle, could the cha- 
racteristic polar action of magnetised substances be obtained. 
Formerly expressed opinions, therefore, of the non-existence 
of any magnetic influence in solar light, receive additional 
confirmation from the preceding experimental results. 

3. Experiments with Coloured Cloth Media. 

From an anxiety to set at rest, if possible, the long dis- 
puted question of magnetic influence in light under any 
circumstances, I determined to make some few experiments 
with cylinders exposed as before, under differently coloured 
pieces of cloth. The texture of the cloth admitted, to a cer- 
tain extent, of the permeation of light, and the forms of 
experiment were in every respect the same as in the series 
immediately preceding. To multiply observations when I 
found the results conformable to previous ones, appeared to 
me unnecessary; the number of tables, under this branch 
of the section, is accordingly but limited, although still suffi- 
ciently extensive to warrant the inferences made. 


TABLE XII. 


Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle, with Cylinder M in 
front, before and after exposure. 


Mepivum Rep Crorn. 


\ 
H 


- g, | Hours of |. Temp. |=| Duration of 
me —_ . . 
a) -«% | Expos. |° ||6 9) Oscillations. 
| 2. joa so ea |O 
ad Ne > to gsi2 gles | Remarks. 
nad = o|}o Se 
©) g |From) To|§0 2 0\2 aie &)°| Before After 
So) Sa Mle wi A lk gla MS sas i 
Feb. In. | In. 
1/24th| 113 | 23 | 2 |0-05 | 70° |1020)10 99 | 100 
MP css Patel ote [oc [ied ian NOt? 100. |. 9 
GB] ove | see Airco | coe | cael See | ove [10] 99 | 100 
IG ESSE OEY Prete Mereege ema even | ("| 99 99 
BY sce | vee | foee'| vee | coo | “eee | oe (LOL 100°] 100 
. Sums ...|50| 497 | 498 
Means ... 10) 99-4 | 99-6 


384 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


TABLE XIII. 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle with Cylinder N in front, 
before and after exposure. 
Mepium Green Cuorn. 
: | Hours of Temp. | Duration of 
é. & | Expos. [5° |S _|_———’S| Oscillations. 
ro ke 3.8/2.8]. Remarks 
©} 2 |From| To|§oO}5 0/2 &\= 4) ° Before | After. 
iS s a. ule ul (A 8 i | |S | Expos.|Expos. 


Feb. {n. | In 
1/24th} 113%} 23] 2 | 0.05) 70°/102°)10; 98 |. 98 
SE nee eas es 10} 98 98 
Srisa deeshie pes l 99 99 
Seer . “ l 99 98 
5}. ‘ Ph ae ty eet LL 99 99 


Sums eee 50) 493 492 


Means ...|10) 986 | 98.4 


TABLE XIV. | 
Shewing Duration of Oscillations of Testing Needle with Cylinder O in front, 
before and after exposure. 
Meptum Oranee Corn. 
a, | Hours of | Temp. | Duration of 
a\ i | Expos. [5 | s., S| Oscillations. 
<>) 3 a & ;.§ 2 . . & Remarks. 
S g |From) To go LS 5/2 EI ~ man After 
nN: Sg [mee me Bra |“ sa |S xpos.| Expos 
Feb. In. | In. 
124th} 113) 2%) 2 | 0-04) 70°101°)10; 98 97 
2] ose fi ces | coe] cae | cae |. ove] coe (10) 98 98 
3). soo | coe | eb0> | ee 10} 98 97 
4) oo | wee |. coo | ‘vee | cos |. ous 10} 98 98 
5 ese | coe | too | oe 10} 98 9 
a a : 
: Sums... 50) 490 | 488 
° Means ...|10 98 | 97°6 


From these three tables, it accordingly appears that 
cloth media, are not more successful in displaying the 
magnetic influence of light, than are those of glass or 
silk; and the general conclusion warranted by the entire 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 385 


series of experiments now detailed, is distinctly and decid- 
edly opposed to the theory of such influence. The follow- 
ing Table exhibits in a condensed form the experimental 
results obtained, and will shew at a glance, the evidence on 
which the above inference is founded. I may premise that 
the term differential of temperature is employed to indicate 
the difference between the temperature before and that after 
exposure, while differential of oscillation shews the differ- 
ence of the durations of oscillation under the same circum- 
stances. When the duration before exposure exceeds that 
after it, the sign + is prefixed to the differential, when the 
converse is the case, the sign — is employed. 


TABLE XV. 


Shewing General Results of Experiments on the Magnetic Influence of Solar 
Light, transmitted through coloured media. 


Remarks. 


No 
Cylinder.- 
Nature of 
Medium. 

Diff. of Temp. 

No 
Cylinder. 
Nature of 
Medium. 

Diff. of Temp. 
Diff. of Oscill 


& | Diff. of Oscill. 


Diam. of Cy- 

Silk. | 16°] +0-8 |linder A,C,D,E,- 
Do. | 18° 0.0 |F,H,I,L,M,N, = 
Do. | 29°} 41.4 |0°05 In. Diam. 

3 of Cylinders B, 

Cloth, | 320} —0-2 |G,K,O = 0-04- 
Do. | 32° +0.2 |No. 6, very 
Do. | 31°! +0-4 !doubtful. 


Glass.| 36°} —0-4 | 8 
Do. 18° —0°4 9 
Do. | 27°) 5-1-5 |10 

240! 40-8 |11 
Do. | 19°) —0-2 |1Z 

Silk. | 26°) +2.4 2/13 
Do. | 22°} —0-2 114 


ISH Oh Co bo 
Q3anhoOnp 
o 
$ 
OzZr Rn 
s) 

° 
i) 
© 
° 
ok 
oS 
hn 


The very trifling departures from equality between the 
duration of oscillations before and after exposure, as indi- 
cated by the last column of differentials, in combination with 
the circumstance that these departures are sometimes on 
one side, sometimes on the other, shew very clearly that no 
force, constant in its direction, could have acted upon the 
testing apparatus, and the theory of the magnetism of solar 
light which implies such a force must accordingly be finally 


oD 


386 Magnetic Influence of Solar Light. 


abandoned. Nor is the settlement of this singularly fated 
question, a matter purely of speculative interest, since it has 
been intimately interwoven with the theories of terrestrial 
magnetism and temperature, whose many important practical 
applications renders it of moment that no erroneous assump- 
tions should be connected with them. M. Kupffer, the | 
distinguished Russian traveller, in an able and interesting 
essay on the distribution of temperature throughout the 
world, makes the magnetic influence of solar light a funda- 
mental portion of the hypothesis he adopts, and views the 
earth, not as is generally done, as having an independent 
magnetism, but as a mass highly susceptible of magnetism, 
and rendered magnetic by the influence of a distant celestial 
body. He displays much ingenuity in reconciling his ob- 
. servations on the arrangement of Iso-geothermal lines with 
this view, but his labours of course, now become useless, when 
it is shewn that the foundation of his theory is unsound, 
and that the magnetic influence of the sun’s rays, on which 
he rests so much, has no real existence as a power in nature. 


Camp, 20th May, 1842. 


On the Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. By 
Captain J. Campsett, Assistant Surveyor General, Ma- 
dras Establishment. baie, 


1. In the commerce between India and England, a source 
of deep injury to the former country arises from England 
having deprived her of the trade in cotton cloth, the 
manufacture of which was, but a few years-ago, one of 
the most valuable and extensive of Indian products; while 
from no other having been as yet introduced as an-export 
to balance the imports from England, it has become neces- 
sary to drain India of her specie to pay the expences of the 
Government, and for the articles she requires from the 


i a iene el all ls aa 


. i 


Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 387 


mother country. The Government both in England and in 
India have therefore been unremitting in their endeavours 
to promote and foster the export trade from India; and in 
the mean time have endeavoured to economise by means of 
the internal productive resources of the country, and thus in 
some measure reduce the export of specie, and at the same 
time disseminate a knowledge of practical manufacturing 
processes. 

2. Among the most extensive of the exports of England 
to India, is the trade of ‘bar dron, which to Madras alone 
amounts to 1,000 tons per annum ; and while India is known 
to produce malleable iron of a superior quality, it has been 
frequently proposed as a question whether she could not 
supply her own wants in this article at a cheaper rate than 
if procured from England, if improved processes were 
introduced in the reduction of the native ores. I am not 
aware that any satisfactory experimental investigation of this 
point has ever been instituted, or given to the public; but 
from the remarks in the reports of the Committee for investi- 
gating the coal and mineral resources of India, it would seem ~ 
that little or nothing is as yet known upon the subject.* 

3. English iron is not used inland in Southern India, in 
consequence of the great expence of land carriage, and 
from the same cause, it is probable, that in Northern India 
also, the only iron used is that made upon the spot; and as 
the manufacture must be very limited in quality, it becomes 


*It has been supposed by the Committee, that it would be more 
desirable in the first instance to make good cast iron, than to attempt to 
improve the bad wrought iron of the country; and with the view of 
instituting an extensive set of experiments on the subject, a furnace has 
been erected at the Mint at the suggestion of Major Forbes, one of the 
Members of the Committee. Some delay took place in providing the 
necessary apparatus, but everything being now ready, experiments will 
shortly be entered upon for the production of cast iron. The valuable 
suggestions of Capt. Campbell contained in this paper will be duly 
brought to the notice of the Committee.—Ep. 


$88 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 


of much importance, both to individuals and to the Govern- 
ment, to be acquainted with the mode of supplying any 
extraordinary demand. Indeed, we are informed by Captain 
Drummond, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 
that the carriage of a suspension bridge erected in Kemaon, 
alone cost about 80 rupees per ton, or as much as the iron 
might have been made for upon the spot. 

4. In projecting the establishment of a new manufacture, 
persons are but too prone to copy an old established process, 
without studying sufficiently the principles by which the re- 
sult is produced, so as to be able to modify the mode of opera- 
tion to suit the resources of the locality, and the capabilities 
of the workmen; and because the English mode of manufac- 
turing iron has been found to be the most profitable in’ 
England, it has been supposed that a similar process could 
alone answer in India. This process has also been styled 


“ scientific,” but the fact is, that the principles of the mode_ 


of operation are still totally unknown, and the manufactures 
are not only unable to produce at pleasure a certain result; 


but even the quantities of the results produced depend — 


upon the weather, and other causes as yet not explained, or 
beyond the control of the workmen. We do not as yet 
even know what cast iron is; nor with any certainty what 
its component parts are; nor in what it differs from steel, 
or the varieties of what are generally called carburets of 
iron. On this point Barlow remarks, (Encyclopedia Metro- 
politana,) “ There is certainly much to be learned in the iron 
trade, before we can boast of any thing like a complete 
knowledge of its different processes. We observe many 
facts in this, as well as in other branches of the manufacture, 
of which, the most we can say is, that they are connected 
with, or caused by certain other accompanying facts, though 
we are ignorant how this connection exists; often, indeed, 
our knowledge does not extend so far.” Again, “it is, 
however, so difficult to follow up chemical analysis, and to ob- 


Pd 3 ; 
ee 
POLS se ee 


Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 389 


tain results with minute accuracy, in a process requiring 
intense heat, that hitherto the phenomena attendent upon 
the refining of pig iron, and its conversion into bars, may 
be said rather to be guessed at, than perfectly explained.” 
Upon the same point also Dr. Ure remarks, (Dictionary of 
Manufacture,) “ but philosophers have been, and still are, too 
much estranged from the study of the useful arts, and con- 
tent themselves too much with the minutiz of the laboratory 
and theoretic abstractions.” Such being the state of our 
present knowledge of this subject, it may be doubted if a 
careful examination of the principles of the long established, 
. Cheap, and simple mode of manufacture of the native of 
India, might not lead to improvements and modifications, 
which would be found to answer better, than the operose 
methods of the English manufacture, which require much 
capital, costly building, and a considerable trade to make 
‘them profitable. 

_§. In England the fuel now most generally used in smelting 
the impure iron ores of the coal fields is coke ; and the ore 
after being first roasted to separate the volatile impurities, 
as much as possible, is exposed to its action in blast fur- 
naces, generally about forty-five feet in height, but varying 
sometimes from thirty-six feet to even sixty feet. In the 
middle, these furnaces are about twelve feet in diameter, but 
at top are contracted to about four feet, and at bottom, 
where the blast of air is introduced by pipes from powerful 
blowing machines, the diameter is only about two feet. 
The pressure upon the air forced into the furnace is abgut 
three pounds upon the square inch, and the quantity of air 
amounts generally to as much as 4,000 cubic feet per 
minute. The cast iron as it forms, falls down into the bot- 
tom of the furnace ; which is always hot enough to maintain 
it in a state of fusion; where it is protected from the action 
of the blast by a covering of fused slag which floats upon 
it. These furnaces are kept in action unremittingly, night 


390 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 


and day, for several years together ; the metal being allow- 
ed to flow out every twelve hours in quantities of about six 
tons at a time. The material used in building the blast 
furnace is principally fire brick, and a pair of furnaces cost 
upwards of 1,800/. sterling. The proportion of coal used 
in making a ton of cast iron, varies very much, from three 


tons in Wales, to sometimes eight tons in Derbyshire ; but © 


the use of heated air in blowing the furnaces has very much 
increased the quantity of the products of the blast furnace, 
and has also- diminished the expenditure of fuel, but the 
quality of the cast iron is said to be deteriorated. The 
estimated expense of making a ton of cast iron is about 
3i. sterling. 

6. For converting cast iron into bar iron, the first process 


generally employed in England is called “ refining,” and — 


consists in fusing about a ton of cast iron at once in flat 
open furnaces about three feet square, where it is exposed 
for two hours or more to the action of a strong blast, by 
which it is supposed a portion of the carbon it contains is 
burnt off. Much gas escapes from the surface of the metal 
during the operation, and a large quantity of black bubbly 
slag separates, after which the metal when run out and 
allowed to cool, has a white silvery appearance, is full of 
bubbles, is very brittle, and has acquired the property 
of hardening by being suddenly cooled. In “ refining,” 
about four or five hundred weight of coals is used to the 
ton of cast iron, and the metal loses from twelve to 
seventeen per cent of its weight. 

7. The “ refined” cast iron, now termed “ fine metal,” is 
then exposed in a reverbatory furnace, called the “ puddling 
furnace”, to the action of the flame of a large coal fire, by 
which it is first partially melted, then falls into a coarse 
powder; and on being stirred up and presented to the 
flame, becomes at last adhesive and tenacious. It is then 
formed into large balls, and after receiving a few blows from 


f 


Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 391 


a large hammer to consolidate it, is passed between rollers 
which squeeze out much of the impurities, and form it into 
“mill bariron.” This is however too impure for use, and it is 
necessary to cut the rough bars into pieces and to weld them 
together afresh, in a “reheating furnace,” and expose them 
to another rolling, and even to repeat the operation a third 
time, before good tough bar iron is produced. In the 
“ puddling furnace” about a ton of coals is expended to each 
ton of “* fine metal,” and in the “ reheating furnace,” about 
150 pounds more are expended; and in each operation a 
loss of about ten per cent. takes place in the weight of metal 
operated upon. 

8. Upon an average about nine tons of coals are expend- 
ed in England in forming one ton of finished bar iron,-and 
it is probable, that if the above processes were attempted 
~ wpon any smaller scale than that of the English works, 
a still greater quantity would be used. Some of these 
works cost 27,000/., and turn out 120 tons of bar iron 
per week. 

9. In France, Sweden, Norway, and parts of Germany, 
the fuel principally used is charcoal, and the ores are pure 
oxides of iron; the furnaces are about thirty feet in height, 
and in shape resemble in great measure the blast furnaces 
of England. Leathern forge bellows are frequently used to 
blow them, and the results vary from five hundred weight of 
cast iron per day, to sometimes five tons. The quantity of 
charcoal used also varies very much, from one and quarter 
ton, to two and half tons for each ton of cast iron, according 
to the nature of the mineral oxide smelted. 

10. The cast iron thus made is treated with charcoal in a 
refining furnace, not differing much from the English ones, 
but the metal is not allowed to run out, the operation being 
continued for nearly five hours, uwitil the metal has become 
tenacious and adhesive, when it is removed in lumps of 
about two hundred weight each, which are forged under a 


- 392 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 


large tilt hammer, then cut into smaller pieces, and is drawn 
out into bars at once. In this process the metal loses about 
twenty-six per cent. of its weight, and 149 pounds of char- 
coal are consumed for every 100 pounds of iron produced. 

11. Formerly a kind of furnace called in Germany a “ steuck 
often” was sometimes used, which was from ten to fifteen 
feet high, and three feet in diameter, resembling very much 
an iron founder’s cupola furnace, but with a larger door, 
which was broken opén after the operation was finished, 
which required abeut twelve hours, and the lump of cast-iron 
weighing about a ton, was removed with powerful tongs 
to the refining furnace. The quantity of charcoal used was 
from two and a quarter to three and a half cwt. for every cwt. 
of cast iron, and about one and half cwt. more was required 
in the refining and forging, making the whole expenditure 
from four to five cwt. for every cwt. of bar iron. 

12. In some parts of France, malleable iron is made at 
once from the mineral oxides of iron, in what are term- 
ed “catalan forges,” which are cavities about 16 inches 
square, and two feet in depth, sunk in the floor of the work- 
shop, the blast being thrown in by a pipe sloping towards 
the bottom cf the furnace. The cavity being filled with 
charcoal, the ore is added in small quantities, alternately 
with fresh charges of charcoal, and in about five or six 
hours a lump of iron is procured, weighing from two to four ~ 
ewt. which is removed, and forged at once into bars. The 
expenditure of charcoal is very great, amounting sometimes 
to eight times the weight of the iron procured. But when 
wood is cheap and abundant, there can be little doubt this 
process would be a convenient one for smelting any of the 
mineral peroxides of iron. 

13. The mode of smelting iron used by the natives of 
India, appear to be very much the same from the Himalayas 
down to Cape Comorin, and in some degree resembles that 
alluded to in paragraph 11. 


Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 393 


The ore principally used is either the common magnetic 
iron sand found in the nullahs, or else pounded magnetic 
iron ore, separated from the ferruginous granite, (described 
at page 165, vol. ii.,) but I have seen specular iron ore used 
by the Konds of Goomsoor. 

14. The material used for the native furnaces, is the com- 
mon red potter’s clay of India, which unless carefully select- 
ed, is not generally very refractory, and will hardly stand a 
heat sufficient to fuse cast iron, but by mixing it with sand, 
and by concentrating the heat in the centre of the furnace 
as much as possible by a projecting blast pipe, the reduc- 
tion of the ore is effected before the furnace has become 
much more than red hot; the operation being completed 
in about a couple of hours. | 

15. In constructing these furnaces, a platform about two 
- feet square and five inches thick is first made, with a hole 
in the centre nine inches in diameter. A half-cylinder or 
curved piece is then formed also of the red clay, eighteen 
inches high, four inches thick, and thirteen inches diameter 
inside, and the same depth, and also a cone about two inch- 
es thick of the same height, and the same diameter at bot- 
tom, and seven inches at top. When these are quite dry, 
a little wet clay being put round the hole in the platform, 
the half-cylinder is placed upon it, and the open front is built 
up with clods of clay, and the inside part is plastered for two 
inches thick until a hollow cylinder is produced, about 
- twenty-three inches deep, nine inches in diameter inside, and 
about six inches thick. When nearly dry, an arch is cut out 
in front at bottom about nineteen inches high, to form the 
door of the furnace. The cone is then placed on the top, 
and the inside plastered with clay to correspond with the 
bottom part, and the neck or throat reduced in the same 
way to about five inches diameter. The upper part of a 
chatty with the neck is then placed inverted on the apex 


of the cone, to form a funnel to conduct the charge into 
I 


394 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 


the throat, and the chatty and the whole of the outside of - 
the furnace is then plastered over with clay about two inch- 
es. thick, so as to give the appearance of a large sugar loaf 
enlarged a little at the point. When finished, the height 
inside from the’ bottom to the neck is about three feet ten 
inches, and the whole takes about a week to finish before 
it is quite dry. 

16..The blast pipe is a cylinder of dried clay fourteen - 
inches long, and about four inches thick, pierced with a 
hole of an inch in diameter. It is introduced into the 
furnace at the bottom of the door, with the point about the 
centre of the furnace, and about five inches above the bot- 
tom. The door is then closed with a tile of dried clay, and . 
the outside is built up and secured with wet clay plastered 
over, a layer of charcoal dust, about two inches thick, having 
been first placed at the bottom of the furnace to prevent the 
reduced oxide adhering to it: 

17. The bellows are two goat skins taken off the animal, 
by opening the hinder part only. The orifices at the legs 
are sewn up, and a piece of bamboo is inserted, and tied 
tightly into the neck of each skin, and these bamboos being 
inserted into the outer part of the blast pipe, which is made 
conieal for that purpose, the vacant openings are then 
stopped with wet clay. The open end of the skin‘is finish- 
ed by folding the edge of one side, as 2 flap, about four 
inches over the other edge, and sewing up the upper and 
lower corners, so as to leave a part of both flaps open for 
about nine inches. When the skin is filled with wind, and 
pressed, the inner flap closes therefore against the outer, 
and stops the passage. Each skin is managed by one man, 
who places it in his lap, and squeezes it down with the elbow 
and lower part of the right arm, grasping at the same time 
a projecting sort of handle of leather, formed at about the 
part where the tail of the animal might have been. To 
enable the blower to fill the skin again with wind, a piece 


Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 395 


of string is attached to the lower corner of the posterior 
part, which is tied to a peg driven into the ground about a 
foot behind the man’s elbow, and keeps the“skin distended 
to its full extent as it lays in his lap; and a loop of leather 
is also fastened to the outer flap, through which the arm is 
passed, by which the opening into the skin is distended upon 
raising the elbow ; and the skin being pulled out horizontally 
by the neck in one direction, and the string and the peg in 
the other; upon pulling up the middle part vertically by 
the leather grasped in the hand, the skin is opened out into 
a triangular shape, and fills with wind through the open 
flap. . While squeezing the skin in blowing also, by pressing 
the hand forward, so as to pull against the string attached 
to the posterior part, the valve flaps are made to close 
fairly and properly, so as to allow hardly any wind to 
escape. The left hand is employed in assisting the right, 
or in squeezing the distended parts of the skin upon the 
side. It will be observed, that, as both the necks of the © 
skins open into the blast pipe, a portion of the wind expelled 
from one skin passes back again into the other ; as they are 
worked alternately, a defect which might have been reme- 
died in a most simple manner, by attaching little hanging 
door valves to the ends of the pipes. 

18. A small quantity of charcoal being thrown into the 
furnace, the fire is introduced, and the blast commenced, and 
the furnace is filled to the neck with about twenty-six 
_ pounds of charcoal. In about half an hour flame issues 
from the throat, and the fuel begins to sink, at which time 
the charge is commenced, which consists of ten pounds of 
charcoal and five pounds of ore, wetted to prevent it run- 
ning down too fast. The charge is repeated seven times, 
_and the furnace is allowed to burn down, and in about two 
and a half hours as soon as welding heat sparks are seen to 
issue with the flame, the bellows are removed ; the door 
broken open; and the lump of reduced iron is removed, and 


396 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 


cut open while hot with a hatchet, to shew the quality. 
Four men are required to work one of these furnaces, one 
being a maistry superintendent, and’ the other three la- 
bourers, and they are able to make about three lumps in’ 
in a day of twelve hours, but after four days’ work, the 
lining of the furnace is destroyed, and requires renewal. 

19. The lumps which result from the native furnaces 
weigh about eleven pounds, and are sold sometimes at the 
rate of two annas each. They are not, however, all iron, and 
on bringing them toa welding heat in a forge, a large portion 
consisting of fused oxide, melts away, and the best lumps 
which I have examined yield only about six pounds of iron, 
(generally they do not contain more than three pounds.) 
Taking forty rupees a ton as the expence of forging the iron 
into rough bars by hand hammers, we shall have eighty 
rupees a ton as the expence of bar iron, made with these 
diminutive furnaces, which is less than the present market 
price at Madras of the cheapest English bar iron. In my 
experimental investigation of the best methods of managing 
small blast, furnaces, not larger than the native ones, I have 
found that two men can procure in a day’s work of twelve 
hours forty pounds of crude iron, with an expenditure of 
half the quantity of charcoal and ore used by the natives. 
Furnaces of this size offer therefore a cheap, convenient, 
and ready mode of smelting iron wherever charcoal is 
abundant. 

20. Although the aggregate manufacture of iron in India 
is no doubt very considerable, yet from the difficulty of 
inland transport in Southern India, it is probable that no 
extensive iron works will ever be established by European 
capitalists; and the only improvements which are capable of 
being introduced with advantage, or may be within the 
comprehension of natives, are those by which the expendi- 
ture of fuel may be economised by increasing the size of the 
furnace, and by which a sufficiently powerful blast may be 


Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India, | 397 


produced. From my own experiments, I am led to believe, 
that the catalan forge will not answer except when the ores 
of the peroxide are procurable, in consequence of a peculiar 
property possessed by the magnetic oxide. But I am of 
opinion that the German, “ steuck often” might be used 
with great advantage, and the complete reduction of the 
ore at one operation to malleable iron, is easily effected. 
One of these furnaces may be easily built for ten rupees. 


~The bellows for it may cost about ten rupees. A small tilt 


hammer about fifty rupees, and the whole stock in trade 
capable of turning out a ton of bar iron per week, need 
hardly -cost one hundred rupees. I believe that nearly all the 
jungly tracts of Southern India are granitic, and in them of 
course fire clay and magnetic iron sand abound. Charcoal 
can be made.at about fifty pounds for an anna, and the iron 
sand is sold at thirty pounds for an anna, which prices are as 
cheap as the iron stone and coal are now sold for in South 
Wales. . 

21. With regard to the quality of the iron produced by 
the native methods, we have the most contradictory remarks 
from various authors; and indeed [ am not aware of any 
good researches upon this point having been published. 
From what I have seen of Indian iron, I consider the worst 
I have ever seen to be as good as the best English iron, 
and that its supposed defects arise from its almost always 
containing a considerable portion of steel. 

22. If it is attempted to bend a bar of English iron of 
inferior quality when cold, it will be found to snap short off, 
almost without bending at all, and the fractured end will 
exhibit a series of minute glistening planes inclined at irre- 
gular angles, and which by the lens, will be seen to resemble 
exactly the spangles of “ kisk,” or graphite, which appear 
upon the surface of highly carburetted cast iron. A bar of 
the best English bar iron, when bent cold, will exhibit on 
the sides of the bent angle a series of longitudinal fissures, 


398 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 


evidently produced by impurities between the fibrous por- 
tions, and before it is bent as far as an angle of 120°, it will 
break, and the fracture will be half glistening, and the rest 
very much resembling lead when forcibly pulled asunder. 
This last portion is the pure iron, and when viewed endways, 


will generally appear nearly black. The glistening portions 


are portions of carburet imperfectly reduced. It is a com- 
mon remark of authors, that pure iron is either granular 
or fibrous in texture, the former being produced by sudden 
cooling, and the latter by elongation under the hammer. 
This remark I consider, however, to be erroneous, and I 
have never found pure fibrous iron to become granular, if 
properly worked, although granular iron will become fibrous ; 
not, however, by the mechanical effect of the hammering, 
but by the action of the fire and blast reducing the car- 
buret. In working the best kinds of English iron, they let 
fall upon the anvil a quantity of red powder, which very 
much resembles in appearance the residue left by burning 
the carbon-separated by muriatic acid from cast iron. 
Even the charcoal-made English iron will hardly bear draw- 
ing out under the hammer without splitting, and a small rod 
will generally snap after bending it two or three times. 
- English hoop iron, although it will stand curling up into a 
roll of about } inch in diameter, yet on the slighest attempt 
to bend it longitudinally into a hollow trough, it will crack 
in three or four places immediately. . The following re- 
marks by Dr. Ure, (Dictionary of Manufacture,) are evidently 
from a person practically acquainted with the subject. ‘ The 
quality of iron is tried in various ways; as first by raising a 
bar by one end, with the hands over one’s head, and bring- 
ing it forcibly down to strike across a narrow anvil at its 
centre of percussion on one-third from the other extremity 
of the bar, after which it may be bent backwards and for- 
wards at the place, of percussion several times. 2. A 
heavy bar may be laid obliquely over props near its end, and 


| 


Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 399 


struck strongly with a hammer with a narrow pane, so as to 
curve it in opposite directions, or while heated to redness, 
they may be kneed backwards and forwards at the same 
_spot on the edge of the anvil. This is a severe trial which 
the hoop (Swedish iron) bears surprizingly, emitting as it 
is hammered, a phosphoric odour peculiar to it, and to the 
bar iron of Ulverstone, which also resembles it in furnishing 
a good steel. The forging of a horse-shoe is reckoned a 
good criterion of the quality of iron. 

23, There is hardly one of the above tests, which good 
native iron of Southern India will not bear, and some iron 
which was produced in my own furnaces, has stood drawing 
out under the hammer into a fine nail rod not sth inch thick, 
without splitting, and when kneed backwards and forwards, 
only broke after six or seven times. When twisted like a 
hank of whipcord until some of the plies began to draw out, 
no fracture occurred in any part, and a half inch bar } inch 
in thickness bore doubling together cold, and the angle 
hammered down close with very little signs of separation 
between the fibres. As I have shewn that native Indian 
iron contains steel, the quality can be easily tested by a ve- 
ry simple method, which is merely to bring the middle part 
of the bar to a red heat, and then immersing it in water, by 
which all the steely portions will be rendered brittle, with- 
out the fibrous portions being affected. An inch bar of 
good iron thus treated will bear a dozen blows of a heavy 
sledge hammer before it will break. 

24. The fractured end of a bar of Indian iron presents a 
very different appearance to that of English, none of the 
glistering portions being visible, but if not fibrous, it shews 
the granular fracture of an aggregation of crystalline grains, 
either large or small, according to the hardness of steel 
which it contains. The iron thus examined may be sepa- 
rated for different purposes into four different kinds. 

Ist. Completely fibrous. it for nails, horse-shoes, bolts, 


400 Manufacture of Bar Iron in Southern India. 


straps, crow-bars, tongs, &c., in which softness is of no con- 
sequence, and great tenacity and ductility are requisite. 

2nd. Half fibrous and half granular. Fit for axle trees, 
wheel tyres, &c,, where tenacity and strength are both requi- 
site. 

3rd. Nearly all granular and steely, resisting the file in 
‘some parts, and brittle, breaking with one or two blows of ’ 
the sledge. Fit for lathe bars and iron work in mathemati- 
cal instruments, where hardness is requisite to prevent 
bruising. 

4th. All granular, with the fine snow-white fracture of 
cast steel in parts. Only touched by the file in some parts. 
Very brittle unless annealed. Hard, and resists the hammer 
in forging, drawing out with difficulty, and cracking slightly 
at the edges unless carefully forged. Fit for plough shares, 
spades, and pickaxes, bricklayers’ trowels, &c. which re- 
quire to be hard. 

25. Some native made iron which I have met with 
was difficult to forge, from its cracking very much under 
the hammer at the edges of the bar, though not‘ otherwise 
deficient in tenacity; but as such iron is not common, I have 
not had opportunities of examining it properly. ‘The native 
workmen la that iron of this kind is quite as ductile as 
any other if it is forged with bamboo charcoal. Should this 
be a fact, it seems to be well worth the attention of chemists, 
considering that the coat of the bamboo contains much 
finely divided silica, and remembering that the English 
smiths, when welding togettier steel and iron, use freely 
large quantities of a white quartzose sand. It is probable that 
it is this last kind of Indian iron, which has by some been 
called “ red short,” which is however a mistake. The Eng- 
lish red short iron snapping off like a carrot when bent. 


401 


Description of the Sungndi, Cervus (Rusa) frontalis, 
McClell., a new species of Deer inhabiting the valley of 
Moneypore, and brought to notice by Captain C. 8S. 
Gururiz, Bengal Engineers. By J. M‘CiEvtanp. 
Plates xiii. and xiv. | 


‘In order to account for so large and interesting a species 
remaining so long undiscovered, as well as for its range 
being limited, as far as our information yet extends, almost 
to the Moneypore valley and its vicinity, it is necessary to 
consider the general features of the mountain tract on the 
Eastern Frontier of Bengal.* 

The best, and indeed the only description of this region 
extant is contained in the Report of the late Captain R. B. 
Pemberton, on the Eastern Frontier, printed in Calcutta, 
1835, by order of the Government of India. The region 
in question consists of mountain chains, which extending 
from the Himalaya under the lat. 23° N., long. 95° E. 
separate the great basins of the Irrawadi and the Burram- 
pooter. It is bounded on the South-west by the plains of 
Bengal, on the East by the plains of the Irrawaddi, on the 
North by those of the Burrampooter and by the Himalaya. 
It affords several considerable vallies at various elevations 
of from 1,000 to 2,500 feet above the sea, of which the most 
considerable is Moneypore. It also presents some still more 
elevated table lands of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. 


* Capt. Eld, Journ. Nat. Hist., vol. ii. p.417, conceives that there 
would be great difficulty in rearing the young of this species removed 
from its native climate, I have therefore availed myself of the scarce 
and valuable work of Capt. Pemberton, in order to afford as correct 
a view of the climate in which it lives as possible. Both Capts. 
Guthrie and Eld, appear to think that the species is strictly confined 
to the Moneypore valley, but Mr. Henry Inglis informed me that it is 
found, though rarely, in the Kasyah mountains, (a part of the same 
chain,) in the winter season, at elevations | think of four or five thou- 
sand feet. 


a 
eek > 


402 Description of a new Deer. | 


The loftiest peaks attain an elevation of from eight to 
ten thousand feet above the sea. Thus formed under the 
parallel of 22° to 24° North lat., partially bordering the sea 
on the West, and the Himalaya on the East, the climate of 
this region must be subject to many peculiar influences. 
From a statement _given by Capt. Pemberton of the quan- 
tity of rain at Moneypore, it appears that the annual 
fall is heavier. than it is in Bengal. It amounted on an 
average of three years to 115 inches, while in Calcutta the 
mean fall for the same period was but 72 inches per annum. 
The rain is also more equally diffused throughout the year, 
particularly during the months of March, April, and May, 
than in Bengal. During this period also, the temperature is 
on an average 15 degrees lower at Moneypore than in Cal- 
cutta; and though hoar-frost is common during the months 
of January and February, yet the thermometer rarely falls to 
the freezing point. 

There is another circumstance which though not peculiar 
to this region, yet deserves to be mentioned. During cold 
weather, Capt. Pemberton states, from about the end of No- 
vember to the beginning of January, the whole valley is enve- 
loped until ten or eleven o'clock daily, in a dense fog which 
ascends from the surface of the ground to an elevation of fifty 
feet. Viewed from the summits of the surrounding heights, 
it looks like a vast bed of snow, and rests perfectly motion- 
less, until dissipated by the reflection of the sun’s rays from 
the face of the surrounding ranges which overlook the 
valley. 

The eurroimding ‘s mountains are in most instances, says 
Capt. Pemberton, covered with the noblest forest trees, 
common both to temperate and tropical climates. Cedars 
of gigantic size crown the summits of the loftier ranges 
immediately west of Moneypore; oaks of every size, from 
the most stunted, which are confined to the lower ranges, to 
the most majestic, which are on the loftier ones, grow in. 


—_—. 


EOL ILL RPA 


Description of a new Deer. 3 


luxuriant abundance in every part of the country. Toon, 
red teak, pines, and other gigantic trees with which Capt. 
Pemberton was unacquainted, are found in the greatest 
profusion on the hills to the South-east of Moneypore. 

Of the geological structure of this tract, Capt. Pember- 
ton remarks, our knowledge is particularly incomplete ; the 
prevalence of dense impervious forests, extending from the 
summits of the mountains to their bases, has restricted ob- 
servation to those portions that have been laid bare by 
the action of torrents, and to some few of the most conspi- 
cuous ridges. In that portion of the tract which extends 
between Moneypore and Cachar, a light and friable sand- 
stone of brown colour, and red ferruginous clay are found 


to prevail on the lower heights. 


Sandstone seems to be the most prevalent rock in the 
central ranges between Moneypore and Bengal; with this, 
coal-slate, and limestone occasionally occur. The northern 
ranges between Moneypore and Assam are composed of 


-more compact rocks, and the great central ridge of this part 
of the chain consists of hard grey granular slate, and on the 


northern face of this chain, boulders of granite were found 
resting on the inferior heights. .These mountains are in- 
habited, Captain Pemberton remarks, by fierce unconquered 
tribes, whose aggressions on the inhabitants of the subjacent 
plains have led in many instances to the payment of a 
species of black mail, to procure exemption from their at- 
tacks; and even those who from among our own subjects 
had ventured amongst their fastnesses, scarcely ever penetra- 
ted beyond the first ranges which immediately overlook 
the low lands of Bengal and Cachar. But a road is now 
open from Bengal into the Moneypore valley, where there 
is a British Resident. There are, however, only two in- 
stances of Europeans having been permitted to cross the 
northern range of mountains from Moneypore to Assam, 
The first attempt was successfully accomplished by Capts. 


404 Description of a new Deer. 


Jenkins and Pemberton in 1832; the second by Lieut. 
Gordon the following year, attended by the Rajah of Money- 
pore himself, when, notwithstanding the personal influence 
of the Rajah, the protection of a military force was necessary, 
as well as recourse to fire arms. 

Of the wild animals, Capt. Pemberton mentions, herds of 
elephants are constantly seen in the glens and defiles on the 
north of the Moneypore valley. Deer, he says, abound in 
every part of the country, and grow to a very. considerable 
size. He does not specify the varieties, but some of the deer 
alluded to, were doubtless the species now about to be des- 
cribed. The wild hog, he says, is no less abundant, and its 
ravages in the fields are sometimes so great, that the villagers 
are compelled to go out in a body against them; and when 
ponies were more numerous, the pursuit of the deer and hog © 
ranked amongst the most favourite sport of the Money- 
porees. 

Having now at length arrived at the proper subject of 
this communication, it may be commenced by stating, that 
in 1839, I received from Capt. C. S. Guthrie, a specimen of 
the horns of a young deer of the Rusa group, with a re- 
quest to notice the peculiarity which seemed to indicate a 
new species. The specimen was deposited in the Museum 
of the Asiatic Society, in which I happened then to be in- 
terested. ee 

In the fourth number of the Calcutta Journal of Natural 
History, p. 501, the peculiarity referred to by Capt. Guthrie, 
was pointed out and figured, pl. xii. vol. 1, and further en- 
quiry was there strongly recommended. Capt. Eld, one of the 
Principal Assistants to the Commissioner of Assam, and who 
had been previously attached to the British Residency in 
Moneypore, having had his attention called to the notice 
and the figure alluded to, soon after addressed an interest- 
ing letter on the subject to one of the contributors to this 
work, affording the first general information hitherto receiv-— 


Description of a new Deer. 405 


_ ed relative to the habits and character of this interesting 
species. As Capt. Eld’s letter is recorded, vol. ii. p. 415, 
it will be unnecessary here to do more than refer to his 
' observations, which are highly important and valuable, as 
coming from a sportsman who was familiar with the animal 
in its wild state. It would appear from the letter of Capt. 
Eld, that he had been acquainted with the animal since 
1838, and was only deterred at that time from communicating 
an account of it to the. public journals. on being told, that 
a similar deer was to be found in the forests of the North 
Western Provinces. Had Capt. Eld not been deterred from 
carrying his intention into effect, he would then have had 
the priority of all other claims in contributing to the dis- 
covery of an unknown animal of much interest; but as he 
did not carry his intention into effect, his prior knowledge 
cannot deprive Capt. Guthrie of any portion of the very 
high degree of merit indubitably due to him, and to him 
alone, as the first person to announce to the world the ex- 
istence of Cervus frontalis. But this is not the only merit 
due to Capt. Guthrie in this instance, for not satisfied with 
the first announcement of a new fact, he devoted three years’ ' 
labour and attention in procuring skeletons and skins, and 
heads, in every degree of development and livery, in order 
to establish, beyond doubt, the discovery which he was first 
to indicate, and to enable the world to become practically 
‘acquainted with it.* 
Although differing considerably in the form of the horns 
from any of the Rusa deer, still the general form, the colour, 


* It is of much consequence ‘to preserve strictly, the exact degree 
and nature of the claims of different persons to the share in which 
they have been instrumental inthe discovery of new facts. While, 
therefore, we owe to Capt. Guthrie the first announcement of the 
species, as well as all the materials necessary for the fullest and most 
complete description, we likewise owe to Capt. Eld, an interesting 
account of its habits. 


406 Description of a new Deer. - 
the mane, and the Asiatic habitation of the species, all seem — 
to refer it to the Rusa group, of which it forms one of the 
most unique and striking examples. 

Gen.—Cervvs, Lin. 

Sub.-gen.—Rvusa, Smith. 

Species.—Fontalis.* McClelland, pl. xiii. 

The form of the skull agrees more with that of Cervus 
hippelaphus, than with that of any other species that I can 
refer it to, but the nasal and intermaxillary bones as well as 
the muzzle generally, seem to be somewhat more prolonged 
and compressed, and though the face is broad and flat 
between the eyes, the forehead is compressed, and the 
head as well as the muzzle narrow, and the profile nearly 
straight, but with a short prominent ridge commencing on 
the forehead, and extending between the horns. There are 
two canine teeth, not much developed in the upper jaw of 
both sexes, and the suborbital sinuses are large. 

The horns are large and directed backwards, and obliquely 
outwards without ascending from the burr: they are then 
curved gradually upwards and outwards, and terminate in a 
point directed forward. A single small antler extends obli- 
quely inward from the upper third of the horn; this antler - 
in young individuals appears to form a fork with the sum- 
mit, but in the adult it is placed about six or seven inches 
from the top point of the horn, and is more or less developed 
according to age; in the adult, and particularly in aged 
individuals, an imperfect nodular spine extends from the 
base of this antler towards the point of the horn, with — 
several irregular blunt snags arising from it, forming an 
incomplete kind of crown. 


* The Sungnai of Moneypore valley, (Capt. Guthrie,) according to 
the most careful regard to orthography ; or Sungraéé of Capt. Eld, but 
the former we consider the most correct. The specific name, frontalis, 
is intended to denote the peculiar form of the brow antlers descending 
over the eyes. 


Description of a new Deer. 407 


The brow antler advances directly forward from the burr, 
and bending upwards and outwards, terminates in a point, 
which if prolonged, would meet the summit of the horn, and 
thus complete an almost perfect circle. 

A single little snag sometimes shoots out promiscuously 
from the base of one or other horn, more frequently from 
that of the brow antler. 

The length of the horn following the curve is three feet, 
and that of the brow antler twenty inches. The circum- 
ference of the horn is five and half inches, that of the brow 
antler five inches, and both together form one extended | 
and uniform curve of four feet and seven inches; the horns 
spreading laterally from each other to a distance of three 
feet, and then approaching at their bases to an inch or an 
inch and half. 

The body in its general symmetry is light; the limbs slen- 
der but strong; the hoofs long, black, and pointed; the 
head is carried erect; the tail short and conspicuous in the 
summer dress; but only appearing as a short tuft in the 
thick winter coat. 

The coat is thick and dense in winter, longer and coarser 
on the neck than on other parts, forming a thick but un- 
defined mane of straight, harsh, and coarse hair, five or six 
inches long in the winter, but in summer the mane is more 
defined. From the withers, the hair becomes shorter, dimi- 
nishing towards the tail, which in summer is thinly clad, 
though in winter it is covered with a dense cluthing of hair 
in common with all the upper-parts of the body. On the 
face, the muzzle, the limbs, and the external ears the hair is 
short, close, and compact; on the lower surface of the chest 
it is coarse and short; it is thin, lengthy, and fine on the 
under-parts of the belly. The inner parts of the thighs and - 
upper and inner-parts of the forelegs, are also thinly clad. 

The colour changes from yellowish brown in summer to a 
brownish grey in winter; during summer, brownish grey 


408 _ _Deseription of a new Deer. 


prevails on the face and neck, becoming yellowish brown on 
the upper parts of the body, the backs of the ears, and 
the upper and outer part of the limbs and the muzzle. The 
belly, the inner parts of the thighs and the forelegs, the 
under-parts of the lower jaw, the hips, the tail, and adjoining 
parts of the rump, are white in summer ; but the rump and 
upper parts of the tail partake of the colours of the upper 
- parts of the body in winter. The lower parts of tne limbs 
are light grey, the same also prevails irregularly round the 
eyes, and corners of the mouth and nose, and lengthy tufts 
of light grey hair cover the inner surface of the ears. 

Of the habits all we know is communicated by Capt. Eld, 
page 415, of the second volume of this Journal. It is only 
found, says Capt. Eld, in the valley of Moneypore, and has 
not yet been seen either in Cachar or in the Kubo valley. 
This information is confirmed by the testimony of Capt. 
Guthrie; but Mr. Inglis, as already stated, seems to have 
been aware of its existence in the Kasyah hills, but in what — 
part, or at what elevation, or whether he saw it himself, or 
merely referred to a knowledge of its existence in these hills 
on the part of the natives, I am unable at present to say. 

So much of the foregoing description as relates to the 
character of the species, has been drawn up without re- 
ference to the observations of Captain Eld, on the living 
animal. The hair about the neck, Captain Eld describes, 
in the cold weather as very thick and shaggy, like a horse’s 
mane, and when suddenly roused in their native haunts, the 
whole contour is so commanding and formidable, that the 
boldest elephants refuse to approach them, and the com- 
manding effect of their presence is increased in the winter 
by the strong smell which at this season proceeds from their 
bodies, perceptible at forty yards distance. In June, he re- 
marks, they commence shedding their horns, and changing 
their coats of thick shaggy hair for a light glossy summer 
chesnut coat, in which their beautiful symmetry is admirably 


Description of a new Deer. 409 


displayed. The new horns attain their full size by the end 
of November, but are not in full perfection until February 
or March. Such is the description of the animal, by one 
who was familiar with it in its native forests. 

In concluding this imperfect account of a highly interest- 
ing species, I may remark that the materials placed at 
my disposal by Captain Guthrie, deserve a fuller and more 
perfect description than is heré given; but as the numerous 
skeletons and skins which he has liberally procured are 
to be forwarded to Europe, more complete accounts of the 
animal may, and no ¢yubt will, there be drawn up. The 
figure (plate xiii.) has been constructed from several 
skins, and the form of the horns in individuals of different 
ages, from the young to the adult, (plate xiv.) have also been 
drawn ‘from the abundant materials supplied by Captain 
Guthrie. I cannot however conclude these remarks with- 
out expressing a hope that the very anxious solicitude of the 
_ Zoological Society, and the desire of its President, the 
Earl of Derby, to possess live specimens for the Society’s 
Gardens in Regent’s Park, as well as for his Lordship’s 
unrivalled private collection at Knowsley, will induce Capt. 
Gordon, the British Resident at Moneypore, to exercise 
his influence with the view of obtaining a few living in- 
dividuals for transmission to England. 

The cold season would be that in which the attempt 
should be made, and the animals should arrive in Calcutta 
by the middle of January, so as to have them shipped early 
in February. 


Description of Plate xiv. 


Fig. 1. The horn of Cervus frontalis, about the third or 
fourth year. 

Fig. 2. The same, about the fourth or fifth year. 

Fig. 3. The same, the fifth or sixth year. 

Fig. 4. The same, the seventh or eighth year. 


o 
e 


IG 


Pe 


The Beniurong or Ictides Ater. De Buatn. 
An interesting addition to the Catalogue of Mammalia of 
Assam, published in our last number, p. 265, has been made 
in the discovery of the Benturong, or Ictides Ater of Blain- 
ville, in that province, a living specimen of which, taken in 
the vicinity of Goalpara, being now before us. This animal 
_has been brought to Calcutta by Mr. J. F. Delanougerede, a 
gentleman to whom we are. indebted for a small collection of 
select specimens of Fishes for the Museum at the India 
House. The Benturong was first discovered in Java, but ‘ 
the first notice of its existence on the continent of India, will . 
be found in the second volume of this Journal, p. 457, in r 
noticing collections received from Captain McLeod, Special ~ | 
Assistant to the Commissionér of the Tenasserim Provinces, ae 
where the animal seems to be known as the Myouk-Kya; 
or Monkey Tiger. | 
The discovery now made of its existence in Assam, is 
another proof of the Malayan character of the Fauna of that 
‘country, and makes the number of the Mammalia already 
known to belong to Assam, 68; of these 67 are enumerated 
in Mr. Walker's Catalogue already alluded to. The speci- 
men is a young male about 20 inches in length, exclu- 
sive of the tail. It is perfectly docile and tame, passing in 
and out of its cage and climbing up the arm, when extended 
to it. Its movements are peculiarly gentle and graceful, 
often standing erect on the hind feet, and generally using 
the tail as a support, twining it round some adjoining ob- 
ject. Its manners are playful, like those of the Bear, affect- 
ing to bite and use its claws. Its food consists of plantains, — 
bread and milk, and raw meat. It has vertical pupils and — 
appears to sleep much during the day, becoming more lively | 
at night. | 


411 


The Baraiya, or Cervus elaphoides, Hopeson. 


We were favoured with an interesting letter sometime 
since from R. W. G. Frith, Esq., of Islampore, detailing the 
results of a highly successful shooting party in the Rungpore 
district, at the foot of the Garrow hills in April last, when 
amongst the animals killed on the occasion, there was a buck 
such as none of the party had before seen, and which Mr. 
Frith supposed might possibly be the Cervus frontalis, then 
only known from the imperfect notices of it in the two first 
volumes of the Calcutta Journal of Natural History. Since 
then, Mr. Frith has favoured us with a sketch of the head, 
which proves to be that of the Baraiya, or Cervus elaphoides 
of Mr. Hodgson. Mr. Frith at the same time, forwarded a 
sketch of the head of a young buck entering on his third 
year, which he thinks is probably the same species as 
the large one which was killed. Of this there can be 
no doubt, the horns of the third year being sufficiently 
characteristic; the horns or dagues of the second year, 
were slightly bent conical daggers of about seven inches 
long, which he shed in April, when about 2% years of age, 
by striking them against a post. In three months, the horns 
of the third year presented the characteristic form of the 
species, though not so fully developed as in the adult. The 
colour also changed from the bright yellow to brown inter- 
mixed with yellow; about the muzzle, neck and legs, dark 
brown. The one that was shot was anything but wild, Mr. 
Frith remarks, trotting away before the elephants like a 
horse. We might repeat the same injunction to Mr. Frith, 
as we have made to Capt. Gordon, relative to live specimens 


of this species for the Earl of Derby, and the Zoological 
‘Society. | 


412 


Correspondence. 


Vegetation. Communicated by E. T. Down's, Esa. | 


Vegetable Physiology.—Action of Metallic Poisonous Substances upon 


In certain localities it is the practice to spread upon the soil 


metallic poisons, such for example as arsenious acid, for the purpose 
of destroying insects. These proceedings, so likely to excite the 
fear of the public, seem worthy of being submitted for the opinion 
of some learned Society. 

The Academy of Brussels has-taken the initiative in bringing this 
question forward; two memoirs have “been presented; we intend 
giving an analysis of these works. 

We-will not attempt here to recall to mind all that has been 
written upon the question which now engages our attention. Suffi- 


cient for us to say, that the views of the illustrious historian of the 
Alps, Theodore de Saussure, have been fully confirmed. ‘The roots . 


of plants,” he writes, “are filters of too fine a form to absorb any 
substances that are not fluid. If they admit solids, it is necessary 


that they should be so attenuated, so divided, that their diffusion © 


in the liquid has all the characters of a true solution.” 

In a note presented last year to the Academy of Brussels, M. de 
Hemptinne declared, that having submitted to the ordinary pro- 
cesses of analysis, the various parts of carrots, potatoes, oats, and 
wheat, which he had sown and cultivated upon land, on which he 
had strewed 250 grammes* of arsenious acid to the square metre, 
he could not discover the least trace of arsenic. All the vegetables 
were well-grown, and arrived at maturity, without having presented 
any thing particular during their growth. 

The results of the experiments of the Royal Academy of Brussels 
are confirmed, as will be seen by the account which we now give. 

The author of the first memoir, M. Louyet, Professor of Chemistry, 
at the Central School of Brussels, has impregnated the soil with 


* Gramme, 15.444 grains. 
¢ Metre, 49.371 inches. 


Action of Metallic Poison on Vegetation. 413 


different poisonous substances. Having spread 256 grains of arseni- 
ous acid upon a bed of earth of 64 feet of surface, the germination, 
as well as the maturation of the seed went on as usual, without the 
possibility of discovering a trace of arsenic in the plants submitted 
to the experiment. 

If the soil is charged with too great a quantity of arsenious acid, 
if it contains 1,200 grains upon the same space of ground, the seeds 
merely commence the germinating process. They then contain 
a sensible quantity of arsenious acid. In the same way, the author 
has seen plants perish after some days, which had been watered with 
a strong solution of corrosive sublimate. Analysis demonstrated, that 
they contained mercury. The author having impregnated the. soil 
successively with arseniate of potash, arsenic, acid, tartrate of potash, 
and antimony, the plants grew, but in one of the experiments, the 
arseniate had become almost entirely insoluble in the soil; without 
doubt it had been converted into arseniate of lime by the reaction of 
the carbonate of lime upon the arseniate of potash; the antimonial 
salt in another experiment became almost completely insoluble. 

The same resulted in the moderate employment of acetate of 
lead, sulphate of zinc, proto-nitrate of mercury, and bichloride of 
mercury, without doubt for the same reason. 

In a soil impregnated with sulphate of iron, the plants indicated 
more iron than those raised in a normal soil. In the same way 
copper has been met with in those which had been sown in earth 
charged with sulphate of copper, whilst a comparative study has 
not discovered a trace amongst the vegetables grown naturally. 

This experience agrees with those tried by other learned men, 
from which it results that the coppery or ferruginous matters can 
penetrate into the plant, whether in the state of carbonate dissolved 
in water charged with carbonic acid,-or whether in a state of oxide 
dissolyed by the assistance of certain elements of the earth. 

In examining with care these different experiments, they authorise 
the conclusion, that poisonous metallic compounds are not absorbed 
by plants unless in a condition to become soluble; that when they 
are absorbed, germination is found to be suspended. 

That metallic compounds not poisonous, such as iron, appear to 
be more easily absorbed than others, although the sulphate of iron 


414 Action of Metallic Poison on Vegetation. 


which was used in the experiment is also decomposed in the soil, 
and there becomes generally insoluble. 

In a word, poisonous metallic substances may be mixed with 
the soil before sowing, without tiny fear that the plants which 
will germinate and vegetate in the soil containing any sensible 
quantity. 

This conclusion will be found conformable to that of M. de 


- Hemptinne. The author of the second notice, M. Verver, can- 


didate at the University of Groningue, has mixed with the soil, 
in various proportions, arsenious acid, bi-arsenite of potash, and 
sulphate of copper, and afterwards several sorts of farinaceous seeds 
were sown in the ground thus prepared. He observed, as the 
preceding author had, that a too great proportion of arsenious acid 
prevented germination; that in the opposite case it took place 
without obstacles, and that the plants offered no traces of the 
poisonous substances. 

The same resulted from the use of the bi-arsenite of potash. 

‘The sulphate of copper had no effect in preventing germination, 
a fact conformable to the experience of the preceding author. 

M. Verver in fact discovered that the salt became insoluble, 
without doubt from the decomposing influence of the carbonate of 
lime, in opposition to M. Louyet; that observer not being able to 
discover in that case any traces of copper in the vegetables submitted 
to experiment. 

Little balls of arsenious acid and meal did not prevent vegetation. 

The plants submitted to experiment presented no traces. It was 
the same when the bi-arsenite of potash in powder, or arsenious 
acid placed at the root, when young, or of cresses in full vegetation. 
All these experiments are confirmative, as will be seen, of the pre- 
ceding ones. Other results were produced when the plants were 
watered with an arsenical solution. A polygonum orientale in full 
flower having been watered with a solution of bi-arsenite of potash, 
perished in twenty-four hours, and the author succeeded in discover- 
ing clearly the presence of arsenic not only in the leaves and stalks, 
but also in the seeds of the vegetable. It appears then that metallic 
poisons can penetrate into the seeds of vegetables, at least under 
circumstances, of which it was at one time doubtful. 


8 Mi Be ee 


TYP e TL we 


Action of Metallic Poison on Vegetation. Ald 


The author has observed, that solutions of metallic salts, which 
have the property of being decomposed and rendered insoluble by - 
the soil, such as sulphate of copper, acetate of lead, &c. cannot be 
made to penetrate the vegetables by means of watering. 

If entire vegetables are plunged with their roots into dissolved 
metallic compounds, these compounds penetrate into all parts of 
the plants. 

_ It appears then right, after these experiments, as well as the 
preceding ones, to admit, that there is no danger to the public health 
as regards the practice followed by many cultivators. 

Nevertheless, these experiments are far from being absolutely 
decisive, and their negative results ought not to be admitted without 
restriction. 

The. analytical processes, employed by M. Louyet, are not such 
as ought to be entirely relied upon. This memoir, says the reporter, 
M. Martens, is not explicit as regards the analytical methods, by 
the aid of which the author has discovered the presence of foreign 
substances in the plants. In fact, he has not employed the method 
of carbonizing the plant by means of ‘pure nitric acid; but after 
allowing the plants to macerate for two or three days, in a solution 
of caustic potash, he introduced the different solutions into Marsh’s 
apparatus, after having concentrated and neutralised them by sul- 
phuric acid. The author of the second paper, carbonized the va- 
rious parts of plants which grew in the poisoned ground, by means 
of nitric acid, but he does not appear to have got rid of the residue 


of the carbonisation of the plants, previous to the introduction into 


Marsh’s apparatus. The learned M. Martens remarks, upon the 
necessity of neutralizing the nitric acid by pure potash, then to dis- 
place it by pure sulphuric acid ; for it is well known that the presence 
of nitric acid in Marsh’s apparatus would interfere with the disengage- 
ment of the arseniuret of hydrogen, which is quickly oxidized or 
decomposed under the influence of this acid. We insist upon these 
points, because we believe with M. Hemptinne, that it cannot be toc 
boldly recommended to practitioners, to banish from the operations of 
agricultural industry, as well as from manufactories, the use of this 


dangerous poison. M. Martens wishing to verify the results of 


these two papers, watered different plants in pots, suchas a young 


416 On the Saccharine contents of Sugar Cane. 


orange tree, Cactus speciosus, and Pelargonum capitatum, with a 
strong solution of arsenious acid: at the end of eight or ten days, 
during which the watering had been continued, the plants perished. 
The analysis did not discover the least trait of arsenic in any part of 
the plants. 

From this we may conclude, that arsenious acid employed in solu- 
tion, is capable of destroying the plants without se Fg into 
their trunk. 

Probably in this case the poison penetrates into the root, or into 
the radicular extremities of the plant, altering the functions or. 
the drganization, and thus produces the death of the wee. = 
From L’echo du Monde Savant. 


Extract of a Letter from T. A. Hentey, Esa., dated Port Louis, Mauritius, 
3rd April 1842, to Georce James Gorvon, Esa., Calcutta.* 


Since I had the pleasure of forwarding you a box of samples of pro- 
duce of this Island, by the Exmouth, favored by Mr. Bell, and got up 
as is often the case in like circumstances in a hurry; it occurred to me 
that I might have at some time excluded a specimen of much interest, I 
now endeavour to make up for the omission, in forwarding to you a sam- 
ple of the Sugar Cane of the Island, thoroughly desiccated and pow- 
dered, so that you will have in Calcutta, in most complete preservation 
a portion of the Island Cane, minus its aqueous portion. I believe I 
took occasion in a former letter to notice to you, that previous to the 
researches of the French chemists, (at least previous to my kaowing any 
thing about their operation,) I had been occupying myself in analysis 
of the Sugar Cane, and was so struck with the difference between the 
absolute contents of the Sugar Cane in saccharine matter, and that ob- 
tained by the ordinary process of manufacture, that some of my friends: 
treated the thing as absurd, whilst others more reasonably, came ac- 
companied by the specimen of Canes they desired to analyze, and 


* We are indebted for this communication, together with the following valuable note on the 
subject by Mr. G. J. Gordon, to the kindness of John Allan, Esq.—Ep. 

“ Probably exposing the cane-trash as it is called to a slow current of boiling water, might 
be sufficient to extract the saccharine matter retained by the woody fibre after the expression 
of the juice by the ordinary procéss. This would be far less expensive than the drying and 
grinding process, and would leave the cane-trash in a form still fit for fuel when dry.” 


ee es 


On the Saccharine contents of Sugar Cane. 417 


waited personally to observe the result. Soon after this, I learnt that 


“Similar researches had been made by Peligot in France, who struck also 


with the great difference in the yield of Cane scientifically treated, and 
by the ordinary colonial processes, had aided in getting up a company 


_ for the exportation of Cane, with permission from the French Govern- 


ment to introduce into France, free from duty, eight millions of pounds 
of dried Cane. The difference of produce may be estimated by the fact, 
that our Island Sugar Cane contains from sixteen to twenty-two per 
cent. of sugar and syrap, whilst by the ordinary methods of manufac- 
ture, from eight to twelve are the limits. Peligot in his analysis gives 
eighteen per cent. of bond fide crystallizable sugar as the contents of 
the Cane, with ten to twelve per cent. of woody matter; and states, that 
the Cane juice is a simple solution of sugar and water, and is altogether 
crystallizable. This latter observation does not coincide with my repeat- 
ed researches. But there can be no doubt, that there is less uncrystal- 
lizable sugar in any given quantity of Cane, treated by the dry process, 


than when treated in the ordinary method. The violent crushing 


action of our Cane mills, by creating a great exposure to atmospheric 
oxygen, evidently occasions some change in the relations of the 
elements of the Cane, and the trifling difference which exists between 
gum, sugar, starch, &c., will afford some insight into the causes of the 
change which does actually take place ; for the quantity of molasses or 
uncrystallizable sugar is very much greater, than when the saccharine 
matter is properly extracted without crushing the Cane. Our Island 
process gives from 100 parts or pounds of Cane, fifty to sixty lbs. of 
Cane juice, . \rty to fifty of trash, whereas this latter should be but 
ten or twelve The difference being the loss, besides a larger portion 
rendered uncry allizable. The drying method may be applied to any 


extent of operati.ns, and some questions arise affording subject for 


reflection, such as the dried and powdered Cane being compressible in- 
to bales might be sent home, and run directly through the superior pro- 
cesses of the European refiners; or, as it contains more ‘than half its 


_ weight of sugar, why might not the poor employ it directly. A portion 


placed in a bit of open muslin, and put in a cup of tea, yields its sugar 
instantly to the fluid, without any foreign or ill flavor whatever. If you 
will take a portion of the dry Cane I now send you, and pour it lightly 
into a 3 inch glass tube, say six or eight inches deep; on pouring a little 
cold water over it, clear syrup will run through by the method of dis- 
placement, until nothing but water comes off; by pouring the latter syrup 
in a fresh portion, a concentrated syrup will be obtained. This is the 
method to employ on the large scale, operating on tons ata time. Itis 


2 
oi 


418 Correspondence . 


remarkable that the native manufacturers obtain more'saccharine matter ~ 
‘from their Canes in the relation of twenty to fourteen, as I have found 
at Barripore and Benares, &c. &c. than the best European steam mills. 
The natives water their Cane trash, but the tedium of the process de- 
composes the subject, and in some instances in short nullifies the advant- 
age they gain. The method of drying the Cane for manufacture is pe- 
_culiarly applicable to Bengal; for I found in Benares, Azeemghur, 
Gauzeepore, &c. that the small hard country Cane only yields Ard of its 
weight in Cane juice, the refuse gds, containing locked up a very large 
proportion of valuable matter, which cannot be touched by the very best 
steam mill. In fact, no crushing process can extract the juice completely, 
even from the more tender Canes of this Island. I frequently amuse 
myself in making sugar from the trash coming from a good ten-hors¢ 
mill, as a proof, by synthesis, of the improved method. I think the 
drying process one of great interest to Bengal, and one which might 
lead to very important results. 
“‘ Trais produits principaux qui constituent la Canne.”~ 

Eatisecosess 72.1 

Sucre...... 18.0 

Ligneux.... 9.9 


100.0 


Extract of a Letter from 8. H. Rostnson, Esa., dated Dhobah, August 22d, 
1842, on te Dhobah Coal Mines on the Adji. © 


As I promised you, I now enclose a section of the strata at Choukee- 
danga Colliery in the Burdwan district, of which you are welcome 
to make any use you please. The situation is, I think, about four 
mile S. W. of Serapore Ghat on the Adji river, and rather less N. W. 
of the dik station, Mungelpore, on the great Benares Road. 

The great similarity b.:ween these beds, and those at Rannygunge 
Colliery, as described by Mr. Jones, is remarkable; and should you con- 
sider this worth publishing, as the accumulation of such facts would 
tend to throw great light on the true character of these deposits, I 
am in hopes the example I have set may be the means of inducing — 
others, who have experimented in the same field, to contribute the 
results of their experience also towards the general fund of infor- 
mation. : 

I remain, yours truly, 
S. H. Rosinson. 


Correspondence. 419 


Section of Strata at Chowkeedanya Colliery. 
Feet. Inch. 
12 © Sandy soil mixed with kunkur. 
6 0 Very soft brown sandstone. 
1 0 Very hard ditto ditto, (called “live stone’ by the 
natives). 


4 0 Very soft ditto ditto. 

8 0 Tolerably hard ditto ditto. 
10 0 White sandstone, intersected by dark brown veins. 
5 0 Shale. > 

5 0 Ist Coal bed, inferior quality. 
0 2 Sbale. 

5 0 2nd Coal bed. 

0 9 Shale. 

5 0 8rd Coal bed. 

"7 0 White sandstone. 
2 0 4th Coal bed. 
Total 70 11* 


To the Editor of the Calcutta Journal of Natural History. 
Dear Sir, 


We too frequently refrain from seeking interesting,.if not useful in- 
formation, from those who are alone able to impart it, from a natural, 
but I think censurable, reluctance to expose our own ignorance, or 
otherwise from a fear that our enquiries may prove to refer to objects 
either too trifling to merit attention, or too common to be unknown to 
any soul, with eyes and common sense, but our own individual selves. 

Under this fear, we frequently lose both interesting and useful in- 
formation, and that in many instances, from those who might casually 
add to their own knowledge whilst removing a portion.of our ignorance. 


* To render sections of this nature complete, the dip, the joinings, the mineral, economic, 
and the organic characters of each bed should be noticed in full detail, for every bed has its 
own peculiar characters by which it may be distinguished and recognised wherever it be met 
with, and under whatever form of metamorphoses it may occur. Excellent examples of the 
method of describing rocks, and distinguishing them by means of their fossil contents, etc. 
will be found in our notices of Mr. Murchison’s work, contained in former Nos. of this 
Journal.—Ep. ; 


420. 2 Correspondence. 


‘These remarks apply in particular to the Natural History ofthis country, 
which appears to be but imperfectly known, even to those from whom 
we have some right to expect more than ordinary or common-place 
information. Take for example, the Anglo-Hindoostanee lexicographer, 
(Mr. Shakspear,) who gives such definitions as the following :—( Thomp- 
son’s Oordoo Dictionary on the basis of Shakspear’s.) 

Bunsee-but—name of a plant. Bhung’ua—a kind of fish. 

Buz’a—name of a bird. Geuth—name of a fish. 

By’la—a species of bird. Gohoonuh—a kind of snake. 


Definitions like these, (and there are numerous others, though, no 
doubt, the best that the author could give,) are little calculated to en- 
lighten those who, like myself, having no scientific knowledge or 
scientific works of reference on the Natural History of this country, 
are unable to recognize the name or class of any object which may fall 
under their notice, though familiar with the native name, if that, 
through the medivm of a more communicative Dictionary, could mae be 
identified with its correct English synonyme. 

If, however, your exéellent Journal be open to the correspondence 
of enquirers like myself, the defects to which I have adverted will very 
speedily be corrected,,and the Natural History of India be no longer, 
as it now is, a mystery to the unlearned.* Information may be sought 
regarding the names, habits, &c. of the birds, beasts, fishes, insects, and» 
reptiles, of the land in which we live, and the information so sought may 
be in your power, or that of some one of your contributors to furnish ; 
thus not merely gratifying the sy are but also a very large class of 
your readers. 

To illustrate one means through which information may be elicited, 
I beg to forward and place at your disposal, with this letter, a bottle 
containing two snakes, and an insect bearing some resemblance to a 
large cockroach. 

The lower of the two snakes was caught some days ago, and killed 
by immersion in hot water. The servants here say, that its native — 
name is “Chittee.” Dr. Russell, in his continuation of “ Indian Ser- 
pents,” describes a Coluber, (No. 4,) and illustrates it with ‘a coloured 


* The Journal of Natural History is intended for such communications as the one now 
inserted from our excellent correspondent, from whom we hope to hear often. The serpents . 
presented, are Coluber Nooni Paragoodoo, Russ. No. 21, which seems td be called Chittee in 
Bengal, a name which in Madras is bestowed on quite a different species. The other two 
specimens are the Wanna Pam of Russell, or Coluber Stolatus, Lin. The Naowur is as suggested 
by our correspondent, the Nepa grandis of Hutton, or large water Scorpion ; the other insect is 

a locust.—Ep, 


eee el 


Correspondence. 421 


figure, which, however bears little resemblance to the snake now sent, 
though Dr. R. quotes the same native name. Allowance must be made 
for the change in colour to which scalding water most probably sub- 
jected the present specimen, but it were safer nevertheless to enquire 
at some further period, on better data, whether the “Chittee” of Ben- 
gal be identical with the “ Chittee’’ described and figured by Dr. Rus- 
sell, a question which certainly merits attention. 

The upper and brighter coloured snake was caught at noon yester- | 
day morning, and after being disabled by a blow on the body, was 
finally killed by immersion in spirits. The native name of this snake 
is ‘“ Hulhulliya,” of which J am fortunately able to send a second 
living specimen, in a separate bottle, caught a few minutes after the one in 
spirits, and on the same spot ; both, most probably, members of the same 
family. Pray are these two snakes identical with the Wanna-pam and 
Waunacogle of Coromandel, or Kurharrid described by Dr. Russell? 

The insect was caught one night at Alleepoor in Sept. 1840, having 
flown into the room apparently attracted by the table lights. The 
servants stated that its native name was “ Naowur,” and that it was 
common to the banks of ponds. A friend believes this insect to be 
identical with the Water-scorpion, (Nepa grandis,) described by Lieut. 
Hutton in the Asiatic Society’s Journal for Oct. 1832. Pray is it so? 

— The covered glass contains another curious insect, which flew into 
the room night before last; I suppose like the other, enticed by the 
tights on the table. Its native name I can’t learn, nor can the servants 
give me any information regarding it. Pray can you? 

If these objects be rare and little known, your possession of them 
will enable your artist to give coloured figures, which with descrip- 
tions, would be alike interesting to many of your readers, and 

Yours faithfully, 


Alleepoor, Sept. 6, 1842. » Tutuscar. 


P.S.—I take the same opportunity of forwarding living specimens 


’ of an insect that abounds here on the flowers of the Dherus, or eatable 


Hibiscus, of which it is a sad destroyer. If all these should prove to 
be common-place, and too well known to merit attention, pray pardon 
the trouble to which my acknowledged ignorance may have sub- 
jected you.* 


* The living insects here alluded to by our Correspondent are the most valuable specics 
of Blistering fly, Mylabris chicorii, which, to within the last few months has been imported to 


422 


| 


Barren Island in the Bay of Bengal. 


The last account of Barren Island was communicated by the late 
Dr. J. Adam, about ten years since, to Prinsep’s Journal of the Asiatic 
Society, Vol. I, Page 128. The account in question appears to have 
been drawn up from the statement of a friend, from whom Dr. Adam re- 
ceived certain specimens of the rock of the Island. As nothing can be 
more curious and interesting than to compare the condition of active 
volcanic operations at different periods, we have great pleasure in 
submitting the following remarks to the reader, as we committed them 
to paper from the verbal statement of Capt. Miller of the Bark Lady 
Clifford, who in April last visited the Island about 8 a. m., and remain- 
ed on it till 11 a. ». 

Capt. Miller thinks Barren Island is about 6 miles in circumference, 
presenting a bold rocky coast with very deep soundings, the colour 
of the water being ocean-blue, and 120 fathoms of line out, and no 
bottom close under the rock. The Island is of an oval shape, and 
towards the north-west extremity, there appears a flat elevation of 
about 500 feet. Passing round to the base of this by sea, a breach 
is observed in the coast of about 200 feet, occasioned by a stream of 
lava having burst from above, and run into the sea. Ascending this 
causeway, Capt. Miller, at a height of 30 feet, entered a spacious amphi- 
theatre of a circular shape, enclosed by elevated’sloping sides, partially 
covered with grass above at their margins, but below the rocks, were 
perfectly naked and of rich purple tints. 

The extent of the amphitheatre is about 4 mile or } of a mile in 
diameter, the sides perfectly circular, sloping upwards to a height of 


India from Europe, to the value of several thousand pounds sterling per annum, as a portion 


of the annual supplies of Medical Stores for the public service. Through the exertions of 


Dr. Angus and the present Medical Board, arrangements have recently been made, for obtain- 


ing supplies of the article from Cawnpore and Mysore, at a considerable saving to the Govern- . 


ment; but the information as to the plants they frequent, and their existence in such abun- 
dance even in Calcutta, is new and important. Let us recommend to our worthy Correspondent, 
to whom we are indebted for a knowledge of these facts, to extend, if necessary, the growth 
of the Dherus, or eatable Hibiscus, and collect these insects in quantity for the use of the 
public service, and for exportation: we will‘ answer for the profitable results of such an 
undertaking. The insect should be collected by means of gauze nets, and then immersed 
in turpentine, and afterwards dried and packed. The ordinary supplies from Cawnpore are 
liable to be attacked with worms, probably from the insect being immersed in scalding 
water, instead of turpentine, as we believe is generally directed to be used for the pur- 
pose.—Ep. : 


mee Or 


Correspondence. 3 ; 423 


about 500 feet. In the centre of this immense area, a circular cone 
ascends to a somewhat greater height than that of the sides. This 
inner cone is perfectly symmetrical, and of a very abrupt angle, at 
least forty-five degrees; its base occupying about a quarter of a mile, 
or a little more, leaving an uniform open circular space of perhaps 
200 yards broad all round its base. 

From the summit of this cone, Capt. Miller saw a clear and full 
stream of transparent vapour issue. So transparent, that it was not 
perceptible from the sea, nor until he entered the amphitheatre ; this 
‘vapour is the only indication of the present activity of the volcano; 
but old streams of lava are seen on the side of the cone, specimens 
of which Capt. Miller brought away with him; these lava streams 
are the same material as the cone itself; they are also identical 
with the causeway, or burst of lava forming the breach leading down 
‘to the sea.* 

There is no vegetation of any kind within the amphitheatre, but a 
few small trees are found on other parts of the Island, which however 
barren it may have been at one time, is now well wooded. 

Capt. Miller describes the view of the inner amphitheatre as magni- 
ficent beyond all description, with the gigantic pyramid rising out of 
the centre to an elevation of 500 feet. Ascending this to about one-third 
of its height, Capt. Miller found it so steep and difficult, that he was 


‘obliged to return. It consists of hard, porous, or loose granular kind of — 


lava of blackish brown colour, with whitish grains of felspar about the, 
size of duck shot imbedded the matrix. Decomposing by the action of 


the air, the little grains become detached, and falling down the surface 
of the cone, fill all its crevices and hollows, giving to it the peculiar 
smooth and symmetrical form which it presents to the view. The outer 
walls of the crater forming the amphitheatre, are composed of the same 
material as the cone itself, but of a more solid character, and less sub- 
ject to decomposition. The causeway or inclined plane, upon which 


the ascent is made through the breach at the only accessible point, 


consists of the same material as the cone itself, but is more heavy and 
compact. It consists of dark blackish lava, with a slightly vitreous 
lustre, and greyish pearly grains of felspar imbedded in it. This also 
constitutes the general mass of rocks composing the island. 

To afford an idea of the value of his remarks, and the opportunity he 


* It will be recollected, that at the period to which Dr. Adami’s account refers, this mass 
of rock was quite hot, so as to communicate an almost boiling temperature to the adjoin- 
ing sea water. 


/ 


424 Correspondence. 
has had of making observations, Capt. Miller wishes it to be understood 
that he merely ascended the causeway or breach in the side of the 
amphitheatre communicating with the sea, and then ascended about 
one-third of the inner cone ;-unable to gethigher, he returned, and next 
tried to ascend the sides of the amphitheatre, and after climbing half 
way, was unable to-proceed further. 

Capt. Miller has also brought away the seeds of a plant growing on ~ 
a patch of grass near the causeway, on the margin of the sea, in the 
curious form of a tent, the stem ascending in the middle, and the 
leaves falling on every side externally, so as to form a perfect en- 
closure or shelter within. These seeds are to be sent to Dr. Voigt for 
the Botanical Garden. J. M. 


— 


Miscellaneous, 


The Annals of Electricity, Magnetism, and Chemistry ; and Guardian of 

"Experimental Science. On the Chemical Relations now subsisting between 
Plants and Animals, with reference to those which have subsisted in 
former ages. In a Lecture delivered at the Conversaxione, on Wednes- 
day, March 9th, 1842. By Dr. Lyon Puayrair, Royal Victoria nrer 
Monchester.* 


It is not an idle task to cast a retrospective glance to ages far 
beyond human ken, or to try to discover the physical and chemical 
causes which then regulated the production and maintenance of 
animal and vegetable life. Races of animated beings once lived 
and performed their destined functions on the earth, but have now 
passed away for ever. Ages rolled on, and other races were called 
into being, which have again disappeared, and yielded their places 


* We admire the freedom and success with which the laws of Chemistry are brought to 
bear, in the elucidation of organic life in the early conditions of our planet, in this paper. 
We never before recollect to have seen the subject treated in so much detail; it is at least one 
of the first attempts to reconcile the laws of chemistry with the progression of organic life, or _ 
rather to reconcile the various phases which the latter has assumed, with the chemical condi- 
tions of the atmosphere during the early ages of the earth; and the ease with which the pro- 

gressive development of an atmosphere, suited to the existence of the higher classes of animals, 
is traced from physical causes in this paper, renee spirit of high promise in « 
the author.—Zd. Cal. Jour. Nat. Hist. 


Miscellaneous. 425 


to new forms of organic life. Geologists have examined their remains, 
and endeavoured to form conceptions of the physical characters of 
the globe during their residence 'on it. They have drawn legiti- 
mate conclusions, from the order of their occurrence, regarding several 
grand eras in the history of the world. These inferences have been 
deduced from external characters possessed by animals and plants 
occurring in particular formations; and, by a happy application of 
analogical reasoning, they have shewn what must have been the 
aspect of the face of nature when these plants and animals existed. 
Why, therefore, should the chemist be afraid to follow in their foot- 
steps; and by: evidences drawn from thé chemical composition of 
matter, lend his aid in explaining the mighty revolutions which 
have taken place upon the surface of the earth? True, his science 
is not speculative, nor does he love to waste his time in the vagaries of 
theoretical speculation; but, we believe, that the evidences existing 
on the earth are sufficient to form a basis for inductive reasoning, 
without the necessity of substituting ideas for facts. 

I shall, therefore, endeavour to lay before you this evening an 
account of some of the chemical causes which have led to the de- 
velopment of the various races of animals and vegetables, which 
have appeared and disappeared in their course. And be it remarked 
at the threshold of our enquiry, that. by the term chemical causes, 
we do not at all mean to undervalue the physical causes which have 
lent their aid or been paramount, in their development or extinc- 
tion, but merely employ the term to form a boundary in the exa- 
mination of a boundless subject. 

But, before I can make myself understood, it is absolutely neces- 
sary that you should be acquainted with the laws which regulate 
the nutrition of the vegetables now existing on the earth. Mr. 
Ransome, in a series of lectures, has so ably performed this task, 
that little remains for me, except to refresh your memory with a 
few of the grand laws connected with vegetable nutrition. You are 
all aware that organic matter, in general, is composed of four sub- 
stances, carbon or charcoal, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. You 
know, that when charcoal unites with oxygen, it forms a gas familiar 
to you as the air which escapes in small bubbles from champagne or 
beer, and which has received the name of carbonic acid gas. You 
know also that when oxygen unites with hydrogen, the familiar sub- 
stance, water, is produced; and that when the latter element 
(hydrogen) enters into union with nitrogen, ammonia or hartshorn 
is the product. 

31 


426 _ Miscellaneous. 

Now, these three compounds—carbonic acid, water, and ammonia 
—form the food of plants. They all exist in the air, from whence 
they are extracted by the vegetation which covers the earth. The 
grand difference between animal and vegetable life is, that this carbonic 
acid, which is fatal to animals, is the primary food of plants; and 
that whilst plants are continually inspiring this noxious gas, animals 
are as constantly-expiring it. There are certain constituents in the 
food of man and animals, which are not at all calculated to assist in 
the nourishment of the body, but which are, nevertheless, indispen- 
sable in supporting the process of respiration. Such are starch, sugar, 
and gum. I had the honour, on a former occasion, of explaining this to 
you in detail. These substances, in supporting respiration, are con- 
verted into carbonic acid and water. Hence it is that animals continu- 
ally expire this gas. But there are other substances also exclusively 
adapted for the nutrition of the system, and which, when present in 
superabundance, are separated as excrementitious matter. In such 
substances nitrogen abounds. Hence during their decay, ammonia is 
generated. When animals die, their bodies enter into a state of pu- 
trefaction, or, to speak more correctly, the constituents of which their 
bodies are composed, change their form, and are converted into carbo- 
nic acid and ammonia. 

Conceive the thousand millions of men who inhabit the globe, 
and the myriads of animals which teem on its surface—all sending 
into the air, every day, vast quantities of that noxious gas. Con- 
ceive the vast amount of fuel constantly generating the same com- 
pound, and it is obvious that the earth would soon become uninha- 
Bitable were there no means of removing it from the atmosphere. 
.Nor is this all. As carbonic acid is fatal to animal life, in as great 
a degree is the oxygen of the air necessary for its support. But 
this oxygen is always withdrawn from the air as carbonic acid is 
formed ; for carbonic acid consists of carbon and oxygen. Thus, in 
burning, ten cwt. of coal consumes 32,000 cubic feet of oxygen gas; — 
so that this town of Manchester (calculating its inhabitants at 
300,000, the round number of the former census) consumes, for 
domestic purposes alone, exclusive of the manufactories, no less than’ 


23,614,285,714° cubic feet of oxygen, and sends into the air a like s 


quantity of pestiferous carbonic acid in its stead. Again, each man’ 


* The calculation is as follows:—It has been found that a small town of 7000 inhabitants 
consumes in fuel, for domestic purposes, 551 million cubic feet of oxygen. 
000,000 + 3000,000 _93,614,285,714 


2 


Miscellaneous. 427 


s 


_ consumes and corrupts, every day, twenty cubic feet of air; hence 


the population of Manchester, by the air consumed in breathing, cor- 
rupts 2,190,000,000* cubic feet of air every year. 

But vast as these quantities may appear, let us consider what a 
fraction of the globe we form; and not to extend our ideas beyond 
what they will readily embrace; let us. calculate what 100 million 
men (an insignificant portion of the population of the globe) will 
annually consume and corrupt of air. ee 

One hundred million men, then, will render unfit for the support 
of animal life, every year, no less than 9,505,200,000,000 of cubic feet 
of air. 

From such data as these, it is evident; that the air would soon be 
rendered unfit for the support of animal life were there no means ~ 
by which it is retained in a state of purity. 

This it is the duty of plants to perform. An Allwise Creator has 
connected the life of plants and animals most closely together, the 
one depending upon the other. It is, indeed, a wonderful link 
which associates the vegetable and animal kingdoms. Plants form 
the primary nutriment of all animals ; for although there are certain 
kinds entirely carnivorous, still the herbivorous animals upon which 
they subsist receive their nourishment from vegetable matter. But, 
following the chain in its continuation, we discover that animals, on 
ithe other hand, furnish the food of plants. During their life, they 


‘ constantly expire carbonic acid, and discharge from their system 


matter, which by its decomposition, emits ammonia into the atmos- 
phere; whilst at their death, their bodies decay, and furnish the 
same substance to the surrounding air. Thus they afford food for 
those very plants, upon which they themselves subsist; thus also the 
destruction of an existing generation forms the means for the pro- 
duction of a new one, and death becomes the source of life. 

Such is a brief outline of the intimate connection subsisting be- 
tween the animal and vegetable kingdoms. So closely, indeed, are 
they bound together, that, in the present system of things, we could 
not conceive the existence of oue without that of the other. 

But very different seems to have been the arrangements which 
prevailed in former ages. Animals were not then created in number 
sufficient to supply the food of plants. And although we cannot 
affirm, or even suppose, that the animal kingdom was independent 

* The calculation is as follows :—Supposing that a man consumes 20 cubic feet of oxygen, 


each day, in the process of respiration, then 365 +- 20=7000. Again, 7300 + 300,000= 
2,190,000,000. ‘a 


428 Miscellaneous. 


of the vegetable, we have evidence enough to shew, that the latter was 
in no wise dependent for support upon the former. If it be allowed that 
the paucity of animal remains, even in the carboniferous strata, where 
plants so abound, proves that the balance betwixt animal and vege- 
table life now subsisting, was then unknown, we must suppose that the 
food of plants was then supplied from other sources. 

It matters not what vague speculations have been held regarding 
the cosmogony of the world. With these the chemist has nothing 
to do. His science treats only of matter and its properties. Nor 
can he, without ample demonstration, listen to specious notions pro- 
pounded of the transformation of the elements of which it is com- 
posed, or admit these as a basis for induction. His science teaches 
him that there are fifty-five bodies on the earth, by the different 
combinations of which all the varieties of matter are produced. 
And further, in the present state of his knowledge, he must allow 
that all these elements were on the globe when its present position was 
assigned to it. 

However different in intensity and in form may have been the 
causes which produced the mighty yet gradual revolutions of former 
times, we discover in them a close analogy to those of the present 
day. Hence we are not warranted in presuming that the food of 
plants and animals was different then from what it is now.. So far 
only can we affirm, that the food of plants was received from other 
sources than at present. 

The food of plants consists of water, carbonic acid, and ammonia. 
What proofs can we find of the existence of these in former periods 
of the earth's history? During the depositions of the primary 
strata, where as yet no traces of plants and animals have been 
found, it is evident that carbonic acid existed. The primary lime- 
stones furnish sufficient evidence of its existence. It is true that 
the partial and irregular distribution of these limestones prove that 
their deposition was due to limited and local causes; but this does 
not militate against the idea that the carbonic acid must have been 
generally diffused throughout the atmosphere... All the limestones 
of aqueous origin have evidently been deposited from a solution in 
water containing an excess of carbonic acid; for without this ex- 
cess, carbonate of lime will not dissolve. Now, without entering into 
geological speculation, it seems to be pretty conclusively established 
that the heat of the ocean was considerable during the deposition of 
the earlier of the primary strata. From the contortions in the 

lamine of gneiss, mica schist, and chlorite schist, the water from 


eA 


Beef 


Miscellaneous. 429 


whence they were deposited appears to have been in a very troubled 
state, just as it is in the present day when in a hot vessel. Now, 


when in this hot state it could not absorb or retain in solution car-' 


bonic acid from the air. Only in those spots where local causes 
had reduced the heat, carbonic acid might be dissolved and car- 
bonate of lime formed; or, if pre-existing, brought into solution, 
and afterwards deposited. This heated state of the ocean might, in 
some degree, account for its saline impregnation. There is no evi- 
dence of land having existed during the primary period, and during 
the ages which constituted it, this heated water acting upon the rocks 
which formed the crust of the globe, would have a wonderful effect in 
promoting chemical combinations, and dissolving the various soluble 
materials contained in these rocks. In all strata of later origin than 
the primary, we find rock salt. Salt springs arise from the coal sys- 
tem :—Rock salt abounds in the new red sandstone. The Alpine 


salt works are in the oolitic system ;:those of Cardona in the green- 


sand; and of Wieliczka in the tertiary rocks. (Phillips.) But, as far 
as I am aware, rock salt is absent from the primary strata. This 
seems to indicate that the water had not obtained its full saline im- 
pregnation when those strata were deposited. And indeed, it seems 
not improbable, that during this era, the water obtained many of its, 
soluble salts from the disintegration of the primary rocks. 

But to return from our digression. The existence of the limestones 


proves that even in the primary period, carbonic acid existe’. The 
peculiar smell which distinguishes hornblende, and various aluminous 


minerals, when they are moistened, is due to minute traces of ammonia 
contained in them. Now this smell is very perceptibly possessed by 
the hornblende schists, and accompany gneiss; and hence we have a 
right to conclude, that they absorbed this compound from the air, or 


from the water, during their deposition. There are many facts to 


prove that ammonia was formerly of inorganic origin. Not only is 
it a constituent of all aluminous and ferruginous minerals, but it 
exists in many natural products found in volcanic regions. Dr. 
Daubeny has supposed that all the carbonic acid and ammonia which 
now exists, or has existed in the atmosphere, may have been derived 
from the interior of the earth. He finds a difficulty in conceiving how 
the hydrogen and nitrogen could have been made to unite on the sur- 
face of the globe, and hence, draws them from its interior. But al- 
though we do not agree as to the source from whence the food of 
plants is derived, we both equally admit that the primary food was 
of inorganic origin. 


' 


430 Miscellaneous. 

But I must assume, for the present, on the supposition that these 
bodies were original constituents of the atmosphere, that they both 
‘existed in the air, during the primary periods, or, at all events, antece- 
dent to the secondary, in much larger quantity than they do now: and 
the proofs are obvious. Consider the immense deposits of vegetable 
matter in the carboniferous strata.: All the carbon and nitrogen of 
which this is composed must have been originally present in the air as 
carbonic acid and ammonia. The greatest part of this vegetable matter 
is carbon; and hence it follows, that, as the carbon of the carbonic 
acid was retained, and its oxygen liberated, the air of the present day 
must be much poorer in carbonic acid, but much richer in oxygen, 
than that of former ages. Dr. Daubeny denies the possibility of am- 
monia ever having been present in the air in much larger quantity 
than at present; and, in proof of hi« view, he cites the experiments of 
Christison and Turner, that aa of ammoniacal gas in air acts as a 
poison to the vegetable kingdom. To this it may be replied, that am- 
moniacal gas is never present in the atmosphere. It is always in 
union with carbonic acid as carbonate of ammonia; and it is well 
known that water impregnated with this salt in the proportion of 
30: 1, is very beneficial to vegetation. One pound of rain water con- 


tains rather less than } grain of carbonate of ammonia. Now, even . 


supposing that the rain of former ages contained 800 times this quanti- 
ty, it would not be prejudicial to plants, but administer to the luxuri- 
ance of vegetation. Again, it has been found that plants fourish with 
great luxuriance in an atmosphere containing as much as 4 its bulk 
of carbonic acid. But the air of the present day contains only one 
volume of this gas in 2,000 volumes of air. Hence it follows, that the 
air of former ages may have contained more than 150 times this amount, 
without injury to vegetation. These facts are sufficient to prove that 
the air formerly may have been much richer in the food of plants. 
Brogniart believed this to be the case many years since, and founded 
upon this view some ingenious speculations. Doubtless an atmos- 
phere with quantities such as we have mentioned, would prove fatal 
to animal life, but we will shortly shew that the express duty of former 
plants was to prepare the world for the reception of animals, and final- 
ly, for that of an intellectual being. One question, then, only remains : 
from whence did the atmosphere receive this carbonic acid? Dr. Dau- 
beny conceives by a gradual evolution from the interior of the earth. 
He supposes that this carbonic acid was furnished to plants duri 

-their life—not that a certain amount was originally emitted into the 


great magazine of food—the atmosphere. But it is difficult to conceive. 


2222 


\ 


Miscellaneous. 431 


that an Allwise Creator would have made the life of plants and ani- 
mals dependent upon adventitious circumstances. And surely it cannot 
be averred that the emission of carbonic acid from volcanic sources, 
would be regulated by a direct interposition of a Divine Providence. 
The vegetation of the globe did not at once spring into existence, but 
was as slow in its progression, as that of animals; so that during the 
ages, when a scanty vegetation covered the earth, the cabonic acid must 
have been constantly accumulating. And if, at its commencement, 
there was sufficient carbonic acid for the wants of plants, in the-course 
of ages it must have been accumulated in much larger quantities. So 
that even on this view we must admit, that the proportion in the air 
could not be kept in any constant quantity. But we do not see any 
strong reason to suppose that the original food of plants was evolvea 
from the bowels of the earth; nor can we discover any strong objection 
to the hypothesis, that all the carbonic acid and ammonia from the 
beginning of time, were original constituents of the atmosphere. The 
nitrogen and oxygen of which the atmosphere consists were certainly 
not evolved from the interior of the earth; and yet upon the same 
grounds could this be affirmed, for nitrogen, like carbonic ‘acid, is 
evolved from the volcanoes of the present day. _ It is indeed difficult to 
conceive from what stupendous magazines of carbon the carbonic acid 
of the’air was formed, or how hydrogen became united with oxygen to 
form all the water which covers the earth, without the occurrence of 
such dreadful explosions as would dash the present system of the 
world to fragments. Such stupendous operations of nature are as yet 
beyond the capacity of the human mind to fathom: just so with the 
ammonia. If we cannot comprehend the mighty power which deprived 
its elements of their elastic condition, we can only believe that that 
power is as yet undiscovered. 

From all-that has preceded we believe we are warranted in con- 
sidering that the carbonic acid and ammonia in the air were original 
constituents of the atmosphere; and further, that in former ages, they 
were present in much larger proportion than at the present time. 
We have shewn that such an atmosphere would not be unsuitable 
for vegetable life, although it would certainly prove destructive to 
terrestrial animals. We have now to examine the economy of vege- 
table animal life of former times. 

The first certain proofs of organic life occur in the grauwacke 
series. It is certainly singular that asimals occur in this series, 
where plants are not found. These animals are not merely zoophyta, 
but conchifera. Still we cannot suppose that sea-weed did not exist 


432 Miscellaneous. 


to supply them with food; for the spongy texture of such plants 
make them prone to decomposition. The paucity of animal re- 
mains at this period, and their very unequal distribution, indicate 
that the conditions necessary for the support of animal life were not 
- yet generaliy established. As we reach the silurian rocks, we dis- 
cover that the conditions for organic life have become more favour- 
able, and consequently we find a much greater variety of forms; 
but we are still struck by the paucity of vegetable remains. Doubt- 
less these were present in quantity sufficient to supply food to the 
marine animals which existed, but their perishable tissues have 
yielded to the elements of destruction, and disappeared. The upheaved 
land during the grauwacke and silurian systems seems to have been 
too limited to favour the production of terrestrial plants. 

The disturbances which ensued after the close of the primary 
period, rendered the earth more adapted for vegetation. Land was 
upheaved, and the energetic causes then in operation must have 
materially assisted in effecting its disintegration. The time which 
elapsed between the close of the primary, and commencement of the 
secondary periods, would be employed in the formation of soils on 
this upheaved land. Soils formed from the detritus of the primary 
rocks would be eminently adapted for a luxuriant vegetation, such 
as existed during the deposition of the carboniferous strata. 

But no means of removing the excess of carbonic acid of the air 
having been yet in operation, terrestrial plants could not be accom- 
panied by terrestrial animals. It is obvious that this excess of 
carbonic acid could not be very detrimental to the life of marine 
animals; because the sea, saturated as it is with salts, can only hold 
a certain quantity in solution. But still the sea also must have 
contained considerably more of this gas then, than at the present 
day. The scantiness of vegetation was the great characteristic of the 
primary strata; but in the coal systems, this vegetation is marvellous 
in its extent. The principal deposits in the series are arenaceous, ar- 
gillaceous, and calcareous. The calcareous deposits of the primary 

period, even as high as the upper silurians, occur in detached masses, 

forming no continuous beds, like the carboniferous, or mountain lime- 
stone. We find a total absence of land reliquiw in these calcareous 
beds. Add to this, that, besides the nature of their fossil remains, they 
afford evidences of a very tranquil ‘and gradual deposition; and it is 
apparent they must be of a marine origin. The excess of carbonic 
acid dissolved by the water from the atmosphere, would render the sca 
capable of retaining a large quantity of carbonate of lime in solution. 


Miscellaneous. ' 4383 


And the luxuriant vegetation which covered the sea as well as the land, 
would constantly be abstracting this carbonic acid for the purposes of 
food, from the surrounding water. The carbonate of lime being thus 
rendered insoluble, would, be tranquilly deposited. And thus two sub- 
stances being removed, which in excess are fatal to certain animals, 
other forms of organic life would spring into being. Here, then, we 
are furnished with an explanation why the limestone does not occur in 
continuous beds in former strata; ‘for however great the quantity of 
limestone in solution might have been, it could not have been depo- 
sited, were there no means of removing the carbonic acid which retain-| 
ed it in solution. Only in particular localities, where adventitious cir- 
cumstances occasioned the expulsion of carbonic acid, the limestone 
- would be deposited. 
_ And now we come to the consideration of those vast deposits of coal 
which form such striking monuments of a primeval vegetation. The 
entire coal series often attains a thickness of 1,000 yards; the beds of 
coal occurring in it are occasionally three or four feet thick, and not 
unfrequently several yards. The thickness of all the coal beds taken 
together may average forty or fifty feet in the English and Scotch coal 
fields. Now when we consider the vast area covered by the coal 
series, we must feel convinced that during its formation, peculiar 
causes were in operation, which occasioned a great luxuriance in vege- 
tation. It is true that such rivers as the Oronoko and Mississippi roll 
down to the ocean vast quantities of vegetable matter; but great as 
these are, they do not even furnish us with a faint conception of the 
manner in which the great carboniferous deposits have been formed. 
The wonderful luxuriance of vegetation during the carboniferous era is 
doubtless attributable to the amount of carbonic acid in the air. The 
remains of plants which constitute the various seams of coal, shew that 
they were principally terrestrial. Many of these beds of coal appear 
to have been formed of drift vegetation; but others shew every evi- 
~dence of the plants having lived and died on the spot. This is the case 
with the North of England coal field; and most of the North American 
coal fields shew similar evidences; the Devonshire coal fields, or culm 
measures are, on the other hand, I believe, frequently composed of 
drift matter. 

Now in these coal fields which shew evidences of having been 
formed in situ, a bed of fire clay is almost invariably found immedi- 
ately below the coal, In this are present large quantities of stems 
and leaves of stigmaria, ficoides, &c. “The constant occurrence of 
this underclay, evidently ‘indicates some general cause. Now, when - 

OK 


434 Miscellaneous. 


we examine the composition of the ashes of coal, and that of the 
fire clay, we discover the same ingredients in both. Potash, and 
magnesia are contained in the fire clay, and from their constant 
presence in coal appear to have been indispensable to the develop- 
ment of the plants constituting it. 

This underclay may then be viewed with every probability, as the 
soil in which the plants-grew; and the adaptation of such a soil 
to the plants was obviously due to its alkaline constituent. These 
primeval plants would not exhaust a soil so rapidly as those of the 
present day ; for they invariably contain a much smaller quantity oi 
inorganic ingredients; and their roots being but imperfectly deve- 
loped would not furnish much excrementitious matter to ‘the soil. 
Once admit that an excess of carbonic acid was in the air during 
this period, and an immense vegetation would be the result. The 
carbonic acid being once extracted could only be returned to the 
atmosphere by a complete decay of the plants which had used it as 
food. But we find that the plants constituting coal have been sub- 
jected only to partial decay. They have yielded up most of their 
oxygen, but their carbon has been for the most part retained; their 


hydrogen has also in a great measure disappeared. From the com- .— 


position of coal compared with that of woody fibre, it is obvious 
that during the formation of 800 cubic feet of Newcastle splint coal, 
the atmosphere must have received 800 cubic feet of oxygen gas, 
and lost a corresponding quantity of carbonic acid. Now, suppose 
we were to calculate the quantity of carbon in all the carboniferous 
deposits at two thousand billion pounds (a quantity which must be 
much under the truth); then during its formation no less than 
64,000,000,000,000,000 cubic feet of carbonic acid‘ must have been 
extracted from the atmosphere, and a like quantity of oxygen gas 
returned to it.* This is equal to gds. of the quantity of carbonic acid 


* 1000 Ibs of charcoal in burning produce have 32,000 cubic feet of carbonic acid. 
1000=32,000, or 1=32 : 2,000,000,000,000,000 Ibs. will produce 64,000,000,000,000,000 cubic 
feet, 

000,000,000,000 Ibs. 

= ses =892, 857,142,857 tons. 

But the assumed number, 2,000,000,000,000,000, is impirieal, and we have, therefore, to shew 
it is not above the truth, however far it may be below it. Now we have already seen that 
Manchester by fuel, for domestic purposes alone, sends into the air, every year, 23,614,285,714 
cubic feet of carbonic acid. And, taking its manufactories into the calculation, we may 
safely suppose, that the total amount will not be less than 46,000,000,000, Now— 

64,009,000,000,000,000 

T6,000,000,000 ‘= 1,391,304 


Miscellancous. 450 


present in the whole extent of the atmosphere. And when we con- 
sider that this is but a portion of the carbonic acid removed, we may 
reasonably conclude that the atmosphere contained, at the commence- 
ment of the great carboniferous epoch, more than double the quantity 
of carbonic acid which it does now. - ; 

We have no grounds for affirming that there is a less vegetation 
now than in early times. On the contrary, it is highly probable 
that the vegetation now is much greater than that of former 
periods ; but it is no less certain that the vegetation of former times 
was vastly more luxuriant, at given places. For the continents being 
of smaller dimensions, more carbonic acid could be spared to sup- 
port a luxuriant vegetation in a confined area. It is owing to this 
great luxuriance of vegetation, within a limited district, that vegetable 
remains were accumulated in such quantity as to aed éven a remote 
analogy at the present day. 

Without reference to geological epochs, I’ may here state in white 
manner coal and lignites are produced. The two principal kinds o1 
coal are, the wood, or brown coal of Germany, and the stone, or mi- , 
neral coal so abundantly found in our own country. 

The wood coal, from its composition, has evidently been formed by 
a regular decay of plants with limited access of air. Hence the hy- 
drogen is still present, whilst the oxygen has disappeared along with 
carbonic acid. Mineral coal, on the other hand, is distinguished from 
wood coal by containing a very small portion of hydrogen.. Wood 
coal has been formed by the evolution of carbonic acid from the sub- 
stance of the plants composing it; whilst mineral coal has been 
formed from the expulsion of part of its elements in the form of 
combustible oils. These oils may often be procured from the coal 
by distillation. Heat appears to have been the cause of the expul- 
sion of these oils. A remarkable example occurs in a quarry within 
a few miles of St. Andrews, between that town and Cupar. A ba- 
saltic rock which has penetrated through the carboniferous strata, 
forms a hill in the locality alluded to; this rock is thoroughly im- 
pregnated with coal naphtha. At whatever part a fragment may be 
broken off, the fresh surfaces are quite humid with an imprisoned 


That is, Manchester would consume the total amount we have supposed to exist in 1,391,304 
years. Or supposing that there were in the world about 65,000 places consuming the same 
amount of fuel as Manchester, the total amount of coal in the great carboniferous deposits 
would be consumed in about twenty-one years. But this is obviously absurd, for we know 
that there is a much greater supply than this. Hence our original empirical number, instead 
of being above, must be much under the truth. 


436 Miscellaneous. 


fluid, which almost instantaneously evaporates; this fluid has the 
smell and all the properties of coal naphtha. The great difference, 
therefore, in the formation of wood and mineral coal is, that in the 
production of the former, carbonic acid is evolved; in that of the 
latter a hydrocarbon. Hence it is that no combustible gases exist 
in the mines of wood coals, whilst they abound in those of mi- 
neral. 
But be this as it may, our conclusion is still the same: that dur- 
ing the formation of the carboniferous deposits, much carbonic acid 
was abstracted from, and much oxygen furnished to the atmosphere. 
From the very low numbers which we assumed as indicating the 
weight of coal in the carboniferous strata, we have seen that its con- 
version into carbonic acid would nearly double the quantity of that 
gas now in the atmosphere. But the marine plants, which probably 
abounded in the same proportion as the terrestrial, have left few evi- 
dences of their former existence. They are so perishable in their 
nature, and surrounded by an element which aids their decay, that 
their preservation was highly improbable. But during their decay, 
the carbonic acid from which they were formed, must have been 
given to the surrounding water; and probably entering into chemi- 
cal combination with some of its materials, was not again restored to 
the atmosphere. From whence came all the carbonic acid in the 
limestones not formed by the accumulation of shells? some of it, 
certainly, may have been derived from the source just mentioned. 
Nor are we to allow ourselves to be misled by the belief that the 
quantity of carbonic acid evolved from such a source, would be too 
small to exercise an appreciable effect. The decomposing organic 
matter has perceptibly affected the whole mass of the ocean in its 
vast extent; for all the recent analyses of sea water prove the pre- 
sence of sulphuretted hydrogen—a gas only generated by the action 
of decomposing organic matter on salts of sulphuric acid. There are 
salts of lime in sea water, particularly the sulphate of lime, now 
this salt is very easily decomposed by a carbonate. Supposing that 


during the decay of the marine plants, which every analogy leads us — 3 


to suppose must have existed in quantity proportional to the terres- 
trial, an alkaline carbonate was produced; this acting upon the 
sulphate of lime would occasion a precipitation of carbonate of lime, _ 
and give rise to those soluble alkaline sulphates, which we find in — 
such quantity in sea water. By this suggested explanation, J byno 
means infer that this was a general mode by which the stratified 
limestone was produced: the undivided limestone could not possibly 


ti tn ie ee 
j . 
’ 


Miscellaneous. 437 


have been produced this way. But it is possible the thin layers 
of limestone which occasionally alternate with the shale, sandstone, or 
coal, in the coal formation, may be due to such a cause. Or might 
we not conceive that the bituminous limestone shale might also owe 
its production to this? The immense mass of undivided mountain 
limestone could by no possibility have been thus produced, but may 
have well been, by the deposition from solution through the instru- 
mentality uf the causes I have formerly described. Once allow, with 
many geologists, that the ocean was in a heated state during a great 
part of the primary period, and we are furnished with another 
mighty means of abstracting the carbonic acid from the atmosphere. 
The heated waters of the ocean could not dissolve, carbonic acid, 
but as they cooled this gas would be absorbed from the superin- 
cumbent air; and the water which evaporated and again descended 
as rain, would bring down in solution large quantities both of ecar- 
bonic acid and ammonia. _ ' 

Taking such things as these into consideration, together with 
their possibility or probability, it is obvious that we have lost all 
data for calculating the amount of carbonic acid in the air, at the 
commencement of the secondary period. Allowing them even a 
shade of probability, we could not deny that the former atmosphere 
may have contained more than twenty times the amount of carbonic 
acid that it does at present; and admitting that it did so, we can 
account for the extraordinary luxuriance of the primeval vegetation, 
and for the absence of land animals whilst that vegetation lasted. 

During the period at which the carbouiferous strata were de- 
posited, neither reptiles, birds, nor mammalia appear to have existed : 
nor was it possible that they could have existed, were these views of 
the state of the atmosphere correct. 

It is not my intention to detain you, nor is it my province to 
wander with you step by step over the various geological epochs. 
In our brief sojourn in the carboniferous strata, we have seen that 
several, possibly many causes, were in operation to remove carbonic 
acid from the air, and consequently to fit it for the support of animal 
life. But let us not suppose that these causes ceased with the ter- 
mination of the carboniferous era. They still operated though ina 
less striking degree during all the divisions of the secondary period ; 
but during the deposition of the new red sandstone, they appear to 
have been in a great measure dormant. It is the duty of the 
geologist to explain what physical causes then existed which were so 
unfavourable to animal and vegetable life. But the causes which acted 


438 eS Mise: 


during the carboniferous period were again revived with the oolitic 
system; and, accordingly from the coal occurring in it, we draw 


evidences of a removal of carbonic acid from the atmosphere, and a ~ 


supply of oxygen to it. But here also we are struck with the néw 
~ forms of animal life which have now sprung into existence: the 
saurians which began to appear in the new red sandstone, have now 
multiplied, and play on the shores of the oolitic land. Insects in- 
habit ‘the luxuriant forests which cover the land; and that most 
extraordinary of all created beings, the pterodactylus, or flying 
lizard, executes the functions for which it was designed. The sea 
has acquired new inhabitants; not only monstrous reptiles, but new 
forms of fishes, zoophyta, mollusca, and articulosa. But still we 
find neither birds nor mammalia. The plants of this series afford 
evidence sufficient of a tropical climate; but the saurian animals 
furnish proof yet more conclusive. You may remember the cause 
of.animal heat, as I stated it to you in-a former lecture. It is a 
combustion of certain unazotised ingredients of food by means of 
the oxygen of the air; and as a product of the combustion, carbonic 
acid and water are formed. The heat occasioned by the conversion 
of the carbon and hydrogen into carbonic acid and water in the 
interior of the body, must be as great as if the elements were burned 
in the open air. 

We mentioned that it was quite possible that marine animals may 
gave existed when terrestrial animals could not. Of course the 
grand object of respiration is the same in both classes of animals, 
viz. transformation of the food, and of particular constituents of the 
blood, by means of the oxygen of the air. Hence aquatic respira- 
tion differs from the aerial only in that water becomes the medium 
of conveying the air to the respiratory organs. In the lower classes — 
of marine animals, the respiration is entirely cutaneous, the air not - 
being supplied through distinct channels, but by a transudation 
through membranes permeable to it. As we go higher in the scale 
we find a bronchial respiration, or respiration by means of lungs. — 
In these the water holding oxygen in solution meets with a net work 
of veins, and aerates the blood circulating within them. The cause 
of animal heat being a combustion of carbon and hydrogen by means 
of oxygen, it is obvious that in the cold-blooded animals, the quan- 
tity of oxygen required will be much less than in the warm-blooded. 


Accordingly we find this to ibe the case. A tench lives for some time 
in water containing only =| its bulk of oxygen; whilst river water ‘a 
generally contains from 4 “to 1 per cent. of this gas. Unfortunately ~ ‘i 


Miscellaneous. 439 


I am not aware of any experiments which shew, how much carbonic 
acid may be in water without being detrimental to the life of marine 
animals; but certain it is, that the luxuriant vegetations which 
analogy leads us to believe must have existed in the sea at this 
period, would extract carbonic acid from, and furnish oxygen to the 
surrounding water. 

The amphibians require very little oxygen for. the support of their 
vital functions. Frogs will live for four or six hours in an atmos- 
_ phere of pure hydrogen or nitrogen, which does not contain a particle 
of oxygen. And although the amphibians require less oxygen’ than 
the terrestrial saurians, still we find that the economy of the latter re- 
quires much less oxygen than that of higher animals. Their lungs are 
therefore, comparatively imperfect, and the two systems of circu- 
lation incomplete; for their arteries circulate a mixture of venous 

and arterial blood. I do not know if there are any experiments on 
record, of the powers of any particular saurian to live in an atmos- 
phere deficient in oxygen and surcharged with carbonic acid, such 
as we suppose existed during ‘“ the age of reptiles.” I hoped to 
_ have been able to shew you some experiments of their power to do 
so; but from their general torpidity at present, I have not been able 
to meet with any lizards to secure for this purpose. In a few 
weeks, however, they will be coming out of their holes, and I shall 
introduce them into an atmosphere of the olden times, such as their 
progenitors revelled in when they were masters of the world, and 
multiplied themselves to such an amazing extent. 

All reptiles are distinguished by the small amount of food which - 
they consume, and by their tenacity of life under very trying cir- 
' cumstances. The food which they do take is not of a nature to be 
transformed into carbonic acid; nor are their organs of respiration 
suited for this transformation, even if it were. Hence it is, that they 
do not require much oxygen for the support of their respiratory 
functions, and that they expire so little carbonic acid. Hence it is 
also, that they depend upon the warmth of the air to keep up the 
temperature of their bodies, having no means of generating heat 
within. Considering then these facts, and the supposed nature of 
the atmosphere during this period, we discover a sufficient cause 
why this should have been (as Mr. Mantell aptly denominates it) 
“(an age of reptiles ;”—they did not require much oxygen, which 
the air could not have afforded. ‘Their respiratory functions were 
not retarded by an excess of carbonic acid, which would have 
proved fatal to animals of a higher organization; nor did they 


440 Miscellaneous. — 


come in collision with the plans of the intelligent Creator to remove 
from the atmosphere by means of organic life ve: excess of car- 
bonic acid. 

From these facts we see that reptiles could have had no difficulty 
in living in an atmosphere containing less oxygen than at present; 
but we find that in the oolitic period, a particular kind of quadruped 
existed. This seems to have been a marsupia: animal allied to the 
didelphys. It was evidently an insectivorous animal, from the con- 
formation of its jaw bones found in the Stonesfields oolitic beds, 
where the elytra of land beetles are found accompanying them. Now 
can we find nothing. in the respiratory system of the marsupials 
which would lead us to believe that they might have been in an 
atmosphere such as we have supposed to exist? The marsupials of 
course breathe, like other mammals, like man himself, by the lungs 
alone; and if any peculiarity of the respiratory system existed in 
the primeval didelphys, we could scarcely expect to find anything 
but mere traces of it in its modern congeners, changed as they must 
have been to suit the varied conditions of the atmosphere; but let 
us try to discover whether such traces may not have been pre- 
served. 

Now in saurians, chelonians, and fishes, two canals are observed 
to issue one on each side of the anus into the peritoneum, that is to the 
external surfaces of the viscera. Their use seems to be to carry on 
a partial aquatic respiration, or, in other words, to supply aerated 
water to the blood circulating in particular vessels. It would also 
appear that more highly oxygenated blood is required for those vessels 
which supply the brain. This adjunctive respiratory system is | supposed 

to subserve this purpose. Its presence evidently indicates a want of 
oxygenation of the blood. Now it is very remarkable that traces of 
these canals exist in the marsupials. Mere traces, however, of any 
structure, do not subserve functions: they may be considered in two 
lights, either as remains of what have been, or as general indications of 
some of the phases through which all the parts of organized bodies 
pass during developement. Before drawing conclusions regarding the 
full development of these traces in former types, we must also remem- 
ber, that no class, order, family, or genus of animals or plants, ever did 
or ever can pass, beyond the bounds of the type after which they 
are formed. Again, traces do not necessarily indicate that a full develop- 
ment once existed in the family ; it only proves, that such a family was 
or is made after the type of some division or other of the animal or 
vegetable kingdom; hence the traces may never have been fully 


Miscellaneous. 441 


developed at all,—they may be consequences of a law of development, 
and not active organs, or parts in the organism in which they are found. 
Thus in the present state of physiology, it would be rash to draw the 
conclusion that the traces of the canals to which we referred as now 
existing in marsupials, are certainly but the remains of what were fully 
developed in their primeval types. We incline to the idea, and suggest 
it to the consideration of those more conversant with such subjects; 
but at the same time allow, that it is not a necessary consequence of 
their existence, although it may be a probable one. So far, however, is 
certain, that it forms a kind of connecting link between the respiratory 
systems of marsupials and reptiles. But, in considering a matter such 
as this, we must not confine our views to the respiratory system alone, 
but must take into consideration the whole organization of the animal, 
and the peculiar connection of its various systems, with their modes of 
reaction. Viewing it in this light we find the animals in question 
oceupying only a low position in the scale of creation ; it is, therefore, 
highly probable that they could live in an atmosphere considerably 
worse than they now enjey. Here, again, I must apologise for wart of 
a few experiments which would have at once decided the question ; but 
the short time which has elapsed since I was requested to prepare this 
lecture for you, has prevented me from procuring an opossum to treat. 
to such an‘atmosphere. Any of you who may have such an animal 
may easily satisfy yourselves by a few experiments. 

But whilst wandering through these ancient lands, how comes it that 
we have not met any of the winged tribes? Forests are there to form a 
habitation—insects abound to afford them food; the genial climate 
or the smiling face of nature invites them to sing its praises. But in 
vain we penetrate the deep recesses of those ancient forests to discover 
traces of the feathered songsters of former days. We search the shores 
and. the rivers to-find aquatic birds feasting on the fishes which so 
abound, but we are scared away by the saurians which line their banks. 
We enter the forests, and meet nought but the monstrous pterodacty- 
lus sailing along on its filmy wings. If birds existed, where are their 
remains? Though rare, still we find them scattered throughout the 
. tertiary and modern lacustrine deposits. Why is there not a single 
evidence of their existence in all the secondary strata? Simply because 
(if our view of the state of the atmosphere be correct) they could not 
have existed. Birds require a very large supply of oxygen for the 
support of their vital functions, and are peculiarly susceptible to the 
effects of an excess of carbonic acid. Neither of these conditions being 


442 Miscellaneous. 


But we have now nearly approached the termination of the secondary 
period, for the paucity of terrestrial plants and animals in the cretace- 
ous series and greensand does not tempt us to linger long amidst their 
oceanic deposits. But to the chemist. it seems strange from whence 
came those vast deposits of carbonate of lime in the cretaceous beds. 
The plants are not numerous, and almost entirely marine; yet from 


the quantity of pyrites which occurs, it is appareut vast quantities of 


organic matter must have been in decay. 

The perishable nature of marine plants prevents them being accumu- 
lated in very large quantity. Hence we might still conceive, that the 
ocean was covered with marine plants at this period, which by their 


decay might so furnish carbonic acid as to decompose the sulphate of . 
lime existing in the sea water, and thus occasion the deposition of car- — 


bonate of lime; thus the atmosphere would be robbed of large quanti- 


ties of carbonic acid. But the magnitude of such deposits astonish us, _ 


and would compel us to relinquish this, even as a partial cause, did we 
not, on the other hand, consider the great extent of geological epochs. 
Now comes the close of the secondary period. We have glanced at 


the nature of its organic remains, from the silurian rocks to the green- 


sand; we have been struck with the development of organic life; we 
found it partly owing to the physical conditions ‘and positions of land 
and sea—and with these we had nothing to do ;—but we found it also 
dependent on the chemical constitution of the atmosphere; and that 
when vegetation gradually purified the air from its noxious ingredients, 
other forms of animal life sprung into existence. When traversing these 
lands of former times, it is difficult for us to conceive that we are exa- 
mining our own world. The striking progression of organic life must 
have been due to some cause. Why, may I ask the followers of Lyell, 
who believe that organic beings may have existed long before the pri- 
mary periods, although their remains have been destroyed by heat—why 
this progression of animal life? And, wherefore, may I ask the followers 


of Daubeny, did land animals not sport in the forests of the carboni- — 


ferous land? No mighty operations of nature then acted as antago- 
nists to their existence; the climate must have been congenial ; 
the war of the elements not greater, if so great as now. And 
wherefore, when in the course of ages, those forests become en- 


tombed, did land animals then start into being? Can these, or 


many similar questions be replied to, without admitting some changes 
in the states of the medium in which both plants and animals exist, 
or can the uniform progression of animal life be attributed to 


entirely local or adventitious causes? Let us not contort the face 


; 


i 
ee 


Miscellaneous. 443 


of nature to give countenance to ouretheories, but let us frame those 
theories on nature as it is. | é 

Following, therefore, the train of reasoning which we have adopted, 
we are struck with amazement in stepping over the boundary which 
separates the secondary from ‘the tertiary periods. We no longer 
encounter those monstrous reptiles which haunted the shores and 
rivers of former lands; we do not now wonder at the vast difference 
of the former state of things, but feel a difficulty in believing we 
are not looking upon a world similar to our own. We have seen 
that the forms of animal life either gradually run into one another 
in the various strata, or that these were separated by a distinct line 
of demarcation, and characterised their own peculiar class of fossils. 
With respect to land animals, we have also seen that when any 
great addition of forms was effected, evidences exist of causes having 
been in operation to remove carbonic acid from the atmosphere. 
' Now, whence do we derive the evidences of this withdrawal-in the 
era between the secondary and the tertiary periods? Nothing can 
be more striking than the difference of organic remains between the 
infra and supracretaceous beds. The ‘supracretaceous deposits are 
characterised by the wonderful similitude of organic remains to types 
now existing—the infracretaceous, by their utter dissimilarity. On 
this account we are disposed to lay more weight to our former ex- 
planation of the manner in which the cretaceous .beds may have been 
formed; viz., by a decomposition of the sulphate of lime existing 
in sea water by means of carbonates formed through the agency of 
decaying plants. Such, at all events, may have been a partial cause, 
and would account, in a great measure, for the small coherence and 
chalky nature of the limestone ; a character of a precipitate. 

There are many circumstances which countenance this idea. The 
recent experiments of Kuhlman on the preparation of artificial stones 
by means of silicate of potash, are powerful advocates of its ‘truth. 
There cannot be ‘the slightest doubt that silicate of potash formed 
an important’ ingredient in the sea of former times; every rock 
of marine origin proves this. Now, as the carbonic acid was evolved 
by the decay of the marine vegetation, it would decompose the 
silicate of potash, forming carbonate of potash, and depositing silica. 
This carbonate of potash again meeting with the sulphate of lime 
in solution, would occasion the double decomposition of which we 
have spoken. And that these chemical changes did take place, the. 
composition of the chalk shews us; for it every where contains both 
potash and silica. The organic remains converted into silica owe 


444: Miscellaneous. 

their origin to a like cause; that is, to a gradual deposition of silica, 
from the silicate of potash decomposed by means of the carbonic 
acid evolved during their decay. The infiltration and decomposition 
of this salt would then give the coherence to the chalky beds which | 
they now possess. Indeed, to the infiltration of silicate of potash 
may be ascribed the conversion into stone of all the veo and 
calcareous deposits ; assisted, of course, by heat. 

I am well aware that the supposition which we have advanced has 
to encounter a very serious objection in the paucity of vegetable re- 
mains found in these beds; but this objection is by no means conclu- 
sive against the opinion. The plants found in-them are all marine, 
and from their perishable nature could not be accumulated in quantity. 
Besides, the loose ~ature of the deposit would long admit of the access | 
of water, which would ensure their decomposition. This circumstance 
must be allowed its due importance; for the impermeability to 
water in chalky beds is vastly inferior to that of arenaceous and 
argillaceous deposits; and the experiments of Dr. Lindley have prov- 
ed that long immersion in water destroys most plants. Allow, 
then, even this suggestion as a partial cause (but we see no obstacle 
in assuming it as the universal one), and there is no difficulty in 
. accounting for the withdrawal of carbonic acid from the atmosphere 
during the deposition of the cretaceous beds. In consequence of this 
withdrawal, the atmosphere becomes fitted to sustain higher forms 
of organic life, and these accordingly sprung into being during the 
tertiary period. During the tertiary period itself, this withdrawal 
of carbonic acid from, and supply of oxygen to, the atmosphere, 
was constantly proceeding, as the vast beds of lignite on the Rhine 
amply testify; and a gradual increase of forms of animal life is ac- 
cordingly observed, from the basis of the tertiary rocks, to the sum- 
mit of the series. It would be desirable that more conclusive 
’ evidences were furnished of the age of the brown coal: in absence 
of information to determine to what part of the series it should be 
placed, we must keep from drawing conclusions regarding it; the 
general inference, however, may be drawn, that these entombed 
lignites do certainly not belong to the newer part of the series. 

Although we find very many species in the tertiary strata similar or 
identical with those now inhabiting the earth, still neither in these nor 
in the post tertiary or alluvial deposits, do we find any trace of man 
or of his works. But previous to his creation it became indispensa- 
ble that a balance should be established between animal and vegetable 
life. It was the commencement of a grand era that ushered into the 


Miscellaneous. 445 


world an intellectual being. Nor can we conceive that a creature so 
noble, stamped by the image of its Creator, could be destined, like 
those animals which had become extinct, to be swept in its turn from 
the earth by causes similar to those which had effected their extinction. 
The creation of an intellectual being was not an occurrence coming 
in the common order of events; but man must have been placed upon 
the earth by a fiat of the All-powerful Creator. The present order of 
the globe was ordained for him, and all things proceeded to. fit it for 
his habitation. We will not deny that he who made man might like- 
wise ordain that he should be swept from the earth; but we do deny 
that the exhibitions of the causes destined to produce this would be in 
uniformity with the usual designs of Providence. It would be ill-ac- 
cordant with a divine wisdom to suppose that it had not arrested the 
causes which led to the extinction of whole tribes of animals, when it 
called man into being. But it would as little harmonize with our con- 
ceptions of the Creator’s works to imagine that any divine interposi-. 
tion or miracle altered the face of nature, immediately antecedent to 
the creation of that intellectual being. Laws were instituted, by which 
this earth is governed, and we must look for such changes in the na- 
tural current of their operation, not in their annihilation or alteration. 
Now if I have carried you along with me in the description of events 
_ which have proceeded on the earth from the first dawn of organic life, 
you will find no difficulty in discovering, or admitting with me, that 
the grand causes for the extinction of animal life were now removed. 
We have seen all the primeval lands, which we have hastily traversed, 
covered with a luxuriant vegetation, but containing a disproportion- 
ably small number of forms of animal life. We have approached more 
nearly to our own epoch, and remarked the gradual increase of these 
forms; and at the same time, we have seen that the’atmosphere which 
covered those lands, gradually changed its character. We have re- 
marked that the first forms of land animals were such as could live in 
ari atmosphere destitute of its present proportion of oxygen,.and such 
also as did not return any notable quantity of carbonic acid to the 
atmosphere. But we remarked also a great change as we approached 
our era :—the animals existing in strata antecedent to modern deposits 
‘were all furnished with respiratory organs like our own; that is, with or- 
gans fitted for abstracting oxygen from the air, and returning carbonic 
acid: functions quite opposed to those of. vegetables, which abstract 
carbonic acid and return oxygen. Hence, as soon as animals become 
sufficiently multiplied to supply the amount, of carbonic acid to the air, 
equivalent to the quantity abstracted by growing plants, a balance. 


446 Miscellaneous. 


would be struck, and the air could not experience any appreciable 
variation. For even supposing that by some adventitious circum- 
stances, such as by volcanic agencies, an increased supply of carbonic 
acid was furnished to the atmosphere, the effect would simply be to 
induce an increased vegetation, and the excess would be withdrawn. 
On the other hand, if the amount of carbonic acid became diminished, 
vegetation would be retarded, and it would attain its normal standard. 
Such would be the natural effects of vegetation, when the original 
amount of carbonic acid in the air had become reduced to the point 
at which it ceased being detrimental to animals, but was still suffi- 
cient to administer to an ordinary, but not excessive luxuriance of 
vegetation. 

But here a curious question arises—Does the progress of Hse 
society not occasion a greater demand for carbonic acid, and thus serve 
to destroy the equilibrium between plants and animals? It can scarce- 
ly be denied that civilization causes an increase in the aggregate of 
animal life. The preponderance is great between the animals depend- 
ing upon man, and those destroyed by him. Nay, even the increase 
of human beings produced by an augmentation of the comforts of civi- 
lized life, would demand our serious attention to the enquiry. Once 
admit, and I do admit it for the sake of argument and probability, 
that civilization increases the aggregate of animal life, and it is evi- 
dent we must find some means of compensating to the air for the car- 
bon and nitrogen abstracted and retained by this increase. For were 
there no means of compensation, other parts of the earth, existing in 
a state of nature, would suffer for the supply of those parts subject 
to the dominion of man. The difficulty of finding an answer to this 
question has furnished a specious argument to those who refuse to 
admit that the food of plants is derived from animals; and yet the 
explanation is not so difficult. Whieh would require the most car- 
bonic acid—America with. its forests and extensive prairies, or 
America peopled by men, and covered by fields of waving corn? 
Civilised man enters America, he expels its tenants from their 
native soil, cuts down their forests, and plants in their stead agri- 
cultural produce. Strange as it may appear, he has caused neither 
an increase nor a diminution in the amount required; for it has 
been proved by Liebeg that the same extent of land produces the 
same quantity of carbon, whether it be covered with forests or agricul- 
tural produce. He increases himself to an amazing extent, and thickly 
peoples that once thinly populated country. True, by his increase, he 
removes frdm the air quantities of carbonic acid, but he compensates for 


Miscellaneous. 447 


this by the habits of civilization. .He has cultivated in the place of 
forests plants requiring a large supply of nitrogen. This nitrogen he is 
peculiarly fitted to supply them with, from the effete matter discharged 
by him. The air contains much more ammonia than is necessary for 
the purposes of wild plants; he abstracts out of its superabundance, 
and merely concentrates it at particular spots, where it meets with 
plants which peculiarly require it, but none of it is lost to vegetation. 
The peculiar habits of civilized life cause him to return to the air car- 
bonic acid, amply compensating for that abstracted by his increase. In 
the form of coal he digs from the earth, and returns to the air the car- 
bonic acid of former times. The great stream of air which, by the revo- 
lution of the earth moves from the equator to the poles, wafts in its re- 
turn this food to tropical climates, where nature yet revels in all her 
wildness. The food thus sent is immediately appropriated by a luxuri- 
ant vegetation, and oxygen of course emitted, which the same stream of 
air, in its progress towards us brings back to supply that consumed 
in the formation of the food. Thus man, by the habits of civilisation 
full; compensates for that which he retains by his own increase, 
and that of the animals dependant upon him. Upon the compen- 
sation of ammonia, I have almost said enough. The plants of for- 
mer ages were not such as to require much nitrogen; hence, 
although the decrease of carbonic acid from the air was great, that 
of ammonia was insignificant. The greatest exhausting cause in 
operation would be the rain which carried it to the sea, and caused 
it to remain there; that falling on the land would again evaporate. 
And though the increase of animal life may, as we have already said, 
remove for a time the superabundance, this will finally benefit vege- 
tation. But all this time I have been silent regarding volcanic 
agencies. I have been so, because I consider them merely as an 
auxiliary means of furnishing to the air the carbonic acid and oxygen 
retained by animals during life; but by no means as being the pri- 
mary sources of food. 

I would I could dwell longer upon these subjects: they are of 
too extensive a nature to be embraced in a single lecture; but for 
you I have been already far too long. My end will be gained if some 
of you have been convinced that the grand causes formerly in operation 
for the destruction of animal life have ceased, and that man is not liable 
to the destructive agencies of former times—if you are convinced that 
by wonderfully wise plans of Providence, the grand medium of animal 
and vegetable life, the atmosphere, has become fitted for the recep- 
tion of man, and attained a state of repose and perfect equilibrium, 


448 Miscellaneous. 


by the exquisite adjustment that Death has become the source of ; 
Life-—And if my illustrious namesake, when supporting the theories 
of Hutton, in his assertion that the world shewed no traces of a 
beginning, nor none of an end—meant to include that the organic life 
on it is also destitute of such traces, we cannot assent with him. 
But that no evidence of a beginning, nor of an end exist in the 
world itself, we fully admit; yet that that beginning was, and that 
an end will be, we have the word of One “ that cannot lie.”—Annals of 


Electricity. 


A General View of the Environs of Pekin. By M. Kovawnxo, Major in the 
Corps of Engineers of Mines; translated by Lieutenant-General Lord 
Greenock, F. R. S. E., chniinen ligpenpamt alban eters ier esie4 
Russie,-année 1838. Published at St. Petersburg, 1840. 


Pekin is situated in a plain bounded on the north-west bya series - 
of mountains belonging to branches of the chain Tkahi-Khanc, which 
takes its origin at the Yellow River, and is prs to the north-east 
nearly as far as the sea of the same name. 

The Chinese distinguish these mountains as Northern and Western, 
according to their position relatively to the capital; they are, besides, 
equally to be distinguished by the nature of their rocks. 

Limestone, together with dolomite, predominate in the Northern 
Mountains, and in those of the West, diorite (greenstone), with all its 
varieties, as well as sandstone and slates containing beds of coal. 
These two series of mountains being cut in different directions by de- 
files ‘and steep valleys, it is difficult to determine their point of con- 
nection. 

The Northern Mountains are a day’s journey from Pekin, which. 
does not imply any considerable distance : the Chinese travel so slowly 
that they never go farther in one day than from 60 to 80 li,* or 34 
or 44 versts. ‘The road in the direction of these mountains passes over 
alluvial clays containing much lime. In very dry weather, this clay 
becomes so hard that it can scarcely be broken with a pickaxe, while 
in wet weather, it becomes entirely liquid, and forms mud that is near- 
ly impassable. In summer this road is very picturesque; vast fields 
extend beyond the view on both sides. Notwithstanding the labour 
and expense which are required at that season for the cultivation of 
this land, the farmer is amply repaid by the abundance of the harvest, 
which hese at the same time bread for himself, food for his cattle, 

* The fi is equal to 274} sagénes of Russia. 


Miscellaneous. 449 


and even fuel, for the grain of the yellow millet (Syao-mi-tsra) fur- 
nishes meal, the only food of the peasants, and chopped straw for the 
cattle in place of hay, which is never cut, and of the use of which even 
they have no idea in China. | 

It is with the straw of a kind of millet called Gao-lianes, which 


% “grows to the height of fifteen feet, that the peasants make fences for 


their gardens; they employ it also for fuel in their houses, and to 
‘burn bricks. The grain is used instead of oats to feed the mules, and 
brandy is obtained from it by distillation. - 

About 15 li (8 versts) before arriving at the Northern Moun- 
tains, is seen the little hill Syao-Zan-Chan, composed of compact 
grey limestone, traversed -by veins of quartz, which give it great 
hardness. This mountain, though of little elevation, deserves par- 
ticular notice from the existence in its neighbourhood of two hot 
springs, which burst forth nearly vertically from an unknown depth. 
These springs, at the distance of a few sagénes from each other, have 
different temperatures, one of 40°, the other of 45° Reaumur (122° 
to 133° F.) The water from these springs flows into basins lined © 
with a masonry of compact limestone, from whence it is conducted 
by leaden pipes into baths cut in the limestone, and lined with sheets: 
of lead. 

A palace, surrounded by a garden, has been erected near the baths, 
destined for the imperial family. The stone-wall by which it is en- 
‘closed is in a complete state of dilapidation, no repairs having been 
- made there for fifteen years, although the buildings of the Chinese are 
frequently in need of them. The water is perfectly transparent, and 
contains no salt in solution. Its use consists in procuring the bathers a 
copious perspiration. The baths are frequented by many persons of 
the inferior classes in the spring, who either come there for their 
health, or merely as an object for an excursion. 

Three li to the west of Syao-Tan-Chan, there is another insulated 
mountain called Da-Tan-Chan, a little more elevated than the former, 
and formed like it of compact limestone full of quartz veins. The base 
of this mountain gives rise to many springs, one of which has a tem- 
petature of 16° R. (68° F.) and the water is very pure. 

There was formerly at this place an establishment for baths of cold 
water, but it is now in ruins, as are also the temples which were in the 
neighbourhood of the spring. In general, the priests of the temples of 
the religion of Khé-Shan and of Da-o, exercise hospitality. Travellers 
fhay always find a lodging with these hermits; it is true that their 
services must be largely remunerated, but they must of necessity have 


OM 


450 cee Miscellaneous. 


recourse to them, there being no other places where accommodation 
can be obtained. In the convents, 10 roubles* is the lowest price for a 
rest of a few hours, and, for a whole day, 25 roubles are not considered 
to be sufficient. From this it may be easily judged how costly even 
the shortest excursions in the environs of Pekin must be. 

The outline of the Northern Mountains is pretty uniform ; they are, 
generally speaking, nearly bare, their flanks being rarely covered by 
small bushes, and alluvia of little importance. 

These mountains are of considerable elevation, particularly that.of 
Syao-Chan, situated 30 li to the north-east of the temple Loun-Tzouan- 
Sy, which is distant 60 li north from Pekin. It is principally composed 
of granite, of which the lower part, being large grained, decomposes 
into gravel ; the upper portions are small grained, and shew no signs — 
of disintegration. This granite consists of red felspar, clear grey 
quartz, with a vitreous lustre, and black mica, altogether impercepti- 
ble in some places. No other minerals of any consequence have been 
found in it. To judge from the name it bears (Jn-Shan), which means 
the mountain of silver, there is reason to believe that it formerly fur- 
nished the ore of that metal; and, indeed, one of the hermits dwelling 
in the neighbourhood, a man of about seventy years of age, assured 
me that in his youth a vein was worked in that mountain, the ore from 
which was taken out at night and secretly smelted to obtain the 
silver. ; : 

The shaft of the mine to which he alluded, is now filled up and 
covered with buildings; there was therefore no means of ascertaining 
the truth of this tradition. 

At the foot of Mount Jn-Shan, there existed anciently an immense 
temple of the religion of Khé-Shan, inhabited by 400 monks, the traces 
of which are still to be seen. A path made on the flank of the moun- 
tain led quite to the summit, and the steps hewn in the granite exist at 
the present day. The path is now obstructed by stones, and over- 
grown with bushes, so as to render it difficult to climb the very steep 
acclivity of the mountain. Having proceeded by this path about three 
versts, | was obliged to surmount a precipice nearly vertical, in which 
small holes were cut of a size barely sufficient to enable the points of 
the feet to rest in them. But the trouble of overcoming all these ob- 
stacles is well repaid, for the view from the summit of the mountain is 
of itself an object for the sake of which it is worth undertaking this 
excursion. The plateau on the summit is encompassed by a balus- 


* 10 roubles = 11 francs 50 centimes; 25 roubles = 28 francs 75 centimes. 


Miscellaneous. 451 


trade of granite, very handsomely worked. In the middle there is an 
altar cut out of a single block of the same rock, and close to it, an 
enormous bell of cast-metal suspended to pillars of granite. 

Notwithstanding the number of ages these monuments have existed, 
they are in a perfect state of preservation, which proves the solidity of 
their construction. 

The heat was insupportable during my ascent of Jn-Shan, and I was 
dying of thirst; but a fresb breeze, and some mulberries which I ga- 
thered on the summit of the mountain, restored my strength. A kind 
Providence seems to have thrown some seeds of that tree into a fissure 
_of the altar expressly to alleviate the fatigues of the traveller. With 
the exception of this mulberry tree, there was not a a plant to be 
seen in that enclosure. 

While I was resting myself, the guide astonished me by his fool- 
hardiness. The abyss over which the mountain projects is so deep, 
that it is hardly possible to look down into it without feeling giddy ; 
but this man, careless of danger, springing upon the top of the bal- 
lustrade, went twice round the plateau, jumping from pillar to pillar, 
distant about one and a half archine from each other. It made me 
shudder to see him expose himself to so much danger, but he pre- 
served -the greatest coolness, and I did not observe the slightest trace 
_ of emotion on his countenance. 

The view from the summit of Jn-Shan is magnificent. It is the most 
| commanding point in the country. Before me, the crests of the moun- 

. tains, illuminated by the setting sun, stretch out like the waves of the 
sea; over head, is a clear blue sky, and in the horizon other chains 
appear, varying as much in their forms as in the beauty of their tints. 
From this spot’ the view embraces an immense space—a pure and light. 
air is inhaled with delight. While I am observing, a majestic eagle 
hovers so near as almost to graze my head; around me is the silence 
of the desert; alone in the distance, on the flank of the mountain, a 
shepherd is driving his flock towards the plain; and here and there 
rich pastures display their verdure. 

Water is very generally wanting in the northern mountains, and 
only small rivulets, formed by the moisture derived from the atmos- 
phere are met with in the valleys; one of them takes its rise at the 
base of Mount In-Shan, disappears for half its course under detrital 
blocks and alluvia, to appear again as a spring near the temple of 
Loun-Tzouan-Sy. Its water is very pure, and is reckoned the best in 
the environs of Pekin. It has been dammed up for the purpose of 
turning a flour-mill with a horizontal wheel. This place is extremely 


452. Miscellaneous. 


agreeable during the summer heats. However high the temperature 
of the air may be, the water remains constantly cool. 

In the month of July, at the time of the greatest heat, it is much 
frequented. by bathers: but until then the Chinese are afraid to ven- 
ture into the water, so great is their dread of the sensation of cold. 

The Russians who reside in Pekin astonish the natives a good deal 
by drinking cold water at their meals in winter as well as in summer; 
while the Chinese warm even their wine, and never drink cold water 
except in the hot weather of July. 

A great number of fruit-trees, proceeding from plantations, grow in 
the ravines and valleys of the Northern Mountains, especially many 
Indian fig-trees, as also peach, apricot, pear, plum, and walnut trees. 
It appears even that the trees which do not bear fruit, such as the fir, 
the willow, the juniper, and the cypress, owe their existence to arti- 
ficial cultivation, which is the reason that not a single forest of any 
considerable extent is to be met with in the whole chain of the North-. 
ern Mountains. 

The rocks of which these mountains clini, ain as has been 
already observed, to a formation of dolomite, which is there largely 
developed. . 

It commences at the temple of Loun-Tzouan-Sy, and extends to the 
north-east as far as the base of Jn-Shan. The mountains of Syo-Zan- 
Shan and Do-Tan-Shan, are of that formation; several varieties of 
dolomite are also found in it; near the temple of Loun-Zzouan-Sy it 
is very compact, small-grained, and the presence of particles of quartz 
gives it much hardness. All the monuments in the burial-places, the 
masonry of the door-ways and of the steps in the palace, are of this 
stone. The compact varieties are seldom white, but generally of a grey 
colour. When the quartz is absent in this rock, its fracture has the 
appearance of sugar, and, like that substance, is entirely white, and 
translucent when in thin fragments. It bears much resemblance to 
the marble of Carrara. We should not be warranted in assigning a 
very ancient origin to this rock, although it does not contain organic 


remains. It has little cohesion of its parts, and is easily reduced to 


powder; it is in this form that it is used to complete the process of 
cleaning the rice. Its texture has not the appearance of being foliated, 
but it is always divided by a great number of fissures into irregular 
masses, which renders the quarrying of it very difficult.* 

* Note by the Author.—About 6 francs (French money) are paid for the extraction of 150 


pouds of this rock. The carriage of 15 pouds to the capital, distant 60 li, costs about 60 
francs. 


Miscellaneous. 453 


The limestone, in a half decomposed state, containing a great quan- 
tity of white sand, enters into this formation in subordinate beds. In 
some places this limestone decomposes to such an extent as to form a 
white powder which covers the whole surface. 

Sandstone, small grained, of a dark colour, traverses this formation 
also in beds, which alternate occasionally with those of the predomi- 
nating rock. These beds of sandstone have only a thickness of 1 or 2 
archines. ; 

The porphyry, which rises in the form of a mamelon, near the tem- 
ple of Ba-or-Sy, three li to the north-west of that of Loun-Tzouan-Sy, 
appears to have had some influence in the formation of this dolomite. ° 

This porphyry, of a deep red colour, gives out a strong smell of clay. 
It has but little consistence, and its surface is fissured all over. 

The ferruginous red sandstone, which is divided into rhomboidal 
faces by joints, ought likewise to be classed as belonging to the dolo- 
mite formation. It does not constitute any considerable masses, and 

_is only found lying on the flanks of the compact dolomitic limestone. 
The sandstone, in decomposing, forms an excellent soil for cultivation. 

One li to the north-west of Loun-Tzoun-Sy, a small outcrop of a 
chloritic slate, having a coarsely foliated structure, is seen bordering 
upon the dolomite, which disappears almost entirely under alluvial 
‘clay. Its dip is very highly inclined, the beds being very irregular 
and singularly contorted. Some traces of lime are found in it, but no 
pther minerals. 

The Western Mountains, as has already been said, are composed of 

different rocks. Three formations are distinctly observed in them. 

1st, Diorite; 2d, compact grey limestone, which appears to corres- 
pond with the mountain or carboniferous limestone of England; and, 
lastly, the coal formation. 

A formation is besides observed, the independence of which is not 
altogether demonstrated. This is a species of conglomerate intimately 
connected with the diorite, and which will consequently be described 
at the same time with that igneous rock. 

Dioritic Formation.—Diorite (greenstone) appears at the surface at 
the village of San-Ourad-Yan, and extends in ascending the course of 
the river Bourbouse to the village of Van-Pin-Koon, a distance of more 
than 30 li. 

The diorite, small-grained, of a light green colour, is divided by 
fissures, giving it the form of beds inclined about 15° to the east. 

‘ This rock is not very hard, except in its inferior portions; but as 
it acquires elevation, it loses its granular texture, becomes friable and 


454 Miscellaneous. 


slaty, and passes into indurated clay containing nodules of quartz and 
cf greenstone, which frequently exceed the size of a nut. In some 
places these nodules occur only in veins in the friable dioritic mass, 
but sometimes they are accumulated to such a degree as to form enor- 
mous masses of compact conglomerate. 

The thickness of the beds of the latter, which have the same incli- 
nation as the diorite, is about 1 sagéne. They alternate with ferru- 
ginous clay of a brownish red colour, forming in some places consider- 
able elevations. This clay also contains nodules of quartz and of 
greenstone, which, by the decrease of their bulk, pass into a fine- 
grained sandstone without admixture, and are traversed in different 
directions by veins of white quartz. 

Every thing concurs to lead us to admit that this conglomerate, so 
intimately connected with the diorite, does not, properly speaking, 
belong to the dioritic formation, produced to all appearance by volca- | 
nic agency (prophyry conglomerates). In my opinion it constitutes 
a sedimentary rock in the fullest acceptation of that term, in the forma- 
tion of which the diorite might have concurred. 

It would appear that the conglomerate is more recent than the 
diorite, and that it would be better to class it in the coal-formation, 
considering it as an equivalent to the old red sandstone of England. 

The diorite cropping out at the base of the mountain Lao-Goua-Shan 
to the west of Van-Pin-Koon, as well as the conglomerate which over- 
lies it, has a dip nearly vertical. This peculiar inclination might be 
attributed to some more recent revolution which these rocks have 
undergone, occasioned apparently by the dioritic porphyry which rises 
from beneath the diorite, but which, however, does not form any con- 
siderable masses. 

Vertical seams of coal lie in some places between the diorite and 
the conglomerate, having the latter for the roof and the former for the 
floor. , 

Slate-clay, which has the properties of a combustible slate, from the 
great quantity of bitumen it contains, forms a border to the coal on the 
side of the roof. | ; ; 

The border on the side of the floor, although equally composed 
of slate-clay, contains less bitumen, and has not so much lustre as | 
the former. This coal very much resemblés anthracite, because it is 
shining, of compact texturé, difficult to ignite, does not flame in 
burning, or give out any smoke. Its substance is entirely homogene- 
ous, and every thing respecting it leads to the belief that there had 
been a great development of heat at the period of its formation. 


Miscellaneous. 455 


The beds of conglomerate occupy, in some localities, nearly a hori- 
zontal position. In this case the coal included between the conglo- 
merate and the diorite, occurs in beds of more importance, as, for 
example, at Daor- Yao to the east of Van-Pin-Koon, where the seam 
of coal is 14 archine in thickness. 

That which is worked at Daor-Yao is brittle, and breaks easily 
into small fragments of the size of a pea. The blacksmiths, and those 
-who work in copper, consider it preferable to any other coal for their — 
use, on account of the intense heat it gives out. 

The conglomerate does not form thick masses. In its upper bed 
"it passes into a true sandstone, which the quartz renders very hard. 
Occasionally the presence of particles of mica give it a slaty texture, 
and it becomes friable where clay is principally the basis of its cement. 

The brook Tsin-Schoui-Khé flows 15 li to north of Van-Pin-Koon, 
and, in cutting through a mass of diorite, it has laid bare all the 
varieties of this rock. Granitic diorite, compact diorite, and porphy- 
ritic diorite, alternate with each other, all passing at length into a 
conglomerate, which appears to differ from that to which the seams 
of coal are subordinate, and is the dioritic conglomerate properly so 
called. The beds of this conglomerate, and those of the diorite itself, 
alternate with beds of ferruginous clay, having a porphyritic appear- 
ance. This rock in some places passes into euritic porphyry, which 
being sometimes separated, and afterwards reunited afresh by the 
same rock, forms a breccia, in which the imbedded fragments of 
porphyritic rocks are from 1 verchok up to } of an archine in diameter. 
_ This porphyry is of a brick red colour, with white crystals of 
felspar; its hardness middling, and it forms continuous masses of an 
irregular appearance. , 

Carboniferous Limestone.—This limestone shews itself to the west 
of Van-Pin-Koon in considerable masses, which may be regarded as an 
independent formation. The mountains which are composed of -it 
have their flanks so steep, that the summits are sometimes inaccessible. 
The texture is foliated in thick laminz, and in some localities the 
stratification of the beds is nearly horizontal. It is traversed by 
veins of perfectly white calcareous spar, which gives to it a variegated 
grey colour. A great many caverns of different dimensions, and all of 
them vaulted, are met with in this limestone, some of which contain 
stalactites, but they are destitute of organic remains. 

The limestone is traversed in the defile or Yan-Li-Gaou by veins 
of galena and brown specular iron-ore, of a quarter of an archine or 
- more in thickness. 


456 Miscellaneous. 


Small-grained greyish-yellow sandstone appears in subordinate beds 
_ in this limestone. It is not very hard, contains a considerable quan- 
tity of clay, and its beds have a thickness which is rather consi- 
derable. 

The upper beds of this limestone have a great resemblance to 
that which forms such enormous masses in the Northern Mountains, 
and it is probable that they both belong to the same formation. 

The limestone of Mount 7xo-7khai, which is distinguished by the 
great pagoda situated on its flank, near the village of Shim-En-Gin, 
appears equally to belong to the carboniferous limestone. It is very 
compact, and the particles of quartz give it so great a degree of 
hardness as to strike fire with steel. Its texture is foliated, but in 
thick laminw. In some places it has the aspect of a compact mass. 
It abounds also in caverns, one of which, 7hao- Yan-Doun, is remarka- 
ble for its size. It is situated on a very steep slope, which renders 
it difficult of access. Many persons ascend the mountain on purpose 
to ~isit this cavern, but there are very few who have the courage to 
descend into it. Many absurd traditions exist among the Chinese 
respecting it. They pretend that there is a subterranean passage 
leading as far as Katgane, and that there are stone-bridges over streams 
running through it, &. &c. I made the descent into the cave out of 
curiosity. It appears like a steep gallery, at first tolerably high, but 
which becomes progressively lower, so as at last to render it necessary 
to crawl upon hands and knees. It terminates suddenly in a well 
ascending vertically. It was impossible to explore its farther direction, 
for at this point the burning wood which served me as a torch 
gave so little light, that I could scarcely distinguish the nearest 
objects. The air in the cave is very moist. There are two lateral 
galleries, one of which is under water; the other descends very rapidly, 
and is not any more accessible than the others. The cavern may be 
about 150 sagénes in length. On the bottoms stalagmites are met with, 
but no organic remains. 

Coal Formation.—Slate-clay is largely developed to the east of Van- 
Pin-Koon. So much coal enters into its composition, that in some 
places it might serve for fuel. The beds often change their direction 
and sometimes have a dip nearly vertical: the compact diorite (green- 
stone) which is intruded into this slate in subordinate beds, appears to 
have been the cause of the irregularity of those which overlie them. 
The slate-clay alternates with beds of fine-grained sandstone traversed 
by veins of white quartz, which render it very hard. Beds of.coal 
lie between the slate and the sandstone. 


Miscellaneous. 457 


The slate-clay is, as it were, pounded on the surface, and forms a 
kind of alluvium which covers its flanks. Thick beds of coal are 
likewise found in this rock, but their quality is very inferior to 
that of the coal which lies under the sandstone. The coal which 
the pounded slate covers varies in its properties. It is often decom- 
posed, and its particles have so little cohesion between them, that they 
are almost reduced to a state of powder. 

Beds of ferruginous sandstone, of little hardness, under which are 
sometimes found rich beds of coal, lie under the slate-clay. Thus 
the Western Mountains abound so much with coal, that two or three 
versts cannot be passed over without meeting with outcrops indicating 
the presence of a great quantity of this combustible substance, which 
has never as yet been touched by the hand of man. 

The coal used for fuel in Pekin, where wood is very dear, is worked 
on a great scale; but whether in consequence of the abundance of this 
mineral, or of the obstinacy of the Chinese in rejecting improvements, 
the result is that the process of mining is still in its infancy with 
them, while the preparation of charcoal is carried on there with more 
success and economy. than any where else. 

Generally speaking, we may consider that the art of mining is still 
in its infancy in China. They know nothing of the machines which 
give facility to the work; they have not even a notion of the pumps 
which are indispensable for the exhaustion of the water. Vertical 
shafts are not used by them. The imperfection of the works renders 
the air very dense in the mines, often to such a degree that it is 
necessary to make openings above on that account, in which are 
placed ventilating wheels put in motion by the hand. This wheel, 
although turning incessantly, introduces very little fresh air into the 
mine. The galleries of the mines are so low that the workmen can 
scarcely move in them except by crawling. 

When the horizontal beds are to be won, continued timbering is 
used; but in winning the vertical beds, only the roofs and floors are 
timbered, particularly the latter, in order that the trains which are 
employed to transport the coal to the surface should slide easily 
upon them. 

Timbering employed by the Chinese is not above two or three 
vershoks in thickness. It costs, nevertheless, about two copecks 


per poud.* 
The winning of the horizontal bed-is carried »n in the following 


* Note by the author.—Wood in China is sold by weight. 


3.N 


458 Miscellaneous. 


manner :—A gallery is opened in the bed of coal itself, 14 archine in 
height. After having penetrated into it several vershoks; a cross 
beam is fixed in the roof, by the two ends being let into the walls 
of the rock ; having advanced another archine, a fresh joist is fixed, 
“whack 16 boundto the first by beams placed lengthwise above them. 
These beams having a distance between them of a quarter of an ar- 
chene, are covered with brush-wood made into fascines; when this 
work is finished, they continue to advance within the thickness of the 
bed, and following its directions. 

The floor of the gallery is in like manner fitted with cross beams 
placed near together; the gallery is thus pushed on until the want — 


of air renders it necessary to put a stop to the work. Below this — 


gallery a second is opened, to continue the working of the coal. 

The only difference in the process of working the vertical andthe _ 
horizontal beds of coal is, that in the first the galleries are not only 
timbered above and below, but also on their side walls. 

The coal taken out is put into baskets, placed upon sledges, which 
are raised to the surface by manual labour; one basket may contain. 
about three pouds of coal, and one man can raise to the surface about 
eight in a day; he generally receives at the rate of 30 copecks per 
basket. The water which accumulates in the mines is emptiéd- by 
means of small casks, brought up in the same manner. 

If the local circumstances are very favourable, adits for letting out 
the water are driven; but as they are very expensive, they are very 
seldom had recourse to; at least if the irruption of the water becomes 
too considerable, it often happens that the works are altogether 
abandoned. 

The only instruments used by the Chinese in working the coal are 
the pickaxe, the pick, and the hammer. They cut a groove with 
the pickaxe, and place in it the pick, which is struck upon with the 
hammer; it is by this means that fragments of oe weighing from 
two to three pouds are detached. 

The number of workmen differs much in the Chinese collieries, for few 
among them make their agreement for a work of any long duration ; for 
the most part they never come until the period when they have finished 
their labour in the fields. The pickers of coal receive about 1} rouble 
for half a-day’s work, and the overseers for the day about 34 roubles, 
and their nourishment besides. 

At the place where it is worked, at Lao-Gao-Shan, the coal is sold 
for 60 copecks per pond: its carriage through the mountains on the 
backs of mules to Mem-Toou-Goou, distant 30 li, where are situated 


Miscellaneous. : 459 


the store-houses of the depét costs about 20 copecks ; from thence the 
coal is transported to Pekin upon camels. ‘In the ty the price of 
coals is 14 rouble per poud. 

There is besides a kind of coal met with at Pekin, brought from 
the neighbourhood, which is much cheaper, particularly when it is 
mixed. in the proportion of one-half with coal-gravel (or detritus). 
This-coal sells for only 1 rouble per poud, but it gives out but little 
heat, and is very quickly consumed. The coal-gravel in question is 
previously mixed with yellow clay, to give it greater consistence. The 
process is very simple ; eight parts of coal-gravel are mixed with two of 
clay, pouring into the mixtrvre as much water as is required to ren- 
der it a thick paste. When the whole of the mass has been well 
mixed, it is put into moulds, in the same manner as in the manufacture 
“of bricks. The pieces thus prepared and dried are used as coal.; they 
produce little ‘heat, and the fire must be constantly fed with fresh 
doses. - This fuel is only made use of among the indigent classes. 


Russian Linear Measures. 


The Sagéne, or Russian toise, is divided into 7 feet, or into 3 archines, 


The foot, ais w= -~—sinto 12 inches, 
The inch, ose ove one into 10 lines, 
The archine or ell, sie en into 16, vershoks, 
The vershok, oe eee Be 


‘The verst, or mile, is 500 sagénes in length, and is equal to 1067 French kilométres. 
A verst is nearly ? of an English mile, or exactly 5 furlongs, 67 yards. 


Weights. 
The Russian poud is divided into 96 zolotniks, 
The zolotnik «eo into 96 doleis or parts. 


The poud consist of tee 40 pounds, 
The'berkovetz 2. ss 10 pouds. 


Coins. 


oe nome SNE ee OSeenen CPreneh, 

The copec is the hs part of the rouble, worth 0.04 centimes, 

The paper rouble varies according to the exchange, from 110 to 115 centimes, 

The capper copec, the mn part of a paper rouble, is consequently worth 1 cent « 
or 1 cenit 7, scenbiicie 30 the oolbed. 40 cxdbiongs. 

The Chinese ti is equal to 274} sagénes of Russia.—Edinburgh New Philosophicat 
Journal, 


460 Miscellaneous. 


Agri- Horticultural Society's Journal and India Review. 


In 1839 Mr. Griffith, who was attached to the Army of the Indus 
for the purpose among other things, of obtaining information relative 
to the productions of Afganisthan, and of taking advantage of such 
observations as the nature of the campaign might enable him to make, . 
transmitted to England as was his duty, according to the directions 
of Lord Auckland, from whom he received his instructions, seeds of 
various useful plants. Of these a Lucerne seed sent from Candahar, 
although the same species as that~generally cultivated in Europe, 
was found to yield a so far superior crop, that it almost appeared to be 
a new race, besides being more valuable as a green crop, from its com- 
ing in much earlier than the plant produced from English seed. A 
Clover also sent home by Mr. Griffith to England from Candahar, was 
found in England to be a new species, and was accordingly named 7ri- 
folium gigantium, from its producing a heavy crop, and affording a most 
valuable fodder for horses, &c. These results were published through- 
out Great Britain and Ireland eighteen months ago; and at page 619, 
Vol II. of this Journal, an extract from the Calcutta Eastern Star of 5th 
December last, copied from the Gardener's Chronicle as well as still prior 
notice in the Friend of India, made the Indian public acquainted with 
these results which were highly creditable to the person directly instra- 
mental in effecting them. 

In the second Number of the Journal of the hitting So- 
ciety, August 1842, there is published a Memorandum from Colonel Sykes, 
enumerating the fluctuations in the exports of various productions 
of India during the last ten years, in which the Cabool Clover is:incident- 
ally referred to in connection with the successful efforts, not of Mr. 
Griffith, but of Dr. Royle ! 

We have next a Memorandum said to be “ of considerable interest 
from the late Sir Alex. Burnes,” on the above Clover and Lucerne, 
dated long after both these plants were successfully grown in England from 
Mr. Griffith's seed. This is succeeded by another Memorandum from 
Dr. Royle, headed “Clover and Lucerne seed from Affganisthan, by 
Professor Royle,” in which the name of Mr. Griffith is connected with 
the Lucerne seed, but not with the Clover, which proved to be a new 
and very highly important article of cultivation in England; the Edi- 
tor appends a note to shew, that from an old report by Lieut. Irwin, 
the existence of both the Clover and Lucerne were known in Affganisthan 
thirty years ago. No one can doubt this, but it is their introduc- 


Miscellaneous. 461 


tion into England, to which interest is attached, and this is due to 
Mr. Griffith. Now we cannot for a moment suppose it to have been 
the object of the writers of these various notices to misrepresent 
any circumstance connected with these improvements. From the 
manner in which they are printed, we should rather infer, that they 
have been inserted in the Journal of the Agri-Horticultural Society, 
and copied into the India Review, unconscious of what has appeared 
on the subject in various daily papeys and periodicals during the 
last two years.* 


Notice of Books, 


The Birds of Australia. By J. Goutn, F.L.S., &c., Parts I. 
to VI, folio. London, 1840-41. 


We are indebted to Messrs. Thacker and Co. for an 
inspection of this very splendid work on the Birds of New 
Holland by Mr. Gould, favourably known to the Indian 
Ornithologist, as the author of the no less beautiful Centuary 
of Himalayan Birds; in which, as well as in the present 
work on the Ornithology of New Holland, the figures were 
drawn by Mrs. Gould, a lady possessed of the very highest 
degree of taste in this peculiar branch of art. In the 
work now before us, there is more sobriety and real life 
in the figures, although perhaps the attitudes and gorgeous 
colouring of the Centuary of Himalayan Birds may be more 
striking. The figures in most cases are represented accord- 
ing to their natural size, generally either in the act of alight- 


* The introduction of the Deodar, a magnificent Himalayan tree; into England, which is 
due chiefly to Dr. Falconer, is also ascribed (in these Memoranda, which form the leading arti- 
cle in the second number of the Journal of the Agri-Horticultural Society) to Dr. Royle, 
in virtue of some office which the latter holds at the India House. The sooner such an ice 
be abolished, we should think, the better; were it to give the person holding it any claim over 
the services of officers in India. 


462 Notice of Books. 


ing on, or flying towards some appropriate and character- 
istic plant or insect of the new world, where animal life as 
well as vegetation presents so many peculiarities. Each part 
contains figures and descriptions of eighteen species. The 
descriptions are drawn up with experience in a scientific, 
and at the same time a popular, and instructive form, em- 
bracing a full account of the characters and peculiarities of 
each bird, its habits, and its haunts. - We should be de- 
lighted to find space for a full notice of this interesting 
work, but as it consists of distinct descriptions of species, it 
would be difficult within the compass of an ordinary notice 
to afford more than a very general notion of the interest 
of Mr. Gould’s work. In our next, we shall endeavour to 
find room for a few extracts; in the meantime, we recom- 
mend the work to Public Libraries, and also to persons 
who can afford to possess expensive works on Natural 


History. 


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PLXIV 


Calcutta acs Hat Hib t- 


THE 
CALCUTTA JOURNAL 


OF 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


Description of Camptoceras, a new genus of the Lymneada, allied to An- 
cyius, and of Tricula, a new type of form allied to Melania By W.H. 
Benson, Ese., Bengal Civil Service. 


Family.—_HELICID, Swainson. 
Sub-fam.—LYMNACINZ&, Sw. 
Genus.—CAMPTOCERAS, Nobis. 


Testa elongata sinistrorsé, anfractibus paucis productis, haud con- 
nexis, spird saliente-subrecté; apertura oblonga, liberé, integra; pe- 
ristomate acuto, continuo. 

Animal. Tentaculis duobus filiformibus obtusis munitum; oculis 
magnis inter tentacula sitis; proboscide mediocri; Pallio labia teste 
haud transeunte. -Pede brevi longitudinem aperture vix superante. 

C. Terebra. Testi diaphana elongata, anfractibus tribus compressis 
biangulatis, transversé striolatis, lineis longitudinalibus depressis de- 
cussatis. 

Animali fuscato, versus spiram rubescente. 

This is a most interesting type, intermediate between Lymnza, and 
the other spiral shells of the family, and the short untwisted conical 
forms which constitute the genus Ancylus. It is, in fact, an anqma- 
lous Ancylus, to the animal of which it approaches more nearly thn 
to that of Lymnza. It has still less affinity to that of Physa, which has _ 
a considerably developed mantle. The motions of the animal are, 

VOL. Il. NO. XII. JANUARY 1843. es 36 


466 Description of Camptoceras. 


as in diate slow, and it adheres rather firmly to smooth surfaces. 
Camptoceras affords a beautiful confirmation of the correctness of the 
views of those Naturalists, who, deciding that the resemblance of Ancy- 
lus to Patella was analogical, and not one of affinity, and placing it 
among the Lymnzade, with reference to the characters of the animal, 
separated it from the other Patelli form shells with which it was for- 
merly associated. The analogies of Camptoceras have reference to 
Scalaria among the Turbinide, and to Vermetus among the Tubuli-— 
branchia. Occasionally a continuous varix, formed by the lip of a 
former aperture, adds to the resemblance to Scalaria; but this varix 
does not adhere, nor extend, as in that genus, to the preceding whorl. 
. The animal adheres, under water, to the decaying stems of a long 
reedy grass in a single piece of deep water, evidently forming part of 
an ancient channel of the river, in the wide alluvial bed of the Ram- 
gunga, north of the station and race-course of Moradabad, in Rohil- 
khund. It was discovered by J. F. Bacon, Esq. Bengal Medical 
Service, in an excursion which we made, with the intention of profiting 
by the discovery of the shell next to be described, and which was 
‘ obtained by drawing out water plants from a stream, and care- 
fully examining their stems.and roots. The first specimens taken I 
pronounced, when on the ground, to be merely a distorted variety of a 
young Lymnza Chlamys, which occurs of a large size, though spa- 
ringly, in the same water; and the variety of Lymnza Peregra, figured 
as No. 101, see Plate XI. of Gray’s edition of Turton’s Manual, was 
calculated to confirm the idem; but the sinistrorse volutions; and an 
examination of the animal, and its habitation under a lens, quickly dis- 
pelled the idea ; and an abundant supply was obtained by us in a few 
morning excursions to the same spot. Other similar bodies of water, 
one of them parallel to this favored one, and not distant from it one 
hundred yards, failed to present us with specimens of the new genus. 
We considered the discovery the more fortunate, as it was our intention 
:o visit another water, and the accident of finding the place of our 
wntended search occupied by travellers was the sole cause of our exa- 
mination of the spot which afforded us so much satisfaction. We 
here also re-discovered the new Trochiform, Planorbis, which we had ; 
ken at Bhimtal, and this shell was similarly deficient in the other 
waters of the neighbourhood. 


Fam.—TURBINIDZ. 
Sub-Fam.—MELANIANZ. 
Sub-genus.—TRICULA, . Nobis. 


Description of Camptoceras. 467 


Teste spird elongatiuscula, aperturA obliqua, ovata, integra superne 
angulatéi; peristomate continuo, subreflexo; anfrectu ultimo subum- 
bilicato. 

Animal. Melanie simile, proboscide elongata, anticé emarginaté, ten- 
taculis filiformibus duobus oculos posticé prope basin gerentibus ; pede 
mediocri ovato, antic? subquadrato. Operculo corneo subspirali. 

T. Montana. Testa olivacedé ovato-conicd, anfractibus sex rotunda- 
tis, suturis impressis, apertura intus albida, peristomate nigrescenti ; 
apice obtuso, plerumque decollato. 

Hab: In rivo, apud lacum Kunavurensem Bhimtal dictum. 

‘This little shell I first found adhering to the prone side of a floating 
leaf of a species of Potamogeton, in a clear and weedy stream running 
through a marsh at the head of Bheemtal, and supplying that lake; 
and subsequently Dr. Bacon and myself found it abundantly on the 
stems of a water Iris which we drew up by the roots, from the bed of the 
stream for examination. Accompanying it I discovered a few specimens 
of a shallow Ancylus,* and of Planorbis Calathus,+ of which Dr. Bacon 
had observed dead specimens under stones, in the marsh between the 
old-Baddhist temple and the lake. Among the roots were also a species 
_ of Pisidium, and a single dead specimen of a large and delicate Succinea, 
very similar to the European S. Pfeifferi, and nearly related to a species 
taken in Afghanistan by Capt. Hutton. 

Tricula appears to connect the genus Paludomus of Swainson, (con- 
sisting of Melania conica, M. Stephanus, &c.) with the more typical 
Melanie. It resembles the former in its thickened inner lip, while by 
the proportion of the spire to the aperture, and in its decollated apex it 
approaches some of the types of Melania. Again, its affinities shew a 
tendency towards Paludina in form? and in the continuity and incrassa- 


* This is the second species observed in India. Capt. Hutton found an 
unique specimen of another species some years ago at Bolundshehr, in the Doab 
of the Ganges and Jumna. 

+ Nearly related to a species found in Bengal by Dr. Cantor, and to another 
species from Chusan. It is however easily distinguished by the circumstance of 
its being furnished interiorly with series of toothed ridges at irregular intervals. 
A similar, but more regular structure, has caused several Naturalists to describe the 
Buropean species P. lineata, under the generic name of Segmentina, after Dr. 
Fleming. I have elsewhere (Chusan Shells) adduced reasons for rejecting that 
supposed genus. The structure of the spevies under consideration will acca’ to 

confirm them, 


t Jour. As, Soc. vol, v, page 747. 


468 _ Description of Camptoceras. 

tion of the peristome. The inner lip is also reflected over the imperfect 

umbilicus, (a part- which has no existence in any other species of 

the Melaniane,) and is not merely a thickened plate, without any 

defined outer edge, adhering to the previous whorl, but is distinct and 

prominent, as in adult specimens of the most typical Paludine. __ 
Morapasap, 24th August, 1842. "% 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists, carried 
on by those who adopt the meaning which was formerly 


assigned to the first chapter of Genesis. By ANDREW - 


Rosertson, Medical College, Calcutta. 


The geologist, while aiming at the discovery of truth. 


only in the way in which all the other investigations of 
science are conducted, and by means of such evidence as 
can alone lead to sure philosophical inductions, has no little 
reason to complain of the treatment he has received from 
those who calling themselves Christian, have yet not dis- 
played towards him much of the chief Christian grace, that 
of charity. Though completely ignorant of the state of the 
science of geology, and of the nature of the facts on which 
it rests, many of these have not hesitated to lavish on him 
what is equivalent to the epithets of blasphemer, infidel, 
and child of perdition.. In numerous instances this igno- 
-yance has been traced to a wilful cause, for it is known that 
such have ‘turned away from, excellent opportunities of 
making themselves acquainted with the works of the God 
of nature, as if these could irresistibly induce conclusions 
contrary to the dicta of the God of revelation. But as 
ignorance is not now held to be the parent of devotion, 
such censurers, if they wish that the weight and respectability 
which may be attached to their opinions on matters in 
which they are conversant should be retained on geological 
subjects, must maintain their ascendancy by acquiring some 
knowledge of such studies themselves, not by denouncing 
those who are possessed of it. 


it 


~ Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 469 


But why should the geologist alone be exposed to such 
vituperation; why not attack the astronomer, the geogra- 
pher? The Scripture information regarding Astronomy 
certainly is, that the earth is the principal body in the 
universe, to which every thing else has been created in 
subserviency ; that the sun and moon are two great lights 
_ to enlighten it; that the stars are to adorn its sky and 
mark its seasons; that the earth is stedfastly at rest while 
these move around it; and that-there are stores of water 
above its firmament, through apertures in which when 
opened, these descend to give it rain. The Scriptural idea of 
Geography is, that the earth is an extended surface, having 
ends or terminations; that it is established on the floods 
of water, or seas; and. that it is supported on pillars. 
. How do the notions of modern astronomy and geography 
tally with these? Why are they taught to the young? 
‘Why are not the astronomer and geographer counted to 
be as guilty of infidelity and impiety as the geologist? | Ts” 
it not because men are accustomed to such contrarieties, 
having been taught the rudiments of these sciences even 
from their childhood? It is said that the Bible was not 
intended to teach men astronomy or geography; nor are 


_ they, in an age of improved science, bound to abide by the 


crude views of the age in which Scripture was written. Is 
the geologist alone to be an excepcion to this rule, and to be 
tied down by what has been supposed to be the literal 
meaning of every word in the Scriptural account of creation ? 
Again, the account of creation occupies one page of the 
- numerous pages that make up the Bible. It is short, con-_ 
cise; often somewhat poetically expressed ; written in the 
dramatic style, and not so clear as to have precluded dis- 
cussion concerning its meaning long before geology was 
heard of. The Bible, in its whole tenor, and through its 
whole extent, has principally in view the making of men 
wise unto salvation; and when taken in its spirit and con- 


470 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


nection, it is wonderfully clear on all doctrines tending to 
elucidate this great point. Yet, by mangling the Scrip- 
ture into verses, half, and quarter, and smaller portions 
of sentences,—a process to which no other book has been 
subjected, and which no book whatever will bear if the 
object in view be the attainment of its true import ;—and 
by pitting-one of these subdivisions from one book against a 
mangled bit of another, men have most ingeniously contrived 
greatly to obscure and perplex its meaning. Thence the 
most vital doctrines, even those with which the Bible is 
filled in every part, have at one time or another, become 
the subjects of argument. The divinity of our Lord; the 
nature of the sacrifice he offered up ; its atoning efficacy ; 
the cause of justification in the sight of God, whether by 
that sacrifice through faith, or by the works of men, or 
by penance; the work and influences of the Spirit; the. 
extent and operations of grace; original sin; predestination ; 
.election, or the contingency of the determinations of the 
Deity upon the actions of the creature; free-will; the effi- 
cacy of ordinances, whether depending upon the valid ordi- 
nation and intentions of the administrator, or the disposition 
of mind of the receiver; the head and order of government 
of the church of Christ. All these, and many more, bearing 
on man’s spiritual state, on which the Bible has been avow- 
edly written to enlighten him, have been, and still are, 
deeply controverted. Yet to all those who do so, the right 
hand of Christian fellowship is to be extended as to brethren 
in the Lord, though erring in some points; but the geologist is 
to be measured by another standard. If he dare to differ in | 
any one supposed point from the succinct geological account 
given in the one page, even though he can produce the most 
overwhelming evidence for doing so, and even though the 
Bible has not been written to instruct men in geology, he is 
to be treated as a man devoid of religion, lying under the 
decree of reprobation, and led away by the instigation of Satan 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 471 


to do his work in misleading mankind. Is this because 
men have been for ages familiar with even the most startling 
points abounding in religious controversy ; while geology is 
the offspring of the present age ? 

The pressing of Scripture’into the service of any particu- 
lar hypothesis in physical science, which men, according 
to their interpretation of its very concise and general lan- 
guage on such subjects, imagine to be maintained in it, is thus 
a proceeding on many grounds much*to be regretted. Its 
most obvious effect is to place most unwillingly men of great 
powers of mind in the observation of nature, and in ciose and 
consequent reasoning upon the facts observed, in a position 
of supposed hostility to the Scripture. This is a sequence 
of the vague and inconclusive manner in which certain pas- 
sages of it have been for centuries understood, chiefly, 
however, through the medium of a translation of these 
yassages, biassed towards the preconceived opinions of 
the translators, which were in accordance with the phi- . 
losophical notions of the times in which they lived. In 
this position the Christian geologist is surprized to find 
himself; and though it is too true that there are infidels 
among geologists, as well as in every other walk of life, yet 
such infidelity, he avers, does not necessarily flow from 
the study of that science, or the reception of what he must 
consider to be its demonstrated truths; and the stigma 
of unbelief in such a strongly accredited revelation as the 
Christian possesses he casts from him with indignation, If _ 
he has at all studied the Bible, he may even be able to give _ 
more and better reasons for the hope that is in him, than 
‘ many of those who thus attempt to fix upon him such a 
stigma, for, in addition to the evidences usually detailed in 
every book on the subject, he may, with the grasp of a phi- 
losophical mind, see, proceeding on from the beginning 
downwards through a series of many centuries of years, the 
great plan devised by God for the restoration to purity of; 


472 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


nature and happiness of his rational offspring, who had sunk 
themselves into degradation of moral character and misery ' 
through sin; and he can see the development of that plan, 
under the pens of numerous successive writers of various 
temperaments of mind and views; with such marked allusions 
to the manners and events of each passing age, and in such 
dialects of language too, as render the date of each succes- — 
sive book impossible to be mistaken. In the whole, there is 
apparent to him that singular moral phenomenon in the 
history of man, a connected series of steps of the plan evolv- — 
ed one after another in these distinct writings:through the 
lapse of so many ages, downwards nearly to the time of 
the full completion of the revelation in the perfect light 
of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This he con- 
siders justly to be irrefragable evidence that these men 
wrote, not of themselves, but moved and guided by the 
Spirit of God, for on no other supposition can the unity 
of purpose in such a long series of writings be explained. 
These writings, now collected, form the Old Testament 
of our Bibles, which is too apt to be popularly looked up- 
.on as one book only, and thus to loose much of that weight 
which its character, as a collection of books of widely re-_ 
mote times, would impart. That these writings are authen- 
tic, there is also to the man of a philosophical mind evidence 
of the strongest kind, besides that which is vulgarly received ; 
for in addition to their styles and contents, he can perceive 
a standing miracle setting forth their truth,—the Jews, pre- 
- served as a distinct people until the fulness of Christianity 
shall overspread the earth, as wituesses to the Divine origin 
of their law, the heavy yoke of which, though once forced 
upon them, a reluctant people,.by direct prodigies from 
heaven, they now cling to and venerate. They have watched 
from the first, as vigilant guardians of the purity of the text 
of all the sacred writings relating to that law, that no inter- 
polation in them might be suffered either from among them- 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 473 - 


selves, or from the hand either of Christian or of infidel. 
Yet, irresistible by every thinking mind as such evidence is, 
had some, who call themselves geologists according to 
‘Scripture views, the power, which they have not, to stake 
and peril the credibility of Scripture upon the meaning they 
give it, such is the weight of the physical evidence against 
these imputed meanings, written in the solid rocks from 
long by gone ages with a pen, the traces of which are in- 
delible, that. the authority of the Scriptures, high a 
it be, must have fallen before it. 

If such men, then, by the promulgation of their peculiar 
views, make infidels of those who, though knowing some- 
what of geological evidences, know but little of the Scrip- 
tures, never having studied them, and never having been 
grounded in the faith, and who otherwise might have found 
that peace which is in Jesus, of whom is such a result to be 
required ? ‘Is it not rather then, a gratifying thing for the 
Christian to find, that such views as their’s are baseless and 
unsupported by any thing like evidence, and to reflect that 
when Scripture is thus wrested to an illegitimate use in at- 
tacking the deductions of science on subjects on which 
Scripture was not intended to give information, that such 
an attack recoils on its authors only, without affecting either 
the authority of Scripture, or the evidence upon which that 
department of science may yest; provided always, that the 
theorists in science studiously avoid, which it is. not difficult 
to do, collision with the very general language in which all 
such subjects are touched on in the Bible. Should any infidel 
savant attack Scripture throfigh science, he also errs, fear- 
fully errs ; for he cannot, like the other, plead purity of motive ; 
and then, but not till then, it becomes the duty of the Chris- 
tian geologist to bring Scripture into the field, into the discus- 
sions of science, and as he can do, if he knows the high 
position he occupies, strenuously and triumphantly repel 
the assailant. Yet still it does not become any Christian to 

3 P 


474 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geolomists. 


condemn any science, because it may have been put to . 
abuse ; for it is God that giveth wisdom to the wise, and 
knowledge to them that know understanding. 

In answer to some objections made against the language 
of some particular passages in Scripture, seemingly at va- 
riance with the mathematically proved truths of natural 
philosophy, it is now generally admitted, that in all such 
passages, and on all such subjects, Scripture speaks accord- 
ing to the ideas regarding them prevalent in the age in- 
which it was written, or according to their appearances; 
that it was intended for one great purpose only, to be the 
guide of man in spiritual things; to make him aware of his 
position in this life, brought about by the introduction of 
sin into a world originally good ; and to instruct him in the 
manner in which he may regain his lost happiness, and the 
favour of his God, by compliance with the means’ for that 
purpose therein detailed and pointed out. While this is 
dwelt upon and explained with the utmost clearness, even to 
the meanest capacity of intellect, all other things are slight- 
ly touched on, or alluded to in illustration merely, and not a 
few things of this passing incidental character are now 
unintelligible through our ignorance of ancient manners and ~ 
events. The Scripture reveals moral truths, and on these’ 
it is a safe and certain guide; but it was never intended 
to teach even the principles af physical science. These it 
leaves, just as it found them, in the state of elucidation to 
which the intellect of the age had brought them, con- 
tented with expressions which are so worded as to be in 
accordance with the ideas of its times, and yet not in con- 
tradiction to any discoveries by which the research of man 
might afterwards fill: up the outlines of such a general 
sketch. The finding out of physical truth has been left by 
it to the unaided intellect of man as a fitting subject for 
its exercise, and nobly, in many instances, has that intellect 
fulfilled the task thus assigned. Different, however. was the 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 475 | 


case in regard to moral truth. ‘That was too momentous to 
be left to man only, since his eternal happiness or misery 
depended on his being aright informed of it; on it there- 
fore, but on it alone, an inspired revelation is given fully, as 
a sole and infallible direction to the happiness of the blest. 
It may be asked, Why was this so, why was not a full and 
.correct theory on such subjects as astronomy and geology 
given ? In reply to such a question it may be inquired, what 
relevancy would such theories have had in ‘relation to the 
great object in view,—the elevation of man from the depth of 
sin and moral ruin, to a renewed holiness of nature, and its 
consequent happiness. The foolishness of God is wiser 
than the wisiom of men, and it is just another proof of 
His wisdom where the intellect of man would go astray. 
It needs not much penetration to discover that had this 
been done, it would have been an obstacle to the re- 
“ception of a Divine revelation containing it, until man 
had made a proficiency in science sufficient to appreci- 
ate such truths; and that, after he had made this pro- 
ficiency, it would have stamped, in the opinion of many, that 
revelation with the strongest mark of a literary forgery; viz., 
the development in it of facts and opinions, the growth 
of an age far more recent than that in which it purported to 
be written. How does the matter in reality stand? The 
passages in which sciences of research are touched on are 
so worded, that while not at variance with the notions 
of the most illiterate period of the world, neither are they, 
nor can they, if properly taken, be in opposition to the 
conclusions of the highest learning of the most refined. 
_ The impropriety of setting passages of Scripture in op- 
position to the conclusive inductions of sound science, is 
well exemplified in a historical fact. When the light of 
the present system of astronomy first dawned upon the 
world as an antagonist to that philosophy which held that . 
the sun revolved round the earth, it was decided by the 


476 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


Scripture astronomers of that day, men as learned, according 
to. the learning of the times, and as wise in many respects as 
the most of those of the present, that such ideas were fully 
refuted by such texts as are mentioned below,* that it implied 
infidelity of the Scriptures, and was a damnable heresy, and 
that Galileo, who-maintained it, was most leniently dealt 
with in being imprisoned only, instead of being burnt alive. 
No one of the present day, however devoted to Scripture 
views of philosophy, ever dreams of questioning such mathe- 
matically demonstrated truths; and a good reason is given 
for belief in them, even though seemingly they are contrary 
to such texts as have been quoted ; viz., that the Scriptures 
are not intended to teach us astronomy, but’ merely speak 
in these passages according to appearances to the senses. 
The days are not far distant, and it requires no gift of 
prophecy to forsee it, when an answer similar in import must 
be given in regard to the passages supposed, though sup- 
posed merely, to contradict the equally certain, and almost 
equally demonstrative truths of geology; or, if the ad- 
herents to certain hypotheses persevere, as they are doing, 
in pressing it on to the awful arbitrement, with many the 
physical evidence of geology will be put in the balance 
against the moral.testimony supporting revelation, and, parti- 
cularly in our own days, when men are adding to the pure 
‘law of God ritual and superstitious observances of their 
own devising as a part of it, the question with many will be, 
which of the two is entitled to the greater credibility. 

A very few facts also, in regard to interpretation of the 
Scriptures, where they do not bear upon matters essential 
to the salvation of mankind, on which point they are always 
remarkably full and plain, might serve to teach a little 
caution to Scripture geologists, in laying such stress on de- 
tached passages and words, written in a language in some 

* Ps. civ. 5, Job ix. 6, Josh. x. 13. Ps. xix. 4,5, 6. Berles. i. 5., 
Ps. civ. 19, &c. : 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 477 


respects imperfectly understood. What can appear more 
beautiful, perspicuously told, or feelingly expressed, than 
the episode in them of Jephthah’s daughter, and yet a learned 
controversy, on which volumes have been published, exists, 
and is undecided to this day, whether she was made a burnt 
offering, or merely became a nun, turning in a considerable 
measure upon whether one little Hebrew word in a passage 
of it signifies ‘ and’ or ‘or’; and whether another is to be 
taken in its sense of ‘talk with,’ or ‘lament.’ In many 
places of the Bible, too, the translators of it openly admit 
their ignorance of the meaning of words, though it is re- 
markable that thisais only in objects of natural history, or 
in obscure allusions to ancient customs,—things of no conse-. 
quence to the elucidation of its great doctrines. Take, for 
instance, the original words retained, gopher wood, shit- 
tim wood, algum or almug trees, &c., a list which might 
be much enlarged. It is precisely in such passages as those 
that bear upon the geological controversy that misunder- 
standings of this kind may be expected. Take for example, 
the beautiful expression of which Milton has made so much, 
“The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters ;” 
and although the poetry of it be destroyed by a change of 
translation, does it not give us a more dignified idea of the 
Supreme Being in working his will by secondary causes, 
rather than by direct intervention, to say there was “ a most 
vehement wind moving,” (or a great commotion,) on the sur- 
" face of the elements of the present world. This appears 
to be the preferable translation; for though, in the original, 
the definite article is prefixed to the words rendered hea- 
vens and earth, and to others, it is not prefixed to the word 
here translated the Spirit, and the insertion of the “ the” is 
purely gratuitous; the same word signifies wind or breath 
as well as Spirit, and the word, literally translated “ of 
God,” is also the highest form of the superlative in degree, 
and has actually been so rendered in Psalm Ixxx. 10, where 


bar 


478 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


* goodly cedars,” are literally cedars of God; and in Acts 
vii. 20, where “ exceeding fair” is in like manner in the 
Hebrew-idiomatic Greek of the original, fair to God. It 
is not also difficult to trace in the English version of the 
account of the creation of the world, a tinge of the Greek 
philosophy received at the time when the translation was 
made. Thus the word rendered “firmament,” literally sig- 
nifying something expanded or spread out, is made to have 
too great affinity te that sphere of crystal in which the hea- 
venly bodies were then said to be stuck and carried round; 
and perhaps in such a matter relating solely to what was 
physical, while the account of the origi and fall.of man is 
the dictate of inspiration, even Moses may have been left 
by the Holy Spirit, at liberty to use the ideas of the Egyp- 
tian philosophy, in which he, and doubtless others of the 
Jews were well versed, and which is generally understood 
_to have been nearly identical with the Grecian of after- 
ages. * Under all these circumstances it is evident, that 
though the general scope and meaning of such a series of 
books as composes the Bible cannot possibly be mistak- 
efi, it is very possible that an argument founded upon 
the connection, construction, or interpretation of words in 
a few detached sentences, may be valueless, simply be- 
cause the premises on which the basis rests, and the 
whole of the reasoning is reared, have no existence in | 


_ * Traces of the Grecian, once Egyptian philosophy, may be found 

in many other places of Scripture. Such are the expressions of “ the 

windows of heaven,” i. e. of the ‘crystalline sphere, “being opened,’’ 

that the waters above the firmament might descend in rain; of “ the 

pillars of heaven,” and of “ the earth being founded on the seas and 

established on the floods.” To shew that this permission of the Holy 
“Spirit to the saered writers, to use the philosophical ideas in vogue at 
- their day, just as in other places they speak according to appearances, 
not according to realities, is not so very unlikely, it may be mentioned 
that St. Paul even quotes a verse of a Greek heathen poet, which thus 
becomes a text of-holy writ. 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 479 


the original document. Should the argument depend upon 
such -words in the translation into a foreign tongue, as 
* but,” and, “ or,” &c., or upon whether a member of a sen- 
tence is to be read along with what precedes, or what 
follows it, though such a mode of reasoning may be al- 
lowed in removing alleged contradictions, as proving an 
affirmative, it is worth literally nothing. . He who builds his 
arguments upon mere verbal niceties of passages of Scrip- 
ture, is perhaps not aware of the formidable list of various 
_ readings which exists, causing uncertainty, or at least giving 
rise to the suspicion of it, in regard to the petty words 
upon which he founds. If hé*trust to an English transla- 
tion, so much the worse, for in addition to mis-translations, 
and possible slight errors in the original text translated 
from, there is a source of petty mistake in the printed 
copies of that translation, which, when the question of the 
- Bible printing monopoly was agitated, were shewn by com- 
parison of editions to be more disfigured by gross typogra- 
phical blunders than almost any other book. At the same 
time, however, it is admitted, that none of these various 
readings or mistakes seriously affect the general sense of 
the whole. ; 

It has been contended by some, too, that the Scripture 
ought always to be taken in the sense in which it was under- 
stood by the writers of it. This, which would at once bring 
Scripture into collision with several sciences, though a good 
rule in regard to merely human writings, involves a fallacy 
as applied to holy writ. There, there are two authors of 
the work, the mere agent who writes, and the higher being, 
the Holy Spirit inspiring him. It is easily seen that the su- 
perior intelligence may have intended to convey to after-times, 
under the words, a higher and more extended meaning* 
than was apparent either to the inditer, or to the men of his 


* John xi. 49—53. 


480 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 
age. Such are the words of prophecy ; such more particu. 
larly are the prophecies which have a double accomplish: 
ment in the type and antitype ; and it does not seem unrea- 
sonable to suppose, that the mysterious language in which 
the future is shrouded, should also cast its veil over the 
obscurity in which the commencement of time has been in- 
volved. 

It is a great mistake in men, otherwise possessed of much 
information, but who have -not studied geology in its recent 
state, to imagine that it is what it was some thirty years ago, 
a mass of contradictory statements, on which geologists dis- 


agreed, and were perpetually wrangling. Were it so, it 


might merit their neglect or contempt. But Wernerians 
and Huttonians, alias Neptunists and Plutonists, have long 
since retired from the literary arena to repose in the recep- 
tacle of the vagaries of Whiston and Burnet; the better 
parts of both their hypotheses being blended into the pre- 
sent system of inductive geology. Of that geology there 
are certain great principles and leading facts universally ad- 
mitted by all who are conversant in the science, and these 
are numerous, very numerous indeed, in proportion to such 
as are still controverted on feasible grounds. The present 
division of geologists into those who suppose that the alter- 
ations upon the earth’s structure in by gone times have been 
caused by sudden and violent convulsive or eruptive action, 
and those who are the advocates of the hypothesis of gra- 
dual change, will, like that of Wernerians and Huttonians, 
likely soon terminate in a union of forces ; for both appear 
to be so far right in the views they maintain, and err only 
when they deny or exclude altogether those of the others ; for 
there is sufficient evidence to shew that certain portions of the 
earth’s surface have been tranquilly formed, and that others 
could have assumed their present appearance only under the 
influence of the most violent, extended, and sudden convul- 
sions. Geology has become a regular science, in fact just 


— 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 481 


as much so as chemistry is, and rests exactly upon the 
same foundation; viz. the changes which matter undergoes 
under the power of certain re-agents; and its recognised 
properties depending on the certainty with which, under 
similar conditions, these changes are similar. From this, in 
chemistry, results may previously be philosophically infer- 
red: from causes or processes; in geology, by a reversed 
mode of reasoning, the causes or processes are judged of 
from an examination of the products. 

If it be alleged that the discoveries of geology receive no | 
countenance from Scripture, it may be answered, neither, do — 
any of the other discoveries of science. It speaks of the 
heavenly bodies and their motions, but where is any trace 
in it of the demonstrated truths of modern astronomy. It 
speaks of the four anciently supposed elements, but, except- 
ing in the incidentally mentioned action of vinegar upon 
nitre (carbonate of soda), and in regard to the familiar 
phenomena of fire, where in it is any vestige of the esta- 
blished facts of chemistry. It speaks of the seas being 
measured, and the mountains weighed, but where in it are 
any allusions to the present demonstrated system of geo- 
graphy, or the mathematical foundation on which it rests. 

After these remarks, we may notice some of the geological 
hypotheses, which, while they are in accordance with the 
_ evidence from which geology deduces the changes which 
have formerly occurred on the surface of the earth, can yet 
' be satisfactorily shewn not to be at variance with the very 
concise and general account of the creation given in the 
Bible. 

In reference to these hypotheses, the following state- 
ments, generally admitted by geologists, and believed to be 
correct, may be mace. 

There is no foundation, either in Scripture or in geologi- 
cal data, for the supposition, that a geological revolution 


was consequent upon the moral fall of man. ‘The ground 
j 34 


482 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


was merely cursed with barrenness, and with a tendency to 
produce noxious and troublesome weeds ; a curse since then 
denounced* and executed, on account of the sins of the 
inhabitants, against Judea and other lands, once the most 
fertile of the earth. The omission of any notice of such 
a revolution in the sacred pages seems quite decisive upon 
this point, especially when we see in them a most detailed 
description of a lesser geological change, that in which the 
cities of the plain were destroyed by a miraculous eruption 
of fire, and their site converted by the subsidence of the 
ground into the bed of the Dead Sea. 

Similar to such a baseless idea is the common and poeti- 
cal one, supposed to be derived from the Scriptures, that 
“death, in any shape, and among any class of beings, was 
unknown in the world before the fall of man. We need not 


' _-say that nothing on this point can be legitimately deduced 


from Holy Writ ; for that refers solely to man, the anomalous. 
connecting link between the material and spiritual worlds, 
and partaking of the nature of both. Geology shews decided- 
ly, that, long before man was created, certain living beings 
ceased to exist on the earth just as they do now, and that 
such a destruction of life was contemplated even, and form- 
_ ed a part of the great plan, as the races of animals, necessa- 
rily carnivorous, were fully as numerous then as they are 
now. 

The deluge of Noah’s era, though cordially received and 
admitted by the geologist upon the authority of Scripture, 
and as an important event in the moral history of man, is in 
a geological view, of no interest; the traces left by it being 
insignificant in comparison of those made by previous great 
currents of water. This, from the relation in the Bible, 
was to be expected. Its continuance on the earth was short ; 
and it was not a violent rush of waters, but a gradually . 


* Deut. xxviii. 23. 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 483 


increasing and subsiding movement, which left the olive leaf 
to the dove uninjured ; which probably spared the germs of 
vegetation ; which bore up the ark in safety, though of a 
size which, according to the result of the Jate Canadian 
experiment of the two large timber ships, would have been 
strained to pieces in an agitation of the waters, through 
which a smaller vessel would have passed undamaged. 

There is no geological evidence of the existence of man 
or his works upon the earth, at an era anterior to the pre- 
sent by more than 4000 years. The Scriptures assign a 
. date usually supposed to be about 6000 years ago, for the 
time of man’s creation. In this, therefore, the most material 
of all the facts bearing upon the question—in as much as 
the whole of the Scriptures are avowedly written not to give 
4n account of the mode of existence of things, or of their 
origin, but of the origin of man only;—of the cause of 
his moral degradation through sin, and the remedy for. this 
degradation, through which he may be restored to the high 
position he once occupied in ‘the moral creation; in this 
most material, then, of all the questions upon the subject, 
. it may be fearlessly asserted, that the doctrines of geology 
and of the Scriptures are in perfect harmony. 

But while there is no trace of the existence of man prior 
. to the period of the most recent tertiary formation; there 
are most numerous previous deposits of immense thickness, 
which, according to the lowest calculation, it must have re- 
quired millions of millions of years to produce, and in these 
are imbedded vast quantities of animal and vegetable remains, 
reaching back in a succession of the most varied, and often 
dissimilar, successive forms, through groups of bewildering 
number and extent. Nay, there are even enormous rocks and 
stratifications, composed solely of debris of organised beings 
once endowed with vitality, in suck multitudes, that it is 
difficult to conceive how the earth could have supported 
and reared them, even in the time, protracted as it is, which 


484 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


geology infers to have past while the deposits containing 
them were made. It is certain, even if the thing were not 
"otherwise absolutely impossible, that, owing to the infinite 
individual number of these fossils, there is no feasible mode 
of accounting for the strata containing them coming into 
existence, nor for the repeated emersions from, and immer- 
sions into both salt and fresh waters which these strata have 
been proved to have undergone, during the 6000 years 
since man’s creation, without the most uncompromising and 
flagrant departure from the pretty strict and limited chrono- 
logy of the Bible, an offence surely as grievous as going in 
the teeth of the statements of the Bible in any other way. 
There remains, therefore, only the supposition, and it comes 
backed by the most overwhelming and crushing mass of 
evidence, which may be found in detail in any good elemen-, 
tary work on the subject, that the world, both in its form, 
and in a great measure in its present structure, existed long, 
even ages almost countless by the finite understandings of 
men, before man himself had any existence upon it. Neither 
does this supposition either contradict the Bible account or 
assert any thing at variance with it; for the Bible pretends 
not to give a history of the revolutions on the surface of the 
globe, it merely relates the moral history of man. 

There is, however, one supposition, and one supposition 
only, but it is such that it requires the mind to be peculiarly 
constituted to adopt it, by which every difficulty is at once 
removed, the knot is cut, and every possible geological ap- 
pearance is brought within the limits of the time which, in 
popular opinion, is assigned by the Scriptures for the duration 
of the very materials which compose the earth. It has the 
merit of being the only tenable ground on which they who 
hold this popular opinion can stand; and from it they can 
never be dislodged. It is this, that'as God tried the faith 
of Abraham, David, and others, in his promises, by apparent 
impossibilities to the execution of these; so he created the 


‘Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 485 


earth with all its present appearances at once, and at the 
first, for the trial of the faith of its inhabitants, whether 
they would rely in preference upon the moral evidence sup- 
porting his revealed word, or upon the evidence of the 
senses and faculties with which he had endowed them for 
judging'of these appearances, according to the laws under 
which matter is found to act, and be acted on, in the usual 
course of his natural providence. This supposition is just 
within the limits of possibility, certainly beyond the verge of 
probability; for, though God may often try those who are 
his in severe moral discipline, whether they will believe 
in his word even against hope ; it seems most unlikely, that 
_he would. thus lay for men a perpetual stumbling block 
in the contradiction between the work of his hands, and the 
contents of the revelation in which he requires an undoubt- 
ing faith. 

There are, however, two systems or hypotheses yet to be 
- brought under review, on which all the general appearances 
may be satisfactorily accounted for, in a manner which is in 
accordance with geological evidences, and yet not at variance 
with the words of Scripture when properly understood, far 
less in absolute contradiction to them, as has been often 
asserted. One of these proceeds on the assumption that 
the Scriptural account of creation includes the whole period 
during which the world we inhabit has been in existence, 
and has been a place of abode for animated beings of any 
description; but it asks as a postulate, that the days of 
creation shall be held not to be strictly and literally days of 
24 hours only, but every one of them to be a period of great 
and unknown length, the evening and morning of which, 
according to the eastern mode of .computing the day, or 
morning and evening according to European custom, meta- 
phorically, or rather according to the poetical style of eastern 
language, denote the beginning and ending. Such a sense 
of the word day is understood by theologians to be not 


486 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologisis. 


unusual in the Scriptures. The ordinary use of day, as 
meaning year in prophetical language, is well known. For 
particular instances, Christ himself speaks of the three and 
half years of his public ministry, as his day in- which he must 
work ; of the period of God’s forbearance with the Jews, as 


the day in which they might have known the things belong- 


ing to their peace, which undoubtedly extended over a very 
considerable number of years; and of the Patriarch Abra- 
ham rejoicing to see His day afar off, meaning the day of the 
Gospel dispensation of grace and love to man, which has 
already lasted upwards of eighteen centuries, and, if the in- 
terpretation of very obvious prophecies be just, will yet en- 
dure till the inhabitants of the earth become Christian, and a 
thousand prophetical, or 365,000 common years besides. Of 
each of these days, the leading or characteristic work only 
is ‘mentioned; but this does not necessarily imply that a 
farther creation, of a minor or subsidiary kind, did not take 
place along with it in the same period. © 

The second hypothesis supposes that, according to pro- 
phecy, there shall hereafter, by a tremendous convulsion, be 
a great change upon the surface of the earth and the beings 
upon it; and infers, both from this analogy of Scripture, and 
from geological evidence, that several such convulsions-have 
preceded the presently existing state of things. Both of 
the hypotheses agree in dating the era of Scripture chrong- 
logy from the origin of man, the latest work of the creation; 
and both also unite in requiring an immense indefinite 
lapse of time, between the first creation of the materials 
of the system which we inhabit, and man’s first appearance 
as a part of the creation. Should this point be conceded, 
which there seems to be nothing in the Scripture to prevent, 
geology becomes the handmaid of revelation, assisting it and 
confirming all its statements. Should it be denied, and the 
hitherto common opinion, though seemingly not fairly de- 
ducible from the words of Scripture, be persisted in, that a 


a 
- 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 487 


few days only intervened between these events; whoever 
does so, does what in him may lie at once to bring to issue 
the relative weights of the material evidence supporting 
geology, and of the moral evidence of the truth of revela- 
tion. On this the whole question hinges, for undoubtedly 
lapse of time, even to the extent of countless ages, is the one 

' prominent and indelible feature impressed upon the geologi- 
cal structure of the surface of our globe. 

‘In filling up the very scanty outline of the sketch of 
creation given in the Scriptures, much must be left to the 
exertions of fancy. Still there will be found much for 
which there is a solid foundation in the received facts of , 
geology, astronemy, chemistry and mechanical philosophy. | 

, According to the first of the hypotheses which have | 
‘been noticed, it may be assumed that, in the beginning, the. 
materials only of the earth and solar system were created ; 

and that upon these were impressed from the first ihiode 
laws by which the visible creation has since been found 
to be regulated ; by the continuous effect of the operation. 
of which, the whole was gradually wrought into order and 
beauty. Herschel ‘has found nebule in the heavens, vapo- 
rous bodies apparently condensing into systems like our 
own. Let us suppose, what is in no view improbable, that our 
solar system was formed out of such a nebula, an immense 
mass of vaporous matter, filling a space larger than the orbit 
of the remotest planet. Suppose farther, that this vapour, 
at its first existence by the fiat of creation, was in an intensely 
heated state. Let us now consider what, according to the 
known laws to which matter is subject, would follow upon 
aes and how these consequences would tally with known 
cts. The most intense heat with which we are acquainted 

t produced by the oxy-hydro.en blowpipe, and when’ 

e hydrogen is free from foreign admixture, which however 
it is very apt to contain, in consequence of this exire ve heat 
the flame is invisible, all being so thoroughly vaporcus as 


488 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


hold in it no solid minute particles to throw out light, which, 
it has been proved, that all flame or other aeriform heated 
bodies must do, before they can be luminous. The original 
materials, then, being so intensely heated as to be in this 
completely vaporous state, they would, according to the des- 
cription of Scripture, be without form, and seemingly a void 
or emptiness, and they would be dark, wholly devoid of 
illuminative power. 

It has been proved incontestably by the experiments of 
Wells, Leslie, and others, that the earth,* and by analogy the 
other bodies of our planetary system, part with their heat 
by throwing off or radiating it into the regions of space; 
the nebula therefore would gradually cool at the outer sur- 
face, different parts of it would come to possess different 
specific gravities, as we observe in our atmosphere; thence 
would arise a commotion or rushing among its parts ; in the 
language of Scripture, a wind of God, or mighty wind. As 
these currents of vaporous matter would necessarily be 
stronger in one direction than in another, the whole of the 
nebula would at length begin to move in the direction of 
the most powerful; it would assume a circular gyrating form, 
like a whirlwind, or a vortex of water; and from this would 
originate that impulse which now causes the planets to 
encircle the sun in their courses, and to revolve upon their 
own axes. 

In consequence of continued progressive cooling, the less 
volatile matters would begin to separate from the vapours 
and gases in minute particles of solid matter. Then bright 
and intensely increasing light would appear, just as may be 
shewn by throwing a fine powder through the invisible oxy- 


* It was we believe the French Philosopher M. Fourier, who first 
demonstrated all the laws of heat here referred to. We insert with our 
extracts an abstract of M. Fourier’s results, as a striking example of 
the beauty and simplicity of his mathematical demonstration of the ge- 
neral laws of heat, with which we cannot be too familiar.—Ep. 


| 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 489 


hydrogen flame, or by burning, in place of the pure hydro- 


‘gen, a carburetted hydrogen (oil gas, for example,) which, 


on being heated, deposits its carbon in a pulverulent form 
in the flame. In the language of Scripture, “there was 
light.” This light would be a defined body in the midst of 
the surrounding primeval darkness; it would be divided 
from the darknéss, forming the distinction between day and 
night, and marking the first period of creation. 

This light would not at first pervade the whole mass, but 
would appear at the place where the greatest cooling effect 
was predominant. Here the solid matter would condense 
to a centre, the globe of this earth would be formed, con- 
sisting, as, on probable evidence, it is at present supposed 
to do, of a large sphere of ignited fused matter in the 
centre, beneath a comparatively thin crust produced by 
refrigeration at the surface. As the temperature fell, the 
vapour of water would condense around this into a uniform 
ocean; the term waters, in a previous verse, seeming not to 
be applied to this collection of waters, but to the vaporous 
fluid of the nebula, just as the word fluid may signify in its 
extended sense, either a liquid, or a gas, or vapour. This 


‘ocean would be surrounded by the atmosphere, (the hea- 


vens, expanse, or firmament), by which the waters condensed 
around the globe would be divided or cut off from those 


that were still in those parts of the nebula which were 


uncondensed. This would be the second period, during 
which the stratified primary rocks would be deposited, and — 
also the transition ; during the latter part of which, though 
the creation of these be not noticed in the Scripture, the 
remains shew a few corals, shell fish, and fishes, to have 
existed in the surrounding ocean. Clouds would appear in 
the atmosphere in this epoch. 

The contraction of the crust of the globe by the cooling 
agency of radiation, and the deposition of water upon it, 


would now, according to the law found to prevail in almost 
3R 


490 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


all bodies cocling down upon the earth, reach such a degree 
of tension, and in consequence so confine and press upon 
the melted matter below, as to cause that to break through 
it in numerous fissures, and to rise to the surface by that 
pressure, forming the greater part of the igneous primitive 
rocks ; the strata, by its passage would be disrupted, torn 
up, and thrown into different angles of inclination, especially 
as the commotion would be increased by, water penetrat- _ 
ing to the fused mass, and the evolution of vapours and 
gases to which this would give rise; a phenomenon which 
would be repeated also at intervals, as the effects shew, 
in all the other periods of the earth’s history. By this the 
earth was heaved up above the level of the waters, a bed 
depressed for the reception of the ocean, and the moun- 
tains were upreared. This was the third period of creation, 
during the first part of which the deposition of the strata, 
down to the mountain limestone inclusive, was completed ; 
during which there was in the ocean numerous corals, shell 
fish, and some fishes and sea weeds; and, during the latter 
part of it, a most abundant vegetation on the dry ground, 
owing apparently to a high tropical temperature over the 
whole earth, and an atmosphere too much loaded with 
carbonic acid (the principal food of plants) for land animals to , 
exist in it. Hence originated, towards the end of this pe- 
riod, the coal formation, immense deposits of carbonaceous 
matter, now proved to be of vegetable origin, and still 
partially to retain the vegetable texture; and the coal mea- 
sures, abounding in vegetable remains. This, then, was 
the epoch when, as mentioned in the Scripture, the earth 
brought forth grass, the herb and the tree so abundantly, 
as to constitute as it were, the peculiar reign of vegetable 
life in predominance over the rest of animated nature. 
During the whole of this period and the preceding, the 
earth may be supposed to have derived light and heat from 


a superior luminous atmosphere encompassing it, whether ca as 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 491 | 


attached to itself, or a part of the condensing vaporous. ne- 
bula; just as at present a luminous calorific atmosphere 
surrounds the dark body of the sun, and, through occa- 
‘sional partings in it, discloses that dark body within in 
the shape of opaque spots on his disk. 
As the successive cooling down of the nebulous mass pro. 
ceeded, a different order of things commenced, constituting 
the fourth period or epoch of the creation. Before this the. 
temperature of the nebula has been supposed to fall at one 
point chiefly, around the centre of which was deposited the 
condensed matter forming the globe of this our earth ; but 
then, as the caloric of the vaporous fluid became still farther 
dissipated into space, several other centres of refrigeration 
and deposit took place in it. The largest of these, nearly in 
the middle of the:nebula, attracted to itself by far the larger 
portion of matter and became the sun; which thus, owing 
to the immensely larger quantity of the vapour which was 
‘condensed to form it, and the consequently much longer 
interval of time necessary to cool it, was of much more 
recent origin than the earth. Around other centres, to- 
wards the outer verge of the nebula, there were other 
condensations into the planetary bodies of the solar system 
and the moon, which last, coming within the range of the 
attractive influence of the earth in preference to that of any 
other of these bodies, became to it a secondary or satellite. 
This the Scripture speaks of as the work of the fourth day. 
In giving an account of this hypothesis, the vaporous mat- 
ter of the nebula has been supposed to have been. condens- 
ed to its several centres of deposit, within the nebula, and 
in the globular form; and this view has been taken on ac- 
count of its greater simplicity and seeming probability, and 
because several such different centres of deposit have been 
actually observed in nebule. Some have, however, prefer- 
red a different one. According to this, it has been thought 
more likely that the vortiginous nebula cooled and condens- © 


492 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


ed equally from its surface towards one centre only, in fact 
towards the sun, the centre of the whole. Thus an im- 
mense sphere, semi-fluid without, vaporous and apparently 
hollow within, would be the figure assumed, still retaining . 
the original motion, and revolving on its axis with immense 
and increasing velocity, until, as a rapidly turning grind- 
stone or fly-wheel throws off from its rim whatever is not — 
firmly attached to it, so, by the centrifugal force generated 
by this rotatory motion, superficial rings of the outer con- 
densed matter would be successively separated. from the 
great mass, and, by attraction, would collapse together to one 
part of the circumference of each ring, to form the several 
planets; with the exception of the ring pertaining to the. 
orbit of the more recently discovered four little planets near- 
ly equidistant from the sun, which, by breaking into four 
pieces, gave rise to them. The orbits of the several planets . 

are thus commensurate with the space occupied by the : 
spherical mass of the nebula at the time these were detach-\ 
ed. The most remote planet was thrown off first and 

brought into shape, the others in their order, the sun, was 

formed last. Farther, the secondaries or satellites were 

thus generated from their primaries, which had a similar 

circular movement on their axes derived from a modification 

of the original nebular motion, in a precisely similar manner, 

with the exception of the ring of Saturn, which still remains 

a ring. This particular view of the nebular hypothesis is 

said to be supported by the reasoning of the higher mathe- 

matics, based upon the velocities and times of revolution of 
the several planets around the sun. 

Which ever of the two views be adopted, the result is a 
remarkable one. The stumbling block of the sun not being 
created till the fourth day, which has perplexed and bewil- 
dered all Scriptural commentators on the account of crea- 
tion in Genesis, is not merely at once naturally and satisfac- 
torily removed, but is shewn to be a necessary consequence » 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 493 


in a planetary system brought into shape by the working of 
the powers impressed upon matter by the Creator, and by 
the operation of which, he still governs and upholds the 
universe in its admirable order and beauty. 

The creation of the sun, at this time, seems to have had 
immense influence upon the condition of the earth. Thence- 
forth the sun was to it the source of light and heat, its own 
luminous atmosphere appearing to have left it, and to have 
been, along with all the other permanently luminous and 
calorific matter of the nebula, attracted to that great centre 
of the system. This may be supposed to have happened 
through some action unknown to man, remotely analogous to 
that by which the subtile fluid, proved to be the source of 
electricity, galvanism, magnetism, and thermo-electricity, and 
on good grounds, thought to be the cause of heat and light, 
appears as heat and light, at the connecting series, poles, or 
electrodes of a galvanic battery, and in that part only of the 
circuit along which it passes. Thus the sensible energy is 
exerted at the sun alone, though the invisible cause of this 
circulates alike, but unperceived, through the whole of the 
planetary worlds which are his dependents, and the interme- 
diate space by which these are surrounded. Or, the change 
may be supposed to have arisen more probably and simply 
by the cooling down of the luminous matter around the earth, 
whether that matter which had previously enlightened the 
earth was attached to itself, or was a more remote portion 
of the generally luminous and heated nebula, to a point 
below that at which it was luminous and calorific, and from 
a consequent absorption of the matter of the light and heat 
into a combination with other matter; from which it may 
still be eliminated at pleasure, by the means for producing 
artificial light and heat. In this case, the present darkness 
of all the planetary bodies, and the luminosity and heating 
power of the sun, may be looked on as in strict analogy with 
what happens in regard to heated bodies upon the earth. 


494 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists, 


The brilliant atmosphere of the sun may be a remade, on 
uncondensed portion of the nebulous vapour collected 
around him, resembling the luminous vapour of lime in 
the pea light, cooled down to a certain stage only, in conse- 
quence of the much slower refrigeration of such an enor- 
mous bulk. If so, by the operation of natural causes in their 
ordinary course, and without any more direct intervention 
of Divine power, the time will come, when, by a slow but 
progressive farther cooling down, in the words of prophecy, * 
the sun shall be darkened, and the reflected light of the 
moon shall not be given. 

In consequence of the earth thus losing its luminous and 
heat-giving atmosphere, the distinctions of tropical and 
polar temperatures would be introduced upon it. A change 
would also likely ensue in the motion of the globe, greater 
er less according to what may be supposed to have been 
the nature of its previous motion. Thus the axis and time 
of its diurnal, the orbit and period of its annual revolution, 
may probably have been altered through the attractive 
influences of the newly formed bodies. Then probably 
commenced the present established duration of the day and 
year, for the sun and moon were for signs and for seasons, 
for days and for years, and to rule the day and the night. 
There would also be a modification and increase of the 
tides in the ocean by the change of direction in the attrac- 
tive influences raising them; and owing to the alteration 
of its axis of revolution, and to the quickened velocity of its 
motion, the earth would assume its present form of an oblate 
spheroid, through the yielding of its crust to the centri- 
fugal force of the fused matter beneath it. Thence would 
result enormous upheavings and dislocations of the strata, 
some of the greatest of which have been ascertained to have 
taken place at this geological period, additional and higher _ 
mountains and precipitous rocks, and, as a consequence of — 
-. these commotions, and of the impulses given by the ac- 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 495 


cumulating centrifugal force of earth, there would be mighty 
sweeping floods of water over many parts of the earth’s 
surfece ; which observation shews to have taken place. 
Do not the higher elevation of tropical mountains, the lower 
general character of polar ones, the intermediate heights 
of those between, give countenance to the supposition of 
such effects of such a centrifugal force? During this period 
the magnesian limestone, and new red sandstone formations 
seem to have been deposited. 

ae fifth period requires no great extent of illustration. 
It pre-eminent for the production of birds, of the in- 
habitants of the waters, and great whales. This may be 
supposed to have extended from the beginning of the lias 
to the end of the chalk formations; abundant in the re- 
mains of pterodactyles, saurians, fishes, and other inhabi- 
tants of the waters. During this the temperature seems 
to have been still falling. 

The sixth period may be supposed to include the eocene, 
miocene, and older pliocene depusits. Then, the living 
creature, the beast ofthe earth, was created, as seen in the 
remains of the theria families, mammoth, &c., and, towards 
the end of it, during the deposition of the newer pliocene, 
came the present inhabitants of the earth, the creation 
being concluded in bringing man into being. Man is now 
under the seventh period, that of rest from creation, in 
which all shall remain as it is upon the earth, until the 


_ promised period of the moral and physical regeneration of 


the world shall arrive. 

The second hypothesis, upon which the deductions of 
geology may be reconciled with the account of creation in 
Scripture, may be very shortly stated. It supposes the 
whole of the specific creation, as detailed, to have taken 
place in six literal days, as usually understood, and to form 


- now the presently existing system of animated nature. But, 


to account for the immense quantity of organic reliques 


496 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


on the earth’s surface, it supposes a most extended lapse of 
time to have intervened between the beginning, in which 
the earth itself was created, and that latter creation, during 
which several systems of animated and organised being 
were successively brought into existence and again destroy- 
ed. According to this, the creation of light, of the atmos- 
phere, and of the sun and moon, mentioned in the Mosaic 
account, was more properly a restoration than a creation; 
in like manner as the then creation of organised being was 
in many respects a renovation of the same types of being 
as formerly existed. In so far as regards effects and practi- 
cal results, this is evidently nearly the same as the other. 

Though this view may not be directly supported by the 
words of Scripture, it is certainly not at variance with them ; 
and though there are difficulties, it may yet reconcile physi- 
cal appearances with moral doctrines as well as the other. 
The principal support it has is derived from an argument 
of analogy. According to the prophesies of Scripture, there 
shall be, in after-ages, a destruction of the things presently 
existing upon the earth by fire, which is described in such 
terms as to render it evidently a geological effect of sub- 
terranean igneous agency, and other causes connected with 
that agency. Thence it becomes probable, that, as we 
observe the marks of such igneous action in by-gone times 
outspread upon and over the surface of the earth, the or- 
ganised remains of extinct species of being, under the soil | 
and in the rocks, may have resulted from similar catas- 
trophes of other creations. 

This future great convulsion of the earth, by which the 
creation of organised being presently subsisting shall be 
destroyed, is described in a manner according with observed 
geological facts, and the phenomena usually accompanying 
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There shall be an | 
alteration in the appearance of the sun, moon, and stars, and 
on earth the- sea and waves roaring. The sun shall be © 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 497 


darkened, the moon not give her light, the stars (electric or 
other meteors,) fall from heaven. A fiery stream shall pre- 
cede the presence of the Lord. The heavens shall pass 
_ away with a great noise, the elements melt with fervent 
heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be 
burnt up.* 

- No language can perhaps better express concisely the 
geological disturbances which shall remove from the earth 
the being and stains of the present sin-polluted and misery- 
enduring creation of animated beings, to make room for 
that future one of which the marks shall be holiness and 
happiness. Smoke and vapour darkening the heavenly 
’ bodies and the face of the sky; horrible subterraneous 
noises and convulsive movements, commotion of the great 
body of waters, displacement of the rocks and hills, emis- 
sion from below of many and copious streams of the igneous 
liquid matter there, which shall overthrow, melt, or burn 
all before it. eae 

It is asserted, on incontrovertible geological evidence, 
that generally the lowest mountains are the most anci- 
ent comparatively, while those of more recent origin tower up 
the highest, and constitute the greatest ranges. ’ This is 
what might be expected, for, during the progressive cooling. 
and thickening of the crust of the earth, not only would 
eruptive action occur at progressively more distant intervals, 
owing to the greater accumulation of force required to lift 

the increasing mass above, but, when the movement did 
take place, it would be much more extensive both in surface 
and elevation. If we can conceive, then, the effects of such 
eruptions of fiery matter as were necessary to lift up the 
* masses of the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Andes, the Hima- 
layas, in comparison of those of the efforts expended on the 
smaller mountains of Britain, we may form a slight idea of 


~ . ake xxi. 25. Matt. xxiv. 29. Dan. vii. 10, 2 Pet. iii. 10. 
* 3s 


498 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


that. tremendous and general convulsion, which shall over- 
whelm and alter the surface of the globe at the consumma- 
tion of the present order of things; when, to gather.strength 
for that last outbreak, the subterranean forces have been 
confined, and shall still be, for numerous ages. beneath the 
solid vault enclosing them, till, at length, overcoming its 
cohesive power, they shall burst forth in a yh 
rending, and explosive eruption. 
Such is an imperfect sketch of the hypothesis of. succes- 
sive creations, of successive destruction of them by igneous 
~ or aqueous action on the earth’s surface, and of the chief 
argument. by which ‘such a view is supported., And ‘this 
supposition of eruptive or cataclysmic action at remote pe- 
riods, by which the greater part of animated being on the 
globe is destroyed, and is replaced by a new creation, con-. 
sequent upon the direct interference of the Creator, ig not 
merely not at variance with revelation, but is even supported 
and confirmed by it, and confirms and supports, it im its 
turn: Ridicule has been attempted to be cast spon it by _ 
its opponents, by seizing on some verbal expressions, as if it 
were held that the world was supposed to be thus reduced 
to “a wreck,” “a ruin,” “a chaos,” down to the very cen- 
fre. This. indeed would be absurd and most improbable, 
‘and contrary to evidence, contrary to fact. A. cataclysm, 
or an eruptive convulsion of the earth, does not, in a geo- 
logical: sense, infer such«an extent of commovement. With 
the exception of the submersion of one part of the earth’s 
surface, the upheaving of another, and the extrusion of a 
‘comparatively limited extent of -highly heated rocks in a 
‘fused state from below, it may even consist with but slight 
alterations upon'the earth at its surface. It merely implies 
such an amount of the joint effectsiof the actions of fire and 
water as is sufficient to destroy‘organised being at the time, 
with the probable exception of such shell fish, &c. as might 
be sheltered from it in the recesses of the ocean, and so 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 499 


might continue the species in existence through anothet 
period. . 

Those geologists, if such there be, who, overlooking al 
the traces of sudden and violent action, rest their system. 
solely upon the evidences of gradual change, a source of the - 
observed appearances in stratification which their opponents. _ 
also admit, but only conjointly with the other ; who maintain 
that all things have proceeded in the same train, and in the 
same manner, as a consequence or effect of the same causes, 
in the same intensity, as are now daily in operation, and 
through no other; who hold that species, genera, orders of 
being become extinct in the lapse of time and are replaced . 
imperceptibly, no one knows when or how; who suppose 
that the primary rocks, instead of being really primary, are 
metamorphic, secondary and tertiary altered and having 
their organic remains obliterated by fire, through their sink- 
ing deep enough to come within the range of the central 
heat, must answer for themselves. Their sin is not the sin 
of the science of geology, nor ought it to be laid to the 
charge of all geologists indiscriminately. It belongs to them 
to defend themselves, and to rebut, if they can, the accusa-- 
tion which may be'brought against them on perhaps as fair 
inductive reasoning as their own, of asserting what directly 
leads to materialism; to the old dogma of fate or chance ; to 
the eternity of matter, of the world, which is thus raised to 
the level of Deity in one of its leading attributes ; finally, of 
being teachers of what tends directly to atheism. 

It is generally admitted that many of the works of God, 
both of the material and spiritual parts of the creation, were 
produced at first not in a state of ultimate perfection, but in 
a state changing and continually tending towards that per- 
fection: and that, not because God could not have made 
them perfect at the outset at once, but to accommodate them 
to the limited faculties of His intellectual creatures ; that, as 
al] things were created to shew forth the glory of His attri- 


500 Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 


butes, they might have ever new and increasing displays of 
His glory. And, if the angels, as the apostle tells us, desire 
to look into the mysteries of grace, certainly théy, the spirits 
of the departed righteous, and perhaps other intellectual 
beings besides, must equally desire to look into the’ mysteries _ 
of the creative and preserving providence of the Deity. In 
this point of view the progressive changes upon this our 
earth afford a beautiful and instructive lesson, a series of 
appearing and evanishing pictures, on which are traced in 
every lineament the handywork of the Omnipotent. First, 
the world appears as a chaotic, dark, and probably a vapor- 
ous undefined mass. In this we see light breaking out, and 
the gradual arrangement of its components into the earth, 
consisting of dry land and sea, and the atmosphere surround- 
ing it. Next, we perceive the dry land covered with a most 
luxuriant vegetation, as the distinguishing character of the 
earth at that time, that vegetation, however, being still only 
the lowest step in the scale of organised being. Following 
this, there is a farther improvement in the order and econo- 
my of the earth, by the creation of the sun and planetary 
system, and its assuming the proper orbit in which it at pre- 
sent moves. Then it becomes the abode of the lower grades 
of living and sentient beings, fishes, reptiles and birds, ard isa 
world of which the abundance of these is the characteristic. 
To these succeed the higher orders of such beings, the mam- 
malia, as occupying the chief place in it ; and lastly, man is 
created, not merely living and sentient, but also intellectual 
and morally accountable. This is the presently existing state 
of the earth, moral agents being now the distinguishing class 
of being on its surface ; and, in this state, it is presented to us 
under three successive aspects, as having on it man, created 
holy but soon sinful; man, sunk in ignorance of God, and 
degraded by the abominations of sin; man, now under the 
influence of grace, through which, by the universal spread- 
ing of the Gospel, the human race shall be intellectually 


~ 


Rough Notes on the controversy against Geologists. 501 


raised, purified in their moral natures, and led to happiness. 
After this cometh the end, when the world shall be changed | 
and its surface altered by fire; and it shall be in its moral 
constitution, not a world of intellectual beings merely, but 
also of-beings possessed of purity and happiness, to which 
shall be joined the gift of immortality ; for then death, and 
the till then changeful nature of our earth shall cease. 

In all this succession of event and of being, each rising 
over the preceding in excellence and importance, we may 
discover increasing and richer revelations of the nature and 
character of God, as manifested through His works, in their 
progress to a higher standard of perfection ; there is in them 
a farther and more abundant development, an unveiling of 
His giory; and a more extended and exalted field for the 
occupation of the observing, reasoning, and thinking facul- 
ties of intellectual beings of whatever class, whether angels 
or men. 


Notes on Rajmehai Coal.* 

At Rajmehal coal has been found*by Captain Tanner in 
two situations ; viz. at Sicrigully, on the banks of the Gan- 
ges, and at Hurrah, twenty-five miles distant. With regard 
to Sicrigully, this place has been recently visited by Lieut. 
Don, who reports to the Committee, that as far as he and 
Lieutenant Egerton, who accompanied him, could determine, 
no coal exists at the foot of the Mootee Jarna water-fall, 
where it was supposed to have been observed by Captain 
Tanner.+ 
2, At Hurrah, large quantities of coal have been extracted, 
but although we have every information relative to the 


* From the Proceedings e Coal Committee. 

+ We are informed by . C. Glass, that there is a coal mine at 
Sicrigully, but not at the foot of the water-fall, the spot visited by 
Lieut. Don, but near the village of Maharajpore, in the vicinity of 
the water-fall Mootee Jarna.—Vide Proceedings of the Coal Committee. 


502 _ -Rajmehal Coal. 

working, and expense of conveying this coal to the river, yet 
our knowledge regarding the natural circumstances under 
which it occurs is altogether defective. This coal is inferior, 
and. without a more exact knowledge of the district than 
we are possessed of at present, it is impossible to come to any 
conclusion as to whether or not better beds of coal might 
be expected, and what measures would be most likely to be 
adopted with success ir regard to them.* Major Forbes 
found by various experiments conducted at the Calcutta Mint, | 
on five hundred maunds of the best Hurrah coal, that nearly 
double the quantity compared with the Burdwan coal, was 
required to produce the same quantity of steam, and that it 

is generally unfit for smithery purposes, affording an inade- 
quate heat for melting, or even for hammering with facility, 
and on analysis, Mr. Prinsep found it yield upwards of a 
fourth part in ashes. 

3. In a report on the Rajmehal canal, submitted to the 
Government in 1832, by Colonel McLeod and Major Forbes, _ 
it is stated, that Mr. Ward, the Commissioner of Bhau- 
gulpore, was aware of the existence of coal in a bed of 
sandstone near the pass of Patchwary. This situation ap- 
pears to be ten or fifteen miles to the north of Doobradge- 
pore, and together with the Hurrah and Sicrigully indica- 
tions, proves the extension of coal formations along the 
entire base of the Rajmehal hills. 

4. In addition to the above-mentioned indications of coal, 
extensive beds have been found in a fourth locality, a few 
miles south of Patchwary. In April 1838, Mr. James Pontet 
found a bed of coal in the Rajmehal hills, on the banks of a 
nullah called the Burmany, sixteen miles distant from water-— 
carriage during the rains, and about thirty miles west of 


* Mr. Glass states, that coal is found throughout a large tract of - 
country, Barcoup. It is probably the same as that discovered by 
Captain Tanner; a portion of this coal is said by Mr. Glass to have ~ 
been recently on fire.—Proceedings of the Coal Committee. 


Rajmehal-Coal. 503 
Moorshedabad, and nearly in the line of the canal proposed 


by Major Forbes. A specimen of this coal afforded the 
following results on analysis:— .° > 


‘Specific gravity, ... 1°370° 


Volatile matter, ... ia .. 42 0 0 

Carbon, ee a vee SBD 

Earthy matter, ... bb ae ek BD 
‘ 100 0-0. 


Aseampie, consisting of a few maunds, furnished by Mr. 
Pontet sometime before to Mr. Scott; the commander of the 
Jumna steam vessel, also proved of favourable quality. 
Mr. Pontet having been desirous:of' procuring the means of 
extending his observation, these were provided, and on the 
20th June, he despatched ten bags of coal to: Calcutta, this 


~ also proved a favourable sample ; but a subsequent:dispatch 


of 400 maunds consisted of shale and inferior coal. _ In-ex-< 
planation of this last unfortunate circumstance, Mr. Pontet 

stated, that. the necessary aid did not reach him till the 

rains set in, when the place being unhealthy, he was obliged. 
to leave the raising and dispatch of the coal to inexperiericed 

natives. 

The following is an extract from ‘Mr. Pontet’s letter, in 
which he describes the operations in which he was engaged :-— 
“* After the first vein of coal,‘we came upon avhard blatk 
stone, and finding the operation of boring through it so very 
tedious, I took upon myself:to select a spot ‘for’ a shaft, 
and procured well-diggers and stone-cutters, who have been 
for4the‘last two months at work, at present to all appearance, 
withsatisfactory prospects, as one of the stone-cutters who 
"opened shaft at Burdwan, says this mine bears some resem- 
blance to it. I am induced to persevere a few feet more, 
in hopes of coming to an useful vein. The first twenty-thice 
feet of soil is red and black earth mixed with kunkur, 
and under that, to a depth of forty-feet, are thirteen dif- 


504 Rajmehal Coal. 


ferent strata, three of coal, and the rest various kinds of 
stone.” Mr. Pontet transmitted to the Committee, specimens 
of all the different beds passed through, which are remark- 
ably-characteristic of the true coal measures ; and of eleven 
different beds passed through in the last seventeen feet 
of the excavation, there were several beds of coal of good 
quality, but too thin for working, and in the shale we ob- 
served excellent specimens of Vertabraria Indica, Royle, 
one of the few abundant fossils of the Burdwan beds that 
happens to have received a name. 

The excavation was formed on the N. W. side of the 
Burmany nullah, but Mr. Pontet states that he traced the 
coal a mile.S. W. of the Burmany river, from which he 
concludes, that the Burdwan and Rajmehal beds are con- 
nected. Mr. Pontet subsequently found the indications of 
coal more extensive than he at first supposed, and that coal 
formations extend for ten miles round the village of Doo- 
bradgepore, the Burmany river passing through the centre 
of this coal district. In May 1841, a sample, consisting 
of ten bags of this coal was received. It presented the 
appearance of ordinary surface coal; forty lbs. used in one 
of the furnaces in the H. C’s. Dispensary, burnt as well as 
inferior Burdwan coal, and left eight Ibs. of ashes. 

The following is the results of analysis of an average 
specimen of the sample in question :— 


Specific Gravity, ... ate 
Volatile matter, nih ie se. 42 
Carbon, ida ae Pu one ae 
Ash, a peed ae 


“100 


The report of Major Forbes on ‘the quality of this sample 
corresponds nearly with these results.* The experiment was 
made by Mr. Gilbert at the Mint, and the result was, that 


* Proc. Com. July 1841, para, 4. 


Rajmehal Coal. 505 


four maunds and twenty-four seers were only equal to three 
maunds and five seers of Burdwan coal. 

A subsequent intimation having been received of the 
arrival of another sample of coal from Doobradgepore, 
‘dispatched by the same gentleman, consisting of 130 maunds, 
- it was distributed by the Committee to the Mint, Cossipore 
Foundry, and the Laboratory of the Public Dispensary, for 
trial. Upon which Major Forbes reported from the Mint, 
that this sample was inferior to the last, and that it would 
not keep up steam. The report from Cossipore Foundry 
describes this sample to be of a dull brownish colour, 
with thin bright layers, and that it was evidently a crop or 
surface coal, and that twenty and half maunds were required 
to do the work of ten maunds of Burdwan coal. The ap- 
pearance of this sample indeed shewed, that it should not 
have been selected, and that the persons by whom it was 
raised, were ignorant of the properties and appearance of 
coal. ‘The Committee therefore considered it quite hopeless 
to expect any further information from this quarter, until 
a qualified officer, or practical miner, should be deputed to 

Doobradgepore, for the purpose of examining the district, 
and of deciding from amidst the numerous beds of coal, no 
doubt there to be found, the particular one, which, from 
its qualities and position would afford the best return in 
working. In the meantime, Mr. Pontet finding the steamers 
on the Ganges using wood, had a quantity of Doobradgepore 
coal delivered in January last at Bhaugulpore, for their 
use. To his disappointment, however, the Captains would 
not buy his coal; not that it was bad, but that they had 
nothing to do with the matter, further than to receive 
- on board such fuel as the contractors forthe supply of 
that article think proper to furnish. Unable therefore to’ 
obtain any remuneration for his expences, but at the same time 
anxious to have the quality of the coal tried, Mr. Pontet de- 
livered it for nothing to the Captains of three of the steamers, 

3 T 


who gladly accepted it on these terms, but only two of them 
granted receipts, and one only of three furnished Mr. Pontet 
with a statement of the result of the trial: but this report 
was so favourable, as to leave no doubt whatever as to, the 
useful quality of the coal. -The report stated the sample of 
Doobradgepore coal, supplied by Mr. Pontet, to be equal in 
quality to Burdawan coal, and to be fifty per cent betier 
than the wood, which they were then using. 

Coal, however, may now form too inconsiderable an item 
in public expenditure to render its supply a subject of much 
importance. In no other way can we account for its unne- 
cessary transmission from the Damooda river (the lowest 
confluent of the Hoogly) up to Allahabad, a distance of 600 
miles against the strong currents of the Ganges. If the labour 
and money thus fruitlessly thrown away year after year, 
were only to be directed for a short time to the Rajmehal — 
and other coal districts on the upper parts of the Ganges; 
the result would not only be attended with much local — 
improvement in several deserted tracts where coal is abun- 
dant, but would, after a time, lessen its ie gr very ma- 
terially. 


Extract from the Memoir of M. Peligot ‘on the analysis of 
Sugar cane, and other Documents relative to the manufac- 
ture of Sugar. Communicated by G. J. Gorvon, Esa. 


Authors who have written on the cane, and the art of ex- 
tracting its sugar, furnish information altogether errgneous 
regarding the real nature of this precious plant. In faét,no — 


exact analysis of the cane, or of its produce had been made 


or published when, in 1822, Vauquelin attempted to fill the 
blank by procuring from Martinique some cane juice (or 
vesou) preserved by Appert’s process. Unfortunately, this 


Analysis of Sugar Cane. 507 


process, at that time new and no doubt ill-managed, did not 
succeed in effecting the purpose of that celebrated chemist. 
The:vesou arrived in a state so altered, that it had lost-its 
ordinary properties, and Vauquelin was obliged to confine 
, himself to making known the singular substance into which 
the sugar contained in the liquid had been transformed, in 
consequence of viscous fermentation. 

M. Gradis, a merchant of Boardeaux, proposed about a 
year ago, to procure for me some cane juice and canes, that 
by the examination of those bodies, light might be thrown 
on some points in the manufacture of colonial sugar. I 
eagerly accepted this offer, and I lately received these sub- 
stances preserved by the very simple processes I had pre- 
scribed. These were—the desiccation of the cane at a low 
temperature, and the employment of Appert’s process, now 
every where well understood, for the preservation of the 
cane juice. 

The vesou which I have examined, was obtained in the 
ordinary way by expression from the pure cane, was imme- 
diately introduced into common bottles, which were gradually 
raised to the temperature of 212° F. and then corked and 
cased in pitch. The operation succeeded perfectly. The vesou 
in the eight bottles that have been sent me, presents, accord- 
ing to the Planters who have examined it, all the characters 
of the ordinary cane juice. It is a cloudy liquid of middling 
fluidity, holding in suspense that greyish globular matter 
that is found in the expressed juices of almost all vegetables. 
It is known, that when sugar is also present, this matter acts 
as ferment, and transforms it into that viscous substance 
described by Vauquelin. By only raising the temperature 
to 212° Fahr., that to which this vesou was submitted, the 
organisation of this substance is destroyed, and it actually 
loses its fermenting property. 

The density of this cane juice is 108.8, corresponding to 
twelve or thirteen degrees of Beaume’s acrometer. 


508 Analysis of Sugar Cane. 


It yields a balsamic odour peculiar to the cane, and 
which is so marked in raw colonial sugar. By filtration 
through unsized paper it is obtained limpid, and has then a - 
very clear citrine tint, but whether opaque or transparent, it 
undergoes no alteration by long exposure to air. 

Evaporated at a gentle heat after having been filtered, it 
becomes a syrup, which placed in dry air, furnishes after 
some days a hard, crumbling, colourless mass, and this mass 
consists of crystalized sugar, almost pure. 

The analysis of this liquid is therefore remarkably simple, 
for it consists merely in evaporating a given weight in a 
capsule, which is again weighed when. the substance has 
become solid red, and quite dry. 

We arrive at the same end, still more surely by evapo- 
rating the liquid at the ordinary temperature under the 
receiver of an air-pump only, and it is a fact deserving 
attention, that the thickest syrup that can be thus obtained, 
does not crystalise even after the lapse of many days. 
The addition of a small quantity of alcohol appears neces- 
sary to determine the crystalization, which then becomes 
complete in a few hours. This effect is probably due to 
the coagulation of the vegetable albumen which exists in 
very minute quantity, as we shall presently see. 

I have ascertained by the common processes, the other 
substances that exist along with sugar in the cane juice. 
By evaporating a given weight of vesou, and incinerating 
the residue, we get 1.3 per cent. of white ashes. 

These ashes consist of sulphate of potass, lime, alkaline, 
chlorate, and other salts, found in the sap of almost all ve- 
getables. 

The sub-acetate of lead which precipitates all organised 
substances except sugar, and which produces especially so 
considerable a precipitate from beetroot, causes only a slight 
quantity of greenish deposit from cane juice. Admitting 
vegetable albumen to be the organic substance united to - 


i peor “Sees 


Analysis of Sugar Cane. 509 


oxide of lead that forms this precipitate, it hardly amounts 
to a two-thousandth part of the weight of the cane juice. 
Accordingly, the vesou I have analyzed is composed of 


Sugar, iy ane ae on D 

Mineral salts and albumen, ... en 

Water, i si ses iui eee 
100. 


The juice of the cane may therefore be considered as 
an almost pure solution of sugar. This appears to be an 
important result, for without admitting, as was formerly 
alleged, the pre-existence of molasses or uncrystalizable 
sugar in the cane juice, it might still be supposed to con- 
tain some substances, the presence of which hinder the 
crystalization of some portion of the saccharine matter. 

- It is well known, that in the manufacture of sugar from 
the cane, there is always a considerable quantity of molasses 
formed, amounting sometimes to one-third of the sugar 


obtained. It seems that the production of molasses may 


be much diminished, or may entirely cease, by recourse to 
more perfect heating apparatus. 

One of the great dangers in the manufacture of cane 
sugar appears to consist in the rapid fermentation that the 
vesou undergoes if exposed for some time to the air. This 
alteration which destroys so great a quantity of sugar, may 
probably be escaped by speedily raising the temperature of 
the juice as soon.as expressed to 212 Fahr. 

In defecating the juice by lime in the ordinary way, and 
evaporating it at a rapid-fire, I have also obtained the 
whole of the saccharine matter in a solid state, without a 
trace of molasses. 

The leaves that I received with the vesou had been > 
cut in bits and dried in an oven at 140° Fahr. M. Faraud, 
apothecary at Martinique, who undertook this double. pre- 
paration, obtained 7 kil. of dry cane from 24 of the fresh. 


510 © Analysis of Sugar Cane. 
The desiccation, however, was not complete, for on sub- 
mitting them to the temperature of 212° Fahr. in a stove, 


they lost 9 or 10 per cent. more in weight. 
Accordingly, the fresh sugar cane contains solid mat- 


Gers, ° S6-< ‘dea seb gcenguale ee 
Watels =a Nice Lan tee ee 
100* 


In treating the dried cane either by hot or cold water, 


the sugar is separated from the insoluble or ligneous matter. 
We thus find that the dried cane contains of soluble mat- 


ee ee eae ene, | 
Ligneous matter, ... ... 36.3 
100 


From the analysis of the vesou, it appears that these 64.7 
parts of soluble matter consist almost solely of crystaliz-— 


able sugar. ' 

From these numbers besides, we may easily deduce the 
relative proportions of the three principal constituents of 
the fresh cane, these are water, 72.1 — 


Sugar, eee o** eee eee ** 18. 
Wed yas. gpd eek nee. abe OO 
100 


The sugar cane then contains in theory 90 per cent. of 
juice, but so difficult is it to crush, and so spongy is its tex- 
ture, that at Martinique it seldom yields more than 50 per 
cent. on an average. 

Probably with better machines and by crushing the ba- 
gasse (or cane trash) a much larger produce might be 
obtained. 

* If the 7 kil. to which the 24 kils of fresh cane were reduced by the first 
drying lost 10 per cent. by the second drying, there remained only #6} per cent. 
_ of the original weight, not 28. 


eS —— 


re ape oer eres eae 


ce lel 


Analysis of Sugar Cane. 511 


Report of the Committee of the Academy, by M. Tuexazp, on the 
Memoir of M. Puticot, of which the foregoing is an extract. 


Researches having for their object the exact determination of the 
relative quantities of the different matters obtained immediately from 
sugar cane, would at any time command the special attention of the 
public, but at the present day, they possess a mew degree of interest 
researches, and the more so, that he has succeeded in correcting 
very mischieyous errors in an art so important as that of extracting 
the sugar of the cane. _ 

The authors who have engaged im the analysis of vesou, or cane 
Juice, had regarded it as water, holding in solution sugar, gum, albu- 
men, mucilage, a sort of soapy matter, acids, and different salts, as in 
suort, a very complicated liquid; to which circumstance they attri- 
buted the difficulty of extracting the sugar. 

M. Peligot shews, on the contrary, that filtered vesou is formed 
simply of four parts of water and one of crystalizable sugar; that 
it is only sugared water, or at least, that the other organised or sa- 
line substances found im it do not amount to 1.7 part per 100 of 
its weight. 

Examining next how much juice is contained in the cane, he finds 
with M. Avequin, that it holds 90 per cent. Therefore, as the sugar 
forms a fifth of the vesou, the fresh cane must contam 18 per cent. 
of sugar, a much larger quantity than that which has been always 
Gllowed to it. 

How happens it, notwithstanding, that the manufacturers obtain 
from the cane only six to eight parts of sugar, and three to two of 
molasses from 100 parts of cane? Or even according to M. Jabrun, 
Delegate from Guadaloupe, that the sugar produced amounts to only 
4 per cent., and the molasses to 1.7? It is because the rolling mill 
extracts only = of the juice according to the researches of M. Peli- 
got end M. Avequin, and only = according to M. de Jabrun. 

_At all events it is now well established, that a great quantity of 


_ ‘Suger remains in the milled cane, and is burned with the bagasse. 


512 Analysis of Sugar Cane. 


Would it not be possible to extract this quantity by bringing the 
ground cane into contact with water nearly boiling ? 

On the other hand it is certain, and all chemists are of one accord 
on this point, that the present processes of evaporation and boiling © 
leave much room for improvement, and that they give rise to the 
formation of a great deal of molasses. 

M. Peligot, it is true, has operated only on a single quality of 
vesou and on one species of cane, for which he was indebted to M. - 
Gradin. Perhaps if he had tried other specimens of vesou, and 
other species of cane, he might have arrived at results somewhat 
different. : 

_ However that may be, the cane contains more sugar than was be- 
lieved. 

A great quantity of sugar remains in the bagasse. 

Cane juice is merely sugared water. 

The manufacture from the cane juice is at present ecaducted by 
very imperfect processes. 

There is therefore every reason to hope, that important improve- 
ments may be introduced into the art of extracting sugar from the 
cane, and that by these causes, a much larger quantity of sugar will 
be obtained than by the processes hitherto followed.” 


Extract of a Letter of M. Gutsovurr, 


«J will not here call to mind the important labours of Dutréne 
and others besides, but I think it right it should be known, that an 
apothecary, a chemist as able as modest, whom fortune has carried to 
a distance from his country, has availed himself of his residence 
at New Orleans to make a complete analysis of sugar-cane, and the 
results he has obtained are well worthy of citation. M. Avequin, 
an extract of whose memoir is to be found in the Journal de Chemie 
Medicale of 1836, pp. 26 and 132, has found like M. Peligot, that the 
cane though it yields to the best mills only about half its weight of 
cane juice or vesou, contains however 90 to 91 per cent., ‘‘ so that,” 
he writes, “of a Planter who makes conveniently 300 hogsheads of 


Analysis of Sugar Cane. 513 


sugar, could make 544 if he were able to extract all that the cane con- 
tains.” “In practice,” he adds, “ we shall never attain that limit but 
by some improvements in the cylindrical rollers. It will be possible 
to obtain 75 parts of juice from 100 of cane, which will be upwards 
of “ths of its whole contents.” 

M. Avequin, however, does not carry so high as M. Peligot his 
estimate of the quantity of sugar that may be obtained from the 
cane, but that is evidently owing to the climate of Louisiana,. 
which is ill adapted to the culture of sugar-cane, for there it has 
degenerated; and it is known that the plant contains less sugar 
the further it grows from the Tropics, in so much, that it will 
probably be found an unprofitable attempt to cultivate it in Algeria. 
Further, the results of M. Peligot are found verified to a certain 
extent by those of Dutréne, who points out a variation in the 
density of cane juice of from the 5th to the 14th degree of Beaumé, 

‘and who admits that 25Ibs. and 11 ounces of sugar may be obtained 

from a quintal of vesou of the latter degree of density, which would 
give no less than 23 parts of sugar to 100 of cane. But such 
a produce is quite a maximum that will never be attained in 
practice, no more probably than the result little short of that ob- 
tained by M. Peligot. 

M. Robiquet confirms the statement of M. Guibourt. 

M. Thenard adds, that M. Peligot was aware of the labors of 
M. Avequin, and had not failed to mention them in his memoir.” 


Extract of a Letter from M. Peuicor. 


_ “A letter from M. Guibourt read at the last meeting, claims in 
favor of M. Avequin, Pharmacie at New Orleans, the priority of 
some of the results that I have pointed out in my analysis of the 
sugar cane of Martinique. If M. Guibourt had read my memoir, he 
would have seen that I have cited from the text that part of the 
work of M. Avequin to which he calls the attention of the Academy, 
relative to the ninety per cent. of vesou contained in the cane. 
There are, it is true, other parts of the memoir of M. Avequin on 
3u 


514 Analysis of Sugar Cane. 


which I have less relied, because the experiments on which they 
rest, appeared to me inaccurate. 

My analysis of the vesou sent from Martinique demonstrates, that 
the whole of the sugar: contained in the cane is crystalizable. 
That I consider the important result of my labors, for all the che- 
mists who have gone before me have admitted the existence of a 
large proportion of liquid sugar or molasses in the cane, and have 
thus so far justified the notorious imperfection of the colonial 
manufacture. M. Avequin only confirms former ideas by admitting 
that the sugar cane of Louisiana contains for seventeen parts of 
sugar, five of molasses and extractive matter. 

I thought it sufficient to oppose by facts the opinions of Casaux 
and Dutréne on the pre-existence of molasses in the cane, and to 
shew, that this substance is formed by the alteration of the juice in 
the colonial process.” 


Result of the Researches of M.Pracwn, on the composition of Vesou. 


In a recent work M. Peligot has been led to consider, the juice 
of the Aruncdo sacharifera as sugared matter, of which the sac- 
charine matter wholly crystalizable, amounts to 18 or 20 per cent. 
That figure, as has been remarked by M. Robiquet and M. Guibourt 
is precisely that which had been found some years ago by a phar- 
macie, M. Avequin, in his researches into the composition of the 
sugar-cane. fr 

I may be allowed in my turn to remark, that one of my former 
fellow-labourers at the Ecole Polytechnique, M. Plagne, arrived at the 
same result in 1826. His experiments detailed in five successive 
reports addressed to the Minister of Marine in 1827, establish that 
the juice of the cane contains, as well in Martinique as in the Coast 
of Coromandel, more than 20 per cent. of crystalizable sugar, that 
can be obtained wholly of the juice by rapidly evaporating at a 
temperature not exceeding 212° Fahr. ; that the quantity of molasses 
under the treatment is null or insignificant ; that rapid evaporation 
is the more desirable, because cane juice contains a substance which 
otherwise converts the whole of the sugar into various matter. 


aay 


Analysis of Sugar Cane. 515 


I will revert presently to the nature of this ferment, but I must 
first shew the result of M. Plagne’s analysis of the vesou. He acted 
on 4,000 grammes. 


Water, .°.. a .. 8133 grammes. 
Crystalized ‘ieee’ sje .. 832 
Dry residue not ar ee 30 
Cérine, .. ia es .30 
Gum wax, mo ee 1.06 
Peculiar organised mae oe a 1.61 
Dry albumen, .. se a -30 
The sum of these quantities ........ 3998.27 differs only by 
seven decigrammes from the 4,000 grammes submitted to experi- 


ment, . 

The peculiar organic matter observed by M. Plagne, and’ which 
does not reach a 2000dth part, is that which connects sugar into 
viscous matter when evaporation is not immediately proceeded with, 
or carried on too slowly. Its properties, as observed by M. Plagne, 
are these; it is white, becoming brownish by contact with the 
air, soft, slightly attractive of moisture, and drying with difficulty. 
It is insoluble in alcohol or ether, soluble in water, not azoted, 
burning without smelling with an odour analogous to that of the 
extract of chicory. The salts of the protoxyde of mercury and those 
of lead precipitate it from its solution in water. The perchlorate 
of mercury produces on it no effect. Alcohol and ether separate it, 
with its primitive properties, from the water that dissolves it. Arsenical 
charcoal seizes it, but for this effect it is necessary to use a large 
quantity, and to add a portion to the juice at the instant of its 
flowing from the cane, in order to prevent the viscous fermentation. 

The viscous matter into which the sugar is converted by the 
substance just described does not yield carbonate of ammonia on 
distillation ; whence it may be inferred, that it does not contain 
azote. Water dissolves it, and from that solution it is precipitated 
by alcohol. It has therefore the properties of gum; yet treated 
with nitric acid, it yields only oxalic acid. May not this substance 
be analogous to that obtained by M. Pelouze from certain ferment, 


and which he considers I believe as an anhydrated sugar. 


516 Analysis of Sugar Cane. 


4s to the species of ferment remarked in the cane juice, may it not 
be the same as that obtained from the tubercules of the Helianthus 
by M. Braconnot ?” 


Extract from Ure’s Dictionary of Arts—Article Suear. 

Out of Ibs. 120 millions of raw sugar which used to be annually 
shipped by the St. Domingo planters, only 96 millions pounds were 
landed in France, according to the authority of Dutréne, rt 
= loss by damage in the ships of 20 per cent. 

The average transport waste at present in the sugars of the Bri- 
tish colonies cannot be estimated at less than 12 per cent., or alto- 
gether 27,000 tons! What a tremendous sacrifice of property ! 

Within these few years, a very considerable quantity of sugar 

has been imported into Great Britain in the state of concentrated 
cane-juice, containing nearly half its weight of granular sugar, along 
with more or less molasses, according to the care taken in the boil- 
ing operations. I was at first apprehensive that the syrup might under- 
go some change on the voyage ; but among more than a hundred sam- 
ples which I have analized at the custom-house, I have not perceived 
any traces of fermentation, since sugar softens in its grain at each 
successive solution. Whatever portion of the crop may be destined 
for the refiner should upon no account be granulated in the colonies ; 
but should be transported in the state of a rich cane-syrup to 
Europe, transferred at once into the blowing-up cistern, subjected 
there to the reaction of bone black, and passed through bag filters, 
.or through layers of the coarsely ground black, previously to its 
final concentration in the examine pan. Were this means generally 
adopted, I am convinced that thirty per cent. would be taken from 
the amount of molasses. The saccharine matter now lost by drain- 
age from the hogsheads on the ships, amounting to from ten to 
fifteen feet, would also be saved. The produce of the cane would 
on this plan require less labor in the colonies, and might be export- 
ed five or six weeks earlier than at present, because the period of 
drainage ae the curity house woult By /spaness 

From the foregoing Extracts, o one most pape practi- 
cal lesson may be drawn. 


wh 


OA pero Zt 


Cs e's 
GE is 


we See 


LEIS 


Mae 


Analysis of Sugar Cane. 517 


-It is quite clear that the substance, the presence of which 
gives rise to fermentation in the cane-juice loses this delete- 
rious property by simple exposure to the boiling tempera- 
ture in 212° F. But further, Peligot found that not only 
the cane-juice that had been raised to that temperature 
shewed no disposition to ferment, but that the cane itself, 
after having been exposed to the same heat in a stove, 
yielded its sugar to either hot or cold water without a trace 
of molasses. The principle is one of easy application, re- 
quiring only that a boiler be placed immediately under the 
rolling mill, into which cane-juice and cane-trash may be 
allowed to fall in the first instance, leaving a spout at one 
extremity from which the cane-juice may be drawn and 
thence carried to the boilers, while the cane-trash is brought 
to a state in which it will yield much of its remaining sac- 
charine matter to fresh pressure, without being liable to 
fermentation. 


Extract of a Letter from Dr. Lunn, on the Brazilian Ant. 


In sending you the promised Notes of the habits of those species 
of ants which I have had an opportunity of observing in Brazils, I 
take the liberty to add, that if you wish to make them public, you 
may be pleased to observe, that they were not intended to see the 
light, any more than other observations I may have made during my 
sojourn in this country, at least until my own return to Europe 
enabled me to render them into a more perfect form. 

It is a fact which has not escaped the notice of the travellers who 
have visited the tropical parts of South America, that the families of 
ants which there present themselves are much more numerous, as 
well as regards species as individuals, than with us. Notwithstand- 
ing Brazils being well-known, its extraordinary entomological riches 
have convinced me, that the ants there form a-much greater propor- 
tion to other insects than with us. Every where you turn your 
eyes in that rich country, you meet with these animals. On the 
ground, in the grass, on the leaves, on the stems of trees, and under- 


518 Brazilian Ants. 


neath their bark, in almost all decayed plants and animal matters; they 
penetrate into houses, pave their way into the villages: even the 
capital of South America is visited by ifinumerable swarms of these 
destroying animals. 

It is chiefly in the gisad Uikiadeaie Gide ectaiiile's couiaamie 
part of the midland country of Brazils, and which after the language 
of the country bears the name of Campos Geraes, where this family- 
has its head-quarters. This otherwise flat country assumes some- 
times a hilly appearance, which is chiefly owing to the indefatigable 
activity of these animals.* Numerous hillocks which I cannot compare 
better than to those hills found now and then on our own fields, and 
which are known by the name of ant hills, extending every where 
before the traveller’s view, and interrupt his walk, But extraordinary 
as the multiplicity of these animals is, it is trifling compared with the 
means nature employs in keeping them within proper limits. Here 
is the native country of the typical species of Myothera, or Birds 
whose exclusive maintenance these animals afford. Here are found 
the gigantic species of mammalia Myrmiephaga or Anteaters, and the 
Dasypus, which in every meal devours millions of these small animals. 

It is easily perceived, that these animals on account of their ex- 
traordinary multiplicity, in connexion with their peculiar activity, 
are destined to play a conspicuous part in nature’s great economy. 
No other family of insects can in this respect be put in comparison 
with them. Nay, they were seen to play in addition to their own, a 
part, which has been assigned in Europe to several other insect 

As for instance the Carabici which perform no unimportant 
service in destroying a number of insects; all these families are 
limited in tropical America to very few species, and the ants 
supply their place.t 

* All the hillocks of this kind, which I have had an opportunity in examining, 
were inhabited by ants and not by ¢ermitis; hence no doubt, most of the fallaci- 
ous information of travellers, on which the general belief is founded, that they are 
the production of these animals. 

¢ The inhabitants of Kio Janeiro have assured me that they, far from regret- 
ing the presence of ants in their houses, sometimes even introduce them there, 
in order to secure the dwelling from a much more dreadful enemy the termites. 
I must here on this occasion mention an opinion which is generally believed 
in Brazils, that there exists a peculiar antipathy between these two species of 


Brazilian Ants. 519 


Such is also the case with another insect family, (Necrophaga,) 
which in Europe performs a more conspicuous part. In the part 
of South America I now treat of, we do not find these animals ; ants 
being only met with in decayed animal matters, and the activity 
with which these small animals execute the extremely important 
office alloted to them in tropical countries is wonderful. Often 
have I found on omitting ordinary precautions, the fruits of my 
labours lost, when for a moment I have put away the box in which 
I preserved fresh killed insects ; it has even sometimes happened that 
before I could penetrate the brush wood to take up a bird I had 
shot, that these gluttonous little animals had already so attacked 
it, that its skin was rendered useless for stuffing. 

But these animals render important services in destroying noxious 
insects and animal matters in tropical climates ; yet the destruction 
they cause in directing their attack against the productions of the ve- 
getable kingdom is a great drawback from their good services. They 
are the most dangerous enemies of all kinds of plants, in such degree, 
that one hardly hears the husbandman complain of any other evil. I 
may here pass by the mischief they commit in attacking the roots, in 
quartering themselves in the stem, in destroying fruits, &c. in order 


animals. As I am deficient in observations regarding this case, I will not attempt 
to say how far this is correct or not; but I take the liberty of quoting a fact, 
which at first appeared to render it very probably correct. One day while busy in | 
pulling down a termit habitation to examine the inside, I perceived to my great 
astonishment, that a portion of the dwelling was taken possession of by a kind of 
ant (Myrmica paleata, Mihi, ) which as soon as they discovered the attack made on 
their dwelling, rushed out furiously, dispersed themselves amongst other habitations 
also over the ruined heaps of that part of their own dwelling; a good many 
caterpillars happened to lie exposed on top of the ruins of their habitation, and 
by degrees as the ants met them, they attacked them with great fury, pierced them 
several times with their sting; without conveying them when wo .nded to their 
nest. This appeared to me in the commencement to the opinion above adverted 
to, of the antipathy between these animals; but | soon discovered a circumstance 
which afforded what appears to me to be a better explanation of this circumstance. 
I perceived a troop of a different species (M. erythrothorax, M.) which emerging 
from the same hill, cautiously approaching, and in the midst of blood-shed, deli- 
berately conveyed the killed and wounded termites to their common habitation 
without the least excitement. These last ants were merely the reserve troops and 
slaves to the first ; they were obliged to provide for the victualling of the republic, 
while those, soldiers by profession, had only its defence in view, and for that reason 
attacked the termites as they would have attacked any real or feigned enemy they 
might met with on the road. _ 


-520 Brazilian Ants. 


to notice a phenomenon which in Europe is only known from the 
reports of travellers. I mean the extraordinary destruction they 
commit on trees in stripping them of their leaves in a very short time. 
I have always looked upon the traveller’s tale on this head as ex- 
aggerated, until an opportunity of witnessing the circumstance oc- 
curred to myself. I refer to a species of ant, which has been known 
a long time under the name of Atta Cephalotes. We daily perceive 
these ants in the sands of the beach, dragging leaves home to their 
nest; but as they generally obtain these materials from the thick 
coppice, one cannot trace their destructiveness home to them in 
its whole extent. A lucky circumstance, however, having afford- 
ed me an opportunity of observing their pillage at leisure, I think 
you will perhaps peruse the account of it with some degree of 
interest. 

One day while passing a solitary tree, I was astonished at hear- 
ing in perfectly calm weather, a rustling as of leaves, which fell 
down in numbers. On looking round, I soon perceived that these 
leaves came from the tree I had passed. It was of the laurel 
family, about twelve feet in height, with stiff leathery leaves, which 
on falling to the ground caused a considerable rustle ; but what ex- 
cited my astonishment was, that the falling leaves had a perfectly 
green appearance, and that the tree seemed to be perfectly fresh and 
sound. I was therefore at a loss to account. for the leaves falling, 
when to my astonishment, I saw an ant sitting on each leaf stem 
(petiole) working away with all its might in biting it off, in which 
it always in a short time succeeded, so that the leaf fell to the 
ground. On looking further into this matter, I found that the root of 
the tree was completely covered with ants, which were all warmly 
engaged in reducing the leaves into transportable pieces, and which 
were immediately conveyed to the nest. A line of these animals car- 
rying away the pieces of leaves, extended itself already as far as the 
eye could reach from the foot of the tree across the country. Sucha 
cavalcade presents a curious spectacle; the pieces of leaves being 
much larger than the ants, which are consequently almost entirely 


hid under their load, so that the whole is like an expedition of 


wandering leaves; and in less than an hour was this great work — 
completed in my presence. 


SS eer ele 


Brazilian Ants. 521 


Another extraordinary feature in the habits of the tropical ants met 
with in South America, and which in Europe is likewise only known 
from the reports of travellers, consists in the wanderings certain 
species undertake, from time to time, in incredible swarms. The 
main circumstances of this phenomenon being as yet unknown, I hope 
that the occurrences I am able to communicate to you, will not 
prove unacceptable. To a considerable extent the ground is covered 
with ants, whose motions seem to proceed in all directions, and 
presenting to the eye nothing but confusion, On observing attentive- 
ly, however, we find that the whole body advances, although rather 
slowly, in a certain direction ; all that they meet with in the shape of 
insects, they drag along with them. How long the expedition lasts 
I cannot say; the longest time I had an opportunity of observing it 
being only five days, on this occasion the march was continued day 
and night. Should they in their wanderings fall in with a house, they 
penetrate it by thousands, and the inhabitants must leave it for the 


time, hence their nocturnal invasions are often as you may suppose 


very troublesome. They dono further harm, but on the contrary, 
make up for the inconvenience they occasion, by clearing the house of 
all sorts of vermin. These immense swarms are continually on 
their march accompanied by a flock of birds, which destroy a great 
number of them, and which by their shrill cry, announce the arrival 
of the insects while they are yet at a distance. As regards the season 
at which these expeditions happen, I must observe, that all those I 
find marked in my Journal, take place in the months of June, 
July, and August. Should this eventually prove to be the only 
season of their migrations, the circumstance might perhaps throw. 
some light on the season and purpose of this expedition. This 
season nearly corresponds with our winter, and is, like that, 
characterized by a considerable diminution in the number of 
insects. Now, as these afford the principal food of the ant, it is 
probable, that very numerous societies of ants, not finding in 
the neighbourhood of their dwelling a sufficient stock of nourish- 
ment for the daily subsistence of the republic, are on that account 
forced to emigrate: From this it is seen, why these wanderings 
do not take place in Europe where the ants hibernate, and are con- 
sequently exempted from roving about to seek for their food. 
3 x 


522 Brazilian Ants. 

The extraordinary instinct of these animals, which recent ob- 
servations have brought to light, is no doubt similar to that which 
Huber has observed to belong to different species of European 
ants, and which consists in one species carrying on formal warfare 
with the other, and having defeated their armies, penetrating into 
their dwellings and carrying away in triumph their cocoons and ca- 
terpillars. The ants hatched from these, must now serve during 
their conquerors’ lives as slaves, must provide for the victualling of the 
republic, for the preservation of the dwelling, and the hatching of 
the brood. From military service only are they exempted. I 
have found the like instinct in the ants of the New. World, as I 
have already mentioned. A species (Myrmica paleata,) whose hill 
contained individuals of the neutral sex of another. species, (M. 
erythrothoraz,) these were obliged to provide for the victualling 
of the republic. I have observed this similarity, even in another 
species, which forms a new genus, (Ancylognathus lugubris, M.) 
while one day encountering its armies coming home from a pil- 
laging excursion. They marched in close ranks, were loaded with 
cocoons and caterpillars of ants, and no doubt had to do with a 
valiant enemy, who unwilling to surrender their liberty, sold their 
lives as dearly as possible; because almost all the specimens I saw 
had their legs more or less mangled. I believe such traits of 
character to be pretty common amongst the numerous species of 
ants in Brazils, as nothing is more common there than such close 
drawn ranks of ants, marching in great haste, and without carrying 
any thing which would account for their object ; while the vic- 
tualling of the habitation is executed in a quite different manner. 

There has already been observed amongst some of the species of 
European ants, particularly in individuals of the neutral sex, a pe- 
culiar race, which are distinguished from the others by a more consi- 
derable size of the body, but especially of the head. These varieties 
are much more conspicuous amongst certain foreign ants, and which 
on that account are called Atta cephalotes. But what has little been — 
suspected is, that such varieties or distinguished individuals perform 
distinct functions in society from the common working ants. I have 
had an opportunity of verifying this in a species of the genus Myrmi- 
ca, which I intend to describe more fully in Guerin’s Entomological 


ee Pe 


TR re am 


ast 


Brazilian Ants. 523 


Magazine. Of these ants, I one day discovered a line; which led 
across the yard in my dwelling; it emerged from two holes in the 
ground, which were probably the outlet of subterraneous channels 
leading to a neighbouring plain, and all ants from these holes, were 
loaded with spoils, consisting of different kinds of insects. But 
coming in the contrary direction, in the same line, were seen an 
equal number of ants which resorted to the two before mentioned 


~ holes. . These last carried nothing. The principal part of the army 


consisted of individuals, varying little im size, but here and there was 
to be seen a few much larger, distinguished, as before mentioned, by 
the disproportioned size of the head. These scarcely ever followed 
the movements of the army, but marched at one time slowly in the 
contrary direction, at another across the line ; or, when they followed 
the same direction as the main body, did not keep pace with it, but 
went quicker or slower, according to circumstances. I stood about a 
couple of hours, and observed these animals manceuvre, and all that 
time I saw posted round the two holes I have mentioned, four of 
these great individuals, who stood perpendicular on the four hind legs, 


head raised, and their very large hooked jaws much extended. Round 


the other hole, stood two of these, others in similar position. After the 
lapse of two hours, when about to avail myself of a closer inspection of 
what was going on, I commenced to trample down the straggling in- 
dividuals which swarming along the side of the main army inter- 
cepted my approach. ‘But I did not remain long in possession of the 
usurped territory, for no sooner did the nearest marauders observe 
their comrades’ bodies than great uneasiness manifested itself amongst 
them, and some of them retreated in great haste to the nearest hole. 
I immediately observed the four sentinels which stood round and 
guarded the hole for two hours without interruption, hurry eagerly 
to the place where their comrades were murdered; a swarm of the 
common working ants followed their example, and in a moment the 
whole place where I had trampled the ants to death, was covered 
with their comrades, actively occupied in removing their bodies 
which they transported to the hole. Amongst this crowd, I counted 
ten of the large race; these took no care of the dead, but ran about 
with extraordinary quickness and expanded jaws. The place was 
cleared in less than a quarter of an hour ; during this time the march 


524 Brazilian Ants. 


of the troops continued as before. I also observed, that while the 
transportation of the dead lasted, none of the ants which emerged 
from the holes were loaded with spoils as before, and it was only 
after tranquillity again had been perfectly restored, that the trans- 
portation of their loads was resumed. But what particularly demands 
attention, as deciding the part those large individuals play in the 
society, is, that-while the hole which was nearest the place of 
carnage having only before been surrounded by four of these ani- 
mals, was after this affair guarded by nine, who all stood in the same 
singular position. r 

I confess that this is the only species of ant in which I observed 
this phenomenon in a manner so conspicuous ; but I observe in the 
new edition of Cuvier’s Regne Animal, that my friend M. Lacordaire, 
to whom I had the pleasure of communicating these observations dur- 
ing our meeting in Brazils, has had the opportunity of seeing the same | 
peculiarity in another species, which approaches to Atta cephalotes. 4 

With the history of our ants is connected that of two other fami- ; 
lies of insects, with which ants maintain an intimate intercourse. 
This connection between different species of insects has astonished 
observers by that analogy which it presents, with those associations 
that takes place between man and certain mammalia; thus the 
leaflies and gall insecta are represented by happy metaphor, as the 
cows and the goats of the ants—Ant-cows, and ant-goats. _ 

Having been familiar in Europe with the association of leaflies 
and ants, which there often excited my astonishment, I was sur- 
prised at first at the absence of leaflies in Brazils, notwithstanding _ 
the extreme multiplicity of ants, and I was on the point of believing a 
that the ants of Brazils were deprived of a source of enjoyment, of 
which our ants in Europe know how to make such excellent use; but ‘5 
I was soon convinced that I was very wrong in supposing that the 
ants of the New World were less fortunate in this respect than their 
brethren in Europe. For as after the discovery of the New World, 
we there met with civilised nations, with whom certain species of 
animals occupied the place of our domesticated animals, so, in like — 
manner, have I found in the small nations, of which we are treating, — 
certain species of domesticated animals, which perform the same — 
part in their economy. 


eS SO eee oe sl 


Brazilian Ants. 525 


Those animals to which I refer belong all to the division of which 
Linné formed his great family of Cicada, and which agrees with 
Latreilles’ family, Cicadelles. These animals, especially the species 
of genus Cercopis.and Membracis, assume in their cocoon and cater- 
pillar state, a mode of life which has many points in common with 
the leaflies. They are found in numerous societies, clustered toge- 
ther below the leaves, and round the young sprouts of plants, on 
which part they cause the same monstrous protuberances which are 
produced by the sting of the leaflies. The sap which exudes from 
this, assumes a sweetish flavour, occasioned by some change effected 
in the bark by means of the clear liquor, which exudes from the hind 
part of the leaflies. 

It is on account of this moisture, of which the ants are very 
greedy, that they frequent the society of these animals, which they 
treat as our ants treat the leaflies ; caressing them on the side of the 
body with their antenne or hand, which caresses expel a liquor, 
which is immediately swallowed by the ant. I must, however, observe, 
that while in Europe most species of ants hold communication with 
the leaflies, I have only found in Brazils one species, which seeks the 
society of the Cicadelles (Dolichoderus attelabedes, M.) This species 
seems to obtain its whole nourishment from these animals ; at least I 
have never seen it seek any other, and one sees it bestow extreme 
care on these animals. 

I have no doubt, that the list of the domestic animals of the ants 
will be considerably increased, when we undeérstand better the 
domestic ceconomy of these animals in the great regions of the 
earth yet unknown to us. I have even reason to believe, that the 
ants do not limit their choice in this respect to the insect class alone, 
I have found a species of ant which on account of its blindness I call 
Myrmica typhlops, which convey living Onisci to their nest, and the 
sight of such a burden is highly amusing. The Oniscus hangs under 
the belly of the ant, to which it clings with its claws, but its body 
being much broader than the ant’s, this last is obliged to stride over 
it when it runs, which gives its walk a very curious appearance. 

But to what qualifications these animals owe the honor of be- 


ing enrolled amongst the ant’s domesticated animals, is unknown 
to me. 


— 526 


M. E. De Beaumont's Views of the relative Age of the 
European Mountains, an abstract by Proressor Scuow.* 
Communicated by W. M. Westermann, Esa. 


A few years ago, geology consisted only of a collection 
of curious hypotheses; it now however occupies a place 
amongst other sciences, since it possesses a great mass 
of precise observations. Some of the general results de- 
rived from these, deserve our attention in the highest de- 
gree, because they afford us instructions as to the original 
state of our globe, and the astonishing revolutions which 
from time to time it has undergone. 

It is now almost a general opinion, that the mountain masses 
have been elevated from the bosom of the earth, and that 
there accordingly was a time, during which the surface of 
the earth did not present any considerable unevenness. 

The adoption of this view has removed considerable diffi- 
culties connected with many of the most striking pheno- 
mena of fossil shells, which are found on many of the high- 
est mountains, and which can now be satisfactorily account- 
ed for, without supposing that the sea has stood higher 
than these mountain masses; because we need only to sup- 
pose, that the mountains in being elevated, have also lifted 
the earlier masses which were deposited by the sea, and by 
this means brought them to a height, which often exceeds 
12,000 feet. ; 

. This supposition, that the mountains have been elevated 
from the bosom of the earth, suggests a number of interesting 
questions. Thus for instance, we may ask, if the great 
mountain masses have all been upheaved at one time; or, 
if this has not been the case, in what order then did their 
upheavement take place? This is the subject which M. Elie 


* From Poggendorff's Annalen 18ter. og. 25ter B. et. 1, fornemme- 
ligen efter Aragos Fremstilling’s Annuaire, 1830. 


ee Cr 


On the age of Mountains. 527 


de Beaumont has treated, and the problem which he has in 
a satisfactory manner solved. 

Amongst the very different masses of which the earth’s 
surface is composed, there is found a class, which forms 
what is called fléts bjerge; i. e, mountain masses of sedi- 
mentary stratified rocks. 

The real fidts bjerge, consists entirely or partly of sand, 
mud, and finely divided masses, which have been carried 
away by the water like the mud in our rivers, or the sand 
at the sea coast. This more or less fine sand, formed af- 
ter it had been cemented by lime as a clayish mortar, that 
kind of mountain which is called sandstone. 

Certain sorts of limestone belong also to flots bjerge; as 
those remains of shells which are found in them, in an an- 
other and still clearer manner proves that they were formed 
in waters. Fléts bjergene consist always of considerable lay- 
ers, which rest on each other. To these formations belong 
principally the following, which are here ranked according 
to their ages :— 

1. Coal formation. 

2. Jura limestone. 

3. Green sand and chalk. 

4, Tertiary formation. 

5. The early tertiary uplifted land. 

6. Quaternary formation, consisting of the newer upwashed 

land.* 

Although all these varieties of mountain masses were depo- 
sited by water, and are found collected and grouped above 
each other, yet the passage from one to another is not 


* The coal formation contains the great beds of coal which lie in sand- 
stone, distinguished by the many impressions of ferns found in it. 

The Jura limestone is a whitish limestone, sometimes compact, close, 
and even, as the stone serves for Lithography, and sometimes consists 
of small round grains (rognsteen i. e. pea-stone, or oolite). The name 
8s derived from the Jura chain, which mostly consist of this mass. 

The green sand and chalk formation consists of sandstone layers, 


528 On the age of Mountains. 


always imperceptible. On the contrary, we often observe 
a sudden alteration in the nature and quality of the masses, 
as well as in the strata themselves, and also in the remains 
of organic beings imbedded in them. 

Thus for instance it is clear, that between the formation of 
Jura limestone, and that of the green sand and chalk on 
which it rests, an alteration in the state of things on the 
earth’s surface took place. The same can be said of that 
epoch, which divides the chalk from the tertiary formation; 
it is likewise clear, that between the tertiary formation and 
the formation of the early tertiary uplifted land, a decided 
alteration must have taken place in the nature of the re- 
mains, by which these mountain masses are distinguished. 

- These great changes in the nature of those bodies deposit- 
ed by the waters, are regarded by geologists as the effects of 
those occurrences which they call the revolutions of the 
earth, although it is difficult to say, in what these revo- 
lutions have ‘consisted ; yet it is nevertheless certain that 
they have taken place. 

The order in which the formations succeed each other, 
has been discovered by tracing uninterrupted, each moun- 
tain mass to its connection with adjoin’ng plains, in which 
one can observe with certainty, on great horizontal ex- 
tensions, that a certain formation lies on this, or that layer. 
Mountain slopes, steep and high river banks, high coasts, 
artesian and other wells, as also river channels, have in this 
respect been of great service. 


with which a great quantity of small green grains occur, and is covered 
with chalk strata. The coasts of France and England on the Channel, 
present many cliffs which clearly shew this formation. Tértiary for- 
mation consists of many layers of clay, lime, marl, gypsum and 
sandstone. 

The early tertiary land (diluvium) and the Quaternary upwashed 
land, (alluvium) derive their names from their similarity to those aug- 
mentations of sand, mud, &c., which are now daily formed by the 
sea and the rivers. 


~ On the Age of Mountains. 529 


It is already observed, that fldts bjerge repose in layers. 
In plains, these layers are found as we should expect in an 
almost horizontal position. But if we approach the moun- 
tains, this position is generally altered; on the sides of the 
mountains the layers are very slanting, and even sometimes 
they stand perpendicular. 

Are we now to think it likely, that these oblique layers of 
fléis bjerge, which we'see on the sides of the mountains, 
were deposited in this oblique position. Is it not far more 
natural to suppose that they also, as well as the contempo- 
rary layers of the same masses in the plains, have originally 
formed horizontal layers, when those mountains which 
they rest against were lifted ‘up above the former surface 
of the earth ? fem: 

Exact geological observations have shewn, that those 
limestone layers, composing the summit of Buet in Savoy, and 
Montperdu in the Pyrenees, are identical at an elevation 
of from 9 to 12,000 feet, with the chalk strata, on thé 
coast of the English Channel. If the fluid which depo- 
sited this chalk, had stood 9 to 12,000 feet high, it would. 
“have covered the whole of France, and such-like masses’ - 
should be found on all heights under 9,000 feet. But it 
has been observed in the North of France, where these 
masses present themselves most regularly, that the chalk 
never reaches to a height of more than 600 feet above the 
present surface of the sea. Another observation which Saus- 
sure has already drawn attention to, seems even still more 
convincing. The flots bjerge is sometimes composed al- 
most entirely of boulders of a round or oval shape, and in 
those places where the layers lie horizontal, these stones 
also lie horizontal, namély, on the side, as an egg in a liquid 
matter remains not on the end. sit 

But when the deposited moantain strata have a slanting 
position, where for instance they slant under an angle of 45°, 
the long axis of these stones forms also the same angle with 

3 Y 


530 On the Age of Mountains. 


the horizon, and this holds good even when the strata are 
perpendicular. 

Those fléts masses which rest against the higher moun- 
tain masses, were therefore not formed at that place, and in 
that position, which they now occupy; they have been ele- 
vated under a greater or smaller angle, at a period when the 
mountains on which they lean, were elevated from the bosom. 
of the earth. | 

If this be granted, it is clear, that those fléts bjerge masses, 
whose layers are now in a leaning or perpendicular position 
on the slopes of the mountains, existed before these moun- 
tains were lifted up to their present height... But those jiéts 
bjergene which stretch themselves in a horizontal posi- 
tion close to the foot of mountains, and are not found on | 
mountain tops, are newer than these mountain elevations ; 
because one cannot conceive how these elevations could 
have been raised without at the same time raising the alrea-- 

-dy formed superincumbent strata. 

Beaumont has, in his latest treatise on this subject, dis- 
tinguished twelve different and distinct systems of moun- 
tains in Europe, some of which we may here mention without 
entering into particulars. 

On Vagufarner, eastern side, the strata of the coal forma- 
tions are oblique, whereas the Jura limestone is horizontal. 
This mountain-mass has thus been raised after the coal for- 
mation was deposited, but before the Jura limestone was 
formed. 

In the Ertzgeberge the coal formation and Jura lime stone 
are both slanting, whereas the green sand and chalk are 
horizontal. Thus the epoch for these mountain elevations 
corresponds with the Jura limestone formation, but is ante- 
rior to the period of the green sands. 

On the sides of the Pyrenees lie the coal forma- 
tion, Jura lime, green sand, and chalk in a slanting posi- 
tion, whereas the tertiary formation is horizontal. This 


On the Age of Mountains. 531 


mountain chain was thus elevated after the chalk was 
formed. 

In the Western Alps to which Mont Blanc, the highest 
mountain in Europe, belongs, all the tertiary formations are 
oblique, but the older upwashed sands are horizontal. These 
great and high mountain masses have thus been raised at a 
very late period. 

The central masses of the Alps have been uplifted at a 
~ still later period; because even the older upwashed land is 
found in a slanting position, and only the newer upwashed 
sand is in its original horizontal position. 

We come thus to the remarkable result, that at least in 
Europe, the highest mountains are those which have been 
the latest elevated.* 


Observations on the Genus Spathium. By M. P. Evcr- 
worTH, Ese.t 


Happening to meet with two species of Aponogeton 
(Roxb.) in this neighbourhood, I compared them with the 
generic character of Spathium in Endlicher’s Genera Plan- 
tarum, to which they are referable. I observed that he des- 
' cribes the embryo as unknown, and therefore, especially 
directed my attention to that point. By Endlicher, the 


- Note by Prof. Schow.—Beaumont is thereby of opinion, that those 
mountain chains, which are elevated at one time, are also reciprocally 
parallel; but this pretension can hardly be held to be proved, and 
there are various observations which seem to be opposed to it. This 
part of Beaumont’s theory is therefore passed over. 


+ Here Mr. Edgeworth’s paper is corrected and reprinted from the 
Journal of the Asiatic Society, No. 38, 1842, it being therein quite unin- 
telligible. 

As there is reason to believe that an offer :nade by a very competent 
person to correct the paper for reprint in the same Journal, did not 
meet with approbation from the Secretary of the Asiatic Society, an 


532 Observations on the Genus Spathium. 


genus is referred to Saururee, I am therefore not a little 
surprised on examining the S. undulatum, to find it dis- 
tinctly monocotyledonous, with a large fleshy cotyledon em- 
bracing a plumule of unusual size and development. On 
examining the seed of S. monostachyon, however, I found 
a very different structure, a homogeneous mass, in which 
I could find no trace of an embryo; but on causing the seeds 
to germinate, which they do freely in water kept in a cup, 
I discovered that this homogeneous mass is in reality the 
cotyledon and the plumule, which after an interval of some 
days developes itself through a slit at the base of the horn- 
shaped cotyledon. ) 
Spathium undulatum likewise germinated aiiigs ‘The 
only other point to be noticed now, is, whether these 
two plants are referable to one and the same genus, while 
so marked a difference exists in the embryo. The one with ~ 
the plumule of usual size, (equalled only by the develope- 
ment of that part in Nelumbium,) and the foliaceous coty- 
ledon—the other with its plumule invisible even at the 


commencement of germination, and its solid cofyledon— _ 
while there are the minor differences of the ulvaceous 


foliage and caducous bracts. of the former, as contrasted — 
with the herbaceous foliage and persistent bracts of the . 
latter. Theré is, moreover, a slight difference in the pollen 
of the two plants, that of the former being exactly and — 
acutely elliptic, and assuming a globular form under the — 
influence of acid or iodine; that of the latter gibbougly — 


attempt is now made to do justicg to the botanical labours of Mr. — 

It is only necessary to add, that Mr.. Griffith became aware of — 
the structure of the embryo of one species, and the consequent great — 
misplacement of the genus in question at the same time with Mr. — 
Edgeworth, to whom he had written on the subject before Mr. Edgeworth — 
had confided his MSS. to the care of the Secretary of the Asiatic” 
Society.—Ep. 


Observations on the Genus Spathium, 533 


ovoid, and not influenced in the same manner by the iodine 
solution or acid. 

From the description of Aponogeton pusillum in Rox- 
burgh’s Fi, Ind. and the section of the fruit of A. echina- 
tum, in his Cor. Plants, t. 81, I should judge that they 
would have the same characteristics as the A. undulatum. 
They may perhaps be found to be intermediate, in which 
case the two species I have examined may be fairly consi- 
dered as the extremes of a single genus. From the gene- 
- yal habit, and the position of the bracts of Endlicher resem- 
bling that of half a floral envelope, for which reason I term 
them sepals in the description, the place of this genus 
would appear to be next to Potamogeton among the Naiades. 

I have subjoined an amended generic character, and 
fuller descriptions of the two species I have examined. 


Sraruium, Loureiro.—Endlich. Gen. No. 1826, p. 267. 

Flores hermaphroditi, in spadice cylindraceo pedunculato 
spathé mophylla caduca cincto spiraliter dispositi, sessiles.. 
Sepala duo, petaloidea, sub-opposita. Stamina sex, hypogyna; 
filamenta, libera, subulata, patentia, persistentia; anther 
biloculares, lateraliter dehiscentes. Ovaria tria (vel. 4?) 
rostris erectis; stigma apicale, minutum, obliquum; ovula 
2-6, basi affixa, ascendentia. Folliculi 3 (4?) introrsum de- 
hiscentes, 1-3 spermi; semina erecta ovata, testa duplici, 
exteriore herbacea, interiore membrancea, vel evanida. Em- 
bryo exalbuminosus, macropodus, erectus, ascendens, ana- 
tropus, cotyledone magn, varia, plumulé varia. 

S. monostachyon, foliis petiolatis lineari-oblongis basi 
subcordatis emersis herbaceis, floribus in spadice dense con- 
fertis, sepalis persistentibus. 

Descr. Rhizoma tuberosum, radicibus crassis filamento- 
sis. Folia petiolata; petioli subtrigoni, basi membranacei inte- 
riora amplectentes ; lamina linearis, obliqua, obtusa, basi sub- 
cordata, vel junior cuneata, 5 venia, venis transversalibus. 


534 Observations on the Genus Spathium. 


Spadix pedunculata, pedunculo cylindrico. + Involucrum 
herbaceum caducissimum. Flores dense spiraliter dispositi, 
sepalis junioribus sub-imbricatis, cceruleis, basi oblique. cune- 
tais, apice subcoriato-ovatis. Stam. 6, filamentis crassis, 
bracteis sub-longioribus, antheris cceruleis, subquadratis, bilo- 
cularibus, lateraliter dehiscentibus, polline gibbo ellipsoideo 
luteo. Ovaria erecta, levia, 6-3 sperma. Semina 2-4 (2-3 ab- 
ortientia) erecta, ovata, 8-costata, testa exteriore herbacea, 
viridi, laxa, facile separabili, interiore ad embryonem arcte 
adpress& brunnea, leviter striata, uno latere. raphe viridi; 
chalazi magna viridi.* Cotyledon solida, alba, plumula 
basilaris minima. Cotyledon germinans elongatur in cornu, 
plumula diutius basi lateraliter fisso evolvitur (folio elliptico). 

S. undulatum, foliis brevi-petiolatis lineari oblongis basi 
cuneatis submersis ulvaceis, floribus in spadice post anthesin 
elongato sejunctis, sepalis caducissimis. F 

Descr. Rhizoma tuberosum, radicibus paucis crassis fila- 
mentosis ad apicem. 

Folia radicalia, plurima petiolata, lanceolata, undulata, in 
petiolum decurrentia, nervo medio crasso, lateralibusque 2-4 
parallelis transversalibus. Limbus plerumque petiolo longior, 
vernatione involutus. 

Flores numerosi inspadice elongat& dispositi, primo con- 
ferti, rachide elongata sparsi, ob pedunculum longissimum em- 
ersi. Spatha acuta, ante anthesin decidua. Sepala 2, sub-spa- 
thulata, basi quasi unguiculata, colorata (lacteo-alba), caducis- 
sima, ad stamina 2 lateralia opposita. Stamina 6, filamentis— 
erectis, divaricatis, carnosis, persistentibus, anthera biloba, 
lateraliter dehiscente, decidua, e flavo ccerulescente, polline 


* Roxburgh describes the rachis as wood. I have not seen this 
appearance in any specimen I have met with. 

Note.—Roxbu¥gh describes the flowers as in S. monastachyum, but* 
there is considerable difference between my two species. Perhaps this 
may not be his S. undulatum, but otherwise it fully answers his des- 
cription. 


Observations on the Genus Spathium. 535 


luteo, acute elliptico, (in iodino vel acido globoso.) Pistilla 
8, ovario superiore libero, stigmate terminale. Fructus 2, 
carpellis 3 follicularibus, basi subenerveis, demum divaricatis, 
dispermis. Semina erecta, umbilico brunneo, testé levi, 
simplice, (vel membrana exteriore tenuissima vix discreta,) 
raphe et chalaza indistinctis. Embryo erectus, macropodus, 
cotyledone maxima, concava, carnosd, plumulam amplectente, 
plumula (in semine etiam) maxima bifolia, foliis inaequalibus 
margine involutis. 


References to the Plates, XV. and XVI. - 


a. A single flower, seen sideways. 
- 6. Ditto from below or front, shewing the two bracts in situ. 
c. Stamen. 3 
d. A bract. 
e. Imaginary section, shewing situation of parts of flower. 
-f. Flower after inflorescence, the capsules nearly ripe, with 
persistent bracts and stamens. 
g and g. Another more magnified, and resting on the side. 
h. Section of ditto, shewing its two cells placed back to 
back. 
- ¢ and i. I. Pollen, gibbous at one side, much magnified—in 
II elliptic; 7. globose under the influence of iodine. 
k. Pistil, with small oblique terminal stigma. 
i. Ditto, section shewing ovaries in situ. 
m. m. Capsules. 
n. Section of ditto. 
o. Seed. 
p. Ditto magnified, shewing the ribs of the outer-coat. 
q- Ditto, outer-coat taken off, shewing the raphe and cha- 
laza, in various veins. 
r. Embryo, all the coats taken off. 
s. Second coat taken off, striated, dark brown, chalaza 
grown transverse. 


536 Observations on the Genus Spathium. 


t. Section of seed, shewing the eight ribs of outer-coat. 

u. Embryo section. 7 

v. Seed, longitudinal section. 

w. Germinating seed. 

x. Longitudinal section of ditto. 

a. Ditto further advanced. 

y. I. Plumula, extracted from a—II. Plumula in seed before 
germination. 7 

x. y. More magnified. 

Bt. Progressive states of germinating seed. 

Z Part of leaf magnified. 


Extract of a Letter from Faruznr Joszru Gury, S. J., to his brother. 

Trichinopoly, 26th February, 1840. 
. J will now add here a few words upon the cultivation of the 
lands. It consists almost entirely in watering them, in those places 
where water is to be had. Everywhere else, the country is a, vast 
desert. The Indians, like the Swiss mountaineers, turn all their ap- 
plication to procuring water; but with this difference, that the Swiss 
bring it down from the glaciers, by little canals, dug along the brink 
of dangerous precipices; whilst the Indians, seated on the end of a 
beam, raise the water from the well in a bucket attached to the other — 
end. . You know what are those see-water wells : there are many of 
them in France. Conceive, that in the place of the large stone which 
serves as a counterbalance, two, three, and as many as six men are 
employed to raise the enormous sheet-iron bucket. When the empty 
bucket is to be lowered, the men approach the middle of the beam, 
to the extremity of which it is fixed, and when they wish to raise the 
water, they walk to the other end. For the purpose of avoiding the 
risk of falling while at work, they hold with their hands to stakes 
placed along the beam, which, lest their feet should slip, is indented 
in the manner of stairs. The person that receives the water, on its 
being raised, has only to spill it into the canal by which it flows 
over the fields. When the water is not at a great depth from the 


Optical Illusions. 587 


surface of the field, a more expeditious method is employed. To the 
bucket, two cords are attached, which are held by two men standing 
at each side of the well: the cords are alternately loosed and drawn, 
so that the bucket falling into the well, fills with water, and then _ 
being flung into the air, throws up the water into a channel for irri- 
gation. Sometimes one man waters by himself, in which case, the 
place of the bucket is supplied by a deep shovel, suspended by a cord 
from three stakes fixed in the ground, and tied together at top. The 
shovel is filled by dipping it lightly in the water, which the man 
pours out by the movement that he communicates from the handle. 
In this manner, a single labourer can raise in a short time a great 
quantity of water. 

“ Malciadipatty is the chief town of the district with which I am at 
present charged. The name signifies a village situated at the foot of 
mountains; it means literally, mountain, foot, and village. The 
mountains here are no more than eminences, like those in Le Puy, or 
Besancon. They are moreover, without valleys, if I may use the ex- 
pression. I mean to say, that the immense plain which composes the 
kingdom of Madura is broken by one of those mountains, beyond: 


- which it re-commences at the same level, which continues until inter. — 


rupted by another mountain. They resemble cocks of hay placed here 
and there upon a meadow. In the rainy season, the water flows off 
like the rain from the roof of a house. The country is then inundated 
and intersected by large torrents. But when the rain is over, not a 
single current, not the smallest rivulet, is to be seen. The river 
Cavery itself is dry from the month of February. 
“The mountains of Madura, however, though small in reality, ap- 
pear, at a distance, as elevated as the Alps; and, like the Alps, 
they seem lost in the clouds. The flatness of the country produces 
this illusion. If an object exceed, by a little, the height of a man, it 
will be raised above the horizon, and appear greater and more distant 
than it really is. When you approach it, it grows small, and you are 
surprised how you could have taken it for any thing considerable. 
Thus a small hill, situated towards the east, will appear in the morn- 
ing an imposing height, and to be at the distance of ten leagues: but 
in the evening, when the sun discovers the shrubs which cover it, it 
then appears such as it is in reality—a small hill, at two leagues dis- 
3 7 


538 ~Mirage and Meteors. 


tance The contrary to is happens in the Alps, where the traveller, 
though at ten leagues from a mountain, will think that he is going to 
touch it with his hand. 

“These optical illusions remind me of a phenomenon which is 
frequently seen in India, and which naturalists designate by the name 
of mirage. I have seen some singular effects from it: clouds, raised 
many degrees above the horizon, and perfectly resembling mountains 
of sand; lofty palm trees, of which I perceived only the tops, as if 
suspended in the air; and sometimes a fine lake, suddenly placed in 
the dry plains which I had just been crossing, and which, as an ad- 
ditional wontler, appeared to communicate with the sea. When the 
mirage appears at the horizon, it presents the aspect of the firmament, 
of which it seems to be but the continuation—as if the sky made 
a breach in the earth, crossing, to a certain extent, the foot of the 
trees and mountains, and allowing only their tops to be seen. When 
it appears in the middle of a plain, you think you see water ; but it is 
really the aspect of the sky, produced by refraction. This water, 
which you suppose you see, has the property of reflecting the sur- 
rounding objects. You see their image, but not very distinctly, on 
account of the very great distance ; for the mirage appears always a 
great way off. 

“ | have also had the opportunity of observing another phenomenon, 
which they call a flying-star. On sea one of them appeared which 
seemed to fall into the waves, lighting the entire vessel, and leaving 
after it a long train of light, which dazzled the sailors who were hid 
behind the sails. One evening, near Calléditidel, I saw, at a few 
paces from me, a similar meteor, which was flying and scattering on 
its way a quantity of brilliant sparks, exactly like a rocket, but with. 
out the hissing noise. I was in doubt for an instant whether it was 
a rocket. ‘ What fire is that?’ said I to an Indian. ‘It is a star,’ he 
replied. I have seen another which, in the moment of being extin- 
guished, resumed its brightness four or five times, advancing in 
bounds, but much more slowly than the ordinary flying stars. 

“ They are almost always followed by a train of sparks, by which 
their substance is wasted, and, like the rockets, they cease to be visi- 
ble when it is exhausted. Such facts—would they not prove that 
these pretended stars are only meteors, formed by the lower regions 


The Stag River. 539 


of the atmosphere, instead of being planets, as a learned European 
has imagined? I did not doubt it; and I have lately acquired a new 
proof. I was going, by night, to visit a sick person, when I saw fall 
by my side the most beautiful flying-star that I ever beheld: I had 
full time to examine it, for its progress continued at least for ten se- 
conds : besides the spark which it sends forth, it divided into three 
parts before it was extinguished. I questioned the catechist who 
accompanied me. He also said that it was a star. The name cer- 
-tainly is not well applied.— Annals of the Propagation of the Faith. 


4 


Extract of a Letter from Farner. Smet, Jesuit Missionary, to the 
Reverend Father General of the Society. 


“ University of St. Louis, 7th February, 1841. 
“ We arrived the 18th of May upon the banks of the Nebrastas, 
or Stag River, which is called by the French by the less suitable 
name of the Flat River. It is one of the most magnificent rivers of 
North America ; from its source, which is hidden among the remotest’ 
mountains of this vast continent, to the river Missouri, to which it is 
tributary, it receives a number of torrents descending from the Rocky 
Mountains ; it refreshes and fertilizes immense valleys, and forms at 
its mouth the two great geographical divisions of the upper and lower 
Missouri. As we proceeded up this river, scenes more or less pictur- 
esque opened upon our view. In the middle of the Nebrastas, thou- 
sands of islands, under various aspects, presented nearly every form 
of lovely scenery. I have seen some of those isles which, at a dis- 
tance, might be taken for flotillas, mingling their full sails with ver- 
dant garlands, or festoons of flowers; and as the current flowed 
rapidly around them, they seemed, as it were, flying on the waters, 
thus completing the charming illusion, by this apparent motion. 
The tree which the. soil of these islands produces in the greatest 
abundance is a species of white poplar, which is called cotton tree; 
the savages cut it in winter, and make of the bark, which appears 
to have a good taste, food for their horses. 
“ Along the banks of the river, vast plains extend, where we saw, 
from time to time, innumerable herds of wild goats. We saw only 


540 North American 


very few birds; but it is very perceptible that they were formerly 
more common in this country. Further on we met with a quantity 
of buffaloes’ skulls and bones; regularly arranged in a semicircular 
form, and painted in different colours. It was a monument raised by — 
superstition, for the Pawnees never undertake an expedition against — 
the savages who may be in hostility with their tribe, or against the 
wild beasts of their forests, without commencing the chase, or war, 
by some religious ceremony performed amidst those heaps of bones. 
At the sight of them our huntsmen raised a cry of joy; they well 
knew that the plain of the buffaloes was not far off, and they ex- 
pressed by those shouts the anticipated pleasure of spreading havoc 
among the peaceful herds. 

“Wishing to obtain a commanding view of the hunt, I got up 
early in the morning and quitted the camp alone, in order to ascend 
a hillock near our tents, from which I might fully view the widely 
extended pasturages. After crossing some ravines, I reached an 
eminence, whence I descried a plain, whose radius was about twelve 
miles, entirely covered with wild oxen. You could not form, from 
any thing in your European markets, an idea of their movement and 
multitude. Just as I was beginning to view them, I heard shouts 
near me; it was our huntsmen, who rapidly rushed down upon the 
affrighted herd; the buffaloes fell in great numbers beneath their 
weapons. When they were tired with killing them, each cut up 
his prey, put behind him his favourite part, and retired, leaving 
the rest for the voracity of the wolves, which are exceedingly nume- 
rous in these places. And they did not fail to enjoy the repast. On 
the following night I was awakened by a confused noise, which, 
in the fear of the moment, I mistook for impending danger; I ima- 
gined, in my first terror, that the Pawnees conspired to dispute 
with us the passage over their lands, had assembled around our camp, 
and that these lugubrious cries were their signal of attack.—‘ Where 
are we?’ said I, abruptly, to my guide: ‘ Hark ye!—Rest easy,’ 
he replied, lying down again in his bed; ‘ we have nothing to fear; ~ 
it is the wolves that are howling with joy ; after their long winter’s 
hunger, they are making a great meal to-night on the. carcasses 
of the buffaloes, which our huntsmen have left after them on the 
plain. ' 


Sketches. 541 


** In the same place may also be seen the animal which is called 
Wistonwisk by the savages, and by travellers, the dog of the mea- 
dows, and to which I would give the name of American squirrel. 
It is larger than the grey squirrel, but resembles it in every other 
respect: its manner of moving is as animated and graceful; the 
colour of its skin is of a deeper brown ; its teeth and claws are exactly 
of the same form; and its tail, shorter and less tufted, shades its 
pretty head. They never go alone; a secret instinct keeps them to- 
. gether in families. The sitaatica of their holes is admirably chosen; 

it is upon the declivity of a hill, the border of a lake, or the bank of 
a river, and the site is always sufficiently high to secure them against 
any inundation, however great. The most perfect order reigns in 
each colony; one might say, that here is a little model-republic in 
the midst of the desert. Travellers, who are greatly taken with 
their admirable industry, and envy their undisturbed tranquillity, 
relate, that the sole nourishment of these little creatures consists of 
the grass-roots, and that the dew of heaven forms their only drink. 

“On the 28th, we forded the southern arm of the river Platte. 
All the land lying between this river and the great mountains is only 
a heath, almost universally covered with lava and other volcanic sub- 
stances, The sterile country, says a modern traveller, resembles, in 
, nakedness and the monotonous undulations of its soil, the sandy 
deserts of Asia. Here no. tent has ever been erected, and even 
the huntsman seldom appears in the best seasons of the year. At 
all other times the grass is withered, the streams dried up; the 
buffalo, the stag, and the goat, desert those dreary plains, and retire 
with the expiring verdure, leaving behind them a vast solitude com- 
pletely uninhabited. Deep ravines, which were formerly the beds 
of impetuous torrents, intersect it in every direction, but now-a-days 
the sight of them only adds to the painful thirst which tortures the 
traveller. Here and there are heaps of stones, pil confusedly like 
ruins ; ridges of rock, which rise up before you like impassable bar- 
riers, and which interrupt, without ‘embellishing, the wearisome 
sameness of these solitudes. Such are the Black Coasts; beyond 
the Rocky Mountains rise the imposing land-marks of the Atlantic 
world, The passes and valleys of this vast chain of mountains afford 
an asylum to great numbers of savage tribes, many of whom are only 


542 American Indians. 


the miserable remnants of different people who were formerly in the 
peaceable possession of the land, but are now driven back by war 
into almost inaccessible defiles, where spoliation can pursue them 
no further. 

« This desert of the west, such as I have just described it, seem to 
defy the industry of civilized man. Some lands, more advantageously 
situated upon the banks of rivers, might, perhaps, be successfully re- 
duced to cultivation, others might be turned into pastures as fertile as 
those of the East ; but it is to be feared that this immense region forms 
a limit between civilization and barbarism, and that bands of male- 
factors, organized like the Caravanes of the Arabs, may here practise 
their depredations with impunity. This country will, perhaps, one day 
be the cradle of a new people, composed of the ancient savage races, 
and of that class of adventurers, fugitives, and exitles, that society has 
cast forth from its bosom : a heterogeneous and dangerous population, 
which the American Union has collected like a portentous cloud upon 
its frontiers, and whose force and irritation it is constantly increasing, 
by transporting entire tribes of Indians from the banks of the Missis- 
sippi, where they were born, into the solitudes of the west, which are 
assigned as their place of exile. These savages carry with them an 
implacable hatred towards the whites, for having, they say, unjustly 
driven them from their country, far from the tombs of their fathers, in 
order to take possession of their inheritance. Should some of these 
tribes hereafter form themselves into hordes, similar to the wandering 
people, partly shepherds, and partly warriors, who traverse with their 
flocks the plains of Upper Asia, is there not reason to fear, that in 
process of time, they with others may organize themselves into bands 
of pillagers and assassins, having the fleet horses of the prairies to 
carry them, with the desert as the scene of their outrages, and inac- 
cessible rocks to-agcure their lives and plunder ? 

“ We beheld, om the 31st of May, one of the most remarkable 
curiosities of the desert; it is called the Chimney: it is a cone, 
seventy-five yards high, and about a league in circumference. It is 
situate upon a table-land, and has on its summit a column of petrified 
clay, a hundred and twenty feet high, by from twenty to forty feet 
broad, which has procured for it the above name. It is visible at 
thirty miles’ distance. Upon a nearer approach, an enormous rent 


Assam Tea Plant. 543 


appears at its top, which seems to forbode its fall. At its base, some 
families of the tribe of the Asbatas, or Large Horns, vegetate. The 
rattlesnakes and dangerous reptiles that are to be met at every step, 
would be a scourge to the country, had not the savages discovered, in 
a root very common here, an infallible specific for every venomous 
bite.—Annals of the Propagation of the Faith. 


The Assam Tea Plant.—We learn that the Agricultural Society of 
India, after having given their gold medal to Captain Charlton “as 
the first person to establish to the satisfaction of the Tea Committee, 
and its Secretary, that the Tea tree was indigenous in Assam,” have 
also presented the same mark of honourable distinction to Major 
Jenkins, “‘ for bringing to a successful result the inquiry in regard 
to the establishment of the Tea-plant in Assam.” What if the 
Assam plant should not be Tea, that is, Chinese Tea after all ?—Gar- 
dener’s Chronicle, No. 37, 1842. 


Twelfth Meeting of the British Association, for the ad- 
vancement of Science, Manchester, 22nd June, 1842, 


The General Committee assembled at noon, Professor 
Whewell in the chair, when a report of the Council was 
read. 

This document referred to the various objects of inquiry, 
for which premiums are offered for reports to be read at 
the next Meeting, which is to take place in Cork in the 
summer of 1843. At the recommendation of the geological 
section of a former Meeting, 60/. are to be placed at the 
disposal of Mr. Edward Forbes, who is to be requested 
to draw up a report on the Radiata and Mollusca of the 
Egean and Red Seas, and the following gentlemen were 
formed into a Committee to report how far Zoological No- 
menclature might be established on an uniform and permanent 
basis: Mr. Darwin, Professor Henslow,.Rev. N. Jenyns, _ 


54+ Twelfth Meeting of the British Association. 


Mr. Ogilby, Mr. J.-Phillips, Dr. Richardson, Mr. Strickland, 
(reporter,) and Mr. Westwood.. Dr. Lamont of Munich, Cor- 
responding Member of the Association, was requested to 
draw up a report on the system of Meteorological Obser- 
vations commenced in Germany. 

It was then moved by Mr. Murchison, and seconded by 
the Marquis of Northampton, that the thanks of the Meeting 
should be conveyed to the Queen for Her Majesty’s grant 
of the Royal Observatory at Kew, for the use of the Associa- 
tioa. The Chairman then stated, that an invitation had been 
sent to various scientific bodies on the Continent, requesting 
that delegates might be deputed on their part to attend the 
meeting, and that Sir John Herschel and Mr. Faraday were 
chosen to attend for the Academy of Modena, Professor 
Frisiani was present on the part of the Imperial Academy 
of Sciences at Milan, and that many other distinguished 
foreigners might be expected. The following were ap- 
pointed officers of the Association :— 

Trustees (Permanent) F. Baily, ERS. ; R. J. Murchison, F.R.S, Pres. G. 8.; J. Taylor, 
P.R.S. Treas. G. S.; President The Right Honorable Lord F. Egerton, M.P.F.G.8.; Vice 
Presidents, J. Delton, D.C.L. F.R.8 ; the Honorable and very Rev. W. Herbert, L.L D. F.L.8. 
Dean of Manchester; W.C, Henry, M.D. F.R.S.; Sir B. Heywood, Bart. The Rev. Prof. 
A Sedgwick, M.A. F.R.S. G.8.; General Secretaries, R. J. Murchison, F.R.S. Pres. G.8.; 
Lieut. Col. Sabine, F.R.S. ; Assistant General Secretary : J. Phillips F.R.8.; General Trea- 
surer, J. Taylor, F.R.S. ; Local Secretaries for the Meeting, P. Close F.R.A.8. ; W. Fleming, 
M.D.,J. Heywood; F.R.S.; Local Treasurer for the Meeting, Rev. J. J. Taylor, B.A. ; 
Assistant Local Secretary, 8. E. Cottam, F.R.A.8. 

The following gentlemen were chosen Presidents of the several sections :— 

A.—Mathematical and Philosophical Science.—The very Rev. G, Peacock, Dean of Ely. 

B.—Chemistry and Mineralogy, John Dalton, D.C.8. 

C,—Geology and Philosophical Geography.—R. J. Murchison, Pres. G. 8. 

D.—Zoology and Botany—Honorable and very Rev. W. Herbert, Dean of Manchester, 

E.—Medical Science.—Edward Holme, M.D. 

F.—Statisties.—G. W. Wood, M. P. 

.—Mechanical Seience.—Rev. Professor Willis. 

Professor Phillips then read the programme, which only 
differed from that of former years in making provision for 
sectional evening meetings, which were necessary, in order 
to get through the arrears of business. No excursions were 
arranged, but special Bolton Rail-trains were placed by the 
proprietors at the service of those who wished to visit the 


Proceedings of the British Association. 545 


fossil trees on the Bolton line on Mondays and Wednesdays ; 
and as_it would be impossible for all to visit the various 
manufactories of Manchester at once, it was annouméd that 
Dr. Fleming would distriiute a limited number of tickets. 
The accounts being next read, the meeting then adjourned. 
At the Mathematical section which met the following day, 
Sir David Brewster noticed the erection of one of Mr. 
Ostler’s ‘anemometers at Inverness, one of the stations at 
which hourly observations on the barometer and thermo- 
meter have been kept at the expense of the Association. 
Sir David also stated a few of the results which have 
attended these observations. Professor Phillips noticed the | 
remarkable ‘curves which the hourly observations on the 
barometer indicate, and pointed out the interest attach- 
ed to hourly observations in connection with formule of 
barometric oscillations in different latitudes. ‘The President, 
(the Dean of Ely,) considered meteorological observations 
as formerly kept of very little use, and thought that the 
hourly observations might lead to a discovery of the general 
laws connected with the intricate phenomena of electricity. 

The further proceedings of the meeting of this section 
we now subjoin as reported in the Atheneum of July 3, 
1842, p. 587-8. The reduction of the stars in the Histoire 
Céleste of M. de Lacaille therein referred to, as well as the 
abstract of Professor Liebig’s report on organic Chemistry 
in the chemical section, which we also subjoin, are perhaps 
the subjects of most attraction in the present reports. 


Mr. Scott Russell presented a ‘Report on the Abnormal Tides of 
the Firth of Forth,’ supplemental to a former Report on the same sub- 
ject (Athen. No. 675.)—He had on a former occasion presented to the 
section the result of tidal observations on the Firth of Forth. These 
observations brought to light the existence of certain very remarkable 
tidal phenomena, proving the occurrence, on some parts of that Firth, 
of double tides, or rather perhaps of quadruple tides, being four high 
' waters in each day,.instead of only two, as usual. When this subject 


4A 


«546 Proceedings of the British Association. 


was formerly discussed, Mr. Russell had attributed these anomalies to 
the great southern tide wave entering the Firth at a different period 
from theygreat northern tide wave, to which the periods of high and 
low watef on the east coast of Britain are principally due. But other 
explanations had also been suggested 1h quarters so high as to entitle 
them to great respect. For the purpose of settling this question, and, 
if possible, reducing these anomalous tides to some law, Mr. Russell ' 
had recently instituted second series of observations on the tides of the 
Firth of Forth, conducted under very careful observers, the height of the 
tide being observed simultaneously by different observers, at the different 
stations, who recorded their observations every five minutes, and con- 
tinued them unceasingly night and day. They had onlf as yet extend- 
ed over a few weeks, but already there had come out of them results of 
a decided character, so as to set at rest the question of the origin of 
these tides, and to illustrate some curious points in the history of li- 
teral tides. The tides already observed had, he thought, proved the 
accuracy of the theory he had formerly advanced on this subject. But 
it would still be desirable that these observations should be a ae 
and extended. He then proceeded to exhibit the results of the ol 
vations in a series of accurate diagrams of the tides :— 

1 efi 


A «#Xe Ll, Lg 
This diagram represents the two successive tides of a a day, as usually 


observed on the coast of Britain. -The line Az, being on the level of a 
given low water, is divided into equal portions, representing hours, mi- 
nutes, &c., and lines perpendicular to Az, namely, zy, XY, xy, propor- 
tioned to the successive heights, so that H, is high water in the 
morning, H, is high water in the evening, L, and L, being the suc- 
ceeding low waters. In this case the tides exhibit the usual form, and 
‘at the mouth of the Firth they are in tolerably close accordance with 
it. In the upper parts of the Firth they deviate from it very widely, 


as in the following diagram ad 
1 


Proceedings of the British Association. 547 


These diagrams exhibit the following changes produced in the tidal 
course. First of all, we have the tide rising to high water at h, fal- 
ling to a low water at p, rising to a second high water at H, with a 
very small low water at p, between them; then we have at the low 
waters L, and L, an elevation, and two depressions of an equally ano- 
malous kind. It also appears that the range or rise and fall of tide in- 
creases as it travels, instead of diminishing. As these observations 
were reduced to the same level, it further appeared that the high water 
mark at Stirling was higher than high water mark at Leith, by ten to 
fifteen feet. These diagrams, being compared with the plan of the 
_ Firth, serve to shew the effect of.form of channel on the wave. Mr. 
Russell then proceeded to his explanation of these anomalous pheno- 
mena. He referred to the very great progress which had recently been 
made in our knowledge of the laws and phenomena of the tides. Mr. 
Lubbock had succeeded in deriving all the principal phenomena of the 
tides, most accurately from the equilibrium theory of Bernouilli; Mr. 
Whewell had constructed, from the discussion of a multitude of simul- 
taneous observations, empirical formule by which the progress of the 
tide wave had been represented with a high degree of accuracy, and the 
theory of the tides had attained a high degree of perfection. But there 
still remained a multitude of anomalous facts for which received theory 
could not account, and amongst this number were these refractory 
double tides. Mr. Russell’s theory is this: that the tidal wave is a 
compound wave of the first order; that its phenomena are correctly re- 

resented by the wave which he has called the great wave of transla- 
tion—that this tide’s motion along our shores is correctly represented 
by this type. Now the wave of translation in ascending a channel 
whose breadth and depth vary, exhibit the following phenomena :—First, 
a velocity varying as the square root of the depth of the channel ;-se- 
cond, an increase of height with the diminution in breadth and in 
depth of the channel ; third, a dislocation of the centre, which 1s traas- 
ferred forwards in the direction of transmission according to a simple 
and well-established law. And these changes exactly correspond to 
the epoch of high water, the law of rise and fall, and the exaggeration 
of range in the Firth of Forth. Of the four successive high waters of 
each day, he has ascertained the latter tide of each pair to be normal 
and the earlier the abnormal tide. It is well known that the tide 
which brings high water to the east coast of Britain, as far at least as 
the Thames, comes round the north of Britain, and bringing high water 
to Aberdeen about noon, Leith about two, and London about twelve 


548 Proceedings of the British Association. 


o'clock at spring tides. This wave is the same which brings to the 
whole of the Firth of Forth the normal high water, and of the double 
tides the later of each pair corresponds exactly with the time as predict- 
ed by the excellent tables of Mr. Lubbock. But if we conceive the 
great southern wave, which comes up the English Channel, to continue 
its course northwards in the opposite direction to the normal tide, it 
would enter the Forth at ten o’clock, being two hours previous to the 
normal tide, due to the succeeding transit of the moon, or the tide E at 
Leith will consist of the normal tide due to transit B and the abnormal 
tide due to transit A. Now the double tides are in exact correspon- 
dence with these conditions, the abnormal tide being generally about 
two hours in advance of the normal tide. But the circumstance which 
most perfectly fixes the identity of the tides, as due to the successive 
transits A and B, is found in the character of their diurnal irregulari- 
ties. If the theory adduced be correct, the normal and the abnormal 
tides will have opposite inequalities. The observations made exactly 
correspond with this view; and so far as they go, establish the sound- 
ness of the view which has been adduced for their explanation. Another 
remarkable confirmation of this view is derived from the examination 
of the diurnal inequality of places on opposite coasts at the mouth of 
the Firth, the diurnal inequality on the south side being that due to 
the northern or normal tide, and that on the northern coast being that 
due to the abnormal or southern tide wave. At Leith both waves 
meet, and the inequalities nearly neutralize each other, and give only 
the difference of the inequalities. By the same process, using the wave 
of translation as a type of the tide wave, some further anomalies of the 
tide wave were explained, and the absence of all tide frequently observ- 
ed on opposite and adjacent coasts, as at the north of Scotland, and 
the opposite coast of Norway. These are explained by the fact that 
the lateral, transmission of the wave is slower than its transmission in 
the direction of its amplitude, so that the rapid advancement of one 
portion of the wave gives divergence to the branches, which thus sepa- 
rate and léave an interval of diminished tide or of no tide. 

. Mr. Whewell inquired, whether Mr. Russell’s explanation of the dou- 
ble tides supposed the two waves arising from the two tide waves (the 
northern and southern) to be superimposed ; and remarked, that in this 
case the difference of successive tides was so small, (only an inch or 
two) that it required a considerable series of observations to establish 
its real existence. He remarked, that the difference of the phenomena 
of tides on different parts of the shore of the same basin is very conspi- 


Proceedings of the British Association. 549 


cuous in mamy places, and appears to confirm the view of the separate 
transmission of concurrent waves presented by Mr. Scott Russell, 
but that this doctrine is still somewhat meagre; and though it appears 
to account for the phenomena in the present case, must be considered 
as short of absolute certainty—Mr. Holden observed that, we have 
on the west coast in Lancashire, a mile to the north of Southport, 
a secondary tide, in fine calm weather. The tide comes to the height, 
and then rétires a good way, and in fifteen minutes returns to the same 
height again. This secondary tide is that which comes round Ireland, 
and, passing through the Mull of Galloway, comes a little later to 
our coast.—In reply, Mr. Scott Russell stated, that he perfectly agreed 
with Mr. Whewell in thinking that it was desirable to have the subject 
ascertained by a still more extensive series of experiments, and that 
observations were now actually in progress with that view.—The Rev. 
Dr. Scoresby had frequently at sea seen several courses of waves, each 
pursuing its own track undeviatingly, although crossing the track of 
others at various angles. At the places where the crests of one series of 
waves crossed the crests of the waves of another series, there knots 
were formed, and it was this circumstance which the sailor dreaded ; for 
if the wind blew ever so violent from one’ fixed quarter, it only raised 
one series of parallel waves, and these, however lofty, were never 
dreaded by the sailors; but when the wind, after blowing violently 
from one point, shifted suddenly a few points, a new series of parallel 
waves was generated, crossing the former series, and at the knots. 
the waves accumulated the one on the other, while the trough of each 
deepened the trough of-the other between every four knots; hence the 
forms of the waves also were so much deranged that the crests top- 
ped over, and breakers were formed. These cross seas were what 
the sailor had chiefly to dread.—Mr. Russell said that the waves of 
which Dr. Scoresby spoke were the oscillatihg waves of the sea; these 
were quite unlike waves of translation, of which alone he had been 
speaking, both in their structure and in the laws which they observed.— 
The President remarked, that if Mr. Russell established the fact, which 
he had now so ably brought before the Section, of the separate indivi- 
‘duality, even when they had blended, of different waves of translation, . 
so that they were capable of again separating under their proper condi- 
tions, he conceived that he had added a new and important fact to 
those previously established on the subject. 

Mr. Dent reported ‘On his Chronometrical experiment to determine 
the difference of Meridians between Greenwich and Devonport.’—The 
following are the results:— ~~ 


550 Proceedings of the British Association. 


: mS 
Longitude of landing place on Breakwater by four chronometers, 16 33.60 west, 
Longitude of staff on Mount Wise by ‘T'rigonometrical survey,.. 16 38.1 
By mean of four chronometers, POOR R eee e eee REESE eeeseseeee 16 39.8 


Difference, .... sess 17 


Mr. Dent also reported respecting his Steel Balance Spring, coated 
with pure gold by the electro-metallurgic process; also of the perfor- 
mance of his clock, in which the impulse is given to the pendulum at 
or near the centre of percussion. By this contrivance he proposed to 
obviate the difficulty occasioned by the oil freezing at low temperatures, 
The stopping of clocks at very low temperatures had induced the As- 
tronomer Royal to invent a new escapement, which seemed to answer 
all the conditions required; an addition of twelve pounds could be 
added on to the weight of the clock, and yet a variation was produced 
in the arc of vibration amounting to only five minutes, while an addition 
of one pound to the weight of the ordinary Graham’s escapement, 
made a difference of fifteen minutes; by Mr. Airy’s plan there was 
always (if the term might be used) an extra reservoir of force; keeping 
the train of wheels always up to their work, and capable of over- 
coming the resistance occasioned by the freezing of the oil. Mr. Dent 
then explained the principle of his patent Compensation-balance. 

Mr. Frodsham made some remarks on the compensation-balance of 
chronometers, and explained a new compensation-balance of his in- 
vention.—Sir Thomas Brisbane said, that praise was due to Mr. Dent as 
the first maker who had exerted himself to determine the difference 
of meridians by chronometers. He had shewn, that by chronometers 
the difference of longitude could be had with as much certainty as 
by any other method in use, and at an expense bearing no proportion 
to that of rockets, or any other means hitherto adopted. Dr. Robinson, 
of Armagh, was at present engaged in a series of rocket observations 
in Ireland. It had been the intention of Dr. Robinson to connect 
the Irish with the Scotch observatories, and for that purpose a large 
depét of rockets had been obtained from government, and stood in 
Dumbarton Castle, but unfortunately the unfavourable weather in 
spring had prevented the execution of the design, and he had received a 
letter, within a few days, from Dr. Robinson, stating that the strong 
twilights of the present season would make it requisite to postpone the 
work until autumn: these facts would at once convince the Section 
of the superior economy and saving of time to be attained by adopting 
Mr. Dent’s suggestion of chronometrical observations—Mr. Holdem 
inquired, why the method of moon-culminating stars, which was so 


Proceedings of the British Association. 551 


simple and easy of application, was aot preferred to any other in deter- 
mining longitudes?—Sir Thomas Brisbane replied, that to say nothing 
of the heavier amount of labour required in such observations, he need 
only, in order to shew the superiority of Mr. Dent’s method, state 
the fact, that in a late attempt to connect the Royal Observatories of 
London and Paris, backed by all the instrumental accuracy and un- 
rivalled skill of the observers at these two distinguished observatories, 
300 observations on moon-culminating stars had given a mean deviating 
no less than thirty seconds from the truth.—The President observed, 
that although the method of moon-culminating stars had, in theory, 
promised considerable accuracy in the determinations of longitudes, yet 
from some unexplained difficulties it had, in practice, fallen far below 
the estimate that had been formed of it. 


FRIDAY. 


‘Report of the Committee for the Reduction of the Stars in the 
Histoire Céleste.’ 
June 16, 1842. 


I have the satisfaction of reporting that the whole of the stars in the 
Histoire Céleste have been reduced, agreeably to the method proposed : 
those only being omitted for which there are no tables of reduction, and 
that there is now remaining, of the grant for this purpose, the sum of 
91., which will not be required in the further prosecution of this portion 
of the work. But the main object of this undertaking will be defeated, 
if the catalogue be not printed for general use and information. The 
number of stars reduced is upwards of 47,000; and I have caused an 
estimate to be made of the expense of printing 500 copies in an octavo 
form. And it appears that the cost of paper and printing will be about 
4151., but that 1000 copies will cost 100/. more. There is, however, 
another expense which must be taken into the account, which is 
the copying of the catalogue, in a proper order for the press, and 
the correction of the press during the printing, which I apprehend will 
be 60/. or 701. more. Taking the whole of those estimates together, it 
would appear, that 500 copies would eost about 500/. and that 1000 
copies would cost about 600/. Should the British Association decide on 
the printing of the catalogue, I would draw up a statement of the 
method pursued in making the reductions, together with such other 
remarks as might be requisite. This probably would not add another 
sheet to the work. 


Franets Barry. 


552 _—~ Proceedings of the British Association. 


The President briefly pointed out to the Section the vast importance 
of the reduction of this valuable catalogue of stars given by Lalande, 
and the almost worthlessness of the catalogue without that reduction. 


‘Report of the Committee on the British Association Catalogue of 
Stars.’ 

I have the honor to report on the subject of this catalogue, that 
the calculations of the places of the stars, with the annual precessions, 
secular variations, and proper motions, together with the logarithms of 
the requisite constants, are completed for nearly 8,300 stars, which 
is about the number originally contemplated: that the same are fairly 
copied out for the press : and that the construction of the table of syno- 
nyms is now in progress, two-thirds af which are already completed: 
that the whole of the sum granted at the last meeting of the Asso- 
ciation has been expended, and that a further sum of 251. will be 
required for the completion of some of the above stars in peculiar 
portions, and for the final completion of the synonyms: that the above 
sum of 25/. is all that will be wanting in future, as Mr. Farley (the 
principal computer and superintendent) has undertaken to complete the 
work, ready for the press, without any further remuneration, and 
which will be ready for delivery in a few weeks. Under these circum- 
stances, I have caused an estimate to be made of the expense of print- 
ing the same: and I find, that the cost of paper and printing 500 copies 
in quarto, will be about 550/., but that 1000 copies will cost 150/. more. 

‘It will be requisite, however, to employ some one to correct the press, 
and to superintend the arrangement of the work, which will add to the 
expense here mentioned. A pretty large preface will be requisite, 
explanatory of the mode adopted in bringing up the several stars to the _ 
given epoch, and of various circumstances connected with the investiga- 
tion, as well as descriptive of the method of using the catalogue in 
its present form. But on these points I am willing to render any 
assistance in my power. 

Francis Batty. 


‘ Report of the Committee for the Reduction of Lacaille’s Stars.” 


Collingwood, June 3, 1842. 

A Committee having been appointed, consisting of myself, Mr. Heu- 
derson, and Mr. Airy, for the purpose of effecting the reduction of 
Lacaille’s stars, I have the pleasure to report, that under the superin- 
tendence of Mr. Henderson, the whole of that work is now completed, 
and the resulting catalogue, being arranged in order of right ascension, 


Proceedings of the British Association. 553 


is fairly written out and ready for press. The total number of stars re- 
duced and catalogued, is about 10,000,—the sum of 105/. remaining 
of the original grant unappropriated; which the Committee recommend 
to be applied (with such additional grant as may be needed) to the 
printing and publication of the catalogue, without which, it is evident, 
that little or no benefit can result to Astronomical Science from the 
work so accomplished. With the catalogue, and forming an introduc- 
tion to it, an account of the process pursued in the reductions, the 
constants used, and all other matter needful for a complete under- 
standing of the work, ought also to be printed, and should it be the 
pleasure of the Association to order the publication, will be furnished by 
Mr. Henderson. The estimated cost of the publication so recommend- 
ed, may be roughly stated at about 250/. for printing, paper, fe. of 
500 copies of the catalogue and introduction. 
J. F. W. Herscuen. 

The President observed, that the discussion and publication of these 
Observations upon the stars of the southern hemisphere, originall 
made by M. de Lacaille, now possessed an increased interest in cons 
quence of the recent observations of Sir John Herschel, peste 
at precisely the same locality, thus furnishing two series of observations 
upon the same stars at epochs separated by a very considerable interval 
of time. 

Col. Sabine read the Report of the Committee for the translation and 
publication of Foreign Scientific Memoirs. 

Since the last meeting of the British Association the Committee have 
. obtained and published in the ninth number of Taylor’s Foreign Sci- 
entific Journal, translations of the two following works; viz.—Gauss, 

General Propositions relating to Attractive and Repulsive Forces, acting 
in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance ;’ Dove ‘ On the Law of 
Storms.’—These translations were presented to the Committee by 
Lieut.-Col. Sabine, and as no illustrations were requisite, it has not 
been necessary to expend any portion of the grant placed at the dispo- 
sal of the Committee. 

‘On the existence of a New Neutral Point, and two Secondary 
Neutral Points,’ by Sir David Brewster.—After noticing the two neutral 
points (points where there is no polarization of light) of MM. Arago 
and Babinet, Sir D. Brewster said he had discovered a third. He also 
mentioned amongst some general results of observations continued for a 
long time, that instead of the point of maximum polarization being 
always, as supposed, at 90° from the sun, he had found it more frequent- 
ly 88° from the sun. He also described a polarimeter or polariscope, 

4B 


554 troceedings of the British Association. 


by which, he said, the rectilinear bands in polarization were seen more 
clearly than by other methods. 

‘On certain Cases of Elliptically Polarized Light,’ by Prof. Powell.— 
At the last meeting of the Association, Prof. Lloyd gave a theoretical 
investigation of certain results obtained by Sir D. Brewster relative to 
thin films from which polarized light is reflected. Besides completely 
explaining those results, Prof. Lloyd infers, that such films ought 
to give the portions of light reflected at their two surfaces differing in 
phase, and that the light should be consequently in general elliptically 
polarized. The author ofthe present paper, before he was aware of the 
investigation of Prof. Lloyd, had made many observations on the ellip- 
tical polarizatiun of light by reflection from metallic and other sur- 
faces,—the method of observation being by the well known dislocation 
of the polarized rings. Some of these experiments went merely to 
prove the existence of elliptic polarization in cases where it had not - 
previously been detected, as in certain minerals and other bodies in 
which it is seen, though of small amount. In other cases the reflecting 
surface consisted of the thin films formed on polished metal by tarnish, 
by heat, or by the galvanic process of Nobili. In these instances, a 
verification was afforded of Prof. Lloyd’s theory by direct observation. 
But, further,—these films give periodic colours; and in passing from 
one ‘int to another, the ellipticity, as disclosed by the form of the 
rings, underwent regular changes, passing from a dislocation in one 
direction to the opposite, through points of no dislocation or of plane 
polarization, the rings being alternately dark and bright centered. This 
afforded a further field for the application of theory, and Mr. Airy 
investigated a formula for the rings under these varying conditions, 
with which the phenomena are in perfect accordance: 

Mr. Scott Russell communicated to the Section the results of experi- 
ments recently made by him, and which he wished to present as a 
supplement to the former Report of a Committee on Waves. [ Atheneum, 
Nos. 517, 565, 566, 618, 675.] On former occasions he had submitted to 
the Section observations that were principally directed to the examina- 
tion of one kind of wave, but his present communication referred to 
new and beautiful phenomena of a different class. Much of the difficul- 
ty experienced in attaining clear conceptions of the phenomena and 
mechanism of waves is to be attributed to this circumstance, that we 
are apt to confound with each other, under the general name of wave 
motion, a variety of phenomena essentially different in their origin, 
their form, and their laws. This essential diversity the author of this 
paper had formerly endeavoured to establish, more especially in the 


Proceedings of the British Association. 555 


case of that species of wave which he had called the wave of trans- 
lation. In this memoir of observations made in 1834-1835, he had 
indicated the existence and described some of the phenomena of two 
other classes of waves, as also in the former printed Reports of the As- 
soeiation. But he had lately embraced an opportunity of extending his 
observations, and maturing a classification, which he now submitted to 
the Section. Of waves there seem to be three great orders, obeying 
very different laws :—1. Wave of the first order,—the wave of trans- 
lation,—is solitary, progressive, depending chiefly on the depth of 
the fluid : has two species, positive and negative. 2. The waves of the 
second order,—the oscillatory waves,—are gregarious; the time of 
oscillation depending on the amplitude of the wave: of two species, 
progressive and stationary. 3. The waves of the third order,—capillary 
waves ; gregarious. The oscillation of the superficial film of a fluid, un- 
der the influence of the capillary forces, extending to a very minute 
depth: short in duration: of two species: free, constrained. The last 
of these classes he had not before minutely examined, and to them he 
wished to draw the attention of the Section, as amongst the phenomena 
which we most frequently see, and have yet failed to examine. Although 
these waves were noticed by the author in 1834, and figured in a 
memoir of his own, which drawing had since been published by 
M. Poncelet, in his ‘ Mecanique,’ along with an announcement that he 
had observed the same waves in running water; yet they had not 
hitherto attracted notice or been thoroughly examined by Mr. Russell or 
any one else. He believed them to be the minute waves or dents indi- 
cated by the theory of Poisson; he had therefore thought it his duty to 
examine them. The waves of the third order were observed by Mr. Scott 
Russell in the following manner :—a slender brass wire was inserted 
vertically into a still fluid, and drawn in that position slowly along 
its surface. When the velocity is one foot per second the surface of the 
water exhibits a group of waves of great beauty and regularity, extend- 
ing forwards before the exciting point, and spreading on both sides of it 
in the form of a con-focal group of hyperbolas; the focal distance of 
each hyperbola, and its assymptotes being determined by the velocity 
of the motion. Althongh the exciting point was of no more than 
one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, these waves extend over several 
feet, and the diagrams exhibited the phenomena as having great regula- 
rity and beauty. Numerical results shewing the number of these waves 
in an inch of distance from the exciting point was given, and is nearly 
as follows :— 


556 _—~Proceedings of the British Association. 


Velocity of moving point. Number of Waves. 
Feet per min. in an inch. 
55 Teeereceeserecereverbenes 2 


GO ..cccccccccecccccseseuceee 3 
65 Sew eeeee eas eeeeereeeeeee 4 
72 Seem eee eee eee eeeerareeee 5 
80 SOOO eee ease eeeeeeeeee 6 
GO ccccceveccesecccccevecece 7 
108. accceccdoccccoccnsectscess & 


WWD. ccccocccccvevcccccccccese 9 

These waves were examples of capillary waves, not in free but 
constrained motion. He had generated them in a different manner, 
so as to examine them in free motion, uninfluenced by the generating 
point, and found that the capillary waves, when moving freely, have a 
constant velocity of 8} inches per second, that their duration is short, 
becoming insensible in about twelve seconds after describing a path 
not longer than eight or nine feet; in the free state, their breadth 
is very small at first, gradually increases, and just before vanishing 
~ttains an amplitude of nearly an inch. The capillary waves are among 
ae phenomena we most frequently observe. It is in generating them 
that a gentle breeze forming over the surface of a smooth lake destroys 
the translucent and reflective power of the surface; they are also to 
be observed in all cases of primary and secondary wave motion, when 
the superficial film is by any cause compressed, so as to produce corruga- 
tion, and they always disappear in about twelve seconds after the excit- 


ing cause is removed. The second order of waves had also been made 


the subject of careful observation. A mode had been discovered of 
generating these waves in large groups, so that instead of observing 
single waves, the length of one could be deduced from the measured 
length of a number, thus getting the advantage of repetition of the 
quantity observed. It had thus been finally determined, that these 
oscillating waves follow Newton’s law in so far that the velocities of 
transmission are as the square roots of the amplitudes ; but the absolute 
velocity differs from that of Newton, so that, instead of having the 
wave whose period is a second of an amplitude =3.26, it is found 
to be =3.57. The velocities determined are as follows :— 


Velocity of transmission 
of wave. Amplitude, 
Feet per second. Feet. 
p BOL ccccccccscccnscceccoss BOO 
B16 .ccccccvecccccccccsccs 294 
3.29 *eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 3.125 


- * 
ee en” ee 


Proceedings of the British Association. 557 


Feet per second. Feet. 
DOL Vessesessecsencees coos 3,26 
Ob ertasecusetccsskers>s 3.57 
B72 cocccvecescccccsovcses SIS 
SBA > avd sevccssccecesscees 4.20 


4.62 Perrseseeeerecosesessees 6.25 id 


He had also completed sume further examinations of the -wave of 
the first order, and could now present the subject in a tolerable 
complete form. 

Prof. Braschmann inquired whether he was to understand Mr. Russell 
as saying, that the very beautiful method described by him, of finding the 
velocity of a stream, gave merely the velocity of the surface, or the 
mean velocity of the section.—Mr. Russell replied, merely the velo- 
city of the surface.—Prof. Braschmann said, that in that case it could 

“not be made available in the present state of our knowledge for enabling 
us to determine the mean velocity, which was what, in practice, we 
required, as no known relation existed between it and superficial 
velocity; depending as it did for its value on the configuration of 
the canal, atid form and magnitude of the section. There existed no 
branch of hydraulics in a more imperfect and unsatisfactory state 
than this; all the approximations at present used being very rude 
and uncertain in their application. Prof. Whewell inquired whether Mr. 
Russell found the depth to which the disturbing wire was inserted 
into the fluid to be of any consequence.—Mr. Russell replied, not 
the slightest; the merest contact of the wire to the fluid produced 
precisely the same phenomena as its deepest insertion.—Prof. Whewell 
inquired how the hinder part of the curve, which these capillary waves 
formed at’ slow velocities, disappeared as the velocities increased.—Mr. 
Russell replied, that the hinder part of the curve drew up to the exciting 
wire, and at length, asthe lateral branches extended, it appeared as 
if obliterated.—Dr. Scoresby inquired whether, as the number of waves 
increased with the increase of velocity, those which were most remote 
from the exciting wire did not diminish in height; and if so, whether 
they did not also ,increase in breadth or distance between summit 
and summit.—Mr. Russell replied, that to this point he had paid 
the earliest and most minute attention, so that he was able to assert, 
with the utmost confidence, that although the waves more distant from 
the exciting wire diminished in height, yet the wave length, or distance 
from summit to summit, was everywhere, at the same velocity, equal ; 
so that in equal spaces, taken at whatever distance from the wire, 


558 Proceedings of the British Association. 


the same number were always to be found, so long as the velocity 
remained unchanged. 


THURSDAY. 
Section B.—CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY. 


The venerable President sat on the right hand of the chair, and 
left the active duties of the office to Prof. Grabam. 

Dr. Playfair read an abstract of Prof. Liebig’s Report on Organic 
Chemistry, applied to Physiology and Pathology. 

Dr. Playfair said, that Prof. Liebig had been requested, some few 
years ago, to apply himself to the consideration of questions in vegeta- 
ble and animal physiology. The Professor's first Report had been read 
at the meeting of the Association at Glasgow, in the year 1840. 
The second he was about to bring before their notice. And in a third, 
the Professor intended to apply the principles of organic chemistry 
to diet and dietetics ; and under this head would be comprised the nu- 
tritiveness of particular vegetables in the fattening of cattle. The first 
part of Prof. Liebig’s Report consisted of the examination of the 
" processes employed in the nutrition and reproduction of the various 
parts of the animal economy. In vegetables, as well as in animals, we 
recognize the existence of a force in a state of rest. It is the primary 
cause of growth or increase in mass of the body, in wh‘ch it resides. 
By the action of external influences, such as by pressure of air and 
moisture, its condition of static equilibrium is disturbed; and enter- 
ing into a state of motion or activity, it occupies itself in the pro- 
duction of forms. This force has received the appellation of vital force 
or vitality. Vitality, though residing equally in the animal and vegeta- 
ble kingdoms, produces its effects by widely different instruments. 
Plants subsist entirely upon manures belonging to inorganic nature. 
Atmospheric air, the source whence they derive their nutriment, is 
considered to be a mineral by the most distinguished mineralogists. 
All substances, before they can form food for plants, must be resolved 
into inorganic matter. But animals, on the other hand, require highly 
organized atoms for nutriment. They can only subsist upon parts 
of an organism. They possess within them a vegetative life, as plants 
do, by means of which they increase in size, without consciousness 
on their part; but they are distinguished from vegetables, by their 
faculties of locomotion and sensation—faculties acting through a ner- 
vous apparatus. The true vegetative life of animals is in no way depen- 
dent upon this apparatus, for it proceeds when the means of voluntary 


Proceedings of the British Association. 559 


motion and sensation are destroyed; and the most energetic volition is 
incapable of exerting any influence on the contractions of the heart, 
on the motion of the intestines, or on the process of secretion. All 
parts of the animal body are produced from the fluid circulating within 
its organism, by virtue of vitality, which resides in every organ. A 
destruction of the animal body is constantly proceeding. Every motion, 
every manifestation of farce, is the result of the transformation of 
the structrre, or of its substance. Every conception, every mental af- 
fection, is followed by changes in the chemical nature of the secreted 
fluids. Every thought, every sensation, is accompanied by a change in 
the composition of the substance of the brain. It is to supply the waste 
thus produced that food is necessary. Food is either applied in the 
increase of the mass of a structure (that is, in nutrition), or it is appli- 
ed in the replacement of a structure wasted (that is, in reproduction). 
The primary condition for the existence of life is the reception and 
assimilation of food. But there is another condition equally impor- 
tant—the continual absorption of oxygen from the atmosphere. All 
vital activity results from the mutual action of the oxygen of the 
atmosphere and the elements of the food. All changes in matter 
_/ proceeding in the body are essentially chemical, although they are not 
unfrequently increased or diminished in intensity by the vital force. 
The influence of poisons and remedial agents on the animal economy 
proves, that the chemical combinations and decompositions proceeding 
therein, and which manifest themselves in the phenomena of vitality, 
may be influenced by bodies having a well-defined chemical action. 
Vitality is the ruling agent by which the chemical powers are made to 
subserve its purposes; but the acting forces are chemical. It is 
from this view and no other, that we ought to view vitality. According 
to Lavoisier, an adult man takes into his system, every year, 837 lb. of 
oxygen, and yet he does not increase in weight. What, then, becomes 
of the enormous quantity of oxygen introduced in the course of the 
_ Year into the human system? The carbon and hydrogen of certain parts 
of the body have entered into combination with the oxygen introduced 
through the lungs and through the skin, and have been given out 
in the form of carbonic acid, and the vapour of water. At every moment, 
with every expiration, parts of the body are thus removed, and are 
emitted into the atmosphere. No part of the oxygen inspired is again 
expired as such. Now it is found that an adult inspires 32} oz. of oxy- 
gen daily. This will convert the carbon of 24 lb. of blood into carbonic 
acid. He must, therefore, take as much nutriment as will supply this 
daily loss; and, in fact, it is found that he does so; for the average 


‘ 


560 P. li. S of the Bi te. h A e e, 


amount of carbon in the daily food of an adult man, taking mode- 
rate exercise, is 14 oz., which require 37 oz. of oxygen for their conver- 
sion into carbonic acid. But it is obvious, as the inspired oxygen can 
be removed only by its conversion into carbonic acid and water, 
that_the amount of food necessary for the support of the animal body, 
must be in direct ratio to the quantity of oxygen taken into the system. 
Thus a child, in whom the organs of respiration are naturally in a state 
of great activity, requires food more frequently, and in greater propor- 
tions to its bulk, than an adult, and is also less patient of hunger. A 
bird, deprived of food, dies on the third day; whilst a serpent, which 
inspires a mere:trace of oxygen, can live without food for three months. 
The capacity of the chest in an animal, is aconstant quantity. We there- 
fore, inspire the same volume of air, whether at the pole or the equator. 
But the weight of the air, and consequently of the oxygen, varies with 
the temperature. Thus an adult man takes into the system daily 
46,000 cubic inches of oxygen, which if the temperature be 779, weigh 
324 oz. ; but, when the temperature sinks down to the freezing point 
(32°), it-will weigh 35 oz. Thus an adult in our climate in winter 
may inhale 35 oz. of. oxygen ; in Sicily he would inspire only 28} oz. ; 
and, if in Sweden, 36 oz. Hence we inspire more carbon in cold wea- 
ther, when the barometer is high, than we do in warm weather; and we 
must consume more or less carbon in our food in the same proportion. 
In our own climate, the difference between summer and winterin the car- 
bon expired, and therefore necessary for food, is as much as an eighth, 
Even when we consume equal weights of food, an infinitely wise Crea- 
tor has so adjusted it as to meet the exigencies of climate. Thus the fruit 
on which the inhabitants of the south delight to feed, contains only 
12 per cent. of carbon, whilst the bacon and train oil enjoyed by 
the inhabitants of the Arctic regions, contain from 66 to 80 per cent. of 
the same element. Now the mutual action between the elements of 
food and the oxygen of the air, is the source of animal heat. _All living 
creatures, whose existence depends on the absorption of oxygen, pos- 
sess within themselves a source of heat, independent of the medium in 
which they exist. This heat, in Professor Liebig’s opinion, is wholly 
due to the combustion of the carbon and hydrogen contained in the 
food which they consume. Animal heat exists only in those parts of 
the body through which arterial blood (and with it oxygen in solution) 
circulates. The carbon and hydrogen of food, in being converted by 
oxygen into carbonic acid and water, must give out as much heat as if 
they were burned in the open air. The only difference is, that this 
heat is spread over unequal spaces of time; but the actual amount 


Proceedings of the British Association. 561 


is always the same. The temperature of the human body is the same in 
the torrid as in the frigid zone. But, as the body may be considered in 
the light of a heated vessel, which cools with an accelerated rapidity the 
colder the surrounding medium, it is obvious that the fuel necessary to 
retain its heat must vary in different climates. Thus less heat is neces- 
sary in. Palermo, where the temperature of the air is that of the human 
body, than in the Polar regions, where it is about 90° lower. In the 
animal body, the food is the fuel; and, by a proper supply of oxy- 
gen, we obtain the food given out during its combustion in winter. 
When we take exercise in a cold atmosphere, we respire a greater 
amount of oxygen, which implies a more abundant supp?y of carbon in 
the food; and, by taking this food, we form the most efficient protection 
against the cold. A starving man is soon frozen to death; and every 
one knows that the animals of prey of the Arctic regions, are far more 
voracious than those of the torrid zone. Our clothing is merely an 
equivalent for food; and the more warmly we are clothed, the less food 
we require. Were we to go destitute of clothes, like certain savage 
tribes,—or if, in hunting or fishing, we were exposed to the same 
degree of cold as the Samoyedes,—we could with ease consume 10]b. of 
flesh, and, perhaps a dozen tallow candles into the bargain, as warmly 
clad travellers have related, with astonishment, of those people. Then’ 
could we take the same quantity of brandy or blubber of fish; without bad’ 
effects, and learn to appreciate the delicacy of train oil. We thus perceive 
an explanation of the apparently anomalous habits of different nations. 
The maccaroni of the Italian, and the train oil of the Greenlander 
and the Russian, are not adventitious freaks of state, but necessary 
articles fitted to administer to their comfort in the climates in which they 
have been born. The colder the region, the more combustible must the 
food be.. The Englishman in Jamaica perceives with regret the disap- 
pearance of his appetite, which, in England, had been a constant recur- 
_ Ying source of enjoyment. By the use of aromatics, he creates an 
artificial appetite, and eats as much food as he did at home. But he 
thus unfits himself for the climate in which he is placed; for sufficient 
oxygen does not enter his system to combine with the carbon consum- 
ed; and the heat of the climate prevents him taking exercise to increase 
the number of his respirations. The carbon of the food is therefore 
forced into other channels, and disease results. England, on the other 
hand, sends her dyspeptic patients to southern climates. In our own 
land their impaired digestive organs are unable to fit the food for that 
state in which it best unites with the oxygen of the air, which therefore 


acts on the organs of respiration themselves, thus producing pulmonary 
Cc 


562 Proceedings of the British Association. 


complaints. But when they are removed to warmer climates, they absorb 
less oxygen, and take less food ; and the diseased organs of digestion have 
sufficient power to place the diminished amount of food in equilibrium 
with the respired oxygen. Just as we would expect from these views, in 
our own climate, hepatic diseases or diseases arising from excess of 
carbon, are more prevalent in summer, and in winter pulmonic diseases, 
or those arising from an excess of oxygen. The Professor then went on 
to disprove the notion, that animal heat is due to nervousinfluence, and 
not to combustion—an error which had its origin in supposing that the 
combustion proceeds in the blood itself. He also shewed, that animal 
heat must not ‘e ascribed to the contraction of the muscles, The Pro- 
fessor proceeds to prove, that the heat evolved by the combustion of 
carbon in the body is sufficient to account for the phenomena of animal 
heat. He shews that the 14 ounces of carbon which are daily convert- 
ed ini carbonic acid, in an adult, disengage no less than 197.477° of 
heat ; a quantity which would convert 241b. of water, at the temperature 
of the body, into vapour. And if we assume that the quantity of water 
vaporized through the skin and lungs amounts to 3lb., then we have 
still 146.380° of heat to sustain the temperature of the body. And 
when we take into calculation the heat evolved by the hydrogen of the 
food, and the small specific heat possessed by the organs generally, no 
doubt could be entertained that the heat evolved in the process of com- 
bustion, to which the food is subjected in the body, is amply sufficient 


to explain the constant temperature of the body. From what has pre- 


ceded, it is obvious that the amount of carbon consumed in food ought 
to depend on the climate, density of air, and occupation of the indivi- 
dual. A man will require less carbon when'pursuing a sedentary occupa- 
tion than when he is engaged in active exeyeise. Prof. Liebig, having 
thus discussed the source of animal heat, proceeds next to consider what 
are the ingredients in the food, which may properly be considered to be 
nutritious. Physiologists conceive that the various organs in the body 
have originally been formed from blood. If this be admitted, it is 
obvious that those substances only can be considered as nutritious which 
are susceptible of being transformed into blood. The Professor then 
entered upon an examination of the composition of blood, and of the 
identity in chemical constitution of fibrine and albumen. The nutritive 
process is simplest-in the case of the carnivora. This class of animals 
live on the blood and flesh of the graminivora, whose blood and flesh is 
identical with their own. In a chemical sense, therefore, a carnivorous 
animal, in taking food, feeds upon itself: for the nutriment is identical 


in composition with its own tissues. The Professor then inquired | 


OO a 


Proceedings of the British Association. 563 


from what constituents of vegetables the blood of the graminivorous 
animals is produced. The nitrogenized compounds of vegetables form- 
ing the food of graminivorous animals are called vegetable fibrine, vege- 
table albumen, and vegetable caseine. Now, analysis has led to the 
interesting result, that they are exactly of the same composition in 100 
parts; and, what is still more extraordinary, they are absolutely identi- 
cal with the chief constituents of the blood—animal fibrine and animal 
albumen. By identity, be it remarked, we do not imply similarity, but 
absolute identity, even as far as their inorganic constituents are con- 
cerned. These considerations shewed the beautiful simplicity of nutri- 
tion. In point of fact, vegetables produce, in their inorganism, the 
blood of all animals. Animal and vegetable life are therefore most 
closely connected. The Professor has still to account for the use of the 
substances in food which are absolutely destitute of nitrogen; but which 
we know are absolutely necessary to animal life. In all these we find a 
great excess of carbon, and but very little oxygen. By a train of admi- 
rable reasoning, the Professor arrives at the interesting conclusion, that 
they are solely exhausted in the production of animal heat, being convert- 
ed by the oxygen of the air into carbonic acid and water. This portion 
of the report contained an ingenious and important view of the use of 
bile in the animal economy, the truth of which quantitative physiology 
dare not deny. When exercise is denied to graminivorous and omnivor- 
ous animals, this is tantamount to a deficient supply of oxygen. Tbe 
carbon of the food not meeting with sufficient oxygen to consume it, it 
passes into the compounds containing a large excess of carbon and — 
deficiency of oxygen; or, in other words, fat is produced. . Liebig 
concludes, that fat is altogether an abnormal and unnatural production, 
arising from the adaptation of nature to circumstances, and not of 
circumstances to nature—altogether arising from a disproportion of 
carbon in the food to that of oxygen respired by the lungs, or absorbed 
by the skin. Wild animals in a state of nature do not contain fat. The 
Bedouin, or Arab of the Desert, who shews with pride his lean, muscu- 
lar, sinewy limbs, is altogether free from fat. And the Professor points 
out the diseases arising from this cause. From all that has transpired, 
we may sum up the nutritious elements of food as follows. The ingre- 
dients adapted for the formation of the blood, and which the Professor 
calls the plastic elements of nutrition, are as follows :—Vegetable 
fibrine, vegetable albumen, vegetable caseine, anital flesh, animal 
blood. The other ingredients of food being fitted to retain the tompe- 
rature of the body, he calls the elements of respiration. They are—fat, 
starch, gum, cane sugar, grape sugar, sugar of milk, pectine, bassorine, 


564 Proceedings of the British Associativun. 


beer, wine, spirits. These are Prof. Liebig’s general principles of 
nutrition. The second part of the work consists of details, in which he 
examines the chemical processes engaged in the production of bile, 
of urea, uric acid and its compounds, as well as of cerebral and nervous 
substance. The conclusions to which he has arrived on these subjects 
are of such great and startling interest, that Dr. Playfair said, he dared 
not venture to make an abstract of them, without entering into the calcu- 
lations with which they were accompanied in the Professor's explanatory 
remarks on digestion, he ascribes a singular function to saliva. This 
fluid possesses the remarkable property of enclosing air in the shape of 
froth, in a far higher degree even than soap suds. This air, by means of 
the saliva, accompanies the food into the stomach, and there its oxygen 
enters into combination with the constituents of the food, whilst its 
nitrogen is again given out through the lungs or skin. The longer diges- 
tion continues, the greater is the quantity of saliva, and consequently 
of air, which enters the stomach. Rumination, in certain graminivor- 
ous animals, has plainly for one object a renewed and repeated intro- 
duction of oxygen. The Professor further touches upon the use of tea 
and coffee as an article of food. Recent chemical research has proved, 
that the active principles of tea and coffee—viz. teine and caffeine—are 
absolutely one and the same body, perfectly identical in every respect. 
The action of tea and coffee on the system must be therefore the same. 
How is it that the practice of taking them has become necessary 
to whole nations? Caffeine (teine) is a highly nitrogenized body. Bile, 
as is well known, contains an essential nitrogenized ingredient— 
taurine. Now, Prof. Liebig considers, that caffeine goes to the produc- 
tion of this taurine; and if an infusion of tea contains only one-tenth of 
a grain of caffeine, still if it contribute, in point of fact, to the formation 
of bile, the action even of such a quantity cannot be looked upon as 
a nullity. Neither can it be denied, that, in case of using an excess 
of non-azotized food, or deficiency of motion, which is required to 
cause the change of matter in the tissues, and thus to yield nitrogenized 
matter of the bile, that in such a condition the state of health may 
be benefited by the use of tea or coffee, by which may be furnish- 
ed the nitrogenized product produced in the healthy state of the 
body, and essential to the production of an important element of respira- 
tion. The American Indian, with his present habits of living solely 
on flesh, could not with any comfort use tea as an article of food; 
for his tissues waste with such rapidity that, on the contrary, he has 
to take something to retard this waste. And it is worthy of remark, 
that he has discovered in tobacco smoke a means of retarding the 


felt 


Proceedings of the British. Association. 565 


change of matter in the tissues of his body, and thereby of making 
hunger more endurable. Nor can he withstand the captivation of 
brandy, which, acting as an element of respiration, puts a stop to the 
change of matter, by performing the function which properly belongs 
to the products of the metamorphosed tissues. The third part of 
Prof. Liebig’s Report treats of the recondite laws of the phenomena 
of motion. As it is principally of a speculative character, we can 
pass this over. The Professor concludes his communication by two 
chapters: one on the theory of disease; the other on the theory of 
respiration. The whole life of animals consists of a conflict between 
chemical forces and the vital powers. In the normal state of the body 
of an adult, both stand in equilibrium. Every mechanical or chemical 
agency which disturbs the restoration of this equilibrium is a cause 
of disease. Disease occurs when the resistance offered by the vital 
force is weaker than the acting cause of disturbance. Death is that 
condition in which chemical or mechanical powers gain the ascendancy, 
and all resistance on the part of the vital force ceases. Every abnor- 
mal condition of supply or waste may be called disease. It is evident 
that one and the same cause of disease—that is, of disturbance—will 
have different effects, according to the period of life. A cause of 
disease, added to the cause of waste, may in old age annihilate the 
resistance of the vital powers, or, in other words, occasion death; 


. while, in the adult state, it may produce only a disproportion between 


supply and waste; and in infancy only an abstract state of health, i. e. 
an equilibrium between supply and waste. Prof. Liebig argues, from 
what has preceded, that a deficiency of resistance.in a living part to the 
cause of waste is in fact a deficiency of resistance to the action of the 
oxygen of the atmosphere. The Professor’s theory may be compared 
to a self-regulating steam-engine. The body, in regard to the produc- 
tion of heat and of force, acts just like one of those machines. With 
the lowering of the external temperature, the respiratition becomes 
deeper and more frequent; oxygen is supplied in greater quantity, 
and of greater density ; the change of matter is increased, and more 
food must be supplied, if the temperature of the body is to remain 
unchanged. It has been proved, that iron is not necessary to the 


‘colouring matter of the blood, but that it forms an essential constituent 


of blood globules. These globules, it is well known, take no part 
in nutrition. Prof. Liebig conceives, that the iron is the great means 
of conveying to the lungs the carbonic acid formed in the system ; 
and he has made a calculation, that the iron contained in the body 


566 Proceedings of the British Association. 


could actually convey twice as much carbonic acid as is expelled 
daily from the system. 

Mr. Solly read a paper by Prof. Schénbein, ‘On the Electrolyzing 
Power of a Simple Voltaic Circle.’ The effect of various experiments 
made by the learned author went to establish the fact, that voltaic 
effects may be produced without the solution of a metal, the usual 
source of voltaic actions, but by nitric and various other acids. - 

Mr. William Blyth read a paper ‘ On the Manufacture of Sulphuric 
Acid.’—The ordinary process of manufacturing sulphuric acid, by in- 
troducing into a leaden chamber a mixture of sulphurous acid, red 
nitrous fumes, and common air, has been long practised. Like many 
other improvements in the arts, it seems to have been more the result 
of chance than the application of scientific skill; and chemists remain- 
ed long in the dark as to the true nature of the changes which took 
place in the vitriol chamber. The first satisfactory explanation was 
given to the world by Clement and Desormes, in 1806. These chemists 
discovered the white crystalline compound which is now known to 
_ be formed when sulphurons acid, red nitrous fumes, common air, and 
the vapour of water, are mixed together, and exposed to a sufficiently 
low temperature. They also observed the remarkable property which 
it possesses of being decomposed when put into water, and of being 
resolved into nitric oxide and sulphuric acid. This fact they applied to 
explain the important part performed by the nitric oxide, in enabling 
the sulphurous acid to be still farther oxydized at the expense of the 
oxygen in the common air. The formation of the crystalline com- 
pound in the leaden chamber, its decomposition by the weak acid at 
the bottom of the chamber, and the evolution of nitric oxide to be 
again changed into red nitrous fumes by the oxygen of the common 
air,—is the favourite theory of chemists at the present time, and seems 
to be now generally admitted. M. Adolph Rose, of Berlin, has re- 
cently published a paper on the ‘ Combination of Hydrated Sulphuric 
Acid with Nitric Oxide.’ The object of the paper is to shew that the 
impurity in the sulphuric acid of this country, which has hitherto been 
considered to be nitric acid, is not nitric acid, but a combination of 
sulphuric acid and nitric oxide. He also shews, that this compound of 
sulphuric acid and nitric oxide is identical with the white crystalline 
formed in the vitriol chamber. There are some facts mentioned in this 
important paper which deserve attention; and it is more particularly 
_ the object of these remarks to bring them under the notice of those 
members of|the Association who may be interested in the manufacture 


eo 


Proceedings of the British Association. 567 


of this important acid. It is well known, that, in the making of 
sulphuric acid, when the acid in the chamber reaches the specific 
gravity of 1.450, it is impossible to go beyond this point without in- 
creasing the proportion of nitre; and even with an increased proportion 
of nitre, the product of acid is less than it ought to be. The reason is, 
that sulphuric acid, of the specific gravity of 1.450, acts very slowly 
in decomposing the white compound; and acid of the specific gravity of 
1,500 will not act upon it at all, but, on the contrary, it has a tendency 
to dissclve and retain it.—Mr. Blyth demonstrated these facts by 
experiments.—M. Adolph Rose states, that when sulphuric acid, con-. 
taining the compound, is concentrated by distillation, at one part of 
the process pure acid comes over; and when the acid in the retort 
has reached the specific gravity of 1.84, jt will be found, if examined, to 
contain nitric oxide. It follows from this, that, when sulphuric acid is 
raised in the chamber above the specific gravity of 1,500, it will. be 
found, after being rectified, more or less contaminated with the nitrous 
compound. He made a number of trials, to ascertain the effect of 
the nitrous compound upon indigo. Some of the compound was dis- 
solved, by the aid of heat, in sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1.600, 
- To this solution he added some drops of a strong solution of indigo 
in pure rectified sulphuric acid.’ The blue colour of the indigo was 
immediately destroyed. M. Adolph Rose also states, that, if rectified 
sulphuric acid, which is contaminated either with nitric acid or nitric 
oxide, be diluted with twice its bulk of water, and concentrated by dis- 
tillation till it reaches the specific gravity of 1.84, the concentrated acid 
will be found to have been freed from both of these compounds. It 
follows, from this experiment, that, in order to obtain sulphuric acid 
sufficiently pure to be used in the preparation of sulphate of indigo, 
it would only be necessary to draw the acid from the chamber at a low 
specific gravity, not higher perhaps than 1.300 or 1.350. Rectified 
sulphuric acid, prepared from acid drawn from the chambers at the 
above strength, if found to be perfectly free from all nitrogeneous com- 
pounds, will be a great acquisition to the woollen dyer in the prepara- 
tion of his sulphate of indigo; and when we consider the large quanti- 
ties of acid used for this purpose, it will be admitted to be a subject 
of great importance. 


Section C.—GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 


1. ‘On the Physical Structure of the Appalachian Chain, as exempli- 
fying the laws which have regulated the elevation of great Mountain 
Chains generally,’ by Professors H. D. Rogers and W. B. Rogers. 


568 _ Proceedings of the British Association. 


The Appalachian Chain of North America is described by the authors 
as consisting of a series of very numerous parallel ridges or anticlinal 
lines, forming a mountain belt generally 100 miles in breadth and 
nearly 1,200 miles in length, stretching from the South-eastern angle of 
Lower Canada to Northern Alabama. 1. The strata which compose 
this chain are the American representatives of the Silurian, Devonian, 
and Carboniferous systems of Europe, united into one group of con- 
formable deposits. The general direction of the chain being N.E. and 
S.W., there is a remarkable predominance of S.E. dips throughout its . 
entire length, especially in the south-eastern or most disturbed side 
of the belt. Proceeding north-westwards, or away from the quarter 
of greatest disturbance, N.W. dips begin to appear; at first few and 
very steep, afterwards frequent, and gradually less inclined. 2. The 
authors consider the frequency of dips to the S.E. or towards the region 
of intrusive rocks, accounted for by the nature of the flexures, which 
are not symmetric, the strata being more inclined on the N.W. than on 
S.E. of each anticlinal, amounting at length to a complete folding under 
and inversion, especially on the S.E. side of the chain, where the 
contortions are so closely packed as to present a uniform dip to the S.E. _ 
These folds gradually open out, the N.W. side or inverted portion of 
each flexure becomes vertical, or dips abruptly to the N.W.; proceeding 
farther in this direction the dips gradually lessen, the anticlinals and 
troughs becoming rounder and flatter, and the intervals between the 
axes constantly increasing till they entirely subside at about 150 miles 
from the region of gneiss and intrusive rocks. The authors express 
their belief that a similar obliquity of the anticlinal axes will be 
found to obtain in ali great mountain chains, their planes always 
dipping towards the region of chief disturbance. The inverted flexures 
are regarded by the authors as exhibiting simply a higher development 
of the same general conditions. The passage of inverted flexure into 
faults is stated to occur frequently, and invariably along the N.W. side 
of the anticlinal or S.E. of the synclinal axes; these dislocations, like 
the axes maintain a remarkable parallelism. 3. The axes of the Appa- 
lachian chain are distributed in natural groups, the members of each 
group agreeing approximately in length, curvature, amount of flexure, 
and distance apart. Nine principal groups are described, in five of “ig 
which the axes are straight, whilst the four which alternate with them 
are curved; in two of the curved divisions the line of strike is convex 
to the N.W., in the other two it is convex to the S.E. In every part of 
the chain the axes, whether curved or straight, maintain an ap- 
proximate parallelism to those of their own division, and in the minor 


fC e~ 


ae 


Proceedings of the British Association. 569 


groups within the large divisions the parallelism is still more exact. 
The axes vary in length from insignificant flexures to lines frequently 
100 and sometimes 150 miles in length, and they deviate very little 
from a rectilinear course, or, as the case may be, from a uniform rate 
of curvature. Some of the longer curved axes exhibit a difference of 
strike at their extremities of 50 in a distance of 90 miles, and the 
rectilinear axes of different divisions vary in their line of direction as 
much as 60°, As all the flexures were undoubtedly formed at one 
period, the authors consider these facts at variance with M. Beaumont’s 
hypothesis, that dislocations of the same geological age are parallel to 
one and the same meridian. 4. The general declension in level of the 
Appalachian strata towards the N. W., or away from the quarter of 
greatest local disturbance, is considered important by the authors in its 
bearing upon the subject of the elevation of broad continental tracts. 
The authors next proceed to notice memoirs, describing what they 
consider similar phenomena in Europe. 

Theory of flexure and elevation of Strata. —From the consideration of 
the preceding general facts the authors have arrived at a theory which 
they conceive applicable to the bending and elevation of Strata gene- 
rally. They state that the oblique form of all normal anticlinal and 
synclinal flexures “indicates that the force producing the dips was com- 
pounded of a wave-like oscillation and a tangential pressure ;’—a 
purely vertical force exerted simultaneously or successively along pa- 
rallel lines could only produce a series of symmetrical flexures, whilst 
tangential pressure, unaccompanied by a vertical force, would result 
in irregular contortions dependent on local irregularities in the amount 
of resistance. The alternate upward and downward movements ne- 
cessary to enable the tangential force to bend the strata into a series 
of flexures, are such “as would arise from a succession of actual waves 
rolling in a given direction beneath the earth’s crust.” The authors 
observe that it would be difficult to account for the formation of grand 
yet simple flexures, by a repetition of feeble tangential movements, or 
by “a merely upward pressure, unaccompanied with pulsations on the 
surface of a fluid; and if this force be feeble and oft repeated, it is 
difficult to understand how it could return always to the same lines 
until they became conspicuous flexures.” ‘The authors suppose the 
strata of the region in question to have been subjected to excessive 
upward tension arising from the expansion of molten matter and gase- 


‘ous vapours; the tension would at length be relieved by many parallel 


fissures formed in succession, through which much elastic vapour 
would escape, and, by thus removing the pressure adjacent to the lines 
kop 


570 Proceedings of the British Association. 


of fracture, produce violent pulsations on the surface of the fluid below. 
This oscillatory movement would communicate a series of temporary 
flexures to the overlying crust, which would be rendered permanent 
by the intrusion of molten matter into the fractured strata originating 
the tangential force by which the flexures received their peculiar — 
character before described. The authors do not deem it essential to 
this explanation that, in the production of axes of elevation, the strata 
should be permanently fractured to the surface. Fissures sufficient 
for the escape of vast bodies of elastic vapour, might open and close 
again superficially ; and the strata may often be supported in their 
new position by subterranean injections not visible on the surface. 

Identity of the Undulations which produced the Axes, with the wave-like 
motion of the Earth in Earthquakes.—The authors suppose all earth- 
quakes to consist in oscillations of the earth’s crust propagated with 
extreme rapidity ; and they ascribe this movement to a sudden change 
of vertical pressure on the surface of an interior fluid mass, throwing it 
into wave-like undulations, such as would produce permanent flexures 
in the strata if more energetic, accompanied by the formation of dykes. 
The successive earthquakes of any region usually proceed from the 
same quarter, and this must also have been the case with the move- 
ments which gave rise to the parallelism of contiguous anticlinal lines. 
In illustration of the power of producing permanent lines of elevation 
which earthquakes have exhibited in modern times, the authors in- 
stance the Uliah Bund, an elevated mound extending 50 miles across 
the eastern arm of the Indus, which was the result of the great earth- 
quake of Cutch in 1819; and another case recorded in ‘Darwin’s 
Journal of Travels in South America,’ h'~h a traveller described as a 
line of elevation of the strata, crossing a small rivulet, and shown in 
the fact that he found himself going down hill while ascending the dry 
deserted channel. 

Date of the Appalachian Axes.—The authors describe the elevation 
of this chain as simultaneous with the termination of the carboniferous 
deposits of the United States, and as the cause which probably arrest- 
ed the further progress of the coal formation. With one local excep- 
tion, on the Hudson, the whole series seems to have been deposited 
conformably, without any emergence of the land. That the elevation, 
did not take place later, is shewn by the undisturbed condition of the 
overlying beds, approximately of the age of the European new réd 
sandstone. The elevation of the chief part of the great belt of meta- 
morphic_rocks on the S.E. side of the chain is referred to the same 
great movement. In conclusion, the authors remark that an incom- 


Proceedings of the British Association. 571 


parably greater change in the physical geography of North America, 
and perhaps of the globe, seems to have occurred at the close of the 
carboniferous epoch than at any previous or subsequent period; and 
they consider these changes, and the effect produced by them on the 
organic world, as affording some of the highest subjects of geological 
investigation. 

Mr. Murcuison confirmed the views given by the authors of the 
paper, of the great break in the series of geological deposits which 
occurs between the Palzeozoic rocks and later deposits ; the coincidence 
in the direction of some great chains in Europe and America, belong- 
ing to the same geological period, was very striking. He was not 
prepared to give any opinion upon Prof. Rogers’s undulatory theory.— 
Sir H. T. Dexa Becue described the general character of anticlinal 
and synclinal lines, and stated, that whilst contortions of the strata 
sometimes assumed the character of mountain chains, at other times 
they occupied large tracts of low ground, as in the comparatively flat 
country of South Wales. He then made some observations on the 
space occupied by masses of rock over certain areas; the older rocks 
of England, if flattened, would occupy a much greater space than at 
present; and the area of the Alps and Jura would be greatly extended 
if all their contortions were spread out. The phenomena described in 
the Appalachian chain, so far as small differences in the direction of 
the anticlinals were concerned, did not at all affect the brilliant theory 
proposed by M. Elie de Beaumont; the object of the geologist was 
to trace the correspondence in the direction of the great lines of eleva- 
tion, and in this broad view the N.E. and S.W. direction of great part 
of the European rocks agreed remarkably with the direction of the 
Appalachian chain. He did not consider the pulsation of molten 
matter, as described by the authors of the paper, necessary to account 
for the flexures so very numerous in the strata of mountainous districts, 
but not confined to them, and in many instances unaccompanied by 
the intrusion of igneous rocks. The only force necessary for the pro- 
duction of such flexures and contortions was, the tangential or lateral 
pressure, in order to compress the strata into a smaller space. Con- 
tortions were formerly accounted for by a supposed secular ‘diminution 
in the volume of the earth; the crust was compelled to accommodate 
itself to the diminished surface arising from the contraction of the mass. 
But it-was-to- be remembered, that these contortions were not common 
to all the world: in Russia, the strata presented one even bend over a 
wide area. Our knowledge of America, and much of the rest of the 
world, was imperfect; and untii we were much better acquainted with 


512 Proceedings of the British Association. 


the distribution and character of contorted strata all over the globe, 
we should not be able to account very rationally for the figures they 
assumed.—Mr. Sedgwick pointed out those circumstances in the struc- 
ture of the Appalachian chain which accorded with previous observa- 
tions in Europe; the persistency of the strike of the strata, the parallel- 
ism of the anticlinal and synclinal lines, and the diminution in the 
amount of disturbance-as the strata recede from the district where the 
greatest force was applied. He did not allow that the circumstance of 
curvilinear elevations was opposed to the theory of M. Beaumont, 
who had himself described curved elevations quite as striking. Most 
of the instances adduced by Prof. Rogers, in illustration of his view of 
the average inclination of the strata being greater on the side of each 
flexure farthest from the centre of the disturbing forces, did not, in his 
opinion, confirm the view the authors had taken of the origin of 
those contortions. Again, Mr. Sedgwick stated, the position of the 
successive strata in the British chains, was not generally such as 
that which characterized the chain so carefully described by the 
authors of the paper. The effects of disturbing forces, such as the 
intrusion of igneous rocks, was chiefly dependent on the nature of 
the rocks affected. In Cumberland the porphyritic rocks; which 
were evidently molten when introduced, had become hard by cool- 
ing, and had been fractured and dislocated along with the rocks 
among which they were intruded; but from the very nature of those 
rocks, they could not be thrown into many undulations. In North 
Wales, where the conditions differed, and the igneous rocks were less 
abundant, the alternating beds of solid porphyry and softer rocks were 
thrown into a series of anticlinal and synclinal lines; whilst in the 
Liege country the beds, when in a very soft and plastic state, had 
evidently been subjected to great lateral pressure, forcing them to 
assume. enormous contortions, but never elevating them into moun- 
tains. The authors had, he thought, rather undervalued the power 
of tangential forces. These were well illustrated in the effects produc- 
ed upon the soft slates of North Devon, by the intrusion of masses 
of granite many miles across, like that forming the forest of Dartmoor, 
between which and other granite masses, the strata were crumpled and 
thrown into innumerable undulations. He believed there was very 
little analogy between the phenomena produced by earthquakes, and 
those attributed to continental elevation ; the oscillations of the earth’s 
surface produced by earthquakes were like those of a cord struck when 
subjected to tension: from the very nature of these vibrations, they 
might be propagated rapidly over a great part of the globe, The 


4 
7 
; 
4 


ae wets 


Proceedings of the British Association. 573 


impulses of elevation, as far as anything was known of them, were 
slow, acting over wide areas, and disrupting and contorting moun- 
tain masses. Nothing was more certain than that continental masses 
had risen, and were rising, in our own time: Norway, for example, 
with curvations so slight as to be invisble. In the Southern and 
Pacific Ocean, Mr. Darwin had pointed out large areas, rising and 
subsiding, some of them 3,000 or 4,000 miles in diameter. He stated 
that he was not prepared to grapple with a theory which was so imper- 
fectly explained, and without diagrams ; he only wished phenomena not 
to be pressed into its service, which either bore not upon it at all, 
or were, perhaps, opposed to it—namely, the phenomena of the British 
chains. He lastly endeavoured to shew how, in many cases, a revers- 
ed dip might be produced after the first protrusion of a central granitic 
axis. Prof. Sedgwick concluded with a merited compliment to the 
American nation for the elaborate surveys they had published, of 
which the present memoir was'an example; the facts of which mest 
in the end, serve along with similar phenomena to form the base of 
a legitimate theory. 


‘Report of Committee appointed at the Meeting of the British 
Association, held at Plymouth in 1841, for Registering Shocks of 
Earthquakes in Great Britain.’ 


The Report commences with a list of shocks observed at Comrie, in 
Perthshire, since the date of that given in, last year, to the Association 
by the Committee. (Atheneum, No. 719.) Sixty distinct’shocks are 
recorded as having occurred on thirty-six different days, between July 
23rd, 1841, and June 8th, 1842. Twelve of these are registered as 
having occurred on the 30th of July, 1841, being the greatest number 
hitherto noticed in the course of a single day. The instruments em- 
ployed to indicate the shocks were those described last year. (Athen. 
No. 719.) The new instruments provided by the Committee have not 
(with one exception) yet been affected, having been but a short time 
at their respective stations; and out of the sixty shocks above men- 
tioned, there were but three occasions on which these instruments 
were moved. 

1. On the 26th July, 1841, the inverted pendulum set in the steeple 
of Comrie parish church, was thrown about half an inch to the west, 
apparently indicating a horizontal movement of the ground eastward, 
to the same amount. An upward heave of the ground, to the extent of 
half an inch, was also indicated by two instruments, one of them being 
a horizontal bar, described in the course of the Report.—2. The next 


574 Proceedings of the British Association. 


shock by which the instruments were affected occurred on the 30th 
July, 1841. The inverted pendulum in Mr. Macfarlane’s house at 
Comrie, vibrated to the extent of half an inch, in a direction south and 
north; whilst at Tomperran (about 14 mile east of Comrie), an instru- 
ment on the principle of the common pendulum vibrated east and west. 
The instruments for shewing vertical movements were but slightly af- 
fected. Mr. Macfarlane describes this shock as very severe, though not 
so violent as that of October, 1839: estimating the former at 10, the in- 
tensity of this shock may be represented by 8. The shock was dis- 
tinctly double, and the noise and vibrations accompanying it are des- 
cribed as very loud and violent, both as observed within houses and 
in the open air. Twelve shocks are said to have been felt in the course 
of the day ; the weather was cold and inclined to stormy, at the time 
of this occurrence, and for a day or two before and after. The trees 
in the neighbourhood of Comrie are described as much agitated. The 
shock was felt eastward, at least as far as Newburgh, about 38 miles 
from Garrichrow; westward to Dalmally, about the same distance; 
as far north as Glenlion 30 miles ; and southward to Alloa and Stirling, 
20 or 30 miles. All the shattered chimneys noticed near Duniva, were 
on walls, &c. running N. and S.; those on E. and W. walls being un- 
touched. The injured buildings stood on a gravelly soil; but the dis- 
tance from rocks below was unknown. There was nothing in this 
weather previous to the earthquake, to give any notice of its approach ; 
indeed, after a course of some years’ observation, no exact rule in this 
respect has*been obtained; even a period of wet weather, which was 
formerly thought the constant forerunner of frequent and violent 
shocks, is not always succeeded by them; and, on the other hand 
earthquakes have occurred when the sky was clear and open. The 
spot from which the earthquake shocks in Perthshire appear to origi- 
nate, being situated about a mile to the north of Duniva, it is not 
difficult to understand why walls running N. and S. were affected; and 
those from E. to W. untouched.—3. On the 9th Sept. 1841, another 
pretty severe shock was felt at Comrie, about 10’ before midnight. 
The following morning the Association’s instrument in the steeple 
was inclined 3 of an inch to the south: that in the Comrie House } 
an inch to the north. This disagreement in the indication may perhaps | 
be accounted for by the occurrence of two other shocks in the course 
of the night, and previously to the examination of the instruments: 
the weather during the two preceding days was remarkably wet and 
close.—4. On the Sth June, of the present year, two shocks were felt at 
Comrie, between | and 2 a.m., The horizontal pendulum recently sent 


Proceedings of the British Association. 575 


to Mr. Macfarlane’s house, indicated an upheave of the ground to the 
extent of a quarter of an inch. From a review of all the details, it 
seems probable that the particular spot from which the earthquakes 
emanate, is situated about one mile N.E. of Duniva House, and one and 
a half or two miles N.W. of Comrie; and it is considered desirable to 
place additional instruments at Duniva, and in the neighbourhood, 
with the view of approximating still nearer to the exact spot of emana- 
tion. 

The additional instruments for indicating earthquake shocks, lately 
sent out, are seven in number. 1. Four of these are on the principle of 
the watchmaker’s noddy, explained in last year’s Report.—2. Another 
instrument consists of four horizontal glass tubes slightly turned up at 
each end, and filled with mercury. These tubes are laid down on 
the solid floor of a room, according to the points of the compass; 
and it is expected that when a shock takes place the mercury will flow 
out of one or more of these tubes. If there is no horizontal movement, 
but an inclination of the ground only, the mercury will flow out of the 
tube or tubes affected by the inclination. This instrument was made by 
Mr. Newman, of London, under the directions of Professor Wheatstone 
and Mr. D. Milne.—3. The two remaining instruments are intended 
exclusively to indicate vertical movements of the ground. They consist 
of a horizontal bar, fixed to a solid wall, by means of a strong flat 
watchspring, and are loaded at the opposite end. If the wall suddenly 
rises or sinks, the loaded end of this horizontal rod remains from its vis 
inertia nearly at rest, and thus can move any light substance (as 
paper or a straw) brought against it by the vertical movement of 
the ground; the light substance being so adjusted as to remain fixed 
wherever the rod moves it. 

Beside the above instruments, a barometer, a double thermometer, 
and a rain-gauge, have been sent to Mr. Macfarlane, of Comrie, in order 
that the state of the atmosphere at the time of the shocks, and the 
nature of the weather generally, during their occurrence, may be ascer- 
tained. The Committee, however, think it desirable to procure instru- 
ments much more sensitive than any which they yet possess; and they 
particularly call attention to the importance of carrying on meteorolo- 
gical observations at Comrie, as there seems to exist strong grounds for 
the opinion entertained by many, of an intimate connexion between 
earthquake shocks and the state of the weather, or rather the various 
agents which affect the weather. The Committee have not yet attempt- 
ed the registration of earthquake shocks in any part of the country 
expect Perthshire; but as the primitive districts of Cornwall and 


576 Proceedings of the British Association. 


Wales have often experienced shocks, they propose also to. send 
instruments and establish observations in those parts of the country. 
Dr. Buckland recommended the establishment of observations along 
varieus lines known to be affected by earthquake shocks, such as 
the Chichester line of fault, Swansea, and Falmouth. The electric state 
of the earth would probably be found to influence the atmosphere 
mich more powerfully than the air would affect the earth; the earth- 
quake shocks were most frequent in the autumn and winter, and it 
was worth inquiry how far the rains of that period would affect strata 
under different electric conditions, such as those brought in contact. 
by the faults and trap dykes of Comrie, and thus, perhaps, afford 
some clue to the origin of the shocks.—Mr. Sedgwick believed ‘that 
the small amount of evidence as to movement, which had been or could 
be cbtained in Britain, was not likely to throw much light on the 
origin of earthquakes, or on their connexion with atmospheric con- 
ditions. When regular observations could be established abroad, in 
regions frequently and powerfully influenced by such movements we 
might hope to arrive at the conditions of their occurrence. Atmo- 
spheric conditions ought certainly to be noticed, and the coincidence of 
the shocks in Scotland with particular seasons of the year, well deserve 
remark. Perhaps the phenomenon was not more remarkable than 
the fact, that meteors showed themselves in greatest abundance during 
the passage of the earth through particular portions of its orbit. In 
saying this, however, Mr. Sedgwick did not mean to express his belief 
that atmospheric conditions could have any great effect on the deep- 
seated phenomena of earthquakes.—Sir W. T. De la Beche stated, that 
as a general rule the earthquakes of South America and Jamaica 
were felt most severely along the strike of the strata; in some in- 
stances, houses built on ranges of solid rock were affected by the shocks, 
whilst others only a quarter of a mile distant, built on gravel, entirely 
escaped. In all the published relations of the effects produced by 
earthquakes, much allowance was to be made for the excited feelings 
of the spectator. Thus the earthquakes which destroyed Port Royal 
had been described in all the exaggerated language inspired by terror ; - 
the real history was very simple; the town was built on a sand 
bank, encircling a number of small detached coral reefs; the violence 
of the waves, aided and accompanied by the concussion of the earth- 
quake, washed away all this sand, and with it the houses, those on 
the coral reefs remaining as strong as before, whilst loose masses 
of stone, amongst the craggy rocks of the interior, naturally fell down 
from the effect of the same vibration.—Mr. Nicholson, of Kendal, 


vroceedings of the British Association. 577 


described a slight earthquake, which had occurred on the 13th of the 
present month, on the shores at Morecambe Bay. The shock, which 
was sudden and violent, took place at 2 a. m.; there had been six 
weeks of drought previously, and on the day before the shock the 
thermometer stood at 94° in the shade, being 9° higher than it had risen 
in that neighbourhood since the year 1826. At 2 vr. m., of the same 
day, the rain set in heavily. This earthquake was felt for ten miles 
round Kendal. 

‘On the Structure and Mode of Formation of Glaciers,’ by James 
Stark, M. D.—The author stated that he employed the word glacier 
to signify the entire icy masses which filled the upper as well as lower 
valleys of snow-covered mountains, and extended downwards to the 
cultivated valleys or sea shore. He was induced to overlook the 
artificial division of these masses into Firn, Mer de Glace, &c. believ- 
ing such divisions did not exist in nature, and were inapplicable to 
the glaciers of the Polar regions. From an examination of the accounts 
given by Saussure, Auldjo, Desor, and others, Dr. Stark was of opinion 
that there existed no constant differences in the crystalline structure of 
the ice in different parts of glaciers; perfect glacier ice, both as 
to purity and compactness, occurred at all heights; from which he 
inferred, that after the crystalline particles of snow became once 
consolidated into compact ice, no farther change, or enlargement of 
those particles, occurred till the mass was finally dissolved. The ice 
of glaciers kad always been described as arranged in regular layers, 
but their position and mode of formation, as explained even by the 
latest writers, was stated by Dr. Stark to be so obscure, that having 
carefully examined the facts, he had formed conclusions, of which, as 
they differed from those usually entertained, he proceeded to give 
a summary, classifying the differences observable in the structure of 
glacial masses under the following divisions:—1. Horizontal strata. 
The author remarked that this was usually termed banded structure, 
and seemed to be confined to the upper regions of the mouftains. 
The planes invariably coincided with the surface of the glacier, the 
layers being usually 1 to 3 feet in thickness. They were mentioned by 
almost all writers on glaciers, and represented in the plates of M. 
Agassiz’s work. Most writers considered them as marking the annual 
additions to the glacier; but as the amount of snow falling on the 
average during the six winter 1uonths would produce a much greater 
thickness of ice than the horizontal layers indicated, Dr. Stark consi- 
dered that each band denoted a separate fall of snow, unless it should 
appear that snow and ice washed with nearly as much rapidity in 


4E 


578 Proceedings of the British Association. 


the upper as in the lower regions.—2. Longitudinal and veriical strata. 
Dr. Stark stated that this structure had been described by Griiner 
in 1760, by Desmarest in 1779, Scoresby in 1824, and other authors, _ 
and during the last winter had been claimed as a new discovery by 
Prof. Forbes, who styled it ribboned or banded structure. These 
layers he described-as always of great tenuity, forming planes more 
or less vertical, but always parallel with the length of the glacier or its 
retaining walls. The explanation of this structure offered by Dr. Stark — 
is as follows:—During the spring and summer months it is probable 
that glaciers advance from 14 to 3 feet daily, and as the valleys oc- 
cupied by them generally widen as they recede from the higher regions, 
every moyement would leave a space between them and their con- 
taining walls; these fissures would continually fill up with fresh 
snow and ice, increasing the breadth of the glacier, and forming a 
new series of vertical planes. The frequent occurrence of mud, gravel, 
and fragments of rock in the same planes, was considered by Dr. Stark 
to be much in favour of this explanation of their origin. This struc- 
ture, he remarked, was likely to be found wherever pillars and needles 
of ice were met with, since fissures and crevices generally divided 
glaciers transversely; and in passing over rough ground, the unequal 
pressure on a combination of transverse fissures and longitudinal 
lamellze would break up the ice into vertical prismatic columns.—3, 
Horizontal combined with longitudinal and vertical strata. Although no 
such combination as this had hitherto been described, Dr. Sgark thought 
it must exist. Horizontally stratified ice was confined to elevated 
regions, where the thickness of glaciers was three or four times greater 
than in lower valleys. Dr. Stark inferred that these beds gradually 
wasted away as the glacier descended, until only the lower, or ver- 
tically stratified, portion remained.—4. Jnelined strata. This struc- 
ture Dr. Stark endeavoured to explain as one superinduced, after 
the accidental destruction of the lines of stratification which former- 
ly existed. In conclusion, Dr. Stark observed, that all the above forms 
of stratification might be expected to occur in the extent of a single 
glaci~.. 

Dr. Richardson observed, that snow constantly disappeared in great 
quantities without melting ; in dry frosty air, with a temperature below 
zero, it would disappear rapidly by insensible evaporation. The pris- 
matic form of ice, which occurs on lakes where it has attained a thick- 
ness of six or eight feet, takes place only in the spring, when it begins _ 
to melt: the particles were considered to undergo a new arrangement 
when the temperature of the mass was elevated to the melting point.— 


Proceedings of the British Association. 579 


Col. Sabine had seen the ribboned structure of glacial ice mentioned by 
Prof. Forbes, but doubted whether it had ever been seen in polar ice; 
he had never met with it, and did not think it would have escaped 
his observation. 


Section D.—ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY. 

A Report was read, ‘On the present state of the Ichthyology of New 
Zealand,’ by John Richardson, M.D.—The desirableness of a report on 
the Zoology of that country is very great, on account of its becoming so 
rapidly populated, and there can be but little doubt that many of 
the present animal inhabitants will disappear entirely, and others will be 
driven from their native localities. Of the mammalia, only the dog and 
rat have been seen, and no snakes. This report is confined to the 
fishes. Very little has been added to what was made known by those 
who accompanied Captain Cook in his first and second voyages. They 
figured or described upwards of sixty-three species, to which nine have 
been added by Cuvier and Valenciennes, and five by other writers, 
making in all seventy-seven. Some of these exhibit strange forms and 
habits. Many are strictly littoral progeny of the minute crustacea 
which deposit their spawn in such localities. The Beleophthalion even 
ascend the beach, like little lizards, to pursue their prey. The Plectog- 
nathi are adapted for living in rough seas; their powers of swimming 
are small; some are protected with hard spines, like a hedgehog, or sea 
urchin, and have a power of distending their skins with air or with 
water, according to circumstances. Marsupial animals characterize the 
animal kingdom of New Holland, and the same influence seems to have 
acted on fish to produce a character amongst them as remarkable as 
the kangaroo amongst mammalia. As their organization seems to fit 
them for districts with little water, so does that of these fishes. During 
the season that the water dries up, various species of Batrachi, Gobiodes, 
Cyprini, and Apodes, ‘bury themselves in the mud, and like the Lepido- 
siren of the Gambia, remain in an inert state till the rain falls. The 
sources from whence the information in this Report was obtained, 
are chiefly the manuscripts of Solander, with the drawings of For- 
ster and Parkinson, now in the British Museum. A list of the species 
accompanied the Report, with remarks by the reporter on the more 
rare and singular species. _ 

Dr. Bateman hoped that something more than information got 
from books would be laid before the Sociciy, so that the existing 
species of animals might be referred to modern systems of classifica- 
tion.—Mr. Babington stated, that the object of the Report was to gain 


580 Proceedings of the British Association. 
what information was scattered amongst previous writers, for the 
purpose of assisting future investigators. 

Mr. Patterson read the substance of two Reports—the one, results 
of dredging at depths varying from 50 to 145 fathoms off the Mull of 
Galloway, by Captain Beechey, R. N., drawn up by W. Thompson, 
Esq.; the other, results of dredging of the Mull of Cantyre, by Mr. 


Hyndman and off Ballygally, county Antrim, by Mr. Patterson. 
Mr. Babington read the Report of the Committee for the preservation 


of Animal and Vegetable Substances.—A large number of simple solu-_ 


tions of various salts had been tried, but, with the exception of the 
sub-carbonate of potash, they had all failed to preserve the specimens 
for any length of time. The specimens in solutions of this salt were in 
good condition. Substances in solutions of one part of naphtha to 
seven of water were in a state of good preservation. Kreosote is a 
good preservative, but it stains the specimens brown. Bichloride of 
mercury preserves well, but hardens specimens too much. Vegetable 
specimens were well preserved in oxalic acid, concentrated acetic acid, 
naphtha, and kreosote. 

Mr. Moore had used Goadley’s solution for the preservation of 
substances, and found it answer better than spirit.—Dr. Richardson 
had used Goadley’s solution, but did not find it answer. A cheap 
medium for the preservation of animal substances was still a desidera- 
tum: at present, spirit he believed best.—Dr. Lankester stated that 
he had specimens of animal substances preserved by injecting the veins 
and arteries with arseniate of potash and bichloride of mercury, and 
the whole immersed in a strong solution of common salt. This plan 
was pursued in the dissecting room of Dr. A. Lizars, of Edinburgh, 
and enabled the students to pursue the most delicate diesections years 
after the death of the subject. 


Mr. Moore, of Manchester, exhibited specimens of parasites found 


on the salmon in fresh and sea-water. They differed much in structure. 
The fresh-water parasite left the animal as soon as it arrived at the 
sea, but the parasite of the salt-water remained on the animal a long 
time after it reached the river. Specimens of the Argulus foliaceus 
were also exhibited, which attacked the carp in the ponds of Manches- 
ter: although they attacked the common carp, the gold and silver carp 
were quite free from their presence. Might not the presence of the 
parasites on salmon be a cause of their migration? Did their pre- 
sence indicate a state of disease? 

Sir W. Jardine had seen the salt-water parasite on the salmon 50 
miles above the sea. The abundance of these parasites was looked 


a 


5 


i 


Proceedings of the British Association. 581 


upon by fishermen as an indication of the fish being in good condi- 
tion. Cod were most affected by parasites when in worst condition. 
Other causes would account better for migration—Dr. Lankester 
believed that parasites were rather the result than the cause of disease : 
a certain condition of the body attacked being necessary to the de- 
velopement and nutrition of the parasite, and this was the case in both 
the vegetable and animal kingdom, and with regard to animal and 
vegetable parasites. When crops were attacked with blight, aphides, 
&c. the cause would be found in a state of the atmosphere or of 
the soil, which first made the plant sickly, and then gave rise to the 
developement of the parasite.—Mr. E. Solly, jun. thought the state 
of the plant might induce the action of the parasite. He wished to 
know if any of the members had observed that any of the artificial 
manures now in use had any tendency to produce plants subject to 
blight.—Mr. Webb Hall stated, that certain states of the atmosphere, 
as well as certain kinds of manuring, produced a condition in the plants 
of wheat, &c. which were favourable to the developement of insects 
and fungi upon them. He could speak to the effects of particular 
kinds of manure.—Mr. Babington had seen some corn, a portion of 
which was watered with pure water, another with nitrate of soda in 
solution ; the result was that the latter was very much more mildewed 
than the former.—The Rev. J. Read observed, that it did not ap- 
pear that inorganic element remained in the plants. He had watered 
plants with solutions of nitrate of soda, and although benefited by its 
influence, the ashes of these plants when analyzed did not contain more 
nitrate of soda than those of plants not so treated. 

Dr. Richardson read a description of a new genus of fishes called 
Macherium subducens. The specimen came from Port Essington, in 
New Holland, and nearly resembled the Echiodon Drummondii, lately 
discovered in the Irish seas, by Mr. Thomson. This fish must be con- 
sidered as a sub-generic form of Ophidium, and is very nearly related 
to the Blemires. = 
' Mr. Webb Hall exhibited a specimen of the nest of a wasp, which 
was found attached to a twig within a deserted bee-hive. The nest 
was about the size of a pigeon’s egg, and consisted of two globular 
layers of membrane, one above the other, with two apertures, the ex- 
ternal one much smaller than the internal one. In the internal one 
there was a single tier of cells five or six in number, in which the 
ova were deposited.— Mr. Babington stated, there were many species of 
wasp, besides the common one, in this country, that formed pendulous 
nests, similar to the one now exhibited. 


582 Proceedings of the British Association. 


Mr. Blackwall read a paper on the Palpi of Spiders. It was a 
report of his researches with reference to this subject, since he made a 
communication to the Association at its meeting at Cambridge. The 
practical result of most ccnsequence appeared to be that the full 
developement of the palpal organs indicates a state of maturity in male 
spiders, and this knowledge will be useful in preventing the arach- 
nologist from falling into the too common error of mistaking young 
spiders for old ones, and of describing them as distinct species. 

Mr. Patterson expressed a hope that Mr. Blackwall would pursue 
his researches, and draw up a report on the subject for their next 
meeting. This was acceded to by Mr. Blackwall. 


Section E.—MEDICAL SCIENCE, 


Dr. Sargent read a communication from Sir David Dickson, contain- 
ing a report of a case of ascites with enormous distension, the abdomen 
containing twenty-nine imperial quarts of very viscid straw-coloured 
serum; and a case of sudden death, from the bursting of a thoracic 
aneurism. 

Prof. Williams read a paper ‘ On the Construction and Application of 
Instruments used in Auscultation.’ To express the acoustic law ac- 
cording to which all improvements in the stethoscope must be at- 
tempted, he deemed of great importance; and this law he stated to be, 
that*sounds are best conducted by bodies of an elasticity or tension 
resembling that of the sonorous body; on the other hand, bodies 
differing in elasticity are bad recipients of each other's vibrations. 
Thus, sounds produced in air (vocal and breath sounds) are best trans- 
mitted by an enclosed column of air ; those produced by solids (those 
of the heart, rhonchi, friction) are better communicated by rigid solids 
of moderate density. He proceeded to shew how these principles were 
applicable to explain the form and material he has adopted in the 
stethoscope, and detailed a number of experiments by which he de- 
monstrates the imperfection of the proposed flexible stethoscope, which 
only transmitted the sounds explored through the inclosed columi? 
of air in its central cavity. On the other hand, the assertion of Dr. 
Cowan, though supported by Prof. Forbes, that plugging the cavi- 
ty of the rigid wooden stethoscope does not materially impair its 
efficiency, Prof. Willliams proved, by experiment, to be erroneous ; 
but the impairment is least when the aurile end of the instrument 
is plugged. In making experiments of this kind, he insisted on the ne- 
cessity of having some faint sound as a test sound (as the opticians 


—- 


ee 


Proceedings of the British Association. 583 


have a test object), one just within the bounds of audibility, as the 
sound of expiration, or a faint cardiac murmur. The necessity for an 
inclosed column of air was proved by making an opening in the side of 
the pectoral extremity of a common stethoscope, the efficiency of which 
was thus destroyed, but was instantly restored by closing the aperture. 
Following the assertion of acoustic writers, that the pulses of sound 
pass through air in straight lines, like rays of light, Prof. Williams had 
formerly recommended the enlargement in the pectoral extremity of 
the instrument to be made in the form of a straight cone, instead of the 
parabolic hollow used by Laennec; but subsequent experiment proved 
to him that a trumpet or bell-shaped termination was the be8t ; this 
enlarges the surface from which the sounds are collected, without 
proportionally enlarging the cavity, which would give rise to a conchal 
or tinkling echo. Another advantage may be derived from this form of 
termination, in its being capable of being reversed; the aurile extremi- 
ty serving to shut out diffuse sounds, when we wish to examine 


one spot only. Prof. Williams concluded, by making a few remarks on 


percussion, which he stated to be modified by the force adopted ; thus, 
gentle and flat percussion reaches and is toned by superficial parts 
only, whilst, if forcible, it reaches and is toned by deep seated parts 
also. He stated, that the strokes differed, not only in loudness, 
but also in pitch, or musical tone. Disease, he stated, could frequently 
be detected by percussion, before auscultation gave any indication. 


Section F.—STATISTICS. 


Mr. Webb Hall read a paper by Mrs. Davies Gilbert, ‘ On the results 
of Spade Husbandry, Small Allotments, aad Agricultural Schools.’ It 
was a continuation of the communication made to the Section at 
Plymouth (Athen. No. 721) ; and shewed that small allotments cultivat- 
ed by the spade were profitable to the landlord and beneficial to 
the labourer. Out of four hundred tenants during the space of eleven 
years, not one was in arrear, and not one had been brought before a 
magistrate. The school was self-supported, the labour of the boys 
paying for their education. 

Mr. Porter stated that the system of smi allotments and agricul- 
tural schools had been established in Ireland, and had produced most 
beneficial results, and that the adoption of it had been suggested by 
Mrs. Gilbert’s communication to the Plymouth meeting.—Mr. Felkin 
directed the attention of the meeting to-the happy condition of the 
Saxon weavers who have small farme ~~ which they can fall back 


584 Proceedings of the British Association. 


when manufactures are not in demand.—Messrs. Webb Hall and G. W. 
Wood cautioned the meeting against supposing that the introduction 
of this system would everywhere produce the same beneficial results 
which had followed its adoption in Eastbourne. 

Mr. Noble read a paper ‘ On the Influence of the Factory System 
in the developement of Pulmonary Consumption.’ He compared the 
prevalence of consumption in the manufacturing town of Manchester, 
with its amount in other places where there is little or no manufac- 
ture. According to the census of 1831, there were 49,932 families 
resident in Manchester and Salford ; the entire registered deaths in 1839 
were*9,223, and the cases of consumption 1,454, that is, 1 death from 
consumption out of every 34 families, and 3 from consumption in every 
19 deaths from all causes. In agricultural Essex, with a population of 
62,403 families, the deaths from consumption in 1839 were 1,201, and 
the total number of deaths 6,352 ; being, in the agricultural district, 4 in 
every 21, and in the factory district but as 3 in 19. In the district em- 
bracing Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and the southern divisions © 
of Lincolnshire, comprising a population of 67,351 families, the deaths 
from all causes were 7,306, and those from consumption 1,308, or nearly 
1 death in every 5. Thus the general mortality was lower in the agri- 
cultural districts, but the proportion of consumptive cases to deaths 
was greater. In Liverpool, out of 43,026 families, the deaths for 1839 
were 9,181, and the deaths from consumption 1,742. Thus in Liverpool 
there are 2 deaths from consumption out of ‘every 49 families, and in 
Manchester only two out of every 68. In Birmingham the condition 
was more favourable, being nearly 1 death from consumption out of 
every 36 families. In London the rate is 2 deaths from consumption 
out of every 105 families, and the proportion of consumptive cases to 
deaths from every cause exactly the same as Manchester, or 3 out of 
19. With the exception of the metropolis, Manchester has fewer con- 
sumptive cases in proportion to the number of deaths from every cause 
than any of the districts above mentioned; and hence Mr. Noble in- 
ferred that factory labour has no direct tendency to produce con- 
sumptive disease. Taking the register of deaths for three years in the 
township of Manchester between the ages of fifteen and forty, the 
following results were obtained ; 174 consumptive deaths were of per- 
sons employed in factories, 590 of persons registered in various oc- 
cupations, and 377 without any stated employment. Of the factory 
operatives 45 were spinners, 49 winders, 28 piecers, 15 reelers, 11 
carders and frame-tenders each, and 10 stated generally to be employ- 
ed in factories. The general conclusion from these and similar facts 


Proceedings of the British Association. 585 


was, that factories have no special influence in producing scrofulous 
disease, or its peculiar manifestation, consumption. 

Dr. Alison, in a few brief remarks, confirmed generally the accuracy 
of Mr. Noble’s views. . 


Section G.—MECHANICAL SCIENCE. 

Prof. Willis, President, in the chair. After a few preliminary obser- 
vations by the President, Prof. Willis, and Sir J. Robison— 

Prof. Vignoles read the Report of the Committee on Railway Sections. 
He stated that a grant had been made by the Association of 200/., for 
the purpose of obtaining profiles and sections of railways. Labour 
directed by science, and supported by commercial enterprise, laid bare 
the structure of highly interesting mineral districts in the deep chasms 
of railway cuttings ; and to obtain accurate representations of these from 
actual observation and measurement, before they were soiled over and 
covered with vegetation, was the object of the Committee; and they 
offered these drawings as a valuable record of geology to the philoso- 
pher, and a guide to the practical engineer. Every method had been 
pursued which could ensure accuracy ; and the drawings (which were 
enumerated) were to be deposited by order of the British Association 
in the Museum of Economic Geology, to serve as a permanent: re- 
ference. In conclusion, he expressed a hope that after another year’s 
trial of the great utility of these profiles and sections, the subject 
would be taken up by government, and carried out in the Geological 
Survey of Great Britain, now conducted by Sir H. De la Beche in 
conjunction with the Trigonometrical Survey under Col. Colby. 

Mr. Bateman observed, that a report and drawings on the same 
subject were in preparation of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway. 
—Prof. Willis suggested that it would be desirable that all plans and 
drawings of this description should be laid down on the same scale, by 
which means greater facility of reference and comparison would be 
obtained. 

Mr. Bateman read a paper ‘ On a new Self-acting Weir and Scouring 
Sluice,’ of his invention. He remarked, that the great objections to 
fixed weirs and dams were, that by causing a partial stagnation in the 
water above them, they allowed the bed of the stream to be silted 
up by the deposition of mud, gravel, &c., whereas the proposed weir 
would adjust itself to the various changes in the condition of the 
stream, and prevent any filling up of the channel by making the stream 
clear itself. Mr. Bateman’s weir is composed of two leaves turning 
horizontally on pivots, which are placed below the centres of the 


4 F¥ 


586 Proceedings of the British Associatiun. 


leaves, so that the upper portions of them shall be of much greater 
area than the lower. The upper leaf is also far larger than the lower, 
and turns in the direction of the stream; while the lower leaf turns 
against the stream, and overlaps the bottom edge of the upper leaf, 
and is forced against it by the pressure of the water. The comparative 
area of the leaves and position of the pivots is so arranged, that in 
ordinary states of the stream the tendency of the current to turn over 
the top leaf is counterbalanced by the pressure of the water against the 
overlap of the bottom one, the counteracting pressures keeping the 
weir vertical and the leaves closed, the water flowing as usual through 
a notch in the upper leaf. But when the water rises above the usual 
level, the pressure above from greater surface and leverage, overcomes 
the resistance below, and the top leaf turns over, pushing back the 
lower leaf, and thereby offering the least possible obstruction to the 
water, and giving a passage at the very bottom of the stream to 
the gravel or mud. 

In answer to questions and odjections, Mr. Bateman explained how 
difficulties, arising from trees floating down, the complete turning over 
of the leaves, &c., might be obviated by suitable stops, grating, &.— 
Sir J. Robison observed, that the Rotterdam Canal had weirs on a 
similar principle; but Mr. Bateman explained that those weirs turned 
vertically on their axis. The following diagrams will explain the 
construction of the weir :— 


Mr. Vignoles stated, that from the cheapness and apparent advan- 
tages of this weir, he should bring it under the consideration of the 
Commissioners of the Shannon Navigation, and recommend it for trial 
on that river, to which it appeared peculiarly applicable. 

Mr. Liddell read a paper on Ventilation, on a method proposed by 
Mr. Fleming of Glasgow. It had been tried in a large building occupi- 
ed by a number of poor persons, each family having a room. From 
the unclean and intemperate habits of the inmates, and their number 
(about 500), the house was very unhealthy, and many deaths from 
contagious diseases took place. In the plan adopted, the galleries 
were traversed by pipes of nine inches diameter, which united in a 
vertical pipe of large dimensions communicating with a lofty engine- 


Proceedings of the British Association. 587 


house chimney; and small pipes of one inch diameter, at the top of 
each room, communicated with the pipes in the gallery. This plan 
had also been tried in. the Glasgow Fever Hospital, in which the beds 
for fever patients, &c. were fitted up with the tubes for carrying away 
noxious effluvia. A similar plan for the ventilation of ships and 
steamers had been introduced by Dr. Reid, by leading tubes from the 
berths inte a stove on deck, or, in steamers, into the chimney. Mr. 
Liddell stated that the expense for a house of 60,000 cubic feet was 
only 40 ib. of coal in twenty-four hours. 

Sir J. Robison remarked, that from his experience the plan of Mr. 
Fleming, as far as regarded the size of the pipes, was inadequate. 

Prof. Vignoles made a communication on Straight Axles for Lo- 
comotives. He stated that an unfounded prejudice existed in favour 
of cranked axles, which, in his opinion, were inferior to straight 
ones in almost every point of view. With straight axles the cranks 
were thrown outside the wheels, which gave more room for the 
arrangement of the working parts; and another great advantage was 
gained by lowering the boiler nearly fifteen inches, and thereby in- 
creasing the safety of the engine, by placing the centre or gravity 
nearer the rail. The original expense of the engine and of the repairs 
was also much lessened. These advantages might be shown by a 
reference to the Dublin Kingstown Railway. By introducing straight 
axles and outside cranks the expenses had been greatly decreased, 
no accident had ever occurréd from breakage; and such increase of 
room had been obtained, that they had placed the tender underneath 
the engine, thus fixing the centre of gravity as low as possible, and 
dispensing with the separate tender. By this arrangement they could 
run fifteen miles without stopping for water. He had found much 
difficulty in introducing the straight-axled engine on this line; and, in 
fact, the great obstacle in obtaining a fair trial for different forms 
of engines arose from the fluctuation in public opinion. Straight 
axles and cranked axles, four-wheeled and six-wheeled engines, had 
been vsed on different lines, not so much from the recommendations 
of the engineer as in compliance with the opinion of the several 
railway boards. Just now a prejudice existed against four-wheeled 
engines, as being less safe than. six-wheeled, more liable to run off the 
line, &c. whereas he contended that the four-wheeled engine per se 
was not open to these objections. He believed that the principal 
advantage which could be claimed-for the six-wheeled engine was in 
the disposition of the weight on the wheels; and a consideration of the 
fatal accidents which had lately occurred on the London and Brighton 


588 Proceedings of the British Association. 


and the Paris and Versailles railways, would show that they arose 
from other causes, and had no reference to the engine having four 
wheels or six. He considered that both accidents arose from similar 
causes: in both cases heavy trains and two engines where coupled 
together, the smalle: one leading ; from some cause a check took place, 
the engine-man shut off the steam of the leading engine, and the 
following engine, with the immense momentum derived from weight 
and velocity, struck against it, forcing it off the rails, and causing 
the overturn of the carriages. It was considered objectionable to 
use an auxiliary engine behind a train, because, in case of any retard- 
ation of the engine in front, it cannot be checked in time to prevent 
great concussions of the carriages. Similar objections applied to using 
two engines under any circumstances, especially when of unequal 
power. Many accidents had taken place in consequence of the break- 
ing of cranked axles; and M. Francois and Col. Aubert, in their report . 
to the French government, had remarked that the fractures of broken _ 
axles, instead of the fibrous appearance of wrought iron, presented the 
crystallized appearance of cast iron, which they attributed to magnetic 
or electric changes in the molecular structure of the iron, caused by 
friction in the bearings and great velocities ; and in his opinion it was 
probable that the continual strains and percussions to which the crank 
axle is subjected will account for the changes in the molecular constitu- 
tion of the iron. 

Mr. Hodgkinson was certain, from tht results of his experiments, 
that a succession of strains, however slight, would produce a permanent 
deterioration of the elasticity of the iron—Mr. Fairbairn had been 
told by the engineer on the Leeds line, that he considered all crank 
axles to be constantly deteriorating from percuasions, strains, &c., and 
that they should be removed and replaced by new ones periodically, to » 
avoid danger of fracture.—A discussion arose as to whether the crys- 
tallized appearance observed in fractured axles arose from defects 
in the manufacture, in the quality of the iron, or from the effects 
of working, either by percussions, strains, or magnetic action.—Mr. 
Grantham, although a manufacturer of cranked axles, admitted that 
straight axles were less liable to break. Cranked axles, from the 
way in which they were welded together and shaped, were rendered 
weak and liable to fracture. On other grounds, however, he believed 
that the cranked axles were preferable, as they produced a steadier 
motion, and much heat was saved.—Mr. Garnett believed that more 
straight axles had broken than cranked ones.—Prof. Willis showed 
the effect of vibration in destroying molecular arrangement, by refer- 


Proceedings of the British Association. 589 


ence to the’ tongues in musical boxes, &c.—Mr. Nasmyth believed 
that the defects in axles, &c. arose in the manufacture, especially from 
cold swaging and hammering, and also from over-heating in welding, 
all of which causes injured the toughness of the iron. In small articles 
he found great advantage from annealing; and he believed that axles 
might be annealed very cheaply, and would be more servicable. He 
disliked the fashion of referring all unaccounted phenomena to magne- 
tism and electricity, although he was convinced that very singular 
electric phenomena accompanied the transit of locomotives and the 
rapid generation of steam. With this was connected the non-oxi- 
dization of rails, where the traffic was in one direction, and the rapid 
oxydization ‘when the same rails were travelled over in both directions, 
as in the Blackwall railway. He had also observed that brasses, in 
some cases, had from friction entered into cold fusion,—that is, at a heat 
not perceptible to the eye, a complete disintegration of the molecular 
‘structure had taken place, and he had seen the brass spread as if it had 
been butter or pitch. He had no doubt that this arose from electricity, 
but had not ascertained the fact from experiment.—Mr. Fairbairn 
stated, that in hand-hammered rivets the heads frequently dropped 
off, and presented a crystallized appearance, while those compressed by 
machine were sound. He found that repeated percussions, from the 
rivetting, hammering plates, &c., induced magnetism in iron boats.— 
Mr. Vignoles could not, from his experience, agree to Mr. Nasmyth’s 
theory of the oxidization of rails by single traffic, as the railway from 
Newton to Wigan had been single for a long time, and was as bright as 
the Manchester and Liverpool.. The Blackwall railway was not an 
analogous case, as no locomotives were employed.—Mr. Roberts dis- 
believed the deterioration of axles by work; he would rather trust 
an old axle than a new one. He believed cold swaging and hammering 
to be the chief causes of mischief. In fact, if axles were sent out sound 
and well manufactured, they would rather improve by working. 


GENERAL MEETING.—THURSDAY EVENING. 

Prof. Whewell, on taking the chair, referred to the honour which 
had been conferred on him by choosing him to preside over the meeting 
at Plymouth. He had now only to deliver the sceptre of authority to 
Lord Francis Egerton. The torch of knowledge, which was kindled 


by genius, had now been transferred from Plymouth to Manchester. 
Et quasi cursores musarum lampades tradunt, 

which he would venture to translate— 
As in the torch-race of the Grecian youth, 
We pass from hand to hand the lamp of truth. 


590 Proceedings of the British Association. 


Having filled almost every office in the Association, he naturally felt 
a deep interest,in its future fortunes, and particularly as to what 
should be done when the Association had gone the round of all the 
large towns of England. Hitherto, its motto had been “Fresh fields 
and pastures new,” and no place which had been visited was superior 
to Manchester, Three courses seemed open to the Association: 1, the 
smaller towns might be visited; 2, the places where the Association 
had already met might be revisited; or 3, the meetings might be sus- 
pended for two or more years. He was of opinion, that while new 
places could be visited, it was inexpedient to repeat the cycle of visits— 
unless an exception might be allowed in favour of York, which had 
been the birth-place of the Institution. Should public interest-in the 
Association decline, he was of opinion that it would be the wiser 
plan to suspend their meetings for some intervals. He believed and 
trusted, however, that this was still a distant prospect, and he turned 
to the more agreeable topic of his returning with this great scientific 
body to the county of his birth, and the place with which all the agree- 
able recollections of his childhood were connected. He felt equal pride 
and pleasure in being one of the many aggregated round the venerable 
Dalton, who had the highest name in chemistry in any part of the 
globe. With feelings, not less gratifying, he would now resign his 
place to Lord Francis Egerton, who possessed so high and well-merited 
a character in literature and art, and whose Presidency over a scientific 
association was a noble exemplification of the bond which binds to- 
gether, in harmonious union, all the branches of mental cultivation. 

Lord F. Egerton then took the chair, and called for the Treasurer's 
report. 

Prof. Phillips then read the programme of the proceedings, already 
laid before the general committee. 

Lord F. Egerton then addressed the meeting, and said— 

Gentlemen,—Years have now elapsed since, by the exertions of 
individuals, most of whom are now present, the prototype of this 
meeting was held in the city of York; and so successful was that first 
experiment, that it has been annually repeated. The order and course 
of the proceedings of the body there constituted and arranged, has not, 
I apprehend, been strictly uniform, but I believe, on the whole, it has 
been usual, that on the occasion of its annual assemblage, those pro- 
ceedings should be open to some observations incidental to the occasi- 
on, on the part of the President; and this preliminary duty I am 
anxious,-te-the utmost of the very limited means of my ability, to 
execute. In the earlier meetings of this Society, and on occasions 


Proceedings of the British Association. 591 


when the office I now hold has been filled by men distinguished by 
scientific acquirement, it was, I believe, found possible and convenient 
for such Presidents to include in a preliminary discourse, a compressed 
but instructive statement of past proceedings and present objects ‘The 
punctual and complete observance of such a practice, indeed, could not 
be consistent with those arrangements which admit to the occasional 
honour of your Presidency, individuals, selected, like myself, not for 
any scientific pretensions, but from the accidents of local connexion 
with the place, rather than the objects of the assemblage. I apprehend 
that other reasons of equal urgency exist, calculated to make this 
custom one of partial observance. The operations of this Society have 
grown with its growth, and expanded with its strength; and I am 
happy to believe that it would be difficult for the most able and in- 
structed of those with whose knowledge I am proud, for the moment, to 
find my own ignorance associated, now to compress into reasonable 
limits, and to reduce to terms adapted to a mixed audience, a satisfacto- 
ry summary of scientific proceedings, past and contemplated, connected 
with the labours of this Society. If, indeed, I look to the proceed- 
ings of the last year’s meeting at Plymouth, I find some warrant for 
this supposition. You met last year, indeed, under different auspices. 
I cannot forget—I wish for the moment you could—how your chair 
was then filled and its duties discharged. Could you forget the fact, it 
were hardly to my interest to awaken your recollection to it, that such 
a man filled last year at Plymouth, an office which I now hold at Man- 
chester. I do so for the purpose of remarking that he, more able, per- 
haps, than any man living in this country to give you a concise and 
brilliant summary of all that he and his fellow labourers are doing, for- 
bore in his discretion from that endeavour. If he, then, who is known 
in matters of science to have run. 
** Through each mode of the lyre, and be master of all,”’ 

abstained from that undertaking, I may now be excused, not for my 
own silence, which would require no apology, but for not calling on one 
of your other functionaries to supply my place for the purpose. 

Slightly, indeed, before I sit down, I may presume to touch on one 
or two topics which I may consider immediately illustrative of the ad- 
vantages of this Institution. In the first instance, however, allow me 
to indulge for a moment in the expression of feelings of congratulation 
on the subject of the particular locality which sees us here togetber. 
Guests and strangers will excuse me—inhabitants, I think, will sympa- 
thise with me, if, as a neighbour, and all but an inhabitant, 1 indulge 
in some avowal of complacency on this subject. It is not merely that 


592 Proceedings of the British Association. 
to this spot from which I now address you, mechanical invention and 
skill have long been attracted as to one of their principal centres ; nor 
that a neighbourhood so rich in mineral treasures bears its own recom- 
mendation to the followers of several important branches of natural 
science. These, with a host of other local reasons, might well justify 
the selection of Manchester as a place of scientific assemblage. It has, 
in my opinion, a claim of equal interest as the birth-place, and still the 
residence and scene of the labours of one whose name is uttered with 
‘espect wherever science is cultivated, who is here to-night to enjoy 
he honours due to a long career of persevering devotion to knowledge, 
and to receive, if he will condescend to do so, from myself, the expres- 
sion of my own deep personal regret, that increase of years, which to 
him, up to this hour, has been but increase of wisdom, should have 
rendered him, in respect of mere bodily strength, unable to fill, on this 
occasion, an office which, in his case, would have received more honour 
than it could confer. I do regret that any cause should have prevented 
the present meeting, in his native town, from being associated with the 
name of Dalton as its President. The Council well know my views 
and wishes in this matter, and that, could my services have been 
available, I would gladly have served as a door-keeper in any house 
where the father of science in Manchester was enjoying his just pre- 
eminence. F 
It is no part, as I consider it, of my present office to discuss the 
reasons which have induced others to suppose that I might hold it, 
at least, without prejudice to the interests of the Society, or of this 
meeting. With those who originated its efforts, who conceived its 
formation, and who have tended it from its cradle in York to its 
present vigorous maturity in Manchester, I respectfully leave my apo- 
logy. In addressing to you any remarks on the objects we are met to 
promote, I can only do so in one way, by endeavouring to convey to 
you the impressions of an unscientific man—the reasons which induce 
me, as such, to wish success to its operations, and to defer to the judg- 
ment of those who have thought I might be of service in my present 
position. All readers of German literature must have observed the 
frequent recurrence of a word which signifies the position from which 
an object is viewed by the spectator—the Standtpurkt, or place of 
standing. My view of the vast temple of science which, raised by suc- 
cessive architects, is daily deriving new additions, is dim, and distant, 
and shadowy. Not even a proselyte of the gate, far less a Levite of 
the sanctuary, I cannot mould my lips to any Shibboleth of entrance ; 
and though I fain would worship at a distance, the echo of the ritual 


Proceedings of the British Association. 593 


falls too faintly on my ear to allow nie to'join in‘ the service of the 
altar. The pile is a vast one; bat who shall live to pronounce it com- 
plete? New edifices are daily arising round the central structure. 
Many a. shaft’ reriains to be polished, and many a capital to be 
elaborated'into new forms of fitness and of beauty. The ‘architects, I 
know, ate at' work. I hear with’ you the clink of the towel and the 
hammer. The builder is basy on the ground from which Bacon cleared 
the rubbish of centuries, and shaped the vast esplanade, the Moriah 
of philosophy, into a fit foundation for the subsequent erections of 
Newton and others: All this is going on,—I may and do congratulate 
you on the fact; but it is not for me to describe and ‘particularize the 
progress ofthe labour. This will be done by the builders themselves 
in those sectional departments into which théy have divided them- 
selves. There the geologist will teach’ and learn the results of receht 
research and adventurous travel. Mr. Lyell is still, I believe, pur 
suing’ his-investigations in the distant regions of the new World, but 
Mr: Murchison is* returned rich with the results of'his exploration of 
an interesting: portion of the Old, and to tell you how highly and: how 
justly such objects and such labours as his have been appreciated, how 
honourably to himself they have been assisted and promoted by the 
sovereign of those vast domains. With the political nature or extent 
of that sovereign’s power we have here nothing to do. Quid bellicosus 
Cantaber ant: Scythes’ cogitet is‘ no subject for our thoughts or disquisi- 
tions}: but his liberal ‘appreciation of stiénce, as evinced in the recent 
case of my friend Mt. Murchison, is worthy of our warmest acknow- 
ledgments; and'I trust’that those distinguished mén among his sub- 
jects who have honoured us with thei’ presence on this occasion will 
bear back to him evidetice of the fact, that the followers of science in 
England duly appreciate his conduct towards their countrymen. You 
will learn in those Sections through what new channels the electrical 
inquirer has directed the fluid which Franklin snatched from Heaven, 
into what shapes, and what service, the grasp of science has compelled 
the imponderable Proteus it is his mission to enslave, to his bidding. 
The communication and the discussion of these past achievements, the 
suggestions of new methods and branches of inquiry which spring from 
such discussion, are among the main purposes of our meeting, and the 
volumes of this Society’s Transactions bear ample witness to their ac- 
complishment. We have, indeed, no longer to deal with conjecture 
in this respect; we have no longer an estimate to show, but an ac- 
count, a profit, and a dividend. It was well ‘for the originators of this 


Society to enter into calculations of prospective advantages, to fore- 
G 


‘ 


594. Proceedings of the British Association. 


show that from personal intercourse and collision, light and heat would 
bé elicited, that dormant energies might be excited in various parts of 
the country by the nomadic principle of this Society, that scientific 
operations which require simultaneous exertion on an extensive scale, 
might derive their necessary element of combination, and their neces- 
sary funds, from the voluntary association of men in this shape. All 
this it was reasonable to predict, and fortunately it is no less easy uow 
to show that the prediction has been in all particulars of importance 
ratified by the result. It has been observed on more than one former 
occasion,—it was noticed on the last by my predecessor in the chair, 
and at York in 1841,—that in the whole range of physical science 
Astronomy was the only one which had, generally speaking, derived 
direct assistance from governments, or even enjoyed what I may call 
the patronage of society at large. It was also remarked, with equal 
force and truth, that many other subjects are specially in need of that 
species of assistance which the power of the State, or the opulence of 
individuals, can afford to the.otherwise solitary man of science. It has 
come, as you well know, within the scope of the operations of this So- 
ciety to endeavour, in many instances, to meet and remedy this defici- 
ency. To the science of the stars the first rank in the table of prece- 
dence may indeed be cheerfully conceded. Let it walk first in that dig- 
nity with which its very nature invests it, but let it not walk alone. 
The connexion, indeed, between that science and the State, between 
Greenwich and Downing Street, rests now upon the soundest principles 
of mutual advantage. It was not always thus that the astronomer found 
favour and footing in the councils of statesmen and the courts of princes. 
Time was, when the strange delusions of judicial astrology reduced such 
men as Kepler to the level of Dr. Dee ; and it is melancholy to think how 
much of such a life as Kepler’s was wasted in casting the nativities of 
princes, and calculating the fortunes of their foolish and wicked enter- 
prises. The sun of science has drank these mists. The telescope of a Wel- 
lington was pointed, not like that of Wallenstein from his observatory in 
Egra on the heavenly host, but on the frowning masses of his country’s 
foes. He knew but one, the Homeric omen, the defence of his country, 
and the performance of his duty. Three centuries ago, a Mr. Airy 
might have been distracted from his intense and important labours 
at Greenwich, to mark what star was culminating at the birth of a royal 
infant, We do not now watch the configuration of the heavens on 
such events; but to that Providence which has shielded the mother, and 
under that Providence to the love of a loyal people we cheerfully con- 
fide the fate and fortunes of the infant hope of England : still though 


Proceedings of the British Association. 595. 


such delusions are swept away, it is impossible that in this maritime — 
country the protection of the State should not in the first instance 
be accorded to the science which direct her fleets. Even here, as you 
well know, the labours of this Society have not been wanting nor inef- 
ficient. Her advice has been followed, the contribution of her friends 
has been accepted. It is to the suggestion and the actual assistance of 
this Society that the country owes the reduction of Observations 
now in progress under Mr. Airy; and were this the only practical — 
result of which we had to boast, I might ask whether this were a mere 
trifling benefit conferred upon the nation which has accepted it at your 
hands. On this particular point, were it in the least degree doubt- 
ful, | might hereafter find an opportunity of appealing to Prof. Bessel, 
whose authority was specially quoted on a former occasion, and who 
will shortly be here in person to support it. Yes; and the railroad on 
Monday will convey in one of its carriages a most important freight. 
Adam Smith says, that of all luggage man is the most difficult to 
transport; fortunately the difficulty is not commensurate with the 

“valine of the article, weighed in the balance ; but if ever accident is des- 

~tined to happen on the Birmingham and Grand Junction rail-road, I 
hope it may be spared us on an occasion when two such companions as 
Herschel and Bessel are trusting their lives to its axles. May they 
convey to us in health and safety the illustrious stranger, the accuracy 
of whose observations, and the grasp of whose calculations have 
enabled him, if I am rightly informed, to pass the limits of our plane- 
tary system and the orbit of Uranus, to expatiate extra flammantia 
menia, and to measure and report the parallax and the distance of 
bodies, which no contrivance of optics can-bring sensibly nearer to our 
vision—not dangling in ante-chambers, nor wiping the dust from 
palace staircases. 

I have been speaking of matters for some time past in progress, and 
notorious to all who have taken an interest in your proceedings. They 
are gratifying as proofs that the impulse of this Society has been com- 
municated and felt in high quarters. It is surely desirable that, under 
any form of government, the collective science of a country should 
be on the most amicable footing with the depositaries of its power; 
free, indeed, from undue control and interference, uncontaminated by 
the passions and influences with which statesmen have to deal, but 
enjoying its good will and favour, receiving and requiting with usury 
its assistance on fitting occasions, and organized in such a manner as to 

- afford reference and advice on topics with respect to which they may be 
required. One more recent instance of the operations of this Society 


596 Proceedings of the British Association. 


in this respect I may mention, in addition to those I have slightly 
enumerated. I do not refer in detail to other most important oper- 
ations which owe their orgin to this Society—the Magnetic Expedition 
now in progress ; the extension of the trigonometrical survey on an ex- 
panded scale, suggested by you, and liberally adopted by the Board 
of Ordnance—these and many other similar matters are recorded in 
your Transactions ; and to those Transactions, rather than to any 
defective catalogue of mine, I would -refer those who may doubt the 
benefit of aur labours. The most recent instance, however, I cannot 
omit; 1 mean the important accession to the means of this Society of a 
fixed position, a place for deposit, regulation, and comparison of instru- 
ments, and for many more purposes than I could name, perhaps 
even more than are yet contemplated, in the Observatory at Kew. 
This building was standing useless. The Council of the Association 
epproached the throne with a petition that they might occupy it, and I 
am happy to say that the sceptre was gracefully held towards them; 
and I think this transaction a fair instance of that species of connexion 
between science and government, which I hope may always be cultiva- 
ted in this country. I am informed that the purposes to which this 
building is readily and immediately applicable, are of an importance 
which none but men adyanced in science cau appreciate, You will hear 
further of them in the Committee of Recommendations. 

’ With reference to the past transactions of the Society, it would 
he a presumption in me to enter upon any detail. I coxfess, however, 
that on looking over the printed Transactions of the year 1839, my eye 
was caught by a paragraph of the introduction to Prof, Owen’s treatise 
on the fossil reptiles of Great Britein, ia which he avows that but 
for the assistance of the Association he should have shrunk from 
the undertaking of that work. The context to this passage is a vast 
one. Those who wish to feel the entire force of the commentary it 
conveys, must follow it through the pages of subtle disquisition which 
succeed it. J ask you, learned and unlearned alike, to give but a 
glance at those pages. See how the greatest—am I wrong in call- 
ing him so?—of the British disciples of Cuvier walks among the shat- 
tered remaants of former Worlds, with order and arrangement in his 
. train. Mark how, page after page,.and specimen after specimen, the 
dislocated vertebrz fall into their places,—how the giants of former days 
assume their due lineaments and proportions, some shorn of the undue 
dimensions ascribed to them on the first flush of discovery, others 
expanded into even greater bulk, all alike bearing the indelible mark 
of adaptation to the modes of their forgotten existence, and pregnant 


Proceedings of the British Association. 597 


with the proofs of wisdom and omnipotence in their common Creator. 
This is a portion, at least, of the results of this Society. I select 
it for notice, because it deals with a subject which comes partially 
at least, within the comprehension of those to whom algebraical 
formule or the hieroglyphics of mathematical science are a sealed 
‘letter. 

Gentlemen, I have endeavoured by these remarks to sonvey to you 
the genera] reasons which induced me, an unscientific man, to wish this 
Society success, and to endeavour to assist that success by any means 
at my disposal. I would ask leave, before I conclude, to further illus- 
trate these views and feelings which are incidental te my own position, 
by reference to a scientific transaction of ne very distant date. Some 
two years ago, as I have understood, an adventurous and scientific 
party, with Prof Agassiz at its head, undertook the ascent of that 
Swiss mountain, whose name indicates that it had for ages been pro- . 
nounced inaccessible to the foot of man. They applied, however, to 
physical difficulties in this case the energies and perseverance which 
have won them many triumphs over intellectual obstacles, and they 
succeeded. I doubt mot that there were many who, from the chalet 
and the pasturage beneath, directed their glasses to those peaks of 
ice, and watched with intent and thrilling interest the progress of 
those adventurers. Perhaps among them were some who, by some 
trifling incursions into those awful regions, in pursuit perhaps of the 
artist’s or the hunter's pastime; had learned to appreciate the dangers 
of the crevice, the toil of the aasent, cut step by step with the hatchet 
in the pzecipitous ice, and the general magnitude of the enterprise. 
_ Be assured, you climbers of the heights of science, and there are many 
of you here, that individuals so situated hail ‘the progress they 
cannot share,—that they sympathise with your advances, lament 
when you are baffled; and that when you plant your flag on some 
hitherto virgin summit, their shout of applause would reach you 
from below,—if it could be conveyed to your organs by the pure and 
attenuated atmosphere it is yours, and yours alone, to breathe. Dwel- 
lers in the peopled valley as we are, absorbed by other cares, and I 
hope discharging other duties, breathers of a heavier and too often 
tainted atmosphere, we yet can look upwards. We watch and count 
your triumphs; and as you gain them, we gladly add your names 
to the list of those who have done honour to their country and service 
to their kind, Yor your labours have this privilege, that while their 
results become the common property of man, for that very reason, 
and because they confer that common benefit, they elevate the country 


* 


598 Proceedings of the British Association. 


in which they originate in the scale of nations, and gratify the most 
reasonable feelings of national pride, Miia, HOr, OAS 90, Be mart 
unrestricted extent the obligations of our common humanity. 

Mr. Murchison moved the thanks of the Association to the Presi- 
dent for his excellent address. 

The Marquis of Northampton seconded the motion, and took the 
opportunity of commenting on Mr. Whewell’s preliminary obser- 
vations. He differed from him in the expediency of suspending the 
méetings of the Association; he believed that every town where it 
had met would be glad to receive it again, and dwelt very. strongly 
on the claims of York to receive the Association a second time. He 
said that the President’s speech proved, that if the Sections should 
cease to exist, it could not be said, “carent vate sacro.” He also 
deemed it necessary to state, that when he waited on Sir Robert Peel 
to urge the propriety of continuing the Magnetic Observations, which 
are now carried on in fifteen places, he was accompanied by the 
Ambassador of Russia. This was a proof of the beneficial influence of 
science as a bond of uniof between nations, and a pledge for the 


progress of peace and civilization.— Atheneum, July 2nd, 1842. 


Abstract of M. Fountrr’s Theory of Heat.—From “ The Revolutions 
of the Globe Familiarly Described,” by Alexander Bertrand, m.n. 


The questions relative to the temperature of the terrestrial globe, 
of which the ancient philosophers had a faint glimpse; were not 
yet susceptible of a satisfactory solution; and the human mind, 
on this subject, as on all those which it enters upon prematurely, 
veered, in succession, until these latter times, from one error to its 
opposite—Thus, while Buffon, too much prepossessed with the 
hypothesis of a central fire yet burning beneath the cooled shell 
of the planetary bodies, attributed an almost exclusive influence 
upon the temperature of their surface to the heat which these 
bodies must have formerly imbibed, other physiologists, denying 
even the reality of this primitive heat, the existence of which every 
thing proves, were inclined to explain the thermometrical state of 
the whole globe, by the influence of the solar heat alone. Such 
exclusive views can no longer be admitted. It is now demonstra- 
ted, that different causes affect the temperature of the terrestrial 


Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 599 


globe, and we can even assign, with great precision, the part which 
each of them respectively performs. 

A single individual, M. Fourier, has established, in our days the 
mathematical theory of heat. Making use of a method of calcula- 
tion of his own invention, adapted to the new order of phenomena 
which he was desirous to study, he arrived at a knowledge of the 
laws by which they are regulated. No geometrican ever before 
applied mathematical analysis so profoundly to the investigation 
of the great phenomena of nature. No one, since Newton, has 
opened such new paths to the study of natural philosophy. 

‘To give an idea of the results obtained by M. Fourier, as to the 
heat of the globe, will be to state the amount of all that is known 
- upon the subject.* : 

“Our solar system is placed in a region of the universe, all the 
points of which have a common, and constant temperature, deter- 
mined by the rays of light and heat which all the surrounding stars 
emit. This cold planetary temperature is little lower than that 
of the polar regions of the terrestrial globe. The earth would only 
have this same temperature of the heavens, if two causes_did not 
concur to heat it; one is the continual action of the solar rays, 
which penetrate all its mass, and maintain the difference of climates 
on its surface: the other, is the interior heat which it possessed | 
when the planetary bodies were for ned, only a part of which has 
been dissipated at its surface. 

“Let us proceed successively with these two last causes of the 
terrestrial heat, considering each of them, at first, separately, ap if it 
acted alone. And first, what would have happened, if the earth, 
primitively possessing only the temperature of the space in which 


* The account which we are about to give, is extracted from a Memoir, inserted 
by M. Fourier, in the ** Annales de Chimie’ et de Physique,” (October, 1824.) 
If, upon some points, I have conceived it necessary to give explanations which 
appeared to me indispensable for the readers for whom my book is intended, in 
others, it seemed to me, that I could not do better than transcribe the actual ex- 
pressions of M. Fourier himself. These passages are indicated by inverted 
commas 


*.* In a posterior note the author observes, that he should have here stated, 
that “the thermometer used by M. Fourier, was that of Reamur, the zero, or freezing 
point of which, is 32°. of Farenheit, and its boiling point is marked 80, being 212°. 
of Farenheit.—'T’. 


600 Fourier's Theory of Heat. 


it was merged, had been, for a very great number of ages, subjected 
to the action of the solar rays? In order to resolve this ques- 
tion, we ought, evidently, to distinguish the effects produced on 
the extreme surface, from those which must have occurred at depths 
more or less considerable. As to the former, nothing is more 
simple.” 

The alternations of the presence and absence of the sun, must have, 
from the origin of things, occasioned diurnal and annual variations, | 
similar to those which we now observe. Any detail upon this 
subject, would be superfiuous. Every one comprehends, in fact, how 
the surface, heated by the presence of the sun above the horizon, | 
becomes cooled every night after the setting of that orb. The cause _ 
of the annual variations is no less evident. The sun, in our climates, 
being each day, during the summer, a longer time above the horizon, 
and darting its rays more directly upon us, a more considerable 
heating must ensue from this double cause, than that which occurs 
during the winter, when the sun, notwithstanding its greater 
proximity to the earth, produces less effect. These’ 
in their generality, at least, have long been the subject of scientific 

We shall only observe, that the difference between the heat of 
the day, and that of the night, and between that of the summer and 
winter, as to each region, could only be explained by the con- 
sideration of the influence which the temperature of the planetary 
spaces exercises upon it, and which no one, before M. Fourier, ever 
even attempted to estimate. 

The periodical effects, which we have mentioned, are remarker 
only at the extreme surface, and it is sufficient to penetrate 
few feet beneath it to find them very sensibly modified. By virtu 
of a general law of nature, the strata more immediately below 
the surface draw from it a portion of the heat communicated by the 
sun; and the same effect is produced upon the successive strata 
to a depth which essentially depends upon the time that has elapsed 
since the period when the heating cause began to operate. 

But the strata heated by imbibing the heat of the superficies, — 
are not liable to the same yariations of temperature as this last. 
To render this fact evident, let us suppose a depth, such that the 


Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 601 


heat communicated to the surface cannot reach it till several 
days have passed. Then clearly the diurnal variations will be no 
longer felt. The temperature will be there neither so hot as during 
*the day, nor so cold as during the night, but will assume an in- 
termediate degree, which will directly depend only upon a mean be- 
tween the heat of several days, and the coldness of several nights 
consecutively, A thermometer placed at this depth, (that of most of 
our vaults) will not vary then in the space of twenty-four hours, as it 
would at the surface, and will remain steady, during a space of time 
equal to that of a season, constantly denoting a mean temperature, 
furnished by the aggregate of the days and nights of that season. 

If we descend still lower, we shall arrive at certain strata, where 
the transmission of the solar heat will not be able to operate, till 
after a lapse of time, considerable enough to prevent the alter- 
nations of the seasons being further felt there; so that we shall 
then find a fixed temperature, which will be the mean between that 
of the seasons : that is to say, exactly that which would be obtaijed 
by taking the mean value of all the temperatures observed onthe 
surface at each moment, during a great number of years. This 
fixed temperature of the deep-seated strata, being once established 
for each point of the earth, at a certain distance from the surface, it 
cannot fail (by virtue of the law, in consequence of which, a hot 
body brought in contact with a cold one, yields a portion of its 
heat to the latter), ultimately, to spread itself uniformly over every 
point, to the greatest depths; so that the final result of the solar 
influence, after a sufficient lapse of time, must be the establishment 
of a fixed temperature for every part of the earth, always extending | 
itself in a similar manner, from the line where the periodical vari- 
ations cease to be felt, to the centre of the earth. 

It is needless to call to mind, that this fixed temperature being 
the result of the periodical variations of the superficies, and giving 
precisely, for each place, the mean value of all the temperatures 
which succeed each other at the surface, for a long course of years, 
will not change again, being once established, whatever may be the 
length of time during which the afflux of the solar rays is continued. 
In the final state which we have spoken of, all the heat which 
penetrates by the equatorial regions, is exactly a sng by that 

H 


602 Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 


which passes off through the polar regions’; so that the earth thus 
gives back to the terrestrial spaces all the heat which it received 
from the sun. 

The final state of the mass, whose heat has pervaded all its 


constituent parts, is exactly comparable to that of a vessel which . 


receives, from openings above, a constant supply of liquid, which it 
suffers to escape, in precisely the same quantity, by one or more 
orifices below. We may conclude, from what we have said, that, 


if the earth were exposed, for a long series of ages, to the single ° 


action of the solar rays, we should observe, below the envelope 
where the periodical variations operate, a constant temperature, 
which would be the same as to all the points of the same vertical 
line ; that this uniform temperature would perceptibly continue to 
the lowest accessible depths ; and would be every where equal to 
the temperature of the superficies ; and, that, consequently, it would 
depend, for each point, principally on the latitude of the place at 
which the observations might be made. 

“ If the action of the solar rays had not been continued for a time 
sufficient to allow the heating to reach its extreme term, the tempera- 
ture of deep places would not be uniform, as far as the centre ofthe 
earth, but would decrease in proportion to the descent. But, under 
any supposition, the influence of the solar rays could not produce a 
heating which augments with the depth ; that is to say, which causes 
the deep strata to be hotter than those which are superficial.” 

All the preceding truths, the existence of which reasoning can 
only indicate, have been demonstrated by M. Fourier, with mathe- 
matical rigour. He has even given formule, by the assistance of 
which we may arrive, as regards each point, at results as precise as 
those which the most careful direct observation could furnish. Let 
us make this clearer, by an example. 

We have just shewn, and we might, indeed, have assumed it as a 
fact, evident of itself, that the depth at which the temperature be- 
comes constant and uniform, as respects each place, depends, among 
other things, on the duration of the period which occasions the same 
effects on the surface ; that, for instance, it is necessary to penetrate 
lower, to withdraw from the influence of the seasons, than to cease 
to feel that of the day and night; but, it would be impossible to 


. 
) 
4 
a 


Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 603 


determine, by reasoning alone, the exact relation which exists be- 
tween the duration of the period and the depth to which it is re- 
quisite to descend, to be beyond the reach of that influence. This 
relation calculation only can furnish; and that indicates, that the 
diurna’ variations are felt only at a depth nineteen times less than 
those where the annual variations cease to be observed. 
All the effects of the solar heat upon the earth are modified by 
the superposition of the atmosphere, and the presence of the waters. 
The great motions to which these fluids are-liable, render the dis- 
tribution of it more uniform. The air and the waters, besides, exer- 
cise an action of another kind upon the terrestrial heat; like trans- 
parent bodies placed upon the surface of the globe, they augment , 
its temperature. Offering, in fact, a passage sufficiently free to the 
luminbus heat, they present a greater obstacle to the departure of 
that which the earth afterwards exhales into space. The air ang 
water thus produce nearly the same effect as ordinary glass, when 
surrounding a body exposed to the sun; or the effect of double 
sashes upon the temperature of our rooms. We proceed to another 
cause of the temperature of our globe. 
Numerous observations, now sufficiently ascertained, prove, that, 
at each point of the earth, the fixed temperatures increase in propor- 
tion as we descend to the lower depths. But we have seen, that 
this elevation of the fixed temperature in the direction of the depth, 
cannot, in any way, be the consequence of the piolonged action of 
the rays of the sun. The cause which give to the deep strata a 
fixed temperature, more and more elevated, is, then, an interior 
source of heat, whether constant or variable, placed below these 
points of the globe which we have been able to reach. This cause, 
penetrating to the surface, raises its temperature above that which 
would be the result of the single action of the sun. But the 
increase of the temperature, communicated to the superficies by this 
cause, is almost nothing. This, M. Fourier has demonstrated with 
mathematical precision ; and, it is a remarkable circumstance, that 
scarcely had we acquired some certainty as to the existence of a 
central fire, when the theory of this great geometer furnished us 
with the means of arriving at the most curious results, as to all the 
consequences to be drawn from it. 


604 Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 


Perhaps, at first sight, it will appear surprising, that, without 
knowing either the nature of the focus of the internal heat, its 
intensity, or the depth at which it is situate, we should be able to 
determine any thing as to the relative influence which it is capable 
of exercising upon the surface. But this influence does not depend, 
directly, upon any of the circumstances which we have related; and 
in order to calculate-it very closely, it is sufficient to have, Ist, the 
exact measure of the elevation of the temperature in the strata si- 
tuated immediately below the soil; and, 2ndly, to know the degree 
of facility with which the heat can penetrate each of the substances 
which compose them. It does not, in fact, require much reflection 
to understand, that the central fire, whatever it may be, and what- 
ever its position, not being able to exercise any influence upon the 
surface of the earth, but by the intervention of the most superficial 
strata, the effect which it will produce, will-have an immediate and 
necessary relation with its mode of action on the latter; and that it 
will impart a greater degree of heat to the surface, the more rapidly 
it increases the temperature of the strata situated below it, and 
vice versd, ’ 

Here again, what reasoning can merely indicate generally, may be 
determined with the greatest precision by the aid of analytical 
formule ; and the assistance afforded by them, in this particular 
case, is such, that it is now one and the same thing with geome- 
tricians to know how much the heat increases in proportion as we 
dig below the ground, and to ascertain the excess of temperature 
which the central fire communicates to the surface ; the knowledge 
of the one leads immediately to the knowledge of the other. Now 
we can measure, as to each locality, the increase of temperature, 
commencing from the surface; we can thus also learn, for each 
locality, the excess of temperature produced by the central heat. 

All the observations collected and discussed by the most learned 
physiologists of our days, inform us, that the increase of temperature 
in the strata lying immediately beneath the surface, is about a 
degree in thirty metres, at a medium. In a globe of iron a similar 
increase would only give a quarter of a centesimal degree, for the 
actual elevation of the temperature of the surface. As a comse- 
quence of the influence of the central fire, this elevation is very 


Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 0U5 


trifling, and almost imperceptible ; that, however, which the earth 
experiences is much less still. In fact, the strata of the mineral 
shell are not composed of iron, but of substances which offer much 
less facility for the transmission of heat. Now, the heating of 
the ground is (for the same level of temperature in the direction 
of the depth) directly proportioned to this facility ; whence it 
follows that if, as is very.likely, the substances of which the upper 
envelope of the earth is composed, conduct eight times less heat 
than i iron, the excess of heat communicated by the internal fire will 
only be “the 32nd part. of a centesimal degree, a quantity quite 
insignificant, 

When we examine attentively, and paieas to known principles, 
all the observations relative to the figure of the earth, we cannot 
doubt, that this planet received at its origin, a very elevated tem- 
perature. On the other hand, thermometrical observations shew 
us, that the present distribution of heat in the terrestrial envelope 
is that which would have occurred, if the globe had been first very 
hot and then progressively cooled, till it reached the state in which 
we now find it. The agreement of these two kinds of observations 
furnishes, as we’ may perceive, the strongest argument for the 
igneous origin of our planet. But, as we have just now seen, this 
central fire, the existence of which can scarcely now be contested, 
produces only imperceptible modifications on the surface of the 
ground. . 

As every thing proves, that the other planetary bodies beye the 
same origin as the earth, we cannot doubt that the same results are 
applicable to them, which have been obtained with regard to our 
globe. 

In applying this conclusion, mathematically proved, to all the 
planetary bodies, we find that in each the focus of heat, although 
still burning in the interior, is without any perceptible influence 
upon the temperature of the surface, whence it results that among 
all, the heat of the superficies must depend almost exclusively 
upon their distance from the sun, and the manner in which they 
present the different parts of their surface to the rays of that 
orb, as well as on the state of the superficies; the presence or 
absence, in particular, of an atmosphere, or of a great quantity of 


606 . Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 
water on their surface, being capable of producing very sensible 

It is our ignorance of these latter circumstances which prevents 
our being able to assign, precisely, the temperature of each planet. 
All that we could do would be to determine, in a closely approxima- 
ting manner, the degree of heat which the terrestrial globe would 
acquire, if placed in their respective situations. But with regard to 
the bodies situated at the extremities of the solar system, there is no 
longer any uncertainty. The impression of the Sun’s rays upon 
these planets being extremely feeble at such a great distance, we 
may be assured, that the temperature of their surface is but very 
little above that of the planetary spaces, and consequently, that it is 
subject to a degree of cold incompatible with the existence of life, 
such as we see on the earth. This result is particularly evident 
vith regard to Uranus, which being 660 millions of leagues distant 
rom the sun, can derive no heat from its rays. 

These considerations suffice to shew how much Buffon deviated 
from the truth in his conjectures upon the past, present, and future 
state of the temperature of the planetary bodies. The errors into 
which he fell, proceeded, 1st, from his being completely mistaken, 
_ as to the rapidity of the total cooling of the heated masses. ‘He was 
led to suppose this rapidity to be incomparably greater than it really 
is. Thus he allows only 4000 years for the earth to pass from the 
temperature of boiling water to that which it now has ; whereas 4000 
years@rould not be sufficient to reduce this temperature the tenth of 
a degree. We may add, that he was not acquainted with that law of 
cooling, by means of which a body, with a volume as large as that 
of the planetary body, must necessarily be for a long time cooled at 
its surface, while its interior is still in a state of ignition. 

2ndly.—From his assigning to the solar rays a power much too 
limited. Thus whilst he supposes that our earth will become unin- 
habitable, as soon as, by the evaporation of its internal heat, it shall 
be reduced to that only which would accrue to it from the sun, it is 
proved, on the contrary, that the heat which comes from this latter 
source is now nearly all that influences our climates, and that it will 
suffice to maintain them constantly the same, for an immense space 
of time. In order to produce any sensible change in our climates, 


Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 607 


whilst the surface of the earth remains the same, it would in reality’ 
be necessary, either that our sun should diminish in heat, or that 
our entire solar system should be transported into a region of the 
universe, in which the temperature of the planetary spaces would be 
sensibly different from that in which we are immerged. 

Buffon attempted to indicate, in a precise manner, the time 
which would necessarily be requisite for each planetary body to pass 
from a state of fusion produced by heat, to a degree of cold incom- 
patible with life. At the present day, in consequence of the theory 
of heat, nothing would be so easy as to resolve this question in the 
most precise manner ; and thus to determine the age of the planets, 
if we had any mens of learning what was their initial temperature. 
But not knowing this, we can determine nothing, and must content 
ourselves with pointing out some results proper to give an idea of 
the immense time which must have elapsed since the origin of our 
planetary system. 

M. Fourier, in endeavouring to ascertain the periods of time 
-which similar solid bodies, similarly heated, would require to reduce, 
them to the same state when, after having been elevated to an equal 
temperature, they should be immerged in the same medium, arrived 
at this remarkable result :—that the earth once heated to any tem- 
perature whatever, and plunged into a colder medium than itself, 
_ would cool no more in 1,280,000 years, than a globe of a foot in 

diameter formed of the like substances, and placed in the same cir- 

cumstances, would in a second; that is to say, that in this really 
immense time no appreciable variation would take place in its tem-- 
perature. We may see, by this result, with what slowness the ge- 
neral changes take place in the interior of the planets. ‘The dura- 
tion of these grand phenomena,” says M. Fourier, “ corresponds with 
the dimensions of the universe; it is measured by numbers of the 
same order as those which express the distances of the fixed stars.” 

* Once fantiliarized with the ideas of these prodigious numbers, we 
shall not be farther astonished to learn that whatever may be the in- 
fluence exercised upon the surface of the ground by the internal heat, 
this influence will last for an unlimited time ; and that more than 
_ 30,000 years will pass before it is reduced to the half of ‘that which 
it now is. In truth, at the commencement of things, the variations 


——s 


608 Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 


must have been much more rapid ; but from the most remote his- 
torical times, all these great phenomena relative to the earth have 
assumed a character of stability which is very remarkable. It is 
rigorously demonstrated that, from the time of the Greek school of 
Alexandria to the present day, the temperature of the terrestrial sur- 
face has not diminished, in consequence of the declining of its inter- 
nal heat, the 300dth part of a degree of heat of the terrestrial globe. 

From these different reflections, we conclude that, after having 


diminished for an immense length of time, the influence of the in-| 


ternal heat of the globe, however intense it may be, produces only 
an imperceptible effect on the surface; and that this effect, feeble as 
it is, will not, however, be totally destroyed till after an unlimited 
time, for strictly speaking, it will become more and more feeble, un- 
til the internal heat be wholly dissipated. 

Altlionags: in eli the Setesbcn: haat ciey tok aay toned 
sensible at the surface of the earth, the tote’ quantity dissipated in 
a given time, as a year or a century, can be measured; and M. 
Fourier, who has ascertained it, has shewn that it was once more 
considerable. That which traverses a square metre in superficies, 
and is in the course of a century dispersed into the planetary spaces 
could melta column of ie which should have fr its baae thin aquare 
metre, and a height of about three metres. 


The same geometrician has ascertained the quantity of heat, the : 


oscillations of which determine the alternation of the seasons, for 
every point of the globe. This quantity, supposing the terrestrial 
envelope to be made of forged iron, would be, for every square 
metre of superficies, equivalent to that which would melt a cylindri- 
cal column, having for its base this square metre, and three metres 
of height : that is to say, that the quantity of heat which every year 
produces the alternation of the seasons, would be on this supposi- 
tion, perceptibly equal to that which the terrestrial globe loses in a 
century, in consequence of the evaporation of its internal heat: but 
the envelope of the terrestrial globe being formed of substances, 
which conduct the heat in a much less degree than forged iron 
would do, the annual loss is really less considerable. 

It is of great importance to observe, that the mean temperature 


may experience, from accidental causes, variations incomparably 


Lk. i ——————— | oe 


Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 609 


more evident than those which arise from the secular cooling of 
the globe. 

The establishment and progress of human societies, and the action 
of the ordinary powers of nature, may change, more especially in 
very extensive countries, the state of the surface of the ground, the 

distribution of the waters, and the great movements of the atmos- 

phere. Such effects are calculated to produce a very sensible varia- 

tion in the amount of the mean heat, in the course of a few years. 

In general, the clearing and cultivation of the lands, the establish- 

ment of towns, the operations by which a settled course is given to 

streams and rivers, the drying up of marshes—in a word, all that 

ensues from the progress of civilization, tends to augment the tem- 

perature of a country. This would appear to have formerly happened 

to Germany, which, in the time of Tacitus, was much colder than in 

our days; and very recently in the United States, the climate of 
which would seem to. have been very evidently softened during the, 
last half century.* These incontestable facts, which appear, at first 

sight, to contradict the hypothesis of the gradual cooling of the 

terrestrial globe, clearly prove nothing against it, since they depend 

on local causes, the amount of which the theory of heat can appre- 

ciate with sufficient exactness, while that same hypothesis proves, as 

we have seen, that the influence of the central fire is nearly nothing 
on the surface. 

We shall now consider a third cause of the terrestrial heat, which 
consists in the temperature of the planetary spaces. Suppose, for an 
instant, that the sun, and all the planetary bodies should cease to 

_ exist, the region of the heavens occupied by our solar system, would 
have a certain temperature, which a thermometer placed in any 
point of it would indicate. Let us point out the principal facts 
which led M. Fourier to discover the existence of this heat peculiar 


* Mr. Jefferson speaking of Virginia, says, ‘‘ A change in our climate is taking 
place very sensibly. Both heats and colds are become much more moderate, 
within the memory even of the middle aged. Snows are less frequent and less 
deep. They do not often lie, below the mountains, more than one, two, or three 
days, and very rarely a week. ‘They are remembered to have been formerly 
_ frequent, deep, and of long continuance. “he elderly inform me the earth used 
to be covered with snow about three months in every year. The rivers which then 
seldom failed to freeze over in the course of the winter, scarcely ever do sonow.”” - 


--T. 
41 


610 Fourier’s Theory of Heat. 


to the planetary spaces, independent of the primitive heat which the 
globe has preserved. 

“In order to acquire the knowledge of this singular phenomenon, 
it is requisite to examine what would be the thermometrical state of 
the terrestrial mass, if it received heat only from the sun; and in 
order to make this examination easier, we will first suppose the 
atmosphere to be destroyed. Now, if no cause exists adapted to 
give a common and constant temperature to the planetary spaces— 
that is to say, if the terrestrial globe, and all the bodies which com- 
pose the solar system, were placed in an enclosure devoid of all heat, 
phenomena would be observed entirely contrary to those which we 
know to exist. The polar regions would endure an immeasurable 
cold, and the decrease in the temperature, from the equator to the 
poles would be incomparably more rapid and extensive. 


“ Upon the hypothesis of the absolute cold of space, if it is possi-: 


ble to conceive it at all, the effects of heat, such as we observe them 
on the surface of the globe, would be owing to the presence of the 
sun; the least variations of distance from that orb, would occasion 
very considerable changes of temperature in the earth; the inter- 
mission of days and nights would produce sudden and totally different 
effects from those which we perceive. The surface of bodies would 
instantaneously be exposed, at the commencement of night, to an in- 
finitely intense cold; and animated bodies and vegetables would not 
be able to resist the equally strong and sudden action of a contrary 
description, which would take place upon the rising of the sun. 

“The primitive heat preserve in the interior of the terrestrial 
mass, would not maintain the exterior temperature of space, nor pre- 
vent any of those effects which we have just described ; for we know 
with certainty (as we have just seen) by theory and observation, that 
the effect of this central heat has long since become imperceptible at 
the superficies, although it may be very great at a middling depth. 

“ We conclude from these last remarks, and principally from the 
mathematical examination of the question, that there exists a physi- 
cal cause always present, which moderates the temperatures at the 
surface of the terrestrial globe, and gives to this planet a fundamen- 
tal heat, independent of the action of the sun, and its own heat which 
the interior mass has preserved. ‘This fixed temperature, Avhich the 


Tourier's Theory of Heat. 611 


earth thus receives from space, differs little from that which would be 
indicated at the terrestrial poles. It is necessarily less than the tem- 
perature which belongs to the coldest countries; but in this comparison 
we must consider only well ascertained observations, and not take in- 
to account the accidental effects of a very intense cold, which might 
be caused by evaporation, violent winds, and an unusual expansio 
of the air.* 

“ After having ascertained the existence of the fundamental tem- 
perature of space, without which the effects of the heat observed on 
the superficies of the globe would be inexplicable, we shall add, that 
the origin of this phenomenon, if we may so speak, is evident, _It is 
owing to the irradiation of all the bodies of the universe, whose light 
and heat can reach us. The stars which we perceive with the naked 
eye, the innumerable multitude of stars seen with the telescope, and 
of obscure bodies which fill the universe, the atmospheres which sur- 
round these luminous bodies, the rarified matters spread in different 
parts of space, concur in forming those rays which on all sides pe- 
netrate the planetary regions. We cannot conceive the existence of 
such a system of luminous, or heated bodies without admitting that 
every point of the space which contains them, acquires a settled tem- 
perature. 

«« The immense number of the celestial bodies compensates for the 
inequalities of their temperature, and renders the irradiation sensibly © 
uniform. 

“This temperature of space is not the same in the different :cgions 
, of the universe, but it does not vary in those in which the planetary 
bodies are contained, because the dimensions of this space are without 
comparison smaller than the distances which separate them from the 
shining bodies. Thus in all points of the earth’s orbit, this planet is 
subject to the same temperature of the heavens, 

“It is the same with the other planets of our system : they all par- 
take of the common temperature, which is more or less augmented for 
each of them by the impression of the rays of the sun, according to 
the distance of the planet from that orb.” 


* This is the way in which we must explain the account given by Captain Parry, 
sho speaks of having observed a degree of colil of 50° at Melville Island. 


6lz 


General Report of the Council of Public Instruction of Bengal, for 
1841 and 1842. 


The imumbes of district‘ echioclé under (hs Osenell of Rasa 


appear to be about 100, the number of scholars provided for, 
14,782, or 147 to each school; but the average attendance is only 
5019, or 50 to each school, and the expenditure being Co’s. Rs. 
6,15,529 per annum, is exactly Co’s, Rs. 122: 10: 2 per head, which 
is about £12: 10, English money, for each boy; rather more we 


should suppose than the average rates of day schools at home.* Th _ 
course of education consists of English Reading, together with either | 


Hindee, Bengalee, Persian, or Sanscrit Grammar. The boys, (for 
the system does not extend to the education of females,) are divided 


into several classes, the senior of which embraces probably about 


ten per cent. of the whole, and their reading extends to Elementary 
Geometry, selections from Homer’s Iliad, Milton, Bacon, Locke, and 
select Essays oni popular scientific subjects, published by the Society 
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Some portion of the press 
in noticing this Report, seemed to consider the means at the disposal 


of the Committee too limited; for our own part, we think them © 


much too large, and that they ought to be reduced in proportion 
to the number of scholars actually attending the schools, as com- 
pared with the number enrolled, and who although provided for, 
decline to attend. The four lacs of rupees thus annually saved, 
we would devote to the examination and illustration of the natural 
productions of the country, a subject with which we have no reason 
to suppose any of the persons connected with the present system 
of Education are at all, even theoretically, acquainted. We would 


employ for this purpose, men, such as Messrs. Murchison, Macleay, ji 


Swainson, Brown and Herschel, with the’ pay of Members and Presi- 
dents of the Law Commission, together with as many deputies as 
might be necessary. In the course of twenty years, the children of 


© Asan instance of what children may be educated for in India, we would refer 
to the Catholic Orphanage, established by the Right Rev. Dr. Carew.—Ep. 


| 


Agri-Horticultural Journal—India Review. 613 


India would then have something substantial to learn with regard 
to their own country; and under competent teachers, might then 
be made to comprehend even Homer and Milton, as well as the 
use and application of Bacon and Locke’s Essays. As it is, we ° 
look upon the system of the Indian Educational Council as a 
baseless fabric, and the mere ¢ reading of Homer, Bacon, &c., a 
poor object of instruction. ’ 


Agri-Horticultural Society’s Journal, and India Review. 


When censuring in our last number, (page 460,) the editorial 
mistakes of our contemporaries, arising from the indiscriminate pub- 
lication of scraps of private letters and memoranda, we regret to 
find that we unintentionally appear to direct our observetions to 
other parties, than the conductors of the Journals to which we 
referred. 

Our allusion in a rote to the introduction of the Deodar, was only 
intended to illustrate the carelessness of the editors in publishing, 
without explanation, the short memoranda of distinguished writers, 
which are liable if unexplained, to be misunderstood. The introduction 
of the Deodar into Great Britain is a service which may, or may not, 
‘be due equally to Drs. Royle and Falconer, and the allusion to Dr. 
Royle only, in Colonel Sykes’s memorandum, we believe to be 
from inadvertence; but it would be absurd to suppose that either 
Colonel Sykes or Dr. Royle, would wish to deprive Dr. Fal- 
coner of any portion of credit that might attach to him from this, 
or any other improvement. Tbe zeal of Dr. Royle, his example, 
and success in directing the attention of the European public to 
the interest and value of the natural products of India, is entitled 
to our highest respect : to say nothing of the talents with which he 
has himself prosecuted the study of every branch of Natural His- 
tory during a long residence in this country, and we should be sorry, 
if from any inadvertent expression on our part, we shor 'd | ppear 
for a moment to think otherwise. 


indian Coal. 
We called the attention of Mr. Lyell, the distinguished 
Geologist, to this subject about two years ago in a letter, 
an extract from which we now beg to submit to our readers. 


Extract of a letter from the Editor of the Calcutta Journal of Natural His- 
tory to Cuartes Lyrevt, Esa. F.R.S., dated 10th February, 1841. + 


“You are aware from the reports of the Coal Committee, that the 
attention of the Indian Government has been directed to the best way 
of bringing the Indian Coai beds into use. 

“In order to give such operations in India: good effhet; end ite dives 
the attention of future Governments more especially to the subject, 
lest it be abandoned on the departure of the Earl of Auckiand, the 
influential opinions of men of science in England would be highly useful. 

“ For my own part, I consider any thing short of a thorough investiga- 
tion of the Indian coal formations, by persons of the very highest qua- 
lification for such enquiries, as time and money thrown away. 

“ There is a feeling here, as almost every where, that itis miners 
alone that are necessary for the practical development of coal districts. 

“ If this has proved to be an erroneous opinion in England, where coal 
mines have constituted one of the principal internal resources of the 
country for a period of at least 300 years, how much more so must it 
be here, where the country, and even the use of coal, is so little known? 

“ The places in which coal occurs in India are usually remote and un- 
frequented, and are scarcely even to be found on our best maps. The 
consequence is, that a person incapable of availing himself of the light 
which the study of organic characters of rocks has cast upon all such 
juvestigations, finds himself lost, literally, in a wilderness from which 
he is only anxious to withdraw as soon as possible. Perhaps he 
possesses himself of a few specimens of coal without attempting to 
make himself acquainted with the topography of the place ; and with- 
out the power of communicating to others any distinct idea of the 
characters of the rocks, or the extent of the beds, he is satisfied to re- 
turn, and quit the field just at a time when the researches of a qualified — 
person should commence.* ‘ 

* Or as it sometimes happens, recommends practica! uperations to commence 
on wrong data, as in the instance of ‘lenasserim cual, where 50,000 Ks. at least were 
thrown away in working a wrong bed. —Eu. 


Indian Coal. 6 15 


“Thus the practical man, as he is called, seldom accomplishes any 
one object in deputations of this nature, while his failure consigns 
the district he has visited to unmerited neglect for another indefinite 
period.* In the mean time the Government continue to pay exorbi- 
tant rates for coal, the whole supplies of which are derived from a 
single district which remains in the hands of a few, whose interests are 
of course opposed to every thing calculated to interfere with their 
profits. 

“ Much may be in time expected from the liberal policy of the Govern- 
ment, but I doubt if any thing is likely to be accomplished within a 
reasonable period of time, except a system of operations on a great- 
er scale be resorted to for the investigation of the coal formations of 
India, than any Government is likely to adopt, except at the sugges- 
tion of the highest scientific authorities. 

“ Perhaps, if you were to consult with Sir John Herschel and Mr. 
Murchison, something might be done; at all events your opinion could 
not fail to have great weight with the Court of Directors.t 

“ Suppose a geologist, with a distinguished assistant competent to suc- 
ceed him, was to be assigned the investigation of the Assam and the | 
Sylhet coal districts; the indications of coal along the Malay coast 
from Arracan to the 10th degree of latitude to a second ; Cuttack district 
to a third; Palamow to a fourth; Rajmehal and the Nerbudda to a 
fifth ; a sixth sent to Port Natal in South Africa, where coal has recently 
been brought to notice, and offered by the Portuguese authorities to 
the British Government.{ In five years the whole investigation might 
be completed in a manner calculated to confer the highest service on 
science, as well as on the resources of the nation at large.” 


In reply to the above, Mr. Murchison, in a letter dated 
16, Belgrave Square, 22d September 1842, states, that our © 
letter to Mr. Lyell had only reached him a few days before, 


* An instance of this kind has occurred to Arrakan since the above letter was 
written; an officer appointed to examine the indications of coal along that Coast, 
for a distance of 200 miles, ascribes them all to a single vein of coal of 
no value, a phenomenon quite opposed to the details he has himself fur- 
nished,—Ep. 

t We have only as yet heard from Mr. Murchison in reply to this reference. 

} Therecent discoveries of coal in the Straits, should render this quarter a seventh 
field of enquiry, while the South Sea Islands, where Coal is found at several 
points, would also require a separate enquiry. We are much mistaken if the 
interests of steam navigation will not soon demand some such liberal measure on 
the part of the British Government.—Ep, 


616 Indian Coal. 


and remarks, that whenever his thoughts have turned to our 
empire in the East, he i.as been surprized at the apathy 
which has prevailed relative co the coal deposits in and 
around India, and that no geologist has been engaged, regu- 
larly and systematically, to work out the relations of the rock 


masses, containing various mineral substances usefu] toman. _ 


The same distinguished authority also refers to the invita- | 


tion he himself received when President of the Geological 
Society of London, from the Emperor of Russia, under 
whose immediate auspices he has been recently employed 
in geological enquiries in Russia, with special reference to 
the coal tracts of that empire ; while, on the other hand, he 
remarks, in regard to British India, no information whatever 
has been sought for, and none of course has been tender- 
ed, although sooner or later, Mr. Murchison states, our 
Indian Government must subscribe to the necessity of em- 
ploying well-instructed geologists, and alludes to the employ- 
ment of Sir H. De la Beche, on the Ordnance Survey of 
England, as an acknowledgment of the principle. 
_ But as the words of Mr. Murchison, as the President of 
the Geological Section of the British Association, as well as 
_ of the Geological Society of London, may have more weight 
than our own remarks, we here beg leave to quote them. 
“] have for a long time been thinking with surprize 
(whenever my thoughts have been turned to that region, of 
the apparent apathy with which the subject referred to in 
your letter, 10th February 1841, to the address of Mr. Lyell, 
has been treated by those who govern India. Iam happy to 
find by your letter, that more has been done than I supposed ; 
still it is a marvellous and lamentable fact, that whilst very 
large sums have been spent upon enquiries into the botanical 
productions of Hindustan, and eminent botanists have been 
liberally employed, (to see which, no one can rejoice more 
than myself,) no geologist has been engaged, regularly and 


systematically, to work out the relations of the rock masses, — 


containing various mineral substances useful to man. 


— 


Indian Coal. 617 


** No great country save England has been without geolo- 
gists employed by the State during the last ten or fifteen 
years, and in the appointment of Mr., now Sir H. De la 
Beche, to the office of geologist of the Ordnance Survey, the 
English Government has at length recognised the princi- 
ple. In our own country, however, the great enterprise, 
and spirit of the Geological Society have worked out the 
leading data for which foreign governments, even the Unit- 
ed States, are glad to pay. It seems singular too that the 
President of the Geological Society of London, should be 
invited to Russia, and should, under the auspices of the Em- 
peror, have prepared a geological map of that region (with 
special reference to coal tracts) whilst in regard to’ British 
India no information whatever has been sought at our hands 
by your rulers, and no advice of course has been tender- 
ed. You have evidently taken the right course, which 
is, to bring public opinion to act upon our Indian Govern- 
ment, which sooner or later must subscribe to the necessity 
of employing well informed geologists under a skilful chief. 
The points to which you direct attention in search of coal 
seem to be judiciously selected, as far as I am competent 
to judge; and assuring you that I will at all times afford 
you any support in my power in prosecuting the praise- 
worthy, and truly national objects, &c.” 

(Signed) R. J. Murcuison. 

Upon this we would merely remark, that whatever be the 
character of the British Government in India in other re- 
spects, the world will estimate its policy in regard to these 
things, according to the opinion of Mr. Murchison. Although 
not yet in possession of the sentiments of Sir J. Herschel 
and Mr. Lyell on this subject, we hope to be so before 
long, when we shall not withhold them from our readers. 


618 


: Collections. 

We are indebted to R. W. G. Frith, Esq. for a fine young 
buck of Cervus Elaphoides, Hodgs, about three years old, for _ 
transmission to collections in England, as well as for a very 
healthy Baloo-Soor, and three specimens of Ciconia Luco- 
cephala, Gm. 

‘The latter soon became acquainted with the garden to 
which they were first introduced on their arrival in Calcutta, 
and always returned to it at sunset from the various 
ponds about the neighbourhood, which they visited during 
the day. Their singular appearance in Calcutta attracted 
attention, and being perfectly tame they were soon exposed 
to injuries; one had its wing broken by a dog, another 
was killed by some mischievous person, and the third, 
since these accidents befel its companions refuses to fly, 
and remains constantly with the wounded bird. The 
Benturong alluded to page 410, has also been kindly placed 
at our disposal by Mr. Delanougerede: it is perfectly 
tame and in good health. We are only awaiting favourable 
opportunity of transmitting these animals to England. We 
have also to acknowledge the kindness of Edward O'Riley 
Esq., of Moulmein, in forwarding, and that of Capt. R. S. 
Ross, of the steamer Hoogly, in taking charge of two civit cats 
for us. These unfortunately both died on board the steam- 
er in coming from Moulmein, it is supposed, from having 
been both confined in the same cage. Had they reached 
us safe, they would have proved an interesting addition 
to the other animals which we hope shortly to be able to 
forward to England, for the Zoological Society's collec- 
tion, or that of its President, the Earl of Derby. 

We have also the pleasure to state, that Capt. Gordon, 
Political Agent at Moneypore, (whom we took the liberty of 
addressing on the subject,) has kindly undertaken to pro- 
cure for the scientific world, live specimens of Cervus frontalis, 


Collections. 619 


described at p. 401, and figured Pl. XIII and XIV of the 
present volume. Capt. Gordon remarks, the species is most 
abundant in Moneypore valley ; that the rainy season, which 
is the time of breeding, will be the most favourable for ob- 
taining young specimens, when as many of them as can be 
kept alive he has kindly promised to send down to Calcutta 
-next.winter. We have sent skeletons and skins of this spe- 
cies to the Garden of Plants, Paris; as well to the collection 
at the India House, on the part of Capt. Guthrie, to whom 
we have been indebted for these specimens. 


Errata to the Analysis of Sugar Cane, No. 12. 


Page 50, tant Dien, $v notebion toe inaaths” 
* 508, line 13, delete the word ‘‘ red.” 

« §08, “ 28, the comma after “ alkaline.” 

® 509, “ 4, from bottom for “ The leaves,” read “ The canes.” 

« 6510, “ 13, for“ Ligneous matter 36.3” read “ 35,3.” 

=. oi, « ee a ee ee 

“ 512, “ 20, for “ causes” read “‘ means.” 

= © hhae last, for “* he writes, if « Planter who makes conveniently,” read ** he writes, 
“ a Planter who makes annually.” 

“ §19, line 4, after “ limit” adda semicolon. In line 3, dele the period after rollers.” 
In line 20 adda comma after “ results,” and “ that.” In line 28, for “ Phar- 
macie,” read “ Pharmaciest.” 

“514, line 19, for “ of the Arundo sacharifera as sugared matter,” read “ of the Arundo 

a sugared water.” In line 23, for “ macie,” read “ macist.” In 
lige 29, for “as in the Coasts,” read “as on the Coast.” In line 31, for 
« of the juice by rapidly evaporating,” read “ if the juice be rapidly evapo- 
trated.” In the last, line for “‘ various,” read ‘‘ viscious.” 

“ 515, line 16, for “‘ connects,” read ‘* converts.” In line 22 for “ meeting,” read ‘' swel- 

- ” Ting.” In line 26, for “ Arsenical,” read “ Animal.” 

“ 516, line 2, for “ tnbercules,” read ** tubercles.” 


Errata in Faraday's Experimental Researches, No. 9. 


Page 4, last line, for “ water” read “ matter.” 
17, line 6, from top, for “ electricited,” read “ electric.” 
* — 49, line 8, from top, for “ ventrality,” read “ neutrality.” 


ee 
‘ 


Tndex. 


oe 


Abstract of the families general and 
species of Gonoides, Agass.. .. 337 
Action cf Poisons on Vegetation, .. 412 
Address to the Astronomical Society, 13] 
Agri-Horticultural Society’s Jour- 
nal and India Review, -- 460-613 
Ampere, A. M. Views in ete i 
M etism, se oe wi 
ior <neesaco prriae ea r 3 
carpon, Griff. .. 4 
Ants, Braziliar hebits of, ee Ol 
Apalachian Chain, Geology of, .. 567 


Arago, M. Views in Electro-Magne- 
tism, ee ee oe 3-10 
Arrow Root, 290 


Aurora, Borealis and Australis, . 18 
Australian Birds, .. ae -. 461 


'Babbage’s experiments in Magnet- 


ism, ee ve. oe ee 
Bagdad, extract of a letterfrom, .. 292 
Baraiya, or Cervus elaphoides, Hodg. 41] 
Barren Island, its present state, 
Bauhinia Racemosa, Roxb. o. 362 


pases “ear a Ater, De Blain... 410. 


Benson, W. Esq. on a new 

genus of 5 eo voce -- 466 
Beaumont, M. Elie De, on the age 

of Mountai as oe ee 020 
Birds of A ia, ee oe 461 
Boase, Dr. extract of a letter from, 295 
BracHyMenioum, Hook. .. mae 
contortom, Griff. 56 
cuspidatum, Griff; 58 


———_——_——— filiforme, Griff... 58 
BryuM, Linn. oe oo ee «62589 
argenteum, Griff. .. ee 59 
cespiticium, Linn. oo 09 


coronatum, Schwaeg, .. 60 
crudum, Hodg. .. +. ‘60 
iaceum, Griff. .. «. 60 
sollyanym, Griff. .. «- 61 
longirostrum, Griff, . ee 
British Association, Twelfth Meet- 
ing of, .. any ee ee 


Campbell, Capt. J. Madras Service, 


~ Coal Mines on the Adji, .. 


«- 422- Don, 


Camptoceras, a new genus of Lym- 
ne 2, eooe seen 5 ode 
Cervus frontalis, M‘Clell. .. , - 401 
Chemical, Analysis of Water, .. 36 
Chronometers, compensation _ ba- 
lance of, .. > se ee 


Coluber Nooni Parugudu, Russ. .. 420 


5 Controversy against Geologists, 


Notes on, sees eeee ‘ee 


7 Coal, Rajmehal, since es 
—— enquiries regarding, ae 
—— Mines, of Tenaserim, oe 


Coluber Stolatus, Lin. <e -. 420 
Collections, ee ee > ° se 618 


Dacrtonm, Hook. a Ben dteg a 
——_———— marginata, Griff. he <j 
Davy, Sir H. views in Electro-Mag- 
netism, a on cine SS 
Decandole, the late Prof... -. 154 
Deshaye’s Fossils of the Paris Basin, 207 
elate Prof. .., «+ | «. 154 
Downes, E. T. . Lc communica- 
tion on the action of Poison on 
Plants, of ef se ee 412 


Earthenware made at Futtegurh, BRS oy 


Earthquakes in Great Britain, .. 573 
Education, -.. as a «G12 
Electric Currents produced by the 
tidal wave, .. ee os 
Environs of Pekin, .. es o. 448 
Electro-Magnetic Engine,..  .. 116 
Electro Magnetical Machines, .. 298 


Extract from the i of the 
Entomological Society, .. .. 151 


_— Experimental Resear- 


ches, ee oa --l- 
Faraday’s views in Electro-Magnet- 


ism, ee ee es 
, Experiments on Magnets, 8 
———— Law of Magnetic Induc- 


tion on *- oe 
Flintware made at Futtegurh, .. 152 
Fossil Fishes, i! es 
Fossil Shells of the Paris Basin, .. 207 


observations on the originof Kun- Fourier’s 
kur and the influence of deliques- oarier’s Theory of Heat, vs 596 
cent Salts on Vegetation, be oe, Lae Frogs, Predaceous habits of, a 284 
—onBar Iron, Southern India Glossocarya, Wall. .. oe +» 366 
Manufacture of, Py 386 Gonoides, °. - 337 


Camphor the produce of a species 
of Blumiain Tenasserim Provinces, 286 
Catalogue of the Mammalia of 

Assam, * ** oe - 


* 


Griffith, W. Esq. his Plants of Cen- 
tral India, oe ee “ee oe 
Guthrie, Capt. C. J., his discovery of 
a non-described Deer, «+ 401-619 


ll INDEX. 


pg remarks on analysis of — of estimating impurities of 
Sugar C ane, ee eoee ee. 512 ee 386 
Minerale of Nagpore District, +» 290 
‘Heddle, Dr. his letter on Isinglass Mineral Indigo, .. «2 oo 153 
of Bombay, e * ee 182 Motocn, Gray. fe ee oe 147 
Heat, Theory of, .. horridus, a Thorny 
Heights of European sagaes es es > 202 Murchison’s Silurian System, eo 222 
H mnia, Griff, se +. 363 Muscologia Itineris Assamici, .. 56 
Herschel, Sir J., inv ion of Murchison, Mr. on Indian Coal, .. 615 


Arago’s Experiment wi 
~ ing obi: plate on the Oscilla- 


Mylabris chicorii, or Blistering F) 
comma ia Cnleutt, en 2 gn 


tions of the b= a Needle, * 10 J 


his ad to the ” Astro- 
nomical Soc ee ef 131 
rm Celene  poltation of oa 
Heexuntk Smith, . * «+ 276 
——_——— grevilleana, pe +. 276 
obovata, Griff. . or 278 
pulchella, Grif... 279 

— secunda, — on 


280 
H yunenopyrensiay Wal ve +. 365 
fisenen rotulatum, Medio. +. 280 
minoides, Hook, os Bil 


——- on Sandstone Rocks,.. 22 

Review, — ** ** ** 285 
Indian Tu 
Insects at **e ** **e ef 154 
Indian 


Iron, on the ‘manufacture of, -» 386 
Isinglass on the coasts of India, with 
a notice of +< fisheries, 76-157-278-289 


Isinglass, discovery in, .. «. 287 P 


Jacobi, Professor,on Electro-Magne- 
tical Machines, .. ee «» 298 


Kunkur, remarkson, .. es BD 


Laws of Electricity as applied to 
Moving Power, .. «+  « II? 
Liston’s remarks on Soils, een’ 
Light, Polarization Of, sees - 554 
Lowest Fossiliferous «. 239 
Lund, Dr. his remarks on ‘Ants, -. 517 
Lyell, Mr., letter to, se -. 614 


McClelland, J.on East Indian Isin- 
glass, its introduction to, and ma- 
nufacture for, the European Mar- 3 

et, . ** 

— Description of Cervus frontalis, 401 

— Sativa, Dr. Lush’s geet 


Magnetic Influence of Solar Light, 
action of ee 
Light, ee 
Manganese of Mergui, oe ee os 
Madura, Mountains of, .. 
Meteorological Registers, i55-156-390- 
310-311 
sg of the Men of Science of 


y; eee * * ovr 


Nagpore, Minerals of, ee ee 290 
Necxera, Hedw. .. ea oe 
curvata, Griff. ee ee 
Sea lurida, Griff. * * 
ERI, mee yee je 
a eta, iff. ee ° 
——— brevirostris, Griff. ée 
rostrata, Griff. ef ef 
———- copillacea, Griff. ee 
_————— comes, Griff. ee. * 
eee 
————c¢ tula, Hoo oe 7 
——_——- fuscescens, Hook, ee ey 
5 


—_—_—_—_ tosa, 
Neutral Points, Sir D. Brewster on, 553 
North American Indian, .. +» 040 


Oersted’s discovery of the connec- , 
tion between Galvanism and we oak 
netic Attraction, y 

Organic Chemistry, Liebeg’ , ee * 568 


Peli clase side gente 506-513 
endulums, es oe hee 
Plants of Costs India, «. «. 361 
~ Muscologia Itineris Assa- 
+ 56-270 
Playa, Dr. Lyon, on the Chemi- 
cal relations between «Plants ws 
Animals, ee ee 7 . 424 
PLEvropus, Griff. ¥. oe oe 272 
densus, Griff. . ae OE 
progenies a 273 
nioides, Gri 274 
Polynemus Sele, Bach. 
eee habits of teak 1. ued 
Primary 
Principles of E of Bea etro.3 Magnetic Ma- 


BK SSSSESRR 


chines, oe + 
Preroconium, Hook, ée 63 
— bs waaay Grif. 63 
aureum, Hook, ., 64 
flavescens, Hook 64 
neckeroides, Griff, 64 
007 - Pveraane Edulus, ee 
Public Instruction, Report on, 


246 Rajmehal Coal, .. 9 wes. | «. 5OL 


Rescherches, sur les Poissons Fos- 
siles, oe S13 
, Mr. A. on the method 
of Analysis Water, .. 
rough notes on Geological 
controversy, 


‘Smith, Lieut. R. B. his Analysis of 


INDEX. iii 


Ronina, Gray... 145 

rapt ya Dr. on'the production ‘of Isin- 
glass on the coasts of India, .. 76 

Robertson, Mr. A. on Controversy 
_against Geologists, .... * .. 468 


Saccharine, contents of Sugar. Cane, 416 
Salmo Orientalis, or Bamean Trout, 283 
Schouw’s Popular Sketch of the 
Physical Geography of Europe,.. 188 
Silunan 8 nn « 222 
er Ludlow formation, 223 
—-—— in low or Aymestry Lime- 


stone, oe 224 
Lower Ludiow Rocks, e. 220 
— — Wenlock Limestone or 
Ballstone, .. 


—-—— the fossils of the Wenlock 

~ Rocks, ae ee 226 
—-—— Lower Silurian Rock, a, ae 
——— Caradoc sandstone with ie 


fossils, .. . 228 4 


—— Lower Silurian Rocks, . ee 232 
——— altered Silurian Rocks, .. 237 
—— Landslips of the Silurian 


Rocks, 
Mining Ground of the Silu- 
tian Rocks, 


icultural character of 
Silurian Apical 


Faraday’ s Researches, .. .. 1,343 


Smith’s remarks on vegetable im- 
pressions in Sandstone Kocks,...., 22 
—-— his experiments on the Mag- 
netic Influence of Solar ate 210-368 
Soils, remarks on, 26 
SpPaTHIUM, Edgeworth on the Ge- 


nus, ee eo. OSl 
a Loureiro, ee oe 932 
Strata, flexures of, Lae -- O69 
Stoehrer’sElectro- “MagneticEngine, Hh 
Sugar Cane, analysis of, .... oe 
— Manufacture of, .. * B08 
Sungnai, a new Species of Deer, . «- 401 
Thorny Lizard, 143 
Tickell, Lieut. his remarks on Ptero- 

pus Edul a ere < daa 
Tin of the Province of Mergui, . o. 47 
Tides, abnormal, oe +. 045 


‘Tremenheere onthe T'in and Man- 
ganese of ‘lenasserim, .. «+ 47-59 


Ursus Isabellinus, Horsf. .. o. 268 
Ure, Dr. his remarks on Sugar, .. 516 


Vesou, composition of, ve o- O14 


- 239 Walker, H. Catalogue of Mam- 


malia, re at ee 265 
Waves, Theory of, aes oe O04 


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Corrections to No. 8. 


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517 ,, Soolimoaun, ... ss. 5» Soolimaun. 


521 
524 
528 
530 


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540 


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yy pair of male bitds, .....0.+ 55 
»» half breed female;..... 55 
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f | 8SSS5g2 = 13 00 TRAAVOATS ror) 
' aajomorrg | 452 a eeaSses sR RSRSBSSSBTTESB Tet) = 


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0b ts 8, U0O |, -} ae 


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5 
5 es 


. 


Company’s Dispensary. 


The Observations after Sunset are made at the Hon’ ble 


Generals Office, 
842. 


of July 1 


s 


eteorological Register kept at the 
Caleuta, for the Month 


Ubservations made at Mid— 
night 


A 
Vy) 


g 
: 


i 


a 


i 


» §6,0 | 85,5 | 85 


#0 | 65 2 


Temperature. 


oe 
@ 


1550. 86,0 | 85,0 | 84,0 e 


#500, 85,5 | 84,5 | 84,0 
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4 


Observations made at 8 p. m./Observations made at 10 p.m. 


Temperature, 


MWMODDoOosSCosSssoHustsoocscsS 


° SFSSSSSSSSOSBROLLSS 


seeseezesees 


-_-— © = © © 


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aS 8828 
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Observed at 4 Pp. m. 


Wind. 


Temperatu 


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$ 
a 
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er 


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29,421 85,8 87,0! 


Obeerray at 9 50 om. 


Wind. 


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Temperature. 


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29,485' 84,6! 86,5! 83,5" 


| 


Office, Calcutta, for the Month of August 1842. 


Meteorological Register kept at the Surveyor General's 


+toow yor Or 4 OD, 
é vonoy | $5888 6 BSSS2 8588 88858 SHS | 
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The Observations after Sunset are made at the Honorable 


icat Register kept at the Surveyor General’s Office, 
he 


Ca cutta, for the Month of September 1842. 


Meteorol 


Company's Dispensary. 


Observations, made at 8 p, m.|Observations made at 10 r. m. 


Gauges. | 


Observations made at Mid- 


night. 


a Pras 


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i 
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,900} 84,0 84, 0 | 81,25 
,925| 85,25 85, 084,12 £ 
,850| 84,25 |84,12 | 84,12 


Temperature. 


RR CRoCCORARLERER Roo 


RoRoososckRo= 


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SREERERSERE 


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0,13, 0,16 


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Temperature. | Wind. 


. +66 €.%. . ¢©. .° we eee, @ eee? o* (828) eee se 


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quecqecaaas satRREGE 


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Observed at 9 u. 60 m. 


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kino 


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29,685) 81,1 85,6 83,1 


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seq 


= 


after Sunset are made at the £on vle 
Company’s Dispensary. 


The Observations 


t at the Surveyor General's Office 


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Calcutta, for the Month of October, 1842. 


Observations made 


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QH Calcutta journal of natural 
1 history, and miscellany of 
C124 the arts and sciences in 
v.§3 India | 


1243 
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