British Association for the Advancement of Science. 551 



Annates de Chimie et de Physique. June 1837. 



Contents. — Action of sulphuric acid on oils; by E. Fremy. — On Oleic 

 acid and Elaidic acid ; by A. Laurent.— Note on the cause of the red co- 

 louring of the salt-water basins; by Payen. (The author attributes this 

 circumstance to the presence of a small crustacean known in England by 

 the name of brine-worm, Artemia satina? of Leach, but in a paper of Dunal 

 it is affirmed to be caused by the presence of some Alga?). — On the gases 

 contained in the blood, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbonic acid ; by G. Mag- 

 nus. (From this memoir it appears that not only does the venous blood 

 contain carbonic acid, oxygen, and nitrogen, but also the arterial blood, 

 and that relatively to carbonic acid the arterial blood contains much more 

 oxygen than the venous. This is a very interesting paper and will probably 

 find a place in one of our future numbers). — Action of sulphuric acid on 

 the hydruret of benzoyl; by A. Laurent. — Researches on the coercitive force 

 and the polarity of magnets without cohesion; by Dr. Haldat. 



LXXX. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE : 

 MEETING AT LIVERPOOL. 



Section of Zoology and Botany, September 11. — Mr. Gray offered 

 some remarks on the supposed production of insects by the ex- 

 periments of Mr. Crosse, and referred to two experiments made 

 by Mr. Children in a munner perfectly identical with those of the 

 former. The solution of silica was obtained from Mr. Garden, of 

 Oxford Street, and in one experiment it was sealed up, whilst in 

 the other it was exposed to the air, but in neither case was there 

 any appearance of insects. The insects had been very indefinitely de- 

 scribed by Mr. Crosse, some as having six, and others eight legs. It 

 was no proof that they could not have been produced from the water 

 used in the experiment because it was boiled, as that would not be 

 sufficient to destroy the eggs of the insects deposited therein. — The 

 Rev. Mr. Hope remarked one peculiarity, that no one had given the in- 

 sects a specific name, and that they merely appeared to belong to the 

 commonest species of Acari. — The Chairman (Mr. W. S. Macleay) 

 mentioned the circumstance, that the seeds and germs of animals 

 and vegetables are earlier and more quickly developed in a current of 

 electricity, and that in all probability, these favourable circumstances 

 operated upon the eggs of the insects produced in question. It was 

 well known that seeds would retain their vitality for an indefinite 

 period of time, and there was no reason why any limit should be put 

 to the vitality of the eggs of animals. — Mr. Gray stated that prussic 

 acid had lately been used for the purpose of destroying insects at the 

 British Museum, particularly those infesting a mummy. Some of the 

 larva? of the common Musca having been put into the acid, remained 

 uninjured after two or three days exposure. — Professor Grahamj( Univ. 

 Edinb.) remarked, that other plants and animals might be keptfo^an 

 indefinite length of time, when the powers of life were either retained 

 or suspended. He also alluded to some curious experiments recently 

 made at Edinburgh, although first by Sir Astley Cooper in London, 

 with respect to the circulation of blood through the brains of particular 

 animals. If the circulation be suspended by pressure for half a mi- 

 nute, the animal becomes torpid, but after giving a few convulsive 



