Royal Society. 467 



April 25. — " On the production of Ozone by Chemical Means." 

 By C. F. Shoenbein, Professor of Chemistry at Basle, in a second 

 letter to Michael Faraday, Esq., D.C.L. F.R.S. Communicated 

 by Dr. Faraday. 



The author adduces further evidence in support of the opinions 

 he advanced in his former communication relative to the identity 

 of the odoriferous principles which are disengaged during electric 

 discharges in common air, during the electrolysis of water, and 

 during the slow action of phosphorus upon atmospheric air. This 

 principle, termed Ozone, he regards as being a simple body, and a 

 constituent of azote, which he believes to be a compound of hydro- 

 gen and ozone ; and he explains the disengagement of this latter 

 element, which he considers as analogous in its chemical character 

 to chlorine, by the partial decomposition of azote, in consequence 

 of its hydrogen combining with oxygen, in the several processes 

 above-mentioned during which ozone makes its appearance. 



" On the existence of Phosphoric Acid in Rocks of igneous 

 origin." By George Fownes, Esq., Ph. D., Chemical Lecturer in 

 the Middlesex Hospital Medical School. Communicated by Thomas 

 Graham, Esq., F.R.S. 



The author has, by careful analysis, ascertained the presence of 

 phosphoric acid in various rocks of igneous origin. Those which 

 he examined were principally the following; namely, 1. The fine 

 white porcelain clay of Dartmoor, resulting from the disintegration 

 of the felspar of the granite of that district. 2. Dark grey vesi- 

 cular lava from the Rhine, used at Cologne as a building-stone. 

 3. White trachyte from the Drachenfels, near Bonn. 4. Dark 

 red, spongy, scoriaceous lava from Vesuvius. 5. Compact, dark 

 green basalt, or toadstone from Cavedale, Derbyshire. 6. Dark 

 blackish-green basalt from the neighbourhood of Dudley, termed 

 Rowley-ragg. 7- Ancient porphyritic lava, containing numerous 

 crystals of hornblende, from Vesuvius. 8. A specimen of tufa, or 

 volcanic mud, also from Vesuvius. 



The author infers from his analysis that phosphoric acid is a very 

 usual component part of volcanic rocks, and is a principal source of 

 the remarkable fertility possessed by soils derived from their disin- 

 tegration. 



May 2. — 1. " Ranges of the Barometer and Sympiesometer on 

 board H.M.S. f Alfred,' in the River Plate, between the 1st of July 

 and the 31st of December, 1843." Communicated by Captain Beau- 

 fort, R.N., F.R.S. 



This paper is a register of the results of daily observations of the 

 heights of the barometer, sympiesometer and thermometer, the direc- 

 tion of the wind, and state of the weather during the above period. 



2. " Remarks on the amalgamation of Silver Ores in Mexico ; 

 with an account of some new combinations of Copper, Oxygen and 

 Chlorine." By John Christian Bowring, Esq. Communicated by 

 S. Hunter Christie, Esq., Sec. R.S. 



The process employed in Mexico for amalgamating ores con- 

 taining sulphurets of silver, and which consists in adding to them a 



2H2 



