110 Mr H. Meikle onjindin^'^ the Dew-point, ^c. 



steam ; for this propensity of the steam to absorb heat, or rather 

 of the metal to part with it, must obviously be greater the higher 

 the temperature of the boiler and its appendages, that is, the 

 higher the original pressure of the steam. No wonder, then, 

 that equal weights of steam, at first so different in density and 

 temperature, should, when equally dilated, and received in equal 

 quantities of cold water, produce equal rises of temperature ; as 

 is shown somewhat differently in the Philosophical Magazine 

 for July 1826, p. 38. It would, however, be running still far- 

 ther into the opposite extreme to suppose that equal volumes of 

 saturated steam should, at different temperatures, contain equal 

 quantities of heat. There is no reason to doubt that the more 

 dense volume will always be found to contain more heat, though, 

 from what we have just shown, this cannot increase in so high 

 a ratio as the density does, because that would be precisely 

 Clement's doctrine over again. 



Observations on the Loamy Deposit called " Loess"" of the Basin 

 of the Rhine. By Charles Lyell, Esq. F. R. S. Foreign 

 Secretary to the Geological Society, &c.* Communicated by 

 the Author, 



During the last summer, I had opportunities of examining the 

 remarkable deposit called by the Germans " Loess,'' in several 

 parts of the valley of the Khine, between Cologne and Heidel- 

 berg, and also in some parts of the country of Baden, Darm- 

 stadt, Wurtemberg and Nassau. The observations made du- 

 ring this tour have caused me to modify some of the opinions 

 which I formerly entertained and published respecting the pro- 

 bable origin and mode of deposition of this formation, and its 

 relation to the newest volcanic products of the Lower Eifel. As 

 much has been already written on this subject, I shall confine 

 myself in this notice to what I saw during my late excursipn, 

 and shall give my observations nearly in the order in which I 

 made'them, pointing out afterwards the general conclusions to 

 which they appear to me to lead. 



• Read before the Geol(^cal Society of London, May 7th 1834. 



