1 52 Royal Society. 



Having satisfied himself that the observations were well worth 

 any amount of labour that might be bestowed on them, the author 

 was anxious to reduce them to a useful form, but, in consequence of 

 the great amount of work that would be required for the reduction 

 of so extensive a series, he for some time hesitated to enter upon 

 this labour. Finding however that there was a demand for the re- 

 sults of trustworthy observations extending backwards many years, 

 and having, besides, the hope of connecting the Greenwich series of 

 observations with these, he determined to perform the work. He 

 states that the mean ten)perature of every month was determined in 

 the first instance from the observations which had been made during 

 the day, and secondly, from the observations of the self-registering 

 instruments. Tables are appended to the paper showing the monthly, 

 quarterly and yearly mean temperatures, with those of groups of 

 years, and other tables exhibiting the departure of every individual 

 result from the mean of all. 



The author concludes by stating, that hitherto the mean tempera- 

 ture at Somerset House has been estimated a great deal too high. 

 He does not here enter into the investigation as to whether the tem- 

 perature as now determined is too high for the geographical position 

 and elevation of Somerset House, but proposes to do so, in a paper 

 he is preparing with the view of connecting the Somerset House 

 with the Greenwich series, and of bringing up all the results to the 

 present time. He hopes also, at some future time, to present results 

 from the barometrical observations arranged in a similar manner. 



May 24. — 1. An appendix to a paper " On the Variations of the 

 Acidity of the Urine in the State of Health" — " On the Influence of 

 Medicines on the Acidity of the Urine." Bv Henry Bence Jones, 

 M.D., M.A., F.R.S. &c. 



The variations of the acidity of the urine in the state of health 

 having been shown in the original paper, and the effect of dilute 

 sulphuric acid also traced ; in this appendix the influence of caustic 

 potash, of tartaric acid, and of tartrate of soda, on the acidity of the 

 urine is determined. 



One ounce of liquor potassae, specific gravity 1072, was taken in 

 distilled water, in three days. It hindered the acidity of the urine 

 from rising long after digestion to the height to which (from com- 

 parative experiments) it otherwise would have done ; but it by no 

 means made the urine constantly alkaline; nor did it hinder the 

 variations produced by the state of the stomach from being very 

 evident. 



354 grains of dry and pure tartaric acid dissolved in water were 

 taken in three days. The conclusion from the observations is that 

 this quantity increased the acidity of the urine, but during that time 

 it did not render the effect of the stomach on the reaction of the 

 urine less apparent than when no acid was taken ; and therefore, 

 that this quantity of tartaric acid, during this time, does not produce 

 iSo much effect on the reaction of the urine as the stomach does. 



Tartrate of potash in large doses produces the most marked effect 

 on the alkalescence of the urine. 120 grains of pure dry tartrate 



