Tratf:. N. V. Ac. Set. 18 Oct. 30, 



October 30, 1882. 



SECTION OF PHYSICS. 



The President, Dr. J. S. Newberry, in the Chair. 



Fifty-two persons present. 



The following specimens were exhibited : 



By the President, proustite or ruby silver from Chile, remarka- 

 ble for rich color and beautiful crystallization. 



By the Secretary, wad (bog manganese) from Norwich, Vt.r 

 made up of aggregated nodules easily crushed by the fingers and 

 entirely dissolved in chlorhydric acid. It is found near outcrops of 

 mica slate, on high ground overlooking the Connecticut river, in 

 a bed six inches thick, directly below the turf of a pasture, and in 

 masses of 6 or 8 pounds. 



Also soapstone, from one of two transported masses, lying above 

 high water mark on the west bank of the Connecticut river, at 

 Olcott's Falls, Norwich, Vt. These masses are about 6 ft. x 2 ft. 

 X I ft. each, entirely unworn, and transported, we may fairly con- 

 clude, in the glacial period, and from the nearest northern locality, 

 which is Sunday Mountain in Oxford, N. H., about 20 miles 

 directly north. No transported masses of this material are men- 

 tioned in the Geological Reports of New Hampshire or Vermont. 



The President remarked on the somewhat frequent occurrence 

 of such forms of " bog manganese," and the similarity of its pro- 

 duction, in the chemical processes involved, to that of " bog iron 

 ore." 



A paper was read by Prof. W. P. Trowbridge, entitled, 



importance of experimental researches in mechanical 



science. 



(Published in full in the New E?iglander, February, 1883.) 

 The following paper was read, by Prof. John K. Rees : 

 resume of observations on Gould's comet (now visible). 



/. Discovery. 

 In accordance with the custom of naming a comet after its discoverer, 

 it appears that this grand visitor to our system should be called Gould's 

 Comet. M. Cruls, of Rio de Janeiro, saw the comet in the morning 

 sky on Sept. 12th, and, as he was thought for some time to have been 

 the first to see the comet, it was called after him. 



David Gill, writing from the observatory at the Cape of Good 



