1886.] ■ NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 215 



that it dissolves in melted saltpetre with the characteristic col- 

 oration. 



The colorless mass resulting from any of the above reactions 

 forms, of course, a strong alkaline aqueous solution; this yields, 

 Avith copper sulpliate, a greenish precipitate which is evidently a 

 mixture of blue cupric hydrate and of the yellow peroxide of 

 copper, formed according to Brodie, when alkaline peroxides react 

 on salts of copper.' 



On attempting to examine the action of sodium on melted 

 chlorate of potassium, a violent explosion occurred, projecting 

 fragments of the test-tube and the melted salt into the face and 

 over the person of the operator. The explosion was instantane- 

 ous and accompanied by a loud report. On repeating this with 

 suitable precautions, using a stouter tube surrounded by a me- 

 tallic cylinder, similar explosions resulted, without, however, 

 breaking the glass. Pellets of sodium no larger than a grain of 

 barley cause sharp reports the moment they reach the surface of 

 the melted chlorate. Serious accidents might result from incau- 

 tious experimentation with these materials should the treach- 

 erous character of chlorates be overlooked. 



As a lecture experiment, the action of potassium on the nitrate 

 is instructive and will do much to dispel the impression, often 

 left on the minds of students, that the alkaline metals form col- 

 ored compounds only with acids having chromatic radicals. 



Dr. N. L. Britton read a paper entitled : 



GEOLOGICAL NOTES IN WESTERN VIRGINIA, NORTH CARO- 

 LINA, AND EASTERN TENNESSEE. 



(Illustrated with specimens.) 



The following observations were made during a recent trip 

 through the southern Blue Ridge and Alleghany Mountains. 

 While there is little, if anything, entirely novel to be found in 

 them, the statement of certain facts and hypotheses may be of 

 some interest to the Academy. 



The Great Appalachian valley extends almost uninterruptedly 

 from northern Vermont to Georgia, bounded to the east by a 

 nearly continuous mountain system. The Green Mountains in 

 Vermont and Massachusetts; The Highlands of southern New 

 York and northern New Jersey; the South Mountain in Penn- 

 sylvania; the Blue Ridge and portions of the Alleghany Moun- 

 tain system through Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and 

 Georgia are but local developments of what is generally conceded 



' Proc. Roy, See, xii., 209. 



