50 
submitted to the committee by the 
treasurer. The money remaining has 
been since distributed as follows: 
One moiety to the subscription for 
the relief of the sufferers at the Cape of 
Good Hope. 
One-fourth to the Royal Institution for 
the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck. 
One-fourth to the-Seaman’s Hospital, 
on-board bis,Majesty’s. ship Grampus. 
CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
Dr, Grecory, of Woolwich, has 
made. some new and accurate experi- 
meuts on the velocity of sound. . Their 
chief results. may be brought into one 
view. as below :— 
. ahr. therm. Feet. 
Velocity of sound, - 27° «++» 10944 
: - BS sees 10994 
- 3d sece 1102 
oe ee Ve! At yea set ATO 
a 11094 
—_—__—__ —_—_—— _ - 60 veee 1112 
4 11142 
MAE BA a tives I 4 ones 4 
. be ; 1116 
4 § 1116 
rei ee v 1117 
€ombining the results of experiments 
here recorded: with those which have 
been formerly deduced by Derham and 
others, we may, he says, conclude un- 
hesitatingly: 
ist, That sound moves uniformly; at 
Jeast,.in a horizontal direction, orone that 
does not deviate greatly from horizon- 
tality. 
vd, That the difference in inte“sity ofa 
sound makes no appreciable difference in 
its velocity. 
5d, Nor, consequently, does a difference 
in the iustrament'from which the sound is 
emitted: 4 : 
- 4th, That wind greatly affects sound in 
point-of, intensity;°and that it affects it, 
also, in point of velocity. 
5th, That when the direction of the 
wind concurs with that of the sound, the 
sum of their separate velocities gives the 
apparent velocity of sound; when the di- 
rection of the wind opposes that of the 
sound, the difference of the separate ve- 
locities must be taken 
6th, That in the case of echoes, the ve- 
locity of the reflected sound, is the same 
as that of the direct sound, 
7th, That, therefore, distances may fre- 
quently be measured by means of echoes. 
8th, That an angmentation of tempera- 
ture occasions ai augmentation of the 
velocity of sound; and tice vrsa.. 
The inguiries with :egard to the trans- 
mission .of sound. in the, atmosphere* 
regnire, the further aid of experiment 
* bysay noth inthis paper ghe re 
marks} of the transmission of sound 
v2 
a6 
Proceedings of Public Socielics. 
[Aug. J, 
for satisfactory determinaticn, are, he 
thinks, the following; viz. aig 
ist, Whether hygrometric changes in 
the atmosphere have much or little influ- 
ence on the velocity of sound? 
2d, Whether barometric changes in the 
atmosphere have much or little influence? 
3d, Whether, as Muschenbroek con- 
jectured, sound have not different de- 
grees of velocity, at the same temperature, 
in different regions of the earth? And 
whetlier high barometric pressures would 
not be found (even independently of tem- 
perature) to produce greater velocities? 
4th, Whether, therefore, sound would 
not passmore slowly between the summits 
of two mountains, than between their 
bases? at. 
5th, Whether sound, independently of 
the changes iu the air’s elasticity, move 
quicker or slower near the earth’s surface, 
than at some distance from it?—(See 
Savart’s interesting papers on the commu- 
nication of sonorous vibration.) 
6th, Whether sound would not employ 
a longer interval in passing over a given 
space, asa mile, vertically upwards, than: 
in a horizontal direction? and, if so, 
wonld the formula which should express 
the relation of the intervals include more 
than thermometric and barometric co- 
efficients? ; 
7th, Whether or not the principle of 
the parallelogram of forces may be em- 
ployed in estimating the effect of wind 
upon sound, when their respective velo- 
Cities do not aid or oppose each other in 
the same line, or nearly so? 
8th, Whether those eudiometrie qua- 
lities, generally (whether hitherto de- 
tected or not), which affect the elasticity 
of the air, will not proportionally affect 
the velecity of sound? and if so, how are 
the modifications to be appreciated? 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
May 21.—A paper was read, entitled 
“Geological Observations on the Sea 
Cliffs at Hastings, with some. Remarks 
on the Beds immedaiely below ‘the 
Chalk;” by ‘Thomas Webster, esq. 
See. G.S, 
This paper commenced with a gceo- 
graphical description of the cliffs on 
each side of the town of Hastings, from 
the White-rock on the west, to the end 
of Fairlee cliff on the cast, which form 
a very instructive natural section of an 
elevated tract in Sussex, surrounded 
by, and coming cut from under, the 
clay of the Wealds. 
These clifls consist of alternating. 
beds 
ductors, &c. These furnish a most in- 
teresting department of separatednquiry. - 
