Experiments on the Expansibility of Stone. 207 



2. On the Expansibility of different kinds of Stone. By 

 Mr Alex. J. Adie, Civil Engineer. 



This paper contains the results of an extensive series of experi- 

 ments made upon different kinds of stone, as well as upon iron and 

 upon brick, porcelain, and other artificial substances. The instru- 

 ment employed was a pyrometer, of a simple construction, capable 

 of determining quantities not greater than 3^,,^ of an inch. The 

 length of the substances generally employed 'was 23 inches The 

 general result of these experiments is, that the ordinary buildins 

 materials of stone expand but very little differently from ca^t-iron 

 and that, consequently, the mixture of those materials in edifices is 

 not injurious to their durability. The experiments from which the 

 expansibdity of the substances was numerically determined, were 

 made between the limits of ordinary atmospheric temperature and 

 that ot 212 ; steam being introduced for that purpose between 

 tlie double casing of the instrument. 



The following results were obtained for the fractional expansion 

 ot the length, for a change of temperature of 180° Fahr. :— 



Table of the Expansion of Stone, Sj-c. 



Decimal of length 



1. Roman Cement, . . . ^"nnTZ^n' 



2. Sicilian White Marble, ...'■' noualu 



3. Canara Marble, .....•• Tolfi^t^ 



4. Sandstone from the Liver Rock of Craigleith Quarry, "ooi 1743 



5. Cast-iroD from a rod cut from a bar cast 2 inches square, !o01 1467G 



6. Cast-iron from a rod cast half an inch square. . . OOllO-" fifi 



7. Slate from Penrhyn Quarry, AVales, . 00 n-^^fi 



8. Peterhead Red Granite, . . ' . . " Toistlt 



9. A, broath Pavement, oZfTrI 



10. Caithness Pavement, ... 'Znl,^ 



11. Greenstone from Rathe, .....'' oSflJ 



12. Aberdeen Gray Granite, . . . . .' 2?«Ss 



13. Best Stock Brick, .... on™ 



14. Fire Brick, . . 000o502 



15. StalkofabutchTobacco-pi'pe, ".'"■■ 'SS 

 ]n 51'"',"^,';°'^.'!*' l^e^'gewood Ware (11 inches long), ! ;00045294 

 17. Black Marble from Galway, Ireland, . . -OOMjMg 



Qlth April— Sir Thomas M. Brisbane, President, in the 

 Chair. The following communications were read : 



1. On the Action of Voltaic Electricity on Alcohol, Ether, 



and Aqueous Solutions. By Arthur Connell, Esq. ' 



2. A Review of some of the more important Physical Truths 



contained in the writings of the Greek Philosophers 

 preparatory to an attempt to show that the more an' 

 cient language of Greece was based upon the Truths of 

 Natural Philosophy. By the Rev. Archdeacon Wil 

 hams. 



