Royal Society. 14,3 



day, they were able to work with candles, which they could not 

 have done had no good been done by the application. They threw 

 in a large quantity of the chloride when they began to work ; but 

 finding themselves annoyed by the gas evolved, they neglected fur- 

 ther application of it for the rest of the week : in consequence of 

 which, on the following Monday, a man going in with a candle was 

 severely burnt, and is since dead, Next day the author sprinkled 

 more chloride ; and the day following, a candle burnt in safety at 

 the spot where the man had been killed. The same plan was con- 

 tinued to be used in that spot, which was the only one in the mine 

 infested with the fire-damp. On April 6th, the chloride was dis- 

 used. On the 10th, a candle caused a strong explosion. On the 

 12th, the chloride being still disused, an explosion was again pro- 

 duced by a candle. On the 12th and 13th, the chloride was applied. 

 On the morning of the 14th, no explosion could be produced by a 

 candle. The chloride was again discontinued till the 18th, but no 

 explosion occurred. On the 20th, a weak explosion took place, the 

 chloride being still discontinued. The men not having been at work 

 in the interval from the 6th to the 20th, the experiments were fairly 

 tried. The paper concludes with describing the method of using 

 the chloride for this purpose. 



A paper was also read, entitled, " On some properties of Heat; 

 by R. W. Fox, Esq." Communicated by Davies Gilbert, Esq. M.P. 

 V.P.R.S. 



May 31.— E. W. Pendarves, Esq. M. P., Lieut-Col. Miller, 

 Major Gen. Wavell, and Dr. Harwood, were respectively admitted 

 Fellows of the Society. 



A paper was read, entitled, " On the resistance of fluids to bodies 

 passing through them ; by James Walker, Esq." Communicated 

 by Mr. Davies Gilbert. 



A paper was also read, entitled, " Corrections of the Pendulum, 

 depending on the value of the divisions of the level of the small re- 

 peating circle, as recently ascertained by the experiments of Capt. 

 Kater ; by Capt. E. Sabine, R.A. F.R.S." 



The alteration in the value of the divisions of the level, resulting 

 from Capt. Rater's observations, as stated in the Philosophical 

 Transactions by Lieut. Forster, led Capt. Sabine to a re-computa- 

 tion of the rates of his chronometer, as taken at Bahia, Maranham, 

 Trinidad, Jamaica, and New York, and of their influence on the 

 length of the pendulum deduced at those several stations. Capt. 

 Sabine states the final result of these re-computations to be as 

 follows : 



At Bahia, an augmentation of -nnj?inrtr of an inch in the length 

 of the pendulum. 



At Maranham, a diminution of -rTrrlTro-ir- 



At Trinidad, an augmentation of -r-Tra?Trtnr- 



At Jamaica, a diminution of td-bVitit' 



At New York, a diminution of -njV.TjVTr- 



The effects of the correction on the latitudes of the several sta- 

 tions are next stated. These are very small; in one case only 

 amounting to 8". 



The 



