THE 
AMERICAN 
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, &c. 
Arr. 1.—Seventh Meeting of the British Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science. Oat 
{Concluded from Vor. xxx111. p. 296.] 
‘“Waves.—Mr. Russell had made in September, 1836, a serics of 
observations on the River Dee, below Chester, where that river 
has a form and dimensions admirably suited to the purpose. It 
appears, that for more than five miles in length, the banks of the 
Dee are perfectly straight, quite parallel to one another, while the 
depth of the channel at low water is nearly uniform throughout 
the whole of that length. Now, in this river there is a tidal wave 
of from six to fifteen feet, Linitie, in fact, a tidal canal of large 
dimensions. On this part of the river the first series of observa- 
tions was made ; a second was made upon the River Clyde; and 
a third on the waves at the surface of the sea: and the series 
has been terminated by a course of experiments made in artificial 
channels of different forms, for the purpose of determining the 
nature of the mechanism of the generation and propagation of 
waves, so as to determine the identity of their nature with the 
tidal wave. 
Tt appears that there exists a species of wave different from all 
the others, and which Mr. Russell calls ‘The Great Primary Wave 
of "Translation; ” which is generated whenever an addition is made 
to the volume "ae a quiescent fluid, in such a manner as to affect 
simultaneously the whole depth of the fluid, and this species of 
wave is exactly of the same nature as the tide wave. In a rec- 
tangular channel this primary wave moves with the velocity which 
Vor, XX XIV.—No. 1. : 
