B^ Intelligence and MisMlhmous Artichs^. 



derable distance on either side of this line; the value in this space 

 being 8*20- The mininiuiii total force was 8'149; the station being 

 Madras, in latitude IS'' 04' north, longitude 80° 16' east, dip 

 7i°Ji^f[R0?;tb,iJhp>;izonJ^il,finteMsii;y 8r07e& gpds^eQUj:»Aifln!iO° 5& 09" 



In addition to the above, observations were made at sea, consist- 

 ing of temperatures of the air and sea ; the dry and wet bulb, the 

 standard thermometer, and, whenever practicable, of the dip with a 

 Fox's Dip Circle. The author remarks that it is impossible to over- 

 estimate the practical value of this instrument at sea in low lati- 

 tudes. The dip changes two minutes for every mile of latitude. 

 The seas are generally smooth. When astronomical observations 

 cannot be taken, the dip circle becomes a truly valuable latitude in- 

 strument, and in a few minutes, by day or by night, the latitude of 

 t)}p ship can be correctly ascertained. . ,n i,;,ii, (--.-, -,iij 

 f The author concludes by remarking that he hag found Colonel 

 Sabine's many works on magnetism of considerable use, more espe- 

 cially ' Lloyd and Sabine's Magnetic Survey of Great Britain and 

 Ireland.. ,.,,j^j thJ -r^ -or". M v-,i byiiuiiis/a u'l'i'j 



JnaiJsqanXLVL Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articlesi^'f'^' 



rwalno n':i'-AQ:j 'i.i:.'.{i'. v'i ■ - .o'l:.'*: do'ifv/ ';>? lob'/zoij o/f:* .■■aazn" 

 0Ji^,^HR.S,VLB^«liBTiQE,NI{PRqi6J«}N*,f 9Y «M.!«aEBOSvAND GELIS. 



MSOUBEIRAN has given to sulphuret of nitrogen the formul?i 

 • S^N ; and it is chiefly on the action which water exerts on 

 this compound, at a boiling heat, that he has supported this formula. 

 In this reaction, then, three equivalents of water must be fixed ; no- 

 thing is disengaged, and there must result from this fixation a salt, 

 the formula of which must be SO', NH^, Aq, that is to say, a sesqui- 

 hyposulphite of ammonia. This assertion was sufficient to cause the 

 authors to doubt the correctness of the observation ; for at present, 

 neutral hyposulphites only, the formula of ■which is S'^ O^, MO, are 

 known ; and it is thought useful to state, that in all cases in which 

 hyposulphites of a different formula were supposed to exist, a more 

 precise examination has always led MM. Fordos and Gelis to the 

 discovery of errors in experimenting. 



It appeared, therefore, immediately that the study of the action 

 of water on sulphuret of nitrogen ought to be renewed ; and the 

 authors state that they were occupied with this research when M. 

 A. Laurent published in the Revtie Scientifique his ideas on the con- 

 stitution of ammoniacal compounds. In this memoir he states, as 

 his opinion, that the formula of the substance known under the 

 name of sulphuret of nitrogen ought to be altered, and that it must 

 contain hydrogen, and be represented by S^ HN, and consequently 

 that it is not a sulphuret of nitrogen. 



The results obtained by MM. Fordo^ and Gfelis, though quite dif- 

 ferent from those of M. Soubeiran, do not admit of their adopting 

 the new formula ; as, however, the assertions of M. Laurent were 



ifi 3«9890q Jr. '9Ji;cliiiJB ffiiutaiot aft^ 



