1839.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



196 



beiiift calm and sultry. The fragments were widely dispersed, and were at 6rsl 

 so soft as to admit of being cut with a knife, but they afterwards spontaneously 

 hardened. The entire mass of the aerolite is estimated at about five cubic feet. 



3. Cliemiral Accnunl iif llie (aiU Bnhkevehl Meteoric Stmie : by MicilAF.L 

 FAniiAD.VY, ICsq., D.C.L., in a /cller to Sir John F. 'iV. Hcrschrl. 



The stone is stated as being soft, porous, and hygrometric ; having, when 

 dry, the specific gravity of 2.94, and possessing a very small degree of magnotiu 

 power, irregularly dispersed through it. One hundred parts of the stone in its 

 natural state, was found to consist of the following constituents : namely— 



Water C..5 



Sulphur 4.24 



.Silica 28.9 



Protoxide of Iron .-ia.a-J 



Magnesia 19.2 



Aluinina 5.22 



Jjime 1.64 



Oxide of Nickel 82 



Oxide of Chromium .7 

 Cobalt and Soda, a trace. 



4. NolesrcspecUiig anew Hull nf SpmilivePHpr.r : by IIfnrv Fox Tai.eot, 

 Esq. 



The method of preparing the paper here referred to, consi'^ts in washing it 

 over with nitrate of silver, then witli bromide of potasium, and afterwards ag.iin 

 with nitrate of silver ; drying it at the fire after each operation. This paper is 

 very sensitive to the liglit of the clouds, and even to the feeblest daylight. The 

 author supplies an omission in hi.s former memoir on photogenic drawing, by 

 mentioning a method ho had invented and practised nearly five years ago, of 

 imitating etcliings on copperplate, by smearing over a slieet of glass with a 

 solution of resin in turpentine, and blackening it by the smoke of a candle. 

 Oil this blackened surface a design is made with the point of a needle, the lines 

 of which win of course be tt.insparenf, and will be represented by dark lines on 

 the prepared paper to which it is applied, when exposed to sunshine. The 

 same principle may be applied to make numerous copies of any writing. 



r.EOLOGICAL .SOCIETY. 



March 13. — Rev. Dr. Bit kiand, Prfsitient, in the chair, 

 A paper was read : — 



On the Geolor/ii of the Norlli western part of Jsij Minor, from the Peninsula 

 Cj/zicus, on the Coast of Hie Sea nf Marmora to Kooh , with a ikscrip- 

 tion of Katahikanmene,' by W. .1. Ha.milton, Esq., Sec. G.S. 



The line of route taken by Mr. Hamilton from Cyzicus (bit. 40 deg. 

 22 mill.) ascends the valley of the river Macetus to its sources, near Siniaul, 

 then crosses the Dcmirgi chain (lat. 39 deg. 5 niin.l, and afterward.s passes by 

 Karslieui and Selendi to Koola,ou the eastern confines of the Katakekaumene ; 

 the wbole of the distance being about 170 miles. The principal piivsical 

 feature of the district is the Demirpi range, which extends from Pergammon 

 on the west to the lofty mountain of Ak Djigh or Shapkan Dagh on the east, 

 but the country is intersected by various ranges of bills, sometimes exceeding 

 1200 feet in lieight. The geological structure of BIr. Hamilton's line of 

 route is simple, being composed of only schistose rocks, with saccharine 

 marble, a compact limestone, resembling the scaglia of Italy and Greece, 

 tertiary sandstones and limestones, granite, peperitc, trachyte, basalt, and 

 other igneous rocks. Between Kespit and the foot of the Dcmirgi bills, 

 are also remains of an ancient lacustrine deposit, and in the valleys are 

 extensive alluvial accumulations. Tlie schists consist of mica-slate, gneiss, 

 and clay-slate, and they occur chiefly near Cyzicus, The strata dip at high 

 angles from the granite, to the i)rotrusion of which the inclination is 

 apparently due. The marble was formerly worked to a very great extent, 

 and C'yzicuswas indebted to it for being ranked among the most splendid 

 cities of antiquity. The compart limestone, resembling scaglia, was observed 

 only at the foot of the hills north of Alaniyas. It is associated with beds of 

 shale, and is apparently destitute of organic remains. The micaceous 

 sandstone is extensively distributed south of Maniyas, also towards the 

 eastern extremity of the Dcmirgi mountains at the point crossed by i\!r. 

 Hamilton, and between it and Koola. The stone is fissile^ and alternates 

 sometimes with shale; and the beds are, occasionally, much dislocated by the 

 protrusion of igeneous rocks. About half-way between the pass oyer the 

 Demirgi range and Koola, the upppi;)ieds of the sandstone alternate with the 

 lower layers of an overlying deiftltit; W pcperite. JVfr. Hamilton has no 

 doubt that this formation belong.sAftlie one which himself and Mr. Strick- 

 land examined between Ghiediz fiSd IT shall. The white tertiary limestone, 

 Mr. Hamilton consider.s to be a part of the great lacustrine formation, which 

 occupies so largsCa portion of Asia Minor; but within the range of country 

 described in this memoir, it appears to be totally devoid of organic remains. 

 It is sometimes soft, resembling chalk, but, at its contact with the igneous 

 VJcks, it becomes hard, and at gne line of junction, a layer of serpentine was 

 interposed between the two formations. Thin beds of white opaque Hints, 

 resem.bling those of the lacustrine limestone of .4avergne, were noticed by 

 Ih? author a little south (tf Kefsut. The strata have been, in many places, 

 very much dislocated by the pu'otrusion of trachyte. The granite was 

 obscrvcil only near Cyzicus and in the Demirgi chain. It ii composed of 

 quartz, felspar, and mica, but it contains lai-ge masses of hornblende, and is 

 traversed by veins of felspar. The schistose rocks are thrown off by it near 

 Cyzicus at higli angles, and with a qu&quaveisal inclination. The perperite, 

 or volcanic ttrff, appears to be of intermediate age between the micaceous 

 i-aadstone, and the white limestone, as it rests upon the former, and is overlaid 

 ?y the lattei;. It is distJuctly stratified, »ud vftricE mucU it?. Qijar&ctei^ teuig 



sometimes earthy, occasionally conglomeratic, and not unfre(iuently herd or 

 semicrystalline. It is chiclly developed south of the Demirgi range. The 

 beds are generally horizontal, i.r slightly inclined, but they are disturbed 

 where igneous rocks have been protruded through them. Trachyte and 

 basalt rise to the surface at many places between the Demirgi hills and 

 Koola, dislocating the stratified deposits, and producing changes both in 

 their structure and hardness. On the banks of Hermus, basalt overlies tha 

 white limestone. Mr. Hamilton also described the hot springs, siti a ed about 

 seven miles to the east of Singerli at the northern foot of tjio Dcmirgi chain. 

 Their temperature, he conceives to be equal to that of boiling water, and 

 they are discernible, at a considerable distance, by the great volumes of steam 

 which they throw olT. Extensive accumulations, several feet thick, of a white 

 fibrous sediment, occur arcnind the mouth of the springs. A strong aul- 

 phurous smell accompanies the emission of the water; but, at ii point where 

 the stream had lost enough of its temperature to be tasted, no peculiar llavour 

 was perceived. After tuniiiig several mills, and at the distance of a mile 

 and a half from the spring head, the water is collected and used by the Tui'ks 

 as a warm bath. Copious hot springs are lil:ewise thrown out near the 

 Katakekaumene : the water is tasteless, and the temperature 123 deg. of 

 Fharenheit, but no sediment is deposited around the mouths. IMr. Hamilton 

 then proceeded to describe the Katakekaumene, — a district singularly interest- 

 ing oil account of its extinct volcanoes, and its grt'at resemblance to 

 Auvergne. He first visited it in comjiany with Mr. Strickland, who laid an 

 account of some portions of it before the Geological Society, in IS:!fi. The 

 district extends from Koola, westward, about nineloen miles, and for about 

 eight miles from north to south. The formations included within this area, 

 are tlio schistose rocks, and crystalline limestone, which occur near Cyzicus, 

 the white lacustrine limestone, basalt, and lavas of two perfectly distinct 

 ages. The leading physical features of the district aro ridges of schistose 

 rocks, with intervening allmial plains. On the former are seated all the 

 ancient volcanic cones, or craters, and in the latter the modern. This 

 important distinction, Mr. Hamilton is of opinion, may be explained, on 

 the supposition that the elevation of the schistose ridges produced fissures, 

 through which, as lines of least resistance, the first ernplions of lava found 

 vent. That these openings becoming, afterwards, plugged up, by the cooling 

 of injected molten matter, the .schistose ridges were rendered so compact, that, 

 wheii the volcanic forces again became active, the line of least resistance was 

 transferred to the valleys. Of the relative periods when the eruptions took 

 place, no opinion can be formed : the more modem must have been long 

 anterior to tradition, though the streams of lava present all the ruggedness of 

 the most recent coulees of Etna and Vesuvius; and the craters presene, to a 

 great extent, their form and internal cavities. The more ancient lava- 

 currents are covered Ipy sedimentary matter, and oj-e, therefore, considered 

 by Mr. Hamilton to have been, at one period, covered with water : the cones 

 have also lost, in part, their form, the craters being nearly obliterated. The 

 paper concluded with a comparison between this part of Asia Minor and 

 Auvergne, as described by Mr. Scrope. 1. Tha great ancient volcanic group 

 of Mont Dore, the Cantal and Mont Mezeu, Mr. Hamilton conceives, is 

 represented by Ak Dagh .Morad D^igh, the trachytic hills east of Takmak, 

 Hassan Dagh, and Mont Aj'g^us. 2. That the more modem volcanic period 

 of Central France may be compared with the Katakekaumene, both as respects 

 the composition of the lavas, their arrangement at dilTcrent levels, and th» 

 cones being scattered, and not collected in great mountain m.^sses. 3. With 

 respect to the disposition of compar.itively recent volcanos being coincident 

 with the strike of the granitic axes, from the interior of which they have burst 

 forth, Mr. Hamilton stated, that the Katakekaumene affords additional illus- 

 tration. 4. In central France, as well as the district described in this paper, 

 there are deposits of lacustrine limestone, which have been separated, by the. 

 action of bodies of water, into table lands surmounted by bods of basalt and 

 lava ; and, in both countries, currents of lava, of more modem date, have tlowed 

 into the intervening valleys. In two points, however, there are differences 

 between the volcanic phenomena of .\sia Jlinor and central France. In the 

 latter, stream.s of igneous products may be traced from the most ancient 

 system of cones, or that of Mont Dore ; but, in the former, none have yet 

 been discoyered which issued from Ak D4gh, or the other contemporaneous 

 volcauic mountains. In France, also, trachitic eruptions took place during 

 the deposition of the lacustrine limestone ; but, in the Katakekaumene, they 

 appear to have preceded the deposition of the white limestone, or ars 

 associated with only its lowest beds. 



MEETINGS OF SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIE.^ FOR MAY. 

 Royal Society, Thursday, half-past eight, m. p., 2nd, 9th, 23rd, and 30tli. 

 Society of Antiquaries, Thursday, eight, p. m., 2nd, 9ih, 23rd, and 30th. 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, 2:>, Groat George-street, Westminster, every 



Tuesday, eight, p. m. . ' ' 



Royal Institute of British Arcliiterts, 10, Grosvenor-street, Monday, eight, 



p. M., 6th and 20ih. 

 Society of Arts, every Wednesday, half-past seyen.p. u 



I.UBRICATOK. 



In our last number we gave an extract from Dr. Ure's Dictionary, describ- 

 ing a lubricator, which the Doctor states was kindly communicated to him by 

 Edward Woolsey, Esq. We understand that Mr. Barton was the original 

 inventor, and that \\3 tod.: out a patcpt for it 20 years ago, andwhioh has beeii, 

 lately reu^wsd. 



