Fall of Black Rain 237 



the mummy of a species of falcon, probably Dissodictis 

 ardesiacus, from Egypt. The possibility of dissolving the 

 bitumen, used in the preserving process, was discussed, so 

 as to allow of examining the various parts of the bird. In 

 Cuvier's time a mummy of the Sacred Ibis had been thus 

 successfully treated, but the process was now unknown. 



June 6th, 38oth meeting. Lord Rosse mentioned a fall 

 of black rain, 1 on April I2th last, over a considerable area 

 of Central Ireland, as, for instance, at Lisbeg, near Eyrecourt 

 in County Galway, where the tanks were subsequently 

 emptied to get rid of the black water (none being preserved). 

 It also fell at Cangort Park in King's County and at Golden 

 Grove near Roscrea, which is about 20 miles from Lisbeg. 

 A few black drops (compared to ink and to bog-water) fell 

 at Dundrum, near Cashel. He exhibited a small bottle of 

 the rain taken at Ballymore Castle. It had now lost the 

 inky appearance and become of a pale reddish brown, but 

 contained an amount of dark solid sediment. Dr. W. J. 

 Russell had examined it and found neither crystalline nor 

 organic structure, but a character like that of London rain, 

 except that it did not give an acid reaction. The cause of 

 the blackness cannot yet be satisfactorily explained. 



Dec. I2th, 382nd meeting. Mr. Evans described the 

 opening of a barrow at Youngsbury near Ware. The hinge 

 was found of a wooden box which had enclosed an urn and 

 a glass bottle, containing bones of man and roe-deer, pieces 

 of charcoal, and fragments of incense (proved by burning). 

 The pattern on the bottle is identical with one found at 

 Harpenden sixty years ago, and the interment belonged to 

 the later half of the second century. 



Professor Dewar made some remarks on the zero of 

 absolute temperature. Van der Waals had shown that the 

 critical point of a substance could be calculated from data 

 which were derived from a knowledge of the isothermal 

 curves, employing for the purpose the observations of 

 Andrews. The subsequent investigations of Amagat can 

 now also be used. From these the critical points of oxygen, 

 1 See also Nature, vol. xl. page 202, and page 158 of this book. 



