310 



which the third is ascertained by oxymuriatic gas. The sum of the 

 second and third may be determined by oxymuriatic gas, and then 

 the first absorbed by liquid potash. The first and third being thus 

 known, the second may be inferred, though not removed alone. 



The nature of the inflammable residuum is then learned by com- 

 bustion, due regard being had to its specific gravity, and to the propor- 

 tion which the carbonic acid formed bears to the oxygen consumed. 



A table is given of the products of various gases, from several dif- 

 ferent species of coal ; and a second table, of the specific gravities of 

 these gases, with the quantities of carbonic acid formed from each, 

 and the quantity of oxygen required for their combustion. It is ob- 

 served generally, that in the distillation of all these substances, the 

 gas received at the commencement of the process is the heaviest, 

 that it requires the largest proportion of oxygen, and is fittest for the 

 purpose of illumination. 



An Account of some Peculiarities in the anatomical Structure of the 

 Wombat, with Observations on the female Organs of Generation. By 

 Everard Home, Esq. F.R.S. Read June 23, 1808. [Phil. Trans. 

 1808, p. 304.] 



The author, having received a male wombat alive from one of the 

 islands in Bass's Straits, had an opportunity of observing its habits 

 in a domesticated state, and of examining the peculiarities of its in- 

 ternal formation after death, particularly the mechanism of the bones 

 and muscles of its hind legs, which have not been described either 

 by Geoffroy, in his account of its internal form, or by Cuvier, who 

 has described several parts of its internal structure in his Lemons 

 d' Anatomic Comparee. The stomach of the wombat resembles closely 

 that of the beaver, and differs so much from that of the kanguroo, 

 and other animals of the opossum tribe, that it forms an extraordinary 

 peculiarity. An account of the dissection of a female wombat having 

 been received from the late Mr. Bell, Surgeon to the Colony at New 

 South Wales, Mr. Home has inserted Mr. Bell's description, with re- 

 marks especially on the state of the uterus, which was double, and 

 impregnated on each side ; that on the right side was as large as a 

 pullet's egg. The os tincae was filled with a thick gelatinous sub- 

 stance. When a longitudinal incision was made into its cavity, its 

 coats were found lined with the same jelly, in the centre of which 

 was an embryo wrapped up in very fine membranes, that appeared 

 to have no connexion by vessels with either the uterus or the gela- 

 tinous matter. 



These facts, says Mr. Home, throw considerable light on the mode 

 of propagation of this very curious tribe of animals. They confirm, 

 in the most satisfactory manner, the observations contained in a 

 former paper on the kanguroo, which required further evidence, as 

 the specimen on which the observations were made had been sent to 

 England preserved in spirits, and the parts had become very indistinct, 

 from being coagulated and long kept. 



