314 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[Oct. 



vears with a view of Impressing upon our new members the neneral advances we have 

 maile' I shall In this discourse- dwell more parliiularly on the recent projiress ail present 

 stjle of natural history, the department of knowleclBe with irhlch my own pursuits have 

 been most connected, whilst I shall also incidenally advert to some of the proceedings 

 which are lil<ely to occupy our attention during this meeting. 



No 8<ioner, centlemen. had this association fully established Its character as » JfS'l!- 

 mate representative of the science ot the United Kingdom, and by the reports whictl it 

 had nul'liihed, the researches which it had instituted, and the other substantia services 

 which it had rendered to science, had secured public respect, than it proceeded towards 

 the lullilment of the last of the great objects whch a Brewster ami a Harcourt contem- 

 nlated at its foundation, by inviting the all.'ntion of the government to important national 

 liointsof scientilic interest. At the tonrlli meeting held in Edinburgh, the Ass"Clatlon 

 Inemoralised the government tn increase tlie lorces of the Ordnance Ceograolucal Survey 

 of Itritaiu. and to .itend spec.ily to Scotland the benefits which h..d been alrea.ly "Pi''''''; 

 hv that admirable establishment to the south of England, Wales and Ireland. Irom that 

 to the present it has not scrupled to call the notice of the Ministers of the day to every 

 ereat scientilic measure which seemerl. after due consideration, likely to proiiiole tne in- 

 teresls or raise the character of the British nation. Guided in the choice ol tbe'ie appli. 

 cations by a committee selected from among its members, it has sedulously avoided the 

 presentation ofany request which did not rest on a rational basis and our ri^h'"; /" 

 from resisting such apiieals, have uniformly and cordially acquiesced in them, inus it 

 was when after paying large sums from our own funds for the reduction ol large masses 

 of astronomical observations, we represented to the government the necessity ot enalj.ing 

 the Astronomer Koyal to perform the same work on ihe observations of his predecessors, 

 which had accumulated in thcaichives of Greenwich, our appeal was answeiert by ar- 

 rangements for compieliiig so important a public object at the public expei.He. 1 bus it 

 was when contemplating the vast accession to pure science as well as to useful mariliine 

 knowleilge. to be gained by the exploration of the South Polar regions, that we gave the 

 nrst Impulse to that Jiroject of the great Antartio expedition, whicli, supported by the in- 

 Uuenceof the Koyal Society and its noblo President, obtained the full assent ol the go. 

 vernment. and led to results which, through the merits of Sir James Ross and his com- 

 uaoiona have slifd a briiilit lustre on our country, by copious additions to geogrjony ana 

 natural history, and by olTording numerous data for the development of the laws that re- 

 gulate the magnetism ol tlie earth. 



The mention of " Terrestrial Magnetism" brings ivith it a crowd of recollections cre- 

 dllatile to the British Association from the perspicuous manner in which every portion ot 

 iresh knowledLe on Ibis important subject has been f '«'"!',*" "V'i 7 T^i'-ff',.!!! 

 view to generalisation, by Colmel Sabine and others ; whilst a wide field lor its diffusion 

 and combiiii-.tion hss been secured by the coni/ress held at our last meeting at which 

 some of the most distinguished foreign and British magnetinans were assembled under 

 the iiresidency of Sir .lohii Ilerschell. It is indeed most satisfactory for us to know, that 

 not only did all Ihe recommendations of tlio Association on this subject which were pro. 

 sented to our government meet with a most f .vourab'e reception, but that in consequence 

 of the representations made by Her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Aflairs to 

 the public ruthorities of other countries which had previously taken part in the system 

 o; CO operative observation, the govenimmts of Uus-ia, Austria. Prussia, and Belgium 

 have iiotifK'd their intention of continuing their respective magnetical and meteorological 

 observations for another term of three years. 



In p.issing by other instances in which public liberality has been directed to channels 

 of knowledge which vequired opening out. I must not o»iit to notice tlie gra'it olitained 

 from our gracious Sovereign, of the Koyal Observatory at Kew, which, pirvuiusjy dis. 

 ronomicalinstrumenls. has been converted by us into a statiui 



uomena 

 nil rmiuire such unremitting attention, that they 



from our gracious sovereign, oi cue noyui vyi.»vi >a.ui , ... ,...^.., ,,..,..-., .... 



manlledof its astronomical instruments, has been converted by us into a statiuu for ob 

 servations purely physical, and especially lor those details of atmospheric pheoomem 

 which are so minute and numerous, and rmiuire such unremitting attention, that the; 

 imperiously call for separate establishmenls. In realising th's principle, we can now re- 

 fer Biitish and foreign philosophers to the observatory of the British Associalnm at Kew, 

 where I have the authoritv of most adequate judges for sayi.>g they will hnd that a gieal 

 amount of electrical and ni.leorological observation has been made, and a systematic in- 

 quiry into the intricate suMect of atmospheric electricity carried out. by Wr. Konalds, 

 under the suggestions of Prof, ssor Whcatstone. to which no higher praise can be given 

 than that it 'has. in fact, famished the model of the processes conducted at the Koyal 

 Observatory at Greenwich. This establishment is besides so useful through tiie facilities 

 which it oilers for researches into the working of stlt-repistering instruments which are 

 there constructed, that I earnestly hope it may be sustained as heretofore by annual 

 grants from our funds, particularly as it is accomplishing considerable results at very 

 small cost. 



Transactions of I'ol. 1845. — Physical Science. 



Our vo'iime for the last year contains several communications on physical subjects 

 from eminent foicign cultivators of science, whom we have the pleasure of reckoning 

 amongst our corresponding members, and whose communications, according to the usage 

 of the Association, have been printed entire amongst the reports. In a discussion of the 

 pecniieiities by which the great comet of 1SJ3 was distinguished. Dr. Von Bogiulawski of 

 Bresliu has taken the occasion to announce the probability, resting on calculations wh'ch 

 will be pulilished in Schumacher's " Aslronomische Nashrichlen." of the identity of this 

 comet with several of a similar remarkable character recorded in history, commencing 

 with the one described by Aristotle, which apreared in the year 371 before our era ; should 

 bis calculations be considered to establish this fact. Dr. Von Bognsinwski proposes that 

 the com:t should hereatlcr be distinguished by the iia'i e of " Aristotle's Comet." This 

 communication contains also some highly ingenious and important considerations relating 

 to the physical causes of the phieiiomcna ol the tails of comets. 



Dr. Paul Erman of Berlin, father of the adventurous geographical explorer and magne- 

 ticiaii. who was one of the active members of the magnetic congress at Cambridge, has 

 cominnnicated through his son some interesting experimeuis on the " electro-dviiamic 

 elfects of the Iriction of conducting substances." and has pointed out the differences be- 

 tween these and normal thermo.electric effects. Baron Von Senftenberg (who is an ad- 

 mirable example of how much may be done by a liberal zeal for science combiaed with an 

 iiidepenilent tortunc) has published an account of the success with which self-registering 

 meteorological instruments have be n estnblishsd at his observatory at Seutenberg. as 

 well as at the national observatory at Prague. 



Of our own members. Mr. Birt has cnnfibuted a second report on "Atmospheiic 

 W.ives." in continuation of the investigation which orginated in the discussion by Sir 

 .lobn Herscheil. of the meteorological observations which, at his sugsestion. were made 

 in various pans of the globe, at the periods of the eiiuinoxes and solstices, commencing 

 with the year 1813. 



In a communication to the meeting of the Association at York. Colonel Sabine traced 

 with great clear ess (from the hourly observations at Toronto) the effect of the single 

 diurnal and single annual •• Progressions of Temperature." in producing on the mixed 

 vapours and gaseous elements of the atmosphere, the well-known progressions ot daily 

 and yearly barometrical pressure. To tlm conclusions which he then presented, and 

 whicn aiipiy. perhaps generally, to sit'iations not greatly elevated in the intci lor of large 

 tracts of land, the same author has addtd. in the last volume, a valuable expliination of 

 tlie more complicated phenomena which happen at points where land and sen breeses. 

 Ilowiiig with regularity, moiily perloclicallv and locally the constitiilbn anil pressure ot 

 the atmojpliere. Takuig tor Ibis dat.i the two-hourly observations executed at the Ob- 

 servatory of Bombay by Dr. Bulst. Colonel Sabine has succeeded in demonstrating for 

 this locality " a douldo daily progiessioii of gaseous pressure." in accordance with the 

 How and te-flow of tlie air from surlaces of laud and water which are iiiieqimlly atlected 

 by heat. And thus the diurnal variation of the daily piessure at a point witliin the 

 tropics, and on the margin of the sea, is cx|ilained by the same reasoning which was sug- 

 gested by facts observed in the interior of the vast continent of North America. 



Amone the many uj.ful national object, which have been promoted by the physical 

 researches of the British Association, there Is one which calls for marked notice at this 

 time in the nrouosal ot Mr. Robert Stephenson to carry "An iron tube or suspended 



mne over theTenai St-aits'' to sustaln'the great railway to Holybead. This bold pro- 

 Do.al cimld never have been realised, if that eminent engineer had not been acquainted 

 w-ith the k-reat progress recently made in the knowledge of the strength of materials, and 

 snetialivotiron; such knowledge being in gieat measure due to investigations in which 

 th. Association has taken and is still taking a conspicuous share, by the devotion ol its 

 friords and the employment of its influence-investigations which have been prosecuted 

 with great zeal and success by its valued members, Mr. Hodgkinson and Mr. Fairbairn. 



gaveVeVti'mmiy to the practical value of our researches iiy .adopting their results. 



However imperfect my knowledge of such subjects may be, I must also notice that the 

 Inst volume of our Reports contains two conlribnlions to expeiimental philosophy, in 

 wHch subiects o' the dc'epest theoretical and practical interest have been elucidated, at 

 the reipiest of the Association, by the labours of its forsign coadjutors. 



That some substance of a peculiar kind everywhere exists, or is formed intheatmo. 

 snhere liv " Electrical Agency." both natural and artiticial. had long been suspected, 

 especially from the persistency of the odour developed by such agency, and its transler- 

 ence bv contact to other matter. Professor Schoiibein. to whom I shall hereafter advert 

 as the author of a new practical discovery. Is, however, the hrsl phdosopher who under- 

 took to investigate the nature of that substance ; and, though the investigation is not yet 

 complete, he has been enabled to report uo Inconsiderable progress in this difficult and 

 refined snbiect of research. -,, , j 



A reoueat trom the Association to Professor Eiinsen, of Marburg, and our countryman. 

 Dr I von Plavfoir coopled will! a contributiou of small amount towaids the expenses In- 

 Tol'ved in the undertaking, has produced a report - On the conditions and products of 

 iron furnaces." which is of the greatest value in a commercial view to one ol the most 

 important of our manufactures, and possesses, at the sanie time, a very high interest to 

 chemical science in some of the views which It develops. On the one hand it exhibits an 

 entirelv new theory of the reduction, by cyanogen gas as the chief agtnt. ot iron Irom the 

 ore- oil the other, it shows that, in addition to a vast saving of fuel, about two cwt. of 

 sal 'ammoniac may duly be collected at the single establishment of Allrclon. where the 

 exucrimeiits were made i thus Icadidg us to inter that in the iron furnaces of Britain 

 there niav be obained from Vapour which now passes away, an enormous quantity of 

 Ibis valuable substance, which would materhilly lessen the dependence of our agncul- 

 •uriats on foreign puaiio. It is. indeed, most fralifying to observe, that in pursuing tbia 

 innuiry into tile gaseous contents of a blazing tiunace ot great height, our associates traced 

 out foot by foot, the most recondite chemical processes, and described the fiery products 

 with the Slime accuracy as it their researches had been made on the table of a laboratory. 

 Weiehed however only in the scales of absolute and immediate utility, the remarkable 

 results of these skilful and elaborate experiments give them a character of national im- 

 poilance, and justly entitle the authors and the body which has aided them to the public 

 thanks. 



Natural History. 



After this glance at the subjects of purely physical science treated of in the last volume 

 of our Transactions, let us now consider lb., domains of natural history ; and as ono of 

 the cultivators of a scienca which has derived its main support and most of its new and 

 enlarged views from naturalists, let me express the obligation which geologists ars under 

 to tlus Association, for haviog aided so effectively in bnnging forth the zoological re- 

 searches of Owen. Agassiz. and Edward Forbes. These three distinguished me., have 

 themselves announced, that in default of its countenance and assistance, they would not 

 have undertaken, and never could have comp eted, some of their most .inportant inquiries. 

 Airassiz for example, bad not otherwise the means of comparing the icbthyolites of the 

 British Isles with those of the Continent ot Europe. Without this impulse. Owen would 

 not have applied his profound knowledge of comparal.ve anatomy to British lossil 

 saurians: aid Edw.ird Forbes might never have been the explorer ol be depths ol the 

 /^gean, nor have revealed many hitherto unknown laws of submarine life, .t his wishes 

 and suggestions had not met with the warm sujiport of this body, and been supported by 

 its strongest recommendiilions to the naval authorities. 



These allusions to naturaPsts, whose works have afforded the firmest supports to geo. 

 logy, might lead me to dilate at length on the recent progress ol this science, but as the 

 subject has been copiously treated at successive anniversaries of the Geological Society of 

 London, and has had lis recent advances so clearly enunciated by the actual President ot 

 that body, wlio now presides over our Geological Section, I shall restrain my "esprit de 

 corns" w-hiist I advert to some of the prominent advances winch geologists have made. 

 When our associate Coiiybea.e reported to us, at our second meeting, on the actual sla e 

 and ulterior prospects ot what he wall termed the " archieology ot the globe." he dwelt 

 withjusticeonlhe numerous researches in diSerent countries which had clearly estab- 

 lished the history of a descent, as it were, into the bowels of the eartn-which led us. in 

 a word, downwards thiough those newer deposits that connect high antiquity with our 

 own period, into those strata which support our gieat British coal-delds. Beyond this, 

 however, the perspective was dark and douiitlul — 



" Kes altfi terrl et caiigine mersas." 

 Now however, we have dispersed this gloom, and by researches first carried out to a dis- 

 tinct classification in the British Isles, and thence extended to llussia and America, geo- 

 logists have shown that the records of succession, as indicated by the entombment of 

 fossil animals, are as well developed in these very ancient or palieozoic strata as in any 

 of the overlying or more recently rormed deposits. After toiling many years in this de- 

 partment of the science, in conjunction with Sedgwick, Lonsdale, De Verueuil, Keyser. 

 line and we have reached the very genesis of animal hfe upon the globe, and that no 

 further "vestigia retrorsnm" will be found beneath that protozoic or Lower Silurian 

 group in the great inferior mass of which no vertebrated animal bus yet been delected, 

 imid the countless iirofiision of the lower orders of marine animals entombed in it. But 

 however this may be, it is certain that in the last lew years all Central and Eastirn 

 Furopc, and even parts of Siberia, have been brought into accordance with Britisn strata. 

 France has been accurately classified and illustrated by the splendid map of Elie de Beau- 

 moot and Dufrenoy; and whilst, by the labours ol Desbayes and others, its tertiary fos- 

 sils have been copiously described, the organic remains of its secondary strata are now 

 undergoing a complete analysis in the beautifni work of M. Alcidc d'Orbigny. Belgium, 

 whose mineral slrnctuie mid geological outlines have been delineated by I) Omabus, 

 d'Hailoyand Duraont. lias produced very perfect monographs of its palKiozoic and ter- 

 tiary fossils, the first in the work of M. de Koiiingk. the second in the recently published 



loiiograph f,f Jl. Nyst. Germany, led on by Von Bui h. has shown that she can now as 



. ., _. ._ ... .1... i.,„: ...I I I ;,...l ..r..,,nHiL'MrL-a nf the ScieOCe. aS lU the 



SI ecifv the names of individuals in n country wbich boasts so many who are tread.ng 

 closely in the steps of an Ehreiibcrg and a Kosc\ As distinctly connected, however with 

 the objects of Ibis meeting. I must be pcrmitteil to stale that the eminent botanist Ooep- 

 pert whose works. In combination with those of Adolphe Brongniart in !• ranee, nate 

 slieil so much liisht on fossil planU, has just sent to me. tor communication to our Geolo- 

 gical Section, tlie results of his latest inquiries into the toimation ol the coal ol SUesia-- 

 results which will be the more nteresling to Dr. Buckland and the geoloBists of hnslano, 



