132 Annals of the Philosophical Club 



Mr. Gassiot informed the Club that Ruhmkorff had 

 obtained a secondary spark 2\ inches long from his induction 

 apparatus. 



At the 86th meeting (June igth) Dr. Hooker read a letter 

 from Colonel James referring to the Ordnance Survey maps, 

 and exhibited some specimens of them. 



Dr. Bence Jones read a communication from Professors 

 Miiller 1 and Kolliker, 2 stating that, if the nerve of a rheo- 

 scopic frog were spread over the beating heart (removed 

 from the body) of another frog, a secondary contraction of 

 the former attended every systole of the latter. The 

 experiment succeeds only with one frog out of two or three, 

 but in such case the secondary contractions will go on for 

 | hour or more. But the most remarkable thing is that the 

 secondary contraction of the rheoscopic frog a little precedes 

 the primary contraction of the heart itself. 



At the 87th meeting (Oct. i6th) Mr. Rennie described 

 a new and economical method of making steel, devised by 

 Captain Uchatius, of the Vienna Arsenal ; exhibiting a box 

 of cutlery manufactured in that city from Styrian iron, and 

 bars made, on Oct. loth, at his own works, from Indian 

 cast-iron and common English cast-iron, Herr Karl Leng, 

 partner of Captain Uchatius, operating on each occasion. 

 The effect of this new process would diminish by about 

 one-half the expense of making steel, and would produce 

 in a few hours a result which usually required three weeks, 

 and sometimes double that time. It consisted in running a 

 certain amount of melted iron into a crucible of water. 

 This converted it into shot-like particles. Of these 24 

 pounds were mixed with 6 pounds of crushed ore, and with 

 half that amount (as was said) of manganese peroxide. 

 After the addition of a little fire-clay the whole was melted 



1 Johannes Miiller (1801-1858), born at Coblenz, Professor of Anatomy 

 and Physiology at Bonn 1826, and at Berlin 1833, regarded as almost 

 the founder of modern Physiology. 



2 Albert von Kolliker (1817-1905), born at Zurich, where he became 

 Professor, and was then appointed to the Chair of Anatomy at Wurzburg 

 in 1847. Distinguished especially for his work on microscopic anatomy 

 and on the development of the embryo. 



