478 



NA TURE 



[March i^, 1895 



and the second in a non-fiery district. The conclusions arrived 

 at are as follows : 



(i) The specimens of black-damp cons'sted when undiluted of 

 nitrogen containing an admixture of a seventh to an eighth of 

 its Tolame of carbonic acid. 



(2) Air containing just sutTi:ient black-damp to exli'guish a 

 candle or oil lamp produced noimmeHia'ely sensi' le action on a 

 man. A mixture of a'out i6 per cent, of the Mack-damp and 

 84 percent, of air exlingui>hed candles and lamps, whereas a 

 mixture of about 60 per cent, of the black damp and 40 per 

 cen'.. of air wouid be required to produce immediate danger to 

 life. 



(3) The lUngerous physiological action of black-damp is due 

 to deficitncy of oxycen, not to excess of carbonic acid. The 

 cflecl first appreciable when increasing proportions of black- 

 damp are breathed is. however, due to carbonic acid alone. 



of the Extinctive 

 By Prof. Frank 



Kebruarj' 21. — "The Composition 

 Atmospheres produced by Flames. 

 Clowes. 



In a former paper {Roy. Soc. Proc, vol. Ivi. ), the author 

 communicaied the results obtained by mingling gases, which 

 were extinctive of flame, wiih air, until a flame burning in the 

 air was just extinguished. The gases used in the experiments 

 were carbon dioxide and nitiogen. Eaih of these gases was 

 separately introduced into the air, and ihe com) osiiion of the 

 atmosphere thus produced, which just extinguished flame, was 

 determined by chemical analysis. 



The general results arrived at were : — 



(1) J hat wick-fed flames require atmospheres of very similar 

 composition to extinguish them : while gas fed flames require 

 atmospheres of widely diflering composition. 



(2) That nitrogen must be added in larger proportion than 

 carbon dioxide, in order to extinguish the same flame. 



{3) That the minimum proportion of extinctive gas which 

 must be mingled with air in order to extinguish a flame is 

 independent of the size of the flame. 



A sup, lementary series of experiments has now been under- 

 taken in order to determine the composition of the atmosphere 

 exiinctive of each flame, which is produced by the flame itself 

 when burning in an enclosed volume of air at atmospheric 

 pressure. The apparatus used and the method of experimenting 

 are fully de«crihed. 



As in ihe previous series of experiments (/i)^. crV.) the com- 

 bustible substances used were chiefly those which are burnt fur 

 ordinary healing and lighting purposes — namely, alcohol (abso- 

 lute), alcohol (methylated), paraffin (Limp oil), colza and 

 par'.-ffin, candle, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane, and 

 coal-gas. 



Determinations were made of the percentage composition of 

 the rC'idual atmospheres Itft by the flames, and these were 

 compared with the composition of the ariilicial atmosphere in 

 which tl.ime is just exiingui-hcd, and with the composition of 

 atmospheres which are resi>irable according to the recent ex- 

 pcrimenii of Dr. Haltane (Proc. Roy. Soc.'\. 



The conclusions draun from the tabulated results of the 

 experiments pulilished in the paper are that : — 



(1) The flames of the comhu^iiblc gases and liquids, which 

 were experimented upon, produce, at ihe poml ol extinction in 

 an encloned atmosphere, a change in the proportion of oxygen 

 in the air generally corresponding to that produced by prepar- 

 ing extinctive atmospheres by artificial mixture. 



(2) The flames ol candles and lamps, when they are extin- 

 guished by tiurning in a confine I space of air, produce an 

 atm'opl'Cre of almost identical composition with that of air 

 expired from the lungs. 



(3) 1 he extinctive atmospheres produced by the combustion 

 of the flames of candles and of lamp^, and the air expired from 

 the lungs alter inspiring Ircsh air, are respirable with s.ifety. 



(4) The extinction of an ordinary candle or lamp flame is 

 not ntces'aiily indica<lve of the un>uilabiliiy of an atmosphere 

 to mam am life when it is breathed. 



Oeological Society, February 6 — Dr. Henry Woolward, 

 F.k.S, P'tiidcnl, in Ihe chair. — On tones of a Sanroirodous 

 Dinosaur fiom .Madagisca', by K. Lydekker, F R S. Tnc lpon-s 

 dc-crdied in ihr paper were c .licit-: I by Mr. Lati to the east of 

 the tD«n 'f Naiiinda,on the noith-^astcrn cail of Madagascir. 

 Thf y inc ude verl-brac, limb-l>one-, and porti'ms of pectoral and 

 peUic grdies. These bones were descrilic I in detail, and the 

 animal which possessid thtm was referred to the genus ^i?MriV>- 



NO, 1324, VOL. 51] 



i/ff»fl[>'/««, Owen ; a dorsal vertebra, described in the paper, 

 being isken as the type of the new species. The identification 

 of the Malagasy reptile with a type occumng in the Jurassic 

 rocks of England haimonises with the reference of some of the 

 strata of the island to the Jura-sic period. — On the physical 

 conditions of the Meditrrranean basin which have resulted in a 

 community of some species of freshwater f.^hes in the Nile 

 and the Jordan w.-iters, by Prof E. Hull, F. R S. The author 

 summaiised the evidence in favour of the existence of b,irriers 

 in post-Mioccnc times, separating ihe Mediterranean area intoa 

 chain of basins. He brought forward arguments in support of 

 his contention that the waters of the eastern (Levantine) basin 

 became fresh during a period when the area of tv«pora'ion was 

 smaller, and the supply of river-water greater, than at present. 

 Into this freshwaier lale the waters of the Nile would flow 

 directly. He had elsewhere given reasons for believing that the 

 Jordan Valley from Lake Huleh to Arahah was the bed of a Lake 

 over 200 miles long, and at least 1300 feet above the present 

 level of the Dead Sea. He suggested that Ihe waters of this 

 lake escaped into the Levantine basin through the plain of 

 Esdraelon. With such physical conditions existing, the fauna 

 of the Levantine basin would have had a mears of spreading 

 throughout the whole system of waterways connected with it. 

 In conclusion the author added some observations on the changes 

 which occuired in the Mediterranean area subsequent to the 

 post-M ocene epoch of tarihmovement. — On the loess and 

 other superficial deposits of Shantung (Nonhern China), by S. 

 B. J. Skerichly and T. W. Kingsmill The following 

 deposits were described in the order of their antiquity: — (1) 

 Recent fluviatile deposits. (2) Marine sands with Cardium, 

 Ostraa, an I Bulla, extending to a height of 20D feet above 

 sea 1' vel, and indicating former submergence to that amount. 

 (3) Old river grjvels, often resting on iorss, and possibly con- 

 tcmpoianeous wiih the marine- gravels. They furnish pan of the 

 evidence relied on by the authors for supposing the existence at 

 ihat time of a climate moisture than the present one. (4) Loess. 

 (5) Basement-gravels having the same iclanon to the loess that 

 the Upper Gieensand beats to the Chalk. The loess east of the 

 Pamirs is extensively developed over an area ol over one million 

 square miles. It is .sometimes over 2000 feet thick, and occurs 

 up to several thousand feel above sea. level. Evidence was 

 brought forward by the authors with the intention of establishing 

 the absolute want of connection between the Chinese loess and 

 the prtsmt rivtr-systtms, its original stratified condition (as 

 shown by variation of tint and horizonlality of layers of concre- 

 tions), and its subsequent teariangement to a great extent. The 

 absence of marine shells was discussed, and the suggestion 

 thrown out that the shells had been destroyed by percolating 

 water. The auihors gave their reasons f<ir supj osing that the 

 loess is a maiine formation, and stattd that the sea need not 

 have reached to a hi>;hei levtl than 600 feet abi ve 'he present 

 sea-level, lor the Pamir ri-g on where it .ccurs, 7000 feet above 

 the sea, is an aiea of special uplift. They maintained ihat there 

 are no proofs of the glaciatnm of Northern and Eastern Asi», 

 so that Chinese loess could have no conneciion with an area 

 of glaciaiion. They staled that the zoological, ethnological, 

 hitorical, and traditi nary evi ence alike pointed to the former 

 depresssiiin of Asia beneath the sea, and the subsequent 

 desiccation of the land, consequent upon re-elevation. 



Mathematical Society, February 14. — Mr. A. H. Kempe, 

 F.R.S., Vice-President, in the chair. — Tne chiirman announced 

 the decease, since the January mreiing, of Prof. Ca\ley, F. R. S., 

 and SirJ. Cockle, F K.S , and slated that the Society had been 

 rcpre enied at the funeral of the former by the Picsidrnt, him- 

 sell, and Prols. Elliott, F.R.S., and Ihnnci, K.U.S. Messrs. 

 Walker, F.R.S., Glai-her, F.K.S,, and Elliott, F.R.S., paid 

 tribues to the memory of the deceased gentlemen, and a 

 resolution was pa-sed unanimou ly that the I'residcit (Major 

 Macniahon, F. R.S., who was absent owing to a rlomeslic 

 afiliction) be p quested to convey, in such loim as hcshouhl think 

 fit, voie-ol condidcnce from 'he Society to M.s. Cajlct and Lady 

 Cockle. — Dr. llobson, F. R.S., gave a biirfsktch ol a paper, 

 by Mr. II. M. Macdonilil, on ihe electnfi. ati.m of a circular 

 disc in any hi Id cd fmce symmetrical wiih rcs| ect to is plane. 

 — Prof. Elliotl reail a paper on certain niflertnt al operators, 

 and their use to loim a lomplete system ol seiniiivariants of 

 any degree, or any »ei(.h'. — I'rol. W. Huinside, F. K.S., sent 

 notes on the ihc< ry 1 f (.roups of finite order, lii an 1 iv. Ilerr 

 Iliildir, in a paper in the Math. Ann. vi.l xl., and Dr. Cole, in 

 a paper in the American Journal of Malhtmalia, vol. xv., have 



