Mr King oii Spontaneoiis Combustion. 7o 



Wednesday, 19th January 1876.— John Falconer King, Esq., President, 

 in the Chair. 



The following gentlemen were balloted for, and duly elected : 

 Librarian.— The Rev. J.-wnes Kennedy, M.A., B.D., 17 Melville Terrace ; 

 Reddent Mcmhcr.—W. P. Bruce, Esq., 18 Athole Cxeiicewi', _N on- Resident 

 Member. — John A. Harvie-Browu, Esq., Duniimce House, Falkirk. 



The following donations to the Library were laid on the table, and thanks 

 voted to the donors : 



1. Transactions of the Berwickshire ^Naturalists' Club, 1874.— From the 

 Club. 2. Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Glasgow, Vol. II., 

 Part I., 1875.— From the Society. 3. Proceedings of the Philosophical Society 

 of Glasgow, 1875, pp. 1-24. 4. "Trude" of the Botanical Garden of St 

 Petersburg, December 1S75.— From the Director. 5. Nova Acta Eegise So- 

 cietatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis Ser. tert. , Vol. IX., Fas. II., 1875. 6. 

 Bulletin Meteorologique ]\Iensuel de I'Observatoire de I'Universite de Upsal, 

 Yol. YL, Annee 1874.— From the Academy. 7. Oversigt over det Kongelige 

 Danske Yidensk. Selskabs Forhandliuger, 1875, Nos. I. and III.— From the 

 Academy. 8. Yidenskabelige Meddelelser fra Naturhistoriske Forening i 

 Kjobenhavn for Aaret, 1874.— From the Society. 9. XII. Jahresbericht des 

 Yereins fiir Erdkunde zu Dresden, 1875.— From the Society. 10. Pteport of 

 the Medical and Surgical Ptegistrars of the ]\Iiddlesex Hospital, 1874. — From 

 the Council of the Hospital. 11. Proceedings of the Eoyal Society, Yol. 

 XXIY., No. 164.— From the Society. 12. Proceedings of the Geologists' 

 Association, Yol. lY., Nos. 4 and 5. — From the Association. 13. Canadian 

 Journal, Dec, 1875. — From the Canadian Institute. 



The following communications were read ; 



I. — Note on Spontaneous Comhcstion. By J. Falconer King, 

 Esq., City Analyst, Lecturer on Chemistry in the Extra- 

 Academical Medical School. 



The first case of what is generally known as spontaneous 

 combustion to which my attention was called (in the course 

 of last summer) was one in which an immense heap — of 

 many thousand tons — of a waste material from an ironstone 

 pit had caught fire, and at the time of my investigation — now- 

 some months ago — was burning fiercely, and is, I believe, 

 still in an active state of combustion, all attempts to extin- 

 guish the fire having proved fruitless. This mineral had been 

 allowed to accumulate for some years, and for a considerable 

 period it evinced no sign of any change taking place till one 

 day (somewhere about two years ago) smoke was seen to 

 issue from near the centre of the mass. From that time the 

 fire made great progress, all efforts, as I have said, to ex- 

 tinguish it having proved ineffectual The interesting feature 



VOL. IV, L 



