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and usin^ for common u^. For instance, he had found that welt..* 

 dried o?cyd of manganese — and a still more universally obtainable ' 

 substance, powdered alabaster or sulphate of linie, as dried and pre- ^ 



pared by plasterers, or by those who maj^e caSls — being inclosed in 

 a small syphon, a measured bulk of air p^assed through, either, af^a 

 very quick or at the slowest rate, would be so effectually deprived of 

 all its hygrometric moisture, that another syption filled with coarser 

 fragments of fused chlorid of calcium gained no weight sensible to a 

 balance which turned with the pne-thousandih part ot a graili, — ine 

 measured portion of damp air being in succession drawn thrbugh the 

 syphon containing the alabaster and that containing the fusefl chlorid 

 of calcium. The apparatus contrived by Dr. Andrews — a drawing of 

 which Prof. Stevelly exhibited and explained — consisted of a gasome- 

 ter whose bell was attached as a counterpoise to the weight of a Dutch 

 clock sufficiently heavy to work it. By this a measured volume of air 

 was drawn through a tube leading from the open air through the sy- 

 phon containing the absorbent powder, which was attached to it by col- 

 lars of caoutchouc, so that after the air had passed through, the syphon 

 could be readily detached, weighed, and the gain of weight by the ab- 

 sorption of the moisture thus determined. In this way he was able m . 

 widely various hygrometric states of the air to test the indications of r 



Daniel's and other hygrometers, — to determine the correct relation be- 

 tween the depression of the wet bulb and the dew point — and even to ^ 

 use the apparatus itself as a simple integrating hygrometer by which 

 the total quantity of vapor contained in a measured volume of air 

 drawn through the apparatus, say during twelve hours, at a uniform 

 rate, may be actually determined by weight. 



3. On the Cause wJiich maintains Bodies in the Spheroidal State, OC' 

 yond the Sphere of Physico-chemical Activity; by M. Boutigny- _ 



M. Boutigny referred to his former communications and well known 

 experiments on the peculiar state induced in liquids when in contact 

 with very hot metals, and reiiretted he had not the means for exhibiting 

 the experiments, as they required apparatus he had not at command m ^ 



the Section, such as for the application of the spheroidal state of water 

 to the purposes of the steam-engine. He referred to the experiments 

 first shown at Cambridge, and their extension since to explain some of 

 the effects of ancient oracles. Alluding to the disputed points in the 

 explanation of his experiments as to the repulsion of metals and fluids, 

 and whether the effects were entirely or not to be attributed to the ^ 

 properties of the thin stratum of vapor, Prof. Boutigny proceeded to 

 show by experiment that when platinum wire was coiled up in the form 

 of a flat spiral and made hot, and ether or alcohol fluid placed on it, in 

 the spheroidal slate, the liquid would not pass through between the 

 spaces, while the vapor readily did so. 



A conversation ensued on the subject of M, Bouligny's showing the 

 capability of the human hand to pass through red-hot molten metal 

 without injury ; and by the prompt kindness of Messrs. Ransomes '& 

 May, the experiment was arranged to take place at 7 o'clock in the 

 evening. Accordingly at that hour the membersjof the Chemical Sec* 

 tion had the opportunity of see!ng M. Boutigny pSfis his hand through 



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