7o 



NA TURE 



{May 17, 1883 



there are still other matters to be taken into consideration. One 

 of these, for instance, is the distance between the tuyeres at the 

 bottom of the furnace. Mr. Cochrane confidently predicted 

 that an alteration in this particular would effect a very important 

 saving in Messrs. Samuelson's furnaces. The large economy 

 actually realised by the use of brick stoves was commented upon 

 by several speakers ; but the advantage of increasing the capacity 

 of furnaces appeared to be doubted by two very high authorities 

 upon the subject, Mr. Edward Williams and Mr. E. Windsor 

 Richards. 



On Thursday afternoon the paper read was on the North- 

 ampton iron ore district, by Mr. W. H. Butlin. It gave an 

 interesting description of this district, well known to travellers on 

 the main line of the Midland Railway, in which, however, the 

 deposits of ore have only been developed within the last thirty 

 years. The paper also contained analyses of the ore, which is 

 of a very variable character, and also of the limestone, 

 slags, &c. 



On Friday morning the first paper read was by Mr. John 

 Stead of Middlesborougb, on a New method for the estimation of 

 minute quantities of carbon. The author had found that the 

 colouring matter, which is produced by the action of dilute nitric 

 acid upon white iron and steel, has the property of being soluble 

 in potash and soda solutions, and that the alkaline solution has 

 about two and a half times the depth of colour produced by the 

 ordinary acid solutions. Hence it occurred to him that the 

 colour-matter might be separated from the iron, as an alkaline 

 solution, by simply adding an excess of sodium hydrate to the 

 nitric acid solution of iron, and that the colour solution thus 

 obtained might be used as a means of determining the amount 

 of carbon present. This method is found to succeed well, as 

 small a quantity as 003 per cent, of carbon being readily de- 

 tected. The method of using it was described, and also experi- 

 ments made to determine (1) the influence of heating the nitric acid 

 solution for a longer or shorter time ; (2) the effect of using an 

 excess of nitric acid to dissolve the steel ; (3) the effect on the 

 solvent power of using a greater or less quantity of soda solu- 

 tion ; (4) the effect of the presence of small quantities of chlorine. 

 All these experiments proved satisfactory as regards the new 

 process. An improved form of chromometcr was also described. 



The next paper was on the Production and utili.-ation of 

 gaseous fuel in the iron manufacture, by Mr. W. S. Suther- 

 land of Birmingham. It was of a somewhat discursive character, 

 containing various suggestions, especially as to a method of 

 making wrought iron by the converter process ; but its chief 

 object was to describe the production of a cheap form of heating 

 gas, which the author has used largely for the welding up of 

 boiler-flues, tubes, &c. Tn this process part of the fuel is burnt, 

 as completely as possible, to carbonic acid and water, but the 

 resulting heat is stored up partly in the remainder of the fuel and 

 partly in regenerators, that in the regenerators being made to 

 heat up to a sufficiently high degree a quantity of steam. This 

 superheated steam is passed through the hot fuel, and forms 

 with it carbonic oxide and hydrogen, which go away to be stored 

 up and used. With this process about 55,000 cubic feet of gas 

 is made per ton of Staffordshire coal, and at a cost of about yi. 

 per 1000 cubic feet, its heating power being about one-half that 

 of coal gas. The author pointed out that it was most important 

 to prevent as far as possible the formation of carbonic acid, and 

 that for this a high temperature (say 1200° C. ) was required. 



The following papers were taken as read : — On Coal-washing 

 machinery, by Mr. Fritz Baare ; on the Tin-plate manufacture, by 

 Mr. E. Trubsbaw ; and on Improvements in railway and tramway 

 plant, by Mr. Albert Kiche. 



SCIENTIFIC SERIALS 



American Journal of Science, April.— Review of De Can- 

 doll e's origin of cultivated plants, with annotations on certain 

 American species, by A. Gray and J. H. Trumhull.— Remarks 

 on Glyptocrinus and Reteocrinus, two genera of Silurian crinoids, 

 by C. Wachsmuth and F. Springer. — Smee battery and galvanic 

 polarisation, by II. Hallock.— The age of the Southern Appal- 

 achians, by O. B. Elliott. — Evolution of the American trotting- 

 horse, by W. H. Brewer. 



In the Aimalcn der Physik und Chemie for 1883, part i , 

 Ernst Pringsheim has an elaborate paper on the theoretical and 

 practical aspectsof Crooke's radiometer. This is followed by 

 essays on Stokes's law of fluorescence, by Ed. Hagenbach ; on 



special cases of crystallisation, by E. Lommel ; on the heat-con- 

 ducting power of fluids, by L. Graetz ; on the relation of specific heat 

 in gases and vapours, by P. A. Muller ; on the constant result of 

 internal friction and galvanic conduction in relation to temperature, 

 by L. Grossmann ; and on A. Guebhard's proposed method of 

 determining equipotential lines, by Hugo Meyer. Part ii. con- 

 tains papers by O. Grotian on the power of electric conduction 

 of some cadmium and quicksilver salts in liquid solutions ; by 

 W. C. Rontgen, on the change produced by electric power in 

 the double fracture of quartz (continued in part iv.) ; by A. 

 Kundt, on the optical character of quartz in the electric field ; 

 by H. Meyer, on the magnetising function of steel and nickle; 

 by A. von Waltenhofen, on the history of recent dynamoelectric 

 machines, with some remarks on the determination of the work- 

 ing powers of electromagnetic motors ; by J. Wagner, on the 

 tenacity of solutions of salts; by S. von Wroblewslti, on the 

 absorption of gases by fluids under high pressure ; by A. Schuller, 

 on distillation in vacuum ; by K. R. Koch, on the elasticity of 

 ] crystals of the regular system ; by C. Bohn, on absolute masses ; 

 by E. Gerland, on the methods adopted by R. Kohlrausch in 

 his researches in contact electricity. In part iii. papers are con- 

 tributed by F. Neesen, on the specific heat of water ; by E. 

 Ketteler, on the conflicting theories of light (continued in part iv.) ; 

 by W. G. Hankel, on the thermoelectric properties of helvine, 

 mellite, pyromorphite, mimetesite, phenakite, pennine, strontia- 

 nite, witherite, cerussite, titanite ; by F. Niembller, on the 

 dependence of the electromotor power of a reversible element on 

 the pressure exercised on its fluidity ; by C. Tromme, on experi- 

 mental researches in magnetism ; by K. Vierordt, on sound 

 measurement; by A. Kilter, on the constitution of gaseous 

 bodies ; by K. R, Koch, on a method of testing the uiicrometric 

 screw. Part iv. contains papers by F. Kohlrau ch, on the gal- 

 vanic gauging of the surface coil of a wire bobbin : by C. Tromme, 

 on electrical research ; by M. Bnumeister, on the experimental 

 investigation of torsion elasticity ; by E. Wiedemann, on thermo- 

 chemical research ; by G. Kirchhoff, on the theory of light 

 radiation ; by W. Wundt, on sound measurement. 



Journal de la Physique, February. — On a spectroscope with 

 great dispersion, by M. Cornu. — On the comparative observa- 

 tion of telluric and metallic lines, as a means of observing the 

 absorbent powers of the atmosphere, by the same. — Researches 

 on the photometric comparison of differently coloured sources, 

 and in particular on the comparison of different parts of the 

 same spectrum, by MM. Mace de Lepinay and Nicati.— On 

 electric shadows and various connected phenomena (second 

 article), by M. Rigid. 



Verhandlungen der k.k. Zool.-botan. Gcsclhchajt in Wien, 

 18S2, Bd. xxxix. Heft 2 (March, 1883), contains : — Zoology. — 

 Biological notes on some beetles belonging to the Dascyllidre and 

 Parnidre, by Th. Beling.— On Platen's ornithological collections 

 from Amboyna, by W. Blasius. — On a new tortoise, by T. v. 

 Hornig.— On the genus Colias, by A. Keferstein. — On the skin 

 glands in some larva?, by Dr. Klemensiewicz (Plates 21 and 

 22).— On new Hymenoptera, by Fr. Kohl (PI. 23).— On the 

 Myriapcds of Austrian-Hungary and Servia, by Dr. R. Latzel. 

 —The butterfly fauna of Surinam, v., by H. P.. Moschler (Plates 

 17 and 18). — On a new mite in the inside of the quill feathers in 

 the hen, by Dr. C. Norner (Plates 19 and 20).— On a collection 

 of birds from Central Africa, sent by Dr. E. Bey, by A. v. 

 Pelzeln.— On Pselaphidse and Scydmaenida;, from Java, Borneo, 

 and Central and South America, by E. Reitter. — On Icaria 

 scudderi, by Dr. II . Weyenbergh. 



The Atti of the Roman Accadcmia del Lined for lanuary and 

 February, 1883, contains papers by E. Millosevich, on the ingress 

 of Venus on the solar disk, December 6, 1882 ; by A. Lugli, on 

 the mean variation of temperature in Italy, as affected by lati- 

 tude and elevation ; by A. Viola, on the relations of some physi- 

 cal properties of gaseous bodies under constant pressure and of 

 constant bulk ; by L. Pigorini, on barbaric stations still existing 

 in the Emilian provinces ; by Tommasi-Crudeli, on the malaria 

 of the Tre Fontane district, which appears not to have been 

 beneficially affected by the Eucalyptus plantations el-ewhere 

 found so efficacious ; by S. Tacchini, on meteoric dust and the 

 chemical analysis of the sands of the Sahara ; by the same 

 author, on Finlay's comet and on the new asteroid (232) dis- 

 covered on February I by Palisa ; by S. Brioschi, on the alge- 

 braic relations between the hyperelliptical functions of first 

 order ; by S. Ferrari, on the relations between the meteoric 

 elements and some agricultural returns for the year 1880 in Italy. 



