34 



NATURE 



\JMay lo, 1877 



by 142 to 129, and was afterwards adopted as a substantive mo- 

 tion by 144 to 116 



Edinburgh. — Lord Zetland has intimated that with the sum, 

 amounting to between 4,000/. and 5,000/., which he h.is received 

 as compensation for the abolition of patronage in Orkney and 

 Shetland, he intends to found several bursaries in connection 

 with the Faculty of Arts in Edinburgh University. His lord- 

 ship, in so disposing of the money, has in view the advancement 

 of the educational interests of Orkney and Shetland, of either of 

 which the intending bursars must be natives. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



London 



Royal Society, April 12. — "On the Constant Vibratnn of 

 Minute Bubbles." By Walter Noel Hartley, F.R.S.E., King's 

 College, London. 



Those who have given great attention to the study of fluid 

 cavities in minerals, have occasionally met with vibrating 

 particles which are apparently bubbles. 



Mr. Hartley became acquainted with these at the close of last 

 year, 1S75, when Mr. P.J. Butler showed him a ruby contain- 

 ing a cavity partially filled with liquid carbonic acid, the bubble 

 in which, when of small size, was in constant motion. 



He also refers to a felstone containing portions of quartz 

 with many cavities. The majority of these were water cavi- 

 ties, but others appeared to be empty ; and in one of them 

 Mr. Young had noticed a moving particle, supposed to be a 

 bubble, which made its appearance only in a cold atmosphere. 

 By dropping a little ether on the object, the evaporation cooled 

 it sufficiently to condense a liquid in the cavity, and the moving 

 particle was easily seen with a magnifying power of 400 dia- 

 meters. By immersion in iced water, the temperature of which 

 was 3°'5 C, the cavity had the appearance of being two-thirds 

 filled with a liquid, the gas-bubble of course occupying the 

 remaining space, and having a sort of trembling motion. The 

 bubble decreased in size, and the motion became more and 

 more rapid as the size became smaller, until it rushed up and 

 down and across the space in which it was confined. The 

 thought immediately occurred that this was not a gas-bubble, 

 but a liquid in the spheroidal condition, — in all probability 

 carbon dioxide in a perfectly dry condition, and perhaps mixed 

 with some incondensable gas, so that its critical point was 

 lowered. 



He concludes : — I have proved that gas-bubbles in water as 

 well as in carbonic acid, may be attracted by a source of heat 

 giving an extremely slight ri;e of temperature. It is impossible 

 to imagine a body which is not gaining or losing, or at the same 

 time both gaining and losing heat ; it is therefore impossible to 

 imagine it entirely throughout at a uniform temperature. It is 

 evident then that an easily movable particle which can be set in 

 motion by exceedingly slight rises of temperature will make the 

 translerence of heat from one point to another plainly visible ; 

 I have shown that the minute bubbles in fluid-cavities are such 

 particles ; and I believe that the vibratory motions which I have 

 described afford an ocular demonstr.ition of the continual pass 'ge 

 of heat through solid substances. These phenomena really 

 make the molecular vibrations of matter plainly visible. 



April 12. — "On Attraction and Repulsion of Bubbles by 

 Heat," by Walter Noel Hartley, F.R.S.E., F.C.S., King's 

 College, London. 



The paper deals with the bubbles in fluid- cavities of crystals, 

 and their behaviour when a source of heat is brought near 

 them. 



With regard to the attraction of bubbles by heat, the author 

 has noticed this take place in some water-cavities when the 

 bubbles were free to move, and no carbonic acid was present. 



With regard to this second point, the repulsion of bubbles by 

 heat, water being the only liquid. It occurs quite as frequently, 

 if, indeed, nut more so, in the specimens which the author has 

 examined, than attraction ; and it is seen to occur in cavities 

 containing water and liquid carbonic acid. 



In a paper which the author lately communicated to the 

 Chemical .Society, he has given details of experiments on 

 certain bubbles in water- cavities, which prove that by rise of 

 temperature the bubbles become denser than the water and 

 sink. 



Bubbles attracted by heat and those which are repelled have 

 generally been found in scpaiate and entirely different speci- 



mens, and it would appear most improbable that they should 

 exist in the same piece of stone side by side. 



My work, the author said, was discontinued for a long period 

 of two months, but on being able to lock over my specimens 

 once more, I verified all my former observations, and became 

 surprised by the following discovery : — A bubble which was re- 

 pelled by a gentle heat was attracted after it had been heated 

 more strongly, and then on cooling it was again repelled. It 

 appeared to contain some liquid carbonic acid floating on water 

 with the gas. 



It may be considered an argument against the motions being 

 due to any pyro-electric conditions of the minerals, that they 

 have been noticed in crystals of fluor-spar, and that no matter in 

 which direction sections of rock-crystal are cut, the movements 

 are all equally well obtained. 



Regarding the repulsion of gas-bubbles, two facts are striking, 



namely, the very slight rise of temperature (less than 4° C.) on 



I one side of the bubble capable of causing the movement, and 



■ the great tension existing within the bubble. The gaseous con- 



! tents prevent attraction by resisting the repulsion of the liquid 



I from the wall of the cavity. Warmth at one side of the buljble 



results in increased tension of the gas. This being partial, causes 



such internal molecular disturbance before it becomes uniformly 



I distributed, that the bubble is rolled away from the source ol 



1 heat. The bubble then takes up that position consistent with 



I the least internal pressure. In this case it is the same bubble 



which moves from end to end of the cavity. When repulsion is 



, followed on rise of temperature by attraction, the mcdus 



operandi is the following : — Repulsion due to the circumstances 



! above mentioned occurs until such a temperature has been 



reached that, in spite of the presence of gas within the bubbles, 



the increased vapour-tension of water becomes a motive power 



I by reason of evaporation and condensation, the motion of course 



being in the reverse direction. 



April 19. — "On some Figures exhibiting the Motion of 

 Vibrating Bodies, and on a New Method for Determining the 

 I Speed of Machines," by Herbert M'Lcod, F.C.S., Professor of 

 Experimental Science, and George .Sydenham Clarke, Lieut. 

 R.E., Instructor in Geometrical Drawing in the Royal Indian 

 Engineering College, Cooper's Hill. [See Physical Society.] 



Chemical Society, May 3. — Dr. Gladstone in the chair. — 

 The treasurer announced that 1,000/. had been placed to the 

 credit of the Society by the son of the late fellow, Mr. Lambert. 

 — The following papers were read : — On some points in gas 

 analysis, by J. W. Thomas. The author finds that nitric oxide 

 is .absorbed by caustic potash and iryiogallic acid, and recom- 

 mends that a known volume of pure oxygen should be introduced 

 after the absorption of carbonic acid and any decrease of volume 

 noted as nitric oxide. He states that an excess of caustic 

 potash should always be present in the alkahne pyrogallate, but 

 that too much of the latter should not be used. — On the decom- 

 position of nitric oxide by pyrogallate of potash, by Dr. Russell 

 and W. Lapraik. The authors state the probable action of the 

 above reagent is to convert nitric ox'de into half its volume 

 of nitrous oxide, but simultaneously another more obscure 

 reaction takes place, so that 58 to 76 per cent, of the g.is is 

 absorbed instead of 50 per cent. — Contributions to the history of 

 the naphthalene series. No. i. Nitroso-/3-naphthol, by Dr. 

 Stenhouse and Mr. Groves. Nitroso-ySnaphthoI was obtained 

 by the action of nitrosyl su'phate on /3-naphthol and purified by 

 conversion into a barium compound, &c. ; it crystallises in 

 brilliant hydrated yellow needles or anhydrous orange brown 

 plates or prisms. It melts at 109" 5 C. By treatment with 

 dilute nitric acid mononitro-/3-naphthol is obtained. By acting 

 on the barium compound of nitroso-;8-naphthol with hydrogen 

 sulphide a precipitate is formed which, by the action of p.jtassium 

 dichromate, is converted into j8-naphthaquinone melting at 

 96° C. ; this substance is interesting as being the first instance 

 of two isomeric quinones derived from the same hydrocarbon. — 

 On asbestos cardboard and its uses in the laboratory, by W. N. 

 Hartley. This substance resembles thick greyish cardboard and 

 is formed principally of asbestos fibres ; it can be cut or moulded 

 (by moistening with water) into any shape, and is extremely 

 useful for crucible supports, muffles, &c. 



Zoological Society, May l. — Prof. Newton, F. R.S., vice- 

 president in the chair. — Mr Howard Saunders exhibited and 

 made remarks on some nests and eggs of the Orphean Warbler 

 (Syhia orphais] from the vicinity of Malaga, Spain. Amongst 

 the eggs in each nest were one or two of larger size, supposed to 



