480 
NATURE 
[ Oct. 13, 1870 
Only 5 were seen between this and August 8, when 4 were 
seen in strong moonlight and clouded sky. 11 were observed on 
August 9 under the same circumstances; one at 13" 46™, equal 
to Capella, started from 8 Ursse Majoris with a downward course, 
of about one second, when it burst, leaving a train visible about 
two seconds. 
On August 10, between 9" 33™ and 15" 30™, 36 were observed, 
nearly all in the northern part of the heavens, with strong moon- 
light and clouded sky. One at 14? 10", equal to a Lyre, of a 
bright white colour, burst near B Cygni. 
Twenty-six were observed on August 11, between 9? and 15), 
and on the 12th, 7 between 8" and ro 30, the sky becoming 
overcast at 11". 
were observed on the 13th, from ro” to 125, 
on the 15th, from 12" to 13). 
on the 17th, between 9" 20™ and 12". 
5 on the 22nd, between 10" zo and 12", 
Your on the 24th, 3 on the 26th, 2 onthe 29th and 30th, and 3 
on the 31st. 
The most noteworthy besides those already mentioned were :— 
One on August 19, 1869, in strong moonlight, when few stars 
were visible, from a point near a Pegasi to near y Pegasi, about 
equal to a Lyre, for about two seconds. 
On October 6, at 7" 5", one about equal to Jupiter appeared to 
burst near the S. W. horizon. 
On October 27, one as bright as Jupiter, visible for two or 
three seconds, from y Tauri to the Pleiades. 
November 4, at 6" 5™, 1 equal to one-sixth of full moon, yel- 
lowish, was seen by Mr. Béchaux for about three seconds, with 
a train about 2° in length, from @ Arietis to a point above 
e Pegasi. 
November 8, at 7" 43", one of the Ist magnitude, yellow, visible 
about 3°, with a train from 6 Aurigze to a Draconis, and another 
at 8 10" of the Ist magnitude, white, with a train lrom e Cygni 
to 9 Lyra, visible for three seconds. 
UIs U2 os 
SEcTION B.—CHEMICAL SCIENCE 
On the Lancashire Alkali Trade. —Mr. William Gossage, 
This paper chiefly dealt with the scientific and commercial pro- 
gress of the alkali manufacture in Lancashire during the Tast nine 
years. Mr. Gossage regarded as one of the most important facts of 
the Jast nine years the passing of the Alkali Act, 1863, an Act 
which makes it imperative that all manufacturers decomposing 
common salt for the production of sulphate of soda should con- 
dense not less than 95 per cent. of the hydrochloric acid gas 
evolved by such decomposition ; and he said that the means which 
he devised in the year 1836 for effecting this condensation were 
now universally adopted by the soda manufacturers, with such 
success that not only did they comply with the legislative require- 
ments of condensing 95 per cent. of the hydrochloric acid set 
free, but in many instances the condensation exceeded og per 
cent. Speaking of the benefits arising from the appointment 
of Dr. Angus Smith to the office of chiefinspector under that Act, 
he considered that it may be fairly expected that when the same 
amount of care and attention is applied to subduing the bad 
effects resulting from other noxious vapours, chemical manufac- 
tories will be relieved from the charge of occasioning injury to the 
neighbourhoods in which they are situated. The most important 
use of hydrochloric acid obtained by this condensation was the 
manufacture of bleaching powder. At the date of his former 
paper, the chlorine required for the manufacture of bleaching 
powder was obtained by the action of hydrochloric acid on native 
peroxide of manganese ; but recently, Mr. Walter Weldon had 
perfected a process whereby peroxide of manganese is obtained 
from the chloride of manganese produced by the action of hydro- 
chloric acid on peroxide of manganese. Mr. Weldon’s process 
has been successfully adopted by some of the largest manufac- 
turers of bleaching powder. Mr. Gossage next referred to Mr. 
Deacon’s method of manufacturing chlorine without the use of 
manganese, and to the circumstance that Mr. James Hargreaves, 
of Widnes, has also devised means for producing chlorine with- 
out the use of oxide of manganese. In his last paper, Mr. Gos- 
sage remarked that nearly all the sulphur used in the soda 
manufacture was re-obtained in combination with calcium, 
forming what is designated ‘‘alkali waste,” and he then sug- 
gested that this presented a problem worthy of consideration 
y his juniors. Mr. Ludwig Mond, a German chemist, had now 
made the nearest approximation to the solution of this problem, 
with which he (Mr, Gossage) was at present acquainted, Mr, 
Mond’s process had been carried out successfully by various 
manufacturers, but unfortunately the quantity of sulphur ob- 
tained was far short of that in the waste ; and he (Mr, Gossage) 
considered that the problem he had mentioned still remained as 
an exercise for ingenuity and perseverance. He had also alluded 
in his paper before the Association in 1861 to the means he had 
adopted for obtaining copper and silver from the burnt residue 
of copper pyrites, which had been used for yielding sulphur in 
the manufacture of sulphuric acid. This mode of working had 
now been superseded by a process devised and carried out by Mr. 
ITenderson. After contrasting the quantities of soda and other 
chemicals manufactured respectively in the Lancashire and New- 
castle districts in 1852 and 1869, showing the much greater pro- 
portionate increase in the former district, he closed his paper 
by observing that it might reasonably be concluded that Lanca- 
shire was now the largest seat of chemical manufactures in this 
country. 
The President, by way of supplementing Mr. Gossage’s re- 
marks, said that in the ten years previous to 1861 the increase in 
the amount of salt decomposed was 300 per cent. The amount 
consumed in 1852 was 38,600 tons, and in 186r it had risen to 
135,000. Professor Roscoe proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Gos- 
sage for his valuable paper, and said that he was the father of the 
alkali trade, and that he held a position second only to that of the 
illustrious Leblanc, the inventor of the early process of making 
soda. Mr. Spence seconded the proposal, and said that Mr. 
Gossage was almost the originator of the soda manufacture ; he 
was'certainly the originator of some of the most important pro- 
cesses in it. . 
On the Ilydrogenation and Lydriodate of Cyanogen.—Mr. T. 
Fairley. 
On the Distillation of Sulphuric Acid.—My. T. Fairley. 
On the Time needed for the Conipletion of Chemical Change.— 
Dr. Hutter. 
On Reciprocal Decompesition viewed with Reference to Time,— 
Dr. J. H. Gladstone, F.R.S. 
On a Method for the Determination of the Amount of Sulphur 
in Coal Gas.—Mr. A. Vernon Harcourt, F.R.S. 
On the Estimation of Sulphur in Coal Gas.—My. W. Mar- 
riott, F.C.S. 
Notes on Thermal Equivalents—(t) Fermentation. (2) Oxide 
of Chilorine.—My. J. Dewar, F.R.S.E. 
On the Discrimination of Fibres in Mixed Fabrics.—My. J. 
Spiller, F.C.S. The authorrefers to the fact that silk alone, ofall 
the materials ordinarily used in the production of textile fabrics, 
is soluble in corcentrated hydrochloric acid, so that this reagent 
may be resorted to for testing the purity of silk, and determining 
the proportion of this substance entering into the composition of 
a variety of mixed goods. For the purpose of identifying wool 
in the presence of cotton, flax, jute, &c., it is recommended to 
immerse the fabric or loosened fibres ina warm aqueous solution 
of picric acid, which dyes the wool of a bright yellow, without 
imparting 2ny colour to cotton. Thus, by testing mixed fabrics 
successively with hydrochloric and picric acids, valuable indica- 
tions are afforded regarding their constitution. The chemical 
properties of certain compounds formed in this manner from 
silk were described, and a photographic application pointed out 
which turns to account the extraordinary degree of sensitiveness 
to light exhibited by a modified form of argentic chloride pro- 
duced by precipitation from such hydrochloric solutions. 
The Chemical Section did not sit on Saturday, but a large 
party of the members, headed by Professor Roscoe, Mr, C. W. 
Siemen, F.R.S., and Mr. A. E. Fletcher, F'.C.S., Alkali Act 
Inspector, spent the day in visiting various chemical works at St, 
Helens. 
Srctton C.—GEOLOGY 
Report on Hematite.—Professor Stokes, 
On the Green Slates and Porphyries of the Lake District.—Pro- 
fessor Harkness and Dr. Nicholson, The authors pointed out that 
in the Lake Country there ismost commonly the three-fold series of 
rocks, occurring between the Skiddaw slates, upon which the green 
slates and porphyries rest, and the Coniston limestone which 
succeeds them. This series consists of traps, which form the 
lowest member of the group, and which are very persistent ; of 
ashes, trappian breccias, tuffs, and amygdaloids, which consti- 
tute the middle portion of the series, and of hornstone traps, 
which form the highest portion of the group. The middle 
and upper portion of the series are by no means so persistent in 
