Aug. 29, 1871] 



NATURE 



361 



Dr. Gladstone read a paper, prepared in conjunction with Mr. 

 Tribe, On Ihe Miitmil Hc/f'fu/ncss of Chemical Affifdty, Heat, 

 aiu! Elcclriiity in Pyoducing the Dccoiiiposilion of H'uUt. Dr. 

 Gladstone commenced by describing the action of various metals 

 upon water : some are able to eliminate the hydrogen from 

 water, wliilst others, and by fiir the larger number, are unable 

 to do so. Zinc, if perfectly free from foreign metals, is without 

 action on water ; but if it be brought into contact with another 

 metal even more stable in regard to its action on water, the 

 electrical tension //«j- the chemical tension upsets the equilibrium 

 between the atoms in the molecule, and hydrogen is eliminated. 

 The effect of varj'ing the distance between the plates was care- 

 fully measured, and it was found tliat the chemical action in- 

 creased slowly up to a certain point, after which the action 

 rapidly increases as the metals are brought into closer contact. 

 Copper deposited on zinc foil is a very effective combination, 

 and its action is materially accelerated by the meeting ; thus, at 

 2° C. only I cb c of hydrogen was evolved per hour ; 62 cbc were 

 illuminated per hour at 55', whereas at 93° C. as much as 528 cbc 

 were produced. With magnesium and copper the action is even 

 more marked. These re-actions afford methods of preparing 

 exceedingly pure hydrogen, and tliey will doubtless be found 

 useful in many operations of reduction. 



Mr. Weldon described his process for the manufacture of 

 chlorine by means of manganite of mai^nesium. The manganite 

 is first produced by neutralising an acid solution of manganese 

 chloride with Greek stone. By treatment with hydrochloric acid 

 the manganite yields chlorine and magnesium and manganese 

 chlorides. The solution is run out of the steel into an iron pot, 

 and is afterwards boiled down until it reaches a temperature 

 above 300" F., when it is luninto a blind furnace and evaporated 

 to dryness. On heating the dried residue chlorine and hydro- 

 chloric acid are evolved, and the manganite of magnesium is 

 reproduced. 



SECTION C— Geology 

 ■ The first paper was that by Prof. E. Hull, On the Raised 

 Bench of tlie Xorth-cast of Ireland. All along the eastern 

 coast of Ireland, from Dublin Bay northwards, there are to be 

 found at intervals distinct evidence that the coast has been raised 

 in recent times. This evidence is divisible into two kinds ; first, 

 the occurrence of a narrow fringe of varying elevation, forming a 

 terrace extending for some distance inland from the coast, and 

 composed of stratified sands and gravel, containing marine 

 shells belonging to species now irhabiting the Irish Sea ; 

 and secondly, the existence of old sea-worn cliffs, form- 

 ing the inland margin of these terraces, wliich are now 

 beyond the reach of the highest tides. In the north of Ireland 

 these cliffs are penetrated by caves, which have yielded bones of 

 animals, some of which are extinct in that part of the country, 

 while the gravels of the old beach contain amongst the sea shells 

 worked flints inconsiderable quantity in County Antrim, which 

 ]irove the elevation of the coast to have taken place since the 

 human period. 



The height attained by the beach above the present sea level 

 is about S ft. in the south, but it rises gradually northwards, and 

 there attains a height of 20 ft. The author considered this to 

 be of the same age as the twenty-five feet beach of the west 

 coast of Scotland, which falls somewhat in level towards the 

 Solway ; southwards this decrease in level continues, till the 

 evidences of a raised beach almost disappear towards the 

 estuary of the Mersey. The identity, therefore, of the pheno- 

 mena on both shores is evident, and is a matter of some interest 

 in ihe physical geology of these islands. 



In the discussion which followed. Prof. Harkness, Mr. Pen- 

 gelly, and the Rev. W. II. Crosskey took part, the last speaker 

 insisting strongly upon the necessity of following these accumula- 

 tions inland, and not confining our observations to the more 

 attractive sections along the coast. 



Mr. Jas. Howell then described the Super-Cretaceous Foima- 

 lions of Ihe A^eighloitrJiood of Brighfoiy in which the various 

 deposits of the district were minutely described. Attention was 

 called to the outlines of Tertiary beds on Furze Hill, and to the 

 still smaller patches scattered over the Downs. The author, 

 during the numerous excavations made in draining the town of 

 Brighton, had observed that wherever brick-earth occurs with 

 " Coombe rock" it is always the newer deposit of the two. 

 From the deposits met with in the lower parts of the town, Mr. 

 f^Iowell concluded that the Brighton valley, at least as far up as 

 the London and Lewes Road, was once covered by the tides. 



Mr. W. Topley followed with an account of the Siii- 

 IVealden Exploration. He first gave a brief description of the 

 Weald and of the beds therein exposed, dwelling more particularly 

 upon the lowest known rocks, the Ashburnham beds, in which 

 the boring commences. He then described the older rocks as 

 exposed in and around the coal-fields of Bristol and South Wales 

 on the west, and the Belgian coal-fields and the Lower Boulon- 

 nais on the east. These rocks, it was stated, would certainly 

 pass beneath the Weald, and along with them would probably 

 occur workable coal measures, but the exact position of these 

 last is a great uncertainty. The thickness of rock at the bore- 

 hole, before reaching the Palaiozoic beds, might be only 700ft. or 

 it might amount to i, 600ft. Theauthordrewspecial attention tothe 

 parts taken by Mr. Godwin-Austen and Mr. Henry Willett in 

 this exploration. To the philosophic papers of the former we 

 owe our knowledge of the underground range of the older rocks, 

 and to the energy and perseverance of the latter is due the fact 

 that speculation on this subject is about to give rise to actual 

 experiment. 



Mr. Godv/in-Austen traced the area occupied by the old coal 

 forests of Western Europe, and described the means by which 

 this once united area had become broken up into separate basins. 

 The axis of Artois and the coal-fields along its line were then more 

 particularly noticed. He stated that carboniferous limestone had 

 been found at a small depth in the Pays de Bray, lienealh Kim- 

 meridge clay, the whole of the lower members of the oolite series 

 being there absent. In the area between the Pays de Bray and 

 the Boulonnais, and under the Weald on the west of that, it was 

 possible that coal-measures might be preserved. He protested 

 against the sub-Wealden exploration being represented as a 

 "search for coal;" its only object was to explore the rocks 

 underlying the Weald. 



Mr. Henry Willett gave an account of the origin and progress 

 of the undertaking, stating that it was planned in honour of the 

 first visit of the British Association to Sussex. He repeated Mr. 

 Godwin-Austen's protest as to this being a search for coal, and 

 said that this bore-hole was only the first of a series which would 

 ultimately be necessary to complete our knowledge of the range 

 of the Palaeozoic rocks. He added that the subscriptions to the 

 fund now amounted to 1,900/. 



Mr. Harry Seeley entered at some length into his reasons for 

 disbelieving that the coal-measures ever covered this area ; but 

 he, in common with other geologists, was very glad of tlie ex- 

 periment now being made, as its results would have a very high 

 scientific value, although commercially it would, he believed, 

 prove a failure. 



The remainder of the time was occupied by the reading of 

 Mr. G. A. Lebour's paper On the Geological Distrilution of 

 Goitre in England. The author had by inquiries and corre- 

 spondence collected a great amount of information upon the 

 distribution of this disease, and his facts are of the more impor- 

 tance, as no information can be obtained upon the subject from 

 Government statistical returns. He traced in detail the range of 

 goitre over the various formations, and sliowed that the accepted 

 beliefs on this subject were frequently erroneous. Thus, as re- 

 gards magnesian limestone, which is commonly believed to be a 

 very goitriferous rock, he showed that goitre was by no means 

 so coiimion there as in some other formations. Again, whilst on 

 some regions occupied by carboniferous limestone the disease 

 abounds, in others, where the general character of the rock is 

 apparently the same, it is entirely absent. In searching for a 

 general cause regulating the distribution of goitre, the author re- 

 jected as insufficient that generally given — the hardness of 

 water. He showed it to be more probable that metallic impuri- 

 ties in the water were the cause. The carboniferous limestone 

 was ch.iracterised by goitre almost in exact proportion to the 

 metalliferous nature of the rock. Districts where ferruginous 

 water occurs very commonly have goitre, particularly where the 

 iron is derived from the decomposition of iron pyrites. 



Friday, August 16. — The proceedings of this section opened 

 with the reading by Mr. Pengelly of his Report on Kttif ■ 

 Cavern, Torquay. Specimens of bones and flint implements 

 during the preceding year were exhibited to the meeting. M> 

 Pengelly afterwards read a note On the Occurrence of 

 Machairodus latidens at Kent's Cavern. This animal had been 

 found there many years ago by Mr. M 'Henry ; but doubts had 

 often been expressed as to the accuracy of this observation, and' 

 it was highly satisfactory to find that recent researches had con- 

 firmed M 'Henry's discovery. 



Mr. Evans made some remarks upon the flint implements 

 found during the past year. 



