596 



NA TURE 



\Mar. 19, 1874 



mating the Amount of Colour in "Water, by Mr. J. Falconer 

 Kinc. Mr. King's process consists in adding to chemically pure 

 water a standard coloured solution contained in an accurately 

 o-raduated instrument until tlie pure water equals in colour the 

 specimen of water under examination. The result of an esti- 

 mation of colour in a water can thus be accurately recorded and 

 preserved for future reference. — Occurrence of the Deal Fish 

 (Trackypteriis airticiis), near Montrose, by James C. Howden, 

 M.D., Sunnyside. — Notes of the American Bittern (Bolaunis 

 /i-i/ii^iiinsiis), and some otlier of our rarer birds recently shot in 

 the 'South of Scotland, by John Ale.x. Smith, M.D.— Note on a 

 New Fossil from the Silurian Rocks in the Pentland Hills, by 

 ]\Ir. D. J. Brown. Mr. Brown described a section through the 

 rocks in which the fossil occurred. The fossil he believed to be 

 a seaweed, of which it appeared to be a frond. This is the third 

 specimen of seaweed that has been found in these rocks. — Note 

 on Bryozoa, from the carboniferous limestone at Longniddry 

 Station, by Mr. D. J. Brown. Mr. Brown exhibited a fine series 

 of Bryozoa from the lower carboniferous limestone group of 

 Longniddry quarry, Haddingtonshire. This series of Bryozoa 

 consisted principally of fragments of the genera Finestrella and 

 Polypora, the whole facies being eminently that of the carbo- 

 niferous limestone, although amongst them was one fragment 

 apparently referable to the Permian genus IJiamniscKs. — On 

 some Peculiarities in the Geographical Distribution of the Mam- 

 malia of Greenland, as explanatory of the origin of the flora 

 and fauna of that country, by Dr. Robert Brown, secretary. 

 Dr. Brown considered that a great portion of the Greenland 

 fauna and the bulk of its flora had been derived from Europe 

 when Greenland was united, probably during or shortly after the 

 time the Miocene beds were laid down to the European co,:- 

 tinent, by continuous land or a chain of islands, of which it is 

 possible that Iceland, Bear Island, and perhaps even the Ork- 

 neys and Shetlands, are only fragments. 



Manchester 

 Literary and Philosophical Society, Feb. 24. — Rev. 

 William Gaskell, vice-president, in the chair. — On the Effect of 

 Acid on the Interior of Iron Wire, by Prof. Osborne Rey- 

 nolds. It will V L- remembered that at a previous meeting of this 

 Society Mr. Johubun exhibited some iron and steel wire in which 

 he had observed some very singular effects produced by the action 

 of sulphuric acid. In the first place the nature of the wire was 

 changed in a marked manner, tor although it was soft charcoal 

 wire it had become short and brittle ; the weight of the wire was 

 increased ; and what was the most remarkable effect of all was 

 that when the wire was broken and the face of the fracture 

 wetted with the mouth it frothed up as if the water had acted 

 as a powerful qcid. These effects, however, all passed off if the 

 wire were allowed to remain exposed to the air for some days, 

 and if it were warmed before the fire they passed off in a few 

 hours. Prof. Reynolds subjected one of the pieces of wire to a 

 farther examination, and from the result of that examination was 

 led to what appears to be a complete explanation of the pheno- 

 mena. He was led, from certain observations, to conclude that 

 the effect was due to hydrogen, and nut to acid, as Mr. Johnson 

 appeai'ed to think, having entered into combination with the iron 

 during its immersion in the acid, which hydrogen gradually 

 passed off when the iron was exposed. This conclusion 

 he tested and proved to be correct by further experiments. 

 The question appears to the author one of very considerable im- 

 portance, both philosophically and in connection with the use of 

 iron in the construction of ships and boilers. If, as is probable, 

 the saturation of iron with hydrogen takes place whenever oxida- 

 tion goes on in water, then the iron of boilers and ships may at 

 times be changed in character and rendered brittle in the same 

 manner as Mr. Johnson's wire, and this, whether it can be 

 prevented or not, is at least an important point to know, and 

 would repay a further investigation ol the subject. — Dr. Ransome 

 demonstrated the movements of the chest in respiration, 

 showing the remarkable mobility of its several parts, and the 

 consequent facility with which its cavity can be inflated. 



B.4LTIMORE 

 Maryland Academy of Sciences, Feb. 2. — A paper was 

 read from Prof. D. S. Martin upon the economical resources of 

 Cornwall, embracing one of the most remarkble deposits of iron 

 ore in America, and forming three large banks. Reference was 

 made in the paper to the immense development of the magnetic 

 oxide of iron in thes? mines, and to the fact thfit some of the 



ore exhibits marked magnetic polarity (native lode-stone). The 

 yield is 175,000 tuns annually, but the capacity is double. The 

 minerals ot unusual interest found here, with the magnetite, are 

 lodes and coatings of cuprite, chrysocoUa, azurite, malachite, and 

 brochantite, the last named being found in no other locality in 

 Eastern North America. 



Paris 

 Academy of Sciences, March 9. — M. Bertrand in the chair. 

 — M. H. Resal communicated a paper on the theory of the 

 " ground swell " (Iwiile). — On a new spiral regulating chrono- 

 meters and watches, by M. Phillips. The results of experiments 

 made to test the isochronism of chronometers provided with the 

 new spirak — Researches on crystalline dissociation ; estimation 

 and division of the work done in saline solutions, by MM. P. A. 

 Favre and C. A. \'alson. A continuation of former communica- 

 tions on this subject. — On a particular arrangement of micro- 

 meter with movable wires proposed for the telescopes to be used 

 for the observation of the Transit of Venus, by M. Ph. Ilatt, 

 Communicated by M. Fizeau. — New note on waves of variable 

 height and velocity, by M. L. E. Bertin. — On the dispersion cf 

 gases, by M. Mascart. The author has determined the dispersion 

 of air, nitrogen, hydrogen, NjO, CO, COo, and CN. The dis- 

 persion of these gases bears no direct relation to their refractive 

 power nor to their density. — On the wave-lengths and characters 

 of the violet and ultra-violet rays of the solar spectrum, given by 

 a photograph taken by means of a diffraction grating, by M. H. 

 Draper. An abstract of this paper and the accompanying 

 Alberttype print have already appeared in this journal. — Note 

 on hydrogenised palladium, by MM. L. Troost and P. Haute- 

 feuille. By studying the tension of the gas in the metal at various 

 temperatures the autliors come to the conclusion that hydro- 

 genised palladium is a definite compound of hydrogen and pal- 

 ladium with an excess of hydrogen dissolved in it. The tension 

 of the hydrogen is constant from the time the amount of contained 

 gas is equal to 600 volumes ; this amount corresponding to the 

 formula Pa„H. The authors announce a future communication 

 on hydrides of potassium and sodium (KoH and Na„H). No 

 allusion is made to the results recently obtained by Wright and 

 Roberts by the determination of the specific heat of hydrogenised 

 palladium. — New apparatus for determining the tannin contained 

 m the different astringent materials employed in tanning, by 

 M. A. Terrell. The process used depends upon the absorption 

 of oxygen by tannin in presence of alkaline liquids. — Organo- 

 genesis compared with androgenesis in its relations with natural 

 affinities (Classes Sdagiiiaccir and VcrbeuacciT), by M. A. Chatin. 

 — Reply to a reclammation of priority of M. Bechamp, by M. P. 

 Schutzenberger. — Probable chaiacter of the first lortnight of 

 March, by M. de Tastes. A weather prognostication. — Re- 

 searches on the origin of the lithological elements of the tertiary 

 and quaternary soils of the neighbourhood of Oran, by M. Dau- 

 bree. The author concludes from his researches that the Middle 

 Tertiary epoch was especialfy an age of eruptions of a trachytic 

 nature. M. A. Nordenskiuld presented to the Academy some 

 photographs taken in Spitzberyen in 1S72-73. Among the 

 photographs was one of the largest known mass of meteoric iron. 

 It was discovered in Greeniand (Ovifak) in 1870. This mass 

 weighs 21,000 kilogrs. and is about to be brought to Stockholm 

 for the Royal Museum. 



CONTEN-PS Page 



The Chemical Society's Journal 377 



Todhunter's " Mathematical Theories of Attraction," I. By 



R- Tucker 378 



Our Book ^shelf 380 



Letters to the Editor : — 



Animal Locomotion. — His Grace the Duke OF Argyll ; J. Ward : 



A. H. Garrod 381 



The Moon's Want of Atmospliere.— A. H. Garrod 382 



On Voicanic Eruptions.— J. M. Wilson 382 



Remarks on Ozone 382 



The Limits of the Gulf-stream.— T. A. Hull 383 



The Great Ice-Age.— J. J. Murphy 383 



Mais.— E. B. Knobel '.383 



Polarisation of Light, VL By W. Si'OTTiswoode. Treas. R.S. 



ili'Uk Uiustrations) 383 



ANewThermometer ((fiM/^w/ra/iOT) 387 



On some Recent Astronomical SrEcuLATioNs in their Relation 



to Geology 388 



The C/ia//«/»f>- Expedition, II 388 



Notes 389 



The Gaseous. Liquid, and Solid States of Water-Substance. 



By Prof. J. Thomson, LL.U. ((F;M ZJ/nfrom) 393 



Scientific Serials 394 



Societies and Academies ; 395 



