54 REPORT—1863. 
vations, and the following Table contains some of the results, which possess more 
general interest :— 
Lbs. of water evapo- Cubic feet of water 
Coal. rated from 100° F. evaporated per sq. 
by 1 Ib. of coal. foot of grate. 
Hartloyisia tte: «sss Meath ileis te 10°71 4:10 
Welsh Aberdare... 0. nadteeet a 10°14 37 
Hartley and Welsh round coal 10-45 3-7 
mixed in equal quantities .. 
Hartley round coal and Welsh 
dust. coal mixed in equal 9:93 3°45 
quantities........ oraksteletele 
Analysis of a Deposit from a Colliery Water containing Sulphate of Baryta. 
By Tuomas Ricwarpson, W.A., Ph.D., PRSL., Se. 
In the year 1849 a spring of water made its appearance in the shaft of Walker 
Colliery, which Mr. Clarke, the mining engineer, carried off by means of a wooden 
pipe. The water was quite clear as it issued from the sides of the shaft, but it 
rapidly deposited a solid matter which soon filled the pipe. This deposit contains 
a large quantity of sulphate of baryta, as indicated by the following analysis :— 
Sulphate of baryta'..:.:..5....55.. 90:01 
Sulphate oflime —2s2i se. ase t 3°04 
Peroxide of irom 8 APTS eee. 30 
POTICE is ARPES PE PE 2°65 
Water lan .nan teemdendned cerns P 3°51 
99°51 
After the lapse of a short time the deposit ceased to form, and the author had 
no opportunity to examine the water. The water most probably contained the 
baryta in some lower form, which absorbed oxygen as the solution fell down the 
pipe to the bottom’ of the shaft. 
On the Chemical and Physical Principles in connexion with the Specific Gravity 
of Liquid and Solid Substances. By Ovro Ricurer, Ph.D. 
In this paper the author endeavours to show that chemistry has for its founda- 
tion not a simple, but a complex principle. On the one ‘hand, it is the purely 
chemical principle, whatever its nature may be, which determines the various 
forms of molecular arrangement; and it is the ponderable portion alone of the 
various kinds of atoms which, in their constant weight-equivalents, furnishes the 
basis of calculation. On the other hand, it is the purely physical principle, what- 
ever its nature may be, which determines the’ specific volume of the molecules; 
and it is the imponderable portion alone of the various kinds of atoms which, in 
cheir variable volume-equivalents, furnishes the basis of calculation. Accordingly 
our tree of chemical knowledge-splits up into two main branches, viz., Pondo- 
Chemistry and Impondo-Chemistry. The author believes that all the chemical 
elements consist, not of single atoms, but of a definite number of such atoms asso- 
ciated according to some fixed principle of grouping, and thinks that all the modi- 
fications in the physical properties of matter, which we are in the habit of distin- 
ei by the terms polymorphism, allotropism, specific heat, fusing- and 
oiling-points, crystalline form, optical and electro-magnetic polarity, &c., ought 
to be considered as so many functions of one and the same variable magnitude, 
viz., the specific volume. He imagines, moreover, that the eighth part of the 
volume of ice, which Playfair calls the Unit Volume, is really the standard whereby 
all the volume-equivalents will one day be correctly measured and calculated. The 
specific volume he regards as the resultant of the combined repulsive energies 
proper to the various species of molecules, and holds that these repulsive energies 
are directly proportional to the amount of vibratory movements developed in the 
system. These energies he supposes to vary in range and intensity correlative 
