Miscellanies. 383 



oil is a compound analogous to alcohol and spirit of wood, in consist- 

 ing of a peculiar compound of carbon and hydrogen for its base, 

 (C^ jj2 0^^ united to two atoms of water. He cites the following 

 experiments by himself as proof of the correctness of this view. 



The oil treated with sulphuric acid, and subjected to a mild heat, 

 yielded an acid containing the same carburetted hydrogen for its 

 base. This acid formed with bases soluble compounds, whose anal- 

 ogy with sulphovinates is incontestable. The salt of baryta, for ex- 

 ample, contained S0=' Ba 04-S0% C^ « H- % H« O^ If the oil 

 is put in contact with iodine and phosphorus, an ethereal substance 

 is disengaged, giving off a slightly alliaceous odor, which is similar in 

 composition to hydriodic ether. With nitric acid and chlorine, it af- 

 forded products of analogous constitution. 



9. Royal Geographical Society. — At a late meeting of the Royal 

 Geographical Society, there was read the following Memoir. — A 

 Memoir on the province of Oman, on the East Coast of Arabia, by 

 Lieut. J. R. Wellsted, Indian Navy, F. R. S. 



The author of this highly interesting paper, — as indeed must be 

 the description of a country into which, as the memoir states, " no 

 European traveler has hitherto penetrated, and whose people and 

 country remain wholly unknown to us," — was selected by the gov- 

 ernment at Bombay to make a journey into the interior of Oman, 

 and, with the usual spirit of liberality shown in the Indian service, 

 was provided with instruments of all sorts for making scientific ob- 

 servations, with letters to the Imam of Muskat, who, as Mr. Wellsted 

 states, " with his characteristic liberality, in every way forwarded my 

 views, and gave me letters to the chiefs of all the districts through 

 which I had to pass ;" — and, in short, with every facility for this en- 

 terprising journey. 



Quitting Bombay, Mr. Wellsted reached Muskat on the 21st No- 

 vember, 1835; this city has of late years been often described, but 

 we may notice that our author states its population, including Mat- 

 trah, to be 60,000 persons, and its imports at 3^ millions of dollars. 

 He thence went by sea to the port of Sur, about eighty miles to the 

 southeast of Muskat, where he was civilly received by the Sheikh, 

 and provided with guides and fourteen camels. 



'•Dec. 2. Leaving Sur," says Mr. Wellsted, "I journeyed along 

 the Wadi Falij, twenty miles, in a southwest direction, towards the 

 district of Jailan, thence S. S. W. twenty-two miles over a flat and 



