26o 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Mar. i6, iSSS. 



Journal for May, 1884, revealed the fact that the plates 

 resembled the scales of the Bony Pike, and also the scales 

 contained in certain Liassic coprolites which were iden- 

 tical in appearance with the Triassic pellets. The author 

 concluded that the latter were the coprolites of Triassic 

 amphibians which fed upon the same kind of Ganoid 

 fishes as the Ichthyosaurs of the Lias. 



EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION OF SCIENCE AND 



ARTS. 

 On February 20th, Mr. F. T. Shand read a paper on 

 " Modern Blasting Agents" before this Association. He 

 said there were at present over fifty explosive mixtures 

 in use. He discussed the requirements for a good 

 blasting agent, and gave a list of the comparative powers 

 of the usual blasting substances, which showed that 

 blasting gelatine exerted most force. The power de- 

 pended on the quantity of the gases generated and the 

 rapidity with which they were produced. He spoke 

 of the various purposes to which the chief blasting 

 agents were applied, and showed the suitability of blasting 

 powder for quarrying, as it was comparatively slow in 

 exploding, and broke up the rock without shattering it 

 to fragments. Though it had many defects, no sub- 

 stitute for it had been produced where a mild agent was 

 wanted. Mr. Nobel's work in producing nitro-glycerine 

 and dynamite was described, and the lecturer next 

 spoke of the mode of the manufacture of dynamite and 

 of blasting gelatine at Ardeer, in Ayrshire. The manu- 

 facture of the gelatine was dangerous, but once made it 

 was the safest of explosives. Dynamite was most 

 suitable for blasting hard rock, and as it gave off very 

 little fumes it was a valuable agent for blasting in mines. 

 It was not liable to spontaneous explosion, and tem- 

 porary contact with water did not spoil it. He pointed 

 out that all these compounds could only be exploded by 

 detonation, and not at all by mere ignition. Blasting 

 gelatine was fifty per cent, stronger than dynamite, and 

 five times stronger than blasting powder. Owing to its 

 cost it had been superseded for mining purposes by 

 gelatine-dynamite, which, while cheaper, had all the 

 good qualities of blasting gelatine, except that it was not 

 so powerful. He next showed that tor such work as 

 tunnel-boring through hard rock economy was secured 

 by using the stronger explosive agencies in preference 

 to blasting powder. The lecturer also described the 

 water cartridge now in use in coal mines, which gives 

 off no flame when exploded, and thus obviates gas 

 explosions in fiery mines. 



BRADFORD SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION. 

 Under the auspices of this Society Mr. G. Field 

 gave on February 20th a free lecture in the Museum, on 

 " British Birds." After mentioning that comparatively 

 little was known on the subject of ornithology a century 

 ago, the lecturer said that since that time much had been 

 done by writers and collectors to spread knowledge on 

 the subject. There were believed to be 1,500 specimens 

 of birds. Of these 400 were British birds, of which 

 300 were residents and 100 migrants. Birds were 

 divided into six classes by reason of diflerences in their 

 feet. Firstly, there were a number of birds which were 

 know as raptors, others were known as perchers, and 

 there were also climbers, rasores, waders, and swim- 

 mers. The lecturer described the differences in the 

 formation of the feet which distinguished the various 



classes, and pointed out the peculiar suitability of the 

 construction of the feet to the wants of the birds. He 

 then described at length the differences in the form of 

 bill, which indicated the method of their feeding and the 

 matter of their food. Going on to treat of wings, he 

 stated that no two species of birds fly in the same 

 manner, the style in which they flew depending upon 

 the texture of the wing, feather, and tail. A long and 

 acutely-pointed wing was essential to long-continued 

 flying. Mr. Field then dealt briefly with the varieties 

 of the food of birds and the differences in the formation 

 of their digestive organs, and said they all knew their 

 food by instinct, and shunned what was poison to them. 

 He then dwelt upon the peculiar methods adopted by 

 various kinds of birds in building their nests. 



THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 

 Mr. James S. Grant Wilson, on February 25th, read a 

 communication on bathymetrical survey of the chief 

 Perthshire lochs, and their relation to the glaciation of 

 the district, in the course of which a detailed description 

 of the physical features of the Lochs Rannoch, Tummel, 

 and Earn was given, and the intimate connection between 

 the different rock basins occupied by these lochs, as well 

 as the glaciations of their respective districts, was also 

 fully dealt with. In connection with this part of the 

 paper, it was mentioned as a new fact in the glacial 

 history of Scotland that during the great ice age the 

 centre of the iceshed in the district of Rannoch did not 

 coincide with the watershed of this part ot the country, 

 but lay between Lochs Rannoch and Tummel. Mr. 

 Henry M. Cadell, of Grange, contributed the results of 

 " Experimental researches in Mountain Building," de- 

 signed primarily to throw light on the remarkable geolo- 

 gical structures recently discovered by the Geological 

 Survey in the North-west Highlands. The experiments 

 were divided into three series. The object of the first 

 was to explain the behaviour of stiff strata when pushed 

 horizontally over an immoveable surface ; and of the 

 second, mainly to ascertain, if possible, how low-headed 

 folds or " thrust planes," which had been proved to 

 exist abundantly in the North-west Highlands, might 

 have originated, and to trace their connection between 

 " fan structure " and other phenomena observed in 

 mountain systems of elevation. The third set of experi- 

 ment had been conducted on the principles suggested by 

 those of Professor A. Faure, of Geneva, of placing layers 

 of clay on a stretched india-rubber band, and by allow- 

 ing it to contract, to produce miniature Alpine ridges 

 by the wrinkling up of the surface of the clay. The ex- 

 periments, the result of which were embodied in the 

 paper, had been attended by gratifying success. The 

 other papers read were by Professor Tait, on the Dura- 

 tion of Impact, communicated by Mr. W. Peddle ; and 

 by Dr. Ernst Stecher, on Contact-phenomena of some 

 Scottish Olivine-diabases, read by Mr. B. N. Peach. 



SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL INDUSTRY. 

 At the meeting held on the 5th inst. Mr. Alexander M. 

 Chance read a paper on the " Recovery of Sulphur from 

 Alkali Waste." The author said that so far back as 

 1837 the late Mr. Gossage commenced his long and care- 

 ful investigations of this attractive but perplexing sub- 

 ject. Since that time many other chemists have devoted 

 much time, thought, and money to this object, but 

 hitherto no process for the recovery of the sulphur lost 



