THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



METEOROLOGY. 



Eaine. — On the 11th of April 1832, a remarkable substance fell from the atmos- 

 phere, tliirteen versts from Wolokalomsk, and covered a considerable space of ground, 

 to the depth of one or two inches. It was examined by Professor Hermann of Moscow. 

 He found it to be transparent and of a wine-yellow colour, soft, and elastic (like gum), 

 aiid its specific gravity to be 1.1; it smelt like rancid oil, and burnt with a blue 

 flame, without smoke ; it was insoluble in cold water, but was soluble in boiling water, 

 upon which it swims ; it was also soluble in boiling alcohol ; it could be dissolved by 

 the carbonate of soda, and acids separated from the solution a yellow viscid substance, 

 soluble in cold alcohol, and which contained a peculiar acid. When analyzed by oxide 

 /)f copper, it furnished, of carbon 61.5, hydrogen 7.0, and of oxygen 31.5; total 100. 

 This extraordinary substance has been termed inflammable snow, but Hermann gives 

 it the name of Eaine, signifying the Oil of Heaven. 



Indian Death-blast. — At Bandah, in Bandalcund (one of the northern provin- 

 ces of Hindostan), there are numerous rocky hills, which, during the hot winds, be- 

 come so thoroughly heated as to retain their warmth from sunset to sunrise. The 

 natives, at this sultry season, invariably wear large folds of cloth around their heads 

 and faces, just leaving themselves sufficiently exposed to be able to see and breathe. 

 This precaution is taken in consequence of the terrific blasts which occasionally rush 

 in narrow streams from between the hills. Persons crossed by these scorching winds 

 drop suddenly to the earth, as if shot by a musket ball. When medical assistance, or 

 a supply of cold water, is instantaneously procured, a recovery may generally be ex- 

 pected; but if no immediate remedy be applied, an almost certain death is the result. 



GENERAL SCIENCE. 



COMETS. 

 The extraordinary aspect of comets, their rapid and seemingly irregular motions, 

 the unexpected manner in which they often burst upon us, and the imposing magni- 

 tudes which they occasionally assume, have in all ages rendered them objects of asto- 

 nishment, not unmixed with superstitious dread, to the uninstructed, and an enigma to 

 those most conversant with the wonders of creation and the operations of natural causes. 

 Even now, that we have ceased to regard their movements as irregular, or as govern- 

 ed by other laws than those which retain the planets in their orbits, their intimate 

 nature, and the offices they perform in the economy of our system, are as much un- 

 known as ever.* No rational or even plausible account has yet been rendered of those 

 immensely voluminous appendages which they bear about with them, and which are 

 known by the name of their tails (though improperly, since they often precede them 

 in their motions), any more tlian of several other singularities which they present. 



Tlie number of comets which have been astronomically observed, or of which notices 

 liave been recorded in history, is very great, amounting to several hundreds ; and 

 when we consider that in the earlier ages of astronomy, and indeed in more recent 

 times, before the invention of the telescope, only large and conspicuous ones were 

 noticed; and that, since due attention has been paid to the subject, scarcely a year 

 Ikis passed without the observation of one or two of these bodies, and that sometimes 

 two and even three have appeared at once — it will be easily supposed that their actual 

 number must be at least many thousands. Multitudes, indeed, must escape all obser- 

 vation, by reason of their paths traversing only that part of the heavens which is above 

 the horizon in the daytime. Comets so circumstanced can only become visible by the 

 rare coincidence of a total eclipse of the sun — a coincidence which happened, as related 

 by Seneca, 60 years before Christ, when a large comet was actually observed very 

 neai' the sun. Several, however, stand on record as having been bright enough to be 

 seen in the daytime, even at noon and in bright sunshine. Such were the comets of 

 1402 and 1532, and that which appeared a little before the assassination of Ciesar, 

 and was (afterwards) supposed to have predicted his death. 



That feelings of awe and astonishment should be excited by the sudden and unex- 

 pected appearance of a great comet, is no way surprising; being, in fact, according 

 to the accounts wc have of such events, one of the most brilliant and imposing of all 

 natural phenomena. Comets consist for the most part of a large and splendid, but ill 

 defined, nebulous mass of light, called the head, which is usually much brighter towards 

 its centre, and offers the appearance of a vivid nucleus., like a star or planet. From 

 the head, and in a direction opposite to that in which the su7i is situated from the 

 comet, appear to diverge two streams of hght, which grow broader and more diffused 

 at a distance from the head, and which sometimes close in and unite at a little distance 

 behind it, sometimes continue distinct for a great part of their course; producing an 

 effect like that of the trains left by some bright meteors, or like the diverging fire of 

 a sky-rocket (only without sparks or perceptible motion). This is the tail. This 

 magnificent appendage attains occasionally an immense apparent length. Aristotle 

 relates of the tail of the comet of 371 a. c, that it occupied a third of the hemisphere, 

 or 60° ; that of a.d. 1618 is stated to have been attended by a train no less than 

 104*^ in length. The comet of 1660, the most celebrated of modern times, and on 

 many accounts the most remarkable of all, with a head not exceeding in brightness a 

 star of the second magnitude, covered with its tail an extent of more than 70'^ of the 

 heavens, or, as some accounts state, 90*^. — Sir J. HeischeVs Treatise on Astronomy, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Extraordinary Balloon Excursion. — On the 6th of April 1835, Mr Clayton 

 made an ascent in a balloon from Cincinnati, and made the most extraordinary aero- 

 nautic excursion, in point of distance, on record. His balloon took a south-easterly 

 direction, and the greatest altitude to which he ascended was two and a half miles, at 

 y\-hich height the thermometer stood at 23 degrees. In his progress he descended to 

 nearly the earth's surface; and, on throwing out his anchor, it caught firm hold of the 

 top branch of a tree, in the midst of a dense forest, on a considerable elevation. The 

 wind blowing powerfully, and finding it impossible to extricate himself, he cut away 

 the cable, and soon ascended to an altitude as high as formerly ; where he found the 

 temperature intensely cold, but could not ascertain the height of the thermometer. 

 He, however, conceived it to be as low as zero. He put on his gloves, wrapt himself 

 yn in two blankets, took some brandy, laid himself down in the bottom of the car, and 

 fe^l fast asleep. He was awakened by the car striking on the tops of trees, where he 



landed in the midst of a forest, at half past two o'clock. The spot where lie landetl 

 was the top of a mountain 3000 feet, as indicated by the barometer, above the level 

 of the Monroe county, Virginia. The distance travelled was three hundred and fifty 

 miles in a direct line, or more than four hundred by the ordinary route, and this in 

 the short space of nine and a half hours, which is at the rate of thirty-seven miles an 

 hour. But as it was calm for some time after his ascent, the speed during part of the 

 excursion must have been much greater ; and this is without taking into account the 

 distance in Eiscending and descending twice. 



REVIEWS. 



Bridgmvater Treatise. — On the Wisdom and Goodness of God, as manifested m 

 the Creation of Animals, and in their History , Habits, and Instincts. By the 

 Rev. W. Kirhy, M.A., F.R.S. 2 vols. 8ro. London. 1835. 

 Though interspersed with much interesting detail, especially regarding the lower 

 classes of living beings, this work more resembles a lecture on divinity than a philo- 

 sophical treatise. It has evidently the appearance of being made to order ; and in 

 stead of being delighted with such accounts of the beautiful adaptations in the struc 

 ture of animals, as are given in the philosophical pages of Cuvier, the reader is 

 fatigued with discussions on the etymology of the Cherubim and Seraphim, and 

 on the fall of Adam. The learned author gravely discusses whether Adam and Eve 

 were troubled before the fall " with certain personal pests ;" and argues, very plausi- 

 bly, that parasitic worms were created after the fall, and that their eggs did not exist 

 in the intestines of Adam and Eve before that event. His attack of Laplace and La- 

 marck seems out of place. We shall return to this work at a future opportunity. 



OBITUARY. 



Baron William De IIu?ieoldt died at Berlin on the 8th April 1835. H« was 

 remarkable on account of his extraordinai-y colloquial knowledge of languages, as well 

 as the philosophy of every tongue of which he could obtain any information. Besides 

 all those of Europe and the East, he was skilled in the languages of North and South 

 America; and he had also an intimate acquaintance with the customs of various coun- 

 tries. He was also eminent as a statesman. The follovring affectionate account of his 

 last moments, communicated to I\I. Arago by his brother, the celebrated traveller. 

 Baron Alexander De Humboldt, cannot fail to prove acceptable to our readers : — 

 " While we labour under the burden of severe affliction, we are apt to think of those 

 who are dearest to us, and I feel a solace in writing to you. For ten days we watched 

 his death-bed. His debility had increased for some weeks previously, which was mani- 

 fested by a ceaseless trembling in all his extremities ; yet his mind was unimpaired, 

 and his labours were unabated. He has left two works nearly completed — the one, 

 on those languages of the Indian Archipelago which have sprung from the Sanscrit — 

 and the other, on the origin and philosophy of languages in general. Both will be 

 published. My brother has left the MS. of these works, and his valuable collection 

 of books, to the Public Library. He died of an inflammation on the lungs; and, 

 from its commencement, he traced its progress with an affecting certainty. His mind 

 was of the highest order, and his soul noble and elevated. I continue sorrowfully 

 isolated, but hope for the pleasure of embracing you this year," 



LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



Royal Institution. — In the course of a lecture on metals, on Saturday the 

 13th June 1835, Professor Faraday stated the following curious particulars resject- 

 ing the gold coinage: A sinall ingot of gold (which he held in his hand, and 

 which measured about ten inches in length by two in breath}, which weighed 

 about 20 pounds troy, was worth L.IOOO. Last year, 1834, the coinage was some-r 

 what smaller than the average amount ; only half sovereigns were coined, and those to 

 the value of L. 66, 944, or in weight 1433 pounds troy. The quantity of gold that 

 had passed through the j\Iint since the Accession of Queen Elizabeth to the throne, in 

 the year 1558, to the end of last year, was 3,353,568 pounds weight troy. Of this 

 nearly one-half was coined in the reign of George III. — namely, 1,594,078 pounds 

 troy. The value of the gold coined in the reign of that sovereign was L. 74, 501 ,586. 

 The total value of the gold coin issued from the Mint since 1558, was L. 154,702,385. 

 This gold, if made into a cubic form, would measure on each side thirteen feet thirty-, 

 two hundreds. It was extremely ditficult to account for the constant loss in the quan-r 

 tity of gold; it continued to be brought in great quantities evei-y year into this country, 

 and yet the value of it did not fall. It was true that population had greatly increased; 

 but that was not alone sufficient to account for the increased consumption of gold- 

 Between the years 1492 and 1823, the estimated value of the gold imported into 

 Europe from the New World was not less than L.l, 223, 000,000. The average 

 value of gold brought into England for the last few years was L. 1,600,000. The 

 far greater portion of this was used in manufactures and articles of jewellery. A 

 considerable quantity was made into gold-leaves, the intrinsic value of each of which 

 was about one halfpenny ; and the wages of labour and the profit of the manufacturer 

 were an additional farthing ; making altogether a charge of three farthings for each 

 leaf. On the average, nearly two miUions of these leaves were manufactvired every 

 week in London. Not more than one-half of this was returned in another shape to 

 the goldsmith : scarcely any portion, however, of the gold used in gilding frames was 

 lost, as the Jews carefully looked after the old frames, and burnt the gold off. The 

 orcUnary wear and tear of the gold coins probably amounted annually to about one-fifr 

 tieth part of their value. 



Edinburgh: Pubhshed for the PRorniETORS, at their Office, No. 16, Hanover Street. 

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