London, Edinburgh, fy Dublin Philosophical Magazine. 437 



earning which our information is at present very indefinite and un- 

 satisfactory. 



The next subject of interest is a paper " On the Tornado which 

 visited New Brunswick in 1835." The views of the author, Mr. 

 Redfield, of New York, appear to be plausible and ingenious, on a 

 phenomenon, with whose course and causes we have scarcely any 

 acquaintance : much will doubtless be written, and many conjectures 

 hazarded, before we reach an approximation to the truth. The ad- 

 mirable work of Colonel Reid, and the many simultaneous observa- 

 tions now carrying on by competent individuals in every quarter of 

 the world, have given an impetus to this department of meteorology, 

 which cannot fail, ere long, to clear away much of the mist in which 

 it is at present involved. It would be useless and unphilosophical 

 in the present state of our knowledge, or more correctly speaking, of 

 its absence, to attempt to explain and lay down laws on these obscure 

 facts, until accumulated observations shall enable us to arrive at 

 satisfactory and conclusive results. The chief points ascertained by 

 Mr. Redfield, are, that the course and action of these tornadoes are 

 rotative, and their effects more violent on and near the line passed 

 over by the axis, than in any other portions of the track. 



The purely chemical papers are numerous, and on a great variety 

 of subjects. A new crystalline compound of chlorine and cyanogen, 

 resembling the bi- sulphate of quinine in external appearance, is 

 described, together with the processes for obtaining it, by its 

 discoverer Mr. Stenhouse. A translated paper of Prof. Poggendorff's 

 from his Annalen, " On the surprising intensity of the Zinc-iron 

 circuit," is published in the number for January. The discovery 

 was made by Mr. Martin Roberts, who did not venture to offer any 

 explanation of it. The German Professor has attempted an elucidation, 

 which we do not consider perfectly satisfactory. In all these in- 

 quiries, however, the test of direct experiment is required to enable any 

 one to coincide with or object to the views and conclusions of the ori- 

 ginal observer. 



One of the most interesting documents in the January number, is 

 the excellent anniversary address of the President of the Royal Society. 

 It exhibits the ardour and zeal with which all branches of scientific in- 

 quiry are prosecuted and encouraged by a Society second to none in the 

 world for the rank, wealth, intelligence, and celebrity of its members. 



3 L 



