308 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



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three feet telescope. Lord Rosse has since seen it several times and 

 sketched it. A small double star n,fi has similar openings, but 

 are not so easily seen. These openings appear to be of the same 

 character as the opening within the bright stars of the trapezium of 

 Orion, the stars being at the edges of the opening. Had the stars 

 been situated altogether within the openings, the suspicion that the 

 nebula had been absorbed by the stars would perhaps have suggested 

 itself more strongly. As it is, the author thinks we can hardly fail 

 to conclude that the nebula is in some way connected with these 

 bright stars, in fact that they are equidistant, and therefore, if the 

 inquiries concerning parallax should result in giving us the distances 

 of these bright stars, we shall have the distance of this nebula. 



The long elliptic or lenticular nebulae are stated to be very nu- 

 merous, and three sketches of remarkable objects of this class are 

 given. 



In proceeding with the re-examination of Sir John Herschel's 

 Catalogue, several groups of nebula 3 , have been discovered, in some 

 of which nebulous connexion has been detected between individuals 

 of the group, in others not. Sketches of some have been made and 

 measures taken ; but although the subject of grouped or knotted 

 nebulae is considered one of deep interest, it has not yet been pro- 

 ceeded with far enough to warrant entering upon it in the present 

 paper. 



The conclusion of the paper is occupied with remarks relating to 

 each figure, in order to render the information conveyed by it more 

 complete, and these are stated to be for the most part extracts 

 selected from the Journal of Observations. 



XXXIX. Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



TENACITY OF METALS. 



AS the results of numerous experiments, M. Baudrimont has 

 arrived at the following conclusions : — 



1. That the tenacity of metals varies with their temperature. 



2. That it generally decreases, though not without exception, as 

 the temperature rises. 



3. That with silver the tenacity diminishes more rapidly than the 

 temperature. 



4. That with copper, gold, platina and palladium, it decreases less 

 rapidly than the temperature. 



5. That iron presents a very peculiar and remarkable case: at 

 212° F. its tenacity is less than at 32°; but at 392° its tenacity is 

 greater than at 32°. — Comptes Rendus, Juillet 29, 1850. 



ON THE ARTIFICIAL FORMATION OF LACTIC ACID AND ALANIN. 



M. A. Strecker states that lactic acid, when treated with binoxide 

 of lead, yields carbonic acid and aldehyd ; on the other hand, it is 

 separated by heat into oxide of carbon, aldehyd and water, as 



