Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 303 



raised through one degree, near the ordinary temperatures. This 

 variation is not proportional to that of the coefficient of internal 

 friction, as is the case with distilled water ; and for salts this latter 

 quantity varies, in fact, 0*0210 of a degree at the same temperature. 

 The mechanism of conductivity is therefore more complex for alcohol 

 than for salts and their aqueous solution. 



This research was made in the Laboratory for Physical Research 

 at the Sorbonne. — Comjptes Mendus, July 20, 1885. 



THE VOLCANIC NATURE OF A PACIFIC ISLAND NOT AN ARGUMENT 

 FOR LITTLE OR NO SUBSIDENCE. BY J. D. DANA*. 



In the remarks on this point in § 13 (Part 1.) of my paper on 

 the Origin of Coral Eeefs and Islands, I refer to the great depths 

 found in the ocean by soundings in the vicinity of Hawaii, and 

 speak of the facts as favouring the idea of more subsidence about 

 that south-eastern end of the group than along the north-western, 

 although the latter is the coral-island end. Another example of 

 similar character, but more striking, is afforded by the region of 

 the Ladrones. This north-and-south range of islands has its 

 largest volcanic islands in the southern part, and dwindles in the 

 opposite direction to islands which are little more than tufa conest ; 

 and 200 miles south of Guam, the largest island, the * Challenger ' 

 found a depth of 4475 fathoms (26,850 feet), one of the deepest 

 regions of the ocean. It hence may be that Guam, like Hawaii, is 

 a large island, not because of small subsidence, but because of con- 

 tinued eruptions that made it large in spite of the sinking that was 

 in progress. The question arises how far the depths in these par- 

 ticular cases are due to the undermining effects of volcanic eruption. 

 There are coral islands both north-east of the deep region, near 

 Guam, and also of large size, to the south-west and south-east, not 

 three degrees off ; the former, those of an extension of the Pelew 

 range, and the latter, islands of the Caroline archipelago. 



ON THE QUANTITY OF ELECTRICAL ELEMENTARY PARTICLES. 

 BY E. BUDDE. 



There exists an attempt by HerwigJ to estimate the magnitude 

 of electrical elementary particles ; which, however, is open to the 

 objection of making some very arbitrary assumptions, and more- 

 over of confounding the ideas of "mass" and " quantity " of 

 particles. I believe that the following simple considerations lead 

 to a tolerably certain result for the quantity of electrical " atoms." 



In the sphere of ponderable masses we find that a definite body, 

 such as carbon, always enters into combination with a definite 

 relative weight, twelve. From this and from similar observations 

 with all other masses we conclude that carbon consists of atoms, 

 and that each of its atoms has the relative weight twelve. If we 



* Communicated by the Author. 



t One of the two northern (Assumption Island) I give the outline of 

 on page 354 of my Expedition Geological Report, 

 t Pogg. Ann. vol. el. p. 381 (1873). 



