6 The Work of the Year. 



could be readily precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen and the 

 quantity weighed. The separating action of the septum by this 

 process is called dialysis, under which designation a great 

 revolution will doubtless be effected in the processes of proximate 

 resolution. The applications of this method in judicial investiga- 

 tions, in the detection of adulterations, and in researches into 

 the subtle phenomena of animal and vegetable life, will be of 

 immense value, because simple beyond all precedent in the 

 history of chemical practice. Other, and apparently remote 

 departments of science will be aided by the discovery of 

 dialysis; and we shall not be long in learning that we have 

 in it a talisman to unlock some of the secrets of the molecular 

 structure of bodies. 



The conquest of the earth is a work shared pretty equally 

 by the active spirits of every class of action and thought. The 

 explorer and the colonist move in the van, but their efforts are 

 aided by every practical application of scientific theory ; and 

 even the recluse lends his aid when deducing from human history 

 and natural phenomena the conditions on which life is possible, 

 and civilization good. But to exploration we look for the pre- 

 paratory steps, and in 1861 there was much added to our 

 previous stock of knowledge of the physical aspects of the 

 globe. The hills and valleys of Japan have yielded treasures 

 of animal and vegetable life ; we know somewhat more of 

 China, much more of Australia, and the African mystery takes 

 precedence of the Asian in modern annals. 



At the commencement of the year, we had full particulars 

 of the results of the survey of the North Atlantic, by the 

 party under Captain Young, in the steam yacht " Fox," for 

 the purposes of ocean telegraphy. There was little added 

 thereby to our stock of geographical knowledge, but the 

 soundings brought to light the fact, that at a depth of 7000 

 feet, and about 500 miles from Greenland, the sea abounds 

 with life, not only of the low order of globigerina, but star- 

 fishes and annelids, and boring creatures capable of doing 

 mischief to submerged cables. The like results have followed 

 the investigations of Mr. Gwyn Jeffereys and others, proving 

 how confined have been our views hitherto of the distribution 

 of life on the globe. The Swedish polar expedition, under 

 Mr. Torrell, who is accompanied by the veteran Peterman, has 

 attracted considerable attention, owing to its exploration of 

 portions of the Spitzbergen coast not touched by any of the 

 numerous polar expeditions of the last half century. We may 

 expect shortly an account of the researches of the Expedicao 

 Scientifica of the Brazilian Government in the Amazon dis- 

 trict — a region of wonders — so far as that can be rendered in 



