396 Mr Bald on the Skeleton of a Whale. 
adjacent banks. Whether we suppose the waters of the ocean 
to have subsided to the extent of twenty feet, or the banks of 
the Forth to have been elevated to that extent, we may safely 
ascribe the stranding of the whale, of which the skeleton has 
now been found, to a period much more remote than the Chris- 
tian Era. 
There was found close by the skeleton two pieces of stag'^s 
horns, through one of which a hole appears to have been per- 
forated of about an inch in diameter. 
I intend that a plan of the grounds adjoining the spot where 
the skeleton was found, should be made ; and I mean, along 
with it to give a minute account of every particular attending 
this very interesting occurrence. 
The lovers of natural history are under great obligations to 
Sir Robert Abercromby, for the attention he paid in searching 
for, and securing the bones of the skeleton. It may be added, 
that he has in the most polite and handsome manner presented 
the whole to the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, 
where they are now deposited. 
Alloa, 
September 1819. 
Art. XXXIII. — Additional Facts relative to the Hyposulphu^ 
rous Acid^. — By J. E. W. Herschel, Esq. F. R. S. &c. 
In order to obtain the hyposulphurous acid in a state of insu- 
lation, a dilute solution of hyposulphite of strontia was mixed 
with a slight excess of dilute sulphuric acid, and the mixture, 
well agitated, divided into three portions, which were poured on 
as many filters. The first was received into a solution of sub- 
carbonate of potash, from which it expelled the carbonic acid, 
giving no precipitate, nor causing the slightest turbidness, thus 
proving the complete separation of the strontia. The liquid 
neutralized by acetic acid, affected all reagents precisely as a so- 
lution of hyposulphite of potash, somewhat contaminated with 
* See p. 8. of this volume. 
1 
