486  MEETING  OF  THE  BRITISH  ASSOCIATION. 
miraculously  small.  It  is  presumed,  however,  that  a  source  of 
fallacy,  so  obvious,  must  have  been  guarded  against;  though 
nothing  was  said,  so  far  as  heard,  on  this  point  in  the  lecture. 
The  stars  also  yield  spectra  ;  and,  perhaps,  it  is  by  the  absence 
of  precisely  the  same  dark  lines  in  these,  that  their  peculiarity, 
as  observed  in  the  solar  spectrum,  must  be  referred  to  the  sun 
itself,  and  not  to  the  space  in  which  he  moves,  or  to  our 
atmosphere. 
Another  great  advantage  of  this  discovery  of  the  peculiar 
spectra  produced  by  the  metals,  is  that  it  may  be  applied  to 
the  purposes  of  analysis,  so  as  to  detect  the  presence  of  these 
bodies  in  proportions  far  too  minute  to  be  detected  by  the  ordi- 
nary methods.  The  new  metals,  ccesium  and  rubidium^  were 
discovered  in  this  way,  and  afterwards  obtained  in  a  separate 
state  by  the  ordinary  processes.* 
Sept.  1th. — This  morning,  at  the  physiological  section.  Dr. 
Davy,  the  brother  of  Sir  Humphry,  presided,  and  read  a  paper 
in  opposition  to  the  popular  notion  of  the  sudden  change  of  the 
color  of  hair  from  black  to  gray,  or  even  white,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  strong  emotions.  There  were  two  other  papers  read 
before  this  section  ;  one  by  Dr.  Lionel  Beale,  on  the  ultimate 
constitution  of  the  body,  considered  in  reference  to  its  micro- 
scopic constituents,  which  was  highly  interesting ;  and  a  second 
by  Dr.  E-ichardson,  of  London,  on  the  subject  of  resuscitation, 
of  which  the  most  important  point  was  that,  judging  from  very 
numerous  experiments  of  his  own,  galvanism  should  never  be 
used  as  a  substitute  for  artificial  respiration  ;  because,  though 
it  may  bring  muscles  into  play,  it  soon  exhausts  them,  and  ren- 
ders them  insusceptible  to  the  ordinary  physiological  influences. 
In  the  evening  there  was  a  grand  soiree,  the  chief  amuse- 
ment at  which  was  the  sending  and  receiving  telegraphic  mes- 
sages, first  to  and  from  different  towns  in  the  United  Kingdom, 
then  successively  to  and  from  Paris,  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow, 
and  even  Odessa.    It  appeared  that  not  more  than  two  or  three 
*  Those  of  our  readers  who  feel  disposed  to  look  further  into  this  ex- 
traordinary discovery,  will  find  a  figure  of  the  apparatus  used  ly  Bunsen 
and  Kirchoff,  and  a  more  detailed  account  of  their  process,  at  page  224  of 
the  May  number  of  this  Journal, — Editor  Am.  Journ.  Pliarm. 
