bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
2. On the Parallel Roads of Lochaber; with Remarks on the Change of relative Levels of Sea and Land in Scotland, and on the Detrital Deposits in that Country. Part II.
Authors: Milne David
Published: June 2016

The author proceeded to shew that the lake theory of the Lochaber shelves was not inconsistent with any established geological truths, but was on the contrary supported by them.

He alluded to the occurrence in the Lochaber district, as well as in other parts of Scotland, in valleys far from the sea, not only of lakes at high level, but of beach lines on hill-sides precisely analogous to those of Glen Roy, and shewing depressions of water to nearly the same extent. One of the localities referred to is a valley near Inverournan, where three parallel roads are to be seen shewing a depression first, of about 197 feet, secondly, of 94 feet, and lastly, of 184 feet. The blockage required for this ancient lake, and of which a small remnant still exists, was nearly as extensive as that required for Glen Roy.
1. On the Boulder Formation and Superficial Deposits of Nova Scotia.
Authors: Dawson J. W.
Published: June 2016

In this paper the author, describes 1st, the geological position of the gypsum deposits. The gypsum beds of Nova Scotia all belong to the carboniferous system. No gypsum occurs in older formations, and in the overlying new red, only slender veins and small nodules are found. The gypsum characterises the lower members of the carboniferous series, underlying the productive coal measures. The associated rocks are red sandstones and clays, with very few fossil plants, and thick beds of limestone abounding in marine shells. In the only well ascertained instance of gypsum occurring above the coal measures, it is accompanied by limestone with some of the same shells. The gypsum forms regular conformable beds sometimes 100 feet thick. They are much fractured and difficult to trace from the wooded state of the country; but one thick bed was traced by the author for ten miles.
4. Results of Makerstoun Observations, No. III. On the Solar and Lunar periods of the Magnetic Declination.
Authors: Broun J. A.
Published: June 2016

The absolute westerly declination at Makerstoun, for the mean epoch, June 1844 = 25° 17′·12.

The annual motion of the north end of the needle towards the east = 5′·67.

The annual periodof magnetic declination consists of a double oscillation, having nearly the following epochs of maxima and minima.
1. On Algebraical Symbolism.
Authors: Terrot
Published: June 2016

The author commenced by proving the propriety of the adoption of the minus sign for quantities of an affection opposite to those affected by the plus sign, and detecting the limits within which this use of the absolute minus was reasonable and effective.
1. On the Preparation of Kreatine, and on the amount of it in the flesh of different Animals.
Authors: Gregory
Published: June 2016

After some remarks on the present state of animal chemistry, the author commenced by giving a brief account of the recent discoveries of Liebig in regard to the constituents of the “juice of flesh,” or the liquid contained in the substance of the muscles, which is distinguished from the blood by the large proportion of free acid it contains. This remarkable animal fluid has been found, by Liebig, to contain phosphoric and lactic acids in large quantity, inosinic acid in small proportion, and some other acids not yet studied; also, potash in large quantity with a little soda, a considerable proportion of magnesia, and a little lime, chloride of potassium, with a little chloride of sodium, and, besides some compounds of animal origin not yet investigated, the new base Kreatinine, and the very remarkable substance, Kreatine, first discovered by Chevreul, but in vain sought for by Berzelius and other chemists.
1. Notice of the Orbit of the Binary Star α Centauri, as recently determined by Captain W. S. Jacob, Bombay Engineers.
Authors: Smyth C. P.
Published: June 2016

The object of this paper is to point out the extremely important and interesting characteristics of the orbit of the two stars of a Centauri round their centre of gravity, with the object of procuring as many observations as possible from southern observers during the periastral passage in 1851·5.
4. Observations on the preceding Communications, and especially on the cause of the Annual Rings of Glaciers.
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

Professor Forbes stated that Mr Milward's shrewd suspicion of the bands of ice of different consistence being accompanied also by wrinkles or elevations, had been discovered by himself some years before, at the very place and time pointed out as most likely; and he shewed that, while there is a tendency in a tenacious viscous fluid to produce wrinkles, under pressure capable of effecting detrusion, even where the supply of the fluid is uniform; that this quality is greatly increased when the supply of the fluid is by fits, as it is in fact at the head of this glacier, where the quasi-hydrostatic pressure from behind, combined with the frontal resistance, produces a thickening, or convex lip or wrinkle.
2. Theoretical Considerations on the Effect of Pressure in lowering the Freezing-Point of Water.
Authors: Thomson James
Published: June 2016

At the commencement of this paper the two following propositions are laid down:

I. That water at the freezing-point may be converted into ice by a process solely mechanical, and yet without the final expenditure of any mechanical work.

II. That the freezing-point of water must become lower as the pressure to which the water is subjected is increased.
1. On the Early History of the Air-Pump in England.
Authors: Wilson George
Published: June 2016

The early history of the English air-pump has been latterly allowed to fall into great confusion, so that the steps by which the instrument was improved, the periods at which those improvements were made, and the parties by whom they were effected, are all more or less confounded with each other, or mis-stated.

It is in connection with the double-barrelled air-pump, that the accepted history of the instrument is chiefly erroneous, but the mistakes made in reference to the more complex engine, have ultimately involved in confusion even the authentic records of the steps by which the earlier single-barrelled air-pump was improved, so that the account of its successive alterations must commence with its earliest and simplest construction.
2. On the Classification of Colours. Part II.
Authors: Forbes J. D.
Published: June 2016

The object of this paper is chiefly one of nomenclature. Every one has felt the difficulty of describing with the precision the innumerable hues which occur in nature and in art; and which it is equally desirable for the optical philosopher, the artist, and the manufacturer, to be able to refer to in a clear and definite manner. But such a nomenclature or classification must proceed upon some admission as to the manner of compounding complex hues out of simple ones; and, therefore, the author first treats of the (so-called) Primary Colours. He admits it as highly probable, that all known colours may be formed out of Red, Yellow, and Blue; although, when we attempt to compound pigments, we have a very notable loss of light, and also an unavoidable impurity, which is most visible in the compound tints.
3. Verbal Notice of Siliceous Stalactites on Arthur's Seat.
Authors: Fleming
Published: June 2016

Dr Fleming began by stating, that a paper of his, “On the Neptunian formation of Siliceous Stalactites,” was read before the Society, March 7, 1825, and published in “Brewster's Journal of Science,” for April of the same year, p. 307. To this paper Dr Hibbert has referred, in his description of the “Limestone of Burdiehouse,”Edin. Phil. Trans., vol. xiii., p. 280, but has misrepresented, in an unaccountable manner, the facts which had been stated. Dr Fleming, expressly said, in describing a limestone containing the remains of dicotyledonous plants, and consisting of flinty and calcareous layers, that it “dips underthe great bed of limestone belonging to the coal formation which extends north towards Linlithgow,” which “encloses the remains of those marine animals which are common in the limestones of the coal formation.”
2. On the Causes of Local Peculiarities of Temperature in different parts of Great Britain.
Authors: Elliot James
Published: June 2016

Many remarkable diversities of temperature are observed in this island, which have not yet been satisfactorily accounted for, either by difference of latitude or of elevation, by shelter or exposure, or by the influence of currents in the ocean. It is attempted to shew that other causes usually assigned have no validity,—that the proximity of high, and consequently cold mountains, has no effect in cooling the low ground near them, even when their summits are covered with perpetual snow, and that a difference in the clearness of the sky, or in the radiating power of the surface of the ground, produces no effect on the average temperature.
Biographical Notice of Dr Chalmers.
Authors: Ramsay E. B.
Published: June 2016

The writer of this paper commenced by stating his purpose of viewing Dr Chalmers as a public character only, and to avoid all questions which belonged to the peculiar relations in which he stood to his own religious communion; and after a brief outline of the various circumstances of his life, and the dates belonging to each, the paper proposed to consider Dr Chalmers,—

I. As an Author.

II. As a Political Economist.

III. As a Speaker.
1. On a Simple Form of Rain-Gauge.
Authors: Fleming
Published: June 2016

The author began by stating, that during a calm, when the rain-drop was under the influence of the centripetal force only, the form and position of the rain-gauge were unimportant. The case, however, was widely different when the drop was likewise influenced by wind, for then any object raised above the surface, such as a rain-gauge projecting three or four feet from the ground, occasioned deflections and eddies, whereby the regular fall of the rain into the collector was prevented. The Author then recommended, that in all cases the gauge should be placed on the ground, with its mouth on a level with a regularly trimmed grass plot, so as to prevent eddies and evaporation.
2. On a New Species of Manna, from New South Wales.
Authors: Anderson Thomas
Published: June 2016

About thirty years ago a species of manna, obtained from the Eucalyptus Mannifera, was brought from New South Wales, and was examined by Dr Thomas Thomson, and afterwards by Professor Johnston, both of whom ascertained it to contain a new species of sugar, different from the mannite which exists in ordinary manna. The author had, through the kindness of Mr Sheriff Cay, an opportunity of examining a very different species of manna, remarkable both from its chemical constitution, and from its possessing a definitely organised structure. This substance was discovered by Mr Robert Cay in 1844, in the interior of Australia Felix, to the north and north-west of Melbourne, where it occurs at certain seasons on the leaves of the Mallee plant, Eucalyptus Dumosa, and is known to the natives by the name of Lerp.
1. On the Muscular Substance of the Tongue.
Authors: Zaglus
Published: June 2016

Professor Goodsir communicated an abstract of a paper by Mr Zaglus on the muscular structure of the tongue. The author of the paper had found the muscular substance of the tongue to consist of a cortical layer, which surrounds the organ on all sides, except its posterior attachment, and in the middle line of its inferior surface.
1. Note regarding the American Electric-Observing Clocks.
Authors: Smyth Piazzi
Published: June 2016

The object of this communication was chiefly to exhibit a specimen of the register of the electric chronograph, wherein the second's beats of two clocks were marked side by side, one going nearly to sidereal time, and the other to solar; and the length of a second's interval on the paper was so great, and the accuracy of the punctuation such, that the minute acceleration of the one clock on the other could be registered almost from second to second.

The electric register can be applied with ease to any clock, and at any distance from the recording apparatus; and two or more clocks, or they may be simple pendulums, can be made to register their vibrations on the same slip of paper.
2. On the Physical and Scottish Statutory Limits of Sea and River, as applicable to Salmon Fisheries.
Authors: Fleming
Published: June 2016

Dr Fleming directed the attention of the Society, in the first instance, to the characteristic features ofseaandriverproper; and then proceeded to consider the peculiarities of thatcommon space, alternately sea and river, to which he restricted the termestuary. He then considered the nature of the space between high and low water, and pointed out themean level, or mid-tide mark, as the only constant and universally applicable boundary plane. The influence of the tidal wave in reversing the current, checking the velocity, and increasing the depth of the river, was next brought under notice, and an experiment exhibited, illustrating the conservation of force, which causes the waters at the head of an estuary, and the connected river, in certain circumstances, to attain ahigher levelthan the high-water mark of the neighbouring sea-shore.
1. Observations on the Anatomy of the Rorqual (a Whalebone Whale of the largest magnitude), drawn up from the dissection of a specimen found dead off North Berwick
Authors: Knox Robert
Published: June 2016

This paper, composed ehiefly of anatomical details regarding the anatomical structure of the Rorqual, scarcely admits of abridgement. The author has described the skeleton of the cavity for receiving the brain and the mechanism of the larynx at greatest length. The entire length of the whale, measured by a straight line, drawn on the sand from the nose to the middle part of the tail, and making a slight allowance for the curved position in which the animal lay, was 80 feet. Length of the head 23 feet. The girth of the carcass at the pectoral extremities (though the animal had been ten days on the beach, and was much collapsed) 34 feet. Breadth of the tail from tip to tip' 20 feet. The author describes the appearance of the mouth, lined with whalebone, as very surprising.
2. Notice relative to the Pigmentum Nigrum of the Eye
Authors: Jones Thomas Wharton
Published: June 2016

The objects proposed by the author of this paper are,—

1. To correct certain opinions prevalent with regard to the membrane of Jacob, this having been frequently comfounded with another, the structure of which forms the immediate subject of the paper.

2. To shew that the Pigmentum Nigrum is not a mere mucus or varnish exhaled by the surfaces on which it is found, but is deposited in a membrane distinct from the choroid, which possesses a peculiar structure hitherto unknown. This membrane, being the seat of the pigment, but not the pigment itself, which may or may not be present, the author proposes to call the Membrane of the Pigment.
On the Composition of some Iron Slags
Authors: Johnston J. F. W.
Published: June 2016

This paper described the composition of some crystallized slags from Birtley Iron-Works, in the County of Durham. These slags, like those from Wales described by Professor Miller in the Cambridge Transactions, had the form of the olivine, and in composition were nearly pure silicate of iron, containing about 0.4 per cent, of foreign matter, chiefly magnesia. The author also gave a short account of a method by which the magnet might be made available in giving immediately very near approximations to the quantity of iron contained in the basic silicates of iron.
1. “A General View of the Phenomena displayed in the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh by the Igneous Rocks in their relations with the Secondary Strata; with reference to a more particular description of the section which has been lately exposed to view on the south side of the Castle Hill”
Authors: Greenock
Published: June 2016

The author referring, in the introductory part of his paper, to the views taken by Hutton of the structure of the earth's surface around Edinburgh, explained,—That the prevailing rocks are strata of sandstone and shale of the coal formation, with occasional beds of limestone; and interrupted by insulated as well as grouped hills of igneous origin, rising abruptly through them,—That the latter or trap-rocks, seem in many quarters interstratified with the former, as if they had burst while in a state of fusion between the strata of the secondary rocks,—That fragments of the secondary rocks are often seen imbedded in the trap, as if they had been broken away from the strata to which they belonged, and been hurried along by the fused erupted mass,—And that the trap-rocks often present very different appearances in the same hills, shewing that they were erupted under varying circumstances at different periods of time. The author farther explained, that the environs of Edinburgh seem to constitute a Great basin, surrounded by trap-rocks, which dip outwards in all directions from a common centre,—the Pentland Hills, forming the southern boundary, the rocky coast of Fife at Burntisland the northern, and Salisbury Craigs and Corstorphine Hill the eastern and western limits.
On the Principle of Vital Attraction and Repulsion, with some applications to Physiology and Pathology
Authors: Alison
Published: June 2016

The object of this paper was, to state and estimate the scientific value of a variety of facts, which have been recorded by various physiologists; and many of which have been verified by personal observation, in proof of the proposition,—That the fluids of living bodies, or in immediate contact with them, are in many instances liable to movements,—dependent on the vitality of those bodies, but independent of any vital contractions of their solids,—and which can hardly be conceived to be effected otherwise than by certain attractions and repulsions, peculiar to the living state.
3. Additional notice relative to the Freshwater Limestone in the vicinity of Edinburgh, belonging to the Carboniferous Group of Rocks
Authors: Hibbert
Published: June 2016

In this paper, Dr Hibbert explained the progress which had been made, since he first pointed out the existence of plants as well as of fish and saurian animals, in the fresh-water limestone of Burdiehouse, towards a farther investigation of these animal remains.

The following is a representation of the first saurian relic discovered in the limestone of Burdiehouse by the author:—

The collection of specimens has been subsequently carried on by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, through their General Secretary Mr Robison.
2. On the force of the Latin Prefix ve or vae
Authors: Williams John
Published: June 2016

The author, after describing shortly the history of the philology of the Latin language, and alluding to the corruptions which were introduced into the science during the dark ages, proceeded to show that the prefix ve or vae must always be regarded either as an adjective signifying small, or an adverb having the force of the Latin parum or minus.

The term is to be found, in the opinion of the author, in most of the cognate languages of the great Caucasian branch of the human race, and still remains in Scotland under its Latin form ve, for the Latin V was undoubtedly pronounced like our W, [ve, wee.]
2. On the application of the Microscope to the examination of the minute phenomena of chemical action
Authors: Craig Edward
Published: June 2016

Dr Reid read a notice by the Rev. Edward Craig, of some modes which he had adopted for examining by the microscope, the phenomena of chemical action, by means of which, the most minute changes of appearance attendant on the contact of the smallest visible quantities of substances may be observed. The method was described to be:

1. The laying two or more substances on two thin flat plates of glass, and bringing them in contact with each other; so that the whole matter is spread in one thin level between the two glasses; and the several processes of union, decomposition, and crystallization may be accurately watched in a field of view of of an inch.
1. Remarks on the Remains of an Oak dug from a Peat-moss near Lanfyne, Ayrshire
Authors: Brown Thomas
Published: June 2016

The oak described in this paper is believed by the author to have fallen into a small isolated lake, which had been subsequently filled up by the growth of aquatic plants, so as to form a peat-moss, in which the upper part of the tree has been completely preserved, with its bark entire. The tree had grown 500 feet above the level of the sea. The trunk was feet long, without any appearance of root. As it must therefore have been actually even longer, and the remains of other oaks were found near, it must have grown in a wood, probably forming a part of that division of the Caledonian forest, which, previous to the 14th century, covered Avondale and the upper part of Ayrshire. It must have contained; 534 feet of measurable timber. The author conjectures, that the destruction of the forest commenced during the wars of the succession about the year 1300, and the contests between Edward I. and II. and Baliol and Bruce; for a number of silver pennies of the two Edwards had been found in the neighbourhood, but no coins of a laterdate. It is probable that these had been deposited by English soldiers soon before the battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
1. Summary of the Discoveries hitherto made in the Ossiferous Beds of the Basins of the Forth and Clyde
Authors: Hibbert
Published: June 2016

The author gave a summary of the discoveries which had taken place during the course of the session relative to the ossiferous beds of the basins of the Forth and Clyde. The additional information contained in his paper comprised, in the first place, an account of the older class of strata upon which the carboniferous group of rocks (in which saurian remains had been found) were supposed, in an unconformable position, to rest. Some of these were referred to a system of beds, which geologists consider as of a newer transition class, intermediate to grauwacke schist and coal strata. Thus, it was found that a peculiar hard and gray sandstone, containing mica, and occasionally alternated with siliceous schist,—which in Shetland succeeds to clay-slate; which, near Loch Ness, succeeds to a transition granite; and, on the north of the Tay, to grauwacke schist,—was thrown up on the south of the Forth, near North Berwick, in the form of immense severed beds or fragments, shewing that this transition-rock (an important one in the series of Scottish strata) is to be regarded as in some places fundamental to the coal measures of the district. This older grey sandstone is also alternated, either with aluminous strata of the same general character, or with a hard sandstone of a reddish colour.
2. On the composition of the Rangoon Petroleum, with Remarks on the composition of Petroleum and Naphtha in general
Authors: Gregory William
Published: June 2016

The author first adverted to the discovery, nearly about the same time, of paraffine by Reichenbach and of petvoline by Dr Christison. The former occurred among the products of destructive distillation; the latter was found in the Rangoon petroleum, and they were soon found to be identical. Reichenbach's researches on naphtha were then quoted, by which it appears that that indefatigable observer could not discover, in the kind of naphtha which he examined, any trace either of paraffine, or of any other product of destructive distillation. On the contrary, he found that naphtha to possess the characters of oil of turpentine, a product of vegetable life j and he succeeded in obtaining a precisely similar oil from brown coal by distillation at 212°.
On Water as a Constituent of Salts
Authors: Graham Thomas
Published: June 2016

1. In the case of the Sulphates.

That water may act the part of a base in the constitution of certain hydrates of salts and of acids, had been established by the author in the case of the phosphates. The peculiarity of phosphoric acid is its capacity to unite with water as a base in several proportions, while all other acids combine with water as a base in one proportion only, so far as is yet known. By the author's discoveries in regard to phosphoric acid, the ordinary conceptions entertained of the constitution of salts were completely deranged. The salts called biphosphate of soda, phosphate of soda, and subphosphate of soda, were proved to be all tribasic salts. The common idea of a super-salt is inapplicable to any of them.
1. On the Refraction and Polarization of Heat
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

The First Section of this paper contains an account of a variety of experiments undertaken with the thermo-multiplier of Nobili and Melloni, the instrument exclusively employed in the subsequent researches. By a comparison of its sensibility with that of air-thermometers, the author concludes that one degree of deviation of the needle of the multiplier corresponds to an effect indicated by about one-fiftieth of a centigrade degree on the others. Without increasing the dimensions of the multiplier, by which its sensibility would be impaired, he has been enabled, by an optical contrivance, readily to measure one-tenth of one of its degrees, corresponding to one-five hundredth of a centigrade degree. From an experiment intended to detect the heat of the lunar rays, concentrated by a polyzonal lens, thirty-two inches in diameter, and acting upon this instrument, he concludes that the direct effect of the moon upon an air-thermometer probably does not amount to one-three hundred thousandth part of a centigrade degree.
On the History of the Arch
Authors: Traill
Published: June 2016

Dr Traill stated, as the result of a careful examination of the passages in ancient authors, supposed to prove the early use of arches by the Greeks, that we must abandon all hope of solving this disputed point, by a reference to those authors; and he instanced the danger of inferences from such uncertain data, by comparing the description of the Treasury of Minyas, given by Pausanias, with the still remaining kindred edifice, the Treasury of the Atridae at Mycenae. He also noticed the loose sense in which the ancient Greeks employed the terms ϑολος, ψαλις, ‘αψις.
2. On the application of Hot-Air Blasts in the Manufacture of Cast-Iron
Authors: Clark
Published: June 2016

The author first gives a general account of the process of manufacture of cast-iron previous to the recent improvements, stating the quantities of the various materials put into the furnace, namely, of the Ore, the Fuel, and the Flux. He next states the method suggested first by Mr Neilson of Glasgow, and tried at the Clyde Iron-Works, for increasing the product of the furnaces with the same expense of materials, which consists in previously heating the air thrown into the furnace, in order to accelerate combustion. The method is found to produce a vast saving both in the fuel and the flux, although a certain portion of fuel has, of course, to be separately consumed for the purpose of heating the air, which is done by causing it to traverse a recurved pipe placed within a suitable furnace. During the first experiments, in 1830, the air was heated to 300° Fahrenheit. In 1831, Mr Dixon of the Calder Iron-Works thought of substituting raw coal for the coke which had hitherto been employed for fuel, at the same time that the air was still farther heated to 600° Fahrenheit, and with complete success.
2. On the Expansibility of different kinds of Stone
Authors: Adie Alex. J.
Published: June 2016

This paper contains the results of an extensive series of experiments made upon different kinds of stone, as well as upon iron and upon brick, porcelain, and other artificial substances. The instrument employed was a pyrometer, of a simple construction, capable of determining quantities not greater than of an inch. The length of the substances generally employed was 23 inches. The general result of these experiments is, that the ordinary building materials of stone expand but very little differently from cast-iron, and that, consequently, the mixture of those materials in edifices is not injurious to their durability. The experiments from which the expansibility of the substances was numerically determined, were made between the limits of ordinary atmospheric temperature and that of 212°; steam being introduced for that purpose between the double casing of the instrument.
1. On the Action of Voltaic Electricity on Alcohol, Ether, and Aqueous Solutions
Authors: Connell Arthur
Published: June 2016

The author was led into the following investigations, from observing that when alcohol, holding a minute quantity of pure caustic potash, as part, in solution, was acted on by a moderate voltaic power, as a small battery of fifty pairs of two-inch plates, evident marks of decomposition were exhibited, by an evolution of gas from the negative pole, and none from the positive. The experiment recalled to the author's recollection a statement made a few years ago by Dr Ritchie (Phil. Trans. 1832), that when alcohol not holding any substance in solution, was acted on by a powerful battery, gas was given off at the negative pole, which Dr Ritchie stated to be olefiant gas.
Address on the Keith Prize being presented to Professor Forbes
Authors: Hope
Published: June 2016

The prize founded by our late estimable associate Mr Keith, whose ingenious contrivances for self-registering thermometers and barometers are recorded in our Transactions, is, by the regulation of his Trustees, to be adjudged biennially for the most important discovery communicated to the Royal Society, or in the event of such being wanting, for the best paper which shall have been presented to the Society in the space of two years on a scientific subject. The Council, in discharge of the powers vested in them, have awarded unanimously the Keith prize for the last biennial period, to Professor Forbes, for his paper "On the Refraction and Polarization of Heat,” which they consider to come under that class of communications, which contain discoveries important to science.
1. Observations and Experiments on the Coloured and Colourable Matters in the Leaves and Flowers of Plants, particularly in reference to the principles upon which Acids and Alkalies act in producing Red, and Yellow, or Green
Authors: Hope
Published: June 2016

After premising some general remarks respecting the object of research, and enumerating the various authors who had written upon the subject, Dr Hope explained various terms which were to be used in the discourse. To the various coloured matters presented by the leaves and flowers of plants, De Candolle had applied the denomination of Chromule, which term he meant to adopt.

There resides in the same parts of plants, in addition to the chromule, some matter probably destitute of colour, which becomes red by the action of acids, and yellow or green by the action of alkalies. To it Mr Ellis gave the name of colourable matter, which the author changes to Chromogen, When an acid, added to a vegetable infusion, causes a red colour, and an alkali a yellow or green, it has been the universal opinion that both sets of agents act upon one and the same colourable principle.
2. On the newly discovered Microscopic Entozoon, infesting the Muscles of the Human Body
Authors: Knox
Published: June 2016

The author commenced his observations by remarking that this very interesting entozoon was discovered in 1833, by Mr Hilton, who first saw the cysts enclosing the worms, and supposed them to be cysticerci. Shortly thereafter, Mr Paget discovered the worm itself. Further information was given in two excellent memoirs by Dr Farre and Mr Owen; and to the views of the former of these gentlemen the author chiefly leans.

Throughout the observations, he endeavours to shew, that the origin of this entozoon is very obscure, and is not referrible to any known bodily ailment or mode of life. He differs also from preceding observers, both in respect to the form of the cyst, its structure, and its connexions; the form he makes out to be oval, the structure distinctly granular and not cellular, that is, not composed, as some have conjectured, out of the surrounding cellular tissue; and the connexion not universal, but towards the extremities. He conjectures also, that the granular structure discovered by him on the exterior of the cysts may be the germs of future individual worms and cysts.

The aged person, whose muscles after death presented these entozoon in such numbers, was quite healthy until a short period before her demise.
1. On an Expression for the effort required to Ascend Planes of Different Inclinations
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

The author states that, whilst it has been pretty generally agreed by authors on animal mechanics that the measure of muscular effort is generally expressed by the weight multiplied by the vertical height through which it is raised, it is clear that this cannot be universally true, since, in the particular case of horizontal motion, no vertical height can be obtained; and, when the ascent is vertical, it is very unlikely that the same advantage of ascent should be obtained as at lower angles.
2. Notice respecting a New Reflecting Microscope
Authors: Guthrie  , Forbes
Published: June 2016

Mr Guthrie modifies Amici's microscope, by removing altogether the plane speculum, and placing the object to be viewed in the axis of the tube. This arrangement is to the microscope what Sir W. Herschel's is to the reflecting telescope. In order that the object may be properly illuminated, the part of the tube next the mirror is wholly removed, and three pillars substituted for it, to one of which the stage for the object is attached, and regulated by an adjusting screw.
On the Action of Voltaic Electricity or Pyroxylic Spirit, and on Solutions in Water, Alcohol, and Ether
Authors: Connell Arthur
Published: June 2016

The author has found a perfect resemblance to exist between the appearances presented by pyroxylic spirit (Bihydrate of Methyline of Dumas and Peligot) under voltaic agency, and those which he had previously observed in regard to alcohol; a coincidence which was to be expected, from the interesting analogy existing between these two liquids in other respects.

The pyroxylic spirit, after three distillations from quicklime, had a specific gravity of 801 at 62° F., and boiled in contact with mercury at 140° F., under a pressure of 29.5 inches. The leading facts observed were the following:—

Minute quantities of acid, alkaline, and saline bodies, when dissolved with rectified pyroxylic spirit, favoured the voltaic action, by increasing the conducting power of the liquid. When it held in solution of pure potash, and was submitted to the agency of thirty-six pairs of four-inch plates in a tube with parallel platinum foil poles, hydrogen was given off from the negative pole, while no gas proceeded from the positive pole. A ten thousandth part of potash had a marked effect in promoting this action.
2. On the Result of Experiments on the Weight, Height, and Strength, of above 800 individuals
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

These experiments were made upon students in the University of Edinburgh, chiefly between the ages of 14 and 25, and, were intended to illustrate the general inquiry as to the law of physical development with age, but more particularly to afford data for instituting comparisons between different nations. For this purpose, throughout these experiments, natives of Scotland, England, and Ireland, were distinguished; and though the numbers belonging to the two latter countries were comparatively small, still the general coincidence of results, as to the three elements of weight, height, and strength, gives some confidence even in that part of the inquiry.
3. Notice on the Composition of the Right Prismatic Baryto Calcite, the Bicalcareo-carbonate of Baryta of Dr Thomson
Authors: Johnston
Published: June 2016

This mineral, as described by the author about two years ago in the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, presents a new and very interesting example of the principle known to crystallographers by the name of dimorphism; having the same chemical constitution as the well known Baryto Calcite of Brooke, but having a form belonging to an entirely different system of crystallization. In Dr Thomson's System of Mineralogy lately published, however, it is described as a mineral species before unknown, having a composition different from that of every known mineral, and is therefore distinguished by the name of the Bicalcareo carbonate of Baryta.
1. On the Food of the Herring and Salmon
Authors: Stark John
Published: June 2016

The author of this paper, after some preliminary observations, arranged his remarks under the following heads:—1. On the food and sex of the Vendace of Lochmaben. 2. On the food of the Herring (Clupea Harengus, Lin.) And, 3, On the food of the Salmon (Salmo salar, Lin.)

1. As to the food of the Vendace (Coregonus Lavaretus, Fleming), he observed, that fishes in lakes, and feeding on animal food, must necessarily subsist on the small aquatic animals found in these lakes: That there is no reasonable analogy between the vendace and the herring, because they live in different mediums, the one in salt, the other in fresh water; and that their food cannot, therefore, be the same, none of the animals upon which fishes feed being common to both: That, besides, they are of different natural families: That writers on natural history state the animalcules which are found in the stomach of the vendace, and the other minute animals found in lakes, to form the food of fresh-water fishes generally; and that Leeuwenhoeck had even figured the identical animal found in the stomach of the vendace in 1833 more than 130 years before, stating that it and the other minute animals in similar localities, formed the food of the larger fishes.
3. Examination of certain Objections to the Theory of Isomorphism
Authors: Madden Henry
Published: June 2016

The object of this paper was the refutation of certain arguments brought forward against the doctrine of Isomorphism, more especially by those who allow the existence of an approach to, although they deny absolute identity of, form.

The author sets out by shewing, that most of the arguments are deduced from observations made on crystallized minerals; and he then proceeds to state the many important circumstances which tend to influence the form of these bodies, but which can be easily avoided in those salts which admit of being formed artificially; such are, the intense temperature to which they are subjected, the pressure of surrounding matter, the admixture of foreign bodies, &c. each and all of which he proves to exert a powerful influence over the forms of crystals.
1. Notice regarding a New British Species of Coregonus
Authors: Parnell
Published: June 2016

It was stated by Dr Parnell, that in Lochlomond are found two species of Coregonus, one of which he believes to be an undescribed species, and the other, which was first noticed by Lacépède under the name of Coregonus Clupeoide, has been confounded by British naturalists with the Coregonus Laveretus, or Ulswater Gwyniard.

From Lacépède's short and imperfect description of the Coregonus Clupeoide of Lochlomond, and as two species are now found inhabiting the same locality, it is impossible to state with a certainty as to which of the species he alludes; therefore the name of Coregonus Lacepedei was proposed for the one species, and that of Coregonus microcephalus for the other, as illustrative of the species.
2. On the Superficial Deposits of Gravel, Clay, Sand, &c., which cover the Rock Formations of the Lothians, and south coast of Fife
Authors: Milne David
Published: June 2016

The author enumerated seven different deposits, overlying the rocks of the district, and subjacent to the existing soil which supports vegetation. These he described in the following order, beginning with the lowest.

(1.) Sand and fine gravel, which in some places form beds twelve feet thick.

(2.) Boulder-clay—being a stiff black or dark brown clay, characterised by enormous boulders imbedded in it, and which is occasionally forty feet thick.
4. On the Real Nature of Symbolical Algebra
Authors: Gregory D. F.
Published: June 2016

The object of this paper is to determine in what consists the difference between general Symbolical Algebra and the sciences subordinate to it, particularly Arithmetical Algebra. The view which the author takes is, that Symbolical Algebra takes cognizance only of the laws by which the symbols are combined, without considering the nature of the operations represented. The greater part of the paper is occupied in applying this definition, by shewing what are the laws to which are subject the various symbols of operations we are in the habit of using; and one or two examples are given of the advantages derivable from this way of considering the subject—particularly with respect to the connection between the arithmetical and geometrical meanings of + and −. The chief application of the theory may be said to be the elucidation of the causes of analogies between operations by no means similar in their nature.
1. On the Colour of Steam under certain circumstances
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

The author accidentally remarked, that the colour of the Sun seen through vapour issuing from the safety-valve of a locomotive engine is deep red, exactly similar to that which a column of smoke or a smoked glass gives to it.

He next noticed that this colorific character of steam extended but a short way beyond the orifice, and that it gradually became more opake, and perfectly white like noon-day clouds, both for transmitted and reflected light. At moderate thicknesses, in this state, its opacity is complete.
1. Notice respecting the Drying-up of the Rivers Teviot, Clyde, and Nith, and their tributaries, on the 27th November 1838
Authors: Milne David
Published: June 2016

The phenomenon was in the first instance described, and certain views were afterwards offered explanatory of it.

It appears that, betwixt 10 P.M. on the 26th November, and 6 A. M. on the 27th November, the channels of the Teviot, Clyde, and Nith, became nearly dry for a great part or their course, so that scarcely any current flowed in them. All the mills on the Clyde, as far down as several miles below New Lanark, were stopped from want of water. The Nith was nearly dry as far down as Enterkinefoot; and the mills on it, and on its tributaries, were stopped. This was the case also on the Teviot. The phenomenon was most strikingly manifested in the higher parts of the rivers, near their sources. The small streams from which they derive their supplies, were in general completely dried up. The rivers, in the lower parts of their course, were not entirely deprived of their current; nor were the rivulets, which there supplied them, nearly so much affected as the rivulets in more elevated districts.
2. On a New Method of shewing the Unequal Expansion of Crystals
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

This method is founded on the expedient devised by Mitscherlich, of obtaining two images of a minute distant object from a section of a hemitrope crystal of selenite, which is flat when cold, but is composed of two inclined surfaces when heated. By throwing the sun's image, reflected from such a surface, on a distant wall, the gradual formation of the double image during heating may be seen by any number of persons.
1. Experiments on the Development and Growth of the Salmon, from the exclusion of the ovum to the age of two years
Authors: Shaw  , Wilson James
Published: June 2016

The author, in this paper, gives an account of the continuance and confirmation of his experimental observations on the growth of salmon fry, as formerly communicated to the Society. He considers the objections made to his artificial ponds, in so far as they were supposed to afford an insufficient supply of food, to be without reasonable foundation, as these ponds actually abound with the ordinary insect food of fishes, and the young broods themselves correspond in every way to those of the same age in the natural streams and pools of the river. He had previously ascertained and stated, that young salmon remain in their native river for two years (under the names of parrs, pinks, fingerlings, &c), and during that period, or till near its close, he applies to them the name of parr, as that by which they arc usually designated in Scotland.
1. On General Differentiation
Authors: Kelland
Published: June 2016

“In the preceding memoir on this subject, the author had confined himself to the fundamental operations leading to the differential co-efficients of various functions. In the present paper, he offers an illustration of the entrance of such coefficients into the analysis of physical and geometrical problems. Having first established a general theorm, connecting finite integrals of a certain form with fractional and negative differentials, the author adapts it to represent the integrals actually occurring in several problems. By this means he wishes to shew that the theory of General Differential Coefficients will at some future period become a powerful instrument in the hands of analysts, by furnishing them with results comprehended under general forms, and thus opening another section of the science of comprehensive memory.’
2. On the Means employed to prevent Forgeries of Bank Notes, Bills of Exchange, Cheques. &c
Authors: Traill
Published: June 2016

“The author prefaced his remarks by a short history of Bills of Exchange, and other kinds of paper currency; in which he pointed out the economy and convenience of a well regulated paper circulation.

“The means usually employed to diminish the facilities to forgery are—

“1. Colouring the paper, or the pulp of which it is manufactured, by various vegetable and mineral substances, either singly or combined. The best attempts of this sort have been imitated by a clever hand and a pencil.
2. A Specimen of Clavagella Balanorum (Scacchi)
Authors: Traill
Published: June 2016

“This is a rare and interesting species of Clavagella, now inhabiting the shores of Naples, presented by Sir Thomas Brisbane.

‘When that part of Lamarck's work on Invertebrata, which contained the class Conchiferœ, appeared in 1818, among the order Tubicolœ;, he introduced the genus Clavagella, of which he describes four species only, and they are all fossil. Even at the conclusion of his great work, in 1822, he appears not to have known any living species.
2. On an Optical Illusion giving the idea of an Inversion of Perspective in viewing objects through a Telescope
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

“It has been noticed as a curious fact, first, it is believed, by Mr Whitwell, that all parallelograms seen obliquely appear distorted when magnified by a telescope. The effect is to render the space between the upper and lower parallel lines apparently greater as the distance increases,—thus annihilating the usual convergence to a vanishing point, or even reproducing it in an opposite direction. It is hardly necessary to add, that this Inversion of common perspective is only apparent; a fact conclusively established by measuring the angles subtended by the two extremities of a signboard or a row of windows, when the angle evidently diminishes with distance.
2. On the Origin and Progress of Grecian Sculpture. Part I
Authors: Traill
Published: June 2016

“The author adduced arguments to prove, that the Egyptians were the real masters of the Greeks in the arts of Design. The Greek writers admit that, when their ancestors were barbarous, the Egyptian colonists of Argos and Athens imported with them the arts of a more polished people; that they brought into Greece images of the Gods; and that the most ancient sculptures mentioned by Pausanias and Pliny bore the impress of an Egyptian character; especially the wooden statues ascribed by Pausanias to the elder Dædalus and to Attalus, the celebrated colossal statue of the Amyclæan Apollo, and the lions still existing over the gate of Mycenæ.