bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Observations on Vegetable and Animal Cells; their Structure, Division, and History
Authors: Macfarlane J. M.
Published: January 2013

In the present paper I propose extending my previous observations “On the Structure and Division of the Vegetable Cell.” I have shown that a nucleolus and nucleolo-nucleus (at Professor Rutherford's suggestion I now propose terming this the endonucleolus) are essential, and in most cases evident, parts of every growing vegetable cell, and that the division of the endonucleolus very probably precedes that of the nucleolus, just as division of the latter undoubtedly precedes that of the nucleus, in all the cases investigated.
XXI.—The Old Red Sandstone Volcanic Rocks of Shetland
Authors: Peach B. N. , Horne J.
Published: January 2013

Perhaps the most interesting feature connected with the Old Red Sandstone formation in Shetland is the evidence of prolonged volcanic activity in those northern isles. The great development of contemporaneous and intrusive igneous rocks, which gives rise to some of the most striking scenery in Shetland, is all the more important when compared with the meagre records in the Lower Old Red Sandstone of Orkney and the Moray Firth basin. Not till we pass to the south of the Grampians do we find evidence of a far grander display of volcanic action during this period, in the sheets of lava and tuff in the Sidlaws and Ochils and in the great belt stretching from the Pentlands south-westwards into Ayrshire. The relations of the Shetland igneous rocks are admirably displayed in the various coast sections, especially in the mural cliffs of Northmavine and some of the Western Islands. From these records, though they have been subjected to much denudation, it is possible to construct a tolerably complete sketch of the volcanic history of this formation, as developed in that region.
XXXIII.—Perthshire Tectonics: Loch Tummel, Blair Atholl, and Glen Shee
Authors: Bailey E. B.
Published: January 2013

The district described is of considerable relief, according to British standards. Pitlochry lies 300 or 400 ft. above sea-level, while two summits, south-west of the River Garry, reach 2559 ft., and Ben y Gloe, north-east of the same, attains to 3671 ft. Exposures are everywhere sufficient for the mapping of groups, but they seldom permit of the following of individual beds or the recognition of the pitch of isoclinal folds.

The Geological Survey has mapped the whole district on the six-inch scale, and published Sheets 55, 56, 64, and 65 of the one-inch Map of Scotland—all except Sheet 64 accompanied by explanatory memoirs.
XV. On a New Species of Coloured Fringes, produced by the Reflexion of Light between Two Plates of parallel Glass of equal thickness
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

During a series of experiments in which I was lately engaged, for the purpose of determining the law of the polarisation of light, by successive reflexions from plates of parallel glass, I observed that all the images of the luminous body which were formed by more than one reflexion, were crossed by parallel fringes of coloured light, when the two plates had a small inclination to each other; and that these fringes suffered considerable changes, by varying the position of the plate with regard to the incident ray.
XII.—On the Foundations of the Kinetic Theory of Gases. II
Authors: Tait
Published: January 2013

In the present communication I have applied the results of my first paper to the question of the transference of momentum, of energy, and of matter, in a gas or gaseous mixture; still, however, on the hypothesis of hard spherical particles, exerting no mutual forces except those of impact. The conclusions of §§ 23, 24 of that paper form the indispensable preliminary to the majority of the following investigations. For, except in extreme cases, in which the causes tending to disturb the “special” state are at least nearly as rapid and persistent in their action as is the process of recovery, we are entitled to assume, from the result of § 24, that in every part of a gas or gaseous mixture a local special state is maintained.
XV.—Expansion of Functions in terms of Linear, Cylindric, Spherical, and Allied Functions
Authors: Alexander P.
Published: January 2013

The expansion of ϕ(x) in terms of Go(x), G1(x), G2(x), &c., connected by a given law. being of great importance in mathematico-physical investigation, every method of effecting this expansion must have some interest for scientists.

I therefore proceed to propose what I think to be a new method, in the hope that it may prove to be useful.

Many special expansions of this nature have been effected by Fourier, Legendre, and others.
X. On the Progress of Heat when communicated to Spherical Bodies from their Centres
Authors: Playfair John
Published: January 2013

An argument against the hypothesis of central heat has been stated by an ingenious author as carrying with it the evidence of demonstration.

“The essential and characteristic property of the power producing heat, is its tendency to exist every where in a state of equilibrium, and it cannot hence be preserved without loss or without diffusion, in an accumulated state. In the theory of Hutton, the existence of an intense local heat, acting for a long period of time, is assumed. But it is impossible to procure caloric in an insulated state. Waving every objection to its production, and supposing it to be generated to any extent, it cannot be continued, but must be propagated to the contiguous matter. If a heat, therefore, existed in the central region of the earth, it must be diffused over the whole mass; nor can any arrangement effectually counteract this diffusion. It may take place slowly, but it must always continue progressive, and must be utterly subversive of that system of indefinitely renewed operations which is represented as the grand excellence of the Huttonian Theory. Again, he observes, in giving what he says appears to him a demonstration of the fallacy of the first principles of the Huttonian System, it will not be disputed, that the tendency of caloric is to diffuse itself over matter, till a common temperature is established. Nor will it probably be denied, that a power constantly diffusing itself from the centre of any mass of matter, cannot remain for an indefinite time locally accumulated in that mass, but must at length become equal or nearly so over the whole.
XIV. On the Rocks in the vicinity of Edinburgh
Authors: Allan Thomas
Published: January 2013

Although science has only within these few years acknowledged the importance of Geology, the eagerness with which it has been cultivated, affords sufficient proof of the interest it is capable of creating. Of this we have a recent example in the laborious undertaking of Sir George Mackenzie and his friends, who, not with standing all the dangers presented by a voyage through the most tempestuous ocean, and the deprivations to which they were exposed, in a journey through a country destitute of the slightest trace to guide the route of the traveller, were not deterred from exploring the inhospitable shores of Iceland. These, and other travellers, have extended our knowledge of various districts on the surface of the globe; but we have still to lament the extreme imperfection of the science, which, as yet, has assumed no decided character or form.
IV.—On some Physiological Results of Temperature Variations
Authors: Haycraft John Berry
Published: January 2013

While trying to verify by actual statistics some of the “ Laws of Population” first enunciated by Malthus, a curious fact was observed, viz., that some seasons of the year are more prolific in the number of births than others.

This led to the further investigation of the subject, the results of which are before the Society.
X. On the Ancient Geography of Central and Eastern Asia, with Illustrations derived from Recent Discoveries in the North of India
Authors: Murray Hugh
Published: January 2013

The descriptions which historians and geographers have transmitted to us of the ancient world, are not generally deficient either in copiousness or accuracy. The theatre of those great events, which still interest mankind, may be commonly ascertained with sufficient precision. The distinct knowledge of the ancients, however, was limited to a certain sphere; after passing which, clouds always begin to envelope it. The almost total change of names, the uncertainty as to their itinerary measures, and the defects of their mathematical geography, leave no perfectly fixed point on which we can rest.
V. Experiments and Observations upon a Remarkable Cold which accompanies the Separation of Hoar-Frost from a Clear Air
Authors: Wilson Patrick
Published: January 2013

In the seventieth and seventy-first volumes of the London Philosophical Transactions, the reader will find an account of some Experiments and Observations made here upon cold in the years 1780 and 1781.

Though, at first, I had no other view but that of keeping a register of the very cold weather which set in on the 13th January 1780, yet I was soon led to extend the plan of my observations, upon meeting with a new phænomenon, which appeared to me to deserve some attention. This phænomenon consisted in a constant difference of temperature of the snow which, at that time, covered the fields, and that of the air at a few feet above: the snow being the coldest.
XI. The Orbit and Motion of the Georgium Sidus determined directly from Observations, after a very easy and simple Method
Authors: Robison John
Published: January 2013

The accuracy of modern observations has discovered irregularities in the motions of Jupiter and Saturn, which our knowledge of the laws of planetary gravitation has not as yet enabled us to explain. I have, therefore, long thought it probable that there may be planets without the orbit of Saturn, of sufficient magnitude to occasion these irregularities. This conjecture is confirmed by the discovery of a new planet.
I. Researches on Heat. Fourth Series. On the Effect of the Mechanical Texture of Screens on the immediate transmission of Radiant Heat
Authors: Forbes James D.
Published: January 2013

1. On the 2d September 1839, M. Arago communicated to the Academy of Sciences of Paris a letter by M. Melloni, containing some very interesting experiments on the transmission of Radiant Heat. M. Melloni finds that rock-salt (which is well known to transmit rays of heat from all sources yet tried with equal facility) acquires, by being smoked, the power of transmitting most easily heat of low temperature, or that kind of heat which is stopped in greatest proportion by glass, alum, and (according to M. Melloni) every other substance.
IV. On certain Physiological Inferences which may be drawn from the Study of the Nerves of the Eyeball
Authors: Alison W. P.
Published: January 2013

It has been justly observed that the great discovery of the appropriation of the different portions of the Nervous System to the exercise of different functions, would never have been clearly established, but for the fortunate circumstance that, in certain parts of the body, especially on the face, the nerves of sense and of voluntary motion are distinct throughout their whole course. And this consideration may instruct us that, when we have an organ supplied with a variety of nerves, known to be of perfectly different endowments, the study of the peculiarities of these nerves may give us an insight into the purpose or use of some of those pieces of structure in all parts of the Nervous System, in which we must still admit that we see much contrivance, without understanding its intention.
XI. On the supposed Progress of Human Society from Savage to Civilized Life, as connected with the Domestication of Animals and the Cultivation of the Cerealia
Authors: Stark John
Published: January 2013

It is a general belief that Man, in his supposed progress from Savage to Civilized Life, has passed through three distinct stages or periods, each one leading a step forward in the road to social improvement. These stages are asserted to be, 1. The Hunter State; 2. The Pastoral State; and, 3. The Agricultural State. Allusions to these different stages crowd the pages of the historian, the philosopher, and the poet; and arguments are founded on, and deductions drawn from, these states of existence, as if they were ultimate truths, neither to be discussed nor dissented from. It is the object of this paper to question the existence of these separate states, their necessary connection with one another, and the end to which ultimately they are supposed to lead.
XII. De Solariis in Supracretaceis Italiæ Stratis repertis
Authors: Michelotti Auctore Joanne
Published: January 2013

Multiplices Solariorum species, genus testaceorum constituentes, ad Turbinacea Lamarck, ad Gasteropoda Cuvier, pertinens, quæ in geologicis Italiæ stratis reperiuntur, monographico modo investigare fortasse præstat. Ratio nec ambigua; variæ enim dubitandi rationes vigebant, tum circa numerum et nomina specierum, tum circa earundem citationes, et auctorum dissensiones, nec non potissimum circa relationes specierum quæ in Italicis divisionibus supracretaceæ formationis adsunt, sive in se spectatis, sive prout cum viventibus conveniunt aut discrepant.
XVIII. On the Ultimate Secreting Structure, and on the Laws of its Function
Authors: Goodsir John
Published: January 2013

Malpighi was the first to announce that all secreting glands are essentially composed of tubes, with blind extremities. Müller, by his laborious researches, has brought this department of the anatomy of glands to its present comparatively perfect condition. Purkinje announced his hypothesis of the secreting function of the nucleated epithelium of the gland ducts, but made no statement to shew that he had verified it by observation. Schwann suggested that the epithelium of the mucous membranes might be the secreting organ of these surfaces. Henle described minutely the epithelium cells which line the ducts of the principal glands and follicles, but did not prove that these are the secreting organs. The same anatomist has stated, that the terminal extremities of certain gland ducts are closed vesicles, within which the secretion is formed, and which contain nucleated cells. Henle has not, therefore, verified the hypothesis of Purkinje, although he is correct in stating that the terminal vesicles of certain gland ducts are closed. It will be shewn, in the course of this paper, that the secretion is not formed, as Henle has asserted, in the closed vesicles, but in the nucleated cells themselves.
XXI. Analysis of Caporcianite and Phakolite, two new Minerals of the Zeolite Family
Authors: Anderson Thomas
Published: January 2013

The minerals of the zeolite family have for many years attracted the especial attention of men of science, and the class has been rapidly extended in proportion to the progress made in its study in a crystallographic as well as chemical point of view. The first characteristic difference, originally observed long since by Cronstedt, and by him considered to be the distinguishing mark of one single mineral species, which he designated Zeolite,—namely, the property of swelling out by heat previous to fusion,—has since been found to belong to a great number of other combinations. These, although materially different from each other in crystallographic form, have proved to be closely allied in chemical constitution, in so far as they consist, without exception, of a silicate of an alkali or alkaline earth, in combination with a silicate of alumina and water. It is evident, then, that the relation of the silicic acid to the base, in both terms, as well as the quantity of water, is capable of considerable variation, so that the general niineralogical formula which should embrace all the members of the zeolite family would be

Where r represents the monatomic alkaline or earthy basis, and the terms u, t, ,T, y, and z, are capable of varying within certain limits.
XXXVII.—On the Development, Structure, and Economy of the Acephalocysts of Authors; with an Account of the Natural Analogies of the Entozoa in General
Authors: Goodsir Harry D. S.
Published: January 2013

The Acephalocyst, or simple Hydatid, is composed of a vesicle, containing a watery fluid, which, in the normal state of the creature, is quite transparent and colourless (Pl. XIV., fig. 1.) The internal surface of the vesicle is generally studded with numerous cells of various sizes, many of which are found detached and floating loose in the fluid contained in the vesicle. These are the young Hydatids. Their development will be described when we come to that portion of the present paper, which has been set apart for that purpose.
XLI.—On the Existence of an Osseous Structure in the Vertebral Column of Cartilaginous Fishes
Authors: Stark James
Published: January 2013

In the course of an investigation into the structure and composition of the solid frame-work of vertebrated animals, I remarked, in the vertebral column of cartilaginous fishes, an important peculiarity of structure, which seems to have almost entirely escaped the notice of writers on ichthyology and on comparative anatomy.
V. Notice regarding some Experiments on the Vibration of Heated Metals
Authors: Trevelyan Arthur
Published: January 2013

In the month of February 1829, I discovered accidentally that a bar of iron, when heated and placed with one end on a solid block of lead, in cooling vibrated considerably, and produced sounds similar to those of an Æolian harp.

1. I have lately made further experiments with bars of copper, zinc, brass, and bell-metal, which, when heated and placed on blocks of lead, tin, or pewter, produce the same effect as the iron.

2. The bars I generally used in making the experiments, were 4 inches long, 1½ inch wide, and 1½ inch thick, with a rod 7 inches long attached to one end, to serve as a handle. A ridge is formed along the centre of one side of the broad part, by its being bevelled off towards each edge; the other side is flat. The longitudinal ridge is the part that rests on the block.
XII. Meteorological Abstract for the Years 1794, 1795, and 1796
Authors: Playfair John
Published: January 2013

The Journal of the Weather, of which an abstract is here communicated, has been kept in a house in Windmill Street, on the south side of Edinburgh. The latitude of Edinburgh College, as deduced from a series of astronomical observations made at Hawkhill, is 55° · 57ʹ · 5″ nearly. Windmill Street is about 500 yards farther to the fouth.

The barometer used in these observations is a portable one, of the construction invented by Dr Lind, physician at Windsor; the mercury was boiled in the tube, and the scale is divided into the five-hundredth parts of an inch. The place where it stands is 265 feet above the level of the sea, or of the mean high-water mark at Leith. The height of it is marked every morning at 10 o'clock, as well as that of a thermometer, in the same room, which gives the temperature of the mercury.
XXXIV. Conjectures on the Analogy observed in the Formation of some of the Tenses of the Greek Verb
Authors: Hunter John
Published: January 2013

The following conjectures concerning the Analogy observed in the formation of some of the Tenses of the Greek Verb seem worthy of farther inquiry; for, if well founded, they may be useful towards establishing juster rules for the formation of the Tenses in some instances; and, particularly, they will account for certain forms of the Verb in Homer and Hesiod, which, being apparent violations of the usual analogy, have perplexed the grammarians, and reduced them to the necessity of assuming imaginary new Presents, without authority, and for no other reason, but to account for such anomalous forms.
XXVI.—Memoir of General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, G.C.B., &c., President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Authors: Bryson Alexander
Published: January 2013

Sir Thomas Brisbane was born at Brisbane House, Largs, on the 23d July 1773. He was descended from the Brisbanes of Bishopton, one of whom, according to Hailes, “held the office of Chancellor of the kingdom of Scotland in 1332.” They possessed a large tract of country, extending from Erskine Ferry to Largs; and had this estate been still in their possession (consisting, as it did then, of Bishopton, Greenock, Ardgowan, Skelmorlie, Largs, and Brisbane), its revenues would have been princely; but Sir Thomas only inherited the smaller portion of the possessions of his ancestors, Largs and Brisbane.
XIII.—On the Application of Hamilton's Characteristic Function to Special Cases of Constraint
Authors: Tait
Published: January 2013

One of the grandest steps which has ever been made in Dynamical Science is contained in two papers, “On a General Method in Dynamics” contributed to the Philosophical Transactions for 1834 and 1835 by Sir W. R. Hamilton. It is there shown that the complete solution of any kinetical problem, involving the action of a given conservative system of forces, and constraint depending upon the reaction of smooth guiding curves or surfaces, also given, is reducible to the determination of a single quantity called the Characteristic Function of the motion. This quantity is to be found from a partial differential equation of the first order, and second degree; and it has been shown that, from any complete integral of this equation, all the circumstances of the motion may be deduced by differentiation. So far as I can discover, this method has not been applied to inverse problems, of the nature of the Brachistochrone for instance, where the object aimed at is essentially the determination of the constraint requisite to produce a given result. It is easy to see, however, that a large class of such questions may be treated successfully by a process perfectly analogous to that of Hamilton; though the characteristic function in such cases is not the same function (of the quantities determining the motion) as that of the Method of Varying Action.
XVI.—Examination of the Storms of Wind which occurred in Europe during October, November, and December 1863
Authors: Buchan Alexander
Published: January 2013

A brief account of the weather of this period as regards temperature was read before the Royal Society last year. It was drawn up at the request of Professor Balfour, to accompany his paper “On the Remarkable State of Vegetation in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden in December 1863.”

From the 26th of October to the end of December the weather was in every way remarkable. Though frost occurred in the end of October and beginning of November it was not severe, and the temperature continued on the whole seasonable till the 12th of November. From this date till the end of the month it ranged unprecedently high, being 9° above the average temperature of the season. It then fell for the next ten days, but on no occasion below the average; and again rose considerably above the average during the week ending with the 18th of December. Under this genial weather vegetation in the open air advanced rapidly to a state of forwardness not usually seen till the month of March. In December 245 plants were in flower in the Gardens in the open air, and of these 35 were spring flowers. The frost which had occurred was insufficient to damage, to any material extent, 210 autumn-flowering plants; and the high temperature of November, which was as high as what ordinarily occurs in the beginning of May, brought the spring flowers prematurely into bloom, so that there was to be seen the rare spectacle of sweet peas and hepaticas flowering together.
XVII.—On the Celtic Topography of Scotland, and the Dialectic Differences indicated by it
Authors: Skene W. F.
Published: January 2013

The etymology of the names of places in a country is either a very important element in fixing the ethnology of its inhabitants, or it is a snare and a delusion, just according as the subject is treated. When such names are analysed according to fixed laws, based upon sound philological principles, and a comprehensive observation of facts, they afford results both important and trustworthy; but if treated empirically, and based upon resemblance of sounds alone, they become a mere field for wild conjectures and fanciful etymologies, leading to no certain results. The latter is the ordinary process to which they are subjected. The natural tendency of the human mind is to a mere phonetic etymology of names, both of persons and of places. It is this tendency which has given rise to what may be called punning etymologies, in which the King of Scotland plays so facetious a part, when the first Guthrie had that name fixed upon by the king, from his proposing when asked, how many fish should be prepared, to gut three; and when Rosemarkie received its name because the king, on asking what land he neared, was answered, Ross mark ye. This illustrates the natural tendency to suggest a mere phonetic etymology, in which the sounds of the name of the place appear to resemble the sounds in certain words of a certain language, the language from which the etymology is derived being selected upon no sound philological grounds, but from arbitrary considerations merely.
XXII.—On Errors caused by Imperfect Inversion of the Magnet, in Observations of Magnetic Declination
Authors: Swan William
Published: January 2013

1. A compass needle, although freely suspended, will not always point with accuracy in the direction of the magnetic meridian, for its magnetic axis may not be strictly parallel to its axis of figure; and hence, when a rigidly exact value of the magnetic declination is required, it is necessary to take the mean of at least two observations of the needle, first, in its usual position, and next, inverted. Some time ago it occurred to me that the declination obtained in the manner now described, will only be approximately correct, unless the inversion is accomplished with perfect accuracy; and I wished to ascertain the greatest residual error which, in given circumstances, is likely to affect the mean of two observations of a magnet, first in an erect, and then in an inverted position. I failed, however, to find any allusion to such errors in those works on magnetism to which I had access; and I was therefore obliged to investigate the subject for myself.
XXIV.—On Solar Light, and on a Simple Photometer
Authors: Ponton Mungo
Published: January 2013

In approaching the subject of solar light, the first point is to endeavour to form an idea, not altogether indefinite, with respect to its quantity and intensity, as compared with some familiar standard of artificial flame. With this view were made, in the course of last summer, the observations now to be described.

After several trials, it was found, that the most convenient mode of procedure was first to compare a definite small surface, illuminated by solar light, with a like surface illuminated by the mere light of the sky, and then to compare the latter with a similar surface illuminated by the flame of a moderator lamp. The light of the sky thus affords a middle term between the extreme lights of the sun and the lamp, which are too diverse to be directly compared.
XXXIV.—The Chemical and Bacteriological Examination of Soil, with special reference to the Soil of Graveyards
Authors: Young James Buchanan
Published: January 2013

The research which forms the subject of this paper was undertaken in the hope that it might throw some additional light on the numerical relation existing between the bacteria present at various depths in ordinary soils, and in soils which had been used for purposes of interment. It was thought well to combine the chemical with the bacteriological examination for the purpose of determining to what extent the amount of organic matter present in the two classes of soil differed, and in what respect the organic matter of the one was different from that of the other, as well as to ascertain, if possible, to what extent the process of self-purification goes on in soil which has been used for burial.
XXIII.—On a Necessary Correction to the Observed Height of the Barometer depending upon the Force of the Wind
Authors: James Henry
Published: January 2013

The oscillations of the barometer during gales of wind must have been noticed soon after the invention of the instrument by Torricelli 200 years ago. Every observer is familiar with the fact, that the barometric column is continually rising and falling during gales; and we frequently meet such observations as “Barometer very unsteady,” in Meteorological Registers.

In Sir William Reid's work on the Law of Storms, he says, “during the hardest part of the gale (the Bermuda hurricane of 1839) several persons observed remarkable oscillations of the mercury in the tubes of the barometers;” and in a letter which I had the honour to receive from the Astronomer-Royal, Professor Airy, in reply to one from myself on this subject, he says, “I think (but am not certain) that the depression of the barometer at every gust of a gale of wind is an ordinary phenomenon, without reference to the position of the barometer with regard to the direction of the wind. Many years ago I was in the observatory of Marseilles during the blowing of the Mistral (a wind well known there), and there I saw the drop of the barometer at every gust in great perfection. I do not remember the position of the barometer.”
XXXIV.—Summation of a Compound Series, and its Application to a Problem in Probabilities
Authors: Terrot
Published: January 2013

The series propossed for solution in the follwing paper is—

The law of this series is manifest. Each term is the product of two factorials, the first consisting of p, and the latter of q factors. And in each successive term, the factors of the first factorial are each diminished by one, and those of the latter increased by one.
XLII.—Some Observations on Fish, in relation to Diet
Authors: Davy John
Published: January 2013

What are the nutritive qualities of fish, compared with other kinds of animal food? Do different species of fish differ materially in degree in nutritive power? Have fish, as food, any peculiar or special properties? These are questions, amongst many others, which may be asked, but which, in the present state of our knowledge, I apprehend it would be difficult to answer in a manner at all satisfactory.

On the present occasion, I shall attempt little more than an opening of the inquiry, and that directed to a few points,—chiefly those alluded to in the foregoing queries.
XIV.—Apparatus for Measuring Strain and Applying Stress, with an Account of some Experiments on the Behaviour of Iron and Steel under Stress
Authors: Coker E. G.
Published: January 2013

The behaviour of metals under stress has long been the subject of investigation, both by mathematicians and physicists, so that the laws of strength are tolerably complete. Owing to the importance of iron and steel in construction, these materials have been subjected to very extensive tests, particularly in simple tension and compression.

Numerous tests of cylindrical iron and steel bars in torsion are also available, the bulk of these being tests to destruction of samples of material used in actual machines and structures designed by engineers. In such tests scientific accuracy is not of much importance, the chief consideration being the obtaining of sufficient data for use in design. The most accurate torsional work upon iron and steel has been the work of physicists, and nearly all their investigations have been conducted upon specimens of very small sectional area; the reasons for this, no doubt, being that such specimens in the form of wires are easily obtainable, and of great uniformity in size and quality, while large test pieces are costly to prepare, and, moreover, cause considerable difficulty in testing, because of the magnitude of the forces involved. Owing to the mode of manufacture, the physical properties of wire often differ to a considerable extent from turned specimens of iron and steel. These differences may be caused by the hardening effect of the drawing, minute cracks in the wires, want of roundness, and the like. It therefore appeared probable that experiments on the lines indicated by physicists would be of some service, and it was with this idea that the investigation was commenced.
XVII.—On the Primary Structure of certain Palæozoic Stems with the Dadoxylon Type of Wood
Authors: Scott D. H.
Published: January 2013

In a Note published in the Annals of Botany for December 1899, I gave some account of the structure of two stems from the Lower Carboniferous of Scotland, provisionally named Araucarioxylon fasciculare, sp. nov., and A. antiquum, Kr. (Witham, sp.).

In the present paper these stems are described fully, with the help of illustrations, and others, presenting similar points of interest, are added. The species dealt with are the following:—

Calamopitys fascicularis (Araucarioxylon fasciculare of the Note).

Calamopitys beinertiana (Araucarioxylon beinertianum, Kr.), (Göpp., sp.).

Pitys antiqua, Witham (Araucarioxylon antiquum, Kr. of the Note).

Pitys Withami (Pinites Withami, Lindl. & Hutt.).

Pitys primœva, Witham.

Dadoxylon Spenceri, sp. nov.
IX.—On the Measurement of Stress by Thermal Methods, with an Account of some Experiments on the Influence of Stress on the Thermal Expansion of Metals
Authors: Coker E. G.
Published: January 2013

In the determination of the effects of stress upon different materials, the investigator has several methods of attack open to him, each of which has its own particular advantages. In the great majority of cases the material under investigation obeys the generalised Hooke's law, and the effects of a stress are therefore most easily followed and measured by observations of the strains produced. The strains being usually exceedingly minute, it is necessary to magnify them sufficiently to allow of accurate measurement. To this end many instruments have been devised for measuring the strains obtained by the action of different stresses, and in fact the great majority of our experimental knowledge has been obtained in this way. The application of polarised light to the determination of stress was first suggested by Brewster, and he applied it to many problems, particularly the determination of the neutral axis of a glass beam. Neumann, with a full knowledge of the work of Brewster, developed a theory of the analysis of strain by polarised light, and Maxwell also independently developed a theory. A third method, which has assumed great prominence in recent years, is the microscopic examination of metals under stress, as developed by Ewing, and Rosenhain, and others.
XX.—Supplement to the Lower Devonian Fishes of Gemünden
Authors: Traquair R. H.
Published: January 2013

Since the publication, about a year ago, in the Transactions of this Society, of my paper on the Lower Devonian Fishes of Gemünden, a review of it has appeared in the pages of Science by Professor Bashford Dean, of New York. In this review Professor Dean endeavoured to throw doubts on the correctness of my orientation of the elements of the dermal skeleton of Drepanaspis Gemündenensis, in the following words:—

“Thus, his grounds seem inadequate for distinguishing dorsal and ventral sides. In no specimen figured is the relation of the dorsal lobe of the tail shown convincingly to be continuous with the so-called dorsal aspect; moreover, the eyes occur on the side which Traquair regards as ventral. Unless additional evidence is forthcoming, it would accordingly seem to me more probable that the ‘labial’ of Traquair was the ‘rostral’ plate, a structure which appears constant in Heterostracans.
XXXI.—The Fossil Plants of the Carboniferous Rocks of Canonbie, Dumfriesshire, and of Parts of Cumberland and Northumberland
Authors: Kidston Robert
Published: January 2013

This communication deals with the fossil plants of the Calciferous Sandstone Series and Carboniferous Limestone Series of Eskdale and Liddesdale; of the Lower Coal Pleasures of Canonbie; of the Middle Coal Measures of Byre Burn, Canonbie; and of the Upper Coal Measures, Joekie's Syke, Cumberland; to which is added a list of the fossil plants of the Calciferous Sandstone Series of Cumberland and Northumberland, with the object of comparing them with those from the corresponding series in Scotland.
XXV.—On the Rimes in the Authentic Poems of William Dunbar
Authors: Baildon Henry Bellyse
Published: January 2013

It may well be thought that, in a field that has been so carefully reaped and garnered and gleaned by so many learned workers as have the works of the great Scottish poet, William Dunbar, there remained nothing still to be accomplished. Where such erudite students of Scottish literature as Laing, Small, Gregor, and Æneas Mackay, and such an illustrious scholar as Professor Schipper have laboured, and where even the poet's metrical forms have been the subject of careful investigation by Mr M'Neill, it might be thought alike vain and presumptuous to attempt to follow. Yet it so happens, nevertheless, that there has never been a thorough investigation made of Dunbar's rimes with a view of throwing light on the phonology or, in more popular phrase, the pronunciation of his day. And yet, perhaps, no more suitable, interesting, and instructive subject could be found for such treatment than just this same William Dunbar.
X.—Observations on the Temperature of Newly-Born Children
Authors: Maclagan T. J.
Published: January 2013

The observations which form the basis of this paper were made on newly-born children with the object of determining whether their temperature differed from that of the adult, and if so, how and to what extent. They were made during a recent residence in the Edinburgh Maternity Hospital, with the full sanction of the attending physician, Dr Charles Bell. The thermometers used were Casella's straight self-registering. The rectum was the part chosen for the insertion of the instrument. The utmost expedition was used in ligaturing the cord, and separating the child from its mother. This being effected, the bulb of the thermometer was at once introduced into the rectum, and the child was wrapped in flannel, and committed to the charge of a nurse, who held the instrument steadily in situ. In five minutes it was removed, and the temperature noted. The observations were repeated every fifteen minutes during the first hour, every thirty minutes during the second and third hours, and then every hour up till the sixth hour after birth; after that at wider intervals up to twenty-four hours; and then only twice a day between ten and eleven in the morning, and between six and seven in the evening.
XXXI.—The Life-History of Xenopus lævis, Daud
Authors: Bles Edward J.
Published: January 2013

The present communication is intended to be the first of a series dealing with observations on the life-history of the Anura Aglossa and their anatomy at different stages of development. Xenopus lævis, with its small ova and protracted larval free-swimming stages, must necessarily form a basis for the study of the development of that other remarkable Aglossan, Pipa americana. Although the adult Aglossan is an aberrant and specialised Anuran, there are Urodele features in the development of Xenopas which make its embryology of great general interest. These primitive features, combined with others peculiar to the genus, impress a character upon the early life-history of this frog which is widely divergent from that of the Phaneroglossa with small ova.
III.—Phases of the Living Greek Language
Authors: Blackie
Published: January 2013

I will commence by stating that three reasons have moved me to bring this subject before the Society—(1) Because I found everywhere loose and even altogether false ideas possessing the public mind on the subject; (2) because I much fear that we, the academical teachers of the Greek language, are chiefly to blame for the currency of these false ideas; and (3) because, if Greek is a living and uncorrupted language, and dominating large districts of Europe and the Mediterranean, as influentially as French on the banks of the Seine and German on the Rhine, it follows that a radical reform must take place in our received methods of teaching this noble and most useful language. Now that the current language of the Greeks in Athens and elsewhere is not, in any sense, a new or a corrupt language, as Italian is a melodious and French a glittering corruption of Latin, may be gathered even a priori; for languages are slow to die, and the time that elapsed from the taking of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 and the establishment of the Venetian power in the Morea in 1204, to the resurrection of Greek political life in 1822, was not long enough to cause such a fusion of contrary elements as produced the English language from the permanent occupation of the British Isles by the Normans.
V.—On the Fossil Flora of the Staffordshire Coal Fields
Authors: Kidston E.
Published: January 2013

The present paper is the second of the series dealing with the Fossil Flora of the Staffordshire Coal Fields. As in previous memoirs, I give a short sketch of the Geology of the coal field, merely for the purpose of indicating the relationship of the beds to each other, from which the fossils have been derived.

Various memoirs dealing with the geological structure and resources of the Potteries Coal Field have already appeared, but in these the names applied to the different groups of strata which compose the Potteries Coal Field have generally special application to the local geological features, and do not treat of the Coal Field in its wider relationship, when considered as only forming a part of the Coal Measures as developed in Britain. A similar course has usually been taken in the published memoirs of other British Coal Fields, which makes a comparison of their relative ages, from the data given, very difficult.

Although the Mollusea have usually been collected and examined, from their great vertical distribution—in some cases extending throughout the whole range of carboniferous rocks—they as a whole afford little data for the determination of the divisions of the Coal Measures, and unfortunately the fossil plants appear to have received little attention when the memoirs of the various coal fields were being prepared.
XV.—The Development of the Carapace of the Chelonia
Authors: Haycraft John Berry
Published: January 2013

All observers are agreed that the bones of the plastron and some bones of the carapace are simple membranous bones, arising from centres formed in a pre-existing fibrous membrane. Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the development of the costal and neural plates of the carapace.

Owen speaks of the ossification “as extending from the ribs and neural spines into the substance of the neural and costal plates. The ribs and spines enter into the composition of the carapace.”

Gegenbaur questions whether the ribs of the Chelonia “are not in reality enormously developed transverse processes, and considers that the neural and costal plates have developed in the integument.”

Claus remarks that the spinous processes of eight of “the thoracic vertebræ (2nd to 9th) appear in the middle line as horizontal plates (neural plates), the ribs of the same vertebræ are transformed into broad transverse plates (costal plates).”

Huxley says that the neural plates and the costal plates exist as expansions of the cartilages of the neural spines and ribs of the primitive vertebræ, before ossification takes place. This being the case, the “neural and costal are vertebral and not dermal elements, however similar they may be to the nucleal, pygal, and marginal plates.”
XIX.—The Winds of Ben Nevis
Authors: Omond R. T. , Rankin Angus
Published: January 2013

Noting the direction of the wind is part of the regular routine of observations at the Observatory on the summit of Ben Nevis. Owing to the climatic conditions, especially the frequency of frozen fogs in winter, anemometers are practically useless, but the record is made complete enough for many purposes by the system of hourly observations; at each hour of the day and night the wind, at the time of making the observation, is noted, and the number of entries of each wind direction in the day, month, or year must very nearly represent the relative frequency of such winds for that time. Table I. is a summary giving the number of times each wind is observed in each month of the year on an average of six years (1884–89); February being given in duplicate, that in the body of the table containing 28 days, and that at the foot 29, with the winds divided in the same proportion. The wind is observed to 32 points, but the entries have been reduced to 8 points for this paper by counting all the bys to their adjacent octant, and halving the 8 intermediate points between the octants; thus all N. by E. count as N., all N.E. by N. as N.E., while the N.N.E. entries are halved between N. and N.E., and so on. Perhaps a stricter method of reduction would have been to divide the intermediate points in the ratio of the relative frequency of the adjacent octants, but this would have been considerably more laborious, and of doubtful utility; still it should be borne in mind that the method used tends to smooth out any sudden changes in the frequency of winds of nearly the same direction.
Section VII.—The Displacement of the Solutions.
Authors: Buchanan J. Y.
Published: January 2013

When successive equal quantities of a salt are dissolved in a constant quantity of water, the successive increments of displacement of the solution, so produced, are generally unequal. They are usually the greater, the greater is the amount of salt which has already been dissolved.

In order usefully to discuss the change produced by any physical action, it is advisable to compare it with that which would be produced if it acted in accordance with some law which can be specified with precision. If the results observed agree with those calculated in terms of the law postulated, it is good evidence that the particular physical action takes place under the law. If no such agreement appears, then the observed results must be compared with those calculated in terms of the specification of some other law.
Pronominal case and verbal finiteness contingencies in child English
Authors: GRINSTEAD JOHN , DONNELLAN MORGAN , BARAJAS JENNIFER , JOHNSON MARY
Published: January 2013

Child English speakers use nonnominative pronouns in subject position but do not tend to use these types of pronouns with finite verbs. Recent findings demonstrate that knowledge of the pronoun paradigm is relevant to pronoun case errors below the 60% correct finiteness marking level but irrelevant above it. We use a receptive test with children who are above the 60% correct finiteness marking level and show that judgments of nominative case and verb finiteness correlate (r= .549,p< .001,n= 49), consistent with the predictions of case theory. Children at this level of finiteness marking show no asymmetry in feminine versus masculine nonnominative errors, but they do allow third singular–swith nonnominatives, which is problematic for both agreement tense omission model and constructivist priming accounts.