bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
XVIII.—On a Continued Investigation of the Application of the Law of Torsional Oscillation to Various Metals and Alloys
Authors: Ritchie James B.
Published: June 2016

This paper is a continuation of one already submitted to the Society, and published in their Proceedings.

It showed that an equation of the form yn(x + a) = b could be applied to give close representation of results in the determination of the law of decrease of torsional oscillations of wires of different materials. This empirical equation, in which y represented the range of oscillation, x the number of oscillations since the commencement of observations, and n, a, and b constants for any one experiment, their numerical values depending upon the initial conditions of the wire and its subsequent treatment, was found to hold over a large range of oscillation for wires of many metals, and the present paper gives an account of further work on the subject.
XX.—Changes of Electrical Resistance accompanying Longitudinal and Transverse Magnetizations in Nickel
Authors: Knott C. G.
Published: June 2016

In 1903 I communicated to the Society a paper on the relation between magnetization and resistance of nickel at high temperatures (1). In this paper the magnetization was along the direction in which the resistance was measured. A second paper, in which the magnetization was transverse to the direction in which the resistance was measured, was communicated in 1906 (2). In these later experiments a flat coil of nickel wire was used; and it was necessary to use very high fields before an appreciable change of resistance was obtained.
XXII.—The Effect of Thermal Treatment and the Effect of Longitudinal Strain in inducing a Sensitive State in certain Magnetic Materials
Authors: Moir Margaret B.
Published: June 2016

It has been pointed out by several experimenters, notably by Ewing, and Gray and Ross, that a specimen of steel freshly annealed is in a peculiar magnetic condition. Thus, if a specimen, thoroughly demagnetised, is annealed and then tested, a certain I–H curve is obtained. If it be then demagnetised, and tested again, a second I–H curve is obtained which lies definitely below the first; and any further tests after demagnetisation produce a repetition of the second curve, which is characteristic of the specimen. To obtain the first curve again, the specimen has to be annealed from the same temperature as before, and a test made before demagnetisation.
XXVII.—On some Pseudo-hermaphrodite Examples of Daphnia pulex
Authors: Ashworth J. H.
Published: June 2016

Among about a hundred specimens of Daphnia pulex (De Geer) obtained for class purposes, at the end of May, 1912, I found two females in each of which the antennule of one side resembled that of a male. These cases seem worthy of notice in view of the paucity of existing records of similar abnormalities in Daphnia.

Previous Records of Abnormalities of the Antennules in Cladocera.

Kurz found, in October, 1873, an example of D. pulex in which the right antennule was short, as in the female, while the left approached in form that of the male, though it was not quite as large as the latter.
Opening Address. Session 1875–76
Authors: Home David Milne
Published: June 2016

The Chairman delivered the following opening Address:—

Gentlemen, Fellows of The Royal Society of Edinburgh,—In compliance with a request of the Council, I have the honour to come before you this evening to give an address, on this the first night of our Winter Session, in pursuance of the custom prevalent in this and most other Societies.
3. Observations on the Zodiacal Light
Authors: Smith C. Michie , Tait
Published: June 2016

While engaged in cable work in the West Indies, I had, during the winter and early spring of 1875, a number of very favourable opportunities of examining the zodiacal light.

Before leaving this country I had, under the advice of Professor Tait, and with a note of recommendation from Professor Jenkin, applied to the Royal Society for the loan of a spectroscope, to make observations with during the voyage; but unfortunately I was unable to obtain one, and so had to content myself with a small pocket-spectroscope.
2. Note on Circular Crystals
Authors: Dallas E. W.
Published: June 2016

At long intervals notices of circular crystals have appeared before this Society. In 1853 Sir David Brewster read a paper on the subject, which followed one by Mr Fox Talbot in 1836, and which again had been preceded by one from Sir David Brewster about twenty years before. It is not easy to account for these long intervals, unless they may be attributed to difficulty and uncertainty in manipulation, for except in very few instances the crystals observed by Sir David Brewster are of microscopic size, and, he remarks, require the perfection of optical appliances for their observation, and naturally so when crystals of the 200th of an inch in diameter are looked upon as of respectable size.
1. The Annual Periods of Thunder (with Lightning), Lightning (only), Hail, and Snow, at Oxford
Authors: Buchan
Published: June 2016

During the twenty-one years ending 1873, the maximum period of thunder with or without lightning, at Oxford, extended from about 9th April to the end of October, the middle of the period being the first week of July; the three highest days taken consecutively being those immediately preceding the summer solstice. During the five months from November to March, only thirteen cases had occurred during the period. Lightning, on the other hand, had its maximum period from May to November,—particularly during August, September, and October. The maximum period of hail was during the first six months of the year; whereas, during the second half of the year, very few cases occurred. The snow period extended from the middle of October to the middle of May,—most falling from December to March,—the absolutely highest month being March.
1. On the Connection between Cohesion, Elasticity, Dilatation, and Temperature
Authors: Forbes George
Published: June 2016

At various times there have arisen supporters of one or other of two extreme hypothesis concerning the nature of what we define as force. These are the hypothesis of “action at a distance” and of “no action at a distance.”

According to the latter hypothesis, the centre of gravity of no body, however large or however small, can be moved from a position of rest, nor can its motion be altered in direction or amount, except by direct collision with another portion of matter.
4. On two new Laboratory Apparatus
Authors: Dittmar William
Published: June 2016

The object of this communication is to submit to the notice of the Society two little inventions of mine, which, whatever may be the degree of originality which they can claim, will, I venture to hope, prove useful additions to the catalogue of chemical-laboratory appliances. The one is a new form of the precision balance, which pretends to execute exact weighings with a hitherto unattained degree of rapidity; the other is a contrivance for maintaining a constant pressure in a supply of gas, and thus making it possible, with comparative facility, to keep, say an air-bath, for any length of time, at a constant temperature.
2. Note on a New Fossil Foot-Print from the Permian Sandstone of Dumfriesshire
Authors: Dudgeon Patrick
Published: June 2016

What appears to be an entirely new foot-print has lately been found in the red sandstone of this district. I have seen many of the foot-prints from the various quarries in the neighbourhood, but have not before observed this one, nor is it like any figured in Sir William Jardine's splendid work on the “Ichnology of Annandale.” The foot-prints in question were found in a bed about 20 feet from the surface, at Locharbrigg's Quarry, three miles from Dumfries. They exhibit the usual large hind and smaller fore foot; the impression of the hind foot measures ′·5 × 2′·6, the fore foot 2′·3 × 1′·9; the stride of the animal appears to have been about 10′. The impression of the hind foot does not interfere with that of the fore foot, as is the case with several of the foot-prints figured in Sir William Jardine's work, the interval between them being 2′: the hind foot, therefore, must have been put down in the rear of the fore foot when the animal was walking. The impression of the foot shows five toes, the thumb being placed far back. The most characteristic features in these foot-prints are the well-developed claws, and the oblique position of the toes, i.e., they are placed to march one behind the other. In almost all the foot-prints I have seen, where the toes can be made out, the middle one appears the most prominent; this foot-print is markedly distinct in this respect.
2. Applications of the Theorem that Two Closed Plane Curves intersect an even number of times
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The theorem itself may be considered obvious, and is easily applied, as I showed at the late meeting of the British Association, to prove that in passing from any one double point of a plane closed curve continuously along the curve to the same point again, an even number of intersections must be passed through. Hence, if we suppose the curve to be constructed of cord or wire, and restrict the crossings to double points, we may arrange them throughout so that, in following the wire continuously, it goes alternately over and under each branch it meets. When this is done it is obviously as completely knotted as its scheme (defined below) will admit of, and except in a special class of cases cannot have the number of crossings reduced by any possible deformation.
4. Note on the Specific Gravity of Ocean Water
Authors: Buchanan J. Y.
Published: June 2016

During the cruise of the Challenger the specific gravity of the surface water was observed daily while at sea, and that of water from the bottom and intermediate depths as often as opportunity offered. These observations were almost entirely confined to the region between the parallels of 40° N. and 40° S. latitudes, which, including as it does the regions of the equatorial calms, of the trade winds, and to a certain extent of both the northern and southern westerly winds is decidedly the most interesting field for such investigations. Many valuable observations have been made by other observers, and I have availed myself more especially of the series of observations made by Lenz during Kotzebue's voyage to the Pacific and back. His observations were almost entirely confined to the surface water.
2. On the Curves produced by Reflection from a Polished Revolving Wire
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: June 2016

When a polished thin straight wire turns on a fixed point in space, the point at which light coming from a fixed source is reflected, moves in a curved surface. In this paper the motion of the wire was supposed to be restricted to the plane passing through the eye and the source of light. The curve was shown to be of the third order, having a straight line as a symptote both ways, and to depend for its form upon a characterising angle. The interest of the subject lay chiefly in the remarkable transformations of the curve.
3. Laboratory Notes by Professor Tait (a.) Measurement of the Potential, required to produce Sparks of various lengths, in Air at different pressures, by a Holtz Machine
Authors: Macfarlane Messrs , Paton
Published: June 2016

The general result of these strictly preliminary experiments appears to show that for sparks not exceeding a decimetre in length (L), taken in air at different pressures (P), between two metal balls of 7mm·5 radius, the requisite potential (V), is expressed by the formula

The Holtz machine employed is a double one, made by Ruhmkorff, and it was used with its small Leyden jars attached. The measurements had to be made with a divided-ring electrometer, so that two insulated balls, at a considerable distance from one another, were connected, one with the machine, the other with the electrometer.
4. On an Unnamed Palæozoic Annelid
Authors: Duns
Published: June 2016

Cymaderma (nov. gen,). —Generis Characteres:—Corpus cylindricum, elongatum, nudum, striatum; striæ tenues, in ordinem undulatæ, et ubique corpus cingentes, ita ut cutis subrugosa videatur; linea dorsualis continua, alternasque cavaturas ovatus et vertices ostendens; nulla verorum articulamentorum indicia; vestigium tortuosum, bisulcum.

Cymaderma (new genus).—Generic Characters:—Body cylindrical, elongated, naked, striated; striæ minute, waved symmetrically, encompassing the form in all parts, and giving to the skin a subrugose appearance; a continuous dorsal line, showing alternate oval depressions and slight ridges; no traces of true articulations; track, tortuous bisulcate.
5. On Professor Tait's Problem of Arrangement
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

The problem in question is—To find the number of possible arrangements of a set of n things, subject to the conditions that the first is not to be in the last or first place, the second not in the first or second place, the third not in the second or third place, and so on.
1. On the Toothing of Un-round Discs which are intended to roll upon each other
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: June 2016

This paper contained an extension to discs of any shape whatever of the principles explained in the ‘New General Theory of the Teeth of Wheels,” as applicable to circular discs.
2. On the Mineralogy of Scotland.—Chapter II
Authors: Heddle
Published: June 2016

In this chapter Professor Heddle submitted the results of the analyses of Orthoclase from fifteen localities; of Albite from four; of Oligoclase from eight; of Labradorite from eleven; of Andesiel from five; of Anorthite from three; and of Latrobite from two.

The three last minerals being now, for the first time, recognised as British species.
3. On a New Investigation of the Series for the Sine and Cosine of an Arc
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: June 2016

The sines of the successive equidiiferent arcs form a progression having for its general character the relation

and the properties of sines may be deduced from this general formula. Viewed in this light, the angular functions become cases only of more general ones.
6. On a White Sunbow
Authors: Christison Robert
Published: June 2016

As the phenomenon of a colourless rainbow, which was seen here in the forenoon of Thursday the 10th January, seems to be very rare, never having been witnessed before either by myself or by any of my friends to whom I have mentioned the subject, I beg to offer the Society the following description:—

On my way that forenoon to the Botanic Garden, and arriving about a quarter-past eleven at the open view of the north at the bottom of Pitt Street, my attention, was arrested by the appearance of a magnificent white bow, visible in its entire arch from end to end in the northern sky.
2. On the Wave Forms of Articulate Sounds
Authors: Jenkin Fleeming , Ewing J. A.
Published: June 2016

In this paper the authors gave a preliminary account of experiments made with the help of the phonograph exhibited at the last meeting. The following results have been obtained:—

1. The vowel sounds can be produced by maintaining the relative pitch of the simple tones of which they are composed constant, although the absolute pitch of those simple tones may vary greatly.
2. On the Old Red Sandstone of Western Europe
Authors: Geikie
Published: June 2016

In a historical introduction the author gives an outline of the progress of research into the history of the Old Red Sandstone of the British area. This system is at present regarded as composed of three sub-divisions, Lower, Middle, and Upper, each characterised by a distinct suite of organic remains. From the absence of unequivocally marine fossils, and from lithological characters, it has been inferred by Mr Godwin Austin, Professor Ramsay, Professor Rupert Jones, as well as other observers, and is now very generally admitted, that the Old Red Sandstone, as distinguished from the “Devonian” rocks, probably originated in inland sheets of water.
3. Note on a Variation of the Microphone
Authors: Morrison R. M.
Published: June 2016

Following out a suggestion made by Mr Seabrook in Nature of May 30th, I mounted the three carbon blocks of Professor Hughes' microphone on, not as Mr Seabrook recommends, a plate of 3 inches diameter, but on a ferrotype plate about 6 inches by 4. This plate formed part of the top of a box, thus—
4. On the Action of Heat on some Salts of Trimethyl-Sulphine. Part II
Authors: Brown Crum , Blaikie J. Adrian
Published: June 2016

In the former paper on this subject, the authors stated that when hyposulphite (thiosulphate) of trimethyl-sulphine is heated to about 135° C., it loses sulphide of methyl to the extent of 23·58 per cent., the salt at the same time fusing to a clear colourless liquid. On cooling, this solidifies to a hard, very hygroscopic crystalline mass.
1. On the Biliary Secretion, with reference to the Action of Cholagogues. Part II
Authors: Rutherford  , Vignal M.
Published: June 2016

The method of experiment by which the following results have been obtained has been described in the abstract of Part I., published in the “Proceedings” February 1877. All the experiments were performed on dogs.
6. On a New Method for the Separation of Yttrium and Erbium from Cerium, Lanthanum, and Didymium. Part I
Authors: Gibson J. , Morrison R. M.
Published: June 2016

The method for the separation of these two groups hitherto in use was first proposed by Berzelius, and has been followed by almost all chemists who have investigated these earths. For the details of this method we must refer to his “Handbuch;” but we may briefly state that it depends on the relative solubilities of the double sulphates of these metals with potassium in a saturated solution of potassic sulphate.
2. On the Composition of the Building Sandstones of Craigleith, Binnie, Gifnock, and Partick Bridge
Authors: Bloxam Thomas , Wilson George
Published: June 2016

In prosecution of the analyses of Scottish building stones commenced last winter in the laboratory of the Industrial Museum, by the examination of the bed-rock from Craigleith quarry, four more sandstones have been analyzed since May 1856 by Mr Bloxam. The stones in question are the Craigleith liver-rock, and the Binnie sandstone, from the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, and the Gifnock and Partick Bridge stones, from the neighbourhood of Glasgow.
1. Description of the Sulphur Mine near Conil; preceded by a Notice of the Geological features of the southern portion of Andalucia
Authors: Traill
Published: June 2016

Dr Traill's paper was divided into four sections: the 1st contained the geology of Andalucia from the Sierra Nevada of Granada to the south; the 2d described the mountain or rock of Gibraltar; the 3d traced the succession of rocks from the Sierra Morena to the south and south-west; and the 4th described the Sulphur Mine near Conil.

1. In the part of the Sierra Nevada visited by Dr Traill, which was at about two-thirds of its height, the only visible rocks were mica-slate, in its lower portions approaching to gneiss, on which reposed beds of limestone, evidently belonging to the same formation as the slate.
3. Notice respecting some Artificial Sections illustrating the Geology of Chamouni
Authors: Ruskin John
Published: June 2016

In the Proceedings of the Royal Society, vol. iii., p. 348, an account has been given by Professor Forbes of the discussions which had then taken place as to the geological constitution of the chain of Mont Blanc, and as to the reality of the alleged superposition of the primary rock (gneiss) to the secondary (limestone), near Chamouni, and at Courmayeur.

In order to clear up any remaining doubt, Mr Ruskin caused sections to be made, laying bare the junction at several points of the Valley of Chamouni.
1. Notice respecting the remains of a Seal, in the Pleistocene of Fifeshire
Authors: Allman
Published: June 2016

Professor Allman exhibited a portion of a pelvis of a seal, which had been recently obtained from the Pleistocene deposits in the neighbourhood of Kirkaldy, and sent to him for determination by Mr Martin Eigney of that place.

From a note received from Mr Rigney, it appears that the bone was found in the Tyrie clay field, about two miles west of Kirkaldy, and about a quarter of a mile from the shore of the Firth, and that it lay 18 or 19 feet below the surface of the soil, and about 30 feet above the present level of high-water. It was unaccompanied by any other remains.
2. On Theories of the Constitution of Saturn's Rings
Authors: Maxwell Clerk
Published: June 2016

The planet Saturn is surrounded by several concentric flattened rings, which appear to be quite free from any connection with each other, or with the planet, except that due to gravitation.

The exterior diameter of the whole system of rings is estimated at about 176,000 miles, the breadth from outer to inner edge of the entire system, 36,000 miles, and the thickness not more than 100 miles.

It is evident that a system of this kind, so broad and so thin, must depend for its stability upon the dynamical equilibrium between the motions of each part of the system, and the attractions which act on it, and that the cohesion of the parts of so large a body can have no effect whatever on its motions, though it were made of the most rigid material known on earth.
4. On the Movements of the Articulation of the Lower Jaw
Authors: Smith John , Goodsir
Published: June 2016

After alluding to the difficulty of determining the precise anatomical configuration of the condyles of the lower jaw, especially in the human subject, the temporo-maxillary articulation admitting of a multiplicity of movements, and these again being liable to modification by different accidental and other conditions of relative structures, such as the teeth, &c., the author stated that a general principle would nevertheless be found to prevail, and in general to be distinctly traceable in this joint, whatever might be the modifications existing either in its function or external form.
Opening Address, Session 1858–59
Authors: Kelland
Published: June 2016

During the vacation, I had looked forward with confidence to the pleasure of listening to-night to an address from one of the ablest experimenters and most vigorous writers that this Society has ever numbered amongst its members,—Sir David Brewster. And when, a short time since, I learnt that I had been indulging an ill-founded expectation, and that the duty of opening the session was to fall to my own lot, I experienced something more than disappointment. For, in addition to my imperfect knowledge of the past history and present position of the Society, is the fact that I had made no preparation, either in the way of collecting materials, or of providing a reserve of time, for drawing up an address. I must therefore come before you with an apology. I must crave your forbearance should some of the remarks which I make appear trite and unworthy of the occasion,—should others be traceable to what I have said elsewhere,—should all be found crude and lower in tone than beseems the position in which your kindness places me.
1. On the peculiar Appendage of Appendicularia, named “Haus” by Mertens
Authors: Allman
Published: June 2016

In this communication the author called attention to the fact of his having discovered, in April last, in the Clyde, near Rothesay, numerous specimens of an Appendicularia, invested with the remarkable appendage, named “Haus” by Mertens, who originally described it in specimens captured in the North Pacific, near Behring's Straits, but which no one since his time had seen, though Appendicularia had become a subject of careful and elaborate investigation in the hands of several of the leading zoologists of the present day.
2. Additional Observations on the Morphology of the Reproductive Organs in the Hydroid Polypes
Authors: Allman
Published: June 2016

This communication was intended by the author to be in continuation of a former paper on the same subject, read before the Society during the previous session, and contained the following additional notices:—

The gonophore of Sertularia polyzonias consists of an oval capsule slightly corrugated transversely, with a short tubular, obscurely 4-toothed aperture, and having its axis occupied by a blastostyle, bearing in all the specimens examined a single sporosac.
1. Notice of a Shower of “a Sulphurous Substance” (so-called), which fell in Inverness-shire in June 1858
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

This shower took place about the 10th of June. The following account of it is from the Inverness Courier; and, as showing the interest the phenomenon excited, it was republished in most of the English papers. The copy I give is from the Spectator of the 3d July.

“After the late thunder-storm, a deposit resembling sulphur was observed in several places in this neighbourhood (Inverness). At Freeburn it lay on the road and grass in some places to a depth of nearly half an inch. At Craigton Cottage, near Kissock, the deposit was observed on the top of water caught in a cask from the roof of the house, like a thick cream. The sulphurous substance was skimmed off, and dried in a piece of flannel. When dry it was a fine powder, and when thrown into the fire ignited exactly like gunpowder, making a slight fizzing noise. Unfortunately none was preserved beyond what was experimented on in this way.
3. On the Connection between Temperature and Electrical Resistance in the simple Metals
Authors: Stewart Balfour
Published: June 2016

About a fortnight since I mentioned to Professor Forbes that the resistances of the simple metals to the passage of electricity seemed to be very nearly in proportion to their absolute temperature, this relation being especially manifest for those values of the resistances determined by M. Arndtsen.

Professor Forbes informed me that this coincidence had already been observed by Professor Clausius, and that an abstract of his paper was given in the Philosophical Magazine for November last. On referring to Professor Clausius's original paper, it would seem that the coincidence had suggested itself to him as a remarkable similarity occurring between the rate of increase (due to temperature) of the electrical resistance of those metals, and that of the volume of a gas under constant pressure.
1. Remarks on the Behaviour of Mercury as an Electrode
Authors: Wright T. Strethill
Published: June 2016

In this paper the author described numerous experiments, serving to show the modification which occurred in the capillary attraction between mercury on the one hand, and various saline and acid fluids forming parts of active voltaic circles on the other. He also described and showed to the Society the undulatory motions which he had observed in mercury, when forming the cathode of a constant voltaic current in solutions of chloride of sodium, containing small quantities of sulphuric acid.
2. On the Spermogones and Pycnides of Lichens
Authors: Lindsay W. Lauder
Published: June 2016

The researches contained in the author's memoir, of which the following is a brief abstract, extended over a period of several years, and are based on careful microscopic examination of several thousand specimens of lichens from every part of the known world. The author examined the lichens of the Hookerian Herbarium at Kew, which contains an unrivalled series of specimens collected by the various surveying and exploring expeditions of the British Government, as well as by all the more distinguished modern British travellers. This collection is further valuable, from containing authentic specimens collected and named by Borrer, Turner, Hooker, Brodie, Carmichael, Babington, and other distinguished British lichenologists, as well as by Acharius, Schærer, Swartz, and other continental authors.
4. On the Preservation of Foot-prints on the Sea Shore
Authors: Bryson Alexander
Published: June 2016

The author remarked, that the impressions of the feet of birds and molluscs on wet sand, were liable to be effaced by the return of the tide; and that their preservation was owing to dry sand blown into the depressions from the shore, and again covered by a layer of moist sand or mud by the return of the tide. In regard to tracks left by gasteropodous molluscs, he stated that great caution was necessary to distinguish them from those left by Nereids; and instanced the case of a foot-track of a common whelk resembling the marks made by the Crossopodia on the Silurian slates. When the track of the whelk is filled up by the dry sand blown into the depression in the line of progress, no difficulty is felt in recognising it as the track of a gasteropod; but should the wind blow at right angles to the track of the mollusc, a series of setse-like markings will be observed to leeward, caused by the dry sand adhering to the moist.
1. Note on some Numerical Relations between the Specific Gravities of the Diamond, Graphite, and Charcoal Forms of Carbon and its Atomic Weight
Authors: Playfair Lyon
Published: June 2016

Recent researches have shown that there is an intimate relation between the specific gravities and atomic weights or equivalents of solid and liquid bodies. This relation is not so simple as that which prevails in regard to the volumes and combining numbers of gaseous bodies, and yet it is sufficiently marked to indicate many important chemical analogies. The formula for eliciting these relations is—

in which E is the equivalent, d the specific gravities, and V the atomic volume.
2. Notice of certain Remarkable Laws connected with the Oscillations of Flexible Pendulums: With Illustrative Experiments
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: June 2016

In a previous paper there had been given a general method of investigating the motions of elastic systems, when the redressing tendencies are proportional to the extents of the disturbance. The present paper contains the results of the application of this method to the oscillations of flexible pendulums, composed of weights attached by their centres of gravity to a thread. These results, though strictly applicable only to oscillations of infinitely small extent, may yet be held as indicating the general characters of oscillations of moderate dimensions.
1. On the Utmost Horizontal Distance which can be Spanned by a Chain of a given Material
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: June 2016

The method of investigation followed in this paper for finding the limit for a uniform chain, is to suppose a multitude of catenaries all having a common vertex, and to take, in each of them, that point at which the tension is fixed. The curve passing through all of these points has for its equation—

in which s is the tension, z the vertical, and x the horizontal ordinate.
5. Notice on the Boring of the Pholadidæ
Authors: Bryson Alexander
Published: June 2016

In this communication the author referred to the various theories advanced to account for the boring of the Pholadidæ in rocks.

The first hypothesis, which supposes that the molluscs perforate by means of the rotation of the valves acting as augers, he disproved by exhibiting old individuals of the Pholus crispata with the dentated costæ as sharp as in any young specimen. That these animals bore by silicious particles secreted by the foot, as suggested by Mr Hancock, has been disproved by microscopic observation; and that currents of water set in motion by vibratile cilia, seemed also insufficient to account for the phenomenon.
3. On the Constitution of the Essential Oil of Cajeput
Authors: Schmidl Maximilian
Published: June 2016

The author shows, that oil of cajeput is a mixture of an oil boiling about 175° Cent., and one or more oils of higher boiling point. In the present paper he investigates the first of those substances. When purified by repeated distillation, it is a colourless, limpid fluid, which by analysis and determination of its vapour density, is shown to have the formula C20 H16 + 2HO. When treated with anhydrous phosphoric acid, it is decomposed, and yields a mixture of three different hydrocarbons, to which the author gives the names of Cajputene, Isocajputene, and Metacajputene. The two former, though differing in properties, have both the formula C20 H16. The last, which is a very heavy oil, with a lemon yellow colour and brilliant fluorescence, is C40 H32.
4. On the Action of Chlorine on Citric Acid. Hexachlorinated Acetone
Authors: Galletly John
Published: June 2016

At the recommendation of Dr Anderson, Glasgow University, I have re-examined the oil which Plantamour obtained by acting on citric acid with chlorine. Owing to the slowness with which it is formed, its complete investigation is somewhat lengthened, and the following results are all I have as yet obtained. A considerable part of the work has been done in the Glasgow College Laboratory.

Plantamour found that when a strong solution of citric acid was exposed to the action of chlorine in the sunshine, a heavy oil appeared on the surface of the liquid, gathering in drops and sinking to the bottom. He describes the properties of this oil, and ascribes to it the formula C8 Cl8 O3.
1. Account of the Asafœtida Plants (Narthex Asafœtida (Falconer), which have recently flowered and fruited in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden
Authors: Balfour
Published: June 2016

The author gave an account of the cultivation of plants of Asafœtida in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden since the year 1842, and of the flowering and fruiting of specimens in 1858 and 1859. He then described the characters of the plant (Narthex Asafœtida of Falconer), and illustrated his communication by specimens of the plant, by photographs, and by drawings from the accurate pencil of Dr Greville.
3. On the Reduction of Observations of Underground Temperature, with applications to Professor Forbes' Edinburgh Observations and the continued Calton Hill Series
Authors: Thomson William
Published: June 2016

The principle followed in the reductions which form the subject of this communication may be briefly stated thus:—

The varying temperature during a year, shown by any one of the underground thermometers on an average for a series of years, is expressed by the ordinary method in a trigonometrical series of terms representing simple harmonic variations,—the first having a year for its period, the second a half year, the third a third part of a year, and so on. The yearly term of the series is dealt with separately for the thermometers at the different depths, the half yearly term also separately, and so on, each term being treated as if the simple periodic variation which it represents were the sole variation experienced.
1. Contributions to the Natural History of Volcanic Phenomena and Products in Iceland
Authors: Lindsay W. Lauder
Published: June 2016

These contributions are part of the results of the author's visit to Iceland in June 1860, and will be found embodied in his Paper “On the Eruption, in May 1860, of the Kötlugjá Volcano, Iceland,” in the “Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal” for January 1861, page 6, with a map (Plate II.), “Illustrative of the Physical Geography of that part of the South of Iceland in which Kötlugjá is situated.”
2. On the Pediculi infesting the Different Races of Man
Authors: Murray Andrew
Published: June 2016

The object of this paper was to determine whether the pediculi infesting the different races of man were of the same or of distinct species, and thereby to ascertain whether any inference could be drawn therefrom, bearing upon the disputed question of the unity of the human species.
5. Note on a Modification of the Apparatus employed for one of Ampère's Fundamental Experiments in Electrodynamics
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

My attention was recalled by Principal Forbes's note (read to the Royal Society on January 7th), to his request that I should at leisure try to repeat Ampère's experiment for the mutual repulsion of two parts of the same straight conductor, by means of an apparatus which he had procured for the Natural Philosophy Collection in the University. Some days later I tried the experiment, but found that, on account of the narrowness of the troughs of mercury, it was impossible to prevent the capillary forces from driving the floating wire to the sides of the vessel. I therefore constructed an apparatus in which the troughs were two inches wide, the arms of the float being also at that distance apart.
3. On Gyrolite occurring with Calcite in Apophyllite in the Trap of the Bay of Fundy
Authors: How Henry
Published: June 2016

The mineral gyrolite was first described by Professor Anderson of Glasgow, as a new species from the Isle of Skye; it is stated by Greg and Lettsom to occur without doubt at two localities in Greenland, and according to Heddle at Faröe. The only other notice of it that I am acquainted with is by L. Sæmann, who mentions that he examined a specimen—no locality being given—mixed or interlaminated with pectolite, and suggests that this mineral, losing its alkali, becomes gyrolite, and, losing its lime, becomes okenite. No other analysis than the original one of Professor Anderson has, I believe, been published; the following account of its occurrence among the minerals of Nova Scotia shows it in such associations as affords a mode of explaining its origin by change in apophyllite.
4. On the Structure of Chondracanthus Lophii; with Observations on its Larval Form
Authors: Turner William , Wilson H. S.
Published: June 2016

The authors, after a brief historical introduction, proceeded to give a detailed account of the anatomy of this parasitic crustacean, the description comprising that of the female and male, and, so far as they had been enabled to trace it, of the larva also.
3. On the Nesting Birds of Linlithgowshire and Berwickshire
Authors: Duns John
Published: June 2016

In April 1860, I brought under the notice of the Society a classified list of the Birds of Linlithgowshire. The list was accompanied with notes, “On the Structure and Habits of some of the Rarer Species.” After the publication of the Society's Proceedings, several communications were addressed to me by well-known ornithologists, chiefly with the view of ascertaining, if some of the rarer species named had been known to nest in the district. This led to the revision of the list, and to the exclusion of such species as are either rare visitors only, or winter birds of passage. A List of the Birds of Berwickshire, drawn up on the same plan, is now associated with this.
4. Note on Molecular Arrangement in Crystals
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

To illustrate my lectures on Molecular Forces, I sometimes use piles of marbles of equal size. Each of these is taken to represent the sphere of action of a symmetrical integrant molecule, in the sense that the attractive and repulsive forces necessary to a theory of molecules are balanced, when the distance of two molecules is equal to the diameter of the sphere. If the integrant molecules be not symmetrical, their spheres of action will be spheroids or ellipsoids.

In arranging such piles, there are two obvious ways of constructing the layers, and two of applying layer to layer.
2. On the Anatomical Relations of the Surfaces of the Tentorium to the Cerebrum and Cerebellum in Man and the lower Mammals
Authors: Turner William
Published: June 2016

Comparative anatomists have of late directed considerable attention to the determination of the relations of the cerebrum and cerebellum. This has been in great measure due to the publication by Professor Owen of a system of classification of the Mammalia founded on their cerebral characters. The statement made by that eminent anatomist, that the posterior, or third, lobe of the cerebrum is peculiar and common to the genus Homo, and that equally peculiar are the “posterior horn of the lateral ventricle” and the “hippo-campus minor,” which characterise the hind lobe, has led to much discussion. Various anatomists have published descriptions and drawings of dissections of the brains of many of the Quadrumana, especially of several of the higher apes.
3. On a difficulty in the Theory of Rain
Authors: Dalmahoy James
Published: June 2016

The difficulty which the paper discusses is the paradoxical fact discovered by Dr Heberden,—namely, that if there be three exactly similar rain-gauges, and one of them be placed on the ground, the second on the roof of a neighbouring house, and the third on a still higher edifice, then, notwithstanding every variety in the positions of these gauges as respects surrounding objects, and notwithstanding the prevalence of the opposite conditions of high wind and of absolute calm, it is observed that the lowest gauge receives more rain than the middle one, and the middle gauge more rain than the upper one.
3. On the Constitution of Society in this Country, with reference to the Proportion which Male Life bears relatively to Female Life, and the Effects of an Excess of Female Life
Authors: Thomson W. T.
Published: June 2016

The object of this paper is to show the prejudicial effect which the excess of females has upon the condition and moral well-being of society in this country.
4. On the Secular Cooling of the Earth
Authors: Thomson William
Published: June 2016

The fact that the temperature of the earth increases with the depth below the surface, implies a continual loss of heat from the interior by conduction outwards, through or into the upper crust. Since the upper crust does not become hotter from year to year, there must therefore be a secular loss of heat from the whole earth. It is possible that no cooling may result from this loss of heat, but only exhaustion of potential energy, which in this case could scarcely be other than chemical affinity between substances forming part of the earth's mass. But it is certain that either the earth is becoming, on the whole, cooler from age to age, or that the heat conducted out is generated in the interior by temporary dynamical action (such as chemical combination).
2. Notice of an Ancient Beach near Stirling.
Authors: Maclaren Charles
Published: June 2016

This beach presents the appearance of a terrace, extending along the north side of the Carse of Stirling, from the foot of Abbey Craig westward to Lecropt Church, and beyond it. Its length is about two miles; its breadth, at Lecropt Church, is about 200 feet, at Airthrey Mineral Well 900 feet, and at Airthrey Castle near half a mile. Its upper surface is nearly a dead level in both directions, except where breaches have been made in it, by streams or other agents. The elevation of this surface above the Carse in about 85 feet, and above the Forth at Stirling probably 110 feet. Rock is seen under the terrace at the village of Causeyhead, in the bed of the River Allan, at the Bridge, and at the bottom of the acclivity under Lecropt Church.
1. On the Existence of peculiar Crystals in the Cavities of Topaz. Part II.
Authors: Brewster D.
Published: June 2016

The author, after alluding to his former papers on the fluids in topaz, described, in Section I., the form and position of the strata in the minerals in which the cavities occur. They generally occur in immense numbers, occupying extensive strata, and injuring the transparency of the mineral. These strata occupy every possible position, and have every possible curvature; their shape is equally irregular; and it is probable that, in every case, some edge or angle of the stratum touches the surface.
2. Miscellaneous Observations on Blood and Milk.
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

The author first treats of the state of combination of the alkali in the blood. Enderlin, from his recent analysis of the ashes of the blood, has inferred that its alkaline reaction is not owing to the presence of carbonate, but of the tribasic phosphate of soda. The author, even admitting the accuracy of Enderlin's results, questions the propriety of applying them to the condition of the alkali in the liquid blood. Carbonate of soda, he observes, is decomposed when heated with phosphate of lime; added in small quantity to blood, it is not to be detected in its ashes. This may account for its not having been found in its ashes. Were the opinion referred to correct, an acid added to blood or its serum, after the action of the air-pump, ought not, on re-exhaustion, to occasion a farther disengagement of air; but he finds that it does. This, with other results, induces him to give the preference to the conclusion, that blood contains the sesquicarbonate of soda.
1. On the Description of Oval Curves, and those having a plurality of Foci.
Authors: Maxwell Clerk , Forbes
Published: June 2016

Mr Clerk Maxwell ingeniously suggests the extension of the common theory of the foci of the conic sections to curves of a higher degree of complication in the following manner:—

(1.) As in the ellipse and hyperbola, any point in the curve has thesum or differenceof two lines drawn from two points orfoci= a constant quantity, so the author infers, that curves to a certain degree analogous, may be described and determined by the condition that the simple distance from one focusplusa multiple distance from the other, may be = a constant quantity; or more generally,mtimes the one distance+ ntimes the other = constant.
1. On the Constitution and Properties of Picoline, a new organic base from Coal-Tar.
Authors: Anderson T.
Published: June 2016

The author, after alluding to the investigations of the oily bases in coal tar, by Hoffmann, who had failed in obtaining Runge's pyrrol, stated, that in searching for that substance among the more volatile products of the distillation of coal-tar, he had been enabled to confirm its existence in small quantity, as well as that of the new base to which he has given the name of picoline.
2. On General Differentiation. Part III.
Authors: Kelland
Published: June 2016

The object of this memoir is to effect the solution of differential equations, and equations of differences, in which the index of differentiation is a simple fraction. The process employed is the calculus of operations in which symbols of operation are treated in the same way as symbols of quantity, provided the former are subject to the same laws as the latter.
1. An Attempt to Elucidate and Apply Mr Warren's Doctrine respecting the Square Root of Negative Quantities.
Authors: Terrot
Published: June 2016

The author shewed, in the first place, that the successive radii of a circle forming equal angles with one another, are properly symbolized by the successive expressions,&c., where α is the arithmetical length of the radius, andthe angle which the several radii make with one another. He proceeded to shew how this theory of symbols, first advanced by Mr Warren, is applicable to the problems of plane trigonometry.
1. A Speculation, connecting the origin of Trap-Tuff, the cause of Earthquakes, and of Partial Changes of the Bed of the Ocean. Part II.
Authors: Mackenzie G. S.
Published: June 2016

The author, having observed in Iceland some remarkable intermixtures of lava with volcanic tuff; and, more recently, on the coast of East Lothian, a somewhat similar intermixture of masses of greenstone in trap-tuff, conceived the idea that cavities existed underneath the crust of the earth, or deeply seated within it, containing water exposed to heat, and the agitation of which, occasioned by the production of steam, had reduced the materials of trap-tuff to the state in which we find them, which had been afterwards erupted at the bottom of the sea, or forced between the beds of superincumbent rocks.
3. On the Temperature of Wells and Springs at Trevandrum in India (Lat. 8° 31′, Long. 5h 8m).
Authors: Cullen
Published: June 2016

The tables accompanying this letter include daily observations of three wells and one spring for the greater part of 1842 and 1843.
4. Chemical Notices.
Authors: Gregory
Published: June 2016

(1.)On a Fatty Substance derived from Animal Matter.

This substance, derived from a pig buried for fifteen years on the side of a hill, was found to consist of free fatty acids, with a mere trace of animal matter, and no appreciable trace of phosphate of lime. The bone earth appears to have been dissolved by the water percolating through the soil.