bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
3. Account of Earthquakes felt in Scotland during the Autumn and Winter of 1839
Authors: Milne David
Published: June 2016

“1.The first part of the paper described the number and intensity of the shocks felt between the 3d October 1839 and 13th April 1840, the point (situated near Comrie) from which they emanated, and the distance to which they extended.

“II. The next part of the paper was occupied with an account of the effects, both physical and moral, produced by the shocks.

Under the first class were described the different kinds of injury done to walls, according to their direction, and the nature of the ground on which they were built. Under the second were mentioned the alarm felt by the inhabitants of Strathearn during the great shock of 23d October, as also the quick perception of it by the lower animals, and the terror they evinced at it.
3. Analysis of Berg-Meal from Umea Lapmark
Authors: Traill
Published: June 2016

Professor Traill gave an account of the composition of a substance brought under the name of Berg-Meal from Swedish Lapmark by Mr Laing in 1838. It was found just under a bed of decayed mosses, forty miles above Degersfors, in Umea Lapmark. When examined by the microscope, it was found to consist of several species of minute organic remains, which Ehrenberg has considered as the siliceous skeletons of infusoria; the largest measured from 0.006 to 0.0005 of an inch. On analysis, Dr T. obtained 22 per cent, of organic matter, entirely destructible by a red heat; and he found the snow-white residue, which still retained the microscopic forms, to consist of 71.13 of silica, 5.31 alumina, and 0.15 oxide of iron.
1. Farther Researches on the Voltaic Decomposition of Aqueous and Alcoholic Solutions
Authors: Connell
Published: June 2016

Since his last communication to the Society, the author has made a variety of experiments, with the view of farther testing the truth of the proposed law which limits the direct action of the voltaic current to the solvent, in solutions of primary elementary combinations in the more important solvents. All his researches have farther confirmed this law in regard to aqueous solutions. Amongst those which he has examined is an aqueous solution of iodic acid as a type of oxyacids; and he found that by connecting such a solution mixed with starch, with a solution of starch in water, by means of asbestus, no iodine was indicated when the starch solution was negative, but was immediately manifested when the iodic solution was negative from the reducing action of hydrogen. In the whole circumstances, he has no hesitation in concluding, “that when aqueous solutions of primary combinations of elementary bodies are submitted to voltaic agency, the dissolved substance is not directly decomposed by the current, but only the solvent.”
1. Report of a Committee on the Papers of David Hume, bequeathed to the Society by the late Baron Hume
Authors: Hume David
Published: June 2016

The Committee to whose examination the papers bequeathed to the Royal Society of Edinburgh by the late Baron Hume, has been intrusted, in the view of suggesting what might be the most proper and useful plan for their future disposal, consistently with the peculiar character and functions of the learned body to which they now belong, having proceeded to examine their contents with care, have now to offer, though not without considerable hesitation, the views that have occurred to them.

Independently of some valuable and interesting autographs of Mr David Hume, to be mentioned in the sequel, the important part of this bequest, to which the attention of the Committee has been more particularly directed, consists of a miscellaneous and very broken mass of letters, which may, in general, be described as the Private and Confidential Correspondence of that illustrious philosopher and historian. Of these letters, about one hundred and forty-five are written by Mr Hume; the number of those addressed to him is about five hundred and fifty; making a total of nearly seven hundred letters.
2. On the Action of Water on Lead
Authors: Christison
Published: June 2016

The author, after briefly stating the results of his Experimental Inquiries, published on this subject in 1829, proceeded to describe two instances which had recently come under his notice, illustrative of the solvent action of certain terrestrial waters on lead, and of the danger of using this metal for conducting water in pipes, unless with a due regard to the circumstances which promote or prevent its corroding property.
1. On the most recent Disturbance of the Crust of the Earth, in respect to its suggesting a Hypothesis to account for the Origin of Glaciers
Authors: Mackenzie George
Published: June 2016

In this paper the author pointed out that the force, which had protruded granite and other matter among the strata, could not have been the same in point of time with that which broke up the crust of the earth into its present shape; because the matter in veins which we now see exposed to view on the faces of precipices, having been fluid at the time of protrusion, must have run out of the fissures on the rock being raised up.
1. On a New Species of British Grass of the genus Holcus, and Observations on some of the more closely allied species of Grasses found in the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh
Authors: Parnell Richard
Published: June 2016

This grass of the genus Holcus was stated to be new to the British Flora, since no mention of it is made in the works either of Sir James Smyth or Sir William Hooker; and as the author was unable to find it noticed in the continental works, he proposed for it the name of Biaristatus, as illustrative of the species. Several specimens gathered in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh were exhibited, and the characters by which it differed from Holcus mollis and Holcus lanatus were pointed out.
1. On the Structure, Formation, and Movement of Glaciers; and the probable cause of their former extension and subsequent disappearance
Authors: Stark James
Published: June 2016

The author endeavoured to prove, from the recorded facts stated by different writers, that the crystalline particles of which the ice of glaciers is composed do not sensibly enlarge after being consolidated into compact ice; that the crystals have been shewn to be fully and perfectly formed in the course of a few nights in the Polar Regions; and that they have a position perpendicular to the layer of ice which they form,—their length being thus determined by the thickness of that layer.
2. On Plague, in relation to the question of its Nature, whether or not a Contagious Disease
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

The author, after adverting to the methods of investigating the subject, generally and specially, and expressing preference for the latter method; and, after pointing out how desirable it is in inquiries of an obscure nature, to find out instantiœ crucis, brings forward and details some facts, which he considers as such, on the question of the contagion of plague.
3. Analysis of Two New Minerals of the Zeolite Family
Authors: Anderson Thomas
Published: June 2016

The minerals in question are the Phakolite of the Bohemian Mittelgebirge, and Caporcianite, a newly discovered mineral, first observed by Dr Savi, in a copper-mine at Caporciani, in the valley of Cæcino. The author found, that in point of composition, Caporcianite belongs to that division of the zeolites, which comprehend Analcine, Ledererite, Potash-harmotome, Chabasie, and Levyn, and whose constitution is represented by the mineralogical formula r S2+3 AS2 + z A q,—z being a variable quantity, r representing the variable monatomic bases, and A & S alumina and silica.
3. On the Property of Transmitting Light, possessed by Charcoal and Plumbago, in fine plates and particles
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

The charcoal of the pith of the elder consists of plates of extraordinary thinness. It was in examining this charcoal, that the author first observed the property which is the subject of his paper. He detected it by means of the microscope, using a high magnifying power. By analogy, he was led to infer that the power of transmitting light must belong to charcoal in general, in all its varieties, when reduced to the state of fine powder or filaments,—an influence which he found confirmed by experiment in a number of different instances, as the charcoal of the pith of the sycamore, of the pith of the rush, the fibre of cotton, flax, &c. He also found it to belong to lampblack, to cork in very fine powder, to anthracite, and plumbago.
1. On the Law of Visible Position in Single and Binocular Vision, and on the representation of Solid Figures by the Union of dissimilar Plane Pictures on the Retina
Authors: Brewster David
Published: June 2016

This subject is treated under eight different heads:—1. On the law of visible direction in Monocular vision. 2. On the law of visible direction in Binocular vision. 3. On vision of objects of three dimensions, by monocular vision; by binocular vision. 4. On the binocular vision of figures of different magnitudes. 5. On the cause of the perception of objects in relief by the coalescence of dissimilar pictures. 6. On the doctrine of corresponding points. 7. On the vision of cameos and intaglios. 8. On the change in the apparent position of the drawings of solid bodies.
1. On the Anatomy of the Human Placenta
Authors: Goodsir John
Published: June 2016

In the first section of the paper, the author described the parts which enter into the structure of the villi of the placenta. The villi are covered by a membrane with which anatomists are already familiar. Within this membrane, and attached to its internal surface, is a layer of cells, which has also been observed, and described as epithelium. The cells composing this layer, Mr Goodsir denominated the external cells of the villus. Th next structure is a membrane not hitherto described, and named by the author the internal membrane of the villus. The adhesion of this membrane to the external cells is so slight, that it is generally seen at some distance from them, even in villi which have undergone no violence.
1. Chemical Observations on the Flowers of the Camellia Japonica, Magnolia Grandiflora, and Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, and on three Proximate Principles which they contain.—Conclusion
Authors: Hope
Published: June 2016

The author first called the attention of the meeting to the principal facts which he had established in the two memoirs read to the Society in the year 1836. 1st, Of these the most important are, that when acids cause a red colour, and alkalis a green or yellow, in a blue vegetable infusion, they act on different substances;—the acids on erythrogen, and the alkalis on xanthogen. 2dly, That the compound of alkalis and xanthogen is of a yellow colour, and that when a blue infusion is changed to green, it is owing to the gradual intermixture of the newly generated yellow with the original blue.
3. On the Specific Gravity of certain Substances commonly considered lighter than Water
Authors: Davy
Published: June 2016

The author enters on the subject by adverting to the apparent lightness imparted to the common woods, and to certain vesicular minerals, by the entanglement of air in their substance, as is commonly understood, and as is proved by the action of the air-pump. The specific gravity of oak-wood, after having been kept under the exhausted receiver till it sunk in water, and ceased to give off air, he found to be (inclusive of hygrometric moisture) 1.58; that of deal, 1.18, or when crushed about 1.5; that of the pith of the elder, 1.45; and that of pumice, 1.94, or crushed, 2.41, which is nearly the same as that of obsidian, from which pumice appears to be formed by the action of volcanic fire.
3. Notice regarding the Bebeeru Tree of British Guiana
Authors: Maclagan A. Douglas
Published: June 2016

The plant bearing the above Indian name, and also called Sipeeri by the Dutch colonists, furnishes the hard and heavy timber known by the name of Greenheart. The object of the present paper was to state the result of experiments made by the author on the bark and seeds of the tree, which had been found by Mr Rodic, R. N., to contain a vegetable alkali possessed of the power of checking intermittent fevers. Dr Maclagan stated that the tree was unknown to botanists. Sir William Hooker and Dr Lindley had seen the fruit and declared it to be lauraceous, but the author had been unable to find, in Rees v. Esenbeck's Systema Laurinarum, any genus or even suborder of lauraceous plants to which he could refer it.
1. On the Cellular Fibre and the Incrusting Matters of Plants
Authors: Fromberg P. F. H.
Published: June 2016

The results obtained by the author, on analysing the cellular fibre of different kinds of plants, after a sufficient purification, are, on the whole, in conformity with those of Payen. But he considers the formula, which Payen has derived from his results, an inconvenient one; and that the composition of cellular fibre is in conformity with that of inuline, rather than with that of starch, as that chemist has supposed.
On the Human Races in Britain, enumerated by Tacitus
Authors: Ware Hibbert
Published: June 2016

This memoir had been undertaken as preliminary to an ethnological inquiry which the author had proposed to institute into the aborigines of the British Islands. It was premised, that, in this endeavour to seek for ancient races in those which were modern, great caution is required.

It has been asked, if, at the present day, we can as readily distinguish an Iberian type from one that is Gaulish or Caledonian, as was done more than seventeen hundred years ago in the time of Tacitus? It is answered, that, by a conservative principle in our nature, directed to the persistency of types, the influences of Time, Climate, and Civilization, are rendered of little avail.
1. 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: June 2016

The Acephalocyst or Hydatid is composed of a vesicle containing fluid. It propagates by means of internal gemmules, which are developed between the layers of the membrane composing the vesicle, and, after a certain time, are thrown off internally.

The author, after pointing out these distinguishing characters of the Hydatid, referred to the confusion which had arisen, from want of proper observations on this point, and which, with other causes, had been the reason why the animal nature of these creatures had been denied by some writers of great authority.
Opening Address, Session 1862–63
Authors: Forbes
Published: June 2016

Gentlemen,—I propose to address you on this occasion with reference to the following points:—

First, to recapitulate briefly the origin, the objects, and the Constitution of Societies similar to our own.

Secondly, to trace the rise and general history of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Thirdly, to consider what changes the progress of science and of society render necessary or desirable in the working of associations like ours, and how far such changes are safe and prudent.
1. On the Influence of Weather upon Disease and Mortality
Authors: Scoresby-Jackson R. E.
Published: June 2016

In the early part of this paper the author adverts to the antiquity of researches into the causal relations of health and mortality. Nevertheless, long as these have been the subject of inquiry, the literature of medical meteorology is meagre in the extreme; and in proportion to the time and labour bestowed upon the many other branches of medical science, this department may justly be regarded as having met with unmerited neglect. Reference is made, however, to the names of many eminent physicians, whose researches into the influence of weather upon the human constitution have contributed not a little to adorn the medical literature of the present century.
2. On a Pre-Brachial Stage in the Development of Comatula, and its importance in Relation to certain Aberrant Forms of Extinct Crinoids
Authors: Allman
Published: June 2016

The author described a stage in the development of Comatula subsequent to the free stage of the larva, and anterior to that in which it acquires arms. He believed that the subject of the paper was of much interest in affording a key to the nature of certain aberrant forms of extinct Crinoidea, such as Haplocrinus, Stephanocrinus, &c., for the peculiarities of these genera were for the most part exhibited in the young Comatula, where they admitted of an easy determination as elements in the composition of the Crinoid.
3. On a Clay Deposit with Fossil Arctic Shells, recently observed in the Basin of the Forth
Authors: Brown Thomas
Published: June 2016

The author having stated the circumstances which led to his discovering this bed with its fossils near the harbour at Elie, referred to a drawing of the section, and explained the position and contents of the different strata.

Specimens of the shells were exhibited, as named by Dr Otto Torrell of Lund, who had supplied important information as to their distribution. They are all, without exception, now living in the Arctic Seas. A majority of them are exclusively Arctic.
4. On the Remarkable Occurrence of Graphite in Siberia
Authors: Archer Thomas C.
Published: June 2016

The author in this paper gives the localities of three large mines of this mineral. The first situated in the Semipalatinsk district, Western Siberia, between 47° and 50° N. Lat., and in 80° E. Long. from Greenwich, on the Kirghesian Steppe. The locality of the mine is remarkably barren, and upon digging down a few feet, the graphite is found lying in a continuous stratum which has been ascertained to extend over a space of 2100 acres. This immense deposit belongs to Messrs Samsonof and Mamontof of Sernopol, and is worked for commercial purposes.
3. On Earth-Currents during Magnetic Calms, and their Connection with Magnetic Changes
Authors: Stewart Balfour
Published: June 2016

In two previous communications made by the author to the Royal Society of London, it had been endeavoured to show that earth currents and auroræ, which occur simultaneously with magnetic storms, are secondary currents due to the small but abrupt changes in the magnetism of the earth which such storms denote. Earth-currents also occur during periods of magnetic calm, but they can then be rendered visible only by means of a delicate galvanometer.
5. On some Kinematical and Dynamical Theorems
Authors: Thomson W.
Published: June 2016

In the course of investigations which the author had been led to make in connection with a Treatise on Natural Philosophy which he and Professor Tait are about to publish, he met with some remarkable theorems, which appear to be new and of considerable importance. As the details of the investigations will soon be published, a very brief sketch only is given here.
2. On the Temperature of certain Hot Springs in the Pyrenees
Authors: Scoresby-Jackson R. E.
Published: June 2016

In the year 1835, Principal Forbes very carefully observed the temperatures of certain springs in the Pyrenees, with the view of ascertaining to what extent changes of temperature occur in them. Observations previously made were, for several reasons, of uncertain worth, and Principal Forbes was desirous of then fixing “data for future observers with a degree of accuracy hitherto unattempted.”

The author having determined to spend his autumn holidays in the Pyrenees, believed that a careful repetition of such observations, after the lapse of twenty-eight years, would afford results of some interest. He furnished himself with accurate thermometers made for the purpose, and, during the month of August, carefully observed the temperatures of several of the springs visited by Principal Forbes in 1835.
2. On the Protection of Vegetation from Destructive Cold every night
Authors: Thomson W.
Published: June 2016

The effect of dew in protecting vegetation every clear still night of summer was long ago pointed out by Dr Wells; the correctness and acuteness of whose views on this subject have been generally recognised. The hypothesis recently put forth by Dr Tyndall, that absorption of radiant heat by aqueous vapour in the atmosphere is an effective defence against destructive degrees of cold, and the ready acceptance yielded to it by some of our highest authorities in the popular promulgation of the truths of science, seem to render it necessary to recall attention to Dr Wells' admirable work.
5. On the Chemical and Physical Principles in Connection with the Specific Gravity of Liquid and Solid Substances
Authors: Richter Otto
Published: June 2016

The subject of this paper, is of a nature to find favour with all those chemists who are disposed to recognise in the fast accumulating evidence of a new and remarkable order of chemical phenomena rich and valuable materials for the construction of a sounder and more comprehensive chemical theory. This new order of phenomena appears to me, nevertheless, but imperfectly appreciated and understood, even on the part of our most distinguished experimentalists. Thus, for instance, Monsieur Pasteur, the illustrious French philosopher, and with him a host of other eminent thinkers, is of opinion, that matter is indebted for its chemical and physical properties mainly and exclusively to the peculiar manner in which the atoms are grouped together. In alluding to the probable cause of circular polarisation, Monsieur Pasteur considers, that this singular property ought to be referred to the unsymmetrical disposition of the constituents, and that the restoration of the chemical symmetry must at the same time obliterate every trace of circularly polarising power.
8. Preliminary Note on the Connection between the Form and Optical Properties of Crystals
Authors: Catton Alfred R.
Published: June 2016

1. It is the object of this note to give an account of the results of investigations, which have had for their object the discovery of the connection between the form and optical properties of crystals. It is believed that in the results here given, some of the principal difficulties of this important problem have been overcome.

2. The first step towards the solution of this problem was made by Sir David Brewster in 1818. He discovered that crystals belonging to the prismatic, oblique, and anorthic systems, are biaxal; those belonging to the pyramidal and rhombohedral systems uniaxal, while crystals of the cubic system do not possess double refraction (a fact which had been previously stated by Hauy).
Address, as President
Authors: Brewster David
Published: June 2016

In taking the Chair, to which, by your kindness, I have been appointed, it may not be an inappropriate introduction to its duties if, in congratulating you on the prosperous state of the Society, I should refer to some facts in its history, not generally known, which have materially contributed to its prosperity and progress.

In the closing years of the last and in the first decade of the present century, the Society was in a very languid condition. In each of the years 1799, 1802, 1803, 1808, and 1809, only one of the papers read at its meetings was published in the Transactions; and in 1801 and 1806, not a single paper read in these years was published.
3. Note on the Phlogistic Theory
Authors: Brown Alexander Crum
Published: June 2016

When we consider that the Phlogistic Theory formed, as it were, the central point round which the facts of chemistry first crystallized into regular scientific form, and that for more than a hundred years it was recognised by all as the foundation of the science, we might reasonably suppose that it should contain at least some germ of truth.

I think I shall be able to show in the following note that not only is this the case, but that the theory itself, as stated by its founders, Beccher and Stahl, is, if not strictly true, a very close approximation to what we now recognise as truth.
1. Exhibition of Three Skulls of the Gorilla, received from M. Du Chaillu, with Observations relative to their Anatomical Features
Authors: Burt  , Turner W.
Published: June 2016

After placing on the table a series of three crania of the gorilla (Troglodytes gorilla), which he had a short time ago received from M. Du Chaillu, Dr Burt proceeded to relate to the Society several facts, recently come to light, in support of various of the statements of that traveller which had been called in question. He alluded to the doubts which had been cast on several of the statements of M. Du Chaillu, and to the uncourteous treatment he had received at the hands of some of his detractors, and enumerated some of the proofs since produced by that gentleman, which are now to be found in the British Museum, and in the possession of men of distinction in science, illustrative of the natural history and the habits of the people of Equatorial Africa, which confirmed the veracity of that gentleman's observations. The last letters received from M. Du Chaillu were written from Fernand Vaz previous to his departure for the interior.
Account of the Progress of the Geological Survey in Scotland, illustrated by Maps and Sections
Authors: Geikie Archibald
Published: June 2016

The object of the Geological Survey is to ascertain in detail the geological structure of the United Kingdom, and to publish the results in maps, sections, and descriptive memoirs. The Ordnance maps form the groundwork on which these geological investigations proceed; and as no district is examined until these maps are ready, the progress of the Geological Survey is guided in no small degree by that of the Ordnance engineers. In Scotland, the geological mapping has hitherto been conducted wholly upon the county maps on the scale of six inches to a mile, and the advantages of so large a scale are such, that although the work is finally reduced and published on the scale of one inch to a mile, no county is surveyed until its six-inch maps are ready for use.
2. On the Nudibranchiate Mollusca of St Andrews; Edwardsia; and the Polyps of Alcyonium digitatum
Authors: M'Intosh W. C.
Published: June 2016

The Nudibranchs owe their prominence in British zoology to the late Dr Johnston of Berwick, and to the splendid monograph of Messrs Alder and Hancock.

Inhabitants for the most part of the laminarian and littoral zones, the rocks and rock-pools, by minute and continued search, produced the greater number of those met with at St Andrews, the few others being procured from fishing-boats and debris of storms. Almost all require to be sought for with care, and generally escape superficial notice altogether. Most have been kept for a longer or shorter period in confinement, and some are living even now, though with greatly diminished bodies, and less brilliant tints, the results of insufficient food and other unfavourable circumstances.
3. Miscellaneous Observations on the Blood
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

These observations are given in six sections.

In the first, “On the Action of Water on the Bed Corpuscles of the Blood” the results are stated of trials of different proportions of water on these corpuscles; from which it would appear, that two of water to one of cruor of the blood of the common fowl, sufficed to change the form of the corpuscles, and to render them globular. Other changes are described, which were witnessed when water in great excess was used,—changes referred by the author to endosmosis and exosmosis, and rupture of the corpuscles, and the exclusion of their nuclei.
3. On the Application of Hamilton's Characteristic Function to Special Cases of Constraint
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

Hamilton's beautiful theory of Varying Action reduces to the discovery of a single function any problem connected with motion under the action of a conservative system of forces, and with constraint by any system of smooth fixed surfaces.

It does not appear to have been applied to cases (such as the brachistochrone) in which the requisite constraint is the thing to be determined.
5. On the Motion of a Heavy Body along the circumference of a Circle
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: June 2016

This paper contains a demonstration of the theorem given in the fourth volume of the proceedings at p. 419.

The theorem in question was arrived at by the comparison of the well-known formula for the time of descent in a circular arc, with another formula given in the “Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine” for November 1828, by a writer under the signature T. W. L. Each of these series is reached by a long train of transformations, developments, and integrations, which require great familiarity with the most advanced branches of the higher calculus. Yet the theorem which results from their comparison has an aspect of extreme simplicity, and seems as if it could be reached by an easier road.
4. Remarks on the Flora of Otago, New Zealand
Authors: Lindsay W. Lauder
Published: June 2016

The North Island flora has hitherto been regarded (in the absence of a knowledge of the South Island flora) as representing the general vegetation of our New Zealand possessions. But the New Zealand Islands extend through thirteen degrees of latitude, and the floras of their northern and southern extremes necessarily present various marked differences. The former flora is more subtropical, and the latter more antarctic in its affinities. The former, morever, is richer in natural orders, genera, and species.
5. On Saturated Vapours
Authors: Rankine W. J. Macquorn
Published: June 2016

As this paper consists almost wholly of formulæ, calculations, and tables, it is not suited for being read to a meeting; and therefore the following short abstract of its contents is alone offered for the purpose of being read aloud :—

In the “Edinburgh Philosophical Journal” for July 1849, the author proposed the following formula forthe pressure of saturated vapour corresponding to a given boiling point:—

where t is the absolute temperature, reckoned from the absolute zero; and A, B, and C are three specific constants, to be determined from at least three experiments on each substance; and he showed that the results of that formula agreed better with experiment than those of any other formula containing three constants only.
Opening Address, Session 1865–66
Authors: Brewster David
Published: June 2016

Among the various functions which our scientific institutions are expected to discharge, not the least important is to foster the labours and protect the interests of discoverers and inventors,—of those who create new forms of matter and new processes of art,—who invent new instruments, and new machinery for controlling and rendering useful the forces of the material world.
1. On the Dynamical Theory of Heat. Part VII
Authors: Thomson W.
Published: June 2016

This paper commences with a condensed re-statement of the fundamental principles and formulæ of the Dynamical Theory of Heat, from the first six parts of the author's treatment of the subject previously communicated to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and his articles “On the Thermo-elastic Properties of Matter,” in the “Quarterly Mathematical Journal” (April 1855), and on “Thermo-magnetism,” and “Thermo-electricity,” in Nichol's Cyclopedia (Edinburgh 1860).
3. Note on the Atomicity of Sulphur
Authors: Brown Alexander Crum
Published: June 2016

We now know a considerable number of elements which exhibit, in their compounds, two or more distinct degrees of atomicity. Thus we have N triatomic in ammonia and its analogues, in nitrous acid, the nitrites and the nitroso-substitution products; pentatomic in the ammonia salts, in nitric acid, and the nitro-substitution products. P triatomic in PH3, PCl3, phosphorous acid, and the phosphites; pentatomic in PCI5, POCI3, H3PO4, HPO3, &c.; C diatomic in CO, and tetratomic in almost all other compounds; a large number of such examples might be adduced, but these may suffice.
2. Notices of some Ancient Sculptures on the Walls of Caves in Fife
Authors: Simpson J. Y.
Published: June 2016

The county of Fife abounds in caves or “weems”—a derivative from the Gaelic name for caves—and their existence gives a title to the earldom of Wemyss. Some of the caves in Fife are historical, as St Rule's at St Andrews, St Adrian's near Elie, and St Margaret's at Dunfermline. St Serf of Culross the great patron saint of the west of Fife, is described by one of his biographers as having usually spent the forty days of Lent in a cave named, as such retreats often were, the Desertum. This cave at the Desertum— (or Dysart, to use the modern form of the name)—was used as a church up till near the time of the Reformation. About two miles eastward of Dysart, and near the village of Easter Wemyss, there is a range of large caves, seven or eight of which are at the present time open; but several more probably exist, having their openings covered over with debris. They stand about 15 or 20 feet above the level of high tide. Some of them are 80 to 100 feet in length, and of corresponding height and breadth.
3. Observations on New Lichens and Fungi from Otago, New Zealand
Authors: Lindsay Lauder
Published: June 2016

The paper consists mainly of the author's observations on the microscopic anatomy of the reproductive organs (with illustrative figures) of the following new species and varieties of Lichens and Fungi collected by him in the province of Otago, New Zealand, in 1861:—

In the “Flora Novæ-Zelandiæ” of Dr Hooker there is no record of any species of Opegrapha, Platygrapha, Umbilicaria, or Abrothallus; and Professor Churchill Babington therein specially remarks, indeed, on the supposed absence of the genera Opegrapha and Umbilicaria (Gyrophora) from the Lichen-Flora of New Zealand.
4. Orthogonal Isothermal Surfaces
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The Council reported that they had awarded the Keith Prize for the biennial period 1863–65, to Principal FORBES, St Andrews, for his “Experimental Inquiry into the Laws of Conduction of Heat in Iron Bars” which was printed in the last Part of the Transactions of the Society.

The Council also reported that they had awarded the Neill Prize for the triennial period 1862–65 to Andrew Crombie Ramsay, F.R.S., Professor of Geology in the Government School of Mines, and Local Director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, for his various works and memoirs published during the last five years, in which he has applied the large experience acquired by him in the Direction of the arduous work of the Geological Survey of Great Britain to the elucidation of important questions bearing on Geological Science.
1. Report on the Hourly Observations made at Leith Fort in 1826 and 1827, by Direction of the Society
Authors: Brewster David
Published: June 2016

In 1823 the Royal Society established a register of hourly observations of the thermometer at Leith Fort. They were made by the non-commissioned officers of artillery, and were continued for four years, from 1824 to 1827 inclusive. A report on these observations for the years 1824 and 1825 was published in the tenth volume of the Society's Transactions; but from causes to which it is unnecessary to refer, the report on the observations of 1826 and 1827 were not then published.
3. On some Laws of the Sterility of Women
Authors: Duncan J. Matthews
Published: June 2016

In this paper absolute sterility is held to mean the condition of a woman who, under ordinary favourable circumstances for breeding, produces no living or dead child, nor any kind of abortion. Sterility is held to mean the condition of a woman who, under ordinary favourable circumstances for breeding, produces no living and viable child, or adds not one to the population. Relative sterility is held to mean the condition of a woman who, while she may or may not be absolutely sterile, while she may or may not be sterile, is, under ordinary favourable conditions for breeding, sterile in relation to the circumstance of time, or, in other words, in relation to her age and the duration of her married life.
4. Description of Pygopterus Greenockii (Agassiz); with Notes on the Structural Relations of the genera Pygopterus, Amblypterus and Eurynotus
Authors: Traquair Ramsay H.
Published: June 2016

In this paper a detailed description is given of a species of Pygopterus (P. Greenockii) from the carboniferous shales of Wardie, Mid-Lothian, which was named by Agassiz, but without any figure or description, beyond the mention of the fact that the scales of the anterior part of the trunk are higher than broad, a circumstance distinguishing it from all the other species of this genus.

According to specimens exhibited by the author, the scales are of different forms on different parts of the body, being very minute, and nearly equilateral along the belly; the fins are large, and the dorsal is placed so far back as to be nearly opposite the anal; the interspinous bones of the azygos fins are well developed, and there are traces of vertebral apophyses, but none of vertebral bodies.
3. On M. Mége Mouriés' Process of Preparing Wheat Flour
Authors: Wilson
Published: June 2016

Some twelve years ago M. Mége Mouriés had his attention directed to the composition of the grain of wheat, and to the processes of grinding and panification. The object of that gentleman's investigations was to show the defective knowledge and waste of material in the ordinary practices of the trade; but although these were fully proved by the results, there appeared to have been trade and other difficulties in the way of its general adoption. Having last year acted as juror on “Food Substances” at the Dublin Exhibition, I had my attention recalled to the subject by an article which was submitted to the jury under the name of “Cerealina,” purporting to be a preparation of wheat flour by the process indicated by M. Mége Mouriés, and which, on examination, confirmed the opinions which had been previously formed of its food value. On further inquiry, it was found that a simple mechanical process had been devised in the United States, where the flour had been prepared, for effecting the most difficult part of M. Mége Mouriés' process—that of decorticating the grain.
4. Observations on Meat (Butchers'-meat), in relation to the Changes to which it is liable under different circumstances
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

Animal food is of so much importance, in relation to our wants as to diet, that I have been induced to make some experiments on it, with the hope of obtaining useful results. These I now submit to the Society, imperfect as they are, trusting that they may not prove altogether useless, and that they may lead to further inquiry.
5. The Buried Forests and Peat Mosses of Scotland
Authors: Geikie James
Published: June 2016

This communication is an attempt to eliminate the geological history of our Scottish peat mosses, which appear to contain the record of certain changes of climate, that have not hitherto fully engaged attention. The phenomena revealed by our peat mosses are threefold—First, the buried trees, and the condition of this country at the period of their growth; second, the causes which led to the destruction of these trees; and, third, the present aspect of the peat mosses. Under the first head is to be considered the continental period of Great Britain, to which the buried trees in the older peat bogs of the country belong. Under the second head, the causes of the destruction of these trees are chiefly assigned to the upward growth of wet mosses, the chilling effects of which caused the overthrow of the trees.
Opening Address, Session 1869–70
Authors: Neaves
Published: June 2016

I have been deputed by your President to address you to-night from this chair, and so to attempt a task which would have been much better performed by one who possesses all the requisite scientific acquirements which I want, and without which, I fear, justice can only be imperfectly done to the work which I have undertaken.

It is usual at this meeting to give some notice of those of our Members who have died during the preceding year, and the list on this occasion contains so many, and some of them such distinguished names, that it will leave me no space for touching on other topics.
2. On the Old River Terraces of the Earn and Teith, viewed in connection with certain Geological Arguments for the Antiquity of Man
Authors: Brown Thomas
Published: June 2016

The author described the circumstances which led him, in 1863, to begin the investigation of these terraces, and showed he had traced their course along the Earn from Loch Earn to where they meet the tide. He had also examined the valley of the Teith, and had found the same deposits from the head of Loch Lubnaig to near Stirling. There are three different levels on which the terraces lie at different heights above the river bed. The lowest consists of the present banks of the stream and haughs or meadows; above this there is an intermediate terrace, which, in its turn, is surmounted by the highest. Owing to the effects of denudation, one or other of these levels is frequently interrupted or obstructed, but they are ever again found recurring, and the whole three present themselves so frequently as to show that this threefold terrace system is the true key to these valley deposits.
1. Experiments on the Colorific Properties of Lichens
Authors: Lindsay W. Lauder
Published: June 2016

The author's paper consists mainly of a Table exhibiting certain of the positive results of many hundred experiments on the colouring matters contained in or educible from Lichens. The experiments in question are partly a repetition, and partly an extension on a more systematic and complete scale, of a series of researches made by the author between 1852 and 1855, the results of which were originally submitted to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. The present series of experiments includes the whole family of the Lichens. The Table represents mainly the effects of chemical reagents on solutions of the lichen colouring-matters, or colorific principles, in boiling alcohol or water. The nomenclature of the Colour-reactions is that of Werner and Syme.
1. On Reciprocal Figures, Frames, and Diagrams of Forces
Authors: Maxwell J. Clerk
Published: June 2016

The reciprocal figures treated of in this paper are plane rectilinear figures, such that every line in one figure is perpendicular to the corresponding line in the other, and lines which meet in a point in one figure correspond to lines which form a closed polygon in the other.

By turning one of the figures round 90°, the corresponding lines become parallel, and are more easily recognised. The practical use of these figures depends on the proposition known as the “Polygon of Forces.” If we suppose one of the reciprocal figures to represent a system of points acted on by tensions or pressures along the lines of the figure, then, if the forces which act along these lines are represented in magnitude, as they are in direction, by the corresponding lines of the other reciprocal figure, every point of the first figure will be in equilibrium.
2. On the Genetic Succession of Zooids in the Hydroida
Authors: Allman
Published: June 2016

In this communication an attempt was made to express by means of formulae the various modifications presented by the life series of the Hydroida. It was also shown that there existed among the Hydroida both centripetal and centrifugal forms of development. These were compared with one another, and numerous analogies between the hydroid gonosome and the inflorescence of plants were demonstrated.
1. On Spectra formed by Doubly Eefracting Crystals in Polarised Light
Authors: Deas Francis
Published: June 2016

The instrument used in the experiments forming the subject of this paper was a spectrum microscope, to which a polarising apparatus is attached, consisting of two Nicol's prisms, each of which is capable of being turned through any required number of degrees.

The first part of the paper relates to the spectra obtained when one or more thin films of mica or selenite are interposed between the polariser and the dispersion prisms, the light being subsequently analysed.

The method employed was, having first determined the axes of the films, to place them on the stage of the instrument which is rotatory, and to adjust them at various angles to the plane of polarisation.
7. Notes of some Experiments on the Rate of Flow of Blood and some other Liquids through tubes of narrow diameter
Authors: Duncan J. Matthews , Gamgee Arthur
Published: June 2016

The experiments, of which the results are recorded in the present communication, were undertaken in order to determine the rate at which blood flows through tubes of moderately small diameter, with a view to the study of the mechanical theory of dysmenorrhœa; they were afterwards extended to blood-clot, serum, milk, and urine, &c.
Address on “The Results of the More Recent Excavations on the Line of the Roman Wall in the North of England.”
Authors: Kelland
Published: June 2016

Nearly a century after Julius Cæsar had landed in this island the conquest of Britain was begun in earnest.

In the year 79 Agricola planted the Eagles of Rome on the banks of the Tyne, and during the next campaign carried his conquests as far as the Tay. Before he gave up his command, he had raised the Roman standard in the Orkney Islands.

When Rome planted her foot she usually planted it firmly, and thus she retained in her grasp all the best portions of the island for more than 300 years. Some of the legions which landed in the time of Claudius remained in the island until the close of the Roman domination.
1. Note on two Species of Foraminifera, and on some Objects from the Nicobar Islands of great Ethnological interest
Authors: Archer T. C.
Published: June 2016

Mr Archer exhibited two interesting Foraminifers, one being Saccammina Carteri, which forms a large proportion of the Carboniferous limestone at Elfhills, Northumberland; the other, a gigantic species of the Arenaceous group brought from Persia by the late Mr Loftus, and named after him, Loftusia persica. The latter specimen was that to which Mr Archer especially called the attention of the Society, as it was similar to a class of fossils which had previonsly been found in the Upper Greensand formation in England, and believed to be sponges.
3. Additional Note on the Motion of a Heavy Body along the Circumference of a Circle
Authors: Sang E
Published: June 2016

In the course of physical inquiries we meet with many problems having the appearance of great simplicity, and yet presenting to the analyst difficulties of the highest order. The law of the motion of a heavy body along the circumference of a circle is one of these.

One particular case of this motion, viz., the case of the swinging of a clock-pendulum, is of paramount importance, and has been investigated with very great care. In this case our attention is directed principally to the computation of the time of an entire oscillation, since it is this which determines the beating of the clock.
5. On the Efficient Powers of Parturition
Authors: Duncan J. Matthews
Published: June 2016

There can be no doubt that, among the numerous matters at present occupying the attention of obstetricians, none is more important than the subject of this paper. So evident is the correctness of this statement that one cannot but wonder why attempts to arrive at the truth have been, so far as we know, delayed till the present day. It is long since excellent researches of an analogous kind in regard to the force of the circulation of the blood, the power of the ventricles of the heart, were published; yet such researches do not seem naturally so attractive, nor do they give promise of so valuable practical results as those into the power of labour.
1. On the Gravid Uterus and the Arrangement of the Fœtal Membranes in the Cetacea
Authors: Turner
Published: June 2016

In this memoir the author described the dissection of the gravid uterus of an Orca gladiator, for which he was indebted to Mr James Gatherer of Lerwick. The paper contained an account of the uterus and appendages, the fœtal membranes, the position and general form of the fœtus, and a comparison of the placentation with that of other mammals possessing the diffused form of placenta. The structure of the uterine mucous membrane, its subdivision into a gland layer and a crypt layer, the relations of the glands to the crypts, their structure, the arrangement of their blood-vessels, and the much greater vascularity of the crypts than of the glands, were especially described.