bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
1. On Cases of Instability in Open Structures
Authors: Sang E.
Published: June 2016

In the course of some remarks on the design proposed for the Forth Bridge, the author of this paper had enunciated the remarkable theorem, that any symmetric structure built on a rectangular base, and depending on linear resistance alone, is necessarily unstable. The proof of it, given in the eleventh volume of the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, is derived from considerations affecting the special case; but this theorem is only one of an extensive class, and therefore the subject of instability among linear structures in general is here taken up.

In the case of regular or semi-regular arrangements, having the corners of an upper supported from the corners of an under polygon, it is shown that when the figures are of odd numbers the structures are stable, while those with even numbers are unstable ; unless indeed the polygons be placed conformably, in which case the stability extends to both classes.
3. Note on Solar Radiation
Authors: Aitken John
Published: June 2016

In the many theories that have been advanced to explain the comparative constancy of solar radiation in long past ages as evidenced by geological history, it has been generally assumed that the temperature of the sun has not varied much, and to account for its not falling in temperature a number of theories have been advanced, all suggesting different sources from which it may have received the energy which it radiates as heat. Since the chemical theory was shown to be insufficient to account for the vast amount of heat radiated, other theories, such as the meteoric theory and the conservation of energy theory, have been advanced.
6. Note on Hoar-Frost
Authors: Aitken John
Published: June 2016

Hoar-frost is generally described as frozen dew, and is supposed to be deposited in the same manner and under the same conditions as dew; the only difference being in the temperature at which it is deposited. Though in a general way this may be so, yet there are certain differences in the conditions, and the manner in which the vapour is condensed at the different temperatures, which seem worth referring to.
8. Investigations on the Influence of certain Rays of the Solar Spectrum on Root-Absorption and on the Growth of Plants
Authors: Griffiths A. B. , Griffiths A. B.
Published: June 2016

This paper details an investigation undertaken to see the influence of certain rays of white light on root-absorption and assimilation in the vegetable kingdom. One of us has been for some years investigating a problem as to the use of ferrous sulphate as a plant food (see Dr Griffiths' memoirs in Journal of Chemical Society [Trans.], 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887). In the experiments to be detailed here, we have used ferrous sulphate as an indicator of root-absorption.
5. Note on Cobaltic Alums
Authors: Marshall Hugh
Published: June 2016

From a peculiar change of colour observed in the electrolysis of a solution of copper-cobalt potassium sulphate, the author was recently induced to make some experiments on the behaviour of cobalt sulphate solution when electrolysed in such a manner that the reducing product of the decomposition could not act on the solution. For this purpose a divided cell was used, so that the two electrodes were practically in separate vessels. The apparatus will be fully described in a future communication.
5. A Diatomaceous Deposit from North Tolsta, Lewis
Authors: Rattray John
Published: June 2016

Mr H. A. Webster, Mr John S. Yeo, Mr John Cockburn, Dr A. S. Cumming, and Mr J. W. Capstick were balloted for and declared duly elected Fellows of the Society.
5. Researches on the Problematical Organs of the Invertebrata—especially those of the Cephalopoda, Gasteropoda, Lamellibranchiata, Crustacea, Insecta, and Oligochæta
Authors: Griffiths A. B.
Published: June 2016

Being convinced that a thorough examination (both from a chemical and physiological point of view) of the various problematical organs of the Invertebrata -will throw much light on their physiology and their relationship to the Vertebrata, these investigations have been undertaken with that object in view.
3. On the Discharge of Albumen from the Kidneys of Healthy People
Authors: Stewart Grainger
Published: June 2016

Great diversity of opinion exists as to the frequency of the occurrence of albuminuria in healthy people, and elaborate inquiries have led different observers to conspicuously contradictory conclusions. Posner has said that his observations satisfy him that traces of albumen exist in every normal urine, and may be demonstrated if sufficiently delicate methods are employed. One of the most distinguished authorities on the subject, Dr Senator of Berlin, says that his observations supply good reason why he should consider it not improbable that, if we were to examine the urine for long periods at different hours of the day, and with, great care, we should sooner or later find it to contain albumen in the case of every healthy man. Dr Kleudgen, in the course of a special study of albuminuria in relation to epilepsy, came to the conclusion that traces of albumen could be demonstrated in any urine above a certain degree of concentration. Dr de la Celle de Chateaubourg found albumen in the urine of 592 out of 701 healthy people whom he examined, that is in 84 per cent. Dr Capitan found that among 98 French soldiers 44 or 44·9 percent, had albuminuria.
1. On the Origin of the Great Alpine Lakes
Authors: Sacco Federico
Published: June 2016

Among the many and various controversies to which the geological study of the great chain of the Alps has given rise, not the least interesting is that which has reference to the origin of the beautiful lakes which occur most numerously in the lower reaches of the mountain valleys. None of the theories hitherto set forth seems to me to explain the origin of these remarkable basins, and in place of these I now venture to adduce one of my own, which has been suggested by some years's; observations on the Tertiary and Quaternary accumulations of the valley of the Po. Of course, it will be understood that I am far from denying that lacustrine basins may owe their origin to many various causes; and for lakes in general I am inclined to adopt some such classification as the following:
5. The Luminous Organs of Nyctiphanes norvegica, Sars
Authors: Cunningham J. T. , Vallentin Rupert
Published: June 2016

The fact that light was emitted in the dark by a Schizopodous shrimp was first noticed by J. Vaughan Thomson, who, in his Zoological Researches, published about 1820, describes a species which he observed to be luminous under the name Noctiluca. He mentions the presence of scattered spots of red pigment in the animal, but was quite unaware that the production of light was confined to certain definite organs enveloped by this pigment—was indeed unaware of the existence of the organs which form the subject of this paper.
7. On Glories
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

When Mr Omond was appointed to the Ben-Nevis Observatory I requested him to take every opportunity of observing what are called Glories—specially noting, when possible, their angular diameters and the order of their colours, so that it might be possible to decide upon the exact mode in which they are produced.
3. Preliminary Note on the Chemistry of Strophanthin
Authors: Fraser Thomas R.
Published: June 2016

Since my former communications, in which several facts relating to the chemistry of Strophanthus kispidus have been stated, I have completed a systematic examination of various parts of this plant, and more particularly of the seeds. Eeserving a detailed descrip tion of the results of this examination, I propose now to mention only a few of these results in a brief form.
4. On a New Diffusiometer and other Apparatus for Liquid Diffusion
Authors: Coleman J. J.
Published: June 2016

Supposing a tall glass tube open at both ends be cemented into a reservoir packed full of common salt, and the tube then carefully filled up with water, and the whole apparatus immersed overhead in a jar of water, in a few days or weeks (depending upon the length of the tube) particles of salt will arrive at the top of the tube and diffuse into the water atmosphere
14. On the Quotient of a Simple Alternant by the Difference-Product of the Variables
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

On 17th March 1879 I gave to the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh an account of some researches on the subject of Alternants. A short descriptive abstract of the communication was published in the Proceedings, vol. x. pp. 102, 103, the eoncluding paragraph of which is as follows:
16. Minute of Meeting of Special Committee on the Victoria Jubilee Prize, 27th June 1887
Authors: Jubilee Victoeia , Gunning  , Janeiro Rio
Published: June 2016

This Prize, founded in 1887, consisting of the interest of. £1000, is to be awarded triennially by the Council of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
4. On Benzyl Phosphines
Authors: Letts E. A. , Wheeler W.
Published: June 2016

The phosphines have, comparatively speaking, been little studied, and most of our information concerning them is due to the investigations of only two or three observers. There are consequently many points in their history which require examination, and the object we had in making the present research was to extend our knowledge of them as a group. We experimented in the benzyl series for several reasons, among which we may mention the following
1. On a Practical Constant-Volume Air Thermometer
Authors: Bottomley J. T.
Published: June 2016

In the fourth Mémoire of his celebrated Relation des Expériences, published in 1847, Regnault gives cogent reasons for preferring the air thermometer before any other as the instrument by means of which temperatures may be defined, and high temperatures determined. The thermodynamic researches of Sir William Thomson have furnished an absolute thermodynamic definition of temperatures ; and the experimental researches of Dr Joule and Sir William Thomson have established the practical agreement of Regnault's air thermometers with the thermodynamic scale of temperatures. Lastly, the air thermometer is at present the only instrument, with the exception of a mercurial thermometer which has been compared with an air thermometer, by means of which temperatures higher than, say, 150° C. or 200° C. can be determined within 3° C. or 4° C.*
2. On the Roots of ε2 = −1
Authors: Plarr Gustav
Published: June 2016

The imaginaries of Algebra have done good service during the process of discovery of the principles of quaternions. Now that those principles have been founded on the basis of operations on real lines, we must no more admit as the equivalent of a unit-vector. Vectors, and unit-vectors, by their very definition, represent real lines, each of given direction and length, and a real quantity cannot be represented by an imaginary one.
3. On Vanishing Aggregates of Determinants
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

In a paper communicated to the Berlin Academy on 27th July 1882, Kronecker pointed out that certain sets of minors of any axisymmetric determinant are connected by a linear relation, or, as I have tried to put it more definitely in the present title, that certain aggregates of minors are equal to zero. This discovery has attracted considerable attention in Germany, as the list of papers herewith given suffices to show.
3. On Transition-Resistance and Polarisation
Authors: Peddie W.
Published: June 2016

In a paper communicated to this Society last Session, I gave an empirical formula representing the relation between current-strength and time when platinum plates are used for the passage of a current through acidulated -water, the electromotive force being that of a single Daniell cell. As is well known, we can look upon the electrodes as condensers of very great capacity.
4. The Change in the Thermoelectric Properties of Tin at its Melting Point
Authors: Campbell Albert
Published: June 2016

As in all the thermoelectric diagrams hitherto published the lines of the metals stop short at the melting points, it seemed interesting to the writer to trace the change in the thermoelectric properties of a metal as the temperature is raised to, and beyond, its melting point. The fusible metals containing bismuth or antimony were rejected, because their large expansion at the point of solidification rendered them very unmanageable; ordinary block tin was accordingly chosen.
7. On Mr Omond's Observations of Fog-Bows
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The author remarked that one of the constituents of the double fog-bow described in some of Mr Omond's recent observations, is obviously the ordinary primary rainbow, diminished in consequence of the very small size of the water drops. But the other, having nearly the same radius but with its colours in the opposite order, appears to be due to ice-crystals in the fog. This is quite consistent with the record of temperatures. Just as small drops of water may remain unfrozen in air below 0° C, small ice crystals may remain unmelted at temperatures above that point.
3. The Formula of Morphine
Authors: Dott R. B. , Stockman Ralph
Published: June 2016

As the alkaloid morphine, discovered in 1804, was the first substance of the kind known, it naturally received a good deal of attention. Some years later the new base was analysed by several distinguished chemists, but their results did not lead them to a formula accurately indicating the composition of the alkaloid. To Laurent belongs the honour of having given the formula C17H19NO3 (using the modern notation), the accuracy of which formula has been confirmed by subsequent analyses, particularly by those of Matthiessen and Wright. Nothing was ever observed to suggest that the formula is a multiple of these members until Wright, after an elaborate investigation of the derivatives of morphine and codeine, came to the conclusion that the true formula must be at least double the empirical, and that we ought therefore to write C34H38N2O6.
8. Reply to Professor Boltzmann
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

Hearing, again by accident, that Professor Boltzmann has in the Vienna Sitzungsberichte published a new attack on my papers about the Kinetic Theory, I at once ordered a copy, which has at length arrived. As my papers appeared in our Transactions, I think my answer to this fresh attack should be communicated in the first place to this Society. The time I can spare for such work at this period of the year is very scant, and Prof. Boltzmann has raised a multitude of questions. I will take them in order. But I must commence by saying, with reference to Prof. Boltzmann's peculiar remarks on my behaviour as a critic, that, while leaving them to the judgment of readers, I shall have to bring before the same readers several instances in which Prof. Boltzmann has completely misstated the contents or the objects of my papers. This is not a new departure. In his first attack on me he said that I had nowhere stated that my investigations were confined to hard spherical particles; whereas I had been particularly explicit on that very point. But fresh cases of a similar character abound in this new attack.
1. On a Mode of Exhibiting the Action of the Semicircular Canals of the Internal Ear
Authors: Brown Crum
Published: June 2016

The problem is to contrive an apparatus in which, by means of inertia, acceleration of angular velocity about any axis in either sense may be observed and approximately measured.
3. Note on the Influence of Pressure on the Solubility of Carbonate of Lime in Sea Water containing Free Carbonic Acid
Authors: Reid W. G.
Published: June 2016

Analysis of the dredgings brought to the surface during the Voyage of H.M.S. “Challenger,” has shown, that in deeper water as the depth increased, the quantity of carbonate of lime shells decreased,* and as the pressure is in direct proportion to the depth under water, it was surmised that some connection existed between the pressure and the disappearance of lime shells. To ascertain if there was any truth in this surmise, Mr Murray suggested the following experiments. The results are unfortunately incomplete; nevertheless, Mr Murray thinks it advisable to publish them.
3. Morphological Changes that occur in the Human Blood during Coagulation
Authors: Haycraft John Berry , Carlier E. W.
Published: June 2016

A grant was made by the British Medical Association, on the recommendation of the Scientific Grants Committee of the Association, towards the expenses of a research, a part of which appears in this communication.
4. On a New Diffusiometer and other Apparatus for Liquid Diffusion. Part II
Authors: Coleman J. J.
Published: June 2016

I had the honour of communicating to the Koyal Society of Edinburgh, upon the 15th July last, a paper describing a new difiusiometer. This instrument was devised to make visible to the eye the diffusion of acids or alkalies into a supernatant column of water.
8. Notice of the Recent Earthquake in Scotland, with Observations on those since 1882
Authors: Stevenson Charles A.
Published: June 2016

In 1880 a rather sharp shock of earthquake was felt in Scotland, an account of which I communicated to this Society. Since then seven shocks have been felt in Scotland, and a notice of them, especially of the last, which occurred this year, will, I hope, be of interest to the Society.
4. On the Principles of Animal Morphology. By Professor Wilhelm His of Leipzig
Authors: Murray John , Turner William
Published: June 2016

Dear Sir,—During the very delightful excursion in your “Medusa,” in which I had, with two of our friends, the pleasure of accompanying you through some of the western lochs of Scotland, we had not only many opportunities of admiring the special beauties of your country, but also many periods devoted to scientific work and to scientific discussions. You were good enough to demonstrate to us your ingenious methods of determining deep-sea temperatures. You dredged in our presence masses of beautiful shining Schizopods, and also before our eyes you formed the once so famous Bathybius Huxleyi. We conversed on general principles of natural philosophy, and on the different modes of regarding organic life and organic forms. You then invited me to give you a written explanation of my own morphological views—an invitation which I propose to aocept in the following pages.
3. On a Case of Absence of the Corpus Callosum in the Human Brain
Authors: Bruce Alexander
Published: June 2016

Cases of absence or defect of the corpus callosum are of interest not only because of their great rarity, but because of the light which they throw on the distribution and functions of this commissure, and on the development of the mesial aspects of the cerebral hemispheres.
5. The Electrolytic Decomposition of Proteid Substances
Authors: Stewart George N.
Published: June 2016

Of late this subject has become of considerable practical interest in medicine, especially in connection with the use of voltaic currents for the treatment of uterine fibroids and other pelvic disorders.
4. Notes on a Lucifer-like Decapod Larva from the West Coast of Scotland
Authors: Brook George
Published: June 2016

Whilst examining my “tow-nettings” from the West Coast, I have met with a peculiar Decapod larva, which, so far as I know, is unlike anything previously described. In general appearance it is very like semi-adult forms of Lawifer, having an elongated “neck,” at the tip of which the eyes and antennae are carried. My specimens were obtained from two localities—1st, about half a dozen at about the same stage, from tow-nettings taken in Machrie Bay (west shore of Arran), 17th September 1886; and 2nd, about 20 specimens, some further advanced than those of the previous gathering, which were collected at a depth of 8 to 10 fathoms in the Sound of Mull, 24th August 1887. These were associated with various larval stages of Porcellana, Galathea, and other Decapods.
Chairman's Opening Address
Authors: MacLagan Douglas
Published: June 2016

It is a time-honoured custom in this as in other learned societies, that the annual Session shall be inaugurated and its last meeting closed by an address from the Chair, and it is my duty now to say a few words to you on the occasion of the opening of our 106th Session.

I would have shrunk from undertaking this duty, but for the reason that our indefatigable Secretary, Professor Tait, has expiscated the fact that I am the only one of the Society's Vice-Presidents who has never given any address from the Chair, and thus the Council of the Society was led to insert in their minutes a request—almost equivalent to a command—that I should say something to you on the present occasion. I comply with this, not from any feeling that I am qualified to do so, but on the principle that those who accept the honours of the Society have no right to do so without attempting, however imperfectly, to discharge the relative duties.
On Pseudalius alatus, Leuckart, collected by Mr Robert Gray in the Arctic Seas, and other species of the Genus
Authors: Linstow O. V.
Published: June 2016

Dr John Murray was good enough to send me numerous specimens of Pseudalius alatus, obtained in the summer of 1888 by Mr Robert Gray, on the coast of Greenland, from Monodon monoceros.

This Nematode has been only once described—by Leuckart, but that at a time when the methods of investigation were still imperfect. My results are thus essentially different from his. Leuckart called the species Strongylus alatus, and noted as its habitat the cranial cavity of Monodon monoceros.
On the Virial Equation for Molecular Forces, being Part IV. of a Paper on the Foundations of the Kinetic Theory of Gases
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

(Abstract.)

In the preceding part of this paper I considered the consequences of a special assumption as to the nature of the molecular force between two particles, the particles themselves being still treated as hard spheres. My object was to obtain, by means of rigorous calculation, in as simple a form as possible, a general notion of the effects due to the molecular forces. My present object is to apply this general notion to the formation and interpretation of the Virial Equation.
The Relation among Four Vectors. Note on Dr Muir's Paper
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

A system of five points is completely determined by the vectors joining one of them with the other four. If a, β, γ be three of these, the fourth is necessarily δ = xα + yβ + zγ. Hence any property characteristic of a group of five points will remain when x, y, z are eliminated.
The History and Theory of Heredity
Authors: Thomson J. Arthur
Published: June 2016

The present paper has a three-fold object:—(1) to give a history of the theories of heredity which have been proposed by so many naturalists, with an appreciation of these in the light of recent advances; (2) to gather together the various contributions which have made the modern restatement possible; (3) to enter a protest against what the author believes to be the extreme position so firmly maintained by Weismann, to whom, however, much of the recent progress has been. due.
Note on the Transformation of Ciliated into Stratified Squamous Epithelium as a result of the Application of Friction
Authors: Haycraft John Berry , Carlier E. W.
Published: June 2016

(Abstract.)

In man, in the rabbit, and some other animals the trachea is built up of a series of cartilaginous rings incomplete behind; the rings being completed in this position by the trachealis muscle.

The mucous membrane forms a smooth cylindrical lining for the whole tube, and is covered by a ciliated epithelium.

In the cat and dog the cartilage rings completely encircle the trachea, and overlap posteriorly, and the trachealis muscle, which is well developed, is placed outside the cartilage, and has a powerful action in varying the diameter of the tube.

When this muscle contracts the overlapping ends of the cartilage ride one upon another, and the projecting ends form a vertical ridge down the inside of the trachea, which can be readily seen on slitting the organ open. This ridge is separated by a deep groove from the other end of the plate.
Observations on the Metabolism of Man during Starvation
Authors: Paton D. Noël , Stockman Ralph
Published: June 2016

Although the metabolism during starvation has been investigated in the most elaborate and exhaustive manner in the lower animals by many different observers, as yet few observations have been accomplished in man.

In 1880 Tanner undertook a fast of forty days. We have been able to procure only a few fragmentary observations upon his case (British Medical Journal, vol. ii., 1880). At the commencement of his fast he weighed 71.600 kilos., and at the end of twenty-five days his weight had fallen to 60.000 kilos., indicating a loss of about 11.600 kilos., or .162 kilos, per kilo. of his original weight.
The Prolonged Action of Sea-Water on Pure Natural Magnesium. Silicates
Authors: Johnstone Alexander
Published: June 2016

Pure mineral magnesium silicates are amongst the most difficult substances to decompose by naturally occurring agents. Pure water exerts no chemical action on them, neither does water containing carbonic acid gas, even although the latter body be present to the point of saturation. Fresh spring, river, or lake waters containing alkaline carbonates in solution are also, as my experiments prove, totally unable to decompose pure natural silicate of magnesia. Of course, it must be remembered that the amount of alkaline carbonate in natural waters is very small.
Deductive Evidence of a Uterine Nerve Centre, and of the Location of such in the Medulla Oblongata
Authors: Oliver James
Published: June 2016

At no time does Nature furnish us with any proof of bodies existing in a state of absolute rest. The whole molecular world, organic as well as inorganic, is, as far as we can ascertain, in constant motion. In consequence of this well-established principle, every function of the body may rightly be considered as resulting from a change in the molecular state of the organ manifesting such, and as being the expression of a correlative variation occurring in its representative nerve centre. Through the agency of long continuance the visceral disturbances are now carried on in a somewhat automatic manner, and fail to excite any feeling of their existence, although they may at one time, in the evolution of higher organisation have produced a conscious sensation.
Note on Mr M'Aulay's Paper
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

There is, undoubtedly, an omission in § 182 of my Quaternions (2nd ed.), but it is by no means so serious as Mr M'Aulay asserts. In fact the solution there given is merely an unfinished one, not in any sense erroneous. I sketch briefly the completion of it, as prepared for the new edition of my book, which is now being printed.
The Development of Diarthrodial Joints in Birds and Mammals
Authors: Hepburn David
Published: June 2016

After giving a summary of recent literature on the subject, the author then proceeded to state the nature of the material which he had employed in the present investigation.

The bird selected was the common fowl (Gallus domest.), and he had examined a series of microscopic sections through the limbs from the fourth day of incubation to the day of hatching.

The mammalian embryos examined were mice and rabbits, and the fingers of the human fœtus from an embryo approaching the full period of uterogestation.
Secretion of Carbonate of Lime by Animals. Part II
Authors: Irvine Robert , Woodhead G. Sims
Published: June 2016

In a paper read before this Society, on May 7, 1888, on the “Secretion of Carbonate of Lime by Animals,” we gave the result of experiments made upon domestic fowls, which established the fact that they could elaborate carbonate from sulphate of lime in the formation of the calcareous covering of their eggs.
Note on Capt. Weir's Paper
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

[As Sir W. Thomson was unable personally to communicate Capt. Weir's paper to the Society, he asked me to add to it a Note on the principle of the new method.]
Some New Points in Connection with Muscle Contraction
Authors: James Alexander
Published: June 2016

The interval which elapses between tapping a muscle or tendon and the resulting movement of the limb has been estimated by many observers—Burckhardt, Tschirjieu, Waller, Brissaud and Francois Franck, Eulenberg, De Watteville, &c.—but the precise signification of these so-called reflexes is not yet fully understood. What follows is intended to add to our knowledge of this subject.
A Revision of the Genus Coscinodiscus and some Allied Genera
Authors: Rattray John
Published: June 2016

The present paper is a continuation of my monographs already published by the Royal Microscopical Society, London, in their Journals for June and December 1888. It has been carried out under similar conditions in the Botanical Department of the British Museum (Natural History), South Kensington, but I am especially indebted to Edmund Grove, Esq., F.R.M.S., for much valuable cooperation, and to Julien Deby, Esq., for the readiness with which he has placed at my command the resources alike of his library and cabinet. Herr E. Weissflog and Dr James Rae, R.N., have also furnished me with many excellent preparations.
The Theory of Determinants in the Historical Order of its Development
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

It is next pointed out that the transformation of the primitive permutation into any other may be accomplished by interchanges only, because by this means any given letter may be made to occupy the first place, then any other given letter to occupy the second place, and so on. From this also it follows that any system of circular substitutions may be replaced by a system of interchanges. Should the transformation of one permutation into another be effected by interchanges, the number of these will be even or odd according as the two permutations belong to the same or different classes; for, by the above theorem, every interchange makes only one group more or one group less, and consequently the total number of interchanges, and the net increase or diminution of the number of groups, must be both even or both odd. The counting of interchanges may thus be substituted for the counting of cycles.
Glissettes of an Ellipse and of a Hyperbola
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

Last summer, while engaged with some quaternion investigations connected with Dr Plarr's problem (the locus-boundary of the points of contact of an ellipsoid with three rectangular planes) I was led to construct the glissettes of an ellipse. I then showed to the Society a series of these curious curves, drawn in my laboratory by Mr Shand, who had constructed for the purpose a very true elliptic disc of sheet brass. I did not, at the time, think it necessary to print my paper; but, after the close of the session, I made the curious remark that precisely the same curves can be drawn each as a glissette of its own special hyperbola. This double mode of sliding generation of the same curve seems to possess interest. It is somewhat puzzling at first, since the ellipse turns completely round, while the hyperbola can only oscillate. But a little consideration shows the cause of the coincidence.
On the Connections of the Inferior Olivary Body
Authors: Bruce Alexander
Published: June 2016

The inferior olivary body or nucleus forms the ovoid projection which extends almost the whole length of the medulla oblongata, from the lower margin of the pons Varolii to within a short distance of the level of the decussation of the anterior pyramids. It is separated from the latter by a groove through which emerge the roots of the hypoglossal nerve. On its outer margin it is separated from the line of the roots of the glossopharyngeal and pneumogastric nerves by a shallow depression. Transverse vertical and longitudinal sections of the medulla show the olive to be a highly convoluted sac of grey matter open, at its hilum, towards the mesial plane. (It has two accessory nuclei of smaller size, an internal and a posterior accessory olive, which, as they are really parts of the larger nucleus, do not call for special consideration here.) The fibres of the hypoglossal nerve pass through its substance, but do not become, as was at one time supposed, and as has been recently again affirmed by Vincenzi, connected with the olive. On its median aspect lies the interolivary stratum or fillet. Anteriorly lies the anterior pyramid, posteriorly the formatio reticularis.
A New Synthesis of Dibasic Carbon Acids
Authors: Brown Crum
Published: June 2016

(Abstract)

The electrolysis of potassium salts of the form in strong aqueous solution has been shown by Kolbe to lead to the formation at the anode of R2decomposing into the ions K and ; the former giving at the cathode caustic potash and hydrogen, and the latter giving at the anode carbonic acid gas and R2. It occurred to me that if in dibasic acids, containing two carboxyls, one carboxyl could be temporarily shut off from taking part in the electrolysis, an interesting synthesis might be effected. Guthrie's observation † that when subjected to electrolysis with an anode of amalgamated zinc, gives caustic potash and hydrogen at the cathode, and zinc ethyl sulphate at the anode, gave a hint how such temporary eclipse of one carboxyl might be effected. I therefore determined to try the electrolysis of such a salt as in the hope that it would give at the cathode caustic potash and hydro-gen, and at the anode carbonic acid and , that is
The Action of Sodium Carbonate and Bromine on Solutions of Cobalt and Nickel Salts
Authors: Gibson John
Published: June 2016

(Abstract)

In 1862 Field gave a brief account of a peculiar green solution, prepared by adding nitrate of cobalt to a solution of bicarbonate of soda containing a small quantity of the hypochlorite of that alkali. The author observed the formation of a similar green solution when making qualitative separations of chromium from other members of the iron group by means of sodium carbonate and bromine, and was thereby led to investigate the action of these two reagents on solutions of nickel and cobalt salts.
On Coral Reefs and other Carbonate of Lime Formations in Modern Seas
Authors: Murray John , Irvine Robert
Published: June 2016

The vast organic accumulations known as coral reefs are, undoubtedly, among the most striking ‘phenomena of tropical oceanic waters. The picturesque beauty of coral atolls and barrier reefs, with their shallow placid lagoons, and their wonderful submarine zoological and botanical gardens, fixed at once the attention of the early voyagers into the seas of equatorial regions of the ocean. Questions connected with the peculiar form, the structure, the origin, and the distribution of these great natural productions have, from the very outset, puzzled and interested all those who delight in the study of natural things. In this communication we propose to point out and discuss some of the more general phenomena of oceanic deposits, with special reference to the functions of corals and other lime-secreting organisms, and the accumulation of their dead shells and skeletons on the floor of the great oceans.
Note on Ripples in a Viscous Liquid
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The following investigation was made in consequence of certain peculiarities in the earlier results of some recent measurements of ripples by Prof. Michie Smith, in my Laboratory, which will, I hope, soon be communicated to the Society. These seemed to suggest that viscosity might have some influence on the results, as might also the film of oxide, &c, which soon gathers on a free surface of mercury. I therefore took account of the density, as well as of possible rigidity, of this surface layer, in addition to the surface tension which, was the object of Prof. Smith's work. The later part of the paper, where Cartesian coordinates are employed, runs somewhat on the lines of an analogous investigation in Basset's Hydrodynamics. My original object, however, was different from his, as I sought the effects of viscosity on waves steadily maintained by means of a tuning-fork used as a current interruptor; not on waves once started and then left to themselves. Besides obtaining his boundary conditions in a singular manner, I think that in his § 521 Mr Basset has made an erroneous investigation of the effects of very great viscosity.
On the Swimming Bladder and Flying Powers of Dactylopterus volitans
Authors: Calderwood W. L.
Published: June 2016

Dactylopterus volitans, the so-called “flying gurnard,” is not included by Günther in the genus Triglidæ, as its name might imply, but is assigned to the small allied family of Cataphracti.

Günther diagnoses it as follows :—“Dactylopterus, no lateral line, pectoral fins very large, an organ of flight, with the upper portion detached and shorter, granular teeth in the jaws, none on the palate, air bladder divided into two lateral halves, each with a large muscle.”

Before proceeding to describe in detail the swimming bladder and other anatomical peculiarities, it may be well to state, that the skull is provided with a superficial bony covering which projects backwards over the region of the “shoulder” in two flattened plates, each terminating in a spine (seen in fig. 2). Also that the first four vertebræ of the column have coalesced so as to form a rigid tube, the neural spines being united as a vertical plate, which for convenience I have termed the neural plate.
Some Multinomial Theorems in Quaternions
Authors: Wilkinson M. M. U.
Published: June 2016

The formulae established in a preceding paper are particular instances of some very general formulae to which I wish to draw the attention of mathematicians.
Muscular Contraction following rapid Electrical Stimulation of Central Nervous System
Authors: Haycraft John Berry
Published: June 2016

(Abstract)

Kronecker, Hall, Schäfer, Horsley, and others have found, when stimulating the spinal cord with rapid induced currents (ten, twenty, thirty, forty times per second), that the muscles always responded by giving a curve showing oscillations of one invariable period, no matter what the period of the stimulation may have been. With rapid stimulation, the muscles in the hands of the first named observers gave oscillations of twenty a second, in the hands of the latter observers of ten a second. These results are to be explained in the following way. When the central nervous system is stimulated, the muscles contract but never smoothly, for local fascicular movement, as the author has elsewhere shown, always occurring. These cause the registering apparatus to oscillate at its own period, just as any swinging body may be kept in motion by occasional disturbances. We can thus explain how each observer obtained the same number of oscillations every time he stimulated the nervous system; it was because he used the same recording apparatus each time. We can also see that the different periods observed by different observers are due to the fact that they each used a different recording apparatus. The author finds that on changing the recording apparatus (lever or tambour) the tracing obtained can be changed at will, and is practically a tracing of the oscillating period of the instrument used.
Graphic Records of Impact
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The apparatus for Impact experiments, which was exhibited to the Society on 20th February 1888, has been greatly improved by the substitution of a very true slab of plate-glass, thinly covered with printing-ink, for the sheet of cartridge paper. The record is made by a needle-point which projects from the falling body, and which is kept in constant contact with the plate by means of a light spring. The time of rotation of the plate is given by a tuning-fork, with a small bristle attached, which is kept in vibration by a periodic current, and records alongside of the other tracings.
Larix europæa as a Breeding-Place for Hylesinus piniperda
Authors: Somerville William
Published: June 2016

The special point that I wish to bring before the Society relates to a case of the common larch being made use of by Hylesinus piniperda for purposes of oviposition. As occasion demands, this insect has been found to utilise as a breeding-place every species of Pinus, but, so far in Europe or North America, no case has been noted of any trees belonging to the genus Larix having been similarly attacked. In Asia an observer, namely, Middendorff, has recorded one case which came under his notice in the district of the Boganida, in Siberia, in 71° north latitude (Sibirische Reisen, Band iv. Theil i. p. 603).
On the Solution of the Three-Term Numerical Equation of the nth Degree
Authors: M'Laren
Published: June 2016

The method of solution developed in this paper, while perfectly general in its character as regards three-term equations, may also be considered as a solution of the complete equation of the 5th degree; because, by known methods resulting from the theory of equations, every equation of the 5th degree is reducible to three terms.
Preliminary Experiment on the Thermal Conductivity of Aluminium
Authors: Mitchèll A. Crichton
Published: June 2016

The recent improvement in the process of manufacture of pure aluminium, and the consequent lowering in its price, has placed it within the reach of those who desire to make any experiments requiring large quantities of this substance. It seemed desirable that an investigation of the thermal conductivity of aluminium and its alloys should be made, but before obtaining the necessary bars a smaller bar was obtained from experiments on which a preliminary notion was got of the thermal conductivity; this being necessary in order to determine the most convenient dimensions for the long bars used in Forbes's method of conducting these experiments.
A New Method for Determining Phosphorus in Organic Phosphorus Compounds
Authors: Letts E. A. , Blake R. F.
Published: June 2016

In the phosphines and their derivatives, which we have investigated from, time to time, considerable uncertainty has always attended the determinations of phosphorus by the ordinary methods recommended for the purpose. In fact, we never felt any confidence in the result, for no matter how carefully the determinations were made, duplicate analyses led to different numbers.

The uncertainty depends partly upon the difficulty of oxidising the phosphorus in such compounds to phosphoric acid. For, as a rule, in any dry combustion process which may be employed, volatile oxidation products, containing phosphorus, are formed of great stability, which frequently pass over the red-hot oxidising mixture almost unchanged. Moreover, the glass of the tube is attacked by the oxidising mixture, and this undoubtedly leads to inaccuracies, probably of considerable magnitude.
Note on Potassium Persulphate
Authors: Marshall Hugh
Published: June 2016

Persulphuric anhydride and the corresponding acid have been known for some time. Berthelot obtained the former by subjecting a mixture of sulphurous anhydride and oxygen to the effluve électrique (as in the preparation of ozone), and a mixture of the latter with sulphuric acid, by adding the anhydride to water. He also prepared a similar mixture by the electrolysis of sulphuric acid solution in a cell where the electrodes were separated by a porous pot. Both substances he found to be very easily decomposed, spontaneously evolving oxygen. Up till now, however, the corresponding salts have not been prepared. In fact, Mendeléef, while commenting on Berthelot's results, expresses the opinion that persulphuric anhydride is not a true acid-forming oxide, but a peroxide similar to those of the metals barium, lead, &c, and that Berthelot's persulphuric acid is analogous to peroxide of hydrogen. Recently, however, I have obtained the potassium salt, and have since succeeded in preparing it in quantity.
Equation of the Glissette of the Two-term Oval , and Cognate Curves
Authors: M'Laren
Published: June 2016

The first step is to find an expression for the distances λ, μ, of the centre of the oval from the guides. These distances are to be found separately, beginning with λ.

For this purpose it is indifferent whether we consider the oval as moving in contact with the guides, or whether we consider the guides as variable tangents moving round the circumference of the oval. On the latter supposition, the extremity of λ is evidently the locus of the foot of the perpendicular on the tangent of the oval, whose equation is given in the title.
Electrolytic Synthesis of Dibasic Acids. Alkyl Derivatives of Succinic Acid
Authors: Brown Crum , Walker James
Published: June 2016

In our previous communications to the Society (see Trans. xxxvi. 211) we described the behaviour of the ethyl potassium salts of normal dibasic acids on electrolysis. These we found always to yield the diethyl esters of normal acids of the same series. We have now extended our investigation to acids with side chains, and in this paper give an account of the electrolysis of ethylpotassium methylmalonate and ethylpotassium ethylmalonate.
Proposed Extension of the Powers of Quaternion Differentiation
Authors: M'Aulay Alexander
Published: June 2016

It will, I think, be acknowledged that Quaternions, while providing for the physicist a machinery much more natural and graceful than the Cartesian, for all conceptions strictly geometrical, do not at present afford equal facilities for the consideration of questions involving differentiation. It is true that there is one well-known symbol of differentiation of great utility, which enables Quaternions to deal in a suitable manner with many such questions ; but there are left whole classes of differentiations in which the symbol is of no avail.
On the Interaction of Longitudinal and Circular Magnetisations in Iron and Nickel Wires. (Second Note.)
Authors: Knott Cargill G.
Published: June 2016

In a preliminary note communicated last July, I drew attention to what seemed a novel property of iron wire under the combined influence of circular and longitudinal magnetisations. Similar experiments were subsequently tried with nickel, and similar results obtained. It appeared, however, that in some respects nickel behaved oppositely to iron. The first series of observations brought out the fact that a current along the nickel wire seemed to assist the acquiring, under a longitudinal magnetising force, of a polarity oppositely directed to the direction of the current.
On the Temperature of the Salt and Fresh Water Lochs of the West of Scotland, at Different Depths and Seasons, during the Years 1887 and 1888
Authors: Murray John
Published: June 2016

The temperature observations recorded in this communication were all taken from the yacht “Medusa,” except those in Loch Morar, which were made from a small rowing-boat, but the sameinstruments and the same methods were used as in the other lochs.

All observations beneath the surface were made by means of Messrs Negretti & Zambra's reversing thermometer in the Scottish frame. The readings are published as they were observed, except that the instrumental correction is applied. The readings may, as a rule, be taken as exact to one-tenth of a degree when the sea was smooth, and when the temperature of water and air had a range less than six degrees. Experiments have shown that if a thermometer be reversed in water at 40°·0, and then brought to the temperature of 46°·0, it would change its indication slightly, and would read 40°·1. At first sight it would appear sufficient to subtract 0°·1 from the reading for each 6° of excess of air temperature over that registered by the instrument, and to add similarly in case the air temperature should be lower. This has not been done, because it was believed that, in summer at least, the cooling caused by evaporation from the wet instrument would reduce its temperature very considerably, and probably enough to make no correction necessary.