bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
IV.—The Temperatures, Specific Gravities, and Salinities of the Weddell Sea and of the North and South Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Bruce William S. , King Andrew , Wilton David W.
Published: January 2013

After my return from my first voyage, namely, the Scottish Antarctic Expedition of 1892–93, for which I was chosen as naturalist, I had the advantage of coming closely in touch with Mr J. Y. Buchanan, who then trained me in his Edinburgh laboratory in the use of his hydrometer. During the past twenty years I have been in constant touch with him regarding problems relating to the physics of the ocean. As a consequence, before my departure for a voyage to, and wintering in, Franz Josef Land during 1896–97, I was well trained in the use of his hydrometer, and obtained during that expedition observations of considerable interest. I also carried out all the hydrometer work on board the Prince of Monaco's yacht Princess Alice during his Arctic voyage of 1898, under the direction of Mr J. Y. Buchanan, who was also on board during that cruise, and also during the Prince of Monaco's second Arctic cruise during 1899, when I was solely responsible for that work. Consequently, I was thoroughly familiar with hydrometer work when I set sail in the Scotia.
XII.—The Genus Pitys, Witham, emend
Authors: Gordon W. T.
Published: January 2013

Few plants of Carboniferous age have appealed so strongly to the scientific observer as the huge woody trunks of a coniferous type that have been discovered from time to time in beds of that system. The appeal has come from different points of view at different times; thus these trees were hailed by Witham (1831, pp. 1–2), Lindley and Hutton (1831, p. xiii), and Hugh Miller (1849, p. 186) as evidence of the existence of higher coniferous plants in abundance during a period to which the current consensus of scientific opinion had assigned only members of the lower plant families, or would admit only an infrequent occurrence of higher forms. These remains were therefore important in discussions concerning the development of plant life, and were cited by Hugh Miller (1849, p. 185) in his attempt to combat the then embryonic ideas of evolution—the recrudescence of Lamarckian ideas—current under the name of “the development hypothesis.” Miller, however, recognised one significant point, namely, that they represented a land flora as distinct from one occupying a water habitat (1849, p. 202).
XXIV.—The Innervation of the Human Quiescent Nipple, with Notes on Pigmentation, Erection, and Hyperneury
Authors: Cathcart E. P. , Gairns F. W. , Garven H. S. D.
Published: January 2013

It has been known from antiquity that involution of the uterus is aided by putting the child to the breast, and the work of Moir (1933) has demonstrated conclusively that suckling brings about waves of contraction of the puerperal uterus. Since suckling must necessarily involve stimulation of the nipple, it seemed of interest to know what sensory apparatus is present in the nipple to receive these stimuli. While histological studies of the mammary gland itself have been numerous, only slight attention has been paid to the histological structure of the areola and the nipple.

It must be appreciated from the outset that the present study is devoted to the innervation of the nipple in the quiescent breast. There may be considerable change during pregnancy and lactation, not only in the size of the organ and its epithelium but also in the other structures. It has been shown that there is an increase in the number of nerve-fibres in the actively secreting mammary tissue, and it is possible that there is an increase in the nerve-structures of the nipple also. The richness of the innervation in the quiescent nipple certainly makes a further study of these nerve-structures during pregnancy and lactation of great interest.
XXVII.—The Molluscan Stomach
Authors: Graham Alastair
Published: January 2013

Although there have been many accounts of the anatomy, and a small number of the function of the stomach of a variety of molluscs, there has been little or no comparative study of an organ which recent work has shown to be largely responsible for the simultaneous performance of a large number of different components of the entire physiology of the digestive tract. To make such a comparative account on the basis of previously published descriptions would, in fact, have proved an impossible task, as it has become apparent during the course of this work that adequate emphasis has never been laid upon the minutiæ of gastric structure or function, and it is upon these that a correct comparative interpretation must rest.
II. On the Vertical Position and Convolutions of certain Strata, and their relation with Granite
Authors: Hall James
Published: January 2013

The tract of country extending across this island, from the sea-coast of Galloway to that of Berwickshire, consists, with little interruption, of that species of rock, which has of late been most generally known by the German name of Grauwacke. But as this rock does not differ essentially from what in Cornwall is called Killas, I am disposed, in concurrence with several members of this Society, in particular with Mr Allan, who has of late been in Cornwall, and has paid particular attention to that subject, to reject the uncouth term Grauwacke, and adopt that of Killas, as being more congenial to our language.
XVII.—On the Zoological Characters of the Living Clio caudata, as compared with those of Clio borealis given in Systematic Works
Authors: Macdonald John Denis
Published: January 2013

Great credit is due to those observers who have been enabled to give to science both clear and comprehensive views of the anatomy of creatures which have only been presented to them in a spirit-preserved, opaque, brittle, and contracted state; for it is certain that their penetration in this respect could not be successfully brought into exercise without the aid of much knowledge, both bibliographical and practical. Yet there are many whole animals, and, in particular, parts of animals, which must be seen in the living state, to be at all comprehended by even the most brilliant mind; and this fact has induced me to make drawings and notes of many interesting matters connected with the pelagic mollusca, when the living animals fell casually under my own observation. In the present communication, however, I shall confine myself to the genus Clio.
XVIII.—Notes on the Anatomy of the Genus Firola
Authors: Macdonald John Denis
Published: January 2013

In a successful haul of the towing net, off the Island of Sardinia, I obtained a very beautiful Firola, which gave me a good opportunity of testing the truth of my former conclusions with regard to the economy of the Heteropoda in general, and of Firola in particular; and I have great pleasure in submitting the facts arrived at, with the accompanying enlarged figure of the visceral nucleus and the neighbouring parts, to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, as an appendix to my paper “On the Anatomy and Classification of the Heteropoda,” already brought under its consideration.
XXL.—Observations on the Polarisation of the Atmosphere, made at St Andrews in 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, and 1845
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

During the last half century, observations on the polarisation of the atmosphere were made by several eminent observers—by Arago, Delezenne, Babinet, and Zantedeschi; but no result of special importance was obtained till Arago made the great discovery that there existed in the atmosphere a point, or spot, in which there is no polarisation. At sunrise or sunset he found that this neutral point was 20° or 30° above the point opposite to the sun, or what we may call the Antisolar point. The name of Arago's neutral point has been given to this spot without polarisation. It is best seen after sunset. At St Andrews it is above the horizon all the day, between the middle of November and the end of January.
XXIII.—Some Account of the Recent Progress of Sanskrit Studies
Authors: Muir J.
Published: January 2013

In compliance with the desire which the Council have done me the honour to express, I have drawn up the following account of the recent progress and present state of Sanskrit studies, prefixing such an outline of the earlier history of these researches as may serve to complete the review, and render it more easily intelligible.

In this sketch I do not profess to communicate anything new, but merely seek to present such a summary of the results already obtained, as may convey to those who have not bestowed any special attention on the subject some idea of the character and affinities of the Sanskrit language, and of the nature and contents of Indian literature, as well as of the advances which have of late years been made in the principal branches of the study.
XXV.—On the Influence of Weather upon Disease and Mortality
Authors: Scoresby-Jackson R. E.
Published: January 2013

The subject to which I have to invite the attention of the Society this evening is one of no modern origin, the name of Hippocrates, amongst others of the fathers of medicine, being commonly associated with it. There is, indeed, perhaps no branch of medical inquiry whose history dips more deeply into the obscure pages of antiquity. The influence of weather upon disease and mortality has been acknowledged as a potent external force in every age, from that eminently speculative and credulous period when physicians professed to receive their diagnostic as well as their therapeutic inspirations from the stars, down to our own day. And yet there is perhaps no question in the whole cycle of medical sciences which has made slower progress than the one we have now to consider. People believe that the weather affects them. They speak of its influence, sometimes commendingly, more frequently with censure, on the most trivial occasions; but beyond a few commonplace ideas, the result of careless observation, or perhaps acquired only traditionally, they seldom seek a closer acquaintance with the subject. Our language teems with medico-meteorological apophthegms, but they are notoriously vague. The words which are most commonly employed to signify the state of the weather at any given time, possess a value relative only to the sensations of the individual uttering them. The general and convertible terms—bitter, raw, cold, severe, bleak, inclement, or fine and bracing, convey no definite idea of the condition of the weather; nay, it is quite possible that we may hear these several expressions used by different persons with reference to the weather of one and the same place and point of time. In order, then, to render medico-meteorological researches more trustworthy, we must be careful to employ, in the expression of facts, such symbols only as have a corresponding value in every nation.
XXVII.—On Earth-Currents during Magnetic Calms, and their connection with Magnetic Changes
Authors: Stewart Balfour
Published: January 2013

I have already endeavoured to prove that Auroræ and Earth-currents, far from producing magnetic disturbances by their direct action, are themselves only secondary or induced currents, generated by those small but abrupt changes of the earth's magnetism which constitute such disturbances. The proof of this statement was in the first place derived in a general manner from the fact that during the notable magnetic storm of August and September 1859, all the elements of the earth's magnetism at Kew remained for many hours on one side of their normal positions, while, on the other hand, the earth-currents observed during that time by Mr C. V. Walker had their direction reversed every two or three minutes.
Diurnal Range of the Barometer in Fine and in Cloudy Weather
Authors: Buchan Alex. , Omond R. T.
Published: January 2013

This investigation was undertaken with the view of ascertaining how the mean hourly values of the barometer differed on days in which radiation, solar and terrestrial was great from days in which it was interfered with by clouds. A preliminary examination of the barometric readings at the Ben Nevis and Fort-William Observatories showed that there was a well marked difference between the diurnal fluctuations in these two kinds of weather; and the investigation was thereafter extended to several other places in the northern hemisphere. The materials for this work are only available from comparatively few places, it being necessary to have before us the hourly readings of the barometer for every day, and also an hourly record either of sunshine or of cloud. These two separate data have not been published for any place in the British Islands except Ben Nevis and Fort-William.
Relation of Pressure and Temperature at the Ben Nevis Observatories
Authors: Buchan Alexander
Published: January 2013

The object of this investigation was to ascertain the differences of atmospheric pressure,reduced to sea-level, which accompany differences of temperature, as observed at the, High and the Low-Level Ben Nevis Observatories. The period of time dealt with is the ten months from August 1890 to May 1891. The whole of the hourly observations made at each Observatory with the barometer were reduced to sea-level, those at the top of the mountain being reduced according to the table accompanying the Report on the Meteorology of Ben Nevis.
The Number of Gales Observed at the Ben Nevis Observatory
Authors: Rankin Angus
Published: January 2013

The accompanying table shows for the thirteen years, 1884 to 1896 inclusive, the number of hourly observations at which the force of the wind was noted as above 6, on the Ben Nevis scale of 0 to 12. This is equivalent to all cases when the velocity of the wind exceeded fifty miles per hour. The table gives the totals for each hour of the day of the thirteen Januarys, thirteen Februarys, etc., in this period, with at the foot the sum for each hour, which is the total number of cases observed at each hour during the thirteen years. At the right hand of the table is a column giving the monthly totals (the sum of the twenty-four hourly values); the gross total of the whole, amounting to 3405 cases in the thirteen years, gives an average of 262 hours, or about eleven days, per annum.
Abstract of Paper on the Frost of 1895 in Scotland
Authors: Mossman R. C.
Published: January 2013

This great frost commenced on 28th December 1894 and terminated in its intense form on 20th February 1895, thus lasting 54 days. The greatest cold occurred from the 6th to the 20th of February. During this latter period pressure was higher in the north than in the south of Scotland, and the winds were consequently easterly or north-easterly, but light in force. Taking the two months, January and February, together, the mean temperature was more than 10° below the average at many inland places, but on the west coast it was only about 5° lower than usual. There are records of temperature in the north-east of Scotland, at either Inverness, Gordon Castle or Aberdeen for the last 132 years, and in all this time there was no winter with two such cold months as January and February 1895 at these places.
Abstract of Paper on a Comparison of Observations at the Observatory and at the Public School, Fort-William
Authors: Omond R. T.
Published: January 2013

When the Observatory on the summit of Ben Nevis was opened in 1883, arrangements were made with Mr Colin Livingston, of the Public School, Fort-William, whereby observations were made five times a day at the Schoolhouse for comparison with those on Ben Nevis. These observations, from December 1883 to December 1887, were published in vol. xxxiv. of the Transactions R.S.E., along with the Ben Nevis records; and three years more, up to December 1890, are given in this volume (see Introduction, p. 7). The Fort-William Observatory was opened in August 1890, but Mr Livingston kindly continued his observations till the end of 1891, so as to allow of a comparison between these two stations, which was the more desirable as Mr Livingston's observations had been used for the original determinations of the differences of pressure and temperature between Ben Nevis and sea-level, and any discrepancy between the observations made at the Schoolhouse and at the Observatory would necessitate a readjustment of these constants.
XXXIII.—On Superposition
Authors: Kelland Philip
Published: January 2013

In my former paper on the subject, I selected the following problem:—

From a given square, one quarter is cut off, to divide the remaining gnomon into four such parts that they shall be capable of forming a square.

The gnomon is, I assume, incapable of being formed into a square by being cut into three parts, and consequently the number of different ways in which it can be so formed, by cutting it into four parts, must be very limited. But, to show the fertility of the method of superposition, I exhibited the solution of the problem in twelve different manners. Many of these, no doubt, have much that is in common, whilst, on the other hand, some (such as the 12th) differ in every feature from the rest. I had thoughts of following up my plea for the study of the old geometry, by exhibiting the solutions of the 47th proposition of Euclid's first book in their beautiful variety. I have indeed temptation to do so. The modification which I gave of the demonstration of this proposition in the notes to my edition of Playfair's Geometry (edition 1846, p. 273), has had the honour of being exhibited in two different mechanical forms. The first by two rotations without sliding, whereby the two squares on the sides, when placed together, are converted into the square on the hypothenuse; the second, by two transpositions (slidings) without rotation, whereby the same change is effected The former is obvious enough, and could have escaped nobody. The latter is described by Professor De-Morgan in the “Quarterly Journal of Mathematics,” vol. i. p. 236.
XXXIV.—On the Variations of the Fertility and Fecundity of Women according to Age
Authors: Duncan J. Matthews
Published: January 2013

In 1855, when the systematic registration of births in Scotland was established, the schedule used exacted from the public a variety of interesting details in connection with each return,—a circumstance which gives to the registers for that year an extraordinary value. For, in consequence, I believe, of numerous complaints regarding the irksome labour of filling up the document, it was discontinued, and a much less comprehensive schedule has been in use ever since. It is from the registers of births for 1855 that I have extracted almost all the data which have yielded the results I am now about to communicate. Similar data cannot be found in the subsequent registers. The great value of these registers has been distinctly pointed out by Dr Stark, the able assistant to the Registrar-General. I must here acknowledge, with grateful thanks, the assistance and encouragement I have received from Mr Seton and other officials of the Register-House.
XXXVIII.—On the Morphological Relationships of the Molluscoida and Cœlenterata, and of their leading Members, inter se
Authors: MacDonald John Denis
Published: January 2013

Few departments of zoology have recently suffered more remarkable changes, both in classification and accepted views of structure, than the Polypi or Cœlenterata, and their immediate allies in the ascending scale, the Molluseoida,—greatly depending upon the more extended study of those animals of late years. We have been thus enabled to discover natural affinities which prima facie evidence would scarcely ever have indicated, as well as intrinsic differences which the same kind of evidence has hitherto been incapable of revealing to the mind.

Leading from the Protozoa to the Mollusca proper, the Cœlenterata and Molluscoida constitute an unbroken series of animals forming a considerable section of invertebrata, distinguished from the Protozoa by the development of true ova, and from the Mollusca by the property of gemmation developing compound examples of the principal types. Furthermore, the motion of the blood, or its equivalent, is effected either by ciliary action or by a propulsive organ; but when the latter occurs it is unfurnished with valves, so that the course of the circulation may be reversible in the same canals.
XXXIX.—On the Great Drift Beds with Shells in the South of Arran
Authors: Watson Robert Boog
Published: January 2013

The whole southern part of Arran forms a field by itself, and whatever may be the deeper connections of the agencies that have fashioned the north and the south of the island, the result is a trappean area to the south, as distinct as if it lay in another hemisphere from the north, with its granitic nucleus, and encompassing rings of stratified rock.

This district is little visited, and is almost, if not quite, undescribed; it presents, however, much beautiful scenery, and for the geologist, problems of extreme difficulty and interest, which deserve more attention than they have got.

It may be divided into two belts of tilled land and moorland, above which are the hill tops. This division corresponds roughly to three regions, the lowest chiefly of sandstone, the middle where felstone prevails over the sandstone, and the highest of greenstone.
XL.—On the Principal Deities of the Rigveda
Authors: Muir J.
Published: January 2013

In the paper which I had the honour to read before the Society last winter, I stated the reasons, drawn from history and from comparative philology, which exist for concluding that the Brahmanical Indians belong to the same race as the Greek, the Latin, the Teutonic, and other nations of Europe. If this conclusion be well-founded, it is evident that at the time when the several branches of the great Indo-European family separated to commence their migrations in the direction of their future homes, they must have possessed in common a large stock of religious and mythological conceptions. This common mythology would, in the natural course of events, and from the action of various causes, undergo a gradual modification analogous to that undergone by the common language which had originally been spoken by all these tribes during the period of their union; and, in the one case as in the other, this modification would assume in the different races a varying character, corresponding to the diversity of the influences to which they were severally subjected.
XLII.—Biographical Sketch of Adam Ferguson, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh
Authors: Small John
Published: January 2013

The Memoir now submitted to the Society, while it details the chief events in the life of a man who occupied a distinguished place in the literature of Scotland, at a period when it had attained a high reputation, cannot claim to be so complete as might be desired. His life was prolonged for several years after nearly all of his early friends had passed away; and since his death many papers have been destroyed or have fallen aside, which would now be of the greatest interest.

Whilst in this way much has been lost that might have given greater completeness to these pages, still, the recent publication of the Diary of his friend Dr Carlyle of Inveresk, has furnished many additional details, and afforded further evidence of the estimation in which he was held by his literary associates.

Several letters selected from the lives of his distinguished friends, and from the Manuscript Collection of the University, in addition to information derived from the short notices of his life already printed, have afforded the materials for preparing this sketch of one, whose career was more varied, while his public labours and literary connections were not less important and extensive, than those of any of his contemporaries.
III. Of the Flexibility of the Brazilian Stone
Authors: Hutton James
Published: January 2013

No quality is more inconsistent with the character of a stone than flexibility. A flexible stone, therefore, presents an idea which naturally strikes us with surprise. For though among mineral bodies, we find flexible substances of the stony kind, such as mica, mountain leather, and amianthus, these minerals owe their flexibility, either to their thinness, or to the fibrous structure of their parts. Therefore, when a stone of any considerable thickness is said to have flexibility, we are led to think that here is something very extraordinary; and we wish to know upon what depends that quality, nowise proper to a stone.
IX. Description of a Human Male Monster, illustrated by Tables, with Remarks
Authors: Monro Alexander
Published: January 2013

This monster, of which the mother was delivered by Mr Thomas Anderson, surgeon in Leith, after the birth of a complete child at the full time, had its proper membranes and a placenta, with a short umbilical cord.

The following parts were wanting in it; to wit, the bones of the head; the brain, with the organs of sight, hearing, smell and taste; the neck; about one half of the ribs; the larynx, trachea and lungs; the heart; the pharynx, œsophagus and stomach, with all the small intestines, except the end of the ilium; the anus; the liver, spleen, pancreas and omenta; the renal glands; terminations of the ureters; the middle part of the urethra; the right testicle; both arms; both patellæ; with several of the bones of the feet and toes.
X. Experiments relating to Animal Electricity
Authors: Monro Alexander
Published: January 2013

On the 3d of November last, Sir James Hall and Dr Rutherford asked me to repeat with them some experiments on what has been called Animal Electricity, which were first performed by Dr Galvani, Professor of Anatomy at Bologna, and of which an account had been communicated by Mr Seguin of Paris to Dr Black, in a letter dated Paris, 3d August.
XXXIV.—On the Figures of Equilibrium in Liquid Films
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

In repeating some of the beautiful experiments of Professor Plateau, on the Equilibrium of Liquid Films, contained in seven Memoirs, published in the “Transactions of the Royal Belgic Academy,” and in prosecuting my experiments on the colours of the soap-bubble, I observed several new phenomena which may have escaped the notice of the Belgian philosopher.

In plunging a wire cube in a solution of soap, and lifting it up vertically, Professor Plateau found that there was formed within it a polyhedron, as shown in Plate XXXIV. Fig. 1, consisting of twelve similar liquid films adhering by capillary attraction to the twelve wires which compose the cube, and a small quadrangular film suspended in the middle of them. In many cases M. Plateau found that the vertical quadrangular film was often horizontal, as in Fig. 2; and M. Van Rees discovered, that by blowing very lightly upon one of its sides it was reduced to a simple line, and then reproduced in a horizontal position, from which it could be blown again into a vertical position, as in Fig. 1.
XXXV.—On the Third Co-ordinate Branch of the Higher Calculus
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: January 2013

That part of universal arithmetic which relates to the changes of variable quantities, and which is known under the titles—Fluxions, The Higher Calculus, The Infinitesimal Calculus, The Theory of Functions, has been divided into two branches, called respectively the Differential and the Integral Calculus; the one of these being regarded as the converse of the other; and every problem connected with variation has been supposed to require either or both of the processes known as differentiation and integration.
XXXVI.—On Functions with Recurring Derivatives
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: January 2013

The subject of the following paper is the first proposition in the Calculus of Primaries. The business of that calculus is to discover the relation between the primary variable and its function, when the relation subsisting between the function and its derivative is known. The simplest relationship between two variable quantities is proportionality when they are heterogeneous, or equality, when they are of one kind; and the case of proportionality can always, by a change in the unit of measure, be brought to an equality of the representative numbers; so that our first proposition becomes this: “To investigate the nature of those functions which reappear among their own derivatives.” Since this reappearance must necessarily be periodical, I shall use the name Functions with Recurring Derivatives.
XXXVII.—On the Application of the Principle of Relative, or Proportional, Equality to International Organisation
Authors: Lorimer
Published: January 2013

Aristotle has a saying, which he has frequently repeated and which is often quoted, to the effect that the same degree of precision is not attainable in all branches of inquiry, and that it would be just as absurd to exact demonstration from a politician or an orator, as to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician. It is a saying full of truth and acuteness. To the cultivators of ethical and political philosophy, for whom it was intended, it is invaluable both as an encouragement and a warning; and yet, in behalf of the latter more especially, I often wish that it had never been said. Proceeding from such a master, I am persuaded that it has often tempted them to rest satisfied with a degree of success far short of the limits which the nature of their subjects really imposed; whilst, on the other hand, it has afforded an apology for excluding social and political philosophy from the meditations of learned bodies like this. I do not mean that they have been formally excluded. I know that the constitution of this, and of most similar societies, has always embraced the social as well as the physical sciences. But so rarely have those of us who were occupied with the former availed ourselves of the privileges of Fellowship, that it has come to be regarded almost as a matter of admission on our part, that our subjects defy scientific treatment: that when we talk of tracing out laws of social wellbeing or progress, we use words which either have no meaning at all, or which indicate a very faint analogy between the methods which we affect to follow and those really employed in the physical sciences: and that pretty nearly all that can be done is to hand us and our subjects over to the companionship of party politicians and popular declaimers.
XXXVIII.—Some Mathematical Researches
Authors: Talbot H. Fox
Published: January 2013

It is well known, that whenever the three roots of a cubic are all real, the solution of the equation by Cardan's rule becomes illusory. This is the more remarkable, because, à priori, one might have expected that the rule would only fail when the roots were imaginary. Numerous researches have been made by mathematicians on this subject; but they have not succeeded in removing this obstacle; and the only mode of finding the roots of a cubic, when all three are real, has been, by successive approximations, or the use of trigonometrical tables, or (in the case of one root being a whole number), by tentative methods and trials (which often succeed without much difficulty, when the coefficients of the equation are small numbers).
XLIV.—On the Sophists of the Fifth Century, B.C.
Authors: Blackie
Published: January 2013

One of the most remarkable phenomena in our recent historical literature is a tendency to whitewash all characters which had previously presented a black appearance; to prefer the intellectual divination of a subtle modern professor to the plain testimony of a sober old chronicler; and generally to unsettle all things that we had in previous ages been taught to look on as settled. That this tendency, dating from the gigantic excavations of Niebuhr and Wolf, had its origin in an honest love of truth, and a searching scrutiny of evidence, cannot be doubted. That its results have in the main been beneficial is equally certain; but, on the other hand, it is not to be denied that it has sometimes run into the most wanton excesses, and that it has tainted some of the most notable historical productions of our age with a vice which will render it necessary for a future generation to repeat the work now done from a broader point of view, and with a juster criticism.
XLVI.—On an Application of Mathematics to Chemistry
Authors: Brown Alexander Crum
Published: January 2013

Since reading this paper, I have seen Sir Benjamin Brodie's paper on “The Calculus of Chemical Operations,” read before the Royal Society of London.

The two papers resemble one another, merely in being applications of mathematical language to chemistry. They entirely differ in method, object, and result.

I may here mention, what I have omitted to state explicitly in the paper, that I have no idea of attempting to substitute a functional notation for that in common use. I only propose to use a functional notation to express certain general and serial relations in those cases where the common atomic notation is inconvenient or obscure.
XLVIII.—On the Physiological Action of the Calabar Bean (Physostigma venenosum, Balf.)
Authors: Fraser Thomas R.
Published: January 2013

In 1855, the Professor of Materia Medica in the University of Edinburgh, in a paper read before this Society, directed the attention of physiologists to some of the remarkable properties of the Calabar bean. In 1862, I presented a graduation thesis to the University of Edinburgh on the “Characters, Actions and Therapeutic Uses of the Ordeal Bean of Calabar.” The principal results I had obtained at that time were that this substance causes death by either syncope or asphyxia, the latter being due to an effect on the spinal cord and on the respiratory centres; that the symptoms resemble those of cardiac or pulmonary embarrassment, according to the quantity of the poison administered, and to its rate of absorption; and, also, that the topical application of this agent to the eyeball, or to its neighbourhood, produces a marked and rapid contraction of the pupil and various disturbances of vision. Since then, and more especially because of the peculiarity of the last of these conclusions, a lively interest has been taken in this substance. Its actions on the eye have been investigated by nearly all the leading ophthalmologists of Europe and of America, and its general physiology has occupied the attention of many distinguished students of biology. Nor have these labours been barren of practical results. Ophthalmic medicine has adopted this agent as one of its important remedies, and there can be little doubt that general medical practice will soon include in its Pharmacopœia a drug of so great energy.
XIII. Disquisitions on the Origin and Radical Sense of the Greek Prepositions
Authors: Bonar James
Published: January 2013

Etymological researches have often been branded as trifling, occupying the mind in useless labour, and contributing little to the progress of science, taste, or beneficial knowledge. The justice of this treatment may well be questioned. That this species of study, like many others, has frequently been directed to unimportant objects, cannot be denied; but it by no means follows, that this is the fault of the subject, or that from such researches, however pursued, nothing valuable can be the result. If by etymological investigations, even in their most limited form, essential aids are obtained for facilitating our acquaintance with the writings of antiquity,—if such inquiries have often proved one of the most certain means for attaining accuracy of language and precision of ideas,—if by following them out on an extensive scale, assistance might probably be gained for elucidating some of the obscurities of early history, —and is from this source valuable materials may at all times be drawn for tracing the progress of the intellectual powers, and unfolding the laws of thought through the phenomena of its expressions,—if these, and perhaps other merits, must be allowed to etymological and grammatical disquisitions, they are surely sufficient to rescue from contempt this class of inquiries. If to all this we can add, what I believe will pretty generally be found to hold true, that those who affect most to despite this branch of study, have seldom any thing better to substitute in its place, a sufficient vindication will, I hope, be afforded, for employing a little literary leisure in the culture even of this apparently unpromising field.
VII.—On the Power of the Periosteum to form New Bone
Authors: Syme James
Published: January 2013

The object of the following paper is to put at rest a question which has been long agitated in Surgical Pathology, and which is intimately connected with some important points of Practical Surgery. An apology may seem due to the Society for bringing under its consideration a subject, which, though not exclusively professional, is still little studied except by those physiologists whose views are directed to surgery; but as the inquiry into which I propose to enter is neither long nor tedious, while it is quite intelligible without any previous knowledge of its details, I trust the patience of the members will not be exhausted; and if the question shall, as I hope, be decided to the conviction of those members who are conversant with surgical discussions, the prevailing diversity of sentiment relative to the point at issue will be more effectually composed than if I attempted to combat it through any other channel.
XI.—Investigation of a New Series for the Computation of Logarithms; with a New Investigation of a Series for the Rectification of the Circle
Authors: Thomson James
Published: January 2013

The series l(1+ x) = M (x—½ x2 + ⅓ x3—¼ x4+&c.), discovered by Mercator, seems to be the origin from which, directly or indirectly, all the series may be derived which are usually employed in the computation of logarithms. A series, which affords remarkable facilities for such computations, and which lately occurred to me, may be investigated in the following manner.
XII.—Of the Third Pair of Nerves, being the first of a series of papers in explanation of the difference in the origins of the Nerves of the Encephalon, as compared with those which arise from the Spinal Marrow
Authors: Bell Charles
Published: January 2013

It is not a little remarkable, that in an age which assumes to itself the character of devotion to science, in anatomy, a science which embraces the best interests of humanity, this question should remain unanswered; What is the meaning of the nerves of the spinal marrow being in regular order and perfectly symmetrical: whilst the ten nerves arising from the brain present no similarity one to another, and agree neither in origin, size, nor distribution?

It is plain that we must be in the dark, not only with respect to the knowledge of the nervous system, but of the animal frame generally, whilst such a question is open and courts inquiry, and yet remains without an effort being made towards its solution. We must, I fear, attribute this neglect in part only to the difficulty of the inquiry, and much to the indifference to all that does not tend directly to profit; on which account it has the better demand on the attention of a learned and philosophical Society.
XVII.—Results of Observations made with Whewell's Anemometer
Authors: Rankine John
Published: January 2013

The following observations of the direction and force of the wind, were made with an anemometer lately invented by Professor Whewell of Cambridge.

In this instrument the only part that is fixed is a japanned cylinder, on which the points of the compass are marked by black lines dividing it in its whole length into compartments, corresponding to the spaces intervening between any two double points. On this the other parts are supported by means of a strong rod which runs down the centre of the cylinder, and, terminating in a sharp point, turns easily round as the wind changes. A single broad vane, having the rod running down the centre of the cylinder for its axis, presents to the wind a fly resembling the sails of a wind-mill, and causes the moveable part of the instrument to revolve round the fixed cylinder as the wind changes; so that the aërial current, come from what quarter it may, blows against the circular disk of the fly, and turns it with a velocity proportional to the force of the wind at the time.
XXI.—On the Composition of a New Writing-Ink, which, in resisting Chemical Deletion, promises to diminish the chance of the Falsification of Bills, Deeds, and other Documents
Authors: Traill Thomas Stewart
Published: January 2013

The preparation of my Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence involved a consideration of the means of diminishing the chances of successful forgery, and again engaged me on a subject to which, many years ago, my attention had been very painfully turned by the frequency of executions for that crime. This will scarcely appear exaggeration, when it is stated, that, in the year 1809, there were no less than thirteen executions for forgery in the county of Lancaster, where I then resided: and when it is recollected that, in the fourteen years preceding 1819, two hundred and four individuals perished on the scaffold for that offence in England and Wales, every means of discouraging so fertile a source of misery and crime must be allowed to be a subject of no trifling importance.
XXIV.—Notice of Two Storms which swept over the British Islands during the last week of November 1838
Authors: Milne David
Published: January 2013

Previously to the 25th and 26th November 1838, there had prevailed in Great Britain and Ireland, for more than a week, a steady wind from the NE., accompanied with frosts, a progressively rising barometer, and tolerably clear weather. The same sort of weather existed on the Continent, and over a large portion of northern Europe, both on sea and land.

This state of things was changed, by the arrival of two storms from southern latitudes, which passed over the British isles during the last week of November. These two storms, until they reached this part of the globe, were separate. The first one reached the British seas, about thirty-six hours before the other. But the second moved with about double the velocity of the first, and overtook the first somewhere about the north of Ireland and south-west of Scotland. Accordingly, in the southern parts of England, there were distinct indicia of two different storms, each having its own period of arrival, veering, and cessation;—whilst towards the north, these indicia became gradually less distinguishable, and were at length significant of only a general gale.
XXV.—On the Diminution of Temperature with Height in the Atmosphere, at different seasons of the year
Authors: Forbes James D.
Published: January 2013

In the year 1830, I succeeded in establishing a Register of the Thermometer at the Bonally Reservoir, which formerly supplied the city water-works, being at a distance of five miles in a direction south-west from Edinburgh. This station is on the northern acclivity of the Pentland Hills, at a height of 1100 feet above the sea. The following year I obtained corresponding observations at the village of Colinton, situated a mile and a half north of the preceding station, and above 700 feet lower. Although this difference of level be not very considerable, yet, as these comparative registers have been kept for nearly five years with pretty uniform results, some confidence is evidently due to the conclusions, even although considerable difficulties opposed themselves to obtaining registers quite free from exception. The interest attaching to them is the greater, that, although registers have been kept at Leadhills and other elevated stations, I do not recollect any strictly comparative observations in Scotland, perhaps not even in Great Britain, at two stations near one another, and differing considerably in level, from which the important meteorological element of the decrement of temperature in the atmosphere could be deduced.
XXVIII.—On General Differentiation. Part I
Authors: Kelland P.
Published: January 2013

We owe to Leibnitz the first suggestion of Differentiation, with fractional and negative indices, but no definite notion of the theory was attained until Euler expounded it in the Petersburgh Commentaries for 1731. Still Euler wrote only a few pages on the subject, so that the theory could scarcely be said to have come into existence, until Laplace, in his Théorie des Probabilités, and Fourier, in his Théorie de la Propagation de la Chaleur, shewed how general differential coefficients might be deduced by means of definite integrals, provided we assume or prove, by means of some elementary definition, that the differential coefficient of a circular or of an exponential function has a certain form. The formula given by M. Fourier is a very simple one; and our astonishment is great, when we reflect on the time which elapsed from its announcement to the first application that was made of it. This took place in 1832, in a memoir by M. Liouville, entitled Questions of Geometry and Mechanics resolved by a new analysis, which memóir is followed by two others on the more immediate theory of the analysis itself. Although M. Liouville regards his analysis as a new invention, we have no doubt that the idea is due to Fourier; but still to M. Liouville belongs the honour of moulding it into a shape capable of being made use of in the solution of problems.
II. A Description of some Remarkable Effects of Unequal Refraction, observed at Bridlington Quay, in the Summer of 1826
Authors: Scoresby W.
Published: January 2013

In the session of 1820–21, I had the honour of communicating to the Royal Society, a description of some remarkable atmospheric refractions observed in the Greenland Sea. Since that period, additional opportunities for observation, under circumstances peculiarly favourable, afforded a great number of other examples of a similar kind, along with some still more singular. Among these, the most extraordinary was the inverted image of a ship, which appeared in the lower part of the atmosphere, so distinctly and beautifully defined, that I could venture to pronounce it to be the representation of my father's ship, as, indeed, it proved to be, though we were then distant from each other about 28 miles, and some leagues beyond the limit of direct vision. But an account of the principal of these extraordinary appearances is already before the puplic, and I merely allude to them, in consequence of their similarity to the refractions I have now to describe, that occurred upon our own coasts.

These phenomena occurred during the last summer about Bridlington Bay, and were seen from my residence at Bridlington Quay.
IV. Some Experiments on Gold
Authors: Thomson Thomas
Published: January 2013

In the first volume of my “Attempt to establish the First Principles of Chemistry by Experiment,” p. 442, I give the analysis of the sodium chloride of gold, and find the constituents to be

But I state at the same time, my uncertainty whether the gold in the salt was in the state of a chloride or muriate. This uncertainty raising a doubt, whether the peroxide of gold contained two or three atoms of oxygen, I thought it highly necessary to clear it up. In this paper, I shall state the experiments which I have made with that object in view.
V. On the Construction of Polyzonal Lenses, and their Combination with plain Mirrors, for the purposes of Illumination in Light-Houses
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

In the year 1811, when I was occupied in drawing up an article on Burning Instruments for the Edinburgh Encyclopædia, my attention was in a particular manner directed to the construction of Large Lenses, and to the different methods by which they could be combined with plane and spherical mirrors, for the purpose of obtaining an intense heat from the concentration of the solar rays. I was thus led to examine the inventions and contrivances which had been previously proposed by others, for accomplishing the same object; and after giving a historical account of them, I proceeded to describe the improvements and constructions which had occurred to myself.