bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
XXI—Observations on the Principle of Vital Affinity, as illustrated by recent discoveries in Organic Chemistry
Authors: Alison William Pulteney
Published: January 2013

It may be remembered that, in the paper formerly laid before this Society on this subject, I endeavoured to establish the principle still disputed by some physiologists, that the laws which regulate the chemical relations, as well as those which regulate the visible movements of the particles of matter, undergo a certain determinate modification or change in living bodies, which is essential to the commencement and to the maintenance of the organization of those bodies; and farther, that I undertook the task of attempting to deduce, from the numerous but somewhat discordant experiments and observations lately made on the subject, certain inferences which appear to be well ascertained, although not generally admitted, as to the essential nature of this change, i. e., as to laws which regulate those chemical actions which are peculiar to the state of life, and essential to the maintenance of organization, both in vegetables and animals.
XXIII.—On the Reaction of Natural Waters with Soluble Lead Salts
Authors: Connell Arthur
Published: January 2013

In a former communication to the Society, I noticed a reaction presented by all spring, well, and river waters which I had examined, that, even after being boiled, they yielded, with acetate of lead, a precipitate readily soluble, in whole or in great part, in acetic acid. This easy solubility in acetic acid shewed that the precipitate was neither a sulphate nor a phosphate, and the comparatively slight action of nitrate of silver proved that it was not a chloride. There seemed, therefore, to remain only the conclusion that it was either a carbonate, or was due to organic matter. The former alternative, of course, depended on whether the solution in acetic acid was attended with effervescence or not; and as this seemed usually not to be the case, and as, on decomposing some of the precipitate by sulphuretted hydrogen, some organic matter in solution was obtained, the conclusion seemed to be, that the appearance was caused by organic matter, probably of the nature of the crenic and apocrenic acids of Berzelius. I have since, however, found that by very careful observation, effervescence may be noticed during the solution of the precipitate more frequently than I at first supposed. It is not so easy as might be imagined to determine this point.
XXIV.—On certain Products of Decomposition of the Fixed Oils in contact with Sulphur
Authors: Anderson Thomas
Published: January 2013

Numerous researches have established as a general rule that the products of the decomposition of organic substances vary with the circumstances of the experiment, and the nature of the agents under the influence of which it is performed. If, for instance, we examine the action of heat alone, we find it causing a set of decompositions specially characterised by the evolution of carbonic acid, formed by the union of part of the carbon of the substance with the whole or part of its oxygen; and this action is rendered more definite, and the number of the products circumscribed by all circumstances facilitating the formation of carbonic acid, such as the presence of a base, which will even cause its evolution when heat alone is incapable of producing decomposition. Acids, on the other hand, have a precisely opposite effect, they, in some instances, altogether prevent the formation of carbonic acid, and cause the oxygen to exert its action on the hydrogen of the compound, and to eliminate one or more atoms of water which do not generally exist ready formed in it.
XXVI.—Observations on the Temperature of the Ground at Trevandrum, in India, from May 1842 to December 1845
Authors: Caldecott John
Published: January 2013

My Dear Sir,—I have taken the opportunity of a short visit to England to bring with me a complete copy, to the end of 1845, of the Observations of Terrestrial Temperature, made at Trevandrum (of which I have already sent you a partial account), and which I have now the pleasure to forward to you herewith, to be dealt with in any way you may think proper. Should you think them worthy of presentation to the Royal Society of Edinburgh for publication in their Transactions, it will be gratifying to me. The observations made with the 12 feet thermometer are now at an end, in consequence of the fracture of the instrument during a high wind last year; but, after rejecting those made immediately on the introduction of the instruments, say all those of 1842, there will still remain three entire years of trustworthy readings, which I hope may be found to be sufficient for any purpose for which such observations in a tropical region may have been considered desirable.
XXVII.—On the Parallel Roads of Lochaber, with Remarks on the Change of Relative Levels of Sea and Land in Scotland, and on the Detrital Deposits in that Country
Authors: Milne David
Published: January 2013

There are few questions in geology which have given rise to so many theories, and so much speculation, as the origin of the parallel roads in the valleys of Lochaber.

In the year 1817, the late Dr MacCulloch gave an elaborate description of them, in a paper read before the Geological Society of London. In the year 1818, Sir Thomas Dick Lauder read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh a paper, full of equally interesting details. Both of these observers suggested, in explanation of the shelves which mark the mountain sides of these valleys, that they had been occupied by lakes, which, by earthquakes or other violent convulsions, had been drained. This theory was generally received, until, in the year 1839, Mr Darwin, so justly celebrated as a geologist, and an accurate observer, published his views, and pronounced the shelves to have been formed by the sea; an opinion which, besides being rested on proofs derived from the locality, he enforced, also by his observation of similar appearances in South America.
X.—Contributions to the Craniology of the People of the Empire of India. Part III. : Natives of the Madras Presidency, Thugs, Veddahs, Tibetans, and Seistanis
Authors: Turner Wm.
Published: January 2013

Since the pu blication in the Transactions of this Society of Part II. of my Contributions to Indian Craniology, I have prepared for publication descriptions of additional series of skulls, both from India itself and from countries with which the Government of India has had diplomatic relations in recent years. From the Presidency of Madras I have obtained specimens of the Tamil-speaking Southern Dravidians, of Pariahs, and the skeleton of a Badaga. I have examined and described an interesting series of the skulls of the professional stranglers or Thugs. Some additional skulls of the Veddahs of Ceylon, with one of which the other bones of the skeleton had been preserved, have also been presented to the Anatomical Museum of the University. To former pupils attached as medical officers to the expeditions to Tibet and Seistan I am indebted for skulls from those countries. Thirty-nine specimens are described in this part, and their measurements are recorded in the tables.
XI.—A Pfaffian Identity, and related Vanishing Aggregates of Determinant Minors
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: January 2013

An essential part of Pfaff's method of sloving an ordinary differential equation in 3m variables consists in obtaining what he calls his auxiliary equations.
XII.—Scottish National Antarctic Expedition: Tardigrada of the South Orkneys
Authors: Murray James
Published: January 2013

While engaged in investigating the Tardigrada of the Scottish Lochs, I was desirous of comparing our Tardigrade Fauna with that of other parts of the world, and it occurred to me that the then recently returned Scottish Antarctic Expedition might furnish some suitable material. On applying to Mr R. N. Rudmose Brown, in the absence of Mr Bruce, I was courteously supplied with various samples of moss which I judged likely to contain Tardigrada.

On examining this moss it was found that Tardigrada were indeed numerous in it, and although not in very great variety, some of the forms were of considerable interest.
XV.—The Viscosity of Solutions
Authors: Ranken C. , Taylor W. W.
Published: January 2013

In a recent paper published by the authors, some measurements of the viscosity of aqueous solutions indicated that it would be of interest to investigate more fully the viscosity of solutions, especially those which exhibit what is now generally known as “negative viscosity,” over a wider range of temperature.

This has now been done to a certain extent, and to enable a comparison to be made between electrolytes and non-electrolytes in aqueous solution, some other substances have been included in the investigation. They are:—potassium chloride, potassium chlorate, ammonium iodide, potassium ferricyanide, potassium ferrocyanide; mercuric chloride, mercuric cyanide; carbamide.
XVI.—The Temperature of the Fresh-water Lochs of Scotland, with special reference to Loch Ness. With Appendix containing Observations made in Loch Ness by Members of the Scottish Lake Survey
Authors: Wedderburn E. M.
Published: January 2013

My object in this paper is not, as the title might suggest, to give a comparative study of the fresh-water lochs of Scotland from the point of view of temperature. I had hoped at one time that this would be possible, and I may again return to this part of the subject of lake temperatures; but the more I have considered the question the more am I convinced that such a comparative study from the observations at my disposal would be based on assumptions too fundamental and too uncertain to make the conclusions reached of any great value. Consider the factors which go to produce variations of temperature as they are given by Professor Forel. Briefly, these are the indirect action of the sun in heating up the atmosphere and the surroundings of the loch, radiation from the loch, the effect of warm or cold water brought into the loch by rivers and by rain.
XVIII.—The Hydroids of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition
Authors: Ritchie James
Published: January 2013

The collection of Hydroids hereafter described was made in the years 1902–4 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition shipScotia, during her cruises in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seas.

For the opportunity of examining the specimens I am indebted to Mr W. S. Bruce, the energetic leader of the expedition; and I also wish to thank Professor J. Arthur Thomson for much assistance and advice in the course of my work.

The collection, as here described, coutains 41 specimens, of which 33 are referable to 27 known species distributed among 15 genera, some of them being new varieties; while the remainder have required the establishment of 7 new species and 1 new genus. One specimen remains specifically undetermined. Thus there are in all 18 different genera, represented by 35 different species.
XXXII.—The Boiling and Freezing Points of Concentrated Aqueous Solutions, and the Question of the Hydration of the Solute
Authors: Johnston S. M.
Published: January 2013

In this paper the results of observations of the elevation of the boiling point of aqueous solutions of electrolytes are given, and a few results of observations of the depression of the freezing point, together with conductivity data obtained by observations of conductivity at about 99·4° and 0° Centigrade.
IX.—A Study of a Tectibranch Gasteropod Mollusc, Philine aperta (L.)
Authors: Brown Herbert H.
Published: January 2013

The shell and gizzard plates of Philine aperta were first described in 1616 by Fabius Colonna. Linnæus (1767) included the animal in his genus Bulla, and named it Bulla aperta. In 1772 Ascanius made a new genus, Philine, with P. aperta as type.

Cuvier (1810) created the order Tectibranchiata, and in the “Règne Animal” (1817) grouped in this order Pleurobranchus, Aplysia, Dolabella, Notarchus, Bulla, and Philine.

Fischer (1887) divided the Tectibranchs into the Cephalaspidea, the Anaspidea, and the Notaspidea; the first with a cephalic disc, the last with a dorsal shield, and the Anaspidea with neither.
X.—The Life-History and Structure ofHœmatopota pluvialis, Linné (Tabaniæ)
Authors: Cameron A. E.
Published: January 2013

There have now been described some fourteen hundred species of Tabanidæ, of which, according to Surcouf (1924), more than a hundred are European. Biological studies of the family have by no means kept pace with those of its taxonomy, and there is available comparatively little information regarding the post-embryonic development of individual species.

Examination of the literature showed that none of the European species had been investigated with any degree of detail, and it was with the intention of supplying at least part of this want that the present study was undertaken in 1930. Because of its relative abundance from June to August in rural districts of Scotland, the common cleg,Hœmatopota pluvialis, L., was the species first chosen. The interest of this choice was considerably increased by the relisation that the biology of no species of Hœmatopota had previously been submitted to careful examination either in Europe or elsewhere.
II.—Observations on Pterygotid Eurypterids
Authors: Waterston Charles D.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

With the exception ofPterygotus rhenaniœJaekel, for which the new genusJœkelopterusis proposed, the published accounts of the median abdominal appendages of the Pterygotidæ are inadequate. An examination of the British material was undertaken with a view to improving our knowledge of the opercular anatomy of the family. An account is given of the genital appendages associated with both sexes ofErettopterus bilobus(Salter) andPterygotus anglicusAgassiz, of the Baltic speciesErettopterus osiliensis(Schmidt) and of British forms in which only one type of appendage is known. Attention has been given also to the cheliceræ of the British type species because of the importance which has been attached to this character in classification. The significance of the chelate and genital appendages in the classification and biology of the Pterygotidæ is discussed.
I.—On the Structure of some Petioles associated withRhetinangiumGordon
Authors: Long Albert G.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Detached petioles and their branches are described under the nameLyginorachis arberisp. nov. In their anatomy they resemble the petioles ofRhetinangium arberiGordon, a presumed Pteridosperm. Two specimens show preparation for dichotomy. Others are interpreted as rachides probably formed by dichotomy of petioles. In cross section such rachides show the presence of pinna-traces arising alternately and marginally from the V-shaped vascular bundle. The pinna bundles are also V-shaped but have only three corrugations in section. Cylindrical pinnules are borne on the pinnæ.

L. kidstonisp. nov. is a smaller petiole with a less corrugated and C-shaped vascular bundle. Both species are associated with seeds ofGenomosperma.
IV.—Studies on the Functional Morphology and Feeding Mechanism ofMonodella argentariiStella (Crustacea: Thermosbænacea)
Authors: Fryer Geoffrey
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Structural features related to habits of life are described for the thermosbænaceanMonodella argentarii.Although it can swim, this minute malacostracan is essentially benthic in habits, and its food consists of bottom detritus. The collection and subsequent manipulation of food are described.Monodellais not a filter feeder and no currents are involved in the feeding process which consists essentially of scraping, brushing and pushing. Cephalic appendages only are involved. The structure and mode of action of the mouthparts are described and illustrated in detail, and the functional significance of many structural features is explained.

No justification is found for placing the Thermosbænacea in a separate division, the Pancarida, and its position within the Peracarida is discussed.

The past history and present distribution of the Thermosbænacea are reconsidered.
V.—A Comparative Account of the Feeding Methods of the BeetlesNebria brevicollis(F.) (Carabidæ) andPhilonthus decorus(Grav.) (Staphylinidæ)
Authors: Evans M. E. G.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Nebria brevicollis(F.) andPhilonthus decorus(Grav.) are two of the commonest predaceous insects of the woodland floor, and the head structure, mouthparts and feeding methods of each have been compared and contrasted. InN. brevicollis, the mandibles are well developed for the capture and shearing of the prey, whilst the laciniæ of the maxillæ form rakes which pull the food towards the cibarium across the smooth labium. Food is bolted in large pieces and stored in the crop before passing through the filtering and grinding gizzard. A fundamental difference between the two beetles is seen in the movements and structure of the maxillæ, and a mechanism whereby stipital abduction and protraction is effected inN. brevicollishas been proposed. InP. decorus, the mandibles are also developed for prey capture but hold the prey between large brushes while it is being crushed. The maxillæ form thick brushes which also hold the prey, and the labium-hypopharynx is densely covered with setæ which prevent the entry of solid food into the mouth. Thus, in contrast toN. brevicollis, the labrum has a median food groove which directs the food upwards and away from the mouth, and returns it to the mandibles to be re-chewed. Here, partial external digestion occurs and fluid food is sucked in by the powerful cibarial pump, and passed to the filtering proventriculus. In order to show how the two feeding methods described fit into the general pattern, the feeding methods of various predaceous Coleoptera have been reviewed in relation to different types of gut structure.
VII.—Nuclear Phenomena in Marasmius androsaceus (L. ex Fr.) Fr. and M. rotula (Scop. ex Fr.) Fr.
Authors: Duncan E. Julian , Macdonald J. A.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Dividing and non-dividing nuclei in the hyphæ of M. androsaceus and M. rotula, grown by means of agar- and cellophane-film techniques, were examined alive with phase contrast and also after various fixation and staining procedures. The division was compared with that of the nuclei found in the ultimate clamp connection, i.e. that found, associated with the developing basidium, and with the divisions of the single diploid nucleus in the mature basidium. The end products of all the hyphal divisions are the same as in organisms having a conventional mitosis but some of the steps by which this is achieved are unusual, notably the arrangement of the chromatin as a figure of eight, the twisting of one of the loops so formed above the other to create two rings and the opening of these rings in such a way that the two rods which, ultimately separate each correspond with the chromosome complement of a daughter nucleus. The first division of the diploid nucleus in the basidium is noteworthy for the linking together, in late prophase, of the four chromosomes. This division is followed by a distinct interphase in which nucleoli reappear. The second division shares the peculiarities of the division in the ultimate clamp.
XIII.—Granites and Associated Rocks of the Eastern Part of the Western Redhills Complex, Isle of Skye
Authors: Bell J. D.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

The country lying between the head of Loch Ainort and the northern end of the Blaven Range in central Skye forms part of a Tertiary igneous complex. Country rocks in the area are Jurassic sediments. The earliest igneous rocks are basalt lavas which show the effects of thermal metamorphism by a later intrusion of eucrite and gabbro. This latter, which is part of the Blaven mass, has features of a layered intrusion such as igneous lamination, repetition of layers rich in certain minerals and comparable textures. It may be correlated with zones of the Cuillin layered intrusion. The eucrites are cut by a cone sheet swarm. Adjacent to the eucrite is a vent breccia which contains eucrite blocks, is not cut by cone sheets and is, therefore, of later age than the eucrite. The major part of the area under discussion is formed from four granitic ring dykes and a hybrid suite with ring dyke form, all of which belong to the Western Redhills intrusive complex; in addition, part of a fifth granitic ring dyke, which probably belongs to the Eastern Redhills intrusive complex is included in the area. The granites are mainly fayalite-hedenbergite types with a variety of phenocrysts of felspar and features characteristic of high level intrusions such as granophyric texture and varying optical and chemical properties of the felspar indicating higher temperature modifications. Three new chemical analyses of the granites and one of ferrohedenbergitic pyroxene are presented. The granites may be regarded as partial remelts of the underlying basement gneiss and a simple investigation of thermal requirements indicates that the heat necessary for the partial melting could be provided by a mass of basic rock presumed from geophysical evidence to underlie the complex. Various acid and basic minor intrusions in the area are also described.
I.—The Proboscis and Oesophagus of Some British Turrids
Authors: Smith Edmund H.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Haller (1888), one of the first to publish an account of the alimentary tract in the Gastropoda, was followed by Amaudrut (1898) who produced a detailed comparative account of “La partie anteriéure du tube digestif” in a number of gastropods. Later workers have either studied the complete alimentary system in one or two gastropods (Herrick 1906; Dakin 1912) or have been concerned with the functional morphology of particular organs, such as the oesophagus, stomach, (Graham 1941; 1949), and proboscis (Alpers 1931; Carriker 1943). Much of this scattered work has been collected by Fretter and Graham (1962). Effectively nothing is known about the functional morphology of the alimentary tract in many groups, including the neogastropod families Turridae, Terebridae, and Volutidae. This account of the proboscis and oesophagus forms part of a general study of the functional morphology of the Turridae.
II.—The Neogastropod Stomach, with Notes on the Digestive Diverticula and Intestine
Authors: Smith Edmund H.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

On the basis of Graham's (1949) work, the stomach of the neogastropods is currently regarded as a secondarily simplified structure exhibiting loss of the cæcum, abbreviation of the major typhlosole and intestinal groove, anterior migration of the opening of the œsophagus, loss of the sorting areas, and in the muricids, of the gastric shield. The present investigations, however, reveal that the stomachs of, at any rate, some neogastropods are less simplified than has been realized. There are well developed typhlosoles, an intestinal groove, gastric shield, and sorting areas resembling those of primitive gastropods.
VII.—The Littoral Copepoda (Crustacea) of Inhaca Island, Mozambique
Authors: Wells J. B. J.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

This paper deals with a collection of littoral meiobenthic copepods collected at Inhaca Island, Mozambique during the month of September 1963. A total of 135 species of Copepoda Calanoida (1), Cyclopoida (8) and Harpacticoida (126) were found of which 45 are new species and one a new forma. Thirteen new genera are described. The meiobenthos of Inhaca Island is totally unknown and few studies have been made anywhere on the east coast of Africa, the only exceptions being the several researches in the Red Sea and on the island of Madagascar. As the time available was limited and the fauna unknown the major part of the work was devoted to compiling as complete an inventory of the copepod fauna as possible. As far as was possible samples of equivalent size were taken in each habitat and some idea of variation in copepod populations on the different substrates can be estimated, but a more exact ecological approach was not attempted. The fauna proved to be very rich and varied. The greatest number of species and of individuals was found in the detritus sand. In this habitat no one species was super-dominant as was the case in the phytal habitats (algæ and marine grasses) and in clean sand (the interstitial fauna). Due to the lack of information from adjacent areas the zoogeographical relationships of the fauna are difficult to assess. It is possible that many of the new species are quite local. For the established species these new records are of value in assessing their world distribution and the evidence points to many of them being cosmopolitan.
XI. A proposed Improvement in the Solution of a Case in Plane Trigonometry
Authors: Wallace William
Published: January 2013

In the present state of mathematical science, cultivated as it has been, with assiduity, during the two preceding centuries, it can hardly be expected that any considerable improvement remains to be made in Plane Trigonometry, one of its most elementary theories. There is, however, one case in the resolution of oblique-angled triangles, which appears to me to admit of a solution somewhat more simple and convenient than those which are commonly known; it is that in which two sides and the included angle are given to find the third side.
XIV. On the Specific Heat of the Gases
Authors: Haycraft W. T.
Published: January 2013

The experiments which I now submit to the Royal Society are repetitions of those I made many months ago, for the purpose of ascertaining the Specific Heats of the Gases. The importance of the subject so impressed my mind, that I determined to spare no pains in the prosecution of the inquiry, and therefore I willingly withheld my first experiments from the public eye, until, by a fresh series, I might present them with the greater confidence. The apparatus employed in these experiments was calculated to operate upon greater quantities of the Gases than the former one, and as every precaution which had been suggested was adopted, they have, perhaps, given even more decisive results than the last. The results themselves, however, are in every important particular exactly the same. It is also but justice to myself to state, that the conclusions which the former experiments led to, were exactly the reverse of what I had anticipated, and that they seemed at the time totally opposed to the doctrines of Black and Crawford, which I am still disposed to credit to a limited degree.
XV. On the Forms of Crystallisation of the Mineral called the Sulphato-tri-Carbonate of Lead.
Authors: Haidinger W.
Published: January 2013

The history of the progress of discovery in the Natural Sciences, records innumerable instances, where the different ways of considering the same subject have created apparent contradictions, which have subsequently been reconciled by more accurate examination. The first observation of facts is very often far from being accurate; and, in most cases, this inaccuracy cannot be corrected, till the science itself has attained a higher degree of perfection. The optical and crystallographic inquiries into the nature of mineral substances, refer equally to the regular forms which these bodies present. The object of Crystallography is to ascertain this regular form from direct observations; and that of the department of Optics, which relates to this subject, is to determine the action of regularly crystallised bodies upon light. According to certain general laws, it has been found possible to argue from the optical phenomena to the external forms of minerals, and inversely from these forms to the actions dependent upon them, which affect light in its passage through crystallised substances.
XXIV. Observations on Two Comets discovered at Paramatta in 1824
Authors: Rumker  , Dunlop
Published: January 2013

The two Comets which are the subject of this communication were discovered at Paramatta; the first by Mr Rumker, and the second by our countryman Mr Dunlop.

The elements of both have been calculated from the observations of Mr Rumker and Mr Dunlop, by Mr George Innes, Aberdeen, and Mr James Gordon, A. M.
XXVII. Results of the Thermometrical Observations made at Leith Fort, every Hour of the Day and Night, during the whole of the Years 1824 and 1825
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

In the year 1820, I had occasion to suggest to the Royal Society the propriety of establishing Registers of the Thermometer in various parts of Scotland.

In a country embracing so many varieties of soil, climate and elevation, and extending over nearly six degrees of latitude, it was an object worthy of a public body to determine the Law of the Distribution of Temperature, even if such a subject had not possessed a separate interest in relation to the Horticulture and Agriculture of the Country. The Society did not hesitate in adopting this suggestion, and many intelligent individuals were found, who undertook to observe the thermometer twice a-day, and to measure occasionally the temperature of Springs and Wells, During the first year, viz. 1821, nearly sixty Meteorological Journals were regularly kept in different parts of Scotland. The number diminished considerably in subsequent years; but, notwithstanding this diminution, there is now in our possession a rich series of observations during five complete years, the results of which are nearly ready to be submitted to the Society.
XXX. Observations on Two Species of Pholas, found on the Sea-coast in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh
Authors: Stark John
Published: January 2013

The Natural History of the Pholades, so far as regards their mode of burrowing in wood and stone, seems yet to be but imperfectly understood, though the Pholas was known to the ancients, and Pliny notices its phosphorescent quality. Rondeletius, Johnston, and Rumphius have figured several species; Lister, among others, gives representations of three British species, the Pholas dactylus, Candida, and crispata; and Sir Robert Sibbald, in his Prodromus, has three rude figures of the dactylus or crispata, as Scottish shells. None of these authors, however, attempted to explain how the Pholades excavated their habitations in the rock, or perforated the submerged wood in which they seek protection. Bonanni, so far as I know, was the first who turned his attention particularly to this inquiry.
XIX. Account of the Invention of the Pantograph, and a Description of the Eidograph, a Copying Instrument invented by William Wallace, A.M., F.R.S. Edin., F.R.A.S., Memb. Cam. Phil. Soc, &c., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh
Authors: Wallace William
Published: January 2013

The power of making such a representation of any object, as shall give a distinct idea of its form, is a faculty which artists possess in different degrees of perfection. The principal difficulty is, to get a first delineation of any subject; from this a copy may be made in various ways, with less exertion of talent than was required for the composition of the original.

Various geometrical and optical inventions have been proposed to assist the artist in making an outline of an object which he wishes to represent. The Reticulated Square and other contrivances, for placing every point of the thing to be represented in its proper place in the picture, belong to the first class; the Camera Obscura and the Camera Lucida to the second. When a design is to be copied, a different kind of contrivances will in general be more convenient. It is only of these that I propose to treat here.
XX. Some Observations on Atmospheric Electricity
Authors: Davy John
Published: January 2013

The few facts we possess relative to the chemical agency of atmospheric electricity, and a certain degree of obscurity connected with these facts, as pointed out by Mr Faraday, in commenting on the late Mr Barry's results, published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1831, have induced me to institute some experiments on the subject, with the hope of acquiring additional information.

Reflecting on the manner in which, in certain instances, the great experiment of Franklin, in apparent proof of the identity of common and of atmospheric electricity, had been repeated, especially in our own country; reflecting also on the experiments of M. Colladon on atmospheric electricity, made by means of a lightning-conductor,—it appeared to me not improbable that results might be witnessed of some interest by substituting for an electrical kite, the means employed by Mr Barry, an insulated wire raised a few feet above the summit of any building of moderate height.
IX.—On the Balance Magnetometer, and its Temperature Corrections
Authors: Broun J. A.
Published: January 2013

The Balance Magnetometer was imagined by Dr H. Lloyd, of Dublin, for the purpose of observing the variations of the vertical component of the earth's magnetic intensity. It consists simply of a balanced magnetic needle, with a knife-edged axle, resting on agate planes, at right angles to the plane of the magnetic meridian. In the instrument from which the results in this paper are deduced, the position of the needle is observed by means of micrometer microscopes.
XXVI.—On the Nature of Solution. Part I.—On the Solubility of Chlorine in Water, and in Aqueous Solutions of Soluble Chlorides
Authors: Goodwin William Lawton
Published: January 2013

This research was undertaken with a view to ascertaining if metallic chlorides have any tendency to combine with a further quantity of chlorine. The well-known fact that potassium iodide unites with iodine to form a tri-iodide suggested that potassium chloride might, under suitable conditions, form a similar compound with chlorine. The method of investigation which first presented itself was to expose crystals of various chlorides to the action of dry chlorine gas at low temperatures, when any chemical action taking place would be expected to show itself in changes in the appearance of the crystals. A few experiments were made with no apparent result, and the method finally adopted was to determine the quantity of chlorine absorbed by solutions of the salts. It was thought that in this way quantitative results could be obtained which would reveal any tendency towards the formation of perchlorides. If a body having the formula KCl3 could be shown to exist, it would strengthen the position of those chemists who contend that the generally accepted ideas regarding atomicity need modifying. The discovery of a compound having the formula KCl2 would be a still stronger argument. At an early stage, however, the research resolved itself into an investigation of the solubility of chlorine gas in solutions of metallic chlorides in water, the question of the existence of perchlorides becoming a side issue. The influence of salts in solution on the solubility of gases in water is a subject of considerable interest, as throwing light on the nature of solution in general. Of late, certain chemists are inclining to adopt the old view that solution should be included under the general head of Chemical Action.
XXVIII.—On a Red Resin from, Dracæna Cinnabari (Balf. fil.), Socotra
Authors: Dobbie J. J. , Henderson G. G.
Published: January 2013

The resin to which the following paper refers was obtained by Professor Bayley Balfour from a species of Dracæna which he discovered in Socotra during his visit to that island in the year 1880, and to which he has given the name of Dracæna Cinnabari. In outward appearance and in general physical properties the resin differs from the varieties known commercially under the name of dragon's blood. With the view of ascertaining if these differences depend upon difference of chemical composition, we undertook, at Professor Balfour's request, to make an examination of the resin.
XXVII.—On Knots. Part III
Authors: Tait
Published: January 2013

The following additional remarks are the outcome of my study of the polyhedral data for tenfold knottiness, which I received from Mr Kirkman on the 26th of last January. My main object was, as in the first chapter of Part II., to determine the number of different types; as well as the number of essentially different forms which each type can assume, as distinguished from mere deformations due to the mode of projection.

This study has been a somewhat protracted one, in consequence (1) of the great number of tenfold knots; (2) of the very considerable number of distortions of several of the types, many of which are essentially distinct while others present themselves in pairs differing by mere reversion; and especially (3) of the fact that the polyhedral method often presents some of the distinct forms of one and the same type projected from essentially different points of view (of which, in the present case, there are sometimes twelve in all).
I.—The Atomic Weight of Tungsten
Authors: Waddell John
Published: January 2013

From the results obtained by Berzelius in his experiments with tungsten, the number 189·28 is calculated as the atomic weight of that metal. Many later investigations have been made, in which uniformly a lower figure was arrived at, in the majority of cases very nearly 184, which has therefore been regarded as the atomic weight.
III.—On the Foundations of the Kinetic Theory of Gases
Authors: Tait
Published: January 2013

The attempt to account for the behaviour of gases by attributing their apparently continuous pressure to exceedingly numerous, but nearly infinitesimal, impacts on the containing vessel is probably very old. It certainly occurs, with some little development, in Hooke's tract of 1676, Lectures de potentiâ restitutivâ, or of Spring; and, somewhat more fully developed, in the Hydrodynamica of D. Bernoulli, 1738. Traces of it are to be found in the writings of Le Sage and Prévost some 80 or 90 years ago. It was recalled to notice in 1847 by Herapath in his Mathematical Physics, and applied, in 1848, by Joule to the calculation of the average speed of the particles in a mass of hydrogen at various temperatures. Joule expressly states that his results are independent of the number of the particles, and of their directions of motion, as also of their mutual collisions.
X.—On the Structure of Suberites domuncula, Olivi (O. S.), together with a Note on peculiar Capsules found on the surface of Spongelia
Authors: Thomson J. Arthur
Published: January 2013

The sponge Suberites domuncula attracted the attention of the Italian naturalist Olivi almost a hundred years ago, but was on account of its firm india-rubber like consistency erroneously regarded as an Alcyonium. Beyond the general diagnosis of Nardo who erected the genus Suberites, the structure of the sponge has, I believe, remained virtually unknown. Not for this reason, however, but because the Monaxonia in general, of which Suberites is an example, are still for the most part but little known, Prof. F. E. Schulze of Berlin was good enough to ask me last winter to investigate the structure of this sponge. To him, therefore—perhaps the greatest living authority on the subject—I may be allowed to express my gratitude for the hospitable reception with which he welcomed a stranger to his laboratory, and for the constant interest and assistance with which he encouraged my work. That I have not succeeded in giving a perfect elucidation of the structure is largely due to the same cause which has kept it for so long almost wholly unknown. The crowded siliceous spicules, the compact consistence, the smallness of the ciliated chambers, make the histological analysis somewhat difficult. Such gaps as exist in my investigation I hope to be able to fill up by the study of related forms, and have with that end begun the study of Suberites mana.
XI.—The Reproductive Organs of Bdellostoma, and a Teleostean Ovum from the West Coast of Africa
Authors: Cunningham J. T.
Published: January 2013

During a short visit I paid to Oxford in the month of June last I had the opportunity of examining, by the kind permission of Professor Moseley, a number of specimens of Bdellostoma Forsteri, which were some of a large number brought from the Cape by Mr Adam Sedgwick of Trinity College, Cambridge. This examination showed what, from the close affinity of the two forms, was naturally to be expected, namely, that the structure of the reproductive system and the development of the reproductive elements in Bdellostoma were very closely similar to the structure and development of the corresponding parts in Myxine. A short time ago I described before the Society some ovarian eggs of Myxine, obtained at the beginning of the present year, which were approaching maturity. In these eggs there were slight projections at the poles, and on the surface of the projecting parts a number of papillæ. The projections were caused by the growth of a number of threads from the vitelline membrane within the ovarian capsule, and the papillæ were the separate elevations produced by the threads.
III.—On the Electrical Conductivity of Certain Saline Solutions, with a Note on the Density
Authors: Ewing J. A. , MacGregor J. G.
Published: January 2013

In preparing solutions of various salts with a view to determine their electrical conductivity, we found it of importance to know both the amount of salt in each solution, and its density. We prepared the solutions by mixing known weights of the salt under examination with known volumes of distilled water, and then measured their densities as soon as solution was complete by weighing a glass bulb in the liquid. We employed a balance which weighed to a milligramme with a kilogramme in each pan, and to give the results as great accuracy as possible we corrected for the upward pressure of the air displaced by the weights. The weight of the bulb itself was about eighty grammes. When not in use it was kept immersed in distilled water, in order to prevent change in its weight or volume being caused by impurities adhering to it. The temperature at which the densities were taken was 10° centigrade.
VII.—On the Physiological Action of Light
Authors: Dewar James , Gray John
Published: January 2013

Sensory nerves are divided into two classes, those of general sensibility and those of special sense. The nerves of general sensibility are distributed to the skin, muscles, or viscera, and convey influences to the brain which give rise to sensations of touch, heat, &c., or to those vague sensations, not definitely localised, which we include under the name of the muscular sense. The nerves of special sense are endowed with special and individual physiological properties. When a nerve of this order is irritated in any way, either by mechanical, chemical, or electrical stimuli, an influence is conveyed to the brain which gives rise to the same kind of sensation as that produced by the normal stimulus on the terminal organ. For example, pressure on the eyeball, as shown by Newton and Young, electrical stimulation by a continuous current, as demonstrated by Pfaff, Helmholtz Ritter, Purkinje, Du Bois-Reymond, and Schelske, produce many of the phenomena of vision, including not only the perception of light, but the perception of various colours and tints. But while this is the case, it is equally certain that each terminal organ responds to its normal stimulus. Thus the retina, though capable of stimulation by pressure or electricity, is specially fitted by its histological structure for the reception of those minute vibrations of the ether which constitute light. But while the terminal organ is capable of receiving a most delicate action of the normal stimulus, the nerve in connection with it is not so affected. For example, although the retina is affected by light, the optic nerve is not so, as may be proved by Marriotte's well-known experiment, by which it may be demonstrated that when the image of an external object falls on the entrance of the optic nerve, there is no corresponding sensation. The nerve is thus insensible to the normal stimulus of the sense organ, the retina.
XII.—On the Mode of Growth and Increase amongst the Corals of the Palæozoic Period
Authors: Nicholson H. Alleyne
Published: January 2013

The mode of growth and increase amongst the Coralligenous Actinozoa in general has been more or less fully treated of by various observers, including such distinguished naturalists as Milne-Edwards, and Haime, Dana, Martin Duncan, Fromentel, Agassiz, and others. I do not, therefore, in the present communication propose to pass the whole of this subject in review, but rather to consider the general and special peculiarities of growth and non-sexual reproduction exhibited by the corals of the Palæozoic Period alone. Many of these peculiarities are of great interest, both from the stand-point of the palæontologist, and also as concerns the systematic zoologist, and they have not yet met with all the attention they deserve. To carry out this inquiry, it will be necessary first to consider the general phenomena exhibited by the Palæozoic corals, as regards their mode of growth and increase. We may then examine the bearing of these phenomena upon various points connected with the classification of these ancient corals, and more especially upon their generic and specific affinities and differences. Finally, we may briefly consider the relations which exist between different parts of a compound corallum as regards their growth, and their influence upon the ultimate form of the colony.
XIII—On the Elimination of α,β, γ, from the conditions of integrability of S uadρ, S uβdρ, S uγdρ
Authors: Plarr G.
Published: January 2013

The proposed scalars represent the differentials of the three functions, X, Y, Z, of the co-ordinates x, y, z, put under the form

where ◁ represents the operator

and where

.

These functions, equated respectively to constants, are intended to represent a system of orthogonal surfaces.
XVIII.—On The Structure and Affinities of Tristichopterus alatus, Egerton
Authors: Traquair Ramsay H.
Published: January 2013

Concerning the affinities and systematic position of this very remarkable Devonian fish, there has hitherto prevailed very great uncertainty. The two original specimens, discovered by Mr C. W. Peach, in the Old Red Sandstone of John O’Groat’s, Caithness, and described by Sir Philip Egerton, left us in complete ignorance as to the osteology of the head and the dentition, while the evidence they afforded as to the structure of the pectoral fins was by no means so clear as might have been wished for. To quote from Sir Philip's description:—“ The bones of the head, with the exception of a small fragment of the operculum, are wanting, but the impressions left upon the matrix show that they were sculptured in rather a bold pattern, not unlike the ornament on some of the cranial bones of some of the Holoptychii, and consequently differing in this respect from the corresponding parts in Dipterus. The pectoral fins are very indistinctly seen. They appear to have had a short obtuse lobe forming the base, and extending therefrom a set of numerous fin-rays more elongated than those forming the pectoral fin in Dipterus.” To Dipterus, however, in Sir Philip Egerton's opinion, its affinities pointed, as far as could be gathered from the structure of the body as displayed in the specimens, his description concluding as follows:—“ The absence of all evidence as to the dental apparatus of Tristichopterus is much to be regretted. On other points the affinities between this genus and Dipterus are so striking that they cannot be classified in separate families. Accordingly he assigned to Tristichopterus a place along with Dipterus in the family of “Cœlacanthi,” the term being used in its former extended sense, not as now restricted to the peculiar genera Cœlacanthus, Undina, Holophagus, and Macropoma.
XIV.—On the Action of Sulphide of Potassium upon Chloroform
Authors: Nicol W. W. J.
Published: January 2013

In the “Journal für praktische Chemie,” [2] 6, 99, Pfankuch states that “when one adds chloroform to an alcoholic solution of sulphide of potassium a reaction takes place often with explosive violence, and by repeated extraction of the mass with absolute alcohol one obtains a compound which crystallises from alcohol in long prisms, and may be considered as a double salt of sulphide of potassium and sulphoform.”