bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
1. On the Analysis of Compound Ethers
Authors: Dittmar W.
Published: June 2016

In many cases the best guarantee of the purity of a chemical substance is the method by which it has been prepared. If the processes are well devised and carefully conducted, they constitute in themselves a qualitative analysis on a large scale, the exactitude and reliability of which go far beyond what could be obtained by ordinary testing. This, however, does not apply to many organic preparations, and is eminently inapplicable in the case of compound ethers. If in the preparation of such an ether, we start with a pure alcohol and a pure acid, and carefully distil, wash, and redistil the ether produced, the product ultimately obtained may contain considerable quantities of alcohol, free acid, and water. The purity of a compound ether can be established only by direct Experiment. Free acid is easily tested for, and even quantitatively determined by the well-known acidimetric processes; the presence or absence of water may be proved by an elementary analysis, but an admixture of alcohol is not easily established.
2. On the Effect of Reduction of Temperature on the Coagulation of the Blood
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

In an excellent little work recently published on elementary physiology, its author, when treating of the blood and its coagulation, remarks that a low temperature retards its coagulation; and that “blood kept at the freezing-point of water will not coagulate at all.” He adds: “Blood thus kept fluid will, however, coagulate when its temperature is raised; and blood has been thus cooled and warmed till near coagulation for three successive times without losing its coagulability.”

That the lowering the temperature of the blood retards its coagulation is now unquestionable; but the statement that it does not coagulate at all at the freezing-point of water, is new to me.
11. Note upon a Method of varying Weights by Minute Quantities
Authors: Broun J. A.
Published: June 2016

A notice of a Gravimeter, proposed by me, appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh early in 1861. The instrument, with various modifications, was forwarded to me in India about three years thereafter, and was found to have several imperfections which could have been corrected only by my own supervision of the work as it proceeded. His Highness the Rajah of Travancore has been good enough to sanction a sum of money for the construction of a second instrument, with all the precautions experience has suggested.
3. On the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, and Professor C. P. Smyth's Views concerning it
Authors: Wackerbarth A. D.
Published: June 2016

The author gives a detailed statement of the theories of Professor Smyth, as given in the Transactions of this Society, Vol. XXIII. Part III. He then, after heartily commending the zeal and diligence of the Professor, brings forward objections to some of his views. 1. As to the metron or unit of linear measure. Mr Wackerbarth objects that this measure was utterly unknown to the ancient Egyptians—appearing in no Egyptian document or monument whatever, nor in any ancient writer who describes the condition of the Egyptians.
2. Note on the Occasional Occurrence of the Musculus Rectus Thoracis in Man
Authors: Turner
Published: June 2016

During the last winter session, I communicated to the Society a paper on the “Musculus Sternalis,” in which I argued that the longitudinally arranged muscle, occasionally found superficial to the sternal fibres of origin of the pectoralis major, was not, as anatomists have usually described it, homologous with the anterior or thoracic fibres of the mammalian rectus, but belonged to another group of muscles.

Since that time I have met with two subjects in the dissecting-room, in each of which a longitudinal muscle occurred, lying in contact with the outer surface of the anterior extremities of the upper true ribs, and beneath the fibres of the pectoral muscle, which is, from the position, direction, and connection of its fibres, I believe to be regarded as homologous with the thoracic end of the mammalian rectus.
2. On the Temperature of the Common Fowl (Gallus domesticus)
Authors: Davy John
Published: June 2016

Before proceeding to read Dr Davy's paper, Professor Allman made the following remarks:—

The duty has devolved on me of being the medium through which the paper just announced should be communicated to the Society—a duty not unmixed with melancholy; for when the distinguished author of that paper had placed it in the hands of the Council, there was nothing to prevent our looking forward to a continuance of those labours with whose results the pages of your Transactions have been so often enriched. But the pen which had worked unwearyingly for nearly sixty years is at last still; and the paper now before you closes in for ever the earthly labours of its author.
3. Note on an Inequality
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The tendency of the air contained in a soap-bubble is to expand in bulk, while that of the film is to contract in surface. Hence it becomes a curious question to decide whether both of these tendencies are not satisfied when two or more bubbles unite into one.

The excess of pressure inside a bubble, of radius r, over the pressure of the external air, is

where T is the contractile force of the film.
1. The Mean Pressure of the Atmosphere over the Globe for the Months and for the Year. Part I.—January, July, and the Year
Authors: Buchan Alexander
Published: June 2016

The three charts which were exhibited, showing, by isobarometric lines, the mean atmospheric pressure over the globe, during January, July, and the year, were constructed from observations made at 358 places thus distributed over the earth,—167 in Europe; 51 in Asia; 22 in Africa and adjoining islands; 35 in South America, West Indian Islands, and Atlantic; 63 in North America; and 20 in Australasia and Antarctic Ocean. Of the European stations, 12 are in Scotland, 14 in England, 27 in Austria, 12 in Italy, 10 in France, 10 in the Netherlands, 9 in Norway, and 57 in the Russian empire, &c. The list might have been largely increased; thus a larger number might have been given from the 80 Scottish stations; but the 12 given were judged sufficient to represent the mean atmospheric pressure of this country.
4. On the Dissipation of Energy
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The paper contains some curious applications of the principle of dissipation to the conduction of heat, the connection of heat and electricity, thermo-electric currents, the electric convection of heat, &c. But in this abstract we confine ourselves to one very simple case of the conduction of heat, as the hypothesis on which it is investigated is fundamentally assumed in all the other applications.
2. Remarks on two Pyramid Papers in the last published Number of the “Proceedings” of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Authors: Smyth Piazzi
Published: June 2016

On the 10th of March last I had the honour of receiving, in the usual course of publication, a copy of the 75th Number of our Society's Proceedings.

Within that Number's few pages, there are no less than two distinct essays, mainly, if not entirely, on “the Great Pyramid, “and my views respecting it.”

Both these essays, though by able and ingenious men, are yet unfortunately based to such an extent on needlessly imperfect data, that the superintending Secretary might have justifiably returned the MSS. to their respective eminent authors, with suggestions for improvement in the improvable particulars, before publishing them under the auspices, and at the expense of the Society.
1. On the Colour of Aërial Blue
Authors: Harvey George
Published: June 2016

This paper is intended to prove that the colour of blue in the sky and in the landscape is simply the result, in the former, of the darkness of space, as seen through the white light contained in the atmosphere; and, in the latter, of the same cause as shown in the dark and distant portions of the landscape being viewed through the interposed medium of air filled with white light. The colour of aërial blue being due in both cases to the same cause, namely—a dark body neutralised as to its darkness by being seen through a white and transparent medium.
4. On Rhabdopleura, a New Genus of Polyzoa
Authors: Allman
Published: June 2016

Professor Allman described a new genus of Polyzoa, obtained by the Rev. A. M. Norman and Mr J. Gwyn Jeffreys, from deep-sea dredgings in Shetland.

Its cœnœcium consists of a branched tube, partly adherent and partly free, the free portion forming tubes of egress, through which the polypides move in the acts of exsertion and retraction. In the walls of the adherent portion a rigid chitinous rod is developed along their attached side, and to this rod the polypides are connected from distance to distance each by a flexible cord or funiculus.
Observations on the Temperature of Newly-born Children
Authors: Maclagan T. J.
Published: June 2016

That the temperature of the child is not the same as that of the adult has long been a generally acknowledged fact, but wherein and to what extent it differs is a point on which definite information is wanting. With the object of determining this point, the author took advantage of the opportunities afforded by a residence in the Edinburgh Maternity Hospital, to note the temperature of a number of children at the time of birth, and at frequently repeated intervals during the first few days of extra-uterine life. The result of these observations was to show that the child at birth partook of the temperature of the mother—that as soon as it commenced its separate existence the heat imparted by the parent was no longer maintained, but was rapidly lost, till, in a few hours (the exact period varying in different cases), the thermometer indicated a temperature one, two, three, or even six degrees below the normal standard of the adult.
On the Basin of the Firth of Forth, and some of its Geological Phenomena
Authors: Milne-Home David
Published: June 2016

I. An account was given of the dimensions of the estuary, in respect of length, width, and depth; and also of the general direction of the axis of the estuary.

II. It was next shown that the formation of the estuary was probably due to the great geological fractures and dislocations which had taken place in this part of Scotland, inasmuch as the direction of these was parallel, or nearly so, to the axis of the estuary, and as the downcasts in the adjoining counties on the north and the south were all towards the estuary, thus producing a trough or valley, deep enough to be entered and filled by the sea.
On Comets
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The principal object of the paper is to investigate how far the singular phenomena exhibited by the tails of comets, and by the envelopes of their nuclei, the shrinking of their nuclei as they approach the sun, and vice versâ, as well as the diminution of period presented by some of them, can be explained on the probable supposition that a comet is a mere cloud of small masses, such as stones and fragments of meteoric iron, shining by reflected light alone, except where these masses impinge on one another, or on other matter circulating round the sun, and thus produce luminous gases, along with considerable modifications of their relative motion. Thus the gaseous spectrum of the nucleus is assigned to the same impacts which throw out from the ranks those masses which form the tail.
1. Preliminary Report on the Tunicata of the “Challenger” Expedition. Part III.
Authors: Herdman W. A.
Published: June 2016

This family includes two of Savigny's genera—Boltenia and Cynthia, and may be defined by their common characters if we omit or modify one point on which considerable stress is usually laid, namely, the number of lobes round the branchial and atrial apertures.

The amended definition of the family is as follows:—

Body attached, sessile or pedunculated; apertures four-lobed or having less than four lobes.

Test coriaceous; rarely cartilaginous or gelatinous.
7. On some Space-Loci
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The class of problems treated is one to which considerable attention has been paid of late, as for instance by Glaisher and others in this country, and by Mannheim, &c, abroad.

Two years ago (Proc. 1879, p. 200), in connection with Minding's Theorem, I investigated the space-locus of the feet of perpendiculars from the origin on the rays of a complex. These were found to fill the space bounded by the two sheets of the reciprocal of a Fresnel's wave-surface. The method I employed is capable of very extended application in the same direction, and the following general process is applicable to all the problems I have seen treated by the authors above referred to.
3. Note on the Heating produced by Compression
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

By the help of an iron-copper junction introduced into the smaller compression apparatus lately described to the Society, I have examined for a number of substances the rise of temperature produced by a sudden application of great pressure, and the corresponding fall of temperature when the pressure was very suddenly relaxed. The copper-iron circuit is, however, too little sensitive for very accurate measurements ; as, from the nature of the apparatus, the wires must be so thin as to have considerable resistance, and the thermoelectric power of the combination is not large.
5. On Quaternion Integration
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The Chairman closed the session with the following remarks:—

I have now, in a very few words, to close this session, and in so doing I beg to remind you that it is the ninety-ninth session of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. This Society, which was originally an offshoot of the University of Edinburgh, was first started, on the suggestion of Principal Robertson, towards the close of 1782. So that in the latter part of next year you will be able to announce your hundredth birthday. The Society came into existence just one year after its late distinguished President, Sir David Brewster, who was born in December 1781. While individuals pass away, age brings no decrepitude, but rather the reverse, to universities and scientific bodies.
1. The Historic Evidence for the Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum
Authors: Cazenove
Published: June 2016

It will conduce to clearness if, before making any remarks, I take the liberty of reproducing the title of this address in a slightly enlarged form. In order to convey a precise idea of my object, it will be desirable to frame it thus:—

“On the Evidence (prior to the Excavations commenced in A.D. 1755) for the Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum by the Eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79.”

It will be seen from this way of putting the case, that I propose to confine my attention to documentary evidence. The reference to Vesuvius is also important, because it might conceivably be maintained, and indeed it has been maintained within the present century, that these cities were destroyed by other agencies, and not by the outburst of the neighbouring volcano.
(c) Diagnoses Lichenum Socotrensium novorum a participibus expeditionum Prof. Bayley Balfour et Dr. Schweinfurth lectorum, quas elaboravit Dr. J. Müller
Authors: Balfour Bayley
Published: June 2016

Obs. Diagnoses specierum novarum ampliores et observationes variæ, enumeratio completa omnium Lichenum a participibus expeditionum oculatiss. Balfourio (B.C.S.) et Schweinfurthio (Schweinf.) in hac neglectissima insula lectorum mihique benevole submissorum, nec non indicatio locorum accurata in Balfourii opere integro currente anno edendæ sunt.
3. Remarks on Dielectric Strength
Authors: Chrystal
Published: June 2016

The phenomena accompanying the disruptive discharge of electricity are, in the present state of electric science, among the most interesting known, because they are the least understood, and, so far as we know, the least concordant with our preconceived ideas. The simplest way of representing the facts is to imagine with Faraday that the non-conducting medium, or dielectric, between two charged conductors is the seat of mechanical stress, consisting of tension along, and pressure perpendicular to, the lines of force. The rupture of the dielectric may then be conceived as a phenomenon precisely analogous to the rupture of an elastic body under stress. We are thus led to the conclusion that the commencement of the rupture happens at that particular point where the tension first reaches a certain value, called the breaking tension or dielectric strength, which depends merely on the material of the dielectric, and on its physical condition at the time being. The main thing in any experiment on dielectric strength is to know the tension at the point where the rupture begins.
1. The Effect of Flame on the Electric Discharge
Authors: Macfarlane A. , Rintoul D.
Published: June 2016

The properties of flames of various kinds as generating electricity and as serving to conduct a voltaic current, as also their behaviour under the influence of a charge of electricity, have been investigated by several philosophers. But, so far as we know, the effect of flame on the electric spark has not been methodically observed, or at all events has not been methodically measured. This was the problem which at the opening of the College session presented itself to us, and the results now attained by a course of experimenting appear capable of throwing some light on the solution.

We first made a number of tentative experiments, for the purpose of finding out the general aspect of the phenomena, and the conditions most favourable for exact measurement. An ordinary Bunsen burner served to supply a flame luminous or non-luminous. It was always connected with the earth, and the charged body was in general a disc of 4 inches diameter, connected along with a large Leyden jar to the insulated conductor of a Holtz machine. We tried the disc in a position above the flames, but found that the disturbing conditions introduced were, as was to be expected, rather numerous, namely, the heating of the disc and the covering of it with soot, and the melting of the gutta-percha covering of the connecting wire. Hence for a series of measurements we preferred the disc placed in a position at the side, as represented in the accompanying figures. (See Plate IV. a).
1. On the Figures of Equilibrium of a Rotating Mass of Fluid
Authors: Thomson William
Published: June 2016

(a) The oblate ellipsoid of revolution is proved in Thomson and Tait's Natural Philosophy (first edition, § 776, and the Table of § 772) to be stable, if the condition of being an ellipsoid of revolution be imposed. It is obviously not stable for very great eccentricities without this double condition of being both a figure of revolution and ellipsoidal.

(b) If the condition of being a figure of revolution is imposed, without the condition of being an ellipsoid, there is, for large enough moment of momentum, an annular figure of equilibrium which is stable, and an ellipsoidal figure which is unstable. It is probable, that for moment of momentum greater than one definite limit and less than another, there is just one annular figure of equilibrium, consisting of a single ring.
4. Note on the Absorption of Sea-Water
Authors: Aitken John
Published: June 2016

In a letter to Professor Tait, dated Mentone, 14th April 1882, Mr. Aitken says :—

Since coming here this time, I have tested the sea with the polariscope and with the spectroscope. With an instrument by Hoffman, which gives coloured bands with polarized light, I have been able to detect small, but decided indications of polarization in the light internally reflected by the water, the surface reflection being, of course, cut off when the observation was made. At present I think the polarization is due to regular reflection from the polished surfaces of some of the particles, which are seen to glance brightly in concentrated sunlight.

I have also detected an absorption band in the green of the spectrum of the light internally reflected by the Mediterranean water. This band is much more distinct in water where there are but few reflecting particles, and the light undergoes a great amount of selective absorption.
2. Report of the Boulder Committee, with Remarks by the Convener
Authors: Home Milne
Published: June 2016

The Convener being now no longer able to climb hills, or walk to any considerable distance, his own contribution of information to the Committee is, this year, exceedingly small.

The only place visited by him during last autumn was East Loch Tarbert, Loch Fyne, at the suggestion of Mr. Alexander of Lochgilphead, whose services to the Convener during the two previous years were peculiarly valuable.
3. On the Condition of Ammonium Salts when dissolved in Water
Authors: Nicol W. W. J.
Published: June 2016

When a salt, such as sodium chloride, which crystallises at ordinary temperatures without water of crystallisation, is dissolved in water, contraction takes place; that is, the specific gravity of the solution is greater than that calculated for a solution of that strength from the specific gravity of the salt in the solid state and that of water, by the formula—

Where—
4. On a Solar Calorimeter, and some Observations made with it in Upper Egypt
Authors: Buchanan J. Y.
Published: June 2016

The instrument consists of a Liebig's condenser mounted equatorially, so as to follow the sun by one motion. Projecting from the upper part of it, and enclosing the steam tube, is the boiler, which is a tube of half an inch diameter, where it receives the sun's rays, and widens out to 1 inch diameter in the steam space. This steam space or dome is formed by an inverted test tube, so that the operation can be easily watched. The tube is surrounded by a concave reflector made up of three conical surfaces of silvered copper. The diameter of the outer edge of the reflector is 13·5 inches, and its effective surface is almost exactly 1 square foot. The length of tube on which the rays were concentrated was 2 inches, and as its diameter was half an inch, its surface was 3·14 inches, therefore the thermal magnifying power of the combination was 46. These proportions were chosen in some doubt as to their suitability, but their choice was justified by the result. The amount of water actually in the focal portion of the boiler at any moment was 5 cubic centimetres; as the steam passed down through a central tube, and was condensed by the water rising outside of it to supply the place of what was evaporated in the boiler, the supply or feed to the boiler was effected practically at the temperature of ebullition.
On the Madder-Staining of Dentine
Authors: Robertson W. G. Aitchison
Published: June 2016

While working at the histology of the tooth, it occurred to me that some light might be thrown on the vexed question as to the manner in which dentine grows, by observing what parts of a tooth are stained when an animal is fed on madder mixed with its food. In order to investigate this I examined the persistently growing teeth in three young rabbits, all of the same litter, which had been fed on madder (Rubia tinctorum) for two weeks. The first rabbit was killed immediately after being thus fed; the second was killed after feeding for two weeks on ordinary diet subsequent to the madder food; while the third was killed three weeks after feeding with, madder had been discontinued.
On a New Apparatus for Counting Bacterial Colonies in Roll-Cultures
Authors: Young J. Buchanan
Published: June 2016

The apparatus which I have devised for the counting of bacterial colonies in roll-cultures, consists of a glass tube 15 centimetres long, the surface of which is divided by finely etched lines into square centimetres. The bore of this tube is such that the roll-culture tubes, which are of a uniform diameter, just slide without play within it. The ends of the tube are fitted into brass collars (Al, A2), which have inserted in them india-rubber rings (B1, B2). These india-rubber rings serve to retain the culture tubes in position during the process of counting. One end of the apparatus is adapted for grasping ordinary roll-culture tubes, the other for fixing the thin stems of Roux's tubes for anaerobic cultures.
Abstract of Paper on the “Digestion of Sugars.”
Authors: Robertson W. G. Aitchison
Published: June 2016

Most individuals consume daily nearly a pound of carbohydrate food in the form of starch or sugar.

The cheapness of sugar in recent times has led to its increased consumption. In 1891 the annual consumpt of cane sugar alone per head of the population was estimated at 80 lbs.

There can be no doubt that the increased consumption of sugar has been followed by an increase in the number of cases of acid dyspepsia, which may in some individuals become so troublesome that they are obliged to abandon saccharine articles of diet as much as possible.
On the Reproductive Organs of Noctua pronuba
Authors: Griffiths A. B.
Published: June 2016

The Insecta are dioecious Invertebrates, and the rudiments of the sexual organs exist in the larvæ, but are chiefly developed during the pupal stage. These organs present such wide and manifold variations, that even those of individuals belonging to the same genus are so widely different in structure, &c., that it is only by a systematic study of each species that the student of nature is capable of arriving at correct conclusions concerning the reproductive organs of any particular species.
Preliminary Note on the Compressibility of Aqueous Solutions, in connection with Molecular Pressure
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The experiments referred to in my paper of March 6th (anté, p. 65) have been completed, but the results are by no means so exact as I hoped to make them. There was great difficulty in procuring the small bore tubes for the piezometers, and thus I had to employ them without previous calibration, as the solutions to be experimented on had already been prepared, and their densities determined at definite temperatures. Delay might have led to evaporation. When I proceeded to the calibration, after completing a large series of experiments, I was greatly annoyed to find that the bores of many of the tubes were by no means uniform. This accounts for the fact that my experiments, though fairly concordant, are not sufficiently so to afford more than a very strong probability in favour of the general result of the inquiry. For this reason I have described my paper as a Preliminary Note.
Abstract of Paper on the “Rate of Fermentation of Sugars.”
Authors: Robertson W. G. Aitchison
Published: June 2016

Most of the sugars undergo certain fermentations, the chief of these being the lactic, butyric, and the alcoholic or vinous.

To determine the rate at which fermentation occurs in the commoner varieties of sugar, I performed the following experiments.
Note on Dr Muir's Paper, “A Problem of Sylvester's in Elimination”
Authors: Cayley
Published: June 2016

I in part reproduce this very interesting paper for the sake of a remark which appears to me important. I write (a, b, c, f, g, h) in place of Muir's (A, B, C, A′, B′, C′), and take as usual (A, B, C, F, G, H) and K to denote (bc − f2, ca − g2, ab − h2, gh − af, hf − bg, fg − ch) and the discriminant abc − af2 − bg2 − ch2 + 2fgh.
On a Theorem regarding the Difference between any Two Terms of the Adjugate Determinant
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

If we take the set of equations

the eliminant of which is

and from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd eliminate xyw and xyz, from the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th eliminate xyz and yzw, from the 3rd, 4th, and 1st eliminate yzw and xzw, and from the 4th, 1st, and 2nd eliminate xzw and xyw, we obtain the set

the eliminant of which is clearly
Further Note on the Volume Changes which accompany Magnetisation in Iron and Nickel Tubes
Authors: Knott C. G. , Shand A.
Published: June 2016

In our last communication (read July 2, 1894) we gave the broad results for three nickel tubes of various bores (see vol. XX. p. 296). In these experiments the screw stopper through which the capillary glass tube passed was made of brass. This brass stopper was used because of the comparative difficulty of working nickel. We were led, in the course of some tentative experiments, to use this brass stopper with one of the steel tubes. Now, in the earlier experiments with the iron and steel tubes, we had used an iron stopper. We were hardly prepared, however, to find that the mere substitution of a brass for an iron stopper should produce such a marked effect, not only on the amount of change of volume in given magnetic fields, but also on the manner in which the volume change varied as the field increased or decreased steadily.
On the Absorption of Carbohydrates by the Intestinal Epithelium: An Experimental Inquiry into Pavy's Theory of the Action of the Epithelium on Carbohydrates
Authors: Paton D. Noel , Gulland G. Lovell
Published: June 2016

One of the most important conclusions arrived at by Pavy in his Physiology of the Carbohydrates, is that the intestinal epithelium acts as a barrier to the passage of carbohydrates into the circulation by converting them into fats (p. 248 et seq.).

Although the fact that the amount of sugar in the portal blood varies with the amount of carbohydrates taken would seem to indicate that the intestinal epithelium passes sugar on to the blood for the most part unchanged, the well-known observations on the conversion of carbohydrates to fats in the animal body suggest at least the possibility that such a change as that maintained by Pavy may take place.
A Sketch of Lake-dwelling Research
Authors: Munro Robert
Published: June 2016

The comparative security afforded to birds by island-retreats could not fail to have attracted the attention of man from the very dawn of his reasoning faculties, and it is probable that, as soon as he acquired sufficient skill to enable him to cross a creek or a river, he occasionally resorted to such means of protection. From the natural to the artificial island was but a stage of transition which, in the course of time, would be readily bridged over by his progress in mechanical knowledge.
1. Observations and Experiments on the coloured and colourable matters in the Leaves and Flowers of Plants, particularly in reference to the Principles upon which Acids and Alkalies act in producing Red and Yellow or Green colours
Authors: Hope
Published: June 2016

Professor Forbes shewed a specimen illustrative of the star-like fractures of horizontal strata, as assumed in the theory of Elevation Craters. It was a stratum of crystallized chloride of calcium, which had been accidentally fractured and elevated in Dr Christison's laboratory by the sudden disengagement of steam beneath during crystallization.
Laboratory Notes by Professor Tait. 2. On Electric Conductivity at a Red Heat
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

This was a mere preliminary notice of what promises to be at once an interesting and an extended inquiry, to which I have been led by some recent results in thermo-electricity. At present, it may be stated that at, and above, a red heat the electric conductivity of iron seems to fall off much faster with increasing temperature than that of platinum.
Laboratory Notes by Professor Tait. 3. On the Thermo-Electric Relations of Pure Iron
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

By the kindness of Dr Russell, of Bartholomew's Hospital, I have been enabled to experiment upon a ribbon of pure iron prepared by the late Dr Matthiessen. I reserve details until I can obtain the history and mode of preparation of the specimen examined, but I may state now that, when formed into thermo-electric circuits with various alloys of Platinum and Iridium (Proceedings, 1871–2, p. 773) it gives results, as to the position of neutral points, not differing more from those given under the same circumstances by various iron wires of commerce, than the latter do among themselves. Thus it appears that, in the thermo-electric diagram, the line even for pure iron is sinuous; and that the specific heat of electricity in it changes sign somewhere about a low red heat.
On an Inaccuracy (having its greatest value about 1″) in the usual method of computing the Moon's Parallax.
Authors: Sang Edward
Published: June 2016

When, as in the usual operation, the moon's observed zenith distance is corrected for the effects of atmospheric refraction, the zenith distance so obtained is that of the rectilineal part of the ray of light between the planet and the upper surface of the air; and on applying that correction, as at the Observatory, we do not obtain the direction of the moon as it would have been seen if there had been no atmosphere, but that of a line drawn parallel to the first part of the ray, and therefore passing below the moon.
The ‘Unwilling or Unable’ Test: Has it Been, and Could it be, Accepted?
Authors: CORTEN OLIVIER
Published: June 2016

On 23 September 2014, the United States of America sent a letter to the Security Council justifying the launch of an air campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on Syrian territory. In this letter, the US referred to a formula that appeared a few years ago in certain scholarly writings: the ‘unwilling or unable’ test. The aim of this article is to show that this test has not been accepted by the international community of states as a whole in the Syrian case. It is also to stress that such an acceptance would lead to a radical transformation of thejus contra bellumregime, one that a large majority of states is probably not ready to accept.
Family instability and children's effortful control in the context of poverty: Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Authors: Sturge-Apple Melissa L. , Davies Patrick T. , Cicchetti Dante , Hentges Rochelle F. , Coe Jesse L.
Published: June 2016

Effortful control has been demonstrated to have important ramifications for children's self-regulation and social–emotional adjustment. However, there are wide socioeconomic disparities in children's effortful control, with impoverished children displaying heightened difficulties. The current study was designed to demonstrate how instability within the proximal rearing context of young children may serve as a key operant on the development of children's effortful control in the context of poverty. Two separate studies were conducted that included samples of children living within homes characterized by heightened economic risk. In Study 1, we tested the differential prediction of family instability on two domains of children's effortful control: cool effortful control and delay control. Consistent with hypotheses, elevated instability was associated with decreased hot effortful control but not cool effortful control over the span of 2 years. In Study 2, we examined how children's basal cortisol activity may account for associations between heightened instability and effortful control in reward tasks. The results were consistent with sensitization models, suggesting that elevated cortisol activity arising from increased uncertainty and unpredictability in rearing contexts may influence children's hot effortful control. The findings are interpreted within emerging evolutionary–developmental frameworks of child development.
Bifurcations analysis of the twist-Fréedericksz transition in a nematic liquid-crystal cell with pre-twist boundary conditions: the asymmetric case
Authors: DA COSTA FERNANDO P. , MÉNDEZ MARIA ISABEL , PINTO JOÃO T.
Published: June 2016

In the paper, Bifurcation analysis of the twist-Fréedericksz transition in a nematic liquid-crystal cell with pre-twist boundary conditions (2009 Eur. J. Appl. Math.20, 269–287) by da Costa et al. the twist-Fréedericksz transition in a nematic liquid-crystal one-dimensional cell of lenght L was studied, imposing an antisymmetric net twist Dirichlet condition at the cell boundaries. In the present paper, we extend that study to the more general case of net twist Dirichlet conditions without any kind of symmetry restrictions. We use phase-plane analysis tools and appropriately defined time maps to obtain the bifurcation diagrams of the model when L is the bifurcation parameter, and related these diagrams with the one in the antisymmetric situation. The stability of the bifurcating solutions is investigated by applying the method of Maginu (1978 J. Math. Anal. Appl.63, 224–243).
A comparison of concepts from computable analysis and effective descriptive set theory
Authors: GREGORIADES VASSILIOS , KISPÉTER TAMÁS , PAULY ARNO
Published: June 2016

Computable analysis and effective descriptive set theory are both concerned with complete metric spaces, functions between them and subsets thereof in an effective setting. The precise relationship of the various definitions used in the two disciplines has so far been neglected, a situation this paper is meant to remedy.

As the role of the Cauchy completion is relevant for both effective approaches to Polish spaces, we consider the interplay of effectivity and completion in some more detail.
PATTERNS OF CACTACEAE SPECIES DISTRIBUTION IN A PROTECTED AREA IN THE SEMIARID CAATINGA BIOME OF NORTH-EASTERN BRAZIL
Authors: Ribeiro-Silva S. , Medeiros M. B. , Lima V. V. F. , Peixoto M. R. , Aona L. Y. S.
Published: June 2016

Although Brazil is the centre with the third highest diversity of Cactaceae, the distribution of species at the local scale in Brazil remains largely unknown. This article describes the distribution patterns of the Cactaceae communities in the protected area of the Contendas do Sincorá National Forest (CSNF) in a semiarid region in the north-east of Brazil. Trails were distributed between the altitudes of 290 and 596 m, along which 91 plots (1.8 ha) were established for quantitative surveys. The floristic data were also recorded separately on these trails. With the floristic survey, 18 taxa were recorded, and the quantitative surveys within the plots identified 10 species, represented by 1135 individuals. The distribution patterns of the species of Cactaceae were intermittent, which provided a likely explanation for the differences between the floristic survey and the species composition of the plots. The largest fraction of the floristic variation was not explained by environment or space, and this may be related to climatic alterations in the past, evolutionary processes, natural and anthropic disturbances and other unmeasured environmental variables. The recorded endemic, vulnerable and endangered species of the caatingas of Bahia indicate that broader protection areas for the Cactaceae species in the region of the CSNF are necessary.
The role of inflammatory biomarkers in CHD-associated pulmonary hypertension in children
Authors: Oz-Tuncer Gokcen , Olgunturk Rana , Pektas Ayhan , Cilsal Erman , Kula Serdar , Oguz Deniz A. , Tunaoglu Sedef F. , Pasaoglu Ozge T. , Pasaoglu Hatice
Published: June 2016

Objective

The present study aims to identify the role of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and fractalkine in CHD-associated pulmonary hypertension in children.

Methods

This is a prospective review of 37 children with CHD-related pulmonary hypertension, 21 children with congenital heart defects, and 22 healthy children.

Results

Serum C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 levels were significantly higher in the children with CHD-related pulmonary hypertension (respectively, p=0.049 and 0.026). Serum C-reactive protein concentrations correlated negatively with ejection fraction (r=−0.609, p=0.001) and fractional shortening (r=−0.452, p=0.007) in the pulmonary hypertension group. Serum fractalkine concentrations correlated negatively with ejection fraction (r=−0.522, p=0.002) and fractional shortening (r=−0.395, p=0.021) in the children with pulmonary hypertension. Serum interleukin-6 concentrations also correlated negatively with Qs (r=−0.572, p=0.021), positively with Rs (r=0.774, p=0.001), and positively with pulmonary wedge pressure (r=0.796, p=0.006) in the pulmonary hypertension group. A cut-off value of 2.2 IU/L for C-reactive protein was able to predict pulmonary hypertension with 77.5% sensitivity and 77.5% specificity. When the cut-off point for interleukin-6 concentration was 57.5 pg/ml, pulmonary hypertension could be predicted with 80% sensitivity and 75% specificity.

Conclusion

Inflammation is associated with the pathophysiology of pulmonary hypertension. The inflammatory markers C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 may have a role in the clinical evaluation of paediatric pulmonary hypertension related to CHDs.
‘Perpetual First Generation’: A Strategy for a New Minority – People Originating from Turkey in France
Authors: Akgönül Samim
Published: June 2016

To investigate the identity attributes of Turkish people living in France it is necessary to consider ‘Turkish identity’, determine the stage of their identity building, and understand the role religion plays in this quest for identity. Considering the complex structure of Ottoman society and the multiple and dynamic properties of loyalty criteria, it is difficult to ascertain the definition of ‘Turkishness’ even in Turkey. It is probably not necessary to explain that this is even more difficult for Turks who are in the minority.
The Relationship Between Challenging Behaviour, Cognitions and Stress in Mothers of Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
Authors: Rose John , Nelson Lisa , Hardiman Rebecca
Published: June 2016

Background: Cognitions are starting to receive more prominence as important when examining a number of factors including the topography of challenging behaviour. This study examined the relationships between maternal stress, challenging behaviour (aggressive and self-injurious behaviours) and parental cognitions and specifically whether maternal cognitions mediated the effect of challenging behaviour on parenting stress. Method: 46 mothers of children and young adults with ID completed questionnaires regarding their child's challenging behaviour, maternal cognitions and stress. Results: Significant correlations were found between challenging behaviour and maternal stress. The overall mediation models for aggression and self-injurious behaviour were significant. The Challenging Behaviour Perception Questionnaire: Consequences client subscale was the only independent significant mediator for both behaviours. Conclusions: Cognitions do play an important part in mediating the relationship between challenging behaviour and stress. Further research is needed to examine the similarities and differences between the mediation models for aggression and self-injurious behaviour.
Cognitive Flexibility in Primary Dystonia
Authors: Lange Florian , Seer Caroline , Dengler Reinhard , Dressler Dirk , Kopp Bruno
Published: June 2016

Objectives Although primary dystonia is typically characterized as a movement disorder, it is also associated with cognitive alterations in the domain of executive functioning which may arise from changes in cortico-basal ganglia circuits. Specifically, in comparison to healthy controls, patients with dystonia show deficits in neuropsychological tests of cognitive flexibility. However, it is unclear whether cognitive inflexibility is caused by the pathomechanisms underlying primary dystonia or by confounding factors such as depression or symptom-related distraction.Methods The present study aimed to eliminate these confounds by examining cognitive flexibility in dystonia patients and in patients with similar motor symptoms but without a comparable central pathophysiology. Eighteen patients with primary blepharospasm, a common form of dystonia affecting the muscles around the eyes, and 19 patients with hemifacial spasm, a facial nerve disorder causing similar eyelid spasms, completed a computerized version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (cWCST). The two groups were further compared on tests of global cognitive functioning, psychiatric symptoms, health status, and impulsiveness. Results Blepharospasm patients committed significantly more errors on the cWCST than patients with hemifacial spasm. Group differences were most pronounced with regard to integration errors, a measure of rule-inference processes on the cWCST. Integration errors were also associated with impulsiveness in patients with blepharospasm. Conclusions Primary blepharospasm is related to deficits in cognitive flexibility, even when blepharospasm patients are compared with patients who suffer from motor symptoms of non-dystonic origin. Our results support the possibility that cognitive inflexibility results from the specific pathophysiological processes underlying primary dystonia. (JINS, 2016, 22, 662–670)
Verbal Initiation, Suppression, and Strategy Use and the Relationship with Clinical Symptoms in Schizophrenia
Authors: Martin Andrew K. , Gibson Emily C. , Mowry Bryan , Robinson Gail A.
Published: June 2016

Objectives: Individuals with schizophrenia have difficulties on measures of executive functioning such as initiation and suppression of responses and strategy development and implementation. The current study thoroughly examines performance on the Hayling Sentence Completion Test (HSCT) in individuals with schizophrenia, introducing novel analyses based on initiation errors and strategy use, and association with lifetime clinical symptoms. Methods: The HSCT was administered to individuals with schizophrenia (N=77) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (N=45), along with background cognitive tests. The standard HSCT clinical measures (initiation response time, suppression response time, suppression errors), composite initiation and suppression error scores, and strategy-based responses were calculated. Lifetime clinical symptoms [formal thought disorder (FTD), positive, negative] were calculated using the Lifetime Dimensions of Psychosis Scale. Results: After controlling for baseline cognitive differences, individuals with schizophrenia were significantly impaired on the suppression response time and suppression error scales. For the novel analyses, individuals with schizophrenia produced a greater number of initiation errors and subtly wrong errors, and produced fewer responses indicative of developing an appropriate strategy. Strategy use was negatively correlated with FTD symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia. Conclusions: The current study provides further evidence for deficits in the initiation and suppression of verbal responses in individuals with schizophrenia. Moreover, an inability to attain a strategy at least partly contributes to increased semantically connected errors when attempting to suppress responses. The association between strategy use and FTD points to the involvement of executive deficits in disorganized speech in schizophrenia. (JINS, 2016, 22, 735–743)
Consumer preferences for fixed versus variable quantities of electricity: joint estimation of contingent quantity and valuation methods
Authors: Manning Dale T. , Loomis John B.
Published: June 2016

The structure of stated preference questions to value consumption from public infrastructure can vary depending on the conditions of consumption facing the household. Specifically, a good could be offered as a quasi-public or quasi-private good. This paper demonstrates how consumption from two alternative electricity allocation options can be valued using two types of stated preference questions. Since surveyed households were asked two types of questions, the authors develop a joint model of a contingent valuation question and a contingent quantity behavior response that allows for correlation in error terms across models. In their application to two villages in Rwanda, the authors find higher WTP for electricity consumed as a quasi-private good rather than a quasi-public good, with four hours of electricity per day, only in the evening. They also find correlation in the error terms across the two models, suggesting that their joint estimator is more efficient than estimating each model individually.