bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
XX.—On the Polarisation of Light by Rough and White Surfaces
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

The laws of the polarisation of light when reflected from the surfaces of solids and fluids, and when refracted and transmitted by translucent and transparent bodies, have been successfully investigated; but no experiments, I believe, have been made on the polarisation of light by rough or unpolished surfaces, such as ground glass, painted surfaces, pounded glass, snow, white powders, and solids and fluids reflecting white light from their interior. When studying the polarisation of the atmosphere, and anxious to discover the cause of its partial polarisation, and of the three neutral points or spots, in which there is no polarisation, I investigated the action of rough surfaces upon light, under the conviction that the sky or atmosphere was a rough surface like any aggregation of white or coloured particles. Had the atmosphere been specular like water or any body with a polished surface, the image of the sun would have been seen in it by reflexion, but being composed of aerial and aqueous molecules, it must reflect the sun's rays like pounded glass, or any white or coloured powders.
Report on Atmospheric Dust
Authors: Aitken John
Published: January 2013

In 1889 the Scottish Meteorological Society decided on making observations on the dust in the atmosphere at their Observatory on Ben Nevis. Having prepared the plans for the apparatus to be used for counting the dust particles, I visited the Observatory on the 1st of August of that year, and, after consulting with Mr Omond, decided that the tower of the Observatory was the best place for fitting up the instrument. The apparatus was afterwards made by White of Glasgow, and fitted up in the Observatory on 5th June 1890.
Abstract of Paper on the Diurnal Range of Temperature Variability at the Summit and Base of Ben Nevis, Lady Franklin Bay, and Hong Kong
Authors: Mossman R. C.
Published: January 2013

The average variability of temperature at any place is obtained by taking the difference of temperature at the same hour on successive days, and taking the mean value of this difference irrespective of sign. With a view to ascertaining whether this variability varied with the hour selected for comparison, the hourly temperature records at four places have been examined, and the day to day change of temperature at each hour noted. The places are—the Ben Nevis Observatory, the Fort-William Observatory, the Hong Kong Observatory, and the Arctic Station at Lady Franklin Bay, lat. 81° 44′ N., long. 64° 45′ W. At each place one year's record was taken, which, though too short a time to give a true mean, yet gives a fair approximation towards it. The mean values for each hour of the twelve months at the four stations are given in the accompanying tables, the highest value in each month being put in heavy type and the lowest in italic.
xxx.—On the Agrarian Laws of Lycurgus, and one of Mr Grote's Canons of Historical Criticism
Authors: Blackie
Published: January 2013

The History of Greece, by Mr Grote, perhaps the most notable production of modern English scholarship, is characterised, amongst many great virtues, by what has always appeared to me, in a historian, a great fault—a tendency to undervalue traditional authority, and to over-rate the importance of conjectural ingenuity, in the reconstruction of the past. One of the most remarkable instances of this tendency which has fallen specially under my view, is his treatment of Lycurgus and his legislation, as it occurs near the end of his second volume. The fallacies which seem to me to lie in this treatment, it is the object of this paper shortly to set forth.
XXXII.—On the Temperature of certain Hot-Springs in the Pyrenees
Authors: Scoresby-Jackson R. E.
Published: January 2013

Having determined to spend my autumn holiday in the Pyrenees, it occurred to me that I might add a link to a very interesting chain of observations which was begun by one of the Vice-Presidents of this Society in the year 1835. Twenty-eight years had elapsed since Principal Forbes made his careful observations of the temperatures of certain of the Pyrenean hot springs; and I thought that if I could repeat his experiments after so long an interval, the results might not be without some interest.

A visit to the Pyrenees in the year 1835 was so far uncommon as to make a description of the places through which the traveller passed a source of entertainment to the general as well as the scientific reader; but now such description would be tedious. Then, too, some remarks were necessary touching the geological features of the localities where the springs existed; but it is unnecessary to repeat them now, for I am not aware that the explorations into the rocks in search of new springs, or of a more abundant supply of water from the older springs, have altered the relations as described by Principal Forbes. Therefore, respecting the natural aspect of the country, beautiful though it be, and its geological features, I shall have nothing to say; and as I have no new theory of the cause of thermal springs to propound, I need not repeat the speculations with which we are familiar.
XXXVII.—On the Freezing of the Egg of the Common Fowl
Authors: Davy John
Published: January 2013

In the Transactions of the Royal Society for 1778, Mr Hunter has given an account of some experiments which he made on the freezing of the egg of the common fowl, from the results of which he inferred,—“That the fresh egg has the power of resisting heat, cold, and putrefaction, in a degree equal to many of the more imperfect animals, …. and that it is more than probable, this power arises from the same principle (a living principle) in both.”
XLVI.—On the Relations, Structure, and Function, of the Valves of the Vascular System in Vertebrata
Authors: Pettigrew James Bell
Published: January 2013

The rapid advances made of late in the diagnosis of cardiac and other diseases affecting the organs of circulation, render the present inquiry into the normal or healthy condition of the valves of the vascular system, not more important anatomically, than medically. As the nature and composition of the parts in which valves are found in some instances materially influence their action, I have deemed it necessary to advert briefly to the properties and structure of the veins and arteries, when describing the venous and arterial or semilunar valves; and to the arrangement of the muscular fibres in the ventricles, when pointing out the peculiarities of the auriculo-ventricular ones. As, moreover, much information is to be obtained by comparing analogous structures, I have, in the present instance, not confined my observations to any particular form of valve, but have examined in succession the entire valvular arrangements of the fish, the reptile, the bird, and the mammal; my object being to arrive, if possible, at a correct knowledge of the more elaborate varieties as they exist in man, and in the higher mammalia.
XIII. Observations on the Muscles; and particularly on the Effects of their Oblique Fibres
Authors: Monro Alexander
Published: January 2013

As it appeared to me, when I first began, in 1759, to deliver in this University a public course of lectures on Anatomy and Surgery, that the structure of the oblique muscles had not been sufficiently examined, nor even the number of them attended to by authors, and that some of their chief purposes or effects had been ent rely overlooked by them, I endeavoured then, and in every course of lectures since that time, to direct very particularly the attention of students to those subjects.
X. Description of some Improvements in the Arms and Accoutrements of Light Cavalry
Authors: Ancram
Published: January 2013

Sir,

Some time in the month of July 1797, I had a carabine made at Drogheda, of different dimensions, and of a different construction from that of our Light Dragoons : the mode of carrying and of using it is likewise different; and, as I have had considerable experience of this carabine since that period, I take the liberty of recommending it to the notice of his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, in order that a trial may be made, whether the adoption of such an arm might not be of advantage to the Light Cavalry.
II.—On Paracyanogen and the Paracyanic Acid
Authors: Johnston James F. W.
Published: January 2013

The history of the newer sciences presents many instructive examples of the progress of the human mind in developing the germs of natural knowledge, and building on a single observation entire departments of science. Few pursuits indeed are more interesting, even to the student of immaterial nature, than in the perusal of such a history to trace the footsteps of the several investigators, and to mark how far, and by what means,—whether by new methods or by greater patience of research,—each successive observer advanced the inquiry. We see the human mind, as it were, set free from the trammels of time, and developing its resources on a large and continuous scale, not limited by the powers of one intellect, the length of one life, or the means of one station. We see, at the same time, what varied gifts and opportunities are necessary for the elucidation of a single subject; how these gifts, though not all imparted to one man or to one generation, are yet wisely and beneficently bestowed on the entire species; and how all are thus enabled to co-operate, either in unfolding abstract truth, or in drawing forth those practical results which directly conduce to the amelioration and comfort of all.
IV.—On the Action of Voltaic Electricity on Pyroxylic Spirit, and Solutions in Water, Alcohol, and Ether
Authors: Connell Arthur
Published: January 2013

The following paper contains a continuation of the experiments on the action of the voltaic pile on alcohol, and some other liquids, of which experiments a considerable number was described to the Royal Society in a former memoir. At present it is intended, in the first place, to shew the perfect analogy between the electric action on pyroxylic spirit, and on alcohol, thereby confirming the interesting analogy already known to exist between these fluids in other respects: in the second place, to adduce a few farther illustrations of secondary voltaic actions in aqueous solutions; in the third place, to examine the nature of the changes produced in alcoholic solutions, under galvanic agency; in the fourth place, to inquire whether electric action does not throw light on the state in which the haloid salts are dissolved by water; and, lastly, to endeavour to suggest as a general law, regulating the electric decomposition of solutions of binary combinations of elementary substances in the principal solvents, that the dissolved body is not directly decomposed, but only the solvent, if itself an electrolyte.
V.—An Account of Three New Species of British Fishes, with some Remarks on Twenty others new to the Coast of Scotland
Authors: Parnell Richard
Published: January 2013

Although a great number of Fishes have been described by naturalists as inhabiting the coast of Scotland, and though much has been done to increase its Fauna in other respects, yet in a field so extensive much must still remain to be done. Many lakes and estuaries in Scotland are still unexplored, and many fishes being merely local, a more thorough and accurate examination of these lakes and estuaries must take place, before the Ichthyology of Scotland can be fully ascertained.
XIV.—Of the Fourth and Sixth Nerves of the Brain;—being the concluding paper on the distinctions of the Nerves of the Encephalon and Spinal Marrow
Authors: Bell Charles
Published: January 2013

Interesting as theoptical properties of the eye have been to philosophers in every age, there are conditions of this organ which are no less curious, and which have not had their share of attention.

In the year 1823, I introduced the subject to the Royal Society of London, nearly in the terms I am now using, but there is much more in the subject than I then conceived, although I see no reason to change the mode of contemplating it.

The eight muscles of the eye, and the five nerves, exclusive of the optic nerve, which pass to them, imply the complex nature of the apparatus exterior to the globe, and I fear it is too plain that the subject has not been satisfactorily treated.

It is chiefly with respect to the protecting motions of the eye that the difficulty occurs, for I hope the dependence of the proper organ of vision on the voluntary muscles of the eye, has been proved and acknowledged.

Permit me to draw the attention of the Society to what appears a very simple piece of anatomy, the circular muscle which closes the eyelids, orbicularis palpebrarum.
XVI.—On the Mid-Lothian and East-Lothian Coal-Fields
Authors: Milne David
Published: January 2013

I am not aware of any account having been published of the Coal-fields in East and Mid Lothian, or of any attempt to institute a geological survey of the country in which they are situated. Sinclair, the author of a well known work intituled “Satan's Invisible World,” published also in 1672 a treatise on Hydrostatics, in which he takes notice of the Prestongrange coals, and of the whinstone-dike that intersects them. Williams, in his “Mineral Kingdom” (published) in 1810, gives some information regarding the direction of the Gilmerton and Loanhead coal-seams. But the information contained in both these works, even respecting the coal-strata,—which alone they professed to treat of, is extremely vague, and generally very erroneous. Dr Hibbert was the first geologist who with a scientific eye entered on the district, in order to describe with fulness and accuracy any of its rocks. His discovery of the Saurian remains in the limestone-quarries of Burdiehouse, led him to a minute inspection of the strata in which they were imbedded, and to a consideration of the relative position of these particular strata in the Mid-Lothian coal-field.
XX.—On Fresnel's Formulœ for the Intensity of Reflected and Refracted Light
Authors: Kelland Philip
Published: January 2013

It is well known, that when light is incident on a refracting surface, a portion of it is reflected, whilst both the transmitted and the reflected light undergo polarization. The obvious mode of accounting for this, is to attribute to the particles on whose motion light is supposed to depend, the property of transmitting one class of vibrations more freely than another, limited, however, by the direction and mode of action of the adjacent particles. M. Fresnel, in order to determine the intensity of light reflected and refracted under different circumstances, assumed that the density of the particles of ether is greater in refracting media than in vacuo. By means of this assumption, and other subsidiary ones, he deduced formulæ for the intensity of the reflected and refracted light, by means of which the amount of polarization, as well as the change which the plane of polarization undergoes, can be readily deduced. The obvious interpretation of the formulæ coincided precisely with discoveries which had been long known, and the more difficult deductions from them have been tested by numerous experiments of Sir David Brewster and others. It appears that, although for highly refractive media, they may be only approximations, yet, in most cases, they are so close as to deserve the most careful attention of those who endeavour to establish a correct mechanical theory.
XXIII.—Notice respecting the Depletion or Drying up of the Rivers Teviot, Nith, and Clyde, on the 27th November 1838
Authors: Milne David
Published: January 2013

The Teviot, Clyde, and Nith, are well known to be among the largest rivers in the south of Scotland. In the lower parts of their course they are navigable; and all along their banks, nearly up to their sources, there are innumerable mills and manufactories, dependent on the continuous flow of their waters.

On the morning of the 27th November 1838, the channels of these rivers were, in the upper and middle parts of their course, found almost entirely empty. The thousands of water wheels, many of which had for years, without interruption, been turned by their currents, suddenly stopped. Immense quantities of fish, inhabitants of their deep and rapid streams, were destroyed by being left dry, or being caught with the hand in deserted pools; and in places where it was usually difficult for even horses to ford, it was easy for children to walk across without wetting their feet.
XXVI.—On the Theory of Waves. Part I
Authors: Kelland P.
Published: January 2013

It is my intention to undertake a series of Memoirs on that branch of Hydrodynamics which treats of the transmission of reciprocating motion. It may appear superfluous at first, that any further investigation should be bestowed on the general problem, when it is remembered that two of the most able mathematicians of the present age, M. Poisson and M. Cauchy, have devoted so much of their talents and attention to the subject. Yet, when advances are rapidly making in our experimental knowledge, we generally find that the complex and apparently general results, deduced by those who have paid the greatest attention to the science as it presented itself to their view, are in reality only particular cases, when they have to be applied to experiments in their actual form. This circumstance detracts greatly from the value of almost all general investigations; and in this instance it does so in a remarkable degree. The prosecution of the research has been extended in one direction—the prosecution of experimental knowledge has taken another; and thus, in order to meet the challenge of experimenters to keep pace with them, it behoves the theorist frequently to return on his path, and cross over to the line of their march.
XXXIII.—An Account of the Iron Mines of Caradogh, near Tabreez in Persia, and of the Method there practised of producing Malleable-Iron by a single process directly from the Ore
Authors: Robertson James
Published: January 2013

The ancient Greeks have laid claim to the earliest discovery of the method of manufacturing iron, but it will appear that the art was known in Persia at least as early as among the Greeks. The method of producing malleable-iron by a single process directly from the ore, is not indeed quite unknown at the present day, but it is believed to be altogether disused in Great Britain and throughout Europe; but there is no doubt that, in Britain, particularly at Castle Cough, Glamorganshire, and at Furness, near Ulverston, in Lancashire, as well as elsewhere, malleable-iron must have been known long before the discovery of cast-iron. In the 17th century, malleable-iron appears to have been made directly from the ore, in preference to the method now practised. In the Philosophical Transactions (for 1693, vol. xvii. p. 695), there is the following short notice by Mr Sturdy, of the method as then practised at Milthorpe-forge in Lancashire. “The forge is like a common blacksmith's, with a hearth made of sow-iron, in which they make a charcoal fire, and put in ore, first broken into pieces like a pigeon's egg; it is melted by the blast, leaving the iron in a lump, which is never in a perfect fusion; this is taken out and beaten under great hammers, played with water, and, after several heatings in the same furnace, it is brought into bars. They get about one hundredweight of metal at one melting, being the produce of about three times as much ore; no limestone or any other flux is used.” It has been doubted by an intelligent author (Farey on the Steam-Engine, p. 271), whether, by the process here described, the iron was really made directly from the ore, or only from pig metal. The existence, however, of a similar process at the present day in Persia, evidently the same which has been practised in that country from a very remote period, will make it appear not the least improbable that iron may have been thus produced from the rich hematite or fibrous red iron-ore of Lancashire.
VIII. Mineralogical Account of the Ores of Manganese
Authors: Haidinger W.
Published: January 2013

The mineralogical determination of those species, the chief constituent of which is Manganese, has been for a long time destitute of that precision at which other species had long arrived, whose chemical constitution was better known. Two years ago I published, in a memoir “On the Crystalline Forms and Properties of the Manganese-Ores,” the most accurate information I could then collect, partly from some works on mineralogy, partly from my own observations. In the general descriptions which I propose giving here for the mineralogical illustration of Dr Turner's account of their chemical properties, I have availed myself of the corrections given in the translation of the same paper in Poggendorff's Annals by Professor Gustavus Rose, who has corrected or verified the angles given, and compared them again with nature; so that the statements have gained a considerable accession of authority. I have added the description of that species, which consists of the anhydrous peroxide of manganese, and which, from the difference of its properties from all the rest, whatever may be the mode of its formation, should be considered as a species of its own.
XI. An Account of the Tracks and Footmarks of Animals found impressed on Sandstone in the Quarry of Corncockle Muir, in Dumfriesshire
Authors: Duncan Henry
Published: January 2013

The sandstone quarry of Corncockle Muir is situated between the rivers Annan and Kinnel, about a mile and half above their confluence, and not quite three miles from the town of Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire. It is near the top of a low, round-backed hill, which stretches about half a mile in a westerly direction, almost in the line of the rivers. This hill rises out of a valley of irregular surface, terminated, at the distance of some miles, on the north and north-west, by a mountainous range of transition rock; on the south by an arm of the same range; and on the east, at a greater distance, by lower elevations, consisting, according to Professor Jameson, partly of floetz-trap and partly of the independent coal-formation. The valley itself is said by the same authority to be of the independent coal-formation, lying on the transition rock, and contains considerable quantities of sandstone interspersed in various parts, and stretching as far as the bottom of the mountains.
XIV. Observations on the Structure of the Fruit in the Order of Cucurbitaceæ
Authors: Hamilton Francis
Published: January 2013

The fruit in this natural order does not appear to have been well understood by most botanists; and I shall therefore attempt to give a general view of what appears to me to be its structure; and most of the parts are visible in the section which is here given (Plate IX. Fig. 1.) of the beautiful but insipid Indian Melon (Cucumis Melo) called Phuti.

The outer parietes (Fig. 1. a,) when young, are thick, fleshy, and undivided by sutures, with an uniform rind, not separable from the fleshy part. As the fruit ripens, the rind in some cases becomes so thin as to be unable to contain the pulpy matter, and bursts either gradually, as in the melon, or with elasticity as in the Momordica and Elaterium of Tournefort. At other times, the rind hardens either into a thin substance like leather or strong paper, as in the Luffa, or into a strong ligneous covering, as in the Cucurbita leucanthema or gourd. In these cases, it sometimes opens horizontally, by means of an operculum, which falls off and leaves an aperture for the seeds, as in Fig. 2. representing the summit of the Luffa called Picinna in the Hortus Malabaricus.
XXIV. Remarks explanatory, and Tabular Results of a Meteorlogical Journal kept at Carlisle by the late Mr William Pitt during twenty-four years
Authors: Barnes Thomas
Published: January 2013

The Royal Society of Edinburgh having taken great interest in meteorological observations, it has occurred to me, that the accompanying Meteorological Journals would be acceptable to the Society. I therefore transmit them, in the hope that they may be of some service, in promoting the laudable object of the Society, the science of meteorology.

These journals include a period of twenty-four years, and were kept by the late Mr Pitt of Carlisle, who was long a careful and accurate observer of many atmospherical phenomena. Mr Pitt did not avail himself of the new instruments that are used in meteorology, but understood well the nature and application of those he employed. The thermometer, barometer, and rain-gauge, were the instruments he made use of, and they are probably more important than any other. For many years Mr Pitt had no particular occupation, and meteorology was his hobby. He devoted a great portion of his time to astronomical and meteorological observations, took great delight in keeping his journals, and was scrupulously accurate. From my personal knowledge of his diligence, of his habits of making correct observations, and the systematic fidelity with which he recorded them, I think I can with great safety vouch for the accuracy of the statements contained in his journals.
XXVII. Observations on the Structure of the Stomach of the Peruvian Lama; to which are prefixed Remarks on the Analogical Reasoning of Anatomists, in the Determination à priori of Unknown Species and Unknown Structures
Authors: Knox Robert
Published: January 2013

The facts and observations I have now the honour to bring before the Society, were fully made out, and their general correctness ascertained, somewhat more than three years ago. Since that time I have been in the habit of alluding to them, and demonstrating the strictly anatomical part, in my summer course of lectures on comparative anatomy; so that, in short, they may be considered as having, to a certain extent, undergone the ordeal of public opinion. I have thought it right to mention this circumstance, inasmuch as the statements and opinions to be brought forward this evening are contradictory of others which have been promulgated by some anatomists of high standing, and have been received and admitted by naturalists, and by the non-professional, as observations not to be doubted nor controverted; as matters of fact which call for no deeper inquiry; as statements on which unerring doctrinal points might be founded.
VIII. General Remarks on the Coal Formation of the Great Valley of the Scottish Lowlands
Authors: Greenock
Published: January 2013

There is perhaps no geological problem of greater interest than that by which the conditions of the globe, in respect to the distribution of land and water, at the epoch of the coal formation, might be determined, if the necessary data for its solution could be obtained. We possess sufficient evidence to shew that, since that period, most of the continents and islands of the present day have been elevated above the waters, under which they were originally formed; but such proofs are altogether wanting when we endeavour to restore, in imagination, the probable extent of the older formations that might then have existed as dry land, but which now lie buried in the depths of the ocean, or have since been covered by an accumulation of more recent deposits.
X. On the Composition of the Petroleum of Rangoon, with Remarks on Petroleum and Naphtha in general
Authors: Gregory William
Published: January 2013

In the month of August 1830, Reichenbach published his first memoir on the products of the destructive distillation of organic bodies, in which he described a new principle, to which he gave the name of Paraffine, as constantly occurring among those products. Not long after, in 1831, Dr Christison read before this Society a paper, in which he described a substance contained in the petroleum of Rangoon, to which he affixed the name of Petroline. On comparing the properties of these two substances, it was found that they agreed so nearly, that no doubt could be entertained that they were one and the same. As the priority of discovery rests with Dr Reichenbach, the name of Paraffine is now generally adopted. The properties of paraffine are as follows:—It is white, tasteless, inodorous, rather tough, lighter than water, fusible at 125° or 130° F., and it distils unchanged at a higher temperature. It resists the action of the strongest acids and alkalies; and, finally, when pure, it burns with a bright flame without smoke. In a second memoir published by Reichenbach in 1831, he described another of the products of destructive distillation, under the name of Eupione.
XIII. Analysis of Coprolites and other Organic Remains imbedded in the Limestone of Burdiehouse near Edinburgh
Authors: Connell Arthur
Published: January 2013

It is not my intention to enter into any detailed description of the external characters of the several interesting organic remains which are found imbedded in the limestone of Burdiehouse, that being a task which belongs to their distinguished discoverer Dr Hibbert.

As little do I mean to describe the geological relations of the limestone bed, that being equally the province of Dr Hibbert. It will be sufficient to state generally, that it forms one of the lowest members of the carboniferous group, being inferior in position even to the Encrinal mountain limestone of its immediate vicinity; and that besides its numerous animal remains, some of which will be mentioned in the sequel, it contains throughout its entire mass numerous impressions of land and fresh-water tropical plants.
XIV. On Water as a Constituent of Salts. 1. In the case of Sulphates
Authors: Graham Thomas
Published: January 2013

It may be useful to distinguish some of the functions which water is already admitted to discharge in the constitution of hydrated salts.

Every amphigene ammoniacal salt contains an atom of water, and cannot exist without it. The state of combination of the water is peculiar, and has been represented by supposing that the elements of ammonia unite with the hydrogen of the water, and form a new compound radicle, to which the name Ammonium is given, while the oxygen of the water unites with this radicle, and produces oxide of ammonium. Hence nitrate of ammonia, in which there exist the elements of one atom of nitric acid, of ammonia, and of water, is viewed as anhydrous nitrate of the oxide of ammonium, and corresponds with nitre or the nitrate of the oxide of potassium. But it is not the object of this paper to discuss particularly the state of water in the ammoniacal salts.
XX.—On General Differentiation. Part III
Authors: Kelland P.
Published: January 2013

Nearly six years ago, I presented to the Society two Memoirs on the subject of Differentiation, with fractional indices. The method which I adopted to extend the signification of a differential coefficient consisted in assuming that the function , which enters into the value of the coefficient deduced from a particular hypothesis, is limited only by the definition . This generalization appears to be perfectly satisfactory, and promises to offer, if not the only, certainly the best extension of the Differential Calculus. Considering the length of the interval which has elapsed since the publication of my former Memoirs, it is remarkable that so little addition has been made to our knowledge of this branch of analysis. With the exception of one or two papers in Liouville's Journal, and a few remarks by Professor De Morgan, in his Treatise on the Differential Calculus (pp. 598–600), I am not aware that anything has been written on this subject since that time. Seeing, therefore, that others are not willing to enter on this very promising field, I consider it not improper that I should make known a number of extensions of this science to which I have been subsequently led, many of which have been in my possession a considerable time.
XXIX.—On the Colouring Matter of the Morinda citrifolia
Authors: Anderson Thomas
Published: January 2013

The chemistry of the colouring matters has, perhaps, scarcely as yet met with the extended and complete investigation which the importance of the subject, in a theoretical and practical point of view, appears to deserve. The attention of chemists has been almost exclusively directed to the study of a comparatively small number of these substances, such as indigo, logwood, and the colouring matters of the lichens, which have been well and completely investigated; while the remaining, and by far the more extensive class, has received only a very partial and imperfect examination. To the latter, however, belong some of the most important of our dyes; and among others, the most valuable and indispensable of all, madder namely, the chemistry of which forms a problem as yet very far from being solved, but which chemists have shewn little disposition to submit to a thorough and searching investigation; and this disinclination seems to continue, notwithstanding that ground has been broken on the subject by the important observations of Robiquet, Kuhlmann, Runge, and others, which, though extremely incomplete, serve at least to indicate the importance of the results it is likely to afford, and to clear away the preliminary difficulties by which the commencement of such an investigation is surrounded.
XXX.—Notice of the Orbit of the Binary Star a Centauri, as recently determined by Captain W. S. Jacob, Bombay Engineers
Authors: Smyth C. Piazzi
Published: January 2013

The object of this short notice is merely to submit to the Society some astronomical results which were recently communicated to me in a letter from my friend Captain Jacob, as they appeared not only to be of a highly interesting nature in themselves, but imperatively to require being followed up farther, and as the observer has lately been obliged by bad health to resign his situation in India, it seemed advisable, for the purpose of procuring attention to the subject elsewhere, to make its peculiarly interesting features as generally known as possible amongst scientific men ; and as a Centauri is already in a manner identified with Scotland, through the researches of the late Professor Henderson, and his determination of the parallax, no medium can be more appropriate than the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
XXXI.—An Attempt to Improve the present Methods of Determining the Strength and Direction of the Wind at Sea
Authors: Smyth C. P.
Published: January 2013

Last year, my friend Captain Cockburn, R. N., brought to my notice the very lax method which is usually pursued at sea in determining the strength and direction of the wind ; and said, that he had for many years been trying to contrive some sort of anemometer that might be useful on board, as well as an easy method of eliminating the effect of the motion of the ship on the true character of the wind, but hitherto without success. I undertook, therefore, to endeavour to supply him with these two desiderata. He thought that they would be useful, in a practical point of view, in seamanship; and as I considered that they might be of importance in meteorology, I was the more ready to lend my assistance.
XXXIII.—On the Action of the Dry Gases on Organic Colouring Matters, and its relation to the Theory of Bleaching
Authors: Wilson George
Published: January 2013

The remarkable power which chlorine possesses, of destroying all colours of organic origin, has long been an object alike of speculative and practical interest. The theory of bleaching, however, has hitherto remained imperfect, in consequence chiefly of the observation of Sir H. Davy, that chlorine loses the power of decolorising when deprived of water. So striking is the difference, in this respect, between wet and dry chlorine, that it led the distinguished chemist mentioned, to deny to this gas the character of being essentially, or per se, a bleacher. He regarded as the true decolorising agent the oxygen of the water, which must be associated with chlorine before the latter can bleach. The late Dr Turner has stated Davy's view so shortly and clearly, that I quote his abstract in preference to any statement of my own. “Davy,” says he, “proved that chlorine cannot bleach, unless water is present. Thus dry litmus suffers no change in dry chlorine; when water is admitted the colour speedily disappears. It is well known also, that hydrochloric acid is always generated when chlorine bleaches. From these facts, it is inferred that water is decomposed during the process; that its hydrogen unites with the chlorine, and that decomposition of the colouring matter is occasioned by the oxygen which is liberated. The bleaching property of binoxide of hydrogen, and of chromic and permanganic acids, of which oxygen is certainly the decolorising principle, leaves little doubt of the accuracy of the foregoing explanation.”
XXXV.—On the Theory of Rolling Curves
Authors: Maxwell James Clerk
Published: January 2013

There is an important geometrical problem which proposes to find a curve having a given relation to a series of curves described according to a given law. This is the problem of Trajectories in its general form.

The series of curves is obtained from the general equation to a curve by the variation of its parameters. In the general case, this variation may change the form of the curve, but, in the case which we are about to consider, the curve is changed only in position.

This change of position takes place partly by rotation, and partly by transference through space. The rolling of one curve on another is an example of this compound motion.
Large Differences of Temperature between the Ben Nevis and Fort-William Observatories
Authors: Omond R. T.
Published: January 2013

The immediately preceding paper deals with the average difference of temperature between Ben Nevis and Fort-William throughout the year, but the difference often departs widely from these average values. The greatest departures from the average during the time that hourly readings are available at both places, viz. from 1st August 1890 to 30th September 1904, were Ben Nevis 17°·6 warmer than Fort-William at 9 A.M. on 19th February 1895, and Ben Nevis 28°·8 colder than Fort-William at 2 A.M. on 19th December 1890, being respectively 33°·3 below and 13°·1 above the mean difference, which is Ben Nevis 15°·7 colder than Fort-William.
XIV.—An Investigation of the Seiches of Loch Earn by the Scottish Lake Survey Part I.: Limnographic Instruments and Methods of Observation. Part II.: Preliminary Limnographic Observations on Loch Earn
Authors: Chrystal G. , Murray James
Published: January 2013

In this communication some account is given of the various instruments used in the survey of the seiches of Loch Earn, of the methods of observing, and of the reduction of the results of observation.

In Part II., which immediately follows, Mr James Murray gives an account of the preliminary survey, of which he had charge. Later, a summary will be submitted to the Society of the results as regards the periods and nodes of the lake; and finally, an account will be rendered of the observations made in order to connect the occurrence of seiches with other atmospheric phenomena.
I.—Studies on the Physiology of Reproduction in the Ewe. Part I. The Symptoms, Periodicity, and Duration of Œstrus. Part II. Changes in the Vagina and Cervix. Part III. Gross Changes in the Ovaries
Authors: Grant R.
Published: January 2013

This and the two following papers constitute part of the report upon a detailed investigation of the normal reproductive cycle in the ewe. Although the reproductive processes of mammals have been studied intensively during the past decade, it is to the small “laboratory” mammals that most workers have devoted their attention: little is known regarding reproduction in Ungulates except in relation to the cow, which has been studied by Hammond (1927) and others.

Certain aspects of reproduction in the ewe were studied by Marshall (1903) and Assheton (1906). During the last three years many minor papers on this subject have appeared but no comprehensive account is yet available, while, as will be shown in the following pages, many of the conclusions reached by previous workers were based upon examination of insufficient material.

It is hoped that this investigation will form the basis for fuller experimental study of reproductive phenomena in the ewe, particularly as they concern breeding practice, and that it will, stimulating interest in the sex physiology of the Ungulates, assist in laying the foundations for a more thorough understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying reproduction in this group.
II.—Notes on the Kidston Collection of Fossil Plant Slides. No. III. Some Points in the Anatomy ofSigillaria elegansBrongniart. No. IV. On the Nature of the Corona and its Relationship to the Leaf-traces in the Lepidodendreæ and Sigillariæ, with special reference to Certain “Diploxyloid” Specimens in the Kidston Collection
Authors: Calder Mary G.
Published: January 2013

The Kidston Collection of fossil plant slides includes sections of two very interesting specimens ofSigillaria elegansBrongniart, which were not in Kidston's possession when he wrote his two papers on Sigillarian anatomy (1905, 1907). The first of these specimens was found by W. Hemingway in 1908 at Laneshaw Bridge, Colne, Lancashire, in the Halifax Hard Bed (Lanarkian Series), and is represented in the Kidston Collection by two transverse sections (Nos. 1533, 1534). No notes of Kidston's relevant to the identification of this specimen have been found. Mr Hemingway, however, has been good enough to tell me that before he cut the specimen he recognised the leaf-scars, which were exposed on one side, as those ofSigillaria elegans; he submitted the specimen in this condition to Kidston, who confirmed the identification before sections were taken. The second specimen is from the Halifax Hard Bed of Fieldhouse Colliery, Deighton, Yorkshire, and was collected by G. H. Knott. A brief note saying that the specimen was identified from the exposed leaf-cushions asSigillaria eleganshas been found amongst manuscript notes of Kidston's relevant to the slides in his collection. This specimen is represented by sixteen sections (Nos. 1845-1860), cut by Hemingway, two of which are transverse and the remainder longitudinal. Both these specimens show certain structural features not observed in the anatomical type specimen ofSigillaria elegansdescribed by Kidston (1905), and the present note may be regarded as supplementary to his original description.
III.—The Spermatogenesis of the Axolotl (Amblystoma tigrinum)
Authors: Carrick Robert
Published: January 2013

The material for this work was obtained from the stock of Axolotls which breed in the Zoology Department of Glasgow University. The objection to using captive specimens for cytological work is overridden by the fact that the Axolotl, unlike some other urodeles, breeds readily in captivity, so that the germ-cell cycle can be taken as normal.

The reasons for wishing to add yet another account of urodele spermatogenesis to the considerable number already existing are twofold. First, widely different interpretations of a similar process in different species have been put forward, and one of the most recent accounts (Stieve, 1920, on Proteus) is entirely at variance with the usual course of spermatogenesis in urodeles. Second, there has been great discrepancy in the number of chromosomes assigned to this species.
V.—Notes on the Kidston Collection of Fossil Plant Slides. No. V. On the Structure of Two Lower Carboniferous Lepidodendroid Stems, one of the Lepidophloios Wünschianus Type and the other of the Lepidodendron fuliginosum Type. No. VI. On the Structure of Two Lepidodendroid Stems from the Carboniferous Flora of Berwickshire
Authors: Calder Mary G.
Published: January 2013

There are in the Kidston Collection of Fossil Plant Slides sections of four specimens of Lepidodendroid stems, from different Scottish localities in the Carboniferous Limestone Series, which were grouped together by the late Dr Kidston as “Lepidodendron Langi n.sp.” The specimens may be referred to as Nos. 1—4, and the various localities and the numbers of the slides by which the specimens are represented in the Kidston Collection are enumerated here for convenience of reference.
VI.—The Feeding Mechanism of the Cumacean Crustacean Diastylis bradyi
Authors: Dennell Ralph
Published: January 2013

The Cumacea and the Tanaidacea constitute branches from the line leading from some primitive Mysid and terminating in the Isopoda. This conclusion is founded on a consideration of purely morphological facts, and it is therefore of interest to study the feeding mechanisms of these groups in order to find out whether they show any possibility of having been derived from the type exhibited by the primitive Mysid (Cannon and Manton, 1927, and Manton, 1928).
VII.—On the Morphology and Cytology of Puccinia Prostii, Moug., a Micro-form with Pycnidia
Authors: Lamb Ivan M.
Published: January 2013

Puccinia Prostii, Moug., a micro-Puccinia developing pycnidia and teleutospores only, was first recorded for this country by Massee (1913), who stated that it occurred on cultivated tulips; but neither the date nor the locality is mentioned. Saccardo (1888) and Sydow (1904) state that the fungus occurs in Italy and France on two species of Tulipa, T. sylvestris, Linn., and T. Celsiana, DC. (T. australis, Link.).
VIII.—The Metamorphic Rocks of North-east Antrim
Authors: Bailey E. B. , McCallien W. J.
Published: January 2013

In the 'eighties of last century R. G. Symes and A. McHenry mapped the schists of Antrim for the Geological Survey of Ireland. They made abundant records of dip, which are still valuable though, owing to the difficulty of the subject, not uniformly reliable. They also indicated outcrops of limestone at Torr Head and, 8 miles inland, at Glenshesk and Breem. The schist area of Antrim is contained in Sheets 8 and 14 of the one-inch to the mile Geological Survey Map of Ireland (text-fig. 1).
XI.—The Early Stages in the Development of the Ferret: Fertilisation to the Formation of the Prochordal Plate
Authors: Hamilton William J.
Published: January 2013

The early developmental history of the ferret up to the present has not been made the subject of a detailed critical description. The early stages of certain other Carnivora have been described, and Professor Hill (1924) in the introduction to his paper, “The Early Development of the Cat,” gives a summary of the literature of the subject.

The only papers relating to the early development of the ferret are a short paper by Professor Robinson (1925) and four papers by Professor Mainland (1930, 1931a, 1931b, and 1932).
VIII.—Raised Shorelines Associated with the Perth Readvance in the Forth Valley and their Relation to Glacial Isostasy
Authors: Sissons J. B. , Smith D. E.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Detailed mapping and accurate levelling of fluvioglacial and raised marine features in the Forth Valley between Stirling and Burntisland show that the most conspicuous late-glacial raised beaches of this area are associated with the Perth Readvance and possess a marked gradient down the Forth Valley. The relation of the raised beaches to fluvioglacial deposits is described and discussed and this leads to the conclusion that the Perth Readvance resulted in a renewed downwarping of the land, the response to glacial loading and unloading being immediate and rapid.