bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
X.—A Gravity Survey in Ayrshire and its Geological Interpretation
Authors: McLean Adam C.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Bouguer anomaly maps covering most of Ayrshire at a density of about one station per sq. km., show a close relationship between anomalies and the distribution of the Upper Palæozoic rocks in the area south of the Inch-gotrick Fault, but are less clearly interpreted to the north, where thick dense igneous masses are present.

In central and south Ayrshire the gravity field may be largely interpreted in terms of the known density-contrasts at the interfaces separating Upper and Lower Old Red Sandstone, and Lower Old Red Sandstone and Lower Palæozoic rocks. The major structure, the Mauchline Basin, is reflected clearly in the largest anomaly, and there is evidence of a culmination of its south-western limb near Kirkoswald. The important N.E.–S.W. faults also give rise to large anomalies, which may be connected with the known geology. It is inferred that they moved as normal faults in Carboniferous times, and that the adjacent synclines are essentially sags associated with the fault displacements. There is geophysical evidence that both the Southern Upland and Kerse Loch Faults existed in Middle O.R.S. (proto-Armorican) times. It is concluded that a hypothesis of N.–S. Armorican stress is not valid in south Ayrshire.

In north Ayrshire, many of the anomalies are best explained by changes of thickness of the Millstone Grit lavas and of the Clyde Plateau lavas, and by the presence of thick dolerite intrusions. Additional evidence is needed, however, before final conclusions may be drawn.
XIV.—Some Lower Carboniferous Fructifications from Berwickshire, together with a Theoretical Account of the Evolution of Ovules, Cupules, and Carpels
Authors: Long Albert G.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

Two new species of petrified seedsEosperma edromense, andAnasperma burnensegen. et sp. nov. are described from the Cementstone Group of Berwickshire.Anaspermashows that the anatropous condition existed among Palæozoic ovules; it has a single integument with two lateral apical lobes.

Rachides ofStauropteris berwickensissp. nov. and associated megasporangia are also described.

An account is given of the theory of the telomic origin of the first ovular integument. The second (outer) integument in Angiosperm ovules may therefore have evolved after the establishment of anatropy, either from the first integument or as an overgrowth of the chalaza. Evidence is cited to support the theory that Angiosperm carpels have evolved from dorsiventral bivalved cupules.
XV.—The Placoderm Fish Rhachiosteus pterygiatus Gross and its Relationships
Authors: Miles Roger S.
Published: January 2013

Synopsis

The holotype and only known specimen of Rhachiosteus pterygiatus Gross is partially redescribed and new restorations are given. Attention is drawn to important points in its osteology and the possible development of a cutaneous sensory system. A definition of the family Rhachiosteidsæ Stensiö is given. This family differs from all other described groups of euarthrodires in the lack of posterior lateral and posterior dorsolateral flank plates. Rhachiosteus is a pachyosteomorph brachythoracid, as defined in the text, and may be fairly closely related in some way to the (coccosteomorph) family Coccosteidsæ. There is no indication that it is closely related to any other known pachyosteomorph, or to other groups of arthrodires, such as the Rhenanida and Ptyctodontida, in which there are no posterior flank plates.
III. Notice of an undescribed Vitrified Fort, in the Burnt Isles, in the Kyles of Bute
Authors: Smith James
Published: January 2013

In the month of September last (1822), when becalmed in my cutter in the Kyles of Bute, I accidently landed on the most northerly of the Burnt Isles, a small group that stretches across the Kyle or narrow channel between Bute and Argyleshire.

From the appearance of a ridge nearly covered with turf, I imagined at first that kelp had been formerly burnt here, but on examining it more narrowly I discovered that it was caused by the remains of a vitrified fort.
VI. Description of Hopeite, a New Mineral, from Altenberg near Aix-la-Chapelle
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

About the end of the year 1821, when I was engaged in the examination of the Family of the Zeolites, Mr Heuland was so obliging as to send me a variety of Stilbite from a Calamine mine at Altenberg near Aix-la-Chapelle. Upon comparing its optical structure with that of the Stilbites, it was manifest that it had no connection with this class of crystals, and that it constituted a new mineral species. Upon mentioning this result to Mr Brooke, this acute mineralogist was of opinion that it was the Silicate of Zinc. Mr Heuland had been led to regard this substance as a Stilbite, in consequence of having received it as such from Major Petersen; but, particularly, from finding in the collection of Mr C. H. Turner, a single crystal of the same substance attached to Carbonate of Zinc, and bearing the annexed figure, with an inscription in the handwriting of the Abbé Hauy, stating it to be a new variety of Stilbite, to which he gave the name of Stilbite Duovigesimale.
VII. Astronomical Observations made at Paramatta and Sydney
Authors: Brisbane Thomas , Rumker M.
Published: January 2013

My dear Sir,

I request you will do me the favour of submitting to the Royal Society the accompanying observations made at Paramatta and Sydney. Those of the Comet, together with the elements inferred from them, are exclusively Mr Rumker's, to whom it is impossible for me to give adequate praise, either for zeal, assiduity, or intelligence. In order to have a better chance of observing the transit of Mercury over the Sun's disk, I proceeded to Sydney, about 15 miles from hence, and I am happy to say that we had a most propitious day throughout for the observations, and that the near agreement of them at both places tends to confirm their accuracy, as well as to increase their value.
VIII. On a Remarkable Case of Magnetic Intensity of a Chronometer
Authors: Harvey George
Published: January 2013

A box Chronometer having lately come into my possession, exhibiting remarkable proofs of strong and active Magnetism, I was induced to examine it particularly, and to ascertain the intensities of its different parts, by means of an apparatus resembling that employed by Coulomb, and which was capable, from its very delicate construction, of indicating the existence of the minutest traces of attraction.
IX. Remarks concerning the Natural-Historical Determination of Diallage
Authors: Haidinger W.
Published: January 2013

The following paper contains the results of a series of inquiries, which lead to the conclusion, that the mineral called Smaragdite by Saussure, does not form a species of its own; but that this name has been given to a compound of certain varieties of two distinct species, Augite and Hornblende, the natural-historical species of paratomous and hemiprismatic Augite-spar.

Owing in part to the slight degree of resemblance prevailing among its varieties, the authors who have described them differ so essentially in opinion, that I am obliged to go into various details, both respecting the external appearance of the mineral itself, and of the opinions of mineralogists, in order to afford a correct view of the natural-historical species, to which these varieties belong, since this is the basis upon which every system, and, indeed, all accurate information in natural history, is founded, and the fixed point to which the one and the other must be referred.
XIII. On a New Species of Double Refraction, accompanying a remarkable Structure in the Mineral called Analcime
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

The Mineral called Analcime or Cubizite has been ranked by Haüy among those crystals which have the Cube for their primitive form; an opinion which has been adopted by all succeeding mineralogists. No distinct cleavage-planes, however, so far as I can learn, have been observed in it. Crystallographers presumed that such planes must exist, and, allowing conjecture to supply the place of observation, they considered Analcime as differing in no respect from other crystals of the same series. This opinion was first rendered doubtful by the observation, that at thicknesses of of an inch, it displayed a considerable action upon polarised light; but though, from the tessular form of the mineral, this fact indicated something singular in its organization, yet, owing to the great difficulty of obtaining proper specimens, I have been baffled in repeated attempts to investigate its structure.
XVII. On an Anomalous Case of Vision with regard to Colours
Authors: Harvey George
Published: January 2013

As the following anomalous case relating to the vision of colours, appears to possess some remarkable peculiarities, I have considered it of sufficient importance to be submitted to the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

J. B., aged 60 years, served in early life an apprenticeship to a farmer; but, disliking agricultural pursuits, became a tailor, and afterwards entered into the Navy, and served in several general actions. After quitting the sea-service, he resumed his trade, and in the employment of which he now continues. From his childhood, it appears, he was unable to point out colours by their proper names; or, excepting in a few cases, to distinguish one colour from another. From the nature of his avocation, this circumstance must have often been to him the source of much inconvenience; and during his whole life, he has found the utmost embarrassment from it.
XXV. On the Construction of Meteorological Instruments, so as exactly to determine their Indications during Absence, at any given instant, or at successive intervals of Time
Authors: Blackadder Henry Home
Published: January 2013

It is universally admitted, that, in the present advanced stage of Meteorological Science, nothing would be more desirable than complete and accurate registers of the indications of Meteorological Instruments,—more especially of the Thermometer, Barometer, and Hygrometer, such registers being cotemporaneously kept at numerous places, and at various elevations on the earth's surface. Many are the obstacles, however, which have been found opposed to such an acquisition.
XXVIII. A Historical and Critical Introduction to an Enquiry into the Revival of the Greek Literature in Italy, after the Dark Ages
Authors: Tytler Patrick Fraser
Published: January 2013

A history of the revival of literature in Europe, after its extinction in the middle ages, has been long a desideratum in the annals of human knowledge; and from the wide, and almost untravelled field, which such a history would embrace, and the recondite sources of information which must be consulted, it will perhaps be long before any individual is found with sufficient learning to estimate its difficulties, and yet hardy enough to attempt to overcome them.
II. An Essay, upon the Utility of defining Synonymous Terms in all Languages; with Illustrations by Examples from the Latin
Authors: Hill John
Published: January 2013

Words that are precisely equivalent are rarely, if at all, to be met with in any language. Those properly called synonymous, exhibit one leading circumstance in which they all agree, and one or more accessory circumstances in which they differ. When the point of their general coincidence, and the grounds of their particular diversities, are clearly ascertained, it is then in the power of the writer to use them with propriety. By the assistance of the grammarian, he knows which to adopt and which to reject, and can reconcile embellishment with accuracy and precision.
III. On the Ancient Hellenes
Authors: Doig David
Published: January 2013

In some other dissertations, I have endeavoured to investigate the original country of the Iones, Dores, Æoles and Achæi or Achivi; and have, I hope, shewed, that none of these tribes were aborigines of Greece. In this paper, I shall trace the origin of the Hellenes, a people who, in process of time, be came so considerable, that all the other septs and petty clan ships of that nation were proud of being called by that venerable name.
IV.—Account of Experiments upon the Force of the Waves of the Atlantic and German Oceans
Authors: Stevenson Thomas
Published: January 2013

In forming designs of marine works, the engineer has always a difficulty in estimating the force of the waves with which he has to contend. The information on such a matter, which is derived from local informants, who, although intelligent in the departments of trade which they follow, are, nevertheless, more or less prejudiced from being constantly on the spot, is not satisfactory; and it has, therefore, often occurred to me that it would be most desirable if the engineer could be enabled, to some extent at least, to disregard the prejudiced statements of others, and the vague impressions left by them on his own mind, and really to ascertain, by direct experiment, what force, expressed in pounds per square foot, the sea actually exerts upon the shores where his buildings are proposed to be erected.
VI.—On the Extraction of pure Phosphoric Acid from Bones, and on a new and anomalous Phosphate of Magnesia
Authors: Gregory William
Published: January 2013

The usual methods of obtaining pure phosphoric acid by the oxidation, with nitric acid, or by combustion, of pure phosphorus, are well known; but, although they yield a pure product, yet, as the phosphorus must be prepared from phosphoric acid, it is obvious that we shall derive a great advantage from any method of purifying easily and cheaply the phosphoric acid from bones, instead of first reducing it to phosphorus, and then re-oxidizing it. In practice, phosphorus is made from the superphosphate of lime, and it is from the same salt that phosphoric acid may be most economically prepared.
VIII.—On the Advantages to be derived from the Use of Metallic Reflectors for Sextants and other Reflecting Instruments; and on Methods of directly determining the Errors in Mirrors and Sun-Shades used in Reflecting Instruments
Authors: Adie John
Published: January 2013

It has frequently occurred to me that the difficulty experienced by instrument-makers, in obtaining for sextants and other similar instruments, reflecting mirrors perfectly parallel in their polished surfaces, and also the greater difficulty of procuring glass perfectly homogeneous in its structure, might be overcome by the use of metallic reflectors.

It is well known, that, from the want of perfect parallelism in glass mirrors there arises an error in the reading of such instruments, inasmuch as the emergent ray does not pass out of the glass at the same angle as the incident falls upon it, and that from the want of homogeneousness in the substance, and the unequal refractions caused by the veined structure of the glass.
X.—On Wollaston's Argument from the Limitation of the Atmosphere, as to the Finite Divisibility of Matter
Authors: Wilson George
Published: January 2013

In the year 1822, Dr Wollaston published a remarkable paper “on the finite extent of the atmosphere.” Its object is to establish, by observations on the motions of certain of the heavenly bodies, that our atmosphere does not extend into free space, and to deduce from this limitation in its extent, the conclusion, that the air necessarily consists of particles “no longer divisible by repulsion of their parts;” i. e. of true atoms. From this there is the further inference, that, “since the law of definite proportions discovered by chemists, is the same for all kinds of matter, whether solid or fluid, or elastic, if it can be ascertained that any one body consists of particles no longer divisible, we then can scarcely doubt that all other bodies are similarly constituted.” In other words, the existence of a limit to the earth's atmosphere is declared to supply a demonstration of the finite divisibility of matter.
XIII.—On the Decomposition and Dispersion of Light within Solid and Fluid Bodies
Authors: Brewster David
Published: January 2013

Hauy, and other mineralogists, observed the two colours which are visible in several varieties of fluor-spar. He regarded the two tints as complementary, and explained them, as he did every other analogous phenomenon, by a reference to the colours of thin plates. In describing a species of dichroism noticed by Dr Prout in the purpurates of ammonia and potash, Sir John Herschel ascribes the green reflected lights “to some peculiar conformation of the green surfaces producing what may be best termed a superficial colour, or one analogous to the colour of thin plates, and striated or dotted surfaces.” And he adds—“A remarkable example of such superficial colour, differing from the transmitted tints, is met with in the green fluor of Alston Moor, which, on its surfaces, whether natural or artificial, exhibits, in certain lights, a deep blue tint, not to be removed by any polishing.”
XIV.—On the Constitution and Properties of Picoline, a new Organic Base from Coal-Tar
Authors: Anderson Thomas
Published: January 2013

The careful study of the products of destructive distillation has enriched organic chemistry with an extensive series of results of unexpected interest and importance. These results have affected, in no inconsiderable degree, the recent progress of the science; and their influence has been of a twofold character, both general and particular, exerted in the former case in the development of some of the more remarkable general doctrines of organic chemistry; in the latter, in the important light thrown by their investigation on the constitution of the substances from which they are derived, and the facilities they have afforded of following out connections, which the examination of the original substance either does not at all present to our view, or, at least, indicates only in an imperfect or dubious manner. Added to this, we have the remarkable fact of the appearance among these products of substances in some cases identical with those occurring in organised beings; and in others, presenting analogies of the very closest character with the actual products of vital affinity, which, taken together, afford abundant reason for pursuing the investigation of substances which have already afforded results of so remarkable a character.
XVI.—On the Solubility of Fluoride of Calcium in Water, and its relation to the occurrence of Fluorine in Minerals, and in Recent and Fossil Plants and Animals
Authors: Wilson George
Published: January 2013

The investigation I am about to bring before the Royal Society, was undertaken in consequence of a discussion which took place in the Zoological Society of London in 1843, in reference to the chemical composition of the bones of the gigantic bird the Dinornis, discovered some time previously in New Zealand. At the meeting in question, the distinguished palæontologist Dr Falconer drew attention to the frequent, if not constant, occurrence of fluoride of calcium in fossil bones, and, as he stated, also in those of mummies; and threw out the suggestion, that the fluoride might shew itself in these animal remains, not as an original ingredient of the bones, or as derived from the matrix in which they were found, but as a product of the transmutation of their phosphate of lime. The idea of such a conversion taking place, is as old at least as the days of Klaproth, who suggested the possibility of phosphoric acid becoming changed into fluoric. It is commented upon by Fourcroy and Vauquelin, as well as by Gay Lussac, as a thing possible but not probable, and which their ignorance of the nature of fluoric acid prevented them from discussing satisfactorily.
XVII.—Observations on the Principle of Vital Affinity, as illustrated by recent discoveries in Organic Chemistry
Authors: Alison William Pulteney
Published: January 2013

The most important steps in a science are those which lead most directly to the establishment of principles or laws peculiar to that science itself, and which constitute its claim to be regarded as a distinct branch of human knowledge. It has been long acknowledged that such is the character of many of those phenomena of living bodies which depend on mechanical movements, or changes of position in their particles, and therefore that the laws of vital contractions are to be regarded as equally elementary and distinctive principles in physiology, as the laws of motion or of gravitation in natural philosophy. But a diificulty has been long felt, as to whether a similar claim to peculiarity of the principle on which they depend, can be urged for the chemical phenomena of living bodies.
XXIV.—Micrometrical Measures of Gaseous Spectra under High Dispersion
Authors: Smyth C. Piazzi
Published: January 2013

After the Royal Society, Edinburgh, had been pleased in 1880 to accept and print my paper on the general appearance of Gaseous spectra as seen on a very small scale, but complete on that scale from one end to the other of the visible spectrum, I was desirous to present them with some very highly Dispersed and much magnified views of the more interesting and probably crucial portions of the most important of those spectra.
XXX.—Observations on the Recent Calcareous Formations of the Solomon Group made during 1882–84
Authors: Guppy H. B.
Published: January 2013

On account of the treacherous character of the natives of the Solomon Group, no extensive geological observations have ever been made in these islands since the period of their discovery by the Spaniards three centuries ago. For this reason my excursions in these regions were not free from personal risks; in many places they were considerably curtailed, and in some places they had to be abandoned altogether. Fortunately, however, I was able to make a detailed examination of several of the smaller islands, the natives of which had been first conciliated by the kindly tact of Lieut.-Commander C. F. Oldham, to whom I am indebted for much assistance in my pursuits. But from the circumstances in which I was placed, both on board and on shore, it was necessary, in order to accomplish much, to dare a little.
V.—On the Fructification of some Ferns from the Carboniferous Formation
Authors: Kidston Robert
Published: January 2013

In a Review of Dr Stur's Zur Morphologie und Systematik der Culmund Carbonfarne, I pointed out that he appears to have included two types of fern fructifications in his genus Calymmatotheca.

The first type includes those forms originally placed in Calymmatotheca and consists of a number of exannulate sporangia arranged around a common point of attachment; the second type, which was first described in Zur. Morph., u. Syst. d. Culm- u. Carbonfarne, is there represented by C. Avoldensis and C. Frenzli. The fruit of these two species is apparently surrounded by an involucre or indusium, and it is only with this part of the fructification that we are at present acquainted. I also further indicated that in Calymmatotheca, as I proposed to restrict the genus, the fruiting portions of the frond are entirely deprived of foliage pinnules, whereas in the other type (C. Avoldensis and C. Frenzli) only a very slight modification takes place in the fertile portion of the fronds—the sporangia being borne on the ordinary foliage pinnules.
VI.—On the Colours of Thin Plates
Authors: Rayleigh Lord
Published: January 2013

The first impression upon the mind of the reader of the above title will probably be, that the subject has long since been exhausted. The explanation of these colours, as due to interference, was one of the first triumphs of the wave-theory of light; and what Young left undone was completed by Poisson, Fresnel, Arago, and Stokes. And yet it would be hardly an exaggeration to say that the colours of thin plates have never been explained at all. The theory set forth so completely in our treatises tells us indeed how the composition of the light reflected depends upon the thickness of the plate, but what will be its colour cannot, in most cases, be foretold without information of an entirely different kind, dealing with the chromatic relations of the spectral colours themselves.
II.— On the supposed Upheaval of Scotland in its Central Parts since the time of the Roman Occupation
Authors: Home David Milne
Published: January 2013

Sir Charles Lyell, in the 3d edition of his “ Antiquity of Man,” published in 1863, makes the following statement:—

“Until lately, it was confidently assumed, that no alteration had. occurred in the relative levels of land and sea, in the central district of Scotland, since the construction of the Roman or Pictish wall (the wall of Antonine), which reached from the Firth of Forth to that of the Clyde.”
VI.—First Approximation to a Thermo-Electric Diagram
Authors: Tait
Published: January 2013

In the Session of 1867-8 I communicated to this Society a paper on the Dissipation of Energy, of which only a very brief abstract was published in the Proceedings. The main feature of that paper was the suggestion, as at least a valuable working hypothesis, that even in cases of the steady motion of heat, electricity, &c., the unexhausted energy is probably as small as possible, consistently with the conditions of each form of experiment.
VIII.—On the Physical Constants of Hydrogenium
Authors: Dewar James
Published: January 2013

In March 1869 I communicated to the Society a paper entitled “Motion of a Palladium Plate during the Formation of Graham's Hydrogenium,” which appears in the Proceedings for Session 1868-69. When engaged with this subject many points of interest regarding the behaviour of palladium containing occluded hydrogen, suggested themselves for investigation, and in concluding the paper I remarked “ that careful determinations must be made of the electromotive force, latent heat, &c., of hydrogenium ” before we could arrive at any conclusion regarding the condition of the absorbed hydrogen. Subsequently Professor Tait made a series of determinations on the “ Electrolytic Polarisation of Palladium Electrodes,” devising a new and ingenious method for the purpose. Although at different times subsequent to my first communication, the problem of determining the physical constants of hydrogenium recurred, as my attention was in the meantime directed to the specific heat of carbon at high temperatures, no progress was made with the investigation until September 1872, when the results of my preliminary experiments were communicated to the “ Philosophical Magazine,” under the title, “ Note on the Specific Heat of Hydrogenium.” In that note it is stated that by means of a specially constructed calorimeter the specific heat of hydrogen in palladium is found to be 3.1 per atomic weight, nearly identical with that of gaseous hydrogen. The present paper deals with some of the physical constants of hydrogenium, more especially with the specific gravity, specific heat, and co-efficient of expansion.
XI.—On the Embryogeny of Tropæolum peregrinum (L.) and T. speciosum (Endl. and Poepp.)
Authors: Dickson Alexander
Published: January 2013

The extraordinary processes developed in connection with the base of the suspensor in the common Indian Cress (Tropæolum majus) have long excited the interest of vegetable embryologists, and have led to the publication of numerous observations on the embryogeny of that plant. As the following remarks are interesting chiefly in regard to the peculiar features in which the germs in two other species of the genus differ from that in the common Indian Cress, it will not be out of place for me briefly to recapitulate the principal facts connected with the development in that plant.
XIV.—On the Placentation of the Seals
Authors: Turner
Published: January 2013

Observations on the form of the Placenta and on the arrangement of the Fœtal membranes in the Seals have been recorded by more than one anatomist. Alessandrini of Bologna obtained a specimen of the Monk Seal (Phoca bicolor) Monachus albiventer, in the gravid condition, in which the uterus contained a single fœtus.
XIX.—On the Diurnal Oscillations of the Barometer. Part I.
Authors: Buchan Alexander
Published: January 2013

Of the periodical variations of atmospheric pressure the best marked are the diurnal oscillations which in tropical and sub-tropical regions are among the most regular of recurring phenomena. In higher latitudes these oscillations become from day to day gradually more and more masked, owing to the frequent fluctuations to which atmospheric pressure is there subjected. If, however, hourly observations continue to be regularly made for some time, the diurnal oscillation becomes apparent in the averages deduced from them.
XX.—Photographs of Electric Sparks in Hot and Cold Air
Authors: Tait
Published: January 2013

At the meetings of the Society on February 1 and 15, 1875, I exhibited a number of photographs which had been executed for me in my laboratory by Mr A. Matheson, one of my students who has acquired great skill in working with very sensitive films of collodion. My object in advising him to undertake this work was to discover, if possible, the cause of the peculiar zig-zag form which electric sparks, and specially those of a Holtz machine, always show in ordinary air. At the desire of the Council, a selection of a few of the more interesting of these photographs has been printed (by Mr Dallas, F.R.S.E.) for the Transactions from the original glass negatives, by what is commonly called the carbon process.
XIX.—Preliminary Note on the Compressibility of Glass
Authors: Buchanan J. Y.
Published: January 2013

The following experiments were undertaken with a view to determine by actual observation the effect produced on solids by hydraulic pressure.

The instrument was constructed according to my directions by Mr Milne of Milton House, about two years ago, but it is only now that I have been able to devote myself to its application to the purposes for which it was designed. It consists of a hydraulic pump, which communicates with a steel receiver capable of holding instruments of considerable size, and also with a second receiver of peculiar form. This receiver consists essentially of a steel tube, terminated at each end by thick glass tubes fitted tightly. It is tapped at the centre with two holes, the one to establish connection with the pump, and the other to admit a pressure gauge or manometer. The steel tube may be of any length, being limited only by the extent of laboratory accommodation at disposal. The tube which I am using at present has a length of a little over six feet, and an internal diameter of about three-tenths of an inch. The solid to be experimented on must be in the form of a rod or wire, and must, at the ends at least, be sufficiently small to be able to enter the terminal glass tubes, which have a bore of 0·08″ and an external diameter of 0·42″. The length of the solid is such that when it rests in the steel tube its ends are visible in the glass terminations.
V.—On the Heat Developed in the Combination of Acids and Bases. Second Memoir.
Authors: Andrews Thomas
Published: January 2013

In a paper communicated to the Royal Irish Academy in 1841, I gave an account of a large number of experiments on the heat disengaged when acids and bases, taken in the state of dilute solution, enter into combination, and when bases, insoluble in water, are dissolved in dilute acids. The following general conclusions or laws were deduced from those experiments:—

Law 1.—The heat developed in the union of acids and bases is determined by the base and not by the acid, the same base producing, when combined with an equivalent of different acids, nearly the same quantity of heat; but different bases, different quantities.

Law 2.—When a neutral is converted into an acid salt, by combining with one or more atoms of acid, no change of temperature occurs.

Law 3.—When a neutral is converted into a basic salt, by combining with an additional proportion of base, the combination is accompanied with the evolution of heat.
VII.—Influence of the Vagus upon the Vascular System
Authors: Rutherford William
Published: January 2013

The innervation of the vascular system is a subject which has engrossed the attention of physiologists ever since the days of Galen. Yet, notwithstanding the number of distinguished observers who have contributed to our knowledge of this difficult topic, there are still many points of the greatest importance which are enveloped in the deepest obscurity, and not a few regarding which opinions are much at variance.
II.—Bright Clouds on a Dark Night Sky
Authors: Smyth C. Piazzi
Published: January 2013

On a moonless night, whenever clouds of an ordinary elevation in the atmosphere appear upon, or pass across, the star-spangled sky behind them, they exhibit themselves, as a rule, dark, sometimes even black, in comparison therewith. And no wonder, when every part of the open sky from visible star to visible star therein must be lit up to some, though doubtless a very small, extent by the faintest general and cumulative radiance of those myriads and myriads of lesser stars, which only a large telescope can show to be individually existent as actual stellar points of light, but in their aggregate more nearly eternal, and still more constant from age to age, than our gigantic Sun itself.
V.—A Contribution to the Chemistry of Nitroglycerine
Authors: Hay Matthew
Published: January 2013

Introductory.—In the course of an inquiry into the physiological and therapeutical action of alkaline nitrites, and allied substances, I was struck with the strong resemblance which the action of nitroglycerine bears to that of the nitrites. The resemblance is, indeed, so well marked, that the action of the one may be held to be identical with that of the other, unless in respect of intensity. The suggestion, therefore, naturally occurred to me, that nitroglycerine is not a nitrate of glyceryl, as it is always represented, but a nitrite. For no ordinary nitrate, as an alkaline nitrate or nitrate of ethyl, nor any compound of glyceryl with another acid, as sulphuric acid, produces an action on the body at all resembling that of nitroglycerine. On referring to the various investigations which had been made for the purpose of ascertaining the chemical constitution of nitroglycerine, I found that none of them was sufficiently extended and exact to place beyond doubt its precise nature. The danger in manipulating so explosive a body had evidently prevented the various chemists from making a thorough examination of its composition. I at first thought that nitroglycerine might be a nitrite of glyceryl, having its nitrous acid so intimately combined with the glyceryl, that the acid did not exhibit its reactions when tested for in the usual way ; just as the acids of other ethereal compounds will not yield their usual reactions, unless special means are taken to forcibly dissociate the acid from the base ; for example, the acid of acetate of ethyl, or of chloride of ethyl. Certainly nitroglycerine gives no blue colour with a solution of starch and iodide of potassium and sulphuric acid, a very delicate test for the presence of nitrous acid. In order, however, to apply the test to the separated acid of nitroglycerine, I mixed an alcoholic solution of nitroglycerine with an alcoholic solution of pure caustic potash. The potash was ascertained to be free from nitrite, which I have frequently found present in small quantity in various specimens of ordinary potash. Decomposition of the nitroglycerine quickly occurred, and the fluid, when now tested for nitrous acid, was found to contain the acid in abundance, and so much of it, that for the moment I believed that nitroglycerine was, in reality, a nitrite of glyceryl; and hence the nature of its physiological action. Some estimations, however, of the quantity of the nitrous acid proved to me that whilst the larger portion of the nitrogen of the nitroglycerine appeared as nitrous acid in the decomposed products, yet a considerable portion was present in some other form.
VIII.—Report on the Pennatulida dredged by H.M.S. “Triton.”
Authors: Marshall A. Milnes
Published: January 2013

The Pennatulida obtained by H.M.S. “Triton,” and placed in my hands for description, are of six genera only, each genus being represented by a single species. The interest of the collection is, however, far from commensurate with its size, for of the six species two are altogether new to science, a third has hitherto been met with only off the Norwegian coast, while concerning the remainder, which are well known species, the “Triton” specimens have furnished important additions to our knowledge, either of their anatomy or distribution.
IX.—Asteroidea dredged in the Faeröe Channel during the Cruise of H.M.S. “Triton ” in August 1882
Authors: Sladen W. Percy
Published: January 2013

The star-fishes recorded in the present communication were dredged by Mr John Murray during the cruise of H.M.S. “Triton” (under the command of Staff-Commander Tizard, R.K), whilst investigating the nature of the Wyville-Thomson Ridge and the adjacent portions of the Faeröe Channel. All the forms, excepting these from Station 3, were obtained from deep water, and the collection, as a whole, is both rich and interesting. One species and two well-marked varieties have not hitherto been described, and two other species have only been found once previously. The series consequently forms a valuable supplement to the collections made during the cruises of H.M.S. “Porcupine” and the “Knight Errant,” and is an important addition to our knowledge of the fauna of this region of the Atlantic. I propose to reserve any remarks upon the general character of the asterid fauna of the Faeröe Channel until treating of the collections obtained during the “Porcupine” and “Lightning” cruises.
XIV.—Note on Sir David Brewster's Line Y, in the infra-Red of the Solar Spectrum
Authors: Smyth C. Piazzi
Published: January 2013

Of all known examples in physical science, of simplifying, and at the same time “precisionising” some of its fundamental data, which might otherwise fall to be entangled in high numbers, none has been happier than Fraunhofer's application of the letters of the alphabet to certain chief lines in the solar spectrum. Happy both in its conception by the inventor, and its universal acceptance since then by the world. Whence it comes to pass now, that in every country, whoever observes the solar spectrum at all, with whatever instrument, large or small, diffracting or refracting, and whether he holds to the undulatory, or any other theory of light, and catalogues spectral lines either in Wave-lengths or Wave-numbers, or merely in terms of the brass scale screwed to his instrument by a maker,—yet whenever he speaks of the line A, or B, or C, or any other so named by Fraunhofer, he singles out thereby from among thousands, exactly the same identical line which any and every other spectroscopist alludes to under the same simple letter.
XIX.—On Knots. Part II
Authors: Tait
Published: January 2013

One main object of the present brief paper is to take advantage of the results obtained by Kirkman, and thus to extend my census of distinct forms to knottiness of the 8th and 9th orders; for the carrying out of which, by my own methods, I could not find time. But I employ the opportunity to give, in a more extended form than that in the short abstract in the Proceedings, some results connected with the general subject of knots, which were communicated to the Society on January 6, 1879, as well as others communicated at a later date, but not yet printed even in abstract.
XXIV.—Chapters on the Mineralogy of Scotland. Chapter First.—The Rhombohedral Carbonates. Part I
Authors: Heddle
Published: January 2013

In the series of chapters of which the present is the first, I purpose to submit the results of an analytical examination of all the minerals of Scotland whose composition appeared doubtful; of such as had not previously been examined; or of such as appeared in any way to be of special geologic interest.
XXV.—Size in Relation to Internal Morphology. No. I.—Distribution of the Xylem in the Vascular System of Psilotum, Tmesipteris, and Lycopodium
Authors: Wardlaw Claude W.
Published: January 2013

In his Presidential Address to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in October 1920, Professor Bower (2) called attention to the question of Size in relation to stelar morphology, and advanced evidence (with particular reference to the Filicales) to show how the principle of similar structures has affected the internal morphology of the vascular system of plants. In dealing with the application of this principle he remarks that “the stems and roots of most plants are approximately cylindrical. The same is the case as a rule for their conducting tracts also. The cylinder is one of those solid forms in which the proportion of external surface to bulk is exceptionally low. Any deviation from the cylindrical form, either by external projections or by involutions, necessarily leads to an increase in the proportion of surface to bulk. The surface varies only as the square of the linear dimensions, but the bulk as the cube. It follows, therefore, that in carrying out any of those physiological functions of a living organism which depend on surface, as do all those of the acquisition and inter change of material, the actual size of the part which exercises that function is a matter of the greatest moment. The larger the plant is, the more dependent will it then be upon its form and detailed structure, not only for its stability, but also for the performance of its functions of absorption and transit of liquids and gases. This will apply not only to the external surface, but also to those internal surfaces which limit one tissue tract from another.” In illustration of this, examples were taken from the stems, tubers, and petioles of the Filicales, and the size-factor was also found applicable to the large prop-roots of palms, such as Areca and Verschaffeltia.
XXX.—Geology of the Outer Hebrides. Part II.—South Uist and Eriskay
Authors: Jehu T. J. , Craig R. M.
Published: January 2013

The origin of the name “Uist” or “Vist” is uncertain. It is probably either of Pictish or Scandinavian derivation. It is said to be found amongst the names of the early Pictish kings. Some authorities give “Ivist” as the earliest known name, and this may mean “Ey-vist,” the Island of Vist (the Pictish king), or may be rendered literally from the Norse as “dwelling-place.” Others believe that the name is derived from “vest” (Danish) signifying “the west island.” Originally Uist comprised what we now know as North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, and possibly Barra as well.
II.—Contributions to the Study of the Old Red Sandstone Flora of Scotland. I. On Plant-Remains from the Fish-Beds of Cromarty. II. On a Sporangium-bearing Branch-System from the Stromness Beds
Authors: Lang W. H.
Published: January 2013

It was the intention of Dr Kidston and myself to deal with the main plant-remains of the Old Red Sandstone of this country in preparation for a systematic account of the flora. I cannot continue the work alone without expressing in affection and gratitude how much I owe to my association with him in it. The loss of Dr Kidston's experience, insight, and judgment in dealing with the obscure and peculiar plants of this early period can hardly be estimated. No further results of our joint work had been prepared for publication; but, since we had for some years made common stock of our observations and notes on the subject, Dr Kidston's views on many points are known to me and will be utilised wherever they apply.
VI.—A Contribution to the Life-History of Bowenia
Authors: Lawson A. Anstruther
Published: January 2013

The existing Cycads, with their nine genera and about eighty known species, represent the last lingering survivors of an ancient race that existed in Mesozoic times. There is very little evidence of their geological and geographical distribution throughout that great period; but it seems that up to the close of the Cretaceous they constituted an important feature of the Land Vegetation, with the Bennettitales, Ginkgoales, and Coniferales as their contemporaries. During that long period they were probably represented by many genera and species, and apparently enjoyed a very wide geographical distribution. The nature of their seed as an organ of reproduction seems to have endowed them with great powers of propagation and dissemination, which enabled them to spread over the earth and to occupy dry soils which probably had never before been occupied by Land Plants.
III.—The Geology of the Highland Border from Tayside to Noranside
Authors: Allan Douglas A.
Published: January 2013

The area examined in the course of this investigation comprises parts of Perthshire and Forfarshire fringing the Grampians and Strathmore from Stenton on the Tay, 2½ miles east of Dunkeld, to Auchnacree, a mile north-east of Noran Water, an easterly tributary of the South Esk. It is represented on a scale of 1 inch to a mile on Sheets 48, 56, and 57 of the Ordnance Survey of Scotland. The field mapping of over 130 square miles was carried out on a scale of 6 inches to a mile, and the results are embodied in the appended map on a scale of 1 inch to a mile.
VIII. Account of the Structure of the Table Mountain, and other Parts of the Peninsula of the Cape
Authors: Playfair  , Hall Basil
Published: January 2013

The Paper which I have the honour of presenting to the Society, is drawn up from letters written by Captain Hall to some of his friends in this country, after a visit made to the Cape of Good Hope, and an excursion to the Table Mountain, in July last. I have given the description, as much as possible, in his own words, and have only connected parts, which, from the nature of the communications, were necessarily disjoined from one another. One of the letters being written to myself, and containing a general view of the whole, has been my guide for arranging the rest.
XI. An Account of Observations, made by Lord Webb Seymour and Professor Playfair, upon some Geological Appearances in Glen Tilt, and the adjacent Country
Authors: Seymour Webb
Published: January 2013

1. The river Tilt is a principal branch of the Tay, which rises on the borders of Aberdeenshire, and runs towards the south-west, through the north-eastern part of the county of Perth. A portion of the valley along its course, for about ten miles above Blair of Atholl, is called Glen Tilt.

The adjacent country presents the common character of the Highlands. It is mountainous and rugged, and the surface, except in the lower parts of the valleys, is chiefly covered with heath. Peat-moss frequently occurs.
XIII. Observations on the Theory of Language
Authors: Dewar Henry
Published: January 2013

Those philological studies which have been cultivated among polished nations, for their subserviency to literary taste, and their influence on the formation of correct habits of speaking and writing, have gradually suggested the more profound science of Universal Grammar. The business of this science is, not merely to dictate the best manner of connecting words with one another, but to investigate the origin of the various distinctions existing among them, and to discover in what instances these distinctions are dictated by occasional convenience or partial caprice, and in what instances they are essential to the purposes of language. By the aid of these investigations, philosophers have even hoped to trace some of the most important laws of human thought, and to obtain a solution of the most difficult problems of metaphysics. Some of the attempts made to realise these expectations have displayed great ingenuity; but, even with this qualification to recommend them, they have often failed to establish principles on a foundation sufficiently sure to preclude controversy.