bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Blood of the Invertebrata
Authors: Griffiths A. B.
Published: June 2016

The author has ascertained the approximate composition of the gases in the blood of certain Invertebrate animals. The apparatus used for this purpose was that of Gautier slightly modified (fig. 1); and the method allows the collection of the blood in vacua (from the time of leaving the vein, &c.) without any alteration in its composition. The glass receiver ACD (left-hand figure), in which the vacuum is made, has a canula E fastened to its lower end. The canula is drawn out into a fine capillary point, which is pushed into the artery, vein, or under the hypodermis, as the case may be. After introducing the canula into the blood system, the tap B is opened and the blood rises into the receiver. The gases are evolved almost immediately, and by means of the pump they are collected over mercury in the tube ab, where their composition is ascertained.
A New Ship for the Study of the Sea
Authors:   His Serene Highness the Prince of Monaco
Published: June 2016

I had wished to render my visit to your country, which has always been in such sympathy with natural science, more interesting by the presence of a new scientific instrument—of a ship constructed entirely for scientific research; but, in spite of the best of wills, I have, after proceeding for several hours on the way to Edinburgh, been obliged to return to the Thames, in order to allow the builders to finish their work, in which they are unfortunately in arrear.
The Electric Resistance of Cobalt at High Temperatures
Authors: Knott Cargill G.
Published: June 2016

The manner in which the electric resistance of cobalt varies with high temperatures does not seem to have been studied with any great care. The peculiar behaviour of iron and nickel as regards their change of resistance with temperature is now well known With a view to discover if cobalt presented any similar peculiarity, I set Mr Ōmori, one of the physical students in the Imperial University, Japan, to investigate the question. The chief results are embodied in the present short paper.
On an Instrument for Trisecting any Angle
Authors: Miller Jas. N.
Published: June 2016

The instrument is delineated in the accompanying drawing. It consists of two thin and flat pieces, AIFD and BHO, of metal or other material. Those pieces are closely connected together hy a cylindrical pin inserted perpendicularly to their flat surfaces through a cylindrical hole at C in each of them, which it fits, and round which they can turn.
The Action of Silver Salts on Solutions of Ammonium Persulphate
Authors: Marshall Hugh , Inglis J. K. H.
Published: June 2016

In a paper already communicated to the Society by one of us attention was drawn to the fact that, in presence of a soluble silver salt, ammonium persulphate is decomposed with formation of nitric acid as well as sulphuric acid. The action had at that time been studied only in a roughly quantitative way, and it was therefore thought that a more exact study of the velocity of the reaction, and of the influence exerted by other salts present in solution, might prove of interest, and also throw light on the course which the reaction follows.
A New Specifying Method for Stress and Strain in an Elastic Solid
Authors: Kelvin Lord
Published: June 2016

The method for specifying stress and strain hitherto followed by all writers on elasticity has the great disadvantage that it essentially requires the strain to be infinitely small. As a notational method it has the inconvenience that the specifying elements are of two essentially different kinds (in the notation of Thomson and Tait e, f, g, simple elongations; a, b, c, shearings). Both these faults are avoided if we take the six lengths of the six edges of a tetrahedron of the solid, or, what amounts to the same, though less simple, the three pairs of face-diagonals of a hexahedron, as the specifying elements. This I have thought of for the last thirty years, but not till a few weeks ago have I seen how to make it conveniently practicable, especially for application to the generalised dynamics of a crystal.
Molecular Dynamics of a Crystal
Authors: Kelvin Lord
Published: June 2016

§ 1. The object of this communication is to partially realise the hope expressed at the end of my paper of July 1 and July 15, 1889, on the “Molecular Constitution of Matter”:—“The mathematical investigation must be deferred for a future communication, when I hope to give it with some further developments.” The italics are of present date.

Following the ideas and principles suggested in §§ 14–20 of that paper (referred to henceforth for brevity as M. C. M.), let us first find the work required to separate all the atoms of a homogeneous assemblage of a great number n of molecules to infinite distances from one another. Each molecule may be a single atom, or it may be a group of i atoms (similar to one another or dissimilar, as the case may be) which makes the whole assemblage a group of i assemblages, each of n single atoms.
The Theory of Orthogonants in the Historical Order of its development up to 1832
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

The special form of determinant to which we have now come is connected with a problem in coordinate geometry—the problem of transformation from one set of rectangular axes to another set having the same origin. The actual appearance of determinants in any of the attempts to solve the geometrical problem did not take place until comparatively late in its history, probably because the connection between the two subjects was less patent than in other cases, the problem when transformed into algebraical language being not a mere matter of elimination of unknowns from a set of linear equations. The earlier portion of the history of orthogonal substitution, although of considerable interest, is thus not sufficiently germane to our subject to warrant detailed treatment of it. For those interested in this earlier portion it will suffice to give the following chronologically arranged list of papers from 1770 to 1840:—
Amorphous Sulphur and its Relation to the Freezing Point of Liquid Sulphur
Authors: Smith Alexander
Published: June 2016

Rhombic and monoclinic sulphur are two physical states of the element with a transition point at 96°. The relation of amorphous sulphur to liquid sulphur is entirely different. The former is produced by heating liquid sulphur, and is found in increasing proportion as the temperature is raised. At 448° it reaches about forty per cent. As the temperature falls, the proportion of amorphous sulphur recedes, although sudden cooling arrests the regression, and furnishes solid specimens containing the larger proportions proper to higher temperatures. The case seems to be one of chemical equilibrium, S (liquid) ⇌ S (amorphous), in which the action, as written, is endothermal.
On Superposed Magnetic Inductions in Iron
Authors: Russell James
Published: June 2016

A communication was made to this Society on February 3, 1902, on ‘Magnetic Shielding in ollow Iron Cylinders.’ At an early stage of this investigation, and when dealing with more magnetising forces than that due to the transverse field acting upon the shield, the subject of cross magnetisation necessarily came to the front. This paper deals, First, with the superposition of two magnetising forces at right angles to each other, and the coordination of the two components of the resultant magnetic induction, under the various conditions of field superposition; and Second, with the magnetic œolotropy of demagnetised iron. The same hollow iron cylinders were used as in the shielding experiments.
Quaternion Notes
Authors: Tait
Published: June 2016

The following quaternion notes are interesting as the last piece of mathematical work written down by Professor Tait. During his last severe illness he referred several times to the importance of working out still further the theory of the linear vector function; but he had not been able to put pen to paper for months previous to July 2, 1901, just two days before his death. On that date he wrote down the notes now printed, probably at intervals throughout the day. They would serve, in all likelihood, chiefly as nuclei round which his thoughts would circle; and they will now serve to indicate in some measure the directions in which his thoughts were moving. The foolscap sheet on which the notes were written was handed to his eldest son, with the request that it should be preserved, as he believed it contained the germ of an important advance. A facsimile of this sheet, on a reduced scale, is reproduced in the accompanying Plate.
Note on Pure Periodic Continued Fractions
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

There is a short paper in a recent volume of the Comptes Rendus of the French Academy of Sciences which deserves notice if only in order that the attention of the author and others may be drawn to previous work on the same subject and to more effective methods of treatment.
On the General Scalar Function of a Vector
Authors: Maclagan-Wedderburn J. H.
Published: June 2016

The general scalar function of a vector ρ may evidently be written in the form

where α1 … αn are constant vectors, each term being homogeneous in ρ. If the factors of each term of any one of the brackets be permuted in every possible way, i.e., in |r ways (where r is the degree of the set of terms chosen), it can be written in the form

where φρr−1 is a vector function of ρ of the (r − l)th degree, the index (r − 1) serving merely to indicate the degree of the function. This notation will be found to lead to no confusion, and to have great advantages. Since the variable ρ occurs in φ along with each vector α, and also these vectors have been arranged in every possible way, it follows that, if in each term of φ we replace s of the ρ's by any other vector σ in such a way that the order of occurrence of the ρ's and the σ's is the same in each term, then the final result is independent of that order; that is to say,
On the Equation of a Pair of Tangents to a Conic
Authors: Anglin A. H.
Published: June 2016

The equation to the pair of tangents from the point (x′, y′) to the conic φ(x, y) = 0 is usually obtained in the form

where T = 0 is the equation to the chord of contact. This equation admits of reduction; and we propose to obtain the reduced form independently, and to supply its geometrical interpretation.
Some Observations on the Young Scales of the Cod, Haddock and Whiting before Shedding
Authors: Wallace Brown Alex.
Published: June 2016

During the winter of 1902–3, I conducted observations upon the scales and their condition, in several of the gadoid fishes. Investigation was commenced in October 1902; but it was not until the beginning of March 1903 that the first appearance of the young scale took place. In stained specimens, it can be recognised as a deeply staining “nucleus,” lying beneath the old scale, just under its centre. Such an appearance was found in cod, haddock and whiting of all ages from one to three or four years;, and, in all, the young scale is clearly recognisable, underlying the old. As soon as these fishes have spawned, they appear to shed their scales, the epidermis first peeling off.
Statistical Evidence regarding the Influence of Artificial Propagation upon the Salmon of the American Rivers
Authors: Murray William
Published: June 2016

The materials for this paper upon the Influence of Artificial Propagation on the Salmon of the American Rivers have been gathered from an examination of the salmon fishery statistics of Canada and the United States of America, where salmon culture has been extensively pursued.
Note on a Method of Bringing Together the Two Spectra Compared in the Ordinary Spectrophotometer
Authors: Milne J. R.
Published: June 2016

In Spectro-Photometry one of the chief difficulties in making accurate measurements lies in the fact that the eye has to judge of the relative intensities of two spectral bands, which, instead of having their adjacent edges in contact, have them separated by a greater or less dark space. Accordingly, to facilitate a piece of spectrophotometrical work in which I am engaged, a Hüfner's rhomb was tried, which is a special attachment designed to overcome this difficulty. On trial, however, I found that by this means the fault is not entirely removed, although the separating dark space is by this means reduced to a very narrow line. The only alternatives to the Hiifner's rhomb which I know are the devices of Brace, and of Lummer and Brodhun. The first of these depends on the employment of a particular kind of prism in the spectroscope. The other device, due to Lummer and Brodhun, places before the ordinary spectroscope prism a special photometer cube. Both these devices, however, suffer from the drawback that they are unsymmetrical as regards the two beams of light, whose relative intensities it is our object to measure.
On the Origin of the Pineal Body as an Amesial Structure, deduced from the study of its Development in Amphibia
Authors: Cameron John
Published: June 2016

The pineal body or epiphysis has provided a favourite subject of study for many workers at research, and much discussion has arisen with regard to both its ontogeny and its phylogeny. Up to within recent years this structure proved a sort of enigma, and its true significance was not really understood until the researches of De Graaf (15) and Baldwin Spencer (27) during the eighties. Since then an extensive amount of work has been published on the subject, so that it almost appeared quite unnecessary for one to again enter upon this field of research.
Seiches observed in Loch Ness
Authors: Maclagan-Wedderburn E.
Published: June 2016

The first observations on seiches in Scotland were made last summer by members of the Lake Survey, the differences in level having been measured by a foot-rule. A Sarasin limnograph was procured by the Survey and was set up at Fort Augustus on Loch Ness in June of this year, and has been recording since then, with only a few stoppages. The biggest seiche so far recorded had an amplitude of about 9 cm. The boat-house of St Benedict's Abbey, kindly put at Sir John Murray's disposal by the Lord Abbot, gave shelter to the instrument both from wind and waves.
The Theory of General Determinants in the Historical Order of Development up to 1846
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

Since the year 1889, when the last of a series of six papers with a title similar to the above appeared, further research has led to the discovery of a number of writings belonging to the period then dealt with, viz., 1693–1844. Of those an account is now given before proceeding to the papers of later date than 1844.
On the Origin of the Epiphysis Cerebri as a Bilateral Structure in the Chick
Authors: Cameron John
Published: June 2016

Till within recent years the epiphysis cerebri has been generally regarded as a mesial outgrowth from the roof of the thalamencephalon in Vertebrates. The researches of Béraneck (5), Dendy (11), Hill (17), and Locy (19), however, tend to demonstrate the fact that this structure arises in the form of two bilateral outgrowths; while Gaskell (12) has drawn attention to its bilateral nature in Ammocœtes. Some observations which the author made on the development of the epiphysis in Amphibia (8 and 9) were found to agree in the main with those of the above-mentioned workers. The present research was therefore undertaken with the view of corroborating the results which had been obtained in the Amphibia, and it was found that these received support in the case of the chick.
Effect of Transverse Magnetization on the Resistance of Nickel at High Temperatures
Authors: Knott C. G.
Published: June 2016

In a previous communication it was pointed out that the effect of transverse magnetization on the resistance of nickel wire was inappreciable in fields below 500 C.G.S. units, thereby differing from the case of longitudinal magnetization, in which the effect was easily measurable in fields below 20. The reason of this is no doubt to be referred to the thinness of the wire in the direction of the magetizing force. To measure the effect of transverse magnetization it was necessary to form a fiat coil and insert it between the poles of a powerful electro-magnet. Considerable difficulty was experienced in winding this coil with interwound asbestos insulation, for great care had to be taken that no part of the wire cut the lines of force obliquely, otherwise there would be a resolved component of longitudinal effect, which in certain cases might altogether mask the effect looked for. The coil used in the final experiments was suitable in all respects. It was coiled between glass plates, the successive coils being separated by threads of asbestos. Round the coil another coil (of Beacon wire) was wound anti-inductively, so that any current passing through it would have no magnetic action upon the nickel wire inside. By varying the current in this external coil I was able to heat the nickel to any desired temperature up to 400° C. In any one experiment the final temperature came to a steady state, and not till this state was reached was it possible to begin the observations on the resistance change. This was measured in the manner already described in my paper on the effect of longitudinal magnetization, and it will suffice meanwhile to call attention to a remarkable result obtained when the temperature approached that at which nickel ceases to be strongly magnetic.
The Sum of the Signed Primary Minors of a Determinant
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

(1) The fundamental propositions in regard to the sum of the signed primary minors of a determinant are—

(A) An expression for the negative sum of the signed primary minors of any determinant is got by taking a determinant of the next higher order whose first element is zero with the given determinant for complementary minor, and whose remaining elements are units all positive or all negative.
The Effect of Simultaneous Removal of Thymus and Spleen in young Guinea-pigs
Authors: Noël Paton D. , Goodall Alexander
Published: June 2016

We have already shown that removal of the spleen (1) or of the thymus (2) has very little effect on the animal economy. Since the spleen and thymus together comprise the largest amount of lymphoid tissue in the body of young animals, it would appear not improbable that although removal of either of these organs causes no marked disturbance, their simultaneous extirpation might be expected to give rise to some more manifest change. Friedleben (3) states that, while in his series of experiments no dog died of removal of the thymus, and that the removal of the spleen in young dogs does not influence the course of life, the simultaneous removal of the thymus and spleen causes a marked deterioration of blood formation, and leads to death.
A Possible Explanation of the Formation of the Moon
Authors: Romanes George
Published: June 2016

The subject of the moon's development has been dealt with by Professor G. H. Darwin by means of a highly abstruse mathematical analysis, which the present writer cannot pretend to be able to discuss. He wishes to point out, however, that Professor Darwin's theory requires the assumption that earth and moon formed, at one time, a single highly-heated fluid mass; the theory being that the moon was thrown off by centrifugal force aided by the sun's tidal influence and synchronous vibratory motion of the fluid mass.
Some Suggestions on the Nebular Hypothesis
Authors: Halm J.
Published: June 2016

The hypothesis of Laplace on the genesis of the solar system from an extensive nebula presents difficulties of so serious a character that important modifications appear to be required in order to make it conformable with the laws of dynamics. The objection most frequently brought forward refers to the mode in which Laplace assumes the separation of the planets from the contracting nebula to have taken place.
XIV.—On the Magnetic Properties of certain Copper Alloys
Authors: Ross Alexander D. , Gray Robert C.
Published: June 2016

In May 1907 a paper was read before this Society by one of us on the magnetic properties of the Heusler alloy. After that date the investigation was extended to two other copper-manganese-aluminium alloys, and latterly the scope of the research has been further extended by a series of tests carried out by the present authors conjointly on simple aluminium and manganese bronzes, and on the constituent metallic elements in the pure form, while additional tests have been made on the manganese-aluminium bronze. Some of the more interesting results obtained since the 1907 paper are given in the present communication.
XV.—Low Temperature Experiments in Magnetism
Authors: Gray James G. , Higgins Hugh
Published: June 2016

The alterations brought about in the magnetic moments of magnets, composed of various metals and alloys, by alternate cooling and warming between ordinary room temperature and that of liquid air have been very fully investigated by Dewar and Fleming. It was found by these experimenters that in the case of most of the metals examined the effect of the first cooling upon the magnet—which had previously been magnetised to saturation in the field of an electromagnet—was to bring about a very considerable reduction in its magnetic moment. On allowing the magnet to warm to room temperature its magnetic moment still further diminished. On cooling once more to the liquid air temperature the magnetic moment increased, and from and after this stage it was found that the magnetic moment of the magnet when cold exceeded that of the magnet when at room temperature by a definite amount. The changes brought about by the treatment were found to be much greater in the annealed than in the quenched condition of the material.
XIX.—On Lagrange's Equations of Motion, and on Elementary Solutions of Gyrostatic Problems
Authors: Gray Andrew
Published: June 2016

It is now well known that Lagrange's equations of motion for a system of connected particles are not applicable to certain cases of motion—for example, to a rigid sphere rolling without sliding on a given surface. In his Principien der Mechanik, Hertz has referred at considerable length to this subject, and has applied the adjective “holonomous “to those systems to which the equations are applicable, and has called all others “non-holonomous.” These adjectives correspond to distinct characteristics of the systems as regards the constraints to which they are subject. Holonomous systems are those in which the constraints are expressed, or can be expressed, by finite equations; in non-holonomous systems, on the other hand, these conditions, or some of them at least, are expressed by differential relations, which do not fulfil the conditions of integrability.
XX.—On Energy Accelerations and Partition of Energy
Authors: Follet C. W.
Published: June 2016

In the volume of the Arch. Néerlandaises for 1900, Dr Bryan discussed the investigation of the distribution of the velocities of a dynamical system for a stationary state from probability considerations.

He suggested the method of obtaining expressions for the second differential coefficients with respect to the time of squares and products of velocities such as enter into the expression for the kinetic energy, and finding from them equations of energy equilibrium, as well as conditions of stability for the stationary state.

He applied the method to a few simple examples, and indicated in these the preponderance of conditions for non-equipartition of energy.
XXI.—The Systematic Motions of the Stars. (Second Paper.)
Authors: Dyson
Published: June 2016

In a previous paper the hypothesis propounded by Kapteyn that the stars are moving in two streams was examined by considering the proper motions of stars which were moving more than 20″ a century. By a graphical method the directions of these two streams were found with results in fair agreement with those found by Kapteyn and Eddington by other methods and with different material. It was evident from that paper that it would be possible in a large percentage of cases to say with tolerable certainty to which stream individual stars of large proper motion belonged.
XXVII.—On the Effect of Internal Friction in Cases of Compound Stress
Authors: Gulliver G. H.
Published: June 2016

The minimum resistance to deformation, and the inclination of the surfaces of sliding, are given for any system of stress in a body, supposing internal friction to be operative.

The effect of internal friction in various cases of combined loading, and the value of the coefficient have been calculated from experimental data. The results do not allow of a definite value being assigned to μ for steel.

Certain differences in the behaviour of ductile and of brittle bodies, when loaded, are pointed out.

An expression for the equivalent bending moment of a shaft submitted to simultaneous bending and twisting, when internal friction is allowed for, is given.
XXXI.—Nematonurus Lecointei, Poisson abyssal de la “Belgica” retrouvé par l'Expédition Antarctique Nationale Ecossaise
Authors: Dollo Louis , Traquair M. R. H.
Published: June 2016

I.—Nous avons vu, récemment, que les Macrwridœ, dans l'état actuel de nos connaissances, sont représentés par une espèce à l'intérieur du Cercle Polaire Arctique et par deux espèces à l'intèrieur du Cercle Polaire Antarctique.
XXXVI.—Dr O. Pettersson's Observations on Deep Water Oscillations
Authors: Wedderburn E. M.
Published: June 2016

Dr Pettersson has recently published a paper on “Gezeitenaehnliche Bewegungen des Tiefenwassers” (Publications de Circonstance, No. 47), in which he describes certain movements in the deep waters of the Skagerak observed in January, February, and March 1909 at the Swedish station Bornö, in the Gullmarfjord, lat. 58° 24′ N., long. 11° 33′E. The observations were taken daily at 12.30 p.m. by means of soundings made through the ice. The diagram accompanying this paper is a reproduction of a diagram prepared by Dr Pettersson, and shows the observed variations in the position of the isotherms and isohalines. No observations appear to have been made on 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th February, nor from 15th to 18th March, so that there are large interpolations on the diagram. Fig. 1 is a map of the Skagerak, the point of observation being marked by a cross.
XXXVIII.—Observations with a Current Meter in Loch Ness
Authors: Wedderburn E. M. , Watson W.
Published: June 2016

One of the authors having made an experimental investigation on the currents produced in a trough of water by a blast of air driven along the surface of the water, it was desired to test the correctness of his deductions by actual observations in a large lake. Loch Ness was chosen on account of its length and uniformity of basin, as it was thought that the length and narrowness of the loch would lead to clearly defined currents being set up in the lake. The sequel showed, as in the case of observations on seiches, that it would have been better to confine attention to a smaller lake, for a twofold reason, (1) because in a large lake the difficulties of observations are much greater than in a small lake during stormy weather, and in very deep lakes the difficulties in the way of obtaining a fixed point from which to use the current meter are formidable, and (2) because it would seem from a few observations made in Loch Garry (Ness Basin) that currents are more defined and more regular in small than in great lakes.
XL.—The Superadjugate Determinant and Skew Determinants having a Univarial Diagonal
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

The object of the present paper is to make some advance in the theory of those skew determinants that have the elements of the diagonal all equal. A few results on determinants of more general form and on related subjects are given incidentally.
XLI.—The Skeleton of a Sowerby's Whale (Mesoplodon bidens) stranded at St Andrews, and the Morphology of the Manus in Mesoplodon, Hyperoodon and the Delphinidæ
Authors: Turner Wm.
Published: June 2016

In May 1908 an adult female Sowerby's whale, Mesoplodon bidens, was stranded in St Andrews Bay, about a mile from the clubhouse. Its capture and external characters were recorded by Professor W. C. M‘Intosh in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History, December 1908. The skeleton was obtained by him for the Gatty Marine Laboratory, and at his request I have examined and prepared this report on its characters.
VIII.—The Effect of Weather Changes on Soil Temperatures
Authors: Franklin T. Bedford
Published: June 2016

The temperature of the air depends on so many varying factors that its prediction is a matter of considerable difficulty, and can only be made with any degree of certainty when the minimum number of these factors is at work. Underground temperatures are dependent not only on the same factors as affect the air temperature, but, in addition, are much more affected by conductivity, rainfall, evaporation, latent heat, etc., and thus the changes in temperature beneath the surface of the soil constitute a much more complex problem.
XII.—Molecular Energy in Gases
Authors: Ewing J. A.
Published: June 2016

Experiments on the specific heats of gases and on their infra-red emission and absorption have gone a good way towards showing how the molecules take up energy when a gas is heated, and have raised questions as to how far the observed facts may be explained on the basis of “Newtonian dynamics,” and what particulars suggest or necessitate a resort to the Quantum Theory. It may be useful to state some of these questions without attempting categorical answers, which indeed cannot be offered until the physical concepts underlying the Quantum Theory have become more definite.
XV.—The Harmala Alkaloids in Malaria
Authors: Gunn J. A. , Marshall D. G.
Published: June 2016

In two former contributions to this Society I described the pharmacological actions of harmaline and harmine, the two alkaloids found in the seeds of Peganum harmala. In regard to harmaline I came to the following conclusions:— “It differs from most alkaloids in that it does not exert, to the same extent as they do, a selective action on one kind of tissue. It attacks not only highly specialised tissues such as voluntary muscle, muscle of the heart, blood-vessels and uterus, and cells of the central nervous system, but also less highly differentiated cells, such as pigment cells, protozoa (Raab), and ciliated epithelium (Jacobson).
VII.—The Relation of the Soil Colloids to the Thermal Conductivity of the Soil
Authors: Franklin T. Bedford
Published: June 2016

Early investigators regarded the soil as an inert framework of soil grains of various sizes covered with a continuous film of water, and the properties which in theory it should possess under such a hypothesis were found not to accord too well with the results of experiment. But when the existence of soil colloids was understood, the differences between theory and experiment tended to disappear one by one, as shown by the work of Bouyoncos in America in 1915 and of Keen in England in 1914, 1919, and 1920.
XI.—Note on a Continuant of Cayley's of the Year 1874
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

(1) In a “Note sur une formule d'intégration indéfinie” of the year 1874, Cayley has occasion to use a determinant of a very peculiar structure, whose value when of the (n + l)th order is

[a]r in the development of this standing for
XII.—On the Old Red Sandstone Plants showing Structure, from the Rhynie Chert Bed, Aberdeenshire. Part IV. Restorations of the Vascular Cryptogams, and discussion of their bearing on the General Morphology of the Pteridophyta and the Origin of the Organisation of Land-Plants. Part V. The Thallophyta occurring in the Peat Bed; the Succession of the Plants throughout a Vertical Section of the Bed, and the Conditions of Accumulation and Preservation of the Deposit
Authors: Kidston R. , Lang W. H.
Published: June 2016

PART IV.—This paper concludes the authors’ account of the Vascular Cryptogams found in the Rhynie deposit. Restorations of the four plants, Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughani, R. major, Hornea Lignieri, and Asteroxylon Mackiei, are given. A few additional features, supplementary to the descriptions of these plants in the preceding papers of the series, are described and illustrated. The hemispherical projections of Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughani are shown to have originated underneath stomata. A comparison is made between them and certain intumescences in existing plants. Areas of necrosis and marked wound-reactions of the tissues around them are described for both species of Rhynia. The apex of a stem of R. major is figured. For Asteroxylon additional figures are given of a large rhizome, of the leaf-arrangement and immature structure of the stem in the region of a shoot-apex, and of the longitudinal markings on the epidermal cells resembling those found in Rhynia Gwynne-Vaughani. The discussion summarises the authors’ views on the main bearings of the facts described in Parts 1–4 on various problems in plant morphology.

PART V.—The Thallophyta occurring in the peat bed; the succession of the plants throughout a vertical section of the bed, and the conditions of accumulation and preservation of the deposit.
XIV.—Utilisation of Solid Caustic Soda in the Absorption of Carbon Dioxide
Authors: Gilchrist Elizabeth
Published: June 2016

In the course of research on Mine Rescue Apparatus under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research it was found necessary to investigate the conditions of utilisation of solid caustic soda for absorbing carbon dioxide, and particularly the effects of variations of temperature and water vapour upon the reaction.
XVI.—Note on Conditions for Mirage on the Queensferry Road
Authors: Ramage Alex. G.
Published: June 2016

The surface of the Queensferry Road, from about the bend above Blackhall, past Marchfield, and on towards Cramond Bridge, was remade in the spring 1919.

It was made in the modern fashion for a motoring road, with road metal and liberal supplies of bitumen, and small pieces of quartz scattered on top of the bitumen, the whole being rolled by steam roller.
XVIII.—Experiments with an Electrified Pith Ball in an Ionised Atmosphere
Authors: Turner Dawson , Crombie D. M. R.
Published: June 2016

A Pith ball suspended from the centre rod of a charged Leyden jar provides us with an interesting and very delicate method of demonstrating the ionised atmosphere surrounding flames and incandescent bodies. In an ionised atmosphere of sufficient intensity the ball, provided that the suspending fibre is of high insulating quality, rapidly loses its charge and falls back toward the centre rod of the jar, from which it receives a fresh charge and is violently repelled, only to repeat the performance; thus an oscillation is set up the rapidity of which is governed chiefly by the length of the suspending fibre.
Chairman's Opening Address, Session 1899–1900
Authors: Kelvin Lord
Published: June 2016

The PRESIDENT, on opening the Session, said—During the past Session 62 papers have been read. Of these, 14 belong to the department of Physics, 10 to Mathematics, 6 to Chemistry, 4 to Oceanography, 1 to Geology, 5 to Natural History, 4 to Comparative Anatomy, 3 to Anatomy, 6 to Physiology, 6 to Meteorology, and 1 to Literature.
Professor Klein's View of Quaternions; a Criticism
Authors: Knott C. G.
Published: June 2016

In the first part of Klein and Sommerfeld's treatise “Ueber die Theorie des Kreisels,” there is a section entitled, Excurs über die Quaterionentheorie. In the preceding paper, Professor Tait has discussed the main conclusion contained in this digression; and I here propose to sketch the line of argument by which Klein and Sommerfeld have arrived at their curious mis-interpretation of Hamilton's Quaternion.
On the Law of Elastic Fatigue
Authors: Peddie W.
Published: June 2016

In this paper a discussion of the mode of description of the linear paths in the (log b, n) diagram—described in previous papers—was given. It was shown that the assumption that fatigue was induced by oscillation of a wire enabled one, in almost all cases, to predict accurately the mode of description of these paths. In a few cases, however, when the condition of the wire was such that the critical angle fell within the range of experimentally observed angles of oscillation, the mode of description of the linear paths agreed with the supposition that oscillation diminished fatigue. The truth of this supposition seemed also to be confirmed by the observed rate of decrease of oscillations in these cases; but further experimental evidence is required to fully test the point.
Contributions to the Craniology of the People of India. Part II.—The Aborigines of Chútá Nágpúr, of the Central Provinces and the people of Orissa
Authors: Turner William
Published: June 2016

This part of my memoir on the crania of the people of India is especially occupied with a description of the hill tribes in the Lower provinces of Bengal and the Central provinces. It is based on an examination of a number of crania, the majority of which were placed at my disposal by the authorities of the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Some belonged to tribes speaking dialects of the Kolarian group of languages; others of the Dravidian group.
The Seaweed Ulva latissima, and its relation to the Pollution of Sea Water by Sewage
Authors: Letts  , Hawthorne John
Published: June 2016

For a number of years a very serious nuisance has arisen from the ‘sloblands’ of the upper reaches of Belfast Lough during the summer and early autumn—the stench at low tide being often quite overpowering, and the air heavily charged with sulphuretted hydrogen.
Solar Radiation and Earth Temperatures
Authors: Knott C. G.
Published: June 2016

At a recent meeting of the Society, Dr Buchan read a paper based on certain observations of the temperature of the waters of the Mediterranean, which had been made by the staff of the Austrian ship Pola. These indicated that the direct effect of solar Tadiation was felt to a depth of over 150 feet. At any rate, the facts were that the temperature of the upper stratum of water of this thickness was perceptibly higher at about 4 p.m. than at 8 a.m., and that the difference was about 1°·5 Fahr. or 0°·8 Cent, at the surface, diminishing fairly steadily to value zero at a depth of fully 150 feet or 50 metres. It may easily be calculated that this excess of temperature at the afternoon hour means the accumulation of an amount of heat equal to 1460 units in every column of water 1 square centimetre in section; and this is accomplished within the eight hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It must be noted that this accumulation of heat is a daily occurrence.
Change of the Coefficient of Absorption of a Gas in a Liquid with Temperature
Authors: Kuenen
Published: June 2016

Bunsen's classical experiments on the absorption of gases by liquids show that the coefficient of absorption in water and alcohol between 0° and 20° diminishes as the temperature rises. Bohr and Bock found that at higher temperatures the coefficients of some gases (hydrogen and probably nitrogen) pass through a minimum, hydrogen in water at 60° C, nitrogen not far from 100° C. These results were not confirmed by Winkler, who concluded from his experiments that the coefficient approaches a smallest value asymptotically. Recently Estreicher, working with Professor Ramsay, found a minimum in the solubility for helium in water at 25° C.
Note on the New Star in Perseus
Authors: The Astronomer-Royal for Scotland
Published: June 2016

We are again indebted to Dr T. D. Anderson of this city for the announcement of the discovery of a new star, which was first seen by him at 2h 40m a.m., G.M.T., on Friday, the 22nd February.
Notes on the Appearance of some Foraminifera in the Living Condition, from the ‘Challenger’ Collection
Authors: Chapman Frederick
Published: June 2016

The habits and mode of existence of Foraminifera are always interesting subjects to students of the Protozoa, and this fact alone might perhaps justify the following notes, even were they not accompanied by the valuable drawings prepared by Mr G. West, from pencil sketches and microscopic slides made by Sir John Murray from the living Foraminifera collected during the voyage of H.M.S. ‘Challenger.’
Note on a Proposition given by Jacobi in his “De determinantibus functionalibus.”
Authors: Muir Thomas
Published: June 2016

(1) The proposition in question is stated as follows:— “Ponamus (enim) inter quantitates, x, x1, …, xndatas esse totidem aequationes

in quibus α, α1 … sint Constantes: dico Determinans

non mutare valorem si functiones f, f1, …, fn varias subeant mutationes quales per aequationes propositas subire possunt, ita tamen ut funetioni alicui fi transmutandae non ipsa adhibeatur aequatio f1 = aj.”
VI.—A Further Study of the Diets of Labouring Class Families in Glasgow in War Time
Authors: Ferguson Margaret I. H.
Published: June 2016

Throughout 1915 and 1916 a study was made of the dietaries of forty-seven labouring class families in Glasgow, and in February 1917, shortly after the publication of the Devonport Voluntary Ration, ten of the original families were investigated for a second time. The results of all these studies were published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. xxxvii, p. 117, 1917.

In November 1917, after nine months of voluntary rationing, after the price of bread had been reduced from to per 2 lbs., and just before the introduction of the Rhondda Voluntary Ration, the diets of eight of the families were studied for a third time.
XIII.—Phycomycetous Fungi from the English Lower Coal Measures
Authors: Ellis David
Published: June 2016

In Meschinelli's Iconographia (5) mention is made, and a short description given, of eleven species of fossil Phycomycetous fungi. Since the publication of this book, additions to the list have been made by Oliver (7), Weiss (12), Magnus (4), and the present writer (3). Altogether, therefore, fifteen species have been described which could definitely be assigned to the Phycomycetes. With such small data at our disposal it is evident that the time is not yet ripe for the framing of general propositions regarding the history of the Phycomycetes in past ages, and more especially as the information that we possess concerning several of these fifteen species is very meagre.
XVII.—Studies in Clocks and Time-keeping: No. 2. Tables of the Circular Equation
Authors: Sampson R. A.
Published: June 2016

The period of oscillation of a free pendulum increases with the arc of oscillation. This effect is known technically as the Circular Error. Its theoretical amount for the simple pendulum is readily calculated, and the following tables give it. I have called it the Circular Equation in place of the Circular Error, employing the word equation in its astronomical meaning of a theoretical numerical adjustment of a result, and distinguishing it thus from discrepancies of unknown source and amount which may also present themselves. The relation between arc and rate in the maintained motion of the pendulum of a clock will be a subject for examination experimentally and otherwise in future numbers of these studies. It may contain several elements, but must include the Circular Equation among them.
IV.—Quantitative Evolution. VI. Further Deductions from the BAT Curve
Authors: Small J.
Published: June 2016

Previous communications have established the formula for the Bat curve as - Dp.k + n.d = tk · 2n, where k is a constant Dp-age, d is a constant difference of Dp-age, tk is the time value in m.y. at the Dp-age k. For Compositæ (Small, 1937, Q.E. II) and apparently also for the Grasises (Small, 1937, Q.E. III) k = 0·6, d = 0·9, tk = 1·09375 m.y.
XII.—Green's Function for an Ellipse, and its Application to the Motion of a Point Vortex
Authors: Meksyn D.
Published: June 2016

Green's function for a plane outside an ellipse and for a plane between two confocal ellipses are evaluated.

The motion at a point vortex outside an ellipse is found.
I.—An Experimental Investigation of the Temperature Changes occurring in Fresh-Water Lochs.
Authors: Wedderburn E. M.
Published: June 2016

In a previous communication published in the Transactions of the Society (vol. xlv., part ii., p. 407) I attempted to discuss the temperature observations made in Loch Ness during the years 1903 and 1904. Some of the conclusions which I arrived at have not been generally accepted, and in particular limnologists have been slow to acknowledge the existence of the temperature seiche first described by Mr Watson, and which I consider was fully borne out by the observations published in my previous communication. In order to get some ocular demonstration of the possibility of such a phenomenon, I had recourse to laboratory experiments, and it is the description of these experiments which is the main object of the present communication. Besides demonstrating the nature of the temperature seiche, the experiments also throw light on the formation of what has been called by German and Austrian writers the Sprungschicht, and which I now propose to call in English the ‘discontinuity layer,’ which, with the word Sprungschicht, has the merit of being descriptive.
XVIII.—Sunset and Twilight Curves, and Related Phenomena.
Authors: Sommerville D. M. Y.
Published: June 2016

§ 1.THE objects of the present paper are, first, to describe certain curves which approximate to the graphs of the time of sunset (or sunrise) and end of twilight (or daybreak) all the year round for various latitudes; second, to tabulate the yearly phenomena of light and darkness for different latitudes under various conditions.

The time of sunset depends upon the latitude and the sun's declination,

and the extent of its variations depends upon the obliquity of the ecliptic. The extent of the variations of twilight depends also upon a certain angle a, which is the maximum depression of the sun's centre below the horizon for which the light reflected by the upper strata of the atmosphere is sensible.
XIX.—A Preliminary Notice of Five New Species of Iron-Bacteria.
Authors: Ellis David
Published: June 2016

FOR the past two years I have been engaged in the investigation of the iron-water of Scotland, England, and Wales, and altogether have examined over a hundred samples. This publication is a preliminary notice of some new species of iron-bacteria which I have found in the course of this investigation. At present the number of known forms belonging to this class is six. In this paper I wish to outline the main characteristics of five new species, reserving for later papers the detailed accounts of their life-histories.
XXII.—Note on the Electrical Resistance of Spark Gaps.
Authors: Houstoun Robert A.
Published: June 2016

Of recent years a considerable amount of work has been done in measuring the electrical resistance of spark gaps under different conditions. The subject is important, both for its application to wireless telegraphy and on account of its bearing on the mechanism of the spark gap. Spark spectra are, as is well known, more complex than arc spectra. Formerly this was attributed to a very high temperature in the spark, but it is now regarded as due to a disintegration of the atom produced in the spark gap. Or, as Baly puts it in his book on Spectroscopy, in the spark gap the atom is in a state of assisted radio-activity. If the current density in the spark gradually increases until it is strong enough to disintegrate a particular system in the atom, we should expect a new spectrum to be produced then, and probably a change in the resistance of the spark gap. My experiments have shown me that our methods of measuring the resistance of spark gaps are not nearly accurate enough to show such a change if it existed.