New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-08-24

With even more thar bis gsasl ability and araor Ia
eefense Of bis invention De sckoo~isdsei The
hindness and good feeling of most Of the criticisms,
though poe Of ALL Whea 10 wss approached with
sveIane iairness. he wss oonHdsDt either 81 satiz
/ Dips others or Of being convinced hlnseh Hls Ia.
ysnnon PAD been condemned by the highest Az
inofity 10 ne country, !tos tha, dsaisy mast be
In return vas the privilege Of paving thai eentIs.
mans expenses TO Csncirnat, and Of entsrtsialnx
him for ak months with al ths hospitality OF which
he was capable, thst he might have the pleasure
Of bearing him coadcgsn, from sc,aal oessrvaton
ard experiment. the invention which he had con
6emred In theory. 40 show that ne "a, in eat.
nest he would make another propost Ga that the
American Associ sticn or the smithso1iaa lassitate
should oHsr prize for the best met1od o. record
II : such observ stous---to De adjadged by Europe
an lsronomers he woald hiDsef pay onehM
TIE sam, AID enter the lss confident OF success
The stress Of the argument OF the csiucs bears
pon the fact that the instrument depends for its
accuracy on risid mechanical csrIainty OF loca-
tion. Trus; bat why is not the sams Objection
made to the transit Instrument Every obseryA'
ton made is dependent on the perfectly inmovs
bic 6xity OF the axis at 81, aogles 70 the meridian
Tie least deviation in the hrmEess OF the axis "a
source Of essential error. Now this certainly OF
direction has been obtsined, can i no, Do OBJ
tanned q second tinei Nay il need not De twice
obtained for Il 10 the very certainty OF the axis OF
the q ansit instrument, which makes the certainty
Of this recording Instrument II the one 10 right
the other cannot be wropg
Prof NJ. proceeded to coniase the objection OK
Prof Hackey, that the nev method had no provi-
sion for variations OF eccentFicty Herested now
ever the meri, OF his invention on Hs resals There
were his 5000 obsev atoms, open TO tbe inspection
Of every man disposed 90 deal fairly with them.
They s,ccd just az recorded oy q" insramen-
They we're right, compared with taose OF Green
vich Observatory. He could rot help this 10 was
the work Of his inssra nent, and by thst he wished
il be Judged.
The speech Of PrOE Mitchell W. warmly APP
plsuded by the audience. some tims wss then
spent by Prof Hackey and Bond, ia an unsuccess.
fol attempt to sx.ort from De Bashe, Pres'deeso Of
the Association, decided expression Of opinion on
the ques,ion-either pro contra. The anal result
OF theirquiry was that ne hat not the instru'
ment ard therefore could not decide for others; bat
be knew that II there was q way 70 accomplish
these ends the Ingenuity OF Prof Mitchell would
discover il, and that biz fidelity ~ On observer
! would repor, il with rigid impartislIty.
Prof PIERCE Of Cambridge, hoped that she co.,
siderstion Of this grave subject would noe be
marked by 4 ceDsorious or csvUiog spirit, and
above all she brag game might not be made use Of
in a scientific discussion. Tue dignity OF that
body and of the subjects which they discussed, de-
manded the fairness and the candor OF scientific &C
quiremept; the contrary style OF debate should be
confined 90 its proper place among brawiing and
to the genius and character OF Prot Mitchell.
; The discussion which followed the paper Of Dr..
/ ERSI on the Causes Of Fermentation of which
| | have already transmitted an sbstrac.-wu VI
considerable interest The fasts ELECTED by toe
remarks Of various gentlemen were OF some I'm
portspce. The suboined sketch embodies the
/ leading features
! DIR. H. 4 ROGERS of Va remarked thai while he
regard ed il an interesting TACT stated by Mr. Erni
of the power of arsenic to poison the yeast fun.
Gus, and thus prevent Its further development and
propagation, and therefor 70 arrest vaoas !ermen-
tstoD, yet be did not think We could from that con-
clude Il to be poison 10 oil the lower forms Of yoss
! tstion; or that because q substance Is poison 10
ANNA las 10 the ease Of arsenic,l that t 10 there
fore % to vegetables. He cited the fact, that not
only il vegetation freely developed Ia many saline
solations but especially often In those OF the Arse
mite Of otsssa and Corrosive dbm ste-substances
the most poisonous to animaliorm and In ordinary
cases remarkable for their antiseptic properties.
he thought that In studying such lower forms Of
organization 1t was necessary as In the case OF the
higher, to investigate the peculiarites OF each
species.
Prof. SnimaD, Jr stated q case OF some interest,
show ing the influence oil csrbonic acid meta
phc agent in changing the consultation Of silioates.
he referred 10 the analysis OF an altered scspolite
from New Jersey, In which portion Of the lime
from the silcate has been converted into carbonate
oflime, although no change has taken place In the
externsl character a. observed except q less de.
gree ofhardness. To this, az general cause, We
must look for an explanation OF numerous cases OF
siicates having variable quantities OF carboastes
Of lime, many Of which have been proposed - 20.
parate species.
The remaining portion otto day o proceedings,
want oftime aRdroom compels me to postpone. N