New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-05-04
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE AD-
VdECEMENT OF SCIENCE.
FOURTH DAY.


sitter electing new members, and making appointments
for future reports amusing debate sprsng up upon
a motion OF Mr.. Looms 20 request the standing Com'
mtee to report an abbrevstion Of the title OF the
Association for use in quoting from the proceedings
&c.-several members at frst supposing it TO be a
proposition to make title for tagging on to members
names.
Section A was organized by calling Prof s. Ale1an-
der to the chair.
hr. VIM. Watson Of Nantucket read note upon the
ssrdiod obtained ss the path Of weight to balance
drawbridge in al positions. He had expressed TINS
curve in the modes suggested by Prof: PIERCE IN MS
paper on Analytic Morphoogy, and added seven sys-
TENS Of coordinses to the twenty-five gwen oy mr.
Hill.
Mr. A. B. Epgstrom explained little instrument for
producing sounds of different strength or unrorm, al
pleasure, and showed how it might be used in acoustic
experiments.
Lieut.. f. b. HINT read paper on Marine Currents,
showing the difficulty Of settling the theory OF these
currents OF any general prtori grounds, and the
necessity of much more extended observations upon
the subject, which led to conversation between
Profs Coakley, Leconte and Bache.
Prof. w. NJ. Gillespie of Union College, New-York,
read paper illustrated by diagrams and models, dis
cnsspg the usus methods Of calculating the contents
of the excavations and entertainments OF railroads &C.,
on sideliDg and irregular ground At the Montreal
meeting he had shown that the contents of such
ground, bounded in part by warped surfaces could
be calculated with perfect precision by the familiar
prismoida formula, sAd he now proposed to test by
this the methods in common use and TO establish
rules by which the nature and extent of their errors
could be determined in advance.
The investigation conducted by mathematical
symbols, which We cannot reproduce, and We give
only the practical deductions.
First. The method of averaging end areas COM
monty in by engineers, though supposed always to
give too great result found to give too little IN
Just as many cases. the result being las obtained by
iranslsting the resulting formula into common Ian
guage that this method gave too little whenever the
Of the products of the depths Tor hghts Of the
rsitn Al "
other greater than the sum OF the products OF those
belonging 70 the same cross section.
Second: The method OF middle areas gives results
too small when the preceding method gives too large
ones, and vice VERSATILE absolute error, however,
being only half as great.
Third: The method Of " equivalent mean highte
was next examined and il shown that this Arrays
gives too small result, with one exception, VIZ,
when the products of the pairs of hight dagonay OPP
posite to each other equal But this method is the
one now always resorted to when perfect accuracy rs
desired and most tables and diagrams for sldeling
ground bssed on it. Since, however II Is Always
wrong and tie errors do not even balance each other
in the long rum but it always ers on the same slie
ard this, too, with the assumption OF being correct
mar exceence it was urged that its employment should
be at abandoned, since was the most dangerous
kind Of foe being wolf in sleeps clothing.
In a numerical example given, averaging END
areas" gave COO cubic feet too little middle areas
gave 800 too MUCH ard this last method gave 900 too
little which was nearly 8 per cent Of the whole
on many railroads is counted by millions OF yards.
Prof Bache read most interesting paper In relation
to the magnetic observations of DR.. Kane in his sec
ond Arctic expedition, expressing warm appreciation
of his services to science. His observations on the
aurora produced considerable discussion, IN when
Professors Henry Perce and others took part descro
ing many observations of the characteristcs oil TINS
phenomenon.
Prof. Wolcott Gibbs read notice of new bases,
containing metals and the elements OF ammonia.
Chauncey Wright read paper on dlstn button
the pbyllotaxs deduced from the mathematical deh-
milton Of distribution.
Henry Wunz OF New-YOrk read an abstract OF an
investigation on the action OF nitric acid on the metal
lie chlorides with method for the separation OF
ma gnesia from the alkas, and new modes of obtain
ing pure compounds of barium, strontum and CAD
MUM.
The Section then adjourned
Section was organized by calling Prof Globes to
the Chair.
Prof. G. e. Swallow read paper on the rocks OF
Kansas, especially dwelling on the economical re!a-
tions of the rocks 10 agriculture and TO the mechanic
arts and aiterwad upon the relative order OF dscoVe-
~ of PtrmiaD fossils IL that region.
The paper was followed by note on the same sub
iect by Mr. A. II. Wortier. brisk discussion fol-
lowed in which Profs. Rogers, Meek, Swallow, &C.,
took part and finally dragged Prof. james Han atso
10 the floor The discussion related Principally TO the
reality ard priority Of discovery Of the Perman ioe'
sls.
Henry Wurtz read paper on the occurrence OF
Cobalt and Nickel in Gsston County, North Carolina.
w. u. Whitney read an analysis Classification and
representation OF the sounds Of the English Spoken
Alphabet.
At the conclusion Of ths paper, the Section i'd
iourned until monGay: