SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.
1. Use of Coloured Glasses to assist the View in Fogs.—M. Lavini of Turin, in a letter to the editor of L'Institut at Paris, makes the following curious observation, which, if confirmed, may prove to be of great importance:—“When there is a fog between two corresponding stations, so that the one station can with difficulty be seen from the other, if the observer passes a coloured glass between his eye and the eye-piece of his telescope, the effect of the fog is very sensibly diminished, so that frequently the signals from the other station can be very plainly perceived; when, without the coloured glass, even the station itself is invisible. The different colours do not all produce this effect in the same degree, the red seeming to be the best. Those who have good sight prefer the dark-red, while those who are short-sighted like the light-red better. The explanation of this effect seems to depend upon the fact, that the white colour of the fog strikes too powerfully upon the organ of sight, especially if the glass have a somewhat large field. But by the insertion of the coloured glass, the intensity of the light is much diminished by the interception of a part of the rays, and the observer's eye is less wearied, and, consequently, distinguishes better the outlines of the object observed.”
2. Ozone.—Chemists are not yet fully agreed concerning the nature or production of this singular substance, ozone. To Schonbein and Williamson we are indebted for most of our knowledge concerning it. The latter has supposed it to be a compound of oxygen and hydrogen, from the fact, that, when the ozone completely freed from moisture was passed over ignited copper, water was produced. De la Rive produced it by passing a current of electricity through pure dry oxygen gas contained in a receiver. It is also obtained in large quantities by passing oxygen gas over moistened phosphorous, and afterwards drying it. Thus prepared, it is a powerful chemical agent, possesses bleaching properties, oxidises the metals with rapidity, and destroys India-rubber. The hydrogen acids of sulphur are decomposed by it, water being formed by uniting with the hydrogen of the acid, and sulphur being set free. Professor Horsford has observed that ozone, subjected to a heat of 130° Fah., entirely loses its properties. Ozone, like chlorine, precipitates iodine, colouring a solution of iodide of potassium, and starch a deep blue colour. The peculiar smell, prevalent in the vicinity of objects struck by lightning, as well as that occasioned by the excitation of an electrical machine, and by the striking of two pieces of silica together, it is believed to be occasioned by ozone.—Editors.—Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 219.
Method of Determining the Amount of Ozone in the Atmosphere.—At the meeting of the American Association, an instrument for determining the relative quantity of ozone in the air was presented by Professor Horsford. It consisted of a tube, containing at one end a plug of asbestus, moistened with a solution of iodide of potassium and starch. This plug within the tube, attached to an aspirator, would, as air passed over it, become blue. If much water flowed from the aspirator, and of course much air flowed over the asbestus before it became blue, the quantity of ozone indicated would be small. If but little water flowed (and this could be measured), the quantity of ozone indicated would be greater. The quantities of ozone would be inversely as the volumes of air passing through the tube before blueness is produced.—Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 219.
3. On the Phenomena of the Rise and Fall of the Waters of the Northern Lakes of America.—At a meeting of the American Academy, February 1849, Mr Foster, of the United States Mineral Survey in the North-west Territory, presented the result of some observations, undertaken with a view of determining whether the waters of the northern lakes are subject to any movements corresponding to tidal action. The result of these observations had convinced him that these waters do not rise and fall at stated periods, corresponding to the ebb and flow of the tide, but are subject to extraordinary risings, which are independent of the influence of the sun and moon. These risings attracted the attention of the earliest voyageurs in these regions. Charlevoix, who traversed the lakes nearly a century ago, says, in reference to Lake Ontario:—“I observed that in this lake there is a sort of reflux and flux almost instantaneous; the rocks near the banks being covered with water, and uncovered again several times in the space of a quarter of an hour, even if the surface of the lake was very calm, with scarce a breath of air. After reflecting some time on this appearance, I imagined it was owing to springs at the bottom of the lake, and to the shock of their currents with those of the rivers which fall into them from all sides, and thus produce those intermitting motions.” The same movements were noticed by Mackenzie in 1789; by an expedition under Colonel Bradstreet in 1764; on Lake Erie in 1823, and at various later periods. In the summer of 1834, an extraordinary retrocession of the waters of Lake Superior took place at the outlet of Sault St Marie. The river at this place is nearly a mile wide, and in the distance of a mile falls 18·5 feet. The phenomena occurred about noon. The day was calm, but cloudy. The water retired suddenly, leaving the bed of the river bare, except for a distance of thirty rods, and remained so for nearly an hour. Persons went out and caught fish in pools formed in the depressions of the rocks. The return of the waters is represented as having been very grand. They came down like an immense surge, and so sudden was it, that those engaged in catching fish had barely time to escape being overwhelmed. In the summer of 1847, on one occasion the water rose and fell at intervals of about fifteen minutes during an entire afternoon. The variation was from twelve to twenty inches, the day being calm and clear; but the barometer was falling. Before the expiration of forty-eight hours, a violent gale set in. At Copper harbour, the ebb and flow of the water through narrow inlets and estuaries has been repeatedly noticed when there was not a breath of wind on the lake. Similar phenomena occur on several of the Swiss lakes. Professor Mather, who observed the barometer at Copper harbour during one of these fluctuations, remarks:—“As a general thing, fluctuations in the barometer accompanied fluctuations in the level of the water; but sometimes the water-level varied rapidly in the harbour, while no such variations occurred in the barometer at the place of observation.”
As a general rule, these variations in the water-level indicate the approach of a storm, or a disturbed state of the atmosphere. The barometer is not sufficiently sensitive to indicate the sudden elevations and depressions, recurring, as they often do, at intervals of ten or twelve minutes; and the result of observations at such time may, in some degree, be regarded as negative. Besides, it may not unfrequently happen, that, while effects are witnessed at the place of observation, the cause which produced them may be so far removed as not to influence the barometer. We are, therefore, led to infer that these phenomena result, not from the prevalence of the winds acting on the water, accumulating it at one point and depressing it at others, but from sudden and local changes in the pressure of the atmosphere, giving rise to a series of barometric waves. The water, conforming to the laws which govern two fluids thus relatively situated, would accumulate where the pressure was the least, and be displaced where it was the greatest. It has been remarked by De la Beche, that a sudden impulse given to the particles of water, either by a suddenly increased or diminished pressure, would cause a perpendicular rise or fall, in the manner of a wave, beyond the height or depth strictly due to the mere weight itself. The difference in the specific gravity of the water of the lakes and the ocean may cause these changes to be more marked in the former than in the latter.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 245.
4. Water Thermometer.—Lieut. Maury states that he has been very much assisted in developing his theory of winds and currents by means of the thermometer used by some vessels for determining the temperature of the water. It was by means of these observations on the temperature of the water that he was enabled to prove that, off the shores of South America, between the parallels of 35° and 40° south, there is a region of the ocean in which the temperature is as high as that of our own Gulf stream, while in the middle of the ocean, and between the same parallels, the temperature of the water is not so great by 22°. Now, this very region is noted for its gales, being the most stormy that the as yet incomplete charts of the South Atlantic indicate. Lieut. Maury says, however, that very few navigators make use of the water thermometer, so that he has experienced some inconvenience in his undertaking. He is the more surprised at this, from the fact that New York owes much of her commercial importance to a discovery that was made by this thermometer. At the time when Dr Franklin discovered the Gulf Stream, Charleston had more foreign trade than New York and all the New England States together. Charleston was then the half-way house between New and Old England. When a vessel, in attempting to enter the Delaware or Sandy Hook, met a north-west gale or snow storm, as at certain seasons she is apt to do, instead of running off for a few hours into the Gulf Stream to thaw and get warm, as she now does, she used to put off for Charleston or the West Indies, and there remained till the return of spring before making another attempt. A beautiful instance this of the importance and bearings of a single fact, elicited by science from the works of nature.—Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 160.
5. On the Falls of Niagara.—If we follow the chasm cut by the Niagara river, down to Lake Ontario, we have a succession of strata coming to the surface of various character and formation. These strata dip south-west or towards the Falls, so that, in their progress to their present position, the Falls have had a bed of very various consistency. Some of these strata, as the shales and medina sandstone, are very soft, and, when they formed the edge of the Fall, it probably had the character of rapids; but, wherever it comes to an edge of hard rock, with softer rock-beds below, the softer beds, crumbling away, leave a shelf projecting above, and then the fall is perpendicular. Such is the case at present; the hard Niagara limestone overhangs in tables the soft shales underneath, which at last are worn away to such an extent as to undermine the superincumbent rocks. Such was also the case at Queenston, where the Clinton group formed the edge, with the medina sandstone below. This process has continued from the time when the Niagara fell directly into Lake Ontario to the present time, and will continue so long as there are soft beds underneath hard ones; but, from the inclination of the strata, this will not always be the case. A time will come when the rock below will also be hard. Then, probably, the Falls will be nearly stationary, and may lose much of their beauty from the wearing away of the edge rendering it an inclined plane. I do not think the waters of Lake Erie will ever fall into Lake Ontario without any intermediate cascade. The Niagara shales are so extensive that possibly, at some future time, the river below the cascade may be enlarged into a lake, and thus the force of the falling water diminished; but the whole process is so slow, that no accurate calculations can be made. The Falls were probably larger, and stationary for a longer time at the “Whirlpool” than anywhere else. At that point there was no division of the cataract, but at the “Devil's Hole” there are indications of a lateral fall, probably similar to what is now called the American Fall. At the Whirlpool, the rocks are still united beneath the water, shewing that they were once continuous above its surface also.[89]—Agassiz on Lake Superior, p. 15.
6. On the Existence of Manganese in Water.—At a meeting of the American Academy, in January 1849, Dr Charles T. Jackson stated that he had discovered the presence of manganese in the water of streams, lakes, &c., almost universally. He detected it in water from the middle of Lake Superior, in Cochituate water, and in water from various sources. It has usually been regarded as iron in previous analyses. He considered the observation as having an important bearing in accounting for the deposits of bog manganese at the outlets of ponds, lakes, and in bogs, as well as for the source of the oxide of manganese in the blood.—Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 202.
On the Presence of Organic Matter in Water.—The following facts relative to the presence of organic matter in water were presented to the British Association, by Professor Forchhammer, as the result of extended observations on the water, near Copenhagen.
1st, The quantity of organic matter in water is greatest in summer. 2d, It disappears, for the most part, as soon as the water freezes. 3d, Its quantity is diminished by rain. 4th, Its quantity is diminished if the water has to run a long way in open channels. The hypermanganate of potash or soda is recommended by the Professor as a most excellent test for the presence of organic matter in water.
7. Arsenic in Chalybeate Springs.—Since the discovery of arsenic in the deposits from certain chalybeate springs, it has been asked whether the poisonous properties of this substance are not neutralized by the state in which it is found. M. Lassaigne has finished a series of experiments connected with this subject, for the purpose of ascertaining the proportion of arsenic contained, in what state of combination it exists, and the nature of the action which these arseniferous deposits exert in the animal economy. The following are M. Lassaigne's conclusions:—1. In the natural deposits of the mineral waters of Wattviller, arsenic exists to the amount of 2·8 per cent. 2. A portion of these deposits, representing 1·76 grains of arsenic acid, or 1·14 grains of arsenic, produced no effect upon the health of a dog. 3. This non-action shews that the poisonous property of the arsenic is destroyed by its combination with the peroxide of iron, and thus confirms what has been before asserted, that peroxide of iron, by combining with arsenious[N27] and arsenic acid, destroys their poisonous properties, and consequently becomes an antidote for them.
[89] The data on which these and the previous remarks on the geology of the Falls are founded, are derived from Professor James Hall's investigations in the New York State Survey.
A.
8. The Coal Formation of America.—The coal regions of America are, from the explorations which have thus far been made, supposed to be divided into three principal masses; the great central tract, extending from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to the west of Pennsylvania, and being apparently continued to New Brunswick and Nova[N28] Scotia; the second tract strikes north-westward from Kentucky, crosses the Ohio, and stretches through Illinois to the Mississippi River; a third region, smaller than the others, lies between the three great lakes—Erie, Huron, and Michigan. Competent geologists affirm that, from a comparison of the coal strata of contiguous basins, these are no more than detached parts of a once continuous deposit.
The extent of this enormous coal field is, in length, from north-east to south-west, more than 720 miles, and its greatest breadth about 180 miles; its area, upon a moderate calculation, amounts to 63,000 square miles! In addition to these, there are several detached tracts of anthracite in Eastern Pennsylvania, which form some of the most remarkable coal tracts in the world. They occupy an area of about 200 square miles.
The strata which constitute this vast deposit comprehend nearly all the known varieties of coal, from the dryest and most compact anthracite to the most fusible and combustible common coal. One of the most remarkable features of these coal-seams is their prodigious bulk. The great bed of Pittsburgh[N29], extending nearly the entire length of the Monongahela River, has been traced through a great elliptic area, of nearly 225 miles in its longest diameter, and of the maximum breadth of about 100 miles, the superficial extent being 14,000 square miles, the thickness of the bed diminishing gradually from 12 or 14 feet to 2 feet. In 1847 the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania furnished 3,000,000 tons, and 11,439 vessels cleared from Philadelphia in that year, loaded with the article. The produce in 1848 and the present year, is of course larger.
The bituminous coal area of the United States is 133,132 square miles, or one 17th part of the whole. The bituminous coal area of British America is 18,000 square miles, or one 45th part; Great Britain, 8139 square miles; Spain, 3408 square miles, or one 52d part; France, 1719 square miles, or one 118th part; and Belgium, 518 square miles, or one 122d part. The area of the Pennsylvania anthracite coal formations is put down at 437 square miles; and that of Great Britain and Ireland anthracite and culm, at 3720 square miles. The anthracite coal of Great Britain and Ireland, however, is not nearly so valuable an article of fuel as the anthracite coal of Pennsylvania, nor does a given area yield so much as the latter.—New York Express. American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 271.
9. River Terraces of the Connecticut Valley.—At the meeting of the American Association in August, President Hitchcock of Amherst College, read a paper “On the River Terraces of the Connecticut Valley, and on the Erosions of the Earth's Surface.” He stated that his paper must be considered as containing a few facts and suggestions and not a finished theory. He has examined the valley from its mouth to Turner's Falls, and carefully measured the heights of the terraces. "As you approach the river you find plains of sand, gravel, or loam, terminated by a slope sometimes as steep as 35°, and a second plain, then another slope and another plain, and so on, sometimes to a great number. I find that these terraces occur in successive basins, formed by the approaches of the mountains upon the banks at intervals. Sometimes the basin will be 15 or 20 miles in width, but usually much narrower; and it is upon the margins of these basins that the terraces are formed. I have rarely found terraces more than 200 feet above the river, which would be in Massachusetts, about 300 feet above the ocean, and at Hanover, N.H.,[N30] about 560 feet. Nowhere do they exist along any river, unless that river has basins. As to the materials of which they are formed they appear exceedingly artificial. The outer or highest terrace is generally composed of coarser materials than the inner ones. They are all composed of materials which are worn from the rocks, but the outer terrace oftener is full of pebbles, some of them as large as 12 inches, while the materials of the inner seem reduced to an impalpable powder, like the soil of a meadow which is overflowed during high water. Whence did these materials originate? The materials were first worn from solid rocks, and afterwards brought into these valleys. The outer terrace appears to have been often in part the result of the drift agency. Afterwards, the river agency sorted the materials, and gave them a level surface, the successive basins having at that time barriers. The inner terrace appears to have been, at least in its upper part, the result of deposition from the river itself.
“I will now mention a few facts which I have observed. The terraces do not generally agree in height upon the opposite sides of the valley. The higher ones oftener agree, perhaps, than the lower ones. If formed, as I suppose, from the rivers, we should expect this. The terraces slope downwards in the direction of the stream. The same terrace which, near South Hadley, is 190 feet above the river, slopes until, at East Hartford, it is only 40 feet above the river, thus sloping 150 feet more than the slope of the river itself, in a distance of 40 or 50 miles. This shows that they could not have been formed by the sea or by a lake, for they would then have been horizontal. The greatest number of terraces observed is eight or nine. Generally there are but two or three.” President Hitchcock then gives his view of the precise mode in which these terraces were formed, illustrating them by references to other parts of our country, and concludes by a notice of the erosions of the earth's surface.—Annual of Scientific Discovery, 1850, p. 229.
10. Fossil Crinoids of the United States.—At the meeting of the American Association, 1849, a paper on the fossil crinoids of Tennessee, by Professor Troost, was read by Professor Agassiz.[90] The species embraced are not less than eighty-eight in number, of which only half a dozen have been described. It is the opinion of Professor Hall that all the silurian formations of New York, previous to the beginning of the geological survey, did not afford more than four or five. Now, about sixty species have been ascertained. Professor Hall mentioned the fact, that all the crinoids of the lower silurian rocks, with the exception of one species, have five pelvic plates, and we never find one with three, or any other number of these plates, before we reach the highest deposits. In Tennessee, the crinoids are so abundant, that Professor Troost states that he had been able to collect some 300 or 400 good specimens of seven or eight different species in a single morning. In relation to the abundance of these fossils in the United States, Professor Agassiz remarked, that it is not, perhaps, sufficiently appreciated of what importance, and of what immense value the study of these fossil crinoids may be for the progress of palæontology. American students should be proud of these materials, by which they will be able to throw so much light upon these almost extinct families by their personal investigations, which will not only render them independent of the palæontologist from abroad for information with regard to the succession of types, and the full illustration of these structures, but really afford correct standards for comparison. It is the more desirable that all these fossils should be made known, as the family of crinoids is so reduced in our days that we can form no idea of the living animals of that group, of their diversity of form, modification of character, and peculiarity of position, from the living type only. He doubted whether the number of crinoid heads of all species found in Europe, now existing in the Museums of Europe, is one-third the number of those which have been found by a single gentleman in Tennessee in one morning. Now, with such materials, consider what precise and what minute investigations could be made. And if these facts could be once fully ascertained and well illustrated, there is no doubt that the series of crinoids, and their succession in former ages, will be established from American standards, and will no longer rest upon the European evidence, which has often been derived from the examination of small fragments of those ancient fossils, found in unconnected basins for the most part, so that their geological succession could be ascertained only with great doubt and difficulty. In conclusion, Professor Agassiz would venture to say, that geologists who have had any opportunity to compare the position of the ancient rocks on this continent of North America with the corresponding deposits of Europe, would agree with him in saying that the geology proper, the stratography of North America, will afford the same precise and well authenticated standards for the appreciation of the order of succession of rocks, as fossils will for the order of succession of living beings.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 282.
11. Discovery of Coral Animals on the Coast of Massachusetts.—Professor Agassiz, while on an expedition in one of the vessels of the coast survey during the past summer, obtained by means of a dredge, from a depth of seventy-two feet, in the Vineyard Sound off Gay Head, several specimens of a coral with its animals. By great care and attention they were preserved alive in glass jars for more than six weeks, and afforded an excellent opportunity for an examination and observation of their structure and habits. These corals belong to the genus Astrangia, and have been named by Professor Agassiz, in honour of Professor Dana, geologist of the exploring expedition, Astrangia Dana.
This species presents two varieties. Some are of a pink or rose colour, others are white. The general form of the animal is a cylinder (as of all Polypi) resting on its base, and expanded on the upper margin; thus expanded it is about two lines in diameter. The number of tentacles is definite, but it is not always the same absolute number. It never exceeds twenty-four; in earlier periods of life there are only twelve, and there is even an epoch when there are only six.
It is, perhaps, a matter of surprise that the coral animal should have been found in this latitude. They teem in the warm latitudes; but there are very few species in the more temperate regions, and but for the opportunity afforded by the coast survey, the existence of these animals could not have been suspected on these shores. For many years, however, dead fragments had been found along the shores; but whether they lived there naturally or not had not been ascertained.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 311.
12. On the Circulation and Digestion of the Lower Animals.—Professor Agassiz states, that the circulation of the invertebrata cannot be compared to that of the vertebrata. Instead of the three conditions of chyme, chyle, and blood, which the circulating fluid of the vertebrata undergoes, the blood of that class of the invertebrata which he had particularly studied, the annelida or worms, is simple coloured chyle. The receptacles of chyle in different parts of the body are true lymphatic hearts, like those found in the vertebrata; this kind of circulation is found in the articulata and mollusks, with few exceptions, and in some of the echinoderms. In the medusæ and polyps, instead of chyle, chyme mixed with water is circulated; this circulation is found in some mollusks and intestinal worms. Professor Agassiz thinks, that the embryological development of the higher animals shews a similar succession in the circulating function. As regards the connection between respiration and circulation in vertebrata, the gills are found between branches of the blood system; in invertebrata, the chyliferous system is acted on by the respiration. The gills of fishes, therefore, cannot be compared to the gills of crustacea, articulata, and mollusks. In fact, no gills are connected with the chymiferous circulation. Animals having this circulation, have no true respiration. They have only tubes to distribute freshly aërated water to different parts of the body.—Proc. Bost. Nat. Hist. Soc.
13. Distribution of the Testaceous Mollusca of Jamaica.—The great number of species is remarkable. A few miles of coast, without the aid of storms, and without dredging, yielded 450 species. In the small bay of Port Royal, 350 marine species were found. A pint of sand, taken from a surface three yards long, contained 110 species. Probably there are 350 or 400 specimens of land shells, and two or three times as many of marine species. Extensive districts occur, however, which are nearly destitute of land or marine shells. They are accumulated in favourable stations.
The difference in the extent of the distribution of the marine and of the terrestrial species is remarkable. A majority of the marine species are known to occur in the other islands; probably not more than 10 or 15 per cent. of them will be found to be peculiar to Jamaica. But of the land shells, 95 per cent. are peculiar to the island. The limited distribution of the terrestrial species is remarkable. A few are generally distributed, but a large number are limited to districts of a few miles in diameter; and several, although occurring abundantly, could be found only within the space of a few rods. Only seventeen fresh-water species were found. Favourable stations for fresh-water species are rare.
In respect of the number of individuals of mollusca in Jamaica, as compared with more northern latitudes, the rule so obvious in the class of fishes is not applicable to the same extent. Of fishes, the species are much more numerous, but individuals much less so. Of the mollusca, the total number of individuals is about the same as in this latitude, and the number of species represented by a profusion of individuals is about the same. But the number of species not occurring abundantly is much greater, so that the average of individuals to all the species is less than in this latitude. From a comparison of the laws of distribution of the marine and terrestrial species in the Antilles, it follows that the number of the latter must exceed that of the former. With the insular distribution of the terrestrial species may be associated the fact, that the coral reefs are all fringing, for both facts are connected with the geological fact, that these islands are in a process of elevation.—Professor Adams before the American Association.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 334.
14. Metamorphoses of the Lepidoptera.—Professor Agassiz said that he had, during the past season, been studying the metamorphoses of the Lepidoptera, and, to his great surprise, he had found that one stage in the transformation of these insects has been overlooked by naturalists. We knew the Lepidoptera in three conditions,—that of the worm, furnished with jaws and jointed, the chrysalis, and the perfect insect with four wings. The change not before described, which he had noticed, is somewhat concealed under the skin of the caterpillar. The animal at a certain period swells at the thoracic[N31] region, and becomes extremely sensitive to the touch in this part, the skin being, in fact, in a state of inflammation. On cutting open the skin at this place, Professor Agassiz found beneath it a four-winged insect, before it had passed into the chrysalis state. The wings were long enough to extend half the length of the perfect insect. The posterior pair he found to be membraneous bags, somewhat flattened, like the respiratory vesicles of marine worms, with distinct ribs, which are blood-vessels. The anterior pair are also bags, with their upper half stiff and inflexible, like the elytra of coleoptera. The legs are tubular, but not joined, as in the perfect insect. The jaws are changed into two long tubes, which are bent backwards, as are also the antennæ. In the chrysalis, the wings are flattened and soldered together, as are the legs and sucking-tubes, which are bent backwards. The order of development of the different parts and the coleopterous condition at an incomplete stage, show that naturalists have been in error in placing chewing insects, as the coleoptera, above the sucking insects. The order should be reversed. Professor Agassiz said that he had confirmed his observations in many specimens, by examining them just at the moment when the skin begins to split on the back.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 327.
15. On the Zoological Character of Young Mammalia.—At the meeting of the American Association for the Promotion of Science, Professor Agassiz remarked, that zoologists have, in their investigations, constantly neglected one side of their subject, which, when properly considered, will throw a great amount of new light on their investigations. Studying animals, in general, it has been the habit to investigate them in their full grown condition, and scarcely ever to look back for their characters in earlier periods of life. We scarcely ever find, in a book of natural history, a hint as to the difference which exists in the young and old. Perhaps in birds, the colour of the young may be noticed; and it is generally known, that the young resemble the female more than the male; but as to precise investigation of the subject, we are deficient. But if the early stages of life have been neglected, there is one period in the history of animals which has been thoroughly investigated, for the last twenty-five years,—embryology. The changes which take place within the egg itself, and which give rise to the new individual, have been thoroughly examined; but, after the formation of the new being, the changes in its form which it passes through, up to its full grown condition, have been neglected. It had been his object to investigate this subject, because he had been struck with the deficiency there is on this point in our works; and in making this investigation, he had found that the young animals, in almost all classes, differ widely from what they are in their full-grown condition. For instance, a young bat, a young bird, or a young snake, at a certain period of their growth within the egg, resemble each other so much, that he would defy the most able zoologist of our day to distinguish between a robin and a bat, or between a robin and a snake. There is something of high significance in this fact. There is something common to all these. There is a thought behind these material phenomena, which shews that they are all combined under one rule, and that they only come under different laws of development, to assume, finally, different shapes, according to the object for which they were introduced.
There is a period of life, in which, whatever may be the final form of their organs of locomotion, whatever may be the final difference between the anterior and posterior extremities, vertebrated animals have uniform legs, in the shape of little paddles or fins. This is the case with lizards as well as birds. A robin's wing and a robin's leg, which are so different from a bat's wing and a bat's leg, do not essentially differ when young from the leg and arm of a bat. Wherever we observe combined fingers preserving this condition, we have a decided indication that such animals rank lower in the group to which they belong. This is all-important, as we are enabled at once to group animals which are otherwise allied, in a natural series, as soon as we know whether they have combined or divided fingers. And the degree of division to which the legs rise in their development is a safe guide in our classification. Look, for instance, at the legs of dogs and cats, in which the fingers are completely separated, and so elongated, that the animals walk naturally upon tip-toe, and compare them with others, bears, for instance, which walk upon the whole sole of the foot; and, again, with those of seals or bats, which remain united, and constitute either fins or a wing.
There are other reasons sufficient to convince us that the order of arrangement which he had assigned them, according the development of the fingers, is justified by the state of development of the other organs of the mammalia, and especially of their higher organs and intellectual faculties and instincts. And I will also add, says Professor Agassiz, that mankind are not excluded from this connection, but, in common with other vertebrata, we are all at one stage of existence provided with paddles or fins, which are afterwards developed into legs and arms.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 324.
16. The Manatus or Sea Cow, the Embryonic Type of the Pachydermata?—Professor Agassiz thinks that the Manati have been improperly considered cetaceans: they differ from them in the form of the skull, which is elongated, and in the position of the nostrils, which are in front. On the other hand, the skull resembles that of the elephant in front (particularly when seen from above), in some of the details of the facial bones, which are not like those of the cetacea, in the palatine bones, the arrangement of the teeth, and in the curve of the lower jaw. Professor Agassiz, believed this to be the true embryonic type of the Pachydermata[N32].—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 313.
17. Fossil Elephant and Mastodon from Africa.—M. Gervais communicated to the French Academy, on March 12th, that he had just received from Algiers, a drawing of the molar tooth of a fossil elephant, whose genus is very easily recognised, and which indicates a species more resembling those found in a fossil state in Europe, than the present African elephant. This tooth was found at Cherchell, in the province of Oran. Sicily has hitherto been the southernmost point on the Mediterranean where the fossil elephant has been found.
At the same time, he also mentioned the discovery, near Constantine, of some fossil remains of mastodons. Though fossil remains of this animal have been previously found in all the other portions of the world, these are the first discovered in Africa. The remains found are a tooth and a rib, and, as far as can be judged from a drawing, they belonged to an animal more resembling the mastodon brevirostris, or the arvernensis, than the mastodon angustodens.—American Journal of Scientific Discovery, p. 287.
18. Cauterization in the case of Poisonous Bites.—In the Comptes Rendus for January 8th, we find an article by M. Parchappe, containing the result of his observations on the question, whether the spread of poison produced by a bite can be prevented by cauterizing. He was induced to examine into this subject, because M. Renard had stated that cauterization was found to have no effect when applied even within five minutes after the bite in the cure of one sort of virus, and within one hour in that of another. These results, he was aware, though derived from experiments upon animals, would weaken the confidence of physicians and patients in the only mode that medicine possesses of preventing the bad effect of a bite from any poisonous animal, where, as is generally the case, some considerable time must elapse before the remedy can be applied. M. Parchappe, accordingly, made several experiments upon dogs, with an extract of nux vomica, all of which go to confirm him in ascribing to cauterization, a power even greater than that commonly allowed it.—“From these experiments it results, that the immediate amputation or destruction in the living portion with which the extract of nux vomica has come in contact, has the power of preventing the bad effects of the poison, even when it has been in contact for some time.” The author is aware, that there is considerable difference between the virus of animals, and the substance used by him, with reference to their direct and remote effects, but thinks that every one must admit that there is a great analogy between them, is of the opinion, that in both cases the poison remains in the bitten part for a considerable time before it is transmitted to the rest of the body, and that cauterizing should be adopted in all cases where a poisonous bite is even suspected.
19. Dental Parasites.—At a meeting of the American Academy, December 1849, a paper was read by Dr H. J. Bowditch, on the animal and vegetable parasites infesting the teeth, with the effects of different agents in causing their removal and destruction. Microscopical examinations had been made of the matter deposited on the teeth and gums of more than forty individuals, selected from all classes of society, in every variety of bodily condition, and in nearly every case animal and vegetable parasites in great numbers had been discovered. Of the animal parasites there were three or four species, and of the vegetable one or two. In fact, the only persons whose mouths were found to be completely free from them cleansed their teeth four times daily, using soap once. One or two of these individuals also passed a thread between the teeth to cleanse them more effectually. In all cases the number of the parasites were greater in proportion to the neglect of cleanliness.
The effect of the application of various agents was also noticed. Tobacco juice and smoke did not impair their vitality in the least. The same was also true of the chlorine tooth-wash, of pulverized bark, of soda, ammonia, and various other popular detergents. The application of soap, however, appeared to destroy them instantly. We may hence infer that this is the best and most proper specific for cleansing the teeth. In all cases where it has been tried, it receives unqualified commendation. It may also be proper to add, that none but the purest white soap, free from all discolorations, should be used.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 320.
[90] These fossiliferous remains were discovered in the carbonaceous and silurian strata of the State, and shew a wonderful development of that form of animal on the shores during the palæozoic period. Thirty-one genera, sixteen of which are considered by Professor Troost as new, are enumerated.
20. The Steamboat New World.—Every year sees some new steamboat constructed, which surpasses in size, magnificence, or speed those previously made. There is no doubt that the mechanics of this country excel those of any other in their inland steamboats, and it is also probable that in a few years the same can be said of our sea-going steamships, though it must be allowed that those hitherto produced are, with few exceptions, decided failures. During the present year, the new steamboat “New World” has commenced running. She is said to be the longest boat ever put on the stocks in this country, and the longest afloat in the world. Her length is 337 feet; extreme width, 69 feet; the engine is 76 feet in cylinder, 15 feet in stroke, and the wheels of iron, 46 feet in diameter. She draws 4½ feet of water. The engine is a low pressure one, and though the boat is so very long she obeys the helm with great readiness. Her decorations are all of the most superb and costly character.
If we even attain any greater speed either in our inland or sea-going steam-vessels, it will be principally by enlarging their size. Though some improvements will doubtless be made in the engines and in the models of the vessels, yet the great gain will be by increasing the tonnage, for the reason that the size, and consequent room for engines and coal, increases much faster than does the opposition caused by the water and the air.—American Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 30.
21. Use of Parachutes in Mines.—It is well known that vertical ladders for descending into deep mines are very fatiguing, so that the miners prefer to trust themselves to baskets suspended by ropes, and in many cases the baskets are the only means provided for descending and ascending. But accidents frequently occur from the breaking of the ropes, in spite of all the precautions that can be taken to prevent it. The Brussels Herald states that some experiments have lately been made on a large scale in Belgium with a contrivance intended to remedy this evil. The basket or cuffert is so made, that, in case the rope breaks, it immediately springs open, forming a sort of parachute, which is held suspended in the air by means of the strong current which, it is well known, is always rushing up from mines, owing to the temperature below being higher than that above. The effect of this apparatus was shown before a numerous company, several miners entrusting themselves to the basket, which was so arranged that at a certain point the rope broke; they were sustained in the air by the open basket, so that the experiments were entirely satisfactory.
22. Adulteration of Drugs.—At a meeting of the New York Academy of Medicine, June 1849, an elaborate report was presented by Dr M. J. Bailey, on the practical operation of the law prohibiting the importation of adulterated and spurious drugs, medicines, &c.
The report states, that since the law took effect, July 1848, over 90,000 lbs. of drugs of various kinds have been rejected and condemned in the ports of the United States. Of these, 34,000 lbs. was included under the comprehensive title of Peruvian bark, 16,343 lbs. rhubarb root, 11,707 lbs. jalap root, about 2000 lbs. senna, and about 15,000 lbs. of other drugs. The agitation of the bill which preceded the passage of the law had its effect abroad, and the supply of adulterated drugs from foreign markets has greatly decreased. The domestic supply, has on the contrary increased. Within a recent period, quinine in considerable quantities has been found in the market, adulterated to the extent of some twenty or twenty-five per cent. These frauds were undoubtedly perpetrated by or among our own people. The material used for the adulteration of the quinine was found, on analysis, to be mannite and sulphate of barites, in nearly equal weights. The latter article has long been used for this purpose, but not until lately has mannite been detected in the sulphate of quinine. It seems to have been ingeniously substituted for salicine, and a somewhat similar substance prepared from the poplar bark; which articles have heretofore been extensively used for like purposes. The ingenuity consists in the fact, that it is much more difficult to detect the adulterations when effected by the admixture of mannite, than when by the admixture of salicine, &c., while the former can be furnished for less than one-fourth of the expense of the latter.
For some years past an extensive chemical establishment has been in operation at Brussels, in Belgium, built up at great expense and care, and expressly designed for the manufacture, on a large scale, of imitations of all the most important foreign chemical preparations used in medicine; while, at the same time, an agent was travelling in this country making sales, and soliciting orders in all the principal towns on our sea-board. The articles were prepared and put up with consummate skill and neatness; and the imitation was so perfect that it was impossible for the unsuspecting purchaser to distinguish them from the genuine, notwithstanding that, in some instances, they did not contain over five per cent. of the substances represented by the label. Since the law went into effect at the port of New York, not a single package has been presented for entry. Dr Bailey states, however, that he has been informed that the persons formerly connected with the Brussels firm, are now in this country engaged in the same iniquitous business; hence the adulterations spoken of.—Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 188.
23. To restore Decayed Ivory.—Mr Layard, in his explorations among the ruins of Nineveh, discovered some splendid works of art carved in ivory, which he forwarded to England. When they arrived there, it was discovered that the ivory was crumbling to pieces very rapidly. Professor Owen was consulted to know if there was any means of preventing the entire loss of these specimens of ancient art, and he came to the conclusion that the decay was owing to the loss of the albumen in the ivory, and therefore recommended that the articles be boiled in a solution of albumen. The experiment was tried, with complete success, and the ivory has been rendered as firm and solid as when it was first entombed.
24. Ivory as an Article of Manufacture.—There are several sorts of ivory, differing from each other in composition, durability, external appearance, and value. The principal sources from which ivory is derived are the western coast of Africa and Hindostan: Camaroo ivory is considered the best, on account of its colour and transparency. In some of the best tusks the transparency can be discovered even on the outside. The manufacturers have a process by which they make poor ivory transparent, but it lasts only for a short time. A third kind of ivory, called the Egyptian, has lately been introduced, which is considerably lower in price than the Indian, but in working there is much waste. By an analysis, the African ivory shows a proportion of animal to earthy matter of 101 to 100; the Indian, 76 to 100; and the Egyptians, 70 to 100. The value of ivory consumed in Sheffield, where it is much used in making handles for cutlery, is very great, and nearly 500 persons are employed in working it up. To make up the weight of 180 tons consumed in that place, there must be about 45,000 tusks, whose average weight is nine pounds each, though some weigh from 60 to 100 pounds. According to this, the number of elephants killed every year is 22,500; but allowing that some tusks are cast, and some animals die, it may be fairly estimated that 18,000 are killed every year merely for their ivory, which is contrary to the usual belief that the ivory used comes from the tusks cast by living elephants. These estimates, it will be seen, are for Sheffield merely.
25. Flexible Ivory.—M. Charriere, a manufacturer of surgical instruments in Paris, has for some time been in the habit of rendering flexible the ivory which he uses in making tubes, probes, and other instruments. He avails himself of a fact which has long been known, that when bones are subjected to the action of hydrochloric acid, the phosphate of lime, which forms one of their component parts, is extracted, and thus bones retain their original form and acquire great flexibility. M. Charriere, after giving to the pieces of ivory the required form and polish, steeps them in acid alone, or in acid partially diluted with water, and they thus become supple, flexible, elastic, and of a slightly yellowish colour. In the course of drying, the ivory becomes hard and inflexible again, but its flexibility can be at once restored by wetting it either by surrounding it with a piece of wet linen, or by placing sponge in the cavities of the pieces. Some pieces of ivory have been kept in a flexible state in the acidulated water for a week, and they were neither changed, nor injured, nor too much softened, nor had they acquired any taste or disagreeable smell.
26. Air-Whistle.—Mr C. Daboll, of New London, Connecticut, has invented a whistle that speaks with a most “miraculous organ” whenever its services are required for the purpose of alarm or warning. It is designed for the use of vessels at sea or on the coast, as on our eastern shores, where dense fogs prevail, and vessels are liable to come in collision before they are conscious of each other's approach. Its great advantage is its power of communicating sounds for a distance of from 4 to 5 miles, far exceeding the largest bells. An experimental one has been placed on Bartlett's Reef, and the pilot of the “Lawrence” states that he has heard it when about 4 miles off from Bartlett's Reef, against the wind, which was blowing quite fresh at the time. This was on a clear day, and when the whistle was blown at his request, and also by advice of the inventor, so that the distance might be marked. It is probable that, under the same circumstances, the tones of a bell could not have been heard more than from one half to three-fourths of a mile. The pilot of the steamer “Knickerbocker” reports, that he made the whistle during a dense fog, thirteen minutes' running-time of the steamer, before coming up with the station where it is located. He therefore must have been some four or five miles distant from it when he heard it.
This whistle consists of an air chamber or condenser, of boiler iron sufficiently[N33] strong to resist almost any pressure, an air-pump, and a whistle similar to the ordinary ones used on locomotives. By means of the air-pump operating into this chamber, a pressure of air is obtained in it of any required amount,—say one, two, or three hundred pounds to the square inch. When the air is so compressed, it is made to operate the whistle by simply opening a valve, and gives a distinct clear sound.
A memorial has been presented to the Treasury Department, signed by most of the commanders and pilots of the steamboats running through Long Island and Fisher's Island Sounds, setting forth the advantages to be derived to navigation from this whistle, and urging that it be introduced into the light vessels, and at all stations where the government intends to afford protection to navigation.—Annual of Scientific Discovery, p. 70.
27. Curious Electrical Phenomenon.—We learn from a letter from a gentleman connected with the Bay State Mills, at Lawrence, Massachusetts, some facts with reference to a new and curious application of electricity which has been introduced in those mills. The electricity is generated by the motion of the machinery, and is employed for lighting up the gas burners. It exists in large quantities in the card-rooms, where there are many belts running on iron pulleys, and, in the cold dry atmosphere of winter, often producing serious damage to the quality of the cording. The manner in which it was discovered that this electricity could be applied to “lighting up,” is somewhat curious. When the gas was first let into the pipes in the mills, one of the overseers discovered fire setting out from one of the pipes near a belt, and on examination it was ascertained that a small stream of gas was escaping. It was surmised that it had been ignited by the electricity, and to prove it, an experiment was tried. Near a large belt in the carding-room was a gas-burner, and on a bench between them there was placed a small quantity of wool, which is a non-conductor of electricity. If a person stood upon this wool, reaching one hand within two or three inches of the belt, and touching the gas-burner with one finger of the other, the escaping gas was at once ignited with an explosion like that of a percussion-cap,—the body of the operator thus being made the medium for conducting the electricity.
The writer adds,—“We shall be able to make a great saving of expense in the woollen manufacture, as soon as we can discover an effective method of conducting the electricity away from the cards, as we shall then be able to dispense entirely with the use of oil on the wool, we shall save at least $30,000 per annum, when the mills are in full operation.”—American Annual of Scientific Discovery p. 117.
List of Patents granted for Scotland
from 22d March to 22d June 1850.
1. To James Higgins, of Salford, in the county of Lancaster, machine maker, and Thomas Showfield Whitworth, of Salford aforesaid, “improvements in machinery for preparing, spinning, and doubling cotton, wool, flax, silk, and similar fibrous materials.”—22d March 1850.
2. To Francais Vouillon, of Princes Street, Hanover Square, in the county of Middlesex, manufacturer, “improvements in the manufacture of hats, caps, bonnets, and other articles made of the same or similar materials.”—26th March 1850.
3. To William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66 Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, civil engineer, “improvements in the manufacture of knobs of doors, articles of furniture, or other purposes, and in connecting metallic attachments to articles made of glass, or other analogous materials.”—26th March 1850.
4. To Jonathan Charles Goodall, of Great College Street, Camden Town, in the county of Middlesex, card-maker, “improvements in machinery for cutting paper.”—27th March 1850.
5. To Charles Felton Hailsman, of Argyle Street, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, “improvements in machinery for spinning or twisting cotton, wool, or other fibrous substances.”—28th March 1850.
6. To Robert Milligan, of Harden, near Bingley, in the county of York, manufacturer, “an improvements mode of treating certain floated warp, or welt, or both, for the purpose of producing ornamented fabrics.”—28th March 1850.
7. To Robert White, and James Henderson Grant, both of Dalmarnock Road, Glasgow, North Britain, engineers, “certain improvements in machinery, or apparatus to be used in mines, which improvements, or parts thereof, are also applicable to other purposes of a similar nature.”—11th April 1850.
8. To William M'Lardy, of Manchester, gentleman, “certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for preparing and spinning cotton and other fibrous substances.”—15th April 1850.
9. To John Scoffern, of Essex Street, in the county of Middlesex, M. B., “improvements in the manufacture and refining of sugar, and in the treatment and use of matters obtained in such manufacture, and in the construction of valves, and in such and other manufacture.”—17th April 1850.
10. To James Buck Wilson, of St Helens, in the county of Lancaster, rope-maker, “certain improvements in wire ropes.”—22d April 1850.
11. To Thomas Symes Prideaux, of Southampton, gentleman, “improvements in puddling, and other furnaces.”—26th April 1850.
12. To Charles Cowper, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, “certain improvements in the treatment of coal, and in separating coal and other substances from foreign matters, and in the artificial fuel and coke, and in the distillation and treatment of tar and other products from coal, together with improvements in the machinery and apparatus employed for the said purposes,” being a communication.—26th April 1850.
13. To Vidie Lucien, late of Paris, in France, but now of South Street, Finsbury, French Advocate, “improvements in conveyances on land and water.”—26th April 1850.
14. To Robert Dalgleish, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, in Scotland, merchant and calico printer, “certain improvements in printing, and in the application of colours to silk, cotton, linen, woollen, and other textile fabrics.”—27th April 1850.
15. To Ethian Campbell, of the city of New York, in the United States of America, philosophical, practical, and experimental engineer, “certain new and useful improvements for generating and applying motive power, and for propelling vessels.”—30th April 1850.
16. To Robert Reid, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, manufacturer, “certain improvements in weaving.”—3d May 1850.
17. To Maxwell Miller, of Glasgow, in the county of Lanark, coppersmith, “certain improvements in distilling and rectifying.”—3d May 1850.
18. To Thomas Keely, of the town and county of Nottingham, manufacturer, and William Williamson, of the same place, frame-work knitter, “certain improvements in looped or elastic fabrics, and in articles made therefrom; also certain machinery for producing the said improvements, which is applicable in whole or in part to the manufacture of looped fabrics generally.”—8th May 1850.
19. To Peter Armand Le Comte Moreau Fontaine, of 4 South Street, Finsbury Square, in the county of Middlesex, patent agent, “certain improvements for the production of heat and light, which improvements are applicable to ventilation, and the prevention of explosions,” being a communication.—9th May 1850.
20. To Ethian Baldwin, of the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, “a new and useful method of generating and applying steam in propelling vessels locomotive, and stationary machinery.”—9th May 1850.
21. To Jacob Cannon, of Hyde Park, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, “improvements in melting, moulding, and casting sand, earth, and other substances for paving, building, and various other useful purposes.”—20th May 1850.
22. To George Jackson, of Belfast, Ireland, flax-dresser, “improvements in heckling machinery.”—24th May 1850.
23. To Frederick Rosenberg, Esquire, of Albermarle Street, in the county of Middlesex, and Conrad[N34] Montgomery, Esquire, of the Army and Navy Club, Saint James's Square, in the same county, “improvements in sewing, cutting, boring, and shaping wood.”—24th May 1850.
24. To George Ford Hayward, of St Martins Le Grand, in the county of Middlesex, “improvements in obtaining power,” being a communication.—27th May 1850.
25. To Joseph Barrans, of St Pauls, Deptford, in the county of Kent, engineer, “improvements in axles and axle-boxes of locomotive engines, and other railway carriages.”—27th May 1850.
26. To Samuel Fisher, of Birmingham, in the county of Warwick, engineer, “improvements in railway carriage-wheels, axles, buffer, and draw-springs, and hinges for railway carriage and other doors.”—28th May 1850.
27. To Thomas Chandler, of Stockton, Wilts, “improvements in machinery for applying liquid manure.”—28th May 1850.
28. To Thomas Dickson Rotch, Esquire, of Drumlamford House, in the county of Ayr, North Britain, “improvements in separating various matters usually found combined in certain saccharine, saline, and ligneous substances.”—28th May 1850.
29. To Henry Columbus Hurry, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, civil engineer, “certain improvements in the method of lubricating machinery,”—29th May 1850.
30. To Simon Pincoffs, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, merchant, “certain improvements in the ageing process in printing and dyeing calicoes, and other woven fabrics, which improvements are also applicable to other processes in printing and dyeing calicoes and other woven fabrics.”—30th May 1850.
31. To William MacAlpine, of Spring Vale, in the county of Middlesex, general dresser, and Thomas MacAlpine, of the same place, manager, “improvements in machinery for washing cotton, linen, and other fabrics.”—31st May 1850.
32. To Charles Andrew, of Compstall Bridge, in the county of Chester, manufacturer, and Richard Markland, of the same place, manager, “certain improvements in the method of, and in the machinery or apparatus for, preparing warps for weaving.”—31st May 1850.
33. To James Palmer Budd, of the Ystalyfera iron works, Swansea, merchant, “improvements in the manufacture of coke.”—31st May 1850.
34. To John Dalton, of Hollingsworth, in the county of Chester, calico printer, “certain improvements in and applicable to machinery or apparatus for bleaching, dyeing, printing, and finishing textile and other fabrics, and in the engraving of copper rollers, and other metallic bodies.”—5th June 1850.
35. To Frederick Albert Gatty, of Accrington in the county of Lancaster, Manchester, manufacturing chemist, “a certain process, of certain processes for obtaining carbonate of soda and carbonate of potash.”—5th June 1850.
36. To Jules Le Bastier, of Paris, in the Republic of France, but now of South Street, Finsbury, in the county of Middlesex, gentleman, “certain improvements in machinery or apparatus for printing.”—6th June 1850.
37. To William Robertton, of Gateshead Mill, Neilston, in the county of Renfrew, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called Scotland, machine maker, “improvements in certain machinery used for spinning and doubling cotton and other fibrous substances.”—7th June 1850.
38. To Francis Tongue Rufford, of Prescott House, in the county of Worcester, fire-brick manufacturer, Isaac Marson, of Cradley, in the same county, potter, and John Finch, of Pickard Street, City Road, in the county of Middlesex, manufacturer, “improvements in the manufacture of baths and wash tubs, or wash vessels.”—10th June 1850.
39. To Baron Louis Le Presti, of Paris, in the Republic of France “improvements in hydraulic presses, which are, in whole or in part, applicable to pumps and other like machines.”—10th June 1850.
40. To Arthur Elliot, machine maker, of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, and Henry Heys, of the same place, book-keeper, “certain machinery for manufacturing woven fabrics.”—14th June 1850.
41. To Charles Cowper, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the county of Middlesex, patent agent, “improvements in instruments for measuring, indicating, and regulating the pressure of air, steam, and other fluids, and in instruments for measuring, indicating, and regulating the temperature of the same, and in instruments for obtaining motive power from the same.”—14th June 1850.
Transcriber's Notes:
Punctuation, use of hyphens, and accent marks were standardized. Obsolete and alternative spellings were left unchanged. Spelling corrections are provided as footnotes, below.
Several tables in the Climate of Whitehaven article were too wide to display on a standard computer screen. The tables have been divided, with the left-most column replicated, for ease of reading. Leading and trailing zeros were added to align numbers in columns.
The book originally contained two Tables of Contents, the second of which pertained to the ensuing volume. The second Table of Contents was removed from this edition.
Footnotes were numbered sequentially, indented and moved to the end of the article or table in which the anchor occurs.
[N1] 'he' to 'be'
[N2] 'nimals' to 'animals'
[N3] 'alogether' to 'altogether'
[N4] 'phemonena' to 'phenomena'
[N5] 'acquatic' to 'aquatic'
[N6] 'thes pecimens' to 'the specimens'
[N7] 'archaiologcal' to 'archaeological'
[N8] 'metmorphic' to 'metamorphic'
[N9] 'circumcribed' to 'circumscribed
[N10] 'Artic' to 'Arctic'
[N11] 'Saskatchawan' to 'Saskatchewan'
[N12] 'heholding' to 'beholding'
[N13] 'hippotami' to 'hippopotami'
[N14] 'languge' to 'language'
[N15] 'Boabob' to 'Baobab'
[N16] 'trachite' to 'trachyte'
[N17] 'reremains' to 'remains'
[N18] 'may' to 'many'
[N19] 'analagous' to 'analogous'
[N20] 'Ichthysaur' to 'Ichthyosaur'
[N21] 'carniverous' to 'carnivorous'
[N22] 'tailess' to 'tailless'
[N23] 'circomvolute' to 'circumvolute'
[N24] 'fortell' to 'foretell'
[N25] 'emperical' to 'empirical'
[N26] 'hypothethis' to 'hypothesis'
[N27] 'arsenuous' to 'arsenious'
[N28] 'Novia' to 'Nova'
[N29] 'Pittsburg' to 'Pittsburgh'
[N30] 'N.U.' to 'N.H.'
[N31] 'thoraci' to 'thoracic'
[N32] 'Packydermata' to 'Pachydermata'
[N33] 'sufficently' to 'sufficiently'
[N34] 'Conard' to 'Conrad'
[N35] 'Cystoseirites' for 'Cystosceri'es'
[N36] 'appears' to 'appear'