to the facts and principles established by Dr. Wells. He has shown
that, in a clear night, exposed bodies may frequently have their
temperatures reduced below that of the surrounding atmosphere,
solely by the effect of radiation, the difference being as much as
6, 7, 10, or more degrees, but that it does not take place when the
heavens are obscured. M. Arago then observes, that the temperature
is often not more than 4, 5, or 6 degrees above the freezing point
during the nights of April and May, and that when the night is clear,
consequently when the moon is bright, the temperature of the leaves
and buds may often be brought by radiation below the freezing point,
whilst the air remains above it, and consequently an effect be
produced, which, though not dependent upon, accompanies the brilliant
unobscured state of the moon—the absence of these injurious effects,
when the moon is obscured, being also as perfectly accounted for
by these principles, from the knowledge that the same clouds which
obscure the moon will prevent the radiation of heat from the plants.
Hence, as M. Arago observes, the observation of the gardener is
correct as far as it goes, though the interpretation of the effect
which he generally gives is incorrect.—_Annuaire du Bureau des Long._
1827, p. 162.
2. _Luminous Appearances in the Atmosphere_.—An account is given at
page 242 of our last volume, from Silliman’s Journal, of certain
spots in the air near the horizon, which have been seen highly
luminous in Ohio, United States, by Mr. Atwater, and which often
induce the supposition that fires exist in their direction. Mr.
Webster says—“I have observed similar phenomena in New England: I
recollect one instance, when I resided at Amherst, in Hampshire
County, Mass., a bright light in the north-east, near [p223] the
horizon, appeared as the light of a building on fire appears at
night, at the distance of several miles. I expected, in that
instance, every hour to hear that some building in Shutesbury, or
New Salem, had been burnt, and, so strong was my belief of it, that
I repeatedly asked my neighbours whether they had heard of any such
event. At last, I met a gentleman who had just come from one of those
towns, who told me he had heard of no fire from that quarter, which
convinced me the phenomenon was merely atmospheric.”—_Silliman’s
Journal_, xii. 380.
3. _On the Determination of the Mean Temperature of the Air_.—This
subject has been investigated by M. G. G. Hallstrœm, who gives the
following algebraic formula, which correctly represents the mean
temperature for all Europe.
_v_ = 1/2 (_x_ _f_ + _x__e_)−0.33 + 0.41 sin. [(_n_−1) 30° + 124° 8′]
_v_ = mean temperature.
_n_ = the ordinal number of the month for which the temperature is to
be calculated (thus, for March, _n_ = 3).
1/2 (_x_ _f_ + _x_ _e_) = the mean temperature taken as the mean of
observations taken at ten o’clock in the morning and evening.
In winter 1/2 (_x_ _f_ + _x_ _e_) = _v_ very nearly; whilst, in
summer, this quantity is 3/4 of a degree greater than _v_ at Paris,
Halle, and Abo.—_Annal. der Phys. und Chem._ 1825, p. 373.
4. _Indelible Writing_.—As the art of man can unmake whatever the
art of man can make, we have no right to expect an _indelible ink_:
however, a sort of approximation to it may be made as follows:—Let
a saturated solution of indigo and madder in boiling water be made,
in such proportions as give a purple tint; add to it from one sixth
to one eighth of its weight of sulphuric acid, according to the
thickness and strength of the paper to be used: this makes an ink
which flows pretty freely from the pen, and when writing, which has
been executed with it, is exposed to a considerable, but gradual,
heat from the fire, it becomes completely black, the letters being
burnt in and charred by the action of the sulphuric acid. _If the
acid has not been used in sufficient quantity to destroy the texture
of the paper, and reduce it to the state of tinder, the colour may be
discharged by the oxymuriatic and oxalic acids, and their compounds,
though not without great difficulty_. When the full proportion of
acid has been employed, a little crumpling and rubbing of the paper
reduces the carbonaceous matter of the letters to powder; but by
putting a black ground behind them, they may be preserved, and thus a
species of _indelible writing_ is procured, (for the letters are, in
a manner, stamped out of the paper,) which might be useful for some
purposes, perhaps for the signature of bank-notes.
5. _Peculiar Crystals of Quartz_.—Mr. W. Phillips has met with some
remarkable crystals of quartz, which occurred imbedded in the [p224]
limestone of the Black-rock, near Cork. They are from the fourth
to the half of an inch in length, and about half their length in
width: they are smooth, externally, for the most part, and sometimes
considerably bright; they are of the colour termed smoky, or brown
quartz, externally, and may easily be separated from the limestone,
leaving a cavity of their exact form. On trying to cleave them, they
yielded parallel to one or other of the planes of the pyramid, like
common quartz, but at such fractures appeared to consist of alternate
and concentric prisms of smoky transparent quartz, and of gray
opaque, and somewhat granular limestone. On applying muriatic acid to
the surface, effervescence occurred along the gray parts, proving the
presence of limestone, but soon ceased: after an action continued for
some weeks, the gray parts became cellular, and so soft, as to admit
of being scraped by a knife. Mr. Phillips says, it seems reasonable
to conclude that such part of the gray substance as does not yield to
the action of the acid is siliceous or quartzose; and that the prime
difference between it and the smoky quartz surrounding it consists in
the different circumstances of crystalline aggregation under which
they are deposited. The crystals, with the somewhat analogous case of
the Fontainebleau sandstone, may serve to assist in the illustration
of some points relative to the laws of affinity, as operating in the
formation of crystals.—_Phil. Mag._ N. S., ii. 123.
6. _Native Iron not Meteoric_.—The following notice is by Mr. C. A.
Lee. Native iron, on Canaan mountain, a mile and a half from the
South Meetinghouse (Conn. U. S.). This is particularly interesting,
as it is the first instance in which native iron, not meteoric,
has been found in America. It was discovered by Major Barrall, of
Canaan, while employed in surveying, many years ago. It formed a thin
stratum, or plate, in a mass of mica slate, which seemed to have been
broken from an adjoining ledge. It presents the usual characters of
native iron, and is easily malleable. For some distance around the
place where it was found the needle will not traverse, and a great
proportion of the tallest trees have been struck with lightning.
Whether these phenomena are connected with the existence of a large
mass of native iron, I leave for others to determine: the facts,
however, may be relied on.
The specimen has been examined chemically, by Mr. Shepherd, at
Yale College. It is invested with highly crystalline plumbago, and
splits by the intervention of plates of plumbago into pyramidal and
tetrahedral masses. It is not equal to meteoric iron in malleability,
toughness, and flexibility, and has not the silvery white appearance
of that iron. Its specific gravity is from 5.95 to 6.72. It has
native steel intermingled in it, but contains no nickel, or any other
alloy.
Major Barrall has only been to the place where this iron occurred
_once_, and no other person has ever been to the place, or knows
where it is.—_Silliman’s Journal_, xii. 154. [p225]
7. _Native Argentiferous Gold_.—M. Boussingault, who has had the
opportunity of examining numerous specimens of argentiferous native
gold from the Columbian mines, thinks that they are atomic; he has
found 1 atom of silver united to 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 atoms of gold,
and considers it probable that the other combinations to complete
the series may occur. He has assumed 24.86 as the number for gold,
and 27.03 as the number for silver. The following are some of the
experimental results:—
_Native Gold of Marmato_.—Pale yellow octoedral crystals:
Gold 73.45 3 atoms 73.40
Silver 26.48 1 " 26.60
Loss 00.07
_Native Gold of Titiribi:_
Gold 74.00 3 atoms 73.40
Silver 26.00 1 " 26.60
_Native Gold of Malpaso_.—Yellow irregular flattened grains:
Gold 88.24 8 atoms 88.04
Silver 11.76 1 " 11.96
_Native Gold of Rio-Sucio_.—Deep-coloured large irregular grains:
Gold 87.94 8 atoms 88.04
Silver 12.06 1 " 11.96
_Native Gold of the Otra Mina_.—Pale yellow octoedral crystals:
Gold 73.4 3 atoms 73.40
Silver 26.6 1 " 26.60
_Native Gold of Guamo_.—Brass-yellow indeterminate crystals:
Gold 73.68 3 atoms 73.40
Silver 26.32 1 " 26.60
_Native Gold of Llano_.—Small flattened grains—reddish:
Gold 88.58 8 atoms 88.04
Silver 11.42 1 " 11.96
_Native Gold of Baja_.—Porous:
Gold 88.15 8 atoms 88.04
Silver 11.85 1 " 11.96
_Native Gold of Ojas-Anchas_.—Yellowish red plates:
Gold 84.5 6 atoms 84.71
Silver 15.5 1 " 15.29
_Native Gold of Trinidad, near Santa Rosa de Osos_.—A solid piece
of 50 grains:
Gold 82.4 4 atoms 82.14
Silver 17.6 1 " 17.86
_Native Gold of Transylvania (Europe)_.—Pale yellow cubic crystals:
Gold 64.52 2 atoms 64.77
Silver 35.48 1 " 35.23
_Native Gold of Santa Rosa de Osos_.—A mass weighing 710 grains:
Gold 64.93 2 atoms 64.77
Silver 35.07 1 " 35.23
M. Boussingault has remarked a singlar deficiency in the [p226]
specific gravity of the native alloys of gold and silver when
compared with calculation, or with the results obtained from an alloy
similar in composition prepared by fusion; thus the native gold of
Marmato has a specific gravity of 12.666, whereas, by calculation, it
ought to be 16.931. The gold of Malpaso, by experiment, is 14.706, by
calculation, 18.223, and by fusion, 18.1. The gold of Santa Rosa, by
experiment, is 14.149, and by calculation, 16.175. This difference,
M. Boussingault says, is not due to porosity in the native gold, as
he has observed it in the granular and fine varieties, but a peculiar
character of the metal in this state. Such an enormous difference,
however, is one that can be admitted only upon repeated experimental
proofs, made in the most unexceptionable manner; and, considering
that it is only in some of the metals that any permanent difference
in specific gravity can be established, and even with them to but a
small extent, would be a fact so important as to be worth extreme
trouble in the verification.—_Annales de Chimie_, xxxiv. 408.
8. _Prothéeïte—a new Mineral_.—This mineral was discovered in 1826,
at Rothenkoph, in the valley of Zillerthal, Tyrol. It occurs in
rectangular prisms, generally without distinct summits, and rough
at both ends. The angles are very seldom truncated, the faces are
striated longitudinally. The crystals are of various sizes, some
being very small, but they have occurred 5 inches in length, and two
in width; the longitudinal fracture is lamellar, the cross-fracture
conchoidal. The substance is usually fissured, nearly opaque in large
specimens, translucent or diaphanous in small masses. Its colour is
crysolite green or white, or between the two; its lustre between that
of glass and the diamond; it is heavy; a good conductor of heat;
hard enough to scratch glass; infusible before the blowpipe; highly
electric by friction. The white crystals have a fibrous texture,
which, as well as the colour, seems the result of decomposition. When
cut and polished, the mineral assumes a great variety of aspects;
the green parts then resemble the finest crysolites, but the fibrous
white parts, when cut of a round form, present one or two reflections
on a transparent ground which move as the stone is moved, just like
those from the cat’s eye; these reflections are very brilliant, and
are accompanied by numerous iris colours, which move like those on
the opal. This phenomenon is often observed in the rough stone,
which, when exposed to light, exhibit certain deep red tints of a
cupreous colour, and metallic lustre on all the faces.—_Bull. Univ._
B. xi. 42.
9. _Volcanic Bisulphuret of Copper_.—M. N. Covelli, during his
examinations of Mount Vesuvius, has observed some particular actions
going on, especially in the fumeroles on the eastern side of the
mountain, and within the crater. Speaking of the former, he says,
“Here there are fumeroles in which pure chloride of lead [p227]
sublimes into white and yellow crystallizations, which fusing in the
hotter places form nacres, gum, and stalactites. In many parts the
sulphuretted hydrogen, evolved within the fumeroles, reacts on the
chloride, and forms sulphuret of lead, dispersed in small scales
through the scoria. Other fumeroles produce very thin scales of the
black oxide of copper; these are very brilliant, metalloidal, and
flexible, and are produced by the action of the vapour of water
at a red heat on the chloride of copper, which may be observed on
disturbing the fumeroles. Here and there the reaction of aqueous
vapour on the perchloride of iron produces metalloidal scales of
the peroxide of iron; whilst further on, the same vapour, acting
on mixtures of the two chlorides, produces oligiste iron in small
crystals, aggregated on the scoria. The muriatic acid resulting
from these actions, and the sulphuric acid which is formed by the
decomposition of hydrosulphurets and sulphates, attack the iron,
lime, copper, alumine, potash, &c., in the lavas and scoria, and
hence result a number of other productions which line the passages of
the fumeroles”.
M. Covelli descended into the crater, until within 300 feet of the
edge of the large eastern opening, from which the great current of
lava flowed in 1822. Here the fumeroles presented the most beautiful
crystallizations of sulphate of lime and sulphur. On examining the
scoria they were found incrusted and covered with a substance,
having all the shades of colour belonging to blue, green, and black.
Sometimes it resembled a spider’s web in appearance, sometimes
soot deposited in the cavities of the scoria. Many specimens were
collected, and also a portion of water condensed from the vapours
which issued forth, and which evidently contained sulphuretted
hydrogen and muriatic acid. The temperature of the vapour was as high
as 85° C., in some places, and even up to 90°, at half a foot beneath
the surface.
The water being examined was found to contain only a little
sulphuretted hydrogen, and a little muriatic acid. The black
substance was soon ascertained to be a pure sulphuret of copper.
Being analyzed, 100 parts yielded 32 parts of sulphur, and 66 of
copper, a loss of two parts being incurred, which accords very nearly
with the composition of the bi-sulphuret of copper. The blue and
bluish-green substances were found to be mixtures of this sulphuret
with sulphate and hydro-sulphuret of copper.
M. Covelli concludes that this substance has been formed by the
action of sulphuretted hydrogen on the sulphate and muriate of copper
evolved by these fumeroles; and observes, that its composition
accords with such an opinion, the deutoxide being that which forms
the Vesuvian cupreous salts.—_Ann. de Chimie_, xxxv. 105.
10. _Fall of the Lake Souwando in Russia_.—This lake, situated in
the parish of Sakkola, in the Russian government of Wibourg, and
surrounded by the lands of the Barons Friedrichs, was near [p228] 40
versts in length, and had the form of a Γ, or Greek G. Before the
year 1818, it was separated from the lake of Ladoga by an interval
about a verst in width, called Taipale, on which was a sandy hill;
its waters flowed into the river Wuoxa, which united the lakes of
Saima and Ladoga. On the 14th May, 1818, the waters of the lake
Souwando, increased by the thaw and the tempests, overcame the
natural dyke at the foot of the lake, threw down the hill of sand,
rapidly flowed into the lower lake, carrying away all the surrounding
grounds, and for ever destroyed the barrier which had previously
separated them. A chapel and a countryman’s house were carried away
with the pastures and meadows; the waters of the lower lake were much
disturbed, and the surface covered with ruins. The level of the lake
Souwando fell 12-1/2 archines, and its length is now only 15 versts.
Its waters no longer flow off by the Wuoxa, but pass into the lower
lake by several falls through a deep canal. The land which has been
uncovered by the water is already cultivated, and the beauty of the
surrounding country said to be increased.—_Bull. Univ._, F. x. 133.
11. _Vegetable Torpor observed in the Roots of the Black
Mulberry-tree_.—A very old mulberry-tree was broken into four
quarters by the wind in 1790. Two of the quarters were destroyed,
the other two remained growing for a few years, but the last of
them was removed in 1802. An elder-tree grew in the place of the
mulberry-tree, without doubt from berries which had fallen into
the middle of the old trunk of the latter. This elder-tree died in
1826, and at the time of its languishing about a dozen of mulberry
shoots started forth to the day. M. Dureau de la Malle ascertained
that these did not spring from seeds, but from the roots of the old
mulberry-tree, which had thus lain in the ground in an apparently
inactive state, for 24 years, to send forth shoots at last.—_Ann. de
Sciences Nat._ ix. 338.
12. _Method of increasing the Odour of Roses_.—For this purpose,
according to the author of the method, a large onion is to be planted
by the side of the rose tree in such a manner that it shall touch
the foot of the latter. The roses which will be produced will have
an odour much stronger and more agreeable than such as have not been
thus treated, and the water distilled from these roses is equally
superior to that prepared by means of ordinary rose leaves.—_Œkonom.
Neuigk._;—_Bull. Univ._
13. _Pine Apples_.—A great improvement may be made in keeping pine
apples by twisting off their crowns, which are generally suffered to
remain and to live upon the fruit till they have sucked out all the
goodness. It will be very easy for fruiterers to keep a few crowns by
them in water, which can be pegged or stuck on with dough, for show,
when the fruit is served up, or artificial ones [p229] may be made. A
pine apple will keep for a long time when its crown is removed, and
will also be greatly improved in flavour, for the more aqueous parts
of the fruit gradually evaporate, and leave it much more saccharine
and vinous in its flavour; which natural process is totally destroyed
by the vegetation of the crown, just upon the same principle that an
onion or carrot loses its flavour when it begins to sprout in the
spring.
14. _Mode of Condensing and Preserving Vegetable Substances for
Ships’ Provision, &c._—The quantity of liquid matter which enters
into the constitution of vegetables is very great; when they are
deprived of it their bulk is very trifling. That preparation of
animal food called _pemmican_, in which six pounds of meat are
condensed into the space of one, is mainly effected by abstracting
all the fluid from it. Vegetables may be treated in the same way: let
them undergo the process of boiling over a fierce wood fire, so as
to preserve their colour when _completely_ cooked; grind them into
a complete pulp by some such means as are used to crush apples for
cider, &c.; then let them be subjected to the action of the press,
(being first put into hair bags, or treated as grapes are in wine
countries,) till all the fluid matter is separated from them; the
remainder of their substance becomes wonderfully condensed, and as
hard as the _marc_ from the wine press. Then let it be rammed hard
into carefully glazed air-tight jars, (or tin cases, if preferred,)
and subjected to the Appertian process for preserving animal and
vegetable matters, (well known, by-the-by, to our grandmothers, who
preserved gooseberries in this way from time immemorial.) If jars
are used, they may be sufficiently secured by having two pieces of
bladder tied successively over them; when the air within is absorbed
by heating the inclosed substance, their surface becomes concave by
the pressure of the atmosphere, and as long as it remains in this
state the matter within is safe. If it should be thought requisite to
preserve the flavour of the vegetables entire, an extract should be
made from the expressed liquid, and added to the _marc_. But spinage,
cabbage, and many others, have abundance of flavour in them in their
dry state without this addition. The preparation of the vegetable
matter for use is accomplished by adding a sufficient quantity of
milk, water, gravy, lime juice, &c., to the _marc_, and warming it
up. Let the government, and the dealers in ships’ provision, look to
this; a sufficient quantity of this _vegetable pemmican_ would be
the greatest luxury to a ship’s crew, and render the scurvy utterly
obsolete. It is worthy of remark, that the most irritable stomach is
not offended by vegetables treated in this way.
15. _Rewards for the Discovery of Quinia, and for Lithotrity_.—The
Académie des Sciences has adjudged a prize of 10,000 francs to MM.
Pelletier and Caventou, for their discovery and introduction [p230]
into use of sulphate of quinia; and another prize of 10,000 francs to
M. Civiale, for having been the first to practise lithotrity on the
living body, and for having successfully operated by his method on a
great number of persons afflicted with the stone in the bladder.
16. _Upon the Gaseous Exhalations of the Skin_.—M. Collard de
Martigny, having experimented on this subject, has obtained results
which tend to reconcile the differences existing between previous
observers. The Count de Milly first announced, in the year 1777, that
an aëriform fluid escapes in great quantity from the surface of the
skin, and he considered the gas as carbonic acid. Cruikshank, Jurene,
and Abernethy participated in this opinion. Ingenhouz, on the other
hand, maintained that the air so secreted was azote. M. Frousset
adopted the opinion of Ingenhouz, and endeavoured to confirm it by
experiments. Lastly, Priestley and Fontana questioned the reality of
a gaseous exhalation from the skin; and Fourcroy positively denied it.
From the experiments of M. Collard de Martigny, he deduces,
i. That a gaseous exhalation really takes place from the skin.
ii. This exhalation is not morbid: it is observable in health.
iii. It is composed of carbonic acid and azote, in very variable
proportions. The following experiment was frequently made. The
bubbles of air which are disengaged from the skin were received into
a funnel, the top of which was closed: they were then passed into a
graduated tube, and agitated with a solution of potash. The height
to which the solution rose in the tube indicated the quantities of
carbonic acid that had been absorbed. All these operations were made
at the same temperature and pressure. Neither hydrogen nor oxygen gas
were discovered in this air.
iv. It does occur continually; but very often we may vainly attempt
to discover it, which has been the cause of error in the results of
Priestley, Fontana and Fourcroy. It is especially suspended after
exercise long continued in the middle of the day, or immediately
after taking an abundant meal. Sometimes it is suspended without any
apparent cause.
v. The quantity also is very variable; but it was observed to be
constantly in an inverse ratio to the cutaneous absorption.
vi. The proportions of the two gases vary very much, and sometimes
the exhaled gas consists almost entirely of azote: in other instances
the predominance of carbonic acid is so great that it appears to be
the only product.—_Med. Rep._, N. S. v. 75.
17. _Effects of Galvanism in Cases of Asphyxia by submersion_.—M.
Leroy d’Etioles has addressed a letter to the Académie de Médecine,
in reply to an assertion made by M. Thillaye respecting the inutility
of galvanism in cases of asphyxia. The former says, that when a
short and fine needle is inserted in the sides of the body between
the eighth and ninth ribs so as to come in contact with [p231] the
attachment of the diaphragm, and then the current of electricity from
25 or 30 pair of inch plates passed through them, that the diaphragm
immediately contracts, and an inspiration is effected. Upon breaking
the communication, and again completing it, a second inspiration is
occasioned, and by continuing these means, a regular respiration
may ultimately be occasioned. This power thus applied has always
succeeded with him in experiments on drowned animals.—_Bull. Univ._,
C. xi. 213.