THE ee EB acy a ah
AMERICAN JOURNAL 4
SCIENCE AND ARTS.
CONDUCTED BY Proressors B. SILLIMAN anv B. SILLIMAN, Jr., AND
JAMES D. DANA.
i pn
SECOND SERIES.
VOL. 1X.<{MAY, 1850.
NEW HAVEN:
4 PRINTED FOR THE EDITORS BY B. L Printer to Yale College.
1» HAMLEN,
md by L. hae big New Haven —Litrrie & Brown, — Fetrringr & Co., Boston.—
.S. Fra a Grorar P. Putnam, and Jounn Witey, New York —Canpy &
his Philadel —T. Derr, Pumam’s ioadiien an Agency, 49 Bow La i side, London— _ Tor Bossancr & Co., Paris —Nestuer & MELuE, Hemburg
ETE er er a id : 7
CONTENTS OF VOLUME Ix.
NUMBER XXV.
Page.
Art. I. Experiments on the Electricity of a Plate of Zinc buried
in the Earth; by Prof. Extas ss - - II. Geology of aids, : iy eee 3 III. Ash Analyses; by Jno. A. Poses ee 20 IV. A Product of the action of Nitric Acid on Woody ‘Fibre; ;
by Jno. A. Porter, - V. On the Navicula Spencerii ; by Winiite De LA Re, - 23 VI. Caricography ; by Prof. C. Dewey, - VII. On a wees of Iron and some other Nitrates ; by i OHN M.
Orp Vil. & ones of two additional Crags of tie Sit-enky (Troglodytes gorilla, er from — — by Jerrries Wyman, M.D., « es IX. Notice of the cranium of the Nessie! a new species of Manatee (Manatus nasutus) from W. Africa ; - JEFFRIES Wyman, M.D., - - - - 45 X. On Denudation in the Pacific ; é py D. Dak - - 48 XI. Remarks on the Constitution of Leucine, with habits! observa- tions upon the late Researches of M. Wutz; by T. S. Hunt, 63 XII. On Perfect Musical Intonation, and the fundamental Laws of Music on which it depends, with remarks showing the practicability of attaining this Perfect Intonation in the Or- an; by Henry Warp Poors, ns XIII. Analyses of several Minerals; by Wine Pinions - XIV. Memorials of John Bartram and Humphry Marshall, with notices of their Botanical. — 7” Wm. Dar- Lineton, M.D., LL.D., 85 XV. Vibrations of Dieeniyhs's bail by ‘he Galvanic Curtin, by Prof. Cuas. G, Pace, : XVI. On four new species of are of ae genus Ploiaria, Chermes, and Aleurodes, and two new Hymoncne'ys para-- sitic in the last named genus; by S. S. Hatpeman, - 108
iv : CONTENTS.
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.
Chemistry and Physics—On the comparative Cost of making various Voltaic Ar- rangements, by Mr. W.S. Warp: Researches on Wax, by Bensamin Cox- uins Bropre, 111.—On the Phosphoric Ethers, by F. Vocexi1, 113.—On the Estimation of Niroge acid, by H. Scawarz+: New mode of preparing Nitrogen, by B. CorenwinpeR: New Process for detecting Iodine and Bromine, by
phere, by M. Fresenius: On the varieties of Chloroform, by MM. Souserran and Miauué, 115.—On the Composition of Shea Butter and » agen Vegetable Tallow, by Dr. R. T. Taomson, and Mr. E. T. Woo On occurrence of Butyric Acid in the Fruit of the Soap tree, b Dr. v ESANEZ, ae —On the preparation of Hyposulphite of — , by M. Flom On the amo
of Lime in Lime Water, by M. Wirrste : On the preparation of Bcsints”
acid from Malate of lime, by Lirsie, 117. — Chemical oe of a Calculus from the bladder of a whale, by Wrnt1am Keixier, M.D.: On the presence of Fluorine in the Waters of the Firth of Forth, the Firth of Clyde, and the Ger- man Ocean, by G. Witson, M.D., 118.—On the Artificial Production of cer-
_ tain Crystallized Minerals, particularly Oxyd of Tin, Oxyd of Titanium, and Quartz,, by M. A. Davsrés, 120.—On the Origin of the Titaniferous veins of the Alps, 122.
Mineralogy and Geology.—Analysis of Schuylkill Water, by M. H. Bov&: On Acid and Alkaline Springs, by Prof. W. B. Rogers, 123.—On Reptilian foot- marks in the gorge of the Sharp Mountain near Pottsville, Pa., by Isaac Lea,
24.—Gold on the farm of Samuel Elliot, Montgomery County) Md. : Gold of ©
California, 126.
Botany and Zoology.—Description of a Nut found in Eocene marl, by Epmunp Rorrix, 127.—Synopsis Generum Crustaceorum Ordinis Schizopoda J. D. sheen clepeaniins La —Eyes of Sapphirina, Coryceus, etc., by J.D, Dana: Con-
» Nos. 1-4; and Monograph of Sroasroma, a new genus of new ‘pyavontated land shells, by Pet Cc. B. Apams, 133.—Eryx maculatus, a - new species from Madras, by Enwarp Hatuowexn, M.D.: Descriptions of
four new species of North hutch Hahieeaatlice, and one new species of Scink, by Prof. Spencer F’. Barrp, 137,—On Infusorial Deposits on the River Chutes in Oregon, by . Secseatnn On the Fossil American Tapir, by Joserx Lerpy, M_D.,
Astronomy.—On Nebule observed with Rosse’s Telescope, 140.—A. Model of the Moon’s ao 143.
bg: Ce Intelligence. Bhegapng in North Carolina, 143.—Further Contri- butions to Anemometry, by Prof. Partuips, 145.—Discovery of another huge Heptilo. by Dr. Mantell: pensar Birds of New Zealand: Cabinet of Geology and Mineralogy for sale: Correction, 147.
Bibliography.—Endlicher, Generum Plantarum Supplementum Quartum; Pars II, 148.—Contributions to the History of British Fossil Mammals (first series), by
IcHARD Owen, F.R.S., 149. we Encyclopedia, by C. Hecx,
translated and edited by Prof. 8S, F. Ba : The ‘A sivcincdilical Journal, edited by Bensamin Apruorr Govxp, Jr.: "Footed Complete Geological Chart, 151. — Almanac and Repository of Useful ——— for the year 1850, 1
List of am 152. 2
4 ; r : 4 j 4
CONTENTS. f
NUMBER XXVI.
Art. XVII. On the Phantascope; by Prof. J. Locxz, - - 153 XVIII. The condition of Trap dikes in New Hampshire an evi- dence and measure of Erosion ; ; by Professor Oxiver P.
Hvussarp, M.D., - - 158 XIX. Conssiieationis to the Myéotory of North Riser by Rev. M. J. Berkexey, of inate and Rev. M. A. Conais, of
South Carolina, - 171 XX. Connection between the Ramis inti ii dhe aa and chemical properties of Barium, Strontium, Calcium and Magnesium, and some of their Snail by Professor
E. N. Horsrorp, 176
XXI. On the American Prine: Meridtiid ey Prof J. a 184 XXII. On Perfect Musical Intonation, ee the fundamental Laws of Music on which it depends ; with remarks showing the aia of attaining this Perfect Intonation in the Or-
gan; by Henry Warp Poote, - - 199 XXIII. On the new American Mineral, Linseuiee - "a Pro- fessor B. Situiman, Jr., - - - - - - 216 XXIV. Table of Atomic Weights, - - a ee V. On the Isomorphism and Atomic ae of some Bs erals; by James D. Dana, - 220
XXVI. Observations on the Size of the ‘Brain i in various are and Families of Man; by Samvet Georce Morton, M.D., 246 XXVII. Remarks on the Aneroid Barometer ; by Professor J. Lovertne of Harvard University, - 249 XXVIII. An account of some Fossil Bones found in asada in making excavations for the Rutland and rer a Rail- road; by Zapock THompson, 256 XXIX. idan of a Meteorological hosts ‘Negr at Mariette
Ohio, for the year 1849, by S.P. Hitpretn, M.D., - 264 . Chemical Examinations of the Waters of some Pie Min- - eral Springs of Canada, by T.S. Hunt, - - - + 266
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.
Chemistry and Physics. ipa upon some derivatives of the Benzoic sonic by G. Cuancen, 275.—On the Products of the dry distillation of Benzoate of Lime, by G. Cusieoas. ys .—On the Action of Nitric Acid apon Butyrone Laurent and Cuancei: On Sulphuretted Benzamid, by A A. Ca AHOUR n the Composition of Chloropicrine, by A. Canours, 278.—Process for the use of Tin Plate Scrap in the Manufacture of Malleable Iron, by Ev. Scuuncx: Anisole, Salicylic Ether, and substances derived from them, by A. Canours,
the Compound Ammonias, by Apotpue Wurtz, 231.—On a Cop-
vi CONTENTS.
per Amalgam, by Dr. Perrenxorer, 282.—Benzole, by C. B. Mansrizip:
_ On the Separation of Phosphoric Acid from Alumina, by H. Roser, 283.—On the Atomic Weight of Silica, by H. Kopp, 284.—On the Extraction of Man- nite from the Dandelion, by Messrs. Suir, 285.
Mineralogy and Geology.—On Danburite, by J. D. Dawa, 286.—On the discov- ery of Sulphuret of Nickel in Northern New York, by Dr. Franxuin B Hoven, A.M., 287.—New Mineral Localities in New York, by Dr. F. B. Hoven, gree fe of es Minerals associated with the Emery of Asia Minor, by J. Lawrence Smitu: On the Degradation of the Rocks of New South Wales and Pirbativs of Valleve: by J. D. Dawa, 289.
Zoology. Mm oe on Zoophytes, by James D. Dana, 294.—A new od of Or- chestide, by J. D. Dawa: On the genus Astrea, by James D. Dana
Miscellaneous Intelligence—On the Extraction of Gold from the Ghiper Orde of Chessy and Sain-Bel, by Messrs. ALuain and Barrensacn, 297.—The Table Land of Thibet, 298.—On the Classification of Colors, Part II, by Prof. J. D. Forses, 300.—New Process for extracting Sugar from the Sugar-cane, by M. Mexsens, 301.—Anniversary of the Royal Society of London: Ray Society : Poskogical Gardens: Mastodon angustidens: Development of Electricity by Muscular Contraction, 304.—Influence of boracic acid in Vitrification, 305.— Obituary —Dr. Martin Gay, 305.
gorges —Report of a Geological Reconnoissance of the Chippewa Land Dis-
of Wisconsin, and, incidentally, of a portion of the Kickapoo Country, and et a part of Iowa and of the Minesota Territory, by Davipv Date Owen, 306. —The Races of Man and their Geographical Distribution, by CHARLEs foe 3 ErinG, M.D., 307.—Elements of Natural Philosophy, by Atonzo Gray, A Sailing idles, by Lieut. M. F. Maury, U.S.N., 308.—The Plough, the Loom and the Anvil, T. 8S. Skinner, Editor : Iconographic Encyclopedia of Science, Literature and Art, by G. Heck, translated and edited by Prof. Spen-
_ cer F. Bairn: Foster's Geological Chart: The Annual of Scientific Discovery, or Year Book of Facts in Science and Art, edited by Davin A. Weuts, and Grorce Buss, Jr.; Agassiz’s Lake Superior: The Astronomical Journal, 309. —Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 310.— Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Rplencen; 311.—Boston Journal of Natu- ral History, Vol. V1, No. 1, 312.
List of Works, 312. NUMBER XXVIII.
Art. XXXI. A brief Memoir of the late Walter Folger, of Nan- tucket; by Witttam MitcHett,~ - 313
XIf, On the Application of Photography to he Self. ES eeiatehs
tion of Magnetical and Meteorological Instruments ; my —
ree so insite, RA. FBS. 319 XXXII. Influence of the known Lect of Motion on * onary sion of Elastic Fluids; by Ex1 W. Buaxz,~ - . 334
XXXIV. On the Rotation of the Plane of Polarization of Heat Ky Magnetism; by MM. F. pe ua Provostaye and P. Desains, 344
XXXV. Historical account of the seein on Hawaii ; sh James D. Dana, - 347
Z &
CONTENTS. Vii
Page. XXXVI. On the Chemical Equivalents and Notation of Laurent
and Gerhardt; by CuarLes GERHARDT, 364 XXXVII. The Natural Relations between shabenili ae the le. ments in which they live; by L. Acassiz, - 369
XXXVIII. On a new Analogy in the Periods of Rotation of ihe
Primary Planets, discovered by Daniel Kirkwood, - : 5 XXXIX. On the so-called Biogen Liquid; by Cuartes Grrarp, 3899 XL. Note on Heteronomic Isomorphism; by James D. Dana, 407 XLI. On some atte ‘aad Mas ge by M. papel
by J. D. Dan 408 XLII. On the imerpretation of Masiotte’s ae : pees Lieut. E. B. Hunt, - 412
SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.
Chemistry and Physics.—On the Deportment of Crystalline Bodies between the of a Magnet, by Joun Tynpaty and Hermann Kwoptavcn, 414.—Ar-
senic in the deposit from Mineral Waters, by M. J. L. Lassaicne: On the re- duction of Chlorid of Silver, by M. Wirtsrrin, 418.—On the Chemical Com- position of the Fluid in the Ascidia of Nepenthes, by Dr. A. VortcKker: Chlo- rine and Oxygen from Chlorate of Potash, by Dr. Vocer: Action of Potash
Gas through solid bodies, by M. Lovyer: On the presence of Silver, Lead and Copper in Sea-water, and in Plants and Animals, by MM. Matagurt1, Du- ROCHER and SarsEav, 421.—Ruthenium, 422.
Mineralogy and Geology.—Description of the Vermiculite of Milbury, ps, by Dr . Jackson, with an analysis by Mr. Ricnarp Crossteyv, 422.—On the Bide pips characters of the “rng s from the roi identified with meanest by J.E. Tes rrr wba . Hayes, 423.—On the Red Zine Ore of New Jersey, by A. A. Havre Oe the existing Mineral oa of Lewis, Jeffer- son, and St. Sek ecules: New York, by Dr. F. B. Hoven, 424.—Iso- wee of Miargyrite and Augite: Analysis of the Schorlomite of Shepard,
C. RammetsBere, 429.—Large crystals of Sphene : On the Ozarkite of “Dhl by J. D. Dana, 430.—The Lagoons of Tuscany, 431.—On the Great Diamond in the possession of the Nizam, by Henry Pippineton, 434.—An account of the Strata and Organic Remains exposed in the Cuttings of the Rail- way from the Great Western line near Corsham, through Trowbridge to West- bury in Wiltshire, by Rearnanp Nevinue Manteu, Esq., 436.—Notice of the Remains of the Dinornis and other Birds, and of Fossil and Rock specimens recently collected by Walter Mantell, Esq., from the Middle Island of New Zealand, by G. A. Manretu, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., &c., 437
Zoology.—Supplementary Observations on the Structure of the Belemnite and Belemnoteuthis, by Gingon Anarrnon Masre.u, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S., &c., 438.—On the Pelorosaurus; an undescribed gigantic terrestrial reptile, whose remains are associated with those of the Iguanodon and other peng in the Strata of Tilgate Forest, by Ginron ALGrRNon ManTe.t, Esq., LL.D., F.R.S.,
Vili CONTENTS.
&c., 439.—On Entophytes, by Dr. Lerpy, 441.—On Infusoria on the Teeth, by H. I. Bownprrcu, 442.
Astronomy.—New Comet: Expected return of the great Comet of 1556, 442.
Miscellaneous Intelligence.—On the Gradual Production of Luminous Impressions Ey
the ie atte of Magnetical and Meteorological Instruments, 444.—Or
the Cause of the Diurnal Variations of the Magnetic Needle, by W. H. Bar-
Low, Esq., M.I.C.E., 445.—The Ruins of Nineveh, 447.—Oak Orchard Acid
' Spring Water, by H Erni, and Wn. I. Craw, 449.—On the Cause of Au-~ rore Boreales, by Aucuste pe LA Rive, 450.—Charleston aes of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 453.
Bibliography.—Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of i Science: The Annual of Scientific Discovery, or Year Book of Facts in Science and Arts, &c.; edited by Davin A. Wetts and Groner Briss, Jr.: Th Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena, by AtexanpEeR Keiru Jonnston, 454. —Lake Superior, its Physical Character, Vegetation and Animals, compared with those of other and similar Regions, by Louis AcAssiz, with a narrativeof the Tour, by J. Eruror Cazor, 455.—A Natural Scale of Heights, &c., con- structed by Miss Corrnurst: The East; Sketches of Travel in Egypt and the Holy Land, by Rev. J. A. Spencer, M.A.: Man Primeval, or the Constitution and Primitive condition of the human being, &c., by Jouw Harris, D.D.: A Systematic Treatise, Historical, Etiological and Practical, on the Principal dis- eases of the Interior valley of North America; as they appear in the Caucasian, African, Indian and Esquimaux varieties of its Population, by Dawret Drake, M.D., 456.—Transactions of the Society of Arts for 1846-7 and 1847-8: A Uni- versal Formulary, containing the Method of preparing and administering Eu cinal and other Medicines, the whole adapted to Physicians and Pharmaceu by R. Eacuesrexp Grirriru, M.D., 457
List of Works, 458.
Index, 459.
ERRATA.
Page 4, line 11 from bottom, for ‘ zinc,’ read ¢ wir P. 20, 15 top, for ‘ acid in chlorine,’ read ‘acid and chlorine.’ top, for *‘ Wutz,’ read ‘ Wur P.2 2 18, “ 6 “ bottom, for ‘ 1227-75,’ read * 1227-45,’ and erase first half of next line ee ae opt for Bigg! age 2957,
P. Bb, 17 Ps ‘ soda,’ read ‘ potash.’ £407, © 13 ee “Pecndonrphi read ¢ cs ed grea Sag 419, bottom tine, for date read ‘soda, and t
Vol. Vill, PEs , line 15 from to op, for Chester oP read ‘ Delaware Co.” * ‘ in table, bee see for ‘ Emerylite, Pocueylvaniia? peer ‘Mar- garite.’
‘ * a Loads read ‘ Emerylite. ag oe
“secon he! or the numbers of the analyses
4,5, mubstvate, 1,8, 4, 5,2 a Maer err p. 387, in formula of Kyanite, for ye mite goad ae Biz.’
“ p- 387, line 23 from top, for ‘ 775°,’
Ve JANUARY, 1850. ENO 28
Published the first day of every second month, price $5 per year. 7
RICAN JOURNAL
OF
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Twelve copies of every original communication, pu blished in this Journal, are if request ed at the disposal of the author. Any larger number of copies will be furnished at cost, - Aushors should: always specify at the head of their MSS. the number of extra copies — they may vis! p ms are dapigcyirs up.
“Notice always to be given when communications sent to this Scientia have been, oF are to be, published also in other Journals. i
Our Bish corespondent are requested to forward all Seana and prec to oe
GEOLOGICAL
AND
MINERALOGICAL SPECIMENS.
- KRANTZ, of Berlin, Prussia, begs ae to inform the scientific — tions and private collectors in this country, that eeps constantly on e = stock of minerals, fossils and rock-specime og enabling him to seuihas u
private cultivators of the mineralogical and oeeeet sciences among its custom- ers ing twenty years, kept pace with oo rapid progress of these branches of human knowledge; its travelers are constantly ‘en route’’ in all countries of Europe (one of them is now in the United States) and all efforts
to secure the acquisition of every thing new or interesting to collectors.
latest date with its ree recent discoveries. ‘ esides this standard collection, oth- lesirable extent, and arranged in one) snot system, can be fir : ty at m7 ete as the "adj oined catalogs es t
arvignetion of minerals, color, e, lustre, composition, etc., etc. pilcenas : useful. Seale of hardness, ontins iaree C. > abinets m — in Farry oper mahogany cases with drawers, joa vnind ich r case not larger than t et long by about one foot j in depth and breadth, gon one, j but very characteristic specimens, (price er 0 Cabinet. ild ) Minerals s for Chemists, for the kage, % i chemical sohelanas exercise of students in analyzin nium, Wolfra am, Tellaiom, . tanium, Mellite, ete., = the lowest pri 1 Ssanemd’d are provi with | 3 Ba od labels, in English, German and Fr : Orders for minerals and wakspoiailll should ia mention the size desired. — Fossils.—The number of species of il : ins, amounts to
permits, an the characteristic she
name ; Bi collections are generally arran cial purposes zoological
aske talogue eicine rices of casts of rare and interesting aihabel the original and forming a valuable
n is s particularly called to Mr. K.’s ei aa fw. "Sek in some pieces for beauty and completen ms of Euro; from : — fishes and Crinoidea of the same and uf 1 one eciaad or varieties “Of ‘rock-specimens are on hand, forming rima’ sedimentary rocks which form the known specimens of ety eae are of the’ same size
of countries interesting to geologists, such as PSs Italy, Hungary, Ramee and Sweden,
\ 2
CATALOGUE OF FOSSILS,
CASTS OF FOSSILS, ROCK-SPECIMENS AND MINERALS, © ;
aa a Oe gr
FOR SALE BY AUGUSTUS KRANTZ, Beruin, Prussia, 7 39 Briderstrasse. !
AMERICAN EDITION.
I. FOSSILS. 1. 30 species of fossil shells naa the modern rod fect, elevated on the | Sweden apwards 2 of 160 $ 350 @ m the pried basin of es a ties the tertiary formation.’ in Rhine and and Westpha -
es from the London clay of Hampshir hiteaid the Crag of Suffolk, 24 00 ate the tertiary of Maryland, Alabama and Virgini 18 00 es from the tert a ary deposits and the tertiary fivecstion of
26 00 cies from the pacts formation (Molasse) of Switzerland, 7 00 an a from the upper cretaceous formation of Belgium, . 20 00 i Bg 65 00
26 00
rom > cretaceous formation of ‘Booth ern France,
abs snl groupe halk: roca ectbiats or r povisgatl a in sta, Cephalopoda, etc.
Beeoors formation eee - epee
8 00
0 |
9 00 : er peainen nd of Hanover and erat of Roem 14 00
es: Vile, ‘Prien, Hall-
i 38 wn g o "@ aQ 5 = 8 ~ bec} ° 5328 4 g 3 oO
24. 150 species from the Jurassic formation Yorkshire,
25. 100 species from the Oxford clay of Moscow in Rt
26. 200 species from the Jurassic formati ie af — aria and’
27. 80 species from the Alpine limestone
28, 30s of fish-teeth, scales and bones, ot the the Tri
at Davee: and Wiirtemberg, 29. 30 different Saurian bones from the Muschelkalk of Ses 30. 40 ~ pein i: the Permian System of Thuringia ¢ Kupferschiefe
31. 100 species of foal plants (large size) from the coal-slates of Bohemia, and i
32. 75 — from the ; Porsaiask System and earboniferous lim
and the Ural Mountains,
33. 50 ieaies fo fiom the Mountain limestone of Ireland,
34. 80 species from the same formation in Belgium
35. 100 species from the Devonian rocks of the Rhine and a
3
36. 100 species from the same formation in the Hartz Mountain $14 00 37. 300 species from the Paleozoic rocks of the United States of hpapion: 70 00 100 ies from the Silurian group of Sweden and Norway, * 8 00 39. 80 species from the Silurian group ley in a i 40. 200 species from the apes Silurian group of Bohemia ‘ . 2400 41. 100 species of Trilobites, 30 00 42, yt se oh of a ‘including the genera " Atrypa, Calecola, Chonetes, Lepteena, Lingula, Orbicula, Orthis, Pentamerus, Pr ada ctu us, Spinfer, Di tg arpa s, Terebratula and Thetis... . 4400 43. =e pee of Cephalopoda, including the ra “A ites, Ancy- eras, so Polen ites, Clymenia, Conularia, Crioceras, Endo- ceras, Gonioceras, Goniatites, Hamites, — Nautilus, Onycho teuthis, Ortnoceratves, seaneumnid ay gr ites, Toxoceras “and Turrilite 75 00 Il. CASTS.
Persons wishing to mae casts, can be furnished with two plates of engrav- ings, representing t “them 1. Mastodon giganteum, PI. I Lower jaw com gt 74 pte “long f from the = of the Mis- souri Riv ver, : $6 00
4. ary itr Hyleosaurus — avia
: 4 different ve spk ty e Weald clay of ines: England, ‘ "The originals are in he, rae Museu 5. Pterodactylus erasirstrs Goldf., Pl. II, fig gs ces fro = - ithographie alaie: of Bavaria er . nal is is i pile —
ae a 12 feet long, "Of the bestll
sai cimen ever vate na found " . e a af Bo oll, Waseem Tg,
inal belon a Niyétrinsaurs longipes, Pl. i eleton from the sam cality, .. - . : e original in the tosperi seum at Vienna. 8. ener, species. Pl a Head of a small sized en from the sam e place, - : 150 ‘ i T Miser at Berlin. extremities A same locality, . . Pl. Il, fig. 2 eton ng, 9 00 specimen. PI i” fig. 3, 5 00 edius. , fig. 4. ——? and fins ey ge : : . ‘ 7 00 irostris. PI. II, fig. 9 ; 25
10-13 i in A. Krantz 8 cabinet. Pl. I, fig. 10.
0 75 in the Imperial Museum . Vienna.
ached, Conyb. PI. Skeleton ee 6 feet long, from the ‘Lis slates of ne in Somersetshire . 25 00
original i is in the British Museum.
osaurus, new 8 Be |
Head, perfect from Boll, ietisahien, ‘ : . ‘ 1 00
The original in A. Krantz’s cabin net.
4 Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zinc buried in the earth.
This then constitutes a most convenient and economical bat- tery. The first expense of the plates, without the connecting wire is about two shillings. The battery requires no attention — from day to day—involves no expenditure for acids—is perma- nent in its action—and appears to possess every desirable quality for a ag for short distances.
one of the preceding experiments was the wire which formad the circuit wound into a coil, but was stretched out into a long line.
Exp. 13. On the Ist of June, 1849, the galvanometer on the long circuit, Exp. 7, settled at 619: on the short circuit, Exp. No.2, — it settled at 66 6°. This is the same as was observed May 15th, , the day on which the zine plate was first buried; although in — one instance after a rainy day, an observation of 70° had been — recorded. The current during these seventeen days had been re- markably uniform
I now buried a second zinc plate twenty inches square by the side of the former one, at the depth of two feet beneath the sur-
' face of the earth, and connected the two plates by a short wire.
\
se he galva anometer on the long circuit settled at 664°; on the
short cireuit it settled at 72°. Thus it appeared that by the _ addition of the second zine plate which was considerably larger than the first, the strength of the electric current had been in- creased about one-third. The following experiments were performed to determine the influence of the size of Bemeppper plate upon the intensity of the current. Exps. 14 to 29. I detached ‘copper plates Nos. 2 and 3 from the long wire, and substituted for a a single copper plate forty- eight inches ays fourteen immersed it ithe well. The galvanome-
ter stood a I now divided the copper plate in twenty-four inches by fourteen i immer vanometer stood at 71 I thus proceeded to ‘vide the copper slate" it to three inches by a half inch; after which tirely rem ; then withdréw the zinc
th ae leaving a plate ithe well. The gal-
1 I had reduced |
In the following table, column second shows the of the copper plate employed; column third shows surface of copper i mmersed, ineluding both sides of the p and also the immersed wire; column fourth shows the observet aoe of the galvanometer needle; and column fifth ~~
tangent of the angle of deviation.
Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zinc buried in the earth. 5
No. of Size of the Copper surface Deviation of |‘Tangent of
Experiment.,| | Copper Plate. | immersed. Galvanometer.| deviation
14 48 inches by 14 1354 square inches. 74§° 3°668
15 2 = 14 682 715 2°989 4 16 12 7 14 346 ” 684 2507
7 6 ¥ 14 178 * 664 2-300
18 6 “ 4 94 . 644 2120
19 3 . i! 52 “i 624 1-921 .
20 3 ij 84 31 . 604 1-786
21 3 i 2 22 2 59 1664
22 3 = 1 16 ag 57 1540
23 3 xt 4 13 564 1511
Length of wire immersed, 4
24 6 feet. 108 S 56 1-483
25 54 « 99 “ 554 1442
26 3 « B4 « 464 1-063
27 : 18 “ 324 6
28 6 inches. Q°9 * 19 “B44
29 Pies 0-45 Ls 11 194
The law which these numbers follow is exhibited by the fol- lowing curve, in which the abscissas represent the amount of copper surface immersed in the water, and the ordinates represent the intensity of the electric current, maeailite the intensity to be — proportioned to the tangent of the angle of deviation of the gal- — vanometer.
wee il ger: f
u a lj 800 1000 1200 1400 ow the horizontal line represent the square inches of copper surface immersed : es represent the corresponding intensity of the clectric current.
Thus it appears that for plates less than one square inch, the
tT 8) $§
6 Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zine buried in the earth.
copper plate of three and one-third square inches, counting both sides, the surface of the plate must be increased fourteen fold; and in order to increase the current fourfold, the surface of the plate must be increased four hundred and twenty fold. In order to double the current again would probably require a copper plate more than sixteen feet squa
The following camadiiente were performed to determine how far the intensity of the current could be increased by multiplying — the number of galvanic elements. 3
30. I buried a plate of zine six inches square in the — earth at a distance of twelve feet from the well used in the pre-_ ceding experiments. The depth to the surface of the water in- the well was also twelve feet. A plate of copper six inches — square being attached to a wire and dropped into the well, the — galvanometer settled at 45°.
Exp. 31. [ then buried a second copper plate of the same_ dimensions in the earth at a distance of one inch from the first zine plate, and connected it by a wire with a second zinc plate which was immersed in the well by the side of the copper plate
and separated from it to the distance of half an inch by interposed
ey ‘The galvanometer settled at 58°. The tangents of 45° Or are in the ratio of ten to sixteen. In this ratio the in-— ‘ Hensity of the current had been increased by the addition of a— second pair of plates. ‘ Exp. 32. I removed the second copper plate to the distance — of fits inches from the zine plate which was buried in the earth. — The galvanometer settled at 50°. _ I then interposed between the — copper and zinc a third pair of plates of the same dimensions, — when the galvanometer settled. at 58°. This experiment did not afford much encouragement for inereasing the number of ee :
the soil was only eight inches deep, a flat s With one zinc plate in the earth and one cop the galvanometer settled at 26°.
Exp. 34, With a copper plate i in the earth” from the zinc, and a pair of plates in the well, 31, the galvanometer settled at 44°. The tanger 44° are almost exactly in the ratio of one to tw sity of the current was therefore doubled by the second pair of plates.
Exp. 35. I removed the second copper plate to the: twelve inches from the zinc which was buried in~ The galvanometer settled at 284°. I placed the copper pl inches from the zinc, when the galvanometer settled at 30° placed the copper plate five inches from the zinc when the vanometer settled at 33°. I then interposed a third pair of pl
Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zine buried in the earth. 7
when the galvanometer settled at 403°. In this experiment the three pairs of plates did not furnish the same intensity as two pairs in Exp. 34. By bringing the plates a little closer together some increase of effect would have been obtained; but although the experiment was several times repeated, nearly the same ad- vantage appeared to be lost in 5 ripen ag by the separation of the second copper plate from the first zinc, as was gained by the interposition of the third pair of sateas
Exp. 36. I took three pairs of plates six inches by seven, all well secured at distances of one-third of an inch from each other, The outer copper plate was connected by a wire with the zinc plate buried in the earth, as in Exp. 30. The outer zinc plate was connected with the copper plate buried one inch from the zine, as in Exp. 31. pon lowering the battery into the well the galvanometer stood at 62°.
Exp. I removed one pair of plates from the battery, the interval between the remaining ones being still one-third of an
pee when the galvanometer stood at 6029.
. 38. I removed a second pair of plates from the hattery, eiot only one pair separated by a distance of one-third of an inch in the well; and one pair separated by an inch buried in the earth, when the galvanometer stood at
Thus it appears that one pair of plates immersed i in the vey fer ;
affords a stronger current than two or three pairs. ‘The di f betyee — and three pairs is altogether trifling. Exp. 39. I removed the copper plate from 1 prouhll aiid the zinc ine from the well, when the galvanometer settled at 53°, The tangents of 53° and 70° are almost exactly as one to two,
This experiment therefore ia ) the same conclusion as Exp.
34, that with one pair o mits buried in the earth and one
immersed in the well, t tensity of the current is double of that furnished by a sin air.
Exp. 40-54. The following experiments were made to de-
termine the influ of the size of the zine plate upon the in-
WI I buried a plate of sheet zinc twelve
spot employed in Exp. A plate of
} hes by fourteen was attached to a wire and im-
mersed in ell. Upon connecting the two plates by a wire
the galva ster stood at 654°. I then er one-half of the
the galvanometer stood at °. I continued
» the zine plate and record i “Andiessions of the
s. Column second shows the dimensions of the zinc plate : oye: column third shows the entire surface of zinc buried in the earth, counting both sides of the plate; column fourth _ shows the observed deviation of the galvanometer needle; and column fifth shews the natural tangent of the angle of deviation.
8 Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zinc buried in the earth.
No. of Size of the Zine surface |: Deviation of (Tengen Experiment. Zine Plate. buried. meter. de viation, | 40 12 inches by 12 288 square inches. 654° 2-194 41 12 ‘4 6 144 ” 645 2097 42 6 x 6 42 _ 634 1-984 43 6 . 8 36 * 61 1861 44 ee 3 18 “ 58! 1-648 45 3 “ 2 12 i 57 1540 19 46 $28 1 6 ¥ 534 1351 47 2 x uf 4 7 524 1:292 48 er 1 2 * 493 L171 49 cena 4 1 “ 45 1:000 50 Gate } 4 « 424 0-916 51 4 ss 4 4 he 374 0°767 52 4 > 4 $ 3 314 0615 53 — 4 1s 264 0504 54 oe t 35 ‘4 24 (445
Exp. 55. In several of the last experiments the solder with | which the copper wire was attached to the zine plate covered a considerable portion of the zinc surface and impaired the effect of the plate. I therefore cut a strip one-tenth of an inch wide from: | thin sheet zinc and soldered it to the end of acopper wire. When — is was inserted two inches in the ground and connected writt
Ne the bes dsr settled at 174°.
i bers follow is exhibited by
the abscissas represent the et
0 ae 150 200 numbers below the horizontal line represent the square inches of zinc surface b the dotted vertical lines represent the corresponding intensity of the electric current.
Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zinc buried in the earth. 9
amount of zine surface buried in the earth, and the ordinates represent the intensity of the electric current, assuming the inten- sity to be proportioned to the tangent of the angle of deviation of the galvanometer.
From these experiments it appears that a small wire of zinc inserted half an inch in the ground affords a current half as strong as a plate an inch square; and a plate one inch square affordsa current more than half as strong as a plate one foot square; so that even less advantage is gained by 1 a the surface of the zinc plate than the surface of the copper
Exp. 58. I took a strip of sheet zinc feels of an inch wide and twenty inches long, and having soldered to it a copper wire sixty feet long, inserted it vertically in the ground near the Philosophical Hall. Upon dropping the end of the copper wire, Exp. 7, seven hundred and sixty feet in length, into the well without any plate attached, the needle settled at 382°. This current worked the telegraph with promptness ‘or, efficienc
The following experiments, No. 59 to 65, were tried with the electricity of the common machine.
x . A Leyden jar having a Pian of one quart was charged with the electricity of a common machine, and the charge passed through the long nanan used in Exp. 7. The jar
rested upon a table with a wire attached to the zine plate under-
neath it. Upon bringing the wire attached to the copper
pi ‘. near to the knob of the jar the charge pageedt apparently without
difficulty.
Exp. 60. Tapplied my left hand to the outside of the jar which rested upon the zinc wire as before. Ou bringing the other wire which I held in my right hand near the knob, the jar was aeaeer and I receive da severe shock.
Exp. pe circuit No. 2. I again received a shock, but much feebler than
a cirenit through which the jar was discharg- > experinents, offered so much resistance to the
passage of the fiuid, that at least a portion of the charge preferred rout e e through my body. In order to determine
earth, the follc wing experiments ware tried.
Exp I took a copper wire ,'; of an inch in diameter and one hundred and twenty feet ional and arranged it round the Philosophical Hall so that I could discharge ‘a jar through the enti length or any portion of it at pleasure. When I discharg-
ed the jar through thirty feet of wire, I perceived not the slight- shock, although I held one end of the wire in my right hand,
_» and with my left hand clasped the outside of the j Jat.
Ropgen Gxasae, Vol. IX, No. 25.—Jan., 1850.
-
*
10 Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zinc buried in the earth.
Exp. 63. When forty feet of wire were introduced, the shock would not probably have been noticed, if it had not been a par- ticular object of attention. Wit sixty fet of wire the shock
as so slight that it might have escaped notice under ordinary circumstances, but when I clasped the wire very firmly in my hand, the shock was quite decided. With one hundred and twenty feet of wire ae shock was felt in both my wrists and slightly up to my elbow
xp. 64. In order nie ‘obtain some measure of the amount of resistance which this current was capable of overcoming, I took two cat-skins prepared for electric experiments with their fur upon them. One of them was lined with cotton cloth, cotton batting and silk. I doubled each of the skins and laid them to- gether so as to make four layers of fur, the whole being nearly an inch thick when well cofnpressed. When I discharged the jar through the short circuit, as in Exp. 61, my right hand being protected by four thicknesses of fur, I perceived no shock. |
Exp. 65. When the jar was discharged through one hundred and twenty feet of wire as in Exp. 63, my hand being protected
by four thicknesses of fur, I received a sensible shock. With
six thicknesses of fur I perceived no shock, except when some part of my hand or wrist was allowed to come within an inch of the unprotected wire, in which case I received a severe shock, although I held eight or more thicknesses of fur in my han
Similar experiments were tried with from one to two hundred folds = ny and with similar results.
ength of wire employed in Exp. 65 was but slightly gibt than the wire employed in Exp. 64; and was considera- bly less than the entire circuit employ ed in that experiment incelud- ing the earth. Hence we must conclude that the twenty-seven feet of earth included in the circuit of Exp. 64, offered no appre- lectric fluid. It is infer- red, therefore, that the resistance detect d in Exps. 60 and 61 was due mainly if not entirely to the lengtt of Wire in the eireul " It is remarkable that the electricity of a singlet zine plate should traverse this long circuit so freely, while the electricity of a eharged jar seeks in preference the circuit through the human body, although protected by a considerable thickness of, the poor- est conductors known. i
The following experiments were made to determi inte ence of the length of the conducting wire upon the tay | of the current.
Exp. 66. I attached a copper plate fourteen inches ihe twenty- four to the end of the wire which was immersed in the well. 1 then added six hundred and thirty feet more of wire, Pane the length of wire in the circuit felted hundred and fifty feet
esha
| q
| Prof. Loomis on Electricity of Zinc buried in the earth. 11
so that the entire circuit, including the four hundred and seventy- five feet of earth, was one thousand nine hundred and aranty: five feet. The galvanometer settled at 694°.
Exp. 67. I united the zine wire, Eaxp. No. 58, instead of the zine plates, to the long copper wire, making the length of circuit P the same as in the last experiment; when the galvanometer settled at 474°.
Exp. 68. I detached five hundred and ten feet of wire, leav- ing the length of wire in the circuit nine hundred and forty feet.
hen this was connected with the zinc plates, the galvanometer settled at 693°.
Exp. 69. I detached three hundred and seventy more feet of wire, leaving the length of wire in the circuit five hundred and seventy feet; when the galvanometer settled at 7
Thus it appears that when the length of the aa was doubled, the intensity of the current was but slightly impaired, which favors the conclusion that the current thus generated might be employed for telegraphing to considerable distances. Mr. Vail succeeded in telegraphing from Washington to Baltimore with such a battery. The size of the plates employed in his experi-
Exp. 70. I substituted the zine wire for the zine plates on the © F same circuit as in Exp. 69, when the galvanometer settled at “ame
eS SS = a = A
. 71. Teconnected the zinc plates | with copper plate No on the short circuit, Exp. No. 2, when the galvanometer ssi at 724°. Exp. 72. I substituted the zinc wire for the zinc plates on the id circuit, when the ealgepometer settled at 4
The preceding experiments were all completed by the 25th of June, and no further expe ” el were made until Peplemess
Seana:
rved to increase after a ce . It does not ap- r however that on the whole the intensity I diminished dur- ese five mouths, and it is remarkable that the last observa- was the highest made during the entire period, but the ground is at this time unusually wet in consequence ot a recent rain.
12 Geology of Canada.
Arr. I.— Geology of Canada.
From the Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Science, at Cambridge, August, 1849.
Mr. T. S. Hunt, of the Geological Commission of Canada, made an oral communication upon the results of the geological exploration of that country, and showed by the aid of a map, the general distribution of the formations and their relation to the rocks of New England. The following is a summary of his
remarks.
In presenting the report made by W. E. Logan, Esq. to the Provincial government, embracing the results of the survey of
1847-8, I beg leave to offer a brief sketch of the results which have been developed by himself and his assistants. The feature which first claims our attention in looking at the geological struc- ture of this country, is a formation of syenitic gneiss, often passing into mica schist, and interstratified with crystalline limestone, which forms a ridge of high land extending from the coast of
Labrador along the north side of the St. Lawrence, at a distance of
from twelve to twenty miles from the shore, until it crosses the
Ottawa, near Bytown, whence it is traced across lake Simeoe to heichiies of Lake Huron, where its northern limit is observed near the mouth of the French river, while it again appears at the southeastern extremity upon Matchedash Bay. Resting upon this are a series of rocks forming the whole north coast of the lake and numerous small islands. It is made up of sandstones, often coarse-grained, and sometimes becoming conglomerate from the ese beds are ... with slates, and one or more bands of limestone. ‘The slates are green- ish, and highly chloritic, often coutaini they assume the character of conglomerates, from the presence of pebbles of syenite. The formation is much cut by greenstone i 2d
ese beds contain metalliferous quartz veins, of which t of this region are examples. Resting unconforr tilted edges of this formation, aud in other places direc the sonthern limit of the syenitic gneiss, appear the sil irian rocks, identical with thage which are found in New York, and cot peninsula betwe ake Huron and Lake Ontario. # with the rock designated in the New York no Potsdam sandstone, we have upon the Manatoulin I a the coast between the aludiieiteah Bay and Sarnia, a vellipline posure of those formations known as the Trenton limestone, U slates, Loraine Shales, Medina sandstones, and the Niagara |
Geology of Canada. 13
stones, with the rocks of the Clinton group. All of these are well characterized by their respective fossils, and are spread out quite undisturbed at a very gentle dip of about thirty-five feet in a mile. The thickness of these rocks, as exhibited in a section across the — Grand Manitoulin and La Cloche Islands, was found to be from
‘ the base of the Potsdam sandstone to the top of the Niagara lime- stone, 1,273 feet.
Passing to the east, we find that the syenitic rocks have divid- ed near where they cross the Ottawa, and taking a southward course, are spread over a considerable extent of country between the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence. Crossing this river below Kingston, they constitute the greater part of the Thousand Isles, and are extensively developed in the northern counties of New York.
The country thus bounded on the west and north consists of a broad valley of twelve to twenty miles on the north, and thirty to forty miles on the south side of the St. Lawrence, which at its southwestern extreme, includes the valley of the Richelieu and the northern part of lake Champlain. On the southeastern side of this is a mountain belt of from twenty-five to thirty miles in width ; this is the prolongation of the Green Mountains of Ver-
and Notre
EE a PM nrcrcne ame | J “ Z 4 a
to mont, which further north constitute the Shickshock Pr Dame mountains of Gaspé. This mountain range, coincident | with the course of the river, is bounded at its southeastern base | by a valley of gently undulating land, from twenty to thirty miles an width, which may be traced from the upper part of the Con- , necticut river to the upper portion of the St. Francis; thence by the eastern branch of the Chaudiére to the Riviére de Famine, a tributary of the Chaudiére, the valley is continued in the course of the St. John’s until further on, it falls into the valley of the Risti-
2d quite into the Baie des Chaleurs. The
“mountain range, and the same geological
formations appear continuous without. If a line be drawn from St. Scholastique, upon the north shore of the Ottawa, passing forty miles S. E. to Montreal, and thence ‘the Connecticut river, in the north of Vermont, we
county of Beauharnois, where it spreads out toa cousidera- € width, and passing into the state of New York, divides against the syenftic formation. Sweeping around its base, one portion
ses up the valley of the St. Lawrence, and the other is devel-
q
14 Geology of Canada.
oped in that of Lake Champlain, where it is recognized as the Potsdam sandstone. ‘To the northeast it probably skirts the base of the syenitic rocks, and has indeed been observed at the Falls of the St. Maurice, but owing . the great anil of tertiary deposit which fills the valley, the opportunities of examining it are but few. The next rock upon the line of section is a limestone, very silicious at the base, but pure and thick-bedded in the middle, gradually becoming bituminous and shaly toward the top. This formation, exposed at a very moderate dip, constitutes the greater portion of the island ot Montreal, and crossing below to the north side of the river, is lost beneath the tertiary sands and clays. 'To the south, it sweeps around the extremity of a trough, until it reaches St. John, where either turning over an anticlinal or affec- ted by a dislocation, . turns up the west side of the Richelieu and runs into New
This formation is Fs by its fossils to be referable in its lower part to the calciferous sandstone, while the upper beds are the Trenton limestone. It contains interstratified greenstone trap, sometimes amygdaloidal, which constitutes the mountain of Mon- treal. Resting upon this limestone is a set of black shales which appear on both shores of the river before Montreal, and constitute some islands in its bed. ‘To the south, these shales, which are the Utica slates, follow the course of the limestone, keeping the east shore of the Richelieu, and spreading out to a consider- able breadth, constitute the region of country between the mouth of Lake Champlain and Missisquoi Bay. To these succeed a series of shales, bluish and grayish, arenacious, and more or less calcareous, which are evidently from their fossils the Loraine shales. These are seen upon the Richelieu at Chambly, upon the Yamaska near St. Hyacinthe, and in several other points along the line of strike. They present a considerable breadth, and are not improbably kept at the saris by some little undula- tions. Succeeding these, after tw tertiary sands, appears a saiatisins of the ' which have been traced from Philipsburg, upon the line of Ver- mont, through the Seigniory of St, Hyacinthe, to Deschaillons, where they cross the St. Lawrence, -_ are exposed again upon the northern shore. ‘These are follow ed by a repetition of the Utica slates and Loraine sles 3 which flank the limestones upon the St. Lawrence, and are exposed at various points along the strike. Upon the Barbue river, in the Seigniory of St. Hyacinthe, occurs what appears to be a small trough of higher rocks, consist- ing of heavy greenish sandstones, interstratified with red and chocolate-colored slates, sometimes mixed with green bands. These red slates are highly ferruginous, and sometimes —_ traces of oxyd of titanium. Near the line of Vermon
succeeding the Trenton limestone, the extremity of a “similar |
Geology of Canada. 7
trough of slates and sandstones, more or less calcareous, which is prolonged into Vermont. In Yamaska mountain a mass of trap lies in the line of the St. Hyacinthe sandstones and red slates and brings up on its flanks similar sandstenes and bluish and greenish slates, with a crystalline yellow-weathering limestone. The sandstones near the tra rap contain mica and plumbago.
These rocks, however, are not seen upon the line of section, but in their strike occur the bluish and grayish calcareous and arenaceous shales, which are followed by light greenish and ash- gray slates, interstratified with gray sandstones. Following these appear the réd slates with green bands and their accompanying sandstones, which are sometimes finely conglomerate and more or less calcareous, often containing mica and graphite. These are associated with bands of a greenish chloritic Simian, hold- ing small portions of oxyd of chromium in some form, and near the base, with one or two beds of greyish limestones. South of this section line, the strata on each side of this deposit converge, but northwardly the breadth gradually increases, and seems to show that these rocks form a trough more or less disturbed by undulations. Following the western side of the trough, the slates with their accompanying sandstones, crossing the St. Francis, are seen at St. Nicholas on the St. Lawrence, and in the rear of Point Levi near Quebec. On the eastern side, the slates are followed to Roxton, where affected by an ee they sweep r towards Shefford Mountain, and thence are traced to Inverness on the Becancour, accompanied by hi He gir limestone, already mentioned as associated with them at the base. Beyond these, on the line of section, are a set of gray and black clay slates, with thin-bedded sandstones and limestones, which although present-
those
efford, w described as carrying” the sandstones to the east; thence upon another anticlinal across the Nicolet, where the dark slates and
around into a narrow anticlinal valley which vith the other anticlinals, and is continued to the ) the township of Sut a contains two great masses of trap, which e and Shefford mountains, and appear to have disturbed and ijered the rocks to a considerable extent. South of these. intrusive rocks we have first upon the section, greenish aoa eke clay slates, followed by a belt of silicious and calcareous which vary from a somewhat arenaceous limestone to a feebly calcareous sandstone. ‘These are seen in some places divi- three bands by the intervention of clay state, probably lations, which produce repetitions.
The limestone is dolomitic, and is cut in all directions by great numbers of quartz veins; it sometimes contains garnets, and is F associated with iron and copper pyrites. At the distance of about } a mile is another band of limestone precisely similar, and accom-
nied, like it, with slates and quartzose beds, which seem to be j altered sandstones, and make the first high lands of the mountain district. ‘This ridge, with its two bands of dolomite, appears to be synclinal, and it is traced about ten miles from the province line, where it dies out. Here another hill about half a mile to the 8. E., apparently an anticlinal, takes up the same measures.
To these succeed a series of more or less quartzose chloritic rocks, with an imperfect slaty cleavage. They seem to be alter- ed sandstones, which upon their western border, where the alter- ation has been less profound, still present their original structure. Following these, appears a band of limestone resembling the last, bi often divided into two or three belts by green chloritic or gray
ose slates, interstratified with beds of an impure specular iron . ae more or less mixed with chlorite and often titaniferous. limestones sometimes contain green and purplish tale and occa- sional crystals of chromic iron; they are marked by the same quartz veins as before. About two miles farther ron, a precisely similar belt occurs, and the interval is filled with taleose, sblbeisia and epidotic slates, associated with bands of magnetic and spec- ular i rac The epidote forms little nodules, and is often associa-
th quartz ; rutile with specular iron .is sometimes found : coyotallized 4 in quartz veins. From this, extending to the Sutton valley, which is the su d prolongation of co —— is about a mile of hard quartzose rocks slightly chlorit
Another section is presented pon the St. Seneetiel which cuts the rocks nearly at right angles; it shows the dark colored slates and limestone supporting greenish silicious slates, followed by a belt of brown:-weatheting dolomite, ‘interstrati tified and accom- panied with purple sandstones and red sl to which succeeds at a distance of about a mile, another belt of li one, with quartzose bands. e intermediate rocks are nines, and conglome- t rates, often almost pure quartz; southeast of ae a are | seen two or three miles of chloritic rocks, wit es of epidote e, with veins
16 Geology of Canada.
pe
slate. ‘To this sneceeds an extent of heavy quartz rock, slightly talcose, and another band of dolomite interstratified with talcose slate, which is followed by the same fine greenish silicious slates as were obeerved's n the western n side. — these are fou nd
Geology of Canada. it
lithological characters, shows that they are on opposite sides of a syncelinal.
On the line of section, about a mile beyond where the Sutton dolomites would cross, occurs another belt of dolomite associated with soapstone and green chromiferous talc. In its strike we
while on the southeast is a narrow band of green serpentine. Another dolomitic band occurs a little farther, associated with green tale, serpentine and soapstone. It has been followed for a considerable distance, and in one place consists of soapstone with patches of dolomite, which in the distance of about three hundred yards on the strike, passes into a band of dark green serpentine with soapstone. At other places in the strike, the soapstone is associated with chromic iron, and in one place a bed of magnesite with chromiferous tale. ‘These appear to constitute a trough, and the interval is filled with coarse quartzose chloritic slates, occa- sionally epidotic, with imbedded crystals of magnetic and specular iron; mica and feldspar are not unfrequently met with. Following this, the rocks for the next five miles are coarse chloritic micaceous schists, often feldspathic, passing into gneiss, and in some places, very quartzose. About three miles on the line of section, is a band containing tale and calcareous spar, the latter making a considerable portion of the rock, which is staine¢ green with oxyd of chrome. East of this the rock is more feld- spathic and contains small crystals of tourmaline. These meas-
feet above the St. Lawrence. A valley in the line of the chro- miferous calcareous rocks divides the mass into two ridges, one of which dies down very while the other crosses the line of section and is lost miles farther north; this region still
of the western portion. On the eastern side of this range occurs a belt of soapstone and has been traced at intervals a distance of twen- west borders of the Missisquoi. On the west by a quartzose chloritic band, asseciated with a licious rock of a corneous lustre and fracture. In the strike of the serpentine further north, dolomite is found. On the east side of the river, at the distance of a mileand a half from the former, another serpentine band occurs; the interval is filled With slates and gray quaitz rock, with some beds of chloritic and epidotic rocks and a curious jaspery quartz rock containing epi- This band of serpentine has been traced one hundred and thirty-five miles from the province line across the Chaudiére, to the township of Cranbourne. In some parts, it seems to pass into cond Senres, Vol. IX, No. 25—Jan., 1850. 3
E
- eeous and associated with quartzose beds, and others very talcose
18 Geology of Canada.
or is associated with a diallage rock, and in others to be a mixture of quartz and serpeutine. Like the western band, it is accom pa- nied with soapstone and contaius veins and disseminated grains of chromic iron. §
Beyond this occur clay slates with beds of white, compact ji quartz of a scaly fracture and horny lustre, containing often im- bedded diallage, hornblende, pyroxene or feldspar ; sometimes the
rock is nearly homogeneous, but at other times grains of angular, hi transparent quartz show clearly its conglomerate character. This a rock accompanies the serpentine throughout, and constitutes a |
range of mountain peaks, one of which, Orford Mountain, is more than four thousand feet above the sea. Beyond this still, on the ine of section is a band of impure dolomite, which farther north in the strike is replaced by soapstone, magnesite, and serpentine ; a similar band is seen again after an interval of a mile, filled with gray slate and the corneous rock.
To these rocks follow gray fossiliferous limestones interstrati- fied with calcareous slates, which form apparently two narrow par- allel tronghs, one on each side of Lake Memphremagog. On the : erst side, at Georgeville, they are followed by gray and black glossy slates, and then by talcose and chloritic slates, often mica-
in the strike of ae upon the lake appears a band of serpentine, ever hy fine: silicious talcose slates. From the position o
ese rocks, there appears evidence of a great dislocation which se divided the fossiliferous troughs and brought up the corneous rock in a mountain mass on the west side of the lake. Evidence of an anticlinal in this line is found in the dip of the fossiliferous limestones near the quartzose rocks farther on in the strike. Be- | yond these rocks, east of Georgeville, highly crystalline limestones appear, which however still display ~ that admit of identifi-
The remaining twenty miles of the section to the Connecticut exhibit these crystalline micaceous limestones, interstratified with suft micaceous slates; the calcareous beds predominate for a few miles, but the calcareous matter finally gives . to silicious,
and the slates become stronger. Some of the prior argillaceous rt contain chiastolite, and others exhibit hornblende and gar- nets. ‘The limestones are more or less micaceous, and often very | erystalline; some are quite white, while others are grayish or : blackish, Even the most crystalline present on their weathered surfaces the forms of eucrival dises and corals ; i in several
the Riviere de Famine, the rock, which is here less sol
i i : ;
Geology of Canada. 19
fossiliferous beds appear to be near the base of the formation. The rocks of this valley, southeast of the corneous range, are often pierced with masses of a fine-grained, beautiful granite, which forms large dykes and often considerable areas, displacing the caleareous formation. A range of granite-topped hills bounds the valley on the southeast, to the sources of the Chaudiére, and constitutes the height of land.
he facts which we have stated seem to show that the sand- stones and red slates with their chromiferous chloritic bands, are identical with the dolomitic, chloritic and quartzose rocks of Sut- ton valley, and these with the serpentines and quartzose rocks of the valley of the Missisquoi; so “that the whole of the Green Mountain rocks, including those containing the auriferous quartz veins, belong to the Hudson River group, with the possible addition of a part of the Shawangunk conglomerates.” The fossiliferous rocks of the St. Francis valley are evidently Upper Silurian and re- ferable to the Niagara limestones; a similar formation has been met with at Gaspé and traced one hundred and fifty miles 8.W.; and from the similarity of the Notre Dame to the Green Mountains and the fact that the Hudson River rocks are continuous along the St. Lawrence to Cape Rosier, we may conclude that the Up- per Silurian rocks will be found continuous, or nearly so, throngh- out. They constitute the calcareo-micaceous formation of Prof, Adams, which he has traced nearly to the southern line of Ver- mont. Resting upon this formation in Gaspé is a body of arena- ceous rocks, seven thousand feet thick, which apparently corres- pond to the Chemung and Portage group of New York. with the old red sandstones. As this formation is found extending quite to the Mississippi, it is probable that it will accompany the Silu- rian rocks through New England and surround the coal fields o New Brunswick, of Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. To this may perhaps be referred in part the rocks of the White Moun- tains, which may sweep around the Western border of the Massa- chusetts anthracite formation until lost under the super-carbonifer- ous rocks of the Connecticut River. The limestones of Western New England seem to be no other than the metamorphic Tren- ton limestones of Phillipsburg, while the chlorito-epidotie rocks and serpentines of Sutton valley appear again in the rocks of southern Connecticut between these limestones and the new red sandstone. With such a key to the structure of the metamorphic rocks of New England and of the great Appalachian chain of which these form a part, we may regard the difficulties that have long environed the subject as in a great degree removed, h bold conjectures as to their metamorphic origin which have been from time to time put forth, fully vindicated.
20 Ash Analyses.— Product of action of Nitric acid on Woody Fibre.
Arr. III.—Ash Analyses ; by Jno. A. Porter. [Read before the Cambridge Scientific Association, Sept. 27, 1849.]
Tue following analyses of the ashes of hay, oats and the refuse of the whiskey distillation from potatoes, were intended as the starting point of an investigation which had for its object the cou- sideration of the proportions and relations of the salts contained in the food, and in the liquid and solid excrements of animals. This investigation was interrupted by circumstances, but as the analyses have a certain valne independent of the special object for which they were intended, they are here made public. ‘The method employed was, without material variation, that of Fresenius and Will, (see Fresenius’s quantitative analysis). The alkalies were
determined by the indirect method, that 1s, weighed together either .
as sulphates or as chlorids, and the quantity of each calculated from that of the sulphuric acid in chlorine found in the mass.
Potato refuse. Oats.
SiO, 2-84 53°97 30-01 so, 6°10 0:49 2-11 PO, 16:78 We de 15:43 co, 12-27 —— 0:68 KO 38:52 12:94 20 80 Na OQ. 4:47 2-02 10:85 Ca O 5°19 3-00 8:24 MgO 7:33 7:08 4-01 Fe, O, 50. 0 60 1:83 NaCl 400. “ing —. 5:09
9900 = 97-45 99-05
The hay was from the grass commonly known as bluetop. 4
Axr. IV.—A Product of the action of Ni ric Acid on Woody Fibre; by Jno. A. Porter. © [Read before the Cambridge Scientific Association, Sept. 27, 1849.]
Tue occasion of the investigation, the results of which are here giv pp in the Aunales de Chimie etde Physique,* of an article by Prof. Sace of Neufchatel, Switzerland, on the fune- tions of pectic acid in the vegetable kingdom. He supposes that woody fibre is a product of its transformation, and that the retrans- formation of woody fibre into pectic acid takes place in plants, under certain circumstances. That the latter transformation is
en, wasth in
* Ann. de Chim. et de Phys., [3], xxv, 219-230, -
Product of action of Nitric acid on. Woody Fibre. 21
possible he conceives himself to have proved, by subjecting woody fibre to the action of nitric acid, the product of such action being a substance which he regards as pectic acid. From this in connec- tion with other circumstances, he infers the probability of the same change under the influence of certain agencies in the living plant. The grounds presented by Prof. Sace for believing that the substance above mentioned was pectic acid, are scarcely suffi- cient. The object of the present investigation, ane at the suggestion of Prof. Liebig, was to decide this
Prof. Sace’s process was repeated, and the sie of the sub- stance obtained were compared with those of the substance ac- knowledged as pectic acid, obtained from aeenipa: The latter was prepared according to the method of Chodnew
2UU grammes shavings of white pine were oe some hours with 2 kilogrammes nitric acid of commerce and 400 grammes distilled water, and the white pasty mass that resulted washed | out with water, likewise distilled. Prot. Sace found a sample of the mass thus obtained, perfectly soluble in dilute ammonia, and it was this substance dried at 212° F. that he subjected to analy- sis. ‘The mass obtained by myself was not perfectly soluble in Water containing ammonia. A substance of syrupy consistence remained in small quantity upon the filter. ‘The whole ayers was therefore treated with ammonia and the solution filtere afterwards precipitated by hydrochloric acid. The onaatileaia was washed out, at first with slightly acidified water, then with pure water and finally with alcohol. After pememy drying at 212°, this substance was of a reddish gray colo
Adi fference in its behavior and that of the ‘pecite acid from turnips is observable on washing out with aleohol—the latter be- comes fibrous on being primed with the hand ; the former retains its slimy consistence.
The following are the felts of the comparison of the two Substances dried at 21
The pectic acid is slightly soluble in boiling water and its solu- tion coagulable by sugar or alcohol. The substance from w is on the contrary insoluble 1 in water.
he pectic acid is easily soluble in alkalies and reprecipitable
by acids as a perfectly transparent jelly. The substance from Wood is difficult of celsdch in alkalies, and the precipitate, at first transparent, contracts rapidly to white translucent flocks. From a solution more strongly alkaline it is pean as a light white powder ; this was not the case with the acid.
The alkaline solutions of both i a Be are precipitable by alcohol. Either substance boiled with excess of potas ash loses after a time its property of being precipitated by acids.
* Annalen der Pharmacie, li, 355.
22 Product of action of Nitric acid on Woody Fibre.
The behavior of alkaline solutions of both substances toward bases is, as far as observed, similar. The silver, lead and copper salts, for instance, possess a similar appearance.
Hither substance treated with hydrochloric acid, imparts a red color to the liquid. Sulphuric acid acts similarly, at the same time blackening the substance and giving off the color of cara- mel. ith moderately dilute nitric acid their action is different. The pectic acid is partially transformed into mucic acid, which separates on cooling as a white crystalline powder, and is further recognizable by its insolubility in alcohol and its difficult solu- bility in water. This action was observed by Frémy. Chod- new obtained no mucic acid, probably because too concentrated acid was employed. The substance from wood, boiled with acid of the same concentration, is gradually transformed into oxalic acid ; the solution yields no precipitate on cooling.
The substance employed in the following analyses was dried at 212°, then p ilverized and afterward dried again at 212°, until there was no farther loss of weight. It contained no trace of
. hitrogen.
Its per-centage of ash was determined in two portions.
I. 05390 grm. yielded ash, 00020 grm. =00-37 per cent. If. 0-4768 “ e * 00018 “ =00-38 per cent.
Mean, - - - - ~ 00-375 per cent.
Three combustions of the substance were made with chromate of lead. The results were as follows:
I. 0°5583 grm. yielded 0°3847, CO, and 0-2925, HO.
If. 03531 “ Wi eosO,. . “0-1 O
III. 0-4602 “ {ee §. OF
The composition in hundred parts, calculated from these anal- yses, taking the ash into account, is as follows:
I. 1. % Il. GC’. | B38 eee. 43-16 H : Son =. ‘o7 5: a wre 50°39 ~~} 51-06 The formula C,, H,, O,, expresses very accurately this com- ition : 3
Mean of analyses. Calculated from formula. 43:393 ; : 43°44
C H . ‘ 5863 : : 5°88 O . : 50°744 ‘ ‘ 50°68
The only grounds presented in Prof. Sace’s paper for believing that the substance analyzed by him was pectic acid, are its ap- pearance, its ready solubility while yet moist in ammonia, and its property of being precipitated from this solution by acids. Its
ye
A he.
W. De la Rue on the Navicula Spencerii. 23
composition is not such, for the quantity of hydrogen it contains is much greater than that found by any investigator in the sub- stance acknowledged as pectic acid. The mean results of Chod- new’s analyses of this acid, to which those of Prof. Sacc most nearly approach, are as follows—for couvenience of comparison, Prof. Sace’s results are given in the second column, my own in
the third:
C : 4222 = ave 9 43°39 H 521 593 5:86 O 52:55 52:14 50°75
Chadnew’s formula is C,, H,, O,,=C,, H,,0,;.
Prof. Sacc’s “ « Oca ses Wil aes
The results of my own analyses of the substance from wood differ from those expressed by the latter formula, principally in the larger amount of carbon found; they differ also as widely from those obtained in any analysis of pectic acid. My further reasons for believing that the substance is not such, are, first, its different behavior on washing with alcohol ; second, its insolubil- ity in boiling water; third, the form of the precipitate obtained from a solution in excess of alkali; and finally, the fact that while pectic acid is partially transformed into mucic acid on being boiled with nitric acid, this is not the case with the substance under consideration. 2 geo
My further conclusion from the investigation is that the real
formula of the new acid is J Rhy Dias
Arr. V.—On the Navicula Spencerii ; by Warren De va Roe. (In a letter to the Editors, dated London, August 28, 1849.)
Some time since, my attention was called to an article, in your Journal, for March, 1849, from the pen of Prof. J. W. Bailey, enti- tled, “Some remarks on the Navicula Spencerii, and on a still more difficult test object ;” as this article contains some strictures on the description® of the markings on this Navicula observed by Mr. Marshall and myself, I trust, you will allow me an opportu- nity of replying to Prof, Bailey, in your valuable Journal.
I avail myself of this opportunity to correct Mr. Quekett, with respect to the nature of the markings observed by us ;—he says, “Mr. De la Rue has further made out that the dots are not pro- jections from the surface, but are either perforations or depres- sions ;”—now this is precisely the reverse of what I wished, but apparently failed, to convey to Mr. Quekett, in a conversation
with him, respecting this and some others of the Navicula-
* See Quekett on the use of the Microscope, page 440 and plate ix.
i)
ie a
24 W. De la Rue on the Navicula Spencerii.
cee ; the markings of some I hold to be depressions, but those of N. Spencerii to be wart-like prominences.
With this correction, | proceed to answer Prof. Bailey, first pre- mising, that 1 bear most willing testimony to the strong feeling of justice and absence of national prejudice, which pervades all the letters written by that gentleman to my friend, Mr. Marshall, whenever he speaks of the labors of English opticians ; likewise the absence of any wish to eulogize Mr. Spencer’s productions, at the expense of others. It is not, perhaps now, an unfitting occasion, to state that English microscopists have, during a long
een much indebted to the kindness and zeal of Prof. Bailey, furnishing them, through the medium of the gentlemen favored by his correspondence, with any new objects, his inves- tigations might have brought to light. I mention this, in order to show that the highest esteem is entertained by the English micro- scopist for Prof. Bailey, and that it is unlikely that he would be charged directly or indirectly, “ with underrating the Euglish mi- roscopes,” or with any wish to “ overrate the merits of Mr. Spen- cer’s, or the difficulties of N. Spencerii as a test object ;’? more especially by those who have, like myself, had an opportunity of seeing portions of his correspondence relating to the subject.
As [ hold, that the difficulty of the N. Spencerii has been un- willingly overrated, if the exhibition of its markings, as mere lines, be the only test of the powers of an oct a I should be wanting in candor, if I did not record my o
Not having taken part in the anvidapoiderits quoted by Prof. Bailey, I do not, in any way, hold myself answerable for the oppo- site impressions, it may tend to convey ; it is not however a ques- tion, of what this or that observer is capable of showing with a given object glass, but what the ‘glass can really be made to do. With one exception, I believe that none of the object glasses, spo- ken of by Prof. Bailey’s London correspondent, were incapable of resolving the Navicula; the fairness of which reference I hope to establish. The exception [ allude to, is Mr. Marshall’s own glass, which, on careful examination, we found to be defective ; and, in consequence, it was placed in the hands of the maker.
I will now as briefly as possible, state my acquaintance with the N. Spencerii, in order to show that any difficulty in resolving — posi was not due to the object glasses possessed by th “ Lon
It was a A batquentiy to the rig dated 2nd June, 1848, quoted by Prof. Bailey, that I heard of the Spencerii, when Mr.
object from America, which he would be glad of an opportunity of examining with me, as he could make nothing of it; an mn Op yor Inity soon presented itself and we met at my house. —
| :
W. Dela Rue on the Navicula Spencerii. 25
The object alluded to, was a slide of the N. Spencerii mount- ed in balsam, and sent over to Mr. Marshall by Prof. Bailey ; two rings marked with a diamond, indicated two objects to be exam- ined. The test having been illuminated with oblique light, from a lamp with and without the use of the mirror, was examined with a Ross’s ;;th having only an aperture of 90°; this ebject- ive had been in m possession for some years, and was far infe- rior to those Ross was furnishing, with an aperture from 115°
*
Very little difficulty was now experienced in bringing out sep- arately both sets of lines most distinctly, by illuminating in two different directions. We now attempted to examine the object with a Ross’s ,';th, of 110°; but, owing to the thickness of the 4 coveriug-glass, we could not get it on the object ; as it was an ; only 2 gp we did not deem it advisable to change the cover- ing-glass
In consequence, Mr. Marshall undertook to write to Prof. Bailey, to request the favor of a little of the deposit, in order to mount t fresh specimens, both dry and in balsam; the former with the
| view of studying the nature of the markings under the most fav- orable circumstances.
I believe Iam right in saying that the first parcel which arrived was lost by an accident; at all events, it was not until the 14th of August. 1848, that Mr. Marshall had prepared specimens with covering-glass sufficiently thin for our large aperture ;';ths. — that day he wrote to me, “I have prepared two sides for you, one in balsam and the other dry, they have,been both evaporated on bi covering-glass which is exceedingly thin. * * * * I should
to go over the slides 1 have prepared, and particularly the ios mounted one, for the purpose of resolving it, if we can, by direct light. The Bank is so disturbed by the heavy omnibuses that your own quiet room is the best place, and if you should be disengaged some evening, I will go to your house, taking with me se" slides and two or three others which I have for your cabine
Reva to his Felting the above, we had succeeded in
owing the markings with a ~ aperture 4th inch objective of Ross's make, having an aperture of 80°. This fact was com- municated verbally to the vpeehinc 4 Society, on one of the ordinary meetings, by Mr.
aving again met at iy eae we examined the dry and Isamed specimens; as we were well acquainted with the N. angulata, we at once proceeded with the view of ascertaining
= s Si ae St a *
* Mr. Ross, some time back, succeeded in making a coset with an cache of _ 1359, in which the aberratio ns were well corrected. It is now in the possession of Dr. Leeson,
Szconp Sznms, Vol, IX, No. 25.—Jan,, 1850. 4
26 W. Dela Rue on the Navicula Spencerii.
whether the N. Spencerii had similar dot-like markings ; to deter- mine this was a matter of greater difficulty than to resolve them into cross lines; but, after working for about an me the dry specimen was most satisfactorily resolved; and the dots s exhib- ited on that occasion we did not succeed so well in : ae in the markings of the balsamed specimen. Direct illumination was used on this occasion, the illuminator being a 4th inch object glass of 60°.
It appears that Mr. Marshall communicated in his letter of the 18th August, 1849, quoted by Prof. Bailey, that the dry specimen had been resolved into dots, and that ere long, he hoped to report the resolution of the balsamed specimen ; this has been since re- peatedly accomplished, but, whether recorded or not by Mr. Marshall, I cannot sa
I feel I am warranted in pronouncing the markings of the Navicula Spencerii shown as lines, not to have been a difficult test for the object glasses of the ‘‘ Londoners” at the time of its arrival. It appears it was so, however, for some observers, and Prof. Bailey drew from his correspondents’ letters the. very fair in- ference, that the instrument was at fault and not themselves ; he supports, ererer my conclusion, when he states that the micro-
n the hands of their r possessors, had failed to show the ai itees. sod resolved them in his.
With regard to the measurements of the distance of the marie ings, fixed by Prof. Bailey at values so widely different from my own, I have to remark, that I delayed answering his communica- tion, in order to repeat my measurements with everypossible pre- caution
Prof. Bailey states the distances of the markings to be from rrvsasth tO g5y'sazth of an ineh, whilst I assign to them a value of from ;;4,;,;th to ae 4 of an inch, (from centre . — of the spots.) That the measurement given by me
t very wide of the truth, I will proceed to show, and I Scliews that Prof. Bailey, on reference to his notes or on repeating the measurement, will trace out the cause of the error he has fallen into
My previous measurements were made with a ruled microm- eter, used with a positive eye-piece, the value of whose divisions had been rigorously estimated by comparison with a micrometer of ;,';,th of an inch, placed on the stage of the microscope. have now repeated the estimation by a different, and I believe . ageeptd method to that I employed before, viz., by illumina-
ing the object to show alternately the markings as cross and icmeendion lines, and then drawing them, by the aid of a small toe reflector, shown at page 129 of Mr. ‘Quekett’s work. Re-
ing the microscope in exactly the same position, I removed i object, and placed on the stage of the mi oe ig a mi-
W. Dela Rue on the Navicula Spencerii. 27
crometer of ;;',;th of an inch which I sketched on the paper ; having by comparison roughly estimated the value of the mark- ings, [ then selected two sets of lines from Nobert’s test. slide,
The drawing of the markings, that of the micrometer of sa'ssth of an inch, and those of Nobert’s series, were compared together by taking a sufficient number of lines in a pair of di- viders, and the distance of the markings thus ascertained. This Operation was repeated, first with an eye-piece, magnifying 1200 diameters, then with one magnifying 1900 diameters. The dis- tances of the cross markings from two different sides of the shell, estimated with the first eye-piece, was ;;!,,th and ;z!,,th res- pectively, with the second eye-piece, the distances for the same part of the shell, were ;<},;th and ;;3,,th respectively. The longitudinal markings in both cases I found to be ;,4,;,th of an inch. All these values are from centre to centre, and are suffi- ciently concordant, amongst themselves and with those previously given, to establish my measurements beyond doubt. The differ- ence in distance between the cross and longitudinal lines, accounts for the greater difficulty one experiences in resolving the latter.
Measurements of the markings of the hippocampus gave the following values: for the distance of the centres of the cross markings sath of an inch and for the longitudinal ;534,th of an inch; these were fully confirmed by comparison with Nobert’s lines of ;3/7;th and ,,1;;thof an inch,
In order that others may be able to judge of the reliance to be placed on the values here given, I snbjoin the following measure- ments of some of Nobert’s lines, and the real values assigned by esc ; these were made without knowing at the time Nobert’s values: °
73 ch;
Lines to the inch (English).
De la Rue Nobert. De la Rue Nobert. eaeel 11261 32000 32175 13043 13056 37037 37537 15200 15426 408 16 40950 17647 18163 43103 42982 20454 20475 45045 45016 23666 | 23461 47468 47619 27272 28153 50000
I would wish here to record my admiration of the skill of Mr. Nobert, who has ruled at my request a series of progressive lines, fifteen in number, running from 11260 lines to 56300 lines to an inch, and a separate band on the same slide of 112613 lines to the inch, besides other series very useful to me in comparing with
ie cee
-
28 W. Dela Rue on the Navicula Spencerit.
pense ; these have some of the finer series crossed at angles and 120° respectively, and afford a good control of the i a one’s conclusions respecting the nature of their ——— All the straight bands, with the exception of the last, can made out by “oblique light with my quarter of 80° before slluded to. ‘The last series of Yeealve of an inch I can see to be lined, on using a ;;th object glass of 110°, but up to the present mo- ment, I have not satisfied myself that the lines I see do not com- prise two of the real lines. It is, at all events, worthy of experi- mental inquiry, to ascertain whether the physical properties of light donot put a natural limit to our resolving lines so close as the ;5;';;;th and the ;,,'s;;th of an inch, quoted by Prof. mers the celebrated Fraunhofer maintained that this was the case After what I have said, in the commencement of this commu- nication, it is hardly necessary for me to state that I quite agree with Prof. Bailey, that the markings on the Spencerii are due to the allinement of prominences; I moreover concur in his views res- pecting the difficulty of deciding on the real nature of the mark- ings, on objects so minnte as ‘the Naviculacee. One thing is owever quite certain, that a much inferior glass, provided it have a sufficient angle of aperture, will suffice t o show even both sets
of lines at one time, than that required to ee them out as dis-
tinct dots without any blue or fuzziness. Bringing out both sets of lines at once is to me a well know phenomenon and quite dif- ferent from the exhibition of markings by the image of a lumin- ous object brought to focus in the plane of the object.
I must not be understood to affirm positively that Mr. Spencer’s glasses will not do this, for I have never had an opportunity of examining one. On a late occasion a recent objective of Spen- cer’s was however tried in my presence by the possessor on the N. angulata, but, though very excellent, it did not equal our English twelfths. Judging from Mr. Spencer's. roduction, I feel assured that he is a man of too much merit to feel hurt at this criticism.
As [am unacquainted with Mr. a. new test, I cannot speak as to its difficulry.
would recommend* Natchet’s condensing prism to the atten- tion of all microscopists engaged in the examination of lined ob- jects; it brings out the dot-like markings of the N. Spencerii with remarkable force, even in balsamed specimens. It consists of a prism, which, by two internal reflections and the inclined convex surface of its summit, condenses light at an angle of 35° on to the object. By mounting it in such a way that it may be tee Cae as brought to a focus, it answers all the purpose
g’s stage.
* Mr. Natchet is an optician resident in Paris
Prof. Dewey on Caricography. 29
The feat with the hand tube mentioned by Dr. Bailey is surely rather a tour de force for the observer, than for the objective o the “ Yankee Backwoodsman ;” who, if report speaks truly, is a highly educated American gentleman, with taleuts and acquire- ments sufficient to remove any obstacles to the attainmeut of a position amongst the first opticians of his day.
Art. VI.—Caricography ; by Prof. C. Dewey. (Continued from vol. viii, p. 350.)
No. 241. C. lupuliformis, Sartwell, lupulina, Muh., var. polys- tachya, Schw. and Tor. in Mon. Cyp. Tor., No. 132, p. 420.
Spicis staminiferis 1-3 ohlongis, snprema longo-pedunculata squamas lanceolatas acutas habente, inferis perbrevibus sessilibus subbracteatis: pistilliferis 3-5 longo-cylindraceis superne aggre- gatis subsessilibus, infima nunc subdistante nunc remota exserte ongo-pedunculata, folioso-bracteatis sublaxifloris; fructibus éi- stigmaticis globoso-ovatis inflatis teretibus scabrostratis sessilibus Striatis glabris bicornibus, squama ovata cuspidata plusquam duplo longioribus. oe
Culm 2-3 feet high, erect, large, smooth on its angles, wit long leafy bracts and with the lanceolate rough-edged and reticu- late lsaves surpassing the culm; stamiuate spikes 1-3, cylindric, slightly bracteate, with long lanceolate scales, the upper spike 2-4 inches Jong and pedunculate, the lewer short and sessile and rarely androgynous; pistillate spikes 3-5, cylindric, 2-3 inches long, clustered above and nearly sessile, erect or slightly diverging, the lowest often quite remote and long exsertly pedunculate, all with leafy bracts and the lower sheathing; stigmas three; fruit globose-ovate, tapering into a long and serrulate and two forked beak, quite sessile ; pistillate scale ovate, cuspidate, scarcely half as long as ‘the fruit; achenium rhomboid with a prominent node on the angles. F
Differs from C. lupulina, Muh., in its much longer and more numerous spikes, its globose ovate fruit, closely sessile, with its serrulate beak, its ovate scale, its rhomboid and nodose achenium, its nearly bractless staminate spikes, its general and glabrous ap- pearance, and its coming to maturity near a month later. It Seems not to be U. gigantea, Rudge, which has been considered another form cf C. lupulina. In several respects the plant now described differs from these two like C. Grayit, Carey, from C. intumescens, Rudge. ;
Found about lakes, ponds and marshes in the northern states and Canada—not very common
30 On the Nitrates of Iron. No. 242. C. torta, Boott. C. acuta, Schk. Tab. Ff, fig. 92 6.
Spica staminifera unica, interdum binis, cylindracea ; pistillife- ris ternis vel pluribus longo-cylindraceis sublaxifloris, basin par- vis et sparsifloris, apice substaminiferis, superne sessilibus, inferne pedunculatis, divergentibus vel recurvatis; fructibus distio-mati- cis ovatis utrinque convexis, superne teretibus acuminatis et inter- dum recurvatis, squamam lanceolatam subobtusam interdum su- he i seepe pears an
Culm near two feet high, erect, rather slender, eiqaetTone: scarcely rough on the acts leafy towards the base ; leaves ceolate, smooth or soft, shorter than the culm ; lower bract iii as the culm, the upper shorter or nearly wanting ; pistillate spikes usually three, sometimes four, long, slender, sometimes enlarging upwards, very sparse-frnited towards the base of lower spikes, recurved i in maturity, and the lower pedunculate, the upper ses- sile; stigmas two; fruit ovate, convex on both sides, short or long tapering upwards to a point and some recurved ; pistillate scale lanceolate. obtusish, narrower than the fruit, black with a green keel, sometimes longer, but more ‘commonly a little shorter than the fruit; culm and leaves light
Grows in wet places over the United "States This plant dif- fers poor from the European and American form of C. acuta, L.,
as properly described as a distinct species by Dr. Boott, the Bistingt en secretary of the Linnean Society. It is probable that Schk. derived his figure, No. 92 6, from American specimens, and in his time he might reasonably consider the plant to be a variety of C. acuta, L. It is not C. acuta var. sparsiflora, D.
Art. VII.—On the Nitrates of Tron and some other Nitrates ; by Joun M. Orpway,* of the me ae Laboratory, Mass.
Sesquinirrate of iron may be easily obtained in the form of crystais by taking advantage of the fact, that this salt is almost insoluble in cold nitric acid.
When metallic iron is svexadoulty added to nitric acid of sp. gr. 1-29, copious red fumes are given off, and the liquid assumesa greenish hue, till nearly ten per cent. ‘of iron has been taken up.
reach. Indeed, respecting the com Fes is mportance in Aeriog the vd gps
us “azotate ferrique” is mie et re Physique, as “ “dun brun
] } j | | |
a > o
On the Nitrates of Iron. 31
A farther additioft changes the color to a dark red, and if the action be continued still longer, a rusty precipitate forms. If we stop short of this last point, and add to the product its own bulk of nitric acid of sp. gr. 1:43, an abundant crop of erystals will be deposited on cooling below 60° F. The same result may be at- tained by evaporating the greenish liquid, and adding acid enough to insure a considerable excess, before setting the solution aside to cool. If the first crystals are brown, they may be purified by redissolving in nitric acid, with the aid of a gentle heat, and allow- ing again to crystallize.
The crystals thus obtained, have the form of oblique rhombic prisms, which are either colorless or of a delicate lavender color, but when dissolved in water, yield a yellowish brown solution. They are somewhat deliquescent and very soluble in water; while ata temperature below 60° F., a weighed quantity was not wholly taken up by over tweuty parts of nitric acid of sp. gr. 1:37.
At about 117° F., this salt melts into a clear, deep red liquid, which in one trial remained fiuid till cooled to 83° F., when the heat developed by solidification, quickly raised the thermometer to 116°.
The composition of this substance, as indicated below, affords. reasons for supposing that by its admixture with a bicarbonate, an intense cold might be produced. Such proved to be the case, for when two ounces of the bruised crystals were stirred up with one ounce of pulverulent bicarbonate of ammonia, the thermom- eter introduced fell from 58° to —5° F. Previous cooling is at- tended with an increase of effect. é
These experiments, being very tangible, would furnish excel- lent illustrations of the principles o e
A small quantity of the melted nitrate kept hot for several hours by means of a water bath, yielded a perfectly dry, dark brown, deliquescent powder, containing some water and one half the original amount of acid. More acid may be expelled by a moderate heat, but to drive off the last portions, requires a tem- perature approaching to redness. ne j
he well drained crystals afforded by precipitation with am- monia 19-8 p. c. of peroxyd of iron, and 100 grs. boiled with carbonate of baryta, gave a liquor which with’ sulphuric acid
smes rectan- erhaps the rectangulaire was a mistake, for in several ‘ have obtained forms variously modified but all referable to the ob- lique rhombic system. In one huge crystal which ha n many months in forming,
th a view to obtain more light on the subject, have y not be altogether uninteresting, and are, I trust,
32 On the Nitrates of Iron.
* yielded 86:5 grs. of sulphate of baryta, indicatirlg 40-104 p. c. of
dry nitric acid. Hence the formula is probably N, Fe +18H, which would give in 100 parts ;—nitric acid 40-095, peroxyd of iron 19°819, water 40-086.
Basic nitrates —A liquid is used in cotton dyeing, which is prepared by adding iron turnings to pe till the solution assumes a very dark red color. A fair sample of this solution, of sp. gr. 1-478, was found by analysis to contain five equivalents of nitric acid to two equivalents of sesquioxyd of iron, A portion of the same placed in contact with metallic iron, remained clear until nearly enough iron had been taken up to form a sesquibasic
nitrate, ( N, Fe ,) when a —, precipitate began to appear, whose exact nature it is difficult t
A full sesquibasic idtvaner was formed by adding crystals of the nitrate to the proper quantity of freshly precipitated oxyd of iron. And proceeding by the same means, but with slow and cautions steps, as into an unknown region, I was successively astonished by the discovery of soluble basic nitrates containing to three equiva- lents of acid, two, three, six, eight, twelve, fifteen, eighteen and pees on equivalents of base, respectively and then, from the
ith which the union took place in the last, I suppose ants limit Riche: Yet this liquid was found to bear the addition of a small quantity of lime water, without change.
On arriving at these remarkable results, the question naturally came up, whether there were any chances of error. But on ex- amination, no foreign substance was detected, and the analyses of the six, twelve, fifteen, and twenty-four bagic compounds, agreed so nearly with the syntheses as to remove all doubts
ich of these bodies have claims to be reg arded as true titi compounds, there seems to be no clue but fansioay to de- termine. hey all form intensely deep red liquids, which are not altered by dilution, nor by brisk boiling, provided the evapo- ration be not carried too far. By spontaneous evaporation they leave a very dark red powder, perfectly soluble in water. That left by the dodecabasic nitrate, was not deliqnescent, and lost 30 p. c. of its weight by ignition. Hence its empirical composi-
tion would be N Fe, +9H.
When cotton cloth is dipped in any of ides solutions, and dried, the oxyd of iron becomes permanently attached. Indeed the adhesion of the base to cotton fibre, renders filtration through paper exceedingly slow
Since spring and river water, and the solutions of most salts, are rar with the twenty-four basic nitrate, it was found necessary to use an abundance of distilled water for washing the
oxyd used in its preparation. So intense was the color of this
.
*
On the Nitrates of Iron. 33
liquid that, though containing only 3-4 p. c. of oxyd of iron, two *
rops imparted. a perceptible tinge to a pint of distilled water. In trying the reactions of various subtances with it, all the iron appeared to be immediately thrown down by muriate of ammonia, chlorid of sodium, iodid of potassium, chlorate of potash, sul- phates of soda, lime, zine and copper, nitrates of potash and soda, and the acetates of baryta and zinc. Precipitates formed more slowly with the nitrates of ammonia, magnesia, baryta and lead. Tartrate of soda furnished a precipitate soluble in ammonia. Ferrocyanid of potassium gave a dark peat-brown precipitate without the least tinge of blue. Ferrocyanid of potassium gave likewise a rich peat-brown precipitate. Tincture of galls afford- ed dark brown flocks, and on standing some time, the supernatant liquor turned black. Alcohol, acetate of lead, acetate of coprer, cyanid of mercury, nitrate of silver, and arsenious acid caused no change.
With the tribasic nitrate, muriate of ammonia, chlorid of sodium and nitrate of soda produ ced no effect ; while the sulphates threw down all the iron, prussiate of potash struck a blue color, and tincture of galls gave a black.
Nitrate of Alumina.—Nitrate of alumina crystallizes from a concentrated and somewhat acid solution, in colorless oblique rhombic prisms, whose height i is generally small in proportion to their width. They are deliquescent, and very soluble both in water and in nitric acid. The crystals, like those of the other sesquinitrates, can be best dried by spreading them on an absorb- ent surface, and placing the whole under a bell glass, along with a shallow vessel containing on acid.
The salt was found to melt at 163° F., into a clear colorless liquid, which began to ccyatal when eooled down to poet the thermometer rapidly rising, at the same time, to 102°. melted mass parts with its acid much less rapidly than the tee of iron. One ounce of the powdered salt mixed with one-half ounce of inceieinate of ammonia, lowered the thermometer from 51° to -
100 vt pretty dry crystals, yielded by ignition 13-7 grs. of ainiices Distillation with sulphuric acid gave 42 p. c. of nitrie acid, and by boiling with carbopate of baryta, 42:42 p. c. was
separated. The numbers corresponding to N, Al+18H, would be in 100 parts :—nitric acid 43-17, alumina 13-68, water 43-25.
Nitrate of alumina appears to form with the hydrate, a series of salts similar to the basic nitrates of iron. But they have not as yet been fully examined.
Nitrate of Chrome.—Nitrate of chrome crystallizes with diffi- culty in warm weather, but I have succeeded in obtaining two crops, one of them presenting the form of the wae rhombic
Seconp Serres, Vol. Ix, No. 25.—Jan., 1850.
34 J. Wyman on the Engeé-ena.
* prism, and the other a very deeply modified variety of the same. These crystals have the changeable purple color peculiar to the salts of chrome, and their solution in water is of the same hue while cold, but becomes green when heated..
This salt fused at about 98° F. into a deep green fluid, which began to assume the solid state when cooled to 75°, the ther- mometer rising thereupon to 96°. If heated to redness, it under- goes complete decomposition, leaving a bulky oxyd of a beauti- ful nee color. composition of nitrate of chrome was found by analysis to rai nitric acid 39: 7 p.c., oxyd of chrome 19 p.c. Calculation
=! >
from the formula N, C1+18H, gives: nitric acid 40-44, sesqui- oxyd of chrome 19: 13, water 40-43.
No experiments have been made on the basic salts.
Roxbury, Mass., Oct. Ist, 1849.
Arr. VII[._—A description of two additional Crania, of the En- gé-ena, ( Troglodytes gorilla, Savage,) from Gaboon, Africa ; y Jerrries Wyman, M
“Rend before the Boston Society of Natural History, Oct. 8d, 1849.
ime evillenes now existing of a second and gigantic African species of man-like ape, as appears from published reports, con- sists of the following remains :—1. Four crania in the United States, two males and two females, of a large portion of a male skeleton, and of the pelvis and of some of the bones of a female. hese were the first remains of this animal which had been brought to the notice of naturalists, and were described in the Boston Journal of Natural History.*—2. Three other crania sub- sequently discovered exist in — ‘and have been made the subject of an elaborate memoir by Prof. Owen, in the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London.t—3. Quite recently, Dr. George A. Perkins, for many years an able and devoted laborer in the Missionary enterprise at Cape Palmas, W. Africa, has brought to the United States, two additional crania, one of which is depos- ited in the Museum of this Society, and the other i in that ao eo
* See Proceedings of the Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., Aug. qs 1847 ‘ao a ele
scrip- tion of characters and habits of stage are? gorilla, by Thom avage, M.D., ya Memb, Bost. Soc. Nat. His “ and 0 Ostoology of the oti by Jeffries
Wyman, M.D., Bostc nm Journ. Nat. ist., we Osteologial nama to Re Natural | ikiory' ‘f ae Siete one ( Troglo- a large s
off,) in cluding the description of the skull species, (7. gorilla, nie discovered by Thomas 8. age, M.D, i “thy Gabon gy West by Prof. Owen, F.RS., &e, Read Feb. 22, 1 Zoolog. Society of
25, Vol. iii, p. 381, 1849,
\
J. Wyman on the Engé-ena. 35
Essex Institute in Salem. Both of these have been referred to me for the purposes of description, and it is the object of this com- munication to notice the more important anatomical features of this the largest of African Quadrumana, with regard to whic ne information is desire
Cranium I. Mate.—This belonged to an adult Engé-ena,* as is sdaliian deci the fact that the teeth are all perfectly developed ; yet not to an old one, as appears from the circumstances that the
Tap the crania of r sri of = be ot and of the cranium of a cx abe a Pcaae in -sariohg ae tenths.—Nos. 2, 6, 7 an e in inches and — ‘Troglodytes g¢ ee i i ed Males \Fe s. Male. |Female. Man
| L pat TT, VV 7 Vil.| Vill. | 1x. (a ing of Peon mgt ai Pont to 11-2114 lio 0 10291090! 80 | 79 | 96 Greatest breath across post-audit- 6 * 6: eH 6: ‘ 5 ‘ 52:56) 50 | 46 | 6-4 Sma lest aineter behind orbits, 2° 5 3°3 29 27| 25/24) 26 | 28° | Sa]
across zygomatic } ie 66 nl 64 55/53) 60 | 48 | 57 Diameter thon outside the middle )
su mprecrten i dge,
|
From occiput to most proveihent L| ng « 65) 63'61| 54 | 58 | 72 i ve | |
From sup. orb. ridge to edge of in- Bz . thiive siventua dg | 48) | 57 60 40 | 44 | 85 Breadth of zygomatic fossa, L718 | 1-9, 1:8, 14/15) 13 | Ve | bl Inter-orbitar ‘space, Fl] 13 [1-2 1:1) 10)1-1] 08 | 07 | 12 Trans erse diameter of orbits, 15) 19 | 18 16 14/16) 15 | 16 | 16 “hacer ea £16) 17 es 1-6) 14/17} 1g | 18 | 18 alate Pr ts) i edge of inca alveols ute oy et ‘Shs Bion eto v4)
From anter r edge of foram: “ 1 ara outer edge of i ‘abliive ; . eolus, | ioe L and V. were the ones bevtight by Dr. Savage to this country—II, V1, VIL and VIIL are the crania described by Prof. Owen; IIL and IV. are the crania ium 0
net, Specimen No.
a : fae of the Boston Soc. for Med. iapeoetsict See Datalogie of Society's 61)
This cranium does not agree with that figured by Prof. Owen in his memoir (Pl. Ixi.) i in the exclusion of the orbits from view
* Prof. Owen des ignates T. gorilla as the “Great Chimpanzée.” The M s testa mu tubing the ona “4 the Gaboon 2 a this species the Engé-ena, a more arabl as the: impanzée has been always associated with the black
36 J. Wyman on the Engé-ena.
by the prominent malar bones when the skull is seen in profile, but as was the case in those discovered by Dr. Savage, the nasal bones are wholly, and the orbit in part brought into view. In none of them is it more excluded than in the first figures of our me- moir. The great ridges above the orbits, which are so widely de- veloped in 7. niger, are still more so in the present species, an in the specimen now under consideration sustain the former state- ments with regard to them. Prof. Owen remarks in connection with them, “the prominence of the whole supra-orbitar ridge reaches its maximum in the present species and forms the most marked distinction in the comparison of its skull. with that of man.” (Memoir, p. 405.
Aulinel —I have shown ina former communication from an examination of several crania of the Chimpanzée, that nearly all the sutures are completely obliterated early during the adult pe-
riod.* From acareful examination of the six crania of the Engé- . ena to which I have had access, there is every reason to believe that an early coosification takes place in them also. In the skull now under consideration, which it is to be remembered, has not long
d the adult period, the frontal, the sagittal, the coronal, the squamous portion of the temporal sutures, all those in the tempo- ral fossa as well as the transverse portion of the lambdoidal are no longs persistent. The crania which have been examined by Pro or some of them at least, indicate an opposite state of rime To ascertain, therefore, the value of cranial sutures as specific signs, it is quite obvious, that a large number of crania of different ages must be critically examined.
Inter-mazillaries. —T hese bones so important as zoological in- dications are completely codssified with the maxillaries and with each other. No indication of asuture exists between them and
the last mentioned bones either on the external surface below the nasal opeuings, or in the roof of the mouth. I was not able to find any indications of the ascending portion of the intermaxil- lary bone which articulates with the nasals, until led by Prof.
Owen’s description to make a more careful search. Although externally there was no mark which would lead an anatomist to infer its existence, yet within the nasal cavity at a short distance from its margiu, the edge of the process was easily detected, 1
not having become coéssified in that region with the adjoining
ne. The extension of the intermaxillary upwards as far as the ossa nasi, so as to fon the lateral walls of the external nasal orifice,
restate all caalanmteneeioeric EON ens cts aac nee
* * Boston Kosch of fe Tiel Ay
J. Wyman on the Engé-ena. 37
pointed process. The enlargement of this process in the En- gé-ena,* so as to form an extensive articulation with the nasal bones, inasmuch as it is a repetition of what exists in the lower quadrumana and nearly all the mammalia, must be regarded as an index of degradation.
Ossa Nasi.—Prof. Owen, in his memoir} on the Engé-ena, in speaking of the sutures between the nasal maxillary and inter- maxillary bones, says, ‘it is remarkable indeed since these sutures remain so distinct in the adult female skull and the two adult male skulls, in the Bristol Museum, that no trace of them should have been detected in either of the four skulls taken to America
y Dr. Savage, in which the ossa nasi are described as being firmly codssified with each other and the surrounding boues,” (the concluding words of the above sentence he does not quote, viz., “but their outline is sufficiently distinct.”) In the cranium brought by Dr. Perkins, the consolidation of these boues is equally complete and their ontline is but indistinctly traceable.
In the crania formerly described, the ossa nasi form, on the median line, a sharp elevation or crest; in the specimen figured by Prof. Owen, (PI. Ixii,) this is represented by a more rounded and convex ridge, “and thus offering a feature of approximation to the human structure which is very faintly indicated, if at all, in the skull of the 7’. niger.”{ In the cranium now under con-
eration, when compared with the Plate above referred to, the convexity is still more remarkable, and will bear a more favorable comparison with the “bridge” of the nose in some of the huma races,
The expansion of the nasals above, where they are interposed between the frontals, as described by Prof. Owen, was overlook- ed in my former description, only very faint indications of sutures tfemaining. Ona more careful examination, the outline of the portion of bone interposed between the orbitar process of the frontals js indistinctly traceable in the male skull discovered by Dr. Savage, and in both of the crania bronght to this country by Dr. Perkins; and in all of them, on a line with the upper extrem- ity of the ascending process of the superior maxillary bone, at the point where the nasal bones become the most contracted, there exists an equally strong indication of a transverse suture, which Separates the portion marked 15/ in Prof. Owen’s figure from the true nasals, and equally distinct indications of this suture exist in his figure just referred to. ‘Thus we have strong ground or the supposition that the part marked 15’ by Prof. O. may not
the expanded portion of the nasals but an additional osseous element intercalated between the frontals. In this event my orig- Di ee
* This is very distinctly shown in PI. lxii. of Prof. Owen’s Memoir. t Op. cit., p. 420, $ Op. cit., p. 393.
38 J. Wyman on the Engé-ena.
inal description of the ossa nasi, “as having a more triangular form than in the Chimpanzée, the apex being more acute,” still holds good. If, however, the bone referred to prove to be a por- tion of the nasals, we shall have in this another index of inferi- ority to the Chimpanzée, as it is a repetition of what is met with in the lower quadrumana.
Teeth.—The molars alone remain, the incisors and canines having been lost. The length of the grinding surface of the molar teeth is 29 inches, the two rows being nearly parallel to each other. This is true of the alveoli, though the crowns slightly diverge from each other posteriorly in consequence of a inclinatiom outwards. Nearly all of the cusps of the teeth are
rfect, those of the first molar being the most worn, as woul naturally be expected, it being the first which is protruded. The inner cusps of this tooth are worn nearly to the base; the outer are but slightly abraded, and the same is the case with the mner cusps of the second molar; with these exceptions the points of the different crowns of the molars and premolars are entire.
In comparing their grinding surface with that of the human jaw, one cannot but be struck with its greater extent, with the much greater development of the outer row of cusps, and the high ridge which on all three of the molars connects the outer
.
buried in its bony cavity, the roots not having as yet been de- veloped. In the configuration of its grinding surface it did not conform with either of the other teeth. lute.—By reference to the table of measurements, it will be seen that the space between the incisive alveoli and the edge of the hard palate is much greater proportionally than in the Chimpanzée. The median suture has disappeared and only slight indications remain of a former suture between the maxil- laries and the ossa palati. The emargination on the middle of the edge of the palate is much less distinct than in either of the other specimens which I have examined, or than in that figured by Prof. Owen. The Vomer has the same thin and delicate structure as in the other crania and does not meet the ossa palati at the posterior edge.
Cranial capacity.—In studying the anatomical characters of
this and the allied quadrumana with reference to their zoological position, nothing can be more desirable than to have accurate knowledge with regard to the structure and dimensions of the brain, for this may be regarded as one of st i of all
ae
i eT Ss
SPF Te ee ee:
ee ca ne ae
eee
J. Wyman on the Engé-ena. 39
the tests of elevation or degradation. The bodies of the adult an- thropoid animals so seldom fall into the hands of the anatomist, that it becomes extremely difficu}t to accumulate observations on the actual condition of this organ. In the comparative study of hu- man crania with reference to national peculiarities, much light has been derived from accurate measurements of their internal capacity. hese may be readily obtained and form a very important sub- stitute for the actual dimensions of the brain itself. In the sub- joined tables I have given the results of the measurements of all the crania both of Engé-enas and Chimpanzées to which I have had access while writing these remarks, and as they have been repeated in each case several times over, they may be regarded as nearly accurate. ‘The capacity of the third cranium is alone doubtful; a portion of the occiput having been destroyed, render- exact measurement impracticable, corer it is believed that the result can differ but little from the tr
Taste IT—Cranial capacity of adult Sigal.
Cubic inches. I. Male from Dr. Perkins, . : 34:5 II. Male from Dr. Savage, . : , 28:3 IIL. Male from Dr. Perkins, : j . 2802 IV. Female from Dr. Savage, é ‘ 250 Mean of the four crania, . i . SBOs Taste I1].—Cranial capacity of adult Chimpanzées, Be Cubic inches. I. Female, . : ‘ ‘ . . 260 Il. Female, : : . tagals ‘ 24:0 Ill. Female, . : A : . 22:0 Mean capacity of three skulls, i 24:0 Cranial capacity of young Chimpanzées. IV. First dentition complete, 200 V. First eae complete ‘but the sutures obliterated to a less extent than in the recadindl ; : 18-0
The above results clearly sitionks that ce exists a wide Tange in the cranial capacity of the Engé-enas, oranee to nine cubic inches, when both sexes are included in the observation, While it would be desirable to have the Hedchsewietiss of a much larger number, we still have evidence for concluding, that in the
gé-ena, as in man,* the capacity of the cranium of the male is
eral gathough re female brains exceed in we ight particular maki brains, the ewer
Is sufficie oe howl that the adult male <——* is heavier than that of the female, th being from 5 to 6 0 rom the examination of 278 male brains pees of 191 females, “an average vous } is deduced of ya * for the oz. for the female.” Quain and Sharpey’s, Quain’s Anatomy ;
edited by Seay Leidy, M. LD, Vol. ii p. 185. Philadelphia, 1840.
AO F. Wyman on the Engé-ena.
larger than that of the female; the smallest male skull of the Engé-ena measuring twenty- eight cubic inches, and the female only twenty-five cubic inches.
In Table ILI, the three adults are females, and it is quite worthy of notice, that the internal capacity of these differs so little from that of the female Enge-ena, while at the same time the body of the Chimpanzée is so much smaller than that of the other species. By comparing the measurements given of the cor- : responding portions of the skeleton of the Engé-ena and Chim- panzée, it-will be seen that a much wider difference exists be- tween them, than exists between the dimensions of their respec- tive brains.*
It is interesting to ‘contrast the measurements of the cranial capacity of these members of the Quadrumanous group with that of some of the more prominent of the human races. ‘The fol- lowing table which is extracted from the general summary of the measurements of a vast number of erania, by Dr. S. G. Morton of Philadelphia, gives in cubic inches the average cranial capacity of the different races or groups there mentioned.t
Taste [V. net Largest | Smallest M M. Races. hes sees ed. | Capacity. | capacity. — pai Teutonic Race M of CAUCASIANS. APETTI e5 ooh so aime m0 92 18 114 50 90 fish, < 5 105 91 96 90 Anglo-Americans, ........-+- 7 82 90 Mazay Group. Malayan family, ...... oe 20 97 68 86 t 85 Polynesian family, . 0.6. 0.00+ 3 84 82 83 American Group. Toltecan Family. ruvians, 155 101 58 45 Mexicans, 22) 92 67 19 81 uberis ese Seep a biwees 159 104 70 87 Negro Gro 4, ate Arian Family, ..: > 62 99 65 83 S a plas Ae suL bag ce 3 83 68 45 A parte oe EME: BS Et 8 63 45
These results are derived from a table which Dr. Morton has based upou the actual measurements of over 600 skulls. The smallest mean capacity is that derived from the Hottentots and Australians, which equals only seventy-five cubic inches, w while
that of the Teutonic races amounts to ninety cubic inches. The —
maximum capacity of the Engé-ena, is therefore con “tralian less than one half of the mean of the Hottentots and Austra who give us the minimum average for the human races.
* See Table of comparative measurements. Boston Journal of Natural History, 417.
vol. v, p. 4 + Catalogue of Skulls of Man and the Inferior animals i in the collection of mel George Morton, M.D., &c. 3d edition. Philadelphia, 18 9.
J. Wyman on the Engé-ena. 41
Cranium II. Mare.—This cranium belonged to an individual much older than the one described in the preceding pages, the
ases. ‘The same obliteration of the sutures had taken place, the malar bones are more tumid, rendering the edge of the lower and outer part of the orbit more rounded. The floor of the nasal
tery exist on each side. ‘ Zoological position of the Engé-ena.
With the knowledge of the anthropoid animals of Asia and Africa which now exist, derived from the critical examinations of their osteology, their dentition, and the comparative size of their brains by various observers, especially Geoffroy, Tiedemann, Vro- lik, Cuvier, and Owen, it becomes quite easy to measure with an approximation to accuracy, the hiatus which separates them from the lowest of the human race. The existence of four hands in-
roots to the bicuspid teeth, the laryngeal pouches, the elongated
pelvis and its larger antero-posterior diameter, the flattened and
poluted coccyx, the small glutei, the smaller size of the lower
compared with the upper portion of the vertebral column, the Stconp Serims, Vol. IX, No. 25—Jan,, 1850. 6
3
42 F Wyman on the E'ngé-ena.
long and straight spinous processes of the neck, these and many other subordinate characters, are chant of the anthropoid animals, and constitute a wide ween these and the most de graded 0 of the human races, so wile see the greatest difference between these last and the noblest specimen of a Caucasian is inconsiderable in comparison
Whilst it is thus easy to demonstrate the wide separation be- tween the anthropoid and the human races, to assign a true posi- tion to the former among themselves is a more difficult task. Mr. Owen in his earlier memoir, regarded the 7. niger as making the hearest approach to man, but the more recently discovered T. rete: he is now induced to believe approaches still nearer, and
regards it as “the most anthropoid of the known brutes.”* This inference is derived from the study of crania alone, without any reference to the rest of the skeleton.
After a careful examination of the memoir just referred to, I am forced to the conclusion, that the preponderance of evidence is unequivocally opposed to the opinion there recorded ; and after placing side by side the different anatomical peculiarities of the two species, there seems to be no alternative but to regard the Chimpanzée as holding the highest place in the brute creation. The more anthropoid characters of the 7. gorilla which are re- referred to by Prof. O., are the following.
1. “ The coalesced central margins of the nasals are projected forwards, thus offering a feature of approximation to the hu- man structure, which is very faintly indicated, if at all in 7. niger.”+ ‘This sa a is applicable to all the crania which I have seen, and especially to the two crania described in this pa- per. Nevertheless iis extension of the nasals between the fron- tals, or the existence of an additional osseous element, is a mark of greater deviation from man.
“The inferior or alveolar part of the premaxillaries, on the other hand, is shorter and less prominent in 7". gori//a than in T. niger, and in that respect the larger species deviates less from man.”{ The statement in the first portion of this sentence is certainly correct, but a question may be fairly raised on that in the second. ‘The lower portion of the nasal opening in the En- gé-ena is so much depressed, especially in the median line, that the intermaxillary bone becomes almost horizontal, and the slop- ing of the alveolar portion takes place so gradually that it is difficult to determine where the latter commences and thesnasal opening terminates, ane in this respect it devigies much farther from man t . nig
4 Pea it next character which is ale a more anthropoid one, pose explicable in relation to the greater weight of the skull
* Op. eit., vol. iii, p. 414.
eee.
i See
te.
J. Wyman on the Engé-ena. 43
to be poised on the altas, is the greater prominence of the mas- toid processes in the 7’. gorilla, which are represented only by a rough ridge in the 7. niger.’’*
4. The ridge which extends from the ecto-pterygoid along the inner border of the foramen ovale, terminates in 7. gorilla by an angle or process answering to that called “ styliform” or ‘“ spi- nous” in man, but of which there is no trace in 7’. niger.t
. “The palate is narrower in proportion to the length in the I. gorilla, but the premaxillary portion is relatively longer in T. niger.’’t
These constitute the most important if not the only characters given in Prof. Owen’s memoir, which would seem to indicate that the Engé-ena is more anthropoid than the Chimpanzée, and some of these it is seen must be received with some qualification.
If on the other hand we enumerate those conditions in which the Engé-ena recedes farther from the human type than the Chim- panzeée, they will be found far more numerous, and by no means less important. The larger ridge over the eyes and the crest on the top of the head and occiput, with the corresponding develop- ment of the temporal muscles, form the most striking features. The intermaxillary bones articulating with the nasals, as in the other Quadrumana and most brutes, the expanded portion of the nasals between the fiontals,—or an additional osseous element if this prove an independent bone,—the vertically broader and more arched zygomata, contrasting with the more slender a horizontal ones of the Chimpanzée, the more quadrate foramen lacerum of the orbit, the less perfect infra-orbitar canal, the orbits less distinctly defined, the larger and more tumid cheek bones, the more quadrangular orifice with its depressed floor, the greater length of the ossa palati, the more widely expanded tympanic cells, extending not only to the mastoid process, but to the squa- mous portion of the temporal bones, these would of themselves be sufficient to counterbalance all the anatomical characters stated by Prof. Owen in support of the more anthropoid character of the —
gé-ena a
of the body, no reasonable ground for doubt remains, that the Engé-ena occupies a lower position aud consequently recedes fur- the ,
her from man than the Chimpanzée. * Op. cit., p. 394, + p. 395. t p. 395.
44 J. Wyman on the Engé-ena.
It does not appear that any other bones of the skeleton have as yet fallen into the hands of any European naturalist. A descri tion of some of the more important of them will be found in the memoir above referred to,* in which it will be seen that there are two anthropoid features of some importance, which go to support the view advanced by Prof. Owen, and these are the comparative length of the humerus and ulna, the former being seventeen and the latter only fourteen inches, and in the proportions of the pel- vis. This last is of gigantic size, - is a little shorter in pro- portion to its breadth than in 7". nig
While the proportions of the icine and the ulna are more nearly human than in the Chimpanzée, those of the humerus and femur recede much farther from the human proportions than they do in the = as will be seen by the following meas- urements
Humerus, Femur. Man, ‘ ; 150 ; Chimpanzée, . , 10°9 : ; ‘ 11-0 Engé-ena, ‘ i 17-0 ‘ . : 14:0
Thus in man the femur is three inches longer than the hume- rus, in the Chimpanzée, these bones are nearly of the same length, aud iu the Engé-ena the humerus is three inches longer than the femur, indicating on the part of the Engé-ena a less perfect adapt- ation to locomotion in the erect position than in the Chimpanzee.
Description of a canine tooth of a male E'n- gé-ena.—In only one of the crania of the male Engé-enas which I have seen were the canines remaining ; and these were so much abraded that they had lost to a great extent, their natural outline, and a eae their most striking and distineti tive marks. In the females, as in
sent to this cone by Dr. Savage, was the | canine tooth represented in the annexed fig- | ure, which [ was not able to identify, until an opportunity occurred of comparing it with Prof. escriptions of more perfect teeth.
The crown is laterally compressed, the poste- rior edge being trenchant and its base provided i a prominent tubercle, which is doubtless red more conspicuous by the wear
the edge beneath it. On its inner surface the crown is impressed with two strongly marked poorest, which extend from the base r
Canine tooth of the En- 1y tO gé-ena—natural size.
* Boston Journal of Nat. Histor , p. 417.
J. Wyman on the Ne-hoo-le. 45
its apex ; and include between them a prominent rounded ridge.
The following table gives the comparative measurements of two
canines from the upper jaw of the Engé-ena, and one from thaty of the Chimpanzée. The figures in the first column relate to
the tooth described above ; those in the second and third to the
measurements given by Prof. Owen,* the measurements being in
inches and lines.
T. gorilla. T. niger. Panyih, Ps Seong Fp eats apy : Length of crown, 1:34 eo < : 01te" =" Breadth of base, 10 0-10. ‘ 07 . Thickness of do. 0-73 0°73". , 0-53
The following note from Dr. G. A. Perkins to the author, dated Salem, Oct. 15, 1849, confirms the statements made Sa age, in his description of the habits of the Engé-ena, as to its fe- rocity and the fact of its attacking human beings.
"The two crania were received from a person on board a ves- sel trading in the Gaboon and Danger Rivers, W. Africa. The were obtained from the natives on the banks of the latter, by whom they had been preserved as trophies. [rom the gentle- man who gave them to me, I learned that the killing of one of these animals was by no means a common occurrence. He de- scribes the animal as being remarkably ferocious, even attacking the natives when found alone in the forests, and in one instance which fell under his observation, horribly mutilating a man who was out in the woods felling trees to burn. His shouts brought to his aid several other natives, who after a severe contest, suc- ceeded in killing the Engé-ena. ‘The man was afterwards in the habit of exhibiting himself to foreigners who visited the river and of receiving charity from them.”
—=
Arr. IX.— Notice of the cranium of the Ne-hoo-le, a new species of Manatee (Manatus nasulus) from W, Africa; by Jerrries Wyman, M.D.
Read before the Boston Society of Natural History, November 7th, 1849. Tue species of the genus Manatus, Cuv. which have been heretofore generally recognized, are only two in number, viz., i, . Awericanvs, Cuv. and Desm.; Trichechus manatus, Linn. ; le grand Lamantin des Antilles, Buff. 2, the M. SENEGALENSIS, G, Cuvier; M. Africanus, F. Cuvier; Trichechus australis, Shaw.t The late Dr. Richard Harlan of Philadelphia, has indi-
™ Trans. Zoolo: 3. il Fea ee or aeaeke
. g. Soc. London, vol. iii, p. 895. : + Fred. Cuvier. Hist. Nat. des Catnotiee. 8vo. Paris: 1836, Also Cyclopedia Physiology, Article Cetacea. Lond.: May, 1836.
46 J. Wyman on the Ne-hoo-le.
cated a third species from E. Florida, to which he has given the name of M. Larirostris.* This species is recognized by Lesson and Fischer, but has been more recently denied by Blainville, who in referring to . in connection with two other species of the same group, (Mana s, Lamantin, Blainville,) L. du tabernacle
and L. de olciociaas expresses himself, ‘‘ne regardaut nullement comme suffisamment distinct.’
The existence of this third species has been within a short time conclusively demonstrated by Prof. Agassiz, and the evidence on which this conclusion rests will soon be published in a memoir on those genera of Cetaceans whose remains have been found in the United States
In the Proceedings of the Boston Society of oan —_ vol. ii, p. 198, is a notice by Dr. George A. Perkins of an animal captured in the Cavalla River, W. Africa, agate to the regal as Ne-hoo-le, and which Dr. Perkins referred to the genus Mana- tus. Ina note to that communication I stated, that this animal differed from all known species of Manatee, both in the number of the teeth which was for the molars $ 3, and i in the absence of nails on the paddles, as well as in other characters of subordinate value. In the sequel it will be seen however that the formula for the teeth was not correctly stated. The provisional name 0
anatus nasutus was given to this supposed species.
Quite recently, Dr. Perkins, on his return from Cape brought with him and presented to the Boston Society of A i History, an imperfect cranium of the same species, the lower jaw, me intermaxillary, nasal and temporal bones having been broken
y the natives as they divided the carcass amongst themselves for food. A sufficient number of characteristic parts, OSES remain to demonstrate that the species, as formerly suspected, i anew one. In establishing the following characters, the aan in question has been compared with that of the Manatus senega- lensis, M. Americanus and M. latirostris: the first belonging to the Boston Society of Natural Eieory and the others to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
Tee olars +22; the first and second of the series have been droppel and their alveoli are partly filled up; the five following ones on each side, remain in use, but the last three still remain in their alveolar cavities, the roots not having as yet been developed. The enamel on all the teeth, on those ye. are retained in their sockets as well as on those which are in use, is perfectly smooth. The internal root of each molar op a distinct
On a species of Lamantin resembling the M. senegalensis, (Cuvier,) inhabiting the rath of E. Florida, Bi Richard Harlan, M.D, — Journal Acad. Nat. Sciences, Phila- delphia. Vol. iii, p. 3
+ Osteographie e, Faseic. xv. Genus Manatus, p- 123.
J. Wyman on the Ne-hoo-le. AT
groove on its inner surface and all the roots are quite divergent. The transverse diameters of the anterior and posterior ridges are more nearly equal than in the other species.
M. Senegalensis.—Molars %%,; the enamel is rugous; the inner root is not grooved, all of the roots nearly vertical, and the teeth in use not more than four. .M. datirostris. Molars t# +#, teeth in use four or five; enamel] rugous. M. Americanus, Molars 11.41, Teeth much smaller than in the preceding spe- cies; the number in action six. The crowns are higher, but the inner root as in M. nasutus is grooved on its internal surface.
Il. Palate—The median ridge is flattened on its summit and the palatine foramina are of variable sizes; the most ante-— rior is the largest and perforates the bone nearly vertically and with rounded edges. In the M. /atirostris they are ail more minute; in the M. Senegalensis and M. Americanus, the ante- rior are the largest, but perforate the bone obliquely and are pro- tected for some distance after they assume the horizontal direction by a thin sharp edge or shelf of bone. The yalatine foramina are subject to so great variety in most animals, that the characters Just enumerated must be regarded as of doubtful value unless veri-
€d on a large number of crania.
Ill. Malar bones.—These are readily distinguished from the corresponding bones of all the other species in being very broad in their zygomatic portion, measuring nearly an inch in breadth at their free extremity. In M. Senegalensis, the zygomatic Portion is slender, style-shaped, and terminated by a knob. This is also the case in M. Americanus and latirostris, except that in the last the part in question has no enlargement at its ‘end, is a little broader than in the preceding, but forms a much closer union with the zygomatic portion of the temporal bone, approaching a Suture of the kind called “ harmonia.”
- Frontal region.—In this as well as in M. Americanus the frontal region is quite narrow, but in the latter it is rounded, “bombée,” while in the former it is depressed. The forehead of the M. latirostris and Senegalensis is proportionally much broader.
- Occipital foramen.—In all the species this foramen is more or less triangular, the angles being rounded ; but in M. America- nus, Senegalensis, and latirostris the apex is directed downwards, While in that from the Cavalla river it is directed upwards.
The number of known species of the genus Manatus now amounts to four, two from Africa, viz.: M. Senegalensis and
- nasutus, and two from the New World, viz. : M. Americanus
M. latirostris.
48 J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacifie.
Art. X.—On Denudation in the Pacific; by James D. Dana.
Tue following pages are extracted from different chapters in the ere Report of the Exploring Expedition under Capt. Wilkes
The valleys of the Pacific Islands have usually a course from the interior of the island towards the shores; or when the island consists of two or more distinct summits or ‘heights (like Mati) they extend nearly radiately from the centre of each division of the island. They are of three kinds:
w gorge, with barely a pathway for a streamlet at bottom, the enclosing sides diverging upward at an angle of thirty to sixty degrees. Such valleys have a rapid descent, and are bounded by declivities Ha one hundred to two thousand feet or more in elevation, which are covered with ications though striped nearly horizontally by parallel lines of black roe. here are frequent cascades along their course ; and at head: they often abut against the sides of the central inaccessible heights of the island. The streamlet has frequently its source in one or more thready cascades that make an unbroken descent of one or two thousand feet down the precipitous yet verdant walls of the am- phitheatre around.
narrow gorge, having the walls vertical or nearly so, and a flat strip of land at bottom more or less uneven, with a stream- let sporting along, first on this side, and then on that, now in rap- ids, and now with smoother and deeper waters. The walls may be from one hundred to one thousand feet or more in height ; they are richly overgrown, yet the rocks are often exposed, though every where more than half concealed by the green drapery.
These gorges vary in character according to their position on the island. here they cut through the lower plains, (as the dividing plain of Oahu,) they are deep channels with a somewhat
even character to the nearly vertical walls, and an open riband 0 land at bottom. The depth is from one to three hundred feet, and the breadth as many yards. Farther towards the interior, where the mountain slopes and vegetation have begun, the walls are deeply fluted or furrowed, the verdure is more varied and abund- ant, and cascades are numerous.
This second kiud of gorge, still farther towards the interior, changes in character, and becomes a gorge of the first kind, nat- rowing at bottom to a torrent’s course, oes which are occasional precipices rh only a torrent could descen
™
* U.S. Exploring — during the years 1838- ey under the command of C. Wiixes, U. 8. N.—Geology by James D. Daya, A.M., Geologist of the Expedi tion. 750 pp. 4to, with a folio Atlas of 21 a of fi coat ° Shiladel phia: 1849.
ae
alia: clit ia a a
ee ee ee
a
J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific. 49
II. Valleys of the third kind have an extensive plain at bottom quite unlike the strip of land just described. They sometimes abut at head against vertical walls, but oftener terminate in a wide break in the mountains.
The ridges of land which intervene between the valleys, have a flat or barely undulated surface, where these valleys intersect the lower plains or slopes; but in the mountains, they are narrow at top, and sumetimes scarcely passable along their knife-edge summits. Some of them as they extend inward, become more and more narrow, and terminate in a thin wall, which runs up to the central peaks. Others stop short of these central peaks, and the valleys either side consequently coalesce at their head, or are separated only by a low wall, into which the before lofty ridge had dwindled. The crest is often jagged, or rises in sharp serratures.
The main valleys, which we have more particularly alluded to above, have their subordinate branches ; and so the ridges in ne- cessary correspondence, have their subordinate spurs.
As examples of the valleys and ridges here described, we intro- duce a brief account of an excursion in the Hanapepe valley on Kauai, one of the Hawaiian Islands, and a second up the moun- tains of Tahiti.
Hunapepe Valley, Kauai—We reached its enclosing walls, about four miles from the sea, where the sloping plain of the Coast was jist losing its smooth, undulating surface, and changing into the broken and wooded declivities of the interior. The val- ley, which had been a channel through the grassy plain, a few hundred feet in depth, was becoming a narrow defile through the mountains. A strip of land lay below, between the rocky walls, Covered with deep-green garden-like patches of taro, through which a small stream was hastening on to the sea.
We found a place of descent, and three hundred feet down, reached the banks of the stream, along which we pursued our course. The mountains, as we proceeded, closed rapidly upon Us, and we were soon in a narrow gorge, between walls one thou- sand feet in height, and with a mere line of sky over head. ‘The Stream dashed along by us, now on this side of the green strip of land, and then on that ; occasionally compelling us to climb up, and cling among the crevices of the walls to avoid its waters, Where too deep or rapid to be conveniently forded. Its bed was often rocky, but there was no slope of debris at the base of the Walls on either side, and for the greater part of the distance it was
ered by plantations of taro. ‘The style of mountain archi- tecture, observed on the island of Oahu, was exhibited in this ded defile on a still grander scale. The mural surfaces en- closing it had been wrought, in some places, into a series of semi- Seconp Srrms, Vol, IX, No. 25, J n., 1850. 7
50 ~ J.D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific.
circular alcoves or recesses, which extended to the distant sum- mits over head: more commonly, the walls were formed of a series of i columns of vast size, collected together like the clustered shafts of a Gothic structure, and terminating sev- eral hundred feet above, in low conical summits. Although the sides were erect or nearly so, there was a profuse decoration of vines and flowers, ferns, and pacipbery ; and where more inclined, forests covered densely the slo
These peculiar ree eatores proceed from the wear of rills of waters, streaming down the bold sides of the gorge; they channel the surface, leaving ny intermediate parts prominent, The rock is uniformly stratified, and the layers consist of gray basalt or basaltic lava, alternating with basaltic conglomerate.
Cascades were frequently met with; at one place, a dozen were playing around us at the same time, pouring down the high walls, appearing and disappearing, at intervals, amid the foliage, _ some in white foamy threads, and others in Bait strands im- perfectly concealing the black surface of rock b :
A rough ramble of four miles brought us % the falls of the Hanapepe. The precipice, sweeping around with a curve, ab- ruptly closed the defile, and all farther progress was therefore intercepted. We were in an amphitheatre of surpassing > ee to which the long defile, with its Auted or Gothic walls, decorat with leaves and flowers and living cascades, seemed a fit hich or eutrance-way. ‘Ihe sides around were lofty, and the profuse vegetation was almost as varied in its tints of green as in its forms. On the left stood apart from the walls an inclined colum- nar peak or leaning tower, overhanging the valley. Its abrupt oT were bare, excepting some tufts of ferns and mosses, while
dant mountains above, where the basaltic recks stood out in curved ascending columns on either side, as if about to meet in a Gothic arch, a stream leaped the precipice and fell in dripping foam to the depths below; where, ee its strength again, it went ou its shaded way down the gorge
The mountains of Tahiti commence their slopes from the sea or a narrow sea-shore plain, and gradually rise on all sides towards the central peaks, the ridges of the north and west ter- minating in the towering comiaiae of Orohet.a and Aorai, while the eastern and southern, though reaching towards the pig peaks, are partly intercepted by the valley of Papenoo. Aorai seven thousand feet in height and Orohena not less than eight ag apa feet.
commenced the ascent of Mount Aorai by the ridge on the west oie of the Matavai Valley, and, by the skillfulness of our guide, were generally, able to e the e levated parts of the ridge
J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific. 51
without descending into the deep valleys which bordered our path. An occasional descent, and a climb on the opposite side of the valley were undertaken ; and although the sides were nearly perpendicular, it was accomplished, without much difficulty, by clinging from tree to tree, with the assistance of ropes, at times, where the mural front was otherwise impassable. By noon of the second day, we had reached an elevation of five thousand feet and stood on an area twelve feet square, the summit of an t
a a ee
isolated crest in the ridge on which we were travelling. ty) east, we looked down two thousand feet into the Matavai Vailey ; to the west a thousand feet into a branch of the Papaua Valley, the slopes either way, being from sixty to eighty degrees, or within thirty degrees of perpendicular. On the side of our ascent, and beyond, on the opposite side, our peak was united with the adjoining summit by a thin ridge, reached by a steep | descent of three hundred feet. This ridge was described, by our natives, as no wider at top than a man’s arm, and a fog coming on, they refused to attempt it that day. The next morning being clear, we pursued our course. For a hundred rods, the ridge on which we walked was two to four feet wide, and from it, we looked down, on either side a thousand feet or more, of almost perpendicular descent. , Beyond this the ridge continued narrow, though less dangerous, until we approached the high peak of Aorai. This peak had appeared to be conical and equally access- ible on different sides. but it proved to have but one place of ap- proach, and that along a wall with precipices of two to three thousand feet, and seldom exceeding two feet in width at top. In one place we sat on it as on the back of a horse, for it was no Wider, and pushed ourselves along till we reached a spot where its Width was doubled to two feet, and numerous bushes again afford- ing us some security, we dared to walk erect. We at last stood
us only by the Valley of Matavai, from whose profound depths it rose with nearly erect sides. The
gged outline, stood
52 J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacifie.
melt away into ridgy hills “se —< and finally into the palm- covered plains bordering the
On our descent, we Folhosed: ‘the western side of the Papaua Valley, along a narrow ridge such as we have described, but two or three feet wide at top, ‘aud enclosed by precipices of not less than a thousand feet. Proceeding thus for two hours, holding to the bushes which served as a kind of balustrade, though occasiou- ally startled by a slip of the foot one side or the other—our path suddeuly narrowed to a mere edge of naked rock, and, more- over, the ridge was inclined a little to the east, like a tottering wall. Taking the upper side of the sloping wall, and trusting our feet to the bushes while clinging to the rocks above, carefully dividing our weight lest we should precipitate the rocks and our- selves to the depths below, we continued on till we came to an abrupt break in the ridge of twenty feet, half of which was perpendicular. By means of ropes doubled around the rocks above, we in turn let ourselves down, and soon reached again a width of three feet, where we could walk in safety. T’wo hours more at — brought us to slopes and ridges where we could breathe eely.
The pliant here described characterize all parts of the
_ island. ‘Towards the high peaks of the interior, the ridges which radiate from, or connect with them, become mere nountain walls with inaccessible slopes, and the valleys are from one to three thousand feet in depth. The central peaks themselves have the same wall-like character. It is thus with Orohena and Pitchiti, as well as Aorai; and owing to the sharpness of the summit edge, rather than the steepness of the assent, Orohena is said to be quite inaccessible. Dr. Pickering and Mr. Couthouy, in an ex- cursion to a height of five thousand feet on this ridge, met with difficulties of the same character we have described.
Without citing other goon we continue with the author’s remarks on the origin of these v
The causes operating in the Pacific, which may have contrib- uted to valley-making, are the following:
1. Convulsions from internal forces, or ——- action.
2. Degradation from the action of the
3. Gradual wear from running water derived from the rains.
4, Gradual eine, si 5p throug the agency of the elements and growing vegeta
The action of scion forces in the formation of valleys, is finely illustrated 1 in the great rupture in the summit of Hale-a-kala on Maui. ‘The two valleys formed by the eruption are as exten- sive as any in the Hawaiian Group. being two thousand feet deep at their highest part, and one to two miles wide. ‘They extend
the interior outward towards the sea. Above, they open into
J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific. 53
acommon amphitheatre, the remains of the former crater, the walls of which are two thousand feet high.
As other examples of volcanic action, we may refer to the pit eraters of Mount Loa, among which Kilauea stands preéminent. This great corral, if we may use a Madeira word, is a thousand feet deep, one to two miles wide, and over three long, so that it forms a cavity which may compare advantageously with many valleys; and were the walls on one side removed, it might be- come the head of a valley like that of Hale-a-kala on Maui.
As an example of this kind of valley upon islands which have lost their original volcanic form, we venture to refer to the wide Nananu, back of Honolulu, (island of Oahu,) which has at its head on either side, a peak rising above it toa height of two thousand four hundred feet, or four thousand feet above the sea.
é immense amphitheatre to the west of the lofty Orohena and Aorai, on the island of ‘Tahiti, is remarkable for its great breadth, and the towering summits which overhang it; and if not a parallel case to that of Maui, that is, if the head was not originally the great crater, there must have been a subsidence or removal of a large tract by internal forces.
he precipice of the eastern mountain of Oahu, is another ex- ample of the effect of convulsion in altering the features of islands, Catising either a removal or subsidence.
‘The many fissures which are opened by the action of Kilanea, might be looked upon as valleys on a smaller scale, and the germs of more extensive ones. But with few exceptions, these fissures as soon as made are closed by the ejected lava, and the mountain is here no weaker than before. Those which remain open, may be the means of determining the direction of valleys afterwards formed.
Action of the sea.—The action of the sea in valley-making, is
posed to have been exerted during the rise of the land; and as such changes of level have taken place in the Pacific, this cause It would seem, must have had as extensive operation in this vast Ocean as any where in the world, especially as the lands are small and encircled by the sea, and there is, therefore, a large amount of coast exposed, in proportion to the whole area
But in order to apprehend the full effect of this mode of degra- dation, we should refer to its action on existing shores.* At the outset we are surprised at finding little evidence of any such action now in progress along lines of coast. The islands, and the shores of continents have occasional bays, but none that are
pening by the action of the sea. The waves tend rather to fill up the bays and remove by degradation the prominent capes, thus rendering the coast more even, and at the same time, accu-
Baas te, Tiew here presented is sustained in De la Beche’s Geological Researches,
54 J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific.
mulating beaches that protect it from wear. If this is the case
on shores where there are deep bays, what should it be on sub-
marine slopes successively becoming the shores, in which the
surface is quite even compared with the present outline of the islands? Instead of making bays and channels, it can only give : greater regularity to the line of coast. | Upon the North American coast, from Long Island to Florida .
there are no valleys in progress from the action of the sea. On
the contrary, we ascertain by soundings that the bottom is singu- larly even; and the bays, as that of New York, are so acted upon |
valleys. The valleys of the land are often two thousand feet |
deep; but they die out towards the shores. Thus over the
world, scarcely an instance can be pointed out of valley making"
_ from the action of the sea. During the slow rise of a country, the
» condition would not be more favorable for this effect than in a time
“of perfect quiet. If America were to be elevated, would the action make valleys in the shores just referred to? If England were slowly to rise, would this favor the scooping of valleys through its beaches? Would not beach formations continue to be the legit- imate production of the sea along its line of wave action; a where the rocks should favor the opening of a deep cove, would not the same action go on as now, causing a wear of the head- lands and a filling up of the cove at its head?) Were Tahiti now to continue rising, could the waves make valleys on the coast? The increasing height of the mountains would give the streains of the land greater eroding force, aud more copious waters ; but the levelling waves would continue to act as at the present time. The effects of the sea in making valleys have been much exag- gerated, as is obvious from this appeal to existing operations, the appropriate test of truth in geology.
‘The action of a rush of waters in a few great waves over the land, such as might attend a convulsive elevation, though gen- erally having a levelling effect, might produce some excavations, as is readily conceived; yet it is obvious on a moment’s consider- ation, that such waves could not make the deep valleys, miles in length, that intersect the rocks and mountains of our globe.
Bat it is supposed that there may be fissures about volcanic islands in which the sea could ply its force. Yet even in these cases, unless the fissures were large, the seashore accumulations would be most likely to fill and obstruct them. ‘To try this hypothesis by facts, we remark that there are no such shore fissures around Mount Loa, nor any of the other Hawaiian Islands. The fissures formed by volcanic action immediately about a volcano, are generally filled at once with lavas as we have stated, and the
a “iy
J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific. 55 -
vent is mended by the force which made it. It is, therefore, a gratuitous assumption that such fissures have been common. The existence, however, of large valleys such as have been attrib- uted above to convulsions cannot be doubted; but the sea wonld exert its power in such places, nearly as now in Fangaloa Bay, Tutuila, and other bays in continents ;—a beach forms, and a shore plain, and afterwards there is a little action from the sea in these confined areas of water.
In the Illawarra district, New South Wales, there are several places where dikes of basalt have been removed by the sea, and channels one hundred yards in depth, of the width of the dike (six feet), now exist, cutting straight into the rocky land. This is an example of the action of the sea where everything is most favorable for it. And we observe that there is little resemblance in this narrow channel with but a trifling wear of the inclosing rocks, to the valleys which are to be accounted for in the Pacific ; and little authority to be derived from it for attributing much efficacy to the sea in wearing out valleys. The reason of this . is apparent in the fact that the sea rolls up a coast in great. swells, and cannot parcel itself off, and act like a set of gouges: this latter effect it leaves for the streams and streamlets of the shores which are gouges of all dimensions.
Although the sea can accomplish little along coasts towards excavating valleys, yet when the land is wholly submerged, or only the mountain summits peer out as islands, the great oceanic currents sweeping over the surface and through channels between the islands, would wear away the rocks or earth beneath. From the breadth and character of such marine sweepings, we learn that the excavations formed would be very broad rounded valleys ; aud their courses would correspond in some degree with the prob- able direction which the currents of the ocean would have, over the region in case of a submergence. Moreover where there are different open channels for the ingress of the sea, having free intercommunication, there are often strong currents connected with the tides, and consequently much erosion. It is obvious that the valleys of the Pacific islands have nothing in their fea- tures or positions attributable to such a cause. ps
Running water of the land, and gradual decomposition.—Of the causes of valleys mentioned in the outset we are forced to rely for explanations principally upon runping streams: and they are not only gouges of all dimensions, but of great power, and in constant action. ‘There are several classes of facts which support Us in this conclusion. :
a. We observe that Mount Loa, whose sides are still flooded With lavas at intervals, has but one or two streamlets over all its slopes, and the surface has none of the deep valleys common
about other summits. Here volcanic action has had a smoothing
56 J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pactfic.
effect, and by its continuation to this time, the Retin have had scarcely a chance to make a beginning in denudat
Mount Kea, which has beeu extinct for a ae ea has a succession of valleys on its windward or rainy side, which are several hundred feet deep at the coast and gradually diminish | bay extending in See about half or two-thirds of t
way to the summit. But to the westward it has dry declivities, which are companiiincty even at base, with little running water. A direct connection is thus evinced between a windward exposure, and the existence of valleys: and we observe also that the time since volcanic action ceased is approximately or relatively indica- ted, for it has been long enough for the valleys to have advanced only part way to the summit. Degradation from running water would of course commence at the foot of the mountain, where the waters are necessarily more abundant and more powerful in denuding action, in consequence of their gradual accumulation on their descent. ‘Mount Kea, like Mount Loa, is nearly 14,000 feet high, and the average slope i is 7 to 8 degrees.
Hale-a-kala on Maui offers the same facts as Mount Kea, indi- cating the same relation between the features of the surface and the climate of the different sides of the island. On Eastern Oahu the valleys are still more extensive; yet the slopes of the original mountains may be in part distinguished. And thus we are gradually led to Kauai, the westernmost of the Hawaiian Isl- ands, where the valleys are very profound and the former slopes can hardly be made out. ‘The facts are so progressive in character,
that we must attribute all equally to the running waters of the land.
The valleys of Mount Kea alone, extending some thousands of feet up its sides, sustain us in saying, that time only is required
or the formation of similar valleys elsewhere in the Pacific. As in Tahiti, so in other islands. these valleys take the direction of the former slopes ; and though they may be of great depth and cominence even under the central summits, they terminate at the sea level, instead of continuing beneath it.
The fluting of the walls of the Hanapepe Valley, a thousand feet or more in height, has been described on a preceding page. It can- not be doubted here that water was the agent ; for the rills are seen at work. The contrast between the same valley near the sea, and in the mountains, (the walls in the former case being nearly un- worn vertically,) is explained on the same principle: for the mountains are a region of frequent rains and almost constant one, and therefore abound in streams and streamlets and threads
water; while below, there are grassy plains instead of forest desir ities, and but little rain. These furrowings vary from a few yards in width and depth to many furlongs.
The long and lofty precipice of Eastern Oahu, is an excellent place for studying farther this action. It is fluted in the same
J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific. 57
style as the Hanapepe Valley. In the distant view the vertical channels appear very narrow; but when closely examined they are found to be deep and often winding passages. The precipice faces to the windward, and is directly under the whole line of peaks in the mountain range, both of which facts account for an abundance of water. Going to the westward along the range, the precipice changes to a sloping declivity, and these passages become déeper and longer, and more winding, just in proportion to the increasing length of the slopes: moreover at the same time they decrease in number. Where there is no slope to .col- lect the waters, the rills act independently, and their furrowings like themselves are small, narrow, and numerous ; but as the decliv- ity becomes gradual, the rills flow on and collect into larger streams, and the firrowings become deeper and more distant. Over this region, no distinction can be drawu as regards origin between these flutings and the gorges: and in respect to features, only this difference appears, that the size of the excavations is less and the number greater, the steeper the declivity. Ifa fissure be appealed to as the commencement of the longer valleys, it should also be admitted for each of the flutings. But this idea is wholly inad- missible.
A brief review of the action of flowing waters with reference ~ “i different results described may place this subject in a clear ight. net
a. Suppose a mountain, sloping around like one of the volcanic domes of the Pacific—The excavating power at work proceeds from the rains or condensed vapor, and depends upon the amount of water and rapidity of slope.
_ 4. The transporting force of flowing water* increases as the sixth power of the velocity,—double the velocity giving sixty- four times the transporting power.—The eroding force will be
c. Hence, if the slopes are steep, the water gathering into rills excavates so rapidly, that every growing streamlet ploughs out a gorge or furrow ; and consequently the number of separate gorges a ted large, and their sizes comparatively small, though of great
epth,
fifty-five tons; a current of twenty miles an hour would, according to the same law,
move a block of three hundred and twenty tons: again, according to the same law,
4 current of two miles an hour would move a pebble of similar form of only a few ces “in weight.”—On the Transport of Erratic Blocks, Trans, Camb.
1844, viii, 291, 233.
Srconp Series, Vol. LX, No. 25,—Jan., -_ 8
58 J.D. Dana on Denuduation in the Pacific.
d. But if the slopes are gradual, the rills flow into one another from a broad area, and enlarge a central trunk, which continues on towards the sea, with frequent additions from either side. The excavation above, for a while, is small; for the greater abundance of water below, during the rainy seasons, causes the denudation to be greatest there, and in this part the gorge or valley most rapidly forms. In its progress, it enlarges from below upward, though also increasing above; at the same time, the many tribu- taries are making lateral branches.
e. Towards the foot of the mountain, the excavating power ceases whenever the stream has no longer in this part a rapid de- scent,—that is whenever the slope is not above one or two feet to the mile. The stream then consists of two parts, the torrent of the mountains and the slower waters below, and the latter is gradu- ally lengthening at the expense of the former.
: the lower waters have nearly ceased excavation, a new
commences in this part,—that of widening the valley. ©
ess The stream which here effects little change at low water, is flooded in certain seasons, and the abundant waters act duterully against the enclosing rocks. Gradually, through this undermin- ing and deuuding operation, the narrow bed becomes a flat strip of land, between lofty precipices, through which, in the rainy season, the streamlet flows in a winding course. The streamlet, as the flat bottom of the valley is made, deposits detritus on its banks, which in some places so accumulates as to prevent an overflow of the banks by any ordinary freshet. Such is the ori- gin of the deep channels with a riband of land at bottom that cut through the ‘dividing plain” of Oahu, and which are common towards the shores of many of the Pacific islands. g. The torrent part of the stream, as it goes on excavating, 1s gradually becoming more and more steep. The rock-material upon, consists of layers of unequal hardness, varying but little from horizontality and dipping towards the sea, and this occasions the formation of cascades, henever a softer layer wears more rapidly than one above, it causes an abrupt fall in the stream: it may be at first but a few feet in height; but the pro- cess begun, it goes on with accumulating power. The descend- ing waters in this spot add their whole weight, as well asa greatly increased velocity, to their ordinary force, and the exca- vation below goes on rapidly, removing even the harder layers. The consequences are, a fall of increasing height, and a basin- like excavation directly beneath the fall. Often, for a short dis- tance below, the stream moves quietly before rushing again on its torrent course, and when this result is attained by the action, the height of the fall has nearly reached its limit as far as exca- vation below is concerned ;—though it may continue to inerease from the gradual wear and removal of the rocks over which it descends :
ae
J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific. 59
As the gorge increases in steepness, the excavations above deepen rapidly,—the more rapid descent more than compensa- ting, it may be, for any difference in the amount of water. Moreover, as the rains are generally most frequent at the very summits, the rills in this part are kept in almost constant action through the year, while a few miles nearer the sea they are often dried up or absorbed among the cavernous rocks. The denudation is consequently at all times great about the higher parts of the gorge, (especially after the slopes have become steep by previous degradation ;) thus finally a steep precipice forms the head of the valley.
t. The waters descending the ridges either side of the valley or gorge, are also removing these barriers between adjacent val- leys, and are producing as a first effect. a thinning of the ridge at summit to a mere edge; and as a second, its partial or entire re- moval, so that the two valleys may at last be separated only by a low wall, or even terminate in a common head,—a wide amphi- theatre enclosed by the lofty mountains. In one case, the ridge between the two valleys, which towards the shores of the islaud has rather a broad back, high up in the region of mists and fre- quent rains becomes a narrow wall, and thus connects with the central summit. Jn the second, the ridge finally terminates ab- ruptly, and a deep valley separates it from the main mountain.
The following sketch may assist the mind in conceiving of the action upon the Pacific mountains. It represents one o -
leys of Tahiti from the centre to the shore, excepting its irregu- larities of direction and descent, and the uneven character of its walls, arising from lateral valleys and minor denudations. The height of Tahiti is about eight thousand feet; its radius ¢s is ten geographical miles. ‘The head of the valley at a@ is three thousand feet below the summit peak p. The descent along the
ascertained, ) it would still give four hundred feet to the mile. This subject is beautifully illustrated in some of the tufa cones of Odhu, where, on a smaller scale, we have the same kind o sorge and valley; and in this case, there is no doubt that de- Hudation was the cause by which they were preduced. ‘The Valleys have the direction of the slopes, and are similar in form and winding character to those of the mountains. The inter- Vening ridges are also similar. Many of them become very
@
60 J.D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific.
thin at summit as they rise towards the crest of the volcanic cone, and others have this upper part adjoining the crest want- ing, owing to the extent of the degradation, so that two valleys have a common head against the vertical bluff. A better model of the mountain gorges could hardly be made, and it stands near by, convenient for comparison. Diamond Hill, one of these cones, is 800 feet high.
We need add little, in this place, on the 2 a of running water, after the statement, based on mathematics, that the trans- porting foree varies as the sixth power of the eeanieg if we remember that these mountain streams at times increase their violence a million fold when the rains swell the waters to a flood, all iron on this point must be removed.
few thousand feet in depth, even in the solid rocks, is no
great aifair for an agent of such ceaseless activity, during the pe--
riods which have elapsed since the lauds became exposed to their influence. And when we take into view the lofty heights of the Pacific islands, their rapid declivities giving speed to the waters aud transported stones and earth, we must admit that of all lauds, these are especially fitted for denudation by torrents.
The nature of the rocks also favors wear and removal. They are in sticcessive layers, soft conglomerates or tufas ‘vec ienale alternating with the harder basalt or basaltic lava. oreover, the rock is commonly much fissured, owing to a tendency toa columnar structure ; besides, they are often cellular. The waters thus find admission, promoting decomposition and also degrada- tion. There are, also, frequent caverns between layers, which contribute to the same e
There is every thing favorable for degradation which can ex- ist in a land of perpetual suramer: and there is a full balance against the frosts of colder regions in the exuberance of vegeta- ble life, since it occasions rapid decomposition of the surface, covering even the face of a precipice with a thick layer of altered rock, and with spots of soil wherever there is a chink or shelf for its lodgment, ‘The traveler on one of these islands ——— a valley on a summer day, when the streams are re ted to a creeping rill which half the time burrows out of sight, enol the rich foliage around, vines and flowers in oratonien covering the declivities and festooning the trees, and observing scarcely @ bare rock or stone excepting a few it may be along the bottom of the gorge, might nesticallaal inquire with some degree of won- der, where are the mighty agents which have channeled the lofty mountains to their base? But though silent, the agents are still on every side at work; decomposition is in slow, but constant ene the percolating waters are acting internally, if not at
reover, at osc season, he would find the scene
nigel to one of wire rs, careering along over rocks and
a a
Pte ner es
—— TF ae
J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacific. 61
plunging down heights with frightful velocities, and then the power of the stream would not be disputed.*
But if the waters have been thus efficient in causing denuda- tion and opening valleys, may not fissures or dikes have deter- mined their courses?) The only test of truth, an appeal to facts, may answer the question. Mount Loa is a mountain yet un- changed. It has its dikes in great numbers: but over these dikes the country is more apt to be ‘raised a little from the overflow of lavas than depressed, and this would turn off the water. Again, we see no instances of dikes yielding, and offering a course for a Stream. As to unfilled fissures, there are few of them, aud these, With rare exceptions, are immediately about the active vents. _ Is either supposition then sustained by the facts presented? We know the tendency of water to take the lowest parts of a-snrface, and will it not follow these parts, whether or not there be a dike or fissure? It is obvious that whatever ravines or depressious the floods of lava may have left, would be the courses of the waters ; and these depressions sas be followed to the sea, and ultimately become valleys. We may believe that the waters would not wait till there was a convenient fissure; they would go where tmcelination led, and make valleys with little difficulty, if there Were no guiding or aiding fissures. Were the dikes filled by a tock more decomposable or more easily eroded than those en-_ closing it, as is the case in some granitic regions, we should ex- pect that they would frequeutly become water courses: but this is seldom the fact in the Pacific islands.
The valleys in some of the Canary Islands, extend from the Shores part way to the summit, as on Mount Kea and Hale-a-kala, and Sranauy for the reason alread y explained. We can detect
se of the streams, from the rains of the mountains, is often so rapid that in some instances, the native villages ra Amy coast become flooded, before they have time even to move their pro perty.— erald. xxiii, 207. an, who has often peedonee the. coast of Hawaii, north of Hilo, and during the drier cae (which ver, are of short duration on this, the windward Coast,) fords the sldlont Banca without difficulty, gives the fo slowing account of his jo por a Sabri ga time of rains. “Great and conned ra. — fell during my ab- the numerous rivers became so swollen an hat the Pgh sight me them’ “9 fearful. These raging streams crossed my path ‘about 0 once in half a mile a distance of about thirty miles, and I was com led ta weap to Pag aca me. Most il
ost of t
course ave numerous cataracts from ten to a hundred pot fifty feet in hse dicular Though the torrents were so fearful as to make one almost quail at the t Co of strugg pling | with their fury, ropes were provided, and several men employed for the adve us task. plow apo a 2 ipo of aa, and
energy and Be ‘effort, ess : n one’s grasp 0 rope, and buffet with the foaming flood. We at last ts th though at ston peril. At one of the rivers, we spent ae hue in pyle ie oa e we tA with any degree of rage extend our co ara i. I party t to the a Site bank. The streams are at s the bettie glee ravines, the banks pris ‘rey tn and often perpendicular bluffs of Semitic pen "— Miss. Her.
62 J. D. Dana on Denudation in the Pacifie.
in regions of a similar kind, no evidence that the valleys have depended for their origin on the mountain’s being a “crater of elevation,” as von Buch urges.* The regular stratification of the sides of these valleys; the ‘absence of all ‘tiltings ; their situation, as related to the rains; and the absence of fisstires ready for mak- ing valleys on the leeward declivities, are points which favor no such theory: and, moreover, it is an unnecessary hypothesis.
We are thus led to conclude that between convulsions from subterranean forces, and degradation from waters supplied by the rains aud attending decomposition, a lofty volcanic dome ma be changed to a skeleton island like Tahiti e have referred to Mount Loa as still unfurrowed ; to Moiat Kea and Hale-a-kala as having only the lower slopes deeply channeled with narrow gorges; and to other islands, as exemplifying all gradations in these effects to these in which the original features are no longer to be traced: we have pointed out the difference in the windward and leeward slopes, aud have shown a on between the quantity of rain and the amount of degradation :—we have exhibited a model of the mountains, an RM deninble result of denudation, placed at their very base, as if for illustration :—and thus we have traced out and elucidated all the steps in the valley-making pro- cess, and have also ee them to be a necessary result from the action of rauning w
Again, examples of soiluleidig from igneous forces have been pointed out in the great gorges of Hale-a-kala, and in Kilanea and other Hawaiian craters; in the mountain wall of Oahu, and simi- lar scenes on other islands; in the wide am phitheatre of central Tahiti: and the importance of this means of change has thus been exhibited. Yet few such changes are apparent on any one island, and these are marked by decided characters not often to be mistaken. It has also been shown that although fissures made by volcanic forces, may in some cases have given the direction to valleys, yet they are by no means necessary in order that val- leys should commence to form.
With literal truth may we speak of the valleys of the Pacific Islands, as the furrowings of time, and read in them marks of age. Our former conclusion with regard to the different periods which have passed over the several Hawaiian Islands since the fires ceased aud wear begun, is fully substantiated. We also learn how completely the features of an island may be obliterated by this simple process, and even a cluster of ee like Orohena, Pito- hiti and Aorai of tere. be bere ved from a simple volcanic dome
or cone. Mount Loa, alone, contains within itself the material from which an island like Tahiti might be modeled, that should have near twice its height and four times its geographical extent.
* See eg Canaries, p. 285.
T’. S. Hunt on the Constitution of Leucine. 63
Art. XIl—Remarks on the Constitution of Leucine, with criti- cal observations upon the late Researches of M. Wutz; by S. Hun. .
In the American Journal for January, 1848, p. 123, I made some suggestions as to the true composition of leucine and proposed a correction of the formula which had been deduced by M. Mulder from his analyses. After noticing the sulphuretted alkaloid thial- dine, lately discovered by Wohler and Liebig, I remarked that it corresponded to a normal species whose formula is C,, H, , NO,, which would be a homologue of glycocoll, “and very probably no other than leucine.” This correction I ventured upon with- out having before me the analytical results of M. Mulder, be- cause as I have stated, the formula deduced by that chemist,
oe ,> Was irreconcilable with the law which MM. Ger- hardt and Laurent have announced as governing the composition of all azotized bodies. My proposed formula on the contrary, made this anomaly to disappear, and showing it a homologue of glycocoll, a substance formed at the same time with it, by the ac- tion of potash upon gelatine, at once explained the singular reac- tions of lencine with nitric acid, already described by M. Brac- connot. Not having it in my power to verify any farther my view, I left the matter to the consideration of chemists.
In the Comptes Rendus de l’Acad. for Sept. 4th, 1848, there appears a communication from M. Cahours, who had submitted to analysis both leucine and aposepedine, (a product of the putre- action of caseine which Mulder had supposed to be identical With leucine,) and found the two substances to agree i compo- sition and to have precisely the formula which I had previously assigned. He has found that they form beautifully’crystalline Compounds with nitric and hydrochloric acids, and gives to the
ormer the formula C,, H, , NO,, NO, M. Cahours has also Pomted out the relation between this body and thialdine and their homology with glycocoll. The sarcosine cbtaine :
The Annales de Chimie et de Physique for Nov., 1848, contains amemoir on the same subject by MM. Laurent and Gerhardt,
Conclusions as to its composition ard homologous relations. None of these gentlemen however have alluded to my observations published ten months previous, which appear to have escaped their notice,
My formula requires C 54-9, H 9°99, N107, 0245. The analyses of Mulder show on comparison with this, a little defi-
64 T. S. Hunt on the Constitution of Leucine.
ciency in the H and N, but those of M. Cahours are ) very close approximations. He obtained the no tn A number
Aposepedine. ei Carbon, . . 5519 55:04 5486 55:12 54-79 | Hydrogen,. . 986 10-11 10:06 1006 10-04 Azote,. . . 1063 10:85 1089 1089 |
The first analyses of MM. Laurent and Gerhardt made upon aposepedine, showed a deficiency in the carbon, but by solution in nitric acid and evaporation, the salt already deseribed was obtained in beautiful erystalline needles, which, dried at 212° F’., corres- ponded exactly with the numbers calculated from the formula C,,H,,NO,, NO, HO, or in their notation, C,H,
This salt dissolved i in a little water, mixed with alcohol, and pre- cipitated while hot by ammonia, gave leucine in fine white scales, entirely inodorous ; the analysis of this gave C 54:6, H 9-9. ‘These results establish beyond all doubt the new formula.
The hydrochloric compound gave Cl 20:6, which corresponds to the formula C,H,,NO,, HCl. The nitrate, nitro-leucic acid of M. Bracconnot, forms, as that chemist had shown, crys- tallizable salts with lime aud magnesia, and the authors have described a similar silver-salt. They remark moreover upon the fact that the three known alkaloids of this series appear to be derived from the same parent substance, for the sarcosine has been obtained from creatine which is without doubt a product of the transformation of the caaette tissues, and they suggest that sarcosine and the two homologues yet unknown, between this substance and leucine, may be detected in the products of these Ae ace of the animal matters, which yield glyeocoll and eucine
M. Laurent in a late memoir,* has shown that glycocoll may be regarded as the amid of an acid which is C,H, O,, and differs” from the acetate only by two equivalents of oxygen. For this acid he proposes the name of glycocollic; glycocoll will then be glycolamic acid. Mr. Horsford, by the action of chlorine upon a solution of glycocoll, obtained a substance which gave with — chlorid of barinm a ne salt, to which he aseribes the for- mula C,H,0O,, BaO,+ but as M. Gerhardt has remarked, ap equivalent of the carbon Said be retained by the baryta as é a carbonate, and that making a correction for this, the numbers obtained lead toC, H,O,, Bac =C, H, BaO, which is that of the barytic salt of glycocollic acid.
This new genus is homologous with the carbonates, and sus- tains the same relation to the acetate, as the carbonic C, H, O,
_ does to formic acid. Carbonic acid is the type of a series of
ewe
* Annal. de Chim. et de Phys, May, 1848, p. 111. — Sui: ther 1847, p. 3 oT F
ee
T. S. Hunt on the Constitution of Leucine. 65
acids, including the glycocollic which are bibasic; the glycocolls are then monamids of bibasic acids, and while they possess the power of combining with acids, like alkaloids, have still an atom of saline hydrogen so that they may combine alike with nitric acid and nitrate of silver. The nitrate of glycocoll is indeed a copulate of two monobasic compounds, and thus in accordance with M. Gerhardt’s law of saturation necessarily bibasic.
The glycocolls are isomeric with urethane and urethylane, those singular compounds discovered by M. Dumas by acting with am- moni and upon the chlorocarbonic ethers of ethylic and methylic
cohol.
- Mate relations to these bodies. ve shown some time since
p] that water is to be regarded as the homologue of the alcohols, and that consequently the ethers are homologous with their parent acids,t and M. Wurtz has found that as cyanic acid combines with ammonia and produces urea C, H,N,O,, a body pertaining to the formic series ; the cyanic ethers give rise by the same action to two new compounds which have the formulas C,H, N, O, and C,H, N, O, and are the ureas of the acetic and metacetic series.
The action of water upon the cyanic ethers is not less remark- able; carbonic acid gas is disengaged and crystalline substances are formed which are soluble in alcohol and water. The reac- tion is dependent upon the assimilation of the elements of water
_ and is thus represented, 7 2C i
NO, +2HO=2C0,+C,H,N, 0, O, +2HO=2C0, +C, /H,, N, 0,.
4 3
___ The first of these has the composition of metacetic urea, and the second that of valerianic urea, but the substance thus obtained
from the cyanomethylic ether differs from the true metacetic urea in its properties, and M. Wurtz hence regards these new bodies as Constituting an isomeric group.
e have then in the urethanes and the glycocolls, the ureas and the new compounds of Wurtz, two groups of isomeric bodies which present some interesting relations. If the glycocolls are the monamids of their peculiar acids, the new compounds of Wurtz are equally their binamids.
| Acids, Glycocolls. |Comps. of Wurtz.) Urethanes. | Ureas.
Formic series Oz HH, Oa| unknown UH, 8.0. series,| 6 ; —_—— — |CeHgN2V2 |Acetic “ , F 0, O4 H, O,4 unknown. O,H;NO40,H_N202 \Metacetic ie Cy He Osg Og H, NO, Cg Hg N202CgH,NOgCgHgN202! Butyrie « Cg He Os unknown. unknown. unknown. unknown. Valerianic “ |C) 9H 1006 . Cy0H12N202 ee . Caproie « |C,5H;20¢/C,;2H,,NO,4} unknown. * «
* Chem. Gazette, Oct. 16th, from Comptes Rendus, Aug. 28th, 1848. + This Jour., March, 1848, p. 265. Seconp Series, Vol. IX, No. 25.—Jan., 1850. 9
66 T. S. Hunt on the Constitution of Leucine.
The farther researches of Wurtz upon the decomposition of the ureas will, I think, enable us to understand more clearly the nature of these bodies. The formic urea, by the action of a solution of potash, is resolved into carbonic acid and two equiva- lents of ammonia; acetic urea, which differs from it by C, is decomposed in a similar manner and yields one equivalent of ammonia and one of a new alkaloid homologous with it, which is represented by C,H,N. The transformation may be thus represented :
Formic urea, C,H ,N,O, +2KHO,=C,K,0,+NH,+NH,,. Acetic urea, C,H,N,O,+2KHO,=C,K,0,+NH,+C,H, N. n the same way metacetic urea yields C, HH. N ; these aieiaile Be to their respective alcohols the same relation that ammonia does to water. The action of potash upon the cyanic ethers has enabled M. Wurtz to obtain two new bodies in a state of purity ; for as the ureas consist of these ethers with the addition of NH,, we can easily see that the decomposition of the latter will give the alkaloids unmixed with ammonia. The discoverer has described them under the names a“ methylamid and ethylamid, but me- thylamine and ethylamine are more consonant with the ‘nomen- clature adopted for the cake, The first is a permanent gas, and the second a very volatile liquid, both having a strong odor of ammonia, powerfully alkaline and caustic ; they precipitate metallic solutions, and form with acids, crystallizable salts, which are distinguished by their ready solubility in hot absolute alcohol.* . Dumas iegests that from their similarity of odor, they may often be mistak en for ammonia, when evolved in organic trans-
formations.
t now nw Htogics important to consider what will be the results of the action of alkalies upon the isomeres of the ureas, and the —
other bodies which we have placed beside them. M. Wurtz, at i
the time when he described the first, had not discovered these new alkaloids, and in his subsequent memoir does not appear to have submitted them to experiment. It will probably be found that their neg ae yields ammonia ay and not the new alkaloids, and that the difference between metacetic nen and its isomere is that while the latter is he binamid of the acid C,H,O,, the former (as appears from the results of its decom- position) i is the amido-ethylamid of carbonic acid,
The urethanes will probably be found to yield methylamine and ethylamine by the action of potash, but it is otherwise with their isomeres, the glycocolls; Liebig has found that leucine evolves am- monia and hydrogen by the action of hydrate of potash and forms a valerianile. Horsford, on the other hand, peers the evolution
* Chem. Gaz ette, Marck 15th, from Compt. Rend., Feb. 12th, 1849.
T’.. S. Hunt on the Constitution of Leucine. 67
of ammonia and hydrogen by that agent from glycocoll, and found in the residue an oxalate ; its analogy with leucine would lead us to expect formic acid, but Peligot has shown that a formiate when fused with excess 0 potash, is converted with the evolution of hydrogen into an oxalate, so that the product of Mr. Horsford’s experiment was the result of a secondary action.
When thus regarded, the isomerism of these two classes of bodies is already explained ; it is precisely that which exists be- tween the acetic methylic ether and the formic ethylic ether, two bodies scarcely distinguishable but by the action of an alkali,
which converts the one into an acetate and methol, and the other ions a formiate and alcohol; the number of these isomeres is only limited by the want of the ‘higher alcohols. It follows then that there does not exist a homologue of urea in the first family, for here in this primitive species the two groups are confounded, and i farther it appears, that as we rise in the scale the number of pos- sible isomeres is greatly increased. In the third family we have regarded the compound of Wurtz as the binamid of the acid of that family, while the new urea is an amido-ethylamid of the acid of the first family; there may equally exist a bimethylamid of carbonic acid or an amido-ethylamid of glycocollie acid, all of which will be isomeric with metacetic urea. The discovery of
in Various ways, to increase the number of homologues and iso- meric substances to an extent which is almost inconceivable. The action of nitrous acid upon urea is well known to result in
its conversion into nitrogen and carbonic acid, which is at once
composed into water and au anhydrid, and a similar process has been adopted by Piria in his beautiful researches upon asparagine ; he has demonstrated that in this way many amids are readily aan into nitrogen and a non-azotized - A similar process applied to glycocoll, sarcosine e and louieutie, ie would probably enable us to eliminate the acids of that series,* while the decomposition of the urethanes and higher ureas as Well as the new alkaloids under its action, still presents a curious subject for investigation.
oreeaima May 22d, 1849.
* M. Cahours has observed in the memoir — nones that when leucine is treated Lg oxydiing agents or solution, it is decomposed with the evolution of a ery disagree age ee r, and the forts ation ‘ot an acid which he sup-
may be a homologue of the yeocollie, and he su ggests that sarcosine by a Similar process risen mrt the 24 ve Eis ere he ap} _* ae - ay é for the neutral lactates are legge 0 vg e ACe erhardt )
ile j i Bley the fi at ic ‘a Mae pol-
ymert ic gH, Og. Lactic
= _ se been described ve monobasie, bk Busclbardt and Maddsell in their arches upon its salts, (Liebig’s Annal, xiii, p. 83,) arrive at the conclusion
that iti tis bibasic, apparently a. ba VL "Gerhardt had long before announced e thing, (Precis, tome ler, p. 596.)
*
*
68 On Perfect Musical Intonation.
Arr. XIL—On Perfect Musical Intonation, and the fundamen- tal Laws of Music on which it depends, with remarks showing the practicability of attaining this Perfect Intonation in the Organ ; by Henry Warp Poor, Worcester, Massachusetts.
1. Tats paper will treat only of one department of the science of music—the laws which fix the twne of all musical scales, and determine all musical intervals. Any one, who is at all conversant with the musical discussions of the last few centuries, will per- ceive that this is but partly explored and disputed territory, where eminent scientific writers have entertained different opinions, while all have agreed in admitting the fact, that there ever have been, and still are, difficulties and imperfections in the musical scale, as executed on organs, piano fortes, d&c., which no one has yet shown how to overcome. It is with the belief that he has syaesiiy these difficulties and is able to throw light on this abstruse and unsettled department of the science, in a prac- tical point of view, that the writer proposes to discuss it. Very little on this subject reaches the eye of the theoretical and prac- tical musician. In our elementary musical works it is either omitted, or if treated; is not understood ; indeed the writer is not aware of a treatise in which it is fully or correctly .discussed.
2. It isa singular fact, that while the human ear delights in pure harmon y, (as performed by voices, violins and other instruments wwitlicest fied scales,) and while improvement has been made in every other science and mechanical art, the organ of the present day has all the imperfection of intonation which pertained to that instrument, four centuries since. For so long a period has this imperfection existed, that it has come to be considered as neces- sary, not only in this instrument, but by many it is believed to be inherent in all music. Instead of remedying the difficulty by introducing the sounds requisite to form the several scales (played in) perfect, and inventing such mechanism as would bring these sounds under the ready control of the organist, resort has been had to “ headiacy ” which allows but one sound for G# and Ab, which makes the same note answer for A, the sixth of the key of C, and A, the key note of three sharps, which flats every fifth, sharps every major third, and leaves every musical interval ( with the exception of the octave) more or less out of tune.
. Various attempts have been made during the last three cen- turies to remedy the above difficulty, and to yeduce the apparent sn perfeceea of the musical scale to a scientific and prgner
is.
x
On Perfect Musical Intonation. 69
correct performance. In 1811, two patents were taken out in England for “improvements in instruments with fixed scales,” an account of which, with drawings, will be found in Lond.
hil. Mag., vols. 37, 38 and 39. These were improvements in temperament only, without aiming at perfect intonation. Mr. Hawkes’s system had seventeen sounds in the octave; Mr. Loesch- man’s had twenty-four sounds. There were mechanical as well as theoretical difficulties necessarily connected with these instru- ments, which were fatal to their ever coming into practical use. Rev. Henry Liston, the learned author of the article “ Music” in the Edinburgh Encyclopeedia, has done more in this department than any other writer. His ‘Essay on Perfect Intonation,” in one volume quarto, was published in London in 1812. He also invented an organ designed to give the diatonic scales in perfect tune, which was built by the eminent organ-builders, Flight and Robson, of London. This was an instrument of great ingenuity, but as the inventor was a theorist rather than a mechanician, there were mechanical difficulties which alone would have been fatal to it as a practical instrument. ‘To enable one pipe to give dif- ferent sounds, Mr. Liston employed “ shaders,” which, arranged in classes and worked by pedals, were brought over the tops of the open, and mouths of the stopped, pipes, to alter their pitch. It is hardly necessary to remark that such mechanism was im- practicable ; as its correct performance required an accuracy of motion which was incompatible with the material and the nature of the instrument. There were also other mechanical difficulties in his instrument, as well as errors and omissions in his theory, (of which we shall hereafter speak,) that interfere with its claim of being an instrument of perfect intonation. Its harmony, how- ever, was superior to that of the tempered organs, and is thus spoken of by John Farey, Sen., in the London Phil. Mag., vol. 37, p. 273.
“Sir: In your 27th vol., 206 p., I endeavored to call the at- tention of Lord Stanhope and other patrons of musical improve- Ments, to the perfecting of an organ capable of performing in perfect tune. * * * It gives me great pleasure, therefore, to be - able to state that the above is no longer a matter of doubtful Speculation ; but that myself and several others have heard an organ thus perfected by the Rev. Henry Liston; the exquisite effects of which, particularly in accompanying vocal music, far exceeded all that Maxwell and myself had written or perhaps
edges the imperfections of his efforts, and concludes his essay as follows :
*
70 On Perfect Musical Intonation.
“ After all, the subject is but just begun. I have been led to ravel in some beautiful regions, unknown to such as had con- fined themselves to the hi But larger discoveries remain yet to be made by those who shall, with more zeal and better qualifications, follow out the track in which it has fallen to my
lot to go a little way before them.” e manner in which the subject of the musical scale and
discreditable to music, as claiming to be a science. It is evident that the fundamental basis of music 1s not understood by those who attempt to teach the science. If it were necessary to cor- roborate this statement, we could refer to the blind and mysteri- ous manner in which “temperament” is treated by modern theo- retical writers. In this, which is simply an arbitrary ee of a false note for two or more true notes, some writers have s an “inexhaustible fountain of variety,” ‘awful grandeur,” ‘ol “exquisite beauty,” while an a writer calls it an “‘inexplica- ble difficulty which no one has attempted to solve; the Deity seems to have left music in an eufieeived state, to show his in- scrutable power’ !* Temperament is au arrangement of economy by which a small number of sounds ( usually twelve to the oc- tave) are made to answer (imperfectly of course) for the much larger number which would be required to give music in tune in the usual number of keys. This arrangement was originally submitted to, merely for the accommodation of the instrument- maker and the player. So lo ong as no mechanism had been in- vented by which more than twelve sounds could be managed by the organist, temperament was necessary in instruments of this class, but this reason no longer exists, as we shall show further on in this paper. ‘Temperament has always been considered, by the great masters, as an evil attendant upon the “ present imper- fect state of instrumentation,”+ and hence they preferred that their instrumental music should be performed by skillful artists on vio- lins and other instruments which admit of perfect intonation ; an these have held, to the present day, their rank as the leading and most important instruments in the orchestra. It would have in-
structed a composer like Beethoven, or an artist like Paganini, to .
have heard of the scale of a modern German theorist, Kollmann, which he calls the “scale of nature,” consisting “of twelve sounds in the octave placed at equal distances, ” on which “ wonderful compound of twelve diatonic, chromatic, enharmonic scales in one,” he declares “all modern music depends. * {Phe somewhat voluminous treatise of Gottfried Weber, on ‘musical composition,”
has recently been translated in this country, and has been praise
as a scientific work. The basis from which Weber a to
- * Gardiner's Music of Nature, Pp 433, Bost. ed, 183'7. + Beethoven.
”
i
ae
ee pines mn. reaper
new
On Perfect Musical Intonation. 71
explain musical intervals is the key-board of a piano forte! An interval is the distance of one piano-key from another. He defines a fifth thus: ‘“a fifth is an interval of five places.”
had defined his intervals by reference to the horn or trumpet, as thtis—that the interval between the lowest and the second notes given by the horn is an octave—that the interval between the second and third notes is a perfect fifth, and so on—his definitions could have been depended on, as the horn will always (if prop- erly blown) give its intervals eractly thus. But so far from attempt- ting to establish his theory on any scientific or mathematical basis, he distinctly declares, “that it is not susceptible of such an estab-
ishment, or at least, has thus far failed of proving itself to be so.”
5. The writer of this paper is of opinion that music is as sus- ceptible of a systematic and mathematical basis as chemistry, as- tronomy, or any other science—that what are called the “mys- teries” and ‘ imperfections” of the musical scale contain in them nothing that is mysterious or imperfect—that temperament is no longer necessary, and would be as useful applied to a multiplica- tion table as to a musical scale—that the same sound can no
shall express. Some further reference to this instrument will be made in the latter part of this paper.
72 On Perfect Musical Intonation.
. The writer would remark as the conclusion of his introduc- sin, that no one, in the present unsettled state of the musical sci- ence, can expect to become thoroughly acquainted with its funda- mental principles, unless he will experiment and think for himself. He will constantly meet with the errors of the theorists, and if Z he cannot detect these for himself, he will find himself in per- j petual darkness. Reasoning on musical science is not different from reasoning on any other science. We must interrogate na- ture, and follow where she leads us, notwithstanding the time- honored opinions of the theorists. As an illustration of this w may refer to the “chord of the seventh,” which consists of a common chord with a certain seventh added. If we inquire what this seventh is, we are informed by all the theorists that it is a fourth above the fourth, and that its ratio is 9:16. Upon trial, this combination we find very discordant and disagreeable. If we ask a good natural singer to give the note, he gives it most readily and naturally 4:7, a little lower than the note laid down in the books, and this note (4:7) we find most natural and har- monious in the chord. <A theory should be made from the music and not the music from the theory.
7. We find by experiment that if two or more sounds heard together, are in the rapidity of their vibrations in a sufficiently ¢ simple ratio, their relations are perceived by the ear, producing 4 an agreeable sensation, and this effect we call HARMONY.
8. If we take a series of sounds, the ratios of whose vibrations | are as the following numbers 2:3:4: : 10, &c., | we have the notes which will produce a series of chords, which commencing with the most simple, will gradually become more
and more complicated, until the ear can no longer perceive their _. relations: when this point is reached they will cease to produce chords and harmony. Any ratio, neither of whose terms, (when reduced, ) is larger than 10, will ‘produce a chord appreciable by the ear. The extent to which the relations of chords can perceived, will vary of course in different persons according to the delicacy of the ear, aud hence it may not strictly be said that there is any absolute point where chords cease and discords com- | mence, yet as our written music contains no chord whose ratio 1s expressed in higher terms than ¢en, and as this last ratio 9: 10 is 7 certainly near the farthest limits of our perception, we may prop- pa erly consider that all chords must have the terms of their ratios within this limit. It may be added, that though one or both of the terms be larger than 10, yet if by dividing either*or both by 2, the quotient is brought within the limit above mentioned, they will still produce harmony: e.g. the chord 5:12 is 5:6 ora minor third, the highest note of which is raised an oc ie
. We shall then consider any combination of sounds which
are, each to > every sian 4 of the combination, as the ratios eX-
-
~ ee i Rea ic, aes
On Perfect Musical Intonation. 73
pressed by the numbers above, (viz., 1:2: 3, &c., to 10,)as har- monious. Here is the fountain head from which an abundant
which do not come within the class just named, we give the name of discordant. Whether such combinations shall be used, is left entirely to the taste of the composer; we only insist on this, that we shall not call them harmony.
_10. To the chords produced by the above ratios have been given names as follows:
1:2— Octave. By combining these numbers 2:3— Perfect Fifth. differently we obtain different 3:4 — Perfect Fourth. chords, e. g. : 4:5 — Major Third. 3: 5— Major Sixth. 5:6— Minor Third. 5: 8— Minor Sixth. 6:7 — 2 These twochords have| 4: 9 — Major(or Perfect) Ninth. 7:8— , not been named.* 4: 7 — Perfect Seventh. 8:9— Major Tone. 5:7 — )Chords derived from 9:10 — Minor Tone. 7:9 — fie Perfect Seventh, 7:10— )and not named.
11. All these chords are produced from four prime numbers,
viz., 2, 3, 5, an The prime 2 produces the octave, the prime
Jifths, can we obtain a major third, nor from either or both -
ae chords (thirds and fifths) can we produce a perfect sev-
— enth. Elach are original, prime chords, not resolvable one into
the other. From the neglect of these simple mathematical hat it
ciples result much of the mystery and fallacy connect €mperament. It is attempted in temperament to produce a
, major third from a series of four fifths, or what is the same thing, “ an alternate series of ascending fifths and descending fourths, 7 * It is remarkable that scarcely any mention has been made in musical treatises of : two beautiful and important chords. They are » found in the chord of the Seventh. In this chord ap- om _ : , E, G, Bb, and C, whose vibrations are as these ah a pw : numbers, viz. ih G bb C. Thus it will be seen eS.
that the ratios of G to Bb is as 6:7 and the ratio of
Bb to C is as 7 to 8. 4:7 we
_ Perfect Seventh, and for the same reason that the perfect fifth was so named.
, e have not called it the minor seventh, as the ratio of the minor seventh has always n stated so far as we have seen to be 9:16. Seconp Serres, Vol. IX, No. 25.—Jan., 1850. 10
74 On Perfect Musical Intonation.
exg. that Lx2x4xix4=—4 or £494. Again it is supposed that a similar series of tivelve ees wi end upon the octave: &, that LxeX4x% $x2x4xX2Xi=1 or 213424. oF 524288 = IAL a ‘mathematics cannot be
musical scale, which is founded upon them. ‘The result of this mutilation is, (as might. poerele be supposed, ) the destruction of pee harmony and melody in the tempered music.
The question has been vie whether ratios which con- tain the prime seven should be considered harmonic. A standard elementary treatise before us contains the following: “ Higher primes than 5 enter into no harmonic ratios: such co ombina- tions for instance as 1:7, 5:7, or 6:7, are altogether discord-
nt. The ear will not endure them, and cannot rest upon them.’’*
The most certain method of determining oo eyed of hess | harmonic combination, is by an appeal to the The binations must first be heard, and the ear eat “decide cae them. Although combinations which contain the prime 7 are continually occurring in the performances of good singers and violin players, yet it might es difficult for one unfamiliar with them to know when they occur, If it be proposed to try them
referred to. It is probable that the writer quoted above, never
eard (knowing when he heard them) the combinations he con- demns. The writer of this paper has sysapr facilities for the experiment in question, inasmuch as he has nd an instru- ment of perfect intonation, upon which the ae of these, or any
other combinations can be tried. On the evidence of his own .
ears and those of every musician who has heard them, he must pronounce them altogether harmonious and pleasing.t
* Prof. Benj. Peirce, “On Sound,”
+ We have admitted in our system ee prime age than seven. The question may be asked, why the higher ey as 11, 18, 17, 19, 23, &e, should be exclu- ng g e mg a ne that they produce ratios too com lated for the ear
appreciate. e primes, and the combinations produced by them, are ul- Dea peal nar 8 belong to the extended science of i isn would be vit were our ears sufficiently delicate e appreciate them. But “ig, natvels
3 are illimitable, there is a limit to human bore ion of them. If any on is aetois rte o investigate this matter, ten can satisfy himself by atempting to sie one of these remote primes, as the 11th, for instance, "which Il be the easiest of the whole. As this cannot be obtained from the Athes ie (octaves,
fifths, thirds, or sevenths,) it must be tuned as an eleventh at once e in a chord as fol- lows, 8:11, 9:11 or 10:11, de If it be — impossible to tune it, it cer- be impossible to use it in harmony o imposible y of of th oe
d ears, and find that he can apprec nie i, (ie cikee voce tune it, or how when its tune) we wil agree that it may be used by himself and those w ho possess equally delicate ear
es f a EE ns + rn ER
ee ee ee
er re
On Perfect Musical Intonation. 75
13. A Scale is a series of sounds, obtained from the above har- monic relations, arranged in the order of their acuteness, and it contains the notes required for the melodies and harmonies of the composition for which it is used.
14. The piaronic scaLe is composed of seven distinct notes, (the eighth, being the octave, is regarded as a repetition of the first.) It is formed by combining the chords of perfect fifth, (2:3,) and major third, (4:5,) and it contains all the intervals and chords which have been named, with the exception of those derived from the perfect seventh. Assuming C as a key-note, this scale, in the vibrations of its several notes, stands as follows:
C D E FW G Key-note, Second. Third. Fourth. Fifth. Sixth, Seventh. Octave. js Se 8: 230 Soe: | a6 2 40.» 45 : @& Mpj. T. Min. T. s. Maj. T. Min.T. Maj. T. Ss.
15. On examining the relations of these numbers, we find the intervals which separate the several notes of the scale. The ratio of 24:27 or 8:9, gives the interval between the first and second notes, which is called major tone. The ratio of 27:30 or 9:10, gives the interval between the second and third notes, which is called minor tone. The interval by which the major tone exceeds the minor is called comma, whose ratio is 80:81. The ratio of 30:32 or 15: 16, expresses the interval between the third and fourth of the scale, and it is called diatonic semitone or simply semitone, diatonic being understood. From the fourth to the fifth, and from the sixth to the seventh, is the same as from