342

SCIENTIFIC MISCELLANEA.

LIGHT PRODUCED BY FRICTION AND CRYSTALLIZATION. The light emitted during the attrition of some substances, such as quartz, has been attributed to the intense heat which is produced by the friction; a temperature sufficient, as is well known, to actually fuse the abraded particles. But how are we to account for the luminous appearance of loaf sugar, or of tartaric acid, when broken-is the light electrical? We can scarcely suppose it to be so, when wet crystals of sulphate of potash are rendered luminous by being shaken in a phial. Light is, also, emitted during the spontaneous fracture of crystals in the act of crystallizing. If three or four gallons of a hot solution of sulphate of soda be decomposed by carbonate of potash, and the whole set aside in a dark place, during the crystallization of the sulphate of potash, on the surface of the liquor the scintillations are so brilliant as to resemble particles of gunpowder, ignited by being thinly scattered upon a surface of heated iron.

E. W. B.

FAMILY CONCERTS.-In most families in England where music is taught, it is the custom for every individual, male and female, to receive instructions on the piano, and each practises in separate rooms, or, at least, at different times. If, instead of this, one were to learn the harp, another the piano, a third the violin, and the rest the tenor, violincello, flute, &c., what delightful concerts might take place within the family circle, and far greater pleasure would fall to the share of both performers and listeners, from these domestic concerts, than where each takes his solitary practice, to the great annoyance, perhaps, of all the rest. There is, probably, nothing more prejudicial to the 'divine art' in England, than the prevailing custom of learning only the piano-and that but indifferently. If the organ and organ music had the attention paid to them which they deserve, great improvement might reasonably be expected.

COLOUR PRODUCED IN ORGANIC MATTER BY CHLORINE. It is well known that chlorine destroys the colour of organic matter, but we were scarcely prepared to find that it developes colour in some white organic substances. The wings of the whole of the white indigenous Butterflies, comprehended in Stephens' genus Pontia, are rendered, by chlorine, of a beautiful deep pink colour. This effect is not produced by either muriatic or nitric acids, neither does the experiment succeed with any of the other white lepidopterous insects on which it has been tried. The colour developed on the wings of P. rapæ, or the small white, is deeper than upon those of the other species; and it is immaterial whether the insect has been lately captured, or has been an ancient inmate of the cabinet. The experiment is readily tried in the following manner :-Attach the insect to a piece of cork fixed on the inside of a tumbler, and invert the glass, for a minute or two, over a little

red lead, moistened with muriatic acid. The insect, unchanged in appearance, is then to be replaced in the drawer of the cabinet, and, in the course of a few hours, it changes to a beautiful pink. If the specimen be too long exposed to the action of the gas, the colour will not be developed; and the pink colour produced by one exposure, is entirely destroyed by a second. E. W. B.

Herschel, who is now at the Cape of Good Hope, has turned his attention to meteorological subjects, and has moved "The African Literary and Philosophical Institution" to request the assistance of its correspondents, and of all who may have leisure and inclination for observations of the kind, in any part of the world, to make simultaneous registers of the barometer, thermometer, and other meteorological instruments, and of the winds and weather; likewise, the temperature of the earth at small depths, say ten or fifteen feet. He proposes, in addition to the daily register, that four days in each year should henceforth be especially set apart; and that the shewings of the different meteorological instruments should be registered every hour throughout the twenty-four successive hours of those stated days-viz., the 21st of March, the 21st of June, the 21st of September, and the 21st of December. The plan and modes of procedure are published in a small pamphlet of seventeen pages, which is printed for private distribution.

BICARBONATES OF SODA AND POTASH.-Rose has shewn that bicarbonate of soda, when in solution, is reduced, by removing the pressure of the atmosphere, to the state of sesquicarbonate; and that bicarbonate of potash, though not affected by exposure in a vacuum, in the crystalline state, is also, decomposed, if in solution.

CHLOROUS ACID.-It has been a subject of discussion among chemists whether bleaching powder consists of chloride of lime, or of a mixture of chlorite of lime with chloride of calcium. Balard, in an able paper, advocates the latter theory. He has not succeeded in procuring chlorous acid directly, from bleaching powder, but has isolated it, by pouring a mixture of red oxide of mercury with twelve times its weight of water, into vessels filled with chlorine: rapid absorption takes place. The fluid, separated by filtration and distilled in vacuo, furnishes weak chlorous acid, which proves to be constituted of two volumes of chlorine, and one volume of oxygen. He confirms the statement of M. Morin, that, by the decomposition of the bleaching chlorides, either by time or by heat, twelve atoms of oxygen are disengaged; whilst seventeen proportionals of the chloride of the metallic base, and one of the chlorate of the oxide remain.

PRODUCTS OBTAINED IN ORGANIC ANALYSIS.-Some of the foreign chemists, by treating the cyanurets with various agents, have obtained several singular compounds, differing widely in their appearance and properties. These, if the contrary were not previously known, might reasonably have been supposed to exist in the substance under examination. These facts

raise a doubt as to whether some of the substances obtained in organic analysis, are not formed during the processes employed in performing the analysis.

A Royal Society of Sciences has been established at Antwerp, and, though it has existed only six months, it already boasts of many eminent names of foreign literati among its members such as Alex. von Humboldt, Charles Dupin, Dr. Pariset, Alexander de la Borde, De Candolle, Magendie, Hufeland, &c., &c.-Foreign Quarterly Review.

M. Azeglio, director of the Royal Gallery of Paintings at Turin, is publishing representations of the finest pictures in that collection, engraved by some of the most eminent Italian artists. The work will form eighty numbers, of four plates each, in folio. The illustrative text accompanying them, will be furnished by M. Azeglio himself.—Ibid.

THE ARTS AND ARTISTS IN FRANCE.-According to a French scientific publication, there are now in France 82 museums, 160 schools of the fine arts, 2,231 artists, whose names have been made eminent by their works. This number of artists consists of 1,096 painters, 150 sculptors, 113 engravers, 263 architects, and 309 draughtsmen. In Paris itself there are no less than 35 schools of the fine arts, 20 museums, 773 painters, 106 sculptors, 102 engravers, 195 architects, and 209 draughtsmen. Total, 1,385 artists.

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.

SHORTLY will be published, "The Romance of Flowers." The work will consist of highly-finished coloured engravings, with poetical illustrations, and apposite extracts from the old poets. The drawings and original illustrations, by Louisa Anne Twamley, author of "Sea-Side Thoughts," and other poems.

A History of British Quadrupeds, by Thomas Bell, F. R. S., F. L. S., &c., uniform with "Yarrell's British Fishes," will shortly appear.

Mr. Thomas Turner, of Manchester, is preparing for publication, Researches on the Organization, Functions, and Diseases of Membranous Secreting Textures, with original plans, &c.

The first number of the British and Foreign Medical Review is announced for publication on the first of January, under the editorship of Dr. Forbes and Dr. Conolly, and to be continued quarterly.

A History of English Literature, critical and philosophical, by Mr. D'Israeli, is announced.

Shortly will be published, the Literary Remains of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, edited (with the permission of Mr. Coleridge's executor) by Mr. Henry Nelson Coleridge.

Observations on the Present State of the Deaf and Dumb in Great Britain, shewing the great increase of the calamity, and pointing out the most approved means for its removal, together with a new mode of education, by the Rev. W. Fletcher, F. R. A. S.

Dr. J. L. Bardsley, of Manchester, is preparing a second volume of his Hospital Facts and Observations.

LIST OF NEW RUBLICATIONS,

From September 8 to December 8, 1835.

Agnes de Mansfeldt, by T. C. Grattan, 3 vol. post 8vo., 31s. 6d.
Aristophanes, "The Wasps," with Notes, by T. Mitchell, 8vo., 10s.
Asiatic Researches, (Index to first 18 vols.) royal 4to., 15s.

Baxter's Agricultural and Horticultural Annual, 1836, 8vo., 12s. bound.
Beechey's (H. W.) Literary Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 2 vol. fcap. 16s.
Blakiston's (Capt.) Twenty Years in Retirement, 2 vol. 8vo., 24s.

Bulwer's (E. L.) Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes, 3 vol. post 8vo., 31s. 6d. Carey's (H. C.) Essay on the Rate of Wages, post 8vo., 8s.

Channing's (Dr.) Works, 2 vol. fcap., 12s.

Cloquet's (Dr.) Private Life of Lafayette, 8vo., 12s.

Cock's (Edw.) Students' Guide for Dissecting, fcap., 7s.

Cocks' Illustrations of Cooper's Surgical Dictionary, 2 vol. 8vo., 5l. 9s. 6d. Cole's (W.) Select Views in Greece, folio, 84s.

Collins (Rt.) Observations on Midwifery, 8vo., 12s. 6d.

Comet (The), Illustrated and Explained, by J. Seares, 12mo., 4s.

Conwell on the Liver, and on Hepatic Disease in India, 8vo., 14s.

Cooper's (Sir A.) Principles and Practice of Surgery, 8vo., 18s.—col. 28s.
Davy's (Edw.) Experimental Guide to Chemistry, 12mo., 3s. 6d.
Dissertations on the History of Physical, &c. Sciences, 4to., 36s.
Everard's (Ann) Flowers from Nature, imp. 4to., 31s. 6d.

Family Library, Vol. LIV., (Washington's Life, Vol. II.), 18mo., 5s.
Forget-Me-Not, for 1836, 18mo., 12s. bound.

Friendship's Offering, for 1836, 18mo., 12s. bound.

Gallery of Modern British Artists, 4to., 16s.

Grahame's (Jas.) History of the U. S. of North America, 4 vol. 8vo., 21. 10s.

Hampden's (R. D.) Lectures on Moral Philosophy, 8vo., 8s.

Hoblyn's (R. D.) Dictionary of Medical Terms, 12mo., 9s.

Hogg's (Dr. Edw.) Visit to Alexandria, &c., 2 vol. post 8vo., 21s.

Heath's Picturesque Annual, for 1836, 8vo., 21s.-I.p. 50s.

History of Fossil Fuel, the Collieries, &c., of Great Britain, 8vo., 12s.

Introduction to the Study of Birds, 12mo., 10s.

Irving's (W.) Legends of the Conquest of Spain, post 8vo., 9s. 6d.
James's (G. P. R.) Educational Institutions of Germany, post 8vo., 7s. 6d.
Jardine's Naturalist's Library, Vol. X.-British Butterflies, 12mo., 6s.
Vol. XI. (Deer, Camels, &c.) 12mo., 6s.

Jenyns' (L.) Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, 8vo., 13s.
Johnson (G. W.) on the Arrangement, &c. of the Kitchen Garden, fcap. 3s. 6d.
Landscape Annnal, 1836, 8vo., 21s.-I.p. 52s. 6d. morocco.

Lardner's Cyclopædia, Vol. 71, (Literary and Scientific Men, vol. 2) 12mo. 6s.
Vol. 72, (Swainson's Nat. Hist. of Quadrupeds),

12mo., 6s.

Vol. 73, (Rome, vol. 2) 6s.

Latrobe's (C. J.) Rambler in America, 2 vol. sm. 8vo., 16s.

Lebaudy's Anatomy of the Regions interested in Surgical Operations, royal 4to., 24s.

Lee (Edwin) on the Medical Practice of France, Italy, &c., 8vo., 8s.

Lieber's (F.) Reminiscences of G. B. Niebuhr, post 8vo., 9s. 6d.

Lindley's (John) Key to Structural, &c. Botany, 8vo., 4s. 6d.

Loseley Manuscripts, edited by A. J. Kempe, 8vo., 21s.

Mackintosh's (Sir J.) Discourse on the Study of the Law of Nature, &c.,

12mo., 3s.

Macrobin's (Dr. J.) Introduction to the Study of Practical Medicine, 8vo., 5s.
Marshall's (Dr. J.) Observations on Diseases of the Heart, &c., 8vo., 6s. 6d.
Mayo's Outlines of Human Pathology, Part I, 8vo., 8s.

Middlemore's (Rd.) Treatise on Diseases of the Eye, &c., 2 vol. 8vo., ll. 15s.
Minerals and Metals; their Natural History, &c., 18mo., 2s. 6d.
M'Nab's Compendium of the Ligaments, 12mo., 3s. 6d.

Mudie's The Earth, The Heavens, The Air, royal 18mo. 5s. each.
Osborne's (Dr.) Nature, &c. of Dropsies, 12mo., 5s.

Pearson (Dr. R.) on Action of the Broom-seed in Dropsy, 8vo., 2s. 6d.
Random Recollections of the House of Commons, post 8vo., 10s. 6d.
Reid's (Dr. Jas.) Manual of Practical Midwifery, 24mo., 5s. 6d.
Rice's (M.) Initiatory Step to English Composition, 12mo., 5s.

Robinson's (H. B.) Memoirs of Lieut. Gen. Sir Thos. Picton, 2 vol. 8vo. 28s.
Rules for Expanding and Diminishing Drawings, 4to., 8s. 6d.

Schlegel's (F. Von) Philosophy of History, translated by Robertson, 2 vol. 8vo., 28s.

Smith's (C. J.) Historical and Literary Curiosities, pt. 1, 4to., 7s. 6d.
Spark's Library of American Biography, Vol. IV., 12mo., 7s.
Stanley's (Rev. E.) Familiar History of Birds, 2 vols. fcap., 7s.
Stilling's (Heinrich) Domestic Life, &c., Vol. 2, 12mo., 6s.

Student's Cabinet Library; or, Useful Tracts, Vol. I., 12mo., 5s.

Thomson's (Dr. T.) Outlines of Mineralogy, Geology, &c., 2 vols. 8vo., 32s.
Thorburn's (J. S.) Elements of Bedside Medicine, &c., 8vo., 14s.
Thorold's (Mrs. A.) Letters from Brussels, 1835, post 8vo., 10s. 6d.
Tocqueville's Democracy in America, Vol. 2, 8vo., 12s.

Todd's (Rev. J.) Student's Manual, 12mo., 6s.

Transactions of the Geological Society, Vol. IV., Pt. I., 8vo., 14s.

Med. and Chir. Society of London, Vol. XIX., 8vo. 15s. Trollope's (Rev. W.) Analecta Theologica, Vol. II., 8vo., 17s. Venables' Interlinear Translation of Gregory's Conspectus, 12mo., 4s. 6d. Vow of the Peacock, and other Poems, by L. E. L., feap., 10s. 6d.

Wardrop (Dr. J.) on Blood-letting, post 8vo., 4s.

Wilson's (Jas.) Treatise on Insects, 4to., 15s.

Yate's (Rev. Wm.) Account of New Zealand, post 8vo., 10s. 6d.

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT.

ON THE AURORA BOREALIS.

On the evening of the 17th of November, 1835, there was a very brilliant aurora; a broad sheet of white light, filling the northern part of the heavens, from West to North-east, and extending from 35 to 40 degrees towards the zenith. Occasionally dark clouds traversed this luminous sheet, but without appearing at all to influence, or to be influenced by, the belts or bands of light which every now and then extended, in a vertical direction, across it. These bands, or streamers, sometimes appeared in considerable numbers,— and at one period in particular, there were two considerable ones close together of a very remarkable brick-dust red colour; a strong light was thrown upon all objects around. These phenomena were observed from 9 to 11 p. m., and were still to be seen at 1 a. m. The day had been mild and pleasant,light Westerly breezes, with large intervals of sun; the maximum of the thermometer, 50; Barometer, 29.310, slowly falling.

On the 18th, the wind was high and Westerly, with clouds and some sun in the morning, and occasional showers in the afternoon; the barometer