CONDUCTED PY⠀⠀

ROBERT JAMESON, .

REGIUS PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY, LECTURER ON MINERALOGY, AND KEEPER OF THE MUSEUM IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH;

Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh; of the Antiquar!” and Wernerian Societies of Edinburgh; Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and of the Royal Dublin Society; Fellow of the Linnean and Geological Societies of London; Honorary Member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta; of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, and of the Cambridge Philosophical Society; of the York, Bristol, Cambrian, Northern, and Cork Institutions; of the Royal Society of Sciences of Denmark; of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Berlin; of the Royal Academy of Naples; of the Imperial Natural History Society of Moscow; of the Imperial Pharmaceutical Society of Petersburgh; of the Natural History Society of Wetterau; of the Mineralogical Society of Jena; of the Royal Mineralogical Society of Dresden; of the Natural History Society of Paris; of the Philomathic Society of Paris; of the Natural History Society of Calvados; of the Senkenberg Society of Natural History; Honorary Membe of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New York; of the New York Historical Society; of the American Antiquarian Society; of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia; of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York, &c. &c.

OCTOBER 1827.. APRIL 1828.

TO BE CONTINUED QUARTERLY.

EDINBURGH:

PRINTED FOR ADAM BLACK, NORTH BRIDGE, EDINBURGH;

AND LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, & GREEN,

LONDON.

1828

A

CONTENTS.

ART. I. Biographical Memoir of Sir WILLIAM HERSCHEL. By

Baron FOURIER,

-

II. Description of a New Magnetical Instrument (pro-

posed to be called the Solar Compass or Heliastron),

with some Observations on subjects intimately or

remotely connected with the phenomena it exhibits.

By MARK WATT, Esq. Member of the Wernerian

Natural History Society. With a Plate. Commu-

nicated by the Author,

III. On the Semamith of Solomon, Prov. xxx. 28.

Rev. DAVID Scoт, M. D. M. W. S. F. H.S. E.

municated by the Author,

Page

1

16

By the

Com-

30

38

IV. On Vegetable Substances growing on the bodies of

living Animals,

V. On the relative Proportions of certain parts of the

Eye of the Foetus, compared with the same parts of

the perfectly developed Eye. By Professor CARUS,

VI. On the Irritability of the Stigma, and on the origin

and nature of certain parts of the Fructification in

Pinus Larix. By Mr DAVID Don, Libr. Linn. Soc.

Member of the Imperial Academy Naturæ Curioso-

rum, of the Royal Botanical Society of Ratisbon,

and of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, &c.

Communicated by the Author,

VII. Essay on the Domestication of Mammiferous Animals,

with some introductory considerations on the va-

rious states in which we may study their actions.

By M. FRED. CUVIER. Continued from former Vo-

lume, p. 318.

VIII. On a new Gyrogonite, or Fossile Capsule of the genus

Chara, occurring very abundantly in the fresh-water

Limestones of the neighbourhood of Paris. By M.

CONSTANT PREVOST,

IX. Notice regarding Fossil Remains found in Ava,

41

43

45

60

63

ART. X. Report made to the Royal Academy of Sciences of

Paris, upon a Memoir by M. Constant Prevost, en-

titled, An Examination of the Geological Question,

whether the Continents which we inhabit have

been repeatedly submersed by the Sea. By Mess.

CUVIER and CORDIER,

66

XI. On the History and Constitution of Benefit or Friend-

ly Societies. By Mr W. FRASER, Edinburgh. Con-

tinued from p. 296. of former Volume,

69

91

XII. Sketch of the Physical Geography of the Malvern

Hills. By WILLIAM AINSWORTH, Esq. Member of

the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, &c.

Communicated by the Author,

XIV. 1. Proposed Improvement in the Theory of Sound,

and in the mode of Measuring its Velocity. 2. On

the Theory of the Variation of the Barometer. By

H. MEIKLE, Esq. Communicated by the Author, 100

XV. Excerpt from a Memoir on British Harbours, drawn

up in the year 1824. By ROBErt Stevenson, Esq.

F. R. S. E. & M. W. S. &c. Civil Engineer. With

a Plan. Communicated by the Author,

XVI. Observations on the Coal-field, and accompanying

Strata, in the vicinity of Dalkeith, Mid-Lothian.

By ROBERT BALD, Esq. F. R. S. E. M. W. S. &c.

Mining-Engineer. Communicated by the Author, 115

XVII. On the Covering of Birds, considered chiefly with re-

ference to the Description and Distinction of Spe-

cies, Genera and Orders. By Mr W. MACGILLIVRAY,

M.W.S. &c. Continued from former Vol. p. 263.

XVIII. A Tour to the South of France and the Pyrenees, in

1825. By G. A. WALKer Arnott, Esq. F. R.S. E.

F.L.S. M.W.S. Continued from former Vol. p.356. 130

110

123

XIX. Account of Harris, one of the Districts of the Outer

Hebrides. Communicated by the Author,

XX. On the Discovery of Native Iron in Canaan, Connec-

ticut, North America,

140

154

XXI. General Observations on Natural History, made du-

ring a Journey among the Blue Mountains in New

South Wales. By M. R. P. LESSON,

XXIII. Analyses made at Colombo of Ceylonese Varieties of

Ironstone and Limestone. By GEORGE MIDDLETON,

Esq. Apothecary to the Forces. Communicated by

Sir JAMES M'GRIGOR,

156

167

ART. XXIV. Letter from Professor LESLIE to the Editor on

Mr Ritchie's Experiments on Heat, and New

Photometer,

XXV. Description of several New or Rare Plants which

have flowered in the Royal Botanic Garden,

Edinburgh, during the last three months.

Communicated by Dr GRAHAM,

XXVI. Celestial Phenomena from January 1. to April 1.

1828, calculated for the Meridian of Edin-

burgh, Mean Time. By Mr GEORGE INNES,

Aberdeen,

171

172

177

XXVII. Proceedings of the Wernerian Nat. Hist. Society, 179

XXVIII. SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

METEOROLOGY.

1. Great Fall of Rain at Bombay,

HYDROGRAPHY.

2. Colour of the Red Sea. 3. Melted Snow employed as Drink.

4. Notice regarding the Falls of Rewah, and a remark-

able Conical Hill at Myhur,

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY.

182

182

5. Distances at which Sounds are heard. 6. Capillary Action

7. Farther Observations made on the Solar Compass, 183-4

8. Metal of Alumina,

CHEMISTRY.

MINERALOGY.

185

9. Largest known masses of Native Platina. 10. On the Os-

tranite, a new Mineral Species; by Aug. Breithaupt.

11. On the Rose-coloured Petrosilex of Sahlberg; by M.

Berthier,

GEOLOGY.

185-6

12. From what Countries have the Islands in the West Indies

derived their Plants? 13. Fossil Skeletons of Guada-

loupe. 14. Organic Remains of the Alluvium and Di-

luvium of Sussex. 15. Hansteen's projected Journey to

Siberia. 16. Partsch's Journey through Transylvania.

17. Fossil Remains of Quadrupeds in the Tertiary Rocks

of Vienna. 18. Von Buch's Observations and Specula-

tions in regard to the Alps. 19. Boué's Memoir on Eu-

ropean Formations, and their probable Origin. 20. Dr

Boué on Secondary Rocks,

BOTANY.

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187-190

21. Signs of Increase, Maturity, and Decay in Trees; by M.