PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW.
ANFORD LIBRARY
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY BY
JOHN SMITH AND SON,
70 ST. VINCENT STREET, GLASGOW.
PRINTED BY BELL AND BAIN, 41 MITCHELL STREET.
James Bryce, LL.D., F.G.S.,
Abstract of Treasurer's Account for Session 1859-60,
List of Office-Bearers for the year 1860-61,
On the Geological Structure of Ben-Nevis, by Dr. Bryce,
On the Relations of Deposits of Common Salt to Climate, by Henry D. Rogers,
F.R.S., Hon. F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Professor of Natural History in the University
of Glasgow,
Notes of a Tour in Iceland in 1859, by David Mackinlay, Esq.,
On the Motion of the Strings of a Violin, by Professor H. Helmholz, Heidelberg,
Hon. Member of the Society,
On the Stalactitic Sulphate of Barytes found in Derbyshire, by Walter Crum, F.R.S.,
On Street Railways, by T. Currie Gregory, C. E.,
Notes of a Journey across the Cordilleras of the Andes from the Coast of the Pacific
Ocean to Chquisaca, by Mathie Hamilton, M.D.,
On the Uses of the Antennæ of Corystes Cassivelaunus, the Masked Crab, by David
Robertson, Esq.,
On Accidents by Fire from the prevailing use of Crinoline, and some Remarks on
the nature of certain Salts for rendering Light Fabrics less Inflammable, by
Francis H. Thomson, M.D.,
Effects of the Frost of December, 1860, on Vegetation in the Vale of Clyde, from
information communicated by Mr. Peter Clark, Curator, Botanic Gardens,
On the Geological Structure of the Ben Nevis Group of Mountains, by James
Bryce, LL.D., F.G.S.,
On a New Instrument for Measuring Electric Resistance in Absolute Units, by
William Thomson, LL.D., F.R.S.,
On the Rigidity of the Earth, by William Thomson, LL.D., F.R.S.,
On the Landslip and Movement of the Moss in Auchengray Estate, Slamannan, on
the 12th and 15th of August, 1861; illustrated by a Drawing; communicated
by Mr. Thomas Gibb,
Notes upon Dyeing and Dyed Colours in Ancient Times, by James Napier, F.C.S.,
Opening Address, by Professor Rankine, the President, Session 1862-63,
Abstract of Treasurer's Account for Session 1861-62,
List of Office-Bearers for the year 1862-63,
Black and Clayband Ironstones; their Composition and Valuation, by Mr. James
Napier,
On Sections of Least Resistance for Ships of Limited Breadth and Limited Draft of
Water, by James Robert Napier, Esq.,
The Government Scheme for Aiding Instruction in Science, by Mr. John Mayer,
On the Chemistry of Coal-tar Colours, by C. Greville Williams, F.R.S.,
On Pisciculture, by George Anderson, Esq.,
On the Recent Discovery of the Remains of a Cetacean in the Banks of the River
Irvine, by the Rev. Henry W. Crosskey,
PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW.
Anderson's University Buildings, November 7, 1860.
THE fifty-ninth session of the Philosophical Society was opened this evening, Dr. Anderson, the President, in the chair.
Mr. Montgomery Paterson, manufacturing chemist, was elected a member of the Society.
DR. ANDERSON delivered an opening address. He commenced by congratulating the members on the present condition and future prospects of the Society. During the past session very important changes had been introduced in the business of the Society; and among these the more frequent publication of the Proceedings held the first place, and had proved most advantageous, having brought out a copious supply of valuable contributions to its pages. The Library also was rapidly increasing, and was becoming a very valuable collection of scientific works, and becoming every year more useful to the members, and more extensively consulted.
He then proceeded to take a short survey of some of the more important chemical investigations which had been made during the past year. Among the most remarkable of these are the researches which have been made into the general distribution of some elements which have hitherto been considered to be the most distinctly localized; and on this subject the important researches of Kirchoff and Bunsen are of peculiar importance, because they not only detect some of those substances in unexpected localities, but furnish the chemist with a new instrument of investigation. They have shown that the coloured flames produced when certain oxides are introduced into a gas flame, when analyzed by means of the prism, show spectra which are highly characteristic of the substances; and as the colours are produced by a quantity which is almost infinitesimally small, the examination of the spectrum affords a means of determining the presence of those substances VOL. V.-No. 1.
|