Carbonate Of Lime Research Articles

Scientific Serials

American Journal of Science, May.—On red and purple chloride, bromide, and iodide of silver; on heliochromy and the latent photographic image, by M. Carey Lee. To this paper we have already called attention. It is the first of a series of important papers, the object of which is to show (1) that chlorine, bromine, and iodine may form compounds with, silver of beautiful peach-blossom, rose, purple, and black coloration; (2) that these compounds (except under the influence of light) possess great stability, and may be obtained by purely chemical means in the entire absence of light; (3) that the red chloride shows a tendency to the reproduction of colours, and may probably be the material of the thin films obtained by Becquerel and others in their experiments on heliochromy; (4) that these substances constitute the actual material of the latent or invisible photographic image, a material that may now be obtained in any desired quantity without the aid of light. They also form part of the visible product resulting from the action of light on the silver haloids. This first contribution deals with red silver chloride, and with the relations of photochloride to heliochromy. The author considers that in the reactions here described lies the future of heliochromy, and that this beautiful red chloride may ultimately lead to the reproduction of natural colours.—On the inter-relation of contemporaneous fossil floras and faunas, by Charles A. White. A chief object of this paper is to show that successive orders of fossil floras and faunas do not necessarily correspond so absolutely with given geological epochs as is generally assumed. On the contrary, the rate of progress of biological evolution from epoch to epoch has necessarily been variable, some contemporary species dying out at an early date, while others live on into subsequent epochs, according to the different conditions of their environments. Living species of land mollusks, for instance, are found also associated in the same strata with those of extinct genera and families of Miocene vertebrates. It is also incidentally shown that no European palaeontological and geological classifications are entirely applicable to the conditions prevailing in the American continent.—The Eozoonal rock of Manhattan Island, by L. P. Gratacap. An examination of the rock recently exposed in New York when the cisterns were being constructed for the Equitable Gaslight Company, leaves little room to doubt that here a bed of hornblende has undergone a more or less complete conversion into serpentine, the change being in some places accelerated by the elimination of lime carbonate as calcite, and probably elsewhere the double carbonate of lime and magnesia as dolomite.—Terminal moraines in Maine, by George H. Stone. The generally unequal distribution of the glacial drift in Maine is well illustrated by the detailed description here given of its chief terminal moraines.—Note on the enlargement of hornblendes and augites in fragmental and eruptive rocks, by C. R. Van Hise. While recently studying the eruptive rocks of the Penokee-Gogebic iron-bearing series in Michigan and Wisconsin, the author met with cases of new growths occurring upon augite and hornblende, corroborating the observations made by Fr. Becke amongst the eruptive rocks of Lower Austria in 1883. In some instances the augite has been completely, in others partly, changed into hornblende, the rocks where these new growths occur being altered diabases.—The great Acadian Paradoxides, by G. F. Matthew. An almost complete specimen of this gigantic species has recently been found in the Cambrian basin of St. John, differing from any hitherto described, and mostly resembling the P. bennettii of Newfoundland and P. harlani of Massachusetts. —On the kin of Paradoxides (Olenellus?) kjerulfi, by G. F, Matthew. The object of this paper is to throw some light on the comparative age of the Paradoxides beds in Europe and America, and the probable position of Olenellus in relation thereto, the allies of P. kjerulfi, Linrs., being chiefly considered.—On Taconic beds and stratigraphy (continued), by James D. Dana. This second communication, which is accompanied by a large map of the Taconic region in Berkshire, Massachusetts, deals specially with the middle and northern part of that region. The author concludes generally that the limestone must be the underlying rock for the lower and narrower portions of the Taconic range, the schists of which are the same in kind, and essentially continuous. Most of the limestones are referred to the Lower Silurian age, some Cambrian also occurring.

On the Astrocœniæ of the Sutton Stone and other Deposits of the Infra-Lias of South Wales

A very well-preserved specimen of Astrocoenia gibbosa , nobis, has lately eometo handwhich was collected bythe lateE. B. Tawney, Esq., F.G.S., and as it illustrates many interesting points in regard to the morphology of the Species, I have thought that a description of it would be interesting to those Fellows of the Society who take an interest in the Madreporaria of the Jurassic strata. The specimen is gibbous and worn on the free surface, and it has been carefully cut transversely and polished at the distance of an inch from the top. The form has grown vigorously in some parts and more slowly in others, and there are quite young as well as old corallites to be observed in the colony. Except in one or two places, fossilization has not interfered with the perfect preservation of the structural details, and the originally hard parts of the coral are represented by dense white mineral, while the interspaces are filled with more or less transparent, dark, carbonate of lime. On one side of the specimen and on the upper surface close by, are some corallites, which, as they are characteristically Astroccenian, may be noticed first of all. On the side of the colony the corallites have been worn so as to show longitudinal views of their walls and septa (P1. VIII. fig. 1). The walls of adjacent eorallites are united, and it is only in one or two places that a very thin line of semitransparent calcite denotes that the fusion has been incomplete.

On the Nomenclature, Origin, and Distribution of Deep-Sea Deposits 1

II. Globigerina Ooze.—We designate by this name all those truly pelagic deposits containing over 40 per cent, of carbonate of lime, which consists principally of the dead shells of pelagic Foraminifera—Globigerina, Orbulina, Pulvinulina, Pullenia, Sphœroidina, &c. In some localities this deposit contains 95 per cent, of carbonate of lime. The colour is milky white, yellow, brown, or rose, the varieties of colour depending principally on the relative abundance in the deposit of the oxides of iron and manganese. This ooze is fine grained; in the tropics some of the Foraminifera shells are macroscopic. When dried it is pulverulent. Analyses show that the sediment contains, in addition to carbonate of lime, phosphate and sulphate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, oxides of iron and manganese, and argillaceous matters. The residue is of a reddish brown tinge. Lapilli, pumice, and glassy fragments, often altered into palagonite, seem always to be present, and are frequently very abundant. The mineral particles are generally angular, and rarely exceed 0.08 mm. in diameter; monoclinic and triclinic feldspars, augite, olivine, hornblende, and magnetite are the most frequent. When quartz is present, it is in the form of minute, rounded, probably wind-borne grains, often partially covered with oxide of iron. More rarely we have white and black mica, bronzite, actinolite, chromite, glauconite, and cosmic dust. Silliceous organisms are probably never absent, sometimes forming 20 per cent, of the deposit, at other times only recognisable after careful microscopic examination. In some regions the frustules of Diatoms predominate, in others the skeletons of Radiolarians.

On the Composition of the Coal Balls and Baum Pots in the Lower Coal Measures

In the Halifax Hard Bed Coal seam it is well-known that nodules occur in abundance; these nodules are locally known as “ coal balls.” Just above the coal is a bed of shale in which nodules called “ baura pots “ are found; the latter is divided from the coal by a thin shale containing Aviculopectens in abundance; under the coal is a hard fire-clay called ganister. “Coal balls” are generally spherical, of a brown or greyish-brown colour internally, they are very hard and contain the remains of plants, in some instances being largely composed of wood fossilized by carbonate of lime; they have generally a coating of iron pyrites, which occasionally replaces the carbonate of lime and becomes the chief constituent of the ball. “ Baum pots” may be divided into two kinds—first, those consisting of successive coatings of mineral matter surrounding a central portion; second, those showing stratification like the shale in which they occur. “Baum pots” are generally oval, of a grey colour, hard and compact and often contain fossil shells. They have frequently an outer coating of iron pyrites. I am not aware that the composition of these nodules has been examined in detail, it being generally stated that they are composed of limestone coated with, iron pyrites. With a view to learn something more as to their composition I have made analyses of two “coal balls” and one “baum pot” from the Halifax district. On examination of the “coal balls” qualitatively I found the ...

V. Note on a Specimen of Altered Dolomitic Limestone from the Cement-Stone Series of the Ballagan Group

Last summer Mr. John Young drew my attention to specimens of a peculiar-looking rock found by Mr. Alexander Buchanan at Fintry. The specimens were of a uniform light-chocolate-brown colour and apparently perfectly homogeneous. They were somewhat harder than common limestone, had a waxy lustre, and broke with a sharp-edged splintery fracture, translucent upon the thin edges. With hydrochloric acid they effervesced slowly, at the same time gelatinizing. Externally the specimens were weathered white, and were traversed on the surface by deep fissures coated with a crust of carbonate of lime. Mr. Young and myself were led at first to believe that the specimens had been found in situ . We discovered subsequently, however, that they had been found detached, and not far from the site of an old lime-kiln. On looking to their analysis there is little doubt that they had actually passed through the kiln and had originally come from one of the beds of the Ballagan limestone in the neighbourhood. The difference in composition between the specimens exhibited and specimens of Ballagan limestone analysed by Mr. Young* is just what would be accounted for on this supposition. Although outwardly the specimens appeared homogeneous, analysis showed a considerable variation in composition, but by selecting portions taken from the centre of the mass and as nearly as possible uniform in colour, results which agreed fairly well with one another were obtained. Dried at 100° C. the speciments lost 8·7 per cent. of water. Analysis of the dried specimens gave the following This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract

On a calcareous deposit at Starleyburn, Fifeshire

Most people passing along the footpath that skirts the shore between Aberdour and Burntisland must have observed the pretty little waterfall formed by the Starleyburn stream falling over the rocks into the harbour of that name; and any ordinary observer might notice the rocks and weeds, over which the water falls, incrusted with a grayish, slimy-looking substance, which, if he took the trouble to examine, he would find to be a deposit of carbonate of lime. The Starleyburn, the stream to which I allude, has been long known in the district for its petrifying properties, as fragments of wood and other substances which have lain for some time within the reach of its spray have been found to be incrusted with lime. On passing along the road on one or two occasions I have observed this deposit of lime on the rocks and weeds within reach of the stream, and also incrustations of considerable thickness on the rocks a long way out of the reach of the stream, but it was only lately, when passing along the shore on the west side of the little harbour of Starleyburn, that I was struck with the vast amount of limestone that has been deposited here from the burn and springs in the neighbourhood. Close on the west pier of the harbour the deposit has accumulated to a thickness of between 20 and 30 feet. Even within reach of the tide it stands up in an overhanging cliff, from which great masses have

Yorkshire Fossil Mollusca

The organisms which in past ages inhabited salt or fresh water, are as one might expect, those which are preserved in the greatest numbers and in the best condition in the sedimentary rocks. The factors which appear to have favoured the preservation of marine and fluviatile animals as fossils, in quantity and variety, are:— 1. The hardness of the protective coverings or tests. 2. Their facility for undergoing mineralisation. 3. The quantitative development of genera, species, and individuals. 4. The variety of surrounding conditions, as to depth, horizontal distribution, &c., &c. 5. The early appearance on the earth, and continued persistence of forms during each successive geological epoch. No sub-kingdom seems to have fulfilled these conditions better than the Mollusca, the hardness of their shells fitted them to resist a considerable amount of abrasion, and to defy the action of many tendencies to decay; their chemical composition (chiefly carbonate of lime) lent itself readily to changes in mineralisation; they abounded in the seas and lakes of the various geological periods, both in genera, in species, and in individuals, they flourished under the most varied climatal conditions, and were found at all depths; they appeared early on the theatre of the life history of the globe, and have held their own as a class to the present time. No wonder that they afford to the Geologist precious and most useful data for a philosophical interpretation of the world’s early history. Fossil Mollusca are well represented in the county of York, perhaps ...

On the Blowing Wells near Northallerton

The wells are three in number. Well at Solberg, 3½ miles southward from Northallerton. Well at Langton, about 4 miles W.N.W. of Northallerton. Well at Ornhams, about 2 miles southwards from Borough-bridge. They are called blowing wells because in each of them currents of air flow from the shafts of the wells during a falling period of the barometer, and inward currents flow into the shafts of the wells while the barometer is rising. When the rise or fall of the barometer is considerable, the currents are very powerful, producing a strong draught or wind in the openings leading to the shaft. Through the kindness and assistance of Mr. Hutton, the proprietor of the estate at Solberge, I have been able to make a number of experiments at the well near the house at Solberge. In the first instance I analyzed the water from the well taken by Mr. Hutton, on the 12th of June, 1879. The water contains in grains per gallon :— | Chlorides, consisting of common salt | | | .. | 4·1 | }containing chlorine 2.49 | || | Sulphate of Lime | … | … | … | 6·36 | | | Carbonate of Lime | … | … | … | 16·24 | | | Carbonate of Magnesia | … | … | … | 11·36 | | | Oxide of Iron and Alumina | | … | … | 0·03 | | | Silica …… | … | … | … | 0·21 | | | (1) Organic Matter, &c | … | .. | … | 0·34 | (by difference) | | | | | | | | | Total Solids by evaporation | | | … | 38·64 | | | (1) Containing Ammonia | … | … | … | none | | | Containing Organic Ammonia | | … | … | 0·0014 | | Colour of the water in 2 foot tube, very slight green tint.

On the chemical composition of certain limestone beds at Ballimore (Argyllshire)

The quarry to which this paper refers is situated near the mouth of Gleann Sluan, near Ballimore, Argyllshire. The rock has been long wrought, and there is a limekiln attached. Besides this kiln, which is of the ordinary class of such erections, there are several old and disused ones, the formation of which is peculiar, they being so formed that a continuous process is impossible, and thus the fires had to be lighted between each charge, the contents burned, and the whole cooled before removing the charge. In this way much loss of time and money was experienced. From the mounds of refuse the quarries must be very old, as most of these mounds are now clad with the luxuriant and beautiful bright green sod characteristic of such old heaps. The section shown by the quarry is somewhat extensive, being between 160 and 170 yards broad. At the north end the schistose rock of the district is well shown, beautifully foliated, and at this point also overlies for 62 yards, and to the depth of 4 feet, the limestone. This is the oldest part of the present face, and some very fine weatherings are to be obtained. The limestone, which is here about 16 feet thick, is of a fine blue crystalline variety, and shows 66.44 per cent. of carbonate of lime. It contains little magnesia and iron, and the percentage is made up of silica. It forms a useful material for building and agricultural purposes. At the south end

Observations on the Bone Caves of Rodriguez

I.—The Cave Region of Rodriguez . The cave tract in Rodrignez is situated about the S. W. side of the island, and is of a very curious nature. We find there 10 or 12 patches of limestone scattered upon the basalt which forms the island; these patches are of irregular form, and usually terminated by an escarpment of various height, from 3 to 10 or 12 feet, which marks their juncture with the basalt. On examination, these patches are found to consist of marine coral upheaved with the basalt. Sometimes the limestone preserves its original structure or grain which it had in life; sometimes this grain is brought out by weathering, the outer walls or thecæ being harder than the rest, and standing out in relief when the rest is denuded away; sometimes, but more rarely, the septa are visible. But, as a rule, the limestone is much altered: whether by pressure during or previous to upheaval, or whether by an infiltration of acidulous water with carbonate of lime in solution, I must leave to more able geologists than myself to settle upon an investigation of my colleague, Mr. Balfour’s, collection of rocks; but the stone is usually rendered very hard and solid, though always very porous. Sometimes weathering produces a quasi-oolitic grain on the surface.

Note on a Consolidated Beach in Ceylon

A SOMEWHAT interesting consolidated beach exists on the west coast of Ceylon, a few miles to the north of Colombo. The writer had only one opportunity of visiting and examining for a short time this formation: but there are certain features in connection with it that cannot fail to be of interest, however short the examination may be. The beach extends continuously in almost a straight line for about four or five miles, and is manifestly in process of formation at the present time, as some portions of it are so soft that they can be easily crumbled in pieces by the hand, whilst others are much harder than gneiss, and can only with the greatest difficulty be fractured by means of a heavy hammer. Between these extremes are all gradations of hardness, and the ordinary shells of the coast may be found in almost every part of the beach more or less firmly embedded in the rock. The highest part of the formation is just within reach of the waves at high tide; but it is difficult to ascertain with any degree of accuracy how far it extends into the sea, on account of the difference between high and low tide being only about two feet. The beach is seen at a glance to be composed chiefly of a faint brownish-coloured rock, with frequent strata of black material of very varied thickness and irregular shape. An examination of specimens shows that the brown rock is composed almost entirely of quartz fragments, and that it possesses only a low specific gravity (2.91), whilst the darker portions are extremely heavy as well as extremely hard. Several specimens gave a specific gravity of 3.9, 3.93, 3.94, the dried sand, freed from its carbonate of lime by means of dilute hydrochloric acid, possessing a specific gravity of 4.32. A microscopic examination of this sand and also of sections of the rock showed that the chief constituent, and that which gave it its dark appearance, was magnetite, corundum in various forms being also present, with here and there a fragment of quartz. One noticeable point was that the fragments of the harder constituents were in nearly every case hardworn, and rounded, whilst the quartz showed traces of recent fracture in the shape of sharp edges and angles. The size of these fragments varies very considerably, those of magnetite ranging from.005 inch to.02 inch, whilst those of quartz are much larger, frequently reaching.04 inch. The corundum fragments are intermediate in size and rounded in form. It must be remembered that these specimens were taken from only one part of the formation, near the centre of its length and about the limit of high tide. In other positions the fragments will, no doubt, vary very much, the size depending in a great measure on the power of the current to carry them along the coast and up the beach. It was a matter of regret to the writer that he was not able to inspect carefully both extremities of the reef, and examine fragments from many different portions of it. The cementing material of the beach is carbonate of lime, no doubt from Ahe coral reefs along the coast, as there is no limestone rock in the neighbourhood or along the course of the Kelani River, which debouches to the south of the reef. It is not known whence the magnetite and corundum have been derived, except that they have possibly come from the degradation of the gneiss rocks occurring along the coast. Although corundum is comparatively abundant in the interior of Ceylon, it has never been found in its matrix, but always either in pocket holes in streams, or in drift, intermixed with rounded pebbles of quartz. The character of the rivers in the neighbourhood of the coast apparently precludes the possibility of fragments of corundum being carried down to the sea.

Chemical Denudation in Relation to Geological Time

THIS little book is made up of three papers: one on “Geological Time;” a second on “The Geological Significance of the Challenger Discoveries;” and the third on “Limestone as an Index of Geological Time.” The last paper was read before the Royal Society in January, 1879, and the others have been read before the Liverpool Society, of which the author is a distinguished member. Although, therefore, not new, these papers are well worth reading, for a vast amount of good solid fact is environed by curious calculations, and by hypotheses of a highly exciting nature. That is to say, exciting to the prosy realistic disposition of modern geology. This meritorious work, however, is slightly depreciated by the introduction of matter which is not strictly consistent with the results of modern research. Nevertheless, on the whole, the work may be considered very satisfactory by those who believe that doubt is the mother of progress; for all the hypotheses and conclusions in it are the product of a geological imagination of the highest and most vigorous order, and are of course open to objection. In the introduction it is stated that the author, during an attempt to estimate the amount of “solid matter conveyed annually in solution” in river-water to the sea from the surface of England and Wales, had a “new modulus” come into his mind, which might enable him to gauge the vista of the immensity of past time, or rather to arrive at “a minimum limit to the age of the earth.” The result is thus stated: “If we imagine the area of England and Wales consisting of 58,300 square miles, to form one river-basin, the delivery of water by such river would be 68,450,936,960 tons, or 18.3 inches per annum, containing a total of 8,370,630 tons of solids in solution, representing a general lowering of the surface from that cause alone of.0077 of a foot per century, or one foot in 12,978 years.” Taking the “soluble denudation” of other parts of the world into consideration, Mr. Reade considers “that about loo tons of rocky matter is dissolved by rain per English square mile per annum.” This he states contains 50 tons of carbonate of lime, and twenty of sulphate of lime, &c., and proceeds: “If, as is generally supposed, the sea contains only what is washed into it from the land, and we can estimate its numeral contents in tons, we at once get a minimum measure of the age of the earth.” As Herschel states that the ocean contains 2,494,500 billions of tons of water, and the mean of Dr. Frankland's analysis gives 48.9 tons of carbonate of lime and magnesia, and 1,017 tons of sulphate of lime and magnesia in 100,000 tons, it follows, according to the author, that it would take 25,000,000 of years to accumulate the quantity of sulphate of lime and magnesia contained in sea water, but only 480,000 years to renew the carbonate of lime and magnesia, and the discrepancy is caused by the appropriation of the calcic carbonate by mollusca for their tests. The amount of visible sediment brought down mechanically by rivers, as calculated for the whole world upon the results of Humphreys and Abbot for the Mississippi, and the estimate is given at six times the amount of the soluble matters. This produces over the whole globe an amount of denudable matter equal to 600 tons a square mile per year. Going back in all time at this rate, and allowing for coast erosion, glaciers, &c., the ten miles of sedimentary strata must have occupied 526 millions of years in accumulation. The author readily disposes of Sir William Thomson and tidal retardation, and his limits of time. His calculations are “fallacious through leaving out agencies that we know are at work, and which the calculations I have submitted bring out in greater force.”

The Structure and Origin of Limestones 1

AFTER the obituary notices of eminent Fellows lost during the past year, who were more than usually numerous, the president confined his own special address to the consideration of the structure and origin of limestones, relying mainly on his own observations, but incorporating general facts derived from other sources. Since, in order to properly understand the nature of the various constituent fragments of which many limestones are composed, it is necessary to know the organic and mineral constitution of the various different living calcareous organisms, this question was first considered from a somewhat novel point of view, and they were regarded, not merely as living tissues, but also as mineralised organisms, much attention being paid to their special optical characters. Much attention had been also paid to their true mineral constitution, so as to ascertain in which groups the carbonate of lime exists in the form of calcite, and in which as aragonite. The results are in some cases remarkable, even in relation to biology, and are of great interest and importance in the study of limestone rocks and their included fossils, since subsequent changes depend mainly on whether the original material was calcite or aragonite. This is due to the fact that calcite is in a state of stable equilibrium, and cannot be changed to aragonite, whereas aragonite is relatively in a state of unstable equilibrium, can be changed to calcite, and usually has so changed in limestone rocks. This circumstance has given rise to a complete difference in the state of preservation of many fossils. When they were originally calcite, they may have been further consolidated, but retain their original structure and optical properties, whereas when they were aragonite they have sometimes been completely removed by solution, and in other cases are usually changed into a mass of crystals of calcite, and have lost their original microscopical and optical characters. The general structure of various recent and fossil organisms was then considered, and it was shown how and to what extent they could be distinguished, when occurring as minute fragments in thin sections of limestones.

Notes on the petrology of Arthur’s Seat

As a previous paper in which I refer to the controversy recently raised as to the structure and age of this hill by Professor Judd, has been characterised by Professor Bonney as obscure in its petrology, I now desire to make my meaning plain. I. The hypothetical structure of a single or double volcanic neck, given in the various published diagrams of Arthur’s Seat, also involves more than Hutton’s postulate that its whinstones are identical with modern lavas, only of a submarine origin. The absence of sulphur from the neighbourhood, and the abundant presence of carbonate of lime in the rocks, appeared to demand the latter theory. Sir James Hall’s elaborate experiments on the changing of limestone into calcite by heavy pressure, were counted no less necessary buttresses of the Huttonian theory, than his other set of trials in fusing the rocks of the hill to watch the varied species of whinstone caused by different degrees of cooling. If modern Huttonists join with Rose and Percy to question the value of the pressure experiments, they cannot assume that the second set alone prove their case. The argument from general external form is not strong for the hill being a volcanic neck. The stone lion couchant differs from North Berwick Law for instance. Its unique physiography, even at first sight, appears to demand some other cause. Pursuing this argument of external form into special detail, recent observers maintain a strong resemblance with the volcanic ‶puys″ of Auvergne. The columnar structure of

On the nature and origin of the beds of chert in the upper carboniferous limestones of Ireland

After reviewing what had been published by previous authors on the origin of chert-beds, and showing that much remained to be done in this department of petrology, the author proceeded to describe the geological position of the principal cherty zone of the Carboniferous Limestone of Ireland, showing that, while bands of chert occur at intervals throughout this formation, the highest beds immediately under “The Yoredale Shales” are especially rich in chert, and are frequently entirely replaced by this mineral. In these beds coralline, crinoidal, and other marine forms were frequently to be recognized by the naked eye. Thin slices for microscopic examination, taken from various localities, extending from Sligo to Carlow, also showed that even the most dense and compact masses of chert exhibit, under favourable circumstances, forms belonging to those marine animals (such as corals, crinoids, foraminifers, and occasionally mollusks) which build their shells or skeletons of carbonate of lime rather than of silica. The siliceous paste in which these forms are enclosed was found to be in a gelatinous state; and the forms were only to be distinguished by difference in depth of shade from the paste, the shells or skeletons having disappeared. The chemical analyses of these specimens by Mr. E. T. Hardman, F. C. S., tended to show that the chert-beds contain various proportions of carbonate of lime as well as other minerals, so that a gradation from siliceous limestone into pure chert might be traced.

COSMICAL RESULTS OF THE MODERN HEAT THEORY

IN the Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akademie der Wissenschaflen, Herr J. Loschmidt has published a treatise on the equilibrium of temperature in a system of heavenly bodies with regard to gravitation, from which we note the following highly interesting details:—“Sir W. Thomson and Clausius simultaneously,1 drew from their researches the surprising conclusion that the whole universe at some definite period, however remote, would infallibly come to an end. First, all ponderous masses in the universe will eventually have united to one enormous heavenly body; and secondly, upon this body all visible motion will have ceased, all forces having changed to mere molecular motion, which in the shape of heat of universally uniform temperature will be spread in this mass. This state of general death will then last eternally.” Herr Loschmidt, in the course of his researches, has arrived at widely different conclusions. He begins by adopting the general view that the sun is in a state of slow progression of cooling, and that the time will unavoidably arrive when his surface will have solidified, long after all his planets have fallen in upon him, and after his upper and partly also his lower strata have assumed very nearly the temperature of the surrounding universal space. But granting that thus a period of rest and death will have arrived for our solar system, Herr Loschmidt maintains, at the same time, that this period cannot be of unlimited duration; the state of things just described can, according to his views, not be a state of equilibrium. “The previous liquid state of the sun has caused a continued mixture of the warmer parts near the centre with the colder ones near the surface. Thus, however, the equilibrium of temperature, which requires a certain increase of temperature towards the interior, was rendered impossible. At the moment of solidification of the external layers the deeper ones will be far colder than the theory of the state of equilibrium demands. Because, according to this theory, the surface should have the temperature of universal space (about − 140° C. according to Pouillet), but this temperature should rapidly increase towards the interior, reaching at the centre the enormous figure of 250,000,000° C. And it is just because at the moment of the beginning of solidification of the sun no such distribution of temperature took place in the interior, that the state above referred to cannot be of eternal duration. During an extremely long period, in spite of the low temperature of his surface, the solidifying sun will constantly absorb radiant heat from the store in the universe and will concentrate this heat in his interior. We suppose, for a moment, that it would be physically possible that this process of absorption is carried on to the end without the inclosed and dissociated gases in the interior breaking through the solidified surface or crust on account of their enormous tension. We then calculate the amount of heat accumulated in the end and find that it would easily suffice to raise the entire solar mass to 2/5ths of that temperature which the state of equilibrium demands at the centre, viz,, to 100,000,000° C, This figure is raised if the average molecule of the solar mass, instead of being supposed to be of the density of oxygen, is taken to be of the density of carbonate of lime; in that case it would be 125,000,000° C. We may compare these results to the quantity of heat which was produced during the condensation of the solar system from the cosmical nebula, according to the theory of Laplace and Kant. Helmholtz has calculated that the heat thus generated would suffice, to raise the solar mass to a temperature of 28,611,000° C., if it is supposed to have the heat capacity of water. If, instead of water, other substances are taken as starting points, this temperature is considerably raised; so in the case of carbonate of lime or silicic acid, the heat capacity of which is o.2, the resulting temperature would be 140,000,000° C.

V.—Palæontological Notes

1. Arbusculites argentea, P. Murray (Edinb. N. Phil. Journ. 1831, vol. xi. p. 147).—Under the title, “Account of the Arbusculites argentea, from the Carboniferous Limestone of Inverteil, near to Kirkcaldy, in Fifeshire,” a curious paper was published in 1831, by Dr. P. Murray, of Scarborough. The organisms are described as “very delicate vermiform bodies, in fragments of different lengths, shining with metallic lustre, neither articulated nor cellular, and resembling broken bits of silver wire.” The author adds, “It would appear to have been an attached Mollusc, dichotomous at first, but afterwards sending out lateral branches, moderately tapering, and with very distant and obscure (if any) articulations, grooved longitudinally, and composed of a bright silvery cortical case, and a solid axis of carbonate of lime. … It differs decidedly from the Crinoidal animals, which are regularly articulated; and varies nearly in the same degree from the Corallines, etc., by not displaying the cellular structure characteristic of that family.” Dr. Murray ultimately places this fossil amongst the Corallines, selecting for it a provisional resting-place in the third order of the first class of Lamouroux.

On new Species of Procolophon from the Cape Colony preserved in Dr. Grierson's Museum, Thornhill, Dumfriesshire; with some Remarks on the Affinities of the Genus

D r . T homas B oyle G rierson transmitted to me for description three more or less perfect small skulls, which all belong to the genus Procolophon , instituted by Professor Owen for some small reptiles from the Tafelberg. Dr. Grierson's specimens were collected by Mr. Donald White from Donnybrook, Queenstown District, Cape Colony. They are contained in a hard red ironstone matrix, often crystalline, which is apparently concretionary, and invested one skull much in the same manner as the clay-ironstone of our own country often invests Carboniferous fossils. The matrix can be removed only in part, because the bones and the cavities between them are frequently filled with brittle and crystalline carbonate of lime. Hence the thin film of external bone is often broken away in the endeavour to develop the specimens.

On the Prominence of Carbonate of Lime as a Constituent of Solutions obtained by Percolating Dry Cultivable Soils with Water

On the Prominence of Carbonate of Lime as a Constituent of Solutions obtained by Percolating Dry Cultivable Soils with Water

VI.—Note on paragenetic formations of carbonate of lime and oxide of iron, and of quarts and oxide of iron, at the Mwyndy iron mines, Glamorganshire

These constitute interesting objects for the microscope. The first mentioned is calc spar, having perfect rhombohedral cleavage; it is transparent, or translucent, apparently coloured topaz yellow or mnber, by the intimate diffusion of oohreous iron throughout. The distribution of the colouring iron oxide through the carbonate of lime is minutely microscopic, in tangled interlacing curved lines, many of which, if not all of them, are hollow tubes not unlike maccaroni or vermicelli, but, although this form of iron oxide is distributed through the calc spar in such close masses, it does not seem to affect the cleavage planes of the latter, which separate as readily as if no ochreous iron had been present.