able mineralogists, have not been followed by any result, from which one might be led to conjecture the presence of coal in any part of the Appennines, except some traces of it, which the lowest parts of the sub-appenine country offer, though of very little I have the honour to be, moment. Brompton, Jan. 22, 1815. Sir, your humble servant, A. B. GRANVILLE, M. D. IX. Answer to the Queries respecting Shell-Fish in a Moss near Elgin. SIR, (To Dr. Thomson.) On perusing the last number of your Annals, I observed a note signed C. T. requesting information respecting live shell-fish which are said to be found at the depth of three or four feet in the solid body of a moss near Elgin, in Murrayshire. Though extremely sceptical of the existence of this circumstance, I addressed a letter to the Rev. Wm. Leslie, Minister of St. Andrews, near Elgin, a Gentleman well known for the accuracy of his observation, and zeal in investigating whatever is interesting, requesting he would inform me if there was any foundation for such a report. Mr. L. has kindly favoured me with an account of the different mosses in the vicinity of Elgin, with whatever appeared worthy of notice respecting them. He assures me there is not the least measure of reality, or any kind of foundation for the report alluded to, as no trace of shell-fish, either dead or alive, were found in any of the mosses near Elgin, nor to his knowledge in any other mosses in the adjacent country. I was some time ago informed by Mr. Hughes, the Gentleman who superintended the operations in draining the lake of Spynie, in the vicinity of Elgin, that a few live fresh-water muscles, and some belemnites, were found in the bed of the lake. The existence of live shell-fish and petrified tangles (as the belemnites were termed) in fresh water was considered by many who saw them as a very extraordinary circumstance; and it is not unlikely but a continuing increase of exaggeration in the detail of this circumstance may have sunk the live shell-fish three or four feet into the solid bed of the lake. I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, Inverness, Jan. 21, 1815. J. J. NICOL. X. Notice of a remarkable Meteor which appeared on the 2d of December, 1814. SIR, (To Luke Howard, Esq.) George Yard, Lombard-street, Dec. 14, 1814. At your request I now give you the best account. I am able to afford of the late luminous meteor. On Friday night, the 2d of Dec. at about 20 min. before 11, I was walking in an open part of the village of Peckham, about four miles S.S.E. of London. The night was cloudy and dark, the lower part of the atmosphere clear and calm, a very slight wind blowing from the E. Suddenly I was surrounded by a great light. I remember that at the instant I shrunk downward and stooped forward; as I was apprehensive of some danger behind me, I instantly ran a few paces. I turned about in a few seconds to the N. E.; for I was certain the light came from that part of the heavens (as it brilliantly illuminated some houses to the S. W. of me); and I think at a considerable height from the horizon. But I saw nothing to cause this light. It did not give me the idea of the force and intensity of lightning; its brilliancy was not so instantaneous and fierce; but it was a softer and paler kind of light, and lasted perhaps three seconds. I could discover no noise, though immediately I expected an explosion. The strength of the light was nearly equal to that of common day-light; all near objects were distinctly visible. The light very much resembled that of the luminous balls thrown from a skyrocket when it finally explodes. It was not as vivid and blue as that of a strong flash of lightning at night. None of the None of the persous I met that night thought it to be lightning, though none of them saw any thing but the light. Unless it had been very high, if it was in the direction I have supposed, it would be concealed from them by a high wall and some houses. A relation of mine, who resides at the northern extremity of Tottenham, saw the light of it as he lay in bed, through a window facing the west. He describes it to have been as light as day. I am, Sir, respectfully yours, XI. Weather at Calcutta. JOHN WALLIS. During the winter months at Calcutta there is always a fog every evening and morning. In the evening it rises high enough to cover the ground floors of the houses; but the upper stories are still visible. On this account the ground floors are considered as unhealthy, and are never inhabited by Europeans; but employed either as warehouses, or as lodgings for black servants. In the morning the fog is still more intense, and rises higher, so as to conceal the sun from view an hour and a half after his rising. When the sun sets through the fog he assumes a beautiful vermilion colour. The fog itself acquires the same tint. It is reflected from the water of the river; so that all nature appears painted of the finest red imaginable. XII. On the Mode of conveying Gas for Lighting the Streets. (To Dr. Thomson.) SIR, In answer to your Correspondent respecting the manner in which the Gas Light Companies force the gas through the pipes, I beg to inform him that, from its very compressible nature, and the number of collateral branches from the main to the lamps, forming so many outlets, that it is sent through the pipes with a very small pressure: I believe of not more than equal to a column of water of one inch in height. Should you consider the above worth inserting, I shall send you a paper on the structure of the cells of wasps and bees, which I consider so different as to require a particular explanation. I remain, Sir, yours truly, XIII. Mr. Accum's Treatise on Gas Light. R. W. Mr. Accum has in the press a Treatise on Gas Light, exhibiting a summary description of the apparatus and machinery best calcu lated for illuminating houses, streets, and public edifices, with carbureted hydrogen, or coal gas; together with remarks on the utility, safety, and general nature of this new branch of civil economy. The treatise will be illustrated with geometrical and perspective designs, exhibiting the larger gas light apparatus now successfully employed for lighting the streets and houses of this metropolis, as well as the smaller apparatus used by certain manufacturers and private individuals, together with other objects connected with this new art of illumination. XIV. Metallization of Charcoal. Mr. Dobereiner, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Jena, in Saxony, informs Mr. Accum that he has discovered charcoal to be a metallic substance. The following statement has been received from Mr. Dobereiner by Mr. Accum: "I hope soon to be able to communicate to you the successful metallization of charcoal, which I have reason to believe to be a metallic substance; in cast-iron and in steel the metal which it contains is present in a metallic state, and may be separated from both of them by the united action of phosphorus and an alkali.” Farther particulars concerning this subject Professor Dobereiner promises to communicate in his next. XV. On the Octohedral Form of Iodine. I regret that I was not aware of your intention to notice my observations on the crystals of iodine, as I would have undertaken to define with more precision the primary form from which all its other modifications may be readily inferred. You have stated, (Annals for Jan. p. 12,) that it assumes an octohedral form, which, though true, is liable to be misinterpreted; since the crystal may be supposed equilateral and equiangular, unless its peculiar deviation from the regular octohedron be specified. The axes of the octohedral crystal of iodine instead of being equal, are to each other in the proportion of the numbers 2, 3, and 4, so nearly that, in a body so volatile, it is scarcely possible to detect an error in this estimate by the reflective goniometer, because the surfaces change by evaporation too rapidly for any precise measurement of their mutual inclination. The form which most frequently appears in a section of this octohedron parallel to the plane of its greatest and least axes, presenting to view a rhombic plate bevilled at each of its edges by two narrow planes, which are inclined to each other at an angle of about 12010. From the frequent occurrence of this rhombic plate, (of which the acute angle is about 53°,) some crystallographers may be disposed to regard this surface as the terminal face of a rhombic prism, of which the diagonals are 2 and 4, and its height 3; and it is evident that all the modifications of the octohedron may with equal facility be derived from this prism. Feb. 22, 1815. I remain, Dear Sir, with great regard, P. S. In the same Number of your Annals, p. 75, you have noticed the discovery of chromate of iron in America, crystallized in regular octohedrons found in serpentine. Permit me to add, that this rare mineral, which I believe has not hitherto been observed in Britain, occurs also in the Serpentine of Portsoy, having the same crystalline form, and tinging the adjacent rock of the usual green colour of chrome. ARTICLE XIV. New Patents. LAEGER DIDOT, Paddington, Middlesex; for certain improvements in the method or means of illuminating houses or places, by the combination of tallow or other inflammable materials. Nov. 10, 1814. WILLIAM BENECKE, Deptford, Kent; for the improved method of manufacturing verdigris, of the same quality as that known in commerce by the name of French verdigris. Nov, 12, 1814. HORACE HALL, Golden-square, London; for an improved method of preparing and spinning hemp, flax, and other substances. Communicated by a foreigner residing abroad. Nov. 17, 1814. EDWARD MASSEY, Coventry; for his chronometers and pocket watches. Nov. 17, 1814. ROBERT BARLOW, Francis-street, Southwark, surgeon; for a machine or instrument called the hydrostatic self-blowing machine. Nov. 22, 1814. 6 |