Abstract
American Journal of Science, October 1890.—A description of the “Bernardston Series” of metamorphic Upper Devonian rocks, by Prof. Ben. K. Emerson. With respect to this paper, Prof. J. D. Dana remarks:—“Prof. Emerson has given the region a thorough investigation, in which he has removed the doubts as to the relations of the beds, made out, as far as possible, the system of faults and flexures, studied the rocks as to their kinds and transitions, and determined the age of the series to be Upper Devonian. The paper will be accepted in America, and should be elsewhere, as putting the facts beyond doubt that gneiss, diorite, granite, and the other crystalline rocks described are not always of Archæan or pre-Cambrian make; that granite and diorite are not always of igneous origin; and these conclusions are made sure on the well-established criterion of age, that is, fossils—Crinoids, Corals, Brachiopods.”—On the circular polarization of certain tartrate solutions, by J. H. Long. The author describes certain peculiarities of solutions of potassium antimony tartrate, when mixed with potassium or sodium carbonate, acetate, or phosphate in amounts insufficient to produce immediate precipitation. A decrease of specific rotation took place, in the case of each of the mixtures. It is probable, therefore, that a temporarily stable antimony salt is formed with a corresponding amount of alkali tartrate. The observed rotation is due to this in conjunction with that of the potassium antimony tartrate which remained unchanged.—A rapid method for the detection of iodine, bromine, and chlorine, in presence of one another, by F. A. Gooch and F. T. Brooks.—Metacinnabarite from New Almaden, California, by W. H. Melville.—On the Keokuk Beds at Keokuk, Iowa, by C. H. Gordon.—Note on the vapour-tension of sulphuric acid, with the description of an accurate cathetometer microscope, by Dr. Chas. A. Perkins. The author finds that the vapour-tension is not greater than about 0˙01 mm. at ordinary temperatures.—Experiments upon the constitution of the natural silicates, by F. W. Clarke and E. A. Schneider.—On five new American meteorites, by George F. Kunz. Descriptions and analyses are given of the group of meteorites recently discovered in Brenham Township, Kiowa County, Kansas; the Winnebago County, Iowa, meteorite; the meteoric stone from Ferguson, Haywood County, North Carolina; the meteoric iron from Bridgewater, Burke County, North Carolina; and the meteoric iron from Summit, Blount County, Alabama.—On the determination of the coefficient of cubical expansion of a solid from the observation of the temperature at which water, in a vessel made of thin solid, has the same apparent volume as it has at 0° C.; and on the coefficient of cubical expansion of a substance determined by means of a hydrometer made of this substance, by Alfred M. Mayer.
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Scientific Serials. Nature 42, 655 (1890). https://doi.org/10.1038/042655a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/042655a0