The type material of Orthocera gigantea J. Sowerby 1819 is refigured and redescribed. Specimens referred to this species by J. Phillips, J. Fleming, F. McCoy and F. S. Wallis have similarly been reinvestigated. The counterpart of the type of Actinoceras simmsii C. Stokes 1840 is also illustrated. Numerous other specimens from England, Scotland and Ireland have been studied. The material is found to be referable to the genus Rayonnoceras Croneis and to embrace a number of species. The calcification of the siphuncular structures is found to be variable in this genus.

In April 1846, I communicated to the Royal Society a paper on a new organic base, to which I gave the name of Picoline, and which occurs in coal-tar, associated with the Pyrrol, Kyanol, and Leukol of Runge. In that paper I pointed out that the properties of picoline resembled, in many respects, those of a base which Unverdorben had previously extracted from Dippel's animal oil, and described under the name of Odorine; and more especially mentioned their solubility in water, and property of forming crystallisable salts with chloride of gold, as characters in which these substances approximated very closely to one another. And further, I detailed a few experiments on the odorine of Unverdorben extracted from Dippel's oil, with the view of ascertaining whether or not they were actually identical, but on too small a scale to admit of a definite solution of the question.

1. The science of Meteorology must be ranked, at the present moment, among the most rising branches of natural knowledge. The transition from the hasty generalization which always marks the embryo state of science, to the application of sober inductive analysis, is one so important, and so truly interesting, as to repay amply the philosophical abstinence which it imposes. No more important lesson, indeed, can be learned, than from the very examples of crude speculation, which, for centuries, the progress of this subject has afforded among the multitudes whose scientific acquirements are limited to the art of consulting a weather-glass, or registering a thermometer, little imagining that the very science they affect to cultivate, ranks among its phenomena the interwoven effects of remote and recondite causes,—a science which, to use the words of Mr Herschel, is “one of the most complicated and difficult, but, at the same time, interesting subjects of physical research: one, however, which has of late begun to be studied with a diligence which promises the speedy disclosure of relations and laws, of which, at present, we can form but a very imperfect notion.”

The following observations, which I have the honour to present to the Society, have arisen out of an inquiry into the structure and distribution of the nervous system throughout the animal creation. It will readily be imagined, that the nerves supplied to the organs of sense, did not fail strongly to attract my attention, and that those belonging to so important an organ as the eye, were considered by me as worthy of the most minute investigation. It was impossible to proceed in this inquiry without submitting the organ itself to a very careful examination, in executing which, several important facts presented themselves, which I believed to be novel, at least, to lead to views respecting the physiology of the eye, different from those generally adopted. It became my duty to search into authors of the present and of the past age, and to collect into view whatever had been previously written on the subject; but leisure being altogether wanting for such an undertaking, I have thought it best to describe what I have myself seen.

The composition of Sea-Water has been variously stated by different chemists, not only with regard to the proportions of the salts which it holds in solution, but with regard even to the ingredients themselves.

According to Lavoisier, it contains muriate of soda, muriate of magnesia, and muriate of lime, sulphate of soda, sulphate of magnesia, sulphate and carbonate of lime. The proportions he assigns are, in a pound of water, (French weights) 126 grains of muriate of soda, 14¾ grains muriate of magnesia, 23 grains muriate of lime mixed with muriate of magnesia, 7 grains of sulphate of soda and sulphate of magnesia, and 8 grains of sulphate and carbonate of lime.

In a recent paper Johnston et al. (1994) have provided an innovative interpretation of the tectonostratigraphic relationships between distinct terranes juxtaposed along the Intra–Sudetic Fault in the Sudetes Mountainsof the Polish Variscides. They identified this fault as a major crustal fracture between Gondwana and Baltica, rramed the Tornquist Suture, resulting from the closure of the Tornquist Sea during the Caledonian orogeny. This interpretation is based on new U/Pb ages on zircon and titanite from igneous and metamorphic rocks (Oliver et al. 1993), field observations and reassessment of pre–existing data. Previously, the Sudetes were generally thought to haveformed during the Hercynian orogeny, although Caledonian age deformation was also inferred (Oberc 1977, 1986; Don 1984, 1986, 1990).

The late Eocene mantis genus and species Protohierodula crabbi can be attributed to the extant clade Artimantodea incertae sedis sit. nov., but its original placement in the Manteidae is not supported. It remains the oldest reliable described Artimantodea.

Compounds of Ethyl-Thetine.—In the course of the investigations, the results of which are recorded in the preceding paper, Professor Crum Brown and I observed that sulphide of ethyl, like sulphide of methyl, forms a crystalline compound with bromacetic acid. This we called hydrobromate of diethylthetine, in conformity with the system of nomenclature we had proposed for such bodies—

Owing, however, to the extremely deliquescent nature of the substance, we did not at the time subject it to a closer examination, but devoted our attention to the methyl compound and its derivatives. The following are the results of an examination which I have since made of the hydrobromate of diethyl-thetine and its derivatives: —

Hydrobromate of Diethyl-Thetine.—50 grms. of sulphide of ethyl and 70 grms. of bromacetic acid were shaken together. The acid slowly dissolved, occasioning a fall of temperature in so doing from 20–14°. After about half an hour's standing, the mixture grew warm, and deposited a slightly brown, oily liquid. The reaction was very much less intense than in the case of the methyl compound, when the sulphide of methyl actually boils and the mixture has to be cooled to prevent loss of product.

It is not my intention to enter into any detailed description of the external characters of the several interesting organic remains which are found imbedded in the limestone of Burdiehouse, that being a task which belongs to their distinguished discoverer Dr Hibbert.

As little do I mean to describe the geological relations of the limestone bed, that being equally the province of Dr Hibbert. It will be sufficient to state generally, that it forms one of the lowest members of the carboniferous group, being inferior in position even to the Encrinal mountain limestone of its immediate vicinity; and that besides its numerous animal remains, some of which will be mentioned in the sequel, it contains throughout its entire mass numerous impressions of land and fresh-water tropical plants.

The sponge Suberites domuncula attracted the attention of the Italian naturalist Olivi almost a hundred years ago, but was on account of its firm india-rubber like consistency erroneously regarded as an Alcyonium. Beyond the general diagnosis of Nardo who erected the genus Suberites, the structure of the sponge has, I believe, remained virtually unknown. Not for this reason, however, but because the Monaxonia in general, of which Suberites is an example, are still for the most part but little known, Prof. F. E. Schulze of Berlin was good enough to ask me last winter to investigate the structure of this sponge. To him, therefore—perhaps the greatest living authority on the subject—I may be allowed to express my gratitude for the hospitable reception with which he welcomed a stranger to his laboratory, and for the constant interest and assistance with which he encouraged my work. That I have not succeeded in giving a perfect elucidation of the structure is largely due to the same cause which has kept it for so long almost wholly unknown. The crowded siliceous spicules, the compact consistence, the smallness of the ciliated chambers, make the histological analysis somewhat difficult. Such gaps as exist in my investigation I hope to be able to fill up by the study of related forms, and have with that end begun the study of Suberites mana.

In Part I of a Memoir “On the Craniology of the People of Scotland,” published in the Transactions of the Society twelve years ago (vol. xl), I described the anatomical characters of 176 skulls, the majority of which had been obtained in the counties south of the Clyde and the Tay. The dimensions, form and proportions of the cranial box and of the face were examined, the cranial and facial indices were computed, several of the skulls were figured from the vertex, lateral aspect and face, and mesial sagittal sections of the skulls with radial and other measurements were reproduced. The Memoir gave the fullest account of the characters of the skulls of the modern Scottish people which had been produced up to that time. In the concluding paragraph I stated that I had formed a collection of skulls of the prehistoric in-habitants of Scotland, which I proposed to describe to the Society in Part II of the Memoir, and to discuss the general ethnographical relations of the Scottish people. From various causes the presentation to the Society of this Part has been too long delayed.

This paper sets the wider global and Scottish context for this Special Issue of EESTRSE. Climate change is inextricably linked to wellbeing, security and sustainability. It poses a fundamental challenge to the way we organise society and our relationship to the exploitation of the Earth's resources. Rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, linked to burning fossil fuels and land use, present a major risk of climate change, with serious but uncertain impacts emerging at a regional scale. A new industrial revolution is needed to achieve energy security and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with energy efficiency and energy production emitting low or no CO2 at its heart. At present, on a global scale, there is a mismatch between the emphasis on economic growth and the need to reduce emissions and achieve a sustainable use of resources. A more sustainable blueprint for the future is emerging in Europe and Scotland has much to gain economically and socially from this change. Scotland's ambitious emission reduction targets (42% cut by 2020 and 80% by 2050) are achievable, but require major commitment and investment. Despite success in cutting emissions from activities within Scotland, Scotland's consumption-based emissions rose by 11% in 1996–2004.

That the stelar problem considered in this paper may be more clearly visualised, it will be well to divest of purely theoretical considerations the facts of stelar structure already known for Platyzoma, and to summarise such structural features as bear on the subject in hand.

In the first account of Platyzoma given by Robert Brown in 1810 (l), the habit of the stem and heterophyllic leaves, and the general form and position of the sporangia, were alone described. But in 1832 (2) a rough analysis of the structure of the stem was added, and the tubular nature of its stele was recognised. No material contribution to the knowledge of the stelar structure was made until 1893 (3), when Dr Poirault described the histology of the stele as shown by a small fragment of stem. In this material there was a sclerotic pith completely surrounded by an endodermis, outside which lay a zone of parenchyma surrounded by a broad ring of parenchymatous xylem. At the periphery of the xylem there was a narrow zone of phloëm surrounded by a large-celled pericycle and an outer endodermis. Neither leaf-gaps nor perforations were found in the stele, and accordingly the complete isolation of the pith from the cortex was recognised.

The Cnoc Rhaonastil dolerite boss on Islay, NW Scotland represents a body of alkali-olivine basalt magma which differentiated at low pressure and in situ, from dolerite through teschenite to minor nepheline-syenite. The syenites occur as isolated pods and pegmatitic schlieren within the leucodolerite, and have an exotic mineralogy including Zr-aegirine, Zr-arfvedsonite, Ca-catapleiite, zirconolite and aenigmatite. Fluor-apatite occurs as an accessory phase in the dolerite, but becomes more abundant within the teschenite and syenites. Total REE contents within apatites in the dolerites are typically low (σREE = 0·57–3·21 wt.% oxide), the highest REE contents occurring in irregular, deuterically altered rims and internal patches. The REE-enriched rims also have slightly elevated SiO2 contents at 0·81–0·95 wt.%, suggesting that the substitution scheme Ca2++P5+ ⇔ REE3++Si4+ was operating. These apatites have up to 0·08 wt.% Cl and 3·7 wt.% F, with most being almost pure end-member fluor-apatite. The majority of the teschenite apatites show the least REE-enrichment (σREE = 0·27–0·45 wt.%), coupled with low Na (<0·12 wt.%) and low SiO2 (<0·39 wt.%) contents. However, within the syenites two distinct populations of apatite exist. The first, most common, variety consists of unzoned, low-REE apatites (max. 3·1 wt.% σREE, again in irregular rims and patches), whereas the second variety is often complexly zoned, and has variably enriched zones up to a maximum σREE content of 42 wt.%; this is by far the most REE-enriched natural fluor-apatite so far reported from the British Isles. The REE-enriched zones are often less than 3 μm wide, and have Na content up to 5·4 wt.% Na2O, implying that the substitution scheme Na+ + REE3+⇔2Ca2+ dominated over the more typical scheme involving Si4+ which operated in the dolerites and teschenite. Other zones are either variably enriched in Y (up 2·1 wt.% Y2O3) or Th (up to 0·85 wt.% ThO2). However, there is no correlation between Y and REE contents, suggesting that crystallographic factors were involved in apatite Y and REE partitioning. The REE-rich apatites have very low Cl content (<0·04 wt.%), but high F concentrations (<2·8 wt.%). It is believed that these strongly enriched apatites crystallised under disequilibrium conditions from isolated, variably REE-enriched domains, within the fluid-rich residual syenitic magma. These domains may have been generated by the prior crystallisation of monazite, Ca-catapleiite or zirconolite, which can be found as small inclusions within albite and interstitial analcime. The dynamic process of slumping of the denser teschenite back into the leucodolerite crystal mush is believed to have played an important role in the release of deuteric fluids and the concentration of residual magmas.

We have examined the sample of spirits, which was sent by Dr Hunter of York to the Royal Society, and we have read the account of the experiment on the sermentation and distillation of carrots by which the said spirit was produced. The experiment was made by Mr Thomas Hornby, druggist in York, with one ton and eight stone of carrots, which, after being exposed to the air a few days to dry, weighed 160 stone, and measured 42 bushels; they were washed, topped and tailed, by which they lost in weight 11 stone, and in measure seven bushels; being then cut, they were boiled with the proportion of 24 gallons of water to one third of the above quantity of carrots, until the whole was reduced to a tender pulp, which was done in three hours boiling.

When preparing to make a night journey over one of the plains of South Africa, in the month of June 1843, a friend called my attention to the peculiar appearance of the sky in the west, as offering a very decided proof, “agreeably with theory,” that there was no “Solar atmosphere” to be seen at that season of the year.

On looking in the direction mentioned, the last portion of the twilight was just visible, and forming a peculiarly level line above the place where the sun had set, for an extent in azimuth, of perhaps 40°, and at a height of about 5°. All the gorgeous colours which had attended the setting of the sun had long since vanished, and there only remained sufficient light within the flattened arc described, to make the space included between it and the horizon appear light blue, while all the rest of the sky had attained a deeper colour, nay was almost black, and thickly spangled with small as well as large stars.

When any one of the following tables has been given in the past to an extent useful at the present time, it will be found by the computer that the necessary volume is only with difficulty accessible and hardly ever to be purchased. That these tables are obviously useful is perhaps all that need be said in justification of their more extended computation.

Every mineralogist is conversant with some of the facts relative to the subject of this paper. Some of the observations enumerated, are comparatively new, as the attention of naturalists has been only of late more particularly directed towards these facts. Others, which I have had an opportunity of collecting myself, I trust will not be considered uninteresting, as they tend materially to rectify certain ideas connected with the determination of the mineralogical species, the most important branch of natural-historical research.

In drawing up this abstract, I have somewhat enlarged the plan followed in those formerly communicated to the Society. In order to represent more accurately the progress of the seasons, every month is here divided into three parts, and the state of the barometer and thermometer is given for each of these divisions.

The usual methods of obtaining pure phosphoric acid by the oxidation, with nitric acid, or by combustion, of pure phosphorus, are well known; but, although they yield a pure product, yet, as the phosphorus must be prepared from phosphoric acid, it is obvious that we shall derive a great advantage from any method of purifying easily and cheaply the phosphoric acid from bones, instead of first reducing it to phosphorus, and then re-oxidizing it. In practice, phosphorus is made from the superphosphate of lime, and it is from the same salt that phosphoric acid may be most economically prepared.