Front Matter

ADVERTISEMENT. The Committee appointed by the Royal Society to direct the publication of the Philosophical Transactions, take this opportunity to acquaint the Public, that it fully appears, as well from the Council-books and Journals of the Society, as from repeated declarations which have been made in several former Transactions, that the printing of them was always, from time to time, the single act of the respective Secretaries till the Forty-seventh Volume; the Society, as a Body, never interesting themselves any further in their publication, than by occasionally recommending the revival of them to some of their Secretaries, when, from the particular circumstances of their affairs, the Transactions had happened for any length of time to be intermitted. And this seems principally to have been done with a view to satisfy the Public, that their usual meetings were then continued, for the improvement of knowledge, and benefit of mankind, the great ends of their first institution by the Royal Charters, and which they have ever since steadily pursued. But the Society being of late years greatly enlarged, and their communications more numerous, it was thought advisable that a Committee of their members should be appointed, to reconsider the papers read before them, and select out of them such as they should judge most proper for publication in the future Transactions; which was accordingly done upon the 26th of March 1752. And the grounds of their choice are, and will continue to be, the importance and singularity of the subjects, or the advantageous manner of treating them; without pretending to answer for the certainty of the facts, or propriety of the reasonings, contained in the several papers so published, which must still rest on the credit or judgement of their respective authors. It is likewise necessary on this occasion to remark, that it is an established rule of the Society, to which they will always adhere, never to give their opinion, as a Body, upon any subject, either of Nature or Art, that comes before them. And therefore the thanks, which are frequently proposed from the Chair, to be given to the authors of such papers as are read at their accustomed meetings, or to the persons through whose hands they received them, are to be considered in no other light than as a matter of civility, in return for the respect shown to the Society by those communi- cations. The like also is to be said with regard to the several projects, inventions, and curiosities of various kinds, which are often exhibited to the Society; the authors whereof, or those who exhibit them, frequently take the liberty to report and even to certify in the public newspapers, that they have met with the highest applause and approbation. And therefore it is hoped that no regard will hereafter be paid to such reports and public notices; which in some instances have been too lightly credited, to the dishonour of the Society. A List of Public Institutions and Individuals, entitled to receive a copy of the Philosophical Transactions of each year, on making application for the same directly or through their respective agents, within five years of the date of publication. In the British Dominions. The King's Library. The Admiralty Library. The Radcliffe Library, Oxford. The Royal Geographical Society. The United Service Museum. The Royal College of Physicians. The Society of Antiquaries. The Linnean Society. The Royal Institution of Great Britain. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts. The Geological Society. The Horticultural Society. The Royal Astronomical Society. The Royal Asiatic Society. The Royal Society of Literature. The Medical and Chirurgical Society. The London Institution. The Entomological Society of London. The Zoological Society of London. The Institute of British Architects. The Institution of Civil Engineers. The Cambridge University Philosophical Society. The Royal Society of Edinburgh. The Royal Irish Academy. The Royal Dublin Society. The Asiatic Society at Calcutta. The Royal Artillery Library at Woolwich. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich. The Observatory at Dublin. The Observatory at Armagh. The Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope. The Observatory at Madras. The Observatory at Paramatta. The Observatory at Edinburgh. Austria. The Imperial Observatory at Pulkowa. Denmark. The Royal Society of Sciences at Copenhagen. The Royal Observatory at Altona. France. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Toulouse. The École des Mines at Paris. The Geographical Society at Paris. The Entomological Society of France. The Dépôt de la Marine, Paris. The Geological Society of France. The Jardin des Plantes, Paris. Germany. The University at Göttingen. The Cæsarean Academy of Naturalists at Bonn. The Observatory at Manheim. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Munich. Italy. The Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts, at Milan. The Italian Society of Sciences at Modena. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Turin. Switzerland. The Société de Phys. et d'Hist. Nat. at Geneva. Belgium. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Brussels. Netherlands. The Royal Institute of Amsterdam. The Batavian Society of Experimental Philosophy at Rotterdam. Spain. The Royal Observatory at Cadiz. Portugal. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Lisbon. Prussia. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. Russia. The Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. Sweden and Norway. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm. The Royal Society of Sciences at Drontheim. United States. The American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. The American Academy of Sciences at Boston. The Library of Harvard College. The fifty Foreign Members of the Royal Society. A List of Public Institutions and Individuals, entitled to receive a copy of the Astronomical Observations made at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, on making application for the same directly or through their respective agents, within two years of the date of publication. In the British Dominions. The King's Library. The Board of Ordnance. The Royal Society. The Savilian Library, Oxford. The Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich. The University of Aberdeen. The University of St. Andrews. The University of Dublin. The University of Edinburgh. The University of Glasgow. The Observatory at Oxford. The Observatory at Cambridge. The Observatory at Dublin. The Observatory at Armagh. The Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope. The Observatory at Paramatta. The Observatory at Madras. The Royal Institution of Great Britain. The Royal Society, Edinburgh. The Observatory, Trevandrum, East Indies. The Astronomical Institution, Edinburgh. The President of the Royal Society. The Lowndes's Professor of Astronomy, Cambridge. The Plumian Professor of Astronomy, Cambridge. Francis Baily, Esq. Thomas Henderson, Esq. of Edinburgh. L. Holland, Esq., Lombard Street. John William Lubbock, Esq. V.P. and Treas. R.S. Captain W. H. Smyth, R.N. of Cardiff. Sir James South, Observatory, Kensington. In Foreign Countries. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. The Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg. The Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm. The Royal Society of Sciences at Upsal. The Board of Longitude of France. The University of Göttingen. The University of Leyden. The Academy of Bologna. The American Academy of Sciences at Boston. The American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. The Library of Harvard College. The Observatory at Helsingfors. The Observatory at Altona. The Observatory at Berlin. The Observatory at Breslau. The Observatory at Brussels. The Observatory at Cadiz. The Observatory at Coimbra. The Observatory at Copenhagen. The Observatory at Dorpat. The Observatory at Königsberg. The Observatory at Manheim. The Observatory at Marseilles. The Observatory at Milan. The Observatory at Munich. The Observatory at Palermo. The Observatory at Paris. The Observatory at Pulkowa. The Observatory at Seeburg. The Observatory at Vienna. The Observatory at Tubingen. The Observatory at Turin. The Observatory at Wilna. Professor Bessel, of Königsberg. The Dépôt de la Marine, Paris. The Bowden College, United States. The Waterville College, United States. ROYAL MEDALS. HER MAJESTY QUEEN VICTORIA, in restoring the Foundation of the Royal Medals, has been graciously pleased to approve of the following regulations for the award of them: That the Royal Medals be given for such papers only as have been presented to the Royal Society, and inserted in their Transactions. That the triennial Cycle of subjects be the same as that hitherto in operation: viz. 1. Astronomy; Physiology, including the Natural History of Organized Beings. 2. Physics; Geology or Mineralogy. 3. Mathematics; Chemistry. That, in case no paper, coming within these stipulations, should be considered deserving of the Royal Medal, in any given year, the Council have the power of awarding such Medal to the author of any other paper on either of the several subjects forming the Cycle, that may have been presented to the Society and inserted in their Transactions; preference being given to the subjects of the year immediately preceding: the award being, in such case, subject to the approbation of Her Majesty. The Council propose to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1842 for the most important unpublished paper in Astronomy, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1839, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1842. The Council propose also to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1842 for the most important unpublished paper in Physiology, including the Natural History of Organized Beings, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1839, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1842. The Council propose to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1843 for the most important unpublished paper in Physics, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1840, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1843. The Council propose also to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1843 for the most important unpublished paper in Geology or Mineralogy, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1840, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1843. The Council propose to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1844 for the most important unpublished paper in Mathematics, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1841, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1844. The Council propose also to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1844 for the most important unpublished paper in Chemistry, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1841, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1844. The Council propose to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1845 for the most important unpublished paper in Astronomy, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1842, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1845. The Council propose also to give one of the Royal Medals in the year 1845 for the most important unpublished paper in Physiology, including the Natural History of Organized Beings, communicated to the Royal Society for insertion in their Transactions after the termination of the Session in June 1842, and prior to the termination of the Session in June 1845. CONTENTS. I. On the Laws of the Rise and Fall of the Tide in the River Thames. By G. B. Airy, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., Astronomer Royal ... page 1 II. Contributions to Terrestrial Magnetism.—No. III. By Lieut.-Colonel Edward Sabine, R.A., F.R.S. ..... 9 III. Researches in Physical Geology.—Third Series. By W. Hopkins, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.G.S., and of the Cambridge Philosophical Society ....... 43 IV. On the Structure and Use of the Malpighian Bodies of the Kidney, with Observations on the Circulation through that Gland. By W. Bowman, F.R.S., Assistant Surgeon to the King’s College Hospital, and Demonstrator of Anatomy in King’s College, London ....... 57 V. On the Chemical Analysis of the Contents of the Thoracic Duct in the Human Subject. By G. Owen Rees, M.D., F.G.S., Physician to the Northern Dispensary. Communicated by P. M. Roget, M.D., Sec. R.S., &c. ......... 81 VI. Report of a remarkable appearance of the Aurora Borealis below the Clouds. By the Rev. James Farquharson, LL.D., F.R.S., Minister of the Parish of Alford, Aberdeenshire ......... 87 VII. On Fibre. By Martin Barry, M.D., F.R.S.S. L. and E. ......... 89 ADJUDICATION of the Medals of the Royal Society for the year 1842 by the President and Council. The Copley Medal to Professor James MacCullagh, of Trinity College Dublin, for his researches connected with the "Wave-Theory of Light," contained in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. The Rumford Medal to William Henry Fox Talbot, Esq., F.R.S., for his discoveries and improvements in Photography. The Royal Medal, in the department of Physiology, to William Bowman, Esq., F.R.S., for his Paper "On the Structure and Use of the Malpighian Bodies of the Kidney, with Observations on the Circulation through that gland," published in the Philosophical Transactions for 1842. The other Royal Medal, not having been awarded in the department of Astronomy, was awarded in that of Chemistry to John Frederic Daniell, Esq., Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, for his "Letters on the Electrolysis of Secondary Compounds, and on Voltaic Combinations," published in the Transactions for 1840 and 1841. CONTENTS. VIII. Sixth Letter on Voltaic Combinations. Addressed to Michael Faraday, Esq., D.C.L. F.R.S., Fullerian Prof. Chem. Royal Institution, &c. &c. &c. By J. Frederic Daniell, Esq., For. Sec. R.S., Prof. Chem. in King's College, London .................................................. page 137 IX. On the ultimate distribution of the Air-passages, and the formation of the Air-cells of the Lungs. By William Addison, Esq., F.L.S., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and of the Council of the Worcestershire Natural History Society. Communicated by Robert B. Todd, M.D., F.R.S. .................. 157 X. On the specific Inductive Capacities of certain Electrical Substances. By W. Snow Harris, Esq., F.R.S., &c. .......................................................... 165 XI. An Appendix to a Paper on the Nervous Ganglia of the Uterus, with a further Account of the Nervous Structures of that Organ. By Robert Lee, M.D., F.R.S., Coll. Reg. Med. Socius. .................................................. 173 XII. On the Action of the Rays of the Solar Spectrum on Vegetable Colours, and on some new Photographic Processes. By Sir John F. W. Herschel, Bart., K.H., F.R.S., &c. .......................................................... 181 XIII. On the Organic Tissues in the Bony Structure of the Corallidae. By J. S. Bowerbank, Esq., F.G.S. Communicated by Thomas Bell, Esq., F.R.S. .............. 215 XIV. The Bakerian Lecture.—On the Transparency of the Atmosphere and the Law of Extinction of the Solar Rays in passing through it. By James D. Forbes, Esq., F.R.S., Sec. R.S. Ed., Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of France, and Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh .................................................. 225 XV. Contributions to the Chemical History of Palladium and Platinum. By Robert Kane, M.D., M.R.I.A. Communicated by Francis Bailx, Esq., V.P.R.S., &c. &c. &c. .......................................................... 275 Index ........................................................................... 309 APPENDIX. Presents ........................................................................ [1] Meteorological Journal kept at the Apartments of the Royal Society, by order of the President and Council.