scholarly journals On the application of a new Principle in the construction of voltaic batteries, by means of which an equally powerful current may be sustained for any period required ; with a description of a sustaining battery recently exhibited at the Royal Institution

1837 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 410-410
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Thin Membrane ◽  
Metallic Surfaces ◽  
Future Paper ◽  
Royal Institution ◽  
The One ◽  
Electric Action

The method resorted to by the Author for obtaining a continu­ous voltaic current of equal intensity, is the same in principle as the one employed by Professor Daniell, and described by him in his paper recently presented to the Royal Society, and published in the Philosophical Transactions; namely, the interposition of a thin membrane between the two metals in the voltaic circuit, so as to allow of the separation of the different fluids applied respectively to each metal : the fluid in contact with the zinc being a mixture of diluted sulphuric and nitric acids ; and that in contact with the copper being a solution of sulphate of copper. The author re­serves for a future paper the details of the results he has obtained, with regard to the relations between the intensity of effect, and the extent and disposition of the metallic surfaces : but states that he has obtained powerful electric action by bringing the membrane into contact with the zinc; the latter having no acid applied to it, and the only fluid employed being the solution of sulphate of cop­per.

scholarly journals XV. On the structure and motion of glaciers

1857 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 327-346 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Mutual Arrangement ◽  
Laminar Structure ◽  
Structure And Motion ◽  
Royal Institution ◽  
Glacier Ice ◽  
The One ◽  
Short Time

In a lecture given at the Royal Institution on the 6th of June, by Mr. Tyndall, 1856, certain views regarding the origin of slaty cleavage were brought forward, and afterwards reported in the ‘Proceedings’ of the Institution. A short time subsequently, the attention of the lecturer was drawn by Mr. Huxley to the observations of Professor J. D. Forbes on the veined or laminar structure of glacier ice, and the surmise was expressed, that the same explanation might apply to it as to slaty cleavage. On consulting the observations referred to, the probability of the surmise seemed apparent, and the result was a mutual arrangement to visit some of the Swiss glaciers, for the purpose of observing the structure of the ice. This arrangement was carried out, the field of observation comprising the glaciers of Grindelwald, the Aar, and the Rhone. After returning to England, the one in whose department it more immediately lay, followed up the inquiry, which gradually expanded, until at length it touched the main divisions of the problem of glacier structure and motion. An account of the experiments and observations, and our joint reflections on them, are embodied in the memoir now submitted to the Royal Society.

scholarly journals Description of a new barometer, recently fixed up in the apart­ments of the Royal Society; with remarks on the mode hitherto pursued at various periods, and an account of that which is now adopted, for correcting the observed height of the mercury in the society’s barometer

1843 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
The Other ◽  
Chemical Effect ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
The One ◽  
And Control ◽  
Usual Scale

The barometer, here alluded to, may in some measure be consi­dered as two separate and independent barometers, inasmuch as it is formed of two distinct tubes dipping into one and the same cistern of mercury. One of these tubes is made of flint glass, and the other of crown glass, with a view to ascertain whether, at the end of any given period, the one may have had any greater chemical effect on the mercury than the other, and thus affected the results. A brass rod, to which the scale is attached, passes through the framework, between the two tubes, and is thus common to both : one end of which is furnished with a fine agate point, which, by means of a rack and pinion moving the whole rod, may be brought just to touch the surface of the mercury in the cistern, the slightest contact with which is immediately discernible; and the other end of which bears the usual scale of inches, tenths, &c.; and there is a separate vernier for each tube. A small thermometer, the bulb of which dips into the mercury in the cistern, is inserted at the bottom : and an eye­piece is also there fixed, so that the agate point can be viewed with more distinctness and accuracy. The whole instrument is made to turn round in azimuth, in order to verify the perpendicularity of the tubes and the scale. It is evident that there are many advantages attending this mode of construction, which are not to be found in the barometers as usu­ally formed for general use in this country. The absolute heights are more correctly and more satisfactorily determined ; and the per­manency of true action is more effectually noticed and secured. For, every part is under the inspection and control of the observer; and any derangement or imperfection in either of the tubes is imme­diately detected on comparison with the other. And, considering the care that has been taken in filling the tubes, and setting off the scale, it may justly be considered as a standard barometer . The pre­sent volume of the Philosophical Transactions will contain the first register of the observations that have been made with this instru­ment.

scholarly journals XXII.—Observations on the Phonograph

1897 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-785
Author(s):  
John G. M'Kendrick
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
American Model ◽  
Spiral Line ◽  
The One ◽  
Spiral Grooves ◽  
Special Meeting

1. Since I had the honour of showing the phonograph to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, at a special meeting in November 1894, the instrument has occupied a good deal of my time and attention, and I now venture to give the general results of the investigation.2. The instrument chiefly studied has been the machine used in this country known as the “Commercial Phonograph.” Any records taken by myself have been obtained with the ordinary apparatus forming part of the “commercial” speaker arm, but I have always reproduced these with the aid of the so-called “musical” arm. The commercial machine, or, to give it a better name, the English model, is so geared that the wax cylinder, inch (197 mm.) in circumference, makes two revolutions in one second, while the spiral grooves described on the cylinder are inch (⅛ mm.) apart. A spiral line about 136 yards in length may be described on the cylinder, and the recording or reproducing point travels over this distance in about six minutes.3. I have also used the American model, which resembles in all essential particulars the one just described, except that the grooves on the cylinder are inch (¼ mm.) instead of .

scholarly journals On some circumstances relating to the economy of bees

1833 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 346-347
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
The State ◽  
The Other ◽  
Compact Mass ◽  
Whole Number ◽  
Permanent Settlement ◽  
The One ◽  
Hollow Tree ◽  
As If

The author had already stated, in a former communication to the Royal Society, his having noticed that for several days previous to the settling of a swarm of bees in the cavity of a hollow tree adapted to their reception, a considerable number of these insects were incessantly employed in examining the state of the tree, and particularly of every dead knot above the cavity which appeared likely to admit water. He has since had an opportunity of observing that the bees who performed this task of inspection, instead of being the same individuals as he had formerly supposed, were in fact a continual succession of different bees; the whole number in the course of three days being such as to warrant the inference that not a single labouring bee ever emigrates in a swarm without having seen its proposed future habitation. He finds that the same applies not only to the place of permanent settlement, but also to that where the bees rest temporarily, soon after swarming, in order to collect their numbers. The swarms, which were the subjects of Mr. Knight’s experiments, showed a remarkable disposition to unite under the same queen. On one occasion a swarm, which had arisen from one of his hives, settled upon a bush at a distance of about twenty-five yards; but instead of collecting together into a compact mass, as they usually do, they remained thinly dispersed for nearly half an hour; after which, as if tired of waiting, they singly, one after the other, and not in obedience to any signal, arose and returned home. The next morning a swarm issued from a neighbouring hive, and proceeded to the same bush upon which the other bees had settled on the preceding day; collecting themselves into a mass, as they usually do when their queen is present. In a few minutes afterwards a very large assemblage of bees rushed from the hive from which the former swarm had issued, and proceeded directly to the one which had just settled, and instantly united with them. The author is led from these and other facts to conclude that such unions of swarms are generally, if not always, the result of previous concert and arrangement.

scholarly journals Further note on the influence of a magnetic field of radiation frequency

1897 ◽  
Vol 61 (369-377) ◽  
pp. 413-415
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Ruled Surface ◽  
Radius Of Curvature ◽  
Radiation Frequency ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The One

Referring to a former communication of mine, on the subject of Zeeman’s discovery, printed on page 513 of the ‘Proceedings of the Royal Society ’for February 11 this year, vol. 60, No. 367, I wish to add an observation to those previously recorded, as I have recently acquired a concave Rowland grating (3½ X 1½-inch ruled surface, 14,438 lines to inch, 10 feet radius of curvature, being the one used by Mr. George Higgs), of which the spectra of the first and third orders on one side are very satisfactory.

Introduction

1998 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-128
Author(s):  
J. V. FIELD ◽  
FRANK A. J. L. JAMES
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
British Society ◽  
Art And Science ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Royal Institution ◽  
History Of ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The Relationship

Art and science are both terms whose meanings have been subject to change over time. At the end of the twentieth century, the terms tend to be used antithetically. Current views of the relationship between the spheres of activity that they connote range from a sweeping dismissal of any connection to an opposing but less extreme conviction that scientists and artists have something in common. The latter belief apparently at least partly stems from an underlying feeling that at any one time both activities are, after all, products of a single culture. The woolly shade of C. P. Snow's idea of there being ‘two cultures’ in the Britain of the 1950s at once rises to view if one attempts to pursue analysis along these lines.In setting up a conference called ‘The Visual Culture of Art and Science from the Renaissance to the Present’ the organizing committee was not attempting to resolve any kind of debate that may be perceived to exist in regard to the separation or otherwise of the domains of art and science. Rather, we wished to bring together historians of science working on areas that are of interest to historians of art, and historians of art working on areas that are of interest to historians of science, as well as practising artists and scientists of the present time who show an interest in each others' fields. We were, of course, aware that this agenda raised questions in regard to present-day relationships between art and science, but we hoped that, as we were dealing with a range of historical periods, any light that was shed would be moderately illuminating rather than blindingly lurid. The meeting, which took place on 12–14 July 1995, mainly at the Royal Society in London, was organized jointly by the British Society for the History of Science, the Association of Art Historians and the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) – a joint committee of the Royal Institution, British Association and the Royal Society. The historical examples presented at the conference showed a wide variety of interactions between art and science. The success of the conference (it attracted an audience of about 200) suggested very strongly that art, which has a large public following, can be used to encourage an interest in science, whose public following, according to scientists, could be better.

XXIV.—On the Temperature Coefficient of Concentration Cells, in which the same salt is dissolved in two different solvents

1912 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 375-396
Author(s):  
A. P. Laurie
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Coefficient ◽  
Potassium Iodide ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Platinum Electrode ◽  
The Other ◽  
Absolute Alcohol ◽  
Concentration Cell ◽  
New Type ◽  
The One ◽  
Concentration Cells

In a paper read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin., xxviii., part v., p. 382 (1908); Zeit. phys. Chem., lxiv. 5) I described a new type of concentration cell, in which the one platinum electrode was surrounded by a solution of ·025 molecules of KI containing ·001 molecules of iodine dissolved in absolute alcohol, and the other electrode was surrounded by ·025 molecules of KI and ·001 molecules of iodine, dissolved in water. This cell developed a considerable E.M.F. of ·198 volts at 25° C. in the direction which would transfer the iodine from water to alcohol and potassium iodide from alcohol to water.

scholarly journals VII.—On the Motion of a Heavy Body along the Circumference of a Circle

1865 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-71
Author(s):  
Edward Sang
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Elliptic Functions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Philosophical Magazine ◽  
Circular Arc ◽  
Heavy Body ◽  
Great Ease ◽  
Fourth Volume ◽  
The Common ◽  
The One

In the year 1861 I laid before the Royal Society of Edinburgh a theorem concerning the time of descent in a circular arc, by help of which that time can be computed with great ease and rapidity. A concise statement of it is printed in the fourth volume of the Society's Proceedings at page 419.The theorem in question was arrived at by the comparison of two formulæ, the one being the common series and the other an expression given in the “Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine” for November 1828, by a writer under the signature J. W. L. Each of these series is reached by a long train of transformations, developments, and integrations, which require great familiarity with the most advanced branches of the infinitesimal calculus; yet the theorem which results from their comparison has an aspect of extreme simplicity, and seems as if surely it might be attained to by a much shorter and less rugged road. For that reason I did not, at the time, give an account of the manner in which it was arrived at, intending to seek out a better proof. On comparing it with what is known in the theory of elliptic functions, its resemblance to the beautiful theorem of Halle became obvious; but then the coefficients in Halle's formulæ are necessarily less than unit, whereas for this theorem they are required to be greater than unit.

VI. Fifth letter on voltaic combinations, with some account of the effects of a large constant battery. Addressed to Michael Faraday, Esq. D. C. L. F. R. S., Fullerian Prof. Chem. Royal Institution, &c. &c. &c. By J. Frederic Daniell, Esq. F. R. S., Prof. Chem. in King's College, London

1839 ◽  
Vol 129 ◽  
pp. 89-95 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Conducting Surface ◽  
Conducting Sphere ◽  
Active Point ◽  
King's College ◽  
Royal Institution ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Michael Faraday

My dear Faraday, In my last letter to you, which the Royal Society have done me the honour to publish in the Philosophical Transactions for 1838, I observed, that “the principal circumstance which might be supposed to limit the power of an active point within a conducting sphere, in any given electrolyte, is the resistance of that electrolyte, which increases in a certain ratio to its depth or thickness.” The superficial measure of the conducting sphere, and the distance of the generating metal, or the depth and resistance of the electrolyte, are, in fact, the variable conditions in a voltaic combination upon which its efficiency depends; and their relations require further investigation before we shall be able to determine what may be the proper proportions for the economical application of the power to useful purposes. I shall venture, therefore, to trouble you with the results of some further experiments upon the subject, and upon different combinations of the constant battery, before I proceed to communicate some observations upon Electrolysis, which I trust you will find not without interest, and to which, according to my plan, my attention has been lately exclusively directed. Looking, for a moment, upon the affinity which circulates in the battery as a radiant force, it seemed desirable to ascertain what would be the result of intercepting the rays by the conducting surface nearer to their centre than in the arrangements which have been previously described, as the relation of the generating and conducting metals to each other might be thereby more clearly ascertained.

scholarly journals XIX. On the specific heat and other physical characters of mixtures of ethylic alcohol and water

1869 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 591-614 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Specific Heat ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Unexpected Result ◽  
The One ◽  
Alcoholic Strength

The authors, having recently had occasion to estimate carefully the specific heat of mixtures of alcohol and water, came in the course of these experiments to the unexpected result that the specific heat of such mixtures, up to an alcoholic strength of about 36 per cent., is sensibly higher than the specific heat of water itself. These experiments, to the best of their knowledge, furnish the first example of a liquid having a higher specific heat than water, which has always been considered to possess the highest specific heat of any substance solid or liquid. They therefore beg leave to lay their results before the Royal Society. Two methods were employed for the estimation of the specific heat. The first method, and the one chiefly used, consisted in heating a metallic weight to a certain temperature, and then plunging it into the liquid whose specific heat was to be estimated; the rise in temperature thus produced in different liquids will, after the necessary corrections, be inversely proportional to the specific heat of these liquids.

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