scholarly journals On the parallax of the fixed stars

1833 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 65-66
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
The State ◽  
Present Communication ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject

Dr. Brinkley, of the Observatory of Dublin, having noticed for several years past a periodical deviation of several fixed stars from their mean places, strongly indicating the existence in them of annual parallax, the author was induced to institute a series of observations upon the subject, the results of which are submitted to the Royal Society in the present communication. Being unable to devote the mural circle, erected at the Royal Observatory in 1812, entirely to this investigation, the Astronomer Royal employed two ten-feet telescopes, fixed to stone piers, and directed to the particular stars whose parallax was suspected, and furnished with micrometers for the purpose of comparing them with other stars passing through the same field. The question of parallax is, theoretically speaking, rather curious than important; but with regard to the state of practical astronomy the case is very different, and, as far as relates to the natural history of the sidereal system, it is a subject of interest to ascertain whether the distances of the nearest fixed stars can be numerically expressed from satisfactory data, or whether it be so immeasurably great as to exceed all human powers either to conceive or determine. The principal stars observed by Dr. Brinkley were, α Lyræ, α Aquilæ, α Cygni.

III. Further observations on the amyloid substance met with in the animal economy

1864 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 317-321
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Natural History ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Present Communication ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Animal Economy ◽  
History Of

In the early part of last year I had the honour of making a communication to the Royal Society “On the Amyloid Substance of the Liver, and ts ultimate destination in the Animal Economy." The discussion which ollowed the reading of this paper made it desirable that further observations should be made regarding the natural history of this substance, more particularly with reference to its relations to the tissues of the fœtus. It was not possible to complete these investigations until the spring of the year laced at my disposal fœtal lambs, calves, &c. in various stages of development. This has been the cause of the delay in forwarding the present communication, for which I must apologise to the Society. The amyloid substance met with in the fœtal tissues is in chemical composition identical with that found in the liver. Absolutely pure specimens, prepared from each of these sources, are represented by the formula C 12 . H 10 . O 10 .

scholarly journals XIII. On the diurnal inequalities of terrestrial magnetism, as deduced from observa­tions made at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from 1841 to 1857

1863 ◽  
Vol 153 ◽  
pp. 309-316
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Magnetic Storms ◽  
The State ◽  
Vertical Force ◽  
Horizontal Force ◽  
Terrestrial Magnetism ◽  
Royal Observatory ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Receive

It has been usual for the Royal Society to receive among their communications and to publish in their ‘Transactions’ the epitomized results of long series of voluminous observations and laborious calculations, of which the fundamental details have been printed in works specially devoted to those subjects. The paper which I have the honour now to submit to the Society consists principally of results of this class. It exhibits in curves the Diurnal Inequalities of Terrestrial Magnetism, as obtained by the use of instruments essentially the same through the whole period of the seventeen years; during the last ten years of which the magnetic indications have been automa­tically recorded by photographic self-registration, on a system which has been continued to the present time (1863) and is still to be continued. I offer these results to the Royal Society in the hope that they will prove no unimportant contribution to a record of the state of Terrestrial Magnetism at Greenwich, through a period which is likely to be esteemed a very important one in the general history of the science. The magnets of the three magnetometers (Declination, Horizontal Force, Vertical Force), from which these indications are obtained, are 2-foot magnets, such as were introduced by Gauss about the time of commencing this series of observations; two of them were prepared at Gottingen. If I had now to establish a magnetical apparatus, I should probably adopt magnets of smaller dimensions. Yet there are advantages in the use of large magnets, as the power of carrying large mirrors, &c., which I would not lightly forego. And, judging from the completeness and delicacy of the registers of magnetic storms made by all three instruments, I have reason to believe that the general accuracy of the records is almost as great as it will be possible to obtain with any instru­ments. I have therefore not thought it necessary to make any change in the instru­mental system.

scholarly journals On the impregnation of the ovum in the amphibia

1851 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 971-975
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Germinal Vesicle ◽  
The Body ◽  
Present Communication ◽  
History Of ◽  
Black Surface ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Short Time

The author states that this communication to the Royal Society is part of a series of investigations on development, on which he has been for some years engaged, and which was commenced in a paper on that of the Myriapoda, published in 1841, in the Philosophical Transactions. The plan followed in these investigations has been to combine observations on the natural history of the animals with others on the conditions which affect their development, as the best mode of arriving at correct conclusions. The history of the discovery of what can now be proved to be the direct agent of impregnation, the spermatozoon, is then traced; and it is shown, that although within the last few years an opinion has been gaining ground that the spermatozoon, and not the liquor seminis , as formerly supposed, is the means of impregnation, no acknowledged proof has hitherto been given of the correctness of this opinion, and no refutation afforded to the theory that the liquor seminis is the part of the seminal fluid immediately concerned. The question of the agency of the spermatozoon has thus remained open; and it is to this question, with a view first to supply proof from direct experiments of the fact of the agency of this body, as well as to examine into the circumstances under which this agency is exerted, influenced or impeded, that the present communication is especially devoted. The author then traces the changes in the ovum within the body of the Amphibia, from a short time before the disappearance of the germinal vesicle to the period when the ovum is expelled before impregnation. The structure of the germinal vesicle in the ovarian ovum is shown to be an involution of cells, as stated by Wagner and Barry; but the author differs entirely from the latter respecting the mode of disappearance of the vesicle, and also respecting the part played by its constituents in the production of the embryo. He believes the included cells are liberated by the diffluence of the membrane of the germinal vesicle in the interior of the yelk, not in the centre of the yelk, but much nearer to the upper or dark surface than to the white or inferior, and at the bottom of a short canal, the entrance to which is in the middle of the upper or black surface at a point already noticed by Prevost and Dumas, Rusconi and Boa; and he thinks that it is due to the diffluence of the envelope of the vesicle in this situation that the moment of disappearance has not yet been observed. The germinal vesicle in the Amphibia always disappears before the ovum leaves the ovary, and escapes into the cavity of the abdomen. The mode in which the ovum, after leaving the ovary, is believed to arrive at the entrance of the oviduct is then stated, and the structure of the entrance in the intermedial space, as shown by Swammerdam, described.

The Historia Piscium (1686)

2000 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kusukawa
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
John Ray ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Francis Willughby ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Made In

In 1686, just as Newton was preparing for the publication of the Principia , the Historia Piscium was being printed under the auspices of The Royal Society. The Historia Piscium was a work begun by Francis Willughby (1635–1672, F.R.S. 1663), completed by John Ray (1627–1705, F.R.S. 1667) and brought into print with the financial support of The Royal Society. The text and illustrations of the Historia Piscium reflect the 17th-century origins of the enterprise: Ray's quest to recover the knowledge and language lost in the Fall, and The Royal Society's support for establishing a reformed natural history of fish through publication. Ray's biblical belief in the corruption of human language and knowledge led him to reform natural history through ‘characteristic marks’. He sought to define, classify and depict fishes through their external features, which when matched up, would yield the same nature, and thus allow humans to identify and give a name to a fish. The Royal Society helped Ray's task by confirming the validity or uselessness of a given author on the subject, suggesting other authorities and sources for illustrations, organizing the printing, checking the corrections and paying for the cost of the printing. Subscriptions were sought for the illustrations and the inscriptions of subscribers reflect the Society's concern to promote its institutional identity and its supporters. Some Fellows of the Society also helped Ray with identities and classification of fishes, and changes were made in response to suggestions and objections of other Fellows. Without the intellectual and financial support of the Society, especially Pepys, Lister and Robinson, the Historia Piscium would not have been published in the way that it was. Despite the subscription, however, the Historia Piscium was a costly venture, largely due to its lavish illustrations, and the subsequent flop of sales of the book meant that The Royal Society faced serious financial problems. This is perhaps the main reason why it could not meet the cost of publishing Newton's Principia .

scholarly journals I. The Croonian Lecture.—On the theory of the vertebrate skull

1859 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 381-457 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Biological Science ◽  
The Other ◽  
Small Space ◽  
Half Century ◽  
Organic Structure ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Articles Of Faith ◽  
The Mind

The necessity of discussing so great a subject as the Theory of the Vertebrate Skull in the small space of time allotted by custom to a lecture, has its advantages as well as its drawbacks. As, on the present occasion, I shall suffer greatly from the disadvantages of the limitation, I will, with your permission, avail myself to the uttermost of its benefits. It will be necessary for me to assume much that I would rather demonstrate, to suppose known much that I would rather set forth and explain at length; but on the other hand, I may consider myself excused from entering largely either into the history of the subject, or into lengthy and controversial criticisms upon the views which are, or have been, held by others. The biological science of the last half-century is honourably distinguished from that of preceding epochs, by the constantly increasing prominence of the idea, that a community of plan is discernible amidst the manifold diversities of organic structure. That there is nothing really aberrant in nature; that the most widely different organisms are connected by a hidden bond; that an apparently new and isolated structure will prove, when its characters are thoroughly sifted, to be only a modification of something which existed before,—are propositions which are gradually assuming the position of articles of faith in the mind of the investigators of animated nature, and are directly, or by implication, admitted among the axioms of natural history.

„Zurück zu Schleiermacher! und von Schleiermacher aus vorwärts!“

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent A. R. Hege
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
World War I ◽  
The State ◽  
World War ◽  
Psychological Method ◽  
Dialectical Theology ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractAs dialectical theology rose to prominence in the years following World War I, the new theologians sought to distance themselves from liberalism in a number of ways, an important one being a rejection of Schleiermacher’s methods and conclusions. In reading the history of Weimar-era theology as it has been written in the twentieth century one would be forgiven for assuming that Schleiermacher found no defenders during this time, as liberal theology quietly faded into the twilight. However, a closer examination of this period reveals a different story. The last generation of liberal theologians consistently appealed to Schleiermacher for support and inspiration, perhaps none more so than Georg Wobbermin, whom B. A. Gerrish has called a “captain of the liberal rearguard.” Wobbermin sought to construct a religio-psychological method on the basis of Schleiermacher’s definition of religion and on his “Copernican turn” toward the subject and resolutely defended such a method against the new dialectical theology long after liberal theology’s supposed demise. A consideration of Wobbermin’s appeals to Schleiermacher in his defense of the liberal program reveals a more complex picture of the state of theology in the Weimar period and of Schleiermacher’s legacy in German Protestant thought.

XXIII. On the water-barometer erected in the hall of the Royal Society

1832 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 539-574 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Royal Society ◽  
Physical Science ◽  
The Other ◽  
Metallic Tube ◽  
French Academy ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Common ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Made In

I have for some time entertained an opinion, in common with some others who have turned their attention tot he subject, that a good series of observations with a Water-Barometer, accurately constructed, might throw some light upon several important points of physical science: amongst others, upon the tides of the atmosphere; the horary oscillations of the counterpoising column; the ascending and descending rate of its greater oscillations; and the tension of vapour at different atmospheric temperatures. I have sought in vain in various scientific works, and in the Transactions of Philosophical Societies, for the record of any such observations, or for a description of an instrument calculated to afford the required information with anything approaching to precision. In the first volume of the History of the French Academy of Sciences, a cursory reference is made, in the following words, to some experiments of M. Mariotte upon the subject, of which no particulars appear to have been preserved. “Le même M. Mariotte fit aussi à l’observatoire des experiences sur le baromètre ordinaire à mercure comparé au baromètre à eau. Dans l’un le mercure s’eléva à 28 polices, et dans Fautre l’eau fut a 31 pieds Cequi donne le rapport du mercure à l’eau de 13½ à 1.” Histoire de I'Acadérmie, tom. i. p. 234. It also appears that Otto Guricke constructed a philosophical toy for the amusement of himself and friends, upon the principle of the water-barometer; but the column of water probably in this, as in all the other instances which I have met with, was raised by the imperfect rarefaction of the air in the tube above it, or by filling with water a metallic tube, of sufficient length, cemented to a glass one at its upper extremity, and fitted with a stop-cock at each end; so that when full the upper one might be closed and the lower opened, when the water would fall till it afforded an equipoise to the pressure of the atmo­sphere. The imperfections of such an instrument, it is quite clear, would render it totally unfit for the delicate investigations required in the present state of science; as, to render the observations of any value, it is absolutely necessary that the water should be thoroughly purged of air, by boiling, and its insinuation or reabsorption effectually guarded against. I was convinced that the only chance of securing these two necessary ends, was to form the whole length of tube of one piece of glass, and to boil the water in it, as is done with mercury in the common barometer. The practical difficulties which opposed themselves to such a construction long appeared to me insurmount­able; but I at length contrived a plan for the purpose, which, having been honoured with the approval of the late Meteorological Committee of this Society, was ordered to be carried into execution by the President and Council.

XIV. Researches into the molecular constitution of the organic bases

1851 ◽  
Vol 141 ◽  
pp. 357-398 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Royal Society ◽  
General Outline ◽  
Organic Bases ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Molecular Constitution

About twelve months ago I had the honour of presenting to the Royal Society an account of a series of researches into the molecular constitution of the volatile organic bases: at present I beg to submit to the consideration of the Society the history of a new group of alkaloids, which, although intimately connected with the former by their origin, differ from them altogether by their properties, and especially in not being volatile . The members of this new group of alkaloids are so numerous, their deportment is so singular, and their derivatives ramify in so many directions, that I have not as yet been able to complete the study of these substances in all their bearings; nor is it my intention to go fully into the chemistry of the subject in the present com­munication, my object being merely to establish the existence of these bodies, and to give a general outline of their connection with the volatile bases, and of their most prominent chemical and physical properties, reserving a detailed description of their salts and derivatives to a future memoir.

scholarly journals History of the publishing activity of the State Natural History Museum of the NAS of Ukraine

2019 ◽  
pp. 157-160
Author(s):  
O. Klymyshyn
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
The State ◽  
Natural History Museum ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Book Series ◽  
Publishing Activity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Scientific Collections

The publishing activity of the museum for the whole period of its existence is analyzed, starting from the first published in the museum by V. Didushitsky in 1880 and up to 2018 inclusive. Approximately this work is about 3.5 thousand publications, among which 84 monographs; 35 issues of the scientific miscellany "Proceedings of the State Natural History Museum"; 5 issues of the book series "Scientific Collections of the State Natural History Museum"; more than 50 catalogs of museum collections, thematic miscellanies, qualifiers, dictionaries and guides; about 2.2 thousand scientific articles; about 1 thousand materials and abstracts of reports of scientific conferences, as well as dozens of popular scientific articles, brochures and booklets.

scholarly journals II. Observations on Granite

1794 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Hutton
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
The State ◽  
Hard Materials ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
Fluid Matter

Since reading the paper upon the theory of the earth, I have been employed in examining many parts of this country, in order to enquire into the natural history of granite. In this undertaking, I have succeeded beyond my most flattering expectations; and I am now to communicate to this Society the result of my observations.In the paper just referred to, it was maintained, from many different arguments, that all the solid strata of the earth had been consolidated by means of subterraneous heat, softening the hard materials of those bodies; and that in many places, those consolidated strata had been broken and invaded by huge masses of fluid matter similar to lava, but, for the most part, perfectly distinguishable from it. Granite also was considered there as a body which had been certainly consolidated by heat; and which had, at least in some parts, been in the state of perfect fusion, and certain specimens were produced, from which I drew an argument in support of this conclusion.

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