Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    2. On certain Laws of the Resistance of Fluids. By John Scott Russell, Esq. 3. Chemical Examination of the Tagua-Nut, or Vegetable Ivory. By Professor Connell. This remarkable nut is now well known as being extensively carved into ornaments, having the high polish and general appear- ance of the finest ivory. It is a seed or nut of a palm calk'd Phytelephas macrocarpa, which is found on the banks of the Magdalena river, in the republic of Columbia. For analysis the fine turnings of the vegetable ivory were employed. These were well rubbed in a mortar successively with cold and hot water, and were then heated with hot alcohol. The constituents were found to be— Gum, .... 6.73 Legumin or Vegetable Casein, 3.8 Vegetable Albumen, 0.41 Fixed Oil, . . . 0.73 Ashes, .... 0.01 Water, .... 0.37 Lignin or Woody Matter, • 81-34 100. In the ashes were found phosphato of lime, sulphate of potash, chloride of potassium, carbonate of limo, and a little siliceous matter. The following Donations to the Society’s Museum were announced :— 14 Specimens of British land and fresh-water Shells. Presented by the Honourable Mrs Macadam Cathcart. Block of Sandstone, with organic remains imbedded in it, found in one of the dry docks at Leith, when enlarging it; originally from Rosyth Quarry, Fifeshire. Presented by Captain Patrick Dall, R.N. Portrait of James Mitchell, at the age of 46 years, well known, and described in the Transactions of this Society, by the late Professor Dugald Stewart and others, as the blind, deaf, and dumb boy. This portrait was given by his sister, Jane G. Mitchell, to, and was presented by, Sir Thomas Dick Lai dbr, Bart. 1 he following Donations to the Society’s Library were an- nounced.