March 8, I 877J 1VATURE 4or logical Council to the Scottis~ Meteorol~gical Soc_iety, as are "vVe do not deny that an elementary body may in certain necessary for obtaining observations at stations reqmred for the cases give different spectra. The absorption spectrum of iodine, purposes of the Council ; for securing the pmper inspection of for instance, is quite different from its emission spectrum stations the registers from which are required for the general obtained by means of the electric spark. All bodies existing in purposes of the Council ; for t~e needful compilati?n and c_h~ck different allotropic states will give different spectra correspond­ of such registers ; and for meetmg other charges directly ansmg ing to these different allotropic states provided that the allotropic from these services ; or for special researches couducted. by the states still exist at the temperature of incandescence. Society with the approval of the Council ; but that no grants should. be made to ordinary observers, nor for any general pur­ "Oxygen, for instance, would present two different absorption poses of the society which lie beyond the scope of the operations spectra, one belonging to oxygen the other to ozone. But as to be placed under the Council. ozone is destroyed at a high temperature, only one spectrum of 23. We think that the same principle should be applied to all incandescent oxygen can exist. simil!lr local bodies interested in the study of Meteorology ; so " Sulphur in the solid state exists in different allotropic states, that, in fact, no payments should. be made to them except for and some observations lead us to believe that even as a gas it results sought for by the Council. may exist in different states. Supposing this to be true, sulphur 24. vVe have indicated above in very general t~rms_ the _func­ will give us several absorption spectra, while the possibility of a tions of the proposed Council, and we do not tlnnk It desirable single or several emission spectra depends on the question to fetter their discretion by further details. We append, how­ whether the more complicated allotropic states support the ever, to this report a paper by a member of the present Com­ temperature of incandescence. mittee of the Royal Society, who is also a mem?er of our Con~­ " It is evident that the above cases do not form an exception mittee, stating what, according to present expenence, are, 111 lns to the general law which we have given, that an elementary opinion, likely to be their duties. body can only give one spectrum. In fact, if we suppose that 25. The later stages of the inquiry in relation to the transfer the allotropic state is due to molecular constitution, it will possess of oceanic meteorology to the Admiralty have raised some from a spectroscopic point of view, all properties of a compound serious questions of expense, which the Government will, body, and in consequence it will be decomposed in the same doubtless, require time to consider. We think it only just to the manner by the disruptive discharge of electricity." Committee which has heretofore had the administration of the The paper then goes on to discuss the <lifference which is annual grant to report our opinion that very good and valuable noticed in the electric spark, between the aureole and the spark work is being done by it, and that if funds were provided to itself. Messrs. Angstrom ancl Thalen sum up what they have admit of the more responsible and more extended action of the mid on the subject in the following words :- Council, as suggested in paragraphs 9 and 22 o'. our Report, and I. There are two kinds of electric discharge, one of tension, if, at least provisionally, some assistance were given to the Scotch which takes place by explosion, or disruptively, the other of Meteorological Society, the more immediate objects. referred. to quantity, which takes place by conduction, or continuously. our Committee would be met, and there need be no 111terruption 2. By the disruptive discharge which al ways takes plac wh~n of the Committee's operations pending the delay, if _any; which the tension is suffi2iently g-reat, the body is, as a rule, torn 7rnto its may occur, whilst the feasibility of transferring oC:eamc meteoro­ smallest particles, and thus decomposed into its elements if the logy to the Admiralty is being maturely considered by her body is compound. The phenomenon of incandescence which Majesty's Government. accompanies both the mechanical disruption and chemical de­ It is important in connection with this part of ~he subject to composition, cannot be considered as a consequence of the aug­ bear in mind the strong claims which the Supermtendent and mentation of temperature, bnt we ought rather to say that the other members of the existing staff have to continued employ­ high temperature is an effect of the mechanical a.nd chemical ment. force which disintegrated the body. In addition to the decom­ 26. In recommending the above changes _we feel bound_ to position produced directly by the disruptive discharge, we may express our sense of the great value of the chsmterested services have chemical actions, which are, however, of a secondary nature. which at the cost of much time and labour have been rendered 3. When the electricity is ~onducted by conclt'.ction w~ must during-so many years by the Committee appointed by the Royal distinguish between two actions. vVe have actions which are Society. entirely due to heat, and which belong to the conductors them­ 27. vVe are aware that what we are proposing is still tentative selves. They increase with the square of the intensity of the current. only, and we recommend, in conclusiou, that there shall be a We have, secondly, actions which make themselves perceptible further inquiry and report at the end of (say) five years. at the surface of bodies, and which are proportional to the in­ tensity of the current. These latter actions are confined in elementary bodies to a variation in temperature, but if the body RESEARCHES ON THE SPECTRA OF is compound they may consist in chemical effects, whic~ we call METALLOIDSI electrolytic actions. These two phenomena, the Peltier effect THIS paper was published by Mr. ~halen_ after ~fr. and the phenomenon of electrolysis, must be considered as dif­ Angstrom's death. Mr. Thalen states, 111 the mtroduct101;, ferent manifestations of the same force ; one or other of the that only the first sheet was printed during Mr. Angstroms actions takes place according as the body is simple o: compoun~. life who in the remainder would have ltked to alter some These laws, which are demonstrated to hold for soltd and hqmd pa:sages and add others. Yet we take it tl:at such alterations only bodies, must also be applied to gaseous bodies, wh_ere we must would have referred to matters of detail, and that as far as therefore expect electrolytic actions as well as che1mcal ones of a ihe general conclusions are concen_ied the paper re_rresen~s fairl.i;­ secondary nature. Mr. Angstrom's opinion on the important questions dt~cussea Our authors then go on to discuss tl1e spectra of carbon and therein. Mr. Thalen has mad.e the measurements, wlule the their compounds. They begin again with a historical statement experiments were made by him in conjunction with Mr, of the work done in this respect, and as this p~rt of the paper Angstrom. does not contain anything new to those who are 111terested 111 the After a few historical remarks the authors gt ve the followmg matter we pass to the question which they propose to solve : judgment on the question of double spectra :- . "How are we to explain all these different spectra of carbon "We are far from denying that the Imes of an mcandescent compounds?" They draw attention to the fact that all these gas may come out in greater :m!1'ber as th_e temperature, or per­ spectra have a common_ characte:istic, as they _consist of bands haps only the quantity of radiating matter m~re~ses, mthat som_e which can be resolved mto fine Imes. There·is, however, one rays may increase much quicker th~n others :1: mtens,ty. B~t 1t spectrum which must be attributed to carbon, while the authors is certain that the assertion of vanous ph~s1c1sts that the Imes attribute all other spectra to carbon compounds. This spectrnm originally seen may disappear altoge~her, and that_ in this_ way is a line spectrum. It is obtained from carbon poles by means the spectrum may change c011:1pletely_ 111_ appearance 1s as u11;hkely of a powerful jar. I from a theoretical point of view as 1t 1s contrary to expenence. If we cllow a spark to pass between carbon electrodes, the If such properties were real all spectroscopic researches wou_ld lines are not seen in the middle of the field, but only close to be rendered impossible as each element could play as far as its the poles similar to the metallic lines. If the discharge pass spectrum is concerned the parts of a Proteus. through some carbon comp.,und, one obtains not only these car­ bon lines, but also thos~ · of oxygen, hydrogen, or nitrogen, that I Abstract from a paper in the " Nova Acta Regia! Societatis Scienliarum 1 Upsaliensis," vo1. ix., 1875 1 by A. J. Angstrom and T. R. Tlialen. It is the spectrum marked by -\V8.tts No. IV,-A. S. © 1877 Nature Publishing Group 402 NATURE [March 8, 1877 is, all lines belonging to the elements entering into the carbon spectrum of nitrogen.