Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester, Volumes 8-9

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Page 66 - The seeds of things seem to lie latent in the air, ready to appear and produce their kind, whenever they light on a proper matrix. The extremely small seeds of fern, mosses, mushrooms, and some other plants are concealed and wafted about in the air, every part whereof seems replete with seeds of one kind or other. The whole atmosphere seems alive. There is everywhere acid to corrode, and seed to engender. Iron will rust, and mould will grow in all places.
Page 68 - Between the stalks of these confefvae are to be seen a number of greenish globules constantly moving about, various species of Volvox, accompanied also by monads many times smaller. When this happens the scene is certainly lively and the sight beautiful, but before this occurs the odour of perspiration may be distinctly perceived, especially if the vessel containing the liquid be placed in boiling water.
Page 75 - For the purpose of obtaining a rough approximation of the number of spores or germs of organic matter contained in the fluid received from Dr. Smith, I measured a quantity by the pipette, and found it contained 150 drops of the size used in each examination. Now, I have previously stated that in each drop there were about 250,000 of these spores, and as there were 150 drops, the sum total reaches the startling number of 37...
Page 136 - Joule,] was read : — I have now at last got into good working order measurements of electrostatic capacity (which, perhaps, you may remember I was working on the first time you ever came to see me, and more or less almost ever since). I have two students of last year, junior assistants in my laboratory, measuring electrostatic capacities of condensers, and variations of specific inductive capacities of dielectric, with sensibility of ^ per cent., and with constancy in spite of accidental variations,...
Page 140 - ... to the opposed surfaces, when they are allowed to approach one another, analogous to the heat produced by the condensation of a gas, the changes of temperature produced by the application of stresses to elastic solids which you have investigated experimentally, and the cooling effect I have proved to be produced by drawing out a liquid film which I shall have to notice particularly below ? Easy enough experiments on the contact electricity of metals will answer this question. If the contact-difference...
Page 69 - Smith's report on the air and water of towns, in this volume ; and when we think that the victims of the deadly influences which are there revealed are chiefly found among the people whose industry is the foundation of our greatness, — that every year cut off from the life of each of these is so much subtracted from national wealth, — even were all moral sense and religious feeling dead in us, we must confess that the knowledge which is capable of averting them ' is of use.' " Looking over these...
Page 70 - This, however, is sufficiently made out — that, when these diseases do come amongst us, they take root with most effect in those places where decomposing matter is found. If we were to suppose a seed of disease planted in a rich, fertile soil of decomposing matter, we should give a pretty fair description of the fostering effect of impurity on disease. It would in fact appear as if the putrid matter itself took the disease, and transferred it to the living. There seems to be nothing entirely opposed...
Page 53 - Silene acaulis is but half the size of that of S. alpina, the latter having some beautiful markings in addition ; the pollen grains of this genus differ from the usual caryophyllaceous type in not having the pits or depressions common in the order, so that the grains become spherical rather than polyhedral. 4. COLOUR. This is not so reliable a character for differentiation as the others noticed, since species differ amongst each other according to the soil, &c., of the place where they have grown.
Page 109 - ... abundant specimens of a small-celled torula were found, and these were seen to increase in numbers for two days, after which they ceased to develop. These differences in the nature of the bodies met with probably show some difference in the nature of the fluid given off; but it was pointed out that they afford no proof as yet of the germ theory of disease.
Page 137 - A be the height to which the whole mass must be raised against a constant force equal to its weight at the earth's surface, to do the same amount of work, we have ,~ — 10 .. XT A which gives _2X IQ...

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