Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 1.djvu/88

Rh The iron contained in this ore is in the same state as it is found in Wolfram, namely, brown oxide; and this oxide is mineralized by the new metallic acid in the same manner as the oxides of iron and manganese are mineralized by the tungstic acid, or rather oxide. Several facts which have appeared in the course of this investigation seem to jn'ove that this new metal diﬁers from tungsten and the other acidiﬁable metals by a more limited extent of oxidation ; for, unlike these, it seems to be incapable of retaining'oxygen suﬂicient to enable the total quantity to combine with ﬁxed alkalies.

All that can be said at present as to the uses of this metal is, that an olive-green prussiate, and an orange-coloured gallate they yield, are both very ﬁne colours, which, as they do not appear to fade when exposed to light and air, may probably be employed with advantage as pigments. The author lastly hazards a conjecture. that several of the newly discovered metals and other substances, which are now considered as simple, primitive, and distinct bodies, will, upon further examination, turn out to be compounds. Meanwhile as the new metal here described appears hitherto distinct from all the others, it cannot but be expedient to distinguish it by a proper appellation; and the least objectionable that has hitherto occurred, is that of Co- lumbium.

Two specimens of this curious animal, lately brought from New South Wales, the one male and the other female, and both full grown and perfect, having been submitted to the inspection and close examination of Mr. Home, by Sir Joseph Banks, this gentle- man has availed himself of the favourable opportunity to draw up the full account of all that is hitherto known concerning its habits, of its external appearance, and internal structure now before us.

The animal has hitherto been only found in the fresh-water lakes in the interior parts of the above-mentioned country. It does not swim upon the surface of the water, but comes up occasionally to breathe. It chieﬂy inhabits the banks of these lakes, and is supposed to feed in the muddy places which surround them; but the particular kind of food on which it subsists is not known.

As in its anatomical structure this animal differs in many respects from other quadrupeds, those who interest themselves in inquiries of this nature will be gratiﬁed to ﬁnd in this paper a comparative view of those deviations; and when they have satisﬁed themselves in this respect, they will probably allow that it is long since facts so singular and novel have been brought to light respecting the science of comparative anatomy. Being obliged, as is usual in all descrip- tive communications of this kind, to refer to the paper itself for an adequate estimate of ts merits, we shall dwell brieﬂy upon a few of