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Unpublished paper, 'On the absorption of atmospheric moisture by the strata of chalk and limestone' by Willm Alexr [William Alexander] Mackinnon

Reference number: AP/13/15

Date: 22 February 1827

Description

Mackinnon reports his observations of the air in the chalk strata near Southampton [Hampshire, England] made with a hygrometer, ascertaining that the air is dryer in chalk and limestone regions than in alluvial regions, deducing that chalk and limestone absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Minor corrections appear in graphite.

Subject: Meteorology

Written by Mackinnon at Hyde Park Place [London]. Communicated by Davies Gilbert on Thursday 22 February 1827.

Reference number
AP/13/15
Earliest possible date
22 February 1827
Physical description
Ink on paper; written in landscape orientation
Page extent
4 pages
Format
Manuscript

Creator name

William Alexander Mackinnon

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Citation

William Alexander Mackinnon, Unpublished paper, 'On the absorption of atmospheric moisture by the strata of chalk and limestone' by Willm Alexr [William Alexander] Mackinnon, 22 February 1827, AP/13/15, The Royal Society Archives, London, https://makingscience.royalsociety.org/items/ap_13_15/unpublished-paper-on-the-absorption-of-atmospheric-moisture-by-the-strata-of-chalk-and-limestone-by-willm-alexr-william-alexander-mackinnon, accessed on 22 March 2025

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  • Archived Papers

    The 'Archived Papers' collection is comprised of original manuscript scientific papers and letters submitted to the Royal Society which remained unpublished or were abstracted in the journal 'Proceedings of the Royal Society' published from 1830 onwards.

    Dates: 1768 - 1989

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