40 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



ed physicist. As far as the results of his labors are known, 

 it would appear that the local variations of gravity which are 

 superposed on the great law of increase from the equator to 

 the poles, though apparently irregular when examined singly, 

 are subject to laws which are highly interesting and curious, 

 and are well worthy of investigation. At the northern ex- 

 tremity of the arc the results indicate a deficiency of density 

 as the stations approach the Himalayan Mountains, while at 

 the southern extremity they show an increase of density as 

 the stations approach the ocean : thus both groups of results 

 point to a law of diminution of density under mountains and 

 continents, and an increase under the bed of the ocean. 



While this applies to altitudes of seven thousand feet and 

 under, it remained to determine the conditions at greater 

 heights, and arrangements were made to experiment on some 

 of the table-lands of the interior of the Himalayas fourteen 

 thousand to seventeen thousand feet in height. After this 

 was done, the pendulums were to be taken back to England, 

 and swung at the base stations of Greenwich and Kew, stop- 

 ping at Aden, on the Suez Canal. In this way the gravity 

 at Aden would be directly compared with that at certain 

 points of the coast and continental stations of the Indian pen- 

 insula, while the plains of Egypt would be compared with the 

 Himalayan Mountains. In the prosecution of this research, 

 Captain Basevi reached a spot in Ladak where, at an altitude 

 of fifteen thousand five hundred feet, he completed a satisfac- 

 tory series of observations, which show a very gross deficien- 

 cy of density. After applying the usual reductions to sea- 

 level, etc., it was found that the force of gravity at that point 

 did not exceed the normal amount for the parallel of six de- 

 grees to the south, as determined by previous observations 

 with the same pendulums. 



Wishing to have one more independent determination at a 

 high altitude, Captain Basevi continued his journey to a point 

 on the borders of the Chinese territories at an altitude of 

 about sixteen thousand feet. Here, however, his labors were 

 abruptly closed by disease, which had been impending for 

 some time, and but a short period elapsed before his death 

 occurred. 



