POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



573 



the south pole, the greater portion of it be- 

 ing covered several times ; and they show 

 the spectra as well as the positions of the 

 stars. A large part of the charts and nearly 

 all the spectra are unique, not having been 

 photographed elsewhere. Much time has 

 been devoted at the three stations of the ob- 

 servatory to visual observations of the colors 

 and markings of the planet Mars. A num- 

 ber of the so-called canals were recognized, 

 but only one of them was seen to be double. 

 The best means of photographic enlarge- 

 ment of astronomical observations have been 

 studied. Investigations have been conducted 

 with regard to the meteorology of the globe, 

 with particular reference to cloudiness and 

 other phenomena affecting the choice of as- 

 tronomical stations ; the fundamental princi- 

 ples of astronomical photography ; the great 

 nebulous region of Orion ; the best form of 

 standard light, and other details of quanti- 

 tative photographic work. 



Extension of the English Coal-fields. A 



discovery of coal has been made near Dover 

 which promises to mark a new era in the in- 

 dustrial development of England. It is full 

 of interest, not only from the commercial 

 point of view, but also, as Prof. Boyd Daw- 

 kins, who had much to do with it, remarks, 

 because it is the story of a scientific idea 

 originated many years ago, taking root in the 

 minds of geologists, developed into theory, 

 and ultimately verified by facts. The physi- 

 cal identity of the coal-bearing districts of 

 Somerset on the west with those of northern 

 France and Belgium on the east was recog- 

 nized by Buckland and Conybeare, as far 

 back as 1826, as well as the fact that the coal- 

 measures lie buried partially under the newer 

 rocks. Twenty-nine years later, Mr. God- 

 win Austen read a paper before the Geologi- 

 cal Society of London on the possible exten- 

 sion of the coal-measures beneath the south- 

 eastern part of England, in which he set forth 

 the facts in the geological structure of the 

 country ; whence he drew the conclusion that 

 there are coal-fields beneath the Oolitic and 

 Cretaceous rocks in the south of England, 

 and that they are near enough to the surface 

 along a certain line to be capable of being 

 worked. He mentioned the Thames Valley 

 and the Weald of Kent and Sussex as pos- 

 sible places where they might be discovered. 



An inquiry was made between 1866 and 1871 

 under an official commission, before which 

 Godwin Austen testified. The report of this 

 commission, drawn up by Prof. Prestwich, 

 gave the evidence for and against the exist- 

 ence of the alleged coal-fields. The views of 

 Godwin Austen were fortified by a large 

 series of observations ; and the conclusions 

 were reached that coal-fields of the same 

 kind and value as those of Somerset and of 

 northern France and Belgium exist under the 

 newer rocks of the south of England, and 

 that the same measures which disappear in 

 the west under the newer rocks of Somerset 

 reappear in the east from underneath the 

 newer rocks of the Continent. The Sub- 

 Wealden Exploration Committee bored for 

 this coal at Netherfield, from 1871 till 1875, to 

 a depth of 1,905 feet without finding encour- 

 agement to go further. In 1886 new bor- 

 ings were begun at Dover. They have been 

 carried on till the present time, to the depth 

 of 1,224 feet. The coal-measures were struck 

 at a depth of 1,204 feet from the surface, 

 and a seam of good blazing coal was met 

 with twenty feet lower. This discovery, Prof. 

 Dawkins says, " establishes the fact that, at 

 a depth of about 1,204 feet from the surface, 

 there is a coal-field lying buried under the 

 newer deposits of southeastern England, and 

 proves up to the hilt the truth of Godwin 

 Austen's hypothesis after a lapse of thirty- 

 five years. The question is finally settled 

 so far as the purely geological and scientific 

 side of it goes." The commercial value of 

 the discovery is next to be estimated. A 

 favorable prognostic is derived from the rich- 

 ness of the corresponding beds on the Con- 

 tinent. The depth is not too great for prof- 

 itable working, for most of the important 

 coal-pits in England are worked to a greater 

 depth than this, and range to more than 

 2,800 feet ; and one pit at Charleroi in Bel- 

 gium is worked to a depth of 3,412 feet. 



Permanent Valnc of the High-altitude 

 Cnre. The acclimation of consumptives to 

 the climate of Colorado, and the return of 

 cured patients from high altitudes, were dis- 

 cussed at last year's meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Climatological Association, in Pueblo, 

 Col. Dr. H. O. Dodge regarded the acclima- 

 tion of the individual as consisting' in over- 

 coming the conditions of altitude and low 



