294 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



Having completed the inspection of the Carnegie and tests of the 

 marine earth-inductors, Mr. Fleming, in company with Mr. George 0. 

 Wiggin, director of the Meteorological Office of Ai-gentina, visited the 

 magnetic observatories of that organization at La Quiaca and Pilar, 

 leaving Buenos Aires on February 10. The La Quiaca Observatory 

 is at an elevation above sea-level of 3,422 meters, the surrounding 

 country being, in general, plain but somewhat rolling. The general 

 conditions are such that earth-current and atmospheric-electric work 

 could be carried on, as well as magnetic, seismological, and meteoro- 

 logical work. There had been erected at the site two wooden non- 

 magnetic buildings, which had been built in sections at Buenos Aires 

 and were intended for the absolute and variation observations. Ar- 

 rangements were being made for the installation of the piers on which 

 the variation and absolute instruments were to be mounted. The 

 instruments for the work at La Quiaca consisted of an Eschenhagen 

 magnetograph, Kew-pattern magnetometer No. 175 previously used 

 at Pilar, and a French dip-circle provided with dip-needles by Dover. 

 It was hoped that the magnetic section of the observatory would be in 

 operation by the end of the year. 



The Pilar Observatory, in charge of Dr. F. H. Bigelow, was \isited 

 on February 21. Two magnetographs are in operation there, one of 

 the Eschenhagen type and the other of the Edehnann type. The 

 absolute instruments are a Kew-pattern magnetometer No. 138 and 

 an earth-inductor by Toepfer & Son. The records obtained at the 

 Orcadas Observatory of the Argentine Meteorological Office are kept 

 for reduction and compilation at the Pilar Observatory. Up to the 

 present time it has been impossible to carry out vertical-iatensity 

 observations at Orcadas, but it is hoped that in the near future arrange- 

 ments can be made for such records. 



It being impossible, because of the rainy season, to proceed overland 

 through BoHvia to Peru, Mr. Fleming returned to Buenos Aires and 

 proceeded thence to Valparaiso, taking the coast steamer to Callao, 

 Peru, where he arrived on March 19. While en route he visited the 

 Meteorological and Geophysical Institute at Santiago, Chile, the 

 present director of which is Dr. Carlos Henriquez. At the present 

 time, funds do not permit of any magnetic or atmospheric-electric 

 observations being undertaken by this organization, although it has 

 an excellent equipment of atmospheric-electric instruments and 

 absolute magnetic instruments. While at Valparaiso, Chile, Mr. 

 Fleming visited Dr. Walter Knoche, who had previously done some 

 special atmospheric-electric work for the Department. Dr. Knoche 

 referred particularly to the desirabiUty of studying atmospheric- 

 electric phenomena in the high ranges of the Andes. 



At Callao, Dr. Edmonds met Mr. Fleming, and they proceeded 

 together to Huancayo. It was found that, despite the unusually 



