474 yCIENTIFIC RROOBI) FOR 1885. 



been a subsidence of about 75 square kilometers. There has been no 

 elev.itioii of the sea bottom other than that caused by the fallen mate- 

 rials ejected from the volcano. After a discussion of the great sea- 

 waves which caused so much devastation, and the greatest of which 

 started at 10 hours 2 minutes a. m., the time of the greatest explosion, 

 a chapter is devoted to other volcanic phenomena taking place during 

 the Krakatoa eruption, within or beyond the Indian Archipelago, even 

 to the antipodes, especially other volcanoes in Sumatra and Java and 

 earthquakes in Australia. In conclusion the author maintains the doc- 

 trine that part of our globe is still in a molten state, and disputes the 

 theory that the heat of the volcano is entirely due to chemical action. 

 {Nature, xxxii : 601.) A review of Verbeek's work by E. Metzger, is 

 published in Petermann's Mittheilungen, 188G, Hft. i. 



In a series of articles in La Nature M. Breon gives a very interesting 

 account of the visit made by M. Corthals and himself to the Strait of 

 Sunda and Krakatoa in May, 1884, being sent out by the French min- 

 ister of public instruction. The apparent division of the small island 

 Dwars-in-den-Weg into four fragments was found to consist simply in 

 the denudation of the low parts of the island of their verdure by 

 the great sea wave, while the higher portions escaped. At the head of 

 Lampong Bay they found Telok Betong entirely destroyed, and the 

 place where it stood now occupied by a marsh. Passing up the coinse 

 of the small river which empties into this hay, they found the steamer 

 Barrow stranded across the stream and surroun<led by a luxuriant 

 growth of tropical vegetation. The island of Sebesie was covered with 

 ashes to a depth of ten meters, and every one of its 2,000 inhabitants 

 l)erished. In one jilace the visitors came upon the remains of a village 

 where were found the skeletons of fifty victims of the catastrophe. The 

 ephemeral islands of Steers and Calmeyer had already disappeared be- 

 neath the waves, having endured less than a year. Coming to Kra- 

 katoa its condition is described. The frequent fall of stones down its 

 sides, simulating renewed volcanic activity, was attributed to the in- 

 fluence of solar heat causing unequal expansion. The phenomenon 

 was at its maximum when the mountain was exposed to the direct rays 

 of the sun, and almost ceased during the night. They landed upon 

 Krakatoa, and also upon Verlaten and Lang islands, and although nine 

 months had elapsed, the recent deposits still exhibited an elevated 

 temperature in places. The account of their visit closes with a resume 

 of the geological characteristics of Krakatoa. It is illustrated by a 

 number of views reproduced from photographs. A condensed account 

 of the above is reproduced in Science (vi : 291). 



Professor Forel admits as not impossible that the Krakatoa exi)losion 

 was the origin of certain subterranean noises heard on August 28, 1883, 

 at the island of Caiman Brae, in the Lesser Antilles, situated near the 

 antipodes of Krakatoa. Observers compared the noise to that of a dis- 

 tant cannonade. It agreed tolerably well in time with the Krakatoa 



