106 BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



The importance of the " variation " is so great in surveying and 

 navigation that it is frequently determined, and is pretty closely known 

 by any one who is in the habit of using the compass professionally ; 

 but, so far as I am aware, the " dip " has not been accurately deter- 

 mined anywhere in New Brunswick. If, however, I am mistaken, 

 any member of the Natural History Society who can find the record 

 of any past determinations of the dip, will find it interesting to com- 

 pare those determinations with the readings recorded in the remainder 

 of this paper and note the change time has produced. Before giving 

 the readings I have made, it may be noted that, while observations of 

 the dip have, at the present time, no direct practical importance, they 

 are of interest in assisting toward the formation of a true theory of 

 the nature and cause of the earth's magnetism. Moreover, very re- 

 markable differences, in both dip and variation, within the range of a 

 very few miles have been discovered in several countries, especially in 

 Russia, but also in France and England, and these have attracted 

 great interest as shedding some light on the constitution of parts of 

 the earth situated too far below the surface for direct examination. 

 Whether similar anomalous areas occur in New Brunswick must at 

 present be a matter of mere conjecture ; but their discovery, if exist- 

 ant, would be a matter of considerable scientific interest. While the 

 few determinations I have made are insufficient to shed any light on 

 such questions as the above, they will yet be of some interest to any- 

 one who may happen to repeat them a few years hence at the same 

 places. 



The following observations were made with a very accurate port- 

 able dipping needle, made by Elliott Brothers, of London. It is t lie 

 property of Purdue University, and was brought east by me during a 

 summer holiday in 1898. A minute description of the instrument, 

 and the method of using it, is not called for here, further than the 

 statement that it was provided with means for careful levelling, re- 

 versing the magnetism of the needle, and eliminating the effects of 

 lack of symmetry in the needle or exactness in position of support. 

 Each reading given below is the mean of eight separate readings ; and 

 the angles, given in degrees and minutes, are the angles between a 

 horizontal line and the dipping needle, the north pole of the needle 

 dipping downward. Thus, it will be observed, that the needle pointed 

 more nearly vertically than horizontally. Many more observations 

 were made than those recorded below, but they were in the neighbor- 



