296 



NA TURE 



[January 27, 1898 



paved the way for all parties to make their observations 

 and erect their instruments with almost as much ease 

 and facility as if they had been at home. The following 

 letter from Sir Norman Lockyer to the Morning Post, on 

 the " Preparations for the Expedition," shows that the 

 Government of India rendered very valuable assistance 

 to all the eclipse parties ; and astronomers may well con- 

 gratulate themselves upon the interest thus officially 

 manifested in their work. 



Preparations for the Expedition. 



" On arriving at Port Said I received an important 

 letter and enclosure from Mr. John Eliot, C.S.I., F.R.S., 

 the Meteorological Reporter to the Government of India, 

 who has been unceasing in his labours to further the 

 coming observations. From these documents the final 

 arrangements made by the Government of India may be 

 gathered, and it must be acknowledged that they have 

 been most admirably thought out, and are altogether 

 such as should give the greatest amount of satisfaction 

 to the world of science. 



" The long thin line of totality, extending from 

 Viziadurg to the Himalayas, will have, it appears, at least 

 seven parties coming from England extended along it ; 

 three official parties and four parties consisting of mem- 

 bers of the British Astronomical Association. The local 

 assistance rendered by the Government of India will 

 take the following shapes : 



"(i) Accommodation for the observers and their as- 

 sistants. If bungalows are not available, tents and huts 

 will be erected, and will be available at once on arrival 

 of the parties. 



" (2) Messing arrangements, which will also be made 

 before the arrival of the parties. 



" (3) Ample supply of materials — bricks, Portland 

 cement, planks, huts, &c. — for the erection of stands, 

 jTlatforms, &c., for the instruments, and of the sheds, 

 which will probably be found necessary for the protec- 

 tion of the instruments. The materials will be arranged 

 for beforehand, but the actual work will have to be done 

 under the superintendence of the heads of the observing 

 parties. Hence a Public Works Department subordinate, 

 with a sufficient number of masons and carpenters, will 

 be deputed for the purpose. 



" (4) Portable dark rooms with supply of ordinary 

 photographic materials for developing plates, &c. 



"(5) Arrangements for protecting the instruments, &c., 

 and also the observers from the intrusion of natives. 



" (6) As many of the arrangements will have to be 

 made beforehand, a E uropean officer of sufficient stand- 

 ing will be appointed to carry out all that is required, 

 and will be given full authority to make the necessary 

 arrangements with the district officers, and be authorised 

 to obtain the services (i) of a Public Works Department 

 subordinate and workmen, (2) of a sufficient number of 

 guards or policemen." 



The latter clause of Mr. Eliot's letter appears to 

 have been taken advantage of at most of the eclipse 

 stations, so that in no instance have the observations 

 suffered from the natives, either by the lighting of 

 fires, thereby causing clouds of smoke, or any other 

 interference. 



With such a list of successes we may safely say that 

 this eclipse, as befitting the last one of the century, has 

 surpassed all previous records ; but unlike many eclipses 

 at the beginning of the century, it xannot be truly said 

 that the event of Saturday was over at the end of the two 

 minutes of totality. To many the eclipse has yet to 

 begin, and will last for many months, during which time 

 each line in the spectrum, each streamer of the corona, 

 each prominence on the sun, will be analysed, little by 



NO. 1474. VOL. 57] 



little, to discover if we have similar streamers in other 

 coronas, or identical lines in our laboratories. It may be 

 confidently expected that the results obtained on Saturday 

 will enable us to solve some of the enigmas of solar 

 phenomena and constitution. 



THE FORTHCOMING BRISTOL MEETING 

 OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



A SUCCESSFUL conversazione was given on Thurs- 

 -^ *- day last, in the Victoria Rooms, Clifton, by the 

 Mayor and Mayoress of Bristol (Sir Robert and Lady 

 Symes) and the Local Executive Committee, with the 

 object of stimulating interest in the approaching meet- 

 ing of the British Association, on September 7, in Bristol. 

 A programme of music by the Royal Artillery (Mounted) 

 Band was arranged and admirably carried out. The 

 Mayor, in a short and effective speech, bade a hearty 

 welcome to his guests, among whom were the President- 

 elect (Sir William Crookes, F.R.S.), the Mayors of 

 Bath, Gloucester, Wells, and the Bishop of Bristol, 

 together with many of the most influential Bristol 

 citizens. 



The local secretaries (Mr. Arthur Lee and Dr. Bertram 

 Rogers), together with the local treasurer (Mr. J. W. 

 Arrowsraith), aided by an influential and representative 

 Executive Committee, have been for some time active 

 in making preliminary arrangements for the meeting. 

 The Victoria Rooms, Clifton, will be secured for the 

 reception rooms and offices, the public lectures will be 

 given in the large Colston Hall, and rooms for sectional 

 meetings have been placed at the disposal of the Com- 

 mittee by the Museum Committee of the Corporation, 

 the Council of University College, the Society of Mer- 

 chant Venturers, the Charity Trustees, and the Bishop 

 of Clifton. Other suitable rooms will be secured. It is 

 proposed to arrange an exhibition of pictures in the 

 Drill Hall, where a military band will play during the 

 afternoons after the sectional meetings. Arrangements 

 are also in progress for a biological exhibit at the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens in Clifton, in which Mr. E. J. Lowe, 

 F.R.S., Dr. Harrison and Prof Lloyd-Morgan are taking 

 an active interest. It is hoped that the authorities of 

 the Marine Biological Association will be able to show 

 living marine organisms from their station at Ply- 

 mouth. A fuller account of these arrangements will 

 be communicated to Nature when they are further 

 advanced. 



The excursions promise to be both varied and interest- 

 ing. As at present projected, they include Bath, where 

 the Mayor and citizens will entertain the visitors ; Tort- 

 worth, where Lord Ducie will entertain a small party 

 of geologists, and afford them special opportunities of 

 examining the Silurian beds in that neighbourhood ; 

 Aust Cliff, with its fine exposure of Keuper, Rhaetic, and 

 the lowest beds of the Lias ; Stanton Drew, with its 

 megalithic remains, the Cheddar Cliffs and Caves, the 

 sources of the Bristol water supply, the Severn Tunnel, 

 Cadbury Camp, Swindon, Avonmouth, Wells and Glas- 

 tonbury, where the Mayor of Wells, the Dean and 

 Chapter, and residents will entertain the visitors to 

 lunch, and the Mayor of Glastonbury will provide tea 

 in the old Abbot's Kitchen. Other excursions to Salis- 

 bury and Stonehenge, Nailsworth and Stroud, Longleat, 

 and Raglan Castle are under discussion. 



The handbook is in active preparation, and its several 

 sections have been placed in the hands of local autho- 

 rities on the various subjects with which it deals. 



It would seem, therefore, that the meeting at Bristol 

 bids fair to be an interesting one, and that every effort 

 will be made to render it also a successful one. 



