170 



NATURE 



[J tine 13, 1878 



the intensity of which is subject to rapid changes, sound may be 

 produced in the phonoscope. Pi-obably by makinj^ use of 

 selenium, instead of the tube-transmitter with charcoal, &c., of 

 Pi-of. Hughes, and by exposing it to light as above, the same 

 result may be obtained. 



I should be glad to know whether experiments have been 

 mide in this direction ; for if the above should prove true, there 

 is no doubt that many applications would be the result. 



Kew, June 3 J. F. W. 



Meteor 



Having ju.^t seen a magnificent meteor, I send you an account 

 of it, as from its position it may have been seen at Gibraltar. 



At 7.33 this evening a large meteor appeared as nearly as 

 possible N.E. by E. of my position, at about 25 to 28° 

 from the horizon, in a wide opening in the clouds, and pro- 

 ceeded with a moderately fast motion towards the north, slightly 

 descending in a path slightly concave to the horizon. I did not 

 see it disappear, as it went behind some bushes which hid the 

 sky between N. by W. and N. by E. ; if it disappeared due N. 

 it would have been about 20° from the horizon as estimated by 

 the altitude of the pole-star. The appearance was very remark- 

 able, the head being of a brilliant green and the tail bright red. 

 When I first saw it I took it for a first-class rocket passing at 

 about 300 or 400 yards from me with a bright Bengal light of 

 green colour at its head. The brightness was certainly from 10 

 to 15 times that of Venus at its brightest. It shone in the 

 twilight more brilliantly than lever saw Venu; against a dark 

 sky. The tail was not persistent as far as I could judge, against 

 tha light sky, and no rejiort was heard, though I li ;tened for 

 several minutes, A bright star, which I believe was Vega, was 

 just below it among the clouds, and afforded a fair standard of 

 comparison ; it was from thirty to forty time^, at least, brighter 

 than this star. W, A. Sanford 



Funchal, May 27 



P.S. — I find that I have forgotten to mention that my position 

 is about two miles south-west of the cathedral of Funchal. 



Multiple Rainbow 



On Saturday evening I (and others) observed a rninbow ^^•hich 

 presented a very peculiar phenomenon, 'lire primary bow, in 

 the neighbourhood of its apex, was apparently composed of 

 three distinct bows. Just below the violet of the principal bow 

 the bright portion of a second bow was observed, and at about 

 half the distance between the bright portions of these two bows 

 was observed the bright portion of a third bow. The secondary 

 bow looked much as usual, and the principal primary bow was 

 very perfect, so far as I could see, on each side. The repetitions 

 of the primary bow extended only through an angle of 35° or 

 40", and did not apparently end at the same point. 



Between the point of observation and the sun are some pieces 

 of still water in Bu.-hey Park. Overhead were some clouds 

 upon which the sun was shining. I think the phenomenon was 

 due to the reflection of the sun from the cloud?. R. S. 



Hampton Wick, June i 



Opening of Museums on Sundays 



Many of your readers will be glad to know that the very 

 admirable and extensive museum at Maidstone was opened to the 

 public on Sunday last, and will in future be open on Sunday 

 afternoons from two to six o'clock. 



The opening was a great success : the mayor and many of the 

 influential inhabitants were present, and moi-e than i,oco people 

 vi.-ited the museum on that afternoon, the average attendance 

 on week-days being from 50 to 100. The most perfect order 

 was preserved, and every part of the museum received its share 

 of attention, even the library being more than full of readers. 



I believe that this is the first and only scientific museum that 

 has yet been opened on Sunday in the United Kingdom, the Art 

 Gallery at Birmingham and Aston Hall being of a different 

 cliaracter, and so I have thought it worth Avhile to call your 

 attention to it. 



For the sake of those who have not yet visited Maidstone 

 Museum I may say that it is one of the best local museums in 

 the country, having remarkably fine pala^ontological, concho- 

 logical^ and other collections ; that it will well repay a visit, 

 or more than one ; and that Mr. Bartlett, the c3urteous curator, 

 IS always ready to give visitors any assistance that he can. 



Maidstone itself, and the country round, are well worth visit- 

 ing. I must not forget to mention the cemetery, which is one 

 of the most beautiful in the countiy. 



ID, Bolton Row, Mayfair, W., W. H. Corfield, 



June 10 Chairman of the Committee 



of the Sunday Society 



THE FISHERIES OF BRITISH NORTH 



AMERICA 



I. 



T T was provided by the Treaty of Washington, that, on 

 ■*■ payment by the United States of a compensatory 

 sum (to be determined by a Commission) to the Dominion 

 of Canada, the Fishing-grounds of British North America 

 should be entirely thrown open to the fishermen of the 

 Union ; those of the United States coast, on the other 

 hand, being opened to the fishermen of the Dominion 

 only as far south as the 39th parallel of N. lat., which is 

 almost exactly that of Washington. While the payment 

 of the compensation since awarded by the Commission is 

 being protested against by not a few influential politicians 

 in the United States, the probable influence of the Fishery 

 clauses on the future of the Dominion of Canada is being 

 carefully considered in those parts of it which they espe- 

 cially affect ; and we have before us a very abki report 

 on this subject by Mr. H. Y. Hind, M.A., a Member of 

 the Legislature of Newfoundland, of which, as bised on 

 a careful scientific study of the physical and biological 

 conditions involved in the questions at issue, we think 

 that a summary will prove interesting to our readers. 



It is somewhat startling to be told that "as a maritime 

 power the Dominion of Canada stands fifth among the 

 nations of the world." This expression, however, is 

 obviously meant by Mr. Hind to refer, not to its armed 

 but to its commercial marine, which is only surpassed by 

 that of the Mother country, of the United States, of 

 Norway, and of Italy. Its vessels number more than 

 7,000, and their registered tonnage amounts to above a 

 million and a quarter tons, increasing at the rate of 

 60,000 tons per annum ; its supply of trained seamen is 

 drawn from a fishing population scattered over 3,000 

 miles of sea-board ; and the annual value of their catch 

 reaches at least 20 millions of dollars. The political 

 importance of sea-fisheries as a nursery for seamen, 

 irrespective of the pecuniary value of the catch, is ad- 

 mitted on all hands ; and hence it is that a far-sighted 

 policy looks to the value of the British American Coast 

 fisheries as consisting not only in their present produc- 

 tiveness, but also in the security they afford for the main- 

 tenance and permanency of what has of late become one 

 of the greatest industries of the Dominion — the work of 

 ocean-carrying. 



Now, while the length of the coast-line in British 

 America not covered by previous treaty-arrangements, 

 which is now opened to the United States fishermen, is 

 about 3,700 miles,and the area of its coastal fishing grounds 

 is about 1 1,900 miles, the length of the United States coast- 

 line opened to British fishermen, is only 1,030 miles, and 

 the area of its fishing-grounds about 3,500 miles. But the 

 respective values of these grounds are not to be estimated 

 by their relative extent alone ; for while the United 

 States fishing-grounds north of the 39th parallel were 

 formerly extremely productive, they are now much less 

 so, chiefly through the improvidence of their own people; 

 the cod-fishery, in particular, having been ruined in a 

 great measure beyond repair. On the other hand, the 

 United States coastal waters south of the 39th parallel 

 still maintain much of their original productiveness, 

 supplying a very large quantity of fish to the markets of 

 New York and the South. But to these prolific fishing- 

 grounds access is forbidden to British-American fisher- 

 men, who are thus placed at a great disadvantage com- 

 pared with those of the United States ; the latter being 



