Sept. 19, 1878] 



NATURE 



55» 



currature and 1*5 inch diameter, the following results 

 were obtained with 8,040 cells : — 



ERNEST QUE TE LET 



THE death of M. Ernest Quetelet, "chef du serrice 

 Astronomique " of the Observatory of Brussels, 

 took place at Ixelles on the 6th instant, after a long and 

 painful illness. His connection with the observatory 

 dates from 1855, when he entered it as an assistant to 

 his father, the late Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, 

 who was then the director, and who died so recently as 

 February, 1874. Ernest was born in Brussels August 7, 

 1825. At that time his father was busily occupied in 

 pressing on the king and the municipality of Brussels the 

 importance of establishing an observatory for meteoro- 

 logical purposes. After much discussion and many 

 delays it was determined in 1826 to establish an astro- 

 nomical observatory ; Quetelet was directed to obtain 

 instruments, to visit Paris and London, and on January 9, 

 1828, he received his official appointment, his title being 

 " astronomer." The three principal astronomical instru- 

 ments were set up in 1 835, but the first four volumes of 

 tht Annales of the observatory coming down to 1845 

 contain only meteorological notes. The first volume 

 (date 1834) opens with an " apergu historique des ob- 

 servations de mdt^orologie faites en Belgique jusqu'a 

 ce jour," commencing with 1763, and shows how tho- 

 roughly the director entered into the importance of the 

 work. The observatory in 1 845 was the centre of meteor- 

 ological observing stations, of which there were more than 

 eighty. 



Although Ernest, as he grew up, shared his father's 

 interest in the various observations included under the 

 head meteorological, and took terrestrial magnetism as 

 a special subject for study, on joining the observatory in 

 1855 he was appointed to take the astronomical observa- 

 tions and the Annales record that the observations were 

 made by him and the calculations of the reductions by 

 M. L. Estourgies. From 1857 he has had in hand the 

 revision of a catalogue of the variable stars, a large part 

 of which has been published. Two years ago he issued 

 the climatological elements of Brussels, in a series of 

 eighteen tables, for the ten years ending 1873, and in 

 the Bulletin of the Soci^t^ Royale are many papers by 

 him on magnetism. 



Before entering the observatory he was in the Engineers 

 for several years, after having passed through the ifecole 

 Militaire of Brussels. In 1848 he was engaged as a 

 subaltern on the work of the fortifications of Antwerp. 

 It was while still in the Engineers he communicated 

 his first paper to the Academy, " Recherches sur les 

 Mddianes" (October 9, 1859), which was printed in the 

 Memoirs Couronnes. In 1856, shortly after joining the 

 Observatory, he wrote a paper on the magnetism of the 

 earth in North Germany and Holland, and in 1859, " On 

 the Magnetic Declination at Brussels." 



The Observatory has all through its existence had to 

 struggle against difficuhies ; one of the latest recom- 

 mendations of the Commission on it was to effect the 

 following improvements : — 



" To complete the magnetic system of the Observatory 

 by the acquisition of self-registering instruments, to- 

 organise the International Meteorological Service, to 

 obtain an equatorial of large dimensions with the acces- 

 sories necessary to the spectroscopic investigation of the 

 heavens, and to increase the number and improve the 

 position of the observer." 



During many years M. Quetelet has often been ap- 

 pointed referee to the printing of papers in the Mimoires 

 of the Academic Royale, and has been himself a frequent 

 contributor. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



In the Geographical Section of the French Association, 

 some papers of interest were read. Dr. Garret read a 

 curious paper on the Distribution of Antipodes, in which 

 the author indulged in some rather fanciful theorising. 

 Gen. Ricci spoke on the geodetic work carried on by the 

 Italian Government, which is energetically completing the 

 triangulation of Italy, connecting it with the rest of Europe 

 on the one side and Africa on the other. Gen. Ricci also 

 spoke of the regular tidal observations carried on at 

 various stations on the coast of Italy, mainly with a view 

 of getting a true level for geodetic purposes. M. H. 

 Duveyrier read an elaborate paper on the remaining- 

 problems in African geography, in which he divided un- 

 known Africa into seven great regions : (i) The Sahara 

 and the Libyan Desert; (2) The country between the 

 Joliba and the Guinea Coast ; (3) The upper courses of 

 the Binue and Shari ; (4) The region behind Cape 

 Guardafui ; (5) The equatorial chain of lofty mountains ; 

 (6) The completion of the basins of the Nile, Congo, and 

 Ogove ; (7) The basin of the Cunene. Altogether more 

 than 11,000,000 square kilometres remain unexplored, 

 more than one-third of the whole surface of Africa. At 

 the mean rate of discovery since the beginning of the 

 century, this might be covered in about forty-eight 

 years, though the ratio is now so increased that 

 it ought to be done in much less time. A paper 

 by M. Maunoir recounted the services done to geo- 

 graphy by France since 1800, and when all put 

 together with the eloquence of a Frenchman, they seem 

 formidable. 



News from Capt Tyson's Arctic expedition in the 

 Florence has been brought to Washington by the schooner 

 Helen, which wintered in the same bay on the coast of 

 Cumberland. Meteorological observations were taken 

 most accurately during winter by Mr. Sherman, the phy- 

 sicist of the expedition. Unfortunately the natu- 

 ralist inflicted on himself a wound when orl duty, and 

 was disabled for the greater part of the winter. Capt. 

 Tyson went to Disco to recruit natives, collect goods, and 

 purchase dogs. He fulfilled his duty with hiswonted activity 

 and success. But when everything was ready he learned 

 by a message sent from Washington that the preparations 

 were useless, the American Congress having taken its. 

 vacation without deliberating upon the report so carefiilly 

 drawn by the Marine Committee. The brave and accom- 

 plished commander of the Florence is now on his way to 

 Washington, where he is expected daily. We are informed 

 that a demonstration will be made against this piece of 

 Parliamentary negligence. This preliminary expedition, 

 was entirely fitted out at the expense of Capt. Howgate 

 and his friends. 



News has arrived that the Bremen steamer Neptune, 

 Capt. Rasmussen, which left for the Ob, in Siberia, on 

 July 16, reached Hammerfest on the 6th instant with 

 a full cargo of Siberian wheat. The Neptune was laden 

 with all sorts of mercantile goods. She entered the 

 Nadym on August 13, and had no ice difficulties 

 on the voyage out. Perhaps in future, when the 



