Dec. 13, 1877] 



NATURE 



^D 



cyclone as it pasfees over him, it is dtscdvered that the «rea of 

 rain and cloud-ring may be divided into two portions — the front 

 and rhe rear — differing in physical appearance and general cha- 

 racter of the weather by a line drawn through the centre, in front 

 of which the barometer is falling and in rear of which it is rising. 

 Details are given and it is shown that this character remams 

 constant whatever changes the variations above mentioned may 

 effect. In anti-cyclones synoptic charts sho^v great irregularity 

 in the positions of cloud, &c,, owing to local, diurnal, and other 

 variations, but to a single observer, who considers the surrourd- 

 jngs and physical appearance, a certain general character can be 

 discovered in every part. A marked contrast is shown to exist 

 between the diurnal variation of the weather in a cyclone or 

 anti-cyclone, and a probable connection is pointed out between 

 the diurnal variation of the weather and the diurnal variation of 

 the barometer. — On a remarkable barometric oscillation on 

 January 30, 1876, by Robert H. Scott, F.R.S. At 8 A.M. 

 a remarkable dip appeared in the barometric curve for Armagh. 

 The total amount of reduction of pressure was "097 inch in 25 

 minutes and for a portion of the time, from 8'5 to 810, the fall 

 was '058 inch, being at the rate of '697 inch per hour. On 

 looking to the other barograms, it was found that while a very 

 similar oscillation of slightly greater amplitude, '102 inch, 

 appeared at Aberdeen at noon, almost exactly four hours subse- 

 quent to the occurrence at Armagh, hardly a trace of disturb- 

 ance could be detected in the barogram for Glasgow, and yet 

 the last-named observatory lies almost on the direct line between 

 Armagh and Aberdeen. The barograms for Stonyhurst and 

 Halifax showed as little disturbance as Glasgow. At Dunecht 

 Observatory the oscillation took place somewhat earlier and 

 exhibited less intensity than at Aberdeen. At Bidston, however, 

 which lies more out of the probable path of the depression than 

 Stonyhurst, the oscillation is seemingly recorded with consider- 

 able distinctness. Temperature showed no appreciable change 

 at Armagh, Glasgow, or Aberdeen. At the time of occurrence 

 of the minimum a temporary change of direction and increase of 

 velocity of the wind is recorded both at Armagh and Aberdeen. 

 — The "arched squalls " of the neighbourhood of the trade-winds 

 and of those regions where the monsoons blow with slight force 

 and with interruptions, by Capt. A. Scniick. 



Physical Society, December i. — Prof. G. C. Foster, pre- 

 sident, in the chair. — Prof. Graham Bell exhibited and described 

 the telephone before a crowded meeting of the Society, prefacing 

 his account of the apparatus now so well known by a very com- 

 plete historical sketch of the progress of electric te'ephony. The 

 first experiments referred to were those of Prof. Page, who, in 

 1837, was studying the relation of electricity to magnetism, and 

 found that if a coil of wire, traversed by a current, surrounds an 

 iron rod, a sound like a pistol shot proceeds from this latter when- 

 ever the current is made or broken. He was followed by De la 

 Rive, Poggendorff, Reiss, and others, but Reiss was the first to 

 employ the human voice in his experiments. After pointing out 

 that in transmitting sounds by electrical means the initial sounds 

 ih mselves are in no sense transmitted but are only employed to 

 generate currents which reproduce similar sounds, Pfof. Bell 

 proceeded to examine the phenomena which take place when 

 sounds are transmitted through the air. It is, of course, not the 

 motion of the vocal organs themselves that is received in the ear, 

 but that of the air set in motion by their means, and all pecu- 

 liarities in the sound must be peculiarities in the motion of that 

 air. If the rapidity of motion varies it occasions a variation in 

 the pitch, and the loudness is changed by ichanging the ampli- 

 tude. The shape of the vibration produces timbre. If by 

 moving the air in certain specified ways, certain vowel 

 sounds are given out, then those same sounds will be emitted 

 if an identical movement be occasioned by any mechanical 

 means whatever, and Prof. Bell has found that such a motion 

 may really be given to the air in various ways. Three classes 

 of electrical currents have been employed for transmitting 

 sounds to a distance, and these he denominates intermittent, 

 pulsatory, and undulatory. The first form is obtained when a 

 current passes for a brief interval, is then followed by an interval 

 during which no current passes, and this by a current of the 

 same or opposite sign. In the second class a current is con- 

 tinually pas-sing, but its intensity mcreafes and decreases instan- 

 taneously, and finally, in the third class this variation takes place 

 gradually, and may therefore be represented by a sinuous line. 

 In his experiments on the nature of the movement of the air 

 i?rof. Bell employed a human ear, a hay sfyle attached to the 



Incas recoryihg the movement commtmlcated to it tfti a moving 

 sheet of smoked glass. A very interesting series of curves pro- 

 duced by this means was shown upon the screen, and he explained 

 ho V his experiments in this direction led him to the present form 

 of telephone. Since the very small membrane of the ear wa^ 

 capable of setting in motion comparatively large bones, it seemeid 

 probable that it could cause a li;^ht piece of iron to vibrate. In 

 the earlier form of apparatus a piece of steel spring was therefore 

 attached to a stretched membrane of gold-beaters' skin and 

 placed in front of the pole of the magnet, but he found on 

 increasing the area of metal that the action of the instrument 

 was improved, and thus was led to do away with the membrane 

 itself. Another branch of the investigation referred to the 

 strength of the magnet employed, and this was modified by 

 varying the strength of current. The battery was gradually 

 reduced from fifty cells to none at all, and still the effects were 

 observed, but in a much less marked degree ; the action was in 

 this latter case, doubtles?, due to residual magnetism, hence, in 

 the present form of apparatus, a permanent magnet is employed. 

 Lastly, the effect of varying the dimensions of the coil of wire 

 was studied, when it was found that the sounds became louder as 

 its length was diminished ; a certain length was, however, ulti- 

 mately reached beyond which no improvement was effected, and 

 it was found to be only necessary to inclose one end of the 

 magnet in the coil of wire. A number of diagrams were pro- 

 jected on to the screen which showed the various forms the 

 apparatus has taken from the time of Page to the present day. 

 An air sung in a distant part of the building was distinctly heard 

 in the room by the aid of an improved form of Reiss' telephone, 

 lent by Prof. Barrett, and made by Mr. Yates, of Dublin. Prof. 

 Bell, Prof. Foster, and Dr. Gladstone then carried on a conver- 

 sation with a gentleman at a distance, and utterances were shown 

 to be audible when the transmitting instrument was held about a 

 foot from the mouth. A discussion then followed in which Mr. 

 De la Rue, Dr. Gladstone, Profs. Foster, Guthrie, Atkinson, and 

 others took part. In replying to the various questions, Prof; 

 Bell stated that his attempts to determine the amplitude of the 

 vibrations had not been successful, and he is coming to the con- 

 clusion that the movement must be molecular. Very distinct 

 sounds are emitted when a considerable mass of iron is employed ; 

 and further, if the iron be glued to a piece of wood an inch thick 

 and this be interposed between it and the magnet the action still 

 continues. Conversation has been carried on through a distance 

 of 258 miles, but a resistance of 60,000 ohms has been inter- 

 posed without preventing the action. There is a very marked 

 difference in the manner in which letters are reproduced by the 

 telephone. Vowel sounds are more acceptable than consonants, 

 and, as a rule, those letters are be.it transmitted which involve 

 a large oral aperture in their utterance. Finally, he finds that 

 high sounds are produced more fully than low ones, but this 

 question has not yet received sufficient attention. 



Zoolog**cal Society, December 4^.— Prof'. Nev^ton, F.R.S., 

 vice-president, in the chair. — Mr. Henry Seebohm, F.Z'S., ex- 

 hibited and made remarks upon some of the rarer eggs and 

 birds which he had obtained during his recent visit to the Arctic 

 regions of the Yen-e-sey, in Eastern Siberia, and gave a rapid 

 sketch of his journey. Some of the skins were interesting from 

 the fact that they extended our knowledge of geographical dis- 

 tribution, such as Phylloscopus trochilus and Acrocephalus schce- 

 nobcE7ius, from long. 88° E., Antkus gustavi of Swinhoe [A. 

 seebohmi of Dresser, and A. batchianensis of Gray) from the 

 same longitude, and young in fir^t plumage of this species. — 

 Mr. Saville Kent, F.Z. S., exhibited the plans of a Zoological 

 Station and Museum and Institute of Pisciculture to be esta- 

 blished at St. rielier's, Jersey. The object sought in the 

 establishment of this institution was the provision within British 

 waters of facilities for pursuing marine biological investigations 

 similar to those which exist at the Zoological Station of Naples, 

 and at the Ander.-en School of Natural History at Penikese 

 Island, Buzzards Bay, U.S.A. — The Secretary exhibited, on the 

 part of Mr. Andrew Anderson, F.Z.S., some specimens of 

 natural history collected in India, amongst which were chicks of 

 Rhviichops and specimens of Podiceps cristatus obtained breeding 

 in North-Western India. — A communication was read from Mr. 

 Henry Lee, F.Z.S., containing an account of the capture of a 

 Risso's grampus at Sidlesham, near Chichester. — Mr. A. G. 

 Butler read a paper in which he gave an account of a collection 

 of lepidoptera made in Northern Formosa by Mr. H. E. Hobson. 

 — A communication was read from the Matquis of Tweeddale, 



