May 3, 1888] 



NATURE 



13 



the Madras Government on the Cinchona Plantations of that 

 Presidency" (1883) ; "Annual Reports of the Botanic Gardens, 

 Ceylon " (1880-85). 



Henry Marshall Ward, M.A., 



F.L.S. Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. Professor of 

 Botany, Royal Indian Engineering College, Cooper's Hill 

 (Forestry Branch.) Distinguished for his researches in Histo- 

 logical and Cryptogamic Botany. Appointed by the Secretary 

 of State for the Colonies to visit Ceylon, 1879-81, to investigate 

 the Coffee-Leaf Disease. Has published numerous researches, 

 of which the following are the more important: — "On the 

 Embryo-sac and Development of Gymnodenia conopsea " {Quart, 

 fourn. Micros. Set., 1880, pis. 3) ; "A Contribution to our 

 knowledge of the Embryo-sac in Angiosperms " (!ourn. Linn. 

 Soc, 1880, pis. 9) ; First, second, and third Reports on the 

 Coffee-Leaf Disease, Ceylon, 1880-81 {ibid.) ; "Researches on 

 the Morphology and Life-history of a tropical Pyrenomycetous 

 Fungus {Asterina)" {Quart. Journ. Micros. Sci., 1882, pis. 2) ; 

 ' ' Observations on the genus Pythueni " { Quart. Journ. Micros. 

 Sci., 1884, pis. 3); "On the Structure, Development, and 

 Life-history of a tropical Epiphyllous Lichen {Strigula com- 

 planata)" (Trans. Linn. Soc, 1883, pis. 4) ; "On the Morpho- 

 logy and the Development of the Perithecium of Meliola, a 

 genus of tropical Epiphyllous Fungi" (Phil. Trans., 1883, Pis. 

 3) ; "On the Structure and Life-history of Entyloma Ranun- 

 culi" (Phil. Trans. 1887, pis. 4); "On some points in the 

 Histology and Physiology of the Fi'iits and Seeds of the genus 

 Rhamnus" {Annals of Botany, 1887, pis. 2). Translator of 

 "Lectures on the Physiology of Plants," by Julius von Sachs 

 (Clarendon Press, 1887). 



William Henry White, 



Assistant Controller and Director of Naval Construction. Charged 

 with principal responsibility for design and construction of all 

 ships of the Royal Navy. Author of a " Manual of Naval 

 Architecture," adopted as a Text-book in the Royal Naval 

 College, issued to the Royal Navy, translated into German and 

 Italian, and officially issued to both fleets. Author of numerous 

 papers on the science and practice of Shipbuilding, most of these 

 being published in the Transactions of the Inst, of Naval 

 Architects, of which he is a Member of Council. In these 

 papers there is a large amount of original scientific work, 

 notably in " Calculations for the Stability of Ships," 1871 

 (written jointly with Mr. M. John) ; The Geometry of Meta- 

 centric Diagrams," 1878; "The Rolling of Sailing Ships," 

 188 1 ; " The Course of Study at the Roy. Nav. College," 1877. 

 Engaged in extensive theoretical investigations and experi- 

 ments on the Structural Strength of Ships, and the Strains to 

 which they are subjected at sea. Many of the results published 

 in the " Manual of Naval Architecture " and Trans. Inst. Nav. 

 Architects. Has had much to do with the extension of system- 

 atic observations of rolling, pitching, and general behaviour of 

 H. M. ships at sea, from which much good has resulted to Ship- 

 design, and valuable additions have been made to trustworthy 

 information on Ocean Waves. Ha* also been able to render 

 good service to the general extension of scientific methods of 

 observing and analyzing the steam trials and turning trials of 

 H. M. ships. Was closely associated for some years with the 

 late Mr. Froude, and with the practical development in the 

 designs of H.M. ships of the principles deduced from model 

 experiments originated and conducted by Mr. Froude, which 

 experiments are now superintended by the late Mr. Froude's 

 son, Mr. R. G. Froude. Is the designer of some of the swiftest 

 ships afloat, both armoured and unarmoured, in which designs 

 wide departures were made from previous practice. Is a 

 member of the Inst. Civ. Eng. ; of the Council of the Inst. 

 Naval Architects ; Hon. Mem. of the N.E. Coast Inst, of 

 Engineers and Shipbuilders ; Member of the Roy. Unit. Serv. 

 Inst. Has diploma as Fellow of the Royal School of Naval 

 Architecture (highest class). Professor of Naval Architecture at 

 South Kensington, 1871-73, and at Royal Naval College, 

 1873-81. 



THE ISLANDS OF VULCANO AND STROMBOLL 



T N the spring of last year, accompanied by my friend 

 T Signor Gaetano Platan ia, I passed a month in a 

 geological ramble through the ^Eolian Islands. In con- 



sequence of such a short stay, no observations were carried 

 out with sufficient detail and accuracy to be worthy of 

 publishing, especially after the many important observa- 

 tions that we already possess from Spallanzani to Judd. 

 Unfortunately, the isolated position of the group, and the 

 absence of any sufficiently qualified local observer, render 

 it impossible to have continuous records of the vulcano- 

 logical and seismological phenomena of the islands ; in 

 fact, what little is known has come from the few scientific 

 travellers who from time to time visit this out-of-the-way 

 locality. It is for that reason, therefore, that the following 

 notes have been written, in the hope of saving a few of 

 the links in the broken chain of the record of the two active 

 volcanoes of Stromboli and Vulcano. 



We arrived at Vulcano on May 24, 1887, and left the 

 island on May 28. The erruption that had occurred 

 during February and two following months of 1886 

 had drilled out the bottom of the crater, so that the 

 lower half of the path (on the west side) leading down 

 to the bottom of the crater had been removed, and 

 its lower end terminated abruptly in a cliff sheer down 

 to the crater bottom. In consequence we were unable to 

 descend, but we could on two days get a good view of the 

 crater bottom. Much hissing and blowing off of steam 

 was going on from the fissures of the floor of the crater, 

 which was covered by a layer of purplish-gray ash 

 washed down from the sloping sides. The edges of the 

 fissures in the bottom and lower part of the crater sides 

 were covered by a yellow crust of what was no doubt 

 sulphur, boric acid, &c. 



On the somewhat flattened ridge forming the northern 

 lip of the crater, and not very far from the head of the 

 celebrated obsidian lava stream, was a very large fumarole 

 emitting a strong and large jet of steam under pressure, 

 having about the size and force of that of the bocca grande 

 of the Solfatara. With our sticks we removed some of 

 the stones choking the hole, which on their cooler parts 

 were covered with deposits of sulphur and realgar. When 

 this was exposed to the full jet of steam, the minerals were 

 melted, and blown away or over the surface of the blocks, 

 forming a kind of reddish varnish or patina, whilst a rain 

 of drops was thrown into the air, so that our clothes and 

 hats were bespattered with beads of a variable mixture of 

 sulphur and realgar. To the east side, where are dis- 

 tinguishable three crater rings, a considerable number of 

 fumaroles exist, depositing chiefly sulphur, but also boric 

 acid where hottest. Mr. Narlian, a resident in the island, 

 says that not since the 1886 eruption "has the crater 

 entered into its former quiescent condition." 



On the upper portion of the northern slopes of the 

 cone, to the east of the obsidian stream, all the ground is 

 fumarolic, and choked with sulphur, where that mineral is 

 extensively quarried. 



Vulcanello seems on the verge of extinction, it being 

 possible to find only slightly warm exhalations of watery 

 vapour in a few fissures. 



During the days we were at Vulcano we noticed that 

 the apparent quantity of vapour emitted had a very 

 marked relationship to the moisture of the atmosphere, 

 and therefore, indirectly, to the winds. The same we also 

 observed to be the case at Vulcano as we saw it from time 

 to time during our stay on the Island of Lipari. 



June 1, 2, and 3 were spent at Stromboli. In ascending 

 the volcano, we, on leaving the town, skirted the northern 

 coast of the island, and after passing the Punta Labronzo 

 commenced the ascent, gradually approaching the north- 

 east limit of the Sciarra. It is a track that passes chiefly 

 over hard rock, and to be strongly recommended in pre- 

 ference to any other paths, which are mostly over loose 

 materials. Skirting the crater, one walks along the ridge 

 of the mountain which overhangs and partly hides the 

 crater ; we commenced to descend a little on the south side 

 of the volcanic mouth, until we arrived at a small pin- 

 nacle of rock, where a good view of the crater was 



