182 



NATURE 



\yune 21, i 



that obtained by Prof. Loomis, though the general fact of 

 a great incurvature is thoroughly confirmed. My results 

 are as follow : — 



(i) The mean of 132 observations between lats. 15° and 

 22 , within 500 miles of the storm-centre, gives the angle 

 J 22 between the wind direction and its radius vector. 



(2) The mean of 12 observations between the same 

 latitudes, within 50 miles of the storm-centre, gives the 

 angle 123 . 



(3) The mean of 63 observations between N. lats. 8° 

 and 1 5°, within 500 miles of the storm-centre, gives the 

 angle 129°. 



The observations within 50 miles of the storm-centre 

 in the south of the Bay are too few to afford any trustworthy 

 result. 



For seamen's guidance, the following practical rules 

 may be formulated : — 



(1) In the north of the Bay of Bengal, standing with 

 the back to the wind, the centre of the cyclone bears 

 about five points on the left hand, or three points before 

 the beam. 



(2) In the south of the Bay, it bears about four points 

 on the left hand, or four points before the beam. 



(3) These rules hold good for all positions within the 

 influence of the storm, up to 500 miles from the storm- 

 centre. On the north and west the influence of the storm 

 rarely extends to anything like this distance, but it does 

 to the east and south. 



Since much of this evidence, afforded by the Bay of 

 Bengal cyclones, has been before the public for many 

 years, it is incomprehensible to me how a man of 

 M. Faye's scientific eminence can still assert that in the 

 tropics " the wind arrows display an almost rigorous 

 •circularity." If, as may possibly be the case, he relies on 

 the evidence of Mr. Piddington's memoirs, ignoring all 

 subsequent work, it is only necessary to examine those 

 memoirs to find that his data do not bear out that author's 

 conclusions. In the charts which accompany Mr. Pid- 

 dington's later memoirs, the wind observations are, as a 

 rule, not shown, but only the ships' courses, and the 

 author's interpretation of the positions and tracks of the 

 storms. But the evidence is always fully given in the 

 text, and it will be found that when the wind arrows are 

 plotted therefrom, and are sufficiently numerous to allow 

 of the position of the storm's centre being determined, 

 which is far from being generally the case, they are re- 

 concilable only with spiral courses, having a considerable 

 incurvature. 



I do not propose now to enter on a formal criticism of 

 Mr. Piddington's work, the great merit of which, as that 

 of a pioneer in the field of storm-science, no one more 

 fully recognizes than myself ; but so much seems necessary 

 in explanation of the apparent glaring discrepancy between 

 his results and those of modern workers in the same field. 



The evidence of the cyclones of the Bay of Bengal, 

 those tropical cyclones to which M. Faye appeals as 

 authoritative on the validity of his views, is, then, conclu- 

 sive against him. There is a strong influx of the lower 

 atmospheric strata into a tropical cyclone, proving, in the 

 most unquestionable manner, the existence of an ascend- 

 ing current over the vortex This fact is quite indepen- 

 dent of any views that may be entertained as to any theory 

 of cyclone origin and movement of translation, but any 

 such theory must harmonize with the fact, and hence 

 I conceive that it is fatal to M. Faye's views. With 

 these, in so far as they are theoretical merely, I 

 have no present concern, but it is obviously a matter of 

 high importance to seamen that they should not be misled 

 as to the facts of the wind's movement in cyclones, and it 

 is because the promulgation of such views as M. Faye's 

 tends to perpetuate an old and now exploded error of fact, 

 that I have to put in my protest against them. 



Henry F. Blanford. 



Folkestone, June 15. 



NOTES. 



It should have been stated in our paragraph last week relative 

 to the opening of the Laboratory of the Marine Biological 

 Association at Plymouth that the President, Prof. Huxley, who 

 has given unremitting care to the affairs of the Association during 

 the last three years, would be present if he were not pre- 

 vented from taking part in any public proceedings by the state 

 of his health. In the absence of the President, one of the Vice- 

 Presidents of the Association, Prof. Flower, will preside. The 

 Honorary Secretary, Prof. Ray Lankester, who founded the 

 Association, and has conducted its affairs to the present issue, 

 will also be present. 



Mr. J. J. H. Teall, who now holds a foremost place among 

 the petrographers of this country, has just been appointed to the 

 Geological Survey. We understand that he will be specially 

 charged with the study of the crystalline schists and the problems 

 of regional metamorphism, and that he will be closely associated 

 with the field officers who are mapping these rocks in different 

 parts of Scotland. The Survey is to be heartily congratulated 

 on this appointment. The staff is now remarkably strong, but 

 the problems with which it is confronted are among the most 

 difficult in geology. These problems have never been attacked 

 by such a united force of field geologists and microscopists, who, 

 working together with one common aim, will no doubt raise still 

 higher the scientific reputation of the Survey,' increase our know- 

 ledge of the history of the most ancient rocks, and throw light on 

 some of the most puzzling questions in geological science. 



The electors to the Mastership of Downing College, Cam- 

 bridge, have, by a unanimous vote, chosen Dr. Alexander Hill, 

 Fellow of the College, to succeed Prof. Birkbeck. Dr. Hill's 

 claim to the appointment sprang from his success as a teacher 

 and worker in biology. No appointment to a Headship has 

 been made on this ground alone since the revival of natural 

 science at the Universities. 



On the 4th inst., Dr. Maxwell T. Masters was elected a cor- 

 responding member of the Institute of France, in the Botanical 

 Section, in place of the late Prof. Asa Gray. Besides Dr. 

 Masters, the following names appeared on the list of presenta- 

 tion : M. Treub, of Batavia ; Mr. Triana, of Paris ; M. Warm- 

 ing, of Lund ; M. Wiesener, of Vienna. Dr. Masters obtained 

 39 votes ; M. Triana, 5 ; M. Treub, 1. 



The Sorbonne, consulted as to the proposed creation "of a 

 Chair for the teaching of Darwinian theories, has not expressed 

 disapproval of the scheme suggested by the Municipal Council 

 of Paris. It has appointed a committee to report on the 

 matter ; and it is expected that no serious opposition will be 

 offered to the proposal. 



We are glad to learn that a pension of ^50 has been granted 

 to Mrs. Balfour Stewart from the Civil List. 



On May 25, a complimentary dinner was given at the 

 Queen's Hotel, Manchester, to Prof. Schorlemmer, of the 

 Owens College, by his former pupils, to celebrate the occasion 

 of the conferring of LL.D. upon him by the Senate of the 

 Glasgow University, and to offer their congratulations. In the 

 absence of Sir Henry Roscoe, who had been expected to take 

 the chair, Mr. R. S. Dale, one of Prof. Schorlemmer's 

 eldest pupils and friends, presided. Numerous congratulatory 

 telegrams and letters were received by Dr. Schorlemmer, and 

 early in the evening a letter was read from Sir Henry Roscoe, 

 expressing regret that he could not be present, and testifying to 

 his high appreciation of the ability of his old friend and colleague. 

 Among those from whom congratulatory telegrams were received 

 were Dr. Pauli, Director of the firm of Meister, Lucius, and 

 Bruning, in Hoechst ; Prof. Bernthsen, of the Badische 

 Anilin und Sodafabrik, in Ludwigshafen ; and Prof. Hermann 

 Kopp, of Heidelberg, the historian of chemistry, who spoke 



