NA TURE 



{Nov. 3, 1887 



relieved in some places by extensive open plains covered with 

 tall grasses, and the forest vegetation is rapidly disappearing, 

 owing largely to the wasteful habits of the natives. The accom- 

 panying seismic tables contain records of the earthquakes that 

 occurred between the years 1843-86, some of which were very 

 violent and attended by marine disturbances destructive to ship- 

 ping, and driving boats and barges hundreds of yards inland. 

 But there are no active volcanoes, and the prevailing formation 

 appears to be a much-weathered compact limestone resting on 

 gray or bluish Miocene marls and other argillaceous clays. The 

 geological as well as the zoological conditions show that Nias, 

 like the other islands running parallel to the west coast of 

 Sumatra, must have formerly been connected with the mainland ; 

 and as Sumatra itself at one time certainly formed part of the 

 Malay Peninsula, this chain of insular groups would appear to 

 m? rk the original line of the Asiatic seaboard in this direction. 

 Signor Modigliani's collections include 178 birds, representing 

 62 species, of which 8 are described as new, but allied to corre- 

 sponding species in Sumatra ; consequently the separation must 

 have taken place at a very remote period — a conclusion also 

 confirmed by other considerations. His rich zoological collection, 

 comprising over 7000 specimens, has been presented to the 

 Museum of Genoa. 



METEOROLOGICAL NOTES. 



The Report on the Meteorology of India in 1885, being the 

 eleventh year of the series, has just been published, and contains 

 an immense mass of valuable information. The accumulation of 

 Indian statistics during the last ten years may be best shown by 

 a comparison of the following figures : — The number of stations 

 at which the mean temperature is recorded has increased from 

 51 to 127, and the rainfall stations from 134 to 471. From this 

 huge volume of 516 large quarto pages we can only note here a 

 very few general remarks. Considerable attention is paid to 

 solar radiation, the chief feature of which is found to be that the 

 maximum intensity generally occurs during the winter half of 

 the year (October to March), when the sun is in southern de- 

 clination, and the thickness of the absorbing atmosphere 

 traversed by the sun's rays is at a maximum. This is said to be 

 apparently due to the fact that over a large part of India the 

 atmosphere is most cloudy in the summer and autumn months. 

 It would appear from the mean result of the sun-thermometer 

 readings in all parts of India that the average intensity of solar 

 heat had reached a minimum in 1884, and in 1885 underwent an 

 appreciable increase. The duration of bright sunshine is now 

 regularly recorded at four stations, and Mr. Blanford considers 

 that the sunshine-recorder promises to be even more important 

 than the sun-thermometer, since the duration of sunshine is a 

 more direct measure oftheamoui^t of solar heat reaching the 

 earth's surface than the registry of its mean maximum intensity. 

 Anemometers are in use at nearly all the stations, and fourteen 

 of them are large anemographs of the Kew pattern. The re- 

 sultant direction of the winds is, however, computed by Lam- 

 bert's old formula, which is based on the assumption that the 

 force of all winds is equal, an assumption which is obviously 

 often very misleading. The work is accompanied by maps 

 showing the positions of the meteorological observatories and 

 the mean distribution of temperature, pressure, and wind. 



M. Garrigou-Lagrange describes, in the Anmiaire de la 

 Societe Me eorologique de France, his apparatus for registering 

 the ascending and descending air-currents. The experimental 

 anemometer is fixed on a mast at Limoges, and consists of 

 four small fans moving round a vertical axis, and recording, by 

 electrical arrangements, on a drum covered with rtded forms. 

 The curves obtained by this method show plainly the upward or 

 downward movement of the air, and the velocity is easily read 

 off". The experiments show that ascending winds are generally 

 stronger and more frequent than the descending, owing no doubt 

 to the eddies caused by obstacles met with by the currents. 



In Das Wetter- M. Seemann discusses the results of the storm- 

 warnings issued by the New York Herald between September 

 1886 and January 1887, and finds that out of twelve warnings 

 only three were quite successful, and three partially so. The 

 wording of the telegrams is not so absolute as formerly ; many 

 of the depressions pass to the northward of our islands, and our 

 weather is disturbed, although the gales do not always strike our 

 coasts ; judged in this light, the warnings may be more success- 

 ful than when actual storms are predicted. On pp. 83-87 of 



the same journal Dr. C. Lang describes his method of predicting 

 night-frost, from the position of the dew-point. From the 

 Munich observations for 1879-86 he finds that 441 predictions of 

 night-frost could be given, of which 89 per cent, were success- 

 ful. In 8 per cent, of the cases, night-frost did not follow, and 

 in 3 per cent, frost occurred unexpectedly. This method may 

 be of considerable benefit to agriculturists ; reference to this 

 subject has been made by Mohn, Buchan, and others. 



Dr. Grossmann has published "Meteorologische Divieions- 

 tafeln " (Hammerich and Lesser, Altona), which will be very 

 useful to meteorological observers in the calculation of monthly 

 means, and daily means from hourly observations. For a divi- 

 dend of four figures the quotient is given by simple inspections, 

 and for more figures by interpolation by means of a table of 

 proportional parts. The principle of construction is due to Dr. 

 Koppen, and some of the tables were printed in Aus deni Archiv 

 dcr Detitschen Seciuarte, vol. i. 1878. Dr. Crelle's well known 

 "Tables de Calcul" (Reimer, Berlin, 1869) are equally useful, 

 but being in a large volume are not easily accessible to observers 

 generally. The chief merit of Dr. Grossmann's tables lies in 

 their publication in a form specially suitable to the wants of 

 meteorological observers, and at the low price of about sixpence 

 for single copies. They extend to four pages only, and are 

 intended to be pasted on cardboard. 



The Italian Central Meteorological Office has published its 

 Annall for the year 1884, in three thick folio volumes, contain- 

 ing a mass of meteorological, magnetical, and astronomical data. 

 The meteorological services of Italy are very complicated, as in 

 addition to the Central Office there are many large and inde- 

 pendent establishments from which we possess long series of 

 observations, some of them dating from the middle of last 

 century. The Government established a Committee for Weather 

 Telegraphy in 1863, under M. Matteuci, and in 1865 the 

 Meteorological Section of the Ministry of Agriculture commenced 

 the issue of the Meleorologia Italiana ; from this originated the 

 present office in 1877, located at the Collegio Romano. The 

 service is now under the able superintendence of M. Tacchini, 

 and includes 135 stations of the second order, some of which, 

 e.g. those of Stelvio, Valdobbia, Cimone, and Etna are import- 

 ant mountain observatories ; in addition to which there are 515 

 rainfall stations, and stations at the military settlements of Assab 

 and Massowah. The work contains valuable discussions on 

 thunderstorms, evaporation, and on the microscopical examina- 

 tion of atmospheric dust. 



A special meeting of the Meteorological Society of Mauri- 

 tius, in honour of the Queen's Jubilee, was held on August 6, 

 on which occasion Dr. Meldrum gave an interesting sketch of 

 the origin and labours of the Society, and of the Royal Alfred 

 Observatory. Charts were exhibited showing the tracks of the 

 cyclones in the Southern Indian Ocean in each year from 1856 

 to 1886, also magnetograms showing simultaneous disturbances 

 at Zi-ka-wei and Mauritius on January 9, 1886 ; and curves 

 showing the apparent connection between solar, magnetical, and 

 auroral phenomena, and also between solar phenomena and the 

 frequency of cyclones, rainfall, and the depth of water in rivers, 

 together with other articles of interest. Dr. Meldrum stated, 

 with reference to the history of meteorology in the island, that 

 a memorial was presented to the Governor in April 185 1, sug- 

 gesting the desirability of systematic obsei-vations, and the 

 Meteorological Society was consequently founded on August i 

 of that year. Shortly afterwards the office of Government 

 Meteorological Observer was created, to which office Mr. Mel- 

 drum succeeded in 1862, and the two institutions, although 

 distinct, have co-operated with each other. Regular observa- 

 tions were commenced at the new Observatory {see Nature, 

 vol. xxxvi. p. 546) in November 1874. We cannot enumerate 

 here the many useful worls which have been carried on, but 

 the Hydrographer to the Admiralty has expressed the wish 

 that the track charts should be published, and Mr. Meldrum 

 has been informed that the Meteorological Council would 

 probably publish them. He also states that tide-gauges will 

 soon be erected at two points on the coast, and expresses a 

 desire for the establishment of a high mountain station. 



In the Amerieau Meteorological Journal for September, Mr. 

 H. Allen discusses the theory of the outflow of air under falling 

 rain. It has been assumed by some meteorologists that the rain, 

 drops carry with them and compress the air, which, flowing out- 

 produces at times a considerable wind velocity (see article on 



