Sept. 9, 1875 



NATURE 



403 



always formidable, but it is manageable. If, however, 

 the violence of the wind, the state of the sea, and the 

 weakness of the ship should make flight impossible, there 

 should be no hesitation in putting about ship and bring- 

 ing to on the starboard tack (the wind on the right side). 

 The vessel appears then to make for the centre of the 



Fig. 3. 



hurricane, but it makes no headway ; it thus escapes 

 being covered by the wind, and there is no risk of being 

 struck by seas behind, inevitable consequences of a port 

 tack. Soon the hurricane disappears by its motion of 

 translation, good weather reappears, and at last sail may 

 be made. 



(TV be continued.^ 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION 



T^HE second soiree was very interesting, although not 

 -»■ remarkable for novelties. The Post Office Tele- 

 graphic staff appeared in force, showing all varieties of 

 method and apparatus. A splendid series of Geissler 

 vacuum tubes was exhibited by Mr. F. J. Fry. Sir W. 

 Thomson's tide-gauge and tide-calculator, the apparatus 

 for deep-sea sounding, models of railway signals, means 

 of communication between passengers and guard, and 

 Dr. Leitner's collections from Dardistan were among the 

 most attractive objects. 



The concluding general meeting presented no remark- 

 able feature, and called forth no very notable speeches. 

 Among the papers to be printed in full in the Report is 

 that of Prof. Cayley, on the application of mathematical 

 trees to chemical theory. The local committee and 

 officials were thanked most heartily and deservedly. 

 They have had the best intentions, adequate means, and 

 good plans, and have employed the energy needed for the 

 fruition of their ideas. The actual number of members, 

 associates, and ladies present during the meeting was 

 2,249, ^^ number having been somewhat swelled by late 

 arrivals. 



The vote of thanks to the President, moved by Sir VV. 

 Thomson and seconded by Dr. Carpenter, was not merely 

 formal. Sir W. Thomson eulogised Sir John Hawkshaw 

 as a man who believed that good practice proceeded from 

 good theory. Certainly the President's tone of mind 

 seems to have influenced the work and proceedings of the 

 meeting, for it has been on the whole quiet and genial, 

 yet busy and important in useful results obtained by the 

 scientific employment of common sense, if not of imagina- 

 tion. Thus ended the formal proceedings of a meeting in 

 which three Sections had to sit up to the latest moment 

 in order to get through their work. 



The following is the list of grants of money appro- 

 priated to scientific purposes. The names of the mem- 



25 o o 



bers who would be entitled to call on the general treasurer 

 for the respective grants are prefixed : — 



Mathanatks and Physics. 



*Cayley, Prof. — Printing Mathematical Table 



* Brooke, Mr. — British Rainfall 



*Glaisher, Mr. J. — Luminous Meteors (25/. renewed) 

 *Maxwell, Prof. C. — Testing the exactness of Ohm's 



Law (renewed) 



•Stokes, Prof. — Reflective Power of Silver and other 



Substances (renewed) 



*Tait, Prof. — Thermo-Electricity (renewed) 



Thomson, Sir W.— Tide Calculating Machine ... 



Chemistry. 

 *Roscoe, Prof. — Specific Volume of Liquids 



* Armstrong, Dr. — Isomeric Cresols and the Law of 



Substitution in the Phenol Series 10 o o 



Clowes, Mr. F. — Action of Ethylbromobutyrate 



on Ethyl Sod-aceto-acetate 10 o o 



*Allen, Mr. — Estimation of Potash and Phosphoric 



Acid 20 o o 



Geology. 



* Lubbock, Sir J., Bart. — Exploration of Victoria 



Cave, Settle 100 o o 



* Evans, Mr. J. — Record of the Progress of Geology 100 o o 



*Evans, Mr. J. — Kent's Cavern Exploration 100 o o 



*Herschel, Prof. — Thermal Conductivities of Rocks 10 o o 

 *Hull, Prof. — Underground Waters in the New Red 



Sandstone and Permian 10 o o 



*Bryce, Dr. — Earthquakes in Scotland 20 o o 



Biology. 



*Sclater, Mr. — Record of the Progress of Zoology. . 100 o o 

 *Dresser, Mr.— Close Time for the Protection of 



Indigenous Animals 5 o o 



Balfour, Prof. — Physiological Action of Sound ... 25 o o 



Huxley, Prof. — Zoological Station at Naples ... 75 o o 



*Brunton, Dr. L.-— Nature of Intestinal Secretion... 20 o o 



Fox, Col. Lane — Instructions for Use of Travellers 25 o o 



Fox, Col. Lane — Prehistoric Explorations 25 o o 



Statistics and Economic Science. 

 Beddoe, Dr. — Examination of Physical Characters 



of the Inhabitants of the British Isles 100 o o 



Mechanics. 

 *Froude, Mr. W. — Instruments for Measuring the 



Speed of Ships (renewed) 50 o o 



Napier, Mr. J. — Effect of the Propeller on the 



Turning of Steam Vessels 50 o o 



;^I489 4 9 

 • Re-appointed. 



I was fortunate enough to get a ticket for the Salisbury 

 and Stonehenge excursion, for which the applications 

 were very numerous. Mr. Blackmore's magnificent 

 museum illustrating the Stone Age was a delight to all 

 scientific minds ; and the presence of the founder, his 

 brother, and his brother-in-law, Mr. E. T. Stevens, en- 

 hanced the pleasure of the visit. The Cathedral and 

 Stonehenge, in addition, made up a very full day's round. 

 The Mayor of Bristol took a party to Bowood and Avebury. 

 How the Rev. Bryan King obtained his data for esti- 

 mating that Avebury was about seven centuries older 

 than Stonehenge I cannot conceive. The Silbury tumulus 

 afforded a splendid view to the visitors, if very little science 

 could be got out of it. A third party, that drove through 

 the Cheddar valley, saw at Stanton Drew yet a third of 

 the famous stone erections so conveniently placed around 

 Bristol. The Tortworth excursion was a really hard day's 

 work among many varieties of rock, especially palaeozoic, 

 but it was as profitable as it was hard, for the geologist. 

 The Bristol waterworks were of high interest for engi- 

 neers ; and the attractions of Bath, Wells, and Tintern 

 were displayed to every advantage by reason of beautiful 

 weather and hearty welcomes. 



