498 



NATURE 



[August 22, 1918 



passed Krakatoa. The study of the return of vegeta- 

 tion to these ash-covered areas was one of the primary 

 objects of the expeditions, which have laid out about 

 a hundred vegetation stations, wherein the progress 

 of returning vegetation can be accurately observed. 

 From some of these stations photographs and records 

 have already been obtained for three years. 



At Kodiak, and wherever the ash-fall was less than 

 2 ft., an abundant growth of plants has come up 

 through the ashy covering from old roots, resulting 

 in an almost miraculous recovery of vegetation. But 

 where the ash-fall exceeded 3 ft. none of the old plants 

 were able to penetrate the ashy blanket, although there 

 is abundant evidence that they survived the fury of 

 the eruption even on the slopes of the volcano 

 itself. 



There are, therefore, large areas which were denuded 

 of both plant and animal life and rendered absolutely 

 sterile bv the eruption. These present an unparalleled 

 opportunity for the study of the conditions necessary 



seventy square miles north of Mount Katmai. Before 

 the eruption this was a system of grass-covered valleys 

 with no sign of volcanic activity. Now it is traversed 

 by hundreds of fissures extending along its margin or 

 criss-crossing its floor. These fissures are the seat of 

 several millions of volcanic, vents of all sizes, from 

 great volcanoes pouring forth columns of vapour more 

 than a mile high, down to minute jets of gas which 

 pass unnoticed amongst their greater neighbours. 

 This valley was discovered by the Geographic .Society's 

 expedition of 19:6; but it was not possible to explore 

 it until 19 17, when its study was the principal objec- 

 tive of the party. Four weeks were spent within its 

 confines in the past season ; but it cannot be said 

 that its study was more than well begun, so numerous 

 and varied are its phenomena. 



In the cataclysm by which the present condition 

 of the valley was produced all traces of the 

 vegetation which formerly clothed its sides were 

 destroved, so that there remains no wood for 



J'holp] 



Fig. 2. — A corner of the Val'< 



[D. A'. Chut-clt 



of Tea Thousand Smokes. The "cookstON'e" at which the members of the expedition prepared 

 all their meals is in the foreground. 



for the establishment of life on a raw mineral soil 

 without humus or organic matter of any sort. In 

 10 17 chemical and bacteriological studies of the condi- 

 tion of these soils were carried out by J. W. Shipley 

 and Jasper Sayre respectively, in addition to the 

 botanical investigations of the previous expeditions. 

 The zoologist of the expedition, James S. Hine, made 

 extensive studies of the animal life, especially the; insect 

 fauna, in the uninjured district to one side of the 

 devastated area. It is expected that the results of 

 these and other investigations will be issued in a series 

 of technical papers to be published in the Ohio Journal 

 of Science as soon as they are completed. 



But the most sensational, as well as the most im- 

 portant, of the results of the expedition was the 

 discovery of certain phenomena concomitant with the 

 eruption of Katmai. which are even more interesting 

 than the explosion itself. 



The most striking of these is the Valley of Ten 

 Thousand Smokes, which occupies an area of about 



NO, 2547, VOL. lOl] 



use as fuel or otherwise. But it was found that 

 one of the small fumaroles furnished a very accept- 

 able substitute for a cooking-stove. The whole area 

 is so broken up and permeated with escaping vapours 

 that it was impossible to find a cool spot for a camp- 

 site. A thermometer inserted in the ground 6 in. 

 below the floor of the tent promptly rose to the boiling- 

 point. 



By analogy with other regions, it was expected that 

 hot springs and geysers might be found accompanying 

 the gas-emitting volcanoes, but such are altogether 

 absent. The study of the conditions of the valley 

 showed that their presence is impossible by reason 

 of the high temperatures prevailing throughout the 

 area. The vents are so hot that they would instantly 

 vaporise any water that might reach their throats. 

 The expedition, not expecting such high temperatures, 

 was not equipped with the pyrometers necessary for 

 their measurement. All the major vents were hot 

 enough to boil mercury, but how much hotter they 



