178 



NATURE 



[June 23, \\ 



The Times reports that the Norwegian Geographical Society 

 gave a banquet last Saturday to the expedition under Captain 

 Sverdrup, which is on the point of leaving for exploration along 

 the north and north-west coast of Greenland. Several of the 

 Norwegian Ministers were present, as well as the Presidents 

 of the two Houses of Parliament, Dr. Nansen, Prof. Mohn, and 

 other distinguished men. 



An international fisheries exhibition, together with an exhibi- 

 tion of Norwegian industry, agriculture, art and home industries, 

 is now open at Bergen. The directors of the Society for pro- 

 motion of Norwegian fisheries are of opinion that besides the 

 many various meetings which will take place during the ex- 

 hibition, an International Fisheries Congress ought, if possible, 

 to be arranged. They therefore invite Norwegians as well as 

 foreigners interested in fisheries to join in such a Congress, to 

 be held in Bergen on July 18-21. 



According to a report of the French Minister at Stockholm, 

 referred to in the Board of Trade Journal, the industry of 

 textiles made from peat-fibre has just been introduced into 

 Sweden. The fibres, produced from peat by a mechanical 

 process, can be mixed in the proportion of 75 per cent, with 

 pure wool, for the manufacture of yarn similar in appearance to 

 common woollen yarn. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, issued by the 

 United States Hydrographic Office for the month of June, shows 

 that the ice season has now set in on the Grand Banks, and that 

 the amount of icebergs is equal to the average of past years. In 

 addition to the ordinary useful information there is a sub-chart 

 showing the distribution of atmospheric pressure and the pre- 

 vailing winds in the South Atlantic, taken, with some modifica- 

 tions, from the Meteorological Atlas of the Deutsche Seewarte. 

 It shows that a belt of high pressure extends east and west along 

 the parallel of 25° S. To the southward the pressure diminishes 

 ■rapidly and with great uniformity, and the decrease is continuous 

 as far towards the pole as observations have been carried. Some 

 ■useful general remarks are made as to the system of winds to 

 which this high pressure area gives rise in various seasons of 

 the year. 



In the last annual number of the Journal of the Scottish 

 Meteorological Society (vol. xi.). Dr. Buchan has published a 

 most important paper on the mean atmospheric pressure and 

 temperature of the British Islands, with twenty-six coloured 

 «iaps and tables of monthly and yearly values for forty years, 

 1856-1895. Fifteen years ago similar data for twenty-four 

 years were published, but since that date a large number of 

 stations have been added, the total now reaching 400, and a 

 more satisfactory inspection of stations has been brought about, 

 chiefly by the valuable aid rendered by the Meteorological 

 ■Council, so that better averages are now obtainable. This 

 monumental work teems with interesting and strictly trustworthy 

 results, but we can only briefly refer here to one or two general 

 remarks pointed out in the author's instructive discussion. The 

 most striking feature is the down-curving of the annual isobaric 

 lines as they cross the Irish Sea and St. George's Channel. 

 Another distinct feature of the isobars is the influence of the 

 land in increasing the barometric pressure, and the opposite 

 influence of the sea in depressing the isobars. In the discussion 

 of the temperature observations the author arrives at a con- 

 clusion of great importance for invalids, viz. that where a 

 winter climate is sought, offering, in the highest degree the 

 combined qualities of mildness and dryness, anywhere afforded 

 by the British Islands, such a climate is to be found on the 

 shores of the Channel, from about Dover to Portland. 

 NO. 1495, VOL. 58] 



Mr. W. Ernest Cooke, Government Astronomer of 

 Western Australia, has forwarded to us particulars received from 

 Captain Odman with regard to a remarkably severe storm ex- 

 perienced off' the north-west coast of Australia between March 

 30 and April 3. Captain Odman was commanding the S.S. 

 Albany, and evidently passed right into the *' eye" of the storm. 

 Strong north-east winds were met on April i, and the barometer 

 fell until 10 a.m. of the following day, when the weather became 

 calm. An hour later the barometer rpse quickly, and south-west 

 winds were experienced. The following extracts from the log 

 are instructive, as showing the characteristics of wind and 

 atmospheric pressure in a rotary storm :— April I, lat. ig'oo, 

 12 a.m., barometer 29*58, strong N.E. winds and clear; 

 3 p.m., barometer 29*48, blowing N.E. gale with heavy rains; 

 II p.m., barometer 29*42, wind N.E., blowing and raining, 

 the force of the wind being indescribable, and continuing 

 with fearful hurricane force up to 10 a.m. on 2nd. April 2, 

 lat. 20 •00, 10 a.m., barometer 27*80, suddenly and without 

 warning it became calm ; in fact, we could not feel a breath 

 of wind, or tell from which direction it came. The barometer 

 then stood at 27*80, and continued stationary till 11 a.m , 

 when it suddenly rose to 27*90, and the wind could be heard 

 roaring and the sea boiling before we felt it, when it suddenly 

 struck the ship from S.W., in an entirely opposite direction 

 to that previously experienced, and, with the rain, became 

 almost as dark as night, and continued to blow at much greater 

 hurricane force than it had done before, the barometer still 

 rising. The gale still continued with violent force up to mid- 

 night, the barometer still rising and the wind decreasing from then. 

 Captain Odman states as a positive fact that the men's dungaree 

 suits and his own canvas one were blown to ribbons during the 

 storm. The barometer fell an inch between 6 and 10 a.m. on 

 April 2, and rose an inch again by 6 p.m. Mr. Cooke informs 

 us that the storm struck the towns of Cossack and Roeburne, 

 and almost demolished them. Cossack registered 15*42 inches 

 of rain, Roeburne 14*66, and a place called Whim Creek had 

 36*53 inches. Mr. Cooke failed, however, to trace the storm 

 inland. He expected it to work overland towards Eucla, at the 

 head of the Great Australian Bight, but no traces of it were per- 

 ceptible at the inland meteorological stations. 



It may be remembered that in May of last year Dr. Le Neve 

 Foster, F. R. S. , nearly met his death by carbonic oxide poisoning 

 while investigating the circumstances atten ding an underground 

 fire at the Snaefell Lead Mine, Isle of Man (see Nature, 

 vol. Ivi. p. 58). A detailed report upon this mine accident has 

 just been published in a Blue Book, and it is not merely a state- 

 ment of facts as to the condition of the mine and the method of 

 working, but a document containing information which will 

 prove of service to persons exposed to the risk of carbonic 

 oxide poisoning, and also be of scientific interest to physio- 

 logists. Dr. Foster points out that although the gas occurs 

 occluded in certain rocks and minerals, it has never been found 

 as a natural constituent of the atmosphere of mines. He had, 

 therefore, to seek for some artificial source of the poison when 

 investigating the accident, and he found sufficient evidence to 

 justify the conclusion that the deaths of the twenty victims of the 

 Snaefell disaster were due to carbon monoxide produced by 

 timber burning in the mine. It is startling to find how small a 

 quantity of timber need be burnt to pollute to a dangerous 

 extent the passages of a mine. By the combustion of a cubic 

 foot of larch, vVhich was the kind of timber employed at Snae- 

 fell, enough carbon monoxide is produced to occupy 417 cubic 

 feet of space at a temperature of 60' F. , and a pressure of 

 30 inches. Twenty-five cubic feet of timber contain carbon 

 enough to produce sufficient carbon monoxide to give an atmo- 

 sphere with I percent, of the noxious gas all through the mine, 

 which proportion is quite sufficient to cause ahnost immediate 



