470 



NATURE 



[March i6, 189; 



Gregory, of Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, from the same 

 locality as the one described by him in Nature in November 

 last ; it is 4 feet 2 inches long by 2 feet 3 inches wide and 20 

 inches thick. It comes from Youndegin in Western Australia. 



The secretary of the Physical Society asks us to say that in 

 the report of the Society's annual general meeting (Nature, 

 March 2, p. 429) the name of Mr. J. T. Hurst was wrongly 

 included in the list of members lost by death. 



Attention is called in the North Atlantic Pilot Chart to 

 the fact that the great astronomical event of the month of April 

 — the eclipse of the sun on April 16 — will have certain features 

 of special interest to the science of marine meteorology. 

 Masters of vessels and observers who may be within the limits 

 of the visibility of this eclipse are earnestly requested to make 

 reports of their observations. The chart shows graphically the 

 path of the total eclipse, the northern limit of visibility, and 

 curves showing at what places the eclipse begins at i hour, 2 

 hours, and 3 hours, and when it ends at 3 hours, 4 hours, and 

 5 hours, Greenwich mean time, April 16. It is pointed out that 

 there are observations which any one can make, and that these 

 may prove to be of great interest and value. The following 

 are particularly desired : (i) any changes in the clouds accom- 

 panying changes of temperature during the eclipse ; (2) reading 

 of the barometer every half hour from 11.30 to 5.30 G.M.T., 

 while in the path of total eclipse ; (3) temperature of the air, 

 both wet and dry bulb, during the same interval ; (4) any 

 peculiar appearance of light during the eclipse ; (5) the altitude 

 and azimuth of any faint comet that may be detected during the 

 eclipse. 



The weather during the latter part of last week was excep- 

 tionally fine over England, the daily maxima being frequently 

 above 60°, and reaching 66° in the midland counties on Sunday, 

 a temperature which is nearly 20° above the mean maximum for 

 the time of year. The nights, however, were very cold, owing 

 to the radiation under a clear sky ; in some localities the read- 

 ings on the grass were as low as 23° to 25°, and little, if any, 

 above freezing in the shade. These conditions were occasioned 

 by the distribution of atmospheric pressure, there being a well- 

 deiined anticyclone over the southern parts of England and over 

 part of the continent. But in Scotland and Ireland the weather 

 was much less settled ; low-pressure areas lay off the north of 

 Scotland, causing gales and occasional rainfall, while hail 

 occurred at Wick on Friday. At the beginning of the present 

 week the barometer fell decidedly, the anticyclone moved to 

 the eastward, and the type of weather underwent a complete 

 change, fog becoming prevalent at many places in the southern 

 parts of the kingdom, and on Tuesday a new depression reached 

 the north of Scotland, accompanied by rainy and unsettled 

 weather generally. The official report for the week ending the 

 nth instant showed that bright sunshine was more prevalent 

 than it has been for many weeks, and that it exceeded the 

 average amount in all districts; also that there was a great 

 deficiency in the amount of rainfall in all districts, except in the 

 north of Scotland. 



Das Wetter for February contains some particulars respecting 

 the extraordinarily high barometer readings during January. At 

 the commencement of that month the isobar between Lapland 

 and Finland indicated the unusual height of 30*9 inches, which 

 increased to 31 ion the 3rd. On this day the centre of high 

 pressure was in the vicinity of the White Sea, the reading at 

 Archangel being 31*2 inches, and at Kargopol, on the Onega, 

 3 1 '3 inches. Such high readings in those parts in winter are 

 the more noteworthy, owing to the frequent passage of depres- 

 sions over the north of Europe during that season. Subse- 

 quently the high pressure area shifted to Eastern Siberia, where 

 NO. 1220, VOL. 47] 



high readings are more usual. On January 12 the pressure at 

 Irkutsk exceeded 31 "5 inches, and on the next day it reached 

 317, According to Dr. Hann, such a high reading had only 

 been recorded once before, viz. on December 16, 1877, at Semi- 

 palatinsk. But on the morning of January 14, the reading at 

 Irkutsk, reduced to sea level and corrected for gravity, attained 

 the unprecedented height of 31 "8 inches. So far as it is known 

 this is the highest reading that has ever been recorded on the 

 globe. These high pressures were also accompanied by very low 

 temperatures. On January 14 the thermometer at Irkutsk fell 

 to minus Si°*3, or about 40° below the mean for the time of 

 year. In the north of Sweden the thermometer fell to minus 

 76°, or 38° below the freezing point of mercury. 



Some shocks of earthquake have lately been felt at Quetta. 

 Two occurred on February 13 at 9.50 p.m., and another shock 

 on the 14th at about 3 a.m. These shocks caused a consider- 

 able scare, and many people rushed out of doors, the condition 

 of many houses in Quetta being anything but safe. The Piotieer 

 Mail says that several houses have since fallen at Quetta, and a 

 number of people have been injured, and two killed thereby. 



Dr. D. D. Cunningham is carrying on a series of micro- 

 scopical investigations into the Indian potato blight. Elaborate 

 experiments are also being made in the practical treatment of the 

 crop and of diseased soils. The results, according to the Pioneer 

 Mail, are expected to be important, and will be made public in 

 due course. 



It appears from the Ceylon Census Report for 1891 that the 

 bulk of the population of the island live by agriculture. The 

 proportion of the agricultural class to the general population is 

 in Ceylon 70*5 ; in India 64 '09 ; in England and Wales 15*44. 

 Next in order of number comes the industrial class, which in- 

 cludes something less than one-sixth, and after it the commercial 

 class, holding one-twentieth. The Ceylon Observer notes as 

 remarkable the fact that in the Southern Province there is a 

 larger Sinhalese industrial population than in any other pro- 

 vince — a result, it is supposed, attributable to the large number 

 of people engaged in utilising the products of the cocoa-nut tree, 

 with a certain number of workers in jewellery, tortoise-shell, &c. 



Two Akka girls, who were rescued from Arab capturers by 

 Dr. Stuhlmann and his companions, have been brought to 

 Europe, and will remain in Germany for some months. In the 

 summer they will be taken back to Africa, where they will be 

 placed in some mission house, or otherwise provided for. They 

 are supposed to be between seventeen and twenty years of age. 

 A correspondent of the Daily Neivs, who saw them at Naples, 

 says they are well proportioned, and as tall as a boy of eight 

 years of age. Their behaviour is "infantile, wild, and shy, but 

 without timidity." One of them was always cross, bending her 

 head, and glaring from beneath frowning brows ; while the 

 other often laughed joyously, was pleased with bead bracelets 

 and other trinkets given to her, and expressed by a queer sniff 

 of her flat nose her appreciation of some chocolate bonbons. 

 After making " a capital dinner on rice and meat," they greatly 

 enjoyed the sunshine in a pretty garden, where they gradually 

 grew more confident, and finally allowed themselves to be 

 photographed arm-in-arm with the little son of their hostess. 

 " The coquettish one shook with laughter, and seemed to guess 

 that a process was going on flattering to her vanity, while the 

 cross one still looked gloomy and suspicious. They showed 

 neither wonder nor admiration of the people and things around 

 them in the artistically furnished house and tasteful garden ; 

 their eyes, though large and lustrous, have less expression than, 

 the ugly eyes of a monkey." These interesting representatives 

 of one of the pygmy races of the world are to be presented ta 

 various scientific societies in Berlin. 



