August 23. 1900] 



NATURE 



>95 



Prof. Maxima Braun, of Konigsberg, for studies on the Trema- 

 todea, 970 marks ; Dr. Paul Kuckuck, of Heligoland, for in- 

 vestigations on the development of Phreosporere, 400 marks ; 

 Dr. Wilhelm Solomon, of Heidelberg, for his geological and 

 mineralogical investigations in the Adamello mountains, looo 

 marks ; Prof. Alexander Tornquist, of Strassburg, for the publi- 

 cation of his work on the mountains of Vicenza, 1 100 marks ; 

 Prof, .\lfred Voltzkow, of Strassburg, for the drawings of his 

 work on the development of the crocodile, 1000 marks : Prof. 

 Johannes Walther, of Jena, for the publication of his work on 

 deserts, 1000 marks. 



We learn from the Daily Graphic that the Norwegian 

 Government has built and fitted out a steam vessel for the 

 express purpose of marine scientific research, and has placed 

 her, as well as a trained staff of assistants, in charge of Dr. J. 

 Hjort as leader of the Norwegian Fishery and Marine Investi- 

 gations. The vessel herself, the Michael Sars, has been con- 

 structed in Norway on the lines of an English steam trawler — 

 that type of boat being regarded as the most seaworthy and 

 suitable for such an expedition— but considerably larger, being 

 132 feet in length, 23 feet beam, and fitted with triple expansion 

 engines of 300 horse-power. The fishing gear includes, inter 

 alia, trawls, nets, and lines of all kinds, with massive steel 

 hawsers and powerful steam winches to work the heavy appa- 

 ratus, while the numerous scientific instruments are of the very 

 best and latest description. The expedition left Christiania in 

 the middle of July, on what may be termed its trial trip along 

 the Norwegian coast (accompanied for part of the time by Dr. 

 Nansen, who was desirous of testing various instruments in 

 which he had made improvements), and has just sailed from 

 Tromso on a lengthy cruise to the North Atlantic and Arctic 

 Oceans. Dr. Hjort has already added so much to the know- 

 ledge of pelagic fishes, their life, habits, and the causes affecting 

 their migrations, that, with the means now at his disposal, a 

 considerable amount of valuable information will probably be 

 gained which will prov« of service to the fishing industry of all 

 nations. 



Messrs. Jochelson and Bogoras, of the Jesup North 

 Pacific Expedition of the American Museum, recently started 

 for the north-eastern part of Asia, by way of San Francisco and 

 Vladivostok, to continue the work of the expedition in Siberia. 

 A few particulars of the investigations undertaken are given in 

 the American Mitseuni Journal. The region to be visited is 

 situated north-east of the Amur River. The explorers will study 

 the relations of the native tribes of that area to the inhabitants 

 of the extreme north-western part of America, and also to the 

 Asiatic races visited by Dr. Laufer, under the auspices of the 

 Museum, and to those living farther west. It is expected that 

 in this manner they will succeed in clearing up much of the 

 racial history of these peoples, and it is hoped that the question 

 as to the relations between the aborigines of America and 

 Asia will be definitely settled. Thus the work proposed is 

 part of the general plan of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, 

 which was organised for the investigation of the relations be- 

 tween the tribes of Asia and America. It is fortunate that this 

 inquiry has been taken up at the present time, since the gold 

 discoveries along the coast of Bering Sea are rapidly changing 

 the conditions of native life ; so that within a few years their 

 primitive customs, and perhaps the tribes themselves, will be 

 extinct. It is expected that the journey, which will extend 

 over a period of two years, will result in a series of most in- 

 teresting additions to the collections of the Museum, and in an 

 important advancement of our knowledge of the peoples of the 

 world. 



It has already been noted (vol. 61, p. 451) that Prof. A. 

 Heilprin has brought forward evidence which throws doubt 



NO. 1608, VOL. 62] 



upon the permanence of the waters of Lake Nicaragua, the- 

 fountain head of the San Juan River. His conclusions have 

 been criticised, but he gives further reasons for them in the 

 Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Philadelphia (July), and' 

 shows that this new factor will have to be taken into con- 

 sideration in connection with the proposed Nicaragua Canal. 

 The full conclusions now drawn by Prof. Heilprin from data 

 furnished by the Nicaragua Canal Commission of 1897-99, and' 

 the special reports of the chief engineer and hydrographer 

 appended thereto, are:— (i) Lake Nicaragua has undergone 

 marked shrinkage during the period of the last twenty- five to 

 fifty ye )rs. (2) The shrinkage is a progressive one, and there 

 are no known conditions by which the loss incurred can be 

 made good. (3) The assumption is well founded that the earlier 

 measurements of the altitude of the lake surface, made by 

 Galisteo and Baily, indicating an abasement of the waters by 

 20 to 30 feet, were accurate. The relations of these conditions 

 to canal construction become immediately apparent, and it may 

 well be agreed that a region subject to the changes which have 

 been indicated " would offer serious obstacles to the construction- 

 of a canal of the magnitude of the one proposed or to its 

 permanency after construction." 



Mr. W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., informs us that Mr. W. Kennedy,, 

 the observer for the Meteorol'ogical Office at Roche's Pointy 

 CO. Cork, notes that at 9.15 p.m. (G.M.T.) on August 13 a 

 very large meteor shot into view eastward, going E.S.E. At 

 about an altitude of 70° it exploded with a brilliant flash, andl 

 a noise was heard like that of a rocket fired off at some dis- 

 tance. The meteor left a long luminous track visible for some 

 seconds after the explosion. The trail would have been very 

 brilliant but that the eastern sky was lit up by the nK>on at the: 

 same time. 



In the afternoon of Friday, August 17, some parts of the south- 

 of London were visited by one of the sharpest thunderstorms 

 that have occurred for some time. The weather was very close, 

 the thermometer reaching 82'', and the distribution of barometrie 

 pressure was of a complex character. During the storm, which 

 lasted about an hour, and was accompanied by a heavy hail 

 squall, the amount of rainfall at the central part, near Heme 

 Hill, was I 2 inch. In some parts of the suburbs the roads 

 were completely flooded, while in others comparatively little 

 rain fell. At Westminster there was none, at Brixton 0*4 inch, 

 and at Greenwich only five-hundredths of an inch. During the 

 same afternoon a severe thunderstorm also occurred at Ilford, 

 Essex. 



A DISCUSSION of the thunderstorm observations recorded in 

 1897 at ten selected stations in India, by Mr. W. L. Dallas, is 

 contained in Part ix. vol. vi. of the Indian Meteorological 

 Memoirs. The results for the year have been divided into five- 

 day periods. The storm-frequency varies considerably in 

 different parts, but, generally speaking, the number of storms is 

 unimportant during February and the early part of March ; but 

 after the middle of March the thunderstorm season commences, 

 and continues until the middle of October, the maxima occurring 

 towards the end of May and September. After October 23 no 

 storms are reported. Storms are much more frequent in the 

 afternoon than in the morning, and when a storm occurs in the 

 forenoon it is followed, almost without exception, by another in 

 the afternoon. There is a belief that the damage done by light- 

 ning in the tropics is slight compared with that done in tem- 

 perate zones, and the fact that at ten observatories in the year 

 in question only four instances of damage being recorded gives 

 support to this belief. 



Prof. Cancani remarks in a recent paper (Ital. Soc. Sismol. 

 Bolt., vi. pp. 37-42) that seismology stands almost alone among, 

 the sciences of observation and experiment in that so far no- 



