July 23. 1891] 



NATURE 



281 



minutes after noon (Rome mean time), the inhabitants of the 

 .'Eolian Isles were alarmed by two strong shocks of earthquake, 

 followed by two tremendous explo ions of the volcano, which 

 sent forth from four mouths a great quantity of smoke, cinders, 

 incandescent blocks, and currents of lava that descended the 

 mountain slopes to the sea. The sea, at the points where the 

 lava entered it, steamed up, producing great noisy masses of 

 vapour. The phenomena continued till July I. Stromboli has 

 now returned to its habitual state of moderate activity." 



The annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of the 

 Monuments of Ancient Egypt was held last week in the rooms 

 of the Society of Antiquaries at Burlington House. Lord Wharn- 

 clifTe, President, occupied the chair. The report stated that 

 there was little to report of success attending the proceedings of 

 the Society for the past year. Its energies had been directed 

 principally to two points — the necessity for an official inspector 

 or superintendent in Egypt, whose duty should be the care of the 

 ancient monuments, and an endeavour to do something towards 

 arresting the gradual destruction of the Great Temple at Karnak. 

 Reports concerning a proposed scheme for barring the Nile 

 below Philae, to make a vast reservoir for purposes of irrigation, 

 had appeared in the public papers from time to time, and 

 recently various more definite communications had been received 

 by the committee on the same subject. The result would be, it 

 was acknowledged, to completely cover this beautiful island and 

 temple with water. There had been some correspondence on 

 this subject with the authorities in Egypt ; but as nothing had 

 as yet been decided as to any scheme of irrigation, and as a 

 committee would be appointed to consider the whole question, 

 it might be considered as suspended for the present, and the 

 committee had thought it best to wait before taking any further 

 action ; but they would not lose sight of this important matter, 

 and would oppose to the utmost of their power any engineering 

 scheme which would involve injury or destruction to this world- 

 renowned spot. General Donnelly moved the adoption of the 

 report ; and the motion was seconded by Sir Edmund Henderson, 

 and agreed to. The committee for the coming year was then 

 elected, and a discussion subsequently took place as to the 

 proposed scheme for barring the Nile below Philae, the opinion 

 of the meeting being evidently strongly opposed to the adoption 

 of any system of irrigation which should involve damage to the 

 temple. Mr. J. Bryce, M. P., spoke of the wanton injury which 

 was often inflicted on monuments in Egypt, and said that he 

 thought it would be necessary, in dealing with that matter, to 

 bring the question of jurisdiction to the attention of those from 

 whom any system of inspection or care was to emanate. We 

 may note that in answer to a question put by Mr. Bryce in the 

 House of Commons on July 15, Sir J. Fergusson said that 

 nothing definite had been settled as to the preservation of 

 ancient monuments in Egypt ; ;;^Eio,oo3 had been allotted in 

 the Budget for the current year. 



The Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean for July 

 contains a special account of a hurricane that moved along a 

 track almost due north, about 500 miles east of Newfoundland 

 on June 9 and 10, together with a chart of the conditions 

 of barometer and wind between Newfoundland and Ire- 

 land, showing that the abnormal track was due to the approach 

 of an anticyclone west of the British Isles. A supplement 

 issued with the Pilot Chart illustrates the drift of every 

 bottle paper returned to the United States Hydrographic Office 

 since April 1889. There are 113 papers that contain the date 

 of commencement and end of journey ; the average number of 

 miles that each bottle drifted is 869, and the average daily drift 

 is 5 "8 miles. This figure is rather below the true average rate 

 per day, as any time the bottle lay upon the shore before 

 discovery added to its time of drift. 

 NO. II 34, VOL. 44] 



M. Patouillard has just returned from a scientific mission 

 with which he was intrusted by the Minister of Public Instruc- 

 tion in France, an investigation of the mycological flora of Tunis, 

 Carthage, and the adjacent regions. 



In one of the principal ai tides oi \\it. Meteorologische Zeits- 

 chrift for May, Herr R. Bornstein discusses the question of a con- 

 nection between air-pressure and the hour angle of the moon, using 

 as a basis the hourly observations of four German and Austrian 

 stations. This investigation differs from the usual mode of 

 treatment, as it takes no account of the moon's phases, or of its 

 declination or distance from the earth, but only of the lunar 

 day, and deals solely with atmospheric pressure. The results 

 arrived at are : (i) that the existence of atmospheric tides is not 

 plainly recognizable in the range of pressure ; (2) at three of the 

 stations the pressure exhibits a single oscillation during the lunar 

 day. The maximum occurs at Hamburg and Berlin shortly 

 before the setting of the moon, and at Vienna about the time 

 of the lower culmination, while the minimum occurs at all 

 stations near the time of the moon's rising. 



We have received vol. viii. of the Anales de la Oficina 

 Meteorologica Argentina. It contains a summation of the 

 records obtained at five different stations in the Republic during 

 the years 1877-89. The organization of the Depariment 

 appears to be now very complete, there being no less than 

 twenty-eight stations fully equipped with ordinary and self- 

 registering instruments. 



Referring to a statement which has been publicly made, 

 that the adoption of electric lighting in place of gas at the office 

 of the Savings Bank Department of the General Post Office has 

 been followed by a marked reduction in the amount of sick 

 leave, the Lancet says it has good authority for believing that 

 the statement in question is substantially correct. Although 

 the time which has as yet elapsed — two years — since the intro- 

 duction of the new illuminant has been insufficient for the col- 

 lection of trustworthy statistics, our contemporary thinks there 

 is every reason to believe that electric lighting will prove to be 

 much more wholesome than ordinary gas flames. An electric 

 lamp does not compete for the oxygen of the apartment in which 

 it is placed, and this circumstance gives it a marked advantage 

 over any open flame. It cannot, like some forms of gas-burner, 

 be used to promote ventilation ; but in ordinary situations its 

 harmlessness is a much more important property. 



Meteorological observatories are generally ill adapted, by 

 reason of dust and suoke, for observations on atmospheric elec- 

 tricity ; and, with the view of inciting private individuals to 

 such work, Herren Elster and Geitel, of Wolfenbiittel, have 

 lately issued a brochure in which they indicate the ends to be 

 sought and the instrumental means. Three things demand 

 attention : first, systematic observation and measurement of 

 electricity in the open air at different times in the day and in 

 the seasons, humidity and air-temperature being determined at 

 the same time ; second, measurement of the fall of potential 

 with a clear sky ; and third, measurement of the fall of potential 

 and its change of sign during rain, &c. The instruments and 

 methods recommended are such as present little difficulty for 

 private persons. 



The American National Geographic Society prints in the 

 current number of its magazine a full and interesting account, 

 by Israel C. Russell, of an expedition to Mount St. Elias, 

 Alaska. The paper is illustrated by various excellent maps 

 and diagrams. 



The Winchester College Natural History Society Jias just 

 issued, under the title of "Geological Notes" (J. Wells, Win- 

 chester), a list of all the fossils as yet known from the chalk 

 in the anticlinal of Winchester. The exact localities and zones 

 are given ; and, since the names appear not only to have been 



