i';2 



NATURE 



[June 9, 1892 



Messrs. F. Fox and Alfred W. Szlumper ; and Telford 

 Premiums to Messrs. Sheibner, T. H. Beare, W. C. Unwin, 

 E. Penny, A. D, Stewart, R. H. B. Downes, and W. Mat- 

 thews. The Howard Quinquennial Prize had been awarded to 

 Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, Bart, F. R.S., for his treatise on 

 " The Principles involved in the Manufacture of Iron and Steel." 

 The papers read at supplemental meetings of students had 

 shown in nearly every case evidence of having been prepared 

 with care. Three, at least, were of hii;h merit, and, with four 

 others above the average, had been deemed worthy of publica- 

 tion, either in whole or in part, in the Minutes of Proceedings. 

 F )r these seven papers the Council have awarded the Miller 

 Scholarship to Mr. H. B. Ransom for his paper on "Fly- 

 Wheels and Governors," and Miller Prizes to Messrs. C. H. 

 Wordingham, E. L. Hill, D. Carnegie, G. H. Sheffield, J. 

 B. Ball, and R. J. Durley. 



At the second annual dinner of the Institute of Marine 

 Engineers, held last Thursday, Lord Kelvin, the President, said 

 in the course of his inaugural address that the institution was 

 one which he thought could not fail to be of the greatest service 

 to the cause of marine engineering. He had only to go back 

 to the days of his youth to recall the immense strides which had 

 been made in this great industry. His father was an Irishman, 

 as he himself was, and he used to cross the Channel from his 

 home in county Down as best he could to land at some point 

 on the coast of Scotland and find his way to the University of 

 Glasgow, there to pursue his studies. He used to make the 

 passage in whatever sailing vessel he could find taking the cattle 

 across, and the time of the passage was not part of the bargain. 

 On one occasion he sailed from Belfast to Greenock in twelve 

 hours ; on another he was four days on the passage, and sailed 

 three times round Ailsa Craig. It was only necessary to state 

 such facts to show how vast had been the progress since 

 those days. No branch of engineering, no branch of science 

 which aimed at supplying the wants of mankind, had made 

 greater progress in the last sixty years than that. He was not 

 forgetting railways or telegraphs ; but he said advisedly that no 

 branch of engineering had made greater or more splendid 

 strides than marine engineering. 



Miss Doberck, who has been appointed assistant meteoro- 

 logist in Hong Kong, is the sister, not the daughter, of the pre- 

 sent Director of the Hong Kong Meteorological Observatory. 



According to a telegram from Naples, dated June 7, the 

 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which had been noticeable for some 

 little time, had considerably increased in volume, and large 

 masses of lava were flowing into the Atrio di Cavallo ravine. 



On June 7, at 12.30 a.m., an earthquake shock was felt at San 

 Severo, in the province of Foggia, and an adjoining hamlet. 

 The oscillations, which were of an undulatory character, created 

 a temporary panic. 



The weather during the first part of the past week has been fine 

 over the eastern and southern portions of England, but unsettled 

 in Ireland and Scotland, with a considerable amount of rainfall, 

 while the temperature was much lower, generally, than in the 

 previous week, the daily maxima not exceeding 70°. On the 

 morning of the 4th a disturbance appeared off the Irish coast 

 and crossed our islands on Sunday, causing heavy rain in places, 

 and thunderstorms in the eastern parts of England. The 

 Weekly Weather Report for the week ending the 4th instant 

 shows that during that period the rainfall exceeded the mean in 

 all districts, excepting the east of England, where bright sun- 

 shine was very prevalent. Over Ireland and in the north of 

 Scotland the excess above the normal rainfall was large, being 

 1-2 inch and 0*8 inch respectively, yet, reckoning from the 

 beginning of the year, there was still a deficiency in all districts. 

 NO. II 80, VOL. 46] 



On Monday, the 6th, a great increase of temperature occurred 

 in most parts of this country, and the weather became much 

 more settled, under the influence of an anticyclone which ap- 

 proached our islands from the southward, while the shade 

 temperature in London reached 73" and 74° at Loughborough. 

 During the early part of this week, the anticyclone became 

 well established, and had caused the temperature to rise con- 

 siderably in Scotland and Ireland, with prospects of settled, fine 

 weather, generally. 



Mr. R. H. Scott has contributed an article, entitled 

 "Notes on the Climate of the British Isles,'" to Longman!s 

 Magazine. The author gives some amasing instances of the 

 distortion of facts at seaside stations, where the observers 

 are anxious to prove the advantages of their own towns over 

 those of their rivals. Taking the whole year round, the 

 warmest spot is the Scilly Isles, which are a degree warmer than 

 either the west of Cornwall or the Channel Islands ; while the 

 coldest region on the coast is the extreme north-east of Aberdeen- 

 shire. In winter very little difference of temperature is met with 

 all along the east coast ; but the coldest part of England lies 

 round the Wash. With regard to the variability of temperature, 

 or the difference of the mean temperature of an entire day, the 

 equability of the temperature of these islands is very great. The 

 only locality for which a more uniform temperature has yet been 

 published is Georgetown (Demerara) ; the figure for this place 

 is i°T, while for London it is 2°7. All the great changes of 

 temperature occur in winter, and accompany sudden thaws. As 

 regards bright sunshine, the Channel Islands are by far the most 

 favoured. On the mean of the whole year, Jersey secures 39 

 per cent. ; but from the Bristol Channel to the coast of Norfolk 

 there is but little difference in the amounts recorded. In cities 

 like London the deficiency is due to smoke. The statistics 

 relating to fog are not yet completely discussed, but so far as 

 they go they show that in winter the foggiest district is the east 

 coast of England. Next come London and Oxford, which are 

 about equal. With regard to rainfall the east coast stations 

 receive on an average of the whole year about half as much as 

 those on the west coast, the amount being about 25 inches on 

 the east coast, 30 to 40 inches between Sussex and Devonshire, 

 and 50 inches to the south of Cornwall. In the west of Ireland 

 the amount rises to 70 or 80 inches, owing to high land near the 

 coast. The driest hour almost everywhere is noon. 



Mr. C. Michie Smith has edited a work embodying " Re- 

 sults of the Meteorological Observations made at the Govern- 

 ment Observatory, Madras, during the years 1861-90, under the 

 direction of the late Mr. Norman Robert Pogson. " The volume 

 is published by order of the Government of Madras. It was Mr. 

 Pogson's intention to issue the work as soon as he could after 

 the completion of thirty years of observation, and at the time of 

 his death a considerable part of the manuscript was nearly ready 

 for press. In editing the work, Mr. Smith, so far as possible, 

 has retained the original plan. He expresses much admiration 

 for the skill and thoroughness with which the observations were 

 organized and carried out. 



The Essex Field Club will probably hold its first dredging 

 meeting of the season at Brightlingsea on Friday and Saturday, 

 June 24 and 25. Other field meetings in course of arrange- 

 ment are : Visit to Dagenham district (June or July) ; the 

 Writtle Woods (July 30) ; Rochford and Rayleigh (August) ; 

 on the Stour from Bures to Manningtree ; visit to the Dene- 

 holes, &c. 



The Clarendon Press will publish immediately a second 

 volume of Prof. Weismann's work on " Heredity and Kindred 

 Biological Problems." It contains four essays, of which only 

 the shortest has previously appeared in an English form (in the 



