February 27, 1896] 



NA TURE 



393 



are near land or shallow water, and apparently follow the 

 trend of such upheaved parts of the earth's crust. 

 The positions of the soundings are :— 



Depth. 

 ],at. S. Long. W. y^,' Y^; 



23° 39' 1 75 '04 5022 30'i32 

 28° 44' 17604 5147 30.882 

 30° 28' 176-39 5155 30.930 

 The attached chart shows their general position, the 

 Kermadec Islands being 

 500 miles north-east of 

 .Auckland in New Zea- 

 land . 



W.J. L. Wharton. 



N.-iture of bottom. 

 (Wire broke.) 

 Red clay. 

 Red clay. 



strike these rather than others. We have been informed, 

 for instance, that the laurel was seldom if ever struck ; 

 while the oak, on the other hand, was the tree which, 

 above all others, was signalled out for this purpose. We 

 do not mean to say, however, that other trees are never 

 damaged in this way, for all are to a more or less extent ; 

 but it seems that, in consequence of an unknown 

 reason, preference is given to some more than to others. 

 A study of this question therefore, if it is to be 



THE DESTRUC- 

 TION OF TREES B V 



LIGHTNING. 

 T N an article ' by Dr. 

 -*■ Carl Miiller, on the 

 probable causes which 

 induce lightningtostrike 

 certain kindsoftreesand 

 not others, the writer 

 brings together some 

 \ cry interesting inform- 

 ation, which has from 

 time to time been 

 gleaned from experi- 

 ments and observations. 

 In Germany, where the 

 study of forestry is con- 

 siderable, and where 

 my experiments for pro- 

 uring the welfare and 

 ])reservation of trees 

 are treated with great 

 importance, the investi- 

 gations on the point 

 now under consideration 

 have a very practical 

 object, for great damage 

 must be yearly done by 

 the storms which occur 

 there during the summer 

 months. The work to 

 which reference is here 

 chiefly made is that of 

 Dimitrie Jonescu,^ and 

 his observations are 

 leased on close observa- 

 tion in the field and 

 experiments in the 

 laboratory. The know- 

 ledge that we thus ob- 

 tain contrasts strikingly 

 with that previously 

 attained, which was 

 founded, for the most 

 part, on conjecture and 

 hearsay. 



It has long been 

 known that lightning 

 seemed to have a spe- 

 cial fascination for cer- 

 tain kinds of trees, and 

 therefore preferred to 



1 liimmel und Erde for Jan. 

 1896. 



\ " Uber die Ursachen der 

 Hlitzschlage in Baume " in 

 " Jahresheft des Vereins fiir 

 Vaterland. Naturkunde in 

 Wiirttemberg," 1893, S. 32-62. 



NO. 1374. VOL. 53] 



25'. . 



'-"^ 



• T\x>raaux i r\ 



--JW2.-... 



FRIENDLY \^^ 



Tuiigatalm (vtVsol^^ & rt) 



»v^^ 



692 



4^ 



23o 



•rol xa 1009 r u 



2120 

 gi.0. 



v^ 



.Jov 



1605 KM 



h . 



267 S 

 3132 



p-ra 



30". 



1 



at* 



^ 



470 



'^.„^li 





© 



300« 



2760 



jr'br d-pom 





yl.«.ju« 



tib 



6to 

 4X0 



JLoz. 



jaee 



X4SO 



130» JS*7 



KERMADEC ISLANDS 



,.P^' 



9i9 



It 



CUrtia I. v /Stt plan S68I 





CHART SHOWING 

 RECENT DtEP SOUNDINGS 



H.M.S- PENGUIN 



?» awash ^.oi.piim 





[iiiiifi IndiiiiiiLiiJiiN 



f » ' * ^ " I 



loO* Longitude West from Greenwich 



175° 



