April, 1905. 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



73 



mation over a known length, observation might be made 

 by intermittent vision, say by rotating sectors, and thus 

 determine when they appear at rest. 



Observers will be stationed at various points of vantage 

 along the belt of totality, and arrangements have been 

 made for the following British observers to occupy the 

 places named :- — 



Spain. 



Mr. J. Eversbed Burgos. 



Kev. A. L. Cortie, S.J Tortosa. 



Prof. Callendar \ 



Prof. Fowler - Oropesa. 



Mr. Shackleton I 



Majorca. 

 Mr. Crommelin Palma. 



Algeria. 



Sir Norman Lockyer ] 



Dr. Lockyer - Philippeville. 



Mr. Butler I 



Mr. Newall Bona. 



Tunis. 

 Sir William Christie (The Astro-i 



nomer- Royal) ' c^^^ 



Mr. Dyson " 



Mr. Davidson ) 



Egytt. 



Prof. Turner | 



Mr. Bellamy I 



In addition to the above, American parties will 

 observe from Canada, Spain, and Egypt, whilst three 

 French astronomical parties have selected Burgos, 

 Tortosa, and the Mediterranean coast, and two others 

 intend to observe it from Sfax and Philippeville, Algeria. 



It is to be hoped that the weather will be propitious, 

 and that observers may obtain good results all along the 

 line. 



Eclipse, as visible in London. 



In London the eclipse will be visible as a partial one, 

 8-ioths of the sun's diameter being obscured ; the dia- 

 gram 'given above exhibits the appearance at maximum 

 phase, which takes place at 1.5 p.m., on August 30. 



With 73 per cent, of the light cut off, it should be 

 possible to make observation of the remaining chromo- 

 spheric arc to a greater depth than is usually done in full 

 sunlight, and observers remaining at home would be 

 doing useful work in measuring the depth visible, or in 

 searching for the corona line at x 5303. 



It is too much to hope that the corona itself can be 

 recorded, but it would be well worth trying to photo- 

 graph the dark moon beyond the limb of the sun, for 

 both Mercury and Venus have been visible as black 

 discs, just before transit, signifying a background of 

 sensible brightness compared with the aerial illumi- 

 nation. 



Na-tural Ga.s irv America. 



.'\ccoRDiNG to the annual report of the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey, the natural gas industry in the United 

 .States, so far from decreasing, has shown in the last re- 

 ported year a considerable increase. .A.ccording to the last 

 report of the United States Geological Survey its value in 

 1903 increased from ;/76,ooo,ooo to ;/77,ooo,ooo (not dollars) ; 

 and there was a remarkable increase of production in 

 Pennsylvania and Ohio. West Virginia and Indiana were 

 the other two States in which natural gas production was 

 of any importance, and Indiana is the only one of them 

 recording decreased production. The general average of 

 the price paid by the consumer increased slightly, and was 

 about 75d. per 1,000 cubic feet at a pressure of a quarter of 

 a pound to the square inch. The increase in the use and 

 consumption of natural gas in the States is no doubt to be 

 attributed to legislative restrictions with regard to boring ; 

 and to improved pumping machinery. The prodigal waste 

 which characterised the early discovery of natural gas — 

 when people used to use it almost as a plaything — has 

 ceased, and new borings can be made only under State 

 supervision. There seems no reason to suppose that any 

 new areas of great extent will be found ; the gas-bearing 

 strata are now fairly well defined, and their possibilities 

 ascertained. 



It is not a little remarkable that side by side with the 

 increased use and value of natural gas, the output of 

 petroleum should also be on the increase. .According to 

 Mr. F. H. Oliphant, of the United States Geological 

 Survey, the total production of crude petroleum in the 

 United States in 1903 was 100,461,337 barrels, a gain of 

 11,694,421 barrels, or 13.17 per cent, over the production of 

 1902. The great increase was mainly due to the remark- 

 able output in California, which is now larger than that of 

 any other State. California produced 24.27 per cent., or 

 nearly one-fourth of the entire production. Next to Cali- 

 fornia the largest gain in production was in Indiana, which 

 was 1,705,515 barrels, an amount that represents a gain of 

 22. So per cent, over the State's production in 1902. Kansas 

 showed a remarkable gain in production — 600,465 barrels, 

 or iSi per cent.; Kentucky and Louisiana showed" gains of 

 about 369,000 barrels each; Indian Territory gained 101,811 

 barrels, or 274.4 P^"" cent.; and New York "gained 43,248 

 barrels, or 3.86 per cent. On the other hand, there was a 

 slight decrease of production, 128,086 barrels, or 0.70S per 

 cent., in Texas ; and Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia 

 all showed decreased production, amounting to a total of 

 1,856,619 barrels, or 3.98 per cent., in 1903 as compared 

 with 1902. The largest decrease in production in 1903 was 

 in Pennsylvania, and amounted to 708,724 barrels. During 

 the last six years there has been a very remarkable change 

 in the percentage of the local production. The .Appalachian 

 and the Lima-Indiana fields, which for many years pro- 

 duced all but a very small percentage of the' whole, pro- 

 duced in the year 1903 only 55.38 per cent, of the total, 

 whereas in 189S these fields produced 93.99 per cent, of the 

 total. California and Texas have been the most important 

 factors in bringing about the readjustment of the percent- 

 ages of production. 



