August 30, 1894] 



NA TURE 



429 



loss of life, owing to the precautions taken. All the buildings, 

 however, between Gohna and Hurdwar have been destroyed. 

 The lake formed by the landslip is now empty. Though 

 considerable damage has been done to property by the escape 

 of the water, no loss of human life is reported. The Indian 

 Government is to be commended for the ample precautions 

 taken to avert disaster at the time of overflow, and for the 

 scientific manner in which the formation of the lake has been 

 investigated. 



The journey lo Greenland, modestly referred to by Prof. G. 

 F. Wright in our correspondence columns on July I2, promises 

 to lead to results of scientific value. We understand that the 

 excursion was organised by Dr. ?'rederick A. Cook, anthro- 

 pologist of Peary's first expedition, and consists of fifty persons, 

 of whom a good part are students of science. Among the 

 scientific members are Prof. W. H. Brewer, of Yale College, 

 Prof. C. C. Jillson, of Pittsburg, Pa., who with Prof. G. F. 

 Wright and his son, of Oberlin, Ohio, and a party ot six, will 

 disembark in Umenak Fiord about latitude yi", to study the 

 border of the ice-sheet, the neighbouring glacial deposits, the 

 glaciers entering the fiord, the Tertiary deposits of the vicinity, 

 and make a collection of the plants and animals. Prof. L. L. 

 Dyche, at the head of the department of zoology and taxidermy 

 I at the State University of Kansas, is the official naturalist of 

 the expedition. He will make a point of collecting birds 

 and mammals. With him are Mr. S. P. Orlh and Mr. 

 B. F. Stanton (both of Oberlin], as assistant natural|ists, to make 

 general collections. Mr. E. A. Mcllhenney, of Louisiana, 

 accompanies the expedition as an ornithologist. Prof. C. E. 

 Hite, of Philadelphia, with three assistants, goes to Labrador 

 general exploration. Prof. E. P, Lyon, of Chicago, goes 

 ! the general study of biology. The expedition expects to 

 return about September 20. 



Prof. H. B. Dixon's report on the explosion that occurred 

 at the Albion Colliery, near Pontypridd, South Wales, at the 

 end of last June, has been published as a Parliamentary paper. 

 Although it was not possible to examine all the workings, the 

 evidence obtained justifies the opinion that the explosion 

 throughout its main extent was purely a dust explosion. P'-of. 

 Dixon thinks it would have been practically impossible for 

 fire-damp to have accumulated in the main intake air-roads, or 

 to have been introduced suddenly into them in sufficient 

 .|u,\ntity to feed an explosion throughout the extent of road 

 actually traversed by the flame. On the other hand, sufiicient 

 dust was found lying in a dry and fine state along the main 

 roads to feed the flame throughout the parts penetrated by the 

 explosion. As to the origin of the explosion, the belief is 

 expressed that a dynamite shot raised a cloud of inflammable 

 particles and set them on fire. If precautions were taken 

 always to water the dust near the spot where a cartridge is 

 "oing to be fired, such explosions as that at the Albion 



iliery would be less frequent. 



The twenty-third meeting of the French Association for the 

 Advancement of Science was held at Caen, from August 9 to 

 IS, under the presidency of M. Mascart. In his opening 

 address, the president paid homage to the many men of light 

 ind leading who were born and nurtured in the little province 

 if Normandy, in which the meeting was held. I'ierre Varignon, 

 ;he celebrated geometer, was born at Caen in 1654. The two 

 :hemists, Rouelle and Vauquelin, and the intrepid traveller 

 Oumont-Durville, were born in the same neighbourhood. 

 Dther names associated with the province are the great 

 tstronomer Laplace ; Elie de Beaumont, one of the founders 

 >f French geology ; Augustin Fresnel, whose work in physical 

 >ptics has become classical ; and that intellectual giant, Le 

 /errier. The second section of M. Mascart's address was 

 NO. 1296, VOL. 50] 



devoted to brief descriptions of some of the institutions designed 

 for scientific study in the United States. Praise was especially 

 given to the generous donors whose lavish benefactions had 

 helped on the cause of science in America. If M. Mascart 

 had followed the traditions attached to a president's office, he 

 would have given his audience his reflections upon the progress 

 accomplished in the branch of knowledge to which he has paid 

 most attention, that is, meteorology. This, however, he did 

 not do, but passed in review some points in the history of 

 electricity. The meeting was not favoured with fine weather, 

 nevertheless the number of members was about the same as 

 in previous years. The total receipts amounted to 91,182 

 francs, of which, however, only 55.551 francs came from 

 annual subscriptions. The sum of I5>624 francs was disbursed 

 in grants for scientific research. The Association will meet 

 next year at Bordeaux, and in 1S96 the place of meeting will 

 be Tunis. 



The London Gazelle for Friday last contains the following new 

 denominations of standards for electrical measurement, adopted 

 by the Privy Council on the previous day: {\) Standard of 

 Ehclrical Resislance. The standard of electrical resistance, 

 denominated one ohm, being the resistance between the copper 

 terminals of the instrument marked " Board of Trade Ohm 

 Standard Verified 1S94 " to the passage of an unvarying elec- 

 trical current, when the coil of insulated wire forming part of 

 the aforesaid instrument, and connected, to the aforesaid ter- 

 minals, is in all parts at a temperature of I5°-4C. (2) Standard 

 of Electrical Current. A standard of electrical current, de- 

 nominated one ampere, being the current which is passing 

 in and through the coils of wire forming part of the instrument 

 marked "Board of Trade Ampere Standard Verified 1894," 

 when, on reversing the current in the fixed coils, the change in 

 the forces acting upon the suspended coil in its sighted position, 

 is exactly balanced by the force exerted by gravity in West- 

 minster upon the iridio-platinum weight, marked A, and form- 

 ing part of the said instrument. (3) Standard of Electrical 

 Pressure. A standard of electrical pressure, denominated one 

 volt, being one-hundredth part of the pressure which, when 

 applied between the terminals forming part of the instrument 

 marked " Board of Trade Volt Standard Verified 1S94," causes 

 that rotation of the suspended portion of the in>trument which 

 is exactly measured by the coincidence of the sighting wire with 

 the image of the fiducial mark A, before and after application 

 of the pressure, and with that of the fiducial mark B during the 

 application of the pressure, these images being produced by the 

 suspended mirror, and observed by means of the eye-piece. In 

 the use of the above standards the limits of accuracy attainable 

 are as follows : — For the ohm, within one-hundredth part of 

 one percent. ; for the ampere, within one-tenth part of one per 

 cent. ; for the volt, within one-tenth part of one per cent. The 

 coils and instruments referred to are deposited at the Board of 

 Trade Standardising Laboratory, 8 Richmond-terrace, White- 

 hall, London. 



The Dep.artment of Science and Art has issued the following 

 list of candidates successful in this year's competition for the 

 Whitworth Scholarships and Exhibitions. Scholarship^ of the 

 value of ;f 125 per annum (tenable for three years) — John Ball, 

 22, engineer, Derby; James H. Smith, 23, student, Manchester; 

 Harry Verney, 24, fitter, Bristol ; Charles F. Smith, 21 y 

 mechanical engineer, Biistol. Exhibitions of the value of ;^50 

 (tenable for one year) — Frank Fisher, 19, engineer, Brighton ; 

 William M. Thornton, 24, student, Liverpool ; Jo'.in W. 

 Hinchley, 23, student, Lincoln; William D. Young, 23, 

 engineer, Weslfield (N.B.); Alexander L. Mellanby, 22, 

 engineer. West Hartlepool; William T. F. Trunchion, 22, 

 fitter, Bedford ; Henry Deanesly, 25, draughtsman, Wincanton ; 



