June i8, 1903] 



NATURE 



59 



eleven ribs on each side. The skeleton is to be presented 

 to the Hancock Museum or to the Durham College of 

 Science. Mr. Meek states that, so far as he is aware, an 

 example of this species has not before been caueht south 

 of the Forth. 



The establishment of an economic tripos in the University 

 •of Cambridge will mark an important step in the move- 

 ment which it is to be hoped will ultimately break down 

 the barrier at present existing between the university man 

 and the man of business. The proposed tripos has been 

 warmly approved by a number of leading representatives 

 of the railway, ship-owning, financial, mercantile, and 

 manufacturing interests, as well as by prominent members 

 of the Government. The tripos as proposed will consist 

 of two parts, of which the first is to be taken in the second 

 vear, and will not qualify for a degree except in conjunc- 

 tion with some other examination. The syllabus of the 

 iirst part includes (i) an essay paper; (2) one paper on the 

 existing British Constitution ; (3) two papers on recent 

 economic and general history ; (4) three papers on the 

 general principles of economics. The historical part leads 

 up to part ii., where specialisation is encouraged. In both 

 parts questions, not all of which are optional, may be set, 

 including quotations from French or German writers, so 

 that a knowledge of these languages is essential. Among 

 ihe careers for which the proposed tripos will afford a 

 valuable training are those of the country squire, the 

 politician, the business man, and the administrator of 

 ■charities. It is only by the study of the principles of 

 economics and political science treated as exact sciences, 

 l)ut founded upon actual facts of business life, that our 

 country can hold its own against the competition of other 

 countries where these principles are so studied, and can 

 thus maintain that supremacy which it was able to obtain 

 under entirely different conditions by rule of thumb methods 

 iind by pure speculation. 



There was little new in the narrative of the British 

 Antarctic Expedition given by Sir Clements Markham at 

 ix special meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on 

 June 10. Commander Scott's short record of the voyage 

 of the Discovery and work of the expedition, brought back 

 by the relief ship Morning at the end of last March, and 

 printed in Nature of April 2 (vol. Ivii. p. 516), contained 

 the substance of what has been achieved. Some of the 

 results of explorations were summarised in a subsequent 

 F number (p. 12). The paper read by Sir Clements Markham 

 confirmed the information given in these two messages. 

 The description and discussion of the scientific results are 

 left until Commander Scott and his fellow-explorers return 

 to this country with details of their work. In proceeding 

 along the ice-barrier, the furthest easterly point reached 

 was 152° 30' W., and at this extremity extensive land, to 

 which the name King Edward VII. land has been given, 

 was found, rising to heights of 2000 to 3000 feet. The 

 ice-barrier was studied from this point to Cape Crozier, 

 and its height was found to vary from 30 to 900 feet. The 

 winter quarters of the ship were in lat. 77° 50' S., which 

 is more than 500 miles further south than any ship has 

 wintered before. Meteorological observations made in this 

 position over a period of two years will be of great value. 

 The most southeily point reached by a sledge journey from 

 the ship was lat. 82° 17' S., long. 163° E., and from it a 

 range of mountains was seen extending as far as visible in 

 a south by east direction. The journey during which these 

 observations were made occupied ninety-four days, and the 

 explorers must have travelled more than 980 statute miles. 

 Another journey was made to the west of the ship, the 

 NO. 1755, VOL. 68] 



farthest point reached being in lat. 77° 21' S., long. 

 '57° 25' E. The horizon to the west of this point was 

 unbroken and clear. An altitude of 9000 feet was attained 

 at a distance of 142 miles from the ship as the crow flies. 

 Many interesting photographs were shown at the meeting, 

 and judging from them and the brief messages brought 

 back by the Morning, the expedition will contribute much 

 to our knowledge of the physical and biological conditions 

 of South Polar regions. 



A SHORT account of one of the sections of the International 

 Congress of History was given in Nature of April 30 (vol. 

 Ixvii. p. 613). A memoir by Prof. Ernest Lebon, describing 

 a plan for an analytical bibliography of contemporary 

 works on the history of astronomy, was among the papers 

 presented to the congress, and has since been laid before 

 the Paris Academy of Sciences. At the meeting of the 

 Academy at which the memoir was received, M. Paul 

 Appell, Dean of the Faculty of Sciences of the University 

 of Paris, spoke in favour of Prof. Lebon 's plan, and said 

 that the bibliography would not only be valuable to scientific 

 historians, but would also be welcomed by all astronomers. 

 The May number of the Bulletin de la Societi astronomique 

 dc France contains the titles of the chapters of Prof. Lebon 's 

 work, and the names of the authors of books and papers 

 which are summarised in it. 



During a heavy thunderstorm at Heppner, Oregon, on 

 Sunday last, a remarkable downpour of rain occurred, pro- 

 ducing a destructive flood, which caused the death of more 

 than three hundred people. Heppner is situated in a gulch 

 through which a stream runs usually only a few feet in 

 width. On Sunday a dense cloud suddenly covered the 

 mountain overlooking the town, and the rain which followed 

 produced a great mass of water which rushed down the 

 mountain and carried everything before it, the little stream 

 being quickly converted into a deep torrent about four 

 hundred feet wide. The flood swept a clean path more 

 than a mile long and two blocks wide through the town. 



The daily weather report issued by the Meteorological 

 Office on Saturday morning, June 13, showed that the area 

 of high barometric pressure lying outside our Atlantic 

 coasts had to some extent given place to a disturbance of 

 a very complex character which occupied the whole of 

 England. By about midday heavy rain set in over a great 

 part of the country, and continued persistently, especially 

 over the southern districts, during the following days. In 

 the neighbourhood of the metropolis rain continued with 

 scarcely any intermission for a period of 59 hours, and the 

 amount measured in the week was 482 inches, being nearly 

 3 inches in excess of the average for the month. In the 

 north of London the fall was even heavier than in the 

 south, and amounted to about 2\ inches in the 24 hours 

 ending 8h. a.m. on Monday, while the temperature, owing 

 to the continuation of northerly winds, was about 20° below 

 the average. To find such a heavy fall of rain in June we 

 have to go back to i860, when an amount of 58 inches 

 was measured at Greenwich, but this was spread over 

 twenty-three days. The average rainfall for the neigh- 

 bourhood of London is 193 inches only for the month of 

 June. The heavy rainfall was entirely due to the lingering 

 of the low barometric pressure to the southward. 



In the Quarterly journal of the Royal Meteorological 

 Society for April last, Mr. W. Marriott contributed an in- 

 teresting paper on the earliest telegraphic daily meteor- 

 ological reports and weather maps. The paper refers 

 specially to reports relating to this country, although men- 

 tion is made of the maps compiled in the United States 



