320 IN STARRY REALMS. 



learn what observers within many hundreds of miles 

 tell us. Ships' logs have to be examined. The records of 

 barometers and of magnetic instruments all over the globe, 

 even to the very antipodes of Krakatoa, have to be 

 brought together. The descriptions of extraordinary optical 

 phenomena, such as wonderful ruddy glows at sunset and 

 sunrise, or strange hues in which the sun and the moon 

 were occasionally decked, have to be collected and scru- 

 tinized from numerous places scattered over both hemi- 

 spheres. Need it be said that such a task as this must be 

 a protracted one, but it has been accomplished, and now 

 those interested in the matter have the opportunity of 

 studying a unique chapter in the history of the earth. 



It is to the Royal Society that we are indebted for the 

 inception and the carrying out of this laborious undertak- 

 ing. They appointed a Krakatoa Committee, under the 

 chairmanship of the late Mr. Symons. So multitudinous 

 were the phenomena to be investigated that the committee 

 was divided into sections. To examine the eruption itself 

 and the volcanic phenomena generally, a geological section 

 was necessary. To study the air- waves and the sounds, as 

 well as the distribution of dust and pumice by wind and 

 water, required the aid of meteorologists. On the border 

 territory, between the sciences of meteorology and of astro- 

 nomy, must be placed the investigation of the twilight 

 effects and the strange coronas and weird colours of the 

 sun and moon. The great sea-waves must clearly be 

 studied by hydrographers, and there were also some 

 groups of facts connected with terrestrial magnetism and 

 electricity. Immense numbers of letters and reports from 

 all parts of the globe had to be brought to a focus, and 



