January 15, 1903] 



NA TURE 



247 



practically the warmer waters of Station viii., released from the 

 superincumbent colder layer ; that is to say, we have at 20 m. 

 8' 6, at 100 m. 8°'4, at 200 m. 7°'85 and at 300 m. 6°9i. At 

 Stations x. and xi., the water cools very slowly downwards, 

 from 9°-6 to 8°'8 at 170 m. and from 9°"3 to 7°'S at 360 m., 

 respectively. At Station xii., in shallower water, we have 

 readings to 100 m. , practically identical with those to the same 

 depth at Station xi., further to the north. 



The records along the next two lines, those crossing the 

 Faeroe Channel, deserve to be given in detail. 



Faeroe to Shetland (xvi.-xii.) 



Ditto (Southerly Course) and on by Fair Isle to o' 2" E. 



The first of these two tables corresponds as closely as possible 

 with that given by Mr. Helland-Hansen for the August cruise 

 in the note to Nature already quoted. The most striking 

 differences will be found to be that below 300 metres the 

 temperature is now much higher at Station xiv., and at 400 m. 

 it is now much lower at the more westerly Station xv. This 

 means that the cold wedge is now considerably further to the 

 westward and probably also of less vertical extent. In the 

 more southerly section (Table II.), the cold wedge is seen, of 

 great intensity, at Station xix. It is to be regretted that the 

 next station (xx. ) to the eastward of xix. is a shallow- water one, 

 and still more to be regretted that we have no deep-water station 

 to the westward of Station xv. 



I have hastened to publish these few preliminary notes in the 

 belief that many are interested in the progress of the work, 

 and because we shall have Ion,; to wait until the full data are 

 available and the final deductions are drawn by competent 

 hands. D'Arcy W. Thompson. 



Dundee, December 29, 1902. 



The Quadrantids of 1903. 



Observations were made at Hampstead Heath on January 

 1, 3 and 4 for the Quadrantid meteors. During a combined 

 watch of six hours, 57 meteors were seen, distributed thus : — 



Jan. 



Total 



57 



The paths of 10 only were registered, which I append as 

 follows : — 



Date. 

 Jan. 1 



.. 3 

 ,, 4 



R.A. Decl. 



210 +50 



240 +45 



2I7-5 + 43 



211 +29 



197 

 195 

 225 

 215 

 220 

 I96 



+ 33 

 + 40 



+ 50 



+ 49 

 + 27 



+ 3° 



1 30 4- 40 



247 + 35 

 185 + 30 

 195+10 

 182 + 23 

 165 + 30 

 226 + 51 1 



170 + 43 

 213 + 15 

 150+ 9 



Mag. 



Remarks. 



SI. stk. 

 '1 ,, 

 S.v. stk. 

 SI. stk. 



SI. streakless. 

 SI. stk. 

 • » «, 

 Sw. stk. 



SI. = slow, Stk. = streak, Sw. = swift. 

 25 ITolford Square, G. McKenzie Knight. 



Percy Circus, W.C. , January 11. 



Sun-spots and Summer Heat. 



Is not a connection between these rather distinctly suggested 

 by the enclosed curves ? 



A is obtained from sums of the sun-spot figures (mean daily 

 area) in the thirty years ending 1861, '62, '63, &c. 



3-2.- 

 2/ 



'h u ? y 3 b i **' s * •?" s . t' * -? "? *? 



j*id 



W> 



9C- 



'7- 

 /6L_ 



trS~0 



Ho 

 -Wo - 



1AO 



n 



1 1 l 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 



7* 



f? 



6k 



NO. 1733, VOL. 67] 



B is from sums of the number of days with maximum tempera- 

 ture over 80° in the thirty years ending 1870, '71, '72. &c. 



Alex. B. MacDowall. 

 4 Bodfor Terrace, Aberdovey, Wales, January 5. 



A Curious Projectile Force. 

 Have you or any of your readers had an experience similar 

 to this? I placed a half bottle of champagne, half full, in a 

 basin in a lavatory, with cold water tap dripping in same, corked. 

 About twenty-four hours later we heard a crash, and found that 

 the bottle had literally jumped out of the basin through the 

 window and out into the garden, breaking itself on the stone 

 work beneath window. Now I know there would be nothing 

 remarkable in a bottle bursting, but in this case not a pirticle 

 of glass was found in the room, and the hole in the window-pane 

 being so clean cut shows enormous velocity. The wine was a 

 good brand and of the year 1S92. A scientific friend tells me the 

 facts are so unaccountable that I thought I would venture to 

 trespass on your space. B.A. Oxon.. 



1 A short pathed meteor. 



