34§ 



NA TURE 



[February i 2. 1 903 



RECENT EARTHQUAKES. 



T N connection with the announcement made in our 

 ■*■ notes columns (p. 349) of a remarkable dis- 

 turbance in the Pacific on January 13 and of an 

 earthquake in Jamaica on February 5, the following 

 abstract of recent earthquakes recorded at Shide, Isle 

 of Wight, which Prof. Milne has made at our re- 

 quest, is of interest : — 



The most remarkable disturbance recorded at the 

 Isle of Wight station during the month of January 

 was one which commenced at ih. 39m. a.m. on January 

 14. Maxima occurred at 2I1. 36m. and 2h. 39m. At 

 3I1. 34m. these are apparently repeated, indicating an 

 origin 137 distant, and therefore possibly to the 

 cast of Tahiti — the scene of the recent disasters 

 occasioned by hurricanes and sea-waves. Similar re- 

 cords 'were obtained at Kew, Bidston, Edinburgh, and 

 probably at all stations furnished with instruments 

 capable of recording the unfelt movements of large 

 earthquakes. 



Since the commencement of February, the earth- 

 quakes noted at Shide in the Isle of Wight have been 

 as follows : — 



Date. Commencement. Maximum, 



h. m. h. m. 



Feb. 1 ... 10 1 6 ... 10 18-9 



»» 4 ■•■ 6 518 ... 6 54-9 



,, 5 •■■ '9 4'5 ••■ 19 46'2 .. 



,. 6 ... S 5S .. 8 147 .. 



The first is a large disturbance which had its origin 

 at some place about 4500 kms. distant, possibly in 

 Turkestan. The third disturbance — which as recorded 

 at Shide is small — may refer to the West Indies. 



J. Milne. 



JAMES Gl.AISHER, F.R.S. 

 ~y\TE regret to see the announcement that Mr. James 

 Glaisher died on Saturday last, February 7. 

 Born April 7, 1809, he had nearly attained the great 

 age of ninety-four years, the major portion of which 

 was devoted to unceasing work of a varied nature, 

 mainly, however, directed to practical meteorology. 



At the age of twenty he was appointed as assistant 

 on the principal triangulation of the Ordnance Sur- 

 vey of Ireland, and from 1833-1836 was an assistant 

 at Cambridge University, whence he proceeded in 

 the latter year to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 

 and having been., in 1840, promoted to the position 

 of superintendent of the magnetical and meteor- 

 ological department, he remained there until his re- 

 tirement from official life in 1874. 



His contributions on subjects bearing on meteor- 

 ology and astronomy were too numerous to allow of 

 our giving more than a passing notice. His hygro- 

 metrical tables, published in 1S47, which have 

 reached their eighth edition, are still the standard 

 work on the subject for the British Islands, and 

 " Travels in the Air " (1S71 and 1880), " Diurnal 

 Range Tables " (1867), " Mean Temperature of 

 Every Day for Greenwich, 1814-1873," " Report on 

 the Meteorology of India " and " Meteorology of 

 Palestine " are among his chief writings. 



From 1S62-1866 he made twenty-nine balloon as- 

 cents in the interests of meteorological science, and 

 the results were given in reports to the British 

 Association at their annual meetings of those years. 

 The ascent on September 5, 1S62, is particularly 

 memorable from the fact that he and the late Mr. 

 Coxwell attained the highest distance from the earth 



NO. 1737, VOL. 67] 



(37,000 feet) ever reached, and formed the subject of a 

 most thrilling experience, which nearly had a tragic 

 termination for both of the intrepid aerial explorers. 



As the pioneer of systematic organisation of 

 meteorological observations, the results of his en- 

 deavours may be seen in his weekly, quarterly and 

 annual reports on the "Meteorology of England," 

 contained in the periodical returns of the Registrar- 

 General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for 

 England and Wales during the long period of sixty- 

 one years (1841-1902). He was a juror in the class 

 of scientific and philosophical instruments at the 

 exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, and, apart from his 

 scientific work, was actively engaged in other useful 

 spheres of labour. 



He was a fellow of seyeral of the learned 

 societies. For upwards of half a century he was on 

 the roll of membership of the Royal Society, to which 

 he was elected on June 7, 1S49, and from time to 

 time he contributed papers to the Philosophical Trans- 

 actions. In 1850 he was one of the founders of the 

 British Meteorological Society — now the Royal 

 Meteorological Society — and for many years took a 

 leading part in the conduct of its affairs, being its 

 original secretary, " who nursed it through its in- 

 fancy and youth, and left it to other hands only 

 when it was old enough and strong enough to walk 

 alone " (president's address in the jubilee year). He 

 was also a past-president of the Royal Meteor- 

 ological Society, the Royal Microscopical Society, 

 the Royal Photographic Society and the Aero- 

 nautical Society of Great Britain, a fellow of 

 the Royal Astronomical Society, and for many years 

 was on the executive committee of the Palestine Ex- 

 ploration Fund, of which he was for twelve years the 

 chairman. He had also been honoured with the 

 honorary fellowship of several foreign scientific bodies. 



NOTES. 



We are fortunate in being able to publish the appreciative 

 notice of the late Sir George Stokes's scientific work, con- 

 tributed by Lord Kelvin to another part of the present issue. 

 So long ago as 1875 (vol. xii.) Sir George Stokes was one of 

 our Science Worthies, and the account of his career then 

 given is now supplemented by the record of his life's work 

 and estimate of its influence on scientific progress, which 

 Lord Kelvin has sent us. The funeral at Cambridge on 

 Thursday last was a striking ceremony, in which men of 

 distinguished eminence in many branches of knowledge took 

 part, as will be seen from the list given on pp. 345, 346, 

 of some of the people present. It is but rarely that such an 

 assembly is drawn together, and the presence of so many men 

 of light and leading showed the high regard in which Stokes 

 was held, and testified to a widespread desire to do honour to 

 his memory. It is inexplicable that no attempt was made 

 to find a place for the body in Westminster Abbey. Great 

 by his works and personality, Stokes was a man whose 

 memory the nation should delight to cherish, and if such men 

 as he are not buried at Westminster, it is difficult to under 

 stand who should find a place there. 



The gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society has 

 this year been awarded to Prof. Hermann Struve, of Kbnigs- 

 berg, for his work on the satellites of Saturn. The medal 

 will be presented at the annual general meeting to be held 

 to-morrow, February 13. The Councillor of the German 

 Legation will attend the meeting and receive the medal for 

 Prof. Struve, who is unable to be present. 



