Feb. 29, 1 872 J 



NATURE 



347 



Diameter of Bulb o'sS i 



J. Ericsson 



MAGNETICAL AND METEOROLOGICAL OB- 

 SERVATIONS AT HAVANA 



(~\^ the 9th and loth day of November I noticed on 

 ^-^ my instruments two strong magnetic perturbations, 

 during which a series of extraordinary observations was 

 taken at intervals of five, of ten, and fifteen minutes. 

 From these I was naturally drawn to think that an 

 aurora borealis would be seen in higher latitudes, and 

 was waiting for a confirmation of my views. 



This I found in the numbeis i6ih and 23rd of November 

 of your scientific journal, NATURE, which I have just 

 received, and in which I see with great pleasure the 



j" I hour = o'" "oi in the line of the abscissa 

 ; \ 5 division of tite scale of the Bijilar Magnetometer = o'" ' 

 the line o/tJt£ ordmates. 



Each one of these di\ 



of the scale correspoiids in parts of horizontal 

 force to K =^ 0*000099573. 



description of the aurora borealis seen in England on the 

 9th and loth of November in perfect accordance with my 

 observations of those days. 



As it will not be devoid of interest to know to what 

 an extent an aurora borealis, when seen in England, 

 exerts its influence on the magnetic variations of a place 

 situated in the Tropics and in very remote longitude, I 

 take the liberty of sending you the curves of the hori- 

 zontal magnetic force as registered by the bifilar magneto- 

 meter on the 9th and loth of November, together with 

 the curve of the mean horizontal force of the whole 

 month. A comparison between them and those taken in 

 other places will be, I hope, very pleasant to those who are 

 interested in magnetic researches. 



My observations on the bifilar magnetometer are re- 

 duced to the temperature of 77^ Fah. The variation of 



the thermometer attached to it was o°'8 during the whole 



perturbation. 



The magnetic instruments I make use of are those of 

 the Observatory of Makerston, Scotland, which were 

 arranged and sent many years ago to this Observatory by 

 order of General Sabine at the request of P. Secchi, of the 

 Roman Observatory. 



Another perturbation, although not so intense as those 

 already described, was observed on the 2nd of November. 

 It began at ten o'clock in the morning, and lasted the 

 whole day. 



A very remarkable one was also observed on the 17th 

 and iSth of June ; it began at ten o'clock in the evening 

 of the 17th. 



On the 2 1st of August, while a hurricane was felt in 

 St. Thomas, and an aurora borealis seen from the Ob- 

 servatory of Dun Echt, Aberdeen, I noticed an extraordi- 

 nary variation, which attained its maximum between four 

 and six o'clock in the afternoon. A similar one occurred 

 on the 34th. 



Finally, on the 16th and 1 7th of August two great hurri- 

 canes swept the shores of Florida, and their influence 

 upon the magnetic force can be perfectly noticed on the 

 curves of those days. 



Benedict Vines 



Havana, Dec. 21, 1871 



NOTES 

 We alluded some time since to the threatened destruction of 

 one of the most notable niegalitliic monuments in this country, 

 the Great Circle at Avebury, in Wiltshire. All archa:ologist3 

 will be glad to hear that Sir John Lubbock has added one more 

 to his eminent services to science by the purchase of the site on 

 which the Circle stands. It is right also that the meed of praise 

 should be awarded to those of the residents in the district whose 

 zeal has been directed towards the attainment of this object, and 

 who have thus shown their sense of the value of the monument 

 which is one of the glories of their county. We refer especially 

 to the Kev. Brj'an King, the vicar of the parish, Mr. Kemm, 

 Mr. George Brown, and the Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, Hon. 

 Secretary of the Wiltshire Archjeological and Natural History 

 Society. It is to be hoped that their example will stimulate 

 similar zeal for the preservation of monuments in other parts of 

 the country. 



Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, chemist to the Canadian Geological 

 Survey, has been appointed to the chair of Geology in the Mas- 

 sachusetts Institute of Technology. 



Mr. Hensm.\n has been appointed Lecturer on Botany at 

 the Middlesex Hospital, in the place of D.-. T. S. Cobbold, 

 F.R.S., who has received the appointment of Lecturer on 

 Parasitic Diseases. 



At the meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on Monday 

 evening last. Sir Henry Rawlinson, the President, announced 

 that the vessel with the Livingstone Expedition on board arrived 

 at Malta on the 23rd inst., and was to reach Port Said on Sunday, 

 and leave Suez on Monday night. By the accounts to hand all 

 on board were pronounced to be well, and in the highest spirits. 

 The finances of the expedition were in a highly satisfactory state, 

 many contributions being remarkably striking, as showing the 

 great interest taken in the enterprise not only in this, but in many 

 distant countries. A contribution of 100 guineas had been re- 

 ceived from a former member at Stockholm, who had always 

 taken a deep interest in the travels and discoveries of Dr. Living- 

 stone. The Italian Royal Geographical Society had also sent a 

 contribution of 15/. 15J., while national committees to assist the 

 fund had been formed in Scotland and Ireland, who were work- 

 ing most energetically. The town of Glasgow has subscribed 

 1,000/., Edinburgh^ 400/., and Dublin promised to be equally 



