422 



NATURE 



[Mar. 28, 1872 



silting up nor growth of coral water-worn caves, now well above 

 high-water mark in the sandstone cliffs of Albany Island, and 

 those of the mainland opposite, and in the existence along many 

 parts of the coast, especially towards the north of the peninsula, 

 of extensive tracts of level country now covered with sand dunes, 

 bearing a scanty vegetation, stretching inland 10, 15, and 20 

 miles off, but which once bordered the sea" (Rattray, Geology 

 of Cape York Peninsula, Australia, A/iiic journal, vol. xxv. 

 p. 297). 



" An immense portion of the continent of Australia is known 

 to be uprising. . . . The whole coast round to a distance of 

 several miles inland is covered with recent shells; the drainage of 

 the country is apparently altering. Lakes known to have been 

 formerly filltd with salt water are now filling up with fresh or 

 becoming dry. The lagoons near the coast are filled with salt 

 and brackish water, and their banks are filled with marine shells 

 with their colours in many cases preserved. Reefs of rocks are 

 constantly appearing in places where there were none formerly. 

 At Rivoli Bay the soundings have altered so much as to make a 

 new survey requisite. A reef has lately almost closed this 

 harbour. Other reefs have appeared at Cape Jaffa, &c. It 

 would appear that a vast movement is taking place in the whole 

 of the south of Australia. In Melbourne the observations of 

 surveyors and engineers have all tended to confirm this remarkable 

 fact. In Western Australia the same thing is observed at King 

 George's Sound, the same," &c., &c., and so on, for many pages. 

 (See Wood's Geological Observations in South Australia, 

 135-207, and /i;jj/«.) 



The facts I have enumerated, which might be almost indefi- 

 nitely multiplied, are sufficient to prove the position that every 

 large mass of land near the South Pole which we can examine 

 shows signs of upheaval, and justifies the conclusion that the 

 circumpolar land is rising at both poles, and that there is a 

 general thrusting out of the earth's periphery in the direction of 

 its shorter axis. 



I must modify the opinion expressed in a previous paper that 

 the 57th parallel is the southern limit of upheaval in the northern 

 hemisphere. The limit of upheaval is an irregular line. I 

 beUeve that the district inteivening between the two projecting 

 poles, with its focus along the equator, is an area of subsidence. 

 This conclusion I believe to be of crucial importance in solving 

 both geological and meteorological problems. 



H. H. HOWORTH 



New Zealand Trees 



I HAVE been greatly astonished by the perusal of a paragraph 

 on New Zealand timber trees, which appears on p. 14 of the 

 current volume of N,\ture (No. 105, Nov. 2, 1871). Almost 

 all that is said, either directly or inferentially in that paragraph 

 is so grossly inaccurate that I cannot understand how such state- 

 ments found their way into a periodical like yours. In the first 

 place, the "RlmViiDaiiydiinn ciiprasinum), theMatai {Podocnrpus 

 spicata), and the Totara [P. totara), are spoken of as if peculiar 

 to the North Island, whilst the truth is that they are common to 

 all parts of New Zealand. These trees arc never "cut down whole- 

 sale " for firewood, except perhaps now and then when bush land 

 is being cleared so far from other settlements that transport of the 

 timber to any market is a physical impossibility. The woods 

 enumerated are, Kauri (Dammaris aiistralis), and the white 

 pine {PodocarpKS dacrydioidi\<), the principal buUding timbers of 

 the colony. The Rimu is not " valuable for furniture and all 

 ornamental work," although some choice sections of it look well 

 when carefully polished. Totara and Kauri look better when 

 polished, but their brittleness spoils their usefulness for 

 ordinary furniture work. When I deny that these timbers are 

 "valuable" for cabinet work, I mean that they have not, and 

 never will have, the value which attaches to mahogany, 

 rosewood, walnut, and similar woods. That the Rimu, ^Iatai, 

 and Totara "are none of them Conifer.-e," is news to botanists 

 on this side the world. All these trees are to be found in 

 horticultural collections in England and Scotland, and it 

 is to be regretted that the writer of this paragraph did not 

 acquaint himself with them before he undertook to instnict 

 others as to their botanical characteristics. But the most amazing 

 of all the statements in this paragraph is that about the Rata 

 (Metrosideros luiida). This appears to have been quoted from 

 somewhere. I should very much like to know who is responsible 

 for such a monstrous fiction. I can only conceive that its author 

 hM confused the Akakura {Metrosideros scandens) with the Rata 



in his memory — he could never have confused the objects them- 

 selves when before his eyes. The whole story of the manner of 

 growth of the Rata is utterly without foundation. 



I may take this opportunity of mentioning that the description 

 of M. liicida in Hooker's " Handbook of the New Zealand 

 Flora " is inaccurate. The tree is there described as a small one, 

 whereas it grows in the South Island to the dimensions of a large 

 forest tree. Probably Dr. Hooker had to depend on informa- 

 tion derived from North Island sources only. W. 



Dunedin, N. Z., January 13 



Earthquakes in the Philippine Islands 

 In the middle of December, 1S71, the volcano Albay in the 



S.E. of Luzon began to play, and threw out smoke, stones, and 



lava for several weeks. 



The following phenomena have also to be recorded : — 



1871. — October 8 and 9, at PoUok on Mindanao, sulphurous 



springs arose in the neighbourhood. 



December 8 to 14, at Kottabato on Mindanao, very heavy 



earthquakes, which destroyed all the houses. 



1872. — January 29, at 7 P.M., at Manila, three slight shocks 



from E. to W., which I witnesed. 



Manila, Feb. 5 A. B. Meyer 



Height of Auroras 

 Allow me to suggest the following rules, to be attended to 

 by those who incline to make observations on the heights of 

 auroras : — 



1. Observations to be made at the exact hours and half hours, 

 Greenwich mean time. 



2. If there is an arch, the position of the apex of its central 

 line should be noted with reference to the stars ; or else its alti- 

 tude should be ascertained carefully, and its azimuth approxi- 

 mately. If the lower or the upper edge of the arch is well 

 defined, give similar particulars respecting it. State the width 

 of the arch ; state whether it is regular or not. If it is some- 

 what irregular, instead of its actual position, give that of an 

 imaginary arch having its average position. 



3. If there is any other very conspicuous feature, its position 

 among the stars may be observed ; care being taken to describe 

 it sufficiently for it to be recognised in any account from another 

 place. But the position of the corona, or point to which the 

 rays converge, is of no value for determining the ^height of the 

 aurora, for it is merely an apparent phenomenon. 



Observers must not consider themselves tied down to observe 

 on every occasion ; any observations, if made in accordance 

 with these rules, may be useful. If they are sent to me, I will 

 endeavour to calculate the aurora's height from them, unless 

 some one else volunteers to take them in hand. 



T. W. Backhouse 



West Hendon House, Sunderland, March 20 



Eccentricity of the Earth's Orbit 

 I SHALL feel obliged if some of your correspondents would 

 inform me if, with the exception of Grant's Physical Astronomy, 

 there is any treatise or encyclopaedic article on Astronomy, 

 published in this country before 1864, where the superior limit 

 of the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, as determined by La- 

 grange or by Leverrier, is given ; or even any reference made to 

 the researches of these geometricians on the subject. 



Edinburgh, March 11 James Ellis 



, Barometric Depression 



In Mr. Monck's article on barometric variations in Nature 

 of 2 1st inst. there is a serious mistake about the theory of trade- 

 winds. He says the trade-winds would probably extend to the 

 poles were it not that the parallels of latitude become so narrow 

 before reaching them. The trade-winds are east winds ; and if, 

 as is certainly the case, the only motive power acting on the 

 earth's atmosphere is the sun's heat, it follows from the law of 

 the conservation of rotation that the total force of the east and 

 west winds must exactly balance each other. This must be tlie 

 case even were the earth of some other form than a sphere. 



Joseph John Murphy 



Old Forge, Dunmurry, March 25 



