444 



NA TURE 



{Sept. 6, 1883 



dition of the ocean bed. The existing charts of the strait 

 with their careful soundings are useless for purposes of 



navigation, and when quiescence is restored a new series 

 of soundings will be necessary. Doubtless the results of 



ios°ao 



(06%?' 



tO5°.J0' Eajrt °r Greenwich 



Heights tti veet, Depths ztl rfcthcrms 



the outbreak will receive minute attention at the hands of 

 the Dutch Government, and when all the data are col- 



lected they will form valuable material for the study of 

 the physical geographer. 



NOTES 

 The next meeting of the American Association for the Ad- 

 vancement of Science will be held in Philadelpiiia, probably 

 during the first week in September, 1884. At the session in 

 Minneapolis the following persons were chosen as officers for 

 the Philadelphia meeting : — President, Dr. J. P. Leslie, of 

 Philadelphia ; Vice-Presidents : Section A (Mathematics and 

 Astronomy), Prof. H. T. Eddy, of Cincinnati ; B (Physics), 

 Prof. John Trowbridge, of Cambridge ; C (Chemistry), Prof. 

 J. W. Langley, of Ann Arbour; D (Mechanical Science), 

 Prof. R. H. Thurston, of Hoboken ; E (Geology and Geo- 

 graphy), Prof. N. H. Winchell, of Minneapolis ; F (Biology), 

 Prof. E. D. Cope, of Philadelphia; G (Histology and Micro- 

 scopy), Prof. T. G. Wormley, of Philadelphia ; II (Anthro- 

 pology), Prof. E. S. Morse, of Salem ; I (Economic Science 

 and Statistics), Hon. John Eaton, of Washington ; permanent 

 secretary, Mr. F. W. Putnam, of Cambridge ; general secretary, 

 Dr. Alfred Springer, of Cincinnati ; assistant general secretary, 

 Prof. E. S. Holden, of Madison. 



M. Janssen, who has returned from Caroline Island, was 

 present at the meeting of the Academy of Sciences of Septem- 

 ber 3. He read the first part of the documents he brings with 



him, viz. the reports drawn up by Palisa, Tacchini, and himself, 

 while Trouvelot read his own account. The reading was long 

 and interesting, and will be continued next week. M. Janssen 

 stated that he believed the region around the sun was full of 

 material almost corpuscular, and reflecting the light from the . 

 sun. He was received enthu-iastically, and M. Blanchard, 

 the president, spoke in praise of his merits and efforts for the 

 promotion of science. M. Janssen returned thanks, acknow- 

 ledging that great efforts must be made by him to be worthy 

 of such a reception. 



We regret to announce the death of Mr. Cromwell Fleetwood 

 Varley, F.R.S., M.I.C.E., &c, on Sunday night last, at his 

 residence at Bexley Heath, Kent. He was born in Kentish 

 Town, April 6, 1828. He devoted himself to the engineering 

 branch of telegraphy, and devised a method of locating distant 

 faults in land wires which attracted the special attention of 

 engineers and electricians. Distinguishing himself by one dis- 

 covery after another, Mr. Varley finally became chief engineer 

 and electrician to the Electric and International Telegraph 

 Company, and held this office until the taking over of the tele- 

 graphs by the Government. His inventions were very numerous. 

 Prominent among his early inventions was an apparatus for 

 transmitting electrical signals, which so much increased the 



