Dec. 4, 1884] 



NATURE 



Franklin Bay The United States. 



Cumberland Sound Gem 



Godthaab Dem: 



Jan Mayer. Austria. 



Spitzbergen .. 



Bosse iop N way. 



via Finland. 



N ^emlya ( p 



of the Lena \ Ku "' a - 



The Kara Sea Holland. 



In the Southern Hemisphere — 



Cape Horn F 



South Georgia Germany. 



At all of these stations observations were carried on for a 

 year, and at some for even a longer period. 



In the month of April last a Conference was held at Vienna, 

 to decide as to the form and mode of discussion and publication 

 of the results, and it may be hoped that these will appear before 

 the end of 1SS5. 



Of the serial publication, '•Communications from the Inter- 

 national Polar Commission," six parts, with an aggregate of 334 

 pages, have already appeared, and in it will be found all 

 particulars of the undertaking. 



The regulations under which the Government Grant of 4000/. 

 is administered have during the past year been again under 

 and have in some respects been slightly modified. It 

 .-. needless to repeat that this grant, though nominally 

 made to the Royal Society, in no way adds to its funds, while 

 its administration rests with a Committee of from sixty or seventy 

 members, many of whom are not of necessity Fellows of our 

 Society. As the grant is now made in two instalments, it has 

 been arranged that the meetings of the Committee shall be held 

 twice in each year, viz., in May and December, which it is hoped 

 will amply meet the convenience of applicants for grants. 



In looking back upon the grants which have been made 

 during the past year, I think that a tendency may be observed 

 on the part of the Committee to devote considerable sums in aid 

 of extensive researches rather than to fritter away the money 

 at their disposal in a series of small grants. They have, for 

 instance, allotted the sum of 500.'. towards the exploration of 

 Kilimanjaro and the adjoining mountains of Tropical Africa, 

 and 200/. in aid of an expedition for the exploration of the 

 mountain of Roraima in British Guiana. A grant of 200/. has 

 also been made towards a report on the Flora of China ; while 

 300/. has been allotted towards the extra accommodation and 

 instruments for magnetic observations in the new Observatory 

 of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. It will be remem- 

 bered that, in his Address last year, the President called atten- 

 tion to the discovery by Dr. Huggins of a method of photo- 

 graphing the solar corona without an eclipse; and, for the 

 purpose of making further experiments in this direction, and 

 for carrying on other physical observations at some place of high 

 elevation and of easy access, a grant of 250/. was placed at the 

 disposal of a Committee. The place of observation selected by 

 the Committee was the Riffel, near Zermatt, in Switzerland, 

 which has an elevation of 8500 feet, and possesses important 

 5 both of access, and of hotel accommodation. They 

 appointed Mr. C. Ray Woods, who had had experience in 

 photographing the corona during the eclipse of 1SS2 in Egypt, 

 and again in Caroline Island in 1SS3, to take charge of the 

 work under the instructions of Dr. Huggins and Capt. Abney. 



Mr. Woods arrived at the Riffel in . ig of July, 



when he erected the necessary in'truments under a tent of 

 . and continue! at w rk there until 

 September 21. Unfortunately, the present year has been 

 exceptionally unfavourable for work on the corona, in conse- 

 quence of an unusual want of transparency in the higher regions 

 of the atmosphere. This probably may be owing to the presence 

 there of ice-crystals or of small particles of matter of some kind, 

 such :i-. per-onally, I am tempted to think might be due to the 

 Krakatoa eruption. Whatever the cause, the sky as seen from 

 the Riffel was far from being so clear as it has been during 

 former years. Mr. Woods observed that the freer the lower 

 >m cloud and mist, the more distinctly came out a 

 great aureola around the sun, which he found to have a diameter 

 of about 44°, and to be of a faint red near the outer boundary, 

 and bluish-white within, up to the sun'> limb. 



These unfavourable conditions of the atmosphere have made 

 it impossible for Dr. Huggins to obtain any photographs of the 

 corona in England. The great advantage at the Riffel of being 



free from the light scattered fr, m the lower Sooo feet of air has 

 enabled Mr. Woods, notwithstanding the serious drawback of 

 the persistent aureola, to obtain about 150 photographs, of 

 which more than half are sufficiently good to show the general 

 form, and a smaller number the stronger details of that part 

 of the corona which lies within from 8' to 12' of the sun's limb. 

 It would be premature to express any opinion as to the informa- 

 tion which may eventually come out from the Riffel plates. They 

 are now being drawn preparatory to a full discussion. In the 

 meantime I may congratulate the Society upon the confirmation 

 of the hope expressed by our President at the last anniversary, 

 •"that a new and powerful method of investigation has been 

 placed in the hands of students of solar physics." 



Another of the grants made by the Committee has also contri- 

 buted to important scientific results, as it has enabled Mr. 

 CaMwell to make some important observations on the early 

 stages of the Monotreme ovum, a brief account of which was 

 communicated to the meeting c f the British Association for the 

 Advancement of Science at Montreal. A fuller account of the 

 observations, such as is necessary for the adequate appreciation 

 of their importance and bearings, will, I hope, be laid before the 

 Society during the ensuing session, when we shall also probably 

 hear the result of similar investigations in like manner rendered 

 I ossible by the existence of the Government Grant. 



Some slight aid has been rendered from the same source 

 towards the reduction of observations carried on at the meteoro- 

 logical station on the summit of Ben Nevis. This Observatory, 

 situated on the highest point within the United Kingdom, has 

 through the past year been under the charge of Mr. R. T. Omond 

 and two assistants. During the summer months the buildings 

 of the Observatory have been enlarged by the addition of new 

 observing-rooms and increased accommodation for the observers 

 and any scientific workers who may desire to carry on those 

 physical researches for which the climate and position of Ben 

 Nevis afford many facilities. 



The erection and equipment of the Observatory have cost more 

 than 5000/. : and, in connection with the observations carried 

 on at the top of the mountain, others have been daily made near 

 the sea-level at Fort William. A first report on these conjoint 

 high- and low-level observations, which began in 1S81, has been 

 prepared by Mr. Buchan (" Journal of the Scottish Meteorol. 

 Soc," 3rd Series, No. I ^8S4"l, p. 4). The monthly normals 

 for atmospheric pressure and temperature have been approxi- 

 mately determined for the Observatory. Important results have 

 also been obtained relating to the decrement of temperature with 

 height, for different ir.onths of the year and hours of the day, 

 the diurnal variations of the wind's velocity, the very large 

 increase in the rainfall on and near the summit, and the alto- 

 gether unexpected hygrometric conditions of the air in their 

 relation to the cyclones and anticyclones of North- Western 

 Europe. 



Another of the funds at our disposal, the Scientific Relief 

 Fund, requires a few words of mention. Its resources have been 

 rably enriched during the past year by the legacy of 

 1000/. from Sir William Siemens, and nearly 50/. from the 

 medals offered by the executors of the late Lady Sabine ; and 

 the legacy of 1000/. from the late Mr. Bentham will, it is 

 hoped, ere long be received ; but even with these munificent 

 additions the income of the fund will amount to only 250/. per 

 annum, while last year the calls upon it amounted, I regret to 

 no less than 450/. The incalculable value of such a fund 

 1 .if science or their families requiring temporary aid must 

 be apparent to all, and looking at the unfortunate necessity for its 

 nee which the calls upon it prove, I venture to commend 

 it to your support. It will, perhaps, not be out of place here to 

 say a' few words with regard to the administration of this fund, 

 the existence of which dates from 1859, and is in a great degree 

 due to the exertions of the late Mr. Gassiot. The Council of 

 the Royal Society takes charge of any sums contributed to the 

 fund and invests them, applying the interest in grants for the relief 

 of such scientific men or their families as may from time to time 

 require or deserve assistance. These grants are, however, made 

 only on the recommendation of a committee of seven members 

 who investigate the cases before them, and applications for relief 

 cannot be entertained except on the recommendation of the 

 President of one of the chartered Societies, viz., the Astro- 

 nomical, Chemical, Geographical, Geological, Linnean, Royal, 

 and Zoological Societies. Since January 1S61, when the first 

 grant was made, the total number of grants has been eighty-eight, 

 and the total sum distributed 4340/. 



