NA JURE 



Dec. ii, 1884 



As a foreigner, I cannot refrain from remarking that it seems 

 strange to me that, because a man has paid a few weeks' visit to 

 Norway, and even "hailed in front of the North Cape for half an 

 hour," he can claim to have become an authority on all scientific 

 and other matters connected with that country among a nation 

 which can boast of such distinguished explorers and savants as 

 the English. A Norwegian' 



The Scandinavian Club 



Our Future Clocks and Watches 

 In connection with the indication of universal time by our 

 future timepieces, I venture to suggest that the hours should be 

 contained in one circle ; but, instead of being numbered con- 

 secutively from 1 to 24, they might be arranged in Roman 

 numerals, as at present, and if figured alternately would be 

 almost, if not quite, as distinct as on the faces of our present 

 style of clocks. Thus, the hours 2, 4, 6, &c. , would be shown 

 in figures, but the intermediate or odd hours, as n, 13, 15, &c, 

 would be more advantageously distinguished by an arrow-head 

 or circular dot. 



As regards the striking of the hours by our public and 

 private clocks, they might strike up to twelve, as at present ; 

 the suggestion of your correspondent " R. B." (Nature, vol. 

 xxxi. p. 80), that they should not strike any number above six, 

 appears to me as objectionable as if they struck up to twenty- 

 four ; but to distinguish between the afternoon and morning 

 hours, the hours from thirteen to twenty-four might be distin- 

 guished by being preceded by two strokes in rapid succession 

 either upon the bell which strikes the hours, or, preferably, 

 upon a bell of a different tone. B. J. Hopkins 



Leyton, Essex 



Singular Optical Phenomenon 

 On the night of November 28, at about six in the evening, I 

 went to the window to look at the moon, and saw, as it were, 

 a second moon behind the other. The effect was so like what 

 one sometimes experiences from suddenly going out of a very 

 light room, or other causes, that at the time I fancied it was 

 only a defect in my sight. On going into my son's room an 

 hour afterwards he said : "If something is not gone wrong with 

 my eyes, there are two moons out to night." On this I went 

 out again, but saw only the one moon as usual. Later in the 

 evening a young girl who had been meeting a friend at the 

 Montreux train, said her friend had said the moon looked queer 

 all the while she was in the train. The night previous a pretty 

 severe shock of earthquake occurred in Geneva and Lausanne, 

 and a few hours after we had observed the moon on the 28th, a 

 very violent gale and snowstorm took place, and lasted for about 

 six or eight hours. I am not scientific enough to know whether 

 the "rosy glow," reported on November 28 by Mr. Leslie of 

 Southampton, can have any connection with this, or whether 

 my letter will interest your readers. X. 



Vevey, Canton de Vaud, December 6 



The Aurora Borealis 



With the view of making the Norwegian catalogue of the 

 aurora borealis, at which I am now working, as complete as 

 possible, I take the liberty of asking meteorological societies 

 which are in possession of journals supplied by those who have 

 navigated Norwegian waters, to be good enough to place within 

 my reach a copy of the observations which these journals contain 

 respecting the aurora borealis seen near the coasts of Norway or 

 in their neighbourhood. I should also be equally grateful for all 

 information with regard to other unpublished observations of 

 auroras of Norway, which may perhaps be found in the archives 

 of meteorologicil institutes. SoPHUS TROMHOLT 



The Meteorological Institute of Christiania, November 19 



THE UNITED STA TES EJSH COMMISSION 

 T N the year 1871 the Congress of the United States had 

 *■ its attention directed to the alarming decrease in the 

 abundance of its east coast food fishes, and appointed 

 a Commission to investigate the matter, with the idea of 

 preventing the decrease. Prof. Spencer F. Baird, then 

 Assistant Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was 



appointed at the head of this Commission, and in the 

 early summer of 187 1, with a small but efficient corps of 

 naturalists, he established himself upon the southern 

 coast of New England at a place called Wood's Holl. 

 Among the most noted of the members of that party 

 were A. E. Verrill, S. J. Smith, and Sanderson Smith, all 

 of whom have remained with the Commission every 

 summer since its foundation. The first work of the 

 Commission was to investigate the fauna, which then was 

 comparatively unknown to science. In this way the food- 

 supply of the food fishes and the food fishes near shore 

 were carefully studied. During this one summer the fauna 

 of this region was so carefully studied specifically that 

 few new species have since been discovered. The main 

 results were set forth in a very extensive report upon the 

 invertebrate animals of Vineyard Sound by Profs. Verrill 

 and Smith, and published in the first Fish Commission 

 Report. In the summer of 1872 Eastport, Maine, was 

 chosen as the station, and here the same systematic study 

 was carried on with the addition of some dredging work 

 done in shallow water with small boats. The summer of 

 1873 was spent at Portland, Maine ; 1874 at Noank, 

 Conn. ; 1875 at Wood's Holl again ; and 1876 being Cen- 

 tennial year, there was no summer station, but the energies 

 of the Commission were exerted upon the Centennial 

 Exhibition at Philadelphia. In 1877 a part of the year 

 was spent at Halifax, Nova Scotia, arranging a fisheries 

 treaty, and the remainder at Salem, Mass. The head- 

 quarters for the summer of 1878 were at Gloucester, Mass. 

 Up to this time, and, in fact, until 1880, the Fish Com- 

 mission had carried on all its off-shore work in steamers 

 placed at its disposal through the courtesy of the Coast 

 Survey and Navy Department, but had owned no boat 

 of its own with the exception of small sailing-boats and a 

 steam-launch in which the shore work could be done. 

 Thus under a decided disadvantage, it would hardly be 

 expected that a great amount of work could be carefully 

 done ; but, notwithstanding this, a large part of the Gulf 

 of Maine was very carefully explored, under the direction 

 of the Fish Commission. During the years 1878 and 

 1S79 the fishermen of Gloucester very materially aided 

 the Commission in its work of investigating the fauna of 

 the shallower water of New England by preserving such 

 specimens of animals as they happened to meet on their 

 fishing trips. Scores of animals new to the American waters 

 were taken from the fishing-banks by these fishermen, and 

 the importance of their work should not be under- 

 estimated. 



As yet the Fish Commission had done little practical 

 work in its marine departments. It was for practical 

 work that the Commission was established, and all its 

 scientific work had some practical object in view. In the 

 winter of 1S7S and 1879 the Commission began important 

 experiments upon the hatching of deep-water fish, but 

 more especially cod. When America was first discovered, 

 cod were found on all its shores in great abundance, and 

 from this abundance the headland of Cape Cod received 

 its name. As white men became more numerous on the 

 shore and cities began to grow, the fish began gradually 

 to decrease in number and be driven off into deep water 

 because of the impure condition of the water. Now, in 

 places where fifty years ago cod could be caught from any 

 point of rocks, it is a rare thing indeed to catch this fish 

 within several miles of shore. Men, who not many years 

 ago could anchor a boat within a few rods of shore and 

 catch fish in large quantities, are now obliged to visit the 

 more remote ledges several miles from shore, and be satis- 

 fied with a light catch. Even in the deep water they are 

 becoming scarcer. It was with the hopes of finding some 

 remedy for this decrease that in 1878 and 1879 Prof. Baird 

 began experiments upon artificially hatching these fish. 

 Millions of eggs are laid where few come to maturity, the 

 larger part being destroyed before they are hatched from 

 the egg. Thus, if the eggs could be hatched and the 



