162 



NA TURE 



[December 14, 1905 



the gates are raised the water pours from these penstocks 

 into the wheels that give motion and life to the big 

 generators. As the water passes through, or is discharged 

 from, the turbines, it falls into the tunnel, and then flows 

 through this tail race to the lower river and gorge. It is 

 diverted from the main stream but a very few minutes, 

 but in that time it serves to aid man in gaining control 

 ol thousands of electrical horse-power. 



It is agreed between the power companies and the com- 

 missioners of Victoria Park that all power generated in 

 the park limits must be transmitted outside the park 

 boundaries for application and use, and so the electrii 

 current from the station referred to will pass to a trans- 

 former station not far distant, where, for transmission 

 purposes, it will have its voltage raised to 40,000 or 00,000 

 volts, in order that it may successfully and economically 

 be sent to Toronto and other distant places to meet the 

 demand for electric power from Niagara. Toronto has long 

 been anxious to be connected bj a transmission line with 

 the power developmenl at the falls, and now a line for 

 transmission purposes has been about completed, so thai 

 electric current from the generators in the station of the 

 Canadian Niagara Tower Company may be used in the 



operation of the trolley cars and lighting systems of the 

 Canadian city nearly 00 miles away from Niagara. 



The Electrical Development Company of Ontario, Ltd., 

 is also constructing a wheel-pit and tunnel power develop- 

 ment in Victoria Park. The works of this company will 

 be a short distance above the site of the developmenl of 

 the Canadian Niagara Power Company, but, for all this, 

 the tunnel it is building will be slightly shorter than the 

 tunnel of the company last named, because it will run righl 

 under the river-bed, over which the upper rapids toss, 10 

 a point behind the falling sheet of water of the Horseshoe 

 Fall, where it will empty into the lower river. From the 

 bottom of this wheel-pi! there will be two short lateral 

 tunnels that will carry the water from the pit to the main 

 tunnel at a point 165 feel from the bottom of the slot. 

 This company projects a development of about 125,000 

 horse-power, and the machinery it will instal will command 

 general attention. 



The Ontario Power Company is another concern that 

 has secured a franchise lor the developmenl of power in 

 Victoria Park. Its method of development will be quite 

 different from that of tin- other two companies referred to. 

 Its power house, .< concrete and iron structure, has been 



built at the water's edge, in the gorge, a short distance 

 below the Horseshoe Fall, and water will be carried to it 

 by penstocks concealed from view in tunnels that have been 

 driven through the rocky bank from a spillway or open 

 relief on top of the bank. From this spillway great steel 

 flumes will extend to the forebays, which are situated far 

 up the river. There will be three of these steel flumes, each 

 18 feet in diameter and more than 6000 feet long. Each 

 will divert 3900 cubic feet of water every second, which is 

 an amount estimated to be sufficient to develop 60,000 

 electrical horse-power in the station at the water's edge. 

 Thus from the three steel flumes and the water supply 

 thus afforded, no less than 180,000 horse-power is to be 

 developed. This power will pass from the generators to 

 .1 transformer station located on the bluff in the rear of 

 Victoria Park more than 250 feet above the power house, 

 and more than 550 feet back from it. 



Orris. E. Dinlac. 



INVESTIGATION OF THE UPPER AIR. 

 ""THE subjoined announcement has been received from 

 the director of the Meteorological Office. 



In response to representations from various quarters, the 

 Meteorological Committee has assigned from the Parlia- 

 mentary grant under its control a sum for promoting the 

 investigation of the upper air by kites and other means. 



The immediate objects in view are: — (1) To establish 

 an experimental station where kite ascents and other ex- 

 perimental investigations can be carried out, especially on 

 the days selected for international cooperation. (2) To 

 develop and extend the instrumental equipment, so that 

 facilities may be afforded for the cooperation of other 

 observers upon sea or land. (3) To provide for the publi- 

 cation of the observations in combination with those of 

 other countries, by a contribution to the cost of the inter- 

 national publication undertaken by the president of the 

 International Commission for Scientific Aerostation, Prof. 

 II. Hergesell, of Strassburg. 



Mr. W. H. Dines, F.R.S., has undertaken the direction 

 of the operations for the Meteorological Office. His experi- 

 ments for the office are carried on at his house at Oxshott. 



An endeavour will be made, with fair prospect of success, 

 to enlist the cooperation of marine observers in corre- 

 spondence with the office. Captain A. Simpson, of the 

 S.S. Moravian, has already expressed his willingness to 

 make a trial of this method of extending our knowledge of 

 marine meteorology as soon as the necessary gear and 

 instruments can be supplied. 



It is hoped that through the assistance of others who 

 are interested in such investigations, and have at their 

 disposal the means of carrying them out, an effective 

 scheme for the investigation of the upper air may be set 

 on foot. Lieut. -Colonel J. E. Capper, C.B., R.E.', of the 

 Aldershot Balloon Companies, has already facilities for 

 such purposes, and will take part ; Mr. G. C. Simpson, 

 lecturer in meteorology in the University of Manchester, 

 is making arrangements for occasional observations on 

 the Derbyshire hills; Mr. C. J. P. Cave, who has already 

 made some interesting kite ascents in Barbados, has pro- 

 vided himself with the necessary equipment for experiments 

 at Ditcham Park; and Mr. S. H. R. Salmon has arranged 

 a station on the Downs near Brighton, and carries out 

 ascents on the international days. 



There is, accordinglv, a prospect of an effective investi- 

 gation being commenced. 



NO. 1885, VOL. 73 



BOTANY AT THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 

 ''THE president, Mr. Harold Wager, F.R.S., dealt in his 

 address, which was delivered at Johannesburg, with 

 some problems of cell structure and physiology. The text 

 of this address has already appeared (September 21) in 

 Nature. 



As was to be expected, there were fewer papers than 

 usual this year in Section K, and of these relatively few 

 were of a purely technical nature, the majority being either 

 general accounts of recent work or else papers which 

 possessed some special local interest. 



General Papers. — Prof. R. W. Phillips opened the pro- 



