NA TURE 



[December 28, 1905 



carry water vapour which is condensed by penetrating 

 colder air strata, and are immediately converted into ice- 

 needles. These forms are also found under the more 

 moderate clouds of the lower strata of the atmosphere, but 

 in coarser form. Cirrus clouds gradually change their 

 form in a period which coincides with that of the sun- 

 spots, and consequently are caused by solar radiation. No 

 kind of cirrus-cloud can be used with certainty as a 

 weather sign. The influence of the sun at the time of 

 sun-spot maximum is unmistakable in the case of clouds 

 of moderate elevation. 



In the journal and Proceedings oj the Royal Society of 

 New South Wales for 1902 (vol. xxxvi. p. 42) Mr. H. I. 

 Jensen contributed a paper on the possible relation between 

 sun-spot minima and volcanic eruptions. This paper con- 

 tained the results of an examination of the statistics, from 

 1780, relating to seismic disturbances and volcanic erup- 

 tions, and the conclusion at which the author arrived was 

 that the frequency of both these phenomena varied inversely 

 with the sun-spot curve, or, in other words, the fewer the 

 sun-spots the greater the number of earthquakes and 

 volcanic eruptions. In the volume of the same journal for 

 the year 1904 (vol. xxxviii. p. 40) the author pursues the 

 inquiry further, and, as he says, " I have succeeded in 

 collecting numerous facts which throw further light on 

 the question and strengthen my former conclusions." 

 Later on in the paper the author refers to the letter pub- 

 lished in the Times (May 19, 1902) by Sir Norman 

 Lockyer, who stated that earthquakes and eruptions were 

 most frequent at sun-spot minima and maxima. In this 

 connection the author writes : — " My view was, and is, 

 that these phenomena are at a maximum when sun-spots 

 are at a minimum, although from my later researches it 

 seems that at sun-spot maxima there sometimes is a violent 

 and spasmodic outburst of volcanic violence." 



Part ii. of this second communication deals with the 

 connection between sun-spot and meteorological pheno- 

 mena. The author here collects and summarises the con- 

 clusions of many workers, and adds a list of recent papers 

 dealing with sun-spots, prominences, corona, earth- 

 magnetism, aurora, and meteorological data discussed in 

 relation to solar changes. The communication concludes 

 with a table of seismic and volcanic disturbances which 

 occurred between April 1, 1902, and December 31, 

 1903. 



In March last Dr. \V. N. Shaw read a valuable paper 

 before the Royal Statistical Society entitled " Seasons in 

 tin- British Isles from 1878," which appeared in vol. 

 lxviii., part ii., of the journal of that society. We have 

 now received a reprint of that paper, and as it con- 

 tains no less than 97 pages, including a discussion which 

 occupies 6 pages, the reader may conclude that the sub- 

 ject has received very minute consideration. As director 

 of the Meteorological Office, Dr. Shaw has at his com- 

 mand the most complete and homogeneous series of meteor- 

 ological observations of these islands that exists, and in 

 the present compilation he has so arranged the data that 

 they are in a form at once suitable to anyone who may 

 wish to study the relations of various phenomena with 

 British weather. Like most other regions of the world, 

 the British Isles are subject to wet years, dry years, cold 

 years, and warm vears, so that successive seasons differ 

 very considerably from one another. Some of the meteor- 

 ological statistics are therefore arranged to show at a 

 glance the various characteristics of any year or season 

 of the year. The contents of the reprint before us are not, 

 however, restricted in the statistics of the meteorological 

 data alone. We find that statistics relating to fog days in 

 London, gales on the east coast, sea casualties, storm 

 warnings, first flowering of forest trees, shrubs, herbs, 

 beginning of corn harvest, yield of crops, deaths from 

 various diseases, &c, are carefully correlated with the 

 meteorological data according to each of the four seasons 

 of the year. In the course of this compilation it was 

 found that the relation between the autumn rainfall and 

 the yield of wheat was very close. In fact, dealing with 

 data from the year 1885, the yield was found to be above 

 the average when the previous autumn rainfall was below 

 the average and vice versa (1889 and 1903 excepted). 

 Space does not permit us to deal with this important 

 contribution at greater length, so we must refer those of 



NO. 1887, VOL. 73] 



our readers who are particularly interested in such statistics 

 to the reprint its< II. 



In a pamphlet entitled " Ueber die wahrscheinlichkeit 

 von periodischen und unperiodischen Schwankungen in 

 dem atlantischen Strome und ihren Beziehungen zu 

 meteorologischen und biologischen Phaenomenen," written 

 by Otto Petterson, we have an interesting and valuable 

 discussion on the correlation of hydrographic, biological, 

 and meteorological data. This pamphlet is an extract 

 from " Gesamtbericht, 1902-4," vol. Hi., of the report 

 and proces-verbaux of the international committee on the 

 exploration of the sea (August, 1905), with the addition 

 of an interesting introduction in which is briefly and 

 clearly summed up the general hydrographic condition of 

 those particular parts of the ocean referred to in the 

 paper. In dealing with the annual variations it is first 

 pointed out that there exists a temperature change of deep 

 water (250 metres) at Motowskijfjord which reaches a 

 maximum value in about November ; this change is brought 

 about by the Atlantic water. Reference is next made to 

 the annual variations of the depths of the sea near the 

 coasts of Holland and Sweden, and here the maximum is 

 again in late autumn, namely, from October to December. 

 It is shown that we are here in presence of a new pheno- 

 menon, namely, an annual pulsation of the sea, of which 

 the whole ocean, from the tropics to the polar seas, takes 

 part. 



Our attention is then directed to the changes which 

 take place from year to year, and it is shown how similar 

 are the variations of the temperature of the sea on the 

 Norwegian coast and the air temperature in the centre of 

 Sweden. It is pointed out that the annual variation some- 

 times suffers perturbations, and is at times retarded or 

 accelerated by a month or two ; this is accompanied by 

 important climatic and biological changes. The general 

 impression gained is that the maxima and minima of water 

 and air temperatures in the winter months are repeated 

 in alternate years which indicate a two-year period in 

 the hydrographic perturbations. The author then connects 

 up these regular and irregular changes with the fisheries, 

 and concludes that there exists a close connection between 

 hydrographic, meteorological, and biological phenomena 

 which should in future be taken into account. 



ANTARCTIC EARTHQUAKES. 

 THE Discovery carried with her to the Antarctic regions 

 one instrument which kept her, to a slight extent, in 

 touch with the outer world. During the long intervals 

 between the visits of the relief ship there was no word 

 of sport or of the strife of party politics which fill so large 

 a space in the daily papers, but from time to time the 

 Milne seismograph told that somewhere there had been 

 a great earthquake, and in some cases could even say 

 approximately where it had taken place. Now, the records 

 are serving another purpose, and the first instalment of 

 their discussion has appeared as a " Preliminary Note on 

 Observations made with a Horizontal Pendulum in the 

 Antarctic Regions," read before the Royal Society by Prof. 

 J. Milne, F.R.S. 



In all, some 3000 feet of films, obtained by Mr. Louis 

 Bernacchi, were brought back by the Discovery, and, as 

 might be expected, their examination is still incomplete, 

 in spite of the assistance which Prof. Milne acknowledges ; 

 yet one result stands out from the wealth of hints and 

 suggestions which crowds the paper, in the discovery of a 

 new submarine earthquake region lying to the south-west 

 .if New Zealand, from which came 73 out of the 136 

 distinct earthquakes recorded. This, however, does not 

 end the matter, for it is found that not a few of these 

 earthquakes were also recorded by the Milne pendulums 

 in England, that is, near the antipodes of the origin, but 

 not by similar instruments at a less distance. _ The 

 explanation offered may best be illustrated by a simple 

 experiment, which anyone can perform ; take a circular 

 tub containing water, dip your hand into the middle and 

 raise it sharply, thus setting up a group of waves which 

 travel outwards from the centre, becoming less and less 

 conspicuous as the circles widen, until they may cease to be 

 visible ; presently, however, the reflected waves, con- 



