July ij, 1884] 



NA TURE 



279. 



surely simpler to write Tardus propinquus than Tardus /nigra- 

 tortus propinquus. After all, nomenclature was not science, 

 and even if we had the most perfect system of nomenclature 

 which could be devised, he did not see how science would be 

 thereby advanced. It is true we could not get on without 

 nomenclature, but the simpler it was the better ; aud the less 

 time we spent in discussing it the more we should have to devote 

 to real study. 



Dr. Cones, replying to previous speakers, said that the system of 

 trinomial nomenclature had nothing whatever to do with indi- 

 vidual variations of specimens from one locality. It was not a 

 question of naming varieties or hybrids, but there was a definite 

 principle to proceed upon, namely, that of geographical and 

 climatal variation. lie was well aware that the use of three 

 names to designate objects in zoology was no new thing ; but he 

 believed that the restricted application of trinomialism to the 

 particular class of ca^es he had discussed was virtually novel, 

 and that his system would prove to be one of great practical 

 utility. He thought that the application of the principle was a 

 question which, after this discussion, and after further private 

 discussions, might well be left to the discretion of authors. 



The Chairman concluded the meeting by saying : — I hope 

 that Dr. Elliott Coues is satisfied with the manner with which 

 his views have been received. Although there are some uncom- 

 promising binomialists present, many have pronounced themselves 

 as what may be termed limited trinomialists, and some ap- 

 pear to go as far as Dr. Coues himself. Distinctly defined 

 species undoubtedly exist in great numbers, owing to extinc- 

 tion of intermediate forms ; for these the binomial system offers 

 all that is needed in defining them. Lint on the other hand there 

 are numbers of cases in the actual state of the earth, and far 

 more are being constantly revealed by the discoveries of palaeonto- 

 logy, and nowhere so rapidly as in Dr. Coues' own country, 

 where the infinite gradations defy the discrimination either 

 of a binomial or a trinomial system. Zoologists engaged in the 

 question of nomenclature are being gradually brought face to 

 face with an enormous difficulty in consequence of the discovery 

 of these intermediate forms, and some far more radical change 

 than that now proposed will have to be considered. In con- 

 clusion I must express the thanks of the meeting to Dr. Coues 

 for having brought his views and those of his countrymen, of 

 whom he is such a worthy representative, before us, and also to 

 Mr. Bowdler Sharpe, to whose zeal and energy the organisation 

 of the meeting is entirely due. 



A unanimous vote of thanks was given to Prof. Flower for 

 presiding. 



KRAKATOA 



A 1 



T the meeting of the Meteorological Society of Mauri- 

 tius on May 22 some interesting communications were 

 made relating to the Krakatoa eruption. Among others was 

 a letter from M. Lecomte regarding detonations heard 

 at Diego Garcia on August 27. In his letter, which was 

 written at Diego Garcia on April 24, M. Lecomte says : — " Le 

 lundi 27 aotit entre 10 et II heures du matin, pendant le 

 dejeuner, nous avons entendu des detonations sourdes mais 

 violentes. Nous avons era tellement a 1'appel d'un navire en 

 detresse que nous avons count et que j'ai envoye plusieurs homines 

 vers le rivage exterieur de Tile sur plusieurs points difierents, en 

 observation. Le Capitaine Florentin de V Eva Joshua et son 

 second, M. Daniel Sauv.,ge, venaient de quitter Pointe de l'Est 

 pour aller mouitier a Pointe Marianne, lorsqu'ils ont entendu les 

 memes detonations. lis ont aussitot envoye des hommes en 

 observation a l'extremite des mats. Mais comme les miens ils 

 n'ont rien vu. 



" Ce jour la et les jours suivants le soleil etait comme obscurci, 

 probablement par la formidable quantite de vapeurs et de cendres 

 qui ont du s'eiever dans I'atmosphere. " 



The information obligingly furnished by M. Lecomte was 

 valuable, inasmuch as, take n in conjunction with the reports 

 which had been received from Rodrigues, it confirmed verbal 

 information which had been previously obtained. There could 

 now be no doubt that the explosions which took place at 

 Krakatoa were distinctly heard both at Diego Garcia and 

 Rodrigues, and there was probably no other recorded instance of 

 sound having travelled over so great a distance. The fact, also, 

 that at Diego Garcia the sun was partially obscured on August 

 27 and on several subsequent days, as well as at the Seychelles 

 and Rodrigues, was an additional proof of the great quantity of 



matter which must have been ejected from Krakatoa, and of the 

 rapidity with which it was conveyed from its source. There 

 could be no reasonable doubt that the presence of that matter in 

 the atmosphere was the cause of at least the lurid sunsets and 

 sunrises which were observed over the Indian Ocean on the last 

 days of August and in the first week of September. 



The Secretary, Dr. Meldrum, stated that the Royal Society 

 of London had appointed a Committee to collect information 

 regarding the phenomena which had been observed during and 

 after the volcanic eruptions that took place at Krakatoa in 

 August, and requests had been received from that and other 

 quarters for information from Mauritius. To these requests the 

 Secretary had replied that he was preparing for his Excellency 

 the Governor a detailed account of what had been observed at 

 Mauritius and several of its dependencies, but that owing to the 

 almost daily reception of additional details his report was not 

 yet ready. All he did, therefore, was to give the general re- 

 sults as far as they had been determined. 



Several remarkable phenomena had to be described. In the 

 first place, there were disturbances of the sea water, or. as they 

 had been called by some, tidal disturbances, and these had been 

 observed all over the Indian Ocean. 



1 here were also barometric disturbances, to which attention 

 had first of all been called in Mauritius early in September, and 

 which at the time were ascribed to the explosions at Krakatoa. 

 Some time afterwards it was ascertained in England that these 

 disturbances had extended over the whole globe and that they 

 were recorded by all self-registering barometers in both hemi- 

 spheres. At Mauritius there were at least seven well-marked 

 disturbances of which the epochs of maxim mi: intensity were as 

 follows : — 



h. m. 



(1) August 27, 0.6 p.m. local time. 



(2) ,, 2S, 2.20 p.m. „ 



(3) ,, 28, 10.40 p.m. ,, 



(4) ,, 3°. i-35 a -m. 



(5) >, 3°. 9-'7 a.m. 



(6) >> 31, 1.48 p.m. „ 



(7) >> 3'» 8.00 p.m. ,, 



At first these disturbances were supposed in Mauritius to have 

 been due to successive eruptions, but General Strachey, who 

 examined a number of barographs received from different parts 

 of the world, had recently adduced evidence to show that they 

 were produced by an air-wave proceeding outwards from Kraka- 

 toa in all directions round the earth, expanding till it was half 

 round, then contracting till it reached the antipodes of its origin, 

 and afterwards returning, the wave thus travelling round the 

 globe two or three times. Assuming that view, the first disturb- 

 ance at Mauritius (which was at its maximum at oh. 6m. p.m. 

 on the 27th) would be caused by the passage over the Observa- 

 tory of the wave travelling from east to west ; and the third, 

 fifth, and seventh disturbances would be returns of the wave to 

 Mauritius after having gone round the earth. Similarly the 

 second disturbance would be the first passage of the wave tra- 

 velling from Krakatoa eastward, and the fourth and sixth would 

 be its returns to Mauritius. Now, the mean interval in time 

 between the returns of the wave to Mauritius, in its passage 

 from east to west, was 24I1. 38m , and in its passage from west 

 to east 35h. 44m. It would thus appear that the rate of pro- 

 gression had been greater from east to west than from west to 

 east, which may have been partly or wholly due to the great 

 circle passing through Krakatoa and Mauritius being within the 

 tropics, where the prevailing wind was from the eastward. The 

 rate of progression from east to west was very nearly 709 miles 

 an hour, and from west to east 697 miles. By taking as nearly 

 as possible the times half way between the commencements and 

 endings of the disturbances similar results were obtained. There 

 was also an eighth (but small) disturbance between 7 and 9 a.m. 

 on September 2, which may have been the fourth return of the 

 wave from east to west, the interval in time between that dis- 

 turbance and the seventh having been nearly thirty six hours. 

 The sixth disturbance was the last indication of the wave in its 

 passage from west to east. 



Another effect of the Krakatoa eruptions was the spread of 

 ashes and pumice over considerable portions of the Indian 

 Ocean, and a good deal of information on that point also had 

 been collected in Mauritius. The first intimation of the proba- 

 bility of volcanic action in the direction of the Straits of Sunda 

 was contained in a letter published by Capt. Walker, of the 

 Aetata in the Mercantile Record of June 16, 1883. At noon on. 



