neh oe ee 
r ayo 
368 
NATURE 
[ Fed, 16, 1882 | 
bones buried in the sand of the beaches where so 
many hundreds of whales have been flensed in former 
centuries. 
In 1878 the accomplished historian of Guipuzcoa, Don 
Nicolas Soraluce, printed a pamphlet at Vitoria on “ the 
origin and history of the whale and cod fisheries,” which 
contains much interesting information. I may add that 
Senor Soraluce is preparing some additional chapters on 
the whale-fishery, and that he expects to obtain copies 
of interesting documents relating to the same subject 
from the archives of the Ministry of Marine at Madrid. 
A SYSTEM OF METEOROLOGICAL OBSER- 
VATIONS 1N THE CHINA SEAS 
| Fa a recent article in NATURE we referred to the 
proposal to establish an observatory at Hongkong 
under the superintendence of Major Palmer, R.E., and 
expressed a hope that Mr. Hart, of the Chinese Maritime 
Customs, would be successful in his efforts for the esta- 
blishment of a number of meteorological stations along 
the coast of China. The China seas, on account of their 
numerous currents and destructive typhoons, are espe- 
cially dangerous to shipping, and the value, in a material 
sense, of a thorough and accurate series of observations 
of this kind can hardly be overrated. Moved by these 
considerations, the Shanghai General Chamber of Com- 
merce, the most numerous and influential foreign mer- 
cantile body in the Far East, has taken the matter in hand, 
and at a recent meeting, reported in the Ce/estial Empire, 
discussed ‘the feasibility of organising a system of meteo- 
rological reports from the China coast and the interior, 
with the view of improving the knowledge of the origin 
and direction of storms, and warning mariners of their 
approach.” The Chambery wisely consulted the Reverend 
Father Dechevrens, director of the Jesuits’ Observatory 
at Siccawei, not far from Shanghai, who recommended 
that the object of the system should be twofold :—(1) 
To give shipmasters a sufficient knowledge of the meteo- 
rology of Chinese and Japanese waters to enable them at 
all times, and especially at critical moments, to recognise 
the best routes to follow in order to reach their destina- 
tions as speedily as possible, and emerge with credit from 
storms which they have been unable to avoid; and (2) 
to give vessels about to leave the port notice of the winds 
and weather they will probably meet during the subse- 
quent twenty-four hours. The Siccawei Observatory will 
be able to accomplish both these ends, provided it 
receives the co-operation of the various shipmasters re- 
sorting to the coast of China. It is recommended that 
every vessel should be provided with a register in which 
at stated intervals during the day the conditions of the 
barometer and thermometer, the direction and force of 
the wind, and the quantity of rain are accurately re- 
corded. In addition to these the various lighthouse 
keepers 2nd officers at Custom stations along the coast 
should keep a similar register. The director of the ob- 
servatory will have in these numerous observations a 
basis on which to work, and his investigations and the 
result will be made public as widely as possible. 
Father Dechevrens then proceeds to describe what is 
already known of the meteorology of the China seas. 
Two kinds of storms prevail there, those from the north, 
which may be called the storms of winter, or the northern 
monsoon, and the typhoons, which are, properly speaking, 
storms of summer, or the southern monsoon. The first 
come from the interior of Asia and travel towards the 
North Pacific from west to east, while the second gene- 
rally remain confined to the neighbourhood of the Phi- 
lippines, Formosa, and the Gulf of Tonquin. In order to 
study these storms more effectually, the observatory 
should receive, twice daily, meteorological observations 
from Manila, Hongkong, Amoy, Tientsin, Nagasaki, and 
Vladivostock.. By these means warnings can be rapidly 
conveyed to and from Shanghai of storms coming either 
from the north or south. ‘The observatory at Siccawei, 
moreover, should be connected by telephone with the 
foreign concession in Shanghai, and Father Dechevrens 
offers the services of one of his observers for the Shang- 
hai end of the line. The Director concludes his Report 
with the observation that the work will not be one of a 
day, for everything is yet to be done. “The meteorology 
of these countries must. be commenced at its foundation.” 
The recommendations contained in this Report were 
all adopted by the Chamber of Commerce, the members. 
taking on themselves all the financial and business man- 
agement of the undertaking. The owners of vessels 
and the Chinese Customs were called upon to supply the 
instruments necessary for observing, which were those 
recommended by the Meteorological Office in London, 
and already in use in some British mail steamers. 
The agent of the Great Northern Telegraph Company 
has promised to transmit the daily reports free of charge, 
and it is anticipated that the Chinese authorities and the 
local underwriters will contribute the funds necessary for 
carrying out the project. 
Taken in conjunction with the establishment of a com- 
plete observatory in Hongkong, for which, as we have 
already mentioned, the Colonial Government has liberally 
provided, the scheme above described is one of muck 
scientific and practical importance. Although several 
observatories are already in existence at various parts of 
the China seas, no combined attempt has been made 
to study systematically the meteorology of these regions. 
The project which has now been adopted by the Shanghai 
Chamber of Commerce helps to bring to a focus a num- 
ber of observations which, taken singly, are of small 
value, but when collected and examined by competent 
scientific men, cannot fail to produce beneficial results 
THE AURORA? 
Mis 
S we have said, it was nct uncommon at the Vega’s 
winter quarters to see two or more auroral-arcs, one 
of which was generally the “‘common arc.” The second 
was nearly parallel to it and separated from it by an un- 
lighted space which was sometimes crossed by rays of 
light. It would be most important for a thorough know- 
ledge of aurorze to know the true mutual position of the 
arcs; but here again simultaneous measurements at two 
distant places are necessary, and not having such, 
Nordenskjéld remarks that three suppositions may be 
made. First, that the two arcs have irregular positions 
with regard to one another; secondly, that they are 
superposed on one another, having their centres on the 
same axis perpendicular to the surface of the earth; and 
third, that their centres are on the same radius of the 
earth, and that they are situated in about the same plane. 
In all three cases the aspects of the arcs would be quite 
different. The observations at the Vega’s wintering place 
prove that the last case is the rule, and that arcs irregu- 
larly situated with report to one another, or crossing one 
another (which would correspond to the first and second 
supposition), are exceptions ; and Nordenskjéld arrives at 
the conclusion that the aurora-arcs which were seen from 
the Vega, were usually in about the same plane. It 
might be asked, however, if it were not more natural to 
suppose that both rings are at the same distance from the 
earth’s surface, their centres being situated on the same 
radius of the earth? But on March 14 two parallel arcs 
appeared, and soon joined together into a broad belt, the 
interior edge of which was 5°, and the exterior one was 
15° above the horizon, both edges being quite concertric, 
¥ A. E. Nordenskjéld, ‘Om norrskenen under Vegas Oofvervintring vid 
3erings Sund, 1878-79,”’ in ‘* Vega Expeditionen Vetenskapliga Arbeten.” 
(The Scientific Work of the Vega Expedition, part x, pp. 401-452.) Continued 
from p. 321. 
