268 



NATURE 



\August 2, 1877 



an immense whirl whose centre is about 30^-35° lat. S., 

 and 10^-20^ long- W. The whirling movement is in 

 a direction contrary to that of the hands of a watch, 

 being thus opposite to the general circulation of the 

 atmosphere over the North Atlantic in summer. Out 

 from this centre winds blow in all directions, the more 

 important being the south-east trades, which are de- 

 flected to south and south-south-west off the coast of 

 Africa, and to east-south-east and east on approach- 

 ing America ; then in succession north-east, north, and 

 north-west winds on advancing southward along the 

 coast of America, merging finally in the westerly winds 

 which blow across the Atlantic from Cape Horn to the 

 Cape of Good Hope. Looking both at the direction and 

 force of the winds, M. Brault concludes that the results 

 establish beyond a doubt the fact that, contrary to views 

 entertained up to a comparatively recent date, there does 

 not exist any tropical zone stretching across the South 

 Atlantic, characterised by the prevalence of calms and 

 light variable breezes. These results are in entire accord- 

 ance v/ith recent researches into the atmospheric move- 

 ments over this region, and are of peculiar interest when 

 viewed in connection with the distribution of atmospheric 

 pressure and its variation with season over South America, 

 the South Atlantic, and South Africa. 



Climate of Kosseir, on the Red Se4. — In the last 

 number of the Journal of the Austrian Meteorological 

 Society, p. 225, there is an interesting article on the 

 climate of Kosseir, on the Red Sea, based on a year's 

 observations by Dr. Klunzinger during 1872-73. The 

 interest of the climate of this region lies in its e-xtreme 

 character in certain directions, and the regularity of 

 occurrence of its changes from season to season. The 

 mean atmospheric pressure is 3o'o20 inches, rising to the 

 maximum 30213 inches in January, and falling to the 

 minimum 29863 inches in July, showing thus a vari- 

 ation of o"35o inches in the monthly means. The 

 mean temperature is 76°'3, the warmest month, August, 

 being 84" '9, and the coldest, January, 64°'g. There is 

 little cloud in any season, and in summer the skies 

 are constantly all but cloudless. A prominent feature 

 of the climate is its dryness, the mean relative humidity 

 for the year being only 56, falling in June to 51, and 

 rising to 62 in November. This great dryness is due to 

 the winds, which are northerly and north-westerly during 

 the whole year, the only change being from about north- 

 noith-west in summer to north-west in winter. Occa- 

 sionally, however, when easterly winds set in, the air 

 becomes so saturated that everything is wetted with the 

 vapour with which it is heavily charged. On June 4, 

 1873, a " Samum" commenced (north-north-west, force 7), 

 the horizon having a grey troubled appearance, the sky 

 cloudless, and the air hot and dry ; it continued till the 

 6tb, and it was during this strong dry wind that the 

 highest temperature, 93°'9, was observed. 



Drought in Canada. — An unusual drought has pre- 

 vailed in Canada during the past spring. Little rain 

 having fallen for ten weeks, the waters of the Ottawa and 

 St. Maurice, two of the principal lumbering rivers, have 

 been reduced to their summer level, having never before 

 been so low at this season. A serious consequence of 

 this state of matters is, that very large quantities of the 

 finest timber of the dominion must remain in the woods 

 till next year. 



EARLY ALLUSIONS TO THE MAGNETIC 

 NEEDLE 

 A T recent meetings of the Literary and Philosophical 

 -^~*- Society of Manchester interesting contributions to 

 the subject were made. In a paper by Mr. H. Grimshaw 

 he refers to such an allusion in a work entitled, " An 

 Apologie of the Power and Providence of God in the 



Government of the World ; or, An Examination and 

 Censure of the Common Error touching Nature's Per- 

 petual and Universal Decay : Divided into Four Books." 

 The author is one " G. H.," D.D. (Doctor of Divinity), 

 and the work is printed at Oxford by John Litchfield and 

 William Turner, " Printers to the famous University," 

 Anno Domini 1627, being therefore exactly 250 years old. 

 The third book of the four into which the work is 

 divided treats of " The pretended decay of mankind in 

 regard and duration, of strength and stature, of arts and 

 wits." The tenth chapter of this third book is said to be 

 " Touching diverse artificiall workes and usefuU inven- 

 tions, at leastwise matcliable with those of the ancients, 

 namely and chiefly the invention of Printing, Gunnes, 

 and the Sea-Card or Mariners Compasse." This tenth 

 chapter again, for such is the orderly division of the 

 subjects, is subdivided into four sections, and the fourth 

 of these is headed " Of the use and invention of the 

 Mariners Compasse or sea-card, as also of another 

 excellent invention sayd to be lately found out upon the 

 Load-stone, together with the conclusion of this com- 

 parison touching Arts and Wits, with a saying of Bodius, 

 and another very notable one of Lactantius." 



It is in the account of this " excellent invention sayd 

 to be lately found out upon the loadstone" that a curious 

 prevision or dream, so to speak, of the application of 

 electricity as a means of communication occurs, and there 

 is small wonder that the old philosopher called it as he 

 does further on, ''an excellent and secret conclusion upon 

 the stone," for, whilst perusing his description, one can 

 hardly imagine that the writer has not in his mind's eye 

 one of our most modern telegraphic instruments. The 

 paragraph is as follows : — 



" Another excellent and secret conclusion upon this 

 stone, pretended to be found out in these latter times, is, 

 that by touching two needles with the same stone, they 

 being severally set so as they may turne upon two round 

 tables, having on their borders, the Alphabet within 

 circlewise, if two friends agreeing upon the time, the one 

 in Paris, the other in London (having each of them their 

 table thus equally fitted) be disposed upon certayne dayes 

 and at certaine houres to conferre, it is to bee done by 

 turning the needle in one of the tables to the Alphabet, 

 and the other, by Sympathie will turn itself in' the same 

 manner in the other table though never so fane distant : 

 which conclusion if infallibly true, may likewise proove of 

 good and great consequence ; howsoever, I will set it 

 down as I find it described by Faniianus Strada in 

 imitation of the stile and vaine of Lucretius^'' 



Manned genus est lapidis miraiile, &c., &c- 



Then follows the extract in Latin, with the English 

 translation in verse attached. 



It will be acknowledged by any one familiar with the 

 instrument, that the dial telegraph of Cooke and Wheat- 

 stone, invented subsequently to their first upright needle 

 form, most curiously carries out the ideal description of 

 this old author, and it will be seen that the date at which 

 his work is written was nearly 200 years prior to the first 

 attempt made to communicate at a distance by means of 

 magnetic needles. 



Prof Stanley Jevons, in a subsequent paper, stated that 

 ten years ago he spent some trouble in investigating this 

 curious anticipation of the telegraph, but only published 

 the results in the form of a brief anonymous article in a 

 weekly newspaper. This curious subject, Mr. Jevons 

 thinks, has not received the attention which it seems to 

 deserve, but it was not wholly unknown. The Abbd 

 Moigno, in his " Traite de Tdldgraphie Electrique " 

 (P.aris, 1 85 2), alludes to what he calls this " Charmant 

 reve, ou operation necromancienne," and he points out 

 that Addison had quoted the remarkable verses of 

 Famianus Strada in the Speetator, No. 241. Addison 

 speaks of " a chimerical correspondence between two 



