550 
NATURE 
| April 12, 1883, 
THE APPROACHING ECLIPSE 
ape accompanying illustration from La Nature shows 
the instruments to be used at the total eclipse of 
May 6, by M. Janssen, who has command of the French 
expedition, The illustration is after a photograph taken 
at M. Janssen’s Observatory at Meudon. The French 
expedition, which has probably reached its destination, 
will be located on Sable Island, near Caroline Island, in 
the Marquesas Archipelago. Before quitting Paris, M. 
Janssen had all his instruments and tents erected in order 
to see that all worked well. The frame surrounding the 
Apparatus for French Eclipse Expedition. 
apparatus is arranged to receive a large awning to protect 
them. The tent on the right is intended for the astro- 
nomers, the furniture consisting of a work-table, several 
camp-stools, and three beds. The little tent on the left 
is for photography. The instruments of the French expe- 
dition comprise—1. A telescope of short focus for spectro- 
scopic work. 2. An equatorial on which will be arranged 
a photographic apparatus, containing five cameras which 
act together. The plates are o™-4o by o™'50; they will 
require an exposure of five minutes. This apparatus is 
intended for intra-Mercurial planets. 3. A telescope of 
6 inches, with a lens of 3 inches, with photographic appa- 
ratus acting by means of three cameras at once. This. 
apparatus is intended for the solar corona. 4. A 
fourth telescope, specially reserved for M. Trouvelot 
for drawings of the corona and search for intra-Mercurial 
planets. 
DEATHS FROM SNAKE BITE IN BOMBAY 
AP Report of the Sanitary Commissioner with the 
Government of Bombay shows that, among other 
causes of death in that Presidency in the year 1881, 1209 
persons died from snake bite. The names of the snakes 
are not given, but it is probable that the cobra was the 
chief offender, the echis and bungarus accounting for 
those not slain by that snake. The monthly prevalence 
of deaths from this cause is interesting, as it shows at 
what period of the year efforts for destruction of snakes 
might be most effectively carried on; it also shows that 
there was an increase of thirty deaths on those of the 
preceding year; and it suggests that, however vigorous 
these efforts may have been, the result is not so satis- 
factory as could be wished, as a comparison of the deaths 
in 1881 with the mean of those of five preceding years 
shows that (in 1881 at least) the number had increased. 
Months. Deaths in 1881. Mean of five years 
January 500 oe 39 30 
February 34 24 
March... 55 45 
April ... 55 49 
May 95 93 
June 162 135 
July 191 164 
August 165 159 
September 161 160 
October 128 144 
November 80 68 
December 44 39 
1209 IIIO 
This (in 1881) proves that one person in 13,610 of the whole 
population of 16,450,414 for the twenty-four Presidency 
districts died from snake bite. June, July, August, 
September, and October are the months of greatest mor- 
tality, and it would be worth while inquiring if more 
vigorous efforts could not be made for the destruction of 
the snakes during these months, when it is presumed 
the creatures are more numerous and perhaps more 
active in their destructive work. The appearance and 
character of venomous as distinguished from - harmless 
snakes ought now to be so well known in India that, 
whatever other difficulty may stand in the way of their 
destruction, absence of means of identification should not 
be one of the obstacles. 
After all the mortality from snake bite is very small 
compared with that from other causes. The same able 
and most valuable Report shows that in the year 1881 
there were 272,403 deaths from fever, of which no doubt 
a large proportion were due to miasmatic causes. The 
entire death-rate from all causes amounts to 381,450, or 
23°18 per 1000 of the whole population. Against these 
death-rates and their preventable causes, whether from 
dirt, miasmata, foul water, or snake virus, the earnest 
endeavours of the sanitary authorities are now unremit- 
tingly directed, and it is impossible to read the Reports 
annually prepared by the Sanitary Commissioners with- 
out feeling impressed by their value and importance, or 
without a conviction that they must sooner or later have 
beneficial results on public health and the value of life in 
India. JOSEPH FAYRER 
ASTRONOMICAL PHOTOGRAPHY 
TS important part that photography is likely to play 
in the future of astronomy renders it desirable that 
an opportunity should be afforded to astronomers to 
