Sept. 14, 1871] 
NATURE 
387 

burst over Edenderry, and the telegraph clerk, on going to work 
his instrument, was instantly struck senseless to the ground. 
Now, are the two bands beyond (z.e. below) the violet often 
seen? for I never before observed them ; or are they due to an 
unusual amount of electrical tension in the atmosphere ? 
And is the second incident an unusual occurrence in telegraph 
offices ? Ganon le 
Earthquake in Jamaica 
ON the night of the 2othinst., at twenty minutes past nine, 
a sharp shock of earthquake was felt throughout the island, ac- 
companied by aloud rumbling noise. The undulations were 
from the north. 
Rost. THOMSON 
Cinchona Plantation, Jamaica, August 23 

An Inquiry 
CAN any of the readers of NATURE inform me whether Dr. 
Anderson, who, in the capacity of naturalist, accompanied Cap- 
tain Sladen’s expedition from Bhamo to Momein in 1868, pub- 
lished any papers upon the scientific results of the journey ? 
If Lam not mistaken, Dr. Anderson was a candidate for the 
Chair of Natural History in Edinburgh last year, and died before 
the election, 
PRS. 

PROF, HAYDEN’S EXPEDITION 
y= learn from Harper's Weekly that advices from 
Prof. Hayden’s exploring expedition in the Yellow 
Stone Lake region have been received up to the 8th of 
August last, and contain a satisfactory exhibit of progress. 
After establishing the depot of supplies already referred 
to on the Yellow Stone River, about one hundred and 
forty miles below the lake, the party ascended the river, 
and reached the lake on the 26th of July, where they 
made anewcamp. They then began at once to survey 
the lake with the most approved apparatus, by the aid of 
a boat taken along for the purpose, and expected to be 
able to ascertain the exact contour, as well as the principal 
depths. They had already found several places in the 
lake where the depth reached three hundred feet, espe- 
cially along the line of a certain channel-way, and they 
confidently expected to find soundings of at least five 
hundred feet. 
They explored one of the islands in the lake, which they 
called Stevenson’s Island, and found it to contain about 
fifteen hundred acres, densely wooded, and with thick and 
almost impenetrable underbrush, consisting largely of 
gooseberry and currant bushes, loaded down with ripe 
fruit, On the threshold only of the wonderful natural 
phenomena in the way of geysers, boiling springs, &c., 
described by Lieut. Doane and Governor Langiord, they 
were satisfied that the description fell far short of the 
reality, which they, indeed, despaired of being able to 
pourtray, even with the aid of photographic views and 
sketches. 
One of these geysers once in thirty-two hours threw up 
a column of water about eight feet in diameter to a height 
of over 200 feet. Hundreds were met with having columns 
of from ten to fifty feet high, some playing all the time, 
and others only at intervals. The hottest springs were 
found to vary in temperature from 188° to 198’, the boiling 
point at that altitude amounting to about 195°. Most of 
the springs were ascertained to be divisible into two 
principal classes, one class containing silica, sulphur, and 
iron, and the other silica and iron only, 
The elevation of the lake was determined to be about 
8,500 feet ; the altitude of the surrounding peaks being, 
of course, very much greater. An abundance of trout was 
found in the waters, of exc:llent flavour, although much 
infected with intestinal worms. Game was scarce imme- 


diately around the lake; but at a short distance it was 
said to be very abundant. In addition to the topographical 
and geological collections, others were being made in all 
branches of natural history, for a full account of which, 
as well as a description of the phenomena in general, 
we shall look with interest to the forthcoming report of 
the expedition, . 

MR, GEORGE HODGE 
V E greatly regret to record the death, at Seaham Har- 
bour, on the 7th of September, after a short illness, 
at the age of thirty-eight, of this accomplished naturalist. 
Although from his retiring and unassuming disposition, 
little known beyond the naturalist circles of the north, 
George Hodge realised, as few do realise, the objects of a 
local naturalist. Living on a portion of the north-east 
coast, the marine fauna of which was practically uninvesti- 
gated when he first settled there, he made its patient and 
honest study the business of the scanty leisure left him by 
heavy business responsibilities. How far he succeeded 
is best evidenced by the Natural History Transactions of 
Northumberland and Durham, his favourite medium of 
publication for his careful observations and exquisite 
drawings of the lower animal forms. During a tem- 
porary residence in Newcastle, he was honorary secretary 
to the Natural History Society, and was to the last a 
valued member of its committee. 
Mr. Hodge was a most enthusiastic dredger; if he 
could get a boat to sea on a fine day (this being even 
more of a desideratum with him than with most men, as 
he was rather easily upset), he was perfectly happy. The 
last two dredging expeditions conducted by the Tyneside 
Naturalists’ Field Club, with grants from the British 
Association, were undertaken chiefly by him in conjunc- 
tion with Mr. G. S. Brady. The Echinodermata were his 
favourite subjects of study, but he was also specially in- 
terested in the Zoophytes, Pycnogons, Crustacea, and 
marine Acari, among all of which he had done good 
work. To his influence chiefly may be ascribed the 
establishment of the very useful and flourishing Natural 
History Club of Seaham Harbour, in whose proceedings 
he always took great interest. 

ELEMENTARY PRACTICAL GEOMETRY 
f= “A Father” has asked me by name in your 
columns what book I can recommend as laying a 
foundation for the geometry of the future, I suppose I ought 
to answer him, though I cannot do so by a simple reference 
to a book. I think the main object of early geometrical 
teaching should be to lay a foundation of familiar facts on 
which the science will afterwards be built up. This is un- 
questionably the true scientific method in teaching all 
subjects ; and as yet it has never, or very rarely, been 
applied in Geometry. For example, no intelligent teacher 
of botany will begin by classifying flowers, or teaching 
theories about their structure ; he begins by giving his 
class flowers to dissect, and then they will know what he 
is talking about; and teachers of chemistry who follow 
any other plan find themselves inevitably compelled to 
cram their pupils. The question is, Aow is this method to 
be applied in Geometry? I know from various sources 
that there is a pretty wide-spread conviction that it ought 
to be so applied, but there is a difficulty that meets 
teachers at once: there does not seem to be enough of 
practical geometry that is sufficiently easy for children ; 
and practical geometry, as presented in text books, is dull 
and uninteresting, as well as rather hard. Still my con- 
viction remains that to lay a foundation of knowledge of 
facts is as necessary in Geometry as in other sciences, 
though the range of facts easily observed is somewhat 
less, and the science becomes much sooner a deductive 
