440 
NATURE 
[Sepz. 9, 1886 
equatorial telescope, resulted in the discovery by the 
present writer of several additional objects of the same 
class. Still more recently, Dr. Copeland, during a 
journey to the Andes, has extended the list by the dis- 
covery of some similar stars in the southern heavens. 
Among the photographic observations which have been 
undertaken at the Harvard College Observatory, as a | 
memorial to the late Prof. Henry Draper, are included a | 
series of photographs of the spectra of all moderately 
bright stars visible in the latitude of the Observatory. A 
recent photograph of the region in Cygnus, previously 
known to contain four spectra exhibiting bright lines, has 
served to bring to our knowledge four other spectra of | 
the same kind. One of these is that of the compara- 
tively bright star P.Cygni, in which bright lines, ap- 
parently due to hydrogen, are distinctly visible. This 
phenomenon recalls the circumstances of the outburst of 
light in the star T Coronz, especially when the former 
history of P Cygni is considered. According to Schon- 
feld, it first attracted attention, as an apparently new star, 
in 1600, and fluctuated greatly during the seventeenth 
century, finally becoming a star of the fifth magnitude, 
and so continuing to the present time. It has recently 
been repeatedly observed at the Harvard College Ob- 
servatory with the meridian photometer, and does not | 
appear to be undergoing any variation at present. 
Another of the stars shown by the photograph to have | 
bright lines is D.M. + 37° 3821, where the lines are un- 
mistakably evident, and can readily be seen by direct 
observation with the prism. The star has been over- 
looked, however, in several previous examinations of the | 
region, which illustrates the value of photography in the | y ; 
| glad to say that this call was heartily responded to by 
detection of objects of this kind. 
The other two stars first shown by the photograph to | 
have spectra containing bright lines are relatively incon- 
spicuous. The following list contains the designations 
according to the Durchmusterung, of all eight stars, the 
first four being those previously known ;:—35° 4oo1, 
35. 4013, 36° 3956, 36° 3987, 37° 3821, 38° 4o10, 37° 3871, 
35 3952 Or 3953. 
which the bright lines are most distinct. 
EDWARD C, PICKERING 
PEAT FLOODS IN THE FALKLANDS 
(Pe accompanying narratives of a singular.visitation 
which has befallen the town of Stanley in the Falk- 
lands may be of some interest to the readers of NATURE. 
Though the causes are so different, the effects of the 
bursting of a peat-bog in some respects curiously simulate 
those of a lava-flow. The papers have at different times 
been sent to Kew from the Colonial Office. It is partly 
in the hope that their publication may lead to some prac- 
tical suggestion for dealing with the trouble that I ask for 
their insertion in your columns. 
W. T. THISELTON DYER 
THE ACTING-GOVERNOR BAILEY TO GOVERNOR 
CALLAGHAN, C.M.G. 
Stanley, Falkland Islands, January 1, 1879 
SiR,—I regret to have to report to you the circum- 
stances attending an accident which happened early on 
the morning of November 30 last. 
Just after midnight on Friday, November 29, one of 
the inhabitants was awakened by the continued barking 
of his dog, and thinking that a cow had strayed into his 
garden, he went outside, when to his alarm he found that 
his house was surrounded by a black moving mass of 
peat several feet in height, and travelling down the hill at 
about four to five miles an hour. It was not until day- 
light that the extent of the disaster was manifested. 
The sufferers by the calamity were quite shut off from 
communication with the rest of the settlement, until they 
Cf these 37° 3871 is P Cygni, and | 
37° 3821, as above stated, is the star in the spectrum of | 
had cut a way for themselves through the heap of liquid 
peat, which everywhere surrounded their dwellings. For- 
tunately no lives were lost. 
Immediately, when the report reached me, I proceeded 
to the scene of the disaster, and found the town in a worse 
state than it had been represented, all communication 
between the east and west end of Stanley being entirely 
cut off, except by boats. - At this time there was no per- 
ceptible movement in the mass of peat which covered the 
ground in confused heaps, except in Philomel Street and 
the drain on the east side—where I perceived the liquid 
peat moving down at a very slow rate. To get rid of this 
as quickly as possible, I found it advisable to turn all the 
water that could be damned up, and sluice the peat 
whilst in a liquid state, and by this means I eventually 
cleared Philomel Street. On following up the course 
which the slip had taken, the hill presented a curious 
appearance. From the peat bank, down to the brow of 
the hill, a distance of about 250 yards, the surface-peat 
lay in confused heaps direct from the opening of the bog. 
The moving power (whether water or liquid peat it is 
impossible to say) travelled over the ground faster than 
the heavier bodies, which were left standing 3 to 4 feet 
above the level of the ground. 
Proceeding to the top of the bog, I found a depression 
extending over 9 to 10 acres of ground, the edges 
cracking and filling up with water, and threatening 
another accident. 1 at once saw the necessity of calling 
upon the inhabitants to assist me in cutting a trench at 
the back of the hill, so as to draw off this accumulation 
of water, which seemed likely to float the loose peat left 
in the depression down into the settlement. I am 
every man in the settlement, the gentlemen finding sub- 
stitutes to take their places. 
All worked for eight days in the cold and the rain, but 
nevertheless they were unsuccessful in carrying the 
| trench through the bank into the bottom of the slip, 
| owing to the soft peat welling up from the bottom and 
filling the trench again. Seeing that the exertions were 
of little avail in the present state of the bog, I did 
not press the settlers to continue the work that was so 
disheartening in its results; and as I now felt satisfied, 
from the great quantity of water that had been drained 
off, and the cutting being at a levei, that this would pre- 
vent any further accumulation of water taking place in 
the slip, as there was no immediate danger of another 
accident taking place, the work was stopped, and I pub- 
lished the inclosed notice. 
With your Excellency’s permission I will, in the course 
of a few weeks, prepare sections of the bog and the 
settlement, showing a plan of drainage which will, I hope, 
prevent a similar accident happening again.—I have, &c., 
(Signed) ARTHUR BAILEY 
His Excellency Governor Callaghan, C.M.G. 
LIEUT.-GOVERNOR BARKLY TO EARL GRANVILLE 
Government House, Stanley, Falkland Islands, 
Sune 3, 1886 
My Lorp,—I regret to have to report that a slip of the 
peat-bog at the back of the town of Stanley, similar to 
that which occurred in November 1878, but about 200 
yards to the westward of the scene of that accident, took 
place last night. A stream of half-liquid peat, over rco 
yards in width and 4 or 5 feet deep, flowed suddenly 
through the town into the harbour, blocking up the 
streets, wrecking one or two houses in its path, and sur- 
rounding others so as completely to imprison the inhabit- 
ants. Fortunately, as the night was wet and stormy, 
almost every one was within doors, and the few who were 
in the wrecked houses escaped in time. One child was, 
unfortunately, smothered in the peat, whose body has 
been recovered, but no other casualties are known to 
have occurred. An old man is, however, reported to be 
: cnmens te we 
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