300 
NATURE 
[JULY 24, 1902 
chimneys and trees and sinking several vessels on the River 
Saone. 
We learn from the 7%es that news has been received of a 
severe earthquake shock at Bandar Abbas on July 9. It ccm- 
menced at half-past seven in the morning and lasted three or four 
minutes. All the chief buildings suffered. The Governor’s 
house partly collapsed, while the Customs office was destroyed. 
The shocks continued in the Persian Gulf on July 9 and 10, and 
apparently proceeded from Kishm Island. Loud noises at Kishm 
were distinctly audible at Bandar Abbas. It is feared that the 
destruction at Kishm is considerable. No further information is 
available. A few years ago an earthquake at Kishm destroyed 
hundreds of people. The whole population of Bandar Abbas 
has flocked to the sea-beach for safety. 
A MESSAGE from the Geneva correspondent of the Daily 
Chronicle, dated July 14, says :—A luminous haze has attended 
the sunsets lately, as if the whole of the west of Switzerland 
was on fire and the flames reflected in the sky. Swiss men of 
science attribute this to the presence of fine dust or ashes in the 
upper currents of air, and are of opinion that this dust has been 
carried across the Atlantic from Mont Pelée by air currents. 
This supposition is given support by the news that after a 
shower of rain at Frauenfeld, in Canton Thurgau, the ground 
was covered with a thin layer of ashes of greyish-blue colour. 
A TELEGRAM from Kingstown, St. Vincent, states that on 
Thursday last, July 17, several shocks of earthquake were felt 
there, a terrific shock being experienced at a quarter to ten in 
the morning, accompanied by a loud rumbling explosive sound 
like thunder. The worst shock lasted only ten seconds. The 
shocks were probably caused by explosions of subterranean gas 
or steam. A few days agoit was reported that the saddle between 
the two craters of the Soufricre had collapsed, throwing thou- 
sands of cubic feet of sand, scorize and rock into the funnel of 
the Soufriére, thus blocking the throat of the crater. In conse. 
quence of this, it is suggested that the gas and steam, failing to 
find any outlet by the throat or funnel of the mountain, caused 
internal explosions and severe concussions. A Z%mes message 
from St. Thomas states that a severe earthquake was felt in St. 
Vincent on July 22 at 1.15 in the morning. ‘The shocks were 
local, and seem to have been confined to a certain area of which 
Kingstown and its vicinity were apparently the centre. 
Ir would seem to be the universal belief that volcanic ash has 
very fertilising qualities, and Prof. d’Albuquerque’s contrary 
view, asa result of the first examination of the St. Vincent ash 
which fell at Barbados early in May last, was generally regarded 
with suspicion. The latest number of the West Indian 
Agricultural News contains an interesting paragraph on the 
subject. Analyses by different authorities in the West Indies 
and in England showed conclusively, as Prof. Harrison said, 
“that the volcanic dust was quite valueless as a manure—the 
value of the soluble constituents being about three cents.” 
Owing to the copious rains that fell in Barbados mmediately 
after the dust, causing a sudden bursting of leaf and flower on 
plants that had previously been parched by drought, a popular 
idea was fostered that the dust was, more or less, of a fertilising 
character. It is believed, probably on good grounds, that it 
was useful in destroying the small black ants common in the 
island, and in drying up the egg-clusters of the moth-borer then 
on the leaves of the sugar-cane. 
Mr. H. HeskerH BELL, Administrator of Dominica, has a 
long letter in Tuesday’s 7%zes, in which he shows that the effects 
of the recent volcanic eruptions in Martinique and St. Vincent have 
been greatly exaggerated in many reports. No attempt is made 
to minimise the disaster, but only to show that the area involved 
in it is comparatively small. Even estimating the devastated 
NO. 1708, VOL. 66] 
s 
area in Martinique at fifty square miles, there still remain more 
than 300 square miles in that island that are practically in exactly 
the same condition as they were in the day before the eruption. 
With the exception of the blasted triangle on the western slope 
of Pelée, the whole colony is still dotted with plantations, home- 
steads and villages. St. Vincent has also suffered, but there 
are still 43,000 colonists in the island. No other islands have 
been affected. Although, as has correctly been stated, many of 
the Leeward and Windward Islands possess craters and volcanic 
cones, there has so far not been in any of them the slightest 
sympathetic activity with the outbursts in Martinique and St. 
Vincent. The fall of volcanic dust that has been noticed in 
many of the islands has simply been a harmless phenomenon, 
and, so far as sympathetic volcanic agency may be concerned, 
it is said that the islands might just as well have been thousands 
of miles away from the affected craters. Dominica is in pre- 
cisely the same prosperous condition that it was in the day before 
the eruptions at Martinique and St, Vincent. Although barely 
forty miles distant from Pelée and near enough for the inhabit- 
ants to hear the detonations, Mr. Bell says the island has been 
absolutely unaffected by the recent outburst. The hot springs 
and geysers have remained in their normal condition, and, with 
the exception of one slight shock of earthquake felt by a few 
persons, there has not been any seismic disturbance. Even 
the shower of powdered scorize that fell on May 11 was so 
slight that its presence could only be detected on the surface 
of palm-leaves and other large foliage. 
A CORRESPONDENT sends us from Bath a drawing of a rathe 
curious development of a foxglove (digitalis). The plant 
represented was similar to any ordinary foxglove, with the 
exception that the terminal flower of each inflorescence was not 
a foxglove blossom, but a Canterbury bell (campanula). This 
flower, from an external view, looked like any normal Canter- 
bury bell; the stamens, however, were eight in number and 
similar to those of the foxglove, while the pistil was somewhat 
like that common to the foxglove. A botanist to whom we 
submitted the drawing and description tells us he obtained a 
photograph of the same kind of flower some years ago, and 
upon inquiry he found that the anomaly is fairly frequent and 
well known. The combination of two flowers other than the 
foxglove and campanula, if it occurs, would, however, be worth 
recording. The specimen from which the photograph men- 
tioned was taken grew ina semi-wild garden in Surrey not far 
from London. 
THE use of oxygen inhalers in connection with high balloon 
ascents was mentioned last week (p. 279). On the occasion of 
the last Aéronautical Congress held at Berlin, a report on the 
inhalation of oxygen was presented, and the subject has also 
occupied the attention of the Société francaise de Navigation 
aérienne. The July number of the déronaztical Journal con- 
tains a report of a lecture delivered by Dr. Siiring before 
this Society upon his ascent with Dr. Berson on July 31, 1901, 
when the height of 10,800 metres was reached. It was pointed 
out that as to the physiological side of the question, on closely 
studying foreign and German ascents, three stages may be dis- 
tinguished. During the first of these stages the excitement 
exceeds considerably the phenomena of height-sickness proper, 
resulting from want of oxygen. In such a state of excitement, 
one does not know, perhaps, the real state of the height-sickness, 
and this naturally becomes an exceedingly critical matter when 
the dangers of a mishap become imminent. The regrettable 
issue of the Zeni¢h expedition in the year 1874 is no doubt to 
be traced to this, to a large extent at any rate. The second 
and more dangerous stage is that of confusion. By systemati- 
cally inhaling oxygen, this state of excitement leading to con- 
fusion and imminently dangerous conduct can be warded off by 
