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OcTOBER 1902 | 
NATURE 
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shot out from the mountain in all directions, zigzagging and 
flickering flashes alternating with, or being accompanied by, 
reddish globes, which ascended and exploded, and shot out stars 
and long rays. Away towards the south-west was another large 
focus of electric energy, which appeared to me to have a dis- 
tinct relation to the volcanic electric discharges from Mont 
Pelée. This spot was, I reckoned, at least forty miles from the 
volcano, from which it bore almost west two points north. This 
latter electrical display was similar, but less extensive than that 
from Mont Pelée, and it was accompanied by curious glowing 
globes, which burst and shot out tongues of lightning. The 
most curious part of the magnificent sight, however, was that 
occasionally long rays of light, very like to the rays of a search- 
light, shot out from the direction of Mont Pelée downwards to 
the secondary and distant electrical display, and on this broad 
ray reaching the western focus, the lightning there became more 
vivid, intense and extensive. 
The West Indian volcanic explosions are undoubtedly due to 
the irruption of water into the reservoirs feeding the volcanoes. 
There are no large rivers or lakes that could supply water in 
sufficient quantity to produce the phenomena observed. Clearly, 
then, the sea has got in by some fissure or dislocation, and it has 
occurred to me that the electrical display to the west of Pelée 
observed on the night of August 28 was caused bya fissure in 
the sea bottom permitting an irruption of water into the reservoir 
from whence the volcano has obtained the material for its solid 
ejecta. Anyhow, the disastrous eruption of Pelée on the 30th— 
that is, two days afterwards—was accompanied by an enormous 
discharge of steam and hot water, much greater, indeed, than in 
the case in the earlier eruptions. 
In the neighbourhood of the volcanoes there has been much 
alteration of the bottom of the’ Caribbean Sea. The cable-re- 
pairing ships report the depth in places to have increased by half 
a mile. On September 19, a telegram from the West Indian and 
Panama Telegraph Company stated that :— 
‘* Unprecedented difficulties have been encountered in the 
endeavour to repair the interrupted cables between St. Lucia 
and St. Vincent and St. Lucia and Grenada. The cables 
appear to be buried under a layer of volcanic mud, and this, 
combined with the great depth of water, which can only be 
attributed to the alteration of the sea-bed due to the late 
eruptions, has rendered it difficult to raise the cable to the 
surface in consequence of the enormous strain. The repair of 
the St. Lucia—St. Vincent section, which was effected on the 
16th instant after several weeks’ operation, has been a very costly 
one, necessitating an expenditure of over thirty miles of new 
cable, and the fresh interruption which occurred in this section 
during the night of the 17th is in this new cable put down only 
the day before, and was evidently caused by some submarine 
disturbance.” 
Since the loss of the Graff/er during the destruction of St. 
Pierre, no attempt has been made to repair the cable between 
Dominica and Martinique, so there is no recent authentic 
information concerning the disturbance of the sea bottom near 
to Mont Pelée ; but Captain McKay, the Superintendent of the 
Quebec Steam Ship Co., who went south in the s.s. Kovona on 
August 29, reported that ‘‘the sea between Dominica and 
Martinique was of a light green colour, which makes one think 
there was shoal water.” This colour was due, doubtless, to the 
suspended ash which has fallen into this portion of the sea in 
enormous quantities from time to time, and it is to be expected 
that there has been a subsidence instead of an upheaval of the 
sea bottom to the west of Martinique. 
August 30.—There were detonations in the afternoon, with 
slight vibrations of the earth; and at 7 p.m. there were ex- 
ceedingly loud detonations and growlings, which continued at 
intervals until 2a.m. on August 31. Volcanic ash began to fall at 
5.30 p.m., and, as the night wore on, the fall was so great that 
the darkness became intense. 
that evidently it was shot high into the upper strata of the 
atmosphere and carried to the north-east before it began to fall 
into the lower regions swept by the ‘‘ trades.” Later on, news 
came that the fall of ash in Guadeloupe was very heavy. In 
Montserrat the fall was lighter, and in Antigua it was lighter 
still. 
August 31.—The fall of ash in Roseau (at the south-western 
end of the island) covered the surface to the depth of a quarter 
of an inch ; the dust penetrated everywhere, closed drawers and 
presses being insufficient to keep out the finer particles. 
September 1.—The atmosphere is still dust-laden, and the sun 
NO. 1721, VOL. 66] 
The ash came from the east, so | 
was obscured all day ; it could be seen only towards the evening, 
when it set like a dull greenish disc. In the afternoon heavy 
ash clouds were drifting to the west through the Martinique 
Channel. 
September 2.—Mr. A. Robinson, the Government Officer at 
the eastern side of the island, reports to me that the ash fell 
there on the night of August 30 to the depth of from an 
inch to two inches, that small trees and branches of large ones 
were broken down by the weight of the dust, which clung 
tenaciously to the leaves, branches and stems, and that the 
cattle were suffering from hunger, as the grass was covered and 
grazing was impossible. 
September 3.—The mail steamer came in to-day from the 
south, and brought some refugees from Morne Rouge, which 
was destroyed by the eruption of Mont Pelée on the night of 
August 30. There was a French priest on board who was an 
eye-witness of the disaster. The following statement he made 
was kindly written down for me by Mr. C. A. Seignoret, the 
(Quarantine Officer :-— 
‘« The phenomena were entirely new, and hot water and red- 
hot dust were the principal elements of destruction amongst the 
inhabitants of Morne Rouge and Carbet. Several houses were 
completely destroyed, while others sustained no damage.”’ 
Mr. Seignoret has also kindly interviewed one of the intel- 
ligent refugees for me, and he has furnished me with the follow- 
ing statement made by her :— 
“* Miss Carra, a respectable resident at Morne Rouge, who 
was an eye-witness to the eruption of Mont Pelée which occurred 
on August 30 last, informed me that rumbling noises were 
heard from the crater all day, with detonations and frequent 
flashes of electricity, and towards evening the mountain appeared 
to be a mass of flame, emitting alternately jets of hot water and 
red-hot ashes, which ascended into the air in the form of rockets, 
and as the ashes fell upon the wooden housetops, the buildings 
at once caught fire. A great many lives were destroyed by hot 
ashes and water, for numbers of persons rushed from their 
houses into the streets to escape from the flames, and as the ashes 
fell upon their faces and other exposed portions of their bodies, 
the skin at once became red as scarlet and peeled off, causing the 
parts to swell to an enormous size. In most cases, portions of 
the legs, arms and chest were burnt, while the clothes were 
intact. White persons got completely charred in the face, causing 
them to appear like coal-black negroes. Some of the gendarmes 
were found dead in fixed positions with their clothing quite 
sound, while others were burnt in various parts of their bodies. 
Water ! Water! was the only cry from the wounded and dying, 
and in many instances death ensued immediately after their 
thirst was quenched.” 
This interesting account indicates that there was an ejection 
of much larger quantities of steam and hot water than occurred 
in the earlier eruptions. Persons who shut themselves close in 
their houses were nearly all saved, the hot blast passing quickly, 
but from other accounts I have received it appears that the heat 
was fearful for a brief period and that the rapid evaporation of 
moisture from the tissues caused a thirst that was agonising 
until assuaged. 
About 1500 persons were killed and, according to the state- 
ments of ZL’ Opznzon of, Fort-de-France, a greater number have 
suffered injuries. H. A. ALFORD NICHOLLS. 
ASTRONOMY AND COSMICAL PHYSICS AT 
THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 
AT the Bradford meeting, in 1900, a department of astronomy 
was established as a subsection of Section A, in deference 
toa wish that had been expressed that astronomy should be better 
represented at the British Association. After two years’ ex- 
perience, it was felt that the astronomical papers that were re- 
ceived were scarcely enough to justify this division of Section A, 
and this year the subsection was strengthened by the addition of 
cosmical physics. On the Friday the whole section was given 
up to cosmical physics; on the Monday and Tuesday the sub- 
section met separately. On all three days the room was well 
filled, and it was apparent that the enlarged subsection was in 
some ways a success. But towards the end of the meeting there 
was a strong expression of opinion that it is not to the advan- 
tage of the section as a whole that it should be so much 
subdivided, and the whole matter will have to be carefully con- 
sidered before next year. Perhaps a solution of the difficulty 
