398 



NA TURE 



[February 



:7, 1902 



asunder, each of Ihem shut himself up in his closet at the time 

 appointed and immediately cast his eyes upon his dial plate. 

 If he had a mind to write anything to his friend, he directed his 

 needle to every letter that formed the words which he had occa- 

 sion for, making a little pause at the end of every word or 

 "sentence to avoid confusion. The friend, in the meanwhile, saw 

 his own sympathetic needle moving of itself to every letter which 

 that of his correspondent pointed at. By this means they talked 

 together across a whole continent, and 'conveyed their thoughts 

 to one another in an instant over cities or mountains, seas or 

 deserts." 



Prof. A. Ai;assiz and his party have returned to Colombo, 

 after spending a few weeks in the exploration of the Maldives. 

 From the Ceylon Obsen'er we learn that about three hundred 

 photographs were taken, principally of coral reef subjects. The 

 principal work done was the sounding of the channels between 

 the lagoons and the development of the plateau on which the 

 atolls of the Maldives have been formed. The principal atolls 

 are separated by comparatively shallow water in the central part 

 of the group, while towards the south, between Hadumati and 

 Suvadiva and .Addu, the depths are very much greater — nearer a 

 thousand fathoms. A line was run to the westward of Ari 

 Atoll into fifteen hundred fathoms, and one to the southward of 

 South Male into twelve hundred fathoms, showing that the 

 plateau of the Maldives is much ''steeper on the west than on 

 the east face. .Soundings were also taken between the northern 

 Maldives and Colombo, and they show that the Maldives are 

 separated from the Indian continental slope by a deep bank of 

 the ocean of more than fifteen hundred fathoms in depth. 

 The atolls of the Maldives are said to exhibit the most 

 simple and primitive conditions for the formation of atolls 

 which are found anywhere except in some parts of the 

 Yucatan plateau in the West Indies. Atolls can be found 

 in all stages of growth, from a mere bank rising to a few 

 feet above the plateau to banks within five or six fathoms 

 from the surface or to banks which have just reached the sur- 

 face and on which sandbanks or islets are beginning to forms. 

 Prof. Agassiz says that one reason for I he success of his expedi. 

 tion is that the charts published more than seventy years ago are 

 as accurate to-day as they were then. The only changes noticed 

 were changes such as the washing away of banks or the forma- 

 tion of banks since the charts were published ; but these are 

 changes without any special importance. 



We have received the Report of the Meteorological Com- 

 mission of the Cape of Good Hope for the year 1900. The 

 Commission has had to contend with considerable difficulty 

 owing to the irruption of hostile bands into Cape Colony and 

 the wanton destruction of many instruments. Nevertheless, 

 it is able to report that the interest .shown in the subject 

 both by observers and the general public continues to grow, 

 and that observations have been restarted at Johannesburg 

 and Kimberley. Compared with the previous year, there has been 

 a considerable increase in the number of observers, especially at 

 rain-gaage stations, which now number 447. An investigation 

 is being made into the connection between the weather and the 

 plague in Cape Town. The result goes to show that each 

 marked rise in temperature was followed in a period of from ten 

 to fourteen days by an increase in the number of plague cases. 

 The Commission has also taken up the investigation of ocean cur- 

 rents with the cooperation of the Union-Castle Steam-ship Com- 

 pany, whose captains are instructed to throw bottles overboard at 

 fourteen different points along the coast. Among various papers 

 which have recently been read before the South African 

 Philosophical Society may be mentioned one of especial interest 

 on some periodical changes in the rainfall at the Royal 

 Observatory, since 1841, 'by Prof J. T. Morrison, in which 

 NO. 1687, VOL. 65] 



evidence is shown of two prevailing periodicities running 

 simultaneously through the monthly amounts, and completing 

 themselves in ten years and in slightly over nine years respec- 

 tively. The author also finds a well-marked periodicity of about 

 sixty years, but its exact period has not yet been determined. 



The Meteorological Office pilot chart of the North Atlantic 

 and Mediterranean for the month of March stales that, although 

 there is a general diminution in the strength of the winds at this 

 season, gales are still of frequent occurrence, esjiecially on the 

 western half of the ocean, where, over a considerable area, the 

 frequency is from 25 to 36 per cent. This locality is indicated 

 on the inset chart of mean barometric pressure by a closing up 

 of the isobars. The prevalent north-easterly winds in the 

 neighbourhood of the British Isles are associated with the dip- 

 ping of the isobars south-eastwards towards Spain. On the 

 Culf of Mexico the " northers " are becoming less frequent, but 

 they undergo certain important modifications. They are shorter 

 in duration and are accompanied by finer weather, but they blow 

 with greater violence during the first twenty-four hours of their 

 continuance and draw less to the north-east. Fog on the Banks 

 having reached its minimum in February is now spreading east 

 and west, and mariners are cautioned against hugging the coasts 

 of the United States during the prevalence of east winds, and 

 particularly gales, as the low shores are then hidden in fog. Two 

 inset charts are given to illustrate the north-easterly type of 

 weather over western Europe, one being the blizzard of March, 

 1S91, when many of our southern counties were buried deep 

 under snow. One result of the presence of these spring north- 

 east winds is seen in their marked influence on the currents. 

 Not only is there a south-westerly set traceable from the Channel 

 soundings, but even northward of the 50th parallel there is a 

 westerly flow to about 22° W. , where it curves to southward 

 and south-eastward and merges in the south-westerly set near 

 the 40th parallel. The Gulf Stream water is thus kept away 

 from our south-western shores at this season, but out on the 

 ocean its flow can be traced north-eastward to the neighbour- 

 hood of Rockall. No ice appears to have been reported since 

 the early part of December. 



The issue of the pilot chart referred to in the foregoing note 

 completes the series for a whole year, and investigators have 

 now at their service a most valuable summary of the salient 

 features of the various elements month by month. The circu- 

 lation of the ocean waters will attract most attention, because 

 the currents of the Atlantic have never before been published 

 for each of the twelve months, and as the results here given are 

 based on observations extending over the very long period of 

 sixty-five years, they are as complete as can be hoped for. 

 Commander Hepworth has been singularly successful in his 

 selections of weather types and other matter for the several 

 months, many of them being justified in the course of the 

 period covered, such, for instance, as the northerlies in May, 

 the summer thunderstorms, the September hurricane near the 

 Cape Verde Islands, the recent exceptionally high barometer 

 (31 'I I in.), and the dust storm off north-west Africa in January, 

 iVc. Reports from different parts of western Europe indicate 

 very clearly that the sand precipitated in South Wales and the 

 south-west of England on January 22 and 23 had travelled 

 northward from the sandstorm experienced about the Canaries 

 and Madeira on the 17th and iSth, when an easterly gale was 

 blowing from the African mainland. 



So comparatively easy has it now become to obtain 

 good photographs by means of flashlight that pictures 

 of places situated under the level of the earth's surface 

 are not uncommon. So interesting are some of these 

 underground passages, caves and grottoes, and so great is 

 the chance that as time goes on they will undoubtedly be 



