290 
NATURE 
[Fan. 13, 1870 
four hours after the barometer had passed its minimum : the 
storm lasted 14 hours 30 minutes. The rainfall was moderate. 
I have given you the readings on the 16th on account of the in- 
teresting coincidence between the veering completely round of 
the wind, and the gradual fall and rise of the barometer. On 
the 19th a greater storm occurred, but with a less marked con- 
nection between barogram and anemogram. 
Stonyhurst, Whalley, Dec. 29 S. J. PERRY 
Wind. Wind. 
G.M.T. Barom. DUES Force. G.M.T. Barom, Direc Force. 
Dec.16...2 a.m. 29'244 WSW 7 |Dec.18...5 p.m. 28°803 SW 17 
3 “240 a 7 6 “772° os 22 
4 °235 JO 12 7 "740 SSW 22 
5 "235 15 8 “721 2 24 
6 "229 a 12 9 “706 SW 26 
7 226 SW 16 10 683 93 26 
8 213 Jo 14 Ir “684 Xd 27 
9 “104 50 15 Mid “722 WSW 24 
10 “184 ad 14 | Dec.19...1 a.m. 28°759 W 20 
It “161 Oo 15 2 "783 SW 13 
Noon “126 50 15 3 “Boo oe It 
Ip.m “066 33 9 4 “808 1a 
2 “005 Ss 17 5 “B09 13 
3 28946 30 17 6 ‘810 12 
4 *860 ou 16 7 “792 Sic 17 
5 “784 oe 15 8 "786 SSW 17 
6 *690 SE 4 9 769 36 23 
7 ‘608 ENE 7 10 743 or 23 
8 570 NE_ 10 11 "704 SW 18 
9 “581 NNE 10 Noon 681 30 16 
10 *629 NW_ 1313 I p.m. 676 WSW_ 26 
Ir ‘664 WNW 17 a "694 oe 24 
Mid i} W II 3 "713 WwW 23 
Dec.17...1 a.m. 28°738 WwW 22 4 "740 WSW 20 
2 *Bo4 a0 30 5 74° a0 23 
3 853 a0 28 6 748 Mie ee] 
4 “894 oe 25 7 “758 .: 23 
5 ‘930 WNW 28 8 "765 WSW 25 
6 *980 ds 26 9 “794 SW) 725 
7 29014 W 26 10 "833 WwW 27 
8 “064 50 31 tr 898 WNW 2 
9 +090 = 32 Mid. "937 W 24 
10 "134 So 31 | Dec.20...1a.m. ‘960 dr 23 
II “170 30 31 2 2goor WSW 15 
Noon "212 50 30 3 “oor WwW 22 
Ip.m “250 56 26 4 7ozt WSW 2r 
2 288 oa 19 5 ‘O41 an 16 
3 “328 3 17 6 “040 16 
4 *360 WSW 10 7 O44 14 
5 *368 ad 13 8 *063 16 
6 “382 W ro 9 079 40 14 
7 ‘391 WSW 6 10 7088 WNW 14 
Dec.18...8a.m. 28°964 SSW 5 ir 088 = WSW 15 
9 ‘952 SW 7 Noon “ogo 50 14 
10 938 WSW io I “081 14 
It ‘gI2 SW 134 a “081 oo 15 
Noon “888 55 13 3 “089 10 
I p.m. “872 de 16 4 “081 50 13 
2 *867 16 5 079 at 6 
3 “B36 15 6 068 50 2 
4 “822 se 16 
The Suez Canal 
S1NcE I last addressed you I have had an opportunity of in- 
specting the Suez Canal under the most favourable circumstances. 
After a careful personal examination, and having heard the 
various opinions of others differing in every conceivable respect, 
I think that, considering all things, M. de Lesseps and his staff 
have much cause to feel proud of the success they have attained. 
To return to my previous letter, I may say, without fear of any 
objections which may hereafter be raised, that not only do I 
think the suggestions I then made are sound and practical, but 
that to carry them out would be most economical to the share- 
holders of the Canal, while to the Egyptian Government it would 
add probably 25 per cent. to the land revenue, by reclaiming a 
vast extent of desert that only requires water to make it most 
productive. 
From inquiries also into the land settlement question of Egypt, 
I believe that this project of raising the canal-levels by fresh 
water could be carried out without any complaint being raised 
by the cultivators, who do the earth work, and would be repaid 
by title-deed to the land to be reclaimed ; for, after all, the work 
would not be great, simply widening the present sweet-water 
canal some 30 metres. By a set of locks just before entering 
Lake Ballah from the south, and a similar set of locks before 
entering the bitter lakes from the north, the surface level of the 
water in Lake Timsah could be held up 23 metres. Thus much 
of the expensive deepening and widening of the canal would be 
saved, which is all the more important as it is in this division of 
the canal that rock has been found. 
Tt may be said that the Nile could not supply sufficient water, 
but with a weir or ‘‘anicut” across the Nile at Cairo, where 
stone is plentiful, not only could a supply of water be obtained, 
but I believe the whole system of irrigation in Egypt would be 
greatly improved. 
So much for the interests of the shareholders and the people 
of Egypt, but what would the ship captains say at being de- 
tained by having to pass two sets of locks? 
In reply to this objection I may say, that as the passage 
from the Timsah Lake takes seven or eight hours of daylight 
either way, half an hour’s detention is of no consequence, for 
all sea-going ships must remain a night in Lake Timsah ; so that 
as the ship would thus be some eighteen hours in /vesh water, the 
marine animals and weeds would most probably all drop off 
the ship’s bottom, and so the hour's loss of time by lockage would 
be more than compensated by the days saved on the voyage. 
I have not time at present to speak of the deposits at Port 
Said, or the currents at the Suez end of the Canal, but will 
address you on these interesting questions on some future 
oceasion after I arrive in India. In conclusion, I must add, 
that the Canal authorities have one and all been most civil and 
ohliging, showing and explaining everything. 
T. Locin, C.E. 
Late of the Ganges Canal 
P. & O. Co.’s Ship Mudra, 
Suez, November 29, 1869 
NOTES 
PROFESSOR HELMHOLTZ, of Heidelberg, has been elected a cor- 
responding member of the Physical Section of the Paris Academy 
of Sciences in the room of M. Marianini. Votes :—Helmholtz 
37, Kirchhoff 3, Sir W. Thomson 2, Angstrom 1, Mayer 1. 
At the same meeting the Secret Committee appointed to nomi- 
nate candidates for the place of corresponding member vacant 
owing to the death of M. Matteucci, announced the following 
list :—In the first rank,—M. Mayer of Heilbronn. In the second 
rank,—M. Angstrom of Upsala, M. Billet of Dijon, M. Dove of 
Berlin, Mr. Grove of London, Mr. Henry of Philadelphia, M. 
Jacobi of St. Petersburg, Mr. Joule of Manchester, M. Kirch- 
hoff of Heidelberg, M. Riess of Berlin, Mr. Stokes of Cam- 
bridge, Sir W. Thomson of Glasgow, Mr. Tyndall of London, 
M. Volpicelli of Rome. The election takes place at the next 
meeting of the Academy. 
Her Majesty has been pleased to signify her desire that the 
Historical and Archeological Association of Ireland be henceforth 
called the Royal Historical and Archeological Association of 
Treland, and that the members of the Association be styled 
“Fellows.” 
AT the meeting of the Paris Academy held on the 29th ult., 
the death of M. Erdmann, the Swedish geologist, was an- 
nounced. M. Erdmann was chairman of the commission for the 
Geological Survey of Sweden. 
Mr James Nicor and Dr. G. Dickie, the Professors of 
Natural History and Botany in the University of Aberdeen, 
have addressed a joint letter to the Aberdeen Free Press, defending 
the science-teaching of the university from some remarks made 
by Professor Geddes in his pamphlet on Classical Education in 
the North of Scotland. They show that the students have given 
the greater part of their school life to the classics ; that the time 
allowed for scientific work at the university is only one-sixth of 
that assigned to classical studies ; that the 3,o00/. a-year given 
as bursaries were until recently confined solely (and still are 
chiefly) for merit in classics; and that a considerable sum is 
devoted to Classical prizes, whilst the highest honours in Natural 
Science have been rewarded for the last two years with the mag- 
nificent sum of 10/7. Notwithstanding these disadvantages, and in 
spite of the deliberate endeavour of the commissioners appointed 
“*for the advancement of religion and learning in the univer- 
sities ” to suppress the teaching of Natural Science in the uni- 
versity, Professors Nicol and Dickie are able to point with 
justifiable pride to the list of honours in Natural Science, a list 
