86 



NA rURE 



\_N0V. 2 2, I < 



these estuaries or passages were only entirely open in the 

 Crag period. 



I have said Vectis is equivalent with the Celtic word 

 " gwyth," a passage. Now there is a closed passage or 

 haven (a gwyth, or vectis, or iktis) from Sandown to 

 Bembridge in the Isle of Wight (Fig. i). From this 

 passage the whole island gets its name " Gwyth " in 

 Celtic, Latin " Vectis," Saxon " Wiht,'' English " Wight," 

 never spelt " White," although it has white chalk cliffs. 



The safety of any of the harbours called Vectis or 

 Iktis arose from the fact of these islands (or parts of 

 them) near the coast of Britain being peninsulas at low 

 water and islands at high water. These were, therefore, 

 typical natural harbours. The Greek writers, Diodorus 

 Siculus and others, insist particularly upon this property 

 of change with the tide. The remarkable tide contrasted 

 strongly with the different circumstances in the Mediter- 

 ranean. Now the prevailing winds on the south coast of 

 England have caused modern beaches to form, particu- 

 larly at all of these four passages on the south coast of 

 England, and many of the passages have been closed, as 

 we know, in the historical epoch. Their ancient form is 

 clearly shown in my woodcut. Now the sea is entirely 

 shut out by modern beaches and works. 



The drawings show the changes which have occurred 

 in Fig. I, the Isle of Wight. Fig. 2 is the passage be- 

 tween the Isle of Thanet and Kent, closed in the histori- 

 cal period between Ritupee and Regulbium. In Fig. 3, 

 the Chesil Bank, has filled up the old waterway between 

 the Isle of Portland and the mainland. Fig. 4, passage 

 from St. Michael's Mount to Hayle. Gravel and stream 

 tin-drift, closing up the ancient passage from near St. 

 Michael's Mount at Marazion to Hayle. 



The type of all that has happened is well seen. Fig. i, 

 Vectis, the Isle of Wight. Even in 1670 there was only 

 a groyne and a small alluvial deposit near Sandown. 

 Nearly all the passage to Bembridge was an estuary ; 

 now it is nearly all dry land. 



The term "vectis" in Latin, or "iktis"' in Greek, was 

 no doubt applied to all the passages in these four islands. 



The Cornish tin no doubt came in coracles, and by 

 land on horses, to Magnus Portus or to Stansoar Point 

 for shipment to Brading, and was shipped from these 

 Hampshire ports and Isle of Wight ports to the banks of 

 the Seine, to be carried on horseback in thirty days to 

 Marseilles. Thus both the Bembridge peninsula and St. 

 Michael's Mount were shipping places for tin, and both 

 were properly called Iktis and Vectis, and as usual we 

 find there was no error in the Greek observations. 



Then as to the period when the contour lines of the 

 south coast began to change. The Crag period was that 

 in which the great estuaries round the British coast began 

 to be filled up. Then pebbles and sand were driven 

 along the coast. I believe all the four channels in the 

 drawing, were open in the Crag period, and gradually 

 closed up in the long period which intervened between 

 the Crag and the present time. The continuous filling 

 up has also occurred in the estuaries and passages on 

 the opposite coast of the English Channel. It is pro- 

 bable that Portus Itius, at Gessoriacum ? (Boulogne) ob- 

 tained its name in a similar manner to Vectis and Iktis 

 as I have already stated. 



We find pure iron B.C. 3124 in Egypt. If iron was a 

 necessity for the production of copper, and the metal tin 

 was of no use without copper, we may place the inventions 

 of the metals in the following order: \\) iron, (2) copper, 

 (3) tin. A. Tylor 



THE BEN NEVIS OBSERVATORY 



SINCE the formal opening of the Observatory on 

 October 17, workmen have been engaged in fitting 

 up and finishing the interior, and pushing forward the 

 provisioning of the establishment with tinned meats. 



biscuits, tea, coffee, c&c, capable of lasting for six months, 

 with fuel for a like period. Nothing that could be thought 

 of has been left undone to render the observers as com- 

 fortable as possible during the winter. The telegraph 

 cable is now in working order from the Observatory to 

 Fort William, so that communication is always possible 

 with the outer world. Mr. Omond, the superintendent, 

 and his two assistants took up their residence on the top 

 of the Ben about a fortnight ago ; and it is extremely 

 gratifying to learn that the building, every part of which 

 during erection, and for some time after being roofed 

 over, was soaked with water, is now thoroughly dry ; the 

 walls, roof, and windows have been officially inspected, 

 and found to be perfectly tight in every respect ; and in 

 corroboration of this, during the storm of Thursday, the 

 8th inst., none of the finer snow particles of that elevated 

 region entered the dwelling. As an additional protection 

 against the severe weather which may happen, a large 

 roll of tarpaulin, thirty-five feet long, was carried on the 

 shoulders of twelve men to the top on Monday last week, 

 and securely fixed over the roof of the building. 



In a letter dated the 14th inst., Mr. Omond states 

 that the Sunday previous was one of the finest days 

 he ever saw ; that Monday and Tuesday were nearly 

 as good ; and that on the Wednesday only the distant 

 view was shut out by haze. Up to that date the top of the 

 Ben had been all but free from stormy weather ; indeed, 

 while tempestuous weather raged below, the wind rose 

 to a gale only on Thursday the 8th. A telegram was 

 received direct from the Observatory on Thursday last 

 week, which stated that the temperature for the day had 

 been minimum 17° and maximum 28'-', while inside the Ob- 

 servatory the temperature was 55', which happened to be 

 exactly the temperature of the Scottish Meteorological 

 Society's office in George Street at the time. 



A meeting of the directors was held at Edinburgh on 

 the 15th inst.. Sir William Thomson in the chair, at 

 which Dr. Sanderson, the Treasurer, reported that the 

 subscriptions now intimated amounted to a little over 

 5000/., nearly three-fourths of which sum had been sub- 

 scribed since the middle of May last. 



A scheme of work for the coming winter, consisting of 

 hourly observations by night as well as by day, was 

 agreed upon. The observations include the barometer ; 

 dry, wet, maximum, and minimum thermometers ; direc- 

 tion and force of the wind ; rain, sleet, snow, and hail ; 

 evaporation from snow ; species, direction, and velocity 

 of upper and lower cloud strata ; and sunshine, together 

 with thunder, lightning, halos, auroras, meteors, &c. 

 In addition to the regular observations, Mr. Omond is 

 to conduct physical inquiries into the hygrometry of this 

 boreal climate by an mstrument specially designed by 

 Prof. Chrystal ; inquiries as to the du-ection and speed of 

 the wind and optical phenomena by instruments specially 

 designed by Prof. Tait ; and inquiries as to the best 

 modes of conducting the observations under the special 

 difficulties presented by the climate of Ben Nevis. 



All the hourly observations will be extended on a daily 

 sheet, three copies of which will be made, one for the 

 (Jbservatory, and two for the Scottish Meteorological 

 Society, one of which will be sent to the Scottish Meteoro- 

 logical Council, London. Forms have also been sup- 

 plied for monthly summaries of the observations. It has 

 further been arranged that a series of similar observa- 

 tions at 8 and 9 a.m. and 2, 6, 9, and 10 p.m. be made at 

 Fort William by Mr. Colin Livingstone, one of the 

 Scottish Meteorological Society's observers. 



A Redier's continuously-recording barograph and a 

 Richard's continuously-recording thermograph have been 

 supplied to the Observatory, and also to Mr. Livingstone, 

 to be used as interpellation instruments. By the double 

 set of hourly observations thus obtained, comparisons 

 may be made between the atmospheric conditions on the 

 top of the Ben and those at sea-level, which are of such 



