yan. 3, i: 



NA TURE 



bedrooms for the use of inspectors or others on temporary 

 business, and for the convenience of scientific men who 

 may wish to make a visit to the observatory for the 

 purposes of scientific research. 



For reasons sufficiently explained, the staff has scarcely 

 had time as yet to go beyond the mere routine of obser- 

 vations above mentioned ; but none of the valuable 

 suggestions which Mr. Omond and the directors have 

 received have been lost sight of. A beginning has 

 already been made in the collection of meteoric dust ; in 

 fact Mr. Murray carried down with him a portion of the 

 residue obtained by melting considerable quantities of 

 surface snow. This is now being examined, and we 

 shall doubtless hear by and by whether it is all of purely 

 local, or partly of volcanic or cosmic origin. 



It is intended, as soon as proper arrangements can be 

 made, and the concurrence of the Post C'ffice authorities 

 obtained, to commence a series of simultaneous observa- 

 tions on earth currents along the cable from the summit 

 of Ben Nevis to Fort William, and along a telegraph line 

 from Fort William to some other station not far above sea- 

 level. By means of this horizontal and vertical explora- 

 tion we hope to obtain some interesting data (either 

 positive or negative) regarding the origin of the variations 

 of terrestrial magnetism, aurora^, &c. The cable will 

 also be turned to account for observations on atmospheric 

 electricity. These plans are mentioned partly to show 

 that the directors are fully alive to the manifold uses to 

 be made of their stronghold upon Ben Nevis, partly to 

 incite scientific men generally to favour us with their 

 suggestions for the full utilisation of the observatory, not 

 only for meteorology, but for physical science in general. 



It would take too long to dw-ell at length on all the 

 interesting casual observations recorded in Mr. Omond's 

 log, a detailed account of which will probably be given 

 hereafter by Mr. Omond himself. It may be interesting, 

 however, to allude to the frequently occurring pheno- 

 menon which he calls " Glories." The shadow of the 

 head or hands of the observer is frequently seen on the 

 clouds in the valley to the north-east surrounded by a 

 halo of colour. The phenomenon appears to be akin to, 

 or identical with, the mist phantom so well known under 

 the name of the " Brocken Spectre." The occurrence of 

 this phenomenon is by no meins so rare in this country 

 as many suppose. The writer of this notice saw it to perfec- 

 tion three years ago in Skye. A party of four or five of us 

 were standing on Sgur-na-Panachtich, 01 eof the CuchuUin 

 peaks ; we were lojking down on the dark rock basin of 

 Coruirk, in which was floating a cloud of mist. The sun 

 was low behind us ; and, projected on the mist, we saw 

 what appeared to be gigantic dark shadows of ourselves 

 completely outlined with a glory of rainbow colours. 

 Each could see his own spectre best, but also those of 

 his neighbours more or less distinctly. The figures 

 imitated every motion we inade, and, when we whirled 

 our alpenstocks over our heads, the antics of the phan- 

 toms were most weird and awe-inspiring. 



We spent the night of the 26th at the Observatory. 

 During the first watch, that is, up to about one o'clock in 

 the morning, we sat up, and went out with the observer 

 when \\i made his hourly observations. The air felt quite 

 mild, although the temperature was about the freezing 

 point ; the sky was perfectly clear, and the stars shone 

 brilliantly. Mr. Omond brought out his telescope, and 

 we lay down on the snow and examined Jupiter and his 

 satellites, filled our eyes with the beauties of the Pleiades, 

 and exhausted our little stocks of astronomical know- 

 ledge by naming such constellations as we happened to 

 know. 



The staff had insisted on providing each of us with 

 a bed ; we thus had good opportunity of testing their 

 sleeping accommodation, which turned out to be excel- 

 lent. Next morning we rose to see the sun rise, and 

 were richly rewarded. About eight o'clo.k a ribbon of 



bright crimson appeared behind Schiehallion, which de- 

 loped a gorgeous succession of tints ending in copper 

 colour and brick red, under the gradually rising sun ; to 

 right and left appeared the peculiar green colours so 

 marked in the recent remarkable sunsets, to which the 

 Ben Nevis sunrise showed a great resemblance. The 

 greater part of the horizon was clear, and we had a view 

 of the surrounding mountains seldom, if ever, equalled in 

 summer time for beauty of colour. Ben More, the range 

 of Glencoe, the Perthshire Hills, the whole length of the 

 Caledonian Canal, the Cuchullin Hills, could all be seen 

 v/ith perfect distinctness. The white snow on the black- 

 blue hilltops, and the bright red of the withered heather 

 and bracken lower down, afforded contrasts of colour to 

 be seen at no other season. Some of the hillsides shone 

 in the sunlight like bronze. Others glowed like the 

 richest velvet, and the valleys were filled with the subtle 

 blue haze that gives such a charm to the scenery of the 

 weit of Scotland. 



We naturally congratulated Mr. Omond on the weather 

 he enjoyed on Ben Nevis ; but it appeared that the treat 

 was as great for him as for us. .Since he began his seclu- 

 sion on November 1 1, there had been just three fine days 

 — the day on which he went up, Christmas day, and the 

 day following, all the rest of the time the most he had seen 

 was an occasional glimpse of a snow-covered mountain-peak 

 through a hole in the mist. Our good fortune had been 

 great ; and, although it might have suited the main pur- 

 pose of our visit better to have been detained by mist and 

 sleet, or to have seen the observatory in the process of 

 being buried in a snow-drift, we resigned ourselves with a 

 very good grace to what the Fates had sent us. 



After sharing the regulation breakfast of tinned mutton 

 and coffee, we went out once more to see the observers at 

 work. We then had an opportunity of seeing the pre- 

 cautions which they find it necessary to take in tem- 

 pestuous weather wdien they have occasion to go near the 

 edge of the narrow plateau on which they live. For 

 sanitary reasons it is necessary to carry all the refuse of 

 the observatory to a considerable distance, where it is 

 thrown over a cliff. In winter, when this cliff is covered 

 with a treacherous cornice of slippery snow, and the wind 

 blows so hard that the head of a meat tin thrown to wind- 

 ward is often carried right back to leeward of the moun- 

 tain, the footing at the edge is anything but secure. On 

 such occasions two of the observers go abreast with the 

 pail of rubbish between them, and each is roped to one 

 who goes beHind with an ice-axe to steady him in case of 

 accident. 



By 1 1 o'clock the barometer had begun to fall, and the 

 humidity of the air had greatly increased. Mr. Omond 

 therefore warned us that, unless we were prepared to 

 incur the risk of detention, we had better depart. Accord- 

 ingly we packed up our trophies, consisting of the residue 

 above mentioned, pregnant with the potentiality of cosmic 

 and volcanic dust, a bundle of Mr. Onnnd's daily sheets, 

 and a little shrew that had been killed on the previous 

 evening, the first of a colony of these animals who, with 

 several weasels, had taken up their abode in the outer 

 dry stone wall of the observatory. As might be expected, 

 animal life is very scarce in winter on the top of Ben 

 Nevis. No deer or ptarmigan had been seen, only the 

 tracks of foxes, which abound in certain parts of the hill. 

 The only living things we had seen in the snow-covered 

 part of the hill were large numbers of a dipterous fly, 

 which we found every now and then crawling on the sur- 

 face of the snow. 



Having bidden fa'rewell to Mr. Omond and his com- 

 panions, and wished them good luck and a continuance 

 of their present good health and spirits during the rest of 

 the winter, we commenced our descent at 11.30. The 

 bottom was reached, after several halts to enjoy the 

 magnificent view, in about the same time as it had taken 

 us to ascend. 



