244 



NA JURE 



\yan. lo, 1884 



and falling \ to 1 inch in half an hour. Prinses Wilhel- 

 mina at Tandjong Piio'< : 789 763mm. (Xicitw. Rotterd. 

 Nov. 26) (789 seems a misprint, Xicuuis '<'on den Dag\\?L% 

 750, perhapi it should be 759). Loudon : extremely high. 



3. Compasses. Spun round {Loudon). 



4. Degree of darkness. From all reports results that 

 there was a moment when "no outlines of ship or men 

 were seen." From the report of the Aniicslcy results that 

 the darkness continued after the downpour of ashes had 

 ceised, therefore the darkness is not depending on the 

 pouring down of ashes ; it is sufficient that the sunlight 

 be intercepted by a thick cloud of ashes. From the 

 Bcrbice is reported : — Darkness from 26th, p m., to 28th, 

 a.m. From all other places is reported : — Bright, August 

 27, from 6 to 9 a.m., and 28th, from 6 a.m. 



5. .After having read the reports, the question arose to 

 nic, Was the mul ejected from the crater, or were the 

 ashes, &c., mi>:ed with rain or sea water.'' I think ihe 

 latter ; 1 remember, at least, that in 1863 (an eruption of 

 the Merapi, Java, took place) 1 came into a slight down- 

 pour of ashes. I was travelling on horseback, and after 

 some time a thunderstorm came on. All around me, which 

 had been ashes before, was changed very soon into mud. 

 In the report of the Berbicc the "rain of mud" is not 

 mentioned, but it is said that the yards were covered with 

 a " crust," because a slight rain had met the ashes, 

 which, however, on deck were still "ashes," because, I 

 suppose, the rain was not hard enough to change such a 

 thick layer into a "crust." 



6. Detonations, though they were heard in Saigon, 

 Smgipore, Acheen, Ceylon, &c., were not heard on board 

 the l^oudoii. I think this might be explained by the 

 thunderstorm, the pouring down of mud into the sea, and 

 the hurricane (which in Lampong Bay did more damage 

 than the wave itself). 



7. The part of Krakatoa which has disappeared sank 

 jjrobably August 27 ; at least in the report from the 

 Liiudon the island is described as it is now. F'rom the 

 Hciincc, however, it is reported : — Saw it divided in three 

 parts (29th) ; but probably they saw the remains of Kra- 

 katoa, Verlaten Island, and Lang Island, which before, 

 when seen from the east, appeared as one island. 



8. Sibessie was from the sea to the top buried under 

 ashes (all people killed). 



9. The floating pumice-stone was, in the Lampong Bay, 

 in September, 14 feet thick ; in the Semungka I3ay it was 

 very strong too. Probably, if circumstances are favour- 

 able, new islinds are to be formed ; though at the end of 

 October steamers came to Telok Betong, in November a 

 hopper-barge was, during eleven days m the Lampong 

 Bay, beset by pumice-stone. 



Besides this I beg to record : — 



10. After the eruption of Krakatoa in the Indies 

 many volcanic phenomena were observed, and they 

 prophesied an eruption of Mount Merapi (Java) for 

 February next. Whether they had heard of Mr. 

 Delaunay's prophecies I am unacquainted with. 



11. Up to November i they counted 32,635 persons 

 killed by the eruption, &c. For the burial of the corpses 

 the Government had spent 6000/. 



When the Survey under my direction (1868-69) was 

 busy connecting the triangles of Java with the Sumatra 

 coast, the peak of Krakatoa was also chosen for a point. 



Whether there were several hills on the island I cannot 

 say, for when I saw Krakatoa it was covered with a 

 splendid vegetation, and in such a case it is not so easy to 

 judge of the configuration as it is when the trees are 

 burnt, but I dare say there was only one peak. 



I 'f the results of the Survey I keep only a map, of which 

 I inclose a rough copy. From this it results that the signal 

 was a little to the north of 6' 8A' ; Kuyper puts it in 

 6" 9', which is certainly wrong ; he inserts also a peak in 

 the centre of the island (622 metres), and says it had 

 disappeared ; this is, I am sure, a mistake. If the 



military survey (which was at work r.ow) had not yet 

 finished its work so far as to give a map of Krakatoa 

 (though perhaps they have not undertaken a survey of 

 the island, since administratively it belongs to the 

 Lampongs, and not to Bantam), it might perhaps be 

 useful to consult the notes of the Gcogrnpliische Du'ns/, 

 which are deposited in the Archives, and a sketch of the 

 Sunda Straits, which I offered in 1875 to the Minister of 

 the Dutch colonies. E. Metzger 



St itlgart, January 



NOTES 

 We regret to learn that Mr. C. W. Merrifield died at Brighton 

 on New Year's Day at the age of (ifly-six. 



Many of the friends of the late Dr. Hermann Mliller in this 

 country will be glad of the opportunity of testifying to their 

 respect for his memory and their sense of the value of his work 

 by contributing to the fund which is being raised to establish a 

 " Miiller Foundation." In the first instance the proceeds will 

 be used to assist the widow of Dr. Miiller during her lifetime, 

 and aftern-irds as an endowment to some poor and deserving 

 student at the Public School of Lipp.stadt desirous of devoting 

 himself to natural science. An influential Committee has already 

 been appointed on the Con'inent, including the name of Prof. 

 Haeckel. The movement, we are rure, will commend itself to 

 many of our readers, who m.iy send their subscriptions either to 

 Herr Stadtkaemmerer Wilhclm Thurmann, Lippstadt, or to the 

 care of the Editor of Nature. 



Five hundred pounds in prizes are offered by Mr. Francis 

 Gallon for extracts from the family records of competitors. 

 They are to be sent him before May 15, drawn up according to 

 the conditions and under the restrictions published in his recent 

 book, "Record of Family Faculties" (Macmillan and Co., 

 2s. 6ii.), which contains full explanations, together with sufficient 

 blank forms for the records of a single family. 



M. BouLEY has almost unanimously been appointed Vice- 

 President of the Paris Academy of Sciences for 1884, and 

 President for 1885. 



Earth tremors seem to have been of almost daily occurrence 

 in Tasmania recently. Mr. J. R. Hurst of Longwood, near 

 Moorina in the north-east of the colony, sends to the Launccstmi 

 Examiner of November 12a record extending from August 31 to 

 October 20, 1883, noting the occurrence of several daily, some 

 of them so serious as to lie alarming. In a note in its issue of 

 November 19 the Examiner says : — " The vibratory motions of 

 the earth's surface which have been so frequent for several 

 months past still continue with a periodicity which is at least 

 remarkable. Ordinary tremors now scarcely arrest attention, 

 but occasionally a quivering of unusual .severity startles those 

 «ho happen to no' ice it, and reminds them that there are forces 

 in operation in nature which are mysterious and appalling. One 

 of these occurred yesterday afternoon about six minutes to three 

 o'clock, which was felt in every part of the town, and set 

 windows and farniture rattling. Some persons fancied that they 

 could detect a distinct undulatory motion. The shock lasted for 

 twelve or fifteen .'•econds. It may be mentioned that the whole 

 of yesterday was very stormy — frequent and heavy showene of 

 rain, with thunder and hail, and a very low liarometer. Last 

 evening the mercury began to rise." 



Prok. J. P. LiCHERDOrOL writes from Bucharest, Roumania, 

 that on January I, at 6.13 a.m., two horizontal shocks of earth- 

 quake, from north to south and vice versi, were felt there, and 

 were preceded by a loud noise, as of a distant train coming from 

 the north. The fu.niture was .slightly shaken and crackings 

 were heard. The atmosphere was calm, but charged with a very 



