NATURE 
[Nov. 17, 1870 

as Tyndall informs us, he retained the term “ Natural 
Philosophy,” usual in England to express physical science, 
and the name “ Philosopher” for the cultivator of that 
science—lies essentially in the nature of his work, 
After the science of our age, in its laudable efforts to 
make human knowledge a true image of the actual uni- 
verse, had shattered many an old metaphysical idol, 
it halted amid the transmitted forms of physical ideas 
regarding Matter, Force, Atoms, and Imponderables. 
These names were even converted into new metaphy- 
sical shibboleths by those who thought themselves most 
advanced in the way of enlightenment. It was these 
ideas that Faraday sought in his riper labours to purify 
from everything theoretical, which was not the true and 
immediate expression of the facts. More especially he 
opposed the action of forces at a distance, the assumption 
of two electric fluids and of two magnetic fluids, and, in 
like manner, all hypotheses which contradicted the law of 
the conservation of force, of which he had an early pre- 
sage, though he singularly misapprehended its mathema- 
tical expression. And in these precise directions he 
exercised, in the first place, the most unmistakeable in- 
fluence on the physicists of England. The mathemati- 
cians among them, especially, labour to render theories 
of phenomena the pure and true expression of the laws 
of fact, to the exclusion of all arbitrary theoretic devices. 
In this way Faraday’s ideas, though in a modified form, 
often reveal themselves with their true significance 
assigned to them.” 
EARTHQUAKE OF OCTOBER 20, 1870 
WE have been favoured with the following particulars 
of this earthquake byProf, Newton, of Cambridge, 
U.S.A. :— 
On Thursday morning, Oct. 20, an earthquake vibra- 
tion was felt throughout Canada, and the northern part 
of the United States from Maine to Iowa. It seems to 
have been more severe in Canada and in New England. 
In many places the shock was sufficient to throw down 
chimneys, crack the walls of buildings, and do other 
damzge. It was remarkably severe for the region of 
country visited. At New Haven, as well as in many 
other places, there were two distinct series of vibrations. 
Prof. Twining has carefully collected information from 
several persons as to the time of the occurrence and 
duration of the vibrations. The beginning of the first shock 
was at 11» 19 45° A.M. New Haven meantime. It lasted 
ten seconds, and its individual vibrations were about two- 
thirds of a second in duration, or one and one-third second 
for a complete double vibration, After an interval of five 
seconds there was a second series like the first lasting eleven 
seconds. The motion was nota simple oscillation, but there 
was arocking motion, indicating a vertical component in 
the movement of the earth. The vibrations were not severe 
enough to arrest universal attention, though multitudes 
felt a peculiar sensation without recognising the cause. 
The direction of the vibration was N.N.E. to S.S.E, At 
Cambridge, Mass., according to Prof, Winlock, the direc- 
tion was about 10° north of east, as determined by the 
appearance of the sides of a vessel containing milk. Mr. 
Farmer, at Boston, gives 11% 25™ 37° for the time of 
the ending of the vibrations, Cambridge mean time. 
This would imply that the shock reached Boston a 
minute and three-fourths earlier than New Haven. 
At Cleveland, Ohio, several clocks were stopped by the earth- 
quake, each indicating very nearly Io" 45" A.M. This is ap- 
jroximately the instant at which the shock reached New 
Jiaven. Iltis reported that the shock reached Quebec 30 
seconds before it did Montreal, the telegraph operator of 
the former city being in the act of inquiring of the 
operator in the latter one respecting the earthquake, when 
it arrived at Montreal. These data seem to show that the 
general progress of the wave was from North to South. 
Slight vibrations were felt as far south as Richmond, Va., 
and as far west as Dubuque, lowa. 

| 
NOVEMBER METEORS OBSERVED AT THE 
RADCLIFFE OBSERVATORY 
wy [pees following is a list of Meteors observed at this 
Observatory by Mr. Lucas, on the nights of Novem- 
ber 12, 13, and 14, 1870. 
On Nov. 12a watch was kept from 7" 15™ to 8° 30", and 
from 11" to 13" 30", 
At 8) 20 a meteor was seen of the 4th magnitude, from 
Capella, a little to northward. : 
At 125 29", one of the 1st magnitude, white, flashed 
from a Cephei to a Cygni. 
At 12" 48", one of the 1st magnitude, from a Urse 
Majoris to Polaris, below the stratus cloud which over- 
spread the sky, and nearly hid all the stars, the two 
mentioned being just visible. Duration, 1°'5. 
At 12'57™, one of the Ist magnitude, white, seen for 
an instant about 7° or 8° east of Polaris, appearing to 
burst over the point of appearance ; motion southwards. 
2 Nov. 13.—At 8" 5™, one of the 3rd magnitude, visible 
for 3°, downwards towards the south. 
At 8" 20", one of the 1st magnitude, visible for 2°, with 
a long train, from e Cygni to a Aquile. 
At 9' 38", brighter than Jupiter, of a blue colour, 
visible for 4°, from near Capella to o Ursze Majoris. 
The sky was overcast at 11" 30", and continued so 
nearly all the night, raining from 14™ to 16, 
# Nov. 14.—At 10° 54™, one of the Ist magnitude, 
white, visible for 155. From 8 Aurige to a cloud near 
25 Lynxis ; direction, N.E. 
At 11" 1™, one of the ist magnitude, visible for 1°°5. 
From a cloud a little to the west of Rigal ; downwards, 
At 115 19", one of the Ist magnitude, visible for 2°; 
near and x Andromedz to a Cygni. 
At 12" 33", one of the 4th magnitude, 
downwards ; a short path. 
Cloudy from ro to 11" 30™; tolerably fine afterwards 
till 13, when clouds covered the sky again. 
ROBERT MAIN 
From a Cephei 


NOTES 
WE are glad to announce that the Government has expressed 
its intention to aid in the most ample manner the proposed 
Eclipse Expeditions. In making this announcement we feel 
that what has recently appeared in the daily Press renders cer- 
tain explanations desirable, which otherwise might have been 
omitted. In our last number we stated that deputations had 
been appointed both by the Joint Committee and the Council of 
the British Association to wait upon Mr. Gladstone, To 
this we must now add that the letter of the Secretary of 
the Joint Committee, which was toask Mr, Gladstone to 
appoint atime to reeeive a deputation, was not sent to Mr, 
Gladstone, and did not ask that a time should be named ; 
in fact it was a letter sent to the Z7easwry, apparently only for 
their information, and was nothing more than a copy of the reso- 
lution passed at the meeting of the Joint Committee. After a 
week had elapsed without any answer being received by the 
Joint Committee to the letter which it was supposed had been 
sent to Mr. Gladstone, asking him to name a time for a depu- 
tation; a member of the Joint Committee, Mr. Lockyer, called 
at the Treasury to inquire the reason of the delay in the answer, 
and of course he was informed that no letter had been received 
requiring any answer. Upon it being represented that a delay in 
the announcement of the Government intentions until a proper 
letter could be received from the Secretary of the Royal Society 
would be fatal to the Expedition, Mr. Lockyer was requested to 
state the actual requirements of the Scientific Bodies to Mr. Lowe, 
and upon his having done so, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
who, so far as we know, heard then of the expedition for the first 
time, at once expressed his opinion that such an expedition was 
one eminently worthy of Government aid, and that the Goyern- 

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