April 13, 1871] 
NATURE 
469 

the grief of communicating to the self-same Royal Society of 
London an almost exactly similar research, resulting in almost 
the same solar conclusion ; my foundation matter being the mean 
annual rock-temperatures observed in the Royal Observatory, 
Edinburgh, during thirty-three years (twenty-four of them under 
“my own supervision) with the recorded sun-spot and other solar 
phenomena by Schwabe, Wolf, the Kew Observatory, and other 
authorities, during the same period. 
And yet why was Mr. Stone vo¢ acquainted with this previous 
work of mine, communicated to the very same London Society, 
at a time too when he was still in London or very close to it ? 
The answer is probably, that it was the work of the Secret 
Committee of the Royal Society appointed by the Council to 
report on my paper. For the Committee's first proceeding was 
to keep the paper shut up with themselves for upwards of seven 
months ; and their next, to condemn it before the Council on 
several counts, the two chief of which seemed to be—first, that 
I had inveighed without occasion, ina note ona certain page, 
against British units and standards of linear measure; and 
secondly, that I was not to be allowed to compare the Edinburgh 
mean annual temperatures with sun-spot observations. 
Touching the first objection, I showed that there was no such 
note or sentiment throughout the whole paper; and with regard 
to the second, I felt scientifically constrained to declare, that I 
could not consent to be denied the right of comparing so long, 
accurate, and indeed hitherto unsurpassed, a series of earth- 
surface temperatures as those of the Edinburgh Observatory, 
with acknowledged solar phenomena; especially when con- 
fining myself to merely trying and exhibiting for annual means 
whether there was, or was not, any sensible correspondence in 
time and manner. 
For this rebellious opposition to the despotic dictates of the 
Secret Committee, my paper was instantly extinguished by the 
Council of the Royal Society ; and I was put to the further 
indignity of receiving an unpleasant letter from the secretary, 
on merely requesting to know the names of the gentlemen con- 
stituting the said Committee, whose identity in the flesh is there- 
fore still a problem. But now, see how speedily the Nemesis 
of deeds of darkness has overtaken those who dabble in them ; 
for the newly-appointed Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good 
Hope, in charge of the British Observatory which stands next in 
importance to Greenwich, one of the Royal Society’s own Fellows 
too, has, moved by some most mysterious impulse, made that 
very subject, just banned by the carefully concealed sages who 
speak from behind a curtain, the material of his first scientific 
communication from the Southern Hemisphere ; and, with even 
a cruel degree of polite attention, he has sent that paper, filled 
with their own forbidden matter, to the Royal, rather than any 
other, Society in London, to read aloud before their members. 
Yet this chief and leading society’s secret Star-chamber, 
though exclaiming, perhaps, to the South African astronomer, 
“Et tu, Brute,” has not repented, at least in any generous or 
human manner; for they have left me both to find out from 
Nature the whole character of Mr, Stone’s paper just accepted 
by and read before them, and to form my own unaided con- 
clusions, 
Wherefore I cannot but wonder more than ever, and even 
with exceeding admiration, at what avy Scientific Societies in 
the present day have got to do with that accursed thing in all 
_national history represented by Secret Committees, secret mem- 
bers, secret judgments, vez/ed prophets, who may, and—as would 
most clearly be shown if the whole correspondence in this case 
were to be published—who do, blunder utterly in understanding 
a plain sentence of simple English, who likewise enact a mistaken 
rule to tie down some astronomers in their own business, prove 
themselves totally void of Christian charity and gentlemanly 
feeling, and all the time require the incense of passive obedience 
to their partial edicts and strange behests. 
Is not this then a matter just as important as any that can 
occur in the interests of true science and unalloyed, for the Royal 
Commission now sitting on Scientific Education and the Advance- 
ment of Science to take account of! For, if that Commission 
fitly and fully represents the general government in these times 
of this free and enlightened land in which we live, it would seem 
to be one of their holiest duties to the nation at large, to see that 
a base political method of a past and exploded era of our 
history, after being driven with ignominy out of every other 
branch of government, be not allowed to linger in sequestered 
nooks and dark corners of State-supported or State-aided societies 
for scientific pursuits. C. PIAzzI SMYTH 
~ 15, Royal Terrace, Edinburgh, March 31 



Ocean Currents 
Mr. Laucuton thinks (see his letter in NATURE of April 6) that 
the ocean surface current, which flows into*the Mediterranean by 
the Straits of Gibraltar, is due to the preponderance of west 
winds over the Atlantic. Were this so there ought to be a 
similar current flowing into the Baltic ; but on the contrary, there 
is a surface-current flowing out of the Baltic. 
Tam convinced that Dr. Carpenter is right in accounting for 
the currents at the entrances of both the Mediterranean and the 
Baltic by the differences in the degrees of saltness of different 
seas. JOsEPH JOHN Murpuy 
Old Forge, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim 

Sun Spots 
SOME very remarkable maculze appeared on the sun on March 
28, gh 50" A.M., which are of interest from the fan-like por- 
tion of the most westerly of the large spots having been much 
enlarged whilst under observation. The enlargement took place 
from the centre outwards, and occupied several seconds in its 
development. W. H. WALENN 
74, Brecknock Road, N. 

The Echoes of the Royal Albert Hall 
THE following observations may assist in reconciling some of 
the conflicting statements respecting the above subject, and ex- 
plaining their curious discrepancies :— 
The shape of the building is nearly elliptical ; for the sake of 
description I will assume that it is a true ellipse. The middle of 
the platform, down which Her Majesty walked on the occasion 
of the opening ceremony, corresponded to the major axis of this 
ellipse, the seats in the arena were arranged in rows at right 
angles to the major axis, and thus the middle row of these seats 
was placed across the minor axis. I sat on one of the chairs of 
this middle row, that against the edge of the platform, and thus 
was in the nearest available place to the geometrical centre of the 
building, and therefore well situated for one set of acoustic 
observations. I listened very carefully, and made the following 
notes :— 
An invisible military band was playing for some time before 
the arrival of the Queen. This music was freely heard without 
any perceptible echo, but the outlines of the sound (if I may use 
such an expression) were slightly shaded, there was just that want 
of crispness and definition of individual sound which would be 
advantageous to an ill-timed band, but somewhat damaging to 
the display of one that was playing staccato passages with per- 
tect unity. 
When the Prince of Wales read his address I heard every 
word repeated with perfect distinctness, the echo was pure and 
single, the two voices appeared like those of a prompter and a 
faithfully repeating speaker. The echo was remarkably well 
defined, and nearly as loud as the voice of the Prince. 
When the Queen replied, her words were also repeated, but 
far less distinctly. This was a respectful whispering echo, When 
Santley sang a solo, there was no distinct echo, only a slight 
confusion of sound ; but every note of Madame Sherrington’s 
solo was most vexatiously mocked, but not so distinctly as the 
words of the Prince of Wales. A slight murmur accompanied 
the band, but it required a strain of attention to detect any de- 
finite echo. 
The aboye is a description only of what I heard. 
A friend who was sitting at the other end of one of the middle 
arena seats, z.e, near the boxes, or circumference of the ellipse, 
did not hear these echoes at all, and I have since learned that this 
was the case with others seated in boxes on either side of the hall. 
The explanation of these facts is not difficult. On both sides 
of the organ, which occupied the south end or vertex of the 
ellipse, are unbroken curved wall spaces above the choir, covered 
with wooden panels or lining, a material well adapted for the 
reflection of sound. Beyond these bare spaces the boxes begin, 
and extend round the circumference till they reach the bare wall- 
space on the opposite side, There can be no regular reflection 
from the large area covered by the boxes when these are filled 
with people, but there must be such regular reflection very dis- 
tinctly effected by the small bare portion of the curvature on each 
side of the organ. . 
If the curvature of this bare wooden wall-space were a true 
parabola, and a sound were emitted from the focus of the curve, 
it would be reflected in straight lines parallel to the axis, and 
only extending to a short distance on each side of it. With the 
