Nov. 25, 1886] 



NA TURE 



95 



method would probably not be very reliable. — On the motion 

 of the Presidenl, a vote of condolence to Mrs. Guthrie in her 

 sad bereavement was passed unanimously. 



Royal Meteorological Society, November 17. — Mr. \V. 

 Ellis, F.R. A.S., President, in the chair. — The following were 

 elected Fellows :— Mr. B. A. Dobson, Mr. T. Gordon, Mr. H. 

 Mantle, Rev. J. Watson, and Mr. F. Wright. — The papers read 

 were : — The gale of Octo'jer 15-16, 1SS6, over the British 

 Islands, by Mr. C. Harding, F.R.Met.Soc. The storm was of 

 very exceptional strength in the west, south-west, and south of 

 the British Islands, but the principal violence of the wind was 

 limited to these parts, although the force of a gale was experi- 

 enced gener.ally over the whole kingdom. By the aid of ships' 

 observations, the storm has been tracked a long distance out in 

 the Atlantic. It appears to have been formed about 250 miles 

 to the south-east of Newfoundland on the 12th, and was experi- 

 enced by many ocean steamers on the 13th. When the first 

 indication of approaching bad weather was shown by the baro- 

 meter and w'ind at our western outposts, the storm was about 

 500 miles to the west-south-west of the Irish coast, and was 

 advancing at the rate of nearly 50 miles an hour. The centre of 

 the disturbance struck the coast of Ireland at about I a.m. on 

 the 15th, and by 8 a.m. was central over Ireland. The storm 

 traversed the Irish Sea, and turned to the south-east over the 

 western Midlands and the siuthern counties of England, and 

 its centre remained over the British Islss about 31. hours, having 

 traversed about 500 miles. The storm afterwards crossed the 

 English Channel into France, and subsequently again took a 

 course to the north-eastwards, and finally broke up over Holland. 

 In the centre of the storm the barometer fell to 2S'5 inches ; but, 

 as far as the action of the barometer was concerned, the principal 

 feature of importance was the length of time that the readings 

 remained low. At Geldeston, not far from Lowestoft, the 

 mercury was below 29 inches f jr 50 hours, and at Greenwich it 

 was similarly low for 40 hours. The highest recorded hourly 

 velocity of the wind was 7S miles, from north-west, at Scilly on 

 the morning of the l6th ; but, on due allowance being made 

 for the squally character of the gale, it is estimated that in 

 the squalls the velocity reached for a minute or so the hourly 

 rate of about 120 miles, which is equivalent to a pressure of about 

 70 lbs. on the square foot. On the mainland the wind attained 

 a velocity of about 60 miles an hour for a considerable time ; 

 but, without question, this velocity would be greatly exceeded in 

 the squalls. In the eastern parts of England the velocity scarcely 

 amounted to 30 miles in the hour. The force of the gale was 

 very prolonged. At Scilly the velocity was above 30 miles an 

 hour for 61 hours, and it was above 60 miles an hour for 19 

 hours, whilst at Falmouth it was above 30 miles an hour for 52 

 hours. The erratic course of the storm and its slow rate of 

 travel whilst over the British Islands were attributed to the 

 presence of a barrier of high barometer readings over Northern 

 Europe, and also to the attraction in a westerly direction, owing 

 to the great condensation and heavy rain in the rear of the 

 storm. The rainfall in Ireland, Wales, and the south-west of 

 England was exceptionally heavy. In the neighbourhood of 

 Aberystwith the f;iU on the 15th was 3'83 inches, and at several 

 stations the amount exceeded 2 inches. Serious floods occurred 

 in many parts of the country. A most terrific sea was also ex- 

 perienced on the western coasts and in the English Channel, 

 and the number of vessels to which casualties occurred on the 

 British coasts during the gale tell their own tale of its violence. 

 The total number of casualties to sailing-vessels and steam-ships 

 was 158, and among these were five sailing- and one steam-ship 

 abandoned, five sailing- and one steam-ship foundered, and forty- 

 two sailing- and two steam-ships stranded. During the gale the 

 life-boats of the Royal National Life-boat Institution were 

 launched fourteen times, and were instrumental in saving thirty- 

 .six lives. — The climate of Carlisle, by Mr. T. G. Benn, 

 F.R.Met.Soc. This is a discussion of the observations made 

 at the Carlisle Cemeterj-. The mean temperature for the twenty- 

 three years (1863-85) was 47°'5 ; the absolute highest was 95° 

 on July 22, 1S73, ^"d 'he lowest -5''"5 on January 16, iSSi. 

 The mean annual rainfall was 29 'So inches ; the greatest monthly 

 fall was 7-84 inches in July 1884, and the least o'3o inches in 

 January 1881. The average number of rainy days was 174. — 

 Results of hourly readings derived from a Redier barograph at 

 Geldeston, Norfolk, during the four years ending February 

 18S6, by Mr. E. T. Dowson, F.R.Met.Soc— Results of obser- 

 vations taken at Delanasau, Bua, F'iji, during the five years 



ending December 31, 1SS5, with a summary of results for ten 

 years previous, by Mr. R. L. Holmes, F.R.Met.Soc. 



Anthropological Institute, November 9.— .Mr. Francis 

 Galton, F. R..S., President, in the chair. — The election of the 

 following new Members was announced : — G. W. Hambleton, 

 D. F. 11. Hervey, W. R. Reid, M.D., R. T- Ryle, M.A., 

 M.B., and W. F. Stanley, F.G.S.— Prof. Flower exhibited 

 some of Dr. Otto Finsch's casts of natives of the Pacific Islands, 

 and made some general remarks on the collection. — A paper by 

 Dr. E. T. Hamy, entitled "An Interpretation ofoneof the Copan 

 Monuments," was read. In this paper the author traced a re- 

 semblance between the symbol found upon a large and regular 

 convex stone at Copan and the Chinese " Tai-Ki, " and argued 

 that the presence of such a symbol in the ruins of Copan, where 

 there exi-t so many manifestations of a strange and curious art 

 so closely allied to the Eastern arts of the Old World, furnishes 

 a fresh proof in support of the theory of an Asiatic influence over 

 American civilisation. — An exhaustive paper by Mr. H. Ling 

 Roth, on the aborigines of Hispaniola, was read. 



SVD.XEV 



Linnean Society of New South Wales, September 29. — 

 Prof. W. J. Stephens, M.A., F.G.S., President, in the chair.— 

 The following papers were read : — A revision of the Staphyli- 

 nidse of Australia, part ii., by A. Sidney Ollifif, F.E.S., 

 Assistant Zoologist, Australian Museum. This part, containing 

 the meuMjers of the sub-family, Tachyporimv, is another con- 

 tribution to a general revi-ion of the family. No marked 

 Australian forms have been found, and the new forms are of the 

 ordinary type. The genera Tacliyporus, Tachinus, and Boli- 

 totiius, are added to the Australian fauna. With this instalment 

 is issued the plate (vii. ), which would have accompanied the 

 first part, but for an unfortunate accident to the artist. — Notes 

 on the bacteriological examination of water from the Sydney 

 supply. No. I., by Dr. Oscar Katz. — On a remarkable Bac- 

 terium (Streptococcus) from wheat-ensilage, by Dr. Oscar Katz. 

 This paper contains a brief description of a Micrococcus 

 (Streptococcus), obtained from a sample of mouldy wheat- 

 ensilage which, some time ago, it will be remembered, came 

 under public noti;e in connection with an epidemic which 

 attacked some horses at Coonong, N. S.W. This micro- 

 organism shows characteristic features in its pure cultivations on 

 or in dilTerent nutrient soils. Inoculations of this and other 

 microbes found in the samples are intended to be made shortly 

 upon living animals. — Notes on Lindsea t7-ichomanoidcs and 

 Eriosh-mm Crmoei, by the Rev. W. W. Woolls, M.A., Ph.D. 

 Dr. Woolls makes some remarlvs oh the first of these, a fern 

 common in New Zealand, but not recognised until of late in 

 New South Wales. He also exhibited a specimen of Croiuca 

 exalata (£. Crowd, v. M.) from the Currajong, and showing 

 marked difterences from the C. saligiia of the flora. Mr. 

 Bettche, however, of the Botanic Gardens, had c jUected a 

 specimen which was distinctly intermediate, and which probably 

 may unite the two species, E. salignus and E. exalalus again, 

 according to the Baron's first determination. — Note on a Laby- 

 rinthodont fossil from Cockatoo Island, by Prof. Stephens, M.A. 

 The Pre-ident reada notice of a fossil Labyrinthodont, probably 

 Mastodonsaurus sp., recently found at Cockatoo Island, and 

 pointed out the conclusions to which this fossil, the Ceralodus 

 of Queensland, and the Hatlcria of New Zealand, lead in 

 regard to the ancient geographical conditions of the southern 

 hemisphere.- — Notes on Australian earthw'orms, part ii. , by J. J. 

 Fletcher, M.A. In this paper descriptions are given of nine new 

 species of earthworms, of which five are indigenous to New 

 South Wales, one is supposed to have been introduced from the 

 Mauritius, two are from Queensland, and one is from Darnley 

 Island, Torres Straits. They include a new species of Perrier's 

 genus Disaster, a new species of Cryptodrilus, and seven 

 species of Pmchata. The last-named are separable into two 

 well-marked groups : the one characterised by the possession of 

 complete circles of seta;, and by the presence of two ca;cal 

 appendages of the large intestine in segment xxvi. ; the other 

 characterised by having incomplete circles of setae, and no intes- 

 tinal c£cca. To the first group belong the species from North 

 Queensland and Darnley Island ; and the introduced s,)ecias. 

 Remarks are also made upon a few worms from Percy Island, 

 which were collected during the Chevert Expedition, and which 

 are now in the Macleay Sluseum, but are immature or not 

 sufficiently numerous to admit of satisfactory description. — Notes 



