OL & pe ee 
ee a _ I Ta mee 
‘ 
APRIL 25, 1912] 
NATURE 
195 
the sharp spines of the sprat are distinctly felt, 
whereas the pilchard and the herring both feel 
comparatively smooth. To distinguish between 
young pilchards and young herrings, especially 
after they have been preserved in oil, is a more 
difficult matter, the size of the scales, which are 
relatively much larger in the pilchard, being the 
best guide. 
PROF. A. LAWRENCE ROTCH. 
ROF. ABBOTT LAWRENCE ROTCH, 
whose death we recorded with regret last 
week, was born on June 6, 1861. He received his 
education at the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 
nology, whence he graduated in the department of 
mechanical engineering in 1884. He became in- 
terested in meteorological investigation, and in 
1885 founded a meteorological observatory at Blue 
Hill, Massachusetts, at a height of 635 feet above 
sea-level, for the purposes of observation, re- 
search, and local prediction. He showed charac- 
teristic independence in refusing at the outset to 
accept official help in maintaining the observatory 
at the expense of fettering it with official control. 
His main work was done in connection with this 
observatory, which he maintained and directed 
throughout. The results obtained were published 
from time to time in separate parts of the Annals 
of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard Col- 
lege. For the first ten years the work consisted 
principally of the routine of an ordinary first-order 
observatory with reduction and analysis of the 
records, and special investigations of certain 
problems. 
In 1894 the exploration of the free atmosphere 
by means of kites was begun at the observatory, 
and continued through succeeding years, steel 
piano wire (first used by E. D. Archibald in the 
early eighties) and a winding gear driven by a 
steam engine being adopted as the work de- 
veloped, until a complete series of records up to a 
height of three miles had been obtained. In this 
work Rotch was a pioneer, and his methods were 
adopted at a later date in this country and on the | 
Continent and by the United States Weather 
Bureau at the Mount Weather Observatory. In 
1904 and the three following years seventy-six 
balloons carrying self-recording instruments were 
sent up under his direction at St. Louis, and of 
these seventy-two were recovered. Some of these 
reached heights exceeding ten miles, and tempera- 
tures below —70° C. were recorded. Our know- 
ledge of the higher parts of the free atmosphere 
in the United States is almost entirely due to the 
results obtained in this series of ascents. 
But Rotch’s efforts were by no means confined 
to his own country. He was a constant visitor to 
meteorological meetings in Europe, and he was 
ever alert and ready to help in meteorological en- 
terprise. With M. L. Teisserenc de Bort he fitted 
out expeditions in three successive years to explore 
the atmosphere over the tropical Atlantic, and the 
results obtained have exceeded in interest nearly 
all other contributions to meteorological discovery 
in recent years. Our knowledge of the variation 
NO. 2217, VOL. 89] 
| 
of the height of the stratosphere with latitude rests 
almost entirely on the evidence obtained in these 
expeditions. His most recent work was an atlas 
of charts of the atmosphere for aeronauts and 
aviators, in which he included a chart showing the 
best aerial routes in summer for a dirigible balloon 
travelling across the Atlantic between Europe and 
America. 
The importance of his work was recognised by 
scientific societies both in Europe and America, 
and the Governments of France and Germany 
conferred honours upon him. 
He was generous in his recognition of the work 
of others, and gave kindly encouragement to 
younger men engaged in research. His death, 
which occurred suddenly on April 7, 1912, at his 
Observatory at Blue Hill, will be regretted by 
meteorologists of all lands. E.G: 
NOTES. 
WE are informed that the provisional programme 
of arrangements for the forthcoming celebration of 
the 250th anniversary of the Royal Society are as 
follows :—Monday, July 15—An evening reception of 
delegates at the rooms of the Royal Society. Tues- 
day, July 16—In the morning a commemorative ser- 
vice in Westminster Abbey; in the afternoon the 
official reception of delegates at the Royal Society 
and presentation of addresses; in the evening a com- 
memorative dinner at the Guildhall. | Wednesday, 
July 17—In the morning visits to places of interest 
in London; in the afternoon the Duke of Northumber- 
land gives a garden-party at Sion House; in the 
evening a conversazione in the rooms of the Royal 
Society. Thursday, July 18—In the morning visits 
to places of interest in London; in the afternoon H.M. 
the King gives a garden-party at Windsor, to which 
the delegates and fellows of the society will be 
invited. Friday, July 19—The delegates will visit 
Oxford and Cambridge Universities. 
In The Times of April 17, and in The Morning 
Post of the following day, reference is made to the 
drift of a sealed bottle which was thrown overboard 
from the steamship Indraghira on November 17, 
1908, in lat. 51° 38’ S., long. 96° 15’ E., by a pas- 
senger during a voyage from London to Melbourne. 
The bottle contained a note of the ship’s position 
with a request that the finder would notify the sender, 
Mr. H. P. Adams, of Carshalton, Surrey, of the facts 
of the discovery. The bottle was picked up early last 
winter, it is thought, on the eastern coast of Welling- 
ton Island, south of Chili, in lat. 49° 42’ S., long. 
74° 25’ W., having drifted eastward a distance of 
at least 7100 nautical miles, presumably in 1100 days 
or less, at a minimum rate of six miles per day. This 
drift, though remarkable, is by no means the longest 
on record. The late Mr. H. C. Russell, when 
| Government astronomer at Sydney, contributed several 
papers to the Royal Society of New South Wales on 
‘Current Papers,’’ in which he recorded the drift of 
| numerous bottle messages, ranging from 50 to 5000 
nautical miles, and several from 8000 to more than 
9800 miles. The ostensible veason for launching these 
