470 



NATURE 



\0d. 8, 1874 



cellor of the Exchequer, and to the Secretary of the 

 Treasury (by whom the deputation was introduced), for 

 having favoured us with an interview and patiently 

 listened to our appeal for Government aid. 



" The grounds of our claim were stated in our last 

 report, and were naturally met by the remark that ' it 

 would be a dangerous precedent to apply national funds 

 for private purposes.' If all future appUcants be com- 

 pelled to 



I. Raise 3,000/. by subscription ; 

 II. Bore 1,000 feet; and 

 III. Obtain a memorial from the Royal Society, the 

 Geological Society, and the Institute of Civil 

 Engineers, stating that the prosecution of the 

 work is of national importance ; 

 they are not likely to be troublesome by their numbers, 

 and the subject having been ventilated in the House of 

 Commons, few reasonable minds will be disposed to 

 doubt the discretionary wisdom of the grant with its 

 attendant conditions. 



" We are much indebted to William Topley, Esq., F.G.S., 

 for having consented to visit Belfast, there to read our 

 report and make personal application for additional aid 

 from the Committee of Recommendation of the British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, and we are 

 greatly encouraged by the response and the grant of 100.''. 

 " The kind promise of Sir Charles Blunt to give us 50/. 

 on reaching i ,000 ft. has been faithfully performed ; so 

 also will Mr. Warner's promise of 300/. when we reach 

 2,000 ft. 



" In scientific research it has often occurred that the 

 benefits accruing have been indirect and unexpected by 

 the promoters. Not only have the rich beds of gypsum 

 been made known, and, m consequence, are now in actual 

 process of development, but the new facts ascertained by 

 our work have thrown some considerable light (and that 

 of an encouraging nature) on the problem of the feasi- 

 bility of constructing a sub-marine tunnel between Eng- 

 land and France. 



" The motives which actuate our friends to subscribe are 

 various and sometimes novel, as, for instance, one writes : 

 ' I enclose my mite — besides the objects stated, a shaft is 

 doubtless a safety valve against earthquakes.' " 



The report concludes by thanking the directors of the 

 London, Brighton, and South Coast, and the South 

 Eastern Railways, for their assistance in the work, the 

 latter company having, in addition to granting other pri- 

 vileges, in the use of their line, forwarded a cheque for 

 50/. The kindness of the Earl of Ashburnhani, the Rev. 

 T. Partington, and many others is acknowledged, and the 

 honorary secretary concludes his report with an earnest 

 hope for further encouragement, and that the results will 

 prove that their labour has not been expended in vain. 



NOTES 



The inhabitants of a vast district of London liave had during 

 the past week an opportunity of studying; the phenomena of 

 explosions on a large scale, and of noticing how closely they 

 approach those of earthquakes in the sequence of long-rolling 

 waves of the solid earth, louJ noises, and finally loirg continued 

 tremulous motion and more subJued sounds. It" we couid have 

 announce 1 last week that 100 barrels of gunpowder would 

 explode in London, locality not defined, on a given day, the 

 inhabitants would probalily have been alarmed, many wou'd 

 certainly have visited their country fiiends ; but our Government 

 have for years been warned that such an occurrence might happen 

 seeing that there is no legislative enactment to ensure care, and yet 

 they have let such a slate of things continue ! We have it on 

 the aulhorhy of the Times that the Tilbury might have had 500 

 barrels on board instead of lOO, and it is clear that these might 



have exploded in a locality where the consequent destruction of 

 life and property would be fearful to contemplate. It appears that, 

 bad as are tlie regulations for the transport of gunpowder on 

 board ship, there is little or no provision for the prevention of 

 accidents at p'aces where powder is received and delivered in 

 large quantities. In reporting on this branch of the subject in 

 1S65, Major-General Boxer instanced the case of Isleworth. He 

 says : — " The powder wharf at Isleworth affords a good illustra- 

 tion. This wharf is situated in the town of Isleworth, on the 

 banks of the Thames ; on an average as much as Coo barrels per 

 week is shipped there, the wharf is surrounded by houses, and the 

 sacrifice of life would be fearful in the event of an explosion." Major 

 Majendie, in a report to Government two years ago, wrote : — " I 

 am quite sure that if the public were at all aware of the extent to 

 which gunpowder is handled in large quantities, without any 

 special regulations, in the middle of the metropolis and of large 

 cities, they would be seriously alarmed, and would demand the 

 adoption of measures for reaioving so patent a danger." Truly 

 we are a practical people, and much superior to the Germans, 

 who only allow the transit of large quantities of gunpowder 

 through populous districts under military escort. 



The effect of the explosion in the Zoological Gardens was not 

 so serious as might have been expected from the proximity of the 

 gardens to the scene of the disaster, but several of the aniniils 

 v.'ere thrown into a state of great agitation. The elands, antelopt-, 

 and deer, particularly, were very much startled, and were 

 found running round their enclosures in a s ate of great alarm. 

 The elephant, hippopotamus and rhinoceros, and the giraffes 

 were very much excited, and the birds became much alarmed. 

 About a dozen of the smaller birds escaped through a hole in the 

 glass roofs of the aviary, caused by the concussion, but two or 

 three returned during the day. The blankets and coverings were 

 shaken off the snakes, but fortuna'ely none of the glass in their 

 cages was fractured. It was fortunate, too, that none of the 

 large carnivora wereUiberated. 



Wf. referred some little time ago to the fret t'lat a sum of about 

 30,000/. had been left to the " London Academy of Sciences." 

 We hear that already several societies and institu'.ions have 

 sent in, or are thinking of sending in, claims. It is stated, how- 

 ever, that the Royal Society, which certainly is the nearest ap- 

 proach to the institution in .Signor Ponti's mind, has not applied. 

 The Royal Society is of cuuise a mere private body, and might 

 well be held to be justified in refusing to incur the responsibility 

 of distributing a large sum for the furtherance of science ; but 

 the miserable chaos in our scientific arrangements is none the 

 less strongly brought out by the present juncture. In England, 

 truly. Science is a body without a head ! 



Fran'CH, Germany, and Austria are vying with each other in 

 astronomical activity. In the grounds of the P.iris Observatory 

 a 4- ft. FoucauU mirror is being erected, and M. Le Verrier has 

 already obtained a grant for a 30-in. refractor. The Vienna 

 Observatory is also making arrangements for the reception of a 

 telescope of similar aperture. Messrs. Merz have nearly completed 

 a lens of 20 in. aperture, for the University of Strassburg. In 

 France, the newly-created Ecole Spccialc ties Ilaules Etudts 

 is being taken advantage of to form a school of Astronomy ; 

 in Germany and America many such schools exist already, 

 thanks to tlie r.ational administration of their Observatories, the 

 assistants in which are the p Jpils, frien Is, and potential successors 

 of the director. 



M. Di'.sjARDiN^, one of the head officials in tlie Ministry of 

 Public Instruction, has been ordered by the Minister to inspect 

 the meteorological service of the Observatory and to report 

 upon its present condition. 



Till! Government of Newfoundland has determined to take 

 steps for the protection of the seal fisheries, liy preventing vessels 



