Septembkr 3, 1896] 



NA TURE 



421 



The importance of the fiist was forced upon me in 

 1871, when Captain Bailey, who travelled 400 miles to 

 our < .unp to help us, and volunteered to act as timekeeper, 

 turned his back resolutely on the eclipse and saw abso- 

 lutely nothing of it, because in the preliminary drills he 

 found he had a difficulty in picking up the time again 

 when once he looked away from the face of his chrono- 

 meter. 



This time then we have a relay of timekeepers, 

 one replacing the other at " 60 seconds more " ; this 

 signal is given by both. The one who gives the time 

 has his back to the sun, the other will see what he 

 can. At my signal, " Go," depending upon the final 

 disappearance of the photosphere as seen in a 3f 

 with neutral tinted glass, the timekeeper first on duty 

 is to sing out " 105 seconds " and give the time 

 every 5 seconds, " 100 seconds,'' " 95 seconds more," and 

 so on. 



The question of lamps during the eclipse is settled in 

 the following way. If the 

 sky be quite clear, some 

 will certainly be wanted 

 for the timekeepers in 

 the huts, and for reading 

 the fine graduations of 

 the delicate chemical ther- 

 mometers which I have 

 brought with me. But if 

 the sky be not clear, then 

 others may be wanted 

 too. .So Captain King 

 Hall has arranged to haxe 

 ten lamps, each in charge 

 of a bluejacket, in reserve, 

 in the middle of the camp, 

 so that anybody who 

 wants one has only to 

 say so to be immediately 

 supplied. 



A guard of five marines 

 has remained perman- 

 ently at the camp during 

 OLir stay. They are gener- 

 ally dressed in most 

 arctic-looking costumes 

 known as " lammy suits." 

 These are nothing more 

 than a pair of trousers 

 and jacket (with a hood), 

 made out of ship's blan- 

 kets, worn over the or- 

 dinary dress ; they were 

 invented, I believe, by the 

 sailors when they made a 

 long stay at Spitzbergen. 

 They seem to be grand 



clothes for a camp, and in fact one of the marines seems 

 to be seldom out of his — he appears to revel in the 

 warmth it gives. Besides acting as guard to the camp, 

 the marines are useful in many other respects ; for in- 

 stance, in addition to signalling for us, they are very 

 good cooks, and all our cocoa, soups, meat. &c., 

 brought from the ship, only needs to be handed over 

 to them to be served up in our tent in a very appetising 

 condition. 



.Since the eclipse begins so early on the morrow, 

 arrangements have been made that a few of us should 

 sleep in the camp to-night, and thus come under their 

 special care ; the ship's company will come over in the 

 morning. 



J. NOR.M.\N LOCKVER. 



( To he continued.) 

 NO. 1 40 1, VOL. 54] 



PROFESSOR A. H. GREEN, F.R.S. 



GEOLOGICAL science has sustained a very serious 

 loss in the death of Alexander Henry Green, Pro- 

 fessor of Geology in the University of Oxford. He was 

 born at Maidstone on October 10, 1832, and after re- 

 ceiving his early education at the grammar school at 

 Ashby-de-la-Zouch, he entered Gonville and Caius 

 College, Cambridge. There he gained the place of 

 sixth wrangler in 1855, and was elected a fellow of his 

 college. Although mathematics had gained for him his 

 high position in the University examination, yet geology 

 had taken some hold of him. His interest in the subject 

 had been awakened in Leicestershire, and the eloquent 

 teachings of Sedgwick had further attracted him to the 

 science. 



In 1 86 1 he obtained the appointment of Assistant 

 Geologist on the Geological -Survey of Great Britain, and 

 was engaged for some years in mapping portions of the 



1 ii,. 3. — Our Lapp Visitors. 



midland counties, near .'\ylesbury, Buckingham, and to 

 the east of Banbury. Three years later his memoir on 

 the geology of the country around Banbury was pub- 

 lished ; and although since then some modifications 

 have been made in the grouping of the oolites, his 

 careful statement of facts rendered the work of permanent 

 value. Leaving these regions of lias and oolites and 

 glacial drifts, he was transferred to the carboniferous 

 districts of Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. Here he 

 laboured for a number of years, practically supermtending 

 the survey of the great coal-field, and training several 

 junior geologists to assist in the work. In the end he 

 produced, with the aid of his colleagues, the large and 

 extiaustive memoir on the Yorkshire coal-field, published 

 by the Geological .Survey. In 1875 he resigned his post 

 on this survey on being appointed Professor of Geology 

 in the Yorkshire College at Leeds. Ultimately he became 



