September 17, 1896] 



NA TURE 



John M. Clarke, and others. Three of those present at that 

 gathering had attended the meeting of the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science at Albany in 1S56, at which 

 Prof. Hall presided, and which was the largest scientific 

 gathering up to that lime hekl in America. They were Joseph 

 Le Conte, Thomas H. Feary, and Wni. H. Hale. 



The proximity of Niagara, and the new applications of power, 

 gave special interest to the Section of Mechanical Science and 

 Engineering, and twenty-two papers were read. Henry T. Eddy, 

 Thomas Gray, J. E. Denton, D. S. Jacobus, and Octave 

 Chanute were among the contributors. A most important paper 

 was re.id by Elmer L. Corthell, entitled " Some Notes, Physical 

 and Commercial, upon the Deltaof the Mississippi River." Mr. 

 Corthell has made a special study of the Mississippi for many 

 years. He points out certain measures where he pronounces 

 necessary to preserve navigation of the delta. The United 

 States has already expended thirty-eight million dollars in the 

 improvement of the Mississippi. 



The Chemical Section was crowded with papers, about seventy 

 being read. Among the contributors were A. A. Noyes, 

 A. B. Prescott, H. \V. Wiley, R. B. Warder, F. W. Clarke, 

 T. II. Norton, C. B. Dudley, W, P. Mason, J. L. Howe, C. F. 

 Mabery, H. A. Weber, E. W. Hilyard, A R. Leeds, Wm. 

 McMurtrie, L. L. Van Slyke, and E. A, de Schvveinitz. The 

 papers were mostly technical, and were arranged in groups 

 according to the subjects. The programme of the American 

 Chemical Society, which met in the preceding week, was also 

 a long one, indicating an unusual interest in chemistry. At the 

 meeting Prof. Dennis stated that he had found potassium platino- 

 cyanide, KjPt(CN|j, by far the best material for painting 

 fluorescent screens for X-ray investigation. 



Physics also aroused much interest, and it was remarked that 

 the Section had never had a better programme. Of the thirty- 

 two papers presented, Wm. A. Rogers read five. In one of 

 these he maintained that X-ray pictures could be obtained by 

 the use of static electricity, and he exhibited several pictures 

 taken in that manner. Among others, papers were read by 

 Ernest Merritt, Edward L. Nichols, and Alexander Macfarlane. 



The Section of Mathematics and Astronomy was the lightest 

 of all, having only ten papers and no presidential address, 

 Mr. Wm. E. Story being absent in consequence of sickness 

 in his family. Alexander Macfarlane was elected vice- 

 president in his place. G. W. Hough contributed a paper 

 on motion of the great red spot and equatorial belt of the 

 planet Jupiter from 1S79 to 1S96, and L. A. Bauer one on com- 

 ponent fields of the earth's magnetism. 



The evening addresses before the Association were by J. W. 

 Spencer, on " Niagara as a time-piece," and by E. D. Cope, on 

 " The results of cave explorations in the Uruted States, and their 

 bearing on the antiquity of man." Spencer's last estimate of the 

 age of Niagara is 31,500 years. In about 5000 years he predicts 

 that the elevation of the north-east will suffice to turn the 

 drainage of the great lakes into the Mississippi River. Prof. 

 Cope gave an exhaustive review of cave explorations. 



Contributions to the monument to Pasteur were solicited from 

 the Association, but funds were not available, except from Mrs. 

 Esther Herrman, a patron of the Association, who contributed 100 

 dollars for that purpose. Grants for research were only made 

 to the extent of 200 dollars, for the same reason ; and were 

 allocated as follows : — To the .Marine Biological Laboratory, 

 Woods HoU, Mass., for a table (appointment to be made by 

 the vice-presidents for Sections F and G and the director of the 

 laboratory), 100 dollars ; to Francis E. Phillips, for investigations 

 on the properties of natural gas, 50 dollars ; to L. A. Bauer 

 for investigations on terrestrial magnetism in connection with 

 the magnetic survey of Maryland, 50 dollars. 



The President and \'ice-Presidents of the next meeting are : — 

 President, Wolcott Gibbs. Vice-Presidents : (A) Mathematics 

 an<l Astronomy, W. W. Beman : (B) Physics, Carl Barus ; (C) 

 Chemistry, W. P. Mason; (D) .Mechanical Science and En- 

 gineering, John Galbraith ; (E) Geology and Geography, L C. 

 White ; (K) Zoology, G. Brown Goode : (G) Botany, George 

 F. .\tkinson ; (H) Anthropology, W. J. McGee ; (I) Social and 

 Economic Science, Richard T. Colburn. 



.Kn unusually large number of Fellows were elected, among 

 whom must be mentioned Wolcott Gibbs, he having been elected 

 honorary fellow in order to qualify for the presidency of the 

 Associ.-^tion, of which he had not been a member for nearly 

 thirty years. 



The matter of the approaching jubilee (in 1S9S) of the As- 



NO. 1403, VOL. 54] 



sociation was discussed, but no definite decision was arrived at. 

 As the probable place of meeting that year. Secretary Putnam 

 suggested Boston, a city already memorable in the annals of the 

 .Association as the place where the largest meeting of members — 

 not counting foreign guests — was held. 



THE RECENT CYCLONE IN PARTS. 



'pHERE seems to be very little doubt that Paris on Thursday last 

 was visited by a tornado, the first time within the memory of 

 man. It was accompanied by that mysterious circular motion 

 that is special to this class of storm, and extended over a very 

 small area, beginning at the Place St. Sulpice and ending at 

 the Boulevard de la Villette, a distance of nearly two miles. 

 It, however, caused considerable damage, resulting in, it is said, 

 seven deaths and many severe injuries. On the day in question 

 there had been since noon a succession of showers, and it was 

 towards the last of these — about 3 p.m. — that the tornado 

 .showed itself. M. Angot, he.id of the Meteorological Bureau, 

 was at the Pont Royal, about to take a boat, when he noticed 

 small dark clouds, very low down, apparently moving against 

 the wind, which was not at all high, the velocity not being 

 more than five or six yards a second. He soon, however, 

 perceived that the clouds had a rapid circular motion, not 

 horizontal, but oblique. When making these observations he 

 judged the distance of the storm to be about a mile, and its 

 diameter about 170 yards. At the Tour St. Jacques, the 

 meteorologist there states that the storm lasted less than a 

 minute. Some black clouds passed swiftly overhead, and there 

 was one flash of lightning. The barometer suddenly fell from 

 748 mm. to 742 mm., a drop of 6 mm. ; a fact unprecedented 

 for years, but almost immediately afterwards rose again. 

 Advancing from this point towards the north-east, branches 

 and, in some cases, whole trees fell on the roadways, and boats 

 on the river were torn from their moorings and dashed on the 

 quays. Omnibuses were upset, cabs thrown about, and stalls 

 overturned. .So strong was the force of the wind that the Palais 

 de Justice had its windows broken and was partly unroofed. 

 The roofs of the Opera Comique, the Chatelet, the Tribunal of 

 Commerce, and the Prefecture of Police were considerably 

 damaged, and in some cases partly removed. Owing to the 

 great damage done to the numerous windows of every house, 

 the streets were strewn with enormous quantities of glass broken 

 into small pieces. Some curious instances are related. A 

 kiosk in front of the Ambigu, in which were seated two police- 

 men, was carried, together with the policemen, to the other 

 side of the street ; the kiosk was completely wrecked, but the 

 policemen were unhurt though shaken. The heavy rain which 

 continued during the storm did considerable damage, filling up 

 cellars, iS;c. , and flooding the river Bievre. It was owing, 

 perhaps, to this rain, which had cleared the streets of people, 

 that the number of accidents was not greater than was 

 recorded. 



We have received the following further details from a corre- 

 spondent in Paris : — 



" The storm which we experienced took meteorologists quite 

 by surprise, and it was found impossible to, follow the track of 

 the cyclone out of Paris. It appears that it developed at the 

 Place St. Sulpice, and disappeared at La Villette, seven kilo- 

 metres in the north-north-east direction. 



"The path of destruction was limited to about one hundred 

 yards, but omnibuses were overturned, boats on the Seine wrecked, 

 five persons killed, seventy wounded, and about 100 trees 

 uprooted. One of the most extraordinary places of devastation 

 was the Square de la Tour Saint Jacques, where the Central 

 Municipal Observatory is established. The branches of trees 

 accumulated by the wind were so numerous that I was obliged 

 to use ladders for visiting the observers, who were practically 

 prisoners in the observatory. Most interesting observations 

 were taken from the top of the Eiftel Tower ; these will be 

 discussed in the forthcoming International Congress of 

 Meteorology." 



In a later communication our correspondent says : — 



" A singular observation was registered on the barometer at 

 2h. 40m. p.m. on the loth, when the storm raged in Paris. A 

 rise of 1 mm. of mercury was registered, but of such a short 

 duration that it was hardly possible to detect the two separate 

 strokes for the greater part of the variation. (It may here be 



