4 
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Fune 11, 1885] 
NATURE 
u33 
depths and different hours of the morning. At 380 metres, 
shortly before 11 a.m., the impression on the plate was less than 
that which would have been left on exposure to the air on a 
clear night, without a moon. Between 1.20 and 1.30 p.m., ata 
depth of 405 to 420 metres, there was no trace of any im- 
pression whatever on the plate. Light clouds do not appear to 
cause any notable diminution in the depth to which the light 
penetrates. In the Lake of Geneva the writers also undertook 
a new series of investigations to determine the effect of the 
season on the penetration of light. They give 200 metres as 
the extreme limit for winter in the lake; but they found that 
there is as much light at 380 metres in the Mediterranean as at 
192 metres in the Lake of Geneva; and by a comparison of 
these with previous experiments, it appears the light penetrates 
from 20 to 30 metres deeper in March than in September ; in 
the month of August, perhaps the difference is a little more. 
Compared with the series of plates exposed in the lake, 
those of the Mediterranean are characterised by a slower and 
more regular gradation. ‘This gives rise to the idea that while 
in the lake the light would be promptly intercepted by the 
deeper layers, more orless disturbed or muddy, in the Mediterra_ 
nean the absorption proper to pure water would be the principal, 
if not the sole factor in arresting the luminous rays. 
In a communication to Ausland on the causes of the Anda. 
lusian earthquakes, A. Rzehak, of Briinn, maintains that they 
are clearly referable to the ‘‘tectonic’’ class of terrestrial dis- 
turbances—that is, those which are connected with the process 
by which mountains are elevated. Evidence of this connection 
is furnished by the manner in which the disturbed areas are in- 
fluenced by lines of fault. The entire area of disturbance in the 
case of the earthquakes of December last is divisible into three 
zones : (I) the littoral zone in the south, where the shock was 
most severe; (2) Andalusia proper, which was likewise the 
seat of pretty severe disturbances ; and (3) the central plateau of 
Spain as far as the Carpetena chain (a section of the Sierra 
Guadarrama), where, as already pointed out by M. Nogués 
(NATURE, xxxi. p. 417), the shocks completely died out. These 
three zones are separated by lines of fault. A great fault can be 
traced not only along the northern ‘slopes of the Serrania de 
Ronda, but also further eastwards to the district lying north of 
Malaga. To the north of this line scarcely any places suffered 
greatly from the earthquake—except those which, like Ante- 
quera, Loja, and Archedona, lie close to or immediately beside 
transverse faults. Elsewhere the degree of shock was tolerably 
uniform as far as the fault of the Guadalquivir, which bounds 
the central plateau on the south. A third great fault passes 
along the south of the Sierra Guadarrama, and there the dis- 
turbance seems to have ended. 
THE honour of C.I.E. has been conferred upon Mr. Francis 
Day, Deputy-Surgeon-General (Retired), Medical Department, 
Madras, andon Mr. J. B. N. Hennessey, late Deputy-Superin- 
tendent, Indian Survey Department. 
THE Meteorological Society of Vienna has resolved to erect 
a meteorological station on Mount Sonnenblick, near Tauern, in 
the central range of the Tyrolese Alps, 3100 metres above sea- 
level, and thus the highest station of the kind in Europe. 
THE Royal Institute of British Architects, on Monday evening, 
presented to Dr. Henry Schliemann, F.S.A., their Royal Gold 
Medal. In acknowledging the medal Dr. Schliemann said that 
our knowledge of prehistoric architecture was very deficient, for 
our sole informant was Homer, whose scanty information as to 
the construction and arrangement of the heroic palaces we did 
not even understand. 
THE latest official report of the earthquake in Cashmere states 
that much damage was occasioned in the north western portion 
of the valley. The ground opened, and the villages of Dubgaon, 
Jamalapar, and Ovan were swallowed up, while sulphurous dust 
and hot water issued from the cracks. The fort at Gurais and 
the grain store-houses were buried. A telegram sent from 
Serinagur on Friday last says :—‘‘ The shocks continue every 
three hours, with much preliminary noise, but a comparatively 
slight motion.” The great shock appears to have travelled in a 
southerly direction, and to have been felt at several places in 
Northern India, although it did no damage there. 
THE death is announced, at the age of fifty-two, of Robert 
von Schlagintweit, Professor of Geography and Ethnology at 
the University of Giessen. He was the youngest of the three 
brothers Schlagintweit who, on the recommendation of Alex- 
ander von Humboldt, and under the special care of Lieut.Col. 
Sykes, were sent by the British East India Company to explore 
that country, and especially the mountain regions in the north- 
west. Theresults of their researches, which lasted for several 
years, are recorded in comprehensive works of the highest 
scientific value. 
IMPORTANT experiments in aérial navigation are now being 
made by Mr. A. F. Gower, well known in connection with the 
Gower-Bell telephone. The operations being carried on are, 
it is understood, within the cognisance of the Government, and 
are more particularly directed towards the adaptation of balloons 
to war purposes. Several ascents have already been made, and 
in carrying out his arrangements Mr. Gower appears to have 
recognised the advantages offered by the position of the town of 
Hythe, which he has made the centre of his operations. On 
Sunday week the wind being favourable, one of the automatic 
pilot balloons invented by Mr. Gower, with appliances for giving 
out its own gas and ballast, one compensating for the loss of the 
other, was filled with 2300 feet of gas, and ascended at about 
11 o'clock. In the car a written statement was, of course, 
placed, explaining the ownership of the machine and its object, 
with the result that it was next heard of at Dieppe, having made 
a rapid passage of about seventy-two miles in a straight direction 
and descended at 2.30 in the afternoon. On Monday, another 
pilot balloon, with a capacity of 4300 feet, was started, and im- 
mediately followed by Mr. Gower in his own balloon (contain- 
ing 23,000 feet of gas). The object of Mr. Gower in ascending 
was to watch the action of the pilot; but the smaller machine 
made such rapid progress that it got out of his observation and 
came down in the vicinity of Paris. Meanwhile Mr. Gower, 
who ascended about noon, took the French coast at Boulogne at 
2.15, and then taking a northerly curve travelled overland to 
Calais, where he made.a smooth descent at 4 p.m. A still more 
important undertaking was, however, entered upon on Wednes- 
day, when Mr. Gower, Capt. Lane, and Mr. Dale, the aéronaut, 
ascended in a balloon of 40,000 feet capacity. A good start was 
made, and the aérial voyagers sailed away in a northerly direcs 
tion. After a journey of rather more than an hour, they were 
compelled to descend, owing to the wind taking a slight turn 
towards the North Sea, and with much difficulty landed on the 
Isle of Sheppey, having travelled twenty-three miles. 
A very laudable effort at teaching the general public practical 
astronomy is being made in Christiania. An optician, Herr Ae 
Olsen, has erected a great refractor in the Royal Park—in size 
said to be the fifth in the world—through which the celestial 
bodies can be observed by the public for a small fee, while 
explanations are given of their nature, &c. The interior of the 
pavilion in which it is mounted is hung with celestial charts and 
diagrams, as well as views of the planets, the sun, and the moon, 
for the purpose of facilitating the object in view. The cost of 
the instrument is very nearly 2000/, 
INTELLIGENCE haz been received at New York, June 9, 
stating that a waterspout has burst near Lagos, in Mexico. One 
