524 



NA TURE 



[October 28, 1909 



of October 18, and vessels engaged in the Transatlantic 

 trade report an unusually brilliant display of aurora on 

 the same night — October 18-19 — over practically the whole 

 route between Europe and the United States of America. 

 In connection with these reports, it is of interest to note that 

 considerable magnetic disturbance was recorded at Kew on 

 October 18-19, though nothing at all approaching that 

 recorded on the late occasion. The whole afternoon of 

 October 18 was slightly disturbed magnetically, but there 

 was a marked sudden development about 8.30 p.m., and 

 a considerable disturbance prevailed thereafter until 6 a.m. 

 on October 19. During this time there was a range of 

 375' in the declination, of 1307 in the horizontal force, 

 and of 1707 in the vertical force. The most noteworthy 

 features were that the declination needle remained to the 

 east of its normal position continuously from 8.30 p.m. 

 on October 18 until 3.30 a.m. on October 19, while the 

 vertical force was depressed below its normal value from 

 the commencement of the storm until 7 a.m. next morn- 

 ing. There was further disturbance, but of a minor 

 character, later on October 19. 



Mr. \V. E. Cooke, Government astronomer, Western 

 Australia, informs us that the most magnificent aurora 

 visible in .\ustralia for half a century occurred on 

 September 25. From reports in the V/est Australian, it 

 appears that the aurora was observed throughout .\ustralia, 

 as well as at Cocos Island, Batavia, Singapore, Rodriquez, 

 Durban, and elsewhere. Magnetic disturbances appear to 

 have been recorded generally, interfering considerably with 

 the telegraph and cable services. The electrical engineer 

 in the \\'estern Australia railway department (Mr. Dowson) 

 informed Mr. Cooke that for the space of half an hour 

 on the evening of Saturday, September 25, the lines 

 between Perth and Kalgoorlie (350 miles), and between 

 Perth and .Mbany, worked well with all the batteries cut 

 out. The current was at least double that which is usually 

 employed, and the needle of the ammeter went hard over 

 at 35 milliamperes. The pressure must have been at least 

 150 volts. As the auroral light waxed and waned the 

 current followed suit. By a curious coincidence, the last 

 great display in -Australia occurred almost exactly fifty 

 years ago. 



The Bakerian lecture for the session igo8-g will be 

 delivered at the Royal Society on Thursday, November iS, 

 by Sir J. Larmor, Sec.R.S., on " The Statistical and 

 Thermodynamical Relations of Radiant Energy." 



The annual Huxley memorial lecture will be delivered 

 by Prof. Gustaf Retzius on Friday, November 5, at the 

 Royal Anthropological Institute. The subject will be 

 " The North-European Race." 



Recent American obituary includes the name of Dr. 

 Hermann Endemann, a German by birth, who was for 

 several years one of the editors of the publications of the 

 American Chemical Society, and frequently appeared as 

 an expert chemist in the courts and before legislative 

 committees at Washington and Albany. 



Mr. Horace G. Knowles, recently U.S. Minister at 

 Bucharest, has been so impressed by the value of the 

 sturgeon fisheries of the Danube that he is making an 

 attempt to re-introduce the sturgeon into the rivers of the 

 Atlantic coast, where for many years it has been almost 

 unknown. He has obtained the consent of the Rumanian 

 Government to the shipment to .'\merica of a car-load of 

 the fry of the Black Sea sturgeon, said to be the best in 

 the world. His efforts are warmly approved by the U.S. 

 Fish Commissioner, who believes the experiment wilT be 

 successful. 



NO. 2087, VOL. 81] 



The Secretary of State for the Colonies has appointed an 

 advisory committee on medical and sanitary questions con- 

 nected with the British Colonies and Protectorates in 

 Tropical .Africa. The members of the committee are : — 

 Mr. H. J. Read, C.M.G. (chairman); Sir Patrick Manson, 

 K.C.M.G., F.R.S.: Sir Hubert Boyce, F.R.S. ; Mr. C. 

 Strachey ; .Mr. W. T. Prout, C.M.G. ; Dr. T. Thomson, 

 C.M.G. ; Prof. W. J. Simpson, C.M.G. ; and Dr. J. K. 

 Fowler. Mr. A. Fiddian, of the Colonial Office, will act 

 as secretary to the committee. 



At the general meeting of the Royal Society of Edin- 

 burgh, held on October 25, the following office bearers and 

 members of council were elected : — President, Sir ^^'illiam 

 Turner, K.C.B., F.R.S. ; vice-presidents. Dr. R. H. 

 Traquair, F.R.S., Prof. Crum Brown, F.R.S., Prof. J. C. 

 Ewart, F.R.S., Dr. J. Home, F.R.S., Dr. J. Burgess, 

 Prof. T. Hudson Beare ; general secretary. Prof. G. 

 Chrystal ; secretaries to ordinary meetings, Dr. C. G. 

 Knott, Dr. R. Kidston, F.R.S. ; treasurer, J. Curric;; 

 curator of library and museuiti. Dr. J. S. Black ; 

 councillors. Prof. F. W. Dyson, F.R.S., Prof. D'Arcy 

 W. Thompson, C.B., Dr. O. Charnock Bradley, C. 

 Tweedie, Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., Dr. A. P. Laurie, 

 Prof. Wm. Peddle, Prof. H. M. Macdonald, F.R.S., Prof. 

 D. Noel Paton, Dr. W. S. Bruce, Prof. F. A. Baily, J. 0. 

 Bartholomew. 



The council of the Institution of Civil Engineers has 

 made the following awards for the year 190S-9 : — Telford 

 gold medals. Prof. B. Hopkinson and G. R. G. Conway ; 

 Watt gold medals, D. A. Matheson and W. C. Popplewell ; 

 George Stephenson gold medals, E. H. Tabor and A. J. 

 Knowles ; the " Indian " premium and a Telford premium, 

 T. R. Nolan ; Telford premiums, S. J. Reed, C. T. Purdy, 

 L. A. B. Wade, G. Hobbs, W. Cleaver, J. D. W. Ball, 

 Prof. A. H. Gibson, and R. D. Gwyther ; the "James 

 Forrest" medal and a Miller prize, J. A. Wotherspoon ; 

 the Miller scholarship, J. A. Orrell ; the " James Prescott 

 Joule " medal and Miller prizes, W. E. Fisher and E. B. 

 Wood ; Miller Prizes, W. E. R. Gurney, E. G. L. Love- 

 grove, J. Purser, G. C. Minnitt, S. F. Deacon, C. H. 

 Bradley, and A. E. Marshall. 



News of large disturbances of seismographs by distant 

 earthquake shocks was recorded in the Daily Mail of 

 I'"riday, October 22, by Prof. Milne (Shide, Isle of Wight), 

 Prof. Belar (Laibach, Austria), and Prof. Michie Smith 

 (Kodaikanal, southern India). The earthquake occurred at 

 11.47 p.m. Greenwich time, and the duration of the motion 

 was more than three hours. Prof. Milne's records in- 

 dicated that " its origin was about 80° distant, which is 

 about the distance of Japan, San Francisco, and Mexico. 

 The probability is that it occurred in the east." Prof. 

 Belar reported that " the place of origin was distant about 

 3750 miles to the east." On the following day telegraphic 

 messages from Calcutta and Simla announced that there 

 had been a great earthquake in Baluchistan. Belput, 

 about two hundred miles from Quetta, is said to have 

 suffered severely from the earthquake. 



Ox Thursday last, October 21, the King performed the 

 ceremony of opening the new Royal Edward Tuberculosis 

 Institute at Montreal by means of an electric current sent 

 from West Dean Park, Chichester. A special telegraph line 

 was laid from West Dean Park to Chichester, and from 

 there the General Post Office lines were used to the Royal 

 Exchange office of the Commercial Cable Company. The 

 line used by the Commercial Cable Company was their 

 shortest route via Waterville (Ireland) to Canso (Nova 

 Scotia), from where it was transmitted by land lines to 



