62 KEPOKTS ON liiE STATE OF SCIENCE. 



in many of our colonies and in foreign countries. Many of tliese 

 foreign and colonial stations were established as the direct result of the 

 action taken by the Foi-eign Office, the Colonial Office, and the India 

 Office, whose assistance was given partly on the ground that the object 

 in view was considered to be of practical value to her late Majesty's 

 Government. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and other observa- 

 tories, refer to Professor Milne in matters of earthquake phenomena ; 

 and his observations throw light upon certain cable interruptions, indi- 

 cating the times when " regulators " and other instruments found in 

 observatoi'ies may have been disturbed. But, for the precise rectification 

 of these observations, it will be highly desirable for Professor Milne tc 

 receive time signals. Inasmuch as the observations made at Shide and 

 the co-operating stations, directly or indirectly are of assistance to several 

 Government departments, the Council of the British Association desire 

 to urge you to authorise the transmission of the time signal to Professor 

 Milne, not as a member of the public, but as an official carrying out 

 observations which are of service to the State.' From the General Post 

 Office the matter was referred to the Lords Commissioners of the 

 Treasury. When it was found that the only condition under which 

 the signal could be obtained was ' the usual rental terms,' the rental for 

 the wire being 221. per annum, under an agreement for five years, 

 together with the payment for installation, which was very high, the cor- 

 respondence closed. 



II. Sites of Stations. 



Perth, Western Australia.^ — The instrument is established at the 

 observatory, which is situated on a hill 200 feet high quite away 

 from the city. The building stands in the middle of a reserve of 

 11 acres and the traffic is slight. About a quarter of a mile away 

 there is an electric tram. The seismograph is mounted on a concrete 

 pedestal, and the clockwork on a marble slab on the top of solid 

 brickwork, the whole being embedded in the concrete floor of the 

 basement of the dome building. The character of the soil all round 

 Perth is loose sand, which transmits vibrations only too well. Mr. Cooke, 

 the Government Astronomer, fcays, ' We have had a lot of trouble and 

 have taken rather unusual precautions to get rid of these vibrations in our 

 transit house, but without any great success.' The Perth Mint authorities 

 have had practically to give up their standard weighings owing to the 

 impossibility of obtaining sufficient stability for their balances. They 

 are right in the centre of the town. The sand seems to be in a state of 

 perpetual quiver, and it is impossible to keep mercuiy steady — unless in 

 an amalgamated trough — on any of our piers. 



Lima. — The observatory is in the Exhibition Gardens, one mile south 

 of the cathedral. Long. 79° 21' 5"-2 W. of Paris. Lat. 12° 3' 5"-8 

 south. Lima is built on a gently sloping plain formed of ejecta from 

 Rimak during recent times. It is bounded on three sides by foot-hills 

 or spurs of the Andes. Formation is gravel and conglomerate I'esting 

 on andesites. Distance from sea, 4 miles ; height, 400 feet ; slope to the 

 sea, 1^ per cent. ; foundations for the pillar and table are stone and 

 cement to a depth of 10 feet. The boom runs north to south, the 

 clock -box being at the south end. — Mr. H. Hope- Jones, Geographical 

 Society, Lima. 



' Also see £.A. Eejjnrts, 1905, p. 84 ; 1906, p. 93 ; 1907, p. 87. 



