548 TRANSACTIONS OP SECTION A. 



Washington, and editor of ' Terrestrial Magnetism,' who believes he has esta- 

 blished the fact that the so-called ' sudden commencements ' of magnetic 

 storms are propagated at such a rate as to take on the average about 3j min. 

 to go round the earth. Dr. Bauer believes the cause of these disturbances to be 

 a peculiar form of overhead electric current in the plane of the earth's equator, 

 due to charged ions whose height is on the average about fifty miles. Dr. Bauer 

 advances a theory to account for the motion of the charged ions, which the author 

 criticised. The conclusion reached is that the theory is unsatisfactory in several 

 respects. The paper also dealt with a recent paper by Mr. R. L. Faris which 

 treats of the records of fifteen magnetic disturbances as recorded at the five 

 stations of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, viz., Porto Rico, Cheltenham 

 (Maryland), Baldwin, Sitka, and Honolulu. Mr. Faris deduces from the 

 observed times of commencement of the disturbances finite rates of propagation 

 whose average seems to accord well with Dr. Bauer's theoretical conclusions. 

 The data given by Mr. Faris was regarded critically from several points of 

 view, and a variety of apparent inconsistencies pointed out. 



The final conclusion reached is that the evidence advanced by Mr. Faris is 

 inconclusive. 



5. Ninth Report on the Investigation of the Upper Atmosphere. 

 i See Reports, p. 72. 



6. Report on Magnetic Observations at Falmouth Observatory. 

 See Reports, p. 74. 



7. Report of the Committee to aid in Establishing a Solar Observatory 

 in Australia. — See Reports, p. 42 . 



8. Report on the Geodetic Arc in Africa. — See Reports, p. 75. 



9. Report on the Provision for the Study of Astronomy, Meteorology, and 

 Geophysics in the Universities of the British Empire.- — See Reports, p. 77. 



