a 



o 



CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 47 



Professor J. Perry, Professor J. H. Poynting, and Dr. I. Roberts. A 

 frant of 80^. had been made to this Committee. The Committee for tlie 

 application of Photography to Meteorology had been re-appointed with a 

 "rant of 15/., and the Underground Temperature Committee had been 

 re-appointed without a grant. They were aware that the observatory of 

 Professor Milne in Japan had been destroyed by fire, and that he now had 

 an observatory in the Isle of Wight, hence the merging of the Committee 

 for Seismological Observations with that for the observation of Earth 

 Tremors. It was hoped that Professor Milne, who was particularly clever 

 in designing inexpensive apparatus, might be able to produce suitable 

 apparatus at a small cost for taking seismological observations, which 

 might be widely distributed over the country, and be largely used by 

 members of local scientific societies. With regard to the Meteorological 

 Photographs Committee, no special work for the Corresponding Societies 

 had been suggested by the Committee, who were simply anxious to obtain 

 photogi'aphs of lightning, rainbows, halos, tfec. The Committee was just 

 then arranging for synchronous photographs of clouds. Near Exeter they 

 had a straight base line about a quarter of a mile long. Photogra,phie 

 observatories had been erected at each end, and there was a signalling 

 apparatus between the two points, so that photographs of passing clouds 

 might be obtained from both observatories simultaneously. Work of this 

 kind, however, would hardly be taken up warmly by those societies which 

 were mainly natural history societies, though he hoped it would commend 

 itself to those more devoted to engineering, geology, and meteorology. 



The Chairman hoped that delegates would make special note of the work 

 just described. 



The Pv,ev. J. O. Bevan asked if anything was known of the meteoro- 

 logical work formerly done at Stonyhurst by Father Pei-ry. He believed 

 similar work was still being done there, and would like to know if there 

 had been any communication between the authorities at Stonyhurst and 

 the Meteorological Photographs Committee. If meteorological work was 

 still carried on at Stonyhurst, it was important that the Committee should 

 know what was being done there, 



Mr. Sowerbutts knew that the work done by Father Perry was still 

 being carried on at Stonyhurst, and that the Father in charge was a highly 

 trained scientific man. He was afraid that town societies could never do 

 anything in noting earth tremors on account of the tremors caused by 

 passing trains, waggons, &c. He did not know any spot within seven 

 miles of Manchester where a recording instrument might safely be placed, 

 unless it were at the bottom of a coal mine. 



The Rev. J. O. Bevan believed that these superficial tremors were of 

 short duration and would not affect the observations made with any 

 properly- constructed meteorological instrument. Had they any connection, 

 he asked, with the Observatories at Greenwich and at Kew 1 



Mr. White Wallis said that the Committee were certainly in communi- 

 cation with both Kew and Greenwich, and he would note the suggestion 

 that they should communicate with Stonyhurst. As regards the supposed 

 difficulty of making observations on earth tremors in towns he might say 

 that modern instruments were practically unaffected by passing vibrations 

 from railway trains, &.c. A tremor of such short duration was not repre- 

 sented on these instruments. They had one in a cellar, but though the 

 vibration of a passing train was felt in the house, it was not recorded by 

 the instrument. Darwin's bifilar pendulum was somewhat expensive 

 Professor Milne accomplished the .same result in a much simpler way. 



