ON RADIOTELEGRAPHIC INVESTIGATIONS. 127 



Rndiotelegraphic Investigations. — Report of the Commitee, con- 

 sisting of Sir Oliver Lodge {Chairman) , Dr. W. H. Eccles 

 {Secretary), Mr. S. G. Brown, Dr. G. Chree, Sir F. W. 

 Dyson, Professor A. S. Eddington, Dr. Erskine-Murray, 

 Professors J. A. Fleming, G. W. 0. Howe, H. M. Mac- 

 DONALD, and J. W. Nicholson, Sir H. Norman, Captain 

 H. E. Sankey, Professor A. Schuster, Sir Napier Shaw, 

 and Professor H. H. Turner. 



The obsei-vational work done for the Committee during the past year 

 has been carried out at about twenty-five stations distributed in 

 Austraha, the United States of America, Canada. New Zealand, 

 Ceylon, Trinidad, Dutch East Indies, Fiji, and the Gold Coast. 



Of the four kinds of Forms issued by the Committee for the collection 

 of statistics, the first, relating to the number and strength of the strays 

 at 11 A.M. and 11 p.m. Gi'eenwich mean time, has been in most regular 

 use, and the stock is almost exhausted. No further edition of this 

 Form will be issued during the war, and thus the collection of these 

 statistics will come gradually to an end. 



The difficulty of obtaining clerical assistance for the work of 

 reducing the Forms has greatly impeded progress, but a certain amount 

 of work has been accomplished and has yielded results of interest. 

 So soon as the several sections of the work are rounded off the results 

 will be published. 



The reduction of Form I. is proceeding by the collation of records 

 and reports of excessive atmospheric disturbance since August 1914 in 

 North America and Australia, and by their examination in conjunction 

 with meteorological data from the coiTesponding daily weather charts. 



The reduction of Form 11. is proceeding by the correlation of 

 instances of exceptionally good or bad transmission with meteorological 

 data, and by analysis of statistics from Cocos, Fiji, Lagos, Malta, and 

 Sierra Leone. 



Several important exceptional phenomena have been reported which 

 will, after discussion, be published. These include reports of : — 



Aurora, strays, and signals in Alaska and Hudson Bay. 



Severe atmospheric disturbances in Malta. 



Simultaneous strays on both sides of the Atlantic. 



Effect of tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico, September 30, 1915. 



The Committee desire to express their cordial thanks for the favours 

 extended to them by the Colonial Office, the Governments of Austi-alia, 

 Canada, and New Zealand, the War Department and the Navy Depart- 

 ment of the United States of America, the Telegraphic Department 

 of the Dutch East Indies, the Marconi Companies in the United States 

 of America and Canada, the United Fiiiit Company of New York, the 

 Eastern, the Eastern Extension and African Direct Telegraph Com- 

 panies, and Professors T. Agius, E. S. Hayes, and A. Hoyt Taylor. 



