Febkuaby 13, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



235 



more complete results of these ocean sur- 

 veys are also in a forward state of prepa- 

 ration and it is expected that a full ac- 

 count of the work accomplished by the 

 Galilee and the Carnegie will be ready for 

 publication a year henee. In the near fu- 

 ture it is considered that the Carnegie 

 should make surveys in areas not yet cov- 

 ered and along some stretches already tra- 

 versed where cloudy or stormy conditions 

 have prevented the securing of adequate 

 observations. She will at the same time 

 cross her previous tracks as often as prac- 

 ticable in order to determine for such inter- 

 sections the information now most needed 

 by chart-makers, namely, the annual 

 changes in the magnetic elements. 



Magnetic surveys of land areas are also 

 proceeding at a favorable rate. An expedi- 

 tion under Mr. D. W. Berky, assisted by Mr. 

 H. E. Sawyer, has traversed the Sahara 

 Desert, starting from Algiers near the end 

 of October, 1912, and arriving at Timbuk- 

 too May 12, 1913; and these observers are 

 now extending their work into the territory 

 of west and central Africa bordering on the 

 Atlantic. Dr. H. M. W. Edmonds has led 

 an expedition into Canada, west of Hudson 

 Bay, near the location of one of the sup- 

 posed poles of the earth's magnetic field. 

 Mr. A. D. Power has made noteworthy 

 progress in a survey of northeastern South 

 America, including a trip along the Ori- 

 noco River and the Rio Negro from the 

 mouth of the Orinoco to Manaos on the 

 Amazon. Mr. H. F. Johnston is engaged 

 in a series of determinations along a line 

 running northward from Montevideo 

 towards Manaos. Similarly, the magnetic 

 survey of Australia and the adjacent is- 

 lands is making efficient progress under 

 the immediate charge of Mr. E. Kidson. 

 Under his guidance Mr. E. K. Webb was 

 trained for and supplied with instruments 

 for the valuable magnetic work accom- 



plished by the Mawson Antarctic expedi- 

 tion. 



In the near future it is anticipated that 

 the department will have sufficient data to 

 permit the construction of a new set of 

 magnetic charts, including all three mag- 

 netic elements (declination, dip and inten- 

 sity), especially for that part of the globe 

 included between the parallels of 50° north 

 and 50° south of the equator. It will then 

 be practicable to study the general problem 

 of the earth's magnetism by aid of a large 

 mass of homogeneous data surpassing in 

 definiteness any mass hitherto available for 

 this purpose. In anticipation of the need 

 of experimental facilities for studies of this 

 problem and others closely related thereto 

 the office and laboratory building of the de- 

 partment was authorized a year ago and is 

 now approaching completion, as explained 

 in a previous section of this report. For 

 the conduct of experimental researches the 

 department has been fortunate in securing 

 the services of Dr. W. F. G. Swann, late of 

 the University of Sheffield. Mr. Charles R. 

 Duvall, late of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey, has also recently joined the office 

 staff to fiU the position of chief computer. 



Attention is invited to the director's re- 

 marks on the present status of the depart- 

 ment's work, to the account of his own re- 

 searches of the year, and to his programs 

 for further work. And in the interests of 

 further possible work of construction of 

 buildings under the auspices of the institu- 

 tion, it may be worthy of note that prelimi- 

 nary plans for the new laboratory were well 

 matured by Mr. Fleming, engineer of the 

 departmental staff, before consulting an 

 architect, and that supervision of construc- 

 tion has also been assigned to Mr. Fleming. 

 This method of procedure, which has been 

 followed in several instances by the institu- 

 tion, appears to be highly advantageous for 

 economy and for efficiency. 



