430 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 457. 



date of the arrival of the expedition at 

 Nassau to the time of its departure. 



3. The flying of kites in order to make 

 observations of meteorological conditions 

 in the upper atmosphere. Six ascents have 

 been made ranging in altitude from four 

 thousand to eight thousand feet and excel- 

 lent records have been secured in each one 

 of these ascents. This work has never be- 

 fore been attempted in these latitudes. A 

 most interesting feature of these kite inves- 

 tigations was the successful flight of a kite 

 from the deck of a steam launch to the 

 elevation of eight thousand feet in the open 

 sea. 



Survey of tJie Tide and Erection of 

 Bench Marh.— This work is entirely new 

 for the Bahama Islands, and as stated above 

 has for its aim the solution of the problem 

 whether the islands are being elevated or 

 submerged. The bench mark erected at 

 Nassau, as far as I know, is the first to be 

 •established throughout the "West Indian 

 region. The tide gauge which has been 

 established is a self-recording instrument 

 that will run for one year, and its records 

 Avill afterwards be reduced and the compu- 

 tation of mean tide level for Nassau harbor 

 will be determined by the United States 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey. 



MAGNETIC suEAney. 

 Wo7-k of Previous Investigators. — In the 

 ■past hundred years from twenty-five to 

 • thirty observations have been made at ten 

 or twelve stations throughout the archi- 

 pelago. These observations have been 

 almost entirely confined to the observation 

 of magnetic declination. 



The Work of the Present Survey.— The 

 work of the present survey has been : 



To determine the declination, dip and 

 ■intensity of the terrestrial magnetism at 

 a number of points in the Bahama Islands, 

 especially at points previously occupied. 



Full sets of observations have been made 

 at Nassau, Watling's, Clarence Town and 

 Abaco. These observations will be reduced 

 by the United States Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey. 



MEDICAL SURVEY. 



The medical staff has stopped at and ex- 

 amined from a medical and sanitary stand- 

 point the following settlements on the dif- 

 ferent islands of the Bahamas : New Provi- 

 dence, including Nassau and the surround- 

 ing country, with especial attention to the 

 hospitals, etc., several of the largest schools 

 and a number of private cases shown 

 through the courtesy of the resident 

 physicians. The water supply from a 

 number of wells in the hospital grounds, 

 Nassau, Grants Town and other parts of 

 the island have been examined chemically 

 and microscopically. 



At those settlements or islands where 

 there were no resident physicians the 

 medical and surgical equipment was car- 

 ried on shore and free dispensaries opened 

 up. In some cases where the ship was able 

 to anchor close to the shore, free clinics 

 were held on her decks or in the main cabin, 

 especially whenever it was necessary to 

 operate on any of the conditions met with. 

 In the settlements where the resident physi- 

 cians were found they were in all instances 

 sought out and questioned concerning the 

 nature of their practice, diseases found, 

 their treatment, condition of the' people, 

 etc. The homes of the natives were studied 

 from a sanitary standpoint, a number of 

 their dwelling places entered and inspected 

 and physical and blood examinations made. 



In a brief summary it would be impos- 

 sible to go into the special studies to be 

 included in a future report on these islands, 

 but in general we were much impressed 

 with the following : 



1. The prevalence of leprosy. This dis- 

 ease included the three types, anajsthetie, 



