370 



SCIEJSrCE, 



[Vol. VIII., No. 194 



and, indeed, any others who have any interest in the 

 solution of the extremely intricate problems con- 

 nected with the study of such phenomena, should 

 send their observations to the U. S. geological sur- 

 vey. Very many observers who could easily give 

 information which might be of great value when 

 compared with other reports, often hesitate to do so 

 because in itself it seems too vague or meagre to be 

 worth the trouble. Everktt Hayden. 



U. 8. geological survey, Oct. 18. 



Barometer exposure. 



In connection with the recent discussion of barom- 

 eter exposure, the following results of observa- 

 tions made during the high wind of Oct. 14 may be 

 of interest. The barometers are kept in the transit- 

 room, east wing, of the observatory, and windows at 

 north and south were open at the top a foot or more, 

 allowing free access of outside air. 



At 7 o'clock A.M. the reduced barometer reading 

 was 29.181 inches, the lowest for many months. At 

 10 o'clock, when the wind (directly from the west), 

 as indicated by a Eobinson's anemometer and Gib- 

 bon's recorder, suddenly increased from five to thirty 

 miles per hour, the reduced height was 29.199 ; and 

 a constant increase was observed for the remainder 

 of the day, although the wind velocity was nearly 

 constant for four hours. 



I carefully examined the barometer (Green, No. 

 2006) for sudden changes in height, and was able 

 repeatedly to detect and measure with the vernier 

 oscillations of .02 of an inch, and at one time a 

 movement of .029 of an inch. The majority of 

 these oscillations did not last over 1.5 seconds ; a few 

 as long as 2 seconds. 



It was noticed in nearly every instance that the 

 oscillation did not follow immediately upon each gust 

 of wind, but about five or six seconds later. It is 

 possible that the situation of the east wing, shel- 

 tered by the main building and dome, may have in- 

 fluenced the result. Chas. A. Bacon. 



Belolt, Wis., Oct. 15. 



A large squid. 



The U. S. fish commission schooner Grampus, 

 which recently arrived at Wood's Holl from a cruise 

 to the eastern fishing-banks, brought in, among 

 other things, a fine specimen of the large broad- 

 finned squid, Stenoteuthis megaptera, Verrill. Al- 

 though much smaller, this is next in size to the giant 

 squids, and much larger than the common varieties. 

 The one brought in by the Grampus is the iirst per- 

 fect specimen obtained in this country, and the 

 second of its kind in the world. It is also slightly 

 the largest, and, because it was taken alive, is prob- 

 ably the best preserved specimen extant. 



The first known specimen was cast ashore near 

 Cape Sable a number 8f years ago, and is now in the 

 Provincial museum at Halifax. Since then four 

 fragments of this species have been obtained by the 

 Gloucester fishermen, and presented to the national 

 museum, these consisting only of jaws and single 

 arms. It therefore follows that the fine specimen of 

 this animal which has now been secured by the fish 

 commission will be a valuable acquisition to the col- 

 lections in the national museum. 



It was caught on a squid jig of the ordinary pat- 

 tern, by John F. McDonald, one of the crew of the 



schooner Mabel Leighton, of Gloucester, on the night 

 of Sept. 25, while he was fishing for the common 

 squid, Ommastrephes illecebrosus. At thet time the 

 vessel was off the southern part of Lee Have Bank, 

 in north latitude 42° 45', and near the 64th meridian 

 of west longitude. When fresh, the total length of 

 the specimen was fifty-two inches from tip of tail to 

 extremity of longest pair of tentacles, while its lar- 

 gest circumference was fifteen inches. The Halifax 

 specimen was forty- three inches long from tip to tip, 

 after having been in alcohol several days. 



On the next day after the squid was caught, the 

 Mabel Leighton met with the Grampus, and Captain 

 Greenwood, of the former vessel, presented the ani- 

 mal to the officers of the fish commission schooner. 



In this connection it is only just to remark that 

 the Gloucester fishermen have exhibited a very intel- 

 ligent interest in making collections for the commis- 

 sion. They are frequently able to detect peculiarities 

 in unfamiliar species, and to save rarities. In con- 

 sequence, their ' aids to science ' have been of great 

 value to many specialists in their study of the marine 

 fauna off our coasts. J. W. Collins. 



Wood's Holl, Oct. 15. 



Visual illusion. 



In Science, No. 176, doubt is expressed concerning 

 the visual illusion noticed by M. Charpentier before 

 the French academy : "After a small, feebly illumi- 

 nated object has been attentively viewed for some 

 time in complete darkness, it will often appear to 

 move in some determined direction in the field of 

 vision, at a speed varying from two to three degrees 

 per second, and sometimes through a distance sub- 

 tended by an angle of thirty degrees or more." This 

 illusion has been frequently noticed by me during 

 the last fifteen or twenty years. The motion is usu- 

 ally vertically upward ; occasionally the object seems 

 to retrace its path, moving downward, but only after 

 very attentive observation. Recently I have made 

 repeated trials of this illusion, with exactly the same 

 results as were obtained years ago, before I had 

 made the eye a subject of special study. 



A. H. Cole. 

 Eightstown, N..T., Oct. 16. 



The significance of coincident weather-condi- 

 tions. 



On Oct. 14 there was an outbreak of violent storms 

 in Europe and America. As was suggested in my 

 letter published in Science for Aug. 13, such an 

 event affords an opportunity to test the theory that 

 there is a relation of some sort between disturbances 

 on the sun and storms on the earth. If this relation 

 does exist, the sun should be disturbed in proportion 

 to the magnitude of these exceptional atmospheric 

 movements. That this was the case on Oct. 14 is 

 shown by the fact that on that day there was an ex- 

 tremely rapid formation of spot-groups in the sun's 

 eastern quadrant. On Oct. 15 the number increased 

 to such an extent that on the 16th the entire group 

 was fairly comparable to that which was visible dur- 

 ing the great storms in May. During the great gulf 

 storm just previous to Oct. 14, there had been vari- 

 ous solar disturbances which upon that date had dis- 

 appeared, for the most part, by solar rotation. 



M. A. Veeder. 

 Lyons, N.Y., Oct. 16. 



