OCTOBEK 16, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



563 



lation witti local elements, and India, 

 although Europeans have been able to 

 live there for prolonged periods, is not 

 a colony of settlement, but a depen- 

 dency. In accordance with this view 

 of permanent settlement and colonization 

 of Europeans in some countries, and of their 

 non-acclimatization and of their being un- 

 able to live permanently in other countries, 

 the author divides British colonies into two 

 groups : Colonies of Settlement and Tropi- 

 cal Dependencies. Under the first are in- 

 cluded Canada, Australia, and, to a modified 

 extent, Cape Colony and Natal, all of which, 

 except the northern part of Australia, lie in 

 the Temperate Zones. Under Tropical 

 Dependencies are included India, all Crown 

 Colonies, Protectorates, and the numerous 

 commercial settlements, islands, naval and 

 coaling stations lying within the tropics. 

 In the latter group Europeans form a mere 

 fraction of the population, but owing to 

 their superior attainments and resources, 

 they act as rulers and overseers. The na- 

 tive population is necessarily servile, be- 

 cause the European colonist cannot perform 

 hard labor out of doors in tropical climates, 

 and as long as this large servile native pop- 

 ulation' exists, a high civilization and politi- 

 cal independence are out of the question. 

 This whole subject of acclimatization and 

 of colonization is of very great importance 

 at the present day, when Great Britain, 

 Germany, France and Italy are so actively 

 extending their possessions in Africa. In 

 many of these newly acquired territories 

 true colonization by Europeans is and al- 

 ways will be impossible. 



CHANGES OF TEMPERATURE DURING THE 

 RECENT SOLAR ECLIPSE. 



Nature has recently published two com- 

 munications on the changes of air tempera- 

 ture during the solar eclipse of August 9th. 

 One set of observations, made by H. R. 

 Mill at Vadso, is thus summarized : Speak- 



ing roughly, the eclipse began at 4, was 

 total at 5, and was over by 6 o'clock. At 

 4:18 the temperature was 44.0° F.; at 4:23 

 it was 43.5°; at 4:28 and 4:33, 43.2°. From 

 4:35 to 4:43 the sun was shining brightly 

 and the temperature rose to 43.3°; at 4:53 

 and 4:59, glimpses of the sun were caught 

 before and after totality. The temperature 

 from 4:48 to 4:58 was steady at 43.0°; and 

 at 5 it had dropped to 42,1°; from 5:3 to 

 5:13 it stood at 42.3°. By 5:33 it had risen 

 to 43.8°, and at 5:48, when the observations 

 ceased, to 45.0°. The thermometer hung 

 from the tripod of a 3-inch telescope, the 

 bulb being about 18 inches from the ground. 

 No special precautions were taken to shield 

 it from the sun's rays, bub, owing to the 

 cloudiness, none were necessary. 



The second set of observations was made 

 by H. W. Blake, also at Vadso, and both 

 a sun and shade thermometer were used. 

 The fall of the former, which was fully 

 shaded by cloud, was, from 4:10 to just 

 after totality, 2°, and its recovery from that 

 point to 5:56, last contact, was 3.6°. The 

 shade thermometer showed greater vari- 

 ations, viz., a fall of 3.35°, and a subse- 

 quent rise of 5.6° at 5:50. 



It is to be hoped that other meteorologi- 

 cal data may have been collected by the 

 various expeditions sent out to observe the 

 eclipse. The variations of pressure, the 

 changes in wind direction and the deposi- 

 tion of dew are interesting facts, already 

 observed in previous eclipses, and further 

 data in regard to them would be valuable. 



INDIAN METEOROLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS. 



4.MONG the recent publications of the Me- 

 teorological Department of India are Parts 

 IV. to VII., inclusive, of Vol. IX. of the 

 Indian Meteorological Memoirs. These vol- 

 umes contain discussions of the hourly ob- 

 servations made respectively at Nagpur and 

 Poona ; Belgaum and Bellary ; Trichin- 

 opoly, and Rangoon and Aden. They were 



