METEORIC DUSTS, N.S.W. 277 



penetrates everywhere, and cannot be excluded from houses 

 boxes, and even watches, however carefully guarded. The 

 individual particles of dust appear to be in such an electrical 

 condition that they are ever ready to repel each other and 

 are consequently disturbed from their position and carried 

 up into the air. Dr. Cook also describes dust columns and 

 dust storms, and the electrical origin of both. 



In a letter dated Tokio, April 23rd, Prof. J. Milne, f.r.s., 

 states, ("Nature," June 29, 1892) that the commander, 

 Oapt. R. Swain of the S.S. Yokohama Maru, gave him a 

 specimen of some dust which fell on the vessel on April 2, 

 when about 95 miles west by south of Nagasaki, at about 

 6 p.m. The sun appeared quite yellow. The atmosphere 

 was moist and rendered everything upon the deck of the 

 ship quite damp; the precipitated moisture was yellowish, 

 and as it dried it left an extremely fine powder. For two 

 days previously the wind had been blowing W.S.W. or from 

 China. Nothing was felt in the eyes, and if the ship had 

 not been covered with a yellow powder, the phenomenon 

 would have been regarded as an ordinary but peculiarly 

 coloured fog. . . . The probability is that the material 

 came from the loess plains of China. At Nagasaki which 

 is 300 miles from the coast of China, a yellow sun was 

 noticed on the morning of the 2nd and during the day while 

 the dust was being precipitated, the appearance of the 

 atmosphere was compared to a London fog. 



On April 1st there was a fall of dust at Nawa in Okina- 

 wa-ken, and on the 2nd dust fell at Gifu. The P. and O. 

 steamer Verona, which left Hongkong on April 1st experi- 

 enced the same phenomenon as the Yokohama Maru, the 

 vessel being covered with a fine dust, and there was so 

 much haze that land was not seen until reaching Nagasaki. 

 On April 3rd, a yellow sun was seen at Yokohama, but I 

 am not aware that any dust was observed. Roughly speak- 



