JANUARY 4, 1884. ] 
quency and violence of lightning to the differ- 
ent parts of the storm-area, or for discovering 
its possible preference for one or another 
topographical or geological district when it 
‘strikes.’ Some of these points have been 
studied in Europe, but much remains to be 
done even there. Indeed, there is no depart- 
ment of meteorology in which local and close- 
ly placed observers can attain an end so 
distinctly original, and so far out of reach of 
the government service, as in this; and ten 
years’ observations from stations near one 
another, and numerous enough, would yield 
results of the greatest practical and theoreti- 
eal interest. 
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 
*,* Correspondents are requested to beas brief as possible. The 
writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good fuith. 
Mr. Francis Galton’s proposed ‘family registers.’ 
MAny obliging letters reach me from America, 
offering family information for my use, of the kind 
described by my friend, Mr. Henry F. Osborn, in your 
issue No. 39, as that which I want. 
The scheme there described is one that I circulated 
to gather opinions and to obtain guidance before de- 
termining its precise form. This is now done, and 
with your permission I will say a few words upon it. 
The information wanted applies to so many differ-. 
ent individuals in the same family group, and differs 
so much in minuteness, according to the degree of 
kinship, and it has to be arranged in so special a 
manner, that a copious explanatory description and 
numerous tables are requisite. There is no real com- 
plexity; nevertheless, 1 feel assured, that, without 
considerable guidance, endless mistakes will arise. 
Correspondents will send pages of useless matter; and, 
on the other hand, they will be silent about simple 
facts, the absence of which will seriously diminish 
the value of otherwise copious returns. I therefore 
found it necessary to prepare a book containing a 
full account and explanation of what was wanted, in 
order to exhibit the varous hereditary tendencies 
that converge upon any given person, and containing 
at the same time all the necessary schedules. This I 
have done: it is in the press, and will be published 
about Christmas by Macmillan, and will be procura- 
ble in America. 
As regards the prize scheme, I found it inadvisable 
to restrict it to medical men, and I have thrown it 
open to ‘British subjects resident in the United 
Kingdom.’ I could not extend it farther, owing to 
the extreme difficulty of verifying statements of facts 
alleged to have occurred abroad.. My self-imposed 
task will be hard enough as itis. The conditions of 
the prizes are fully explained in a fly-leaf to the Eng- 
lish edition. ; 
Let me take this opportunity of saying a few 
words about another book to which my name is at- 
tached as editor, and which will appear at the same 
time. It is called the ‘ Life-history album,’ and was 
prepared by a sub-committee, of which I was asked 
to be chairman, who acted by direction of the Col- 
lective investigation committee of the British medical 
SCIENCE. 3 
association. This book gives explanations and sched- 
ules for the registration of personal data as life ad- 
vances, just as the Record gives for a comprehensive 
account once for all of family data; the details, how- 
ever, being very different in the two books: they are 
much more medical in the ‘Album.’ It is believed 
by the Life-history sub-committee that the medical 
value to the possessor, of his own life-history up to 
date, would be considerable, and of great service to 
the children. They also feel, that, if these albums are 
commonly kept, it will be possible hereafter to ob- 
tain extracts of a great many of them for purely sta- 
tistical purposes, which would be of high scientific 
value. The albums will contain a vast amount of 
information which is now left to perish, and the lack 
of which is a great hinderance to obtaining that com- 
plete and comprehensive knowledge of the family 
antecedents of numerous persons, which is at present 
the paramount desideratum to inquirers into heredity. 
I shall be very grateful to any of your readers who 
may see my forthcoming ‘ Record of family faculties,’ 
and may make themselves acquainted with what I 
want, who will send me information concerning their 
own families. But I cannot explain my wants with 
sufficient brevity either here or by letter, and must, 
' perforce, refer those who care to know them to the 
book itself. FRANCIS GALTON. 
42 Rutland Gate, London, December, 1883. 
The red sunsets. 
I have recently noticed several articles upon the 
gorgeous sunsets lately seen in this country, and de- 
sire to put down a few notes on the same. 
The red glare was so brilliant the evening of Nov. 
27, that the fire-alarm was sounded in New Haven, 
Conn., calling out the engines. On the succeeding 
night the deep red glow was magnificent, appear- 
ing far’above blocks in the busiest part of the city. 
Careful observation has shown the phenomenon very 
nearly as brilliant at sunrise as at sunset. The deep 
red has appeared the last of all the colors in the sky 
at sunset, and invariably the first in the morning. 
There has been, in addition to this, agrayish afterglow 
at night, and in the morning a slight effulgence be- 
tokening the rising sun. This afterglow, or efful- © 
gence, has made it possible to observe the sky directly 
at the region where the deep red had just appeared, 
or was soon to appear; and this invariably showed fine 
fleecy clouds at a great height, generally stratified 
horizontally, and extending with slightly increasing 
density to the south-west or south-east horizon. - 
These light stratified cloud-appearances were visible, 
even though the sky appeared absolutely cloudless a 
few minutes before and after the effulgence. The 
stars the past month have shown, night after night, 
most extraordinary twinkling, and the air has been 
saturated with moisture. Again and again, with a 
high barometer and a perfectly clear sky, sometimes 
even with a cold north-west wind, I have been aston- 
ished to find the relative humidity a hundred per cent. - 
As to a probable explanation, the wildest theories 
have been advanced: meteors, cosmical dust, zodia- 
cal light, comets, electricity, volcanic gases and 
ashes, etc., have each had their adherents. Of these, 
the last is the only one worthy of consideration. The 
recent (?) eruptions at Java, 11,000 miles distant, are 
advanced as a sufficient cause for the presence of the 
ashes. 
That volcanic ashes may be carried great distances 
is well known. Loomis’s ‘ Meteorology,’ p. 77, gives 
an instance in which ashes were carried 700 miles to 
the north-east and 1,200 miles to the west of the vol- 
cano Coseguina. Notwithstanding this evidence, it 
