186 
The results of these tests seem to point to 
one conclusion of very considerable interest. 
It happened that the competition in both the 
arc and incandescent systems was between low 
electromotive force and great strength of cur- 
rent, on the one hand, and high electromotive 
force, with weaker current, on the other. In 
one arc system the electromotive force was 
almost exactly double, and the current almost 
exactly half, that of the other. In the incan- 
descent systems, the contrast, although not so 
great, was very marked. Im these trials the 
advantage was decidedly on the side of high 
electromotive force. 
NOTES ON THE VOLCANIC ERUPTION 
OF MOUNT ST. AUGUSTIN, ALASKA, 
OCT. 6, 1883.1 
On the western side of the entrance to Cook’s 
Inlet (forty-five miles wide) lies Cape Doug- 
las ; and to the northward of the cape the shore 
recedes over twenty miles, forming the Bay of 
Kamishak. In the northern part of this bay 
lies the Island of Chernaboura (‘ black-brown’), 
otherwise called Augustin Island. It is eight 
or nine miles in diameter, and near its north- 
eastern part rises to a peak called by Cook, 
Mount St. Augustin. As laid down by Teben- 
koff, the island is nearly round. The northern 
shores are high, rocky, and forbidding, and are 
bordered by vast numbers of rocks and hidden 
dangers. ‘The southern shore is comparatively 
low. 
Mount St. Augustin was discovered and 
named by Capt. Cook, May 26, 1778; and he 
describes it as having ‘a conical figure, and of 
very considerable height.’ In 1794 Puget de- 
scribes it as 
‘* A very remarkable mountain, rising with a uni- 
form ascent from the shores to its lofty summit, which 
is nearly perpendicular to the centre of the island, 
inclining somewhat to its eastern side. . . . Towards 
the seaside it is very low, from whence it rises, though 
regular, with a rather steep ascent, and forms a lofty, 
uniform, and conical mountain, presenting nearly the 
same appearance from every point of view, and clothed 
with snow and ice, through which neither tree nor 
shrub were seen to protrude; so that, if it did produce 
any, they must either have been very small, or the 
snow must have been sufficiently deep to have con- 
cealed them.”’ 
At that time there were native hunters, under 
the direction of two Russians, hunting or liv- 
ing in the vicinity of the north-eastern point of 
the island. 
Vancouver placed the peak of this mountain 
1 Communicated by Prof. J. E. Hilgard, superintendent U. 8. 
coast and geodetic survey. 
SCIENCE. 
in latitude 59° 22’: 
OR OP en, | 
[Vor. IIL., No. 54. 
Tebenkoff places it in lati- — 
tude 59° 24’. 
The peak of St. Augustin is distant forty- 
nine miles nearly due west (true) from the set- 
tlement on the southern point of Port Graham, 
or, as it is sometimes called, English Harbor. 
This harbor is situated on the eastern side of 
Cook’s Inlet, near Cape Elizabeth. 
In connection with the fall of pumice-dust 
at Iliuliuk on Oct. 16, 1883, it may be of in- 
terest to observe, that the peak of Augustin is 
over seven hundred miles to the north-eastward 
of Bogosloff Island, off Unalashka (see map). 
About eight o’clock on the morning of Oct. 
6, 1883, the weather being beautifully clear, 
the wind light from the south-westward (com- 
pass), and the tide at dead low water, the 
settlers and fishing-parties at English Harbor 
heard a heavy report to windward (Augustin 
bearing south-west by west three-fourths west 
by compass). So clear was the atmosphere 
that the opposite or north-western coast of the 
inlet was in clear view at a distance of more 
than sixty miles. 
When the heavy explosion was heard, vast 
and dense volumes of smoke were seen rolling 
out of the summit of St. Augustin, and mov- 
ing to the north-eastward (or up the inlet) 
under the influence of the lower stratum of 
wind ; and, at the same time (according to the 
statements of a hunting-party of natives in 
Kamishak Bay), a column of white vapor arose 
from the sea near the island, slowly ascending, 
and gradually blending with the clouds. The — 
sea was also greatly agitated and boiling, mak-  ~ 
ing it impossible for boats to land upon or to 
leave the island. 
¢ 
| 
Oe ee ek Ae 
From English Harbor (Port Graham) it was 
noticed that the columns of smoke, as they grad- 
ually rose, spread over the visible heavens, and 
obscured the sky, doubtless under the influence 
of a higher current (probably north or north- 
east). Fine pumice-dust soon began to fall, 
but gently, some of it being very fine, and some 
very soft, without grit. 
At about twenty-five minutes past eight a.M., 
or twenty-five minutes after the great eruption, 
a great ‘ earthquake wave,’ estimated as from 
twenty-five to thirty feet high, came upon Port 
Graham like a wall of water. It carried off — 
all the fishing-boats from the point, and deluged ~ 
the houses. This was followed, at intervals of 
about five minutes, by two other large waves, 
estimated at eighteen and fifteen feet; and 
during the day several large and irregular 
waves came into the harbor. The first wave 
took all the boats into the harbor, the reced- 
ing wave swept them back again to the inlet, 
i 
