594 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 537. 



of the Meteorological Commission of Cape 

 Colony for 1903. There is a fair increase in 

 the number of ordinary stations over 1902, 

 but the rainfall stations show a decrease of 

 31. This is due to the fact that, owing to a 

 drought, many farmers have ' trekked ' with 

 their cattle to adjoining territories, leaving 

 their homesteads unoccupied. 



Mr. D. E. Hutchins, of Cape Town, dis- 

 cusses the relation of the rainfalls of South 

 Africa and of India during the period 1892- 

 1902, and finds that the years of famine in 

 India have been followed by years of bad 

 drought in South Africa. The belief is ex- 

 pressed that the summer rains of South Africa 

 have their origin in the moist winds from the 

 Indian Ocean (Nature, Vol. 71, 1905, 342- 

 344). K. DeC. Ward. 



A CONTEMPLATED MAGNETIC SURVEY OF 

 THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN BY 

 THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION. 



A PROJECT for a magnetic survey of the 

 North Pacific Ocean by the Department of 

 International Research in Terrestrial Magnet- 

 ism has been favorably acted upon by the 

 executive committee of the Carnegie Institu- 

 tion of Washington, and authorization has 

 been given to begin the work this year. An 

 initial allotment of $20,000 has been made to 

 cover the expenses for the current year. 



As is well known, the state of our knowl- 

 edge of the distribution of the magnetic forces 

 over the greater portion of the earth — the 

 oceanic areas — owing to the paucity of precise 

 data, is exceedingly unsatisfactory. This fact 

 is especially true for that great body of water 

 — the Pacific Ocean — rapidly developing in 

 great commercial importance. 



Captain Creak, for many years superin- 

 tendent of the Compass Department of the 

 British Admiralty, now retired, says: 'The 

 North Pacific Ocean is, with the exception of 

 the voyage of the Challenger, nearly a blank 

 as regards magnetic observations, and I, there- 

 fore, think the magnetic survey proposed will 

 be of great value' 



Hence, except for data from occasional ex- 

 peditions and such as were acquired in wooden 

 vessels a long time ago, the present magnetic 

 charts used by the navigator over this region 



depend largely upon the observations on 

 islands and along the coasts. Such land ob- 

 servations, however, are rarely representative 

 of the true values because of prevalent local 

 disturbances. It is, therefore, impossible to 

 make any statement as to the correctness of 

 the present charts. The demands of science, 

 as well as those of commerce and navigation, 

 require a systematic magnetic survey of this 

 region under the most favorable conditions 

 possible and that the work be done under the 

 auspices of some recognized research institu- 

 tion in order to insure that the scientific as- 

 pects of the work receive their adequate 

 recognition. 



The eminent physicist and magnetician, 

 Professor Arthur Schuster, states as his opin- 

 ion : " I believe that no material progress of 

 terrestrial magnetism is possible until the 

 magnetic constants of the great ocean basins, 

 especially the Pacific, have been determined 

 more accurately than they are present. There 

 is reason to believe that these constants may 

 be affected by considerable systematic errors. 

 It is possible that these errors have crept in by 

 paying too much attention to measurements 

 made on islands and along the sea-coast. 

 What is wanted is more numerous and more 

 accurate observations on the sea itself." 

 Furthermore, the superintendent of the 

 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

 Mr. O. H. Tittmann, says : " There is no 

 doubt in my mind that a survey for that pur- 

 pose would result in obtaining data of great 

 and permanent value and that it should be 

 undertaken." 



Additional quotations could be given; the 

 above, however, are representative and show 

 sufficiently the great importance of the pro- 

 posed work and the fruitful results that may 

 confidently be expected. It is the hope that 

 upon the completion of the magnetic survey 

 of the North Pacific, the means will be forth- 

 coming for extending the survey so as to in- 

 clude other oceanic areas. An effort will, 

 furthermore, be made to secure the interest 

 and cooperation of all civilized countries, so 

 that we may look forward to the completion 

 of a general magnetic survey of the accessible 

 portions of the globe witliin about fifteen 



