200 



Notices. 



[N"o. 32, 



minimum occurring in the rain}'- season. He concluded by some ge- 

 neral remarks to the effect that the results are confirmed by observa- 

 tions on the temperature of springs and wells at Trevandrum, which 

 have been communicated to him by Major General Cullen, and that 

 from these facts it was easy to infer that the phenomena of the pro- 

 pagation of heat into the ground near the equator resemble those of 

 the temperate latitudes, though modified in character and extent. 

 Mr. Caldecott's experiments establish also the unsoundness of the 

 conclusion of M. Boussingault, at least for the Eastern hemisphere, 

 that the annual temperature near the equator remains unchanged at 

 a depth of one foot below the surface in the shade : — a mistake the 

 more important to correct because M. Poisson has tried to confirm 

 his theory of heat by applying it to explain this alleged fact. These 

 observations also establish incontestably tlie considerable excess of 

 the temperature of the earth above that of the air ; the latter being 

 in its mean quantity rather below than above 80°. In both these 

 particulars the observations of Mr. Caldecott are confirmed by those 

 of Captain Newbold, of the Madras Army, in a paper lately published 

 in the London Philosophical Transactions. 



Athencsum, No. 1027, pa^e 712. 



Barometrical LeDellings i?i the Madras Presidency/. 



At the late meeting of the British Association, Colonel S5^kes ex- 

 hibited and explained two maps constructed by Major General \Y. 

 Cullen, of the Madras Artillery, comprising five sections of country, 

 showing the relative levels, by barometrical observation, at distances 

 varying from 10 to 20 miles. 



One section extended from Cape Comorin to Multai, at the source 

 of the Tapti, a distance of about 1170 miles, proceeding through Ma- 

 dura, Trichinopoly, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Nagpore, to Multai. 

 Another from the Caves at Ellora to Masulipatam through Jaulnah, 

 Beder, Golconda, Condapilly, to Masulipatam, being a road distance 

 of 545 miles. The second map contained three sections : one from 

 Nagpore to Jaulnah, through Oomrawuttee, of 265 miles ; another 

 from Goa to Bellary, through Belgaum and Dharwar, 280 miles ; and 

 a third from Mysore to Madras, through Seringapatam, Bangalore, 

 Vellore, and Arcot, road distance 293 miles. A third map gave ba- 

 rometrical sections from Madras to Bellary, on a line about W. N. 



