LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex· pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for this or any other part of NATURE. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Locusts at Great Elevations.

THE following account of the occurrence of swarms of locusts at great elevations in the Himalaya, and these stripping birch trees, is from a privately printed record of an expedition to the north-east of Kinchinjunga, in 1891, by Mr. White, the British resident in Sikkim. That flights of locusts are carried from the plains of India up to great heights in the Himalaya is a well-known fact; but not, I think, in the numbers nor with the results to birch or other forest trees here recorded.

The Camp, April.

J. D. HOOKER.

* On July 19, 1891, I crossed the Lunglala Pass, 17,400 feet On the Pass I saw the locusts that hat infested Darjeeling, for the first time, though subsequently I saw them as high as 18,000 feet, where they were dying in the snow. It will be remembered that this was the year of the great plague of locusts in Malie. I heard that they had penetrated even into Tibet. On the 21st I came down as far as Tangu, 12,750 feet, where the locusts were in swarms and dying in thousands. The only plants they seemed to care about were the birches, and these they stripped bare."

The Sandgate Landslip.

As I have just returned from Folkestone, and have had opportunities for observing the recent "landslip" at Sandgate, perhaps a note on it may be of some interest to readers of NATURE, as I do not think the explanation suggested by Mr. Blake in NATURE (vol. xlvii. p. 467) is altogether applicable to the present instance.

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So far as I could see from a careful examination of the exposures, there is no trace of any movement of the solid rocks of the cliff, as these are nowhere exposed in the fissures that have been formed by the earth movements; and my impression from all that I saw is that the "slip" has been entirely confined to the débris which has accumulated in past ages against the flank of the escarpment. On referring to the four types of Bergsturze or landslips described by Prof. A. Heim, of Zürich, some years ago in a monograph, which was summarised (with additions) by myself in the Geological Magazine (Decade II., vol. x. p. 160 et seq), it is not difficult to identify the Sandgate incident with the first class of such phenomena, to which Prof. Heim gives the name Schuttrutschung"; that is to say, a slide or push of an accumulation of débris (Schutt). Such accumulations often in mountain regions occur as lateral moraines or as talus; and in my paper on the origin of valley lakes (Quir. Jour. Geol. Soc., vol. xxxix., February, 1883) I have attempted to show how such masses play an important part in the formation of some lakes. The Sandgate phenomenon I take to be no more than a magnified instance of what occurs in many a clayey railway-cutting, as railway-engineers know too well. There seems to be no occasion for importing the notion of "faulting" of the rocks themselves into the question. Still less rational is the notion that vibrations due to the blowing-up of one or two ships lately had anything to do with the catastrophe. The most elementary principles of mechanics explain it completely.

A mass of rock-fragments and clayey material, such as may constitute a "scree," acquires in time a certain amount of coherency from the oxidation of the irony constituents, or from the solution and redeposition of carbonate of lime (where the materials are calcareous) by carbonated atmospheric waters percolating the mass, or from both of these causes. If the mass is fairly drained internally it may retain its stable condition for an; length of time, and be mistaken for a part of the solid geotectony of the district, though in cases where the materials are largely composed of decomposable silicates, it is evident that there is a tendency for the proportion of the fine slippery claymaterial in the mass to increase. The consequence may be (and often is) that there is a tendency in the whole mass to settle down under the force of gravitation, and so a slow preliminary differential movement often goes on for years, before some new factor is! introduced to precipitate the disaster. There can scarcely be

any doubt that the new factor in this case was the excessive rainfall of last February, and the want of sufficient under-draining to carry away the water, which entered the mass of partly-compacted débris from above. A small lateral valley parallel with the general line of the escarpment had no doubt served as a catchment agent for much of this water. This supposition is borne out by the facts (1) that further to the east, where a landdrain was laid some years ago, the mass below it remained stable; (2) that above the western end of the "slip" the military hospital suffered no damage, the stability of its base being doubtless due to the complete under-draining of the site, which, as my kind friend and host Colonel Cranmer Byng informed me, was carried out before the hospital was built. It is probable, however, that at the point of maximum movement the springs from the beds which form the plateau above had much to do with the water-logging and consequent diminution of the internal friction of the débris which moved, and that the action of those springs was exceptional or excessive in the early part of this year, owing to the rise of the water-line in the ground at the back of the escarpment.

I have talked the matter over with Mr. Topley, who is an expert on all matters of Wealden stratigraphy, and he agrees generally with me as to the real nature of the phenomenon. There is one obvious and only preventive against its recurrence. Wellington College, Berks, April 15. A. IRVING.

"Roche's Limit."

I MUST thank your correspondent G. R. for correcting my carele sness in giving Roche's limit round the sun as about a tenth of the earth's distance, instead of about a ninetieth as it

really is.

If R is the radius and D the density of a spherical planet, and d the density of the tidally disturbed and infinitesimal satellite, moving in a circular orbit so as always to present the same face to the planet, then the distance at which the satellite is on the point of being broken up by the tidal forces is 2'44 R × (D/d)1‚1 This is Roche's limit, and the formula is correctly stated by G. R.

The mean density of Jupiter is about one third greater than that of water, and it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that the density of the fifth satellite may be as low as 2. This would bring the limit to 2'13 R.

Any plausible hypothesis as to the density of the stones forming Saturn's rings will no doubt bring the limit somewhat inside the outer edge of the rings.

I must plead guilty to not having made these numerical estimates whilst writing my review of Mr. See's paper. However, it still seems to me that the coincidences which I there noted are very remarkable.

The simple illustration by which G. R. obtains a fair approximation to Roche's limit is very interesting.

The satellite is replaced by two small spheres of density dand radius, touching one another, in line with the large sphere of density D and radius R. Suppose that when the point of contact is distant c from the centre of the large sphere, the small spheres are on the point of being pulled apart; then c is the approxima tion to Roche's limit. G. R.'s condition is that the excess of the attraction of the large sphere on the nearer small one above the attraction on the further one is equal to the attraction between the small ones. In algebraical language this becomes

bute to the small spheres, so that all three spheres may touch one another. They touch when = 1 + 2; whence we get 9 +243 + 2212 24 15 0,

the solution of which is 85078.

Hence if the smaller spheres have their radii 85078 of the large one, they are all three in contact, and there is no pressure between the small ones, when they revolve with proper orbital angular velocity. Now the analogue of this solution in Roche's problem is very interesting. The problem is to find the relative sizes of planet and satellite, so that where the satellite is in limiting equilibrium the two bodies shall just touch. The solution will give a fair approximation to that hour-glass figure of equilibrium of rotating fluid, which I have treated otherwise in a paper in the Philosophical Transactions (vol. clxxviii. A., p. 379). The solution would be improved, although complicated, by allowing the larger body to be also deformed.

Unfortunately the solution requires the tabulation of several functions depending on elliptic integrals. Roche made, but did not publish, tables of certain integrals. which he used for obtaining his results. It appears that the problem to which I refer did not occur to him.

Some years ago I began the computations necessary for this solution, but as it appeared to be a much more laborious task than I had anticipated, I have put the work aside until I should find leisure to attack the problem again. G. H. DARWIN. April 10.

The Afterglows and Bishop's Ring.

1 AGREE with your correspondents (pp. 101 and 127) that there has been a marked increase in the amount of dust in the upper regions of the atmosphere within the last few months, as evidenced by sky phenomena.

I did not notice the sunset of November 27, and it was not till the next morning I observed any increase in the dust phenomena here. About sunrise on the 28th " Bishop's Ring" was very conspicuous for the first time for a considerable period, as also were the whitish wisps in and near it, very similar to those forming such a noticeable feature of the Krakatão sunsets; but I have never again seen them so small and definite as when those sunsets first took place. The sunset of that day (November 28) was a magnificent and striking one, with a very deep pink glow. On the 30th there was a somewhat definite bright segment below the rosy glow, at first a dull buff, and then orange. This segment was a very striking feature of the earlier Krakatão sunsets, but I have rarely seen it since till that day. I noticed it again on December 4. The wisps continued to be very conspicuous up to December 13, after which date they gradually grew less so, and have now disappeared altogether.

After the middle of December I was travelling in Portugal, the Canaries, and Spain. The segment was invisible-or at any rate not a noticeable feature-after December 19 to January 30; but most of the time I was not favourably situated for seeing it on account of hills. From the last-mentioned date to February 11 (during which time I was in the neighbourhood of the Straits of Gibraltar) the sunsets-generally on a cloudless skywere very striking, and almost nightly the orange segment was very bright and definite, though I think not quite so definite in outline as in the Kraka ao sunsets, but it reminded me much of them. As I had not been in that locality before, I do not know whether such sunsets are common there, or whether the phenomena were due entirely to a general accession of dust.

Since returning to England on February 14, the segment has sometimes been visible, though much less striking than in Spain. "Bishop's Ring" still continues very conspicuous about sunset. I have not seen it of late years when the sun has had any considerable altitude, except on the 18th ult., from 1.30 to 3.30 p.m.; I was then in Teesdale at from 1300 to 1700 feet above sea-level; it was quite plain when the sun was behind a cloud, and visible even with the sun free from clouds. It has never ceased to be visible at about sunrise and sunset since November, 1883, although at times very faint. Has it always occurred when the sun is near the horizon, and is it only because attention was called to it by its remarkable vividness at the time of the Krakatão sunsets that one has been able to see it ever since, though never before? Unlike Mr. S. E. Bishop I always see a certain amount of red in the outer margin; though in the late accession to its conspicuousness the red has been very

dull, rather to be called dull brown than red. This has also been the case at times before.

One other feature of the Krakatão sunsets has occasionally been visible of late in this country, namely, the second pink glow in the western sky. This was much more striking in Teneriffe, though still much fainter than in the Krakatao sunsets, It would appear that if this dust is the same as that seen at Honolulu, it took six weeks to get from there to Dublin and Sunderland, while the Krakatão dust took two months in reaching the south of England from Honolulu. Sunderland, April 10.

T. W. BACKHOUSE.

Thunderstorms and Auroral Phenomena.

I AM residing in tropical Queensland, lat. 21° S., and con sequently am not likely to see any auroral phenomena, particu larly in the middle of our hot and rainy season; but last night between 8 and 9 P.M there occurred the following remarkable appearances, which were seen by me and several others.

There was a sharp thunderstorm with incessant lightning visible on the southern horizon, occupying a width of 10` and in altitude of from 5° to 10° above the horizon, probably from So to 100 miles off.

But for the distant thunderclouds the sky was clear and star light, with a few light cirrhus clouds drifting before the nort wind.

I was sitting on the lawn watching the distant flashes, wher suddenly a patch or cloud of rosy light-5° to 6° in diameterrose up from above the thunderstorm and mounted upwards. disappearing at an elevation of from 40° -45°. There were about twenty to twenty-five of these patches in the course of half an hour, sometimes three or four in quick succession; they took from one to two seconds to mount, and were not associated with any particular flash; the rosy colour contrasted strangely with the silvery light of Nubecula Major just above. There were also occasional streamers, sometimes bifurcated, of 2° in breadth, which shot up in the same way as the auroral streamers, which I have seen both in the arctic and antarctic zones.

Auroral phenomena are known to be electrical manifestation>. but here were the same phenomena exhibited in connection with a thunderstorm in the tropics. Thinking this phase of electrical action worthy of note, I send you this account and enclose my card. J. EWEN DAVIDSON,

Branscombe, Mackay, Queensland,
February 5th.

P.S. The thunderstorm, patches of light, and streamers were distinctly connected; it was not a case of an ordinary aurora, with a thunderstorm interposed.

Fossil Floras and Climate.

SIR WILLIAM DAWSON demonstrates that the plants of the cretaceous and tertiary series of Canada prove that the tem perature of Greenland during the tertiary period was mild bat not subtropical. That is sufficiently extraordinary, but geologis's prefer, with strange inconsistency, the more astonishing contrast between Ileer's arctic miocene palms and the glacial period The fact is that these floras, comprising a few large-leaved ever greens and relatively tender ferns and coniferæ, are not norma in such high latitudes, but confined to localities which migh have been stations on the north coast of a warm Atlantic Ocean Therefore they perhaps require nothing more prodigious thar the circulation of a gulf stream in an Atlantic isolated from the Arctic Ocean, a probable state of things at that time. At all events tertiary plants collected from near the Equator negative any generally enhanced temperature.

This applies solely to the tertiary period, when many actual living species of plants were in existence. As we recede ir time species become more strange and extinct, and likely 1. mislead. No wise person would define, for instance, from ser viving cycads the climatic conditions they may have endure. when as common and widely diffused as blackberries are to-day Even estimates based on such a group as Gleichenia may be quite inapplicable when they sustained the role now usurped by the bracken.

Sir William Dawson is aware that with even the best preserved fossil leaves, and with access to the most complete herbaria in the world, half-a-dozen different conclusions may be come to t

succession; while single and imperfect specimens are mere pitfalls. No imperfect or indistinct leaves, unless they possess exceptional characters, should be named, since however faithfully described or figured, they are simply confusing. J. STARKIE GARDNER.

WILD SPAIN,

is yearly decreasing in numbers. "A decade ago they were fairly numerous in the vast area of rock-mountains which stretch between Granada and Jaen. To-day a week may be spent in that district without even so much as a distant view of this grand bird. The reason is unquestionably the use of poison, which is laid out broadcast by the goat-herds for the special benefit of wolves, but which is equally fatal to the Lammergeiers."

T HERE seems to be no limit in these days to the demand for books on popular natural history, especially when they combine a certain amount of science with a sporting element. The present volume, in which the authors endeavour to describe Spain from "a point of view hitherto almost unoccupied, that of the sportsman-naturalist," excellently illustrated as it is, will, no doubt, attract a host of readers, for it deserves to do so. One of the joint authors, Mr. Abel Chapman is already known to us as a writer on the bird-life of the Scotch Borders, and as an ornithologist who has laboured very successfully on the birds of Spain. His coadjutor, Mr. Walter Buck, who is resident at Jerez, has long devoted himself to the exploration of the lower valley of the Guadalquivir and the bordering Sierras-the most interesting districts of the whole peninsula.

Another leading feature in the Spanish ornis is the Great Bustard, still abundant in Andalucia "on those vast stretches of silent corn-lands which form its home." "Big days with bustard," the various modes of its chasse and the principal features of its life are well described in "Wild Spain." It is curious that the authors do not seem to have been able to ascertain positively whether this bird is monogamous or polygamous. Even during the pairing season each band of bustards is composed of mixed sexes, the females preponderating, until the latter skulk off to perform the duties of incubation, and leave the males all together in separate packs. Bustard-shooting must indeed be glorious sport. Oh, that Salisbury

Although the larger mammals of Spain are by no means neglected, and even such extraneous subjects as corn, wine, oil, brigands and gypsies are cursorily treated of, "Wild Life in Spain" is emphatically a "bird-book." After their digressions on other points the authors return to their feathered favourites with a zest which shows that the study of the bird-life of the peninsula, combined no doubt with an ardent love of "la chasse," was the primary object of their wanderings.

In the fauna of Wild Spain the abundance of the larger birds of prey forms a very prominent feature, and several chapters are well devoted to this part of the subject. Almost all the finest and largest Raptors of the European ornis are to be met with in Spain. To the ornithologist, who in these latter days may search the greater part of "Wild Britain" without finding anything more exciting than a stray kestrel or a fugitive sparrowhawk, this superabundance of the larger Falconidæ must prove a great attraction. Eagle-shooting, which would be a fearful crime in England, is allowable, if not praiseworthy, in the Spanish peninsula, and even an occasional vulture may be killed without much harm being done. Moreover Spain is fortunate in possessing an eagle of its own, called by modern naturalists Aquila adalberti, which is in fact a local form of the Imperial eagle of South-eastern Europe. But the Adalbert's eagle is remarkable as showing several successive stages of plumage which do not appear to occur in its near ally. On these we have much information in the present volume from actual experience, which seems to prove that the Spanish Imperial eagle breeds indiscriminately in its youthful and adult liveries, birds in fully adult plumage having been found paired with others in the younger forms of dress. Besides eight or nine eagles two large vultures are abundant in the south of Spain, and the celebrated Lammergeier of the Alps known to the Andalucians by the appropriate name of "Quebranta huesos" or "bonesnatcher" is likewise still to be met with. How the eyries of this giant bird, situated in the mountains eastward of Jerez were visited and ransacked is told to us in two attractive chapters. As the breeding-season of the Lammergeier begins in January, when the Sierras are still under snow and the weather is inclined to be severe, such an expedition is by no means free from inconveniences. Even in wild Spain, we regret to say, the Lammergeier 1"Wdd Spain (España greste), Records of Spot with Rifle, Rod and Gun, Natural History and Exploration By Abel Chapman, F.ZS, and Walter J. Buck, CM 7.S.. of Jerez With 174 illustrations, mostly by the authors. (London: Gurney and Jackson, 15,3)

Male Great Bustard, showing off.

Plain could be restocked with this now nearly extinct (English) bird!

Next to the bustard the flamingo is perhaps one of the most attractive objects to the explorer of the wilds of Andalucia. In some seasons flamingoes visit the marismas in enormous flocks; in other years they are extremely scarce. In 1883 Mr. Chapman found them abundant in the month of April, and searched the country over a large area systematically, in the hope of finding their breeding-places. The exact fashion in which this bird sits upon its nest had long been a matter of controversy, and it was hoped that this interesting point might now be definitely settled. But in April all efforts were unsuccessful-it was evident the birds had not yet begun to breed-and a smart attack of ague was the only result of splashing about from day to day in the mud and water, with a fierce sun beating down upon the In May, however, during an ornithologist's head.

exploration of certain bird-islets lying off the shore of the marisma, success was at length obtained. On a low mud-island was found a "perfect mass of nests," and scattered round the main colony were numerous single nests raised above the water-level. From a distance of about seventy yards the sitting birds were observed most distinctly. "The long red legs doubled under their bodies, the knees (scribe, heels) projecting as far as or beyond the tail, and their graceful necks neatly curled away among their back-feathers, with the heads resting on their breasts-all these points were unmistakable." The problem was thus solved, for it bad been asserted by previous authorities that the sitting flamingo, unlike other birds, straddles across its elevated nest, leaving its long legs dangling down on each side! It is only fair, however, to add that the true

in the marisma in a wholly wild state," and are "practically ownerless."

Did space permit, we could well give further " elegant extracts" from this interesting volume, which is replete with information on the inhabitants of "Wild Spain," and their manners and customs. The numerous plates and smaller illustrations in the text are mostly excellent, and add greatly to the attractions of the work. We might, however, wonder that greater accuracy has not been secured as regards the spelling of some of the scientific names, especially when we are told that Mr. Howard Saunders's experienced eye has "gone through the proofsheets. For example, Haliäetus is misprinted "Haliatus," Aedon, "Edon," and Rhopalocera, "Rhodops locera." Nor is it correct to call an Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius) a Bactrian" (i.e. C. bactrianus.

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mode of the incubation of the flamingo has also been witnessed since, in the case of the North American species (Phanicopterus roseus), by Sir l'enry Blake, in the West Indian island of Abaco (see Nineteenth Century, December, 1887). Sir Henry has fully confirmed the accuracy of Mr. Chapman's observations.

Another curious discovery which we owe to the energy of Mr. Chapman is the existence of wild camels living and breeding in the "Boetican Wilderness." The statement that camels were roaming about and reproducing their species in Europe at first met with much unbelief and even ridicule. There can be no doubt, however, on the subject. The camels were introduced from the Canaries in 1833, and for some years used as beasts of burden in the province of Cadiz. At the present time some stray descendants of these camels live and flourish

It is also now well known that the ichneumon of Spain is the same as the Algerian and Egyptian species (i.e. Herpestes ichneumon). It should therefore be no longer called Herpestes widdringtoni.

NOTES.

THE Conditions under which the total solar eclipse on Sunday was observed seem, on the whole, to have been favourabl According to a telegram from Ceara, the clouds at Para Cara --where the British expedition in charge of Mr. A. Taylor was stationed were heavy before contact, but afterwards dis persed, leaving a clear space for observation during totality. The photographs were believed to be satisfactory. The eclipse was seen at Bathurs, in West Africa, "in perfectly clear

weather," and no doubt was entertained there that the British expedition under Prof. Thorpe, at Fundium, on the Salum River, had been equally fortunate. M. Bigourdan, one of the astronomers sent by the Paris Observatory to observe the eclipse in Senegal, has telegraphed to M. Tisserand, the Director: "Foggy sky; observed the four contacts; Vulcan not seen." Prof. Pickering has telegraphed to the New York Herald that the atmospheric conditions prevailing at Minasaris during the solar eclipse were perfect, and that the results of his observations were very satisfactory. He observed four streamers proceeling from the corona, two of which stretched over a distance of more than 435,000 miles. Several dark rifts were also visible extending directly westward from the moon's limb to the utmost limit of the corona. Several solar prominences attained great distinctness and brilliancy. During the eclipse the surface of the moon appeared almost of an inky blackness, by contrast with the dazzling brightness of the inner corona. The observations showed very conclusively that the present condition of the sun is one of great disturbance. The corona was whitish rather than red in tint. Many satisfactory photographs were taken.

THE first Royal Society soirée of the present season will be held at Burlington House on Wednesday, May 10.

THE International Sanitary Conference closed its proceedings on Friday last with the signing of a provisional convention by the representatives of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Russia, and Switzerland. The delegates of the other l'owers accepted the convention ad referendum. The ratification is to take place in Berlin within six months. According to the Berlin correspondent of the Times, the convention is divided into two chief sections. The first contains the international preventive measures to be taken against cholera as regards passenger and goo is traffic, as well as regulations for obviating a dislocation of trade in case of an epidemic. The second section deals with the question of sanitation at the mouths of the Danube.

Α

A COMPLIMENTARY dinner was given by the Royal Meteorological Society, at Limmer's Hotel, on Saturday evening last, to Mr. Henry Perigal, in celebration of his 92nd birthday, and of the completion of forty years' service as treasurer. number of friends from other societies with which Mr. Perigal is connected also joined in the dinner. The President, Dr. C. Theodore Williams, in proposing the toast of the evening, gave some interesting particulars of the Perigal family, tracing their history back to some time before the Norman Conquest. The family have been remarkable for longevity. Mr. Perigal's father, who was 991 years of age when he died, was one of thirteen children, nine of whom attained respectively their 64th, 67th, 77th, 80 h, 88th, 90th, 94th, 97th, and 100th year -the last five averaging 93 years 100 days. Their father and mother died in 1824, the former being nearly 90 and the latter upwards of 80 years of age. Mr. Henry Perigal was the eldest of six children, one of whom lived to the age of 85, and the youngest, Mr. Frederick Perigal, now in his 82nd year, was present at the dinner. Mr. Perigal briefly responded to the toast, thanking all present for their congratulations and kind wishes.

THE "Universitas Jurievensis," formerly known as Dorpat University, celebrated the centenary of the birth of the astronomer, Wilhelmus Struve, who was a professor in the University, on Saturday last, the 15th inst., by an oration delivered in the large hall of the institution.

THE Council of the Marine Biological Association has decided that in future a table in the Plymouth Laboratory may

be rented for a single week, at a cost of thirty shillings. It is hoped that advantage will be taken of this arrangement in the shorter vacations. The other charges (£5 for a month, £25 for six months, £40 for a year) remain the same.

THE Council of the Durham College of Science have addressed to the governors and other friends of the institution an urgent appeal for the means of relieving the college from its financial difficulties. During the last three or four years the college income has nearly balanced the expenditure, but this has been brought about only "by the teaching staff placing the financial interests of the institution in front of their own, sometimes going the length of surrendering their fees when it has not been obvious how they were to be paid out of the funds available, and in many cases providing, at their own expense, apparatus or assistance which, under ordinary circumstances, should have been supplied by the college." This is very creditable to the teaching staff, but it is absurd that such sacrifices should have to be made by the officers of an institution established and maintained for the benefit of the people of a great and wealthy district. When the facts about the matter are generally known, the authorities of the college ought to have little difficulty in obtaining what funds may be necessary for the full development of its work.

ANOTHER terrible earthquake occurred in Zante at seven o'clock on Monday morning. It was even more violent than the earthquake by which so much damage was done in February. Other shocks were afterwards felt. The town of Zante was almost destroyed, the church of St. Dionysius, the theatre, and the prefecture being among the buildings now in ruins. According to the accounts telegraphed on Tuesday, seventeen persons were killed in the town, and many injured. The villages in the island have not generally suff:red so severely, but one village, Gaetani, has been totally destroyed, and there has been some loss of life. A correspondent of the Times, telegraphing from Patras, says that at the time of the principal shock the sea receded several feet from the shore, and that a severe shock was felt at Patras, at Pyrgos, and on the western shore of the Peloponnesus.

DURING the past week several depressions have traversed the extreme northern parts of our islands and Scandinavia, causing unsettled weather in those parts, which on Sunday extended southwards, and on the following day disturbed weather became fairly general over the United Kingdom. The rainfall in Ireland and Scotland was somewhat heavy, but in the southern districts the fall was slight, and at several stations no rain fell. In the neighbourhood of London the drought had lasted thirty days, a period which has been unparalleled at any season of the year during the last half century. The day temperatures have varied considerably in different parts, the maxima on several days exceeding 60° and even reaching 67° in the midland and south eastern districts, while in the north they have ranged from 40° to 50°. Sharp frosts have occurred during several nights, the readings on the 14th being from 5° to 8° below the freezing point in the shade over central England, and falling to 19° on the ground. On Monday an anticyclone lay over the North Sea, again bringing fine weather to the south-eastern portion of England, but on the following day depressions were approaching our north-west coasts, and a gale was blowing in the extreme north, while the general conditions were of a more unsettled type than for some considerable time past. During the week ended the 15th inst. there was a considerable decrease in bright sunshine, but still it exceeded the mean in nearly all districts.

THE Maryland State Weather Service publishes a monthly report in connection with the U.S. Weather Bureau. That for March contains an interesting article by Prof. W. B.