The Project Gutenberg EBook of The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II.,
No. 1, April, 1890, by Various
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Title: The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 1, April, 1890
Author: Various
Release Date: December 25, 2015 [EBook #50765]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE, APRIL 1890 ***
Produced by Ron Swanson
Vol. II. No. 1.
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.
PUBLISHED BY THE
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
WASHINGTON, D. C.
Price 50 Cents.
CONTENTS.
On the Telegraphic Determinations of Longitude by the Bureau of
Navigation: Lieut. J. A. Norris, U. S. N.
Reports of the Vice-Presidents:
Geography of the Land: Herbert G. Ogden
Geography of the Air: A. W. Greely, Chief Signal Officer, U. S. A.
Annual Report of the Treasurer
Report of Auditing Committee
Annual Report of the Secretary
National Geographic Society:
Abstract of Minutes
Officers for 1890
Members of the Society
Published April, 1890.
PRESS OF TUTTLE, MOREHOUSE & TAYLOR, NEW HAVEN, CONN.
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE.
Vol. II. 1890. No. 1.
ON THE TELEGRAPHIC DETERMINATIONS OF LONGITUDE BY THE BUREAU OF
NAVIGATION.
BY LIEUT. J. A. NORRIS, U. S. N.
The following definitions are given by Chauvenet in his Spherical and
Practical Astronomy.
"The longitude of a point on the earth's surface is the angle at the
Pole included between the meridian of that point and some assumed first
meridian. The difference of longitude between any two points is the
angle included between their meridians." To describe the practical
methods of obtaining this difference or angle, by means of the electric
telegraph both overland and submarine, and especially those employed by
the expeditions sent out by the Navy department, is the object of this
paper.
* * * * *
Before the invention of the telegraph various methods more or less
accurate in their results were employed, and are still in use where the
telegraph is not available. The one most used and giving the best
results was that in which a number of chronometers were transported
back and forth between two places the difference of whose longitudes
was required. "For," as the author quoted above says, "the
determination of an absolute longitude from the first meridian or of a
difference of longitude in general, resolves itself into the
determination of the difference of the time reckoned at the two
meridians at the same absolute instant." If a chronometer be regulated
to the time at any place _A_, and then transported to a second place
_B_, and the local time at _B_, be determined at any instant, and at
that instant the time at _A_, as shown by the chronometer is noted, the
difference of the times is at once known, and that is the difference of
longitude required. The principal objection to this plan is that the
best chronometers vary. If the variations were constant and regular,
and the chronometer always gained or lost a fixed amount for the same
interval of time, this objection would disappear. But the variation is
not constant, the rate of gain or loss, even in the best instruments,
changes from time to time from various causes. Some of these causes may
be discovered and allowed for in a measure, others are accidental and
unknown. Of the former class are variations due to changes of
temperature. At the Naval Observatory, chronometers are rated at
different temperatures, and the changes due thereto are noted, and
serve to a great extent as a guide in their use. But the transportation
of a chronometer, even when done with great care is liable to cause
sudden changes in its indications, and of course in carrying it long
distances, numerous shocks of greater or less violence are unavoidable.
Still, chronometric measurements, when well carried out with a number
of chronometers and skilled observers have been very successful. Among
notable expeditions of this sort was that undertaken in 1843, by Struve
between Pulkova and Altona, in which eighty-one chronometers were
employed and nine voyages made from Pulkova to Altona and eight the
other way. The results from thirteen of the chronometers were rejected
as being discordant, and the deduced longitude was made to depend on
the remaining 68. The result thus obtained differs from the latest
determination by 0^{s}.2.
The U. S. Coast Survey instituted chronometric expeditions between
Cambridge, Mass., and Liverpool, England, in the years 1849, '50, '51
and '55. The probable error of the results of six voyages, three in
each direction, in 1855 was 0^{s}.19, fifty chronometers being carried.
Among other methods of determining differences of time may be mentioned
the observation of certain celestial phenomena, which are visible at
the same absolute instant by observers in various parts of the globe,
such as the instant of the beginning or end of an eclipse of the moon,
the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites by the shadow of the planet, the
bursting of a meteor, and the appearance or disappearance of a shooting
star. The difficulty of identifying these last mentioned objects and
the impossibility of foretelling their occurrence prevents the extended
use of this method.
Terrestrial signals may be used and among these can be included those
sent by the electric telegraph. But when two stations are near together
a signal may be made at either or at an intermediate station, which can
be observed at both, the time may be noted at each of the stations and
the difference found directly. These signals may be made by flashes of
gunpowder, or the appearance and disappearance of a strong light, or a
pre-concerted movement of any object easily seen. The heliotrope
reflecting the image of the sun from one station to the other with an
arrangement for suddenly eclipsing it, is a useful and efficient
apparatus.
Various truly astronomical methods have been employed with good
results, of these may be mentioned moon-culminations, azimuths of the
moon, lunar distances, etc.
Coming now to the use of the electric telegraph for this purpose the
following is a rough outline of the methods employed. Suppose two
stations A and B connected by wire, and provided with clocks,
chronographs and transit instruments. A list of suitable fixed stars is
compiled and each observer furnished with a copy. The observer at A the
eastern station, selects a star from his list and sets his transit
instrument upon it. He is furnished with a key by which he can send
telegraphic signals over the line and also mark the time on his own
chronograph. The instant he observes the star crossing the spider line
which represents the meridian, he taps his key, thus registering the
time on his own chronograph and on that at station B and this operation
he repeats with as many stars as necessary. B has his instrument set
for the first star, and when it crosses his meridian, he taps his key
marking the time on his own chronograph and also on A's. Then,
disregarding instrumental and personal errors and the rate of the
clock, A has a record of the times at which the star passed both
meridians. The difference of these times is the difference of longitude
sought, except for an error due to the time occupied in the
transmission of the signal over the wire between the stations. B also
has a record of the same difference of time with the same error
affecting it in the opposite way. A mean of these two differences, will
be the true difference with the error of transmission eliminated. This
method has the advantage of not depending upon the computed position of
the star. The instrumental errors may be allowed for, as well as the
rate of the clocks, and the personal error may be eliminated by the
exchange of stations.
There are disadvantages inseparable from this method, however,
especially when the meridian distance is great. A star observed at the
first station, may be obscured by clouds at the time of its meridian
passage at the second. And the weather generally, at the two stations
may be cloudy, so that while stars can be observed at intervals, yet it
may be impossible to note the meridian passage of the same star at both
places on the same night. Then the telegraph lines are usually the
property of some commercial company and while their use for a short
time might be freely granted, yet a protracted occupation of them as
necessary when the meridians are distant from each other, would prove a
serious hindrance to their regular business.
The method at this time most generally employed, is to observe at each
station a number of stars entirely independently of the other. From
these stars are deduced the clock errors and rates upon the respective
local times. Then at some prearranged period, communication is opened
between the stations, and a comparison of the clocks made which shows
their exact difference at a given instant. By applying the error to the
time as shown by the clock at this instant, the exact local time at
each station is the result, and applying the difference between the
clocks as shown by the comparison, the required difference of longitude
is readily obtained.
These methods originated, as did the electric telegraph, in the United
States, and soon after Morse's invention came into practical use, they
were extensively employed by the Coast Survey, in accurately
determining points in every part of the country that could be reached,
no pains being spared to make the determinations as accurate as
possible. Upon the completion of the first successful Atlantic cable in
1866, an expedition was organized and placed in charge of Dr. B. A.
Gould, for the purpose of measuring the meridian distance between
Greenwich and the Naval Observatory at Washington. This was
successfully carried out in spite of numerous difficulties, and the
result proved that the determinations already made upon which the most
reliance was placed were decidedly in error. The result from the
chronometric expedition in 1855 previously referred to differing over a
second of time.
In constructing charts for use at sea, the accurate determination of
latitude and longitude is of the utmost importance. The navigator
starting on a voyage must know the exact position of his destination as
well as the location of dangers to be avoided. He must know the error
and rate of his chronometer when he sets out, but as the rate is not
constant he should have some means of re-rating it at any place where
he may stop. If the longitude of this place is well determined, the
operation of obtaining the error and rate is an easy one, and may save
his vessel from loss.
Surveys, of coasts or countries must have well established starting
points, and while the latitude of a place is comparatively easy to
determine, the longitude, except when the telegraphic method is used,
is attended with more or less uncertainty.
In 1873, Commodore R. H. Wyman, U. S. N. Hydrographer to the Bureau of
Navigation, organized by permission of the Navy Department, an
expedition for the telegraphic determination of longitude in the West
Indies and Central America. The submarine cables of the West India and
Panama Telegraph Co. had just been completed, extending from Key West
through Havana and Santiago de Cuba, south to Jamaica and Aspinwall,
and east through the Virgin and Windward Islands to the northeast coast
of South America, thus affording admirable facilities for the accurate
determination of many points. It had long been known that the
longitudes of various points in the West Indies and in Central and
South America, did not harmonize, there having been no systematic
attempt to determine them with relation to each other or to a common
base. Longitudes in the western part of the Caribbean Sea depended upon
the position of the Morro lighthouse at Havana, which had been
determined by occultations. Further to the eastward, positions depended
upon that of Fort Christian at St. Thomas. This in its turn depended
upon the observatory of Major Lang in the Island of Santa Cruz about
forty miles distant. This position depended upon numerous observations
of moon culminations and occultations. Martinique and Guadeloupe in the
Windward Islands had been surveyed by French officers who based their
positions upon longitudes derived from moon culminations. The absolute
determination of these starting points would of course fix all points
derived from them.
The U. S. Steamer Fortune was designated by the Navy Department for the
conveyance of the expedition, and Lieut. Commander (now Commander), F.
M. Green, U. S. N. was placed in charge. This officer had given great
attention to the subject, was a practiced observer, and exceptionally
well qualified for the position. The services of Mr. Miles Rock, a
skillful astronomer and computer who is now chief of the boundary
survey of Guatemala, were obtained as principal astronomical assistant.
The breaking out in the autumn of 1873, of the trouble with Spain and
Cuba, over the Virginius affair, delayed the expedition until the next
year, but in November 1874, a start was made from Washington, and after
a short stay in Kingston, Jamaica, Aspinwall was reached early in
December. Mr. Rock with one set of instruments proceeded immediately to
Panama, while Lieut. Commander Green remained in Aspinwall with the
other. The outfit for each party consisted of:--first, a portable
observatory. This was made of wood in sections, framework of ash,
covered with tongued and grooved pine boards. The sections were
connected when set up by iron knees and bolts. When packed it was not
difficult to transport, and it could be put up, or taken down in an
hour. When set up it was about eight feet square, with doors in all
sides, and a shed roof. The roof was made in three sections, the middle
one being hinged so that it could be raised for observing. These
observatories proved to be very strong and serviceable. They remained
in use for a number of years with occasional slight repairs, were
transported many thousand miles and set up in a great number of places
in Europe, Asia, North and South America. They were designed by Mr. J.
A. Rogers, and constructed at the Washington Navy Yard. Upon arriving
at a point where observations were to be made, after obtaining the
necessary permits from the local authorities, a suitable location for
the observatory was the first consideration. The essential requirements
were, a clear view of the heavens in the meridian, firm ground, a spot
secluded enough not to attract attention from inquisitive idlers, and
proximity to the telegraph office, or end of the telegraph line. Such a
spot being found and permission being obtained from the owner for its
use, an approximate meridian line was laid out by compass, and the
house set up with reference to it. Experience soon showed the
advisability of making certain additions to the observatory not
contemplated by the designer, but which added much to convenience and
comfort. A foundation was made, of timbers about six inches square,
mortised together at the ends which could be placed in position and
leveled before the observatory was set up, rendering this operation
much easier and giving greater stability. A floor was laid upon joists
supported by this foundation. Shelves were put up at various points,
affording resting places for tools and small instruments, while a table
in one corner, supported the chronometer, and offered a convenient
place for an assistant to record observations, etc.
The principal instrument used was the transit. Those furnished for the
use of the expedition were designed by Mr. J. A. Rogers, and
constructed under his supervision in the repair shop of the
Hydrographic office. The object glasses, made by the Clarks at
Cambridge, were of 2½ inches clear aperture with a focal length of
thirty inches. The instruments were of the prismatic or "broken" form
in which the eye-piece is at one end of the axis, and the light is
reflected from the object glass to the eye by a prism placed at the
junction of the telescope tube with the axis. The observer does not
have to change the position of his eye, no matter what the zenith
distance of the star may be. This renders observation much less
fatiguing and conduces to accuracy. The eye-piece was furnished with
the usual spider line reticle and also with a filar micrometer for the
measurement of zenith distances for latitude. A vertical finding circle
was on the eye-piece end of the axis, and the instrument was provided
also with a horizontal circle, fourteen inches in diameter, graduated
to ten seconds. Other necessary parts were the striding and zenith
telescope levels, and the illuminating lamps. The ends of the axis were
supported by Ys at the ends of a transverse arm which in its centre was
screwed to the top of a vertical axis supported in a socket surmounting
the tripod. This vertical axis was slightly conical in shape and
accurately fitted into its socket. A screw was so placed underneath,
that the axis, and with it the instrument, could be raised slightly,
when it was easily revolved horizontally into any desired position, a
reverse movement of the screw then lowered the axis into its seat, when
the instrument was held firmly by the friction. For supporting the
instrument there was used at first, a portable pier made in the shape
of the frustrum of a cone, of strong oak staves, firmly bound with iron
hoops, and when set up, filled with sand or earth. Subsequently a brick
pier was found to be more stable and the wooden ones were discarded.
Of equal importance with the transit was the Chronometer. The
expedition was supplied with four of these made by Negus of New York.
They were regulated to sidereal time, and provided with a break circuit
arrangement. This consists of a toothed wheel acting on a jewel pallet
attached to a light steel spring. In this spring is a platinum point,
which touches another platinum point, except when the spring is acted
upon by the toothed wheel. These points are connected respectively with
terminals on the outside of the chronometer, and are insulated from
each other except at their point of contact. The electric circuit is
complete through the chronometer except when the teeth of the wheel
acting on the jewel pallet separate the points. The circuit is opened
for about one-fortieth of a second and closed during the rest of the
time. One tooth in the wheel is omitted and the circuit remains
unbroken at that point which is the beginning of each minute. Each
chronometer is provided with a condenser to take up the extra current,
and avoid burning the contact points. These chronometers were most
excellent instruments, the rate was generally small and very regular,
and did not seem to be influenced in any way by the passage of the
current. They are still in use, and are as efficient as ever.
The expedition was at first provided with a substitute for the
chronograph in the shape of the old fashioned Morse telegraph register.
In this a steel point or stylet was pressed by the action of an
electro-magnet against a long fillet of paper, unwound by clock-work at
a rate more or less regular. This magnet was in circuit with the
chronometer and with a break circuit key in the observer's hand. As
long as the electric circuit was closed the stylet made a continuous
indented straight line on the paper; but as soon as it was broken,
either by the chronometer or the observer's key, the stylet flew back
and left the paper unmarked until the circuit was again closed. The
effect of the action of the chronometer was to graduate the fillet of
paper into a series of straight indentations, from one to two inches in
length, separated by unmarked spaces from 1/16 to 1/8 inch in length.
When the key was pressed an independent clear space was left on the
paper, and by the relation in distance between the beginning of this
space and the beginning of the second spaces immediately preceding and
following, the time of pressing the key was determined. The omission of
the break at the sixtieth second, made the mark of double length, and
hence the beginning of the minute was easily recognized. These
instruments served their purpose very well, but had several
disadvantages. The rate of movement of the paper was not regular; when
the clock-work was first wound up the motion was rapid and the second
spaces long, and as the spring ran down the marks became shorter and
shorter. Another drawback was the great length of the fillet; with
spaces only an inch in length, it required five feet of paper to record
a minute in time, and after a night's observation, there would be
several hundred feet to examine, measure and record, occupying the
greater part of the following day. By stopping the instrument between
the observations something was gained in this respect, but this tended
somewhat to confusion and error in keeping the record. They were only
used for one season's work, and in their stead were procured two
cylinder chronographs, made by Bond of Boston. These were fine
instruments, but somewhat too delicate to stand the necessary
transportation. In these instruments as in most other chronographs, a
cylinder about six inches in diameter is made to revolve by clock-work
once in a minute. An electro-magnet mounted on a carriage actuated by
the same clock-work moves alongside the cylinder, in a direction
parallel with its axis, at the rate of about an eighth of an inch in a
minute. The armature of the magnet carries attached to it a pen, the
point of which rests upon a sheet of the paper wrapped around the
cylinder. While the circuit through the coils of the magnet is
complete, the pen makes a continuous spiral line upon the paper, but
when the circuit is broken by the chronometer, or key, it flies to one
side making an offset, and immediately returns to its position, as soon
as the circuit is again closed. The result is to graduate the whole
surface of the paper into second spaces, from which the observations
can be read off with the greatest ease.
For supplying the electric current, there was used at first, a
modification of the Smee battery, but this proving very uncertain in
strength, a gravity battery was substituted, and afterwards a number of
LeClanché cells were procured.
Upon the first expedition, no telegraph instruments were carried, but
the use of such as were needed was easily obtained from the telegraph
companies. The line between Aspinwall and Panama was in good condition
and no trouble was experienced in exchanging the time signals by which
was effected the comparison of the chronometers. Wires were stretched
from the observatories in each place to the respective telegraph
offices, and for the exchange of signals were connected directly to the
ends of the line.
Everything being ready, the routine of the work was as follows:--The
transit being carefully leveled was placed in the meridian by
observation of zenith and circumpolar stars. From six to ten time
stars, and two or three circumpolars were then observed, the instrument
was reversed in the Ys and nearly the same number of stars observed in
the new position. At some time agreed upon, generally when the regular
work of the telegraph line was over for the day, the wires were
connected up and one of the operators came to the observatory to assist
in holding communication. By a simple arrangement of relays, in the
line and chronograph circuits the chronometer at one station was made
to register its second beats on the chronograph at the other, which was
all the time being graduated into second spaces by its own chronometer.
This was done for about five minutes and the times of beginning and
ending noted. Then the connections were reversed and both chronometers
allowed to beat for five minutes on the chronograph at the first
station.
This method of exchanging signals was only practicable on land lines or
very short cables. The ordinary relay used on a land line requires a
strong current to work it, and would not be affected in the least by
the delicate impulse sent over a long cable, consequently when the
expedition came to compare chronometers over the 600 miles of cable
between Aspinwall and Kingston, it was necessary to use another method.
At that time the instrument in general use on submarine cable lines was
what is known as Thompson's mirror galvanometer. It consists of a coil
of very fine insulated wire wound with great care on a spool or bobbin
of vulcanite, about three inches in diameter and 1½ inches thick. In a
hole in the centre of the spool is made to slide a small tube, so that
the end of the tube will be in the centre of the coil. In the end of
the tube is mounted a small mirror, swung in a vertical position on a
single upright fibre of silk. Horizontally across the back of this
mirror is secured a small permanent magnet, in length about the
diameter of the mirror or about one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch.
The mirror and magnet together weigh only one or two grains. When an
electric current is sent through this coil it deflects the magnet and
with it the mirror to the right or left. The apparatus is exceedingly
sensitive so that it is influenced by very feeble currents.
Communication has been maintained with an instrument of this kind over
the Atlantic cables, by the current proceeding from a battery composed
of a single copper percussion cap with a small scrap of zinc and a drop
of acidulated water. The use of the mirror is to make visible the
movements of the magnet. The coil is mounted upon a standard so as to
be about eight inches above the table. At the distance of eighteen
inches or two feet is placed a lamp. This is surrounded by a screen
which cuts off all the light, except that which passes through a tube
directed towards the mirror. Lenses in the tube focus the light on the
mirror and thence it is reflected to a vertical white surface, a sheet
of paper for instance, at a suitable distance and appears as a small
and brilliant spot. A movement of the magnet causes a horizontal
deflection of this spot to the right or left depending upon the
direction of the current passing through the coil. As these movements
can be produced at will by means of the key at the sending station, it
is only necessary to apply to them the dots and dashes of the Morse
alphabet, to have a very ready and perfect means of communication. To
the uninitiated spectator the facility with which the practiced
operator translates these apparently meaningless movements is
remarkable. If the cable is long and not in good condition the signals
are sometimes almost imperceptible, while any slight jar of the table
or apparatus will produce a large and irregular effect. Earth currents
also will cause vibrations hard to distinguish from the signals, and
if, as sometimes happens, the battery is connected in the wrong way,
the signals will be reversed. In spite of these drawbacks the skillful
operator reads off the message and rarely makes an error. This
instrument is still in use on some of the cable lines, but on most of
them it has been replaced by a recording instrument, also the invention
of Sir Wm. Thompson, which is almost as sensitive, and of which I will
speak later on. The key used in connection with these instruments, both
the mirror and recorder, is arranged with two levers, so connected that
pressing one of them causes a current to be sent over the line in one
direction, while the other sends it in the opposite.
The method adopted for comparing chronometers by means of these
instruments was as follows:--Everything being ready for the exchange of
signals, the observer at one station seated himself, where he could see
the face of the chronometer, with his hand on the cable key. At ten
seconds before the beginning of a minute as shown by the second hand,
he pressed his key several times in quick succession, thus sending a
series of impulses through the line, which appeared at the other end as
a rapid movement of the light to and fro. This was a warning signal,
and the observer at the second station with his eye on the light,
tapped his chronograph key in the same way making a series of marks,
which indicated the beginning of the comparison. The first observer
exactly at the sixtieth second by his chronometer pressed his key
quickly and firmly and repeated this operation at every fifth second
for one minute. The second observer tapped his key promptly as soon as
he saw the light move, thus registering the time on his chronograph.
The minute at which the first signal was sent, was then telegraphed,
and repeated back, to insure against error, and the operation was
repeated until sixty-five signals had been sent from one station and
received at the other. Then the second observer sent the same number of
signals to the first in precisely the same manner, thus giving
sixty-five comparisons of the chronometers in each direction. The
results derived from this method are affected by errors from two
causes. One is the personal error of the observers in sending and
receiving signals and the other the time consumed by the electric
impulse in traveling over the line and through the instruments. If the
same strength of battery is used at each station, and the resistance of
the instruments is the same, the errors arising from this latter source
will be eliminated by the double exchange. The observer sending the
signals kept his eye on the chronometer and counted the second beats by
both eye and ear, moving the hand which he had on the key slightly in
unison with the beats, and could thus be sure of pressing the key at
the proper time within a very small fraction of a second. At the other
end of the line, considerable time is lost after the actual movement of
the light before the observer can press his chronograph key, and the
principal error affecting the result is the difference of this time in
the two observers, which was found to be very small.
As I have said, the cable was first used in the measurement between
Kingston and Aspinwall, Lieut. Commander Green occupying the former
station, and Mr. Rock the latter. After the successful completion of
this link, measurements were made from Santiago de Cuba to Kingston,
and to Havana. It was the intention to measure from this last point to
Key West, but about this time yellow fever broke out there and the
expedition was ordered by the Secretary of the Navy to return. The
Fortune arrived at Washington in April, 1875, and the time until
November was spent in working up the winter's observations. Speaking in
a general way this work is as follows:--From observations extending
over many years, the exact positions in the heavens of a large number
of fixed stars have been found, so that their times of passing any
meridian can be computed with great accuracy. The transit instrument is
furnished with an eye-piece containing a number of parallel lines
usually made of spider silk. These are placed in the focus of the
instrument, and it is set in position, so that the middle line of the
group is in the plane of the meridian. The observer provides himself
with a list of desirable stars, and setting his instrument on those he
may choose, records the time at which they pass each of the spider
lines, by tapping his chronograph key. If there were no instrumental
errors to be discovered and allowed for, if the star's place were known
absolutely, and the observer had no personal equation, then it would be
only necessary in order to find the error of the clock, to observe one
star upon the middle line of the reticle. The difference of the clock
time of transit and the real time as already known, would be the clock
error and no further trouble would be required. But as none of these
conditions are fulfilled, it is necessary to multiply observations in
order to eliminate accidental errors, and to obtain instrumental
corrections which may be applied so as to get the most probable result.
Accidental errors of eyesight and perception are nearly eliminated by
taking the star's transit over several lines instead of one and using
the mean. Some of the instrumental errors are from the following
causes. If the pivots which support the telescope are unequal in size
the axis of the tube will be thrown to one side or the other of the
meridian, and the star will be observed either before or after it
crosses. The weight of all transit instruments causes a flexure of the
horizontal axis and this effect is at its maximum in those of the
prismatic pattern. The spider lines must be adjusted so that the middle
one is exactly in the axis of the tube, or as this can seldom be done
the resulting error, called the collimation, must be found. The
horizontal axis of the instrument must be as nearly level as possible,
and the error in this respect must be found by frequent applications of
a delicate spirit level. Finally the instrument must be directed as
nearly as possible to the north and south points of the horizon, and a
correction must be made for any error in this respect. The result of
each of these errors is to cause the star's transit to be recorded too
early or too late, and to get the true result they must all be found
and applied with their proper signs. The inequality of pivots and the
flexure correction are found by delicate measurement and observations,
when the instrument is first used, and are recorded as constants to be
applied in all subsequent work. The level tubes are graduated and the
value of their divisions obtained in angular measure. The collimation
error is found by observing stars near the zenith in one position of
the instrument and then reversing and observing others, or by taking
the transit of a slow moving star over a portion of the spider lines
then reversing and observing the same intervals in the opposite order.
The error of azimuth, or deviation from the north and south line, is
found by comparing the observations of stars whose zenith distances
differ considerably. These corrections all being found and applied to
the observation of each star, the result is the correct time of transit
as shown by the chronometer, and the difference between that time and
the true time, is the error of the chronometer. A mean of the
observations of several stars on the same night, gives a very accurate
value for this clock error, and by comparing the results of several
nights' work, the rate is found. By applying the rate to the clock
error it is reduced to any required epoch, as for instance, the mean
time of the exchange of time signals, and the difference of longitude
is easily found. As may be imagined the computation and application of
all these errors, exercising the greatest care to insure accuracy is a
long and tedious process. The operations described give a very close
result, but in order to arrive at the greatest accuracy obtainable the
computations are made again by the method of least squares.
In the Autumn of 1875, the expedition again took the field, this time
in the side wheel steamer Gettysburg, which was much better adapted to
the work than the Fortune. The first link measured was between Key West
and Havana. Key West had already been telegraphically determined by the
Coast Survey, and now afforded a base for the system of measurements
completed and for those to follow. The next measurement was between
Kingston and St. Thomas. Then from the latter place to Antigua and to
Port Spain, Trinidad. From Port Spain, measurements were made to
Barbadoes and Martinique. The position at St. Thomas was then
re-occupied, and measurements made thence to San Juan, Porto Rico, and
to Santa Cruz. This ended the work in the West Indies, differences of
longitude having been measured between nearly all the important points
connected by telegraph. The Latitude of all the stations, was also
determined by the zenith telescope method, and the position of the
stations was referred either to the observation spot previously used,
when that could be identified, or to some prominent landmark.
Between St. Thomas and Santa Cruz, the measurement was made twice, the
observers exchanging stations at the completion of the first series of
observations. This was to eliminate the effect of their personal
errors, and to obtain a value of these, which might be applied to the
other measurements. It has long been known that different people
perceive the same phenomenon at different times, varying with different
individuals, but reasonably constant with the same individual. In the
particular case of observing the transit of a star, most people will
record it on a chronograph from one to three tenths of a second after
it happens. In the method of observing by eye and ear the error is
generally much greater. The whole question of personal equation,
however, is a mixed one and I will not attempt to discuss it, but will
only give some of the results obtained in this particular work. In
longitude measurements the error from this cause is half the difference
of the personal equation of the two observers. If this difference
remained constant, then it would be easy to find it once for all, and
apply it to all measurements made by the same observers. In the West
India work, it was assumed that it did remain constant, and half the
difference between the two measurements made from St. Thomas to Santa
Cruz, was applied to all the other links. The correction was quite
small, being only 0^{s}.025. In subsequent work by the same and other
observers it was deemed wiser not to apply any corrections at all,
rather than one that was probably not exact, and might be much in
error. To show the fluctuations to which this elusive quantity is
subject, I will cite the results of some observations made to determine
it, by observers engaged in this same work at a subsequent period. In
April and May, 1883, at Galveston, Texas, two observers D. and N.
having just completed a telegraphic measurement between that place and
Vera Cruz, Mexico, made some observations for the determination of
their relative personal equation, by observing transits of alternate
stars under the same conditions as near as possible. Both used the same
instruments, transit, chronometer and chronograph. On April 30, two
sets of observations were made, showing the difference of the equations
to be 0^{s}.26. On May 1, one set gave 0^{s}.32, and another 0^{s}.29.
On May 2, only one set was made giving 0^{s}.36, a variation of
0^{s}.07 in two days. In June 1884, one year later, another series of
observations of the same character was made at the Naval Observatory in
Washington, and on the same nights the personal equation machine
invented by Prof. Eastman, was used as a comparison. This is an
instrument in which an artificial star is made to record its own
transit over the wires of a reticle, while the observer records the
same with a chronograph key. The difference is manifestly the personal
error of the observer. This gives the absolute equation of the
observers, and their difference is the relative equation, and should
accord with that found by the method of alternate stars. Some of the
results were as follows:--On June 4, the difference by machine of their
personal errors was 0^{s}.16 and by star observations 0^{s}.24, on the
15th of June the machine gave 0^{s}.10 and the stars 0^{s}.24, on the
16th, machine 0^{s}.14, stars, 0^{s}.13, a very close agreement, on the
17th, machine gave 0^{s}.07 and stars 0^{s}.18. The observer N.
combined with another, C., who had not had as much experience in
observing, gave still more discordant results. On June 20, the machine
gave as their relative equation, 0^{s}.08, while star observations gave
0^{s}.27, on June 23, machine 0^{s}.13, stars 0^{s}.51, and on June 28,
machine, 0^{s}.20, stars 0^{s}.35. In the case of the first two
observers a mean of the determinations amounting to about 0^{s}.20
might have been applied to the measurements made by them, but as these
were made under all conditions of climate, in latitudes varying from
30° N. to 36° S. and in different states of health and bodily comfort,
it was concluded not to introduce any correction at all rather than one
that might be considerably in error. In all of the work it has been the
custom as far as possible to place the observers alternately east and
west of each other, so that the result of personal error in one
measurement is neutralized to a greater or less extent in the next. Of
course the method of exchanging stations and making two measurements of
each meridian distance would afford the best solution of this problem,
but except in certain favorable conditions, this is precluded by
considerations of time and expense. In the measurement between
Galveston and Vera Cruz mentioned above, it had been the intention to
exchange stations, but by the time the first measurement was finished
the season was rather far advanced, there was danger of yellow fever in
Vera Cruz and an observer going there at that time, if he escaped
disease would have had the certainty of being quarantined from entering
the United States for three weeks or a month after leaving Mexico.
Upon the completion of the West Indian work, and the publication in
1877, of the results, it was determined by the Bureau of Navigation to
send an Expedition for the same purpose to the east coast of South
America. Cables were in use extending from Para in northern Brazil to
Buenos Ayres in the Argentine Republic. A cable had at one time
connected this system with the West Indies, through British Guiana and
Trinidad, but one of the links was broken and there was no prospect of
its repair, otherwise the Station established at Trinidad in 1874 might
have been taken as the starting point. There was direct communication
however between England and Brazil, by the way of Portugal, and the
Madeira and Cape de Verde Islands. Lisbon seemed to afford the most
convenient place to start from, but its longitude had never been
determined by telegraph and it was decided to request the French Bureau
of Longitudes to coöperate by making this measurement from Paris. This
request was readily granted, but for some reason the agreement was not
kept. For the use of the Expedition the old fashioned sailing ship
_Guard_ was furnished and Lieut. Com. Green was given command. Mr. Rock
being otherwise employed his place was taken by Lieut. Com.(now
Commander) C. H. Davis, U. S. N. The instruments having been placed in
good order, and new supplies furnished where necessary, the expedition
sailed from New York for Lisbon in the latter part of October, 1877.
The Guard was a slow sailer, the weather was rough and the wind
generally ahead, consequently a month was consumed in making the
passage. It was the intention to make the first measurement between
Lisbon and Funchal, Madeira. Lieut. Com. Davis with party and
instruments occupied the latter station, proceeding by mail steamer at
the first opportunity. The cable from England does not land directly at
Lisbon, but at a small town called Carcavellos on the coast about
twelve miles from the city. As it was not practicable to connect the
land line from Lisbon direct to the cable, it was necessary in making
the exchange of signals to adopt another method, or rather combination
of methods. An officer of the ship was sent to Carcavellos, furnished
with a chronometer and chronograph. When the time came for exchanging
signals, he first compared his chronometer with that at Lisbon, by the
automatic method, in use on land lines, then with the Funchal
chronometer over the cable using the mirror galvanometer. Finally a
second automatic comparison was made with Lisbon. From the data
furnished by these comparisons it was an easy matter to compute the
difference between the chronometers at Lisbon and Funchal. The Lisbon
party had been received with great courtesy by the director of the
Royal Observatory, Capt. Oom of the Portuguese Navy, and had been given
the use of a small detached observatory near the main building. The
party at Funchal selected a site on the ramparts of an old fort, which
afforded a clear view and was near the landing place of the cable. Here
occurred an accident to the transit instrument, which fortunately was
easily remedied. Near the beginning of the observations on the first
night the wind, which was blowing almost a gale, lifted a part of the
roof off the observatory, and dropped one section of it inside. The
transit was knocked off the pier, and was at first thought to be much
injured. Fortunately the precaution had been taken to bring along a
couple of spare instruments, borrowed from the Transit of Venus
Commission for use in case of such an accident. The Funchal party was
provided with one of these, which was set up for use by the next night,
and the injured one was sent to Lisbon for repairs. The injury proved
to be less than supposed and the repairing was an easy matter. Upon the
completion of this measurement the Lisbon party proceeded to St.
Vincent one of the Cape de Verde Islands. This is a barren and desolate
spot of volcanic formation, but being on the route of steamers from
Europe to Africa and South America is of much importance as a coaling
station. Measurements were made from this point to Funchal and to
Pernambuco in Brazil, and the Guard then sailed for Rio Janeiro. Upon
arriving at that point after a long passage, it was found that the
cable between Rio and Pernambuco was broken, and there being no
immediate prospect of its being repaired, the Pernambuco party was
ordered by mail steamer to Rio, and thence to Montevideo. A measurement
was made between Rio and Montevideo and then between the latter place
and Buenos Ayres, Lieut. Com. Green occupying the Montevideo station
for that purpose. The position of the observatory at Buenos Ayres was
referred to that occupied by Dr. B. A. Gould, Director of the Argentine
National Observatory, in a similar measurement a short time before
between that place and Cordova.
Both parties now returned to Rio, only to find that the cable was still
broken. In order to be ready for work as soon as it should be repaired,
Lieut. Com. Green proceeded to Bahia with the ship and established a
station there, Lieut. Com. Davis with his party remaining in Rio. After
waiting a month, and there still seeming to be no prospect of the
repair of the cable, the expedition finally sailed for home, arriving
at Norfolk, Va., after a pleasant and uneventful voyage of forty-five
days. Repairs to the cable were not completed until several months
afterward. In May of the next year, the party was again sent out, to
complete the measurement on the Brazilian Coast, and also to measure
from Greenwich to Lisbon, the French Bureau of Longitudes having failed
to carry out its promise to measure from Paris. There being no ship
available for the purpose the traveling was done by mail steamer. Upon
arrival in England, an interview was had with the Astronomer Royal, who
readily agreed to assist in the work. Lieut. Com. Green accordingly
established his observatory at the landing place of the cable at
Porthcurnow in Cornwall, and Lieut. Com. Davis proceeded to Lisbon and
occupied the station used there the year before. Owing to the foggy and
rainy weather prevalent in England at that season, it was found
impossible to make any astronomical observations at the Porthcurnow
observatory. The work was therefore done in this way:--Observations
were made at Greenwich and at Lisbon, and Porthcurnow and Carcavellos
were used as transmitting stations. The chronometer at Porthcurnow was
compared automatically with the clock at Greenwich, and by cable with
the chronometer at Carcavellos. The latter was compared automatically
with that at Lisbon, before and after the cable exchange. At this time
there were made at Carcavellos, some experiments with a view to making
the receipt of the time signals over the cable automatic, thus doing
away with the personal equation of the receiver. The instrument in use
for the regular business of the cable was what is known as the siphon
recorder, also the invention of Sir Wm. Thompson. In this a small coil
of fine wire is suspended by a fibre of silk, between the poles of a
powerful permanent magnet. The currents from the cable pass through
this coil and the action is to deflect it to the right or left, just as
the mirror is deflected in the instrument already described. Attached
to this coil is a siphon made of a capillary glass tube. One end of the
siphon dips into a reservoir of aniline ink, and the other hangs
immediately over the centre of a fillet of paper, which is unwound by
clock-work. If the siphon touched the paper, the feeble currents sent
through the cable would be powerless to move it, on account of the
friction, and in order to produce a mark some means must be found of
forcing the ink through the capillary tube. This is accomplished by
electrifying the ink positively and the paper negatively, by means of a
small inductive machine, driven by an electric motor. The effort of the
two electricities to unite, forces the ink through the tube and it
appears on the paper as a succession of small dots. When the paper is
in motion and the coil at rest, a straight line is formed along the
middle of the fillet by these dots, but as soon as a current is sent
through the coil the siphon moves to the right or left making an offset
to this line. These offsets on one side or the other are used as the
dots and dashes of the Morse alphabet. A time signal sent over the
cable while this instrument was in circuit, appeared as a single offset
on the paper, and it was only necessary to graduate the paper into
seconds spaces by the local chronometer, in order to have the automatic
record required. The ordinary chronometer circuit could not be put
through the coil directly, as it would then charge the cable and
interfere with the signals, and besides, the current, unless by the
introduction of a high resistance it was reduced in strength, would
infallibly give such a violent motion to the coil as to break the
siphon, if it did no other damage. The result was obtained in this way;
an ordinary telegraph relay was put in the chronometer circuit and the
armature of course moved with the beats. To this armature was fastened
one end of a fine thread. The other end was attached to a slender piece
of elastic brass which was fixed at one end to the framework supporting
the paper, in such a way that the other end touched the metallic vessel
holding the ink, except when the thread was drawn tight enough to pull
it away. This the armature of the relay did while the circuit through
the chronometer was complete, but as soon as it was broken at the
beginning of a second, the tension of the thread was relaxed and the
brass sprung back against the ink well, allowing the positive and
negative electricities to unite independently of the siphon. The ink
then ceased to flow, until the spring was drawn away, thus leaving a
small blank space in the line of dots and forming a very good
chronographic record. This was liable to a small error due to the
length of time that elapsed between the release of the spring by the
armature and its impact on the ink well. Had there been time for more
extensive experiment this difficulty might have been overcome. Or if
the same method had been adopted at both stations, the result would
have been affected by only the difference between the times of movement
of the brass spring which would have been minute. Lack of time for
experiment, and the fact that the observers were averse to introducing
untested methods into a chain of measurements most of the links of
which were already completed, prevented any use being made of this
achievement. The measurement between Greenwich and Lisbon being
satisfactorily completed, Lieut. Com. Green by order of the Navy
Department returned to the United States, and the links between Rio and
Pernambuco and between the latter place and Para, were measured by
Lieut. Com. Davis and the writer, completing the work of the
expedition, after which the party returned to Washington.
The computation of this work, showed the somewhat surprising fact that
the heretofore accepted position in longitude of Lisbon, differed from
the true one by about two miles. The longitude of Rio Janeiro had
always been more or less in doubt, various determinations had differed
by as much as nine miles, but the position finally decided upon by the
best authorities agreed very closely with that obtained by telegraph.
The next expedition was sent out by the Bureau of Navigation to China,
Japan and the East Indies, Lieut. Com. Green being still in charge. The
officers composing the party sailed from San Francisco by mail steamer
in April, 1881, for Yokohama, where they joined the U. S. Steamer
Palos. From Hong Kong north to Vladivostok in Eastern Siberia the
cables were owned by a Danish company. From Hong Kong to the south and
west they were the property of English companies. Beginning at
Vladivostok observations were made at all stations on the Asiatic coast
except Penang, as far as Madras, India. It was intended to try and make
some use of the automatic method of receiving time signals, on this
work, but on arriving in Japan it was found that the recording
instrument used by the Danish company was entirely different from that
used by the English lines. It consisted of a series of electro-magnets
acting on a single armature, which carried a siphon made of silver. The
signals consisted of long and short movements, to one side of the
middle line, instead of equal deflections on both sides as in the
Thompson recorder. An attempt was made to convert this instrument into
a relay, by causing the siphon to make and break a circuit, but it was
not successful. The movements of the siphon were not regular enough,
and the contact was not firm. Consequently the mirror method of
exchanging signals was still adhered to.
The longitude of the position occupied in Vladivostok, had been
determined telegraphically from Pulkova, by the Russians, using the
land lines across Siberia. The English had also determined the position
at Madras, using the cables through the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The
work of the United States Expedition joined these two positions,
completing a chain of measurements extending over many thousand miles,
made by observers of different nationalities in various climates. It
was to be expected that considerable discrepancy would be found in the
final result, but taking the longitude of Vladivostok as brought from
Madras, and comparing it with that determined by the Russians, the
difference was only 0^{s}.39. Taking everything into consideration,
this result was gratifyingly close. Upon the conclusion of this series
of determinations, the connection of Lieut. Commander Green with the
work was severed, he receiving his promotion to the rank of Commander.
The next work was under the charge of Lieut. Com. Davis, and consisted
in the determination in 1883-84, of positions in Mexico, Central
America and the west coast of South America. Cables had just been
completed, extending from Galveston, Texas, to Vera Cruz, thence across
Mexico to the Pacific and down that coast to Lima, Peru, where
connection was made with another system extending to Valparaiso.
Galveston was a point determined by the Coast Survey, and the
measurement thence to Vera Cruz was the first one made. It was
completed in May '83, and in the Autumn of the same year the party
proceeded to the South American coast, and stations were established
and observations made at various points from Valparaiso to Panama, and
at one point, La Libertad, in Central America. It was at first the
intention to extend the series across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and
connect with Vera Cruz, but lack of time prevented this, and as the
station at Panama determined nearly ten years before, afforded a
convenient starting point, the idea was abandoned. From Valparaiso, a
measurement was made with the coöperation of Dr. Gould to his
observatory at Cordova, using the line across the Andes, and exchanging
signals automatically. These measurements constituted the final links
in a long chain, extending from the prime meridian Greenwich across the
Atlantic to the United States, thence via the West Indies to Panama,
down the west coast of South America to Valparaiso, across the Andes to
Cordova and Buenos Ayres, up the east coast to Pernambuco, across the
Atlantic to Lisbon, and thence to Greenwich, altogether a distance of
eighteen to twenty thousand miles. The two longitudes of Cordova, as
brought from Greenwich by the two routes, differed from each other by
only 0^{s}.048, a result which speaks well for the accuracy of the
methods employed. When preparations were being made for this
expedition, it was determined to accomplish if possible something in
the way of getting rid of the personal equation in exchanging signals.
An idea which had been suggested by work done by Major Campbell, R. E.
in the measurement between Bombay and Aden, seemed to promise well. It
was to be used with the siphon or other form of recorder. The ordinary
double current cable key with two levers, was arranged with an
additional lever in such a manner that while in ordinary use in the
telegraph office, it could also be put in circuit with the chronometer
and chronograph in the observatory, and a signal sent through the cable
would have its time of sending registered on the chronograph.
Ordinarily in speaking over a cable line, connection is made in such a
way that the current sent does not pass through the recorder at the
sending station, as a violent movement of the siphon would result. By
means of a shunt, however, it is possible to control this movement
somewhat. Suppose now, that the connections at each station are made in
such a way, by means of this key and the shunt, that a signal sent from
one, is registered on both recorders and on the sender's chronograph.
The observers leaving their assistants to take care of the
chronographs, go to the respective telegraph offices, and all being
ready, the observer A taps his key. This sends an impulse through the
cable, which appears on A's recorder, as a violent jump or kick of the
siphon. On B's recorder it is registered as a deflection like the
ordinary dot or dash, at the same instant is recorded on A's
chronograph the time of sending. As soon as B sees the signal on his
recorder, he taps his key also registering the signals on both
recorders and on his chronograph. A, seeing B's signal again taps his
key, and so on, as long as desired. The result is that each observer
has a record on his siphon fillet of all signals sent and received,
while the times of those he sent are recorded on his chronograph. By
the use of the diagonal scale and the Rule of Three, he can without
difficulty find the times of the signals received. The siphon recorders
are well made, and the paper moves with great regularity. This system
was used in the measurement between Galveston and Vera Cruz with great
success. It was intended to employ the same method throughout the
measurement on the west coast of America, but on arriving at Lima, it
was found that the company owning the lines south of that point still
used the mirror galvanometer, and it was of course necessary to return
to the old method. The improved key was used however, which eliminated
the error in sending signals.
After this work was completed and the results published in 1885,
nothing was done in this line by the Bureau of Navigation for some
years. Upon the return of the writer in the spring of 1888, from a
cruise in the South Pacific, he found that the subject of sending an
expedition to complete the measurements in Mexico and Central America
was under consideration in the Bureau of Navigation and the
Hydrographic office. It was finally decided that the work should be
done, and the writer was placed in charge. The instruments were brought
out of their retirement, and by the aid of the Hydrographic Office a
very complete outfit was furnished, and in November of last year a
start was made from New York, the expedition proceeding by mail steamer
to Vera Cruz. Here the spot occupied by Lieut. Com. Davis in '83 was
found, his transit pier, which was still standing was repaired, and
instruments mounted. Lieut. Charles Laird, U. S. N., who had been
identified with the longitude work since the China expedition in 1881,
was left in charge of the observatory at Vera Cruz, and the writer
proceeded with his party to the small town of Coatzacoalcos, at the
mouth of the river of the same name. This point is about one hundred
and twenty miles southeast of Vera Cruz, and is the landing place of
the cable. A land line extends from this point to Salina Cruz on the
Pacific coast, a distance of about two hundred miles. In exchanging
time signals between Vera Cruz and Coatzacoalcos, the automatic method
was employed, the cable being short. The old wooden observatories were
used at these points, but as they were too heavy for transportation
across the Isthmus, tents made especially for astronomical purposes
were substituted for them in the observations made on the Pacific
coast. The journey across the Isthmus was slow, about two weeks being
employed in traveling two hundred miles, though as the route was
devious, the actual distance was nearer three hundred. Some of the
instruments were heavy, and after being taken in canoes a hundred miles
up the Coatzacoalcos river, against a rapid current, they were loaded
on a train of pack mules, and carried the rest of the way by land.
While the first party was crossing the Isthmus, the other was on its
way from Vera Cruz, and being ready at about the same time, a
successful measurement was made between Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz,
exchanging signals automatically. The Coatzacoalcos party then crossed
to Salina Cruz, while the other proceeded to La Libertad in Salvador,
where the station established in the Spring of '84, was again occupied.
The measurement between these places being completed, the Libertad
party went on to San Juan del Sur, in Nicaragua, near the terminus of
the proposed interoceanic canal. In the measurement between this point
and Salina Cruz, as well as in the one preceding, the exchange was
effected by mirror signals. This completed the season's work, and the
two parties made the best of their way home via Panama, arriving in
Washington in April and May respectively. The computation of the
observations is not yet complete though well advanced; it was the
intention to publish preliminary results this Fall, but owing to lack
of time that can not be done.
Another piece of work is laid out for the same party for the coming
winter, which is the measurement from Santiago de Cuba, through Hayti
and San Domingo to La Guayra in Venezuela, over the cables of a French
company, which have just been completed. This work will consume about
six months, and the expedition which is to start almost immediately
will probably return in April or May next. The determination of the
longitude of La Guayra will give a point from which many other
measurements may be made along the north coast of South America,
furnishing material for extensive corrections of the charts of that
region.
* * * * *
Having presented an outline of the work done so far, as well as that
proposed for the near future, I will now mention some of the trials and
tribulations, as well as the pleasures experienced in carrying out the
object desired in an expedition of this kind. The greatest politeness
and kindness have always been experienced from the officials and
employees of the various telegraph companies over whose lines work has
been carried on. The government officials of the foreign countries
visited, have also invariably shown the utmost politeness, but
sometimes this politeness has been visibly tinged with suspicion. The
measurements in Peru and Chili were made amid the closing scenes of the
war between the countries. Upon the arrival of the expedition in Lima,
an interview was had with the Chilian Commander-in-Chief who had
possession of the city, and permission was requested and readily
granted to occupy a station in Arica. Upon arriving at the latter place
some days after, the Chilian governor in charge was found to have
instructions to facilitate the work, and readily granted permission to
establish the observatory in a convenient locality, but flatly refused
to allow a wire to be extended to the telegraph office, and also
refused to forward to his immediate superior, a request that it might
be allowed. He evidently supposed the party were emissaries of the
United States, sent to treat secretly with conquered Peru, but how he
expected this was to be done remains a secret. By a vigorous use of the
telegraph in communicating with the U. S. Ministers to both Chili and
Peru, his objections were silenced, and the wire was put up. The
observatory at Arica was erected on the side of a hill to the windward
of the town, because it afforded a clear view, and was less dirty than
other eligible sites. It also was a safe position in case of a possible
earthquake or tidal wave, by which Arica had already been twice visited
with disastrous effect. In digging for a foundation for the transit
pier, several mummies of the ancient Peruvians were unearthed at a
depth of a foot. They had evidently belonged to the poorer class of
people, as their wrappings were composed of coarse mats, instead of the
fine cloth with which the wealthier people were usually interred. One
was the body of a female with long hair, which had been turned to a
reddish yellow color by the alkali in the soil. The whole coast of Peru
is barren and desolate, except in the river valleys, it being seldom
visited by rain, while it is nearly always overhung with heavy clouds
and fog banks, which render astronomical work exceedingly difficult.
Even when partially clear in the day time, it generally becomes cloudy
at night. Many times the observer would be at his place before sunset
ready to seize the first suitable star revealed by the darkness, only
to be baffled by thick banks of cloud which would cover the entire sky
in from five to ten minutes.
In northern Peru, with a latitude of about five degrees south, is the
town of Paita. It is an assemblage of mud-colored houses, at the foot
of high, mud colored bluffs. On top of these bluffs is a perfectly
barren table land extending inland and up and down the coast for many
miles. Before visiting it the observers were informed that its one good
point was the perfect astronomical weather which always prevailed.
Clouds were unknown, and such a thing as rain had never been heard of.
The extreme dryness of the atmosphere was so favorable to health that
no one ever died, and when a consumptive invalid was imported by the
inhabitants in the hope of starting a cemetery, he blasted their
expectations by recovering. Judge then of their feeling, when upon
arriving at this delightful place, they were met with the information
that while it was true that the sky was, in general, perfectly clear
both by night and day, yet about once in seven years, rain could be
expected, and that the year then present was the rainy one. And sure
enough it did rain. The usually dusty streets became rivers and
quagmires, the rocky valleys in the vicinity were transformed into
roaring torrents, and the table land usually an arid desert became a
swamp with a rank growth of vegetation. However by using every
opportunity and snatching stars between clouds and showers the work was
finally completed.
Upon arriving in Panama shortly after this experience, the party was
met with the pleasant intelligence that yellow fever was prevalent, and
that the foreigners were dying like sheep. Nearly every day of the
party's stay, some one died of sufficient importance to have the church
bells tolled for his funeral, while of the ordinary people little
notice was taken. Every morning, the writer remembers passing a
carpenter's shop where nothing was made but coffins, and the supply was
evidently not equal to the demand, for finally the proprietor began to
import them, apparently by the ship load. The weather however was
delightful, and the nights were the most perfect, astronomically
speaking, that could be desired.
The observers who went from Japan to Vladivostok were obliged to wait
several weeks at Nagasaki, before an opportunity offered for proceeding
to their destination, and when they finally arrived, the getting away
again was a problem. Communication with the outside world by water was
only open during the summer months, and even then it was more
accidental than otherwise. The party established the observatory
however, and settled down to work, letting the future take care of
itself. In the early part of the work, rather an amusing incident
occurred. As the community was full of all sorts and conditions of men,
Koreans, Chinamen and Russian exiles, the last not political but
criminal offenders; it was thought wise to have a sentry stationed at
the observatory to guard against any possible harm to the instruments.
So the Governor of the town was asked to furnish a soldier for that
purpose, which request was readily granted, and one night the sentry
was posted with orders to let no one touch the observatory. These
orders he construed literally, and when the observers appeared to
commence their night's work, he kept them off at the point of the
bayonet. His only language being Russian with which the observers were
not familiar, it was impossible to explain the true state of affairs,
and it was only after hunting up an interpreter and communicating with
his commanding officer that an entry was finally effected. A good deal
of bad weather was experienced at this place, but at the end of six
weeks enough observations had been made for the required purpose, and
the party was fortunate enough to secure passage to Nagasaki, in a
small steamer that had brought a load of coal out from Germany.
In the expedition to the Asiatic coast one of the most interesting
experiences was the trip to Manila in the Philippine Islands. This is
quite a large town when intact, but a great portion of it is usually in
the condition of being shaken down by an earthquake or blown over by a
typhoon. The inhabitants are full of energy, however, and find time
between downfalls to build up again. The cable from Hong Kong lands at
a point about one hundred and twenty miles from Manila, and the writer
was directed to proceed thither, with a chronometer and chronograph for
the purpose of transmitting time signals. The first part of the journey
was made in a small coasting steamer uncommonly dirty, and occupied
about thirty-six hours. At the end of that time the village of Sual in
the Gulf of Lingayen was reached. This was distant from the cable
station about thirty miles, and the remainder of the journey was made
in a native boat, with mat sails, and bamboo outriggers, part of the
time through channels between numerous small islands and for some
distance in the open sea. The progress was slow, but it was a pleasant
way of traveling, except for the sleeping accommodations which were
primitive; consisting of a palm leaf mat thrown over a platform made of
split bamboo, in which all the knots had been carefully preserved.
About three days, including stoppages, were consumed in this thirty
mile voyage, and the traveler finally reached his destination to be
received with the greatest hospitality by the staff at the telegraph
station, and just in time to allay the fears of the observers at Hong
Kong and Manila who had begun to think him lost. About three weeks were
spent here, and as the work only occupied a short time at night, the
days were pleasantly passed in exploring the surrounding country,
making friends with the natives, shooting and photographing the
scenery. The return to Manila was by the same route and occupied nearly
the same length of time.
The measurement from Singapore to Madras was over one of the longest
lines of cable ever used for this purpose, the distance being about
1600 nautical miles. The Atlantic cables used by Dr. Gould in 1866 were
a little more than 1,850 miles in length. There was an intermediate
station at Penang about 400 miles from Singapore, where all the work of
the line was repeated. For the longitude measurement however the cables
were connected through to form an unbroken line. The mirror was the
only instrument that could be used and even with this the signals were
feeble and much affected by earth currents.
The observing parties have never been troubled by wild beasts, but
while at Saigon in Cochin, China, a rifle was always kept handy for use
in case of the appearance of a tiger. The observatory here was located
near the edge of a jungle, and alongside the telegraph station, on the
veranda of which a large tiger had been shot by one of the operators
only a short time before.
In the expedition of last winter to Mexico and Central America, the
principal annoyance was caused by insects which were numerous and
malignant. At Coatzacoalcos they were found in the greatest abundance,
though the whole isthmus of Tehuantepec is alive with them. Fleas and
mosquitoes were expected of course, but added to this were numerous
others much worse. Of the family of "ticks" four varieties were seen
and felt, ranging in size from almost microscopic to a length of a
third of an inch. The most numerous were about as large as a grain of
mustard seed, and one who walked or rode through the bushes or high
grass would find himself literally covered. One of the worst insects
encountered was the "nigua" which is in appearance something like a
small flea. It burrows into the toes and soles of the feet, lays a
number of eggs, which hatch and produce painful sores. A gruesome story
is current in that region, about an enthusiastic English naturalist,
who found specimens of these encamped in his feet, and concluded to
take them home in that way, in order to observe the effect, but died of
them before reaching England. All the party were afflicted with these
pests, but were always fortunate enough to discover them and dig them
out with the point of a knife before any bad results were experienced.
The village of Coatzacoalcos is prettily situated, the climate,
especially in winter, is very agreeable and the river offers a
commodious harbor, but as long as the insects are so unpleasant, few
people will care to live there if they can avoid it.
There have been directly determined by these various expeditions, about
forty secondary meridians. Many more positions depend upon these, so
they may be said to have made a large addition to our accurate
knowledge of the earth's surface. Telegraphic facilities are being
constantly extended, and as the Bureau of Navigation has now a very
complete outfit for this work, which only needs occasional repairs, it
is hoped that it may be kept up for some time in the future.
REPORT--GEOGRAPHY OF THE LAND.
BY HERBERT G. OGDEN.
In my annual report a year ago, I presented to you briefly our
knowledge of the great geographic divisions of the world. It might be
instructive to continue the subject this evening by relating the
additional information we have acquired during the year; but as the
items are not of great value and the most important are more in the
form of rumors than of facts, I have restricted myself more to the
interests of the western hemisphere, and particularly to those
affecting the United States.
In Europe we have still the visions of war that have agitated her
peoples for years past; the decapitation of the Turk, and division of
his European empire to appease the ambition of "friendly powers." It is
not until we pass by this civilized section and reach the far east,
that we recognize the dawn of progress in the year; the birth of events
that may in time increase the happiness and welfare of many people.
The influence of the United States in extending the principle so early
enunciated, "that all men are born free and equal" has been most
marked. The western hemisphere is virtually under the rule of men
chosen by the people, and though we cannot claim that in all instances
the result has been satisfactory, there has, nevertheless, been a
steady advance; political disturbances have become less frequent and
with prolonged tranquillity the arts of peace, commercial enterprise
and internal improvements, have received an impetus that will wed more
strongly the advocates of personal liberty to their ideal God.
Educated men in both hemispheres predict ultimate success or failure
for our form of government and advance cogent arguments in support of
the views they express. The complications of the great economic
questions that confront us afford texts for arguments that cause many
to doubt the wisdom of entrusting the welfare of a great nation to the
votes of the masses; nevertheless, the people are firm in the belief
that they can conduct their own affairs; and those whom they intrust
with temporary power are seldom so short-sighted as not to realize that
a violation of the trust will meet with certain retribution. Those
appointed to govern must also be teachers, and if in the enthusiasm of
a new creed it shall be shown they have taught the people error instead
of truth, a national uprising sweeps them from control, and for a time
conservatism becomes the guide. To the people of the old world, the
apparent prosperity that has followed our system doubtless receives the
most earnest thought; and the contrast to their own condition excites
their desires to experiment themselves in more liberal forms, and reap
the rewards they believe have followed such measures in America.
While American methods may extend their influence in this manner to
European nations, and even to the nations of Asia, we should not rest
self-confident of the superiority of our institutions, and that they
alone are the permeating influence that inspire so many with the
thoughts of liberal government that brings disquiet to crowned heads.
The application of recent discoveries and inventions, to the affairs of
every-day life, have raised the power of the individual and caused such
a general increase of intellectual vigor, that independence of rulers
by divine right is no longer a cause for wonder, but is considered by
the intelligent as the natural state for the modern man.
Since the expedition of Com. Perry our influence in Japan has been
marked, and this most progressive of the Eastern nations has sought
counsel and advice from new America and the men who constitute the
nation. But the progressive people of these isles have been too earnest
in their efforts to advance, to rely solely upon one set of men, or the
example of one nation, and we find they have been gathering in that
which is good from all sections of the civilized world. The record of
their progress, however, bears the stamp of America, and we may justly
claim that it was the influence of freedom that first led these
interesting people into the paths they have followed with such
gratifying results, and which many believe will culminate in the
establishment of a powerful and enlightened nation. Recent advices
announce the formation of a legislative body, organized on the
principle of the Congress of the United States--a step that indicates
Japan may yet find a place in the category of states that are destined
to exert a marked influence in the control of human affairs.
How different is the neighboring empire of China. Within a stone's
throw, almost, of the advancing civilization of Japan, inhabited by a
people of marked ability but restricted by race traditions to a
condition of inactive conservatism, that seems almost to preclude the
possibility of material advance in centuries to come. The population of
this empire is so great that the density has been averaged at two and
three hundred persons per square mile, and in some districts that it is
as great as seven hundred. We can readily conceive the poverty that
must exist in such an average population for such an extended area. And
we may realize the cries of distress that come from great calamities by
the experiences in our own history, even modified as they have been by
our superior facilities for affording relief, and the comparative
insignificance of the numbers who have required assistance. Recall for
a moment one of the great floods of the Yellow river, where thousands
have perished and tens of thousands have been rendered destitute within
a few hours, and conceive the sufferings, hardships, and greater number
that must yet succumb before those who survived the first great rush of
the waters can be furnished relief; remembering that the means of
intercommunication are the most primitive, and that the immediate
neighbors of the sufferers are in no condition to render more
assistance than will relieve the most urgent necessities of a
comparatively insignificant number. May we not, then, if only from a
humanitarian point of view, greet with pleasure the reception of the
imperial decree authorizing the introduction in the empire of useful
inventions of civilized man, and directing the construction of a great
railroad through the heart of the empire, with Pekin as one of the
termini. This road will cross the Yellow river, affording relief to
this populous district in time of disaster; and it is understood will
eventually be extended to traverse the empire, forming a means of rapid
communication between distant provinces. We may believe, also, that in
time it will be the medium of opening to us a new region for geographic
research, not in the celestial empire alone, but also in the rich
fields of central Asia that are now being occupied by Chinese
emigration.
Doubtless the greatest geographic discoveries of the age have been made
in central Africa. It was but a few years ago that we were in doubt as
to the true sources of the Nile, and the location of the mouths of
great rivers that had been followed in the interior, was as much a
mystery as though the rivers had flowed into a heated cauldron and the
waters had been dissipated in mist, by the winds, to the four corners
of the earth. It was then that grave fears were aroused for the safety
of Livingstone, who had done so much, and whose efforts it was hoped
would yet solve the great geographic problems his travels had evolved.
A man, patient in suffering, and with a tenacity of purpose that
overcomes the greatest obstacles, he had endeared himself to those who
sought knowledge from his labors, and it was, therefore, with unfeigned
regret that men spoke of the possibility that calamity had overtaken
him, and that the work of the last years of his life would possibly be
lost. The editor of an influential New York journal, sympathizing with
the deep interest that was felt, and doubtless actuated to some extent
by the notoriety success would bring to his journal, determined upon
organizing an expedition to ascertain Livingstone's fate, and thus
brought before the world the hitherto obscure correspondent Henry M.
Stanley. The rare good judgment that selected Mr. Stanley for the
command of such a hazardous expedition was more than demonstrated by
subsequent events. The first reports that Livingstone had been succored
were received with incredulity, but as the facts became known
incredulity gave way to unstinted praise, and Mr. Stanley was accorded
a place among those who had justly earned a reward from the whole
civilized world.
A few years after his return from his successful mission for the relief
of Livingstone, he was commissioned in the joint interests of the _New
York Herald_ and _London Daily Telegraph_, to command an expedition for
the exploration of central Africa. Traversing the continent from east
to west, he added largely to our knowledge of the lake region and was
the first to bring us facts of the course of the Congo. This expedition
placed him before the world as one of the greatest of explorers, and it
seems, therefore, to have been but natural that, when a great
humanitarian expedition was to be organized nearly ten years later to
penetrate into the still unknown regions of the equatorial belt for the
relief of Emin Pasha, that he should have been selected to command it.
How faithfully he performed this task we are only just learning, and
our admiration increases with every new chapter that is placed before
us. That he was successful in the main object of the expedition is
self-evident, having brought Emin Pasha and the remnant of his
followers to the coast with him. The expedition has also been fruitful
in geographic details, and though we have not as yet the data to change
the maps to accord with all the newly discovered facts, we may feel
assured of their value. Perhaps the best summary of the more important
discoveries can be given in the explorer's own words, which I have
taken from one of his recent letters:
"Over and above the happy ending of our appointed duties we have not
been unfortunate in geographical discoveries. The Aruwimi is now known
from its source to its bourne. The great Congo forest, covering as
large an area as France and the Iberian peninsula, we can now certify
to be an absolute fact. The Mountains of the Moon, this time beyond the
least doubt, have been located, and Ruwenzori, 'The Cloud King,' robed
in eternal snow, has been seen and its flanks explored and some of its
shoulders ascended, Mounts Gordon Bennett and MacKinnan Cones being but
great sentries warding off the approach to the inner area of 'The Cloud
King.'
"On the southeast of the range the connection between Albert Edward
Nyanza and the Albert Nyanza has been discovered, and the extent of the
former lake is now known for the first time. Range after range of
mountains has been traversed, separated by such tracts of pasture lands
as would make your cowboys out west mad with envy. And right under the
burning equator we have fed on blackberries and bilberries and quenched
our thirst with crystal water fresh from snow beds. We have also been
able to add nearly six thousand square miles of water to Victoria
Nyanza.
"Our naturalist will expatiate upon the new species of animals, birds
and plants he has discovered. Our surgeon will tell what he knows of
the climate and its amenities. It will take us all we know how to say
what new store of knowledge has been gathered from this unexpected
field of discoveries. I always suspected that in the central regions,
between the equatorial lakes, something worth seeing would be found,
but I was not prepared for such a harvest of new facts."
The exploration of Africa, however, has not been confined to the
central belt. Expeditions have been developing the southern section of
the continent; the French have been active in the watershed of the
Niger, and in the east there seems to have been a general advance of
English, Germans, Portuguese and Italians. The latter, it is stated,
have acquired several million square miles of territory in Mozambique,
an acquisition that would indicate our maps have heretofore given this
particular division of territory an area much too insignificant.
We also learn that Capt. Trevier, a French traveler, has crossed the
continent by ascending the Congo to Stanley Falls, thence southeasterly
through the lake region to the coast at some point in Mozambique, in a
journey of eighteen months; a journey that must bring us a harvest of
new facts.
On the western hemisphere there has been considerable activity in a
variety of interest, tending to develop the political, commercial and
natural resources.
Four new states have been admitted to the American Union, and measures
have been introduced in the Congress looking to the admission of two
more. These acts mark an era in the progress of the great northwest
significant of a national prosperity that a generation ago would have
been deemed visionary. We have also to record a tentative union formed
by the Central American states, that at the expiration of the term of
ten years prescribed by the compact, we may hope will be solidified by
a bond to make the union perpetual. In South America a bloodless
revolution presented to the family of nations a new republic in the
United States of Brazil. All thoughtful men must at least feel a throb
of sympathy for Dom Pedro, who in a night lost the allegiance of his
people and the rule of an empire. Sympathy, perhaps, that he does not
crave, for history affords us no parallel of a monarch who taught his
people liberalism, and knowing it could but lead to the downfall of his
empire. It seems to be true, also, that although depriving him of
power, the people whom he loved and ruled with such liberality, have
not forgotten his many virtues, and that the Emperor Dom Pedro will be
revered in republican Brazil as heartily as though his descendants had
been permitted to inherit the empire. We cannot tell if the new order
of affairs will prove permanent, but the education of the Brazilians in
the belief that a republic was inevitable, gives strong grounds to hope
the experiment of self-government will not be a failure. The influence
the successful establishment of this republic is to exert in other
parts of the world is a problem that has already brought new worries to
the rulers of Europe, and not without a reason, for a republican
America is an object lesson that the intelligence of the age will not
be slow to learn.
The assembly of the "Three Americas Congress" in Washington, is also an
event that may wield an influence in the future. Perhaps it may not be
seen for years to come, but it lays the foundation for commercial and
geographic developments that would redound to the credit of the western
hemisphere.
We have seen during the year the virtual failure of the Panama Canal
company; for it is unreasonable to believe that a corporation so
heavily involved with such a small proportion of its allotted labor
accomplished, can secure the large sum that would be requisite to
continue operations to completion. The failure of this company has
imparted a fresh impetus to the Nicaragua scheme and ground was broken
on this route in October last. As the Nicaragua route presents many
natural advantages and is free from such stupendous engineering works
as were contemplated at Panama, we may hope for its completion. The
surveys were conducted with deliberation and have evidenced great skill
on the part of those who supervised them, so that we may reasonably
expect the construction will proceed with the same care, and resolve
the question of success into the simple problem of cost.
A partial account has been furnished by Dr. Nansen of his journey
across Greenland a year ago. The result will be disappointing to those
who anticipated the discovery of open country with green fields and the
general reversal of the Arctic conditions. He describes the region as
being covered with a great shield of ice, dome-like in shape, and which
he estimates to have a maximum thickness of six or seven thousand feet.
For a great part of his journey he traveled at an elevation of about
eight thousand feet, and the cold at times was so intense that he
believes the temperature must have been at least 50° below zero on the
Fahrenheit scale. No land was visible in the interior and he estimates
the highest mountains must be covered with at least several hundred
feet of snow ice. The expedition was one of great danger, and we may
say was accomplished only through the good judgment of the explorer.
The scientific results have not yet been considered, but the explorer
suggests it is an excellent region to study an existing ice field, and
estimates that persistent observations might prove productive of value
in the science of meteorology.
The Canadians have been active during the year in the exploration of
the vast territory to the northward of their supposed habitable
regions. In the report of Dr. Dawson relating the result of his labors
in the northwest, up to the date of its compilation, we find much that
is new and a great deal that is of interest. We cannot enter into the
details of his itinerary, but we may note as one fact that surely will
excite surprise, the conclusion he reaches that there is a territory of
about 60,000 square miles, the most part to the northward of the
sixtieth parallel, in which agricultural pursuits may be successfully
followed in conjunction with the natural development of the other
resources of the territory. This does not imply that it may become an
agricultural region, and should hardly be construed as more than a
prediction that the pioneers who attempt to develop the region need not
die of starvation.
We have also to record as a matter of interest in the Arctic region,
the successful establishment of the two parties sent out by the United
States to determine the location of the 141st meridian, the boundary
line between Alaska and the British Provinces north of Mt. St. Elias.
The parties are located on the Yukon and Porcupine rivers above their
confluence at Ft. Yukon. They are well equipped, and it is expected
they will explore a considerable territory and bring back with them
valuable information beyond the special object of the expedition.
Indeed, it may be said, this is but the beginning of a thorough
examination of Alaskan territory, that will eventually form a basis for
the demarkation of the international boundary. This country is full of
surprises in its details, and whatever examinations are made must be
thorough to be effective. Only recently, a small indentation, as it has
been carried on the maps since Vancouver's time, and known as Holkham
Bay, has been found to be a considerable body of water, extending back
from Stephen's passage in two arms, each nearly thirty miles in length
and nearly reaching the assumed location of the Alaska boundary. So
perfectly is the bifurcation and extension of the arms hidden by
islands, that it was only during the past summer when in the regular
course of work the shores of the bay were to be traversed, that the
extent of the bay became known.
The determination of the boundaries of the land areas on the surface of
the earth has ever been a matter of the greatest interest to the
students of geography. It was the incentive that led the daring
navigators of old to undertake the perilous voyages that in these days
read like romances; and in the light of the more perfect knowledge we
now have of the hidden dangers to which they were exposed, we may pass
by their shortcomings in the admiration we must feel for their heroism
and endurance. To these men we owe our first conception of the probable
distribution of the areas of land and water, but the lines they gave us
were only approximate; and had not scientific effort followed in their
tracks we may reasonably believe the progress of civilization would
have been retarded by generations. True it is, also, that even to-day
we have not that precise knowledge that is requisite for the safety of
quick navigation, nor to calculate the possibility of the future
improvement of undeveloped regions. The commerce of the world in coming
years will demand the accuracy in the location of distant regions as
great as we now have in civilized centres, for time will be too
precious to lose a day of it in the precautions that the navigator must
now follow in approaching undeveloped coasts. That these truths have
guided those who seek to do their share for the future in the labor of
the present, we have ample evidence in the activity of all civilized
governments during the last century. It is a source of shame and
infinite regret that our own government has done so little in this vast
field: that the intelligence of our people has not been awakened to put
forth their energy in so good a cause, that would eventually increase
their own prosperity. But we have not been altogether inactive and
complaint must be in the quantity, not the quality of our labors. The
establishment of "definite locations," for the control of sections and
regions, is the first step in eliminating errors that have been
committed and in providing greater accuracy in the future. At a recent
meeting of the Society we had a paper presented on this subject, from
which we can judge of the good work that has been done by our navy in
these determinations, and gain an insight of the similar labor that has
been prosecuted by other nations. The bands of electric cables that
girdle the earth, afford the most approved means of ascertaining the
longitudes of these positions; and if we but study a cable chart, it
will be found the work yet to be accomplished before the facilities the
cables now afford are exhausted, is not inconsiderable. We hope,
therefore, this good work may be continued, and that surveying and
charting the regions thus approached, will shortly follow. There is
much labor of this character still required on our own continent, and
we will be delinquent in our duty as a progressive people if we do not
follow the good beginning already made to its legitimate conclusion.
The duties of government are manifold, and for the benefit of those
governed must include legislation that will make manifest the natural
resources of the State. The geographic development and political
advancement of our own country in the century of our national
existence, is a marked instance of the wisdom of preparing for the
future by such acts as legitimately fall within the province of
legislation.
The new nation began her existence under extraordinary circumstances.
With only an experimental form of government, she was to develop a vast
region of unknown resources; but happily imbued with the belief that
"knowledge is power," it was not long before systematic efforts were
put forth to learn the wealth we had and how it might be utilized. The
congress of the confederation provided the first act in 1785, for the
organization of the land surveys and land parcelling system, that title
to the unoccupied territories in the west might be securely vested in
the individual. We have record of the stimulus this act gave to the
settlement of a large territory, and raised the demand for surveys in
the still further west, developing the geography of a vast region that
has since become the home of millions of people. The original act was
amended as early as 1796, and since then has frequently been added to
in the effort to meet the new conditions evolved in the rapid
development of the country. Other great regions were explored by the
army, sometimes under special acts, until finally we had learned with
some degree of reliability, the general adaptability of our whole
territory. The discovery of the great mineral wealth of the west, and
the improved means of communication afforded by the construction of
continental railways, however, imposed new conditions and it was found
more detailed information would be necessary to meet the demands of the
increasing population. We thus reached another stage where expeditions
equipped for scientific investigation were organized, and through their
labors brought us knowledge of still greater value; and to-day we see
these merged into one body in the geological survey, whose special duty
is the scientific exploration and study of our great territory.
While this had been passing in the interior, bringing life to
unoccupied regions, the districts on the coast that had long been
settled, were also struggling with new problems. The material progress
of the civilized world, and the pressure from the regions behind them
that had been recently peopled, demanded greater commercial facilities.
Early in the century, almost coincident with the establishment of the
land surveys, provision had been made for the survey of the coasts, and
although through various causes it was not vigorously prosecuted until
a third of the century had passed, when the time came for its economic
use in meeting the new conditions imposed by the general progress of
the nation, the knowledge had been gained that was essential to advance
and develop the great interests affected. The improvements required,
however, could only be secured through active exertion, the actual work
of man; but so pressing has been the want and so persistent has been
the labor, that should we chart the results it would be a surprise to
those who believe the "local geography" has not been changed.
The demands upon the older communities arising from the increase in
commercial and industrial enterprise, have caused them too, to feel the
want of more detailed information of their surroundings, and they have,
in consequence, undertaken more precise surveys of their territories,
generally availing themselves of the assistance offered by the general
government. This work will doubtless extend in time to all the States,
and be followed, when its value has been made manifest, by the detailed
surveys of precision that have been found necessary as economic
measures in the civilized States of the old world.
It is rarely we can foresee the full results of great national
enterprises; the special object that calls forth the exertion may be
readily comprehended, but the new conditions evolved from success, and
sometimes from only the partial accomplishment of the original design,
may be factors in governing the future beyond our power to surmise.
The work of improving the navigation of the Mississippi River, is an
instance of this character so marked, and apparently destined to extend
its influence through so many generations, that a brief record of the
change it has effected in geographic environment will not be without
interest, and, perchance, not without value.
The area drained by the Mississippi river and tributaries, is forty-one
per cent. of the area of the United States, exclusive of Alaska; and by
the census of 1880 the population of this great district was
forty-three per cent. of the whole Union. It seems probable that a
large proportion of this population is directly interested in the river
system, and if we add to it the number of those who are indirectly
benefited, we should doubtless find a majority of our people more or
less dependent upon its maintenance. It is only to the alluvial valley,
however, the great strip from Cairo to the Gulf, that I wish
particularly to call your attention this evening. This is really the
great highway for traffic; the cause of the great work that has been
prosecuted; and the scene of the geographic development that will mark
an epoch in the history of the river.
Ten years ago the importance of the improvement of this water-way was
so forcibly impressed upon Congress, that an act was passed organizing
a "Mississippi River Commission," to make an exhaustive study of the
whole subject and submit plans for the improvement of the river and to
prevent the destructive floods that are of almost annual occurrence. Or
in the language of the act: "It shall be the duty of said Commission to
take into consideration and mature such plan or plans, and estimates,
as will correct, permanently locate, and deepen the channel and protect
the banks of the Mississippi river; improve and give safety and ease to
the navigation thereof; prevent destructive floods; promote and
facilitate commerce, trade, and the postal service."
Large sums of money had already been expended by the general government
in local improvements, but no consistent plan had been developed that
would be an acceptable guide in conducting operations along the whole
river, when this act went into effect. It is not necessary to refer
here to the various systems that were presented to the Commission for
consideration; nor to enter upon the details of the plan finally
adopted; our record being more the effects and primary causes, than the
intermediary processes through which the results have been produced.
The general plan followed by the Commission has been the construction
of works in the bed of the river, to form new banks where a contraction
of the river bed has been deemed necessary; and the erection of levees,
with grading, revetment, and other protection of the banks, in
localities where the natural banks seem particularly liable to give way
under the pressure of a great flood. The object of such works being to
control the river by confining the low water channels in fixed lines,
causing the recurrence of the scour in low water stages in the same
channel in successive low waters; and preventing the diversion of the
stream into new channels during high water stages by overflow of the
banks. A diversion of the stream would leave the works in the bed of
the river below of no greater value than as monuments to the energy and
skill displayed in the details of their construction, and preclude the
ultimate benefit that may be derived from these works in permanently
lowering the bed of the river. The probability of such diversion of the
water, however, seems to have been reduced to a minimum, through the
conservative action of the Commission in coöperating with the States
having jurisdiction over the alluvial bottoms, in reorganizing their
levee systems and thus securing the greatest control over the volume of
water brought down in the flood seasons, that is possible by the
construction of well planned and substantially built levees. It having
been demonstrated that the levees subserve a double purpose, that they
are essential in the general plan to improve the navigation of the
river adopted by the Commission, and are likewise needed to render the
bottom lands habitable, it is not surprising that we find the State
authorities and the Commission jointly engaged in their construction.
It has thus been brought about that the effort to improve the
navigation of the river for the general welfare, has resulted in such
great changes in the geography of the locality, that a large district
has been reclaimed for agricultural purposes. The alluvial valley of
the Mississippi river has an area of thirty thousand square miles, and
is naturally divided into four great basins that have been designated
the St. Francis, Yazoo, Tensas and Atchafalaya. Two of these basins are
now fairly protected from the overflows of the Mississippi, by the
levees that have been constructed, or repaired, incidental to the work
of the Commission, viz: the Yazoo basin extending from below Memphis to
the mouth of the Yazoo river; and the Tensas basin from the high land
south of the Arkansas river to the mouth of the Red river; and the
Atchafalaya basin, from the Red river to the gulf, has been protected
on the Mississippi fronts. These three basins have an aggregate area of
nearly twenty thousand square miles that is now reasonably secure from
inundation. Measures have also been instituted by the State authorities
looking to the reclamation of the St. Francis basin; and the work is
half accomplished on the White river section.
Nearly the whole of this valley was under protection thirty years ago,
but the disasters of the late civil war, and subsequent inability of
the people to repair the damaged levees, resulted in the practical
abandonment of many sections, and it was not until about ten or twelve
years ago that the protective works again presented an appearance of
continuity. The supposed security, however, was of short duration, as
the great floods of 1882 overtopped the works in more than one hundred
and forty places, causing such widespread destruction that cultivation
of the soil was rendered impossible over large districts. The floods of
succeeding years but added to the misfortunes of the valley, and land
values became so depreciated that sales were impracticable, taxes could
not be collected, and there was a general feeling that square miles of
fertile land must be given over to the destructive agencies of the
great river that had made it.
It was while suffering under this distressing situation that the work
of the Mississippi River Commission was brought forward as a possible
means of salvation. With a recuperative power that seems almost
marvelous, the people have contributed of their labor and their means,
until now this great area of nearly twenty thousand square miles has
been once more reclaimed, and seems to have entered upon an era of
prosperity that will eclipse the prophecies of even the most sanguine.
It is believed that the levees that have now been constructed will
prove reasonably secure. They have been built for a double purpose; and
the proportion of the expense incurred by the general government, about
one-third, under the direction of the Commission, has insured a
supervision and inspection by competent engineers such as was not
exercised in the earlier history of such works on the river.
We cannot foretell the developments that will follow the improvement of
this water way and the reclamation of the alluvial bottoms on an
enduring basis. That the works erected by the Commission will maintain
an increased depth of water at the low stages of the river, seems to be
demonstrated, as during the low water of November last a depth of nine
feet was found on the Lake Providence and Plum Point bars, an increase
of thirty-three and forty-four per cent. respectively. When the depths
on the other bars have been increased in like proportion the free
navigation of the river will be assured, and we may point to the result
as one of the greatest engineering achievements of modern times.
The increased value of the land adjacent to the river redeemed from
waste, more than doubled on the average, and in many instances
quadrupled; the replenishing of the state and county treasuries by the
collection of taxes on land that was before unremunerative; and the
building of railroads through sections where it had been impracticable
to maintain them before in consequence of their liability to
destruction by the periodic floods; are marked evidences of the
material prosperity that has already followed the great work. During
the last four years, forty thousand settlers have taken up lands in the
Yazoo basin alone, and it was estimated that in the fall of 1889 twenty
thousand more would seek homes in the same district. These settlers
have been mostly negroes from the worn out high lands to the eastward.
If the change in their environment proves beneficial to the individual
we may expect an increased migration, that may in turn be an aid in
solving the political problem involved in the citizenship of the negro.
The settlement of these bottom lands will also influence the prosperity
of many commercial centers, as trade statistics indicate the general
abandonment of the plantations that followed the great floods of 1882,
caused a marked diminution in the shipments by the lower river, as well
as in the receipts from that section; and that the partial reclamation
of the lands and restoration of agricultural pursuits has already
influenced the receipt and distribution of commercial products.
The project to reclaim by irrigation large districts of the arid region
of the west, if successfully accomplished, may also exert an influence
in the political and commercial relations of the future that cannot now
be foretold. Two-fifths of the territory of the United States has been
classed as arid; not in the sense that there is no water, for the
greatest rivers on the continent have their sources almost in the midst
of the region; but rather that the water is not available for enriching
the ground. The rainfall is generally not in the season when the crops
would require it, or is too small and uncertain for the husbandman to
depend upon it. The whole region is not of this character; many
districts are susceptible of the highest cultivation as nature has left
them, and others have been redeemed by the application of the water
supply through the simpler devices customary in irrigated countries;
until now nearly all the districts have been occupied that are
susceptible of agricultural pursuits, either in the natural state or by
irrigation, unless water is secured by means generally beyond the reach
of the individual or combination of individuals who may use it. And
yet, it is believed there are millions of acres of rich land that may
be redeemed and converted to the support of a large population, by the
application of capital in the construction of works of irrigation. The
progress of the surveys of the region, therefore, that have been
instituted by the general government, are watched with absorbing
interest. The districts susceptible of such extensive improvement are
only approximately known, and as it is only through these surveys their
availability will be made manifest, the importance of the work can
hardly be overestimated. The prosperity of several states will be
largely influenced by the success of operations of this kind within
their borders, and in turn their greater development and increased
wealth, must react upon the older communities and benefit them, on the
principle that the healthful growth of a single member is strength to
all.
The science of geography, as taught in the present day, is more
comprehensive than the brief descriptions and delineations of the areas
of land and water that satisfied the early explorers. The great strides
that have been made in scientific research during the past century have
opened new fields, and men are no longer content to picture that only
which they can see. The varied features of the earth's surface,
transformations now in progress and those which may be deduced from the
facts we can observe, have led to many theories of the construction of
the earth, ancient forms upon the surface and possibilities, if not
probabilities, in the future. To ascertain the form of the earth has
alone been the cause of heroic labor, and yet we have hardly passed the
point that we can give it in probable terms with the general
dimensions. Observations warrant the assumption that, discarding the
accidents of nature--even the highest mountains--the sphere is far from
being perfect. That it is flattened at the poles is now accepted as the
true condition, but we have reason to believe, too, that this is not
the only departure from the perfect sphere. The more thorough the
research and precise the observations, the more certain does it appear
that the crust has a form as though there had been great waves of
matter that had been solidified. To locate the depressions of these
great waves and measure their depths, to point to the crests and
measure their extent, is a problem for the future to solve. Their study
is claimed to be within the legitimate sphere of geography; and not
until they have been satisfactorily answered can we assert the
geographer is even approaching the end of the facts his science has yet
to utilize.
In pre-historic geography we have had two papers presented to the
Society during the past year, relating to the orographic features of
the earth's surface in times past compared with the localities as we
may see them to-day. In the first instance the comparison is evolved
from an effort to trace the origin and growth of the rivers of
Pennsylvania; and the second, in a description of the famed district
around Asheville, North Carolina. These have a substantial interest to
us, treating as they do of localities so well known; and they
illustrate, too, the resources of induction in bringing to our view the
probable wonders of ancient geographic forms.
The constitution of the interior of the earth is a subject of great
interest in the science of geography, as many of the visible forms upon
the crust have been wrought by the power of the agencies within it. The
discussion has been warm in the past, and doubtless will be resumed
with unabated interest as we find new phenomena for the argument. The
apparent lull that has followed the promulgation of the theory, three
years ago, that under the crust we should find a fluid, or semi-fluid,
surrounding a solid nucleus, may not be of long duration. This
hypothesis probably comes nearer to satisfying the conditions imposed
by the physicist and geologist, than those which have preceded it, and
may be accepted for the present; unless the processes of nature by
which it is conceived this state of the interior of the earth has been
produced, shall be demonstrated to have continued for sufficient time
to have caused a condition of equilibrium and possible solidification
of the whole sphere; when we might expect it to be repudiated by those
who oppose the theory of isostacy, but commended by the physicists as
supporting their claim that the earth must be substantially a solid
even now. If we accept Mr. Frederick Wright's suggestion, isostacy may
have an important bearing on the cause of the ice sheets that covered
such great areas; a suggestion that opens to the vision of the
imagination an orography beside which the grandest landscape we may see
to-day would pale into insignificance. This is believed to be a new
application of the isostatic theory, and may be a possible solution of
a much vexed question when an initial cause for such great upheavals
can be advanced that will not be inconsistent with other accepted
conditions.
Theories are modified by new facts, and in any attempt to demonstrate
the constitution of the interior of the earth, the increase of
temperature with the depth is an important factor. The recent measures,
therefore, in Germany, that indicate the figures generally accepted are
not reliable, may be received with interest. The shaft was sunk
especially for the purpose of observing temperatures at different
depths, and every precaution that former experience had suggested seems
to have been taken to secure accuracy. The greatest depth reached was
about one mile. An elaborate discussion of the results fixes the
increase of temperature at 1° F. for each 65 ft. increase of depth.
This is about 15 ft. greater than the figures that have heretofore been
given; a difference so large that we may question if they will be
generally accepted until verified by further observations made with
equally great care.
In conclusion permit me to note the fact that the United States was for
the first time represented in the International Geodetic Association,
at the meeting recently held in Paris; and also to record the
successful conclusion of the fourth International Geographical Congress
that assembled in Paris in August last. The reports from the Congress
indicate a wide range of subjects discussed, and lead us to believe the
interest in our science is progressive, and must receive the hearty
appreciation of all who are inspired by the nobler instincts to
develope the great sphere on which we live; that the riches, the
beauties, and above all the grandeur of Nature, may be made manifest to
ourselves and for our posterity.
REPORT--GEOGRAPHY OF THE AIR.
BY GEN. A. W. GREELY.
It is with a feeling of increased responsibility, shared doubtless by
the Presidents of other sections, that the Vice-President of the
Geography of the Air brings before you his modest annual contribution
in one branch of geographical science.
We live in an age so imbued with earnest thought, and so characterized
by patient investigation, that an eager gleaner in scientific fields
finds at the very outset his mind filled with the garnered grain of
golden facts. The more cautious searcher often follows with uncertain
mind, and doubtless in his backward glances sees many fairer and
heavier sheaves than those he bears with full arms, from the fruitful
harvest. If, then, you do not find here dwelt on such geographical
phases as you judge most important, attribute the fact I pray you, not
to neglect, but to lack of observation, or to the exercise of an
undiscriminating judgment.
First let us turn to the higher class of investigations, wherein that
handmaid of science, a true and noble imagination, comes to supplement
exact knowledge, to round out and give full form and perfect outline,
either shaping a number of disjointed and apparently heterogeneous
facts into a harmonious series, or evolving from a mass of confusing
and seemingly inexplicable phenomena a theory or law consistent
therewith.
In this domain Professor Ferrel's book on Winds is probably the most
important theoretical meteorological discussion of the past year. It
owes its value to the fact that it puts into comparatively simple and
popular form the processes and results of his intricate mathematical
investigations of the motions of the air, published by him years since,
and later elaborated during his service with the Signal Office.
In connection with the subject of winds, Professor William M. Davis has
formulated an excellent classification, depending first, on the
ultimate source of the energy causing the motion; second, on
temperature contrasts which produce and maintain winds; and third, on
their periodicity and the time of the first appearance of the motion.
Professor Russell, appropriately it seems to me, remarks regarding the
landslide winds, that avalanche would be a better term than landslide
as applied to winds associated with fallen masses of earth or snow.
With the enormous amounts of accumulated tabulated matter, and numerous
studies bearing on isolated meteorological phenomena, it is a specially
important consideration that some students pay constant attention to
the investigations of the laws of storms. From such researches definite
advances in theoretical meteorology may be made and fixed laws
determined, which may be of practical utility with reference to the
better forecasting of the weather. In the United States Signal Office,
Professor Abbe has brought together the results of his studies and
investigations for the past thirty years, under the title, "Preparatory
studies for Deductive Methods in Storm and Weather Predictions." This
report will appear as an appendix to the annual report of the Chief
Signal Officer of the army. Professor Abbe finds that the source and
maintaining power of storms depend on the absorption by clouds of solar
heat, and in the liberation of heat in the cloud during the subsequent
precipitation, which, as he endeavors to show, principally influences
the movement of the storm-centre.
In this method one takes a chart showing current meteorological
conditions, and the permanent orographic features of the continent;
lines of equal density are also drawn for planes at several elevations
above sea-level. On these latter, and on the lines of the orographic
resistance, are based intermediate lines of flow, which show where
conditions are favorable to cooling and condensation. The amount of
condensation and its character, whether rain or snow, are estimated by
the help of the graphic diagram. Numbers are thus furnished that can be
entered on the chart and show at once the character of the new centre
of buoyancy, or the directions and velocity of progress of the centre
of the indraft and the consequent low barometer.
It is hoped that this work of Professor Abbe's may be, as he
anticipates, of great practical as well as theoretical value. Steps are
being taken to test the theoretical scheme by practical and exhaustive
applications to current work.
Tiesserenc de Bort has continued his work, of improving weather
forecasts for France, by studying the distribution of the great and
important centres of high pressures, which prevail generally over the
middle Atlantic ocean, and, at certain periods of the year, over Asia,
Europe, and North America. His studies have proceeded on the theory
that the displacements of centres of high pressure, whether in Asia,
over the Azores, near Bermuda, in North America, or in the Polar
regions, set up a series of secondary displacements, which necessarily
cause storm centres to follow certain routes. M. de Bort concludes that
a daily knowledge of the relation of these centres and their areas of
displacement will eventually enable skilled meteorologists to deduce
the position of unknown and secondary centres. He has endeavored to
reduce these various displacements to a series of types and has made
very considerable progress in this classification. Daily charts
covering many years of observations have been prepared, and these
separated, whenever the characteristics are sufficiently pronounced,
into corresponding types. This plan of forecasting necessitates
extended meteorological information daily, which France obtains not
only from Russia, Algeria, Italy and Great Britain, but, through the
coöperation of United States, from North America. The daily information
sent by the Signal Office shows, in addition to the general weather
over the United States and Canada, the conditions on the western half
of the North Atlantic ocean, as determined by observations made on the
great steamships, and furnished voluntarily by their officers to the
Signal Office through the Hydrographic Office and the New York Herald
weather bureau.
The study of thunder storms has received very elaborate and extensive
consideration. M. Ciro Ferari in Italy finds that almost invariably the
storms come from directions between north and northwest, the tendency
in northern Italy being directly from the west, and in the more
southern sections from the northwest. The velocities of storm movements
are much greater from the west than from the east, considerably more so
in the centre and south of Italy than in the north; and in the months,
largest in July.
The velocity of propagation increases with greater velocities of the
winds accompanying the storms, with also greater attendant electrical
intensity. The front line of propagation while more often curved, is
sometimes straight and sometimes zigzag, and appears to undergo a
series of successive transformations, more or less affected by the
topographical nature of the country passed over.
Ferari thinks their principal cause is to be found in high temperatures
coincident with high vapor pressures. Thunder storms, he considers, are
essentially local phenomena, superposed on the general atmospheric
phenomena. A principal general cause of thunder storms in Italy is the
existence of a deep depression in northwest Europe, with a secondary
depression in Italy dependent on the first. This secondary feeble area
remains for several days over upper Italy, and nearly always is
followed by thunder storms. Minimum relative humidity precedes, and
maximum follows a storm, while the vapor pressure conditions are
exactly reversed. Ferari notes, as one matter of interest, the passage
of fully developed thunder storms from France into Italy over mountains
4,000 metres (13,000 feet) in elevation.
Dr. Meyer, at Gottingen, has investigated the annual periodicity of
thunder storms, while Carl Prohaska has made a statistical study of
similar storms in the German and Austrian Alps. The latter writer
thinks they are most likely to occur when the barometer is beginning to
rise after a fall, thus resembling heavy down-pours of rain.
In connection with Schmucher's theory on the origin of thunder storm
electricity, Dr. Less has been able to satisfactorily answer in the
affirmative an important point in the theory, as to whether the
vertical decrement of temperature is especially rapid. Less finds
evidences of very rapid decrement of temperature during thunder storms,
as shown by the examination of records of 120 stations for ten years.
Mohn and Hildebrandsson have also published a work on the thunder
storms of the Scandinavian peninsula. The rise in the barometer at the
beginning of rain, they agree with Mascart in attributing largely to
the formation of vapor and the evaporation of moisture from rain
falling through relatively dry air.
A. Croffins has discussed thunder storms at Hamberg from observations
for ten years. He believes that all such storms are due to the
mechanical interaction of at least two barometric depressions.
As a matter of interest bearing on the much discussed phenomena of
globular lightning, an incident is recounted by F. Roth, where a man
feeding a horse was struck by lightning and lost consciousness. The man
states that he felt no shock, but was suddenly enveloped in light and
that a ball of fire the size of his fist, traveled along the horse's
neck. This points to the fact that "ball" lightning is probably a
physiological phenomenon.
In view of the recent extended interest in the question as to whether
the climate of the United States is permanently changing, it should be
remarked that this question has lately been under consideration with
regard to Europe. Messrs. Ferrel, Richter, Lang, Bruchen and others
conclude, from an examination of all available data, that there is no
permanent climatic change in Europe. In connection with this discussion
in Europe, long series of vintage records, going back to the year 1400,
have been used. Apart from the ocean borders, extensive simultaneous
climatic changes occur over extended areas, which changes--as might be
expected--are more accentuated in the interior of the continents. These
changes involve barometric pressure, rainfall and temperature, which
all recur to that indefinite and complex phenomenon--the variation in
the amount of heat received by the earth. The idea is advanced that
these oscillations have somewhat the semblance of cycles, the period of
which is thirty-six years. It may easily be questioned, however, in
view of the fragmentary and heterogeneous character of the data on
which this assumption is based, whether the error in the observations
is not greater than the range of variation. Blanford, in one of his
discussions, has pointed out that the temperature or rainfall data in
India can be so arranged as to give a cycle with a period of almost any
number of years, but, unfortunately, the possible error of observation
is greater in value than the variations.
As to the United States, it is pertinent to remark that the Signal
Office is in possession of temperature observations in Philadelphia,
covering a continuous period of one hundred and thirty-two years. The
mean annual temperature for the past ten years is exactly the same as
for the entire period.
There have been criticisms in years past that the climatological
conditions of the United States have not received that care and
attention which their importance demanded. Much has been done to remedy
defects in this respect, although, as is well known here in Washington,
the general law which forbids the printing of any works without the
direct authority of Congress, has been an obvious bar to great activity
on the part of the Signal Office. Within the year the rainfall
conditions of twelve Western States and Territories have been published
with elaborate tables of data and fifteen large charts, which set forth
in considerable detail the rainfall conditions for that section of the
country. In addition the climatic characteristics of Oregon and
Washington have been graphically represented; and rainfall
maps,--unfortunately on a small scale,--have been prepared, showing for
each month, the average precipitation of the entire United States, as
determined from observations covering periods varying from fifteen to
eighteen years.
In Missouri, Professor Nipher has prepared normal rainfall charts for
that State, unfortunately on rather a small scale. In New York,
Professor Fuertes, and in Michigan, Sergeant Conger, of the Signal
Service, have commenced maps showing, by months, the normal
temperatures of their respective States on maps of fairly open scale.
Work of a similar character has been carried on in Pennsylvania under
the supervision of Professor Blodget, well known from his
climatological work. In other directions and in other ways, work of a
similar character is in progress.
Without doubt too much is anticipated from pending or projected
irrigation enterprises in the very arid regions of the West. These
unwarranted expectations must in part result from a failure on the part
of the investors to consider the general question of these enterprises,
in its varied aspects, with that scientific exactness so essential in
dealing theoretically with extended subjects of such great importance.
Everyone admits the correctness of the statement that the amount of
water which flows through drainage channels to the sea, cannot exceed
the amount which has evaporated from adjacent oceans and fallen as
precipitation on the land. Further it is not to be denied that the
quantity of water available in any way for irrigation must be only a
very moderate percentage of the total rainfall which occurs at
elevations _above_, and perhaps it may be stated _considerably above_,
that of the land to be benefited.
Elsewhere it might be appropriate to dwell in detail upon the
importance of cultivated land in serving as a reservoir which parts
slowly with the water fallen upon or diverted to it, and in avoiding
the quick and wasteful drainage which obtains in sections devoid of
extensive vegetation or cultivation; and also that water thus taken up
by cultivated lands must later evaporate and may again fall as rain on
other land. But the pertinence of meteorological investigations in
connection with irrigation and this annual address, relates much more
directly to important questions of the manner by, and extent to which,
precipitation over the catchment basins of the great central valleys
fails to return in direct and visible form, through the water courses,
to the Gulf of Mexico.
The inter-relation of rainfall and river outflows is one of peculiar
interest, in connection with the important matter of irrigation now
under consideration in this country.
Probably more attention has been paid to this subject in the valley of
the Seine, by Belgrand and Chateaublanc, than in any other portion of
the globe. One of the curious outcomes of Chateaublanc's observations,
is one bearing on the maximum value of the floods in the Seine for the
cold season, from October to May, by which he says that the reading of
the river gauge at Port Royal is equal to 12.7 minus the number of
decimetres of rainfall which has fallen on an average throughout the
catchment basin during the preceding year. This curiously shows that
the intensity of the winter floods of the Seine is inversely
proportional to the quantity of rain of the _preceding_ year.
Sometime since, John Murray, Esq., in the Scottish Geographic Magazine,
treated generally the question of rainfall and river outflows. The
annual rainfall of the globe was estimated to be 29,350 cubic miles, of
which 2,343, falling on inland drainage areas, such as the Sahara
desert, etc., evaporate. The total annual discharge of rivers was
estimated at 7,270 cubic miles. In the case of European drainage areas
between a third and a fourth of the rainfall reaches the sea through
the rivers. The Nile delivers only one thirty-seventh of the rainfall
of its catchment basin, while tropical rivers in general deliver
one-fifth.
The Saale river of Germany, from late data based on 45 rainfall
stations in its catchment basin, during the years 1883 to 1886,
discharged 30 per cent. of its rainfall.
During the past year Professor Russell, of the Signal Office, has
determined carefully the rainfall and river outflow over the most
important part of the United States, the entire catchment basin of the
Mississippi river and its tributaries. This work was done as
preliminary to formulating rules for forecasting the stage of the water
several days in advance on the more important of the western rivers in
the United States. The river outflows at various places on the
Mississippi and Missouri and Ohio rivers, were tabulated from data
given in the reports of the Mississippi and Missouri River Commissions.
The tables were largely derived from the results of the measurement of
current velocities. As gauge readings were taken at the time of
discharge or outflow measurements, the discharges or outflows can be
told approximately at other times when only the river gauge readings
are known. The results for the outflow of rivers derived from
measurements made under the supervision of these commissions, are of a
high order of accuracy, and it is not probable that the results deduced
from the gauge readings are much in error. Of 1881 and 1882, during
which years measurements were made, 1881 was a year of great flood in
the Missouri river, while the Mississippi river was not flooded. The
year 1882, on the other hand, was marked by a great flood in the lower
Mississippi river, with a stage in the Missouri much above the average.
The rainfall in the six great valleys of the Mississippi, during the
entire years 1881 and 1882, was charted from all observations
available, and its amount in cubic miles of water calculated with the
aid of a planimeter.
In connection with this investigation, and as a matter of value in
showing the forces which are in operation to affect the river outflow,
the fictitious or possible evaporation of the six great valleys
referred to were calculated, in cubic miles of water, from July, 1887,
to July, 1888, and also the average amounts of water in the air as
vapor, and the amount required to saturate the air in the same valleys
during the same period.
During the year 1882, the year of great flood in the lower Mississippi
valley, the outflow at Red River Landing, La., was 202.7 cubic miles,
of which the upper Mississippi river above St. Louis furnished 16 per
cent., the Ohio 43, and the whole Missouri above Omaha, 4 per cent. The
upper Missouri valley (that is, from the mouth of the Yellowstone up to
the sources), and the middle Missouri valley (from the mouth of the
Platte to the Yellowstone), each furnished only about 2 per cent. of
the entire amount of the water which passed Red River Landing. The
lower Mississippi valley, including the Arkansas, etc., furnished 32
per cent.
During March, April and May, 1882, the time of highest stage of the
water of the lower Mississippi, the outflow at Red River Landing and
through the Atchafalaya measured 82.7 cubic miles. During this time
there flowed through the upper Mississippi river above St. Louis, 14
per cent. of the amount; through the Ohio, 38 per cent., and through
the Missouri 6 per cent.; while the rivers of the lower Mississippi
valley contributed 41 percent. The water that passed Omaha was 1.92
cubic miles, or 2 per cent. of the flow of the whole Mississippi during
the same time. The water which flowed from the upper and middle
Missouri valleys during March, April and May, 1882, was for each
valley, probably only 1 per cent. of the water that flowed through the
lower Mississippi river. The flood of the lower Mississippi was
undoubtedly due to the great discharge of the Ohio, supplemented by
heavy river inflow below the mouth of the Ohio, and the unusually heavy
rainfall in the lower Mississippi valley.
The ratios of river outflow to rainfall over the catchment basins, as
derived by Professor Russell from the two years' observations, 1881 and
1882, were as follows:
Upper and Middle Missouri valleys, about 335,000 square miles, 13 per
cent.
Lower Missouri valley, about 210,000 square miles, 12 per cent.
Entire Missouri valley, about 545,000 square miles, nearly 13 per cent.
The upper Mississippi valley, about 172,000 square miles, 33 per cent.
Ohio valley, about 212,000 square miles, 40 per cent.
Lower Mississippi valley, about 343,000 square miles, about 27 per
cent.
The above percentages, while showing the averages for two entire years,
and so of decided value, are not to be depended upon for special years
or months. For instance: in the Ohio valley in 1881, the outflow was 33
per cent., while in 1882 it was 50 per cent., and as the rainfall in
1882 was 180 cubic miles against 151 cubic miles in 1881, it appears
evident that a much greater proportional quantity of water reaches the
rivers during seasons of heavy rainfalls than when the precipitation is
moderate or scanty.
Evaporation is also a very potent cause in diminishing river outflow,
and as this depends largely on the temperature of the air and the
velocity of the wind, any marked deviation of these meteorological
elements from the normal, must exercise an important influence on the
ratio of outflow to rainfall.
In connection with Professor Russell's work it is desirable to note
that Professor F. E. Nipher has lately made a report on the Missouri
rainfall based on observations for the ten years ending December, 1887,
in which he points out as an interesting coincidence that the average
annual discharge of the Missouri river closely corresponds in amount to
the rainfall which falls over the State of Missouri. From Professor
Nipher's figures it appears that the discharge of the Missouri river in
the ten years ending 1887, was greatest in 1881 and next greatest in
1882, so that the averages deduced from Professor Russell's report of
the outflow of the Missouri are too large, and should be somewhat
reduced to conform to the average conditions. In different years the
average of the discharge in the outflow of the Missouri varies largely,
as is evidenced by the fact reported by Professor Nipher, that the
discharge in 1879 was only 56 per cent. of the outflow in 1881.
In New South Wales, under the supervision of H. C. Russell, Esq.,
government astronomer, the question of rainfall and river discharge has
also received careful attention, especially in connection with
evaporation. The observations at Lake George are important, owing to
the shallowness of the lake (particularly at the margin); its
considerable surface area (eighty square miles), its moderate elevation
(2,200 feet), and the fact that it is quite surrounded by high lands.
Observations of the fluctuations of this lake have been made from 1885
to 1888, inclusive. In the latter year the evaporation was enormous,
being 47.7 inches against a rainfall of 23.9 and an in-drainage of 5.3
inches, so that the total loss in depth was 18.5 inches for the year.
It appears that the evaporation in different years on this lake varies
as much as 50 per centum of the minimum amount. According to Russell
the amount of evaporation depends largely on the state of the soil,
going on much faster from a wet surface of the ground than from water;
with dry ground the conditions are reversed. In 1887, the outflow from
the basin of Lake George, the drainage from which is not subject to
loss by long river channels, was only 3.12 per centum of the rainfall.
In the Darling river, above Bourke, says Russell, the rainfall is
measured by 219 gauges. The average river discharge, deduced from
observations covering seven years, is only 1.45 per centum of the
rainfall, and in the wettest year known the discharge amounted only to
2.33 per centum of the rainfall, and has been as low as 0.09 per centum
in a very dry year. In the Murray basin the average discharge relative
to the rainfall is estimated to be about 27 per centum from a record of
seven years, and has risen as high as 36 per centum in a flood year.
In connection with the regimen of rivers, it appears a proper occasion
to again refute the popular opinion that the spring and summer floods
of the Missouri and Mississippi valleys result from the melting of the
winter snows. This is an erroneous impression which I have combatted
since 1873, when my duties required a study of the floods of the entire
Mississippi catchment basin. It is only within the last two years,
however, that the meteorological data has been in such condition that
the opinion put forth by me could be verified, namely: that the floods
of the late spring and early summer owe their origin almost entirely to
the heavy rains immediately before and during the flood period.
Occasionally a very heavy fall of snow precedes extended general rains;
but in this case the snow is lately fallen and is not the winter
precipitation.
Referring to the Missouri valley, the section of the country where the
winter snowfall has been thought to exercise a dominating influence in
floods, it has elsewhere been shown by me that about one-third of the
annual precipitation falls over that valley during the months of May
and June. In either of the months named the average precipitation over
the Missouri valley is greater than the entire average precipitation
for the winter months of December, January and February.
Woiekoff thinks that the anomalies of temperatures shown in forest
regions, particularly in Brazil--with its abnormally low temperatures,
are due to heavy forests promoting evaporation, and by causing the
prevalence of accompanying fogs thus prevent more intense insolation.
He considers this an argument for the maintenance of forests to sustain
humidity and distribute rain over adjacent cultivated land, as well as
to maintain the fertility of the soil, which diminishes rapidly by
washing away of the soil after deforestation.
W. Koppen has devised a formula for deriving the true daily temperature
from 8 A.M., 2 P.M. and 8 P.M. observations in connection with the
minimum temperature, in which the minimum has a variable weight
dependent on place and month. The results of Koppen's formula tested on
six stations in widely different latitudes, indicate that it is of
value.
Paulsen's discussion of the warm winter winds of Greenland is
interesting. These unusual storm conditions last three or four days, or
even longer, the temperature being at times from 35° to 40° Fahr. above
the normal, and they appear principally with winds from northeast to
southeast, which Hoffmeyer believes to be _foehn_ winds. Paulsen
contends that the extensive region over which these winds occur make
the _foehn_ theory untenable, and that a more reasonable explanation of
these winds is to be found in the course of low areas passing along the
coast or over Greenland. This appears evident from the fact that not
the easterly winds only but the southerly winds share this high
temperature, and that as low areas approach from the west, at first the
regions of the Greenland coast within its influence have south to
southwest winds.
The question of wind pressures and wind velocities is a most important
one in these days of great engineering problems, particularly in
connection with the stability of bridges and other large structures.
Experimental determination of the constants of anemometric formulæ have
recently been made both in England and this country. From results
obtained in the English experiments it was concluded that the very
widely used Robinson anemometer is not as satisfactory and reliable an
instrument as a different form of anemometer devised by Mr. Dines.
These conclusions, however, are not sustained by the American
experiments, which were made by Professor C. F. Marvin, Signal Office,
by means of a whirling apparatus, and under the most favorable
circumstances, which yielded highly satisfactory results. Professor
Marvin has lately made very careful open air comparisons of anemometers
previously tested on the whirling machine, which have shown that, owing
in part to the irregular and gusty character of the wind movement in
the open air, taken in connection with the effects arising from the
moment of inertia of the cups, and the length of the arms of the
anemometer, the constants determined by whirling machine methods need
slight corrections and alterations to conform to the altered conditions
of exposure of the instruments in the open air. This latter problem is
now being experimentally studied at the Signal Office, and final
results will soon be worked out.
Professor Langley has also made very elaborate observations of
pressures on plane and other surfaces inclined to the normal, which it
is believed will prove important contributions to this question, but
the results have not yet been published. It is important in this
connection to note experiments made by Cooper on the Frith of Forth
Bridge, where a surface of 24 square metres, during a high wind,
experienced a maximum pressure of 132 kilogrammes per square metre,
while a surface of 14 square decimeters showed, under similar
conditions, 200 kilogrammes per square metre, by one instrument, and
170 by another. The opinion expressed by Cooper that in general the
more surface exposed to the wind, the less the pressure per unit of
surface, seems reasonable, and if verified by more elaborate
experiments must have an important bearing.
There are questions in connection with which even negative results are
of an important character, particularly when such results are quite
definite, and tend to remove one of many unknown elements from physical
problems of an intricate character. In this class may be placed
atmospheric electricity, with particular reference to its value in
connection with the forecast of coming weather. The Signal Office,
through Professor T. C. Mendenhall, a distinguished scientist
peculiarly fitted for work of this character, has been able to carry
out a series of observations, which have received from him careful
attention, both as to the conditions under which the observations were
made and in the elaboration of methods to be followed.
Professor Mendenhall also supervised the reduction of these
observations, and after careful study presented a full report of the
work to the National Academy of Sciences, in whose proceedings this
detailed report will appear. Professor Mendenhall says, "Taking all the
facts into consideration, it seems to be proved that the electrical
phenomena of the atmosphere are generally local in their character.
They do not promise, therefore, to be useful in weather forecasts,
although a close distribution of a large number of observers over a
comparatively small area would be useful in removing any doubt which
may still exist as to this question." It may be added that Professor
Mendenhall's conclusions bear out the opinions expressed to the
speaker, in a discussion of this question, by Professor Mascart, the
distinguished physicist.
It has been generally admitted that the aqueous vapor in the atmosphere
plays a most important part in bringing about the formation of storms
and maintaining their energy. It has been frequently commented on by
the forecast officials of the Signal Service, that storms passing over
the United States were in general preceded by an increase in moisture,
but unfortunately little effort had been made on the part of previous
investigators to determine any quantitative relation between the actual
humidity and the amount of precipitation or its relation to the storm
movement. It has long been regretted that the direct relations of this
to other meteorological phenomena were not more fully defined. During
the past year Captain James Allen, of the Signal Office, has endeavored
to apply the results of his investigations and theories to the
practical forecasts of storm conditions. Captain Allen has carefully
studied the relations of the potential energy of the surface air, as
represented by the total quantity of heat it contained, to the movement
of storm centres and the extent of accompanying rain areas. In his
first investigations the potential energy per cubic foot was estimated
as follows: Supposing the air to have been originally 32° and the
moisture in it as water at 32°, the total quantity of heat applied to
reduce to the state of observation will be A = (_t_-32)/6 + Q in which
A is total heat per unit volume; _t_ is the temperature of the air, Q
the total heat of vapor, and the specific heat of air at constant
volume being taken as one-sixth (.168). From Regnault's formula we have
Q = 1091.7 + .305(_t_-32).
For the mechanical equivalent we have J = 772A. If we divide J by the
pressure estimated in pounds per square foot, it will give the height
through which the pressure can be lifted if all the heat is spent in
work by expanding the air.
An approximate expression for the upward velocity V may be obtained
from Torrecelli's theorem from which we have V^2 = 2_gh_, _h_ in this
case being the height through which the pressure would be lifted if all
the heat is spent in work. The theory has been that the storm centre
will move over that section of the country where V is the greatest, and
that the time of occurrence and amount of rain have a relation of
conformity to the changes in Q and its actual amount.
Auxiliary charts were also made showing for each station the following
values of Q:
1st. Highest Q not followed by rain in 24 hours.
2d. Greatest plus change in Q not followed by rain in 24 hours.
3d. Lowest value for Q followed by rain in 12 hours.
A tentative application of the theory during December, 1889, has given
very encouraging results. The problem can be approached in many
different ways, but the basis of the solution is the determination of
the actual energy of the air, both potential and kinetic, as well as
differences of potential.
Probably the most important event of the past year to general
meteorological students has been the publication of Part I,
Temperature, and Part II, Moisture, of the Bibliography of Meteorology,
under the supervision of the Signal Office, and edited by Mr. O. L.
Fassig. The two parts cover 8,500 titles out of a total of about
60,000. This publication renders it now possible for any investigator
to review the complete literature of these subjects, not only with a
minimum loss of time, but with the advantage of supplementing his own
work, without duplication, by the investigations of his predecessors.
The publication is a lithographic reproduction of a type-written copy,
the only available method, which leaves much to be desired on the
grounds of appearance, space and clearness.
* * * * *
The experiments of Crova and Houdaille on Mount Venteux, elevation
1,907 metres, and at Bedoin, 309 metres, are of more than transient
interest since they fix the solar constant at a height of 1,907 metres,
at about three calories; agreeing with the value obtained by Langley on
Mt. Whitney, Cal.
With this brief allusion to the important phenomena of sun-heat,
whereon depend not only the subordinate manifestations pertaining to
this section, but those relating to all other departments, this report
may appropriately close.
TREASURER'S REPORT.
YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1889.
C. J. BELL, TREASURER, in account with NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
Balance on hand as per last account . . . . . . . . . $626.70
RECEIPTS.
To amount of annual dues for 1889 . . . . . . . . . . $865
" " " " 1890 . . . . . . . . . . 20
To Life Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
--- 935.00
Note for $1,000 with interest paid off, Nov. 16, 1869 1,032.08
Sale of Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.41
Surplus from Field Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.35
--------
$2,620.54
INVESTMENTS ON HAND, DEC. 31, 1889.
Note dated March 27, 1889, for the sum of $750, with interest @ 6%, due
March 27, 1890. Secured by real estate.
DISBURSEMENTS.
By Cost of Magazine, No. 2 . . . . . . . . $174.46
" " " No. 3 . . . . . . . . 233.66
" " " No. 4 . . . . . . . . 197.28
" Directory of Society . . . . . . . . . 28.35
" Rent of Hall at Cosmos Club . . . . . . 45.00
" Printing, Stationery and Postage . . . 108.72
" Sundries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.00
1889. ------ 800.47
Mar. 26. By Loan on collateral . . . . . . . . . . 1,000.00
" Note for $750 and interest, from
March 27, 1889, for 1 year @ 6%,
due March 27, 1890 . . . . . . . . . 756.25
Balance in Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.82
---------
$2,620.54
REPORT OF AUDITING COMMITTEE.
December 27, 1889.
_To the National Geographic Society:_
The undersigned, having been appointed an auditing committee to examine
the account of the Treasurer for 1889, make the following report:
We have examined the Treasurer's books and find that the receipts as
therein stated are correctly reported. We have compared the
disbursements with the vouchers for the same and find them to have been
properly approved and correctly recorded. We have examined the bank
account and compared the checks accompanying the same. We find the
balance (beside the sum of $756.25 invested in real estate note) as
reported by the Treasurer ($63.82) consistent with the balance as shown
by the bankbook ($82.82), the difference being explained by the fact
that there are two outstanding checks for the sum of $19.00 not yet
presented for payment.
BAILEY WILLIS,
R. BIRNIE, JR.,
WILLARD D. JOHNSON,
_Auditing Committee_.
REPORT OF THE RECORDING SECRETARY.
The first report of the Secretaries was presented to the Society,
December 28, 1888. At that time the Society had a total membership of
209. Since that date this membership has been increased by the election
of 36 new members; it has been decreased by the death of 3 and by the
resignation of 14. The net increase in membership is thus 19 and the
present membership is 228, including 3 life members. The deceased
members are, Z. L. White, G. W. Dyer and Charles A. Ashburner.
The number of meetings held during the year was 17, of which 15 were
for the presentation and discussion of papers; one was a field meeting
held at Harper's Ferry, W. Va., on Saturday, May 11, 1889, and one, the
annual meeting. The average attendance was about 65.
The publication of a magazine begun last year, has been continued, and
three additional numbers have been published, being Nos. 2, 3 and 4 of
Vol. I. Copies of the numbers have been sent to all members and also to
about 75 American and foreign scientific societies and other
institutions interested in Geography. As a result the Society is now
steadily in receipt of geographical publications from various parts of
the world.
Respectfully submitted,
HENRY GANNETT, _Recording Secretary_.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY.
ABSTRACT OF MINUTES.
_Nov. 1, 1889. Twenty-seventh Meeting._
A paper was read entitled, "Telegraphic Determinations of Longitudes by
the Bureau of Navigation," by Lieutenant J. A. Norris, U. S. N.
_Published in the National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1._
_Nov. 15, 1889. Twenty-eighth Meeting._
A paper was read by Ensign Everett Hayden, U. S. N., entitled, "Law of
Storms considered with Special Reference to the North Atlantic,"
illustrated by lantern slides. It was discussed by Messrs. Greely and
Hayden.
_Nov. 29, 1889. Twenty-ninth Meeting._
A paper was read by Mr. H. M. Wilson entitled, "The Irrigation Problem
in Montana." Discussion was participated in by Messrs. Dutton, Greely
and Wilson.
_Dec. 13, 1889. Thirtieth Meeting._
The paper of the evening was by Mr. I. C. Russell upon "A Trip up the
Yukon River, Alaska," and was illustrated by lantern slides.
_Dec. 27, 1889. Thirty-first Meeting--2d Annual Meeting._
Vice-President Thompson in the chair. The minutes of the first annual
meeting were read and approved. Annual reports of the secretaries and
treasurer and the report of the auditing committee were presented and
approved. The following officers were then elected for the succeeding
year:
_President_--GARDINER G. HUBBARD.
_Vice-Presidents_--HERBERT G. OGDEN, [land]; EVERETT HAYDEN,[sea]; A.
W. GREELY, [air]; C. HART MERRIAM, [life]; A. H. THOMPSON, [art.]
_Treasurer_--CHARLES J. BELL.
_Recording Secretary_--HENRY GANNETT.
_Corresponding Secretary_--O. H. TITTMANN.
_Managers_--CLEVELAND ABBE, MARCUS BAKER, ROGERS BIRNIE JR., G. BROWN
GOODE, W. D. JOHNSON, C. A. KENASTON, W. B. POWELL and JAMES C.
WELLING.
_Jan. 10, 1890. Thirty-second Meeting._
The annual reports of Vice-Presidents Ogden and Greely were presented.
_Published in the National Geographic Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1._
_Jan. 24, 1890. Thirty-third Meeting._
A paper was read entitled, "The Rivers of Northern New Jersey," with
notes on the "General Classification of Rivers," by Professor William
M. Davis. The subject was discussed by Messrs. Davis, Gilbert and
McGee.
_Feb. 7, 1890. Thirty-fourth Meeting._
The annual report of Vice-President Merriam was presented. A paper on
"Bering's First Expedition," was read by Dr. W. H. Dall.
_Feb. 21st, 1890. Thirty-fifth Meeting._
Held in the Lecture Hall of Columbian University. The annual address of
the President, Mr. Gardiner G. Hubbard, was delivered, the subject
being "Asia, Its Past and Future." _Published in "Science," Vol. XV,
No. 371._
_Feb. 28th, 1890. Special Meeting._
Held in the Lecture Hall of Columbian University. A paper was read by
Lieut. Com'dr Chas. H. Stockton, U. S. N., entitled "The Arctic Cruise
of the Thetis During the Summer and Autumn of 1889," which was
illustrated by lantern slides.
_March 7th, 1890. Thirty-sixth Meeting._
A paper was read by Mr. Romyn Hitchcock, entitled "A Glimpse of Chinese
Life in Canton."
OFFICERS.
1890.
_President._
GARDINER G. HUBBARD.
_Vice-Presidents._
HERBERT G. OGDEN.
EVERETT HAYDEN.
A. W. GREELY.
C. HART MERRIAM.
A. H. THOMPSON.
_Treasurer._
CHARLES J. BELL.
_Secretaries._
HENRY GANNETT.
O. H. TITTMANN.
_Managers._
CLEVELAND ABBE.
MARCUS BAKER.
ROGERS BIRNIE, JR.
G. BROWN GOODE.
W. D. JOHNSON.
C. A. KENASTON.
W. B. POWELL.
JAMES C. WELLING.
MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.
_a_, original members.
_l_, life members.
* Deceased.
In cases where no city is given in the address, Washington, D. C., is
to be understood.
ABBE, PROF. CLEVELAND, _a_, _l_,
Army Signal Office. 2017 I Street.
ABERT, S. T.,
1928½ Pennsylvania Avenue.
AHERN, JEREMIAH,
Geological Survey. 804 Tenth Street.
ALLEN, DR. J. A.,
American Museum Natural History, New York, N. Y.
APLIN, S. A., JR.,
Geological Survey. 1513 R Street.
ARRICK, CLIFFORD, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1131 Fourteenth Street.
*ASHBURNER, PROF. CHARLES A.
ATKINSON, W. R., _a_,
Geological Survey. 2900 Q Street.
AYRES, MISS S. C., _a_,
502 A Street SE.
BAKER, PROF. FRANK, _a_,
Life Saving Service. 1315 Corcoran Street.
BAKER, MARCUS, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1905 Sixteenth Street.
BALDWIN, H. L. JR., _a_,
Geological Survey. 125 Sixth Street NE.
BARCLAY, A. C.,
Geological Survey. 1312 G Street.
BARNARD, E. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1773 Massachusetts Avenue.
BARTLE, R. F.,
947 Virginia Avenue SW.
BARTLETT, COMDR. J. R., U. S. N., _a_,
Providence, R. I.
BARTLETT, P. V. S.,
Geological Survey. 806 Seventeenth Street.
BASSETT, C. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 929 New York Avenue.
BELL, A. GRAHAM, _a_,
1336 Nineteenth Street.
BELL, CHAS. J., _a_,
1437 Pennsylvania Avenue. 1328 Nineteenth Street.
BERNADOU, ENS. J. B., U. S. N.,
Office of Naval Intelligence. 1908 F. Street.
BIEN, JULIUS, _a_,
139 Duane Street, New York, N. Y.
BIEN, MORRIS, _a_,
Geological Survey. Takoma Park, D. C.
BIRNIE, CAPT. ROGERS, JR., U. S. A., _a_,
Ordnance Office. 1341 New Hampshire Avenue.
BLAIR, H. B., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.
BLODGETT, JAMES H., _a_,
Census Office. 1237 Massachusetts Avenue.
BODFISH, S. H., _a_,
Geological Survey. 58 B Street NE.
BOUTELLE, CAPT. C. O., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 105 Fourth Street NE.
BRENT, L. D.,
Geological Survey. 1741 F Street.
BREWER, H. G., _a_,
Hydrographic Office. Meridian Avenue, Mt. Pleasant.
BROWN, MISS E. V.,
1312 R Street.
BURTON, PROF. A. E., _a_,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
CARPENTER, Z. T., _a_,
1003 F Street. 1009 Thirteenth Street.
CHAPMAN, R. H., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1207 L Street.
CHATARD, DR. THOS. M., _a_,
Geological Survey. The Portland.
CHESTER, COMDR. COLBY M., U. S. N.,
Navy Department.
CHRISTIE, PETER H.,
Geological Survey. 811 Ninth Street.
CLARK, A. HOWARD,
National Museum. 1527 S Street.
CLARK, E. B., _a_,
Geological Survey. Laurel, Md.
COLONNA, B. A.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 23 Grant Place.
COLVIN, VERPLANCK, _a_,
Albany, New York.
COURT, E. E.,
Hydrographic Office. Seventeenth Street, Mt. Pleasant.
CRAVEN, ENS. JOHN E., U. S. N.,
Hydrographic Office. 1313 Twenty-second Street.
CUMMIN, R. D., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1105 Thirteenth Street.
CURTIS, WILLIAM ELEROY, _a_,
513 Fourteenth Street. 1801 Connecticut Avenue.
DARWIN, CHAS. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1907 Harewood Avenue, Le Droit Park.
DAVIDSON, PROF. GEORGE, _a_,
U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, San Francisco, Cal.
DAVIS, ARTHUR P., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1910 Larch Street, Le Droit Park.
DAVIS, MRS. ARTHUR P.,
1910 Larch Street, Le Droit Park.
DAVIS, PROF. WM. M., _a_,
Cambridge, Mass.
DAY, DR. DAVID T.,
Geological Survey. 1411 Chapin Street.
DENNIS, W. H., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 12 Iowa Circle.
DILLER, J. S., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1804 Sixteenth Street.
DOUGLAS, E. M., _a_,
Geological Survey. Takoma Park, D. C.
DOW, JOHN M.,
Pacific Mail S. S. Co., Panama, U. S. Colombia.
DUKE, BASIL, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.
DUNNINGTON, A. F., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1000 North Carolina Avenue SE.
DURAND, JOHN,
164 Bd. Montparnasse, Paris, France.
DUTTON, A. H., _a_,
Hydrographic Office. 1338 Nineteenth Street.
DUTTON, CAPT. C. E., U. S. A., _a_,
Geological Survey. 2024 R Street.
DYER, LIEUT. G. L., U. S. N.,
Navy Department.
EDSON, J. R., _a_,
1003 F Street. 1705 Q Street.
ELLICOTT, ENS. JOHN M., U. S. N.,
Office of Naval Intelligence. 3009 P Street.
ELLIOTT, LIEUT. W. P., U. S. N., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
FAIRFIELD, G. A., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
FAIRFIELD, WALTER B., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
FARMER, ROBERT A.,
Geological Survey. 1312 G Street.
FERNOW, B. E., _a_,
Department of Agriculture. 1843 R Street.
FISCHER, E. G., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 436 New York Avenue.
FITCH, C. H., _a_,
Geological Survey. 3025 N Street.
FLETCHER, L. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.
FLETCHER, DR. ROBERT, _a_,
Army Medical Museum. The Portland.
FOOT, SAM'L A.,
Geological Survey. 918 H Street.
GAGE, N. P., _a_,
Seaton School. 401 Fourth Street.
GANNETT, HENRY, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1881 Harewood Avenue, Le Droit Park.
GANNETT, S. S., _a_,
Geological Survey. 401 Spruce Street, Le Droit Park.
GILBERT, G. K., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1424 Corcoran Street.
GILMAN, DR. D. C., _a_,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
GOODE, G. BROWN, _a_,
National Museum. Lanier Heights.
GOODE, R. U., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1538 I Street.
GOODFELLOW, EDWARD, _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 7 Dupont Circle.
GORDON, R. O., _a_,
Geological Survey.
GRANGER, F. D.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
GREELY, GEN. A. W., U. S. A., _a_,
Army Signal Office. 1914 G Street.
GRISWOLD, W. T., _a_,
Geological Survey. Cosmos Club.
GULLIVER, F. P.,
Geological Survey. 811 Ninth Street.
HACKETT, MERRILL, _a_,
Geological Survey. 318 Third Street.
HARRISON, D. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1326 Corcoran Street.
HARROD, MAJOR B. M.,
Miss. River Commission, New Orleans, La.
HASBROUCK, E. M.,
Geological Survey. 1305 R Street.
HASKELL, E. E., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1418 Fifteenth Street.
HAYDEN, ENS. EVERETT, U. S. N., _a_,
Hydrographic Office. 1802 Sixteenth Street.
HAYES, C. WILLARD,
Geological Survey. 1616 Riggs Place.
HAYS, J. W.,
Geological Survey. 2225 Thirteenth Street.
HEATON, A. G.,
1618 Seventeenth Street.
HENRY, A. G., _a_,
Army Signal Office. 948 S Street.
HENSHAW, H. W., _a_,
Bureau of Ethnology. 13 Iowa Circle.
HERRLE, GUSTAV, _a_,
Hydrographic Office. 646 C Street NE.
HERRON, W. H., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1008 H Street.
HILL, GEO. A., _a_,
Naval Observatory. 2626 K Street.
HILL, PROF. R. T.,
State Geological Survey, Austin, Tex.
HINMAN, RUSSELL,
In care Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., Cincinnati, O.
HODGKINS, PROF. H. L., _a_,
Columbian University. 1511 Tenth Street.
HODGKINS, W. C.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 416 B Street NE.
HOLLERITH, HERMAN,
Room 48 Atlantic Building. 3107 N Street.
HOPKINS, C. L.,
Department of Agriculture. 1004 H Street.
HORNADAY, W. T., _a_,
National Museum. 405 Spruce Street, Le Droit Park.
HOWELL, E. E., _a_,
48 Oxford Street, Rochester, N. Y.
HOWELL, D. J., _a_,
District Building. Alexandria, Va.
HUBBARD, GARDINER G., _a_,
1328 Connecticut Avenue.
HYDE, G. E.,
Geological Survey. 330 Spruce Street, Le Droit Park.
IARDELLA, C. T., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1536 I Street.
JENNINGS, J. H., _a_,
Geological Survey. 824 I Street NE.
JOHNSON, A. B., _a_,
Light House Board. 501 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.
JOHNSON, J. B.,
Howard University. 2460 Sixth Street.
JOHNSON, S. P.,
Geological Survey. 501 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.
JOHNSON, W. D., _a_,
Geological Survey. 501 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.
JUNKEN, CHARLES,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 140 B Street NE.
KARL, ANTON, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1230 Eleventh Street.
KAUFFMANN, S. H., _a_,
1421 Massachusetts Avenue.
KENASTON, PROF. C. A., _a_,
Howard University.
KENNAN, GEORGE, _a_,
1318 Massachusetts Avenue.
KENNEDY, DR. GEORGE G., _l_,
284 Warren Street, Roxbury, Mass.
KERR, MARK B., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1708 M Street.
KIMBALL, E. F.,
Post Office Department. 411 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.
KIMBALL, S. I., _a_,
Life Saving Service. 411 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.
KING, F. H.,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis.
KING, PROF. HARRY, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1319 Q Street.
KING, WILLIAM B.,
906 F Street. 1328 Twelfth Street.
KNIGHT, F. J., _a_,
Geological Survey.
KNOWLTON, F. H., _a_,
Geological Survey.
KOCH, PETER, _a_,
Bozeman, Mont.
LACKLAND, W. E., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1305 Corcoran Street.
LAMBERT, M. B.,
Geological Survey. 1431 Rhode Island Avenue.
LEACH, BOYNTON,
Hydrographic Office. 2028 P Street.
LERCH, R. L., _a_,
Hydrographic Office. 936 K Street.
LINDENKOHL, ADOLPH, _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 19 Fourth Street SE.
LINDENKOHL, HENRY, _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 452 K Street.
LIPPINCOTT, J. BARLOW,
Geological Survey. 1802 M Street.
LONGSTREET, R. L., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1536 I Street.
LOVELL, W. H.,
Geological Survey. 413 Spruce Street, Le Droit Park.
MCCORMICK, JAMES,
Geological Survey. 1001 Eleventh Street.
MCGEE, W. J., _a_,
Geological Survey. 2410 Fourteenth Street.
MCGILL, MISS MARY C.,
336 C Street.
MCKEE, R. H., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1753 Rhode Island Avenue.
MCKINNEY, R. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1120 Thirteenth Street.
MAHER, JAMES A., _a_,
Johnson City, Tenn.
MANNING, VAN. H., JR., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1331 N Street.
MARINDIN, H. L.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
MARSHALL, ROBERT B.,
Geological Survey. 1431 Rhode Island Avenue.
MATTHEWS, DR. WASHINGTON, U. S. A., _a_,
Army Medical Museum. 1262 New Hampshire Avenue.
MELVILLE, ENG. IN CHIEF, GEO. W., U. S. N., _a_, _l_,
Navy Department. 1705 H Street.
MENDENHALL, PROF. T. C.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 220 New Jersey Avenue SE.
MENOCAL, CIV. ENG. A. G., U. S. N., _a_,
Navy Department. 2012 Hillyer Place.
MERRIAM, DR. C. HART, _a_,
Department of Agriculture. 1919 Sixteenth Street.
MINDELEFF, COSMOS,
Bureau of Ethnology. 1401 Stoughton Street.
MINDELEFF, VICTOR,
Bureau of Ethnology. 2504 Fourteenth Street.
MITCHELL, PROF. HENRY, _a_,
18 Hawthorne Street, Roxbury, Mass.
MOSMAN, A. T., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
MULDROW, ROBERT, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1511 Rhode Island Avenue.
MURLIN, A. E.,
Geological Survey. 1550 Third Street.
NATTER, E. W. F., _a_,
Readville, Mass.
NELL, LOUIS, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1118 Virginia Avenue SW.
NILES, PROF. W. H.,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.
NORDHOFF, CHARLES, _a_,
701 Fifteenth Street. 1731 K Street.
OGDEN, HERBERT G., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1324 Nineteenth Street.
PARSONS, F. H., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 210 First Street SE.
*PATTON, PRES. W. W., _a_.
PEALE, DR. A. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1446 Stoughton Street.
PEARY, CIV. ENG. R. E., U. S. N.,
League Island Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pa.
PENROSE, R. A. F., JR.,
State Geological Survey, Little Rock, Ark.
PERKINS, E. T., JR., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.
PETERS, LIEUT. G. H., U. S. N., _a_,
Navy Department.
PETERS, WILLIAM J., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1831 F Street.
PHILLIPS, R. H.,
1511 Vermont Avenue.
PICKING, CAPT. HENRY F., U. S. N.,
Hydrographic Office. Baltimore, Md.
PIERCE, JOSIAH, JR.,
Geological Survey. 806 Seventeenth Street.
POWELL, MAJOR J. W., _a_,
Geological Survey. 910 M Street.
POWELL, PROF. WM. B., _a_,
Franklin School Building.
PRENTISS, DR. D. W., _a_,
1101 Fourteenth Street.
PUMPELLY, PROF. RAPHAEL,
U. S. Geological Survey, Newport, R. I.
RENSHAWE, JNO. H., _a_,
Geological Survey.
RICKSECKER, EUGENE, _a_,
Seattle, Wash.
RITTER, H. P., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1905 Sixteenth Street.
ROBERTS, A. C., _a_,
Hydrographic Office.
RODMAN, ENS. HUGH, U. S. N.,
Hydrographic Office. 2015 Hillyer Place.
RUSSELL, I. C., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1616 Riggs Place.
SARGENT, PROF. C. S., _a_,
Brookline, Mass.
SCHLEY, CAPT. W. S., U. S. N., _a_,
Navy Department.
SCUDDER, SAM. H., _a_,
Cambridge, Mass.
SHALER, PROF. N. S., _a_,
Cambridge, Mass.
SIEBERT, J. S.,
Hydrographic Office. 1911 Harewood Avenue, Le Droit Park.
SINCLAIR, C. H.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
SINCLAIR, J. C.,
4 Lafayette Square.
SMITH, EDWIN, _a_.
Coast and Geodetic Survey. Rockville, Md.
SMITH, MIDDLETON, _a_,
Army Signal Office. 1616 Nineteenth Street.
SOMMER, E. J., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 330 A Street SE.
STEIN, ROBERT,
Geological Survey. 710 Eleventh Street.
STEJNEGER, LEONHARD, _a_,
National Museum.
STOCKTON, LT. COMDR. C. H., U. S. N., _a_,
Navy Department.
SUTTON, FRANK,
Geological Survey. 702 Nineteenth Street.
THOMAS, MISS MARY VON E., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey.
THOMPSON, PROF. A. H., _a_,
Geological Survey.
THOMPSON, GILBERT, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1448 Q Street.
THOMPSON, LAURENCE, _a_,
In care Northern Pacific R. R. Co., Seattle, Wash.
THOMPSON, LIEUT. R. E., U. S. A., _a_,
Army Signal Office. 2011 N Street.
TITTMANN, O. H., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1019 Twentieth Street.
TOWSON, R. M., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1446 N Street.
TWEEDY, FRANK, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1311 M Street.
URQUHART, CHAS. F., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1538 I Street.
VASEY, DR. GEORGE, _a_,
Department of Agriculture. 2006 Fourteenth Street.
VINAL, W. I., _a_,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 152 D Street SE.
VON HAAKE, ADOLPH,
Post Office Department. 1215 L Street.
WALCOTT, C. D., _a_,
Geological Survey. 418 Maple Avenue, Le Droit Park.
WALLACE, HAMILTON S., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1813 M Street.
WARD, LESTER F., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1464 Rhode Island Avenue.
WEED, WALTER H., _a_,
Geological Survey. 825 Vermont Avenue.
WEIR, J. B., _a_,
1602 L Street.
WELLING, DR. JAMES C., _a_,
Columbian University. 1302 Connecticut Avenue.
WHITE, DR. C. H., U. S. N.,
Navy Department.
WHITING, HENRY L.,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. West Tisbury, Mass.
WILDER, GEN. J. T., _a_, _l_,
Johnson City, Tenn.
WILDER, MISS MARY,
Johnson City, Tenn.
WILLIS, BAILEY, _a_,
Geological Survey. 1617 Riggs Place.
WILLIS, MRS. BAILEY,
1617 Riggs Place.
WILSON, A. E.,
Geological Survey.
WILSON, H. M., _a_,
Geological Survey. Cosmos Club.
WILSON, THOMAS,
National Museum. 1218 Connecticut Avenue.
WINSLOW, ARTHUR,
State Geological Survey, Jefferson City, Mo.
WINSTON, ISAAC,
Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1325 Corcoran Street.
WOODWARD, R. S., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1804 Columbia Road.
YARROW, DR. H. C., _a_,
814 Seventeenth Street.
YEATES, CHAS. M., _a_,
Geological Survey. 1706 F Street.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The National Geographic Magazine, Vol.
II., No. 1, April, 1890, by Various
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