SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 May 1910, Page 6

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

AUSTRALIAN.

EXPEDITION TO AUSTRALIA

[PER PRESS ASSOCIATION —COPYRIGHT.]

A TRYING ORDEAL. Received this day at 9.45 a.m. SYDNEY, This Day.

News have been received tfiat the Dutch Scientific expedition to Dutch New Guinea, whose object is to ascend the snow mountains, Jias returned to the-Coast. It suffered great privations from Malaria to widen Dr Lading, the leader, succumbed. FREMANTLE, May 18. Advices by the English mail state that Lie Cambridge Ethnological Expedition arrives in Westralia next month, under the leadership of Professor Brown (Etnomologist) and Grant Watson (Geologist) Westralia has been chosen as the scene of operations as" the least known part of Lie continent. The second expedition, sent by the Stockholm Academy of Science under Doctor Mayoberg, arrives in July. Mayoberg spends two years in the Kimberley district, his object being to solve the animal and geographical question, and ascertain to what extent .immigration has taken place from the Malay Islands and its influence on the flora and fauna.

PREMATURE KBGHT.

COWS GO TO REST. Describing the experiences at Eruni island, where a number of scientists were .stationed, but failed to take observations on account of the rain, the Sydney Daily Telegraph states that, to ina surprise of all, darkness enveloped the. camp about 20 minutes before the announcement of totality. After the first impressive calm Die dogs began to bark and lire crickets chirped cheerily. The. air was absolutely still, and Iho birds were hushed beneath the awe-inspiring pall. 'The vocarious mosquito was ttie only creature that remained oblivious to the importance of the occasion, for he pursued his nefarious work throughout tins ghostly night. As far as was possible with the larger instruments, the full programme was carried out. The results, However, would merely indicate the value of the light that would give no image. Long before totality everyone had been somewhat reconciled to Die loss of the full glory of the corona. Previous experience, however, lent a faint hope of a glimpse of beauty in the wonderful cloud effects such as vitro seen iu the mountainous country covered by the eclipse of 1851 in Norway. But disappointment was iu store. The only light visible in the sky was a soft glow iu the east beyond the hurrying shadow of the moon. The fact that one observer could not read thd title print used at (he top of every page of a newspaper is indicative of the darkness of the tt tali tv when the light did not quite equal that, of a starlight night. At 30in distant, the page of the newspaper was completely blurred. The darkness was much mure intense than during most recent eclipses. The light regained its strength at a much slower rate than that at which it disappeared before the totality. The minimum temperature recorded at Bruiii Island was 54degs.—a drop of 5 degs. being registered during Die totality. The barometer fell steadily during the afternoon but remained at 2t5.85iu from four to 4.30 p.m. At Eellerive one of three cows sought the shelter of a fence and lay down to rest. During the total phase the temperature there dropped from 63deg. to 56dcg. in the 20 minutes preceding totality, and a cold north-westerly wind sprang up.