IT was reported in last week's NATURE that, owing to very unfavourable weather conditions, the eclipse of the sun, visible from Tasmania, could not be observed at all. In spite of the fact that the weather conditions in that month were not considered to be very favourable, the parties that set out from England and Australia did not expect to have to contend with the very abnormal weather that they actually experienced. Indeed, the southern part of Australia has, according to recent mails, been suffering also from weather frolics, so that these exceptional conditions were not limited to the eclipse stations.