Abstract
IT is a well-known fact that, at different places on the earth's surface and at the same sea-level, pendulums change their rates of swing. The numerous observations of von Sterneck, made in the region of the Alps, suggested that such deviations from the normal might be, and were most probably, explained on the supposition of unequal distributions of the masses in the neighbourhood—that is, either inside the mountains or in the earth's crust itself. Such observations as these indicated that good work might be done in this direction, and in consequence measurements were made on Mont Blanc, while in other directions observations were being organised by the scientific societies in Vienna, München, Leipzig, and Göttingen. The gravity determinations on Mount Blanc were made at the new observatory, and M. Jannsen informs us that besides those made in Chamounix in the previous summer, and on the Grands Mulets (3050 metres elevation), by M. Bigourdan, an effort will be made to continue them this summer on the summit itself. The results which have been obtained up to the present are as yet unpublished. A region which appeared full of interest for investigating the different rates of swinging pendulums is that in the region of Göttingen and the Harz Mountains. Prof, von Könen singled out what he thought were the three most suitable spots on account of their different geological conditions for such investigations, and observations at these stations were all compared with those made at Göttingen, this being the chief observing station on account of the observatory. It is true that the instrument employed in these determinations was far too rough for accurate and reliable measurements, it being the one which Dr. von Drygalski had previously used on his Greenland expedition, and with which Sterneck made his first experiments. The actual observations were made by Prof. Wilhelm Schur and Dr. Grossmann, and the results were communicated to the Nachrichten der K. G. der Wiss. Gött., Heft 2, 1895. These may be summed up as follows. In the cases of the two stations at Grünenplan and Teichmühle, the very small differences when compared with Gottingen may be neglected when the kind of instrument employed be taken into consideration. The difference for the station Sack, on the other hand, was comparatively large, the numbers being—
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D. Pendulum Observations in Germany. Nature 53, 475 (1896). https://doi.org/10.1038/053475a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/053475a0