pointed out that the violent down-rush of air produced by a heavy hail-shower at the time would bring down the purer upper air to the place of observation, so that the air tested at 7.10 p.m. was not the same as that tested previously, but was air from a higher and purer stratum. The purifying influence of the down-rush of air in this case was not nearly so great as was observed in the heavy rainfall on the Eiffel Tower recorded in Part I. By midday of the last day of the visit to the Rigi Kulm, the air again became very much hazed, and the number of particles rose to about 10,000 per c.c. On descending the mountain, the air was again tested on this day, at the level of the lake, at 3 p.m. Here the number was a little over 10,000, or very much the same as it was when tested on the way up. Its humidity was also the same, and it had the same thick appearance. Just when on the point of finishing the tests at the level of the lake, it was observed that the numbers were becoming unsteady and were falling. The tests were therefore continued for a considerable time longer, when it was found that the dust particles, which at first were 10,250 per c.c., gradually decreased to 1700 per c.c.; a most unusual experience, and one which might have shaken our confidence in the dust-counter, had it not been noticed that this decrease in the dust was at the same time accompanied by a rise in the temperature of the air, and by a decrease in its humidity. When the tests were begun, and the number of particles was great, the temperature was 71, and the wet bulb was depressed 11 degrees; but when the amount of dust was small, the temperature had risen to 74°*5, and the wet bulb depression was as much as 185 degrees. These observations all show that in a very short time there had been an entire change of the air at the place of observation. This result is shown to have been produced by the local wind, which at first blew in from the lake, changing by the upper part of the current striking the nearly perpendicular face of the mountain, curving downwards, and then blowing out towards the lake, thus bringing a purer upper air to the place of observation. After a time the down-blow ceased, and the wind at the level of the lake returned to its original direction. After the wind had blown a short time off the lake, the number of particles rapidly increased, and became slightly higher than it was at first. | The temperature and humidity also returned to near their original readings. The Rigi Kulm observations show the daily maximum of dust very clearly. On all the days, except one, the number of particles was least in the morning, and increased greatly as the day advanced, owing to the ascent of valley air on the sun-heated slopes of the mountain. The impure air had generally arrived at the mountain top before midday, and by midday the number was generally three times greater than it was in the morning. Observations were also made on one day on Pilatus Kulm. During the whole day the mountain was covered with cloud. On this occasion the numbers were found to be very unsteady, varying greatly in short intervals. The highest reading was 1275 per c.c., and lowest 625 per c.c. The result of an investigation into the cause of the difference observed in the air of Switzerland on the two occasions is then given. It is shown that during the days of the first visit the upper air circulation was generally from the south, and was pure, as it came from the uninhabited area of the Alps; while during the first days of the second visit the general air circulation was northerly that is, from densely inhabited and polluted areas. While this northerly circulation continued, the air was thickly hazed, and the number of particles was great. On the morning of the day of the thunderstorm already referred to, the wind had changed and begun to blow freshly from the south, at the St. Gothard. It had also changed to south on the Säntis and Rigi. But though the wind had begun to blow from a pure direction in the morning, it was evening before the pure air arrived at the Rigi. It was at the meeting area of the lower impure northerly air with the upper pure southerly that the thunderstorm took place. The storm began to the south, where the currents first met, and travelled northwards as the pure south wind drove the northerly air before it. The sudden drop in the number of dust particles in the storm may therefore possibly have been due to the arrival of the pure southerly air. The day after the storm the southerly wind continued to blow, the air became very clear, and the number of particles fell practically as low as was observed on the previous visit, while the air had much the same clear appearance it had on that occasion. It would thus seem that the clearing of the atmosphere on this occasion, though at first sight it may have appeared to have been caused by the thunderstorm, was in reality caused by a change in the circulation of the air. The clearing would thus appear to have been due, not to a clearing of the dust out of the air, but to a change of the air itself. The observations made on Ben Nevis and at Kingairloch, for July 1890, are then discussed, and a comparison made of the variations in the amount of dust at high and low levels. The observations made at Kingairloch in 1890 confirm the conclusions arrived at in Part I., that the air at this station has most dust in it when the wind blows from the east, south-east, and south-that is, from inhabited areas-and less when the wind blows northerly that is, from uninhabited areas. Some very remarkable exceptions to the latter conclusion were, however, observed. On a number of days when the wind was northerly the number of particles rose high at some hour of the day. On examining into the cause of the exceptional readings with northerly winds, it was found that they almost always occurred when the isobars over our area were irregular and the general circulation in a confused condition, and blowing in different directions at different stations at no great distances from each other. It is suggested that under these conditions uniformity in the air cannot be expected; that, while testing in a northerly wind, it may be southerly air that is being examined. In confirmation of this it is shown that whenever the general air circulation over our area was mixed and irregular, high numbers were also observed at some time of the day or Ben Nevis. An examination of the numbers of dust particles shows that there was much less dust in 1890 than in 1889, The numbers in 1890 fell very low on many days, and extremely low on a few days. The lowest number observed was 16.5 per c.c. This number is much lower than any previously observed at any low-level station. Associated with the small amount of dust was an exceptionally low temperature. July of 1890 will long be remembered as one of the most inclement experienced for many years, being cold, wet, and windy. A comparison is made of the amount of dust at Kingairloch and Ben Nevis. Although there is a considerable resemblance between the figures at the two stations, yet the likeness is not very close. This is owing to the daily maximum of dust which takes place at high levels on mos: days; also to the effect of the wind on the amount of dust not being the same at high and low levels; and further. the directions of the winds are not always the same at both stations. As a rule, there was much less dust at the high station than at the low one, and when the dust increased at the low station it also generally increased at the high one, and vice versa. These rules, however, are not without exceptions. Sometimes the lower air was purer than the upper; this happened when the wind blew from a pure direction low down, while it was from the east or south on the Ben. Mr. Rankin has shown, from an extensive series of observations at the Observatory, that the south, south-east, and east winds bring the most impure air to the Ben-a conclusion in keeping with the result obtained at low level. It is concluded from the observations that high winds reduce the transparency of the air. In Part I. this conclusion is indicated, and the observations of 1890 confirm it. It is pointed out that whenever the wind was high, the air was unduly thick for the number of particles and the humidity. This is thought to be due to high winds carrying large particles, and mixing the lower stratum of inpure air with the purer upper air. The inequalities in the density of the different parts of the air produced by imperfect mixing will also reduce its transparency. The Alford observations for 1890 show that the air was occasionally purer and the maximum a little higher in that year than on the previous visit. Whenever the wind blew from the south, it brought polluted air to this station, as it came from inhabited areas; and when the wind was northerly the air was pure. The number of particles was as low as 127 per c.c. with a north-west wind, while it was as high as 6800 per c.c. with a south wind. An ascent of Callievar was made in 1890 also. On the first visit the air was clear, and the Cairngorms and Lochnagar were clearly seen. The number of particles was 262 per c.c., and rose in the afternoon to 475 per c.c.; but on the second visit the air was thick, and only a faint outline of the Cairngorms was occasionally seen, while Lochnagar was quite invisible. The number of particles was 710, and rose in the afternoon to 1575 per c.c. The air on this occasion was very irregularly hazed, not being equally transparent in all directions. One mass of air darkened the view to the west, passed over the hill-top and darkened the view to the east. Before this impure mass of air arrived at the hill-top the number of particles was 710, while it was passing the number rose to 1575, and after it had gone east the number fell to 1050 per c.c. During these observations the humidity remained constant. The variations in the transparency were therefore due to variations in the amount of dust. The condition of the air during the exceptionally warm February of 1890 was tested at Garelochhead on the 27th of the month. Previous to that date the weather had been very warm, temperatures of 50° and 60' having been frequently recorded in our area, and even 64" was observed in more places than one. The result of the tests showed the air to be remarkably full of dust. During the visit to this station in the end of January 1889, the maximum number of particles observed was 2360, and that was the only occasion on which it was over 1000; whilst on the first day of the second visit the smallest number observed was 7250, and other readings gave nearly 10,000. During this warm period the air was always impure, and had much the same appearance as it had on the 27th. The cause of this great amount of impurity was the presence of an anticyclone lying over Europe, giving rise to southerly winds over our area. The local winds were, however, very light and mixed, and there was no general circulation of the air; the dust impurities therefore accumulated, and, as the figures show, became very great. On the 28th, the day after the air was tested, a depression appeared off the north of our islands, and the isobars were closing in and westerly winds were beginning to blow. With this change the dust began to fall, and was as low as 1750 per c.c. on the 28th. On March 1 and 2 the isobars closed in still further, the winds freshened, and the dust fell to 51 per c.c., or of what it was on February 27. During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the wind remained in the north-west, and the amount of dust was very small. Certain relations between isobars and dust are pointed out. With regular isobars for westerly and northerly winds the air is pure, and the closer the isobars the purer is the air; whilst isobars for southerly or easterly winds, even though close, do not indicate pure air. From these facts it is shown that an estimate of the amount of dust on any day can be made from an examination of the weather charts made on and previous to the day selected. The The relation between the amount of dust and the temperature is discussed, with the view of finding whether the observations made in 1890 confirm the conclusion arrived at from the previous records. That conclusion was that a great amount of dust increases the day temperature and checks the fall of temperature at night. records of temperature and radiation made at Kingairloch in 1890 are of no value, owing to the weather being always under the influence of cyclones, so that there was an absence of clear skies, and the temperatures were regulated by what the winds brought, and were but little influenced by local conditions. But, as already stated, the dust at this station was exceedingly low in 1890, and the temperature was also exceptionally low. The Alford observations, however, are not open to the same defect, as the weather was suitable for the purpose. These observations point to the same conclusion as that arrived at in 1889. The highest maximum temperatures were recorded on days of high dust, and the lowest minimum when the dust was at a minimum. The observations made at Garelochhead also support the same conclusion. Towards the end of February the amount of dust was great, and from the meteorological report it will be seen that the temperature was above the mean, and was frequently very high. Again, when the westerly winds swept away the great impurity, they brought with them a high mean temperature. But after the winds ceased to blow, the pure air brought to our area by them seems to have allowed radiation to act freely, as the air then rapidly cooled, and the temperature became exceedingly low, as much as from 8 to II degrees below the mean in some stations in Scotland. The Ben Nevis observations show that during this exceptionally cold period the air was remarkably free from dust. IT JOHN COUCH ADAMS. T is with deep regret that we record the death of Prof. Adams, who will always hold an eminent place in the history of astronomical science. As he is included in the list of our "Scientific Worthies," we have already given an account of his career (vol. xxxiv. p. 565). It is only necessary for us now, therefore-as in the case of Sir George Airy—to note some of the leading facts of his life and work. He was born at Lidcot, near Launceston, in Cornwall, on June 5, 1819. He received his early education at the village school and at Devonport, where he gave evidence of his remarkable faculty for mathematical and astronomical study. In October 1839, he entered at St. John's College, Cambridge; and in 1843 he graduated as Senior Wrangler and first Smith's Prizeman, becoming shortly afterwards a Fellow and tutor of his College. Both before and after taking his degree he was fascinated by a problem which was at that time profoundly interesting astronomers-the irregularities shown by the planet Uranus in its motion. Its orbit differed from the elliptic path which an undisturbed planet would have pursued; and as the deviations could not be explained by the influence of the other known planets, it was supposed that there must be a more remote planet which had not then been observed. To the search for this unknown planet Adams devoted all the energies of his mathematical genius, and everyone knows the brilliant success with which his labours were crowned. His solution was communicated to Prof. Challis in September 1845, and to the Astronomer-Royal in the following month. We need only refer to the facts that similar work was done in 1846 by Leverrier; that the French astronomer's results, unlike those of the English investi gator, were at once made known; and that on September 23, 1846, the planet Neptune was found by Dr. Galle, of Berlin, on the basis of Leverrier's elements. Adams and Leverrier rank as joint discoverers, and, as such, they received on February 11, 1848, the gold medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. Some members of Adams's college, in order to mark their sense of the importance of his achievement, raised a fund, which the University accepted, for the founding of a prize, to be called "The Adams Prize," to be awarded every two years to the author of the best essay on some subject of pure mathematics, astronomy, or other branch of natural philosophy. In 1851 he was elected President of the Royal Astronomical Society. As he did not take orders, his Fellowship at St. John's expired in 1852, but he continued to reside in the College until 1853, when he was elected to Pembroke. In 1858 he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the University of St. Andrews, but he held this office only during a single session. He became the Lowndean Professor of Astronomy and Geometry, at Cambridge, in 1859, in succession to the late Prof. Peacock, and retained this position during the remainder of his life. Meanwhile, he had been carrying on many important investigations; and, until ill-health disabled him, his labours were never seriously interrupted. Foremost among his later achievements were the results of his researches on the moon and on the theory of the November meteors. In 1866 the Royal Astronomical Society awarded him its gold medal for his lunar researches. He had succeeded Prof. Challis as Director of the Cambridge Observatory in 1861, and in 1884 he served as one of the delegates for Great Britain at the International Meridian Conference at Washington. For about a year and a half before his death, Prof. Adams was too ill to do as much work as he had been accustomed to do, and during the last ten weeks he was confined to bed. He died on the morning of January 21. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and of the leading foreign scientific bodies; and honorary degrees were conferred upon him by his own University and by Oxford The post of Astronomer-Royal was offered to him by the First Lord of the Admiralty in 1881, on Sir George Airy's retirement, but declined by him on the ground of age. WALTER HOOD FITCH. THI We At so satisfactory that he negotiated the cancel of Fitch's indentures, took him into his sole employ, and trained him for the kind of work he wished him to execute. have not ascertained the exact date of this event, but it must have been as early as the year 1832, for already in 1834 he was a contributor to the Botanical Magazine, and he continued his connection with this long-lived periodical down to 1878, having during this period drawn and lithographed some 3000 of the plates. first his initials did not appear regularly on the plates, but, on reference to the volume for 1837, it may be seen that it was practically all his, and that he had already become an efficient botanical draughtsman. The same year (1837) the first volume of Hooker's "Icones Plantarum" was published, and although Fitch's name does not appear, we have other evidence that he was the artist. In short, he not only illustrated all the numerous works of his first patron, but also those of his son, now Sir Joseph Hooker, as well as those of numerous other public and private persons. The fertility of his pencil was equalled by its facility, grace, vigour, and boldness; and his colouring was usually rich, and full, and truthful. It is true that most of his work does not exhibit the finish and minute detail characteristic of the masterpieces of the productions of the few other botanical artists with which comparisons could be made. In 1841, Sir William Hooker was appointed Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, Fitch accompanying him, and residing there until his death. At Kew he found full scope for his powers, and notable amongst the numerous productions of his best days are the magnificent elephant folio plates representing various stages of the development of the Victoria regia as cultivated at Kew and Syon House; the plates of Sir William Hooker's numerous works on ferns; of Sir Joseph Hooker's "Botany of Sir James Ross's Antarctic Voyage"; and his " Illustrations of Himalayan Plants and Himalayan Rhododendrons"; of Howard's "Quinologia": of Bateman's "Odontoglossum"; of Welwitch's "West African Plants"; of Speke and Grant's "Plants of the Upper Nile"; and of Seemann's "Botany of the Voyage of the Herald." Examples of his later work are to be found in Elwes's "Lilies," and the botany of Salvin and Godman's Biologia Centrali-Americana," the latter the last im|portant work he accomplished. As might be imagined from the amount of work he did, Fitch wielded the pencil with remarkable rapidity and freedom; and one could not but admire the way in which he stood up and, free handed, guided his pencil over the stone without any preliminary drawing. Botanical drawing, however, is not a very lucrative profession, and therefore not likely to attract persons of great attainments; but when Fitch became incapacitated through failing health, his merits were so far recognized as to gain him a Civil List pension, on the recommendation of the Earl of Beaconsfield, of £100 a year. 66 NOTES. MARCH 17 is the date fixed for the Bakerian Lecture of the Royal Society, and Prof. James Thomson is to be invited to deliver it. The Croonian Lecture is to be delivered on March 24 by Prof. Angelo Mosso, of Turin, the subject being "The Temperature of the Brain." AT the Council Meeting of the Royal Society on the 21st inst., no fewer than ten deaths were announced, seven of the deceased having been Fellows of the Royal Society, and three Foreign Members. Taking into account that the average number of deaths for the whole year is fifteen, such a list for a single month is quite extraordinary. PHYSIOLOGICAL science has sustained a severe loss by the death of Dr. Ernst von Brücke, the well-known Professor of Physiology at the University of Vienna. He died at Vienna on January 8, in his seventy-third year. He was a pupil of Johannes Müller, and made many contributions of first-rate importance to the study of physiology. WE regret to have to record the death of Mr. Thomas Roberts, F. G.S., of St. John's College, assistant to the Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge. He died on Saturday last at the age of thirty-five. Mr. Roberts obtained a first class in the Natural Sciences Tripos, Part I., in June 1882, and in the second part of the same Tripos for geology in June 1883. He also won the Sedgwick Prize for a geological essay in 1886. Prof. Hughes, in his annual reports to the Senate, often alluded to the value of the services rendered by Mr. Roberts to the students of his classes. THE Sydney papers announce the death of Sir William Macleay, who did much to promote an interest in science in New South Wales. It was mainly through his efforts that the Linnean Society of New South Wales was founded; and on many occasions he acted towards it with splendid liberality. The building in which it meets was erected at Sir William's expense. This building he transferred to the Society with the lease of the land on which it stands, giving at the same time, by way of endowment, a mortgage of £14,000 bearing interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum. He provided an excellent reference library, and equipped the rooms with fittings, furniture, and apparatus for scientific research. According to a speech delivered by one of the presidents, and quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald, he also bore the greater part of the expenses of the Society's publications, supplied the salaries of its officers, and "furnished its specialists with abundant funds for their investigations and their maintenance." Besides, he was the chief instrument in obtaining the Society's Charter, and he arranged to bequeath the sum of £35,000 for the establishment of four “Linnean Fellowships" of the annual value of £400 each. In 1874, Sir William Macleay bought and fitted out the barque Chevert for a scientific expedition to New Guinea; and he was thus enabled to get together a very valuable collection of natural history specimens, which now form an important part of what is known as the Macleay Museum of Natural History, presented by him to the University of Sydney. In addition to his collection, which was estimated at £23,000, he gave to the University £6000 to provide for the salary of a curator. THE facts relating to the electrical transmission of power from Lauffen, on the Neckar, to Frankfort, a distance of about 110 English miles, have now been made known. They have been established by means of elaborate tests applied by a jury of experts under Prof. Weber, of Zürich. When 113 horsepower was taken from the river, the amount received at Frankfort through the wires was about 81 horse-power, showing an efficiency, in spite of all possible sources of loss, of 72 per cent. Prof. Silvanus Thompson, who has called attention to these striking facts, points out that it is now only a question of means whether, at the Chicago Exposition, there will be a transmission through wires of 1000 horse-power taken from the Falls of Niagara. AN Electrical Exhibition was opened at St. Petersburg on January 23 by M. Vishnegradski, Minister of Finance, who was accompanied on the occasion by M. Durnovo, Minister of the Interior, and a number of distinguished persons. The Finance Minister, in addressing those present, traced the progress that had been made in electro-technical knowledge during the last twenty years, and dwelt upon the value of the present Exhibition for students of electricity. The Ministers and the other personages then proceeded to visit the different sections. The Exhibition is said to be of a varied and interesting character, displaying many different kinds of machines at work. ACCORDING to the American journal Electricity, the plans and specifications for the construction of the conduit system and subways in which the electric conductors, at the Chicago Exposition, are to be carried through the grounds to the different buildings have been issued by the construction department of the World's Fair. The specifications call for the completion of the work by April 15, 1892. The total length of the subway is about 4500 feet. The larger portion of the conduit will be 8 feet and 4 inches square, and will be built of the best seasoned pine. The conduit is to have two linings, the outer one consisting of 2 inch tarred plank. Between the linings will be a concrete mixture of cement, plaster, and sand. THE Kew Bulletin for January opens with some most interesting notes, by Mr. J. G. Baker, F. R.S., on Agaves and Arborescent Liliaceæ on the Riviera. Mr. Baker went in November last to the Riviera, chiefly for the purpose of studying these two groups of plants, which grow there in quantities in the open air. The number also contains accounts of the Cape Town Botanic Garden and the Gold Coast Botanical Station. THE first appendix of the Kew Bulletin of the present year consists of a list of such hardy herbaceous annual and perennial plants, as well as of such trees and shrubs as matured seeds under cultivation in the Royal Gardens, Kew, during the year 1891. These seeds are available for exchange with colonial, Indian, and foreign Botanic Gardens, as well as with regular correspondents of Kew. The seeds can be obtained only in moderate quantity, and are not sold to the general public. No application, except from remote colonial possessions, can be received for seeds after the end of March. THE Woolhope Club has voted £10 towards defraying the expenses connected with the course of Oxford University Extension lectures, now being delivered in Hereford by Mr. C. CarusWilson, on the "Outlines of Geology." It is satisfactory to note this instance of a local Club making use of the facilities offered by University Extension for giving to its younger members the opportunity of obtaining systematic training in geological knowledge. The liberal-minded action of the Woolhope Club might well be followed by other Societies throughout the country if they are satisfied of the lecturer's capacity. WITH reference to Prof. Ray Lankester's communication on "Science in Japan" (p. 256), and especially to his remark that "English, indeed, appears to be the official language of the Imperial University, Tokyo," the following extract may be found interesting. It is taken from the preface to an English translation of a Japanese text-book of elementary geometry, based on that of the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching, and compiled by Prof. Kikuchi, of the Imperial University, for use in the ordinary normal and middle schools. "In some schools, text-books in English are in use in all the classes, in others only in the higher classes. My object in making this translation is to supply a text-book in English for use in such schools uniform with the Japanese text-book, so that the scholars may pass from one to the other without any trouble." JUDGING by the contents of a short paper read recently before the Linnean Society, and the discussion which followed, there is an interesting field for scientific investigation amongst the ticks (Ixodide) which are to be found in some parts of Jamaica and other portions of tropical America. These undesirable Acarina appear to have been introduced to Jamaica with cattle from the mainland. They are most prevalent, therefore, in districts where cattle-rearing is the principal industry. Their maximum appearance depends very much on the season and other circumstances not yet fully worked out. In tropical countries nearly everywhere there are forms locally called ticks, but evidently allied to the harvest-bugs of Europe. These are called by the French Rouget, and in the West Indies Bête rouge. They are supposed to be larval forms of Trombidum, and are not ticks in the usual acceptance of the term. One remarkable power possessed by the Ixodide is that of existing for a great length of time without food. Specimens have been known to live for years accidentally shut up in a small box. Sir Joseph Hooker, in the "Himalayan Journals," recently reprinted, states (p. 196), "that ticks were present everywhere in the hill forests"; and he remarks: "What ticks feed upon in these humid forests is a perfect mystery to me, for from 6000 to 9000 feet they literally swarmed where there was neither path nor animal life." In attacking man and animals ticks insert the proboscis deeply without pain. Buried head and shoulders, and retained by a barbed lancet, they are only to be extracted by force, which is very painful. At present very little is known of the Ixodide of tropical America. It is possible there may exist numerous species, each with its own special life-history. No one appears as yet to have given undivided attention to the group, and possibly less is known of ticks from a scientific point than any other members of the West Indian fauna. In view of the influence of their occurrence on man and animals this is somewhat anomalous. M. JEAN DYBOWSKI contributes to the current number of La Nature a sketch of a journey he has made from Loango to Brazzaville, and from thence to Bangui. He has collected many objects of scientific interest, including 480 ethnographic specimens, 550 botanic specimens, 280 birds, 100 mammifers, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c. SEVERAL shocks of earthquake were felt at Rome on the evening of January 22. According to a telegram sent through Reuter's Agency, they caused such a panic in the more crowded quarters that many of the inhabitants fled from their houses, and, notwithstanding the cold weather, spent the night in the streets and public squares. The shocks were felt in the theatres, but the panic there was of short duration. The seismic disturbance had a distinct effect upon the clocks, some stopping at 11.25, and others at 11.27. Several of the lamps in the streets were extinguished. The shocks were noticed by the Pope, who sent to the Vatican Observatory to make inquiries. They were very generally felt throughout the province of Rome. At Genzano a few houses fell in, but no one was injured. At Civita Lavinia an old tower, dating from the Middle Ages, fell and buried two persons, who were, however, promptly extricated. Several houses are in a dangerous state. A severe shock was also experienced at Velletri, but the damage done was insignificant. ACCORDING to the Paris correspondent of the Daily News, two slight earthquake shocks were felt on Sunday, January 24, at Le Mans, the centre of an important agricultural district in the west of France. At Sarce, about 2 a.m., the villagers were awakened by a rather severe shock which caused the school bell to ring. At Château du Loir, a town on the State railway line from Paris to Bordeaux, the first shock lasted three seconds, and awakened everybody. The second took place at half-past three, and was slight. THE U.S. Monthly Weather Review for October 1891, contains a continuation of curves previously published, showing the fluctuations of temperature and pressure at the base and summit of Mount Washington (altitude 6279 feet), and completes them for the months January to March from 1871-86, or for 16 years, with a short discussion by Prof. H. A. Hazen. The base curves show many minor fluctuations of temperature not to be found in the summit curves, most of which are probably due to diurnal range, but as regards the larger fluctuations the most marked characteristic in the temperature curves has been their closeness at base and summit. The earlier change at the summit in both cold and hot waves is remarkable. The fluctuations of pressure are almost identical at the base and summit. Occasionally, the change in temperature at the summit has preceded that in pressure to such an extent as to cause the phases of the latter to lag behind. The curves have been published in the hope that meteorologists will make a special study of them. a He IT is a well-known fact that, with the same temperature by the thermometer, one may have, at different times, very different feeling of heat or cold. This varies with the temperature of the skin, which is chiefly influenced (according to M. Vincent, of Uccle Observatory, Belgium), by four things: air-temperature, air-moisture, solar radiation, and force of wind. M. Vincent recently made a large number of observations of skin-temperature in the ball of the left hand, and constructed a formula by means of which the skin-temperature may be approximately deduced from those four elements. experimented by keeping three of the four constant, while the fourth was varied, and a relation could thus be determined between the latter and skin-temperature. One fact which soon appeared was, that the relative moisture of the air has but little influence on skin-temperature. It was also found that for every 1° C. of the actinometric difference (excess of black bulb thermometer) the skin- temperature rises about o°2; and with small wind-velocities, every metre per second depresses the skintemperature about 1°2. In testing his formula, M. Vincent found, with cold or very cold sensation, considerably greater differences between the calculated and observed values than in other cases. This he attributes to the great cooling of the relatively small mass of the hand. Taking the cheek or eyelid, the results were better. He constructs a scale of sensations corresponding to different skin-temperatures as he found them (which scale would, of course, vary somewhat with individuals). LAST winter, in December and January, M. Chaix made a number of observations of the temperature of the air, the snow, and the ground, at Geneva; of which he has given an account to the Physical Society there. He observed the air at four different heights; granular, pulverulent, and bedded snow, on the surface and at different depths; and the surface of bare ground as well as of ground covered with snow. There was no difference in mean temperature between the air at 1 and at 2 metres; and very little between the former and that on the snow surface. The surface of the ground was 4o 265 C. warmer than the surface of the snow (0.13 m. above), through arrest of radiation. But the bare ground was not cooled so much as the snow surface, and it was only 2°04 colder than the snowclad ground. This shows the frigorific influence of snow on climate. Air passing over bare ground would have been 2" warmer than if it passed over the snow. The snow surface was sometimes warmer, sometimes colder, than the air 1 or 2 m. above. In the dry winters of Siberia and Sweden, the snowsurface is generally (according to Woeikof) much colder than the air. M. Chaix explains the variations observed at Geneva by fluctuations in the relative humidity, involving alternate vaporization and condensation at the snow surface. In twothirds of the cases, indeed, abnormal cooling of the snow corresponded with a low humidity, and heating with a high humidity, and often formation of hoar frost at the surface. AN interesting paper on Prof. Wiborgh's air-pyrometers was read by Mr. John Crum before the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland on December 22 last, and is now printed in the Institution's Transactions. Beginning at the beginning, Mr. Crum explained that a pyrometer is an instru |