17G ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



subdivisions. They are also generally placed at every plant- 

 er's station, and at the tea-gardens, under the control of the 

 various tea companies. Several provinces have more than 

 100 gauges each, and in all India there are estimated to be 

 at least 1500 rainfall stations. 



This subject was brought to notice by the reading of a pa- 

 per, by C. N. Pearson, on the Meteorology of Mozufferpoor, 

 Tirhoot, India (Quarterly Journal of the Meteorological So- 

 eiety, 1877, p. 410). An extraordinary rainfall of 14 inches 

 iu 12 hours occurred between midnight of the 22d of Septem- 

 ber, 187G, and the following noon, and measures at seven 

 neighboring places showed the local nature of the rain. 



Returns from 900 rainfall stations in France are published 

 quarterly by the Association des Sciences de France and the 

 Departement de Pouts et Chausses under Belgrand. 



Mr. Nathan Butler communicates to the Jjulletui of the 

 Minnesota Academy some notes on a hail-storm which he ex- 

 perienced in the western part of Minnesota on the 18th of Au- 

 gust, 1858. The sky was generally clear, the weather quite 

 warm, and the clouds overhead very light and fleecy. Im- 

 mediately following a flash of lightning, large hailstones be- 

 gan to fall, and continued for perhaps two or three minutes. 

 They buried themselves for about half of their diameter into 

 the sod of the prairie. When the shower was finished, the 

 stones were sprinkled into the ground about fifteen feet apart, 

 and the larger ones were about the size of a man's two fists. 

 In shape they were spherical on one end, made up of hexag- 

 onal crystals, like crystals of quartz ; the other end was coni- 

 cal, made up of white ice. They were quite solid, and did not 

 break in falling. They were found to weigh a pound each. 



The abnormal character of the weather of the winter of 

 1877-78 is strikingly seen in the immense floods of the Sac- 

 ramento valley. It is probable that such floods may occur 

 every century. The enormous erosions west of the Rocky 

 Mountains may be due to such occasional floods quite as 

 much as to any regular annual rainfall. 



A very complete synopsis of the various theories with re- 

 gard to the formation of hail is given by Dr. T. II. Baucrmeis- 

 ter in successive numbers of Dr. Klein's excellent popular 

 scientific journal (Jaea, He reviews the history of the sub- 

 ject from the time of Musschenbroek, and gives especial at- 



