B. TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS AND METEOROLOGY. 83 



of one winter were recorded at and 13. The Greek bish- 

 op, Veniaminoff, who has kept a continuous record for six 

 years, states that during that interval only on nine occasions 

 did the mercury fall below 10 Fahr. ; but, on the other hand, 

 the summer temperature averages only 49, and the line of 

 perpetual snow on Makushin, an active volcano inUnalashka, 

 has an elevation of 3100 feet. The arctic winter in the in- 

 terior at Fort Yukon yields a mean temperature of 30, but 

 the mean temperature of July is frequently as high as 65 or 

 70. From December to April the average number of days 

 on which rain or snow falls in the Aleutian Archipelago is 

 twenty-six per month. The mean temperature of the winter 

 months on the island of St. Paul is 20, or very nearly the 

 same as at Omaha and Northern New York. Fog prevails 

 almost incessantly in the autumn. Iceland, in the North At- 

 lantic, and St. Paul, in the North Pacific, or Beh ring's Sea, 

 represent respectively two areas of low barometer. Service 

 Monthly, December, 1873. 



THE METEOROLOGY OF ST. PAUL'S ISLAND, IX BEHRING'S SEA 



The Signal Service observer in Behring's Sea, Sergeant C. 

 P. Fish, makes some interesting remarks concerning the me- 

 teorology of that region, from which we extract the follow- 

 ing: A very extended area of low pressure prevails over 

 Behring's Sea throughout the year, being remarkably low in 

 winter, in which season, also, the variations of pressure are ex- 

 tremely great. The great depressions, or storm-centres, move 

 forward at rates varying according to that of the cirrus cloud. 

 The range of temperature is most intimately related to the 

 extreme degree of humidity which prevails even through the 

 winter months. In this respect the influence of ocean cur- 

 rents is particularly noticeable. The winter isothermal, of 

 20 Fahr., probably lies considerably south of this island. 

 The warmest days are those preceding the easterly quadrant 

 of storms moving northeastward. The winter maximum of 

 temperature very rarely attains 40. The minimum has never 

 been known to extend below 14, and rarely reaches 10 

 Fahr. The north wind is the least humid. Then follow the 

 northeast, northwest, west, southwest, south, east, and south- 

 east, which last is, therefore, the most humid. The northeast 

 wind, therefore, corresponds remarkably to the northwest 



