B. TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS AND METEOROLOGY. 113 



ies, which may chance to be distributed in an irregular man- 

 ner in celestial space. These assumptions are purely hypo- 

 thetical, but the existence of the dodecuple period in itself is 

 based on observation, and can not be questioned. 12 .4,1874, 

 IX., 445. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CHILE. 



Mr. Reed, after a residence of four years in Chile, sends to 

 the Bristol Naturalists' Society an interesting account of the 

 physical geography and botany of that country, from which 

 we take one or two items that may, perhaps, be novel. The 

 volcanoes of the Chilian Andes are all to the south of Santi- 

 ago. The altitude of the snow-line in the latitude of Santi- 

 ago is estimated at 11,000 feet, but is frequently, according 

 to the author, as high as from 13,000 to 15,000 feet. At a 

 height of between 11,000 and 15,000 feet large patches of 

 snow, possibly forming glaciers, have been noticed by him. 

 The wind at mid-day on the mountain-tops is so strong that 

 it is considered prudent to cross the mountains early in the 

 morning. The height of the Andes affects the rain-fall, by 

 depriving the east winds of a large amount of moisture. 

 North of latitude 35 south the rain-fall at the coast is from 

 *7 to 22 inches annually; but in latitudes 40 and 41 it 

 amounts to from 105 to 115 inches. With regard to the 

 desert of Atacama, Mr. Reed states that we have no reliable 

 knowledge of its rain-fall, but, judging from the best informa- 

 tion extant on the subject, it rains about twice in a century, 

 according to one authority, or twice in a decade, according 

 to another. Proc. Bristol JSfat. Soc, I., 1., 119. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE EXPLORATION OF THE 



ADRIATIC. 



The third annual report of the permanent committee for 

 the investigation of the Adriatic Sea has just come to hand, 

 from which it appears that this committee maintains eleven 

 stations of observation at which meteorological and physical 

 data are accumulated. In reference to the ocean itself, its 

 temperature, its saltness, its tides, and its currents are care- 

 fully recorded, and all possible opportunities embraced for 

 collecting journals of observation made upon vessels navi- 

 gating that water. The commission stands in intimate con- 



