B. TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS AND METEOROLOGY. 105 



window open, there were violent oscillations ; but the first 

 movement was always downward. Upon opening the south 

 window as well as the west, the oscillations ceased. It is 

 well known by medical men that some acute diseases are 

 aggravated by strong winds; and the author has observed 

 that this distress is associated with those small oscillations 

 of the barometer. He suggests the following practical 

 method of palliation. If windows can not be borne open, 

 try, by closing or by otherwise arranging windows and 

 doors, to diminish the distress. When, as in most cases, 

 windows can not be opened, all doors and windows should 

 be closely shut, as well as the vent of the chimney if there 

 is no fire ; and, if possible, the patient should be removed to 

 a room on the lee side of the house. 12 A, XII., 78. 



ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF BAROMETRIC PRESSURE IN EURO- 

 PEAN RUSSIA. 



The well-known work of Buchan, published in 1866 by the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh, was the first that offered an ex- 

 tensive collection of barometric observations, and gave the 

 first approximate idea of the correct isobaric lines through- 

 out the whole world as drawn for every month in the year, 

 and for the average of the entire year itself. While Buchan 

 in this work sought to obtain greater accuracy by using only 

 the observations made between 1850 and 1860, he was, how- 

 ever, frequently thrown into serious error by the uncertain- 

 ties of the altitudes above sea-level of the stations in the in- 

 terior of Europe and America. For the latter country an- 

 nual barometric means have been of late published by the 

 Army Signal-office; and we have now to record the appear- 

 ance of an important work by Rikatcheff, on the distribution 

 of barometric pressure in the interior of European Russia. 

 The author states that, as regards Asiatic Russia, we have 

 still too little material to justify the drawing of isobaric 

 lines as Buchan has done. For European Russia he gives 

 many, and in some respects important corrections to the 

 figures employed by Buchan. Having personally inspected 

 many of the Russian stations, Rikatcheff has been able to 

 discriminate between the observations that are reliable and 

 those which should be rejected ; he has collected all the 

 valuable barometric observations that have been made in 



E 2 



