372 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the public speedily the results of his ex- 

 plorations, have now reached the completion 

 of their third volume. The last number is 

 mainly of interest to entomologists, contain- 

 ing an account of the first discovered traces 

 of fossil insects in the American Tertiaries, 

 by Mr. S. H. Scudder. This paper, of 20 

 pages, is a complete statement of past and 

 present investigations, showing a record of 

 forty-six described fossil species, of which 

 more than half belong to the Diptera. Mr. 

 Scudder also describes two species of Cara- 

 bidce from interglacial deposits near Toronto, 

 C. W. The remaining papers in the number 

 are a description of a new crawfish {Cam- 

 barus Couesi) from Dakota, by Dr. Thomas 

 H. Streets ; and three paleontological pa- 

 pers, by Prof. E. D. Cope, upon reptiles and 

 fishes from Colorado and Wyoming. A 

 very minute index to the whole volume 

 concludes this number. 



I. Annual Report of the New York Me- 



teorological Observatory for 1876. 

 By Daniel Draper, Director. Central 

 Park. 



II. Report on the Central Park Menag- 

 erie, for 1876. New York: by W. A. 

 Conklin, Director. 



The first of these handsome pamphlets 

 consists chiefly of tables giving the results 

 of the daily observations at the park, as to 

 the heights of the barometer ; force and di- 

 rection of the wind ; rainfall ; temperature, 

 etc. The value of a single volume of this 

 kind is very small, but the great importance 

 of such records when extending over a great 

 length of time and a wide area is beginning 

 to be duly appreciated, not only by scien- 

 tific men, but by the business community 

 generally, being often consulted, Director 

 Draper tells us, for legal and other pur- 

 poses. 



Last year the director was engaged in 

 examining the question, "Has there been 

 in late years any change in the rainfall of 

 New York City, or its vicinity, to affect se- 

 riously its water-supply ? " His conclusions 

 are, that for a series of years, up to 1869, 

 the rainfall was increasing ; " it then showed 

 a tendency to decrease. There are, un- 

 doubtedly, cycles of rainfall, as there are 

 cycles in sun-spots and other astronomical 

 phenomena, occupying years for their com- 

 pletion." No predictions are ventured as 



to the date when the diminution will have 

 reached its minimum and the ascent recom- 

 mence, the observations being too incom- 

 plete for that purpose. 



The " Report on the Menagerie " does not 

 show that feature of the park to be in a 

 growing condition. During the year 1876 

 but nineteen dollars was expended for the 

 purchase of animals, while additions by do- 

 nation, births, exchanges, and losses, have 

 all fallen oil'. The number of animals on 

 exhibition at the close of 1876 was : mam- 

 mals, 184; birds, 394; reptiles, 5: total, 

 583. The value of those owned by the 

 department is $15,554 ; owned by exhibi- 

 tors, $47,390. This result is doubtless due 

 to a reduction in appropriations. It would 

 seem that the menagerie was deserving of 

 a little more fostering care, for that it is 

 a feature which largely interests the public 

 is shown by the great number of visitors, 

 estimated at 3,000,000 for the year. 



I. On Some Unexplained Phenomena in 

 the Geyser Basins of the Yellowstone 

 Park. 



II. The Two-Ocean Water : TnE Union of 

 the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in 

 the Rocky Mountains. By Theodore 

 B. Comstock, B. S. 



The object of the first of these papers is 

 to call attention to the importance of im- 

 proving all opportunities for research, in the 

 region of the National Park on the Yellow- 

 stone, concerning the rare phenomena pre- 

 sented by the geysers. These striking feat- 

 ures are rapidly waning, and must be stud- 

 ied soon if studied at all. 



The "Two-Ocean Water" is, it would 

 seem, a verity, the fact having been estab- 

 lished by the expedition of Captain W. F. 

 Jones in 1873. Between Flat Mountain and 

 the Yellowstone Range, and near the head- 

 waters of the Snake and the Upper Yellow- 

 stone Rivers, there is a rivulet which was 

 found to divide, "one portion gliding silently 

 into the river behind us, to find its way at 

 last into the Gulf of Mexico, while the other 

 branch descended in front to join the 

 westward-flowing waters of the Columbia, 

 via Snake River, finally reaching the Pacific 

 Ocean." The stream bears the name of 

 "Two-Ocean Creek," and its two branches 

 are named respectively Atlantic and Pacific 

 Creeks. 



