232 The Ohio Journal of Scie?ice [Vol. XIX, No. 4, 



In addition to water collected in the rain gauge, use was made 

 of an aluminum pail and glass funnels set in the mouth of 50 

 cubic centimeter Nessler tubes. The latter proved to be the 

 most serviceable. The collections at Kashvik Bay were 

 made over the tundra, not less than eight inches above the 

 vegetation in the case of the funnels, and almost two feet in 

 that of the rain gauge. The Nessler tubes were always rinsed 

 with the first fallings. Excepting the rain gauge, collections 

 were made to the windward of camp, and far enough removed 

 to prevent the possibility of contamination from the occasional 

 camp fire. 



The two determinations made at Kodiak were during the 

 progress of a heavy northeasterly storm, lasting the entire 

 day. Sample (13) was collected about mid-day, while (14) 

 represents all but the beginning of the rain. Due to the 

 direction of the wind, no contamination from smoke was 

 possible. 



The first three determinations in the Table were made on 

 samples standing for some time after collection. The high 

 nitrite content of these three is probably associated with this 

 long standing. The high ammonia content of (2) was the 

 result of small twigs and pieces of bark, wind-driven into the 

 exposed rain gauge during the previous week. 



The almost entire absence of ammonia in the rainfall of 

 southwestern Alaska is in striking contrast with that found at a 

 similar latitude in Europe. The average of a number of obser- 

 vations in Scotland gave 0.61 parts of ammonia nitrogen per 

 million on the seacoast, and 0.44 parts at inland country 

 places, while Glasgow gave 7.49 parts per million. The highest 

 observed at Kashvik Bay w^as 0.015, and in most cases there was 

 but a mere trace if any. At the Experimental Station, Roth- 

 amsted, England, the average of ammonia nitrogen in rain water 

 over a fifteen year period was 0.45 parts per million. Storer 

 states that the average in regions where factories are absent 

 is about 0.02 parts per million. 



Nitrous nitrogen was positively present in every determina- 

 tion excepting (9) . The presence of even the small quantity of 

 nitrites represented by the Table, in the rain water of a region 

 devoid of thunderstorms, is highly interesting. One might 

 expect that all nitrites would be transformed into nitrates in 

 the presence of such oxidizing agents of the atmosphere as ozone 



