410 transactions op the 



Corrections, etc., of the above Article as Furnished by Lieutenant 

 H. P. McIntosh, U. S. Navy, and Officer in Charge of the U. S. 

 Branch Hydrographic Office, San Francisco. 



Sir: I inclose you a copy of a "Bulletin" issued by this office, which 

 contains some notes on revolving storms. Increased knowledge of the sub- 

 ject has made it necessary to modify somewhat the instructions for maneuv- 

 ering in the rear of a cyclone. We find that in the rear of a cyclone, not 

 only in the tropics, but in the temperate zones, the wind blows almost 

 directly toward the storm center; so that it would be better to heave-to and 

 wait for the cyclone to recede, in the meantime watching the shifts of 

 wind to see that the storm is receding and not recurving; it might even be 

 better to stand off close-hauled on the tack opposite to that recommended 

 by the " Bulletin." The conclusions of the " Bulletin" were derived from 

 the diagrams, which are, of course, only general, and not applicable as a 

 guide for action in the rear of a cyclone. The trouble is that it is impossible 

 to represent by a single diagram that the winds are more in-blowing in 

 rear, because the rear is east in low latitudes; south in middle latitudes in 

 the northern hemisphere; north in middle latitudes in the southern hemi- 

 sphere ; and west in high latitudes. To do so would require three diagrams 

 for each hemisphere. 



Very respectfully, 



H. P. McINTOSH, 

 Lieutenant U. S. N., in Charge. 



THE SAN FELIPE SINK, SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, AND ITS 

 INTERESTING DETAILS AS A HEALTH RESORT. 



The following article was taken from the "American Meteorological 

 Journal" for March, 1889, published by Professor M. W. Harrington, 

 Director of the Astronomical Observatory, Ann Arbor, Michigan: 



Dr. Walter Lindley, in the " Medical Record," gives an interesting 

 account of this tract, which lies below sea level. Dr. Lindley discusses it 

 from the therapeutic point of view, claiming that in it the patient can get 

 the curative effect of compressed air. As to its physical peculiarities, 

 fauna, and flora, Dr. Lindley says: 



Dr. J. B. Widney, of Los Angeles, while surgeon in the United States Army, crossed 

 this region with troops twenty-one years ago. He then noticed surrounding this territory 

 a well-defined line along the mountain sides, always at the same level. Above that line 

 the rocks are sharp and jagged, showing that for ages the water had stood at that level. 

 He says: " 1 found it to be the old beach of a sea." I find nothing else noted of this 

 country until the surveying party of the Southern Pacific Railroad, in running the line 

 from Los Angeles to Yuma, found that sea level was at the point where Dr. Widney had 

 noted the ancient beach. They then gradually descended to the south until they reached 

 a depression of two hundred and sixty-eight feet below sea level, at a point near Salton. 



This basin is about one hundred and thirty miles in length by thirty miles in average 

 width. The deepest point is about three hundred and sixty feet below sea level. Along 

 the northern margin of this basin, right up against the mountains, are great numbers of 

 date palms. These tropical trees are indigenous to this valley, and many of them reach 

 a height of eighty feet. When ripe, a single bunch of the fruit weighs one hundred pounds. 

 It has a taste very similar to the date palm of commerce. The tree has large fan leaves, 

 and is the same as can be seen in almost every park and yard in the towns of Southern 



