510 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



No. 7, pp. 308-315). — From the experiments reported tlie authors conclude that 

 the effect of oxygen on olive oil is to decrease the iodin number and increase 

 the saponification number. It also has a marked tendency to induce rancidity 

 and diminishes tlie color originally possessed by the oil. Fnsterilized oil 

 exposed to diffused sunlight showed a higher iodin riumber and a lower saponifi- 

 cation number than sterilized oil similarly treated. Sterilized oil kept in the 

 dark had a slightly higher iodin number and a slightly lower saponification 

 number than similar oil exposed to diffused sunlight. 



Nitrogen, under the experimental conditions, did not aft'ect the iodin number 

 of sterilized or unsterilized oil, though it increased the saponification number 

 of sterilized oil. 



The determination of arsenic and other solid constituents of smelter 

 smoke, with a study of the effects of high stacks and large condensing flues, 

 W. I). Harkins and K. E. Swain {Jour. Aiiicr. Vhcm. Soc, 29 (1007). No. 7, 

 pp. 970-098. figs. 7; abn. in Chrm. ZentbL, 1907, II, No. 11, pp. 936, 937). 



Chemical novelties for 1907, C. Poulenc {Lcs Noiireanfcs Cliimi(jues pour 

 1907. Paris, 1907, pp. XI+3'i7, pi. 1, figs. 196). — This publication contains con- 

 densed accounts, with illustrations, of new laboratory apparatus and new meth- 

 ods of research applied to science and industry, among which are some of inter- 

 est in agricultural investigations. For example, on pages 279-311 is given the 

 description of apparatus employed by Bordas and Touplan in the application of 

 their method for a rapid and complete analysis of milk. 



METEOROLOGY— WATER. 



Report of the meteorological committee. Great Britain (Rpt. Met. Com. 

 [Gt. Brit.], 1907, pp. 150, pis. 7, fig. /). — This consists as u"Sual of administra- 

 tive reports regarding organization and operations (during the year ended March 

 31, 1907) in marine meteorology, forecasts and storm warnings, climatology, 

 publication, and miscellaneous subjects, with app^dixes relating to telegraphic 

 reports from Iceland, supply of information to the public, lists of captains who 

 sent in " excellent " meteorological logs dtu'ing the year and of logs and docu- 

 ments received from ships, distribution of instruments, report on inspection of 

 meteorological stations, list of persons and institutions from whom publications 

 and meteorological data have been received and to whom publications are sent, 

 and financial statement. 



Among the papers on special investigations reported as completed during the 

 year are: Temperatures as Indicated by Spirit ^linimum and Mercury Mini- 

 mum Thermometers, by C. Chree : The Observations of Atmospheric Electricity, 

 by C. T. R. Wilson ; Temperatures in the Screen and in the Open Air, and Aspi- 

 ration Psychrometer Readings, etc., by W. H. Dines: Wind Measurements, by 

 R. H. Curtis; An Apparent Periodicity in the Yield of Wheat in Eastern Eng- 

 land, 1885-1905. by W. N. Shaw (E. S. R., IS, p. 713) ; and The Line Squall of 

 February 8, 1906, by R. G. K. Lempfert. 



An important development in forecast methods during the year was " the in- 

 troduction of the consideration of frequency of occurrence into the representa- 

 tion of the weekly results [as] necessitated by the decision to give in the 

 Weekly Weather Report a brief verbal representation of the character of the 

 weather in successive weeks that might be useful for agricultural purposes." 



It was found that the simple average or arithmetic mean would not serve this 

 purpose. The weekly reports for the years 1881 to 1905 were therefore examined 

 with reference to frequency of occurrence of accumulated temperature above and 

 below 42°, rainfall, and sunshine, grouping the data so- that " of the total number 



