712 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



servers in different parts of the British Isles (E. S. R., IS, p. 423). The data 

 are discussed with reference to distriltution of the rainfall in time and space, 

 and the relation of the total rainfall of the year to the average of previous years 

 is pointed out. Special articles on wind intlnence on rain gages, by I.. C. \V. 

 Bonacina, and on the Christmas snowstorm of 1906, as well as records of evaj)- 

 oratiou and percolation are also included. 



The article on wind influence on rain gage measurements traces briefly the 

 historical develoi)ment of knowledge on the subject, discussing also the prob- 

 able modus operandi of the causes <»f these effects and indicates the method? 

 that have been suggested or adopted for removing such effects as a source of 

 error in rainfall records. A bibliography of 4!'t references to literature of the 

 subject is given. 



The average evaporation I'ecorded at 11 stations during 1900 was 18.07 in. 

 The average rainfall for the year as compiled from records of 172 selected sta- 

 > tions well distributed over the British Isles was 34.23 in. for England and 

 Wales, 48.09 in. for Scotland, 37.85 in. for Ireland, and 38.71 in. for the British 

 Isles as a whole, approximating very closely the average for .30 years, 1870 to 

 1899. A deficiency of 1 i)er cent in England and Wales and jier cent in Ire- 

 land was compensated for by an excess of 8 per cent in Scotland. 



The records of 73 selected stations showed an average of 210 rain days for 

 the British Isles as a whole, 192 in England and Wales, 220 in Scotland, and 

 231 in Ireland. The number of rain days was considerable in excess of the 

 average of previous years, although, as shown above, the rainfall agreed closely 

 with the avei-age. The records of the same 7.3 selected stations showed 553 abso- 

 lute droughts — that is, i)eriods of more than 14 consecutive days — no one of 

 which was a. rain day, and 29 partial droughts — that is, more than 28 consecu- 

 tive days the mean rainfall of which did not exceed 0.01 in. " In 1906 abso- 

 lute droughts were somewhat more prevalent than on the average of 18 years, 

 while partial droughts were less ])revalent to nearl.v the same degree. . . . 

 There were three periods of absolute drought. The first, beginning at various 

 dates from INIarch 18 to 28, and ending between April 3 and IS, affected 22 sta- 

 tions, mainly in England and Wales, but also in Scotland and the southwest of 

 Ireland. The last fortnight of March and the first fortnight of April were in 

 fact very dry in all parts of the British Isles. The second period of absolute 

 drought was Vfetween .June 1 and 19, but it affected only ,^> out of the 73 stations, 

 all except two — one in North Wales and one in the north of Ireland — being in 

 the west of Scotteind. The third and most important absolute drought occurred 

 in August and September, and was re|»orted from 23 stations scattered pretty 

 well over the whole of the British Isles." 



The records of the same stations also show during 1906, 91 rain spells — that 

 is, periods of more than 14 consecutive days, every one of which was a rain day. 



The distribution of the rainfall of the British Isles is shown graphically in 

 diagrams and in shaded and colored charts. 



York rainfall records and their possible indication of relation to solar 

 cycles, .1. E. Clark (/^*/>^ Brit. Assoc Adr. >S'c(., 1!)0(), pp. r)00-')02; ahs. in 

 i^iimons's Met. Man., .'i2 (1907), .Yo. J,!)',, pp. 32, 33).— A study of data from 

 rainfall records for 89 years at York in comparison with Wolf and Wolfer's 

 sunspot values show a close agreement between the sunsi)ot and the rainfall 

 curves. Similar results were obtained from a study of long-period rainfall rec- 

 ords at other places in Gi'eat Britain. 



Some barometric and rainfall changes of an oscillatory nature, W. J. S. 

 EocKYER (Rpt. Brit. Assoc. Adv. 8ci., 1906, pp. ,501, 502). — The paper of which 

 this is an abstract calls attention to the see-saw nature of the barometric 



