METEOROLOGY. 625 



taimms iK)rtions, and it is reported that li^lit frost has l)een iiott'd on some of the 

 highest points, but no nieteorolofjical reeords report frost. The highest temper- 

 ature reeorded at San Juan during tlie past two years, or since American oei'ui)ation, 

 was 9;>.2° on ]\hiy 2, 1901, and 93° was recorded April 25, 1900; the lowest was 65°, 

 December 26, 1S99. The temperatures at San Juan, the only station mentioning 

 continuous self- registers, range generally from 65 to 89° during January, February, 

 March, Novemlier, and December, and from 66 to 93° during the other months of 

 the year. 



"January, February, and March are the driest months, and during this period the 

 rainfall is less than 3 in. per month. The greatest monthly rainfall occurs in Octo- 

 ber and November, 1)ut the so-called wet season generally commences in April and 

 continues into Decemljer. Droughts, very destructive to vegetation, are noted in 

 some years. The average annual rainfall at San Juan is 54.5 in., while at Hacienda 

 Perla, a station in the northeast part of the island, on El Yunque, it is 133.93 in. 

 The greatest annual rainfall at San Juan, from a record of 25 years, was 82.66 in. in 

 1878, and the least was 36.64 in. in 1893. The greatest monthly rainfall was 17.66 

 in. in December, 1893, and the least was 0.24 in. in February, 1896." 



Guide to the weather, R. Bornstein (Leitfaden der Wetterkunde. Brnnsvnck: 

 Fricdrrirh Viciirg it- Son, 1901, pp. VIII^lSl, pb. 17, fgs.5^). — A popular elementary 

 well-illustrated treatise on meteorology, written, however, almost exclusively from 

 the (ierman standpoint. The general principles involved, the methods and instru- 

 ments used, and the main facts known are explained. The book also includes a 

 somewhat full explanation of the principles ui)on which forecasts are made, the 

 results of recent balloon observations, and an account of various weather services of 

 the world. A reference list of 206 works consulted in the preparation of the book is 

 given. 



The results obtained in the organized effort to prevent hail in Italy 

 during- the years 1899 and 1900, F. Hoidaiij.e {Ann. Eculc Xitl. Agr. Moiit- 

 peUler, n. ncr., 1 ( 1901), No. 2, pp. 109-119). — This is a report of observations made by 

 the author during the summer of 1900 at the direction of the Minister of Agriculture 

 of France. The various stations visited and the ap})aratus used are descri])ed, and 

 the efHciency of the method and the conditions under which it may be applied 

 with advantage in France are discussed. It is stated that the efficiency of the 

 method, despite certain local failures, appears to be established, the principal practi- 

 cal difficulty encountered being that of securing energetic agitation of the air at a 

 sufficient height to reach all hail clouds. The author recommends the establishment 

 of an experiment station in France, like the one already in operation in Italy, to test 

 matei-iuls and apparatus and to study the meteorological questions involved. 



Weather control, W. S. Franklin [Science, n. ser., 14 {1901), No. 352, pp. 496, 

 497). — The artii-le explains the very small force necessary to cause the falling down 

 or collai)sing of unstable states of the atmosphere and how "the trend of the collapse 

 could be controlled, not only by choice of time and place of starting the collapse, 

 but also l)y starting independent collapses at other times and places. ... It is 

 hard to think of a better means of starting a collapse of an unstable atmosphere than 

 the smoke ring cannon of Burgomaster Stiger. ... It seems to be within the range 

 of possiV)ility that Stiger's cannon may be a means for controlling all kinds of storm 

 movements." 



Cannonading- against hail storms, C. Abbe {Science, n. .scr., 14 {1901), No. 858, 

 p. 738). — A reply to the article by W. S. Franklin noted above. " The popular faith 

 in cannonading that seems to i)revail among the peasantry of southern Europe is a 

 craze that has no scientific basis whatever. . . . Thus far there has not been reported 

 a single case where cannonading has been logically demonstrated to have been 

 effectual. 



Modern "weather shooting," J. M. Pernter {I)as moderne Wetterschiessen. Sep. 



