922 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



the next greatest in the Ohio Valley and Tennessee, with the IVIiddle and Upper 

 Mississippi Valley a close third. The greatest number of deaths in any single State 

 during the 5 years, 1896-1900, occurred in Pennsylvania — 188 — followed by Ohio with 

 135, and Indiana, Illinois, and New York with 124 each. . . . The greatest mortality 

 by lightning, considering botli unit area and density of population, is in the Ohio 

 Valley and the ^Middle Atlantic States; if, however, density of population only be 

 considered, it is in the Qpper Mississippi Valley and the middle Rocky Mountain 

 region. . . . The belief that- the chance of injury by lightning in the cities is less 

 than in the country is rather general. What foundation, in fact, such a belief has is 

 hard to determine. When the combined area of the large cities is compared with 

 the immense territory embraced in the rural districts it is not surprising that so few 

 lightning strokes fall in cities. The modern city building, with its metallic roof and 

 steel frame, is a fairly good conductor of electricity, and is in much less danger of 

 receiving a damaging stroke of lightning than an isolated dwelling in the open 

 country. The multiplication of telegraph, telephone, and electric-light wires in cities 

 also adds to the effectiveness of silent discharges in relieving the electric tension 

 during a thunderstorm; but should a cloud with a tremendous store of energy quickly 

 approach, all of the wires in 10 cities would not prevent it from discharging right 

 and left until its store of energy had been dissipated." 



Report of the Chief of the "Weather Bureau, 1900-1901, W. L. Moore 

 {U. S. Dept. Agr., Weather Bureau Rpt. 1900-1901, I, pp. Ji<?).— This, which is the 

 first volume of the report of the Chief of the AVeather Bureau for this year, is divided 

 into six parts. Part 1 gives an account of the operations of the Weather Bureau 

 during the year; part 2, a list of observing stations and changes therein during 1900, 

 and hourly averages of atmospheric pressure, temperature, and wind from the records 

 of automatic instruments at 28 stations; part 3, monthly and annual meteorological 

 summaries for 174 Weather Bureau stations; part 4, monthly and annual means and 

 extremes of temperature and dates of first and last killing frosts; part 5, monthly and 

 annual precipitation, 1900; and part 6, miscellaneous meteorological tables and 

 reports. 



Meteorolog'ical observations, C. .S. Phelps {Connecticut Starrs Sta. lipt. 1900, 

 pp. 188-192). — This is a record of observations on temperature, pressure, humidity, 

 precipitation, and cloudiness during each montii of 1900 at Storrs, and on rainfall 

 during the 6 months ended October 31, 1900, at 23 places in Connecticut. The mean 

 temperature for the year at Storrs was 48° F. ; mean pressure, 29.95 in.; total pre- 

 cipitation, 48.64 in.; number of cloudy daj's, 94. The average rainfall for the State 

 during the 6 months ended October 31 was 19.65 in. 



"The total precipitation at Storrs for the year, 48.64 in., was about 3.2 in. more 

 than the average for the past 12 years, but was very close to the general average for 

 the State as computed from the records of the New England Meteorological Society 

 covering periods of from 5 to 30 years. The rainfall was especially heavy in Febru- 

 ary and ]\Iarch. For the season from May 1 to October 31, the precipitation at Storrs, 

 19.5 in., was about 3 in. below the average for the past 12 years, and was also below 

 the general average of observations made in different parts of the State during the same 

 years. There was a general deficiency in the rainfall during July, August, and Sep- 

 tember, which affected all those crops tliat made most of their growth during that 

 period. . . . The last killing frost, which was unusually severe, occurred May 11, 

 with a minimum temperature of 25°. The temperature for June was about normal, 

 while that for July and August was abov^the average for Storrs for the past 12 years. 

 The first killing frost in the fall did not occur until October 18, so that the season was 

 esi^ecially favorable for late maturing crops. The length of the growing season 

 between May 11 and October 18, 158 days, was 12 days more than the average at 

 Storrs for the past 12 years." 



Meteorological observations {Maine Sta. Bui. 78, pp. 189-191). — This gives a 

 monthly summary of ob.>^er\ations at Orono during 1901 on atmospheric pressure, 



