G20 



EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and February 26, 1894. The following table indicates the principal 

 ])oints of interest in the records of each voyage. The temperature 

 and humidity were obtained with a ventilated i^sychrometer and are 

 undoubtedly quite accurate. 



Observations in four balloon voyages. 



Hifjlicst point 



start iiif^ teniiici'ritnre 



Lowest temperature 



Diininiitiou for 1° 



Uishest relative humidity 



Lowest relative humidity. 



Lowest vapor pressure ... 



11,100 ft. 



19° 



324 ft. 



81 per cent at 



4,070 ft. 

 36 per cent at 



9,530 ft. 

 0.04 per cent at 

 11,090 ft. 



II. 



11,970 ft. 



65^ 



31° 



3.^0 ft. 



77 per cent at 



9,800 ft. 

 21 per cent at 



8, 4.50 ft. 

 0.54 per cent at 

 8,450 ft. 



m. 



9,900 ft. 



36^' 



16° 



475 ft. 



100 per cent at 



6,160 ft. 

 4 i)er cent at 



7,980 ft. 

 0.001 per cent at 

 7,980 ft. 



IV. 



10,770 ft. 



41° 



—2° 



239 ft. 



80 per cent at 



5,910 ft. 

 52 per cent at 



10,270 ft. 

 0. 17 per cent at 

 10,270 ft. 



These records are of the highest interest and are also the most accu- 

 rate ever made in Europe. The diminution in relative humidity of 

 90 per cent in 1,820 ft. is the most remarkable ever noted, though a 

 fall of 30 per cent in 400 ft. was noted at Washington, D. C, on Octo- 

 ber 27, 1892. Each one of these voyages showed remarkable fluctuations 

 in the moisture conditions in horizontal layers at different heights, and 

 this accords with the fact that specific clouds are found day after day 

 at about the same level. Balloon records in this country and in Europe 

 have all indicated a tendency for atmospheric moisture to occur in rather 

 definite layers and have not shown vertical columns of approximately 

 the same moisture distribution. — n. A. hazen. 



Sanitary climatology, M. W. Hai^rington ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Weather Bvrcau Circu- 

 lar 1, lS95,p. 1). — This is ca preliminary annouucement of proposed iuvestigations 

 on "tlie subject of climate and its influence on healtli and disease. It is lioped to 

 make the proposed investij^atiou of interest and value to all, but especially to the 

 medical and sanitary professions and to the large number of persons who seek, by 

 visitation of licaltli resorts and change of climate, either to restore health or prolong 

 lives iucurablj' affected or to ward off threatened disease. . . . The hearty coopera- 

 tion of the various boards of Jiealth, public sanitary antliorities, sanitary associa- 

 tions and societies, and of physicians who may feel an interest in the work" is 

 souglitin supplying accurate, complete, and prompt reports of vital statistics from 

 different localities. 



Weather forecasts in Australia (Nature, 1S95, Jan. 17, p. S7S). — A conference rep- 

 resenting the 3 colonies of New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria was held 

 at Melbourne, October 29, 1894, and plans were foi-mulated for systematic cloud pho- 

 tography at each observatory as an aid to weather forecasting and for distribution 

 (daily except Sunday) of forecasts to all of the priucii>al telegraph stations in each 

 of the colonies. The system of storm signals used in England was adopted. — o. L. 



FASSIG. 



Lightning record, I, H. F. Kretzkr {St. Louis: 1895, pp. 106). — The object of 

 the work is to call public attention to the great destruction caused by lightning. 

 1,970 cases of lightning strike in the United States in the past 4 years are cata- 

 logued and a handy index compiled showing the particular features of each strike. 

 In the 5 years 1883 to 1887, 1,470 men were injured and 884 women; 742 men were 

 killed and 25 women. — ^a. m'adie. 



