19-0] METEOROLOGY. 509 



fonfont.s v;irio(l fiiim Id 17.7 per cent. Samples of molasses made by the 

 sack sUKiir method were priiclically fiee from ^'niin, while all others contained 

 an appreciable anxtunt varyinfj with the Brix reading. 



The formation of very line ;;rain is thoujrht to i>e due to liifih temi)eratures 

 of purj,'ing or to retard;ition of the crystallization througli failure of the mas- 

 .secuite to reach eiiuilibrium at the puriiing temperature. Good results as to 

 freedom from grain may I)e obtained l)y boiling to a moderately liigh Brix and 

 slow cooling or by boiling to a liiirh Brix and adding water while cooling. 

 From the standpoint of exhausliliility of the molasses the curbonation process 

 is thought to give the best results. 



Sugar grain in final niolass«'s, W. II. T. Hahi.okf (IiilcriKttl. ^lujar -lour., 21 

 (I'.il'J), No. 252, pp. 60S-610). — The autlior summarizes the stvidies of Kalslioveu 

 noted above and discus.ses tlieir practical bearing on sugar manufacture. 



The water content of true final cane molasses, II. C. P. Gkerligs (Intcr- 

 natl. Suyar Jour., 22 (J'J20), No. 2'hi, pp. S.'f-.'fO). — This is a sunnnary and discus- 

 sion of the reports of Van der Linden and of Kalshoven noted above and of 

 some of the earlier work of the author (E. S. R., 39, p. 41.5). In conclusion 

 the author suggests that in the modern practice of sugar manufacture tlie yield 

 is sometimes sacrificed to the desire for rapid output. 



METEOROLOGY. 



>Iodifying factors in effective temperature, or, a principle of modified 

 thermal influence on organisms, A. D. Hopkins {U. S. Mo. Weather Rev., JfS 

 (1<)20), No. 4, pp. 21Jf, 215; ahs. in Bui. Amer. Met. Sac, 1 il!)20), No. 5, p. 54).— 

 Supi)Ienienting articles previously note<l (E. S. R., 39, p. 317, 41, p. 16), the 

 author discasses briefly " the effectiveness of applying the bioclimatic law 

 of altitude, latitude, and longitude to determining for any locality the proper 

 time for applying remedies to control insects, or to plant crops. This law, 

 which postulates that periodic events progress 1° of latitude, 400 ft. of altitude, 

 and o° of longitude every 4 days, nortliward, upward, and eastward in spring, 

 and southward, downward, and westward in autunui, needs considerable re- 

 gional correction in parts of tlie Ignited States. These corrections are retard- 

 ing in general for lowland regions and accelerating for liighland regions as a 

 general rule in spring." 



The influence of snow on the development of vegetation in spring, P. 

 Jac(juks (Nature [Paris], J,8 (1920), No. 2399, pp. 179, 180, fiy. 1; abs. in U. S. 

 Mo. ^yenihcr Rev., 48 (1920), No. .'/, p. 222).— Observations at Mont Aigoual, 

 revenues, France, " with dry thermometers at depths of 0.1 meter and 0.2 

 meter, respectively, in the snow and al.so at a height of 0.2 meter above the 

 surface of the snow," are reported which show " that there is no variation of 

 the mean temi>erature of tlie thermal blanket at a depth of 0.2 meter during 

 the months of February and March ; that at 0.1 meter it is 0.2° C, and that at 

 0.2 meter above the .snow it is 2.1°. In April there is no variation during the 

 first and third decades, and it is almost constant during the second decade. 

 The temperature of the air, on the other hand, was decidedly variable during 

 all of these periods." 



It is estimated that tb(> 1,621.7 mm. of snow that fell at Mont Aigoual from 

 r)ecen\i)er to May, inclusive, supplied 4.1.736 kg. of nitrogen per hectare (about 

 38.9 lbs. per acre). 



The agricultural significance of sunshine as illustrated in California, 

 K. H. Palmer (U. S. Mo. Weather Rev., Jf8 (1920), No. 3, pp. 151-154, P?«- 2).— 

 The function of sunshine in plant growth is briefly discussed, but more specific 

 consideration is given to the wide variation in sunshine conditions in California 



