416 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



as effective as 95 per cent. The weaker alcohol extracted 0.06 to 0.09 per cent 

 less acid than the stronger, but gave an extract which was easier to filter 

 and titrate, which may account for the difference in the titration figures. 

 " Since equally uniform results are possible with either the water or the 

 alcohol extraction, and since the alcohol extracts contain a high percentage of 

 acidity in every case, it must follow that some of the acids in silage which 

 are soluble in alcohol are insoluble in water. The amounts of these insoluble 

 in water are different in the various kinds of silage, corn silage having the 

 largest relative amount." 



The conditions of extraction — shaking by hand or machine— were also 

 studied. 



A method of detecting arsenical compounds in fungicidal and insecticidal 

 mixtures, L. M. Gkanderye {Vie Agr. et Rurale, 2 {1912), No. 21, p. 3^; abs. 

 in Internat. Inst. Agr. [Rome'], Bui. Bur. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 

 3 {1912), No. 7, p. 1679). — In order to determine quickly whether an insecticide 

 or fungicide contains arsenic, the following simple process is recommended : 



" Fou? spoonfuls of good white vinegar are put into a tumbler, and some 

 crystals of soda are added gradually until the resulting effervescence ceases. 

 The liquid is then poured into an iron ladle which is heated till nearly all the 

 water has evaporated; when this point is reached, a few grams of the com- 

 pound suspected of containing arsenic are mixed with the contents of the ladle 

 and heated still more, until the mass is desiccated. If arsenic is present, a gas 

 is set free with a strong repulsive odor of garlic." 



METEOHOLOGY— WATER. 



Weather and its causes, E. C. Barton {Queensland Geogr. Jour., n. ser., 

 26-27 {1910-1912), No. 12-13, pp. 16-37, fig. i).— General weather phenomena 

 are explained, and the use of kites and balloons in upper air exploration is 

 discussed. 



The shifting of clim.atic zones as illustrated in Mexico, E. Huntington 

 {Bui. Amer. Geogr. Soe., 45 {1913), Nos. 1, pp. 1-12, figs. 3; 2, pp. 107-116).— 

 Observations are reported upon which is based a theory that there have been 

 shif tings of climatic zones of more or less intensity at varying intervals of time. 

 '* In the irregular little cycles which cause the climate, or weather, of one year 

 to differ from that of the next, the course of the storm tracks varies, moist 

 periods in subtropical regions being characterized by southerly tracks. In 

 longer periods . . . the same sort of variation is seen on a larger scale. There- 

 fore it seems reasonable to suppose that in still longer and more important 

 periods the same thing occurs with a correspondingly increased intensity." 



The theory " assumes that a given change of climate will produce opposite 

 effects on the northern border of the subtropical zone of aridity as compared 

 with the southern border. If this is so, it might be expected that the fluctua- 

 tions of the lakes around Mexico City would indicate conditions exactly the 

 reverse of those recorded in the growth of the sequoias in California. This, 

 however, is only partially the case." 



Weather conditions, G. Harcourt {Ann. Rpt. Dept. Agr. Alberta, 1912, pp. 

 37-48). — Monthly and annual maximum and minimum temperatures and sun- 

 shine for 1912 and precipitation for 1899 to 1912 at a number of places in 

 Alberta are given in tables. 



Monthly Weather Review (J/o. Weather Rev., 41 {1913), Nos. 9, pp. 1285- 

 1464, pis. 13; 10, pp. 1465-1637, pis. 9, figs. 12).— In addition to the usual 

 climatological summaries, lake levels, weather forecasts and warnings for 



