C54 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



pliirii- ix-fssiirc, IcniiH'raturc, rainfall, and dircrtioii of tin- w iml iliirin^ 1900-1902 at 

 a iiumbiT nf places in different juirts of Kluxlesia. 



Weather conditions of South Australia, A. .1. Tekkixs (Rpt. Min. Acjr. South 

 AuHiralkt, IMS, pp. f>,6 1. — A tabnlar sunnnary is given which shows the ilistribution 

 of rainfall over the agrienltnral districts of Sonth Anstraliu dnring 1902 as compared 

 with previously recorded means. 



Normals of the air pressure reduced to 32° F. and constant gravity, lati- 

 tude 45, J. Eliot {Jndlan Met. Memoir.^, 16 {1903), pt. 1; rcr. in Science, n. ser., 19 

 {i:i04), Xo. 47'2, pp. 115, 116). — "The memoir includes the monthly and annual 

 means of the barometric observations at all observatories in India which have been 

 in operation at least 20 years. At most of the observatories the observations date 

 from 1875, when the department Mas 'imperialized.' 



" In June, 1878, the government of India sanctioned arrangements for the publica- 

 tion of a daily weather report, which included observations made at 10 a. m. at 

 about 100 stations. The hour was later changed to 8 a. m. It is to be noted that 

 certain persistent discrepancies apj>ear when the observations, after reduction to sea 

 level, are compared, the most noteworthy cases being those of stations which are 

 more or less completely shut in by hills of considerable elevation. The result of this 

 condition is to check somewhat the horizontal movement of the air and to give too 

 high a pressure during the morning. At the three stations where this topographic 

 effect is most marked the excess of pressure averages about 0.02 in. at 8 a. m." 



Studies on the meteorolog'ical effects in the United States of the solar and 

 terrestrial physical processes, F. H. Bicelow ( T. .S'. Dcpt. Ayr., Weather Bureau 

 Doc. 290, pp. S7,figs. IS, charts 24). — This includes the following papers reprinted 

 from Monthly Weather Review for December, 1902, and January and February, 

 1903: The semidiurnal periods in the earth's atmosphere, synchronous changes in 

 the solar and terrestrial atmosphere, the structure of cyclones and anticyclones on 

 the 3,500-foot and 10,000-foot jjlanes for the United States, and the mechanism of 

 counter currents of different temperatures in cyclones and anticyclones. 



Hurricanes: Especially those of Porto Rico and St. Kitts, W. H. Alexan- 

 der ( ['. .S'. Dept. Ayr., We((f]ier Bureau Bui. .1.', ])p. 79, figs. 7). 



Weather changes and the appearance of scum on ponds, H. R. Mill, W. 

 Ramsden, and F. J. Hillig {Nature [London], 69 {1903), Nos. 1775, p. 7; 1779, p. 104; 

 1780, p. 127). — These articles note the occurrence of scum on ponds preceding any 

 decided change of weather and offer various explanations of this phenomenon, the 

 most plausible being that the formation of the scum is due to the rise of marsh gas 

 from the ooze at the bottom of the ponds following a sudden fall in barometric pres- 

 sure, the gas carrying along wdth it some of the solid matter of the ooze and thus 

 forming the scum. 



Influence of cultural operations on the production of white frost, A. Petit 

 {Jour. Soc. Xat. Jlort. France, 4- ser., 4 {1903), May, pp. 300-305). — Observations on 

 the effect of watering (irrigation), pulverizing and compacting the soil, and the 

 application of compost and manure on the temperature of the soil are reported. 



It was observed that saturating the soil with water retarded the radiation of heat, 

 saturated soil being 2.6° C. warmer at a depth of 1 cm. and 1.1° to 2.2° warmer at 

 the surface than dry soil the morning after the water was applied. Soil which had 

 been pulverized was about 2° warmer than that which was left in a cloddy condi- 

 tion, and soil which had been first pulverized and then compacted was 4.2° warmer 

 than cloddy soil. Soils with which. compost had been incorporated showed at first 

 a higher temperature in the surface soil, but practically the same temperature at a 

 depth of 15 cm. as soil not so treated. The surface temperature, however, w^as appar- 

 ently maintained at the expense of that of the lower layers of the soil, and in time 

 the manured soil became colder than the unmanured. It is suggested that if large 

 amounts of fresh and fermenting manure had been used instead of compost the 

 results might have been different. 



