256 PEOGEESS OF METEOROLOGY IN 1889. 



Abnormal iveafher. — The eastern as well as the western hemisphere 

 was visited by e xtraordinarj^ spring weather iu 1889. The following 

 note is from Nature, June 20, 1889 : 



" It appears that the somewhat eccentric weather of western Europe 

 during the present year finds a parallel in both China and Japan, where 

 people complain bitterly of the sudden changes of temperature, the pre- 

 mature heat followed by cold " snatches," the storms in quick succession 

 and of great intensity. In northern China there has not been known 

 such an inclement spring since foreigners have resided in the country. 

 A warm week in February broke up the ice on the Peiho River jirema- 

 turely, but afterwards cold set in with great severity, and March was 

 characterized by a succession of gales, lasting sometimes a week with- 

 out intermission, and as late as the 24th the ground was covered with 

 snow." 



Dr. B. Andries has investigated the so-called cold period in May 

 which is popularly supposed to prevail about the 10th of that month ; 

 he finds that while each year frosts occur in May, after a period of warm 

 weather has excited a hope for continuous rise of temperature, yet the 

 same thing occurs in April and June, and the weather of May is more 

 uniform than all the otber months except October. {Das wetter , June, 

 1889. 



X.— ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRICITY; LIGHTNING; TERRESTRIAL MAGNET- 

 ISM; AURORAS. 



Atmos])heric electricity. — Dr. Less (Berlin) has studied the occurrence 

 of rain, hail, and snow, in connection with thunder-storms. He concludes 

 that on days of thunder-storms in winter, the temperature diminishes 

 with altitude at a much greater rate than on days of precipitation, and 

 thunder-storms seem to cease entirely when there is considerable amount 

 of condensed moisture in the atmosphere. He considers that both these 

 results afford substantial confirmation of Sohncke's theory that the elec- 

 tricity of thunder-storms first arises from the friction between ice and 

 water particles, but additional consideration must be added in order 

 to explain quantitatively the high potential of the lightning discharge. 



Mr. Angus Eankin has a paper in the Journal of the Scottish Meteor- 

 ological Society on the conditions of the occurrence of St. Elmo's fire 

 on Ben Nevis. He finds that the fifteen observed cases occurred a few 

 hours after the passage of the center of a cyclonic depression, when the 

 temperature was rapidly falling, the pressure rising, the wind west- 

 northwest, and heavy showers of snow and snow-hail prevailing. (Na- 

 ture, XL, p. 439.) 



Globular lightning. — At the British Association meeting in 1888 Sir 

 William Thompson expressed the belief that ball lightning is altogether 

 l)hysiological. A vivid fiash produces an intense action on the center 

 of the retina, and when the eyes are moved, a spot of light follows, 

 which is the marvellous ball lightning frequently reported. 



