KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 45 



If I am correct in my theory of the stratification of the atmosphere, it is 

 obvious that, in order to change the climate, we must remove the insulating 

 stratum of dry air, and bring the earth and the moist currents of air more 

 nearly in contact with each other. 



We know that eastern Kansas had at one time a climate in many respects 

 similar to that of western Kansas of to-day. We know that the climate of 

 one-half of Kansas has been changed by the civilizing influences of man. 

 Our soil has been surrounded by a new atmosphere. Material for evapora- 

 tion is now supplied from the reservoirs provided for the reception of the 

 rainfall. The heat imparted to the atmosphere by radiation now carries with 

 it moisture evaporated from the soil ; and this warm, humid air, on account 

 of its expansiveness and consequent lightness, rises upwards into higher lati- 

 tudes, displacing the colder and more dense atmosphere, which sinks to the 

 surface to fill the vacuum created by the uprising current, which is in turn 

 warmed, moistened and carried upward. These ascending and descending 

 currents have a tendency to disturb the relative temperature and consequent 

 equilibrium of the atmosphere. Such conditions favor condensation of the 

 vapor in the air, and the more humid the ascending current the better the 

 electric conductor. 



The tendency of thunder storms to follow streams and timber belts may 

 be attributed, I think, not so much to the elevation of the tree itself above 

 the ground, as to the greater amount of humid air that is ascending from 

 such timber belts, affording the most favorable conducting medium. Any- 

 thing that will aid in increasing evaporation will aid in establishing better 

 communications between the clouds and the earth, and insure a greater fre- 

 quency of local showers during the summer season. 



The mirage, so peculiar to our Western climate, seems to me to furnish 

 excellent testimony regarding the existence of a local stratum of air, and 

 its partial destruction afterward by settlement. The mirage I understand to 

 be due to a ray of light refracted through three or more strata of air of dif- 

 ferent densities, lifting up into view objects lying below the horizon of our 

 vision. In order, then, to produce the mirage, there must be stratification. 



When Reno county was first occupied by settlers, about ten years ago, the 

 buffalo grass covered the prairies, and the mirage could be seen on almost 

 any summer day. Now it is a rare occurrence, because the settlement of the 

 country, and the consequent change of vegetation, have reduced radiation, 

 increased evaporation, and partially prevented stratification. 



To increase our rainfall, then, we must do these two things: Reduce radi- 

 ation and increase evaporation. 



Many have an impression that by increasing the local evapox-ation we 

 really provide the moisture from which we receive the rain. This I think a 

 fallacy. We will undoubtedly get a small percentage of the amount evap- 

 orated back again in the form of rain, but we must depend mainly on the 

 aqueous vapors brought to us from the Gulf of Mexico for our main supply 



