LVIII ROY AL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
Mackenzie almost to the Arctic Circle lies between the isothermal lines 
of 55° and 60°. Throughout this whole region the percentage of the 
possible amount of sunshine seems to approximate 55, and as the hours 
of possible sunshine at midsummer range from 17 hours in the latitude 
of Edmonton to 19 hours 30 mins. at Fort Simpson, it may be surmised 
that growth of plants and cereals where the soil is good may be even 
more rapid in the northern than in the southern districts. 
The summer mean temperature of Manitoba and southern and 
eastern Alberta and the greater part of Saskatchewan approximates very 
closely to that of the south of England, Belgium and the North of 
France while in the territory lying to the northward between the iso- 
therms of 55° and 60° the summer temperature may well be compared 
with that of the south of Scotland and southern Scandinavia. Taking 
the month of July alone in this latter region which includes the district 
between Lake Manitoba and Hudson Bay, the mean temperature is very 
fairly comparable with that of the south of England. 
For some years past a table giving the average dates in each province 
of phenological phenomena recorded by observers has been published 
in the annual report of the service and a strong endeavour is now being 
made to extend the range of observation. The chief use of the tables 
from a climatological point of view is the information they convey to 
those not familiar with meteorological data, who, by comparing dates 
given with those of similar phenomena in their own district and know- 
ing the conditions required, are enabled to arrive at a fair estimate of 
conditions prevailing in the several provinces. The number of observers 
in each province, however, is far from sufficient, excepting in Nova 
Scotia where the Botanical Club of Canada, to whom we are indebted 
for much of the data contained in the tables, has many. In this pro- 
vince the school children report to their teachers and they in turn report 
to the local secretary of the club. In this way much valuable data is 
collected and it is to be hoped that similar work may be undertaken in 
other provinces. In many portions of Europe much interest is taken 
in phenological phenomena and the Weather Bureau of France devotes 
a large portion of its annual report to tables containing these data. As 
some provinces in Canada shew considerable diversity of climate the 
various portions should be reported separately and this might be done 
if the assistance of a larger number of observers could be obtained. 
The Milne seismometers at Toronto and Victoria have been kept in 
operation throughout the year, 84 small movements, 8 moderate and 8 
large quakes being recorded at the former place and 81 small, 10 
moderate and 6 large at the latter. The most important of the recent 
quakes occurred in Chili, August 16th; Jamaica, January 14th, and in 
Mexico, April 15th, and the seismograms of these are here reproduced. 
