452 



METEOROLOGY. 



METHODISTS. 



The motions of storms on the earth and those 

 of the spots on the sun have been compared by 

 Camille Plammarion. He brings together in his 

 paper sufficient observations to trace out the 

 paths of many of the most violent storms that 

 have from time to time visited Europe generally. 

 The first storms which he gives are those which 

 occur in the Atlantic ; their general direction of 

 motion seems to be from southwest to northeast, 

 pursuing generally the path of the Gulf Stream. 

 Their centers, when traced on a map, seem just 

 to graze the shores of the British Isles, while 

 Prance is rarely reached by them. From obser- 

 vations made on land, and more especially from 

 those at Paris, M. Plammarion remarks that cer- 

 tain curves with regard to these storms seem to 

 offer many analogies to solar spots. This is so 

 not only for the regular displacements, but even 

 to those which at first sight seem to be void of 

 all regularity. The diagrams which he gives, 

 showing both the paths of the storms and those 

 of sun spots, afford most interesting comparisons 

 and seem to confirm the view suggested by M. 

 Paye that the constitution of spots resembles 

 somewhat that of the cyclones with which we 

 are familiar. 



Winds. In reviewing the history of the de- 

 velopment of the theory of the general circula- 

 tion of the atmosphere, Dr. J. M. Pernter notices 

 Dove's theory of a circulation between the equa- 

 tor and the poles, with his law of wind gyration : 

 Ferrel's theory, accepting three great zones of 

 calm belts, in which Dove's fundamental idea is 

 preserved ; Sprung's system, based on the same 

 principles as FerrePs ; and that of Werner 

 Siemens, in which the origin of the general cir- 

 culation of the atmosphere is deduced from the 

 great principle of the conservation of energy ; 

 pointing out to what extent they have been 

 severally verified, and wherein they have failed. 

 Siemens's theory received an apparent support 

 from the rapid westwardly drift of the dust 

 arising from the eruption of Krakatao in 1883, 

 and from observations by Abercromby of the 

 motion of cirrus clouds in the equatorial region, 

 which were, however, apparently contradicted 

 by a subsequent observation. Prom this analysis 

 the author sketches the outline of the general 

 circulation of the atmosphere which corresponds 

 to the present state of the science, as follows : 

 In consequence of the unequal heating by the 

 sun and of the rotation of the earth, air currents 

 occur in all quarters of the globe. These cur- 

 rents are easterly between 35 north and 35 

 south latitude, and westerly outside this zone. 

 In the former zone the easterly currents on the 

 earth's surface (in the northern hemisphere) are 

 more northeasterly and northerly the nearer we 

 approach latitude 35, while in the higher strata 

 they constantly become more southerly as we 

 approach latitude 35. This explains'the circu- 

 lation between the equator and latitude 35. At 

 or nearer the equator a calm zone must be found 

 at the earth's surface where the meridional 

 components of the northeast and southeast trades 

 ascend, but the height of th3 calm zone can not 

 be considerable. Exactly over the calm zone a 

 pure east wind and the strongest of the whole 

 zone will blow, and the higher the strata under 

 consideration the stronger it will be. In latitude 

 35 north and south, calms exist at the earth's 



surface. The air, which has an ascending 

 motion in the equatorial calm, has here a de- 

 scending movement ; but above, the current 

 directed poleward continues to exist. Outside 

 this great region, to the north and south, west 

 winds will prevail ; while above, the southwest 

 trade winds blow, which in higher latitudes 

 will become more and more westerly. At the 

 earth's surface, air in southwesterly or north- 

 westerly motion flows from the zone of high 

 pressure at latitude 35, which becomes more 

 westerly with increasing latitude. At a mean 

 altitude, however, air flows again from the pole 

 toward latitude 35 as a northwest wind. This 

 is the picture of the general circulation of the 

 atmosphere according to the latest researches. 



From observations on the motions of dust in 

 various parts of the world, the Hon. Ralph Aber- 

 cromby has found that the wind sometimes 

 blows dust into streaks or lines, which are 

 analogous to fibrous or hairy cirrus clouds ; 

 sometimes into transverse ridges and furrows, 

 like solid waves, which are analogous to certain 

 kinds of fleecy cirrus cloud ; sometimes into 

 crescent-shaped heaps with their convex side to 

 the wind, which are perhaps analogous to a rare 

 cioud form called " mackerel scales " ; sometimes 

 into whirlwinds, of at least two if not three 

 varieties, all of which present some analogies to 

 atmospheric cyclones ; sometimes into simple 

 rising clouds, without any rotation, which are 

 analogous to simple cumulus-topped squalls ; 

 and sometimes into forms intermediate between 

 the whirlwind and simple rising clouds, some of 

 which reproduce in a remarkable manner the 

 combination of rounded, flat, and hairy clouds 

 that are built up over certain types of squalls 

 and showers. Excessive heating of the soil 

 alone does not generate whirlwinds ; they re- 

 quire a certain amount of wind from other 

 causes to be moving at the time. The general 

 conclusion is, that when the air is in more or 

 less rapid motion from cyclonic or other causes, 

 small eddies of various kinds form themselves, 

 and that they develop the different sorts of 

 gusts, showers, squalls, and whirlwinds. 



METHODISTS. I. Methodist Episcopal 

 Church. The following is a summary of the 

 statistics of this Church as given in the " Meth- 

 odist Year Book" for 1893. In the cases of 

 those annual conferences held late in the fall, 

 the returns from which had not been made up 

 when the " Year Book " went to press, the sta- 

 tistics for 1891 are included : Number of annual 

 conferences (including mission conferences and 

 missions), 139; of traveling preachers (11,044 

 effective, 1,113 supernumerary, 1,860 superan- 

 nuated, and 1,850 on trial), 15,867; of local 

 preachers, 14,542; of members (including 242,- 

 789 on probation), 2,442,750 ; of Sunday schools, 

 27,989, with 310,000 officers and teachers and 

 2,369,005 pupils ; of churches, 23,866, having a 

 probable value of $101,507.085 ; of parsonages, 

 9,050, the probable value of which is $15,405,446 : 

 of adults baptized during the year, 107,324 ; of 

 children baptized, 84,563. Increase in full 

 members during 1892, 58,866. Amount of benev- 

 olent contributions : Forthe Missionary Society, 

 $1,282,676 ; for the Board of Church Extension, 

 $170,876 ; for the Preedmen's, Aid and South- 

 ern Education Society, $116,796: for the Sun- 



